Twenty22 Twenty22 stands for the year 2022 when India will be 75 years old.The story of a young and energetic nation on the move,having her foundation in an ancient civilisation.From a glorious past to a glorious future.Our flag's Orange colour symbolizes courage and sacrifice, White stands for peace and truth, Green is for faith and chivalry and Blue represents the color of the sky and the ocean. The central motif is a Chakra, or Buddhist spinning wheel. The 24 spokes of the wheel correspond with the 24 hours of the day, implying that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. , . Zhou Ling, head of shipping finance at CMB Financial Leasing, pointed out that while the overall shipping market remains depressed, there are still opportunities for the financing and leasing business. Our total leasing assets are over $17bn and shipping takes up 12% (or about $2bn). The budget is to increase the share of shipping and aviation combined from the current 25% to 40% in the coming one to two years, Zhou told Seatrade Maritime News. She added: In 2016, we will focus on two things. First, we wish to increasingly expand in the international arena, for example taking on assets built outside China and taking on quality international clients. Second, we wish to further diversify our portfolio. Right now, over 50% of our shipping assets is dry bulk, and we wish to balance the dry bulk assets with more LPG/LNG, product tankers and container assets. Zhou maintained that it is important for CMB Financial Leasing to achieve the right balance across different asset types, but in the short term the institution will predominantly look at product tankers, large containerships and LPG/LNG vessels. In 2015, CMB Financial Leasing sealed a few major transactions including a $540m sale and leaseback deal for two FSRUs, a $140m newbuilding/pre- and post-delivery finance deal for two 11,000 teu containerships, and a $50m newbuilding operating lease for two 64,000 dwt ultramax bulk carriers. Founded in 2008, CMB Financial Leasing has built up a leasing assets structure with equipment taking up the majority 68% of the portfolio, followed by shipping and aviation at 25% and vendor accounting for the remaining 7%. The Dubai facility is located in the complex that also houses the headquarters of Dubai South, the commercial arm of Dubais second major airport, Al Maktoum International. Maersk hopes good aviation links will make regional use of the facility easier. Maersk Trainings principal presence is based around the North Sea, with five centers in Denmark, the UK and Norway. Elsewhere, Houston opened November last year and is double the size of Dubai. Centres are also located at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, growing West Africa hub Port Harcourt, Nigeria and Chennai, India. In town for the event, Claus Bihl, ceo of Maersk Training said that coverage of East Africa would be run either from Europe or Dubai, depending on the requirement. Angolas distant offshore oil fields mean that his work has ceased there for the moment. While Maersk Trainings portfolio includes maritime and oil and gas, the areas of focus in Dubai, it can also provide wind-installation and crane training at its nine other global facilities. When oil was at $120 a barrel, Bihl found that companies overlooked Maersk Trainings services. The oil price crashed has had a double-edged effect. The oil price and the level of activity in the industry affect us a lotand it affects us right now. We certainly see that the volumes are coming down because of rigs being stacked, people being laid off. On the other hand, there is a number of interesting opportunities now in working with human factors and the competency of the crew operating new equipment. From an early focus on maritime, ship handling, bridge resource management and human-resource training, the portfolio is now more varied, taking in big ships, tankers, supply and anchor-handling boats, installation vessels, drill-ships and dynamic positioning vessels of all kinds. Bihl cites the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, (STCW) which came into force in 1984, as underpinning his mission. STCW provides the minimum requirements for trade. Now it demands that if you have crews, they must have training in human resource management. Then theres the human factors, the people skills, that need to be embedded in the entire operation. The drillers calling is a central aspect of Maersk Trainings work. Its disciplined training for postgraduates for one. It can also be entry-level programmes for roustabouts, going into this industry wanting a career on a drilling rig, assisting [them] going into the production side of things, Bihl said. It could be academic. Its short courses and can also be longer programmes. Its industry-focussed, discipline-focussed, to meet our clients needs. While every seafarer is mindful of the possibility of a wave from hell, Bihl argues that accidents arise in situations that are experienced very frequently, citing the 2010 Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. There are 2,500 ships currently under management by Cyprus-based companies which could be registered in the Cypriot registry, notes Kazakos, who points out already some 1,763 ships fly the countrys flag, despite the embargo on Cypriot-flagged ships imposed by Turkey 30 years ago. After a settlement, these ships could register with the Cypriot registry overnight, Kazakos said in an interview with the Cyprus News Agency. Without a political settlement in place, without the lifting of Turkeys embargo and without exploiting our natural wealth we are managing 2,500 oceangoing ships. You can imagine the numbers that we will have to manage [after a settlement], he said. With the announcement of a settlement to the Cyprus problem automatically the embargo would be lifted. As it was imposed unilaterally and illegally in 1987, it could be unilaterally lifted with one phone call by the Turkish Prime Minister, he said. Kazakos called on the islands maritime administration to be prepared by drafting a medium to long-term national maritime policy, noting growth of the island`s registry which has been stable for about 15 years goes hand in hand with the further development of the islands maritime administration. He noted the Transport Ministry has authorised a private firm to compare the Cyprus maritime cluster with competitive jurisdictions and has commissioned a study to look at the restructuring of the Transport ministry and the Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS). Both studies point out that the DMS and the broader maritime administration should be further modernised to catch up with fast-moving developments in global shipping and to reflect the fact Cyprus has the 10th largest fleet in the world, he said. We cannot continue operating with the structures of a registry established in 1963, when Cyprus ranked 160 or lower in the world, while currently it is at a high levels both quantitatively and qualitatively. With former IMO executive, Andreas Chrysostomou, now its director, there is a proposal the DMS be turned into a more flexible and independent unit to cover issues such as ship registering, attracting clients and servicing and a second technocratic unit responsible for adapting with EU legislation or drafting national policy. Meanwhile, Kazakos pointed out the shipping industry has weathered three-year financial crisis with no shipping businesses quitting the island. On the contrary, we saw some companies establishing offices here and we noted a stabilisation in terms of ship orders and new ship management, he said. "No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." -- Indiana Constitution Article 1, Section 6 "The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams "...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." Thomas Jefferson cting the life of this extraordinary spiritual master. His early years in Tibet, his activities to rebuild in exile in Sikkim and India, his extensive travels bringing the Dharma to North America, Europe and throughout Asia are all documented in detail. DHARMA KING: The Life of the 16th Gyalwang KarmapaProduced under the direct guidance of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Dharma King: The Life of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa in Images commemorates the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa's contribution to the practice and study of Buddhism around the world, as well as his preservation of one of Tibetan Buddhisms oldest lineages, the Karma Kagyu. This lavish full-color volume brings together for the first time 1,000 photos depi463 pagesCo-published by KTD Publications and Altruism Press (Drophen Tsuglag)Available here: Press Release February 15, 2016 Excerpts of Pandesal Forum with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon by Wilson Lee Flores Q: On Senator Drilon's Valentines Day SPFMD: Kahapon po I started Valentines Day with a mass in the Legazpi City cathedral. I was with my wife and my daughter and we were in Bicol Area, particularly in Albay. And as I heard mass with my wife and my daughter, I spent the day trying to figure out how Mayon Volcano looks - behind the clouds, actually we couldn't see it, but it was a very pleasant and restful Sunday rest. On 2016 elections Q: Any fearless forecast in the 2016 presidential elections? SPFMD: I can't give you the rankings, this is because we just started our campaign, we just started on February 9. We went to Region 6, we went to Capiz and Iloilo, and then we went to Region 5, to Camarines Sur. We went to Masbate, and Albay. It is too early to predict at this stage. I would like to believe that the four candidates are closely bunched together. The next two months, will be very crucial and I am confident that given the machinery that we have, and the fact that we have the President coming with us in the campaign, he was in Capiz, he was in Iloilo, he was in Camarines Sur, so I am confident that our presidential candidate will be able to improve his ratings. Right now he is tied to 2nd place according to the latest surveys but I am confident that we could prevail at the end of the campaign. Q: On candidates' disclosure of medical records SPFMD: We were in the campaign trail and I would reiterate our call that all the presidential candidates should bare their medical records, kasi we are looking at a leader for the next six years. The leader must be in good health. Hindi naman pepwede na we are not certain. In the United States, all the candidates would bare and make public their medical records. I think the public is entitled to know what is the condition of each presidential candidate since they will lead this country for the next years. Q: Would you challenge them, the presidential and vice-presidential candidates to a physical test, say jogging in Luneta? SPFMD: Just walking, probably, and that will be part of the campaigning. We can walk from Luneta to wherever they want to walk, just a few kilometers, and it will be a good indication of how healthy they are, but more than that, I call on all presidential candidates to make public their medical records. On Poe's disqualification cases SPFMD: For the benefit of Senator Poe, I would reiterate my call that after tomorrow's hearing in the Supreme Court, that they will require the parties to submit their memorandum in ten days and decide the case already. Again, I would repeat, because of the doubt, created, it is not fair to Grace. They should decide on this case already na. Just decide it one way or the other - just as long as we have certainty, because the uncertainty resulting from the pendency of this case will not do our country any good. It affects the integrity of our elections, but most importantly, in fairness to Senator Poe and her supporters, they should know how the Supreme Court interprets our Constitution on the matter of being a natural-born citizen, and her residency. Q: On the Comelec glitches, are you worried? Is it possible that we go back to manual voting? SPFMD: We can not go to manual. Hindi na po pwede ang manual, ang sinasabi ng batas natin, automated, now ang Comelec po hindi pwedeng magkakaroon ng glitches, and postpone the elections. It cannot be. We must do everything in order to have the elections on time and we will have a clean and orderly elections. Q: On Senator JV Ejercito's endorsement of Senator Drilon in the elections SPFMD: Well I thank JV for that very kind expression of support. You know for the last three years, I have worked with Senator Ejercito quite closely in the bills that he has sponsored and being the Senate President, as a senior member of the chamber, having been elected four times as Senate President, I helped and guided JV and I am glad JV has been open about this and there is no political divide when it comes to the Senate's work. All of us are conscious of our mandate to deliver what in our belief is the best in the public interest. Q: Sir, yung very persistent rumor na given yung presence ni Senator Poe sa birthday party ni President Aquino, na dalawa daw yung candidate ng pangulo? SPFMD: I was in the birthday party. From what I read in the papers, Grace Poe greeted the President a happy birthday and medyo nagbiro, "Wala bang pakain sir?" Ang sabi ni Presidente, "May dinner mamayang gabi baka gusto mong dumalo?" Senator Grace accepted it. Alam mo syempre panahon ng pulitika, marami ng palabok like that, nagiging secret candidate ng Pangulo si Senator Poe. Even Senator Poe has denied that, but you know, the rumor mill is very rich these days. There is no truth to that. Q: On rumors that Senator Poe is the sister of Senator Marcos? SPFMD: I don't think that that is true in the first place. Alam, we know how to put our names in the news eh. Kasama na siguro yan. Q: Do you think Mar is jealous, given these rumors? SPFMD: I don't think so. Mar knows that the president has committed to campaign for him, and that is not only a commitment, but also has shown in the course of the very difficult campaigning the week 1, that indeed he will deliver on his promise of campaigning for Mar and all these talks would have no effect on Mar. Q: Do you think the President joining the campaign is a good strategy for Mar? SPFMD: Yes it is a very good strategy. No matter what our critics say, what they cannot deny is that out of the past presidents after EDSA, this is the president who has maintained his popularity up to the last six months of his administration. He has made it very clear that he with his policy of good governance, he believes that Mar Roxas is the best candidate to carry through to the next administration. There is no doubt in my mind that he is the best campaigner that we have. Q: What would push Mar Roxas ahead of the others? SPFMD: The machinery of the Liberal Party, we have dozens of local governments, if not hundreds of local government officials who are running under the LP unopposed, and therefore this is a very potent machinery which could carry us to victory. Q: What will be the chance of a tax reform income bill in the next Congress? SPFMD: Okay, since you asked that question, I might as well discuss them. Firstly, there are a number of measures which were left unpassed by this Congress. First and foremost is the amendments to the Constitution which will allow Congress to review the very restrictive provisions of the Constitution so that we can open our economy. The conditions when we drafted the 1987 Constitution are very different from today. 30 years after, a lot of things have happened and it is very important that we respond to these challenges. There is no question on that fact that we must not remain isolated. We must be able to respond quickly and therefore we must have some flexibility in the Constitutional provisions. I must emphasize that I am not proposing any specific amendment. What I am just saying is amend the Constitution in such a manner that a review is possible without amending the Constitution by putting the phrase "unless otherwise provided by law," which would allow us to review these are policies, whether these should stay or not. The first step is to enable Congress to do this. I would like to review, and I support the review of our income tax structure, because the brackets - meaning if you have a taxable income off P500,000 you are taxed 32% on that income, so because that was set in 1995. Today, 20 years after, a good percentage of our taxpayers are already in our bracket, so the original concept that the higher your income, the higher your taxes should be as a means of supporting other members of our society is no longer valid, because we are all there. Third, I would like to enact the rationalization of fiscal incentives. Fiscal incentive is granted precisely in order to foreign companies to come to our country and provide jobs to our people, so they are provided incentives or income tax holidays, capital exemptions from customs duties on capital equipment. There are incentives that would come to the Philippines and be attracted to set up shop. We would like to review how effective these incentives are up to today. Are they effective in terms of generating employment. Is there duplication? There are so many incentive granting agencies. Are the present incentives granted commensurate to the contribution to the economy? That is why we started with the first step, the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (TIMTA) which will allow the public to scrutinize and see whether these incentives granted are serving the purpose for which these are instituted. These are just some of the measures I intend to sponsor in the next Congress. Press Release February 15, 2016 POE GOES ON SENTIMENTAL SORTIE TO BIRTHPLACE After rallying supporters in her father's hometown, top presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe will go on a sentimental journey to Jaro, Iloilo, her known birthplace, on Tuesday, carrying the dreams of a foundling who promises a "Gobyernong may Puso" for all Filipinos. Poe, her running mate, Sen. Francis Escudero, and the senatorial bets running under their coalition, Partido Galing at Puso, will hold a rally in Carles town, where they are expected to present their platform of government. The candidates will then proceed to the Barotac Viejo Public Market, where they will have a quick "meet-and-greet" with market vendors, buyers and workers. A press conference will follow at lunchtime. Under her "Gobyernong may Puso," Poe said she would embark on a policy of providing solutions to the pressing challenges of ordinary Filipinos, such as high taxes, low wages, unreliable transport system and an impoverished agricultural sector. "Parating na ang 'Gobyernong May Puso' na pantay-pantay ang pagpapatupad ng batas at ang tugon (sa mga problema) ay gawa, at hindi sisi," said Poe, who is leading all recent presidential preference surveys. In the afternoon, Poe will be at the University of Iloilo for a no-holds-barred forum with students and faculty concerning her plans and programs of government, which are anchored on three things: Kabuhayan, Karunungan at Kaligtasan. The University of Iloilo, which was founded in July 1947 by the Lopez brothers, Don Eugenio and Hon. Fernando Lopez, has some 7,000 students taking up courses on arts and science, accountancy, nursing, law, engineering and maritime education, among others. After a brief rest from her engagement at the University of Iloilo, the senator will make her way to Jaro, where a local churchgoer had found her, an abandoned infant, in the holy water font of the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral. She was then brought to the parish priest who named her "Grace" in the belief that her finding was through the grace of God. Poe was conferred the sacrament of confirmation by then Jaro Archbishop Jaime Sin, who would later become one of the country's democracy icons and the most famous archbishop of Manila. It was Sin who convinced the family that found Poe, to allow the child to be adopted by movie stars Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) and Susan Roces, who had no children of their own. Iloilo is Poe's second stop in the Visayas; she and Escudero, who also leads vice-presidential preference surveys, were in Cebu on the second day of the campaign. The tandem was also warmly welcomed last week in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan, where FPJ hailed. Press Release February 15, 2016 Senate to hold forum on proposals to amend personal income tax law After successfully holding its first lecture series last November, the Senate will conduct its second lecture series tomorrow (Feb. 16) entitled the "Comparative Assessment of Proposals to Amend Personal Income Tax Law" at the Senator Laurel and Pecson Room, Senate building in Pasay City. Senate Economic Planning Office Director General Ronald Golding said the holding of the series of forums dubbed the "Centennial Lecture Series" is part of the Senate's activities for the year-long centennial celebration from October 2015 to October 2016. Golding said Sen. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, would open the forum with a message at 9:30 a.m. and Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior researcher of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), would present her papers on the Comparative Assessment of Proposals to Amend Personal Income Tax Law at 9:40 a.m. Manasan's presentation will be followed by discussions from Dir. Elsa Agustin of the Department of Finance's Fiscal Policy and Rena Manuel, former president of the Planning Office and Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP). Senate Secretary Oscar Yabes will give his closing remarks at the end of the lecture. The Senate is celebrating its centennial year from October 2015 to October 2016 under Proclamation No. 1091 signed last August 7, 2015 by President Benigno S. Aquino III. The proclamation calls on all national government offices, government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs), and local government units (LGUs), to support and extend "assistance and cooperation to the Senate in the observance of its Centennial year." "The lecture series is part of our activities for the centennial celebration. We held a forum on the Assessment of Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) process for Fiscal Year 2015 last Nov. 5. We plan to hold four more lectures or forums until October this year, the culmination of our centennial anniversary," Golding said. He said the lectures aim to provide legislators, their staff and the public, a deeper understanding of the pending measures in Congress. For instance, Golding said, the adjustment of income tax system is a subject of pending bills filed by Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto (Senate Bill 716), Sen. Bam Aquino (Senate Bill 1942, Angara (Senate Bill (2149), Representative Miro Quimbo (House Bill 4829) and Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Isagani Zarate (House Bill 5401). "Bills on the adjustment of the income tax system have been in the legislative mill for many years now. The current bills that were filed on the subject were not approved in the present Congress. Most likely they will be in the agenda of the 17th Congress," he said. A November 2015 PIDS study showed that the Philippines has one of the highest personal income tax rates among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Golding said they will write a report of the lectures and disseminate them to the Senators' offices as well as other Senate offices. (Pilar S. Macrohon) Press Release February 15, 2016 'MORE LGUs WILL BE HALED TO COURT, UNLESS GOVERNMENT HELPS THEM HAUL GARBAGE' Recto: BUB, bigger IRA, budget support needed to collect 15 billion kgs of trash yearly National government must throw a lifeline to towns and small cities drowning in garbage so the latter can sanitarily handle the estimated 14.6 billion kilos of garbage Filipinos will produce this year, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said today. Recto said towns are already spending almost 40 percent of their total budget on salaries, "leaving little budget space for garbage handling as there are also many important things to attend to." Recto said the country's 1,489 municipalities spent a mere P707.5 million on environment and sanitary services in 2014. The country's 145 cities, on the other hand, spent P6.22 billion, mostly by those in Metro Manila. "Even if we credit a third of the P3.1 billion that towns spent on wages of casual workers that year to the pay of garbage disposal personnel, that would still come up to a low P700,000 per town a year," Recto said. Towns collected P260 million in garbage fees in 2014, according to a Commission on Audit (COA) report Recto cited. Cities collected six times more, posting a P1.53 billion income from garbage fees. "With this small pool of resources, it shouldn't come as a surprise why those on the ground are having a hard time complying with the provisions of the Republic Act 9003," Recto said, referring to what is popularly known as the Solid Waste Management Act of 2003. The law requires segregation of solid waste at source, compliance with minimum requirements on collection and transport of waste, the establishment of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in barangays, and the construction of sanitary landfills, among others. But as of 2012, only 7,713 MRF points and 44 sanitary landfills have been established nationwide, the 2014 Compendium of Philippine Environmental Statistics stated. That year, 606 open dumpsites were still operating, according to the report. "The problem is cost," Recto said, "because in many areas where land is scarce or expensive, you need at least P20 million to build a sanitary landfill, that is if land can be found." Recto said government should step in by increasing its "equity" in solid waste management at the town level. "For starters, RA 2003-related activities should be given a bigger allocation in the Bottom Up Budgeting (BUB) resources," Recto said. BUB is a budgeting scheme which allows Local Government Units (LGUs) to identify projects aligned with national government programs. It has an allocation of P24.7 billion this year, which could also be the minimum amount for next year. Recto said "LGUs must have a bigger say in BUB funding and greater autonomy to name what activities they want implemented and even to create their own menu, for that would be real autonomy." "'Yang BUB pwedeng maging 'Budget para Ubusin and Basura'," he said. The senator is also batting for a "bigger IRA, higher LGU" scheme by splitting 50-50 internal revenues collected. At present, the share is 60-40 in favor of the national government, with 40 percent being divided among all provinces, towns, cities and barangays pursuant to a formula under the Local Government Code. However, in the computation of "internal revenues," taxes on gasoline and diesel paid by motorists are not included. Recto has filed a bill including these taxes in the computation of internal revenues from which LGUs will have a share. Recto also called for a specific line item in the national budget which would subsidize "qualified, financially hard up LGUs" in implementing the Solid Waste Management Act. "These are not, however, permanent grants. Just enough for them to get up on their feet. There will be a sunset provision," Recto said. As to funding source, Recto said "if the six-year National Greening Program is winding down, then perhaps part of its allocations can be transferred to RA 9003 support activities". Began in 2011, the NGP has a budget of P6.9 billion this year. According to Recto, LGUs certainly need help in carrying out the provisions of RA 9003. "I don't think they deliberately did not comply but many of them were put in a situation in which they could not comply." The Ombudsman recently filed complaints against 50 LGUs and close to 600 officials on behalf of the National Solid Waste Management Commission for failing to comply with Republic Act 9003. "It is not enough that we hale them to court. We should also help them haul their garbage," Recto said. "There are many services competing for local resources. Araw-araw 'yung mga nasa lokal ay nahaharap sa ganitong pagsubok: Mamili ka, gastusin mo ang pera sa basura o sa eskwelahan? O kaya sa basura o health centers?" he lamented. "There should be another alternative - and that is increasing LGU income or allowing greater national government equity not just in solid waste management but also in other services that our people. This can be met by a bigger share from taxes and a higher IRA," Recto said. In 2014, towns had a combined operating income of P146.2 billion, of which P114.9 came from IRA. Of this, they spent P58.25 billion on salaries and wages. Press Release February 15, 2016 Villar: Agricultural bills up for PNoy's signature A number of bills on agriculture only need the President's signature before more than 11.8 million farm workers and fisherfolk can start reaping the benefits, Sen. Cynthia Villar said. "We are confident of the President's support on the enactment of these bills. Our agriculture sector needs the reform and support especially in this era of ASEAN Economic Cooperation," Villar said. Villar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, added she sees no reason why the President would veto the bills that will make sure this administration's gains will be protected and sustained. "For one, the enactment of the bill declaring agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage will be a good accomplishment under his anti-corruption campaign," she said. Under Senate Bill No. 2923 or the Anti Large-Scale Agricultural Smuggling Act, the amount of smuggled agricultural product subject to economic sabotage is equal or more than P10 million for rice, and equal or more than P1 million for other agricultural products such as sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish, and cruciferous vegetables. Violators will face a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of twice the fair value of the smuggled agricultural product and the aggregate amount of the taxes, duties and other charges avoided. The bill extending the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) up to year 2022 also hurdled House of Representatives and Senate deliberations and will be up for the President's signature. "To ensure that only legitimate farmers and fisherfolks will have access to the funds. strict guidelines were put in place," Villar said. Under Senate Bill No. 2951 or the ACEF bill, 80% of the fund will be set aside for loan with minimal interest. Only P5 million per cooperative and P1 million per individual will be released strictly for the acquisition and establishment of agri-based production and post-production, and processing, machineries, equipment and facilities to achieve modern agricultural practices. Also transmitted for President Aquino's signature are: Senate Bill 3002 or "An Act providing for the development and promotion of farm tourism in the Philippines Senate Bill No. 2831 or the 'Halal Bill' which seeks to institute the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Program Ten local bills creating fish and aquatic resources' breeding areas in the provinces. Villar said the enactment of laws for the benefit of the agriculture and fisheries sector is crucial because based on the latest official poverty statistics, fishermen posted the highest poverty incidence for nine basic sectors in the Philippines at 41.4%, followed by farmers at 36.7%. During the 16th Congress, two other bills from Villar's committee were enacted into law, namely Republic Act No.10659 or the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015 and R.A. 10654 or the act to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing that amended the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace after being outed as "Client 9" in a now legendary sex worker scandal, is said to have choked a woman at The Plaza hotel in New York City. The New York Post broke the story, citing local law enforcement sources. After his fall from grace, Spitzer got a job as a CNN anchor. Here's their report on the former news presenter's new role as an accused physical abuser of women. A 25-year-old woman alleged that Spitzer choked her inside a room at the Plaza Hotel on Saturday, two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation told CNN. "The victim has indicated that the subject is Eliot Spitzer," the New York Police Department said in a statement released Sunday. "Through an ongoing investigation, we are attempting to further establish the identity of the subject and the nature of the incident." The alleged victim's name has been revealed elsewhere. From The New York Daily News: For 25 years, Frederic Brenner traveled the world, finding Jews to photograph. In every place he went, whether it was a singles weekend in the Catskills or an ancient stone dwelling in Yemen, he sought to uncover a buried trace of his own past. What had been silenced and ignored by my family, I had to excavate, he said during a visit to New York last month. Only after finishing the project did he comprehend his motivations. He had been raised in an assimilated intellectual household in Paris by parents who ignored their Jewish heritage. But the Six-Day War in Israel in 1967 awakened their ethnic consciousness. Against his wishes, Frederic was sent to a Jewish day school for three years before entering university. There, he became fascinated by Judaism and, as he grew older, by the ways in which a portable identity had assumed varied forms in different cultures. The product of his wanderings with a camera appeared in 2003: Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, a weighty two-volume work of black-and-white photographs and Talmud-like outside commentary. This Place, a photography exhibition through June 5 at the Brooklyn Museum (after stops in Prague; Tel Aviv; and West Palm Beach, Fla.), is the centripetal counterpart to Brenners far-flung Diaspora. All the photographs were taken in the concentrated domain of Israel and the West Bank. And while Brenner, 57, joined the project belatedly as a photographer, he mainly served as impresario. The exhibition features work from 11 other photographers, all foreigners established artists who for the most part had never been to the Holy Land. Its very unusual that a group of not-so-young artists would be invited to do something like that, said Thomas Struth, who joined a roster that also included Jeff Wall and Stephen Shore. Photographers wary When approached, most were wary. They feared being supervised as part of a team. I had never worked in any kind of group, and I was worried that I wouldnt have freedom, said Rosalind Fox Solomon, who at first rebuffed Brenners overture. The tortured and complex politics of the region raised greater anxiety. I didnt wish to be instrumentalized, said Fazal Sheikh, who has photographed displaced and marginalized people in Africa. All my work prior to this has questioned religiosity. I was a little timid about that at first. A whirlwind of charm and energy, Brenner persisted. Hes a very enthusiastic person, Struth said. You want to pull the hand brake: Just cool down! But hes also very appealing. Wall, likewise, did not know at first what to make of Brenner. When I first met Frederic, I thought he was kind of a showman and a diva, he said. But Ive grown to really like the guy. Hes very sincere. Art over ideology Brenner raised $6 million, largely from liberal American Jewish philanthropists. He invited 30 photographers to visit Israel and the West Bank on exploratory missions of about 2 weeks, without obligation on either side. They met with a range of people a day with an archaeologist, a day with a specialist on the Bedouins, he said. After, he decided whether to ask them to continue. I knew one thing would disqualify a photographer anger, he said. It was important to look at Israel without complacency but with compassion. I believe art has a power to address questions that an ideological perspective cannot. Brenner who lives for part of the year in a Jerusalem apartment readily admits, You cannot NOT be political when you deal with Israel. But he wanted the photographers to view Israel and the West Bank as place and metaphor. The very title of the exhibition underlines the way Israelis and Palestinians characteristically refer to this place or the situation eliding through obliqueness the divisive specifics he wanted the artists to explore. Israel is a place of radical otherness, where every single person is an other for someone else, he said. I wanted to invite others to question this otherness. Some of the contributions do radiate anger on the walls of the Brooklyn Museum exhibition and, more sharply, in the books that most of the participants compiled. Josef Koudelkas Wall depicts the ugly Israeli-built protective barrier that runs through the West Bank. Sheikhs impressively researched The Erasure Trilogy is a three-book examination of the Israeli campaign to make the desert bloom by eradicating Bedouin villages in the Negev by planting forests. Sheikh made several trips before finding his subject. I wouldnt have been comfortable going to Israel and showing how they made hummus, he said. But even though, as he says, the three books ended up being somewhat political, Erasure also regards Israel as metaphor. When viewing the Negev from the air, Sheikh observed: It is like the skin of the earth. You see something below the surface. In the body, it would be a vein. Here, it might be a wall of the Nabatean era. I wanted to work across the divide. What you really feel in both communities is a scar. Unusual points of view Perhaps the most penetrating gaze was provided by Wendy Ewald, who works in an unusual way. Furnishing cameras to people who have no training in photography, she teaches them to scrutinize their surroundings and compose a telling picture. Then she edits and arranges the photographs, adding written testimony from the participants. Originally, after going on the first exploratory mission, she suggested a project in Silwan, a Palestinian village on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, but Brenner turned her down, thinking that would be too narrow and tendentious. Ewald didnt give up. As she expanded her proposal, Brenner changed his mind. In her contribution to the exhibition and in her book This Is Where I Live Ewalds fledgling photographers show rarely seen aspects of life in Israel and on the West Bank. Old Palestinian women in East Jerusalem photograph settlers who have moved into nearby houses. Young Orthodox Jewish women relax in a military academy, Gypsy children play in an East Jerusalem alley, a dolled-up Druse bride with a troubled expression celebrates her wedding day these pictures, often shot by children, are eye-opening. Wendy enabled the subconscious of the country to speak, Brenner said. It is not only foreigners who find such photographs revelatory. When This Place opened at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art last May, the faces on the walls werent familiar to most Israeli viewers. The separation between the Israeli society and the Palestinian society and the Bedouin society unfortunately works, said Miki Kratsman, an activist photographer and teacher at the art school Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, who supplied advice, contacts and student assistants to the photographers. Israeli society sees Palestinian society only when the news covers a terror attack. Some Israelis wondered why the participants in This Place were all outsiders. After all, the forerunners of this kind of exploration the Farm Security Administration project in Depression-era America and la Mission photographique de la DATAR in France in the 80s that focused on French landscapes employed at least some native photographers. Midway through, Brenner considered adding a few homegrown artists. He could find willing Israelis, but no Palestinians would collaborate. For me, it would be a stain on the project that would last forever, to have Israelis and not Palestinians, he said. A fresh perspective Addressing criticisms that the project takes a colonial or imperial stance, Matt Brogan, a Brooklyn arts consultant who helped coordinate the operations logistics, argues that the outsider vision is a strength. It brings a continuity and focus that is a big benefit, he said. Sheikh compared it to The Americans, the groundbreaking investigation of America in the late 50s by Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank coming to a place you dont know that well and offering your perspective. Given a $70,000 stipend, an expense allowance and volunteer assistants, the photographers traveled throughout Israel and the West Bank, hunting for subjects that, on some level, they recognized or found intriguing. Solomon, who first thought she would look at people with tattoos and other body markings, found herself engaged instead by African immigrants. Struth photographed a garish basilica in Nazareth, an abandoned fortification in the Golan Heights, a high-tech laboratory in Rehovot, the international style City Hall of Tel Aviv and a bleak wasteland on the outskirts of Ramallah. I was more drawn to places I felt are not very glorious, he said, not very celebratory. Bedouins and bars Wall was pessimistic that he would find a subject, but on his exploratory trip, a chance detour presented him with a striking tableau. At a small olive grove and vineyard, Bedouin harvest workers were retiring for the night, wrapped in colorful blankets. What clinched it was the hulking white prison that loomed in the background. That took it to another level of complexity, he said. Because the harvest was ending and he hadnt brought any equipment, Wall committed to returning the next year to take the photograph, which he decided to make at dawn, while the workers slept. To him, it is not a picture about Israeli politics. I decided I was going to treat Israel like any other place, he said. Some men sleep outside under the stars, and some men sleep underground in a prison. Its like a haiku. Thats true everywhere. The universality that underlies the fractures in Israeli and Palestinian society is precisely what Brenner hopes art can display. It is really an exploration of the human condition, he said of This Place. Although the exhibition has received positive reviews, he and his colleagues are disappointed when critics perceive the pictures as news reports rather than as art. Journalists have tried to look at the art as a windowpane on the situation, Brogan said. For Brenner, This Place is fundamentally about a place within, each photographers interior space. By inviting different artists to contemplate a land of jarring differences, he hoped he could not only illuminate what he calls a place of radical dissonance, but also, even more profoundly, recognize the strangeness and otherness within ourselves. The new municipal pool in Byram doesnt have completed design plans, but discussions have begun about who will be able to dive in. Town department heads have begun to consider whether access to the pool should be limited to Greenwich residents only. Town Attorney Wayne Fox said the decision on access would be up to the town. If a residents-only policy were to be instituted, he said it would be legally defensible. We have taken a look at it, Fox said. These are policy decisions that need to be made by the Board of Selectmen about what kind of access they want to permit to the pool. But I am of the opinion that if the town wants to do it, they have the right. The towns residents-only beach policy was struck down by the Connecticut Supreme Court in 2001 after a lawsuit was filed by Stamford attorney Brendan Leydon. As a result the town instituted a policy by which non-residents can purchase guest passes to beaches and pay to park. Some officials argued Monday there could be a different policy for the pool. This pool is something that is being created with town tax dollars and Greenwich residents should be given priority when it comes to use of the pool, Republican First Selectman Peter Tesei said. The old pool was closed last summer due to nearby soil contamination. The Byram Park facility is not expected to reopen until construction on the new pool is complete. But the current policy allowed residents with a beach card or anyone with a guest pass to access the pool when it was open. Republican Selectman John Toner said restricting access is a good idea. The pool is not a natural resource, he said. Its something that were going to build and $11 million for it is a lot of money. But Democratic Selectman Drew Marzullo said there are many factors to be considered before a decision is made, including the potential for a repeat of the fight that led to the beach policy being struck down in court. While this may be legally defensible, do we as a town want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in court litigating such? Marzullo said. Thats one issue. The other is how will this be implemented? When a town resident wants to bring, lets say his or her grandchild who lives in New York for a swim, then what? They can swim in the ocean but cant at the pool? This is wrought with obstacles including perception. Tesei said priority access for residents means a resident should be able to get a non-resident in as a guest same as what was in place for the beaches before the court ruling. While the state Supreme Court decision found Greenwich had to allow public access to its beaches and parks, including Byram Beach and the nearby park, Fox said there are key distinctions when it comes to a pool. In the Leydon decision, the Supreme Court determined that the beach was an area where people could congregate and take part in their constitutional right to free speech and assembly, Fox said. But it would be looked upon differently when it comes to a small pool. People would still be allowed to go to the beach or the park but a pool is looked upon differently. Because a pool has limited capacity, Fox said different standards can be applied to it. He noted pools are often behind gates and are not considered natural gathering areas like a beach or park could be. Fox said other municipalities, including New Canaan and Trumbull, have resident-only policies in place for their municipal pools. So he feels it would stand up to a lawsuit if a policy were put in place and subsequently challenged. What the town wants to do about a policy is another question entirely and something that is up to the selectmen to decide, Fox said. Fox said his office looked into the matter as part of the conditions placed on funding for the pool last year by the BET. In order for money to be spent on design and other pre-construction work, the BET placed conditions that had to be met, including creation of a policy for use. It was a very general question but it led to the examination of what the policy could look like, Fox said. The issue was brought up by the BET Budget Committee this month during budget discussions with town Director of Parks and Recreation Joe Siciliano. Were meeting to put some options on the table, Siciliano said, adding that a residents-only policy is a possibility, as is continuing the current policy. The possibility of limiting access on certain busy days is also being considered. Actual plans for the pool, which have not been finalized, are expected to be revealed this year. The pool is being built through a public/private partnership between the town and the Junior League of Greenwich. Last year the town approved $9.5 million to remediate contaminated soil in the park and build the new pool. The BET placed conditions on the release of the money though and will hear a status report on the project in the coming months. The BET is going to want to know the answer to the policy questions before we vote in March or April, BET Budget Committee Chairman James Lash told Siciliano. Tesei said he had not received any direct communication from the BET about this issue but he is open to discussing it on the Board of Selectmen. kborsuk@scni.com GREENVILLE, S.C. George W. Bush won a bruising South Carolina presidential primary on his way to the Oval Office, as his father did before him. Now its his brothers turn, and for Jeb Bush, the most consequential foreign policy decisions of his brothers time in office are suddenly front-and-center of his bid to keep alive his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination thanks to Donald Trump. The former president had already announced plans to campaign for his younger brother on Monday in South Carolina, marking his most direct entry into the 2016 race to date. And Trump, the GOP front-runner, used the final debate Saturday before the states Feb. 20 primary as an opportunity to excoriate George W. Bushs performance as commander-in-chief. The former president, Trump said, ignored the advice of his CIA and destabilized the Middle East by invading Iraq on dubious claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. I want to tell you: they lied, Trump said. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none. Trump didnt let up as Bush tried to defend his brother, dismissing his suggestion that George W. Bush built a security apparatus to keep us safe after the 9/11 attacks. The World Trade Center came down during your brothers reign, remember that, Trump said. Thats not keeping us safe. The onslaught which Jeb Bush called Trump enjoying blood sport was the latest example of the billionaire businessmans penchant for mocking his rival as a weak, privileged tool of the Republican Party establishment, special interests and well-heeled donors. But the exchange also highlighted the former Florida governors embrace of his family name and history as he jockeys with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to emerge from South Carolina as the clear challenger to Trump, who won the New Hampshire primary, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the victor in Iowas caucuses. The approach tacks away from Bushs months-long insistence that hes running as my own man, but could be a perfect fit for South Carolina. Noted South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who ended his GOP presidential campaign in December and endorsed Jeb Bush in January, said: The Bush name is golden in my state. George W. Bush retains wide appeal among Republicans, from evangelicals to chamber of commerce business leaders and retired members of the military. All are prominent in South Carolina, with Bush campaign aide Brett Foster going so far as to say that George W. Bush is the most popular Republican alive. After the debate, some Republicans again suggested Trump had gone too far. Bush wasnt alone onstage leaping to his brothers defense, with Rubio coming back to the moment to say, I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not Al Gore. Trump has repeatedly defied predictions that his comments might threaten his perch atop the field. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Senate Republicans began to close ranks Monday behind a vow by Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, to block consideration of any nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died over the weekend, for the remainder of President Obamas term. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who faces re-election this year, said in a statement that the Senate should follow what he called common practice to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term. Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., agreed, leaving almost every vulnerable Republican incumbent backing McConnells pledge. Scalias death has given Obama a tantalizing opportunity to reshape the Supreme Court, but cementing a lasting legacy on American jurisprudence will present a familiar challenge: breaking the will of Republicans. Top White House officials and senior Democrats on Capitol Hill have begun discussing themes to counter the Republican threat: insisting that the Senate follow its constitutional responsibilities, and portraying a yearlong obstruction as at odds with decades of precedent for Supreme Court nominations. Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, began reaching out to Senate Democratic leaders on Monday, even as Obama hosts Southeast Asian leaders at a two-day summit meeting in Southern California. A public campaign will focus in part on the fact that none of the last 12 successful Supreme Court nominees waited longer than 100 days for a confirmation vote. Obama will not leave office for 339 days. Democrats said they would set up an online clock that would start the day Obama named his nominee. If youre sitting in the White House, the question is: How do you put maximum pressure on the Congress? said David Axelrod, a former top adviser to Obama. He added that Democrats hoped the public would recoil at the idea of the Senate on strike, refusing to do its duty. The looming clash on Capitol Hill is a testament to the stakes: A president has a chance to establish a clear liberal majority on the Supreme Court. That could shift the direction of legal thought on a wide range of issues like climate change, gay rights, affirmative action, abortion, immigration, gun control, campaign finance and labor unions. Some Democrats expressed confidence that they could build public pressure on the Republicans to give Obamas nominee a hearing. The idea of not even allowing a hearing strikes a chord that is pretty deep, said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. It will mount; it will get much stronger when the president has a nominee. But Republicans appear far more interested in mobilizing their base of conservative supporters than worrying about voters in the general election. 1 Officer shot: A man believed to have shot a Clarksdale, Miss., police officer in the face and a man believed to have joined him in an earlier robbery were being questioned Sunday by police, Mayor Bill Luckett said. The officer, Cpl. Derrick Couch, was hospitalized in critical condition with the bullet lodged in his brain. Lucket said the shooting occurred near a convenience store that two men in masks had just robbed Saturday night. 2 Hotel stabbing: A New York City man arrested in the stabbings of his girlfriend and her three small children has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder and attempted murder. Michael Sykes was arraigned Sunday. Rebecca Cutler, 26, 19-month-old daughter Ziana and 4-month-old Maiyah died in the attack at a Ramada Inn on Staten Island. Two-year-old Miracle was in critical condition. Sykes was the father of Maiyah. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate New York For much of the northeast United States, Valentine's Day was the coldest on record, with people bundling up for the not-so-warm embrace of teeth-chattering temperatures. From New York and Boston to Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn., temperatures on Sunday morning dipped to as low as minus 40 on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The National Weather Service said the temperature in New York City's Central Park fell to minus 1, a record low for the date. The last time it was below zero in Central Park was in January 1994. "I'm dumb enough to do this," exclaimed John Male before starting a 12-mile park run on Sunday morning with two companions. "I just always come out and I just decided not to do anything differently" except to wear a furry tiger hat with two tails over his normal headgear, in addition to four layers of clothing. His running partner also was wearing a tiger hat on top of the balaclava that covered her face except the eyes. "It's zero degrees and feels like negative 19; I'm going to sue him for personal injury after this," joked Molly Manning, a Manhattan attorney. "I'm here because they peer-pressured me to come out today. They basically made me feel like I was a wimp unless I came out." Boston reached minus 9, breaking the record set in 1934 by 6 degrees. It reached minus 16 in Worcester, Mass., breaking the 1979 record of 11 below zero. Providence hit minus 9 and Hartford minus 12, also breaking records from 1979. In Montpelier, Vt., the overnight temperature hit minus 19, tying a record set in 2003. And South Lincoln, Vt., recorded 27 below zero. Temperatures were so low in some spots, utilities were knocked out. A frozen regulator left about 400 customers in Connecticut without natural gas service and officials believe extreme cold in Vermont broke a utility pole, knocking out service to about 1,500. An emergency generator didn't kick in for Sheffield Selectboard Chairman Walter Smith, who said he lost a greenhouse full of about 500 orchids. "I've got it working now, but it's too late," he said. The cold kept many people inside. In a New Jersey bagel shop that's usually brimming with customers on Sunday mornings, Joe Weir was among a small handful of people who sat drinking coffee. "I just came from a church service, and it definitely wasn't as packed as it usually is," the 60-year-old Toms River man said. "We have a lot of elderly parishioners, and when the weather gets bad or real cold like this, a lot of them choose to stay in and watch a Mass on TV instead of going to church. Can't say I blame them." Temperatures were expected to climb before a winter storm already bringing snow to the Midwest moves into the region. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Mark Wineman/Getty Images Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Connor Radnovich/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of 3 SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Police are seeking a vehicle in connection with a fatal shooting that happened early Sunday morning at the Twin Peaks lookout in San Francisco. The unknown male suspect who allegedly shot three people, killing two and injuring one, then carjacked a vehicle from another person and fled, police said Monday. The vehicle is described as a dark gray GMC Yukon Denali with the California license plate 5PJU851, according to police. Police are advising that anyone who sees the described vehicle should not approach it but instead call 911 immediately. The shooting was first reported at 2:06 a.m. at the Twin Peaks lookout on Twin Peaks Boulevard, police said. Santa Rosa residents Julio Peraza, 21, and Rene Mora, 19, both died as a result of the shooting. An 18-year-old man was also shot and taken to a hospital, according to police. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the police's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444. An honest essay has numerous characteristics: original thinking, a good structure, balanced arguments, and plenty more. But one aspect often overlooked is that an honest essay should be interesting. It should spark the readers curiosity, keep them absorbed, make them want to stay reading and learn more. An uneventful article risks losing the readers attention; whether or not the points you create are excellent, a flat style, or poor handling of a dry subject material can undermine the positive aspects of the essay. The matter is that a lot of students think that essays should be like this: they believe that a flat, dry style is suited to the needs of educational writing and dont even consider that the teacher reading their essay wants to search out the essay interesting. You might want to have online essay editor service to boost your confidence in writing with an error-free output. Academic writing doesnt need to be and shouldnt be bland. The excellent news is that there is much stuff you can do to create your essay more attractive, while youll be able only to do such a lot while remaining within the formal confines of educational writing. Lets study what theyre. Have an interest in what youre writing about Dont go overboard, but youll be able to let your passion for your subject show. If theres one thing bound to inject interest into your writing, its being fascinated by what youre writing about. Passion for a subject matter comes across naturally in your essay, typically making it more lively and fascinating and infusing an infectious enthusiasm into your words within the same way that its easy to talk knowledgeably to someone about something you discover fascinating. Include fascinating details Another factor that may make an essay boring maybe a dry material. Some topic areas are naturally dry, and it falls to you to form the article more interesting through your written style and by trying to seek out fascinating snippets of knowledge to incorporate, which will liven it up a small amount and make the data easier to relate to. A way of doing this with a dry subject is to create what youre talking about that seems relevant to the critical world, as this is often easier for the reader to relate to. Emulate the fashion of writers you discover interesting When you read lots, you subconsciously start emulating the fashion of the writers you have read. Reading benefits you a lot, as this exposes you to a spread of designs, and youll start to require the characteristics of these you discover interesting to read. Borrow some creative writing techniques Theres a limit to the quantity of actual story-telling youll do when youre writing an essay; in the end, essays should be objective, factual and balanced, which doesnt, initially glance, feel considerably like story-telling. However, youll apply a number of the principles of story-telling to create your writing more interesting. consider your own opinion Take the time to figure out what its that you think instead of regurgitating the opinions of others. Cut the waffle Rambling on and on is dull and almost bound to lose the interest of your reader. Youre in danger of waffling if youre not completely clear about what you wish to mention or havent thought carefully about how youre visiting structure your argument. Doing all your research correctly and writing an essay plan before you begin will help prevent this problem. Editing is a vital part of the essay-writing process, so edit the waffle once youve done a primary draft. Read through your essay objectively and eliminate the bits that arent relevant to the argument or labor the purpose. employing a thesaurus isnt always a decent thing Avoid using unfamiliar words in an essay; theres too great a likelihood that youre misusing them. You may think that employing a thesaurus to seek out more complicated words will make your writing more exciting or sound more academic, but using overly high-brow language can have the incorrect effect. Avoid repetitive phrasing Please avoid using the identical phrase structure again and again: its a recipe for dullness! Instead, use a variety of syntax that demonstrates your writing capabilities and makes your writing more interesting. Mix simple, compound, and complicated sentences to avoid your paper becoming predictable. Use some figurative language Using analogies with nature can often make concepts more accessible for readers to know. As weve already seen, its easy to finish up rambling when youre explaining complex concepts mainly after you dont know it yourself. One way of forcing yourself to think about a couple of pictures, present it more simply and engagingly is to form figurative language. This implies explaining something by comparing it with something else, as in an analogy. Employ rhetorical questions Anticipate the questions your reader might ask. One of the ways ancient orators held the eye of their audiences and increased the dramatic effect of their speeches was by using the statement. A decent place to use a statement is at the top of a paragraph, to steer into the following one, or at the start of a replacement section to introduce a brand new area for exploration. Proofread Finally, you may write the top interesting essay an instructor has ever read. Still, youll undermine your good work if its plagued by errors, which distract the reader from the particular content and can probably annoy them. In 2012, the international press and the Pena Nieto administration declared it was Mexicos moment. The country would reorient its economy and take its rightful place as a leading emerging market. Four years and a few corruption scandals, massacres and brazen prison escapes later, the label is little more than an afterthought. But lets not be hasty in our rush to abandon the phrase. Lets embrace it. Mexico, its time for another moment, but this time in rule of law. President Enrique Pena Nieto assumed office three years ago, taking his country by storm. His technocratic team pushed forward reforms that overhauled markets, promised sizzling economic growth and positioned the country as a market to watch. The energy sector opened, competition picked up in telecommunications, and structural changes went into effect in labor markets and schools. It seemed, to quote a Financial Times piece, that the Aztec tiger was beginning to sharpen its claws. There was one critical element missing: anything related to seriously strengthening rule of law. In the process of redefining Mexico, the new team ignored the corruption and violence that had tripped up previous administrations. Armed only with a fresh reframing and a few isolated policy ideas, it is hard to see if and how they planned to patch up Mexicos rotten rule of law. Unsurprisingly, it didnt take long for Mexicos moment to give way to mayhem. The administration couldnt stop the emerging self-defense groups or fiery shootouts across Michoacan. But it all unraveled in September 2014 as 43 students disappeared. Angry protests filled Mexicos streets. Investors were suddenly less confident. And so were Mexicans, with almost 75 percent reporting that they felt insecure. At the same time, Mexico was being buffeted by allegations of corruption and conflicts of interest. These accusations hit the reform team itself, with Pena Nieto and Secretary of Finance and Public Credit Luis Videgaray at the center. Just as the dust was settling, Mexicos most wanted criminal, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, escaped from the countrys securest prison. It was clear what the reform agenda had left untouched. In response, the government pushed forward piecemeal policies, with subpar success. Pena Nieto named an anti-corruption czar, who was then accused of having his own conflict of interest. Federal employees were asked to report their conflicts of interest, with less than half bothering to oblige. While a 2008 judicial reform was supposed to be up and running by June 2016, it remains incomplete across many states. In Mexico, some 93 percent of crimes still dont even get investigated. Its an old story, so its time for a new approach. Bottom line: Its impossible to strengthen rule of law through small, incremental steps. Weve seen one promising approach to addressing corruption and transparency through a recent series of constitutional reforms, but Mexico needs to reach further if it is to start tipping the scale. It needs a plan that is even more ambitious and that simultaneously overhauls laws, builds institutions and checks and balances, strengthens civil society, and promotes change across various sectors. Taking on rule of law is easier said then done. Especially now, as low oil prices rob billions from the budget. Politically, too, it is unlikely the government could re-create the Pact for Mexico. Top this off with the fact that pushing for policies that might not only hurt your political allies but possibly put them in jail is never going to be popular. Yet for those who say this wont be possible, look no further than Mexico itself. Four years ago, Mexico took on the untouchables and emerged, by and large, victorious. The Aztec tiger can start sharpening its claws once again. But this time, it needs to be in the hunt for the corrupt. Antonio Garza is a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He is counsel in the Mexico City office of White & Case. Dave Lepori Its 1941, and things are looking pretty good for the Yamaguchi family. Former farmworkers, theyve managed to acquire their own fertile Santa Clara Valley spread and are working it on a profit-sharing basis with their tenant farmers, the Montanos. The only looming problem is that the eldest Montano son and Yamaguchi daughter have fallen in love, against her parents arranged-marriage plans. Then come Pearl Harbor and the internment, and the Montanos become the Yamaguchis only hope of returning to their farm after the war. The world premiere of Valley of the Heart that opened Saturday, Feb. 13, at San Jose Stage Company would be a major event, if only because its the first new play by the father of Chicano theater, Luis Valdez, in 16 years. But its a unique story as well. Many plays, books and exhibitions have explored the terrible injustices of the internment, but this may be the first look at its impact on Mexican and Japanese agricultural workers. WASHINGTON In 2011, eyebrows shot up when former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used a salty acronym WTF to mock the policies of President Obama. How quaint. Five years later, Donald Trump has blown right past acronyms. Hes in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. In recent days, Trump has publicly lip-synced the F-bomb, blurted out the S-word more than once, hurled an offensive term for coward at rival Ted Cruz, and fired a steady string of put-downs at other candidates whom he labels pathetic, liars, losers, nasty, evil and more. While Trump started it, other GOP candidates have jumped right into the rhetorical mosh pit, readily trading versions of liar, liar in Saturday nights venomous debate. Cruz has said Trump is losing it and called out his Trumpertantrums. A super PAC supporting Jeb Bush is hoping Trumps language is a turnoff to South Carolina voters. Its running a radio ad in the state that strings together clips of Trumps expletive-deleted language and then asks, Is this the type of man we want our children exposed to? The time is now for South Carolina to end the Trump charade. Its not that politicians are typically paragons of proper speech and etiquette. Theyve just tended to keep their name-calling and coarseness off-mike. Now, its on the podium and by design. Theres a general taboo-breaking that allows more and more of it to happen faster and faster, says Robert Lane Greene, author of You Are What You Speak, a book about the politics of language. The first time somebody does it, eyebrows go up and people get concerned, but then the next person doing it is less eye-opening. The Democratic nomination contest has been tame in comparison. Hillary Clinton complained of a low blow when Bernie Sanders said she was a progressive only on some days. Sanders, in turn, rejected Clintons accusation that his campaign had engaged in an artful smear by insinuating that she was beholden to Wall Street. As for the GOP campaign, Greene sees the coarseness of the GOP campaign as evidence that the contest to become the alpha male in the room has become more obvious this time than in previous elections. That seems to be just fine with the voters who have put Trump at the top of the polls and handed him a victory in New Hampshires first-in-the-nation primary. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Lyon is Frances best-kept secret. Its urban scene is enjoyably elegant without a hint of crass tourism. For the people who live in the city sandwiched between the Burgundy and Provence regions dining out is a passion. Plan for a full day of sightseeing and then kick back in the evening just as the locals do, at a characteristic cafe or restaurant. Lyon (pronounced lee-ohn) has been among Frances leading cities since the Romans ruled. In spite of its workaday, business-first facade, Lyon is the most historic and culturally important city in France after Paris. Here, youll experience ancient Roman sights, Old World cobbled alleys, Renaissance mansions, a broad range of worthwhile museums, and the classy, Parisian-feeling shopping streets of the Presquile district. A funicular brings you up Fourviere Hill to some of the citys best sights. Here, the Gallo-Roman Museum makes it clear how important Lyon was in ancient times. From atop the hill, enjoy the grand view of the city, with two major rivers running through it, the Rhone and Saone. On the funicular descent back into the Old Town (Vieux Lyon), you fast-forward through history to the 16th century and Frances best concentration of well-preserved Renaissance buildings. The traffic-free street named Rue St. Jean is the main drag, flanked by other pedestrian-only lanes. The citys trademark serpentine passageways (traboules) were essentially shortcuts linking the Old Towns three main streets. Lyons traboules give visitors a hide-and-seek opportunity to discover pastel courtyards, lovely loggias and delicate arches. Getting around is a joy: Electric buses have replaced diesel buses in the historic core, and bike lanes run everywhere. Cyclists enjoy the new bike path along the east side of the Rhone River. Museumgoers head to the Fine Arts Museum (second in France only to the Louvre), the Silk Workshop (demonstrating handmade silk printing), the Museums of Textiles and Decorative Arts (one tracing textile weaving over 2,000 years, the other featuring 18th century decor) and the Puppets of the World Museum, celebrating Guignol puppetry, the still-vibrant tradition first created in Lyon by an unemployed silk worker. For many, Lyons most gripping sight is the newly renovated Resistance and Deportation History Center, with well-organized displays and videos telling the inspirational story of the French Resistance. For dinner, head to either the Old Town or the Presquile, which each have thriving pedestrian avenues. Join the parade of restaurant shoppers and peruse the bouchons characteristic bistros that are especially fun in the evening. Lyons restaurants and accommodations are more affordable than youll find in Paris. Lyon feels relaxed, welcoming and surprisingly un-touristy. It seems everyones enjoying the place and theyre all French. Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks. E-mail: rick@ricksteves.com BEIRUT Air strikes blamed on Russia hit at least two hospitals and a school in northern Syria on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of civilians and further dimming hopes for a temporary truce, as government troops backed by Russian warplanes pressed a major offensive north of Aleppo. The raids came days after Russia and other world powers agreed to bring about a pause in fighting that would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the revival of peace talks. The projected truce agreed on Friday in Munich was to begin in a week, but there was no sign that would happen. On Monday, Syrian state TV reported that pro-government forces have entered the northern town of Tel Rifaat, where they were fighting fierce battles against insurgents. Tel Rifaat is a major stronghold of militants fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad. Capturing Tel Rifaat would bring government forces closer to their target of Azaz, near the Turkish border. In Idlib province, an air strike destroyed a clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in attacks that were minutes apart. It said seven people were killed and eight others were missing, presumed dead. The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict, said MSF mission chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The opposition group, which tracks both sides of the conflict through sources on the ground, said dozens were wounded in the attack. The entire building has collapsed on the ground, said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by phone from Maaret al-Numan. He said five people were killed near the MSF clinic and all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead. The Observatory and other opposition activists said another hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also hit Monday, most likely by a Syrian government air strike. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a childrens hospital in the town of Azaz, killing five people, including three children and a pregnant woman, according to the Observatory. A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said close to 50 civilians were killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria. Ban called the attacks blatant violations of international laws that are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria, according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. Russia says its air strikes are targeting militants and denies hitting hospitals or civilians. But rights groups and activists have repeatedly accused Moscow of killing civilians. The accusations have increased as Russia intensifies its air strikes to provide cover to Syrian troops advancing in the north. Troops are trying to cut rebel supply lines. PRAGUE So where should the next impenetrable razor-wire border fence in Europe be built? Hungarys right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban thinks he knows the best place on Macedonias and Bulgarias borders with Greece smack along the main immigration route from the Middle East to Western Europe. He says its necessary because Greece cant defend Europe from the south against the large numbers of refugees pouring in, mainly from Syria and Iraq. The plan is especially controversial because it effectively means eliminating Greece from the Schengen zone, Europes 26-nation passport-free travel region that is considered one of the European Unions most cherished achievements. Orbans plan featured prominently Monday at a meeting in Prague of leaders from four nations in an informal gathering known as the Visegrad group: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Visegrad group, formed 25 years ago to further the nations European integration, is marking that anniversary Monday. Still, it has only recently found a common purpose in its unified opposition to accepting any significant number of migrants. This determination has emboldened the group, one of the new mini-blocs emerging lately in Europe due to the continents chaotic, inadequate response to its largest migration crisis since World War II. The Visegrad group is also becoming a force that threatens the plans of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who wants to resettle newcomers across the continent while also slowing down the influx. The plan to build a new European defense line along the border of Bulgaria and Macedonia with Greece is a major foreign policy initiative for the Visegrad Four and an attempt to re-establish itself as a notable political force within the EU, said Vit Dostal, an analyst with the Association for International Affairs, a Prague-based think tank. At Mondays meeting, leaders from the four nations were joined by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov so they can push for the reinforcements along Greeces northern border. Macedonia began putting up a first fence in November, and is now constructing a second, parallel, fence. After the meeting in Prague, Orban said his country is ready to help those countries that are ready to create a second defensive line south of Hungary. He also said Hungary fully supports Bulgarian membership in the Schengen zone because it is capable of fully protecting its borders. He also called for opening sensible talks on Macedonias EU membership. The leaders will try to hash out a unified position ahead of an important EU meeting Thursday and Friday in Brussels that will take up both migration and Britains efforts to renegotiate a looser union with the EU. The Visegrad countries have also recently united against British attempts to limit the welfare rights of European workers, something that would affect the hundreds of thousands of their citizens who now live and work in Britain. HAVANA The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a two-man company from Alabama to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year for sale to private farmers in Cuba. The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017. Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and thats not what were trying to do. Were looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve, Clemmons said. Its our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries. The $5 million to $10 million plant would be the first significant U.S. business investment on Cuban soil since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalized billions of dollars of U.S. corporate and private property. That confiscation provoked a U.S. embargo on Cuba that prohibited virtually all forms of commerce and fined non-U.S. companies millions of dollars for doing business with the island. Letting an American tractor company operate inside a Cuban government facility would have been unimaginable before Presidents Obama and Raul Castro declared on Dec. 17, 2014, that they would restore diplomatic relations and move to normalize trade, travel and other aspects of the long-broken bilateral relationship. Since then, Obama has been carving exceptions into the embargo through a series of executive actions. Voters Be Damned After amending a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed New Mexico voters to decide if pot should be legal for adults 25 years or order, on Sunday night. K-12 Funding Boost While Colorado collects millions off pot taxes to offset its education budget, senators here want voters to decide whether they want to continue to and increase school funding by about $110 million a year. Budget Bleeding Speaking of budgets, were starting to hear whispers about if oil prices continue to drop. Joe Monahan blogs that if revenue doesnt stop bleeding in the next few months, lawmakers might have to consider additional budget reductions and even government job cuts. Maybe the State Auditor Tim Keller found lying around unspent can help. Real ID After hammering out , the Senate passed the measure on Saturday. It has to head back to the House for a final vote, and then Gov. Susana Martinez will get what shes wanted to sign for six years. Countdown Theres only a few days left until the Legislature adjourns, and theres still a lot for lawmakers to do. Dan Boyd has . Use of Force The Albuquerque Journal reports, Albuquerque police officers have started training on a new use-of-force policy. and instructs officers to use the 'minimum amount of force necessary' in any given situation. So far, fewer than 100 officers have been trained on the policy, which was distributed to officers in late January. Police union officials have raised questions about how the new rules will be enforced before training is complete. Political Discourse US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died from natural causes in his sleep in Texas on Saturday. Naturally, you already know what happened afterward, and it says a lot about the contentious partisan divide that has gridlocked Congress for years. . Just Nuts Liar, liar, liar, presidential campaign on fire. The 2016 Republican Party presidential candidates called each liars more than 20 times during Saturdays debate in South Carolina. "What I've been watching here is this back and forth, and these attacks, some of them are personal, I think we're fixing to lose the election to Hillary Clinton if we don't stop this," he said, drawing cheers from the crowd. Pope Slams Mexicos Corruption Celebrating a Mass for more than 300,000 people in one of Mexico's poorest and most dangerous cities, Pope Francis on Sunday Decrying "a society of the few and for the few", he denounced deep inequality and the vanity and pride of those who consider themselves a cut above the rest. "That wealth which tastes of pain, bitterness and suffering. This is the bread that a corrupt family or society gives its own children," the pope said at the Mass in the city of Ecatepec. The pope will greet close to a million faithful along the border in Juarez on Wednesday. Crisis in the Cold KOB has wrapped up its excellent two-part series on the high number of people dying from exposure to the cold in Gallup. Its a long piece from Blair Miller and Shaun Griswold about Lobos Win The UNM Lobo men bounced back from losses at San Diego State and Utah State with KOB has wrapped up its excellent two-part series on the high number of people dying from exposure to the cold in Gallup. Its a long piece from Blair Miller and Shaun Griswold about the underlying problems and what needs to be done to prevent future tragedies.The UNM Lobo men bounced back from losses at San Diego State and Utah State with a big win over San Jose State on Saturday, 74-58. UNM (15-10, 8-4 MW) kept its hold on second place in the Mountain West with its win and Fresno States overtime loss at Nevada. The Lobos remain a half game ahead of Boise State, who beat Wyoming. Liar, liar, liar, presidential campaign on fire. The 2016 Republican Party presidential candidates called each liars more than 20 times during Saturdays debate in South Carolina. Ohio Gov. John Kasich , who finished second in the New Hampshire primary, said, "I gotta tell you. This is just crazy, huh? This is just nuts.Celebrating a Mass for more than 300,000 people in one of Mexico's poorest and most dangerous cities, Pope Francis on Sunday took a swipe at the country's rich and corrupt elite, according to Reuters.The pope will greet close to a million faithful along the border in Juarez on Wednesday. Santa Fe Reporter While you're here, I hope you will discover a thought-provoking idea, a little inspiration and encouragement to brighten your day, new ways to make your life less complicated and a lot more fun, or even a new recipe. Always remember that God loves you and has great plans for your life (See Jeremiah 29:11 ). If you have time, I would love to hear your comments and suggestions. Please come back anytime. Broadspectrum, the Australian infrastructure services firm formerly known as Transfield Services, says a hostile offer for the company from Spain's Ferrovial is likely to lapse next month because New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office won't have made a ruling in time. Sydney-based Broadspectrum yesterday said it was "highly unlikely" the A$1.35 a share bid would get OIO approval before the March 7 expiry date. It has rejected Ferrovial's approach and this week its board reiterated that the bid "significantly undervalues" the infrastructure services firm. The ASX-listed shares last traded at A$1.14 and have dropped 19 percent this year. "The NZ OIO's reported target is to process 90 percent of applications within 50 business days, although recent statistics suggest that the approval process has taken on average at least 80 business days," Broadspectrum said. New Zealand's foreign investment regime has proved contentious, with strong public opposition to the sale of farmland and residential property to overseas interests. While that doesn't typically lead to decisions being blocked, delays in approval have been an ongoing concern. Most recently, NZX-listed robotics manufacturer Scott Technology complained about the slow process in its scheme of arrangement with Brazilian meat processor JBS. Ferrovial would need OIO approval because Broadspectrum's New Zealand operations span telecommunications network, roading and other utilities. The Spanish firm hasn't ruled out raising its offer. Broadspectrum's infrastructure segment, which accounts for about a quarter of its revenue, reported an underlying loss before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation of A$14.1 million in its first half, due largely to a A$14.8 million provision against a telecommunications contract in New Zealand. "This provision, together with temporary delays in (Australian) National Broadband Network volumes, as well as delayed changes in the Chorus commercial model and delays in Crown Fibre awarding ultrafast broadband work packages in New Zealand, resulted in deferral of revenue and a significant earnings impact in the telecommunications sub-sector for the half," Broadspectrum said. "Reduced volumes across electrical services in New Zealand also contributed to the underperformance of the infrastructure sector." BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct MCY - Quarterly Operational Update VCT - Operational performance for the 3 months ended 30 Sept 2022 NZL - Forestry Estate Acquisition October 21st Morning Report Air New Zealand Limited Retail Bond Offer Books Close Spark welcomes C-band spectrum allocation AIA - 2022 Annual Meeting Chair & Chief Executive Addresses MOVE Completes Purchase of Vessel for Trans-Tasman Service Westpac Banking Corp's New Zealand unit will pay more than $4 million in compensation after overcharging customers who used debit cards to withdraw cash from its ATM machines in Australia. Westpac New Zealand self-reported for a potential breach of the Fair Trading Act to the Commerce Commission and the Financial Markets Authority in late 2014, the Wellington-based regulator said in a statement. The bank told its customers Australian ATM transactions would be processed and converted into New Zealand dollars using a rate of exchange fixed by card schemes such as Visa or Mastercard. However, between October 2012 and August 2014, Westpac charged a higher rate of exchange than that fixed by the card schemes. At the time Westpac was overcharging, the commission still had primary jurisdiction for any misleading or deceptive conduct in the financial sector, but this was passed to the FMA in April 2014. As part of its settlement, Westpac will seek to compensate about 108,000 former and current customers who were overcharged more than $5. An additional 60,000 customers were overcharged less than $5, and the sum attributed to this group just over $125,000 will be donated to the Mangere Budgeting Services Trust. Any balance remaining as a result of Westpac being unable to contact and compensate former customers, including deceased customers, will also be donated to the Trust. Commissioner Anna Rawlings said they were pleased Westpac had proactively informed regulators to ensure the matter was properly resolved. Having reviewed Westpacs internal investigation and the information they have provided us, we are satisfied they did not set out to mislead their customers," Rawlings said. "While the overcharged fees are small for individuals, cumulatively it could have generated several million dollars in profit for Westpac. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct MCY - Quarterly Operational Update VCT - Operational performance for the 3 months ended 30 Sept 2022 NZL - Forestry Estate Acquisition October 21st Morning Report Air New Zealand Limited Retail Bond Offer Books Close Spark welcomes C-band spectrum allocation AIA - 2022 Annual Meeting Chair & Chief Executive Addresses MOVE Completes Purchase of Vessel for Trans-Tasman Service For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser Description Round-trip transportation from your Bridgetown cruise terminal! Air-conditioned, fully licensed, and insured transportation! English-speaking certified guides! All entrance fees! Lunch and one drink! Sightseeing highlights - Bridgetown, Garrison, Miami Beach, Foul Bay, Codrington College, St. John's Church, Bathsheba, view of Morgan Lewis Windmill, Aminal Flower Cave restaurant, North Point, Speightstown, and Holetown! A full-day excursion that will show you some of Barbados best highlights and sights. You will go from coast to coast on a guided fun day with lunch included. You will see Beautiful Barbados! Your English-speaking, friendly driver will be waiting for you outside your Barbados cruise ship terminal and will help you with air-conditioned transportation. As you head away from the cruise terminal area, your certified and experienced local guide will give you a rundown of the 6 to 7-hour day ahead of you. Barbados is an Island of great beauty and diversity. Your route begins along the Southern Coast -through the capital city, Bridgetown. As you are passing through, your guide will point out some of the highlights. Your first stop will be Garrison, the first British-built garrison, which was in the West Indies at St. Ann's Fort in 1705. You will head up the road past Accra Beach and the town of Oistins. Oistins is a major fishing town but has its old island quaintness. This excursion is packed full of photo opportunities at each turn. Your route will then lead through Miami Beach and Foul Bay Beach - both unspoiled local beaches that rarely see tourists. You will get to try some of the freshly made fish cake and coconut punch that is complimentary. Just past Foul Bay, is Codrington College. Codrington College was built in 1715 and is the oldest Theological College in the western hemisphere. Just up the hill from Codrington College is your next stop, St John's Church. It is a classic Gothic-style church that was rebuilt in 1831 and has a very rich history. This Barbados sightseeing excursion now leads to the windblown East side of the island where you will see the rugged, rocky beaches of Bathsheba and Soup Bowl. Giant rocks lie in the crashing surf making for a spectacular sight. You will be able to spot the Morgan Lewis Windmill a short distance away. After a morning of beauty, it will be time to taste the flavor of Barbados with local cuisine served up at our lunch stop. You will have a typical Bajan lunch and a drink at Animal Flower Cave restaurant at the northern point of the island. The journey goes to North Point where grassy fields lead to dramatic, rocky slopes and foamy blue water with crashing waves below. You will have a photo and refreshment break at North Point. You will travel to Speightstown, also known as Little Bristol. This is the second largest city in Barbados and dates back to the 1600s. Holetown is the last stop on your round in beautiful Barbados. This was the site where England claimed the island in 1625. Until 1629, it was the island's only town. There will be numerous stops to stretch, take photos, browse and explore. Your journey will end as the guide drops you off at your Barbados cruise terminal where you started. About Shoreline Area News We are Shoreline and Lake Forest Park residents who strive to provide you with news and information about the area in which we live and work. We cover Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and some events and destinations in surrounding areas. NEW DELHI: Carrying the burden of huge expectations, the Arvind Kejriwal government today announced waiving pending water bills till November last as it completed one year in office, a period marked by repeated run-ins with the Lt Governor and the Centre. The Chief Minister and his entire cabinet held an over two hour-long public interaction to mark the milestone during which they presented the government's report card since storming to power with an overwhelming haul of 67 seats in the 70-member assembly. "We completed one year today. Now the servants of the people are standing before their masters to provide explanations," Kejriwal said, adding his administration had not let a single penny of taxpayers' money go to "waste". In his response to a question, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to "shield" corrupt officials. The AAP government has been locked in fierce confrontation with the Centre and Lt Governor Najeeb Jung ever since coming to power over a range of issues. Its relationship with the BJP-ruled Centre deteriorated significantly following a CBI raid on Delhi Secretariat in connection with an alleged graft case against the Chief MInister's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar. "Modi ji is fully trying to protect corrupt persons in Delhi. Delhi Assembly had passed Janlokpal Bill which has been sent to the Centre for its approval. Once it is approved by the Centre, Lokpal will nab these persons (corrupt)," said Sisodia. Under the water bill waiver scheme announced by the Chief Minister, residents of posh localities will be given exemption of up to 25 per cent on their dues, while those in not so upscale areas will receive 50 per cent exemption. Residents of a majority of areas will get full waiver. "People living in A and B category areas will be given exemption of up to 25 per cent, while those in C category will receive 50 per cent exemption. "The D category area will be exempted 75 per cent and E,F,G and H category areas will be completely exempted from paying pending bills. Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) will be waived for all categories," said the Chief Minister. The government also launched 20 polyclinics across the city as part of the celebrations. Kejriwal and other ministers took phone calls from people and answered a variety of questions during the event at NDMC Convention Centre. The Chief Minister also announced a Rs 800 crore project to lay water pipelines in areas where piped water is currently not available.The Delhi Chief Minister said only those consumers who have functional water meters will be able to benefit from the dues waiver scheme. He said water connections will be made available for unauthorized colonies and by the end of December 2017, every household in the city will be connected to a piped water network. The total value of the pending bills across categories is Rs 2,854.80 crore. The government also decided to waive the payment of late fee and that will cost another Rs 923.27 crore to the exchequer. After coming to power, the AAP government had announced halving of power tariffs for families consuming up to 400 units a month and free-water supply of 20,000 litres (20 kilolitres) to every household. The Chief Minister also announced the re-implementation of the Delhi government's scheme of 80 per cent reduction in onetime sewer and water development charges for those taking new connections. Addressing a separate event, Kejriwal launched a stinging attack on previous governments in Delhi, saying their "bad intentions" resulted in Delhi lagging behind in terms of development. Seeking to underscore the "difference" between previous dispensations and his government, Kejriwal said the "same team of doctors and engineers who did not get a chance to work during the earlier regimes have done a good job over the past year". "All the parties which were in the government in the past, would keep saying that there is no money (for development works). But from my experience in the government during the year, I have seen there is no shortage of funds, but intentions. "Until now, their intentions were bad. Last year, you gave thumping majority to those with good intention (AAP) and now see all the big works are taking place," Kejriwal said. The Chief Minister made the remark during a function in Jafrabad where he inaugurated Aam Aadmi Poly Clinic. The Government launched 20 such clinics simultaneously today. Kejriwal said his government was being "troubled" in "some or the other way" by the BJP-led Centre and urged the gathering to keep supporting his party. Health Minister Satyandar Jain said the Government plans to launch 150 poly clinics in the city. Of these, 90 are dispensaries which the Government will convert into polyclinics, he added. The AAP government had made a series of announcements including setting up of Aam Aadmi Canteen and providing free wi-fi in public spaces. These projects are yet to see any forward movement. Read Also: Gravitational Waves: India's Contribution in Landmark Discovery Indian-origin diplomat Australia's new envoy to India ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday said it is surprised and disappointed at Indias reaction over the United States decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, arguing that India is the largest importer of defence equipment and its arsenal stock is much larger. Pakistan reiterated the Obama administrations justification that the acquisition would enhance the countrys precision strike capability to combat terrorism. We are surprised and disappointed at the Indian governments reaction. Their [Indias] Army and arsenal stock are much larger and they are the largest importer of defence equipment, the Foreign Office said in a statement in response to media queries. Joint cooperation against terror As regards F-16 sale, Pakistan and the United States closely cooperate in countering terrorism. US spokesperson clearly announced that the sale is to enhance precision strike capability, it added. Pakistans reaction comes a day after India summoned U.S. Ambassador Richard Verma to convey its displeasure and disappointment over Obama administrations decision to sell eight nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets worth nearly $700 million to Pakistan. It will go into anti-India activities: Jaishankar Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar summoned Mr. Verma to the South Block and during the 45-minute meeting told him about Indias concerns over U.S. military aid to Pakistan which New Delhi believes goes into anti-India activities. According to sources, such military aids will embolden Pakistan. India on Saturday disagreed with the US rationale that such arms transfers help Pakistan in combating terrorism. The record of the last many years in this regard speaks for itself, the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement. The proposal is likely to face stiff resistance in the Republican-controlled Congress. Read Also: Gravitational Waves: India's Contribution in Landmark Discovery Indian-origin diplomat Australia's new envoy to India NEW DELHI: Delhi has been considering the proposal to manufacture F-16 fighter jets even after U.S. plans on transferring eight F-16 jets to Pakistan. The proposal has been offered under many meetings and discussions since November last year to meet both the Indian as well as export requirements, reports The Economic Times. Overlooking the objections made by U.S. lawmakers, U.S. has recently moved ahead with its plan to sell eight F-16 jets to Pakistan. The Obama administration claims that Pakistan has been using its F-16 fleets effectively against terrorists and has enhanced the capabilities of its military. However, many U.S. lawmakers do not agree to this plan and believe that Pakistan continues to support terror outfits and these planes could be used to threaten India. India also expressed displeasure to this act and told the U.S. Ambassador Richard Verma that this decision meant Indias protests over the past year regarding this issue were unheeded. However, India is considering U.S.s proposal to manufacture F-16 under the Make in India plan. Previously manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the proposal of F-16 manufacture is being pushed by Washington. Additionally, Boeing is also showing deep interest in building F/A 18 Super Hornet fighters under the Make in India plan. U.S. has offered India to produce an advance variant of the jet that is being sold to Pakistan and is coined as F-16 IN Super Viper. Apart from the F-16 IN Super Viper and F/A 18 Super Hornet, India is also considering offer from Swedens SAAB to transfer Gripen fighter line to India and Airbuss proposal to create Eurofighter City. Read Also: Gravitational Waves: 7 Interesting Facts Bodies of 9 Siachen Soldiers Brought to Delhi IMPHAL: Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang on Sunday flayed the Manipur government for passing three "anti-tribal" bills in the assembly, and termed it "unconstitutional". At a public meeting in Ukhrul district of Manipur in connection with the Naga seed-sowing festival Lui Ngai Ni, he said: "The Congress government had done so with an eye to the votes from the valley people in the 2017 assembly elections. The bills were passed without knowing the history of the Nagas." Meanwhile, Manipur's Congress legislator N. Biren said some organisations invited the Nagaland chief minister to the function which only showed the mistrust and disunity among the people of Manipur. "In the hills in Manipur, there is no democracy since voters are arm-twisted to vote for the candidates projected by certain groups," he said. Zeliang said the four legislators of the Naga People's Front in the Manipur assembly have resigned in protest against the passing of the bills. However, the speaker has not acted yet on the resignations. Violence erupted following the Manipur government's adoption on August 31, 2015 of three landmark bills -- Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill 2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (seventh amendment) Bill 2015, and Manipur Shops and Establishment (second amendment) Bill 2015. The bills are pending with the president. Houses, properties of ministers and legislators were burned down by a frenzied mob. Police opened fire at protesters, and eight people were killed. One youth died in a road accident during the protests. On the festival, he said it teaches people to work harder, and will also help develop tourism. "The Naga bodies should organise a festival which will encompass all Nagas spread in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh," he said. He exhorted the people to support the attempts by the central government to bring about a peaceful solution to the Naga problems. Read Also: Disappointed at India's Reaction to F-16 Deal with U.S.: Pak Day to Mark Indo-Pak Harmony Held at IB in Jammu Do you recall how President Obama got a Nobel Prize for Peace before he even had a chance to pick the drapes in the White House? The world was so angry with George W Bush for the Iraq war that they wanted to send a message by embracing Obamas victory. Fortunately for the Nobel committee, President Obama has had 8 years of solid accomplishment in office. Before I get to the good stuff let me list out some disappointments, as an Indian American. (1) Criminal justice system: One would have thought as the nations first black president, there would be nothing more important than addressing the gross injustice of the American criminal justice system. Blacks are imprisoned at a rate that is many times higher than whites leading to 1 in 4 black children who can expect to end up in jail. This is the starting point that leads to broken families and a broken society and Obama knows this. Yet, he did little to address this. (2) Race relations: Relations between races have not been this low in decades. Perhaps it is the prevalence of social media and smartphones that has given us a ringside view of the underbelly of the police system, systemic discrimination, and so on but here we are. In the first few months of Obamas presidency when a black Harvard professor was arrested for breaking into his own house, I thought that would set the stage to tackle this issue head on. Instead, President Obama invited the white police officer to the White House for a beer. (3) India: Every Indian American and about a billion Indians were delighted by President George W Bushs grand gesture to India by signing a nuclear deal with it and bringing India on to the world stage as a trusted partner of the US. Obama has barely acknowledged India, or most other world issues for that matter, only acting on issues when dragged in by events outside his control. Naturally, the USs immediate priority is terrorism and hence sorting out the mess in Iraq and Syria is where our attention should be. However, I cannot help thinking that we may have squandered a great opportunity to strengthen ties between the worlds two greatest democracies. OK, now for the good stuff. This is a long list so I will highlight just the main accomplishments: (1) Healthcare reform: Obamacare enabled an additional 20 million Americans to get health insurance when they had none before. A great accomplishment. Some of us were hoping for 100% coverage so that every American gets health insurance but I guess 90% is better than where we were before. This brings us a step closer to other developed nations who care for every one of their citizens. (2) Cuba and Iran: Ending over 50 years of isolating Cuba and normalizing relations was long overdue and President Obama delivered on that. He also struck a deal with Iran that hopefully we can look back on proudly in 20 years as being a success. Perhaps hard to celebrate the Iran deal just yet but I believe getting that done took courage. So that just leaves North Korea as an evil doer. (3) Jobs and the economy: President Obama took over when we were reeling from the financial crisis. We are now back to robust job growth and a relatively strong economy. None of the other developed economies have recovered as well as the US and that is a direct testimony to Obamas leadership. President Obama has had a successful eight years. However, it is debatable how history will judge him since he has steered the ship carefully but not aimed for a bold or memorable vision for America. That could all change with what happens after his presidency. This is still early days but Donald Trump could in fact win the Republican nomination and go on to become president. If that happens and his governance is anything like the xenophobic, hateful, and delusional ranting that his campaign rhetoric has been, we will have an America that may never recover from that presidency. The shining light on the hill will be extinguished and America will join the ranks of other once great nations like those that are doddering around in Europe. In that newly unstable world, all of us will look longingly at the Obama years on how things were and yearn for their return. Therein lies Obamas hope to go down in history as a great and memorable president. His reign will seem an era of calm and good sense and civility. The Nobel committee may well give him another Nobel prize, again not so much for his accomplishments but as a tribute to what he is not. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- This is the "Year of the Monkey," according to the Chinese Lunar calendar. It started with firecracker bangs plus a riot of red and gold in Manhattan's Chinatown. And, for a Staten Islander, it might finish in Dongan Hills with lion dancers and dumplings at Jac Mao in Dongan Hills on Sunday, Feb. 21. That date is one day before the close of New Year festivities, by Chinese tradition. This year's celebration officially ends Feb. 22. with a Lantern Festival in China, a harbinger of the spring soon to come. If you were born in the years 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, then you are " curious , mischievous , and clever," according to Chinese custom. Jac Mao's gig includes a buffet, lion dancers from the Xiaolin Martial Arts school in New Springville plus live music from The Max Christopher Trio which plays classic favorites from the 1960s to date. On that Sunday, the party runs from 2 to 5 p.m. with special New Year's dishes along a buffet for $34.95 per guest. Reservations are required for the dinner although guests are welcome to congregate at the bar to watch the spectacle. Last year, a colorful procession in front of the restaurant caused a small traffic jam on Hylan Boulevard. While drums and cymbals gonged that afternoon, the crowd snapped photos of the commotion while restaurateur Jac Mao and his waiters fed lettuce and red envelopes to the wily lions. The creatures shredded the eats, then spat them on the sidewalk -- a sign of good luck. The procession weaved through the restaurant proper and kitchen -- gongs and all -- while staff readied a buffet of long noodles, dumplings, Peking duck and desserts. If preparing a feast for home, for good fortune, there are a few necessary components of a food display. One needs a few oranges or tangerines, long noodles plus leafy greens like bok choy or Chinese broccoli for health. Sweets like coconut candies and pastries are a must. Find Asian groceries at Asian Foods, 1801 South Ave., Travis; as well as Phil-Am Foods, 527 Clifton Ave., Clifton. -- Jac Mao is located at 1771 Hylan Blvd., Dongan Hills; 718-979-6100, JacMao.com. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Don't Edit One of the oldest buildings in New Dorp Beach -- a fieldstone and wood-frame farmhouse built near the intersection of present-day New Dorp Lane and Cedar Grove Avenue -- survived the centuries and is now located on the grounds of Historic Richmond Town. It was moved there in 1965; the cottage was designated an official New York City landmark in 1976. Additional information about the Britton Cottage is available on the website of Historic Richmond Town. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Late 1600s historic house survives The Britton Cottage: It was built on New Dorp Lane, with its earliest section dating back to the late 1600s. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit New Dorp's name was coined after Oude Dorp (Dutch for "Old Town") -- the first location of European settlement on Staten Island in the mid-1600s -- was vacated. After suffering through several destructive battles between the colonists and the Native Americans, Oude Dorp was abandoned in favor of a site to the south. The colonists rebuilt their settlement, calling it Nieuwe Dorp, Dutch for New Town. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Bucolic New Dorp Lane Bucolic New Dorp Lane. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit In 1886 William Ross "began to develop New Dorp as a commuter suburb due to the nearby station of the Staten Island Railroad," the city Landmarks Preservation Commission has noted. The subdivision plan was called Crown Park. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com The old railroad station When New Dorp's railroad station was at grade. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit The area that was formerly Miller Field and is now part of the Staten Island unit of Gateway National Recreation Area was the residence and farm of William H. Vanderbilt -- the oldest son of industrial magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt -- from about 1842 to 1863, according to historian Marjorie Johnson, writing in "The Encyclopedia of New York City." A horse-racing enthusiast, William Vanderbilt "laid out a trotting track on the southern portion of his property near the beach," Johnson reported. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com A Vanderbilt mansion Vanderbilt homestead, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Don't Edit Around 1790, the hillside property near what is now near the present-day intersection of Richmond Road and New Dorp Lane "was sold to the Vanderbilt family as farmland," the city Landmarks Preservation Commission reports. Because the land "included the juncture of routes leading to New York, Richmond, and Philadelphia, the Vanderbilts [were induced] to accommodate travellers." "A number of inns The Rose and the Crown, and The Black Horse being the most renowned were built at this intersection." Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Family farms Farmland in New Dorp, back in the day. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit New Dorp Moravian Church was etablished in 1763. The church provides this history on its website: In the 1730s, Moravian settlers in New York and Pennsylvania commissioned a new sailing ship to be built by John Van Deventer at his shipyard at Van Deventer Point, located near today's Verazzano Bridge. The "Irene" made 14 round trips to Europe, bringing mostly Moravian missionaries and church members to New York. Nicholas Garrison, a Staten Islander, was the first captain of the Irene; Cornelius Jacobsen, also a Staten Islander, served as captain on its last voyage in 1758." One of the oldest Protestant denominations, the Moravian Church was founded in 1457. Known then as the "Unity of the Brethen" early Moravians came from the area of what is now the Czech Republic known as Moravia, hence came the name Moravian. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Historic church Moravian Church, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com No traffic on Richmond Road! Looking west on sleepy-looking Richmond Road in New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit New Dorp was the location of inns and beachfront hotels, back in the day. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Richmond Road inn Keystone Inn on Richmond Road, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Dominic Coppotelli's Tavern on the Green was a go-to place in New Dorp's heyday. It was located on the east side of Hylan Boulevard, close to New Dorp Lane. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Fine dining: Hylan Boulevard Tavern on the Green: A go-to place on Hylan Boulevard for fine dining and family celebrations. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Don't Edit The Morse Electric Club held its summer outing at Munger's-on-the-Beach on July 15, 1916, with about 150 people in attendance. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com On the beach Munger's-on-the-Beach at New Dorp Beach. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Tree-lined Rose Avenue Rose Avenue, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Miller Field airport U.S. Air Service Miller Field in New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Some history about this lighthouse from the U.S. Coast Guard: An elm tree marked the entrance to the New York Harbor. When a lighthouse was built on the site it was naturally named Elm Tree Lighthouse. Lit in 1856, the wooden skeletal tower had a third order lens. The keeper's dwelling was next to the tower. The tower was part of range lights with the New Dorp Lighthouse located 1.8 miles away. By 1899, the Swash Channel, which the lighthouse marked, had moved its course. The lighthouse needed to be moved. In 1939 the light was moved from the wooden skeletal tower to a 65-foot concrete tower on Miller Airfield and a sixth order lens was installed. The wooden tower was then torn down. The range lights were replaced with channel markers and deactivated in 1964. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Elm Tree Lighthouse at Miller Field New Dorp Beach lighthouse. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit New Dorp Light was built on Altamont Avenue in the 1850s and was designed an official New York City landmark in 1967. It was first lit in 1856 and deactivated in 1964, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. "This was the Swash Channel Rear Range Light; the front range light was the Elm Tree Beacon" on Miller Field, USCG reports. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com 1850s lighthouse: Altamont Avenue New Dorp Light. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Altamont lighthouse: Now Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com At the beach Lang's Hotel, New Dorp Beach. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Edward Hett's hotel New Dorp Beach Hotel. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit The former New Dorp public library -- at 155 Third Street -- was designed by the famed architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White and built in the early 190Os. No longer a library, it's survived and is now a restored showplace, housing an architectural firm. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com The old public library on Third Street The former New Dorp public library on Third Street. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Some Staten Islanders of a certain age may remember this classic grandfather's clock in the old New Dorp library on Third Street. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Library's grandfather clock The former New Dorp public library on Third Street. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com The old library: Restored This architectural masterpiece at 155 Third Street in New Dorp -- designed by the famed firm of McKim Mead and White -- is now home to Rampulla Associates Architects. It was formerly the public library in New Dorp. Dec. 6, 2015. (Staten Island Advance/Virginia N. Sherry) Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Family homestead Dudley Homestead. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Summer resort Neutral Avenue, New Dorp Beach. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Beach club at Cedar Grove Entrance to Cedar Grove Beach Club, New Dorp Beach. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Cedar Grove Beach Bird's-eye view of Cedar Grove Beach, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Sailing at sunset Sailing at sunset off New Dorp Beach. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit The nearest hospital now for New Dorp residents is on Seaview Avenue in Ocean Breeze. Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Sea Side Hospital Seaside Hospital in New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Floating hospital Floating hospital, St. John's Guild, Sea Side Hospital, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Mounted police Mounted police, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Built in 1922 on New Dorp Lane Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church on New Dorp Lane dates back almost 100 years, to 1922. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Don't Edit Don't Edit Virginia N. Sherry | sherry@siadvance.com Ivy-covered tower Vanderbilt Tower, New Dorp. (Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections) Editor's Note: This story is one in a series that will periodically look at the work our state legislators are doing. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Assemblyman Matthew Titone doesn't have any children of his own but he talks about Staten Island kids like they are his. Titone (D-North Shore) is passionate about arts in education and conveyed that to state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia recently when she testified in Albany. His bill, the Museum Education Act, would give grants to cultural institutions to create or improve museum education programs. After Elia outlined her department's proposed budget, focusing time and money on Pre-K, Titone said, "If we took every time in this [report] where it says 'Pre-K' and substituted 'arts in education,' I would be sitting here smiling ear-to-ear, thanking you up and down." He cited studies that show "when you take arts in education seriously, rather than as after-school frivolous fun, children do better." In a recent interview, Titone said he was a little encouraged by some support. "People are getting a better idea of what it really does," he said. He commended Elia's point that a uniform policy would benefit the state's Pre-K programs but brought the focus back to arts in education. "Let's not kid ourselves: there's more studies that say arts in education improves STEM," he said. Educators need to put more focus on an area of learning that helps stir the creative juices in young people. "There are brand new musical instruments sitting in a closet never touched because there's no music teacher," he said. While the state Education Department is working on it more now than previously, the assemblyman wants a uniform commitment. That's why he's sponsoring a bill that would create a task force that would audit arts in education curricula throughout the state and report back to the legislature with recommendations on how to fill in gaps where needed. "Some schools don't even have arts education and they take one class trip," he said. The state Education Department would be part of the process. SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS As the city and state focus on Pre-K continues, Titone argues it's easy to forget that special needs children need special attention. "When we say universal Pre-K, we should mean universal Pre-K," he said, stressing the importance of early intervention. Titone also wants to reform school bus rides for special needs children. "When they're in school and home, they have the care they need," but not on the bus. "How does it possibly make sense that the act of putting the child on a bus suspends his or her needs?" His bill would require training for those people on the bus -- both driver and aide. FAIL FIRST HAS TO GO While a bill by Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island) was signed into law last year to stop the "fail first" policy of insurance companies when it comes to out-patient drug rehab over in-patient care, Titone has a longstanding fight against the same policy for drugs of all kinds. For about five years, Titone has proposed a bill that would prohibit insurance companies from denying a patient a doctor-prescribed drug, while offering him or her a less costly drug. "The policy is so absurd," Titone said. "They get to have their claims adjustor second guess your doctor. It's one thing to say we're not paying for an experimental treatment, it's another to say we're not paying for an FDA-approved drug." The insurance industry opposes the bill, sponsored by upstate Sen. Catharine Young (R) in the Senate, and with the bill reintroduced in the Assembly Insurance Committee, "we've been chipping away at it," Titone said. With Young's position as chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, "I'm pretty optimistic" about the bill moving forward, Titone said. "It's an issue I will not let go of." PROPERTY TAX CAP, EDUCATION TAX CREDIT A co-sponsor of a bill by Cusick that extends the state's limit on property tax increases to New York City, Titone wants to ensure the cap "is looked at very closely and considered." Titone also supports Cusick's other bill that would give tax credits to those who donate to private schools. "I think that deserves a really good hard look," he said. "I think the people of my district would benefit from it." HOUSING, TRAFFICKING, SUPPLY CHAIN As funding increases for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) are put forth, Titone is hoping, "when they say NYCHA they include Staten Island NYCHA." A bill that Titone sponsored last year preventing human trafficking passed in the Assembly but died in the Senate, and he plans on taking it up again. It would mandate anti-trafficking training for employees of hotel and gaming facilities. He wants to expand that to other industries -- but he doesn't want to burden small businesses, like an upstate bed and breakfast. "So how do we define a hotel, motel -- who do we want in that net?" he asked -- by number of employees? By number of guests? That will have to be decided to ensure victims are helped but small businesses aren't hurt by the requirement. Lastly, Titone introduced a bill this year that would require businesses in all industries doing trade in New York State to identify their supply chain, whether it's for steel or shrimp. If it's a small business, the state will point them in the right direction to know how to do this, "so it's not a big burden on business," he said. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An off-duty NYPD sergeant from Staten Island was arrested on assault charges stemming from a domestic dispute, police said. Thomas Kennedy, 50, was involved in a verbal dispute with his wife that became physical, an NYPD spokeswoman said. During the incident Kennedy dragged his wife out of bed by her legs, the spokeswoman said. She suffered visible injuries to the back of her legs and the back of her arms, police said. Kennedy was arrested at approximately 2:45 a.m. Monday within the confines of the 121st Precinct, according to a police statement. He has been suspended from the force without pay, a department spokesperson said. While the NYPD declined to release the exact location of the domestic incident, the New York Post reported it occurred inside the couple's home. Public records show Kennedys reside in Willowbrook. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - So maybe there's a better way to end this street-naming grudge match at the old Mount Manresa property after all. Judge Philip Minardo last week confirmed that Borough President James Oddo does indeed have the authority to issue street names for the controversial Savo Brothers townhouse development on the site of the old Jesuit retreat house. The development has been a flashpoint ever since the Jesuits sold the 15-acre property for $15 million and it became clear that the Savos intended to build out the property to the fullest extent. Some officials had wanted the Jesuits to hold off on the sale until money could be gotten from the city or state to purchase the property. But we all know how long that can take, so who can blame the Jesuits for taking the bird in the hand? They've got bills too. And an aging, retired workforce to care for. Would it have been nice for the Jesuits to have at least paid tribute to the fact that they enjoyed the benefits of tax-free status at the site for decades? Sure. But they did serve the community over that time, so they held up at least some of their side of the bargain. Parishes and parochial schools have been shuttered or consolidated all over the place. The Jesuits aren't immune. And would we have admired the Savos if they had scaled back their development a little in order to preserve some of the old-growth trees and other historic aspects of the site? Of course. But how often have we seen developers do that in the past around here? Staten Island has forever been a developers' playground. The Savos aren't the first to take advantage of that. And let's not forget: This was the perfectly legal sale of private property between two entities. How much do we want to mess with private-property rights? But still, the surrounding community has every right to protest, particularly after we found out, thanks to those very activists, about the asbestos shenanigans that went on at the site. But let's also remember: When the borough went on a downzoning binge in the last decade, the Mount Manresa property, for whatever reason, was not part of the effort. We knew the property. We knew its zoning. We knew what could potentially go there. By the time Oddo, then a city councilman, looked to have the land rezoned in 2010, the once wide-open downzoning door was closed, and the Department of City Planning rebuffed him. But in the spirit of the protests, Oddo as borough president initially refused to issue street names and numbers for the development, a duty that the borough president's office has under its aegis. When a judge compelled him to do so, Oddo came up with names that were synonyms for words like trickery (Fourberie Lane) and consuming greed (Avidita Place). Take that, Savos. The Savos suggested names like Timber Lane. "Timber." We get it. The old trees. Funny. Entertaining, barely, but not enough to paper over the main fact: Any chance to rezone the land was long gone and was not coming back. So now Minardo has said that the names suggested by Oddo can stand. But we like the judge's suggestion that the streets could be named after local heroes, like Army Sgt. Michael Ollis or Army Sgt. Ian Sanchez. This would at least elevate the debate a bit. Because unless they have a dictionary handy, are any of those future homeowners even going to know what Avidita and Fourberie mean? It's not too late to inject a little positivity into all this. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Best Canadian Blog 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 About Kate Why this blog? Until this moment I have been forced to listen while media and politicians alike have told me "what Canadians think". In all that time they never once asked. This is just the voice of an ordinary Canadian yelling back at the radio - "You don't speak for me." (goes to a private mailserver in Europe) I can't answer or use every tip, but all are appreciated! Katewerk Art Support SDA I am not a registered charity. I cannot issue tax receipts. Reconnaissance Man Economics for the Disinterested ...a fast-paced polar bear attack thriller! Want lies? Hire a regular consultant. Want truth? Hire an asshole. Weather Shop Click to inquire about rates. Dow Jones What They Say About SDA "Smalldeadanimals doesn't speak for the people of Saskatchewan" Former Sask Premier Lorne Calvert "I got so much traffic after your post my web host asked me to buy a larger traffic allowance." Dr.Ross McKitrick Holy hell, woman. When you send someone traffic, you send someone TRAFFIC. My hosting provider thought I was being DDoSed. - Sean McCormick "The New York Times link to me yesterday [...] generated one-fifth of the traffic I normally get from a link from Small Dead Animals." Kathy Shaidle "Thank you for your link. A wave of your Canadian readers came to my blog! Really impressive." Juan Giner - INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group I got links from the Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Instapundit yesterday - but SDA was running at least equal to those in visitors clicking through to my blog. Jeff Dobbs "You may be a nasty right winger, but you're not nasty all the time!" Warren Kinsella "Go back to collecting your welfare livelihood."Michael E. Zilkowsky Intelliweather Seismic Map Comments Policy Read this Best Of SDA Hide The Decline The Bottle Genie (ClimateGate links) You Might Be A Liberal Uncrossing The Line Bob Fife: Knuckledragger A Modest Proposal (NP) Settled Science Series Y2Kyoto Series SDA: Reader Occupation Survey Brett Lamb Sheltered Workshop Flakes On A Plane All Your Weather Are Belong To Us Song Of The Sled The Raise A Flag Debacle (Now on Youtube!) (.mwv Video) Abuse Ruins Life Of Girl Trudeaupiate Kleptocrat Jeans Child Labour I Concede Small Dead Feminist Protein Hoser: THK Interview The Werewolf Extinction Dear Laura (VRWC) We Wait Blogging The Oscars Jackson Converts To Islam Just Shut The HELL Up Manipulating Condi Gay Equality Rights G. Allen Brooks; In the case of greenhouse gas emissions, the Ontario Energy Board commissioned research that calculates that Energy East will increase carbon emissions in Canada by less than 2%. Will the Trudeau government apply a similar standard of no increase in carbon emissions from the operation of a pipeline such as President Barack Obama did when evaluating the construction permit application for Keystone? In that case, the U.S. State Department environmental review concluded there would be no increase in carbon emissions, yet Mr. Obama still rejected the application, mostly on political grounds. If Prime Minister Trudeau follows President Obama's lead, Energy East is in trouble. The decision to revise the approval standards to include greater input from indigenous peoples will further compound the approval hurdles for pipelines in Canada. Some of the leaders of First Nations from British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec have already criticized the Trudeau proposal as "modest." These leaders stressed that the federal government needs to be prepared for rejections of pipeline proposals that cross the lands of these aboriginal people. While approvals are likely to still be earned, the bargaining power of the First Nations has been increased, meaning that the price to gain their approvals has increased significantly, probably lengthening the time needed to negotiate agreements. Canada's economy may slip into a recession this year as a result of the drop in natural resource prices and the resulting impact on the health of these industries. Nearly a year ago, the election of the NDP in Alberta created significant concern about the damage that could be done to the oil and gas business by the increase in corporate taxes and a royalty review that was anticipated to raise these rates. The decision not to raise rates now but only when the industry is projected to be in recovery and the rates are to be established to match profitability has been welcomed by the oil and gas industry. To some degree, the fact that the government is local and can see the condition of the industry may have shaped the royalty review outcome. With the Trudeau government half a continent away from Alberta and more concerned with its liberal agenda, the new pipeline review standards are destined to delay and possibly derail many pipeline and energy projects. This new policy could condemn Canada's economy to a low-growth future. There will be a price paid by the Canadian people, but those who voted for the Liberal Party may not realize for a long time how painful their future may become, and then after it is too late to easily correct these policy mistakes. Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! 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Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efe34c38)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2573970)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efe34c38)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2573970)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efe355e0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2573970)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2573970)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2573dd8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612efe26d08)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612efe26d08)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0aeca70)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f089c730)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0aeca70)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f089c730)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0ac1268)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f089c730)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f089c730)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e25748c8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0857390)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0857390)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Welfare advocates are urging the Turnbull government to wind back the Coalition's unemployment centrepiece, the $1 billion work for the dole program, and switch funding back into wage-subisidies and genuine work experience. In its budget 2016 submission, the Welfare Rights Centre said there is "compelling evidence" to support a rethink of how resources are applied to getting the long term unemployed off the dole queue. Under the government's work for the dole scheme, young job seekers must perform up community service to qualify for benefits. Credit:Louise Kennerley Likewise, the Australian Council of Social Services has told the government that work for the dole is an "inefficient use of public resources". Both groups pointed to figures that show just 19 per cent of people had found a job three months after participating in work for the dole. By comparison, 47 per cent of people involved in the previous Labor government's "wage connect" program remained in employment after finishing the 26-week scheme. Decades-old light planes using piston engines instead of the safer, more reliable modern turbines are still being used to ferry health department patients around NSW despite a deadly crash involving one of the aircraft. The father of the pilot who was killed in the Sydney crash in 2010 said he is concerned about some NSW patient transport operations and the performance of Australia's air safety watchdog . Emergency services at the scene of the plane crash on Canley Vale Road in 2010. Credit:Wolter Peeters Andrew Wilson, 27, and his nurse passenger Kathy Sheppard, 48, died when the patient transport plane he was flying developed engine problems leading him to shut down one engine and attempt to land on a road at Canley Vale in Sydney's south-west. The fully-fuelled aircraft, that was 26-years-old, slammed into a power pole and exploded during the landing attempt. Wilson had managed to steer away from a nearby school.Wilson's father Alan - who has waited years for official investigations to conclude including a 2015 coronial inquest before speaking - remains angry about the findings from the crash investigations and the state of ongoing operations. A girl killed by a brown snake in Far North NSW did not know she had been bitten until several hours later when she was almost comatose, the shire's deputy mayor says. The six-year-old girl died on Saturday after being bitten on a property outside Walgett on Friday, prompting emergency services to issue a state-wide warning. She was taken to Walgett Hospital, where doctors administered anti-venom, about 3pm on Friday. She was then flown to the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick, where she was placed on life support. After her condition deteriorated significantly, she was transferred back to Walgett Hospital, where she died. A billboard with a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the road outside Simferopol, Crimea. Credit:AP Deliberate power outages have also become widespread. In November, unknown attackers blew up electricity pylons in Ukraine and tied Crimean Tatar flags to them, leaving 2 million people without heating. No one claimed responsibility for the explosions, but Tatar activists were suspected. Tatars in Crimea cheered the power cuts, saying the blackout returned the world's attention to the situation in Crimea. Muzafar Fukala, community leader of the village of Voinka, said losing light was "nothing" compared to the hardships Tatars had survived in the past. Tatar businessman Bekir Umerov in his shop in Simferopol. Troubles began for the 57-year-old after authorities found out he was a brother of Ilmi Umerov, a prominent Tatar community leader from Bakhchisarai. Credit:AP "I'm prepared to live in a complete blackout until this scum leaves," he said, referring to supporters of the annexation. To avoid police harassment, Mr Fukala spoke to the AP in the home of friends in a neighbouring village. Both the border blockade and the power outages have put a big hole in the Kremlin budget at a time when plummeting oil prices have left Moscow with little to spare on shoring up its newest acquisition. Russia had to fly in supplies and thousands of generators, and speed up the construction of underwater power lines. Journalist Zair Akadyrov says Tatar businesses with purported ties to the blockade leaders have faced closures or legal onslaught. Credit:AP Mr Islyamov is also working to set up a "battalion" of 500 Tatar activists to be stationed just a few kilometres from the border. Tatar activists in military fatigues, some of them carrying automatic weapons, now stand in the winter cold by the roadside of their tent camp. They used to search cars crossing into Crimea and back until blockade leaders announced that Ukrainian border guards and customs officials would now do so instead. In November, Chechen intelligence officers called on Mr Islyamov's 17-year-old son in Moscow, where he studied, and threatened him unless he denounced his father publicly. Several hours later, Mr Islyamov arranged for his son to leave Russia. Officials in Crimea in charge of ethnic minorities did not respond to the AP's requests seeking interviews and comment. Officials in the Crimean government have accused Tatar leaders who opposed the annexation of betraying the interests of the Tatars and being agents of Ukraine. Under Russian law, people can be punished for calling for the return of Crimea to Ukraine. The Crimean Tatars have a long history of repression. In May 1944, all 200,000 Tatars, who then made up a third of Crimea's population, were put on trains and shipped to Central Asia in the space of three days. Thousands died during the gruelling journey or starved to death in the barren steppes upon arrival. Unlike other peoples deported during World War II by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, the Tatars were not allowed to return to their native land until the 1980s. A visit to a Tatar home today opens a window to a parallel world far from the throngs of flag-waving Russians who gave Mr Putin a Hollywood star reception on the streets of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on his visit last summer. Tatars here all watch ATR, a Crimean Tatar channel owned by Mr Islyamov, which was banished from Crimea and now broadcasts from exile in Ukraine. They talk of "better times" and a future "victory", alluding to the eventual return of Crimea to Ukraine. In almost equal measure, Crimean Tatars feel betrayed by Kiev, after Ukrainian troops stationed on the peninsula surrendered to Russian forces in February 2014 without putting up any resistance. Later on, most of these troops took Russian citizenship and joined the Russian armed forces. Left on their own, the Tatars at first made a foray into the new Crimean government. Mr Islyamov, who had Russian citizenship, was dispatched in April 2014 by the Mejlis, the Tatars' self-governing body, to become a deputy prime minister. Less than two months later, he resigned. He said Russian leaders were not interested in Tatar problems and every conversation turned into a dispute about Russian supremacy. "We saw that Ukraine had ditched us, that it was inevitable that Russia was going to swallow Crimea and the global community was doing nothing," he said. When pro-Russian politicians tried to push through a motion in the local legislature for a vote about Crimea's future, the only visible force opposing them was the Crimean Tatar minority. Six people are now on trial in the capital, Simferopol, on charges of rioting dating back to fist fights between rival rallies of the pro-Russian party and Crimean Tatars on February 26, 2014. Not a single pro-Russian protester has faced charges. One of the six people is Ali Asanov, husband of Elnara Asanova. Last April, when she was seven months pregnant, police grabbed him from the streets of their village because he had taken part in a Tatar protest against Russian annexation of Crimea. She's not allowed to visit him, so she travels to every court hearing. Once she took seven-month-old Mustafa, so her husband could glimpse the child as he was led from the police van to the courtroom. The court has refused to release him on bail, describing him as a flight risk. "They say he will run away. But where to?" said Ms Asanova, a meek young woman. She points to her children. "We live in the country. You can't survive here without a husband." Tatar businesses with purported ties to the blockade leaders have faced closures or legal onslaught, according to local journalist Zair Akadyrov. "The blockade is drawing more attention from the law enforcement agencies to Crimean activists because everyone gets unwittingly associated with that movement" on the border," he said. Bekir Umerov, who owns a two-storey home improvement store on the outskirts of Simferopol, is one of the few Tatar businessmen in Crimea willing to speak publicly. His troubles began after the authorities found out he was a brother of Ilmi Umerov, a prominent Tatar community leader from Bakhchisarai. For a year and a half, Bekir Umerov's store has been saddled with audits and checks from fire inspectors, the consumer rights agency and the economic crimes department. "They've told me several times they are not interested in my documents, but they have been tasked to run the store into the ground because of the political views of my brother and my own," Bekir Umerov said. He feels his only option is to rent out the store before officials find cause to close it down. An ACT man accused of raping his teenage daughter allegedly threatened to slit her throat with a knife after she told relatives about the abuse. The man was charged with 15 offences of incest, indecency and assault, related to nine incidents that allegedly occurred between 2012 and late last year, when he appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday. He has not yet entered pleas. Documents tendered in court said the man, 55, was arrested after the girl disclosed the alleged abuse to a school psychologist. The man had allegedly touched the girl inappropriately previously and sexually assaulted her for the first time when she was in her early teens, court documents said. Neighbours have described the anguish of seeing an eight-year-old boy cradled in the arms of a paramedic, after he was allegedly fatally attacked by his own father in Canberra's north on Monday night. Graham Dillon, 37, appeared in court on Tuesday morning charged with murdering his son, Bradyn Dillon. Graham Dillon, 37, of Jacka, who has been charged with the murder of his eight-year-old son. Credit:Facebook Mr Dillon, wearing shorts and a grey T-shirt, appeared stunned as he entered the courtroom. He did not sit with his Legal Aid duty solicitor at the bar table. He entered no plea to any charge, and made no application for bail. He was remanded in custody at the Alexander Maconochie Centre until March 1. More than 9000 school days have been missed by Canberra's most troubled students during the past three years while they have been formally suspended from ACT government schools. New figures released through the ACT government's freedom of information process reveal a total of 4543 suspensions were handed down between January 2013 and July 2015 for a variety of reasons, including students being aggressive, disruptive, verbally or physically abusive or intimidating other students or staff. ACT Education says permanent exclusion of students from public schools was allowed for under the Education Act 2004 and by Education Directorate policy. Credit:Janie Barrett Contrary to perception about the reasons for student suspensions, drugs and alcohol use contributed to a very small percentage of formal sanctions less than 5 per cent each. Similarly, social media bullying contributed to just 0.5 per cent of suspensions despite anti-cyber bullying campaigns being an increasingly big focus in schools. No students, meanwhile, have been permanently excluded or expelled from ACT government schools during that same period. However it continued on across Ireland before deciding to return. The Airbus A340 was a few minutes into its journey to New York's JFK airport when it reported the incident. A Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to return to Heathrow on Sunday night after one its pilots reported being dazzled by a laser outside London. A recording of one of the pilots of flight VS025 requesting permission to return was published online. "We have a medical issue with one of the pilots after a laser incident after take off and we are going to return to Heathrow," says the pilot. The air traffic controller confirms the route and then returns to the radio to ask for more details of the incident. "It was around about six or seven miles west of London," says the pilot. A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said the flight landed safely and the airline was now working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser. The Australian Taxation Office spent a total of $7.84 million on advertising, media planning and market research in 2014-15, most of which was focused on improving its perception among small business and individuals. The spending on external consultants - which was slightly down on the year before when the agency spent $7.4 million in total - comes amid thousands of job losses. The Australian Taxation Office has been spending millions on marketing and advertising aimed at small business and individuals, especially at tax time. Credit:Louise Kennerley In 2014-15, 2,364 people took a redundancy from the ATO, compared with 860 the year before. There were less resignations (240, compared with 359 the year before) and fewer people heading out the door due to retirement (88 compared with 292 the year before). After the months we've spent debating changes to the goods and services tax, a lot of people were surprised to learn last week that the idea's been abandoned. But not me. I've been expecting it since November 24. Why? Because everything has unfolded just as my colleague Peter Martin revealed in the column he wrote 12 weeks ago. "The big GST decision, on whether to lift it to 15 per cent, is already as good as made. The Treasurer and Prime Minister won't do it. Nor will they extend the goods and services tax to food, to health or to education, although they might yet extend it to financial services," Martin wrote. What was arguably the biggest political scoop of the year was ignored. Maybe the denizens of the House with the Flag on Top didn't believe it. What's an economics editor doing getting scoops? Why would you bury a scoop in a column? Why was he told when we weren't? An upside to chartering is that experts estimate it might easily cost $US1 million annually to keep a $US10 million mega-yacht running. Credit: Image: Sinot. Besides a budding enthusiasm for a more uncluttered lifestyle, patrons say these sharing-based services offer more convenience and choices. "While some of our clients have owned yachts in the past, the allure of charter is that they have the freedom to choose any charter destination, anywhere in the world, selecting from a choice of different yachts," said Jeni Tidmarsh, director of Luxury Charter Group, a global company specialising in luxury yacht charters. "It's a no-strings relationship." A Porsche Boxster at Hertz is available for $US300 daily rented at Palm Beach International Airport. Here are six luxury categories in which the rich are opting to rent. Vacation homes and islands Many of the world's better-off choose to rent their vacation homes instead of buying for a range of reasons, including a desire to avoid burdens like maintenance and homeowner association, or HOA, fees. Rental services like Haute Vault, which was started in 2014, will lend high-end jewellery. Ownership does not have the cachet it once commanded, and renting is shedding its declasse image. That is why Geoff Tracy, a Washington restaurateur, bought into Exclusive Resorts with his wife, Norah O'Donnell, anchor of CBS This Morning. It is "like owning exquisite vacation homes all over the world without having the responsibility or the headaches that come with home ownership," he said. The starter plan costs $US45,000 for 20 days over two years. Then too, there are tax considerations. "Another reason not to own property can have to do with residency and taxes," said Kathleen Peddicord, the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. For "someone who has citizenship in a country where the tax system is based on residency" - as it is in most European countries - "it can make sense to rent to avoid becoming a tax resident." For those afraid of commitment, renting adds flexibility. You can enjoy one place, then move on. "Although the St. Barth real estate market is hot right now, we see many of the uber-wealthy, including celebrities, continuing to rent on the island," said Peg Walsh, founder of St. Barth Properties. "Renting vacation homes in St. Barth," she said, "fits with their globe-trotting lifestyle and provides them with the flexibility needed for their super-busy schedules." Villas in St. Barth that would catch these renters' eyes include the four-bedroom Villa Oasis de Salines, which includes two one-bedroom guest villas and rents for around $US100,000 a week during peak season. The seven-bedroom Villa Athena goes for $US49,000 a week for 14 occupants, and the glass-enclosed seven-bedroom Villa Fleur de Sel is $US50,000 a week for nine people. Rates for renting Musha Cay in the Bahamas, the 700-acre private island of the magician David Copperfield, start at $US39,000 a night for a four-night minimum for up to 12 people (it can accommodate 24). Private jets While cheaper than buying, flying a chartered jet will still cost you. Bloom Business Jets offers rates from $US1100 an hour to more than $US7800 an hour, depending on the type of jet, the miles travelled and the number of passengers. Pentastar Aviation charters range from about $US2000 to $US9000 per flight hour, depending on the type of aircraft and operational requirements. Wealthy travellers also are buying fractional shares of jets and use in hourly increments from Bloom Business Jets, and others like NetJets, Flexjet, Sentient Jet and Wheels Up. A 25-hour jet card from Bloom Business Jets, for instance, allows purchase of individual flights on demand and permits selection of the specific jet type for each flight. Jet card rates range from $US128,100 to $US249,750, depending on the size of the jet. "A lot of people don't want to own their own plane because it's a big undertaking," said Steven W. Bloom, chief executive of Bloom Business Jets, whose charter business grew around 10 per cent in the last year. For most people, chartering's benefits are clear, he said. "The convenience and time savings, you don't have a big capital outlay, you don't have to manage the plane and the crew, and you just make one call and someone shows up with an airplane." The disadvantages of chartering are that the plane is usually different every time, and its condition may vary. Yachts Many wealthy people "don't want the hassles of owning a yacht," said Tidmarsh of Luxury Charter Group. "They've done the figures and realise they can charter the latest and greatest super-yacht for a completely unique vacation, personalised for them, with none of the ongoing expenses of ownership," she said. "It's walk-on, walk-off convenience. There are no maintenance logistics or crew to manage, no cleaning, no paperwork and no ongoing invoices and expenses for berthing and upgrades." Luxury Charter Group offers vacation charters on board yachts like the 103-foot Diamond Girl, available for charter out of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands in the winter and Florida or the Bahamas this summer. The cost is $US47,000 to $US52,000 a week, and taxes and expenses like food, fuel and gratuities for the crew, which can add 20 to 30 per cent or more to the bill depending on the destination. An upside to chartering is that experts estimate it might easily cost $US1 million annually to keep a $US10 million mega-yacht running. Even for well-to-do yacht owners, fixed costs for fuel and paying a captain and crew, on top of docking fees and maintenance, can be formidable. Luxury cars David Spencer, 38, splits his time between New York and Los Angeles for his business, Talent Resources. Although he owns a 2015 BMW 750, when he is in California he prefers to rent a black Cadillac Escalade for up to three months at a time, at around $US2500 to $US3200 a month. He does that through the Exotic Car Collection of Enterprise, the rental car company. "They know my preferences," Spencer said. "When I get off the five-hour plane in LA, I like it to be streamlined. I don't have to deal with insuring, storing and maintaining the car." Rates for Enterprise's luxury vehicles vary depending on make, model and market. For example, in Los Angeles, a Mercedes S-Class is available for $US350 a day. In San Francisco, a Porsche Panamera is available for $US400 a day and a Maserati Ghibli for $US700 a day. In San Francisco, a Lamborghini Huracan is $US2400 a day. Hertz also offers luxury rentals, via Hertz Dream Cars. A Porsche Boxster at Hertz is available for $US300 daily rented at Palm Beach International Airport. Luxury-car rentals are growing rapidly. Enterprise has expanded its Exotic Car Collection to 31 locations in the United States and Canada, recently adding two locations in Houston and one in Washington. "This rapid growth is evidence of the strong demand we continue to see for luxury rentals," said Brice Adamson, the senior vice president at Enterprise who oversees the Exotic Car Collection. Affluent customers who own similar luxury vehicles that are in the shop for repairs are behind some of the demand, Adamson said. Other renters include those who are shopping for new high-end autos and want to rent for a few days to get a feel for the ride. Jewellery and watches Rental services like Haute Vault, which was started in 2014, will lend high-end jewellery. After qualifying for membership, Haute Vault members can rent pieces worth up to $US150,000 by paying an annual membership fee of $US350 to $US500. (As with many luxury rentals in any category, insurance against loss, damage or theft typically is factored into the deal somewhere.) A Millefleur diamond cuff bracelet that retails for $US137,500 rents for $US2335 a week. A $US79,650 pink diamond cluster pair of earrings are $US1950 a week. And a men's Patek Philippe Annual Calendar watch that retails for around $US51,500 goes for a weekly rate of $US785. Three membership levels allow rental of items retailing for $US10,000 to $US150,000. Other rental services include Rocksbox, Adorn and Borrowed Bling. Designer clothes Rent the Runway, founded in 2009, has more than 5 million users and last year rented more than $US1 billion in retail value of dresses alone. The service lets women rent designer clothing (mainly dresses) and accessories, rather than own. The company has raised $US126 million in venture capital funding from investors that include Bain Capital Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Advance Publications, the parent company of Conde Nast. After six years of steady expansion online, Rent the Runway has opened retail stores in New York, Chicago, Washington and Las Vegas, which serve as distribution centres for particular regions. Four-day rentals are $US30 to $US800 for apparel in sizes 0 to 22. Accessory rentals run from $US5 to $US400. Many customers are professional women making six figures, who use the "delivered to your door" service. The concept is unpretentious: customers select a dress, rent it for four days and then return it to the company in a prepaid carrying case. Want to wear a Naeem Khan dress that retails for $US5180? It rents for $US800 for four days. A Jason Wu leather handbag that retails for $US1965 rents for $US300. "It's about being a smart shopper," said the chief executive and co-founder, Jennifer Hyman. "Many clothing items have very low utility. Over 50 per cent of a woman's closet women have worn three times or less." "And there is the emotional depreciation of your clothes," she continued. "It's not as exciting to wear something the third time. And with all the social media, everyone sees what you have worn." Also, owning a dress adds work to your life, Hyman said: "You have to care for it. You have to store it and dry-clean it." "There is a feeling of euphoria," she said, "to only surrounding yourself with things that you need." Once you have the scent of politics, it is hard to get it out of your system. The longer you have been in politics the greater the shock when you announce that you are leaving politics. Literally, from that moment, your political life slowly drains away from you. The ones who best manage the transition are the ones who leave politics voluntarily. The saddest ones are those who lost their seat and don't realise that they will never get it back. They end up in no man's land. Former ministers Phillip Ruddock, Andrew Robb and Warren Truss will already be noticing that the phones have virtually stopped ringing. I am not cynical about the aftermath. But it's a good idea to be realistic. Everybody is quick to shake your hand including the ones who never liked you anyway and then the ones who are wondering if they might get your job. You are quickly becoming a mere observer. The departure is a wrench but managing the shift is helped if you accept that abuse or applause is not worth much; the thing that counts is what you have done. It also helps to appreciate that there are a lot of good people in the Australian Parliament and most will tell you that being an MP is the most important thing they have ever done in their life. Broadcaster Alan Jones has declared that Australia needs more stolen generations, saying that children brought up around alcohol abuse and drugs should be taken away from their parents. The controversial 2GB breakfast host was discussing Saturday night's Indigenous All Stars rugby league match with a talk-back caller on Monday morning when he launched into a speech about the stolen generation - the children of Indigenous descent who were removed from their parents. At the match, held at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the national anthem was first sung in an Indigenous language, before a minute's silence was held to acknowledge the stolen generation, and the Indigenous All Stars players performed a war dance. The 2GB listener, Dell, described the Indigenous commemorations at the start of the match as a "load of twaddle", to Jones' amusement. The ACTU has revealed it will run a serious marginal seat campaign beginning immediately, involving doorknocking and a targeted advertising and social media blitz with the twin aims of defeating government moves to privatise Medicare payments and of retaining bulk billing incentives for diagnostic services. The campaign is a sign of the ACTU's intention to play a strong grassroots role in the forthcoming federal election, with unions hoping to use their still extensive membership reach to "warn" voters about the Coalition's plans for trimming Medicare. Supporters will be sent out to doornock voters in a series of marginal seats in the major swing areas of Melbourne and Sydney. Fuelling the campaign is privately commissioned ReachTEL polling that shows voters in 10 government-held marginal electorates across Victoria and Queensland are strongly opposed to the recently announced changes to cut the diagnostic subsidies to pathology companies. Sustainable income should be the hot topic for superannuation debate in 2016 as 700 Baby Boomers jump into the retirement market each day, as volatile markets cull their savings, according to Challenger. Brian Benari, chief executive of Australia's biggest annuities provider, said the industry was in the fifth year of a 20-year cycle of retiring Baby Boomers people who were born in the 1940s after World War II. Brian Benari says the annuities industry needs to focus around the whole retirement space and provide for the needs of retirees. Credit:Ben Rushton "Today you'll see another 700 people turn 65 and qualify for retirement, and that's happening day in, day out," Mr Benari said. "The industry needs to start to focus around the whole retirement space and respond to the requirement to provide for the needs of retirees," he said. Clerical abuse survivors are pushing to fly to Rome to be present when Cardinal George Pell gives evidence via videolink to a Royal Commission this month. On Monday morning, survivors released a public statement outlining a request to the inquiry to allow them to travel overseas to face Cardinal Pell, the Ballarat Courier reports. Cardinal George Pell has been excused from appearing in person to answer questions connected to how the Catholic Church dealt with the abuse of children in the diocese of Ballarat. They also pushed for his evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to be given outside of the walls of the Vatican. Earlier this month, Cardinal Pell succeeded in a bid to remain in Rome after the inquiry accepted a doctor's report which said he was too sick to return to Australia to testify. Children as young as five are being forced to sit in sweltering classrooms at a Sydney school while some of its former board members are accused of using taxpayer funds to take out six-figure loans. Up to 70 outraged parents have written to the principal of Malek Fahd school in Hoxton Park demanding answers as to why it has failed to provide its students with air-conditioning despite the Federal Department of Education finding the school had been operating for profit. "Children have been crammed into double classes from kindergarten upwards when the thermometer hits 36 degrees and above," said a kindergarten parent who did not wish to be named. The parent said there were serious misgivings about the facilities being provided to children at the junior school campus of Malek Fahd. Law enforcement agencies have seized $1 billion of ice in the largest drug bust of liquid methamphetamine in Australia's history, federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan announced on Monday. Three Hong Kong nationals and one Chinese national have been charged over their involvement in the drug syndicate, which is alleged to have imported 720 litres of methylamphetamine into NSW. The syndicate was uncovered after border force officials at Sydney Airport notified the Australian Federal Police of a 33-year-old Hong Kong man, whom they identified as "high risk", as he entered Australia on November 9, 2015. On December 26, Australian Border Force officials raided a shipping container from Hong Kong, which they believed was connected with the 33-year-old, and found a consignment of gel push-up bra inserts inside 86 boxes. One in seven young people risk becoming homeless, with a leading welfare group calling on all governments to increase support for vulnerable teenagers before they spiral into entrenched homelessness. Mission Australia analysed the data in its annual survey of 19,000 young people, finding that 13.5 per cent of the 15- to 19-year-old respondents faced the threat of homelessness. Saskia Powell has experienced homelessness in the past but now has stable accommodation. Credit:Nick Moir Young people who are homeless are more likely to suffer disrupted schooling, risky drug and alcohol use and mental illness. The national report, to be released on Tuesday, found that the extent of youth homelessness is underestimated, as young people are more likely to couch surf or live in overcrowded dwellings. A Sydney man sentenced to 30 years' jail for attempting to publicly execute a Crown witness and for murdering the witness's wife has walked free from jail after the state's highest court found that his conviction was not supported by reliable evidence. Mustapha Dib, 34, was released from Goulburn jail on Monday after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his convictions for murder and intent to murder over the notorious shooting. Sporting a closely cropped beard and a broad grin, Mr Dib was embraced by a small group of loved ones as he walked from the facility about 1pm. "My analysis of the evidence has led me to conclude that it was not open for the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the applicant was the person who shot [the Crown witness] and [his wife]," the Chief Judge at Common Law, Justice Clifton Hoeben, said in his reasons for the decision. Former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says the government won't make policy exceptions to allow baby Asha to stay in Australia, adding it would send an open invitation to people smugglers. The 12-month-old girl was brought to the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane last month after suffering accidental burns from boiling water in detention on Nauru. She has since recovered but is being held by medical staff until "a suitable home environment is identified". "The risk of departing from the policy in any way, shape or form basically sends an invitation for the trade to recommence," Mr Morrison said. Almost half of the 22 Queensland greyhound trainers banned for life over the live baiting scandal that threatened to bring the industry to its knees have had their penalties dramatically cut. In the 12 months since revelations of the "likely widespread" use of the outlawed practice, nine trainers, including four who were found to have engaged in the outlawed practice, had their penalties dropped on appeal to periods of between five and 10 years. The live baiting scandal was revealed in February 2015. Credit:Craig Golding Racing Queensland chief executive officer Ian Hall said the downgrades were the decisions of an independent appeals board but Animal Liberation Queensland labelled them "unacceptable". Mr Hall refused to rule out the possibility live baiting was still going on in the industry. Election donations from developers to Sunshine Coast candidates will be included on a community website showing their donations before the March 19 council elections. The community group on the Sunshine Coast now hopes their website outlining the donations will become a high-profile public relations exercise that will spread across Queensland's bigger councils as 77 elections begin on Tuesday. Community group raises pressure on local government candidates to declare donations. Credit:AFR Nominations for candidates in Queensland's 77 council elections close at midday Tuesday. Local government candidates as councillors and as mayors - outside the party-political Brisbane City Council - have to fund their own campaigns. Political parties fund candidates in Brisbane City Council campaigns. The Earth's 2550 rarest minerals, including several beauties from Victoria, have been catalogued some with the potential to transform future manufacturing industry. The colourful array of minerals, each sampled from five or fewer areas around the globe, are far rarer than pricey diamonds and precious gems. They also reveal the diversity of near-surface environments. "Earth's rare minerals make our planet unique in the cosmos," said lead catalogue researcher Dr Robert Hazen, of the Carnegie Institution in Washington. The new catalogue has been accepted for publication in the journal American Mineralogist. "The more we search and apply new techniques, and the better microscopes we employ to hunt for tiny crystals, the more new minerals we find," Dr Hazen explained. A stolen car has made a fiery getaway after driving away from police on early Sunday morning while it was missing one wheel. The fact that the three-wheeled sedan managed to evade capture is sure to increase debate over Victoria Police's controversial vehicle pursuit policy. Police say they 'tried to intercept' the three-wheeled Mitsubishi Magna. The Advertiser reports that Bendigo Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Dave Sanders said police observed the silver-gold Mitsubishi Magna which was missing its front right wheel travelling southbound on Eaglehawk Road at 12.42am on Sunday morning. "Police tried to intercept the vehicle, which then took off," Acting Sergeant Sanders said. A construction worker who died at a Melbourne building site on Monday morning fell from a "makeshift, temporary" platform, union bosses say. The investigation into the 54-year-old form worker's death is expected to focus on the structural integrity of the platform he was sitting on at the time. The man fell 20 metres from a work platform at the site of a high rise apartment development in Carlton. Credit:Marissa Calligeros The man fell 20 metres from the work platform on the site of a $50 million apartment development called Royal Elizabeth about 8.30am. The apartments - being built for property developer PDG - are on on the corner of Berkeley and Pelham streets They work deep in the forest, mostly unseen. When smoke plumes in the distance, they're there already leaping out of helicopters and into scorching scrub, running hose lines from tankers and drowning out flames. The sky is dark and the ground rumbles beneath them. Days at the front are long and taxing for the little-known firefighters of state forests and parks, where 95 per cent of bushfires begin. Specialised forest firefighters are often denied the employment conditions afforded to emergency service workers. "Bush firefighters spend most of their time fighting fires where we don't see them ... when fires are at their most dangerous and unpredictable," Australian Workers Union secretary Ben Davis said. "All day and every day, they are out there, protecting the community." Letters of correspondence between Pope John Paul II and a married Polish-born American woman reveal a close relationship which spans more than 30 years. The letters, obtained by the BBC, reveal that in 1973, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka wrote to the then Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla - who would later become Pope John Paul II - to discuss details of a book on philosophy that he had written. The letters from the Pope to Tymieniecka have been sighted by the BBC. After Tymieniecka travelled to Poland from the US, they continued to write to each other and in time, the relationship grew. The rare manuscripts dealer who facilitated the sale of the letters, Marsha Malinowski, says that it's clear from the letters that Tymieniecka was in love with the Pope, telling the BBC: "I do believe she completely fell in love with him during the first phase of their relationship. Berlin: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei continues to put the spotlight on the refugee crisis with an art installation in Berlin showcasing thousands of life vests used by refugees to arrive at the Greek island of Lesbos. The bright orange vests were wrapped around the pillars of the city's Konzerthaus by the artist's team on Saturday to highlight the plight of the hundreds of refugees trying to reach Europe every day by sea from Turkey. An art installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei features refugees' life vests wrapped around the pillars of Berlin's Konzerthaus. Credit:Getty Images He previously posed as drowned Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi on a beach to draw attention to the crisis; a move some interpreted as provocative and important, while others found stunt-like, and even pointless. London: Languages on the brink of dying out should be preserved because juggling different tongues is good for the brain. Antonella Sorace, founder of the Bilingualism Matters Centre at the University of Edinburgh, is investigating the potential benefits of studying minority languages such as Sardinian and Scottish Gaelic. Chinese teacher My Hoa Lam at the bilingual class of the Abbotsford Primary School, Melbourne, in 2011. Credit:Eddie Jim Previous research has already shown that being multilingual can improve thinking and learning ability, and may reduce mental decline with age. The positive effects of learning more than your mother tongue is one reason why "minority" languages should be saved from extinction, Professor Sorace said. Harare, Zimbabwe: Authorities in Zimbabwe have impounded a US-registered cargo jet with a dead body and millions of South African rand on board, a senior official said on Monday. Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe general manager David Chawota confirmed a plane registered with Western Global Airlines was impounded at Harare International Airport on Sunday. A website says Western Global Airlines is based in Estero, Florida. Zimbabwean aviation authorities impounded a US-registered cargo jet after a dead body later believed to be a stowaway and millions of South African rand were found on board, a senior official said Monday. Credit:AP "The case is now in the hands of the state. It involves nationals and property of other countries so I am no longer qualified to give much detail but, yes, we impounded the plane on Sunday," Mr Chawota told The Associated Press. "The crew requested to land for refuelling but our ground-handling personnel discovered blood leaks and became suspicious. Talk to the police for more details," he said by telephone, refusing to give details about the crew or the cargo. GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Management of the Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) Fire Departments, met recently at the fire station in Cay Hill. The fire departments of the four islands have been working together for a number of years already, albeit on a more informal level. It was deemed necessary to foster this cooperation in a more structured manner. Therefore, a meeting was organized to discuss common issues between the two departments. Both departments presented their current state of affairs to the meeting, as well as plans for the future. The intention was to identify commonalities and cooperation possibilities. The conclusion of the meeting was that there are multiple possibilities to join forces and work on several projects together. It was decided the cooperation would focus on education, training, examination, capacity building, material, policy planning and disaster management. During the meeting it was also decided it would be wise to formalize this cooperation in an agreement. Parties will work on a draft and present this in due course to the relevant authorities for approval and signing. All participants are looking forward to a fruitful and successful cooperation in the years to come. These meetings will be held on a regular basis. The hope was also expressed Aruba and Curacao would be able to join in the near future. PHILIPSBURG:--- In keeping with the principles of openness and transparency, Social and Health Insurances SZV has received four bids for the first phase of the plans to construct a new and sustainable hospital for country St. Maarten. SZV appointed KPMG to assist in the bidding process where four local and international engineering companies were requested to bid. On Monday February 15th the bids of Lievense, ICE, Arcadis and Royal HaskoningDHV were accepted for consideration. Interim Director of SZV, Glen Carty thanked Henk de Zeeuw, Managing Director of KPMG for his efforts thus far in assisting with the bidding and development process of the new hospital. SZV is looking for an engineering company to consult and advise SZV and the Government on the functional requirements, development as well as cost and quality consulting for the development of the new hospital. With the construction it is key that the new facilities are sustainable in hosting the ever growing population of St. Maarten/Saint Martin as well as cater to the expansion of medical services. This week the four bids will undergo evaluation and negotiations will take place. The selection of the winning bid is scheduled for Friday February 19th. The second phase of the project consists of the preparation of the tender document for the design, construction and maintenance of the new hospital. Minister Lee stated "I am very pleased with SZV's open approach towards the development of the new hospital. Besides ensuring that the people will be getting the best quality hospital for a competitive price, the open approach encourages the participation of other stakeholders. Transparency has already opened the possibility of financing from Holland and structural cooperation with the French side. Development of a state of the art hospital that is financially sustainable is a critical part of ensuring that all residents of St. Maarten have access to affordable and quality health care, close to home." The project is progressing swiftly as construction is aimed to start in the third quarter of this year with a goal of completion in the second half of 2019. GREAT BAY:--- St. Martin (February 14, 2016)The St. Martin Book Fair, slated for mid-2016, is already being profiled in the USA and Caribbean media. Readers and authors will be gathering in the Caribbean for the 14th annual St. Martin Book Fair, scheduled for June 2 through 4, according to New York Daily News. The popular book fair is a multifaceted ... multimedia ... marketplace that connects St. Martin and the Caribbean through workshops, seminars and other activities, wrote Jared McCallister, the newspapers Caribbean Beat columnist. Before the Daily News became the first news media to announce the 2016 book fair date in its January 31 edition, the islands literary fest was being talked about in Trinidad, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP). In the Guardian of Trinidad & Tobago, award-winning author Loretta Klobah credits ... literary festivals like the Bocas, Jamaicas Calabash and St. Martins Book Fair as forming an important network base for the growing literary connectivity and the continued desire for regional unity in the Caribbean. The article, The write of retreating by Simon Lee, appeared in the Guardian edition of January 28 reporting on the North Coast Writing Retreat, which convened a power-pack of authors in Trinidad in January. In its January edition, the US-based Writers Digest is actually encouraging its mega-readership to, Plan your next vacation around ... Caribbean literary festivals, and enrich your writing life island-style. Listed as one of its cover stories, the article by the busy Antiguan writer Joanne Hillhouse features five literary festivals: Anguilla Lit Fest, Trinidads Bocas Lit Fest, Jamaicas Calabash Literary Festival, Dominicas Nature Island Literary Festival, and the St. Martin Book Fair. Run by a cadre of energetic young volunteers, writes Hillhouse about the Friendly Islands festival, the event facilitates real bonding and a relaxed pace, save for the busier singular book fair day, Saturday at the University of St. Martin, which has a packed schedule of sales and signings. Dr. Loretta Klobah and Joanne Hillhouse are exciting writers. Each was a hit at one or two activities of previous Book Fair editions, said St. Martin Book Fair coordinator Shujah Reiph. Im very happy and thankful that both writers are sharing their St. Martin experiences near and far. The St. Martin Book Fair 2016 has as its theme: The Science of It, said Reiph. The Book Fair Committee (BFC) is planning an exciting 14th anniversary literary festival for the entire family. I think the BFC is a hit with our guest authors from around the world. The committee is the same energetic cadre Joanne mentions in Writers Digest, said Reiph. A photo of BFC members accompanies the Daily News story. Recently, The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and the Mediatheque Territoriale received a gift of books for their public or reference library collections from HNP and the book fair organization, said Sample. The multilingual sets of books included titles published by HNP and books by guest authors of St. Martin Book Fair, said Sample. The island-wide book fair alternates its opening ceremony between both capitals of the island. This year the South will host the opening of the festival, said Reiph, who is also president of Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF). Conscious Lyrics Foundation and House of Nehesi Publishers organize the St. Martin Book Fair in collaboration with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, University of St. Martin (USM), LC Fleming Foundation, and St. Martin Tourist Office. PHILIPSBURG:--- Prison guards and detectives are busy searching for an escaped prisoner by the name of Kathron Fortune a.k.a CUCHI. The escape occurred in Cay Hill on Monday February 15th at approximately 03.30 p.m. The prisoner who was taken to a doctors clinic in Cay Hill managed to escape from the guards while waiting to be attended by the doctor. He took off running through the Cay Hill area. Shots were fired and it is unclear if the suspect got hold of a firearm or not. This suspect who has to sit a very lengthy sentence is considered to be armed and very dangerous. The suspect was last seen in the area of Cay Hill dressed in Kaki clothing. On Monday evening the search was ongoing to recapture this prisoner. The Prosecutors office and Police Department is asking the general public who may have information regarding the where about of the prisoner to immediately get in contact with the police via 911, # 9300 or the police station 54-22222. WARNING: Do not attempt to apprehend this prisoner on your own get in contact with the police as the suspect is armed and dangerous, and was convicted on a prior murder case. KPSM and Prosecutor's Office Report SMN News learnt that the suspect was armed and he fired shots both at the police and prison guards that was running after him. However, police spokesman Ricardo Henson said that he could not confirm if the escaped prisoner had a firearm on him at the time of the escape. SMN News further learnt that the detectives start looking at the homes and relatives of the escaped prisoner. Sources say that the escaped prisoner spoke to the mother of his child after he escaped. Cuchi was convicted to 21 years for the murder Ervin Martina in 2007. The brutal murder took place in May 2006. While police are saying that they are not sure if the escaped prisioner was armed, residents in the area said they saw the getaway killer fired shots at the prison guards when they were running behind him. Escaped Prisoner still on the run, Escape seemed to have been planned --- LR starts investigation --- Minister Kirindongo Kathron Fortune a.k.a CUCHI the prisoner who escaped on Monday afternoon is still on the run and police are still busy looking for the prisoner that is considered armed and dangerous. In an invited comment Minister of Justice Edison Kirindongo told SMN News on Tuesday that the prisoner escaped while he was being escorted back to the vehicle to return to Pointe Blanche Prison. The Minister said that he held discussions with the head of the prison Edward Rohan who told him that the prisoner had already seen the doctor. Asked if the prisoner was shacked knowing his background or if he was walking freely, the Minister said a person with that type of criminal background had to be shackled when they are taken out of the prison. He said he could not say if the prison guards had the prisoner shacked at the time, but all of that are now being investigated as he instructed the Prosecutors Office to have the National Detectives investigate the case. Also asked by SMN News if the prisoner had in his possession a loaded fire arm since residents of the area said they saw the prisoner firing shots at the prison guards while he was running away. Minister Kirindongo said when he asked the prison director if the prisoner had a fire arm, he was told that the prison guards told their boss that they did not see the prisoner with a firearm but shots were being fired at them. The Minister said based on the information gathered thus far it appeared as though the escape was well planned. 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Product name: Tauribot App Product Creator: Dr. Steven Archer Website: http://binaryreviewspot.com/tauribot-review H2020 project NEREID has been launched to map the future of European Nanoelectronics NEREID is a Cooperation and Support action that has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 685559, with the objective to develop a roadmap for the European Nanoelecronics industry, starting from the needs of applications and leveraging the strengths of the European eco-system. In addition, it will aim to an early benchmark/identification of promising novel nanoelectronic technologies, and identify bottlenecks all along the innovation (value) chain. Highlights of the NEREID project, which has a duration of three years, will be three general workshops aiming at gathering the needs of the application sectors, with experts from the fields of Energy, Automotive, Medical/Life science, Security, IoT/Smart connected objects, Mobile convergence, Digital Manufacturing. Specific workshops will define the roadmaps of the different technology sectors in the areas of More Moore, More than Moore, Beyond-CMOS, Heterogeneous Integration and System Design, Equipment and Manufacturing Science, with a broad involvement of leading experts from industry and academia. As a first means of dissemination, NEREID held its first Workshop on December 1st, 2015, in the framework of the European Nanoelectronics Forum in Berlin, Germany. The presentation was attended by representatives of all the 13 project partners and co-partners and many other European actors in the field of Nanoelectronics. The first General Workshop will be organized by Grenoble INP and SINANO Institute on April 12-13, 2016 in Minatec, Grenoble, France, with the purpose to establish the dialogue between application and technology experts. About 80 international research and application experts are expected to participate in the event, which will be announced separately in March, once the program is fixed. Read more about the project on www.nereid-h2020.eu. Contact: Francis Balestra, +33 4 56 52 95 10, balestra@minatec.grenoble-inp.fr edacentrum is an institution dedicated to promote electronic design automation (EDA) research and development funded by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research). It initiates, evaluates and supervises industry-driven R&D projects and offers a comprehensive spectrum of services on all matters concerning EDA, particularly project management of R&D projects. By encouraging EDA cluster research projects and EDA networks, it cross-leverages and reinforces the EDA expertise of universities and research institutes. edacentrum provides a communication platform for the EDA community; it seeks to inform upper management, the public and the political arena about the central importance of design automation for solving complex system and semiconductor problems, especially those associated with nanoelectronics. I really need to vent going to try to keep this short so it's not a nightmare to read but need to vent! I've been deluding myself recently again, pretending to myself I can handle alcohol (thus i've been drinking regularly) I dropped out of uni, whilst on exchange, and did something else in my host country (Belgium) At first that was really refreshing and new so I liked it, now i can't wait for it to be over as I want to go back to the UK. I feel perpetually stuck in a place where I'm not allowed to be myself. My parents moved to Spain when I was 15 and I went to live with my christian grandparents who later rejected my coming out as gay when I was 19. That caused a lot of hurt and ever since I've had to pretend to not be gay to keep them happy, and lie about all sorts of situations to suit them. I have tattoos, which they see as a huge disappointment, which makes me feel like I'm not allowed to take pleasure in my own self-expressiona and I geninuely feel like i have to keep all my arms covered when I'm at home. Meanwhile my dad loves all of this because he sees everything as a huge game and hates my grandparents and has used me as a way of getting at them since I was a child I just feel so angry. I'm furious and I just wanna run away from it all to be honest, and yet, my anger, my issues with alcohol and any hint of unhappiness are COMPLETELY INVISIBLE to everyone around me - a number of years ago I told my grandmother I felt depressed and she laughed at me. Canada February 15, 2016 John W. Warnock Southwestern Ontario is the historic home of Canadian tomato growers. The bulk of the crop goes to processing, and since 1909 the dominant corporation had been H. J. Heinz, a food giant based in Pittsburgh. But in 2013 the Heinz Corporation was bought by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway (26%) and 3G Capital (51%), based in Brazil. It was soon announced that they were planning to close their plant in Leamington. The story has been a snapshot of what has happened to the manufacturing industry in Ontario following the free trade agreements with the United States. In 1988 Canadians were informed that their government, headed by Brian Mulroney, had been negotiating a free trade agreement with the U.S. government. The push for this had come from organizations representing big business and finance on both sides of the border. The Action Canada Network was formed, representing many democratic organizations who opposed the free trade agreement with the United States. Along with many Canadian political economists, they warned that given the reality of Canadas branch-plant economy, any free trade agreement would likely lead to many plants closing and their operations moved back to the United States. But Canadas political leadership pushed through the New Economic Constitution of North America, as U.S. President Ronald Reagan termed it. Over the next 25 years Ontario communities saw factory after factory shut down. The food industry was not immune to this development. Neoliberalism and the Free Trade Agenda The free trade agenda is part of the new political economy commonly known as neoliberalism, a return to the open free market system that existed before the Great Depression and the social democratic governments that dominated the political agenda for thirty years following World War II. The liberal package included the repeal of populist national policies which were aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing, the privatization of state owned enterprises, deregulation of the economy, reversing legislation which protected workers rights and trade unions, cuts to social programs and the repeal of progressive tax systems designed to promote greater equality. The goal of the organizations representing the corporate sector was to increase their rate of profit. They wanted the right to produce anywhere in the world, sell their products anywhere, and not be subject to any government controls on the movement of their products or capital. In more recent years, with the world economy characterized by overproduction, excess capacity and limited profitable investment opportunities, the corporate sector has sought to open investment opportunities in all areas of the public sector, including health, education, social services, social housing and government services. Free Trade Comes to Leamington, Ontario In 2013 the new owners of Heinz announced that they were going to shut down the plant in Leamington. 3G Capital had a reputation for taking over companies, laying off many workers, and putting top priority on raising the profit ratio. Warren Buffett, the other major partner in the new ownership, said that the Canadian plant was not efficient: it relied on fresh tomatoes grown in Canada, bypassing cheaper tomato paste that could be imported from producers in Mexico and elsewhere. Was there an alternative? Sam Diab, the plant manager at the Leamington operation, found several investors in the Toronto area and put forth a plan to keep the plant open and operating. Changes had to be made to continue production under the free trade model. (1) There would be a major downsizing in the plants operation. The regular work force would be initially reduced from 740 to 250. The workers, primarily women, were represented by a trade union, United Food and Commercial Workers. Production workers who kept their jobs would see their hourly wages reduced from $25 to $16. The union accepted the changes as there was no alternative. (2) The business in its new form survived because of a regulation under the Canadian Agricultural Products Act. This specified that tomato juice sold in Canada must be made from fresh tomatoes and not paste. Heinz had 50% of the Canadian tomato juice market and did not want to give this up. They negotiated a five year contract with the new owners, now known as Highbury Canco. Business interests complained that this type of trade distorting regulation was supposed to be eliminated under the terms of the existing free trade agreements. Such regulations will likely be eliminated if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement is ratified. (3) The number of tomato growers has declined since the plant changed ownership. In 2013 Heinz had contracts with 119 tomato growers; that was down to only 10 in 2015. The tonnage of tomatoes grown in this area of Ontario declined from 555,092 in 2012 to 432,175 in 2015. There remain two other tomato and vegetable processor in the region, ConAgra Foods, a U.S. food giant in Dresden, and Canadian-owned Sun-Brite Foods which is located near Leamington. Vegetables are also processed in Quebec by Bonduelle North America, a French corporation. (4) Highbury Canco wants to expand the companys production by introducing a new class of tomatoes, to be called industrial paste. They argue that this could add an additional 250,000 tons of tomatoes and 25 30 more growers. Farmers who lost their contracts have had to switch to corn-soybean production, with lower returns. Of course, tomatoes in this new fourth class would bring farmers less money, as the industrial paste would be sold bulk to other processors at a discount. Regular tomato paste in 2014 brought farmers $110 per ton. The company argues that the new class would bring farmers at least $95 per ton, the paste price in 2013. (5) Standing in the way of total free trade in this case would be the Ontario marketing boards. The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission has not approved the introduction of a new fourth class of industrial paste tomatoes. Neither has the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers. They do not have the economic power of the supply management marketing boards (like milk, poultry and eggs), but as marketing agents they do have considerable influence. They are there to provide some power for farmers when negotiating with agribusiness. Corporate interests, and their liberal academic supporters, expect that the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will eventually put an end to the influence of farmer-controlled marketing boards. (6) In order to try to keep businesses in Canada, governments have increasingly offered them subsidies. Leamington granted Highbury Canco subsidized municipal water and re-assessed the value of the plant, cutting their property taxes in half. The city council abolished all development charges for building construction. The provincial government invested $2.5-million in Highbury Canco to help it expand production lines. Such practices have become a normal part of business under free trade. Most people are aware of the huge subsidies that are given to automobile corporations. What is it like to work in a manufacturing corporation operating under the new free trade, free market regime? Of course workers were not happy when their wages were cut as at Leamington. But they lined up to work at the new plant as there were very limited alternatives. We can get an idea by looking at the comments posted by workers at the Kraft Heinz plant, as reported at www.glassdoor.ca: Previous company was good to work for but not 3G. Deep cost cutting. New 3G culture . . . very focused on the bottom line. Was great place to work . . . until 3G/Heinz merger. Daily grind, week after week. Great people and horrible Senior Management. Go back to Brazil, please. Conclusion The experience of the tomato industry in Southwest Ontario is a case study of manufacturing in Canada under the new free trade regime. As the democratic opposition warned, the free trade regime has resulted in a major loss of manufacturing plants and good jobs in Canada. It is widely expected that the new Trans-Pacific Partnership will only make matters worse. There is also a new factor on the horizon: climate change. As weather systems become more unstable and destructive, a crisis is expected to develop in the production and distribution of food. There will be greater pressure on Canada to expand our own production of food, especially fruits and vegetables. It is likely that we will need to move to a production system similar to that used during World War II, with significant government intervention. This would be the opposite of the free trade model. A growing crisis will provoke a new political struggle. This article first appeared on his blog johnwwarnock.blogspot.ca. Solar Novus Today Has Been Integrated With Novus Light Technologies Today Visit Novus Light Technologies Today to see all the cutting-edge stories and products that you have come to enjoy on Solar Novus Today. In addition, you will find more information on related light-based technologies. Get the latest solar and renewable energy news delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Green Technologies newsletter CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR GREEN TECHNOLOGIES NEWSLETTER What you need to know about Powerball and the $550 jackpot Here's everything you need to know about Powerball from how to play for the lottery jackpot to when the next drawing will be. Oak Creek to host outdoor 2022 World Cup watch party A partnership between Morans Pub in South Milwaukee and the city of Oak Creek will offer residents food, drinks, music and games on Nov. 25. Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea VENICE, Calif. PBS KIDS and PBS SoCal touted their new animated series, "Ready Jet Go!," with a first-look screening, live musical performances and a conversation about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education here at Google's Venice office last month. During the Jan. 20 event, panelists discussing STEM learning included series creator Craig Bartlett; executive producer Dete Meserve; astrophysicist Amy Mainzer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California (who stars in "Ready Jet Go!" interstitial pieces); Google software engineer Kim Swennen; Diana Skaar, Google's head of business innovation for robotics; and moderator Linda Simensky, the vice president of children's programming at PBS. "Ready Jet Go!" focuses on three kids who befriend an alien family. It aims to educate children about science and the solar system. One of the main themes of the show which premieres tonight (Feb. 15) on PBS KIDS is that science is constantly changing as people learn new things. [Our Solar System: A Photo Tour of the Planets] "We're teaching kids some pretty bleeding-edge planetary science," Mainzer said. "When I was growing up, it wasn't so easy to find out new information. So we're hoping to get that into kids' hands as quickly as we can." Simensky said that the show is up to date with the latest Pluto information gathered by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which performed history's first flyby of the dwarf planet in July 2015. "What happens if they reinstate Pluto?" she asked, referring to the International Astronomical Union's contentious 2006 decision to reclassify Pluto from "planet" to "dwarf planet." Will the show need to be re-edited? "There will probably be a massive fight among astronomers," Mainzer said. "It's gonna be like the Hatfields versus the McCoys. It got a little ugly in 2006 when they made a decision. That's one of the really cool things about the show is, we were able to hold off on doing the Pluto episodes until we got the results from New Horizons literally that day." Mainzer also commended PBS and the "Ready Jet Go!" group for being committed to getting the science right. She says she hasn't gotten many questions because the people behind the show have done research on their own. "It's really impressive to me how solid the science is with the show and how much opportunity we have for feedback on the science," Mainzer said. "And we really try to get it right. And if it's not, it's on me. Because I've had plenty of chances, and that's really wonderful and special." Simensky also broached the subject of STEM. "What are the barriers to girls getting into science, or even lower-socioeconomic-status kids who aren't being exposed on a regular basis to scientific topics what are the barriers to getting them interested in these areas?" she asked. Google has done some research and found these barriers to be both psychological and logistical, Swennen said. It would help if the media brought role models in these fields to kids' attention, and if low-income families had access to computers or computer-science education, she said. "Seeing other portrayals of women and other people who look like you who are doing science and going 'Oh, I could do that too,' are some of the contributing factors," Swennen added. A stereotype the show would like to break is that scientists work alone in a dark room. "It's very much about teamwork and partnering up with the people who you work with and depend on and trust to solve really hard problems and figure things out," Mainzer said. "That's fun. That's basically what kids do when they play In a lot of ways, we're like big kids playing with the other big kids trying to solve really hard problems." Bartlett saw parallels between Mainzer's group working together to get big space projects approved and his group trying to launch "Ready Jet Go!" "It's about collaboration and a large group of people the sum-is-greater-than-the-parts thing that goes on in this kind of work," he said. "And both fields are creative and use imagination." The imagination topic led to a discussion about "Ready Jet Go!" characters. Jet, the alien character, was created first, and then the team came up with Sean and Sidney. Sean is the practical, scientific-method guy, whereas Sidney is a science-fiction fan who embodies imagination. Mindy was added last to ask questions that 4-year-olds might ask. [5 Bold Claims of Alien Life] Bartlett also discussed some of the songs in the show. One called "Scientific Method" teaches kids the principles of the scientific method, and another, called "Try Again Ditty," is about the importance of perseverance. "The Bortronians [the aliens in the show] are all about failure," Bartlett said. "Cartoon shows are a perfect place to repeat themes and songs played over and over again." People at Google are told that, if they don't fail, they're not trying hard enough, Skaar said. "You really have to push yourself. That's great that's a theme and concept that you are pushing with these young kids," she said. In an interview with Space.com after the panel, Mainzer said that she had a narrow view of what real science was like when she was younger, so one of her goals with the show is to "expose kids to the different career options in science and engineering and give them a little glimpse of the future so maybe they can see some things and get some ideas of their own that they would like to try some day." How does the astrophysicist fit into the show's writing process? Mainzer said that the writers come up with some principles, and then there's a process of generating a premise. The premise gets developed to an outline, then eventually to a script, then to the animatic stage (pre-animation stage), and then to the final product. "There's been an opportunity for me and my counterpart, who is an early-childhood-education specialist, to offer feedback," she said. "So we're really trying hard to get the science right. There's a really great commitment to quality to the show which I really appreciate." During the panel, Bartlett said the show is always just an email away from the answer to anything, because he can contact Mainzer so easily. "Amy!" he exclaimed, by way of example. "What's a good moon that's the right distance from Saturn?" [Photos: The Rings and Moons of Saturn] He went on to share his favorite factoid from Mainzer: 15 percent of near-Earth asteroids have a little friend orbiting around them, sometimes even two. If kids want to have a job like Mainzer does, what advice does she have? "Take the math and science classes. Even if it doesn't go your way the first time you try it, try it again," she said. "Keep at it, stick with it. It gets better with time and it keeps getting better that's the thing I think is so cool about science." Bartlett and composer Jim Lang performed the show's theme song earlier in the evening, as well as songs with titles like "Night of a Bazillion Stars," "How Come the Moon Has Craters?" and "Tiny Blue Dot." "Tiny Blue Dot" was inspired by Bartlett's interviews with 26 astronauts who had been to space; they told moving stories about looking back at the Earth forever changed them. "There are no borders up here," Bartlett said. "This is our one spaceship that we're all on, and this is all we have. It makes things like climate change vitally important, and it's because we went into space. Going to space makes a better Earth citizen than if we didn't go into space." That's also Bartlett's main objective with the series: "To make kids good citizens and when they grow up, to vote for NASA funding." Julie Ann Crommett, program manager for Google's computer science education in media, and Andy Russell, PBS SoCal president and CEO, also provided remarks at the beginning of the evening. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Optimization Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should? Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools. James Bond star Daniel Craig is headlining Purity, a hot drama series package that hit the cable and digital marketplace earlier this week. The project, produced by Scott Rudin, is based on the book of the same name by The Corrections author Jonathan Franzen, published last September. Todd Field is writing the adaptation with Franzen.I hear the package has been seeking a series order 20 episodes, with Field set to direct all 20 hours. Purity was taken out to cable networks, including Showtime and FX, and streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. I also hear Showtime has made an offer in line with what the producers had been looking for and is looking good, though not all bids are in and no decision has been made about where the project will end up. Showtime previously aggressively pursued another big package with an A-list feature actor attached, limited series True Detective starring Matthew McConaughey, offering a straight-to-series order, but was ultimately outbid by HBO.I hear Purity could be a limited series, ending at 20 episodes, but it could go beyond that.6Written by Field, I hear Purity was originally envisioned as a feature. The project, first reported by Variety, is descried as a dark comedy. It centers on Pip, a young American woman who does not know who she is, and Andreas, a charismatic German provocateur, the role Craig is expected to play. He heads a South America-based organization that traffics in all the secrets of the world; Pip gets an internship there in search of her identity. Farmers are being urged to monitor their stock carefully following the ongoing presence of bluetongue disease in France. The advice to report any clinical signs of disease immediately comes as the latest risk assessment from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) reveals the UK is at risk of an outbreak during the spring or summer months, with an outbreak in late summer rated the most likely. This would be the result of infected midges being blown across from France to the South East of England. The disease does not affect people, meat or any other animal products including milk. Bluetongue can cause illnesses in domestic and wild ruminants such as sheep, cattle, goats, deer, llamas and alpacas. The risk of an incursion in the UK is highly dependent on the level of disease on the continent, the proximity to the UK of cases in the rest of Europe and the weather, including temperature and wind direction. We have robust disease surveillance procedures in place and are working closely with the Devolved Administrations and livestock industry. Restriction zones are already in place in France to control the spread of the disease, and if bluetongue were to be found circulating in the UK, similar measures such as movement restrictions would be put in place in line with our National Control Strategy across the Devolved Administrations. By reducing the rate of the spread of disease this could help reduce the impact of the disease on businesses. Commenting on the latest risk assessment, Government Deputy Chief Vet Simon Hall said: We have robust disease surveillance procedures in place and are working closely with the livestock industry to carefully monitor the situation in France where bluetongue disease control measures are in place. The risk of incursion from infected midges is difficult to predict at this stage because it is highly dependent on the level of disease on the continent, the proximity to the UK and the weather. This was a consensus from the recent UK Mastitis Panel meeting, sponsored by MSD Animal Health with a lack of expertise at both farmer and vet level being recognised as a limiting factor currently. The panel representing practising dairy vets, research and Government agreed that whilst the use of selective dry cow therapy was at a relatively low level in UK dairy herds at the moment, a momentum was building that could see as many as half the nations herds adopting the practice within a few years. There is growing pressure from the milk processors and some supermarkets to see a reduction in antibiotic use on dairy farms, and dry cow therapy is one area under the spotlight, said Dr Martin Behr, technical manager at MSD Animal Health and chair of the UK Mastitis Panel meeting. We know from our own training workshops with vets and farmers that the level of expertise in administering teat sealants, for example, is relatively low. Only about 30 percent of vets attending these workshops had any experience at all in administering a teat sealant. Hearst Connecticut Media / File photo A power outage affecting sections of Grand Central Terminal could cause scattered delays on Metro North train service in and out of New York City. Metro-North reported experiencing technical difficulties with the schedules and fares page of their website, their TrainTime mobile app, their automated telephone system, and signage at stations due to the loss of power. STAMFORD Sue Dougherty teaches math and science at Stamford High School, where she has worked for five years. For the past four summers, Dougherty has also gone to Virginia to work with NASA scientists as part of the agencys LEARN program. The program puts K-12 teachers on teams of NASA scientists working on atmospheric research. Its highly competitive this year Dougherty was one of six teachers nationwide selected for the program. In recognition of her work, Dougherty and several Stamford High students were invited to the White House last month to attend a speech on the state of science education in America. Q: How did you first become interested in teaching? T he billionaire Livingstone brothers have become the latest property developers to scrap plans for luxury flats in London in favour of swanky offices, amid concerns the homes market is overheating. Ian and Richard Livingstones London & Regional Properties last year won planning permission to create a 35 million, 57-apartment scheme at the Thames Wharf Studios in Hammersmith, which was the home of architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. But the Standard can reveal the Livingstones whose empire includes Cliveden House in Berkshire decided to revamp the offices instead. It has hired property agent Frost Meadowcroft to seek businesses for the space. The decision comes shortly after Derwent London abandoned proposals to convert its own Savile Row headquarters into homes as thousands of houses flood on to the market. Derwent boss John Burns today said: Escalating residential construction costs and increases in stamp duty, alongside rising office rents, led us to reconsider this approach. We are now refurbishing the office space instead. T he recent meeting in Munich of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) seeking a settlement in Syria including Russia, the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran came up with a plan to try to find ways to end the hostilities between Syrian opposition groups and the government, while not compromising on fighting Islamic State (IS) and other extremists. This followed the successes of the recent Syrian army offensive, which, in the view of experts, has gradually built up sufficient momentum to bring the civil war in Syria to an end. To have an idea of the sheer challenge facing the international community, one has to look back at how the Syrian situation has evolved over the past four years. We witnessed the process of radicalisation on the opposition side. Many Syrian groups became involved with foreign terrorist organisations which were well supplied and financed by various regional players, who in turn projected their domestic political agendas onto the Syrian battleground. It came to the point when the Americans gave up on finding people they could trust among the rebel groups fighting the Syrian government. We were told by our British colleagues a few months ago that the situation in Syria was a complete mess. The situation was further complicated by the emergence of IS, an explosive mix of religious fanatics and the rump of the Iraqi Baathist regime, including Saddam Husseins officer corps. In the meantime the US assembled its anti-IS coalition of about 70 members, which delivered ineffective airstrikes at IS targets for more than a year before Russia had to intervene at the request of the Syrian government with its air force. Last summer we were told by our Western partners that in October Damascus would fall to IS. What they were planning to do next we dont know. Probably, they would have ended up painting the extremists white and accepting them as a Sunni state straddling Iraq and Syria. In these circumstances Russias intervention was a critical game-changer, allowing the democratic Syrian opposition to reappropriate the cause of a democratic and secular Syria, which was hijacked by foreign terrorist groups. It was only then that the main actors could come together within the ISSG to engage in a comprehensive effort to find a political solution in Syria and to eradicate IS. The scale of this ambitious dual task has never been underestimated, given the situation on the ground. Thats why the group agreed to compile the lists of bona fide opposition and terrorist groups. This is difficult because of regional scheming. For example, the Syrian Kurds havent been invited to Geneva talks because of opposition from Turkey. This attempt, led by Russians and Americans, to separate moderate from extremist groups is crucial. It will allow the moderate opposition to sever their alliances with terrorist groups from abroad. It would also unshackle the Syrian army as the main force to fight IS on the ground. Thus a common anti-terrorist front could come into being, while a political solution to the Syrian crisis is discussed between the Government and the opposition in Geneva. Meanwhile, the Russian Air Force and the US-led coalition will continue their airstrikes against IS. This approach is the real chance to resolve the Syrian problem. Its not easy, but if we are to bring this war to an end, we have to try. Tommy Hilfiger tested his sea legs this season with a fashion show which was heavy with nautical references. Inspired by the ocean liners that once served as a playgrounds for chic transatlantic travellers, Hilfiger went all out to recapture the glamour of the Forties with a collection that included printed tea dresses, braided sailors jackets and Breton stripes. Fusing his signature oversized coats and louche tailoring with a newly developed interest in detail, Hilfiger showcased funnel knit sweaters and sequin trimmed bomber jackets. Outerwear which included everything from blazers with a military to sheepskin coats reminiscent of a style Miuccia Prada made iconic in 2013, also stood out. Tommy Hilfiger AW16 at NYFW 1 /24 Tommy Hilfiger AW16 at NYFW Tommy Hilfiger Gigi Hadid walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Models walk the AW16 finale Randy Brooke/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Models walk the AW16 finale Randy Brooke/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Hailey Baldwin walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Lineisy Montero walks the AW16 runway Randy Brooke/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Gigi Hadid walks the AW16 runway Randy Brooke/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Hailey Baldwin walks the AW16 runway Randy Brooke/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Sara Sampiao walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger A model walks the AW16 runway Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Gigi Hadid walks the AW16 runway Randy Brooke/Getty Tommy Hilfiger Tommy greets his audience Randy Brooke/Getty The nautical showcase unfolded around a catwalk-cum-cruiseliner christened Hilfiger Line. Models which included Tommy Hilfiger ambassador Gigi Hadid served as perfectly turned out passengers. Seafaring is familiar ground for Hilfiger who has long looked to the aesthetic to underpin his collections. But there was also new developments to be found here. Randy Brooke/Getty Keen to keep adding to the youthful customer base which has allowed Tommy Hilfiger to enjoy something of a renaissance in recent years, the designer unveiled bombers embellished with the Tommy logo. A play on the classic Hilfiger jacket- a style made famous in the brand's Nineties heyday - was among the most commercially savvy pieces on offer. Speaking before the show Hilfiger described his collection as a "Forties in sensibility but entirely contemporary" adding, "the idea of getting dressed up to make an important journey sparked my imagination." Randy Brooke/Getty The notion of seasonless style and the determination to create a collection that appeal to women in country's all over the globe was also evident in this offering, with lightweight silk pyjama shorts and sheer pencil skirts presented alongside oversized knitwear. Hilfiger, who founded his business in 1985, heads up one of the most recognisable brands in American fashion and is determined to keep up with the fashion industry's changing climate. Ahead of the show he unveiled plans to restructure Tommy Hilfiger's business model so that collections go on sale to customers immediately after they are unveiled on the runway. The US designer, who has now unveiled his final collection within the existing seasonal model, will join Burberry and Tom Ford and the buy now fashion revolution from September when it showcases a collection designed in collaboration with Gigi Hadid. TommyxGigi a capsule collection, will go on sale moments after it is unveiled on the runway. The collection will also be previewed via the social media super model's own Instagram feed. T heres much more to Westminster than Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Take a walk around the area and look out for the following. Completed in 1951, the imposing Ministry of Defence building at Whitehall is hard to miss. Less obvious are the remains of a far larger royal palace built on the same site 400 years earlier. From 1538 to 1698, the Palace of Whitehall was the official residence of the royal family in London. Extending over 23 acres, the palace was the largest in Europe and gave its name to what is now the administrative hub of central government in the UK. In a fate that would befall the medieval Houses of Parliament 200 years later, most of the Palace of Whitehall was burnt down in a huge fire, leaving only a few discrete remains of its former glory. Walk round to the river-facing side of the MOD building and you can see a wall and a series of steps dating from 1691 that would have provided access for Queen Mary II and her officials to reach the State Barge on the Thames. Queen Mary's steps Paul Farmer / Paul Farmer A 16th century vaulted undercroft also survives, and is now known as Henry VIIIs Wine Chamber, but this is off limits to the public and managed by the MOD. The only truly significant remnant of the palace is Inigo Jones opulent Banqueting House. Flanked by the Old War Office, Cabinet Office and the Wales Office, the Banqueting House can be easily mistaken for another government department building. But step inside and you will find an immaculately preserved 17th century royal pleasure house, boasting a mural by Rubens and the UKs first neoclassical facade. It is owned and operated by the Historic Royal Palaces charity and is usually open to the public seven days a week. Banqueting House Steve Cadman/Creative Commons / Steve Cadman/Creative Commons Opposite the Banqueting House and Old War Office is the official entrance to Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards. Look closely at the clock face and you will see that the numerical 2 is black to mark the time that King Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House in 1642. Clock face at Horse Guards S Pakhrin/Creative Commons / S Pakhrin/Creative Commons The execution of Charles I was followed by a period of deep paranoia on the part of the government of the day, which feared a royalist insurrection. It became illegal to keep images of the deceased king, even privately. The bronze equestrian statue that now stands in the middle of a traffic island at Trafalgar Square is a remarkable survivor from this period. Hidden underground for 40 years by the very man ordered to destroy it, the statue has stood on this site since 1676. Few sculptures in London date from this period but, due to its unassuming location, it is barely noticed by passers-by. Charles I looks on, staring in the direction of the place of his execution. King Charles I Equestrian Statue Matt Brown/Creative Commons / Matt Brown/Creative Commons If you face the Houses of Parliament side-on you will notice that Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) is one of three tall structures that project from the building. If you look really closely you may be able to see that Elizabeth Tower is leaning over, very slightly, towards MPs offices in Portcullis House on the other side of Westminster Bridge Road. The tower is leaning 0.26 degrees to the north-west, a difference of around 0.5 metres from the base to the Ayrton Light at its peak. This light at the top of the tower is switched on only when either the Lords or the Commons is sitting after dark and is named after a former MP, Acton Smee Ayrton. Houses of Parliament Wilson Hui/Creative Commons / Wilson Hui/Creative Commons At the south end of the building, Victoria Tower houses the Parliamentary Archives, where Acts of Parliament going back to 1497 are stored. Elizabeth Tower and Victoria Tower are not part of the main visitors tour of Parliament, but visits can be requested by writing to your MP or contacting the Parliamentary Archives office. Both tours are free of charge. The smallest of the three towers is Central Tower. It may look like a decorative Gothic spire but it was designed as an early, albeit ineffective, attempt at providing ventilation to the palace. Opposite Victoria Tower in Old Palace Yard, the 14th century Jewel Tower is another one of Westminsters under-appreciated little gems. The medieval Palace of Westminster that had housed parliament since the 13th century was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1834 but the Jewel Tower survived, and would later become the office where the Imperial measurement system was standardised. The Jewel Tower Kurt Bauschardt/Creative Commons / Kurt Bauschardt/Creative Commons As its name suggests, the Jewel Tower once held the personal treasure of Edward III and continued to do so until 1512. It is owned and operated by English Heritage and is open to the public. Dramatically overshadowed by Westminster Abbey, St Margarets Church is the Anglican parish church of the House of Commons. Winston Churchill and Samuel Pepys had their weddings there and Sir Walter Raleigh was buried inside, following his execution in 1618. St Margarets was founded by monks in the 12th century but the present building dates from the 1500s. It is free to visit. If you feel like being intellectually challenged on your day out, you may want to visit Middlesex Guildhall, home to the UK Supreme Court, on the west side of Parliament Square. Its proceedings are open to the public and can be visited free of charge. UK Supreme Court Jay Galvin/Creative Commons / Jay Galvin/Creative Commons These are just a few of the less-obvious sites that lie in the vicinity of the more famous Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament. Not mentioned above is the array of smaller museums such as the Guards Museum at Wellington Barracks or the Household Cavalry Museum at Horse Guards. As is so often the case with London, the best way to get to know it is to get off the beaten path and go exploring! The secret world beneath London's streets 1 /9 The secret world beneath London's streets London Post Office Railway As Londons roads became increasingly congested in the 19th century it got harder to deliver mail on time, prompting some early initiatives to deliver Londons letters through a series of subterranean tunnels. After several aborted attempts at the Mail Rail, a working system finally began in 1926 and at the peak of its operation the tracks carried four million letters and parcels every day. There are 23 miles of this narrow gauge line running under the city, principally between Paddington and Whitechapel. It served nine stations, including two mainline stations and the major London sorting offices. It finally closed in 2003 but the largest of its stations, Mount Pleasant (pictured), will be opening to the public in 2016. Matt Brown / Flickr WWII Deep Level Shelters Running parallel to eight tube stations are a series of 400-metre long tunnels each designed to house up to 8,000 people. Completed in 1942, they took around 18 months to build and were intended to become part of a new express line that was to be added to the Northern Line after the war. Apart from one at Chancery Lane, which would later come to house the Kingsway Telephone Exchange, they were all constructed along the Northern Line (at Belsize Park, Camden Town, Goodge Street, Stockwell, Clapham North, Clapham Common, and Clapham South). The shelter at Goodge Street became General (later President) Eisenhowers headquarters during the planning stages of D-Day. Today, most of these shelters are used for storage but many have retained relics from their wartime past. London Transport Museum operates tours of the shelter at Clapham South. secretlondon123 / Flickr Government bunkers Owing to the central and relatively shallow location of the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall, a secret contingency bunker called Paddock was built at Dollis Hill to cater for the wartime cabinet in the event that the Whitehall bunker was compromised. Churchill and his cabinet only visited Paddock once as a test run before the war ended. The site experienced flooding after building work above ground in 2000 but is now opened for the public during London Open House Weekends. Less well known is Pindar in Whitehall, located under the Ministry of Defence building. It was completed in 1994 at a cost of 126m and today serves as crisis management and communications centre for government. James Cridland / Flickr London Underground ghost stations In many ways the station at Aldwych (formerly Strand Station) hardly counts as a disused station at all. Since its closure in 1994, the station has been used as a film location for television dramas, music videos and major feature films. Sherlock, 28 Weeks Later, Atonement and V for Vendetta all had scenes filmed at Aldwych. There are around 40 ghost stations in London. Some such as Down Street Station on the Piccadilly Line and British Museum Station on the Central Line can just about be seen as the tube passes through them but most go largely unnoticed. It is possible to arrange tours of some of these stations, which are operated by the London Transport Museum. Ashley Coates / Flickr Catacombs London began to expand rapidly in the 19th century, causing problems for the cemeteries that were rapidly running out of space to bury the dead. Kensal Green (pictured) and West Norwood are two locations where the dead began to be buried underground in catacombs. Both cemeteries operate tours of their catacombs. Hassan C / Flickr Lost rivers Before the River Tyburn was built over, its course through the city meant that both Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament sat on a small island known as Thorney Island. Originating in Hampstead Heath, the Tyburn is one of 13 major tributaries to the River Thames that flow through the city, many of which are now incorporated into the sewer system. If you look up at the ceiling above the exits at Sloane Square Station, youll see a Victorian iron pipe that carries the River Westbourne through the city. Jon Doe / Flickr Lesser-known Tunnels Rumours of secret tunnels under London are widespread. There is evidence for the existence of some, such as an extensive network under Whitehall known as Q-Whitehall and the tunnel out of the Berry Bros building in Mayfair. There are also an array of tunnels that arent secret at all but are hardly known about such as Tower Subway running under the Thames from Tower Hill to Tooley Street. Completed in 1869. This tunnel once carried Victorian passengers in small cable cars under the river before becoming a foot tunnel and then a route for carrying water mains. The northern entrance to the tunnel at Tower Hill is pictured above. Phillip Perry Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout Review at a glance T hings to Come (an offputtingly H G Wells-evoking translation of a film that in French is called simply L'Avenir) is the fifth feature by the gifted 35-year old director, Mia Hansen-Love. Her last, Eden, modelled on the career of her brother, was about the dilemmas faced by a 20-something club DJ. Indeed, until now she has made pretty much semi-autobiographical films, about people of more or less her own age, still so young for an acclaimed auteur. L'Avenir, though, looks to the future, to age. Hansen-Love, who began as a teenage actress in films directed by Olivier Assayas, went on both to be mentored by him as a film-maker and to marry him - and they have a six-year-old daughter. Assayas himself, although still making lush films about youthful radicality such as Something in the Air and Clouds of Sils Maria, is 61 - and, as it happens, this marvellous new film by Hansen-Love is about facing up to both the freedoms granted and the loss of choice involved in becoming older. It's also and equally a film about the lives of intellectuals, people who live by ideas above all, among the very best films ever made about that subject, so difficult to incorporate into action. She knows the subject intimately, being not only French, for such a way of approaching life is deeply engrained in French thinking and habit even among those not regaling themselves in central Paris, but also in herself being the daughter of two philosophy professors. L'Avenir stars Isabelle Huppert, no less, now 62, the first time Hansen-Love has worked with an actress of such fame. They have brought out the best in each other very movingly for anybody (OK, me) who first fell for Huppert in The Lacemaker back in 1977. She plays Nathalie, a confident, thin and chic, intellectually incisive philosophy professor, with several textbooks to her name, married to Heinz (Andre Marcon), a far more conservative philosophy teacher (he reveres Schopenhauer, not Marx) with a bit of a tum and a slightly grumpy attitude, but they share both a lovely old, beachside family holiday home in Brittany as well a stylish book-lined apartment in Paris, and they have a teenage son and a daughter, close to each other if not quite the major intellectuals they are themselves. The only fly in the ointment, it first appears, is Nathalie's narcissistic, wildly demanding mother, a beauty in her youth but now a prize pain in the arse, hilariously well played by the 78-year-old veteran actress of stage and screen, Edith Scob (so good in Asssayas's Summer Hours). Nathalie is losing it all: her husband, her growing children, the contracts for her over-serious textbooks, that holiday house and her mother. "The future seems compromised", she says. This mother rings Nathalie incessantly, if necessary to get her attention telling her that she has turned the gas on and is committing suicide. When Natalie rushes over yet again, abandoning her class, which is cogently discussing "can the truth be debated?", she finds her mother is fine - but the firemen her mother is called are fed up. "Three times this week for nothing - your mother is your responsility - put her in hospital" one tells her. The mother, meanwhile, says "the fireman was cute" and "I'm dying of cold - can I have my mink." Later, when she is refusing food, in the expensive old people's home Nathalie has arranged, she demands strawberries and oysters, once her daughter has come back abandoning her final visit to her beloved Breton hideway. Edith Scob's comic delivery is perfect, as a once-commanding woman who has not coped at all with abandonment and ageing: a great cameo, a great foil for Huppert. Then, after 25 years, Hein gravely tells Nathalie: "I met someone." Her faultlessly French response? "Why tell me?" But then Heinz says he is moving in with the other woman. "I thought you would love me forever what an idiot", Nathalie, ever clear-minded, says of herself. They split the books, Nathalie enraged Heinz has confiscated her annotated copies of Levinas, he perturbed not to be able to find The World as Will and Representation. Nathalie although unwillingly gaining her mother's cat, Pandora, which apart from being huge anyway, a Depardieu of cats, is actually obese, a cardinal sin around Huppert is losing it all: her husband, her growing children, the contracts for her over-serious textbooks, that holiday house and her mother. "The future seems compromised", she says. At her mother's funeral service, a priest tells her artlessly: "Doubt and questioning are bound up with faith - you have made this your life." But she has been so certain until now - and in her address at the family farewell, she tellingly reads from Pascal, who says he is to be pitied for his uncertainty: "Nature should say everything or nothing... ignorant of what I am or of what I ought to do, I know neither my condition nor my duty..." "After 40, women are fit for the trash", Nathalie tells her protege, a radicalised young writer and teacher, Fabien (Roman Kolinka). But Fabien too is leaving, to join a radical philosophical commune in remote countryside of the mountainous Vercors. Nathalie, putting the best face on events ("I discovered my freedom") visits him there but finds she is "too old for radicality". Her brief three years of communism ended when she read Solzhenitsyn, as she has already crisply explained. But Fabien turns on her for living as such a bourgeois "a thought system requires a change in life", he says. Although rebutting these "sterile schemas", Nathalie is wounded, hugging the great lump Pandora to herself, in tears. A year later, though, she is setting her class a pointedly challenging text from Rousseau's novel, Julie: "So long as we desire, we can go without happiness..." At Christmas, Heinz calls by to collect his book "Now that you have your Schopenhauer, all is well", she says, with almost forgiving sarcasm. She cradles her crying new grandchild, softly singing a lullaby: "A nightingale sang/ Your heart is full of joy..." Above all, L'Avenir is a great performance by Huppert, on screen almost from start to finish, as a woman re-thinking her whole life so late, so assertive, but also so vulnerable and tender, totally holding your heart yet also convincing you as one of those strange creatures, a thorough-going academic, in a way rarely seen. Thoroughly, even densely, written though it is, a variant moreover on a not wholly unfamiliar story of break-up and survival, the film nonetheless flows like a river with true cinematic life. You can't mistake it. The camerawork by Denis Lenoir (who works for Assayas too but in a different mode) is always engaged and involving, not to say actually emotive in its own movements. L'Avenir could only ever have been made in France, by a film-maker who has deeply absorbed la nouvelle vague and all its values and has given them natural expression for today. Without any disrespect to Joanna Hogg, whose films are stunning achievements too, L'Avenir has an ease with its high-flown yet completely grounded subject matter no English film-maker knows. So far, this has been, for me, the best that 2016 Berlin Film Festival has had to show. Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout Review at a glance D irector Jeff Nicholss last film with Michael Shannon, Take Shelter, about a man trying to convince his wife that apocalypse was on the way, left it ambiguous whether or not his visions would come to pass. Midnight Special has no such qualms. Its a weird and wonderful road movie, moving from Texas to Louisiana. Roy (Shannon, impressively gaunt and weary) and his sidekick Lucas (Joel Edgerton, so solid) are said by TV reports to have kidnapped an eight-year-old boy, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher, appropriately fey) from a religious cult called The Ranch, a bunch of hicks fiercely led by Sam Shepard. We meet the runaways in a darkened motel room, armed and on the run. But Roy is actually Altons father and Alton is no ordinary child. He has extraordinary powers, a blinding light in his eyes able to inspire faith in all who look into them. However, he has to be kept out of the sunlight, so that much of the movie takes place in deep and worrying shade. Roy and Lucas, meeting up en route with his mother (Kirsten Dunst, sorrowfully preparing to let her son go) are taking Alton to a special place he wants to go to, pursued both by The Ranch and the FBI. At least the agencys special scientific adviser (Adam Driver, again excellent) has an open mind... The final reveal, going for full Spielbergian wonder, may be too explicit, but the movie makes a gripping journey, into and beyond belief. Read our list of ten films everyone will be talking about in 2016 Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout A new festival with a twist is coming to London this summer top billing is split between DJs and pizza. Yes, you read right. MySliceFest will be Londons first pizza and music festival when it comes to Wembley Park on July 30. The music lineup includes Luck & Neat, Rugrat, Martin 2 Smoove, Shorebitch and DJ Cable, however the all-important pizzas which will be on hand are yet to be confirmed. We do know, however, that a waffle pizza will feature Waffle #pizza added to the menu for @myslicefest at @wembleypark Saturday 30th July tickets go on sales Mon 8th Feb pic.twitter.com/LlGFDAYUOo MySliceFest (@myslicefest) February 2, 2016 And that there are also set to be pizza cupcakes, pizza cones and XXL Man Versus Pizza slices. Organisers have revealed that Camden bar and restaurant Gilgamesh will be overseeing a VIP area, while were also promised beer pong and tomato throwing contests. The best pizza in London 1 /18 The best pizza in London 50 Kalo di Ciro Salvo Don't be fooled by the red and black Dennis the Menace-style decor this place does seriously good pizza. Ingredients are rich and authentic (the mozzarella is flown in from Campania) and the pizzas come with generous helpings of lip-smacking tomato sauce (that you be mopping up with leftover crust afterwards). Luciano Furia Sodo Pizza Cafe In case you were wondering about the name, Sodo stands for sourdough. And thats something they take pretty seriously here. All the pizza dough is fermented for 48 hours and then baked at over 450 so that its light and airy with plenty of that sourdough tang. With such great bases it makes sense to keep toppings simple, but special kudos must go to the brilliantly named Jon Bon Chovy topped with anchovies, olives, capers, chilli and fresh parsley. Pizza Pilgrims With restaurants in different corners of London, brothers James and Thom Eliot have come a long way since their days as street food traders. The Neapolitan-style pizzas here are soft and doughy with a plumped-up crust and a rich tomato base try the nudja variety if youre feeling spicy. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele Flying in to Baker Street from Naples, this pizzeria which incidentally was featured in Eat, Pray, Love has been described as the best in the world, never mind London. The London branch is less scruffy (and a little more expensive) than the Naples original, and the pizzas are slightly different, too the bases are thicker for a start. That said, the full-flavoured tomato base which is a signature is present and correct and theres no doubting this is among the finest pizza in the capital. Be prepared to queue. Santore A hefty proportion of the clientele always seems to be Italian at this old-school Clerkenwell local, and thats got to be a good sign. The signature order is pizza by the metre, made with varying toppings along the stretch you might want to bring a couple of friends to help polish it off though. For something different try the i panuozzi, a pizza sandwich that has the same toppings but double the dough. Crate Brewery No two items could be more perfectly suited to each other than beer and pizza and few places are as geared up for the pair of them as Crate is. As well as making its own beer on-site it serves crispy, thin-base pizzas that are worthy of much more than just soaking up your drinks. Try the Middle Eastern lamb variety, topped with spicy mince, alongside more traditional numbers. Franco Manca There's a staggering number of Franco Manca branches throughout the capital, from Soho to Southfields and Covent Garden to Chiswick. Despite its size, the slightly sour, salty chewy Neapolitan base which made such an impression at the original Brixton Market branch remains, as do the simple but well-sourced toppings. The original Brixton branch is still the best. Homeslice There are now six buzzy Homeslice sites across London serving up impressive 20-inch pizzas. Some off-the-wall toppings may put off purists, but clever combos and a blistering hot oven ensure the end results really do work even a goat shoulder and savoy cabbage number. Devour them whole or by the slice. Pizza Union This casual pizzeria with sites in Spitalfields and Kings Cross is buzzy, fast and impressively cheap plus the pizzas are the real deal. Theyre made in the Roman style, with bases that are thin and crispy rather than chewy, and come in an abundance of varieties. Good news for coeliacs just ask for gluten free bases. Yard Sale Pizza Yard Sale Pizza started out how you might expect in a yard. Founder Johnnie Tate began his dough spinning journey cooking pies in a pizza oven in his Hackney back garden, but now the brand boasts five sites across London and has collaborated with the likes of foodie rapper Loyle Carner and, err, Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin. The proof of their success is in the pie its Holy Pepperoni is topped with two types of pepperoni and nduja sausage, while more contemporary options include the TSB, topped with tenderstem broccoli, manchego and pine nuts. Voodoo Rays Crust-leavers, get yourself to Voodoo Rays. This Dalston-originating pizza joint serves its pizza by-the-slice from massive 22-inch New York-style pies do the maths and that means less crust, more topping. And what toppings they are: fior di latte mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes are used across the board and varieties include both Italian classic and the likes of the very English Porkys, made with Cumberland sausage, Stilton, red onion and parsley. Zia Lucia Zia Lucia really knows its dough. The growing pizza group has four different doughs on its menu a traditional, a wholemeal, a vegetable charcoal and one made with gluten-free flour. Toppings are Italian in essence, with a few tantalisingly unusual variations along the way: the Andrea Pirlo is topped with gorgonzola, apple, truffle and olive sauce, while the Green Vegana is spread with spicy broccoli cream and sundried tomatoes. Circolo Popolare The pizzas here are as luxurious as the restaurants famously flamboyant surroundings. Delicious metre-long 'zas arrive from the open kitchens twin rotary oven, placed on tables under floral ceilings and surrounded by walls stacked with 20,000 bottles. The crusts are chewy and light, the toppings are liberally applied and the sauces are perfect. ES Magazines critic Jimi Famurewa was full of praise for the doughy dishes, calling the peach-topped Orlando Blue pie a balanced blast of sunshine. The pizzas at Gloria, Circolos sister restaurant, are just as good too. Lateef Okunnu @lateef.photography Made of Dough At Made of Dough, its all about that crust generously charred and tangy as heck, its arguably the star of the show. Heading into the centre, be sure that the Truffle is somewhere on your order a white pizza, both mozzarella and parmesan are topped with white alba truffle oil and portobello mushrooms, with the option to add a mind-boggling portion of burratina on top. Starting life as a residency at Pop Brixton, the Made of Dough team now have a permanent spot in Peckham, as well as popular stalls in Market Hall Fulham and the West End location of crazy golf bar Swingers. Tickets start from 15 and are available now. Follow Ben Norum on Twitter @BenNorum Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout A new play which draws on the testimonies of 7/7 survivors imagines how ordinary Londoners would cope if a plane was brought down over the capital in a terrorist attack. Playwright and documentary film-maker Stuart Slade researched witness accounts from 9/11, the 2013 Westgate shopping mall atrocity in Kenya and last Novembers Paris attacks for BU21, opening at Theatre 503 next month. The play follows six characters as they cope with the aftermath of a Heathrow-bound passenger plane being shot down over Fulham in a suspected Islamic State attack. Slade, 37, said his intention was not to be sensationalist or create misery porn, but to explore the fear that Londoners and other inhabitants of major cities share, as well as how people cope with trauma and grief. He said: Reading accounts from 9/11 and 7/7 it was clear some people were suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but there were other patterns of how people deal with tragedy. The play is not just about listening to people suffer, but how human beings overcome and rationalise something like a terrorist attack, how they even see the funny side. Its something English people have a tendency to do. Slade, who was writing a short play about the 2014 Ukrainian revolution when the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made missile, said he wanted to capture Londons endless variety, but also the shared bonds that see communities pull together in the wake of a disaster. He said: We saw the idea of solidarity with Je Suis Charlie after Paris. Communities are drawn together, but then some people, like Muslims, also come under suspicion. BU21 runs from March 15 to April 9 @RashidRazaqES Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout Sofa Workshop first opened its doors at Maidstone, Kent in 1986 with the aim of giving home owners and renters ultimate design control whilst also producing custom-based options. This ethos is still true today. All of the sofas are hand-crafted across multiple workshops in the UK, where skilled furniture makers use raw materials of beech wood and work with the same piece of furniture from start to finish, even signing their name on the frame once completed for a personal touch. It takes four years to qualify as a British upholsterer and many have been 'on the bench' at Sofa Workshop since they left school, honing their skills. There is a good, old-fashioned hands-on approach so no hi-tech robots or production lines are seen on site. On request tours of the workshops can be arranged for visitors to really get a feel for the attention to detail that goes into making each piece of furniture. In addition to a useful website there are now 20 stores across the country, from Bristol to Glasgow, where advisors are at hand to discuss requirements. With more than 1000 fabric options and over 56 designs that are customisable, there is plenty to chat about. Whether the alterations are as simple as making a sofa a few centimetres wider than standard or changing the seat filling from feather to fibre, or going one-step further to changing leg colours, heights, depths and installing a bed in the frame the bespoke nature means all sofas can be adapted. Made by Hand in Britain As Sofa Workshop has grown so has its reputation and it has an impressive list of fabric collaborations on its books including Sanderson and Christian Lacroix. This year projects with Liberty Fabrics and Moon have been lined up. Every fabric has a 'rub-test', which means it is rubbed by a little machine thousands of times to see how long it lasts, a practice developed in WWII to test parachute fabric. Unless it hits a certain number it is not deemed suitable for upholstery. Sofa fabrics should be as long-lasting and hard-wearing as possible so this is an important part of meeting UK standards. Attention to detail: a Sofa Workshop maker at work Investing in these customisable pieces wont break the bank with many of the sofa prices at the more affordable end of the market. A great example of good value British design. Follow Amira on Twitter @amiranews M ore than half of the 685 Met police officers convicted of criminal offences in the past 10 years still work for the force, figures reveal today. The majority of the convictions are for relatively minor traffic offences but others include crimes of violence, sexual assault and theft. A total of 685 officers have been convicted since 2005, including 72 who were guilty of violence against other people, 27 of theft and 26 for sexual offences. There were 426 traffic convictions, which included 108 cases of drink-driving, 136 of speeding, 103 of driving without due care and four for using a mobile phone at the wheel. Five officers have been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving. The figures, released by the Met under freedom of information rules, show that 343 convicted officers remain employed, the overwhelming majority of whom have committed relatively minor traffic offences. The statistics also showed that nine officers were convicted for corruption in 10 years and eight for perjury. There were no officers convicted of burglary or robbery and just three were convicted for drugs offences. The Met said the figures showed the vast majority of officers uphold the law and that fewer than one in 500 officers in any year received convictions of any kind. The majority of officers convicted of more serious crimes left the force but traffic convictions were not usually treated as gross misconduct, which can lead to dismissal, a spokesman said. He said: Every day, the honest and hard-working men and women who make up the Met carry out their duties ethically and professionally. When the behaviour of our staff does fall below the standard the public and the Met expects of them, then action is taken. It is important to put this in context in an organisation of more than 30,000 police officers, less than 1.5 per cent have a criminal conviction, and this includes those convicted of traffic offences such as speeding. The highest-ranking officer convicted was Ali Dizaei, a former commander, who was dismissed in 2012 on his release from a jail term for misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice. He was found guilty of framing a young businessman in a street row over an unpaid bill. That same year, a counter-terrorism officer was jailed for misconduct in a public office for trying to sell information about the phone-hacking inquiry to the News of the World. Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn, 53, was sentenced to 15 months. Of the convictions, 213 resulted in formal action or formal misconduct proceedings, with a total of 136 officers sacked or forced to resign. The number of officers convicted of traffic offences fell dramatically in the past 10 years, the figures showed. In 2005, 72 were convicted of traffic offences, including 26 for speeding, 21 for undue care and attention and 17 for drink-driving. Last year, 19 officers were convicted of driving offences, including three for speeding, seven for undue care and four for drink-driving. The lowest total for all convictions was also last year, with 46, and the highest was 100 in 2005. Road safety charity Brake said: Police officers, who play a vital role in keeping our roads safe, have a particular responsibility to act as role models. We are pleased the number of offences has been declining in recent years. A man who stabbed his housemate to death in a fit of jealous rage over an ex-girlfriend has been jailed for a minimum of 22 years. Bernardas Petreikis, 23, murdered Mantas Augenas at the home they shared in Shrewsbury Road, Bounds Green, on August 30 last year. The Old Bailey heard how the Lithuanian national became angry after ex-girlfriend Elianna Podlesnaja admitted a fling with Mr Augenas. Ms Podlesnaja, who also lived at the house, was locked out of the property by Petreikius, who went to the kitchen, opened the knife drawer and went into his housemates bedroom. When she got back inside, she discovered Mr Augenas had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and back. The 35-year-old died from his injuries before reaching hospital. Petreikis, who was found guilty of murder on Friday, was today handed a life sentence and told he must serve a minimum of 22 years in jail. Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Piscopo, of the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "Mr Augenas was a husband and a father. The vicious attack inflicted upon him by Petreikis has devastated his family and has deprived his child of her loving father." A moped gang stole designer handbags worth 37,000 to order in a smash-and-grab raid on a luxury north London boutique. The six-strong crew cleaned out the Larizia store in St Johns Wood in minutes after smashing their way through the front window with a brick. Prosecutor Mark Gadsden said the boutique selling handbags worth more than 1,000 each by designers such as Stella McCartney and Yves Saint Laurent was targeted with buyers for the loot already lined up. It was a well-planned and organised crime which had a specific target in mind, he told Blackfriars crown court. The burglars must have stolen the handbags to order. Thirty designer bags stolen during the raid in July 2014, valued at 37,000, were later recovered as police swooped on members of the gang. David Lawson, 22, from Highbury, was jailed on Friday for three years after admitting his part in handling the stolen goods, while Jack Cluff, 19, and Donna Gizzi, 36, both from Archway, were both given suspended sentences for the same offence. Judge John Hillen QC told Lawson, who has already served a five-year sentence for a gunpoint robbery, he did not believe his claim to have not known about the raid in advance. I have to sentence you as a professional criminal and the five-year robbery sentence you had reveals that was the case and a choice you made when you were young, he said. Gizzi, who said she was doing a favour by stashing the bags in her house, was handed a four-month suspended sentence, while Cluff was given a 18-month suspended sentence. A ringleader of the gang and another member, who cannot be identified, are due to be sentenced at a later date. P olice were today involved in a standoff at a flat in south London. Roads in the Streatham Hill area were cordoned off by officers after they were called to reports of a "disturbance" at a property. The Met said officers were on the scene in Thornton Avenue this morning to negotiate with a man inside. Veronica Wall, who lives in Sternhold Avenue, passed the scene on her way to the station just before 8am. She told the Standard: "The police had blocked Thornton Avenue off at the junction of Sternhold Avenue near the vets. "A police van plus two cars either end [were] blocking off the road with blue tape so nothing could pass." A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said this morning: "Police were called to Thornton Avenue, Brixton, at approximately at 6.30am to reports of a disturbance at a flat. "Police are currently speaking to a man in the flat. Police negotiators are on scene. Cordons are in place." Buses were also diverted while the incident was in progress. Routes 50 and 255 were subject to diversions and delays in both directions. The standoff came to an end several hours later, at about 12.30pm when officers from the Territorial Support Group forced entry to the flat. A man was detained by police, and taken to an east London hospital to be treated. A teenager from south London has handed himself into police after a man was pushed onto the tracks at East Croydon station. British Transport Police appealed for information after a 53-year-old suffered serious injuries to his head and face which was believed to follow an argument on a late train between Victoria and Chichester on February 5. BTP said station staff acted quickly to guide him away from the tracks moments before an oncoming train came through. On Saturday, an 18-year-old man from Croydon voluntarily attended Croydon police station, where he was arrested on suspicion of endangering safety and causing grievous bodily harm. He has been released on bail until Saturday, March 26. A businessman and student have appeared in court charged with murdering a grandfather who was shot dead during an alleged attempted robbery. Akhtar Javeed was killed in what police have described as an attempted robbery on his business Direct Source 3 Ltd in Birmingham on February 3. The 56-year-old had been planning to move permanently back to West Ham to join his wife and family before his death. Suraj Mistry, 26, and 18-year-old Lemar Wali attended Birmingham Magistrates' Court in custody today, accused of killing Mr Javeed. They are both also charged with attempted robbery and possession of a handgun. Appearing in the dock wearing a grey jumper and jeans, and flanked by a security officer, Mistry, from Leicester, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. His co-accused, Wali, from Derby, appeared separately wearing a grey t-shirt, jogging bottoms, black trainers, and with a chinstrap beard. Magistrates remanded both men back in custody to appear at the city's crown court on Wednesday. P arents in south London have launched a petition urging planners to protect a school playing field from being sold off for development. Parents at Judith Kerr Primary School in Herne Hill launched the Green Space Campaign petition to stop a potential sale by The Dulwich Estate. The state school leases its buildings and grounds from The Dulwich Estate, an education charity that counts Dulwich College, Alleyns and James Allens Girls among its beneficiaries. The lease terms specify that the green space can be sold and developed into residential housing at any time, subject to planning permission from Southwark council. James Roberts, a spokesman for the campaign, said the group was urging the council to change the status of the field to an Other Open Space in order to protect it. Mr Roberts said the group planned to hand over the petition, which has almost 1,200 signatures, to the council and said the field was an integral part of the school. Mr Roberts, who has two daughters at the school, added: We are lucky to have the field. The Dulwich Estate said it had submitted representations to the council concerning the land at 62-68 Half Moon Lane for possible use as subsidised sheltered housing for elderly people. Spokesman James Williamson said: The Dulwich Estate will carefully review all the feedback received. The council is in consultation about the fields status and a spokeswoman said: We are not in a position to say what the final outcome is likely to be until we have gone through the responses. A north London takeaway has been shut down after horrified inspectors found poo spattered on the floors. Environmental health officers at Waltham Forest Council immediately closed Tasty Chicken n Pizza in Hoe Street, Walthamstow after a series of disgusting hygiene breaches were uncovered last Tuesday. Among the gruesome sights was poo speckled on the toilet and floors. To make matters worse, the toilet was cracked and leaky which meant staff left a trail of raw sewage through the shop from their shoes. A mouse infestation was also found, with droppings seen on food equipment, behind chest freezers and on a plastic cover on top of pizza dough. Raw chicken juice was noted over the floors and walk-in fridge while the handles and seal were encrusted with food debris. "Unacceptable": The shop will remain closed until concerns have been addressed. / Waltham Forest Council Mice had also nibbled on discarded chips in the serving area while chopping boards and cleaning cloths were also filthy. The hygiene breaches were brought before Stratford Magistrates Court on Friday, where an order was granted to have the takeaway closed until the problems have been solved. Deputy council leader Clyde Loakes said: I think its safe to say we will be looking to follow up with a prosecution of this business for such a flagrant disregard for the wellbeing of our residents. The foul conditions in which food was being prepared is quite unacceptable and it is simply not something we are going to tolerate in this borough." F rederick Clarke has a compelling theory. He thinks that much of the violence we see on the streets of London is because of the anger young men are carrying that their fathers have abandoned them. The 54-year-old maths teacher from Croydon says men are not consciously aware of how deep these feelings of abandonment go and cites himself as an example. I was at a work conference when somebody remarked that I dressed like an old man, he said. I thought it was fair comment because since my dads death, I often wore his suits and ties, but to my surprise I started sobbing uncontrollably. My last memory of my dad: I am 25 and hes about to go to hospital for a hernia operation and I could have gone and kissed him goodbye, but wed had an argument and I was strutting around thinking Well sort this when you get back. He never did come back and I never did get a chance to say goodbye or tell him that I loved him. For Mr Clarke, the outpouring of emotion almost two decades later was a revelation. He said: I thought, I am one of the lucky ones because my dad was present in my life what about the pain of young men whose fathers never turn up? I thought if I could create a safe space for men to talk, maybe I could turn anger into healing. In 2004 Mr Clarke launched Mighty Men of Valour from his living room. His idea to create a mens-only forum to address taboo subjects such as domestic violence and anger management as well as fatherhood was launched at the House of Commons with David Lammy MP as the main speaker. His charity has since worked in 33 schools in Croydon, where it is deployed to do mentoring with troubled students and to run dads breakfasts earning it a Croydon Civic Award. But Mr Clarke is unequivocal that Mighty Men of Valour could not have had the impact it has had without the 19,990 grant it received from the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund and Comic Relief in 2014, its biggest single cash injection, which doubled its operating capacity. It is one of 271 projects tackling social exclusion that the Dispossessed Fund has backed in the past four years out of 4 million received from Sport and Comic Relief. This year the Standard has again joined up with Sport Relief to ask readers to run, swim or cycle at the Sainsburys Sport Relief Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on March 20. Sport Relief has pledged to make another substantial donation to our fund this year. Mr Clarke, who has taught at Lambeth College and Feltham Young Offenders Institute, chose the name Mighty Men of Valour to evoke dads as superheroes. One of our projects is called SuperDads because forget Beckham, forget Spiderman dads and mums are childrens real superheroes. My dad was definitely mine and after he died I had nobody to turn to for guidance. Young men dont talk about their emotions. They bury the pain and it comes out in negative and often violent ways. Ethan May, 24, who lives on the New Addington estate in East Croydon, is one of those Mr Clarke has helped. He said: I was brought up by a hard-working single mother and with no dad in my life. I met Frederick when I was a rebellious teenager who had dropped out of school and I was into petty crime. Frederick would walk out onto the estate and talk to me and my friends. Everyone else stereotyped us as the rude boys, but he alone spoke to us like we were adults. I wasnt aware that missing my dad had any impact on me, but Frederick showed me that I was looking for attention in the wrong ways. We started to talk about what it is to be a man. He encouraged me to learn a trade, get a job. It was a turning point. I went out and got a job as a certified security guard and got a City and Guilds car maintenance qualification. Later, at 20, Mr May became a father and again turned to Mr Clarke. I was out of my depth and needed support and he pulled me in, he said. He was running a mentoring course and I signed up. Today I am one of the mentors that does dads breakfasts. In fact, he is one of the workers funded by the Dispossessed Fund grant. Ricardo Smith, 49, also from the estate and jobless, has taken financial skills courses with MMOV, and is looking to train as a mentor. There is not much for men on this estate since the youth clubs shut down because of cuts, he said. So MMOV is a beacon of hope for people like me. But it is the dads breakfasts in primary schools that have proved most popular, with up to 90 men turning up for a talk by Mr Clarke over coffee and croissants followed by a creative play session with their children. For many dads, it is the first time they have gone into the school for anything positive, said Mr May. Initially the dads are cold and stiff and just want to eat. But over the morning they open up and it can be very moving. The sessions have been so effective that schools are asking them to run the same for mothers. He smiled: So we are expanding. We are reaching not just the men but now, also, the mighty women of valour. T he family of a 16-year-old girl killed next to her teenage sister in a horror crash today paid tribute to their beautiful angel. Elif Kaya, an aspiring barrister, died after the Mini Cooper she was a passenger in collided with a BMW in Chigwell Road, South Woodford, shortly after 1am on Saturday. Her 19-year-old university student sister, Melia Kaya, who was driving the vehicle, was left fighting for life and remains in Royal London Hospital following plastic surgery to her forehead and two operations. She was due to undergo her third operation today or tomorrow and was said to be in a stable condition. A friend, named as 21-year-old Ayla Osman, who was also travelling in the car was said to be stable in hopsital. The male driver of the BMW was treated for head injuries. Ayla Osman, 21, was travelling with the sisters when the crash happened Witnesses described the smash sending the mini over a 3ft high wall into a tree and passersby rushing to try and free the three women trapped inside. Emergency services were called to the scene at 1.10am but popular college student Elif Kaya was pronounced dead half an hour later. Their parents today said said their two sisters were inseparable and spoke of their devastation at the death of Elif, an Epping Forest College pupil studying A-level law, having been a star pupil at Woodbridge High School. She had been travelling in the front passenger seat and died shortly after the crash despite desperate attempts to save her. Wreckage: The aftermath of the crash in Chigwell Her mother Demet Kaya, 36, told the Standard: She was an angel. She was a lovely daughter. She wanted to be a barrister and was doing so well. Only just last week one of her teachers took her to court for a visit, and when she came back, she said mum, I want to be a barrister. And last time I picked her up from college she had got a B in something, and she said, mum, I need to get an A and work harder, and she went straight to her room to study. Victim: 16-year-old Elif Kaya was in the passenger seat of the Mini Cooper This is just so unfair. She was a very fair child, very confident and strong character. She was so intelligent and worked very hard. She knew what she wanted to do and was more mature than her years. Another day she had said, mum and dad, I promise youre going to see my picture on the school wall for being one of the good kids, and she achieved it [for her grades]. She was so open-minded and intelligent. Sister: Melia Kaya has had plastic surgery and will shortly have an operation on her pelvis Her father Nevzat Kaya, 43, said: She was caring, sociable, so very very polite to her mum and dad and very protective of her family, friends and sisters. She had so many friends. She was a very very popular girl and so beautiful. She was a very free spirit. She was so brave and smiley, we are just so shocked. Melia is now stable and we just want her back home. Thank God shes getting better. The family said the pair, from Woodford, who have another sister, Eda, 14, had been travelling back home after visiting friends when Melias car collided with the BMW. Melia, a criminology student at Middlesex University in Hendon, remains in intensive care and was due to undergo an operation to her pelvis. Her mother added: Thankfully, there is no internal bleeding, but she had many broken bones in her arms and she has already had two operations. She had [an injury] on her head and had plastic surgery, which has gone well. Eyewitnesses today described the moment the mini-cooper flipped over on the main road by the Old Mill Court housing development. They said the crash took place when the beige Mini collided with the blue BMW as it pulled out of Granville Road. Pete Rippon, 28, a mechanic whose home overlooks where the crash, said: I heard a massive smash, I got up to see what the noise was and I saw a mini that had flipped up over the wall and hit a tree. I just quickly called an ambulance, I think I must have been one of the first to call, and it took them about 10 minutes to get here. Within a couple of minutes about 10 young people from the estate surrounded the car and tried to get the people out of the car. Detectives from the Roads and Transport Policing Command are investigating and are appealing for witnesses. There have been no arrests. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Chadwell Heath on the witness appeal line on 020 8597 4874. M ark Rylance is about to open a show in New York and is nominated for an Oscar, but that hasnt stopped the actor speaking out against library closures near his home in London. The Wolf Hall star said it was a betrayal for Lambeth council to stop funding five libraries and transfer three of them to a gym operator to turn into healthy living centres. In order to save to save 4 million the Labour council wants to shut Waterloo Library, turn Upper Norwood Library into a community hub and hand Tate South in Oval, Minet in Camberwell and Carnegie in Herne Hill to Greenwich Leisure. At least a quarter of the boroughs library staff will lose their jobs. Rylance, 56, said he accepted that libraries needed to evolve, but called for them to be protected as part of the fabric of our communities. He said the closures undermined the principle of education for all cherished by the likes of Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, whose philanthropic legacy included 2,509 libraries worldwide such as the one in Herne Hill, which opened in 1906. Rylance said: To sell them off to private interests is a betrayal of the wishes of someone like Mr Carnegie who educated himself out of extreme poverty as an immigrant in America. How did he do that? At a library. He backs proposals by Green Party councillor Scott Ainslie to form a staff- and community-run organisation to run the libraries. Last night Rylance won the best supporting actor Bafta for his role in Bridge Of Spies, and is nominated for the same part at the Oscars. He is in previews for Nice Fish, which opens in Brooklyn on Sunday. Jane Edbrooke, Lambeths cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said the council had been imaginative in our proposals that keep the majority of our libraries open. A senior member of the Cabinet has backed demands that restaurant waiting staff should be allowed to keep service charges after an exclusive London steak house was accused of using them to top up managers salaries. Leader of the House Chris Grayling was responding to a Commons question about allegations revealed in the Standard last week that the Aldwych venue STK - owned by Spanish hotel chain Melia - diverted as much of half of the service charge supposedly left for waiters and bar staff. Chris Grayling, the Conservative MP and Leader of the House, told MPs: Ive always taken the view that if someone is given a tip they should keep the tip or it should be pooled with other members of staff. I know this is an issue that the secretary of state takes seriously. His comments come after Labour MP Paula Sheriff asked for a Commons debate on the practices deployed by London restaurants and hotels that prevent staff from receiving all the service charges left for them by customers. She told the Commons that the Standards story has exposed another scandalous practice in which the Melia Hotel International chain appears to take a 15 per cent cut from tips and uses it to top up senior managers pay, which it describes as standard industry practice. Inside STK London Will the Leader of the House join me in saying that this is totally unacceptable, and urge his colleagues to move from consultation to action? Rhys McCarthy, national officer at the Unite union, which represents many restaurant workers, said: The business secretary Sajid Javid, made all the right noises in the heat of last summers tipping abuse scandal when he launched an investigation into the murky world of tips and service charges. But three months after it closed in early November we are still no closer to the much needed crack-down on dubious tipping practices. Ministers launched the review into tipping practices last year following revelations by the Standard that restaurant chains Cote and Bills were keeping a 12.5 per cent service charge, rather than sharing it out among staff. Instead, it was being used to top up salaries by just a few pounds an hour. However, the consultation closed three months ago and the Government admitted last week it has not yet set a date for publishing its findings. Ms Sheriff said: The business department need to show that they are serious about this. Weve got waiting staff working their backsides off with corporate entities seemingly siphoning off tips and now is the time for action rather than more consulting. Business minister Nick Boles said in a written Commons answer: The Government received 183 responses to the investigation into tipping. We are looking closely at the evidence that was submitted and considering the available options. We will consider whether any further action is required and publish our response in due course. A udio has emerged of a pilot's distress call to air traffic control after a laser was shone at the cockpit of his plane. The Virgin Atlantic flight to New York returned to Heathrow after the incident caused a pilot to suffer a "medical issue". An audio recording from flight VS205's cockpit reveals the moment the pilot told air traffic control they were being forced to return to London following the incident. He said: We have a medical issue with one of the pilots after a laser incident after take-off and we are going to return to Heathrow. After his command was approved he was asked if the flight was now a single pilot operation. But he replied by saying his co-pilot was able to perform his required duties. The airline later said the flight returned as a precautionary measure. A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said: "The VS025 travelling from London Heathrow to New York JFK flight has returned to Heathrow as a precautionary measure due to a laser beam incident. "The safety of our crew and customers is our top priority and we apologise for any inconvenience to those on board. "All customers will be offered overnight accommodation and we will get them on their journey as soon as possible. We are working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser that caused the return of the aircraft to Heathrow." A message on the airline's flight status website added: "Following this incident the First Officer reported feeling unwell. The decision was taken by both pilots to return to Heathrow rather than continue the transatlantic crossing." Passenger Bethany McHutchinson told Sky News: "I think it's just really scary whether it was by accident or on purpose. "If it had been really serious it could have put everyone on the plane's lives in danger. So it's just nice to know that we're safe now and we're back on the ground." A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Police were contacted at approximately 9.35pm on Sunday February 14 following reports of a laser shone in the direction of a commercial flight that had taken off from Heathrow Airport. "Inquiries continue to establish where the offence took place. There have been no arrests." A pilots union has called for more action to prevent laser attacks from blinding crew members in the wake of the incident. British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) general secretary Jim McAuslan said: "Aircraft are attacked with lasers at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength. We repeat our call to the Government to classify lasers as offensive weapons which would give the police more power to arrest people for possessing them if they had no good reason to have them. This incident shows why this is becoming more and more urgent." A Londoner has made an emotional plea for a pickpocket to return the stolen photos of his partner who died just weeks ago after battling cancer. Phil Shipp, from Upminster, made the appeal in a Facebook post which has been shared over 76,000 times. The Sainsburys worker said his wallet, containing irreplaceable photos of his partner Caz Shipp, had been taken at Tescos Lakeside branch in Essex on February 11. He said the thief could keep the money, but he desperately wanted the pictures back. Mr Shipp wrote: To the lovely people that stole my wallet today at Lakeside Tesco around 11.30am out of my Sainsburys zipped uniform pocket, (yes I know the irony,) please keep the money may it buy you happiness. But I beg please, please, please could you return the photos inside of the wallet of my beautiful partner who passed away four weeks ago after a long, brave battle with cancer. The photos are irreplaceable and is one of my most treasured possessions one that can never, ever be retaken. To the lovely people that stole my wallet today at Lakeside Tesco around 11.30am out of my Sainsburys zipped uniform... Posted by Phil Shipp on Thursday, February 11, 2016 He later wrote: Please share you lovely people. Spread the word and thank you all so much, this means so much to me. Mr Shipp told the Thurrock Gazette: Im just heartbroken really. The photos are very precious to me, I have no copies of these two pictures and they were pictures of me and Caz at Christmas before she became terminally ill. Anyone with information can call Grays police on 101. T he boss of Britains biggest bank today warned it would move 1,000 jobs from London to Paris if Britain votes to quit the European Union. HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said there would be a significant impact, with about a fifth of jobs in corporate and investment banking leaking away from the British capital. The bank also made clear that activity worth a fortune to the British economy would also be transferred out of London. The bulk of HSBC jobs which are in domestic retail banking would not be affected. The intervention came as David Cameron announced he will set off tonight for urgent talks with French president Francois Hollande on the negotiations towards an EU reforms deal. France and Britain are said to be at loggerheads over the extent to which the City will be bound by future regulations designed to stabilise the eurozone. HSBCs announcement that it will keep its global headquarters in London was greeted by the vote Leave campaign as a sign that the City would be unaffected by a British exit. But Mr Gulliver said a Brexit would still mean a shift in jobs and activity to Paris, where there is a large HSBC bank. If the UK leaves the EU it could have a significant impact on our non-ringfenced bank our trading room, corporate banking and investment banking although it would not have an impact on our holding company domicile, he told Sky News. In that situation a number of jobs would leave the UK. We have 5,000 people in global banking and markets [HSBCs investment bank] in London and I could imagine that around 20 per cent of those would move to Paris. HSBC Group chairman Douglas Flint said the best answer economically was for Britain to stay in a reformed Europe where it could push for completion of the single market in services. Asked what a Brexit would mean if the public vote for it in the in-out referendum expected on June 23, he said: Now we are lucky in the sense that we have a major bank in France. "So, if we were to leave and if there were to be restrictions, ultimately on the renegotiation of Britains position, we have the ability to move activity and people between London and Paris. But our strong economic view is that Britain is better within a reformed Europe. Will Straw, of the pro-EU group Britain Stronger in Europe, said: HSBC is a major employer in the UK, employing thousands of people in London alone. Douglas Flint was unequivocal that if Britain left Europe jobs in the capital could be put at risk. But Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said HSBCs decision to retain its HQ in London showed that the In campaigns warnings that Brexit would drive business out of the UK were baseless scare stories. When we vote Leave we will be able to negotiate a new friendly deal with the EU that will allow financial firms in the UK to continue to trade across Europe and the globe, he said. Mr Cameron is holding urgent talks with EU leaders today and tomorrow to prepare for the crunch summit on Thursday. He is insisting on legally-binding assurances that countries like Britain which do not use the single currency will not face discrimination as the eurozone integrates further. D avid Cameron today gave a major concession to Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers just minutes before sitting down to talks with suspected Out campaigner Iain Duncan Smith. Downing Street announced that he is willing to hold a Cabinet on Friday afternoon or Saturday if a deal on reforms is agreed at a two-day summit in Brussels starting Thursday. The announcement follows weeks of complaints from Out campaigners that Mr Cameron seemed to be giving himself a clear run over the weekend to trumpet the deal as a success, while other members of the Cabinet would be gagged by collective responsibility. Timing of the first Cabinet after the deal is critical because under rules issued by No 10 ministers are not allowed to criticise any deal until it has been considered by Mr Camerons team. The issue came to a head when it emerged that Mr Cameron is booked to appear on the BBCs Marr programme on Sunday morning. Todays announcement means that Mr Duncan Smith or another big name Eurosceptic will be free to go on the weekend media as well. A Downing Street source said at 1.10pm: "If Friday's European Council finishes in time, the PM will hold a Cabinet on Friday afternoon." The Evening Standard later learned that Mr Duncan Smith was due to be holding a meeting with Mr Cameron at 1.30pm when the issue was almost certain to be raised by him. One source said: Iain is persuasive! But a No 10 senior source insisted: It was decided before. The row over Cabinet timing was revealed by the Evening Standard on January 12. L ondon is seeing an upsurge of extreme violence and gang murders among teenagers, leading MP Chuka Umunna said today. In a chilling warning, he said the murder rate among teenagers was heading back to the epidemic levels of eight years ago. We have a crisis situation on London streets, said Mr Umunna, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee which oversees police and law-and-order policies. There is a huge level of extreme violence amongst a substantial minority of Londons young people which is going unreported and undetected. I believe that without urgent action it will rise to the level of fatalities we saw in 2008 to 2010, when there was an epidemic of violence. A horrifying toll of 29 teenagers died in gang-related violence in 2008, including 23 who were stabbed to death and three who were shot. The numbers then declined and bottomed out at eight deaths in 2012. But the death toll has risen each year since, hitting 17 in 2015, including the fatal stabbings of Gary Scott, 17, Vasilaki Kakko, 17, Alfie Stone, 18, and Che Labastide-Wellington, 17. Mr Umunna, Labour MP for Streatham, said that he had already been told of two shootings so far this year in his constituency. These were linked attacks in Tulse Hill last month. He said he also knew of a shooting near Oval station, outside the constituency. The MP said the pattern of gang violence had changed since the 2008 peak, when there was a smaller number of gangs but they were bigger and covered larger territories. But now they operated in smaller areas, which meant teenagers were in danger even if they travelled shorter distances. For many young people it has become more dangerous to go into areas where they are not resident because they become a target, he said. He added that parenting could not be blamed because some victims and also perpetrators came from solid families with both a mother and father. Nor would it be fair to blame the police, he said. Cuts in youth services over the past five years were one of the causes, Mr Umunna said. He plans to tell Parliament: If we dont engage young people, they will become engaged in the criminal justice system instead. He is calling for a policy of every teenager matters with care for teenagers from the start of their day to after-school clubs. Mr Umunna also wants youth work to have more status and better funding. The problem with wars is that they dont end, Kentucky writer Wendell Berry told the American Association of State and Local History conference in Louisville in September (2015). Weve still got the Civil War. Berry and state historian James Klotter of Georgetown College addressed the gathering as part of a discussion about the relevance of history. The Charleston shootings and the ensuing debates over Confederate flags and statues became a focal point of their conversation. I understand about the Confederate flag and the problem it raises, says Berry. I dont think that flag is a symbol so much as it is a finger I think after the south was defeated in the Civil War, all it had left was spite and it understands how to use symbols in a spiteful way. Perspective is another crucial element, adds Klotter. He contends without a knowledge of history, people operate in a vacuum without a sense of where theyve been or how they got where they are today. And from that grounding, Klotter says history gives individuals a new sense of both identity and objectivity. You see things in a different light, Klotter says. Youre more understanding of diversity, youre more understanding of conflict, [and] more understanding of things that teach empathy. Berry says that anyone is capable of falling into indifference. He cautions that reducing either side liberal or conservative, Union or Confederate, black or white to its stereotypes involves a great risk. Its easy to deal in symbols, its easy to deal in generalities, but what we lose then is the sense of the humanity thats involved, says Berry. A driver walked away with minor injuries after the car she was travelling in skidded on ice and somersaulted twice, landing on its roof. CCTV footage captured the moment the woman lost control of her silver Citroen Saxo before it rolled onto a grass verge at the side of the road shortly after 8am on Thursday. Moments earlier, a green Vauxhall Corsa had also left the road, due to the icy conditions in the same spot in Alfriston, Sussex. Police said the outcome for the driver of the car in the video, who is aged in her 20s, "could have been much worse". Sussex Police have released the footage to urge drivers to take care on icy roads, with temperatures as cold as -2C forecast for tomorrow mornings rush hour. Sergeant Dan Pitcher said: "Listen out for road noise - if this disappears at any stage, it may mean you are driving on ice. "Also, remember to be aware of microclimates - this is where the road surface may be cooler in certain places, for example on a bridge or in an area which is obviously higher up or more exposed to the elements. With the ground being cooler, this could potentially lead to ice on the road. "Thankfully the driver of the car captured in this footage sustained only minor injuries. It could have been far worse. "It is advisable that if you are involved in a collision, if you are able to, stand well away from the vehicle and in a position that you are not going to be compromised by vehicles losing control at the same location." T he brother of a pilot killed by elephant poachers today said he was blown away after receiving around 90,000 in donations to start conservation projects in his memory. Former City worker-turned-pilot Roger Gower, 37, was killed when ivory poachers opened fire on the helicopter he was piloting at a game reserve in Tanzania on January 29. Mr Gower was an experienced pilot who was taking part in a government-backed campaign against poachers in the Maswa Game Reserve when armed men opened fire at the helicopter. Despite being injured he was able to land the craft and escape to the bush, where he died. His brother Max, 42, set up a JustGiving page to raise money to benefit anti-poaching organisations in the East African country. It has already raised 63,000 in donations with a further 25,000 pledged when Max sets up a registered charity. He told the Standard: The whole family is blown away by the level of support. Its got us through the last few weeks seeing how incredibly generous the British public are more than that in fact as weve had donations from Canada and Australia. Four Tanzanian men were jailed last week for at least 15 years, having pleaded guilty to illegal possession of firearms at a court in Dar es Salaam. They are among nine people held over the murder of Mr Gower and will go on trial at a higher court later this year. To donate visit crowdfunding.justgiving.com/roger-gower A 'violent' passenger on a plane from Dubai to Heathrow was restrained by four cabin crew and a policeman after allegedly launching a terrifying mid-air attack on staff. The man was forced to the floor before being tied up on the Heathrow-bound plane when he allegedly began assaulting crew members in a fit of rage. Witnesses said three were attacked before he headbutted a fourth. He was held for two and a half hours before police swarmed the Emirates aeroplane when it landed and arrested the suspect. He is currently being held at a Heathrow police station. The incident happened on flight EK005, which landed at Heathrow at 8pm yesterday. Arrest on plane Passenger Dr Farah Jameel said fellow travellers were freaked out. She told the Standard there had been a huge ruckus and some violence in the food preparation area, before the man was pinned on the ground and tied up with some sort of black rope as well as a spare seatbelt. Dr Jameel, deputy chair of the British Medical Associations equality and inclusion committee, added: The guy was pinned down and they had tied him up. His hands, legs, and even someone holding his head. "They even at one point put a surgical face mask on him, I guess to try to stop him biting them. They were wearing gloves as well. It was the second time he had kicked off. There was a police officer on the flight and he put him in a headlock. "They held him there trying to calm him down but he still kept abusing. The whole cabin could hear, everyone was freaked out. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said they received a call at 5.30pm about a violent passenger. He said: Shortly after 5.30pm on Sunday, February 14, police at Heathrow Airport were informed of a violent passenger onboard a flight from Dubai expected to arrive Terminal 3 at around 8pm. On landing officers boarded the plane and arrested a 30-year-old male Dutch national on suspicion of common assault. He was taken off the plane and into custody at Heathrow police station where he remains at this time. The investigation of the incident by Heathrow police is ongoing. He said the force was not currently treating it as a terrorism incident. A spokesman for Emirates said: Emirates can confirm that on February 14 an incident occurred on flight EK005 from Dubai to London Heathrow whereby an unruly passenger was restrained by cabin crew. The passenger was handed over to authorities in London. The safety of our passengers and crew is of critical importance and will not be compromised. As the matter is now under police investigation Emirates cannot comment further on the incident. Police asked any witnesses to contact officers at Heathrow via 101. A Scottish businessman has been arrested in India on suspicion of rape, police in Delhi say. The man was reported to police by a woman who said he broke his promise after tricking her into having sex with him by saying he would marry her. He was reportedly in a relationship with the 30-year-old complainant for five months, and she is said to have gone to police after finding out he was also in a relationship with another woman. He reportedly met the woman online during a business exchange, and she claims she initially resisted his sexual advances, but consented when he said he would marry her. Under Indian law, it is considered rape if a woman consents to sex under false pretenses. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. The man is being held in police custody for 14 days while the case is investigated. D aniel Craig has reportedly stepped down from his role as James Bond after signing up for a US television series. According to The Sun, the 47-year-old will appear in Purity, a 20 episode series that will mean he will be too busy to reprise the role as 007 in the next installment of the franchise. The decision will come as little surprise to fans of the Brit spy films, as Daniel claimed hed rather slash his wrists than play James Bond again in an interview with Time Out magazine. 'Were done. All I want to do is move on,' the 47-year-old actor told the publication. Speculation is now mounting as to who will replace Daniel Craig, who has played James Bond for a decade, starring in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. Among those tipped to take on the role are Damian Lewis, 45, Tom Hardy, 38, Henry Cavill, 32, and Michael Fassbender, 38. Bookies are also tipping Idris Elba, 43, as a contender to be the first ever black Bond. But whoever it is, Craig admitted to Time Out last year that he does not "give a f***". SPECTRE world premiere 1 /40 SPECTRE world premiere Leading ladies Lea Seydoux, Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci attend the Royal World Premiere of "Spectre" at Royal Albert Hall Dave Benett Look of love Lea Seydoux - who plays one of Bond's onscreen love interests in the new film - strikes a sweet pose with Daniel Craig on the red carpet Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Golden girl Lea Seydoux - who plays Madeleine Swann in the latest 007 film - shimmers on the red carpet in an eye-catching gold and silver sequin dress Dave Benett Suitably suave Daniel Craig attending the World Premiere of Spectre, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London Matt Crossick/PA Stealing the attention Monica Bellucci made sure to captivate the attention of photographers in a plunging green gown Dave Benett The name's Bond, James Bond Daniel Craig channels his on-screen alter ego Bond as he works the red carpet at the world premiere Dave Benett Right hand girl Naomie Harris - who plays Miss Moneypenny - looks stunning in an orange gown Getty Images Here's looking at you Ralph Fiennes - who plays M - knows how to work the cameras PA Hosts with the most David Walliams and Susanna Reid arrived on the red carpet in a vintage car to host the CTBF royal film performance world premiere of Spectre Rex Say cheese Daniel Craig delights fans as he takes time to pose for a series of selfies with fans who had been queuing for hours on the red carpet - some since Saturday Dave Benett Villainous Christoph Waltz - who plays the villainous Hannes Oberhauser - poses with Judith Holste on the red carpet Anthony Devlin/PA All together now Daniel Craig is over shadowed by Bond girls Lea Seydoux Monica Bellucci who dazzle on the red carpet Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Over the shoulder Lea Seydoux strikes a smouldering pose as she works the cameras at the world premiere Matt Crossick/PA Royal arrival The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took to the red carpet Jonathan Hordle/Rex Scheming Christoph Waltz appears to pose in character as the villainous Hannes Oberhauser Leon Neal/ AFP/Getty Leading ladies Bond's love interests Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci pose up a storm in stunning gowns for the premiere AFP/Getty Images Iconic Dame Shirely Bassey makes an entrance to the sounds of her track Diamonds Are Forever Jon Furniss / Corbis Date night Ronan Keating and his wife Storm Uechtritz dress to impress on the red carpet Dave Benett Ben Whishaw - who plays Q - channels his inner James Bond in a black suit and bow tie John Phillips/ Getty Stunning The Duchess of Cambridge steals the attention on the red carpet in a delicate blue dress with a belted waist Anthony Devlin/PA Royal greeting Prince Harry and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, look on as the Duchess of Cambridge greets Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Sam Mendes Dave Benett All smiles Chris Evans and his wife Natasha Shishmanian look excited for the screening Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Number one Sam Smith - who wrote the Spectre theme Writing's On The Wall - suits up for the event Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Suited up Andrew Scott - who plays Max Denbigh - works his best pose for the cameras Leon Neal/AFP/Getty In praise Prince Harry talks to producer Barbara Broccoli and director Sam Mendes on arrival at the Royal Albert Hall Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Pretty in prints Joely Richardson works a black and gold retro print dress Dave Benett Baby on board Gareth Bale cradles his partner Emma Rhys-Jones' baby bump Dave Benett Strictly a star Darcey Bussell braves the cold in a pink dress and leather jacket Dave Benett Grand entrance Dame Joan Collins makes sure to stand out in a black dress and a giant faux-fur stole Dave Benett Red carpet ready Ashley James turns heads in a backless gown with bow detailing Dave Benett "Good luck to them," he said. "All I care about is that if I stop doing these things weve left it in a good place and people pick it up and make it better." His new venture, Purity, is based on the popular Jonathan Franzen novel of the same name. The Bond star will play enigmatic German Andreas Wolf, who offers to help US woman Purity find her father. The series, produced by Scott Rudin, is currently at the centre of a bidding war between Showtime, Netflix, Amazon and FX. Follow us on Twitter: @standardshowbiz One of the scariest thing that young Bruneians face is the interview at the Public Service Commission or in Brunei speak known as Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam or better known as SPA. Get through the SPA interview, fortunes in the civil service awaits you. Or at least that is what's on the mind of everyone who applies for a job in the government service. It's been quite sometime since I last interviewed anyone at SPA. I used to do it when I was the Deputy Director about 10 years ago. The one thing I noticed is that most people who were being interviewed mostly seemed ill prepared for it - some were very prepared for the wrong thing. There is this perception that if you remember the full name of the Minister or the list of Permanent Secretaries and Deputy Permanent Secretaries or the Director of the department or the Ministry that you are trying to get into together with their full names and titles, you are going to get the job. Wrong! Our people selection system is not the be Torrington, Wyoming Banner Health Clinic welcomes community members to an open house honoring retiring physician Kayo Smith. Smith retired from the clinic Jan. 6 after providing health care to the residents of eastern Wyoming since 1957. It is with mixed emotions that we announced the retirement of Dr. Smith, said Jennelle Werner, practice supervisor who worked with Smith for nearly 20 years. Im sad about his decision, but happy for him to be able to spend more time with his wife, Betty, enjoying their farm. Smith began practicing in Torrington in 1957. He worked for Torrington Medical Group downtown until they became part of Banner Health in 2000. He is an honorary staff member at Community Hospital where he delivered countless babies until the 1990s. He also provided care for residents at Wel-Cov Center, formerly Goshen Care Center. Many of the local current and previous physicians, physician assistants and employees in the health care community look up to Smith as a mentor. He has been a loyal, caring and fantastic provider in Torrington for many years and formed great relationships in the health care community in Wyoming and Nebraska, Werner said. The reception is 1-3 p.m. Feb. 25 at Banner Health Clinic, 625 Albany, Torrington. This page is archived. Data published after 5 April 2022 can be found on the renewed website. Go to the new statistics page Published: 15 February 2016 Turnover in manufacturing contracted by close 6 per cent in September to November According to Statistics Finland, turnover in manufacturing in the September to November period was 5.8 per cent lower than in the corresponding period of the year before. Domestic sales contracted by 2.3 per cent and export turnover by 8.3 per cent from one year ago. Three months' year-on-year change in turnover in manufacturing (C) sub-industries (TOL 2008) Turnover went down from the corresponding period of the previous year in nearly all. The drop was fastest in the chemical industry, 16.0 per cent, and in the electrical and electronics industry, 13.2 per cent. Only the forest industry generated slightly more turnover than in the year before, 0.5 per cent. Three months' year-on-year change in turnover in main industrial categories (TOL 2008) The turnover of thealso declined. Turnover contracted by 1.0 per cent in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, by 6.3 per cent the industry of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, and by 6.4 per cent in mining and quarrying from the corresponding period last year. The index of turnover in industry describes enterprises whose main industry is manufacturing. The calculation of the indices is based on the Tax Administrations value added tax data which are supplemented with data obtained with Statistics Finlands sales inquiry. The monthly turnovers of manufacturing enterprises can vary considerably, especially in the metal industries. The variation is mainly due to invoicing practices. The final invoice for major machinery deliveries and projects may be recorded in the sales of one month, even if the delivery had required the work of several months or years. Source: Index of turnover in industry 2015, November, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Atte Lintila 029 551 2914, Kirsi-Maaria Manninen 029 551 2681, myynti.teollisuus@stat.fi Director in charge: Mari Yla-Jarkko Publication in pdf-format (345.4 kB) Updated 15.2.2016 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Index of turnover in industry [e-publication]. ISSN=1798-596X. November 2015. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 21.10.2022]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tlv/2015/11/tlv_2015_11_2016-02-15_tie_001_en.html Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe Monday, 15 February 2016 16:28:54 (GMT+3) | Istanbul Australia s Antidumping Commission has announced that it has imposed a preliminary antidumping (AD) duty against Chinese wire rod imports. Accordingly, the preliminary dumping duty rates are 32.1 percent for Hunan Valin Xiangtang Iron & Steel Co. Ltd, 28.2 percent for Jiangsu Shangang Group Co., Ltd, and 53.9 percent for uncooperative and all other exporters from China. The duty investigation was launched on August 12, 2015, following an application lodged by domestic wire rod producer OneSteel Manufacturing Pty Ltd. The commission will announce its final determinations on or before March 29, 2016. The goods in question currently fall under Customs Tariff Statistics Position Numbers 7213.91.00 and 7227.90.90. Monday, 15 February 2016 11:06:13 (GMT+3) | Shanghai At the end of 2015, the composite steel price index (CSPI) for the Chinese domestic market was at 56.37 points, down 25.54 points or 31.1 percent from the 81.91 points at the beginning of 2015, according to data released by the China s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). In 2015, China s overall crude steel output totaled 804 million mt, down 2.3 percent year on year, marking the first decline in the annual output figure in nearly 30 years. Meanwhile, China s finished steel imports and exports in 2015 totaled 12.78 million mt and 112.40 million mt, up 19.9 percent and 11.4 percent year on year, respectively. Updated at 2:39 p.m. NEW YORK Brent oil fell almost 4 percent on Tuesday, erasing early gains after top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia dashed expectations of an outright supply cut by agreeing only to freeze output if other big exporters joined them. Benchmark Brent prices jumped briefly through $35 a barrel after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to keep output at January levels, in what could be the first joint OPEC and non-OPEC deal in 15 years. Qatari energy minister Mohammad bin Saleh al-Sada said the step would help to stabilize the oil market, which has experienced price declines not seen since the early 2000s because of a supply glut. Elsewhere, inventories at the Cushing, Okla., delivery point for U.S. crude futures rose by nearly 705,000 barrels during the week to Feb. 12, traders said, citing data issued by market intelligence firm Genscape. Brent settled down $1.21 at $32.18 a barrel, after rising earlier to $35.55. U.S. crude settled down 40 cents at $29.04, off the day's high of $31.53. Oil prices have fallen by more than 70 percent in the past 20 months, driven down by near-record production both from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, such as Russia. Tuesday's early rally ran out of steam as investors weighed the chances of an output freeze while Iran remained absent from the talks and determined to raise production. Sources familiar with Iranian thinking on supply said Tehran would be willing to consider a freeze once its production had reached pre-sanctions levels. "I'm adding to the short positions I have in U.S. crude spreads as I only expect price declines from here," said Tariq Zahir at New York's Tyche Capital Advisors. "The output freeze will do nothing to alleviate excess supply." Goldman Sachs, Wall Street's most influential voice in oil trading, was equally bearish on the plan, saying "there remains high uncertainty that it even materializes, in our view." But analysts also cautioned of violent price spikes and market volatility in coming weeks should there be indications of serious production or stockpile declines. On Friday, both Brent and U.S. prices jumped about 12 percent each, rocketing from 12-year lows, on the renewed speculation that OPEC might cut output. Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London. ______ Our earlier update, from the Associated Press, which was posted at noon Tuesday DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Oil powerhouses Russia and Saudi Arabia joined Qatar and Venezuela in pledging Tuesday to cap their crude output if other producers do the same, aiming to halt a slide that has pushed oil prices to their lowest point in more than a decade. The decision followed an unexpected closed-door meeting involving the four countries in the Qatari capital, Doha, and reflects growing concern among big producers about the effects the slump poses to their domestic economies. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement issued after the meeting that the four countries would be ready to cap production based on last month's output levels if others join. "We are ready to maintain on average in 2016 the level of oil production of January 2016 and not exceed it," he said in a subsequent statement. Whether the plan is enough to put a floor under prices is uncertain. The proposal depends on cooperation from a range of producers with differing budget priorities all scrambling for market share since prices began falling in summer 2014. Among the hardest to bring on board will likely be Iran. It was noticeably absent from Tuesday's gathering even though it shares control of a major underwater natural gas field with fellow OPEC member Qatar. Iran is eager to ramp up its exports now that sanctions related to its nuclear program have been lifted, saying recently it aims to put another 500,000 barrels a day on the market. Figures from the International Energy Agency show it pumped 2.9 million barrels daily in December, before sanctions were lifted. Iran's petroleum minister, Bijar Namdar Zangeneh, signaled the Islamic Republic has no intention of giving up its share of the market. He acknowledged that global markets are "oversupplied," but said Iran "will not overlook its quota," according to comments carried by his ministry's Shana news service. Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino heads to Tehran next for talks with his Iranian and Iraqi counterparts Wednesday. "The key OPEC members that need to take part are Iran and Iraq, where the big increases are likely this year, but there are big doubts over whether this can be achieved," Barclays analysts Miswin Mahesh and Kevin Norrish said in a research note. Efforts to make the plan work are complicated by deep levels of distrust between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which has built close ties to Iraq's government in the years since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The two countries are in opposing camps in regional disputes from Yemen to Syria. Last month, Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Shiite powerhouse Iran after the Saudi embassy and a consulate were torched by Iranian protesters angry over the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said producers would continue to assess the state of the market in the months ahead. He described freezing output at January levels as an "adequate" step for now. All of the countries at Tuesday's meeting except Russia are part of OPEC. Saudi Arabia dominates policy-making within the 13-member bloc of oil producing countries, which has refused to cut its official production targets. Doing so could bolster faltering prices. The aim of OPEC's keep-pumping strategy has been to attempt to ride out the 12-year lows in prices and force higher-cost producers, including shale drillers in the U.S., out of the market. The bloc collectively pumped 39 million barrels of crude and natural gas liquids a day in December, or about two out of every five barrels globally. Russia pumps around 11 million barrels a day. Analysts at London-based Capital Economics were skeptical of Tuesday's announcement, saying that even without a deal Saudi Arabia and Russia which along with the U.S. are by far the world's biggest producers would have been unlikely to boost production further. "For the deal to have any teeth, Saudi Arabia in particular needs to be willing to cut output, not least to offset the increased supply still to come from Iran," said the analysts, Julian Jessop and Thomas Pugh. Traders seemed less than impressed too. After rising soon after the meeting, a barrel of benchmark New York crude was trading down 35 cents at $29.09 by mid-morning in New York. A barrel of Brent, the international standard, fell 59 cents to $33.42. Associated Press writer Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report. ______ Our earlier story, from Reuters, posted at 4:18 p.m. Monday LONDON The worlds top two oil exporters, Saudi Arabia and Russia, will hold talks on Tuesday, sources said, as producers try to tackle a glut that has pushed prices to their lowest in over a decade. Saudi Arabias oil minister Ali al-Naimi and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak will meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where they will be joined by ministers from OPEC members Qatar and Venezuela. Oil prices rose 2 percent on the news on Monday. Booming U.S. supplies and a decision by OPEC to ramp up exports have pushed crude oil prices to their lowest level in more than a decade. For U.S. consumers, cheap oil has translated into lower gasoline prices; for energy companies, it has meant shrinking earnings and cutbacks. Saudi Arabia has said it would cut its output only if non-OPEC producers agreed to join it. But Russia, the worlds top producer, has long refused to cooperate, saying its industry was competitive at any price and it was technically challenging for Moscow to reduce production. The mood started to change in January as oil prices fell below $30 per barrel a fraction of what Russia needs to balance its budget as it is heads towards parliamentary elections later this year. Public finances in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are also suffering badly. Many oil industry observers say the biggest obstacle to a deal would be the positions of OPEC members Iran and Iraq. Both have indicated they plan to raise production this year, although there was no indication either would participate in Tuesdays meetings. JEFFERSON CITY When it came time to vote on overriding Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of "right to work" legislation last fall, the GOP-led Missouri House lacked the two-thirds majority needed to do so. But in West Virginia, overriding a governor is a whole lot easier. By a razor-thin margin, the Mountain State on Friday became the 26th "right to work" state, delivering a blow to Democrats and union-backed Republicans who say that such bills lessen worker bargaining power and wages. The West Virginia constitution only requires a simple majority vote in both legislative chambers to override vetoes for most bills. Republicans there celebrated, saying that the law that forbids requiring union dues for non-union employees would spur investment. The legislature also overrode another veto by Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, this time repealing the state's prevailing wage. The House of Delegates voted 54 to 43 for the right-to-work veto, with eight Republicans defecting to the Democratic side. In the Senate, the vote was closer: An 18-to-16 party-line vote made "right to work" law. "It's politics and they've got one more vote than we do right now," state Sen. Jeff Kessler, a Democrat who is running for governor, told the Post-Dispatch. In Missouri, Republicans are much stronger. In both the Senate and the House, the GOP has veto-proof, two-thirds majorities, and then some. The override vote fell short in the House last fall because of a group of union-friendly Republicans who voted against it. The capitols in both states have traditionally been controlled by Democrats. But Missouri's Democrats, supported in part by conservative and moderate rural members, faded into the minority in the early 2000s. The Missouri House still had about 70 Democratic members after the 2008 elections. But the party couldn't weather the unpopular Obama administration, and its ranks have since suffered. Now Missouri Republicans control 117 of 163 House seats. It takes 109 votes to override. In West Virginia, another conservative state, Democrats have held onto power for longer, and still hold a number of statewide offices. Legislative majorities there are slimmer. If it weren't for a Democratic senator switching parties last year, the 34-member Senate would be split at 17 votes apiece. "It's no overwhelming mandate by any means," Kessler said. But because of West Virginia's constitutional quirk, it became the newest right-to-work state, offering a picture of what could have been in Missouri. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon called the failed override vote in September a "victory for workers, families and businesses here in Missouri and across the country." On Friday, the tune among West Virginia Democrats was different. "Some would say this a historic day for West Virginia," Kessler, the Senate minority leader, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. "I submit to you that it is a horrific day. This is not based on any empirical evidence; this is based on a political attack upon unions, upon workers, upon families, upon our communities." Right-to-work is expected to be a campaign issue this year in both states. Kessler said many West Virginia union workers voted Republican in 2014 because of Obama's unpopular environmental policies seen as an attack on the state's struggling coal industry. With Obama term-limited and soon out of the picture, Kessler said traditionally Democratic voters could warm to the party once again. "I think this session has shown the stark contrast in differences in the platforms between the two parties," Kessler said. Republican leadership in Missouri has so far shied away from pushing a right-to-work bill this year, noting opposition from some Republicans and a near-certain veto from Nixon. Missouri union groups which have traditionally supported Democrats have begun to branch out and support union-friendly Republicans, hoping to gain more of a foothold in the GOP-dominated Legislature. ST. LOUIS Missouri gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens today came close to alleging that election opponent John Brunner is behind an anonymous on-line video that distorts Greitens' military record, saying the video fits a pattern by Brunner's supporters. Brunner's campaign issued a statement unequivocally denying any involvement. I'm saying this clearly fits the pattern of what John Brunner did with his superpac attacks previously, said Greitens, who is fighting Brunner and two other candidates for the 2016 Republican gubernatorial nomination in the Aug. 2 Missouri state primaries. Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, has used his military background to establish community-service organization The Mission Continues, and has written several self-help books focused on veterans' issues. The YouTube video at issue calls into question details of Greitens' military record and takes him to task for using his SEAL background to generate national publicity. Most of the video's specific criticisms about Greitens' record relate to byzantine details that in some cases don't even qualify as criticisms. Among the allegations, for example, is that Greitens is the author or subject of four books. Nonetheless, Greitens' campaign today staged a massive push-back, releasing his military record and conducting a news conference in which a few dozen boisterous veterans and other supporters lauded Greitens' military services, while campaign workers handed out a detailed, point-by-point refutation of the video. This is a slander against me and every day that I served, said Greitens, (and) a slander against everyone who has worn the uniform of the United States of America. The Brunner campaign said in its statement that it "is absolutely not involved." "This clearly appears to be an internal conflict among Navy SEALs . . . For Mr. Greitens to slander our campaign and our candidate with spurious personal attacks is clearly a failure to assume responsibility for whatever his past relationships are with his fellow Navy SEALs," said the statement. It notes that Brunner, too, is a military veteran. The video, just under nine minutes long, doesn't identify who paid for it, potentially a violation of Missouri campaign law. The only identifier on it are the words, Operation Vigilant Resolve, which was the code name for the operation that became the First Battle of Fallujah during the Iraq War. The race for the GOP nomination in Missouri has long been steeped in anonymous sniping and intrigue, starting with the events surrounding the February 2015 suicide of frontrunner Tom Schweich. Schweich, Missouri's state auditor, shot himself after complaining bitterly about the campaign tactics of fellow Republicans, including a sneering, personally insulting radio commercial that likened him to Barney Fife, the bumbling deputy from the old Andy Griffith Show. The Post-Dispatch ultimately traced the origin of the radio ad to Kansas City political operative Jeff Roe, who is currently heading U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. More recently, Greitens and Brunner had a heated, bitter telephone conversation about Brunner's campaign tactics against Greitens a conversation which Brunner's staff secretly recorded, and which was ultimately made public. The campaigns of Brunner and the other two Republican gubernatorial candidates, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and former Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, all have condemned the video. "Mr. Greitens and I may currently be political opponents, but today I stand with him and decry nameless and untraceable attacks funded by shadowy money," reads Kinder's statement. "If this does not explicitly violate Missouri campaign finance law, it should . . . [W]eve tragically learned this past year that these attacks can lead to the worst possible outcome." JEFFERSON CITY Missouri voters could be asked if they want to stop switching their clocks back and forth, potentially giving citizens of the Show-Me State more sunlight at the end of the day. In legislation debated in a House committee Monday, state Rep. Mike Kelley, R-Lamar, said his plan to make daylight saving time the standard would address long-held concerns that the practice of gaining and losing hours due to time changes is not only unhealthy but bad for business. Whats more, Kelley said if voters approve the switch, it would only take effect if two adjoining states also agree to cement daylight saving time as the correct time in order to blunt any significant cross-border time issues. I think its a good meet-in-the-middle approach, Kelley told members of the House Government Efficiency Committee. The initiative is the latest time-related proposal floated in state legislatures across the country in recent years. In Illinois, state Rep. Bill Mitchell introduced a plan to make daylight saving time the standard last year after a constituent in his Decatur-area district complained about the losing an extra hour of sunlight in the fall and winter. A Washington Post survey of the issue last year found that officials in a dozen states were considering legislation to opt out of changing the clocks. Although the national act outlining the use of daylight savings time allows states to ignore the change, only Arizona and Hawaii don't participate. Kelley, who cited studies linking the time change with more car accidents, reduced productivity and sleepier school kids, said the last time people would switch their clocks would be in March 2017. Lawmakers on the panel said they were concerned about the effect on businesses of not being synchronized with other states when it comes to opening and closing times. State Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis said if, for example, Missouri opts out of daylight saving time because Arkansas and Nebraska also join in the effort, it could wreak havoc with businesses in the highly populated areas along the states borders with Illinois and Kansas. The vast majority of Missourians live along the border, McCreery said. The committee could take a formal vote on the issue in the coming days. The legislation is House Joint Resolution 60. ST. LOUIS One focus of the debate over the citys earnings tax lies behind the glimmering glass windows of the Polsinelli law firm. The office, inside downtowns Deloitte Building, has wide open spaces and amazing views of the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium. It has tall ceilings, flat-screen televisions and coffee bars. And much of it was paid for with the citys earnings and payroll taxes. The firm moved 80 employees into the office. In return, in 2010, the city diverted half the earnings and payroll taxes paid by Polsinelli and its employees to fund up to $3.6 million of the office improvements. Meaning the 1 percent tax levied on the salaries of Polsineli employees and on the firms net profits paid for the renovation, but not for police officers and fire trucks. Now, the deal is in the spotlight as the city argues that every cent of the $160.7 million in annual revenue that the earnings tax delivers is vital to its survival. On April 5, by state mandate, city voters will decide if the 1940s-era tax should remain. City Hall leaders say the earnings tax is the fairest and most equitable tax they have to provide services with a regional reach. The government has become more and more reliant on it even as local wage taxes have come under attack in cities across the nation, with many pledging to lower them. Still, if the earnings tax is re-approved in St. Louis, some argue more companies will seek special breaks from the tax, potentially eroding the earnings tax base that makes up 33 percent of the citys general revenue. The payroll tax, a one-half percent tax paid by businesses on their total payroll, makes up an additional 8 percent of city revenue, or $38 million a year. That tax is also under assault. Clayton lawyer W. Bevis Schock, who successfully sued to shut down the citys red-light ticket program, has filed a lawsuit arguing the Missouri Legislature never authorized the payroll tax, and the city has no authority to impose it. The city first instituted a payroll tax in 1988. Schocks suit, on behalf of General Marine Services, also targets the Polsinelli deal. They thought up this plan where everybody will pay the earnings tax and the city will refund it back to the firm, Schock said. The problem is it violates the constitutional requirement of uniformity of taxation. Randy Gerber, Polsinellis St. Louis managing partner, said the deal was good for downtown. At a time when other firms were leaving the city, we were pleased to move many highly skilled jobs to the heart of downtown St. Louis, Gerber said. We appreciate the citys support, and value the significant presence we continue to maintain here. The St. Louis Comptrollers office said that in 2015, four companies had similar active deals with the city. In 2008, the Board of Aldermen approved a $1.75 million deal to divert earnings and payroll taxes for the development of downtowns Culinaria grocery, operated by Schnucks. In 2009, Anthem, then known as Wellpoint, moved 300 jobs into the city in exchange for diversion of up to $4.5 million of earnings and payroll taxes. The city then struck a $1.67 million earnings tax diversion deal in 2012 with Wells Fargo Advisors. All of the deals have expiration dates. While these special agreements are rare, Schock predicted more companies will seek them, just as they have with tax-increment financing abatements on real estate taxes. Once you give it to a few, then you have to give it to everybody, Schock said. Its a major reason why the city is broke. Alderman Scott Ogilvie says the tax diversions are pretty limited and a necessary tool for the city to fill office space with workers. He said its no different than a neighboring municipality offering property tax diversions to build a Walmart. And he warned its a better way of funding government than nearby municipalities that have resorted to traffic stops and excessive fines and fees. Its for businesses that are increasing their number of workers, Ogilvie said. Theres no property tax to use as an incentive. The incentive to use is the earnings tax. TAX HISTORY St. Louis has lost two-thirds of its population over the past 65 years, but it still services an infrastructure built for a city of its former size. The Missouri Legislature authorized St. Louis to begin collecting a one-half percent earnings tax in 1948 to help with its chronic financial problems. But that authorization was temporary. In 1953, the citys big chief executives formed Civic Progress Inc., and returned to the Legislature asking to make the tax authorization permanent. City voters ratified the permanent tax in 1954. Civic Progress declared in support: The city of St. Louis is the hub of the metropolitan area, and the balance of the area is dependent upon its being maintained. Mayor Raymond Tucker said the money could be used for progress and improvements, including the citys share of expressway construction the big highways that helped the Civic Progress businessmen, and so many others, leave the city for the suburbs. In 1959, voters raised the rate to 1 percent, where it has remained. Even with the tax, the city has struggled to maintain its infrastructure. The citys capital committee has identified $114 million in critical capital-improvement needs that the budget cant cover. On April 5, voters also will be asked to approve a $25 million no-tax increase bond issue to fund some of those improvements. The earnings tax has remained controversial. Missouri mega-political donor Rex Sinquefield pushed through a legislative measure requiring St. Louis and Kansas City voters to reauthorize the tax every five years. St. Louis voters reauthorized the tax in 2011 with 88 percent of the vote. If voters ever fail to pass the tax by a simple majority, it would be phased out over 10 years. Ogilvie says failure to reapprove the tax would be catastrophic. Police will be laid off. Retirees wont get their pensions. Ambulances will be called and they wont show up, Ogilvie said. Ogilvie says the tax is one of the best ways for the city to raise revenue, and it forces more of the region to pay for services the city provides for the metro area. What city would be better off with 30 or 40 percent less revenue? Ogilvie asked. But Schock, the lawyer suing the city, says people are leaving the city because they are frustrated with how it spends money. The political class has become so powerful that they control enough votes to keep this tax, Schock said. People get tired of bad government. They get tired of the little problems you deal with around here. And the city cries poor yet they just voted $150 million to Stan Kroenke. Taxes elsewhere Many cities have earnings or local income taxes that have come up for debate. Detroit has a 2.4 percent income tax rate for residents, and 1.2 percent for nonresidents who work there. Income tax made up 27 percent of Detroits general revenue for 2016. In 2013, Detroit filed bankruptcy. In a proposal to creditors, the city appeared to admit that its income tax was a source of trouble. The city wrote that lowering its income tax level to rates that are at least competitive with surrounding jurisdictions is critical to reversing the Citys crippling population and job losses. Missouri has only two cities with local income taxes St. Louis and Kansas City. By contrast, Philadelphia, which became the first city to adopt an earnings tax in 1939, operates in a state where nearly 3,000 municipalities have an earnings tax. Mayor Francis Slay acknowledged in 2001 that the tax does put the city at a disadvantage, but you cant just wipe it out because the city needs the money. Since then, Slay has pledged to make the city less reliant on the tax, but that has been a struggle. The earnings tax made up 31 percent of the citys general fund in 2001. In 2016, it makes up 33.4 percent. To make the tax more palatable, Slay spearheaded a bill in 2000 at the Board of Aldermen where the city exempted stock options and dividends from the earnings tax. But Alderman Sharon Tyus filed a bill this month to strip those exemptions. At a time when the city is financially strapped and we make the people who earn $8 an hour pay earnings tax, then everyone should pay, Tyus said. If we are telling the citizens how important the earnings tax is to our citys revenue, and we need them to vote to retain it, then the citizens ought to know that the wealthy are bring exempted from paying these very taxes. FERGUSON Glen Jones left town for Florida at the end of December, just as the rain was starting. When he returned to his Ferguson home on Wiegel Drive a couple of weeks later, it was obvious the creek behind his house had been at work. Jones backyard, which Maline Creek takes a bit more of each year, looked as though a tiny earthquake had struck. Swelled by historic winter rains that flooded homes and businesses throughout the region, the creek had done its worst yet. A jagged crack separated a chunk of earth from the rest of the yard, exposing his homes foundation. A tree leaned precariously over his bedroom, its base sliding toward the creek. If that tree falls, its all over, said Jones, who has moved in with family since the erosion along Maline Creek made living in his own home dangerous. His neighbor, Gabriel Fox, doesnt have it quite as bad, but he, too, worries that the deteriorating creek banks will soon send trees crashing onto his garage. Fox has watched the problem worsen over the years. Hes called the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, which manages stormwater, and the city of Ferguson. Probably 15 years ago, it was half the distance across, Fox said of Maline Creek. Every year, it erodes a little more. No one wants to claim responsibility. I can understand. Its such a huge project. Stormwater erosion along the regions creeks isnt new. In fact, MSD suspects it will get worse as more frequent heavy rains fall on a region that has paved over so much of the ground that can absorb it. People are saying this has never happened before, MSD spokesman Lance LeComb said. Well, 2015 was the wettest year on record (in St. Louis). Youre seeing water in a lot of places you havent seen it before, just from a stormwater perspective. But MSD says it doesnt have a responsibility to stabilize the creek banks, only to make sure developments follow stormwater standards that slow the flow of water from roofs and parking lots. Even if it did have a responsibility, theres almost no money for stormwater erosion projects. Whenever you live near a creek or stream, there is a certain amount of risk inherent on your land, LeComb said. Cities, too, say its not their responsibility. Ferguson Public Works Director Matthew Unrein said hes gotten calls from three to five people complaining about Maline Creek erosion since last years heavy rains. He said he tries to offer advice: plant trees or native grasses near the banks, so the roots help stabilize the ground. Ferguson itself is dealing with erosion caused by Maline Creek moving ever closer to the parking lot of the Plaza at 501, the city-owned event space on South Florissant Road. Unrein balked at the $325,000 its lone project bidder said it would cost to stabilize the creek bank. It was far more cost-effective to build replacement parking spots elsewhere and let Mother Nature do as she will, he said. Todd Teuscher, a landscape architect who worked with Ferguson to try to find a contractor to fix the parking lot, said theres not much homeowners who live along creeks can do except try to plant native plants and trees to stabilize the soil. It will likely take more of a coordinated effort to staunch creek erosion. But the money just isnt there. If you fix one residential lot, its like a Band-Aid approach, Teuscher said. Its a huge funding issue. MSDs LeComb recalls a homeowners association in west St. Louis County that spent thousands of dollars on bank stabilization projects to control erosion along Fishpot Creek. That worked for a while until a big rain washed all that work away. For individual homeowners, nine out of 10 times, its going to outstrip your means or abilities, he said. While MSD isnt required to fix the problems, that doesnt mean it doesnt want to. We, because of what we do, are in the best position to take action on some of these issues, LeComb said. The issue is funding. MSD says theres no money except for the most dangerous erosion problems, and even then its stretched thin. Sewer rates used to subsidize stormwater projects by about $19 million a year. MSDs bond covenants ended that practice. MSD was going to replace that revenue with an impervious surface fee that charged customers based on the amount of roof space and pavement they owned, but a ratepayer sued MSD over the charge. The Missouri Supreme Court in 2013 ruled the impervious fee was a tax and needed a public vote. In April, MSD is asking voters in St. Louis and St. Louis County to approve a property tax adjustment to pay for stormwater maintenance needs. Taxes would go up in west St. Louis County, where MSD says it has virtually no money to maintain storm sewers. They would inch up in St. Louis and go down in St. Louis County between the St. Louis city limits and Interstate 270. That will free up MSD to spend on stormwater maintenance where its most needed, rather than being constrained by a balkanized system of special taxing districts. But even if the tax change passes, MSD still wont have new money for capital projects, including creek stabilization. It may ask voters around 2020 if they want to pay for those problems with another special stormwater charge. The April 5 ballot is the first step to getting this fixed, LeComb said. That may be of little comfort to residents dealing with the issue now. About 25 to 30 of them, mostly from the Hathaway Manor subdivision in unincorporated North County, showed up to an MSD board meeting last week to demand a fix. One neighborhood resident lost a shed last month when part of her backyard fell into the creek. Downstream near Jennings, Kevin Poindexter worries his backyard shed may be next. Maline Creek is closer than ever, undermining his fence and slowly eating away at his yard. I really dont care who steps up at this point, Poindexter said. Its on its way. The cutthroat competition has begun to determine whether the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency keeps its western campus and 3,100 jobs in St. Louis or moves across the river to St. Clair County. Last week, just as President Barack Obama was visiting Illinois, that states entire congressional delegation launched a campaign to lure the NGA to a semi-rural site adjacent to Scott Air Force Base. The time for a forceful and unrelenting rebuttal is now. Missouri officials and insiders say theyve chosen a quieter, low-key lobbying campaign, assuming NGAs leadership prefers it that way. After all, this is the secretive agency whose satellite imagery and mapping have guided the CIAs and Pentagons most sensitive operations. Low-key might have been understandable before. But the stakes are too high for Missouris elected leaders in Washington to be outplayed by their Illinois counterparts. Its not just about keeping 3,100 permanent NGA jobs. This $1.6 billion project promises to create thousands more construction-related jobs, not to mention the massive redevelopment potential for the north St. Louis neighborhood where the new campus would go. Whats the best way to pitch St. Louis best case so that Washington gets the message, loud and clear? First, those organizing this campaign should disabuse themselves of the notion that Washington prefers anything low-key. Whenever major defense contracts are up for grabs, sensitive or not, the pages of The Washington Post and New York Times explode with full-page ads from competing contractors. They buy big ads on the Sunday morning television interview shows because they know thats when Washington is watching. Theres nothing subtle about it. Although NGA Director Robert Cardillo will make the final decision, expected in March, it cant hurt to publicly remind Obama of commitments hes made to uplift the urban core of troubled American cities. Hes talked up his Promise Zones and Strong Cities initiatives. He has pledged to give a priority in federal contracting to help cities like St. Louis stop the steady migration of residents to the suburbs. America doesnt need investments to uplift Illinois corn fields. Expect the other side to play hardball. Obamas longtime friend and Democratic political mentor, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, accompanied the president on Air Force One ahead of the presidents speech to the Illinois Legislature. All politics is local, and Durbin will use every ounce of personal influence he can to win the NGA. When Mayor Francis Slay traveled to Jefferson City on Feb. 2 to discuss this high-stakes competition, the bipartisan support he received was resounding. Whatever youve got to do, go get it and well back you up on the cost, Republican Sen. Ron Richard of Joplin, the Senate president pro-tem, told Slay. LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Investors cheer as Truss chased out of No 10 Thursday, October 20, 2022 - 17:12 The FTSE 100 moved into the green on Wednesday afternoon, with sterling also rising, as investors in the UK were buoyed by Liz Truss calling an end to her disastrous six-week tenure. Truss has announced her resignation after a chaotic 44 days in office during which she lost the confidence of Tory members of Parliament and the public and oversaw economic turbulence. She is set to become the shortest serving prime minister in history after she battled an open revolt from Conservatives demanding her departure. Speaking from a lectern in Downing Street, Truss said she had told the King she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party as she recognised she "cannot deliver the mandate" which Tory members gave her little over six weeks ago. "To use a phrase that has no doubt been exhausted in the past few weeks, markets don As if massive tobacco tax increases werent enough, a Senate panel voted yesterday to subject tobacco products to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The move would give FDA bureaucrats the ability to regulate tobacco as well as tobacco advertisements, a power both current and former FDA Commissioners dont even want, citing limited resources and the fact that regulating tobacco as a drug the same way it regulates pharmaceutical drugs doesnt fit into the FDAs mission potentially jeopardizing the health of cigarette smokers. But while the health bureaucrat-types oppose FDA regulation of tobacco, an unlikely coalition supports it. Altria/Philip Morris, the worlds largest tobacco company, and anti-smoking groups teamed up to push FDA oversight. Both want to cut back the ability of tobacco companies to exercise their first amendment right to advertise their legal products, but for different reasons. Altria/Phillip Morris knows that without the ability to advertise, its competitors can never challenge its dominance of the cigarette market. Meanwhile, anti-tobacco groups see pharmaceutical-style FDA regulation of advertisements a step towards the FDA declaring all tobacco products unsafe and thus prohibited. In an interesting twist, the law forbids the FDA from certifying that some forms of tobacco are safer than others, despite a mountain of evidence. This means smokeless tobacco or cigar manufacturers cannot tell consumers that their products are safer than cigarettes even if such claims are empirically proven. So how does this law affect cigar smokers? Besides being another step down the road to complete tobacco prohibition, FDA regulation may mean substantially limited advertising of cigars in magazines like Cigar Aficionado, Smoke Magazine, and Cigar Magazine, and also potentially on websites such as this one. In addition to harming publications that rely on advertising, such Draconian rules threaten to stifle the recent streak of innovation that has been seen in the premium cigar market, as introducing new products often requires an advertising campaign to inform potential consumers. More drastically, future FDA regulation may mean the removal or reduction of certain chemicals such as nicotine from tobacco products. For cigar makers that simply roll together leaves with naturally occurring chemicals, the regulation of certain chemicals would spell the end for the entire handmade cigar industry. Patrick S Tags: cigars The U.S. Air Force has decided to replace its 14 overworked and aging EC-130H Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft by doing what many other nations are doing; putting the sensors and electronic into a smaller business type jet. The air force is considering a similar solution for its JSTARS radar ground surveillance aircraft. Britain has already shown the way with their new ASTOR, which has the capabilities of the U.S. JSTARS but uses a 44 ton Bombadier Global Express twin engine business jet instead of the 152 ton four-engine B-707 used for JSTARS. Other nations are using business jets for AWACS and other airborne missions involving electronics. One reason for this is that sensors and electronics have gotten lighter and more compact. Moreover better satellite communications makes it possible to reduce aircraft crew size by having most of the equipment operators on the ground. The air force is asking firms that have already done these business jet solutions to submit bids for doing it to the EC-130H. The increased efforts to destroy ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) have led to the EC-130H being much in demand and wearing out faster than anticipated. What makes the EC-130H especially useful is its ability to selectively listen in on enemy wireless communications and, if needed, quickly jam it. This made the enemy vulnerable because the EC-130H listens in no matter what wireless communications are used and can quickly jam it if that seemed more advantageous for the ground forces. The EC-130H entered service in the early 1980s and were originally designed to jam Soviet anti-aircraft defenses but they proved to be crucial in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2002 the fourteen EC-130Hs have flown nearly 7,000 sorties and spent over 40,000 hours in the air. The EC-130H was built to carry linguists who could listen to the radio traffic below and decide who to just record (and perhaps immediately report to U.S. troops below) and who to jam. This information can also be shared with people on the ground. Because Afghanistan has limited land-line phone systems, especially in the countryside, the Taliban, and everyone else, relies on cell phones, walkie-talkies and ham radio type gear to communicate. The EC-130H can detect all of these, and jam them selectively. ISIL has similar preferences in communications gear and in the midst of combat they have found, like the Taliban, there is no solution to the problems created by a EC-130H overhead. Another advantage is that while most Islamic terror organizations know of these aircraft they never know when there are operating nearby unless there is obviously selective jamming going on. This forces the enemy to either use their cell phones and radios sparingly, or use code words (which the U.S. can usually decipher, or just jam) or not use electronic communication at all. The latter choice makes it more difficult to control your forces in a rapidly changing battle. The U.S. began using EC-130Hs frequently over Afghanistan in 2006. There they flew 300-400 sorties a year, each 6-8 hours long and they were considered a valuable tool by ground commanders. But only the most crucial ground operations got EC-130H support because so few of them were available. The use of these aircraft has increased greatly since 2006 but gradually as tactics and techniques for their most efficient use were developed. The U.S. Army also has some two engine electronic eavesdropping aircraft. But these are not as well equipped as the air force EC-130Hs. Nevertheless the army sent as many as possible to Afghanistan and Iraq and bought more. Not long ago the air forces now proposed to retire half the EC-130H fleet in order to provide more money for F-35s and the new heavy bomber. Ground forces quickly came forward with a mountain of evidence about how useful the EC-130H was in fighting Islamic terrorists. Faced with that the air force is now seeking to replace the EC-130H with a smaller but similar (in capabilities) aircraft. Some orders for F-35s are being delayed and the new bomber will take longer to develop. Fighting continues in Anbar province because ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) continues to resist the relentless government advance. At the end of 2015 Iraq declared Ramadi, the capital of Anbar (which is most of western Iraq) back under government control. Despite that declaration Iraqi troops are still slowly moving through parts of the city where ISIL planted lots of booby-traps and landmines. These explosive devices were meant to punish the disloyal (to ISIL) population of the city and cause maximum losses to advancing troops and Shia militia. The militias are letting the soldiers use their training and special equipment to find and clear the explosives. ISIL tried to maintain a small force of gunmen in Ramadi to delay the removal of bombs and mines but that effort has largely failed. Meanwhile Iraqi troops and militia have moved past Ramadi and are advancing deeper into territory controlled by ISIL for a year or more. So far over half the Anbar territory ISIL occupied a year ago is back under government control. Nationwide ISIL has lost more than half the territory it controlled a year ago. This includes much of the ISIL controlled territory in the north. Here Kurdish and Iraqi Arab forces advanced closer to Mosul all through 2015. So far ISIL counterattacks have slowed but not stopped the advance in Anbar or around Mosul. ISIL has to stop the Anbar advance or it will find its Iraq and Syrian territories cut off from each other. This would be a major problem for ISIL and make the Islamic terrorists easier to defeat. Because of this ISIL is bringing in more men from Syria and even from Mosul to try and halt the government advance in Anbar. This has been very costly for ISIL because the government forces (including the Iran backed Shia militias) have learned how to handle ISIL tactics. Thus troops or militiamen at checkpoints usually prevent car bombs from reaching them by firing on vehicles that will not stop when ordered. Attacks by ISIL gunmen tend to fail because the Iraqi forces are alert at night and often have night-vision devices as well. In addition the Iraqi military has artillery and air support from Iraqi and American aircraft. This makes it difficult for ISIL to move fighters around Anbar or assemble large attack forces. In eastern Anbar, where most of the population is, the towns and cities have to be cleared of ISIL men who are hiding among ISIL supporters and planning terror attacks. Local Sunni leaders have organized militias that can go into neighborhoods and discover who the ISIL supporters are and make arrests, or identify the suspects who got away. The identities of these suspects is passed to the intel services which maintains a database of such suspects, making it harder for these people to survive in government controlled territory. North of Anbar, in Salahuddin province ISIL has been losing ground since mid-2015 and the same tactics used to clear ISIL out of Anbar are being used. The government has made it clear that once all of Ramadi and all of the Syrian border in Anbar is under government control again the most effective units will be moved from Anbar to the outskirts of Mosul in preparation for the mid-2016 offensive there. . Many ISIL members are sensing this danger and desertions are up while veteran troops in contact with ISIL find the enemy less effective and apparently demoralized. ISIL is depending more and more on suicide bombings to demoralize and dissuade the Iraqi troops and militias. This is not working. Now that the Iran sanctions are being lifted the Iranians can allocate more resources to the many wars and insurgencies the country is involved in. Iran proclaims that all this mayhem is merely fellow Shia trying to defend themselves from Sunni aggression. In many cases this is true but over the centuries Iran has always extracted a high price for such protection. The Iraqi Shia are feeling that pressure, with local pro-Iran Shia militia leaders making it very clear that their main loyalty is to Iran, not the Iraqi government. Iran applies pressure in other ways. For example the Iraqi government has become less enthusiastic about needing more American and NATO troops in Iraq. The government also announced that Saudi Arabia should not even consider sending troops into Iraq to fight ISIL. The Saudis did not suggest this but are planning to send troops into Syria. The Saudis have no border with Syria but Jordan and Iraq, which both have borders with Saudi Arabia, do. Thus Iraq is making it clear that Saudi forces are not welcome in Iraq even if they are just passing through. Jordan is another matter and has become an ally of the Saudis. Iran is very hostile to a Saudi led coalition of ground troops going into Syria to fight ISIL and help overthrow the Assad government. Iran is also behind the increasingly aggressive and autonomous behavior of the Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militias that are assisting the army in the fight against ISIL. The Shia militias are also taking control of territory in urban and rural areas, displacing the police and local government. Because of that by late 2015 Iraq government saw more American troops as saviors. At the end of 2015 there were several thousand American troops already in Iraq and more (most of them Special Forces) on the way. The government has apparently made it clear to Iran (which is very hostile to U.S. forces in Iraq) that some American troops were essential. The presence of American troops also makes it less likely that Iran will attempt anything too ambitious (like invading or backing a takeover by Shia militias) and everyone knows that. Iran appears to have convinced Iraqi leaders that American troops come and go while Iranian forces are always next door. Most Iraqis are more concerned with Iranian meddling than anything the Americans might do. At the same time Iraqis are wary of the other Gulf Arabs, especially Saudi Arabia. For example the Saudi ambassador to Iraq suggested that the Iran backed Shia militias in Iraq should stand aside and let the Iraqi Army deal with ISIL. That comment was widely condemned by Iraqi Shia clerics and politicians. The Shia politicians running Iraq have to move carefully because Iran, Saudi Arabia and America are making demands, often contrary ones, on Iraq. One reason for the recent ISIL setbacks is that the American led air campaign has become much more effective. While the number of warplanes used over Syria and Iraq has not changed much since the bombing campaign began in 2014 the ROE (Rules of Engagement) has. Thus the number of weapons released has gone way up. There were 269 weapons used in August 2014 and this rose to 1,888 in December 2014 then to 2,823 in July 2015. By the end of 2015 it was over 3,000 a month and headed for 4,000. The increased weapons count correlated with the growth in ISIL deserters and civilians who escaped ISIL territory reporting higher casualties from air strikes. The U.S. gradually loosened up its ROE in 2015 and accelerated this after October when Russian warplanes began operating in Syria. The Russians had a much less strict ROE and their air attacks were doing far more damage to ISIL and other rebel groups despite the heavy use of human shields by ISIL. All this led to more dead civilians but the amount of damage done to ISIL increased so much that in the last year ISIL manpower in Iraq and Syria has declined about 20 percent. Iranian War Criminals While ISIL atrocities against religious minorities gets some publicity, and recognition as war crimes, the similar atrocities by Iran backed Iraqi Shia militias have gone largely unpublicized. That is changing but not fast enough to slow down the killings. The United States and most European governments had adopted the attitude that Christians in Iraq have not been singled out for attack but now the growing mountain of evidence has led a growing number of Western governments to at least admit that Christians and other non-Moslems are under heavy attack from ISIL and Iraqi Shia (usually sponsored by Iran) militias. In 2014 ISIL atrocities against religious minorities like the Yazidis and Christians was noticed by the world media but that attention was temporary and the plight of Christians in Syria and Iraq was largely ignored. The Yazidis were a frequent target because many Moslems, and some Christians, consider the Yazidi pagans and devil worshipers. The Yazidi are Kurds who practice a pre-Christian religion related to the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religion once common in Iran before Islam and now only found in India. The Yazidis are considered pagans by ISIL and to Moslems pagans must either renounce their beliefs or die. The Kurds have always gotten along better with Yazidis, Christians and other minorities and many of those people fled to the Kurdish north. In 2015 it was the Kurds who recaptured Yazidi territory from ISIL. Atrocities against Christians is again newsworthy because the Iraqi Shia militias are increasingly attacking Christians in Baghdad. The militias are trying to drive all Christians out of Baghdad and Iraq. The militias are also out to make some money as they systematically seize the homes, businesses and other assets of the departed Christians and sell them off or trade them for something they need. The Iraqi government does nothing save for an occasional press release condemning this behavior. These press releases are to placate foreign aid donors who threaten to reduce aid if the atrocities do not stop. So far few aid donors have acted on these threats. In Baghdad the Shia militia want to emulate ISIL, which has, for the first time in history, killed or driven all Christians from Mosul. Some of these Shia militia have also been accused of going back to their use of death squads against Sunni civilians. There has been some of that but not as much as in 2006-8. That round of sectarian murders was only ended by the forcible disbanding of the Shia militias. This time around the government is so eager to mobilize over 100,000 Shia militiamen that these men are being put on the government payroll (for about $500 a month). Over 10,000 members of the Salam Army (formerly the Mahdi Army) refused to take the pay (but took the weapons and equipment) insisting it was their religious duty to fight. Unlike 2008, there are now several new Shia militias, but the basic idea is the same; to defend Shia from Sunni Islamic terrorist attacks. While some of the militiamen have recent military experience, what makes the militias superior to the Iraqi Army and police is that these Shia gunmen are as fanatic as ISIL and better led than most army and police units. What the government is hoping for is another collapse of the Sunni Islamic terrorist organizations. The last time that happened, in 2007, there followed a sharp drop in violence (about 70 percent nationwide versus 2006). This was widely accepted as proof that the Sunni Arab terrorist organizations had collapsed in defeat. The main reason for that was that most of the Sunni Arab tribes had turned against the terrorists, and al Qaeda, which was responsible for most of the suicide bomb attacks. This time around the government is trying to impose more discipline on and control over the militias. There is also talk about letting the militias be permanent, if they behave. But what is actually happening is that the Shia militias are increasingly becoming Iranian controlled. The Hidden Menace Most Iraqis dont get much, if any, exposure to the Islamic terrorism that catches most of the headlines. All Iraqis do share one problem; pervasive corruption. This has always been a major economic, social and political problem in this part of the world. Most Iraqis realize that even when the Islamic terrorism has been eliminated there will still be the corruption. That has led to a growing anti-corruption movement. Since late July 2015 thousands of pro-reform Iraqis have been demonstrating in Baghdad and other cities every Friday to encourage the government to take more action against corruption. The reforms involve eliminating thousands of senior level positions in the government that exist mainly to enable politicians to steal and enforcing existing laws against corruption. The government responded by making some changes that made it more difficult (but not impossible) for corrupt officials to steal and generally muck things up. The people want more of this, and less corruption in general. So far all the government has not done enough and that inaction keeps the demonstrators coming. The people demand more action and these demonstrations may be the start of a sustained anti-corruption movement. What makes these demonstrations so effective is that they have the support of the two top Shia clerics; Grand Ayatollah Sistani and the younger, more radical and pro-Iran Ayatollah Sadr. This clerical support makes the demonstrations impossible to ignore but so many top officials are corrupt that it is difficult to get enough of them removed to persuaded to act with more integrity to make a difference. Corruption has been endemic to this region for thousands of years, but now there is democracy and widespread realization that progress is impossible with the current levels of corruption. February 13, 2016: In the north (outside Tikrit, 170 kilometers from Baghdad) an Iraqi F-16 used smart bombs to destroy a house where local ISIL leaders were meeting. At least five ISIL leaders died. Iraqi intelligence has established informant networks inside ISIL controlled territory and the emphasis is on quickly reporting high-value targets (like where weapons, fuel or ammo are hidden or where key people are gathering). Iraq has a growing number of aircraft and helicopters that can use laser guided missiles or smart bombs and these are being quickly dispatched to high-value targets. February 5, 2016: Turkish warplanes used dozens of smart bombs and missiles against PKK targets in northern Iraq. These attacks are becoming more frequent because Turkish UAVs now patrol the area regularly. For the Turks it is imperative that the Kurds in the region must not be allowed to unite and create a Kurdish state. This is what armed Kurdish rebels in Turkey (PKK), Syria, Iraq and Iran are fighting for. February 1, 2016: Iraqi casualties from ISIL inspired violence has remained at a lower level for the fifth month in a row. In January 849 Iraqis (security forces and civilians) died, down 13 percent from 980 in December. This is also down 39 percent from January 2015. So far in 2016 most (57 percent) of the dead are civilian the rest include Iraqi security forces, including army, Kurds and the many Sunni and Shia militias. Low January and December deaths are part of a trend because there were 888 dead in November, 714 in October and 717 in September. This decline in deaths (from earlier in 2015) is mainly because the government has improved the leadership in the security forces and one result of that is fewer friendly casualties. In August 1,325 Iraqis died, 1,332 in July, 1,466 in June and 1,100 dead in May. The increase after May was largely because the government began its promised June offensive a little late but still in June. Since January (when nearly 1,400 died) monthly terrorist related deaths were usually 1,100-1,200 a month. This is because most of the ISIL violence was of the terrorist, not military, variety. Another factor is the difficulty obtaining accurate data on casualties in ISIL held areas. Thus the actual Iraqi total deaths since late 2014 are probably 20-30 percent higher once you include ISIL losses. The death toll for all of 2015 was about 13,400, compared to 15,600 in 2014. Thats still a big jump from 2013 when the death toll was 8,900 for all of Iraq and only ten percent of those were terrorists while the majority were Shia civilians killed by Sunni Islamic terrorists. Despite an expected increase in combat casualties in mid-2016 when the attack on Mosul begins the total 2016 deaths are expected to be at least 20 percent lower than 2015. While 2015 was 14 percent less deadly than 2014 both years were much less than the worst year. That was 2007 when nearly 18,000 died. Then as now the main cause of the mayhem and murder was Sunni fanatics who want to run the country as a Sunni dictatorship. Still Iraq was a lot less violent than neighboring Syria where the 2015 death toll was 55,000, which was down 38 percent from the 76,000 in 2014. Thats over 69,000 dead (down 24 percent from 91,000in 2014) for the two countries where ISIL is most active. The death toll has declined in both Iraq and Syria because ISIL has become less effective and in Syria there is a lot more war weariness. Most of the rebels and government forces in Syria are just playing defense and even ISIL has been less active in attacking compared to 2014. Between ISIL and Iran backed Shia militia activity in Baghdad that city accounted for 35 percent of all deaths in January and 61 percent of civilian deaths. Most of the Baghdad civilian deaths were from ISIL terror attacks, meant to get media attention and terrorize the Shia population. A growing number of the civilian deaths in Baghdad (and nationwide) are caused by Shia militias killing suspected Sunni terrorists or simply encouraging Sunnis and non-Moslems to get out of Baghdad (and Iraq). Intelligence analysts have noticed that in the last year ISIL strength in Iraq and Syria has declined about 20 percent (to some 20,000 members) while in Libya strength has doubled to 6,000. The losses in Iraq and Syria are from casualties, desertions and fewer foreign volunteers. There is less of that in Libya because there are very few air attacks and less combat. Moving even more men to Libya is difficult for ISIL because it is more expensive to get people in and out of Libya and there are fewer income producing opportunities in Libya. Building up the Libya operation is apparently seen as vital by ISIL leadership because of the increasing possibility that ISIL will be crushed in Iraq and Syria. Dirty Little Secrets DLS for 2001 | DLS for 2002 | DLS for 2003 DLS for 2004 | DLS for 2005 | DLS for 2006 DLS for 2007 | DLS for 2008 EC-130H Strikes Again by James Dunnigan February 14, 2016 By the end of 2015 Iraq declared Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province (which is most of western Iraq) back under government control. Reporters speaking to Iraqi commanders found two types of American support praised as critical for making the operation a success and keeping Iraqi casualties down. Reporters were not surprised to hear that Iraqi officers were glad to see the return of American air support, and in a big way. Many of these battalion and brigade commanders had started their careers after 2003 when American air support was common and greatly missed it after Iraqi politicians refused to let the American continue providing it after 2011. But to the surprise of foreign journalists Iraqi commanders are praised the return of American electronic warfare aircraft, especially those with the ability to selectively listen in on enemy wireless communications and, if needed, quickly jam it. With this capability Iraqi intel officers and commanders could listen to the enemy communications in real-time and at any point ask for it to be jammed. This made the enemy vulnerable because the army was listening in no matter what wireless communications was used and could quickly jam it if that seemed more advantageous for the army. What was remarkable about this support was that it could be supplied only a few American aircraft in the air at any one time. For smart bomb delivery one B-1 bomber and one or two fighter-bombers could handle all requests from ground troops around Ramadi. For the eavesdropping and jamming a single EC-130H Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft got it done. Thatas just as well because there are only 14 EC-130H aircraft in service. These aircraft, introduced in the early 1980s, were originally designed to jam Soviet anti-aircraft defenses but they proved to be crucial in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2002 these 14 aircraft have flown nearly 7,000 sorties and spent over 40,000 hours in the air. What made the EC-130H so useful was its ability to eavesdrop on cell phone and other radio communications and then selectively jam them. The EC-130H has space on board for linguists, who can listen to the radio traffic below, and decide who to just record (and perhaps immediately report to U.S. troops below), and who to jam. This information can also be shared with people on the ground. Because Afghanistan has limited land-line phone systems, especially in the countryside, the Taliban, and everyone else, relies on cell phones, walkie-talkies and ham radio type gear to communicate. The EC-130H can detect all of these, and jam them selectively. ISIL has similar preferences in communications gear and in the midst of combat they have found, like the Taliban, there is no solution to the problems created by a EC-130H overhead. Another advantage is that while most Islamic terror organizations know of these aircraft they never know when there are operating nearby unless there is obviously selective jamming going on. This forces the enemy to either use their cell phones and radios sparingly, or use code words (which the U.S. can usually decipher, or just jam) or not use electronic communication at all. The latter choice makes it more difficult to control your forces in a rapidly changing battle. The U.S. began using EC-130Hs frequently over Afghanistan in 2006. There they flew 300-400 sorties a year, each 6-8 hours long and they were considered a valuable tool by ground commanders. But only the most crucial ground operations got EC-130H support. The use of these aircraft has increased greatly but gradually as tactics and techniques for their most efficient use were developed. The U.S. Army also has some two engine electronic eavesdropping aircraft. But these are not as well equipped as the air force EC-130Hs. Nevertheless the army sent as many as possible to Afghanistan and Iraq and bought more. In yet another dispute with the ground forces the air forces now proposes to retire half the EC-130H fleet in order to provide more money for F-35s and the new heavy bomber. Indonesia is the latest nation to learn that sending Islamic terrorists to regular prisons and allowing them to mix with non-terrorist criminals simply results in many of common criminals being radicalized and turned into Islamic terrorists. This was discovered as information Indonesian counter-terrorism forces obtained from captured Islamic terrorists was added to what was discovered then the backgrounds of dead Islamic terrorists were investigated and added to a database. It was found that a growing number of new recruits were coming from prisons where men with obvious criminal tendencies were often easily influenced by imprisoned Islamic terrorists and radicalized by that experience. Since 2001 most Islamic terrorist organizations have not only recognized this form of recruiting but encouraged it. For a long time it was thought that this was mainly a phenomenon in Western nations where Moslems were a minority. But now Moslem majority nations are also finding prisons are increasingly effective for radicalizing Moslem criminals and turning them into Islamic terrorists. Prison officials in Moslem nations tend to be more corrupt than elsewhere and Islamic terror groups found that it paid to bribe prison guards to get recruiting materials into prisons. Another problem is the growing number of new converts to Islam who encountered Islam while in prison and were radicalized there as well but when released did not become Islamic terrorists. Instead these Western recruits were employed to radicalize civilians and passing them on to Islamic terrorist organizations for further training. The best tactic here was detecting and monitoring radicalized prisoners after release and going after those found to have turned into Islamic terrorist recruiters. Meanwhile all nations with Moslem inmates are seeking a fix for this problem. One solution that works is to isolate imprisoned Islamic terrorists from non-radicalized prisoners and each other. This is expensive in the short term but pays off in fewer Islamic terrorists in the long term. Prisons have become a major source of new Islamic terrorist recruits and this method, along with greater use of the Islamic terrorists to recruit is replacing more traditional sources. For long time the Islamic boarding schools were the prime training ground for potential terrorists. It was difficult to deal with this problem in Moslem countries because most students of these schools do not become radicalized. The police found that an effective technique was to monitor these schools more carefully and then only raiding the ones where there was clear evidence of Islamic terrorist recruiting and training. In colleges Islamic radicals were succeeding in radicalizing college students and this was handled by infiltrating Islamic radical college student organizations and then going after the leaders and the advanced radicalized students who were heading for active Islamic terror activities. Whatever solutions are developed to cripple efforts to radicalize Moslems the Islamic terror organizations have, so far, proved effective at coming up with new recruiting methods. The government is not only faced with a growing money crises (because of the sharp and persistent fall in oil prices) but growing dissatisfaction within its own ranks. A growing number of key officials, especially in the security forces and the intelligence organizations are speaking (or leaking) what they know of how rampant corruption and government mismanagement that continues to generate new Islamic terrorist recruits. Officials identified doing this too often or publicly tend to be fired or retired, no matter how senior they are. A growing number of senior officials are facing up to the fact that government corruption and mismanagement are the major reason for the persistent high unemployment that causes so many young (and often well educated) Algerians it migrate or join Islamic terror groups. A growing number of the migrants are the kind of talented people the government wants to hire to try and revitalize the government and the economy. These migrants no longer believe the government can reform itself and this issue is causing growing discontent within the government itself. There is a sense that the government was lucky in 2011 and avoided a major uprising only because so many Algerians still had vivid and painful memories of Islamic terrorist driven uprising in the 1990s. Those memories are fading while the housing shortages, unemployment and government corruption are daily experiences. The improved intelligence sharing agreements with European governments are paying off. With access to known Algerian Islamic terrorists European governments have an easier time finding Islamic terrorists hiding among many (over a million in the last year) Moslem illegal migrants flooding into Europe to escape violence, corruption and poverty in their homelands. Algeria notes that some of the remaining Islamic terrorists in Algeria spent time in Europe or were radicalized there. However there appear to be more Algerian Islamic terrorists outside the country (Syria and Europe) than inside Algeria, which has become a very hostile environment for Islamic terrorists. February 13, 2016: About 120 kilometers east of the capital (Tizi Ouzou province) soldiers killed an Islamic terrorist who was armed with an AK-47 and lots of ammo. Further south (Ain Defla, 145 kilometers southwest of the capital) a search operation found more than ten bunkers built by Islamic terrorists for shelter and storing equipment. The bunkers were destroyed. Meanwhile in Boumerdes province (60 kilometers east of the capital) police found and disabled two locally made bombs. February 9, 2016: In Bouira province (120 kilometers southeast of the capital) troops encountered an Islamic terrorist, killed him and seized several weapons, including a machine-gun and over a hundred rounds of ammo. February 8, 2016: In the south, on the Mali border near Bordj Badji Mokhtar, troops discovered an underground storage site containing weapons (two AK-47s one machine-gun, RPG rockets, over 60 grenades plus explosives and thousands of rounds of ammo.) It was unclear if these weapons were to later be moved deeper into Algeria or into Mali, where there is more demand for illegal weapons. February 7, 2016: The parliament passed much needed changes to the constitution, but reformers were not impressed because as long as power is monopolized by a few families (which were prominent in the 1960s rebellion against France) new laws will not change anything. Thats because some of the new reforms were implemented in the past but then cancelled when it suited the corrupt and dictatorial ruling families. Unless the government introduces and enforces honest voting and then obeys the law, there can be no real reform. This is a common pattern worldwide and especially in the Middle East. Everyone knows that corruption and bad government are the main cause of stagnant economies and general unrest but not enough of those in charge are willing to give up enough power to fix the problem. In part this is because of the well-founded (in history) fear that another group of corrupt officials will resume the practice of rigging elections. February 2, 2016: A court sentenced six oil company managers to prison after they were convicted of corruption. It is common knowledge that there is a lot of corruption in the state oil company (Sonatrach) because oil and gas exports account for 30 percent of GDP, 95 percent of exports and provide enough income to cover 60 percent of the government budget. That was in 2013, before the price of oil fell over 70 percent. Oil and gas are still important, even more so because that income has been reduced by more than half and the government cannot make a lot of cuts because much government spending is to buy the loyalty of key segments of the population like government employees, especially those in the security forces and oil industry. Thus many people see the sudden eagerness to prosecute corrupt officials directed mainly at maintaining the loyalty (to the corrupt government) of key groups. What most people want is less corruption and incompetent government officials getting in the way of starting and running new businesses. There is little enthusiasm for that among the ruling families, who prosper by using their government power to help other family members to establish profitable monopolies. These inefficient monopolies would be destroyed if not for the corruption that hinders the creation and operation of competing firms. January 27, 2016: The government suspended commercial airline flights to Libya over concern about Islamic terrorist movements. This came days after the government prevented 270 Moroccans from continuing their flight to Libya because none of the Moroccans had a legitimate reason to go to Libya and some were suspected of going there to join ISIL. The government asked Morocco for help but the matter is still unresolved. Trained by Gary Moore and ridden by his son Jamie, he made all the running to topple odds-on favourite LAmi Serge, who could never mount a serious challenge. Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins is becoming a regular visitor to Warwick and he took the opening Caroline Bermingham & Claire Gibbs Birthday Novices Hurdle with Open Eagle, a classy performer on the Flat in England when trained by David OMeara. Open Eagle has taken well to hurdles, finishing second to his stable companion Thomas Hobson here in January, and he was sent off the 4-7 favourite to go one better this time. Always travelling well, Open Eagle took over from leader Kilcullen Flem approaching the second-last flight and proved too good for market rival Mystical Knight from there on, coasting to an easy success. Just three lined up for the 7bets4free.com Novices Chase and there was another easy winner in outsider Vivaldi Collonges, who had disappointed in the Betfred Classic Chase here last month, but had no difficulty in seeing off Dawson City to score by 62 lengths. Mullins had taken the 2015 running of the OLBG.com Mares Hurdle (Listed Race) with the classy Glens Melody, who went on to success at the Cheltenham Festival. This year, he was represented by Petite Parisienne, who was sporting a hood for the first time, but she never looked like adding to his record, finishing only fourth. Jessbers Dream had been runner-up in a similar contest at Taunton and Noel Fehily took her straight into the lead. She was still in front going to the last flight, but made her only mistake, handing the advantage to Flute Bowl, who ran on strongly for an 8-1 success. Longest race of the afternoon was the Guy Salmon Land Rover Handicap Hurdle over three and a quarter miles and it produced the best finish, as Extreme Impact, who had been up the front from the off, came to collar 3-1 favourite Saint John Henry, who had looked the likely winner when leading into the home straight. Taquin Du Seuil had not been seen out since finishing unplaced in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival eleven months ago, but he made light of his absence, putting up an impressive display under Leighton Aspell to defy top weight in the 7bets4free.com Warwick Castle Handicap Chase, becoming only the second winner of the year for trainer Jonjo ONeill. Aspell made it a double when landing the concluding Whitson Bloodstock Ltd Handicap Hurdle when Clyne proved too strong for Catchin Time, who belied his odds of 25-1 to run a good race for Kineton trainer Laura Hurley. Wellesbourne Airfield The Fame Contest, on Saturday, 18th June, in the Townsend Hall, is a must for aspiring local musicians to enter, with the winners of solo/duet, and bands categories getting an opportunity to play on the main stage on the Proms last night. Classical music includes The Orchestra of The Swan, the Shipston Town Band and Young Musicians night at St Martins Church, Barcheston, world music comes from Leamington Spa-based community samba band Sambassadors of Groove, and folk with Stratford Folk Club coming into town. As usual the power of music will be celebrated in schools, halls and pubs in the town and surrounding villages with events every day over the period, say organisers. The fortnight finishes with the now legendary free concert in the Town Square with a Goin Local theme with the two Fame Contest category winners, then two legendary local bands Kinky Farnham and Wired finishing off the night with style. For more, see www.shipstonproms.org Wellesbourne Airfield Although winter weather can be fun for some, these weather conditions are also associated with an increase in illness and injuries, particularly for those that are vulnerable to the effects of the cold - the councils says - and this includes older people, very young children, and people with serious medical conditions. Dr John Linnane, Director of Public Health for Warwickshire County Council says: Make sure you have sufficient supplies of food for hot meals, plenty of drinks and your regular medications. Stocking up on tinned and frozen food is a good idea. Please check in on neighbours who are elderly, vulnerable, or less mobile, and make sure that their house is adequately heated, that they have enough supplies and that they have an emergency contact telephone number. Make sure you seek medical help if you are concerned about someone. You can ring NHS 111, speak to a GP or pharmacist, attend a walk-in-centre, or if more serious it may be necessary to attend A&E or alert the emergency services. Cllr Les Caborn, Warwickshire County Councils Portfolio Holder for Health, said: Make sure that you stay warm. If going outside make sure you dress appropriately. If indoors, make sure that you keep your heating to the right temperature; heating your home to at least 18C is important for your health and make sure you are wearing suitable clothing several thin layers is better than one thick layer. BURLINGTON, MA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/15/16 -- NetBrain Technologies, provider of industry leading network management software, is pleased to announce the opening of its first European office in Munich, Germany. Renowned for its cultural heritage and architecture, Munich is a major international center of business and at the forefront of cutting-edge technological developments. NetBrain's customer presence in EMEA is strong and quickly growing across a broad set of vertical markets, including government services, IT services, telecommunications, finance, banking, education, retail, healthcare, media, construction, energy, manufacturing and chemical industries. "NetBrain is well positioned to grow our impact in the region and support our customer's strategic initiatives," said NetBrain's CEO and Founder Lingping Gao. "The opening of our Munich office is further evidence of our commitment to building a lasting presence in the European market and to invest in long-term customer relationships." "I am excited to lead the DACH expansion of NetBrain through a local presence in Germany," said Volker Zinser, Regional Vice-President of Sales in Germany. "The company is actively recruiting for a team of Account Executives, Pre-sales Engineers, Regional Director of Sales and Financial Controller." NetBrain's new office is located at: Karlstr. 68, 80335 Munchen. Contact the office at 0800 724 3112 or [email protected]. NetBrain will be participating at Cisco Live! in Berlin, Germany Feb 15-19, 2016. This year's Cisco Live! show marks NetBrain's fourth appearance and will be exhibiting at Booth #G04. Join our team and check out one of our product demonstrations, which will run continuously throughout the event. We'll be showcasing our latest release, 6.0 -- the next generation of our network automation platform and giving away tablet cases. About NetBrain Technologies Founded in 2004, NetBrain Technologies is the provider of the first map-driven network management solution and has offices in Boston, New York City, Sacramento, and Beijing. NetBrain's patented Dynamic Mapping and Visual Troubleshooting technologies provides networking professionals with easily accessible information to make better decisions about their networks. Hundreds of companies rely on NetBrain's Enterprise software to document their networks, accelerate troubleshooting, and minimize outages. For additional information about NetBrain Technologies please visit: www.netbraintech.com. NetBrain Technologies, Inc.15 Network Drive, 2nd FloorBurlington, MA 01803Tel: +1 (800) 605-7964Email: [email protected] Source: NetBrain Technologies Inc. TAINAN, Taiwan, Feb. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd (TWSE: 1789), an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and formulation specialty company, announced unaudited financial results for its fiscal year 2015. The consolidated revenue was NT$3.955 billion (US$124.6 million), after-tax net profits were NT$ 635 million (US$20.0 million), an increase of 31 % compared to the same period in 2014. The after-tax earnings per share was NT$0.87 (US$0.027). In 2015, overall revenue decreased by 3.5% compared to 2014 primarily as a result of unfavorable sales volumes of our anti-depressant and anti-obesity drugs experienced by our marketing partners. This adversely affected our contract manufacturing revenues and business growth, and resulted in idle capacity. However, ScinoPharm did demonstrate strong profitability improvement. As a result of increased sales volumes of higher profit oncology products and tighter cost control, process optimization and enhanced management efficiency, the company successfully increased its 2015 gross profit to 42% of sales from 39% in 2014. This was in spite of carrying a high level of inventory of expensive 10-DAB, the upstream raw material for our main oncology products. ScinoPharm's financial results also reflected the equity swap with Foresee Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., the current parent company of its joint venture partner Foreseeacer. The capital gain derived from this equity swap was about NT$95 million dollars. The Changshu site in Jiangsu, China began full operations in late 2015 following the USD FDA inspection and approval. As a key part of ScinoPharm's long-term strategy, this facility will provide the company with an advantageous position in the joint development of specialty generic formulations, a critical driver in the continuing long-term growth for the company. Dr. Yung Fa Chen, CEO of ScinoPharm, stated that the company continues to be very active in the joint development of specialty generic formulations with global strategic partners through cost and profit sharing. This strategy allowed entry into the formulation market which facilitated ScinoPharm's vertical integration into the higher value end of the manufacturing chain. Now that the Changshu plant has been inspected and approved by the US FDA, products from this plant can be exported to the United States, allowing increased global visibility for ScinoPharm in both China and the global market. In the meantime, we are expanding our contract research and manufacturing services business by acquiring projects from many different and varied pharmaceutical developers worldwide in order to create greater business potential. We believe that these efforts will further maximize our long-term success. Last year, ScinoPharm continued its market share dominance with its three major products, including Irinotecan for colorectal cancer with a 50% global market share, Paclitaxel for ovarian, lung and breast cancer supplying one-third of the global market, and Docetaxel for non-small cell lung and breast cancer with a market share of 25%. This affirms our position as a leader in the supply of oncology products. As of the end of last year, we have acquired 733 drug master files (DMFs) worldwide, including 55 in the United States. Of the 55 US DMFs, 29 are for oncology products. This is an unparalleled number of total DMFs among the independent global providers of APIs and proof of the company's persistent efforts in oncology products. In accordance with our long term business strategy, ScinoPharm keeps pursuing strategic alliances in order to enhance its position as a developer and manufacturer of innovative products with high added value. This, combined with our abundant API production and injectable capacity, allows ScinoPharm to successfully create a niche for generic sterile formulations. The first injectable oncology product entering the US market is expected to be launched at the end of this year and is the result of our joint venture with SAGENT, a pharmaceutical company focused on special injectable products. In addition, in August 2015, Fondaparinux, an anti-coagulant product, became ScinoPharm's first independently filed Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) product. The company is one of only a few that can provide all technical aspects of the complicated processes from API to formulation of ANDA products. ScinoPharm is discussing the exclusive marketing rights for this product in the European and US markets with international partners, demonstrating the company's excellent capabilities in the development of specialty generic drugs and capturing increased value via downstream integration and offerings. ScinoPharm has now developed over 80 products, including 27 that are marketed. In 2016, six ScinoPharm APIs are expected to be launched in the US, Canada and Australia, with indications for cancer, hepatitis B, anti-hypnotic, prostate hypertrophy and polyuria. About ScinoPharm ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd. is a leading process R&D and API manufacturing service provider to the global pharmaceutical industry. With research and manufacturing facilities in both Taiwan and China, ScinoPharm offers a wide portfolio of services ranging from custom synthesis for early phase pharmaceutical activities for brand companies as well as APIs for the generic industry. The Company also is aggressively pursuing a vertically integrated, one-stop-shopping service for drug product customers by expanding into the field of sterile oncological injectable formulations. For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.scinopharm.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scinopharm-reports-financial-performance-for-2015-300215910.html SOURCE ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd. Australia Operations to be Led by Chris Wakefield, Vice President of Sales & Relationship Management; Africa/Middle East Operations to be Led by Con Barber, Director of Sales & Relationship Management LIMERICK, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited (Waypoint), the largest independent global helicopter leasing company, today announced the opening of two new regional offices, covering the companys operations in Australia and Africa/The Middle East, respectively. Waypoints Australia office, located in Brisbane, will be launched in April 2016 and led by Waypoint executive Chris Wakefield. Establishing the office will further bolster Waypoints presence across the region, where the company has already delivered five aircraft to several leading operators. Waypoints Africa office, located in Cape Town, will be launched in the second quarter of 2016 and led by Waypoint executive Con Barber. In addition to covering Waypoints operations across Africa, Mr. Barber will also cover the firms Middle East operations. To date, Waypoint has 12 aircraft on lease to operators in Africa. In their respective roles as Heads of Waypoints regional operations, Chris Wakefield and Con Barber will report to Clark McGinn, Senior Vice President of Sales & Relationship Management. Waypoint now maintains offices in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. Clark McGinn, SVP of Sales and Relationship Management of Waypoint, said, We are excited to announce our presence in Australia and Africa, and by extension, the Middle East as well. These are important, growing markets and we are further expanding our global reach to better serve our customers. Both Chris and Con have extensive knowledge of their respective regions and the overarching helicopter leasing landscape. Bringing in talented people with significant experience is a prudent way to deepen our existing customer relationships, develop new ones and continue expanding throughout Australia, Africa, and the Middle East. Chris Wakefield, Vice President of Sales & Relationship Management, said, I am excited to return to Australia after focusing on the region for a number of years. Australia is an important market for Waypoint, with strong opportunities to provide customized leasing solutions for operators in the region. Con Barber, Director Sales & Relationship Management, said, Having worked on projects in both Africa and the Middle East, I am aware of the enormous potential these important regions possess. I am confident that by being close to our customers and helping them in their fleet management, we will further deepen our relationships and continue to expand in these high growth markets. Mr. Wakefield joined Waypoint in January 2016, with seven years of experience in the helicopter sector. Prior to joining Waypoint, Chris worked for almost five years as part of CHC Helicopters aviation finance team in Dublin, Ireland, where he was responsible for relationship management and contract negotiation with lessors, banks, and ECAs, with a particular emphasis on the Australian market. Prior to this, Mr. Wakefield worked for the boutique aviation finance law firm, IWG Daws LLP. Chris holds a degree in Law (LLB) from University College, London, a Masters in Law (LLM) from the University of New South Wales, Australia and is also a CFA charterholder. Chris speaks conversational French and Japanese. Mr. Barber has twenty years of experience in the aviation sector, filling a wide variety of technical, project management, and strategic advisory roles. Prior to joining Waypoint, Con was the Chief Technical Officer (Fixed Wing Aircraft) with the Irish Air Corps, where he held a key role delivering the Irish Air Corps helicopter fleet renewal program successfully introducing a new fleet of EC135 and AW139 multi-mission helicopters. While with the Irish Air Corps, Con also served on secondment in fleet management roles for the European Union and the Swedish Air Force. Con has also worked for Rose Aviation Ltd and the United Nations in various aviation leadership roles in Europe and Africa. Mr. Barber holds a primary degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Queens University and has various post-graduate qualifications, including: an MBA and MSc from the Smurfit Business School at University College Dublin and an MA from the National University of Ireland. About Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited Waypoint Leasing is a global helicopter leasing company that provides operating lease and financing solutions to helicopter operators worldwide. Headquartered in Limerick, Ireland, Waypoint Leasing differentiates itself with a senior management team that has direct helicopter operating and leasing experience in key helicopter markets around the world, having leased helicopters across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. Waypoint Leasing serves a wide range of sectors including oil and gas, emergency medical service, search and rescue, firefighting and governmental support. Further information is available at www.waypointleasing.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160215005185/en/ Sard Verbinnen & Co Andrew Cole/Jared Levy, 212-687-8080 [email protected] Source: Waypoint Leasing The logo of Shell is pictured at the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell on Monday sealed the $53 billion (36 billion pounds) acquisition of British rival BG Group to form the world's top liquefied natural gas company, even as slumping oil prices cast a shadow on the upcoming years of transition. The success or otherwise of the complex merger will define the legacy of Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, seeking to transform Shell into a more specialized group focused on the rapidly growing LNG market and deepwater oil production. "We will now be able to shape a simpler, leaner, more competitive company, focusing on our core expertise in deep water and LNG," van Beurden said in a statement. In 2014, Shell acquired Repsol's (NYSE: REP) LNG business. Van Beurden's vision won overwhelming support from shareholders, though a number of major investors had voiced concerns that the forecast slow recovery in oil prices would strain Shell's financials and risk its growth plans. The deal, announced 10 months ago, creates a combined group which will leapfrog Chevron (NYSE: CVX) to become the world's second-largest public oil and gas company by market value behind Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM). BG shareholders largely opted to receive shares rather than cash under the proposed mix and match deal, according to a statement. BG becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell and will be headed by Dutchman Huibert Vigeveno, who has headed the integration planning team and will oversee its implementation. SPECTACULAR GROWTH Signs at BG's headquarters in Reading outside London were replaced by Shell's red-and-orange logo over the weekend, according to company sources. Incumbent CEO Helge Lund, former head of Norwegian oil major Statoil (NYSE: STL) who led it through a period of spectacular growth, is set to step down and has yet to indicate his plans. Shell has said it will cut thousands of jobs from the combined group and sell $30 billion of assets over the next three years in order to finance the deal, buy back shares and support dividends, which it has vowed to maintain or increase. Shell is betting heavily on a rapid growth in the global LNG market over coming decades as the world turns to less polluting sources of energy. Yet with oil prices near a 12-year low, a struggling global economy and major restructuring under way of its oil and gas operations across the globe, the merger is set to be a challenge even for 126-year-old Anglo-Dutch company. Shell saw its income drop 87 percent in 2015. "The financials will work in time, admittedly perhaps not as originally hoped, but we still see this deal as accretive within a two- to three-year timeframe," said Jason Kenney, analyst at Grupo Santander, who estimates the acquisition will increase Shell's oil and gas production to around 4.7 million barrels of oil equivalent by 2020. "The deal means Shell will have little need to explore near or medium term, or to invest in highly capital-intensive unconventional projects," Kenney added. (Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by David Holmes) Margaret Spencer fought the Ministry of Health for the right to be paid as her son Paul's caregiver. A mother who successfully won the right to be paid for caring for her disabled son is back in court seeking compensation for decades of work and damages for "humiliation". Margaret Spencer and her son Paul, aged in his late 40s, were back at the High Court at Auckland on Monday after the Court of Appeal last year rejected a Ministry of Health appeal against a ruling that Spencer be paid for caring for Paul. Spencer has been caring for her son, who has Down syndrome, for the past 25 years but it wasn't until 2013 that the Ministry of Health was forced to accept an application from her to be paid for her work, following a Human Rights Review Tribunal and High Court decision that ruled family members should be paid for caregiving. At the time the High Court found the Ministry had acted unlawfully by refusing to consider her application, upholding a previous Human Rights Review Tribunal decision that ruled the family had been discriminated against. READ MORE: *Caregiver's fight for payment to get court hearing *Mother caregiver wins case for payment *Court says carer of disabled adult can sue for compensation *Mum wins latest round in care payment fight The ruling also paved the way for Spencer to seek damages for the years she had worked without pay, and should she be successful in her bid it could pave the way for others to do the same. The bid for compensation was launched on Monday in a civil hearing set down for four days at the High Court. Spencer's long-time lawyer James Farmer QC is arguing for the claim on her behalf, however there is not yet a dollar figure attached to the bid, counsel said. He told Justice Patrick Keane that Spencer had suffered "humiliation" in her attempts to claw back payment from the Ministry who he said had passed Spencer around "from one department to another". "She's really been treated in a way that is a very undignified manner," Farmer said. "She continues to be discriminated against because she is a family member." He argued that the salary Spencer should receive should at least be "analogous" to specialist support services, while the Ministry believed it should be assessed by the specific tasks she completed, excluding supervision, with a starting rate of minimum wage. Farmer said this was at odds with the fact that if Spencer decided she could no longer care for Paul, he would be placed in a residential care unit where support workers would be paid for round-the-clock care including supervision. Spencer would later give evidence about her son's disability, which required constant supervision due to his inability to make decisions for himself, Farmer said. Spencer had taken an active role in his care, he said. "Because of her devotion to seeking to make the best quality of life he can have, she has encouraged and assisted him to develop activities and skills." Spencer first began her fight for the right to receive payment about 13 years ago and during that time nasty emails had been found to be exchanged between government staff comparing Paul to a "tatty teddy bear". During one hearing Farmer read out examples of the emails, including one between Ministry of Social Development staff following a hearing where Spencer lost the right to a benefit. "She really laid the sympathy vote right on, dragging poor Paul around like a tatty teddy bear, telling the committee what a martyr she was," the email said. Auckland Transport is currently looking into introducing light rail onto the city's streets. Light rail is a priority for Auckland and the best way to pay for it is by tolling the region's motorways, Phil Goff says. The mayoral candidate told a Committee for Auckland meeting on Monday that if he gets the city's top job he will make a light rail system on its main arterial routes one of his top priorities. Auckland congestion was costing the country $1.5 billion a year in lost productivity, and no city had ever built its way out of the problem by constructing more roads, he said. Chris Skelton Mayoral candidate Phil Goff says he makes no apology for arguing that Aucklanders should pay motorway tolls. "Light rail will dramatically increase public transport capacity and, as it's electric, reduce pollution." Funding was a major challenge and the answer was not to increase rates or take on more debt, he said. "Some form of road charging will be necessary, both to raise revenue and to encourage change of travel modes. I make no apology for making my views clear on that. "We cannot pretend that there is some magic way of funding infrastructure that doesn't impose any costs on anyone," he said. READ MORE * Key signals early start for Auckland City Rail Link * Victoria Crone's bid ignites Auckland mayoral race Goff made his comments ahead of his first public appearance alongside rival mayoral hopeful Victoria Crone. He and the centre-right Crone will speak at a "meet the candidates" event on Monday night organised by the Ellerslie Residents Association. The four other mayoral contenders - Mark Thomas, Stephen Berry, David Hay and Penny Bright - will also speak. The current Auckland Council has lobbied for motorway tolls to be introduced as a means of helping to fund transport infrastructure improvements. However tolling state highways would require a law change and the National government has said it is not in favour of the move. Auckland Transport (AT) is currently conducting a scoping study into building a Light Rail Transit (LTR) system. It would be a public transport system similar to a tramway, but operating principally along exclusive rights-of-way, with less frequent stops, higher capacity and higher average speeds than local bus services, the agency said. LTR could carry 450 people per vehicle at a frequency of one every 8-10 minutes. A line from the Wynyard Quarter, up Queen Street, Symonds Street and down Dominion Road would be the first priority, Goff said. Reports from the Ministry of Transport, AT and others suggested that congestion would get worse at current levels of investment in Auckland's transport infrastructure, he said. The city already suffered from bus congestion. "Funding is a major challenge. It can't be done out of rates - a one per cent rise in rates raises just $14 million. That is a drop in the bucket. "By the time the Council has borrowed to meet the costs of the ($2.5 billion) City Rail Link there is limited scope for raising debt levels further," he said. He would also be a strong advocate for central government meeting a greater share of the costs that growth was imposing on Auckland, Goff said. "The transport infrastructure deficit goes back to the 1990s when Auckland was subsidising the rest of the country. We need to ensure that government funding matches the expected rate of our growth." The city would also need to look in part to private sector options, he said. Boots 'n' All owner Andy Hall says he is not surprised so many stores are empty, as he was almost forced to relocate his Queen St business before he renegotiated the rent with his landlord. The growing number of empty shops in central Blenheim is a concern for retailers, as it discourages investment and makes the town look desolate. Since 2011, the number of empty shops has increased from 18 to 29, which accounts for 8 per cent of the total town centre. The figures, from the latest Marlborough Town Centre Health Check, were presented to the Marlborough District Council regional planning and development committee on Thursday. As part of the report, pedestrians were asked if they thought the Blenheim town centre had improved in the past two years, with more than half saying it had. READ MORE: * Retailers vow to revitalise Blenheim and fill empty shops * Blenheim businesses reject BID * Council to trial ideas for Blenheim town upgrade However, 25 per cent said the town centre had deteriorated, with a further 22 per cent saying there had been no change. The reason respondents thought the town had not improved was because the number of vacant buildings had increased, the report said. Blenheim Business Association chairman Tim Thomas said the past five years had been difficult for retail businesses in Blenheim, because of the global financial crisis and the rise of internet shopping. It was not surprising that businesses had closed as a result, he said. Thomas described the growing number of empty shops as a double-edged sword, as it discouraged people from wanting to shop in Blenheim, which in turn reduced the number of investors looking to start new businesses. "People that want to start a new business want to succeed," he said. "The number of empty shops in the town makes them question whether Blenheim is the right place to do that." This also had a flow-on effect, as fewer developers wanted to improve buildings or construct new ones if they were not certain they would get tenants, Thomas said. However, he stressed this was an issue for regional towns everywhere, not just Blenheim, and that new Paymark figures showed there was increased consumer confidence in the town. The report also noted there had been a considerable increase in national retailers opening stores in Blenheim. The added choice might encourage more people to shop in town, rather than travelling to other centres or shopping online, the report said. Thomas said having choice was a good thing, but the rise of chain stores might have the effect of pushing smaller, independent businesses out of the market, as they could not compete. The Christian Book Store and Music Centre, on Maxwell Rd, closed two weeks ago. Former store manager Val Hegglun said the store, which had traded in Blenheim for around 60 years, closed due to the pressure of internet shopping and high rental costs. She said it was a shame the town was losing independent retailers, as the customer service offered by smaller stores was more personable. "In a chain store you're just a number," she said. "Owner-operator places are far more interested in their customers, they have a more personal touch." Another Blenheim retailer, Boots 'n' All owner Andy Hall said he had been paying up to $3000 per week, for rent, wages and overheads, before making any money from sales. "People don't know how much it costs to run a business," he said. Because rent had been so high, Hall had considered relocating his Queen St business and operating from home, but after talking with his landlord they agreed upon a more affordable price. The report also mentioned the make-up of stores in the Blenheim town centre, which was comprised of 30 per cent retail shops, 19 per cent office space and 15 per cent made up of service-based shops. The large volume of office and service space in the town could be of concern, as it might push retail stores toward the periphery, the report said. However, council strategic planning and economic development manager Neil Henry said Blenheim was a service town for the region, so the amount of office and service space was not unusual. Council were concerned about the number of empty shops but a collaborative approach was needed to fix the problem, he said. "We want a strong town centre for Blenheim but we are only one of the players that has an impact on what happens in the town." The council did not have control over setting rents, however it could improve infrastructure like roading, parks and utilities to make the town a more attractive space, Henry said. As an example, Henry pointed to the two temporary parks, at the former City Hotel and Mitchell Sport sites, which were created after the Blenheim Business Association suggested council work with the landowners to make them into parks. The association had also submitted on the long-term plan, which resulted in council setting aside $2 million to upgrade the town centre. This demonstrated the importance of having a strong business group, working together to make central Blenheim a more appealing place, Thomas said. "The more appealing it is, the less empty shops, it's as simple as that," he said. In contrast to Blenheim, the number of empty shops in Picton had decreased since the last health check in 2014, going from 14 to eight. Three union representatives were arrested during protests outside Nelson New World and Richmond Pak'NSave over the weekend. Police confirmed on Saturday the workers outside Nelson New World were arrested initially for trespass. Another worker was arrested outside Richmond Pak'NSave on Sunday and a police spokesman said on Monday that three people had been arrested at protests during the weekend for disorderly behaviour offences. On Saturday, a small group of protesters, and supporters from the community, stood on the footpath at the entrance to New World. They gave out pamphlets that talked about the "disgraceful wages" at New World and urged the public to contact the owner. Others held signs that read fresh produce, stale wages. An inflatable giant union rat drew attention to the protest. Nelson-based FIRST Union organiser Rachel Boyack said the protest was to draw attention to the fact that collective negotiations at both stalls had stalled as Foodstuffs had refused to bargain over pay rates - which she saw as a fundamental part to any collective agreement. Boyack said it was farcical for Foodstuffs to pretend to bargain with the union but refuse to negotiate pay rates. "They seem to think they are somehow exempt from the standards of behaviour and the employment law that applies to all other employers." Boyack said she had seen pay rates for staff at New World and at Countdown and workers at Countdown, which is part of Progressive Enterprises, earned more and had better conditions in their collective contract. She said check out staff at New World earned $15 to $15.50 an hour while similar workers at Countdown were on $17. Nelson New World had about 20 union members, and Richmond Pak'NSave about 60. "These two stores have made no attempt to bargain with the union in good faith. Instead they have played silly games with us. They say South Island workers should not be paid as much as those in the North Island because it is a different market. "They know that the union has collective agreements with the same pay rates for workers in both the North and South Islands in nearly all the major retail chains but insist there is some special little market that applies only to them." Boyack said the union had raised the issue of young workers on 90 day trials at Richmond Pak'NSave being bullied and reminded by managers they could be fired for no reason at any time. New World Nelson City owner Greg Guy said it was currently engaged in a good faith bargaining process with First Union. "I am unwilling to carry out this process in the public arena as I do not believe it fits with the good faith process," he said. "I have strong concerns that the Union's approach as demonstrated today, amounts to a breach of good faith and I am looking further into that. Pak'nSave Richmond owner Andrew Howard said he was also engaged in the bargaining process with First Union. "In regard to the Unions claim about comments made on the 90 Day trial period, I absolutely refute this. It is both factually incorrect and deliberately misleading and the Union has been advised by my employment law specialists of this fact." "I agree with the owner of New World Nelson City regarding the unions approach and as I respect the importance of not undermining good faith bargaining I will not be commenting further." The Council of Trade Unions criticised the police and said the FIRST Union officials were exercising their legal right of entry into the Nelson New World and the Richmond Pak'nSave while a community rally was taking place outside. Council of Trade Unions secretary Sam Huggard said this was despite New Zealand police's own advice to its officers that it has no role in blocking workers from accessing their union representatives. "NZ Police's staff magazine (February 4, 2005) issued advice to officers reminding them that "an employer may not rely on the Trespass Act 1980 to eject the union representative" yet this is precisely what has happened today," said Huggard. The advice further reminded officers that in an industrial dispute the police role, if any, was limited to keeping the peace. "It would be more productive for everyone if Foodstuffs supermarkets in Nelson focused on lifting the low wages of its supermarket workers in discussions with their union, than calling the police on their representatives," Huggard said. Luqmanulhakim Bin Moien, from Malaysia, who died during a training dive on Huntly's Lake Puketirini on April 28, 2014. The family of a trainee commercial diver who died near Huntly two years ago will have to wait a few more weeks before the court grants the closure they're hoping for. Luqmanulhakim Bin Moien, 24, of Jahore in Malaysia, drowned during an assessment dive on Lake Puketirini on April 28, 2014. He was one of a group of Malaysian students to come to the New Zealand School of Outdoor Studies Limited (NZSOS), trading as NZ School of Commercial Diver Training. NZSOS and the dive supervisor, Tony Anaru Te Ripo appeared for sentencing in the Hamilton District Court on Monday, each facing a charge of breaching health and safety in employment. READ MORE: * Man dies at diving school near Huntly * Dead diver near Huntly named * Charges filed over student diver death Both had pleaded guilty. Two of Bin Moien's brothers travelled from Malaysia for the sentencing but Judge Simon Menzies reserved his decision as the court ran out of time. On the day of the dive, Bin Moien had needed help back to shore after getting cramp during a 200m swimming test. The other seven Malaysian students also failed, something put down to cold water conditions. They donned wetsuits for the dive test but Bin Moien became separated from the group. He was seen above water, in distress, and without his dive mask and regulator on. He went under and was found on the lake floor. He could not be revived. Bin Moien's failure of the swim test, the decision to let him continue, and the instructors' response were central points discussed in court. Crown prosecutor Ross Douch said Te Ripo, as dive supervisor on the day, was obliged to ensure safety but there was also a responsibility on the dive school. Expert evidence showed swimming ability should have been fully assessed before any activities that relied on it, he said. The instructor in the water was also monitoring two other students and therefore not free to undertake a rescue, Douch said. Douch suggested reparation in the realm of $125,000 from the school, and a fine. The school would also meet the family's costs incurred after Bin Moien's death. Two of his brothers were in court and the eldest, Mohd Ikrar Bin Moien, said they were frustrated about not knowing why their brother died. He said the dive school didn't make contact until after his father, a commercial diver himself, died less than three months later. They eventually met with someone from the dive school the week of the sentencing, he said. The dive school accepted it hadn't taken all practicable steps to ensure Bin Moien's health and safety but defence counsel Philippa Fee said there were extenuating factors. Bin Moien died during an assessment before the start of the commercial diving course. All students had their recreational diving certificate so should have had the required skills, she said. In hindsight, extra measures should have been put in place after the swimming failures. Since Bin Moien's death, changes had been made to courses in New Zealand and Australia, she said. The school was happy to pay the family's expenses and had made several attempts to contact them, Fee said. She suggested a starting point of $80,000 for reparation. Dive supervisor Te Ripo was represented by legal counsel Fletcher Pilditch, who said Te Ripo shouldn't take all the blame. "His culpability rests in the decision that he made. But the system should never have allowed him or enabled him to make that decision." Te Ripo would have difficulty paying reparation. It was still uncertain whether he could keep his diving certifications. Menzies reserved his decision but hoped to release it before March 3, 2016. Speaking outside court, Bin Moien's brothers Mohd Ikrar and Masri said they had hoped to hear the final outcome. They wanted their brother's name cleared and were focused on moving forward. Havelock company Dry Food NZ Limited turns mussels into oils and powder to be used in health products. A Havelock company that specialises in producing greenshell mussel extracts has been sold to two brothers from the United States. The company, Dry Food NZ Limited, is based in Havelock where it operates a factory producing ingredients for nutraceuticals and food products. It was bought by brothers Jeremy Moore and Jackie Moore, who purchased a majority shareholding in the company. Jeremy Moore, president of Stratum Nutrition in the States, said the reason he decided to invest in the company, started by Havelock man Keith Bowhill, was because of his experience in the industry. READ MORE: * UK pet health company Lintbells sets up Marlborough research operation * US in for treat from leftovers * Cawthron and Sanford team up in $1m mussel research to prove benefits "I could see that the platform established by Keith Bowhill could be leveraged as a springboard for a much larger global business," he said. There were already plans to expand the company, which included increasing its Havelock operations to improve storage capacity and production, Moore said. A sister company was set up to distribute Dry Food products in the States, as well as other New Zealand products catering for human or pet health. "We are definitely looking to establish a presence in North America, but expanding our global footprint and customer base in other geographies is also of interest," Moore said. Dry Food NZ Limited had been a member of the Marlborough Research Centre's Food and Beverage Innovation Cluster for the past two years. The company would remain a cluster member, with Moore saying he was impressed by the support provided by the group. "I hope that, in association with MRC, we can help companies who are currently exporting to the United States, or who want to get involved in that market, with their distribution networks and market growth," he said. Marlborough Research Centre general manager Gerald Hope said cluster members might also benefit from any new research or expansion undertaken by Dry Food NZ. "Direct foreign investment is the lifeblood of Marlborough, look at the wine industry," he said. "Foreign investors, because they already have connections in key markets, can build businesses quicker, resulting in more jobs for the region." Last week, United Kingdom pet food company Lintbells announced it had set up a research subsidiary in Blenheim to look at the health benefits of greenshell mussels in Marlborough. Sarah Tuck and Jess Holly Bates (right) will be skinnydipping in Wellington Harbour after their show. When the curtain closes on their theatre show about freeing the nipple on Wednesday night, thespians Sarah Tuck and Jess Holly Bates will encourage the audience to join them in a public skinny-dip. It's an unusual way to end a performance, but the playwrights and actors of The Offensive Nipple Show want to help the public relax about female nudity, in particular, about baring the nipple. Wellington-based Tuck finds it offensive that she can't take off her shirt in the same way that men can, while Bates, from Auckland, is concerned that Facebook and other social media ban female nipples on their sites. "We're not talking about everyone throwing their tops off and walking along Courtenay Place," says Bates, "but we do want to open a dialogue about why female nipples have become so sexualised." NA Why can't women get their nipples out? asks thespian Sarah Tuck. The two friends met when their solo shows were on at Bats Theatre during last year's New Zealand Fringe Festival. Bates' show, Real Fake White Dirt, won the Fringe's best writing award. They're both white, middle-class females who call themselves feminists. But 30-year-old Bates finds it offensive that there's still stigma around breastfeeding in public her sister was offered a quiet room recently when breastfeeding Bates' nephew. With events like the Big Latch On aiming to demystify public breastfeeding, Bates believes "breasts are just vessels". "There's anthropological evidence that in societies where women bare their breasts all the time, they become less sexualised. My father grew up in Niue, where indigenous people didn't wear any clothes, until colonial people arrived." Tuck, 24, won the best actress award at the Nelson Fringe Festival for her show, The Things We Do. "We are equally happy if women want to cover up with a burqua or a bra," she says. "It's more about body positivity. We don't want to insult someone who wants to wear a bra. It's about reclaiming your body as you want it." In their one-hour show debuting at the New Zealand Fringe Festival, they will each act as a nipple who meet for the first time. Yes, they'll bare their own nipples, but they're hoping this will be treated as art and part of the show, rather than titillation. The Offensive Nipple Show promises to offer a history of the female breast, while being "provocative, pithy and painfully necessary". Tuck blames pornography for making breasts offensive and highly sexualised. "I do think I'm speaking for my generation of women. As women, we're told not to have flabby bits or body hair, and we can't swim naked with friends." The Offensive Nipple Show will also be staged in Auckland in March, where Lululemon is sponsoring a public skinnydipping event, while there will also be a public breastfeeding in a park. The Offensive Nipple Show is on at Bats Theatre until February 19 and in Auckland at the Basement Theatre from March 8 to 12. Napier District Court, where former lawyer Gerald McKay, 74, is on trial for theft and criminal breach of trust. A former Napier lawyer on trial for theft and criminal breach of trust is claiming a staff member used money from the firm's trust account without his authority. Gerald McKay, 74, is on trial in Napier District Court facing five charges of theft, five charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage, and one representative charge of criminal breach of trust. The alleged offending occurred between 2005 and 2010. The Crown alleges McKay converted trust funds from the McKay Hill Lawyers Trust Fund account for a use that was not authorised by the terms of that trust. The thefts involved $556,000 that McKay allegedly removed from clients' trust fund accounts and estates without the clients' authority. The Crown alleges that once McKay was aware his firm was to be audited by the Law Society in May 2010 he created five fake back-dated invoices totaling $1.01million. Crown solicitor Chris Lange opened the case by telling the jury McKay had used funds from the trust fund to cover the firm's operating expenses. Lange said the alleged offending came to light during the Law Society's inspection. Lange said the day before the inspection was to begin McKay dictated to a staff member five invoices that were to be backdated to 2009. The clients whose names appeared on the invoices had never received them, he said. The jury heard from the firm's account manager Anne McAllister who said she had raised her concern over the deficit in the trust account with McKay for several years. When she informed him in May 2010 that the Law Society was going to undertake an audit, McKay replied: "We're done for". However, McKay's lawyer Scott Jefferson told the jury the defence was simple. Client funds had gone missing, but not with McKay's knowledge or at his direction. McAllister was responsible for the day-to-day management of the accounts, and when McKay became aware of the trust fund deficit he invoiced the clients in order to offset the balance created by McAllister, Jefferson said. McAllister, who had worked for the firm on and off since 1986, admitted filling out monthly reports to the Law Society that did not reflect the true state of the firm's accounts, but she did this on instruction from McKay, and out of loyalty to the firm. She was also concerned she and other employees would lose their jobs if the true state of affairs became known. The Crown intends to call 20 witnesses in the trial which is expected to run for two weeks. McKay was charged in 2011 but had been granted interim name suppression. Judge Colin Doherty lifted suppression on Monday morning. Jan Dobson, left, was the first non-family member employed at the cafe; Pat Jacques is the grandmother of Nadine Jacques and Patrice Adamson. A cafe being a finalist for an award is a "coup" for Waharoa. The Sweet Painted Lady's manager Pat Jacques said being a finalist for the upper North Island in the Classic Kiwi section of the Cafe of the Year award was a sweet success for an area of Matamata that did not get much positive publicity. She said the cafe entered that section because it reflected its menu, which included sausage and sauce sandwhiches and chelsea buns, and then customers were encouraged to vote for them. The award judges also apparently tasted the menu for themselves, although Jacques said she did not spot them. She said the truckies, who were a big part of the cafe's customer base, appreciated good coffees, as that fueled their long-haul drives. Tourists, commonly driving through from Auckland to Rotorua, Taupo or Hobbiton, also appreciated the freshly baked goods and the sandwhiches that were made with meat cooked on-site, "which is like going back in time," she said. "It is what we know we would like in a cafe." A trip to Lower Hutt may be in order as Jacques said she would like to taste the other finalists' menus one day, including the winner of their section, Sweet Vanilla Kitchen in the Wellington suburb. The Supreme winer was The Bespoke Kitchen in Queenstown. A Matamata shoe thief has a preference for Nikes and skate shoes. Something sole-less is a-foot in Matamata. The local police have warned residents that burglars are taking off with shoes left on doorsteps. It's become such an issue that they're encouraging people with popular shoes to store them in "safe location", not visible from the footpath. "If you have a nice pair of runners, or other popular shoes, it is a good idea not to leave them in a location visible from the footpath, don't make it easy for them," prevention supervisor Blair Hayde said. A pair of Nike female Free Run shoes were taken from a Rawhiti St property on February 8 and Hayde, as per his job description, wanted to prevent any further shoe stealing. Skate shoes were also targeted by thieves. The described the thief as someone who has "no self control or respect for others property". And if the shoe fits, wear it. Hayde said his team would wear down the tread on their shoes as they hunted down the sole-less thief with a fetish for shoes. The thief was urged to "just don't do it" if tempted to take another pair of Nikes. Hayde encouraged the thief to put themselves in the residents' shoes and think about how they would feel. "Walk a mile in their shoes". How would you feel if the shoe was on the other foot?" Seven students from Hamilton Boys' High School are among the best of the best in their academic studies. With the results of the Cambridge International Examinations out, three students from the school finished first in the world and four finished first in New Zealand. They are: Benjamin Greenwood, David Lee, Lachie McLean, Lachlan Cate, Siyuan Li, Tyler Wallace and Soumil Singh. Lachie McLean, who placed first in IGCSE accounting in New Zealand, said his first reaction to seeing the results was that they weren't his. Lachlan Cate placed first equal in AS mathematics in New Zealand with a score of 99 per cent but admits he was worried about the final results. "I kept it quiet," he said. "You put so much work into it. If you don't know, you don't know if you've failed." Tyler Wallace was at the beach when he got a phone call from the school sharing the news that he placed first equal in the world with fellow student Siyuan Li in IGCSE co-ordinated sciences. Last year more than one million students sat the examinations in more than 10,000 schools around the world. Thousands of learners worldwide end up gaining places at leading universities with the AS and A Levels. Cambridge International A Level is typically a two-year course, and AS Levels are one year, for 16 to 19-year-olds, while Cambridge IGCSE is a qualification for 14 to 16-year-olds. Director of Hamilton Boy's High School's Advanced Learning Programme Charlotte Jenkins said that the school was extremely proud of the students' achievements. "The results are a product of one or two years of study," she said. "It's a competitive world; the more strings they have on their bow, the better chance they have. In my opinion they are our future leaders." David Lee, who placed first in AS economics in New Zealand still remembers the last question in section A of his exam paper, and he admits to revising a lot the night before. "Study happens in random bursts," said Soumil Singh, who placed first in A level English Language in the world. "I do it in ways I don't even know. I do papers in class when I'm not supposed to be," Lachlan said. The students all recommend the Cambridge Examinations and Siyuan said he found the work interesting. "You get more university options, more qualifications and more knowledge," Tyler said. "It's best to not stick to prescribed limits," Soumil said. St Peter's School in Cambridge, St. Paul's Collegiate, Fraser High School and Hillcrest High School also had students take part in the exams this year. SIT Certificate in Business student Maxwell Flaws plays pool on campus during O Week. The Invercargill Southern Institute of Technology campus is vibrant once more, as annual orientation week celebrations begin. SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds said the rain held off long enough for a beautiful powhiri, followed by the on-campus market. "I think I hongi'd with about 30 different nationalities [of students]," she said with a laugh. The powhiri "kicked off" celebrations every year, and was an important part of welcoming new students, both international and from New Zealand, Simmonds said. "It was lovely to see the campus vibrant again." More than 25 stallholders were on site for Market Day on Monday to help new and returning students settle in. Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust is organising the annual event for the fourth time to welcome students. This year's theme is Super Diversity celebrating the cultures that make up the deep south and SIT. Each day will have a cultural flavour or performance in keeping with the theme. Competitions, games and giveaways will be held daily from 11.45am to 1pm. All students are welcome to participate. Evening activities start on Thursday, February 18 with a DJ at BurgerFuel, Ringo Dingo Bingo at the Speight's Ale House and a movie night, showcasing a newly released film for free. More festivities will be held at Barluca on Friday and Saturday. O Week runs from February 15 to 20. A judicial review of a report into "fight club" allegations at Mt Eden prison has started at the High Court in Wellington. An investigation into allegations of "fight clubs" at Mt Eden prison was motivated by prisoner safety and not a desire to target Serco, a court has been told, after it was revealed investigations into organised fighting at the prison go back to 2009. Lawyers for the Department of Corrections have defended their latest investigation, saying it was "overly cautious and rightfully so", motivated by prisoner safety and not a desire to target Serco. A Serco-initiated judicial review of a Corrections investigation report, produced following allegations in mid-2015 of fight clubs and access to contraband, began in Wellington's High Court on Monday. The report was completed last year but not released due to the legal challenge. READ MORE: * Serco 'could re-pitch' for Mt Eden contract * Live blog recap: Serco loses Mt Eden prison contract * OPINION: Axe on Serco digs Government out of a political hole * Government takes over Serco-run Mt Eden prison * Serco-run Mt Eden prison falls to bottom of Corrections rankings * Prison operator Serco goes to High Court over fight club report * Corrections to examine its contract with Serco after 'fight club' videos Serco lawyer Hayden Wilson said the investigation had failed to cover two earlier reports on organised fighting at Mt Eden - in 2009, before Serco started running the prison, and in 2014. The existence and findings of those reports, which were not shared with Serco until after last year's inquiry was launched, should have been taken into consideration when judging Serco's management, he said. A spokeswoman for Corrections Minister Judith Collins, who was in charge of the department in 2009, said she had not been advised by Corrections of any allegations or investigations. A Corrections spokesperson said the 2009 investigation looked into allegations of fighting and possible staff involvement but related to the old Mt Eden prison, which was closed in 2011, and not Mt Eden Corrections Facility. A report found it was likely that some prisoners were involved in "short fights or assaults carried out in areas away from staff or CCTV cameras". As the investigation found it was "unlikely" that staff were involved, Corrections did not tell Collins about the allegations. 'ENTIRELY SILENT' ON DROPPING Wilson said the reports were among relevant information omitted from the investigation, as its focus shifted from its terms of reference into a wider investigation of "the management practices of Serco". Serco had been "wandering in the dark" as a result of Corrections' failure to give it sufficient information about allegations related to the fight clubs and other problems, which could be disproven in some instances. Early drafts of the report were "entirely silent" on serious allegations of an initiation ritual called "dropping", where prisoners were thrown over a balcony to the concrete below. Serco was eventually provided information showing none of 90 staff members and prisoners interviewed had seen the ritual, and successfully asked for the report to be amended to reflect that. Wilson said other statements from prisoners had been quoted in the report as fact, despite being "unsubstantiated and inconsistent with each other". Serco asked for interview notes to "check patterns" and help its own investigations but was told by Corrections they could not be provided due to promises of confidentiality - despite no evidence of "strict undertakings" being provided. 'ABOUT SAFE CUSTODY' Michael Heron QC, representing Corrections' chief inspector of prisons Andy Fitzharris, said video footage of the fights demonstrated the need for a thorough investigation which focused on prisoner safety and not Serco. "There's only one word that describes it, it is sickening. "That is not a criticism of anyone, but what it does tell you is...this is not about Serco, this is about safe custody." Heron said Serco's primary complaints were about the "tone and language" of the report, rather than the findings and recommendations, which it largely accepted. He said investigators had been "overly cautious and rightfully so" in investigating the allegations and making changes in response to feedback from Serco. The evidence from interviewed prisoners was obtained "in circumstances of confidentiality" and weighed by experienced investigators, and providing the names of interviewees could compromise their safety within the prison. Serco could also have undertaken its own investigations based on the evidence it had at its disposal, Heron said. Corrections took over control of the prison in July after the allegations were revealed, and last December announced it would invoke a six-year "break point" in the Mt Eden contract in March 2017 - a decision which was supported by the private operator. David Noel Roigard is sentenced at New Plymouth High Court on Monday, February 15 for killing his son, Aaron Roigard in 2014. A coastal Taranaki farmer has been sentenced to life in prison in the High Court at New Plymouth for the evil act of killing his son to cover up the theft of tens of thousands of dollars. David Roigard, 51, will serve a minimum non-parole period of 19 years. Roigard appeared before Justice Paul Heath on Monday for sentencing on one charge of murder and eight of theft in a special relationship. Dressed in a black t-shirt and grey tracksuit pants, Roigard showed no emotion and stood with his hands clasped in front of him. READ MORE * Murder victim's partner determined to keep his memory alive * Roigard trial: Father found guilty of murdering son * Roigard: Defence dismisses Crown's claim of murder plot * Roigard Murder Trial: Crown say murder was a calculated cover up * Roigard Murder Trial: Week Four Heath said there were no mitigating factors. "You do not accept responsibility for what you did, you show no remorse, you show no understanding of the enormity of your deceit and the evil act of killing your own son, you were not prepared to tell the police when they asked where the body could be found," he said. A jury took about six hours to find Roigard guilty of killing his son Aaron Roigard in December following a trial that lasted more than four weeks. Roigard murdered Aaron on June 2, 2014, after stealing more than $66,000 from the 27-year-oldover a number of years. Aaron's body has never been found, but is believed to be buried somewhere in rural South Taranaki. Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke said the aggravating factors included the fact that the murder involved actual violence and the use of at least one weapon - a wood splitter. She said Aaron was killed by David Roigard in an attempt to avoid detection and prosecution for the theft, which took place over a period of seven-and-a-half years. "The crown submits that this was truly a cruel, depraved and callous murder. "The offender told others that the deceased deserved everything he got and the deceased would never be found." Clarke said Roigard had shown no empathy since committing the murder. "This proves that the offender truly did act when murdering his son, to use your honour's own words that you have used in previous cases, that he did so with a numbness of the soul." She said Roigard's refusal to disclose where Aaron's body was buried was a serious aggravating factor. "It shows the degree of depravity, cruelty and callousness." Clarke sought a non-parole period of between 20 and 22 years' imprisonment. Defence lawyer Paul Keegan said Roigard's position had not changed since his trial. "He denies the murder of his son," Keegan said. Roigard accepted that he must be sentenced in accordance of the jury's verdict and a life sentence would be imposed, he said. Keegan said a 17 year non-parole period was sufficient. "To extend beyond that would be unwarranted in the circumstances in this case." Heath said the only issue for his consideration was the length of time Roigard would have to serve before he could first apply for parole. He said Aaron was a simple soul who was prepared to rely on his father to safeguard his interests by looking after his money and making sure he had sufficient to buy his own farm. "Aaron trusted you. You betrayed that trust." Heath said he was satisfied from the evidence given during the trial that there was no reasonable possibility Aaron is still alive. "I am satisfied that his body would likely have been located had he committed suicide. "Once the fact that Aaron was dead was established there was no other candidate as his killer." Heath said a psychiatric report confirmed the view he formed about Roigard during the trial - that he suffered from anti-social and narcissistic personality disorders. He said there were no mitigating factors. "You do not accept responsibility for what you did, you show no remorse, you show no understanding of the enormity of your deceit and the evil act of killing your own son, you were not prepared to tell the police when they asked where the body could be found." Heath sentenced Roigard to three years and six months on each of the theft charges, which are to be served concurrently. The conviction is believed to be the first murder case to be prosecuted in Taranaki without a body. *Verdict in full - click here Mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, says the people of Christchurch will cope with the latest quake. Cantabrians should be looking out for fellow residents in the aftermath of Sunday's earthquake, as many will be feeling "retraumatised" especially our most vulnerable. That is the message from the city's mental health professionals, who are urging everyone to keep their mental health in check. Experts suggest breathing exercises, physical activity and connecting with people as a way to recover from the Valentines Days 5.7 magnitude shake. 123RF Those feeling jittery after the earthquake are reminded to look after their mental health. All Right? mental health promoter Ciaran Fox said it was likely to have sent shockwaves through the community, but already-high emotions tended to "blow it out of proportion a little". "People are tired and worn out after five years of struggle and recovery, so it doesn't take much to knock us back a little," he said. "Part of the problem of being very low on our adaptive barriers. Our resilience is low after five years of tough times so this can seem a lot worse than it actually is." Stuff.co.nz Hundreds evacuated in central Christchurch after Sunday's earthquake. Read more: *5.7 earthquake hits Christchurch * The fear beneath the surface * Christchurch earthquake: what you need to know * Christchurch hit by severe earthquake * Photos: Christchurch hit by 5.7 magnitude earthquake * Christchurch quake: At Sumner and Taylor's Mistake * Cliff-jumping life guards hit by falling rocks in quake * Waratahs not rattled by quake * Chat recap: GNS seismologist on Christchurch's quakes * Couple on collapsing Christchurch cliff sprint for safety * Insurers not expecting big claims * Chances high of another strong quake Fox said the first thing stressed residents should do is focus on their wellbeing. The Mental Health Foundation's Five Ways to Wellbeing programme, outlines connecting with people, and remaining physically and mentally active as a way to deal with such events. All Right? All Right? suggests people connect with each other to feel better. The All Right? Facebook page had further information, including a list of breathing exercises to help keep people calm. "When things feel a bit tough like that we just have to go back to basics. Particularly dealing with those first feelings, the shock and adrenalin that leaves people a bit emotional and jittery. It's all perfectly normal, but there's nothing immediately that needs doing and that adrenalin needs to go somewhere. "You've just got to know how to push that through the system." How safe do you feel in Christchurch? Share your stories, photos and videos. Contribute Fox suggested listening to the advice of experts, and making informed decisions about their wellbeing. Cantabrians also needed to be prepared for aftershocks, or future events. "Part of preparing ourselves is realising we live in an active fault zone and we're going to get little shakes every now and again. "We've been through this we know what to do we know how to look after ourselves. Remember that this doesn't necessarily mean that things are kicking off again." CDHB specialist mental health service chief psychiatrist Dr Sue Nightingale said residents should try continue with their daily routines. Those who were not coping should seek medical help. "Most people feel a jolt of anxiety and reminders of what happened and pick up and carry on. But not everybody will. "For some people it triggers anxiety or it's just too much. If people feel they aren't keeping up with the day-to-day activities they need to get some help." Nightingale suggested talking to a GP or calling the Ministry of Social Development's Canterbury Support Line on 0800 777 846. We should also be checking up frequently on our most vulnerable and be "super aware and understanding". "It's the same sort of message we sent out during the other earthquakes, we need to be checking out for those who are isolated and alone, our neighbours and our family. "There will be more anxiety about more quakes to come," she said. "Everyone's going to be individual. We will expect that most people are going to pick up and carry on but people are going to be retraumatised by this and we need to reach out and support them "It was five years ago but a jolt that big can bring it all back." When the Valentine's Day earthquake hit Rae and Martin Francis they could not lean on their neighbours for support because they didn't have any. JACK FLETCHER/stuff.co.nz Reaction to Valentine's Day earthquake from people in Christchurch CBD. The Bexley couple live in isolation in the residential red zone. Their uninsured home stands alone, surrounded by empty sections. They are red zone stayers - people who refuse to leave their homes despite the Government's offer to buy them out. Sunday's magnitude of 5.7 earthquake may have given the Francis' a fright but it has not shaken their resolve to stay in their property. Martin Francis was in the house by himself when the quake hit. JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ Rae and Martin Francis say it will take more than a magnitude 5.7 earthquake to get them out of their red-zoned Bexley home. READ MORE: * Sinkholes bubbling as earthquake shook east Christchurch * Christchurch earthquake: what you need to know * Photos: Christchurch hit by 5.7 magnitude earthquake * Christchurch quake: At Sumner and Taylor's Mistake * Cliff-jumping life guards hit by falling rocks in quake * Chat recap: GNS seismologist on Christchurch's quakes * Couple on collapsing Christchurch cliff sprint for safety * Insurers not expecting big claims * Chances high of another strong quake "The ground rolled and I could see the floors go up and down a bit. I thought 'we're in for a big one here' but all of a sudden it stopped," he told Fairfax Media. When the ground stilled he went around the house checking for damage. BLAIR ENSOR Redzone-stayer Gerry Lonie says his decision not to leave his home in Kairaki was vindicated by the lack of damage after Sunday's earthquake. A few things had fallen and the odd vase was broken but overall the damage was minimal. "I was hoping that some of the doors which were sticking would close but they are still sticking," Francis said with a chuckle. He had lived in Papua New Guinea for a while and was used to experiencing strong earthquakes so it would take more than a 5.7 earthquake to get him to re-think his decision to stay in his home. "We'll stay here no matter what till the Government comes to the party," he said He and his wife bought the house for their retirement 13 years ago. They did not insure it as they had no mortgage and had fallen out with their insurance company over the way it dealt with a series of burglaries at their former home. Until the Government treated them like everybody else in the red-zone and offered them a fair price for their property they would not be going anywhere, Francis said. Red zone stayers living on Featherston Ave in Kairaki, north of Christchurch, said a lack of damage to their homes after the Valentine's Day earthquake vindicated their decision to stay. Liquefaction had bubbled to the surface in several places next to the road and in the backyard of at least one property. However, buildings appeared to have sustained little or no damage. Gerry Lonie, 79, who is among about 16 or 17 residents living in the seaside settlement, was watching television when the earthquake struck. His deaf dog, Sid, was sitting next to him. "I said, 'hell Sid, look at it'. Everything was just moving." Lonie, who recently lost his wife, described the shaking as "violent compared to what we've had before". Lonie spent several hours on Monday cleaning up items that had fallen from shelves. Some glasses, crockery and a lamp were ruined. There was no new structural damage to his house. "It still hasn't made me want to go away," Lonie said. Ron Crone, who lives a few houses up the street, said his home had also escaped further damage. "We've got no qualms about staying with the [latest] earthquake." The Waimakariri District Council recently released its red zone recovery plan draft, which said both Pines Beach and Kairaki were unsuitable for long-term development. There was an option for former landowners to buy back their sections but they would be unable to rebuild on them. "Central government needs to keep their noses out of it and let local government do what they need to do with the land," Crone said. Big Time Rush member Kendall Schmidt flew to New Zealand to spend the weekend with terminally ill Timaru girl Grace Hooke. An American boy band star has flown around the world to surprise a terminally ill Timaru fan. Grace Hooke, 8, was diagnosed with genetic disorder Neurofibromatosis type 1 NF1 for short in September, and has been in and out of chemotherapy fighting to shrink two brain tumours ever since. Given just months to live, her biggest dream was to meet her hero, Kendall Schmidt of American band Big Time Rush. Thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation, Grace got to do just that. Schmidt flew from America to New Zealand last week, surprising Grace in Christchurch on Friday. READ MORE: *Grace given months to live *More surgery for Grace *Brain tumour diagnosis *Police help colleague with ill daughter Grace's mum, Tracy Hooke, said the visit was "just amazing". "I knew what her wish was, I didn't even have to ask. She's loved Big Time Rush for years. "Make A Wish said to go big, but I never thought it would happen." Schmidt spent the weekend with Grace and her family, before flying back to America on Sunday. "He's a lovely person," Hooke said. "An incredibly sincere, warm, giving person." The visit came as a total surprise to Grace. "We played a wee trick on her, we told her she was going to be able to Skype him. "He walked in, and she ran up off the couch and threw herself at him. That's where she stayed all weekend, glued to his side." Grace was even rescued by her hero during the visit. Grace, Schmidt, and Grace's parents were at a friend's house when a severe earthquake hit Christchurch on Sunday afternoon. Schmidt immediately picked Grace up and ran downstairs with her, Hooke said. "He won't forget us and he won't forget New Zealand, we gave him the worst earthquake he's ever experienced," she said with a laugh. The visit had made Grace's dreams come true, Hooke said. "It's so cool for our little girl." Schmidt also recorded a personalised video message for Grace in December. Grace was due to return home to Timaru early next week, after undergoing surgery to have a cyst in her brain drained on Monday morning. Things had been looking up for Grace, but when she began to experience headaches and vomiting shortly before Christmas, her mum knew that something was wrong. An MRI scan in Christchurch confirmed the worst. One of Grace's tumours had grown substantially, and chemotherapy was not having any effect. Despite that setback, the Hookes were determined to make as many memories as possible with their little girl. "Every kind of experience, we're trying to give her." Those wishing to donate to Grace's family can deposit money to 03-1714-0051293-000 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BT exposure sees one team heading for study at Harvard University By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s): A Business Times (BT) exposure on the cost-effectiveness and viability of sending two separate government teams for a high-level Harvard University course has resulted in the authorities deciding to send one delegation. Hence only the top level 7-member team from the Prime Ministers Office took part in the February 7-12 study course aimed at kicking off the countrys ambitious economic development track. Plans to send another team of Finance Ministry officials for the same study tour was cancelled thus saving millions of rupees of tax payers money. The emergence of two teams one assigned by the Prime Ministers Office and the second by the Finance Ministry was exclusively reported in the Business Times on January 24. That report said the attempt to send two separate teams to this university raised questions on the cost and the need for sending a team of six Finance Ministry officials, at a cost of US$ 7,400 each (Rs.1.06 million) course fee per participant. The high powered Sri Lankan team taking part including Ministers Kabir Hashim, Chandima Weerakkody, Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce CEO Mangala Yapa, JB Securities Ltd CEO and economist Murtaza Jafferjee, Assistant Secretary, PMs Office D.M. Madhushanka Dissanayake, and Central Bank staffer Ms. Menaka Jayawardene participated in an executive education programme at Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government. The decision to take part in the Harvard course move came after the Harvard Universitys active involvement in the recently-held Sri Lanka Economic Forum and the follow-up in which Harvard will be leading a local-cum-foreign team of experts to draft an economic plan for Sri Lanka. The PMs office which has been directly handling the economic planning process and is the lead ministry in this sector was unaware of the Finance Ministrys planned trip and participation and vice versa, a senior government official said adding that action has been taken to stop the officials trip soon after hearing this attempt. CB probe finds enough meat to act against top Entrust officials By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s): A due diligence study conducted by the Central Bank (CB) on the affairs of troubled Entrust Securities PLC has revealed that theres enough evidence to prosecute the companys senior management, CB officials said. CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran was tight lipped on it but confirmed that the due diligence was concluded. He said a forensic audit thats underway will reveal the exact position in the company after which a restructuring plan will be set by the CB. We will find out the exact position in a few months time, he told the Business Times. Entrust Securities was taken over by the CB early last month and its management handed over to the National Savings Bank after its liabilities fell below its assets putting depositors and investors at risk. In a related move, Entrust Group subsidiary Multi Finance PLC is in discussion with investors to unload some shares and bring in new owners, in a move that has been frowned on by the CB. We need to analyse the intercompany transactions with Entrust and come to a conclusion, Mr. Mahendran said. He said that there is interest for Multi Finance but the companys relationships with Entrust Securities in terms of transactions and intercompany borrowings need to be analysed. Treasury moves ahead with board seats in listed cos. View(s): The Treasury has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement a budget proposal allocating a board seat for any individual holding 10 per cent in a commercial bank or 15 per cent in a listed firm, a senior Treasury official said. We wrote to the SEC last month on this which is in line with the recent budget proposals, requesting them to implement it and were awaiting a reply, he told the Business Times. Currently there are no regulations governing board positions for those owning such stakes in listed companies. Its only by invitation by the board of directors that (such) shareholders can accommodate a board seat, a corporate lawyer told the Business Times adding that this new law applies only to individuals and not companies/entities. What the Treasury has requested for is targeted at board positions in listed firms, according to Treasury sources but they have also wanted it applied to licensed commercial banks (LCB) where stricter laws apply. Presently, under Section 12 of the Banking Act an individual, partnership or corporate body shall not either directly or indirectly or through a nominee or acting in concert with any other individual, partnership or corporate body acquire a material interest in LCB without the prior written approval of the Monetary Board (MB). The threshold limit in the Act is 10 per cent, but with MBs permission they can go up to 15 per cent. (Duruthu) Govt. faces critical phase: Good and bad news from Zeids visit By Our Political Editor View(s): View(s): Visiting UNHRC Chief gets a more friendly reception than accorded to his predecessor Rajapaksa loyalists taking full advantage of the Geneva crisis; new office opened for new party There was both good and bad news for the Government during the four-day visit to Sri Lanka by the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Raad Al Hussein. The good news was Zeids demonstrated willingness to address what the Government of Sri Lanka believes are contentious issues. Main among them is the participation of Commonwealth and foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators in the proposed judicial mechanism to probe alleged war crimes. He acknowledged the views expressed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during talks last Tuesday but placed the onus on the Government to prove itself through performance. This was after the Premier set out the Governments road map to address issues. That discourse has opened up avenues but it hinged on how best the Government will tackle the issues. Zeid also for the first time elaborated on the US-backed Geneva resolution, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka. In a carefully crafted eight-page eve of departure statement Tuesday, he said, the resolution suggests international participation in the accountability mechanisms set up to deal with international crimes and gross human rights violations by individuals on both sides In that elucidation he left out any pointed reference to the armed forces collectively. As for the Tiger guerrillas, the fact that such offences came from their slain leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is a historic fact. The bad news was the insistence in Zeids official statement that all provisions in the resolution should be implemented. That had to be expected. The resolution has been unanimously endorsed by 47 members of the Human Rights Council and it is Zeids responsibility to ensure it is done. That is why he declared that he would have to report back to the Council on progress or the lack of it next June, and again in March 2017. Foreign Ministry not in the loop Needless to say that Zeids assertions have left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has accused of doing little or nothing in the past one year, in a spin. By its Most Urgent Circular No: 45 dated February 10 distributed to Sri Lanka heads of missions overseas, the Ministry has only sent (a) a copy of Zeids eight page statement, and (b) the transcript of the news conference he held at the UN office in Colombo. What about Sri Lanka Governments own response to the assertions Zaid made? In some Sri Lanka diplomatic missions overseas there were media queries on what the Governments response was. High Commissioners and Ambassadors were unable to answer and asked for time. Sri Lankan diplomats were confused over what to tell their host Governments. The fact that the Minister of Foreign Affairs was also not taken for talks government leaders had with Zeid added to the Ministry not being in the loop of what was being discussed. Ironically the confusion seems to be worst confounded in Government ranks too. On Wednesday, Minister Faiszer Musthapha declared at a news conference that President Sirisena would not allow any foreign judges. This is after Zeid revealed barely 24 hours before that the President (as well as the Prime Minister) had re-assured him that provisions of the resolution would be implemented. Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva declared on Friday that it was up to Parliament to decide on the involvement of foreign judges. He was responding to a query in the House from an Opposition MP. The confusion caused by contradictory statements only leads to a rapid erosion of the Governments credibility and leaves room for conjecture that it is pussy footing over key issues to mislead the international community and even Sri Lankas people. This is without taking any bold stance and briefing its own ranks on the correct position, if there is one. The task of dealing with these matters has been officially vested by President Sirisena in the hands of Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. A Gazette notification (1933/13 of September 21, 2015), which lists his functions, states, Liaise with the international community including the United Nations Organisation on the mechanisms towards resolving the national question. On Friday, Samaraweera was in Jaffna to launch a website (http://http//www.scrm.gov.lk) to obtain views from the public on the proposed new Constitution. Here again, none of the Sri Lanka diplomatic missions have been informed of the launch. Other preparations are to begin after Parliament on February 26 debates Premier Wickremesinghes resolution for a new Constitution. He has proposed the establishment of a Constitutional Council (or a full Committee made up of members of the House) to begin work. A significant highlight would be the formulation of a new electoral system. There was a distinct difference between the visits of Zeid and his predecessor Navi Pillay in August 2013. As Zeid noted Pillays was marred by attacks on her integrity. However, Zeids visit was in an extremely cordial atmosphere, particularly after Sri Lanka co-sponsored the resolution, thus acknowledging that all matters contained in it would be addressed. Though it was no holds barred, it was nevertheless couched in polite language perhaps conscious that they would have to continue to deal with President Sirisena and cordiality was a cornerstone. PM defends judiciary Yet, there were developments that appeared somewhat encouraging to the Government. Most significant were the meetings Zeid held separately with President Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe. It was the latter who made a strong case over matters relating to the participation of foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators. He told the UN envoy that Sri Lanka had one of the oldest judicial systems. The Supreme Court is the oldest in Asia. Noting that he was proud of Sri Lankas traditions, he said, most political leaders in the past belonged to the legal fraternity. The late J.R. Jayewardene came from a family of lawyers. Thus, the destiny of the country at times has been shaped by legal minds. We have fought battles. Please give us a chance. We will allow foreign participation wherever necessary after consulting the Bar and civil society, Wickremesinghe told Zeid. He added that foreign judges could not be conferred jurisdiction and declared you judge us by what we put in. We will go step by step. Zeid had responded that the Government should be credible and independent and declared if it acted that way, the need for foreign judges may not become necessary. It was up to the Government to prove itself. Zeid told Wickremesinghe that the volume of work the Government undertook would show how credible such actions were and whether it met the needs of witnesses on both sides. He had also made clear it was not the Human Rights Councils intention to force anything on Sri Lanka or violate its sovereignty. There were certain obligations that had to be met. Another knotty issue with regard to foreign judges came soon after the UN Human Rights Council adopted the resolution in Geneva last October. Attorney Generals Department officials then said that it would be unconstitutional to establish hybrid courts. They said that such a step would require a constitutional amendment since the constitution at presents defined the legal instruments that existed. Those observations have raised an all important question whether Sri Lanka that co-sponsored the resolution was unaware of that position earlier. That also poses the question whether anyone went beyond the brief in succumbing to any pressure or even unwillingly doing so. Sources close to Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, however, argue that he had the prior approval of Government leaders. Yet, it is known that no approval of the Cabinet of Ministers had been sought or given. Zeids remarks to Wickremesinghe, however, are clearly conditional on how the Government sets about its task and are in no way binding. One factor that is in Governments favour in the post-Geneva scenario, followed by the Presidential election in January last year is a new concern by western diplomats in Colombo. In fact, one key player lobbied behind the scenes to ensure the UNHRC goes easy on the foreign factor. But to his dismay, a colleague had already set out his Governments stance in a tweet thus concretising the official position. He had to therefore fall in line. The rationale behind the move to play down the foreign element is prompted by one factor to prevent any political advantage accruing to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his backers and extremist groups. The Government fears they would team up to destabilise the armed forces and cause unrest in the country. If that were to happen, it fears, the gains made after a regime change would be lost. For the same reasons and more, Zeids statement has become complementary to this position though he politely articulated the UNHRC stance without ambiguity. It appears that this aspect is not altogether lost on Zeid. He did comment on the previous Rajapaksa administration when he said the white-van abductions that operated outside all norms of law and order, and as intended instilled fear in the hearts of journalists, human rights defenders and others who dared criticise the Government or State security institutions, are now very seldom reported. Of course, he also expressed concerns that the number of torture complaints has been reduced but new cases continue to emerge as two recent reports, detailing some disturbing alleged cases that occurred in 2015, have shown and police all too often resort to violence and excessive force. Despite his capacity to hear views of different sides, Zeid is known to be strongly resolute in his actions. Once, Jordans Deputy Prime Minister, Nasser Judeh rejected a UNHRC report. It charged that Saudi led coalition forces may have committed human rights violations in Yemen and targeted civilians as well as civilian facilities in that country. Zaid hit back saying the issue was not personal and that he represented a UN organisation whose work is based on international charters, values and principles. In another instance, Zeid, a Jordanian (former envoy to the United Nations) joined as advisor to then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to address the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peace keeping troops. Zeid said in his report that sexual violence and harassment against women and girls was poorly handled by state institutions particularly when alleged perpetrators are members of the military or security services, and as a result remains too widespread. In his statement, Zeid made no reference to the word war crimes. This was in marked contrast to his report, the precursor to the UNHRC resolution, where there were references 26 times. This no doubt was good news for President Sirisena who told Al Jazeera television in an interview that there were no allegations of war crimes against troops. He said there were only accusations of violating international humanitarian law and human rights. At least technically, he was right. The absence of any reference to war crimes together with only references to individuals committing international crimes and human rights violations also nullified totally any claims of alleged genocide by the armed forces, a charge made by extremist Tamil groups. During a news briefing in Geneva on September 21 last year, after the OISL report was officially released, Zeid was asked about alleged genocide. He replied that there was insufficient evidence right now but added that cannot be ruled out if further evidence surfaces. Now, with individuals being accused, the question may not arise. The emphasis on individuals committing international crimes and human rights violations, diplomatic sources said, has significant connotations. If for example a large number of troops are accused of violations, the impending judicial mechanism would be able to discern the individual or individuals in the command and control structure of the armed forces who gave the order for such violations. It is those who did so, politicians, officials and military leaders who will become liable and not the hundreds who carried it out, said the source. The source added it is also a way of saying the investigations are not pointedly directed at the armed forces per se. Zeids commitment to ensure the provisions of the Geneva resolution are implemented came during a detailed discussion with parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel on Tuesday. He heard the TNA views on a number of matters including the cases of those who have disappeared. Zeid referred to Premier Wickremesinghes remarks (made in an interview with Britains Channel Four) that nearly all the disappeared persons are presumed dead. He said this has created great distress among their families, who till then still had hope and urged rapid action to identify precisely who is still alive. The Government has agreed to a request by the TNA for a parliamentary debate on February 23 on disappeared persons. Home Minister Vajira Abeywardena on Friday announced in Parliament that Certificates of Absence would be given to missing persons relatives to claim pensions and other entitlements from the Government. Rajapaksas interpretation The man who is at the butt end of all the controversy over the final stages of the separatist war, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa accused the Government of adopting various strategies to convince the public that it will not be harmful to the country. In a three-page statement he issued after Zeids visit to Sri Lanka, he charged that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which he once led, had joined the United National Party (UNP) in this great betrayal. Here are excerpts from what he said: .We saw the President and the Prime Minister in recent days expressing to the international media what seemed to be contradictory views on the participation of foreign judges in the proposed war crimes mechanism. But this was just a drama for public consumption. It became clear from the Presidents Independence Day speech that there is no difference in the stands taken by him and the Prime Minister on the Geneva resolution. The President not only endorsed the decision of the Government to implement the Geneva resolution but also accused those opposed to it of misleading the public. He further said in his Independence Day speech that the implementation of the Geneva resolution will only result in promoting democracy, reconciliation and respect for our armed forces. The war was won by an SLFP Government led by me. It is a matter for profound regret to me that our party has been subordinated in this manner to the UNP which tried to sabotage the war effort at every turn. Many would recall the manner in which the UNP even tried to stop the war by defeating the Government at the budget vote in 2007. When that did not work, members of the UNP ridiculed the war effort by saying among other things that any ox can fight a war and that while claiming to be advancing on Alimankada the army was actually moving towards Pamankada. It is not surprising to see such people now trying to exact revenge from those who won the war. However, I am profoundly saddened to see that a section of the SLFP has also joined the UNP in this great betrayal. The UNP may be deriving a great deal of satisfaction by thus getting a section of the SLFP which won the war to underwrite every traitorous (sic) they commit. I call upon the people of Sri Lanka to unite and resist this attempt by the Government to betray the country and our war heroes. That Rajapaksa is set to launch a political campaign on matters related to the Geneva resolution became clear on Thursday. He declared open a new office at Nelum Mawatha, Jayanthipura in Battaramulla. His close aides say that the premises will become the office for the new political party Rajapaksa is forming. Some of the parliamentarians who supported him were absent at Thursdays events. Speaking after representatives of major religions blessed the event, Rajapaksa said the people of Sri Lanka, whatever differences they had, should forget them and unite. There was now a new era where there was a threat to the nation. He said as a lawyer he condemned the remarks made by Zeid on the judiciary. Zaid noted that the countrys history over the past few decades was littered with judicial failures. It became highly politicised, unbalanced and unreliable, he said. Rajapaksa said the remarks should be strongly condemned. He said that the SLFP won the votes of the people and went to prop up the UNP. They would have to decide soon whether it was in the best interests of the country, he said. He went to Medamulana after the presidential elections because he wanted to retire. However, large crowds of party supporters visited him and asked him not to do so, he added. JHU against foreign judges Other than Rajapaksa and his supporters, the Jathika Hela Urumaya too is strongly opposed to the involvement of foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators. Its General Secretary Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Sunday Times we will strongly oppose this. He said in the event of an alleged war crimes inquiry, we would demand that some 12,000 cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should be arrested. Otherwise, he said, the amnesty too should be extended to the security forces. If this is not done, he added, the reconciliation process will be affected badly. Minister Ranawaka said that the JHU, however, was in favour the establishment of a register of disappeared persons and the issue of certificates in accordance with the recommendations of the Udalagama Commission of Inquiry. The JHU was also supportive of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission but the question is whether it can grant amnesties. The other is Compassionate Council of Religious Leaders. However, we know that there is no religious freedom in the North, he argued. There is little doubt that the Government is now moving into a critical phase. Former President Rajapaksa and his supporters have, as expected, used the issues arising out of the Geneva resolution as their main campaign platform. President Sirisena told the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee on Friday he was fully aware of Rajapaksas intentions. There was a mild diversion when Kumara Welgama (SLFP Kalutara District) argued that the party won a mandate from the people not to join the United National Party (UNP) and help it in its agenda. Counter arguments came from Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and Dilan Perera. Sirisena advised Welgama to meet him after his return from a visit to Germany. The joint opposition led by Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) leader Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday staged a protest campaign in Rakwana. That included breaking of coconuts to invoke the blessings of the gods for a regime change. It is abundantly clear that a campaign against matters arising out of the Geneva resolution is gaining traction. Ironically, it is bolstered by no positive coordinated action from the Government side. The Governments only response is contradictory remarks by different personalities leading to confusion and triggering fears among the people. Launching websites and making different pronouncements is not the answer. It is time the Government takes the people into its confidence and tells them exactly what is going on. This is why the people voted overwhelmingly to change the Rajapaksa administration. Right on Field Marshal! View(s): My Dear Field Marshal, I am writing to congratulate you because you were appointed to Parliament once again. After running for the highest office in the country that might not seem like much but then, a lot has happened since then and I am sure you must be relieved to be back in the House surrounded by the Diyawanna Oya. Of course, we remember you mostly as the man who gave leadership to the war that defeated the terrorists. It has now become fashionable to take credit for winning the war and indeed there were many who provided leadership, political and otherwise, but your role was still first and foremost. One of the most stirring stories of the war effort was how you were almost fatally injured in a suicide bomb attack and how that attack made you even more determined to end the war. So, unlike politicians who break their promises, you kept your promise of not leaving the war to your successor. But, being the good old soldier that you are, you didnt want to just fade away. You thought you would take your chances and challenge Mahinda maama for the top job. And why wouldnt you, when the Greens and the Reds were also willing to support you with their votes? Why, at that time even Sampanthan seeyas party extended their support to you even though you had provided the leadership to the war that raged in the North and East. It was a big gamble to take on Mahinda maama who people were then hailing as King Dutugemunu but you took up that challenge. That is when things started to go wrong for you. Im sure you could have lived with losing that election. However, just after the election, you went from hero to zero overnight. The gallant soldier who defeated the terrorists became the villain while terrorists were sent to Parliament. What was disgusting was the way in which you were detained. They sent the military police to arrest you even though you had left the military. You were dragged away literally kicking and screaming by soldiers who treated you like a common criminal- even though you were a decorated General. Looking back, it is amusing to realise that the Wimals, Vasus, Dineshs and Udayas- who are now up in arms about young Yoshitha being detained and are complaining about political revenge- were with Mahinda maama at that time but we didnt hear any of them say a word about what happened to you. In the years that followed, you were court martialled and paraded before the courts and the public many a time on various charges. We saw the man we were used to seeing in ceremonial uniform and battle fatigues in a prison jumper. They stripped you not only of your rank but your pension too. There were times when you had to apply to courts to have a fan in your cell. I dont think KP who financed the Tigers would have had to undergo such inconveniences. Being the fighter that you are, you endured all that and emerged once again as a force to reckon with, teaming up with the Greens. This partnership will be watched with much interest. There were times when the Greens received lashings from your acid tongue because diplomacy has never been your strong point. Then there is the man who is minding justice who called you a vel vidhaaney who must be eating his words now. Isnt it also ironical that at about the same time you returned to Parliament, the man who presided when you were sent to jail had to see his own son being detained and was complaining of political revenge! It seems as if you reap what you sow- and dashing thousands of coconuts wont prevent that! Anyway, Field Marshal, your battles are far from over. I suppose one of the reasons why the Greens want you to join them is because Mahinda maama is gathering his acolytes to try and recover his good fortune- and they will want to play the look what they did to the man who saved the nation card. The Greens will use you to counter that. They will also want you to dance to their tune. Being an army officer all your life, you are only used to others dancing to your tune. So, be careful; after all, they havent even announced what ministry you will get though you might want the Justice portfolio! Yours truly, Punchi Putha PS- Speaking of singing to various tunes, did you hear the fuss by certain patriotic people over an internationally renowned Sri Lankan lady singing Danno Budunge on Independence Day? It was as if Buddhism had been destroyed by this performance although they didnt say a word when Bhathiya and Santhush decided to do a rap version of Siri Sangabodhi maaligawedi, a song from the same play! The next thing we know, these chaps will want us to ban Yaman bando vesak balanna- after all, how dare we sing a baila about Buddhisms greatest day? Its double trouble fun With Indu Dharmasena and Co. set to hit the boards with Ray Cooneys comedy, Run For Your Wife, the key players share their thoughts View(s): View(s): Indu Dharmasena and Co will begin 2016 at the Lionel Wendt with Run For Your Wife, Ray Cooneys comedy from the 80s. The story begins with taxi driver, John Smith, who must watch his carefully constructed double life unravel before his very eyes when he meets with an accident. John has taken both the law and love into his own hands he has a wife in Stratham and another in Wimbledon. Neither is aware of each others existence (of course), and John is blissfully enjoying the best of both worldsuntil, that is, this accident brings the two wives face to face. Will Johns double life finally come to light? Youll have to watch the play to find out, but getting there should be hilarious, promises Indu. Cooney wrote the play in 1983, and it was adapted on to the Colombo stage by the Performing Arts Company in 1994 and 2002-it was hilarious both times around, says Indu. They did so well that I have quite a responsibility to do justice to the script in the same way. Indu plans to stick to the script as it is. If we tried to modernise, the elements the play is hinging on wont really work, he notes. For example, mobile phones would have solved the entire problem. John Smith is your average cabbie, says Indu, laughing hes what we would call a Mr. Perera in Sri Lanka. Fundamentally a good man at heart, he gets mugged while attempting to help an old woman being robbed and ends up in hospital, which is when the trouble with his wives begins. Sanwada Dharmasena plays Mary, the more conventional and dowdier of the two wives. Sanwada has been playing wife to Indus lead for so long that shes lost count, but recently she put my foot down and said enough is enough, she laughs. She is making an exception this time around because shes got Michelle Herft playing Johns other wife Barbara. Barbara is the carefree, more adventurous woman that John has fallen for. Michelle is celebrating almost two decades of working with Indu and says it feels good to be back working with Indu on a show. Then theres George Cooke, playing Stanley Gardner-the bright yet not so bright neighbour who takes it upon himself to help John out of this tricky situation. My character is in awe of him, explains George. The script is so witty and well timed that its a pleasure to be a part of the production. The trickiest bit? Trying not to laugh at the lines themselves, he grins. Were trying to get over that during rehearsals! Yasal Ruhunage plays Barbaras flamboyant neighbour Bobby Franklin who too decides to help John keep his wives in the dark. Yasal has been a part of Indus productions over the last few years and says its very relaxing to come for rehearsals-and of course, its always a fun-filled experience. Abbasali (Abbas) Rozais takes on the role of Detective Sgt Porterhouse, while Indus nephew Anuk Dharmasena plays Detective Sgt Troughton. The two policemen have been dispatched to inquire into the situation and will be waylaid by John and his complicit neighbours. Abbas directed another Ray Cooney play Funny Money in 2013, and says the playwrights farcical comedic style is always a pleasure to work with, be it as director or actor. Run for Your Wife goes on the boards at the Lionel Wendt from February 19-21 at 7.30 p.m. The show is presented by the Rotaract Club of Colombo Metropolitan. Tickets are available at the Wendt. D.I. Spreading love through letters By Duvindi Illankoon View(s): View(s): For those of you who dont have plans or youre simply taking a stand against evil corporate consumerism then drop by the Cakery at 4 pm to spread some love via letters. Join the Letter Earthlings as they celebrate Valentines Day on a different note. Lukewarm pun intended. Letter Earthlings works on quite a simple premise-once a month, a group of people gather in one place to put pen to paper and keep up a millennia old tradition of writing letters. They mostly write letters based on requests, but occasionally theyll just write inspiring notes to be left in random locations to put a smile on someones face. This is a tradition for founder Nivendra Uduman, who began doing it during his university days studying Psychology in India. Nivendra roped in a few friends from Bangalore for a letter writing circle, and Senashia Ekanayake was a part of the project. When they returned to Sri Lanka they kicked off Letter Earthlings in January 2015, with the help of Shalindi Pandithakoralage. It has been an inspiring year for us at Letter Earthlings because beautiful things kept happening all around us and that has been a great motivating factor to keep spreading love and hope in all nooks and crannies, says Nivendra. Describing the project as a labour of love, he adds Over the last year, weve had communities spring up in Singapore and Sydney apart from our communities in Sri Lanka, Dubai and India. This is a huge achievement and the entire project sustains itself only on love and the spirit of community. We do not raise funds. There have also been a number of events that we hosted in collaboration with the Goodwill Tribe, which is a kindness organization based in Dubai and India. When they started out, Letter Earthlings would see the participation of about `10-15 people but this has now increased to an average of 20-30 writers, who give up a Sunday evening to write to strangers that they will-in all likelihood-never meet. Theyre fulfilling requests made via a form on the groups Facebook page (link below), and at the monthly gathering these requests are distributed amongst the letter writers. They are then posted to the recipient. For this Valentines Day, theyll be doing something slightly different. Winnie the Pooh, when asked by Piglet How do you spell love replied You dont spell it, you feel it, Nivendra says. We like to go a bit further than Pooh and say that there is a certain magic in letters that spell out love and thats what we have in mind for Valentines Day, 2016. We usually write letters for the requests we get on our Facebook page, but this time around, we are sticking to our loved ones and not just limiting ourselves to the romantic kind of love. So, while savouring some yummy cheese cake and sipping on chilled Narang juice at the Cakery, we hope to spend time writing letters for those who matter to us the most. So go on, join these letter love warriors at 4 pm today (Cakery, Sulaiman Terrace). You can also find Letter Earthlings on facebook.com/letterearthlings/ Controversy over 65,000 houses; Cabinet appoints sub committee By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s): A Cabinet subcommittee was appointed this week to study a proposal to award a contract to a French company named ArcelorMittal to build 65,000 houses for war-affected civilians. The subcommittee was set up after Housing and Construction Minister Sajith Premadasa objected that the estimated cost of each house at Rs 2.18 million was too high, authoritative sources said. The Minister had maintained that he could build the houses using the usual method (instead of the prefabricated method now envisaged) at Rs. 1 million a house. The proposal to award the project to ArcelorMittal has also been opposed by civil society organisations on the grounds that the houses are too expensive and, being prefabricated, do not add value to the local economy in the North and East where they are to be built. The total value of the contract as estimated by ArcelorMittal is around US$ 2 billion. It is learnt that the second bidder, an Indian construction consortium, of which UNP Minister Daya Gamage is also a party, had offered an estimate that was about Rs. 250,000 less for a house. However, one of the main considerations of the Cabinet-Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) that recommended ArcelorMittal was that the company had provided a confirmed financing arrangement. Only two parties qualified after the technical evaluation. ArcelorMittal was one. The other was an Indian joint venture called EPI-OCPL Consortium. The CANC had then evaluated ArcelorMittals financial proposal as the company had presented a confirmed financing arrangement. The Indian consortiums financial proposal was not considered. It is learnt that the bidders were not present when the financial bids were opened. Under the two envelope system, however, it is mandatory for the bidders to be present when financial bids are opened. Meanwhile, the local construction industry has questioned the haste with which the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement has given out the contract to ArcelorMittal. It appears that the Ministry wants to rush through and award the tender for the 65,000 houses programme. This seems to have been earmarked for a company of its choice, a senior source in the construction industry told the Sunday Times. The bid prequalification requirements of a Rs. 25 billion completed, single job and a bid bond of Rs. 650 million were quite ridiculous, he said. The fee payable to the bank to obtain the guarantee alone was almost Rs. 5 million, he added. The US$ 1 billion funding supporting letter for a project of this nature was quite unrealistic and designed to prevent open transparent bidding. Imported pre-fabricated units will benefit the exporter country and create jobs elsewhere with no benefit to Sri Lanka. The Construction Association pointed out that the Urban Development Authoritys regeneration project had employed Sri Lankan companies which were building 80,000 housing units. For some of these projects, the design, funding and building are undertaken by Sri Lankan companies, it said, in remarks to the Sunday Times. Three Indian contractors who obtained projects under this programme failed and the local companies were asked by the UDA to rescue these projects which they have agreed to and currently construction has resumed. The best way to proceed with the programme should be to engage all the construction capacity in the North and East, North Central Province and the rest of the country under four or five management contractors who should be large local contractors capable of handling the logistics, resources, engineering, technical skills and funding, it said. Joint Commission minutes: Only passing reference to fishing crisis View(s): Poaching by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters a major issue facing both countries got just a passing mention in the agreed minutes of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission meeting held last week in Colombo. The Sunday Times understands that the only reference to the longstanding issue of illegal fishing in more than 50 paragraphs of the agreed minutes is: The Joint Commission noted the intricacies of the fishermen issue on both sides and the need to put forward innovative solutions. There is no mention in the agreed minutes of poaching, illegal fishing, bottom-trawling, illegal methods of fishing or deliberate crossing of the International Maritime Boundary Line. The Sunday Times learns that this is due to India insisting to Sri Lanka that there could not be any reference to the poaching issue in the agreed minutes. India has also said that words such as poaching and illegal fishing would not be entertained. The agreed minutes, it is learnt, were drafted in New Delhi and sent for amendments to Colombo. The reference to fishing, therefore, was written in India with Sri Lanka surrendering to the terminologies. In stark contrast, the agreed minutes of the 2013 India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission makes specific reference to the IMBL. It stated: The Joint Commission noted that both sides are committed to decrease incidents pertaining to fishing on the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, sources say, did not raise the fishing issue in a serious way with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. Bottom-trawling by Indian fishermen is affecting thousands of Sri Lankan fishermen in the North while destroying the ecosystem. It was not even suggested to include in the minutes that both countries condemn poaching by fishermen of either side. Lankan tycoons Lycamobile given 14 days to submit accounts From Neville de Silva in London View(s): View(s): Lycamobile, a giant telecom company founded by a Sri Lankan businessman and investigated in Sri Lanka for business transactions with the former administration, has been given 14 days to submit its overdue accounts for 2015 or face the possibility of being struck off the British company register. A spokesperson for Companies House, the registrar of British companies and an executive agency of the British Government, told the Sunday Times that on February 10 Lycamobile was given a 14-day deadline to submit its accounts that already been delayed by two months. The spokesperson said if Lycamobile founded by Sri Lankan Subaskaran Allirajah failed to meet the deadline it could be listed in the London Gazette. After it failed to submit the accounts as required by November 30th last year, Companies House had twice written to Lycamobile about its lapse. But those letters had gone unanswered until earlier this month following which Companies House set the 14 day deadline. When the Sunday Times contacted Lycamobile it said it would get back with a response. When it did, it said in an email that the correct situation is that the relevant Companies House notice to which you referred to has in fact been discontinued, as is reflected in Companies House records. The Sunday Times then asked Lycamobile whether it was not correct that Companies House had set a 14-day deadline to submit the accounts and whether the discontinuing of the notice was because the company had finally responded after two warnings, as mentioned by the Companies House spokesperson. However Lycamobile had not responded midnight Friday. According to Companies House, this is not the first time that Lycamobile had failed to meet its accounts deadline. In 2012, the company failed to submit its accounts on time and the authorities threatened to dissolve it. This would have resulted in Lycamobile ceasing to function. British newspapers have reported on the activities of Lycamobile since 2012, particularly with regard to its financial affairs. It is said that the company is already facing a tax bill of 9.5 million owed to Her Majestys Revenue & Customs Department as unpaid taxes. The media here have said that Lycamobile is the third largest donor to the Conservative Party and had backed Conservative Party nominee Boris Johnson when he contested for the post of Mayor of London.Lycamobile has reportedly donated 1.5m to the Conservative Party in the past five years becoming the third largest donor to Tory funds. A helping hand from the Global Fund for Children By Vinusha Paulraj View(s): View(s): Her travel plans include a trip to Trincomalee but Kulsoom Khan is not here on vacation. As Programme Officer-South Asia, for the US based non-profit organisation called The Global Fund for Children (GFC), flying in from Washington DC, her week-long stay in Sri Lanka is packed with visits to three local non-profit entities currently receiving grants from GFC. Weve been funding organisations around the world since 1993, she says, explaining that GFC looks for non-profit set-ups working organically among communities. GFCs funding isnt indefinite, but works on issuing small, unrestricted grants to partners over the course of around five years. Our success she says, is leaving an organisation which has taken root. Either investing to generate self-funding or continuing meaningful work to attract other major donors, the ultimate aim she says is encouraging initiation and continuation of eliminating social problems. Sri Lanka is seen as the most developed in the region in its post-war, post-tsunami context, however she says there are still pockets where childrens welfare hasnt progressed adequately. Perhaps not as blatant as in India and Pakistan where Khan spent years of her early life, but she notes, sexual abuse, child labour, illiteracy and alcoholism in the family plague youngsters in the tea estates. Its complicated addressing childrens issues where the social framework is culturally not child-friendly. Which is why she bears a deep appreciation for partners like The Sunshine Charity in Trincomalee. It is difficult work to impose values in an already strong community and be accepted for it, but theyve been doing consistently well, she observes. Created in 2004 post-tsunami, the GFC funds the Sunshine centre where education is made available to children. Theyve gotten by well she notes, having worked together for the past six years. A partner of three years is the Ease Foundation in Battaramulla. Initially addressing the learning needs of autistic children, they now also work with differently abled children and include parents, siblings, caregivers in their unique teaching model, which gears them to be the childs support system. Public service videos are also produced to get their point across. Empathy is key she feels, and the work done by Ease is a working model in cultivating it. Recdo, a Trincomalee-based organisation GFC has helped for three years, provides schooling for underprivileged children in an innovative manner. The families provide man-power to build the schools, after which they ensure children of the community routinely attend it. Parents feel equally invested in their childrens education which continues well into their youth, she says. Computer skills and financial management etc are taught to promote a better standard of life. Khans first visit to Sri Lanka was last year, and seeing the glaring differences between Colombo and Trincomalee, she feels theres such a need for education and development which has to come from within the community, as opposed to being imposed. Social innovation is the answer she says, noting that the youth voice in Sri Lanka isnt loud enough. Led by young people, the Youth Parliament in India and its contemporary in Pakistan play a vital role in addressing issues in their respective countries. Growing-up in Pakistan, she says, the sight of development was common in the form of new roads and buildings but infrastructure meant little when the number of beggars, and slum dwellings kept increasing for Khan, whose own activism against sexual abuse in a culture-sensitive background started in high-school. Although not an encouraged career choice in the region, I thought, for some reason I could change things and help people if I became a lawyer. Today, social entrepreneurship allows innovative use of business models to trigger change. Theres much untapped potential for innovative minds with the passion for change, and theres help extended by organisations like the GFC. A partnership in foodie heaven: Knorr and Jehan Aloysius By Cecily Walker View(s): View(s): Shakespeare once wrote If music be the food of love, play on and since February is the month of love, well known thespian Jehan Aloysius will be celebrating his love affair with food and music in an exclusive culinary experience called Gastronomic Symphony. Gastronomic Symphony is a culinary voyage which aims to enhance delicious gourmet food with music presented on February 26 and 27 with global brand Knorr at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand from 7 p.m. onwards. Lankan palates are evolving and the food industry is becoming more sophisticated and it is to create platforms for more creative food experiences here in Sri Lanka that Knorr will present this event. Food will be at the heart of the entire evening Gastronomic Symphony. This exclusive event has been a carefully crafted collaboration between the chefs at the Cinnamon Grand hotel and orchestrator Jehan Aloysius whose handpicked musicians will evoke a sense of nostalgia, fantasy and drama. Speaking at the media gathering, Jehan said Expect the elegance of the theatre; imagine going for an evening at the concert hall with a bit of a twist! The idea is that the music, which will be performed alongside the menu, will elevate the taste and enjoyment of the meal. A limited number of tickets priced at Rs. 12,500 are available from wow.lk. College of Ophthalmologists inducts new president View(s): Dr. Pradeepa K. Siriwardena, an old girl of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, was inducted as the President of the 25th year of the College of Ophthalmologists of Sri Lanka on January 23. Professor Rohan W. Jayasekera (Former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Founder Director of the Human Genetics Unit University of Colombo) was the Chief Guest. In her speech, Dr. Siriwardena outlined the the theme of her Presidency, which is Excellence in promoting sustainable eye care. In line with this theme, the newly inducted President also launched an initiative to aid low income patients requiring cataract eye surgery: The Cataract Surgery Fund of the College of Ophthalmologists. Looking to history for a timely message By Dhananjani Silva Daevinda Kongahages debut film Bhavatharna that was best film at the Delhi International Film Festival has its local premiere View(s): View(s): Young film-maker Daevinda Kongahage tasted international success with his debut film Bhavatharna (Crossing Sansara), when the film won the Award for the Best Film at the 2015 Delhi International Film Festival in December. On Wednesday, the grand premiere of Bhavatharna was held at the National Film Corporation Cinema Theatre in Colombo, attended by a gathering of politicians, artistes and film makers. Also present was a delegation of international artistes including Zaklina Ostir from Montenegro and Martine Malalai Zikria from Afghanistan. Speaking on the occasion, Daevinda Kongahage said simply that he has always spoken in cinematic language which is better than any other language. The success of a filmmaker lies in his ability to change the world, which is divided speaking Sinhala, Tamil or English through cinematic language, he said. Bhavatharna revolves around an untold chapter of history during the Kandyan kingdom, under the Nayakkar king Keerthi Sri Rajasinghas rule, where a few aristocrats with the involvement of the most venerated monks in the land, attempted a coup against the king. Ironically, the plot is hatched within a monastery, in spite of the immense generosity that the king had displayed for the welfare of temples, monasteries and monks in the Kandyan kingdom. The story unfolds in the form of a vague dream that Pulasthi the main character experiences from time to time. Puzzled, Pulasthi decides to dig into the meaning of his nightmares taking the audience with him to the final conclusion. The experienced cast of Bhavatharna includes Sajeev Rajaputhra, Malani Fonseka, Kanchana Kodithuwakku, Shriyantha Mendis, Mahendra Perera, Chandika Nanayakkkara, Roshan Pilapitiya, Udayanthi Kulathunga, Sanketh Wickramage, Roshan Ravindra, Asela Jayakodi, Srimal Wedisingha, Dharshana Dharmaraj, Nihal Fernando, Thidas Wickramasingha, Ganendree Kongahage, Luckshan Wattuhewa and Buddhika Lokuketiya. The film was inspired by Prof. Lorna Devarajas book The Kandyan Kingdom. As lead actor Sajeev Rajaputhra said in his welcome address, the premiere was not merely thescreening of Bhavatharna but marks the beginning of Indo- Lanka collaboration towards greater cultural exchanges. The unveiling of the 2016 Delhi International Film Festival also took place at the Bhavatharna premiere when the President of the Delhi International Film Festival (DIFF) Ramkishore Parcha who graced the occasion announced DIFF 2016 here in Colombo, in appreciation of Daevindas achievement. Sri Lanka was declared the Tourism Partner for DIFF 2016. The occasion also saw the exchange of the MoU to establish a new film festival in Sri Lanka the Ceylon International Film Festival. The Social Circle of India, headed by Sushma Parcha- the organising body of the Delhi International Film Festival handed over the franchise licence to the Social Circle of Sri Lanka to hold the Ceylon International Film Festival annually in Sri Lanka. Addressing the ceremony, President DIFF Ramkishore Parcha said, Bhavatharna winning the award at DIFF was particularly significant in strengthening Indo-Lanka relations. We consider this as a historical achievement not just for Daevinda but also for the entire nation, especially to the new generation film-makers of Sri Lanka, he said, inviting Daevinda to step into Indian cinema for his future films. Several awards were presented, including the Life Time Achievement Award granted by the Delhi Government and DIFF to Indian Film Director, Shri Ketan Mehta. President Maithripala Sirisena presented the award to Mehta and was in turn presented with a special award by the Indian Government in appreciation of strengthening the close relations between Indian and Sri Lanka. Bhavatharnas Producer, Mavathagama S.R. Weerasinghas contribution to Sri Lankan cinema was also recognised with a token of appreciation during the event. Among the invitees were many artistes, authors and theatre veterans. Speaking to the Sunday Times, veteran film director, dramatist and playwright Namel Weeramuni was frank in his praise for Bhavatharna. I would call it a brilliant film. The movie had so many layers to it. There was a lot of symbolism and I particularly like the manner in which he weaved the past and the present in the movie. Award-winning journalist and lyricist Dr. Ajantha Ranasinghe too commented that it was a brilliant film, if a little complicated for some. It is a cinematic film. There are so many things that had made it a cinematic film and I was so surprised to see this film so sophisticated in terms of costumes, camera, dialogue, music and the performance of the actors/actresses. Presidents Counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya said all Sri Lankans can be proud of Daevindas achievement. This is one of the most magnificent experiences I have had as a cinema-goer for the last 50 years. I believe it will go as a classic film of the world cinema in future. I hope Sri Lankan artistes and others will support Daevindas initiative to talk to us in the language of cinema. Brave subject for maiden film- Ketan Mehta Renowned Film/Documentary and TV Director, Ketan Mehta who has created many internationally acclaimed films since 1981, starting with Bhavni Bhavai and later films like Mirch Masala, Maya Memsaab, Mangal Pandey, Sadar and Manjhi, has carved his own niche in the film industry. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mehta who came down to Sri Lanka for the premiere of Bhavatharna shared his views about Daevindas film. It is an ambitious film that deals with a very contemporary subject not just for Sri Lanka but for the world the interaction between politics and religion discussed here is a very important issue that the world needs to look at, he said. Commending Daevindas bravery in taking up the subject of politics and religion in his maiden film, Mehta hopes that the film will start a new wave in Lankan cinema and inspire others to look at cinema differently. Expressing his thoughts about the Sri Lankan film industry, Mehta said it is still an industry trying to balance commerce and creativity. Cinema is changing so fast that it is necessary to have film makers who are trained in the medium and who understand the medium better, he adds. What is needed are institutes that train students in cinema; events like the Ceylon Film Festival, which will create a platform for international film makers to interact with Lankan artistes; and for more adventurous and ambitious film makers like Daevinda, he said. A framework for police reforms By Mahesan Selvaratnam, retired police officer View(s): View(s): Almustafa when asked to speak on Crime and Punishment answered saying .. You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked; For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together. And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also. Khalil Gibran The Prophet The maintenance of law and order is the essential function of government. Conceptually and functionally government and order are related. Not only is the legitimacy of government in a large part determined by whether it maintains order, but order is the criterion for determining whether a government can exist. In ancient India too, there was the recognition that for the wise conduct of life(niti), an essential foundation is security(Ryder Panchatantra, translated from the Sankrit). Towards this, the core contribution of the police is the maintenance of an orderly, predictable process of community life. Public safety is the bedrock on which all social processes rest. The police are the cutting edge of government (Bayley Patterns of Policing). The Police have been defined as people authorized by a group to regulate interpersonal relations within the group even by the application of physical force. Police are not distinguished by the actual use of force but by the fact that they are authorized to use it (ibid). The modern day police perform a multitude of tasks, from law enforcement to mediation. Overall the average police officer is called upon to play a variety of roles. Society has increasingly continued to entrust the police with new responsibilities. These responsibilities have grown in scope and complexities with time. Modern governments have tasked the police to deal with matters ranging from aliens to cats marooned on trees, drug addicts to drunken driving. (Whitaker). The police function has become an admixture of elements of control and social support. Police play a major role in the social delivery system of a free society. To perform this role effectively, police personnel need to be trained to respond to the social, psychological and physical needs of people. Other than the functions, the character of the police has also to be decided on. Are they to be enforcement technicians or social engineers, are they there to bring people into compliance with the law or are they also teachers of the virtue of the law? For the purpose of clarity the functions of the police have to be identified. As set out in the Police Ordinance they are; Preventing all crimes, offences and public nuisances, Preserving the peace, Apprehending disorderly and suspicious characters, Detecting and bringing offenders to justice, Collecting and communicating intelligence, Promptly obeying and executing all orders and warrants lawfully issued by any competent authority. From a management point of view the functions are; Primary (Line) Prevention and detection of all crimes and offences, Investigation of crimes and offences, Prosecution of crimes and offences, Road traffic management and control, Maintenance of public order, Maintenance of internal security, Provision of first line emergency services. Secondary (Support) Coordination and Administration, Personnel and Human Resources, Finance, Logistics. The character (the persona) of the police will have to emerge from the deliberations of the reforms process. When police reforms are undertaken one has to bear in mind these foregoing definitions and concepts. Context Policing in Sri Lanka is a legacy of British colonial rule. The British established a Police Force in Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, by enacting the Police Ordinance in 1865. It is this Ordinance with amendments over the years which even today provides the legal underpinning for policing in Sri Lanka. Today there is much ado about the rise in crime, serious road traffic accidents, the mishandling of public demonstrations by the police, their interventions with disastrous consequences in law and order situations and their lack of capacity and expertise in investigating corruption and fraud allegedly committed by members of the previous regime. Not so long ago questions were asked as to whether there was rectitude and propriety in policing. Concerns were raised over the abuse of political authority and power and corruption in both political institutions and the police. The perception was that political power and authority were being used to harass, demoralise, intimidate and subjugate police officers to make the police force a tool of the political party in power; that the police itself was corrupt, subservient and venal, and that police officers misused their power, authority and position resulting in nepotism, favoritism, violation of human rights and the formation of a police politician, police criminal and police businessman and other unsavory nexuses. Similar questions had surfaced in the 1960s, 1970s, 1990s, and 2000s, though they were of a milder nature when compared to the issues today. For instance, in 1946 the controversy was over the appointment of three London Metropolitan police officers. The Commissions appointed in 1965, 1978, and 1995 found that political interference in the functioning of the police had a serious debilitating effect on the police force. They proposed measures to insulate the police from such interference. Their recommendations in the main were to give the IGP a status similar to that of an SC Judge or the Auditor General in respect of security of tenure and to set up an independent commission to handle appointments, promotions, postings and transfers. The consensus was that the reform of policing and the police was imperative. The way forward For the reform journey, we need to be mindful of the hedgehog concept and the flywheel analogy. While infusing the entire reform process with the brutal facts of reality, we need to develop a simple yet deeply insightful frame of reference for decisions (the Hedgehog), then build up and breakthrough. The transformations sought will never be conjured up in a single action.(the Flywheel). (Jim Collins Good to Great). The hedgehog concept, is derived from Isaiah Berlins essay the The Hedgehog and the Fox, based on an ancient Greek parable. Berlin extrapolating from the parable divides people into two basic groups: foxes and hedgehogs. In the tussle between the fox and the hedgehog the latter always wins. The hedgehog, whenever attacked by the fox, rolls itself up into a little ball of sharp spikes pointing in all directions. The fox retreats and thinks up a new line of attack. Whatever the new tactic of the fox the hedgehog continues to ward off the attack with its simple defense. This takes place as foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are scattered or diffused moving on many levels,..never integrating their thinking into one overall concept or unifying vision. Hedgehogs on the other hand simplify a complex world into a simple organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. (Collins Good to Great). The flywheel analogy is one in which you have to get a giant flywheel, rotating as fast and as long as possible. What gets it going to the point at which its own momentum works in your favor is not the one big push; on the contrary it is each and every one of the pushes, big and small adding up; their overall accumulation. It is the accumulation of energy, applied in a consistent direction, which gets you there. Keeping this in mind: Commit the police to perform police functions by the effective engagement of its body of officers only for maintaining, in the broader sense, law and order. Remove obstacles to the proper carrying out of its tasks by placing all departmental resources, human, material and financial under the Head of the Department(HOD). The administrative authority of the HOD and his directing and supervisory staff that was diminished by the creation of parallel and superordinate authorities should be revested in them by removal of the latter. Transform the police from a regime police to a democratic police. From a majoritarian police to a plural society multi cultural police. The guiding principles should be to; protect democratic political life by acting in a manner that protects such life, operate in terms of the principles of democratic governance including accountability and transparency, ensure effective and efficient service delivery for safety, security and justice, maintain proper police conduct, endow the professional skills and conditions of service required to deliver the high standards of service expected. Establish the operational independence of the police by; leaving policy implementation in the hands of the Inspector General, making the selection process of the IG non political and based purely on integrity, merit, competence and seniority, by law, giving the IG a fixed term with security of tenure. Though the IG is responsible to a political head, the Minister in charge of the police, through the ministry Secretary, for the discharge of his duties, the IGs removal should only be on proven non -performance/misconduct/ill health, making the undue influencing of or the undue interfering with the carrying out of the police primary and secondary functions as set out above a punishable offence. Vitalize policing by professionalizing the police by recognition of the specific expertise required, the capacity for its exercise and the status afforded to the discharge of the expertise in action. The minimal indicators of professionalization are: (i) recruitment according to specified standards, (ii) remuneration sufficiently high to create a career service and compete with the private sector, (iii) formal training and supervision by superior officers. Other features of professionalization would include (a) functional specialisation of personnel, (b) use of modern technology, (c) neutrality in law enforcement, (d) responsible use of discretion and (e) a measure of autonomous self regulation, re-engineering and re-structuring the Department. Redesign the organizational structure by doing an activity analysis, relationship analysis and decision analysis. Introduce appropriate software for the efficient and effective carrying out of the primary and secondary functions of the department, revamping the criminal justice system to facilitate crime prevention and control and order maintenance. Among other measures, recognise that sentencing and punishment as a means of crime control has only minimal relevance; recognise that the disposal of cases other than stipulated (through the judiciary) renders the process yet more apposite; understand that the term laws delays is a euphemistic term which hides the malady beneath, a conflict of interests, public and private interest. It may also denote that much of the court procedure and that the criminal adjudication process is abrasive of community relationships and disrupts coherence in the community. Introduce alternate dispute resolution. Review; the adjudication of fundamental rights cases. The existing process impedes the law and order objective. Problems arising from the determination of law and fact have to be obviated. One such measure for doing so is for rights cases brought against police officers to be processed through a Human Rights Commission prior to action being filed in Courts, the denial of admissibility of confessions made to a police officer though corroborated in material particulars, the right to silence of an offender. Incorporate; community participation at the policy making and policy implementation levels, the peace officer alongside the police officer as a single officer, external regulation, oversight and audit of policing at the ministerial and departmental levels. Enact a new Police Act embodying inter alia; a vision, a mission, a service orientation, current doctrines. A peek at police structures and the oversight of the police. Police forces are set up by rulers, by society, by communities, inter alia, to contain crime, preserve the peace, maintain public order and internal security. As discussed above they have to regulate behavior, by even going to the extent of using physical force . To achieve the foregoing objectives, as indicated in the earlier paragraph, the police have to carry out the line (primary) and support (secondary) functions described earlier on. To enable the carrying out of those functions, systems and structures have to be established. In Sri Lanka the organizational model is that of departmentation by territory as well as by function. To illustrate, the North Western Range is an example of departmentation by territory and the Road Traffic Range is an example of departmentation by function. The former represents the vertical threads of the organizational cloth and the latter its horizontal threads, the weft and the warp. According to Bayley this systemization and departmentation takes many forms. Viz: a single policing system with centralized control and operation Singapore, single with centralized control and decentralized operation Sri Lanka, multiple autonomous England, multiple coordinated, i.e. that is where there are many forces with only one force having jurisdiction over an area, multiple uncoordinated, i.e. that is where more than one force has jurisdiction over an area, multiple coordinated forces with one force having limited concurrent jurisdiction over the same area Canada, superordinate units which assists, standardizes and coordinates: in England these include regional crime squads and Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary; the USA the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA). In certain cases Crimes/Offences/Functions are nationalized, as in the National List of the 13th Amendment, in Sri Lanka. As to the oversight aspect, of control and accountability and the mechanisms of control and accountability, they can be either internal or external, i.e. located either inside or outside the police force. They can be central, regional or local; political, bureaucratic or community. Control by external bodies could be exclusive, that is only controlling the police such as police commissions or police authorities or inclusive, that is controlling other organizations too, such as the judiciary. Control could also be divided, for example, order maintenance by one ministry and criminal investigation by another. Control could also be joint. With respect to internal control, the explicit variety could be hierarchical superior / subordinate, through disciplinary processes, through collegial responsibility, peer supervision, training in rectitude, etc. On the other hand what may be termed internal implicit control would take the form of associations, vocational sense, rewards, promotions, pay and community contact. (Bayley). The nub of oversight, control and accountability is the bringing of police behavior into conformity with the requirements of society being policed. As to what forms are chosen would depend on factors such as the prevalent political culture, societal values and the homogeneity/heterogeneity of the state and the society concerned. Conclusion. When contemplating police reforms especially of a structural nature or agitating for them, one has to be mindful of the conditions prevailing in the country which have a bearing on safety and security both in respect of the state and society. For the reforms to be a success, questions such as, is the regime under threat from collective violence?, what is the philosophy of the encapsulating political system?, what are its values and culture?, what are the societal values? have to be asked and answers obtained. In other words, one has to be conscious of what is happening, one has to be careful not to mistake the symptoms for the malaise and one should not stir things up; one should let hidden forces and emotions emerge naturally so that they resolve themselves naturally and do not emerge as unspecific and chaotic energies which strike and hit any available target. (The Tao of Leadership). The relation between police and society is reciprocal society shapes what the police are, the police influence what society may become. (Bayley Patterns of Policing). Thus a prominent goal of the contemplated police reforms should be to infuse Giri and Ninjo into the police and into society, Giri connoting duty and the obligations of conscience and Ninjo empathetic sensitivity to the needs of the other. (My thanks to Dr T.P.F. de Silva, IGP (retd.) and Dr M.M.K. Wickramasuriya, Snr.DIG (retd.) for their input.) How Sri Lankan diplomacy was undermined by big power politics View(s): UNITED NATIONS Addressing a fistful of academics and students at Yale University many moons ago, a former Indian ambassador said one of the biggest misconceptions about Asia, among most Americans, is that the Indian Ocean belongs to India. Not true, he said amidst laughter. And thats not surprising considering that the average American has little or no knowledge of international politics or even remotely aware of the difference between Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone or between Colombo and Colombia. The usual reaction is: What the hell. They all sound the same. But what about US leaders and politicians? During the Iran-Iraq Gulf War in 1980-1988 and the US-led air attacks to oust Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait in 1991 (and not forgetting the US invasion of Iraq in 2003), US politicians continued to mis-pronounce Iraq and Iran. For most of them, Iraq was I-raq and Iran was I-ran, prompting one comedian to say: The US should stop invading countries until our leaders know how to pronounce the names of the countries we invade. Right on target! But I digress. Speaking of the Indian Ocean, the UN General Assembly created an Ad Hoc Committee (and thats UN jargon for most committees) in December 1972 to ensure the implementation of a Sri Lankan proposal initiated by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, to declare the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace (IOPZ), following a resolution adopted in 1971. The resolution called upon the big powers to enter into immediate consultations with the littoral States of the Indian Ocean with a view to halting the further escalation and expansion of their military presence in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka has chaired that Committee through succeeding Ambassadors for 44 long years. But the results have been zilch. As someone who chaired that Committee, Ambassador H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, who recently quit the post of Governor, Northern Province, to resume his glorious retirement, says the whole notion of a peace zone in the Indian Ocean was brain dead, largely because of big power politics. Ambassador Charlie Mahendran (they call me Charlie because they cannot pronounce Chittambaranathan clearly a case of non-pronunciation, not mispronunciation) says the resolution was dead on water, probably in the depths of the Indian Ocean itself. The proposal eventually became such a running gag that prompted one of the Sri Lankan diplomats (long rumoured to be pun-loving Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo, known for his Nihalisms, not nihilism) who jokingly dubbed a leaking toilet in the precincts of the Foreign Ministry as the Indian Ocean Zone of Piss. But the failure of the proposal was certainly not for the lack of negotiating skills of our diplomats but was due to one of the biggest shortcomings in the UN system where all decisions by the major powers are governed and dictated to by their own national interests be it the Americans, the Brits, the French, the Russians or the Chinese, all veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council. As Jayantha Dhanapala, one of our outstanding diplomats who eventually ended up as UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, points out the Sri Lanka brand of diplomacy had a universal appeal because of its moderation, its competence, language skills and general acceptance. The call for a zone of peace in the Indian Ocean came during the height of the Cold War. The Americans, the French and the Brits were unwilling to abandon their military bases in the Indian Ocean, including Diego Garcia. The lease of the island by UK to the US was justified on the grounds that Diego Garcia was unpopulated, when in fact the people on the island were forcibly relocated to a neighbouring country whose leaders were duly compensated. The first sign of trouble came when the Western powers abstained in the voting on the IOPZ resolution and then absented themselves from the proceedings of the Ad Hoc Committee with the result that we were preaching to the already converted, mostly countries in the Indian Ocean region. Ironically, the moment has come for IOPZ to be revived in the context of China, India and the US vying for influence in the Asia-Pacific region. But the question is will the proposal fly particularly if it is torpedoed by the big powers? Perhaps the same holds true with the UN Special Committee on Israeli Practices (more appropriately Israeli Mal-practices?) which has existed for 48 years since its creation in December 1968. The Committee, chaired by successive Sri Lankan ambassadors, has not been granted permission or visas to enter Israeli-occupied territories, except on a single occasion. As a result, all of the meetings to investigate Israeli human rights violations have been held far away from the scene of the crimes mostly in neighbouring Jordan, Egypt and Syria. The US and Western powers, which support Israel, right or wrong, have virtually gone along with the Israeli stance making a mockery of the UN Special Committee. A third Committee we chair the UN Ad Hoc Committee to Eliminate Terrorism has long been deadlocked over the definition of terrorism. But the ultimate definition of terrorism has continued to defy governments, rights groups, the media and even the United Nations. The United States and Israel continue to label Hamas a terrorist organisation but much of the mainstream media calls it a militant organisation. The European Court of Justice has upheld an appeal by Hamas, pointing out that its designation as a terrorist group by the European Union (EU) was based not on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities but on factual imputations derived from the press and the Internet. Since 2000, the Ad Hoc Committee has failed to adopt the last of its conventions against terrorism: the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) sponsored by India. Still, Ambassador Rohan Perera, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee and currently Sri Lankas Permanent Representative to the United Nations, says the work of his committee has resulted in the adoption of three counter terrorism conventions, namely, the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. But as his Canadian predecessor said when he handed over the chairmanship of the Committee, Rohan will remain chairman for life because the UN will never agree on a definition of terrorism. (The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@aol.com) Ports of Auckland Ltd is buying 33 hectares of land at Horotiu, 8km North of Hamilton to develop an inland freight hub similar in intent to the Port of Taurangas MetroPort Auckland which has been in operation since 1999. Establishing a freight hub in the Waikato is a central part of our supply chain strategy as its one of New Zealands fastest growing areas and a major freight generator, says Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson. Waikato will complete our North Island freight hub network, complementing our existing sites in the Manawatu, Bay of Plenty and Wiri, South Auckland. The location is in an area of growing manufacturing, warehousing and logistics businesses. This is a strategic purchase, which will be developed over a number of years, says Tony. The key benefit of our freight hub network is that it can be used to balance freight flows around the North Island and eliminate unnecessary movement of empty containers. By driving out waste from the supply chain we can lower the cost to importers and exporters. Tony says establishing a Waikato freight hub will improve access to overseas markets for Waikato-based exporters and will reduce exporters costs because of the supply chain efficiencies they will be able to achieve. Better international freight links will also benefit the region, encouraging additional investment in the Waikato and greater employment opportunities. There will be significant investment in the site over a number of years, with the first step being to establish road and a rail connections, says Tony. The Northgate site was chosen because it is beside the North Island Main Trunk line, with a direct link to Port of Aucklands other freight hubs and the Waitemata seaport. The site is also located close to State Highway 1. Ports of Auckland is committed to increasing use of rail and creating a more sustainable transport system, which will in turn help generate infrastructure savings at a national level. The target is to increase the use of rail from 13 per cent to 30 per cent of traffic to the Waitemata port in Auckland. The development of the port companys inland freight hub network is critical to achieving this target. The sale process is expected to be complete by March 31. Port of Auckland Ltd has bought land at Horotiu. They may look pretty but appearances can be deceiving Indian ringneck parakeets are an unwanted pest here in New Zealand. The Waikato Regional Council is appealing to owners of these birds to do all they can to prevent them escaping after an Indian ring neck parakeet population was discovered near Paeroa recently. The introduction of free GP visits for under 13s has made it easier for Bay of Plenty families to access medical care for their sick children. Data provided by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board show there were a total of 11,000 visits by children to their GP during the first quarter (July to September) of the 2015/16 year. Bay of Plenty Police are on the hunt for any information that will lead to the location of a stolen tractor. A red 2015 Massey Ferguson 5430, similar to the one pictured but with a frontloader, was taken from a work site opposite the Rotorua Airport. Full name Email Company Position Please select exactly what you would like to receive from us by ticking the boxes below: Weekly SuperyachtNews Bulletin Surveys Events Updates Subscription Offers Advertising Opportunities After leaving Savona on January 20th, Serenity sailed across the Mediterranean Sea, passing Messina and reaching the Suez Canal (Port Side) for a getaway into the Read Sea a week later. Stopping briefly in Salalah in Oman on February 5th, she arrived in Dubai on the 9th completing a 4,500 mile journey. With her exterior profile and layout designed by Luca Vallebona, Serenity is a yacht with striking style which is complemented by her beautiful interior created by Dubai-based interior designer Fatema Almaidan. The SF40 line was engineered to reflect a new approach to providing clean and well-balanced design together with a new ideation behind internal and external volumes. This evolutionary step for Mondo Marine was unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show and is now a highly anticipated member of the 2016 Dubai International Boat Show. At the end of the Dubai International Boat Show, Serenity will leave for a week Persian and Oman Gulf tour, reaching Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Oman. Time flies by faster and faster, doesnt it? In less than 30 days, we will be moving our clocks forward an hour to Daylight Savings Time. The good part of that is spring will be here before we know it! As we continue into 2016, we also continue to hold our Farm Management meetings on the third Monday of the month through March. These meetings are held at the Smyth County Farm Bureau Insurance Building each month with the exception of January. We have some excellent speakers lined up, and I think you will find the information you gain during these meetings to be helpful to your overall farming operation. This coming Monday, Feb. 15, we will host Russell County Extension Agent Scott Jessee as our speaker. Scott will be talking to us about the Virginia Quality Assured (VQA) Program, a value-added marketing plan for beef producers. The VQA program goal is to reward producers who have backgrounded their calf crops to better prepare them for life in the feedlot. VQA calves must be weaned a minimum of 45 days and, if the calves were purchased, must have been owned a minimum of 120 days. Calves are predominately black and black white face or Charolais crosses with no pink noses. This allows the calves to be marketed as Certified Angus once they grade choice at the feed yard. The calves must also receive vaccinations in modified live virus (MLV) form and be feed bunk and waterer broken. Because the calves have been treated the same, they can be comingled with calves from other farms to form tractor-trailer loads of very similar cattle. Traditionally, cattle sold in load lots (50,000 pounds of live animal weight) fetched a higher price because the cattle were more similar and also more efficient to move due to maximizing the efficiency of freight. Farmers with a few calves or even a single calf were often left out because there was no way to insure that enough like cattle showed up at the market on the day of sale to fill out the 50,000 pound load. The VQA program helps smaller operators by giving them a means to get load lot prices on every single animal they bring to the collection site. Mr. Jessee will discuss past results with us and compare sale-day prices with local and western markets. A steak dinner will be offered at the meeting. The cost is $15 per person and the proceeds go to the Smyth County Livestock Club. For our sheep producers, now is a busy time. Lambs are being born and sometimes not in the most convenient time or weather. As these new lambs arrive, it is also a good time to review where you think your flock needs to go genetically. If you produce lambs for sale, March has a farm management meeting you will want to attend. On March 21, Dr. Scott Greiner will be joining us to speak on selecting the genetics and seedstock to power your flock into the future. Dr. Greiner has worked with the staff at the Glade Spring Research Farm owned by Virginia Tech to conduct grazing research and hold a genetics sale of hair sheep rams for several years now. His expertise in the breeding of both hair and wool-producing lambs will surely help you to improve your flock. The FBM Meeting on Hair Sheep will conclude our farm management meeting for the winter of 2016. Spring and summer will bring other informative meeting and we will reconvene the Farm Business Management Meetings on the third Monday in November. Upcoming events Feb. 15--Smyth Farm Management Meeting, Farm Bureau Building, Marion 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16--Washington County Ag Career Day, SWVA Higher Education Center, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 18--Scheduled Smyth Washington Cattlemans Association Meeting, Washington County Fairgrounds, Abingdon, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22--Tobacco GAP Meeting, 4-H Center, Abingdon, 6 p.m. Required of all contract holders. Feb. 24--Mid Atlantic Secure Milk Supply Meeting, Old Glade Presbyterian Church, Glade Spring 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. March 5--Southwest Virginia Agriculture Association Meeting, Southwest 4-H Center, Abingdon 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 7-11--District Dairy Conferences, SWVA TBA. Meeting will be in Wytheville. March 21--Smyth Farm Management Meeting, Farm Bureau Building, Marion 6:30 p.m. March 24--Smyth Washington Cattlemans Meeting, Dr. Alex White will speak on Managing Money in Leaner Times, Washington County Fairgrounds, Abingdon. March 28--Spring VQA Sale. Calves must be weaned by Feb. 15. May 4--Bristol Steer and Heifer Show, Washington County Fairgrounds, Abingdon. Garrett Bishop.JPG Garrett Bishop, 21, is coping with a chronic heart condition but insisted on bowling in the Post-Standard Masters at AMF Strike N Spare. (M.F. Piraino) Syracuse, N.Y. Garrett Bishop has a new outlook on life. Despite coping with a chronic heart condition, the 21-year-old Bishop is making the most of every day, including bowling in the 57th annual Post-Standard Masters Tournament on Sunday. "I didn't feel great but I tried," said Bishop, who missed the cut with a 556 series. "I fought hard. I didn't give up the pocket but that's no guarantee for strikes. I just couldn't carry." Bishop's sentiment about carrying strikes was shared by many of the 328 bowlers who competed at AMF Strike N Spare. It took a three-game series of 579 or better to be among the 127 qualifiers for double-elimination match play next weekend at AMF Strike N Spare. It's the lowest cutoff score in more than 18 years. Bishop, of Marcellus, suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HMC), a chronic condition he was diagnosed with at 16 after he collapsed in physical education class. HMC is a disease where the heart muscle thickens, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood. Last November, Bishop's cardiologist told him his condition was getting worse. Bishop sunk into a depressed state as he tried to absorb the seriousness of his health condition. He struggled to get out of bed and didn't want to leave his house. Competing in bowling tournaments failed to motivate him either. "It hit me hard," Bishop said. "You get in a mindset that 'Well if I'm going to die what's the point of trying to build a bowling career?'" When the Auburn Men's Masters rolled around in January, Bishop reluctantly entered only at the insistence of a close friend. It was the gentle push Bishop needed to snap out of his funk. Bishop, who weighs 385 pounds, is taking responsibility for his health. Since November has lost 40 pounds. "I'm really trying," Bishop said. "So right now I'm trying to stay active and trying to stay positive." Bowling in tournaments like the Auburn Masters, where he finished eighth, and the P-S Masters has helped Bishop's outlook and self-esteem. He also rolled his first career 300 on Jan. 1 at Cedar House Lanes. "It means a lot to me when someone comes up to you and says 'You did great.'" Bishop said. "These past few weeks I've become more positive. It's hard not to get angry some days but I'm thinking I have to live my life." Brandon Burnmaster finished at the top qualifier with a 706 series at the P-S Masters on Sunday at AMF Strike N Spare. Left-hander Brandon Burnmaster, of Utica, nailed down the top qualifying spot with a stellar 706 series. Burnmaster succeeded where others failed by bowling his own game. His 700 series was the only one in qualifying. "It was about making good shots, being consistent and making the right moves when I had to," Burnmaster. A challenging tournament lane pattern seemed to handcuff even the best bowlers. Just ask Dave Jecko, of Whitesboro. Dave Jecko, who set a Utica city record Feb. 11 with an 889 at Pin-O-Rama in Utica, just missed the cut with a 574 series. Jecko, who set a Utica city record Feb. 11 with an 889 at Pin-O-Rama, had four splits in his first five frames and just missed the cut with a 574 series. "That first game put me in a hole," Jecko said. "I tried to grind it out. But every day is different, every house is different and every shot is different. That's bowling." A roll-off for three spots between Josh McBride, Tim Locastro, Mike Phillips and Mike Ryan will be held 5:30 p.m. Monday at Strike N Spare. A list of match play qualifiers will appear on Syracuse.com Monday. Match play pairings will be released Thursday. 160210-F-SN926-18.JPG Syracuse police officer Melissa Ferris, serving as a medic in the Army Reserves, tends to an injured motorist in Djibouti last week. ( Technical Sgt. Dan DeCook) Djibouti, Africa -- A Syracuse police officer serving in Africa with the Army Reserves helped rescue a badly injured motorist from a tractor trailer crash last week while on her way to pull teeth in a nearby village. Officer Melissa Ferris, in eastern Africa as a senior medic, was with a group on a mission to pull teeth at a village near the Djibouti/Somalia border. But on a crowded two-lane road, she came upon something that needed her attention first, according to a military account of the episode. Four 18-wheelers had crashed and the screams of a trapped man filled the air, according to the article by Technical Sgt. Daniel R. DeCook. "At first it appeared to be just a rear-ending, but as we got up close I could see one person on the ground," said Ferris, a Sergeant First Class with the 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion Delta Company. Ferris and another sergeant didn't think twice before plunging in. "It's the right thing to do. I wouldn't drive past an accident back home in New York," Ferris was quoted saying. "If someone drove off the side of the road in the snow, I'm going to stop and see if they need assistance. It's just something that I do. It didn't matter that we were in Africa." For 20 minutes, Ferris and Cynthia Price, a volunteer firefighter from Pennsylvania, helped pull the man from the wreckage (with the help of chains from other motorists), stabilized his neck, plucked glass from his eyes and got him ready for an ambulance. After getting the man into an ambulance, the duo realized that this wasn't like back home: there was no paperwork to fill out, no witnesses to take statements from, the story noted. Instead, they hugged while dripping in sweat and went back to their original mission. Read the full story: En route to pull teeth, Army Civil Affairs members pull man from tractor-trailer crash Antonin Scalia Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died Saturday at the age of 79. His death has begun a debate on if President Barack Obama or his successor should nominate Scalia's replacement. (The Associated Press) Scalia would not approve of manipulation of the process To the Editor, Only hours after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the Senate would not vote on a replacement for Scalia because "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice." The voice of the American people will indeed be heard in the selection of a new justice, the voice of President Obama. The president the American people elected. Twice. And yet, the Republicans have worked for eight years blocking, revoking, repealing and rebuking President Obama at every turn. The president the American people elected ... twice. The Republican's claim "election year" is the reason to leave a seat on the high court vacant for almost a year. Are we to understand that if a president serves an eight-year term, he or she may only make Supreme Court appointments for six of those eight years? Really? Is that in the Constitution? No. And so, even the late Justice Antonin Scalia would not approve of such a manipulation -- a perversion -- of the law he so fiercely defended for most of his life. Kelly Grace Smith Fayetteville Will nomination reflect intellect or ideology? To the Editor: The death of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia, a man celebrated and respected for his intellect, has unleashed a torrent of comment on the urgent need to replace him to avert nearly a year with just eight justices. The court's term is to end on July 27, which means there are about 24 weeks left in this session. The 2016 session will begin Oct. 3, some four weeks before Election Day. Between Election Day and the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, some 12 weeks will have elapsed. Some say respecting the will of "We the People" during an election year when a vacancy occurs on the Supreme Court has standing for nominations to be left to the incoming president. However, partisan advantage will undoubtedly cause Obama and the Democrats to swing the balance of power to ideological liberals with a controversial nominee. Then the vicious onslaught of rhetorical attacks will begin against the majority Republican Senate for mounting a counter offensive to leave the nomination to the incoming president. If the Republicans were to succeed that would result in an eight-member court for 40 weeks. If Obama were to do what's best for the United States, he will nominate a candidate whose ideology allows for intellect and whose judicial history demonstrates an inclination toward impartiality. It would be difficult for the Senate to justify sheer partisan initiatives. Will intellect or ideology prevail? President Obama's nominee will provide the answer. Chet Braun Skaneateles Supreme Court justices vote along party line To the Editor: The untimely death of Justice Scalia once again begins the political wrangling that's always present in nominating a new justice to the Supreme Court. The oxymoron we call "the Supreme Court" is anything but an independent legal body of justice defending the Constitution. The justices just vote along political lines. We'd like to think the Supreme Court makes sound, nonpartisan, legal interpretations and opinions based on the justices' extensive experience with the law of the land, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. Ultimately, our Supreme Court votes along party lines no different than the dysfunctional Congress that does the same. They vote, under the guise of examining the legal and constitutional facts, but results in the decision being made by the party with majority representation. It's not what's right or wrong, it's what is politically correct. Making our Supreme Court the most un supreme body of justice is only matched by today's federal government decision makers. Party on dudes. Joe Pagano Syracuse 2015-04-07-dl-animals6.JPG The alligator was about 3 1/2 feet long. (Dave Lassman |dlassman@syracuse.com) A Florida man faces several criminal charges after he tossed a live, 3 1/2 -foot alligator through a Wendy's drive-thru window as a prank. The incident occurred back in October, but it took for investigators to identify the culprit, Joshua James, in surveillance videos. The charges against James include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, reported WPTV. The station reported that investigators said that James drove up to the window, took a drink he had ordered, and while the clerk turned her back to the window, he tossed the gator inside the window. Other charges against James include unlawful possession of an alligator and petty theft. He told investigators he found the alligator on the side of the road. Wendy's staff called the Florida Fish and Wildlife officials who captured it and released it into a local canal. His mother, Linda James, told WPTV that it "was just a stupid prank. He does stuff like this because he thinks it's funny." According to the Palm Beach Post, bail was set at $6,000 with no rights to own weapons or animals, including reptiles. James is also not allowed at Wendy's anymore. OTHER ODDITIES IN THE OUTDOORS *Wisconsin recently became the first state in the country to legalize blaze pink for hunters. Lawmakers passed the new regulation in the hopes that the new color option will draw in more women hunters, according to outdoorshub.com. Previously, hunters had to don blaze orange on at least 50 percent of their upper half. Now, blaze pink is a legal alternative during deer firearms seasons. Studies have shown that blaze pink is easier to see than orange, and harder for wildlife to recognize, according to fieldandstream.com. Not everyone is happy with the new law. Sarah Ingle, president of the Women's Hunting and Sporting Association, called the bill "sexist." "I think that it was an ill-advised idea to get women involved in hunting," she told TMJ4. "Saying a woman would choose a lifestyle of hunting, fishing, gathering her own game just because she can wear a color is sexist." *Actually, this oddity involves an indoor situation. A Plymouth, England family has spent months living in fear in their front room, fearful of a snake they believe may be lurking below the floorboards. Hebden family members have been sleeping on camp beds in their front room ever since Bear, their family dog, was attacked the snake in June, according to plymouthherald.uk.co. The snake, believed to be a large, pet king snake that escaped, slithered into a hole in the floorboards after biting the dog. Hebden family members believe the snake is currently hibernating. The mother, Jackie Hebden, has shared the floor space with her husband, daughter, two sons, their partners and their two dogs. "The dog keeps going straight back to the airing cupboard upstairs, which is where he was bitten. It's strange - I think it must be able to sense it," Hebden told The Herald. "I'm worried that, once it wakes up from hibernation, it's going to come out searching for food." Is it really still there? A joint raid on the house in July by Plymouth Community Homes (PCH), an exotic animal specialist and a carpenter failed to yield any results. "I just wish it would come out and bite me so I can prove it actually exists," the mother told The Herald. BREVARD COUNTY A fisherman is missing from a 17-foot outboard boat that he used to go in the ocean from Port Canaveral at midnight Sunday, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The boat was found overnight onshore at Satellite Beach, spokesman Leonard Salberg said Monday. During the night, seas were choppy. Winds were 13 to 17 mph and waves were 4 to 5 feet, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Pendergrast. The nearshore currents are moving northward. The Coast Guard is helping search for the boater, along with local agencies. Two helicopters are aiding in the search. STUART The local chapter of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary may not participate in Saturday's St. Lucie River Blessing of the Fleet because of bacteria in the water. Ironically, the theme of this year's event is "Demand Clean Water to Save Our River." A week ago the Coast Guard office in Miami told the members of Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 59 in Stuart not to participate in the event because of high levels of bacteria in the water near the event site. On Monday morning, the Coast Guard reversed its decision and gave the auxiliary the go-ahead to take part. "That could still change again," said Flotilla Commander Gary Bowerman of Stuart. "As long as conditions remain as bad as they are in the river, anything could happen. It's all about the health and safety of our people; that's what the Coast Guard is concerned about." The Florida Department of Health in Martin County is advising people to avoid contact with the St. Lucie at the Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart and at Leighton Park near the Palm City Bridge, both near the site of the blessing event, because of high levels of enteric bacteria. Presence of the bacteria indicates fecal pollution from stormwater runoff, pets, wildlife or human sewage. Symptoms of exposure for those who ingest or come in contact with the water may include upset stomach, diarrhea, eye irritation and skin rashes. The warnings were issued before discharges of Lake Okeechobee water to the St. Lucie began Jan. 30. An advisory at Sandsprit Park near Port Salerno, the auxiliary flotilla's home base, remains in effect despite a "moderate" rating Feb. 8 because of previous "poor" ratings. FATAL BACTERIA The Coast Guard also is concerned about the presence of Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria that can enter a body through cuts and scrapes and can, in rare cases, cause death. Another irony: Because of the Lake O discharges, the water in the St. Lucie Estuary, which should contain a mixture of saltwater and freshwater, is completely salt free -- and Vibrio can't live without salty water. Gabrielle Barbarite, a graduate student at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, tested water Sunday at Leighton Park and the Roosevelt Bridge and found no Vibrio. Tests at Sandsprit Park, she said, contained "fairly low" levels of Vibrio. "Regardless, presence is presence and that's what people should be aware of," she said. "Obviously, if the Coast Guard has a concern about health and safety, we have a concern about health and safety," said Darrell Brand, an event organizer and commodore of the Palm Cove Yacht Club in Palm City. Brand said parade participants will be "made aware of the health issues involving the river." Most boaters have little or no contact with the water, Brand said. The event doesn't attract kayakers or paddleboarders who would be in contact with the water because the boats parade at 5 mph. The event drew 156 boats last year, Brand said, "and we're sure to have at least that many this year." 45th annual St. Lucie River Blessing of the Fleet When: Feb. 20 Where: North Fork of St. Lucie River off Palm City Open to: Private and commercial, powerboats and sailboats Times: Boats assemble at noon, start at 12:30 p.m. Assembly site: North of Marker G7 What to expect: Ministers from four denominations will bless boats as they pass Cost: Free Theme: Demand Clean Water to Save Our River Contact: Joel Sena, 772-233-2419; Darrell Brand, 772-631-0937 Donald Trump's strong second-place finish in Iowa and his overwhelming victory in New Hampshire now establish him as the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination for president. Since he is likely to do well in South Carolina and Florida, where he is leading decisively, the chances his rivals will overtake him are slim. I'm not a Republican or an active Donald Trump supporter. I'm a political independent who would vote for a principled and consistent libertarian if offered the opportunity. Alas, that will not happen this election cycle. Yet in politics (as in life) one often must face the reality that we cannot get everything we want. If we choose to participate in the political process at all, we often must make a second-best choice and Trump, despite some significant warts, has certain "compensating advantages" over his rivals in both political parties. Trump's most obvious advantage is that he can finance is own campaign and is not beholden to any apparent business or political interests. This one fact alone makes Trump anathema to the Republican establishment and the K Street crowd, but attractive to working-class, middle Americans (of any political persuasion) who understand they have been fleeced repeatedly by lobbyists, banksters and influence peddlers for decades. Contrast Trump's self-financing with rivals such as Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush, who have major establishment financial support or, more obviously, with Hillary Clinton, who through speeches, personal fundraising and the Clinton Foundation has received substantial "donations" from foreign governments, Hollywood elites and Wall Street interests. Common sense suggests heavyweight financial supporters always expect something in return. Exactly what is unclear, but do we really want to find out? Trump's second compensating advantage is that he has, as they say, met a payroll. Trump has built a massive business brand and real estate empire with a practical working knowledge of economics within the context of a competitive market economy. (By contrast, Bernie Sanders, a self described democratic socialist, would replace much of the competitive market economy with increased government ownership or regulation.) Donald Trump has hired and fired many thousands of employees and suppliers and made hundreds of long-run investment decisions on expensive projects. He can read a balance sheet. None of his Republican challengers, and certainly not Clinton or Sanders, can make those claims with any credibility. In addition, Trump has released a detailed and intelligent tax plan that should increase both savings and business investment in the United States. He also is a super-skeptic in the man-made climate change debate and opposes increases in the federal minimum wage law that would make low productivity workers less competitive and increase unemployment. Finally, Trump has been critical of multinational trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he argues will shutter more U.S. businesses and destroy jobs. Trump's most important advantage over his rivals, however, is his long-held skepticism concerning U. S. military adventurism and nation building, especially in the Middle East. Trump has been highly critical of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and of the Obama/Clinton foreign policy blunders in Libya and Syria, which have created, in part, the massive refugee crisis. Trump also opposes the imposition of any "no fly" zone in Syria Clinton and several Republican candidates support it and claims he would work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to crush ISIS. Neither Sanders nor Clinton or any of Trump's Republican rivals has expressed any interest in seeking an accommodation with Putin to reduce military tensions or accomplish foreign policy goals of mutual interest. His most controversial foreign policy position concerns the so-called Iranian nuclear deal. Ted Cruz has argued he would "tear up" the Iranian Accord on his first day as president; Chris Christie, Marco Rubio and Ben Carson have expressed similar preferences. Trump, ever the deal maker, has argued, instead, that while the current agreement with Iran was poorly negotiated, his administration would, instead, use the existing agreement as a starting point to renegotiate a far better "deal" for the U.S. and its allies. To be sure, Trump's liabilities are substantial. His rhetoric can be indelicate and he exaggerates; his support for protectionism and eminent domain are problematic; his proposed changes in border security and immigration may prove impossible to implement. Yet Trump's specific benefits may well overwhelm these liabilities, especially with voters of both parties who are fed up with politics as usual and hunger for fundamental change this time around. Dom Armentano is Professor Emeritus in Economics at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. He lives in Vero Beach. Patti Rinabarger's daughter, who lives in England, sent her mother a note in the mail about a unique program that is taking big steps in improving the relationships between fathers and their children. At once, Rinabarger realized that the program could have a huge impact here in the States. The program is called Who Let The Dads Out and addresses the growing demand for parenting groups that give fathers and their pre-school children the opportunity to have some fun and spend quality time together. Rinabarger introduced the idea to her pastor, Ron Thomas at Friendship Christian Community Church in Sebastian. He was intrigued. Upon further investigation, they learned that the program is quite popular across the pond. More than 140 churches of all denominations and approximately 2800 dads, sons and daughters participate every month. 'The effect on fathers and children is significant. But it also positively impacts the wider family,' Rinabarger says. 'It has become very successful in England and I think it would be a great program for our community.' According to Thomas, 'It is so important for children, especially toddlers, to have a strong father figure in their lives. It can be their father, grandfather or uncle, but males play such an important role in our children's lives. Trailblazer Rinabarger has started the first Who Let The Dads Out group to be organized and registered in the United States. 'This provides a great opportunity for that special bond, as well as giving mothers a few hours off either for themselves or to spend quality time with older siblings,' she said. Dads, granddads, uncles and other male caregivers are welcome to bring their toddlers, ages 1-4, to Friendship Christian Community Church from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. every third Saturday of the month. A complimentary pancake breakfast with sausage, juices, coffee and milk is served. And there are plenty of toys, crafts and games for the young ones to play with while they interact with children their age. For more information, contact the church at 772-589-4458. They are located at 611 Schumann Drive in Sebastian, at the corner of U.S. 1. Art gives us beauty and invites us into new ways of seeing the world and on this night, art also helps change people's lives in Haiti! On March 4 at 5:30 p.m., Haiti Partners hosts its 4th annual Educate & Celebrate event at The Northern Trust Bank, 755 Beachland Blvd. The evening will feature gourmet food and wine pairings, followed by live and silent auctions containing paintings, jewelry, woodworkings and more. The focus will be meaningful fun, friendship, food, wine and art that benefits education in Haiti through the work of Haiti Partners. Co-Directors Kent Annan (Vero Beach resident and author of three books) and John Engle (whose family relocated from Vero Beach to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake) will speak briefly on the work of Haiti Partners. Tickets can be purchased for $125 per person, and $100 of the ticket price is tax deductible and will have a direct impact on providing quality education for the children and young adults of Haiti. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact Haiti Partners by calling Lisa Eisele at 772-539-8521 or via email at lisa@haitipartners.org. For more information about Haiti Partners visit HaitiPartners.org The Community Concert Series presents Rochelle Sallee and Ryan Kasten, concert pianists on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Sallee and Kasten join forces again to present a concert of Rhapsodic Piano Literature. The recital will feature the Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt, and Rhapsodies by Brahms among other great works for solo piano, piano duets, and of course the battle of the grand pianos with each at their own instrument. Sallee and Kasten will each play solo piano repertoire, join together in duets on one piano, and then duel it out on the pianos with the 9' Hamburg Steinway Concert Grand and the 7'4' Bosendorfer Concert Grand. The recital is free and all are welcome to attend. There will be a free-will offering. The Community Church of Vero Beach is located at 1901 23rd St. For information call Ryan Kasten at 772-469-2306 or visit CCOVB.org. Munich, February 15, 2016: At Mobile World Congress 2016, Fujitsu will showcase its Internet of Things (IoT) technologies as a business-growth enabler for digitally-balanced enterprises. Under the theme Human Centric Innovation in Action, the company will demonstrate how its ground-breaking IoT solutions play an essential role in the digital transformation of business processes across a wide range of industries. Fujitsu defines digital transformation as bridging the digital disconnect through the seamless integration of new front-end experiences with processes and information at the core operational level. The company believes that digital transformation is fundamental to business growth of every organization, however achieving it requires enterprises to be digitally-enabled from end to end. Mobility plays a central role to achieve this from workplace solutions, wearable technologies and sensors, to cloud computing. Thats why technology needs to be where the people are not the other way round to support and empower people, naturally and unobtrusively. European business leaders agree that digital transformation is critical to their future success; however, the majority also believe that the whole digitalization process is a gamble, says Dr Alex Bazin, Vice President & Head of IoT Digital Business Platform, Fujitsu Technology Solutions. Based on a human-centric approach and a comprehensive portfolio of products, solutions and services that together put the company at the forefront of digital excellence, Fujitsu helps enterprises to improve their odds for digital success. At Mobile World Congress we will show how IoT supports this goal. Fujitsu at Mobile World Congress 2016 At its booth in Hall 5, A40, Fujitsu will showcase its IoT smart technologies, including: Smart Utilities & Smart Field Services: Demonstrating the Hyperconnected Van and Augmented Reality for more effective field engineers Automotive & Smart Transport: One of the biggest challenges of the transport and logistics sector is improving driver safety and fleet management with sensor-based data and Fujitsu offers digital solutions to benefit the driver, fleet manager, the vehicle, the suppliers and the manufacturers IoT enterprise wearables: Devices and sensors including location badges and tags, vital sensing band, and a remote monitoring station. For example, vital-sensing bands detect the workers environment to prevent accidents/falls, which improves their wellbeing Smart Manufacturing: Supply chain visibility, factory efficiency, and improved worker safety Smart Healthcare: Fujitsu Healthcare Cloud / RFID solutions for hospitals such as digitalized bedsheets and uniforms for hospital. Fujituss Healthcare Cloud platform focuses on patient / client communications and transaction services, self-management, TeleCare, and Community Healthcare services Smart Cities: Showcases on IoT-enabling topics around: Mobility, Big Data and Human Centric Innovation Smart Agriculture: Experience the real-life case study of the Connected Cow in the dairy industry Smart Financial Services: Expanding the Mobile ATM user Fujitsu ATM Series 100 using PalmSecure and NFC technologies for secure transactions Mobile devices: Discover Human-Centric Working: ESPRIMO mini PC with embedded PalmSecure technology Unlimited usability and productivity with FUJITSU Tablet STYLISTIC R726 Easy to use collaboration solution supported by Intel Unite and ESPRIMO Q956 mini PC to transform existing conference rooms into smart, connected places to meet Demonstrations from Fujitsu Laboratories: Creative Digital Spaces with Virtual Window Air Hand-Writing and Ring Type Devices for Hands-free Operations Technuter.com News Service Throughout the known universe, the Earth is considered significantly distinct from other planets and cosmic objects because it is the only home to living beings. In fact, our planet's ability to host life may be linked to the existence of rare minerals, differentiating it from others in the cosmos. Planets That Support Life In a new study that catalogued minerals on Earth, a pair of scientists found that there are about 2,550 rare minerals that make up our planet's unique fingerprint. Research scientists Robert Hazen and Jesse Ausubel teamed up to classify the most singular minerals on the planet, such as the Sardinian ichnusaite as well as the amosite and the fingerita found in El Salvador. The pair found that there is an association between the presence of minerals on Earth and the planet's ability to sustain life. "Life depends on minerals," says Hazen, a scientist at the Geophysical Laboratory in the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "Life could not have begun without some of the chemical properties that minerals provided at Earth's beginning." Their conclusion is that each planet with the ability to support life has a unique fingerprint of rare minerals. It's also very likely that planets such as Mercury and Mars have much simpler minerals because they cannot sustain life. Hazen, who is also the executive director of the Deep Carbon Observatory that examines carbon on Earth, says that explorations performed by rovers on the moon and on Mars are not finding anything very surprising in the field of mineralogy because of this reason. Fitting In One Thimble Ausubel, a senior research associate in New York City's Rockefeller University, says the mineral resources on Earth are linked to the planet's richness of life. A planet that is ecologically poorer is equal to a planet with a presence of fewer minerals. Additionally, none of the 2,550 minerals identified in the study is located in more than five locations, which means they are "the rarest of the rare." For some of the minerals, the supply is so scarce that it could fit in a thimble. But hunting down these odd minerals are important because they are fundamentally vital to understanding the construction of our planet. Hazen and Ausubel divided the 2,550 minerals into four broad categories of rarity, depending on the conditions in which they form, how rare their ingredients are, how ephemeral they are and the limitations of their supply. Incidentally, there is one entry in the catalogue that is named after Hazen. "Hazenite" is only found in Mono Lake in California and forms when the phosphorus concentration in the lake reaches high levels. The microbes in the water have to start excreting hazenite from their cells in order to survive. The tiny, colorless crystals are essentially microbial "poop." "Yes, it's true - hazenite happens," adds Hazen. Hazen and Ausubel's findings are featured in the magazine American Mineralogist. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Women who plan to get pregnant should take extra precautions against the Zika virus that has been linked to microcephaly. The mysterious pandemic infected more than 5,000 pregnant women in Colombia, making them at a higher risk of giving birth to infants with smaller brains. The virus can spread from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Until the link could be confirmed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that pregnant women in any trimester practice special precautions to prevent being infected with the virus. Postpone Travel To Zika-Stricken Areas CDC issued travel warnings to areas with reported Zika virus cases. Pregnant women or couples who plan to get pregnant are advised to avoid countries in South America, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The health agency said that women who are trying to get pregnant and their partners should talk to their doctors before travelling to areas with Zika. "At this time, we know that the best way to protect pregnant women from Zika is to delay travel to areas with ongoing Zika transmission," Dr. Denise J. Jamieson, Chief, Women's Health and Fertility Branch at CDC, said. Know That Zika Can Be Transmitted Sexually The virus that is known to be transmitted through mosquito bites can likely be transmitted through sexual intercourse. Health officials confirmed a case of Zika virus infection through sexual intercourse in Texas. A woman acquired the infection after having sexual intercourse with a man who recently traveled to Venezuela. Practice Special Precautions To Prevent Mosquito Bites There is still no known cure or vaccine for Zika virus. Health officials encourage travelers especially pregnant women to protect themselves from mosquito bites. Travelers are advised to use mosquito-repellents with active ingredients and permethrin-treated clothing. They are also advised to cover exposed areas of the skin, sleep in air-conditioned screened rooms and use bed nets in areas exposed outdoors. Be Aware Of Symptoms Though most people infected with the virus do not manifest any signs of infection, pregnant women and those who plan to get pregnant should report if they experience any discomfort. Common signs and symptoms of the disease include fever, rash, red eyes, and joint pain. Other symptoms may include headache, pain behind the eyes, vomiting and muscle pain. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Using lab animals in the development of new treatments is widely practiced all over the world. Lab animals become models for diseases, and their behavior is observed for scientific research. However, there is a downside to it: issues in ethics and the quality of science can arise with animal testing. This may soon be solved. Researchers in Maryland have grown the "mini brain," an extremely miniscule organoid with human cells and neurons that mimic the function of a real human brain. The mini brain isn't capable of cognition or conscious thought, and it isn't capable of experiencing suffering or pain, but it exhibits similar characteristics to the real thing. The lab-grown organoid, which is already standardized, has the potential to be mass-produced. If that happens, it will radically change how drugs are tested and replace lab animals used for neurological research. The Pros And Cons Of Using Animals For Drug Research Scientists who use lab animals for experimentation are aware of the ethical problems that come with performing the study. They acknowledge that testing should be made in a humane way. They also believe that it's wrong to use lab animals, so they often resort to alternative testing methods that could produce the same, valid results. Animal testing is only allowed if and only if suffering is minimized in the experiment; and the benefits gained for humans could not be attained in other methods. On the other hand, animal testing is unacceptable because animals suffer from experiments; the benefits to humans are sometimes unproven; the benefits to humans could be produced in some other way. What's more, scientists argue that even high-quality animal studies end poorly when done in human clinical research. Molecular biologist Thomas Hartung, lead developer of the mini brain project, agrees with this sentiment. While he agrees that using rodents in testings can be useful, he stresses the fact that humans are not rodents. "We are not 150 pound rats," said Hartung, adding that lab animals used in testing are often young and healthy, but only live on for two years in the case of lab rats. Hartung said 95 percent of drugs that appear promising during animal testing can fail during human clinical trials, at great expense of time and money. Harnessing The Mini Brain This is where the mini brain comes in. Although the human brain is not just a ball of cells, Hartung believes using the mini brain can offer better data than animal testing. It takes about two months to develop mini brains, in which thousands of exact copies can be created in each batch. As many as 100 mini brains can be grow in the same petri dish. As reported by Tech Times, Hartung and his colleagues at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health developed the mini brains from human stem cells. These are so tiny that they are about the size of a common housefly. Meanwhile, Hartung is applying for a patent on the mini brain. He is hoping to open a commercial venture called ORGANOME where researchers could order the mini brains online. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Mattel pushes further in the virtual reality game with a second View-Master that addresses the issues with its predecessor. In collaboration with Google, the company launched the first generation of the virtual reality headset back in 2015. It was met with great success, where it soon became a sort of better version of the Google Cardboard. This time around, Mattel took things up a notch with an improved View-Master that was unveiled at the New York Toy Fair, calling it Viewer DLX. New And Improved To start things off, one of the biggest problems with the first model is that the audio is muffled, as it only uses the smartphone's speakers. As a solution to that, the Viewer DLX will sport a headphone connector for clear sound. Compared to the previous unit, the visuals will now become sharper because of improved lenses and a focal adjustment dial positioned at the top. New York Toy Fair just got the first look! View-Master Viewer DLX is launching this Fall with features! #VR #AR pic.twitter.com/MSoOqScgpr View-Master (@ViewMaster) February 14, 2016 What It Has In Store For an immersive and educational virtual reality experience, Mattel is offering what it calls Experience Packs. The choices include Space, Destinations and Wildlife, which was developed with National Geographic. In these packs, users will be able to bring up tidbits of information, images, videos and even some mini games. Platform Popularity It could be argued that the Google Cardboard platform is immensely popular because users don't have to spend that much to experience virtual reality, not to mention that the reason why the Samsung Gear VR sold like hotcakes at launch is because of its affordable price. Pricing And Availability While the first View-Master is pegged at $30, the Viewer DLX will hit the shelves with a $40 price tag. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise, though, as Mattel did implement improvements across the board. As mentioned in the tweet earlier, the virtual reality viewer is expected to roll out sometime this fall. It's also worth mentioning that the previous View-Master became the first virtual reality headset that Apple is selling online and at physical stores. In other words, there's more or less a chance that the Cupertino brand will offer the Viewer DLX through those means as well. A Closer Look Hit up the video below to see what the View-Master Viewer DLX can bring to the table. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. During Abraham Lincoln's early years in Indiana, he crafted and used a wooden mallet with the initials "A.L." to create furniture. For five generations, the wooden mallet had been a heirloom passed on from parent to children. On Feb. 9, the Indiana State Museum unveiled the rare relic for public viewing. According to Dale Ogden, the museum's chief curator of cultural history, the artifact is tied to Lincoln and his family's 14 years of living in the state. The crafting tool is technically called a bench mallet. It is inlaid with square-edged nails that comprise the former president's initials with a period for separation. A series of other nails were driven into the bench mallet to form the year "1829." That's about 187 years ago. Lincoln would have been 20 years old when the bench mallet was made. He crafted the bench mallet from a splitting maul, a larger tool used to drive metal wedges into logs to split them. The young Lincoln would have used the bench mallet to drive hand-carved pegs into the Federal-style furniture that he and his father made on the frontier, officials said. The 11-inch-long bench mallet was put on display at the downtown museum on Feb. 12, Lincoln's 207th birthday. Tom King, CEO and president of the Indiana State Museum, described the mallet as an incredible and moving discovery because it was crafted by Lincoln's own hands. Meanwhile, Ogen said he's certain of the bench mallet's authenticity because the family still owns it. They have loaned it to museum for one year. The bench mallet descended through the family of Barnabas Carter, one of the earliest settlers in the Southwest Indiana county of Spencer. The Carters were neighbors of the Lincoln's after Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham Lincoln, moved his family to Indiana in 1816. The Lincoln family remained in Indiana until 1830 and then moved to Illinois. Apparently, the bench mallet was the best-hidden secret in Spencer County. "No one knew about it," said Steve Haaff, an expert on the furniture that Thomas and Abraham made. For more than 150 years since the former president's assassination, many pieces of furniture and tools allegedly used by him have surfaced with the initials "A.L."; however, some of them may have been owned by someone with the same initials. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A mysterious stomach illness has sickened about 200 college students in Pennsylvania, school officials announced. Though the source of the illness is yet to be confirmed, the school plans to resume regular classes today after being cancelled for two consecutive days in the past week. The stomach bug sickened students at Ursinus College and sent nearly two dozen to the hospital. The affected students first reported symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting on the evening of Feb. 9. The school then prompted to close its Wismer Dining Hall the day after to pave way for the inspection by the Montgomery County Department of Health. "I encourage any students or staff experiencing symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain to be particularly careful about dehydration and to seek medical care," Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, Interim Medical Director of the Montgomery County Health Department, said in a statement. Ursinus College is working with MCHD officials to determine the cause of the illness. As a precaution and abiding by the recommendations made by MCHD, the dining area was closed until further notice and the school coordinated with local restaurants to serve as dining alternative to students. "On Thursday, Feb. 11, two inspectors with the Montgomery County Health Department conducted a comprehensive review of the Wismer Dining Facility. That report the latest conducted by the health department has just been posted this morning, Saturday, Feb. 13," Ursinus College posted in its advisory. "The health department has confirmed again this morning that Ursinus is in full compliance with the department's recommendations," the school added. By Sunday, the rates of illness reports reduced dramatically. There were only fewer than 10 students who fell ill over the weekend and most students who became ill reported that the disease ran its course within just 12 to 24 hours. All areas in the school campus including the cafeteria have been cleaned, disinfected and sanitized. School officials have encouraged their students to maintain the cleanliness of their rooms and to practice good hygiene. Sanitizer dispensers will also be installed in specific areas in the campus. "Ursinus' first priority is the health and well-being of our students," said President Brock Blomberg. "We will continue to work closely with officials from the Department of Health and follow their recommendations. In addition, Ursinus couldn't be more grateful for the outpouring of support it has received from the surrounding community to help us support our students," he added. Photo: Montgomery County Planning Commission | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Every single girl at a Utah high school went home with a flower this Valentines Day, thanks to the thoughtful, well-executed plan of a 17-year-old boy. Hayden Godfrey offered a carnation to each of the 834 female students of Sky View High School in Smithsfield last Thursday because seeing some girls without cards or gifts at this time of the year, according to his mom, broke his heart. He wanted every girl to feel joy, recalled Haydens mother, Erin. Godfrey started his sweet act and began anonymously sending Valentines Day flowers to his friends at age 14, when he noticed that some girls received nothing. The gesture involved more and more flowers each year, but it is in 2016 that he decided to go all out. Godfrey worked with the school administration to carry out his plan and determine the headcount, and had 20 friends help him out. He distributed the flowers in every classroom Thursday afternoon. And how much did the unique idea he said that it was more about kindness than any lovey-dovey, romantic notions cost Godfrey? Months of planning and $450 for 900 flowers, as well as working part-time at McDonalds, a Mexican restaurant, and a local grocery store. The carnations were purchased from an online wholesaler at 50 cents each and given a day to bloom before being loaded into his parents van to be transported to the high school. Im speechless at his actions, said Assistant Principal Curt Hanks of Godfrey. Godfrey himself, who will be graduating in the spring and will likely attend college somewhere in Utah, thought it was totally worth it to hand out the flowers to the whole female population of his school. So I did a thing today.Today I passed out 900 carnations, one to every girl at SVHS and it was totally worth it. I don... Posted by Hayden Godfrey on Thursday, February 11, 2016 Godfreys own girlfriend, Lilyan Sharp, got a Valentine treat in the form of tickets to A Great Big World show in Salt Lake City in March. In case anyone wonders, Godfrey is still figuring out what to do with the 66 blooms left. For sure, however, his Hearts Day surprises will continue in the future. Photo: Andrew Fogg | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Scientists in Russia have found a new way to use the country's surplus of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to protect Earth from a different kind of threat: falling meteorites and asteroids from space. A report from the Russian news agency TASS revealed that a team of researchers led by Sabit Saitgarayev of the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau are planning to convert ICBMs into projectiles that can destroy near-earth objects (NEOs) that pose an imminent threat to the safety of the planet. One of the ICBMs intended target are meteoroids, which are giant pieces of space rock from asteroids orbiting the sun. Portions of these asteroids break off and occasionally make their way toward Earth. While some of the space rocks are destroyed upon entering the atmosphere, others survive and hit the planet's surface at devastating forces. One of the latest instances where a space rock impacted Earth was when a meteor hit the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on Feb. 15, 2013. The debris exploded about 18 miles above the surface of the planet, producing a shock wave that broke windows and injured 1,500 people living near the area of impact. The Russian scientists wish to test the feasibility of their plan by setting an ICBM to destroy an asteroid designated as 99942 Apophis. According to Saitgarayev, the asteroid has been a cause of concern for a while since researchers believe it could pass "dangerously close" to the planet by 2036. Despite such reports, experts from NASA have already ruled out the likelihood of a possible impact. Saitgarayev, however, continues to assert the benefits of their plan. "Most rockets work on boiling fuel," Saitgarayev explained. "Their fueling begins 10 days before the launch and, therefore, they are unfit for destroying [meteoroids] similar to the Chelyabinsk meteorite in diameter, which are detected several hours before coming close to Earth. For this purpose, intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used, which requires their upgrade." Saitgarayev added that the planned conversion of solid-fueled ICBMs into NEO-destroying arsenal requires the permission of government authorities. It will also cost the government millions of dollars to carry out. It remains uncertain whether the project will ever be completed but work is already being done to have it jumpstarted. Photo : Steve Jurvetson | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In honor of President's Day, we decided to present a run-down of some of the most memorable presidents ever portrayed on screen or in books in the realm of Science Fiction and Alternative History. Here are our picks for some of the best ever presidents ever to grace the world of fiction: "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" Seth Grahame-Smith gave President Abraham Lincoln a supernatural super hero twist with the story of how young Abe witnessed his mother being fed on and murdered by a bloodsucking monster which he vowed to hunt down and annihilate for the rest of his days. The book eventually became a movie which starred Benjamin Walker as the vampire hunting 16th President of the United States.   Unnamed President - "Fail Safe" In one of the most memorable performances of his career, Henry Fonda portrayed an unnamed president in the 1964 movie based on the novel of the same title, "Fail Safe". Fonda tried to rescind a "go code" to a bomber group which received the signal to bomb Moscow due to a technical error. In order to prevent nuclear holocaust, the President must make some difficult decisions.   President Snow - "The Hunger Games" Trilogy Tyrannical, sadistic, and utterly ruthless, President Coriolanus Snow did everything in his power to keep the power in The Capital as the President of Panem. While he basks in the luxury of his mansion and safety of his high balconies, he plays a game of cat and mouse with Katniss Everdeen, victor of the Hunger Games and symbol of hope for all the Districts suffering under the rule of The Capital.   Chancellor Palpatine - "Star Wars" Prequel Trilogy True, the "Star Wars" Prequel Trilogy leaves much to be desired, but putting aside Anakin Skywalker's rant against sand, over the top costumes and dialogue, and overly-indulgent use of CGI, the story of how a Senator from a small planet called Naboo who rose up the ranks to become a Senator in the galactic Republic and later on elected as Chancellor and then having the same democratic leaders welcome him as the Emperor, is one that is certainly interesting to witness on screen.   President Thomas J. Whitmore - Independence Day President Whitmore in 1996's Independence Day, was not only one to rouse up morale with a heartfelt speech but also took up arms himself against earth's alien invaders as he lead a fleet of fighters planes into the fray. As a seasoned air force pilot before he became President, he was certainly qualified to lead the troops. Bill Pullman reprises his role as Whitmore in "Independence Day 2: Ressurgence."   President Tom Beck - "Deep Impact" President Tom Beck, played by Morgan Freeman, must break the news to the nation that an Extinction Level Event (ELE) was heading towards the earth.   Arnold Schwarzenegger - "The Simpsons Movie" As the first Austrian-born actor turned U.S. politician to be elected to the highest seat in the land, President Arnold Schwarzenegger shows what it truly takes to be a great leader: pointing randomly to an option that will affect hundreds of lives without even reading the fine print first. Unnamed President - "Iron Sky" The unnamed female president is very much preoccupied with how her image will affect the polls and how her policies and decisions will affect her possibilities of being re-elected. It is even teased that she will make reappearance in the upcoming "Iron Sky 2" with a promise of a dino-riding Hitler, Reptile people, and more Nazis on the moon!   President James Dale - "Mars Attacks" Jack Nicholson makes an excellent President James Dale in Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks" who can't understand why we can't all just get along.   President Merkin Muffley - "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" Peter Sellers played four major roles in this Stanley Kubrick political satire of the Cold War. As President Merkin Muffley, he tries to telephone some bombers who were given orders from a Commander who "went a bit nutty" to commence a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union.   2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Telstra subscribers in Australia suffered through a pair of service disruptions last week. The first one saw 1.5 million customers experience a major outage in voice calls and data, while the second one prevented broadband users from accessing a significant number of websites. As an apology for the first service disruption, which was caused by a human error after one of Telstra's major mobile nodes went down; the company promised users that it will be giving away free data for Feb. 14. It would seem that subscribers made the most out of the free data day, as according to Telstra, data traffic jumped as soon as midnight arrived, with the peak traffic levels on weekdays reached by as early as 8 a.m. Data traffic then continued to increase from that point. By the close of the day, Telstra said that its subscribers have downloaded a whopping 1,841TB worth of data, which is equivalent to about 5.1 million episodes of Game of Thrones, 23 million copies of the new The Life of Pablo album by Kanye West, or 1.4 billion downloads of "Eye of the Sheep," the 2015 winner of the Miles Franklin literary award. As data traffic over the free data day reached double what Telstra's networks sees daily, some customers experienced data speeds that are slower than what they are normally able to enjoy. However, the company said that its network was able to perform as designed, silencing critics that warned that the free data day could backfire as the surge in data traffic could lead to another network breakdown for Telstra. "We hope it helps make up for some of the inconvenience we caused," said Telstra group managing director for networks Mike Wright in a statement, revealing the importance of the free data day to the company's attempt to apologize for last week's service outage. Telstra's free data day covered all mobile data that was used on Feb. 14 by personal subscriber and business customers, along with customers that have signed up for the company's prepaid and mobile broadband plans. Subscribers that signed up with Telstra's retail partner, Boost, were also able to enjoy the company's apology. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In response to the mounting water crisis in Flint, Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder calls for an expanded Medicaid coverage. Snyder submitted a formal request letter on Sunday to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to include pregnant women and residents up to 21 years old. The extended coverage would benefit at least 15,000 more residents in Flint who had been affected by the city's water crisis. Snyder says that children, teenagers and young adults who were exposed to lead requires comprehensive coverage for the medical tests and treatments. "Expanding these services and lead abatement efforts will mitigate the risks of lead exposure and result in better identifying any long-term health challenges, including behavioral issues," says Snyder. Upon approval of the extended Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program, case managers will be able to connect Medicaid health plans with doctors and behavior health experts in order to plot better service access for the affected Flint residents. The expansion will also strengthen nutrition-based efforts and improve the people's access to social and educational campaigns within the community. The requested coverage expansion will not only cater to young adults up to 21 years old who are being supplied or were supplied with the contaminated water system starting April 2014, it will also cover pregnant residents and their future children. The expansion will cover Flint residents across all incomes. However, those with a yearly income of $47,520 or four-person families with a combined annual salary of $97,200 will be given the option to buy into the health program. On Tuesday, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will visit Flint to meet residents during this talk at the Mount Carmel Baptist Church where he will answer several questions from the public. Last Friday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said that Snyder will testify on the Flint water crisis before the Congress. The hearing, which has yet to be scheduled will have two panels. Flint's former mayor and emergency manager and water experts will be included in the first panel. Environmental Protection Agency's Gina McCarthy and Snyder will attend the second panel. Chairman and Utah Gov. Jason Chaffetz says Snyder's willingness to testify before the committee is much appreciated. The group also looks forward to hear the testimony of EPA Administrator McCarthy. Photo: Detroit Regional Chamber | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new study found that about 4 billion people worldwide are suffering from water shortage. Findings have suggested that supply shortage is driven by population increase and its consumption practices. Moreover, the increasing water demand for agriculture adds to the shortage. University of Twente researchers in Netherlands analyzed 'blue water' availability of using a high resolution computer model that measures underground and surface freshwater. They compared the data to water demand data for household, agriculture and industry needs. "We find that 4 billion people live in areas that experience severe water scarcity at least part of the year, which is more than previously thought, based on those earlier studies done on an annual basis," said study co-author Arjen Hoekstra. Findings have showed that the total global water is enough to cover all needs. The real problem is that water isn't always available in all of the places where it is needed. Also, water isn't always available at all times. The study has found that areas with widespread irrigation practices, increasing population or both suffer from high water shortage. The team has found that agricultural practices top the highest demand for water. Businesses and household consumption followed. Individual household consumption additionally covers about 1 percent to 4 percent of the total water demand. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said that two-thirds of the worldwide population could suffer from water shortages by 2025. The organization said that 70 percent of available freshwater is utilized on agricultural practices but inefficient methods, faulty irrigation systems waste bout 60 percent of it. Cultivating crops in environments where they can become too thirsty for water also add to the wastefulness. Ironically, agriculture's high demand for freshwater also contribute to the supply's pollution through the use of pesticides and fertilizers. WWF added that 41 percent of the world's current population resides in river basins that suffer water stress. An increasing population means new demands for basic needs that contribute to additional pressure on freshwater, which is used to produce required energy and commodities. "Governments need to set a water cap for every month so they don't allow more water use than water available, and people must become more aware of how much water is being used for everything they consume," added Hoekstra. Photo: Matthias Ripp | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The 2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC) is about a week away and brands such as LG, Samsung and Gionee have already confirmed the launch of their flagship smartphones at the event. It seems Lenovo does not want to miss the party and will also showcase a mobile phone dubbed Lemon 3 Plus at the 2016 MWC. Lemon 3 Plus will not be the company's flagship mobile phone but a mid-range Android device with some premium features in tow. Lenovo has teased the new handset on social media and it is expected to be the bigger version of the Lemon 3, which was released in China early this year. A gorgeous new device has been engineered from scratch to deliver the #Knockout punch. Brace yourselves. pic.twitter.com/PKwuxkaJEg Lenovo India (@Lenovo_in) February 12, 2016 The teaser shows a smartphone with liquid metal being poured on it, which hints that the new Lenovo offering will sport an all-metal body to give it a premium look. The Lemon 3 Plus is estimated to tout a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS screen with a display resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. An octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor, Adreno 405 GPU and 3GB of RAM are expected to power the device. The Lenovo smartphone is speculated to include 16GB of internal storage. However, customers will also get the option of a microSD card slot in the handset, which will allow them to expand the storage capacity by an additional 128GB. Just like the Lemon 3, the Lemon 3 Plus is also rumored to pack a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper. The phone is expected to support Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, GPS and USB 2.0 connectivity. Google has released its latest mobile operating system (OS) Android 6.0 Marshmallow but the Lemon 3 Plus may not get the new OS. Instead, the phablet will get Android 5.1 Lollipop. Customers may have to wait until Lenovo rolls out a software update for the device. The Lemon 3 is available in China in silver and gold colors. Customers can expect the bigger version of the phone to come is same color options. Some market observers suggest that the handset teased by Lenovo may not get the Lemon 3 Plus name as the company sells Lemon series smartphones only in China. Lenovo launched the K3 Lemon as the A6000 in the international market. Lenovo is yet to confirm the name and exact specs of the upcoming smartphone. Customers will have to wait for some more time before the Chinese handset maker officially launches the device at the 2016 MWC. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Deadpool knows what it is like for a person's life to be disrupted by Cancer because his alter-ego, Wade Wilson, had to combat an aggressive form of cancer. That is probably why he went out of his way to go to Alberta, Canada and visit Connor McGrath, the character's biggest fan who is also battling cancer at a young age, and give him bragging rights as the first person to watch "Deadpool." Ryan Reynolds shared a photo of Connor and himself on Feb. 12 and revealed that Connor had already seen "Deadpool" six weeks ahead of its release, which officially makes him the first person to view the R-Rated Marvel film. "I love this kid. He's the GREATEST. And he needs your help to get well," Reynolds wrote and shared a link to Connor's crowdfunding page where people can donate for his $800,000 treatment. Reynolds already donated to help Connor and he hopes that Deadpool's fans can also do the same. Connor was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2013 and was treated for it. However, he relapsed in 2015 and had to endure a whole summer of aggressive treatments just to get him back in remission. Connor needed a bone marrow transplant and a donor match was found just as he entered remission. Unfortunately, just a week before his scheduled transplant, his cancer returned. Connor's doctors and family still did everything they could to remove the cancer from the young boy's body but, after several aggressive treatments, his cancer was diagnosed as "relapsed refractory A.L.L." Basically, it means that his cancer was not responsive to the treatments. Connors family started the crowdfunding page to help them bear the expenses in case he needs to undergo a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell therapy because the provincial health care provider denied the McGrath's request. This is because, in spite of promising results, CAR T-Cell therapy is still considered as experimental. As of Feb. 14, the latest results showed that Connor's cancer did not respond to another round of chemotherapy so it is possible that he will really need a CAR T-Cell therapy. One thing is for sure: Connor is not giving up the fight no matter how many times cancer beat him down. According to his mother, Connor told his doctor that he is not willing to give up. Connor has shown tremendous amount of courage through his whole ordeal so it's no wonder that even Deadpool is rooting for him. Our thoughts and prayers go to Connor and his family. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Latest leaked renders of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge hint at the colors in which the smartphones will become available. Samsung will be launching the much awaited Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge at its Unpacked event on Feb. 21, a day before the 2016 Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona. Samsung launched the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge in White Pearl, Gold Platinum and Black Sapphire finishes and later added the color options Blue Topaz and Emerald Green. However, this year, the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge may not get the same colors. Latest leaked renders suggest that Galaxy S7 will be available in black and gold color options, while customers can buy the Galaxy S7 Edge in black, silver and gold hues. It should not come as a surprise if Samsung introduces more color options for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge in the near term. The renders of the Galaxy S7 smartphones have been leaked by famous leakster Evan Blass, more commonly known in the technology industry by his Twitter handle @evleaks. In the past, Blass has also tweeted that Samsung will launch the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge as well as the Galaxy S7 Edge+ at a single event, which will leave the company to focus on the unveiling of the Note series in the second half of the year. Blass also hinted that Samsung will release the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge on March 11. Samsung remains mum and has not let out any details of the upcoming smartphones. However, rumors hint that both the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge will sport a 5.1- and 5.7-inch displays, respectively. The S7 Edge will have a curved display that will extend to the edges of the device. Speculations are also rife that Samsung might launch two versions of the Galaxy S7: one with an Exynos processor and the other with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. Rumors also suggest that Korean handset maker will bump up the RAM from 3 GB to 4 GB in the upcoming phones. The Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge were criticized by many smartphone enthusiasts for not including a microSD card slot. If rumors are to be believed, then the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge might also come with a microSD card slot. Smartphone lovers will have to wait just for a few more days before Samsung officially takes the wraps off the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Cancer screening is commonly associated with a tedious series of blood exams and imaging tests. Such process may possibly change soon, thanks to a 10-minute saliva test that can detect cancer with near-perfect accuracy. Experts say the test is so reliable and simple that it can be performed at the pharmacy, at the dentist or even in the comforts of a patient's home. Detecting Circulating Tumor DNA Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, led by David Wong, have been creating a technique that can detect tumor DNA circulating in body fluids, such as in the blood or saliva. Dubbed liquid biopsy, this method is said to provide a quick, convenient and less invasive option to detect cancer early and ascertain the disease's state during treatment. Prototype Wonder The researchers presented their work at the 2016 American Association for The Advancement of Science, where Wong described a prototype tool that can identify biomarkers in saliva for a type of malignancy. The device called electric field-induced release and measurement (EFIRM) is more efficient than the existing sequencing technology and is set to be clinically tested this year on patients diagnosed with lung cancer in China. The Saliva Test All it needs is one drop of saliva, Wong says. He adds that the test may be completed in just 10 minutes. Wong says the test may be combined with other diagnostic modalities depending on the disease. For example, if a patient's chest x-ray shows a suspicious lump, then doctors may opt to do the saliva test to determine if cancer may be present. Detecting Various Types Of Cancer Wong and colleagues have particularly been studying the use of saliva-based tests in detecting mutations connected to several mouth and throat cancers. "Right now, there are not effective screening modalities to detect human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancers early," says Gypsyamber D'Souza from Johns Hopkins University. She says the complexity of each cancer process and the possible help of liquid biopsy must be considered prior to getting all too excited. For example, D'Souza says HPV may take about 10 years to advance to oral cancer. Also, the virus may have been cleared up within a year or two. She cautions people about the possible anxiety that the test may create if markers of HPV-related cancers are detected. Just having the virus in the mouth is a bad indicator that a person will go and develop cancer. So far, the scientists have detected "signature mutations" that may be responsible for approximately 80 percent of HPV associated with mouth and throat cancers. Wong says being able to detect these mutations via the saliva test may pave the way for early treatment of cancers that have five-year survival rate of about 60 percent. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Facebook wants to counter extremism on its platform by offering ad credits to users who speak out against extremist propaganda. Facebook's latest anti-extremist initiative, called "counter speech," means that the company encourages its users to post the exact opposite of hate-speech. To further motivate Facebook users to enroll in this overflow of kindness, the company offers up to $1,000 in ad credits to those who join the effort. The action is the company's way of siding with national and international government agencies, which fight a constant battle against online extremism. "We need narratives that promote tolerance, peace and understanding," said Monika Bickert, Facebook's Head of Global Policy Management, as cited by The Wall Street Journal. Arbi el Ayachi, a comedian from Germany, is one of the first people Facebook awarded. Ayachi became famous after a short video he posted on the social network went viral. His video underlined the stereotypical image that Westerners have of Islam and Muslims. As an answer to increasing concerns from a multitude of national and international organizations, social networks started to take steps into countering extremists' actions. As a result, Twitter pulled the plug on more than 125,000 ISIS accounts, which were suspected of being connected to the organization. Another Twitter initiative is the Trust and Safety Council, which watchdogs social media activities and eliminates abusive content. Facebook talked about its "counter speech" plan as early as December 2015. In fact, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg recently explained that the initiative showed promising results. She told the media that Facebook users in Germany used "likes" to flood the page of the National Democratic Party, which is famous for its extremist right-wing advocacy. By spreading "likes" and good-natured comments on the page, the users effectively changed the overall page's tone. This is the type of positive hijacking that the "counter speech" campaign wants to see more often. Sandberg addressed the Isis related pages, as well. "The best thing to speak against recruitment by Isis are the voices of people who were recruited by ISIS, understand what the true experience is, have escaped and have come back to tell the truth," Sandberg said. Facebook is working hard to craft and maintain a balance between free speech and filtering extremist content on its website. Various technology leaders in the United States hesitated to police user-generated content, because of the emphasis that Americans put on free speech. The company extends its efforts to curb online extremism beyond its digital borders. That is why it teamed up with the U.S. State Department and EdVenture Partners in order to encourage college students to write anti-propaganda messages. Until now, two competitions took place, with as many as 45 college classes worldwide joining in. The participating schools received $200 ad credits and $2,000 budgets as a reward for their contribution to the anti-extremist discourse. Facebook did not disclose exactly how its counter-speech initiative will be implemented. However, the fact that big companies in the tech field, such as Twitter and Google, are embarking on the same journey could mean that the days of extremist discourse on the Internet are numbered. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Sony has released a universal remote control called Huis Remote Controller, but its availability is still limited. Modern day households normally have a number of electronics that can be controlled with a remote control. Owners may sometimes find it difficult to find the correct remote controller for the right electronic they want to use. The Huis Remote Controller comes to the rescue for those who do not want the hassles of multiple remotes. Sony launched the Huis Remote Controller through its crowdfunding platform First Flight in mid-2015. The remote control also was demonstrated at the 2016 CES specially touting an e-paper touchscreen that allows users to customize the button they want. Sony suggests that it decided to opt for an e-paper screen instead of an LCD screen because the former consumes less power and it's more natural to use. According to the company, the Huis Remote Controller has a 1,500 mAh battery and a single charge will keep it going for about a month. With the Huis, users can control a wide array of electronics such as TVs, Blu-ray players, air conditioners, lights and fans. Owners of the novel remote control can customize the interface directly on the remote or with the help of a PC app. Customers also have the option to download and share configurations online. The remote itself has just one physical button. When the button is clicked, it vibrates and takes the user to a main menu that details the number of devices it is configured to control. The design compliments the functions of the remote controller. It has gentle curves at the corners and fits easily in the hands. At 130 grams or 4.58 ounces, the Sony universal remote controller is lightweight. It measures 123 mm x 68 mm x 24 mm. The Huis Remote Controller may sound very interesting, but customers who want to purchase it will have to spend 27,950, or about $250. Customers in Japan can order it online. However, buyers outside Japan will be left disappointed as it will not make its way to other regions yet. It remains to be seen if Sony officially launches the handy gadget in other parts of the world, so it could compete with other brands such as the Neeo universal remote. Check out a short video of the Sony's newest remote controller below. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google wants to strengthen its presence in the cloud business, so it added a new feature to its Cloud Platform: meet Google Cloud Functions. Google Cloud Platform is the company's cloud infrastructure where coders can design, test and run their own apps. The new Google Cloud Functions tool now lets developers program functions which respond to specific events. Cloud enthusiasts will recognize the new tool as very similar to the praised Lambda service, which is provided by Amazon Web Services. Google describes the new tool as an "event-based, asynchronous compute solution." This is advantageous for coders, as they no longer have to manage a runtime environment or a server. The tool is currently in Alpha stage, and should you be interested in joining in the program, filling out a form will make you eligible. What's a bit strange is the fact that Google released the tool quietly, without any tweet, blog post or press event. However, it is commendable that Google released an early-access program that mimics the simple and efficient way in which Lambda works. This could mean that Amazon Web Services could see a rising competitor in Google Cloud Platform, soon enough. This is not the only niche where Google's cloud service competes with Amazon's. Last year, Google unveiled a sort of content-distribution network alongside a tool for hosting source code repositories. AWS already offers both services. Google has also gunned for AWS in the commercial approach, as it offered price cuts to better compete with Amazon. So far, Microsoft is one big player that does not have a service able to rival Lambda, but an analyst pointed out that Microsoft will remedy that. Google Cloud Functions use Node.js modules to work. This means that they are coded in JavaScript, making the functions easy to work with. For example, when a specific event such as a new photo upload happens in Google Cloud Storage or Google Cloud Pub/Sub, the function is triggered. The service can also use webhooks. The tool can help developers speed up app creation, as coders who will use it spend less time on deployment and maintenance, which usually require a specific chain of events to execute. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Snazzy Asus Zenwatch 2 | TechTree.com Pros: Compelling price, Great looking gadget, Works smoothly, IP67 certified for water resistance Cons: Too much bezel around the display, No heart rate sensor No, I would not say no to an Asus ZenWatch. And certainly not to a rose-gold ZenWatch 2 with a beige-grey leather strap. Or a steel one with a blue strap. It looks good on my wrist, even if I say so myself, and while either men or women could wear both the sizes available, the smaller one (Rs 11,999) is definitely the one for me. In fact, I think most people will prefer it to the larger one (Rs 14,999). The ZenWatch 2 isn't a big fat chunk of a smartwatch but a nice mid-sized one that looks very cool. It isn't round, like my MOTO 360 or the Samsung Gear S2, two of the other major smartwatches that are also available in India right now. Instead, it's a rectangle with somewhat rounded corners and it feels just fine when worn. Not in any way heavy or unnatural but just like it's exactly where it should be when you wear it. There are a few different versions of the watch available -- the usual black, steel, and gold. And strap options in rubber, steel, leather. Typically, you don't get these options easily online in India. But maybe, in time The leather strap on the ZenWatch 2 is thicker than my MOTO 360's. It feels more durable and stiffer, without being in the least bit uncomfortable. It's got lots of slots so I was able to get it to fit very well on my wrist. The straps are easily swappable -- if you can only get enough extra straps to swap. The glass on the watch is very slightly curved-looking, giving the watch an even cooler look. It's IP67 rated, so you can get it a little wet, though you might spoil the leather strap in the bargain. Getting past the look of the ZenWatch 2, on the inside it's a full-fledged Android Wear gadget -- as it has to be, since Google isn't allowing much tinkering around at this point. You have to connect it to your phone and get the Android Wear app and the Asus ZenWatch Manager which is full of watch faces, bits of customization and apps. That, and fitness tracking, is what smartwatches are really all about right now. You can also do all sorts of Google things like search, check the weather if you don't want to look out the window and get notifications which then mean you don't have to pull out your phone. The watch runs pretty smoothly. An Android Wear update should be coming soon and will bring more functions. Of the two variants of this watch, the AMOLED display on the larger W1501Q has a 1.63-inch, 320x320 pixel screen and density of 278ppi, while the smaller W1502Q has a 1.45-inch, 280x280 pixel screen with a 273ppi density. You can change the font size and play with watch faces -- half the fun of a smartwatch. It works with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 512MB of RAM. There's 4GB of storage on it. No, it doesn't take calls or have a camera of its own. The battery is a 300mAh and really, all you can hope to get out of these watches right now is about a day's worth of juice. If you use it very lightly with the screen off, then you go over to the next day but then you're stuck with charging it in the daytime. Much better to just accept that it must be charged overnight. The ZenWatch has a unique charging method. A cable and contact sticks to the back of the watch magnetically. You have to make sure the watch isn't moved around then because the contact can drop away quite easily. ZenWatch 2 leather strap feels sturdy and is easily swappable -- if you can only get extra straps to swap This watch doesn't have a heart rate sensor, so if you're a big self-quantifier, you'll have to do without. But as to all the rest, it's cool, especially, I think, on a woman's wrist. Lila Ray is a corporate consultant who likes her gadgets almost more than her shoes. Write to her at [email protected] TAGS: ASUS ZenWatch Have bad memories of a breakup, soon you would able to delete such kind of unwanted memories! According to a new documentary that premiered in the US last week, researchers have found a way to manipulate memory. This means that the researchers have found a way to delete bad memories from your head forever and much more. Memory Hackers, from PBSs NOVA documentary strand explores the latest research in the field of memory, which show how it can be manipulated for the benefit of mankind. For much of human history, memory has been seen as a tape recorder that faithfully registers information and replays it intact, say the films makers. But now, researchers are discovering that memory is far more malleable, always being written and rewritten, not just by us but by others. We are discovering the precise mechanisms that can explain and even control our memories. Jake Hausler from St. Louis is among the documentarys subjects who can recall just around every single thing he has experienced since the age of 8. At the age of 12, he is the youngest ever person to be diagnosed with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, which makes it hard for him to differentiate between insignificant and important events from his past. The filmmakers also spoke to clinical psychologist Merel Kindt, who has discovered that medication can be used to wipe away the negative links of some memories through which she has achieved to cure patients of arachnophobia. Andre Fenton, a famous neuroscientist who is currently working on a technique to delete painful memories, says Forgetting is probably one of the most important things that brains will do. We understand only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to human memory. Among the other interviewees is Julia Shaw, a psychology professor at London South Bank University, who has planned a system for implanting false memories, wherein she has successfully persuaded subjects they have committed crimes that never happened research that has possible troubling consequences for the criminal justice system. This research has huge ethical implications. As Shaw explains, After three interviews, 70% of participants were classified as having false memories of committing a crime (theft, assault, or assault with a weapon) that led to police contact in early adolescence and volunteered a detailed false account. These reported false memories of crime were similar to false memories of noncriminal events and to true memory accounts, having the same kinds of complex descriptive and multi-sensory components. However, Shaw hopes that her research can be utilized to address problems related to false confessions. She believes that some questionable interrogation tactics mirror the way memories were falsely implanted in her study. Memory Hackers debuted in the US last Wednesday night, and is scheduled to be broadcasted on PBS America in the UK at a future date. A 40 anos de Malvinas "Revisar el pasado es pensar el futuro". La frase de la presidenta de Telam, Bernarda Llorente, resume el espiritu del documental coproducido entre la agencia de noticias y el canal publico de TV sobre la cobertura que los medios de comunicacion hicieron del conflicto, plagada de censura y mentiras. Una autocritica necesaria para mirar hacia adelante en un (ya viejo) contexto de fake news y negocio informativo. I adore this gilded bronze bangle because it has all these little figures doing completely everyday, mundane things: walking the dog, eating spaghetti, dancing... The inscription says cest la vie. To me its a reminder not to wish life away and to live in the present because if youre always waiting for the next huge moment or holiday or party then life passes you by. Actually, these little everyday moments are what life is about. Vintage pendant I know very little about this pendant except that it belonged to my great-grandmother, who gave it to my grandmother, who passed it on to my aunt, who gave it to me about 10 years ago. In the 1920s my great-grandparents went travelling around the world and Im assuming she got this somewhere in the Far East because of the slightly Islamic motif and the turquoise and rubies. It could be Afghan, it could be Iranian all I know is that generations of women in my family wore it and thats what matters to me. Of everything I own, this is the most sentimental. I actually never wear it because I dont really wear silver, but I carry it around with me in a little pouch I always take it with me when I travel, like a lucky charm. We've noticed you're adblocking. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Thank you for your support. The former president of Brazil, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, deemed the comeback of the incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, unlikely. | Read More Telluride Film Fest Presents: "Where To Invade Next, 2/18 On Thursday, February 18, 5:30 & 8 p.m., Telluride Film Festival presents Michael Moores Where to Invade Next. At Tellurides Nugget Theatre. From Roger & Me (1989) to the Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine (2002), Michael Moores work has been entertaining, satirizing and provoking. Where to Invade Next is an expansive, rib-tickling and subversive comedy in which Moore, playing the role of invader, visits nine nations to learn how the U.S. could improve its own prospects. It turns out the solutions to Americas most entrenched problems already appear to exist. I received the following appeal on Wednesday, February 10. It was from Michael Moore: Susan I need your help. As you may have heard, I spent last week in the intensive care unit with pneumonia. Truth be told, it was pretty serious, and other complications arose. But then, five days later, I was still alive thanks to a combination of Directors Guild insurance, two I-V drips of allegedly legal drugs, and a hospital TV that only got FOX News. I was released on my own recognizance, which I tried to explain may not be the best idea. I am now at home resting and binging on the Real Housewives of The Walking Dead. All my appearances this week and last week supporting the release of my brand new movie, Where To Invade Next (Conan, Bill Maher, Charlie Rose, NPR, etc.), plus a special primary eve screening in New Hampshire, were and are cancelled. Needless to say, Im pretty devastated. This film means a lot to me. Many of you have asked if theres anything you can do to help me. I have thought about it and, yes, actually, there is something you could do to help me. I need you to be part of a quickly cobbled-together army of grassroots ambassadors who can do the work I was going to do this week to let people know about the movie and convince as many as possible to go see it. I realize you havent seen Where To Invade Next, so Im asking you to do this based upon my past work and your hope that Ive made a compelling film that might affect change in this country, that will inspire people to think about things in a different way. I believe thats exactly what Ive done, and many whove seen it agree. I also believe this movie can have a huge impact on the elections this year. Its won a bunch of film festival prizes, its made the Oscars shortlist, and some have called it my best film ever. Possibly, just possibly. Last week, laying in the hospital, I watched the presidential candidate from Vermont get attacked for his ideas being unrealistic, pie in the sky, and ideas that sound good on paper, but arent going to happen. The truth is, all these great ideas free universal health care, free university, free day care, taxing and policing hedge fund millionaires have already happened in nearly every other industrialized country in the world! And I have the evidence and the film to prove it! Throughout Where To Invade Next, I invade a whole bunch of nefarious countries, from Slovenia to Germany to France to Norway, and pry loose from them the tools theyve been using to make their countries happy, shiny places. My goal: to show millions of Americans what these countries have been hiding from us so we can catch up and be #1 again! Remember WERE #1!!? Dont you miss being #1 and waving those big foam #1 fingers at patriotic rallies? In my invasions, I dont use any weapons, and no one gets droned. Instead, I show: How to actually make all universities free (and great) (and great) How to give all workers five to eight weeks PAID vacation (which increases productivity and betters the economy) (which increases productivity and betters the economy) How simple and easy it is to give mothers (or fathers) up to a year of PAID maternity leave (which in turn benefits the company overall) (which in turn benefits the company overall) How in the societies where women have achieved true equality and power , everything just seems to get better for everyone , everything just seems to get better for everyone How to reduce the crime rate by ending the war on drugs and having a humane prison system (our recidivism rate is as high as 80%; theirs is 20%) and having a humane prison system (our recidivism rate is as high as 80%; theirs is 20%) How the economy bounces back faster and is safer when bankers are put in prison How students in countries without standardized tests and needless homework perform better than our students (and that countries which have more arts and music in their schools do better in math and science) and on and on and on. By the end of the movie, youll want to go live in one of those countries. But instead, Ill show you how we can make all of that happen right here in the USA, right now. So, what do you think? Can you be a virtual ambassador for Where To Invade Next? I know you cant go on Good Morning America for me, but you can help right now from your computer or mobile device. Want to watch the trailer? Click here to see it and then join our army by pledging to see Where To Invade Next when it opens this Friday If a few thousand of you suddenly became champions and ambassadors for Where To Invade Next, then maybe we can pull this off. I certainly would be forever in your debt. Thanks for being there for me. All my best, Michael Moore A few critics have weighed in already. Here is what Stephen Holden of the New York Times had to say about the film. Michael Moores latest documentary, Where to Invade Next, is a sprawling, didactic polemic wittily disguised as a European travelogue. Watching it made me feel like a deprived child with my nose pressed against the glass of a magical toy store in a faraway land. On one side is a happy, harmonious land of productive people. On the other is a world of misery, anxiety, war and greed. As Mr. Moore invades one country and then the next, beginning in Italy and ending in Iceland, you begin to suspect that heaven on earth is anywhere but in America unless, of course, you belong to the top 1 percent. The films premise is only half serious and wildly exaggerated, but there is enough truth in it to make you squirm and consider what went wrong. Every country has problems, many of them very serious. (The film was completed before the migrant crisis in Europe.) Where to Invade Next is really a fairy tale with a moral. As Mr. Moore visits European schools, workplaces, hospitals and prisons, the movie builds into a cri de coeur about Americas weakening social contract: the widening inequality gap, the disappearing middle class and a military-based economy. A land of we, one talking head remarks, has transformed into a land of me. At the beginning of the film, Mr. Moore fantasizes being summoned for advice by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose members, he imagines, are perplexed by Americas having lost so many wars since World War II. Oh, what to do? Although he doesnt try to answer that question, the movie strongly implies that funding Americas military is starving the country of money that would be better devoted to humanitarian endeavors. With a camera crew in tow, he tours Europe, with a side trip to Tunisia, looking for solutions to our social ills that he can bring back home. Mr. Moore, who wrote, directed and produced the film, is his usual screen alter-ego, a glib, blue-collar Everyman lumbering along and playing naive when it helps make his point. There are none of the ambushes of those he sees as high-level villains that he staged in previous documentaries. There may be too much music and newsreel bloat, but Where to Invade Next is nevertheless stirring. His examples of progressive European social institutions are cherry-picked to make American audiences feel envious and guilty. In a running joke he notes that many progressive European ideas and policies originated in the United States. In Italy, Mr. Moore interviews a radiant couple; they love their work in a furniture factory, where the employees have more than 30 days of paid vacation every year. Across Italy, mothers have five months of paid maternity leave Continue reading here. And watch the trailer: Diamonds are meant to be worn on the finger, not be the size of a finger. However, a diamond found in Angola by a small Australian-listed company, Lucapa Diamond, would make for a huge sparkler. At 404 carats, Lucapa said it was the biggest diamond found in Angola and the biggest ever discovered by an Australian company. The company, citing Wikipedia, said it was the 27th biggest diamond found in the world. "I want to under-promise and over-deliver," he said. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill pledged careful consideration of the recommendations. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Costs had been modelled at $145 billion for a 120-year project life. The extra $5 billion in annual revenue equates to almost a 20th of South Australia's gross state product of $97 billion. Facility could be open in a decade An integrated storage and nuclear waste disposal facility could be operational by the late 2020s and could meet a global need, beginning with an interim storage facility above-ground to bring in early revenues, before the construction of a large underground storage facility. More than 390,000 tonnes of nuclear waste is stored temporarily worldwide, and is looking for a permanent home. Credit:Bloomberg Mr Scarce said it was up to the community to decide if the state should proceed but cautioned that if it was too slow, the benefits may be lost to another state or country. "There's always an opportunity if we dawdle that someone would take the competitive advantage away from us," he said. There's no doubt there's some exciting possibilities. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill Federal Minister for Resources and Energy Josh Frydenberg said on Monday that he welcomed the constructive community participation the royal commission had enabled and it was important to remember that Australia had been part of the nuclear fuel cycle for 60 years. He said the expansion of Australia's nuclear industry would "require significant legislative and regulatory change". Careful response promised The federal government will wait until the final report is handed down by the royal commissioner on May 6, examine it carefully and consult with the South Australian government before responding. The proposal for a large-scale storage facility is separate to a process already under way where six potential sites in Australia were chosen late last year by the federal government for a national low-level radioactive waste management facility. Mr Weatherill said both could potentially operate in the state. He said on Monday that his government would be "deliberate and methodical" in assessing further into the process whether the benefits would outweigh the negatives, and if the public ultimately didn't want it, then it wouldn't proceed. "We'll abide by whatever the process throws up," Mr Weatherill said. "The critical thing here is we don't rush the process. There's no doubt there's some exciting possibilities for South Australia contained in the report". He urged everyone in the Labor Party at state and federal level to read it closely as he acknowledged there were differing views on a nuclear industry across the party. Sovereign fund recommended The preliminary report recommended a sovereign wealth fund be set up to invest the proceeds and if 50 per cent of the interest from the fund could be retained then $445 billion would accumulate during the life of the project. State Liberal leader Steven Marshall said any decision to expand into a nuclear industry needed to be backed by the community and this was "not going to be the silver bullet" for the high unemployment in the state. Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Dave Sweeney said on Monday the large-scale storage facility plan was "desperate, dangerous and in direct conflict with Australia's national interest". The Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, headed by Mr Scarce, found there would be substantial economic benefits from a waste storage facility. It is the project that would deliver South Australia the biggest economic benefit of all nuclear-related proposals, the Scarce report found. Nuclear power not viable The royal commissioner found that setting up a nuclear power plant now in the state wouldn't be commercially viable under the national electricity market amid projections of "flat future demand" in South Australia, as more people used solar and exited the national grid. Nuclear power should be part of the national discussion for future energy needs, his report says. About 1500 jobs would initially be created and this would rise to 4500 jobs during a construction period of 25 years. The $145 billion in costs included a $32 billion reserve fund to cover whole-of-life maintenance and eventual closure costs. There are significant quantities of used fuel from nuclear reactors in temporary storage in the Asia-Pacific region and these quantities will grow, the report found. But Mr Scarce said the timeframes were long. In Finland and Sweden, successful projects have taken more than 30 years to develop "These are long-term projects." He said during the life of a nuclear storage facility, a net present value of profits of more than $51 billion had been calculated. He recommended that such a facility be government owned and noted that it would require bipartisan support at a state and federal level to proceed. Mr Scarce said the facility would require a dedicated port facility, airport and rail freight line. The project would begin with an above-ground interim storage facility. A separate underground facility with large tunnels and special canisters would be built later. "This would be world-class infrastructure," he said. Main findings at a glance Australian women just can't get enough charm bracelets, judging by the latest results from Danish jewellery retailer Pandora. The Copenhagen-based retailer, known for its mix-and-match silver charms, has shown Australian retailers Lovisa and Michael Hill a clean pair of heels, lifting sales by 39.5 per cent to $240.6 million in 2015. Pandora Australia founder Karin Adcock has reportedly lodged a complaint to the anti-competition watchdog. Credit:James Brickwood Pandora's sales rose more than 40 per cent in the December and September quarters and the company which does not disclose Australian earnings has clocked up 10 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth over 20 per cent. By comparison, Michael Hill's sales rose 9.7 per cent to $310.8 million in the six months ended December 31, while budget-jewellery chain Lovisa has flagged a 13 per cent increase in first-half sales to $82.6 million, underpinned by same-store sales growth of 4.1 per cent. A summer marred by ministerial crises and the prospect of a higher GST has taken the shine off the Turnbull government, sending the Coalition's share of the vote below that achieved by Tony Abbott at the 2013 election. A four point two-party preferred slump to 52-48 still has the government winning but is set to dispel any lingering early election barracking from within the government. Just one in five voters (22 per cent) would look favourably on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull running to the polls before his full term is served. Mr Turnbull has told his party to be on guard for a snap poll should key legislation be blocked in the Senate. Mr Turnbull's personal support remains high, with voters decisively preferring the incumbent PM to the alternative Bill Shorten by more than three to one at 64 (down 5 percentage points) to 19. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has opened the door to accepting 37 asylum seeker children destined for Nauru, offering a solution to the current immigration standoff through a deal he struck with former prime minister Julia Gillard. Speaking ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week, Mr Key said it was "potentially possible" for New Zealand to accept any genuine refugees from Australia under the agreement. Mr Key said it had originally been made because it was "sensible and compassionate". The High Court recently dashed the hopes of asylum seekers and advocates by ruling that offshore detention was legal, clearing the way for 257 asylum seekers in Australia - mainly for medical purposes - to be send back to Nauru. "The purpose of those was to provide young people with an opportunity to get in with a cheap option ... but unfortunately it looks like it has all been snapped up by this conservative group." Mr Scott said the group's actions were "malicious". "It is one thing to be critical of programs or ... organisations, but it is something completely different, something so disappointing ... so malicious to attack a young person," he said. "For some of these young people, this is the one night of the year when they feel safe and they feel comfortable. "And this is a group of adults trying to take that away from a marginalised group of young people who already feel bullying and discrimination." Mr Scott urged the wider community to donate full-priced $40 tickets so that "no young person misses out". "We have capacity of 500 people [to participate in the formal], but the more donations we receive and the earlier those donations come in, the more capacity we have to expand the capacity of the venue." The event is to be held on April 9 and is open to anyone under 21. Mr Scott said the formal was aimed at providing a "safe space" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) young people who were in high school or had recently left high school. "One of the main problems that young people within our network experience is not being able to go to their high school 'out'," he said. "Unfortunately, not all young people have the confidence to attend their own high school formal either with a partner of the same sex or wearing the clothes that they feel comfortable wearing that properly expresses their gender identity. "The Same Sex Gender Diverse Formal provides them with a safe space where they feel they can be themselves and let go and not worry about discrimination." Mr Scott said the formal was also an opportunity to encourage schools around Australia to do more to create "safe and inclusive events". Josh Makawe,17, who is going to the formal with his partner of one month, Shaun Coupe, 17, said it was the first time he had taken someone to the event. "My last school ... I wasn't allowed to take my partner ... I ended up going by myself," Josh said. He said that at the time he felt sad he couldn't take his partner like heterosexual classmates. "[It makes you feel] almost as if it was a second-class relationship," he said. Josh, who is planning to buy a new suit for the event, said he felt sorry for the people behind the STOP SAFE Schools Coalition. "I feel sad that they are full of such hatred for a group that is promoting well-being of such diverse youth," he said. "They are trying to block youth who are still trying to learn to accept themselves ... they are harming fragile youth." Safe Schools Coalition Victoria coordinator Roz Ward said it was incredibly disappointing that people wanted to prevent same-sex attracted and gender-diverse young people from attending an event that "celebrates who they are". The organisation co-hosts the event, which is now in its fifth year. "For many same-sex attracted and gender-diverse people, their own school formals are still places where they feel uncomfortable or uncertain about being themselves," Ms Ward said. "I would hate to see people miss out on the opportunity to go to his event because of the actions of these people." She said she was confident that hundreds of people would still attend the event. "It will be an amazing event. It can be a life-changing experience for many young people." Equality Minister Martin Foley has thrown his support behind the Safe Schools Coalition following a series of attacks from the Australian Christian Lobby and an opinion piece by Australian Catholic University senior research fellow Kevin Donnelly. "This program is about reinventing the notion of the great Australian 'fair go' to be inclusive of everyone," he said. He said young LGBTI Victorians were over-represented when it came to mental health issues. "We know they are subject to more self harm and to higher rates of suicide and suicide attempts than their peers," he said. "And we know that much of this harm is due to the stigma and discrimination of outdated, homophobic attitudes and the bullying to which they give rise." The Andrews government is expanding Safe Schools to every state secondary school. "If the Safe Schools Coalition saves even one valuable young life, it has justified its existence," Mr Foley said. The STOP SAFE Schools Coalition was approached for a comment. A strip club destroyed in an arson attack on Tuesday morning marks another flashpoint in an 18-month war waged by Comanchero bikie gang members on the security industry, police believe. People were seen acting suspiciously around Kittens strip club on Glen Huntly Road in Caulfield South moments before the explosion about 3am. It is the third time a Kittens strip club has been targeted since November, and the latest incident in a vicious campaign that has included seven non-fatal shootings. While not naming the outlaw gang responsible for the violence, Detective Inspector Ian Campbell from the anti-bikie Echo task force said one particular club had been responsible for standing over security companies in a bid to claim lucrative contracts. Some of Victoria's wealthiest private schools have reaped huge government funding increases, while disadvantaged public schools have been hit with cuts. The average public funding of some of Victoria's most elite private schools increased at eight times the rate of the neediest public schools, a new analysis reveals. Poor school: Government funding is up six per cent at Noble Park Secondary College. Junior school captains (from left) Laiba, Bryce, Huy and Kavika. Credit:Penny Stephens Korowa Anglican Girls' Schools has emerged as one of the biggest winners of Australia's "incoherent and unfair" funding system, according to an analysis of the most recent My School data by Trevor Cobbold, a former Productivity Commission economist and convenor of public education lobby group Save Our Schools. Mr Cobbold found that the average state and federal government funding increase per student for selected Victorian private schools was 25 per cent from 2009 to 2013, compared to 3 per cent for selected disadvantaged state schools. Three people charged in relation to the death of Kangaroo Flat mother-of-four Samantha Kelly have been further remanded in custody. The trio who were the housemates of Ms Kelly before her disappearance appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Monday morning, but none applied for bail. Peter Arthur, 44, was charged with the murder of Ms Kelly, allegedly using a hammer as a weapon, "on or around January 20". The Church of England has defended tweeting a prayer for outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins after it was accused of trolling him. A short tweet stated that the Anglican Church was praying for the secularist scholar, evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion after he suffered a stroke on Friday. Professor Dawkins, 74, is expected to make a full recovery but was forced to cancel his Australian and New Zealand tour, including an appearance at the Sydney Opera House on February 28. A former soldier accused of breaking into the RSPCA to retrieve his companion dog and later assaulting police and an inspector who tried to take the animal from his home has been released on bail. Shane Van Duren, 41,last week pleaded not guilty to charges of property damage, trespass, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, resisting arrest, and making threats to kill relating to the incident. Ex-soldier Shane Van Duren and his dog, Kalu, which has since been returned to him. Credit:Facebook He has been behind bars since his arrest after he allegedly broke into the RSPCA's Weston Creek premises to get to his Belgian shepherd in December. Van Duren was back in the ACT Magistrates Court where he made a bid for release on Monday. Foodies perusing next year's Multicultural Festival could find two favourites banned, if one disgruntled festival goer has his way. While 280,000 people flocked to Civic to take in the sights, smells, sounds and most importantly the tastes of 170 nationalities last weekend, not everyone was pleased with the grub on offer. A petition is calling on the ACT Government to ban chips on a stick and Dutch pancakes from the National Multicultural Festival. Credit:change.org In fact, one punter took particular issue with two of the festival's staple dishes - chips on a stick and Dutch pancakes. Matthew Archer started a petition calling on the ACT Government to ban the foods from next year's festival - although it's not their taste which has drawn his ire. Mr Martz, who worked on some of the United States' most important terrorism cases in the 1990s, helped verify the work of a Victorian forensic expert, Robert Barnes, who used now-discredited gunshot residue analysis to link Mr Eastman to the murder scene. FBI unit chief Roger Martz gave evidence in the 1995 trial of Mr Eastman for the murder of Assistant Federal Police Commissioner Colin Stanley Winchester in 1989. Commonwealth prosecutors say they have no record of ever having known of concerns about the reliability of a top FBI examiner who helped bolster the forensic case against David Eastman. But it recently emerged that the US government, acting on a tip from an FBI whistleblower, began investigating Mr Martz and a group of his colleagues at the FBI Laboratory for misconduct and flawed work less than a year after Mr Eastman's trial. The final report, delivered in 1997, found Mr Martz was lacking in credibility, objectivity, and competence, recommending that he be found a spot outside the laboratory. His work on the Eastman case was later reviewed specifically, and was found to be done in a scientifically acceptable manner. Mr Eastman's legal team never knew of concerns about Mr Martz's credibility. They are now trying to find out who knew of the 1997 report, and when. Documents suggest the US government alerted its embassy in Australia about the concerns with Mr Martz in 2000 and 2005, asking them to contact relevant Australian officials. US authorities had contact details for a federal police agent and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution's office. The ACT government will ensure there are traffic lights at every Northbourne Avenue intersection from Flemington Road south where there is a right hand turn to ensure priority for the tram. Details of changes to intersections are expected on Wednesday when the National Capital Authority releases the application for works approval for public comment. The ACT government needs the authority's approval for works on Commonwealth land, including the major changes to Northbourne Avenue. Among the most controversial aspects of construction is the removal of the trees on Northbourne Avenue - for which the government is also seeking federal approval. Economists are scratching their heads over the surge in Chinese new lending, attributing it to increased injections by the central bank ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, a traditional tendency among Chinese banks to "front load" loans at the start of a year and companies reducing their exposure to foreign-currency loans. "Chinese banks expanded their balance sheet aggressively in the first month of this year, which implies implicit support from the government to counter the economic slowdown," said Zhou Hao, Commerzbank Asia senior emerging markets economist in Singapore. Analysts also attributed the surge in new loans to soaring demand for mortgages as property prices recover and government steps to fast-track infrastructure projects to spur activity. While economists have sometimes speculated that big swings in China's credit data were linked more to speculative activity, the latest data appeared to suggest solid demand in the real economy. Medium-and long-term loans to households were up 45 per cent in January from the same period a year ago while such loans to companies jumped 73 per cent. Total social financing, another important indicator of China's credit expansion, rose to 3.42 trillion yuan in January from 1.82 trillion yuan in December. Part of that may reflect massive infusions of cash into the banking system by the People's Bank of China ahead of the long holiday to avert any risks of a cash crunch. The PBoC injected 1.53 trillion yuan via its standing lending facility (SLF), medium-term lending facility (MLF) and pledged supplementary lending (PSL). Some economists believe the PBoC is currently favouring liquidity injections as a policy tool rather than long-expected cuts to its policy interest rate and bank reserve ratio requirements (RRR), which authorities worry could put further depreciation pressure on the yuan currency. According to sources, Zhang Xiaohui, an assistant governor at the PBoC, has said the central bank would not rush to cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserves, as doing so could send a strong signal on policy easing. But while the central bank may shun further cuts in its main interest rate and RRR in the near term, it may still have to ease policy again, analysts say. The PBoC has cut its policy rate six times since November 2014 and reserve requirements several times, but both remain relatively high, giving it plenty of room. "As capital outflows continued, we believe that the PBOC will still need to lower the reserve requirement ratio to permanently inject liquidity into the economy," wrote ANZ economists in a research note, noting that a further cut in RRR was still possible in the first quarter. Bank lending usually spikes in China in January as banks, which face limits on how much they can lend each year, squeeze as much lending as possible into the first month to protect their market share. The spike in new loans in January also could be due to Chinese companies making early repayments of their foreign-denominated loans and bonds to reduce their currency exposure after the yuan weakened, analysts say. "The tobacco packaging directive which comes into effect in May this year, the guidelines for those requirements were released fairly late in the half and customers in preparation of the deadline in May started to build inventories as well. So inventories are built up in both Western and Eastern Europe," he said. Ron Delia said the company was closely watching the push for plain packaging in the European Union. The reference to Eastern Europeans was not due to plain packaging, instead that was due to looming changes in taxation which was also likely to be fleeting. "That will unwind in the course of this half as those inventories get worked down," Mr Delia said. Amcor chief executive Ron Delia enjoying coordinated global upturn. Credit:Paul Jeffers 'Complex' design on plain packets Plain packaging presented a good opportunity for the company, he said, because it still offered some fairly complex design but on a greater scale which could bring down unit costs. "The packaging that you would be familiar with here in Australia is more or less what some of the European countries are looking at. We would say it's generic but it's really not plain. "It has a particularly sophisticated set of graphics on it, which are as sophisticated as the average carton in our portfolio. So our ability to continue to add value through the graphics is there." Mr Delia said more countries would follow the plain packaging path, but he said it would be a slow process. "We don't see the majority of the countries we operate in heading in that direction anytime soon," he said. "The impact will be a function of whatever the product mix is in a given country and how much value add - if there is any reduction - offset by the cost improvements from running a more standard set of packaging. "It remains to be seen but I would say that the implementation of plain packaging is slow and importantly the European Commission has not adopted it as their standard in this latest set of directives." Currency hits profit Net profit slid 4.9 per cent to $US305 million ($428.9 million), compared with the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, overall revenue dropped 5.4 per cent to $US4.66 billion. But on a constant currency basis, profit after tax rose 6.6 per cent to $US342.6 million. Mr Delia said Amcor's performance in developed markets, particularly the North American beverage segment, had been the best since the financial crisis. Mr Delia expected Amcor to generate stronger full year earnings in 2016, on a constant currency basis. The company reports its results in US dollars, but about 60 per cent of its earnings are generated from other currencies. A strengthening US dollar which rose about 16 cent against the euro and 18 per cent against a basket of other currencies hit profit after tax by about $37 million in the six months to December 31. "This is basically a translational impact because we generate about 60 per cent of earnings in a wide range of currencies and then translate those earnings back in US dollars for reporting purposes," Mr Delia said. China growth important However, he said the economic conditions in most markets Amcor operated were "subdued and volatile". "We are not anticipating significant improvements in economic conditions anywhere. We build our business and operate for the things we can control. We are taking extra efforts to generate our own growth, not waiting around for markets to grow," Mr Delia said, adding the company had completed six acquisitions in the past six months. He didn't China's economy, which as been in a "sideways pattern" for the past six to 12 months, to rebound in the short-term but was bullish about the country's long-term prospects. Alongside powerhouses such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Adidas, Facebook has become one of the world's most popular and recognised brands. In 12 years, the social network has spread like a virus across the world, and now more than 1.6 billion people use it every month. While this can only be described as an enormous success, it presents another problem. If Facebook keeps growing at this pace, it is going to run out of internet connectivity. Although the number of people online has grown in recent years, around 5 billion people have no access to the internet. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Zuckerberg is a regular visitor to India. Credit:Getty Images When one has conquered the world, as Facebook has, there's only one move: make the world bigger, so Facebook is trying to do just that. It is developing solar-powered drones that can beam internet to rural areas, signing deals with satellite broadband providers and, most controversially, convincing mobile networks in the developing world to give people Facebook for free. In 2013, Facebook launched internet.org, a project to bring, as it says, "the benefits of connectivity to the two-thirds of the world that doesn't have them". Since then, it has agreed deals with telecoms groups in 38 countries to provide Free Basics, a stripped-down version of the internet for mobile phone owners who would otherwise be unable to pay for data. The services include applications for healthcare, education, jobs and, of course, Facebook itself. Our relationship with fire and with the environment has changed over the past century, in particular. There is a huge disconnect between Australians and the bush. No matter how many four-wheel drives and camper trailers we own (or perhaps because of them) not many of us actually know much about the bush environment any more. The activities that connected people to the bush have steadily been eroded. In 1916, only about half of all Australians lived in towns and cities. A century later, that figure is closer to 90 per cent. According to the World Bank, the proportion of Australians living in rural Australia had dropped from just under 16 per cent in 1967 to 10.7 per cent by 2014. The decline of rural communities has been well documented, but apart from the simple loss of physical connection is the loss of work in rural and forest landscapes that once connected people inextricably to an understanding of weather and landscape, vegetation and land management. At the same time, there has been a fundamental shift in the values and beliefs attached by our society to the remnants of a natural environment. We no longer see the bush simply as something to be chopped down, dug up or redefined for agriculture. The changes wrought by European settlers to the Australian landscape are self-evident. From nearly 20 million hectares of forest in 1869, Victoria's forest cover was reduced to about 8 million hectares by the late 20th century. We have introduced new plants and animals, fenced, farmed and cruelled the land. Land managers are having to relearn how to mitigate the impact of fire in landscapes that have been totally altered. The increased use of controlled burning merely to achieve a quantum of hazard reduction is not, as Victoria discovered after Black Saturday, the simple answer. Any bush firefighter with more than a few years of experience will tell you that the incidence and severity of bushfires is increasing. The climate is changing. Fire seasons are longer. There is less rainfall across much of the most fire-prone parts of Australia. There are simply more fires in the bush more often than there were only a few decades ago. Almost perversely, cities and towns are pushing out into the very remnant landscape that we are anxious to protect. Australians are injecting themselves back into an environment that remains rich in fire. They do not bring with them the knowledge that it is a fire environment, let alone what they need to do to protect themselves and their families either through the type of homes they build orthe way they behave when fires occur. So all Australians whether living in a bushfire-prone area (as about 20 per cent of us do), working, travelling through or holidaying in such areas need to relearn things that have been lost. That means rebuilding a relationship with the bush that will reinstate fire as a natural part of it and a part of it that will not simply go away if we rely on the state to buy more helicopters and air tankers. In the words of a former president of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Elaine McKay, John Legge more than any other was the founder of modern Asian Studies in Australia. In the great expansionist period of the Australian university system he was (as professor of history, and then dean of arts) a leader in the building of Monash University - and also in the vital interaction between academic analysts and government policy-makers. Through his international and Australian networks, and growing numbers of students, he influenced Australia's engagement with Asia. Internationally, Legge was especially recognised for his writing on Indonesia and also as a theoretician in the discipline of history. A graduate of Melbourne University and Oxford, John Legge wrote initially on colonial government, with major books on Papua and British Fiji. The Papua project, on Australia's administration of the territory, arose from Legge's war-time work in the government's Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs, which recruited also the poet James McAuley and future Governor-General John Kerr. At the University of Western Australia in the immediate post-war period (1946-1960) Legge was also a pioneer in the teaching of Asian history Fred Chaney, Sir Neil Currie and others spoke later of how his survey course changed their lives. These years in Western Australia were particularly happy ones for Legge. It was here that he met and married, in 1952, Alison Hale, a fellow Oxford graduate and the star of a local production of Shaw's St Joan. In 1956 John and Alison took sabbatical leave at Cornell University, the pre-eminent centre of South-east Asian Studies in the United States. Here Legge was impressed by the academic leadership of George Kahin, with his focus on modern Asia not Orientalism, his (often critical) engagement with Washington and his network of relations with the rising new elites of post-colonial Southeast Asia. Born in Murchison, Legge had a particularly Australian style, shaped in part in Western Victoria (at Warrnambool High School and Geelong College). His father was a Presbyterian clergyman and his great grand uncle was the missionary James Legge, the translator of Confucius and first professor of Chinese at Oxford. In the midst of academic debate, John Legge's face like that of his ancestor could assume an expression of Protestant tenacity. At Melbourne University Legge studied in the history department where influential professor R.M.Crawford, was questioning the nature of history as a process of inquiry, and also warning Australians that the age of European empires had ended, and that they must now come to terms with the societies of the new Asia Pacific. In future years Legge addressed these two themes himself as an academic leader, especially when he moved to the new Monash University as foundation professor of history in 1960. When former El Salvador president Francisco Flores died aged 56, he had been under house arrest for more than a year, charged with diverting $15 million in contributions for earthquake victims to his personal and political party accounts. Flores, who suffered a cerebral haemorrhage, was accused of "illegal enrichment" by embezzling donations from the Taiwanese government in 2001. Taiwan was grateful to El Salvador for supporting its application for membership in the United Nations. In December, a Salvadoran judge ordered Flores to stand trial on charges of pocketing $5 million personally and dispersing $10 million to his party's coffers. Flores insisted that the money had been distributed properly to deserving victims. Despite his death, the authorities are likely to pursue civil litigation to recover the funds. When Flores was inaugurated for a five-year term in 1999 at the age of 39, Flores was the youngest president in the Americas. A philosopher and accomplished horse trainer, he was considered the most pro-United States leader in the western hemisphere. Francisco Guillermo Flores Perez was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador, to Ulises Flores, an economist, and the former Maria Leonor Perez. He graduated with a degree in political science from Amherst College in Massachusetts, and studied at Harvard University and Trinity College at Oxford University. "About children of different backgrounds, black or white, at risk of being left in the care of people incapable of looking after themselves, let alone their children." Some Indigenous leaders had branded Jones racist for his comments following the weekend's Indigenous All Stars rugby league match. On Monday, Jones had taken a call from a listener, Dell, who criticised the minute's silence held to acknowledge the stolen generation before the rugby league match kicked off at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday night. Dell claimed the commemoration was a "load of twaddle", and that "half the stolen generation were taken for their own protection", to which Jones responded: "Correct. To look after them. And we need stolen generations." On Tuesday morning, Jones told his listeners: "Now if there have been children in the past wrongly taken from their families on the basis of their Aboriginality, well that of course is appalling, and [former prime minister] Kevin Rudd apologised for that years ago. "That's not the point I'm making," Jones added. "There are children, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, out there today who are being given no hope in life from an early age because they're being returned to families where drug, alcohol addiction and violence predominate. "What Australian, hand on heart, can say this is the best we can do for these kids? But are we frightened to take them away from their biological parents for fear of being branded as creating a stolen generation?" Jones also quoted a 2014 editorial written by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt, in which Bolt claimed that "the stolen generation is a myth". In that editorial, a section of which Jones read out on air on Tuesday, Bolt claimed: "No academic or Aboriginal group has yet met my challenge ... to produce even 10 names of children stolen just for being Aboriginal. Even so, no politician dares question the myth for fear of seeming racist." Jones also referred to the case of an 11-year-old boy in Perth who was charged with murder following the death of a 26-year-old man last month. "My heart broke for this little boy, an Aboriginal boy," Jones said. "His father had been in and out of jail more times than you could imagine. It was a large family. I believe the grandmother wanted the family removed to other accommodation to protect them from wandering the streets. She was ignored. What would have happened had this little fellow, he's called Max, been given a home, removed from violence and the dysfunctionality that he has lived with all his 11 years? Now he's charged with murder." On Monday, Professor Tom Calma, the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia, said Jones' "racism" was a denial of rights and history. "For decades Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have suffered wrongs and have had abuses committed against them," he said. "Many of our mob were removed from their families, banned from travelling freely, punished for speaking our languages and denied access to citizenship, education and health care." In Australia to promote her humanitarian work with the UNHCR, Davis vented her frustration on Twitter after the painful segment in which the actress was forced to recreate a scene from Sex and the City. The comments came in a scathing editorial from ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger, who took umbrage with Sunrise's "woefully empty interview" with Sex and the City actress Kristin Davis last week. Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew has defended colleague Samantha Armytage against accusations she is a "brainless bimbo". Armytage had been due to host a $200-per head fundraiser lunch in Sydney with Davis the following day, but was replaced by Australia for UNHCR director Naomi Steer and was uninvited from the event. The now infamous Sex and the City skit. In a tweet on Monday morning, Bartholomew accused Haussegger of going against the sisterhood by attacking Armytage. "The sisterhood in action @virginia_hauss. You might be surprised to know even 'mindless bimbos' can be feminists," she wrote. The comment was in response to a tweet from Haussegger, who said she wished she'd never had to write the column. The Footy Show has made its regulars into stars, largely by making them seem anything but. They're boofheads, the sort of idiots you might share a beer with at the local, talking rubbish mostly, but not exclusively, footy-related rubbish. Nothing too personal, mind, but no offence meant, and none taken. For the most part. Thus the blurring of the personal and the professional and, its critics might add, of the professional and the thoroughly unprofessional. Nine's stalwart has always thrived on controversy. It was born out of the fact that the network did not have the rights to broadcast AFL games, and with little by way of match footage the focus of the show had to be elsewhere namely, on the players, and on the former players who comprised its regular line-up. There's plenty we don't know about the reasons for the bust-up between Garry Lyon and Billy Brownless, though the speculation is rife. But one thing we can say with absolute certainty is this: the end of their off-screen friendship and on-screen banter will not be the end of The Footy Show. It's a formula that has served the show, and Nine, well for 22 years. The figures are a little distorted by the fact there's an NRL version that runs in Queensland and NSW while the "southern" (AFL) version is also shown on regional channels in those states, but The Footy Show is never far from the top 40 programs of the week, typically being watched by around 900,000 people across Australia (including regional viewers). In Melbourne, it continues to dominate its time slot, pulling around 300,000 viewers each Thursday night a figure that rises to more than 500,000 for the Grand Final episode. Its mix of stunts like Shane Crawford scoffing raw eggs and Sam Newman buttonholing regular folk on the street with player interviews and the obligatory run-through of the injury list ahead of the weekend wins no awards for innovation but it ticks the boxes for fans and produces the odd genuinely funny moment. The semi-regular forays into outright stupidity or offensiveness almost always led by Sam Newman, whether in black face, or committing some chauvinist atrocity, or pretending to smoke a bong, or belittling a player who is suffering depression mostly ensure the show stays in the minds of people who might otherwise have forgotten (or tried to forget) its existence. Controversy, in other words, helps make The Footy Show part of the conversation. Losing the popular and respected Lyon who is, for the most part, a calming influence so close to the start of a new season is hardly ideal, but it does mean that once again we are talking about The Footy Show. Nine didn't plan that, and won't exactly welcome it, but the network has plenty of experience in navigating stormy seas with this particular vessel. The network is genuinely concerned for Lyon's well-being, and insists a chair is being kept for him. "He hasn't been stood down, as some people have reported," a spokesman for Nine told Fairfax on Monday. "He has stood himself down." Somewhere, Zaky Mallah's ears were burning. "Should people in a forum like this be able to say whatever they think?" inquired Q&A host Tony Jones during Monday night's program. The question seemed innocuous enough but in this instance came with an added frisson of anticipation. He was throwing it to the man on his right, a man who was sitting in the exact same spot when he last appeared on this program. On that occasion, Steve Ciobo - a government minister then toiling in the troubled ranks of Tony Abbott - found himself front and centre as the proverbial hit the fan, splattering everyone in sight, setting off a freedom-of-speech debate that ran for months and landing Q&A in the biggest crisis of its eight years on the air. We are all older and wiser now, and Zaky Mallah - the one-time terrorism suspect whose fiery clash with Ciobo prompted that conflagration - will likely never darken the door of the Q&A studio again. As for Ciobo, he was back - now a happy warrior for Malcolm Turnbull and happy to hold forth, though perhaps hoping no one would mention his government's efforts to cow Q&A into silent submission just seven months ago. Haussegger penned a scathing column on Sunday , skewering Sunrise's "woefully empty interview" with Davis, calling Armytage the "dumb chicks ringleader" and her fellow female breakfast show hosts "daft", "ditzy" and "po-faced". The Sunrise co-host took aim at ABC senior journalist Virginia Haussegger on Monday, defending the breakfast show's widely-criticised segment with actor and UNHCR ambassador Kristin Davis on Thursday. Samantha Armytage has hit back at a journalist who labelled her a "mindless bimbo", calling the attack "base, vile and derogatory", and a betrayal of the feminist sisterhood. "What the hell is wrong with those daft women on commercial breakfast TV! Why are they winding up the ditzy dial? And why are they so dead keen to present themselves as mindless bimbos?" Haussegger wrote. Samantha Armytage said she had to 'Google' Haussegger to find out who she was. Credit:Channel Seven "Their nonsense nattering does a major disservice to feminism," she said. Armytage fired back In her own editorial on Monday, accusing Haussegger of being a bully, and saying she would not tolerate attacks "in the name of feminism". "The journalist who wrote this vitriolic piece took up valuable column space (which could have focused on the important issues of the day such as, maybe refugees?) and used the most base, vile and derogatory terms to describe not only a fellow woman, but a woman in her own profession," Armytage wrote in news.com.au. Bronwyn Bishop's decision to abandon Tony Abbott when his leadership hung by a thread is set to become a central issue of the Liberal preselection battle for her Sydney northern beaches seat of Mackellar. Ms Bishop is facing an imminent challenge from hard-right forces loyal to Mr Abbott and still furious about the former Speaker's decision to vote for Malcolm Turnbull last September. Fairfax Media understands Mr Abbott's campaign manager and president of the Warringah federal electorate conference, Walter Villatora, is poised to enter the race for Mackellar. Mr Villatora, an activist for democratic reform inside the Liberal Party, who worked as an adviser to NSW Premier Mike Baird during the state Coalition's time in opposition, has told a number of senior Liberals that he will contest Mackellar. Nominations close Friday at 5pm. Advocating genocide in private as well as public would become a crime punishable by a jail term of up to seven years if the Turnbull government adopts a call from a high-powered parliamentary committee. The recommendation was made in a report released on Monday by a cross-party group of MPs who have been scrutinising the government's latest counter-terrorism bill. Attorney-General George Brandis welcomed the committee's report. Credit:Daniel Munoz The committee has largely backed the government's latest proposals, including reducing from 16 to 14 the age at which bail-like conditions such as curfews and tracking devices can be imposed on suspected terrorists. But it recommended 20 changes, largely additional safeguards, including the use of security-cleared lawyers or "special advocates" who represent terrorism suspects in control order hearings where certain evidence is withheld from the suspect on national security grounds. East Timor has hinted its international spying case against Australia could be abandoned should the two countries negotiate a new treaty to divide rich undersea oil and gas fields. East Timor's leader Rui Araujo has also written directly to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in recent weeks to appeal for fresh negotiations in what has become an impasse over drawing a maritime boundary. East Timor alleges Australia used espionage to gain a commercial advantage during a Howard-era deal to divide resources in the Timor Sea. Credit:AFP The dispute has soured relations between the neighbours after East Timor hauled Australia before the international court in 2013, alleging espionage to gain a commercial advantage during a Howard-era deal to divide resources in the Timor Sea. East Timor's Prime Minister has written to his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull asking him to open talks on a permanent maritime boundary between the two countries. News of the official communique from Dr Rui Maria de Araujo comes in the wake of the opposition's announcement that, if elected, it will enter good faith talks with East Timor over a new border and submit to an independent determination under international law if the talks fail. The East Timor Prime Minister has written to his Australian counterpart, Malcolm Turnbull, asking for talks on a permanent maritime boundary. Credit:James Brickwood It also follows the start of negotiations between Indonesia and East Timor over their sea boundaries. Support for an Australian republic has flatlined with a flurry of attention about the issue last month resulting in no movement in the public's appetite for change. A Fairfax poll, conducted at the weekend, found support for a republic almost unchanged since the last time people were surveyed in April 2014. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney on Saturday. Credit:James Brickwood Two out of five voters (42 per cent) support becoming a republic while 47 per cent are opposed. Another 13 per cent of people do not have an opinion. Fairfax pollster, Ipsos's Jessica Elgood, said the increased profile of the republic issue towards the end of last year and around Australia Day this year came at a time "when everyone was away and Australians aren't paying as much attention". Disability advocates are calling on the Turnbull government to use the vacancy created by Tim Wilson at the Human Rights Commission to appoint a full-time disability commissioner. Australia has been without a full-time disability commissioner since July 2014, when Graeme Innes' term ended and he was not replaced by the Abbott government. Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan - whose five year term is due to end in July - was given the disability portfolio on top of her existing duties. The public funding for some of Sydney's most expensive private schools has increased at twice the rate of many of the state's poorest schools, new analysis of the latest MySchool data reveals. Trevor Cobbold, a former economist for the Australian Productivity Commission and convener of the Save Our Schools public education advocacy group, analysed the data and found the average funding increase per student for 14 selected private schools was 23 per cent from 2009 to 2013. For 15 of the most disadvantaged public schools in NSW the average increase per student was 11 per cent over the same period, the report says. "In NSW, government funding for Meriden School increased by 29 per cent; Ravenswood by 28 per cent; St Andrew's Cathedral School by 26 per cent; and for Ascham, Kincoppal Rose Bay, The King's School and Trinity Grammar by 24 per cent," the report says. Hundreds of students and parents have descended on a Sydney school protesting mismanagement by the school's board after a federal Department of Education investigation found it was operating for profit. Students of Malek Fahd in Sydney's western suburbs arrived holding placards demanding transparency, describing the actions of the school board as a "betrayal". On Monday, Fairfax Media revealed that basic services such as air conditioning had not been paid for by the school administrators despite allegations that some former board members had taken out six-figure loans for up to $19 million in taxpayer funding. The ACT struggled through a dramatic rise in whooping cough last year. Figures reveal there were 487 whooping cough cases recorded in the ACT last year, more than double the 233 cases recorded the previous year. Whooping cough cases in Canberra surged last year, but authorities say the rise is consistent with historical patterns. Credit:Thinkstock There have 26 cases of the disease, which is also known as pertussis, recorded in Canberra so far this year, according to data from the federal Department of Health. In the wake of concerns over vaccine shortages in private markets in other states, ACT Health has assured the public there is no shortage of the whooping cough vaccine in either the national immunisation program or the ACT-funded vaccination program for pregnant women in Canberra. NSW public schools are increasingly turning to their P&Cs to fund specialist literacy and numeracy programs, including gifted and talented classes, with parents stumping up hundreds of dollars in levies and fees at cash-strapped schools. P&Cs are asking parents for annual voluntary contributions of $200 per child or more to help pay for education programs as well as iPads, upgrades to toilets and additional support teachers. Public schools are increasingly relying on parents to boost their coffers. Credit:Quentin Jones This is on top of voluntary school fees, which NSW Department of Education figures show significantly boost schools' coffers. The latest published figures show some public schools, such as Baulkham Hills High, raise as much as $250,000 a year through fees which are designed to "enhance educational programs". But many schools also rely on P&C donations. A proposal to lay a 33,000-volt cable through Chatswood to power Sydney's $8.3 billion metro rail link to the northwest has sparked the ire of residents and the local council who fear major disruptions from the work. Transport for NSW identified six options for a power link before preferring one to lay 5.2 kilometres of underground cable between substations at Artarmon and Chatswood. Two independent power supplies are needed at either end of the new northwest rail line to ensure the system cannot be crippled by a single fault. However, Willoughby City Council has raised concerns about the preferred option for the cable because it will disrupt more residents than the other options, such as one located entirely within the nearby rail corridor. The design for the new $2 million Brisbane River-based Daphne Mayo Fountain has been released, along with plans to build another new fountain in the city's maligned King George Square. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk released the artists' impression on Monday as he announced three additional new fountains across the city one each in King George Square, at Sandgate's Dowse Lagoon and at Forest Lake should he be re-elected on March 19. The proposed Daphne Mayo Fountain, which would be built in the Brisbane River near the South Bank forecourt. But Cr Quirk's main opposition at next month's council election, Labor lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding, blasted the proposed Daphne Mayo Fountain as a case of the Lord Mayor "building a monument to himself". "People will be crawling across the Captain Cook Bridge, stuck in traffic, and they'll look across in frustration and see Quirk's monument," he said. A Queensland assistant police commissioner is being interviewed after killing a man in what is understood to be an accidental collision in a Cairns car park on Monday morning. Northern Region Assistant Commissioner Paul Taylor is believed to have been arriving at work at the Cairns police station in Sheridan Street just before 4.30am on Monday when the collision occurred. Queensland Police Northern Region Assistant Commissioner Paul Taylor was at the wheel of a car that ran over a man outside the Cairns police station. Credit:Queensland Police Service He reportedly ran over a man believed to be lying in the station driveway. It is believed that, in the dark, Mr Taylor was unaware he had hit the man, until he became trapped under his car. One year on from promising hope and a better Queensland, the Palaszczuk government has an image problem - it's too concerned with it. Risk averse to the point of inertia, any tough or controversial decision is delayed, swatted away or ignored in favour of emotional, community-friendly debates that on the surface win hearts, but don't take a lot of thought. That strategy, coming as it does, top down, leaves the government unable to deal with any more than one big issue usually of its choosing at a time, fossilises ministers and has resulted in a somewhat restless voting public who were promised change but have since discovered it's to be delivered in amber. While the rest of the east coast is dealing with Uber, Queensland won't look at it until at least August, leaving two industries and customers in limbo. The Palaszczuk government's last-ditch effort to lure a cross bench MP into supporting its lockout legislation has failed to impress the Katter Party MPs, who are no more convinced than when it went into the meeting. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath sat down with Shane Knuth and Robbie Katter of KAP and Labor-turned-independent MP Billy Gordon in a last-minute attempt to win the vote it needs to pass the legislation, which would lead to either a 2am or 3am last drinks call across the state, depending on whether a 1am lockout was in place. Mr Knuth and Mr Katter left the meeting no closer to making up their mind. "[There's been] no decision at all," Mr Knuth said. Support for baby Asha has not wavered on day four of the round-the-clock vigil outside Lady Cilento hospital as unions from across Queensland gathered to stand in solidarity. Over 15 varied unions representing the tens of thousands of workers across the state rallied together on Monday night outside to pledge their support for the medical staff at the children's hospital who refused to release 12-month-old baby Asha until a "suitable home environment" was identified. The child was brought into the children's hospital last month after suffering accidental burns from boiling water at a detention centre at Nauru. "Let them stay" was chanted by some who had been rallying outside the hospital since late Friday night. If haters are going to hate, they need to hate the right restaurant. The queue to vent outrage at "racist" stereotypes has reached peak hysteria after chef Shane Delia was mistakenly abused over a furore that erupted at another eatery. Brunswick East fried chicken outlet F.A.T - Fried and Tasty - landed in the deep fryer of public opinion over a mural featuring slain African-American rapper Biggie Smalls holding a chicken drumstick, a white family holding guns and black-faced Aunt Jemima beaming with her pancake mix. Chef Shane Delia pumps out kebabs at Biggie Smalls. Credit:Josh Robenstone Delia owns Biggie Smalls, a trendy kebab diner in Collingwood that features arty portraits of the hip-hop artist also known as "Big Poppa", who was murdered aged 24 in 1997. As outrage multiplied on social media over the F.A.T imagery, an alert and overly alarmed citizen sent a Facebook message to Delia's diner saying: "Privileged white hipster scum profiting off, and taking the piss out of African-Americans and their oppression (white people with guns fgs! ... A talented rapper simply labelled "FAT" stop appropriating African-American culture. It's not yours." Underwear company Bonds has decided to take the steam out of a market for second-hand zip-up cotton baby suits, which saw some re-selling for hundreds of dollars online, by re-releasing the most popular patterns. The secondary market for Wondersuits sprouted because Bonds releases designs seasonally and doesn't usually repeat them. This created demand among parents who wanted a particular suit but could no longer buy it from a retail outlet. Speculators stepped in to buy and sell the Wondersuits, which retail for about $20, at inflated prices. Ashley Cullens of Glenmore Park, Sydney, is an avid Wondersuit collector. Credit:Fiona Morris Suits that were particularly popular in the re-sale market include a white one with colourful spots known as Confetti; a pink suit with a geometric prints, and a blue suit with black trucks. Late last year the head of marketing at Bonds, Emily Small, told Fairfax Media it did not see itself as a competitor to the secondary market. This was when Confetti suits were selling for $149 and $202 each on Ebay. The damage bill from the Great Ocean Road bushfire continues to climb, with insurance claims from the disaster rising to about 1200 and insurance losses to about $150 million. But the total bill from the fire will be even greater when the cost of the emergency services response, the firefight, accommodation for firefighters and emergency personnel, grant payments and other costs are included. The insurance figures, from the Insurance Council of Australia, are expected to grow, as people work with their insurance companies and lodge their claims. Some people have multiple claims, including for motor vehicles and other assets. Most of the insured losses from the bushfire - which ravaged the picturesque settlements of Wye River and Separation Creek under fierce fire conditions on Christmas Day - relate to residential, rather than commercial, assets. The death of man during a citizen's arrest in central Victoria will be the subject of an internal police investigation, after it was found that an off-duty officer was involved in restraining the man. Police say the man was behaving erratically, damaging property and trying to get into passing cars, when he was restrained by a group of people on High Street in the town of Heathcote about 9.20pm on Sunday. It is believed the man smashed the glass shopfront of a closed take-away food business to force his way inside shortly before he was confronted by locals. It is understood that an off-duty senior constable driving past the scene was urged to help by a member of the public, and assisted in restraining the man. The man became unresponsive, and the off-duty officer and other locals started CPR. Ambulance paramedics took over once they arrived, but the man died on the footpath outside the take-away. A Metro Rail employee and CFA volunteer charged with derailing a train on the Hurstbridge line, and a string of other arson and sabotage crimes, has been remanded in custody but will apply for bail next month. Nicholas Archer, 27, an equipment assistance examiner at Metro Rail, faces 29 charges of damaging property across Melbourne's rail network, including causing damage worth $3 million at the Hurstbridge railway station in the early hours of November 11 last year. Nicholas Archer Credit:Facebook Police allege he entered the driver's cabin of a stationary train in the holding yard at Hurstbridge and used a controller to start the train, before it derailed. Police allege the incident left stationary carriages, security boxes and fencing damaged, and a security guard had to dive out of the way when the train started. A police officer bashed a man with a baton after a pursuit and then falsely accused him of resisting arrest, while his colleague also lied to cover up the crime, a Perth court has heard. Constable Daniel Barlow and Senior Constable Michael Jeffrey Blanchard briefly pursued unlicensed driver Alexander Smith in August 2013 until he arrived at a house in Baldivis. The officers are accused of lying and beating a man with a baton in an unprovoked attack. Credit:6PR Barlow, 30, is then alleged to have thrown Mr Smith to the ground, pinned him with his knees and struck him several times with a baton on his back, head, thighs and buttocks. In his opening address, prosecutor David Jubb told the jury on Monday Mr Smith would testify he never resisted arrest or threatened the officers but suffered several bruises. Dubai: An American journalist and three members of her camera crew were detained in Bahrain on Sunday, Reporters Without Borders said on Monday, urging Bahrain to release the four American citizens "rapidly and without harm." In a statement, the group described Anna Day and her three colleagues as experienced journalists, who had most recently worked on virtual reality documentaries in Egypt and Gaza. A riot policeman fires tear-gas towards anti-government protesters in Daih, Bahrain. Credit:AP Bahraini police said earlier they had detained four foreign nationals. Bahrain's interior ministry said in a statement the four were "suspected of offences including entering Bahrain illegally having submitted false information to border staff, and participating in an unlawful gathering." The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that US citizens had been arrested but declined further comment. Jakarta: Indonesians suspected of plotting to carry out an act of terrorism could be detained for up to six months under proposed new laws in response to the Jakarta terror attacks. The tough measure could prove contentious in Indonesia, which until 1998 was a military dictatorship under which thousands of people were detained without trial. An Indonesian policeman stands guard in front of a blast site in the aftermath of the January 14 Jakarta attacks. Credit:Getty Images After the January 14 bomb and gun attacks, which killed eight people in central Jakarta, police called for laws to be tightened. "We can detect a terrorist network but we can't act before they have committed a crime," said national police chief Badrodin Haiti. "That is the weakness of our laws." Tokyo: Japan has urged Australia to award a contract to build its new $50-billion submarine fleet, emphasising the strategic imperatives of such a deal as both countries seek closer ties amid growing security tensions in the region. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop received the strategic pitch from her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida during a two-and-half-hour meeting in Tokyo which also canvassed tackling China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, potential sanctions against North Korea, and Australia's opposition to Japan's resumption of whaling in the Southern Ocean. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, left, and her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida shake hands at the start of their meeting at Foreign Ministry's Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo on Monday. Credit:AP The fleet would not just amount to a transfer of defence technology and capabilities, Japanese officials say, but lead to greater operational cooperation which would help bolster maritime security in the region a counterweight to China's efforts to transform its navy into a global maritime power. The potential co-development of the new submarine fleet, amid the broader deepening of security ties with Japan, is viewed with suspicion by a Chinese government convinced the United States and its allies are intent on containing its rise. London: Kate McCann believes her daughter Madeleine's kidnapper did not take her "a million miles" from the Portuguese resort she was snatched from. Madeleine McCann was just three when she disappeared from the British family's holiday apartment in May 2007. British girl Madeleine McCann, aged 3, before she went missing from a Portuguese holiday complex in 2007. Credit:MET/AP Since 2011, UK police have been helping in the search for clues as to what happened to the youngster, and officers visited the holiday resort in 2014. Dylan Klebold, one of the two students who shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Credit:Denver Rocky Mountain News/AP She has now published A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, culled in part from that journal and the 39 that followed, chronicling the life she was forced to live after her old one was extinguished. She always knew that she would write the book. Eric Harris, left, and Dlyan Klebold, carrying a TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol, are pictured in the cafeteria at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado, during their shooting rampage in 1999. Credit:AP "The big decision was to publish," she says. All the profits are earmarked for mental-health and suicide-prevention organisations, her new community. It is a memoir of sheer terror, heartbreak and mystery, not because Dylan was some monster, but because he was like so many teenagers - withdrawn yet loving, who apparently managed to shield suicidal thoughts and searing depression from his parents, friends and teachers. He fitted no model of the alienated, violent loner. Rescuers tend to the wounded at a triage area near Columbine High School during a shooting rampage by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Credit:The Denver Rocky Mountain News/AP The mass murders occurred three days after Dylan went to his prom. He had recently visited the University of Arizona, which he planned to attend after graduation. Or so his parents believed. His mother found new ways of coping with a situation few parents ever experience. "You build a construct in your head which allows you to accept what is impossible to accept," says Klebold, 66, sitting in a midtown Manhattan hotel room holding a large coffee cup from which she rarely sips. Sue Klebold with son Dylan in 1985. Credit:Sue Klebold via Penguin/Random House Tall, slim and graceful (her younger son was a gangly 193 centimetres tall), she is given to direct eye contact, frequent smiles and sensible shoes. She is gracious, outgoing, considerate and, in her own assessment, "a profoundly honest person - sometimes to a fault". A woman stands among 15 crosses on a hill above Columbine High School in remembrance of the 15 people who died during a school shooting on April 20, 1999. Credit:AP She needed to know the truth about her son, even though there was no way she would ever know the whole truth. Why would Klebold wish to revisit the nightmare so many years later? A cross bearing the name and likeness of Dylan Klebold and a message "How can anyone forgive you?" on a hill in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. Credit:Denver Rocky Mountain News/AP "I don't think it's anything I have any control over. If I'm in a grocery store, if I see other people's children, I always think of the victims, of these beautiful young people who were killed, of the teacher," she says calmly. "Any mention of the victims and their families is always very, very difficult for me. I have such a visceral reaction because I have so much horror and shame and anguish over what Dylan did." She never became angry at Dylan, except when seeing what she calls "the basement tapes", the hate-spewing videos the two seniors recorded primarily in Harris' bedroom. "Just know I'm going to a better place," Dylan says flatly on one tape. "I didn't like life too much." His parents had no idea. This was not the son they knew. She writes in the memoir, "In the immediate aftershock of the tragedy, we weren't mourning simply Dylan, but also his very identity - and ours." Time magazine ran a cover of Harris and Klebold, one of her favourite photos of her smiling son, with the headline "The Monsters Next Door". She thought she knew him, that they were close, but learnt that his last two years were filled with anger and depression. "One of the peculiarities of a murder-suicide is that the perpetrator is never considered to be a victim," says Klebold. "I believe Dylan was a victim of whatever was going on in his head. Her memoir re-creates the horror of the aftermath, the days so jarring and revelatory, the first half barely progresses six months. The Klebolds loved their home, a mountain sanctuary miles from Littleton. Immediately after the tragedy, they were forced to vacate for days as a SWAT team searched for evidence. When they returned, it became a sort of prison. To keep reporters and others from peering in, the oversize windows had to be covered with newsprint, blocking the mountain views. A lawyer was hired before an undertaker. He told them, "There will be a firestorm of hatred levelled against your family." It took four years to settle the 36 lawsuits they were hit with. Relatives received death threats. Small acts of generosity were suspect: Though some strangers offered comfort, sending food to Tom Klebold's office, it was declined for fear of poisoning. Dylan couldn't be buried for risk of vandalism. His body was cremated. The mystery was that Dylan grew up in a house without weapons. Klebold writes that she and her husband "were so adamantly anti-gun". They were inspired by literature. Tom, a property manager, and she, then a community college counsellor, named their children after poets: older son Byron after Lord Byron and Dylan after Dylan Thomas. Dylan was their "Sunshine Boy", for his golden hair and "because everything came easy to him". Klebold was unhappy about her son's friendship with Harris. In their junior year, the two teenagers were caught stealing electronic equipment and had to attend a probationary counselling program to avoid criminal charges. She believed that he was on the mend, receiving early dismissal from the program for good behaviour and staying out of trouble during his senior year. Until April 20. The Klebolds were not close to the Harrises, whom she liked. "I like to protect their privacy," she says. "We certainly have communicated with each other over the years." A month after the murders, Klebold wrote condolence letters to all the victims' families. It took a full month to write them all. She received two responses, from one victim's sister, who said she did not blame the family and, 11 months later, from the father of a slain boy who offered compassion and help. Years later, after the lawsuits were settled, the Klebolds met, separately, the parents of three victims. Of one encounter, she writes in the memoir, "We wept, shared photos, and talked about our children. When we parted, he said he didn't hold us responsible." However, others, did blame them. One of her many hopes for the book is that "when things like this happen, people won't automatically jump to the conclusion that a perpetrator is either evil or hasn't been raised properly". She thought about changing her last name. She thought about moving. "What I realised very quickly is you can't get away from this," and that she would lose her support group of friends. She thought about suicide. Tom once said, "I wish he'd killed us, too," a thought "we would have on many occasions". When she was diagnosed with breast cancer two years after the murders, it seemed almost like a lark. Dylan's actions have defined her life, and her mission, meeting the families of people who have committed murder or killed themselves and dealing with mental-health issues. "Most people have an incident like this in their family and they hate what this person did, they are humiliated," she says. "They just want to live their lives in privacy. Almost everyone I've talked to feels that way. My choosing to do this is the aberration." "Most people" include son Byron, now 37, and Tom, now her ex-husband. After 43 years of marriage, they divorced in 2014. "We seemed to be on different pages," she says. "There was nothing we had in common. Except the shared tragedy. But we didn't feel the same way about it, we didn't process it the same way." Tom and Byron "were not comfortable" about the book's publication, she says. "But they never tried to stop me, which is amazing to me. And I love them for it." Klebold's editor at Crown, Roger Scholl, says: "Sue was absolutely clear about the mission of the book. Anything she can do to stop anyone from doing this, helping parents in any way, then she's gotten something back from the tragedy. "It's your worst nightmare. You realise about teenagers, I don't know what they're thinking. I might not know if they're in trouble." That is the memoir's message, recognition of her denial, the search for clues and knowledge. "[At first] when you lose a loved one, you feel like a victim. This has happened to you. You feel helpless and confused," Klebold says. "You progress to feeling like a survivor and survivors reach out to each other, create support groups, band together and share their feelings. "And then, after a while, we become advocates. We just want to make a difference. We want things to be better." Klebold understands that her revelations may prove painful. "I fear I'm going to re-traumatise people by putting this book out there," she says, her long fingers curled around her undrunk cup. "I considered the alternative of doing nothing." But, no. "I would be missing the thing I was supposed to be doing in my life, which was to share what I know," she says. "Knowing my story has the potential to help those who are in distress." Now, her story is out there, sunlight on a private hell. Washington Post Beirut: Air strikes hit four hospitals in rebel-held northern Syria on Monday, including child and maternity facilities, international aid officials and witnesses reported. The United Nations said at least 50 people were killed, including children. It was unclear who was responsible for the attacks, which came days before international powers have called for a "cessation of hostilities" in the five-year Syria war. Russian and Syrian aircraft operate in the areas where the hospitals were struck. Two of the four hospitals were supported by UNICEF. UNICEF's executive director Anthony Lake said in a statement, "Apart from compelling considerations of diplomacy and obligations under international humanitarian law, let us remember that these victims are children." MANCHESTER, England, Feb. 15, 2016 Puerto Rico's economy will receive a boost from the aviation industry when its top decision makers gather in San Juan for the ninth Routes Americas air service development forum (February 17-19). Routes Americas brings together leading airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss air services to, from and within the entire Americas region. Eighty-five airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, JetBlue, British Airways and Iberia have registered along with 225 airports and 40 tourism authorities. This year's event will be hosted by Puerto Rico Tourism Company with the support of Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC and Meet Puerto Rico. It has surpassed previous events with more than 700 delegates expected - an 8% increase on Routes Americas 2015 in Denver, USA. Puerto Rico's aviation market is growing with 8.8 million passengers last year. Iberia will reinstate a service to Madrid in May and Norwegian recently started new routes from San Juan to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and London Gatwick. This puts the island in a strong position to strengthen existing routes and gain more new services. Routes Americas is the perfect opportunity to showcase local attractions and San Juan International Airport (the largest and busiest airport in the Caribbean). Since it took over operations in 2013, Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC has invested $750 million in the airport, focusing on remodelling terminals, improving passenger flows and increasing its commercial offer. In addition to providing a meeting forum for route development professionals, the event's 'Strategy Summit' conference will give delegates the opportunity to hear from leading industry experts. Speakers include Joe Mohan, Chief Executive Officer of Viva Airlines Group; David Clark, Vice President of Network Planning at JetBlue; Amy Martin, Director of Latin American Network Planning at Delta Air Lines and Terry Thornton, Senior Vice President Itinerary Planning at Carnival Cruise Lines. Katie Bland, Director of Routes, said: "Routes Americas is the only forum that brings together so many leading airlines and airports from the entire Americas region, so it's a fantastic opportunity for Puerto Rico to influence the aviation industry's most senior decision makers." Ingrid I. Rivera Rocafort, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, said: "We are definitely very pleased and excited to be hosting Routes Americas 2016. The event provides the perfect venue to showcase Puerto Rico's unique identity as a travel destination as well as the Island's remarkable potential as the bridge between North and South America, and as a central traffic hub for the Caribbean. Routes America offers participants the perfect opportunity to increment networking databases, share knowledge and exchange valuable ideas, generate further leads and continue the expansion of both leisure and business travel into Puerto Rico's regional and international airports." Agustin Arellano, Chief Executive Officer of Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC, said: "Hosting Routes Americas 2016 along with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company is a great achievement for Puerto Rico and San Juan International Airport. It demonstrates the prominence of the destination among the Caribbean, Latin American and US market. It also gives us all the opportunity to work together developing new routes and destinations, to build trust relationships in the aviation industry and to showcase a renovated airport with more amenities and better services." For more information about Routes Americas, go to: http://www.routesonline.com/events/178/routes-americas-2016/ Routes Americas 2016, Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 17-19. Media are invited to the Routes Americas event and can register by emailing Karen Reeves Karen.Reeves@ubm.com Karen.Reeves@ubm.com A press conference will be held on Wednesday 17th at 12:00 hrs to mark the opening of the event. It will take place at the event venue ( Puerto Rico Convention Center) outside the Strategy Summit area. About Routes Routes events are unique forums dedicated to the development of new air services which bring together airlines, airports and destinations to meet, plan, discuss and negotiate new and existing flights. Five 'regional' route development forums are held between February and July in the Americas, Asia , Europe , Africa / Middle East and Silk Road/Russian Commonwealth, and the flagship World Routes event takes place in September. http://www.routesonline.com , , / and Silk Road/Russian Commonwealth, and the flagship World Routes event takes place in September. http://www.routesonline.com The events revolve around pre-scheduled meetings and an exhibition and conference which are delivered in partnership with host stakeholders. Hosts tend to be a collaboration between airports, tourism authorities and investment partners (the bidding process takes place two to three years before the event takes place). Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the UKbased consultancy ASM which specialises in route development for airports, airlines and tourism and travel organisations. http://www.asm-global.com. Routes and ASM are part of the UBM EMEA division of UBM plc. About Puerto Rico Tourism Company The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), founded in 1970, is a public corporation responsible for stimulating, promoting and regulating the development of the tourism industry PRTC markets Puerto Rico as a tourism destination through advertising, public relations and promotional activities. It promotes tourism among visitors and local residents, provides visitor orientation and technical assistance to investors, evaluates tourism facilities, establishes standards of quality and regulates and oversees gaming operations as a tourism destination through advertising, public relations and promotional activities. It promotes tourism among visitors and local residents, provides visitor orientation and technical assistance to investors, evaluates tourism facilities, establishes standards of quality and regulates and oversees gaming operations PRTC has offices and representatives in the US mainland, Canada , Europe and Latin America . About Aerostar Holdings LLC Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC is the managing company of San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Puerto Rico . It is the first private operator managing a commercial mid-size hub airport in US territory under the Federal Aviation Administration's Pilot Privatization Program . It is the first private operator managing a commercial mid-size hub airport in US territory under the Federal Aviation Administration's Pilot Privatization Program Aerostar is a 50%-50% joint venture between ASUR (Aeropuertos del Sureste) and Oaktree Capital Management, LP - an investment management firm Aerostar has focus in upgrading the passenger's experience by remodelling terminals, increasing commercial offer and optimising passenger flows in SJU. Since the beginning of its operation in 2013, Aerostar has invested approximately $750 million in Puerto Rico in SJU is the Caribbean's busiest airport. In 2015, traffic totalled 8.8 million passengers, increasing 2.3% compared to 2014. About Meet Puerto Rico Businessman jailed for 33m drug-smuggling operations A BUSINESSMAN and his accomplices have been jailed for smuggling cocaine with a street value of 5m into a Selby airbase. Pilot Andrew Wright used his business Sky Views R US Ltd as a front for drug-smuggling. A drugs ledger showed drugs, including cocaine and cannabis, with a street value of 33.5m had been flown to the UK from the Netherlands. He has been sentenced to 19 years in prison at a hearing at the Old Bailey. The National Crime Agency investigated after Border Force staff examined a light aircraft which had landed at Breighton Aerodrome near Selby on Monday 17 November 2014. In the Porsche Cayenne parked next to the plane, cocaine with a street value of 5m was discovered. Jamie Williams and Mark Dowling, both of Essex, were arrested as part of a Metropolitan Police investigation. According to Companies House, Sky Views R US Ltd is still trading with Jacqueline Wright of Toad Hall named as a director. Mick Maloney, head of the NCAs north east border investigation team, said: This crime group ran an organised operation, utilising the piloting skills of Andrew Wright to import large amounts of cocaine. Wrights previous trips to and from Germany point to him being a professional courier, trusted by his fellow criminals with transporting their drugs. Detective Constable Pete Wakefield, North Yorkshire Polices special branch ports officer, said: Andrew Wright was stopped at Breighton Aerodrome bringing a significant amount of cocaine into North Yorkshire. Although people may think that we are a quiet, rural county this case goes to show that serious and organised crime does happen here and Wrights arrest prevented a large quantity of Class A drugs making it onto the streets. High-level crime does not observe borders, which is why it is important that Special Branch and the NCA work in partnership to combat organised crime and protect our international borders and ports. While small airfields like Breighton may not appear to be obvious places for organised crime groups to operate, our aviation vigilance campaign Project Pegasus exists to encourage people to look out for suspicious activity around these small ports and contact the police on 101 if they see anything unusual. Read next: Arrest follows fraud allegation at law firm In an unprecedented move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released the following statement just one hour after the sudden passing of divisive Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia: The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. While there have been Senate objections to SCOTUS appointees in the past under similar circumstances, launching an instant, preemptive rejection of any candidate the president chooses is a first. And after a long hiatus, Last Week Tonights John Oliver took time on his late-night HBO program first to honor Scalia for being a hugely significant justice whose death is the end of an era on the Supreme Court, before addressing the elephant in the room: The fact is, there is now a huge vacancy on the Supreme Court that needs to be filledor, if you listened to the Republicans in the last 24 hours, not, said Oliver. He then threw to a clip of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump endorsing Sen. McConnells historic stand during last nights South Carolina debate, saying, I think its up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it. Its called delay, delay, delay. Well, that does not bode well because Mitch McConnell is actually pretty good at delaying things for peoplewhether its legislation, court appointments, or orgasms, joked Oliver. Believe me, if you ever need to delay, delay, delay [an orgasm], just picture [McConnells] face and I guarantee you nothing will happen possibly for the rest of your life. Oliver then explored the strange, unwritten rule that the Senate is using to justify the block: the Thurmond Rule, which says that no president in the last six months of their presidency should be able to appoint a judge that has a lifetime appointment. Yes, the Strom Thurmond Rule, Oliver said. Now, Im not surprised that there is one, its just I thought it would always be about the amount of hush money required to keep your secret family a secret, or how racist an old person is allowed to be before their age is no longer an excuse. If Mitch McConnell does want to invoke this rule, he will need to be careful because during the George W. Bush years, when Democrats were trying to pull this Thurmond Rule bullshit to prevent lower court appointments, he was pretty categorical about it, he added. He then threw to a 2008 clip of Sen. McConnell addressing the Senate: Our Democratic colleagues continually talk about the so-called Thurmond Rule, under which the Senate supposedly stops confirming judges in a presidential election year, said McConnell. This seeming obsession with this rule that doesnt exist is just an excuse for our colleagues to run out the clock on qualified nominees who are waiting to fill badly-needed vacancies. Oops. Sen. McConnell also stated in 2005 that he supported a sitting presidents absolute right to nominate judges, although thatagainwas when a Republican sat in the White House. Yes, it seems the Thurmond Rule is a bit like God: When things are going your way, you dont bring it up a lot, but as soon as youre in trouble it is all that you talk about, quipped Oliver. Of course, since the Thurmond Rule applies to the last six months of a presidents term, it wouldnt even come into effect until July 20. Either way, to outright deny President Obamas choice to a fair nomination process would likely go against the wishes of the late Antonin Scalia, who, as Sen. Marco Rubio stated in the recent South Carolina debate, understood that the Constitution was not a living and breathing document and was meant to be interpreted by its original meaning. Hes right, said Oliver. Scalia loved the letter of the lawso lets look at the letter as it applies here, shall we? Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution says, [The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Judges of the Supreme Court. Thats the president. This president. There is nothing in the Constitution about you getting to delay him for a year because of some bullshit tradition. He continued, So to Senate Republicans, I say this: If you really loved Antonin Scalia, you wouldnt honor his memory by desecrating the thing he loved the most. Think of Scalia like a Britta filter or a childs hamster: Why dont you honor his entire reason for being by swiftly and efficiently replacing him. 11.22.63s ominous opening-credit theme is punctuated by an atonal final notea discordant tone that speaks to the less-than-happily-ever-after course charted by this 8-part mini-series based on Stephen Kings acclaimed 2011 novel (and produced by J.J. Abrams) about a man who travels to 1960 on a mission to save President John F. Kennedy. Buoyed by a period-piece narrative that, over the course of eight-plus hours, it clearly and evocatively dramatizes with equal emphasis on what-if fantasy, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and subtle emotional depth, its the best (and most faithful) King translation since 2007s big-screen The Mistas well as a sterling maiden effort by Hulu to join the ranks of Netflix, Amazon, HBO and AMC at the Peak TV big-kids table. With only negligible deviations from its source material, 11.22.63 recounts the time-traveling odyssey of Jake Epping (James Franco), an English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine whose shaggy head of hair and goatee are destined to disappear once he journeys back to the 60s, where men don dapper suits and hats, and sport cleanly cropped hair and shaven jawlines. Jake is newly divorced, and the type of caring mentor who in adult-education class singles out janitor Harry Dunning (Leon Rippy) for his powerful, honest autobiographical writingspecifically, about his childhood ordeal surviving his fathers slaughter of his mother and siblingsand then goes the extra mile by putting in a recommendation for Harrys possible promotion. Jakes life is turned upside down when, while at the local diner, gruff owner Al Templeton (Chris Cooper, doing a great cranky-wise-man routine) materializes out of the establishments back area looking years older, and more haggard, than he had moments earlier. Suddenly stricken with cancer, and thus fearful that he wont be able to finish what he started, Al tells Jake his secret: his eaterys storage closet is actually a portal to 1960. Moreover, hes been traveling back in time to not only procure cheap meat (thats how his burgers are only $1.99), but to figure out if gunman Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Webber) acted alone at Dallass Texas School Book Depository, all so he can stop JFKs assassination from occurring. Al has undertaken this venture because he believes, butterfly effect-style, that the world would have been a fundamentally better place with JFK alive (most notably, hes sure the Vietnam War wouldnt have been such a nightmarish quagmire), and now felled by a fatal disease, he wants Jake to assume his mission. The idea that a small-town diners closet is a time vortex guided by wacko regulationsit only takes you back to the same moment in 1960; no matter how long youre in the past, only 2 minutes will have passed when you return to the present; if you come back, the past resetsnaturally strikes Jake as confounding, illogical, and insane. And as in Kings novel, 11.22.63 gets away with its cockamamie rules simply by shrugging, as if to say Time travel is magic, so why would any aspect of it make lucid sense? Rather than wasting undue breath validating its make-believe, it simply dives headfirst into its tale, in which Jakeaided by Als copious Oswald research, as well as fake IDs that list him as Jake Ambersonheads back to the 60s, where at every turn, the past pushes back against change, doing whatever is necessary to prevent things from being altered (a twist that justifies plot contrivances by weaving them into the fictions fabric). Before dealing with the president, Jake first assumes a more personal task: preventing Harrys father Frank (Josh Duhamel) from murdering his clan on Halloween night 1960. Only after thats been resolved does he relocate, with an unlikely ally named Bill (George MacKay), to the Dallas-area enclave of Jodie. There, he establishes himself as a schoolteacher and falls in love with a divorced librarian named Sadie (a magnetic Sarah Gadon) still pestered by her deviant ex (T.R. Knight). As expertly adapted by Bridget Carpenter and a bevy of assured directors (including, for the debut installment, The King of Scotlands Kevin Macdonald), 11.22.63 constantly straddles the line between historical mystery and man-out-of-place drama. The former comes via Jake and Bills surveillance of the angry, petulant anti-establishment Oswald, under whose apartment they rent a flat to eavesdrop on him, his young Minsk bride Marina (Lucy Fry), their baby, his mother (Cherry Jones) and their possible Russian-CIA handler friend George de Mohrenschildt (Jonny Coyne). All the while, Jake struggles to fashion a new, romantic life for himself in this strange time, where the food and air taste sweeter, and thriving racial discrimination (as seen through the clandestine mixed-race relationship between Nick Searcy and Tonya Pinkins school administrators) still reeks. King aficionados will be happy to find that 11.22.63 remains something of a spiritual echo to the authors seven-novel fantasy series The Dark Tower, in that it concerns a lost-in-time protagonist destined to repeat his mistakes, ad infinitum, unless he learnspainfully, tragicallythat no mission is worth the destruction of everything (and everyone) he loves. The tense push-pull between individual desire and the public good serves as the series lifeblood. And its a dynamic that gets muddied, to quietly profound effect, in a climax that suggests that the past not only doesnt want to change, but fundamentally cant be changedand, furthermore, that its probably better that way, given the impossibility of ever truly knowing, ahead of time, whos worth saving in the first place. Such questions emerge naturally from 11.22.63s narrative, and via the sturdy performance of Franco, who infuses Jake with an innate decency and sense of purpose thats colored, first faintly and then in darker, crimson shades, by the less-than-noble actions he takes to complete his task. Jake is a man caught between all sorts of competing forces (and stations), and Francos alternately tender and frazzled turn roots the material in an emotional reality as compelling as the series period atmosphere, with era-specific details (the decor of a local barber shop, the gleam of a newly shined car, the flowing skirts of a teacher at a high-school dance) rendered with understated, authentic loveliness. Easter eggs for fanboys abound (keep a close eye on the staircase wall in the Texas School Book Depository), yet 11.22.63 is ultimately far more than just a compendium of shout-outs. Its a rip-roaring account of the sacrifices required for heroismand the notion that some sacrifices are, in the end, simply too great to tolerate. Its a Zapruder-like whodunit that digs deeply into historical facts and conjecture with conspiracy-theorist zest. Its the portrait of a would-be savior who repeatedly fails, until he comes to understand that the universe (embodied by a quasi-mystical bum with a yellow card in his hat brim) is trying to teach him a lesson about what matters most in life. Its a full-bodied romance in which fate, ever wielding a cruel hand, exploits love to its own maintain-the-status-quo endsculminating in possibly the most heartbreakingly bittersweet finale in the King oeuvre. In short: its Peak (King) TV of the highest order. There are few words more reassuring to cinemagoers than based on a novel by Stephen King. The wildly prolific authors books, which have sold 350 million-plus copies, also inspired some of the most celebrated films of the past five decades, from The Shining to The Shawshank Redemption. But King, who is 68, has had far worse luck on the small screen, where many of his projects have fizzled. That should change with 11.22.63. Executive-produced by King and J.J. Abrams, the Hulu miniseries is an adaptation of his sprawling novel of the same name about an English teacher in Kings native state of Maine (played by James Franco) who is tasked with going back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, thereby preventing a string of catastrophes like the Vietnam War. Along the way, he investigates whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, and finds himself torn between the past and the present after falling for a fetching Dallas librarian (Sarah Gadon). Kings riveting book opens with a quote by the late literary titan Norman Mailer: It is virtually not assimilable to our reason that a small lonely man felled a giant in the midst of his limousines, his legions, his throng, and his security. If such a non-entity destroyed the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, then a world of disproportion engulfs us, and we live in a universe that is absurd. Part historical epic and part Back to the Future-esque fantasy, 11.22.63 harnesses the strengths of two of our greatest living storytellers to weave a binge-worthy tale that could signal a seismic shift for its streaming service host. The Daily Beast spoke to King, who once wrote a fascinating piece for us on taxation, about his inspiration for the story and much, much more. Did you watch the assassination of JFK on the news, and what effect did that have on you? We watched, my mother, my brother, and I. I got out of school and lived in a little town south of Waterville, Maine, and this guy who drove a bunch of us kids back and forth, he never played the radio, and that afternoon the radio was on. He said, Some son of a bitch just killed the president. And we were just stunned to silence. We saw everything that happened after that. My mother was a rock-ribbed Republican but she cried her eyes out; she kept talking about the little kids that he had. We were watching Sunday with our dinner in our laps to see Oswald transferred from the lockup in Dallas to the bigger jail, and we saw him assassinated on live TV. Our jaws just dropped. We couldnt believe it. Why do you feel that this tragedy has birthed more conspiracy theories than any other moment in American history? Because Jack Ruby shut Oswalds mouth before he could talk about what he had done. Oswald was taken into custody and said the things anyone would say initiallyI didnt do it, I was a patsyand thats where the conversation ended. The reason theres been all the conspiracy talk is because Oswald never broke down and said, I did this, but also what it says at the front of 11/22/63, the Norman Mailer quote: We find it difficult to believe that one lone wingnut with a gun could kill the most powerful man in the world. But weve seen it time and time and time again. We saw it with John Lennonthat was no conspiracy, it was just a crazy lone gunman who killed him. Bridget Carpenter, the showrunner, came to disagree with me, but I think Oswald was acting alone. The crux of 11.22.63 is that preventing the assassination of JFK wouldve altered the course of history by further averting the Vietnam War and the murder of Bobby Kennedy. What one recent event, for you, do you think would have drastically altered the course of American history? The 2000 presidential election, perhaps? The Bush election is a pretty good oneI would put that in second place. In fact, its even mentioned in 11/22/63 where Al says, If you could go back in time to the year 2000 and spread around even $100,000 in Florida and promised it to people to vote for Gore instead of Bush or Nader, then in that case, Al Gore becomes president and there are big changes. But thats only second place. The big one is 9/11. If someone could go back and make one phone call and say, There are bad people getting on airplanes right now and heres where its happening, there would have been huge changes: the War in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq, the lives that have been lost, the amount of blood and treasure thats been spent on those things, all because those guys went through the checkpoints with their box cutters and got on those planes. J.J. Abrams told me that you two met back in 2006 while collaborating on an Entertainment Weekly feature for his series Lost. I loved Lost and my wife loved it, and she hardly watches any TV at all! There were four of us thereJ.J., Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, and me. It turns out that J.J. Abramss wife grew up right across the river from us in the town of Brewer, Maine. We talked about that and all went to see the horror movie The Descent. Ah, I love that film. First saw it at a midnight screening at Sundance and it blew me away. You want a tip? Go see The Witch. Its that quality. Anyway, J.J. and I stayed in touch, and for a while it looked like Jonathan Demme was going to make a film about 11/22/63. I had some doubts about that. I loved Jonathans work, but its such a long book, and even if the movie was Godfather-length at over three hours, it still felt too short to encompass the material. Eventually, [Demme] came to agree with that and my next thought was maybe J.J. Abrams would be interested in it, so I put out some feelers. He likes those off-the-wall stories. I think its a pretty good fit for J.J., I really do. He put together a hell of a team and Im very satisfied with the result. Speaking of J.J., what did you think of his recent flick Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Its the best one, I thought, since the first Star Wars. The first one was special because nobody expected what it was, so when you saw the credits come up and then this huge ship suddenly appeared on the screen, I still remember seeing that in Boston and how blown away we all were. But I was totally with it, the whole thing. I thought he caught the feeling of the first one. I went to see it with my three grandsons and we saw it in IMAX 3D, man, and it was great. Wait, you liked it more than Empire? Yes. After the first one of the original three I like the third one, because there was Carrie Fisher in her little outfit there and I thought that was pretty hot. As far as recent movies go, were now in the final days of awards season. What were your favorite films of 2015? My No. 1 is Mad Max: Fury Road. I loved [Fury Road]. I loved that. I loved The Big Short. I thought that was terrific. Im trying to think what else I saw The funny thing is, weve got the Academy Awards coming up very soon and hardly anybody can name what won Best Picture seven years ago, but we all remember the most junky movies. But The Big Short stands out because it took a complicated subject and made it kind of funny. One other movie that I really did like was a movie called Cop Car with Kevin Bacon. That was really good. It was a little bit like Stand By Me, only darker. Were having a productiveand long-overdueconversation right now about diversity in Hollywood, with the Oscars serving as the catalyst. It seems like a byproduct of the larger cultural moment were having with Black Lives Matter, and how social media has given a voice to the voiceless, and helped push these issues to the fore. Absolutely. Social media has been absolutely huge when it comes to that. Its really strange about the Academy Awards two years in a row coming out with these vanilla ice cream nominations. Especially when you think that there were a couple of really great performancesthe kid from Friday Night Lights in Creed, Michael B. Jordan, he was terrific. He deserved a nomination for that. But even more, Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nationwhat an incredible performance in a difficult role. I wonder if part of the reason that he was ignoredand the movie was ignoredwas because of the synergy with Netflix. I think that a lot of movie people really dont like the idea of people muscling in on their playing field. They see it as a threat. Im in complete agreement. For meIm in the Academy but I dont get a chance to vote for actors, I get a chance to vote for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplayyet another movie that really seemed to me to deserve a nomination for Best Picture was Straight Outta Compton. You have to wonder if some of the older voters felt like, Hmm I dont really want to watch that picture because I dont dig rap. But I think youre going to see a major course-correction, and I think the Academy Awards are going to be very interesting this year because this is on a lot of peoples minds, and a lot of people are going to speak out about it. This is in some respects a political show, and we are in the throes of hands-down the most insane presidential race in history. What do you make of it, and more specifically, of the rise of Donald Trump? It seems to me that, given the relentless 24-hour news cycle, it was only a matter of time before we had a media-savvy reality star ascend to this perch. Man, I dont know! Trump leaves me speechless. When he came down that escalator to announce that he was going to run for president, I thought to myself that it was a smart joke, and it was a way of basically renewing his brand, refreshing himself in the press, and getting to the forefront. I figured he would run for a while, then drop out, and that would be the end of it. And instead, you talk about media-savvy, but hes really the anti-media-savvy candidate. At this point, hes said 40 different things that would have gotten him laughed out of the race if he wasnt so outrageous. In the debate the Republicans had [in New Hampshire], Marco Rubio repeated the same talking point three or four timesand got his clock cleaned by Christieand its almost like his candidacy has become a very perilous thing. It was a classic gotcha moment. But if it wouldve been Trump, it wouldnt have mattered, because this guy can say that Megyn Kelly was after me because she was on her period. He can say he didnt mean that, but thats obviously what he meant. He can talk about Ted Cruz being a pussy and it just bounces off! Its like hes bulletproof. Will he get nominated? I wouldve said the idea is ridiculous even four months ago, but now Im not so sure. Then people are saying that if he does get nominated hed never get elected, and Im saying, well, hopefully that wont happen. But who knows. I personally find Ted Cruz to be a scarier prospect for America than Donald Trump. Trump was singing a very different tune a decade-plus agohe was essentially a Democratso hes just pandering to his base, but Cruz is a horse of a different color. Hes very scary. I actually think Trump, in the end, would be more electable than Cruz because Cruz is a fundamentalist Christian and it would almost be like electing the analog of an Imamsomeone whose first guiding principle would be the scripture rather than the Constitution. But I dont think he could get elected. And, even if he was able to govern without blowing up the world, could we look at a guy who resembles a cable game show host for four years? He has that awful plastered-down hair and everything. Now Im from New York, and we recently lost an honorary New Yorker in David Bowie. Im curious if Bowie perhaps inspired any of your stories or characters?I did a series on CBS way back in the day called Golden Years, and we used that song Golden Years, which is really a mysterious and wonderful song, as the theme song for that show; a summer replacement on CBS that didnt get picked up, unfortunately. A few years after that, he called me up on the phone and we talked about a concept album that he wanted to dokind of a scary thing. Nothing else came of it, but I did have that conversation with him. I was shocked and sad to see that he had passed. I had an image of him as perpetually young and perpetually changing, so it came as a shock to know that he was actually my age. Its such a loss. He was a terrifically talented man who accomplished so many things. There was such an emphasis in the press on how damn good-looking he was and how he was a trendsetter in terms of style, and I thought they ignored his music a bit. He made a lot of interesting music. OK, youve piqued my interest big time with this concept album. Could you talk a bit more about what the concept was?I honestly cant remember. We talked a little bit about getting together, and the schedules didnt fit. People have an idea and then they move on, you know how it is. I got a call one day from Arnold Schwarzenegger who said, Stephen, I want to make the scariest movie ever made and you must write it, and I said, Let me think about that a little bit. So he went and made this horror movie where he was the Terminator against the evil forces of hell, End of Days. I didnt have anything to do with that! But sometimes people call and it either sparks, or it doesnt. John Mellencamp called with an idea for a musical and we ended up working on it for 10 years! I made a good friend out of that, though, which is great. ECONOMY, Pennsylvania The head looked up at the boy with eyes made of red rubber balls. The face was frozen in a fixed glare thanks to embalming and the chill of death. The neck had been roughly sawed; inside, the tissue was severed with surgical precision. The hair was snow white with curls. The resting place was a field where horses and adventurous children roam. The body was gone. On Dec. 12, 2014, a boy named Charles got off his school bus and began walking down Mason Road, a barely two-lane strip of asphalt that leads to only a few homes. By chance or fate the boy wandered from the road and into the field of overgrown brush. At first he thought it was an animal, dead or dying in the winter cold. But it turned out to be Jane Does head, and it is how most people in Economy refer to what was once a human being. Thats where they found it, a woman in a nearby home said, pointing to the field off Mason Road. Down there on the left? Yeah, I think so, she said. Two days after Charles made his discovery, cadaver dogs and police were pulled from the field. Thats when the real work began. Embalming and artificial eyes would seem to indicate the woman at least made it to a funeral home following her death. However, theres no way to determine whether a professional or some sick amateur performed that macabre task. After consulting with area cemeteries, police have mostly ruled out the possibility that Jane Doe was taken from a grave or funeral home. As for the devilish eyes, Economy Chief of Police Michael OBrien said he consulted with national associations of funeral directors and medical examiners in an attempt to explain the presence of the red rubber balls. Both groups said that similar items can be placed in eye sockets if a person has donated their eyes, but the eye sockets are usually filled with flesh-colored balls accompanied by gauze. Advertisement Further investigation revealed that the balls are toys, mass-produced by thousands of companies worldwide. Maybe Jane Doe was never in a funeral home, the thinking went after this discovery. To make matters worse for investigators, the Chinese consulate told OBrien that manufacturers in the country make so many of the balls that tracking down their origin would be next to impossible. The toys are found everywhere, including the quarter machines in the lobby of a local pizza restaurant that dispenses cheap trinkets for fidgeting children, OBrien said. The presence of the balls means another thing, although OBrien didnt say it: If the head had been thrown from a moving car, say, the balls wouldve surely fallen out. That they remained in the eye socketsand that there was no attempt to conceal Jane Does headmeans it may have been carefully placed in the field off Mason Road. The embalming, the toys, the decapitation only deepened the mystery, but there was a break when investigators analyzed what Jane Doe drank before she died. Namely, water. Every water source contains minerals unique to specific areas. The minerals found in Jane Doe indicate that she spent the last seven months of her life in two areas of Pennsylvania not far from Economy, or in eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland, or New York. The womans dental fillings date from the 1980s or 90s, OBrien said, based on chemical analysis of the fillings. Further tests revealed the presence of two drugs used to treat an irregular heartbeat and heart rhythm problems. Advertisement Was Jane Does death a murder, or did she die of natural causes? A local prosecutor speculated that the womanthought to be in her fifties, with white hair and with obvious health problemsmay have been in the care of nursing homes, being moved around by family, which would explain the minerals found from different locations in the area. It is one thing to shuffle an aging relative in poor health from home to home as her family members carry on with their lives, but how did Jane Doe end up decapitated? And how did she end up in the field off Mason Road? Since Charles found her head, Jane Doe has been viewed by any number of local police, state and federal law enforcement personnel, at least one sketch artist, a mortuary scientist or two, and whatever technological whizzes put together the 3D clay rendering released in photos to the public in early December of last yearthe latest attempt to identify the woman. Its in good enough shape, Economy Police Chief Michael OBrien said of Jane Does head. Good enough for the sketch artist to perform their duty, OBrien meant, and for the 3D renderers to do theirs. But for a picture to be taken? Not so much, OBrien hinted. Advertisement Police dismissed the theory that Jane Doe could have been a missing person early on. If a missing person ended up at a funeral homewhere she could possibly have been embalmedsurely someone there would have recognized the fact that a body had arrived with no identification or known relatives. But considering there is no way to tell whether the embalming work performed on Jane Doe was done by a professional or an amateur, as OBrien noted, perhaps missing-persons cases should be considered in the investigation. The same reason for ruling out a missing person was also apparently applied by police to hospitals from where the heart drugs found in the womans system likely came. How could a documented missing person be treated at a hospital without anyone catching on? There are hundreds of open cases of missing women from the states in which Jane Doe may have lived: Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, or New York, according to the mineral test results. Those cases dont include women listed as missing from the Rockies or the Northwest where the same minerals come from, cases that were immediately ruled out because Jane Doe wasnt found there, but in western Pennsylvania. A Daily Beast review of open missing-persons cases for the states in which police believe Jane Doe may have lived just prior to her death provided more than a few possible matches. There may be no greater possible match than Tamara Tammy Porrin. Porrin went missing from central Pennsylvania in 1986, and the photos of her on a national missing-persons database bear a remarkable similarity to Jane Doe. Both have the same short, curly hair, circular tip of the nose, and round, soft jaws and chin. Advertisement Porrins brother, Ernest Porrin Jr., agreed the renderings of Jane Doe look very much like his long-lost sister. I can see a huge likeness of what Tammy would have looked like, Ernest wrote in an email. But I personally believe she was killed back in 1986. Still, Ernest and his sister told The Daily Beast they are more than willing to submit DNA to eliminate Tammy from the pool of possible matches for Jane Doe. When I told OBrien about Porrin in mid-December, the police chief took down Ernests name and numberapparently interested in possibly putting an end to the mystery. Weeks after leaving Pennsylvania I reached out to Ernest, who said law enforcement had not yet contacted him. Advertisement During our conversation OBrien said 30 leads have been exhausted or excluded. Yet there remains some hope that the womans body might eventually be foundperhaps even in the area by a roaming hunter. But weve been through a spring turkey hunting season and a fall deer season, OBrien said, and we havent found it yet. OBrien could remember just two or three homicides in the last decade in the area. Economy is a quiet place, and for a head to show up with no body nearby and no one to claim it is beyond strange, OBrien said. Enough to leave a 25-year police veteran nearly speechless. It is very bizarre, OBrien said, shaking his head. Advertisement The woman whose head was found in the field just outside the small town could have been a missing person, but police have dismissed that possibility with the stunningly simplistic reasoning that a missing person would have been caught by the complicated system of coroners, funeral homes, cemeteries, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies that all become involved when one dies. Police are fairly certain Jane Doe is not a missing person, a strange funeral home mistake, or the victim of a body snatcher. These conclusions leave at least one more possibility: The woman was murdered and ended up being the subject of some ghouls sick experiment. Whatever the case, Jane Doe is entirely a mystery. Maybe she was shuttled from one nursing home to another as heart problems caused her health to deteriorate. Maybe she wandered from one of those facilities at some point. Only to be embalmed and decapitated? Perhaps she was at a funeral homeher head strangely removed somewhere between the embalming table and the grave. Worst of all, Jane Doe may have been a missing person, on the road for years only to be killed at an age when most Americans would like to be considering things like retirement and grandchildren; the slow years that allow us to reflect on the complicated beauty of a life filled with victories and losses, love and heartache, joy, pain, hope, and the wisdom that only comes when wrinkles like hers begin creeping across our faces. The possibilitiesmurder and dismemberment, body-snatching, elder abuse, a missing persons case gone terrifyingly wrong, dementia-induced wandering, absentee family membersseem as endless as the winding roads outside Economy that lead only deeper into the hills of the Alleghenies. We all know super PACs have permanently changed the face of American politics. But in South Carolina, right now, were getting a preview of the unprecedented ways they can alter a campaign. South Carolina, as you may know, is kind of a big deal. It has a large population4.8 million peopleand a bad reputation because its a place where candidates love to break out their dirtiest tricks. Or, in the case of Ted Cruzs super PACs, their most experimental. The cluster of well-funded super PACs boosting Cruzs candidacy is trying out a new tactic in the Palmetto State, indicating the extent to which super PACs are encroaching on traditional campaign turf. And it has Cruzs rivals scared. Said super PAC, called Keep the Promisewhich is actually sub-divided into several different PACs, each funded by a different billionaire familyhas blithely tossed the traditional super PAC playbook to the winds. In fact, theyve taken on typical campaign operations: gathering voter data, targeting likely Cruz supporters, and knocking on thousands of doors to get out the vote. The super PAC has had upwards of 250 people canvassing the state, targeting the homes of persuadable Republican voters. Thus far, they estimate theyve knocked on more than 93,000 doors. And by Election Day, theyre shooting to have knocked on 100,000. In any given week, they say, 100 to 150 individual people spend eight-hour days doing the door-knocking. And most of them get paid. Traditionallyto the extent that we have age-old super PAC traditionssuper PACs pay for expensive TV and radio ads. Federal election law forbids them from coordinating with the campaigns they try to boost, so shelling out big bucks to produce and air TV ads has been their natural role. And thats what most of them have done in this cyclefrom a pro-Rubio super PAC running birther-esque ads ominously intimating that Cruz is darkly influenced by his Canadian roots, to the pro-Bush Right to Rise PAC, which got President George W. Bush to star in a spot boosting Jeb. Thats the norm. Campaigns run events, corral volunteers, and staff regional offices; super PACs slap up ads. South Carolina politicos describe it as an effective, relentless operation. And it has some of Cruzs opponents feeling a little jittery. Ill be very shocked, honestly, if Ted Cruz doesnt win the primary, said an operative for a rival campaign, citing Keep the Promises blanketing of the Upstate. Trump has led by double digits in all the recent Palmetto State polls. But some are skeptical that his lead is really that commanding. And they point to the different ground gamesparticularly, to that of Keep the Promiseas evidence for their doubt. Keep the Promise staff explained that the group has been door-knocking across the state, in a few targeted regions and counties, since last November. In early January, those door-knockers started focusing on persuasion: identifying likely Republican primary voters who favor an Evangelical Christian candidate, knocking on their doors, and having conversations aimed at persuading them to back Cruz. What we are doing right now is what I dreamed about doing as Scott Walkers state director, said Dan Tripp, who formerly helmed Walkers South Carolina operation and now runs the show there for Keep the Promise. Its hard, dirty work, Tripp said. If were asking somebody to go out and knock on doors for eight hours, thats a lot of gas, thats a lot of time and its hard work. So weve built a budget around paying our canvassers. The ease with which super PACs can raise moneyno contribution limits, no spending limitsmeans groups like Keep the Promise have resources that campaigns may not. In the case of Keep the Promise, thats thanks to a handful of billionaire families who decided Cruz was their guy. One Keep the Promise backer, Robert Mercer, is a hedge fund billionaire who keeps a very low profile and has drawn criticism for tax-dodging. Keep the Promise supporters also include Dan and Farris Wilks, brothers from Central Texas who made their first billion thanks to the fracking boom and have invested their wealth in supporting social conservative groups and candidates. Thanks to their largesse, Keep the Promise has been able to pay a mobile army of door-knockers and voter-persuaders. There is nothing fun about doing a get-out-the-vote push, said Katon Dawson, formerly a Rick Perry operative in South Carolina, noting that he was also impressed by the super PACs efforts. Its the hardest work you can do in any campaign. Its hard, its expensive. Now, the Cruz campaign itself is also doing door-knocking and canvassing. But Tripp said he isnt worried about redundancy; while voters often get irritated by millions of robo-calls about a candidate, theyre less likely to snap at someone at the face of a sympathetic human being slogging through their neighborhood in January. And the PAC may have an even farther reach than the campaign proper Matt Moore, the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said the PAC may have an even farther reach than the campaign proper since Keep the Promise is the first and only long-term, large-scale super PAC canvassing operation in the state. And he knows firsthand just how effective it is. His team even appeared at my parents-in-laws home in suburban South Carolina, he said. To my knowledge, theyre the only campaign that has been to their home. He added that Keep the Promise is the only super PAC he knows of that has any sort of ground game in the state. Paul Lindsay, a representative for Right to Rise, said his PAC also has a professional canvassing operation that recently moved down from New Hampshire to South Carolina. But it hasnt made nearly the splash with locals as Keep the Promise. And the Keep the Promise team is pretty confident that their ground game tops that of their closest rival, Donald Trump. The moguls team has sent RVs of volunteers around the Upstate door-knocking. But Tripp said those efforts are more about marketing than anything else. Were not gonna punch down when it comes to the ground game, he said of the Trump efforts. Honestly, I dont think theyve been much competition at all. Trading in Latin America: Learn from Scotch whisky Businesses in the UK should take Scotch whiskys lead and recognise the advantages of trading with Latin America and, in particular, targeting its growing middle class population David Frost Scotch Whisky Association The Scotch Whisky Association together with Canning House, a leading UK forum on Latin American politics, economics and business, held a Scotch Whisky Experience conference in Edinburgh earlier this month to explain the advantages of trading with this dynamic region. It was the first Canning House trade and business-focussed forum in Scotland. HE Nestor Osorio Londono, ambassador of Colombia to the UK, was our keynote speaker. He talked about the opportunities now and in the future. Colombia, he said, is working to promote exports and imports and is creating a solid base for developing trust and confidence. The four countries in the Pacific Alliance trading group Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Chile have formed a large market to facilitate the free movement of goods, services and capital in the region. He is hopeful other like-minded countries will join the Alliance. Also speaking at the event was Rob Capurro, chief executive of Canning House, who put the growth of the middle class in Latin America into context: If you total up all of the middle class in Latin America, there are more than in India and China combined. Latin America is already a significant market for Scotch whisky, which proves popular among young middle class people in developing markets. Some 460 million of Scotch whisky is exported to the region, one in every six bottles shipped overseas. Scotch now forms a third of all Scottish exports to Latin America. We believe the growth of Scotch shows what other Scottish and British businesses can achieve. Latin America is a big and growing market. Thats why th SWA took the lead in making the first Canning House event in Scotland happen. Diageo industry affairs director, Peter Smith, who took part in a panel session at the event on support available for companies wanting to do business in Latin America, explained that Scotch has been traded in the region for many years and his company archive includes orders from the early 1900s. But he added that such issues as tariffs and customs duties had to be tackled, partly because they are an incentive for alcohol to be sold through unofficial channels. Concluding the evening, Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, said Scotland is ready to do business and that this is a great opportunity. She described whisky as one of Scotlands greatest assets that, along with the countrys warm welcome, creates a unique selling point to help us forge friendships overseas. Pictured: HE Nestor Osorio Londono, ambassador of Colombia to the UK (left) and David Frost, SWA chief executive at the Scotch Whisky Experience 15 February 2016 Special Report: Packaging show preview Easyfairs, organiser of Packaging Innovations, Empack and Label&Print, has announced new show features for 2016. The UKs leading packaging and print show, which returns to Birminghams NEC on 24 - 25 February, will be offering more show content than ever before with a seminar lineup and over 350 exhibitors packed into halls 9 and 10. New to the show is The Innovation Showcase, highlighting the latest innovations in the industry. Over the last few months, exhibitors have been submitting their entries to Easyfairs, which have been whittled down to an exclusive group of winners, presented in the show guide. The Retail Institute will chair the new interactive Great Innovation Debate, which will explore: What is Innovation?. The debate will take place in the Keynote Theatre at 15:30, on day one of the show. The panel includes David Rose from Britvic Soft Drinks; Alan Davies, global design manager at Essentra; Roger Wright from Marks & Spencer; and chairing the debate is The Retail Institutes Stefan Casey. Also new for 2016, is the Rising Star Scheme, designed with young brands in mind. It provides an opportunity for organisations still in their infancy to achieve their packaging goals, finding the right solutions for their company. The scheme ensures tthese start-ups find the appropriate suppliers and products, enhancing the brand and taking their packaging to the next level. The Flexo Debate will debut on The Label&Print Theatre on day two of the show to discuss the challenges faced in todays market with demands for faster turnaround, increased print quality, less waste and colour management. There will also be a series of panel discussions happening live on the show floor, covering the critical industry questions, including The role of print in a changing retail environment; How do we all tackle litter? and Change the system, change the materials or change the expectation? The Drinks Symposium, organised by The Drinks Report and chaired by editor Felicity Murray, returns by popular demand, with expert speakers from Arkikie Highland Estate, Tomatin Distillery; Ballantine's at Pernod Ricard; PRC and Air Innovations Design Agency exploring the power of packaging. Each brands story will demonstrate how unique thinking and creative packaging design can build a clear and distinctive brand identity, when either bringing to market a new product, a brand re-design, or maintaining an established brands market position. The BIG Print debate will see a panel of experts debate the topic: Can analogue print survive in a digital world? The debate will take place in the Label&Print theatre at 11.30, on day one of the show. Returning for its second year is The Retail Symposium, hosted by Paul Jenkins, MD at The PackHub. It will offer attendees, from right across the packaging spectrum, a unique programme of valuable and insightful retail focused content. The show will feature content-rich Learnshops from major industry brands and leading international speakers, including Innocent Drinks, Kraft Heinz, Britvic, Taylors of Harrogate, John Lewis, Wilkos, JML Group, The Body Shop, SABMiller plc and Quorn Foods. Finally there will be the drinks reception for all those visiting the show, held on day one of the show, providing an opportunity to network with colleagues, new contacts, and exhibitors. For anyone interested in visiting, free registration can be found at www.easyfairs.com/PIUK, www.easyfairs.com/EmpackUK and www.easyfairs.com/Label&PrintUK or via the show team on +44 (0)20 8843 8800 or PackagingUK@easyfairs.com. 14 February 2016 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor At the start of each year, Norway hands out new licences for offshore oil and gas development. Typically, these 'Awards in Predefined Areas' (APA) receive little coverage outside of the specialist media. But this year was more controversial, after the country's energy minister argued that the environmentally-sensitive Lofoten islands "must at some point come into play". Lofoten is a unique and stunning archipelago in Norway's far north, where huge unspoilt mountains rise out of the ocean. Located at the end of the Gulf Stream, it's unusually mild for somewhere beyond the Arctic circle. Large coral reefs found to the west of the islands mean that the region's cod-filled waters are protected by domestic laws and international conventions. Despite the energy minister's comments, no licences were actually offered immediately next to Lofoten - this time. And those that were offered in the region were all further from Lofoten than the closest existing one, which is around 70km from the south-west edge of the islands and is operated by state-owned Statoil, who are yet to start drilling. Nonetheless even the prospect of future development was enough to worry environmental groups, and has led some to question the country's commitment to addressing climate change despite the 2015 Paris Agreement. Why Lofoten? The collapse in oil prices over the past two years has delayed or cancelled many expensive new projects around the world. Lofoten has emerged as a cheap alternative as the islands are close to the mainland and the surrounding waters are relatively shallow. Drilling in the area was prohibited under Norway's 2006 management plan for sustainable use of the Barents and Norwegian seas. But the resources are hard to ignore - there are an estimated 1.3 billion barrels of oil in Lofoten and neighbouring Vesteralen and Senja. (By comparison, the UK's entire resources are estimated to be up to 21 billion barrels.) In 2013, Norway's Labour prime minister Jens Stoletenberg supported an impact assessment study on development in the area, but following the election that year the new Conservative-led coalition agreed not to drill in these areas, around the protected island of Jan Mayen, or in the so-called High Arctic region. Just last month independent analysis showed that New York's teacher's pension pot had lost US$135 million because of its oil and gas investments - over a period in which the Standard & Poor 500 Index (considered one of the best bellwethers of the US economy) rose by more than 7.4%. As the company behind the analysis, Advisor Partners pointed out: "This translates to more than a 25% decline in the plan's oil and gas stocks ... Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp were the largest contributors to performance, where these two names alone caused plan participants to lose more than $39 million." This fund is far from alone, with the Guardian reporting analysis of Australian pension investments last week revealing that 15 funds lost AUS$5.6 billion on their fossil fuel investments: "Many Australians are losing thousands of dollars a year from their retirement savings because their super funds continue to invest in fossil fuel companies. Members of 15 super funds lost an average of A$1,109 per member in fossil fuel investments over two years. Some funds with heavier investments in fossil fuels lost almost triple that." As the Guardian went on to report this weekend, investors were told that "companies and investors that shun sustainable, low-carbon assets stand to lose a lot of money." Oil trader Vitol's CEO has expressed his view that the current run of low prices is likely to persist for a decade, saying recently that crude oil will likely stay at US$60 a barrel for at least ten years. And by then, the development of industries converting renewable energy to fuel may put an effective cap on future fossil fuel prices at around that level. A bad idea for so many reasons All in all, preventing councils from boycotting oil and gas is ill considered and threatens not just local authority assets but the financial security of future pensioners, especially in light of COP21 and the commitment made to investing in renewables. As other investors and fund managers divest from fossil fuels, public sector retirees are put at risk of holding a disproportionate percentage of 'stranded' fossil fuel assets in their pension pots. But given the penalties that could come from divesting and the pressure these councils' budgets are under, it is less likely that councillors will instigate changes to prevent risky fossil fuel assets shrinking employees' pension funds, and invest in the energy sources of the future. And it's pensioners that stand to lose out. Last year investing in renewables would have made you up to 7% returns, according to the FT's analysis of the 6 major renewable investment funds. These aren't small scale funds. Similarly, last month's January's UN Investor Summit on Climate Risk had a majority of the 500 presenters, who represented a combined US$22 trillion (14.5 trillion) in assets, saying low-carbon investment was no longer one of corporate social responsibility, but one of cold hard cash. In recent months, we've seen several councils look to invest in community energy, a sector that grew rapidly last year and supports local initiatives, for example cutting carbon emissions or helping reduce energy poverty. Doing this also lets them set up local supply businesses, giving them an additional income. Investing in renewables This ban on ethical investment is not the work of a government who has traditionally claimed to put local communities first. It is not the work of a government who has claimed to have a long-term economic plan. Nor is it the work of a government that listens to its own central banker, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, who warned Lloyds insurers last September of the risks of ignoring the systemic dangers that climate change created for the world financial system: "Our societies face a series of profound environmental and social challenges. The combination of the weight of scientific evidence and the dynamics of the financial system suggest that, in the fullness of time, climate change will threaten financial resilience and longer-term prosperity. While there is still time to act, the window of opportunity is finite and shrinking." Given that there is a desire to divest these pension funds from fossil fuels; that there is strong economic evidence that shows doing so will be a prudent investment; and that there are many examples that show inaction will be damaging; this announcement, which makes it harder for councils to divest from fossil fuels and instead invest in renewables is dangerous and ill-thought. And one that will hurt the environment, pensioners and the country's finances. J W Bode is CEO of Mongoose Energy, the UK's community energy leader. The company works with its bencoms, such as BWCE and BEC, to develop sites and increase the number, value and capacity of community-owned renewable energy assets. Hinkley C opponent Nikki Clarke from Bridgwater said today: "Pressure on EDF ito abandon it's EPR programme is mounting in France. On Friday, Greenpeace France took action against the transport of a faulty reactor lid to Flammanville, and called for an end to public subsidies. We call on the people of Britain & France to say 'non merci' to Hinkley C and to come together to create the renewable energy revolution that we all know is necessary to combat climate change." Ornella Sabeine of SouthWest Against Nuclear added a sideswipe against the UK's trade unions, among them GMB and Unite, which - in marked contrast to their French counterparts - are strongly supporting Hinkley C in the hope of jobs for their members. "It is about time that British Unions realised that nuclear workers will be always be needed for decomissioning and waste management tasks", said Sabeine. The only secure future for British jobs and power supplies, she inisisted, are in renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, which are constantly falling in price. Joe Fox, also from South West Against nuclear, said: "It's becoming increasing apparent that this project is 'unconstructable'. The head of the project has resigned and even nuclear engineers have said that this type of plant is too complicated to be constructed. Nuclear is getting in the way of a clean-energy future for Britain, and the idea that nuclear has a role to play is a red herring." The protest is part of the Groundswell year of action for climate justice. It coincides with other actions happening at EDF premises in Manchester, Plymouth and London. Could Hinkley C fiasco sink UK's whole nuclear dream? The government had originally planned to have 16GW of nuclear capacity - equivalent to five Hinkley C sized nuclear projects - on stream by 2025. But three years ago in March 2013 the target slipped five years to 2030. Now, with the continuing unresolved problems with Hinkley C, it now appears that 2030 is likely to come and go without a single watt of new nuclear power having been generated. The Hinkley C failure may also prejuduce the UK's wider nuclear ambitions. The chief operating officer of Horizon Nuclear Power, Alan Raymant, yesterday told the Telegraph that Hinkley C was having a 'knock-on' impact on its plans to build a twin-reactor nuclear plant at Wylfa on Anglesey, Wales, followed by another twin reactor plant at Oldbury, Gloucestershire. Both would use the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) design. The Wylfa project is due for completion by 2025, says Raymant, but few believe that is now possible. He says that to achieve that date a final investment decision on the plant would need to be made in "early 2019" - giving Horizon just three years to gain planning consent, get safety approval for the ABWR, line up a Government subsidy contract, receive state aid clearance from the EU, and secure finance from investors. Unlike the EPR, there are examples of actual AWBRs, with four reactors in Japan. However investors will need a lot of convincing to invest in the design: the Japanese ABWRs had a very low capacity factor of just 45% between 2006 and 2010. With a new plant's operators being paid per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity produced, that means they woud receive only about half as much as they were counting on assuming a 90% capacity factor. Meanwhile China General Nuclear Corporation's (CGN) plan to build a new reactor at the EDF site at Bradwell looks like running into trouble if the Hinkley C project - in which CGN is meant to take a 33.5% stake as a quid pro quo for taking on the Bradwell site - is stalled. Another problem is that the 'Hualong' reactor design that CGN wants to build there is completely new and untested anywhere in the world. EDF's plan for twin reactors at Sizewell is also looking tenuous as it wants to use the same failed EPR design that it is unable to progress at Hinkley, or complete anywhere else. That leaves only Nugen's planned 3-reactor nuclear project at Moorside next to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. But there's no cause for optimism there either. The AP1000 reactor design planned for Moorside is already failing badly at sites in the US and China with multi-year delays reported, huge cost over-runs, and damaging lawsuits. Oliver Tickell edits The Ecologist. The pharmacist who was working last Tuesday when Family Pharmacy on Franklin Street was robbed is grateful that no one was harmed when the suspect pointed a gun at him and demanded drugs. John Frye, who manages the pharmacy in Schewels Plaza in Rocky Mount, was in the store with two other employees about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday when the robbery occurred. The suspect fled the store with an undetermined amount of narcotics, according to the Rocky Mount Police Department. Im alive today by the grace of God. All of the glory goes to the Lord that no one was injured during the robbery, Frye said. The Lord deserves the credit for no lives being lost. Id like to send the message that the nature of addiction is at the root of evil and that society today has a huge problem that needs to be addressed, he added. Prescription drug abuse is killing more people today than cancer or car wrecks, and this is obvious by the suspects robbery of this pharmacy. It is my sincere hope and prayer that all of those addicted to drugs in this community would find help and recovery and not resort to jeopardizing lives in the pharmacy community, he added. Frye said he was proud of the actions of his employees during the robbery. A Boones Mill man turned himself in to police Friday evening on charges related to the armed robbery of the pharmacy earlier in the week, police said. Joshua Wayne Cundiff, 26, turned himself in at the Franklin County Jail, according to Assistant Town Manager Matt Hankins. Cundiff is charged with felony counts of armed robbery, use of a firearm during commission of a robbery, unlawfully possessing Schedule I and II drugs while in possession of a firearm, possession of Schedule I and II drugs without a prescription, and larceny of drugs. He also has been charged with misdemeanor brandishing a firearm. A man entered Family Pharmacy in the Schewels Plaza on Tuesday about 5:20 p.m. and displayed a handgun and demanded the pharmacist give him narcotics, police said. He left with an undetermined amount of drugs. Police found the suspects vehicle in the 3800 block of Old Forge Road near Six Mile Post Road and determined that the suspect had fled on foot. Cundiff was identified as a suspect by witnesses and through descriptions of the abandoned vehicle. The Franklin County Sheriffs Office and Virginia State Police assisted Rocky Mount police with the search. Amy Friedenberger with BH News Service contributed to this article. SHARE By Verena Dobnik Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) A grab bag of weather conditions including snow and sleet will descend on communities from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, but with many people off for Presidents Day it may be just another day to hunker down. After much of the northeastern United States experienced record cold on Valentine's Day, the National Weather Service said Monday would be snowy in many areas before sleet or freezing rain started and rain finally arrived. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she deployed the D.C. snow team Sunday ahead of the storm, which is expected to deliver a sloppy mix of snow, sleet and rain. One to 3 inches is forecast for Monday. Outside the nation's capital, the Virginia Department of Transportation staged nearly 2,500 trucks to treat and clear roads. Philadelphia also could see 1 to 3 inches of snow and New York City could get up to 4 inches before the transition to wet weather begins. Meteorologist Bruce Sullivan said there could be significant snowfall anywhere from 4 to 8 inches in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western New York. Some mountainous areas such as in North Carolina could get even more snow. The weather could have less impact because schools and many workplaces will be closed for the federal holiday and traffic should be lighter than usual. By Tuesday, when temperatures increase, Sullivan said the rain and some runoff could cause flooding in some areas. Sunday's teeth-chattering temperatures were some of the coldest on record. From New York and Boston to Providence, Rhode Island, and Hartford, Connecticut, temperatures on Sunday morning dipped to as low as minus 40 on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The National Weather Service said the temperature in New York City's Central Park fell to minus 1, a record low for the date. The last time it was below zero in Central Park was in January 1994. Boston reached minus 9, breaking the record set in 1934 by 6 degrees. It reached minus 16 in Worcester, Massachusetts, breaking the 1979 record of 11 below zero. Providence hit minus 9 and Hartford minus 12, also breaking records from 1979. In Montpelier, Vermont, the overnight temperature hit minus 19, tying a record set in 2003. And South Lincoln, Vermont, recorded 27 below zero. Temperatures were so low in some spots, utilities were knocked out. A frozen regulator left about 400 customers in Connecticut without natural gas service and officials believe extreme cold in Vermont broke a utility pole, knocking out service to about 1,500. An emergency generator didn't kick in for Sheffield Selectboard Chairman Walter Smith, who said he lost a greenhouse full of about 500 orchids. "I've got it working now, but it's too late," he said. The cold kept many people inside. In a New Jersey bagel shop that's usually brimming with customers on Sunday mornings, Joe Weir was among a small handful of people who sat drinking coffee. "I just came from a church service, and it definitely wasn't as packed as it usually is," the 60-year-old Toms River man said. "We have a lot of elderly parishioners, and when the weather gets bad or real cold like this, a lot of them choose to stay in and watch a Mass on TV instead of going to church. Can't say I blame them." But on Sunday, officials were only concerned by the cold they said was dangerous and could be fatal to those spending too much time outdoors especially the homeless. Outreach teams brought 105 people into New York shelters, and 288 showed up at hospitals and health facilities including more than 20 who were brought in for care needed immediately, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference inside a lower Manhattan subway station. Caption 1: Women are bundled up as they walk in cold weather, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York. Bitter temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeastern United States bundling up this weekend. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Caption 2: Street photographers brave the cold to photograph guests arriving to the Alexander Wang Fall 2016 show during Fashion Week, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in New York. Bitter temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeastern United States bundling up for the some of the worst cold of the winter a snap so bad it forced an ice festival in Central Park to cancel and caused an Interstate pileup that killed three. "These temperatures can be life threatening especially for seniors, infants and people with medical conditions," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Stay indoors and take care of each other, he counseled. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff) Caption 3: Benedikt Vom Orde and Julia Felte, tourists from Essen, Germany, walk along Park Avenue in New York during a bitter cold spell, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. Bitter temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeastern United States bundling up for the some of the worst cold of the winter a snap so bad it forced an ice festival in Central Park to cancel and caused an Interstate pileup that killed three. "These temperatures can be life threatening especially for seniors, infants and people with medical conditions," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Stay indoors and take care of each other, he counseled. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff) Caption 4: Ice begins to form on the banks of the Hudson River in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, as temperatures dove to the single digits this weekend. (Jim Anness/The Record of Bergen County via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Caption 5: People are bundled up as they walk in cold weather, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York. Bitter temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeastern United States bundling up this weekend. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ECATEPEC, Mexico -- Pope Francis urged Mexicans to shun the devil and resist the temptations of wealth and corruption Sunday as he celebrated an open-air Mass for hundreds of thousands of people in this drug- and violence-riddled city on the outskirts of Mexico's capital. "Let us get it into our heads: With the devil, there is no dialogue," he said at the biggest scheduled event of his five-day visit to Mexico. Francis brought a message of encouragement on the second full day of his trip to residents of Ecatepec, a poverty-stricken Mexico City suburb of some 1.6 million people where drug violence, kidnappings and gangland-style killings, particularly of women, are a fact of life. "He's coming to Ecatepec because we need him here," said Ignacia Godinez, a 56-year-old homemaker. "Kidnappings, robberies and drugs have all increased, and he is bringing comfort. His message will reach those who need it so that people know we, the good people, outnumber the bad." In a clear reference to the drug lords who hold sway in the city's sprawling expanses of cinderblock slums, Francis focused his homily on the danger posed by the devil. "Only the power of the word of God can defeat him," the pope said. In a final prayer, he urged Mexicans to make their country into a land of opportunity, not a place where young people are "destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death." Some 300,000 tickets were handed out for the Mass, the Mexican bishops' conference said. The faithful lined the pope's motorcade route to the huge field where the Mass took place, tossing flower petals as he passed by and cheering with pom-poms in the yellow and white of the Vatican flag. Vendors sold T-shirts, plates with Francis' image on them, pins, bandanas and cardboard-cutout figures of the pope. An estimated 100,000 people have been killed and 27,000 have disappeared in gangland violence since President Enrique Pena Nieto's predecessor launched an offensive against drug cartels shortly after taking office in late 2006. At least 1,554 women have vanished in Mexico State since 2005, according to the National Observatory on Femicide, and last year the government issued an alert over the killings of women in Ecatepec and other parts of the state. Nevertheless, women who came to see Francis said they felt safe, thanks in part to the huge security presence. The government assigned more than 10,000 police, soldiers and members of the presidential guard to protect the motorcade and Mass. "I'm protected by my faith and the joy of seeing the pope up close," said Graciela Elizalde, 35, who arrived at the field Saturday evening and spent the night on the street, "and the thugs know that we the good people have come out to take the streets." She added: "The pope is not going to change things, but at least he will touch the hearts of those who do harm and are trying to destroy the country. He is the 'messenger of peace' because that's exactly what Mexico needs, not just Ecatepec." Conchita Tellez, 65, from the border city of Mexicali, expressed hope that Francis can help ease the troubled soul of the country. "The pope comes to Mexico at a very ugly moment," Tellez said, "and he comes to pray for us and for all those who lost hope and have submerged the country in blood and violence." Francis' grueling schedule seemed to be taking a toll on him on Saturday, when the 79-year-old pontiff appeared to nod off at an evening Mass and also lost his balance and fell into a chair set up for him. He appeared much livelier Sunday, beaming and waving at the crowds along his route. Francis' schedule Sunday included three popemobile motorcades and a visit to a pediatric hospital. "The poor and the working people are here, and this pope prefers to talk to the humble," 62-year-old Petra Arqueta said. Associated Press writer Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report. Looking for the big games to watch in Week 9? We have them right here. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tri Mumpuni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, February 12, 2016 Indonesia is a land of ironies and contrasts; despite having astonishing natural wealth and being one of the world's fastest-rising economies, environmental degradation and poverty is widespread. The government has been aggressively expanding power generation capacity but almost 90 percent of the installed capacity still depends on dirty fossil fuels and even then about 12 percent of the nation's population is without electricity. However, poverty is merely a symptom of a larger problem where local communities are disconnected from the local resources surrounding them. Contrary to general belief, we live in a generous world of great abundance; renewable energy sources are both plentiful and widespread. Eradicating poverty can only be achieved if this natural abundance is shared, nurtured and guarded. Furthermore, natural wealth is to be shared and nurtured at the grassroots level; it cannot be created or sustained by top-down approaches. It is both a daunting problem and an exciting possibility to turn Indonesia's vast reserves of local renewable sources into power, and at the same time release the dormant economic strength of its rural population. Through the construction of micro-hydro generation plants in isolated non-electrified communities, the People-Centered Business and Economic Institute (IBEKA), an Indonesian NGO, has shown it is possible to empower communities by reconnecting them with available natural resources. IBEKA was formed by my husband Iskandar Kuntoadji and I in the 1990s. Since the early days of our struggles, neither of us would have thought that the movement could have become as big as it is now. Since the 1990s IBEKA has built 82 micro hydropower plants, with capacities ranging from 5 kilowatts to 250 kilowatts, providing electricity to up to half a million people in rural Indonesia. Equally important is that we have done this through a community-based development approach that goes beyond the technology to empower communities. Putting a premium on community participation and ownership, we have organized electric cooperatives, trained villagers in technical management and resource conservation and provided support in fund-facilitation and income-generating activities. IBEKA and our community partners are propagators of sound ecomanagement, but most of all we consider ourselves as guardians. IBEKA seeks to ensure that every investment made will create tangible welfare at the community level and that every rupiah we spend is put to good use. That is why we create community institutions that assume responsibility for the operation and maintenance of facilities, as well as ultimate ownership. Economic productivity is the outcome of such community-driven designs. IBEKA offers different micro hydropower models: one is an isolated power-grid operated and maintained by the community for their own electrification; the other model is where redundant energy can be sold back to the grid. Income generated from such sales is put to collective use for village development purposes, such as giving scholarships to poor families. The great beauty of both approaches is that the entire structure is consensus-based, not imposed from the outside. With over 20 years of experience in the community-based renewable energy world, we have now tried to expand this developmental model of inclusion with the government. Within the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry there is now an initiative we proudly call Patriot Energi, where we gather brilliant young and motivated engineers to go and live with local communities to help connect local people with local resources. The government has decided to work with us because experience has taught them that their typical model of simply building renewable energy plants in rural communities has not been successful. Furthermore, assessment has shown that the problem lies within the communities' acceptance of the technology, a problem that cannot be addressed with the current model of development. The year i2015 marked the first batch of our Patriot Energi initiative. We have sent 79 young engineers to some of the most remote rural communities, and the stories they have shared have been a source of learning for all of us involved. We now know the real situation of the communities and this information can now give direct feedback to the ministry's decision-making levels. However, to work simply on a grassroots level cannot bring about all the necessary change to empower poor communities. Restrictive state regulations, complex financing requirements and the draining demands of social mobilization work also need to be tackled. Again it is a matter of building connections between the local communities and the decision-makers of Indonesia. I have been blessed to be included at the national level in promoting the role of hydropower in development, and in being actively involved in designing and implementing new models of government-business-community joint ventures in micro hydropower facilities. However, despite having power purchase agreements for micro hydropower plants, many more policy changes need to be addressed. There are still some 12,000 villages without any electricity. This is not just about technology and numbers; electricity is not our main goal, but it has the potential to build villages that are economically empowered. More renewable energy practitioners must share their knowledge at a national level. We need the government, the private sector and civil society to work together to realize the dream now formally set by the government of having 23 percent of our energy mix coming from renewable energy by 2025. The Bali Clean Energy Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Feb. 11-12 brought together many players in the renewable energy sector to share their knowledge and expertise with each other. Just as our founding fathers realized that being together made them stronger in facing the post-colonial world, we must work together to face the challenges of climate change and inequality. Hopefully all our 259 million people will share our natural resources equitably and fairly, and all people everywhere will have access to basic energy in the form of electricity at a fair and affordable price. ___________________________________ The writer is founder of People-Centered Business and Economic Institute (IBEKA) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 As the House of Representatives begins deliberating on revisions to the electronic information law, activists have alerted the public to problematic articles that may violate freedom of speech. The Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law is a controversial regulation that has led to the arrest of people for expressing themselves on social media. Supriyadi W. Eddyono of the Institute of Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) said on Saturday that Article 27 Point 3 of the law was the most prone to misuse, based on a study the group had conducted into 20 related criminal cases from 2009 to 2015. 'Point 3 of Article 3 of the ITE Law is the biggest threat to our right to free speech. From the 20 cases that have used [this article], we found only eight cases were examined in a proper legal frame,' he said. The article stipulates that those found guilty of distributing defamation or slander electronically can face a maximum prison sentence of six years or a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$74,211). Supriyadi explained that the problem with this article stemmed from the law enforcement process, which was prone to abuses of power. Although an alleged crime could only be investigated after a police report had been filed, Supriyadi said that the police had mistreated several cases by accepting reports against alleged perpetrators from people who were not themselves defamed or damaged by the comments that had become the subjects in the cases. Furthermore, Supriyadi said investigators and prosecutors often only used printed screenshots of the electronic comments to prove the charges against the defendant, which could easily be edited and manipulated with several kinds of design software. Supriyadi said that investigators should have forensic proof that the comments had come from the defendant's online account or electronic device. 'What's worse is that when someone is charged with this article, they will end up in prison 70 percent of the time,' he said. Last Wednesday, House Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and information held a meeting with several civil society groups to discuss what articles in the ITE Law should be revised. Legislators from Commission I cited Article 27 Point 3 as the clause they would pay close attention to. Meanwhile, Rivai Kusumanegara, head of the Indonesian Advocates Association (Peradi), said that the article should be revised to include a distinction between criticism and defamation. 'Not all comments can be categorized as a crime. However, most prison terms have been passed down without looking at the context. There have been several cases where someone was merely disseminating information but it was perceived as an insult,' he said. Rivai explained that the article was often used against people who criticized state policies. 'In my opinion, the article should be revised to refer to Article 311 [of the Criminal Code]. So, the ITE Law will only charge those who slander, which is when someone distributes misleading information on purpose,' he said, adding that the law could also be revised so that electronic defamation and slander cases could be settled by a civil lawsuit. Article 311 of the Criminal Code stipulates that anyone found guilty of slander can face a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Mon, February 15, 2016 There is nothing peculiar about the President inaugurating governors and deputy governors, as happened on Friday. The practice should have begun as soon as then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed in 2010 a government regulation on the implementation of responsibilities and authority of governors as representatives of the central government in regions. Most of the time, however, Yudhoyono entrusted his home minister to install governors and deputy governors on his behalf, except when he swore in Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and deputy governor Paku Alam IX in October 2012. President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo inked a presidential regulation in November 2014 stipulating that the President would inaugurate governors and deputy governors in the capital city. As the local arms of the central government, governors and deputy governors deserve the honor, which they can repay if they can ensure the central government programs work on the ground and no conflict occurs between national and regional policies. A governor plays a bridging role connecting Jakarta and the regions, which is why many insist governors should be appointed by the President rather than elected by the people. It is, however, the authority to supervise regents and mayors and the budgetary power of a governor that makes the approval of the people a must. As part of efforts to further empower governors, Jakarta has entrusted the issuance of business permits in the forestry, fishery, plantation and mineral sectors to provincial heads, previously in the hands of regents and mayors. In the national political and economic landscape the gubernatorial post is therefore pivotal and lucrative, which explains why national-level politicians, even ministers, fight it out for provincial head posts. Among the seven governors inaugurated Friday, two ' Olly Dondokambey and Irwan Prayitno ' are former House of Representatives legislators. Thanks to the Jokowi phenomenon, a gubernatorial post is deemed a stepping stone to the presidency. When Jokowi, then the Jakarta governor, declared his bid to contest the 2014 presidential election, a number of political parties immediately searched for equal contenders for Jokowi from the pool of governors, although such rivals failed to materialize. Such a pattern works in other democracies, such as the US. Not only is the ambition legitimate, but it will also give voters as many choices for national leadership as possible. Competition for a strategic post like the presidency is meaningful only if the best wins. Jokowi, unfortunately, has comparatively limited experience when he suddenly had to fill the deficit of national leaders Indonesia was looking for back in 2014. His rise to the presidency simply reflected the public longing for a new style of leadership, no matter if expectations turned out to be too high. Like the President, a governor is bound to deliver services to the public and bring about people's welfare as pledged during campaigns. A governor who is capable of realizing his or her campaign platform deserves a shot at serving the nation. As the old wisdom goes, if you do the little things well, you'll do the big ones better. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bill Barrow & Sergio Bustos (The Jakarta Post) Greenville, South Carolina Mon, February 15, 2016 George W. Bush won a bruising South Carolina presidential primary on his way to the Oval Office, as his father did before him. Now it's his brother's turn, and for Jeb Bush, the most consequential foreign policy decisions of his brother's time in office are suddenly front-and-center of his bid to keep alive his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination ' thanks to businessman Donald Trump. The former president had already announced plans to campaign for his younger brother on Monday in South Carolina, marking his most direct entry into the 2016 race to date. Then Trump, the Republican front-runner, used the final debate before the state's Feb. 20 primary as an opportunity to excoriate George W. Bush's performance as commander-in-chief. The former president, Trump said, ignored "the advice of his CIA" and "destabilized the Middle East" by invading Iraq on dubious claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. "I want to tell you: they lied," Trump said. "They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none." Trump didn't let up as Bush tried to defend his brother, dismissing his suggestion that George W. Bush built a "security apparatus to keep us safe" after the 9/11 attacks. "The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign, remember that," Trump said, adding: "That's not keeping us safe." The onslaught ' which Jeb Bush called Trump enjoying "blood sport" ' was the latest example of the billionaire businessman's penchant for mocking his rival as a weak, privileged tool of the Republican Party establishment, special interests and well-heeled donors. But the exchange also highlighted the former Florida governor's embrace of his family name and history as he jockeys with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to emerge from South Carolina as the clear challenger to Trump, who won the New Hampshire primary, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the victor in Iowa's caucuses. The approach tacks away from Bush's months-long insistence that he's running as "my own man," but could be a perfect fit for South Carolina. Noted South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who ended his Republican presidential campaign in December and endorsed Jeb Bush in January, said: "The Bush name is golden in my state." George W. Bush retains wide appeal among Republicans, from evangelicals to chamber of commerce business leaders and retired members of the military. All are prominent in South Carolina, with Bush campaign aide Brett Foster going so far as to say that George W. Bush is "the most popular Republican alive." The attack on George W. Bush carries risk for Trump, given the Bush family's long social and political ties in South Carolina and the state's hawkish national security bent, bolstered by more than a half-dozen military installations and a sizable population of veterans who choose to retire in the state. Trump has repeatedly defied predictions that his comments might threaten his perch atop the field. And as he jousted Saturday with Trump, Jeb Bush said, "this is not about my family or his family." But the Bush family does have a history in the state that's hard to overlook. In 2000, George W. Bush beat John McCain in a nasty contest, marred by rumors that McCain had an illegitimate black child. McCain adopted a child from Bangladesh. Exit polls showed George W. Bush won nearly every demographic group. George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, won twice here, beating Bob Dole in 1988 and demolishing Pat Buchanan in 1992. One of the elder Bush's top strategists, Lee Atwater, hailed from South Carolina and remains a legend in Republican campaign annals. Last week, Jeb Bush touted the endorsement of Iris Campbell, the widow of former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell, a national co-chairman of previous Bush presidential campaigns. Yet even as he defended his brother's presidency at Saturday's debate, Jeb Bush found a way to distance himself from George W. Bush's business affairs and to criticize Trump at the same time. The issue: eminent domain. Before entering politics, George W. Bush was part-owner of the Texas Rangers, and their home city of Arlington, Texas, used eminent domain to take private land and build a stadium for the team. Trump has defended such uses of eminent domain as a way to foster economic development. Retorted Bush, who argued eminent domain should be reserved for public infrastructure projects, "There is all sorts of intrigue about where I disagree with my brother. There would be one right there." Hillary Clinton and Bernie were in Las Vegas on Sunday as they campaign ahead of next weekend's Democratic caucuses in Nevada. The former Secretary of State and the Vermont senator both spoke at Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Las Vegas on Sunday. Clinton was accompanied by Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, the civil rights icon. With the Nevada caucuses and South Carolina primary looming, Clinton has been stressing her ties to the black community, touting endorsements like the one she's received from Lewis. (rin) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 The Jakarta Police said Rionaldo Agustin, 27, the Go-Jek motorcycle taxi driver who was reported to have been shot on Friday was, in fact, hit by a gun on his temple. 'If he got shot in the head, he would certainly be dead now,' the Jakarta Police general crime director Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti said on Sunday as quoted by tribunnews.com. Krishna said the police found a projectile at the crime scene, meaning the perpetrator fired a shot but the bullet did not hit the victim's head. He also ruled out the possibility that the perpetrator was a robber. 'Robbers usually operate in a group of two, riding a motorcycle,' he said. The perpetrator was said to be alone when he attacked Rionaldo. Rionaldo was found lying on the street with blood on his head in Kemang, South Jakarta, on Friday. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 A recent study has revealed some insights into how Islamic fanatics come to express regret for their extremism. Research conducted by a lecturer named Suratno from the University of Paramadina in Jakarta maps out the various situations that can lead someone to become an Islamic extremist and what can cause the extremist to then repent and change behavior. 'Results from this research can advise the relevant authorities in carrying out de-radicalization programs,' he said as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Monday. In his research, Suratno said he carried out in-depth interviews with ex-Islamic extremists in Indonesia. They included Nasir Abas Ali Imron from regional terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), Mataharitimoer from the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement and Jafar Thalib from the disbanded Laskar Jihad Muslim paramilitary group. The lecturer said he interviewed 10 ex-Islamist extremists for his research. Suratno said it turned out that many people who joined with extremist movements were in fact 'unstable' to begin with. Citing a term used by Arnold van Gennep (1960) and Victor Turner (1969), the lecturer said the unstable condition of the extremists was 'liminal'. He further explained that Gennep and Turner conceptualized liminality as a condition quite similar to the growing-up process of a human being, which saw many complex and ambiguous moments marking the transition from childhood to adulthood. 'The liminal phase can make an extremist become a more extreme person or to repent and change behavior,' the researcher said. For his doctoral dissertation in Frankfurt, Germany, Suratno researched the reasons why extremists decided to leave their radical ways and stop killing and abusing other people. This 'anthropology of repentance' can be defined as a process that can lead to an exclamation of regret. The research reveals that the process, which triggers someone to join with an extremist movement, could also be influential in his or her decision to repent and change. 'If someone decides to join with an extremist group under the influence of his or her friends, there is a wider possibility that in the liminal process, he or she will repent and change,' said Suratno. In general, he said there were push and pull factors that could lead an extremist to repent and change. Among the push factors included disagreements over the attitude of their leaders, their discomfort at witnessing and participating in torture and violence and changes in ideology. Citing an example, Suratno said Abas decided to repent and change due to a disagreement with his leader, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. Meanwhile, Mataharitimoer decided to leave his radical group due to leadership changes. Meanwhile, Jafar of the Laskar Jihad militia swore to God to change his ways after he learned of several ulema edicts. Several other extremists said they wanted to leave their extremist groups for personal reasons. For example, some wanted to have a normal life and they missed their families. 'Psychological changes and the power of love are often dominant in influencing an extremist to repent and change,' said Suratno. From his research, Suratno said it was probable that de-radicalization programs could be successfully conducted. 'Abas had the potential to repent and change due to his disappointment in Ba'asyir. However, his heart was touched more deeply after he was interrogated by Col. Bekto Prasetyo, a gentle Catholic,' said Suratno, adding that careful psychological approaches were crucial to de-radicalization programs. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Palu Mon, February 15, 2016 The terrorism involving an armed group led by Santoso, alias Abu Wardah, in Poso, Central Sulawesi, has started to make economic impacts on locals as the authorities have temporarily banned them from farming. In the wake of a recent gunfight between the police's mobile brigade and members of the Santoso-led East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT), police are no longer allowing residents to conduct their normal activities over concerns they will be held hostage by the terrorists. 'The ban [put in place since last week] will be effective for an unspecified period of time,' Sr. Comr. Leo Bona Lubis, the commander of Operation Tinombala, which was designed to target the armed group, told The Jakarta Post recently. The intensive hunt for the terrorists, which has been going on for at least six months, has undermined the economic activities of the regency, home to around 227,000 people. Leo, however, claimed that the ban had been demanded by the local people over fears that unwanted situations might occur if it was not imposed. The ban also requires residents in villages to stay within a radius of 500 meters from their residential compounds. South Poso Pesisir district head Arlius Dewa said that although the ban would severely impact the regency's economy, it was an anticipatory measure to prevent the terrorists taking the villagers hostage. 'If the situation is considered conducive [to it], they will be allowed to farm as usual again,' Arlis said. The majority of locals earn a living by planting vegetables, durian and cacao. During the time when the durian trees are bearing fruit, like this month, farmers normally spend nights at their plantations to keep the fruit safe. Now they can no longer do so. Leo said the ban was also necessary because the MIT group had been driven into a corner and its supplies were limited. He said the police had seized the group's supplies in the Dongi-Dongi subdistrict a day after the gunfight that left two suspected terrorists and a member of the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob), Chief Pvt. Wahyudi Syahputra, dead. 'They ran away to avoid us and left all their food behind,' said Leo, who is also the Central Sulawesi Police's deputy chief. He expressed hope that the security operation would be able to arrest Santoso and paralyze MIT within the next month. He said the operation would be further expanded into the nearby jungle. In a related development, the police said they had identified the two suspected MIT members killed in the gunfight whose bodies were currently at the Central Sulawesi Police hospital. 'They were both on our list of wanted persons,' said Central Sulawesi Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Hari Suprapto. He said the identifications were made based on DNA test results and on information given by the respective families of the suspected terrorists. The two bodies of the people named Agus and Sukardin were both transported to their home villages in Poso and Tojo Una-una on Sunday afternoon for funerals, said Hari. Officer Agus was scheduled to be buried in the Kayamanya subdistrict in Poso. The terrorist activities in Poso are a seemingly unending legacy of a sectarian conflict that broke out between 1998 and 2000, killing more than 2,000 people. The conflict ended in 2001 following the Malino Declaration that resulted in a peace agreement between the combatants of Muslim and Christian groups. After the declaration, no conflict recurred there, although hardline groups began to emerge in the region. The MIT, which is affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) movement, is considered to be the most dangerous of them. Foreigners from China's minority Uighur ethnic group have also joined the group. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nani Afrida (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 The government's plan to issue ID cards for children has met with criticism from activists who call for better public service with regard to birth certificate issuance and child protection. 'Before issuing child ID, how about accomplishing the law's mandate on providing birth certificate to all Indonesian children first?' Seto Mulyadi, a children's rights activist, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. The Home Ministry announced last week that it would issue Kartu Identitas Anak (KIA), or child ID cards, beginning next month. The KIA will be the official form of identification for unmarried Indonesians below the age of 18. Seto said that many parents still meet with difficulties when trying to obtain birth certificates for their children. They have to deal with a long bureaucratic process, which lower-income people often find difficult to access. 'Make the process [to issue a birth certificate] fast and free, this is more important than providing KIA for children,' he said. Seto said many children, especially street children, had no birth certificates. As a consequence, they could not access their right to education, health and or even a place in a cemetery. 'We also believe that the KIA will create discrimination and as a result the gap between the rich and poor will get even bigger,' Seto added. The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) share similar thoughts, saying that there were many other problems related to children that should be prioritized. 'The birth certificate is one of issues, the others are child protection as well as family strengthening and self defense programs for children, for them to say 'no' to people who will exploit them,' said Erlinda, a spokesperson for KPAI. In the past four years KPAI received more than 16,000 reports of violence against children across the country's 34 provinces and 179 cities. 'Child ID might be important, but it is not a priority,' she added. Erlinda said KIA will help children who get into trouble due to laws or regulation. Based on the government's plan, there will be two categories of KIA, one for children under 5 years of age and one for those between 5 and 17. For newborns, the civil registration agency will issue a KIA along with their birth certificate. However, it is not clear whether the two identification cards will have to be renewed after a period of time. The government also plans to finance the program using the state budget. Home Ministry spokesperson Dodi Riyadmadji told the Post that 50 cities throughout Indonesia had initiated the program a year ago. 'We expect that all cities will follow the program gradually,' Dodi said. He said that the 50 cities that had already started to implement KIA included Malang in East Java, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Bantul regency in Yogyakarta, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Depok in West Java. Previously the minister of home affairs Tjahjo Kumolo said that KIA would be very important for the children as, for instance, the children can open bank accounts or get an Indonesia health card and an Indonesian smart card using their own names. 'If they go abroad, they don't need to have a passport attached to their parent,' Tjahjo said. He also said the ministry would form a special team in each village or sub-village to input child data. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 Worry not, shoppers. Furniture retail store IKEA Alam Sutra in Tangerang, Banten, will remain open despite court rulings that invalidate its trademark registered under the Netherlands-based company Inter IKEA Systems B.V. (IISBV). 'The IKEA store at Alam Sutra remains open and is selling the full range of IKEA products,' Hero Supermarket IKEA division director Mark Magee told the press on Friday. The publicly listed retailer PT Hero Supermarket is the IKEA franchisee in Indonesia as appointed by the IISBV, the owner and world-wide franchisor of the brand. Magee said the Supreme Court ruling issued last year only invalidates two IKEA trademarks under class 20 and 21 for furniture products, registered in 2006 and 2010, because they were not used in the three-year window post registration with the Intellectual Property Rights Directorate General. 'The Commercial Court of Jakarta and the Supreme Court rulings did not award the IKEA trademark to any other party,' he said. A local furniture firm, PT Ratania Khatulistiwa, based in Surabaya, East Java, filed a trademark suit with the Jakarta Commercial Court in 2013, stating that the Dutch firm had not used its trademark for commercial purposes for three consecutive years. In 2014, the court ordered that the trademarks be invalidated. IISBV filed an appeal to the Supreme Court that was rejected last year, according to court documents uploaded to its website recently. IISBV had reregistered the IKEA trademark in 2012 with a plan to open a store in 2014 following the signing of a franchise agreement with Hero Supermarket. The reregistration process, completed in 2014, covered around 40 classes of trademark, including the disputed class 20 and 21, Magee said. 'Therefore, the court decision has no impact on the current operation of IKEA in Indonesia,' he said. Hero Supermarket legal director Hadrianus Wahyu Trikusumo said that the IKEA trademarks registration lodged by the local company was currently on hold. 'We don't want to speculate on this,' he replied when asked about the possibility that the government would grant the trademarks and what the implication of such a decision would have on his firm's business. Meanwhile, Magee was optimistic about business potential in the country despite the conflicting decisions made by authorities. The European Business Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia (EUROCHAM) chairman Ulf Backlund voiced similar optimism, saying that his office remained very positive regarding both Indonesian market potential and government and said that the actions taken to protect the trademark were in the right direction. 'From our perspective, of course, intellectual property rights, trademarks and the protection around these are very important for all businesses,' he said, admitting that the matter had drawn global attention. IKEA, the world's biggest furniture retailer, founded by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden in 1943, currently boasts 375 IKEA stores, over 150,000 co-workers in 47 countries, and total sales over 30 billion euros (US$33.77 billion). The company opened for business in Indonesia in 2014 and plans to open two stores every five years until 2025. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 The East Java Police have issued a telegram to officers following revelations of a terrorist plot to deliver cyanide-tainted food to police officers. "We issued a telegram in anticipation of a terror attack that may use the chemical substance cyanide," East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Anton Setiadji said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. The plan was inspired by the poisoning of Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died after drinking cyanide-spiked coffee at a cafe in Jakarta in early January, Anton said. The police chief warned all officers to be aware when eating at food stalls or receiving food from unknown persons. The police also plan to carry out information campaigns to alert the public to the possibility of the new approach taken by terrorist groups. (cal/dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Retno LP Marsudi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 US President Barack Obama will for the first time host 10 leaders of ASEAN member nations at a special US-ASEAN Summit at the Sunnylands Estate in California on Feb. 15'16. The Summit illustrates the importance of ASEAN to the US. The progress and transformation of ASEAN nations over the last five decades has made ASEAN a mutually beneficial partner for the US The beginning of the 'community era' in Southeast Asia will also generate a new meaning to this long-standing relationship after it was first established in 1977. The summit offers an opportunity not only to build personal rapport between US and ASEAN leaders, but also to create a pathway to realize the shared vision of a more peaceful and prosperous region. The presence of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo at the Summit is essential to the process. President Widodo represents more than 250 million people and the largest economy in the community. President Widodo will also visit Silicon Valley to promote Indonesia's digital and creative economy. These events will highlight President Widodo's foreign policy priorities and activism in two ways. First, President Jokowi is bringing the theme of 'Partnership for peace and prosperity' to the Summit. This underlines the significance of the future US-ASEAN partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond. An important element of the US-ASEAN partnership is that it must be able to support our common efforts to preserve regional peace, security and stability. History has shown that the unity and centrality of ASEAN is essential and directly contributes to international peace and security. It is in this context that ASEAN's engagement with its dialogue partners such as the US is crucial to maintaining the habits of dialogue, consultation and cooperation. If such habits are the norm of the day, the world can better respond to its pressing challenges, such as the tensions currently playing out in the South China Sea. ASEAN and the US need to continue to develop mutual trust in resolving this neighborhood issue peacefully through ASEAN mechanisms. All parties should refrain from taking unilateral measures and instead work together to maintain peace and stability in the region. The partnership should also contribute to prosperity by maintaining ASEAN's economic growth at the highest level possible, helping the region's transformation from a commodity-based economy to a higher added value economy, or a knowledge-based economy. The discussion in Sunnylands will further ensure that the US-ASEAN partnership delivers concrete and direct economic results to the people, including more jobs at home. The US-ASEAN partnership should also serve as a backbone for coping with non-traditional security challenges such as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as well as terrorism and violent extremism. Losing billions of dollars annually from IUU fishing, Indonesia will encourage ASEAN leaders and the US to cooperate in eradicating IUU fishing as a serious example of trans-national crime. And as the world's most populous Muslim-majority country and a culturally diverse nation, Indonesia has the credentials necessary to address radicalism and extremism. Therefore, Indonesia will continue to promote moderation and send the peaceful message of Islam as rakhmatan lil alamin, or a blessing to the universe. Indonesia will enhance US-ASEAN cooperation to battle terrorism, share intelligence and cooperate on counterterrorism operations. Last but not least, it should not be overlooked that the ASEAN model, sometimes called the 'ASEAN way', with all its imperfections, has had significant success in dealing with trust deficits and delivering prosperity and stability in the region and beyond. The positive story of ASEAN can be extrapolated to other conflict-prone regions. Many parts of the world are still engulfed in distrust and serious conflict. Thus, ASEAN is a beacon of hope for a model centered on engagement among nation states. President Jokowi's readiness to mediate tensions between countries viewed as good friends of Indonesia in the Middle East draws on this aspect. The visit will again show President Jokowi's meticulous commitment to a grounded foreign policy. Second, President Jokowi's visit to San Francisco will reaffirm the continued cooperation between the US and Indonesia in many areas such as science, technology and innovation. This includes the development of the information and technology sector in Indonesia, in line with the vision of the 2020 Indonesia Digital Economy and Indonesia's potential as one of the most digitally connected countries in the world. Indonesia has the world's third-highest number of Facebook users, its fourth-highest number of Twitter users, its third-highest number of Instagram users and one third of the world's LinkedIn users. A thriving digital economy not only symbolizes the importance of the knowledge economy in the years to come, but is also worth exploring for Indonesia as it aims to become the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia. The knowledge economy ' encompassing the digital economy, biotechnology and life science industries ' is the main part of President Jokowi's economic diplomacy. This effort should be supported by sound policies in education, science and technology to spur innovation and creativity. This effort is also in line with President Jokowi's ambition to implement e-governance systems to reduce red tape and to make Indonesia's economy more efficient and competitive. Indonesia will ensure that the coming era of digital economies will empower small and medium-sized enterprises, which together serve as the backbone of the Indonesian and ASEAN economy. This visit signals the beginning of a more concrete and cooperative relationship between the US and ASEAN nations. This relationship will hopefully develop Indonesia's knowledge economy and help to realize Indonesia's vision to create more than 1,000 digital 'technopreneurs'. ___________________________ The writer is Indonesia's Foreign Minister. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Corry Elyda and Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 North Jakarta administration sent 200 security officers to Kalijodo residential and red-light district to post hundreds of eviction notices around cafes, pubs and clubs in the neighborhood on Sunday. Penjaringan district head Abdul Khalit said as quoted by tribunnews.com that the notice was to be the first of three and was sent out under the orders of Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama and North Jakarta Mayor Rustam Effendi. The Jakarta administration has called on the residents and businesspeople there to change profession or return to their hometowns. Mayor Rustam said Sunday that the city administration would evict the residents and transform the area into an open green space. The program will be carried out as part of the city's effort to increase the percentage of green areas throughout the capital. He said the city administration had offered training for building and business owners and workers who wanted to change profession. Those who hold Jakarta ID cards will also be granted rusunawa (low-cost rental apartment), he said. The municipality will organize a registration post at the Penjaringan district office for those who want to change profession, go back to their hometowns or get a rusunawa. The plan to clear the red-light district reemerged following an accident early this week when Riki Agung Prasetyo, allegedly drunk after consuming alcohol in Kalijodo, hit a motorcycle in front of his car. The accident led to the death of four people. One of Southeast Asia's oldest and largest red-light districts has been cleared several times. On several occasions, as many as 250 semi permanent and 300 permanent buildings in Kalijodo, that straddles the river bank in North and West Jakarta, have been knocked down, but the businesses consistently return and the area's pimps and sex workers have continued their trade regardless. The last time it was cleared was in 2003, under the leadership of former governor Sutiyoso, the current chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN). Rustam said that around 600 families, or 3,000 people, lived in the area. 'Most of them work in businesses like cafes and brothels,' he said. Governor Ahok said the city administration and the Jakarta Police would discuss the eviction plan. 'I can ensure that the site will be evicted this year,' he said. Ahok said that the city administration and the police had received information on those thugs that might back the business there. Ahok said he wanted to clear the area not because of the businesses but because the residents occupied a designated open green space. 'I actually agree that prostitution should be localized. If not, the businesses can spread out everywhere,' he said. Parks and Cemetery Agency head Ratna Diah Kurniati said that her agency would prepare the design for the park in Kalijodo. 'Once the area is clear, we will immediately build a park or at least regreen the space with trees and grass,' she said. Meanwhile, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said the police agreed with the idea of evicting Kalijodo and turning the red-light district into a green area, saying that Kalijodo had so far become a hotbed for criminal activity. 'I totally support the plan. We will talk about the mechanism to evict squatters in the area with the city administration and the military next week,' he told reporters Friday. Tito said letting Kalijodo continue on as it is today would allow for ongoing criminal activities in Kalijodo. He said the area was full of thugs and petty criminals and therefore police officers sent to clear the area are likely to face strong resistance from thugs. 'We will prepare as many personnel as possible, especially to face the thugs. We do not want to let the area stay as it is today,' he said. ______________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 Jewelry and several other commodities have retained their charm on the global market and saw an increase in exports in the first month of the year despite a fall in Indonesia's trade. Jewelry led in terms of value of exports of manufactured goods, registering a 194 percent export increase, to $216 million in January. Footwear followed with a 105 percent increase to $97.5 million and special purposes machinery rose 31 percent to $95 million. "Some commodities have the potential to increase in exports. Even crab exports increased dramatically by 101.7 percent to $3.2 million," said Central Statistics Agency (BPS) head Suryamin in Jakarta on Monday. Specialty coffee exports rose 17.9 percent and were valued at $92 million. Metal goods exports rose 56.6 percent to $18.3 million and prefabricated construction goods rose 42.5 percent to $14.5 million. Meanwhile, white pepper exports rose 2.7 percent to $11.7 million, shrimp exports rose 12.5 percent to $5 million and pork exports increased 12.5 percent to $5 million. "It [pork] possibly came from North Sulawesi and North Sumatra," he said. North Sulawesi and North Sumatra are among the provinces that have developed pig farms to meet local demand from the non-Muslim population. During the same period, the exportation of fishery products rose 4.6 percent to $4.5 million, while fish exports increased 12.6 percent to $2.4 million and miscellaneous pepper exports rose 84 percent to $1.1 million. "Some manufactured goods could support exports even though the amount has yet to be significant amid declining international prices. Some commodities that previously dominated exports are still under pressure," Suryamin explained. In total, January exports fell 11.9 percent on a monthly basis to $10.5 billion. Oil and gas exports dropped 14.8 percent to $1.1 billion due to the downward trend in global oil prices, while non-oil and gas exports dropped 11.5 percent to $9.4 billion. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 After traveling for nearly 23 hours from Jakarta, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo arrived in California, the US, on Sunday afternoon to attend the ASEAN-US Summit. Jokowi and First Lady Iriana arrived at Palm Springs International Airports in California at 5 p.m. local time on Sunday. Indonesian Ambassador to the US Budi Bowoleksono and US assistant chief of protocol Gladys Boluda welcomed Jokowi and his entourage at the airport. Jokowi and his delegation left Jakarta on Sunday, with transits in Guam and Honolulu before landing in the mainland US. From the airport, Jokowi headed to Indian Wells for the ASEAN-US Summit held from Feb. 15 to 16. In the meeting, Indonesia was to highlight its desire for the establishment of stronger partnership and prosperity between ASEAN and US, Jokowi said in a press conference at Halim Perdanakuma Airport prior to departure on Sunday. "The ASEAN-US partnership should bring balanced benefits for the welfare of the people of ASEAN and the US", he said. Jokowi is scheduled to lead a discussion session on terrorism, sharing Indonesia's experience as the largest Muslim-majority country the world in the fight against terrorism. He will also encourage the enhancement of economic cooperation for small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurship and the development of the digital economy. After the summit, Jokowi and his entourage will continue the trip to San Francisco to deliver a keynote address at the US-ASEAN Business Council scheduled to be held on Feb. 17. The President will also visit global technology center Silicon Valley, meeting the chief executive officers of information technology giants. Jokowi visited the US in October, meeting US President Barrack Obama, but cut short his trip to return to Indonesia as the country's haze crisis deteriorated. (rin)(+) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 As lawmakers at the House of Representatives pursue a controversial plan to revise anticorruption legislation, experts have called on President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo to make good on his promise to defend the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The President, so far, has only tweeted that he supported the amendment of Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK as long as it strengthened, rather than weakened, the law enforcement institution. The proposed revision has run up against strong opposition from the public, which sees it as clearly curtailing the KPK's power. The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has been leading the initiative for the amendment by proposing the draft revision that contains articles limiting the antigraft body's authority. Among the controversial new articles to be included in the amendment are the formation of a KPK supervisory body, restrictions on wiretapping by KPK investigators and allowing the KPK to stop investigations if it does not have adequate evidence. University of Indonesia (UI) criminologist and former police officer Bambang Widodo Umar said Jokowi's stance on the revision was inconsistent, as the PDI-P politician wanted to show that he embraced all sides ' the public and lawmakers, including his party colleagues. 'If he disagrees with the revision, [he should] just say so and stop the amendment. He should be firm,' Bambang said at a discussion. Political observer J. Kristiadi from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also opined that Jokowi displayed a very soft stance, but added that he believed the President was sincere in promising not to let the amendment pass if it weakens the KPK. 'He has a responsibility to keep the public's trust, because his only friends are the people. Many legislators or senior officials seem to be against him,' Kristiadi said. He added that the amendment was clearly an attempt to kill the KPK, because many politicians and senior public officials were threatened by its existence. The KPK has uncovered many graft cases involving high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats, including ministers. 'I am not saying that all lawmakers are corrupt, but the House needs to do some self-reflection. They [lawmakers] have very strong power, giving them access to play the regulations for their own interests,' Kristiadi said. The PDI-P initiative was backed by five House factions ' the NasDem Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the Hanura Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Golkar Party. However, several political parties have launched a move to block the amendment. The House's plenary session was supposed to amend the law last week, but postponed it after the Democratic Party decided to oppose the amendment, following in the footsteps of the Gerindra Party. A day later, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) became the third party to reject the amendment. Antigraft watchdog Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator for public campaigns Tama S. Langkun called on Jokowi to immediately drop the amendment, because it did not have any support from the public. 'If [the lawmakers] really want to focus on eradicating corruption and strengthening law enforcement, it's better to revise the corruption law,' Tama said, referring to another piece of anticorruption legislation, Law No. 20/2001 on Corruption. The Corruption Law, he added, should tighten regulations on the punishment of corruption defendants, which currently seem very low, and include stipulations about corruption in the private sector as well as restrictions on cash transactions. 'That is because nowadays, graft schemes involve private parties and the transactions are done in cash,' he said. ____________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 Vice President Jusuf Kalla asked the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on Monday to not to finance lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community programs in the country. Kalla said the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) recently verified a report that the UN body had prepared funds worth US$8 million to support LGBT campaigns in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Kalla said the UNDP had confirmed to Bappenas that the funds were allocated for a program in Thailand and not Indonesia. "Therefore, we have asked them [UNDP Indonesia] to not carry out the program here," Kalla said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. The Vice President said there were no UNDP funds specifically for the LGBT community in Indonesia and that any monetary support channeled to them would most likely come from other non-governmental organizations. Kalla has previously stated his opposition to LGBT campaigns in Indonesia, which he says are not in accordance with the current social values of the nation. Meanwhile, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan said that the LGBT community had a right to protection as they were also citizens, and expressed regret that they had been the victims of abuse. Luhut urged the public to restrain themselves and not be prejudiced toward the LGBT community. (liz/dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 The government's introduction of free visas for the citizens of 169 countries has been criticized by lawmakers. House of Representative member Wihadi Wiyanto said on Monday that instead of adding to the number of nationalities eligible for free visas, the government should cancel the free-visa policy altogether because it offered more disadvantages than advantages for the country. "We lose revenue and economic benefits. We have to face the fact that the free-visa policy should not be expanded but revoked," Gerindra Party lawmaker Wihadi said during a House hearing. There had been an influx foreigners, such Chinese, whom he said claimed to be foreign workers but were involved in crimes or did business illegally here. For example, Wihadi said, the police often arrested foreigners for fraud, trafficking and prostitution. He also claimed that foreigners had set up unlicensed travel bureaus in Bali, traded illegally at local markets and had formed a syndicate to offer fake immigration stamps for visa extensions. NasDem lawmaker Supriyadin said the government should leave the number of eligible nationalities at 90 and evaluate the benefits after two or more years before adding the remaining 79 other countries to the list. "We have to evaluate whether an increase in the total number of foreign arrivals is indeed because of the free-visa policy and not just because of the holiday season," Supriyadin said. If the findings are significant, Supriyadin said, the concern then moved to security aspects, including the risk of foreign agents entering Indonesia and the making of counterfeit passports and ID cards. "Besides, Indonesia and other cooperating countries should have mutual respect and benefits. We shouldn't just apply this because of the reciprocal principle," Supriyadin said. Previously, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan said the government would add up to 169 nationalities to the list of beneficiaries of free visas as stipulated in a presidential regulation. Even though the number would increase, the government could strengthen security first and not include nationalities that had the potential to traffic drugs and disseminate radical beliefs, Luhut added. (dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haeril Halim and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 A recent bribery case may plunge the country's highest court intoa storm of controversy as more officials may be involved in a cabal to arrange the delays of sentence executions for convicts. The Supreme Court (MA) said on Sunday that one of its officials, Andri Tristianto Sutrisna, who was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Saturday for accepting bribes to postpone the delivery of a final verdict document of a graft case to a primary court, was not the person in charge able to make such an order. MA justice and spokesman Suhadi said that Andri was a subdivision head at the court's directorate for civil lawsuits and had no authority in corruption cases. He also said that it was officials at MA's registrar division, where Andri did not serve, that had the authority to delay the transfer of a cassation document to a primary court, implying that Andri could not have worked alone to carry out such a scheme. '[Andri] is in charge of examining a dossier to determine whether it could be processed further to be tried at MA. If he found that the document lacked necessary elements, then [he] will ask the proposing court to complete the dossier before sending it to the registrar division,' Suhadi told The Jakarta Post. Andri was apprehended on suspicion of accepting Rp 400 million (US$29,629) in cash from graft convict and businessman Ichsan Suaidi, who was also arrested, for his helpto prolong the hand-over of the convict's cassation dossier to the Mataram State Court to implement the five-year sentence imposed by the MA. '[Andri's] job is only related to civil cases, not corruption cases. There is another directorate handling the examination of corruption cases and it is not his job to do so,' Suhadi said. A convict challenging his sentence files a cassation plea to the MA through a primary court. If later the examination division declares the dossier to be complete then the MA would hold a hearing to determine whether it would support the primary court verdict or overturn it. After the MA rules on a cassation plea it then sends the documents to the primary court for the latter to order prosecutors to send the convict to prison. While the bribery case has exposed alleged dirty practices at the MA, it also reveals possible wider problems in the country's judicial system as Ichsan, even though he had been convicted of graft, was allowed to remain free and be in Jakarta where, on Friday, he was arrested after allegedly being caught red-handed delivering a bribe to pay for the delay in executing his sentence. Graft convicts have to remain at detention centers while waiting for their verdicts to be confirmed as legal and binding by the MA. It remains unclear how Ichsan remained a free man after he was sentenced by the Mataram State Court to two years in prison for being guilty of rigging a dock construction project in East Lombok. The MA's verdict directory website could not be accessed to get details about the case as of Sunday night. Ichsan appealed to the MA to challenge his two-year sentence, but in September the court decided to increase his punishment to five years. The Mataram State Court should have immediately ordered prosecutors to send him to prison, but it did not because it hadn't received the necessary documents. The KPK said that the Rp 400 million bribe money had nothing to do with the cassation ruling itself because Ichsan allegedly only intended to bribe Andri in order to delay his serving time, pointing out that the panel of Supreme Court judges had in fact increased his sentence, not reduced it. 'We will look further to see the involvement of other people in the case as the investigation progresses in the future,' said KPK spokesman Priharsa said. Following the sting operation on Friday, KPK investigators detained five individuals, including Andri, Ichsan and Ichsan's lawyer, Awang Lazuardi Embat. The three have been named suspects and detained at the KPK's detention center. 'The internal supervision at the Supreme Court is very weak. The Judicial Commission seems to watch only the judges, ignoring the administrative officials,' said Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Aradila Caesar. ______________________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Karawang Mon, February 15, 2016 The National Police's counterterrorism unit, Densus 88, searched on Saturday two houses in Cikampek, West Java, where alleged terrorists were suspected to have been living. 'The search in Cikampek is part of a series of searches and arrests conducted in Sumedang and Ciamis,' said Karawang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. AM Dicky Pastika Gading, as quoted by Antara news agency. The police detected a plan hatched by suspected terrorists to launch attacks, mainly targeting military and police personnel, he said. The search is also part of the effort to further investigate the bomb and gun attack that occurred in front of the Sarinah shopping center in Central Jakarta on Jan. 14. During the search, the police arrested two suspected terrorists and seized a gas gun, propaganda documents and five motorcycles. National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said that 22 suspects have been arrested so far following the Sarinah attack. He said that all of the suspects are from groups that are linked to terrorist networks in Poso, Central Sulawesi and the Islamic State (IS) movement in Syria. 'We cannot say that there is only one [terrorist group]. They're all connected,' he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jim Gomez (The Jakarta Post) Manila Mon, February 15, 2016 With the symbolic handshakes and unity photo-op, President Barack Obama's high-profile summit with Southeast Asian leaders in California this week aims to step up pressure against China's increasingly worrisome behavior in disputed waters. Forging a common front and encouraging bolder rhetoric against Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, however, will be a challenge among the diverse collection of VIP guests, who did not criticize China by name in past joint summit statements as the disputes flared on and off in recent years. Decisions by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the bloc they lead, can easily be stalled. ASEAN includes governments aligned either with Washington or Beijing. Only four of its 10 member states are locked in the disputes with China and Taiwan, leading to sometimes conflicting views on handling the long-simmering rifts. The regional bloc decides by consensus, meaning just one member can effectively shoot down any statement detrimental to China. In recent years, summit statements have expressed concern over the escalating conflicts and called for freedom of navigation and overflight in the disputed territories, but they have rarely gone to specifics. "I think it will be hard for the US to convince the 10 ASEAN states to adopt any language on the South China Sea disputes that go beyond what ASEAN statements have said in the past," said Dr. Malcolm Cook of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. With Obama in his last year in office, certain ASEAN member states would probably not concede on any security or economic issue that might antagonize China, an economic lifeline to them, Cook said. A Southeast Asian diplomat told The Associated Press that government envoys in Jakarta, where the ASEAN secretariat is located, have been negotiating the text of a possible joint statement to be issued by Obama and his Southeast Asian counterparts at the end of the two-day summit, which opens Monday at the sprawling Sunnylands estate. There have been initial differences among the governments on the wording of the statement, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss details of the negotiations with reporters. Vietnam and the Philippines, whose disputes with China have intensified in recent years, prefer a more detailed reference to the territorial disputes. The Philippines specifically wants to mention international arbitration as an option to resolve the conflicts. Cambodia and Laos, which have close ties with China, have asked the reference to arbitration to be deleted, the diplomat said. In 2012, Cambodia refused to mention discussions in an ASEAN foreign ministerial summit statement about a shoal disputed by China and the Philippines. An ensuing argument caused the summit to end without a joint statement for the first time since the bloc was founded in 1967. While the statement can be restrained, the diplomat said any leader can speak freely at the informal talks in Sunnylands. The Philippines brought its territorial conflicts with China to international arbitration in early 2013 after Beijing refused to withdraw its ships from a disputed shoal under a US-brokered deal. China has refused to participate, but an arbitration tribunal based in The Hague has proceeded to hear the case and plans to hand down a decision this year. The US summit will showcase Obama's yearslong effort to reassert American leadership in Asia, where China has risen as a security and economic powerhouse. Although it's not a claimant state, the US has declared that it has a national interest in the peaceful resolution of the disputes and maintenance of freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, a major passageway for global trade. Obama will emphasize US resolve to promote the rule of law and give assurances that America is a stabilizing presence in the region, US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters last week. "The US will be underscoring the importance of resolving any territorial disputes consistent with international norms and international law ... and not through bigger nations bullying smaller ones," Rhodes said in a veiled reference to China and smaller neighboring countries along the South China Sea rim. Tensions have escalated in recent years after China transformed seven disputed reefs into islands, some with runways, that could be used to project China's military might into the heartland of the disputed region. China has claimed it has the right to undertake the massive construction in what it calls its territory, but the US Navy deployed a guided-missile destroyer near one of the islands last year in defiance of China's territorial claims. China has been accused of delaying the start of negotiations for a legally binding code of conduct that can deter aggressive actions such as its island construction work. US and ASEAN leaders have sought the early conclusion of such a pact for several years, and those calls are likely to be repeated in this week's summit. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie & Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Mataram Mon, February 15, 2016 The National Police anti-terrorism unit Densus 88 have shot and killed an alleged terrorist and arrested another during a raid in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, on Monday. Both are said to be linked to the notorious East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group. Densus 88 and the West Nusa Tenggara police conducted a raid at a house in Penatoi, Mpunda subdistrict, Bima, at 7:30 a.m. local time on Monday. During the raid, police personnel shot and killed Fajaruddin, also known as Fajar or Faris, alleged to have been a terrorist, while another alleged terrorist named Iman was apprehended by Densus 88. The pair resisted arrest and are said to have fired the initial shots that lead to the shootout with police. Fajar and Iman were allegedly linked to Poso-based MIT, led by Indonesia's most wanted terrorist Santoso, also known as Abu Wardah, and are suspected to have be involved in several attacks in Poso, Central Sulawesi, National Police Chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said on Monday without giving further details. A policeman, Brig. Darwis, was injured in the shootout, receiving a bullet wound to his left arm, and has been taken for treatment at the Bima Regional Hospital. The National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) launched a joint operation last year to hunt for Santoso and his 40 followers, including three whom are alleged to be from Bima. All are believed to be hiding out in mountainous terrain near Poso. Earlier this year the operation was expanded and a 2,000 strong police and military force was sent to scour the mountainous region in Central Sulawesi. The terrorist group, said to be responsible for several attacks against police officers in Central Sulawesi, have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist network. (rin)(+) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi Mon, February 15, 2016 In response to the suicides of two of its officers earlier this month, the Jambi Police will arrange psychological counseling for all its personnel to avoid other similar such incidents from occurring within the institution. Last Friday, Brig. Bobby Hermanto, a member of Merangin Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob), was found dead at his house after apparently hanging himself. On Feb. 4, Second Insp. Sapto Nugroho, an officer from the East Tanjung Jabung Police, hanged himself in the parking lot of the police station. Both cases added to the death toll of cop suicides this year to four, after Brig. Irian Mulyono of Keerom Police in Papua and First. Insp. Muhammad Syahir Perdana Lubis of Bandar Lampung Police in Lampung, allegedly shot themselves on Jan. 21 and Feb. 6, respectively, The police said the motives behind the four incidents were still unknown. While waiting for the results of an investigation into the incident, Jambi Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Kuswahyudi Tresnadi said his institution would soon invite all police personnel in the province to undergo a preliminary psychological test. 'The test will be held in stages to accommodate thousands of police personnel,' Kuswahyudi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. The test, he added, would be followed up by regular counselling sessions for all personnel. 'During the counselling, we will ask our personnel to openly share their problems so that they can get the help they need to solve them,' he said. Indonesia currently has more than 420,000 police personnel serving in 34 provinces. Although Indonesia's police-to-population ratio, which stands at 1:575, is better than Singapore and Malaysia, the number is still much lower compared to Interpol's recommendation of one policeman for every 250 people. Job pressures, along with other personal issues, have so far been blamed for the spike in cop suicides throughout the country. Last year, the Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) revealed that seven officers committed suicide last year. The IPW said that police officers were easily depressed when facing problems, especially in matters of love. In December last year, an officer with the Mamuju Police in West Sulawesi, Second Pvt. Ricky Ricardo Tanasal, reportedly committed suicide after being dumped by his girlfriend. In the previous month, First Insp. Budi Riyono, the head of the Cipondoh Police's traffic unit in Tangerang, killed himself with a 38-calibre revolver at his girlfriend's house. Some of this year's suicide victims did not appear to have particularly strong reasons to end their lives. For example, the police suspect that the 23-year-old Syahir, who graduated from the country's prestigious Police Academy in 2012 and led the Bandar Lampung Police's mobile criminal investigation unit prior to his death, decided to kill himself because of an illness. 'He told his friends that he often suffered from severe pains in his stomach,' Lampung Police chief Brig. Gen. Ike Edwin said as quoted by kompas.com. Bobby, meanwhile, appeared to be living happily with his wife, a schoolteacher, and their daughter. 'His daughter just entered primary school,' Sudarto, one of Bobby's neighbors, said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Elly Burhaini Faizal (The Jakarta Post) Mon, March 21, 2016 Investigators of the general crimes directorate at the National Police Criminal Investigation Corps (Bareskrim) are looking to establish legal grounds on which to ascertain whether leaders of the Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gafatar) committed blasphemy and religious defamation. The polices general crimes director, Brig. Gen. Agus Andrianto, said police investigators had last week questioned two witnesses, comprising an expert from the Religious Affairs Ministry and another from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). From the results of our further investigation into the two witnesses, hopefully its getting clearer to our investigators whether blasphemy and religious defamation occurred in the Gafatar case, said Agus as quoted by kompas.com on Monday. Despite the information obtained from the expert witnesses, Agus said, the police had yet to name any suspect in the case. Naming suspects in cases of blasphemy and religious defamation was different to other cases, he noted, and required a specific strategy. While questioning expert witnesses, Agus said, the investigators were also continuing to seek evidence in Central Java, East Java and West Kalimantan. The investigation process at Bareskrim and in various areas is ongoing, simultaneously and in synergy, he said. The police began to look into possible blasphemy and religious defamation committed by Gafatar leaders earlier this month. Their investigation into the case was based on a report submitted by a person initialed MH on Jan. 4. The Gafatar leaders are also accused of plotting to usurp the government, police investigators having found documents detailing the movements eventual government structure, including ministers and president. Weve found evidence that suggests designs on government, Bareskrim chief Comr. Gen. Anang Iskandar said as quoted by kompas.com on Feb. 4. Apart from documents on Gafatars Cabinet structure, several notes containing the core teachings of the movement were also found in the police raid. However, Anang, said the investigators still needed to examine further, including questioning expert witnesses, and this might take time. We are still constructing the case. We will see later on whether or not the aspects of blasphemy and religious defamation hold water. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Raras Cahyafitri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 The government may yet again shelve its plan to impose a complete ban on raw material exports after acknowledging slow progress in the nation's smelter development. A delay in the 2017 deadline would constitute a three-year delay if the government follows up on its decision to allow mining firms more time to build smelters, either individually or in cooperation with other parties. Only six new smelters were kickstarted last year, and these smelters were all small in size. According to data from the mineral and coal office, three nickel smelters, one bauxite smelter and three lead-zinc smelters are scheduled to start operations this year. No significant progress has been reported in the much awaited Freeport Indonesia copper smelter. Another delay would undermine the consistency of the Indonesian government's policy to inhibit raw material exports in order to add more value to the country's mineral processing industries. 'We are now waiting for the planned amendment to the mining law,' said Ahmad Redi, an expert on laws related to resources from Tarumanegara University. Redi doubted the government would penalize firms for failing to hold up their agreement to build smelters. ________________________ 'We are accelerating the process to make the new law. There are several things we need to fix, such as why the contribution from the sector is very low.' The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and the House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy are both working on a new law to replace the 2009 Mining Law, which is thought to need adjustment as a number of articles are now considered obsolete and can no longer be implemented. Commission VII deputy head Fadel Muhammad said that the new law would be completed by the middle of the year. 'We are accelerating the process to make the new law. There are several things we need to fix, such as why the contribution from the sector so very low,' Fadel said. The 2009 Mining Law mandates that the government implement value-added policies in the mining sector to help the country climb to a higher position in the production chain. Under the law, mining firms are required to process and refine minerals into end products before being allowed to sell them overseas. A five-year period ending in 2014 was given to the companies to prepare the facilities to process minerals domestically. As a consequence of the regulation, the government should have theoretically banned the export of raw minerals starting in early 2014. However, many companies were reluctant to comply with the law, arguing that smelter development was not economically feasible. In response, many mining companies asked for a delay in the regulation. The government bowed down to the request and allowed firms to continue exporting semi-finished products. However, they limited this arrangement until 2017, and demanded that mining firms continue to build smelters. Under the current regulation, mining firms working on smelter projects have to deposit 5 percent of their total investment in local banks as collateral to ensure that they will continue the development. The surety bonds are a prerequisite for the firms to obtain permits to export semi-finished mineral products. On the backdrop of a prolonged slump in global commodity prices, mining firms around the world have struggled to maintain profits. Last week, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said it was revising the regulation on smelter development and its connection with export permits as part of the government's efforts to support mining firms mired in financial woes. Marwan Batubara of the Indonesian Resources Studies (IRESS) said the government should be consistent in implementing the prevailing law. 'The 2009 Law is still applicable. The law must be enforced,' Marwan said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Mon, February 15, 2016 It has been predicted that the much anticipated total solar eclipse, forecast to occur on March 9, will last for a longer length of time in Central Sulawesi. While people in several areas across Indonesia, such as Halmahera, Palangkaraya, Sampit, Balikpapan, Bangka, Belitung and Palembang, will enjoy the rare opportunity to witness the total solar eclipse on March 9, the experience is expected to last longer in Central Sulawesi. For a few minutes, up to 98 percent of the sun will be hidden from view when the moon almost entirely covers it, quickly leaving the sun's radiant corona shining behind it as if it were a golden halo. 'People in Central Sulawesi will be fortunate to witness the event for a longer length of time as it will cross the sky over the districts of Sigi, Donggala, Palu, Luwuk, Parigi Moutong, Tojo Unauna and Poso,' Central Sulawesi governor Longki Djanggola said on Sunday, as quoted by Antara news agency. The governor said that thousands of residents and tourists will have the opportunity to watch as the sun darkens the sky over those districts during the day. 'We have prepared a number of arts performances and cultural activities to entertain visitors,' said Longki. Around 3,000 tourists from 12 countries have confirmed their plan to visit to the province in order to witness the solar eclipse, said the head of the Central Sulawesi Tourism Office, Siti Norma Mardjanu. 'The large number of foreign tourists will be accommodated in hotels available in Palu and Poso, while some of them will stay in the homes of local residents,' Siti said. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, totally or partly obscuring the sun. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon's apparent diameter is larger than that of the sun, blocking all direct sunlight and turning day into darkness. Indonesia last experienced the rare phenomenon in 1988, visible from Bangka, Belitung and South Sumatra. 'This year's solar eclipse in South Sumatra and Bangka-Belitung will be similar to the one in 1988. The difference this time is that it will turn toward the southern part of Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi, part of South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Sulawesi and North Maluku,' the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) head Thomas Djamaluddin said recently. The last time a total solar eclipse passed over the country was in 1995, lasting two minutes and visible only from Sangihe, a small island in North Sulawesi. Since independence, Indonesia has experienced 18 partial solar eclipses, nine total solar eclipses and six annular solar eclipses. A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks only part of the sun's disk, while an annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is a new moon or too far away and subsequently too small to completely cover the sun's disk, forming a ring of light. Several parts of Indonesia will experience the event as a partial solar eclipse along with other places in Southeast Asia, such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok, as well as northern and eastern Australia. While the total solar eclipse will see more than 90 percent of the sun covered, in Java, 50 to 60 percent will be covered. The next total solar eclipse to occur in Indonesia will be in 2023. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Mon, February 15, 2016 Indonesia could fall into bankruptcy if the biggest market in Southeast Asia join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would allow investors to sue the government in international arbitration courts through investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS), an activist has warned. Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ) spokeswoman Rachmi Hertanti said ISDS favored investors' interests over the national interest. Submitting to the TPP regulations on ISDS would open the country to being sued by foreign investors claiming their investment had been disadvantaged. "According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD], American and Canadian investors most frequently used ISDS to resolve disputes between 2013 and 2015, with the dispute cases worth US$8 million to $2.5 billion," Rachmi said on Monday in Jakarta. She pointed to a dispute in March 2015 brought by Churchill Mining Plc claiming $2 billion in compensation. "That's more than a year's worth of food subsidies Indonesia. If Indonesia lost, the effect on the state budget would be unimaginable," she argued. Indonesia's investment laws currently require consent from disputing parties before a matter is taken to international arbitration. The government must first revoke the measure to comply with the TPP before it can join the trade pact of 12 Pacific Rim countries. Meanwhile, Indonesian Labor Struggle Confederation spokesman Wibowo said the TPP ran contrary to labor justice, as it created flexibility for investors to cut employees willy-nilly. "The right of labor to be represented at annual meetings to decide the minimum wage will be abolished. With the TPP, foreign investors could force the government to change regulations on workers," he said. (ags)(+) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Mon, February 15, 2016 Residents of Greater Jakarta are in awe of some wax statues of global figures showcased at Alive Museum Ancol in North Jakarta, the first of its kind in Indonesia. One of the visitors, Rinaldo Kurnia, could not take his eyes off a statue of Indian independence movement leader Mahatma Gandhi that sits in one corner of the museum beside the man's iconic charkha. Having read the history of India's struggle to free itself from British rule since he was in junior high school, the 25-year-old man is aware of how fundamental Gandhi's role was during that era. He said out of all of Gandhi's waxwork figures, he was jubilant the museum owner decided to show the one with the spinning wheel. 'This wheel is more than a loom. It symbolizes India's movement during the colonial era. I am very happy that now I can see it in its actual size,' he told The Jakarta Post recently. In the 1940s, Gandhi used the charkha to send a message to the British authorities that India is an independent country that could make its own cloth and did not need to rely on the British to make it for them. On another side of the museum a wax statue of legendary Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh poses in front of his famous Starry Night oil painting. A man took the paint brush from Van Gogh's hand and stood just beside the statue while his friend took a picture of them. Sheila Nisa Maulina and her friend came all the way from Tangerang just to visit the museum that is located in the Ancol Beach Mall. She said the visit to the museum was worth all the kilometers and time, as she could see many human-sized statues of global figures. 'It was my first time seeing waxworks and I cannot say I am disappointed. The wax statues seem so real,' she said. Having launched in December, Alive Museum Ancol is a branch of Alive Museum South Korea, which does not only offer a wax statues attraction, but also trick art or three-dimensional artworks. Aside from in Korea and Jakarta, the museum has opened branches in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Turkey. The newest attraction in Ancol features more than 50 wax statues, including of world-famous revolutionary leader Che Guevara, Spanish painter Salvador Dali and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. For the Rp 100,000 (US$7.34) entrance fee, visitors can also see superhero characters like Spider-Man and Batman, as well as original movie posters of Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings complete with autographs from the actors and actresses. Ardian, another visitor who came with his wife and son, said they visited the museum by accident as they previously planned to play at the Ancol Beach. He added that seeing Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who were considered to be the biggest technology innovation rivals, in one room would never fail to amuse him. 'I have to say this is amazing. Even the wrinkles on this hand feel so real,' he said, posing for a selfie with Steve Jobs. 'Unfortunately, not every statue looks like the real person: Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, for example. Their hair is so weird,' he said. Mulya Ardi, who came from Bogor, West Java with his eight family members, said all of them enjoyed their first experience at the wax museum. However, as a fan of Van Gogh, he said the museum management could do better by posting the name of the artwork that was displayed beside the painter. 'I doubt everyone would know which one is Starry Night or Irises,' he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Mon, February 15, 2016 The TPP basically aims for a non-protectionist common market for goods and people. Four ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, have already signed up for the TPP. So if Indonesia were to become a member, a company from Indonesia would be able to sell in the US without restrictions. By the same token, an American neurosurgeon would be able to practice in Indonesia as if he were an Indonesian neurosurgeon. Dismantling trade barriers among nations is theoretically sound, harking back to the free enterprise market economies envisaged by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. Therefore, the question is less about whether the TPP is a good or a bad thing for Indonesia ' it should generally be considered a good thing for the country. The question rather is whether Indonesia can dismantle the deep-rooted protectionist policies and practices jealously adhered to by far too many interest groups. Remember that in Indonesia, apart from the SOEs and the politically-connected dynasties, the military is also up to its neck in business. Wandering Star Jakarta Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Erika Anindita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, February 16, 2016 The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) confiscated 10 mobile phones belonging to Andri Tristianto Sutrisna, a Supreme Court official who has been named a suspect in a graft case, in a raid on Monday. The search operation, conducted by KPK investigators at Andri's office, started at 8.30 a.m. and lasted for two-and-a-half hours. "KPK investigators seized a document, namely Andri's appointment letter, and electronic devices, comprising 10 mobile phones with three SIM cards, one external hard disk and one notebook hard disk," commission spokeswoman Yuyuk Andriati said on Monday afternoon. On Saturday, KPK named Andri, chief of the sub-directorate of appeals and special civil case second case reviews at the Supreme Court, a suspect in a graft case related to a delay in the sending of a copy of the court's ruling on an appeal request for a court verdict in a corruption case surrounding the development of a port located in West Nusa Tenggara for the period 2007-2008. The antigraft body also named two other people, lawyer Awang Lazuardi Embat and businessman Ichsan Suaidi suspects in the bribery case. Ichsan, who is also the director of construction firm PT Citra Gading Asritama (CGA), has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court. Separate raids On Sunday, KPK investigators searched two houses belonging to Andri, one located in San Lorenzo, Gading Serpong, and the other in Taman Parahyangan, Tangerang, Banten. Also on Sunday, the anticorruption body searched an apartment unit belonging to Ichsan at Sudirman Park, Jakarta. "We seized several documents and electronic equipment," Yuyuk said. She further said senior figures at the Supreme Court had discussed the case with KPK leaders. However, it remains unclear how coordination between the two law enforcement institutions will proceed. Andri is accused of violating Article 12 or Article 11 of Law No. 31/1999 on corruption eradication. Meanwhile, Ichsan and Awang has been charged with violating Article 5 (1) or Article 13 of Law No. 31/1999 in reference to Article 55 (1) of the Criminal Code. 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The music was better, the films were better, and it was 24 years away from the debut of Nicki Minaj. To celebrate the year that saw rock at its commercial peak exactly three decades ago, in no particular order, here are my six favourite records to come out of 1986. Metallica Master of Puppets Honestly, how could Master of Puppets not make this list? The third album by thrash metal pioneers Metallica has served as a gateway drug for an infinite amount of metalheads, becoming the initiation that every rock fan has to go through before being able to call themselves a part of the subculture. To call yourself a metalhead and say that you havent listened to Master of Puppets is almost blasphemy. The record has held the coveted number one spot on countless best album lists through the years and has received acclaim not only from the metal press, but the mainstream as well. Songs like the blistering title track, the thrashing opener 'Battery' and the instrumental 'Orion' showcase Metallica at their most brutal, innovative, adventurous and passionate. While it may have been its follow-up - 1988s And Justice for All and their 1991 Black Album that pushed Metallica onto the global success that theyve enjoyed up until this very day, it has always been Master of Puppets that has received continued recognition as the bands best album. In 1986, Metallica showed the world that speed metal was far more than just the undisciplined mutant offspring of classic rock and hardcore punk. But they didnt do it alone Slayer Reign in Blood Quite possibly the heaviest album ever made by anyone, Slayers Reign in Blood is a 29-minute long beating that joins Master of Puppets in the pantheon of great thrash metal albums. With the subject matter of the lyrics ranging from wars between Heaven and Hell, Satanic sacrifices, insanity and Nazi experimentations in Auschwitz, Reign in Blood is a thoroughly evil experience. And thats why we love it! Not to mention the intense instrumentation: once you hear the opening riff of the albums title track, there is no way that you will ever forget it. A record that should theoretically scare the living hell out of all who listen was not only received astonishingly well in the metal community, but also in the mainstream press. For an album this heavy to break free of the underground is a testament to Slayers skills as musicians. The graphic nature of the albums imagery is now considered almost cliche in heavy metal: its typical gore, guts and Satan. When people outside of the rock community think of heavy metal, they think of Reign in Blood, more often than not without even realising it. Its a release embedded in pop culture and one that defined all metal that followed it. Megadeth Peace Sells but Whos Buying? To conclude my tripartite collection of thrash metal, I present the sophomore release from Dave Mustaine et al. Peace Sells but Whos Buying? is similar in numerous ways to Megadeths debut: 1985s Killing Is My Business and Business Is Good. The relentless speed, politically charged lyrics and shredding solos that made Megadeth famous all make a triumphant return, but you can tell that the band has matured in the fourteen month gap between the two albums. Peace Sells is a much more technical, intricate and complete release than its predecessor, which was marred with production issues and budget limitations. Megadeth utilise their signing to Capitol Records to create an album that is without constraint: the production quality is perfect, the musicianship taken to the next level, the vocals more captivating than ever before. Every instrument is showcased, from Dave Ellefsons bass to Gar Samuelsons drums to Mustaine and Polands duelling shredding. Megadeth show off on Peace Sells, and thats exactly what a group has to do to get noticed. Iron Maiden Somewhere in Time The sixth album by NWOBHM mega-stars Iron Maiden may not have been received as well as predecessors like Piece of Mind or Powerslave, but Somewhere in Time still provides the fantastic and intellectual musical experience that we associate with the Beast. The opener 'Caught Somewhere in Time' sees Maiden turn their eyes away from the historical subjects that brought them their recognition, and instead towards the future. From its cover to its lyrics, Somewhere in Time is just drenched in creative, sci-fi artistry, forming what I believe the best artwork of any Maiden album released to date. And while the closing 'Alexander the Great' may not be as epic as other final tracks from the bands repertoire like 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' or 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', it is a powerful end to a perfectly solid and underrated entry in the Iron Maiden lineage. Lyrically and musically with its introduction of keyboards and synthesisers the record tried something new. And that is something I truly respect, especially from a band as huge as Iron Maiden were and still are. Metal Church The Dark An entry youre probably less familiar with, Metal Churchs second album, The Dark, showcases a fusion of thrash and power metal that is guaranteed to kick you in the teeth. The high-pitched, screaming vocals of the late David Wayne add a savagery to the releases that is only complimented by the blistering guitar-work of Craig Wells and Kurdt Vanderhoof. Initially an underground hit, The Dark returned to the attention of the heavy metal community last year when Corey Taylors Stone Sour covered the notorious title track. Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet The third release from New Jersey hair metallers Bon Jovi is the perfect mixture of rock music instrumentation with melodic pop lyricism. To put it simply, everything on Slippery When Wet is catchy as hell, containing some of Bon Jovis most famous songs like 'Wanted Dead or Alive', 'You Give Love a Bad Name' and the rock radio mainstay 'Livin on a Prayer'. The album managed to mix classic Jovi hard rock with power ballads galore, such as 'Without Love' and 'Id Die for You': its truly an album that can appeal to rock, pop and metal fans alike thanks to its mix of grandiosity, awesome guitar riffs and memorable, anthemic choruses. For a record to be able to draw the attention of these three separate cultures of music fans is no small feat, and is a perfect example of why the New Jersey rockers are still beloved by men and women, young and old, to this very day. The BBC recently appointed Dan Walker, a devout Christian, as the new BBC Breakfast presenter. The appointment has been met with disapproval in some quarters. For example, an article in The Times has branded him as a creationist and has claimed that such views would cause him difficulty in his new role. This has been taken even further by Rupert Myers in the Telegraph, who argues that, "Creationists cannot be trusted to report objectively or to interact reasonably with their interviewees and with the public." Such statements are alarming for a number of reasons. First, it is important to point out that we do not actually know what Dan Walkers views on the origin of the universe are. Creationist is a vague term and could mean anything from the belief that the Earth is less than 7,000 years old and was created in a literal six day period to the view that the universe is billions of years old and that all life on Earth exists as a result of evolution but with a god as the directive force and creative agent behind it all. Journalists who wish to brand Walker as irrational due to what he believes would do well to take the trouble to find out what it is he actually does believe first. Secondly, it suggests that those who hold religious beliefs are unable to engage with, and refuse to accept, scientific findings. It is certainly true, and often noted, that there have been religious reactionaries opposed to scientific progress in the the past. However, this ignores the contributions made to science by those throughout history who have held religious views. Myers seems to be suggesting that science and religious belief are incompatible when this is not the case. Thirdly, the argument by Myers that Creationists cannot be trusted to report objectively or to interact reasonably with their interviewees and with the public is not only misguided but is also breathtakingly patronising to Walker. Not only is it ridiculous on the face of it, but is also ignores the fact that despite being a creationist, Walker has somehow managed to navigate his way through life so far and has enjoyed a successful career as a journalist without using his position to call for the banning of The Origin of Species, the arrest of Stephen Hawking or encouraging his viewers to burn down the Natural History Museum. Furthermore, it ignores the fact that everybody has a worldview. We all interpret the world through a lens shaped by our beliefs, past experiences, and upbringing. None of us has a completely open mind or are free from bias. Finally, and most alarmingly of all, it represents a move to bar those who hold views or whose lifestyle are not shared by the majority of the population. History is riddled with examples of where only those with orthodox views were given a privileged position in society and those with differing views were persecuted and not allowed to perform certain jobs. It should be viewed as a sign of progress and tolerance that a creationist is allowed to read the news; in the same way that we should be pleased that non Anglicans can attend Oxbridge. a woman can run for President of the United States, atheists can be journalists, and jews can sell their property without being forced to pay a special tax. Rupert Myers may accuse Dan Walker of having irrational views, but it appears that it is Myers who is thinking in a way which is rather pre-enlightenment. 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Photo: Darawan Naknakhon At a meeting at Provincial Hall today, Gov Chamroen presented a formal document attesting that a three-meter wide path marked out by officials last week is public land, giving the Rawai sea gypsies unfettered access to their boats so that they may continue to fish for a living. However, he added, We will have to ask Baron World Trade Co Ltd to donate the land to expand the pathway by three more meters so that the sea gyspies can access the Balai (shrine) without having to move it. Baron World Trade last month moved ahead with its plans to develop 33 rai alongside the village into a villa resort. Fights broke out when workers blocked off sea gypsies access to their Balai shrine, sparking the current Governor-led resolution process and a contingent of military personnel to keep the peace at the village. (See story here.) The 45 rai in Rassada on offer, held by the Phuket office of the Royal Forest Department, is to relieve congestion in the overfull fishing village, Gov Chamroen said. The village is currently home to about 300 families, together housing a population of about 2,000 people. The 45 rai also is to allow sea gypsies a place to move to in case the court rules against them, he said, referring to 19 rai at the Rawai village that 10 landowners have collectively claimed by presenting official land documents. The 10 landowners presented their claims to the media on Friday (Feb 12). (See story here.) The sea gypsies have filed an appeal, and are awaiting a court ruling to determine whether or not they will have to move. Last week, we sent an official request Ministry of Social Development and Human Security to buy the 19 rai for B253 million, Governer Chamroen said. We are still waiting to receive their reply, he added. Phuket Airport welcomes Hong Kongers in new terminal test run PHUKET: The new terminal at Phuket International Airport welcomed its first passengers at a trial opening of the facility yesterday (Feb 14). tourismtransporteconomicsChineseimmigration By Tanyaluk Sakoot Monday 15 February 2016, 12:49PM Present for the occasion was Nitinai Sirismatthakarn (centre), President of Airports of Thailand (AoT). Photo: PR Dept The Boeing 777-300 servicing THAI Airways daily flight TG609, bringing 337 passengers from Hong Kong, touched down at 12:55pm. Photo: PR Dept The Boeing 777-300 servicing THAI Airways daily flight TG609, bringing 337 passengers from Hong Kong, touched down at 12:55pm. Photo: PR Dept Phuket Airport Director Monrudee Gettuphan (centre, red dress) led the delegation to welcome the passengers and hand out souvenir gifts marking the event yesterday (Feb 14). Photo: PR Dept The Boeing 777-300 servicing THAI Airways daily flight TG609, bringing 337 passengers from Hong Kong, touched down at 12:55pm. Present for the occasion was Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, President of Airports of Thailand (AoT), which operates six major international airports in Thailand, including Suvannabhumi and Don Mueang airports in Bangkok and Chiang Mai International Airport. This exercise today confirms the new terminal is operationally ready, but there is still some finishing touches to go, which will be complete in time for the grand opening on June 1, Mr Nitinai said. He added that the new terminal alone is expected to cope with passenger throughput of 6.5 million persons per year, which is the current official capacity of the entire airport today. The entire upgrade is to expand Phuket Airports capacity to 12.5 million per year, Mr Nitinai explained. Current aircraft capacity of Phuket Airport is about 250 flight arrivals per day, he said. And the airport can receive about 50,000 arrivals each day, he added. Mr Nitinai pointed out that from October through December 2015 alone, Phuket Airport handled 23,055 flights, carrying 3,385,527 passengers. Phuket Airport Director Monrudee Gettuphan led the delegation to welcome the passengers and hand out souvenir gifts marking the event yesterday. In use at the new terminal are our upgraded Standard Operating Procedures for the security and convenience for passengers, Ms Monrudee said. The new airport security procedure called the Advance Passenger Processing System (APPS) was rolled out at six main international airports in December, with plans for 32 airports nationwide to upgrade to the APPS system throughout 2016. The move forms part of on-going improvements to Thailands security systems, to ensure that local and international travellers can traverse the kingdoms main gateways safely, reported the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The APPS allows immigration officials to run instant background checks on inbound travellers, based on their passport information. Personal and visa details will be checked against a list of blacklisted or banned individuals. This ensures that any undesirables are stopped before they officially enter Thailand, the TAT announced last year. It is not expected that the new system will add greatly to immigration queuing times, but the Airports of Thailand PLC (AoT) is thanking passengers in advance for their patience during the first couple of weeks of implementation as immigration officials train on the new system. It is also believed that the new system will not increase the time it takes to pass through immigration, as passenger details are instantly checked against a database held by the Immigration Department and blacklisted passengers are immediately flagged, the TAT said. The APPS will be funded by adding 35 baht to the price of all tickets in and out of the kingdom for Thai and foreign travellers. Ms Monrudee said she looked forward to the full completion of the new terminal. We still have the shops and restaurants to be fitted to the new terminal. All these upgrades together will provide much higher level of quality of service for all tourists using the airport, she said. The new terminal at Phuket Airport is part of a major overhaul of the airport costing more than B5.7 billion, which began more than two years ago. Concerns have already been raised that Phuket Airport will be over-capacity soon after the expansion project is complete, and a B3 billion upgrade to the upgrade to raise passenger throughput capacity to 18 million has already been tabled. (See story here.) Phuket terror alert no cause for alarm, say police PHUKET: An order issued by Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada over the weekend calling on all authorities across the island to ramp up security efforts following a vague warning of non-peaceful people coming to Phuket to create a situation is no cause for alarm, the Phuket police chief told The Phuket News today (Feb 15). policemilitaryviolence By The Phuket News Monday 15 February 2016, 05:06PM Col Teerapol Thipjaroen, Commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, told The Phuket News today that the order was 'nothing serious'. Photo: The missive, dated February 13 and signed by Governor Chamroen, asked for all local government office heads to coordinate with the respective police, military and security chiefs to ensure that precautionary inspections are carried out, and to ensure that there are no black spots in CCTV coverage. (See story here.) Col Teerapol Thipjaroen, Commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, however, told The Phuket News today that the order was nothing serious. Actually, its just normal working process to push officials in other area to be more active, he said. And especially with Phuket having lots of tourists around, we are just being careful. Col Teerapol did not elaborate on who the non-peaceful people were or what their intentions might be. Phuket is generally pretty safe. We have been working hard on ensuring public safety in Phuket since the incident in Bangkok, he said. Regarding the Governors order being leaked to the media, Col Teerapol added, It memo was accidentally shared with the media. The Phuket Governor is now questioning the officials involved in that. Sea Bees scores 10th Golden Dolphin Award PHUKET: Chalong-based Sea Bees Diving, one of the oldest dive operations in Phuket, has been awarded its 10th prestigious Golden Dolphin at the Tauchen Awards in Germany as the Best Diving Company Indo-Pacific Region. tourismmarineeconomics By The Phuket News Monday 15 February 2016, 12:05PM Sea Bees Managing Director Holger Schwab was in Germany to receive the award personally. German magazine Tauchen awards every year dive companies and dive suppliers in different categories. The winner in each category is voted by readers of the magazine and members of the international diving community. In this category we compete with dive companies in the Philippines and Indonesia, both countries with a much larger diving community than we have here in Thailand, said Sea Bees Managing Director Holger Schwab, who was in Germany to receive the award personally. Also the new island demographics didnt help to gain confidence and we are more than happy that there are still European divers out there who believe that Sea Bees Diving and the Andaman Sea is still a remarkable place for good dives, excellent service and great hospitality, he added. Watertown students who qualify for reduced meal plans eating for free As of Oct. 11, students within the Watertown School District who qualify for reduced meal plans will eat for free for the 2022-23 school year. KABUL, AFGHANISTANTaliban suicide attacks and a fierce battle for the northern city of Kunduz made 2015 the worst year for Afghan civilian casualties since the United Nations began tracking the data, officials said Sunday, in a sobering reminder of the cost of the conflict at a time when the prospect of peace seems as distant as ever. The UN documented 3,545 civilians killed and 7,457 injured last year, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN Human Rights Office said in a report presented at a news conference in Kabul, the Afghan capital. The total casualty figure, 11,002, was 4 per cent above the 2014 level. The number of civilian injuries rose 9 per cent, though there were 4 per cent fewer deaths. The statistics do not reflect the real horror of the phenomenon we are talking about, Nicholas Haysom, the UN secretary-generals special representative for Afghanistan, told journalists. The real cost we are talking about in these figures, he said, is measured in the maimed bodies of children, the communities who have to live with loss, the grief of colleagues and relatives, the families who make do without a breadwinner, the parents who grieve for lost children, the children who grieve for lost parents. Related: 6 Afghan security personnel killed in Taliban attacks END Nominee to be next U.S. commander in Afghanistan says situation there is worsening END Battles between insurgents and Afghan government forces or their affiliated militias produced the largest number of civilian deaths and injuries, the UN found, followed by improvised explosive devices. Suicide attacks and complex attacks in which Taliban attackers detonate explosives, then send in gunmen on suicide missions also contributed to civilian casualties, as did targeted and deliberate killings on both sides of the conflict. About one-quarter of all the civilian dead and wounded were children, and about one in 10 were women. Afghans have endured armed conflict to one degree or another since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded to install a Moscow-friendly government. The departure of most NATO combat troops at the end of 2014 coincided with an increase in attacks by the Taliban, who are seeking to reinstate the strict Islamist rule they established in the 1990s. The deteriorating security situation has led hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes in the past few years, with some seeking refuge within Afghanistan and others fleeing to neighbouring countries or Europe. The violence shows little sign of abating. While there are no official figures available for this year, dozens of people have already been killed by fighting in Baghlan, Nangarhar and Helmand provinces, and the Taliban have begun targeting media workers, as evidenced by an attack on employees of Tolo Television in Kabul in January. James R. Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, warned last week that Afghanistan is at serious risk of a political breakdown during 2016, occasioned by mounting political, economic and security challenges. The Taliban were responsible for 62 per cent of the civilians killed or wounded last year, down 10 percentage points from 2014, the report found. Danielle Bell, the UN director of human rights for Afghanistan, said it was important to note that the number of unattributed casualties, including civilians caught in the middle of fighting between pro- and anti-government forces, had risen sharply, suggesting that the Talibans responsibility might be understated. The report found that responsibility could not be established for about 1,000 civilian deaths and injuries that occurred during the battle for Kunduz, which was captured by insurgents in September and retaken by government forces weeks later. Every victim here has a name, Bell said, verified by three different types of sources, but she noted that officials were often unable to determine who was responsible, sometimes because travel to contested areas was not possible. The report noted that in just one day, Aug. 7, two suicide attacks in Kabul killed 42 civilians and injured 313, the highest one-day toll since the UN began tracking Afghan civilian deaths in 2009. The Taliban were accused of the attacks by the government but denied responsibility. Pro-government forces, which include the national army, the police and various militias, were responsible for about 17 per cent of the civilian deaths and injuries. Those forces also included U.S. and NATO troops, which were responsible for about 2 per cent. The report once again confirms the horrifically high price Afghans are paying as a result of conflict, whereby the actions of the Taliban and other terrorist groups are seeking to deny our citizens the right to live in peace and protect their families from harm, President Ashraf Ghanis government said in a statement. It said the reported decrease seen in Taliban-inflicted casualties did not show the insurgents sudden concern for civilian lives, but rather that many people living in harms way had fled. Efforts to reach a Taliban spokesman for comment were not immediately successful. Kunduz was the site of one of the most egregious incidents cited by the UN: a botched U.S. airstrike on Oct. 3 that destroyed the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the city, killing 42 people, including doctors and nurses, and injuring 43 others. The UN noted that the Pentagon had carried out its own investigation of the airstrike, which blamed the catastrophe on avoidable human error, compounded by technical, mechanical and procedural failures. But it questioned the independence and effectiveness of the U.S. inquiry and repeated its own call for an independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigation of the airstrike. Hopes for a peace agreement with the Taliban grew in early 2014, but were dashed with the revelation that Mullah Mohammad Omar, one of the founders of the insurgency, had been dead for two years. Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States are together pushing for the warring parties to engage in face-to-face negotiations, but the outlook for progress is poor because of both Taliban gains on the battlefield and internal divisions within the movement. I think there are a lot of Taliban who want to come to the peace table, John F. Campbell, the U.S. army general who is commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told a news conference in Kabul Saturday. But, he added: Im not sure whos in charge of the Taliban, if theres one person who speaks for the Taliban. I think thats where its going to be hard to get the right people to the table. The UN called on the government and its allies to stop using air attacks and indirect fire weapons such as mortars and rockets in populated areas. It called on the Taliban to cease the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian locations, and to end the use of improvised explosive devices in areas where civilians were likely to be found. Haysom, the special representative for Afghanistan, said he had no doubt that a peace agreement would lead to a reduction in civilian casualties. But until peace is achieved, he said, we must call on those parties engaged in the conflict, who have it within their power to reduce the number of civilian casualties, to commit to taking every step that will avoid harm and injury to civilians. Read more about: SHARE: Canada, the original peacekeeper, has been estranged from the United Nations for too long. One of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus early initiatives has been to repair the breach, and he took a welcome step in that direction last week on the eve of his governments 100th day in office. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon beamed with pleasure during a visit to Ottawa, Trudeau pledged that Canada intends to re-engage robustly with the international body. And he confirmed earlier promises to seek a spot on the UN Security Council as soon as possible. This is all to the good. For more than a decade Canada has taken its eye off the ball at the UN, which despite its obvious flaws remains an essential forum for international diplomacy and engagement. Canadas estrangement started under previous Liberal governments, when our focus shifted to active military engagement in Afghanistan. But it got much worse under the Harper Conservatives, who did not hesitate to display their disdain for the UN. It reached its peak in 2010, when Canada failed for the first time to win a seat on the Security Council losing out to tiny Portugal, of all countries. From then on, former prime minister Stephen Harper largely boycotted the organization. Regaining a seat on the Security Council will be an important step, though the opportunity wont come around until about 2020, given how the UN rotates the openings. More important in the shorter run will be for Canada to re-engage with the UNs contemporary peacekeeping operations. A recent report published by two think-tanks, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Rideau Institute, found that only 113 of the 125,000 troops and police serving under the UN banner are Canadian. Its a paltry number. It may not be possible or even desirable for Canada to return to the days when it was one of the leading blue helmet countries as measured by the number of soldiers in the field. Our military has been reconfigured and downsized since those days. But after honing its combat and command skills in Afghanistan, Canada should be ideally suited to leading and planning future UN-sponsored missions. That would be a valuable international service perfectly in tune with this countrys traditions and capabilities. At the same time, by stepping up its contribution Canada will be in a stronger position to press for reform at the UN where its needed and scandals among some peacekeepers in Africa show theres plenty of room for that. Thats a much more constructive role than sulking and sniping from the sidelines. Read more about: SHARE: remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A Turkish man helps a Syrian woman carrying a wounded Syrian girl to a hospital in Kilis, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. An airstrike in the northern Syrian province of Idlib destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by an international aid group on Monday, killing and wounding several people, activists and the group said. Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, said in a statement that the hospital was hit with four times in two series of at least two attacks. It said the attacks were minutes apart adding that at least eight members of staff are currently missing. (AP Photo/Halit Onur Sandal) Israeli police examine the body of a Palestinian in Jerusalem Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Two Palestinians were fatally shot after they opened fire with automatic weapons on Israeli security forces near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) In this Oct. 18, 2011 file photo, U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia looks into the balcony before addressing the Chicago-Kent College Law justice in Chicago. On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) In this Feb. 22, 2011 file photo, a farmer drives his tractor in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a pair of former software engineers to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year. The partners were notified by Treasury Department officials in February 2016. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano, File) Recover your password. A password will be e-mailed to you. The police on Monday arrested five suspects, including a rowdy-sheeter in connection with the abduction of Snapdeal executive Dipti Sarna. According to the police the main accused has been identified as Devendra, who is said to be a 'psychopath.' According to initial investigation, Dipti's abduction was a case of one-sided love affair by the accused. Devendra, a resident of Haryana, reportedly had stalked Deepti without her knowledge for about a year and had failed to gather enough courage to confess his love to her. However, Devendra plotted her abduction reportedly based on the 1993 Bollywood movie, Darr, which had actor Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. Last week, the 24-year-old missing for two days. Upon her return, she said she was abducted by four men at knife point while she was on her way back home in an auto-rickshaw. Dipti narrated her ordeal to the police during questioning, where she said that the auto which she boarded from Vaishali Metro station had made a halt near Sahibabad village due to some snag, Senior superintendent of police Dharmendra Singh said. Later, she boarded another auto in which four men (in their mid-twenties) and a girl were travelling. The men forcefully offloaded the girl passenger near Hindon river bridge, following which the auto took turn towards Morti village in Raj Nagar extension area, Singh said. In the midway, they blindfolded Dipti at knife point and thereafter bundled her in a car and ferried her to some unknown place. After travelling for nearly three hours, the car reached a place where she was kept in a room. The kidnappers never talked in her presence and maintained silence, Singh said. The girl said that she was not assaulted sexually or physically and was offered food and snacks. Today around 4 AM, they dropped her at some unknown railway station platform from where she boarded a Delhi-bound local train. When the train reached Narela railway station, she asked one of the co-passenger (a senior citizen) to make a call to her parents from his mobile phone. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday morning, 6 Adar I, will be entering prison to serve a 19-month term. He must be at bloc 10 of Massiyahu Prison by 10:00am. He was convicted in the Holyland real estate case and the Talansky cash envelopes case. As was reported by YWN-ISRAEL, bloc 10 has been remodeled to accommodate ISA security demands for the former Prime Minister and there will be three inmates in each cell, including Olmerts, all serving sentences for white collar crimes. This bloc will be much more isolated than others due to the special security considerations for an imprisoner former national leader. Israel Prison Authority officials report they are ready for all possibilities as they are quite aware this situation addresses a new reality, the imprisonment of a former Prime Minister. Officials add no one wants to see something occur on their watch and therefore, much has been done to accommodate the VIP prisoner and to ensure he completes his sentence without incident. On Sunday, 5 Adar I, prison service officials report there will be 18 prisoners in bloc 10, three in each of six cells. A former commander of Massiyahu Prison explains all of the persons involved are aware of the mission, reminding the public a former Prime Minister knows many state secrets and this is one of the reasons special security arrangements are essential. It is added that in other blocs of the prison there are 100-120 prisoners and clearly, the small population in Olmerts bloc will facilitate meeting ISA security demands while he serves his term. If and when Olmert will wish to work out in the prisons gym, which is reportedly state-of-the-art, the facility will shut to all other prisoners. Similar concerns will be in place regarding the library and other facilities available to prisoners. All involved admit the first days will be awkward and difficult but they are confident the Mr. Olmert is likely to be speaking with the social worker a great deal as he is compelled to adjust to a very different environment, one with many restrictions. Each cell has three beds, a shower, toilet, clothing closet, table, chairs and a TV. The bloc has public phones in the hallway, classrooms, recreational area, visiting area, two areas to meet with an attorney, a room used as a shul, library, sport equipment, dining room, a courtyard, social worker, and the office of the blocs commander. As a new prisoner, Olmert will be permitted to bring with him two towels, four pairs of underwear, four pairs of socks, two sets of training clothing without hoods and unlined, a single blanket cover, a non-feather blanket, two pairs of unlined sport pants, two sheets, a pillowcase, tefilin, a tallis, a prayer rug, religious seforim, hygiene accessories (soap, toothbrush, toothpaste and transparent bottles), identity card and NIS 1,500 in cash. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) A procession of law enforcement officers early Sunday escorted the body of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to a funeral home in El Paso, Texas, where officials are waiting to hear whether an autopsy will be performed. Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes, said about 20 law enforcement officers arrived early Sunday morning at the funeral home. The procession traveled more than three hours from the West Texas resort ranch where Scalia, 79, was found dead in his room Saturday morning. Lujan said if an autopsy is requested by Scalias family or ordered by a justice of the peace, then an El Paso County medical examiner would likely perform it at the funeral home. Tentative plans call for Scalias body to be flown on Tuesday back home to his family in a northern Virginia suburb. President Barack Obama has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the Supreme Court, where Scalia served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation and U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world. As the flags fly lower, the campaign-year political heat has risen over the vacancy on the nine-member court. At issue is whether Obama, in his last year in office, should offer a nomination and the Republican-led Senate should consider his choice for confirmation in an election year. Obama pledges a nomination in due time. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., thinks it should wait for the next president. The Republican resistance to an election-year confirmation got a thorough public airing on the GOP debate stage just hours after Scalias companions found him dead in his room at the Cibolo Creek Ranch in West Texas. Republicans argued that Obama, as a lame duck, should not fill the vacancy created by Scalias death but leave it to the next president which they hope will be one of them. The Constitution gives the Senate advise and consent powers over a presidential nomination to the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz, one of the two GOP senators running for president, told NBCs Meet the Press that the GOP-controlled Senate is doing its job. Were advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court, Texas Cruz said. Retorted Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in Denver: Obama is president of the United States until Jan 20, 2017. That is a fact, my friends, whether the Republicans like it or not. Lets get on with it, said Clintons rival, Bernie Sanders, arguing that the Senate should vote on whoever Obama nominates. Republicans insisted that refraining from Supreme Court confirmations in election years is a longtime precedent. In fact, Justice Anthony Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 3, 1988, in the final year of Ronald Reagans presidency, by a 97-0 vote. That was a presidential election year. Kennedy was nominated in 1987 and confirmed the next year. The example of Kennedy, who is still on the court, shows that presidents in their last year arent always powerless in shaping the court and not shy about trying. (AP) HaGaon HaRav Meir Mazuz Shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Kisei Rachamim, during his weekly motzei Shabbos shiur addressed a number of current events matters including the new egalitarian prayer area near the Kosel that is going to be established in the coming weeks. The rav stated There must be a protest rally at the Kosel for Kovod Hatorah. Rav Mazuz also spoke out regarding recent criticism directed against Jerusalem Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar Shlita. He stated critics do not realize who Rav Amar is and therefore permit themselves to speak out foolishly against him, showing their ignorance. Rav Mazuz spoke out regarding comments Rav Amar made against the Reform Movement and the decision to allocate the egalitarian prayer area. If they are not Reform, who is? Evil and wicked he stated, adding Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZTL would not have remained silent in this situation as they are handing over an area of the Kosel to the Reform, who dont have Torah, dont have religion and they also want the mikvaos and giyur. Rav Amars comments were met with a measure of harsh criticism and stated a protest event must be held at the Kosel for Kovod Hatorah, Am Yisrael and the Kosel which are being desecrated he concluded. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The High Court of Justice on Sunday, 5 Adar I, rejected a request for an additional hearing filed by attorneys on behalf of two of the convicted Holyland case defendants; Meir Rabin and Danny Dankner. They also requested to delay beginning to serve their sentences, which was also denied. As a result of the courts decision, Meir Rabin and Dankner are heading to prison; Dankner for three years and Rabin for five years following the convictions. Rabin was known as the Machar in the Holyland dealings. The two will have to report to prison on Monday, 6 Adar I along with the other defendants sentenced to prison, one being former PM Ehud Olmert. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Carroll County Sheriff James T. DeWees posted on Facebook Saturday morning a letter to the president following the deaths of law enforcement officers across the country, including two sheriffs deputies in Harford County. Dear President Obama: In case you havent heard, eight American police officers over the past eight days have been killed in the line of duty. Two of these police officers were Harford County Sheriffs Deputies that were gunned down at a Panera Restaurant just 50 miles from where you live. Ive watched and listened intently for words of encouragement and sorrow to come from you, but havent heard or seen anything. Conversely, just two weeks ago my governor, Larry Hogan, spent the better part of a week placing a call each day to one of my deputies that was involved in a severe traffic collision in Carroll County. He wasnt satisfied with speaking to me in order to send his prayers and regards; he called every day after the collision until he spoke with my deputys wife. Governor Hogan also drove to Harford County the day after two deputies were slain to meet Sheriff Gahler and the men & women of his office to grieve with them. The governor is in the middle of the 2016 Legislative Session and is pretty busy, yet found time to call, visit and pay his respects to me & my deputy, and the men & women of the Harford County Sheriffs Office. I understand that you are a busy man and are being pulled in multiple directions every day of the week. But, when my president doesnt take the time to openly recognize the sacrifices that brave men & women of law enforcement make each day to keep domestic peace, Im disappointed! I suspect that if these same deputies walked in to a restaurant, and without provocation shot and killed an innocent man, you and your staff would quickly whisk their family away to Washington for a future speech to make an example of police officers nationwide. For me Mr. President, it has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat; black or white, male or female; but, it has everything to do with leading or following. Im not shocked that you havent openly reached out or acknowledged publically the recent rash of deaths in law enforcement, but Im tremendously disappointed! Mr. President, your silence about these events SPEAKS VOLUMES!!!! PS: Ill be standing outside in the cold next week with my deputies for the funerals of the Harford Co deputies; Ill save you a spot next to me! James T. DeWees Sheriff Carroll County Maryland (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Donald Trump delivered a ferocious putdown of George W. Bush from the debate stage, central to his effort to convince voters that they dont want another Bush deciding when to take the country to war. But were his key facts right? In short, he told it like it was, and like it wasnt, in a multipronged indictment of the ex-president, laid out in front of a livid Jeb Bush, the Republican presidential candidate and former presidents younger brother. A look at some of Trumps claims, other assertions by Republican presidential hopefuls in the debate and how they stack up with the facts: TRUMP: Im the only one on this stage that said: Do not go into Iraq. Do not attack Iraq. Nobody else on this stage said that. And I said it loud and strong. THE FACTS: No record has been established that Trump issued a clarion call against the March 2003 invasion of Iraq before it happened. In his few unearthed comments before the invasion, he said the economy was a bigger problem than Iraq. In the first week after the invasion, he told The Washington Post at a post-Oscars party that the wars a mess and, If they keep fighting it the way they did today, theyre going to have a real problem. In another venue, he predicted stock market gains. He praised then-President George W. Bush before and after the war started. It was not until 2004 that he took a loud and clear line, asserting all of the reasons for the war were blatantly wrong. To be sure, he was well ahead of Bush loyalists in making that harsh judgment. But it does not reflect the foresight he claims to have had before the war started and went downhill. TRUMP: They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none. THE FACTS: He is right that no weapons of mass destruction were found undermining a central rationale for the invasion. Another rationale for the war, that Iraq had close ties with al-Qaida terrorists, also proved bogus. TRUMP on trying to kill Osama bin Laden: George Bush had the chance, also, and he didnt listen to the advice of his CIA. THE FACTS: Its true that the Bush administration received repeated warnings from the CIA and other elements of the intelligence apparatus that bin Ladens al-Qaida organization was planning to attack in the U.S., and soon. Most famously, a top-secret document prepared by intelligence agencies, in early August 2001, came with the headline: Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S. Its the subject of continuing perhaps endless debate whether such warnings were specific enough so that the U.S. could have headed off the attacks of that Sept. 11. On other subjects in the debate: TED CRUZ: We have 80 years of precedent of not confirming Supreme Court justices in an election year. MARCO RUBIO: It has been over 80 years since a lame-duck president has appointed a Supreme Court justice. THE FACTS: Cruz is wrong. Rubio is in the ballpark. Anthony Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 3, 1988, in the final year of Ronald Reagans presidency, by a 97-0 vote. That was a presidential election year. Presidents dont appoint justices to the high court; they nominate them for Senate confirmation. Kennedy was nominated in 1987 and confirmed the next year. That makes Rubio closer to correct. Rubio and other Republicans argued that President Barack Obama, as a lame duck, should not fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia but leave it to the next president which they hope will be one of them. But the example of Kennedy, who is still on the court, shows that presidents in their last year arent always powerless in shaping the court and not shy about trying. TRUMP: Iran has taken over Iraq. THE FACTS: Thats an over-the-top conclusion, tapping a real concern that Iran has too much influence. Iraq is a sovereign nation with its own government, armed forces and right to act independently. Both the U.S. and Iran have great influence over the military struggle against the Islamic State group. Iranian clout skyrocketed after U.S. troops withdrew in late 2011, but was countered in 2014 when the Islamic State militants destabilized the Iraqi military and took over about a third of the country. Since then, Iranian military advisers have been key in guiding Iraqi ground troops toward victory in cities like Tikrit and Jurf al-Sukhar, and Washington remains worried about the risk of Iran staging a de facto takeover. CRUZ on a failed 2013 immigration overhaul: I stood with (Sen.) Jeff Sessions and (Rep.) Steven King and the American people to defeat that amnesty plan. The question for anyone on illegal immigration is, where were you in that fight? RUBIO: When that issue was being debated, Ted Cruz at a committee hearing very passionately said, I want immigration reform to pass, I want people to be able to come out of the shadows. He proposed an amendment that would have legalized people here. So he either wasnt telling the truth then, or he isnt telling the truth now. THE FACTS: Rubios account is mostly right. While Cruz has been against an explicit path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, he did introduce legislation in that 2013 bill that proposed eventual legal status for millions of people. He also publicly supported the legislation in the Senate and urged its passing. He has since said his amendment was designed to help kill the broader bill. The immigration bill co-authored by Rubio failed to pass in the House. (AP) MK Rabbi Israel Eichler, chairman of the Public Petitions Committee, submitted a bill today prohibiting the publicizing of casualties names, before it has been officially confirmed. This is in light of recent events where waves of rumors and false reports have been circulating with false names of those injured or killed. Furthermore, and worse yet, is when a true rumor reaches a family through irresponsible and unofficial means in a time of war, or during terrorist attacks or other embarrassing and unfortunate events, where the results can be devastating. MK Eichler added that in an era of social media, the harm that is done is massive and sometimes impossible to repair. He also demanded answers of the Justice Minister why the Justice Department did not indict those who publicized pictures of casualties without blurring the identity of the victim contrary to the Privacy Protection Act, as amended in 2011 by MKs Rabbi Moshe Gafni and Rabbi Uri Maklev. In his Query he wanted to know why there is no enforcement of the law against publishers of photos and videos that are not censored and harm the privacy of the victim. And if it has been enforced, how many cases were opened in the last five years, how many judgments were given and what where the penalties imposed on offenders? MK Rabbi Eichler said, This is a brutal vice that hurts those injured and adds pain to the families, all because of a wild lust to shoot and distribute horrific images that reduce the value of human life in the eyes of its viewers, images that darkens the feelings of mercy and gentleness and corrupts the human soul. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Dear Volunteers and Friends, I wanted to share my experience as a ZAKA volunteer with you. There was a terrible, horrific accident on Highway 1 yesterday evening. Dozens of ZAKA volunteers worked for hours to identify the victims and preserve their honor by gathering everything left there, so as to give them a Jewish burial. Do you think that our work ended there? No. Now we needed to begin the job of finding the families, of telling them the terrible news. My dear fellow ZAKA volunteer Chaim, who unfortunately has so much experience in this, is standing in front of me: Please go to one of the families to tell them of the terrible tragedy. True, its difficult, but they need to know before they see it on an evil WhatsApp message. He continues: The parents are at a wedding in Bnei Brak. Some of the family is at home. And so, ever so slowly, comes another piece of information, this time a picture from a ZAKA volunteer at Abu Kabir Center of Forensic Medicine. I am with some of the family in Jerusalem, and another ZAKA volunteer goes to the parents in Bnei Brak. Haim continues to send me out on these oh-so difficult missions. This time to the yeshiva where a 19 year old, the oldest of the family, is studying. Go find the rosh yeshiva, and together, with him at your side, slowly slowly, explain to him that his little brother died in the accident. At the same time, a volunteer in ZAKA northern region, dear Chezki, is with the boys parents in the north of Israel. And another ZAKA volunteer, Bentzi, is with another brother in a yeshiva in Bnei Brak. With a conference call, and in an organized manner, trying desperately to comfort and console, crying together with them, we finally tell them the harsh news and complete our work. Dear ZAKA volunteers, It isnt easy to be at a difficult incident like the one we witnessed together last night. Particularly somewhere where families are given dreadful news like this. You arent volunteers, you are angels. I dont have words to describe the work you are doing. Dear citizens, please act with extreme caution, care and sensitivity. Do not send out WhatsApp messages with names of the deceased and injured to people. The pain is indescribable when someone suddenly receives such a message, sent without thought, without consequence. Its easy to write, but difficult to accept. I am proud of you, Volunteers and Angels! Proud to be part of the ZAKA family. May we never know any more sorrow. With love and admiration, Shimi Grossman. Shimi Grossman, 31, married +4, is a veteran ZAKA volunteer and paramedic, a member of the ZAKA Rapid Rescue Motorcycle Unit in Jerusalem. Grossman has years of experience in dealing with the aftermath of terror attacks, road accidents and other incidents of unnatural death, both in Israel and overseas as part of the ZAKA International Rescue Unit. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Ever wondered what your car really says about you? BMW 3 Series owners should be happy in the knowledge they're making a good impression. That's according to car finance firm Zuto, which has been asking people which cars are ideal to turn up in on a first date. However, Cambridge University doesn't agree, with its study claiming that Nissan drivers are the most generous, loyal and friendly of all car drivers based on personality profiling. Scroll down for video 3 Series makes a first-class impression: When asked which cars gave a glowing perception of their drivers, the BMW compact executive saloon came out on top in the poll Zuto surveyed 1,847 people about which cars make a positive initial impact for the owner, with a massive 94 per cent saying first encounters with 3 Series drivers left a good lasting impression. BMWs in general helped drivers make a good impression with 90 per cent of those quizzed giving positive feedback. Cambridge University's research into who the most likable car drivers are had a more scientific approach to that of Zuto. Using the latest personality profiling techniques, the University discovered that Nissan owners are much more likely to think of others before themselves, and be far more interested in economic welfare and social justice. In the Zuto survey, Two in five said a BMW suggested the owner had good taste and it made them more attractive, though just a quarter said it gave the impression that the driver was wealthy. At the other end of the spectrum was the Vauxhall Astra, with 43 per cent saying the family hatchback left a poor impression of the driver. The research also offered some insight into what impresses people about someone's car and driving behaviour. Nearly half (45%) stated that a tidy interior helped win them over, while good driving skills (37%) and a sweet smelling air-freshener (30%) also evoke positive impressions. BEST AND WORST CARS TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION Cars that make best first impression BMW 3 Series 94% Mercedes C-Class 90% Audi TT -89% Toyota Yaris 85% Volkswagen Golf 79% Cars that make worst first impression Vauxhall Astra 43% Ford Mondeo 41% Honda Civic 38% Vauxhall Corsa 38% Ford Fiesta 37% James Wilkinson of Zuto said: 'Despite the cliches about those with certain cars overcompensating for shortcomings, our research shows that the luxury of high-end cars really does count when we form our first impression of our potential dates. 'What is clear, is no matter what youre driving, youll need to spend as much time grooming your car as you do yourself if you want any prospective relationship to get out of first gear.' But can we have too strong a connection with our cars? According to car buying site Autovolo, yes. Of the 2,000 people recently polled by car trading website, a staggering 78 per cent said they had an emotional connection to their motor, with 64 per cent of those considering it a member of their family. More shockingly, 17 per cent of men interviewed said they felt as strongly for their car as they did for their life partner. The Cambridge report sold Nissan drivers in a very positive light. 'Personality assessment and automotive design are a perfect match,' said Dr Richard Mills, Doctor of Psychometrics at Cambridge Universitys Psychometric Centre. 'Our research shows that Nissan drivers are generally seen as trusting, soft-hearted, generous and sympathetic. They are considerate and friendly, and think other people are honest and decent, as opposed to competitive and self-interested.' But would any of these drivers allow their loved ones to drive their BMW or Nissan? According to LeasePlan UK, which surveyed 1,0002 car owners, almost three in five motorists said they fully trust their partner to drive their vehicle, while just seven per cent said they wouldn't let anyone else drive their car. Our economy is in better shape than a few years ago but plainly global risks still remain. So, as we rebuild our economy, we must do it in a way that withstands those risks. If an economy needs rebuilding in the first place, it is obvious it needs rebuilding differently. We should play to our strengths our small-and-medium-sized businesses, the SMEs. As Nassim Taleb coined it in The Black Swan, an SME economy is an anti-fragile economy. Last month, the Centre for Entrepreneurs told us that the UK created 608,110 new companies in 2015. Golden opportunity: London Stock Exchange boss Xavier Rolet points to the 608,110 new companies created in the UK during 2015 as proof the country is undergoing an entrepreneurial revolution A record for the second year running which confirms the country is undergoing an entrepreneurial revolution. We must not waste this opportunity. We must give these companies the support and access to finance they need to innovate, grow and employ for only they can drive the recovery. The historical evidence is not encouraging. Over the last forty years just one of the 100 most successful global start-ups has come from Europe over 25 per cent came from California alone. The UK specifically has a far higher proportion of static firms than the US and there are nearly 2.7million UK SMEs who wish to grow but do not. One of the main reasons is our obsession with using debt to try and finance growth. In Europe 80 per cent of SME finance is bank lending but debt is a shortterm fix that does not encourage long-term growth. It may be a suitable funding tool for blue chip multi-nationals but is not designed to help innovative companies who need capital to grow and invest. Any small company in receipt of a bank loan must prioritise managing that debt or risk default, instead of using all its financial and human capital to invest, innovate and grow. In the USA just 20 per cent of SME financing comes from the banks. No wonder they were the quickest nation to recover from the last financial crisis. The UK must unleash the power of equity finance where people seek investment to grow their business either through individual investors, on the markets or through crowdfunding and peer to peer platforms in return for a stake in that business. The economic benefits of equity are striking. In 2014 companies who raised capital on London Stock Exchanges growth market (known as AIM) created 750,000 jobs; paid 2.3billion in tax and contributed 25billion to GDP. These were not big multinationals but small firms with growth potential who needed finance. In 2015 companies already listed raised a further 4billion on Londons growth market demonstrating how suitable this is for providing continuing support over the growth cycle of a business. So we must recalibrate our tax system to give equity a chance. Because while debt is tax deductible, equity is taxed up to four times: corporation tax, tax on capital gains, tax on dividends and there is also the financial transaction tax called stamp duty. This is despite the fact that too much debt has been the single biggest cause of every major financial crisis in the last two centuries. The Government deserves credit for recognising the positive impact equity can make on the economy. When it abolished stamp duty on AIM shares in the last Parliament the effect was immediate and resounding. Overnight, 4.4billion worth of investment moved into high growth companies, helping them grow, invest and employ more. Boosting the amount of equity also makes our financial system more resilient by being less reliant on debt and a rising share ownership can only be a good thing for increasing peoples stake in our society. We owe it to the hard working entrepreneurs who are taking risks and creating the companies that could be the big job providers of tomorrow to back them with the right form of finance through every stage of their growth. As the bumpy ride for stock markets continues, asset managers are taking the hit with the number of badly performing funds increasing. Accordingly, the volume of poorly performing assets has shot up by 10billion from last October, according to data compiled by Chelsea Financial Services, while the number of underwhelming funds has grown from 239 to to 259. Overall, assets in its 'RedZone' list of shame (consistent underperformers) have grown to nearly 110 billion at the start of January, up from 100billion four months earlier. We reveal the laggards and get some better options that score highly in Chelsea's FundCalibre ratings service. Falling off a cliff? More investments are underperforming following the market rout On a sectoral basis, UK All Companies fared the worst, with 50 funds and around a third of the assets at 33.7billion. This is an increase from 44 funds in the last edition of the RedZone list, but a slight decrease in assets from 36.6billion, as tracker funds dragged the sector down. To qualify for inclusion on the RedZone list, each fund has to be 3rd or 4th quartile in their sector in each of the past three discrete years (year-on-year performance), while the manager and investment strategy has to have been in place for at least 18 months. When it comes to poor-performing asset managers, Aberdeen Asset Management is unfortunately still head and shoulders above its competitors, with 46 funds and 30.8billion stuck in the RedZone. In second place, by a considerable distance, is Legal & General with eight funds and 9.1billion of assets. NFU Mutual is in third place with seven funds and assets of 1.1billion. One emerging trend in this latest issue of the RedZone list is micro funds falling by the wayside, with 33 funds appearing on the list that have less than 10million in assets under management. These include some fund ranges, such as Barclays Wealth Global Markets 1, 2, 4 and 5 and PFS Momentum Factor 2, 3 and 4. Chelsea Financial Services managing director Darius McDermott said: 'Funds of this size are generally more expensive for investors as they are not large enough to enjoy economies of scale and these costs can weigh heavily on performance. For the fund management company, they are also not a viable proposition as they don't generate enough income. 'Unless the fund management company believes they can gather new assets in a reasonably short period of time, they usually get wound-up or merged with other funds. Investors may want to pre-empt this move by taking action themselves.' Window of opportunity? Oil prices continue to fall - but Chelsea thinks there could be a rebound Energy funds: Ones to watch? In this round of the RedZone, energy and resources funds have been given a stay of execution, even though four underperformed the global equity sector by more than 50 per cent. Chelsea says this omission recognises the torrid time that basic materials and oil and gas funds have been having. As these are specialist funds, Chelsea argues that this would not be comparing 'like-for-like' and that this huge drop in returns is due to their specific asset class underperforming, rather than a fault with the fund managers themselves. What's more, managing director Darius McDermott says he is 'itching to invest' in some of these funds. He says: 'Rather than looking at the underperformance of these types of fund and wondering whether to stick or switch, the contrarian in me is actually itching to invest. 'If the oil price is near the bottom, the energy equity funds in the table may well enjoy a decent recovery in the coming months, in which case they won't be in the RedZone for long.' Which funds underperformed in the most popular sectors? And what are the alternatives? Sterling Strategic Bond Return over three years (%) Quartile ranking Architas MM Strategic Bond 3.27 4 Franklin Strategic Bond 4.74 4 JPM Strategic Bond 1.75 4 Legg Mason IF Brandywine Global Income Optimiser 0.58 4 Old Mutual Voyager Strategic Bond 2.52 4 Pimco GIS Diversified Income 1.39 4 Pioneer SICAV Strategic Income 5.24 4 Threadneedle Strategic Bond 5.47 3 Sector Average 8.81 Strategic Bond sector alternative: Baillie Gifford Corporate Bond ('Elite Rated' by Chelsea Financial Services's fund rating tool FundCalibre). Chelsea says: 'With this fund the managers stick to what they do best, which is picking stocks. While this may seem simplistic, the in-depth research the managers carry out to find ideas is anything but. 'Also, trying to second-guess central bankers and forecast interest rates has been the undoing of many fixed income managers as we all know, central bankers have a habit of changing their mind from one month to the next. 'This is an effective and philosophically pure investment strategy that has been successfully implemented by a high-quality investment team.' Global Return over three years (%) Quartile ranking Aberdeen Ethical World Equity 2.69 4 Aberdeen Global World Equity 7.26 4 Aberdeen World Equity 6.81 4 BlackRock NURS II Consensus 100 33.62 3 BlackRock NURS II Global Equity 33.81 3 CF Adam Worldwide 26.46 4 EdenTree Amity International 15.71 4 Fidelity Global Real Asset Securities 2.61 4 First State Global Agribusiness -1.63 4 First State Global Resources -46.02 4 FP Matterley UK & International Growth 30.74 3 Guinness Global Energy -21.37 4 Henderson Multi-Manager Global Select 15.22 4 IWI Global Thematic Portfolio 15.56 4 JGF-Jupiter Global Equities 25.88 4 Jupiter Merlin Worldwide Portfolio 26.95 4 Kennox Asset Management Ltd Kennox Strategic Value 9.17 4 L&G Global Equity Index 31.50 3 Legg Mason IF Martin Currie Global Alpha 31.78 3 Legg Mason Martin Currie GF Global Resources -16.65 4 M&G Global Recovery 30.56 4 Margetts International Strategy 28.17 4 Neptune Global Equity 31.81 3 NFU Mutual Global Growth 9.35 4 Old Mutual Global Best Ideas 29.40 4 PFS Thornbridge Global Opportunities 19.48 4 S&W Smithfield 30.70 3 Sanlam Global Best Ideas 4.14 4 Sarasin EquiSar Global Thematic 31.66 3 Schroder ISF Global Energy -49.27 4 Scottish Widows Opportunities Portfolio 34.86 3 SJP Ethical 2.78 4 SJP High Octane 18.41 4 SKAGEN Global 21.63 4 SKAGEN KonTiki -8.56 4 The 140 Investment Managers Broadway ICVC Balanced 15.37 4 TM UBS (UK) Global Equity 29.17 4 VT Turcan Connell Growth Portfolio 26.52 4 Waverton Equity 31.99 3 Wesleyan International 25.34 4 Sector Average 33.87 Global sector alternative: JOHCM Global Select (Elite Rated by FundCalibre) Chelsea says: 'This is a high-conviction, unconstrained fund of around 50 holdings, all of which are the result of a stock selection process. 'This is combined with the fund's macro-focused strategy to identify companies that will benefit from global currency trends. 'Holdings are split between large and mid-cap companies and the portfolio is equally weighted to avoid over-confidence in a few stocks. Any stocks that have performed well, and thus increased in size, are re-weighted accordingly.' UK All Companies Return over three years (%) Quartile ranking Aberdeen Foundation Growth 18.39 4 Aberdeen Global UK Equity 11.78 4 Aberdeen Responsible UK Equity 10.54 4 Aberdeen UK Enhanced Equity 15.18 4 Aberdeen UK Equity 11.07 4 Allianz UK Growth 23.98 3 Allianz UK Index 20.90 4 Aviva Inv UK Equity Manager Of Manager 5 21.88 4 Aviva Inv UK Index Tracking 20.04 4 BlackRock 100 UK Equity Tracker 15.94 4 CF IM UK Growth 24.66 3 CF Purisima UK Total Return 20.14 4 Clerical Medical FTSE 100 Tracker* 14.41 4 Dimensional UK Value 8.08 4 F&C FTSE All Share Tracker 21.58 4 Family Asset 18.38 4 Family Charities Ethical 15.21 4 FP Matterley Equity 21.71 4 Halifax Special Situations* 1.47 4 Halifax UK FTSE 100 Index Tracking* 14.32 4 Halifax UK FTSE All Share Index Tracker* 19.71 4 Halifax UK Growth* 20.76 4 Henderson UK Tracker 14.22 4 HSBC FTSE 100 Index 16.91 4 HSBC Merit UK Equity 22.39 3 L&G (A&L) Capital Growth 17.58 4 L&G (N) Tracker Trust 19.05 4 L&G UK 100 Index 14.94 4 L&G UK Index 21.48 4 L&G UK Select Equity 26.99 3 Liontrust FTSE 100 Tracker 15.79 4 M&G Index Tracker 22.83 3 M&G Recovery -2.16 4 Marks & Spencer UK 100 Companies 15.39 4 MFS Meridian UK Equity 18.69 4 Mirabaud Equities UK High Income 20.11 4 NFU Mutual UK Growth 20.81 4 Royal Bank of Scot FTSE 100 Tracker 14.16 4 Royal London UK FTSE4Good Tracker Trust 20.50 4 Sanlam FOUR Active UK Equity 16.33 4 Santander Stockmarket 100 Tracker Growth 16.39 4 Schroder Core UK Equity 9.91 4 Schroder MM UK Growth 22.83 3 Scottish Widows UK Growth* 17.27 4 Scottish Widows UK Select Growth* -3.50 4 Scottish Widows UK Tracker* 14.69 4 Standard Life TM UK Equity General 23.09 3 Thesis TM Cartesian UK Opportunities 24.75 3 Virgin UK Index Tracking 17.12 4 VT Maven Smart Dividend UK 10.42 4 Sector Average 33.19 UK All Companies sector alternative: Liontrust Macro UK Growth (Elite Rated FundCalibre) Chelsea says: 'The core philosophy of the fund is that macro-thematic analysis and the identification of economic, political and social developments are key to outperformance. 'The fund focuses on major factors affecting the world, such as global warming, globalisation, ageing populations and quantitative easing. The managers have a good track record of identifying the right themes and it makes a great core UK equity fund for your portfolio.' Mixed Investment Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares sector Return over three years (%) Quartile ranking Aberdeen Managed Distribution 11.18 4 Barclays Cautious Portfolio 8.31 4 Barclays Wealth Global Markets 2 6.65 4 Barclays Wealth Global Markets 3 8.66 4 FP Distinction Diversified Real Return 0.29 4 Halifax Cautious Managed* 12.19 4 Investec Cautious Managed 4.09 4 Newton Managed Income 10.73 4 NFU Mutual Mixed Portfolio 20 60% Shares 13.22 4 Scottish Widows HIFML Diversified Income* 2.61 4 Scottish Widows HIFML Diversified Return* 4.88 4 UBS Multi Asset Income 2.30 4 Sector Average 15.51 Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares sector: Henderson Multi Manager Income & Growth (Elite Rated by FundCalibre) Chelsea says: 'The team formulate their market expectations for the year ahead to then determine which assets they want to be in the fund, and to what extent. 'This isn't fixed in stone, however, and they will make shorter-term, tactical deviations if they discover an anomaly that they believe can be exploited. 'The Henderson team invest in other funds and the source of their outperformance tends to come from really good fund manager selection.' North America Return over three years (%) Quartile ranking Aberdeen Global North American Equity 38.61 4 Aberdeen North American Equity 40.76 4 Aviva Inv US Equity Income 51.54 4 Candriam Quant Equities USA 51.60 4 Candriam Sustainable North America 47.25 4 Cavendish North American 47.41 4 CF Canlife North American 49.49 4 CF Richmond Core 26.60 4 Franklin Mutual Shares 49.62 4 GAM North American Growth 37.13 4 GAM Star Gamco US Equity 36.34 4 Janus Perkins US Strategic Value * 45.01 4 Jupiter North American Income 49.48 4 Legg Mason IF Martin Currie North American 54.77 3 Natixis Harris Associates Concentrated US Equity 41.33 4 Scottish Widows HIFML US Focus* 55.31 3 Sector Average 60.57 North America sector alternative: HSBC American Index Chelsea says: 'The US is the most difficult market for fund managers to outperform on a regular basis. So if you want to invest in the larger companies of the US market, it's the one area where we'd suggest a tracker fund. 'We like this fund because it almost exactly replicates the S&P 500 (you'd be surprised how many trackers don't), and it's cheap with an ongoing charge figure of 0.08 per cent. HSBC really know what they are doing when it comes to passives and you can avoid some of the nasty surprises you get with other providers. The DropZone One place funds really don't want to be is the DropZone, which houses the ten worst-performing funds in the RedZone. These incumbents have underperformed their sector averages by the largest amount over the cumulative three-year period. Aberdeen have three funds on the list, including Scottish Widows UK Select Growth, while the once great M&G Recovery fund continues to struggle, with a three-year loss of more than 35 per cent. The DropZone Name of fund Percentage lost in three years SF Webb Capital Smaller Companies Growth -78.38 HC FCM Salamanca Global Property 1 -67.68 SKAGEN KonTiki -42.43 Elite Charteris Premium Income -42.25 Aberdeen World Equity Income -37.15 Scottish Widows UK Select Growth* -36.69 Aberdeen European Smaller Companies Equity -36.09 M&G Recovery -35.35 TM Progressive UK Smaller Companies -34.09 CF Richmond Core -33.97 Sometimes the market doesnt need much to lift its spirits. Bear market rally, short term rally, more buyers than sellers, call it what you like: the Footsie was in favour after a terrible week and rose more than 2 per cent yesterday. Most analysts do not expect it to last until Friday but for now traders were filling their boots. Renewed hope that central banks will continue to ease monetary policy gave some a reason to stay positive as ECB president Mario Draghi said the ECB was ready to do its part to strengthen the eurozone economy and that it will not hesitate to act. Relief: The Footsie was in favour after a terrible week and rose more than 2 per cent yesterday. Most analysts do not expect it to last until Friday While the markets were in panic last week when 80billion was wiped off the FTSE 100 in just four days investors sought solace in the safe haven of gold. Once equities were back in temporary favour, gold miners were ditched yesterday. Randgold Resources (down 125p to 6030p), Mexican precious metals miner Fresnillo (down 23.5p to 873.5p), mid-tier Egyptian focused Centamin (down 0.45p to 79.75p) and Acacia Mining were among those in the red. Acacia also suffered after it revealed its full-year profit fell 31 per cent in response to the weak gold price last year and shares slipped 19.6p to 225.1p. Joshua Mahony, market analyst at online trading firm IG, said: We have seen no signs to suggest that the downturn in global markets is over and as such, sellers are likely to return before the week is out. Investors in China came back after their New Year break but in the absence of anything to influence afternoon trading in Europe, as Wall Street was out of the picture on vacation for Presidents Day, the FTSE 100 rose 2.05 per cent or 116.68 points to 5824.28. The FTSE 250 advanced 296.79 points to 15,728.10. Mining giant Anglo American, ahead of its results today, was one of the top risers on the benchmark index. Investors expect it to be forced to flog off more assets in the face of a slump in profits and tumbling commodity prices. Its shares gained 19.1p to 393.05p but after the market closed credit rating agency Moodys reduced its rating of the miners debt to junk. BA owner International Consolidated Airlines flew higher after scribblers at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgraded their view to buy from underperform. The analysts reckoned it has become oversold this year and the shares lifted 24.7p to 504.5p. Nurofen tablets maker Reckitt Benckiser revealed better than expected full-year revenue of nearly 8.9billion and its shares shot up 405p to 6371p. Oil giant BP and partner Oman Oil have signed an agreement to develop a second phase of the Khazzan natural gas field. The second phase is expected to be available by 2020, and together will produce 1.5billion cubic feet of gas a day and BPs shares managed a 0.3p gain to 332.8p. The topic of house prices is not far from the mind of most Brits. Property website Rightmoves latest figures revealed the asking price for the average home has jumped to nearly 300,000. Februarys prices were up by 2.9 per cent, or 8,324, on January, and up by 7.3 per cent in a year. The housebuilders were in favour on the back of the figures. Barratt Developments built up a 7.5p increase to 552.5p and Taylor Wimpey climbed 0.8p to 171.6p. According to Rightmove (up 103p to 3483p) the volume of new properties coming to market is at its highest level since 2008, before the financial crisis took hold, and 5 per cent up on a year ago. AIM-listed house developer Telford Homes has agreed a sale of a housing development in north London to housing association L&Q in a 67million deal. Construction is already under way and is expected to be complete by the middle of 2018 and Telfords shares slipped 8.25p to 325p. Choppy waters remained for cruise operator All Leisure. Its passenger numbers were down 6 per cent for the year to the end of October. Turmoil and terrorist attacks in many of the areas it previously visited hit demand. It said bookings to the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa notably Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus were heavily impacted. Its Russian tours programme was cancelled and its popular Black Sea cruise itineraries to Crimea remain off limits due to the ongoing political situation in the region. Overall profit after tax of 0.5million was better than the 7.5million loss a year earlier and total revenue fell more than 8 per cent to 127.3million which it said was partly due to its Voyager and Minerva vessels being in dry-dock. Things are so stormy it said it is now considering delisting from AIM due to the on-going costs of remaining as a publicly quoted company. Shares slumped 68 per cent or 3.75p to 1.75p. AIM-listed facilities management firm Mortice said its Office & General Group has won a 10-year 55million contract to supply the University of Hertfordshire and its shares were 10.5p better at 96p. Fidessa Group, the supplier of software for trading and investment businesses, has been doing a good job for traders in the face of the volatile markets. Brexit call: Toscafund said the EU has overreached itself and has unwelcome political ambitions Britain would be a better place if it quit the floundering European Union, according to one of the UKs largest hedge funds. In a scathing report that calls for the UK to turn its back on Brussels, Toscafund said the EU has overreached itself and has unwelcome political ambitions that should be rejected. It adds that Londons status as the worlds pre-eminent financial centre was safe because there is no plausible alternative. Toscafund looks after nearly 3billion of assets and owns stakes in housebuilder Redrow and Argos owner Home Retail Group. The analysis is bluntly at odds with warnings from US investment banking giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup that so-called Brexit would wreak havoc in the British economy. In the report, Dr Savvas Savouri, an economist at Toscafund, said: Britain will be a better place for leaving the European Union. Britain is very much a flourishing economy as much of Europe flounders. When we are handed our voting card on the fateful referendum day we should keep in mind that our dynamic economy has dealt us a great hand, whilst the EU is playing with a great deal of bluff. He described the EU as a frustratingly technocratic and bureaucratic body that holds back economic growth. The Prime Minister has called on big business to speak out in favour of staying in the EU but hedge funds are split on the issue. Fresh vision: Charles Woodburn has been named as BAE's new Chief Operations Officer BAE Systems has signalled a shake-up as it fights to win key UK military contracts and develop the next generation of nuclear submarines. The worlds third biggest defence firm by sales yesterday unveiled oil industry veteran Charles Woodburn as its chief operating officer, a role which effectively makes him heir apparent to chief executive Ian King. Woodburn, 44, has been recruited to give fresh vision to BAE at a time when it has been recently shunned for top defence deals and questions over whether an order for 48 Eurofighter Typhoons for Saudi Arabia would go ahead. The next year will be crucial for BAE as the Government has pencilled in higher spending on defence budgets after shrinking them for years. Chairman Sir Roger Carr said: Charles will bring fresh perspective to the companys operations and board, whilst building a detailed knowledge of the defence industry under the guidance of Ian King. Christophe Menard, an analyst at broker Kepler Cheuvreux, said: Seeking an outsider could bring a fresh vision to BAE, which needs to reinvent and re-position part of its business, after years of difficult budgetary environments. Woodburns appointment lines him up to take over from King in 12 to 18 months. It was a position King held in 2007, before he became boss in 2008. At the time, BAE was going through a difficult time mired in allegations of bribery and corruption. Woodburn will be appointed to the BAE board as an executive director during the second quarter of 2016 having held a number of senior management positions in the oil and gas industry. A Cambridge graduate with a first class degree in Electrical Sciences and a PhD in Engineering he has worked in the Far East, Australia, France and the United States having worked at oil and gas firm Schlumberger for 15 years. An artist's impression of the BAE submarines due to replace the Vangard-class subs which carry Trident missiles Woodburn joins from private equity owned Expro which provides a range of engineering services on oil rigs. He will receive a salary of 750,000 a year as well as a 1.62million golden handshake to compensate him for incentives he was due at Expro. There is a requirement that he reinvests half of that amount in BAE within 120 days of receiving it. He is also expected to own stock worth at least 200 per cent of his base salary which aligns his potential earnings with shareholders. BAE is due to report full-year results on Thursday which are expected to show flat annual pre-tax profits of 1.4billion on sales of 17.4billion. Last week rival Rolls-Royce cut its dividend for the first time in 24 years and saw full-year earnings fall after a torrid two years in which the engineer issued five profit warnings. In a recent boost BAE was awarded a 201million contract from its biggest customer, the Ministry of Defence, to develop a successor to the Vanguard nuclear missile submarine. The so called Successor vessel will be part of Britains beefed-up nuclear submarine deterrent and part of a 31billion programme. And just this month the firm unveiled the latest version of its Terrier armoured vehicle. It was dubbed the Swiss Army Knife because of its versatility in clearing mines, digging trenches and smashing anything in its path. The architect of reforms to the UK's banking system says his recommendations have been diluted by the Bank of England. Head of the Independent Commission on Banking, Sir John Vickers, says his plans to ringfence banks' retail operations have been watered down. He has also criticised the Bank of England's plans for capital buffer requirements, which he says are 'substantially milder' than those he proposed. Speaking out: Head of the Independent Commission on Banking, Sir John Vickers, says his plans to ringfence banks' retail operations have been watered down Sir John told the Financial Times: 'The Bank of England is proposing substantially milder equity requirements for British banks than did the ICB. The wisdom of this policy is questionable.' He added: 'Given the awfulness of systemic bank failures, ample insurance is needed, and equity is the best form of insurance. 'The recent volatility in bank stocks underlines the importance of strong capital buffers. The BoE should think again.' In his 2011 report, Sir John recommended Britain's six biggest banks should be forced to keep 3 per cent of extra capital in reserve compared with loans. Instead, the Bank of England has suggested a buffer of up to 2.5 per cent. For smaller lenders within the 'Big Six', the Bank recommended a capital buffer of 1 per cent. Differences: In his 2011 report, Sir John recommended Britain's six biggest banks should be forced to keep 3 per cent of extra capital in reserve compared with loans Sir John warned that there is an 'ever present risk' of the banks failing, but stopped short of predicting 'Armageddon.' He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I would go significantly further than the Bank of England is currently proposing.' In recent months, Chancellor George Osborne has revealed a softening stance towards the banks. With the likes of HSBC threatening to up sticks and move to Asia, last July Osborne outlined his plans to reduce the bank levy. After a 10-month deliberation, HSBC today announced it plans to keep its headquarters in London, rather than move overseas. Osborne has also called for 'new settlement' to end banker bashing and was widely reported to have ousted no-nonsense Martin Wheatley, head of City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority in July, raising concerns about political influence at the regulator. CAPITAL BUFFERS - WHAT THEY ARE AND WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT When people talk about capital buffers, they are talking about the amount of cash or assets a bank holds in its reserves protect it from sudden losses in bad times. Big UK banks typically hold Tier 1 ratio - a key measure of reserves - of between 11 per cent and 13 per cent. But, when the Royal Bank of Scotland almost collapsed in 2008, requiring a 45billion taxpayer bailout, its Tier 1 ratio hovered at between 2 per cent and 3 per cent. In 2011, the ICB recommended that Britain's six largest banks should have 3 per cent of extra capital in reserve compared with loans, when taking into account their risk. But the Bank of England has suggested a buffer of up to 2.5 per cent, and only 1 per cent for smaller lenders. To date, European banks have raised around 194billion of new capital since the financial crisis began in 2007. But Sir John's concern is that this is still not enough. Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of HSBC, has decided not to go on his travels after all. Following an exhaustive review lasting a year, Gulliver, along with chairman Douglas Flint and the rest of the board, decided unanimously to keep its headquarters in Londons Canary Wharf. Late on Sunday evening, following a board meeting, the directors officially dropped the threat to move but as this paper has pointed out, the banks threat to move out of London never looked credible. So the real question, therefore, is why did politicians ever take it seriously? Why did the authorities needlessly water down the regulation of banks and why did the Chancellor make changes to the tax system, appeasing HSBC at the expense of smaller lenders? These are not difficulties that need trouble the international lender itself. Taking us for a ride? HSBC is staying in London after authorities watered down the regulation of banks and the Chancellor made changes to the tax system at the expense of smaller lenders Having resolved the issue of its domicile, it is now turning to leadership. Douglas Flint is expected to step down as chairman next year and senior bankers say one leading candidate for the job is 61-year-old Frenchman Henri de Castries, who runs Gallic insurance giant Axa. HSBCs strong presence in France, where it bought leading lender CCF in 2000, is often overlooked. But the appointment of de Castries to the board last year adds credence to the banks latest threat: to move 1,000 investment bank jobs from London to Paris if the UK votes for a Brexit. Gulliver himself is expected to move on a year after Flint, in 2017. Long-standing director Rona Fairhead, who also chairs the BBC Trust, is to leave in the spring following a row over her pay and her role heading the audit committee, which failed to raise an alarm over the scandal in the Swiss division. In the unlikely event HSBC had made good on its menaces, it would have been damaging to the Citys prestige. As John Thanassoulis, professor of financial economics at Warwick Business School, points out, its decision to stay safeguards Londons position as a global centre of finance and protects jobs. But, he adds, the question is, has the Government created an environment in which the balance is pushed too far towards the banks? Grilling: HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver paid around 5m of bonuses into a Swiss bank account George Osborne first signalled a new deal with the banking sector in his Mansion House speech last summer. Further evidence of a less confrontational stance came in the ousting of hardliner Martin Wheatley as head of the Financial Conduct Authority and the dropping of an investigation into bank executive pay and culture. A string of scandals that have broken the surface whilst Flint and Gulliver have been at the helm, including foreign exchange rate rigging and accusations the private banking arm in Switzerland helped rich clients avoid tax. Despite this record, the pair mounted a case that the departure of the bank would be little short of a national tragedy for Britain. Their arguments gained traction even though experts pointed out there were only two even vaguely plausible alternative venues for the bank, the US and Hong Kong, both of which have extreme drawbacks. US authorities have meted out far harsher punishments than their British counterparts to lenders including HSBC, which operates there under a deferred prosecution agreement, which means the threat of being shut down hovers over its head. As for Hong Kong, it is a very different place from the British colony HSBC quit 23 years ago when it took over the old Midland. However much they may chafe at the British regulators, it stretches the imagination that Gulliver and Flint would willingly put themselves under the control of the former colonys current rulers in communist Beijing. Recent turmoil in China only serves to underline how risky an option that would have been. Osbornes changes to the banking levy of which HSBC was the main beneficiary have come at the expense of mutuals and challenger banks. The levy, meant to compensate the UK taxpayer for propping up banks considered too big to fail, was charged on lenders worldwide balance sheets, meaning HSBC had by far the biggest bill. But its replacement, an 8 per cent additional corporation tax charge on banks making profits above a mere 25million, will hurt the challengers. I never thought (HSBC) would move domicile elsewhere, said Paul Lynam, chief executive of challenger bank Secure Trust, though he added it was harsh to make it pay the levy on its global operations. Robin Feieth, chief executive of the Building Societies Association, said: HSBC keeping its HQ in London is good news. The corporation tax surcharge that spreads the cost of the levy to many more banks and building societies is not. Some observers believe that temperatures rose when Flint and Gulliver were hauled before the Treasury Select Committee a year ago. Simon Walker, Director General of the Institute of Directors, says: It did no credit to our parliamentary system to see how the chairman and chief executive were publicly ripped apart. Gulliver was grilled over his personal finances, in particular revelations he had paid around 5million of bonuses into a Swiss bank account via a Panamanian holding company. Chief executive Gulliver was given some every rough treatment by regulators in the UK and the US, some of it deserved, said veteran commentator David Buik. However, I think when the attacks became personal, the board of directors closed ranks and considered alternative HQ options. Warning: European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi The head of the European Central Bank yesterday warned that some of the regions banks face challenges but insisted they are stronger than they were in the financial crisis. ECB president Mario Draghi said lenders in the eurozone have been hit by a sharp fall in share prices amid worries about a weaker-than-expected economic outlook. But he insisted they have larger capital buffers than they did a few years ago when the entire system teetered on the brink of collapse. The comments, to the European Parliament, follow a precipitous fall in share prices so far this year with Deutsche Bank of Germany, Societe Generale of France and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena of Italy among those on the slide. Clearly, some parts of the banking sector in the euro area still face a number of challenges, Draghi said. But he added: In the euro area, the situation in the banking sector now is very different from what it was in 2012. The ECB has already cut interest rates into negative territory and launched a 46billion a month money printing programme through so-called quantitative easing in an attempt to boost demand, inflation and economic growth. MBABANE A wedding between an employee of First National Bank (FNB) Swaziland, Nontokozo Nyatsi and Dumisani Malaza, was stopped at the eleventh hour after another woman, who claims to be the rightful wife, obtained a court order to stop the nuptials. The marriage between Nyatsi and Malaza, who is employed by one of the major construction companies in the country, was expected to take place in Ezulwini on Saturday. The couple was, however, served with the order stopping their marriage by a messenger of the court on Thursday which was three days before the duo officially exchanged their vows. Delisile Thwala, the woman who claimed to be the rightful wife to Malaza, filed an application through her attorney Mxolisi Dlamini from Robinson Bertram at the Mbabane Magistrates Court. The application was made ex parte (without informing the other parties). The order stopping the marriage was issued by Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati, who also ordered members of the Royal Swaziland Police to ensure compliance with the court order and/or that the marriage between Nyatsi and Malaza was not conducted. In her application Thwala submitted that she was married to Malaza through civil rites in community of property and that his (Malazas) action of intending to marry another person constituted bigamy. She submitted that she got married to Malaza on October 10, 2014 in Mahlanya and the marriage still subsists. Thwala told the court that on February 2014, Malaza, through his attorneys from Mabila Attorneys, issued out divorce proceedings against her at the Mbabane Magistrates Court. The proceedings under case No. 241/2014 are still pending before the above honourable court (Mbabane Magistrates Court), where I am defending the action represented by my present attorney from Robinson Bertram, alleged Thwala. She highlighted that prior to the institution of the divorce proceedings, Malaza had left her with two of their children born of the marriage. According to Thwala, Malaza left their matrimonial home at Motshane to live in Ezulwini, Somnjalose with his parents. Soon thereafter, I was advised that he was living with the second respondent (Nontokozo Nyatsi), and this fact he has admitted in the divorce proceedings under case No.241/2014. I am advised further that the proceedings under case No.241are not subject to these proceedings, submitted Thwala. These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose veracity is still to be tested in court and the respondents (Malaza and Nyatsi) are expected to file their answering papers. Thwala further mentioned that on January 24, 2016 while she was at their matrimonial home, Malaza came in the company of his father, one Douglas Malaza, and her mother in law, to tell her that her husband had divorced her and he was going to marry Manyatsi. PIGGS PEAK Five people have been seriously injured after a Toyota Quantum they were travelling in veered off the road and crashed into a donga before catching fire. Some of the injured are said to have suffered burns though it could not be established to what degree. The vehicle is said to have been travelling along the highway near Buhleni. Some of the transport operators who were interviewed yesterday were shocked to hear about the incident though when sought for comment at the Piggs Peak Bus Rank. The Quantum is said to operate along the Manzini - Matsamo route which is considered very lucrative. It is one of the most sought after routes that transport operators literally race for customers along the way. However, this is not to say the driver had been racing for customers. It is alleged the driver had been trying to overtake another vehicle when the incident happened. The Quantum is also said to have headed straight onto a cow which was grazing away from the road and then crashed into a donga. The exact number of passengers who were in the vehicle when the accident happened could not be ascertained by yesterday. The Royal Swaziland Police (RSP), speaking through Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Phindile Vilakati, confirmed the accident. We are still investigating the circumstances that led to the accident, she said. She also confirmed that five people, including the driver, had been seriously injured. Vilakati said they were then rushed to the nearest medical facility for treatment where they were still admitted by yesterday. Noteworthy is that this is the second accident around the same area where a driver lost control of his car the crashed into a donga. Last week, a similar incident occurred when seven members of a family were on their way to a funeral and were involved in an accident at Nyakatfo. The kombi accident also happened at Mzimnene which is at Nyakatfo. Despite the swift response by Fire and Emergency personnel, including the police, one person, an 18-year-old died in the incident. The 18-year-old was certified dead upon arrival at Emkhuzweni health facility. Five other family members were treated and discharged but the sixth person was transferred to the Piggs Peak Government Hospital. He was expected to be discharged last Monday as his aunt said it appeared his condition was improving. However, the driver of the vehicle in which one died was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He was also charged with culpable homicide for the death of the 18-year-old. LOBAMBA Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini flanked by Senate President Gelane Zwane MBABANE Senate President Inkhosatane Gelane Zwane fired back at the Prime Minister, Sibusiso Dlamini by saying uyangicaphata (he is mocking me). Inkhosatana Gelane Zwane was responding to an assertion made by the Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini in an interview with one of the weekend publications. The premier is quoted as having politely reacted to sensational outbursts made by the fiery Senate President. The publication quoted Dlamini saying he did not take what Zwane said personally because he was aware that she (Senate President) was currently a sickly person who had been away on sick leave. He in turn pledged to always pray for Zwane so that she fully recovers because people of her calibre were needed in the country. Zwane is said to have alleged that someone was out to usurp the Kings powers. This was during her speech when His Majesty King Mswati III officially opened the third session of the 10th Parliament on Friday. In reaction to the assertion by the PM, Zwane said there was nothing out of the ordinary that she said. She simply reiterated something that is in black and white in the Constitution of the country. Uyangicaphata PM lokutsi ngiyagula. What I said is in the Constitution, unless he refuses to accept the Constitution of the land, said Zwane. When the Senate President was asked what if the premier was merely referring to her health following that she had been away for quite some time, Zwane said: Ask the prime minister what he meant. She stated that the premier had to qualify his statement when he said uyagula. The Senate President, who is also the Chief of KoNtshingila, stated that she would look into the allegations made by the PM and further consult on what he meant when he said she was sickly. Kumbe kukhona lakwatiko yena lengingakwati mine ngekugula kwami, which can loosely be translated to mean: Maybe there is something the PM knows that am not aware of and he may share insight on the sickness. She said the reason she was to consult on the PMs allegation was that they were merely speaking about politics and now the premier was bringing forth her sickness. Zwane announced her full recovery a few weeks before the opening of Parliament and made an appearance at a press conference although she was walking with the aid of a cane. On Friday, Zwane made remarks in her speech in which she talked about the Kings powers, warning the head of State about any lopsided and unconstitutional restoration of the power relations of 1968 in the total absence of any semblance of a popular mandate. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Gabriel Rom For the Bukharian community in Queens, questions of tradition, heritage and assimilation are never far from the surface. On a rainy night last week at The Bukharian Teen Lounge in Forest Hills, a group of 25 high schoolers joked in both Russian and English, moving effortlessly between the two. They had gathered to hear career advice from three Bukharian young professionals who had successfully navigated the dual worlds of Bukharia and America. According to Manashe Khaimov, a program director at the lounge, the event presented the kids, all of whom attend public school, with a unique opportunity. We want to integrate these children into wider American culture without them losing sight of their heritage, he said. I didnt have access to programs like this when I was youngerpeople I could speak to in Russian and English. People who could guide me. he added. But its now something I can give to others. The lounge, a full program of the JCCA, is a comprehensive after-school program with Russian-speaking staff members, allowing the program to be culturally sensitive to the specific needs of youth from the Bukharian community. Khaimov introduced the three panelists, all of whom had a message that was as simple as it was bold: Embrace the future. Mark Kandkhorov, born in Tajikistan, is now a lawyer and a member of Community Board 6, which covers the neighborhoods of Forest Hills and Rego Park. Kandkhorov recalled a rough childhood. Kandkhorov said he faced a crisis of identity, having to overcome limited resources, lack of language skills and culture shock. Eventually he went on to study at St. Johns University for undergraduate and law school, where he blossomed. When he asked how many of the kids wanted to be a lawyer, no hands went up. Excellent, he said. There was a serious point to Kandkhorovs joke. Having been raised in an immigrant Jewish home, Kandkhorov said he was faced with certain career expectationseither law or medicinethat he felt were stifling. Betty Yusupov, a litigation attorney, said she developed the courage to succeed from values instilled in her at home. As a Bukharian female it certainly can be hard, but I had the good fortune of being raised by parents who pushed education, Yusupov said. She leaned forward and pointed towards the young adults in front of her. Your parents have been through what you have been through. Theyve felt lost, too. Explore other professions, she added. Read up on the most-wanted jobs over the next 10 years. Right now youre young, and young people create things. There are kids not much older than you who are doing incredible things in Silicon Valley. Alex Cohen a lawyer, agreed. Dina Aminova, a high-school senior, looked at the panelists as sources of inspiration. When youre in high school you dont know what you want to behearing all this and learning what others have gone through, well, it makes me want to be like them, she said. All three panelists had a message: its okay to push boundaries, just dont forget who you are and where you come from. Round yourself out. Be flexible, Kandkhorov said. Consider philosophy or economics. You dont only have one path in life, thank God. In the audience one student turned to his particularly chatty companion. Shush! he barked. This is important. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry A 63-year-old East Elmhurst man pleaded guilty to child pornography charges last week and faces between one to three years in prison, according to the Queens district attorneys office. The defendant, Michael Murray, was arrested in April 2014, after computer technicians at a Best Buy store in Long Island City discovered sexually explicit photographs of children on a computer he left for repairs, the DA said. According to the charges, when the technician at the 50-01 Northern Blvd. location began to work on Murrays laptop computer, the screen saver started displaying a slide show of multiple images of young girls posing provocatively, as well as pictures of girls engaged in sex acts with adult men. The technician alerted his supervisor to the slide shows content, and then the supervisor contacted the police. When the NYPD went to Murrays East Elmhurst home soon afterwards, he admitted that he knew what was on his screen saver and he had been exchanging files of child pornography with others on the Internet for about five years, prosecutors said. A forensic exam of Murrays computer revealed nearly 400 images of child pornography. The defendant has now admitted to having vile, disturbing images of children on his computers hard drive, which he even used as a screen saver slide show, DA Richard Brown said. It is important for the public to remember that these photographs depict real children who have been sexually abused. They are youngsters who will forever be emotionally and physically scarred by what happened to them. Murray pleaded guilty Feb. 3 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter to promoting a sexual performance by a child. Buchter indicated that he would sentence the defendant to a term of one to three years in prison March 22. Airport development adding to economy, jobs in the region Pittsburgh may always be known as the Steel City, but a wave of new industries are popping up near its airport to redefine business in the region. Marion Coleman depicts the lives of black cowboys in Trail Blazers. Cooper says her images come from the world she observes and people she may meet. Contributed photo By Judith McGinnis of the Times Record News Stitches that bring together stories, memories and moments in history make Marion Coleman a remarkable textile artist. The Wichita Falls native has brought a life of learning, travel and 30 years of experience in youth and family services to a palette made from fabric, paper, plastic and vintage yardage. The results are textile stories, sharing everything from narratives of family history to ethnic art, portraits and powerful silhouettes. "While designing quilts I need a good deal of think time," Coleman said, describing hours spent in her studio. "I use muslin like a canvas, sometimes with an old-fashioned projector that makes a transparency of an image." The images come from the world Coleman observes and people she may meet. "It's about process and planning. I went to a black cowboy parade in Oakland (California) and became interested in the rest of the story. The African-American in the West," Coleman said. "You have to plan on the fabrics used to make the subject come to life. I spent a lot of time looking for something with circles to look like the silver conchos on the chaps." A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School who attended Midwestern State University for two years before she and her Air Force husband moved on to his next assignment, Coleman now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has served on the board for the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland. Coleman's work has been exhibited in the U.S. and internationally. She has numerous private and public art commissions in California. One of the public art projects was for a youth center. "I live near a local high school and enjoy working with students. They seem very interested in it, and I'd like to pass this on to another generation," Coleman said with a light chuckle. She learned many quilting skills from her great-aunt Corine Porter Miller. "I need a quilt clone." In 2014, 15 pieces of Coleman's work were featured in an exhibit at Wichita Falls Museum of Art, part of an art project to gather those interested in making a storytelling community quilt. She doesn't know when her next visit will be. "I missed the schoolwide Booker T. reunions. I do have Aunt Lucille Thompson and some cousins, but most of them have moved away to other cities. There are times I really do miss Texas." Lauren Roberts/Times Record News Wichita Falls Police said a man was shot Saturday evening in the 800 block of Linda Lane. The victim died later at a hospital. By Lynn Walker of the Times Record News Wichita Falls Police on Monday revealed a few details on the city's first homicide of the new year. Officers were called to a house in the 800 block of Linda Lane about 7 p.m. Saturday. They discovered Otis Seamster, 42, had been shot once in the chest during a disturbance. He died later at a local hospital. Police have a suspect, but no arrest has been made. "Due to the nature of this ongoing investigation, the suspect's name has not been released," WFPD said in a news release Monday morning. Police say the shooting occurred during the second of two disturbance reported at the house Saturday. Officers want to talk to any witnesses who were present during the first disturbance, which happened between about 6:15 -6:45 p.m. Saturday. Anyone who can provide information is urged to call detectives at 761-7762 or Crime Stoppers at 322-9888. Seamster's body has been sent to Dallas for an autopsy. U.S. Capital SHARE By The Washington Post Adopting progressive practices from Europe and Canada is all the rage, from Sen. Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign to Michael Moore's new documentary, "Where to Invade Next," in which Moore marvels at Europe's generous social programs. And we agree: The United States can and should learn from the experience of other Western democracies, whether that implies a bigger government or, as is sometimes the case abroad, a smaller one. Take the prosaic but crucial function of air traffic control. In the United States, that is still a job for big government: specifically, the Federal Aviation Administration. Overseas, however, countries are turning away from this statist model. Canada spun off its system, Nav Canada, in 1996, to a private entity funded by user fees. Britain privatized in 2000. Australia and New Zealand are also part of the movement; ditto Germany and Switzerland, lest anyone think it's English-speaking nations only. In all of these countries, safety and innovation have stayed the same or improved, which is not surprising, as the new model separates regulation from operation. The U.S. approach, by contrast, keeps those conflicting roles within the same authority. Also, the FAA remains subject to the vagaries of congressional politics, with all the micromanaging and stopgap funding that implies. As a result, a $40 billion FAA modernization program is woefully behind schedule. Now comes House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pennsylvania, with a bill to adapt successful European and Canadian models to the United States. On Thursday, the committee moved his proposal ahead with the hope of passing legislation by March 31, when the current FAA authorization statute expires. A new corporation, funded by charges on the system's various users, would manage flights and implement the long-stalled modernization. The FAA would still ensure safety, a regulatory job it already does remarkably well and might do even better if it were free to focus on that exclusively. Major players in the industry would share governance of the new entity, working out their differences within its boardroom rather than through the costlier and more conflictual method of lobbying Congress, as they do now. These groups support Shuster's plan, including not only commercial airlines but also the air traffic controllers union, which had objected to similar plans in the past. This is by no means a panacea: Once upon a time, Congress turned over passenger rail and mail delivery to corporations known as Amtrak and the Postal Service. Much will depend on ensuring the new air traffic entity avoids the governance flaws that left those agencies still unduly dependent on Congress. Still, the stronger demand for air travel, as opposed to train rides and first-class letters, gives reason to hope Mr. Shuster's proposed entity will at least be financially solvent. Objections, so far, come from a single commercial carrier (Delta), the business aviation lobby and certain congressional Democrats who resist transferring Congress's power to a nonprofit corporation to the point that they're making common cause with a profit-making corporation and the private-jet set. These strange bedfellows should not have veto power over a promising reform, even if it wasn't made in the USA. I've become accustomed to Time Warner jacking up my monthly service bill by an outrageous 8 to 10 percent annually for many years. However, I was aghast the other day when my latest bill included an increase of more than 15 percent. I immediately called the company, prepared to give them the choice of two options: Reduce the increase to no more than the cost of living or take me off their customer list. To be exact, the conglomerate's monthly bill was being jacked from $148.09 to a fat $167.45. That's a bloated $19.36 increased monthly cost I believe would be unacceptable to most. That monthly bill is for a bells-and-whistles-free standard cable TV and internet services. I explained my disdain about being ripped off to a pleasant representative. After an extremely lengthy wait, she returned, announcing that the new rate increase had been eliminated and I was getting a $25 gift card. I told her I didn't want the gift card. Because of this, she then said my previous monthly rate of $148.09 was being reduced to $142.97. I don't know what prompted the radical rate retreat by the cable giant. Perhaps it was because I mentioned Verizon would give me the same services for $59.95. Furthermore, Verizon offered to throw in telephone service for that same bundle price. I explained I had been a loyal Time Warner customer ever since it bought Schenectady Cablevision many years ago. I didn't want to jump ship to the SS Verizon, but the absurd increased cost was pushing me overboard. In any event, if you, too, receive an obviously excessive new Time Warner monthly bill, it might be worthwhile to ask for a review and some relief. See the rest of Marv Cermak's column on Tuesday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace amid a prostitution scandal in 2008, is accused of assaulting a woman at an upscale New York City hotel Saturday night, police confirmed Monday. The NYPD said in a statement that Manhattan detectives are investigating allegations of an assault at a Midtown hotel, which was reported by multiple outlets to be the famed Plaza hotel on Fifth Avenue. "The victim has indicated that the subject is Eliot Spitzer," the NYPD said. Spitzer spokeswoman Lisa Linden said, "There is no truth to the allegation." The Daily News reported that the New York Police Department's chief of detectives is leading the investigation of allegations Spitzer attacked the woman at the hotel and that the woman tried to kill herself. The newspaper reported that the woman is from Russia and that she and Spitzer have known each other for the past two years and may have been fighting over the woman's plan to return to Russia. The Post reported that the woman, 25-year-old Svetlana Travis, did not want to press charges. Spitzer, a Democrat, earned the nickname "The Sheriff of Wall Street" during an eight-year tenure as state attorney general that featured lawsuits and investigations that targeted corporate malfeasance. Riding that popularity, Spitzer cruised to an easy win for governor in 2006. His tenure leading the state was marked by controversy and collapsed when it was revealed in 2008 that he was among the clients of a New York prostitution ring. Spitzer resigned within days of the revelation. Spitzer's last foray into politics was an unsuccessful bid for New York City comptroller in 2013. mhamilton@timesunion.com 518-454-5449 @matt_hamilton10 SEFCU is warning its customers about a scam in which texts warn of debit card lockouts. The credit union, which said customers at other financial institutions have been targeted by the same hoax, said account holders have been getting texts on their cell phones that tell them their debit card is locked out, and that they need to call a phone number to remedy the problem. If one calls, it then instructs a person to put in their full debit card number. SEFCU said if a customer receives such a text to delete it immediately. If credit union users did response to the scam, call 800-727-3328 to report the card as lost/stolen. SEFCU said while bank data has not been breached, it's unknown how the scammers got customers cell phone numbers. The crew at Mental Floss has come out with another entertaining U.S. map of Google searches. This one provides a state-by-state look at what people are musing about when they do Internet searches. Chris Cooper remembers, as do most Americans who were alive that day. He was a long way back then from winning an Oscar, just a 12-year-old at school in Kansas City, Mo., who got shocking news after lunch that Friday afternoon in November. "We had a full hour because there were, at that time, kids that went home for lunch," Cooper, star of films such as "Adaptation" and "American Beauty," recalled. "School bell rang, we came in off the playground and started to settle down in class." A girl who was returning to school burst in and told the class: President Kennedy had been shot. "You were just stunned," he said. "I don't think the fear kicked in until later." That wasn't all that kicked in. No other event in American history has stirred as many conspiracy theories as the JFK assassination in 1963. The federal government officially investigated it twice, once concluding that the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, another time saying he was "probably" part of a larger conspiracy to slay Kennedy in a Dallas motorcade. Now Hulu is hoping to tease the drama out of that national doubt with "11.22.63," a nine-part time-travel epic executive produced by "Star Wars" director J.J. Abrams and starring James Franco as Jake Epping, a writing teacher who goes back to the early 1960s to stop Oswald and change the course of history. Cooper, who says he hasn't resolved his own doubts about the assassination, plays Al Templeton, Franco's aging mentor who maintains a secret "rabbit hole" to the past in the back of his diner. The miniseries will premiere on Presidents Day, Monday. The book is a mostly faithful adaptation of Stephen King's novel "11/22/63," which became a best-seller when it was published in 2011. The book is not the type of King thriller known to millions of readers, a la "Carrie" or "The Shining." It's a what-if tale chockablock with real historical figures, some known to none but conspiracy buffs. The author has said he first envisioned the novel at the start of his career in the 1970s but dropped it partly because the research was taking too long. Bridget Carpenter, a playwright and former "Friday Night Lights" scribe hired by Abrams to develop the story for TV, believes the 900-page doorstop that King eventually produced makes for compelling episodic drama with minimal tweaks. "There have been literally hundreds and hundreds of books published" on the assassination, Carpenter said, and yet all that digging has not yielded a national consensus on what happened. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "It is the ultimate American mystery ... I read (King's) book knowing, 'Sure, Oswald did it.' However, I started digging in and spent two years reading many things that Oswald wrote, and now I'm completely like, 'Oh, no, he didn't act alone.' "Which is hilarious, because Stephen King is a complete single-shooter theorist," she added. "I'm like, 'You've changed my mind!' and he went, 'Oh, Bridget.' " (A spokesman said King was unavailable to comment.) "11.22.63" was initially following a different path to the screen. The book was optioned by Jonathan Demme, the director behind "The Silence of the Lambs" and other films. But Demme and King couldn't agree on which parts of the sweeping narrative to include. In addition to Jake's time-traveling, the novel spins a love story and child abuse and murder subplot as well as historical details and speculations. "With Demme out, the project was picked up by Bad Robot, Abrams' Santa Monica, Calif.-based production company. Abrams has a deal with Warner Bros., which came aboard as the studio. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A month after the first dispensaries opened their doors to sell medical marijuana to New Yorkers, customers are just trickling in, at least in the Capital Region. Reasons for the sluggish start appear intertwined and circular. Patients and their advocates say the most common roadblock is they can't find registered doctors, who must certify eligible New Yorkers to purchase medical marijuana. Large Capital Region doctors' groups, on the other hand, say they haven't rushed to register because patients aren't clamoring to get the new drug. That's to be expected, and the result of a narrow set of medical conditions the state deemed eligible for inclusion in the program, according to one expert. That makes the potential market of patients small. "It's not surprising that it's off to a slow start in New York," said Troy Dayton, CEO of the California-based ArcView Group, which has followed the legal marijuana industry since 2011. "It's a very, very restricted program." More Information How to buy medical marijuana Only patients with certain debilitating or life-threatening conditions and their caregivers are eligible to buy medical marijuana. Patients must be certified by a doctor who is registered with the state program, and then must register with the state Health Department themselves, and show an identification card before buying the drug. Caregivers may also register after a patient's registration has been approved. A patient must designate the caregiver during the registration process. Conditions covered: Cancer, HIV or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord damage with intractable spasticity, a muscle control disorder; epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, Huntington's disease Patients must also have one of the following related or complicating conditions: Cachexia (wasting syndrome), severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures severe or persistent muscle spasms Registration Once certified by a doctor, patients may register through NY.gov at https://my.ny.gov/ There is a $50 registration fee. Where to buymedical marijuana Two dispensaries are open in Albany County and a third is expected to open soon. The full list of dispensaries statewide is here: http://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/application/selected_applicants.htm How much will it cost? Medical marijuana producers say the costs can range widely depending on the product and dosage. Those with Albany County dispensaries said average prices range between $100-$400 for a month's supply. Where can I learn more? Check the patient information portion of the state Health Department's website: http://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/patients/ Sources: New York State Department of Health, registered medical marijuana organizations See More Collapse A secondary issue may be that medical marijuana companies are not allowed to market their products to patients and doctors, the way a Big Pharma company might for a federally approved drug, observers said. In New York, perhaps the only entity that could market the program is the state. "The slow ramp-up is a byproduct of minimal education efforts," said Steve Stallmer, a spokesman for Etain, a Warren County medical cannabis producer that has a dispensary in Albany. New York's medical marijuana program is limited to patients with 10 debilitating or life-threatening conditions, including cancer and several neurological disorders. Patients must be certified by a doctor who is registered with the state. To register, doctors must take a four-hour online course that costs $250. The two Albany County dispensaries have so far seen few patients at their doors. PharmaCannis, in Guilderland, has had more curiosity-seekers than purchasers since it opened in mid-January. It made its first sale last week, according to General Manager Megan Veselov. Etain has had about 30 customers at its Albany dispensary since opening Jan. 7, said Hillary Peckham, the company's chief operating officer. Most of them were patients who had unsuccessfully tried other treatments for problems like wasting syndrome or seizures; they've anxiously awaited the availability of medical cannabis as a last hope, Peckham said. "Right now, it's the people who were the most proactive in finding a doctor prior to the certification process," she said. Medical marijuana advocate Julie Netherland, of the Drug Policy Alliance, said even some of the savviest patients, however, are having two problems with doctors: First, there aren't enough of them registered. And second, they can't find the ones who are. The state maintains a database of physicians registered with the medical marijuana program, but that list is not available to the public. The state Health Department updates the number of doctors registered on its website daily. On Friday, it was 378. Ari Hoffnung, CEO of Fulton County-based cannabis producer Vireo Health NY, said that's a good start. "We're pleasantly surprised by the early numbers," Hoffnung said. "But there still needs to be a lot more education and awareness to the physician community, and that's something were actively working on." Netherland points out it's a small fraction of the 79,000 doctors practicing statewide. It's not clear how many registered doctors are in the Capital Region. The Health Department did not respond to several inquiries last week about the geographic distribution in the database, which is not accessible to the media. Representatives of large medical groups in the Capital Region, like those under the umbrella of Albany Medical Center and St. Peter's Health System, said they have no policy on doctor participation. Physicians can sign up if they believe it offers a good option for patients. But they and others said there hasn't been much clamoring for the new drug from patients. "It's a non-issue for us," said Sarah Bilofsky, spokeswoman for New York Oncology Hematology, a large group of cancer doctors. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Yet one area doctor who has registered, Colonie neurologist Dr. Francisco Gomez, has seen steady patient inquiries at his Wolf Road neurology office since he was identified in an area publication as a program participant. Gomez said he turns a fair number of prospective patients away, either because they don't have neurological problems that he treats or they don't qualify for the state program. "It's been busy," Gomez said. "The hardest part is trying to explain to patients that they don't have the diagnosis that we are covering in New York." Nancy Rivera has not even had the opportunity to be rejected by a registered doctor. The 62-year-old Troy resident has nerve damage from diabetes and lingering, chronic pain in her upper spine from radiation to treat cancer. Both conditions might qualify her for medical marijuana. Other medications have been ineffective. Her doctor told her that she is afraid to prescribe the new medicine, given its federal status as an illegal drug. And the doctor was unable to access the state Health Department database of participating physicians, to refer her elsewhere. The state sent physicians an email the first week of February saying the database was accessible, Gomez said. But when he tried to search it on Thursday, he was frustrated. "I can't find the listing," Gomez said, looking at the Health Department website. "It's really not helpful right now." chughes@timesunion.com 518-454-5417 @hughesclaire You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Entertainment / Music by DJ-Sticha ASEHLUKANISE IMBAMBO NOMGOGODLA! A PUBLISHING COMPANY PUBLISHER: RECORD LABEL: DISTRIBUTION: M&D: Nzalo kaNdaba ngicel' ukuphaka kancane, ukupheka ngiphekile kodwa ngithe angiqale ngendaba engathi iyaphuthuma. Ngithola ama message njalo ku Facebook and whats app abantu bafun' ukuwazi umahluko phakathi kwe record and publishing company.Ngisuke ngananzelel' ukuthi imajority yabantu abathumela ama message bacabang' ukuthi irecord ne publishing deal yint' eyodwa, well that's not true, uma nawe bewucabanga kanjalo hlala nami ngikuhlinzel' iqanda.is about the song as a song (ie, all songs written by X and Y).A RECORD LABEL is about the music as a recorded artifact.From my limited knowledge/research,Is someone who acts on the artist's behalf to collect royalties for when the artist's songs are performed, recorded, broadcast, or otherwise played for someone else's commercial gain. Publishers can also be pro-active in that they can build links with music directors, other performers, etc. and try to convince these people to play/perform the artist's songs.Is involved in the recording, production, pressing, DISTRIBUTION, marketing, etc. of your songs. Usually a record label has a PUBLISHING department as well, so "MOST" of the time, if you're signing with a label, you're signing with a publisher as well.A publisher is not involved in the recording of music, however. If you sign with a publisher, no one is promising to give you money to record your music and no one is going to release it for you. Usually, then, you'd sign with a publisher if you want to self-finance and self-release your recordings. By the same token, publishers also have an interest in getting you recorded, because that means more royalties for you (and more commission/fees for them).Ngifake u DISTRIBUTION in block letters ngoba angifun' ukuth' udideke there's a difference between PUBLISHING and DISTRIBUTION, sengichazile i publishing now asibambe i distribution.Is how albums get into shops. Distribution companies sign deals with record labels (or very rarely, directly with artists) that gives them the right to sell that label's products to record stores that have an account with that distributor. The distributor takes a cut of income from each album sold and then pays the label the remaining balance.Some distributors expect a record label to provide them with finished product, but sometimes a distributor will do an "M&D" deal with a label.stands for manufacturing and distribution. With this set up, the distributor will pay for all of the manufacturing costs of an album up front, and then keep all of the income from the album until that initial investment is paid off.A distribution deal is every recording artists' dream. Most record deals are every recording artists' nightmare. However, most recording artists' don't know the difference between the two. Standard recording contracts require the artist and songwriters to give up song rights and publishing. Song rights and publishing is where the money is.A distribution deal is different. A major record distributor distributes your music all over the world. In addition, they have no involvement in the recording process, production, and own little to no portion of the music song rights. Yes, this is every recording artists dream. Unfortunately today it rarely happens. Labels use their mass marketing power to lure and trap aspiring artists. Don't get caught.Record labels have one resource artists want desperately, multi-million dollar marketing campaigns. Notice I used the word want and not need. Indie artists don't need million dollar marketing campaigns, they think they do. This is sole reason I have devoted so much time trying to teach artists to market themselves independently. Labels use their marketing power as leverage in recording contracts. This is how they talk artists into giving up song rights. It is easier to sell as a major recording artists, but it is better to sell as an independent artist.If you can successfully sell your music as an independent artist, you can definitely get a distribution deal.Masabelane ngolwazi,Masikhule sonke emculweni.UmfokaGodlwayo uyabongaFcebook:Dj-Sticha MixkingTwitter:@DeejaySticha You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). News / Africa by Staff Reporter Two men from Tsolamosese were recently whipped after they were found guilty of stealing alcohol and meat respectively from different supermarkets.The Voice reported that the two appeared before Chief Alfered Dihutso of Mogoditshane Customary court.According to court records 28-year-old Abel Modisapula stole Exotic fusion alcohol at Trans wholesalers worth P33.00.Details of the charge sheet are that on January 6 Modisapula went to Trans Wholesalers where he bought a case of black label beer and then tried to walk away with the vodka without paying for it.The security guard who checked his receipt realised that Modisapula had only paid for the beer yet he also had the vodka which he had not paid for.He immediately alerted his supervisors leading to Modisapula's arrest.During mitigation, Modisapula pleaded guilty and asked the court to be lenient on him as he has kids to look after.Chief Dihutso then ordered that he be given two strokes as punishment for offence.Still at the same court, another thief, Edwin Ngwenya was also canned four strokes after he was found guilty of stealing two Choppies braai packs, polony and sausages from the chain supermarket.Ngwenya who is a student at Gaborone Technical College (GTC) pleaded with Dihutso not to jail him as he is scared of prison. News / Africa by Staff Reporter An undisciplined Police Sargent was this week arraigned in court for threatening to kill his special constable girlfriend.The Voice reported that Sargent Samuel Keamogile (44) of Gaborone West police station stood stoically in the dock on Monday with no display of emotion as the magistrate rejected his bail application and sent him back to jail to await trial.Keamogile who doubles as a pastor when he is not fighting crime landed on the wrong side of the law on February 4th in a brawl with a woman 17 years his junior.Details of the charge sheet have indicated that on the 4th of February, the young constable, Gladys Moagaesi informed the boss at the office of her decision to end the affair immediately.Angry at being jilted, Seargent Keamogile followed his 25 -year -old ex to her parents' house and asked her to open the door for him so they could talk.When she refused to obey his order, the Sargent uttered the words If you think you are going to be in the house forever, I am going to break that door down and blow your head up with a gun.'This statement, court papers have said instilled so much fear in the junior officer that she stayed locked up in the house the whole day.Arguing for the police boss to be kept under lock and key, State Prosecutor, Christina Ramokwena, told Magistrate Godwill Makofi that the two cops could not work at the same station because tempers were still flaring.Ramokwena also argued that the matter was still fresh, and that the investigation team was still to establish whether the suspect had the gun he alluded to in his threats."I understand that the accused has the right to liberty, but it can be limited as he instilled fear in another human being," she said.She also asked the court to have Keamogile's plea reserved.When pleading for bail, Keamogile said he had many responsibilities that would suffer if he were to be kept in jail. "I am about to be ordained as a pastor. I live with my late sister's child who is sick and if I'm denied bail the child might die," he said.Village court Magistrate, Makofi however turned down the bail application because threat to kill was a serious offence punishable by a 10-year -minimum jail term.Speaking to The Voice outside court the accused cop claimed his charges were a spiritual attack from the devil.""God works in mysterious ways, maybe he planned that I exercise my pastoral calling in prison where I'll be preaching the gospel to many during my incarceration," Keamogile said.Moagaesi who was present in court refused to comment on the matter. the case resumes on February 22. Like many device makers, LG has its fair share of relatively unexciting midrange smartphones, such as the K10 and K7 that the company showed at CES, but in a bid to make the midrange more attractive, LG cherry-picked a couple of premium features and put them in otherwise inexpensive handsets. The X cam and X screen offer a high-end camera experience and dual-screen capabilities, respectively. LG did not declare a price, stating only that it will rival the cost of midrange handsets. Further, there are no plans as of yet to bring these phones to North America, according to the press release, which has availability pegged for Asia, Europe and Latin America in March. The X screen has an always on second screen, previously seen on the LG V10, which is essentially a small ribbon at the top of the screen that shows oft-accessed apps and lets you control music playback, answer calls, see the time, and so on, even when the primary display is off. More intriguing to some will be the dual-camera feature on the back of the X cam. We believe that this dual-cam feature is going to be a trend, actually, in part because of the rise of augmented reality. We should begin seeing more applications for stereoscopic cameras soon. On the X cam, instead of having to equal cameras, one is 13MP whereas the other is just 5MP (with an 8MP front camera), which is an interesting decision on LGs part. Throwing in a choice feature or two onto an otherwise non-premium device is a strategy that shows LG understands that the commodity smartphone market is saturated and that it needs to figure out ways to set its devices apart. Otherwise, these specs could be copy/pasted from a dozen other midrange handsets. (Kudos to LG for shipping these phones loaded with Android 6 [Marshmallow], though.) LG X cam LG X screen Display 5.2-inch FHD In-cell Touch - 4.93-inch HD In-cell Touch (main) -1.76-inch LCD (520 x 80) (secondary) SoC 1.14GHz Octa-Core 1.2GHz Quad-Core Cameras -Rear: 13MP and 5MP -Front: 8MP -Rear: 13MP -Front: 8MP RAM 2 GB 2 GB Storage 16 GB 16 GB Battery 2,520 mAh 2,300mAh OS Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) Network LTE LTE Colors Titan Silver / White / Gold / Pink Gold Black / White / Pink Gold Pricing N/A N/A Availability March (Asia, Europe, Latin America) March (Asia, Europe, Latin America) LG will be showing off both handsets next week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Seth Colaner is the News Director for Tom's Hardware. Follow him on Twitter @SethColaner. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube. Melbourne muso and one half of local punk/ garage band Udays Tiger, Devin de Araujo has been working on something very different of late. Named Fever Land the new solo project came as de Araujo explains from spending time with a new piece of software or different instruments was a great way to keep busy and to challenge myself. I basically just started exploring other areas and ideas. I really enjoy being involved in completely different projects. Keeps things interesting. Drawing influences from some of modern electronic musics greatest innovators like Nils Fram, Jon Hopkins, and Floating Points hes now crafted and entire EP worth of work which we have the pleasure of premiering today. Check out our little chat with de Araujo and the EP titled FL_01 EP below. More info on the Fever Land Facebook page. The Beginning Basically, while [Udays Tiger bandmate] Nath and I were working on any Udays Tiger stuff, I found that in between, I was writing tracks that werent really suitable for that project. Most of them just ended up as voice memos. I would often be searching for a UT demo or idea and would come across one of these, and for whatever reason it would get stuck in my head. So I started developing them, trimming the fat, rearranging and then recording them roughly at home. The idea was to keep it simple and minimal but still interesting. I started playing around with synths and midi, which caught the ears of a friend, Craig Collie who offered to help produce and mix. I put out an EP on my own through Bandcamp and then started working on the next batch with Craig, which turned into the FL_01 EP. It was basically another avenue to explore that contrast what I had already been working on in bands. Was this Project a conscious decision to work on something so different? Definitely. Ultimately I think there are definite crossovers in style. I know what kind of sounds I like and what kinds of progressions or ideas make my brain tick. Spending time with a new piece of software or different instruments was a great way to keep busy and to challenge myself. I basically just started exploring other areas and ideas. I really enjoy being involved in completely different projects. Keeps things interesting. The Writing Process For This EP It varies, no recipe has stayed the same. Some songs start with a chord progression, others with a beat, others will be really old ideas that Ill revisit and rework. Ill keep listening back and fixing things or adding ideas until something sticks. Once I find a vocal melody that I like, its usually a good sign that Im on the right track. From there Ill write lyrics and then start playing around with the arrangement and layers. Sometimes ideas come quickly and everything falls into place very neatly but mostly its a pretty laborious process. Craig will step in at different points of the process, bouncing ideas or offering opinions. Its refreshing to have another pair of ears to go over things. The Recording process For This EP Generally, after a song has been through a few drafts Ill have a rough idea of the sounds I want to add. Drafts are mainly guitar and vocals or keys and vocals. Ill record the basics then start building from there. I try to make sure each new part adds something, or is there for a reason. If it doesnt work then it doesnt stay in there. Ill send tracks through to Craig, again some more fleshed out than others. If he is into it, we sit down together and work through it, cull stuff, try other ideas, re-record parts,change sounds etc. Then Craig takes over and mixes. He has a great ear for over/undertones. Finding and focussing in on sounds that are more buried down and need to be dug up. Major influences They change all the time but Im really into repetitive, additive music. So stuff that builds on one idea and creates tension or flow by adding instruments, motifs or parts and phrases. Nils Fram, Jon Hopkins, Floating Points and Burial are some examples. A friend of mine has got me hooked on Talking Heads and their album Remain in Light. Which is just awesome. I try to listen to a lot of different things. I like music that doesnt really subscribe to the verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge etc arrangements. Things with interesting or unusual sounds. Plans For 2016 We are working on some new tracks at the moment that will turn into another EP. An album would be great but thats probably a little way off. Its been bubbling for years now, but Sydneys anti-lockouts movement is finally kicking into high gear. This Sunday, 21st February, Keep Sydney Open will hold a rally at Belmore Park near Sydneys Central Station to protest the citys controversial late-night lockout laws. The rally will gather at Belmore Park before making its way into the CBD just after 1pm with a stop along the way at Bar Century, which is set to close doors soon, to conduct a mock funeral for all of the venues, small businesses, and jobs that have been lost thanks to the lockouts. The rally will include speeches and performances from a number of music industry notables, including The Preatures frontwoman Isabella Manfredi, who will be speaking alongside Hoodoo Gurus Dave Faulkner, Crikeys Bernard Keane, and KSOs Tyson Koh, who will MC the event. There will also be musical performances from Art vs Science, who recently took to Facebook to re-share their biting anti-lockouts anthem Youve Got To Stop, and Sydney-bred punk rockers Royal Headache, who just concluded a run on the Laneway Festival circuit. More speakers are set to be announced during the week and there will be KSO T-shirts on sale at Belmore Park before the rally gets underway. KSO are encouraging marchers to hit up some of the cultural events happening in Sydney that day afterwards, like the Mardi Gras Fair Day in Victoria Park. The rally is inspired by live music advocacy group Save Live Australias Musics 2010 march on Victorias Parliament House in response to Melbournes unpopular lockout laws. The 17,000-strong turnout in an election year was instrumental in removing the citys lockouts. Among KSOs demands, they would like to see lockout exemptions for licensed premises that are predominantly live music venues, an end to the new licence freeze for predominantly live music venues and small bars, and the lifting of restrictions on retail hours. Keep Sydney Open Rally Sunday, 21st February (12.30pm) Belmore Park, Sydney Details: Keep Sydney Open As we reported last week, Melbourne restaurant FAT Fried and Tasty found itself in the middle of a racism row after comedian Aamer Rahman took to Facebook to call out the restaurant over offensive images featured in the eaterys decor. Rahman cited a Photoshopped image of late hip-hop legend Biggie Smalls holding a fried chicken drumstick, a 1950s image of a white family with each of the members holding guns, and an image of racist stereotype Aunt Jemima as examples of gentrification. In the wake of Rahmans post, FAT Fried and Tastys official Facebook page was flooded with angry commenters, who left scathing missives for the owners. Hopefully these racist ignoramuses will go out of business pretty soon, one commenter wrote. However, as The Age reports, not all of the vitriol was directed at the proper target. Celebrity chef Shane Delia, who owns and operates the Biggie Smalls kebab shop, received abuse from irate commenters who mistook his restaurant for FAT Fried and Tasty. In addition to being named after the slain rapper, Delias Collingwood restaurant features numerous portraits of Smalls, though none are doctored and the eatery specialises in serving Middle Eastern food. That reality, however, did not stop an angry commenter from labelling Delia Privileged white hipster scum profiting off, and taking the piss out of African-Americans and their oppression. White people with guns fgs! A talented rapper simply labelled FAT stop appropriating African-American culture. Its not yours, the commenter continued, with Delia responding that the womans hate was misplaced. Sadly, this did little to sway her. Thanks for clarifying that your racist paraphernalia was sourced from another racist shit-hole. Could you cretins get any more unoriginal? Eat your junk? NOPE. Even if I did eat tortured animal corpses, I wouldnt get them from a hipsters shit-hole, she replied. Speaking to Fairfax, Delia defended his shop, saying, Were a kebab restaurant paying homage to hip-hop culture. We have had people saying were taking advantage of black minorities. In some ways its reverse racism. [include_post id=471155] This is not something I have latched on to because it was cool, Delia, whos been a fan of Small since he was a teenager, added. Most people are educated enough to know were two separate businesses. The minority take fire at any target. Meanwhile, FAT Fried and Tastys owners have no plans to remove their own homage to the rapper, though they have since removed the gun-toting family and the image of Aunt Jemima, acting on the advice of PR expert Suzanne Jones. They want to keep Biggie because they like his music and they want him to be part of their restaurant, Ms Jones told Fairfax. Wide Open Space Festival is the annual Australian festival event that brings the party to where its needed most. Kicking off this April, Wide Open Space will return once again to Ross River Resort in the Northern Territory. If partying in the desert with the likes of Om Unit and Saskwatch sounds like your idea of a good time but you dont know how youre going to get to the NT, organisers have an incredible opportunity for one lucky person. The #wishyouWOShere competition is offering a free trip to Alice Springs for WOSfest along with lots of other perks and all you have to do is upload a photo to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #wishyouWOShere. This immediately puts you in the running to win the ultimate Wie Open Space prize pack. Organisers are looking for photos that encompass what WOS is about creativity, uniqueness, adventure, celebration, freedom and fun! The competition is open to interstate music lovers from across Australia, so dont worry if youre not based in NT. If you win, youll get: [include_post id=471093] 1x Festival Pass to Wide Open Space Festival (April 29-May 1) 1x Flight from your nearest capital city to Alice Springs A killer WOS merch pack so you can style it up at the festival! Transport to the WOS festival site (80km out of Alice Springs) Oh, and we almost forgot the best part. Youll be the official blogger of WOS and get to share your experience, snap pictures, and go down in history as the ultimate legend of WOS 2016. Entries are now open and close 25th March. The winner is set to be announced 1st April. For more info and terms and conditions, head on over to the official Wide Open Space festival website or head here for some inspiration from 2015 entries. Wide Open Space Festival 2016 Interstate & International Acts Om Unit (UK) Saskwatch (Melbourne) Tek Tek Ensemble (Melbourne) Spoonbill and Friends (Melbourne) Hypnotech (San Francisco) Zucchini Clan (Victoria) Knobs (Victoria/Rome) Wonqi Rose (Melbourne) Isaac Chambers (Melbourne) DinoBitch (Melbourne) Northern Territory Acts Dezert7z & E-Town Boyz (Barkly Region) Cutlery Pool Party (Alice Springs) Resin Moon Dave Crowe (Alice Springs) Emine (Alice Springs) Room 105 (Darwin) Space Industry (Alice Springs) Cooperblack (Yuendumu) Flim Flam (Alice Springs) Boss n Ova (Alice Springs) Friday, 29th April Sunday, 1st May 2016 Ross River Resort, Northern Territory Tickets: Wide Open Space News / Africa by Staff Reporter THE Kabushi Local Court has heard how a Ndola man, when drunk, urinates in pots in the kitchen.Zambia Daily Masil reported that the man's wife, 34-year-old Catherine Chilufya complained that each time Joseph Chelo goes home drunk; he defecates in their cooking pots in the kitchen."This man loses his senses when he drinks alcohol. Instead of relieving himself in the toilet, he opts to use our pots in the kitchen to defecate and urinate because he can't find his potty," Chilufya said.Presiding magistrate Serah Bwalya and senior local court magistrates Besa Mushibwe and Mildred Nammwizye also heard how Chelo stuffs his wife's mouth with his dirty underwear when she is sleeping."In a drunken stupor, Chelo defecates and urinates in my pot in the kitchen because he failed to find his potty, then he pours his urine on me. Sometimes, he to stuffs his dirty underwear in my mouth hoping to suffocate me," she said.Chilufya of Kantolomba township was narrating in a case in which she sued Chelo for divorce after 11 years of marriage and three children."His behaviour is indicative of how much he does not respect me and wants me to die. I want a divorce," Chilufya said.She said Chelo's behaviour took a turn for worse when he got his retirement package in 2009."He started drinking heavily and failed to provide for his family. The only thing he could buy was a bag of mealie, a bottle of cooking oil and a bag of charcoal," she said.But Chelo begged the court not to grant divorce because he stills loves his wife."Chilufya is just a talkative woman. She has misappropriated part of my pension package on pretext she wanted to buy roofing sheets for the house but never did," he said.The court granted divorce with no compensation but ordered the couple to sell the plot which they had acquired and share proceeds equally. "Come join fellow Hillary supporters to celebrate the opening of our new Kansas City, MO office! Kansas City Mayor Sly James will join us to kick off the campaign as we near the Missouri primary on March 15." The faltering former first lady starts her Kansas City campaign this week . . . So she must be getting desperate.Take a peek at Team Hillary making their latest Kansas City campaign announcement . . .Deets . . .Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 6:00pm 7:30pmSEIU Hall4526 Paseo BlvdKansas City, Missouri 64110#########Notice the urban core focus at Team Hillary attempt to win the African-American vote and break away from strident Bernie Sanders supporters.Developing . . . TKC QUESTION: IS PROF. MELISSA CLICK A MENACE OR JUST MISUNDERSTOOD AMID MEDIA SCRUTINY!!! Columbia Missourian: MU Chancellor to confer with Board of Curators about body camera footage of Melissa Click ABC NEWS: : MU interim chancellor responds to newly surfaced Melissa Click video Interim Chancellor Hank Foley released a statement regarding the video Sunday evening. Last night, like many in our community, I watched newly released footage of Dr. Melissa Click directing a verbal assault against members of the Columbia Police Department during the homecoming parade in October 2015. Her conduct and behavior are appalling, and I am not only disappointed, I am angry, that a member of our faculty acted this way. Her actions caught on camera last October, are just another example of a pattern of misconduct by Dr. Clickmost notably, her assault on one of our students while seeking muscle during a highly volatile situation on Carnahan Quadrangle in November. We must have high expectations of members of our community, and I will address these new revelations with the Board of Curators as they work to complete their own review of the matter. One last love day note for our blog community to ponder for the overnight . . .Her latest YouTube highlight . . .Youtube:Check the latest controversy . . .More . . .Hopefully, more for the morning update . . .Developing . . . Mayor James' Earnings-Tax Presentation / Considering The Actions Of Rex Sinquefield There were 20 - 25 people in the room including six police officers and two bodyguards. Mayor: "the City cant take money from the aviation department. " On page 186 of this years budget, it lists Aviation Loan Repayment = $500,000 for this year. This is a partial payment for money the City borrowed from the Aviation Dept. to make up the shortage for the Power and Light District bonds. Mayor: stated he increased the Police budget by 8%. In realityhe firefighters budget went up $10,800,000 but the Police budget stayed the same. (page 45 of the budget). Mayor: NO Earnings tax dollars go into TIFs. (page 56 of the budget) shows An Economics Activity Tax of $77,500,000 for this year. Of this amount, $19,100,000 comes directly from the Earnings tax and it is so identified on this page. Mayor: No general fund money is being used for the streetcar! The last week or so, ordinance # 160049 transferred $200,000 from the public mass transportation fund to the Streetcar Land Purchase account. Sounds like were moving bus funds to the streetcar? Just like the $18,000,000 contemplated / proposed for 18th and Vine. Nothing is in stone yet but some think this is the mayor pandering to the Eastside for their vote on the Earnings Tax with these promises. They dont feel they need a fountain and statue when so many other basic needs go unmet. Particularly if any of this money is coming from Earnings Tax. If the Earnings Tax is defeated, perhaps it would be an opportunity to redo the city finances from the bottom up. For readers tonight, we offer a comprehensive roundup of recent Kansas City Earnings Tax talking points from the perspective of local tax fighters . . .In order to make this write-up a bit more reader friendly, we've highlighted some of the most interesting passages.Thursday night, we went to the meeting sponsored by the NAACP on the Earnings Tax. The mayor was the guest speaker. We all hoped to learn something new and hear a different approach as to how we might be able to eliminate this tax over the next ten years and spare the hardest working voters in KCMO from having to pay this unjust tax.We were given a hand out as we entered the room. It stated the Earnings Tax is 40% of the general fund. It did not mention that the Earnings Tax is only 15% of the total income the city took in this year. The flyer then went on to attack Rex SInquefield saying, "the St. Louis billionaire who is trying to interfere with how we run our city.The last paragraph contained the usual doom and gloom threats about cutting Police Officers, Firefighters and Ambulance services if we dont pass the Earnings Tax.The first five minutes the Mayor reiterated how he would cut police, firemen and ambulance services if the E-tax doesnt pass. He mentioned how many thousand people he would have to lay off at City hall and the basic services that would be cut; how property taxes and sales taxes would have to be increased. There was no talk about tightening the belt on city expenditures, especially in the area of TIFs, tax abatements, bonds and other amenities handed out by the city through six or seven different entities. There were no creative ideas put forward how to move the city ahead and eliminate a tax; really nothing new.The mayor stated he hadnt heard any of these radio ads on the Westside of the city on rock and roll or country western stations. Why would he? It has been determined that individuals, the working taxpayers, pay 81% or $185,000,000 of the Earnings Tax, while business pay 19% or $43,400,000. This huge inequity indicates there are a lot of places where people working in a businesses and the businesses themselves have been exempted and do not pay the Earnings tax. These exemptions most likely are on the Westside of the city, thus no ad activity there. The mayor said they do give exemptions to people working in business and the businesses that relocate to KCMO. This is in addition to other incentives such as TIFs (which include Earnings Tax dollars), property tax abatements, bonds, etc.Instead of taking advantage of this upcoming vote and figuring out a way to eliminate the Earnings Tax over the next ten years, our mayor is looking for ways to proliferate it and increase it from $228,000,000 this year to $240,000,000 next year.All of this at a time where the mayor and city manager have both stated the finances of the city have never been in better shape. The mayor is quoted in his newspaper this week as saying, This is the strongest revenue position weve been in in a decade. Then why not give the voting taxpayers a break and cut their tax burden? It appeared to us Mr. Sinquefield has the best interest of the voters in KCMO in mind, while the mayor wants to continue business as usual, taxing the poorest of the poor.Maybe the NAACP will consider inviting Mr. Sinquefield to come to KCMO and award him a plaque for looking out for the best interest of average voters, trying to cut their taxes and put more of their paychecks into their pockets?The mayor had his usual misspeaks:We felt the audience is skeptical of the announcement to destroy 800 homes with a pledge of $10,000,000. We have been there before and are reminded this is a projected budget and wont be approved for sometime. We were told several years ago Emanuel Cleaver promised to rid the city of blighted houses using gambling proceeds, nothing happened. Our current mayor made a similar promise a few years back again, nothing happened. The voters are definitely skeptical.There is no need to have five or six different agencies handing out property tax abatements, TIFs and issuing bonds to developers. These activity needs to be consolidated. How can the left hand know what the right hand is doing? There are other places to streamline our government. This is what leaders do.The city would have ten years to work out how to replace the E-tax dollars and the poorest residents would have more of their paychecks to spend. To do this we need a leader, an entrepreneur; someone with a creative mind to get the job done. We did not see this leader in the room Thursday night. The Earnings Tax could be replaced with a better plan. Its out there, we just need to find it.######## Telegraph includes includes six Greek islands among the 18 best "secret" island paradises in Europe. The Greek islands, that the British newspaper distinguishes are Kastellorizo, Meganisi, Monemvasia, Kea, Koufonisia and Ios and it describes them as follows: Kastellorizo The smallest and among the prettiest of the inhabited islands in the Dodecanese, this island is reached by air or ferry from Rhodes. Boats run to beaches on neighbouring islets; otherwise you swim off rocks. The Blue Grotto rivals the one in Capri. Multicoloured, neoclassical houses ring the harbour. The award-winning Italian film Mediterraneo was shot here. Meganisi, Greece This is one of the smaller and more quaint Ionian islands, just off the east coast of Lefkas. You fly to Prevesa on the mainland and then have about an hours transfer by road and ferry. There are beaches, but the island is particularly popular with walkers. Look for a hotel near the attractive port of Vathy, where there are quayside tavernas. Ios, Greece The lyrical loveliness of Ios is reviving, says Bethany Hughes. The epic poet Homer woke up to a rosy-fingered dawn. Well, Ios is said to be the island where the bard saw his last sunset. In the Pathos Bar beautiful people in minute swimwear serenade the setting sun here not to Party Rock Anthem but with Nessun Dorma. Expect acoustic concerts, sculpture trails, a full-blooded celebration of the fruits of the Mediterranean. Epic enjoyment in both the ancient and modern sense. Kea, Greece As the ferry manoeuvres in the narrow entrance to Keas one-horse port, Korissia, you wont see a crowd of room touts on the quay, or a flotilla of tourist boats busking their beach excursions with Zorba the Greek. This is not the style of an island which missed out on or cleverly avoided the Greek tourism boom and is largely ignored by island travellers because it has no connection with Piraeus. Kea draws on a civilised clientele of Athenian weekenders and second home owners in retreat from the city. Koufonissia, Greece Hidden away between the larger Cycladic islands of Naxos and Amorgos, Koufonissia (plural) is made up of two tiny islets, Ano Koufonissi (Upper Koufonissi) and Kato Koufonissi (Lower Koufonissi), which are separated by a 200-metre sea channel. The sandy beaches that rim Ano Koufonissi's south coast give onto cerulean blue sea of a hue that seems confined to artists' palettes, seemingly impossible in reality. Monemvasia, Greece Rising dramatically from the sea, the medieval fortress town of Monemvasia (derived from two Greek words: 'mone and 'emvasi, meaning single entrance) in the southern Peloponnese clings to the face of a dramatic rock, which rises 320ft out of the water and is 1,000ft wide and more than half a mile long and was separated from the mainland by an earthquake in ad375. The upper town, home to the original fortress, is now a deserted ruin and ripe for exploration. Of special note is the well-preserved Agia Sophia, a 12th-century Byzantine church. Old Monemvasias remaining residents live in the lower town, a mass of car-free cobbled alleyways gradually undergoing restoration and home to a handful of hotels, cafes, restaurants and four working churches (there were originally 40), including Christos Elkomenos (Christ in Chains), the largest medieval church in southern Greece. The complete list of Europe's 18 best secret islands is the following: Pantelleria, Italy Bozcaada, Turkey Castellorizo, Greece Salina, Italy Ile de Bendor, France Meganisi, Greece Cies Islands, Spain Vis, Croatia Ios, Greece Cavallo, France Kea, Greece Koufonisia, Greece Marstrand, Sweden Ile de Porquerolles, France Sylt, Germany Monemvasia, Greece Solta, Croatia Isola la Maddalena, Italy RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten, , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei, , holidays in Turkey, , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas, This site is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+, at a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768. News / Africa by Staff Reporter A court in Malawi's northern region has ordered the country's director of prosecutions and the police to arrest those found engaging in homosexual activities.The instruction, according to Malawi24, came after pastors in the Mzuzu area filed a court application calling for people in same sex relationships to be prosecuted. They argued that homosexuality was against the laws of the southern African country.The three pastors made the application after the minister of justice and constitutional affairs re-affirmed the moratorium on consensual homosexual offences.Former president Joyce Banda, appealed to parliament in 2012 to repeal the sodomy law. However, following some resistance from parliamentarians, Banda issued a moratorium on the law.But the pastors said homosexuality was not acceptable under the country's constitution."A declaration that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has no authority to suspend the operation of any law or to stop subjecting to the due process of the law all persons in the country who are suspected of having committed homosexual offences or offences of having carnal knowledge against the order of nature, under section 153 of the Penal Code," the application read.Section 153 of the Penal Code states that those found to be guilty of homosexuality could face up to 14 years in prison, with or without corporal punishment.According to Face of Malawi, Justice Dingiswayo Madise heard all arguments before ruling in favour of the three pastors.Madise also warned that anyone who did not abide by this law would be held in contempt of court.The lawyer representing the pastors, George Kadzipatike, said the injunction granted by Madise meant that those who were arrested on charges of homosexuality and were freed while the moratorium was in force would have to be tried in court, Nyasa Times reported.This comes after Kelvin Gomani, who was arrested in December last year for allegedly having homosexual relations, was recently attacked by an unknown gang. Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging markets investment bank, said in a strategy note that the expected UAE Federal bond issue would ease deposit pressure on the domestic banking sector. The bond issue will also result in limited crowding out of private sector credit growth at least in the initial phase, said a statement from Arqaam Capital. Arqaam also expects proceeds of the issuance to help cover 75-95 per cent of the countrys expected deficit for 2016, even with an oil price of $35 per barrel, it said. The UAE federal government is working on ratifying a new federal law that would allow it to issue bonds. The law, under review for the past six years, is expected to be passed over the next six to nine months, with the Central Bank of UAE responsible for issuing the bonds. Following the ratification, the government expects to issue Dh80-100 billion ($21-27 billion) in bonds, it added. Jaap Meijer, managing director at Arqaam Capital, said: A bond issuance by the UAE Federal government should reduce pressure on the deposit system. In 2015, the UAE funded its deficit shortfall through the drawdown of government deposits, sale of foreign assets and a credit line from its sovereign wealth fund. For 2016 and 2017, this mix should change, with less pressure on domestic deposits held at the commercial banks. Separately, we also expect the UAE Central Bank to possibly issue bonds to inject liquidity into the banking system should liquidity worsen further, he added. The planned issuance represents 3.3-4.0 per cent of UAE commercial banking assets and 26-33 per cent of total aggregate cash held by banks. Arqaam said in the note that it expects banks to reduce their positions in Certificates of Deposits issued by the UAE Central Bank and to rotate into these Federal bonds. It also sees UAE sovereign wealth funds as natural buyers, it added. TradeArabia News Service Switzerland-based Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum, a leading global technology group, has been awarded a contract for the supply of vacuum systems by a well-known Korean group producing lithium-ion batteries. The company will equip several production lines, and the delivery of these systems for electrode drying is expected for summer 2016, said a statement. With a system combination of the dry compressing screw vacuum pump DRYVAC DV 450C and the proven Roots RUVAC WH2500, the customer will optimise its production lines. The decisive factors for awarding the contract were in particular the superior process capability at low operating costs and the services offered, added the statement. HY Moon, head of sales, Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum Korea, said: Moreover, the smooth, interactive communication between customer, sales and application support showed our commitment. Martin Fullenbach, CEO of Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum, said: With this order we position ourselves clearly in the fast-growing, attractive business field of modern energy storage for electric mobility. The business potential for the current year shows positive aspects, especially since the market for lithium ion batteries is generally expected to grow at sustainable rates during the next three years, he added. TradeArabia News Service Mezzan Holding KSCC, one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of food, beverage, FMCG and pharmaceutical products in the Gulf, has registered a net profit of KD19.4 million ($64.9 million) in 2015, up 31.8 per cent over the previous year. The Kuwait-based company also said that its full year revenue rose 7.5 per cent to KD196.1 million ($656.5 million) over 2014, said a statement from the company. Garry Walsh, CEO, Mezzan Holding, said: We are very pleased with our performance in 2015. We saw broad based growth across our food and non-food businesses and we continued to invest behind our brands and distribution, running our first ever above-the-line campaigns for the Al Wazzan brand in Kuwait, and for Khazan and Kettle Chips brands in UAE. We are pleased with the distribution gains we made in 2015 across many of the categories we compete in, while our FY Gross Margin expanded by 0.6pps as we continued to manage the mix of our portfolio, he said. I would like thank the board for their wise counsel, and to acknowledge the hard work of the management and staff who continue to deliver on our potential. It is a genuine pleasure to work with such a dedicated group of people, he added. The company also announced the resignation of the chairman of the board of directors, Khaled Jassim Mohammad Al Wazzan, for health reasons. Motasem Jassim Al Wazzan will serve as interim chairman until the appointment of a new member and a successor by shareholders at the upcoming annual general meeting, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Bahraini police has confirmed that four foreign nationals, including one who was masked and taking part in an unlawful gathering, were arrested on Sunday (February 14), said a report by the Bahrain News Agency. They were held on charges of illegal entry and submission of false information to border staff and participating in an unlawful gathering, the Director General of the Capital Governorate Police was quoted as saying in the report. According to a Reuters report, all four of them were reportedly US citizens. The police chief said the four had entered the country as tourists on February 11 and 12 but some of them "carried out media activity without a licence from the concerned authorities, in addition to committing acts that violate the law," the report added. All four of them have been afforded full legal rights in line with the Kingdoms procedures and constitution while investigations continue, said the BNA report. News / Local by Patient Sibanda A BULAWAYO businessman admitted in court that he was having an adulterous affair when his small house claimed $285 maintenance from him.Isaiah Mucheki, 63, of Mahatshula South suburb, told a court that he could not afford the amount claimed by Qhikizana Moyo of Pumula North suburb for the upkeep of a son he sired.Mucheki, the owner of Shepherd Security Company, told magistrate Batanai Tuwe that he could only offer $20.He pleaded with the court not to expose the affair to his wife."I admit that I was involved in an adulterous affair and I don't want my wife to know this. I don't want my wife to hear that I was in court because this will lead to our divorce," said Mucheki.He said his wife had since relocated to the rural areas because he was facing financial challenges."I'm a father of 10 children and two were born out of wedlock. I only get money from my daughter. It'll be difficult for her to give me money to give her (Moyo) as we're in an adulterous relationship," said Mucheki."People won't believe that I'm getting nothing from my businesses. I lost everything in my company. I also lost my cattle and vehicles as well." Mucheki said his business empire was crumbling and he was broke."I've a farm but it's not functioning now. I also used to run a hotel in Matopo. Things have changed and I'm now struggling to earn a living," he said.Moyo told the court that she resigned from her job last year after Mucheki's sister told her to."I resigned last year in December after his sister approached me saying Mucheki would take care of his child. Mucheki once threatened that he would take away my child by force. I therefore request that he pays $285 for the upkeep of his child."Last year he told me that he was building a supermarket in Rusape," she said.Magistrate Tuwe ordered Mucheki to pay $50 for the upkeep of his eight-year-old son. News / Local by Thandeka Moyo A BULAWAYO woman broke down in court as she narrated how three men gang raped her at knife point, forcing a magistrate to postpone the case.Two of the men, who allegedly cut off her clothes with a knife before taking turns to rape her, appeared in court facing rape and robbery charges.The woman sustained serious injuries after one of the suspects, who is on the run, allegedly savagely kicked her on her private parts after she said she was on HIV medication.Prosecuting, Robin Mukura called the woman as the second State witness after the first witness, a taxi driver, told the court that Dumile Dungeni, 32 and Mlungisi Khumalo, 34, robbed him and the woman of property and gang raped the woman before driving off in his vehicle.Taking to the stand, the woman wept uncontrollably as she told the court how the trio robbed and raped her. "I know the two men as our attackers who pounced on me and my friend while we were driving in Cowdray Park. After tying us up with ropes, they drove to a certain spot where one of them dragged me out of the car and used a knife to undress me," she said and immediately began sobbing.Senior regional magistrate Tranos Utahwashe adjourned proceedings and the woman was taken for counselling.The session failed to produce results.The woman wept continually and failed to continue with her testimony, forcing Utahwashe to remand the matter to tomorrow.Dungeni and Khumalo allegedly robbed the taxi driver before taking turns to rape the woman several times.The third alleged robber did not rape the woman after she claimed that she was on HIV medication. He, however, allegedly kicked her privates and she sustained serious injuries."It was last year on August 1 when the woman called her friend who is a registered taxi operator and asked him to take her home at around 8PM. She had some goods and they went home before proceeding to her brother's place, also in Cowdray Park," said Mukura."On their way back, someone smashed the windscreen from outside with an unknown object. As they tried to figure out what was happening, three men emerged from the darkness and opened the car doors."He said the trio slapped and threatened to hit them with machetes, knives and iron bars."One of the men jumped onto the driver's seat and drove while they sat at the back in-between the two men who continued to assault them, forcing them to look down," Mukura said.After a while, the men allegedly stopped the car and one of them dragged the woman out of the vehicle and used a knife to cut her leggings and panties. He raped the woman once and force marched her back into the car, the court heard."He would stop after a few kilometres, rape her and drag her back into the car. He did this three times," Mukura said.The court heard that the other suspect also raped the woman."The third man failed to rape her as she begged him saying she was on ARVs. He, however, kicked her privates until they were sore," Mukura said."They drove along a dusty road in a bushy area connecting Bulawayo and Nyamandlovu and dropped the pair before driving off." News / Local by Nqobile Tshili A TODDLER was burnt beyond recognition while his granny escaped with serious burns after their family home was gutted by fire in Bulawayo's Nketa suburb.The fire is suspected to have been ignited by the deceased's four-year-old brother who was playing with matches.Olwethu Moyo, 2, died on the spot while his brother escaped to safety.The incident happened on Friday.Their grandmother, Sithabiso Bhebhe, was rushed to the United Bulawayo Hospitals where she was treated and discharged.She suffered burns on her face and left arm.The boys' mother is said to be in South Africa.The Chronicle yesterday caught up with Bhebhe who said she tried in vain to rescue the child."I was washing plates outside when I suddenly saw flames coming through the window. I tried to dash into the house knowing there were children inside," said Bhebhe.She said searing heat from the flames kept her at bay.Bhebhe said she screamed for help and her neighbours rushed to assist her."I heard the baby screaming once in the burning house. As neighbours came to my aid, I thought his four-year-old brother was also inside the house. I tried to ignore the flames and force my way into the house but neighbours restrained me," she said."They called the Fire Brigade but it was already too late. The neighbours tried to extinguish the fire using buckets."Bhebhe said she was somewhat relieved when she saw her four-year-old grandson rushing from the backyard as she thought he had also been burnt to death.Bulawayo Fire Brigade Senior Divisional Officer Linos Phiri urged parents and guardians to keep matches out of reach of children.He said some fire incidents could be avoided."We want to urge parents to make sure they keep matches out of the reach of children. We know children can be very naughty and want to experiment with anything. But we wouldn't be talking about this if they had kept matches out of their reach," said Phiri. News / Local by Nqobile Tshili MDC president Professor Welshman Ncube has dismissed claims by ousted party's secretary general Moses Mzila-Ndlovu that he was deliberately being marginalised in the party.Prof Ncube, while not mentioning Mzila-Ndlovu by name, said it was impossible to alienate the party's secretary general as his position was as good as that of a company's chief executive officer.He said this while addressing a rally for Lobengula, Magwegwe and Mpopoma districts at Lobengula Hall in Bulawayo yesterday.He said the real beef stemmed from ideological differences between him and Mzila-Ndlovu on whether the MDC should operate as a national or regional party."It's not about dictatorship and marginalisation. How can we marginalise the chief executive officer of a company? We should stop beating around the bush and tackle issues. The issue at hand is whether MDC should operate like a regional or national party. Let's discuss this issue more openly as Bulawayo, do we want to be a regional or national party," Prof Ncube said.He said MDC has a lot of ground work to do if it wants to be relevant in the 2018 elections and this year the party will go to Congress to select those who will represent it in the polls. "We should also look into our policy directions and make resolutions as to who'll represent us in the next five years," he said.Prof Ncube said some party members were impatient and holding clandestine meetings yet the congress was near.He said members at district and ward level will select national leaders at Congress."We're not saying everyone will go to congress but you should organise yourselves from structures, district and ward level who you'll send to congress," Prof Ncube said.He said the party needs to seriously introspect as it heads to congress as the outcome will have a bearing on how the MDC will perform in the 2018 elections.Prof Ncube called for a full swing recruitment of youths and women saying no revolution has ever succeeded without the two groups.Mzila Ndlovu and national executive committee members Esaph Mdlongwa and Abednico Moyo, Bulawayo provincial director for elections, Victor Nyoni, fellow provincial member Lucky Fengu and Greenfield Moyo from Midlands South were suspended on allegations of acting against the party's constitution.MDC spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi accused Mzila Ndlovu of being lazy and failing to execute his duties as the party's secretary general.However, other party sources said Mzila was hamstrung as Ncube sidelined him from MDC's strategic meetings, making him fail to effectively carry out his duties. News / Local by Staff reporter Welshman Ncube MDC leader has scoffed at claims by Zanu-PF finance secretary Obert Mpofu that no politicians from Matabeleland region had "presidential qualities".Addressing a Zanu-PF rally in Matabeleland North over the weekend, Mpofu said: "No one has the qualities to be President in this region and we are shocked that some people are saying so and so should replace the President because he is from this tribe."We are not involved in all that because none of us has ambition to rule."But Ncube yesterday said such "wild claims could only be expected from a drunkard". News / National by Thobekile Zhou Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is set to have new commissioners to take over from some incumbents.Today, parliament put out notices indicating that some commissioners are on the brink of ending their six year terms.Reads part of the notice seen by Bulawayo24.com: "The committee on Standing Rules and Orders is hereby calling on the Public to nominate person to be considered for appointment to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission."It added "Current commissioner's whose term are expiring on March 31st, 2016 and who have served one six year term are eligible to be nominated for one further term as provided for in section 238 (5) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe."It is not clear commissioners have served for six year and whether they will stand for re-nomination and subsequent appointment. Cde Joseph Chinotimba and his wife were the main attraction at the Book of African Records feat, The Longest Kiss in Africa. S/O to Pastor E #ZiSummer Posted by ZiFM Stereo on Sunday, 14 February 2016 Mr Tinashe Saruchera and Yvonne Saruchera kissed for two minutes 30 seconds.The video showing Chinotimba kissing his wife has since gone viral on social media.The event was an initiative by the Book of African Records to encourage Zimbabweans to break a record that will be published in the upcoming Book of African Records Zimbabwe Edition next year.The contestants were married couples and had to kiss continuously with lips touching at all times.If the lips were unlocked then the couple was immediately disqualified.Proof of marriage was required and it was also open to couples married under customary law.The contestants were not allowed to be supported by any aids.Rest breaks were not allowed.Concubines or girlfriends or those who are engaged were not allowed in the competition.The current world record for the longest kiss stands at 58 hours and is held by a Thai couple. News / National by Staff reporter HOLIDAY INN Harare evacuated all its guests yesterday after a receptionist received an anonymous call claiming a bomb had been planted in one of the hotel rooms.A team from the police bomb disposal unit was called to inspect the rooms. By time of going to print the hotel was still sealed off.Police national spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the incident saying investigations were underway."We have received the report," she said. "That is all I know now and police are still doing investigations." A legislator booked at the hotel said he immediately checked out after the bomb scare. "I checked in here in the morning and left for some business in town," he said."When I came back everyone was outside and we were not allowed to get in. We were then told that one of the receptionists received a phone call insinuating that there was a bomb planted in one of the rooms," he said. Another man, only identified as David, said he had been booked at the hotel for 10 days and expressed disappointment over what happened."It is so frustrating. We had to get our lunch at Zim Cafe just around the corner and we are extremely worried." An employee said it was still not clear what really transpired. "We do not really know what happened but it is an emergency and under such circumstances we had to stop our normal business."The business has already gone down as you can see some guests now prefer other hotels. The message is circulating on WhatsApp and that is damaging our image. People should wait and hear from the authorities what really caused the alarm." News / National by Walter Mswazie TWO police officers from Masvingo tortured a man to death after he had won a fight against one of them following a row over a fake $5 note.Brian Magama, 34, and Isaac Kachena, whose age was not given in court, severely beat up Luckson Muringani of Chivhiko Village under Chief Sengwe for the whole night at Chibwedziva police base in 2010.Muringani later died in hospital after sustaining a fractured skull during the prolonged assault.Kachena is on the run.Supreme Court Judge Justice Susan Mavhangira on Friday heard how the duo used truncheons and kicked and punched Muringani for more than 10 hours.Justice Mavhangira is back in Masvingo on circuit to clear outstanding High court cases.Magama had pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder but Justice Mavhangira, sitting with assessors Samuel Mutomba and Joseph Mushuku, convicted him due to overwhelming evidence.Sentencing him to 16 years in prison for murder with actual intent, Justice Mavhangira said it was clear that Magama and Kachena intended to kill Muringani."The fact that you tortured a defenceless person for the whole night brazenly shows your hard heartedness."Being a police officer is never a passport for depriving a person of liberty and life. You're held responsible for tarnishing the image of the police service. You could've used the law to bring him before the court in place of torturing him to death," she said.Justice Mavhangira said while the court would not lose sight of Magama' young age when he committed the offence (he was 28-years-old), it had a duty to protect the sanctity of life."You committed a serious crime of spilling blood. You deserve a deterrent sentence that will send a clear message to other police officers not to take the law in their own hands."There is no law which gives you powers to kill suspects," she said.In his defence, Magama, who was represented pro deo by Frank Chirairo, argued that Muringani might have fallen off a moving vehicle days after the assault and possibly smashed his head, leading to his death.The prosecutor, Elson Chavarika, said sometime in March 2010, Magama and Kachena tortured Muringani to death after accusing him of assaulting Kachena over a counterfeit $5 note.Muringani died six days after the assault at Chiredzi Hospital."Sometime in March 2010, the fugitive, Kachena, had a misunderstanding with Muringani over a fake $5 which degenerated into a fist fight. Muringani emerged victorious. Kachena and Magama decided to take revenge on Muringani several weeks later, on April 17," said Chavarika.The court heard that the two police officers approached Muringani and dragged him out of a bottle store where he was relaxing with friends."The two force-marched Muringani to Chibwedziva Police Base where they took turns to brutally assault him with truncheons," said the prosecutor."They kicked, punched and slapped him all over his body the whole night until the following morning."In the morning, Chavarika said, Muringani fainted and the two revived him by pouring cold water on him.He said the police officers continued beating Muringani after realising he had regained consciousness.Chavarika said the cops released Muringani when they were about to knock off but he complained of pain and dizziness.The court heard how family members rushed Muringani to Chibwedziva Clinic.Due to his deteriorating condition, the nurses at the clinic referred him to Chiredzi Hospital where he was attended by a doctor on April 20 and discharged the same day."Muringani was discharged and went home but his condition didn't improve after which he was taken back to Chiredzi Hospital where he died on admission," Chavarika said.A post-mortem report produced in court showed that he died from a fractured skull sustained during the torture. News / National by Stephen Jakes ZimFirst leader Maxwell Shumba has described the former Vice President Joice Mujuru as a thief following her registration of her new political party Zimbabwe People First on Friday last week.Shumba breathed fire accusing Mujuru of stealing the name of his party describing her as the thief from Dotito indicating that a thief will always be a thief."News spreading is that Joice Mujuru aka Mbuya from Dotito or to be blunt The Witch from Dotito, has decided to create confusion so that she can ride on our vision," Shumba said. "She is stealing everything ZImFirst the same way she stole from the people when she was Mugabe's VP. Shameful, she does not change."Shumba said from stealing farms, diamonds and now political names and vision. For the record, the names Zimbabwe First or Zimbabwe People First or People First are owned by Zimbabwe First."Lets see how, with her small brains, she intends to implement our vision. She even expect us to stand by and watch? No, nada," he said."Listen to this: she brazenly wanted to register it first as People First despite our telling her not to, failed with ZEC and then tried to register her party as Zimbabwe First and that failed too and finally settled for Zimbabwe People First. Crooked woman with long fingers in her brain. She thinks we will let it go just like that? She is mistaken."Shumba said here is what the Witch from Dotito has pocketed from our party: Name: Zimbabwe People First (Zimbabwe First failed, People First failed) Slogan: Build Brick by Brick. Slogan-Let's get Zimbabwe back to the people ZimFirst Manifesto."At the rate this mbuya from Dotito is stealing our intellectual property, I am afraid she will soon steal my wife's name and change her name to Joice Mai Shumba," he said. "We will not stand idle. We will use our brains when the time comes. We are sleek and since she does not want to use her brains we will teach her a lesson on intellectual engagement and never to steal again. Our brains are our guns." News / National by Staff Reporter Opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Tendai Biti has warned that Zimbabwe is heading for a civil war triggered by Zanu PF infighting.Biti said all that caused the 1994 Rwanda genocide is already being experienced in the country.He said the First lady Grace Mugabe would be behind the bloody civil war."I smell blood in this country. I smell war. I smell disaster. I am not a prophet, but I see dark clouds, I see a hurricane, a tsunami. If one plants a whirlwind, he will reap a tsunami. This country will go the Rwanda way," Biti told PDP members at a campaign rally at Sadza Growth Point in Chivhu over the weekend."There is leadership crisis, economic crisis and breakdown of the social contract. This all happened in Rwanda and the spark was ignited when a plane with the country's President and his counterpart fell down. In Zimbabwe, Grace Mugabe will ignite the spark and I tell you in two weeks' time, something will happen."Biti also said: "In Germany, there was a mad man by the name (Adolf) Hitler. He bulldozed his way to the top while people were relaxed."Grace is like Hitler, she will go all the way to the State house, and she must be stopped. The First Lady has crossed the path of war veterans, the paths of the securocrats." They think that Emmerson Mnangagwa is the hunted yet it is clear that Gushungo is the one being hunted.When hunting the hunter separates the target from the herd and thus far it is crystal clear that Gushungo has been isolated from all those who can protect him.The War Veterans have been pushed away from Gushungo, the army, and now close aides like Charamba who have stood loyally next to Gushungo all these years.Just like the series House of Cards , the enemies seem like friends yet they usurp power slowly and isolate their target from all and any machinery that can defend their target.Emmerson Mnangagwa is loyal to Gushungo even the first lady once said that, the years of service are proof of the loyalty.George Charamba is a loose cannon that has fired shots in defence of Gushungo and in defence of our sovereignty.It is sad that those who have less than 20 years in ZANU PF and close to the president are now isolating the President from his trusted aides.It is sad that they are creating more enemies for the First family and setting up the First lady for a great fall.Men like George Charamba, Ambassador Kajese, Misheck Sibanda, Ignatious Chombo, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Gen. Chiwenga, Major-General Nyikayaramba, Sydney Sekeramayi, Sydney Nyanungo, Alfred Nhepera, Nicholas Goche , Oppah Muchinguri and many others have given their lives in service to and in defence of the President Cde. R. G. Mugabe.These people are being isolated from Gushungo who then will be left around Gushungo to defend him and the sovereignty of the Republic ? Where was Sarah Mahoka when Emmerson Mnangagwa , Gen. Zvinavashe, Gen Chiwenga , and others were fighting neo-colonialists who had come in the form of MDC ?How many times has Jonathan Moyo insulted the President in public and today you say Gushungo should trust him more than those who have openly defended the President since time immemorial.Emmerson Mnangagwa is not the hunted , they are busy hunting for Gushungo and hunting to kill ZANU PF and thus far they are doing well .Gushungo is now at their mercy and soon he wont have seasoned patriots to defend him , he will be surrounded by these Johnny come latelies whose has loyalty has never been put to the test.They have their own agenda and they have executed it slowly and carefully.They used to be close to General Mujuru, they were close to Joice Mujuru, they were close to Goche , they were close to Mnangagwa and they are now close to the First Lady, their trend is a trend of destruction and chaos.Theirs is a strategy borrowed from House of Cards the only difference is that Frank Underwood is a system not an individual.Some say it is the CIA but this is beyond the CIA this is greed, vendettas, hate , manipulation and a lot of money and brains at play.Not even CIO, MiD, PISI or any Zimbabwean security system can decipher the keys to the strategy at play.This is the end of an era.The end of an African revolution the last soldier Robert Mugabe without a strong , loyal and patriotic system behind him is as good as a compromised soldier.Africa's hopes, Africa's future , Africa's empowerment dream now hangs by a thread. At the mercy of shadows, and undefined elements who have not been tried and tested.Cry my beloved continent as we mourn the integeity of ZANU PF and the sanctity of the system around Robert Mugabe that has kept him in power and allowed him to perform so well for black people's power.Gushungo those hunting your legacy have surrounded you and who will defend you ? Who can you trust to stand in your defence without Emmerson Mnangagwa and his systems? News / National by Thobekile Zhou FORMER vice-president Joice Mujuru has said under-fire Emmerson Mnangagwa is free to join her party- Zimbabwe People First.However, Mnangagwa would have to start from the grass roots and not guaranteed a top post."He will have to go to his province that is where he will be entertained not at our position (national)," she said.Mnangagwa has reportedly been told to quit Zanu PF by his supporters to avoid public humiliation.Last Friday at a rally in Chiweshe, Grace Mugabe refered to Mnangagwa's faction by its name - Team Lacosta in one of her unrestrained attacks.That sent shock waves within VPs camp.Like Mnangagwa, Mujuru was at one time being tipped to succeed Mugabe who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. Pravin Sawhney Speaking recently at the Counter-Terrorism Conference in Jaipur, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, alluding to Pakistan, said, Some countries have used non-state actors (terrorists) for 15 years to achieve political and strategic objectives, with counter-productive results. The truth is, far from being counter-productive, the Pakistan army has achieved substantive results against India through this strategy. On the one hand, it has increased India's policing commitments on the land and coastal borders. The 1999 Kargil conflict forced the Indian Army to deploy a division (12,000 troops) round the year at 15,000 to 18,000 feet to ensure no reccurrence of mischief. After the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the Indian Navy, made responsible for coastal security, has been flogging its expensive warships, at the cost of war preparedness. On the other hand, Pakistan's strategy has, to its own amazement, rendered the Indian Army unfit for conventional war. After Operation Parakram (the 10-month military stand-off from December 2001 to October 2002), where India failed to militarily coerce Pakistan, the Indian Army was expected to learn the right lessons. Since no insurgency which enjoys an inviolate sanctuary has ever been defeated, it was, since 1990, argued that the Indian Army should build capability to hit terrorists' bases in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir rather than fight the elusive terrorists on its soil. Instead, it did the opposite. Once the November 26, 2003, ceasefire, at Pakistan's initiative, was accepted, the artillery guns on both sides fell silent. With long-range firepower to hit Pakistani bunkers no longer an option, raids by Special Forces to thwart the proxy war was the natural choice to keep the Pakistan army on tenterhooks. Calling it a war-avoidance measure, this option was closed by the Army Chief, Gen. NC Vij by fencing the Line of Control in July, 2004. The argument that the fence is cost-effective and prevents infiltration continues to be made by senior officers who are unwilling to concede its biggest drawback: It has instilled the Maginot mentality, (a line of defensive fortifications built before World War II to protect the eastern border of France but easily outflanked by German invaders.). Any worthwhile military commander the world over will attest that a fortification induces a false sense of security and stifles the offensive spirit and action. Today, the fence denotes the Indian Army's physical, mental and psychological limit of war-fighting. It gives respite to the Pakistan army and encourages it to continue with the proxy war, without fearing Indian retaliation. The initiative has passed completely into the hands of the terrorists and their Pakistani handlers. The latter dictate the rates of engagement, infiltration, areas to be activated and to what purpose, including methods of initiation. This is the reason that even with the strength of over 12 lakh, the Indian Army fails to deter the six lakh Pakistani army from cross-border terrorism. The Pakistan army refuses to hand over Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim, Masood Azhar and others to us. Each time our political and military leaders warn Pakistan, it challenges us to a war. The Indian Army Chief, Gen. VK Singh wrote a letter (leaked to the media) to the Prime Minister in March, 2012, saying the Army was unfit for war. Media reports routinely decry the unpreparedness of the Army. What little the Army has as war reserves, for example, equipment, vehicles, spares and ammunition, is merrily being using to raise more units two divisions (each with 12,000 troops) between 2009 and 2011, and a Mountain Corps (90,000 troops). Since 2012, the Army's annual defence spending ratio of capital (for acquisitions) and revenue (pay and allowances) has been 40:60, instead of the other way round. This means more manpower costs and less war preparedness. Unfortunately, the present state suits both the political and the Army leadership; the former does not want to understand military power and is petrified by nuclear weapons, the latter is comfortable with counter-insurgency operations (CI ops). The Army has honed its skills in it for 25 years. About 40 per cent of the Army is in the Jammu and Kashmir theatre doing CI ops, while an equal number prepares itself to replace those. A generation of officers has grown and won awards, laurels, promotions and status doing CI ops. With all present generals having donned uniform after the last full-scale war of 1971, war-preparedness has become an elusive concept. The irony is that the people of India do not know what the Army is supposed to do. The nation regularly pays homage to soldiers who die fighting terrorists inside the Indian territory rather than fighting Pakistani soldiers on the border. Few bother to think that if the Army does CI ops (which should be the paramilitary's job), who would do its job of fighting the war? Should the nation be spending huge amount of money building a military force when what the Army wishes to be is to become a glorified paramilitary force? The idea of a fence on the LoC came from the BSF, which had erected one on the India-Pakistan border from Gujarat to Rajasthan and another on the India-Bangladesh border. But the Army was never receptive to the idea of erecting a fence as it was found effective only against illegal immigrants and was considered a police tactic. The Army chief, General S. Padmanabhan (General Vij's predecessor) told me: When Vij asked my opinion on the fence, I told him that this idea had been there since 1993. The reason why it had not been implemented so far was that it was unsuited for the terrain along the LoC. Moreover, a fence would instil a defensive mindset in our troops. What should the Army do? The Army Chief, Gen. Bikram Singh invited me to his office in January, 2013, and asked my opinion. I suggested four-pronged action: The fence on the LoC should be dismantled; troops should be reoriented to the conventional war role from the present anti-infiltration role; CI ops should be handed over to the paramilitary and the police in Jammu and Kashmir in a phased manner; and the Army should go back to its core competency preparing to fight a war. These are the actions that the Army would take during war; taking them in peacetime would help deter Pakistan from continuous trouble across the LoC. Adopting an offensive-defence posture does not imply war; it means peace and stability on the LoC as it would spur the Army to equip and train itself for war. These actions will also help the Army to reduce its strength by nearly 2,00,000 troops in five years; a must for a professional Army desiring to prepare itself for present-day warfare. The Modi Government, which projects itself as more muscular than the previous regimes, has not helped matters. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on July 22, 2014, the then Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley praised the Army for CI ops by concluding that, innovative troops deployment, efficient use of surveillance and monitoring devices and fencing along the LoC have enhanced (the Army's) ability to detect and intercept infiltration. Encouraged, the Army decided to upgrade the fence. The northern Army Commander, Lt Gen. D.S. Hooda told the media in August, 2015 that, The new fence will be twice as effective as the existing one. It will be hard to breach. The Pakistan army will continue to allow the Indian side to repair the fence damaged by vagaries of nature each year, without resorting to small-arms firings. The writer is Editor, FORCE, a newsmagazine on security & defence. India's recent demonstrative protest to the United States against the latter's sale of eight more F-16 multi-role fighters to Pakistan is as unnecessary as it is excessive. Not only will the sale of these aircraft not alter Indias military balance with Pakistan, but it could also tantamount to India unwittingly hyphenating New Delhi with Islamabad, a cold war phenomenon that the Indian diplomat has worked hard to undo in recent years. While New Delhi may have valid reasons to question Washington's rationale to supply these aircraft, yet the fact is Pakistan has been in possession of F-16s since 1983. Washington justifies the sale saying that these are 'critical' to Islamabad's counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations which in turn are in the national interest of Pakistan, the US, Nato and the region as a whole as these operations will reduce the ability of militants to use Pakistani territory as a safe haven for terrorism and a base of support for insurgency in Afghanistan. New Delhi's assertion is that these aircraft have limited value against fighting terrorists and is only expected to sharpen the Pakistani military prowess against India. Pakistani Air Force fighter aircraft have indeed been engaging militants in their hideouts in the tribal areas of Waziristan. However, it is difficult to quantify the success of these operations. There is also the criticism that Islamabad has been selective in targeting only the anti-Pakistani elements within the Taliban. But by expressing its disapproval, New Delhi can also be open to similar protests by Pakistan for its continued purchasing spree of high technology weapon systems and weapon platforms which has made it the world's largest importer of defence equipment. India's recent agreement to buy 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets from France is one case in point not to mention the long list of other defence equipment that New Delhi has purchased from Russia, the US and Israel. Rather than protesting too much, India should engage in quiet diplomacy and continue to build on its strategic partnership with the US while feeling free to arm itself from any source as per our defence requirement. Jammu, February 15 The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday denied having made demands for confidence-building measures for the state from alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but said government formation would take time. Senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig president Mehbooba Mufti had not demanded any confidence-building measures. "She (Mehbooba) has never said anything about CBMs. I don't know from where the newspapers have got such news. CBMs actually take place between two hostile countries. It (PDP-BJP) is one alliance that has not disintegrated here. We are not talking to any enemy that we should demand CBMs," he said. "She (Mehbooba) has said that there should be a timeframe on our 'Agenda of Alliance' that in the first year, we can do this thing and in the second year, next thing, and so on, he said. "But the thing is that Mehbooba Mufti said that whatever has been decided (in the Agenda of Alliance), a time-frame should be added to it. What we have agreed for six years has even been accepted by BJP people. He also said there was no question of reconsidering its alliance with the BJP. "It (formation of the government) is being looked into. We don't want alliance primarily for gaining the power. We want the alliance to work for the people of the state. So it (government formation) will take some time," he told reporters here in response to questions over government formation. He however did not specify why government formation was taking time. "Some things are confidential. If something is revealed before time, things get derailed," PDP MP and former state minister said, although he said the party was well aware that the people of the state wanted a government. The agenda of alliance is the document on the basis of which former chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had forged an alliance to form state government with the BJP in March 2015. The state has been under Governors Rule since January 8, a day after Sayeed Mehbooba Muftis father died. Mehbooba Mufti, seen as a Sayeeds successor said previously that PDP "cannot move forward" in forming government with BJP unless the Central Government took measures to address the state's problems. She said the Central Government of which its partner, the BJP, is the dominant constituent must create a "conducive atmosphere" in the state. Still holding talks BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav said on Monday that the party was still holding talks with the PDP. "We are communicating with each other. It is not that communication between us has broken down," Madhav, who had played a key role in forging the alliance, said. PDP also wants ore financial assistance to the state from the Centre; the regional party is believed to be still sceptical of its alliance with the saffron party and is said to be convinced that it could only remain popular if it pushed its core agenda. PTI Jasmine Singh Lets do the bhangra or maybe Vamos fazer o bhangra, however you say it, in English or Portuguese, once you are pulled into the sound of dhol, you cant stop it...not till you drop dead, literally! This pretty woman from Kharar, Punjab, Shelly Bhoil can validate bhangras infectious quality for she comes from Brazil where she co-hosted Bloco Bollywood, the first Indian street party in the Brazilina carnival, themed on Bhangra dance and music. Bhangra is like a tempting offer, once you accept it there is no going back, adds Shelly who is now settled in Brazil, but her doctorate in Tibetan English fiction and nationalism keeps bringing her back to India. This time, she comes back with the sound of dhol and balle balle reverbating in her mind. Taking Punjabi culture to Brazil is one of the many other things that keep Shelly busy. As for Bloco Bollywood street party she has loads to share, Blocos are theme parties that happen around the carnival in every nook and corner of Brazil. Actually, the idea of this party was casually suggested by the mayor of Sao Paulo to Shobhan Saxena and Florencia de Costa, an Indo-Brazilian journalist couple, who took the initiative to organise this party on Feb 6 in Sao Paulo. The first time happening Bhangra theme party saw a gathering of about 500 Indians and Brazilians who danced to the hilt on Bhangra beats. Bloco Bollywood will now become a permanent feature in the calendar of Brazil. Next year we will have Bollywood stars and dance troops from India feature in this event, Shelly animatedly tells us how people would throng the Indian Culture Centre to learn Bhangra. Back in Brazil, this Bhangra comes with improvised steps and tunes. She smiles, Okay, there we dont have the typical Bhangra, it is like Bhangra steps infused with zumba, danced to Bollywood tunes like Nagaada Baja from the Hindi film Jab We Met. You cannot possibly take out Punjab from a heart that has seen and lived it, now whoever said that, seems to be true in Shellys case. And, also, in the case of all the Indo-Brazilians who laugh and cry with Bollywood movies, fall off their seats with Punjabi one liners. Shelly is waiting for the release of her debut poetry book, An Ember From Her Pyre, which she would be releasing in Kolkata soon. Dance and poetry are intrinsic to where I come from and no matter where I go they will beat within me. jasmine@tribunemail.com R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, February 15 The Supreme Court on Monday endorsed the governments Command Exit policy for promotions in the Army in order to reduce the age profile of the commanding officers and achieve optimal combat effectiveness as suggested by the Ajay Vikram Singh in the light of the 1999 Kargil war. There is nothing perverse, unreasonable or unfair about the policy that the age of officers serving in Combat Arms and Combat Arms Support will be lowered by creating additional vacancies to be allotted on Command Exit Model, a Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice Kurian Joseph ruled in a 58-page judgment. The Supreme Court delivered the verdict on appeals by the Centre challenging the Armed Forces Tribunals March 2, 2015 order quashing the governments January 20, 2009 policy circular. Citing the lower age profiles of commanding officers in Japan, China and Pakistan, the government had sought to ensure quicker promotions for such officers in combat arms and combat arms support in India by creating additional posts for them. The affected officers in other units had gone to the AFT, challenging the circular. The Supreme Court ruled that all army officers could not be treated as belonging to a single cadre as in the case of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or the Indian Police Service (IPS). While hearing the appeals, the court had framed a question: Do officers serving in Arms, Arms Support and Services constitute a single cadre? We have no difficulty in answering the question in the negative and holding that officers in service streams do not constitute a single cadre with those serving in Arms and Arms Support for purposes of allocation of additional vacancies created pursuant to the recommendations made to the government by the AV Singh Committee, the Bench said. As a result, it refused to accept the contention of the affected officers that the policy had denied them their legitimate expectation for batch parity. The Bench, however, directed the government to create 141 additional posts of Colonel to be allocated to the Combat Support stream for being utilised by appointing officers who were eligible for promotions during 2009-14. New Delhi, February 15 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet leaders of political parties on Tuesday to discuss major issues ahead of Budget Session on Parliament. The exercise is meant to ensure that the Budget Session is smooth after last two sessions were marred by protests that paralysed Parliament, although sources in the Central Government claimed it was not an all-party meeting and that Bills pending in Parliament will not be discussed. What is significantly is that this is the first time prime minister himself has called such a meeting. Political parties, particularly the main Opposition the Congress have accused Modi of having ignored their views. The Budget Session will begin on February 23. One of Central Governments key agenda will be to see the amendment to levy goods and services tax finally pushed through. The tax a major tax reform that has so far remained controversial has been eluded passage twice. The Central Government intends to roll it out on April 1, 2016. The government also intends to push through its labour reforms. Issues such the ongoing row at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in which a student leader has been arrested, a Dalit students suicide in Hyderabad on January 17 in which two Union Ministers have been accused of being involved, the political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh currently under President's Rule and a predawn terror strike on an Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2 are likely to make the session stormy. The Central Government has in the past accused the Congress of deliberately stalling Parliament. Agencies New Delhi, February 15 Remains of the nine soldiers buried alive in Siachen recently were flown back to their home states on Monday. The Indian Army paid their respects to the soldiers at Delhis Palam Technical Airport. Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh, Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha were among those who attended it. One of the nine who died waas Subedar Nagesha TT a highly motivated Junior Commissioned Officer nicknamed Rambo. Nagesha spent 12 of 22 years of his service in difficult areas and was of 'Operation Parakaram' and Operation Rakshak a counter insurgency operation at Mendhar in Jammu and Kashmir for two years. He volunteered to serve with Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir for two years. Nagesha also volunteered to serve as Commando in the National Security Guard for three years and later, he went to North East from 2009 to 2012 to take part in 'Operation Rhino' where he was part of several successful operations against the militants as the ghatak platoon JCO, they said. His colleagues remember him as 'Rambo', who would carry their weapons and his own. He was highly adventurous and also did a para-motor course with outstanding grading. He is survived by wife Asha and two sons Amit TN and Preetham TN aged six and four respectively. Havildar Elumalai M, a non-commissioned officer (NCO) who always took initiative and was always willing to carry out any task assigned to him, was also among the dead. He joined 19th Battalion The Madras Regiment on October 28, 1996 and ever since he became an inseparable part of the battalion. The NCO had always displayed high degree of courage and had conducted several successful small team operations against terrorists in both Jammu and Kashmir and North East during his nine years of field service, the officials said. Because of his ability to motivate his juniors and lead them from front the NCO was selected to be part of Sonam Post which required men with nerves of steel and high level of physical fitness. He attained Instructor grading in Weapon Course at Infantry School, Mhow and was posted as Instructor at The Madras Regimental Centre, Wellington where he trained several recruits and his work was praised by his superiors. He was also part of the Unit Training Team prior to induction of the unit to Siachen Glacier. PTI Amaninder Pal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 14 Punjab scientists have developed the countrys first-ever low-seed kinnow variety. India is the third country in the world to accomplish the task after Pakistan and the US. Experts have given their approval to cultivating the new variety on a commercial scale beginning this year. It took Punjab Agricultural University scientists eight years to evolve the low-seed kinnow from a variety developed at the Citrus Research Centre, Riverside, University of California, US, and introduced in Punjab way back in 1959. The new variety, with a 0-9 seed count, has been approved by Punjabs Varietal Approval Committee. The committee has assessed all aspects of the variety and given its approval, said Dr Gurkanwal Singh, Director, Department of Horticulture, and committee chairman. Dr MIS Gill of the Department of Fruit Sciences, PAU, said the new variety had been developed by using gamma rays. Our scientists began work on the project in 2007. Having a negligible seed count, this variety is bound to create a market for itself as seeds turn kinnow juice bitter, he added. Seeds in kinnow are a major obstacle in exporting the fruit to Europe. The export market for citrus fruit is worth $2.13 billion and Indias share is a measly 1 per cent. Key export markets for kinnow are Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, UK, Russia and Vietnam. Peshawar, February 15 Amidst tight security, Pakistan's prestigious Bacha Khan University reopened today, nearly a month after Taliban militants stormed the varsity in the country's restive northwest and killed 21 people, mostly students. For security reasons, the teachers have been allowed to carry weapons. Vice-chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat welcomed students in the university campus in Charsadda town which is located about 50 km from Peshawar. "Enough measures were in place to foil any further attack. We are satisfied with the security arrangements at the campus," Marwat said. Bacha Khan University (BKU) has planned special lecturers to relieve the students of the "psychological trauma" and start their normal studies, he said. Security clearance has been given to the BKU and that eight policemen will be stationed on the university premises and a mobile van will be deployed outside. Four female university employees would be tasked with keeping an eye on female students, Charsadda district police officer said. "The threat to the educational institution is not over yet. Not only the BKU but institutions are at threat but it does not mean to close everything forever," he said. He said police and army were tackling militancy directly and smashing their networks and arresting facilitators. Earlier, on January 25, BKU briefly reopened before closing down indefinitely. On January 20, four heavily-armed terrorists attacked BKU named after the iconic Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Authorities have arrested four facilitators who helped the attackers enter Pakistan and took them to Mardan city. PTI News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe, reportedly handed out 1 095kg of raincoats to rally-goers in Chiweshe.Only one week ago, her husband President Robert Mugabe declared the drought a national disaster. This season's rains have been abnormally low.Agencies now warn that up to 3 million Zimbabweans or nearly one-quarter of the population will need food aid.The raincoats were part of a long list of donations handed out by Mugabe's 50-year-old wife.Other items donated included tractors, rice, cooking oil, sugar and shoes, said Newsday and eyewitnesses at the scene of the rally.Grace Mugabe used the rally to insist that she would push her husband to work "in a wheelbarrow" if he was unable to walk.She said Mugabe would be Zanu-PF's sole candidate for the next elections in 2018, according to an update from the Herald online. He will be 94 then.In what some see as the final push to annihilate a Zanu PF faction reportedly linked to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, popularly known as "Team Lacoste", as Grace declared she is firmly in charge of the ruling party.Grace made the remarks while addressing thousands of Zanu PF supporters in Mazowe South, where she urged people to "watch this space" for the unravelling of the Lacoste faction."Those engaging in factionalism should stop it forthwith. The time is nearing for telling each other the truth. I am not eyeing any post because I am in charge already."Could I be more in charge than this (current status as First Lady)? People say Amai Mugabe wants to rule yet I am ruling," she said in reference to introductions made by Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, who said Mugabe's deputies were third in the pecking order, insinuating Grace was second. Ankara, February 15 Turkey will not allow the Syrian border town of Azaz to fall to Syrian Kurdish fighters, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday, warning of a "severe response" if they advance. "We will not let Azaz fall," Davutoglu was quoted as saying by private NTV television on his plane en route to Ukraine. "The YPG (the People's Protection Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates (river) and east of Afrin," he added. Turkish artillery has struck at Kurdish militia targets in Syria since the weekend, with Ankara insisting it was returning fire. Ankara accuses the YPG of being the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, and it fears Syrian Kurds are seeking to carve out an autonomous Kurdish region on Turkey's border. Turkey confirmed on Monday that it shelled advancing Kurdish fighters in northern Syria for a third day. Foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said Ankara "retaliated in kind" when an attack from an area under YPG control targeted a border post in Turkey. The Damascus regime has condemned Ankara over the shelling while urging the United Nations to act. "Currently YPG elements were forced out of the Azaz neighbourhood. If they come closer to Azaz, they will receive the most severe response," Davutoglu said. "The necessary intervention will be made (by Turkey) against the YPG when it is required." Turkey has been gravely concerned by the moves of the Kurdish fighters on Azaz and has so far defied calls from its Western partners to stop artillery bombardments of YPG positions The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Kurdish-Arab militia alliance in that the YPG plays a key role, has also seized the Minnigh air base in northern Syria. Davutoglu warned the SDF to withdraw from the airport, issuing a veiled threat of possible Turkish military action if they failed to do so. "They will withdraw from the airport... If not, the airport will be rendered unusable," he said, without elaborating. Davutoglu said: "The YPG is clearly Russia's instrument in Syria right now", the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. "Russia is using those tools to be able to corner Turkey. Therefore, our stance has a legitimate basis." AFP Dubai, February 15 Bahrain has arrested four American journalists covering the anniversary of its 2011 uprising amid a long crackdown on dissent in the tiny island nation, witnesses said on Monday. Bahrain said it detained the four for entering the country without obtaining a media visa and for "participating in an unlawful gathering." The US Embassy in Manama said in a statement on Monday it was "aware of the arrest of four US citizens in Bahrain" yesterday but that it could not discuss the case due to privacy concerns. The identities of the journalists and whether they worked for a specific media outlet was not immediately clear. Photographs of the reporters working in Sitra, a largely Shiite community south of the capital that has seen repeated protests, circulated on social media, including one image of a woman being filmed while speaking to a masked protester. On Sunday, police arrested a photographer working with the group, the two witnesses said. Later that night, police surrounded the area with checkpoints and arrested the other three, the witnesses said. The witnesses spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of being arrested. An Arabic language police statement carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency accused one of the four journalists of wearing a mask and being part of "subversive elements" rioting, committing vandalism and attacking security forces. It also said the journalists entered the country on tourist visas. Bahrain requires international journalists to obtain special media visas before entering Bahrain to work. An English language version of the statement did not include much of that detail. Neither version identified those arrested as Americans. "The four are suspected of offenses including entering Bahrain illegally ... (submitting) false information to border staff and participating in an unlawful gathering," that statement read. "They have been afforded full legal rights in line with the kingdom's procedures and constitution while investigations continue." Bahraini officials did not respond to requests for comment from the AP. The 2011 protests in Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, were the largest of the Arab Spring wave of demonstrations to rock the Gulf Arab states. AP News / National by Staff reporter President Robert Mugabe has flushed his rich political legacy down the cesspit by aligning himself with "a cabal of selfish self-centred crooks" hell-bent on elbowing out Zanu-PF's founding members and presenting themselves as bona fide party members, former politburo member Cephas Msipa has lamented.The former Midlands provincial governor and stalwart of the liberation struggle, who quit active politics in 2014, told NewsDay yesterday that the current wave of infighting in Zanu-PF was being propagated by "people with no history of the armed struggle".The development came after Zanu-PF Women's League secretary First Lady Grace Mugabe and party political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere effectively accused Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa of plotting a coup against President Robert Mugabe. Dear friends around the world, This is amazing. I came across this accidentally and am I glad I did. I have searched the webs for more information but this is all I can find. I guess they would have more in the Russian language. But for now these extremely inspiring and beautiful pictures will touch your heart. I dont see a picture of the monk clearly so I guess maybe he is humble and does not want to be seen? I am not sure. They have so little and so much hardship and yet they dont give up and just build, live together and pursue. They dont find excuses to fail. Their future is so uncertain yet they dont give up to build their spiritual community in the harsh mountains. They take it one day at a time trusting Buddha. They are really building a community. There are so many people where the centres are set up, the teachers are there, they have food, there is transport, comfortable rooms and everything is completely ready yet they can find excuses to not do dharma or find fault. They find reasons to procrastinate till its too late. Imagine if we had to work as hard as these monks to build our temple to practice in the remote cold mountains. Then it burns down and we have to do it again. Imagine if we had to go through this much hardship to get dharma? We dont have to and yet we still can find problems both internal and external. Instead of feeling down, this is a great inspiration! It is for me a great inspiration. Lets do dharma. Lets build, construct, make it happen and bring dharma to ourselves and those karmically ready. Lets learn, practice, share with others the dharma and be successful in our dharma works. Lets never let our inner obstacles manifest into outer obstacles but let go. Lets not find internal reasons that constrict us. Lets do dharma and just make it work!! Do our dharma work with responsibility, diligence, love, care and do it well. Lets improve on the inside and then manifest on the outside. We can do it. This applies to anything in life and not just dharma. Dont let difficulties stop you because the time passes anyways. It can pass with you struggling with a purpose and in the end you have results to be proud of. Or you can let time pass by sedentary and procrastinate and it may be easy now, but in the end, you have no results. You see the real struggle is in the end you have no results. So this applies to anything in life. Dont give up and succeed! Nothing to lose! Buddhist practitioners who really would like to gain higher attainments stay away from the bustle of endless and empty city life. But the resident members here really take it another notch and much higher. How much adversity, obstacles and hardship they have to endure to build their little monastery in the mountains. Absolutely beautiful and touching. But there is some danger to the existence of this monastery so please read below carefully to understand. I hope one day I can ask some of my students to go visit and find out more. For now I offer my prayers to the Buddha and Three Jewels that this monastery will grow, the members will grow, they will be safe and their practice will reach fruition. By the power of the Buddhas enlightenment, by the power of the truth of Buddhas speech and by the power of the holy sangha, may this beautiful and inspiring temple enclave grow and be stable. Humbly, Tsem Rinpoche Buddhist monks far off in the Russian mountains By Andrei Senushkin Tucked away in the Ural Mountains of the Sverdlovsk region is Mount Kachkanar, only 887 meters high. There is a small city (1,607 kilometers from Moscow) by the same name located at the foot of the mountain. This is where Russias only mountain Buddhist monastery has existed for several years now. The mountain is located on the premises of a private company and access to it is restricted. The monastery was constructed on private land and can be demolished at any time. But the resident monks are always happy to have guests. They offer them to drink tea right away. This is perhaps the most often-used phrase on the mountains peak. This phrase doesnt imply actually drinking tea, but rather the eastern variant of conversation and gatherings. Initially, the Urals were inhabited by the Mansi people, a small ethnic group in Russia that was pushed back past the Urals by the ethnic Russians in between the 11th and 14th centuries. The Mansi did not live on Mount Kachkanar itself, but considered it a place of strength and used it to hold religious customs. When Russians came here, they became interested in the local platinum deposits. Platinum fever began. The a mining and processing plant was founded in the late 1950s. The plants basin was initially further from the peak, which did not fall into the technological zone. Local residents came here to relax and groups of tourist wander along local trails. There was no monastery in Soviet times. The idea to build it first appeared in 1995. Mikhail Sannikov created it. He was born to a military family and commanded a reconnaissance group himself in Afghanistan. He left the army after being wounded and started working as a janitor in a morgue, a cook in a river fleet, and finished art school externally. At the end of the 1980s, at 27 years-old, Mikhail decided to enter the Ivolginsky Datsan (the Buddhist monastery and university for Buryats in Russia). He entered the monastery and took the religious name Tenzin Dokchit. He also studied Buddhism in Mongolia, after which young Lama Dokchit was given the order to build a Buddhist datsan in the Urals. The reasoning was simple: there are Buryat temples in the east, the Saint Petersburg Gunzechoinei in the west, Kalmyk datsans in the south, but in the middle of Russia, the Ural Mountains, had no Buddhist temples. They chose Mount Kachkanar because it is located on the border between Europe and Asia. The monastery was named Shad Tchup Ling, which means the place of practice and realization (or the Place of study and implementation). Construction started on May 15, 1995 and was built by Tenzin Dokchit by himself for the first years. The first buildings were practically entirely made of wood. A fire that occurred in 1998 destroyed everything that had been constructed. The lama and small group of students had to start everything over again. The rhythm of life at the monastery is unhurried: studies, expeditions for building materials, tea, teachings, and self-development. Nobody is forced to follow a schedule, but if youve come here, it means you want to study. Including studying how to survive. You can learn many new things about all kinds of things, but still not receive an answer to practical questions, like where do the monks get money for construction from? or why dont they have a deed to the land? The lama answers that the monastery is not what matters; what matters it the process. As for money and food: if you ingest food according to your bodys needs, then the food becomes a meal; if the body is alive, that means there must be a meal. The mining and processing plants attitude towards the neighboring Buddhist monastery changed radically in the 21st century. The plant produces 55 million tons of iron ore per year. Its starting to develop a new deposit which carries the risk that the mountain may be destroyed by the inherent blasts. They consider the monastery on Kachkanar to be out of place. All photos by ANDREI SENUSHKIN Source: http://rbth.com/multimedia/pictures/2014/04/23/buddhist_monks_far_off_in_the_russian_mountains_36139?crid=325359 Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 13 of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, allowance is made for fair dealing for purposes such as non-profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events. The Operator and author(s) of TsemRinpoche.com, a not-for-profit blog, do not claim ownership on the intellectual property rights of the contents, images and/or videos reproduced in this article. Any subsisting intellectual property rights shall belong to the legal owner of the contents, images and/or videos. Denmark has a long tradition of producing good scholarship on Tibetan studies. Today as the Confucious Institute, a vehicle of the Chinese government purporting to be academic centres on university campuses, mushrooms around the world, the University of Copenhagen is closing its Tibetan studies program. It is sad but it is the sign of the times. Learning about Tibet culture brings no benefit economically to any country. Friendship with the Tibetan leaders is expensive as Western governments have to subsidize them instead of benefiting from mutual trade benefits. With China it is mutual trade benefits. Many private citizens may protest, but the truth of the matter is the trend is heading towards China more and more and away from the corrupt Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala. Their days are numbered. All the problems they have created using religion, regionalism and politics are only giving themselves bigger headaches and losing more support. Write to the decision makers today and help save Tibetology if you wish, but I dont think it will do any good. Tibetan Studies as a subject that has always been vulnerable as it is not referable to a country, or to a country that Denmark trades with. This applies to other places as well. We should see more of this happening. Once one institution takes this step, it starts a trend. The Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India keep defying the Chinese government. They should make friends with the Chinese government and then work towards saving Tibetan culture. Tibet is in China and China controls Tibet accept this simple truth already. No matter how many Westerners complain about Chinas human rights issues, it will not change them or Tibet. China is getting stronger and not weaker. After all, its easier to get a powerful party to help you in something if you make friends with them first. Tibetan leaders in exile must make friends with China. Its been 50 years since Tibet has been under China and the Exile government in Dharamsala can do nothing. They court Western powers for subsidies to pay their bills in Dharamsala but how long will that last? But the Western powers never agree Tibet is independent. How ironic is that? The sympathy will wear off and along with that the free subsidies to support the Tibetan government-in-exile as we are witnessing now. The US was giving US$19 million per year to subsidize them and now its reduced to US$6 million. It will further lessen because the US and other countries get nothing from the Tibetan government-in-exile. There is no Tibet to trade with. The Tibetan government-in-exile produces no self-sustaining financial programs at all. It will further reduce as Chinas influence grows. Whether we like China or not, the simple fact is Tibet is in China and the logical step is to be friends with China to achieve preserving Tibetan culture. Tibetans must make friends with China to save their culture. Western governments and people can do nothing for Tibetans in the long run. We must wake from denial already. Tibetan government needs to straighten out their self-created mess. The Dorje Shugden issue is dividing Tibetans and it is an infringement of religious freedom, the two Karmapa issue remains unresolved, and now rangzen (freedom thinkers, Tibetan exiles who want independence from China) and umaylam (Middle Way autonomy under China) are fighting with each other. One set of Tibetans are accepting of autonomy within China. A larger group of Tibetans want full independence of Tibet from China. When you want full freedom, it conflicts with the Dalai Lamas view of the Middle Way (umaylam). So those Tibetans that want full freedom (rangzen) are considered anti-Dalai Lama and hated by the Dalai Lama camp. When you practise the banned deity Shugden, then you are against the Dalai Lama and so on because Tibetan leadership wishes to dictate what spiritual path you are allowed to practice. No other civilized democratic country dictates to its citizens what they can and cannot practice. The level of corruption in the Tibetan leadership is reflected by the latest election scandal where the rules of election were changed DURING elections to eliminate their co-candidates. The Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala has created so many problems and yet they have failed to gain any leeway with China for the six million in Tibet, while Tibetans in India do their best and scramble to migrate to the West, where their childrens Tibetan culture and identity further erode. I want Tibetans to be have happiness as well the Chinese. It starts with dialogue. The West cannot help Tibetans in Tibet. Only China can help. So Tibetan leaders in exile must make friends with China no matter how difficult it is. Western powers are scrambling to please China. Why? Because the Western powers have a responsibility and duty to the betterment of their own citizens. Tibetan leaders must do the same. Then China will help Tibet. In this way the Tibetan leadership will be helping their own people in Tibet. May Tibetans fulfill their wishes and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama live long and visit Tibet soon! May China further improve Tibet and have lasting further good relations with the world. May there be world peace and happiness in every nation. Tsem Rinpoche Another article of related interest: http://universitypost.dk/article/tibetology-shut-down-university-copenhagen#comment-17123 Copenhagen University shuts down Tibetan studies wing [Friday, February 12, 2016 21:39] By Tenzin Dharpo DHARAMSHALA, Feb. 12: The Copenhagen University earlier this week shut down its Tibetology or Tibetan studies department citing defunding by the Danish government. The move by the prestigious university in the capital of Denmark is seen as undermining 1,200 years of mind science, says one axed faculty member. Associate professor of the department Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, speaking to the Copenhagen Universitys University Post said, What we are going to miss here is scholars and mediators who have studied the conditions of suffering and relief from suffering for 1,200 years. There are few traditions from this time that are still alive in our time, and this, the Tibetan tradition, is one of them, The University lost more than 500 staff members, almost half of whom were fired and the rest choosing to leave voluntarily, the establishments official website mentioned. The University in a cost cutting measure is set to reduce outlay by 300 million Danish Krone (DKK). The Danish government last year announced budget reduction will have research funding reduced to DKK 1.2 Billion from DKK 22 Billion. The pronouncement now being put into effect has seen the Tibetan Studies especially susceptible to being axed as the political status of Tibet is not referable to a country and Tibet not among the countries Denmark is engaged in trade. Few sympathetic comments were posted on the University website with one Roisin Elder writing, This is clearly China leaning on Denmark. Its a recent development. Axing one and a half jobs at a university is an easy way to appease the totalitarian giant. Its obviously not an economic decision. Another post by Ngawang Lungtok engages in a more realistic political leverage. He writes, It is neither saddening nor surprising. It was inevitable and bound to happen. No one really cares about some ancient age old related study that gives neither job guarantee nor with a legitimate country to back the study itself. The faculties of the Tibetology department are fired and the 12 enrolled student without a course to pursue in the University of Copenhagen. Source: Phayul US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher warns of the corruption of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Tibetan leaders are increasingly eroding the confidence of their sponsors and supporters around the world with their corruption, self-serving attitude and lack of results. The Tibetan government-in-exile like to blame China for their woes in order to take the spotlight of failure away from themselves. But the truth of the matter is they should be more honest, hard-working, create harmony and not divide their people with religion, regionalism as well as divergent political views. The world gains no benefit from interacting with the Tibetan government-in-exile but there are benefits from interacting with China. More countries are realizing this and therefore departments like the one in Copenhagen University are closing, while Chinese studies like Confucianism is growing. Learning about China will help Denmark, Europe and North America while studying about Tibet does not benefit the countries economy at all. Being friends with Tibetan government-in-exile is proving to be a liability while friendship with China is proving to be beneficial to their citizens. The days for Tibetan government-in-exile are numbered. For more interesting information: Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 13 of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, allowance is made for fair dealing for purposes such as non-profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events. The Operator and author(s) of TsemRinpoche.com, a not-for-profit blog, do not claim ownership on the intellectual property rights of the contents, images and/or videos reproduced in this article. Any subsisting intellectual property rights shall belong to the legal owner of the contents, images and/or videos. Dear friends, Now this is a book we must obtain and read. It will shed light on so much British imperialism that was the current European views of his time. It should be interesting to read about a so-called respected world statesman as Churchill. But in reality was there a darker side? Many of his colleagues thought Churchill was driven by a deep loathing of democracy for anyone other than the British and a tiny clique of supposedly superior races, and they would know as they worked with him. This was clearest in his attitude towards India which is unacceptable today. He clearly seems to be a white supremacist who looked down on other races and their religions. This is who ran Britain. He seems worse than other modern dictators hiding under the guise of democracy and superior cultural civility to carry out his atrocities. The irony is Churchill was against monarchical rule but he sure was worse than most dictators. Some interesting quotes from Winston Churchill that would not be accepted in todays world views: As Winston Churchill famously said, I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. When the Kurds rebelled against British rule, Churchill said: I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes[It] would spread a lively terror. When Mahatma Gandhi launched his campaign of peaceful resistance against British colonialism and rule, Churchill raged that he ought to be lain bound hand and foot at the gates of Delhi, and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new Viceroy seated on its back. Lovely statement from a world statesman running a democracy. Ironically the U.K. is experiencing so much migration of the colored peoples now and some Brits are complaining. But it was okay for the Brits to take over India, proclaim Queen Victoria as Empress of India and cart off shiploads of Indias wealth into British coffers. Today many British and Europeans are different, thank goodness, and share a more enlightened view of the rest of humanity, but the legacy of their forefathers damage still lives on in many countries. I am not against the British at all, in fact they have a rich culture I appreciate and they have contributed much to the world. People like to quote Chinas human rights abuses but look at your own history in the not-so-distant past. Every countrys citizens, especially countries with a history of colonialism, should self-examine very carefully as well as see whats happening everywhere and in China. If you dont like whats happening in China, then demand your governments to stop all economic ties, business and profits immediately. Churchill hated India, Indians and their religion, but he didnt mind the wealth he stole from them and then used to suppress them. Dont make money from China and then criticize China as its hypocritical and until that happens, self-examine. China definitely needs to improve but so do many other countries. Your governments and private sectors are making plenty of money from China and the economic benefits filter down to the citizens, of which one of them is you in one way or another. Even today in the U.S., a supposed powerful human rights-advocating country, there is so much racial tension as you can see in the recent Ferguson events. So many countries are guilty of this past and present. We need to think how much damage and pain has been created. Lets not point fingers at this or that country and their human rights record. Many of the finger-pointers have a severe human rights infringement record themselves. I am not on anyones side and I wish the best for all countries and world peace but the fact is India has now way surpassed Britain, and its ironic for Churchill and his racist view of the inferior dark-skinned natives. Well I am a dark-skinned native (LOL) and proud of it, and glad I dont live in a world ruled by the Winston Churchills. Some even consider my religious faith in Dorje Shugden as beastly. But I will continue. The new key clique-ish word that some Western powers seems to have morphed from racism is HUMAN RIGHTS. This country and that country has horrendous human rights and therefore we have the moral high ground to criticize them. Look at your own countries dark histories first. Yes, we should speak up and help change the world one country at a time, but remember one ex-convict does not need to be all high and mighty about a crime another is committing when youve done the same in the past. In other words many countries are guilty of many horrendous acts to other races and cultures, so when we speak up, speak up respectfully and with a good motivation. Speak up knowing no one is perfect or has been perfect or will be perfect. In Buddhism its called samsara. When things in samsara go wrong, its expected and be only surprised if it goes right. But in secular terms, where there are humans, all types of prejudices, likes and dislikes will arise. Tsem Rinpoche Not his finest hour: The dark side of Winston Churchill Winston Churchill is rightly remembered for leading Britain through her finest hour but what if he also led the country through her most shameful hour? What if, in addition to rousing a nation to save the world from the Nazis, he fought for a raw white supremacism and a concentration camp network of his own? This question burns through Richard Toyes new history, Churchills Empire, and is even seeping into the Oval Office. George W Bush left a bust of Churchill near his desk in the White House, in an attempt to associate himself with the war leaders heroic stand against fascism. Barack Obama had it returned to Britain. Its not hard to guess why: his Kenyan grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, was imprisoned without trial for two years and was tortured on Churchills watch, for resisting Churchills empire. Can these clashing Churchills be reconciled? Do we live, at the same time, in the world he helped to save, and the world he helped to trash? Toye, one of Britains smartest young historians, has tried to pick through these questions dispassionately and he should lead us, at last and at least, to a more mature conversation about our greatest national icon. Churchill was born in 1874 into a Britain that was washing the map pink, at the cost of washing distant nations blood red. Victoria had just been crowned Empress of India, and the scramble for Africa was only a few years away. At Harrow School and then Sandhurst, he was told a simple story: the superior white man was conquering the primitive, dark-skinned natives, and bringing them the benefits of civilisation. As soon as he could, Churchill charged off to take his part in a lot of jolly little wars against barbarous peoples. In the Swat valley, now part of Pakistan, he experienced, fleetingly, a crack of doubt. He realised that the local population was fighting back because of the presence of British troops in lands the local people considered their own, just as Britain would if she were invaded. But Churchill soon suppressed this thought, deciding instead they were merely deranged jihadists whose violence was explained by a strong aboriginal propensity to kill. He gladly took part in raids that laid waste to whole valleys, destroying houses and burning crops. He then sped off to help reconquer the Sudan, where he bragged that he personally shot at least three savages. The young Churchill charged through imperial atrocities, defending each in turn. When concentration camps were built in South Africa, for white Boers, he said they produced the minimum of suffering. The death toll was almost 28,000, and when at least 115,000 black Africans were likewise swept into British camps, where 14,000 died, he wrote only of his irritation that Kaffirs should be allowed to fire on white men. Later, he boasted of his experiences there: That was before war degenerated. It was great fun galloping about. Then as an MP he demanded a rolling programme of more conquests, based on his belief that the Aryan stock is bound to triumph. There seems to have been an odd cognitive dissonance in his view of the natives. In some of his private correspondence, he appears to really believe they are helpless children who will willingly, naturally, gratefully include themselves within the golden circle of an ancient crown. But when they defied this script, Churchill demanded they be crushed with extreme force. As Colonial Secretary in the 1920s, he unleashed the notorious Black and Tan thugs on Irelands Catholic civilians, and when the Kurds rebelled against British rule, he said: I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes[It] would spread a lively terror. Of course, its easy to dismiss any criticism of these actions as anachronistic. Didnt everybody think that way then? One of the most striking findings of Toyes research is that they really didnt: even at the time, Churchill was seen as at the most brutal and brutish end of the British imperialist spectrum. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was warned by Cabinet colleagues not to appoint him because his views were so antedeluvian. Even his startled doctor, Lord Moran, said of other races: Winston thinks only of the colour of their skin. Many of his colleagues thought Churchill was driven by a deep loathing of democracy for anyone other than the British and a tiny clique of supposedly superior races. This was clearest in his attitude to India. When Mahatma Gandhi launched his campaign of peaceful resistance, Churchill raged that he ought to be lain bound hand and foot at the gates of Delhi, and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new Viceroy seated on its back. As the resistance swelled, he announced: I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. This hatred killed. To give just one, major, example, in 1943 a famine broke out in Bengal, caused as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has proved by the imperial policies of the British. Up to 3 million people starved to death while British officials begged Churchill to direct food supplies to the region. He bluntly refused. He raged that it was their own fault for breeding like rabbits. At other times, he said the plague was merrily culling the population. Skeletal, half-dead people were streaming into the cities and dying on the streets, but Churchill to the astonishment of his staff had only jeers for them. This rather undermines the claims that Churchills imperialism was motivated only by an altruistic desire to elevate the putatively lower races. Hussein Onyango Obama is unusual among Churchills victims only in one respect: his story has been rescued from the slipstream of history, because his grandson ended up as President of the US. Churchill believed that Kenyas fertile highlands should be the preserve of the white settlers, and approved the clearing out of the local blackamoors. He saw the local Kikuyu as brutish children. When they rebelled under Churchills post-war premiership, some 150,000 of them were forced at gunpoint into detention camps later dubbed Britains gulag by Pulitzer-prize winning historian, Professor Caroline Elkins. She studied the detention camps for five years for her remarkable book Britains Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya, explains the tactics adopted under Churchill to crush the local drive for independence. Electric shock was widely used, as well as cigarettes and fire, she writes. The screening teams whipped, shot, burned, and mutilated Mau Mau suspects. Hussein Onyango Obama never truly recovered from the torture he endured. Many of the wounds Churchill inflicted have still not healed: you can find them on the front pages any day of the week. He is the man who invented Iraq, locking together three conflicting peoples behind arbitrary borders that have been bleeding ever since. He is the Colonial Secretary who offered the Over-Promised Land to both the Jews and the Arabs although he seems to have privately felt racist contempt for both. He jeered at the Palestinians as barbaric hoards who ate little but camel dung, while he was appalled that the Israelis take it for granted that the local population will be cleared out to suit their convenience. True, occasionally Churchill did become queasy about some of the most extreme acts of the Empire. He fretted at the slaughter of women and children, and cavilled at the Amritsar massacre of 1919. Toye tries to present these doubts as evidence of moderation yet they almost never seem to have led Churchill to change his actions. If you are determined to rule people by force against their will, you can hardly be surprised when atrocities occur. Rule Britannia would inexorably produce a Cruel Britannia. So how can the two be reconciled? Was Churchills moral opposition to Nazism a charade, masking the fact he was merely trying to defend the British Empire from a rival? The US civil rights leader Richard B. Moore, quoted by Toye, said it was a rare and fortunate coincidence that at that moment the vital interests of the British Empire [coincided] with those of the great overwhelming majority of mankind. But this might be too soft in its praise. If Churchill had only been interested in saving the Empire, he could probably have cut a deal with Hitler. No: he had a deeper repugnance for Nazism than that. He may have been a thug, but he knew a greater thug when he saw one and we may owe our freedom today to this wrinkle in history. This, in turn, led to the great irony of Churchills life. In resisting the Nazis, he produced some of the richest prose-poetry in defence of freedom and democracy ever written. It was a cheque he didnt want black or Asian people to cash but they refused to accept that the Bank of Justice was empty. As the Ghanaian nationalist Kwame Nkrumah wrote: All the fair, brave words spoken about freedom that had been broadcast to the four corners of the earth took seed and grew where they had not been intended. Churchill lived to see democrats across Britains dominions and colonies from nationalist leader Aung San in Burma to Jawarlal Nehru in India use his own intoxicating words against him. Ultimately, the words of the great and glorious Churchill who resisted dictatorship overwhelmed the works of the cruel and cramped Churchill who tried to impose it on the darker-skinned peoples of the world. The fact that we now live in a world where a free and independent India is a superpower eclipsing Britain, and a grandson of the Kikuyu savages is the most powerful man in the world, is a repudiation of Churchill at his ugliest and a sweet, ironic victory for Churchill at his best. For updates on this issue and others, follow Johann at www.twitter.com/johannhari101 Churchills Empire is published by Macmillan (25). To order a copy for the special price of 22.50 (free P&P) call Independent Books Direct on 08430 600 030, or visit www.independentbooksdirect.co.uk This is strictly for educational purposes only and if you can, I recommend the book above which I will be getting. Comedian Trevor Noah mocking colonisation Or view the video on the server at: https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TrevorNoah.mp4 For more interesting information: Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 13 of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, allowance is made for fair dealing for purposes such as non-profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events. The Operator and author(s) of TsemRinpoche.com, a not-for-profit blog, do not claim ownership on the intellectual property rights of the contents, images and/or videos reproduced in this article. Any subsisting intellectual property rights shall belong to the legal owner of the contents, images and/or videos. NEW YORK Country music has not had an album or song nominated in the top three categories at the Grammys since 2011 when Lady Antebellum won big, but the genre is back strong, thanks to Chris Stapletons overall success and Little Big Towns megahit, Girl Crush. Stapleton, a hit songwriter and former leader of The SteelDrivers, is nominated for album of the year for his debut, Traveller, while Girl Crush earned songwriters Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey and Lori McKenna nominations for song of the year. The last time a country album was nominated for album of the year was Lady Antebellums Need You Now at the 2011 Grammys (we dont count Taylor Swifts pop-flavored Red as country). That year also was the last time a country track earned nominations for song or record of the year, which Lady A took home for its crossover hit, Need You Now (Miranda Lamberts The House That Built Me was nominated for song of the year that year too). Charles Kelley of Lady A says the 2011 Grammys was probably the greatest night of my musical career. It felt like a big win for the genre that night. Kelley, who is nominated for his first Grammy apart from his Lady A bandmates this year, said country music is returning to the top categories because Little Big Town and Stapleton made unique and unpredictable songs. They made the boldest records; theyre not down-the-middle records at all, and I think the Grammys always tend to recognize when someone has painted outside the lines a little bit, he said. Sam Hunt also is representing country music with a nomination for best new artist, a category that typically includes at least one country act. Part of the reason country music has not earned top Grammy nominations may be because country songs dont chart high enough on the pop- and rap-dominated Billboard Hot 100 chart. Grammy voters who are not paying attention solely to country music may not be as familiar with the genres songs and albums because its not in the mainstream as much as rap and rock. Oklahomas Carrie Underwoods Inside Your Heaven was the last country song to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2005; before that it was Lonestar in 2000 with Amazed. Though Need You Now and Swifts You Belong With Me both peaked at No. 2, country songs often chart in the bottom half of the Top 40 pop charts and Top 10 hits are a rarity. Girl Crush, as big as it was, peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100. It did not perform in the pop radio world anywhere near what we thought it would, said Mike Dungan, the chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville, the home to Little Big Town, Stapleton and Hunt. But country acts have a comfortable home with country radio and can reach double platinum status without crossing over to pop, which is not the case for rap, rock and R&B acts. Back when country was really present on pop radio lets take this as far back as the 80s these records were really worked to all the formats at the same time, Dungan said. But today, country radio ... (doesnt) like it when artists crossover. They look at those artists as if they are opportunists who are looking at country as a maybe a stepping stone to a bigger, broader world, he said. And so those of us who have been on this side of the business, the labels, the artists, their managers, have been very cautious about when you pull that trigger to cross over. Because music fans today listen to a wide range of genres, once Girl Crush was sent to pop radio, it had already been heard by some of that audience: It was already kind of burned out, Dungan said. At Mondays Grammys, Little Big Towns Pain Killer is nominated for best country album, while Girl Crush is also up for best country song and country duo/group performance. For some reason this song spoke to people ... I dont know if it was controversial, I dont know what it was, said Rose, who co-wrote Girl Crush and also co-wrote Swifts You Belong With Me, which was nominated for song and record of the year at the 2010 Grammys. You Belong With Me crossed over ... so that makes sense to me. This does not make sense. ... It turned into a song, and not just country, and its just a universal song that people, even if they dont know country (music), they know the song. Stapletons nominations include best country song, solo performance and album for Traveller. His album became a No. 1 smash after his show-stopping performance with Justin Timberlake at the CMA Awards, along with three-for-three wins. His competition for album of the year includes No. 1 efforts from Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Alabama Shakes and The Weeknd. Though Lady A, Stapleton and Little Big Town have had crossover success, that doesnt always equate to Grammy love. Florida Georgia Line, who had a Top 5 pop hit with its Cruise remix with rapper Nelly in 2013, didnt earn a single nomination; Luke Bryan, despite selling millions of albums and tickets at stadiums, has never earned a Grammy nomination. Both acts fit in the category of the sometimes frowned-upon bro-country genre. I can make a presumption that the Grammys kind of viewed that music as a bit pedestrian and banal and not art worthy, said John Marks, Spotifys global head of country music, where the genre is the third most active behind pop and hip-hop. Marks added that the Grammys tend to lean to songs that are more lyric and art-driven, and largely commercially-driven. And that hasnt happened in a little while, and the opportunity has presented itself with Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town. BAGHDAD Baghdad is plastered with Valentine hearts and roses, and newly engaged Nour and Ahmed are out and about, enjoying a rare lull in violence in the Iraqi capital but wondering how long it will last. Despite recent setbacks, the Islamic State group is still dug in some 37 miles from the Baghdad. And powerful Shiite militias now control security in many parts of the city, providing increased protection but raising concerns as the well-armed fighters often operate outside the governments control. Its an improvement from over a year ago, when the two met while working at the same magazine. After chatting on Facebook, they started meeting with friends in the evening and on weekends. Of course during the times of bad security I would never have invited her to meet me at a restaurant, Ahmed said. I would be too worried about her, he added with a smile, taking her hand. The two asked that their full names not be published, fearing for their security. Neither is very religious, but Nour comes from a Shiite family and Ahmed from a Sunni one. Such relationships were common before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, but have grown rarer since then, particularly after the fierce sectarian fighting that convulsed the country in 2006 and 2007. They say they havent encountered any problems yet on account of their unlikely romance, but they worry about the increasing power of religious figures in Iraqi life, including the Shiite militias, many of which trace their roots back to the days of sectarian unrest. The militias, many of which are trained and armed by Iran, were reconstituted in the summer of 2014 after the army crumbled in the face of the IS groups lightening advance across northern and western Iraq. They have played a key role in securing the capital and prying back land from the extremists, but rights groups say they have also carried out revenge attacks on Sunnis. In Baghdad, the groups have been accused of kidnapping for ransom and carrying out religiously motivated attacks on nightclubs and liquor stores. Nour and Ahmed say they worry most about the sheer number of armed groups in Iraq, and how little control the government appears to have over many of them. The future? Its just black, black, black, Nour said. There is no future in Iraq. Nour covers her hair in public with a headscarf, but also wears stylish Western-style clothing and enjoys going out to movies and restaurants, all things she fears she would have to give up as religious leaders and militias grow more powerful. Muhanad al-Akabi, a spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Forces, an officially sanctioned umbrella group that includes most of the militias, said Iraqi civilians have no reason to fear them. We are a formal institution, we belong to the government, he said. He acknowledges that his fighters have made mistakes in the past, but attributes them to the growing pains of any new fighting force, saying it happens everywhere, with every military. He said civilians will have less to worry about as the force gains experience. He and other Iraqi officials are more worried about IS, which is still able to smuggle bombs into Baghdad and may again resort to stepped up attacks on civilians to compensate for its battlefield losses. Earlier this month, security officials said work had begun on a wall around Baghdad that they hoped would reduce militant attacks and allow them to take down checkpoints within the city that snarl traffic. Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the wall would be a combination of tightened checkpoints, trenches and blast walls along a 280-kilometer (175-mile) perimeter around the city. Ahmed fears that while a wall might keep out some religious extremists, it will lock in others. Already, compared to our parents, we have so little freedom, he said, referring to the freewheeling 1970s in Iraq, before the decades of war and sanctions. If these religious men stay in control, I think our freedom will just be less and less. WASHINGTON A black-draped chair on the Supreme Court bench once signaled that a justice had died, but those somber memorials have been increasingly uncommon at the court as its members have chosen to retire rather than hold their office until death. Justice Antonin Scalias death Saturday at the age of 79 is only the second time in more than 60 years that an active justice has died. Dying this suddenly on the bench is the exception, not the rule, for the justices in the twentieth century, said Washington and Lee University law professor Todd C. Peppers, who has written about the fact that chief justices seem more likely than other justices to die while in office. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who had thyroid cancer, died in office at age 80 in 2005. Before that, the last justice to die in office was Justice Robert H. Jackson, who died in 1954 of a heart attack at age 62. Of the approximately 100 justices who have served on the court and left, a little fewer than half have died while still holding the position. But modern justices are much less likely to die in office. Before 1900, about two-thirds of justices died in office, but since that time only about a third of justices have. One reason why justices, who are appointed for life, may have been more likely to die in office in the courts earlier history was that there were no pensions for federal judges. Because they got nothing if they retired, justices tended to stay, scholars said. That changed in 1869, and retirement provisions have become increasingly generous over the years so now any federal judge who is 65 and has served 15 years on the bench can retire with his or her full salary. After age 65, their combined age and years of service must equal 80. But justices dont necessarily retire when they hit that number. Five current justices are over 65 and qualify for full retirement. Three justices are over 70. Justice Stephen Breyer is 77. Justice Anthony Kennedy is 79. And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has been asked a lot about retirement in recent years because of her age and two bouts with cancer, is 82.Artemus Ward, a professor at Northern Illinois University who wrote a book, Deciding to Leave, about justices quitting the bench, said these days they tend to strategically time their retirements so that their replacement gets picked by a president of the same party that appointed them. Scalia acknowledged wanting to be replaced by a like-minded successor and might have thought about retirement if a Republican were elected in 2016, Ward said. But he said Scalia also might have gambled and waited longer. All three justices whove retired since Rehnquists death are still living. Sandra Day OConnor, who retired in 2006, is now 85. David Souter, who retired in 2009, is 76. And John Paul Stevens, who retired in 2010, is 95 and has said he may have jumped the gun on retirement. They expect to live a long time and they see their colleagues doing it, Ward said. We think, Oh, theyre old. But theyre thinking, Ive got another 10 years at least. Full occupancy at Brookhollow Landing is expected by the end of February, some 10 weeks after doors opened. It is the 17th Vintage Housing complex and when the 40 units are filled, it will be the fastest rent up in the programs 20-year history. Rent up is the period of time following completion of a new building when tenants are actively being sought and the project is stabilizing. The 671 Vintage Housing units in the Tulsa area are between 96 to 99 percent occupied as of the end of January, said Vicki Jordan, director of housing. Five or six are at 100 percent occupancy. Construction of the complex seemed slow during 2015 for those observing work on the $5.8 million facility at 2910 S. 129th East Ave., but it was agonizingly slow for those involved with the construction. Jordan said the property owners were very patient with the Vintage Housing program because of the required paperwork. The east Tulsa site met the legal requirements and provided access to highways and grocery stores, she said. It also met the funding guidelines set. June Carter started as manager in August 2015 after having trained at Vandever House in Broken Arrow. I learned during that training and forward that one had to be very patient with the paperwork, Carter said. Everything is very detailed and exacting. All Brookhollow residents as in all Vintage Housing units must be income qualified, Jordan said. Every property is also inspected to make certain it is in compliance. Those checks are very detailed and tedious and has provided consistency. The same management company has been used during the past 20 years and has helped maintain the high quality of the program. Residents must be capable of independent living, 62 years old or older and have income of about $25,800 annually. A couple can have a maximum $29,520 annual income. Individual units vary from about 545 square feet for one bedroom and about 755 square feet for two bedrooms. Rents are $400 to $450 for a single bedroom unit and up to $475 for the two bedroom unit. Rents fund the units operation. No sliding scale is applied. Residents are responsible for electric and cable television bills. Each kitchen has a stove, refrigerator and microwave. Amenities outside the residential units include access to a library many books are donated by new residents as they downsize to the smaller living space an exercise area, a sitting room with a large television screen and a laundromat. A variety of activities are planned including the popular bingo night, a variety of games and the recently held Super Bowl party. The east Tulsa community has welcomed Brookhollow, Jordan said. Area church leaders have come by and offered assistance. The overall community acceptance has been incredible. Brookhollow like all Vintage Housing units, require that residents are able to live without assistance. Some young people have inquired about jobs thinking this is an assisted living facility. These units provide a safe environment for residents, said Carol Carter, Life Senior Services public relations and community affairs director. A common front entry is locked at 9 p.m., and residents must use a card to gain access after that time. Emergency pull cords are in each unit and assistance is available even though the front desk is not occupied 24/7. As an on-site manager, June Carter has been awakened at night wondering Why is my alarm clock so loud? It was someone needing assistance. Pets are allowed at Brookhollow, Carol Carter said. The animals help people make the transition because they do not have to give them up. Jennifer Flexner, Vintage Housing program coordinator, visits all properties and attends meetings to learn about various suggestions and concerns that need to be addressed. Programs include visits by Legal Aid of Oklahoma attorneys, credit counseling services and Tai Chi classes. All programs are developed around what residents want, she said. Transportation is a critical need for many residents since approximately 50 percent do not have their own vehicles, Flexner said. Community friendship groups have been developed and some churches in the area help meet that need. Inverness Village, a retirement center, provides transportation to take residents at nearby Vintage Housing facilities to dinner monthly at different Tulsa area residents. The 671 Vintage Housing units are between 96 to 99 percent occupied as of the end of January, Jordan said. Five or six are at 100 percent occupancy. Some have lived in the units since they opened. It underscores the need for affordable housing in the area. Vintage Housing residents generally stay at the facility that becomes their home until they are unable to live independently or die, she said. Between 10 percent and 11 percent of the residents have lived in their units for at least 10 years. The average stay is between 4-4 1/2 years. The average age is 77 years old, but there are more in their 80s and 90s, she said. Centennial birthdays also are being noted more frequently. Even as Brookhollow Landing opens, plans already are being made for Whittier Heights, the next facility at 68 N. Lewis, and the site of the closed Whittier Elementary School. Construction will start, hopefully, in mid-February, Jordan said. The 40-unit facility will have the same footprint as the existing properties. Vintage Housing complexes, in order of construction, are: Pioneer Village, Jenks; Carriage Crossing, Coweta; Country Oaks, Tulsa; Hickory Crossing, Sapulpa; Vandever House, Broken Arrow, Cardinal Heights, Collinsville, and Park Village, Tulsa. Also, Autumn Park, Bixby; West Oak Village, Skiatook; Cornerstone Village, Tulsa; Woodland Village, Bristow; Redbud Village, Glenpool; Prairie Village, Owasso; Heritage Landing, Tulsa; Kenosha Landing, Broken Arrow, Heartland Village Sand Springs, and Brookhollow Landing, Tulsa. Osage Hills Christian Church is excited to announce and welcome their new senior Minister, Jason Johnson, and his wife Kari and children. The Johnsons moved to Sand Springs from the Chicago area and got started this past January. Osage Hills has a rich heritage in the community. Pastoral stability at OHCC has laid a solid foundation of trust, integrity and faithfulness within the congregation. Osage Hills is now positioned to make a dramatic impact on the community in the years to come. As a church they look forward to meeting the physical and spiritual needs in Sand Springs, the surrounding area, and around the world. Jason and Kari bring seasoned leadership and experience to the church family. An Oklahoma boy at heart, Jason has had experiences in medium and large churches around the country. Both Jason and Kari have experienced many different regions and mission organizations around the globe. They deeply love the church and are skilled and dynamic leaders. The church leadership looks forward to relentlessly pursuing Christ in the coming years and discerning where the Lord is leading Osage Hills for maximum impact in the community. Osage invites everyone to be a part of something life changing. A contemporary service starts at 10:45 a.m. each Sunday, but a more traditional service is offered at 8:30 a.m. Childrens programming is provided during the 10:45 service. News / National by Staff reporter More Zanu-PF officials, including former ministers, continue to stampede to join former Vice President Joice Mujuru's recently registered Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) party.Among those who recently ditched the ruling party to join ZPF are former deputy Information minister, Bright Matonga - who is said to be working closely with former Zimbabwe Union of Democrats president, Margaret Dongo, to mobilise support for ZPF in Mashonaland West.The former Zanu-PF bigwig and MP told a meeting held at his homestead in Mhondoro last month that hope for a better Zimbabwe could only come with Mujuru as leader of the country.According to minutes of the meeting, which was attended by several other former ruling party officials, Matonga is captured saying "the president (President Robert Mugabe) is hardworking but old minds need to be replaced"."How can we have someone who was made to read a wrong speech for 40 minutes be presented as a presidential candidate for 2018?" he is reported saying, further blaming Zimbabwe's high levels of corruption for the country's economic meltdown.The former Zupco chief executive apparently also told the meeting that ZPF was working underground closely with many people still in Zanu-PF and working in government."There is no government office isina vanhu vedu. People like ... (names withheld by the Daily News on legal advice) are with us, so you need to co-operate with them. We have quite a number of them you will get to know very soon," he saidMatonga's mobile phone was unreachable yesterday. But ZPF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo confirmed that he had defected to the Zanu-PF off-shoot."Matonga is one of us, but for now since, we have not held congress, he like all others, is co-ordinating the party's activities from the ward to provincial level."We are doing well and with Zanu-PF at war with itself, we are just enjoying ourselves because we will continue to grow, even as there are some in the party who are still under the illusion that they can re-organise it and unite people again."They must forget that. Zanu-PF cannot reawaken. It's dead and it will be naive for anyone to expect that it can bring any positive change to the country's fortunes," the ebullient Gumbo said.In his meeting with his home constituency, Matonga also urged ZPF supporters to work together with other opposition parties."If we do not join hands with (MDC leader Morgan) Tsvangirai, we will not be able to deal with Zanu-PF effectively. We must be brave for us to be able to remove Mugabe from power. We do not want cowards," the minutes of the meeting capture him saying.Speaking at the same meeting, a war veteran who was only identified as Comrade Horwe, called on all former Zanu-PF and security sector officials now in ZPF to confess the violence that they had perpetrated against opposition supporters, if they entertained any hopes of being forgiven by the people."It is true that the party will be launched in February, but we must first of all confess that we killed innocent people when we were in Zanu-PF," Horwe is quoted in the minutes saying."This includes the atrocities we committed during Gukurahundi at the instigation of our superiors. We cannot go forward without owning up to our sins because God will not bless our efforts," he added. An employee at a north Tulsa grocery store was arrested Sunday afternoon on suspicion that he called in a bomb threat to the location. Tulsa County sheriffs deputies arrested Toryano James Domas, 22, after they were called to a Warehouse Market grocery store, located at 6230 N. Peoria Ave., according to an arrest and booking report. Store managers called 911 about the threat Sunday afternoon and evacuated all employees and customers from the building, according to the report. When deputies arrived on scene, they and a K-9 officer searched the store for a bomb. Authorities never located a bomb, according to the report. While deputies searched the building, a dispatcher pinged the location of the phone reportedly used to make the bomb threat and tracked its location to the store. The dispatcher told deputies the phone belonged to Domas, the report states. Deputies identified Domas at the store, and he turned over his cellphone to police. He was then taken into custody, according to the report. Domas cooperated with deputies and said some people had used his SIM card to make calls and that he didnt call in the bomb threat, according to the report. Domas also told police he wasnt angry with anyone at the store, the report states. A store manager reportedly told deputies Domas seemed upset after the manager talked with him earlier that day about leaving the store without clocking out, according to the report. While searching Domas, deputies reportedly found a razor blade and two packages containing prescription medication. Domas was arrested on a complaint of bomb threat by phone as well as two complaints of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, according to jail records. He is being held in lieu of $60,000 bond, jail records indicate. During the last two years, 13 states have passed laws meant to help keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers. Federal law strips gun rights from felons, anyone convicted of domestic violence-related misdemeanors and those who are subject to permanent domestic violence protective orders. Many states are passing their own laws that often go further. Some questions and answers about the legislative push in states: Why isnt federal law enough? For starters, barriers to enforcement. Local police and prosecutors do not bring cases under federal law and want their own charging authority under state law. The federal law also does not strip firearms rights from those who abuse their dating partners, those convicted of misdemeanor stalking or those who are subject to temporary protective orders and have not yet had a hearing. In addition, the federal law fails to spell out procedures for ensuring that existing guns are seized or surrendered. Who is pushing for changes in state law? Groups representing domestic violence victims, gun safety advocates and law enforcement officials often join together to push for these measures. They say the laws save lives and protect vulnerable women and children. Politicians from both political parties have supported them. Are they getting any pushback? Supporters of gun rights, including the National Rifle Association, object to some of the details. In particular, they argue that people who are subject to temporary protective orders without a hearing to challenge the allegations should not have to give up their guns. They say vindictive ex-spouses could use the process to unfairly take away their ex-spouses guns. Some critics say the measures go too far in taking away gun rights from people who commit a crime but are not particularly dangerous. How can the ban on gun sales be enforced? States enter data into the national background check system about people who are convicted of crimes that disqualify them from buying guns. That information turns up when licensed dealers conduct background checks and has resulted in more than 120,000 applicants being denied since 1998 for misdemeanor domestic violence convictions. Some ineligible abusers have turned to private sellers at gun shows or online who do not conduct background checks to illegally purchase guns. Thats one reason why gun safety advocates want to require background checks on all gun sales. What happens to their existing guns? In some states, the individual is required to turn them over to law enforcement when subject to a ban. In others, they are allowed to transfer them to licensed dealers or give them to third parties for safekeeping. Other laws are silent on this issue, which makes the gun ban hard to enforce. The NRA has negotiated compromises on some of these bills. What does it seek in return? In some cases, the NRA has pushed for provisions in the law spelling out procedures for individuals to petition to get their guns back once protective orders are lifted. Some of these measures have been passed alongside larger laws expanding gun rights. The Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa More than a dozen states have strengthened laws over the past two years to keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers, a rare area of consensus in the nations highly polarized debate over guns. Lawmakers and governors of both parties have supported bills stripping gun rights from those who have been convicted of domestic violence-related crimes or are subject to protective orders. The measures have been backed by victims advocates, law enforcement groups and gun control supporters who see easy access to firearms as a major contributor to domestic violence killings. Similar proposals are expected to be debated in several states this year. Domestic violence is definitely an area where there is the most agreement between the gun lobby and gun-violence prevention advocates, said Allison Anderman, of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco. The National Rifle Association has taken a cautious approach toward such bills, opposing the farthest-reaching measures but staying neutral or negotiating compromises on others. For example, the NRA has fought provisions that would require people to surrender their guns before they have a chance to contest allegations made in a request for an emergency protective order. There is no evidence that simply taking away peoples guns without a fair hearing makes the victims any safer, NRA spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen said. The push in the states is driven by stories of women and children killed or wounded by known abusers, and by statistics showing that hostile relationships often turn deadly when guns are present. An average of 760 Americans were killed with guns annually by spouses, ex-spouses or dating partners between 2006 and 2014, according to an Associated Press analysis of FBI and Florida data. Floridas statistics are not included in the FBIs report, which covers all other states and District of Columbia, but were analyzed separately by AP. However, not all law enforcement agencies report such information, and it doesnt include children and other bystanders who were killed. More than 80 percent of those killed were women. The system failed my son, and I am going to do whatever it takes to make sure it never happens to another child or another woman, said Hollie Ayers, 44, a Pennsylvania woman whose 2-year-old son, Michael, was shot and killed in front of her by her abusive ex-husband in 2013. Michaels life to me was priceless. If you can at least reduce the amount of homicides this is a no-brainer to me. Ayers was also shot before her ex-husband killed himself. Ayers had warned that he had guns and had said that he, his ex-wife and the child would be better off dead before she obtained a permanent protection-from-abuse order, court records show. But the judge did not order her ex-husband to surrender his weapons, even after he violated the protective order. Hollie Ayers is pushing for a Pennsylvania law that would require people to turn over their guns when judges issue protection orders against them. Kim Stolfer, president of the Pennsylvania group Firearms Owners Against Crime, said his organization isnt on board with the idea yet. He said such legislation could be exploited by vindictive ex-spouses who level false allegations of abuse. We need some balance, and its rapidly going the wrong way, he said. In announcing executive action on gun control last month, President Barack Obama said protecting domestic abuse victims is one of his goals. His changes include strengthening the federal background-check system, which has denied gun sales 120,000 times since 1998 because of domestic violence convictions. Federal law has long prohibited felons, those convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse crimes and individuals subject to permanent protective orders from buying or owning guns. Critics say the federal law is too weak because it does not apply to dating relationships, does not ban guns during temporary protective orders and does not establish procedures for abusers to surrender firearms. States have been passing their own laws to match or exceed the federal prohibitions, delighting gun control advocates. Weve passed them in blue states, red states and purple states, said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. We believe they are absolutely lifesaving. Some of the strictest state laws create processes for seizing firearms from abusers and extend gun bans to stalkers, abusive dating partners and those who are subject to temporary protective orders. Studies by public health researchers have generally concluded that such laws, when properly implemented, can reduce deaths. Gun rights advocates say some of the laws are applied too broadly. It encompasses everybody who has a one-time blip in their life, and all of a sudden their gun rights are taken away forever, said Wes Dunbar, an Iowa lawyer who has represented defendants upset over losing their ability to hunt. South Carolina and Wisconsin are two of the states dominated by Republicans and with a strong tradition of gun ownership that have taken steps to restrict abusers access to guns. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker signed a law in 2014 requiring people subject to domestic abuse restraining orders to turn over their guns within 48 hours. The NRA stayed neutral after negotiating language that allows individuals to seek the return of their weapons once restraining orders are lifted. Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina signed a measure in June that includes a lifetime ban on gun ownership for the most serious domestic violence offenders. South Carolina is no longer thinking about the convenience of the abuser, Haley said when she signed the bill in June. South Carolina is thinking about ... the survivor. 1970 Democratic Convention riot figures convicted Five of a group originally known as the Chicago Eight and their attorneys were found guilty of 175 counts of contempt of court in connection with violent demonstrations during the August 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Defense attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass were sentenced to prison, but were allowed as lawyers to defend their clients. The five defendants were convicted of intent to riot, but an appeals court overturned the convictions; most of the contempt charges were dropped, and no one served prison time. 2009 Weleetka residents pray for killer to be arrested Nearly 100 people gathered around a memorial to two young girls slain in June 2008 to pray that the cloud of evil over Weleetka be lifted by the capture of the killer. The prayer vigil was aimed at refocusing attention on the slayings of Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, and Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13. In 2011, Kevin Sweat of Henryetta was arrested for the murders of the girls as well as his fiancee, Ashley Taylor. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without parole in 2014 for the three counts of murder. In 2015, an appeals court rejected his attempt to withdraw his guilty plea. 2012 Pet breeding regulations ruled constitutional Oklahomas commercial pet breeding rules are constitutional, a LeFlore County judge has ruled. District Judge Jonathan Sullivan ruled against a LeFlore County breeder, who had argued that the rules were unconstitutionally vague. The breeder argued the regulations were being enforced arbitrarily, violated a provision of the constitution that gives the state Agriculture Board exclusive authority on animal industry regulation and violated the constitutions ban on special laws. Sullivans ruling says his job was to determine the constitutionality of the rules, not their wisdom. 2013 Prosecutor wins state lawsuit over deployment A prosecutor who was called to active duty in Afghanistan in 2011 has prevailed in a lawsuit against the state, which had claimed that he vacated his position when he mobilized for military service. Rex Duncan, district attorney of Osage and Pawnee counties, is entitled to $7,072.77 in leave-of-absence pay and allowed to accrue retirement benefits during that leave, Oklahoma County Special District Judge Donald Easter ruled. A colonel in the Oklahoma Army National Guard, Duncan, 51, was mobilized with the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. in early 2011 for deployment to Afghanistan, shortly after he was sworn in as the district attorney. Joe Worley 918-581-8373 One of the candidates for Chairman in the People's National Movement's internal election says there is a major detachment between those in office and people at the grass root level. Kenneth Butcher says things need to change from the inside. News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe has seized a US-registered cargo plane which had a dead body and large sums of South African currency on board, the state-owned Herald newspaper reports.Staff at the international airport in the capital, Harare, noticed blood dropping from the aircraft when it had stopped to refuel while flying from Germany to South Africa, it adds.Zimbabwe's Civil Aviation Authority head, David Chawota, said the cargo on the plane belonged to South Africa's central bank."The police are now handling the issue and the plane, which is owned by Western Global Airlines, has been grounded at Harare International Airport since Sunday," he added. Samantha Armytage has responded to criticism from ABC presenter Virginia Haussegger following last weeks much-denounced Sunrise sketch with Kristin Davis. Haussegger presents the ABC News in Canberra. Here are excerpts from two print media columns today. You can click on either to read them in full. Virginia Haussegger, Fairfax: What the hell is wrong with those daft women on commercial breakfast TV! Why are they winding up the ditzy dial? And why are they so dead keen to present themselves as mindless bimbos? As a woman who has spent 25 years on television, believe me, I ask these questions with great reluctance. And frustration. But seriously, what on earth is going on in Samantha Armytages head? Not much it would seem, given the pitiful episode she and her gal pals put actress Kristin Davis through on Sunrise on Thursday. It was gender-cringe TV at its worst. The waste of time was one thing. But the mindless treatment of Davis as little more than a girly play-thing is what the women on this show ought to be ashamed of. Their nonsense nattering does a major disservice to feminism. If Armytage and Co. dont give a hoot about feminism fine. But perhaps they should think about women like themselves glamorous, privileged women who are in positions of power and influence and how hard others have fought for such women to be taken seriously. To be heard. And to have their views considered worthy of prime time, serious discussion. There are plenty of pretty women on Australian TV. But when it comes to the important stuff of the day the stuff that makes the news there is a screaming lack of representation of womens knowledge, wisdom and expertise. Which only makes the Sunrise bimbo brigades antics all that more depressing. Samantha Armytage, News Corp: Why is it that some of those who shout the loudest about feminism are the most unkind to other women? Feminism means different things to different people. To me, it has always been about empowering and supporting other women. For most, it happens naturally. Not all wear it like a badge of honour. Whatever your interpretation, it does not provide a license to attack personally and professionally another woman. To use petty barbs such as bimbo, dumb, ditzy, daft to prove a point, does not make you a feminist. It makes you a bully. I am eternally grateful and in awe of the women who paved the way for people like me to receive a good education, pay off a HECS debt and work bloody hard. I have many, many wonderful girlfriends and I adore the women I work with I have been mentored by incredible women, and in turn mentored some amazing female colleagues myself. I have many female friends throughout this industry. I was raised by an extremely strong and capable working mother, and my sister and I are extremely strong and capable working women. I get on with the job. And I give back as much as I can. Im not perfect, but I am most certainly not a mindless bimbo. Dateline returns to SBS this week with its first report, Polar Patrol, from a small town on the edge of the Arctic Circle where a local is keeping his Inuit village safe from polar bears. There is an increasing problem for communities in the Arctic Circle faced with climate change. With the Arctic Circle warming twice as fast as anywhere else in the world, the melting conditions are disrupting food cycles and bringing Polar bears into small towns like Arviat, increasing the chances of encounters for its residents. Arviat is a remote town of about 2,500 people and its surprising to see how the locals have adapted to life in the Artic extremes. Leo Ikakhik has been one of their polar bear monitors for the past 5 years and each night he sets off into below freezing conditions armed with his 12 gauge shot gun loaded with rubber bullets with the aim to send the bears away from Arviat. Once they get hold of you, youre history, Leo tells Datelines Aaron Thomas. Leos aim is to protect the bears from people as much as people from the bears and thats just one way how this community has adapted. Shelagh Crookes, a local hotel manager, shows Aaron a house that people can rent to watch polar bears outside the dining room window. Polar bears are the most amazing creatures. 9.30pm Tuesday, 16 February on SBS. 12:49 p.m., Feb. 15, 2016--University of Delaware students, staff and faculty filled the Multipurpose Rooms of the Trabant University Center on Thursday, Feb. 11, to discuss issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion at an open forum with Acting President Nancy Targett. The conversation covered a range of topics, including the Universitys diversity action plan, ways to inventory and evaluate its current diversity efforts, finding additional resources for campus initiatives, and recognizing the unique experience of graduate and international student issues. UD senior administrators were in attendance to answer questions and address concerns. Participants were encouraged to review the diversity action plan prior to the gathering, and they had the opportunity to submit questions electronically in advance as well as ask questions directly at the forum. More than 250 individuals attended the event. After a brief overview, Targett introduced Carol Henderson, vice provost for diversity, who discussed the diversity action plan that was released in November. While the action plan will not be finalized until the end of March in order to incorporate campus feedback, Henderson explained that the University has already taken steps to improve the campus climate. For instance, the Faculty Senate reinstituted its diversity and inclusion committee, which has been examining ways to revise the multicultural requirement; colleges named chief diversity advocates to serve as resources for their students, faculty and staff; and the University is developing a process to report incidents of bias on campus. In addition, the University conducted a census in December to record the breadth of existing diversity related programs and activities on campus. The next step will be to assess those programs for effectiveness. Diversity is not one person. It is a we, Henderson said. I have had students, faculty and staff ask me, How can Iparticipate? Impact your immediate circle. We can start there. Diversity is me seeing you right in front of me and not looking past you. Comments or suggestions for the action plan may be emailed to vpd@udel.edu, and more information about diversity at the University is available online. Several questions at the forum dealt with how individuals can get involved in improving the climate on campus, and representatives from different offices and programs highlighted the vast number of efforts that are already offered. What that means is that our websites, our portals are not clear for people, Targett said. We can also work to make that more apparent and evident in terms of the kinds of programming thats out there, so that you dont have to search for it. Some of the issues raised were easily addressed and answered. For example, when a student commented that holding a diversity discussion during a time that many students had class discouraged participation, Targett explained that the University could easily hold future forums later in the day. Participants also pointed out that the experiences of graduate students and international students are unique and very different from the typical undergraduate experience. Targett and Henderson acknowledged the point and said that specific language in the action plan should be used to mirror undergraduate goals for graduate students and to make a distinction between the graduate level and the undergraduate level when referring to students. Much of the discussion centered on the issue of resources and determining ways to allocate resources toward diversity efforts. Targett explained that in FY16 more than $9 million is allocated for diversity efforts across the colleges and throughout the campus. But, she acknowledged, the University needs to do more. In response to an inquiry about students who may let the inability to pay small fees cause them to suspend their education, Targett suggested developing a fund that could be used to cover small fees that students in need cant afford. She explained that other schools have such funds, and they allow small amounts of money to be seeded around to bridge these gaps. Within the area of undergraduate recruitment and enrollment of members of underrepresented groups, Targett acknowledged that while there is still much work to be done, the University is making progress. She reminded attendees that the state of Delaware plans to hire a consultant to review the Universitys efforts in this area. As of now, the state had not received any responses to its request for proposals to conduct the work, but she said that the University welcomes a fresh set of eyes on the process we have been undertaking on moving our agenda forward. One undergraduate student asked about the motivation behind the new pilot program for SAT optional applications for Delaware residents. Chris Lucier, vice president for enrollment management, explained that we know that the SAT is biased against certain populations of students students of color, students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds, first generation students. He explained that the goal of the pilot program is to encourage students who will be successful at UD to apply, when they may have not done so if required to submit SAT scores. Targett also explained that she plans to bring in an independent consultant to take a look at what the University can do in the areas of multicultural programming and the development of multicultural spaces on campus. The resulting report would be shared with the new president, Dennis Assanis, who will take office July 1, to provide an overview on these efforts. Last fall we had the National Agenda speaker series that was focused on diversity, said Targett. You want to keep a rich dialogue going at multiple levels across the campus. So it's not a one and done kind of thing. And, I think thats what all of these efforts are trying to do. Toward the end of the forum, a participant noted that members of the audience attending the forum were already working on improving the diversity climate on campus. She asked, How are we going to inspire those not in the room? What we all have to do is go out be what the military terms force multipliers, Targett replied. We all have to go out and keep trying to make a difference. I talk about this subject in any venue where I am asked to speak. I raise the issue of diversity and how important it is on campus. So, keeping it front and center, keeping it in peoples minds, setting what we think are the expectations for our institution and how we think people should behave toward each other the tolerance and civility, the openness. Thursdays gathering was the second in a series of forums built around diversity, equity and inclusion at UD. It was open to all members of the campus community. Targett announced that she plans to finish up her tenure as acting president with a presentation on the state of diversity at UD. Referencing the gathering on The Green last September that illuminated the racial tension on campus, Targett reminded the audience that she promised students on that day that the University would be accountable for achieving goals related to diversifying the campus and improving the climate for everyone. Targett said, I intend to make good on that promise. Article by Skip Cook Photos by Evan Krape News / Regional by Leonard Ncube A SOLDIER who had visited his wife for Valentine's Day allegedly tortured his uncle, military style, resulting in his death after his wife said he was proposing love to her.Corporal Bekithemba Sibanda, 27, stationed at 1.2 Infantry Battalion in Hwange, allegedly flew into a rage after his wife Angela Nyoni told him that his uncle Dumezweni Ngwenya, 42, was "troubling her."The incident happened on Saturday at about 8PM in Monde Village, about 15km outside Victoria Falls.Sibanda, popularly known as "Mafana" in Ntabayengwe Village where he comes from, threw his Valentine's Day plans out of the window and immediately called his uncle when his wife told him of Ngwenya's amorous advances.The older man came running after Sibanda claimed he had found a job for him.The fuming soldier allegedly beat Ngwenya up, poured water on him, made him roll in muddy puddles and forced him to do hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups.Family sources said the torture went on for hours until Ngwenya fractured an arm and could no longer do the push-ups."Bekithemba then took a huge stick and flogged Ngwenya to within an inch of his life. He was covered in mud and blood when he eventually staggered home. He was barely alive when we rushed him to hospital (Victoria Falls District Hospital) where he died on admission," said a family source.Police arrested Sibanda inside a Bulawayo-bound bus at around 11PM the same night.The acting officer commanding Victoria Falls district, Superintendent Dominic Sibanda, said: "We received a report of a murder involving a crime of passion where a suspect used a switch to assault a man he suspected was having an affair with his wife after inviting him to his house saying he got him a job."He said a livid Sibanda thrashed his uncle with a switch when he pleaded for mercy after he could not do any more press-ups because his arm was broken.Villagers around Monde under Chief Mvuthu area said they were still trying to come to terms with the incident."We heard that the woman reported to her husband that Ngwenya was proposing love to her. Her husband invited him to his homestead on the pretext that he had found him a job and an unsuspecting Ngwenya proceeded to the homestead not knowing that it was a trap," said a neighbour from the village.Another witness said an injured Ngwenya staggered to his homestead after the attack and his family immediately rushed him to Victoria Falls District Hospital where he was admitted but died moments later.Sibanda fled from his homestead and went to Victoria Falls as he intended to board a bus and escape but was arrested when detectives swiftly reacted to a report.Police said Sibanda is likely to appear in court today charged with murder.Supt Sibanda advised members of the public to seek advice from elders in resolving disputes."We advise members of the public not to use violence in solving disputes. Crimes of passion are now very common and people should seek mediation from elders instead of resorting to violence," he said.The councillor for the area, Dennis Thebe, said they were shocked by the incident."We heard that Ngwenya died as soon as he was admitted to hospital and Sibanda claims he only used a switch to beat him up," he said.Another soldier, Learnmore Moyo, 25, from the same area and also stationed at 1.2 Infantry Battalion, is on the run after skipping bail in a case in which he allegedly severely assaulted Gabron Ncube, 45, at a beer drink at Chidobe Business Centre causing his death on June 7 last year. 8:53 a.m., Feb. 15, 2016--Lesa Griffiths has been named the T.A. Baker Professor in the University of Delawares College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). Griffiths assumed the role on Jan. 16, succeeding Tom Sims, who retired on Jan. 15. The T.A. Baker Professorship, named for Thomas A. Baker, a highly respected and appreciated faculty member in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences (ANFS) from 1919 until 1958, is awarded for a five-year term based on clear and substantial evidence of impact in teaching, research or extension. A five-person committee composed of endowed chairs from across the University reviewed applications for the professorship. Griffiths, who has been at UD for 29 years and has interacted with thousands of undergraduate students, said she hopes that she has impacted and will continue to impact the thousands of students and colleagues that I have taught and mentored in a way that is meaningful and lasting, and in a manner that truly honors Prof. Baker. After receiving her bachelor of science degree in animal science from Cornell University of which Baker also was a graduate and her masters degree and doctorate in animal nutrition from Purdue University, Griffiths came to UD and served one term as associate dean for academic programs for CANR, followed by two terms as associate provost for international programs and director of the Universitys Institute for Global Studies (IGS). Under Griffiths leadership, participation in study abroad increased over 60 percent, ranking UD consistently among the top public institutions in the United States for study abroad. Griffiths teaches a number of required courses and labs, including the Introduction to Animal Science and Animal Nutrition courses and the hands-on, laboratory-based capstone courses on beef cattle, sheep and swine. She developed the Universitys first study abroad program to New Zealand and has accompanied over 200 students on study abroad programs focused on international agriculture. Griffiths has been recognized with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Award for Teaching Excellence, the UD Excellence-in-Teaching Award, the CANR Outstanding Teaching Award, and the UD On-line Teaching Award. Purdue University recognized Griffiths with its Distinguished Alumni Award and she has also been acknowledged for her work with students and is the recipient of two YoUDee Leadership Awards for outstanding adviser of a registered student organization, the Equestrian Team, and the Agricultural College Council (AgCC) Advising Award. Griffiths is the author of a variety of publications on pedagogical topics including problem-based learning and the impact of study abroad on students. In his nomination letter, Limin Kung, the S. Hallock du Pont Professor of Animal and Food Sciences and interim chair for the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, said that Griffiths has an impact on people that is long-term and wide-reaching, noting that she teaches a large freshman course that enrolls over 200 students as well as the senior capstone course for more than half of the departments graduating seniors. Her influence on freshmen ANFS students is impactful as it is the first experience that incoming students have to our major. It is not uncommon to hear students praise her for making classes informative, challenging and fun, said Kung, who added that the impact of the capstone course Griffiths teaches extends far beyond the in-depth animal experience that students receive under her guidance. Lesa makes herself available to students 24/7 during these courses. Kung added, It is Lesas personal impact on students including some of the most challenging students that is most powerful and profound. She truly understands the challenges that students face and she helps guide them through the University with unyielding support. In her letter of nomination, Susan Garey, extension agent for animal science and state 4-H animal science program coordinator, said she was writing on behalf of the thousands of students [Griffiths] has touched during her career at the University of Delaware. We were fortunate to encounter Dr. Griffiths when we enrolled as undergraduates in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UD. Dr. Griffiths has fulfilled many roles in our lives during her nearly 30-year career at UD. As undergraduates, she fulfilled the traditional roles of professor, academic adviser and club adviser; after graduation, she became a role model, mentor and wise friend. Through these roles, she has had a tremendous and lasting impact on students lives, not only during our time at UD but in our professional careers, as well. James Magee, Judge Hugh M. Morris Professor of Political Science and International Relations, said in his nomination of Griffiths, Through her contributions to many of the missions of the University, internationalizing the campus and especially in the area of teaching and mentoring, both students and faculty, Lesas performance at UD can accurately be described as excellent. Her contributions from her work as a teacher, mentor, and senior administrator have truly been incredible. About Thomas A. Baker The professorship that bears his name was created by his wife, Ruth Baker, through a bequest made for a purpose which will advance the aims of the University of Delaware and appropriately honor the name of Prof. T.A. Baker. The Board of Trustees of the University formally established the professorship on Dec. 19, 2001, as the T.A. Baker Professorship in Agriculture and Natural Resources. The T.A. Baker Professorship is a college-specific award that can be bestowed on a faculty member in any discipline within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Article by Adam Thomas Photo by Wenbo Fan 1:26 p.m., Feb. 15, 2016--Researchers developing technologies that could lead to new gene and cell therapies, and that will help nurses and physical therapists do their jobs more effectively, will receive a total of $600,000 in funding through the eighth round of the University City Science Centers QED Proof-of-Concept Program. The program, started in 2009, funds novel university technologies with market potential, bridging the gap between academic research and product commercialization. The awardees were selected from a pool of 62 applicants and 12 universities in the Greater Philadelphia region and include the University of Delawares Amy Cowperthwait, instructor in the School of Nursing, who is revolutionizing health care training by addressing shortcomings of mannequin simulation. The QED grants will support researchers at UD, Penn State University and Rutgers University. Half of the $600,000 awarded will be contributed by the Science Center and half by the researchers institutions. Each project will also receive guidance from the Science Centers experienced team of business advisors. To date, 28 funded QED projects have attracted over $15 million in follow-on funding and led to seven licensed technologies. The Round 8 awardees include: UDs Cowperthwait, who has teamed up with lead engineer Amy Bucha, a researcher in the School of Nursing, to develop a new tool for teaching health care workers techniques for airway management in emergency situations, improving patient safety and providing feedback from the patients perspective. Judith Deutsch, professor of rehabilitation and movement science at the Rutgers University School of Health Related Professions, who has led a team of physical therapists and engineers to create a customized low-cost rehabilitation technology that selectively tracks movement and heart rate. The technology will aid in balance, mobility, coordination and fitness training for older adults as well as persons with neurologic and musculoskeletal conditions such as stroke. Melik Demirel of Penn State, who is using proteins to coat the surfaces of biomedical swabs, allowing them to capture the DNA in a sample. These swabs will allow gene analysis from even tiny amounts of blood or other biological samples, with the DNA swab industry being the primary market for this product. KiBum Lee, associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers, who is developing an innovative platform for programming human patient-derived stem cells for use in stem-cell therapies in people with incurable and debilitating diseases and disorders. His strategy is unlike conventional approaches because it doesnt rely on the use of viruses to modify the cells genes. The QED program excels at finding innovative, commercially relevant solutions for pressing problems in health care and life sciences, said Stephen S. Tang, Science Center president and CEO. Our latest round looked for innovative approaches to collaboration as it emphasized partnerships between two groups that dont typically work together: medical professionals and engineers. Putting together these groups different skill sets and perspectives, as exemplified by Amy Cowperthwaits and Judith Deutschs projects, creates another path to improving patient care. You can expect to see more of these special emphasis areas in the future. QED has received support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the commonwealth of Pennsylvanias Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the commonwealth of Pennsylvanias Department of Health, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, William Penn Foundation, and Wexford Science and Technology, a BioMed Realty Company. About the Science Center The University City Science Center is a dynamic hub for innovation, and entrepreneurship and technology development in the Greater Philadelphia region. It provides business incubation, programming, lab and office facilities, and support services for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and growing and established companies. Since it was founded in 1963, graduate organizations and current residents of the University City Science Centers Port business incubators have created more than 15,000 jobs that remain in the Greater Philadelphia region today and contribute more than $9 billion to the regional economy annually. The Science Center is leveraging its history as the nations oldest and largest urban research park as it joins forces with Wexford Science and Technology, a BioMed Realty company, to expand its footprint and rebrand its physical campus as uCity Square a true mixed-use community of ingenuity. For more information about the Science Center, go to ucscreview.org. About the QED Program The QED Program was launched in April 2009. A common participation agreement that defines matching funds, indirect costs, and intellectual property management, has been signed by 21 universities and research institutions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware: the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Delaware State University, Drexel University, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Lehigh University, Monell Chemical Senses Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia University, Rowan University, Rutgers University, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Delaware, University of Pennsylvania, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Widener University, and The Wistar Institute. 2:54 p.m., Feb. 15, 2016--A new initiative in a longstanding partnership between the University of Delaware and the University of Warsaw will enable selected UD graduate students to attend a Statistical Teaching and Analytics Research Training (START) workshop in Poland this summer. Applications are now being accepted for the workshop, which will be held from July 1-10 and focus on collaborative learning, scholarship and student mentoring and engagement. The START program will cover all travel and lodging expenses for student participants and provide them a small stipend. During the workshop, UD graduate students will work together with University of Warsaw graduate students on an applied research project, attend presentations by faculty and other researchers, meet one-on-one with faculty mentors and participate in a range of social activities in Warsaw. The START program aims to provide a unique global experience, bridge societal divides and promote global citizenry and diversity. The summer workshop, specifically, will: Promote intellectual and social diversity, global learning and scholarly collaboration; Emphasize scholarly, data-driven exploration of pressing social and behavioral issues; Offer applied instruction in project-directed data management and statistical analyses; and Foster faculty and peer mentoring that encourages academic confidence and success. Eligibility criteria Eligible graduate students must be enrolled full time, have successfully completed at least one graduate research methods and/or statistics course at UD, be able to travel internationally and have an expressed interest in using data and statistics to study social and behavioral issue. Preference will be given to students within the first few years of their program, with limited experiences abroad and/or in need of additional mentoring in the use of data and statistics. Students from historically underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Application process Applicants can complete the online application here. The application also requires a single PDF containing a cover letter discussing how the applicant would benefit from participation in the START workshop in Warsaw, a recent CV and an unofficial transcript. In addition, applicants must have a faculty mentor email a letter of support directly to Jade Grant at jjgrant@udel.edu. A review of the complete applications will begin March 15, and all applicants will be notified of the decision by March 30. For questions about START, email Agnes Ly, director of learning, at aly@udel.edu. Editor's note: This article was updated at 5:50 p.m., Feb. 15, 2016. 8:15 a.m., Feb. 15, 2016--The University of Delaware Carvel Research and Education Center in Georgetown is closed Monday, Feb. 15, due to the winter storm, and the University's Lewes campus is closing at noon, today. The Associate in Arts Program on the Owens Campus in Georgetown is closed today, and the Associate in Arts Program on Delaware Tech's Terry Campus is closing at noon, today. UD officials are monitoring the situation on the Newark campus throughout the afternoon. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Wilmington is closing at 2 p.m. All Associate in Arts Program classes at Arsht Hall in Wilmington are canceled for this evening. Belarus is ready to render a site for talks to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine and hopes that all agreements will be implemented. Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei told this in an exclusive interview with own Ukrinform correspondent in Germany. We are interested in our southern neighbor to have peace, quite, stability and we are ready to apply maximum efforts to favor this, Makei said and added that the Belarusian leaders always said about the readiness to make everything possible for peace and stability be achieved in Ukraine. When asked about possible Minsk 3, the Belarusian Foreign Minister said that he hopes for the full implementation of Minsk 2 by all the sides and stop of this bad situation that is taking place in Ukraine. However, if agreement is not achieved and if Minsk 3 takes place, then I wish this number was the last, he added. iy CAR refugee Jean Baptiste casts his vote in the second round of the CAR presidential elections in Yaounde, Cameroon. UNHCR/D. Mbaiorem GENEVA, February 15 (UNHCR) - Thousands of refugees took part at the weekend in the second round of Central African Republic's landmark presidential election, which could usher in a new era of peace and reconciliation after years of violence, suffering and forced displacement, and lead to their return home. Reports from UNHCR staff involved in election facilitation in Cameroon, Chad and Republic of Congo said many of the Central African Republic refugees eligible to vote in those three countries cast their ballots on Sunday. But initial indications were that turnout was not as high as in the first round on December 30, when 33,000 voted, or more than 60 per cent. This may be because the preferred candidates of most of the refugees were knocked out in the first round. "This election, including the participation of refugees, is a pivotal event in the tragic recent history of the Central African Republic, reflecting a collective will to move on and rebuild a country with strong government, security, rule of law, inter-communal harmony and economic growth," said UNHCR Africa Director Valentin Tapsoba. "We hope the voice of the people will be listened to and acted upon," he added, while stressing that the elections could lead to their return to play a part in rebuilding the country. Full results are not expected until mid-March. In Chad, refugees voted peacefully, but in fewer numbers than in the first round, when some 67 per cent cast ballots in a race pitting two former prime ministers Faustin Touadera and Anicet Dologuele against each other. Both have pledged to work on refugee return and reintegration as well as restoring security and boosting the economy in a country rich in natural resources. In southern Chad's Gore (Timberi and Bere) and Maro areas, 3,814 refugees voted (36 per cent turnout); and in Haraze, 789 (45 per cent ) while in the capital of N'Djamena 247 refugees voted out of 614 registered (40 per cent turnout against 78 per cent during the first round). Turnout was also lower in Republic of Congo, where about 7,100 CAR refugees were registered to vote, many of them in Betou and Ikpembele, the main refuge hosting areas. In Cameroon, with more than 29,500 registered voters, people seemed excited by the prospect that their vote would help strengthen the popular determination to lay foundations for peace. "I am really happy to vote. It gives me hope that peace is near," said 35-year-old Bere Ramadji at a polling station in the Cameroon capital, Yaounde. "If all goes well, I want to be back in Bangui before the end of the year," he added, echoing the thoughts of many. Thousands of refugees voted in Cameroon on Sunday, but the final second round figure is expected to be a few thousand less than the 20,400 refugees who cast a vote in the first round. Some 115,150 refugees in Chad, Cameroon and Republic of Congo were eligible to vote in the election, nearly half of whom were registered to vote by the Central African Republic's National Election Authority. UNHCR's role in the election was strictly humanitarian and non-political. The agency informed refugees about the electoral process, facilitated their participation and helped ensure the voluntary nature of the electoral process in a safe environment. Click here for an infographic on the participation of Central African Refugees in CARs elections Opinion / Columnist Comrade President the Zimbabwean people are now losing confidence in the revolutionary party.Comrade the time has come that the celebrated Professor is using you and your wife achieve his hidden agenda.Given the bootings and the ones that are yet to come,have you ever noted that all Zanu's influential people are targeted while you are used to elevate Pf Zapu members who are about to wield the power in the party.Comrade President is your wife not acting in the same way as Delilah where she is being used to leave you an isolated man dumping his close confidantes in the false name of a plot to remove you. Please comrade tell the nation your position about the future of this country.Are you not seeing a looming tribal war in the near future. The Zapu side of our revolution seems to be outwitting you into believing in their shenanigans. Are you aware who was the brains behind Baba Jukwa was and are you aware about the secret meetings held in Kenya by one of your minister with the CIA operatives.Are you also aware of what your minister's agenda was in East Africa. The secret meetings were conducted under the guise of holidaying at the minister's inlaws.The same minister with his fool Shona colleague are the ones who also printed t-shirts inscribed"Team Lacoste" which they later used as evidence that the Vp is plotting against you.The same group parading as G40 are the ones inventing the fall of Cde Mutsvangwa and his wife so as to penetrate the influential war vets ministry.Comrade President in as much as we may feel obliged to respect your excellency, we think you must listen to our voice of unity and dump those who are campaigning to annihilate the gains made under your visionary leadership.Also not that the recent attempt to bomb your Plant was a calculated idea meant to mislead you by this professor and one of your ambitious in the Zapu side. Opinion / Columnist Mugabe has returned his top-dog position as Zanu PF leader for over 40 years and he has kept Zanu PF, by hook and by crook, in power for all the 36 years since independence because he is the grand master of subtlety and cloak-and-dagga political intrigue. He has had an amazingly long and successful inning; still there are signs that after years of weaving a complex and intricate spider's web he is a spider caught in its own web!In 2014 Mugabe, through his wife (he has always had others do his dirty work for him), turned on the then VP Joice Mujuru accusing her of being lazy, incompetent, corrupt, of factionalism and plotting to assassinate him. Mujuru is lazy, incompetent and corrupt; he knew all this back in 2004 when he promoted her to be VP. Indeed he was always surrounded himself with the most corrupt and incompetent men and women he could get because they posed the least threat to his ambition to remain top-dog for live.As for factionalism and assassination charges, that was pure political nonsense to fool the politically naive and gullible. Zanu PF was going to hold an elective congress in December 2014 and Mai Mujuru, who was vying for the VP position, had garnered the support of 8 out of 10 provinces; her main challenger for the post, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had the remaining 2 provinces. Mugabe; who had always managed to deny the party members a meaningful say in the running of the party by denying them the chance to elect party leaders, he had always appointed them instead; feared an elected Mujuru would dilute his own powers and so decided to stop the elections going ahead. Accusing her of factionalism was nonsense because there is nothing wrong with one seeking the support of others in upcoming elections.As for the plot to assassinate Mugabe; each time the tyrant felt his hold on power was under real threat, the opponent was accused of plotting to stage a coup or assassination. The treason charges were then used to justify the ruthless crashing of opponent. Once the threat is neutralized the treason charges would be frizzle out; the same has happened with the Mujuru case.But as soon as the task of "baby dumping", as Mugabe's wife called the purge of Mujuru et al; Mugabe went after Mnangagwa, he was now the new threat to his scheme to remain life president and pass on the presidency to his wife, Grace. Mnangagwa, just like Mujuru in 2014, was too accused of factionalism.Last Wednesday President Mugabe condemned factionalism when he addressed a group of Zanu PF Women's League members and repeated the same message during the politburo meet-ing. The ruthless purge of Mai Mujuru and her supporters in 2014 was supposed to cure the party of factionalism, so where has the new faction come from again?"In 2014 we went around denouncing factionalism but what we did not know was that we were empowering the other (Mnangagwa faction). So, we are saying to the other faction; stop it!" Grace told her audience at her latest "Meet the People" rally; answering the question of the genesis of the new faction."Do not take us for fools. They will not take over from Mugabe. I will rather put him in a wheelbarrow to work because we have realised that those we thought were being groomed as leaders are sell-outs. We no longer have confidence in them," Grace charged.Mnangagwa and his supporters constituted the new threat to Mugabe's plan to remain in office until death and then hand over power to his wife Grace. So Mugabe called off the factional war on Wednesday and two days later his wife declares war on the "sell-outs"; proof there is no intention of ending the war but intensifying it instead.In short, Mugabe's call for an end of the factional wars tearing Zanu PF is just variation of his political giving with one hand and making a big song and dance about it whilst stealing even more with the other hand; waving the olive branch in one hand with the concealed assassin's dagga in the other."Mugabe anorova imbwa akaviga mupini!" as one would say in Shona."You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can-not fool all the people all the time," said Abraham Lincoln, one of America's greatest leaders. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, Mugabe has fooled all the people for a good long "some of the time", 36 years to be exact, and now he has ran out of time; he cannot fool anyone any more.The G40 faction Mugabe created to wrestle power from Mnangagwa has failed to impress.The G40 faction has no credible leader; Grace Mugabe lost credibility soon after she bust on the political stage in 2014 when she started making her wild allegation against Joice Mujuru. The nation knows that she is after power and her shrill "sell-outs" cries are fooling no one.."People nicknamed me Mazowe crush, you think I'm stupid, I do not know what Mazowe crush means?" admitted Grace on Friday."Amai vanoda kutererwa; mukasateerera amai vanotswinya!" she continued, chiding the crowd for not paying attention to her wittering. (Mother wants you to listen; if you do not listen she will sulk!) The restless crowd continued to ignore her.The people have been attending these rallies for the free hand outs at the end of the day. Grace distributed 531 tonnes of maize, 100 tonnes of rice, Tractors, Internet equipment etc., etc. at the end of the rally.If Zimbabwe's next elections are free, fair and credible; which is looking increasingly unlikely given the incompetent opposition failed to get any GPA reforms implemented during the GNU and are doing the same again post the 2013 rigged elections; none of the Zanu PF factions, including Mujuru's People First Movement, would win them.Elections with no reforms will give the Zanu PF faction in power a clear advantage; still by purging the Mujuru faction, rigging the elections will not be easy. If the G40 was to purge the Mnangagwa faction too, it is doubtful if the faction will be able to pull this off alone!Zanu PF's dog-eat-dog factional fighting now pitting the Mnangagwa faction against Grace's G40 faction is going to continue with the latter doing all the barking but too weak to deliver the killer bite. Mugabe cannot call-off his Chihuahua G40 pack now; it is too late for a tactical withdrawal. As long as Mugabe is alive the Mnangagwa faction cannot fight back G40 faction. So Zanu PF is imploding and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop it, not even the grand master of political intrigue, Robert Gabriel Mugabe himself!The greatest danger for the nation is not to allow Mugabe to drag the nation into the abyss together with Zanu PF. We must demand the full implementation of the 2008 GPA reforms followed by free, fair and credible elections; it is our only way to avoid the political chaos that will follow the political vacuum of Zanu PF imploding whilst still in power. Opinion / Columnist "I smell blood in this country. I smell war. I smell disaster. I am not a prophet, but I see dark clouds, I see a hurricane, a tsunami. If one plants a whirlwind, he will reap a tsunami. This country will go the Rwanda way," Biti told PDP members at a campaign rally at Sadza Growth Point in Chivhu over the weekend.Zanu PF is imploding and there is a real danger that the regime in going to drag the whole nation over the edge into the abyss with it.It was Grace's dogged determination to be president that fired her up to attack Joice Mujuru and her supporters and have the lot booted out of Zanu PF. The move weakened the party considerably. Since then she has turned her attention on Mnangagwa and his supporters; dividing and weakening the party even more. Even if Grace was to achieve her wish and boot out Mnangagwa and his sup-porters there is no doubt that she cannot hold the nation together.The breakup of MDC after rigged July 2013 elections posed no instability threat to the nation because MDC was not in government; the breakup of Zanu PF now is another matter, it is serious national threat precisely because they are in government. Still factional fighting in Zanu PF is unstoppable.The in fighting in Zanu PF is more than a fight for political power and economic wealth; it is now a fight for survival. Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has hit hard the ordinary people but it has not spared the ruling elite either. The late Nathan Shamuyarirai, one of the grandees of Zanu PF, lived the last years of his life in grinding poverty. Whatever his death certificate says was the cause of his death, there is no doubt that poverty played a major part in it. The family was so poor his wife could not afford the bus fare from Borrowdale to Avenues Clinic, 5 or so kilometres away, to be with him on his death bed!All Zanu PF chefs are painfully aware of the sorry story of Shamuyarira and many other similar stories of Zanu PF comrades who too lost their position on the feeding trough and were thrown out with the sodomites. The economic situation is so bad that many chefs, who are still in government, are dodging Court bailiff officers threatening to attach their property over some unpaid debt; the flood gates of debtors will open if they were to lose their political position. The country's economic meltdown has raised the grim consequences of losing one's position on the feeding trough so high it is little wonder then that factional fighting is now vicious!The only silver lining to Zanu PF's vicious in fighting is that it has weaken the regime considerably and thus making it more amenable to accepting meaningful democratic change as the way out of the mess. Sadly the MDC opposition is undergoing its own debilitating sub-division and break up of its own that was left it even weaker than ever. Two and half years since the rigged July 2013 elections the opposition is still blundering from pillar to post, instead of focusing on the GPA reforms they failed to implement during the GNU they are now asking for the ineffective electoral law reforms.The nation wasted its best chance to end Mugabe and Zanu PF's strangle-hold on power peacefully during the GNU; all MDC had to do then was to implement the GPA democratic reforms. After five years, not even one reform was implemented and Zanu PF was able to blatantly rig the elections and return to power. The infighting in Zanu PF has weakened the party creating another chance to push for change but this too is being wasted because of the opposition's blithering incompetence to see the chance and make the most of it.Achieving democratic change by implementing the GPA reforms would have been a safer option than the present route of Zanu PF imploding. There is a real danger of President Mugabe stubbornly hanging on to power to the bitter end so instead of dragging just his party over the edge into the abyss he will drag the whole nation over the edge too. The challenge is to demand the implementation of the GPA reforms, hold free and fair elections and thus wrestle political power from Zanu PF BEFORE Zanu PF implodes."There is leadership crisis, economic crisis and breakdown of the social contract," warned PDP President, Tendai Biti."In Germany, there was a mad man by the name (Adolf) Hitler. He bulldozed his way to the top while people were relaxed."Grace is like Hitler, she will go all the way to the State house, and she must be stopped. The First Lady has crossed the path of war veterans, the paths of the securocrats."There is definitely a serious leadership crisis in Zimbabwe; Tendai Biti should know all about that problem since he was a senior member of the MDC leadership that failed to implement the democratic reforms during the GNU. Indeed it is the failure by the same incompetent opposition to demand the implementation of the GPA reforms since the rigged July 2013 elections that has encourage Mugabe to hang on to power even in the face of clear evidence that Zanu PF is imploding and, if that was to happen, will drag the nation into political turmoil.Grace Mugabe is a scatter-brain, it is more appropriate to compare her to the blundering buffoon Idi Amin than to Adolf Hitler. A team of scientists learned what goes into a "learning flight," which wasps and other insects perform before leaving their nest in order to find their way back. Published in the journal Current Biology, the new study details what bugs actually see during these flights with the use of high-speed cameras and software that would help them track the insects' head movements. "They back away from the nest in a series of widening arcs, pivoting around the nest while looking back," study co-author Jochen Zeil, who investigates ecological neuroscience at the Australian National University, told Live Science. "While flying along these arcs, the insects see the nest environment from different directions and distances, and always keep the nest in their left or right visual field." Scientists already knew about these learning flights, but the new study focused on providing an explanation for them. This process of discovering the purpose behind learning flights reportedly took the researchers 10 years. "Our findings tell us how wonderfully autonomous, flexible, and robust wasps are with their ability to know places in the world and shuttle back and forth between them," Zeil said in a press release. "They share this fundamentally important skill with most animals on earth. "It will be interesting to implement the learning and homing rules we found into flying robots to test the validity and limits of our findings. "We want to understand what trick the insects are using to acquire the competence of homing." UW Podcast Examines Popular Culture Collections, Immigration Reform A law professor will explain aspects of immigration reform, and an archivist will discuss the American Heritage Centers popular culture collections on this weeks UW podcast, The University of Wyoming Today. Other segments will feature comments by the authors of books about Wyoming history and ecology, and why the Wyoming Union is ranked among the nations best student unions. To listen to the podcasts, go to www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/podcast/index.html or click on the link provided in the left-column navigation on the UW News home page. You can listen to the podcasts by clicking the link on the page, or subscribe to the RSS feed, which will deliver the podcast link to you via email each week. You also can click on the iTunes link and listen to or subscribe to the podcast there. New podcasts are scheduled weekly and will be updated with new episodes every Thursday. It is a feud that you would expect to see in comic books with the hero Arrow actor Stephen Amell going face to face with Stardust who has been the villain in the feud. This is a feud which began on May 25th of last year when Stardust confronted Amell who was in the crowd at Monday Night RAW. Then to poke fun at Amell, Stardust re-named the Cross-Rhodes the Queens Crossbow to mock Amells character in Arrow, Oliver Queen. How The Feud Began Stardust then began a feud with Neville after Stardust attacked Neville following the latters match with King Barrett only for Amell to make the save. A tag team match was made for SummerSlam pitting The Green & Red Arrows against Stardust and Barrett. The match at SummerSlam was won by Neville after he hit the Red Arrow on Barrett. It seemed as though that this feud was ending. At this years Slammy Awards, Amell won the Slammy for Celebrity Moment of the Year. Stardust then stole Amell's trophy for celebrity moment of the year. The feud would then rest until just a few days ago. Stardust gate-crashed the Arrow Panel at Dallas Comic Con and threw a glass of water in Amells face and challenged the actor to a one-on-one match. Wrestlers Put Aside Differences However, despite the animosity between Amell and Stardust, both men have put their differences aside to help raise money for 8-year-old Elijah Manville who is suffering from Stage 4 Cancer but to this point in time Amell and Stardust are surpassing all goals to help Elijah. Amell & Stardust had been teasing the WWE Universe in the lead-up to the confrontation at Dallas Comic Con. The question then becomes when the match between these two would take place with many believing that WrestleMania 32 is the most likely of events for these two to end their feud. AirAsia India's Managing Director and CEO Mittu Chandilya is deciding to leave his position in the Malaysian low-cost airline. It's only been two years since Chandilya joined AirAsia in mid-2013. Some inside sources believe that Chandilya's decision to leave was caused by the parent company's micro-management in the Indian unit he led. It is believed that the micro-management practice by the parent company was due to high expectations on the Indian unit. The micro-managing rose an issue and internal crisis between the Indian management and parent company. Reports say that the Malaysian parent company has been micro-managing the AirAsia India unit for the recent six months. Chandilya has expressed his displeasure of the parent company's practices with the Indian unit. Other sources said that AirAsia India is completely run by parent AirAsia which decides vital issues like network planning and revenue management, as quoted by Times of India. AirAsia India is a joint venture whereas AirAsia Bhd owns 49 percent in the airline, Tata Sons Ltd holds 41 percent, and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace Pvt. Ltd holds the rest. Chandilya is not the only one to have expressed disfavour on how the parent company manage AirAsia India. Bhatia, owning 10 percent of the AirAsia India joint venture has also raised the issue. They had even threatened to take it up to the court. According to The Economic Times, Chandilya is likely to leave the position when his current two-year contract with the airline ends. His current contract will end as soon as March, and it's believed that Chandilya will not renew it. The company's board have not decided on who would be appointed to hold the position left by Chandilya. But, according to Livemint, it's likely that a new executive from the parent airline will take over in the next months. It's also reported that AirAsia will soon hold a board meeting to decide the new CEO. Meanwhile, Chandilya has been asked to remain in the position until a decision is finalized. AirAsia India's growth remain slow and is even getting slower. The airline is yet to make profits ever since it started operating in India on mid-2014. In about a year, the airline has now five fleets, which is a minimum number for an Indian airline to operate according to regulations. AirAsia Mittu Chandilya will leave the struggling airline in the next few months after the board decided on his successor. The parent company's alleged micro-management was reported to have caused Chandilya to leave the airline, which is now still struggling with management and on managing finances amid intense competition and prolonged losses. Members of The European Parliament (MEP) have pledged on Saturday to study a report by the Green Party that accuses IKEA for tax dodging. The Swedish furniture maker has been accused of evading tax up to 1 billion ($1.13 billion/ 776 million) between 2009 and 2014. The report published over the weekend reveals that the furniture retailer has deliberately laundered money from its stores around Europe through a subsidiary in Netherlands. The siphoned money is believed to end up as untaxed in Lichtenstein or Luxembourg, reports CNN Money. Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium have reportedly aided IKEA with the large scale tax avoidance over the past six years. The investigation report has been commissioned by Greens/ European Free Alliance, the political group comprising of green, regionalist and nationalist political parties. The report appears to be the latest among a series of investigations conducted during the last 10 years, reports International Business Times. However, IKEA Group claims to be fully committed towards managing operations in a responsible and sustainable manner. It pays taxes in full compliance with the local and international rules and regulations. The retail furniture giant is committed to further developing business in Europe while continuing dialogue on developing a harmonized and transparent tax system, narrates The Guardian. IKEA Group possesses no knowledge on the investigation report and hence expresses inability to comment. It has claimed paying corporate tax of 822 million at an effective rate of 19%. Apart from this, the group has paid an additional 700 million by way of other taxes like property tax. The report estimates that the tax dodging has led to 35 million ($39 million) of missing tax revenues in only in Germany. During the same period, France has been dodged 24 million and the UK 11.6 million. Sweden, Spain and Belgium have lost between 7.5 million and 10 million, according to the investigation report. The multinational companies operating all over Europe siphons off profit as a common practice. The multinationals usually establish headquarters in low tax countries like Ireland or Luxembourg. Funneling most of the European profits using the tax loophole appears to be the most common phenomenon in tax evasion. The Green party's claim has been produced amid rising public outrage about tax dodging by multinational companies. In similar but separate incident, Google has negotiated paying back taxes of 130 million ($185.4 million/ 172 million) to the UK followed by an investigation by the tax authority. However, the too low sum of tax settlement has drawn a barrage of criticism. Last month, Google has negotiated with the UK tax authority to settle a tax claim though initially rejected the allegations. The settlement with payment of back taxes proves the fact that tax dodging is common practice for the multinational companies. Green Party has accused IKEA for dodging tax up to 1 billion ($1.13 billion/ 776 million). IKEA has rejected the claim as usual and MEP has taken the allegation into cognizance. BP Plc, a London-based oil and gas firm, said that it has entered into a 'heads of agreement' with the Oman government in order to widen the license area of Block 61. The deal will also allow BP to enhance development in Khazzan gas ground. The total cost of the whole project is expected to be about $16 billion. As per the terms of the modified 'exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA)', the Block 61 will be further extended to cover more than 1000 km2 to the west and south of the previous block area of 2700 km2. This move will enable a second stage of growth in that area where surplus resources have been recognised through drilling activity. BP and the Oman government are yet to approve the expansion of this surplus resources and that is anticipated to take place in 2017. This deal was signed by oil and gas minister of Oman, His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Al Rumhy, CEO of BP Group, Bob Dudley and Oman Oil E&P executive managing director, John Malcolm. The Khazzan gas reservoirs have the capacity to be a main gas source for more than several decades and it ensures continuous long-term gas supply for Oman. Combined production from phase 1 and phase 2 is anticipated to be about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day, which is equal to Oman's present gas production of about 40%. Distribution of first gas supply from phase 1 project is scheduled in late 2017 and the new phase 2 project is anticipated to commence from 2020. The phase 2 project will involve drilling of nearly 325 wells and building of 3 train chief processing plant with export and gathering systems for a period of 15 years. In 2013, local gas intake in Oman amounted to 774 billion cubic feet, up from 520 billion cubic feet over 2009, Bloomberg said quoting data from the US Energy Information Administration. Oman, which imports gas from Qatar through a pipeline, is currently discussing with Iran to construct a channel across the Gulf of Persia. The government of Oman is also investigating routes for LNG import in order to produce power, according to Bloomberg. BP also noted that it is investing for the growth of mid-career workers and graduates in Oman. The oil and gas company owns 60% interest in Block 61 while the remaining 40% is controlled by Oman Oil. The renewable sources are expected to account for just 9% of the global net energy requirements within 2035, Clean Technica said quoting an outlook report from BP. As per the forecast, the total energy demand in the world will rise about 34% during the period between 2014 and 2035. The company strengthens its commitment in Oman with a view to broadening its business in the country. BP is examining all means to develop the production of gas in order to meet the global demand and its present investment in Oman supports this idea. Airbus Group SE and Boeing Co. expect to increase their market in South East Asia. The aircraft manufacturers will be participating in the Singapore Air Show this week. However, tight competition between low-cost operators in the South East Asia has been one of the issue. The biggest airshow in Asia will begin this week and aircraft manufacturers are expecting Asian market to grow amidst global financial market rout. However some delays in the South East Asia nations for plane delivery have raised concern regarding the market. As competition between budget carriers in the South East Asia region is so tight, the profitability of carriers is low. Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Tony Tyler told journalist as cited by CNBC, "The budget carriers have captured a lot of market share but one has to ask how profitable are they and are the growth plans that some of them have realistic." IATA is the trade association of worldwide airliners and represents almost 260 airlines from 117 countries. Members of IATA is accounting for 83% of global air traffic, and most of them are legacy flag carriers. Therefore a competition and price-war between low-cost carriers in South East Asia will affect its members in the region. Meanwhile Airbus and Boeing, as reported by Aviation International News, expected the increase of demand from the entire Asia Pacific. Boeing's Current Market Outlook (CMO) predicted airlines in Asia Pacific will need 12,500 to15,000 new aircraft in the coming 20 years. This increasing demand marked the rapid growth in the air travel industry with double in size of the jetliner fleet from 2,900 aircrafts to 5,850. Boeing also see a 50% of increase in jet operators from 150 to 225 airlines in Asia Pacific within the next 20 years. While airliner's capacity, in term of available seat-miles/kilometres (ASM/ASKs) has grown annually by 7%, as the number of routes to, from and within Asia has increased by 57% from 2,200 to 3,800. One of the hotspot in the market is China, with its two leading airlines China Southern Airlines Co. and Air China Ltd. followed by other carriers. In the next two decades, China will require about 6,330 new planes which will be worth $950 billion and that takes about 17% of global market. Last year, airlines and aircraft leasing companies put order of 780 planes at value of $102 billion. "China's aviation outlook is not just bright, but arguably the strongest it has been in its history," Will Horton, a Hong Kong-based analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation told Bloomberg, "Chinese airlines are waking up to their potential." Singapore Air Show will begin this week. Aircraft manufacturers expect to see a growth of market in the region, amidst a slowdown in economy and tight competition between budget carriers in South East Asia. HSBC Holdings PLC, the British multinational banking and financial services company, has announced to keep headquarters in London. The decision has been taken after a 10-month review for moving to elsewhere while Hong Kong has been considered as the most probable alternative. But during this period, the UK government has adopted series of changes in tax laws favorable for the bank. The widely anticipated decision has been announced after a board meeting in London. The bank has headquartered there in 1992 while taking-over of Midland Bank. The announcement has been made just ahead of the resumption of China's stock market after a week's holiday, reports The Guardian. The unanimous decision taken by the HSBC Board renders a boost to London's status as a global financial center. The European economic hub has been threatened for relocation followed by tougher regulations and rising costs since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. The expectations of Hong Kong for luring back Europe's biggest bank to its birth place, has been over shadowed at least for this time, according to a report published in Reuters. London possesses an internationally respected regulatory framework and legal system and also homes a large pool of highly skilled, international talents. These basic facts have led HSBC to consider London as its home base, reports BBC citing an HSBC statement as the source. The UK Chancellor George Osborne has introduced a gradual reduction in the bank levy on balance sheets. This move has particularly affected HSBC due to its large balance sheet. The British banking giant has paid 750 million more taxes out of 1.9 billion paid in 2014, just for the new regulations. Philippine Airlines, familiar with the trade name PAL Holdings Inc., is expected to announce a new aircraft deal at the Singapore Air Show scheduled to kick off on Tuesday. Airplane-makers Airbus Group SE and Boeing Co. appear as contender to revive sales in a region embattled for overcapacity. PAL Holdings' President Jaime Bautista has declined to comment on probable model of the carrier. But he has hinted for announcing the purchase on Wednesday reports Bloomberg while covering his interview in Singapore on Sunday. The Philippine flag carrier is hinted to consider for buying six aircraft through a firm order with an option to purchase six more. PAL has also been hinted over an ongoing debate for Airbus's A350 wide body aircraft or Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, reports Daily News citing an interview of Bautista in November. Juan Carlo/ THE STAR Oxnard Police Chief Jeri Williams listens to a speaker at the annual African American Achievement Award Luncheon last year at CSU Channel Islands. SHARE By Megan Diskin of the Ventura County Star Oxnard Police Chief Jeri Williams was nominated earlier this month for "Woman of the Year," a celebration sponsored by the California Legislative Women's Caucus. Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, selected Williams to be honored at the March ceremony for her efforts in community-based policing in which officers and community members work together to address and resolve challenges affecting the city, Irwin said. "It's been a tough year for police throughout the country and she has done an outstanding job in Oxnard," Irwin said. Each state assembly member is encouraged to select one woman who resides in their district who has significantly contributed to the community. The women will be honored March 14 in Sacramento on the assembly floor as part of "Women's History Month." A local ceremony at Irwin's Oxnard district office was planned for March 25, Irwin said. Before the nomination, the assemblywoman's staff spoke with people in the Oxnard community about the department's first female chief and many had positive things to say. Williams is also the first African-American woman to head a county law enforcement agency. Irwin said Williams' years of work with faith-based organizations and businesses within Oxnard and the respect she has from her peers in law enforcement was a factor in the nomination. Williams has also testified at the state level about issues concerning law enforcement such as how policy should be developed for the use of body cameras, Irwin said. "In my opinion, to do that you have to be considered an expert in the field," Irwin said. The assembly woman also noted that up until recently, Williams, who has more than 23 years of law enforcement experience, was head of both the city's police and fire departments after the former fire chief suddenly resigned. "To be recognized for demonstrating responsible, accountable and transparent leadership is a great honor and is a testament to the dedicated men and women of the Oxnard Police Department," Williams said of the nomination. "I am blessed with a great group of employees who seek to continue to work hard and make the City of Oxnard a safer place." She said there were many women deserving of the nomination and she was humbled to be selected. That humility is part of what motivated Irwin's nomination. Irwin also described Williams as approachable, impressive and a "force of nature in the city of Oxnard." ROB VARELA/THE STAR Jane Laut on the second day of her trial at the Ventura County Courthouse. 1/26/16 Ventura, CA SHARE The murder trial of Jane Laut, accused of shooting husband Dave Laut on Aug. 27, 2009, at their Oxnard home, continued in its third week in Ventura County Superior Court. The Star is providing weekly recaps of the trial, as well as live updates at www.vcstar.com/laut-trial. MONDAY Michael Young, the lead Oxnard police detective on the case, testified that he found the suspected homicide weapon, a Ruger .22-caliber revolver, in a grandfather clock in the Lauts' dining room. Young said Oxnard police arrested Jane Laut on Feb. 13, 2010. They searched her purse and found a mortgage bill addressed to Jane and her husband. Young said the bill was past due in the amount of $9,054. TUESDAY Dr. Ronald O'Halloran, the former county chief medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Dave Laut, testified that he suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the back of the head and two wounds to his right cheek from bullets that went through his face. One of those bullets also hit Laut's arm. He also suffered a gunshot to the back. O'Halloran testified that another injury was found, a half-inch wound behind the left ear resulting from blunt-force trauma. He said the wound could have come from a bullet graze or something else that struck Laut's head. O'Halloran said it would be "very unlikely" that a normal .22-caliber bullet shot at a straight trajectory caused the blunt-force injury. WEDNESDAY Tommy Henry, a former computer forensics examiner with the district attorney's high-tech task force, testified that he found evidence of various Internet searches for divorce and divorce attorneys on the Lauts' laptops. During his opening statement, Senior Deputy District Attorney Rameen Minoui said Dave Laut was researching information about divorce. Henry said he also examined hundreds of images of Jane Laut, looking for any evidence of injuries that might represent abuse. Henry said he found none. The defense argues Dave Laut had abused his wife for decades. Margaret Kaleuati, an interim chief of forensic laboratories for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, testified about gunshot residue analysis she conducted on clothes Jane Laut wore when she was taken to the police station the day after the killing. Kaleuati said the clothes may have been in the vicinity a firearm discharge or in an environment where gunshot residue was found. THURSDAY Prosecution witnesses testified Jane Laut could have collected nearly $300,000 in life insurance and benefit payments after her husband's death. Patrick Withers, a State Farm Insurance agent, testified he sold Jane and Dave Laut a $100,000 life insurance policy in 1997 after they adopted their son. Sarah Van Someren, an insurance specialist with the Oxnard Union High School District, testified that according to Dave's age, the district's basic life insurance policy for him would have been $39,500, plus an additional $52,000 for accidental death or dismemberment. David Walton, a manager with the California State Teachers' Retirement System, testified Dave had three CalSTRS accounts that would pay a net sum of $103,640. Jane Laut never collected any of the benefits or insurance payoffs. Song Wicks, a forensic scientist from the county sheriff's crime laboratory, testified that he found Dave Laut's DNA on the revolver's muzzle, trigger, inside the barrel and the cylinder. Jane's DNA was not found on the gun. FRIDAY Court holiday; no proceedings. The representative denied on Friday recent reports that Casino Group has finished selling Big C Vietnam to a new owner, adding that the group is still looking for a suitable partner for its business in the country. Since its announcement on December 15, 2015 that Casino Group is seeking a new owner for its business activities in minor markets, the group has only agreed to pass on its controlling stake, which accounts for 58.6 percent, in Thai Big C to Thai Charoen Corporation Group (TCC), one of Thailands leading corporations, the representative toldTuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. The transaction, which was worth US$3.5 billion, was made during an auction on February 5 and is expected to be completed before the end of March, the representative added. The decision to sell Big C Vietnam has been welcomed by several investors, including Singaporean retailer Dairy Farm International Holdings, South Koreas Lotte Shopping, and Japanese retail corporate group AEON, according to a Reuters source. Big C is among several major foreign retailers who took up an early presence in Vietnam and is a big competitor in the countrys retail sector. There are now 32 Big C outlets across Vietnam, with eight in Ho Chi Minh City. On December 15, Casino Group issued a memorandum stating that it may seek a new owner for its supermarket chain Big C in Vietnam, as the company plans to strengthen its financial flexibility by selling assets in the country, as well as Thailand and Colombia. In multiple annual reports, the French retailer has assessed Vietnam as a market with high potential for growth in the future, once the economic slowdown is over and consumption begins to grow again. However, given the minor contribution of Big C Vietnam and the small market size, especially compared to neighboring country Thailand, the chain is now on the priority list to change hands. The project aims to promote exports by ensuring that Vietnamese products are directly sold into major distribution systems of countries in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia that signed free trade agreements with Vietnam. In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said Vietnam recently signed many free trade agreements, adding the integration process required enterprises to enhance their competitiveness. Thoa said local businesses have made great efforts to expand their markets, adding that many Vietnamese products with high quality and reasonable prices were favoured by consumers. "For example, Vietnam is currently the world's fourth-largest footwear producer. Vietnamese agricultural products and food also have a strong foothold in many foreign distribution systems," she said. According to the Phap Luat TPHCM (HCM City Law) newspaper, Vietnamese food and foodstuffs have been successful in penetrating some foreign markets via the export channels of the supermarket system, which has made remarkable efforts to take local goods to world markets. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Deputy General Director of Saigon Co.op that owns the Co.opmart supermarket chain, said they exported more than 80 containers of food and foodstuffs to Singapore last year, such as dragon fruits, fresh coconuts, pangasius fillets and many other processed food products. "In the future, Saigon Co.op will continue to support domestic enterprises to export more products to this market," Thuy told Phap Luat TPHCM (HCM City Law) newspaper. A representative from Lotte Mart Vietnam said currently 24 Vietnamese enterprises exported their products to the Republic of Korea via the distribution channels of the Lotte Mart supermarket chain, with more than 100 types of products. Vietnamese products accounted for seven to 10% of the products sold at the Lotte Mart supermarket chain in foreign countries, he said. The most common products were dragon fruits, coconuts, durian and dried fish and squid as well as raw and processed coffee, he told Phap Luat TPHCM newspaper. He said Vietnamese producers were increasingly manufacturing high-quality products with reasonable prices, but the consumption in the Republic of Korea remained relatively low. Therefore, the company was trying to enhance customer awareness about Vietnamese goods and was focusing on advertising some key Vietnamese export products such as fruits, seafood, confectionery and snacks, besides tea, sauces, spices and handicraft products, he said. Le Van Khoa, Vice-Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, told Phap Luat TPHCM newspaper that some large supermarkets in HCM City recently participated in trade promotion activities, especially trade fairs, in foreign markets such as Singapore, the Republic of Korea and some European countries. They held the fairs to connect enterprises with distribution channels and foreign partners, and to encourage customers to buy Vietnamese products, Khoa said. Different taste Ly Truong Chien, Deputy Head of Consulting Committee of the Vietnam Marketing Association (VMA) and a member of the International Committee Management Consultant (ICMC), told Phap Luat TPHCM newspaper that in foreign markets, most of the Vietnamese products were mainly consumed by overseas Vietnamese. However, overseas Vietnamese consuming these exported products was anyway a stepping stone for Vietnamese food manufacturers to gradually approach foreign customers, Chien said. Explaining the low consumption of foreign buyers, Chien said Vietnamese food and foodstuff producers who exported their goods to foreign markets focused mainly on selling the goods favoured by the Vietnamese community. They had not paid adequate attention to the tastes and preferences of the foreign customers, Chien said. For example, Chien said, many mam tom (fermented shrimp paste) manufacturers and nuoc mam (fish sauce) suppliers were trying to enter foreign markets. Many Vietnamese people enjoy these sauces, but their challenging taste and smell do not easily appeal to foreigners. Okihiko Ishikawa, a Japanese businessman who has spent more than 10 years working in Vietnam, said he could hardly get used to the unpleasant smell of mam tom, which he called a pungent sauce. "I'm a durian-hater, too, as I cannot stand its smell, which is quite stinky and persistent. However, my wife is a huge fan of the fruit. I'm really annoyed when she stores durian in the fridge," Ishikawa said. But he said he enjoyed bun cha, a Vietnamese popular traditional dish made of grilled pork, rice noodles and a dipping fish sauce as well as other ingredients such as sugar, chilli, pepper and lime juice, besides garlic. Ishikawa said he really enjoyed the savoury taste of the dipping sauce. "Whenever I return to Japan, I often buy a lot of Vietnamese fruits such as limes, mangosteen and rambutan as gifts for my friends and relatives, and also other local specialties such as salted dry apricots and instant coffee," he said. Ishikawa said Vietnamese food and foodstuffs had their own attraction with special flavour, but local businesses needed to have a stronger branding strategy and research more about cultural preferences, hobbies and buying habits of each type of customer in different markets. Deputy Minister Thoa told Vietnam News Agency that in the context of the deeper integration, domestic businesses had to further improve their competitiveness, including enhancing the quality of manpower and management capacity and formulating brand-building strategies to conquer the regional and global markets, and fully meet the needs of consumers. The Government needed to further improve policy mechanisms consistent with international practices, creating a fair and competitive environment for businesses, Thoa said. Kei Nishikori of Japan returns a shot to Taylor Fritz of the United States on Feb 14, 2016 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. (AFP/Stacy Revere) WASHINGTON: Japan's seventh-ranked Kei Nishikori captured his fourth consecutive ATP Memphis Open title on Sunday (Feb 14) by defeating 18-year-old US wildcard Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4. Top seed Nishikori won his 11th career ATP crown by taking his 17th consecutive Memphis match victory. He joins Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the only active players to have won the same event four years in a row. "It has been amazing," Nishikori said as he accepted the guitar-shaped champion's trophy. "It was really fun on the court. This is something I've never done before, something new. I'm very happy for that." Fritz, in only his third tour-level event, was the youngest American in an ATP final since a 17-year-old Michael Chang won at Wembley in 1989. "It was a great week for me," Fritz said. "Winning the tournament four times, that's incredible. He was too tough for me today." Fritz smashed a backhand winner down the line to break Nishikori's first service game of the match - his lone break of the contest - and then held at love himself for a 3-0 edge. But the Asian ace bounced back by winning six of the next seven games. A double fault cost Fritz a break in the fifth game and he struggled to hold in the seventh, denying Nishikori break points on two aces and a service winner. Nishikori broke in the ninth game on a forehand winner and held at love to claim the first set after 36 minutes. In the second set, Nishikori broke on a forehand winner for a 3-2 lead and forced Fritz to save two match points in the ninth game before holding in the 10th on a forehand winner to end it after 79 minutes. After starting the week 1-2 in ATP play, Fritz will jump from 145th to 103rd in the world rankings. "I'm sure he has got a bright future and is going to be among the top players very soon," Nishikori said of Fritz. Fritz, last year's US Open junior champion, made his ATP debut last year at Nottingham, beating Carreno Busta before a second-round exit. He lost to compatriot Jack Sock in five sets in the first round of last month's Australian Open. US President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Palm Springs International Airport in Palm Springs, California, on Feb 12, 2016. (AFP/Mandel Ngan) RANCHO MIRAGE: ASEAN leaders are in California for a summit with US President Barack Obama starting on Monday. It is the first meeting of its kind on US soil. On the agenda are issues like trade, economy, counter-terrorism and security. An investment conference will take place in San Francisco on Wednesday. The summit is designed to kick off a year of renewed American focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Obama must really like Sunnylands the sprawling Annenberg family estate in the middle of the California desert. It was there that he entertained Chinese President Xi Jinping in blazing temperatures back in June 2013. Once again, the White House is descending on a place that boasts 80 hectares of property, 22 guest rooms, 11 lakes and a 50-seat theatre. US officials said the venue itself would give rise to unscripted, informal discussions on some of the critical global topics of the day. Weve done a lot of work with ASEAN over the last seven years, and we want to close strong, said Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes. The White House wants to ensure that Obamas successor in the Oval Office is encouraged to continue the US foreign policy tilt towards Asia. Rhodes said: We want to make sure that on all the different initiatives that weve had with ASEAN, that we know how were going to get from here to the end of the year, or to the end of the Presidency, and so this is a chance to set that workplan. Some of that will be things that we want to finish in our administration but some of that will be wanting to leave for the next administration a good platform of deeper engagement with ASEAN. Building then, on a series of meetings with ASEAN leaders, this summit will have three central components. It will begin with a session on trade and investment. ASEAN is already the fourth largest export market for US goods now the leaders will focus on boosting trade in the tech and innovation sectors. After that, there will be a private dinner with no fixed agenda, and the White House said there will be no trademark ASEAN dress code though ties may be optional. The summit will end with a session on security issues, and officials concede that the territorial dispute in the South China Sea will loom large. Rhodes said: Our view is, the more ASEAN is able to speak with one voice on this, the better. That, you know, if this is seen as only an issue of concern to the claimants, or this is seen as even different claimants have different views on how this should be addressed, beyond simply their territorial claim, we think make it harder to resolve the issue in the region. Also expected to come up for discussions are the threat North Korea poses to global stability, and the battle against attempts by extremist groups to radicalise and recruit followers across the Asia Pacific region. There are also protests expected - as witnessed when President Xi visited Sunnylands. And ahead of those, US National Security Adviser Susan Rices meeting with civil society representatives to underscore respect for good governance and human rights will be part of Americas focus at the summit. Obamas advisers say they dont expect this special summit to become an annual affair, nor is there a plan for it to conclude with any kind of published communique or agreement. But they say it symbolises the fact that US contact with ASEAN is now becoming routine and by itself is a foreign policy achievement that Obama wants to herald and to weave firmly into the tapestry of the US relationship with the region. Xavier Denoly received the Prime Ministers Certificate of Merit for his companys performance in the field of energy and social work Can you shed the light on some of Schneider Electric Vietnams achievements in 2015? 2015 has been a memorable year for us, as we recorded a double-digit growth in all our businesses and became the top growing Schneider Electric entity in the entire region. This is particularly significant because, as you might have seen in the news, the world has gone through a volatile 2015 and a dark sentiment pervaded the majority of the globe due to a long list of bad news. This global gloom makes Schneider Electric even prouder of what our office in Vietnam has achieved in 2015. In August 2015, we received the investment certificate for our new 26,000-square metre manufacturing facility in Saigon Hi-Tech Park, which will hopefully be completed by the end of 2016. A few weeks ago, Schneider Electric Vietnam received the third-class Labour Order granted by State President of Vietnam. What does this accolade mean to the company? It is a great honour and we feel privileged to receive such a prestigious award. The Labour Order shows the Vietnamese governments acknowledgement to Schneider Electric Vietnams performance and contribution to the local socio-economic development in more than 20 years since we established our first office in the country in 1994. Wherever Schneider Electric makes an investment, it is a long term commitment, thus recognition like this is truly meaningful for us. I would like to attribute this success to our 1,000 employees at Schneider Electric Vietnam, who have worked so hard and contributed their energy, knowledge, and passion to the development of the company and to the satisfaction of local customers. What plans do you have for 2016 and the next five years? We have high hopes for the upcoming Saigon Hi-Tech Park factory, which will be one of our main manufacturing bases for the whole region. We will bring the latest energy efficiency technologies to this factory, make sure of LEAN manufacturing process and enable a much larger production capacity. The Vietnamese market has a huge potential for growth, and we are really excited about bringing our long-term plans to fruition. To be specific, we can see that Vietnamese people are becoming increasingly inter-connected, via a multitude of smart devices wirelessly linked to each other. The overwhelmingly young population is now tech-savvy and is in need of 24/7 connectivity to the world. They also love the idea of remote home control, where they can monitor their house via tablets or smart phones, and be in the known about energy conservation. This is an excellent opportunity for Schneider Electric for the next five to 10 years. Moreover, the local industrial sector also needs to invest heavily in automation for its entire manufacturing process. Finally, the construction sector requires fast and efficient energy distribution for new buildings. As a global leader in energy management and automation, we are a perfect fit to address the needs of Vietnamese customers, not only in the upcoming decade but further down the road as well. How will the EUVietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) affect your business? What is your strategy to stand out from the competition flocking to Vietnam following the FTA? The FTA is very good news, as it will boost EUVietnam bilateral trade and overall economic relations. Thanks to the lowered trade barriers, the FTA will spur exports from Vietnam to the EU and vice versa, which is truly beneficial to most firms in Vietnam, including Schneider Electric. Obviously, as Vietnam opens itself to the world, we will face a new wave of strong competitors from both Europe and other regions. But at Schneider Electric, we welcome competition because it is healthy for the Vietnamese economy and challenges us to stay alert and innovative at all times. We must always prepare to answer our clients ever-changing needs in the field of energy management and automation - which is both a challenge and an opportunity for us to grow. One effective differentiation strategy that we use to stay on top of our game is economy of scale: our well-established presence in many countries around the world gives us the capacity to optimise costs significantly. We believe that access to energy is a human right, and lower costs will allow the vast majority of people and organisations to enjoy it. In 2014, Schneider Electric has recorded 25 billion ($27.3 billion) in sales and employed 170,000 people worldwide. Can you list some of Schneider Electrics activities in Vietnam to promote energy efficiency? Our strong belief in energy efficiency is reflected in our corporate social responsibility programmes. First, as mentioned before, Schneider Electric believes that access to energy is a human right and we are serious about giving back to the community as much as possible. In this spirit, we built solar powered systems for villagers in Bo Trach of the central province of Quang Binh and provided solar lamps to people in Ta Phin of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai. This programme allows local communities to be connected and this is part of our overall campaign to promote the use of sustainable, renewable energy in Vietnam. Another programme is to provide vocational training to the disadvantaged youth. Every year, we support non-profit organisations and schools to groom the next generation of skilled Vietnamese electricians, providing them with the best Schneider Electric equipment and training materials. We also teach them about energy efficiency. This is a truly sustainable way to demonstrate our social responsibility, and we hope to expand it to more training schools in the future. On the business side, we have been trying very hard to win the trust of our key local customers to deploy energy efficiency solutions which enhance their operational efficiency and saving energy. Thu Thiem Power Company, Nha Trang Waste Water Treatment Project, Binh Khanh relocation compound of Thuan Viet Construction Co., or most recently the windmill in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu are just a few to name among our thousands of customers in Vietnam. With such huge achievements and a big recognition, I can say the year could not end in a higher note. All of the work we have done in Vietnam so far reflect our long-term commitment and requires continuous efforts and dedication. There is still a long way to go but as we are entering our third decade in Vietnam, I can see a greater, brighter future ahead where Schneider Electric Vietnam continues to be an active partner in the development of the country. File photo of Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, pictured on Oct 16, 2015. (AFP/Cliff Hawkins) PRETORIA: Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel stormed to a sensational eight-shot triumph at the Tshwane Open on Sunday (Feb 14) to claim his 11th career title and second of 2016. The 31-year-old South African shot a seven-under-par 63 to finish on 16 under and clinch his eighth European Tour win on home soil. Denmark's Jeff Winther finished second on eight under, with South Africa's Anthony Michael another two shots further back in third. "In the first three rounds I gave myself so many chances. If I had the stroke I had today, it probably would have been my best tournament ever," said Schwartzel, who was delighted with his putting in the final round at the Pretoria Country Club. "It's just frustrating when you don't putt very well and you don't convert, and to make the putts when it counts, that's even more satisfying. "Everything is sort of falling into place. I've worked really hard leading up to this and it's just been feeling good, so everything has got some really good signs, so I'm excited," he told www.europeantour.com. Schwartzel started the final round with just a one-shot lead but soon moved to 10 under par when he rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the second. Although he dropped a shot at the third, he was still four strokes ahead of nearest challenger Zander Lombard after birdies at the sixth and seventh. An eagle at the ninth helped him reach the turn in 31. Schwartzel then suffered a second bogey of the day at the 11th, which took him back to 12 under. But his experience told as another birdie followed at the 12th before a monster 40-foot putt at the 14th took him to 14 under. Schwartzel saved par at the 15th before another birdie at the 16th to reach 15 under. A par at the 17th followed before he finished in style with a short birdie putt at the last. Lombard eventually fell away and hit a final round 74 to finish 12 shots off the pace. The revolution among customers People from Pleiku, Haiphong, and Vinh have been given cause for excitement as they can now avail of lower airfares to get home in time for the lunar New Year holiday. This is thanks to Vietjets recent opening of three new domestic routes: Pleiku-Haiphong, Pleiku-Vinh, and Ho Chi Minh City-Tuy Hoa. The airline has also recently launched its new international route from Hanoi to Taipei, raising their total number of routes to 44. Vietjet has built up a broad base of loyal customers, who recognise the carriers red and yellow planes as symbolic of a low-cost, quality air service that is both friendly and thoughtful. Four years after starting operation, the airline has grown from just three aircraft on the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route to 32 aircraft in its fleet. This figure is set to skyrocket as high as 100 in the near future. Vietjet operates 250 flights a day with a total of 20 million passengers having been carried so far. Vietjet signed the contract to buy 30 aircraft at the Dubai Airshow With its lower-priced tickets, the airline has provided flights for many people who thought they could never afford a plane ticket. There are now 60 flights each day between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, operating every 15-20 minutes; 35 flights every day between Hanoi and Danang; and hundreds of other domestic and international flights. The airlines new routes have made a direct impact in terms of developing Vietnams budding tourism sector, as well as boosting business and trade among various cities and provinces. In this way, the airline is doing much more than just satisfying the peoples demand for transport it is actively furthering the countrys economic development. One specific case in point is in the south west region of Vietnam. So far, the airline has flown 5,000 flights here, transporting about 700,000 passengers between various parts of the country. By opening air links between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc, Danang, and Can Tho, Vietjet actually created the demand by offering cheap tickets, thus facilitating business and tourism in the south west region. Data from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) showed that in the first six months of 2015, the domestic air transport market grew by 26 per cent, with Vietjet contributing 70 per cent of this growth. In addition to domestic routes, the airline has opened many international routes to South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Thailand, and Myanmar, promoting tourism to Vietnam while presenting to the world a prestigious Vietnamese brand and an image of Vietnam as a dynamic country. The airline plans to increase the number of international routes to 15. Aside from new destinations in Asia such as Japan and Malaysia, the airline is going to open routes to Europe and the US. With its expansion to these well-established markets, the airline looks poised to open a new chapter in its growth story. Vietjet has made it its mission to offer Vietnamese people the opportunity to fly, and to do so safely and economically. We want to create a revolution in transport for Vietnamese, developing the domestic air transport sector with a standard of quality on a par with international standards, said Nguyen Thanh Ha, chairman of Vietjet. Vietjet opened the Ho Chi Minh City-Yangon route The revolution among service providers According to Lai Xuan Thanh, director of the CAAV, Vietjets expanding fleet and network have made the domestic air transport sector more competitive. The competition not only benefits customers, who are now able to access cheaper and better-quality services, it also drives changes in the mindset of the government in regulating the sector. Indeed, government policies regarding air transport have changed in recent times. Regulatory policies and policies regarding private participation in infrastructure upgrade projects are now approaching international norms and have created a more level playing field for airlines. Another notable contribution in the development of the Vietnamese air transport sector is the airlines co-operation with international partners. The carriers pioneering approach in this area has made collaborative deals with global operators a norm within the industry. Vietjet has signed many contracts to buy and lease aircraft, borrow money and buy insurance, as well as co-operate in service and maintenance with companies from all over the world. Examples of co-operation include the Memorandum of Collaboration (MOC) with Boeing as the basis for the two to research ways to grow their partnership. The airline is considering buying Boeing aircraft, equipment, and other related services, and co-operate with Boeing in other fields such as fleet development planning, trade terms, training and flight management, public relations, brand building, and finance. In July, Vietjet signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with US multinational Honeywell Aerospace to co-operate in the design and production of $56 million worth of data management equipment on aircraft. The terms of the agreement call for both parties to explore more opportunities for Vietjet to select and install Honeywells APU and avionics suite for its new aircraft to be delivered from now until 2017. In November, Vietjet and Lufthansa Technik AG, a member of Lufthansa AG, yesterday signed a technical service agreement for Vietjets current A320-family aircraft engines. Lufthansa committed to supporting Vietjet in new technology training for safety and security assurance as well as researching opportunities for providing spare aircraft parts locally. In 2016, the domestic air transport market is expected to grow by another 20 per cent to reach 45 million passengers. Of this number, some 26.2 million are domestic passengers, an increase of 23.4 per cent on year. Meanwhile, ASEAN Open Sky established on January 1, 2016 creates a level playing field for all airlines in the region. With its stellar achievements over the past four years, Vietjet is brimming with confidence that it can fly even higher in the open skies of ASEAN. Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS An army soldier distributes a pamphlet about the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the Zika virus, on the edge of the Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday. More than 200,000 army, navy and air force troops are fanning out across Brazil to show people how to eliminate the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the Zika virus, which many health officials believe is linked to severe birth defects. Honeybees have a huge role in tropical ecosystems, but illegal logging and unsustainable honey harvesting are hurting their population. Honeybees have co-evolved with flowering plants and their overall health is an indicator of an ecosystems wellbeing. Damian Magista, a specialist on honeybees and the founder of Bee Local in Portland, Oregon, recently returned from a research trip to Cambodia. Bee Local sells gourmet honey products. He told VOA Khmer he is concerned about a decline in the honeybee population. Bees are losing ground, as ecological diversity slips and as traditional honey hunting practices, which can wipe out entire colonies, continues, he said by phone from Portland. Magista spent about two weeks in Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey provinces, visiting rural areas, and trying to learn more about Cambodian honeybees. Cambodia has two species, Apis dorsata and Apis florea, which are found mostly in Southeast Asia. The dorsata species, or giant honey bee, can produce a honeycomb up to nine feet long. We dont see them here in the US, obviously, Magista said. You dont find them in a lot of places. If we lose them, well be losing out on a lot. The bees themselves are also beneficial, Magista said. The combs and honey are rich sources of food, and their wax is used in pagodas and places without electricity. But a reduction in bees means a dwindling of a culture of beekeeping and bee products, he said. Because the bees are dying out, that culture is slowly dying, as well, he said. Despite the decline, there is still potentially an international market for Cambodian honey, but it will require five- to 10-year programs, Magista said. Have a group of folks teach them bee-keeping techniques and provide the support and infrastructure, he said. Cambodian honey could be sold for as much as $10 per kilogram, more than similar honey from Thailand or Vietnam, according to a USAID assessment. In recent years, NGOs have supported some bee-keeping programs in Cambodia, such as the Angkor Center for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Siem Reap, and private-sector promotion projects in Pursat province, and the Cambodia Agribusiness Development Facility in Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey provinces but those projects have stopped, according to the USAID assessment. In 2013, the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) exported its first 500 liters of honey to Japan. U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to solidify Americas leadership role in the Asia Pacific region for many years to come when he hosts all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the historic Rancho Mirage retreat in Sunnylands, California. The agenda on Monday and Tuesday will be less formal than other summits at this picturesque and more relaxed location, but the leaders will tackle a range of critical and thorny issues central to the strategic U.S. rebalance to the Asia Pacific. The White House views Americas engagement in the region as critical to the nations future prosperity and security. The dynamic and diverse region is experiencing explosive growth and rising tensions, each having the potential to impact the global economy and security. Administration officials say by hosting the ASEAN summit, Obama hopes to develop a work plan for his final year in office to further the rebalance effort and send a message to future administrations that the same high-level of engagement is needed for the U.S. to secure and maintain its leadership role. The plan is expected to include closer relationships on trade and commerce, increased people-to-people ties, more cooperation on countering violent extremism and the creation of rules and principles to guide nations on a range to issues. Watch: The South China Sea Dispute The heart of the region The administration describes ASEAN as the heart of the Asia Pacific and the ideal forum to build a regional infrastructure to ensure the peaceful and legal pursuit of interests. The more that we can establish clear rules of the road for how issues are managed, for how disputes are resolved, the more stable and prosperous this region is going to stay going forward, said Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security advisor. Otherwise, its the law of the jungle. Its one big nation bullying a smaller nation, and thats how you lead to a cycle of conflict, which is in nobodys interest, he added. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea and Chinas increasing activities there will be a key discussion during the summit. The U.S. will send a very clear message to ASEAN leaders that it opposes Chinas militarization of the disputed territories and any escalation of tensions across the region, White House officials say. It will be a delicate issue as ASEAN countries want to see a productive relationship between Washington and Beijing and are uneasy about tensions between the two super powers. Though the U.S. is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes, Obama is expected to make clear the U.S. will continue recent freedom of navigation operations in the same waters. The U.S. interest in the South China Sea is the free flow of commerce, open sea lanes, and the global economy depends on it, Rhodes said. Beijing says it has a long had a rightful claim to the disputed territories. North Korea The U.S. and ASEAN leaders will also discuss North Koreas recent rocket testing and what role China can help play is pressuring Pyongyang to end its provocative actions. While the China and the U.S. have disagreed on North Korea, the U.S. sees a common interest with China in ensuring the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "We are exceptionally candid in confronting the many differences and tensions that exist between us, said Daniel Kritenbrink, National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs. But our relationship with China is mature, its stable, its broad, its complex." But ultimately the ASEAN summit is not about China says Daniel R. Russel, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Rather, it is about creating a cohesive ASEAN committed to rules and fairness. It allows major countries like the United States and other powers to engage constructively as partners. It prevents Southeast Asia from becoming a sphere of influence or becoming a battlefield, said Russel. Obama will speak for human rights and democracy, but administration officials acknowledge ASEAN countries have vastly different political models and records on human rights and democracy. The U.S. rule has not been to dictate the precise model that each is going to take given that they are at different stages of development, said Rhodes. However, we do make it a part of our engagement to support basic universal rights, to support civil society. Countries showing positive movement in pursuit of a democratic transition, like Myanmar, will get U.S. support, officials say. Together the 10 ASEAN members make up the third-largest economy in Asia and the seventh-largest in the world, with a combined GDP of $2.4 trillion, according to the U.S. More than 65 percent of its 632-million people are below the age of 35. The nations are evolving into economies driven more by entrepreneurship, technology and knowledge-based markets, and these are places where the United States can really add value, Rhodes said, by inter-connecting innovation and entrepreneurship within our own economy and the global economy. Prime Minister Hun Sen will meet with US President Barack Obama and leaders of other ASEAN countries today, but political analysts say the Cambodian administration should not take lightly criticism from a separate group of US lawmakers. Seven US Democrats recently posted a letter to Hun Sen, expressing concern over his human rights record. We are troubled by the recent increase in social and political turmoil in your country ... [particularly] the numerous reports that your government continues to deny the legitimate demands of ordinary Cambodians for a more transparent, fair, and democratic Cambodia, the letter says. Cambodian officials did not respond to the contents of the letter, in what Ou Virak, head of the think tank Future Forum, said contravenes diplomatic standards. I regret this kind of gesture, he said. We feel pity for the whole nation. We want a good reputation. The senators letter is a powerful statement, coming from the US, with whom Cambodia already has rocky relations, he said. As Hun Sen goes into talks at the Sunnylands Estate, in Rancho Mirage, California, today, ignoring the letter will negatively color Cambodia, he said. That is because we start like this. Thats why its hard to have close relations with Cambodia. Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the letter from US lawmakers, along with a similar letter from Cambodian civil society organizations, was not of value to the government, which has the right to protect the nations sovereignty. Cambodian NGOs should not be dominated by outside influences, he added. Sok Eysan, a spokesman for the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, said the senators letter reflected a colonialist attitude. Eng Chhay Eang, a spokesman for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, said the letter would not help Cambodias reputation during the Sunnylands meeting. By not responding, Hun Sens administration shows that what they are saying is true, he said. The United Nations says nearly 50 civilians, including children, were killed Monday in missile attacks on medical facilities and schools in northern Syria. "Such attacks are a blatant violation of international laws," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said, according to his spokesman. A 30-bed hospital run by Doctors Without Borders was destroyed Monday while three other medical facilities were damaged in northern Syria by what rebels battling the Assad government claim were targeted airstrikes by the regime. The charity group said the strike at Maarat al-Numan in Idlib province killed seven people. The group known by its French initials, MSF, said the hospital was hit four times in two attacks, leaving at least eight staff members missing. "This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms, said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSFs Head of Mission. The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict, said Massimiliano. Medics and witnesses say at least 10 people were killed at a maternity and pediatric clinic hit by missiles and rockets in the border town of Azaz. Condemnation, calls for cease-fire The U.S. State Department condemned the attacks. "We call again on all parties to cease attacks on civilians and take immediate steps to grant humanitarian access and the cessation of hostilities that the Syrian people desperately need," spokesman John Kirby said. An official with the U.S-led coalition against Islamic State (Col. Chris Garver) stressed on Twitter there were no coalition aircraft operating near the medical facilities that were attacked. According to political activists, warplanes also targeted the hospitals in Maaret al-Numan and Orem Al-Kubra. Another airstrike in the northern Aleppo countryside left a school sheltering displaced Syrians from nearby towns seriously damaged with an unknown loss of life, according to Mazin Ibrahim, a relief worker. Another school in the region was also hit, according to the U.N. As a precaution, staff shuttered the National Hospital at Maaret al-Numan and a clinic. Dr. Wasel al-Jurk told VOA by phone, We closed because we feared we would be hit, too. We evacuated the patients as best we could. Meanwhile, the European Union is calling on aggressors to halt attacks in Syria and respect a fragile cease-fire agreement reached in Munich, after the United Nations reported four hospitals were attacked in northern Syria. European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the airstrikes on the Syrian hospitals Monday completely unacceptable, and repeated calls for all parties involved to stop hostilities and allow humanitarian aid to pass. But she suggested a cease-fire deal reached in Germany just days ago is still relevant. We will probably continue to face some setbacks. This is not a reason to change policy after just four days, said Mogherini. Syria topped the agenda of European Union foreign ministers who met in Brussels, and bilateral talks later in the day between Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Iran is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders has blamed Syrias government or Russia for airstrikes on one of its facilities. Reports suggest the strikes also hit schools. The United Nations says dozens of people were killed in the strikes. There is also concern over Turkey's actions. Ankara has vowed a harsh reaction against Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria if they capture a town near the Turkish border. During a press conference in Brussels, Irans Zarif also urged fighting in Syria to stop. On resuming ties with the European Union after the lifting of international sanctions against Iran, he said things were "moving in the right direction." "There are psychological elements that need to be addressed. I believe that European countries, European governments need to provide greater assurances to their financial institutions that we have a new situation. Mogherini said the European Union has published clear guidelines on doing business with Iran. WATCH: Helicopter drops barrel bombs over Daraya, Syria Hopes dimming The strikes come days after Russia and other world powers agreed to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria, but hopes are dimming there will be any decrease in violence. Almost five years of civil war in Syria have led to the deaths of upwards of 250,000 people and displaced more than 11 million. While it has not been confirmed who carried out these latest attacks, Mego Terzian, president of MSF France, said the Maarat al-Numan strikes were carried out by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. And the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in Syria, said the airstrikes were believed to have been carried out by Russian jets. UNICEF appalled The airstrikes were condemned by Anthony Lake, executive director of the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF. We at UNICEF are appalled by reports of attacks against four medical facilities in Syria two of which were supported by UNICEF, he said. Two of the strikes occurred at Azaz in Aleppo and another two in Idlib, where one of the hospitals was reportedly struck four times," he added. "In addition, there are reports that two schools were attacked at Azaz reportedly killing six children. Fear of new offensive Rebel commanders fear the airstrikes targeting hospitals herald the start of an offensive in Idlib. The pattern has been for hospitals and civilian structures to be struck first, said Mohammed Adeeb of the Shamiya Front, a rebel militia alliance. The purpose, he argued, is to sow panic, encourage civilian flight and lower the morale of fighters, who start focusing on how to get their families to safety. Soon after the airstrikes on the pediatric hospital in Azaz, there were steady streams of ambulances transporting the wounded across the border with Turkey to the hospital at Kilis. As the wounded were carried out, Syrian refugees already in Turkey and camera crews crowded around. Wounded transported to Turkey The Kilis hospital admitted 36 of the wounded from Syria, three died. Speaking with VOA outside Kilis hospital, he said his staff had told him the Shahid Ismail school was hit Monday in a missile strike, where many displaced families were seeking sanctuary from the Russian-backed offensive sweeping through the northern countryside of Aleppo. They say there are many dead but we dont know how many, he added. "There are people buried in the rubble and we cant get to them." Related Interactive Efforts to integrate Southeast Asias economies are beginning to bear fruit, experts say, although there is some way to go before the goal of turning the region into a single market and production base can be reached. The 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations officially formed the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), an ambitious regional trade bloc, at the start of this year. The move has been viewed as a boost for the regions economies and is part of the U.S. rationale for stepping up engagement with the region. ASEAN's national leaders are attending a summit hosted by President Barack Obama at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, California, on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a trade roadshow in the San Francisco Bay area. The ASEAN countries already have a combined annual gross domestic product of $2.4 trillion, making the bloc the second-largest economy in Asia, after China, and the seventh-largest economy in the world. The region also enjoys an average growth rate in excess of 5 percent. Big potential ASEAN has so much potential to offer for international investment and trade because of its young population, said Chan Sophal, director of the Center for Policy Studies in Phnom Penh. That plays a key role to creating a competitive workforce, and that is what investors are looking for. Chheang Vannarith, chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies board of directors, has noted that the region will soon also be better connected thanks largely to Chinese plans to build railways connecting the countries of mainland Southeast Asia to Yunnan province. We also see Thailand and Cambodia created a railroad project which they hope to complete by the end of 2016, he said. Big concerns But there are concerns that turning the region into an integrated market and production base is still some way off. Anthony Nelson, a spokesman for the US-ASEAN Business Council, told a recent news conference in Washington that while the AEC was an exciting initiative, some of its goals were ambitious. If you look at the customs single window ... in order for ASEAN to really, truly be a single market and a single production base, thats something thats going to be in place, said Nelson. The US-ASEAN Business Council has also raised the issues of corruption and poor governance as barriers to trade with Southeast Asian economies. Oum Sothea, a Cambodian economist based in Singapore, said that most tariffs imposed on goods imported within the region had already been reduced to zero, with very few exceptions. However, he said, there were a number of non-tariff barriers to trade still in place that would require the states concerted collective action to remove. ASEAN countries implement a different set of rules for product standardization, and having to harmonize such a diverse set of rules is going to be the biggest challenge for ASEAN to achieve a single production base, said Oum Sothea. Big role For the U.S., the ASEAN countries as a bloc are already the countrys fourth-largest trading partner. By 2014, American companies had put more than $200 million of foreign direct investment into the region. At a recent public forum, Ben Rhodes, Obamas deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, reiterated ASEANs importance to US economic growth. The fact that matters is this region is going to drive a lot of U.S. growth and job creation going forward that already support, in our estimate, over half a million American jobs, said Rhodes, predicting that ASEAN was soon going to be one of the largest markets in the world for U.S. exports. Bosnia has formally submitted an application to become part of the European Union. President Dragan Covic submitted the paperwork to become a member of the 28-nation European bloc Monday in Brussels to Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders. Bosnia had attempted to join the EU in the early 2000s, but deep divisions among its Serb, Croat and Muslim communities following the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia blocked the necessary reforms to become part of the European group. Covic said "It is a great pleasure to be able to [submit this application] on behalf of the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina... Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks." Koenders, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the EU was happy to see "Bosnia back on the reform path." EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a statement "Today we celebrate another step towards a united and peaceful continent." They said Bosnia's EU application "shows that the need of a united European continent is still strong among our peoples." Australian police have seized about $900 million worth of a highly addictive street drug one of the biggest illicit drug busts in Australian history. Over 720 liters of liquid methamphetamine were discovered in December in shipping containers in several storage units in Sydney. The drug, better known in Australia as ice, was hidden inside art supplies and gelatin bra inserts shipped from mainland China. Justice Minister Michael Keenan told reporters Monday the seizure results to "3.6 million individual hits of ice being taking off our streets." Four Chinese nationals three of them from Hong Kong have been arrested in the case. Keenan told reporters Monday all four face life imprisonment. The seizure was the result of a joint task force created last November between Australia and China to combat the trafficking of methamphetamine from the communist country to Australia, which has become one of the world's most lucrative markets for the drug. A key agreement on U.S. and Asian engagement could include controversial references to maritime navigation and militarization. According to an early draft of a document obtained by VOA Khmer, ASEAN leaders and President Barack Obama are discussing a set of points to be known as the Sunnylands Principles," during a summit at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, California. The unprecedented engagement with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states is seen as part of the Obama administrations efforts to counter the influence of a rising China. The early draft given to VOA Khmer by a diplomat appears to be a precursor to a joint statement that could be released at the end of the two-day meeting Tuesday. It is unclear to what extent agreement has been reached on the drafts principals. The draft begins by saying the United States and ASEAN take this opportunity to reaffirm the key principles that will guide our cooperation going forward. It affirms the two sides commitment to free trade and to building stronger democracies, good governance, promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the promotion of tolerance and moderation. The draft principles appear to back a multilateral approach to dispute resolution, including respect for ASEAN centrality as a guiding principle in shaping the multilateral architecture of the Asia-Pacific, as one of the draft principles. There are clear inferences to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea between ASEAN nations and China. When asked about a joint statement that included references to the South China Sea, National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the U.S. will continue to work with ASEAN partners on a potential issue that may be raised together. "It won't be focused primarily on the South China Sea and in it we consistently underscore our shared and the necessity of the resolve through peaceful and legal means," she added. China and its ally in the region Cambodia have previously rejected calls from Vietnam and the Philippines for these disputes to be solved through ASEAN. China prefers to deal with disputed islands and atolls bilaterally with smaller nations. Key principles in the draft affirm "peaceful resolution of disputes, including through arbitration, in accordance with international law" and "the importance of unimpeded lawful commerce, including the rights of freedom of navigation and over-flight as described in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as a commitment to non-militarization." Cambodia and neighboring Laos, which have received large amounts of financial aid from China in recent years, could find themselves in a tricky position if asked to commit to these principles. John Ciorciari, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan who studies Southeast Asia, told VOA Khmer the increased U.S. engagement with ASEAN, embodied by the Sunnylands summit, gave individual leaders like Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen leverage, since ASEANs internal policies require consensus among the 10 states to commit to any action, including the issuance of a joint statement. U.S. officials want Cambodia not to block consensus when a majority of ASEAN members favor diplomatic language or action asserting a common stand on the South China Sea, Ciorciari said. In the past, especially when chairing ASEAN in 2012, Cambodia has been accused of serving as a Chinese lackey and keeping ASEAN from taking collective positions unfavorable to Beijing." The United States has been accused of taking a soft line on human rights issues in Southeast Asia as it seeks to build its strategic position in the region. Critics have remarked that handing Hun Sen the credibility of an official visit to the United States would embolden the long-serving prime minister at a time when opposition leader Sam Rainsy has recently been forced back into exile. On Thursday, U.S. National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes publicly raised concerns about the political climate in Cambodia, according to the Associated Press. But Peter Maguire, a legal scholar and long-time Cambodia researcher, noted the criticism of Hun Sens government just before the Sunnylands summit came from Rhodes, rather than Secretary of State John Kerry, meaning human rights in Cambodia were not a foreign policy priority. The U.S. obviously wants Cambodia and the ASEAN nations to stand firm against Chinese territorial claims. However, given Cambodias relationship with China, why would they bite the hand that has fed them so generously? Maguire asked. Love him or hate him, Hun Sen has forgotten more about realpolitik than the entire Obama administration will ever know. When they were in diapers, he was on the battlefield. European Union foreign ministers say they are prepared to increase economic sanctions on Burundi which has been in a political crisis since July when President Pierre Nkurunziza won a third term. The EU ministers meeting in Brussels Monday said the European Union stands ready to impose sanctions against those in Burundi who have contributed to the country's violence as well as those who have hampered a political solution. However, the EU ministers said they would not suspend humanitarian aid to Burundi. Last year, the European Union imposed travel bans and asset freezes on four officials close to President Nkurunziza. Violence in Burundi began last April when President Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term in office. Clashes between police and protesters and series of attacks in the capital, Bujumbura, have killed more than 400 people and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing the country. President Nkurunziza was re-elected last July in a poll boycotted by the opposition. His critics say he violated two-term limits in the constitution and the Arusha agreement that ended Burundi's civil war. The president said his first term didn't count against the limit because he was elected by parliament instead of a popular vote. The African Union has proposed deploying peacekeepers to Burundi, but President Nkurunziza has refused to accept them, saying Burundi would fight them as invaders. In December, the European Union invited Burundian officials to Brussels for formal talks to try to find a political solution to the crisis. "Despite all the efforts of the international community, the situation in Burundi remains deadlocked," EU foreign ministers said in a statement Monday. Former U.S. President George W. Bush has emerged from a self-imposed hiatus from the American political scene to try to boost his younger brother Jeb's bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. George Bush attested to his brother's character and called for voters to reject the rhetoric of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump during a rally Monday night in the southeastern city of Charleston. Without mentioning the billionaire real estate mogul by name, Bush said "These are tough times and I know that Americans are angry, but we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and our frustrations." Bush took the stage with his wife, Laura, in Charleston in the state of South Carolina, where Republicans are holding a key presidential primary election on Saturday. The one-time American leader had stayed away from politics since leaving office in 2009 after two terms in the White House, but is now making appearances to support Jeb Bush's flagging campaign. George Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, each won two Republican primaries in South Carolina, and the family has strong political ties in the state. Jeb Bush sparred sharply with Trump at a debate last Saturday over his brother's legacy as the U.S. commander in chief who took the United States to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after the 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York. Jeb Bush is telling voters that his brother kept America safe. But the flamboyant Trump mocked that claim, drawing a chorus of jeers from Republican supporters at the debate. "The World Trade Center went down during the reign of George Bush," Trump said. "He kept us safe? That is not safe." He went on to describe the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a "big, fat mistake," saying: "They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. And there were none." Jeb Bush retorted, I could care less about the insults Donald Trump gives to me. ... I am sick and tired of him going after my family. South Carolina win seen as crucial Both Bushes are the sons of another former U.S. president, George H.W. Bush, who served one term in the White House, from 1989 to 1993. Both of the Bushes who became president won bruising party nominating elections in South Carolina in the lead-up to their eventual national election victories. Jeb Bush has collected millions of dollars in campaign donations from Bush family supporters, but struggled to win support from rank-and-file Republican voters angered at political gridlock in Washington. Polls have shown, however, that George W. Bush still holds wide appeal among South Carolina Republicans, which could help sway some support for his brother. A CBS survey of South Carolina Republicans released Sunday showed Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor, in fifth place with six percent, far behind Trump's 42 percent. A conservative firebrand, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, was in second place with 20 percent, followed by Florida Senator Marco Rubio with 15 percent and Ohio Governor John Kasich with nine percent. But the poll was taken last week, after Trump's convincing win in the New Hampshire primary, but before he engaged in a heated exchange of words Saturday with Jeb Bush at a Republican debate. South Carolina Democrats are voting in their presidential primary Feb. 27. The CBS poll showed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton with a commanding lead in the state over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who has aimed his campaign rhetoric at the financial clout of Wall Street titans. Clinton narrowly edged Sanders in party caucuses in the farm state of Iowa, but Sanders routed her a week ago in the primary election in the northeastern state of New Hampshire. The next Democratic contest is Saturday in the western state of Nevada, where the party is holding presidential nominating caucuses. It's possible to travel back in time - sort of - at a history center in Indianapolis. All that separates you from a momentous day 200 years ago is a curtain of fine mist. Step through, and you find yourself in 1816, in a room with the men who were drafting the constitution for a new state to be carved from the Indiana Territory. Angela Giacomelli, Exhibitions Researcher at The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, says the interactive bicentennial exhibit is designed to help visitors personally connect with the past. "[It's] supposed to be kind of a whimsical way to step back into time. People step through the mist, and theyre placed in the room that has been recreated to look like the room where 43 delegates met down in Corydon, Indiana to write the states first constitution." Actors and the Constitution The museum employs about 30 part-time players to interact with visitors in the time travel areas. Guests are greeted by such historical characters as Dennis Pennington, a Harrison County Delegate and anti-slavery advocate, played by actor Michael Redmond. He explains the idea is to make history come alive by having conversations with visitors as opposed to giving a historical presentation. "We invite them to enter into a conversation with us by simply pointing out that well be working on the article concerning slavery later in the day. That usually breaks the ice." On this day, in late 1816, Pennington is meeting with Jonathan Jennings, who would later become Indianas first governor and Representative Robert Hanna. While technically Indiana is supposed to be a free state, a surprising number of settlers in the untamed territory still own slaves. Giacomelli pointed out, "So the men at this particular convention are talking about equality, the value of different human beings and if they should have a say in government. That completely relates to topics today." Other matters under constitutional consideration included education, personal liberties, and the banking systemall issues Indiana and the nation still deal with today. Re-creating History During the two years it took to plan the exhibit, Daniel Shockley, Director of Museum Theater, says they did a tremendous amount of research to find the stories of the people involved in telling the writing of the first constitution. And while the museum tries to be historically accurate, it does take some liberties. For example, 21st century men and women are welcome to take part in the proceedings, but women were not allowed in the actual meetings, as it was considered impolite to expose them to the messy business of politics. And some things were just lost to history. "The room didnt exist in any photographs," Shockley said, adding, "It was before photographs." However, Giacomelli says, they knew the delegates met in a repurposed home because the capitol building was not finished yet. So, writing in the history center's blog, she says "My coworkers and I read up on typical 1816 architecture, decor and furniture. We knew the delegates would not have met in a primitive cabin, but they would not have met in a palatial home, either. Instead, we set the convention in a standard-looking room with some ornamentation, but overall very basic in appearance. To signal the fact that the delegates met in what used to be a home, we included a built-in bookshelf, a large window and a modest fireplace." Outside the time travel area, the interactive experience continues with touchscreen displays that invite guests to participate in live-tally voting on such issues as the balance of power among different levels of government, and personal liberties. Shockley hopes by bringing the past alive, visitors will learn something about the present. "We have to work together, just like these gentlemen have to work together," he said. "They didnt know each other. They may not have particularly all cared for each other. But they had to work together with one common goal." The exhibit will remain open through the rest of the year to give everyone a chance to step back in time and experience Indianas history. It was admitted to the Union on December 11, 1816, as the 19th state. Hundreds of women and girls still bear the physical and mental scars of sexual violence following Kenya's post-election turmoil in 2007 and 2008. A new Human Rights Watch report released Monday says the government has not helped them. Human Rights Watch said some 900 women and girls were victims of sexual violence during the post-election period and many cases likely were unreported. The group said lack of medical attention left many survivors unable to work or pursue an education, and therefore they remain stuck in poverty. Jacqueline Mutere is a rape survivor who alleges she was attacked by her neighbors friend who entered her house by force, saying he was seeking refuge from the violence outside. I realized that he did not have very noble intentions, because we started pushing and shoving, he started making advances at me, and I refused them, Mutere said. I had my small kids in the room, in the house, they were sleeping, and I wasnt going to accept his advances, especially with brute force, no way, no way. So he became violent, extremely violent. Slapped me around a few times, actually. He burst my eardrum. Physical, mental harm HRWs Agnes Odhiambo is senior researcher for womens rights in Africa and interviewed survivors for the report. Women have a lot of injuries, back injuries, leg injuries, chest injuries, because the rapes were just so brutal, said Odhiambo. They included kicking women, slapping them, cutting them with machetes, pulling legs apart... Odhiambo said victims also suffered mentally. Women were talking about having sleepless nights, not being able to concentrate at work because they keep thinking about the rape, and lets not forget that these women were not just raped, they were also affected just like other victims of the post-election violence by losing their homes, losing their loved ones husbands, children in the violence, said Odhiambo. Stigmatized According to Odhiambo, many victims were gang-raped by anywhere from four to at least 10 men, at times in front of family members, including young children, and were stigmatized by their husbands and communities. Some women contracted sexually transmitted diseases, became pregnant, or both. Because abortion is illegal in Kenya, even in rape cases, some women obtained so-called back street or "back alley" abortions that left them with severe internal damage. Those who carried their pregnancies to term faced additional abuse and discrimination, as did their children. Mothers were talking about not having been able to secure birth certificates for the children because when they went to their registration offices, they were required to produce the name of the father, said Odhiambo. Now, these women, they dont know what is the name of the father, this was a rape. Many of them were gang rapes. When women reported their rapes, they were often told to find their perpetrator and bring him to the police or were accused of lying for political reasons. The report also states that police officers and members of the paramilitary police unit known as the GSU were themselves responsible for a lot of the attacks. So a woman would tell you, one police officer was standing at the door of my house, as the other one was raping me and then they kept taking turns, said Odhiambo. The government has acknowledged rapes occurred during that period, but has not offered assistance to the victims. Human Rights Watch is urging the government to use its "restorative justice" fund of about $9.8 million, announced last March, to help survivors, especially those urgently needing medical and psycho-social services. The ball is now in the court of Libya's internationally recognized parliament in Tobruk to approve or vote down a newly named 18-member government. Arab media reported tensions during a parliament debate Monday on whether to approve the government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Fayez Saraj. He insists the new 18-member Cabinet is broadly based, though it is smaller than a 32-minister panel voted down by parliament last month. Saraj says the new ministerial council is composed of 13 ministers with portfolios and five ministers of state. Fathi al Majbari, who belongs to the presidential council named in last year's national unity agreement, stressed the new government must put an end to turmoil in the country. He says the Cabinet will represent a new beginning for Libya and an end to conflict, so that all Libyans can unite their efforts to battle the country's sole enemy, terrorism. Al Arabiya TV reported a parliamentary meeting Monday in Tobruk broke up before coming to any decision on whether to approve the government. Several members of the new unity Cabinet were reported to be considering withdrawing their names. Political scientist Ghazi Maqala told Libyan TV it is not at all clear whether the parliament in Tobruk will approve the new government. He says that parliament appears to be divided and chances are 50-50 of it approving the Cabinet. But he stressed that voting down the government could lead to unexpected consequences. Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science at the University of Paris, told VOA the new government was not extremely solid. It is the product of compromise, he said, cobbled together using the least common denominator. Many of its members, he argues, come from the old regime and run the risk of being voted down by parliament. Technology may be advancing rapidly in many fields, but many museums worldwide still do not have their collections of fossils easily searchable on-line. Specimens, called dark data are left in drawers, virtually hidden. There is an effort in the U.S. to bring this dark data, as it's called, into the light through digitizing museum collections. Paleontologist Torrey Nyborg is helping with the digitization process by going through drawers filled with fossil crabs and making sure they are identified properly before the specimens are entered into a database at the National History Museum of Los Angeles County. In the process, he may have discovered a new species of crab. Its a treasure hunt when youre trying to find something new, Nyborg said. 'Treasure hunt' A treasure hunt is how some researchers describe finding specimens stored in many museums. Nyborg said there is no easy way to find a specific specimen hidden in the many drawers of museum collections. Right now its a crap shoot," he said. You dont know. Its a matter of just looking through the drawers and spending the time and doing the treasure hunt at this point in time." With funding from the National Science Foundation, many museums are moving into the digital age, but it will not happen overnight said Austin Hendy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. I think theres been a bit of a lag for the museum community to catch onto the availability of that technology but also to realize that there is a need for it, Hendy said. On-line data base A grant from the National Science Foundation has allowed the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to enter information and even photos of some of its specimens into a database so they can be easily searched on-line. Hendy said if museum collections across the U.S. and around the world can collaborate and add to the database, scientists will be able to get a critical mass of data for their research. He said it will help scientists see the bigger picture, such as how climate change in the past affected life forms. The data that we have in these collections allow us to actually see how whole communities have changed, Hendy said, giving scientists clues of how life of Earth will respond to current changes in the climate. Hendy said the ability to share specimens and data will change how scientists operate around the world. That has bound to increase research opportunities, foster collaborations across geographic, political and even language boundaries. Hendy adds, thats one of the exciting aspects of what were doing with the digitizing process. Saving time and money Carlos Jaramillo who is conducting research in Panama for the Smithsonian Institution said having specimens available on-line will also help save time and money. It really has transformed the way we do research because otherwise it would be very difficult to access most of the collections that there are worldwide, Jaramillo said. Integrated Digitized Biocollections or iDigBio is the central portal that digitally collects biodiversity data from museums. iDigBios Gil Nelson said there is a change in philosophy among scientists. I think the idea of open access data and data availability is becoming a little more common. There are still folks who would rather not share their data but I think those are becoming fewer and fewer and I think open access is becoming more and more the mode of operation these days, Nelson said. The trend of entering specimen records into a data is turning into an international effort. The U.S., China, Australia and European countries are sharing information on the best way of digitizing specimens so researchers from around the world can have access to specimens that span the globe. President Barack Obama says the United States and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can together advance a regional order where all nations play by the same rules. Speaking Monday at the opening of the first U.S.-hosted ASEAN summit in Rancho Mirage, California, Obama said ASEAN is central to peace and prosperity in the southeast Asian region. At a glance: The ASEAN summit Goal: a set of international rules During the two-day summit at the historic and scenic Sunnylands retreat, leaders are expected to work on crafting a set of principles where international rules and norms, including freedom of navigation, are upheld and where disputes are resolved through peaceful, legal means, said Obama. The White House views Americas leadership role and engagement in the region as critical to the United States' future prosperity and a vital counterbalance to Chinas influence there. The ASEAN nations include Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. The dynamic and diverse region is experiencing robust growth and rising tensions, potentially affecting the global economy and security. Wide-ranging agenda The leaders will discuss trade and commerce, innovation and entrepreneurship, the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, violent extremism and the creation of a common set of principles to guide nations on a range of issues, including maritime disputes in the South China Sea. Speaking to reporters in Rancho Mirage, U.S. National Security Advisory Susan Rice said Southeast Asia is increasingly the worlds political and economic center of gravity and a natural partner of the United States. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea and Chinas increasing activities in its contested waters will be a key topic during the summit. Obama will speak frankly about U.S. opposition to Chinas militarization of disputed areas and any escalation of tensions across the region, White House officials said. It is a sensitive issue for ASEAN countries who want to see a productive relationship between Washington and Beijing and are uneasy about tensions between the two superpowers. Though the U.S. is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes, Obama is expected to make clear the U.S. will continue recent freedom of navigation operations in a region that includes the worlds busiest waterways. We fully support freedom of navigation and we will stand by our partners, Rice said. Beijing says it has long had a rightful claim to the disputed territories. Watch: The South China Sea Dispute North Korea The U.S. and ASEAN leaders will also discuss North Koreas recent rocket testing and what role China can play in pressuring Pyongyang to end its provocative actions. While the China and the U.S. have disagreed on North Korea, the U.S. sees a common interest with China in ensuring the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But ultimately the ASEAN summit is about building a cohesive region committed to rules and fairness, administration officials said. Over the last seven years, ASEAN has become the regions leading forum for addressing political and security challenges said Obama, adding our sustained engagement is delivering concrete results that benefit all of us. A young and rich region The 10 ASEAN members combined comprise the third-largest economy in Asia, and the seventh-largest in the world, with a combined GDP of $2.4 trillion, according to the U.S. More than 65 percent of its 632 million people are younger than the age of 35. Trade between the U.S. and ASEAN countries has increased by 55 percent in seven years, according to the White House. Southeast Asia is now Americas fourth largest goods trading partner, said the president, including U.S. exports that sustain more than 500,000 U.S. jobs. And he credited investment by U.S. companies in ASEAN for the regions growing middle class. WATCH: U.S. President Obama speaks at ASEAN summit Human rights still a concern On the question of human rights, Rice acknowledged some ASEAN nations have a long way to go but she strenuously disputed claims that the U.S. is legitimizing the behavior of governments with poor records. "We take every opportunity to talk on human rights, she said. At the summit opening, Obama told ASEAN leaders together, we can continue to support the aspirations and dignity of our citizens, and said the recent election in Myanmar gives hope for a nation that is inclusive, united, peaceful and democratic. Starting Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama will host Southeast Asian leaders as well as the ASEAN secretary-general for a special summit in Rancho Mirage, California. In meeting with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 10 members, Obama will address a group that represents a population of more than 620 million and a collective economy of around $2.4 trillion, the third largest in Asia behind those of China and Japan. Leaders of member states Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos accepted Obama's invitation. President Thein Sein of Myanmar declined, facing domestic challenges, and sent a deputy instead. The politics The ASEAN bloc was once an afterthought in American policy too small, too diverse and too dysfunctional to be an effective player. But this summit attests to the importance that the Obama administration has attached to the region during the president's two terms in office. In 2011, the Obama administration launched its "pivot to Asia" policy, placing the United States in direct competition with China for economic power in Southeast Asia, and the political influence and security arrangements that frequently go with it. The issues While the leaders will certainly discuss regional security issues, including territorial disputes in the South China Sea and counterterrorism, they will devote equal time to economic issues, including the United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership. South China Sea Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as China and Taiwan all lay claim to an array of remote reefs, spits, atolls and shoals that have become geopolitical hotspots. For decades, there has been building and tinkering on the islets, but recent Chinese military construction has prompted fears of conflict. Officials say the leaders will aim to agree on a response to a major United Nations panel ruling on the disputes that is expected within months. The Permanent Court of Arbitration will decide whether China's controversial territorial claim to a vast expanse of sea has any legal merit. Trade and TPP The United States was fourth last year behind the European Union and Japan. Southeast Asia was also Americas fourth-largest export market that year. U.S. companies have invested $226 billion in the region, and two-way trade was $254 billion last year. The leaders will discuss how to expand trade and investment with the help of U.S. entrepreneurship and innovation. Also likely on the agenda: the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, Obama's signal achievement on trade, which the administration often characterizes as an opportunity for the U.S., rather than China, to shape the rules of world trade. Counterterrorism The U.S. wants to deepen counterterrorism and intelligence cooperation with Southeast Asian nations. Despite the region's relative success in combating al-Qaida-linked militancy since 9/11, the Islamic State group, or IS, appears to be gaining a foothold. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, plus Singapore and Malaysia all have reported citizens traveling to fight in Iraq and Syria. Several small militant groups in the Philippines also have pledged allegiance to IS. The exiled leader of the opposition Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU) said the allegation that Rwanda is involved in destabilizing Burundi is a pretext to turn the political crisis in Burundi into a Hutu versus Tutsi problem. FRODEBU leader Jean Minani said blaming Rwanda is a strategy by Burundian President Nkurunziza to deflect Burundis problems. It is the new pretext of the Burundian government who doesn't want to go into talks, and now a new pretext to say I cant go into negotiations because I have nothing to do there. They have no answer for our problems. We have other refugees in Tanzania, in Congo, and in Uganda. Why are only the refuges in Rwanda taking up guns to fight the Burundian government, he said. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that there are credible reports that Burundian refugees in Rwanda were being recruited by armed Burundian opposition leaders to participate in armed attacks on the Burundian government. And Burundi Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe told VOA last week his government had evidence of Burundian refugees being recruited and conscripted into rebel groups to destabilize the country and eventually remove President Pierre Nkurunziza from power. But Minani said the problem in Burundi is between Burundians and not between the governments of Burundi and Rwanda. Those who say that Rwanda is helping refugees to go to fight Nkurunziza want to say that the problem is between Rwanda and Burundi. Nkurunziza wants to make this problem an ethnic problem. But as the leader, we say the problem is not an ethnic problem. Its a political problem; its a problem between one person Nkurunziza who wants to stay in power without any legitimacy, Minani said. He said anyone who thinks that it is a problem between the Tutsi and Hutus is a person who doesn't quite understand the problems in Burundi. Minani said his group wants to resolve the Burundian crisis through peaceful negotiations. We are on the way to a peaceful solution. We want a solution from negotiation, and if Rwanda can help us to negotiate peacefully, if all the East African countries can help us to find a peaceful solution we are interested in the position, he said. He said if no solution is found quickly, the Burundian crisis could engulf the entire East African region. He [President Nkurunziza] begins with Rwanda. Tomorrow it will be Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, and Congo. It is his strategy and all the international community tends to believe this man, Minani said. Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said in a statement last week that her government was planning on relocating Burundian refugees to other countries. Minani said Burundian refugees are victims of what he called the irresponsibility of President Nkurunziza. Refugees are refugees; to be a refugee is not a simple thing; its a big problem. To make a new location for a refugee is like to kill him twice. So, if they take this solution, I say to them it is a very bad solution, Minani said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Pakistan in the coming months to inaugurate a gas pipeline project in which Russia will investing billions of dollars. Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif already has sent an invitation and Russia has shown willingness to send its head of state, according to Mobin Saulat, the CEO and managing director of Inter State Gas Systems, the Pakistani company handling the project. Maybe before June, Saulat said hopefully, referring to Putin's arrival. Saulat attributed Russian interest in this project to changing regional dynamics, both political and economic. We are 200 million people. And we provide a gateway to other South Asian countries, he said. Energy officials meet As a sign of Russian interest, he pointed out that Pakistani officials and energy experts, on a recent Moscow trip, were able to meet the heads of Russian energy giants Gazprom, Rostec, and Rosneft for the first time in more than two decades. Russia also wants to supply liquid natural gas to Pakistan. Saulat said in time Pakistan should expect to import 4 million tons per annum of LNG from Russia. Pakistan recently signed a deal with Qatar to provide a similar amount. Economic incentives apart, both sides might have strategic and political motives for working together on this project. Pakistan has been trying to form new regional partnerships to diversify from its heavy reliance on the U.S. and China. Russia likely views the deal as an opportunity to expand its influence in key areas of South and Central Asia. Theres a great deal of thinking that this has more geopolitical underpinnings rather than commercial ones, said Khurram Hussain, a business and economy journalist, and a former Pakistan scholar at Washington-based think tank Woodrow Wilson Center. He sounded doubts, however, about the pace of the project. I take agreements that have been signed in a veil of secrecy with a great deal of skepticism, said Hussain, adding that if the government wanted to start the project in a few months, now would be the time to let analysts review the terms and conditions. Boosting Pakistan's economy He acknowledged that the deal, if it goes through, would be good for Pakistan. Pakistan is in dire need for foreign investment in infrastructure and the only parties that are willing to step forward thus far have been other states, particularly China, he said. While the current venture is a state-to-state project, it might give a signal to the private sector that Pakistans economy has powerful backers. Russia will spend from $2 billion to $2.5 billion, which is almost 85 percent of the cost of building the pipeline. The 1,100-kilometer-long structure will be able to transport 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day throughout Pakistan, from Karachi to Lahore. The first phase of the three-phase project is expected to come online in two years, with the final completion date scheduled for some time in 2019. LNG, from any country that comes to Karachi port will be re-gasified and sent through this pipeline to the north. In time, the pipeline will help replace the aging infrastructure currently used to transport gas within Pakistan. Russian involvement Pakistan initially approached China, Russia, and Qatar for the financing of the project and received favorable responses from all. In the end, the government opted for Russia in order to diversify its regional partnerships. Saulat said the Russians immediately responded. Russia already has sent teams to survey the route and is in the process of designing the project. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi signed the agreement when Novak visited Islamabad in October. Saulat expects the deal to usher in a new era of Russian investment in Pakistan. In the next few months youll see more and more Russian delegations coming in, he said. A Pakistani university attacked by a faction of the Taliban last month killing 21 people has reopened. Bacha Khan University in the northwestern city of Charsadda welcomed back students to its campus Monday. Fazal Rahim Marwat, the university's vice chancellor, told the French News Agency he was "happy to announce that the university has been re-opened today, but amid very strict security." He said the university was re-opened with the objective "to defeat the mindset of militants, which was behind the terrorist attack of January 20th." Khalifa Umar Mansoor, the leader of the breakaway Taliban group that claimed responsibility for the January raid has described Pakistan's educational institutions as "nurseries" for those who challenge Allah's law. He promised more attacks on schools and universities across the country. The Pentagon is rejecting al-Shabab's claim a U.S. drone crashed Monday in southwestern Somalia. Pro-al-Shabab websites said the drone carrying six missiles crashed in a rebel-held village called Shan-da'ar in the Gedo region. The militants claimed on their local radio station that they have taken the crashed drone to a safer location. Somali security sources could not immediately comment on the reported crash. In an email to VOA, a Pentagon spokesperson said, "All AFRICOM assets in this area are accounted for and we have no indication any were involved in this reported incident." An official said on condition of anonymity the Somali government heard the information about the drone crash, but could not verify who owned it. "We heard about the news and we know that drones and war planes have been operating in the region since the last month attack on the military base, which was run by Kenyan troops who are part of the African Union, but we cannot verify whose drone it was." said the official. The U.S. military has carried out numerous drone attacks in Somalia during the past several years, taking out several high-level members of the al-Shabab. The insurgent group wants to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law on Somalia. It has carried out repeated terror attacks in Somalia and around the region. Jewelry, property and stocks confiscated from the Philippines former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family following his ouster 30 years ago will be put up for sale, government officials said on Monday. Marcos fled to Hawaii in 1986 following a near bloodless popular revolt, known as "People Power". He had ruled the Philippines for 20 years, during which time his family amassed an estimated $10 billion. Sources at the finance ministry said the government is looking to raise at least 838.85 million pesos ($17.70 million) from the sale of two real estate properties, company shares, and the jewelry. "Proceeds from the sale will go to the Bureau of Treasury and Philippine Commission on Good Government," Gil Beltan, deputy finance secretary, told reporters, referring to the agency established to track down the Marcoses' fortune. About 300 pieces of jewelry, including a rare 25-carat barrel-shaped pink diamond, are among the assets that will be auctioned. The three jewelry collections, which had been kept in a vault at the central bank, have been appraised by international auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's. The government had tried to auction the three jewelry collections in 2005 but the late dictator's widow Imelda Marcos contested the move, claiming ownership of two of the sets. One was found in the presidential palace after her family's hasty departure and another was seized in Hawaii, where they lived in exile. Imelda Marcos, now an elected member of Congress, is best known for leaving behind more than 1,200 pairs of shoes when she and her late husband fled. She has vowed to recover her family's seized assets. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in 1989. Their only son, Ferdinand Junior, is a senator. He is running for vice president in the May election and latest independent polls showed him to be a top contender. Thousands of Mexicans gathered in a sports field in the impoverished southern state of Chiapas for an open-air mass Pope Francis conducted in three indigenous languages Chol, Tzotzil and Tzeltal. Pope Francis asked Mexico's indigenous population Monday for forgiveness for the exclusion they have suffered by society. "On many occasions, in a systematic and organized way, your people have been misunderstood and excluded from society," the pope said. "Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior. Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contaminated them." During the service, Francis issued a decree allowing indigenous languages to be used during Catholic masses. He also warned that the Earth faces "one of the greatest environmental crises in world history." "The Earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she groans in travail," he said, adding that "the environmental challenge that we are experiencing and its human causes, affect us all and demand our response." Francis arrived by aircraft Monday in the Mexican mountain town of San Cristobal de las Casas, a center of Mayan indigenous culture. San Cristobal is home to two of the most famed religious defenders of indigenous people in Mexican history: Bishops Bartolome de las Casas in the 16th century and Samuel Ruiz, who died in 2011. Many officials accused Ruiz, who evangelized many indigenous, of acting on behalf of Zapatista rebels in their 1994 uprising for greater indigenous rights. From San Cristobal, the pope visits Morelia, the capital of the western state of Michoacan where farmers in 2013 took up arms to battle the so-called Knights Templar drug cartel. On Sunday, Francis held an open-air Mass for some 300,000 Roman Catholic faithful in Mexico City's gritty suburb of Ecatepec. The pontiff spoke out against the drug trade and associated violence; a central theme of his five-day visit. On Saturday, the Pope called on Mexican leaders to provide "true justice" and security in the country after years of endemic drug violence, official corruption and poverty. Francis told President Enrique Pena Nieto and assembled lawmakers in Mexico City they have a responsibility to help citizens gain access to "indispensable material and spiritual goods," including housing, employment and a peaceful environment. In a separate address to Mexican bishops, Francis urged the clerics to take a more aggressive stand against drug trafficking and corruption. He challenged church leaders to denounce what he called the "insidious threat" posed by trafficking. Francis caps his visit Wednesday in the U.S.-Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's former murder capital, where he is expected to address issues of crime, trafficking and migration. Russia has blocked Ukraine-registered trucks from entering its territory, in a tit-for-tat response to expanding efforts by Ukraine activists to block Russian transit from crossing into or leaving Ukraine. The Russian move, ordered Sunday by the Transit Ministry, follows a push in several Ukrainian regions last week to block Russian cargo transit at its borders. Russian news outlets quote transit officials as saying more than 100 Russian trucks are currently blocked in different regions of Ukraine. Officials say more than 500 other trucks headed for Russia from European Union countries are either unable to enter Ukraine from the west or to return home from deliveries in Russia since the Ukraine blockade began. Both sides imposed a series of food product import and air traffic bans, as tensions rose and armed conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted two years ago after the Russian parliament annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. International monitors say more than 9,000 people have been killed since Russian-backed rebels in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine took up arms against the Kyiv government in April 2014. Fighting has largely subsided in recent months, but neither side has fully implemented the so-called Minsk cease-fire pact negotiated last year by envoys from Europe, Russia and Ukraine. A powerful car bomb exploded Monday at a police checkpoint in Russia's Dagestan republic, killing two officers and the car's driver and wounding 19 others, in what appears to have been a suicide attack, investigators said. The explosion, which was set off by two 122 mm shells, destroyed the Russian-made Lada Priori and four other vehicles parked at the police post near Derbent, said Rasul Temirbekov, spokesman for the Dagestani branch of the federal Investigative Committee. Investigators believe it was a terror attack because the driver of the Lada stopped at the checkpoint on his own initiative, Temirbekov said. All that remained of the driver were fragments of his head, hands and feet, he said. Dagestan has been the center of an Islamic insurgency that spread across the Caucasus region after two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. For more than a decade, Dagestan has seen bombings, attacks on police and kidnappings blamed on the Islamic militants. In recent years, the republic has grown markedly less violent as hundreds of militants have left to join the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. Some, however, are now coming back home with battlefield experience. While the returning fighters usually land in jail or are kept under close police surveillance, there have been concerns that the presence of radical Muslims trained in IS warfare could lead to greater instability and violence. Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the IS threat to Russia as a key factor behind his decision to launch airstrikes on militants in Syria. He said that between 5,000 and 7,000 people from Russia and other former Soviet republics are now fighting alongside IS militants. Meanwhile, Russia's air campaign in Syria has drawn threats of retaliation from militants there. South Korean President Park Geun-hye will defend her hardline response to North Koreas recent nuclear test and rocket launch in an address to the National Assembly in Seoul Tuesday. Following North Koreas recent moves, Park has abandoned virtually any hope of negotiating with the Kim Jong Un government and has joined with allies Washington and Tokyo to step up efforts to coerce Pyongyang to capitulate. It is clear that the music has stopped for the Park Geun-hye administration and it shows the intention that it is no longer interested in doing any kind of dancing with the North Korean authorities, said Bong Young-shik, a national security analyst with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. Halting cash flows Sunday the Park administration justified closing the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea last week, saying that 70 percent of the income generated at the complex was used to finance the Norths nuclear program. The United Nations has banned North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology and has imposed four rounds of increasingly stronger sanctions since 2006. After North Koreas third nuclear test in 2013, the U.N. imposed sanctions prohibiting the bulk transfers of cash that could be linked to illicit activities by the North. In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS Sunday, Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said the salaries of the 54,000 North Korean workers, and other costs associated with running the Kaesong complex, were transferred in U.S. dollars directly to a North Korean government bureau called Office 39. He said this bureau, which is run by the ruling Workers Party, manages all foreign currency transfers. And in the case of Kaesong, it funneled 70 percent of the approximately $120 million in earnings each year to the military and other prohibited programs. In closing the Kaesong complex, the Park administration ended the last significant cooperative inter-Korean project, initiated over a decade ago to build trust and reduce the potential for conflict between these long-term enemies. Other South Korean aid programs were halted and sanctions imposed against North Korea in 2010, after Seoul accused Pyongyang of sinking a South Korean warship and killing 46 sailors. Turning from China Seoul has moved closer to Washington with its decision to proceed with formal talks to deploy the controversial Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. Although there were reports in the past year that Seoul was quietly considering THAAD, President Park had been reluctant to endorse it, reportedly to maintain good relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders had pushed closer economic and diplomatic ties over the last few years. China is now South Koreas biggest trading partner. The trade volume between the two Asian neighbors, over $200 billion, is more than double the volume between South Korea and the U.S. President Park has also visited China numerous times, most recently attending celebrations in Beijing for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Kim Jong Un has yet to meet with the Chinese President. China and Russia oppose stationing THAAD in Korea because it could further fuel a regional arms race and because the over 1,000-kilometer reach of the system's radar can potentially be used to monitor military installations in their countries. Beijing has called on all sides involved in the tensions on the Korean peninsula to practice restraint. However, North Koreas recent provocations, analysts say, gave the conservative South Korean leader the justification she had been seeking to support increased military measures. Now this is a moment where essentially the two sides can use a palpable North Korean threat to say, okay lets really bring this front and center into the public eye and move ahead, said analyst John Delury, with Yonsei University in Seoul. Regime change In the National Assembly, some members of Parks ruling Saenuri party have called for even stronger security measures. On Monday Won Yoo-cheol, a party leader in the legislature, called for South Korea to deploy its own nuclear deterrent or again station U.S. tactical nuclear weapons. The U.S. pulled its tactical nuclear weapons out of South Korea in 1991. And Na Kyung-won, the chairwoman of South Korea's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs said Monday that it is now time to consider a regime change in North Korea. The Park administration rejected these options as too extreme, but analyst Bong Young-shik, with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, would like the South Korean president to say in her speech Tuesday if the goal of increased sanctions is to collapse the Kim Jong Un government and at what cost. I hope that her address would include a very specific and persuasive explanation on why purely coercive measures should have been taken and why we need to believe that, despite all these concerning aspects of the strategy, the strategy will eventually work, said Bong Young-shik, Washington and Beijing are still reportedly at odds over imposing strong United Nations sanctions, with China saying it does not want to trigger regional instability. Analysts say that unless Chinas goes along with proposed measures to cut off trade and aid to its ally, sanctions will have a very limited impact. Taiwans government has declared a day of mourning for the 116 people who died in an earthquake just over a week ago, as officials vow to step up inspections of structures around the island. The office of Premier Chang San-cheng ordered flags be flown at half-staff at all government offices and schools Monday in tribute to the people who died February 6 in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake that morning caused a giant housing complex to fall, killing all but two of those who died from the quake. Another 550 were injured. Panic has been followed by a search for blame in Tainan as prosecutors explore who might have caused construction problems at the collapsed housing complex. The earthquake magnitude was only 5.0 in Tainan, and most structures on the island can withstand that amount of shaking. Officials called off search and rescue work Sunday after recovering the final bodies in the housing estates rubble. The death toll was Taiwans worst from an earthquake since 1999. That year a 7.6 magnitude quake killed more than 2,300 people. George Hou, a mass communications lecturer at I-Shou University in Taiwan, said the day of mourning will send a welcome signal but that Taiwanese also expect more substantive follow-up measures. At least this action expresses an attitude that they carry this event in their hearts, said Hou, whose university in the southern city Kaohsiung is located near the recent quake epicenter. The next phase of care taking work will be a substantive one - how they can make victims feel its not only emblematic. Government officials have ordered all schools in Taiwan, as well as other older buildings, be checked for earthquake safety. As another follow-up move, they will release the results of a study on soil liquefaction that could affect buildings during quakes. Taiwans central government will not require that every home be checked, but expects this months earthquake will trigger new efforts to regulate construction. It also urges cities and counties to check local structures. About 2,000 schools have already been retrofitted for quake safety. Structures built before 1970 are at the most risk, followed by those built between 1970 and the quake of 1999. After that year, construction standards became more rigorous. The National Science & Technology Center for Disaster Reduction says ground level units in apartment buildings are particularly at risk because some lack strong walls and cautions against the removal of any beams in remodeling. Most urban Taiwanese live in multi-level apartment blocks and new owners usually remodel their units. Regarding checks on the earthquake resistance and existing damage to homes, as well as soil liquefaction, within a month we will release the results of a soil study, as well as follow-up measures to be taken, the premiers spokesman Sun Lih-chyun says. A soil movement study is already in place, but the premier believes that to release that without follow-up measures would cause panic, he said. The Turkish military confirmed Monday its forces shelled Syrian Kurdish positions of the PYG for a third consecutive day. During a visit to Ukraine, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned the PYG that it will face what he called the "fiercest response" if it makes further territorial gains. Ankara accuses the group of being a terrorist organization linked to the Kurdish rebel PKK, which Turkish forces are fighting in Turkey. The PYG is fighting to connect the last link in a continuous Kurdish-controlled region in Syria along the Turkish border. With the Syrian Kurdish leadership dismissing Ankara's warning, Turkey's political leaders have not ruled out a military intervention. But retired Turkish general Haldun Solmazturk warned that any intervention would be extremely risky. "The major military risk is a conflict with the Russian armed forces; it is inevitable. And besides, the Syrian regime forces would also resist and also various groups from Kurds to ISIL, Solmazturk said, using an acronym for Islamic State. I mean there are so many risks involved, currently Syria is a most complicated military environment for an army to intervene." Russia, U.N. Since Turkish jets downed a Russian warplane in November, Moscow has installed a sophisticated anti-aircraft system to support its fighter jets and bombers operating in Syria. What is more, international relations expert Soli Ozel warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be only too happy to see a Turkish intervention. "I think the Russians are waiting eagerly for Turkey to take such a step, in order to get even for their downed plane, Ozel said. Putin, I think, wants to exact a punishment from Turkey." Turkish news reports quote military leaders as saying that, under Turkish law, any intervention in Syria requires sanctioning by the U.N. Security Council. Domestic concerns Observers say Turkey might try to circumvent that law by declaring that its target is the Islamic State extremist group. But Ozel said domestic security concerns could ultimately prevent Turkey from sending an unwilling military into Syria. "If the government insists that they must do it, it will be done, Ozel said. But can a government really push a military that obviously for good reasons is reluctant to do such a thing? Especially if that military is now fighting domestically in Turkey an extraordinary brutal and fierce battle against the PKK, which is also a big priority for the government?" Major security operations are continuing across towns and cities in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast against the PKK. During spring, with winter snows melting, the PKK are expected to emerge from their winter hideouts and escalate their operations across the region. Ugandan police detained opposition candidate Kizza Besigye in the capital Kampala Monday as he campaigned for the country's presidential election this week. Witnesses said police fired tear gas after Besigye was stopped at a junction and told to get out of his car. Then they took him into custody, before moving him to another location outside of Kampala. He was later released. Police claim Besigye was holding campaign events in the central business district, which they say is off limits for campaigning. Besigye has lost three disputed elections to President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. Ugandas assistant inspector general of police accused Besigye of violating campaign rules. If you choose because it is political period, to campaign, to go to a place where you are not supposed to be at that time, and then lead a procession through the central business district, the nerve center of economic activity, at such a time, I think we must protect other people, he said. One of Besigyes lawyers, Lukwago Shifrah, said she was in a car with the opposition candidate when they were stopped by police and tear-gassed. We were together and actually we finished the first rally which was carried out there, and then we left to go to the convoy and then we had another rally but we were blocked, and they had to tear-gas us, which wasnt called for because hes a candidate like any other people," Shifrah said. Voter Charles Opakrwoth said he had been a long-time supporter of NRM, President Musevenis party, until recently, when he switched to Besigyes FDC party. He says he was at the junction when the police took Besigye. Me, as a Ugandan, and I know human rights law, what they have done today, is not fair. Even if they do to other person, even if to do to another person, its still not good, he said. After Besigye was released, his supporters and police faced off in Kampala, as supporters waited for him to make an appearance at Makerere University. Some supporters threw stones and police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the crowds. Ugandans go to the polls Thursday to vote for president, parliamentary seats and local government seats. Museveni has been in power since a 1986 coup and won landslide victories in 2006 and 2011 in elections that observers said were marred by irregularities and intimidation of opposition parties. Ukraine's political crisis deepened Monday with the resignation of the deputy prosecutor general, who accused his superior of "running a dead institution with no independence." Vitaliy Kaskos departure follows a similar move by Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius earlier this month, who also accused loyalists of Ukraine's president of widespread corruption. "It is a crisis of trust. It is a crisis of, basically, values, Abromavicius said. I think we really need to use this opportunity to bring in a completely different set of people with a completely different mindset." That opportunity could come Tuesday when parliament convenes to debate a report on the coalition government's performance, which could force a no confidence vote and lead to a snap election. A parliamentary source said that, after a meeting of various faction leaders Monday, "the general mood is that the government should leave." But if the government falls, Ukraines progress could be set back even further, according to analyst Orysia Lutsevych of Chatham House. "I think nobody is seriously interested in the new elections, because we will get pretty much the same parliament, Lutsevych said. It will just delay time and drain resources in a time of economic hardship." Slow reform Two years after street protests led to the overthrow of president Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's slow pace of reform is testing Western allies. Yatseniuk's approval ratings have plummeted to less than 1 percent, the economy has tanked and a conflict with separatist rebels has no end in sight. The International Monetary Fund has warned that the $40 billion bailout of Ukraine is at risk. "On the one hand, there is not a critical mass of reformers in key branches of government, Lutsevych said. Secondly, it is because we do have these strong vested interests in Ukraine entrenched through different state enterprises, cash flows through the banks, and fusion of capital and political life. And, finally, it is because the whole bureaucracy and administration has not been changed." President Petro Poroshenko blames the slow pace of reform on the continuing conflict in the east against pro-Russian separatists. Speaking at the recent Munich Security Conference, he had tough words for Moscow. "The only thing which needs to be done is remove your troops from Ukrainian territory, both on Donbas and Crimea; return the Ukrainian control on the control part of Ukrainian and Russian border; release all the hostages, Poroshenko said, then we will have no tension, no escalation, no war in this region. Russia claims it is abiding by the year-old Minsk Agreement, which mandates demilitarization in return for Kyiv giving more autonomy to rebel-held regions. But monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe warn the conflict is at its worst point in six months, and elections due to be held in the east under the Minsk agreement look likely to be delayed for several months. The U.N. envoy to Syria is making an unannounced visit to Damascus for talks on implementing a cease-fire set to start later this week. The envoy, Staffan de Mistura, arrived late Monday in the Syrian capital, where he is expected to meet with Syrian government officials. World powers agreed last week to a cessation of hostilities, set to begin Friday, in order to let badly needed humanitarian aid be delivered. The cease-fire is meant to help make it possible to resume international peace talks that collapsed after just three days earlier this month in Geneva. Since then, the violence has shown no signs of letting up. The Syrian government has continued an offensive backed by Russian airstrikes. A wide array of rebel groups also continue to fight within the country, each with different objectives and international backers. World powers have said they hope to resume peace talks by the end of the month. A United Nations expert on human rights in North Korea is warning the country's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, could be held accountable for alleged crimes against humanity. Marzuki Darusman, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, issued the warning in a report made public Monday. The U.N. Human Rights Council should advise Kim and other senior North Korean leaders "they may be investigated, and if found to be responsible, held accountable for crimes against humanity committed under their leadership," the report said. Darusman was the head of a special U.N. investigation into North Korea's human rights abuses, which are considered to be among the worst in the world. The so-called Commission of Inquiry accused the North of committing atrocities not seen since the Nazi era. The panel also called for North Korean leaders to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court. But that would require action by the U.N. Security Council. China and Russia, which are veto-wielding members of the council, oppose such a move. The secretive North Korean government is accused of running a massive network of political prisons, as well as carrying out murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence. In his latest report, Darusman said Pyongyang does not appear to have made any improvements on rights issues since the U.N. investigation ended two years ago. The U.N. Human Rights Council will review the report next month. The U.S. has approved construction of the first American factory in Cuba in more than 50 years, a two-man business that hopes to hire Cuban workers to assemble as many as 1,000 small tractors a year to sell to private farmers in Cuba. Cuban officials have already endorsed the $5 million to $10 million project, to be located in an economic zone near Havana, the Cuban capital. It is the first significant American business investment in the communist nation since 1959, when long-time Cuban dictator Fidel Castro seized power and nationalized billions of dollars' worth of U.S. corporate and private property. The new investment comes in the aftermath of the renewal of U.S. and Cuba diplomatic relations and the gradual opening of economic links. The U.S. still maintains a trade embargo against Cuba, but President Barack Obama has been making exceptions to it through executive orders. On Tuesday, Cuban and American officials expect to sign an agreement that will open airline flights between the countries for first time since 1959. Last weekend, Cuba returned a U.S. Hellfire missile that it said was mistakenly shipped to Havana from Paris in 2014. Business partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal of the Cleber company in the southern U.S. state of Alabama said they plan to have the tractor factory in operation a year from now. "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do," Clemmons said. "We're looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve. It's our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries." Berenthal said being the first company to open in Cuba "is great. But for certain, we should not be the only ones. We're hoping and expecting many more will follow." On a snowy Presidents Day holiday in Washington, D.C., journalists and members of the National Park Service trekked underground beneath one of the countrys most famous monuments. Cartoons and graffiti drawn by workers nearly 100 years ago can still be seen on the pilings that anchor the Lincoln Memorial to its foundation at the west end of the National Mall. Officials conducted the tour of the monument, built in honor of the 16th President of the United States, to highlight repairs and upgrades they say will be made possible by a multi-million dollar gift. Representatives from the National Mall and Memorial Parks Service announced an $18.5 million donation from businessman and philanthropist David Rubenstein, who is the co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, a private equity and financial asset management firm. Mr. Rubensteins donation will safeguard one of our most visited and recognizable memorials in the whole United States and preserve it for future generations, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said during the Presidents Day event. The donation comes as the National Park Foundation launches an unprecedented $350 million fundraising campaign in conjunction with the National Parks Services 100th anniversary. Officials say the money raised, in part, will fund projects at the regional and national level, including multiple exterior and interior repairs to the Lincoln Memorial. It needs a good scrub to brighten it back up and we need to add a second elevator for increased accessibility, said National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis. He added that the restoration would also give visitors the opportunity to walk underneath the memorial. Restoration efforts include repairs to cracks in the monuments marble columns, as well as a roof replacement and cleaning of the murals along the interior walls. More than seven million people each year see the oversized marble statue of the Civil War-era President Lincoln, seated and apparently gazing on the visitors as they read the Gettysburg Address, inscribed on the monument's walls. While repairs are expected to take place over the next four years, officials say the Lincoln Memorial will remain open throughout the renovation. WATCH: A quick look at, and under, the memorial A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, identifying themselves as friends of Poland, have written to Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to register concern over recent Polish legislation seen as threatening the independence of state media and the country's highest court. The letter, signed February 10 by senators John McCain, Benjamin Cardin and Richard Durbin, cites two recent laws, one of which curbs the ability of Poland's Constitutional Court to strike down laws found to be unconstitutional. "We understand that the second law would threaten the independence of state broadcasters and press freedom in the country," the letter says, adding that the laws "could serve to diminish Democratic norms in Poland." The letter further warned that "an erosion of democracy" in Poland would threaten liberal institutions "that have successfully expanded prosperity, peace, stability and tolerance" across the continent. Separately, Nils Muiznieks, the human rights chief for the Council of Europe, warned Friday that the Constitutional Court had become "paralyzed" by the country's new euro-skeptic, anti-migrant, right-wing Law and Justice Party, which swept to victory in elections in October. Muiznieks voiced most concern for the court crisis, spawned by a new law requiring all court rulings to have the support of a two-thirds majority of the 15-member bench, rather than a simple majority of the past. He also said the crisis extends beyond the constitutional balance of powers to the rule of law and to human rights. The Law and Justice Party (PiS) led by staunch conservative ex-prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has triggered alarm and public protests since taking office, partly over its attempts to install five judges of its own choosing. It stirred further concern by refusing to recognize judges appointed by the previous government, dominated by the liberal Civic Platform Party. European Parliament chief Martin Schulz in December compared political developments in Poland to a "coup," and then declined to apologize for his comments when Polish Prime Minster Szydlo called them "unacceptable." In always politically combative Washington, the newest battle is over a name not yet known, whoever President Barack Obama nominates for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Obama, now in the last year of his presidency, says he will nominate a candidate for the lifetime position, and expects the Senate to give his choice a public hearing and to vote on it. But the unexpected high court vacancy, coming in the midst of the 2016 presidential campaign to pick his successor, leaves him with a variety of considerations in making the choice. Chief among them is which possible nominee has a chance of winning a nomination fight in the U.S. Senate, where the majority Republicans are none-too-anxious to give the Democratic president the chance to clear what would be his third selection on the nine-member court. Choice could tip balance The nomination decision, depending on Obama's choice, is especially crucial because it could tip the ideological balance on the court from the current five to four conservative majority that included Scalia, to one favoring the court's four reliably liberal justices. Numerous Republicans are vowing to block any Obama selection, with Democrats saying the court should not be left with a vacancy for a year or more until the next president takes office and names a Supreme Court candidate. Already, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the country's next president, to be elected in November and taking office in January, ought to make the choice, to effectively give voters a say in the Supreme Court selection. Two Republican senators running for president, Ted Cruz of Texas and Florida's Marco Rubio, have vowed to fight against any Obama nominee, no matter who it is. With such political opposition, Senate Republicans could effectively run out the clock on Obama's presidency, and his Supreme Court nominee. But Democrats supporting Obama already are accusing Republicans of being obstructionists in the fight over the nomination and that could eventually force McConnell to at least allow consideration of a nominee even if Republicans ultimately defeat the choice. Possible names Some legal analysts say Obama could nominate one of two judges who have in recent years already have won unanimous Senate approval for their current seats, Sri Srinivasan, who would become the Supreme Court's first Indian-American, and Jane Kelly, both of whom now are appellate court judges. Several other names have been mentioned by legal experts as possibilities, including the country's current top law enforcement official, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and several other appellate court judges. Analysts say what is unknown is how Obama views the already contentious fight over his unnamed choice. They are debating whether the president's main goal would be to win approval for the nominee, someone at least a few Republican lawmakers might vote for. Or perhaps, the analysts say, his choice might be to pick a nominee more attuned to his left-of-center political views, who likely would be defeated even as the loss might energize Democratic voters in the presidential election and Senate contests around the country in an effort to overturn Republican control of the legislative chamber and hand it to the Democrats. A close aide to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says he is very positive that direct peace talks with Taliban insurgents will take place before the end of this month with no conditions from either side. Efforts are under way to determine the venue for the much-anticipated meeting. In an exclusive interview with VOA, Afghanistans newly appointed ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, singled out for credit Islamabads "positive" cooperation for rekindling hopes for Afghan peace. Unlike his predecessors, Zakhilwal has arrived in Islamabad with the additional responsibility of having full political authority and backing of Afghan politicians "across the board" to win Islamabads consistent and crucial support for ending the 15-year-old Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. A four-nation cooperation group of senior Afghan, Pakistani, American and Chinese officials, at their latest meeting in Islamabad, agreed on a road map for peace and announced that direct talks between the warring Afghan sides were expected by the end of February. I am very positive that we will, Zakhilwal said when asked whether the Afghan government and the Taliban will both come to the negotiating table this month. He went on to say that all the countries involved are currently engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to determine a venue and have established contacts with the Talibans political office in Qatar for arranging the peace dialogue. We are under no illusion that as soon as we sit with the Taliban, by the end of the day, we will have a settlement out of it. So it's going to be a prolonged process; I hope not so prolonged that people at the end will lose hope in it, but at least it certainly cannot happen in a meeting or two, Zakhilwal asserted. Taliban yet to decide Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA that the groups Qatar office is solely authorized to comment on whether they intend to join the negotiations. Mujahid denied media reports that said a top Taliban delegation from its Qatar office recently traveled to Pakistan as part of preparations for the upcoming meeting with Afghan peace negotiators. Ambassador Zakhilwal said predominant public skepticism in Kabul about Pakistans assistance in the peace process continues to pose a challenge to President Ghanis renewed outreach to Islamabad. Many Afghans have long accused the Pakistani military of giving secret support and sanctuary to the Taliban, enabling the group to sustain its insurgency. Zakhilwal emphasized the need for all sides to make all possible efforts to overcome negative perceptions on both sides, and noted Pakistans cooperative approach in the recent four-way talks on the Afghan peace effort. There was nothing more that we could have asked for. There was no resistance from Pakistan and there is, so far, full commitment to implement that road map, and I have no doubt that the intentions are not there. But we must keep the environment such that it does not get spoiled, and if we do deliver on this road map I do believe that we will have some early indications that we are on the positive track. But, like many Afghan and foreign observers, the ambassador fears a spike in Taliban-led violence in the coming weeks when rising temperatures allow insurgents easier movement through snow-covered high mountain passes. When we do not see the violence diminishing in the process, then the public will not believe in the process they will say look the Taliban are using this just as a delaying tactic or playing [a game with us]. So, thats why what we have in the roadmap as an indicator of the success of the negotiation in this process and as an indicator to the public that they should be supporting it, diminishing violence. Islamabad's influence Pakistani officials insist they have limited influence with the Taliban to try to persuade them to engage in talks, and dismiss suggestions they completely control them or can influence their battlefield activities inside Afghanistan. Zakhilwal dismisses widespread criticism that there are disagreements between President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah over engaging the Taliban in peace talks. Without going into details, the Afghan ambassador said the national unity government is ready for give and take and to accommodate the Taliban in the political and power structure when negotiations begin. He reiterated neither side should insist on pre-conditions. Zakhilwal also criticized the latest U.S. intelligence assessments that Afghanistan is at risk of political breakdown during 2016 because of political disagreements, economic deterioration and worsening national security. They have been proven wrong before and they will be proven wrong again there is enough maturity within the politicians of Afghanistan to understand the risks of following any other path other than the path of positive engagements and supporting and being behind the government at a time when the time is extremely challenging. Former Vice President Joice Mujuru has for the first time confirmed that she is leading the opposition Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) expected to contest the countrys much-anticipated 2018 general elections. In an exclusive interview with Voice of Americas Studio 7, Mrs. Mujuru was asked if she is indeed now the interim president of the party, she replied, Yes please. She had come under fire from some political analysts who accused her of leading from the back and speaking only through proxies. Mrs. Mujuru, who on Friday registered her own political party ZPF - says she is now ready to lead the party. We are pleased to announce the formal registration of Zimbabwe People First as a political party through the lodging of the constitution of the party with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on the 12th of February 2016. The former vice president says the formal registration was done after serious consultations. In fact, I should have done it mid-last year, but because I was refusing to do that without convincing myself that I had done the thorough recruitment I wanted before taking that step. EXPELLED FROM ZANU-PF Mrs. Mujuru is a former guerrilla fighter from the liberation war in the former Rhodesia and the widow of former army commander General Solomon Mujuru, who died in a mysterious house fire in 2011. After holding cabinet posts in successive governments since independence in 1980, Mrs. Mujuru came under heavy attack from President Robert Mugabes wife, Grace, who was promoted to head the ruling Zanu-PFs powerful Womens League. The former vice president, who turns 61 in April, was accused of plotting to unconstitutionally remove President Robert Mugabe from office, according to a statement from Zanu PF spokesman Simon Khaya-Moyo released in April, 2015. Addressing journalists at the Zanu-PF Harare Headquarters after the partys Politburo meeting, Moyo said the decision had been reached after wide consultation. The grounds for Joice Mujurus expulsion from Zanu-PF included but not limited to the following; plotting to unconstitutional remove the President and First secretary of the party from office: orchestrating the bhora musango campaign to the detriment of the partys interests, orchestrating factionalism in the party thereby causing acrimonious divisions; abusing party structures to create a competing center of national power; engaging in behavior unbecoming of a vice president and second secretary of the party; systematically collaborating and colluding with the enemy in a manner that undermines the party to risk bringing it into disrepute; engaging in activities that smack of corruption; engaging in criminal abuse of office; impugning, maligning and undermining the party and the president and providing leadership to the regime change and fifth column politics within ZANU-PF. Mrs. Mujuru has consistently denied all these allegations. ZANU-PF IMPLOSION Mrs. Mujuru was long considered a likely successor to Mr. Mugabe, who turns 92 this month before falling out of favor. Mr. Mugabe replaced her as vice-president with his justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has also come under fire for allegedly plotting to remove him from power. Again First Lady Grace Mugabe is leading the charge against Mnangagwa. Addressing thousands of Zanu PF supporters at Kanyemba School in Chiweshe, Mashonaland Central Province, Mrs. Mugabe said President Robert Mugabe is not happy with growing factionalism in his party. Mrs. Mugabe took a swipe at the so-called Team Lacoste, a Zanu PF faction allegedly led by Vice President Mnangagwa, saying the camp is fueling divisions in the fractious ruling party. Mnangagwa is reportedly angling himself to succeed President Mugabe when he eventually leaves office. Mrs. Mugabe told supporters without mentioning names - that some people in Zanu PF have too much zeal for power in such a way that they now want to remove President Mugabe from his position even through illegal means. She declared that Mr. Mugabe will contest the 2018 elections representing the party. Party chairperson from Mashonaland East, Masvingo and Midlands, who are Mnangagwas close allies, were suspended Sunday for allegedly fanning factionalism. Mrs. Mujuru says she is not surprised by the escalating tensions in the ruling Zanu-PF party. Supporters of People First or PF, a new political party which was officially registered with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission last Friday, say they will now start campaigning for the party ahead of the 2018 general elections. There was jubilation and ululation among People First members when they held their first meeting in Chinhoyi on Saturday. They were happy that the party has finally been officially registered in Zimbabwe. The PF members, who addressed each other as nation builders, said the registration will now enable them to freely mobilize the electorate, hold rallies and public meetings without fear of the police. The organizer of Saturdays meeting, former Zanu PF and MDC-T provincial member, Tendai Musonza, said many MDC and Zanu PF followers were waiting for the party to register in order to join it. Speaking at the meeting, Abigail Sauti, a former MDC-T National Council member, said she felt overwhelmed by the registration as this will allow them to market their party as many people were hesitant to join them because they were not registered. Addressing more than 300 Chinhoyi ward level structure members, former Information Minister and Zanu PF member, Bright Matonga, who is the PF acting provincial coordinator, urged their members to desist from violence. Responding to questions, another former Zanu PF Mhondoro Mubayira Member of Parliament, Sylvester Nguni, said unlike other political parties, PF has term limits of two five-year terms on any position. The PF meeting was attended by prominent former provincial war veteran leader, Amos Sipho Kademaunga, former Zanu PF stalwarts, MDC-T provincial members and operatives of the feared national spy network, the Central Intelligence Organisation. Some Zimbabweans say First Ladys Grace Mugabes attacks on senior government officials like Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a clear indication that she in now gunning for the highest office in the land. They say she wants to purge all those who she perceives as stumbling blocks in her ascendency to the presidency. Some Zimbabweans say it is clear that the first lady is now inching closer to the countrys executive arm of the state as she wants to eliminate suspected enemies like Mnangagwa and members of his alleged Zanu PF faction calling itself Team Lacoste. Several top Zanu PF officials aligned to this group have already been suspended in the Midlands province, viewed as Mnangagwas stronghold, and other regions. Expelled former Zanu PF legislator, Themba Mliswa, who is also a co-ordinator of the Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy, said the first lady is currently eliminating perceived stumbling blocks as she is destined for the highest office in Zimbabwe. Mai (Mrs.) Mujuru is no more in terms of power in Zanu PF, Mnangagwa is as good as gone. When he is gone who is left? This is where they shall see the truth, she (Mrs. Mugabe) is next. SECURING FAMILY FUTURE Independent political commentator, Enerst Mudzengi, concurred, saying President Mugabe knows what his wife is doing as he is trying to secure the future of his family by ensuring that Mrs. Mugabe is in charge of the executive arm of the state. You never know, it could happen, it could happen. It North Korean the president left his very young son What would stop President Mugabe wanting or desiring to have the throne remaining in his family? Another independent political commentator, Fortune Gwaze, said while Mrs. Mugabe has in the past said she was not vying for the highest office, recent developments in Zanu PF point to a different direction. From her statement on Friday, where she categorically stated that I do not aspire to rule because I am already ruling also points to the fact that she is angling to succeed her husband. MRS. MUGABE NOT ELECTABLE But Mliswa said even if Mrs. Mugabe is appointed Zanu PF presidential candidate for the 2018 elections, she is not saleable to the electorate. She has not capacity to lead this country. Another faction of the party calling itself Generation 40 is allegedly supporting Mrs. Mugabes moves. Some ordinary Zimbabweans have criticized the first lady for her continued attack on Mnangagwa and some cabinet ministers saying this was affecting government operations. Harare resident, Malvin Mukundu, said it is becoming difficult for Mnangagwa and his colleagues in the ruling party to discharge their duties whey they are constantly attacked and dressed down in public. For example, if you want to look at the STEM and indigenization issues where government business is now interrupted on lines of factionalism so the first lady is going on a rampage making factionalism worse and (this is) reflecting on government business. But Zanu PF activists, Henry Zhanje, said there is nothing wrong about what the first lady is doing. He says while there are some few individuals who are disgruntled, the majority of people in the ruling party were fully behind her. What she is doing now is okay because it gives the party the image that they want, says Zhanje. MUGABE/FIRST LADY ALLIANCE Democractic Party leader Wurayayi Zembe, Mrs. Mugabes behavior was very questionable and expect the President Mugabe and Zanu PF to reign her in. We expect that the government machinery must actually be invoked to deal with the situation otherwise this nation is headed for very serious social upheavals. Mrs. Mugabe last Friday attacked Mnangagwa and his supporters accusing them of fanning factionalism and several other issues, among them attempting to kill her son Berlamine Chatunga, and corruption. Speaking at the same rally, Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko said it was not given that a Karanga would succeed President Mugabe in a move that has drawn widespread criticism. Peoples Democratic Party spokesman, Jacob Mafume, said Mphokos comments were an insult to the whole ethnic group and was uncalled for as it sets the country on a dangerous path. DPs Zembe said presidents in Zimbabwe are not elected on tribal lines and Mphoko must be charged for failing to defend the constitution as his utterances promote tribalism. A United States cargo aircraft headed for South Africa was impounded by Zimbabwean authorities on Sunday after a dead body was found on the plane. Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, David Chawota, told Studio 7 by phone that the plane belonging to Western Global Airlines registered in Florida, United States, was impounded when a dead body was found on the plane. Chawota said the plane, that was carrying millions of South African rands belonging to South Africas Reserve Bank, had stopped at Harare International Airport for refueling when blood was found dripping from the plane by ground handling staff at the airport. South Africas ambassador to Zimbabwe, Vusi Mavimbela, confirmed to Studio 7 by phone that the cargo that was in the U.S plane was ordered from Germany and belonged to the South African government. He said two South African nationals are part of the six people that are being questioned by Zimbabwean authorities. Pradeep Maharaj, the currency cluster group executive of the Reserve Bank of South Africa also issued a statement late this afternoon saying that his bank suspects that the dead body found on the plane carrying the banks cargo was a stowaway passenger. Maharaj said his bank was making frantic efforts to ensure that its cargo was released and transported to South Africa immediately. The police officer investigating the case, Crispen Makedenge, said he was busy working on the matter and referred all questions to police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba. At the time of going to air, Charamba said she did not have a full brief of the investigations so far. However, some aviation sources told Studio 7 that the planes captain initially made a request to refuel the aircraft in Maputo but his request was turned down by Mozambican authorities. The sources said the plane was then allowed to make a stopover at Harare airport when it was later impounded. Meanwhile, Mavimbela told Studio 7 that the planes crew was not arrested but helping police with investigations. He added that the two South Africans who were on the crew were employees of the Reserve Bank of South Africa. Police sources others were two Americans and two Pakistanis. At the time of going to air, foreign affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi had summoned the ambassadors of South Africa, USA, Pakistani and Germany for an emergency meeting over the issue. Mumbengegwi said he was in a meeting when contacted for comment. In 2004, Zimbabwean authorities intercepted 64 mercenaries at Harare Airport enroute to Equtorial Guinea where they intended to stage a coup against that countrys president Theodoro Obainga Nguema Mbasogo. In another story, three men have been arraigned before a Harare magistrate for stealing a phone belong to President Robert Mugabes son, Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe. The trio was ordered to pay $100 bail by magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe. Some human rights organisations are now planning to take the police to court after the Zimbabwe Republic Police brutally crushed a Valentines Day march in Harare at the weekend. The peaceful protesters, who wanted to show their love for Zimbabwe and to send some roses to parliament seeking their help in creating a democratic state, were seriously beaten up by the police. Some of them, including Tendai Lyenette Mudehwe of Zimbabwe Acitivists Alliance and several others, sought medical help after being violently dispersed by the police. Our lawyers at Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights are now working on the case. We cannot sit back and watch while the police continue to disrespect the constitution, Mudehwe said. The march was organized by the Zimbabwe Activists Alliance, Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy and Restoration for Human Rights under the theme I Love my Zimbabwe. Mudehwe said they were surprised by the polices heavy-handedness but will not be intimidated. Statistics show that there has been a mark improvement in the GCE General and a drop in the GCE Technical. Also, there has been an improve... Since the conference of the Friends of Syria, in Paris on the 4th July 2012, the war against Syria had escaped the control of the White House and the Kremlin. The agreement they had reached during the first Geneva Conference, on the 30th June 2012, had never been implemented. The numerous ulterior tentatives for peace had all been sabotaged by a group of warmongers which included top-level US political personalities (John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Jeffrey Feltman, David Petraeus, John Allen), and multinationals (Exxon-Mobil, the KKR investment fund, the private army Blackwater-Academi), as well as certain states (Germany, Saudi Arabia, France, Israel, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Turkey). However, after the 30th September 2015, Russia deployed a considerable strike force to bomb the terrorist groups. Four months later, most of the weapons factories and underground bunkers built by the terrorist groups had been destroyed. Furthermore, the systems developed for transporting the oil stolen by Daesh have also been destroyed. The Syrian Arab Army, which has been engaged in ground operations since the 6th January 2016, simultaneously liberated territories on a dozen fronts, with the exception of the North-East. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Turkey deliver reinforcements and arms to the opposition forces in the North of the country. Barack Obama regains control of the Syrian situation President Obamas international policy already includes appeasement with Cuba and the change of position regarding Iran. He has less than a year to add peace with Syria. This supposes that he must regain control of the situation and implement a common analysis with his Russian partner. This is why he has concluded a new agreement with Russia and named an anti-Daesh Tsar , Brett McGurk, for whom he has allotted considerable military means. Trained as a lawyer, but working as a career diplomat, Brett McGurk served in Iraq under President George W. Bush from 2004. He is part of the team directed by John Negroponte and General David Petraeus which decided to hijack Iraqi anger against the occupying army by provoking sectarian confrontations between Sunnis and Chiites. This means that he is implicated in the creation of the Islamic Emirate in Iraq , which became Daesh. He then negotiated the conditions for the withdrawal of the occupying forces. Named by President Barack Obama as ambassador to Baghdad in 2012, he was not confirmed by the Senate because of his extra-marital liaison with a journalist from the Wall Street Journal. As a result, he became the assistant to the White House special envoy to the International anti-Daesh Coalition, General John Allen. He was thus able to note that in the absence of clear directives, his boss was not only neglecting to fight the terrorist organisation, but on the contrary, was supporting it until the arrival of Russian forces and his own resignation. Now in charge of operations, Brett McGurk is preparing the eradication of the Caliphate outside Syria, but not entirely in Iraq. In order to do so, he will have at his disposition twice the military budget of his predecessor, and will be supported both by the Syrian Arab Army and the Kurdish troops in Syria. The agreement between the White House and the Kremlin The White House and the Kremlin have agreed that the eventual fall of the Syrian Arab Republic would plunge the whole region, including Israel, into chaos. Consequently, what was once the original objective of George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon is today feared by Barack Obama and Tsahal. It seems that the White House has given up the idea of dismembering Syria, and has agreed with the Kremlin to halt the Franco-British project for the creation of a pseudo-Kurdistan in the North-East of the country. From the US point of view, there is no question of allowing Paris and London to resume their status as colonial powers in the Near East, even though this argument had been used to tempt them in and implicate them in the Arab Spring operation. Finally, the White House and the Kremlin used Geneva 3 to allow the opposition sponsored by Saudi Arabia to discredit itself. Indeed, this group successively refused to negotiate, then attempted to impose preliminary conditions, then, finally, unilaterally refused to allow the free circulation of humanitarian aid, although Damascus had accepted it. The convening of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), on the 11th and 12th February 2016 in Munich, enabled the White House to regain control over its opposition, in particular over Jeffrey Feltman, the political head of the UNO. Since he was unable to revoke his power, President Obama relegated his position to that of a senior civil servant by forcing John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov to announce that they would work together to supervise the continuation of negotiations. If this announcement should be supported by facts, the conspiracists would lose their diplomatic advantage, having already lost their military superiority. The Munich meeting The ISSG has agreed to the implementation of the Geneva Communique - that is to say the plan composed by President Bachar el-Assad and completed by Kofi Annan according to the modalities of Security Council Resolution 2254. Although France has not specified whether or not it maintains reservations about the Geneva Communique - which it alone interprets, on the contrary, as the capitulation of the Syrian Arab Republic it has adopted the final declaration of the Munich meeting. This declaration plans for the free circulation of humanitarian aid within a week which only the opposition had refused and the cessation of hostilities , preliminary to a cease-fire . For each of these two objectives, an operational Force has been created under the co-Presidency of the United States and Russia, and with the participation of those states which are able to apply pressure to the opposing factions. Concerning humanitarian aid, the ISSG has agreed that it will be transported within the week, either by airborne or land delivery, to seven specially-indicated locations. The final declaration specifies that humanitarian access should not benefit any particular group to the detriment of others, but must be offered by all parties to all those in need, in full conformity with Resolution 2254 and international humanitarian law . Apart from this, the United States and Russia will make sure that the aid convoys shall be used only for humanitarian purposes . In fact, we know that since July 2012, Jeffrey Feltman has been using UNO convoys to supply not only food and medication to the rebel zones , but also arms. The expression cessation of hostilities sounds like a synonym for cease-fire , but it also applies to Russia, without implying any legal consequences. By adopting the final declaration, Moscow has agreed not to bomb any targets other than the groups listed as terrorists by the Security Council. However, during the Press conference with John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov which followed the Munich meeting, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs pointed out that Ahrar el-Sham ( Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant ) and Jaysh el-Islam ( The Army of Islam ) have publicly confirmed their ties with these terrorist groups. Ahrar el-Sham is financed by Turkey and Qatar, works with Pakistani military instructors, and has claimed ties with the Afghan Talibans. Jaysh el-Islam is financed by Saudi Arabia, works with instructors from Academi, and brags about sharing the ideal of Oussama Ben Laden and collaborating with al-Qaida. Whats more, its founder, Zahran Allouche, has declared that he wants to clean up the country, clearly making a call for the extermination of all Alawites. It therefore does not seem that Moscows engagement will modify its action on the ground, but on the contrary despite the formal appeal by John Kerry to modify the targets - that the final declaration from Munich confirms its legitimacy. We may note that the final declaration from Munich postpones the question of the political transition until the resumption of the Geneva 3 negotiations. By doing so, it definitively deprives the 114 personalities selected by Saudi Arabia of any hope of a ministerial veneer. Indeed, these personalities are all linked with the above-mentioned armed groups. On the other hand, it opens perspectives for personalities from the opposition, inside Syria and in exile, who have been invited to Geneva after having denounced the use of arms. Saudi Arabia and France will not let go While the final declaration from Munich represents an unprecedented advance compared to the last three years, it did not fail to raise criticism from those who adopted it half-heartedly. Thus, Saudi Arabia, via the voice of its Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Joubeir, repeated, during the annual Conference on Security that followed, that there would be no peace in Syria as long as President Bachar el-Assad remained in power. While France, via the voice of its Minister for Defence Jean-Yves Le Drian and its Prime Minister Manuel Valls, repeated during the same meeting their accusations against the Syrian Arab Republic and Russia the use of barrel-bombs, the organisation of famine, the bombing of civilians. On top of this, they equated the President of the Republic and the Caliph , judging them both to be criminals, and that, de facto, only the armed Islamist groups named above had earned the legitimacy to exercise power. Turkey, which, in the preparatory documents for the Conference, was accused of deploying paranoid politics , was too busy defending itself to comment on the final declaration of the ISSG. Instead it gave voice to its artillery and bombed the Kurdish positions in the North of the country. Landmark Resolution Passed at Panel in New York City: Stop the Drive towards Fascism and War By Chris Rieth, TWSP NYC LOCAL New York City, February 3, 2016 A landmark resolution was passed this Saturday at a public forum in midtown Manhattan entitled Stop the Drive towards Fascism and War. The following proposals were presented by a Tax Wall Street Party delegate and was approved by a grouping of anti-imperialist forces gathered at the Manhattan Theatre Club, resolving on the two major points below: 1) Defeat ISIS by cutting off their supply lines in the Jarablus corridor The war in Syria must be brought to a speedy conclusion, and in this context we welcome Russias intervention. We want the backers and appeasers of ISIS purged from the U.S. government. Assads government must be kept intact, and ISIS must be destroyed. The Jarablus corridor, a 100 km/60 mile stretch along the Turkish Syrian border, is the key to this entire situation. The supply lines of ISIS and other terrorist groups come out of Turkey, where terrorists are sheltered and protected, and go from there into Syria. ISIS ammunition, fuel, spare parts, and recruits can only come through the Jarablus corridor. This necessity was even mentioned by a White House official last autumn. But so far no nation on or off the United Nations Security Council has done what is necessary to cut off supplies passing through the Jarablus corridor. This gathering condemns the blatant support for terrorism being provided by Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The United States government must stop supporting these treacherous powers. We call on the governments of Russia, the United States, Iran, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and all others to act at once to close, block, and interdict the 100 km wide Jarablus corridor along the Turkish-Syrian border. If this is done, ISIS/ISIL/Daesh/IS/Islamic State/Caliphate will collapse, since the anti-Assad forces fighting in Syria receive decisive logistics and personnel from abroad, especially through Turkey. 2) Defeat the threat of fascism at home A second point concerns the growing threat of fascism here at home, with special reference to the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump and also the renewed activities of armed fascist gangs in Oregon and elsewhere. Trump demands the immediate deportation of 12 million Latinos. Trump wants to stop all Moslems at the U.S. border. Trump wants a registry of Moslems, obviously, as a preparation for concentration camps. Trump says that wages are too high and that the minimum wage should no longer exist. All this adds up to a brutal fascist police state in the United States. Trump is the classic fascist billionaire, a type who ought to be familiar to everyone from the catastrophic experience between the two world wars of the last century. He uses Gestapo tactics at his rallies, inciting his goons from the podium to beat up protesters. The coalescence of the Trump campaign with the armed fascist gangs in Oregon is already beginning, through the mediation of radio programs like Michael Savages Savage Nation. Historical experience shows that fascist movements and organizations must be nipped in the bud, before they become too strong to be dealt with. This gathering therefore calls on all persons and organizations to expose, denounce and oppose the presidential candidacy of the fascist Donald J. Trump. Up to the point of passage of the above resolution, the panel had spent the evening discussing and contending over how a broad coalition could be formed to counter the threats of fascism and war. Benjamin Lawton, a cousin of police brutality victim Eric Garner, was a surprise guest to the panel and opened the evenings discussion. Other panelists included journalist and political activist Caleb Maupin, Christopher Rieth of the Tax Wall Street Party, Sumumba Sobokwe of Occu-Evolve, blogger and Bernie Sanders supporter Paul Shepard, Dakem Roberts of Resist Rikers and the New Afrikan Communist Party, and George Greene of Party of Communists USA. Audience participation was welcome and many took the opportunity to speak. Coming from such diverse places as Washington D.C., the New York metropolitan area, upstate New York, Greece, Germany and China, a broad spectrum of ideas and criticisms were brought forward. The audience members included Bernie Sanders supporters as well as progressive activists from a variety of political backgrounds, including anarchists, liberals, black nationalists and communists. Future meetings and actions are to be planned as a coalition is formed on this platform and the evenings resolution. The New Peoples Front intends to approach the emerging progressive upsurge with both anti-fascist and anti-imperialist politics. Report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL (Daesh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 97 of Security Council resolution 2253 (2015), in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to provide an initial strategic-level report that demonstrates and reflects the gravity of the threat posed to international peace and security by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Daesh) and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities, including foreign terrorist fighters, provides information on the sources of financing of such individuals, groups, undertakings and entities, including through illicit trade in oil, antiquities and other natural resources, as well as their planning and facilitation of attacks, and reflects the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering this threat. 2. Security Council resolution 2253 (2015) was adopted at the meeting of the Council on 17 December 2015, which included the participation of Ministers of Finance from around the world. In adopting the resolution, the Council expressed its determination to address the threat posed to international peace and security by the groups and individuals and the importance of cutting off their access to funds, including the illicit trade in oil, antiquities and other natural resources, as well as their planning and facilitation of attacks. In the resolution, the Council decided that such groups and individuals will be subject to the measures imposed by Security Council resolution 2161 (2014); that the former Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities will be known as the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities; and that the Al-Qaida Sanctions List will be known as the ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List. 3. The report also contains recommendations on strengthening the capacities of Member States to mitigate the threat posed by ISIL, as well as ways in which the United Nations can support those efforts. As requested by the Security Council, the report has been prepared with the input of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, in close collaboration with the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1526 (2004) concerning Al-Qaida and the Taliban and associated individuals and entities of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015), the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force and other relevant United Nations actors and international organizations. Information has also been provided by some Member States. II. The gravity of the threat posed by ISIL and associated groups and entities A. The threat 4. The emergence of ISIL has been facilitated by the protracted conflicts in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic and the resulting political and security instability, as well as by the weakening of State institutions and the inability of the two States to exercise effective control over their territories and borders. In less than two years, ISIL has captured large swathes of territory in both Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, which it administers through a sophisticated, quasi-bureaucratic revenue-generating structure that is sufficiently flexible and diversified to compensate for declines in income from single revenue streams. ISIL has also benefited from its relationship with individuals and groups involved in transnational organized crime. It uses its financial resources to support ongoing military campaigns, administer its territories and fund the expansion of the conflict beyond Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, and it has developed an extremely effective and sophisticated communications strategy to ensure that its distorted vision of the world resonates with a small but growing number of disaffected individuals who are disengaged from, or no longer identify with, the core values of their societies. 5. Despite the efforts of the international community to counter ISIL through military, financial and border-security measures (which have recently inflicted substantial losses), ISIL continues to maintain its presence in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. It is also expanding the scope of its operations to other regions. The terrorist attacks carried out in the final months of 2015 demonstrate that it is capable of committing attacks on civilian targets outside the territories under its control. The extent of its reach was notably demonstrated by the suicide bombings in Beirut on 12 November 2015, the coordinated attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015 and the attacks in Jakarta by an ISIL affiliate on 14 January 2016, which closely resembled the Paris attacks. 6. The recent expansion of the ISIL sphere of influence across West and North Africa, the Middle East and South and South-East Asia demonstrates the speed and scale at which the gravity of the threat has evolved in just 18 months. The complexity of the recent attacks and the level of planning, coordination and sophistication involved raise concerns about its future evolution. Moreover, other terrorist groups, including the Islamic Youth Shura Council and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-Libya Province (Derna) in Libya, the Mujahideen of Kairouan and Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tehreek-e-Khilafat in Pakistan and Ansar al-Khilafah in the Philippines, are sufficiently attracted by its underlying ideology to pledge allegiance to its so-called caliphate and self-proclaimed caliph. ISIL has also benefited from the arrival of a steady stream of foreign terrorist fighters, who continue to leave their communities to replenish its ranks. The return of these fighters from the battlefields of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic and other conflict zones is a further major concern, as returnees can extend the presence of ISIL to their States of origin and use their skills and combat experience to recruit additional sympathizers, establish terrorist networks and commit terrorist acts. 1. ISIL outside Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic 7. The growing threat posed by ISIL to international peace and security is reflected in its strategy of global expansion, the development of which may reflect a reaction to recent territorial losses inflicted in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic by international military efforts. As of 15 December 2015, 34 groups from all around the world had reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIL. Moreover, in view of its territorial claims of more provinces, it is expected that ISIL affiliates will increase in number and that its membership will grow in 2016. This is a matter of considerable concern, since these groups appear to be emulating ISILs tactics and carrying out attacks on its behalf. 8. In 2016 and beyond, Member States should prepare for a further increase in the number of foreign terrorist fighters travelling to other States on the instructions of ISIL. Many groups and individuals have pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the proclaimed caliphate since 2014, although only its affiliates in Libya and Afghanistan currently control territory of any significance. The ISIL presence in Libya is the affiliate that has received the greatest amount of attention, including support and guidance from the ISIL core. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, ISIL continues to develop a network of contacts and sympathizers who carry out attacks in its name. On 13 January 2016, the ISIL group Khorasan province, which operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan, issued a statement claiming credit for an attack on the Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. 2. Grave human rights violations 9. ISIL continues to perpetrate appalling human rights abuses against populations under its control. Executions, torture, amputations, lashings, ethno-sectarian attacks and floggings in public places against infidels offer sobering testimony to the degree of barbarity to which it is prepared to descend to achieve its goals. ISIL systematically targets communities and members of communities who refuse to subscribe to its extremist ideology, including Christians, Yezidis, Shia and Sunnis. Since the emergence of ISIL, sexual slavery has been imposed upon women and girls as an instrument of terror to humiliate and subjugate entire communities. Sexual violence in conflict, when used or commissioned as a method or tactic of war or as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate and prolong situations of armed conflict and may impede the restoration of international peace and security. Against this backdrop, the sexual and gender-based violence used as a tactic of terrorism by ISIL has become part of its strategy for controlling territory, dehumanizing victims and recruiting new supporters. According to the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, extremist groups like ISIL view female bodies as vessels for producing a new generation that can be raised in their own image, according to their radical ideology, and control over womens sexuality and reproduction is integral to the nation-building aspirations of ISIL and its affiliates. The nexus between sexual violence and violent extremism is becoming increasingly evident, and combatting extremist groups is an essential component of the fight against conflict-related sexual violence. In its resolution 2242 (2015), the Security Council stressed the increasing need to ensure that the protection and empowerment of women is a central consideration of strategies to counter terrorism and violent extremism. 10. Thousands of children have also become victims, perpetrators and witnesses of ISILs atrocities. The group is systematically indoctrinating and grooming children as young as five years old to be future militants. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) continue to receive reports that ISIL has been forcibly recruiting and using children in military operations. Several videos posted on social media purportedly show recruitment and training of children in ISIL camps in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. The systemic recruitment and abuse of children by ISIL and the reported emergence of youth training camps in several regions are cause for grave concern. 3. Humanitarian crisis 11. The international community faces a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. The Syrian conflict, the largest and most complex of the current humanitarian emergencies, has become an international crisis. In the Syrian Arab Republic alone, around 12 million people (including more than 4 million people who have sought refuge in neighbouring States) have been forced to flee their homes, and more than 13.5 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. The emergence of ISIL in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic has further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. With no political solution in sight, and military confrontation continuing, the number of people affected by internal conflict in both countries is likely to increase in 2016. The presence of significant displaced populations also places a significant strain on the resources of States neighbouring the conflict zones. 4. Destruction and looting of cultural sites and artefacts 12. The large-scale, systematic destruction and looting of cultural sites that is also part of the ISIL strategy highlights the strong connection between the cultural, humanitarian and security dimensions of conflicts and terrorism. This has been recognized in numerous United Nations statements and declarations, including by the General Assembly in its resolution 69/281, entitled Saving the cultural heritage of Iraq, and notably by the Security Council in its resolution 2199 (2015), by which the Council established a ban on trade in antiquities illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from the Syrian Arab Republic since 15 March 2011 and which recognized illicit trafficking in antiquities as a potential source of financing for terrorist organizations. 5. Conclusion 13. ISIL represents an unprecedented threat to international peace and security. It is able to adapt quickly to the changing environment and to persuade or inspire like-minded terrorist groups in various regions of the world to facilitate and commit acts of terrorism. 14. In view of the gravity of the threat, the international community must also be adaptive in its responses, ensuring that they are consistent with the rule-of-law and international human rights and humanitarian norms and standards. Member States should adopt comprehensive approaches that incorporate security-led counter-terrorism initiatives and preventive measures that address the drivers of violent extremism leading to terrorism. B. Sources of financing for ISIL 15. ISILs rapid and effective mobilization of vast financial resources in the service of recruitment and territorial expansion demonstrates the gravity of the threat posed to international peace and security by terrorist organizations that use techniques similar to those employed by transnational organized criminal groups, constantly adapting their financing strategy to changing circumstances. 16. ISIL is the worlds wealthiest terrorist organization. Its funding sources have been described in detail in a number of reports, including those of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team and the Financial Action Task Force. Its funds derive mostly from the exploitation of the natural and economic resources of the territories it occupies (including oil fields and refineries and agricultural land), as well as from bank robbery, extortion, confiscation of property, donations from foreign terrorist fighters and the looting of antiquities. 17. Numerous reports, including reports of UNAMI, estimate the income generated by ISIL from oil and oil products in 2015 to have been between $400 million and $500 million. ISIL uses income from oil sales to buy supplies, including weaponry, military equipment and ammunition. As a result of the international air strikes on oil refineries and tanks, the blocking of smuggling routes and the sale and purchase of oil, it is expected that ISILs oil income, both in total and as a proportion of its overall earnings, will gradually diminish in 2016. Other resources, including gas and phosphate sites, have also been subject to airstrikes. Moreover, further exploitation of existing resources would require expertise and heavy investment, which may not be readily available. However, ISILs degree of diversification is such that dwindling revenue streams can be quickly replaced by others. Data and imagery provided by Member States of potential routes of illicit trade in oil and oil products by ISIL cannot be independently verified by the United Nations. Moreover, the differences in the materials provided point to the difficulty in establishing exact routes and distribution networks, given the diversification and flexibility adopted by ISIL, and underscoring the fact that close coordination and cooperation among Member States is imperative. Such high-level coordination and cooperation was demonstrated by the passage of Security Council resolution 2253 (2015). 18. Over the past year, taxing and confiscation appear to have become another significant revenue source. ISIL has developed a sophisticated system for the confiscation of goods and property, including from banks (cash taken from 90 branches located in the Iraqi provinces under its control totalled $1 billion ($675 million from banks in Mosul alone), according to UNAMI). ISIL also confiscates the homes of officials and others who leave the territory and sells them in local markets, providing discounts to its members. ISIL also taxes economic activity by extorting the estimated 8 million people living in territories under its control. It attempts to legitimize this system by calling the tax a religious tax or zakat. The tax amounts to at least 2.5 per cent of the capital earned from businesses, goods and agricultural products, including wheat, barley, cotton and livestock; from services of contractors and traders in Iraqs western and northern provinces and from trucks entering the territories under ISIL control. According to UNAMI, the tax on trucks generates around $900 million per year. In some cases the group extorts up to 10 per cent, on the grounds that it is a nation in time of war. 19. The Iraqi Government recently decided to cut off salary payments to workers in ISIL-controlled territory, with the aim of reducing opportunities for such taxation. However, it appears that remittances from relatives abroad are transferred using local hawala-type services that are very difficult to control. In the longer term, however, this taxation system will become more difficult to sustain. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), this is especially true in the agricultural sector, where the yield from wheat and barley crops is decreasing in ISIL-controlled territory due to poor seed quality. 20. Like transnational organized criminal groups, ISIL relies on laundering and smuggling techniques and smuggling networks to circumvent the international embargo. ISIL sells oil and agricultural products at discount prices using established historical smuggling routes in and out of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. Once these goods have reached the countries of destination, it is very difficult to track their origin, particularly oil products. Convoys bring in basic food and raw materials for the population, and illicit merchandise is concealed within such convoys as they leave ISIL-controlled territory. ISIL imposes taxes and fees on anyone living in the territories under its control. 21. Numerous Iraqi and Syrian archaeological sites are under the close control of ISIL, which imposes taxes on the looters, based on a pre-appraisal of the value of what is taken, and it also grants licences for excavation. As reported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the American Schools of Oriental Research estimates that around 25 per cent of archaeological sites in the Syrian Arab Republic (including over 21 per cent in ISIL-controlled territories) have been affected by the looting. The Syrian Arab Republic has seized, or obtained the restitution, of more than 6,000 artefacts (including 1,000 from Lebanon) over the past four years. UNESCO notes that, in view of the scale of the looting and its significant economic value, it is likely that many items are being stored by criminal networks. It is to be expected that, once the attention diminishes, criminal networks will begin to introduce additional laundered items into the market. According to preliminary information received by UNESCO from its member States, many small pieces, such as coins and statuettes, are generally smuggled and put up for sale on Internet platforms. It is therefore essential that police, customs and art market officials take the strongest possible measures to combat illicit trafficking in such items. UNESCO has also noted the vital importance of determining where and with whom such artefacts are stored and of identifying the smuggling routes. 22. In addition to the above revenue sources, ISIL continues to benefit from external donations and ransom payments by families of hostages, particularly from the Yazidi community. UNAMI estimates that these payments amounted to between $35 million to $45 million in 2014. It is believed that $850,000 was paid in January 2015 for the release of 200 Iraqi Yazidis. ISIL has used sexual violence to mobilize resources and fund its operations, including the ransoming and sale of women and girls through human trafficking and slave markets. It also receives voluntary payments from those seeking to free foreign terrorists fighters from the conflict zones. According to the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, revenue from foreign terrorist fighters represents another significant source of funding. Wire transfers, credit card withdrawals from the accounts of known foreign terrorist fighters and money transfers reveal a constant flow of funds in and out of ISIL-controlled territories. Further research is needed to better understand the financial networks operating in border cities, including the role of intermediaries. 23. In view of the considerable pressure being exerted by the international community, it is likely that ISIL will attempt to identify other funding sources. There is a need to achieve a better understanding of the financial mechanisms used by ISIL affiliates and by groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIL. 24. The Financial Action Task Force notes that ISIL and its affiliates continue to make extensive use of the Internet and social media to raise funds. Misuse of these technologies in a coordinated manner can generate significant funds, which are difficult to detect without the support of the Internet site providers. This is an area of particular concern, as it could enable foreign terrorist fighters returning from Iraq or the Syrian Arab Republic or local sympathizers to generate sufficient funding for recruitment and the planning of terrorist attacks around the world. C. Foreign terrorist fighters joining ISIL and associated groups and entities 1. Recruitment 25. According to the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team and other sources, the attraction of ISIL to potential recruits has risen to an unprecedented level. It is estimated that around 30,000 foreign terrorist fighters, coming from over 100 Member States, are actively engaged in the activities of Al-Qaida, ISIL and associated groups. This phenomenon clearly demands not only global and national solutions, but also urgent action at the local level. In view of the current situation on the ground, it is unclear whether the recent dramatic rate of growth in the number of foreign terrorist fighters will be sustained over the long term. It is also unclear whether the final destinations of most of the fighters will continue to be Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic since ISIL has been encouraging potential fighters to travel to States outside the Middle East. 26. In both developed and developing States, significant numbers of young people are seriously considering travelling to areas where their personal security would be at great risk. The departure of so many young people to conflict zones has a profoundly destabilizing effect on their communities and, above all, on their families. In order to attract individuals to its cause, ISIL exploits socioeconomic grievances and feelings of alienation, marginalization, discrimination or victimization, precipitated by, among other things, a perceived or real lack of good governance, inequality, injustice and lack of opportunity. It pretends to offer potential recruits the opportunity to achieve social status, kinship, a sense of identity and belonging, fulfilment of a sense of religious duty and a purpose. Its ideology is predicated on a perverted interpretation of Islam that also exploits historical grievances (offering an opportunity not only to rebel against the corruption of the current political order, but also to eradicate the artificial border between Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic). 27. The challenges faced by those seeking to identify potential foreign terrorist fighters and prevent their travel are exacerbated by the absence of a clear personality type that is more prone than others to engage in terrorist activities. Preliminary studies have shown that foreign terrorist fighters are motivated by a number of, social, economic and geopolitical conditions, combined with individual circumstances that appear at a particular moment in time and make individuals vulnerable to recruitment or engagement in violent extremism and terrorism. This appears to be the case for recruits located both inside and outside territories where ISIL and its affiliates have a large presence. The journey of each individual fighter into terrorist activity involves a unique combination of factors that differ in order of magnitude, depending on the local context. 28. According to the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, ISILs recruitment messaging also includes the promise of access to women for young, single, economically marginalized men who seek status, power and sexual access not available in socially conservative contexts. ISIL also has a large team of dedicated online groomers whose job it is to identify individuals who express an interest in the group on online forums. The grooming of would-be sympathizers for terrorist activity locally or for travel to ISIL-held territory is based on information about the individuals particular social and personal context. 29. Terrorist recruitment is not the exclusive preserve of ISIL recruiters. There is often an intimate and personal element. Studies on European foreign terrorist fighters8 show that peer pressure or support plays an active part in the final stages of radicalization, and that the role of family members, especially mothers, could be particularly relevant in countering such pressure. 2. Use of the Internet and social media as a promotional and recruitment tool 30. The threat posed by ISIL is made even greater by the groups growing technological sophistication. ISIL increasingly turns to the Internet and social media to disseminate its messages to potential recruits. It appears that ISIL has been able, through information and communications technologies (ICT) in general, and social media tools in particular, to establish a low-cost and powerful system to broadcast its propaganda, identify potential recruits and allocate human resources to persuade targeted individuals to join its ranks. This has fuelled the growth in the number of foreign terrorist fighters travelling to Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. Prosecutors and law enforcement officials in many affected States increasingly report that foreign terrorist fighters and would-be fighters, and terrorists acting alone or in small cells, but without formal links to ISIL, consume its propaganda online and interact online with its members and sympathizers. Following action by Twitter to close down thousands of these accounts, ISIL has migrated to other social media tools, such as Telegram messenger. When Telegram, in turn, begins to close down ISIL-related channels, ISIL and its support base will likely migrate to new platforms. 31. ISIL has also demonstrated the capacity to tailor its online messaging to its audience. Over the past two years, videos of ISIL have shown: acts of war (30 per cent); interviews with mujahideen (25 per cent); images showing ISIL as a functioning and utopic State (18 per cent); and executions (15 per cent). Purely religious themes are less common. Videos are often well edited and inspired by action movies and videogames. This approach seeks to attract not only young men looking for action, but also professionals such as doctors, engineers, ICT specialists and women and girls. ISILs branding and marketing campaigns are accompanied by individualized radicalization and recruitment campaigns conducted by well-trained groomers using live chat applications, videoconferencing and other ICT tools. 32. It has been shown that ICT plays a crucial role in the travel preparations of foreign terrorist fighters to join ISIL and its affiliates, the training and sharing of effective practices and the planning of attacks. ISIL online forums discuss best ways to avoid detection while crossing borders by using routes that will not raise suspicion and through States perceived as having inadequate border controls. The use of ICT to demonstrate how to build improvised explosive devices is also well documented. This matter has been raised by the Security Council in its resolutions 2161 (2014) and 2178 (2014) and could be exploited by ISIL and its affiliates. Prosecutors and law enforcement officers have expressed their concerns about the routine use of encryption technologies by ISIL terrorists. ISIL-related forums on the dark web regularly inform their members about the most effective encryption tools and recommend the adoption of new products when ICT solutions are considered to be compromised. 33. A further challenge is the complexity of the global ICT framework, which raises several difficult jurisdictional issues in terms of the applicability of domestic laws and the powers of States to enforce them. Private corporations must find ways to deal with conflicting domestic laws in their international operations. Facebook, for example, has established guidelines for cooperation with law enforcement agencies worldwide, including for the preservation of data and emergency requests. Many private corporations already enforce their own terms of use and can either remove ISIL content or terminate the accounts of users violating those terms. Such measures are taken by corporations in the context of terrorist activities such as recruitment and incitement to terrorism. Most large corporations proactively and voluntarily moderate content uploaded by their users or remove content that is contrary to their terms and conditions. 34. The online sale of Iraqi and Syrian antiquities continues despite the worldwide prohibition on their trade, as set forth in Security Council resolution 2199 (2015). Illegitimate sellers of such antiquities, who may have direct or indirect links with ISIL, use social media platforms to find customers for illicitly obtained and exported artefacts. UNESCO has been raising awareness of this phenomenon for a decade. The global ICT community should take the necessary countermeasures, following established good practices. D. Travel of foreign terrorist fighters 35. Foreign terrorist fighters from many States continue to reach Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic through neighbouring countries. In some instances, this is facilitated by linguistic similarities and the lack of visa requirements. ISIL has shown itself to be effective in identifying and circumventing countermeasures put in place by Member States. It has also proven adept at informing potential foreign terrorist fighters of any vulnerabilities, using the Internet and social media. Even if one State detects a vulnerability that facilitates the cross-border movement of foreign terrorist fighters, the same vulnerability may be easily exploited by ISIL in a neighbouring State. The international community must therefore develop a more effective way to determine which vulnerabilities are being exploited by ISIL and to share this information with other States that are adversely affected by such measures so that collective responses can be rapidly implemented. 36. ISIL has recently issued Internet guidelines to help facilitate the travel of foreign terrorist fighters to Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. Those guidelines clearly indicate ISILs awareness of the techniques commonly used by Member States to identify foreign terrorist fighters, as well as systemic shortfalls in existing measures to track their travel patterns. It is also evident that ISIL is well aware of the difficulty of identifying foreign terrorist fighters prior to their departure. Many potential fighters are not persons of interest to law enforcement officials in their States of origin or residence and are therefore not subject to monitoring. The ISIL guidelines also include detailed information about the most easily penetrable travel routes, those to avoid because of stepped-up controls and the best modes of travel to be used to reach territories under its control. Member States have reported to the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team that foreign terrorist fighters travel to conflict zones in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic by air, maritime and land routes through European and neighbouring States. 37. ISIL has also exhibited a growing interest in, and capacity for, launching attacks outside the territory it controls. These attacks are carried out not only by home-grown terrorists, but also by individuals who have received training abroad, including in ISIL-held territories. This demonstrates the urgent need for Member States not only to ensure that foreign terrorist fighters do not travel from their country of origin to ISIL-held territories, but also to curtail the flow of such fighters from ISIL-held territories to third States where they can facilitate terrorist attacks. Concerns have been raised about the potential for foreign terrorist fighters to use the massive inflow of asylum seekers into Europe as a means of transporting its operatives into Europe. 38. With regard to refugees entering third States through the resettlement schemes organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it is highly unlikely that ISIL will attempt to take advantage of these programmes to move terrorists abroad. Given the extensive screening measures and background checks adopted by most States accepting refugees for resettlement, and the lengthy waiting periods associated with these checks, resettlement would not appear to be an attractive avenue. E. Planning and facilitation of attacks by ISIL 39. ISILs dissemination of propaganda through the use of ICT forms part of its military strategy to destabilize States outside Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic by provoking a confrontation between believers and apostates. Since its acquisition of territory in 2014, it has changed its tactics, notably during the second half of 2015 when it began to expand the geographical scope of its attacks. This led to a series of attacks perpetrated by ISIL sympathizers acting alone or in small cells (including attacks at: a museum in Brussels; a cafe in Sydney, Australia; a museum and resort in Tunisia; a train bound for Paris; and the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health). The main characteristic of these attacks was their low level of complexity. 40. Recent attacks, including the attacks in Paris and Djakarta, reflect a significant shift towards large-scale operations perpetrated outside the Middle East. It is very likely that attacks by terrorists acting alone will also continue. The November 2015 attacks in Paris, in particular, bore the hallmarks of a classic Al-Qaida attack: long-term preparation, multiple targets, several planned waves of attacks and the involvement of a coordinated multi-cell structure directed on the ground by an operational leader and led by planners located in the Syrian Arab Republic and facilitators located outside France. The combination of home-grown small cells and terrorists who travel back and forth from Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic represents a new and complex challenge. Evidence gathered since January 2015 reflects the existence of effective operational connections between ISIL and its militants abroad. These attacks also point to the existence of distinct capacities to: identify large-scale targets (including restaurants, sport stadiums, tourism infrastructure and concert halls); advise on evasive travel patterns; organize logistical support; provide training in the use of communications, weapons and explosives; remotely manage a roster of potential attackers; and call upon a global network of sympathizers to facilitate such operations. 41. The ability of ISIL and its affiliates and its self-proclaimed members and adherents to communicate internationally by means of sophisticated technologies, including mobile telephones and encrypted tools, to transfer funds, to provide logistical support (for example by renting apartments and cars, purchasing weapons and constructing explosive vests), and to use evasive travel patterns in preparing attacks demonstrate their capacity to mount operations outside the territories under their control. 42. ISILs shift towards the use of suicide attackers outside areas under its direct control represents a significant increase in the gravity of the threat it poses to international peace and security. Even though these attacks do not rely on the use of sophisticated weapons (relying essentially on automatic rifles and explosive vests), their effectiveness is reflected in the very real death tolls and the sense of instability and insecurity instilled into civilian populations. There are indications that ISIL may be seeking to develop a long-term capacity to use more sophisticated weapons, including chemical and biological weapons, in such attacks. 43. A further significant concern is the growing capacity of terrorist groups to recruit assailants from a roster of foreign terrorist fighters selected and trained specifically to carry out such attacks. These individuals may have known one another for several years, been detained in the same prisons, travelled to the Syrian Arab Republic together, speak the same language and/or belong to the same country of origin or community. This ensures cohesion and increases their chances of success. 44. The complex nature of many recent attacks suggests that ISIL militants are adapting to the law enforcement and security measures taken against them. Against this backdrop, judicial authorities, law enforcement and security agencies are often at a disadvantage in cases that involve terrorists who act alone or who are more insulated from detection. This is especially true for law enforcement and intelligence agencies that rely on human intelligence sources. Empirical evidence suggests that, in general, while there are people who know about an offenders grievance, extremist ideology, views and/or intent to engage in violence in the lead-up to most lone-actor terrorist events, they do not report such information to the relevant authorities. Consequently, opportunities to identify a perpetrator or obtain information in advance of an attack are reduced. F. Returnees 45. The threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters for ISIL returning from the battlefields of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic and other conflict zones is another major concern for many States of origin. In general, returnees serve to extend the presence of ISIL into other States and to set up networks for future attacks, planning and facilitation. It is currently unclear how many foreign terrorist fighters serving ISIL are likely to return to their home States (rather than remaining in conflict zones or travelling to third States) and how likely they are to engage in terrorism upon their return. However, as they become disillusioned, there is a high probability that many will return to their home States. Empirical evidence suggests, however, that even though very few ISIL foreign terrorist fighters appear to engage in terrorist activity after their return, attacks carried out by trained foreign terrorist fighters are more likely to be successful and lethal. It should also be noted that returnees are a potentially valuable source of information, and that they may use their experience to persuade others not to become involved in terrorism, including through effective counter-messaging campaigns. III. The range of United Nations efforts in supporting the efforts of Member States to counter the threat of ISIL 46. The primary responsibility for countering the threat of ISIL lies with Member States. However, the United Nations and other international organizations, which have a critical role to play in supporting their efforts, have already taken a number of measures, including conducting assessments of the threat, and of the capacity of States to counter it, formulating recommendations for addressing identified shortcomings and developing and implementing capacity-building programmes. However, in view of the increased gravity of the threat posed by ISIL, the United Nations and other international organizations must adopt a more comprehensive, concerted and coordinated approach. 47. The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team has produced a series of reports assessing the global threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters, the threat from ISIL and the Al-Nusrah front, including to the Middle East region, and the terrorism threat in Libya and Afghanistan posed by ISIL and other terrorist groups. The Monitoring Team has made a number of recommendations for mitigating the threat. 48. The Counter-Terrorism Committee has conducted an assessment of the ability of Member States to stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, focusing on the States most affected, and has provided Member States with recommendations on ways to address the gaps identified in its assessments. The Counter-Terrorism Committee recently held an open briefing in New York on The role of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism, a special meeting in Madrid on Stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, and a special meeting in New York on Preventing terrorists from exploiting the Internet and social media to recruit terrorists and incite terrorist acts, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. The special meeting in Madrid resulted in a set of guiding principles for detecting, intervening against and preventing the incitement and facilitation of foreign terrorist fighters; preventing their travel; criminalizing and prosecuting them; cooperating internationally; and rehabilitating and reintegrating returning foreign terrorist fighters. 49. Following the establishment of an ad hoc inter-agency working group on foreign terrorist fighters by the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, a capacity-building implementation plan for countering the flow of foreign terrorist fighters was developed in close consultation with the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. The development of this plan was called for by the Security Council in its presidential statement of 29 May 2015 (S/PRST/2015/11). 50. The plan sets out priority recommendations for addressing the capacity-building assistance needs of the most affected Member States, based on the assessment of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, and includes a prioritized list of capacity-building and technical assistance projects submitted by entities of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, to be implemented over the next 24 months. It represents the first attempt to develop a more concerted, coherent approach to capacity-building. A. Countering the financing of ISIL 51. The Global Programme Against Money Laundering of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has collated good practices in disrupting the financing of terrorist and organized criminal groups. According to the Global Programme, a Financial Disruption Workbook, produced and used for operations in Afghanistan, has reduced the Talibans annual budget in Southern Afghanistan by over a third. UNODC also plans to launch an initiative on enhancing the operational capability of countries in the Middle East and North Africa to counter terrorism financing in the context of foreign direct fighters. 52. The Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recently launched a new global programme, entitled Building Effective Networks against Transnational Organized Crime, which aims to strengthen interregional criminal intelligence exchange and international cooperation on transnational organized crime and terrorism. This will be achieved through the Networking the Networks initiative, which has established a network between existing international and regional law enforcement centres and entities to promote criminal intelligence exchange and multilateral operations targeting organized crime. The second focus area is the establishment of a network of law enforcement training institutions to promote professional training. The third key area will be strengthening capacity to conduct financial investigations. 53. In order to counter the looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property during conflict, UNESCO will further strengthen its cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the World Customs Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, national specialized police and customs units, the International Council of Museums and other key partners, such as museums and art market operators, for the tracking, authentication, seizure, conservation and restitution of stolen and illegally exported objects. 54. INTERPOL has launched a programme, with the support of the European Union and in collaboration with the Common Markets of East and Southern Africa, to develop capacities to prevent criminals and terrorists from exploiting financial institutions. The programme will enhance cooperation between financial intelligence units, law enforcement officers and criminal-justice officials in prosecuting those who engage in money-laundering and terrorist financing, whether through the formal banking system or through hawala-type services. B. Criminal-justice responses to the terrorist threat 55. Several United Nations entities are actively engaged in supporting the efforts of Member States to provide an effective criminal-justice response to the threat posed by ISIL. The recently established Working Group on Legal and Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force brings together the main United Nations bodies dealing with this issue. United Nations entities are devoting considerable effort to identifying specific good practices and assisting Member States to criminalize, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters. They are also supporting the efforts of States to develop prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration strategies for returnees. The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate assists the Counter-Terrorism Committee to monitor States implementation of the criminal-justice requirements of the relevant Security Council resolutions and facilitates related technical assistance activities, in cooperation with United Nations and international and regional partners. The Terrorism Prevention Branch, for example, has launched a five-year initiative on criminal-justice responses to foreign terrorist fighters for countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans, in cooperation with the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law. C. Preventing and disrupting travel by foreign terrorist fighters 56. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, acting in close cooperation with the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and several other partners (including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), INTERPOL, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization), has developed a project to raise awareness of and gather information about the challenges faced by the most affected Member States in implementing advance passenger information systems. It will conduct the first in-depth study on this topic during the first quarter of 2016. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is extending its Airport Communication Project to the Middle East and North Africa region, with a view to strengthening law enforcement capacities at international airports to detect and interdict suspicious travellers, including foreign terrorist fighters. 57. INTERPOL continues to develop its global database on foreign terrorist fighters and to help Member States to intensify and accelerate the exchange of information. It will further exploit data on foreign terrorist fighters and produce, on demand, more analytical reports, with a view to identifying new routes, travel patterns or evasive tactics they are using in travelling to and from conflict zones. INTERPOL will continue to work with its member States to update and strengthen its databases and will extend its system of Special Notices and databases (including the foreign terrorist fighter database) to frontline immigration and border control officials. INTERPOL is also assisting its members in the development of a layered system of screening to apprehend foreign terrorist fighters who successfully evade border checks. D. Countering recruitment and preventing/countering violent extremism 58. On 15 January 2016, I presented the Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism to the General Assembly. The Plan, which takes a practical and comprehensive approach to addressing the drivers of violent extremism, includes more than 70 recommendations for concerted action at the global, regional and national levels, based on five key priorities: (a) prevention; (b) principled leadership and effective institutions; (c) promoting human rights; (d) an all-out approach; (e) and United Nations engagement. The Assembly will hold a formal debate on the Plan in the coming months and an international conference, to be co-organized by Switzerland and the United Nations, will be held in April 2016. The General Assemblys fifth review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, to be held in June 2016, will offer a further opportunity for Member States and the United Nations system to consider the recommendations contained in the Plan of Action. 59. The Counter-Terrorism Committee and the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate continue to facilitate regional and national workshops on developing comprehensive approaches to countering incitement to commit terrorist acts and violent extremism, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014), including workshops held in Kenya and Tunisia in 2015. The workshops have served to develop the concept of strategic partnerships in this area between a broad range of Government ministries and non-governmental actors, including community and religious leaders, civil society organizations, and womens and youth groups. 60. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre has developed a project aimed at enhancing the understanding of foreign terrorist fighters in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the motivation of individuals joining extremist groups in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, understanding key influences on their thinking and gaining insight into the reasons why they return to their home States. The project, which will be completed in 2016, is intended to support States in developing policies to dissuade potential foreign terrorist fighters from travelling, provide material for strategic communications and assist in the design of effective rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. 61. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), acting in close consultation with the Counter-Terrorist Committee Executive Directorate, is developing a global research programme on the drivers of recruitment, particularly the recruitment of women, to ISIL and other terrorist groups. The programme will also strengthen the capacity of womens civil society groups to engage in preventing extremist violence and ensure that women and girls in areas impacted by violence have access to comprehensive and integrated strategies. Within the framework of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, UN-Women will support a number of initiatives, in partnership with relevant United Nations agencies, to politically and economically empower rural women. 62. The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) is gathering a series of lessons learned and promising practices and conducting table-top exercises to engage Member States in the development of action plans to counter violent extremism and address the challenges posed by returning foreign terrorist fighters. These activities will be implemented at the regional level to encourage the sharing of experiences and knowledge. UNICRI is also developing a programme for foreign terrorist fighters who are detained and/or imprisoned upon their return. E. Disrupting the planning and facilitation of attacks by ISIL 63. INTERPOL has developed a project, code-named Watchmaker, to analyse and disseminate information, including biometrics, collected on improvised explosive devices worldwide. It will continue to work with the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team and other United Nations partners to identify the networks responsible for building these devices, to develop the capacity of Member States to prevent attacks using improvised explosive devices and to investigate the individuals responsible for such attacks. Joint INTERPOL-Security Council Special Notices will continue to be an important global counter-terrorism tool and INTERPOL will continue to work with the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team to strengthen the Special Notices, including through the inclusion of biometrics. IV. Strategic responses 64. The resolution of ongoing conflicts, including the Syrian conflict, would have a direct impact on the driving forces behind the recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters by ISIL. The responses of Member States and the United Nations must therefore be strategic and consistent in addressing the underlying political and socioeconomic causes of both the Syrian conflict and the recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters and in ensuring justice and accountability for human rights violations. The response should be multifaceted and focus on short-, medium- and long-term objectives. 65. In order to address the grave threat posed by ISIL, including the influx of foreign terrorist fighters to Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic and ISILs extensive financing activities, it is essential to identify a political resolution to the Syrian conflict. This process will require sustained and determined international commitment and effective implementation of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), which sets out a path towards formal intra-Syrian negotiations on a political transition process pursuant to the 2012 Geneva communique and a parallel nationwide ceasefire. It will also require that all States expeditiously implement Council resolutions 2178 (2104), 2199 (2015) and 2253 (2015). The process should also address the grievances exploited by ISIL to gain support for its presence from among certain local communities. 66. A strategic, rule-of-law-based approach to reducing the number of foreign terrorist fighters while continuing to choke off ISILs funding could help advance the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions, including those that seek to achieve sustainable peace through the inclusion in international political processes of local actors (for example, women and youth) with an intimate understanding of the conflicts dynamics. V. Recommendations 67. The following recommendations are submitted for the consideration of Member States and the entities of the United Nations system. A. Strengthening the capacities of Member States 1. Countering the financing of terrorism 68. Member States are encouraged to take action to counter the financing of terrorism as set out below: (a) ISILs rapid and effective mobilization of vast financial resources reaffirms the urgent need to strengthen measures to prevent and disrupt terrorist financing in all regions of the world. In order to implement effective policies to counter terrorist financing, we must understand the nature of ISIL financing as it evolves. I therefore call on Member States to take steps to monitor and address the threat and to share information on an ongoing basis with the relevant international assessment bodies, including the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, the Financial Action Task Force and regional bodies styled after the Task Force, so that they can understand the gravity of the threat and formulate effective global and regional responses; (b) I also call on Member States to implement fully, and with renewed urgency, the sanctions regime introduced by the Security Council in its resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015). In accordance with the latter resolution, Member States should continue to propose names of individuals, groups, undertakings and entities participating by any means in the financing or support of the activities of ISIL, Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities for inclusion on the ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List. In accordance with resolution 1373 (2001), States should also freeze terrorists assets without delay, as a preventive measure to disrupt terrorist activity, rather than relying upon the provisions of national criminal law; (c) Even though terrorism and transnational organized crime are distinct phenomena, Member States are encouraged not to rely exclusively on the international counter-terrorism instruments in countering terrorism financing. They may call on other relevant international instruments, including the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 2001 and its Protocols, the United Nations Convention against Corruption of 2004 and the relevant conventions on drugs. All these tools can and should be utilized to facilitate effective international and regional cooperation; (d) I urge Member States to take immediate steps to strengthen their relationships with the private sector in countering the financing of terrorism by ISIL, including financial institutions (banks, money-value businesses of all types and other financial businesses and professions), the antiquities sector, and Internet service providers. Member States should partner with the relevant international institutions and the private sector to ensure the coherence and effectiveness of counter-financing of terrorism initiatives to prevent ISIL and its affiliates from accessing the international financial system; (e) The timely exchange and use of financial intelligence are crucial, not just in the investigation of terrorist attacks, including those committed by ISIL, but also in disrupting the planning and facilitation of attacks. Member States should prioritize the active sharing of financial information (domestically, regionally and internationally) and adopt a holistic, whole-of-Government approach to the exchange of financial information by all relevant institutions. The gathering and use of financial intelligence, as with any other form of intelligence gathering, should be carefully regulated by law so as not to unduly infringe upon human rights, particularly the right to privacy; (f) Lastly, Member States should ensure that they have the capacity to counter ISIL financing in a manner commensurate with the gravity of the threat in order to ensure that illicit financial flows to ISIL are effectively cut off. 2. Countering the recruitment through and the use of the Internet in countering radicalization and violent extremism 69. Member States are encouraged to take action to counter the recruitment through and the use of the Internet in countering radicalization and violent extremism as set out below: (a) The Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism includes recommendations for action to be taken at the global, regional and national levels to address the drivers of violent extremism. Implementation of the Plan will help promote comprehensive implementation of pillar I of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, on conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism and thereby help prevent recruitment by ISIL. I invite Governments to develop national plans of action to prevent violent extremism and I particularly encourage grass-roots initiatives undertaken within this framework, including, in particular, those that promote the inclusion of women and youth; (b) It is essential to strengthen preventive and proactive action through education. The education sector can play a critical role in countering the appeal of ISIL by strengthening relevant education and training programmes, mainstreaming the prevention of violent extremism through ministries of education and developing guidelines and practices for teachers and other educators on identifying and addressing violent extremism in formal and non-formal settings; (c) I also encourage Member States to establish effective diversion programmes for youth to reduce their susceptibility to recruitment and abuse by ISIL and its affiliates. Member States with high migrant populations from areas of conflict should develop inclusion activities targeted at children and youth; (d) I urge Member States to adopt effective strategies to counter the threat of online radicalization by ISIL. This will require that Governments take action in addition to legislative and law enforcement measures, including engaging with communities and industry. In order for such campaigns to be effective, the private sector should be an active participant; (e) I urge Member States to review their domestic legal frameworks to strengthen their capacities to bring to justice alleged perpetrators for criminal use of ICT in support of ISIL, in compliance with international human rights law. 3. Preventing and disrupting the travel by foreign terrorist fighters 70. Member States are encouraged to take action to prevent and disrupt the travel of foreign terrorist fighters as set out below: (a) It is essential that Member States criminalize travel by foreign terrorist fighters, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, and to take measures to strengthen their border-management regimes in order to address the most serious vulnerabilities exploited by ISIL to facilitate the movement of foreign terrorist fighters to and from territories under its control. This urgent need has recently been reaffirmed by instances in which high-profile terrorists have succeeded in travelling undetected; (b) I call on Member States to ensure direct access by immigration officers to all relevant INTERPOL databases available through its I-24/7 global police communications system, including Special Notices, nominal data, the Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, and the Foreign Terrorist Fighters database; (c) I call on Member States to assess the travel routes used by foreign terrorist fighters on a continuous basis and to share their findings with a view to introducing specific measures to detect and prevent such fighters from travelling to join ISIL utilizing such routes. I urge Member States to designate dedicated and/or clearly identified points of contact within relevant law enforcement, intelligence, security and immigration departments, and their counterparts at airlines, so as to facilitate the prompt exchange of passenger data on a 24/7 basis, with the aim of disrupting travel by foreign terrorist fighters. 4. Disrupting the capacity to plan and facilitate terrorist attacks in the name of ISIL 71. Member States are encouraged to take action to disrupt the capacity of terrorists acting alone or in small cells to plan and facilitate terrorist attacks in the name of ISIL as set out below: (a) I call on Member States to employ the full range of human rights-compliant tools at their disposal, from soft intervention measures to criminal-justice measures, in order to thwart attacks by terrorists acting alone or in small cells in the name of ISIL. Member States should strengthen cooperation and information-sharing between intelligence and security agencies and the prosecution and develop a proactive approach to the investigation of offences committed by foreign terrorist fighters with a view to identifying them and preventing such attacks; (b) Generating evidence against foreign terrorist fighters is a complex and multifaceted task. Member States should consider reviewing national legislation to ensure that evidence collected through special investigative techniques or from States of destination, or evidence collected through ICT and social media, including through electronic surveillance, may be admitted as evidence in cases connected to foreign terrorist fighters acting for ISIL while respecting international human rights law; (c) I encourage Member States to take steps to ensure effective inter-agency coordination, including by developing multi-agency task forces and liaison officers, in order to ensure a collective response to countering ISIL. Member States should also consider establishing appropriate laws and mechanisms that allow for the broadest possible international cooperation, including effective joint investigations, the appointment of liaison officers, police-to-police cooperation, the establishment of 24/7 networks for cooperation, the transfer of criminal proceedings and the transfer of sentences. 5. Treatment of foreign terrorist fighters returning to their countries of origin 72. Member States are encouraged to take action to address the treatment of foreign terrorist fighters returning to their countries of origin as set out below: (a) The employment of rigid prosecution policies and practices against foreign terrorist fighters can be counterproductive to the implementation of comprehensive strategies to combat their activities and to combat the violent extremism that can lead to terrorism. Member States should also consider alternatives to incarceration, as well as reintegration and possible rehabilitation of ISIL returnees, prisoners and detainees; (b) I urge Member States to ensure that their competent authorities apply a case-by-case approach to ISIL returnees, based on risk assessment, the availability of evidence and related factors and to develop and implement strategies to address specific categories of returnees, in particular minors, women, family members and other potentially vulnerable individuals; providers of medical services and other humanitarian needs; and disillusioned returnees who have committed less serious offences; (c) Returnees can be especially effective in counter-messaging campaigns, due to their credibility based on personal experience in conflict zones. Member States should consider promoting their active involvement in prevention programmes, as appropriate. 6. Protection of cultural heritage 73. Members States are encouraged to take action to protect cultural heritage as set out below: (a) I call on Member States to assist in strengthening the ability of affected States to prevent and mitigate the loss of cultural heritage and diversity resulting from the conflict in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic by developing institutional and professional capacities for reinforced protection. I encourage Member States to keep UNESCO and INTERPOL informed of all seized antiquities so that these organizations can help ensure their safe return in accordance with Security Council resolution 2199 (2015); (b) I urge Member States to strengthen customs controls and to regulate the art market by improving implementation of due diligence principles and strengthening criminal investigations, with a view to detecting possible links to ISIL in the seizure of Iraqi and Syrian antiquities within their territories. B. Strengthening the United Nations response 1. Countering the financing of terrorism 74. As noted in my report of 21 May 2015 on the threat of terrorists benefiting from transnational organized crime (S/2015/366), there is room to enhance the United Nations response to the threat of terrorist financing and its links with transnational organized crime as it pertains to countering ISIL and its affiliates. The response of the Organization needs to be more systematic, comprehensive and multidimensional, particularly at the field level, where United Nations peacekeeping operations and special political missions are already confronting these challenges: (a) In addition to the work already being undertaken by agencies such as the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, INTERPOL, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, UNESCO and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, more research and analytical work should be conducted on the nexus between ISILs terrorist activities and transnational organized crime, specifically on the way in which transnational organized crime funds ISILs terrorist activities. Relevant United Nations entities with a field presence in areas of major ISIL operations should strengthen their understanding of new security threats and the way in which they are funded, and should report regularly to the relevant United Nations counter-terrorism entities; (b) I shall take steps to ensure that the United Nations prioritizes this crucial cross-cutting issue and supports Member States that require and request technical assistance in building capacities to counter the financing of terrorism. I shall consider a number of options, including: the establishment of a system-wide approach against transnational organized crime and terrorism financing, which will ensure that tackling terrorist financing remains a strategic priority; that there is strategic oversight, within the United Nations, of the links between transnational organized crime and terrorism in order to ensure a coordinated and holistic response from all relevant agencies; and that Member States have the capacity to tackle financial crime, including terrorist financing. 2. Countering recruitment through and the use of the Internet in countering radicalization and violent extremism 75. The adoption of the One-UN approach, mobilizing all relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, both at Headquarters and in the field, will enable the Organization to comprehensively support Member States in implementing the Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism: (a) I intend to establish a high-level action group to prevent violent extremism, under my direct leadership; (b) The United Nations system must mobilize to engage a wide range of actors, including women and youth, in developing strategies for countering recruitment and radicalization to terrorism. Relevant United Nations entities, including UN-Women, my Envoy on Youth and my Special Envoy for Youth Refugees are committed to supporting the vision put forward by the Security Council in its resolutions 2242 (2015) and 2250 (2015) on the role of women and youth in contributing to international peace and security; (c) More specifically, it is essential to ensure that relevant offices are equipped with the dedicated expertise and other relevant and appropriate structures/mechanisms required to specifically consider the gender dimension of recruitment, radicalization, and the financing of the activities and operations of terrorist groups, primarily ISIL. UN-Women and the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict are ready to provide support in that regard. I invite United Nations offices to support the efforts of Member States to develop new ICT tools to facilitate cooperation between investigators and prosecutors involved in terrorism cases; (d) United Nations entities, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, should support efforts to strengthen the capacities of law enforcement agencies to use ICT to counter ISIL. I invite all United Nations entities to work to empower civil society worldwide to confront the narratives disseminated by ISIL through the Internet and social media. 3. Preventing and disrupting travel by foreign terrorist fighters 76. The United Nations will take action to prevent and disrupt travel by foreign terrorist fighters as set out below: (a) I invite the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and UNHCR to encourage border guards, intelligence services and immigration and asylum authorities of the States concerned and other States located along travel routes, as well as relevant international and regional organizations, to cooperate in assisting in the early identification of terrorist suspects; (b) I encourage the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, together with IATA, ICAO, INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, to conduct a series of activities during 2016 and 2017 aimed at encouraging Member States to require that airlines operating in their territories provide advance passenger information to the appropriate national authorities in order to detect the departure from their territories, or attempted entry into or transit through their territories, of foreign terrorist fighters; (c) I invite the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, in cooperation with relevant Member States, to identify systemic and country-specific capacity-building needs in stemming the travel of foreign terrorist fighters attempting to join ISIL. High-priority needs identified within this framework should be shared as a matter of urgency with the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, the Global Counter-terrorism Forum, donor States and other entities tasked with providing technical assistance to States. 4. Protection of cultural heritage 77. In order to protect the cultural heritage of affected States, I urge the Security Council to incorporate such protection into United Nations humanitarian action; security strategies, including action to counter terrorism; and peacebuilding processes. The fifth episode of Showtimes Billions alternates between two distinct stories: As Bobby Axe Axelrod (Damian Lewis) is pulled away from the company he created, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades Jr. (Paul Giammati) puts the pieces in place to go after him. The Good Life is the series most back-and-forth episode yet, so lets focus on each half of the narrative separately. Bobbys Story: A Trip to the Galapagos The episode opens with a shot of New York City, then cuts to Axe riding his bike on a country road. Hes out of the rat race and picking up eggs from a local supplier, with whom he trades his expensive bike for one with a basket. Hes always dealing. Wags calls and asks for confirmation on the sell everything order from last weeks episode. Axe approves it. Hes really pulling out. At breakfast later that morning, we learn more about Axes potential future. He designed a boat with his wife Lara (Malin Akerman), and its being delivered Friday afternoon. The kids casually mention going to the Galapagos the way you or I would ask if anybody wants to run to 7-Eleven and Axe likes the idea. Lara is a little more taken aback. She has work to do at her restaurant; shes suspicious of the suddenness of it all. Its Akermans longest scene yet, and further proof that Lara should become a more significant character. Shortly thereafter, we see Axe and Lara having sex in their pool, then laying on a blanket in the sunlight. Even the one percent are jealous of these people. Theyre the 0.00001 percent. Lara calls out Axe on his surprise boat trip, but shes nevertheless ready to make the jump with him. She knows that he always has the long game in mind, and will do whats in the best interest of his family. Axe says hes finally planning to watch Citizen Kane a movie he had never seen and we also learn that Inglourious Basterds is one of the most commonly screened films in his private theater. (For some reason, that makes perfect sense.) Lara decides shell set up a projected screening of Citizen Kane, the way youre supposed to. Back at Axe Capital, panic is starting to set in. Axes right-hand man, Mike Wags Wagner (David Costabile), isnt sure if his boss is truly in the middle of a midlife crisis, so he asks Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) to talk to him. We already know that Axe listens to Wendy more than anyone. Can she convince him to pull back from the massive sell-off? Before she can reach him, though, Wags interrupts Axes screening of Citizen Kane. A few papers need to be signed. Axe isnt too happy that hes there, but he hears him out. Much of this episode is about underlings not being on the same level or having the same degree of information as their bosses. (As well see, Wags is somewhat mirrored by Bryan [Toby Leonard Moore] over at the U.S. Attorneys office.) If theres a long game, Axe isnt letting Wags in on it. Instead, he goes to a carnival where he runs into the mysterious Hall (Terry Kinney), who tells him the FBI is hot on his tail. Is Axe running away because hes about to be arrested? Whatever Axe is doing, one thing is clear: His employees are acting like schoolchildren while the teacher is away. They stage eating competitions and go out for sushi at strip clubs. Essentially, the Axe Capital employees are alpha-male morons who can do nothing without their leader there to guide them. Theyre playing games on the deck of the Titanic while it sinks or, as one says, on a boat headed for Omaha Beach. As Wags says, A couple more days, it will be fucking Lord of the Flies in here. Wendy to the rescue! She meets with Axe, whos still in his screening room. He wants to find his other self, and maybe sail the world. Whats so wrong with that? Again: If Axe has a trick up his sleeve, hes not even telling Wendy. Later, when a police pension-fund manager also tries to talk him out of leaving, he wont reveal even a glimmer of a plan. As Axe goes to finally pick up his boat, he gets a news alert about arrests at a company called Mundia-tel. Its a telecom company which was the first sector that Axe told Wags to sell off and its legal issues may collapse the whole sector. This was all a scheme to protect Axe Capital. The rest of the people in Axes world thought he lost his mind, and Bobby kept up the ruse so no one else would sell off. He says he even started to believe the facade: It felt like freedom, you know? Like I could taste it. But Axe isnt going anywhere. He loves his company. And then the FBI shows up. Chucks Story: Farmers and Sex Clubs During last weeks deposition of Pete Decker (Scott Cohen), Chuck learned that he could get to Axe Capital through Dollar Bill Stearn (Kelly AuCoin), the man with insider information on Pepsom Pharmaceuticals. Thats how they can nail Axe. Theyll have to place Stearn in Iowa, where he talked to the farmer who gave them confidential information, but they dont have the evidence yet. Meanwhile, Bryan is buying an apartment and needs a guarantor. Kate (Condola Rashad) offers to help, and we get the beginning of one of the most interesting aspects of this weeks episode the development of a female character at the U.S. Attorneys office. A relatively minor player until now, Rashad is very good here and also gets the weeks best scene. Its not long before they discover that Stearn was stupid enough to use a rewards card while he was in Iowa just couldnt give up those points which means they can prove he was there. Its time for a trip to the heartland. Meanwhile, that incredibly obnoxious reporter Michael (Sam Gilroy) is back on the scene. He tells Chuck about the sell-off at Axe Capital, and somehow, this is the first the U.S. Attorneys office has heard of it, which seems like a bit of a stretch. I guess Chuck needs a few more ears to the ground. He calls and tries to get some details from Wendy, but she wont give anything up. Before they head off to Iowa, Bryan brings up the ugly truth: Wendy could be perceived as a conflict of interest, so Chuck should probably recuse himself. Hes not having it. Chuck meets with the farmer who told Dollar Bill about the insider information. He sweats the family man with a sick daughter and gets him to turn. The poor guy just thought he was talking to a friend. He didnt realize the consequences. They get the farmer to sign a statement. With their mission complete, what do Chuck, Bryan, and Co. do with their downtime in Iowa? Well, Bryan and Kate get drunk in the bar. She knows that Bryan has been sleeping with FBI agent Terri (Susan Misner), and it feels like a love triangle is on the horizon. (Bryan is certainly fascinated with Kate, who has aspirations no lower than the White House.) I really love these types of interactions, if only because they develop the shows supporting characters. Billions can sometimes feel overpowered by Lewis and Giamatti. While thats happening, Chuck decides to feed his inner demons. We find him outside of a sex club. Hes been here before. He calls Wendy, and she plays along, telling him to go inside and keep her on the phone. He describes a pathetic man he sees being whipped by a dominatrix. Its all about power. Chuck has so much of it in his normal life and he needs it all stripped away to get off. Wendy loves to take that power from him, too: As she tells him to get on his hands and knees in an unimaginably dirty club, she touches herself. These two were made for each other. Back in New York, as Chuck and Bryan talk about moving on Stearn, they get a call. Wendy has gone in for her visit with Axe. Uh oh. The conflict of interest is officially front and center. What will Chuck do? The bad news gets worse from there. Chuck learns that Michael is about to drop a story about him, which claims that he wont charge Axe because of Wendy. The source for the story is Lonnie (Malachi Weir) the guy whose case he swiped last week to protect his father but I suspect Chuck will presume that its Bryan. And then, theres the big one: Chuck calls Wendy to make sure shes not at Axe Capital when Dollar Bills arrest goes down. He must know hes bending the rules. How long can he keep this up? Other Notes This weeks episode was directed by Neil LaBute, a filmmaker who built his reputation on stories about power players. (Two examples: In the Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors.) Hes perfect for this show. He handles the complex back-and-forth narratives with a deft, steady hand. Another tip of the cap to LaBute: The two lead characters havent been seen in the same room for weeks, but they still feel like theyre part of the same story. While the last episode was heavy on music cues, there wasnt even much of a score this week. I like this unpredictable structure; the show can slightly change each week without losing its overall tone. I love this episodes focus on the expanded supporting cast. Billions will work better if the fringe characters are as interesting as the central ones, and this week, we got great development for Wags, Kate, Bryan, and Lara. Im still waiting for Akerman to really come forward and match Siff. Were now five episodes in where do you think this season is headed? Correction: An earlier version of this recap incorrectly said that Axe had already watched Citizen Kane. After being caught in the horror of the attacks in Paris last November, Eagles of Death Metal have returned to the stage once again. While the band had appeared during U2s Paris concert, this weekend marked Eagles of Death Metals first headlining performance since the attacks, as the band kicked off a rescheduled European tour with a performance in Stockholm Saturday night. The set included Duran Durans Save a Prayer and EODMs own I Love You All the Time, which has become a signature song of sorts following the tragedy. Before the show, the bands front man, Jesse Hughes, also appeared on Nyhetsmorgon, a Swedish television show (the interview is in English), where he discussed the difficulties of returning to the stage after three months. We started here in Sweden so that we could build up the momentum to get to Paris, Hughes said. I dont want to let anyone down. I know theres a lot going into this. Its intense for everybody, and thats kind of what its supposed to be, you know? Its not supposed to be easy. The two candidates for the McLennan County Precinct 1 commissioner race are both highlighting their conservatism heading into the start of early voting. Incumbent Kelly Snell, 57, of Robinson, faces challenger Cory Priest, 49, of Lorena, in the March 1 primary election. Early voting starts Tuesday and continues through Feb. 26 for the precinct that includes parts of Waco, Beverly Hills, Robinson, Golinda, Lorena, Bruceville-Eddy and Moody. County commissioners receive a $90,020 annual salary. Snell, owner of Texas Electrical Energy Savers Inc., is seeking his third term on the court, while Priest, owner of Priest Cattle Co., is vying for his first chance to serve. Both candidates are running as Republicans. Priest said while he is not privy to all the information because he is not an elected official, he knows Snell has outspent both Republican commissioners on the court by more than $4 million in the past four years on road maintenance. Snells higher spending holds when compared on a per-mile basis, Priest said. That is a substantial fact, he said. Priest said he spent a few hours in the county auditors office to confirm the figures and collect information. He said he took the amount spent by each commissioner and divided it by how many road miles are in each precinct to get an average cost per mile. Then you can compare apples to apples, Priest said. Thats the only way you can really do it. Priest said he would be a true conservative on the court, fighting to decrease spending and improve accountability and transparency. Conservatism is not nit-picking other peoples budgets and then spending everything in your own budget, Priest said. Snell said he has heard Priests claims regarding his spending, but his challengers accusations show he really doesnt have a clue about the budget. Snell said each commissioner oversees a road and bridge fund, and budgets vary because of the sizes of each precinct. Snell said he has the second-largest precinct, so naturally his spending would be higher. If he didnt spend what is allotted at the beginning of each fiscal year, roads and bridges wouldnt get repaired or maintained, Snell said. You get a guy like that with so little understanding, hes going to spend the whole time trying to figure out what hes doing, Snell said. Snell said he is the most conservative because he works to ensure the court allots money where it is mandated and not toward every organization that comes forward asking for money. He said that is why he voted against giving the county treasurer a more than $15,000 raise at the beginning of this fiscal year when the treasurer asked only for a $1,800 raise. Commissioners at the time said the move was to bring parity across similar positions in the county. Snell said he is not against raises but against arbitrarily giving them. The candidates agreed last week that county employees with concealed handgun licenses should be allowed to carry a gun to work if as long as they work somewhere the general public also can carry. The county recently approved maintaining the ban on guns except for law enforcement at the courthouse, annex, juvenile justice center and justice of the peace office. But discussion came up about other county property, including the countys Records Building adjacent to the courthouse, where state law requires local leaders to allow guns. If Im a county employee and other people can carry weapons, I want to be able to carry mine too, Priest said. Snell also said he supports allowing employees to carry on the job where the public is allowed to carry but thinks the county should look into policies and legal matters first. Priest said he was approached by a friend to run for the position and after prayer and discussions with his wife, he realized it would be a good time in his life to serve. Priest said he has the skills needed for the position and is not political. Priest said he has been in the cattle business his whole life, and to make a profit in that business, he has had to be astute and efficient. With a multimillion-dollar cattle business, Priest said, he knows how to be conservative and make smart financial decisions. If you dont tend to the details, they will tend to you, Priest said. Priest said he also wants to increase the transparency of the work done in Precinct 1. He said if elected he would regularly share updates on how he voted and what he voted for or against, along with reasons supporting his decisions, and let the public know what he is doing with their money. Snell said he has a lot of unfinished business to tend to, including helping Lorena with its Tax Reinvestment Zone. It will be a great economic development for the city of Lorena and for McLennan County, because what thats going to do is allow sewer and water infrastructure to be put in for a large portion of the area close to and in Lorena that presently doesnt have sewer and water, Snell said. Thats going to allow commercial and residential building to start happening. He said the county also is operating on a balanced budget and is financially secure. With big costs looming for the county between Twin Peaks-related legal costs and addressing Americans With Disabilities Act violations taxpayers want someone experienced in keeping a rein on spending, Snell said. Is not really time to change leaders when youre just getting things pulled out of the mud, Snell said. In this next couple of years, were just going to have to really tighten up on the budget. Ben Matus said he decided to run for Precinct 3 McLennan County commissioner to give Republican voters another choice besides incumbent Will Jones. The Republican primary race has been relatively low-key except that Matus says Jones tried to take that choice away by twice offering to pay him the price of his filing fee to drop out of the race. Early voting starts Tuesday and runs through Feb. 26. Election Day is March 1. Jones confirmed that he made the offers but said he merely did so to help Matus if he decided to gracefully back out of the race. I did say that I would refund his money, and I told him that would be a good idea for him, Jones told the Tribune-Herald last month. There is no way it could be considered a bribe. There is nothing wrong about it. I dont think what I said was a bribe. It was a simple business transaction. The guy obviously has nothing to run on, thats the thing, Jones said. Matus, 63, considered filing a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission or with the McLennan County District Attorneys Office. He told a large crowd at the McLennan County Republican Womens Club last week that he was anxious to get an opinion back from the ethics commission on his complaint. But, two days later, after consulting with an attorney in San Antonio, Matus said he decided not to pursue any avenue of complaint against Jones. I am not a lawyer, and nobody would give me any opinion about it, Matus said. I did fill out the paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission, but I decided not to send it. Jones said last week that his offer to reimburse Matus his $1,250 filing fee if he decided to drop out of the race was based on Matus response to his question about why Matus wanted to run against him and what he wanted to accomplish. Jones, 44, who is seeking his second four-year term, said Matus had no clear answer to his question. Since that uptick in the races public profile, the race has created few blips on the local political radar screen. Jones, who has a finance degree from Baylor University and worked as a stockbroker before branching off into investments and real estate, said he is proud of the record he has built during the past three years in office. Jones had been in office three months and 17 days when the West Fertilizer Co. plant exploded, destroying much of West, killing 15 people and injuring scores of others. Jones worked with local, state and federal officials to bring the northern McLennan County town much-needed relief but also helped craft new legislation that expanded the definition of disaster to allow for the reappraisal of property damaged in any type of disaster declared by the governor. We lobbied very hard, Jones said. We got on our soapbox from West from the very beginning. That is one thing I am most proud of. I would do it all over again. I was still getting used to the way county government worked, and my learning curve went through the roof. Matus, who has been an auto repair instructor at Texas State Technical College for 29 years, is a native of West and a former West City Council member. He said he thinks he would complement the long line of Precinct 3 commissioners who traditionally have been from West. I wanted to give the people a choice, Matus said. Now, they have that choice. My opponent wanted to deny the voters that right by paying me not to run. He called it a mere business decision. He tried to get rid of the competition because no election means back to business as usual. Matus said he wants to help curb what he considers excessive and unnecessary spending by the commissioners court. Spending seems to overcome the income, Matus said. They are spending and spending more. My opponent voted himself a raise back when he got into office, and he approved a $7,000 taxpayer-funded person to run around in leotards at a sporting event to urge kids to get off the couch. Sounds like Michelle Obama. Jones said he gets but one vote on the commissioners court, and his salary was raised by the court. That decision was out of my hands, he said. The Precinct 3 commissioner, for whatever reason, was paid less than all the other commissioners. I came in making less, and it was the will of the court, who felt like the Precinct 3 commissioner should make the same amount as all the rest. County commissioners are paid $90,020 a year. The $7,000 expenditure was part of an American Heart Association get-active campaign, and the county partnered with the city of Waco in an effort to promote a healthy, active lifestyle at an event at the Ferrell Center, Jones said. Jones said when he took office, the county was on the verge of having a $9 million budget deficit. He credits his hard work and that of his fellow commissioners, County Judge Scott Felton and Auditor Stan Chambers for righting the countys financial ship through measures such as refinancing the debt on the Jack Harwell Detention Center, which will save the county $13 million during the next 20 years. Precinct 3 includes part of northwest Waco, a portion of Woodway, West, Gholson, Ross, Tours, Leroy, Chalk Bluff, Elm Mott and parts of Lacy Lakeview and Bellmead. Courtney Janecka won her way to the nations capital by wrapping bracelets around peoples wrists. Janecka, 12, was chosen as one of two Texas winners of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards for 2016. She makes and sells beaded bracelets, then uses the profits to give people who need encouragement copies of her mothers book about surviving cancer. I just really thought that it was special that she had written a book to share with others just how to find hope, Janecka said. And I thought it was important that other people got that message. Two students won from each state and Washington, D.C., with each winner receiving $1,000, a trip to the capital in May and a silver medallion. Harold Banks, spokesman for The Prudential Awards, said winners are selected by an independent panel that looks for volunteer longevity and the impact the students work has on the community. The awards, in their 21st year, had more than 29,000 students apply this year and are open to students in grades five to 12. During the trip to Washington, 10 students will be chosen as national winners and will receive $5,000 for themselves and $5,000 for a charity of their choice. Anyone can nominate a student, but if the nomination comes from an individual outside an official nonprofit group or organization, it must be certified by the students principal, Banks said. Janecka was nominated by River Valley Intermediate School. Janecka said she doesnt know what she is going to do with the reward money yet, but she is looking forward to traveling to Washington. I am really happy that I won, she said. Its just a really big honor for me. Janeckas mother, Cindy, published her first book, titled This Cant Be Happening, in the summer of 2013. Cindy Janecka said she uses her yearlong battle with breast cancer to help patients and families through the treatment process. Courtney Janecka was only a toddler when her mother underwent treatment in 2005, but after the book was published, she wanted to help her mother spread her message of hope. Her story, I think, is very relatable, Courtney Janecka said. A lot of people, although they might not be going through the same type of cancer she had, by reading the book can understand what she went through and how to cope with things similar. Courtney Janecka and her mother, along with some friends, have made close to 1,200 bracelets, dubbed Courtneys Creations, which are sold for $10 at Morrisons Gifts, Simply Delicious Bakery and The Gift Horse. Money raised from the bracelets has enabled the mother-daughter pair to give away 800 books to hospitals, churches and schools across the state. The book is normally sold for $13, but each bracelet pays for one book after the cost of supplies. Both the bracelets and the book are available online at www.cindyjanecka.com. Cindy Janecka regularly speaks about her experiences at churches and survivor events where she gives away as many books as possible. The pair have even made statewide tours to ensure that the books paid for by the bracelets are given away. My hope was to just get it in the hands of the people who needed it, Cindy Janecka said. And Courtney, she was only 18 months, so she doesnt really remember that. So the fact that shes kind of joined in with me on this is pretty cool. WAHOO Renters insurance seems to be a necessity for those individuals renting property, according to area agents. As hard as it may be to take on another bill for renters insurance, imagine the cost of replacing all items from just one room, let alone an entire household. I think all renters should have renters insurance, not only because of the high cost of household items today, but to protect your liability at the residence where you live, said Di Pfeiffer, State Farm agent in Wahoo. Liability protection is a big factor, according to Pfeiffer. Liability claims, such as dog bites or injuries occurring on rental properties, are now more predominant. Protecting yourself from liability claims that happen on your property seems more important currently, than protecting your assets, said Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer said the belief that the landlords policy will cover the renter is just not correct. The landlords policy usually only covers the dwelling, not your personal assets or accidents that may occur to the property that are your fault. Pfeiffer tells her customers that for every $20,000 in contents, you should have $100,000 in liability coverage, which will cost approximately $100 per year. But that is only a rule of thumb to start by, she said. Cost of coverage depends on a few factors, such as the liability limits and location, said Pfeiffer. She doesnt see a big variance in pricing across the state. Pfeiffer pointed out most people do not understand that a renters policy covers theft of items from your vehicle and not your auto policy. She also pointed out that multiple coverage policies usually get a discount in pricing, making renters insurance more affordable. I get a lot of referrals and it seems to be the trend that people like to stay local, especially in the smaller communities, Pfeiffer said. Taking action before a peril can insure piece of mind in most situations for renters. Mike Hancock, agent for Farmers Mutual of Nebraska-Wahoo, breaks down renters insurance into two categories, personal liability and content or personal belongings. Renters insurance is the coverage for your items in the event of fire, storm or covered peril within a rental property. I think all renters should have a policy. It is very affordable. Its a security blanket in case of loss of your personal items the coverage can replace, which you might not be able to afford after a peril, said Hancock. Hancock said pricing for renters insurance is standard across the state with Farmers Mutual of Nebraska, since all perils are basically the same. Premiums depend on the deductible. A higher deductible equals a lower premium. I think most people are staying with their local agent as opposed to just shopping online. Theres just something to it to be able to call someone you know when you need to file a claim or have questions about coverage, said Hancock. Hancock also stated that multiple policy discounts tend to make renters insurance quite affordable. An umbrella policy, in addition to renters insurance, which does increase the premium, is the cheapest form of protection for yourself, said Hancock. Considering the relatively low cost of coverage, the value and protection of renters insurance is often worth the safety net it provides. As a renter, why wouldnt you need it, said Lindsey McClain, sales specialist for Peter Jacobus Agency in Wahoo. The only people McClain doesnt recommend renters insurance to are college students in dorms that are already covered by a parents policy. According to McClain, coverage amounts make the difference in premiums, along with zip code, age of dwelling and numerous other factors involved in deciding the premium amount for coverage. American Family Insurance only offers one type of renters policy that is broken down into three parts, liability, personal property and medical. Each part helps to protect you in separate ways. The liability portion covers accidents to others at your residence, the medical helps to cover any related bills for other persons injured on your premises, and the personal property is there to protect your assets, she said. It depends on the generation as to whether clients prefer to stay local, the younger generation seems to prefer online, quicker ways to get renters insurance and most of the older generation prefer to come in and talk face to face with an agent, said McClain. McClain recommends the best way to get the value of coverage needed is to go out and find the replacement cost of the items you have now, if you were to buy them new. Go price something as simple as a T.V. compared to the one you have now, and it makes it plain to see what I am talking about, said McClain. Another thing to remember, the landlord is not going to cover your losses; renters insurance protects what you have because no one else is going to. There is a large market for Nebraska renters insurance. Experts say it is common for renters to skip on insurance also. According to a 2015 Insurance Research Council poll, only 37 percent of renters have insurance. Renters insurance needs are different for every individual based on their needs, so take time to look at your options for the best fit. From the most recent figures on long-term arrivals, it's possible to give odds on the 24 millionth's place of birth. In December 14.7 per cent of settler arrivals were from China, 12.9 per cent from India, 12.1 per cent from New Zealand. But the 24 millionth could be from just about anywhere and could be just about anything from a refugee who has lost everything and everyone to a multi-millionaire who has effectively purchased the passport. As a class, the foreign-born have plenty of company more than 28 per cent of us were born overseas, the highest proportion since 1895. By far and away the most are from the UK, double the next lot Kiwis. Mentioning Kiwis, various international studies suggest only half of "Piggy" Muldoon's aphorism is true. The former NZ prime minister infamously opined that the large number of New Zealanders fleeing to Australia on his watch raised the average IQ of both countries. In reality, it's the receiving nation that gains. There's an element of this that can't be objectively measured by educational qualification or wealth of migrants and it is the most vital and important part. I have a treasured quote from fellow Queenslander Lloyd Rees who said he felt sorry for people born in Sydney because they never saw it with fresh eyes. That pretty much applies to the Australian-born about Australia. Each year, a wave a migrants arrive, look around and say in various languages words to the effect of: "How bloody good is this? Let's get stuck in!". And, mostly, they do, working with a drive and enthusiasm that shades we skippys. Of course it doesn't last their grandchildren as slack as the rest. But by then many more have landed to keep reinvigorating the economy and culture. You tend to have to be a risk taker to migrate and it's risk taking that grows us. At the extreme edge of risk was Alex Graus, pushing 90 when he died last month, an event largely unheralded beyond his family. His is an almighty story, one of many. After being among the last Jews to be deported from Czechoslovakia in August, 1944, it took calculated risks and luck for a boy to survive Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbruck, and Sachsenhausen and to leave Czechoslovakia in 1949 for Australia. His family tell me he did not like to speak of the war years and rarely did, but he broke that rule to help a granddaughter with a sanitised version for a school assignment. In part: "For many migrants adjusting to the new life was challenging. Alex recalls, 'It was reasonably easy. No one actually wants to leave their home country but my family perished in the war so a fresh start was good. Ben Chifley was the prime minister at the time and Australia was fair to me. I remember there was a strike for eight weeks, which left us with no electricity for a week'. "Alex's experience of Australians as a migrant was generally very positive. He recalls that 'they were not hostile. They felt sorry for me I think and were very sympathetic. I mean, if you weren't arrogant there was no problem. They were actually very helpful and personally, I didn't experience any racial discrimination'." Her brief, poignant eulogy began: "Grandad is the bravest person I know. Although we will never be able to truly understand what he went through in his early life, I can imagine the strength and bravery it must have taken him to live through the horrors of the holocaust, the loss of his family and come to a new country." Alex Graus and his brother, Walter, who had escaped Czechoslovakia before deportation, eventually started making neck ties, establishing Boston Ties, employing 100 people at its height. Alex had two sons, themselves continuing to build this country, as are his granddaughters. His descendants tell me Alex was always optimistic, no matter what happened. I suppose after you've been to hell, any purgatory would look like heaven. The 24 millionth Australian could be the makings of another Alex Graus, a survivor of war and horror who would be forever grateful to the country that gave him or her a fresh start. Or maybe the 24 millionth will be a much younger Rosa Masinello, a nonagenarian who also died last month, the mother of my school mate Sergio. Rosa was a young woman when she left all the closeness of Filicudi, one of the Aeolian islands off the coast of Sicily. Here, she married Frank, also from Filicudi, forming a partnership to raise four children and build businesses, helping to literally build Brisbane. "Mum, in her quiet, humble way, achieved great things for her family and friends," Sergio told me, also with characteristic humility. Rosa, like Alex, was part of that great post-war wave that changed Australia forever, just as the present wave does. She remained more at home with Italian than English, certainly more at home with Italian food, but, with Frank, she very much wanted her children to be Australian. The most powerful economic driver on earth is a mother's desire for her child to have a better chance in life than she did. There'll be Rosas arriving tomorrow, for sure. Or maybe the 24 millionth will be like an economist friend who admits he might bore his children by reminding them how fortunate they are to be born here. He's a fine man, a servant of the country, who says he has had opportunities that would not have been afforded him elsewhere. Or maybe the 24 millionth will be like his brother who died before Christmas. "He wasn't one of our migrant triumphs," my friend wrote. "He was a single man whose life took a different path from his brothers. His triumph was the simple one of how much people, especially his nephews and nieces, loved him, and in how much he'll be missed." Mind you, to be loved and missed is great success indeed. It is to be a successful human being the rest, merely trappings of one type or another. Whoever our 24 millionth person is and our 24th million, they will make us rich through their diversity, by bringing their experience and desire, their fresh eyes. Australia would not be as promising, as fine, without them. There are people who, for various reasons, don't want Australia to have this injection. Some underestimate our ability to grow while protecting our environment. Some fail to see the benefits growth brings us and only see the challenges. Some carry the prejudices of small, ignorant minds. The murder of a British pilot, Roger Gower, shot down by elephant poachers near the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania on January 28, highlighted the scale of the threat posed by armed crews of poachers. Tanzania's elephant population has crashed from 109,000 to 40,000 in the past seven years. The threat to the African rhinoceros is even more dire. Between 2007 and 2013, the poaching of rhinos in southern Africa grew by 7000 per cent, from 13 animals killed in 2007 to 1004 in 2013. These numbers are understated, because not all carcasses are found in the wild. We are used to seeing population growth and economic growth described as progress, but progress is on a monstrous and pointless collision course with nature in Africa. The massacre of rhinos and elephants is reaching an industrial scale, apart from the enduring problem of encroachment by human activity. In South Africa alone, more than 4000 rhino have been poached since 2010. At this rate, the southern white rhino population faces extinction in the wild in about 10 years. The new firm: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce. Credit:Andrew Meares Thinking ahead will be important for Joyce. His remarks seemingly in support of Stuart Robert exhibited neither insight nor forethought, let alone nuance or finesse. He can't afford to be seen to lack those skills. Only time will tell. Turnbull now has a fresh bunch of newly promoted people who will be grateful for the chance they have been given. One might expect they'd be fiercely loyal to boot. It will mean an enthusiastic start to the year. A good lead-in to Turnbull's and Scott Morrison's first budget. The new Nationals: Barnaby Joyce and deputy leader Fiona Nash. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Speaking of which, the PM said everything would be looked at. Good. No rush. Actually I find the PM's refusal to play the daily "here I am at the centre of the universe" game quite refreshing. I don't want an announcement a day, I want good government. Pressing problems are not solved by daily announcements. Equally, a PM pretending to be one of the boys as Kevin Rudd was wont to do is a bit ridiculous or one wanting to be action man eating onions, like Tony Abbott is disconcerting. Thank heavens Turnbull appears to simply want to do the job. The old guard: Tony Abbott flanked by Warren Truss and Andrew Robb. Credit:Andrew Meares Some foolish people are out there trying to tag Turnbull as the 'do nothing PM' all silver tongue and no shovel. Well, I might start collecting those articles so as to be able to send appropriate notes to the authors in due course. Some foolish people are out there trying to tag Turnbull as the "do nothing PM" all silver tongue and no shovel. Well, I might start collecting those articles so as to be able to send appropriate notes to the authors in due course. We say we want good government, where all options are considered. We say we don't want the narrow-minded, short-term fix. I for one am delighted to not be assaulted everyday with all that stuff. Delighted and relieved. When decisions and announcements are made we will all get our chance to decide whether the worker bees have done a good job. I will do so with gratitude that they haven't been buzzing in my ear throughout the process. Stuart Robert: "hardly any of us knew anything about him". Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Turnbull may understand more than a number of his predecessors. Australians grumble at going to the polls; many of us just want the pollies to get on with the job and then front up in three years when we decide if they've done a good job. Not everybody wants in-your-face politics every day. I think there is a palpable sense of relief that all that flim flam, look-at-me stuff is off the agenda. The May budget will be a good sign of just how much work has been going on behind the scenes. We will see just how much shovelling the PM is up to. Increasing the GST seems to be off the agenda. Personally I think that's a mistake, but for different reasons than the premiers who are so keen on it. They want the Commonwealth to "sell" an increased tax to the people while they just sit back and clip the ticket so they can continue to spend. If the states want more money there is another way to do it. Simply let them nominate a rate of personal income tax. The Commonwealth would be the collector but the states would have to sell to their constituents why they need to get the extra dollars. They would have to defend their decision to take more money. Making the premiers more responsible to us, the people, would be a good thing. Everybody loves to hear about hidden secrets in their devices, from the secret Flappy Bird clone inside Android Lollipop to the various funny responses given by AI assistants when you ask them the right question. But this is one Easter egg you definitely do not want to hunt. Apparently originating at anonymous message board 4chan, the below image has been doing the rounds on social media and across the web, encouraging iPhone users to set their system time to January 1, 1970, in order to see a special retro Apple start-up screen. In fact, doing this will kill your device and make it unable to boot. Putting aside how suspicious the suggestion of this Easter egg is (1970 is years before Apple was even founded, let alone releasing Macintoshes), it certainly appeals to our sense of discovery. But those who followed the advice were shocked to find their phones dead, beyond the reach even of an iTunes restore. Laverty, whose company has been licensed to run Tropfest for the past six years, admitted to an accounting error that resulted in a loss of $180,000. Tropfest founder John Polson. Credit:Belinda Rolland Photography "As you can imagine, I feel like my life has come to an end," he wrote. "Not much more I can say except I am so, so sorry. I can't possibly cover this or even think how to fund it. "Maybe if we had done better in 2015 this would all be OK but with no presenting partner ($250K+), the loss of Toyota ($150K) and half of Qantas ($65K) ... it's obvious I'm dead in the water." Sponsored acting prizes ... Nicole Kidman. Credit:Brendon Thorne - Getty Images Laverty offered to put in $30,000 as a loan saying "that's all I have" and proposed either putting the business into voluntary administration or handing over the cash in the bank and working out a plan for the festival to continue. "Now I am going away to be sick and try to pull myself together," he wrote. "I'm sorry it's all been too much. I have to switch off." Actor Susan Sarandon is another well-known face who has suffered with the condition and has encouraged anyone with symptoms to seek help. Credit:act\karen.hardy Five days later, an upset Polson cancelled the festival, scrapping plans to fly in Hollywood star Susan Sarandon to head the jury. A day after that, he told Fairfax Media that he had discovered the financial shortfall was twice as big as he had been told. It appeared to be $500,000 for an event that costs at least $1.1 million to stage. Amid a groundswell of support around the country, CGU Insurance stepped up with sponsorship to revive the festival. But with the contents of the Tropfest bank account in dispute initially $550,000 including $6600 that Nicole Kidman donated for the best actor and actress prizes and other sponsors' payments Polson is believed to have put in $300,000 of his own funds to allow the festival to proceed. Laverty has rejected attempts to terminate his company's agreement to manage the festival. After Polson unsuccessfully demanded he hand over the finalist's films as well as files, computers, passwords, loaned cameras and gifts for the judges and filmmakers, Tropfest had to rely on copies of the films already given to broadcaster SBS to screen them in the park. After an attempt at mediation failed, Polson is believed to have approached senior members of the Hillsong Church, which has Laverty as a member, to request assistance in resolving the dispute. A Hillsong spokesman said it was a private matter that had nothing to do with church. "The Hillsong church does not get involved in the private business matters of people that happen to attend," he said. It is believed another attempt at resolution failed when Laverty sought Polson's agreement to release a "draft press release" saying that "no mismanagement of festival funds was found" and apologising to Laverty and his team for his statements in the media. When Polson baulked at agreeing, it is believed Laverty forwarded another "draft press release" saying Tropfest Festival Productions would commence proceedings against him in the Supreme Court of NSW. This document quoted Laverty as saying he was shocked that, after managing Tropfest for 13 years, Polson "cancelled the festival, went public with confidential information in breach of the management agreement and blamed me for financial mismanagement after his company Tropfest has received over $2.5 million and Polson advised me he was considering selling the festival and had been approached by buyers who wished to own and manage" it. It also quoted Laverty as saying "I have kept a low profile in order to attempt to resolve things with Polson; however it now appears no resolution is in sight which leaves no alternative but to go to court". Comedian Lawrence Mooney has launched a scathing tirade against a female journalist, calling her a "deadshit" and "f***ing amateur" for her unfavourable review of his latest show. The Advertiser's Isabella Fowler praised Mooney's show at the Adelaide Fringe Festival on Sunday but suggested he was "just a funny guy" rather than a comedian. After the review went live, Mooney began harassing Fowler on Twitter, accusing her of having "a small mind". West Australian police minister Liza Harvey has been elected unopposed by her party colleagues as the state's deputy premier after more than a year of speculation she would be elevated to the role. Ms Harvey will replace Kim Hames, the state health minister, who late last year announced he would step down from the deputy role ahead of retiring at the March 2017 election. Ms Harvey, also the minister for road safety, women's interests, training and workplace development, was elected to parliament in 2008 and promoted to cabinet in 2012. She said she was happy to have been elected unopposed and wouldn't have imagined when she was first elected that she would make it this far, "not in a million years". "I didn't have very high expectations that I would actually succeed in winning that seat of Scarborough, so I've had the most amazing career already. "As minister for women's interests, I'm very pleased to see a female in this role." Ms Harvey said she hoped to retain her broad spread of portfolios when a cabinet reshuffle is announced in coming months. "Yes, I would prefer to keep my portfolios but ultimately that's a discussion I'll have with the premier in due course." A 30-year-old man, wielding a knife in a rooftop stand-off in Rivervale on Monday night, has been charged by police with a string of offences, some dating back five years. Police were called to a two-storey unit block on Salisbury Road around 8pm after a number reports of a man jumping onto roofs in the area. 30-year-old man in police custody after rooftop stand-off in Rivervale. Police allege the man had a knife and was refusing to come down. A police negotiator managed to coax the man down around 12.30am and he was taken into custody without incident. By morning it was clear to anyone poking around the subject online that many thousands of Americans had either taken Jones at his word, or arrived at a similar conclusion themselves. A US flag flies at half-staff in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington on Saturday evening. Credit:AP In another place, in another time, you could dismiss such theorising as irrelevant noise blown in on the wind from a distant fever swamp. But not in America today. So brittle and fissured has American politics become that nonsense and conspiracy theories now occupy space on the main stage, or at least on the right of the main stage. Online radio host Alex Jones' website says the program wears "our bias - the truth - openly and proudly on our sleeve". Credit:Inforwars.com Last year Jones, who has ignored interview requests from Fairfax Media for months, and other far right groups announced that the US government was preparing to invade and occupy Texas under the cover of a long-planned military exercise called Jade Helm. The theory became so widespread and developed such detail (Texan dissidents would be rounded up and held in Wal-Mart outlets for some reason) that senior officers of the US Army's Special Operations Command were forced to hold public meetings in an effort to placate fearful citizens. President Barack Obama is required by the constitution to nominate a new judge to the US Supreme Court. Credit:AP Some of the most senior elected Republicans in the nation pandered to this nonsense. Senator Ted Cruz, currently coming second in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, announced that he was in touch with trusted contacts at the Pentagon for reassurances they were not planning to invade Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas National Guard to monitor the exercises. The former Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry blamed President Obama for inciting distrust of the government. Similarly senior Republicans have either helped spread the bizarre myths about Obama's birthplace, or pandered to them. Donald Trump, current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, used "birther" claptrap to gain recognition inside the GOP before his presidential run. Hundreds of prominent Republicans have endorsed the theory, including former presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry and Herman Cain and the vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Anyone attending Republican campaign events can now expect to hear people raise as central political concerns issues that are either wholly imagined or nonsensical. It is not uncommon to hear that the Obama administration is planning to allow the United Nations to take over the nation using the framework of Agenda 21 (an out-dated and unenforceable set of guidelines agreed to and forgotten by the UN); that the federal government is stockpiling ammunition for use against the people; that Hillary Clinton ordered available forces to "stand down" rather than rescue besieged American personnel in Benghazi; and that swathes of the US are now governed under Sharia law. Trump believes that climate change was invented by the Chinese to cripple American industry, while his rivals either believe it to be an unproved theory or a conspiracy of the scientific community. I heard parts of most of these theories in conversation with the occupiers of a wildlife sanctuary in Oregon which ended earlier this month, including from Lavoy Finicum, who was shot dead by state troopers a few days after we spoke. In his famous 1964 essay The Paranoid Style in American Politics, the historian Richard Hofstadter, traced right-wing paranoia back through the McCarthy period of the early 1950s, the Populist movement of the 1890s and the anti-Catholic movement of the 1850s. Jonesboro, Arkansas: Arkansas State University students working on a video project sparked reports of armed men near the student union on Sunday, leading to a lockdown of the campus and a scolding from authorities. The university sent an emergency alert shortly before 2pm (local time) on Sunday saying two armed men were seen near the student union. A later message said three men wearing all black were seen. Authorities search for a gunman at an incident in the US in late 2015. Credit:AP The university lifted the Jonesboro campus lockdown about an hour later after authorities determined there was no threat. "Those students have been located and talked to," Arkansas State spokesman Bill Smith said. "There was apparently no threat at all and no gunman." Jerusalem: Israeli police officers fatally shot two Palestinians who opened fire at them outside Jerusalem's walled Old City on Sunday, police said, on a day when officials reported three other Palestinian assailants were killed in two other incidents. A police spokeswoman said two men used automatic weapons to shoot at officers stationed on the Damascus Gate plaza, a busy entrance to the Old City and the scene of many previous violent incidents, and they responded swiftly and shot both men. Israeli police examine the body of a Palestinian in Jerusalem on Sunday. Credit:AP Multiple rounds of gunfire could be heard on amateur video footage taken during the incident late in the evening, with traffic, including a commuter bus, stopped nearby. There were no reports of other casualties. Earlier, the Israeli army said troops shot and killed two Palestinian teenagers who were throwing stones at cars in the occupied West Bank after coming under fire from one of the teenagers. Tokyo: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she will use high-level meetings in Tokyo to push for greater cooperation on global and regional security matters with the Japanese government, as the international community grapples with a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Middle East, heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula and a rising China's increasing assertiveness in disputed territorial waters. The shifting geopolitical backdrop prompted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to force through changes to his country's pacifist constitution last year, allowing Japan's troops to potentially fight abroad for the first time since World War II a move welcomed by Australia and the United States, but roundly denounced by China. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, centre, with her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and Defence Minister Marise Payne in Sydney in November. Credit:Getty Images The strategic value offered by deepening the security relationship is also a key factor behind Japan's pitch to build Australia's $50 billion fleet of new submarines, with sections of the Japanese media characterising Australia as part of the Abe government's putative Indo-Pacific "security diamond", which also includes the United States and India. Ms Bishop said she expected the subject of submarines to be raised at each of her respective meetings with Mr Abe and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani on Tuesday, and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday night. Consortiums from France and Germany have also lodged bids. The moment sends a chill down the spine of many Cambodians. Early on the morning of April 17, 1975, battle-hardened young fighters of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla army began silently filtering into the capital Phnom Penh, which had been besieged for five months. Cambodian actor Tep Rindaro played US-backed leader Lon Nol. Credit:Facebook Many city dwellers cheered, hoping it would be the end of a civil war that had cost half a million lives. But it was to be the beginning of a four-year nightmare that left an estimated 1.7 million people dead from starvation, disease or execution as the Khmer Rouge emptied cities and tore up money in a disastrous attempt to create an agrarian utopia. Manila: The jewellery of late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos' widow Imelda will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Experts estimate the baubles are now worth at least $30 million. Flamboyant former Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos, gestures during a news conference following her acquittal on corruption charges in 2008 in Manila. Credit:AP The hoard was seized by the Filipino government when Marcos and his family fled to Hawaii in 1986 after a popular revolt that ended his two decades in power. Tired of what she considers the government inserting itself into women's private lives, a Kentucky lawmaker has decided to return the favour. Louisville Democrat Mary Lou Marzian has introduced a bill that would force men who want to use erectile dysfunction drugs to jump through a series of humiliating hoops beforehand, such as visiting a doctor twice and getting notes from their wives. Mary Lou Marzian, a member of the Kentucky General Assembly, is putting fellow legislators' family values to the test. Credit:Kentucky State Legislature "I want to protect these men from themselves," Ms Marzian, who is a nurse, said. "This is about family values," she added. Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.He blogs as an advocacy to help the country in making itself known as a prime tourist destination to help highlight that it is really more fun in the Philippines.Follow him @ Wazzup Paducah Police looking for woman accused of allegedly stealing $6,600 in merchandise from Wal-Mart Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 14, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 14, 2016 | 09:33 PM | PADUCAH, KY A representative from the National Endowment for the Arts will be in Paducah on March 4 to present a workshop about the availability of federal grants for the arts. Michael Killoren, Director of Local Arts Agencies and Challenge America with the NEA, will conduct the workshop beginning at 9:00 am. at the Commerce Center in the Paducah Bank Room, 300 South 3rd Street. The Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce and Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau are sponsoring the workshop. At NEA, Killoren is responsible for the grantmaking processes for Local Arts Agencies (LAA's), developing partnerships to advance the LAA field as a whole, and the Challenge America program. Prior to joining NEA, Killoren had previously served as director of Seattle, Washingtons Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, a cabinet-level position, from 2002 through 2010, where he led the city department's funding and public art programs, developed policy initiatives to increase public access to arts and culture, and established a groundbreaking partnership to restore arts education in Seattle Public Schools. He was Seattle's first director of cultural tourism for Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau, where he launched an initiative to promote the region's cultural assets. Killorens workshop is primarily geared towards the grants for non-profit organizations but anyone or organization interested in learning more is welcome to attend. He will focus on the NEA grants available and the application process. This will be an interactive workshop with time allotted for Q&A. This workshop is a result of a meeting held with NEA during the local community leaders trip coordinated by the Paducah Chamber each fall to DC. The Chambers annual DC Fly-In has helped Paducah foster a strong relationship with leaders at the NEA, said Mary Hammond, Executive Director of the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau. That continuing connection has presented this great opportunity for Paducahs arts and cultural organizations to pursue more grant applications through NEA to help maximize the impact of the arts on our community. Advance registration is suggested by contacting the Paducah Chamber at info@paducahchamber.org. For more information, contact the Chamber at 270-443-1746 or the Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau at (270) 443-8783. Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world How long has the Kevin Spacey Foundation (KSF) been running? It began in 2011 with Richard's Rampage, the yearlong education counterpart to The Old Vic's Richard III staring Kevin in the title role. It offered hundreds of young people, and emerging actors, the opportunity to work with Kevin and see the production for free. In the end we travelled to eight countries and across three continents. Has the organisation changed since then? Now we enable the creation of new work by emerging artists by offering them the financial means and mentoring needed to succeed as our KSF Artists of Choice. We also partner undergraduates with world-class universities for the duration of their study through our scholarship program. And our bespoke education projects increase aspiration and impart best-practice teaching techniques. One such education project saw us selecting a company of 34 actors from 12 countries across the Middle East to develop and perform with us in Sharjah UAE, which was pretty extraordinary. The Kevin Spacey Foundation Artists of Choice Awards applications are now open, what is it that people can apply for? We offer 10,000 in the UK or $10,000 in the USA and Canada towards a theatre, film, dance or musical theatre project. It should be something in development that would benefit from funding and mentoring to enable it to get to the next stage or to supplement an already secured grant. How else does the Kevin Spacey Foundation hope to help artists? The financial injection is great news, but the money is just part of it. Last year we were lucky enough to have an extraordinary panel of high profile industry figures from the different disciplines, many of whom went on to mentor the projects that we awarded. KSF also support them year-round, advising them on how to sustain the project or secure more funds or a venue etc. So the funding is important, but it's equally important to us that we continue to be there for the projects throughout the year. Kevin Spacey in workshop Who were the people awarded the grants last year? In the UK the dance award went to Southpaw Dance Company and their project Speakeasy, already brilliantly supported by Dance City in Newcastle. Theatre was won by Offstage Theatre for Re:Home, which is about to open at The Yard. Chris Bush and Matt Winkworth won for musical theatre and Broken Hearted Youth for their film Rage. We also awarded five companies in the USA which you can read about on the KSF website. What does it say about Kevin Spacey that he's so passionate about this sort of cause? That he understands the importance of sending the elevator back down', which is the Foundation's motto, taken from something Jack Lemmon used to say to describe the importance of mentoring. You can see that very much in the MasterClass.com series we recently completed which will be available in Spring 2016 where Kevin shares some incredible insights into acting and the industry in general. What are you looking for in applications? We're looking for people that are really committed to an idea and committed to making a piece of work in an already competitive market. They should really understand that it's not enough just to have the creative idea: you have to have a view of where it might be performed and who'll watch it. It's also good for us to understand the support around the project. Are there any other funding streams in place or venues that already have committed? Is there a great director who is already attached? Steven Winter, executive/creative director of the Kevin Spacey Foundation What are you most proud of achieving at the Kevin Spacey Foundation? We're probably most proud of the diversity of the offer from mentoring to funding, to scholarships and work in schools often finding those that might not ordinarily access the arts. Kevin Spacey has moved on from the Old Vic now has that changed the Foundation in any way? It's not really changed, it's perhaps more transatlantic but other than that it's really just about trying to continue the work that he and I began at The Old Vic. Watch the interview below with last year's Kevin Spacey Foundation Artists of Choice "I've trawled theatrical history, from the classics to the long forgotten, in search of a play with a brilliant female lead." So says the actor-manager Thomas Killigrew in Jessica Swale's play Nell Gwynn. "And what have you found?" "Nothing." This, bluntly put, is the problem facing theatre right now: how to achieve gender parity on stage (and off) when the vast majority of extant plays are dominated by male characters? For every one line Shakespeare wrote for a woman, he wrote almost five more for men. It is a pressing issue. A new campaign the Equal Representation for Actresses 50/50 by 2018 aims to rectify it within two years. Rufus Norris has pledged the National Theatre to manage it in five across the organisation as well as onstage. To address Thomas Kelligrew's question, there's been a new wave of female-led Shakespeare. Tamsin Grieg will play Malvolia at the National and, praise be, Glenda Jackson will return to the stage as King Lear months after bemoaning the imbalance herself. In the summer, Shakespeare's Globe will refocus and rename Cymbeline as Imogen, allowing its true protagonist top billing, while in New York, Phyllida Lloyd will return to The Taming of the Shrew with Janet McTeer and Cush Jumbo. Women have played these parts before, but by and large, only one per generation All this is brilliant and a source of real hope. Last week, a leading young classical actor told me that her career prospects had been completely reshaped. As well as Lady Macbeth and the Lear daughters, she was looking ahead to Hamlet and Henry V. Jump ahead to old-age, where the parts really dry up, and instead of Volumnia and Lady Montague, you get Falstaff and Prospero. Harriet Walter as Brutus in Julius Caesar Helen Maybanks The worry is, however, that this is a passing fad. Artists are driven by novelty always have been, always will be. They live to break new ground. A wave of women playing great male roles is a brilliant thing, but unless it becomes the new norm aside from fashion and novelty it leaves us back where we started. Women have played these parts before, but by and large, only one per generation. It's taken 20 years for Kathryn Hunter's wheelchair-bound Lear to find a female successor and yet that part remains the pinnacle for every great male actor. This year alone, there are four: Don Warrington, Michael Pennington, Timothy West and Antony Sher. Equality, that is not. Will we see another female Hamlet so soon after Maxine Peake? Will another actress get a shot at Malvolio post-Greig? Let's not look at breaking barriers especially barriers that have already been broken at that. Let's look at lasting change. It is there. It's now standard to see women in supporting male roles even supposedly masculine ones like John the Bastard though more often unnamed than named, and even then rarely more than one per production. Equally, all-female companies routinely measure up to their all-male counterparts today. The real effect of these high-profile female leads, I suspect, will be their trickle-down influence. Even if we don't see a mainstage female Hamlet for a while, I bet there'll be plenty in schools and amateur groups. Change the way we watch theatre, the things audiences accept without fuss, and you open the way for genuinely meritocratic casting. That, in turn, can trickle up as women gain the experience to match their male counterparts. Then, the question is whether the big parts will be permanently open to them. That's why, if we're really serious about gender parity, the answer has to lie in new plays with great female roles. Loading... Nell Gwynn? Shoe-in. Transferring to the West End from Shakespeare's Globe, Jessica Swale's comic reclamation of the Restoration stage star and royal mistress is a failsafe bet. A romp with a point to make, it pulls off a tricky balancing act, mixing Carry On-style gags with a forthright feminist message. It's down to Gemma Arterton, taking over the title role from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, to sell such lighthearted, lightweight fare and she does so winningly, with just the right blend of charm and cheek. Swale's bioplay is unapologetic in kicking factual accuracy into touch. Fun triumphs every time. Gwynn gets a neat rags-to-riches, girl-done-good narrative. But the trick is that we're rooting for her throughout, from the moment she gives up hawking oranges stageside for an impromptu turn in front of the footlights at Drury Lane, all the way through to her ill-fated affair with King Charles II. That you forgive her forgetting her roots, leaving her gin-soaked mother and impoverished sister to struggle by on Cheapside, is a measure of the airbrushing Swale's done. Gwynn becomes nothing less than a feminist icon even as she accepts the luxuries of a royal mistress. With "actor-esses" on stage for the first time, she's more than just a star turn. She's a campaigning spirit, a stage sufferagette come 200 years early. Not only does Nell refuse to become to a "tupenny peepshow" act, she rejects the most canonical female roles, all naively written by men. "Juliet," she huffs adamantly, "is a noodle." It's a very contemporary debate, echoed by the recent Twitter feed listing limp female roles in Hollywood scripts, and it's smart of Swale to treat it so saucily. The two could so easily cancel one another out, smut and sisterhood. Instead, they take the edge off each other. Swale's play seems to tut at its own cheek, at the same time as it scoffs away any earnestness. Arterton plays the balance gamely, just shy of flirting with her audience. With every double entendre she gives us a look that's very nearly schoolmarmish. Christopher Luscombe's production catches both the strangeness and the sincerity of the Restoration stage, with demonstrations of how to strike the attitudes or talk with one's fan that are both insightful and amusing. Jay Taylor is a striking leading man as Charles Hart, dropped when David Sturzaker's King comes knocking, and Greg Haiste instils oodles of comic glee as the troupe's resident female impersonator, desperate not to be replaced by the real deal. Hugh Durrant's luscious designs, his opulent lacey costumes and fuzzy spaniel wigs, push for lavish spectacle, but Swale's play never really convinces you of theatre's necessity. It's fun, albeit over-familiar, but it's featherweight. Nell Gwynn runs at the Apollo Theatre until 30 April. Further to our story on the launch of Epson's Ecotank printers in September last yearIn 2010, the company foresees even higher demand in the home and office markets for this new breed of printer. The popularity of Epson's high-capacity ink tank printers is fueling demand for large ink bottles, which are used for ink refills. An Epson manufacturing affiliate in Indonesia is supporting this supply by increasing ink bottle production so that customers never have to worry about running out of ink. High-capacity ink tank printer unit shipments (as of January 31, 2016 Producing ink bottles of stable quality at high speed requires automated solutions. Foreign-owned companies in Indonesia usually bring in people from outside Indonesia to automate their factories. The automation effort at Epson's ink bottle production site in Indonesia, however, is being led by local employees who know the local manufacturing processes and situation best. Having local personnel intimately involved in automating processes is an advantage because it allows us to continuously improve production lines and to strengthen our long-term manufacturing capabilities. An Ecotank printer with the tanks on the right hand side Local employees began working with machine tools in around 2010 and have gradually accumulated knowledge and expertise in production automation. This proved to be a boon to ink bottle production, where they succeeded in sharply increasing productivity by closely observing line operations and then automating tasks. Among the many tasks they automated were the weighing of ink, the attachment of ID labels to ensure traceability, and the bottle capping process. Epson has programs in place to develop the technical skills and deepen the manufacturing acumen of employees. Among these are skills certification programs and a training program in which Indonesian employees are sent for an extended period of time to train at Epson's ink cartridge development and production sites in Japan. These programs have also enabled Epson's local employees to contribute in various ways to the development of human capital in Indonesia. For example, as workplace leaders they provide technical instruction and mentorship to others. They have also taken charge of educating interns from technical high schools. Some have even served, at the request of the Indonesian government, as judges at technical skills Filling the tanks from the bottles Employees automating a production line competitions for high school students. Programs such as these that promote the development of local employees are demonstrably strengthening manufacturing capabilities and will lead to improved productivity in the future. Says the leader of the local production engineering team, "I am proud to be of service to our customers around the world by designing and building sophisticated automated systems that raise productivity. Going forward, I will strive to continue to improve our production processes, develop our younger people, and raise the technical skills of the team with the ultimate objective of providing our customers with a stable supply of high quality products into the future." Epson Australia www.epson.com.au Who's afraid of 'chao ah beng'? Overseas universities use Singaporean literature to teach In a classroom in the mediaeval city of York, northern England, university students discuss the use of Singlish terms such as "chao ah beng" and Singapore's history and socio-political context. They are studying poet-playwright Alfian Sa'at's poem, Singapore You Are Not My Country, which has been taught in a global literatures module at the University of York for the past three years. From Britain to the United States and India, more texts by Singaporean writers like Boey Kim Cheng, Arthur Yap, Edwin Thumboo and Stella Kon are being taught at universities across the world, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Singapore texts are picked for the quality of writing and potential appeal to students internationally, says a Cambridge International Examinations spokesman. On the reading lists AUSTRALIA NYU Sydney (New York University) Balli Kaur Jaswal: Inheritance (2013) Boey Kim Cheng: Between Stations (2009) Edwin Thumboo, Arthur Yap: selected poems BRITAIN School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Stella Kon: Emily Of Emerald Hill (1989) Alfian Sa'at: sex.violence.blood.gore (1999, with Chong Tze Chien), Malay Sketches (2012) - selected short stories The University of York Alfian Sa'at: Singapore You Are Not My Country (1998) CANADA University of Calgary Arthur Yap: selected poems INDIA University of Mysore & University of Kerala Edwin Thumboo: Ulysses By The Merlion (1977) The New College, Chennai Edwin Thumboo: The Exile (1977) Sardar Patel University Kirpal Singh: To A Visitor To Singapore (1997), Change (2000) HONG KONG Community College of City University Edwin Thumboo: selected works UNITED STATES West Virginia University Alfian Sa'at, Arthur Yap and Wong May: selected poems CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS O-LEVELS/IGCSE Literature in English syllabus Boey Kim Cheng: Reservist (1992), The Planners (1992) Amanda Chong: lion heart (2006) World literature syllabus Jean Tay: Boom (2009) At least 10 universities have introduced Singaporean texts in recent years, often in global literature courses. Dr Claire Chambers, 40, a lecturer in global literatures at the University of York, said Alfian's poem is the first South-east Asian text that she has used in the module, which has an enrolment of 250 students. The poem, introduced to her by a British student, is taught alongside works by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe and Booker Prize-winning British Indian author Salman Rushdie in a class on how English became the world's lingua franca. Dr Chambers said the text was chosen because of its "witty, innovative and hybrid language usage". "(Alfian) Sa'at introduces non-Anglophone words and concepts, and puts together words in an expressive portmanteau style," she said. Mr Kwabena Opoku-Agyemang, 32, a doctoral candidate at the English department of West Virginia University in the US, saw parallels in Singapore texts and literary work from his native Ghana, which he included for a module on non-Western literature last year. "(Singapore's founding prime minister) Lee Kuan Yew had a connection with Ghana around the time of our independence... with Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah talking about a letter of solidarity he received from him after our first coup in one of his books. Since we were both colonised, there was a lot of cultural and historical similarity," said Mr Opoku-Agyemang, who was introduced to poems by Arthur Yap, Alfian Sa'at and Wong May by a Singaporean colleague. A number of works by Singaporean authors have also been included in the international O-level Literature in English syllabus and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) syllabus in recent years. Boey's poem The Planners has been tested from 2013 to 2015, and will be used in 2017 and 2018. Another poem, Reservist, will be examined from 2017 to 2019. Lawyer Amanda Chong's poem lion heart will be tested from this year till 2019. Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) administers both exams. A CIE spokesman said the texts are usually chosen based on suggestions by teachers at Cambridge schools worldwide, and that the Singapore texts were picked for the "quality of writing and potential appeal to students internationally". Catherine Lim's Or Else, The Lightning God And Other Stories, used in 1989 and 1990, was the first Singapore book to be selected for the exams. Students from 10,000 schools in 160 countries take the CIE. Australia-based Boey, 50, said Singaporean literature has become more visible due to the mobility of Singapore writers and frequency of reading tours overseas. "As to how books travel, and how Singapore voices are being heard in remote places, I like to think that there is an element of serendipity, something fortuitous in the way a reader picks up a book (and) is so struck by it that he/she makes it a mission to pass the news." However, Singaporean writer Koh Jee Leong, 45, who runs the biennial Singapore Literature Festival in New York, where he is based, lamented the paucity of interest in local literature in Singapore. He said: "I think it's a shame that Singaporean literature is increasingly being read, even studied, abroad, but that Singaporeans themselves have been so reluctant to embrace our own writers." Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/02/2016 (2440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA To hear Ban Ki-Moon tell it, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus rapprochement with the United Nations was nothing short of the return of the prodigal son. But the Conservative opposition says the UN secretary generals flattery of Canadas new Liberal prime minister may have had a political motive getting more support for some UN agencies and programs that the Harper government defunded. During his visit last week, Ban displayed an unabashed fondness for both the style and substance of Trudeaus performance as an emerging international statesman. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon take part in a joint news conference in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament hill in Ottawa, Thursday February 11, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Ban made it clear on numerous occasions during his two-day trip to Ottawa and Montreal that he was wholeheartedly embracing Trudeaus call to bring the country back to the United Nations. Conservative deputy foreign affairs critic Peter Kent said Bans effusive praise may have been a play for more UN funding for the environment and peacekeeping, as well as for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which helps Palestinians. The Conservatives cut UNRWA funding because they alleged it had ties to Hamas, which Canada lists as a terrorist organization. UNRWA has denied the charges. It does seem clear he was trolling for new UNRWA funding, Kent said Monday. He may have asked that Canada re-engage with some of the UN committees and agencies that our government left because they were unworthy of time or money. International Co-operation Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Canada may indeed consider refunding UNRWA. The channel of communication is opened, she told CTVs Question Period on Sunday. Were evaluating the situation. And the decision will be taken shortly. Kent said the opposition will be looking for more specifics from the Liberals in the coming days. Roy Rempel, an ex-defence adviser in former prime minister Stephen Harpers office, said he believes Ban intentionally used Trudeaus were back slogan as a way of positioning himself to be able to ask for more from Canada going forward. Last I checked, our mission in New York was still there and we were still one of the top 10 contributors to the UN budget, he said. That was the case under the Harper government, and I presume it will remain so under the new government. Trudeaus spokesman Cameron Ahmad said Ban was legitimately highlighting Canadas invaluable contributions to the UN, in particular in spearheading real action on climate change, and sustainable development, and in bringing global attention to humanitarian crises. Ban declined an interview while he was in Ottawa. But during his visit, he suggested that his admiration for Canadas new leader was rooted in his own childhood experiences in war-torn Korea. In addition to praising Canada for taking a leadership role at the Paris climate change talks late last year, Ban repeatedly thanked Trudeau for his decision to admit 25,000 Syrian refugees. Ban recalled fleeing his own burning village in South Korea when he was six years old in 1950. It was the start of the Korean War. Many brave Canadian soldiers came to Korea, and there were a lot of sacrifices, but on the basis of these sacrifices of Canadians and United Nations peacekeepers, Korea was saved from aggression, Ban told high school students at Ottawas Glebe Collegiate. Thats why Im standing before you as the secretary general. Ban said when he travels the world meeting refugees and displaced people he feels a personal connection to them. I will tell them the same story: I was you. Do not despair. Ban also gave hearty endorsements to Trudeaus policies on refugees, the environment and something else his decision to make himself his own minister of youth, something no other world leader had done, Ban said. Ban told the high school crowd that half the world is under age 25, and that they were among its largest and most influential demographic. Raise your voice. You may challenge your prime minister, your minister, your principal, your teachers, Ban said, seated next to Trudeau. Tell them . . . this is my world; make this world better for us. This is your prerogative right. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/02/2016 (2440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Air carriers should be allowed to share information about unruly passengers to help keep the skies safer, Canadas largest airline says. A carrier can ban people with a history of disruptive behaviour from taking further flights with that airline, Air Canada notes in a submission to the federal government. But legislation does not permit airlines to exchange information about passengers, even when they believe them to be a safety risk to others. An Air Canada jet takes off from Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield, N.S. on Thursday, March 8, 2012. Canada's largest airline says carriers should be allowed to share information about unruly passengers to help keep the skies safer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan In the submission to a federal review of the Canada Transportation Act, Air Canada says safety should always be first and foremost. A report flowing from the review likely to include some recommendations about air safety is expected to be made public in coming weeks. An Alberta man was charged in late December after a flight attendant was injured on an Air Canada flight to India. The plane had to turn around and head back to Toronto, where it was met by police. World airlines reported 9,316 cases of unruly behaviour in the skies in 2014 or one incident for every 1,289 flights, according to the International Air Transport Association, an industry group. That same year, more than 100 members of the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, adopted a new protocol that would extend jurisdiction over an offence involving an unruly passenger to the destination country, not just the country of aircraft registration. If the protocol is ratified, this measure would close a loophole that has allowed many serious offences to escape legal action, the air transport association says. The civil aviation organization has provided airlines with a four-tiered scheme of threat levels to help gauge the seriousness of a disruptive passenger: Level One Disruptive behaviour (verbal); Level Two Physically abusive behaviour; Level Three Life-threatening behaviour (or display of a weapon); Level Four Attempted or actual breach of the flight crew compartment. Air Canada says carriers should be allowed to share information with other carriers about travellers involved in Level Three or Four incidents. This practice would help to ensure the safety of other passengers and the safe operation of the flight, as well as reduce costs associated with returning passengers with a history of disruptive behaviour, the airlines submission says. Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said Monday the airline had no additional comment. The federal privacy commissioners office said it was unaware of Air Canadas sharing proposal, had not studied the issue and could provide no comment at this time. Follow @JimBronskill on Twitter Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/02/2016 (2440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WASHINGTON One of the earliest influences on Antonin Scalia was a Sicilian-born father who applied a particular philosophy to the scholarly task of translating poems from Italian: Learn the original poets point-of-view, and dont muck it up with new ideas. A biographer of the just-deceased Supreme Court justice cites his father as one of several sources for the philosophy that helped Scalia shape American legal history. The biography, Scalia: A Court of One, quotes the elder Salvatore Eugene Scalia, a scholar of romance languages, warning fellow translators against covering old meaning in shiny linguistic paint. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks during a news conference in New York in this Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005 file photo. Scalia helped reshape the American judiciary with a philosophy that had multiple influences. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Chad Rachman (The translators) most eminent quality is the rare faculty of reproducing the lyric vision of a poet, the elder Scalia is quoted writing. He must always seek to transfer bodily the image from one language into another without sacrifice of glow or warmth, and not attempt to reconstruct it with dictionary in hand. Its like a manifesto for judicial originalism. Scalia brought that legal philosophy from the margins to the forefront of American civic life, based on the belief that modern-day judges should hew as closely to the U.S. Constitution as it would have been understood by the public in the 18th century. Biographer Bruce Murphy cites several influences on the judge, including his dad. Others were Scalias deep religious faith, and frustration over the 1960s modernizing and abandoment of Latin-language mass by the Catholic Church. Finally, as an editor of the Harvard Law Review in the 1950s, Scalia was exposed to emerging conservative writers like William F. Buckley and legal thinkers like Herbert Wechsler who promoted judicial self-restraint. He stewed over the perceived activism of an Earl Warren Supreme Court that approved abortion; de-segregated schools in a decision Scalia said he supported, but found flawed; and affirmed rights for criminal suspects. Scalia helped push back. He was one of the original 1982 founders of the Federalist Society the conservative legal group now flush with donations, and with 45,000 participants, 196 chapters in U.S. law schools, and three members on the Supreme Court. In Canada, it has two chapters. An expert on Canadas judiciary says that approach is mostly shunned north of the border. Emmett Macfarlane says the quasi-consensus in Canadian law schools and courtrooms is that legal texts should be reinterpreted to fit the times. Youd never have a Canadian Supreme Court judge refer to themselves as an originalist, said Macfarlane, a professor at the University of Waterloo and author of Governing from the Bench: The Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Role. Law schools in Canada are homogenously moderate-to-left-of-centre Theres less ideological diversity. Canadas dominant theory uses the living-tree metaphor constitutions should grow with time, and be reinterpreted through contemporary eyes. Same-sex marriage is a textbook example. The Charter of Rights guaranteed equality based on religion, race and sex courts later extended that to sexuality and marriage. The living-tree metaphor comes from a landmark 1929 decision that granted Canadian women status as people. The British Privy Council cited the writings of former prime minister Robert Borden and said: The (1867 Constitution) planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion. To Scalia, that kind of decision-making is undemocratic and tyrannical. But Scalia and his dad could take heart even in Canadian rulings, there are traces of the originalist method. One example is a 1994 case involving drinking-and-driving. A more recent case involved the eligibility of Marc Nadon to sit on the Supreme Court. The verdict examined parliamentary debates from 1875 leading to the Supreme Court Act. The Supreme Court does dabble in originalism and probably more than Canadians might realize, Macfarlane said. Another scholar says one of the best-known liberals on Canadas Supreme Court consistently used originalism. In rights-expanding rulings of the 1980s and 90s, Bertha Wilson leaned on one stated intention of the framers of the 1982 Constitution that judges have latitude to interpret rights, says Adam Dodek of the University of Ottawa. Two reported originalists on the Ontario Court of Appeal, appointed by Stephen Harper, have even argued it was the dominant philosophy of Canadian legal thinking until Pierre Trudeau. In writings before they became judges, Grant Huscroft and Bradley Miller argued that the 1929 living-tree reference had gathered dust until it was later misinterpreted and abused by a future generation of jurists. Americans have their own debates about the origins of originalism. Jack Balkin of Yale says its a recent, uniquely American phenomenon. He says mid-century conservatives rebelled against big government and Roosevelts New Deal, seizing upon the countrys special reverence for that founding generation that overthrew British rule and wrote the Constitution. But in a retort, George Mason Universitys Ilya Somin said many countries jurists seek clues for original intention. He also argued that originalism goes way back, pointing to one of the most disgraceful moments in American history: the 1857 Dred Scott decision, where the Supreme Court quoted the Founding Fathers and agreed African-Americans were non-citizens and undeserving of human rights. Scalia was often confronted with such examples and with his own contradictions. Legal scholars pointed to his approval of search-and-seizure policing that might have mortified the founders. My burden is not to show that originalism is perfect, Scalia once said. But it beats the other alternatives, and that, believe me, is not difficult. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/02/2016 (2440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Several U.N. human rights experts urged the United Arab Emirates on Monday to immediately release a Canadian man and four others who have allegedly been tortured over the last year and a half. The call came as Salim Alaradis trial proceeded at the U.A.E. Federal Supreme Court, where the Canadian businessman of Libyan origin has pleaded not guilty to three terror-related charges. It was also timed with the publication Monday of an opinion by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which examined the cases of Alaradi and his fellow detainees late last year. Canadian Salim Alaradi and his son, Mohamed Alaradi are shown on a family vacation in the United Arab Emirates in a 2013 family handout photo. .N. human rights experts are calling on the United Arab Emirates to release a Canadian man and four others who they allege have been tortured while being detained over the last year and a half. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO The 13-page opinion cited advocates for the detainees alleging that the men had been deprived of sleep for up to 20 days, beaten on the hands and legs and suffered electric shocks with an electric chair. Some had been hung with a rope around the neck or had faced constant death threats with guns being placed at the head, it added. The five-member working group which produced the opinion is neither a court nor a tribunal and has no power of enforcement. It can call countries and their leaders to account based on their own commitments to international conventions. The groups conclusions were referenced in a statement issued Monday by leading U.N. experts who asked the U.A.E. to respect the rights of the detained men and release them unconditionally. We have received credible information according to which the detainees were tortured and forced to sign confessions, UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Mendez, said in the statement. The suspects have been also allegedly held incommunicado in secret detention locations and in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time. This is very troubling as it reinforces the risks of being tortured or ill-treated. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health further noted that most of the detainees suffer from serious health conditions, including permanent loss of sight and hearing and risk of paralysis, due to alleged torture and minimal access to medical care. The experts said a reply from Emirati authorities about the detainees cases was unpersuasive. Alaradis Canadian lawyer called the statement truly exceptional. This is the most significant action we can get from the U.N. human rights system, said Paul Champ. It really corroborates and supports what weve been saying all along, which is that this legal process and these charges have really been a sham and really a cover up for Mr. Alaradis abuse and torture. Champ added that Alaradis family hoped international pressure and attention on the case would lead to charges being dropped. Alaradis case was briefly in court Monday, where his family said a judge agreed to a forensic medical exam for the 48-year-old before adjourning proceedings to Feb. 29. Alaradi learned only last month that he was charged with funding terrorist organizations, supporting terrorist organizations, and co-operating with terrorist organizations. Two specific groups the February 17 Brigades and the Libyan Dawn were named in connection with his charges. Champ has emphasized that Alaradi has not lived in Libya in over 25 years and is not politically involved in his former country. The start of Alaradis trial in January was nonetheless seen as a sign of progress for the man and his family, who had previously received no explanation from U.A.E. authorities for his continued detention. Global Affairs Canada has said Canadian officials at very high levels have raised concerns about Alaradi with U.A.E. authorities, adding that the Canadian government is working to ensure a prompt and just resolution of the case. Alaradi was running a business in Dubai when he was abruptly arrested in August 2014. He was born in Libya and immigrated to Canada from the U.A.E. in 1998, settling in Vancouver with his family. He decided to return to the U.A.E. in 2007 to run a home appliance business with his brother. He and his family were on vacation within the U.A.E. when he was arrested. Amnesty International has noted that Alaradi was among 10 men of Libyan origin detained in the U.A.E. at the same time. Some of those men have since been released. The U.A.E. was part of the NATO-led coalition that ousted longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 and has taken a keen interest in the countrys future since. with files from the Associated Press. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/02/2016 (2441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Seriously, youre going to climb that thing? Not only voluntarily, but youll pay to do it? Dude, that ice wall looks higher and scarier and slipperier and craggier and even more like totally straight down than The Wall on Game of Thrones. Trevor Hagan / Winnipeg Free Press A climber tackles the ice tower at Club D'Escalade de St-Boniface near the Festival du Voyageur park Sunday. But climb it they did, with gusto and relish and huge ice picks and boots full of enormous spikes, more than 20 people trying out the ice wall on Messager Street just outside the gates of Festival du Voyageur at $20 a climb. That is a workout and a half! exclaimed Tony Torka after performing his because-its-there moment and returning safely to the frozen turf below. Its exertion, right? laughed Torka, having climbed the ice wall in about eight steady minutes. The St. Boniface chapter of the Alpine Club of Canada has been building the ice wall every winter since 1996, dousing the structure constantly with water for up to a month to create a few precious weeks of what it boasts is the highest such structure in an urban setting in the western Hemisphere. One member said Sunday its 60 feet high, another said 20 metres whatever, its high. The ice is one to five feet thick, explained member Paul Hrynkow. We use three telephone poles to create a framework for a summer climbing wall, which transforms each winter into an ice wall. We have the water going 24 hours, he said. Good years these people define good as unbelievably frigid it can take a couple of weeks, and hold up from late December to the end of March. With the weather so bad this year what most of us would call wonderfully mild it took four weeks to get it to freeze properly. Torka is a cable guy who climbs as part of his job, and has done some climbing in the Rockies. Sunday was his first try at an ice wall, and he was pumped Paul Hrynkow, you might want to talk to him about membership. Its been a long time coming, Torka said. Down below, his partner Erin McKenzie shot the whole adventure on her cell phone. Hes an adrenalin junkie. Weve done a lot of wall climbing, McKenzie said. She wasnt sweating it, McKenzie said: No, he knows what hes doing. Torka was attached to a rope the whole way, anchored at the top of the wall, and held by a club member on the ground, while other members of the group watched his every move. One piece of advice appeared initially to be somewhat rude, until the supervisor repeated that Torka was to Move your axe! Once atop, Torka needed a leap of faith he had to remove his picks and accept that the person on the ground would have the rope in hand as he bounced down the side on the descent. Acknowledged McKenzie: Its always the coming down thats the nervous wreck part. Torka allowed that his legs did most of the work. The arms are just there for support, he said. There are some not so good holds, halfway up. Torka said, yes, first time out, it takes some trust to let go at the very top. You have to inherently trust your belay person, he said. Trust indeed. Member Therese Dube said proper equipment can easily run two grand: ice picks go for $600 a pair, boots $500, crampons the fierce spikes for your feet that look like a T-Rexs dentures are at least $200, proper pants, ropes, gloves; they add up fast. The club members open the site up to the public each Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. as long as conditions allow; Thursday and Friday evenings, people with at least some experience can come out. Dube said there are six routes up the wall to provide some variation; members do the climb half a dozen times or more each day its in operation. Inside is a series of ladders and small platforms leading up to the top, where the ropes are attached. Hrynkow expected more than 20 people would get their first taste of climbing the ice wall Sunday. As for those of us for whom the second rung of a step ladder while changing a light bulb is an exercise in terror, Torka had some sage wisdom: If youre afraid of heights, dont do it. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Historical romance author Julie Klassen will visit the Winona Public Library on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. to discuss her 2015 Minnesota Book award-winning book, "The Secret of Pembrooke Park." Klassen has authored 10 titles, including the recently released "Painters Daughter." She worked in publishing for 16 years (first in advertising, then as a fiction editor) and now writes full-time. Klassen graduated from the University of Illinois and enjoys travel, research, BBC period dramas, long hikes, short naps and coffee with her friends. She and her husband have two sons and live near St. Paul. Question: Is it legal to hitchhike in Minnesota? Answer: Minnesota State Statute 169.22 states No person shall stand in a roadway for the purpose of soliciting a ride from the driver of any private vehicle. A roadway is defined as a portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the sidewalk or shoulder. If a pedestrian is off the roadway (shoulder or ditch) technically, they could solicit a ride from a person driving a motor vehicle. It is important to mention that no pedestrian is allowed on or along the freeway (including the shoulder and ditch). There is serious concern for pedestrian safety with vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed; along with the possibility of distracted and impaired drivers. In addition, picking up a hitchhiker carries a certain amount of risk. I believe you should use common sense and good judgment in these situations. It comes down to these crucial factors personal safety and traffic safety. A woman was injured Sunday night after rolling her vehicle on state Hwy. 248 in Winona County. Alexandra K. Stevens, 18, of Eyota, Minn., was westbound on the highway shortly after 11:30 p.m. when she lost control of her Chevy Cavalier on an icy patch of road, causing the vehicle to roll, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Stevens suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening and was transported by ambulance to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, the Patrol said. The Winona County Sheriff's Department and Altura Ambulance assisted at the scene. On a typical Friday morning, Daryl Anne Stangl is found with a book in hand, facing a group of engaged children, encouraging them to make sound effects as they repeat after her or act out a characters quest. As a Winona Public Library aide in the childrens department for five years, Stangl specializes in adventure whether acted or imagined. Stangl does more than weekly story times for kids. She helps children and families find appropriate books, inspires young readers and flexes her creative muscle to create widely attended childrens programming. In October, she organized a Star Wars-themed childrens event that had about 50 kids in attendance. Stangl grew up in Bethlehem, Penn., but Stangls husband is from Winona and they always planned to raise their kids in the area. Stangl and her husband lived in Bethlehem for 12 years, and returned when their son was going into kindergarten. Stangl has one son, 10, and a daughter, 7. Her hometowns local public library played a large role in her development, she said. When Stangl was young, story time was much different: quiet, less innovative, less engaging. Since she co-organizes Winona Public Library story times, she said she strives to make the experience of the kids today the opposite. Stangls story time Friday morning not only included reading a book about musical beats out loud, but getting her audience further engaged by playing music makers and coloring notes on a music staff. She incorporates these activities, she said, because it helps children explore what they enjoy. Its not just about hearing the words. Its about saying them, dancing them, understanding the words, she said. Thats what I like to provide more of a full experience. Before Stangl moved to the Winona area, she was a naturalist for a New Jersey county park for 12 years. During that time, she created public outdoor programming. She taught canoeing and kayaking, created an environmental art program involving local schools, and created an annual scavenger hunt-type event that encouraged local families and youth to explore community public buildings and outdoor activities. During that time, Stangl also headed a project called See America that ran annually several years. She took a group of seniors each year to a different state and learned about environmental issues around the country. One year her group went to North Dakota from New Jersey, learned about prairies and tracked black-footed ferrets, an endangered species. Other years included trips to Maine, Georgia, Washington, Kansas and Arizona. At the core of Stangls passion is a desire and love for adventure, whether that is found in nature or in between the pages of a good book. Lezlea Dahlke, the librarys director and previous youth services director, said Stangl is a dynamic employee because she knows the library collection so well. Stangl said she reads most of the books in the childrens department because she wants to know the material shes recommending. As a result, shes able to specialize book requests to each family, especially for those struggling to get their children interested in reading, said Dahlke. Stangls background in outdoor education also helps her incorporate those interests in the librarys programming, she said. She often brings an environmental aspect to her programs, Dahlke said. Shes just pretty joyful and truly loves spending time with kids and sharing books with kids. In the coming months, Stangl is excited for the Dr. Seuss Read Across America program on March 5 and for a Sherlock Holmes-themed investigation program in the fall. In the next 20 years, Stangl hopes to retire, sell her house, buy a trailer and travel the country with her husband, she said. They want to check out national parks and revisit one of their favorite places, San Diego. Until then, Stangl wants to continue inspiring children to explore and adventure. She said she hopes to always be working with community youth. Ive always been young at heart, she said. Its fun to fulfill (childrens) lives and have them fulfill mine. She often brings an environmental aspect to her programs. Shes just pretty joyful and truly loves spending time with kids and sharing books with kids. Lezlea Dahlke, Winona Public Library director Now let me get this straight: According to certain scions of conservative ideology, the best and only help the poor need to help empower themselves is such based on a model of self-help. Preferably of a mutual, peer-centric, people-centred (hence, non-governmental) model rather than "wasteful and ineffective" state-based models prevailing; the better, we understand, to hasten the return to self-reliant and "productive" lives. Which may be all right in theory ... but in practice, how many such self-help models have actual track records of results, not actors parroting from scripts in fundraising infomercials? Are there actual, peer-reviewed, empirically-tested case studies proving that mutual self-help models are best equipped at moving the poor into employment sooner than state welfare, never mind Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson's dogma that "religion is necessary as a check on science"? And would such mutual self-help models actually emphasize practical solutions over the ideologically-driven such conservatives prefer in this respect (including such expected to emphasize "spiritual need" over the practical, such as jobs training, jobs search, housing and life skills)? Such questions will want to be asked of your neighborhood conservative zealot and True Believer insisting that the Lower Classes need to get off welfare and back to work all the more, never mind where many such lack the will to work because of circumstances not of their making, let alone "lack of healthy character," as is the pet canard conservative propagandists insist on deploying. There are many ways to measure the Greater Sauk County Community Foundations growth. In 2004, the Baraboo-based nonprofit administered eight funds. Today it manages 60. It started with a few modest funds containing tens of thousands of dollars. Today its funds add up to $4 million. And now, after being chartered by volunteers in 1998 and run by part-time Executive Director Karen Sacia since 2004, the Community Foundation is taking on full-time staff. Robin Whyte will begin her tenure as associate director March 1. She will help Sacia shoulder the Community Foundations workload, serving as her apprentice until Sacia retires from the organization. We all knew Karen would want to step down at some point in the near future, board President Tom Fleming said, noting that identifying and training a successor has been a key component of the bodys long-range planning efforts. We made that our top priority. Fleming said he thought the search process might be a protracted one. That is, until he heard from Whyte, the Baraboo Public Librarys former development director. The skill set needed for Karens position is quite unique, Fleming said. In addition to experience as a fundraiser, Whyte is a former private business owner and a former assistant to Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. Whyte said working with the Community Foundation will utilize her fundraising, business administration and public relations skills. I love that this particular job fits my skills and experience, she said. While under Sacias tutelage, Whyte will help woo prospective donors, oversee administration of funds and publicize the Community Foundations efforts to improve Sauk County communities. Philanthropists interested in supporting charities can do so without going through the time and expense of setting up a 5013 of their own by establishing a fund with the Community Foundation. I want everybody to know about this foundation, Whyte said. Sacia said she welcomes the help, and cant help but get wistful watching the organization take a big step forward by adding full-time staff. She plans to stay on board to celebrate the Community Foundations 20th anniversary in 2018. Its like watching your child grow up, she said. We had great dreams for this organization, and theyre coming true. The board has charged Whyte with building the Founders Society endowment fund and establishing funds specific to local communities. For example, a Reedsburg Fund could be used to collect money to meet needs in that city. Whyte also plans to focus on outreach. With another hand on deck, the Community Foundation plans to continue growing. I feel incredibly honored to be the recipient of the trust that went into this decision, Whyte said. Baraboo chiropractor Angela Zolper says she wasnt surprised that a mission to bring health care to Africans ignited the passion inside her to continue to help others. Anybody can be an agent for social change. My vehicle is chiropractic, Zolper said. Zolper was part of a two-week mission trip in Januray to Kenya, Africa, where she joined two other chiropractors and five medical doctors to provide care through Dreamweaver International, a nonprofit organization that provides education, health care and compassionate community development programs focused on ending poverty around the world. Zolper, who represents HealthSource Chiropractic in Baraboo with her husband, Michael, said she had heard about the mission trips at a conference. It was something I was already aware of and I knew it was something I wanted to do, she said. Twice per year, over the past four years, chiropractic and medical doctors have made the journey to the area to give the underprivileged at least some health care. During her trip, Zolper taught yoga, sang songs with, and adjusted a group of children, whose ages ranged from 5 to 8 at the Kimana Christian academy. She provided care for adults and also adjusted a baby who had been born prematurely. That baby, Aaron, had been born at 28 weeks, weighing 900 grams. He was not expected to live. Most babies are expected to die if they are born anything under 32 weeks, she said. They have three incubators and one of them works, thats only when the electricity works. Daily electrical outages, mounds of garbage in the street and an extremely underfunded hospital were some of the surprising parts of the trip, she said. Zolper said she experience in Kenya has inspired her to be more active in her home community. My goal here at home will be to reach into the community more to provide both education and outreach to disadvantaged kids and to provide my form of health care where I can, she said. According to the groups website, www.dreamweaver911.org, it is easy to donate to help the people of Kenya and the funds go to the people that need it most. Only a small percentage of all donations are appropriated towards administration and operating costs, the site states. Our board members are non-paid and operate on a volunteer basis providing their time, talent, and resources. Zolper encourages people to donate what they can. For $35, somebody can buy a child the two uniforms they need for a school year, she said. Because this is an area that has such great needs, anything and I can say with absolute assurance, the donations are used wisely and directly benefit the people they are meant to go to. It wasnt supposed to work out this way. After the perils of the Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire was supposed to be a safe haven for Hillary Clinton. This is the state that brought her husband back from the political dead in 1992. This is the state that resurrected her own political campaign in an upset win over candidate Barack Obama in 2008. And New Hampshires the state where Hillarys previous friends and supporters were supposed to rally behind her once again to crush Bernie Sanders and propel her forward into the upcoming cascade of primaries. Except it didnt work out that way. Bernie Sanders crushed her instead by a stunning 60-38 percent margin, beating her among men and women, young and old. The only two voter groups Hillary won were people over 65 and those making more than $200,000 per year. There were several factors behind such a humiliating defeat. Yes, it helped that Bernie comes from neighboring Vermont though not nearly as much as the Clinton camp claimed, and only in certain northwestern parts of the state, not in the vote-rich, Massachusetts-oriented south. Clinton also was handicapped by the fact that 44 percent of New Hampshire voters are independent, or undeclared. By their very nature, they tend to favor the outsider in any race. Plus, 30 percent of Granite State voters were different from 2008: either they had come of age or had moved into the state since. Hillary was a stranger to them. The combination of those factors certainly contributed to Clintons lopsided loss. But they were far outweighed by the no. 1 factor: Sanders message resonated with New Hampshire voters, and hers did not. For many, among those both inside and outside the Clinton campaign, that raised the obvious question: How should Hillary adjust as she moves on to more friendly territory in Nevada and South Carolina? That speculation was fueled by an article by Politicos Glenn Thrush and Annie Karni, forecasting an imminent shake-up in the Clinton campaign. Citing 10 sources inside or close to the operation, Thrush and Karni reported that both Hillary and husband Bill were so frustrated by their razor-thin win in Iowa and their failure to connect in New Hampshire that they were determined to make some big staffing changes immediately after the Feb. 9 primary. Clinton immediately denied the rumors, but that only raised the question: If not, why not? Because what theyd been doing so far clearly wasnt working. The first thing she needs to do is chill. The odds are still strongly in her favor to become the Democratic Party nominee and the next president. There still are 48 states to go. No time to panic. Second: Call off the dogs. Stop the daily string of attacks on Bernie Sanders and tell your surrogates, starting with your husband, to do the same. They make you look like just another politician. And, besides, theyre just not credible. Two examples: You accuse Bernie of running a smear campaign by questioning your independence from Wall Street because youve raised so much money from financial institutions. Yet you accuse him of being in the pocket of the NRA because he voted against the Brady Bill. Both are legitimate questions. Neither is a smear. Drop it. Or the latest charge, perhaps the silliest of all: That Bernies actually the one who cant be trusted to tackle Wall Street because he once accepted $200,000 in campaign funds from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Oh, really? That presumes that every dollar of DSCC money comes from Wall Street firms, which is not true. And it invites more scrutiny of the $21.4 million in campaign contributions youve received directly from hedge funds, banks, insurance companies and other financial services firms, as reported by the Washington Post. Drop it. Third piece of advice: Be positive. Do what you do best: Talk about your own vision, where youd like to take this country as president, and how youll fight for the American people. Instead of saying, No, we cant, start saying, Yes, we can. It worked in 2008. Itll work again in 2016. The Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee has met just seven times in 13 months this legislative session. Thats a pretty light load. According to its website, the committee has a wide open schedule for the remainder of the year. Not a single meeting is listed. So theres plenty of time and opportunity in the coming weeks for a public hearing on the Iowa model for nonpartisan redistricting. Good government groups, newspaper editorial boards and citizens across Wisconsin have been calling for such a hearing for years. The committees chairwoman, Rep. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, should finally make it happen. She told the board of Common Cause in Wisconsin she would allow such a hearing. She should keep her word and schedule a hearing soon on Assembly Bill 328. The bill would mirror Iowas time-tested and fair process for drawing congressional and legislative voting districts after each major census. We can start with a hearing on the redistricting, Bernier told Common Cause on Feb. 21, 2013, according to a WisconsinEye recording of the event. A Common Cause board member specifically asked her: Will you do it? Bernier responded: I see no problem with that. Just one problem: Bernier still hasnt scheduled a hearing nearly three years later. A public hearing would allow lawmakers and the public to discuss in a serious and thoughtful way how best to ensure a fair redistricting process following the 2020 census. Bernier seems to agree the current system of letting top lawmakers draw the maps is flawed. There has to be a better way, she told Common Cause leaders in 2013. AB 328 mirrors the successful and popular Iowa model for drawing voting district lines once every decade. Instead of top politicians and their expensive lawyers huddling in secret to carve voting districts into odd shapes for political advantage, Iowa assigns the delicate task to a nonpartisan state agency with strict requirements for drawing districts as compact and contiguous as possible. No gerrymandering or special favors for incumbents of either party are allowed. The Iowa model boosts competition for seats, giving voters of all political persuasions more choice on ballots. It also costs far less money, saving taxpayers millions in lawyers fees. Bernier and her committee have shown they can act quickly when they want to. Last October, they held hearings and endorsed a complicated overhaul of the states campaign finance laws, as well as a bill to dismantle the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board. Bernier rammed those unfortunate proposals through her committee in just days, no doubt hoping to limit scrutiny. Then the full Legislature sent them to the governors desk the very next month. Now Bernier is sitting on a bill that actually would improve state government practices, rather than polluting them with more money and partisan scheming. Her committee should hold a hearing and get the facts. Let supporters tout the benefits. Let critics identify their objections. Thats the way the legislative process is supposed to work if only Bernier would allow it to. City of Portage residents will decide on Tuesday which two of the four mayoral candidates will advance to the spring non-partisan election ballot on April 5. But all Columbia County residents will have an opportunity to cast a vote in a statewide primary, to narrow the field for a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice from three to two. In either case, voters need to bring photo ID to the polls. Here are some questions and answers about Tuesdays primary. Who are Portages mayoral hopefuls? The four people who want a three-year term as mayor of Portage include the current mayor, Bill Tierney, who is seeking his second consecutive term; Alderman Rick Dodd, who represents the citys Third District; Alderwoman Rita Maass, who represents the citys Ninth District; and John Morauski, a business owner. Why is the city of Portage having a mayoral primary? By state law, a primary must be held if more than two people declare candidacy for an available office. The top two vote-getters in the primary will advance to the April 5 spring non-partisan election. So, do I vote for two candidates? No, mark your ballot for just one candidate. When are the polls open? Polling hours statewide are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If youre in line to vote at 8 p.m., youll get to vote even if its past 8 by the time you get to the voting booth not a likely scenario in an election that is expected to have sparse turnout. Where do Portage city residents vote? In the Municipal Building at 115 W. Pleasant St. Are there any other local primary elections in Columbia County on Tuesday? No. What other primary elections are on the ballot for Columbia County voters? Just one. Voters will choose which two of three candidates for justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Rebecca Bradley, Joe Donald or JoAnne Kloppenburg will be on the April 5 ballot. At the primary, each voter will be invited to vote for one, and the two that get the most votes statewide will advance to the April election. How can I be sure that I have the proper photo ID to vote? According to Kevin Kennedy of the Government Accountability Board, the body that oversees Wisconsins elections, most people already have photo identification that is valid for use at polling places. Be sure to bring your ID with you to the polling place and be prepared to present it. Valid IDs include: A Wisconsin DOT-issued driver license, even if driving privileges are revoked or suspended. The license need not have your current address on it. A Wisconsin DOT-issued identification card. A Wisconsin DOT-issued identification card or driver license without a photo issued under the religious exemption. Military ID card issued by a U.S. uniformed service. A U.S. passport. An identification card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Wisconsin. (May be used even if expired before the most recent general election.) The following types of ID also are accepted at the polls, provided they are not expired: A certificate of naturalization that was issued not earlier than two years before the date of an election at which it is presented. A driving receipt issued by Wisconsin DOT (valid for 45 days). An identification card receipt issued by Wisconsin DOT (valid for 45 days). A photo identification card issued by a Wisconsin accredited university, college or technical college that contains date of issuance, signature of student, and an expiration date no later than two years after date of issuance. Also, the university, college or technical college ID must be accompanied by a separate document that proves enrollment. A citation or notice of intent to revoke or suspend a Wisconsin DOT-issued driver license that is dated within 60 days of the date of the election. I dont drive anymore. How can I get a DOT-issued ID card? You can get an ID at any Division of Motor Vehicles office. The office in Portage is at 260 Eastridge Drive, and its office hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. The DOT provides free state ID cards for voting. Can I get an ID even if I dont have my birth certificate? Yes. If you have documents to prove your identity and your Wisconsin residency, you should be able to apply for an ID. Any number of different documents can satisfy these requirements, including an expired drivers license (with photo, and expired for 8 years or less), a marriage certificate, a copy of judgment of divorce, W-2 form, Social Security card or pay stub that lists your Social Security number. Documents that can be used to prove your residency include a utility bill or a bank account statement, as long as it has your current address on it. Imagine the horror of being wrongly imprisoned for a heinous crime you didnt commit. In Wisconsin, that has happened to an estimated 40 people in the past 25 years. In addition to setting the person free, how much financial compensation will the state provide for that crushing error? The maximum is $25,000 an embarrassingly low amount. A bill that has passed the Assembly and will be considered in the Senate would increase the payout to $50,000 a year, to a maximum of $1 million, plus provide additional assistance to the wrongly convicted. While the state could never truly return those years behind bars, the additional compensation is long overdue. Sadly, theres a component of the legislation that we cant agree with and its troubling on more than one level. The legislation would require the court to seal all records of the criminal case involved in the wrongful verdict and remove records from the states online court records database if the wrongfully convicted person requests it. While that may seem like the fair thing to do, it is not. It isnt fair to the victim. It isnt fair to the rest of us. Our judicial system isnt perfect, but its the best system we have. Mistakes happen. Juries and judges can get it wrong. And, with the increasing use of sophisticated technology, new evidence can change the result of a case. We should all have the right to know about and examine the cases in which errors occur. Democracy can be a messy business. Having the ability to openly scrutinize that public business regardless of the branch of government is a crucial tenet of democracy. Lets also consider the person who was wrongly imprisoned. On the surface, sealing all records of the criminal case may seem like a humane approach. The legislation allows records sealed under this section shall be accessible to the person but may not be available for public inspection or through the consolidated court automation program case management system. But after all the publicity involving a criminal conviction, what happens if the person cant refer a friend or a prospective employer to the court record either in the court file or the digital record through the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, known as CCAP, to prove that the conviction was in error? You cant expunge all of the information about the conviction from Internet searches, so why would you seal the record that proves innocence? Why doesnt the state in bold words listed on court records and on the online court files let everyone know that the person was wrongfully convicted of the crime and has been released from custody because of the error? That truly is the most humane way to treat the person who was wrongly convicted. And its the most transparent way to admit that justice isnt always accurately served. Me, my car, the road, and the cars I wish I could build. USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers The USDA announced a program to provide $1.3B in debt relief for about 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on loan payments or face foreclosure. Understanding the slave trade on the Loango Coast More than one million slaves were traded during 18th Century on the Loango coastline. Dr Stacey Sommerdyk, a Canadian postdoctoral fellow in the Wits History Department, is happy to give anyone who is willing to listen, a lesson on the history of the transatlantic slave trade of the 18th Century. Sommerdyk, who comes from the Great Lakes area in Canada, completed her PhD on the Trade and Merchant Community of the Loango Coast in the 18th Century at Hull University in the United Kingdom before moving to Johannesburg to continue her research. More than one million slaves were traded during the period on the Loango coastline, which is now split between the Angolan Province of Cabinda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sommerdyk is currently undertaking a careful examination of the records of the Dutch Middelburg Commercial Company (MCC) to identify the African slave traders on the Loango coast. Working through the transaction records of 10 000 slaves that were sold to the MCC, Sommerdyk has identified 640 African slave traders who operated in the area during the 18th Century and early 19th Century. These slaves were transported across the Atlantic on 32 voyages to be sold in the slave trade in the Americas. Among them were three pregnant women who all gave birth during the crossing. All three women and their children survived. In studying the records, Sommerdyk found that the political leaders of the time were not active in the slave trade. Instead, they appointed a person to regulate the trade on their behalf. This person, with the title Mafouk, not only regulated the trading but did the bidding, negotiations and selling and also took a cut from each transaction. In the end, the Mafouk became one of the most powerful men in the community, often overshadowing the political head. So, the question that arises is why did the political head not take part in the trading? By appointing someone to do it on his behalf, he actively undermined himself, says Sommerdyk. The government structures were centralised at the time so the political head could stop trading at any time but they rarely did. Another question that arises is whether religion was a reason for the political leader not taking part in trading, she says. Sommerdyk says the Congolese government is currently in negotiations with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in order to get historic recognition for some of the slave trading sites in the country. A Blog about [1] Corporate Governance issues in Malaysia and [2] Global Investment Ideas College presidents declare commitment for a service year Service summit: W&M President Taylor Reveley addresses the crowd gathered at the Presidents Summit for the Service Year at James Madison University on Feb. 9. JMU photo Service summit: First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe addresses the attendees. JMU photo Service summit: Drew Stelljes, assistant vice president for student engagement and leadership at William & Mary, participates in a panel discussion at the summit. JMU photo Service summit: W&M President Taylor Reveley (third from right) participates in a discussion at the event. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption The following article was originally published on the James Madison University website and has been modified for a William & Mary audience. - Ed. Service is a part of your DNA, First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe remarked as she welcomed guests to the Presidents Summit for the Service Year at James Madison University on Feb. 9. William & Mary President Taylor Reveley and other campus leaders participated in the event, which built upon the Virginia Governors Higher Education Presidents Summit on the Service Year held at W&M in October 2015. {{youtube:medium:left|pP7INZ0a1kM, Virginia Governor's Higher Education Presidents' Summit on the Service Year}} In reading aloud the mission statements of many of Virginias higher education institutions, McAuliffe noted that the majority sought to mold enlightened citizens who are engaged with the world. She then asserted that a service year would formalize the application of these ideals and visions. The Service Year Alliance has three goals: create one million service year positions, incentivize young people to participate in service, and make national service a rite of passage and an expectation. Public service, they believe, will connect people to something bigger than themselves and develop true citizenship. Service has long been one of William & Marys defining characteristics, and I know that is true for many of the Commonwealths other colleges and universities, said Reveley. We had a very promising day of discussions at William & Mary in the fall, and it was good to see our momentum continue at JMU. The idea of a service year as a common commitment among young people has great potential, and we are very interested in seeing if flesh can be put on the bones of the concept. Virginia universities have been a dedicated partner in this movement and have an essential role to play in the creation of service opportunities and the incentivizing of service with academic credits and potential financial aid. The summit culminated with the signing of a compact formally declaring commitment to the service year by presidents and provosts from James Madison University, William & Mary, Averett University, Eastern Mennonite University and Blue Ridge Community College. Other college presidents will be invited to sign the compact. The compact seeks to include public, private and community colleges and allows for a great deal of flexibility in the ways in which educational institutions use their student bodies, community partnerships and resources to construct a service year experience. Because service is already so deeply embedded into higher education, the initiative also aims to employ advanced data collection techniques to audit existing service opportunities, identify thriving programs and measure progress towards shared goals. Along with Reveley, other William & Mary representatives at the event included Drew Stelljes, assistant vice president for student affairs, and Karen Kennedy Schultz '75, a member of the Board of Visitors. The summit at James Madison allowed us to build on the ideas generated at the governor's summit at William & Mary, said Stelljes. As we continue to build momentum for the service year, we are working together to develop best practices for the role of higher education in this national movement. In the coming months we'll bring on new partners and colleges will be piloting their own service year programs. James Madison University, a national model for the engaged university, was an ideal host for the convening. At William & Mary, the service-year concept is embodied in the Community Engagement Fellowship Program, which allows graduates to spend a year in service to the Greater Williamsburg community. Four fellows are currently serving with the program. Just spend three minutes with the graduate fellows who serve in the Office of Community Engagement to be wowed by the benefits [of having service year positions at W&M], said Schultz. Each of them speaks of the growth that they have experienced with being in community, planning, organizing, writing, meeting new people, serving and helping others to serve. Each of our four graduates has his or her own area of engagement as well as inspiring countless students and community members to reflective service and greater understanding of the needs of the community. Service is in the bones of William & Mary, Schultz added, and the service year is the embodiment of what the university wants to see from incoming students and graduates. Look at the mission of W&M, she said. Service is embedded not only in the mission but the strategy, vision and goals of our schools and departments. Not only is it a good fit it is W&M. As higher education leaders from across the state prepared to return to their respective campuses, Jonathan Alger of James Madison University shared his hope that all will work to continually reflect on how service impacts our fundamental missions, and envision the tremendous impact that a service year would have on the future of citizenship. Virginia has also taken the lead as the first state in the nation to be designated an Employer of National Service. Dorothy McAuliffe commented that Gov. Terry McAuliffe would like to make Virginia a leader in the implementation of the service year, and develop a model for application that can be used by other states. The wrap-up and announcement of the next steps by First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe and JMU President Jonathan Alger served as a continuing energy and expectation for the questions, Just how far can we go? and Lets get this done, said Schultz. The let's get this done determination is inspiring, she continued. Our institutions of higher education are of a wide variety of size, scope, demographics, funding, and geography. The planning coming out of this summit is inspiring and visionary in that the implementation must be flexible enough to embrace the wide scope of mission statements and communities, yet robust and substantive enough to allow the crucial nature of service to be experienced in its myriad of possibilities. To learn more about the service year, visit: www.franklinproject.org. Welcome to Line Danci Read more [...] Sixteen local officers were honored Monday for going "above & beyond" in their efforts to prevent domestic violence. The YWCA, along with community leaders, praised the officers for their work with the Lethality Assessment Program, which aims at preventing domestic violence homicides. When officers respond to such calls, they go through an 11-question screening with the victim. Based on the answers, they encourage the victim to use a shelter, counseling, or other support services. The officers honored were from South Bend, Mishawaka and St. Joseph County. "The officers have screened more victims, together, in St. Joe County than the rest of the entire state of Indiana has done," explained Linda Baechle, CEO for YWCA North Central Indiana. "It shows that there is a huge risk to victims in our community, and these officers help the victim identify that very real risk and show concern for her safety and help her with developing a safety plan." The South Bend and Mishawaka police departments adopted the LAP protocol in January of 2015. St. Joseph County followed in late fall. The following officers were honored Monday: South Bend Police Department Patrolman Matt Napolitan Patrolman Travis Kukla Patrolman Charles Rothy Patrolman Darrin Tucker Patrolman Jarveair Bourn Patrolman Sienna Valdez Patrolman Luke Pickard Patrolman Kevin Gibbons Patrolman Randall McMurray Patrolwoman Anne Hayes Mishawaka Police Department Patrolman Jeffrey Grzegorek Patrolman Franklin Ennis Patrolman Tyler Heckaman St. Joseph County Police Department Patrolman Aris Lee Corporal Anthony Bradburn Corporal Christopher Lawson-Rulli China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. French regulator given additional oversight powers 15 February 2016 Share France's nuclear regulator, the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire (ASN), will get additional oversight powers under a number of decrees published by the French government last week. Published in the Official Journal on 11 February, the decrees are in line with the June 2006 law on transparency and security in the nuclear field (the 'TSN Act') and introduces several changes under the energy transition law passed last August. Through the decrees, ASN will have additional tools to strengthen its effective oversight of nuclear installations. In particular, it will have the ability to supervise safety-related work carried out by subcontractors. It will also have the power to impose fines for serious safety breaches and to set daily penalties when faced with a lapse requiring extensive work over a long period. The new legislation also allows the ASN to adopt a regime with a graded approach between authorization and declaration. It also creates an easement for the public applicable to sites contaminated by radioactive substances. In addition, ASN has also been given responsibility to control the protection of certain sources of ionizing radiation - including those used in industry - against malicious acts. The regulator said it identified this as an area lacking oversight some years ago. The decrees also enhance transparency by extending certain disclosure requirements by operators of all the risks and hazards that their installations can pose. ASN said the work to translate the legislation into regulatory provisions has already begun and will continue in the coming months. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics UK scientists present 'groundbreaking' radwaste research 15 February 2016 Share Scientists using the UK's synchrotron science facility - Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, England - have presented their research into radioactive waste containment at the world's largest science conference - the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting, held on 11-15 February in Washington DC. In a statement yesterday, Diamond Light Source Ltd said this work may help to inform the UK's policy on radioactive waste disposal. Diamond Light Source works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to produce bright light that scientists can use to study anything from fossils to jet engines to viruses and vaccines. Claire Corkhill from the University of Sheffield is using Diamond's Long-Duration Experiment (LDE) facility to study the way that cement - an important material used in the storage and disposal of radioactive waste - reacts with water as it becomes hydrated over a period of hundreds of years. Corkhill said the research that the University of Sheffield is doing at Diamond is "ground-breaking", and its findings could help to "shape future approaches" to radioactive waste disposal. Key to the UK's strategy for disposal is the plan for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). Under this plan, highly radioactive waste, immobilized in cement would be interred deep underground. "But it's important that we anticipate exactly what impact this approach could have on the surrounding environment," said Diamond's director of physical sciences, Trevor Rayment. "Some of this waste can take hundreds of thousands of years to decay to safe levels, and so scientists are trying to uncover the long-term result of interaction between radionuclides and their surroundings over these long timescales - that's where the Diamond synchrotron becomes particularly important." Rayment added: "Timescales are crucial when it comes to nuclear research. Any facility expected to contain highly radioactive waste will need to remain functional for an extremely long period of time. Until recently, it's been impossible to use synchrotron light to study interactions that take place over extended timescales. But, in a world first, Diamond has engineered a long-duration experimental facility that allows users to study sample behaviour in the intense detail afforded by synchrotron light but over a two year period: much longer than has ever before been possible." According to the statement, Corkhill has discovered that a new cement material for the GDF, developed by her research team, forms a number of mineral phases known to absorb highly radioactive elements, such as technetium-99. Corkhill said: "Armed with the knowledge that these phases form, and knowing how quickly, supports the use of our new cement material in the GDF. We hope that these results will influence the design of the GDF and help improve its long-term safety." She added: "The pattern of peaks identified in cement essentially act as a 'fingerprint' telling us which cement minerals are present. The really exciting thing about using the LDE facility is that we are able to obtain very high resolution, time resolved patterns, something that is not possible using a normal laboratory instrument." Among the institutions using analytical tools at Diamond for research into nuclear energy, the University of Manchester is exploring radioactive contamination of the environment both inside and beyond the UK's planned GDF. The University of Bristol is studying the fallout from the Fukushima disaster and opportunities to improve the radioactive waste clean-up process. The Manchester group is using one of Diamond's spectroscopy beamlines, B18, to study how radionuclides, including transuranic materials, which arise from nuclear processes, combine and interact at the atomic level with natural minerals and microbes in the earth. Bristol recently used one of Diamond's spectroscopy beamlines, I18, to study the residual contamination left over from the Fukushima nuclear accident that took place in Japan in 2011. An understanding of contamination of this sort on a molecular level can help to better understand how to manage and contain radioactive waste, according to the statement. Diamond is a not-for-profit limited company funded as a joint venture by the UK government through the Science & Technology Facilities Council in partnership with the Wellcome Trust. The synchrotron, which is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus near Didcot, is free at the point of access through a competitive application process, provided that the results are in the public domain. Over 7000 researchers from both academia and industry use Diamond to conduct experiments, assisted by about 500 staff. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Girl Scouts in the Southern Appalachians Council have sold well over 1 million boxes of cookies and theyre finally arriving. Tractor trailers packed with cookies will be unloaded at multiple Chattanooga-area drop sites on Monday. Workers will race to sort orders and fill waiting volunteers vehicles with the cargo.Customers will begin getting their cookies within days. Booth sales are Feb. 26 March 20, and cookies are $4 per box. Customers can find a cookie booth in their neighborhood at GirlScoutCookies.org or by downloading the mobile cookie finder app.Finding cookies booths has never been easier, said Heather Hatmaker, director of revenue for the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians.Go to girlscoutcookies.org , enter your zip code and see all the booth locations, dates, and times in your area.Customers may also purchase boxes of cookies to be delivered directly to members of the U.S. Military through Operation: Appreciation. Last year, customers donated more than 16,000 boxes in appreciation of the armed forces service and sacrifice, while supporting Girl Scouts.Girls in the local council sell an average of 221 boxes and raise more than $1 million annually directly for their troop treasuries. All profits stay within the council area. Girls use their earnings to fund learning adventures, trips, community service projects, and more. Council proceeds provide essential services to girls and volunteers.Gluten-free Toffee-tastic cookies will be available at select cookie booths in limited supplies. The rich, buttery cookies are packed with toffee bits. Other cookies varieties are: Thin Mints: chocolate wafers covered in even more chocolate with natural peppermint oil Samoas: chewy cookies packed with caramel, coconut, and chocolate Tagalongs: crispy cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with chocolate Do-si-dos: crunchy oatmeal sandwich cookies with creamy peanut butter filling Trefoils: traditional shortbread cookies Rah-Rah Raisins: hearty oatmeal cookies with plump raisins and Greek yogurt-flavored chunks Savannah Smiles: crispy, zesty lemon wedge cookies dusted with powdered sugar Russian ICBMs are being retooled and repurposed into meteoroid destroying machines Russian scientists have repurposed the countrys surplus of intercontinental ballistic missiles for a greater threat: asteroids and falling meteorites from space. According to Tech Times, a Russian news report agency has revealed that a team of researchers are embarking on a project to convert ICBMs into Earth-defending projectiles capable of destroying any near-earth objects (NEOs) that might threaten the immediate safety of the planet. Meteoroids, giant space rocks from asteroids orbitting the sun, are a primary target for the ICBMs. Portions of asteroids occosionally break off and are inadvertently hurled toward Earth. Some of these space rocks make it through the atmosphere and thats when problems can arise. One of the most recent examples of a meteoroid making it through the atmosphere and down to Earth was when a space rock impacted the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on Feb. 13, 2015. The space rock exploded 18 miles above the surface of the planet and the resulting shock injured around 1,500 people. An asteroid called 99942 Apophis is believed by researchers to have the potential to pass dangerously close to the planet by 2036. NASA has ruled out the possibility of this happening, but the Russians arent too sure. Because of this, they are choosing to invest in their ICBM conversion plan. The conversion process requires the team to change the way the missiles work. Typically, missiles are to be fueled ten days before launch attacks such as the ones that the ICBMs would be used for were to be planned out far in advance. In order to destroy or avert meteoroids, the fueling process has to be changed. The Russian government is working in tandem with the scientists behind the project in order to reconfigure and repurpose the missiles. Keena Vinell Crawford By: Chan Yuan A mother of Georgia, was unhappy when she learned that her young daughter was pregnant. However, she was furious when her teenage daughter informed her that she was impregnated by the man her mother was dating. 49-year-old Keena Vinell Crawford allegedly had sex with the girl while he was her motheras boyfriend. The couple is no longer together. The mother told police that she learned about the illicit relationship after receiving a text message from her daughter, saying that she believed that she was pregnant. When her mother questioned her about the father of the child, she admitted to having sex with her motheras former boyfriend. Police were called to the Georgia Regents University Hospital to take a report of rape of a 15-year-old girl. Hospital staff said that the girl is 16 weeks pregnant. Crawford was arrested on charges of two counts of child molestation and one count of statutory rape. The last charge suggests that the girl was not forcefully raped, but was not legally able to consent because of her age. Woman using her phone (illustration) By: Feng Qian Police are looking for a man who beat his wife to death because she ignored his phone calls while he was out drinking with his friends, police in Zimbabwe said. Masvingo police said that Timothy Chiminya, allegedly used a sharp object to strike his 23-year-old wife Delight Mutuvira. Chiminya fled from the scene of the murder, and he remains at large. According to the police investigation, around 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, Chiminya came home and confronted his wife about not answering his phone calls. Mutuvira claimed that the phone was charging and she didnt hear it ringing. Chiminya grabbed a sharp object and hit his wife over the head several times. He then fled from the scene. Neighbors who heard the commotion rushed over to the home, and found the woman lying on the ground with severe injuries to her head. The woman was taken to the Masvingo General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Katherine Davies, founder of iguacu (igwah-soo), is visiting Chattanooga Feb 16-18 to gather messages for peace in Syria from the American public. Katherine will deliver them by hand to the Special Envoy in charge of the peace talks in Geneva. Ms. Davies is walking more than 600 miles from London to Geneva this March to raise awareness of the plight of the Syrian people and to deliver the messages for peace. I have met many people frustrated about the relentless suffering of the Syrian people, and how the parties to the conflict just keep perpetuating the war. I invite all Americans to take a moment to write in their own words their desire for peace in Syria and for the suffering of the Syrian people to end.iguacu, is a non-profit which "helps Americans give effectively overseas and act on their compassion with confidence." An extensive network of area experts informs iguacu of recommended actions to the public.Officials said, "In Syria, iguacu's network recommended supporting the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and raising awareness of the dire circumstances of the Syrian people. The humanitarian crisis in Syria is staggering:The conflict has killed more than a quarter of a million people and led half of the population to flee their homes.There are more than 13 million people in need of humanitarian assistance including six million children.Two million children are out of school and one in four schools are damaged, destroyed, or occupied."Katherine is speaking to the public in Chattanooga to invite everyone to write their own messages for peace. It is an opportunity to stop and express ones compassion for the plight of the Syrian people and to urge an end to their suffering."How the public can send their message4peace: Post message at www.message4peace.com Tweet message with #message4peace Post it on Facebook with #message4peace Hand it to Ms. Davies, or send it via post to iguacu 1-45 Durham Street London SE11 5JH United Kingdom Have a Food Adventure With Launch of Tasty New Challenge This article is old - Published: Monday, Feb 15th, 2016 Locally sourced produce across the region is to be the focus of a new eating challenge which will see 14 eateries across North East Wales compete to be crowned winner of the ultimate dish. To celebrate the start of Wales Year of Adventure the Destination Wrexham Team have launched the event, which challenges local eateries to create a dish made totally from produce available across North East Wales. Backed by Visit Wales, the challenge aims to showcase the rich variety of great food available in the region, whilst also tempting locals and visitors to have their own food adventure by trying a cafe or restaurant that they might not have been to before. The event follows on from the success of the popular Wrexham Burger Challenge and Erddig Apple Challenge which took place across the County Borough last year. Over the next four weeks, the 14 eateries who are all Tourism Ambassador businesses for the region will receive two mystery shoppers each and be scored on how they promote their dish and also the local food which they are serving. The eateries taking part in the challenge are The Holt Lodge Hotel, The Ramada Plaza Wrexham, The Lemon Tree Bar, Restaurant and Hotel, Barratts at Tyn Rhyl Boutique B&B, The Druid Inn, Bellis Brothers; The Cross Lanes Hotel, Afonwen Craft & Antique Centre, The Alyn, Rossett, The Buck House-Hotel, One Planet Adventure Coed Llandegla, The Trevor Arms, Cleopatras Coffee Shop & Bistro and The Royal Oak. Wyn Roberts, manager at the Royal Oak in Bangor on Dee was part of the team which won the Wrexham Burger Challenge in 2015. Wyn said: The Royal Oak really benefitted last winter from taking part in the Wrexham Burger Challenge as it attracted lots of new customers to the restaurant. Winning the challenge was a real bonus, and in the last year we kept the burger on our menu and have literally sold hundreds of them. Therefore, when the Destination Wrexham Team launched another food challenge, it made sense for us to enter again and already this week weve had new visitors in each evening trying the dish. Touch wood, well have the same success with it as we did last year too. As with the previous two food challenges, the three teams with the best results and customer feedback will take part in a cook-off in March to determine the winning dish. As a prize, the winning eatery will then have the opportunity to showcase their dish at the Wrexham Food Festival and possibly other regional food events later in the year. Joe Bickerton, project manager for the Destination Wrexham Partnership added: The Year of Adventure is all about challenging yourself to do something new and that may be something as simple as trying a new dish from a menu. Tourism is really on the up in this area and a big part of that is down to the quality of the restaurants that we have in the region and the food that they serve. This challenge is not just about giving visitors a taste of the area, but it also encourages our chefs to build new relationships with local producers too. Whats really exciting is how quickly this has taken place and importantly, the quality and thought in each dish has been brilliant. What we really hope happens now is that we get some great feedback from the public on these dishes and that each restaurant has the chance to get repeat customers once the competition ends. The North East Wales Food Challenge is on now and each venue will serve their dish daily until Sunday 6th March. Advanced booking is recommended at most of the venues. More about the various meals available at each of the venues can be found here. Kevin Michael Vinyard, 42, of Oakland was arrested and charged with threatening the life of a judge. Special Agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation worked alongside investigators from the Fayette County Sheriffs Office before making the arrest. On Sunday, at the request of 25th District Attorney General Mike Dunavant, TBI Special Agents began investigating allegations of threats against a Fayette County judge. During the course of the investigation, agents developed information that Vinyard made more than 100 threats against the judge in text messages. The investigation further revealed Vinyard made the threats in response to a previous incarceration, which Vinyard attributed to the judge. On Sunday, agents, with the assistance of sheriffs deputies, arrested and charged Vinyard with one count of retaliation for past action, one count of assault, and one count of harassment. He was subsequently booked into the Fayette County Jail on $1,000,000 bond. On February 8, German President Joachim Gauck embarked on a five-day journey to Nigeria and Mali. His trip is entirely in line with Germanys campaign to expand its economic and political influence in Africa. Accompanying Gauck is a high-ranking economic delegation drawn from the boardrooms of German technological and automotive companies, including Mercedes Benz, MAN, Siemens Power and Gas, and Voight. The Suddeutsche Zeitung wrote last Wednesday: Lots of people, lots of oil, and lots of problems. That is a rough summary as to why President Joachim Gauck is taking almost four days for a visit to Nigeria. The West African giant is the largest economy in Africa and thanks to its oil deposits its now more interesting than ever before. Thats why Gauck also brought an economic delegation. The country is already Germanys second most important trading partner on the continent after South Africa. As always, Gauck sought to gloss over his role as the frontman of German imperialism with a few select phrases about democracy, peace, and western values. The presidents web site declared the state visit to the republic of Nigeria was in line with the democratic change of power in this important west African country in the last year. Representatives from 15 countries gathered in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Wednesday to hear Gaucks speech before the parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The German president began his address by speaking about the parallels between the developmental stages of the European Union and ECOWAS which solidified fundamental common values and the joint goal of peace and prosperity. But Gauck also spoke openly about the real aims of his trip. In regard to Germanys growing interest in Africa, he explained: German businesses have long recognized that it is worthwhile to invest in such cities [Lagos and other West African metropolitan areas]. With his trip, he was seeking to focus the attention of Germany and Europe on emerging Africa. With reference to the need for a stable world ordera code word for the enforcement of German imperialisms geo-strategic and economic interests worldwideGauck addressed the stream of refugees coming to Europe from Africa and repeated his demand for limiting the influx. He told his listeners, Migration to Europe will not solve the fundamental problems of development in Africa. This was a thinly veiled call for the economic and political elite of ECOWAS to detain refugees already in Africa and collaborate more closely with Western governments. Berlin considers the current Nigerian president and former military dictator of the country, General Muhammadu Buhari, whom Gauck met on Thursday, the right man for such a job. In October, a background paper of the Africa association of the German economy entitled A good time for Nigeria welcomed the replacement of former President Goodluck Jonathan with Buhari. The change brings with it many chances and possibilities of new contracts for the German economy, especially in the agricultural sector and in the area of infrastructure and energy, as well as the consumer goods market, states the report. Even before the election, the report goes on, Buhari had laid out the economic policy orientation of his government. He planned to promote foreign investments and due to falling oil prices was urgently working to free the countrys economy from its dependency on oil revenues. Additionally, he wanted to downsize the state and provide more money for business development. For German companies, the change in government meant, above all, that they would have to make new contacts in the government and among public authorities. One has to view Berlins hymn of praise for Buhari in light of the new race among the major powers for raw materials and spheres of influence on the African continent. With a population of almost 180 million people, Nigeria is by far the most populous country in Africa. Nigeria and Mali have at their disposal an abundance of natural resources. Nigeria is the sixth-largest oil producer among the OPEC countries. Eighty percent of the states revenue comes from export earnings from natural gas production. The production of peanuts and cocoa as well as the textiles industry play a large role in the remainder of the countrys economy. Mali, which Gauck will also visit, is Africas third largest producer of gold after South Africa and Ghana. The annual gold production volume amounts to approximately 50 tons. Reserves are appraised at approximately 800 tons. In addition to this, the country has at its command high reserves of phosphates, lime, rock salt, bauxite, iron ore, manganese, oil shale, marble, uranium, lead and zinc. Buharis predecessor Jonathan cultivated close relations with Washington, but also developed economic relations with China. Figures from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics for the second quarter of 2015 show that imports from China made up 22.5 percent of Nigerias total imports, while the US imports accounted for only 9.6 percent. For years the United States has attempted to offset its dwindling economic influence on the continent by building military bases in Nigeria and other African states. Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) are strong advocates of western interests. When Buhari defeated Jonathan and his conservative Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 2015 presidential elections, he received considerable support from the American consulting firm AKPD Message and Media. The president of AKPD is David Axelrod, a close associate and former chief campaign strategist for President Obama. The connections between Buhari and American imperialism go back to the 1970s, when Buhari underwent eight years of training in the American military. He received a degree from the US Army War College in 1980. In 1983, he organized a coup against the democratically-elected president Shehu Shagari and suppressed protests and strike actions. In reality, the visit by the German president is not in line with the democratic change in power, but rather in line with the implementation of the new foreign policy proclaimed by President Gauck at the end of 2013: In accordance with its economic size, Germany would have to take on more responsibility internationally and, when necessary, assert its geo-strategic and economic interests militarily. Last Friday, Gauck went to Mali where he met up with German troops in the military encampment in Koulikoro, near the capital city Bamako. The visit is intended to bolster the German army prior to the beginning of its Anti-Terror Missions in the dangerous northern region of the country. At the end of January, the German parliament voted by a large majority to send 650 additional soldiers to Mali. They are now camped out in the city of Gao. The German government is apparently planning to expand its intervention in Africa. In the manner of a colonial lord Gauck informed the ECOWAS elite: In the future, the West African economic community will also have to make its contribution to the security of the region. The fight against terror and violence [] remains an urgent task. The swamp of organized crime must also be dried up. The piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the weapons and drug trades weaken the entire region. The building up of standby troops would be another important step. The claim that Western military intervention was a remedy against terror and violence stands reality on its head. In reality, Mali was first destabilized through the NATO bombardment of Libya in 2011. The Nigerian terror militia Boko Haram is also a by-product of the Western war on terror. They grew in influence, above all, after the destruction of Libya, where the West collaborated directly with Islamist militants to bring down the Gaddafi regime. Now Islamist terrorism is exploited in propaganda to expand the Western military presence in Africa. As a suicide bombing at a refugee camp in Northern Nigeria killed 65 people on Thursday, Deutsche Presse Agentur reports that Gauck was pledging Buhari support in the fight against Islamist terror militias and explicitly acknowledged his determined operation against the Boko Haram terrorists. As state-funded social service agencies continue to close and some state universities and colleges warn that they might be forced to shut down before the end of the semester, US President Barack Obama visited the state capitol in Springfield on February 10 to urge Illinois legislators to adopt a bipartisan austerity plan. Concerned about the potential of social opposition if the impasse continues much longer, Obama suggested that state Democrats moderate their resistance to Republican Governor Bruce Rauners plans, noting his willingness to collaborate with Republicans, saying that Democrats and Republicans share many of the same values, even though they may disagree with me on the means to achieve them. I think sometimes my Republican colleagues make constructive points about outdated regulations that may need to be changed, or programs that even though well-intended, didnt always work the way they were supposed to. The billionaire governor has been locked in a struggle with Democratic leaders in the state, House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, largely over the question of whether the trade unions will continue to play a significant role in state government and in carrying out the austerity policies of the ruling class. While the Democrats generally favor using the services of the unions to contain social opposition, Rauner believes the continued existence of the unions has slowed the implementation of austerity to an unacceptable degree. Basing himself on the success of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in implementing right-to-work legislation, Rauner has essentially held the state budget hostage, threatening to veto any bill sent to him unless the Democrats approve his Turnaround Agenda. This agenda is an assortment of anti-working class measures, which includes cuts to workers compensation, unemployment insurance, restrictions on lawsuits against corporations, a freeze on local government property taxes, limitations on what issues are subject to collective bargaining and prevailing wage requirements, and local right-to-work zones. It also included proposals aimed at the Democratic Party, redistricting reform and term limits, which would almost certainly affect them disproportionately. Notably, the issue of redistricting was something Obama explicitly cited in his speech as something he supported, saying nobody has got clean hands on this thing. While obviously not in favor of the measures affecting their hold on office, the state Democrats do not in principle oppose most of the measures in Rauners agenda. They have restricted the topics of collective bargaining before, such as in Senate Bill 7, which limited bargaining issues and the ability of public school teachers to strike. They have also cut unemployment insurance and limited lawsuits in the past, such as in 2005, when they limited medical malpractice lawsuits in a bill that was later overturned by the courts. The Democratic Party has also made attacks on pensions and retirements a central plank of its program, to the point that former Democratic Governor Pat Quinn said he was put on earth to cut pensions. This stand on pensions played no small role in Rauners election as governor, with working class disgust severely limiting turnout on behalf of Quinn, who the party nonetheless put up for reelection. This was at least partly motivated by the idea that the Democrats needed a Republican governor as a foil to make them appear oppositional. After decades of collaborating with both big business parties in undermining the jobs and living standards of state and city workers, the unions have also sought to patch up their credibility by posing as opponents of the Republican governor. This has been most acute in regards to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which has been without a contract since June 30. Rauner, who insists on referring to the union as Afscammy, has proposed doubling state workers health care contributions while freezing wages. He has also proposed opening up state government services to privatization, and wants to eliminate step increases, while introducing merit pay measures. On January 15, Rauner declared an impasse in negotiations, asking the Illinois Labor Relations Board, whose majority is appointed by the ruling governors party, to impose his contract on state workers. The main problem that the Democrats have with Rauners plans is that they threaten to hobble the trade unions, the most important component of the Democratic Partys political organization in the state and a major source of campaign funds. The trade unions are an integral component of class rule, and the Democrats are keenly aware of how important the trade unions have been in imposing austerity and attacks on the working class since the beginning of the financial crisis. This can be seen quite clearly in the role played by the Chicago Teachers Union in carrying out attacks on public education in coordination with Emanuel. Media commentators have repeated the line that Obama tried to use the opportunity of the speech to paint himself in historic language as something of a Great Compromiser, saying that Rather than accept the notion that compromise is a sellout to one side, weve got to insist on the oppositethat it can be a genuine victory that means progress for all sides. However, this comment, and the speech as a whole, should be read as Obamas warning to the ruling class that while austerity is the only permissible policy, it has to be carried out in such a way as to prevent working class anger from boiling over into open revolt. In the lead up to this summers parliamentary upper house election, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to make constitutional revision a major feature of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) campaign. The proposed changes would formally remove any barriers to Japans ability to wage war to further its strategic and economic interests, as well as deepen the attack on democratic rights at home. Abe has made explicit calls in recent weeks for the revision of the constitution. On February 3, he stated before a parliamentary budget committee: There is the view that [Japan should] address the situation in which 70 percent of constitutional scholars suspect the SDF (Self-Defense Forces) is in violation of the Constitution. Abe was responding to a question from Tomomi Inada, chairwoman of the LDPs Policy Research Council and supporter of constitutional change, who claimed that Article 9 of the post-World War II constitution no longer fits reality at all. Article 9 declares that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. Successive post-war governments in Japan have tacitly breached Article 9 and built up a large military under the guise of self defense, despite the constitutions declaration that land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. Over the past two decades, the Japanese military has been deployed overseas, including in support of the US-led occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Increasingly, however, the Japanese ruling class wants to cast off the constitutional restraints. Last summer, the LDP-led government, in the face of widespread opposition and protests, rammed through military legislation to allow Tokyo to engage in collective self-defense, which in reality means taking part in predatory wars alongside an ally, namely the United States. The new laws are in clear violation of the constitution, as many constitutional scholars have stated. Far from backtracking from this unconstitutional legislation, Abe is now cynically using the lack of constitutional authority to press forward with the LDPs long-held plans for a wholesale revision of the constitution. In the budget committee, Abe continued: Given the view that we should change this with our own hands, the LDP has announced a draft revised constitution. The draft, proposed in April 2012, not only alters Article 9, but also makes numerous other changes that limit democratic rights and strengthen the state. First, the draft would turn the SDF, the official name of Japans military, into a National Defense Force with the prime minister as commander-in-chief. This force could be deployed abroad under the guise of international peace-keeping operations, as well as domestically to suppress opposition to the government. The proposal would also impose duties on the Japanese population, including to respect the national flag, anthem and the new constitution. It further states that engaging in activities with the purpose of damaging public interest or public order, or associating with others for such purposes, shall not be recognized. In other words, the freedom to criticize the government would effectively be banned. The LDPs draft alters the role of the emperor, making him head of state, while removing the emperors or a regents obligation to respect and uphold the constitution. This would concentrate more power in the anachronistic and backward institution, moving to return the emperor to the position he held before World War II. The government, however, confronts significant barriers to constitutional revision, which must be approved by two-thirds of both houses of parliament, as well as by a majority of the voting population at a referendum. While the LDP and its ally Komeito hold a two-thirds majority in the Lower House, they have only a simple majority in the Upper House and need 86 additional seats. Speaking at a New Years press conference on January 4, Abe said the LDP will appeal for [constitutional revision] strongly during the House of Councillors (Upper House) election campaign, just as we have thus far. Abe claimed there was unshakeable support for the SDF in Japan to support his decision. In reality, there is widespread opposition to remilitarization. Last summer, mass protests took place throughout the country opposing the security legislation to expand the role of the SDF internationally in support of allies like the United States. These protests culminated in an August 30 demonstration of 120,000 people denouncing the bills in front of the parliament building in Tokyo. In order to obtain the seats needed, the LDP is seeking additional coalition partners. Last month, Abe acknowledged that winning the necessary seats in the upcoming election would be difficult. In response, Nobuyuki Baba, secretary-general of the right-wing Osaka Ishin no Kai, said his party would cooperate positively with the LDP and Komeitos efforts to change the constitution. Since his February 3 remarks though, Abe has toned down his calls for constitutional revision. While not facing outright opposition, some within the LDP are clearly concerned that anti-war sentiment could result in an unwanted electoral backlash. An appropriate approach would be to proceed [with the constitutional revision] while winning the understanding of the largest opposition party, LDP secretary general Sadakazu Tanigaki said. The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), however, is attempting to exploit the anti-war sentiment for electoral purposes. DPJ leader Katsuya Okada said last month: If the prime minister secures a two-thirds majority, he will surely amend the Constitution. As his deepest wish is to revise Article 9, we must block him from achieving the two-thirds majority by all means. While in power from September 2009 to December 2012, the DPJ supported constitutional revision to allow Japans military to be used in a far greater capacity, often attaching the necessity of a UN resolution to provide a veneer of legitimacy. A 2012 report from a prime ministerial committee stated: Related interpretations [of laws] should be changed to allow collective defense in order to uphold proactive pacifism in the long-term. Significantly, Abe has seized on proactive pacifism as the banner for his accelerating remilitarization of Japan. Furthermore, the DPJ governments deepened Japans aggressive stance toward China. In 2012, under Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Tokyo provocatively purchased three of the five disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands from their private owner, provoking sharp tensions with China. For all its posturing as an opponent of Abes constitutional change, the DPJ, which also represents the interests of Japanese imperialism, has no principled opposition to removing legal and constitutional restraints on the military. A study by Brookings Institution economists released Friday documents a sharp increase in life span divergences between the rich and the poor in America. The report, based on an analysis of Census Bureau and Social Security Administration data, concludes that for men born in 1950, the gap in life expectancy between the top 10 percent of wage earners and the bottom 10 percent is more than double the gap for their counterparts born in 1920. For those born in 1920, there was a six-year differential between rich and poor. For those born in 1950, that difference had reached 14 years. For women, the gap grew from 4.7 years to 13 years, almost tripling. Overall, life expectancy for the bottom 10 percent improved by just 3 percent for men born in 1950 over those born in 1920. For the top 10 percent, it soared by about 28 percent. Life expectancy for the bottom 10 percent of male wage earners born in 1950 rose by less than one year compared to that for male workers born 40 years earlierto 73.6 from 72.9. But for the top 10 percent, life expectancy leapt to 87.2 from 79.1. The United States ranks among the worst so-called rich countries when it comes to life expectancy. But its low ranking is entirely due to the poor health and high mortality of low-income Americans. According to the Social Security Administration, life expectancy for the wealthiest US men at age 60 was just below the rates for Iceland and Japan, two countries with the highest levels. Americans in the bottom quarter of the wage scale, on the other hand, ranked just above Poland and the Czech Republic. Life-expectancy is the most basic indicator of social well-being. The minimal increase for low-income workers and the widening disparity between the poor and the rich is a stark commentary on the immense growth of social inequality and class polarization in the United States. It underscores the fact that socioeconomic class is the fundamental category of social life under capitalismone that conditions every aspect of life, including its length. The Brookings Institution findings shed further light on the catastrophic decline in the social position of the American working class. They follow recent reports showing a sharp rise in death rates for both young and middle-aged white workers, primarily due to drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide. Other recent reports have shown a dramatic decline in life expectancy for poorer middle-aged Americans and a reversal of decades of declining infant mortality. It is no mystery what is behind this vast social retrogression. It is the product of the decay of American capitalism and a four-decade-long offensive by the ruling elite against the working class. From Reagan to the Obama administration, Democrats and Republicans alike have overseen a corporate-government assault on the jobs, wages, pensions and health benefits of working people. The ruling elite has dismantled the bulk of the countrys industrial infrastructure, destroying decent-paying jobs by the millions, and turned to the most parasitic and criminal forms of financial speculation as the main source of its profit and private wealth. Untold trillions have been squandered to finance perpetual war and the maniacal self-enrichment of the top 1 percent and 0.1 percent. The basic infrastructure of the country has been starved of funds and left to rot, to the point where uncounted millions of people are being poisoned with lead and other toxins from corroded water systems. Flint, Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg. Under Obama, this social counterrevolution has been intensified. The financial meltdown of 2008 has been utilized by the same forces that precipitated the crash to carry through a reordering of social relations aimed at reversing every social gain won by the working class in the course of a century of struggle. A central target of the attack is health care for working people. Obamacare is the spearhead of a worked-out strategy to reduce the quantity and quality of health care available to workers and reorganize the health care system directly on a class basis. Corporate and government costs are to be slashed by gutting employer-paid health care, forcing workers individually to buy expensive, bare-bones plans from the insurance monopolies, and rationing drugs, tests and medical procedures to make them inaccessible to workers. The rise in mortality for workers and the widening of the life span gap between rich and poor are not simply the outcome of impersonal economic forces. In corporate boardrooms, think tanks and state agencies, the ruling class is working to lower working class life expectancy. In late 2013, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank with the closest ties to the Pentagon and the CIA, published two policy papers decrying the waste of money on health care for the elderly. The clear message was that ordinary people were living much too long and diverting resources needed by the military to wage war around the world. The social and economic chasm in America finds a political expression in the vast disconnect between the entire political establishment and the masses of working people. Neither party nor any of their presidential candidates, the self-described socialist Bernie Sanders included, can seriously address the real state of social conditions or offer a serious program to address the crisis. In his final State of the Union Address last month, Obama presented an absurd picture of a resurgent economy. The United States of America, right now, he declared, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world Anyone claiming that Americas economy is in decline is peddling fiction. In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton and Sanders are seeking to outdo one another in seizing the mantle of the Obama administration and praising its supposed social and economic achievements. They cannot address the real conditions facing the masses of working people because they defend the capitalist system, which is the source of the social disaster. The remedy must be based on an understanding of the disease. It is the building of an independent socialist and revolutionary movement uniting the entire working class, in the US and around the world. The ninth Republican presidential debate of an already interminable primary campaign was another two-hour session of reactionary posturing and mutual mudslinging in which the four leading candidates denounced each other as liarsand were telling the truth when they did so. The debate was held in South Carolina, a week before the February 20 Republican primary. Billionaire demagogue Donald Trump currently leads in state polls, with about one-third of the vote, followed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, in that order. The smaller field, and the likelihood that the lowest finisher among the four may be pushed out of the race after the South Carolina primary, no doubt contributed to making this debate the most vitriolic so far. The four leading candidates all appealed to the basest prejudices in their television audience, vilifying immigrants and the poor, pledging the military annihilation of opponents of US imperialism and denouncing each other for any deviation from an ultra-right world view. Thus Rubio and Cruz waged a lengthy argument, each charging the other with being too soft in his attacks on immigrants. Trump declared that Bush was even softer on the issue, which has been the main focus of the billionaires campaign, with demands for deportation of all 11 million undocumented immigrants and the building of a wall along the US-Mexico border. Cruz denounced Trump for his past support for abortion rights and campaign contributions to prominent Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Trump has in the past dismissed such donations, to both parties, as the cost of doing business for a wealthy real estate baron. Trump interrupted Cruz to declare, You probably are worse than Jeb Bush. You are the single biggest liar, adding, This guy will say anything, nasty guy. Now I know why he doesnt have one endorsement from any of his colleagues. The two candidateswho had generally praised each other before the first primary conteststraded insults and taunts along these lines for several minutes. There was only one portion of the debate that deviated from this moronic pattern: when Trump, in the course of an exchange with Jeb Bush over US policy in the Middle East, turned to the issue of the war in Iraq, spearheaded by Bushs brother, President George W. Bush, in 2003. They lied, Trump said of the Bush administration. They said there were weapons of mass destruction and they knew there were none. Moderator John Dickerson of CBS News intervened, citing Trumps comments in 2008 when he expressed surprise that Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had not tried to impeach Bush after the Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007. You said, quote: which personally I think would have been a wonderful thing. Then you were asked what you meant by that and you said: For the war, for the war, he lied, he got us into the war with lies. Do you still believe President Bush should have been impeached? Trump hemmed and hawed, repeating his criticism of the war in Iraq and attacking Jeb Bush for defending it, but finally declared, referring to impeachment, You do whatever you want. You call it whatever you want. I want to tell you. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction. The sudden and unexpected appearance of an actual political truth in the midst of the Republican debate touched off an uproar, with most of those in the auditorium, drawn from the rival campaigns, booing Trump loudly. All the other Republican presidential hopefuls rushed to defend President Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and the other officials responsible for the war. Trump continued with his denunciation of George W. Bush, rejecting claims that as president, Bush had kept the country safe, pointing to the obvious fact that the 9/11 attacks took place while Bush was in the White House, and that the president had ignored warnings from the CIA about the preparations of Al Qaeda for attacks within the United States. Following the debate, both media pundits and Republican office-holders claimed that Trumps comments on the Iraq War and the 9/11 attacks were a political disaster for his campaign. Significantly, there was no such reaction to Trumps racist attacks on Mexican immigrants or his fascistic proposal for an unconstitutional and illegal ban on Muslims entering the United States. In an appearance on the NBC interview program Meet the Press Sunday, only hours after the debate, Trump sought to beat a retreat. Asked by interviewer Chuck Todd whether he still believed that the war in Iraq was an impeachable offense, Trump replied, Well, thats for other people to say. And look, that is for other people to say. I can say this, it may not have been impeachable because it was a mistake. When Todd suggested that he was risking his frontrunner position in South Carolina polls by calling President Bush a liar, Trump spluttered, I didnt call him a liar. I sayI said, I didnt call anybody a liar. He continued lamely, Look, I said maybe, Chuck, I said maybe there were lies. Because look, the weapons of mass destruction, they said they existed, and they didnt exist There were no weapons of mass destruction. Now, was it a lie? I dont know. There is little doubt the billionaire has been informed, directly or indirectly, that his brief exercise in truth-telling is not looked on favorably by the US military-intelligence apparatus. Last week it was announced that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has tapped Judge Steven Rhodes as his point man in the reorganization of the Detroit Public Schools (DPS). As the federal judge overseeing the 2013-14 Detroit bankruptcy, Rhodes provided a pseudo-legal cover for the gutting of constitutionally protected public employee pensions and the selloff of city assets. Rhodes is particularly well suited for the antidemocratic task of undermining and destroying public education in the city. He has been specifically tasked with guiding the Snyders DPS legislation, Senate Bills 710 and 711 sponsored by Republican State Senator Goeff Hansen, through the state legislature and then implementing the changes. Rhodes would have a transitional role, according to the Detroit Free Press, steering the district until it can return to local control under an elected school board and superintendent, sources said. Details of the arrangement have yet to be finalized, the newspaper reported. The pending legislation dissolves the existing school district into a good DPS and a bad DPS. The latter would exist only to collect taxes and pay down debt, while a new entity, the Detroit Community Schools, would inherit the buildings, employ teachers, select vendors and have responsibility for education. This school district reorganization will dramatically increase the class divide within education. The plan is devised to pave the way for a vast expansion of charters and other private educational companies and impose massive cuts on public education overall through the establishment of a dictatorial finance commission with veto power over all school spending. It is also aimed at destroying or further undermining teacher pensions, health benefits and other gains built up over decades, and to criminalize protests by teachers and other school employees. (Senate Bills 713, 714 and 715). The confirmation that Rhodes began meeting with the governor and state legislators on the contentious legislation last December or early January brings the political conspiracy surrounding Detroits schools sharply in focus. We need to get the governors plan, or a plan like it, in place as promptly as possible because theres a new school year coming up soon, Rhodes said last Thursday. I certainly plan to try to work with the Legislature on resolving their various differences so that the citys school system can move forward without this crushing debt that it has. In other words, the very same players who used crushing debt in the citys municipal bankruptcy as a pretext to slash city workers pensions, deprive retirees of their hard-earned health and death benefits, eliminate thousands of jobs, hive off public assets for privatization, undermine the Detroit Water and Sewerage system and move the Detroit Institute of Arts from public ownership to foundation-control are now hard at work pushing through similar plans for the citys schoolchildren. The Republican governor and legislators have been in negotiation with the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren, heavily comprised of Democrats and union officials, over the course of the last year on a variant of this plan, but have repeatedly been stymied. Tea Party-style Republicans in the legislature have also opposed the plan, calling for immediate privatization of the schools and the creation of a voucher system. Last January, however, it was suddenly announced that the schools would likely run out of money in April. The overnight appearance of this doomsday prediction turned out to be the result of debt refinancing quietly conducted by DPS Emergency Manager Darnell Earley last fall. The debt agreement meant that monthly payments for the impoverished district would balloon from $6.6 million to $26.8 million as a February 2016. These numbers translate into payments of over $3,000 per pupil debtunder conditions when the states foundation grant per student is $7,296. This highly manipulated emergency was then used as the basis of Snyders insistent demand to pass the reorganization plan. The time to act is now, he said during last months State of the State, I ask you to move with great haste. As a result, negotiations among state Democrats, the Detroit Federation of Teachers/American Federation of Teachers, the Skillman Foundation and assorted businessmen and politicians intensified over local control as well as the ill-fated Snyder initiative, the Education Achievement Authority (EAA). The unions and Democratic Party establishment figures used the call for ending emergency management and reestablishing local control, with its democratic overtones, to conceal the nature of the squabblea self-serving internal power play over the allocation of positions and proceeds from the destruction of public education. These plans were, however, disrupted as Snyder and Earleythe former emergency manager in Flint, Michiganbegan to face mass opposition over their roles in the poisoning of Flint residents. In addition, DPS teacher sickouts, supported by parents and students, signaled near universal and deep-seated popular opposition to the attacks on public education. The ruling elite was particularly troubled by the fact that teachers acted independently, out of the control of the unions. Earley was forced to announce his resignation, and now Snyder and the powers-that-be have turned to Judge Rhodes to assume responsibility for implementing the attacks on Detroit public education. The Detroit municipal bankruptcy of 2013-14 established Rhodes ability to bring Democrats, Republicans and unions to the table and devise legal stratagems to enforce the brutal demands of Wall Street. In the lead-up to the final agreement, Rhodes postured as a neutral arbiter, and unlike the initial ham-fisted actions of Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr he fully engaged the services of the trade unions to contain social opposition and impose the dictates of the hedge funds and bondholders. Rhodes infamously sanctioned the mass shut-off of water to impoverished Detroit residents, stating that there was no fundamental right to water service. A staggering 50,000 households felt the brunt of this state of affairs. As part of Rhodes Grand Bargain some $7 billion in debt was wiped out, the vast majority of it from slashing benefits owed to active and retired city workers. Most brutal was the elimination of health care and death benefits to 23,500 retirees and dependents, which Rhodes said were the citys largest single liability, estimated to be between $3.8 and $5 billion. Rhodes was careful, however, in his dealings to look after the material interests of the union bureaucracy, which was handed two Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) funds worth $524 million to manage. They were also allocated a $195 million payment to the pension funds and, in return, agreed to drop lawsuits against the emergency manager law and the violation of the state constitutions pension protection clause. In the course of this nationally precedent-setting looting of workers pensions and benefits, city EM Kevyn Orr acknowledged that his greatest fear was civil unrest. For his part, Rhodes confided that he felt the main difficulty was maintaining his legitimacy in the face of a skeptical and angry public adding that it had been as much a political case as a legal case. Such political skills are now in demand as the financial elite place their hopes in Rhodes to push through the legislative and political logjam and impose what will prove to be a deeply hated plan to gut public education in Detroit and create vast new and lucrative edubusiness opportunities. Additionally, public school workers should be warned that Rhodes and financial elite are specifically aiming their sights on both Detroit teacher pensions and entire statewide system Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS). Rhodeswhose violation of the state constitution set a national precedent to use US bankruptcy court proceedings to attack public employee pensionssaid his biggest regret in the Detroit bankruptcy was not entirely eliminating citys defined benefits pension program. It appears that Snyder is giving him another go at accomplishing the overall mission of abolishing public sector pensions. A recent change in reporting requirements seems designed to facilitate this aim. Starting in fiscal year 2015, each school district is required to calculate its actuarially accrued pension liabilities and place these alarmingly large figures on their balance sheet. According to the Citizens Research Council report issued in January, the DPS owed nearly $873 million in actuarially accrued pension payments and $81 million in delinquent MPSERS payments (including hefty interest costs). Pension funds have been hard hit by the systemic pay cuts endured by DPS teachers coupled with the fact that new teachers are no longer eligible for the defined-benefit plan. The proliferation of charter schools and Teach for America employees means that a declining minority of teachers in Michigan are paying into the system or will be eligible upon retirement. As Snyders press secretary David Murray ominously explained last week, Rhodes has been working with us as a consultant. It started as he was helping us explore long-term pension liability and pension debt around the state and challenges that could cause. Last December a Detroit News editorial openly characterized addressing retiree cost as the whole point of the EM law and why Snyder has proposed a legislative fix for DPS [emphasis added]. The House of Saud is seeking to impose onto the working class the full cost of its oil policies that led to crude prices sinking to below $30 a barrel in January, its disastrous military intervention in Yemen, and covert wars in Iraq and Syria in support of Islamist extremists. It is stoking sectarian tensions against its minority Shiite population, concentrated in the oil-producing Eastern Province, as a means of dividing and deflecting popular opposition away from the venal and sclerotic monarchy and isolating Iran, its main rival in the region. All this has resulted in increasingly tense relations with the United States, on whom the monarchy depends. The plummeting of oil prices, a product of the decision, backed by Washington, to reject any reduction in output in order to protect its market share and undermine the economies of Russia and Iran that have backed the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has since taken its toll on the Saudi economy. Nevertheless, despite prices plunging to an 11-year low of under $30 per barrel, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said the oil policy would continueeven if prices reach $20 per barrel. While Saudi Arabias oil producer, the government-owned Aramco, can produce at less than $20 per barrel, the government, which is almost totally dependent on oil revenuesthere is almost no revenue from taxationneeds at least $90 per barrel to maintain fiscal balance. Naimi stressed that his oil price strategy is working, with Saudi oil exports to major consumers in Asia (Asia takes more two-thirds of Saudi oil exports) and Europe reaching multi-year highs in the first half of 2015, and exports to the US increasing, although far less the 2.2 million bpd in May 2003. Riyadh now has around 8.1 percent of the global market compared to 7.9 percent in 2014, although it is likely to have difficulty maintaining this as additional crude comes to the market from Iran and Iraq and US shale oil production is still rising. Last year, Saudi Arabia recorded its highest budget deficit, at nearly $100 billion (15 percent of GDP) since the post-Gulf War period. Its 2016 budget deficit, projected to reach 13.5 percent of GDP, is likely to exceed this. Despite this, the 2016 budget cut public spending by 25 percent, slashing energy subsidies, with gas prices set to increase by 50 percent. It will also raise revenues by introducing a tax on Saudi nationals for the first timea 5 percent value added taxand privatising government-owned companies, including Aramco, in a bid to prevent the budget deficit soaring from $98 billion in 2015 to $140 billion and limit the need to rely on its approximately $600 billion reserves. It marks a departure from the long running basis of Saudi rule: a modicum of welfare, subsidies for health and housing, cheap gasoline and free education while the House of Saud creams off the countrys vast oil wealth without the veneer of parliamentary democracy. The removal of such benefits cannot but spark social and political opposition, under conditions where about 60 percent of the population are under 30, and 28.3 percent of young people are unemployed, with an even higher rate for young women. There are few reliable figures on Saudi poverty. In 2011, three young bloggers were arrested for reporting on poverty in Riyadh. They had released a YouTube video showing the living conditions in the capital, as well as personal interviews and comments made by beggars. After the video was viewed nearly 800,000 times, the Saudi police arrested the youth to make sure that no one else followed their example. Private sector growth, a crucial element in the governments plan for creating employment for the hundreds of thousands of young Saudis entering the job market every year, fell from 5 percent in 2014 to 2.9 percent in 2015. The new budget measures follow the issue of two series of bonds in August and cuts in government spending in October and were timed to coincide with the execution of 47 prisoners, including Nimr al-Nimr, a Muslim cleric and leading spokesman for Saudi Arabias oppressed Shiite minority, which drowned out the economic news. Nimr was tortured and convicted by a kangaroo court on charges of disobeying the ruler and encouraging, leading and participating in demonstrations that swept the predominantly Shiite Eastern Province in 2011. The mass executions, along with the sharp rise in beheadings in 2015, were intended to show that no opposition would be tolerated, while Nimrs execution was designed to exacerbate sectarian tensions within the country and throughout the region, and provoke Iran. It triggered demonstrations and firebomb attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Mashad, to which Riyadh responded by severing diplomatic relations. This is driven by the Saudi monarchys opposition to the US deal with Iran and fear that Irans reintegration into international relations will jeopardise its own position under conditions where the entire region is collapsing as a result of US imperialisms shifting and contradictory policies. It follows increasing tensions with Washington, many of whose decisions it has opposed, including the Obama administrations refusal to prevent the ouster of Egypts President Hosni Mubarak that sparked unrest throughout the region, including the Gulf; its willingness to work with the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohammed Mursi; its support for the pro-Iranian Shiite government in Iraq, its reluctance to intervene decisively in the war in Syria to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, Irans ally and a significant player in Lebanon, allowing Russia to intervene to shore up Assad. Riyadh is determined to undermine the US-Iran rapprochement and any negotiated end to the war in Syria, which it has funded to the tune of billions of dollars as well as participating in the CIAs covert action campaign. It seeks to draw the US into the war in Syria to salvage its position and if possible against Iran itself. The bitter sectarian war the Saudis have stoked in Syria has not only been unsuccessful in terms of Riyadhs objectives, but has strengthened the al-Qaeda-linked Sunni Islamist militias with their own agendas in Saudi Arabia itself. Al-Qaeda has been one of the main beneficiaries of its military intervention in Yemen. On Monday last week, Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on a member of the Saudi armed forces in Riyadh, although there were no reports of injuries. On January 29, IS attacked a Shia mosque in Eastern Province, killing four people and injuring 18. Such are the tensions between the Saudi monarchy and Washington that US Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Riyadh two weeks ago to try to calm tensions in the Gulf, allay fears over the Syria talks in Geneva and assure the Gulf States of continued US support. He said, Folks, we have as solid a relationship, as clear an alliance, and a strong friendship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as we ever had. Germany, however, has become increasingly concerned that Saudi Arabia is about to set the whole region aflame. The Independent newspaper reported that BND, the German intelligence agency, had published a memo last year saying that Saudi Arabia had adopted an impulsive policy of intervention. It characterised the Saudi defence minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmanthe 30-year-old favourite son of the 80-year-old feeble King Salmanas a political gambler who is destabilising the Arab world through proxy wars in Yemen and Syria. On Saturday, United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead in his hotel room during a hunting trip in Texas, apparently of natural causes. The figure of Scalia has personified the rightward march of the American political establishment over the past three decades, as it jettisoned what remained of its commitment to democratic institutions and erected the framework of a police state. From his pulpit on the Supreme Court, the arch-reactionary, a thug in black robes, preached relentlessly in his distinctively arrogant, cynical and belligerent tone. The American political establishment has predictably and in nearly uniform language closed ranks to praise Scalia as a national treasure, worthy of universal mourning, whatever his political opinions may have been. President Obama called Scalia a towering legal figure. The New York Times Ross Douthat praised Scalias combination of brilliance, eloquence and good timing. The Washington Post described him as the intellectual cornerstone of the courts modern conservative wing, whose elegant and acidic opinions inspired a movement of legal thinkers and ignited liberal critics. In a statement, George H.W. Bush wrote, Both his admirers and his detractors agreed that Justice Scalia was one of the sharpest constitutional intellects to ever serve on the bench. From Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, all of the establishment presidential candidates issued statements praising Scalia as a great legal mind. Trump referred to him as a remarkable person and a brilliant Supreme Court Justice, one of the best of all time. Sanders, the nominal socialist, called Scalia a brilliant, colorful and outspoken member of the Supreme Court. Utter nonsense. Throughout his time on the Supreme Court, Scalia had more in common with a medieval cleric at a witch-burning than a classical bourgeois jurist presiding over a court of law. Scalia determined the result first and then bludgeoned the law into the predetermined shape. Precedent, history and facts were ignored or falsified as necessary to produce the desired result. Appointed by Ronald Reagan and confirmed unanimously in 1986 by Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress, Scalias career on the Supreme Court included some of the following highlights: The stolen election of 2000. In December 2000, the Supreme Court intervened to halt the counting of votes in Florida and install George W. Bush in the White House. The 5-4 ruling in the case of Bush v. Gore, in which the justices cast their votes according to naked factional interests, was a milestone in the decay of American democracy. According to Scalia, there is no universal right of suffrage. When later asked about the ruling, Scalia angrily replied, Get over it. Dictatorship and the war on terror. Scalia was a major force behind the infiltration of fascistic doctrines into Supreme Court jurisprudence, under the guise of phrases such as the unitary executive theory, executive privilege, the separation of powers, the presidents role as commander in chief and deference to the executive. Under these doctrines, the president enjoys unchecked wartime powers to override democratic rights, and the courts and judges have no power to intervene. The essential content of these doctrines is indistinguishable from the state of exception theory of Nazi crown jurist Carl Schmitt (1888-1985). During Scalias tenure on the Supreme Court, the court refused to disturb lower court decisions using state secrets doctrine to block challenges to torture, spying and assassination. The Bush and Obama administrations consistently invoked the state secrets doctrine to block court proceedings that sought to expose their crimes. For example, lower courts invoked state secrets to refuse to hear the case of Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. in 2010, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case in 2011, leaving the lower court decision intact. Arbitrary detention and torture. Scalia opposed the right of Guantanamo prisoners to habeas corpus, or the right to petition for judicial review of their detention. When the Supreme Court narrowly permitted some form of judicial review for Guantanamo cases, Scalia denounced the majority as traitors, whose decision will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed. The Constitution says nothing whatever about torture, Scalia said in an interview with Swiss radio network RTS in 2014. In fact, the Eighth Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. However, according to a legal theory invented by Scalia, torture is not punishment. In similar comments in 2008, Scalia argued that it would be permissible to torture suspected terrorists, that it would be absurd to say that you cant stick something under the fingernails, smack them in the face. In 2014, Scalia infamously shrugged his shoulders at a question about the mass internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. [Y]ou are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again," he said, invoking the Latin expression, Inter arma enim silent leges (roughly, in times of war the law is silent). The death penalty, including for children and the mentally ill. Scalia emphatically favored the death penalty, which he supported with quotations from the Bible. According to Scalia, the state derives its moral authority from God ... to execute wrath, including even wrath by the sword, which is unmistakably a reference to the death penalty. He infamously claimed that the death penalty was no big deal for Christians, since Christians believe in the afterlife. Scalia favored the death penalty for children aged 15 at the time of the offense in the early case of Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988). In Miller v. Alabama (2014) he favored the death penalty for 14-year-olds. He also favored the death penalty for the mentally ill, angrily dissenting throughout his career from Supreme Court opinions limiting the use of capital punishment. Scalias last action as a Supreme Court justice was to deny a stay of execution. This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is actually innocent, he wrote in a 2009 dissent of a Supreme Court decision to order a federal trial court to consider the case of Troy Davis, who was later executed in 2011. Repudiating the separation of church and state. The democratic principle of the separation of church and state, according to Scalia, was the result of words spoken by a serpent, addressing a woman named Eve. The principle is embodied in the first phrase of the First Amendment to the US constitution, part of the Bill of Rights. Scalia supported prayer in public institutions as well as the display of the Ten Commandments and crosses in public places, on the grounds that monotheism is shared by the vast majority of the American people. When he was asked, after a special Catholic mass for lawyers and politicians at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, whether he could be impartial on this question, he responded with an obscene under-the-chin Italian hand gesture. Political corruption and bribery. In the infamous case of Citizens United (2010), the Supreme Court found that corporations have a constitutional right to spend unlimited sums on elections, which resulted in an explosion of big business spending. Scalia joined the majority opinion and also filed a separate concurring opinion to attempt to establish that corporate political influence is rooted in American history. While a case involving then Vice President Dick Cheney was pending before the Supreme Court, Scalia joined Cheney for a private duck-hunting trip. Scalia contemptuously rejected calls that he should recuse himself from the case, in flagrant violation of judicial ethics. Defending big business and attacking workers rights. Scalia consistently upheld the interests of corporate and financial interests, abrogating the rights of consumers and employees. In the case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes (2011) , the Supreme Court significantly undermined the procedure of a class action lawsuit, a major legal vehicle for challenging corporate misconduct. More recently, Scalia voted to block environmental regulations that sought to address climate change. In a 2014 case, Scalia voted to deny back pay to steelworkers who had not been paid for a lengthy period of time spent donning and doffing their safety equipment. Scalia consulted the dictionary and determined that the workers were merely changing clothes, even though the equipment included a flame-retardant jacket, pair of pants, and hood; a hardhat; a snood [headgear]; wristlets; work gloves; leggings; metatarsal boots; safety glasses; earplugs; and a respirator. Bigotry and attacks on civil rights. In 2013, Scalia voted with the Supreme Court majority to gut the enforcement provisions of the Voting Rights Act, a major piece of reform legislation that emerged from the Civil Rights movement. Scalia spoke for a section of the American political establishment that never fully accepted the civil rights reforms. As recently as December 2015, Scalia ranted that black students would be better off in less-advanced and slower-track schools. There are those who contend that it does not benefit African Americans to get into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a slower-track school, where they do well, Scalia said. Scalia claimed that most of the black scientists in this country come from lesser schools where they were not pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them. This argument, the clear implication of which is that blacks are racially inferior, would justify a return to segregated schools. When the Supreme Court struck down Texas laws prohibiting homosexuality in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), Scalia raved that the decision created a massive disruption of the current social order, and denounced the majority for having signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda. Scalia also dissented from the 2015 decision upholding marriage equality. Immunity for killer cops. Scalia was a major exponent of the authoritarian doctrine of qualified immunity, which shields police officers from lawsuits arising from their misconduct. In another example of the brilliant Scalias legal method, he claimed last year that a Texas cop did not use deadly force when he shot and killed a man in a moving car, since the officer was shooting at a car, not a person. The key role played by Scalia in the American political establishment over three decades is reflected by the acrimonious political crisis that emerged within hours of his death. Prominent Republican senators Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell and Marco Rubio preemptively announced that no successor would be confirmed before the November 2016 presidential elections. President Obama, meanwhile, declared that a successor would be nominated within weeks, a position supported by Sanders and Clinton. However, the unanimous deference to Scalias brilliant legal mind from the entire political and media establishment is significant in itself. It expresses the collapse of any significant constituency for democracy or democratic rights in American ruling circles, which despite bitter internal divisions is united behind three decades of social and political reaction, the latter half of which were spent in a state of permanent war. Teachers unions in New South Wales and Victoria have been actively working with education authorities and school principals over the past 18 months to fast-track the sacking of teachers accused of inefficiency or underperformance. The process, which goes under the Orwellian designation of teacher improvement, was negotiated by the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF) and the Australian Education Union (AEU) in Victoria and initially imposed on more than 120,000 teachers through enterprise agreements in 2013. Under these arrangements, public school teachers can be rapidly dismissedwithin 12 weeks in NSW and 13 weeks in Victoriaif they fail to improve after being judged inefficient by principals or senior teachers. During the 1960s and 70s, school teachers waged bitter struggles to defend their security of tenure and prevent victimisation by inspectors and education administrators. The unions have now torn up these hard-won gains by helping to devise, and now police, the new methods to discipline and sack numbers of teachers. The NSWTF and its Victorian counterpart cynically claim that the streamlined sacking processes represent a gain for their members. This is a patent lie. Victorias dismissal procedures were developed in response to the former state Liberal governments New Directions policy, which called for the removal of the lowest performing 5 percent of teachers. The NSW measures came after the NSWTF publicly demanded new processes to slash the time it took to dismiss inefficient teachers. NSW union officials began negotiations with the former state Labor government and finalised their so-called Teacher Improvement Program with the state Liberal government in December 2013. NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli went out of his way to heap praise on the union for helping to halve the length of the disciplinary process and give more authority to principals. I would like to thank the NSW Teachers Federation for their cooperation during the negotiations, he declared. The following year, Piccoli said it was necessary to maintain an unrelenting focus on the quality and capacity of our teaching workforce. Improving teaching standards, he insisted, was the focus of the state government, not dumping more teachers in the system. In other words, the government was intent on extracting increased productivity from already overworked teachers in seriously under-resourced state schools. Herein lies the purpose of the Teacher Improvement Program. Those who fail to submit, or attempt to resist these demands, which directly contradict and impede the development of enlightened and progressive educational methods, are to be disciplined or sacked. Under the NSW agreement, all state school teachers must present an annual Performance and Development Plan (PDP) and participate in 100 hours of professional development every five years to retain their teaching accreditation. According to the new guidelines, PDPs must be constructed to align with policies, aims and strategic directions of the Department and school plan. Teacher inefficiency is determined on the basis of these performance plans. This means no divergence will be tolerated from NAPLAN (National Assessment ProgramLiteracy and Numeracy), the notorious annual reading, writing, spelling and numeracy testing of students, upon which all schools and teachers throughout the country are constantly judged. If teachers fail to reach the agreed targets and standards they can be placed on a 10-week program and subjected to intense and constant monitoring by principals or senior teachers. If they fail to improve during this period they face dismissal. The union is completely integrated into the whole procedure. It does not defend teachers but operates on behalf of the education department, steering individuals through the improvement program whilst attempting to sow the illusion of fairness to what is nothing but a kangaroo court proceeding. A teacher has no rights within the process. If he or she disputes any aspect of the procedure they must raise their grievance with the principal and the NSWTF representative. If the union does not back the objection, it automatically fails. If a local union representative endorses the objection and it is not resolved within three days of talks with the principal, the complaint moves to the education departments deputy secretary of corporate services and the NSWTF general secretary. If the NSWTF general secretary does not support the teachers objection, it fails and the improvement program resumes. If the teacher does not improve and is sacked, their only other option is to mount an unfair dismissal case in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. But under conditions where the union has not backed his or her previous objections, the individual teacher would be forced to fund the legal action. In other words, the union, which helped devise the process, determines the fate of every objection and every teacher. The most anti-democratic component of this Kafkaesque process is the stipulation that accused teachers cannot alert their fellow teachers, or anyone else, to the fact that they have been placed on the improvement program. The procedure states: It is the responsibility of all teachers involved to maintain confidentiality, to uphold the professional standing of individuals and ensure dignity and respect in the workplace. This claim is a total farce. The confidentiality requirement has nothing to do with dignity and respect. Its purpose is to isolate victimised teachers and prevent them from defending themselves by turning to their colleagues, throughout the state and nationally, and unifying in a fight against these oppressive measures. A conspiracy of silence, in fact, surrounds every aspect of the Teacher Improvement Program. The education departments, along with the teacher unions, have provided little or no information about the number of teachers forced out or any details of their cases. Contacted by the World Socialist Web Site last week, the NSW Teachers Federation refused to release any statistics on how many had been dismissed, let alone the numbers accused of underperformance or inefficiency. NSWTF spokesman Cameron Malcher told the WSWS that the union only deals with those that reach out for support and we are not prepared to give to you any information about this. The Victorian state government publishes no statistics on underperformers and the only figures available from the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education are from 2008 to 2014. Over that period, 72 NSW teachers were sacked, 12 of them in 2014, for being inefficient and placed on the education departments not to be employed list. Anecdotal evidence indicates, however, that the number of teachers dismissed for inefficiency or pushed into performance management processes has increased since the current enterprise agreements were imposed. The witch-hunting of state-school teachers is an integral part of an ongoing campaign by federal and state governmentsLiberal-National and Labor aliketo slash public education spending and undermine teachers working conditions. The result has been larger classes, longer hours and a growing mountain of paperwork associated with NAPLAN testing and other data collection systems. The defence of victimised teachers can only be challenged as part of a unified struggle of teachers, students and parents in a political rebellion against the teacher unions, which function as the industrial police force for both state and federal governments. A necessary step in this process is for teachers to begin speaking out. The WSWS urges teachers throughout Australia, including those who have been accused of underperformance, to contact the Socialist Equality Party in order to open up a discussion on how to develop a unified fight against the ever-escalating assault on teachers, students and public education as a whole. 25 Years Ago | 50 Years Ago | 75 Years Ago | 100 Years Ago 25 years ago: US rejects Iraqi offer to withdraw from Kuwait As the war in Iraq entered its second month, the Bush Administration brushed aside the February 15, 1991 offer of the Iraqi government to withdraw from Kuwait. Instead, Bush delivered a 24-hour ultimatum demanding the complete capitulation of Iraqs military forces. The terms set by the White House for an end to the war amounted to a demand for the surrender of Iraq and its de facto transformation into a colonial protectorate under American military rule. The Bush Administration knew full well that the terms of its ultimatum could not be accepted. Indeed, the conditions which existed at the time in war-ravaged Iraq, whose communications facilities had been largely destroyed by saturation bombing, made it impossible for the Iraqi government to discuss the ultimatum with military commanders in Kuwait within the time limit imposed by Bush. The US rejection of the eight-point proposal presented in Moscow was accompanied by the launching of major ground assaults along the Saudi-Kuwaiti border by American and British forces. After a single month of bombing, Iraq was already in ruins. Its economic and industrial infrastructure, which had provided the foundation for impressive social, cultural and scientific achievements, was reduced to rubble. Baghdad, a city of 4 million inhabitants, which until January 16, 1991 was one of the urban jewels of the Middle East, was left without electricity and running water. The hospitals that continued to function operated under conditions resembling those of the mid-19th century; operations and amputations were carried out without either antiseptics or anesthetics. The threat of pestilence hung over the city, as its inhabitants were compelled to draw water from polluted rivers. [top] 50 years ago: Meany denies CIA funding of AFL-CIO On February 21, 1966, AFL-CIO President George Meany brazenly denied well-documented reports that the labor federation was receiving funds from the CIA. Meanys statement followed revelations during the week exposing the funneling of CIA money into the pockets of the trade union bureaucracy. Reports in the press linked the CIA with the American Institute for Free Labor Development, the so-called International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the American-African Labor Institute. The press also reported that the American Newspaper Guild received up to $1 million in contributions from foundations identified as CIA fronts and that the Retail Clerks union was receiving money from another CIA front organization. The American Institute for Free Labor Development was established in 1962 with the blessings of Wall Street and the US State Department to support the construction of anticommunist unions in Latin America. Its top man was ex-Stalinist Jay Lovestone, the director of the AFL-CIO International Affairs department. Columnist Drew Pearson charged that Lovestone was working under the direction of the CIA. Irving Brown, head of the American-African Labor Institute, was also reported to be linked to the CIA. Meany stonewalled the new charges, piously claiming he opposed connections between the AFL-CIO and the CIA. He denied any knowledge of affiliated unions receiving CIA funds and said he would conduct a private investigation of the allegations. Continued public reaction to the revelations of CIA domestic subversion forced President Lyndon Johnson to order a halt in March to such activities, except for overriding security reasons. [top] 75 years ago: US big business condemns high school textbooks On February 21, 1941 a panel of academics, commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers to review social science textbooks, announced a substantial portion were critical of American capitalism, its government and history, and tended to create discontent and unrest among students. The texts were the product of the 1930s Great Depression and the rising struggles of the working class. The reaction against them by NAM came on the eve of US entry into World War II. The panel reviewed 6,000 textbooks, which comprised 90 percent of the texts used in secondary education. The two questions asked by the panel in appraising the educational material were: What is the attitude of the writer toward the American form of government? and What is his attitude toward our system of free business enterprise? They produced a catalog of excerpts from the texts that attempted to explain the history of the US from the standpoint of the class struggle; that detailed the rise and consolidation of the richest capitalist families and their control of political parties and government; that described the ruthless suppression and exploitation of the working class; and that scorned the conception of the free press and demonstrated how newspapers were controlled by the rich. Dr. Ralph Robey, professor of banking at Columbia, who headed the panel, commented on his findings. The textbooks emphasize the small number of large corporations, rather than the large number of small ones, he said. What you get is a critical attitude that is destructive in its influences. Lets teach the pupils something about the principles of democracy or private enterprise before we start to tell them it is all run by a bunch of crooks and is no go. [top] 100 years ago: Russian offensive captures Ottoman fortress city of Erzurum On February 16, 1916, Russian troops captured the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum, then the third most powerful fortress city of the Ottoman Empire. The capture of the city, which played the central role in Ottoman defense of eastern Anatolia, was a major blow to the beleaguered and ailing Empire. The Ottomans had successfully repelled an attempted invasion by the Allied powers in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, which concluded with the withdrawal of remaining British, French and Australian troops at the end of the year. But they were immediately confronted with a surprise winter offensive by the Russian Army. A similar attack, begun at the end of 1914, had led to mass Turkish casualties, with Ottoman troops poorly equipped and ill-prepared to fight in harsh winter conditions. The new winter offensive began on January 10, across the front, with Russian troops breaking through Ottoman defenses at Koprukoy within a week, resulting in some 25,000 Turkish casualties. The Third Army escaped in time, retreating to Erzurum, which was considered by Ottoman command to be almost impregnable. The Russian siege on the fortress began at the end of January and registered its first successes on February 13, with the first of the outer forts captured by Russian troops. Within three days, the entire city had fallen. Some 350 guns were seized, along with around 13,000 prisoners. Retreating Turkish troops narrowly escaped complete encirclement. Fighting would continue in the province of Erzurum for the rest of the year. The defeat at Erzurum was one stage in a catastrophic year for the Third Army, which lost some 100,000 men in 1916. [top] VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) - Officers in Valdosta are searching for a suspect they believed to be armed and dangerous. On Saturday around 5 pm, trooper pulled over a vehicle on Old Valdosta Road near the intersection of GA 122. During the stop, the driver John Walton gave a false name to officers to try and conceal his identity. Officers then attempted to arrest the 35 year old, and that's when he fled on foot. Trooper caught up to Walton in a nearby wooded area, but then Walton was able to flee again. Walton ran to a residence where then took off in another vehicle. Walton is a convicted felon and is considered to be armed and dangerous. He's facing charges of Felony Theft by Taking Motor Vehicle, Felony Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Felony Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Crime, Felony Possession of Methamphetamine, Felony Possession of Tools Used in the Commission of a Crime, Misdemeanor Obstruction of Law Enforcement, Misdemeanor Giving False Name and Date of Birth to Law Enforcement and several traffic related Misdemeanors. Officials are asking residents to be on the look out for Walton. He is 6 feet tall, 200 to 215 pounds, has blues eyes and short brown hair. He goes by his middle name, Wesley, and was last seen driving away in a White Nissan Altima. If you have information or know of his whereabouts, law enforcement officials ask that you do not approach him. Instead, contact your local law enforcement officials or Georgia State Patrol at 229-386-3333. The Chicago Plan Commission gave its official nod of approval to the revised $350 million development proposal for the Children's Memorial Site last night. After a two and a half year battle, it all appears to finally be over. But is it? A number of attendees at yesterday's meeting expressed their dissatisfaction with Alderman Michele Smith's handling of the deal and felt that their City Council rep had thrown their neighborhood and community under the bus. One resident warned that by this time next year, Alderman Smith would no longer be representing Lincoln Park - with many in the audience cheering. Although most proposals breeze through the City Council's Zoning Committee after receiving unanimous yea votes from the Plan Commission, DNAinfo reported earlier this week that a community group has mulled over the idea of taking their beef to court to delay or block the proposed development. So when will it all really end? And what will happen to Ald. Michele Smith? Did she really turn her back on her own residents, and cave to the pressure of accepting the terms of the deal after a long fought battle and numerous revisions? Are Lincoln Park residents merely launching empty threats towards their City Council representative, or will the NIMBYs get their political retribution? $300M development OKd for ex-Children's Hospital site [Sun-Times] Children's Memorial Plan Heads for City Approval, but Lawsuit Threatened [DNAinfo] All previous Children's Memorial redevelopment coverage [Curbed Chicago] You are the owner of this article. Russia and the United States recently announced a cease-fire in Syria, but ISIS and the other terrorist organizations are not included in the agreement and the Russian air blitz is expected to continue. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Meanwhile, the Syrians living in Aleppo - the country's largest city - are in a vise. They tell Ynet about their misery, blaming the Americans and telling of the scorched earth left behind by the Russians. "The Russian bombings only harm the civilians, and then we realize that Israel is a thousand times more compassionate," says one Syrian. Russian bombings will continue despite ceasefire (Photo:AP) Last Wednesday, the Syrian regime managed, along with Hezbollah and its allies, to lift the three-and-a-half-year siege that the rebels imposed on the Shi'ite villages of Nubel and al-Zahra in the Aleppo area. Beyond the symbolic meaning of this victory, leading to further progress on the northern front, it also highlighted how the story of Aleppo has become the main story in the international media. Thousands have left, some remain in Aleppo (Photo: AP) The regime achieved an important victory and the rebels lost. But the Syrians who live in the Aleppo area are the biggest losers of all. One of them is Abd el-Kader Abu Yusuf, a resident of Aazaz, an important city located on the border with Turkey. "The lifting of the blockade severed the northern suburb of Aleppo from Aleppo itself," he tells Ynet. "The northern suburb became besieged from three sides. On the east, there is ISIS. In the south, we see the regimes forces, and the west has the Kurdish militias." The destruction in the airport where the Kurds took over This conversation reveals that what bothers him more than anything right now is precisely the progress of the "Syrian Forces of Democracy", a coalition of Kurdish forces whose, according to Abu Yousef, cooperation with the regime and the Russians tipped the scales in its favor. "There were agreements between the Free Syrian Army and those Kurdish forces, but once they saw the regime was makin advances, they violated them. They took control of the villages in the northern suburbs of Aleppo and this week reached new heights with the takeover of Menagh Air Base. Present in these areas are not Islamist factions such as Ahrar al-Sham and the Nusra Front, but the Free Syrian Army". Abu Yusuf does not mince words regarding the Obama administration's conduct: "I hold them responsible for the situation and tell them that the Kurds are really not a sure bet. In the end, they will sell out the United States and Israel. They serve the interests of Russia and the regime." Asked whether Saudi-Turkish intervention would lead to a change in the war, Abu Yusuf expresses his skepticism: "Only Russia has proved itself up until now. Europe and the Arab countries have not proven themselves and to be honest, none of them can compete against the Russians." The destruction in Aleppo, about five years of civil wars Abu Yusuf notes that the Russians commit dozens of strikes daily in the area. "Russia is operating according to a method of indiscriminate destruction, as opposed to the Israelis and Americans who make an effort to strike precisely," he said. "If they want to take over a certain area, they turn it into scorched earth." However, he says, the Russians are not bombing Aazaz itself, but rather its suburbs: "It looks like they're not bombing us because of international pressure fear of a stream of refugees that will arrive inTurkey and from there to Europe." He tellsYnet that "the Syrians hope that every country, even Israel, intervenes to liberate us from ISIS, the Kurds and the regime. We have no problem with anyone, just deliver us from the massacres and the daily attacks. Arab hatred for Israel is well-known, but in Syria people have begun to see how compassionate Israel is. "When you see that in a war in Gaza, a hundred or two hundred civilians are killed, while in Syria, the Russians shelling is hitting only civilians, then you understand that Israel is a thousand times more compassionate. A lot of people here said they hope that Israel will intervene and occupy our lands just don't let the Russians and the government come. They said it out of fear. Imagine six planes hovering over you and carrying out 100 attacks a day. This is a very scary thing. " The Kurds near Aazaz. "If they take over, we won't come back" Abu Yusuf explains why he and many of his relatives and friends stayed in the area, as opposed to the tens of thousands who fled to the Turkish border. "At Aazaz there are about 100,000 people. If we leave, then the Kurds will take over the town and we will not return here anymore. In more than 25 villages that the Syrian Forces of Democracy have taken, the civilians in those villages were expelled and unable to return. Currently we are not ready to leave. They consider Aazaz as part of a future Kurdish state. It cannot happen." But he knows that developments in the field can shuffle the deck at any moment. "Yesterday, the Kurds took control of the airport and the nearby village," he explains. "They are not far from us. You have to understand that this city is full of people. They are moving under cover of the Russian planes bombing. If it reaches the situation where they have the opportunity to conquer Aazaz, then the Russian Air Force will prepare the way for them and that will lead to many massacres and the expulsion of more than 100,000 people. " What would you do in this situation? "If it reaches point that they are taking overAazaz, I'll go out there with my family. I'm definitely afraid of what is going to happen to us. The Kurdish forces have no respect for women and children. If they come here, they will take the children and women and search them. They degrade women and the men in front of their wives." The Syrian Forces of Democracy are associated with Kurdish forces that operate in northwest Syria near the Turkish border in order to establish independent governance. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation just keeps getting worse. "Currently there are around 50,000 displaced persons on Turkish border who are staying in tents," says Abu Yusuf. "Some have not really found a place where they can settle. They sleep in the open air or in cargo trucks, and there are people who sleep in mosques or public squares. Even the lack of food is very noticeable. The situation is tragic. Even the humanitarian organizations have stopped working because of the situation. The entire northern suburb is besieged." For the Syrian residents of the city, it seems, there is no simple choice between two bad options - ISIS and the Syrian regime - but it appears that the Kurdish forces anger them most of all: "All the people here say it would be less terrible if ISIS arrived." In search of weapons, not food This is what is happening in the northern suburb of Aleppo, but what's going on in the city of Aleppo itself? A Syrian journalist who constantly moves between Turkey and Aleppo summed it up: "In the center of Aleppo, attacks on markets and population centers have escalated, especially the Russians attacks. This is what makes people run away." According to the journalist, "the humanitarian situation in Aleppo is very bad. Hospitals in the city center can only handle civilians, fighters have to go to hospitals in northern Aleppo. There is a great shortage of medical equipment and a shortage of doctors. There is also a problem with food and people mostly eat meat because the price of vegetables has sharply risen. Even the diesel price jumped." The Syrian journalist tried to explain what is meant by "besieged Aleppo", a term frequently bandied about the media lately: "The city is under siege by the Syrian regime and by ISIS at same time. The regime did not control all of Aleppo, but only half of it. The second half is totally controlled by ISIS. It is different from the siege we see in other places." He, like Abu Yusuf, does not rule out the possibility of the relatively moderate rebels starting to cooperate with ISIS, which they prefer over the Syrian regime. "It's a possibility," they said. Abu Tin al-Halabi, a photographer and an insurgent operative, said, "we do not want food and drink; we want anti-aircraft weapons." More than 500 people have been killed in Aleppo since the Russian airstrikes began on Syria's largest cit, and tens of thousands have fled, but there are those who have not yet surrendered. Bader Taleb, a 24-year-old rebel from Aleppo, laughed about the possibility of leaving Aleppo. "If something is important to you, then you dont leave it . We want to topple Assad and I think we can do it." MUNICH - The Islamic State group has already used chemical weapons "numerous times," and is planning to carry out a chemical attack against the United States, according to American intelligence, presented by US National Intelligence director James Clapper at a panel of intelligence heads at the Munich Security Conference this weekend. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Meanwhile French Prime Minister Manuel Vall, who spoke at the same conference, said he is convinced that there will be another "large scale attack" by ISIS on Europe. Clapper said ISIS was manufacturing chemical weapons on an industrial scale, and noted the CIA has evidence of the use of chemical weapons for the first time by a terrorist group since the 1995 Sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway. While Clapper didnt state the nature and the origin of the information he based his findings on, it is likely based on, among other things, samples collected by operatives of the German BND in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq back in October, which indicated the area had been bombarded with mustard gas. ISIS supporters in Mosul, Iraq (Photo: AP) "We are under the impression that they (ISIS) would like to use chemical weapons against us (the US) ... This is a very worrying development," Clapper continued. Clapper presented his audience, which was comprised of high ranking political officials and intelligence heads from around the world, with several disturbing facts: according to US intelligence, seven countries are in danger of collapsing because of the presence of terror organizations - chief amongst them ISIS - while 59 other countries are considered highly unstable. Volunteers are travelling to fight in Syria and Iraq from no less than "120 different countries," and many may return home. "Instability and the unexpected are now the new normality," Clapper said. Robert Hannigan, head of British GCHQ, noted that "these new jihadists are educated young people who grew up in the West," and that with the knowledge and training they received in Western countries, they have been able to turn ISIS into the most advanced terrorist organization the world has ever seen. "ISIS is constantly learning from its mistakes," Hannigan continued, adding that ISIS operatives use the internet not only to spread propaganda and recruit fighters, but also to carry out destructive cyber-attacks. "They are not there yet, but they will be soon," he added. Robert Bertholee, head of Dutch intelligence, highlighted the fact that 250 people had joined ISIS from his country, a number which doesn't even include 70 children. "They (the children) are not only the terrorists of the future - they are the terrorists of today." The intelligence heads also revealed on the panel that ISIS is attempting to get its hands on advanced encryption software in order to prevent intelligence agencies from following them. Hannigan proclaimed that while British intelligence doesn't enter through "back doors" in the encryption software of private British companies, he is requesting that legislation be changed on this subject. Clapper said that the encryption software available for public consumption is "the thing that worries me the most." Gerhard Conrad, former high-rank BND official, and the interlocutor in the negotiations to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity, also participated on the panel. This was one of Conrad's first public appearances. He is now head of EU Intelligence and Situation Center, the inter-European security agency, which is responsible for analyzing general information gathered by the intelligence agencies of all members of the European union on the fight against terror. Conrad did not specifically mention American intelligence whistle blower Edward Snowden by name, but it appears that it is in the wake of the effects of Snowdens leaks and the claims that intelligence agencies abused the authorities entrusted in them, Conrad spoke about the need to respect human rights, and noted that "powerful entities must require significant oversight in order to ensure that they do not abuse their power." Hundreds Pack South Loop Bar For Sanders' Illinois Campaign Launch By aaroncynic in News on Feb 15, 2016 3:10PM A Sanders supporter warms up the crowd ahead of speeches at Bernie Sanders' Illinois campaign launch party. Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist Were going to wage a comprehensive vigorous campaign across Illinois as we work to earn every single vote, said Clem Balanoff, the Illinois Director for the Sanders campaign. Bernie Sanders Illinois' Campaign Director Clem Balanoff addresses a packed room of supporters at Bar Louie in the South Loop. Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist. Balanoff told the tightly packed crowd of supporters offices would be opening in the coming weeks in at least a dozen areas across the state including Evanston, Dekalb, Rockford, Springfield, and more. The Chicago campaign headquarters will be located on Jefferson Avenue in the South Loop, across the street from Mannys Deli. This is about bringing the people into the White House, said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a delegate for Sanders, who highlighted Sanders immigration platform and willingness to consult with and include input from undocumented immigrants on his campaign as a reason for his support. Hes not just saying Im going when the polls say its time to take a stance Im going to take a stance, hes saying Im going to build power for working people alongside you. Sporting a red Chicago Teachers Union sweatshirt, Tara Stamps, who ran for alderman in the 37th Ward, reminded the audience of the relationship between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Hillary Clinton. Emanuel is a superdelegate for Hillary, she said, which the audience met with loud boos at the mention of the mayors name. This is the same man that closed 50 schools...this is personal. Clinton, who is also opening campaign offices in Chicago this month as well as hosting several high-dollar fundraisers later this week, downplayed her support of Emanuel when asked about his relationship with the African-American community and policing in an interview with Meet the Press last month, saying: Mayor Emanuel has said that he is committed to complete and total reform and I think he should be held to that standard. Its going to be up to him and up to the people of Chicago" to prove his credibility. The former Secretary of State, who was born in Chicago and grew up in Illinois leads the Vermont Senator in a new poll published by the conservative website The Daily Caller, but the numbers put Sanders within striking distance for the Illinois primary on March 15. According to the poll of 846 people planning to vote in the primary by McKeon & Associates, Clinton is ahead of Sanders by 11 percent with 36.4, but more than 38 percent say theyre still undecided. Two Sanders supporters pose for a selfie in the crowd at the Bernie Sanders Illinois campaign launch party. Those among the crowd in Bar Louie were firmly behind Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Lindquist of Rosoe Illinois, a small town wedged between the Wisconsin border and Rockford Illinois, said she supported Sanders because of his commitment to removing money from politics. I believe Bernie is the candidate that can be trusted to do something about that issue, even if other candidates say they have a plan about that, said Lindquist. For Richard Way, an Aurora man who worked construction trying to start his own remodeling business, the issue is economics. Ive been working hard every year, maybe harder every year and Im back to making the same money I did when I got out of high school, said Way, who holds a weekly meeting for Sanders supporters. Way said getting involved with the Sanders campaign was the first time hes been politically active in supporting a candidate, and that many of those who come to his meetings are newer to politics as well. Were not choosing between the lesser of two evils in this election, this is a guy we want to win. There was another report this week of an alleged Israeli airstrike in the Damascus area. Israel isnt touching the subject, the Russians are quiet, the Americans are quiet, and even the Syrians are quiet. This quiet isn't a coincidence - behind this silence lies a complicated web of agreements and understandings serving the interests of the strongest and most influential actors who are involved in the region: the US, Russia, Iran, and Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Everyone speaks to everyone - directly and indirectly - and everyone coordinates with everyone. This is the secret diplomacy of those in uniforms. This is a type of diplomacy which foreign ministries have no hand in. Those whose jobs it is to manage this intricate web, who deal with questions of who flies where and when in Syrian airspace, are the foreign ministries of the various armies, who operate primarily under the radar. In Israel, the effects of this are even more salient. As the Foreign Ministry weakens, and Israel's diplomatic status in the world diminishes, Israels alternative diplomacy continues to strengthen. Bodies such as the Mossads Tevel Division - which deals in secret diplomacy - and the International Relations Unit of the IDF- whose scope has been widened under IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot - have entered into the vacuum left by public diplomacy. IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, right, with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford (Photo: Yariv Katz) When dealing with them, heads of state and their foreign ministers are not at risk of public criticism, and public opinion doesnt matter. The foreign relations of these security branches and militaries create an alternative diplomacy to normal, political diplomacy. This even includes countries with which Israel has no formal relations, or which have an interest in hiding their relations with Israel due to pressure put on them by their allies or other regional powers. A plethora of navies from all over the world sail in the Mediterranean Sea. The Russian navy, which supports the Russian ground and air forces in Syria, has a pronounced presence in the Mediterranean and has no patience towards actors it views as hostile, such as the Turkish navy. When these navies meet on the high seas, they issue threats to each other, lock their radars onto one another, and it will serve as no surprise if they start shooting at each other. However, when Israeli naval vessels come into the area, the Russians simply ignore them. This is also no accident. In the language of military diplomacy, no one talks about anything that even sounds like military coordination with the Russians. The Americans are willing to accept the semi-secret relations between Israel and Russia, on the condition that it doesnt go past the realm of military cooperation meant to prevent any misunderstandings that could lead to an exchange of fire. 'ICE' Forum The coordination between the armies is done by the military liaisons; the Israeli military liaison in Moscow - Col. Tzafrir Orpaz - and his Russian counterpart who serves in Tel Aviv. There is also a team operating which is headed by Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan. At his side is the head of the Operations Directorate, Brig.-Gen. Aharon Haliva, and the head of the Foreign Relations Unit of the IDF Planning Directorate, Brig.-Gen. Avi Peled. They work with their Russian counterparts, who come to Israel for meetings about once a month. If there is an unexpected incident, such as a Russian radar lock onto an Israeli ship or plane, it is dealt with immediately. For more extreme incidents, the heads of these brigades - either the foreign relations brigade or the operations brigade - will immediately fly to Moscow to seek explanations or smooth things over. The relations with the US military are on an absolutely different level. There is a series of bilateral agreements between the US and Israel on information sharing and security cooperation, and it is likely that Israel knows exactly what the US is doing in Syria. US Navy amphibious transport ship USS San Antonio docked in the Port of Haifa (Photo: Avishag Shaar-Yashuv) The Americans hold video conferences on encrypted channels to which very few nations have access. One of these nations is Israel, so the head of the Foreign Relations Unit in the IDF must spend a lot of time communicating with his American counterparts in both CENTCOM (United States Central Command) and EUCOM (United States European Command). For years now that a forum called "ICE" (Israel, CENTCOM, EUCOM) has been meeting - usually at the office of the IDF deputy chief of staff - to discuss security issues and the strong cooperation between the two armies in the Middle East. In fact, the more of a diplomatic cold shoulder Jerusalem is getting from Washington, the warmer of an embrace the US administration has instructed the American Military to give the Israeli defense establishment. Bypassing Jerusalem In recent days, Brig.-Gen. Avi Peled presented the yearly work plan for the Foreign Relations Unit; a thick booklet titled All-embracing International Military Relations. The Foreign Ministry can only look on with jealousy. From the IDFs standpoint, Israel is a really popular country. The booklet shows that the scope of military cooperation between Israel and foreign nations this year will be unprecedented, both in the number of countries the Foreign Ministry of the IDF will work with, and the scope of the activity: joint training missions, military cooperation, information sharing, visits of high ranking officials, and other secret matters. The world is starting to understand that there is an enemy not limited by any national border - global jihad. These mutual interests create ties between enemies. These ties includes countries that seek trade - either directly or indirectly - intelligence, learn fighting tactics against international terrorist groups, increase national defense and more. Brig.-Gen. Avi Peled (Photo: Amit Segal/File) Israel through the efforts of the IDF's Foreign Relations Unit is taking advantage of this world problem to create ties in places it previously had none. There are quite a few countries that seek to go around the Israeli Foreign Ministry either because of political reasons, or because they recognize the weakness of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and want to have some sort of ties with the Jewish state without being associated with Israeli policy. These countries develop relations through the back door of military diplomacy. The group even includes European nations that have vast diplomatic ties with Israel but internal pressure and the BDS Movement force them to play down the relations. In the last year, these countries have deepened their relationship with the IDF in light of the ongoing fight against terror and international involvement in the war in Syria. By the way, any fighter jet that takes off from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, from Cyprus, or an air force base anywhere in Europe towards Syria, must coordinate flight plans with the Israel Air Force. For the Foreign Relations Unit, the relationship with the United States is of the highest importance, and most of the IDFs efforts are concentrated on it. After the US, there are eight countries considered to be of high importance, one of which is India. Thirty percent of Israels military exports go to India, and the high level of cooperation between the militaries - from joint R&D to information sharing - happens on a day-to-day basis. India is an example of a country that for years hid its relationship with the Jewish state, but, after the elections in 2014 the rise of right-winger Nerandera Modi, the close military relations between the two countries was translated into a strong political relationship. The same is true of Egypt. At the end of last week, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz boasted about the close security cooperation between Israel and Egypt and praised the Egyptians' cooperation in in flooding Hamas tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. The Egyptians were furious. There was cause behind the scenes, and even now, the IDF liaisons are trying to repair the damage. The addendum to the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, which deals with the demilitarization of the Sinai, has long been forgotten. With Israeli approval, Egypt has been allowed to bring in to the Sinai Peninsula 16 infantry battalions with armored personnel carriers, Special Forces units, artillery, apache helicopters, and F-16 fighter jets. They have even been allowed to build a naval base in el-Arish. From what is allowed to be reported, it is clear that coordination with Egypt in their war against ISIS is daily. The Egyptians coordinate all flights near the border, naval movements in el-Arish, and all troop deployments with Israel. The two sides also coordinate in order to avoid accidental exchanges of fire along the border. Egyptian border policemen in Sinai (Photo: Reuters) However, sometimes the communications with countries Israel has a clear interest in maintaining good ties with is complicated by having too many cooks in the kitchen. There are numerous players operating on the same field: the Prime Minister's Special Envoy Yitzhak Molcho; the director of the Political-Military Affairs Bureau at the Defense Ministry Amos Gilad; the head of the IDF Planning Directorate - under whom is the IDF Foreign Relations Unit; the Mossad; the Shin Bet; Military Intelligence's Special Foreign Relations Branch, and the Foreign Ministry. It's safe to assume that for the host country, Egypt for example, it can sometimes be difficult to determine who to talk to and about what. It's unclear who's coordinating between all of these players, which could also explain Steinitz's unfortunate slip of the tongue. Countries sometimes use this complicated web of overlapping agencies to drive a wedge between different agencies, and leverage this infighting to get what they want. The Israelis will sometimes get confused and argue over who invites which delegation from which country to what event, who is hosting said delegation, what will they discuss with the country, and what will be the specific messages relayed to the country. This might also explain Steinitzs gaffe. At least when the Foreign Ministry was strong, it was able to set the tone of the messages. if Jordan has any interests in its the relationship with Israel, these interests are first and foremost security related. In the stormy sea of disintegrating nations that the Middle East has become, Israel is a ship rocking on the waves - but isn't listing nearly as badly as the Jordanian dinghy. But King Abdullah doesn't have too many other allies in the region on which he can rely. Last September, Israeli and Jordanian fighter jets participated in a joint training exercise in the US with the American and Singaporean air forces, called "Red Flag." According to military website "Foxtrot Alpha," Israeli refueling jets helped to refuel the Jordanian fighter planes on their way to the US and back. The Jordanians did not deny this, but if this report is true, it points to a high level of cooperation between the two militaries, at a level which is not built up overnight. From fighter to diplomat Netanyahu was recently photographed next to the new border fence, built to defend the international airport being built in Uvdah. It would be impossible to build a fence like that without having daily coordination between the Jordanian Armed Forces and the IDF. Also, fact that Israel has enjoyed years of quiet along the Jordanian border is yet more evidence of the deep cooperation between the two sides. There's no wonder, therefore, that when the IDF's Foreign Relations Unit was tasked with managing the ties with the militaries of Egypt, Jordan, and many other countries, it was upgraded to a brigade led by a brigadier general. By the way, in July 2015, US defense officials leaked to Reuters that Israel gave the Jordanians 16 Cobra attack helicopters. This story could be just the tip of something much deeper. Also, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, who visited Israel in the middle of January, reported to the Pentagon that the Israelis discussed with him their mutual interests with the Jordanians. If this is truly the case, these relations aren't the result of normal diplomacy, but of military diplomacy. Jordanian forces on the border with Syria (Photo: AP) It is also safe to assume that included in the list of countries rated "high importance" is Greece, which became an official ally of Israel last year. The military relations with Greece started taking form in the beginning of this decade in light of the common threat posed by Turkey to both countries. Last year, however, a radical socialist party - led by Alexis Tsipras - came to power in Greece, and the IDF feared that the strategic relationship with Athens would be broken. But, the Greek military and the defense minister at the time, Panos Kammenos, a member of the right wing Independent Greeks party, demanded the relationship with Israel to continue. Since then, Prime Minister Tsipras has visited Israel twice, and a trilateral partnership has been formed between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon even visited Greece last month, and is slated to visit Cyprus next month as well. The expansion of cooperation will not only be reflected in intelligence sharing, but also open up the possibility for IDF's Ground Forces to train in the mountains of Greece or Cyprus. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (Photo: AP) Surprisingly, until the IDF decided to send a permanent military attache to Greece last year, Israeli military relations were managed by the military attache in Romania. The current attache in Greece, Col. Yuval Jerbi, has become an expert in all things related to the Greek military, politics, global and regional interests, and has an in depth knowledge of the waves of refugees washing up on Greek shores. From an infantry battalion commander in the Golani Brigade, this former warrior has become a professional diplomat, but in uniform. His commander, Brig.-Gen. Avi Peled - the head of the Foreign Relations Unit - was the Golani Brigade commander (specifically during Operation Cast Lead) before he switched over to become a military diplomat. Before becoming the head of Foreign Relations, he served as the Israeli military attache in India for four years. In addition to the "high importance" countries, there are approximately 30 other nations that the IDF has an interest in investing efforts in, one way or another, including countries whose relationship with Israel must remain a secret. This list of countries is expected to only get longer within the coming year. As of right now, there are 16 "ambassadors" - military attaches - who work with over 30 countries on a regular basis. This expansion also led, among other things, to the appointment of a military attache to the continent of Africa - Col. Aviezer Segal - a continent where there has been no attache in years. However, he will only physically be in Africa when he is needed, and will carry out the majority of his duties from Israel. This turning is the result of a growing demand from African countries to share knowledge and measures with the IDF on dealing with global jihad. The Foreign Relations Unit has expanded and shrank throughout the years, according to the wills of the commanders, the needs of the military, and the budget. At first, the IDF didn't regard military diplomacy as something terribly important that required any level of expertise beyond a basic table manners and a decent grasp of English. Until 2006, the Foreign Relations unit was under the purview of the Operations Directorate. Manpower cuts trimmed the unit down to a platoon in the Planning Directorate. Over the past year, in light of recent regional developments, IDF Chief of Staff Eisenkot's worldview has changed, and IDF began recognizing the importance of "soft power" - meaning diplomacy and public relations - the unit has grown back to being a brigade, which now has the additional responsibility of managing the relationship with the Jordanian and Egyptian militaries. Within the next year, the responsibilities of the Foreign Relations Unit will expand further to include managing the relationship with international agencies such as UN peacekeeping forces, and the international relations branches of the Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy. When it comes to relations with the UN, it doesn't necessarily mean UNIFIL peacekeepers on the border with Lebanon or UNDOF peacekeepers on the border with Syria. The UN has peacekeeping missions in at least ten countries in Africa. While the relationship between Israel and the UN is not exactly a love story, when their peacekeepers need weapons, ammunition, or tactical training against jihadist guerillas - they might secretly come to Israel through the efforts of military diplomacy. UNIFIL patrolon the Israeli border next to Har Dov (Photo: Avihu Shapira) Sometimes, the relationship with the UN is used to send messages to the enemy. For instance, Israel was worried of an all out confrontation breaking out against Hezbollah after the assassination of Samir Kuntar last December. During meetings in Naqoura between Brig.-Gen. Peled, the head of UNIFIL, and a representative from the Lebanese Armed Forces held around the time of the assassination, Peled passed a clear message to the Lebanese Armed Forces representative, who then passed the message on to Hezbollah. In these types of instances, the foreign relations mechanism is crucial in calming a potentially explosive situation. While today the situation room for the military diplomats is part of the Planning Directorate, in the future, it will become part of the "pit" from where the Operations Directorate performs its duties. A school for military diplomacy will also be established in order to train the next generation of officers and NCOs, which means the IDF has finally recognized the fact that diplomacyis a profession, and it is not enough to be a talented officer in an infantry battalion to be an effective military diplomat. In other western militaries, the attache is usually someone who has studied military diplomacy, and many times it is their only career. The IDF, as usual, is counting on the natural talent and improvisation ability of its senior officers. Sometimes, that also works. . Former prime minister Ehud Olmert on Monday headed to prison to begin a 19-month sentence for bribery. Olmert released a video before heading to prison in which he denied criminal wrongdoing. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "No one is above the law," Olmert said in the video. "I made mistakes, but they were not criminal in nature. I reject outright the charges related to bribery." Still from video of Olmert released on Monday Olmert, who was originally sentenced to six months before the Supreme Court partly overturned his sentence in December, said in the video: "This morning I will enter prison to serve my sentence. My guards from the dignitary protection unit will escort me there, and Prison Service guards will guard me throughout the time of imprisonment." "As prime minister, I was entrusted with the supreme responsibility of protecting the citizens of Israel, and today it is I who is about to be closed behind bars," continued Olmert. "You can probably imagine how much this change is painful and strange for me, for my family, and for my loved ones and my supporters." "It's important to me at this point to say again, as I have said in the court and outside of it, that I reject outright the charges related to bribery. It is also important to emphasize that none of the charges of which I was convicted was related to my activity during the period in which I served as prime minister." "It was a great privilege to serve the public as a member of Knesset, as a minister, as mayor of Jerusalem and as prime minister of Israel," said Olmert. "I was fortunate to take part in a variety of exciting and significant steps for Israeli society." Maasiyahu Prison (Photo: Motti Kimchi) "During my prolific activity," continued Olmert, "I also made mistakes, even though in my opinion they were not of a criminal nature. Today I am paying a high price for some of them, perhaps too high. I accept the sentence with a very heavy heart, but no one stands above the law. "I chose of my own free will to serve as a public figure," the former leader went on, "a path that features many challenges and satisfaction, alongside heavy prices. One of these is the creation of an image that doesn't properly represent the complexities of my life, my personality, and my choices. To my dismay, I have been saddled with a label of a corrupt person in the past few years. But my term as prime minister ended prematurely, in the shadow of police investigations, and today I am a former prime minister who is about to serve a prison sentence." Olmert emphasized that "this is an unusual and severe measure, which some will see as confirmation of the Israeli democracy's strength. I ask in the same breath to bring up the possibility that the legal snowball of my affairs went on and grew for a variety of additional reasons that were not just legal. Maybe when the storm quiets down and attention returns to normal proportions, some of the things may get another interpretation, and more sane proportions. Perhaps with more distance, the public will be able to examine this dire moment with a critical and balanced look. I believe that Israeli democracy needs that as well." The Prison Service said that it will be responsible for protecting the former premier as soon as he begins serving his sentence. As per Shin Bet instructions, Olmert is to reside in an isolated wing built to house him. Prison Service officials said Olmert is to be isolated from other prisoners and staff, making him far more isolated than most prisoners. They also said the prisoner's cell will likely have a small fitness room, possibly a short walking path, and a dining nook. Olmert was convicted in March 2014 in a wide-ranging case that accused him of accepting bribes to promote a controversial real-estate project in Jerusalem. The charges pertained to a period when he was mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister, years before he became prime minister in 2006, a point he reiterated in his video statement Monday. He was initially sentenced to six years in the case, but the Supreme Court later upheld a lesser charge, reducing the sentence to 18 months. That was extended by a month earlier this year for pressuring a confidant not to testify in multiple legal cases against him. Olmert is also awaiting a ruling in an appeal in a separate case, in which he was sentenced to eight months in prison for unlawfully accepting money from a US supporter. He was forced to resign in early 2009 amid the corruption allegations, which undermined the last serious round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and cleared the way for hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu's rise to power. There is no Palestinian people, said MK Anat Berko, creating a minor uproar. The late Golda Meir said the same thing before her. In fact, this has been an oft-repeated argument in recent decades. Former MK Azmi Bishara told Yaron London in an interview: "I do not think that there is a Palestinian people. There is an Arab nation. The Palestinian nation is a colonial invention. When did the Palestinians exist?" Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Historically, Berko is correct. There was no Palestinian people. The name "Palestina with a P was bestowed by Roman conquerors. It was named after the Philistines, who were not even Semitic, to annoy the Jews. The name was adopted later by the Christians, but not by the Jews. With the Muslim conquest, the "Jund Filastin" district was established, with Ramle being the district capital, not Jerusalem. Starting in the 11th century, this was no longer the case, either. Ottoman Samaria, 19th century The name "Filistin" or" Filastin" was thrown around on occasion, but it did not connote a national identity. The whole area was considered part of A-Sham, or Greater Syria. In 1911, two Christian family members created the newspaper "Filistin," which supported the annexation of the area into Greater Syria. In Mandatory Palestine, only Jewish institutions used the term Palestine-E.I. The Anglo-Palestine Bank became Bank Leumi and the Palestine postal service became the Israeli postal service. In contrast, the Arabs did not call themselves Palestinians during the Mandate, and no Arab Institution called itself Palestinian. The outstanding representatives were called the Arab Higher Committee rather than the Palestinian Higher Committee. At the head of the struggle against Zionism were Arabs, not necessarily from Mandatory Palestine. The identity that developed, insofar that it did develop, was an Arab one. The mufti felt like a regional leader, not a local leader. Fawzi Kaukji, who was prominent in the uprising against the British and against Israel, was actually born in Tripoli. Ahmad Shukeiri, the first PLO chairman, was born to a Lebanese family who immigrated to Mandatory Palestine and he even served as the Saudi ambassador to the United Nations. He and his friends fought against Zionism and for the liberation of Palestine, but even they did not define themselves as Palestinians. This continued for decades after the establishment of Israel. From 1949 to 1967, there was no British or Israeli rule over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In these two decades, not ancient history but utterly contemporary, a separate Palestinian identity was not created. The more established Palestinian institutions were sponsored by the Arab states, as part of the struggles among themselves. Needless to say, a Palestinian state was not established. Why? There was no occupation. King Hussein of Jordan made it clear during those years that Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan," and that Jordan in its two parts is the homeland of all the Palestinians." Actually, the Six Day War and the Israeli conquest were the biggest catalysts for the development of a separate Palestinian national identity. The fact that there was no Palestinian people in the past does not mean that there is no Palestinian people today. Indeed, it is not clear what the difference is between Jordanians, Palestinians and the Syrians themselves. They have same language, religion, culture, and often shared tribal or familial kinship. But identity is a flexible matter sometimes. In any case, it is self-defined. Logic says there is no need for a separate Palestinian state. Jordan already exists. And the one-state solution is unworthy of Jews and Palestinians. It is worthy of both banks of the Jordan River, east and west. Palestinian leaders, even the last two decades, have made every effort to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. So Berko is right about the past. At present there is no need to deny Palestinian nationalism, because whoever denies it now will find themselves in a binational state in the future. Three Israeli sisters have built up a passionate fan base at home and abroad with music that fuses past and present with a twist: A mix of "Yemenite" folk, hip-hop and Arabic. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Looking rather like heroines from the Arabian Nights - apart from the tennis shoes - the sisters in traditional embroidered dresses who make up the band A-WA recreate a desert party at their energetic concerts. A-WA in action. From left rto right: Liron, Tair, and Tagel Haim. (Photo: AFP) "We belong to an ancestral tribe, that of our grandparents who left Yemen to emigrate to Israel," said Tair Haim, at 32 the oldest of the trio that includes Liron, 30, and Tagel, 26. The three sisters grew up in the desert village of Shaharut in southern Israel, near the borders of Jordan and Egypt, the daughters of an architect and holistic therapist. They found their musical inspiration in a past that came alive through the women in their family who sang Yemeni folk songs, an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation. They were discovered by Israeli musician Tomer Yosef of the band Balkan Beat Box and signed on as the opening act at his concerts, before they made their own impact on the music scene and he became their producer. "I heard traditional Yemenite music for the first time when I was young, at a henna ceremony," a tradition at Jewish, Arab and Muslim weddings, Tair Haim said. "I started to get excited about this tradition. I learned the songs by heart. I knew that I wanted to do something with it." In a secret operation dubbed "Flying Carpet" between 1949 and 1950, nearly all of Yemen's 45,000 Jews left to the newly-created state of Israel, the Haim family included. Return to roots Israel's cultural scene - not only in music, but also film and literature - has undergone a recent trend of third-generation Jewish immigrants from Yemen or Morocco returning to their roots. In the spring of 2015, A-WA posted an online music video of "Habib Galbi" (Arabic for "Love of My Heart"), without mentioning they were Israeli Jews. Perched on a jeep cruising over vast sands after slipping away from chores for an officer in military uniform sporting a whip, the girls appear in the video wearing bright pink veils and singing in an unidentified Arabic dialect, before joining a dance session with three boys. "We wanted people to come to us with an open mind," said Tair Haim. "We just wrote something like 'We are bringing you a fresh desert breeze.'" Army radio, the most listened to in Israel, helped make Habib Galbi a summer hit, a first for a song in Arabic in the Jewish state. Its "la-la-la-la" refrain has turned into a hit at Israeli marriages, at clubs and on car radios, with enthusiasts trying to replicate the girls' dance moves - blend of folk dancing and break-dance. Girl Power Two million Internet views later, A-WA (pronounced "aywa," or yes in Arabic) has also attracted a following in the Arab world, according to the sisters. "It's incredible that we have so many fans in the Arab world," said Liron Haim. In Europe, music festivals and radio stations are also discovering the trio, sometimes referred to as an "Israeli-Yemenite choir". Ive been involved in the world music scene for 10 years, and something like them has simply been lacking. Ive never seen anything like it, their producer Yosef told Haaretz newspaper. The three sisters - two of whom live together in Tel Aviv - have played several gigs in Europe since last summer. "We have telepathic moments on stage," said Liron. "It's like when we were small and we played together." A-WA is "a world of freedom and love and a combination of styles, old and new, traditional and modern, hip-hop and Yemenite folk, and girl power," Tair said. "But also a world where guys can feel comfortable in their own skins. It's a cool and happy world." Qabatiya has been the focus of the IDFs struggle against terrorism for the past two weeks. The murderers of Border Policewoman Hadar Cohen came from this town near Jenin. The four-day closure imposed on the 25,000 inhabitants is considered unusual, while the IDF chief of staff emphasizes that the burden must be eased on the Palestinian population not involved in terror. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "Here we fought every kind of occupation," Mayor Mahmoud Kamal told AFP during a condolence visit in the homes of the terrorists families. The mayor listed the Ottoman Empire, the British, and Israeli rule. One of the cell members who came from the northern West Bank to Jerusalem with improvised explosives, weapons and knives for the attack that killed Hadar Cohen was 19-year-old Ahmad Zakarna. His older sister Nisreen was crying and said he had (a girlfriend) he loved, work and family that he cherished, and he abandoned them to fight for the Palestinian people." The clashes last week (Photo: AFP) Zakarna's mother, surrounded by her remaining 10 children, asked to be called "mother of the shahid (martyr)" and spoke of the honor brought by her son. IDF forces have already begun preparing to demolish the houses of the families, but she said that the houses are not as important as our children. As they destroy, we build." Last Ramadan, recalled Zakarnas mother, she and her son wanted to enter Jerusalem to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque. "I went through and he was stopped," she said. Eight months later, Ahmad and his deadly squad managed to infiltrate Jerusalem and murder Hadar Cohen, who, like Ahmad, was 19 years old. Restrictions on entry to Israel Three days after it was placed, the IDF began removing the closure over Qabatiya. Last Saturday, the bodies of three men were returned and they were buried in the town, after days of clashes between locals and security forces. Despite the departure of ten young terrorists from the town to carry out attacks since autumn, the IDF has identified activities and attempts by town officials to prevent the continuation of the phenomenon. Veteran activists in the city initially managed to halt the exit of younger terrorists to carry out attacks after the immense economic damage caused by the closure of Jalameh Crossing near Jenin. That crossing serves as a major financial artery through which thousands of Israeli Arabs arrive to trade in Jenin, alongside the many Palestinians who go to work in Israel. These activities of Qabatiyas senior leadership repeated itself with the closure imposed on the town following the Damascus Gate attack. The late Hadar Cohen In between, as the IDF imposed a closure on the town of Sair, near Hebron, the towns leaders met with their counterparts to learn how they managed to block the village youths from going out and carrying out attacks. This is evidence of the great discrepancy between the generations on the Palestinian street that feeds the current violence. The scene of the attack at the Damascus Gate (Photo: AP) The fact that a large proportion of terrorists has come out of Qabatiya is surprising because of a geographical reason: The town is located in the heart of a large Palestinian enclave in the northern West Bank, and its residents, like residents of nearby villages, do not see settlers or soldiers every day, in contrast to other areas in the West Bank. Mohammed Nazzal, a 37-year-old from Qabatiya who holds a work permit, travels to Israel through Jalameh Crossing. Now he is sitting at home. "They do not let us pass, and we do not know what will happen," he says. The nearby Jenin Chamber of Commerce argues that the restrictions imposed since the attack affect hundreds of businessmen, farmers and other workers. "It will not reduce the tension", the Palestinians insist. Qabatiyas streets were festooned with signs that were praising the recent "martyrs". "All the neighbors and the whole village sympathize with us," the terrorists mother added. Islamic State militants attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq with mustard gas last year, the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a diplomat said, based on tests by the global chemical weapons watchdog. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter A source at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that laboratory tests had come back positive for the sulfur mustard, after around 35 Kurdish troops were sickened on the battlefield last August. The OPCW will not identify who used the chemical agent. But the diplomat said the result confirmed that chemical weapons had been used by Islamic State fighters. OPCW inspector in Syria collecting samples (Photo: AP/2013) The samples were taken after the soldiers became ill during fighting against Islamic State militants southwest of Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The OPCW already concluded in October that mustard gas was used last year in neighboring Syria. Islamic State has declared a "caliphate" in territory it controls in both Iraq and Syria and does not recognize the frontier. Experts believe that the sulfur mustard either originated from an undeclared Syrian chemical stockpile, or that militants have gained the basic know how to develop and conduct a crude chemical attack with rockets or mortars. Evidence of ISIS chemical attack in Syria. Iraq's chemical arsenal was mainly destroyed in the Saddam era, although US troops encountered some old Saddam-era chemical munitions during the 2003-2011 US occupation. Syria gave up its own chemical weapons, including stockpiles of sulfur mustard, under international supervision after hundreds of civilians were killed with sarin nerve gas in a Damascus suburb in 2013, an attack Western countries blame on President Bashar Assad's government, which denies it. Sulfur mustard is a Class 1 chemical agent, which means it has very few uses outside chemical warfare. Used with lethal effectiveness in World War One, it causes severe delayed burns to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. A young Palestinian woman carrying two knives was arrested next to the Damascus Gate at the Old City of Jerusalem on Monday. No one was hurt in the incident. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "The security forces spotted the young Arab woman next to the Damascus Gate and she aroused suspicion. As the police officers went to check the suspect, she quickly put her hand in her pocket. At the request of the officers, she took her hand out of her pocket with a large knife in her hand. The police then overpowered her and arrested her. A search of her purse revealed a second knife," a police spokesperson said. Knives from the attempted stabbing at the Damascus Gate (Photo: Police Spokesperson's office) The night before, two terrorists armed with M-16s shot at police officers at the Damascus Gate light rail station. Police returned fire, killing Amr Amru and Mansur Shwamra, both 20 from Dura. Amru was a member of the Palestinian Security Forces. Also, a Palestinian woman attempted to stab a Border Policeman next to the site of Rachel's Tomb in the old city of Hebron earlier on Sunday. She was shot and lightly wounded, and transported to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. After the attempted stabbing, youths started to throw stones at the Border Police forces. AMMAN/BEIRUT- At least 23 civilians were killed when missiles hit three hospitals and a school in rebel-held Syrian towns on Monday, residents said, as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo. Fourteen people were killed in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border when missiles slammed into a school sheltering families fleeing the offensive and the children's hospital, two residents and a medic said. In a separate incident, missiles hit another hospital in the town of Marat Numan in Idlib province, in north western Syria, killing six nurses. Also in Marat Numan, another strike hit the National Hospital on the north edge of town, killing two nurses. The Israel Police said Monday morning that the first of ten bodies of terrorists who committed attacks in the recent wave of violence had been returned to the family overnight. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The body of Ahmad Abu Shaaban was returned to his family in East Jerusalem. Shaaban's body was supposed to be returned to his family last week, but hours before the handover was supposed to take place, the police told the family lawyer that "the handover of the body will be delayed." Shaaban was buried at night as stipulated in the conditions for the return of his body by the police. These conditions include the presence of no more than 50 people, a quiet burial in the dead of night, burial within three hours of the family receiving the body, and a NIS 20,000 deposit by the family to the police to be returned if all of the previous conditions are met. Abu-Shaaban neutralized after stabing a 65 year old woman The rest of the bodies will gradually be returned under these conditions. In the wake of the reports on the intention to return the bodies to the families for burial, and the public outrage that followed, the handover was delayed by a few days. Balad Knesset members meet with families of terrorists (Photo:Screenshot from Arabic language news site) Shaaban attacked a 65-year-old woman at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station in the beginning of the current wave of terror. The woman sustained moderate injuries. After Shaaban's body is returned, the body of Musa a-Razali, who attempted to stab a Jerusalem police officer in IDF square, is slated to be released. The issue of the return of the bodies arose after three Knesset members from the Balad party met with the families of these terrorists , and even stood for a moment of silence in their memory. The MKs promised the families to work with the relevant Israeli authorities to release the bodies and return them to their families. The families also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, where he too promised to work towards the return of the bodies. BEIRUT Airstrikes blamed on Russia hit at least two hospitals and a school in northern Syria on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of civilians and further dimming hopes for a temporary truce, as government troops backed by Russian warplanes pressed a major offensive north of Aleppo. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The raids came days after Russia and other world powers agreed to bring about a pause in fighting that would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the revival of peace talks. The projected truce agreed on Friday in Munich was to begin in a week, but there was no sign that would happen. On Monday, Syrian state TV reported that pro-government forces have entered the northern town of Tel Rifaat, where they were fighting "fierce battles" against insurgents. Tel Rifaat is a major stronghold of militants fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad. Capturing Tel Rifaat would bring government forces closer to their target of Azaz, near the Turkish border. In Idlib province, an airstrike destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in attacks that were minutes apart. It said seven people were killed and eight others were "missing, presumed dead." Azaz Syria after an airstrike (Photo:Reuters) "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said MSF mission chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The opposition group, which tracks both sides of the conflict through sources on the ground, said dozens were wounded in the attack. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by phone from Maaret al-Numan. He said five people were killed near the MSF clinic and "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead." The Observatory and other opposition activists said another hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also hit Monday, most likely by a Syrian government airstrike. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing five people, including three children and a pregnant woman, according to the Observatory. A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said close to 50 civilians were killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria. Ban called the attacks "blatant violations of international laws" that "are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria," according to UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. Activists posted amateur video that showed civil defense workers pulling bodies from the rubble of the MSF-supported structure in Idlib, which collapsed into a heap of rubble and was tilting to one side. Others showed a huge crater next to a building that purportedly housed the child and maternal hospital in Azaz. Incubators could be seen in a ward littered with broken glass and toppled medical equipment. Russia says its airstrikes are targeting militants and denies hitting hospitals or civilians. But rights groups and activists have repeatedly accused Moscow of killing civilians. Those accusations have increased recently as Russia intensified its airstrikes to provide cover to Syrian troops advancing in the north. Troops are trying to cut rebel supply lines to Turkey and surround rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, once Syria's largest. Daragh McDowell, the head Russia analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a British risk analysis firm, said Russian and Syrian tactics "strongly suggest a deliberate effort to further exacerbate the refugee crisis, as a means of destabilizing Europe and pressuring the West to agree to a settlement in Syria on Moscow and Damascus' terms." Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defense, a group of first responders known as the "White Helmets," said the women's hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles. He said some 10 people were killed and many were wounded. Azaz Syria after an airstrike (Photo: AP) "We think it is Russia because the photos of the missiles have Russian language (and) because we haven't seen this kind (of missile) before the Russian intervention," he said. Russia has been a key ally of Assad throughout the five-year uprising and civil war, and began launching airstrikes on Sept. 30. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving and medics unloading children on stretchers. "They hit the school, they hit the school," wailed a Syrian woman who was unloaded from an ambulance onto a wheelchair. The US State Department condemned the airstrikes, saying they cast doubt on "Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people." In Brussels, European Union officials had earlier called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a US-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table, decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities." Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said "we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that." The UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with Syrian officials Lincoln Park's Children's Memorial Hospital Will Be Torn Down Soon By Mae Rice in News on Feb 15, 2016 4:09PM Photo via April P. on Flickr Lincoln Park, buckle up for several years of sporadic construction noise! The vacant Childrens Memorial Hospital will be demolished in the next six weeks, which will be just the beginning of the redevelopment process for the six-acre site, the Tribune reports. Developers McCaffery Interests and Hines have finally finalized the purchase of the lot, which sits at the intersection of Halsted Street and Fullerton and Lincoln avenues. Now, the two developerswho have partnered to work on the site, as Rejournals reported in 2015plan to replace the hospital with a mixed-use development, according to the Tribune. This development will have 600 luxury residences540 apartments and 60 condosplus 160,000 square feet of space for retail and outdoor recreation, including an outdoor play area for kids, according to the Tribune. Construction on the new complex is slated to start in early 2017, and new residents should be able to move in by the end of 2018, the Tribune reports. The Childrens Memorial Hospital complex has been out of use since 2012, when the childrens hospital relocated to Streeterville and became the Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago. DUBAI/WASHINGTON-A U.S. journalist and three members of her camera crew were detained in Bahrain on Sunday, Reporters Without Borders said on Monday, urging Bahrain to release the four American citizens "rapidly and without harm." In a statement, the group described Anna Day and her three colleagues as experienced journalists, who had most recently worked on virtual reality documentaries in Egypt and Gaza. Bahraini police said earlier they had detained four foreign nationals. This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company. As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism. We hope you are equally as excited as us. This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers. Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited. In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy. Happy shootin' my friends! Buying Guides: Firearms Firearm Accessories Ammunition Gun Safes Scopes & Optics Hunting Air Rifles Best AR-15 Best AR 15 Scope Best Hunting Rifle Best Gun Safe Best AK 47 Best AR 10 Best Glock Triggers Best Glock Best Home Defense Shotgun Shady-Sounding Towing Company Lands City Contract, As It Has Since 1989 By Mae Rice in News on Feb 15, 2016 8:36PM A Chicago car getting towed in a snowstorm (photo via Paul Kehrer on Flickr) The same towing company that has handled city towing needs for the past 26 years will continue to do so. United Road Towing was the only bidder on this years city towing contract, the first one handled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration, according to the Sun-Times. Two other companies showed interest in the contract, but didnt go beyond that, according to a Sun-Times review of city records. This wouldnt be much of a story except that United Road Towing has always been, for lack of a better term, kind of shady. Theyve held onto the city towing contract since 1989, through a name-changethey were once called Environmental Auto Removaland a 2003 FBI raid, in which the companys records were seized and thought to show connections to an interstate car-theft ring, according to the Sun-Times. Even the way the towing company landed its first city contract was a bit odd. The company got the contract just days after it came into existence, the Tribune noted in 2004, likely due to the founders ties to then-Mayor Richard M. Daley and his allies. This has an especially strange ring to it because during 2010 bidding for Chicago's towing contract, the city turned down a bid from Tegscoa competitor of United Road Towingbecause the company didnt have enough experience to handle Chicagos volume, the Sun-Times reports. Thats not to mention a 2004 Sun-Times report, which revealed that the city sold 70,000 cars a year to the towing company for the price of scrap metal, regardless of the cars' condition. The towing company then sold the cars at auction. Meanwhile, the cars owners got no cut of the money changing hands, and still had to pay towing fees. Luckily Chicago isn't known for back-room deals or corruption or anything, so we can all be sure this whole towing thing is totally above board! After finalising at 70.1% over the previous week, preliminary figures from CoreLogic RP Data currently put this weeks clearance rate at 72.3%, only slightly lower than the 74% recorded over the corresponding week one year ago. The busiest auction market over the weekend was Melbourne, with the Victorian capital returning a preliminary clearance rate of 73.6% from 440 reported auctions. That mark is currently lower than the previous weeks 77.6%, but it is higher than the 70.9% recorded at the same time last year. The strongest performing Melbourne sub-region was the Inner East, with a clearance rate of 81.4% across 52 auctions. Sydneys preliminary clearance rate currently sits at 78.6% and no downward revision of that figure would give the harbour city its first weekly clearance rate higher than Melbourne since mid-September 2015. The citys market is more subdued than it was at the same time last year, when it recorded a clearance rate of 83.3%. North Sydney and Hornsby was Sydneys strongest sub-region for the week, posting a preliminary clearance rate of 92.5%. So far Adelaide is home to the nations highest clearance rate, with its preliminary rate sitting at 81.4%. That mark is currently higher than the previous weeks 70.5% and the 69% recorded for the corresponding week a year ago. Brisbanes preliminary clearance rate for last week is 53.3%, which is slightly down on the previous weeks 54%, however somewhat higher than the 49.5% recorded on the same week a year ago. Perth looks to have had a softer week, with last weeks preliminary clearance rate currently sitting at 25%, down from 35.3% recorded over the previous week. Canberras preliminary clearance rate of 73.3% for last week is relatively consistent with results from the previous week (71.4%) and the same week last year (72.3%). As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More The Global and United States Hydrobike Market Report has been published by QY Research recently. Hydrobike Market Analysis and Insights This report focuses on... A Chinese student who was expelled from the University of Iowa in the United States seemingly for making a threatening social media post is seeking legal advice, Qianjiang Evening News reported yesterday, citing the man's father. "My son told me he was repatriated from the US. He is now seeking legal help," the father of 22-year-old Ni Hanxiang was quoted as saying. The controversy began after Ni said in a post on the social media site Instagram that he would "let [his] professors experience the fear of Lu Gang" if he did not do well in his classes. Lu was a Chinese graduate student at the university who in 1991 went on a shooting spree at the campus, killing five people before turning the gun on himself. Ni later summarized the events surrounding his departure from Iowa in a separate post on the Chinese social media site Weibo in which he said his comments were not meant to be taken seriously. According to the website of the The Daily Iowan, the university confirmed it had investigated a social media threat, but would not say if it was related to Ni or his expulsion. The website also said that Ni had a firearms permit and posted a photograph of the student holding a shotgun. Another Iowa-based newspaper, Press-Citizen, reported that Ni's student visa had been invalidated and his firearms permit revoked as a result of being expelled from university. The Qianjiang Evening News report said Ni returned to his home city of Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. "My son was doing well in the US ... he had been granted a scholarship (and) bore no ill will," his father was quoted as saying. The report said that the father was refusing to allow his son to speak to the media. There is no denying that the Zika Virus epidemic is more a threat to women than it is to men. While it has yet to be proven, there are already studies pointing to a possible link between the recent Zika outbreak and the increase of babies born with birth defects. Because of the concerns over the safety of women in the midst of the pandemic, the UN has since commented about the issue. According to the global governing agency, it is imperative that women are given access to information, support and treatment should they become pregnant and infected by the disease. "Upholding human rights is essential to an effective public health response and this requires that governments ensure women, men and adolescents have access to comprehensive and affordable quality sexual and reproductive health services and information, without discrimination" explained Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Since the announcement, members of the liberal Catholic group, Catholics for Choice, have strongly urged the pope to lift the ban on contraceptives in order to halt the spread of the Zika virus. The group has since placed an ad on the International New York Times in the hopes of reaching Pope Francis during his five day visit to Mexico. Advertisement "When you travel tomorrow to Latin America, we ask you, Francis, to make it clear to your brother bishops that good Catholics can follow their conscience and use birth control to protect themselves and their partners" read a part of the ad as reported by The Financial Times. The Catholic Church has indoctrinated the ban on contraceptives in the encyclical "Humanae Vitae" written by Pope Paul almost half a century ago. the encyclical specifically prohibits Catholics from using artificial birth control as it is deemed to block the process of procreation. Early this month, news about Fitbit tracking a wearer's heartbreak made the online news rounds. According to several reports, Koby Soto, co-founder of the app Guesty from Tel Aviv, noticed that his Fitbit captured the changes in his physiology around the time he got dumped by his boyfriend through the phone. While still reeling from the events, Soto has since gushed about the technology. He explains that the date his Fitbit recorded is proof that heartbreak also takes a toll on one's body. "People become less cynical once you show them the numbers or once you show the data or graphs" explained Soto. More recently, David Trinidad who goes by YoungPTone on Reddit posted an inquiry about his wife's abnormal Fitbit records. According to his post, his wife logged 10 hours in the fat burning zone. Having been around her the whole day, he is certain that her activities would not burn as much calories as is charted on the device. Consequently, some redditors speculated that YoungPTone's wife must be pregnant since it is known that women's hear rates increase from 30 to 50% when they are carrying a child. Advertisement The couple has since gone to the doctor to confirm their assumption. And lo and behold, David Trinidad's wife is indeed pregnant. David and his wife Ivonne have also gushed about the kind words strangers have extended to their growing family since the news became viral. They have decided to share their Fitbit baby journey on Instagram. "I am a regular guy who was just looking for the communities help with his wife's technology issue (we've all been there, right?). Little did i know I got alot more than I bargained for" exclaimed Trinidad on Reddit. Interested readers can follow David and Ivonne's pregnancy journey on twitter @babyfitbit and on Instagram at @babyfitbit. A Russian scientist recently announced that they are planning to test their missiles on an asteroid that could potentially be a danger to Earth. Sabit Saitgarayev, the leading researcher at the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau reported that they are planning to launch their Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles or ICBMs towards near-earth objects (NEOs). The asteroid the team is planning to specifically hit is the asteroid 99942 Apophis which believed to dangerously pass the earth in 2036. "Their fueling begins 10 days before the launch and, therefore, they are unfit for destroying meteorites similar to the Chelyabinsk meteorite in diameter, which are detected several hours before coming close to the Earth" quipped Saitgarayev. NASA disagrees that the asteroid in 2036 would create an impact that could potentially hurt humans. Russian scientists however were adamant about the possibility citing the incident that happened in Chelyabinsk, Russia last year when an asteroid impact injured over 1,500 people. Advertisement Founders of Asteroid Day, an organization which main goal is to spread awareness about the danger that an asteroid could do, has since explained the positive effects of Russia's plan to blow-up 99942 Apophis. "An event like Chelyabinsk happens about once every 50 years, and we don't have a system designed to discover and track these things" explained Mark Boslough, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories. Co-founder of Asteroid Day who also happens to be a former astronaut, Tom Jones, has also since voiced out his support for Russia's plans. According to Jones, there is really nothing wrong with being prepared for the worst. He further explains that endeavours like this should be done with the public interest and knowledge. Jones claims that it is important for the public to understand the mechanics of the planet being hit by an asteroid or other celestial objects so everyone can work together to avoid impact. If we are going to describe someone with mental health problems, it is high time that we do it right. Otherwise, we might add to their agony and aggravate their conditions. According to a new study by Darcy Haag Granello and Todd A. Gibbs of the Ohio State University, there is now a compelling reason to be more mindful of our language when describing people with mental illnesses. In particular, the study cautioned against the use of "mentally ill people" to describe this population. The phrase is associated with certain degree of intolerance, which can be hurtful and harmful for the people diagnosed with these problems and their families. Instead, people are encouraged to use "people with mental illnesses" instead. In their study, they surveyed more than 600 people on their attitudes towards people with mental illnesses. Half of them got a survey that included statements associated with "the mentally ill" while the other half got a survey that included the same statements with "people with mental illnesses instead." Their responses have important implications. Majority of those who answered a survey that used the phrase "the mentally ill" were harsher with their judgements on the population. They believed that "the mentally ill" should be isolated and separated from the "normal" people. The finding held even among the counselors who answered the survey, when it was expected that they will be the ones most understanding of this specific population. The opposite applies to those who answered a survey that used the phrase "people with mental illnesses." Advertisement Gibbs explained that the phrase "people with mental illnesses" is the more appropriate term because it does to implicate a person according to their disability. "When you say 'people with mental illness,' you are emphasizing that they aren't defined solely by their disability," Gibbs said. "But when you talk about 'the mentally ill' the disability is the entire definition of the person." There was already a "people-first" movement back in the 1990s, but the study is the first to have evaluated how language works on one's perceptions of the population. "The important point to take away is that no one, at least in our study, was immune," Granello said in the news release. "All showed some evidence of being affected by the language used to describe people with mental illness," he added, implying to the fact that counselors themselves wanted "mentally ill people" to be isolated. The findings are timely and important, considering the increasing number of people with mental illnesses. According to the Southern Missourian, mental health problems are becoming more commonplace, with one in every four people vulnerable to being diagnosed with one. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. A State Council investigatory team has identified 123 people responsible for the Tianjin warehouse explosions in August that killed at least 165 people and put direct economic losses at 6.87 billion yuan (about 1.1 billion dollars). Previously, another 49 people, including 13 from Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co. Ltd (Ruihai Logistics), owner of the warehouse, have been put under "coercive measures" in line with the law, the team said in a report on Friday. "Coercive measures" may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest. After five months of investigation, the team has concluded that the disaster, "an extraordinarily serious production safety accident," was caused by ignition of hazardous materials, improperly or illegally stored at the site. The fire started in a container through auto-ignition of nitro-cotton, due to vaporization of the wetting agent during hot weather. The fire spread, igniting other chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, the report said. It said Ruihai Logistics had "illegally built a freight yard of hazardous materials, conducted illegal operations, illegally stored hazardous material and their safety management procedures were inept." The company's executives were found to have exploited their connections and bribed local officials to get approvals. The probe suggests 74 officials be subject to Communist Party of China disciplinary procedures, 48 be admonished by their local discipline inspection commissions. One other culpable person died of natural causes during the course of the investigation. The report also recommends that Ruihai Logistics' licenses be revoked and company executives be banned from any other executive posts in the sector. On Aug. 12, two explosions ripped through a Ruihai Logistics' warehouse in Tianjin Port, killing 165 people, including 99 firefighters. Another eight people are still unaccounted for. The explosions damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars and 7,533 containers. Authorities are continuing to monitor and control pollution nearly six months after the explosions rocked Tianjin Port, which is about 160 km from Beijing. With a large amount of toxic chemicals like ammonium nitrate and sodium cyanide stored at the site, the explosions have caused air, water and soil pollution in the core zone and surrounding areas, but did not affect the marine environment in Bohai Bay, where Tianjin is located, the report said. "No people were poisoned or killed by the pollution. The negative impact on the air has basically been neutralized, while the polluted surface water has been appropriately disposed of," the team wrote in a statement delivered to Xinhua. Authorities are still dealing with underground water and soil pollution in the core zone of the explosions, it said. The fatal blasts have exposed slack Chinese safety management of hazardous chemicals, and the investigatory team made suggestions for improving government supervision to prevent more such tragedies. "China should give more priority to production safety," the report said, advising that the central government streamline port safety management, delimit responsibilities clearly, strictly implement city planning and tighten safety requirements. The team urged more government scrutiny of intermediary organizations responsible for safety and environmental evaluations. Fraudulent safety evaluation reports issued by appraisal firms involved in this case allowed Ruihai Logistics to get government permits to operate. China should also improve its emergency disposal protocols and equip rescue forces with specialist devices for this, the report said. History repeats itself, they say and watching the incidents of past couple of weeks I can only say that whosever said it, was definitely a man of tremendous foresight.

Karkare, Unnikrishnan, and all those who laid down their lives in Mumbai on November 26 carried the spirit of Indians, who think and dream of a united India, in their brave hearts. An India which is secure at all costs, an India where one can hold his head high. A nation that Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi once dreamt of.

It was a legacy which these martyrs inherited from the past. History has stood testimony to the fact that our country had no dearth of gallant heroes. Be it Chandrasekhar Azad, Khudiram Bose, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose or for that matter squadron leader Ajay Ahuja who died fighting in Kargil. The names of the martyrs scripted on India Gate in New Delhi are none the lesser.

It is the spirit of India that has stood ground against some barbaric aggressions in world history, starting from Taimur and Chengez Khan. It has also seen aggressors-turned-rulers who finally became Indians. It has seen the greatest Muslim ruler of modern times, Akbar-the great, who propagated a symbiosis of two cultures and went on to launch and propagate the Din - i- Ilahi. World history had never seen more secular ruler than Akbar before.

But, theres more to history.

Since time immemorial, rulers of this land of unlimited resources and boundless opportunities let it down repeatedly. It was in Bahadur Shah Zafars inefficiency that East India Company saw its opportunity. The internal feud among Indias princely states and sheer lack of foresight and wisdom in Zafar saw British Major Hodson capturing Delhi and with it, Indias pride.

Zafar undoubtedly was a fantastic poet and a man who loved nature and beauty and peace. Let me just quote one of his famous poems written in Urdu Lagta Nahi Hai Jee Mera:

My heart is not happy in this despoiled land
Who has ever felt fulfilled in this transient world
The nightingale laments neither to the gardener nor to the hunter
Imprisonment was written in fate in the season of spring
Tell these emotions to go dwell elsewhere
Where is there space for them in this besmirched (bloodied) heart? I had requested for a
long life a life of four days
Two passed by in pining, and two in waiting.
The days of life are over, its evening of death
Now I can sleep without any stress forever in my tomb
How unlucky is Zafar!


A brilliant poet but, as it was proved, good poets are not often good leaders.

Come November 30, 2008 and history repeated itself. Another man was relieved of his responsibilities. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was addressing the press conference in which he announced, I accept the moral responsibility of Mumbai attacks and resign from my post. I feel a lot relieved now.

Patil in many a-sense carried the legacy of Bahadur Shah Zafar. For his sheer incompetence in failing to take action as a series of terror attacks bruised India in different cities and under different names- he paid the price, arguably too late. Or else how will you explain the fact that the file of Mohan Chandra Sharma who died while fighting terrorists- was gathering dust in Home Ministry.

There have been stark revelations that intelligence agencies had forewarned of such attacks on numerous occasions but there was no urgency to act. Singling out just Shivraj would be like treating some one for fever when the patient has Cancer.

There are many who took to streets against such attacks in Mumbai and all across the nation. But lets not get bogged down by the leadership, or the lack of it. History suggests whenever it is felt that there is no way out of gloom, there comes a man who shows the way- which Guru Gobind Singh and Mahatma Gandhi showed.

The BIG question is- Are we ready to find the Mahatma within?

Flash China expressed regrets after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched an earth-observation satellite Sunday morning, calling for calmness to avoid further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. "The DPRK should have been entitled to peaceful use of outer space, but this right is currently restricted by the United Nations Security Council resolutions," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, in response to a question on the DPRK's announcement on the launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong-4. China was regretful that the DPRK insisted on launching the satellite, based on the ballistic missile technology, despite universal opposition of the international community, the spokesperson said. Hua called all sides concerned to "remain calm, act cautiously, prevent from taking moves that could further increase tensions on the peninsula, and make joint efforts to safeguard regional peace and stability." "China always holds that the way to long-lasting peace and stability on the peninsula can be found only through dialogues and consultations," Hua said, urging all sides concerned to resume contact and dialogue as soon as possible. Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will lay the foundation stone of the state's temporary Secretariat near here on February 17, the construction of which is to be completed in four months. The Interim Government Complex (a temporary Secretariat) will come up at Velagapudi village in Guntur district, Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana said after a Cabinet meeting. Two construction majors agreed to complete six lakh sq ft of building space by June 15 following which the government agreed to increase the cost to Rs 3,350 per sq ft from Rs 3,000 set earlier, he said. "The firms have to engage workers round-the-clock to complete the buildings by June 15 and that involves higher costs. Hence, the Cabinet approved the enhanced rate to be paid to the contractors," the minister said. "The state administration right now is in disarray. The Chief Minister and we (Ministers) are functioning from Vijayawada while the officers and staff are working from Hyderabad. There is no coordination," Narayana said. The state would lose another year if the buildings were not completed by June 15 and government activity shifted to the new Capital region, he added. New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing rage over an event against Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi Police on Sunday cautioned India youth to stay away from indulgin in any anti-Indian activity. "We highlighted Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed's tweet to educate Indian youth to stay away from anti-India slogans," Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi was quoted as saying by CNN IBN. Delhi Police had also issued an alert through the official twitter handle of the Commissioner's office saying, "This is to alert and sensitise the student community in JNU and across the country. Do not get carried away by such seditious anti-national rhetoric. Abetment of any kind of anti-national activity is a punishable offence." Backing Centre's move to slap sedition charges against JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar, Bassi reportedly said that initial enquiry suggests that he was involved in anti-India activities. Earlier, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said that government will not tolerate any anti-national activities in the country. "No one will be spared who raises anti-India slogans and tries to raise questions on national unity and integrity. Strict actions will be taken against them, who raised anti-India slogans at JNU," Rajnath was quoted as saying. New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Monday directed the AAP government to formulate an insurance policy for e- rickshaws to help mishap victims claim compensation and prohibit plying of any such unregistered vehicle on the roads of the national capital. The bench said e-rickshaws owners should be asked to go for third-party insurance cover to enable accident victims claim compensation in case of any mishap. "You (Delhi government) find a solution. As on date, there is no policy under which the victims of the e-rickshaws can claim a compensation," Justice J R Modha said. He further said that "many of the e-rickshaws are plying without registration and the same should not be allowed". The court's direction came during the hearing of a contempt plea alleging that most e-rickshaws in the city were operating in violation of law and rules and the authorities were not taking any action against such vehicles. The counsel for Delhi government told the court that only those e-rickshaws complying with its guidelines were being registered and the rest being impounded. He said the Transport Department has granted licences to around 4,000 e-rickshaws till date and impounded over 15,000 vehicles playing illegally. Prosecution has been initiated against owners or operators of around 16,000 e-rickshaws which were found plying illegally, it said. On the other hand, advocate Sugriva Dubey, counsel for the petitioner Shahnawaz Khan, submitted that licences have been granted to only 31 e-rickshaws and added that especially in trans-Yamuna areas, these vehicles were plying in violation of the law. The court after hearing the arguments of both sides asked the Delhi government to place before it the policy they will be formulating as per the court's suggestion by March 14. The government had earlier told the court that as per its December 11, 2014 notification, e-rickshaws have been banned from plying or parking on 236 roads in the city. It had also told the court that it was running out of places to put the impounded e-rickshaws and using bus depots for the purpose. Khan in his contempt plea has alleged that e-rickshaws continued to operate in the national capital in violation of the court's September 9, 2014 direction holding the plying of e-rickshaws in the national capital as illegal as per the then existing law and the ban on their operation would continue till the Centre framed rules to regulate them. New Delhi: The Directorate of Education (DoE) has received at least 73,000 applications against 23,000 seats for nursery admissions under the EWS category, draws for which will be conducted on Monday. The DoE has issued directions to schools regarding the computerised draw which has been centralised for the first time. As revealed by a DoE official, the total number of online applications received so far is 73,059 whereas the total number of seats available is only 28,193. "The draw for admissions will be conducted tomorrow and the school allotted for admission under EWS/DG category shall be sent through SMS on the registered mobile number of the applicant within 24 hours of completion of draw of lots," the DoE official told PTI. "The successful applicant may approach the school allotted in draw upto February 22, failing which his or her candidature will be cancelled," he added. Schools have been instructed to properly examine Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificates and any income certificate from the parents/applicants who have been selected under Disadvantaged Students Category (DG). "The school shall carefully carry out the necessary scrutiny/verification of the documents produced. The school must also verify the genuineness of EWS/DG certificates issued by the different department through online, if available, or in writing from the office of issuing authority," the circular said. "The school shall not ask for income certificate from those EWS category parents who submit copy of BPL/AAY/Food Security Card issued by Food and Civil Supply Department. The school shall not impose the condition for attested copies of documents," it added. New Delhi: Controversial Hindutva leader Sadhvi Prachi on Monday hit out at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and questioned the motive behind supporting Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students' protest over Afzal Guru hanging. In a scathing attack, Sadhvi Prachi slammed the Congress vice president for associating himself with alleged anti-national forces and also questioned the party for lending its support to recent protests by JNU students. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, who arrived at JNU campus along with her supporters today, also accused Opposition parties of putting the blame for the ongoing JNU rage on her outfit. Earlier today, BJP chief Amit Shah asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi a host of questions and also demanded that the latter issue an apology for his stand on the JNU issue. ANI quoted Amit Shah as saying, "Support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology will not be acceptable at any cost." On February 12, JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested by Delhi Police and was booked on charges of sedition over a protest organised in the Jawaharlal Nehru campus against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. A day later, Gandhi visited the JNU campus and met students who were demanding Kanhaiya's release. Ahmedabad: A controversy on Monday erupted in Gujarat's Junagadh in light of a letter purportedly "issued" by the district administation to the subordinates sought information at the behest of the Chief Minister's office, about the ruling BJP's debacle in panchayat polls last year. The letter dated January 4, issued to mamlatdars, taluka development officers and other subordinate officers, seeks names of the defeated BJP candidates in the respective areas and reasons for defeat. Junagadh Collector Alok Kumar Pandey, however, said it had been drafted "by mistake" and was "never sent out". Signed by Mahesh Joshi, a clerk at the collectorate, it says, the Chief Minister's Office "wanted" this information. "Details have been sought by the CMO about the results of the recently held district and taluka panchayat elections of 2015. Furnish the details of your respective region today itself by fax as per the prescribed form attached here," it says. Joshi, when contacted, claimed he sent the letter upon orders from higher-ups. "I signed the letter on behalf of election officer and collector of Junagadh as I was asked to do so by my superior officers," he said. But the collector denied it. "Joshi drafted that letter by mistake. The CMO never sought such information from us. That letter was never sent to any of our officers. We even took disciplinary action against him for drafting the letter without understanding the subject matter," said Pandey. State Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi alleged that it proved the BJP was "using the government machinery". "We have been saying for long that BJP is using the government machinery for its own benefit. This letter proves our claim....Involving government officers in party's work is unconstitutional and we will take legal action against this," Doshi said. Richa Taneja New Delhi: Often mistaken as polio, one of most common birth deformity that plagues Indias children today is the Clubfoot. Twisted foot or teda paer, as it is generally referred to, a child with Clubfoot is unable to place the sole of the foot flat on the ground. If left untreated, it can lead to a lifetime of deformity. Being one of the most common birth defects, India registers almost 50,000 cases of Clubfoot children every year. The question that stares us is - After becoming a polio-free nation, can India eradicate disability caused by Clubfoot too? Santosh George, Director, Cure International India says, Clubfoot is not a poor man or a rich mans disease. It is a birth defect and can happen to anybody. Earlier, Clubfoot didnt have a cure, the rich used to get it surgically operated. But today, the treatment is readily available free of cost. CURE International India, a national charitable healthcare NGO, is working in public-private partnership with state governments and donor agencies and making the treatment free and accessible for all. Clubfoot is not genetic The picture above is that of Ved Pal, resident of Palwal, his wife and two of three children. His younger daughter doesnt have Clubfoot, but the elder one, Pinki (8) and youngest son, Harsh (3) have the deformity. While one may think that Clubfoot is genetic, its untrue. The reason behind clubfoot is to be ascertained. So far, there are only theories doing the rounds. Pal says, I had this defect since childhood and when I was to get married, I just saw my wifes feet and agreed to marry her, I did not see her face or talked to her. I just knew she was the one. He smiles. Pal recalls that in their times, they were called with several cuss words and considered abnormal. There was no awareness on any treatment then. I and my wife face great difficulty walking, but when our two children were born with this defect, we were advised to come to Kalawati Saran Hospital in Delhi. After coming here we realised that we were not the only ones struggling. There were thousands of children with clubfoot and were getting positive results through treatment. We couldnt thank our good fortune enough and after getting medical care in this hospital, we are now sure that Pinki and Harsh will be living normal lives. We are more than grateful, he beams. Clubfoot can be prevented not averted, but definitely corrected During 1950s, Spanish physician Ignacio Ponseti developed a non-surgical technique that uses a series of casts, followed by an abduction brace, to correct congenital Clubfoot. The corrective procedure, later popularised as Ponseti Method, has helped in curing thousands of children world-over. Ponseti method takes advantage of anatomy of foot joints movement and with specific way of casting, heals it naturally. Here is a small video where Dr Alok Sud, Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon at Lady Hardinge Hospital, New Delhi, explains that Clubfoot is one of the most common congenital deformities and how it is completely curable through inexpensive Ponseti method. What is Clubfoot? How can it be cured? Dr Sud says, While most of the deformities are curable, there are 10-20 per cent severe cases of deformities that cannot be corrected fully and the patient, in such cases, would need rehabilitation and proper guidance. We do not have any prevention for Clubfoot as it happens in the womb, inside the uterus. But yes, awareness and good maternal nutrition can help prevent it as it will have clear impact in the treatment of deformities. Overcoming parents anxiety While a lot of anxious parents, detecting about their babys birth defect in the ultrasound, consider abortion, Dr Sud advises, We first simply counsel them that none of the parents is responsible for this defect and when the child is brought early to the clinic, within a matter of 5-6 serial plasters, followed by wearing Foot Abduction Brace (FAB) till 4 years of age, the deformity can be corrected. For first three months, FAB is worn 23 hours a day. One hour is kept aside for cleaning and washing. After three months, its worn only during the night as human bones grow during the night. The treatment needs to be followed up without a break. During this time period, the core team keeps on following up with the patients until the problem is fully rectified, he adds. Alem Cure, Co-ordinator, Cure International India, has been working relentlessly with parents for close to a decade now. From caressing cranky crying babies to counselling nervous parents, constant follow-ups and handling emergency cases, Alem has always been on her toes. She says Yes, its a lot of hardwork, persuasion and perseverance, but towards the end, when a child gets treated and the joy I see on parents faces is what drives me to work every day. Jamsheds son Shariyan (3) is a shining example. Jamshed travels from Ladiapur in Faridabad every week to Delhi and has been religiously following the treatment - be it the plastering, massaging, changing of shoe to fit the size. Three years of his hard work has reaped off and happiness engulfs his face as he sees Shariyan walk. Watch Alem explaining step by step treatment procedure and throwing light on the frequently asked questions: Clubfoot cure - Step by step treatment explained Cure International India Trust- Healing feet, saving lives In the past 6 years of its presence in India, CURE International India has been instrumental in treating more than 20,000 patients, the eldest being the case of a 22-year-old girl. With a team of over 1800 expert doctors who take free weekly check-ups in about 170 designated clubfoot clinics throughout India and a team of committed counsellors who provide one-on-one counselling or through helpline numbers, CURE International India is doing all it can to ensure that not even a single child remains untreated. From keeping records and statistics to providing training and spreading awareness, CURE International India has shown immense commitment and is solely championing the cause. Santosh George says, On this mission we realised that while plastering cost isnt high, its the cost of the shoe that pinched many parents. We thus decided to manufacture the shoe locally and make it available free-of-cost. What matters to us the most is that child is able to lead a disability-free healthy and happy life and we are devoted towards this cause. Here is the list of Clubfoot Clinics that you can contact and can also reach CURE International India here. Zee Media Bureau Beijing: Even as Zika-linked microcephaly cases continue to rise in Brazil, forcing the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency, China is all set to begin a pilot field study using mosquitoes infected with bacteria to help fight the deadly disease. According to Xi Zhiyong, a microbiology professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, millions of laboratory-produced Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with the Wolbachia bacteria will be released at two or three trial sites. He said the move is aimed at reducing the local mosquito population, which could transmit the Zika virus to humans. Xi, who heads the study, claimed that using the same technique, last year the team lowered the mosquito population by 90 percent during a trial and helped to contain a local outbreak of dengue fever. In the process, researchers only release male mosquitoes, which don't bite. And the eggs produced by female mosquitoes mating with Wolbachia-infected males are infertile, which they said had reduced mosquito populations. Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya. Symptoms include - fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes), muscle pain and headache. Till date, there is no vaccine or medication to treat the deadly virus. The team plans to launch the field work sometime around March. The Zika virus, which has been linked to microcephaly, a severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in the Americas. Flash U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday urged Russia to play a constructive role in Syria by halting its air campaign against so-called Syria's moderate opposition forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with US President Barack Obama (L) on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya, on November 15, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua] Obama made the call in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday, the White House said in a statement. The two leaders discussed the decisions and agreements made at the Feb. 11 meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and stressed "the importance of rapidly implementing humanitarian access to besieged areas of Syria and initiating a nationwide cessation of hostilities." "In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," it said. The two leaders agreed that the United States and Russia will remain in communication on the important work of the ISSG. Both the U.S.-led coalition and Russia are conducting military campaigns in Syria. Russia has been launching air strikes against targets of the terror group Islamic State inside Syria since last September, but the U.S. has accused Moscow of bombing moderate opposition forces in Syria in order to help sustain the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The ISSG meeting, sponsored by the the U.S. and Russia, agreed on a nationwide cessation of hostilities to be implemented soon in Syria, and on humanitarian aid delivery to besieged areas in the country. Obama also urged "combined Russian-separatist forces to fulfill their Minsk obligations, especially adhering to the cease-fire and ensuring that the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has full access to all areas of eastern Ukraine, including the international border." "The President reiterated the importance of quickly reaching agreement on the modalities for elections in eastern Ukraine that comply with OSCE standards," the White House statement said. On Ukraine, Putin expressed the hope that Kiev would take practical steps to meet its obligations under the Minsk deal as soon as possible, including constitutional reform, establishing direct dialogue with the two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine, and amendments to the law on special status of the Donbass region, according to an earlier Kremlin statement. Relations between Russia and the Western countries have been undermined by disputes over the Syria and Ukraine issues, with both sides waging a sanction war and cutting dialogues. New Delhi: Faiza Outalha, an estranged wife of American-born Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist David Headley, has replied to all questions of National Investigation Agency (NIA) relating to her knowledge of the conspiracy behind 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Besides Outalha, the probe agency also recorded the statement of a New York-based cousin of Headley through a questionnaire sent through the US Department of Justice, official sources said. Headley, who is at present undergoing a prison term of 35 years in a Chicago jail for conspiring in terror attacks in Mumbai and Denmark, had started a video parlour in New York in 1997. The legal process of quizzing Outalha concluded only after the NIA sent a fresh request in French to Moroccan authorities for recording her statement pertaining to her knowledge of her estranged husband's association with LeT terror group. French is generally used by the Moroccan government for international diplomatic communications. The Moroccan government had earlier sent Outalha's reply in response to a Letters Rogatory (LR) sent by the NIA in 2012 but it did not cover many of the questions asked by terror probe agency. The NIA had registered a case in 2009 to probe the activities of Headley in India. In the absence of any Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty between India and Morocco, the LR had been issued on the basis of "Assurance of Reciprocity", thereby promising the African country of all assistance in any legal cases in future. Outalha had visited India twice and was used by Headley, a US national whose father was a Pakistani and mother a white American, while carrying out a reconnaissance mission at Hotel Taj Mahal in Mumbai. NIA, which was handed over the task to probe the activities of Headley, has already filed charge sheet against Headley, his Canadian-Pakistani accomplice Tahawuur Rana, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the outfits operations chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and five others including two army majors believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI. Earlier, Headley's another wife Shazia and business associate Raymond Sanders had turned down a similar request of NIA to answer questions related to his association with the terror group, citing a US privacy law. New Delhi: Stung by BJP chief's 'Rahul Gandhi supporting anti-nationals' remark, Congress held a press conference to counter Amit Shah but courted a huge controversy instead. While addressing a press meet here, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Monday not only termed Afzal Guru as 'Ji' but also said that the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had attacked the 'Supreme Court'. Surjewala was addressing the media on the ongoing issue of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) row and said that if we did not trust our constitutional process then we would not have given life sentence to Afzal Guru after exhausting all the legal provisions he had. However, Surjewala later apologised for his remark. He also said that during the entire press conference he took Afzal Gurus name many times but only once addressed him as Ji which should be considered as a 'slip of tongue'. Earlier in the day, speaking on the raging controversy for the first time, Shah asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul a host of questions and demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology is not acceptable. "Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?", Shah wrote in a blog. Noting that slogans like 'Pakistan zindabad', 'go India go back' and those in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Kashmir's independence and India's destruction were raised in JNU, the BJP president wondered if the Congress leader had joined hands with separatists. Rahul, later, attacked the BJP and RSS over the JNU row, saying they do not have respect for diversity of the nation's culture and wanted to control everyone's views. Jawaharlal Nehru University students on Tuesday had organised a meet on the campus to mourn the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) co-founder Maqbool Bhat, where alleged anti-India slogans were raised. Another commemorative meeting was held at the Press Club of India in Delhi on Wednesday where too, anti-India slogans were raised and placards were shown. Mumbai: It was a terrifying moment for over 50,000 people as a massive fire engulfed the stage at a cultural event held at Girgaum Chowpatty seafront in Mumbai where a string of film celebrities and political leaders were present as part of the high-profile 'Make in India' investment meet but there were no casualties. Amitabh Bachchan had left the stage a few minutes before the fire started. All the VVIPs including CM Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan were safely evacuated to safer areas. So, how did the Maharashtra officials manage to save several lives? Effective disaster management plan The disaster management plan put in place ensured the safe passage of the people attending the event. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis had personally monitored the evacuation operation from the venue. Swift action by fire officials Reportedly, the fire that broke out at around 8.22 PM and was brought under control in quick time by 14 fire engines and 10 water tankers with swift evacuation of thousands of people. Timely coordination between various agencies Actor Vivek Oberoi, who was at one of the flanks of the stage and was getting ready to perform another event, said the flames leapt 40 to 50 feet high and there was threat of it spreading to nearby tents beause of the strong sea breeze but things were brought under control because of timely coordination between various agencies. Fire safety audit A fire safety audit was conducted prior to the programme and all SOPs were followed. Number of fire fighting equipment were kept stationed at venue. The venue was evacuated immediately and traffic management allowed early disbursal without any trouble. Bollywood star, politicianss laud govt, police efforts Aamir Khan said, "It was a very bad fire and spread at an alarming speed due to wind. I am fortunate to be alright. Police and fire dept did a wonderful job in evacuating people. Thankfully, there were no injuries. Evacuation was smooth". Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray hailed the role of Mumbai police and Fire officials in putting out the flames swiftly. "Unfortunate fire at Make in India event at Chowpatty. As of now all safe, great efforts by @Mumbai Police and Fire dept. In evacuation," he tweeted. Actor Shreyas Talpade said, "I was going on stage after a dance performance and during that performance someone noticed a fire on the stage and informed the authorities. People who were performing on the stage could not see the blaze. But the authorities, including the disaster management team, acted immediately. If anyone had stayed on the stage even for a minute, it would have been disastrous." Inquiry ordered; PM Modi concerned A comprehensive inquiry has been ordered into the fire tragedy. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to CM Fadnavis about the fire incident. Islamabad: India and Pakistan may hold Foreign Secretary-level talks in the near future as against speculation of return of chill in bilateral ties. Gautam Bambawaly, India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, said on Monday that the talks between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries were not conditional to the probe into Pathankot airbase terror attack. In fact, the two governments are in contact to decide on Foreign Secretary-level talks, Dawn online reported. "I can not give any particular date for the Secretary-level talks but Foreign Secretaries from both countries are in constant contact," Bambawaly said, as per the report. The remarks came amid speculation that the Indo-Pak talks were going off the track yet again in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack. Analysts had said that there was less likelihood of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), agreed upon last year by the two countries, starting/resuming anytime soon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan on Christmas day last December had earlier raised hopes of improvement in bilateral ties that had hit an all-time low post 26/11 Mumbai attacks. In the attack on the airbase on January 2, India lost seven security personnel and blamed the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for it. New Delhi had linked the resumption of the Foreign Secretary-level talks to action by Pakistan against JeM. Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah said on Monday that the slogans that were raised in JNU were anti-national and unfortunate. "BJP condemns anti-national slogans that were raised few days back at JNU campus," he said. "SC had given capital punishment to Afzal Guru, despite that slogans were raised in support of him," he added. "I want to ask Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi that if this is not anti-national then what is. I want to ask Congress and Rahul Gandhi if they support sedition in the name of freedom of expression," Shah asked. "If Congress wants to support this in name of freedom of speech, want to ask them what is more big proof against anti-nationals?" Shah said. He also demanded that Congress president Sonia Gandhi should make her stand clear. Earlier today, in a scathing attack on Rahul over the JNU row, BJP chief had said that the Congress VP had "proved" that national interest had no place in his mind. He had also asked if the Congress vice president had joined hands with separatist forces and wanted another division of India. "An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet? "Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?", Shah wrote in a blog, as per PTI. Noting that slogans like 'Pakistan zindabad', 'go India go back' and those in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Kashmir's independence and India's destruction were raised in JNU, he wondered if the Congress leader had joined hands with separatists. "Does he want another division of India by giving a free run to separatists in the name of freedom of expression? The kind of statements the Congress vice president and other leaders of his party have made in JNU have proved again that national interest has no place in their mind," Shah said. He said Congress was in despair and frustrated over the success of the Modi government and its leaders were unable to decide how they can play the role of a responsible opposition. Meanwhile, reacting to Shah, Congress leader Manish Twiari said, "Before shooting from the hip BJP president should clarify whether his party and NDA government support fake encounters and extra judicial killings?" Before shooting from the hip BJP President should clarify whether his party& NDA govt. Support fake encounters and extra judicial killings ? Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) February 15, 2016 (With Agency inputs) Jorhat: Addressing an election rally here, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said on Monday that elections were due in Assam and soon BJP would come give speeches and make false promises like PM Narendra Modi had done earlier. He added, "Narendra Modi ji give huge speeches, 'Make in India', 'Clean India', every other day they launch a new slogan. Is there one person who has got a job because of Modi ji?" "PM ran away from Bihar after the elections. These are the same people who fired three bullets in Mahatama Gandhi's heart, there are the same people who sought forgiveness from the British," Rahul said. Earlier, in another rally in Assam, Congress VP attacked BJP and RSS, saying they wanted to control everyone's views and follow the agenda of creating divide and hatred among people. "BJP and RSS are following the agenda of creating divide and hatred, as can be seen from the recent developments in JNU, by imposing their views forcibly on people," Gandhi said at a party meeting here in Assam's Sonitpur district, as per PTI. He alleged, "BJP and RSS have no respect for the diversity of the nation's culture and sentiments of the people. They just want that everybody follow their views. "They find terrorism everywhere, even in universities and brand anybody who do not agree with their views as terrorists." BJP has over the years followed the policy of "creating a divide between Hindus and Muslims, branding the latter as terrorists. They followed the same policy in Assam by creating divide among the Bodos and adivasis during the 2014 attack on the latter", he alleged. "Congress is just not like that. We have respect for all culture and believe in harmony, brotherhood, unity and amity among all sections of people," Gandhi said. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: Jama'at-ud-Da'wah chief Hafiz Saeed in a new video clip on Monday rejected the Indian allegation that he provoked anti-India protests in Jawaharlal Nehru University and said that a fake Tweeter account was used to support its claim. India has labelled allegations against me that Hafiz Saeed is involved in anti-India protests in JNU. "After learning about it, I felt very strange because I have never posted any such tweet, and the tweeter account itself is fake, Saeed said in the video. I have not tweeted nor I have tried to provoke the students on the Kashmir cause, because Kashmiris themselves have expressed themselves. Everyone knows how Afzal Guru was executed. A big injustice was done to him, he said. I have never spoken about it. But it was made into a big issue in India. The Indian government wanted to portray that this fake account as my own and the tweet as real, Saeed said. I am surprised and want to know what India thinks about the issue of Kashmiri's freedom. India is trying to mislead the world. Kashmir is for Kashmiris. People of Kashmir have faced a lot of atrocities and discrimination because of the presence of the Indian security forces. We shouldn't we focus on this. Why can't Kashmiris speak about their own freedom. And to say that Hafiz Saeed has said this and that is very wrong. Even in the case of Mumbai attacks, they have falsely implicated me . Our court has said that it is a media propaganda. India runs its government through propaganda. Now it is even cheating its own people. So I want to tell Rajnath and others responsible to change this attitude, listen to Kashmiris, don't try to de-track the issue by labelling false allegations against me. This method is absolutely wrong, don't make fun of the Kashmir cause... and accept the reality, Jama'at-ud-Da'wah chief said in the video. Delhi: Violence broke out in the Patiala House court complex when groups of lawyers on Monday thrashed journalists and students and teachers of JNU while the political slugfest over the arrest of the university's student leader snowballed with BJP chief Amit Shah targeting Rahul and Sonia Gandhi on the issue. The Congress hit back at Shah, saying those once "externed by the Supreme Court over criminal charges" should not teach patriotism to the party, which has played a "stellar role" in freedom movement. Rahul himself attacked the BJP and RSS, saying they do not have respect for diversity of the nation's culture and wanted to control everyone's views. In a significant turn in the probe, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said police have so far found "no evidence linking the LeT" to the controversial event at the JNU to mark protest against hanging of Afzal Guru that triggered the crisis. The Delhi Police a few days ago had pinned a purported tweet of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed in an alert over Twitter asking students not to get carried away by anti-India rhetoric. Yesterday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had claimed that the JNU event had the backing of Saeed that set off a storm of protests from the Opposition. He justified the arrest of Kumar, claiming that he had raised anti-national slogans during the event. On the ground, the JNU students today boycotted classes while teachers decided to follow suit from tomorrow. The university also sent a status report to the HRD Ministry, saying eight students identified by them as shouting slogans at the event. But it is not clear from the the registrar's report whether Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU President, who has been slapped with sedition charge, was among those who allegedly shouted anti-India slogans. Amidst the above developments, following is what Shehla Rashid, VP, JNUSU wrote on Facebook: JNUSU strongly condemns the irrational statements made by the Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, drawing imaginary links between students and terrorist organisations. JNU does not need the support of Hafeez Saeed of LeT, because the university has the support of the toiling masses of the country, because this is one place where students can study without discrimination and without having to worry about high fees. The Home Minister should stop making a joke out of himself by relying on fake Twitter accounts to whip up communal frenzy. In order to hide the Modi governments own inefficiency in dealing with terror attacks like Pathankot, which had exposed their complacency in terror attacks, the Home Minister is now looking for non-existent links between innocent students and terrorist organizations. The branding of JNU as anti-national has nothing to do with any kind of slogans whatsoever. When the Occupy UGC movement was at its peak, the RSS mouthpiece, Panchjanya had already called JNU anti-national. There were no slogans back then. The branding of JNU as anti-national has to do with the democratic movements that we have led. Voluntary boycott of classes by students and teachers. Today, on the 15th of February 2016, students voluntarily boycotted classes against the arrest of the JNUSU President, Kanhaiya Kumar, the charges of sedition on other student leaders, and the debarring of the other 8 student leaders without any prior enquiry. The students gathered at Administration Block against this political targeting of students where several teachers, former Student Union leaders, activists and artists addressed the students and expressed solidarity with them. Among those who addressed the meeting are Former JNUSU leaders, Prakash Karat, Kavita Krishnan, Albeena Shakeel, Sucheta De, Lenin Kumar. Among the teachers who addressed the gathering later in the day were Prof. Nivedita Menon, Prof Susan Viswanathan, Prof. Ayesha Kidwai and JNUTA President, Prof. Ajay Patnaik, Prof. Ania Loomba, Prof. Suvir Kaul. The JNU administration has constituted a high-level enquiry committee to investigate the incidents that took place on 9th of February, 2016. However, the JNU Students Union has severe apprehensions about the neutrality of this committee. The committee even before following due process, has debarred the 8 students from all academic activity. When the case is already prejudged, how can the committee conduct any fair investigation? JNUSU is of the opinion that the committee is not interested in investigating the issue, but in demonizing credible student leaders of the campus. The JNU Students Union submitted a memorandum today, signed by over 2000 students, who were present outside the Vice-Chancellors office, demanding the administration to take back the debarring of the 8 students. The memorandum also raised concerns about the constitution of the committee, which consists of former members of ABVP and the anti-reservationist YFE. The memorandum mentioned that the committee does not consist of any members from marginalized communities, even though most of the students who are facing enquiry belong to the marginalized sections of the society. A delegation, consisting of the JNUSU Vice-President and several Councilors of the JNU Students Union, met the Vice-Chancellor and Registrar of JNU with these concerns and submitted the signatures to them, but they expressed deep dissatisfaction with an adamant and high-handed attitude. On Tuesday, 16th of February, 2016, the University will again observe a total strike against the high-handedness of the administration and state-administration-ABVP nexus. Today, the JNUSU President was supposed to be presented in Patiala House Court, but he was not allowed to meet the students and teachers who had gone there to witness the court proceedings. His remand, however, has been extended for two more days. The students and teachers who had gone to witness the court proceedings were hounded, attacked and molested by RSS-affiliated lawyers. JNUSU condemns the unprovoked and unjustified attack on JNU Students and Teachers in the strongest possible words and condemns the role of the Delhi Police in whose presence these attacks took place. The RSS is trying to manufacture a mob-frenzy against JNU and we will not tolerate this. In order to counter this psychosis of fear and mob frenzy, JNUSU calls upon all democratic organizations, teachers, workers and alumni of JNU, concerned individuals and organizations outside JNU to join a march on Thursday, 18th of February, 2016 from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar from 2:30 p.m. We request everyone to ensure maximum mobilization in this march. People who are sympathetic towards JNU and aware of its democratic traditions are requested to rise up and speak up in favour of the institute. This is a march to Save JNU from the malicious designs of the RSS. We strongly believe that this is a ploy to demolish ongoing movements, such as Occupy UGC and Justice for Rohith Vemula. JNUSU calls upon students across the country to make successful the pre-scheduled calls the All India University Strike on the 18th of February, as part of Occupy UGC and the All India Parliament March on 23rd of February, to demand justice for Rohith Vemula. We need to take the struggle for fellowships and for social justice on the same platform for which our leaders have been punished together with the demand for ending the persecution of JNU student leaders. The ABVP has been discredited and yesterdays human chain saw successful participation of all sections of the JNU Community. Now we have to take this march outside the campus and counter the criminal designs of the RSS who subject JNU students to discrimination and mob frenzy. The state is unethically using its criminal might to turn absolutely peace-loving, innocent students into criminals, while the felons and criminals rule the roost. There is no action against the ABVP members who have engaged in physical violence on campus, twice since the 9th of February- on the 9th of February, when they attacked the procession following the programme, and on the 13th of February, when they attacked the Rajya Sabha MP, Anand Sharma. Why is there no action against ABVP members? JNUSU will carry forward this struggle till the political witch-hunt of JNU students is put to an end. New Delhi: With Home Minister Rajnath Singh claiming that Afzal Guru event had Pakistan's Hafiz Saeed's support, the row over 'anti-national' activities in the varsity fails to die down. Here are all the latest updates :- - Court extends JNUSU president's police custody by two days. - NIA may probe sedition case against Kanhaiya Kumar. Delhi High Court to hear plea seeking NIA probe in sedition case, in which JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar has been arrested, on Tuesday - BJP's MLA from Delhi OP Sharma with his supporters thrashed a man outside Patiala House court. The man was allegedly shouting 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans outside the court premises. - Sadhvi Prachi reaches JNU campus, asks Pakistan's Hafiz Saeed was supporting the Afzal Guru protest event in JNU, why was Rahul Gandhi supporting that protest? - The clash broke out after lawyers shouted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogans as huge number of JNU students gathered in Delhi's Patiala House Court in support of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar - No one is saying what happened was right but people who raised anti-national slogans must be identified: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on JNU row - During the lawyers-JNU students scuffle, one person claiming to be a lawyer slapped a JNU student in Delhi's Patiala House court premises - JNU students, lawyers clash in Delhi's Patiala House court ahead of Kanhaiya Kumar's appearance - JNU teachers to go on strike from Tuesday, to join students' protest against Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest; varsity vice-chancellor appeals for normalcy - We have clear evidence of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar shouting anti-national slogans; investigation and interrogation are still on: Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi - Would it have been right for government not to have acted against anti-national elements? Are you supporting anti-nationalism?: Amit Shah in his blog to Rahul Gandhi - BJP president Amit Shah has asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to apologise to the nation for 'doing politics' over JNU row - "The JNU issue is not about an institution or an attack on an institution, or about those studying there. It is clearly an investigation into those elements, who desire India's destruction and who are openly trying to align themselves with those associated with terrorism," BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. - Launching a scathing attack against Home Minister Rajnath Singh for saying that the JNU incident was supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, the Congress Party on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying the shield its student wing Akhila Bharatiya Vidhyarti Parishad (ABVP). Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that the ABVP was trying to bring disrepute to the JNU in the matter. - This is response to party's firm stand against 'imposition of Hindutva ideology on campuses sponsored by government', says CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat on threat calls - Delhi Police registers complaint after CPI(M) office in Delhi received calls late last night threatening General Secretary Sitaram Yechury - Security beefed up outside CPI (M) office after it received calls threatening the party's general secretary Sitaram Yechury late last night - Reportedly, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury has been threatened over phone calls; CPI(M) office in Delhi received calls late last night threatening Sitaram Yechury - JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy for holding an anti-national event inside the university premises, will be produced in a Delhi court on Monday. - Earlier, on Friday , Kanhaiya was remanded to three-day police custody by a Delhi court. Kanhaiya was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen where the police sought his custodial interrogation for five days to ascertain the alleged links of the accused persons, including those who are allegedly absconding, with terrorist groups. - On Saturday, CPI MP D Raja had claimed that he has received calls carrying threats to his daughter, who is a student activist in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, whose students union chief has been arrested on sedition charges. - Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday on claimed that the JNU university event in Delhi in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from terror outfit LeT's founder Hafiz Saeed, a statement that sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. - Reacting to Singh's claim, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said it is a "very serious charge" to level against the students and that the evidence must be shared with all. - CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Home Minister has to come out and share the evidence he has with the country to back up his "serious allegation". CPI leader D Raja also demanded that the evidence be made public. Srinagar: A magisterial inquiry was on Monday ordered into the deaths of two civilians, including a girl, allegedly in firing by security forces on Sunday, on a crowd that was holding a protest over an encounter in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. District Magistrate Pulwama, Niraj Kumar, ordered a time-bound probe to ascertain the cause of the deaths and injuries to the civilians after an encounter between security forces and militants in Kakapora area of the district, officials said. They said the inquiry officer Additional District Magistrate, Pulwama, Shahbaz Ahmad Mirza, has been asked to submit the inquiry report within 15 days. The two youths have been identified as Danish and Shahista, a police official said. A crowd of protesters yesterday started pelting stones at security forces at Lillhar in the Kakapora area near the encounter site, he said. The inquiry officer has said that members of the public who have any information on the incident, may appear before him in his office at the District Administrative Complex Pulwama to record the statement on any working day within a period of six days. "In case any person desires, he can also file a detailed affidavit duly attested during this period," the officer said. Meanwhile, the National Conference demanded a time-bound judicial probe into the killing of the two civilians, saying "a mere magisterial inquiry into the incident is not enough". "A mere magisterial inquiry cannot suffice given the nature and enormity of the tragedy. The party demands a high-level judicial probe into the incident that resulted in the death of two young civilians and injuries to many others," NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said in a statement here. He said the findings of the proposed judicial probe be made public in a time-bound manner. "Any attempt to subvert the truth would be highly regrettable. Responsibility should be fixed and the guilty should be punished," Sagar said. National Conference has said that "disproportionate and wanton use of lethal force" on unarmed civilians and incidents like these discredit the principles of democracy and peace. You are here: Home Flash Military forces from 20 countries will arrive in the next few hours in Saudi Arabia for a military maneuver, reported Saudi Press Agency Sunday. The news agency described the maneuver, dubbed "Thunder of North," as the region's most important military exercise involving ground, air and naval forces. It is also the largest in terms of numbers of participating nations and the amount of weaponry ever used in the Arabian Gulf. The maneuver intends to highlight that Riyadh and its allies are united against regional challenges. In addition to the six Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Qatar, other participating countries include Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia. The maneuver comes as Saudi considers participating in land operations in cooperation with its international allies to fight the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria. The maneuvers will take place in the Military City of King Khalid in Hafr Al-Batin, north of Riyadh. Meerut: "We are not Indians by chance but by choice" - This is what Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind general secretary Maulana Mehmood Madani said on Monday. He also said that Muslims stayed back in India even after Partition as they loved their motherland. He added that those who hurt a person's religious values or disrespect a religious leader should be given stringent punishment, including death penalty, as per Aaj Tak. At the same time Madani appealed to all communities to come together in the interest of the nation. Madani made the remarks while addressing the 'Huloos-e- Insaaf' conference convened by his outfit at the Faiz-e-Aam college. Moreover, he demanded that the UP government should fulfill the promise of 18 percent reservation to Muslims made during the 2012 Assembly polls. Madani said that the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Milia Islamia be kept intact and innocent Muslims lodged in prisons should be released. Hindu and Christian leaders who were present at the event asked the people to rise above caste and religion to live in harmony. The leaders also took a pledge to rise above caste and religion and work for humanity. (With Agency inputs) Jakarta: As Indonesian counter-terrorism forces hunt down supporters of Islamic State following last month`s gun and suicide bomb attack in Jakarta, a quiet resurgence is unfolding of a homegrown radical network with a far deadlier track record here. That group is Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), whose network was until recently thought to have been severely degraded by a crackdown that put hundreds of its leaders and followers behind bars after a series of attacks on Western interests in the 2000s. But Reuters interviews with two active and one former member of Jemaah Islamiyah have revealed that it is active again, enlisting new supporters, raising funds and sending men to train in war-torn Syria. "JI is currently in preparation level. They have not done any operations but they are recruiting people, strengthening their knowledge, education, network and finances," said Nasir Abas, a former member. "I would not underestimate them." Jakarta-based security analyst Sidney Jones believes Jemaah Islamiyah`s membership is back to around 2,000, where it was before its most notorious attack, a bombing on the resort island of Bali that killed over 200 people, most of them Australians. JI suspects arrested recently were found with caches of arms. Experts say there is no evidence that the emergence of the ultra-violent group Islamic State from the crucible of conflict in the Middle East has prompted the revival of Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia, the world`s most populous Muslim nation. Jemaah Islamiyah had links in the past to al-Qaeda, which Islamic State sees as a rival, but its resurgence is not being read as intra-jihadi competition playing out in Southeast Asia. Islamic State stamped its presence in the region for the first time last month when local supporters of the group launched a broad-daylight assault at a busy intersection in central Jakarta with explosives and guns. Eight people were killed, four of them the attackers themselves. Police are on alert for further strikes by Islamic State followers, but say these are likely to be far from the scale of the attack on Paris last November because the group lacks organisational strength in Indonesia. They believe Jemaah Islamiyah`s sophisticated training, organisation, and funding could pose a bigger security threat. Former Jemaah Islamiyah member Nasir Abas said its ranks still include older men who trained in Afghanistan in the 1980s and returned with combat experience and bomb-making skills. Then there is the more ample funding: Experts estimate that the weapons used in last month`s attack on the Indonesian capital cost no more than $70, a shoestring budget compared to the $50,000 spent to launch the Bali bombings back in 2002. Jemaah Islamiyah once had cells across Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, with a goal of establishing an Islamic state across the region. Sydney: Australian police have seized more than Aus$1 billion (US$712 million) in crystal methamphetamine, or ice, some concealed in gel bra inserts in one of the country`s biggest drug busts, authorities said Monday. Three Hong Kongers and a Chinese national were arrested during the operation which Justice Minister Michael Keenan described as the largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine in Australian history. "This has resulted in 3.6 million individual hits of ice being taken off our streets with a street value of Aus$1.26 billion," he said. "This largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine to date is the result of organised criminals, targeting the lucrative Australian ice market from offshore." Australian Federal Police Commander Chris Sheehan said the joint operation with Chinese authorities began in December 2015 when the Australian Border Force examined a shipping container out of Hong Kong in Sydney. It originated in mainland China. "That shipping container was found to contain gel bra inserts and hidden inside those gel bra inserts was 190 litres of liquid methamphetamine," he said. The seizure was referred to the Australian Federal Police who began an investigation which traced an additional 530 litres of liquid methamphetamine to five storage units in Sydney where they were found inside art supplies. In January, a 33-year-old Hong Kong man was arrested and charged in connection with the original seizure. A further two Hong Kongers, a man, 37, and a 52-year-old woman, along with a Chinese man, 59, were also arrested and charged with knowingly taking part in the manufacture of a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug over the stash in the storage units. Brussels: The European Union`s senior diplomat said on Monday there was no Cold War climate between Moscow and the West as they agreed to a pause in the fighting in Syria, although Russia`s prime minister said tension was growing. At a security conference in Munich on Friday, world powers agreed to a "cessation of hostilities" that would let humanitarian aid be delivered in Syria and was envisaged to start this week. But a day later Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the gathering that Moscow and the West had "fallen into a new Cold War". "I have not seen the climate of Cold War in these last days," EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini said when asked to comment on the Russian warning. She urged all the parties to the Syria agreement to stick to their commitments. But Russia, Damascus` main foreign ally, has yet to stop its air strikes, which support the advance of government troops and allied militias on Syria`s largest city, Aleppo. Speaking in Brussels on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied that backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- which include Teheran -- were using the revived diplomacy around Syria as a cover to pushing for more military advances on the ground. "We`re not trying to use diplomacy to gain anything, but at the same time people cannot use diplomacy in order to provide human shield for al-Nusra and Islamic State working as a leverage," Zarif told a news conference with Mogherini, referring to the radical Islamist militias. "What we agreed in Munich is a cessation of hostilities, not a pause to allow the allies of certain regional players to regroup," he said in criticism of Iran`s foe Saudi Arabia. Sunni power Saudi Arabia opposes Assad, as well as Islamic State. Riyadh has said it was ready to participate in a ground operation in Syria if the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State there decides to start one. New hostilities have also broken out between Turkey and the Kurdish YPG militia since Munich, prompting Berlin to urge restraint. "As part of the Munich Agreement... all sides are called on - even before the start of a ceasefire - to contribute to an immediate reduction in violence," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. "That goes for Russia and the Syrian regime`s military operations around Aleppo and the latest attacks by PYD militias in northern Syria. In view of the tense situation, Turkey too must show restraint." The war in Syria has killed at least 250,000 people as Assad, the rebels seeking to oust him, and the foreign backers of the rival sides have failed to agree on ways to end the conflict, which created a breeding ground for radical Islamists. New Delhi: Faiza Outalha, the divorced wife of American-born Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist David Headley, has replied to all questions of National Investigation Agency (NIA) relating to her knowledge of the conspiracy behind 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Besides Outalha, the probe agency also recorded the statement of a New York-based cousin of Headley through a questionnaire sent through the US Department of Justice, official sources said. Headley, who is at present undergoing a prison term of 35 years in a Chicago jail for conspiring in terror attacks in Mumbai and Denmark, had started a video parlour in New York in 1997. The legal process of quizzing Outalha concluded only after the NIA sent a fresh request in French to Moroccan authorities for recording her statement pertaining to her knowledge of her estranged husband's association with LeT terror group. French is generally used by the Moroccan government for international diplomatic communications. The Moroccan government had earlier sent Outalha's reply in response to a Letters Rogatory (LR) sent by the NIA in 2012 but it did not cover many of the questions asked by terror probe agency. The NIA had registered a case in 2009 to probe the activities of Headley in India. In the absence of any Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty between India and Morocco, the LR had been issued on the basis of "Assurance of Reciprocity", thereby promising the African country of all assistance in any legal cases in future. Outalha had visited India twice and was used by Headley, a US national whose father was a Pakistani and mother a white American, while carrying out a reconnaissance mission at Hotel Taj Mahal in Mumbai. NIA, which was handed over the task to probe the activities of Headley, has already filed charge sheet against Headley, his Canadian-Pakistani accomplice Tahawuur Rana, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the outfits operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and five others including two army majors believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI. The NIA, however, refused to share information tendered by Outalha. Earlier, Headley's another wife Shazia and business associate Raymond Sanders had turned down a similar request of NIA to answer questions related to his association with the terror group, citing a US privacy law. Even Yehuda: Washington's UN ambassador Samantha Power said today that compliance with the Iran nuclear deal was so far "strong", but warned Tehran was still helping fuel conflict and remained a threat. "What this deal does if implemented -- and so far the implementation has been strong but it's very early days -- is it cuts off the pathways to a nuclear weapon and it gives us much more visibility into Iran's programme than we had before," Power told students during a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. She added later that "Iran of course is still a threat. Iran is supporting terrorism. Iran is supporting parties to conflict like the Assad regime (in Syria)". Last July's Vienna agreement between Iran and the permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5 plus one) sees sanctions lifted in return for Tehran ensuring its nuclear programme remains for civilian use. Israel strongly opposed the deal with its arch-foe, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning it would not block Iran's path to nuclear weapons. He also said lifting sanctions would allow Iran to further back proxy militants in the region, including Israeli enemies such as Hezbollah. Netanyahu's outspoken criticism of the accord, particularly in a speech to the US Congress, led to a rift with US President Barack Obama's administration. He has since scaled back his rhetoric, and the United States and Netanyahu's government are currently negotiating a new 10-year defence aid package expected to be an increase over the current USD 3.1 billion Israel receives annually. Power has met Israeli and Palestinian leaders during her visit, expected to end tomorrow. She said Washington's aim was to move the two sides towards "being in a position to restart the negotiations, which is not a position they are in right now". Power met Netanyahu earlier today and said they discussed "steps that could be taken to preserve prospects" for a two-state solution. They also discussed the conflict in Syria and the threat from the Islamic State group, she said. Power's visit comes amid a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October. Since then, 172 Palestinians and 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean have been killed, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out attacks, but others died during clashes and demonstrations. Riyadh: A retired security officer in southern Saudi Arabia has been shot dead in an attack claimed Monday by the Islamic State group. Police spokesman Colonel Mohammed al-Harbi said that a man in the Abu Arish area of Jazan region, bordering Yemen, reported at about 2:30 am (1130 GMT Sunday) that his father "was being shot at from an unknown source at his farm". Police did not identify the victim or give further details of his former security duties. They said a "criminal investigation" was under way into the killing. Usually the Saudi authorities describe IS-related attacks as "terrorism". IS said in a statement that it had shot dead retired Brigadier Ahmed Fayie Assiri "at his farm in Abu Arish area of Jazan." IS has claimed previous attacks on Saudi security forces as well as deadly bombings and shootings that targeted the Sunni kingdom`s Shiite minority, which the Sunni jihadist IS group considers to be heretics. Jazan and other southern border districts have also been subjected to shelling from Yemen since last March when Saudi Arabia began leading an Arab military coalition against Huthi rebels in the neighbouring country. Beirut: Turkey on Monday accused Russia of an "obvious war crime" after missile attacks in northern Syria killed scores of people, and warned Kurdish militia fighters there they would face the "harshest reaction" if they tried to capture a town near the Turkish border. An offensive supported by Russian bombing and Iranian-backed Shi`ite militias has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey`s frontier. The Kurdish YPG militia - which Turkey regards as a hostile insurgent force - has exploited the situation, seizing ground from Syrian rebels to extend its presence along the border. Almost 50 civilians were killed when missiles hit at least five medical facilities and two schools in rebel-held areas of Syria on Monday, according to the United Nations, which called the attacks a blatant violation of international law. At least 14 were killed in the northern town of Azaz, the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey, when missiles hit a children`s hospital and a school sheltering refugees, a medic and two residents said. Missiles also hit a hospital in the town of Marat Numan in the province of Idlib, south of Aleppo. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a Russian missile had hit the buildings and that many civilians including children had been killed. Turkey`s foreign ministry accused Russia of carrying out an "obvious war crime." But Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Russian air strikes were targeting Islamic State infrastructure and she had no reason to believe that Russian planes had bombed civilian sites in Idlib. "We are confident that (there is) no way could it be done by our defence forces. This contradicts our ideology," she said in Geneva. Syria`s ambassador to Russia said U.S. war planes were responsible. White House national security adviser Susan Rice on Monday condemned in the "strongest terms" the intensified bombing of northern Syria, adding that it ran counter to commitments to reduce hostilities made by major powers last week in Munich. The Syrian civil war, reshaped by Russia`s intervention last September, has gone into an even higher gear since the United Nations sought to revive peace talks. The talks in Geneva were suspended earlier this month before they got off the ground. World powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a cessation of hostilities in Syria to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered, but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties. Turkey shelled YPG positions for a third straight day on Monday to try to stop its fighters seizing Azaz, just 8 km from the border. Ankara fears the Kurdish militia, backed by Russia, is trying to secure the last stretch of around 100 km along the Syrian border not already under its control. "We will not allow Azaz to fall," Davutoglu told reporters on his plane on the way to Ukraine. "If they approach again they will see the harshest reaction," he said. The standoff has increased the risk of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO member Turkey. U.N ENVOY IN DAMASCUS U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura made a surprise visit to Damascus on Monday and will hold talks with Syria`s foreign minister on Tuesday, a Syrian government official told Reuters. A senior UN official later confirmed that de Mistura had arrived in Syria for an unscheduled visit to "follow up on commitments made in Munich." But in a further clouding of the Munich deal, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday that any ceasefire did not mean each side had to stop using weapons, and that nobody was capable of securing the conditions for one within a week. At a news conference in Kiev, Turkey`s prime minister doubted Russia`s commitment to any deal to cease hostilities, pointing to comments from Moscow that it would continue its air strikes regardless. "They want to have just two options in front of the international community: Daesh or Assad," Davutoglu said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Turkey is enraged by the expansion of Kurdish influence in northern Syria, fearing it will encourage separatist ambitions among its own restive Kurds. Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group. Davutoglu said Turkey would make the Menagh air base north of the city of Aleppo "unusable" if the YPG, which seized it over the weekend from Syrian insurgents, did not withdraw. Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz said Ankara was not considering sending troops to Syria, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Syria`s rebels, some backed by the United States, Turkey and their allies, say the YPG is fighting with the Syrian military and its backers - including Russia - against them in the five-year-old civil war. The YPG denies this. South of Azaz, the Kurdish-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, of which the YPG is a member, took around 70 percent of the town of Tal Rifaat, according to the Syrian Observatory, which monitors the war. HOSPITALS HIT Tens of thousands have fled to Azaz from towns and villages where there is heavy fighting between the Syrian army and militias. "We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital," said medic Juma Rahal, following the missile strikes. At least two children were killed and ambulances ferried scores of injured people to Turkey for treatment, he said. French charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said seven people were killed and at least eight staff were missing after missiles hit a hospital in the province of Idlib, west of Aleppo, in a separate incident. "The author of the strike is clearly ... either the government or Russia," MSF president Mego Terzian said. Seoul: A top ruling party official called Monday for South Korea to develop its own nuclear deterrent to combat the growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea. Support for a nuclear-armed South Korea is a minority voice in the country, but one that grows louder after every nuclear test by the North. US tactical nuclear weapons were withdrawn from South Korea in late 1991, though the country remains under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella. In the wake of North Korea`s fourth nuclear test last month, Won Yoo-Cheol, the ruling Saenuri Party`s floor leader, said it was time for the weapons to be re-deployed or for South Korea to get its own. "We cannot borrow an umbrella from a neighbour every time it rains. We need to have a raincoat and wear it ourselves," Won was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency in a speech to the National Assembly. South Korea is one of 190 signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- a pact that North Korea walked out on in 2003. There are few takers in Washington for the idea of a nuclear-armed South Korea which would set back a longstanding, if repeatedly violated, principle of not allowing new nations into the nuclear club. In an effort to reassure one of its key Asian allies, the US Air Force sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber on a sortie over South Korea shortly after the North`s nuclear test on January 6. South Korea`s late military strongman Park Chung Hee -- the father of current President Park Geun Hye -- had flirted with nuclear weapons in the 1970s when then US president Jimmy Carter planned to remove American troops from the peninsula. Baghdad: If true, this speaks a lot about Islamic State fighters. Faced with an onslaught from the Iraqi army in the city of Ramadi, a group of ISIS jihadists tried to flee the fallen city after shaving their beards and dressing up in women's outfits. That, however, could not save them and the terrorists were arrested by the Iraqi army. "The terrorists had shaved their beards and dressed as women in a bid to fool our forces and escape the liberated city of Ramadi. However, they were all arrested before escaping the city," the Iraqi security command was quoted as saying by ARA News. Ramadi was retaken from the ISIS by the Iraqi army on Tuesday it is the capital of Anbar province. "Our forces have pushed Daesh (ISIS) militants out of the city's outskirts. Ramadi is now under the full control of the army," Iraqi central command said. "The militants who remained in the city are now trying to escape at any cost in order to avoid falling in the hands of the government forces," a source said. "At least nine ISIS jihadis were detained on Wednesday while trying to flee the security checkpoints of the Iraqi forces in Ramadi suburb. They were all dressed as women," the source added. Junior doctors thinking of quitting the NHS to work down under are being warned not to do so by a medical recruiter in Australia. Guy Hazel, who runs the Austmedics agency in Melbourne, has seen a threefold increase in enquiries from disgruntled young medics in recent months. However, he has told Sky News there is not an easy escape route for English junior doctors - especially if they were hoping to develop their careers and achieve senior positions in Australia. "They can come for two or three years and work in hospitals, emergency medicine not a problem. But in terms of reaching their desired goal to be a consultant, I wouldn't advise them to jump ship," Mr Hazel said. Many junior doctors are furious that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has decided to force through a new employment contract which would affect pay and conditions, after a dispute with the British Medical Association sparked two walkouts. In the space of 24 hours, a petition on the Government's website which called for a vote of no confidence to be considered in Mr Hunt surpassed the 100,000 signatures required for it to be put forward for debate in Parliament. Jonathan Williamson, a 24-year-old junior doctor from London, says he will probably leave England to practise medicine in Australia, Sri Lanka or India - and claims he is not alone. He explained: "Morale is quite low at the moment and imposing a contract against our will undermines how we feel. We don't feel valued." Other junior doctors are looking closer to home for better opportunities. James Kilgour, a final year medical student from Oxford who is studying in Cardiff, told Sky News he intends to stay in Wales after graduating - as Mr Hunt's new work deal will not apply there. Before the dispute began, he was planning to return to England. "The contract in Wales is much better financially, but also the work-life balance, the cost of living and property prices," Mr Kilgour added. Meanwhile, in Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged disenfranchised English medics to head north of the border if they want to develop their careers - describing it as "a great place to train". Figures from the General Medical Council show that the number of doctors applying for accreditation to work abroad has doubled since 2008 - however, the number who have actually left the NHS during that time has changed little year on year. South Korea should acquire "peaceful" nuclear weapons and missiles to combat the threat posed by the North, a senior ruling party politician has said. Won Yoo-chul, floor leader for the ruling Saenuri party, said Seoul needed the "peaceful" weapons to deter Pyongyang from using its "fearful and self-destructive" ones. His comments came amid concerns in South Korea over rising tensions with the North, which was internationally condemned earlier this month for violating United Nations Security Council resolutions after launching a long-range rocket. It claimed the launch was part of its space exploration programme, but most of the world viewed it as a disguised ballistic missile test. Just weeks earlier Pyongyang tested its fourth nuclear device which it alleged was a hydrogen bomb, although that claim was widely disputed. Mr Won said South Korea, which currently does not have its own nuclear weapons, should not just rely on the US to deter North Korea. He said Seoul should either be independent from Washington's so-called nuclear umbrella of protection or should consider stationing US tactical weapons in South Korea once again. "We can't borrow umbrellas from next-door every time it rains. We should wear a raincoat of our own," Mr Won said. His calls for an independent nuclear weapons programme have widespread public support, particularly at times of surging tensions with the North. A poll of 1,000 people released on Monday by the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper showed 67.7% favoured South Korea having its own nuclear weapons. On Sunday, a poll by the Yonhap news agency put that figure at 54.8%. Nevertheless, Defence Minister Han Min-koo confirmed on Monday that Seoul was not considering acquiring nuclear weapons. South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who has been criticised by opposition liberals for failing to come up with a clear strategy to deal with the security threat, is due to address parliament on the issue on Tuesday. Story continues Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry has called on the US and North Korea to hold face-to-face talks to address the rising tensions following the latest rocket test. "We urge the United States and North Korea to sit down and have communications and negotiations, to explore ways to resolve each other's reasonable concerns and finally reach the goal we all want reached," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing. Numerous efforts to restart talks have failed since previous negotiations collapsed in 2008. A team of researchers at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography is questioning the future of its research now that funding for its climate change program is set to run out in a matter of weeks. The Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program (ACCASP) was established in 2011 by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It brought together a number of scientists to focus their efforts entirely on how climate change is affecting Canada's Atlantic region. It was the first time extensive research has been done exclusively on that topic. "The northwest Atlantic is one of the most complex regions in the globe from the perspective of climate change," said John Loder. He helped create the program and retired two weeks ago after spending 35 years at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Retirement isn't stopping him from continuing the research that he calls essential. "There's so many unanswered questions. We actually don't understand very well what's controlling the variability in the northwest Atlantic," he said. The program found itself at risk when the Harper government didn't renew its funding. Monday morning, 10 scientists presented a summary of their extensive research and many included comments on why they hope the new federal government includes funding for research in the next budget. Optimism over future funding "At this point, we don't know what's going to happen," said Blair Greenan, who specializes in the science of storm surges. He says the researchers have hope because the federal government has pointed to the study of climate change as a key part of its mandate. The ACCASP team is diverse, with experts sharing their knowledge about marine species, storms, ice patterns, sea levels and adaptation. The researchers have created a system to identify the most vulnerable sea creatures to warming waters and they're specifically flagging the snow crab as being the most at risk in the Atlantic region. Story continues "The snow crab is coming out as highly vulnerable, given global projections of warming," said Christine Stortini, a PhD student from Queens University who has spent four years on the team. "The range of temperature that they tolerate is pretty narrow and they're already at the southern limit of their range. We're projecting that they might not be able to live here as conditions warm." Greenan's work has helped create a planning tool for municipalities to see future sea levels in their community, allowing them to adapt their infrastructure to make sure it survives. He says Fisheries and Oceans Canada has 1,078 commercial fishing harbours across the country that would cost $3.7 billion to replace if they were all destroyed by rising waters. "Knowing about it and planning for it appropriately can make [for] more efficient use of our tax dollars. It's been shown that if you actually plan for sea level rise adaptation, it's actually more cost effective than reacting to it after it's happened." Practical applications emerging from research Loder can't imagine seeing the end of the program, saying the team is just beginning to see the practical applications to the years of its research. "The exciting thing is that we now have the potential to do a lot of those things," he said. Alain Vezina, the regional director of science for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, says if the funding isn't renewed, they'll continue to pursue the work under different umbrellas. "We are hopeful that it will continue to be funded, but we don't know, " he said. "We'll continue to do this climate change research after this program because we have monitoring programs, we have people who do research anyways on climate change issues, so this will continue. The program gives us added value in order to gather more information and provide more advanced products." By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Timothy Mclaughlin BANGKOK/YANGON (Reuters) - When U.S. President Barack Obama hosts a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders in California this week, his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein will be notably absent. Myanmar's outgoing president abruptly pulled out of the summit as secretive talks continued between his country's powerful military and the incoming government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. For his admirers, a smooth transition of power would seal Thein Sein's legacy as the former general who led Myanmar's dramatic emergence from nearly half a century of military dictatorship. He freed political prisoners, scrapped censorship, oversaw a historic election and repaired relations with the West, turning Myanmar from a global pariah into a buzzing destination for tourists, investors and world leaders. On March 31, he will pass the unfinished task of transforming Myanmar to a National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Suu Kyi, his wildly popular political rival, who in November won the country's first credible general election in 25 years. Despite fears of fraud, the election ran smoothly and Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), dominated by former military officers, accepted a crushing defeat. But critics say Thein Sein, who gave no reason for cancelling his attendance at the California summit on Monday and Tuesday, did little to tackle his country's profound poverty or the religious tensions that regularly erupted into deadly violence. Nor did he challenge the military, whose abiding influence over every aspect of Myanmar - politics, bureaucracy, business - poses a major challenge to Suu Kyi's fledgling administration. "Thein Sein will be remembered as the president who really turned Myanmar around," said Richard Horsey, a Yangon-based analyst and former United Nations official in Myanmar. "His administration has been far from perfect, but his legacy will be an enduring one." Former junta leader Than Shwe appointed him prime minister in 2007, the same year the military government brutally suppressed pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks. Four years later, after winning a general election marred by vote-rigging allegations and boycotted by Suu Kyi's NLD, Thein Sein became president of a nominally civilian government packed with former soldiers. LOOKING WEST He set the tone for his presidency with his abrupt suspension in September 2011 of a $3.6-billion, China-backed dam at Myitsone, in northern Myanmar, source of the mighty Ayeyarwady River. The dam had drawn protests on both environmental and patriotic grounds, and suspending it boosted Thein Sein's popularity among his 51 million people. It also signaled that the preferential treatment China had received during the years of junta rule was over. A bookish-looking 70-year-old, Thein Sein's leadership style is "low-key, people-centred, even humble", said analyst Horsey. Suu Kyi was less impressed. She first met Thein Sein in the capital, Naypyitaw, in August 2011, eight months after she was freed from house arrest. For an ex-general struggling for global credibility, it was a pivotal encounter. Suu Kyi pronounced Thein Sein "sincere" about reforming Myanmar. That endorsement paved the way for a visit by Hillary Clinton, then U.S. Secretary of State, in November and an end to most Western sanctions the following year. Thein Sein held many more closed-door meetings with Suu Kyi, but their relationship would sour. When asked by Reuters in April 2014 whether she still thought Thein Sein was sincere, Suu Kyi replied: "No. Because if he had been sincere about reform then we would be much further ahead than we are." Presidential spokesman Ye Htut described Thein Sein as an intensely private man whose chief concern was Myanmar's stability. This meant putting issues such as corruption on the backburner so as "not to rock the boat", said Ye Htut. Critics say it also meant preserving the military's powers - and ignoring its well-documented human rights abuses - in the name of national reconciliation. The military, which holds a quarter of parliamentary seats and key ministerial posts, remained outside civilian control under Thein Sein. RELIGIOUS STRIFE Thein Sein was also widely criticized for failing to halt religious violence that killed hundreds of people, mostly Muslims, and caused lasting damage to relations with majority Buddhists. He was condemned for Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority forced to live in squalid camps in western Myanmar, and for the passage of four so-called "race and religion protection" laws championed by radical Buddhist monks. The laws, which rights groups said discriminated against Muslims and women, made Thein Sein a "hero" to Buddhist extremists, said Wai Wai Nu, a Rohingya activist and former political prisoner. "A democratic president should not be biased toward one religion," she told Reuters. Suu Kyi was also criticized for failing to speak up for the Rohingya. Thein Sein's most ambitious plan was to bring peace to a nation fractured by decades of fighting between the military and dozen of ethnic rebel armies. But only eight of 15 armed groups signed a nation ceasefire in October, with many of the most powerful staying away. The fighting continues. (Reporting by Andrew R.C. Marshall and Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by Alex Richardson) Four American journalists have been arrested in Bahrain, including one who allegedly took part in attacks on police, authorities in the Persian Gulf nation have said. Bahraini police said the reporters provided "false information" to enter the country as tourists before carrying out "media activity without a license". An Interior Ministry statement alleged one of the US journalists was seen "wearing a mask and participating in attacks on police alongside other rioters in Sitra". Reporters Without Borders said the detained journalists included Anna Day and three members of her camera crew. The group called on Bahraini authorities to release them "rapidly and without harm". The US Embassy in Manama said it was "aware of the arrest of four US citizens in Bahrain", but declined to comment further citing privacy concerns. Bahraini police did not name the journalists, but said those held included one woman and three men. A spokesperson for Ms Day's family rejected the suggestion that any of the journalists were involved in illegal activities. A statement from the state-run Bahrain News Agency said the journalists had "been afforded full legal rights in line with the kingdom's procedures and constitution while investigations continue". Witnesses told the AP news agency the Americans were being held amid a long crackdown on dissent in the island nation. The reporters were said to be on the island covering the anniversary of Bahrain's 2011 uprising - the largest of the Arab Spring wave of demonstrations. The protests were driven by the country's Shia majority, who demanded greater political rights from the Sunni-led monarchy. Some low-level unrest continues five years on, particularly in Shia communities. Reporters Without Borders described Ms Day and her crew as experienced journalists, who most recently worked on virtual reality documentaries in Egypt and Gaza. Bahrain requires international journalists to obtain special media visas before entering Bahrain to work. The country is considered a US ally and is home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet. People walk past a branch of HSBC in Chinatown in central London, Britain, in this June 9, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Files (Reuters) By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC's possible relocation to Hong Kong is unlikely to save the British bank much tax - one of its reasons for maybe moving abroad - and could actually increase its bill, a Reuters analysis of the company's filings shows. HSBC said last year that it was considering a possible shift overseas from London, citing higher taxes and tighter regulation in Britain and a desire to be closer to faster-growing Asian markets. Analysts said HSBC's former home Hong Kong, with a corporate tax rate of 16.5 percent against a British rate set to rise to 26 percent, was the most likely destination. Some investors have said weakening growth in Asia and a reduction in a British levy on banks' asset bases announced last year, argues for HSBC to stay put. But some analysts say Asia's better long-term growth opportunities and Hong Kong's lower tax rate may yet hold attractions for the bank. A Reuters examination of corporate filings shows that Hong Kong may offer HSBC fewer tax advantages than many believe. That's because HSBC will struggle to move enough profit to Hong Kong to benefit from its lower tax rate. Indeed, it may have to report more income in Britain if it moves, since many of the overhead and borrowing costs now booked in Britain may in future be offset against more lightly taxed Hong Kong profits. Also, Hong Kongs less generous treatment of share bonuses may cost HSBC millions of dollars in tax deductions each year. Crawford Spence, Professor of Accounting at Warwick Business School, who has studied international groups' tax planning, said the Reuters analysis showed the "commonsense understanding" that HSBC would receive a big tax benefit was too simplistic. "They may not be saving much money at all on this particular aspect," he said. HSBC declined to answer questions on possible changes in its structure and their tax impact. "The Board is considering at least eleven criteria for long term shareholder value, one of which includes the tax system which needs to be transparent, fair and competitive," a spokeswoman said in a statement. Story continues HSBC moved to London from Hong Kong in 1993 after it bought Midland Bank. However the climate for banks in the city has become increasingly hostile since the 2008 crisis with regulators bringing in tougher rules on capital and bankers' pay as well as imposing heavy fines for a litany of misdeeds that has scarred the industry. While regulators in Asia have followed suit with tighter rules on bank capital and liquidity, the regions relatively strong showing in the 2008 crisis means lenders there have faced less of the public and political backlash seen in Europe. LOW UK PROFITS HSBC's ability to cut its tax bill by moving from Britain is constrained by the fact that it doesn't declare much taxable profit in Britain. Britain is a lucrative market for HSBC, generating over $15 billion in net interest income and fees in 2014, the most recent full year for which data is available. However, the bank reported an accounting loss in Britain in 2014 and had a tax charge of $69 million for the year. This is despite the fact its British retail bank, which has tens of thousands of staff, produces what Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said last August were "excellent returns". HSBC's investment bank, which is headquartered in London, had profits of $8 billion in 2014, while its commercial bank, which also has a significant British presence, had profits of $9 billion. A key reason for the modest British taxable result is that much of the group's overhead costs are booked in Britain, such as top management salaries and central support functions. Also, since HSBC borrows most of its debt via British-registered companies, its annual report shows, it is also entitled to British tax deductions on bond coupons and other interest costs. HSBC's accounts show group overhead expenses of around $9 billion a year. Hong Kong, which does not bear the same share of group overhead costs as London, generated over $8 billion in profit on almost $13 billion of revenue in 2014, filings show. The bank declined to say how much of its group costs would be booked in Hong Kong as part of any overseas move. However, analysts said the change could be significant. Chris Wheeler, banks analyst at Atlantic Securities, said regulatory rules mean that if HSBC moved its main holding company to Hong Kong, it would have to raise more debt there, rather than in Britain. "It would have to be in Hong Kong. It would have to be in the holding company," he said. If these costs were no longer booked against UK income, the UK profits would rise and face UK tax. Of course, booking costs in Hong Kong would depress taxable profits there, reducing the tax bill there. However, that's not the kind of tax arbitrage companies usually target. "Youre better issuing (debt) out of a higher tax jurisdiction than a lower tax jurisdiction," said Gary Greenwood, an analyst at Shore Capital who covers HSBC. BANKER BONUSES In the area of executive pay, HSBC could find itself losing UK tax deductions without any corresponding saving in Hong Kong. In response pressure from investors and regulators, banks are increasingly paying senior bank executives their bonuses often worth millions a year in shares. Britain allows companies to take tax deductions in relation to newly issued shares paid to employees, even though this does not represent a cost to the company itself. Hong Kong does not, according to its Inland Revenue Department. All this means that HSBC will have to shift much more UK profit than costs to Hong Kong in the coming years or face an increase in its tax bill. That could be a hard task to manage. That's because HSBC's average annual British tax bill of $100 million in the past three years suggests an annual taxable profit of just $440 million, based on prevailing tax rates. One area where HSBC won't make any tax saving by moving to Hong Kong is on the bank levy. Following extensive lobbying, the British finance minister, George Osborne, said in July that he would halve the levy and, crucially for HSBC, no longer apply it to the overseas assets of British banks. HSBC's levy charge was $1.1 billion in 2014 and previously planned increases in the rate were set to lift this to around $1.5 billion a year. Gulliver said last year that half the levy charge related to non-British assets. That meant an overseas move might have shaved $750 million a year off HSBC's levy. The fact non-British assets will in future be exempt means this part of the charge will no longer apply. (Editing by Giles Elgood) HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's de-facto central bank said on Monday it respected HSBC Holdings' decision to keep its headquarters in Britain following a weekend boarding meeting in London.. "The HKMA appreciates that for a large international bank such as HSBC, relocation of domicile is a very major and complicated undertaking," Norman Chan, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement. "I would like to stress that Hong Kong is the premier banking and financial hub in Asia, with all but one of the 30 Global Systemically Important Banks operating in Hong Kong," Chan added. (Reporting by Denny Thomas) US President Barack Obama has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to stop airstrikes against moderate Syrian rebels, says the White House. In Saturday's telephone call, Mr Obama stressed to Mr Putin the need to relieve the blockade of besieged parts of the war-torn country so humanitarian aid can be allowed in, according to the White House. He also emphasised the need to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria to abide by a truce agreement struck last week, said the statement. The Kremlin confirmed Mr Putin had a telephone conversation with Mr Obama about the Syrian war, stating the call took place at Washington's initiative. The Russian president stressed to his US counterpart the importance of creating a "common front against terrorism", said the Kremlin. Mr Putin also urged a working relationship between the Pentagon and Russian defence ministry, according to Moscow. Major world powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a cessation of hostilities in Syria set to begin in a week and to provide rapid humanitarian access to besieged Syrian towns. But the Kremlin said it would not stop air attacks in Syria, because the cessation of hostilities doesn't apply to Islamic State or al Qaeda-affiliate al Nusra Front. Aided by Russian air power, Syrian government troops have nearly encircled Aleppo, Syria's second city. But Western powers say most of Moscow's air campaign has targeted more moderate rebel groups, rather than the jihadists. Republican presidential candidates and Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton have called for the US to declare a no-fly zone over Syria. But Mr Obama has been sceptical of the idea, saying that critics of his Syria policy often talk "mumbo jumbo". The US military has not backed the idea of a no-fly zone, which would require American bombing raids on Syrian air defences. To enforce the exclusion zone, a substantial number of US combat aircraft would then have to continuously patrol skies currently flown by Russian warplanes. Syria's civil war has been raging since 2011, but the conflict entered a new phase last year when Russia started providing air support to government forces. Speaking in the capital Damascus on Thursday, Syrian President Bashar al Assad vowed to retake the entire country . Doctors are refusing to release a baby girl facing repatriation to a migrant detention camp after she was treated for serious burns she suffered there. The one-year-old, known as "Baby Asha", will not be released from Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane until a "suitable home environment is identified", a hospital spokesman said. Asha and her parents face being returned to a camp on the tiny South Pacific island of Nauru, about 1,800 miles (3,000km) northeast of Australia, which has been criticised for housing 500 people in harsh conditions and faced child abuse allegations. Protesters opposed to the detention of asylum seekers have gathered outside the hospital to show their support for medical staff. It is not known where Asha's parents are originally from. The case has added to pressure on the government over its tough asylum policy amid reassurances from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that migrants will be treated with compassion and deportation will be decided on a "case-by-case basis". Australia's High Court rejected a test case earlier in February that challenged the deportation of 267 refugee children and their families who had been brought to Australia from Nauru for medical treatment. Australia currently sends asylum seekers who try to reach the country by boat to camps on Nauru or Manus island in Papua New Guinea. They are not offered resettlement in Australia. The government says the policies are necessary to stop asylum seekers drowning aboard the unseaworthy vessels used by people smugglers to ship them from Indonesia to Australia David Cameron heads to Brussels today, boosted by a positive response to his draft deal on EU reform from French President Francois Hollande. Downing Street said the two leaders agreed in Paris that the proposals on Britain's relationship with Europe provide a "firm basis" for reaching an agreement later this week. Mr Cameron is due to meet European Parliament president Martin Schulz and three MEPs who have been appointed "sherpas" for the renegotiations. He will then meet leaders of the Socialist and EPP groupings - but not UKIP leader Nigel Farage. Mr Farage said a planned meeting had been cancelled at the last minute and tweeted: "As leader of the party that won the European Elections, @David_Cameron is insulting millions of British people by refusing to meet me." The Paris meeting came after EU Council president Donald Tusk said the talks on reforming the bloc are at a "critical" stage and there is a "real risk" that the EU could break up. The politician tweeted his concerns after the latest in a series of meetings across the continent to win support for his proposals. The draft text, based on reforms that David Cameron wants to achieve, is to be discussed by 28 EU leaders at a summit on Thursday. After negotiations in Romania, Mr Tusk said: "It will be a crucial summit with the two biggest challenges to the future of the European Union on the agenda: The United Kingdom's future membership of the European Union and the migration crisis. "On neither can we afford to fail. "At stake is the United Kingdom's membership of the EU. A question which only the British people can and will decide. "At stake is also the future of our European Union where we will all have to decide together, and where we cannot and will not compromise on the fundamental freedoms and values." He added: "This is a critical moment. "It is high time we started listening to each other's arguments more than to our own. Story continues "The risk of break-up is real because this process is indeed very fragile. Handle with care. What is broken cannot be mended." Mr Cameron has agreed to hold an emergency Cabinet meeting on Friday if he secures an EU deal at the Brussels summit, Sky sources have said. The PM has offered to talk to any Cabinet colleagues who may have questions over his EU renegotiation efforts. Sky News understands several ministers have reservations. The meeting will see the suspension of "collective responsibility", so members of the Cabinet will be free to express their views and support either the "leave" or "remain" campaigns in a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU likely to take place in June. By Philip Pullella and Maria Tsvetkova VATICAN CITY/MOSCOW (Reuters) - A meeting between Pope Francis and Russia's Orthodox Patriarch Kirill on Friday could not happen without a green light from President Vladimir Putin, diplomats and analysts say, and he may be one the beneficiaries. In a landmark step towards healing the 1,000-year-old rift between the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity, the two religious leaders will meet in Havana on the pope's way to Mexico. "There is no doubt the Kremlin took part in making this decision," said Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former Kremlin adviser in Moscow. "Otherwise the meeting would not have happened." Putin has aligned himself closely with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), making Friday's two-hour private meeting not just a religious event but politically charged as well, especially when Russia is at odds with the West over Ukraine and Syria. "Putin clearly sees the value of his relationship with the ROC and the ROC's relationship with the pope," said a diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He understands the pope is a big player on the world stage and I think that he would be happy about having the possibility of using the improved relations between the Vatican and the ROC to get the Kremlin's view across to the Vatican," he said. Alexander Volkov, Russian church spokesman, said that while a joint declaration will dwell on the Middle East's persecuted Christians, tensions between Russia and the West may be brought up in the talks. "This is one of the burning issues and we can assume it will be reflected in the dialogue. It can't be ruled out," he said. DIFFERENT POPE, WARMER TIES Relations between Moscow and the Vatican have improved steadily since the reign of Pope John Paul II, a Pole who had an inbred suspicion of Russia and who died in 2005. But Francis is an Argentinian with no historical baggage associated with the East-West divisions of Europe after World War Two. In 2013, Moscow was pleased after Francis opposed a proposed U.S.-led military intervention in Syria, a key Russian ally. Last year, Catholics in Ukraine accused Francis of being soft with Moscow when he described violence in Eastern Ukraine as "fratricidal". They saw it as a product of foreign aggression. One commentator said Francis' view was perhaps "blurred by ecumenical correctness" in the hopes of a meeting with Kirill. In an interview with Reuters, Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Vatican office for Christian unity, was non-committal when asked if the meeting could help Putin. "I think Putin agrees with the meeting, but I can't say more," he said. Russia's ambassador to the Vatican, Alexander Avdeyev, said the two Churches organised the meeting but that it could "help politicians and diplomats" with policy decisions. "The two Churches clearly understood that all threats and challenges in the world threaten both of them and cooperation has to be stepped up to fight nationalism and terrorism," he told Reuters. The meeting, which will put another historic notch on Francis' legacy, came after two years of secret contacts in Rome, Moscow and Havana, Vatican and diplomatic sources said. Agreement was clinched last autumn but the ROC wanted to keep it under wraps for several more months, one Vatican source said. The Russian Church had long accused Catholics of trying to convert people from Orthodoxy after the break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Vatican denied the charges and both sides say that issue has largely been resolved. One sore point remains the fate of church properties that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin confiscated from Eastern Rite Catholics in Ukraine and gave to the Russian Orthodox there. After the fall of communism, Eastern Rite Catholics took back many church properties, mostly in western Ukraine. The meeting was brokered by Cuban President Raul Castro, who hosted the pope in Cuba last year. The Vatican helped arrange the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea and the United States are expected to begin talks next week on possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system following North Korea's recent rocket launch, officials said on Friday, as Seoul cut power to a factory park run jointly with the North. The discussions would focus on placing one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system with the U.S. military in South Korea, a South Korean defense official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Pentagon spokesman Commander Bill Urban said in an email that a joint working group would "review all aspects regarding the potential of deployment of a THAAD system to South Korea." "We expect the first meeting to occur next week," he said. North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 6 carrying what it called a satellite, drawing renewed international condemnation just weeks after it carried out a nuclear bomb test. It said the launch was for peaceful purposes, but Seoul and Washington have said it violated United Nations Security Council resolutions because it used ballistic missile technology. North Korea carried out a nuclear bomb test last month, also banned by a U.N. resolution. On Wednesday, South Korea suspended operations at the Kaesong industrial zone as punishment for the rocket launch and nuclear test. The zone, just inside North Korea, had operated for more than a decade. The North on Thursday called the action "a declaration of war" and expelled the South's workers. Kaesong was the last venue for regular interaction between the divided Koreas. The 280 South Koreans who had remained in Kaesong rushed to leave the industrial park on Thursday evening, completing the pullout at 11:05 p.m. (1405 GMT), according to the South's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North. A few minutes before midnight, the South shut off the supply of electricity into Kaesong that powered the factory zone, the ministry said early on Friday. It also cut the water supply. The United States, Japan and South Korea are seeking tougher U.N. sanctions against North Korea in the wake of the nuclear test and rocket launch. CHINESE, RUSSIAN CONCERNS Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China, North Korea's neighbor and main ally, said on Friday that Beijing supported a U.N. Security Council resolution to make Pyongyang "pay the necessary price" for the launch. He also expressed concern over a possible U.S. deployment of its sophisticated THAAD missile defense system to South Korea, saying it could also be used to target China. U.S. military officials have said the THAAD system is needed in South Korea, but Seoul had been reluctant to openly discuss its deployment given the risk of damaging ties with China, its biggest trade partner. Russia has also expressed concern about the potential deployment of THAAD, saying it could trigger an arms race in Northeast Asia. South Korea and the United States have said the system, built by Lockheed Martin Corp and designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight, would be focused only on North Korea. South Korea accused North Korea of "illegal" acts by freezing the assets of South Korean companies in Kaesong, and warned that Pyongyang would be held responsible for any consequences from the industrial park's suspension. The Kaesong project employed about 55,000 North Koreans, who were given a taste of life in the South, working for the 124 mostly small- and medium-sized manufacturers that operated there, about 54 km (34 miles) northwest of Seoul. Except for Kaesong, both countries forbid their citizens from communicating with each other across their heavily armed border. Despite volatile North-South relations, Kaesong had been shut only once before, for five months in 2013 amid heightened tensions following Pyongyang's third nuclear test. (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Dean Yates, Toni Reinhold) By Sinead Cruise and Anjuli Davies LONDON (Reuters) - Dwindling job security, heavier workloads, regulatory upheaval and the poor public image of the banking sector are taking a toll on the mental health of Britain's bank workers. Eight years after the global financial crisis, stress in the industry has pushed up demand for insurance to protect revenues against the cost of paying staff too sick to work, insurance data show. "The problem has gone into a new stratosphere since the financial crisis ... Those who still have a job are vilified," said Jagdev Kenth, director of risk and regulatory strategy in the financial institutions group at Willis Towers Watson. "Most haven't had anything to do with the scandals. They're working longer hours, doing two to three jobs, under greater pressure. Something has to give." Once havens for prestigious, highly-paid and lifelong careers, banks have undergone rapid cultural and structural change at the behest of regulators tasked with reining them in. Tougher capital rules, hefty misconduct fines, and the closure of riskier business lines have forced banks to slash staff. Ten of Europe's largest lenders have axed 130,000 jobs since June, Reuters data shows. The impact of stress has reached all the way up to the higher echelons of the banking industry. In 2011, Lloyds Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio took two months off after suffering sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Two years later senior British banker Hector Sants, at the time head of compliance at Barclays, was signed off on medical after suffering stress. Sants subsequently resigned. As risks of a global recession mount, investors want banks to slim down further. Almost three out of four bank employees admitted to workplace stress manifested by anxiety attacks, insomnia, headaches and depression, a survey conducted by trade union Unite between September and December showed. Some 85 percent of respondents, mainly working in retail and back office roles at Lloyds Banking Group , Royal Bank of Scotland , HSBC and TSB , said they worked additional unpaid hours last year. Story continues Lloyds, RBS and TSB referred requests for comments to trade body the British Bankers' Association, which represents all the banks covered by the Unite survey. Around two-thirds of respondents cited heavier workloads and around a fifth blamed pressure to perform. Seventy-two percent said they were considering quitting their jobs as a result. "Work-related stress is a very serious and increasing problem," said Dominic Hook, the union's National Officer for Finance, responsible for 130,000 members in financial services. "We are working with employers to tackle the issues that cause stress, such as long working hours and the effect of long-term staffing reductions," he said, adding that a separate survey covering staff at Barclays was under way. PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE The British Bankers' Association said protecting staff's physical and mental wellbeing was "a top priority" for its members, who are devising more innovative ways to prevent problems occurring. These include in-house counselors, mental health 'first aid' courses, yoga sessions for traders, and more comprehensive mental healthcare plans. HSBC said it had a number of initiatives to reduce stress-related illnesses. "These include providing a healthcare plan to all employees with a comprehensive mental health benefit for employees and their family," it said. Several UK lenders have teamed up with the Bank Workers Charity to provide training for line managers on supporting stressed staff more sensitively. "Banks are conscious that there are trends that make life stressful for their employees ... they are focusing on wellbeing in a way that they weren't 10 years ago," Paul Barrett, head of wellbeing at the Bank Workers Charity, told Reuters. "There is some way to go, but they are being more proactive." Health and Safety Executive statistics show jobs in financial services are 44 percent more likely to lead to stress-related illnesses than the average UK job, meaning employers are also taking steps to control the hit to their finances caused by staff absences. Demand for special insurance products known as Group Income Protection (GIP) policies is rising steadily among financial sector employers, according to global insurer MetLife. Tom Gaynor, Employee Benefits Director at MetLife UK , said the average employer paid the equivalent of 1 to 1.5 percent of annual payroll to insure themselves against the cost of staff sick leave. "In the UK, about 12-13 percent of companies take up GIP. In banking that figure is close to 100 percent. I don't know an investment bank that doesn't do it," he said. Data from MetLife's core U.S. market showed investment banks are up to 30 percent more likely to make claims for staff suffering mental and psychological conditions than other policyholders on its books. HUMAN COST OF CRISIS Suicide mortality rates per 100,000 of population in the City of London, home to the historic Square Mile financial district, have consistently outnumbered any other London borough since 2009, government data accurate to end-2013 shows. "Part of the problem is that we are an industry that downsizes all the time," said one banker who has been made redundant several times in a career spanning more than three decades. "London is also the first place people cut. There's a constant threat of being axed in London," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is still seeking work in the sector. Those suffering from stress in the workplace were reluctant to talk on the record to Reuters given the sensitive nature of the topic. This may also mean many cases go unreported as employees fear telling their line managers or colleagues. New patient assessments at a specialist wellbeing clinic operated in the City by private mental healthcare firm The Priory are up 106 percent in the year to Jan. 31, with more than 70 new patients registering on average each month. "People are feeling overwhelmed with the vast change in this business and in their careers," said consultant adult psychiatrist Dr Paul McLaren. "Some people may thrive on that but many more struggle and this increases the chances of them developing a mental illness, particularly if they have a vulnerability." A soon-to-be published survey by Willis Towers Watson found a dislocation between what employers believe are the root causes of workplace stress and what their staff are actually stressed about. The biennial Staying@Work Survey, which covers around 1,700 companies worldwide, showed more than four-fifths of employers thought a lack of work-life balance and excessive organizational change were the biggest burdens on staff. But 69 percent of employees said their top concern was inadequate staffing, followed by 65 percent who identified poor pay. That means prospects for a major rebound in mood and morale among bank workers look remote. "It's very difficult in an industry that is downsizing and shrinking and doesn't know where it is going. It's perpetual boom and bust," the banker said. "Although right now it looks like bust, and then bust a bit more." (Editing by Andrew Roche and Janet McBride) Professional Development SUNY Enters Phase 4 of Educator Tech Infusion Training A project to help faculty and staff learn how to use online instructional techniques begun in 2012 at the State University of New York (SUNY) is deep into its fourth phase. The Tools of Engagement Project (TOEP) provides an online community and incentives to encourage people within the SUNY system of colleges and universities to embrace "tech-infused pedagogy." A major aspect of the work is participation in a Google+ community, where people can post their ideas and questions and get help from others who have already developed mastery. Participants register to join the TOEP community, complete the self-paced online "Lifelong Learning discovery activities" and explore at least three technology tool "clusters," such as blogs & wikis, mobile apps and social media. In this latest phase, those who finish the activities by April 1, 2016, earn digital badges and can pursue other kinds of incentives through a peer review process. That includes professional development awards "valued at $300" or iTunes cards. The work was initially funded through two rounds of "innovative instruction technology grants " awarded through the SUNY provost's office. Now it's supported by the SUNY Center for Professional Development, the University at Buffalo (where TOEP originated) and Binghamton University, as well as through a campus membership fee structure. The current roster of institutions participating encompasses 19 schools. A recent event led by Cherie van Putten, an instructional designer for the Center of Learning and Teaching at Binghamton and a project lead on the initiative, introduced TOEP to educators at her institution. "I want instructors to know that this exists and hopefully they will join," van Putten said in a recent student newspaper article. "Even if they are not registering and taking part in our community, at least they know that there is that resource out there for them when they need any information." She added that the skills acquired by participants are meant to be integrated into the classroom. "It's not just about the technology," van Putten said. "It's about ways to serve the students better, to increase their learning and to engage them more." Pope Francis Mexico City Pope Francis landed in Mexico on Friday and will celebrate Mass in the capital city on Sunday. Once he leaves the capital, however, he will encounter a much harsher part of a country that is home to the second-most Catholics in the world. The pontiff will travel south, to the state of Chiapas, which has become a focal point for the migrant crisis that has challenged the Mexican government and people in recent years. The wave of migrants that has surged out of the Northern Triangle, which is made up of the countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, over the last two years has flowed through Chiapas, as residents of the region flee faltering economies and rampant violence driven by gangs and drugs. In July 2014, a spike in the number of unaccompanied child migrants arriving at the US border prompted calls to action from US lawmakers. With US support, Mexico responded, and the number of undocumented Central Americans apprehended in Mexico rose by 71% between July 2014 and June 2015, compared the same period a year prior, according to a report from the Washington Office on Latin America. Mexico southern border Chiapas Guatemala Central American migrants detained in Mexico jumped to over 170,000 in 2015, up from about 78,000 in 2013, according to The New York Times. Most of those caught, WOLA notes, are intercepted in Chiapas. In Mexico, however, many of those migrants find more of the horror that forced them from their homes. "When you live in Honduras, you quickly learn that anywhere and anything is better, a 17-year-old migrant told The Dallas Morning News in summer 2014, but then you get to Mexico and you understand that hell extends beyond Honduras." Story continues 'A permanent fear' Pope Francis has spoken before about the plight of migrants fleeing Central America. In July 2014, as child migrants arrived at the US border, the pontiff said, This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected. But his also zeroed in on a policy response to the migrant crisis. These measures, however, will not be sufficient, unless they are accompanied by policies that inform people about the dangers of such a journey, he continued, according to the Huffington Post. And, above all, [policies] that promote development in their countries of origin, he added. Mexico Central Amercia migrants arrested The Catholic Church and related groups have also been involved in Central America, including in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, which saw a 72% increase in homicides in 2015. There is an urge to flee, because of the very asphyxiation that people feel, Veronica Reyna, a psychologist with a Catholic Church-linked group in San Salvador, told The Wall Street Journal. In El Salvador, there is a constant paranoia, a permanent fear. Francis returned to the topic during his visit to the US in September last year. We must not be taken aback by their numbers, he said, referring to the migrants, but rather view them view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation. Mexico Central America migrant Honduras While the popes trip to Chiapas is sure to address that states indigenous community, the poverty that afflicts it (76% of the state lives in poverty, 32% in extreme poverty), and the alienation they feel toward the church, he is also likely to touch on migrant rights. Amid the Mexican governments crackdown on the stream of migrants, any comments or gestures he makes about their plight is likely to irk Mexicos political leadership. It will be an uncomfortable visit, Jesuit father David Velasco, a professor in Guadalajara, told The Guardian in December, before the popes itinerary had been announced. The Mexican government has a strategy of painting a fantasy of a country that doesnt exist, he added. Central America migrant Mexico On Saturday, his first full day in the country, Francis addressed those leaders directly. Experience teaches us that each time we seek the path of privileges or benefits for a few to the detriment of the good of all, the pontiff said, according to the AP, sooner or later the life of society becomes a fertile soil for corruption, drug trade, exclusion of different cultures, violence and also human trafficking, kidnapping and death, bringing suffering and slowing down development. Mexico migrants central america protest Like migrants fleeing Central America, Pope Francis will travel north from Chiapas. He will stop in Michoacan, a violence-wracked state in Mexicos southwest, where bloodthirsty gangs have terrorized the population. His visit there will also likely mention the priests who, along with residents, have stood up to criminals. Those clergymen have paid the price, as the 40 of them killed over the last decade have made Mexico the most dangerous country for priests in the Americas, according to El Pais. The popes trip will conclude on February 17 in Ciudad Juarez, the northern border city that was, just a few years ago, the most violence city in the world. His visit is expected to help broadcast the citys economic and social recovery, but that fact that its a border city links it to the broader migrant crisis. mexico pope francis Though Pope Francis' current plans don't involve him traveling into the US, the significance of that crossing has not been lost on him. To enter the United States from the border with Mexico would be a beautiful gesture of brotherhood and support for immigrants, he said early last year. NOW WATCH: Forget 'El Chapo' this is Mexico's most powerful drug lord More From Business Insider Latvian English Olaine, 2016-02-15 07:41 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- January 2016, consolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to January 2015 Share in total sales Russia 2 260 -1% 26% Latvia 2 122 1% 24% Belarus 1 520 1001% 17% UK 866 3% 10% Ukraine 786 -30% 9% Poland 230 NA 3% Kazakhstan 207 286% 2% Germany 198 NA 2% Turkmenistan 165 674% 2% Italy 117 257% 1% Other 368 -68% 4% Total 8 840 14% 100% Sales of pharmacy chain of SIA Latvijas aptieka during January 2016 were 1.66 million EUR, which represents an increase by 16% compared to the same period of 2015. 62 pharmacies were operating during January. Sales of SIA Silvanols during January 2016 were 0.32 million euros, which represents a reduction by 18% compared to January 2015. During January 2016 SIA Silvanols sold its products to six European countries, and with mediation of AS Olainfarm also to Kazakhstan and Belarus. According to preliminary unconsolidated results, sales of AS Olainfarm in January 2016 were 7.76 million euros, which represents an increase by 19% compared to the same period one year ago. The biggest sales increase was achieved in Belarus, where sales gre by 1001%. Sales to Turkmenistan grew by 674%, sales to Kazakhstan grew by 286%, but sales to Italy grew by 257%. During January 2016, significant shipments were also made to Poland and Germany. The Major sales markets of AS Olainfarm during this period were Russia, Belarus, Latvia, UK and Ukraine. During January of 2016, products of AS Olainfarm were sold to 21 countries in Europe and Asia. January 2016, unconsolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to January 2015 Share in total sales Russia 2 260 -1% 29% Belarus 1 520 1001% 20% Latvia 1 192 1% 15% UK 866 3% 11% Ukraine 786 -30% 10% Kazakhstan 207 286% 3% Germany 198 NA 3% Poland 180 NA 2% Turkmenistan 165 674% 2% Italy 117 257% 2% Other 265 -69% 3% Total 7 758 19% 100% According to preliminary estimates of AS Olainfarm, unconsolidated sales of the company in 2016 will reach 90 million euros, while consolidated sales will reach 103 million euros. According to these preliminary sales figures, during January 2016 the company has attained 9% of its annual target for unconsolidated sales and 9% of its annual target for consolidated sales. JSC Olainfarm is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in Latvia with more than 40 years of experience in production of medication and chemical and pharmaceutical products. A basic principle of company's operations is to produce reliable and effective top quality products for Latvia and the rest of the world. Products made by the Group are being exported to more than 35 countries of the world, including the Baltics, Russia, other CIS, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. On Wednesday February 17th at 07:30 (CET), CLX Communications will release its earnings report for the second quarter (Q2 2015/2016). A combined telephone conference and presentation will be held at 10:00 am (CET) same day for investors, analysts and media. The presentation will be held in English by Johan Hedberg, CEO, and Odd Bolin, CFO. Details phone conference: Date: Wednesday February 17th Time: 10:00 am (CET) Sweden: +46 (0) 853 527 836 Germany: +49 (0) 692 5736 7210 United Kingdom: +44 (0) 330 221 0086 United States: +1 (224) 501-3217 Access Code: 142-835-371 To see presentation, please join meeting from your computer: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/142835371 Please dial in a few minutes before the announced time. For additional information please contact: Odd Bolin - CFO & Investor Relations mobile: +46 8 32 75 10 email: ir@clxcommunications.com CLX Communications CLX Communications AB is a leading global provider of cloud-based communications services to business and software solutions to mobile operators. CLX flexible interface allows businesses to securely and cost-effectively communicate globally with their customers and connected devices (Internet of Things) via SMS, voice and mobile data. Thanks to the direct operator relationships CLX reaches just over 7 billion mobile phones and connected devices in the world. CLX has over 550 corporate customers and 70 operator customers. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Kista, Stockholm and offices in 10 countries. Sales 2014/2015 was 844 million. For more information see www.clxcommunications.com. CLX Communications AB (org.nr. 556882-8908) Kista Science Tower, Box 1219, 164 28 Kista, Stockholm, Sverige Web: www.clxcommunications.com , mail: info@clxcommunications.com , tel: +46 8 32 75 10 Lithuanian English Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB, identification code 304151376, registered office placed at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total number of registered ordinary shares issued by company is 894 630 333; ISIN code LT0000130023. In 2015 the sales revenues of the Lithuanian natural gas distribution company AB Lietuvos Dujos were EUR 54.9 million, 0.6% up compared to 2014. In 2015 Lietuvos Dujos generated EUR 24 million in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation), 18.2% up compared to 2014 when EBITDA was reported at EUR 20.3 million. This was resulted mostly due to higher income and reduced operating costs. In 2015 from gas distribution operations the Company generated EUR 12.8 million in net profit - 2.2 times more than in 2014, when it was EUR 5.9 million. In 2014, the net profit of Lietuvos Dujos was EUR 42.4 million, represented as a total of the continued gas distribution operations and the terminated gas supply operations. Last year for Lietuvos Dujos was very important: earlier implemented changes opened a way for the Company to operate more efficiently, ensure simpler management, reduce costs and increase the value. According to preliminary estimations, the financial effect of the changes implemented in Lietuvos Dujos in 2015 will reach about EUR 2.3 million per year. A specifically inspiring indication is the number of customers that has been steadily growing during the last year. This shows that natural gas is again becoming an attractive fuel due to its favourable price, simple and efficient use, says Liudas Liutkevicius, Chairman of the Board and the CEO of ESO. In the implementation of provisions of the EU Third Energy Package for the unbundling of natural gas sector activities, assets, rights and obligations of the natural gas supply activity were sold to UAB Lietuvos Duju Tiekimas as at 31 October 2014 under the contract on the purchase - sale of a part of enterprise of AB Lietuvos Dujos of 15 October 2014. For comparison purposes, data of the continued natural gas distribution activity for 12 months of 2014 are presented above. Moreover, the comparative data of 12 months of 2014 were restated evaluating the impairment of fixed assets recorded in retrospect as at 31 December 2013. The interim report for the 12 months of 2015 of Lietuvos dujos will be published on 26 February 2016. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ The Clinical Services Center at University of Wisconsin-Stout is offering a service that may help couples take their relationships beyond the emotions of Valentines Day and to the next level. For the second year, the Relationship Check-up program is being offered Mondays and Tuesdays from 1 to 8 p.m. at the Clinical Services Center, room 221 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Building (221 10th Ave. East, Menomonie). To register call 715-232-2404. All couples are welcome, including those who are married, engaged, living together, dating and same-sex couples. The cost is $35 per couple $10 for UW-Stout students for four hours of assessment, which can be broken into two to four sessions. The cost covers expenses for the assessment programs that are used, said Professor Dale Hawley, from the human development and family studies department. The center is bringing back the program in part because it proved to be popular last year when it was introduced. Theres value in taking a look at a relationship. Couples can discover strengths they didnt know about or areas in which they can grow, said Hawley, director of the Clinical Services Center. Couples will fill out a Genogram, essentially an extended family tree, and a questionnaire that covers 10 areas of a relationship. Questionnaire topics include communication, conflict resolution, financial issues and roles. Couples who go through Relationship Check-up may be able to work through an issue theyve been having or head off a problem before it becomes one. Prevention in relationships is a really important thing, but the counseling industry doesnt focus on it very much, Hawley said. Counseling sessions will be conducted by second-year students in the Master of Science marriage and family therapy program. Along with Relationship Check-up, graduate students regularly work with clients from the region on a variety of issues related to families and family life. We provide a low-cost option for counseling, said Hawley, noting that the center typically conducts 1,000 general counseling sessions a year. Graduate student therapists are supervised before, during and after sessions by faculty who are nationally approved supervisors and licensed family therapists. For more information about the Graduate Schools marriage and family therapy program, which dates to 1974, go to www.uwstout.edu/programs/msmft. College affordability proposals and other legislation in the final weeks of this session will have to be scaled back because of a tight financial picture, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Sunday. In an interview broadcast on "UpFront with Mike Gousha," Fitzgerald said that instead of a price tag in excess of $10 million for Gov. Scott Walker's plan for technical college grants and an elimination of a cap on a student loan interest deduction, the Legislature will be looking at providing closer to $2 million. That cost "is palatable for most of our members and is something they can support," said Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. Wisconsin is expected to fall short of revenue projections for the current budget cycle, which Fitzgerald signaled will impact spending in the Legislature. The college affordability proposals unveiled by Walker last month were going to be tough to push through completely from the start, Fitzgerald said. "I think when the governor rolled them out in the State of the State speech, many of us knew that there were some new numbers coming out that might make it more difficult," he said. "The rumor was that things were going to be a little bit tighter than what we imagined, and they are. "And as a result of that, not only the student loan provisions, but a lot of initiatives are going to be much tougher to get through in the final months here in the Legislature, just because of the price tag that's associated with them. But there are some things that don't cost any money related to student loans that we think dovetail in well with some of the things they're looking at in Congress. And if we can get those across the finish line here, we'll do them. We'll deal with this issue." Fitzgerald cautioned about reading the situation as a red flag about troubles on the state's finances, pointing to $280 million in a rainy day fund and $65 million in the statutory balance. "It's just when you're talking about initiatives and certain things that you wanted to accomplish in this legislative session, I think some of those are going to have to be pared back," he said. "That's what we're doing. We're being conservative and taking a look at what are the priorities." Fitzgerald also defended the Senate's approval of a bill to implement an online voter registration. That bill also eliminated special registration deputies that help get voters registered. Groups that had been active in such efforts can still use the new technology to help register voters, Fitzgerald said. Gousha, the host, questioned whether access to tablets and the Internet is wide enough to reach low-income and low-education voters. "If the League of Women Voters want to certainly even expand the amount of people they reach out to, that's allowable under this bill," Fitzgerald said. "As a matter of fact, it's encouraged. As technology changes and the Legislature is always slow to embrace those changes I think this bill kind of forces it and I think it makes sense in the long run." The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune: We were startled but not surprised when an email from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget hit our inbox. Turns out that even with the soak-the-rich tax hikes that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders envisions, his health proposal still would, over a decade, fall short by $3 trillion to $14 trillion. Projections depend on variables that would only terrify taxpayers the same taxpayers whose federal debt just topped $19 trillion. CRFB says Sanders health, Social Security and family leave tax plans would goose the top federal tax rate to about 77 percent. And, When state and local taxes are included, the top rate rises to an average of about 85 percent (nationwide). Sanders at least acknowledges that his Medicare for All would force huge tax increases. Even though, as CRFB gently says in projecting those multitrillion-dollar shortfalls, the numbers at the moment dont appear to add up. Nor do the numbers add up for most of the candidates plans. To borrow an apt headline from a Des Moines Register editorial: Candidates offer deficit of ideas on debt. This even though, half a year earlier, 94 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers, and 74 percent of Democrats, had told Register pollsters they wanted candidates to spend a lot of time talking about Americas crushing debt. Republicans Chris Christie and Jeb Bush merit modest praise for their plans to curb the growth of Social Security and Medicare spending. Yet many of the GOP candidates plans would inflate federal deficits none more egregiously than Donald Trumps. And Democrat Hillary Clinton repeatedly told the Registers editorial board that the threat of a Social Security crisis is exaggerated. From September: I am not going to concede that we have this big emergency. Clinton sets a high bar for conceding emergencies. Social Securitys trustees project exhaustion of their disability insurance fund late this year. They predict depletion of total trust fund reserves the fund that pays retirement benefits in 2034. Last dollar out. Paying seniors solely out of payroll taxes would slash their benefits by one-fourth. At least Barack Obama, when he won the presidency, gave lip service to reforming and rescuing the big entitlement programs, a prime way to slow runaway debt. Then, of course, his first annual deficits each topped $1 trillion; only with chutzpah do his partisans now boast that his once astronomical deficits have since declined to the merely astonishing. This year, though, federal deficits begin a new climb that rises, every year, for as far as the Congressional Budget Office can see fiscal 2026. When Obamas successor takes office in January, he or she surely will resent a booby-trapped inheritance that CRFB summarizes as, The era of declining budget deficits is over, and new debt predictions that CBO unfurled at the end of January are significantly worse than previous projections. About half of the deterioration in the fiscal outlook is from legislative changes, mainly Decembers unpaid-for tax extenders and omnibus legislation. All of which should be putting enormous pressure on American voters to put enormous pressure on presidential candidates: How can you people even think of sticking taxpayers with still more debt? But that pressurized progression isnt happening. The biggest crowds, those rallying for Sanders and Trump, expect more federal largesse, not less. Many people dont want to hear about how much theyll have to pay in federal (and state, and county, and city, and school, and ) taxes to pay off all the debts that the politicians they elected have created in their names. So heres another way to address our collective debt burden as we go about choosing a president. America has a desperate need not only to restrain spending, but also to create more taxpayers. When more people are in the workforce, paying their taxes, governments at least have a chance of holding deficits in check. Those governments even have, dare we say it, a chance of balancing their budgets. Until these annual budgets begin to balance, we cant chip away at all this taxpayer debt. With that imperative in mind, well be evaluating federal, state and local candidates this year as in past years on how they would expand the economy. How they envision creating new jobs. How they would grow taxpayers, and revenues, to pay for their grand plans. Join us in this quest. We can elect officials who honestly admit that all the benefits they promise do create costs, and honestly tell you how we will pay them. Attorney General Brad Schimel said Monday he would sue President Barack Obamas administration over what he called a radical plan for reducing carbon emissions. In a series of statements made on Twitter on Sunday and Monday, Schimel said the Environmental Protection Agencys overreach is unconstitutional & WIs economy will suffer severely. This is why Im gearing up to sue the Obama admin. Gov. Scott Walker, who is seeking the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, on Monday also called on Schimel to take action to protect ratepayers and workers from the devastating impacts of the Obama Administrations actions. The new restrictions are part of what is called the Clean Power Plan, which intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants in the United States by about one-third within 15 years. It relies heavily on wind and solar energy, among other renewable resources, to accomplish the goal. Walker said in a statement that Obamas plan ignores the significant, overriding issues that will increase costs for Wisconsin ratepayers by up to $13 billion. Based on our initial understanding of the final rule, the Clean Power Plan will be detrimental to Wisconsins economy by dramatically increasing residential and business electricity bills, resulting in significant job losses, said Schimel in a separate statement Monday. At the direction of Gov. Walker, Wisconsin will join numerous other states in a lawsuit to stop the federal governments unlawful actions. Last year in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C., 12 coal-dependent states sued over the proposed restrictions, including Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming. Wisconsin will join this lawsuit. Schimel said Obamas plan brings back cap-and-trade, a huge threat to our economy, which is a plan that puts a cap on emissions and creates a monetary incentive for companies to emit less than the limit. Chris Kunkle, regional policy manager for a Minnesota-based wind power advocacy group Wind on the Wires, said in a statement Monday that Obamas plan presents the largest demand driver for wind for the next decade. He said the plan is merely a practical approach to accelerating a trend that is already taking place. Attorney General Brad Schimel joined officials from 14 other states on Thursday in asking a federal court to postpone deadlines to comply with new rules laid out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Clean Power Plan. The emergency petition was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by officials from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. It asks that the court stay implementation of the plan until courts decide whether the plan is legal. The plan intends to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the countrys power plants by 32 percent by 2030 by requiring less coal and more solar and wind power, and natural gas. The first deadline to comply with the plans rules is 2022, but officials signing Thursdays petition said thats not enough time and will be too expensive. Ellen Nowak, chairwoman of the states Public Service Commission, wrote Based on my work experience and position, I have determined that implementing the (proposed rules) would be a complicated, time consuming and expensive endeavor, which would require the expenditure of substantial State resources, immediately and over the next calendar year. Gov. Scott Walker slammed President Barack Obamas plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions at a rapid-fire Republican presidential candidate forum Monday, while side-stepping a question on whether he believes climate change is related to human activity. Walker was one of 14 candidates to appear at the Voters First Forum at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. It was the first of two events the second being the first Republican presidential debate Thursday at which the candidates will start to appear in the same setting, giving voters a chance to compare them. Walker was asked about Obamas announcement, made earlier Monday, that his administration will implement a Clean Power Plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Walker pounced on the proposal, dubbing it a costly power plan. It would be like a buzzsaw to the nations economy, Walker said of the proposal. Walker didnt respond to the first part of the question, in which he was asked if he thinks climate change is related to human activity. His campaign later responded to an email inquiry posing the same question: Governor Walker believes facts have shown that there has not been any measurable warming in the last 15 or 20 years, spokeswoman AshLee Strong said. Asked if he would raise the retirement age for Social Security, Walker said he wouldnt make changes for those at or approaching retirement age but would support changes for younger generations. He didnt specify what the changes would be. For my generation and those younger, yeah, were going to have to make some reforms going forward, Walker said. The Voters First Forum was sponsored by various media outlets in the early presidential states of New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina. Candidates filed onto the stage, one by one, to field questions individually from a moderator at the forum. Each candidate received just a few minutes to answer. Obamas power plan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants in the United States by about one-third within 15 years. It relies heavily on wind and solar energy, among other renewable resources, to accomplish the goal. Walker said at the forum that Wisconsin, in particular, would be devastated by the plan. Im an Eagle Scout. We were taught a long time ago, your campsite should be cleaner when you leave than when you find it, Walker said. I want to balance a sustainable environment with a sustainable economy. But the two have to go hand in hand. Conspicuously absent from Mondays forum was businessman Donald Trump, who has led many recent national polls of the GOP field. Trump declined to participate, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader, one of the events sponsors. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore also did not take part. Trump is expected to participate in Thursdays presidential debate, which will offer the most extensive opportunity yet for voters to see most of the GOP candidates. Paris (AFP) - Former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius will step down as president of COP21, the UN's climate forum, after being appointed head of France's constitutional court, according to a resignation letter seen by AFP. Fabius wrote on Monday to President Francois Hollande "to tender (his) resignation" as head of COP21, during which he helped to steer the troubled UN climate talks to a successful conclusion in Paris last December. Fabius, 69, had expected to stay in the one-year post until November, but drew flak in the French political arena for seeking to hold on to two high-profile jobs at the same time. He played a key role in sealing a historic deal under which the 195 UNFCCC states pledged to curb greenhouse-gas emissions to keep global warming to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels. Taking effect from 2020, the accord will also channel hundreds of billions of dollars in help to poor countries that are most exposed to climate change. It was seen as the jewel in the crown of Fabius' long career, during which he became France's youngest prime minister at 37. In his letter to Hollande, Fabius said: "You gave me the honour of approaching me to preside over the Constitutional Council, and I thank you deeply for this. "In my opinion, there is no incompatibility (between this post) and the presidency of the last phase of COP21. "However, given the beginnings of an internal controversy on this subject, I find it preferable to tender my resignation as president of the COP." The Constitutional Council is a nine-member court that assesses the constitutionality of legislation. Members are appointed for nine-year terms by the president and the presidents of the Senate and National Assembly, the two chambers of parliament. - 'Two jobs' debate - Environment Minister Segolene Royal -- Hollande's former companion and long considered a rival to Fabius -- brought the debate out into the open last Friday. Story continues Recently handed the additional role of overseeing "international relations on climate" in a cabinet reshuffle, Royal called for "the rules to be clarified" on holding two jobs. On Monday, the junior minister for research, Thierry Mandon, said it was "inconceivable" that Fabius should preside both the Constitutional Council and COP21 simultaneously. "The Constitutional Council is supposed to be above the fray, you can't take on jobs that are with the executive," Mandon argued. Constitutional experts said the picture was unclear. There was no precedent for determining whether the two jobs are incompatible, as the COP21 post is unpaid and voluntary, they said. The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC, which convenes at ministerial level once a year. The presidency is taken up by the country which hosts the gathering. France will hand on the role to Morocco, which will organise COP22 in Marrakesh November 7-18. After clinching the deal in December, Fabius's remaining tasks as COP21 chief would have been mainly ceremonial, such as initiating the formal signature of the agreement at the United Nations in New York on April 22. Detailed questions and the day-to-day running of the presidency are left to Laurence Tubiana, 64, France's special envoy on climate, who also played a key role in the Paris talks. By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.N. expert on human rights in North Korea has asked the United Nations to officially notify North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he may be investigated for crimes against humanity. A landmark 2014 report on North Korean human rights, co-authored by Marzuki Darusman, concluded that North Korean security chiefs and possibly Kim himself should face justice for overseeing a system of Nazi-style atrocities. Pyongyang has consistently brushed off the allegations and rejected any responsibility for human rights violations. In a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Darusman recommended that the Council arrange an official communication, sent directly to Kim and signed by Darusman or U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein. "(It should) advise him and other senior leaders that they may be investigated and, if found to be responsible, held accountable for crimes against humanity committed under their leadership," Darusman wrote. His report, dated Jan. 19 but published on Monday, also said three experts should be appointed to find the best legal path to hold North Korea to account and find "creative and practical" ways to establish the truth and ensure justice for victims. Darusman stressed the importance of using the International Criminal Court but said it was "able to handle only the uppermost leadership". Only the U.N. Security Council can involve the court, but North Korea's sole ally, China, a veto-wielding member of the top U.N. body, has repeatedly rejected calls for the Security Council to tackle human rights in North Korea. However, China said on Friday it would back a U.N. resolution to make North Korea "pay the necessary price" for recent North Korean rocket launches, with the aim of bringing Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. Darusman's report, which will be considered by the Human Rights Council next month, said the human rights situation in North Korea did not appear to have improved. However, he said that last September North Korea had invited Zeid to visit and expressed interest in continuing discussions on technical assistance from the U.N. human rights office. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Even Yehuda (Israel) (AFP) - Washington's UN ambassador Samantha Power said Monday that compliance with the Iran nuclear deal was so far "strong", but warned Tehran was still helping fuel conflict and remained a threat. "What this deal does if implemented -- and so far the implementation has been strong but it's very early days -- is it cuts off the pathways to a nuclear weapon and it gives us much more visibility into Iran's programme than we had before," Power told students during a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. She added later that "Iran of course is still a threat. Iran is supporting terrorism. Iran is supporting parties to conflict like the Assad regime (in Syria)". Last July's Vienna agreement between Iran and the permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5 plus one) sees sanctions lifted in return for Tehran ensuring its nuclear programme remains for civilian use. Israel strongly opposed the deal with its arch-foe, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning it would not block Iran's path to nuclear weapons. He also said lifting sanctions would allow Iran to further back proxy militants in the region, including Israeli enemies such as Hezbollah. Netanyahu's outspoken criticism of the accord, particularly in a speech to the US Congress, led to a rift with US President Barack Obama's administration. He has since scaled back his rhetoric, and the United States and Netanyahu's government are currently negotiating a new 10-year defence aid package expected to be an increase over the current $3.1 billion Israel receives annually. Power has met Israeli and Palestinian leaders during her visit, expected to end Tuesday. She said Washington's aim was to move the two sides towards "being in a position to restart the negotiations, which is not a position they are in right now". Power met Netanyahu earlier Monday and said they discussed "steps that could be taken to preserve prospects" for a two-state solution. Story continues They also discussed the conflict in Syria and the threat from the Islamic State group, she said. Power's visit comes amid a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October. Since then, 172 Palestinians and 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean have been killed, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out attacks, but others died during clashes and demonstrations. Building Safety Fines Quadrupled in NYC The penalty for serious safety lapses is rising to $10,000 and the penalty for lacking a construction superintendent to a maximum of $25,000. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler also announced an enforcement blitz will target 1,500 sites in the next 90 days. With construction booming in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler announced Feb.12 that they will quadruple the penalties for serious construction-safety lapses, raising them from $2,400 to $10,000, and will launch a blitz of more than 1,500 enforcement site visits. The penalty for lacking a construction superintendent will rise from $5,000 to a maximum of $25,000. Construction has surged more than 300 percent since 2009, and preventable construction-related injuries and fatalities also have increased. "No building is worth a person's life. We have a responsibility to keep the men and women who are building New York City safe. We are ramping up inspections and oversight to make sure that our workers have added protections. We do not accept any loss of life in this business as inevitable or acceptable," de Blasio said. "We won't tolerate contractors who cut corners and recklessly increase the risks of construction work. We're quadrupling the penalties for the most frequent safety lapses, sweeping contractors with poor safety records at projects of less than 10 stories where nearly three quarters of accidents occurred last year and increasing oversight at these sites," Chandler said. "Our investigations routinely reveal that accidents could have been prevented if contractors simply followed existing safety rules. We're determined to change the mindset that safety violations are simply the cost of doing business." According to the mayor's news release, these actions are part of a $120 million modernization underway at the department that will increase oversight of higher-risk sites, conduct proactive enforcement sweeps at sites that have a history of serious violations or stop-work orders, and require a construction superintendent on all new construction and major renovations of buildings under 10 stories. Sweeps the department conducted last fall halted work at more than 500 construction sites citywide. Only One CSB Imperial Sugar Recommendation Still Open It is the recommendation made to OSHA, asking the agency to promulgate a comprehensive combustible dust standard. Eight years after dust-related explosions ripped through an Imperial Sugar Company refinery in Port Wentworth, Ga., on Feb. 7, killing 14 people and injuring 38 others, only one of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's recommendations stemming from that incident remains open. CSB posted an update on its recommendations as the anniversary arrived. The only open recommendation is one made to OSHA: Promulgate a comprehensive standard to reduce or eliminate hazards from fire and explosion from combustible powders and dust. That one, CSB regards as "Open - Unacceptable Response/No Response Received," adding that OSHA disagrees with the need outlined in the recommendation, but CSB believes there is sufficient evidence to justify a rulemaking. Another recommendation made by the board in its completed investigation was for the Risk and Insurance Management Society; CSB asked RIMS to require member companies to develop and implement combustible dust hazard awareness training for all facility audit personnel and to incorporate combustible dust hazard identification in the audit protocols. This recommendation is "Closed - Reconsidered/Superseded," with CSB reporting that RIMS rejects the recommendation but supports the rejection with a rationale with which the board concurs. Other recommendations were addressed to Imperial Sugar, AIB International, Zurich Services Corporation, the American Bakers Association, and others. The board asked Imperial Sugar to apply the following standards to the design and operation of the new Port Wentworth facility and reports that the company's actions meet the board's objectives: Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Cambodias property market has been attracting much interest in recent years, particularly among foreign investors, following the passing of legislation in April 2010 allowing foreigners to own property in the country. Under the Foreign Ownership Property Law, foreigners can own upper floor units, not ground floor units, and up to 70 percent of a condominium project. This restriction has little impact on foreign buyers considering that apartments are usually not built on the ground floor, according to property consultancy CBRE. As a result, more residential developments from the kingdom are being launched to overseas buyers, including Singaporeans. Among them is Axis Residences in Phnom Penh. The 566-unit project saw over 60 percent of its residential units pre-booked prior to the public launch in March 2015. In January this year, Singapore-listed HLH Group launched the ground-breaking ceremony for its maiden project in Cambodia, dubbed DSeaview. The seafront development saw over 80 percent of the 300 units in Phase 1 subscribed by both local and foreign buyers. The strong response to our DSeaview project underscores the rising demand for good quality and affordable homes among Cambodians in the countrys key cities. The majority of the buyers are young professionals and businessmen who see good value in owning these homes while the foreign buyers are keen to invest in real estate now in view of Cambodias rapidly growing economy, said HLH Group CEO and Deputy Chairman Dato Johnny Ong. In fact, Cambodias GDP growth is among the highest in Asia. The World Bank has projected 2015 and 2016 economic growth for Cambodia at about 6.9 percent, which is really robust compared to other Asian countries. This will herald healthy demand for quality housing in the coming years, he added. CBRE noted that Cambodias condominium market offers great potential. The consultancys local branch has seen the number of condo units in Phnom Penh increase from just 178 in 2009 to 2,095 in 2014. It expects over 9,000 units to enter the market between 2015 and 2018. Story continues Meanwhile, investors have been recording rental returns of between five and seven percent and capital growth of between five and 7.5 percent per annum. As the residential market heats up, more property agencies are also expanding into Cambodia to support marketing efforts. US-based Century 21 opened a representative office in Phnom Penh in 2014, while international property firm Savills joined forces with Cambodias Keystone Property Consultants in 2015. In what could be a sign of the countrys status as a rapidly emerging real estate market, nominees for the inaugural Cambodia Property Awards 2016 were recently announced. To be held on 25 February, the event will present a total of 13 awards, divided into the highly competitive Developer, Development and Design sections. The Cambodia Property Awards will present the top winners a tremendous opportunity to showcase their most outstanding projects on a regional stage at the South East Asia Property Awards grand finale to be held in Singapore later this year, said Terry Blackburn, founder of the Asia Property Awards and publisher of Property Report magazine. While Cambodia is still a small market, it is quickly emerging and definitely deserving of international recognition, and thats why were delighted to hold Cambodias first national event in 2016. Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg More from PropertyGuru: Singapore's first luxury EC completed New home sales down 16% from December Asian investors shortlisted for Australia's Grocon project 5-room Pinnacle flat sold for nearly $1.07m Man cheats property buyers of $1.8m Oil prices turned lower again Monday as Iran prepared to ship its first consignment of the commodity since sanctions were lifted, reigniting worries over a global supply glut. Both main contracts had soared more than 10 percent Friday on a report that the OPEC producers' club was open to output cuts that could drag prices up from more than 12-year lows. The news provided some much-needed relief to the beleaguered asset, which has lost about three-quarters of its value since mid-2014 owing to the supply woes, overproduction, weak demand and a slowing economy. However, another of the issues hanging over prices returned this week as Iran gets set to re-enter the market, after Western-imposed sanctions over its nuclear programme were lifted. At 0700 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March delivery was 19 cents or 0.65 percent lower at $29.25, while Brent for April fell 10 cents or 0.30 percent to $33.26. "After a massive rebound in oil prices of well over 10 percent, traders are looking to take some of those gains off the table," said Bernard Aw, a market strategist at IG in Singapore. "The truth of the matter is that the supply glut still looms in the backdrop, especially with news of Iran loading its first cargo to Europe since sanctions ended. Put differently, any rebound, particularly the scale of Friday's rally, is still an opportunity to sell." Bloomberg News, quoting an Iranian oil ministry official, reported that a tanker for France's Total SA was being loaded Sunday at Kharg Island while vessels chartered for Chinese and Spanish companies were due to arrive later in the day. "Iran is going to add headwinds to the market," David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said. "We still have 500 million barrels of US inventories and shale producers are still pumping. Until there are significant cuts to output, the rally is not sustainable." Sanjeev Gupta, head of the Asia-Pacific Oil and Gas practice at professional services organisation EY, told AFP that the market is waiting for Chinese trade data and economic statistics for January which are due for release this week. By David Brunnstrom VIENTIANE (Reuters) - Laos wants to see maritime rights respected and avoid a military build-up in the South China Sea, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday, after a meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong to urge ASEAN unity in the face of Chinese claims. Laos is the 2016 chair of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and hosts a summit later in the year that will include the leaders of the United States and China. "He was very clear he wants a unified ASEAN and he wants maritime rights protected, and he wants to avoid militarisation and to avoid conflict," Kerry told reporters after meeting Thongsing in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Kerry, only the third U.S. secretary of state to visit Cambodia since John Foster Dulles in 1955 and Hillary Clinton in 2012, was responding to a question whether Laos would take a strong line on territorial disputes in the South China Sea as ASEAN chair. Laos has close political and economic ties with giant neighbour China, prompting the Obama administration to worry that Vientiane might behave like Cambodia did when it held the ASEAN chair in 2012. Cambodia was accused of obstructing consensus in the bloc over standing up to China's assertive pursuit of its South China Sea claims, which have since included the building of artificial islands suitable for military use. "It is particularly important that Laos finds itself playing a critical role within ASEAN, and ASEAN itself is critical to upholding the rules-based system in the Asia-Pacific and ensuring that every country, big and small, has a say in addressing the matters of shared concern," Kerry said. "We want everybody to have a voice within the region without regards to size, power and clout." Kerry will travel on to Cambodia later on Monday as part of his effort to urge ASEAN unity ahead of a summit President Barack Obama has called with leaders of the bloc for Feb. 15-16 in Sunnylands, California.. Kerry heads to Beijing for talks on Wednesday with the leadership there. A senior U.S. State Department official said Kerry would seek to set an encouraging tone in Laos by discussing increased U.S. aid, including more funds for work to dispose of unexploded U.S. ordnance left over from the Vietnam War, when Laos became one of history's most heavily bombed countries, as the United States tried to destroy communist supply lines running through it. Kerry, who fought in the Vietnam War and then became a champion of post-war reconciliation, said the United States had boosted funding for the disposal of unexploded ordnance over the years "and we are looking at whether or not that could be plussed-up even more." The number of people killed or badly hurt by such ordnance had fallen to about 50 a year, from about 300 a few years ago, he said, adding, "Fifty a year is still too many." The senior U.S. official said announcements on additional funding could be expected when Barack Obama becomes the first U.S. president ever to visit the country when he attends an ASEAN summit in Laos in September. After meeting the prime minister, Kerry visited That Luang Stupa, the most important Buddhist monument in Laos, and offered a bouquet of closed white lotus blossoms dedicated to its people. In Cambodia, Kerry will meet Hun Sen, now Asia's longest serving prime minister, and will draw attention to U.S. concerns about human rights and the treatment of government critics by meeting opposition members and civil activists, the State Department official said. Ties between the former Cold War foes have warmed over the last 15 years or so, following cooperation over efforts to locate American soldiers missing during the Vietnam war and to dispose of unexploded U.S. ordnance. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Simon Webb; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) By Philip Pullella and Alexandra Alper ECATEPEC, Mexico (Reuters) - Celebrating Mass for more than 300,000 people in one of Mexicos poorest and most dangerous cities, Pope Francis on Sunday took a swipe at the country's rich and corrupt elite . Decrying "a society of the few and for the few", he denounced deep inequality and the vanity and pride of those who consider themselves a cut above the rest. "That wealth which tastes of pain, bitterness and suffering. This is the bread that a corrupt family or society gives its own children," the pope said at the Mass in the city of Ecatepec. Francis urged his listeners to struggle to make Mexico "a land of opportunities where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream" and where drug traffickers, whom he called "dealers of death", would not ensnare their children. Mexico is home to one of the worlds richest men, billionaire Carlos Slim, and a wealthy political class stained by corruption even as much of the country is steeped in poverty and violence. A gritty expanse of cinder block homes north of Mexico City, Ecatepec has seen a surge in crime in recent years as it became infested with warring drug cartels. Fueled by a weak economy and youth unemployment, gang violence has driven the city's murder rate to one of Mexico's highest. It is notorious for the unsolved murders of scores of women, the bodies of many found abandoned in garbage dumps or tossed in a canal only miles from where Francis spoke on Sunday. 'NO DIALOGUE WITH THE DEVIL' The pope warned Mexicans not to succumb to evil: "You cannot dialogue with the devil because he will always win," he told them. Ecatepec is home to a giant statue of "Santa Muerte", or Saint Death, a cult figure followed by millions across the Americas. The saint is often depicted as a skeletal "grim reaper" draped in white satin robes, beaded necklaces and carrying a scythe, and is believed to grant requests without judging people. Although he did not address Santa Muerte in his Mass, the Roman Catholic Church has been dismayed by the cult's rise at a time it is battling competition from other religions. "The Mexican Church already was very concerned by expanding Protestantism and now it must contend with a folk saint venerated mostly by Mexicans who still consider themselves Catholic," said Andrew Chesnut, the author of a book about the cult. A sea of Catholic faithful greeted the pope as he flew into Ecatepec aboard a white helicopter, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his image, chanting, cheering and waving flags. Tens of thousands of others lined the streets. "We are living through a period of great violence ... May (the pope) give us strength to continue to bear this, to keep struggling against it," said Maria Dolores Angeles Martinez, a 26-year-old housewife from Ecatepec. Across the country, more than 100,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the last decade and some 26,000 are missing. President Enrique Pena Nieto has failed to significantly curb the bloodshed, with murders rising last year after falling early in his term. Before becoming president, Pena Nieto was governor of the State of Mexico that is the home to Ecatepec. In the second half of his 2005-2011 term as governor, the murders of women doubled. Corruption and incompetence are rampant in under-funded police forces across Mexico. The vast majority of murders are never solved and family members complain authorities show little interest in the cases of the missing. Francis condemned corruption in a hard-hitting speech at the presidential palace on Saturday. Unlike his predecessor Pope Benedict, who visited Mexico's conservative heartland in 2012, Francis is stopping in some of the country's most troubled corners on his first trip as pontiff. He will travel on Monday to Mexico's poorest state Chiapas, where he will say Mass with indigenous communities. Evangelical Christian groups have made huge advances in Chiapas, weakening the Catholic Church's influence. The pope will also meet with young people in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state where drug gangs and armed vigilante groups have waged a bloody conflict. He then concludes his trip in the notorious northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, where he will address the tide of illegal immigration into the United States, meet relatives of victims of violence, and visit a prison. (Additonal reporting by Tomas Sarmiento and Anna Yukhananov; Writing by Michael O'Boyle and Simon Gardner; Editing by Kieran Murray) Russia has dispatched a new ship armed with cruise missiles to the Mediterranean, the navy announced Saturday, as reports said it is bound for Syria. The Zelyony Dol, a patrol ship armed with Kalibr cruise missiles that only joined the Black Sea fleet in December, departed for the Mediterranean, the Black Sea fleet said in a statement. RIA-Novosti news agency further quoted a security source in Crimea -- where the Black Sea fleet is based -- saying that the ship is bound for Syria and may take part in Russia's campaign to support the Syrian army. "The goals of the ship are not public but considering that it is carrying long-range cruise missiles, its participation in the military operation should not be excluded," the source was quoted as saying just a day after world powers agreed to cease hostilities in the war-ravaged country. Zelyony Dol was only built last year and this week took part in a massive landing operation exercise to train "holding the coast" while landing troops attempt to take control. Moscow is under fire for its bombing campaign in Syria, with the United States this week accusing it of undermining peace talks by helping in an offensive on the rebel stronghold of Aleppo. Russia meanwhile warned against any ground intervention in Syria by countries in the US-led coalition with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev saying it would unleash another war. "Don't threaten anyone with a ground operation," he said Saturday in Munich in a speech that lashed out at the West and talked of a "new Cold War." Russian navy used cruise missiles to strike Syria in October, launching them from the Caspian Sea, as well as in December, when they were launched from a submarine in the Mediterranean. By Paul Carrel, Shadia Nasralla and Tom Perry MUNICH/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday a Syria ceasefire plan was more likely to fail than succeed, as Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes took rebel ground near Aleppo and set their sights on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa province. International divisions over Syria surfaced anew at a Munich conference where Russia rejected French charges that it was bombing civilians, just a day after world powers agreed on the "cessation of hostilities" due to begin in a week's time. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated accusations that Russia was hitting "legitimate opposition groups" and civilians with its bombing campaign in Syria and said Moscow must change its targets to respect the ceasefire deal. The conflict, reshaped by Russia's intervention last September, has gone into an even higher gear since the United Nations sought to revive peace talks. These were suspended earlier this month in Geneva before they got off the ground. Turkish forces shelled Kurdish YPG militia targets near the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Saturday, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, demanding that the group withdraw from land it recently captured. The United States urged both Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to step back and focus instead on tackling the "common threat" of Islamic State militants who control large parts of Syria. The Syrian army looked poised to advance into the Islamic State-held province of Raqqa for the first time since 2014, apparently to pre-empt any move by Saudi Arabia to send ground forces into Syria to fight the jihadist insurgents. A Syrian military source said the army captured positions at the provincial border between Hama and Raqqa in the last two days and intends to advance further. "It is an indication of the direction of coming operations towards Raqqa. In general, the Raqqa front is open ... starting in the direction of the Tabqa area," the source said. Tabqa is the location of an air base captured by Islamic State two years ago, and the source said the army had moved to within 35 km (20 miles) of the base. The cessation of hostilities deal agreed by major powers falls short of a formal ceasefire, since it was not signed by the warring parties - the government and rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad in a five-year war that has killed at least 250,000 people. If its forces retake Aleppo and seal the Turkish border north of the city, Damascus would deal a crushing blow to the insurgents who were on the march until Russia intervened, shoring up Assad's rule and paving the way to the current reversal of rebel fortunes. Russia has said it will keep bombing Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which in many areas of western Syria fights government forces in close proximity to insurgents deemed moderates by Western states. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, asked at a security conference in Munich on Saturday to assess the chances of the cessation of hostilities deal succeeding, replied: "49 percent." Asked the same question, his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier put the odds at 51 percent. The complex, multi-sided civil war in Syria, raging since 2011, has drawn in most regional and global powers, caused the world's worst humanitarian emergency and attracted recruits to Islamist militancy from around the world. Assad, backed on the ground by Iranian combatants and Lebanon's Hezbollah in addition to big power ally Russia, is showing no appetite for a negotiated ceasefire. He said this week that the government's goal was to recapture all of Syria, though he said this could take time. The U.S. government said Assad was "deluded" if he thought there was a military solution to the conflict. Syrian state television announced the army and allied militia had on Saturday captured the village of al-Tamura overlooking rebel terrain northwest of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported advances in the same area, adding that Russian jets had hit three rebel-held towns near the Turkish border. Government offensives around Aleppo have sent tens of thousands of people fleeing towards the Turkish border. ISLAMIC STATE TARGETED Islamic State, driven by the goal of expanding its "caliphate" rather than reforming Syria - the original goal of the opposition when the conflict began as an unarmed street uprising in 2011 - is being targeted in separate campaigns by a U.S.-led alliance and Assad's government with Russian air support. Regional Kurdish forces supported by Washington are also fighting Islamic State in Raqqa province. Gulf states that want Assad gone from power have said they would be willing to send in troops as part of any U.S.-led ground attack against Islamic State. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday he expected Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send commandos to help recapture Raqqa. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was reported as saying Saudi Arabia will send aircraft to Turkey's Incirlik air base to support the air campaign against Islamic State in Syria. "Saudi Arabia is now sending planes to Turkey, to Incirlik. They came and carried out inspections at the base," Cavusoglu told the Yeni Safak newspaper, adding it was unclear how many planes would come and that the Saudis might also send soldiers. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday in Munich there was no need to scare anyone with a ground operation in Syria. Two Syrian rebel commanders told Reuters on Friday insurgents had been sent "excellent quantities" of Grad rockets with a range of 20 km (12 miles) by foreign backers in recent days to help confront the Russian-backed offensive in Aleppo. Foreign opponents of Assad including Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been supplying vetted rebel groups with weapons via a Turkey-based operations centre. Some of these groups have received military training overseen by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The vetted groups have been a regular target of the Russian air strikes. (Additional reporting by Denis Dyomkin in Moscow; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Dominic Evans) Turkey will continue to strike back at Kurdish fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, despite growing pressure on Ankara to stop the shelling. In telephone talks, Davutoglu told Merkel that Turkey "will not permit the PYD to carry out aggressive acts. Our security forces gave the necessary response and will continue to do so," his office said in a statement. Turkish artillery struck at targets of the PYD and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia on both days of the weekend, while insisting that it was returning fire under the rules of engagement. Davutoglu alleged to Merkel that the Syrian Kurdish forces, who Turkey accuses of being the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), had been advancing with Russian air support. Russia is the key ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Turkey wants to see ousted. He said the move by the Kurdish fighters was aimed at uprooting "hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians" from the border region and "creating a new humanitarian crisis" that would affect both Turkey and the European Union. "This is aimed not just at Turkey but also the European Union," he said, warning of a "new wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees". The EU and Turkey, which hosts over 2.5 million Syrian refugees, are already grappling with the crisis that saw around one million migrants cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the EU in 2015. France had earlier called for an "immediate halt" to Turkey's artillery bombardments while the US State Department had also urged Turkey to cease firing. Distance Learning 2 More Illinois Districts Join Distance Ed Consortium Two small Illinois school districts have joined a distance education consortium for dual credit college-level courses, bringing the total number of member districts to four, and a fifth district may soon join them. Wethersfield and Galva school districts started the distance learning lab three years ago in collaboration with Black Hawk College to expand the number of dual credit courses available to their students. Dual credit courses are college-level courses open to high school students, allowing those students to earn both high school credit and college credit for completing the course. The courses may be taught by either a qualified high school teacher or college instructor at a high school or college. Annawan Unit District and AlWood Community District have now joined the consortium, according to a story in the Star Courier, and Cambridge School District may also join at a later date. Wethersfield and Galva school districts have each designated a classroom in their high school as a distance learning lab with interactive video and audio connections and a large, flat screen display at the front of the classroom. Each semester, the consortium offers a different dual-credit course taught by a teacher at one of the high schools or an instructor from Black Hawk College, according to the Star Courier. The courses are scheduled before the regular school day begins. Along with the announcement that Annawan and Cambridge school districts would be joining, the consortium also announced that they would be offering new dual credit courses in sociology and psychology. Learning Management Systems Texas District Adopts itslearning LMS Clear Creek Independent School District (ISD) in League City, TX has implemented a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) to support its 1-to-1 and blended learning initiatives. Clear Creek ISD launched its 1-to-1 initiative in 2013. Every student in the district has access to a Dell laptop or tablet to complete school assignments, including projects and presentations, and to explore topics they've learned about in class. This year, the district took its technology-based learning initiative a step further with the implementation of a digital learning platform from itslearning. According to information on the district's site, teachers use the system to design and deliver lessons and students use it to access and complete assignments, either individually or in groups, at home or at school. Itslearning is a cloud-based LMS designed specifically for K-12 education. The platform provides teachers, students and parents with access to course materials, assignments, communities for collaboration, professional development tools and student progress reports. A personalized dashboard for teachers lets them share instructional resources, assignments and assessments with students and parents. During the product evaluation process, Andrea Winters, director of learning technology for Clear Creek ISD, "was immediately impressed with the platform's interface, streamlined curriculum management functionality and its focus on proven, data-driven pedagogical strategies that drive student-centered learning seamlessly," she said in a news release. Three other Texas school districts have also adopted itslearning. Huffman ISD implemented the system this year, and Houston and Spring Branch ISDs deployed it last year. Houston ISD rebranded it as "PowerUp: HUB" or "the HUB" and has been using it to host digital content in support of its learner-centered instruction initiatives, including active learning, flipped classrooms and project-based learning. By Philip Pullella and Daniel Trotta HAVANA (Reuters) - Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill embraced and kissed on Friday in a historic meeting, uniting to issue a global appeal for the protection of Christians under assault in the Middle East. Nearly 1,000 years after the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity split apart, the meeting at an airport terminal in Cuba was the first ever between a Roman Catholic pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch. "In many countries of the Middle East and North Africa whole families, villages and cities of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being completely exterminated," they said in a joint declaration in apparent reference to violence by militant groups such as Islamic State. "Their churches are being barbarously ravaged and looted, their sacred objects profaned, their monuments destroyed." They also said large-scale humanitarian aid was required to tend to refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq, lamenting the "massive exodus of Christians." Cuban President Raul Castro stood to the side during the ceremony, enjoying another moment in the international limelight after receiving Francis last year and restoring diplomatic relations with the United States recently, meeting President Barack Obama in Panama in April. Cuba is also sponsoring peace talks between the Colombian government and leftist rebels seeking to end a 50-year war. "If it continues this way, Cuba will be the capital of unity," Francis said. "Now what's left is Colombia," Castro told reporters after the pope boarded his plane for Mexico, where Francis arrived on Friday evening for a five-day visit to some of the poorest and most violent corners of the country. Dissidents in Cuba's one-party political system have remarked on the government's willingness to promote dialogue for foreigners while dismissing political opponents as mercenaries doing the bidding of the United States. "FINALLY" The two religious leaders, guests of a Communist government, came together only a week after the encounter was announced. Such a meeting had eluded their predecessor, but Francis had issued a standing invitation to meet anytime, anywhere. The moment came while Kirill was visiting the Caribbean island and Francis added a brief stop on his way from Rome to a long-scheduled visit to Mexico. "Finally," Francis said as he and Kirill entered through doors on opposite sides of a room at Havana airport. "We are brothers." Francis, dressed in white with a skullcap, and Kirill, wearing a tall, domed hat that dangled a white stole over black robes, joined arms and kissed on both cheeks. "It is very clear that this is the will of God," Francis said. Their meeting carried political overtones, coming at a time of Russian disagreements with the West over Syria and Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church is closely aligned with the Kremlin, which is in turn an ally of Cuba. The Argentine pontiff helped the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba after more than five decades of estrangement. The pope, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, is seeking to repair a much longer rupture. Eastern Orthodoxy split with Rome in 1054. The declaration called for Europe to remain faithful to its Christian roots and restated several traditional Christian teachings such as opposition to abortion and marriage being reserved for a man and a woman. The Russian Orthodox Church takes a stronger stand on these issues in public than Pope Francis, who supports these teachings but often speaks of other issues such as poverty and protecting the environment, which were also mentioned in the text. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Tom Heneghan; Editing by Andrew Hay, Alistair Bell, Toni Reinhold) By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China will likely announce another large rise in defence spending next month, as the ruling Communist Party seeks to assuage the military's unhappiness at sweeping reforms and as worries over the South China Sea and Taiwan weigh on Beijing. Military spending last year was budgeted to jump by 10.1 percent, outpacing slowing, single-digit GDP growth, and another double-digit rise looks set to be announced at the annual meeting of China's largely rubber-stamp parliament in March. One source with ties to the military who meets regularly with senior officers told Reuters a 30 percent increase in spending this year had been mooted in military circles, though the actual rise was unlikely to be that dramatic. "The party has got to show the troop cuts don't mean the military is being ignored or shunted aside," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of the consequences of talking to a foreign reporter. President Xi Jinping, who has rattled nerves around the region with an increasingly muscular attitude to territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, is now seeking to drag the People's Liberation Army into the modern age, cutting 300,000 jobs and revamping the Cold War-era command structure. But the reforms have run into opposition from soldiers and officers worried about job security. "Xi has to keep them on side as there's so much unhappiness and uncertainty in the ranks," the source said. China's Defence Ministry declined to comment, when asked about the defence budget, on what may factor into any rise in spending this year. The military's official People's Liberation Army Daily gave some insight into the disquiet in the ranks in a commentary last month, saying some soldiers were "lost in hesitation" at the prospect of reform and uncertain of its benefits. Another PLA Daily commentary this month told soldiers not to "think too much" about whether they would keep their jobs, and concentrate instead on ensuring their loyalty to the Party. "Where are the 300,000 going to go? There's no information. Are the SOEs supposed to employ them?" said one senior Beijing-based Western diplomat, who follows military politics, referring to state-owned enterprises. SOUTH CHINA SEA TENSIONS At 886.9 billion yuan (94.58 billion pounds), China's budgeted defence spending last year was around a quarter that of the United States, but its military is modernising rapidly after a nearly unbroken two-decade run of annual double-digit rises in its budget. Giving further impetus to a continuation of that run, Beijing is also feeling public pressure to show it can protect its claims to the South China Sea after the United States began conducting "freedom of navigation" operations near islands where China has been carrying out controversial reclamation work. Jia Qingguo, a professor of international relations at Peking University who has advised the government on diplomatic matters, said there was no doubt another substantial rise in defence spending was on the cards. "Conducting military exercises, carrying out reforms, boosting military readiness all cost money," he said. "The navy in particular is definitely more important than it has ever been in the past. The activities in the South China Sea will certainly have an impact on military spending." After the latest U.S. manoeuvres last month, the Global Times, an influential and stridently nationalist tabloid, said it showed the importance of boosting defence spending. "This reminds us that we must retain a high growth rate of military spending in spite of the economic downward trend," it said in an editorial. "China needs to accelerate its speed of building up strategic strike capabilities, including a nuclear second-strike capability." The victory in Taiwan's presidential election last month of Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, gives yet more ammunition to China's hawks. China considers self-ruled Taiwan a wayward province, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China. "If Taiwan independence elements back us into a corner, we'll have no choice than to push unification by force," retired Major-General Luo Yuan, a prominent Chinese military figure, wrote in the Global Times after the election. (Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan, and J.R. Wu in TAIPEI; Editing by Alex Richardson) BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry on Monday urged the United States and North Korea to sit down with each other face-to-face and resolve their problems, as tension continues to climb on the Korean peninsula after North Korea's latest rocket test. While China was angered by the launch, it has also expressed concern at plans by Washington and Seoul to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defence system, saying it would impact upon China's own security. "The focus of the nuclear issue on the peninsula is between the United States and North Korea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing. "We urge the United States and North Korea to sit down and have communications and negotiations, to explore ways to resolve each other's reasonable concerns and finally reach the goal we all want reached." North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 carrying what it called a satellite, drawing renewed international condemnation just weeks after it carried out a nuclear bomb test. It said the launch was for peaceful purposes, but Seoul and Washington have said it violated United Nations Security Council resolutions because it used ballistic missile technology. North Korea's nuclear bomb test last month was also banned by a U.N. resolution. China, while frustrated by North Korea and having signed up for numerous previous rounds of United Nations sanctions on its isolated neighbour, has said it does not believe sanctions are the way to resolve the problem and has urged a return to talks. Numerous efforts to restart multilateral talks have failed since negotiations collapsed following the last round in 2008. Chinese popular opinion has become increasingly fed up with North Korea, a country once a close diplomatic ally. In an editorial on Monday, the official English-language China Daily called for new U.N. sanctions to "truly bite". "The threat of a nuclear-armed DPRK is more real than ever," it said, using the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Hong repeated that North Korea would have to "pay a price" for its behaviour. Tension persists on the Korean peninsula. Last Wednesday, South Korea suspended operations at the Kaesong industrial zone just inside North Korea, as punishment for the rocket launch and nuclear test. The North on Thursday called the action "a declaration of war" and expelled the South's workers. Kaesong, which had operated for more than a decade, was the last venue for regular interaction between the divided Koreas. Asked about the zone's shutdown, Chinese spokesman Hong said the peninsula was in a "complex and sensitive" phase. "We hope all sides can take steps to ameliorate the tense situation," he said. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) The mother of Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold has said "never a day goes by" where she does not think of the people her son massacred. In her first TV interview, Sue Klebold said she did not know anything was wrong with her son before the 1999 attack that left 13 people dead. She told told ABC News' Diane Sawyer: "I think we like to believe that our love and our understanding is protective, and that 'if anything were wrong with my kids, I would know.' But I didn't know, and it's very hard to live with that." Dylan Klebold and fellow student Eric Harris also injured 21 others at the Denver high school on 20 April 1999, before taking their own lives. Mrs Klebold said she believed she was a "good mom", and that she thought Dylan "could talk to me about anything". "Part of the shock of this was learning that what I believed and how I lived and how I parented was an invention in my own mind - that it was a completely different world that he was living in," she told ABC's 20/20 programme. :: US Gun Violence: History Of Deadly Shootings In the interview Mrs Klebold described how she had struggled in the years after the shooting. "There is never a day that goes by where I don't think of the people that Dylan harmed ... It is very hard to live with the fact that someone you loved and raised has brutally killed people in such a horrific way." Anne Marie Hochhalter, who was left paralysed from the waist down after the shooting, said in a Facebook post that she was ready to forgive Mrs Klebold for her son's actions. The post, written directly to Mrs Klebold, included a copy of what Ms Hochhalter called a "genuine and personal" letter she received from the Klebold family months after the shooting. In it, Sue and Tom Klebold wrote: "Though we have never met, our lives are forever linked through this tragedy that has brought unspeakable heartbreak to our families and our community. Story continues "With deepest humility we apologize for the role our son, Dylan, had in causing the suffering you and your family have endured." Mrs Klebold's interview comes ahead of the release of her new memoir, A Mother's Reckoning: Living In The Aftermath Of Tragedy. Proceeds from the book, set for release on Monday, will be donated to research efforts and charitable foundations focusing on mental health issues. KINSHASA (Reuters) - Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo arrested a prominent opposition leader on Sunday, the United Nations said, two days before a planned general strike that will call for President Joseph Kabila to step down from office this year. Kabila is required by the constitution to stand aside in December after 15 years in power. Critics accuse him of trying to delay a presidential vote slated for November in order to stay in office. Dozens died in protests over the issue in January last year. Martin Fayulu, president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECIDE) party and one of the organisers of Tuesday's strike, was detained at his party headquarters in the early afternoon, said Jose Maria Aranaz, director of the U.N.'s Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) in Congo. Opposition leaders have called for all Congolese people to stay at home on Tuesday. It is not clear how well observed the strike is likely to be. "It's the same pattern of intimidation contrary to freedom of peaceful assembly enshrined in the constitution," said Aranaz. Aranaz said it was unclear if Fayulu had been arrested by the police or military. Blaise Munizi, a parliamentarian from ECIDE, said that Fayulu was in the custody of Congo's intelligence services. The government could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Edward McAllister and Ros Russell) By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union took a step on Friday towards suspending its cherished free-travel Schengen zone for two years by setting a deadline for Greece to stem the chaotic influx of migrants into the bloc. EU ministers give Greece three months to fulfil 50 recommendations to put its house in order - a target that officials and diplomats acknowledged few expect Athens to meet. If it fails, the members of the zone will be able to trigger a hitherto unused mechanism to impose longer-term checks on internal frontiers for up to four periods of six months on the grounds that security on a part of the zone's external frontier has broken down. "The point is not locking Greece out of Schengen. The point is, if the external border is not being controlled, it allows member states to keep the controls that are in place on their own internal borders," said an EU official. "If you don't do this you are in a lawless zone and controls could last forever," the official added. Greece said it had done what it could to control the influx of refugees from Syria and other migrants: "The massive mixed migration flow is of a nature that would put the external border control of any member state under severe pressure," it said. Greece, the main gateway to Europe for more than a million refugees and migrants last year, has been overwhelmed by the influx and other EU states have increasingly criticised Athens for not managing the flows properly. "The overall functioning of the Schengen area is at serious risk," the European Council, which brings together EU countries' governments, said after adopting the 50 recommendations for Greece, that include improving registration, sea border surveillance and border checks. The EU ministers imposed the deadline on Friday by out-voting Athens' rejection of a formal notice from the EU executive that it was "seriously neglecting its obligations" to control its part of the zone's external frontier. Four central-eastern EU states will discuss on Monday offering more help to Macedonia, which is the main route migrants and refugees take as they move north from Greece towards wealthier European states. (Editing by Andrew Heavens) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri said on Sunday Lebanon would never be an "Iranian province" hostile to Saudi Arabia, and attacked Shi'ite Hezbollah's role in the Syrian war in a speech reflecting regional tensions. The former prime minister was speaking in Beirut on the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father, Rafik al-Hariri. It was only his third visit to the country since the Hezbollah-dominated March 8 alliance toppled his cabinet in 2011. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which both have powerful influence in Lebanon and support rival political blocs, are contributing to conflicts across the Middle East, including in Syria. "We will not allow anyone to pull Lebanon to the camp of hostility towards Saudi Arabia and its Arab brothers. Lebanon will not be, under any circumstances, an Iranian province. We are Arabs, and Arabs we shall remain," said Hariri, who is backed by Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is fighting alongside the Syrian army in support of President Bashar al-Assad in a war against insurgents who have received backing from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other states. Five Hezbollah members have been indicted by an international tribunal over the 2005 killing of Rafik al-Hariri. The group has denied any involvement in the killing, which pushed Lebanon to the brink of civil war and still stirs emotions 11 years later. The killing deepened a sectarian divide in Lebanon's politics that still affects it to this day. Hariri, whose last visit to Lebanon was for the 10th anniversary, heads the March 14 political alliance that was forged in the aftermath of his father's assassination. He publicly confirmed for the first time that late last year he put forward a proposal for Suleiman Franjieh, an ally of Hezbollah and friend of Assad, to fill the post of president that has been vacant for 21 months. But he questioned whether his political rivals really wanted an end to the crisis that reflects wider paralysis in Lebanese government. His initiative has not gained traction. Hezbollah says it is sticking by its preferred candidate, Michel Aoun. "We are sincere. We want a president of the republic. We want to be rid of the vacuum. We have paid the price at home and abroad," Hariri said. But addressing his rivals, he said: "Please go to the parliament and elect a president, unless your real candidate is the vacuum." (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Dominic Evans) By Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of refugees could flock to Britain from France if voters decide to leave the European Union, a spokesman for David Cameron said on Monday, underlining the prime minister's stance that an exit would hurt security. In what critics said was the start of a "campaign of fear" to try to keep voters in the European Union, the spokesman said leaving the bloc could harm an agreement with France which allows British border guards to make immigration checks there. At a news conference, Cameron backed up the message by saying the agreement, which puts Britain's border inside France, such as at the northern port town of Calais, was a good deal for Britain and one he would fight to keep. "If ... we can stay in a reformed Europe, you know what you get," he said. "You know that the borders stay in Calais, you know that we have a seat determining the rules when it comes to the future of Europe, you know we have that vital information whether it's about terrorists or criminals travelling around Europe because we are part of those organisations." He said there were "a lot of opposition politicians" in France who would like to rip up that agreement, which would open the gates to thousands of refugees now living in Calais' so-called "Jungle" camp in the hope of crossing to England. "I don't want to give people an excuse to do that." Earlier his spokesman said thousands of refugees could cross the Channel into England "overnight" if Britain voted to leave the European Union at a referendum, which could take place as early as in June. Cameron has thrown his weight behind a plan by European Council President Donald Tusk to keep Britain in the 28-member bloc, saying if agreed by other EU leaders, he would have got the best deal for Britain and would campaign to stay in. Those campaigning to leave said the latest warning had been choreographed to instil fear in voters. "The prime minister is now resorting to scaremongering," said Arron Banks, the co-founder of Leave.EU. "The agreement we have to process migrants in Calais is with France, not the EU. There is no reason for this to change on leaving the EU," he said in a statement. (Editing by Stephen Addison) By Orhan Coskun and Daren Butler ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's military shelled Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria on Saturday and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu demanded that the group withdraw from the area in a move that further complicated the conflict across the NATO member's border. The shelling took place after Kurdish YPG fighters backed by Russian bombing raids drove Syrian rebels from a former military air base, south of the town of Azaz and near the Turkish border. "Today retaliation was taken under the rules of engagement against forces that represented a threat in Azaz and the surrounding area," the prime minister told reporters in comments shown live by state broadcaster TRT Haber. A Kurdish official said the Menagh base which was hit had been captured by the Kurdish-allied Jaysh al-Thuwwar group rather than the YPG. Both are part of the Syria Democratic Forces alliance. The shelling came amid growing anger in Ankara with the United States for supporting the YPG, which Ankara regards as a terrorist organisation, in its fight against Islamic State militants. The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which backs the YPG, controls most of the Syrian side of Turkey's border and Ankara views it as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey. U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby urged both Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to step back, saying they should focus instead on tackling a "common threat" of Islamic State militants who control large parts of Syria. "We have urged Syrian Kurdish and other forces affiliated with the YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory," Kirby said in a statement. "We have also seen reports of artillery fire from the Turkish side of the border and urged Turkey to cease such fires." Davutoglu demanded that the Menagh base be evacuated and said he had spoken to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to make that point and stress that the PYD was an extension of the PKK and a direct threat to Turkey. "We will retaliate against every step (by the YPG)," he said after a visit to the eastern Turkish city of Erzincan. "The YPG will immediately withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding area and will not go close to it again." Turkey's disquiet has been heightened by the tens of thousands of people fleeing to the Turkish border after attacks by Russian-backed Syrian government forces, swelling refugee numbers in the area to 100,000. Turkey, which already hosts 2.6 million Syrian refugees, has kept the latest arrivals on the Syrian side of the border, in part to pressure Russia to cease its air support for Syrian government forces near the city of Aleppo. Davutoglu earlier condemned the attacks in Aleppo as "barbarity, tyranny, a war strategy conducted with a medieval mentality" and said hundreds of thousands faced the danger of starvation if a humanitarian corridor was not opened. "We will help our brothers in Aleppo with all means at our disposal. We will take those in need but we will never allow Aleppo to be emptied through an ethnic massacre," he said. NATO-member Turkey is one of Assad's most vehement critics and an ardent supporter of opposition forces. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was reported as saying on Saturday that Saudi Arabia would send aircraft to Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans) BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Turkish army shelled positions held by Kurdish-backed militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, killing two fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. Turkey on Saturday demanded the powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia withdraw from areas that it had captured in the northern Aleppo region in recent days from insurgents in Syria, including the Menagh air base. The shelling has targeted those areas. Turkey has been alarmed by the expansion of Kurdish sway in northern Syria since the start of the conflict in 2011. The YPG controls nearly all of Syria's northern frontier with Turkey, and has been a close ally of the United States in the campaign against Islamic State in Syria. But Ankara views the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday the shelling had taken place under "the rules of engagement against forces that represented a threat in Azaz and the surrounding area". He demanded that the Menagh base be evacuated and said he had spoken to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to make that point and stress that the PYD was an extension of the PKK and a direct threat to Turkey. The shelling intensified at 2 a.m. (0000 GMT) before dying down but not stopping, said the Observatory, which reports on the war using a network of sources on the ground. The Kurdish-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance was also fighting Syrian insurgents near the town of Tel Rifaat in the province of Aleppo, the Observatory said. One of the armed groups in the SDF, Jaysh al-Thuwwar, warned Turkey against any escalation, saying if it "has goals in our dear nation, we will defend our land and our people, and view it as a hostile party". Syria's military, backed by Russian air strikes, is fighting Syrian insurgents in the same area, trying to seal the frontier with Turkey and reclaim areas of Aleppo city held by rebels. Syrian rebels say the YPG is fighting with the Syrian military and its allies against them in the five-year-old civil war. The YPG denies this. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Louise Ireland) Storyful UK Conservative politician William Wragg told the House of Commons in London that he submitted a letter of no confidence in Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday, October 19.Wragg also said that he intended to vote with the government to oppose a fracking ban, despite formerly being in favor of banning the practice, in order for his letter to remain valid.The BBC reported on Wednesday that Conservative MPs had been sent messages saying they must vote with the government and oppose the ban or risk being expelled from the parliamentary party.The fracking debate that follows has been made a confidence vote, Wragg told the House of Commons.Wragg explained that if he were to vote in favor of a fracking ban, he would no longer be a member of the Conservative Parliamentary Party.My letter lodged with my honorable friend, the member for Altrincham and Sale West [Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee], would fall, and I wish to maintain that letter with my honorable friend, Wragg said, referring to the letter of no confidence.Wragg is the vice-chair of the influental 1922 Committee group of Conservative MPs. Credit: Parliament TV via Storyful Antonin Scalia, the longest-serving justice on the US Supreme Court, has died at the age of 79, with a political row brewing over who should choose his successor. His death comes as the court is set to hear its first major abortion case for almost 10 years, and ahead of important cases on voting rights, affirmative action and immigration. The staunch conservative was found dead on Saturday morning in Texas after not showing up for breakfast during a hunting trip. President Barack Obama made a televised tribute, saying he was a "larger-than-life" character and a "brilliant legal mind" - and that he intended to nominate a successor. But leading Republicans want the new president - who will take office in January - to select his replacement. :: South Carolina GOP Debate Was Far From Polite Democrats have baulked at that suggestion, with Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton saying it would "dishonour our constitution" to leave the post vacant for so long. President Obama's candidate could tip the balance of the court 5-4 in favour of liberals. However the Republican majority on Capitol Hill is likely to rally against any nomination during the final months of his presidency. Speaking during a televised debate, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump urged the Senate to "delay, delay, delay." Ted Cruz said: "The Senate needs to stand strong. We're not going to give up the US Supreme Court for a generation by allowing Barack Obama to make one more liberal appointee." Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell also issued a statement backing that call. Democrats were quick to hit back - with Hillary Clinton joined by the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, who said it would be "unprecedented" to leave the post vacant until next year. Justice Scalia was appointed to the top US court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan and was known for his strident conservative views and theatrical flair. Story continues He was a passionate supporter of the death penalty and voted consistently to let states outlaw abortions. As the political fall out goes on, tributes continue to be paid to the judge. US Chief Justice John Roberts called him an "extraordinary individual" who was "admired and treasured by his colleagues". Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement: "Justice Antonin Scalia was a man of God, a patriot and an unwavering defender of the written Constitution and the rule of law." HSBC's decision to stay put is unsurprising, not just because of the reduced UK bank levy, but because of the risks of moving to what is increasingly seen as one country rather than two systems. Home Shan't Be China The decision of HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC, 0005) to remain headquartered in the UK comes as no surprise, but it is worth considering the factors that must have been taken into consideration. By threatening to leave, HSBC and Standard Chartered plc (2888) succeeded in persuading the UK government last July to cut a bank levy on global liabilities and instead introduce an 8% surcharge on UK banking profits. The levy had placed both banks at a competitive disadvantage to global banks headquartered outside the UK, who were not charged on their non-UK business. But there is a second major reason. In its announcement, HSBC cited the UK's "internationally respected regulatory framework and legal system". HSBC had to have regard to the way China and Hong Kong are regarded by the legislatures, governments and citizens of every country in which it does business. The actions of China with respect to HK in the last 2 years, as well as the complicity of HK's leadership, have undermined the promised "high degree of autonomy" and produced a global shift in perception away from "two systems" to "one country". First, there was the refusal of China to offer HK any sensible version of universal suffrage for electing its leader, something that could have happened under Annex I of the Basic Law in 2007. The offer of an Iranian-style candidate selection system triggered the Umbrella Movement of 2014 which, if it achieved nothing else, informed the world of the "actual situation" in HK. Secondly, more and more, HK's senior figures are singing from the "belt and road" hymn sheet and emphasizing integration with, rather than differentiation from, the mainland. Recently they also appeared powerless when seeking information on citizens who have been subject to extraordinary rendition by mainland agents. It is also clear from its actions that HK's Immigration Department operates a blacklist prohibiting entry by individuals whom China regards as politically undesirable, despite denials to the contrary. If China were progressing smoothly towards an open society then perhaps that gradual fusion of the "two systems" into "one country" would not negatively impact global perception, but it isn't, and China's increasing belligerence in the South China Sea isn't winning friends either. Hong Kong is once again living on borrowed time. The promise of no change to HK's legal system for 50 years from 1997 now has only 31 years to run, and HSBC's decision had to be a long-term choice in that timeframe. It simply couldn't take the risk of shifting headquarters to Hong Kong and subsequently being perceived as a "Chinese" bank in its global markets. Its choice of headquarters would also have factored into its global funding costs. Paying a UK levy at the reduced rate of 0.05% to 0.10% (from 2021 onwards) was on balance a better choice than the possible higher funding costs of future "China risk". For Hong Kong, that is a shame. Unless and until China is perceived as a trustworthy open society with an "internationally respected legal system", the continued convergence of the two systems limits HK's role to that of a Chinese service centre rather than the global financial centre that it aspires to be. Webb-site.com, 2016 Organisations in this story Topics in this story Sign up for our free newsletter Recommend Webb-site to a friend Copyright & disclaimer, Privacy policy Back to top Three Hills Capital Partners has soared past 1bn for the final close of its fourth flagship fund, almost doubling the total it collected for its predecessor vehicle. Modified On Feb 16, 2016 10:52 AM By Raunak for Audi Q2 Could be introduced in the country in 2017 at a price point similar to that of the A3 Audi has once again teased the upcoming Q2 compact crossover. Well technically, this is the first time the German automaker has released teaser images of the crossover, the previous teaser had nothing to do with the actual vehicle. Globally, it will sit below the Q3. It is most likely to have its public debut at the upcoming 2016 Geneva Motor Show and can be revealed online prior to the show. Audi Q2 will go on sale later this year in the European market and it is expected that it will be launched somewhere in 2017 in the Indian market. The overall design will be in line with Audis SUV lineup (of course!). The teaser reveals nothing, however, it subtly hints the head and taillamps of this upcoming compact crossover. The teaser picture showcases its LED daytime running light, which is very much similar to the facelifted A6 with matrix LEDs. A similar story has been seen with the taillamps graphics as well. Moreover, it will likely to have Audis new single-frame grille, which we have seen in the second gen Q7 and facelifted Q3. In terms of engine options, it will come with a range of TDI along with TFSI turbocharged diesel and petrol engines. Speaking with respect to India, it is expected to share its engine options with automakers entry-level sedan A3. The petrol will have the 1.8-litre 40 TFSI, while diesel will have the 2.0-litre 35 TDI. Transmission options would include 6 and 7-Speed S-Tronic automatic and like the Q3, the base variant of Q2 could be offered with a 6-Speed manual! It will also offer the Quattro all-wheel-drive though, except this it will come as standard with front-wheel drive setup. Also Read: All New Audi Q7: A Walkthrough Modified On Mar 05, 2016 03:26 PM By Manish Ssangyong, the korean subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra has officially teased a 7-seater version of its upcoming Tivoli compact SUV. The concept has been designed for the 2016 Geneva Auto Expo showcase. The SUV concept, which dons the moniker Ssangyong Tivoli XLV was previewed about a year ago as a concept model and that showcase took place at Geneva, as well. The upcoming concept has been teased via an exterior sketch, that details the overall aesthetics of the SUV. Speaking of the aesthetics, the front facade of the XLV is quite reminiscent of the standard Tivoli, which is expected to make its Indian debut sometime later this year. As one takes a closer look at the car, it becomes evident that the concept is substantially larger than its compact SUV iteration. XLV has been extended by 235 mm over the standard Tivoli platform and now accommodates 7 occupants, while the wheelbase remains unaltered. This means that even though XLV is a 7-seater and features a boot capacity of 720 liters as compared to 423 liters of standard Tivoli, XLV will feature the same turning radius as the standard compact SUV. Under the hood, XLV will be powered by the same 1.6-liter - e-XGi160 petrol and e-XDi160 diesel engine option, which one finds powering the standard Tivoli. The petrol powerplant offers a power output of 128PS, whereas the diesel mill produces 115PS, which will help it take on its arch rival in the market, the Hyundai Creta. Recommended Read: SsangYong Tivoli: What You Should Know About this Hyundai Creta Rival Published On Feb 15, 2016 02:42 PM By Saad Past couple of years have witnessed a tremendous growth in the automotive sector. Be it hatchbacks, SUVs, sedans or the sub-compact categories, all have been more or less successful in the country. Even the luxury segment did not remain untouched, as brands like Mercedes and Audi performed quite well in their respective arenas. Now, observing the potential of the Indian market for sometime, Toyota, the largest passenger carmaker in the world, is preparing to launch its luxury car brand, Lexus, according to a report by NDTV Auto. The Japanese carmaker will be introducing the brand by this year itself, with the initial phase of releases comprising of hybrid products, coming enroute CBU. The carmaker has been working on this plan for several years and now finally, we will see another luxury brand forging its way through the country. The move can also be seen as a riposte to Hyundai, which has already announced its luxury brand Genesis for the global market. Although, we did catch a glimpse of the same at Auto Expo 2016. Currently, the luxury car market is dominated by the three German giants, while Jaguar Land Rover is also struggling hard to make its position felt in the market. Talking about the cars in the pipeline, as mentioned initially, Toyota will stick to the hybrid options, so we will be getting the RX 450h, the compact SUV, which will rival BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Mercs GLC. Coming to the mechanics, Lexus RX 450h will be powered by a 3.5 litre V6 mill in association with an electric motor. The combined power figure stands at 308bhp, mated to CVT automatic, while the AWD version is also on cards. Other cars to follow the list are GS 450h hybrid sedan - going against BMW 5-series; while Toyota is also planning to take on Mercedes S Class with the top of the line LS600h. The initial target of Lexus in India will be to sell around 3,500 pieces by the year 2018 and if achieved, the next target will be 5,000 units by 2020. Moreover, we can see non-hybrid models to be launched in the next phase to spruce up these numbers. Source: NDTV Auto Tesco has promised to keep paying a cost-of-production price for milk used for its own-label cheese. The retailer has announced it will extend its winter supplement payment for another six weeks. The supplement, which means the retailer pays 29.58p/litre for milk used for own-label cheese supplied by First Milk, had been due to end on 28 February. See also: Tesco rolls out premium price on milk for cheese Tesco has promised, given the wintry weather and the challenges being faced by First Milk farmers, it will continue with the payment until 17 April 2016. The news is likely to be met with relief by farmers given farmgate prices are now lower than they were when the supplement was first announced back in September 2015. Rob Harrison, NFU dairy board chairman, agreed the announcement was good news for First Milk producers. But he added: Farmers problems are not magically going to go away in April and I do think that Tesco needs to be discussing a long-term arrangement on cheese. Commercial director for fresh foods and commodities Matt Simister said: We recognise that it is a particularly challenging and uncertain time in the global dairy market, which is why over the past six months, we have provided additional financial support to help our First Milk farmers. With the effects of the winter still being felt across the country, we are delighted to announce we have extended the supplement. Mike Gallacher, chief executive of First Milk, said it was a welcome move by Tesco. Consumers clearly want their retailers to pay sustainable prices for British dairy products in both cheese and milk and Tesco, under Dave Lewis, have taken a leadership position. They deserve a great deal of credit for continuing to support British farmers who supply the milk that makes Tescos cheese. They deserve a great deal of credit for continuing to support British farmers who supply the milk that makes Tescos cheese Mike Gallacher, First Milk The news comes just weeks after Tesco was criticised for switching some of its liquid milk supply from Arla to Muller, with some industry commentators arguing it would put further pressure on farmers without a direct contract to supply the retailer. The retailer has also announced it will move to 100% British milk for all Tesco own-label standard yoghurts from 1 March. This will see Tesco increase the amount of British milk in its standard-range yoghurts from two-thirds and will help increase the demand for milk from farms across the whole country. 2/20 SF Meeting TIME TO FIGHT BACK NOW! Stand UP To Defend Public EducationTIME TO FIGHT BACK NOW! Stand UP To Defend Public EducationStatewide Initiative To Repeal California Charter Laws Shutting Down Publicly Funded Privately Run ChartersSaturday February 20, 201612:00 NoonSan Francisco City College Ocean CampusScience Building Room 200 San Francisco, CAPublic education is under attack from City College in San Francico to the CSU and public schools that are battling charter privatization. Billions of dollars have been spent by the super wealthy to attack teachers scapegoating them for the crisis in education, while pushing privatization in every school, college district and public university in the country. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, the Gates, Broad, KIPP and the Walton Foundation owned by the Walmart family are firmly implanted in California education and throughout the country. Top government officials get funds from them and help implement their political agenda. They are electing privatizers to school boards throughout the state and the politicians are appointing privatizers to the California Board of Education, Community College Board of Trustees and University of California Regents.This forum will look at how the privatizers are attacking unions and working people, and how workers and our unions can go on the offensive. We will discuss the statewide initiative to repeal California charter laws and how this initiative can be used to challenge the further privatization of public education. The California charter school laws were passed in 1992 and now the supporters of charters are seeking to take over entire school districts. Also religious cults are using the charter laws to set up religious charter schools threatening secular education in California and charters are re-segregating the schools.SFSU and other CSU CFA faculty may be going on strike for a contract. CCSF AFT2121 also has no contract, and the administration is implementing a 26% cut in classes and staff. It is time to unite all education workers, students and supporters of public education throughout the state, and act collectively including the demand for making the billionaires pay for free public education in California.Public worker unions have over a million members in California, and we need to look at how we can build a real education political campaign to stop the onslaught of union busting and attacks on public workers.Speakers:Kristyn Jones, United Teachers Of Richmond Executive Board MemberKathy Carroll - Public Education Advocate And Lawyer Whistleblower at the CA CTCProfessor Bob Price - CCSF , AFT 2121 delegate to SF Labor CouncilBrian Crowell - Berkeley Federation Of Teachers delegate to CFT ConventionRepresentative of Puerto Rican Teachers Union FMPR And Lessons On The Fight Against ChartersDr. George Wright - AFT 1493 Retired Skyline Community College and Chico State CollegeUPWA Mehmet Bayran, Journalist On Turkey Education Privatization and Repression of Kurdish and Turkey TeachersSponsored by: United Public Workers For Action ( http://www.upwa ) (415) 282-1908, info [at] upwa.info Voices Against Privatization of Education ( http://www.facebook.com/CitizensForEducationRestoration Voices Against Privatizing Public Education Initiated November 2016 ballot to REPEAL the CA Charter School Act of 1992Voices Against Privatizing Public Education, a statewide coalition of labor activists, parents, educators and community activists is working hard to save our public schools from mass privatization, mass segregation and union busting perpetuated by the charter school industry. We believe the most effective way to stop the corporate takeover of our public schools is to place a ballot initiative on the November 2016 ballot to REPEAL the CA Charter School Act of 1992.Charter schools are resegregating our schools, cherry picking their students, busting up unions and using our schools and our kids for profiteering.But we can fight back! We can repeal the charter school laws in the state of California that have allowed our tax dollars to generate profits for billionaires and investors while our public school children suffer with fewer resources.Just a few of the reasons charter schools laws MUST be repealed in California:Union Busting the charter school industry as a whole is anti-union. Many of their CEOs have bloated salaries while their teachers are often at will employees.Private School Boards Charter schools receive public funds but charter schools have private school boards unaccountable to us, the taxpayers. These boards are often those who have business, personal, religious or other ties to the schools founders. Real traditional public schools have school boards that are elected by the public.Cherry Picking, Fraud, Embezzlement It is well documented that charter schools cherry pick students, reject students with special needs, reject students who are English language learners and reject students with low test scores. The charter school industry also have a horrible lottery system for admission that should never be allowed in any public education system.Resegregation There are a number of university studies showing increased segregation based on race and income in the charter school industry. This is illegal, immoral and shameful. This should NEVER be tolerated in any public education system.Exempt from Californias Education Code Charter schools are exempt from many laws including sections of the education code. For example school administrators in charter schools do NOT have to be licensed/credentialed, so you can have someone walking the street who has NEVER seen the inside of a teacher preparation program, let alone a school administration program become a CEO or a principal or a vice principal of a charter school. The same goes for school counselors in charter schools- they do NOT have to be licensed. In our REAL traditional public schools ALL school administrators have to be licensed and so do our school counselors.Safety Concerns Charter schools are exempt from building safety code requirements such as the Field Act which sets minimum standards for school building construction and even any renovation of any school building and there are rigorous inspection requirements for building and/or renovation. Charter schools ARE exempt from these requirements. Our REAL traditional public schools MUST comply with all building safety requirements of the Field Act. This is of particular concern in California, where we often have earthquakes.Lower Standards for Teachers In charter schools all teachers are NOT required to be licensed/credentialed. In fact, in many low income areas you will find charter schools with not only very inexperienced teachers but also teachers who are completely unlicensed. This is reminiscent of the Jim Crow era and pre-Brown v. BD of Education where separate but equal was tolerated. In REAL public schools, all teachers of record whether the subject be art or math, must be licensed/credentialed.Violations of Separation of Church and State Another disturbing trend is the fact that charter school operators are using our public funds to inject religious beliefs into the classroom which is a serious violation of the constitutional mandate of separation of church and state. Please see 60 Minutes piece on the Gulen Charter Schools run by Fetullah Gulen as just one example. Our true public schools absolutely cannot teach, promote or inject religious doctrine of any sort in our public education system and to do so would be a violation of both state and federal constitutions.Problems Run Too Deep for Band-aid Fixes The charter school corruption-financial scams, conflicts, kickbacks, fraud, cheating scandals, segregation and discriminatory practices simply run too deep and the legal loopholes are just too numerous to attempt any patchwork fixes like trying for more accountability-these are mere band-aid solutions that will not cut out the insidious cancer that the charter school industry has become on our public education system. Charter school laws (California and elsewhere) must be repealed and we must focus strictly on improving our REAL traditional public schools so ALL students, not some have a fair opportunity to learn.Profiteers Must Be Stopped The stakes are extremely high here- our REAL public schools are at serious risk of being dismantled by profiteers like Eli Broad, Bill Gates, Michel Milken and the Walton Family- unless we the people who care about our PUBLIC education system come together and stop them by repealing the CA Charter School Act. The billionaires will continue to pull every trick in the book to keep siphoning off public education monies that belong to our REAL public schools.The public schools are OUR schools, not Eli Broads, Bill Gates or any other billionaires! By placing an initiative on the 2016 ballot we will be able to let the peoples voices be heard above the noise and false claims created by the lobbyists for those who want to make a profit off our kids.We will need funds for gathering signatures, printing costs and getting the word out about our initiative. Voices Against Privatizing education is a grassroots organization. We are parents, grandparents, educators, attorneys, filmmakers, publishers, and concerned citizens from all backgrounds. We do not have funds from the wealthy and powerful. We need your help. Please contribute what you can to help save Californias public schools. And please sign our online petition.Together, we can we can save our public schools.Donate here at Rally.org or you may send a check to: Any checks should be made out to:REPEAL Charter School LawsChecks should be sent to:Repeal Charter School Laws Attention: Diana Mansker- Treasurer 7753 Laurie Way Sacramento, CA 95832 On the Denial of Due Process in Berkeley martinot4 [at] gmail.com) by Steve Martinot Due process, guaranteed in the constitution, is a great equalizing principle. Its denial is the first step in granting political privileges, and thus creating what could be called political class distinctions. This article describes certain aspects of this anti-democratic problem as it is practiced in the US, and in Berkeley in particular. Berkeley City Politics and the Denial Of Due Process In my last few articles about Berkeley city council, I have described a certain structural corruption that emerges from an inherently anti-democratic dimension of representationism. In particular, the articles refer to councils denial of protection of its constituencies with respect to affordable housing and homelessness. And they describe how council has hidden behind crises of its own making in order to foster a process of gentrification by which a few people will get rich while destroying neighborhoods, creating massive dislocation of residents. Exemplary of this structural corruption is the paradigm of "public hearings." Touted by theory as the site of public participation, the hearing structure not only operates against that, but it generates a political class distinction between the public and corporate representatives. The concept of political class, though it may be unfamiliar, is easily recognized as an aggravation of a vertical social hierarchy. Anti-democratic in nature, it is characterized by political privilege. Its existence calls for pragmatic alternatives that will rescue the citys constituencies of its structural betrayals. One place to look for pragmatic alternatives might be the US constitution. In particular, that document guarantees due process as an equalizing mechanism in the juridical domain. Were it implemented in the political realm, it would disable the formation of political class distinctions by obstructing structural corruption. Today, we find that the principle of due process is routinely violated in the US by the police, by the courts, and by city government. The concept of due process The constitutional principle of due process is introduced in the 5th Amendment: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. In the 14th Amendment, this is repeated in the context of equal protection of the laws. It is interesting to note that, insofar as the overall aim of the amendments has been to augment the ideal of democratic structure, their existence is a tacit admission that, in the main body of that document, that ideal is lacking. According to Blacks Law Distionary, due process is the conduct of legal proceedings for the protection of private rights, including a fair hearing before a tribunal with the power to decide [judiciously where a] deprivation of a significant life, liberty, or property interest will occur. [Its a dictionary, so its alphabetical.] The future tense in Blacks last clause is important. It signifies that the legal hearings concerning possible deprivation are to occur before the act of deprivation, if they are to serve purpose of protecting individual rights. In short, it is because due process gives individuals a voice and a place of standing against what institutions and government agencies might do to them that it is an equalizing mechanism. One of the most severe violations of due process practiced today in this country is asset forfeiture. In asset forfeiture, the police can confiscate any property belonging to an arrestee without a hearing if they suspect that the property has been involved in criminal activity. In such cases, the police fallaciously assume judicial standing in determining (rather than suspecting) an an activity as criminal, and proclaiming certain property as instrumental to it. The "defendant" against this confiscation has the right to apply for restitution of his/her property. But because this occurs only after the deprivation of property or liberty, it constitutes appeal, and not due process. Appeal and due process are not the same thing. To grasp the full difference between due process and appeal, consider a case of deprivation of life. This happened to Kayla Moore at the hands of Berkeley police. She was going through an emotional crisis. An acquaintance called for mental health assistance. Unfortunately, the police responded. They barged in to her apartment, started ordering her around, and when she reacted negatively to this, threw her to the floor, and sat on her while they handcuffed her. She died from suffocation. Appeal of her deprivation would have no meaning. As a corollary, this highlights the fact that handcuffing a person without an arrest warrant or probable cause of a crime is a violation of due process, depriving the person of their liberty. It is a violation that has become routine for the police throughout the US. When the police break up a homeless encampment, as they have done many times in Berkeley in the last few years, they confiscate the property of the people they displace without due process. If they hide behind asset forfeiture in these confiscations, then it is the police themselves that are determining the encampment to be criminal autonomously, with impunity, and without due process. Indeed, all police impunity entails a violation of due process. But when police actions cause the deprivation of property that a person needs for their very survival, such as clothing, sleeping bags, blankets, tents, etc., items without which people who live exposed to the elements may suffer ill health or death, then the police are committing the crime of endangering lives. To threaten a person with death by whatever means is a felony. We can extend this to the issue of human rights. Liberty is the general category under which rights, such as speech, press, or association are to be guaranteed. Any violation of those rights, as a deprivation of liberty, must be accompanied by some form of due process. When the homeless set up an informational tent at Berkeley City Hall to protest their criminalization at the hands of new anti-homeless measures, they are exercising their right to free speech, which was then suppressed by the police who confiscated the tent, thereby proclaiming the protest it expressed to be criminal. Now in what ways does city council violate due process? Let us return to the hearing paradigm. In the representationist system, the only avenue that people have, acting in their own community interests, for influencing councils decisions is through letters and comments made in public hearings. Given the recent spate of controversial issues raised by council, the lines of speakers have often been very long. It is a process that most people find both frustrating and humiliating. In a hearing, people line up to speak in turn, each person having only a minutes or two, depending on the mayors will. If a group comes to address council as a group, its ability to present a coherent and cohesive argument is hobbled by this structure. Its argument gets fragmented into brief pieces, with no continuity or order. And its cohesion is lost in an arbitrary sequence of positions for or against the issue. Speakers are reduced to cyphers whose individual ideas or distinct arguments are reduced to quick statements of diluted and generalized character. The whole becomes a form of non-participation. The experience becomes humiliating in two ways. When a greater number of speakers appears, bespeaking a high degree of concern for the issue, each speaker time is reduced. This implies that the council is not concerned with the concerns of the people, but only with getting through the process. (One councilmember has heard to say, if not so many people spoke, we could get some work done). Secondly, the ideas or terms that people present hardly ever appear in the subsequent deliberations of the councilmembers. The hearing becomes a wholly pro forma process which council is under no obligation to incorporate into its thinking or deliberations. The hearing is reduced to one monologue after another, with no intereaction and no feedback to those who took the time to attend the meeting. But there is another side to the hearing. There are those who belong to groups, institutions, corporations, etc. in whose interests the policy in question is being promulgated. They come by invitation, and are given a table to sit at while they provide the reports that council has requested. Their participation is more than mere commentary or testimony. In providing information or supportive data for councils projects, they get to enter into dialogue with the council, and their ideas then become part of the issues articulation. Thus they are honored with real participation in the decision-making process. In that sense, they are granted the "privilege" of participation through dialogue. Insofar as neighborhood constituencies are not granted such amenities (dialogue, a seat at the table, participation in decision-making), they are relegated to the far side of a political divide. And this divide, engendered by institutional structure and the privileges it grants, constitutes a political class distinction generally between institutionalities and constituencies. To the extent a hierarchy is created between political classes through this structural bestowal of privileges, the equalizing capabilities of due process become highly relevant. In the absence of those equalizing capacities, the hearing process and the political class distinction it permits operate against the fundamental principle of democracy. That principle is that those who will be affected by a policy should be the ones to articulate the issues of the policy and decide on the policy itself. When corporate developers present projects to the Planning Dept., those proposals very often portend significant changes to a neighborhood economically. Gentrification, for instance, will be accompanied by resident dislocation, a loss of local economic infrastructure, and glutted traffic patterns, among other things. In consequence, the neighborhood in an organized fashion should be able to participate in the design, function, and effects of development projects, in order to defend itself against such disruption. While this is prevented by the insularity of the planning process, it is also obviated by the reductive monologic character of constituent participation (hearings). Without due process with respect to development policies that will effect them, neighborhood constituencies are simply reduced to appeal (which then occur in the form of more "hearings"). Without substantial participation in the planning process by an organized neighborhood, urban development takes a form similar to asset forfeiture, but with the formation of political class difference. When this political class difference erupts into open conflict, as it has with the many calls for justice against the deprivation of life committed by the police, you have a real class struggle between the police (institutionality) and social justice movements. Gentrification occurs when housing development caters to high income residents. Its side effects are arbitrary rent increases for low income families, land speculation that raises real estate values, the closure of local stores and restaurants that form the economic infrastructure for the (soon to be) former residents, with a steady increase in the cost of living and taxes. This process has begun in Berkeley. Enormous buildings, with seventy to a hundred market-rate apartments which now rent at rates only high income people can afford will change the nature and stability of many neighborhoods. Those driven out of their homes by landlords opportuning on the process will be suffering a form of economic eviction against which council offers no protection nor does it act against the Costa-Hawkins Act that it claims ties its hands. Were the process to be democratic, local neighborhood assemblies would be able to participate in planning the changes, in defending what they valued as a community, and in requiring development that would benefit the community such as affordable housing (with rents at 30% of income). That would mean having a seat at the planning tables for each specific development project, with a vote. Suppose due process was provided Let us envision a political process in which due process, and the fundamental principle of democracy were firmly in effect. How would due process operate in our political context as an equalization mechanism serving to guarantee real democratic participation? Suppose some 50 people showed up to argue an issue (for and against) that council was considering. Due process would require that they be given more time to speak rather than less. It would also require a space for dialogue between the parties and with the councilmembers directly (equal standing). In other words, it would having the ability to transform the council meeting into a form of townhall in which the parties involved, arguing coherently and with cohesion, could actually reason with each other, and the antagonism between logic, vision, and prurient interest could be brought out into the open, with the discarding of irrelevant arguments. The aim would be a conjunction on the issue that would then become the eventual council resolution. In other words, if sufficient numbers of people took the time to show up, they would not be penalized, but rather incorporated into a working session involving all engaged parties. Thus, both the fundamental principle of democracy and the operation of due process would be fulfilled. Now, if we take this townhall idea and project it down to the local level, it would form the basis for a real renovation of the idea of representation itself. At the neighborhood level, on-going assemblies could not only be a form of townhall, but a focused local decision-making body, open to all in its self-defined area. It would be an arena in which a neighborhood could decide what it wanted to change, what needed changing, what needed development, and what form that development should take (e.g. affordable housing, mixed-use, inclusionary housing, etc.). Insofar as these assemblies discussed and made decisions about their neighborhood affairs, those they elected to represent them at council townhall meetings, or planning sessions with the Planning Dept., would have real ideas and real decisions to represent unlike elected representatives who now represent only themselves and a mute demographic. In that sense, it would replace empty representation with meaningful representation. Ultimately, the neighborhood assembly would embody the substitution of a horizontal mode of decision-making using dialogue among equals for the vertical and hierarchical mode of making decisions in council and commissions. This would not be due process as such; it would be the participation that due process was designed to protect. In such a horizontal structure, privilege would become a form of anti-social behavior. Privilege establishes inequality. It assumes hierarchy, as the source from which it is granted, and embodies the enhancing of that hierarchy. The essence of due process is undoing established privilege, and re-equalizing the standing and rights between people and institutions. We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts! Donate $ 420.00 donated in the past month Get Involved If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us. The Gill Tract in Albany was sold to the University of California in 1928 under the condition it would be used for agricultural research and education. However, the university is privatizing a section of the tract for the construction of a high-end senior assisted living facility by the Belmont Village corporation along with construction of a Sprouts supermarket and a parking lot. Contractors began work on the southern portion of the Gill Tract in January. During the first week of February several truckloads of healthy topsoil began to be removed from the historical farm.On February 9, for the second time this year, farm defenders halted construction on the tract. Five demonstrators sat in silent meditation in the path of heavy machinery that was removing topsoil. Contractors attempted to operate heavy machinery around them despite the risks to the safety of those on site. Three of the farm defenders were arrested at the tract; two were taken to jail and released later that day. All three were charged with trespassing. This forum works, but the fishermen are not, said Senator Mike McGuire, Chair of the Committee, in his opening comments. The salmon and crab fisheries are threatened by a historic crisis. Were facing a fishery disaster that will impact many families. Beautiful Sacramento River Chinook salmon like this one are threatened by the mismanagement of Central Valley reservoirs by the state and federal water agencies during a drought, massive water exports from the Delta, the plan to raise Shasta Dam and Governor Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels Plan. Photo by Dan Bacher. Crab and salmon fisheries threatened by a 'historic crisis'by Dan BacherLegislators, members of commercial fishing families, fishing group representatives and Brown administration officials testified about the dire situation that the salmon and crab fishery is in during the 43rd Annual Zeke Grader Fisheries Forum of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture held at the State Capitol in Sacramento on February 11.This forum works, but the fishermen are not, said Senator Mike McGuire, Chair of the Committee, in his opening comments. The salmon and crab fisheries are threatened by a historic crisis. Were facing a fishery disaster that will impact many families.Weve gone from abundance to scarcity. The crab fishing fleet is sitting at the docks right now, said McGuire.McGuire said the crab fishery is worth $46 million to the California economy and is worth up to $250 million once you calculate all of the money that it generates to the coastal economy.The drought has threatened our salmon stocks and fish need water, said McGuire. During the last two years, weve lost over 95 percent of the Sacramento River winter-run chinook and over 95 percent of the fall-run Chinook. The Sacramento fall run is the backbone of the West Coast salmon fishery.Citing CDFW figures, McGuire said the commercial salmon fishery income has declined from $52 million in 2013, to $31 million in 2014, to $15.5 million in 2015 (according to preliminary estimates). Due to lower than expected returns on both the Sacramento and Klamath systems, things are expected to be even worse this year.McGuire thanked Governor Brown and CDFW Director Chuck Bonham for sending a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce requesting federal disaster relief for the commercial fishing industry this week. However, he said and other legislators indicated this is disaster relief is by no means a slam dunk because it depends on an Act of Congress to appropriate the needed money.These are truly desperate times, Senator McGuire emphasized. "Imagine losing 75 to 100 percent of your annual income, and trying to survive.In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Governor Brown on February 9 requested federal declarations of a fishery disaster and a commercial fishery failure in response to the continued presence of unsafe levels of domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin, in Dungeness and rock crab fisheries across California and the corresponding closures of those fisheries. ( http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=116284 Somethings going on in the oceanState officials and scientists spoke on the unprecedented changes in the ocean believed to be impacting crab, salmon and other fish populations.Somethings going on in the ocean, and its not right, and it doesnt fit our historical understandings, Bonham told the Committee.In addition to the crab closure caused by domoic acid, a neurotoxin found in the algae bloom along the coast, he pointed to a number of ecological disasters. These include the massive deaths of sea stars, the decline of the squid fishery, the closure of the sardine fishery, the decline of kelp habitat and the loss of most of the red sea urchins north of San Francisco recently.Southern species such as wahoo are showing further north, while sea snakes have been seen off Southern California coast.This should be an alarm to the general public to stay aware and engaged in this ecological change thats going on in the ocean, Bonham said.The outlook for the salmon fishery is not good." either, said Bonham. He said the fall salmon returns on both the Klamath River and Sacramento River systems are below the escapement objectives set by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), pointing to season restrictions this year.However, he said that all is not gloom and doom, noting a few successes in coastal coho runs and other fish populations.The coho run on the Noyo River in Mendocino County this fall was at a 15 year high and the coho redd (nest) count on Lagunitas Creek was 269, beating the previous high count of 250, said Bonham.In addition, the CDFWs pelagic rockfish survey was the highest its been in 30 years, said Bonham.Dr. Clarissa Anderson from the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz reported that the domoic acids in the ocean are at a record high,We have been measuring pretty routinely and have seen that every year it seems to get a bit worse," Anderson stated. "There have been a few dips in there, but in the last five, six, seven years, we start to see an unprecedented level every year.The domoic acid impacts not just crabs, but shellfish, whales, seals and sea lions. Sea lions suffer brain damage from long-term exposure to domoic acid, said Anderson.Fishing industry takes a big toll from crab closure, salmon crisisThose testifying on the impact of the crab fisheries disaster included Rachelle Fisher of the Administrative Team, California Dungeness Crab Task Force; Tim Sloane, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens Associations (PCFFA); Lori French, President, Central Coast Women for Fisheries; and Ben Platt from the PCFFA.Don Marshal, PCFFA board member, was supposed to testify, but could not attend because he was working a part time job that day to make ends meet.Lori French emphasized the economic hardships caused to fishing families by the crab closures.My husband is a second generation fisherman and my son is a third generation commercial fisherman. Weve always had some reserves saved up coming into the crab season, she said.However, other fishermen are not so fortunate, and she started a fund me facebook page for commercial families impacted by the crab closure that has raised $5500 to date. She has received requests from as far north as Crescent City to help the families out in these hard times.She also said she has had to rely on her business, a chicken and egg business, to pay their expenses during the closure.French said food banks have been set up in Bodega Bay, Crescent City and elsewhere to provide food for commercial fishing families.I cannot begin to describe what B.S. it is to ask for food for people who provide the food for other peoples tables, she said.Changes in river and reservoir operations proposed to restore salmonDave Bitts, President of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens Associations, and John McManus, Executive Director of the Golden Gate Salmon Association, spoke on the status of salmon fisheries.In addition to the failure of over 95 percent of the winter run in 2014 and 97 percent of the winter run in 2015 to make it past Red Bluff on the Sacramento River because of lethally high water temperatures, 98 percent of the naturally-spawning fall run Chinook juveniles and eggs were lost over the past year, according to McManus.McManus said one solution to successfully growing fatter and healthier salmon is to more fully utilize flood plains in the Sutter Bypass and Yolo Bypass during their downstream migration. He said these bypasses could be operated to allow greater access to juvenile salmon, providing for a more resilient fish population.He also said the Department of Water Resources should change the way it operates the Thermalito Afterbay to make the water cooler when it is released into the Feather River, including the possible creation of a bypass canal.Other changes in the operation of Central Valley reservoirs that could help prevent the winter run Chinook disasters of the last two years from occurring include fixing the temperature control curtains at Whiskeytown Reservoir. The water coming from Clear Creek out of Whiskeytown Reservoir into the Sacramento River is now warmer than the Sacramento River itself, said Dr. William Duffy, Chair of the California Advisory Committee on Salmon & Steelhead Trout.McManus noted that the trucking of 100 percent of the fall chinook salmon from the CDFWs Feather River, Nimbus and the Mokelumne River fish hatcheries and the federal Coleman Hatchery to the estuary in 2015 and all of the smolts from the state hatcheries and 8 million smolts from Coleman in 2014 could serve as a bridgein the fishery between the drought years and 2017 and 2018.The forum also featured Fishery and Aquaculture Committees reports; Aquaculture Industry Expansion and Initiative updates; and Fish Markets, Marketing and Fishery Management Plan reports.After the reports were finished, over a dozen people commented on an array of issues concerning fisheries, ranging from opposition to Governor Jerry Browns Delta Tunnels to how foreign farmed fish have replaced sustainable local live halibut and starry flounder fisheries because of current California commercial fishing closures.Commercial and sportfishing groups and Tribal leaders have strongly criticized the Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Water Resources for emptying Trinity, Shasta, Oroville and Folsom reservoirs during the drought in order to export Delta water to corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods in Kern County. The draining of the reservoirs resulted in lethally warm water conditions for winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon on the Sacramento River over the past two years.Salmon and steelhead are not only are threatened by the mismanagement of Central Valley reservoirs by the state and federal water agencies during a drought and changing ocean conditions, but by Governor Jerry Brown's California Water Fix project to build the Delta Tunnels and a federal plan to raise Shasta Dam. Both plans are opposed by the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and other Tribes, environmental organizations and fishing groups.Note: On the day this forum was held, recreational Dungeness crab fishing season on the California Coast south of Point Reyes in Marin County opened. The commercial Dungeness crab fishery remains closed statewide, although it could potentially open this week.( https://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/recreational-dungeness-crab-fisheries-open-south-of-point-reyes - Osinbajo made history as the first vice president to have power handed down voluntarily by a sitting president - Emerging reports detail how Osinbajo performed as commander-in-chief of the nation President Muhammadu Buhari embarked on a six-day vacation On Friday, February 5, and handed over to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as acting president of the nation. Before going on the vacation, President Buhari had dispatched a formal notice to Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the Constitution. It was the first time in the history of Nigeria, that a president voluntarily transmitted power to his deputy. As at the time Buharis short break became public knowledge, the acting president was in Lagos for the Holy Ghost Night programme of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), and rather than cut short his trip, Osinbajo, the following day, headed for Jerusalem Mission House International in Makurdi, Benue state, for a wedding ceremony. On Monday, February 8, Osinbajo fully resumed as acting president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, those who had expected him to move into the Presidents Wing of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa were in for a surprise as he chose to operate from the Vice Presidents Wing. Daily Trust reports that his office abruptly turned into a beehive of activity. Buharis office was, understandably, virtually deserted. State Governors, ministers refuse to visit State governors are regular visitors to the Aso Presidential Rock Villa, ostensibly to brief the president on matters affecting their respective states. Some of them had been severally pilloried for allegedly abandoning their states for Abuja. But none of the state chief executives made it to the nations seat of power throughout the period Osinbajo held the fort for Buhari. File photo of the Vice president Yemi Osinbajo READ ALSO: Amazing: Read what El-Rufais school feeding programme is causing in Kaduna Majority of the ministers were also not sighted at the State House during Osinbajos six-day reign as acting president. They could conveniently claim to be busy with the budget defence at the National Assembly. They could equally hide under the cover of a presidential directive that they be channeling their communications to the Presidency through the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President. In unambiguous terms, President Buhari had, on November 5, 2015 while hosting his ministers to a ministerial retreat at the old banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, instructed thus: "All communications and appointments from you to the Presidency should be routed through the Office of the Chief of Staff as is normal in this Presidential System. So, even if the ministers had, on that ground, chosen to shun the acting president last week as insinuated, they could be understood or misunderstood to have simply obeyed their employers order. The Secretary to the government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, cannot hide under this cover, for it is his responsibility to ensure effective coordination and monitoring of the implementation of government policies and programmes for the overall development of the country. Little wonder his absence at the Acting Presidents Office set tongues wagging. No Federal Executive council (FEC) Even as vice president, Osinbajo has the power to preside over Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings, in the absence of the president. As acting president last week, he did not convene the meeting. Daily Trust report that Although FEC meetings had not been held on a weekly basis since the inception of the Buhari presidency, Osinbajo could have cashed in on Buharis vacation to demonstrate how real the power of an acting president is in Nigerias context. National Security Council (NSC) meeting, chaired by the president, has almost been a routine owing to the frequency of terrorist attacks on the northeeast. Acting President Osinbajo did not summon the service chiefs for the meeting even when terrorists blasted scores to death at Dikwa Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in Borno state on Tuesday. How far then did Osinbajo fare as acting president? He hit the ground running early Monday morning with a closed-door meeting with a delegation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, (EITI), a global body assessing transparency level of nations oil, gas and mineral resources. The session afforded him the opportunity to reiterate the administrations commitment to transparency and good governance. It is important that we handle our resources with transparency and good governance. One of the objectives we have set for ourselves is to ensure that we are transparent and able to handle our resources well. If as a nation we had handled our resources better with transparency and good governance, we would not have found ourselves where we are now. We have learnt our lesson, Osinbajo told his visitors. The acting president also played host to a delegation of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI) and reassured of the federal governments determination to rehabilitate and rebuild the insurgency-riddledNorth-east; with a passionate call on well-to-do Nigerians to partner with the government in that regard. Osinbajo on Tuesday received a delegation of the Senate which was at the Presidential Villa on a consultation visit over the 2016 budget proposal, the Money Laundering Bill and other bills currently before the National Assembly. Senate Leader Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who led the delegation, lauded Buhari for not leaving the country on autopilot. For the leader of the Senate, the transmission of power to Osinbajo was unprecedented in Nigeria. This is not the first time we are coming here, but this is the first time we are having the vice president as acting president. That is one of the reasons we are here. This is because we are setting a new example. During the previous governments, the president would just go and leave the place blank. But this time around, when our president went (on vacation) for a few days, he transmitted to all Nigerians that the vice president is to act as president.Now, we have the budget as work in progress; we have the new Money Laundering Bill before the Senate; we have many things we are looking at. We have come to consult on these, Ndume told State House correspondents shortly after meeting with Osinbajo. Acting President Osinbajo also on Tuesday received a delegation of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), led by its Executive Director, Michel Sidibe. He assured of effective primary healthcare centres across the country. He rounded off his six-day reign with a directive that security be beefed up at all the internally displaced persons camps in the country. He was, through a statement by his spokesman Laolu Akande, responding to Tuesdays suicide bombing of Dikwa IDP Camp. Well, Osinbajos directive could have possibly reminded the Armed Forces that an Acting Commander-in-Chief was in charge for six days. President Buhari resumed work on Thursday; and in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution, sent a formal notice of his resumption to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Prof Osinbajo and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami are at loggerhead over $1.3 billion Malabu scandal. Source: Legit.ng Legit.ng is #1 online trusted source of the latest news in Nigeria. We are covering Nigeria news, Niger delta, world updates, and Nigerian newspaper reviews. We guide our readers to the world of politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle and human interest stories. - CAN says sending Jonathan to jail will not be a first - Adds that he betrayed the trust of Nigerians Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan may soon be prosecuted by President Muhammadu Buhari. If suggestions by the Lagos state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) are anything to go by, ex-president Goodluck Jonathan may soon be prosecuted by President Muhammadu Buhari over reported fraud in his administration. The Punch reports that the chairman of Lagos CAN, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, who made this disclosure on Saturday after an interdenominational service in Lagos, applauded the ongoing anti-corruption move by President Buhari, stating that nobody should be scared. READ ALSO: EFCC grills ex-governor aides, scores of others "What is wrong with it? A former President of Peru (Alberto Fujimori) was jailed. Also, a popular prime minister of Israel (Ehud Olmert) was jailed. If a nation puts you in a position of trust and you betray that trust, you should go to jail no matter who you are. "I have no sympathy for anybody. Just make sure you get it right, and we get the facts right as well," he proffered when asked what his stance was on the call for the prosecution of Jonathan. While lamenting the spate of corruption in the country, Apostle Bamgbola stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration must go after the looters, adding that he should "put them where they belong, so that we may have peace in this nation." This refreshed call for the prosecution of Jonathan may have come on the heels of the recent revelations by the former president's former Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Colonel Ojogbane Adegbe, who was recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Colonel Adegbe revealed that another Dasukigate may be looming if he speaks out on the events of the last administration. Before being flown to Abuja last week, it was gathered that preliminary interrogation of the former ADC by operatives of the EFCC showed that a new can of worms, which "could surpass what is now called Dasukigate," would be opened up. Source: Legit.ng - FG directed the disengaged chief executives to hand over to the most senior officials in their various establishments - The affected director-generals of NTA, Sola Omole; FRCN, Ladan Salihu; VON, Sam Worlu; NOA, Mike Omeri; NBC, Emeka Mba; and the Managing Director of NAN, Ima Niboro Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture announced the sack of all the DGs Nigerias federal government has announced the sack of the heads of the six information-related parastatals under the ministry of information and culture. The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the disengagement during a meeting he held with the chief executives of the Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Voice of Nigeria, News Agency of Nigeria, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission and the National Orientation Agency on Monday, February 15. READ ALSO: EFCC investigating 7 army generals over arms scandal The affected chief executives are the director-generals of NTA, Sola Omole; FRCN, Ladan Salihu; VON, Sam Worlu; NOA, Mike Omeri; NBC, Emeka Mba; and the Managing Director of NAN, Ima Niboro. In a statement made available to this effect by Segun Adeyemi, SA to the minister, he directed the disengaged Chief Executives to hand over to the most senior officials in their various establishments. Mohammed thanked them for their service to the nation and wished them the best of luck in their future endeavours. Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the replacement of 13 vice chancellors of Nigerian universities. Twelve of them are federal ones, and Vincent Tenebe, the vice chancellor of the National Open University, has also been relieved of his position. All these institutions were established by the former president, Goodluck Jonathan. Source: Legit.ng - The teaming up of Nigeria with Cameroonian troops has led to tremendous success in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency - The Cameroonian troops handed over to Nigeria, two suspected Boko Haram troops - Some men and women were also rescued from the insurgents The cordial relationship between Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the fight against Boko Haram is yielding fruitful result. The commander of Cameroonian 1st Battalion has handed over two suspected Boko Haram terrorists to Nigerian troops. Troops demining of a section of the road between Kirawa Junction to Pulka The commander, who paid a courtesy call on his counterpart, the Commanding Officer of 121 Task Force Battalion in Pulka, assisted in demining of a section of the road between Kirawa Junction to Pulka. READ ALSO: Boko Haram: We are bringing the war to conclusion army Eight men, 36 women and 68 children were also rescued in the area. Some rescued pesons and their personal effects This was disclosed by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, the acting director army public relations. However, one of the visiting units vehicle ran into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), buried along Pulka-Ngoshe road. A Cameroonian officer lost his life while eight soldiers sustained injuries. Mine clearance by the troops Also, troops of 113 Battalion on patrol to Ngwala cleared Boko Haram terrorists camps at Ngorta and Aritimie villages. "The troops also came across the terrorists market at the area. However, on sighting the troops the suspected Boko Haram terrorists ran and abandoned their supplies. "The patrol also conducted cordon and search operations around Ngwala and recovered 2 pick up vehicles and 12 motorcycles belonging to the fleeing Boko Haram terrorists. The market has been closed indefinitely, Usman disclosed. Some of the persons rescued from Boko Haram According to him, the troops are more determined to destroy Boko Haram terrorists and clear them from wherever they may be in the north eastern part of our country. Two days ago, Usman had said the army was making tremendous progress in the fight against insurgency. He disclosed how Boko Haram enclaves were cleared, five IEDs detonated by the troops and an IED manufacturing workshop destroyed. Some days earlier, Cameroon soldiers killed at least 27 Boko Haram fighters after launching a cross-border operation in the Nigerian locality of Goshi. Source: Legit.ng Every man and their iPhones fish-eye lens wants to get out there and see the world (and capture some +A Gram content while theyre at it). The main impediment of jetting off on a whim? A serious lack of funding. PEDESTRIAN.TV has partnered with NAB to help all yall #SpendBetter. Together, were hoping to help you realise all of your wanderlust ambitions. A NAB everyday banking account will give you errythang you need to better manage your cash-monay and save up for your next adventure. Hook yoself up with one of their killer accounts by visiting NABs website HERE. Ah, travel: the perfect opportunity to enlighten yourself, see the beauty of our lil blue marble as well as curate a deck of images thatll have your social posts sorted for the next 6+ months (sorry for the travel spam hahaha, couldnt resist sharing this shot of me on Rodeo Drive. #LifeGoals, am I right? 110% will be going back! LA, I love you). The issue faced by most 20-summins is gathering the means to hop on a plane and jet off to some thrilling corner of the globe. To offer yall a solution, we got in touch with our mate, Geneva Vanderzeil creator of the ~digital destination~, a pair & a spare for financial advice tailored for the travel-hungry, as well as her pick for most affordable holiday spot (SPOILER: its Vietnam). Photo: Vietnamtourism Hanoi. I started a pair & a spare in 2010 as a digital destination for all my tutorials and guides, and since then it has grown to cover all things that inspire a creative and adventurous life, whether that be making a dress from scratch, travelling to a far flung destination or building your creative business. Genevas garnered a strong following because her content is severely on-point. Of all the places shes been, she reckons theres one spot in particular that everyone should hit up before theyre six feet under. South East Asia has so much to offer in terms of adventure and culture it packs a punch with so many interesting cities and countries in such a small area. It helps that as a destination its cheaper than many other parts of the world, meaning you can feel like youre treating yourself when you travel without having to spend much. Yall are in luck because, in Genevas opinion, the most affordable place to piss off to just so happens to fall within that region. Without a doubt it has to be Vietnam. I visited three times in 2015 Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City and loved every minute of it. Its the perfect mix of amazing food, generous people and stunning scenery and best of all, a place where your money stretches unbelievable far. The town of Hoi An would have to be my best pick for someone wanting to enjoy both the town and the beach life of Vietnam. Photo: Vietnamtourism Hanoi. The cost of living in Vietnam is relatively low, so day-to-day travel like transport and food can be done on a very small budget. Throw in the fact that you can find reasonable accommodation in Hoi An without having to spend too much, and it means you can live like a king without having to break the bank. Because at the end of the day, you want to enjoy yourself when you travel rather than feeling like youre on a tight budget. CHEAP EATS MADAME KHANHS BANH MI Youre going to want to try the famous Banh Mi, and theres no better place in town than this hole in the wall where lunch will cost you less than a dollar. PHO XUA The perfect place to try local street food including the amazing regional dish of Cau Lau (hearty noodles, pork and fresh greens). REACHING OUT TEAHOUSE Dont miss this charity teahouse run by speech and hearing impaired people. Its a calm oasis in a busy town! SOUL KITCHEN Photo: Soul Kitchen. On An Bang Beach, grab yourself a traditional cabana and a Pina Colada. The freshest cocktail for less than a few dollars, youre going to want to have a few. $0 SHIZZLE TO DO EXPLORE THE OLD TOWN The old town architecture is really spectacular a mix of French colonial, Chinese and Japanese and completely unique to the area. The best time to explore and really take it all in was first thing in the morning before the shops open and before the other tourists woke up (Like 7am first thing in the morning!). BEACH IT Hit An Bang Beach for the day swim, sunbathe, repeat. BIKE THE COUNTRYSIDE Almost all the hotels have bikes you can borrow as well as maps outlining self-directed tours. The whole area is flat so cruising around is easy and fun. Explore the town, ride your bike to the beach or take a tour through the rice paddies while buffalo spotting. Cheap and as cheerful as youll find. WHERE TO STAY HOI AN BEACH RESORT 01 Cua Dai St, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. www.hoianbeachresort.com.vn Photo: Hoi An Beach Resort. LONG LIFE RIVERSIDE HOTEL 61 Nguyen Phuc Chu St, Hoi An Old Town, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. www.longlifehotels.com/riverside/ Photo: TripAdvisor. TRAVEL FINANCE TIPS UNTOUCHABLE TRAVEL FUND Im all about creating a travel fund account that I cant touch, and setting money aside every month. This helps me keep my travel goals in mind. I also like to book travel as early as possible because in my experience travel only gets more expensive the later you book. This is sometimes hard living the freelance life, but when possible I do. Although it takes preparation and an ability to commit ahead of time (hello travel goals!) if you book six months in advance youre almost definitely going to get better deals. FINANCIAL TRAVEL HACKS The actual flight will often be the most expensive part of your trip, particularly if you choose your destination right. Which is why one way Ive managed to save in the last few years was seeking out deals directly from airlines and hotels via their newsletters. These companies often reward newsletter subscribers with one-off deals that you just cant find on the website, so sign up to as many as you can! Might mean a hefty inbox but its well worth it. Also, choosing a frequent flyers program and flying as much as possible with that group, and making sure you get airmails on your credit card are also ways to get more for less. PACKING PRIOR Some of the most frustrating costs that happen when travelling are those you dont notice like phone data charges and card charges. Before I leave, I make sure that Ive researched my trip properly, including how to reduce charges. Sometimes that means setting up structures before I leave, other times it might mean making sure I hit the ground running when I arrive, like buying a new sim card at the airport. TRAVEL MUST-HAVE I prefer to travel with carry-on luggage if possible, great for avoiding luggage charges and also makes moving around easy. A reliable carry-on suitcase is a must! UTILISE THE SHARE ECONOMY Im sure youve all heard of AirBnb and Uber, companies that have used the sharing economy to revolutionise the way we travel (amongst other things). In addition to well-known companies like these, there are many new sharing economy apps that help you travel for less, including apps that allow you to house-sit for someone, pet-sit or even do odd jobs in the city you arrive in for extra cash. Or you could rent out your own place while youre away! If youre game on learning how to #SpendBetter for your next holi, or you wanna apply for your own account, visit NABs website HERE. Lead photo: Vietnamtourism Hanoi. Photos: a pair & a spare / Geneva Vanderzeil. One of the Wild Atlantic Way's top visitor attractions, the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park in Co. Clare, is to get a 1 million euro facelift, Shannon Group has confirmed. The 15th Century Castle and Folk Park is to undergo a major upgrade, with an extended retail store to accommodate the growing vi... [] Despite the 2.8% decline in profit per room for the month of December, hotels in Frankfurt achieved a 12.6% increase in GOPPAR (Gross Operating Profit per Room) for the year, due to a number of key events driving growth in top line and bottom line revenue, according to the latest [] 2015 marked another strong annual performance by Skanska Commercial Development Europe. The company signed final sale agreements for eleven office buildings located in three Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, achieving a total transaction volume of nearly 500 million for the year. Skanska is now compiling its sales portfolio [] The Standard Life Investments Global Real Estate Fund has completed the sale of one of its three office assets in Tokyo, the Kandabashi PR-EX building, to a private buyer. The company acquired the building in June 2014, when it was just 40% let, and implemented a new strategy achieving full [] Thyssenkrupp's damper business is moving to a new site in Bochum. In March around 200 Thyssenkrupp Bilstein employees will be relocating from the company's head office in Ennepetal to a new office building on Herner Strasse in the north of Bochum. The additional site in North Rhine-Westphalia has become necessary [] Within months of opening a Regional Centre for Commercial Vehicles in Dubai (responsible for Middle East and North Africa), Daimler Trucks has followed up a regional centre in Nairobi, Kenya and in Pretoria, South Africa. Regional centres take charge of sales and service of Daimler brands in 41 East, Central and West African, and 9 markets of Southern Africa. The regional setup aids Daimler Trucks Asia with its FUSO brand being sold in sold in Africa for almost five decades. Marc Llistosella, President and CEO of MFTBC and Head of Daimler Trucks Asia says both Regional Centres help the brand get closer to FUSO customers in Africa through improved sales and service. Africa has growth potential for robust trucks, and Daimler is keen to increase sales and market share in teh region. Daimler Trucks Asia took its new FUSO range to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa since 2013. Vehicles are manufactured at the Orgagadam Chennai factory in India with African markets leading export numbers. Sometime in 2016, DTA will begin sales of high-powered heavy-duty trucks under FUSO in Kenya and Tanzania to meet infrastructure project needs. Llistosella sees the move as further proof of the global Daimler Truck strategy. While access to Daimler Trucks Technology and international Sales setup is a given, DTA brands FUSO and BharatBenz are positioned as growth drivers in Asia, Africa and South America, proving to be important export markets that boost the make in India ethos. Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA) jointly operates Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles India Pvt. Ltd. (DICV). Japan-based Kijima Customs accessories for the Honda Rebel 500 and 300 give the range a Harley-Davidson vibe Honda Motorcycle India plans to introduce its Rebel cruiser range in our market sometime next year. In fact, the Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer intends to bring four 500cc motorcycles in India as a start: CMX500 Rebel cruiser, CB500F naked sports, CBR500R faired sports and CB500X dual-sport. Besides entering into a new segment, Honda also aims to bridge the gap between its regular range and its extra-premium or litre-class model line. Amongst these upcoming motorcycles, the Rebel 500 cruiser is the one many are eagerly looking forward to. It would be a good alternative to Royal Enfields 650 Twins if Honda Motorcycle India manages to price it right. In international markets, Honda sells the cruiser in a lesser 300 avatar as well. The new-gen Honda Rebel has been around since 2017. It is essentially a modern iteration of the CMX450 Rebel from the late 80s. Kijima Customs, a customisation shop based in Japan, has introduced a range of city-riding and touring accessories for the 2020MY Honda Rebel range. Kitted up, one cannot help but see a mild resemblance with certain Harley-Davidson Sporster and Glide models. Still, most of the fitments are functional. At present, Kijima Customs accessories include panniers, pannier-support, tandem grip (grab rail), crash guard, LED lighting, fog lamp kit, visors, etc. The company also offers a host of custom accessories for other popular motorcycles (mostly Japanese makes). The Honda Rebel CMX500 is powered by a 471cc liquid-cooled DOHC parallel-twin motor. It makes around 46bhp @ 8,500rpm and 45Nm @ 6,000rpm. For the 2020 model year, the 6-speed gearbox is coupled to a slipper-clutch assembly. To give a comparison, Royal Enfields 650 Twins (Interceptor and Continental GT) are powered by a 648cc air/oil-cooled SOHC parallel-twin engine good for 47bhp @ 7,250rpm and 52Nm @ 5,250rpm. If you look at the numbers, it is evident that Hondas parallel-twin engine revs much higher to produce almost the same output for roughly 180cc less. An extra camshaft helps further. Honda Motorcycle India plans to attain 100 per cent localisation for its upcoming 2021MY 500 range. For the same reason, we can expect an aggressive pricing strategy. Just like its other premium offerings (starting with the Honda CB300R), the 500 line-up would be sold through exclusive Wing World outlets spread across potential cities in the country. Being a major player in Indias affordable two-wheeler segment (commuters and scooters), Honda Motorcycle India wishes to apply the same formula in Indias growing middleweight category. Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven handed over a symbolic key to Maharashtra CM Devendra Phadnavis. Volvo Buses has been certified by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for the Hybrid City Bus. Volvo is the first bus manufacturer to commercially use hybrid technology in India. Globally, Volvo uses electric hybrid, plug-in electric hybrid and full electric buses for city commute fleets. As on date, 2,400 hybrid buses are in use in 20 countries, with many a repeat order. Volvo electromobility programme takes pride in sales of 5,000+ hybrid and full electric buses. Akash Passey, Senior Vice President Business Region International, Volvo Buses says the move is significant making the first hybrid bus in India a Volvo. Volvo hybrid solutions over 30 to 35 percent fuel saving, and reduces emissions in actual customer operations by up to 50 percent. He looks forward to improved demand for Volvo hybrid mobility solutions in other Indian cities. VRV Sriprasad, Business Head for India and South Asia Volvo Buses said thanked Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation for its trust in Volvo. Volvo is in talks with other city authorities to promote hybrid technology. Central Governments FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles) scheme has encouraged hybrid technology in India, and the hybrid bus upholds Volvos public transport vision in India and government initiatives. Volvo 8400 Hybrid City Bus is a variant of the Volvo City Bus of which 1,500 units operate in 34 Indian cities. Volvo 8400 Hybrid City Bus has a parallel hybrid system using a 5-litre, 4-cylinder, in-line diesel engine and an electric motor. The bus moves forward in electric mode as it spurs into life till it gains required momentum. This occurs at every stop and start action and helps in fuel savings and reduction in emissions. Batteries are charged by a re-generative brake system. Noise levels are noticeably reduced inside and outside the bus. Volvo I-Coaching on-board driver training system ensures best hybrid system performance. Volvo 8400 Hybrid City Bus meets Bus Body Code and Urban Bus specification norms. In the very city that Vespa was born, the scooter now faces a ban. The Mayor og Genoa, Italy had announced a ban on old Vespa scooters from Genoa city center between 7 am and 7 pm but had to postpone the same to a later date following widespread outrage and protests. In a bid to combat pollution, the ban was announced on certain models of Vespa scooters produced prior to 1999. News of the ban, which was first set to come into effect from February, went viral leading to a public outcry with riders taking to the streets with slogans Born in Genoa, Dies in Genoa. The implementation of Vespa ban in Genoa has now been postponed to April 2016. The ban which was supposed to tackle pollution in the Italian city of Genoa, which attracts millions of tourists from around the globe each year, would have adversely affected over 20,000 riders in the city. Along with the owners of these scooters, citizens of the city too joined the protest as all of them are of the opinion that old Vespa scooters are as much part of the city as the people. Suspension of the order till April 2016 offers riders time to think of alternative means of transportation while expectations are high that the ban will be totally called off. Vittorio Vernazzano of Vespa Club Genoa has made special mention of the timing of this ban on Vespa scooters which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Vespa was produced in 1946 by Genovese entrepreneur, Enrico Piaggio. Despite the issue being postponed, Italo Porcile, an environment assessor states that though he loves the Vespino and used to ride one himself, the Euro O model produced prior to 1999 caused heavy pollution while putting public health at risk. Vespa at 2016 Auto Expo via DailyMail Toyota-badged Ertiga MPV launch scheduled for August 2021. It will be the third rebadged Maruti Suzuki product after the Glanza and the upcoming Toyota Brezza. Toyota Kirloskar Motor has confirmed that it will introduce an all-new MPV under the partnership with Maruti Suzuki. Most likely a rebadged Maruti Ertiga, the Toyota MPV will be the third product of this nature after the Glanza (based on the Baleno) hatchback and the upcoming compact-SUV (based on the Vitara Brezza). The launch is planned for August 2021. Globally, the partnership between Suzuki and Toyota is not only limited to the Indian market, but also expands to other regions such as Africa. Both automakers shared their plans to expand the business collaboration to multiple fields of the automotive sector, back in March 2019. The partnership between Maruti Suzuki and Toyota India is aimed to widen either brands portfolio in the higher and lower price brackets. For instance, Maruti Suzuki has a strong market presence in the budget segment while Toyota commands the relatively premium side of the market. Coming to the Toyota Ertiga, the MPV is currently in its second generation in Maruti Suzukis portfolio. As we know from the Toyota Glanza, badges and logos will be the only difference between its original Maruti Suzuki format. The second-gen Ertiga was launched in both petrol and diesel formats, but with BS6 emission norms kicking in, Maruti Suzuki decided to ditch the tried and tested Fiat-sourced MJD 1.3 diesel motor with SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki) mild-hybrid system and the 1.5-litre non-SHVS engine that was introduced at a later stage. Now, the Maruti Ertiga (as well as almost every other product from the Indian brand) comes only in a BS6-compliant petrol format. The 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol mill with SHVS makes 104bhp and 138Nm of torque. The engine is paired to either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed torque-converter automatic transmission. The Toyota counterpart with come with the same powertrain and without the baseless Toyota reliability rumours associated with the Glanza. The stringent BS6 emission norms will come into effect from the start of April 2020. Owing to this, major automotive brands operating in the Indian market are busy updating or introducing all-new versions of their popular products. Updating to higher emission standards require significant re-engineering to the engine and exhaust system. Diesel engines, being much more polluting and complicated in design, demand extra effort and modifications to comply with newer emission regulations. This is the main reason why many brands including Maruti Suzuki are going the petrol way. Source A new paper from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), in partnership with researchers and practitioners from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, Space Quest, Google, and SkyTruth, reviews the use of a maritime vessel communication and navigational safety system that is not only effective in protecting people, but wildlife such as whales, walruses, and other wildlife species as well. With improvements, say the authors, the system will ultimately result in greater engagement by vessel companies and operators in the conservation of marine resources. The Automatic Identification System -- adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2000 for use in collision avoidance, coastal surveillance, and traffic management-- effectively accomplishes navigational safety goals, and provides pre-emptive maritime safety benefits. The paper appears in a recent edition of Bulletin of Marine Science. "AIS now provides a rich source of data to understand vessel traffic across the entire globe -- even in the most remote areas of the open ocean," said Dr. Martin Robards, Director of WCS's Beringia Program. "This system also has the potential to help us minimize the negative effects of shipping on wildlife." "The AIS can become a vital tool in helping to protect whale and other marine mammal species, particularly in locations such as the Arctic where shipping is potentially on the increase," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS's Ocean Giants Program. "AIS can be used to identify regions where shipping lanes and important marine mammal habitats and migrations overlap, as well as areas where ocean noise may be impacting acoustically sensitive species." Understanding vessel traffic in relation to marine conservation is critical, particularly given that maritime transport accounts for approximately 90 percent of all world trade. The continued development of maritime transportation around the world, especially in new areas such as the Arctic, can increase conservation impacts to wildlife, including disturbance, fatal strikes, introduction of pathogens through ballast water, habitat destruction through anchoring (especially on corals), introduction of invasive species, air emissions, noise, and fuel spills. advertisement AIS works by continuously transmitting messages containing details such as vessel identification, position, heading and other data to networks of receivers that track the information. Increasingly, satellites are involved in receiving this signals on little cube satellites. While little bigger than a bread box, these receivers can process up to 4 million messages a day and track up to 130,000 vessels at one time. Though not designed as a conservation tool, the system data enables users to understand, and subsequently to design tools that help mitigate the impacts of maritime traffic on the marine environment and wildlife. AIS data have important applications in conservation science including describing baseline vessel use of a maritime area, assessing or modeling actual or potential environmental impacts, and monitoring environmental compliance. The authors cite the example of using AIS to establish areas where large cetaceans and vessels are likely to overlap in space and time -- a critical step to understanding and reducing vessel strikes. Using tagged whales off the Panama Canal, researchers demonstrated significant overlap between whales and vessels, and offered a preferred shipping route and vessel speed recommendations -- similar to the well known example of North Atlantic right whale vessel conflict avoidance at the entrance to Boston Harbor. Also referenced is underwater noise that can cause adverse effects to marine organisms. AIS provides a tool for helping understand underwater soundscapes and identifying sources of acoustic noises that can be linked to decreased fisheries catches or disruptions to marine mammal behaviors and migrations. But, say the authors, AIS's full potential as a conservation tool is yet to be tapped. The system could be greatly enhanced by modifications that allow for more consistent and reliable data. advertisement "You would not believe how many spellings there are for any one destination or origin for a vessel," added Robards. "Dutch Harbor had to have over a dozen different renditions, exacerbating the complexities of assessing vessel routes." In addition, standardizing data processing and making data archives available through an international repository would cut analysis costs and promote collaboration, but would require significant efforts to bridge the gap between private industry who are providing the system and federal or research efforts looking to provide value added benefits such as conservation. The authors make specific recommendations for improving existing applications for conservation use including improving coverage and reliability and usability of data to a wider group of users and improvement and expanded users. "Effectively conserving our vast oceans will require technological leaps and cross-sectoral collaboration. This important review articulates the potential promise of both in the use of big data from vessel tracking systems such as AIS as well as local applications for critical habitat and threatened species," said Dr. Caleb McClennen, Executive Director of WCS's Marine Conservation Program. "As increased ship traffic begins to congest an increasingly ice free Arctic, the conservation sector must capitalize on tools such as these to protect its currently pristine seas." Fortunately, there are some exciting examples of progress, In Alaska for example, a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the Marine Exchange of Alaska and the Coast Guard R&D Center is leading to the use of AIS transmitters to develop the Next Generation Arctic Navigational Safety Information System. To date environmental information and virtual aids to navigation have been transmitted via several of the Alaska AIS network. "Conservation science and policy applications of the marine vessel automatic identification system (AIS)--a review," appears in the online edition of the Bulletin of Marine Science. Authors include MD Robards of WCS, GK Silber and JD Adams of Office of Protected Resources -- NOAA Fisheries, J Arroyo of U.S. Coast Guard, D Lorenzini of Space Quest, K Schwehr of Google, and J Amos of SkyTruth. This research has been supported by the Oak Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands (ABSI) Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC). Earth and environmental scientists have often had to rely on piloted aircraft and satellites to collect remote sensing data, platforms that have traditionally been controlled by large research organizations or regulatory agencies. Thanks to the increased affordability and dramatic technological advances of drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), however, earth and environmental scientists can now conduct their own long-term high-resolution experiments at a fraction of the cost of using aircraft or satellites. "UAVs are poised to revolutionize remote sensing in the earth and environmental sciences," says Enrique Vivoni, hydrologist and professor at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration and Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. "They let individual scientists obtain low-cost repeat imagery at high resolution and tailored to a research team's specific interest area." Vivoni's own research has focused on rangeland locations in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, which cover large expanses of northern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. Using UAVs in these areas has allowed for improved studies on land-atmosphere exchanges and vegetation-runoff interactions. Once used exclusively for military application, UAV's now offer many civilian uses. Their advances in flight control, robotics and miniaturized sensors, are providing an unprecedented opportunity for high-resolution data collection. "The biggest challenge for earth and environmental scientists has been obtaining high-resolution [data for] characterizations and predictions," says Vivoni. Both fixed wing and rotary wing UAVs can be used for ecohydrologic investigations, according to Vivoni. Researchers can also use quad-copters with photo cameras or video cameras, such as the Phantom series. Vivoni will give his talk "Ecohydrology with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" on February 13 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The presentation summarizes his work with associate professor Srikanth Saripalli of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, graduate students Nicole Pierini, Cody Anderson and Adam Schreiner-McGraw as well as collaborators from the Agriculture Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Jornada Experimental Range. "We believe unmanned aerial vehicles can fundamentally change how ecological and hydrological science is conducted and offer ways to merge remote sensing, environmental sensor networks and numerical models," Vivoni says. A team of Montana State University paleontologists have identified several new types of dinosaurs from fossil evidence discovered in eastern Idaho, demonstrating the presence of a much more diverse group of theropods in the area than was previously known. The findings were published earlier this month in Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. MSU doctoral student L.J. Krumenacker in the MSU College of Letters and Science's Department of Earth Sciences was the lead author of the study. Others who contributed to the work were Krumenacker's adviser, MSU paleontology professor David J. Varricchio, MSU graduate student Garrett Scofield and current Boise State University adjunct professor and former MSU graduate student Jade Simon. The fossils, found in the Wayan Formation, which occurs on lands administered by Caribou-Targhee National Forest, represent at least three newly discovered types of theropod -- the family of dominantly carnivorous dinosaurs which include animals such as Tyrannosaurus rex. In fact, these formerly unrecognized dinosaurs, which date back to about 95 million years ago, include small- to mid-sized tyrannosauroids, Krumenacker said. Based mostly on fossilized teeth, he estimates the possible larger tyrannosauroid was about the size of a horse, with the small tyrannosauroid being similar in size to a retriever-sized dog. Also among their findings were a pair of fossilized eggs of a large oviraptorosaur -the largest dinosaurs known to have existed in Idaho. The eggs are the first evidence that oviraptorosaurs lived in the area at that time. The discoveries are significant, Varricchio said. Dinosaur fossils are rare to find in Idaho and these are some of the few that date back to the middle Cretaceous period. "We don't really have many dinosaurs from this time period," he said. "This new evidence is really filling in the time, temporal and spacial gap." Krumenacker, who hails from Idaho, has been searching his home state for dinosaur remains for more than a decade -- since he was an undergraduate at Idaho State University. "He's made himself the expert on Idaho dinosaurs," Varricchio said. "He's largely been the person to describe the Idaho dinosaurs." But aside from fossilized evidence of Oryctodromeus cubicularis -- a burrowing dinosaur that lived around the same time as these newly discovered tyrannosauroids -- the Idaho finds have been limited at best. "It's just disappointing," Krumenacker said. "You'd like to find more. But it just drives me to look more. Persistence pays off -- now we've found these other fossil localities giving a lot of more data on the animals present at the time. "The challenge is identifying the animals based on the fragmentary specimens we find," he added. "I put my best effort into it. It's possible I could discover some identifications are wrong if we find more complete remains later. But I'd be thrilled because then we'd have an even better understanding. I'd really like to find more." The specimens will be curated at the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello, which holds the permit that allowed the collection of these fossils. A permit is required for all vertebrate fossils collected from federal lands. The shift from living in jungle huts to cities has dramatically changed human exposure to certain microbes, which could have implications for healthy immune function, according to a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published online Feb. 12, 2016 in Science Advances. "Our study found that urban living spaces increase the number of human-associated microbes we are exposed to, while decreasing our exposure to the outdoor, environmental microbes with which humans co-evolved," says microbiologist Maria Dominguez-Bello, PhD, lead author of the new study, which was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Microbes inhabit our surroundings as well as our bodies, and the potential health impact of the interplay between bodily and environmental microbial species is worthy of study, say the authors. Thus, their first mission was to detail the microbial changes that occur across a gradient of urbanization. "The remarkable changes in home microbial content across differing levels of urbanization raise the possibility that the reduced microbial exposure to environmental bacteria seen in modern homes contributes to immune and metabolic disorders, from asthma to obesity, which have become the new disease paradigm in the industrialized world," adds Dominguez-Bello, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone. "That said, our pilot study was small in size and limited to one geographical region, so larger studies are needed before we can generalize these patterns." The research team -- which included architects, environmental engineers, and microbiologists from the United States, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Peru -- examined microbes on the walls and floors of homes in the Amazon river basin. The dwellings ranged from an isolated Amerindian community at the Ecuador-Peru border to a small Peruvian village to the large town of Iquitos in Peru to the Westernized, Brazilian city of Manaus. The team collected samples from ten houses in each location, and then used state-of-the-art genomic and statistical techniques to analyze the mix of bacterial DNA from each sample. Combining their samples and available databases, the team applied statistical tests that accurately tracked the sources of the bacterial microbes on each floor and wall. Specifically, they found more human bacteria in the town and city houses, such as Streptococcaceae and Lactobacillaceae, and decreasing proportions of environmental bacteria. On the other hand, the bacteria found on the floors and walls of rural and jungle living spaces were proportionally higher in environmental bacterial species, including soil bacteria, like Mesorhizobium and Luteimonas from water sources, as well as Rickettsiella carried by spiders and insects. Importantly, the researchers also found that the many walls that define urban homes come to reflect the sources of human bacteria, which in turn depend on the function of a given room. Kitchens and bathrooms, for instance, acquire function-dependent microbial signatures, such as oral Streptococcus and gut Enterobacteriaceae in bathrooms, and food-associated bacteria in kitchens. "Excessively humanized spaces that are poorly ventilated could increase transmission of pathogens," says Dominguez-Bello. "Understanding the consequences of architectural changes on microbial exposures will be important to improving future home design and ultimately to human health." Other key contributors to the study were from the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, and included Jean Ruiz-Calderon, a PhD student from the Department of Biology; Humberto Cavallin from the School of Architecture; Luis Pericchi in the Department of Mathematics and Rafael Rios in the Department of Environmental Sciences. Also making important contributions were Se Jin Song at University of Colorado, Boulder; Rob Knight at the University of California, San Diego; Henrique Pereira of the Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil; Luciana Paulino of the Center for Natural Sciences and Humanities, Federal University of ABC, Santo Andre, SP, Brazil; and Atila Novoselac in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin. It may start with a simple word you can't pronounce. Your tongue and lips stumble, and gibberish comes out. Misspeaking might draw a chuckle from family and friends. But, then, it keeps happening. Progressively, more and more speech is lost. Some patients eventually become mute from primary progressive apraxia of speech, a disorder related to degenerative neurologic disease. Two Mayo Clinic researchers have spent more than a decade uncovering clues to apraxia of speech. Keith Josephs, M.D., a neurologist, and Joseph R. Duffy, Ph.D., a speech pathologist, will present "My Words Come Out Wrong: When Thought and Language Are Disconnected from Speech" on Sunday, Feb. 14, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Because patients and even many medical professionals don't recognize apraxia of speech, treatment typically is sought in later stages of the disease, says Dr. Josephs. As apraxia progresses, it frequently is misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. One patient received vocal cord injections of Botox by a physician who thought the issue was muscle spasms of the larynx. Apraxia of speech even has been diagnosed as mental illness. "Because it first presents as 'just' a speech problem, some people are told, 'This is in your head.' We've seen that. It's very sad," Dr. Josephs says. When it's caused by a stroke, apraxia of speech typically does not worsen and may get better over time. But, apraxia of speech often is ignored as a distinct entity that can evolve into a neurologic disorder, causing difficulty with eye movement, using the limbs, walking and falling that worsens as time passes. advertisement "I don't want the take-home message to be that this condition is benign," warns Dr. Josephs. "It is a devastating disease, in some sense worse than Alzheimer's disease, which typically spares balance and walking until very late in the disease course. It may start with the person simply not being able to pronounce a few words. Six years after that, they are in a diaper, can't speak, can't walk and are drooling." The benefit to getting an early and correct diagnosis is that people can receive appropriate therapy. "It would be good if people recognized that changes in speech can be the first signs of neurologic disease," Dr. Duffy says. "An important part of treatment is providing information about the condition." While speech therapy doesn't reverse or halt the progression of apraxia, it can develop compensations for producing better sounds. People with apraxia of speech also can use computers or texting for alternate means of communicating. Both the value and complexities of speech often are underappreciated. "Speech is what connects us to the world," Dr. Duffy says. Speech is a complex brain-body achievement, these researchers note. It first requires selection of appropriate words, organizing them into a coherent message. This message activates 100 muscles between the lungs and lips to produce at least 14 distinct sounds per second that can be comprehended by a listener. A problem with speech programming -- directing the muscles and structures that move -- is apraxia. advertisement People with apraxia of speech or their loved ones may notice: Slow speech rate Inconsistent mistakes, such as saying a word or sound correctly sometimes and not others Impaired rhythm of speech Groping of the mouth to make sounds Better automatic speech, such as greetings, compared with purposeful speech Apraxia of speech differs from aphasia, a language disorder that interferes with a patient's ability to understand or use words. Patients, however, can have apraxia of speech and aphasia. While the cause of primary progressive apraxia of speech has not been determined, an abnormal accumulation of tau protein -- a factor also contributing to Alzheimer's disease -- has been found in the brains of those with apraxia of speech who have died. Mayo Clinic has received National Institutes of Health grants, for which Dr. Josephs is the primary investigator, to focus on apraxia of speech in the context of neurodegenerative cognitive and motor disorders. Drs. Josephs, Duffy and fellow researchers have published articles about their findings in Brain, the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, Neurology and the Journal of Neurology. "The answer to that question is usually 'no,' but there are exceptions," said Stanford Professor Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy. An expert on the health impacts of fossil fuels, Jackson has studied groundwater quality at oil and gas fields throughout the United States. He will present his findings on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 10:00 a.m. ET, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C. Jackson will speak at a symposium entitled, "Does Hydraulic Fracturing Allow Gas to Reach Drinking Water," at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Marshall Ballroom South. "We have found a number of homes near active wells with very high levels of natural gas in the tap water," Jackson said. "Where the chemistry suggests contamination, the problem usually lies with the integrity of the well, either the cementing used to isolate it from the surrounding rock and water or the steel casing that allows gas and oil to flow upwards." Most documented cases of groundwater contamination were caused by poorly constructed wells, he said, pointing to a widely publicized case in Parker County, Texas. "At that site, the company cemented very near the surface and deep underground, but they put no cement for 4,000 feet in between," he explained. "The gap allowed gases to move up and down freely like a chimney and contaminate the drinking-water supply." Besides structural issues, Jackson and his colleagues have identified problems associated with hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This technology uses pressurized sand, water and chemicals to crack open rocks and release trapped reservoirs of oil and gas. Fracking wells are often installed a mile or more below the surface, far from underground sources of drinking water. But in a recent study, Jackson found that at least 2,600 wells in U.S. have been fracked at depths shallower than 3,000 feet, some just hundreds of feet below the surface. advertisement "We found a surprising number of places where companies are fracking directly into shallow freshwater aquifers," he said. "In no other industry would you be allowed to inject chemicals into a source of drinking-quality water." Jackson cited a high-profile case in Pavillion, Wyo., where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that shallow fracking operations had released natural gas and other toxic compounds into freshwater aquifers. "At Pavillion, they were fracking less than 1,000 feet deep, while people were getting drinking water at 750 feet," Jackson said. "Contamination is more likely to occur when there isn't enough separation between the hydraulic fracturing activity and the drinking-water sources." In California, Jackson has identified hundreds of fracking wells drilled into aquifers located less than 2,000 feet below the surface. In the U.S., hydraulic fracturing is typically regulated by individual states. "Some states, like Texas and Pennsylvania, generally have pretty strong environmental regulations," Jackson said. "Others, like West Virginia and Arkansas, don't. Only Texas and Colorado have restrictions or additional safeguards in place for shallow hydraulic fracturing." The 2010 documentary, Gasland, sparked controversy with footage of a kitchen tap catching fire at a home located near a natural gas well. "That doesn't happen often, but we have seen it," Jackson said. "We've also documented people' s water change from clean to contaminated over the course of a year." Natural gas consists primarily of methane, a greenhouse gas that's more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. Concerns about global warming and the potential impacts if natural gas on drinking water have led several European countries to take a much more cautious approach to hydraulic fracturing, Jackson said. "In Germany, France, and many other countries, officials are under pressure to invest in solar, wind and other renewables instead of a technology that produces greenhouse gases," he said. There are four billion people worldwide who are affected by severe water scarcity for at least one month a year. That is the conclusion of University of Twente Professor of Water Management, Arjen Hoekstra, after many years' extensive research. This alarming figure is much higher than was previously thought. His ground-breaking research was published in Science Advances. Professor Hoekstra's team is the first research group in the world to identify people's water footprint from month to month and to compare it to the monthly availability of water. "Up to now, this type of research concentrated solely on the scarcity of water on an annual basis, and had only been carried out in the largest river basins," says Hoekstra. He defines severe water scarcity as the depletion of water in a certain area. "Groundwater levels are falling, lakes are drying up, less water is flowing in rivers, and water supplies for industry and farmers are threatened. In this research, we established the maximum sustainable 'water footprint' for every location on earth, and then looked at actual water consumption. If the latter is much greater than what is sustainable, then there can be said to be severe water scarcity." More than previously thought Until now, it had always been assumed in the scientific community that 2 to 3 billion people were affected by severe water scarcity. "Previous research looked at the availability of water on an annual basis, but that paints a more rosy and misleading picture, because water scarcity occurs during the dry period of the year," explains Hoekstra. In his research, he describes for each place the number of months in a year that people are affected by severe water scarcity. That varies from zero to twelve months per year. Problem areas Of the four billion people referred to, a large proportion feel the effects of water scarcity directly. Particularly in Mexico, the western US, northern and southern Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, India, China, and Australia, households, industries and farmers regularly experience water shortages. In other areas, water supplies are still fine but at risk in the long-term. Alarming Hoekstra describes the figures as alarming and notes that the subject of water scarcity is climbing higher and higher on the global agenda. "The fact that the scarcity of water is being regarded as a global problem is confirmed by our research. For some time now, the World Economic Forum has placed the world water crisis in the top three of global problems, alongside climate change and terrorism." Professor Hoekstra continues, "All over the world, it is clear that the risks associated with high water consumption are being increasingly recognized. The growing world population, changes in consumer behaviour, and climate change are having a significant impact on the scarcity and quality of water." Milestone Hoekstra started his research in 2010, together with his University of Twente colleague and post-doc researcher Mesfin Mekonnen, from Ethiopia. They fully immersed themselves in modelling and in gathering input data on climate, use of land, soils, crop growth, irrigation, population densities, and industry. Hoekstra says, "This publication is a milestone for us, something to be proud of, but at the same time, it is just the beginning. Water is 'hot' in the scientific world, with many research groups currently working on the subject. The relevant knowledge is becoming more robust and that is a good thing. We are continuing with the next phase of our research, where the models are even more advanced, where we will understand the problem with even greater precision, and where we will be putting forward solutions." Foreign Minister Murray McCully will travel to Suva this week to meet with Fijis Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola. This will be my first visit to Suva since the 2014 elections and it is an opportunity to discuss our ongoing re-engagement directly with the Government of Fiji, Mr McCully says. My discussions with Minister Kubuabola and other Government representatives will cover a range of matters including regional issues, trade, and our aid and development programme. Fiji is New Zealands largest trading partner in the Pacific and a growing number of New Zealand businesses are active there. "We are ramping up our development relationship and I plan to visit the Koronivia Agriculture Station near Suva, where New Zealand is looking to support an upgrade to help boost Fijis agricultural sector. While in Suva I will also meet with Opposition representatives and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor, Mr McCully says. Source: Office of Murray McCully. No one would ever mistake Zales for Tiffany. Zales started out in the Texas oil patch, in the 1920s, with one jewelry store and a tempting pitch: Go ahead, America, buy your bijoux on credit. A penny down and a dollar a week that was the line. Today its parent, Signet Jewelers, is taking that old idea to unusual heights. Some analysts say Signet is pushing the limits of credit and accounting so far that its starting to look less like a jewelry business and more like a finance company a sort of Money Store for diamonds and baubles. The approach has helped make Signet one of the worlds largest jewelry companies. But behind its sparkly empire lie consumer loans that bankers might consider subprime debt. Just how Signet sizes up its customers and accounts for its loans has some investment analysts pressing for more information. Last year, the company generated nearly one-quarter of its $381.3 million in profit by financing, a calculation Signet says doesnt give a full picture. Most retail chains, by contrast, farm out that part of the business. There is a risk here, said Ufuk Boydak, managing director of German fund manager Loys AG, who calls the company well run even though his firm trimmed its Signet position in 2014 and keeps a close eye on its payments. The credit business can get complicated. If things were to turn negatively, you have the recipe for a potential disaster. Signet, which is domiciled in Bermuda and headquartered in Akron, Ohio, says its approach is sound and crucial to its success. It points to years of managing loans without outsized losses, which it attributes to robust credit standards. Despite a brisk holiday sales season at Signet, bolstered by sales of its Ever Us diamond, some stock-market investors are pulling back. After five years of heady gains, the companys stock price has started to wobble, falling 37 percent, to $94.71, as of Thursday since reaching a record high of $150.94 in October. The S&P 500-stock index has declined 12 percent in that time, while the S&P Retail Select index is down 16 percent. Short bets against the stock are running at their highest level since February 2013. The developments are the latest turn in the long-running story that is Signet. It started in the 1940s in Britain as Ratners Group, which stunned the countrys staid jewelry industry by offering cut-price deals. The company has grown rapidly in recent years through a series of acquisitions, culminating with the $1.46 billion purchase of Zale Corp. in 2014. Along with Zales, its Kay Jewelers and Jared brands are fixtures in malls and towns across the United States. Signet is building its business by expanding credit offerings to existing customers and identifying people it considers good credit risks who might be rejected by other lenders. But of most concern to skeptical analysts is Signets reliance on an unusual accounting method to determine which customer accounts are past due and could go bad an approach they fear could underestimate future losses in light of Signets expanded credit business. Asked about its accounting and financing practices, Signet said it has disciplined credit standards and decades of experience to minimize losses. In the U.S. market, offering financing benefits our guests, and managing the process in-house is a strength of Signets Sterling Jewelers division, the company said in a statement in response to questions. Indeed, the companys annual numbers seem to bear that out. In the past four years, the percentage of Signets accounts receivable classified as nonperforming has held steady, at 3.6 percent to 3.8 percent of the companys gross loan portfolio. Those figures fall within the general band for delinquencies, near 4 percent, at private-label credit cards managed by banks. Donn Vickrey, a forensic account at Pacific Square Research of San Diego, said that the companys bad-debt expense is a potential hazard worth watching. But the company rejects the notion that it is taking on greater credit risks. The software used for credit decisions, it says, is built on decades worth of proprietary records on consumer behavior and provides a more refined method of scoring applicants. When asked about it during a conference call last month, Signets chief financial officer described the credit program as a competitive advantage for the company. Likewise, Signet points to a change in operations to explain how it is booking upfront more income from warranties sold at Kay and Jared. For example, on a $150 warranty on a $1,500 diamond ring, 57 percent can be booked as income immediately. Until last May, the company booked only 45 percent of that $150 over the first two years. Whether these practices might lead to greater losses is the core question for investors. The standard contractual method for determining whether an account is nonperforming is simple: Did the customer pay the minimum amount due within 90 days? Signet instead uses the recency method discouraged by the Federal Reserve for banking companies which allows it to keep listing a loan as performing if a borrower has made a substantial portion of the minimum payment. Recency is one of two approaches allowed under generally accepted accounting principles, as Signet points out, although it is rarely used. For Marc Cohodes, a short-seller based in Penngrove, Calif., Signets credit strategy poses enough potential risks to rethink Signets 117 percent gain over the past five years. Hes shorting Signet. They dont seem to have any wiggle room, Cohodes said. I view this company as a subprime financial lender dressed up as a retailer, which will one day lead to a substantial revaluation of the shares. Georges Bizets Carmen has proved one of the most adaptable works in the operatic canon; Ive seen flamenco Carmens, stripped-down Carmens, even Carmen on ice. On Saturday night, Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical arrived at the Olney Theatre Center, kitted out with a catchy jazz score by Arturo OFarrill, a new book by Moises Kaufman and Eduardo Machado, and some dynamic choreography by Sergio Trujillo that made the opening number set in a Havana cafe in 1958 seem to augur well for the evening. Yet I was left questioning how innovative it really was. [Peter Markss review: A Cuban Carmen with a shortage of sizzle] Opera houses dont get to rewrite the works they present, but theaters do. This Carmen started with a spoken introduction by Mercedes (Michelle Alves) about Cuba and Carmen herself, offering the possibility of a different ending to her story. And there were some small but salient plot twists. Updating the action to 1958 meant that the soldiers were Batistas men, while Carmen (Christina Sajous) and her band are smuggling guns to Castros forces, which lends them dignity and gives a whole different complexion to Joses switch of allegiance. Also changed is his relationship with Micaela, his village sweetheart: In this version, his ambivalence stems from the fact that she is wealthy and he feels beholden to her. These innovations sharpened the characters relationships; I wish an opera house could incorporate them once in a while. But I was expecting a whole new work, a Carmen transformed by a creative team of heavy-hitters. And what I got was still basically Bizets Carmen, with its familiar plot and familiar tunes. Updating an operas action doesnt transform it indeed, its standard practice in todays opera houses. The Washington National Operas Carmen this past September was set in 20thcentury South America; Ive seen Carmen set in Francos Spain, and although I cant remember if Ive seen one set in Cuba, its certainly been done, from the Latvian National Opera to the InSeriess adaptation Carmen in Havana with the Washington Ballet earlier this month. [WNOs Carmen: Enlivening the familiar] Sajous turned out to be a wonderful strong Carmen, managing to define the character on her own terms and playing her as a savvy businesswoman so beautiful she was convincingly beguiling without resorting to sex-kitten shtick. But it was telling that she made her entrance with stock gestures familiar from operatic Carmens: striding over to a pool of water and blotting her sweaty brow with a wet handkerchief. The creators may have thought they were bringing Carmen into the modern world, but in fact they were getting pulled into Carmens orbit. This was also true of the vocal numbers. The instrumental music was vital and fresh as performed by a terrific onstage band led by Christopher Youstra; but the songs hewed close to Bizets originals. I would have welcomed a real jazz take on Joses Flower Song or the swaggering Toreador Song of the boxer Camilo (Caesar Samayoa), but both presented the familiar tunes with new words and lighter, micd voices; and Id hoped for new songs, but there were none. The result, overall, was closer to Carmen Jones, the 1943 Broadway adaptation of the opera, than to a true jazz reimagining of the work. As the 100-minute performance wore on, I wasnt quite sure what this ambitious undertaking was trying to achieve: It often seemed an unsatisfying no mans land between opera and musical. It closed with a theatrical pendant to the introduction: a spoken coda over the tableau of Jose collapsed across Carmens dead body. It was deflating to have this dramatic climax veiled by a trite narration about Cuba and its visitors, while the ensemble reprised the opening chorus underlining that the promises of this musics first appearance was not, alas, borne out. Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical continues through March 6 at the Olney Theatre Center, olneytheatre.org. Jessica (Constance Wu) and Louis (Randall Park) confront a young restaurant critic (guest star Albert Tsai) over his less-than-favorable review of their restaurant on Fresh Off the Boat. (Vivian Zink/Vivian Zink/ABC) (All times Eastern). Award-winning director Alex Gibney produces The New Yorker Presents (Amazon streaming), a weekly program that delves into the magazines culture-obsessed world through documentaries, short films, comedy, poetry, animation and cartoons by prominent artists. In the first half-hour episode, filmmaker Jonathan Demme profiles biologist Tyrone Hayes, actors Brett Gelman and Alan Cumming perform a sketch, and Marina Abramovic talks about her artistic approach. The 140th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (USA at 8) wraps up with the sporting, working and terrier group competitions, culminating in the best-in-show award. The Huangs get the Internet on Fresh Off the Boat (ABC at 8) and are horrified when they come across a negative review of their restaurant. A love-song mixtape that Eddie makes for his girlfriend falls into the wrong hands. Hip-hop musicians LL Cool J and Sean Combs explore their family histories on Finding Your Roots (WETA at 8). Stanley Nelson explores the Black Panther Party and its mission in Independent Lens: The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (WETA at 9). The feature-length documentary includes interviews with police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, in addition to commentary from former members and those that remained loyal to the organization. Actress Eva Longoria and Broad City duo Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS at 11:35). Lucinda Williams performs. Gwen Stefani and Secretary of State John F. Kerry visit Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC at 11:35). The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC at 11:35) continues its week-long stint in Los Angeles with appearances by Zach Galifianakis, Ronda Rousey and musical guest Pitbull. Antonin Scalia died on Saturday, Feb. 13. Here's a look back on his tenure, his judicial philosophy and the legacy he leaves behind. (Monica Akhtar,Natalie Jennings/The Washington Post) Antonin Scalia died on Saturday, Feb. 13. Here's a look back on his tenure, his judicial philosophy and the legacy he leaves behind. (Monica Akhtar,Natalie Jennings/The Washington Post) When the news broke Saturday of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalias death, the Internet went wild. Some media pundits and social-media users seemed to forget one of the fundamental rules of civility: Do not speak ill of the dead. Much of Scalias public post-mortem flogging was centered on his deep opposition to same-sex marriage and LGBT equality, although he regularly instigated outrage on affirmative action, abortion and a host of other issues. One blunt example came from the new and improved and allegedly 20 percent nicer Gawker: In the end, Scalia was a loser. That was at least somewhat nicer than the headline from Americans Against the Tea Party (whose name pretty much says it all): Ding dong, the witch is dead! Justice Antonin Scalia is dead. Thats why I applaud LGBT leaders such as Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court marriage-equality case Obergefell v. Hodges . Obergefell showed grace and his respect to Scalia, by tweeting solemnly: Thank you for your service to our country, Justice Scalia. Condolences to your family and friends. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD also decided not to disparage Scalia or even to say much about him, at least for now. Seth Adam, GLAADs vice president of communications, emailed pointedly, We will not be commenting at this time. Their restraint brought to mind the late British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone and his doctrine of Right Timing, often repeated as Timing is everything. Applied to Scalias death, it means that this is not the time for critics to tar and feather the justice. That day will come soon enough after his burial and an official period of mourning. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia (Chris Greenberg/AP) [Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79] In the meantime, those of us who dont want to descend to Donald Trump-level name-calling can turn instead to Scalias own words to recall the thunderous effect he had on our times, which best explain why he was loathed by progressives, notably LGBT advocates, and with the same passion revered by conservatives. He left us a lifetime of opinions and pronouncements on LGBT issues and, after all, his quotes speak for themselves. Scalia compared homosexuality to murder and cruelty to animals in part of his dissent in the 1996 case Romer v. Evans, which threw out a Colorado constitutional amendment banning local anti-discrimination laws: I had thought that one could consider certain conduct reprehensible murder, for example, or polygamy, or cruelty to animals and could exhibit even animus toward such conduct. Surely that is the only sort of animus at issue here: moral disapproval of homosexual conduct. In the landmark 2003 Lawrence v. Texas, which ended sodomy bans in the Lone Star State, Scalias dissent challenged his fellow justices for being the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct. In 2012, while Scalia was visiting Princeton University, a student asked about his reference to murder in the Romer comments, and the justice replied: Its a form of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called the reduction to the absurd. He added: If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Then last year in his dissent in Obergefell, in which the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, Scalia described the majority opinion as lacking even a thin veneer of law and also as profoundly incoherent, cementing his anti-LGBT legacy among equality-minded Americans. In fairness to the late justice and his renowned sense of humor, here are some of Scalias own words on the subject of his legacy, as told to New York magazine in 2013: Maybe the world is spinning toward a wider acceptance of homosexual rights, and heres Scalia, standing athwart it. At least standing athwart it as a constitutional entitlement. But I have never been custodian of my legacy. When Im dead and gone, Ill either be sublimely happy or terribly unhappy. Indeed, none of us are custodians of our legacies; in the end, its our own words and actions that will speak for us or against us. In the case of Scalia, his words and actions proved to be one and the same. History will be the judge of all that and so will many individuals, once weve laid him to rest. Agree or disagree with my advice? Please comment below. Join Petrow for an online chat Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m., at live.washingtonpost.com. Email questions to stevenpetrow@earthlink.net. Follow him on Twitter: @stevenpetrow. A rare tintype of William Tillman will be auctioned at Quinn's Auction Galleries in Falls Church, Va., this week. Tillman almost single-handedly recaptured a private schooner from Confederate forces during the opening of the Civil War. A rare tintype of William Tillman will be auctioned at Quinn's Auction Galleries in Falls Church, Va., this week. Tillman almost single-handedly recaptured a private schooner from Confederate forces during the opening of the Civil War. Kate Patterson/For The Washington Post All of these items will be open to bidding at Quinns Auction Galleries in Virginia this week, part of a huge, 2,000-piece collection of black Americana. All of these items will be open to bidding at Quinns Auction Galleries in Virginia this week, part of a huge, 2,000-piece collection of black Americana. All of these items will be open to bidding at Quinns Auction Galleries in Virginia this week, part of a huge, 2,000-piece collection of black Americana. One look and you gasp. Theres a postcard from Dover, Del., of a shirtless black man being whipped in front of a crowd of white boys and men. THIS IS THE WAY WE DO EM UP HERE, the sender wrote on the back, amid the more standard postcard pleasantries of 1938. There are heavy, iron handcuffs and their double-sided key. A branding rod with the letter J. Both used on humans. And there is sheet music for a jaunty tune called Therell Never Be A Coon Sit In The Presidential Chair. All of these items will be open to bidding at Quinns Auction Galleries in Virginia this week, part of a 2,000-piece collection of black Americana. Its a trend in the collecting world buying up these Aunt Jemima cookie jars, pieces of the human slave trade and literature from our countrys shameful past. Some people buy them to get them out of circulation, to prevent the children of today and adults of tomorrow from ever seeing the way we treated other humans. And to keep racists from having palpable totems of their twisted beliefs. But like Nazi or Holocaust memorabilia, its complicated. When Matthew Quinn, executive vice president of the auction house, asked his webmasters to post the collection they said, We cant post this stuff, he told me. I told them we have to. This is our history. Yes, its our history and its awful. But theres one important lesson to history: We must never forget it. And Im not just talking about never forgetting the Big Baddies plantation owners, human slave traders and the like. Its easy to believe were nothing like them. The items that are part of this collection the caricature salt and pepper shakers, the cereal trading cards of awful slave scenes that kids got with their breakfast, the Currier & Ives prints ridiculing black Americans that were displayed on the walls of the turn-of-the-century everyman like Thomas Kincade prints are hung today remind us how accepted such bile had been. Racism ran and still runs through every thread of society. You cant talk about it enough, said Jacob B. Johnson III, the antiques dealer and appraiser who brought the collection to Quinns. As a society, we cant ever forget. Johnson was friends with the collector, Howard Wolverton, a New Jersey high school history teacher who used the memorabilia as part of his curriculum. He was a white man who believed in teaching American history all of it, Johnson said. Ignoring how casually America ridiculed and belittled black Americans from household products with the N-word in the name to home decor that celebrated slavery isnt telling the whole story, Wolverton believed. And his collection is an amazing, cross-class indictment of Americas original sin. None of this was made to be collected, Quinn said. Whether we like it or not, its American culture on display. And along with the despicable, the collection has the celebratory, which itself becomes sad. Wolverton, who died in 2005, had what may be the only surviving tintype like a metal photo of William Tillman. Never heard of him? Thats part of Americas racism, too. Tillman was one of the Civil Wars great maritime heroes. He was a steward and cook aboard the merchant schooner S.J. Waring when it was boarded by confederate privateers. Being the only crew member allowed to walk freely (they needed his help), Tillman staged a one-man attack in the dead of night to kill the pirate captain and turn the ship around, back to New York. His valor got him a $6,000 reward from the government, newspaper accolades and a spot in P.T. Barnums show, where he regaled his heroism. If a white man pulled that kind of coup, wed be driving on roads named after him. Theres also plenty of original material from Thomas Blind Tom Wiggins, the musical prodigy who composed The Battle of Manassas and wowed Americans, including Mark Twain, with his astonishing musical genius. He could perfectly mimic any sound, he learned Beethovens 3rd Concerto in one afternoon, then played the entire piece with his back to the piano treble with his left hand, bass with his right. In his shows, he would play Fishers Hornpipe with one hand, Yankee Doodle with the other, all while also singing Dixie. Never heard of him either? Yes, forgetting, ignoring and sometimes erasing the strength, heroics, bravery and fortitude of black Americans is also part of Americas continuing racism today. And how different, really, is the 1938 public whipping in Delaware from the videos we see on a regular basis of black Americans beaten, harassed and killed by police officers today? Or the racist song of Oklahoma frat boys There will never be a N-word in SAE? Or the Arizona girls who thought it would be funny to spell the N-word out on their T-shirts? Weve already forgotten. Twitter: @petulad The live auction is Thursday. Take a look at the items in the online catalog. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser attended town hall meetings in every ward Thursday to further explain her plan to shut down the homeless shelter at D.C. General Hospital and build smaller shelters in each of the District's eight wards. (WUSA9) D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser attended town hall meetings in every ward Thursday to further explain her plan to shut down the homeless shelter at D.C. General Hospital and build smaller shelters in each of the District's eight wards. (WUSA9) D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and her aides were studying the image of a shuttered charter school, projected onto the wall of a conference room, when the bad news arrived by text late last year. The building, which Bowser (D) had hoped could become part of a new network of homeless shelters, was being bought by someone else. An aide zoomed out the image from Google Maps. The search for available property started anew. How Bowsers administration found sites to build seven shelters cajoling and negotiating with landowners near U Street NW, along Wisconsin Avenue, near Nationals Park, and in blighted and industrial areas has emerged as the central question around one of the riskiest decisions of her term. [Previous story: Bowser announces sites for 7 new homeless shelters] Bowser wont provide specifics about how she picked the locations, or identify sites that she ruled out. Shes refusing to consider changes or substitutions. Second-guessing, the first-term mayor says, would only pit neighborhood against neighborhood, delaying or derailing her effort to overhaul services for the homeless and fulfill her promise to do what her predecessors failed to do: close the decrepit family shelter at D.C. General. Mayor Muriel Bowser addresses a community meeting at Friendship Baptist Church in Ward 6 on Thursday to discuss the new short-term family housing facilities that will replace the closing D.C. General shelter. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post) The dangerously overcrowded former hospital is where the District has for a decade warehoused hundreds of families in deplorable conditions. Its also where 8-year-old Relisha Rudd disappeared in the company of a male city employee two years ago. The girl has not been found. Despite widespread public support for closing the building, Bowser last week incited palpable opposition among those who would be neighbors of the smaller replacement shelters. She says residents may tinker with aesthetics and landscaping, but not the locations. Some residents have filed public-records requests to force the mayors administration to release e-mails and documents about how her team selected the sites first steps, they said, to what could become lawsuits and protracted battles. [A hidden world: area motels filled with homeless families] Bowser, meanwhile, is seeking power from the council to move quickly and limit scrutiny. After a majority of council members expressed initial support for Bowsers plan, the mayor told lawmakers that the land deals had to be approved as a package. On Friday, she submitted legislation to exempt the leases from the safeguards that are typical in city procurement laws. She would also limit council review of more than $40 million in future construction on the sites. And Bowser urged the council to pass resolutions to pressure city zoning and historic preservation boards to grant exemptions to allow some of the shelters to be built. This whole process is completely untransparent, said Rhys Gerholdt, who lives about four blocks from the site in Ward 5 that so far has drawn the loudest outcry. The shelter would be made out of a reconstructed warehouse in an industrial area. It sits at the end of a dead-end street, abutting razor wire and railroad tracks. To the north, along Bladensburg Road, lies a sprawling maintenance facility for Metrobuses. To the south, auto body and paint shops. As Bowser met with residents at a nearby church Thursday night to defend the site, the street outside the warehouse filled with the cars of patrons at two large night clubs and a strip club a block away. B. Carlson, a teacher, asked Bowser how she could put children next to industrial pollutants that could exacerbate asthma, and young single mothers without money closer to a strip club than a grocery store. Its just the worst place to put it, Gerholdt said. Bowser shot back that locating sites is not easy. She tried to keep the focus on closing D.C. General and sought to remind the crowd of about 150 people that under city law, homeless families have a right to shelter. If I went out to a community and I asked people to raise their hands if they wanted temporary [shelter] in their neighborhoods, nobody would raise their hands, nobody would, Bowser said. But as a government, I have not only the values of the community to look out for, I have a law that I have to address, and the law says I have to shelter families. The warehouse is owned by a limited liability corporation tied to Douglas Jemal, a major D.C. developer and landowner. The city would lease it for $2.04 million a year. Jemal is leading a major revitalization project along New York Avenue NE known as Ivy City, where a new Nike store and organic grocer recently opened adjacent to another large homeless shelter that often houses more than 300 men. [Ivy City: the next cool D.C. neighborhood youve never heard of] City Administrator Rashad Young told the crowd at Thursdays Ward 5 meeting that the city would soon close, renovate and downsize the New York Avenue shelter, which could benefit Jemals Ivy City project by reducing the population of homeless men who loiter there. Bowsers administration last year made replacing that and other shelters for single men part of the citys master plan for addressing homelessness, but it was not clear before Young spoke that action was imminent. A spokesman for the operator of the site, Catholic Charities, said it had not been informed of any plans for closure or renovation. A call to Jemal and calls and e-mails to his aides and agents for the Ward 5 site were not returned last week. Asked whether the city offered to close the mens shelter to get Jemal to host a family shelter in his warehouse, Bowser spokesman Michael Czin said no, and pointed to the plans to replace the shelter in the citys master blueprint. Its straightforward, he said. Ward 5 Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D) has called the site not fitting for families. Residents in my ward are really disappointed that they didnt have an opportunity to engage on this plan on the front end, McDuffie said. This is about city planning, about equity and respect for residents. A similar sentiment permeated the meeting that Bowser attended in Ward 1, where the new shelter would be an apartment-style facility for 29 families at 10th and V streets, amid luxury condos and pricey rowhouses. The site was the last of at least four that Bowsers administration had seriously pursued in Ward 1, according to several officials familiar with the effort, including the former Hospitality High charter school at Ninth and T streets that Bowser and her staff were considering when they learned that it was being sold. That site is back on the market, the owner said Friday. Residents pushed Bowsers housing officials Thursday night to explain how they chose the 10th and V site, and which other sites in the ward were considered. I feel so uninvolved in this process, and it gives me little faith going forward, said Mitch, a 28-year-old engineer who spoke on the condition that he be identified by his first name only, for fear of being seen as against the homeless shelter. He has started a website called 10thandVshelter to rally residents together who have concerns about the plan. Bowser chief of staff John Falcicchio said neighbors in upscale neighborhoods such as U Street should not demonize the families who need shelter. What will happen there will be the same thing that happens across the street in million-dollar condos, he said. Parents will get up every day and get their kids ready for school . . . and try to find a better path forward for their families. The real estate hunt was led by the Districts Department of General Services, whose director, Christopher Weaver, said his team focused on the size of each property and proximity to transportation. The group first looked at properties that the District controlled, but only found acceptable sites in Wards 7 and 8. In the other wards, it looked to sites it could purchase or lease. After nudging several landowners to submit proposals, the city ended up with 28 offers, Czin said. Weaver said that his department has signed letters of intent to lease the seven sites it has chosen. Were very far down the road, or neither the provider nor the city would be going forward, Weaver said. It will lead to a lease. The mayors office listed only the owners of the properties and the proposed annual lease payments in legislation it submitted to the council late last week. The leases would be provided later but exempt from city procurement laws, the legislation said. Bowsers effort got a boost from dozens of members of the Washington Interfaith Network who attended last weeks meetings and said they welcomed new services for homeless parents and children in neighborhoods. A woman who lives across from D.C. General told people at the Ward 6 meeting that they should embrace the change. Those children give me hope. They show me what life can be when you have nothing, she said. I would rather be a little bit uncomfortable so those kids can have somewhere to sleep at night. In Bowsers own Ward 4, opposition also has begun to simmer. Attendees at the meeting there wanted to know how the city chose a boarded-up office building at Fifth and Kennedy streets NW, near a liquor store and check-cashing business, as a shelter site. Why a location with few job opportunities, residents asked? What other sites were considered? As Brightwood resident Nikhil Gehani, 29, stood in line for his turn at the microphone to ask a question, he grew increasingly agitated with Bowser community affairs director Charon Hines. He finally blurted out, Just answer the question! We just want to ask how they arrived at this situation, Gehani said. The success of this program hinges on the right facilities in the right locations. Abigail Hauslohner, Jonathan OConnell, Perry Stein, Clarence Williams, Julie Zauzmer and researcher Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report. The black hole of the American school system is the classroom. Researchers rarely describe and measure in a consistent or detailed way what is happening in those enclosures. It is usually expensive and time-consuming to get a representative sample. That has long irked Larry Cuban, a former D.C. teacher and former Arlington County school superintendent who has become one of the nations most original and persistent education scholars. He has tried to take readers into classrooms. He has shown how little effect the policy and curricular changes we argue about New Math, New Social Studies and computerized learning appear to have had in those rooms full of desks, backpacks and children. Now he has brought to life two high schools Cardozo in the District and Glenville in Cleveland as they were in the 1960s when he taught in them and also in this decade when he returned to gather material for his absorbing new book, Teaching History Then and Now: A Story of Stability and Change in Schools. In some ways, for those of us long interested in Cardozo, it is a good news story. Cuban notes that the history teachers he watched at Cardozo in the 2013-2014 school year were more likely than those he watched at Glenville that same year to adopt historical inquiry through primary sources to teach students critical thinking skills. He describes a lesson by one Cardozo world history teacher who taught the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, by asking students to draw inferences from photos without captions and decide, working in groups, whether various unlabeled accounts were from Japanese or Chinese textbooks. He asked students who had not participated in the discussion to say which textbooks they considered more trustworthy and to note which sentences led them to that conclusion. It is a prime example of what Cuban, professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, calls the historical approach to history teaching, questioning documents and analyzing ideas as historians do. Much of his book recounts the long battle between that approach and what he calls the heritage approach to history teaching, emphasizing the principles of American constitutional democracy, the wars fought for those principles and the need to cherish them. I spent a lot of time at Cardozo 17 years ago, following around a motivated low-income student who, I was surprised to learn, was getting a pretty good education from several talented teachers. The school now has eight Advanced Placement courses, compared with none in the 1960s. It has a beautiful new building and an English teacher, Frazier OLeary, who is nationally celebrated as an Advanced Placement instructor. But Cardozo remains a school of mostly low-achieving, poorly motivated students from families with low incomes. In another history class in the 2013-2014 school year, Cuban watched four of the 12 students continue to chat rather than start the days assignment as they had been told to do. When one of the uncooperative students told the novice teacher to leave me alone, he did. The minute the teacher stepped out of the classroom to take a cellphone call, seven students stopped reading or writing and began talking to one another. Educational theorists believe that getting students engaged in their studies by having them analyze documents, debate issues and explore the relevance to their own lives will help them learn more. But there is no significant proof of that at schools such as Cardozo. Cuban shows that the historical approach has so far not gotten far. I estimate that between 15 and 25 percent of social studies teachers (including those teaching AP courses) have adopted versions of teaching history as an inquiry where primary sources are used at least once a week, he said. Thats an educated guess from a remarkable scholar. We need more information and more good teaching if we are going to take classrooms like those at Cardozo where we want them to go. The Lincoln Memorial, seen Feb. 12, will be repaired and refurbished with the help of a gift from David Rubenstein, who is giving $18.5 million to the National Park Service for the work. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) The National Park Service announced Monday that the Lincoln Memorial will undergo a major renovation over the next four years, thanks largely to an $18.5 million donation by billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein. The project is probably the biggest overhaul of the building since the structure was dedicated in 1922, officials said. The memorial, which attracts 7 million visitors a year, will remain open during the work, although parts of it may be closed off from time to time. The marble-columned edifice, which houses the 120-ton statue of a seated and contemplative Abraham Lincoln, is one of the most elegant and hallowed memorials in the country. [Lincolns assassination was, in a way, a play in three acts] Much of the work on it will take place inside, beneath the massive chamber that holds the statue. The limited exhibit space will be greatly expanded, along with the memorials tiny bookstore and antiquated restrooms. New exhibits will be added, and visitors will be able to see the massive pilings and foundation that support the memorial. Visitors will also be able to see some of the old graffiti apparently left by construction workers who drew caricatures in charcoal on some of the pilings. The exhibit area, now about 750 square feet, will be expanded to 15,000 square feet, said Sean Kennealy, chief of professional services for the National Mall and Memorial Parks. The memorial will be scrubbed inside and out. Its crumbling slate roof, which is not the original but has leaked water and stained interior walls, will be repaired. And its two dramatic 60-foot-long murals inside will be restored. Damage to some inside brickwork that occurred during the 2011 earthquake also will be repaired. The formal announcement was made as dignitaries gathered in the snow under umbrellas on the steps of the memorial. I assure you I have malice towards nobody for the weather, Rubenstein joked, using words from Lincolns famous second inaugural address. But charity towards all of you for coming. Im very honored as an American to be able to contribute in this way, he said of his gift. This is an extraordinary country that enables people from all races, all backgrounds, all ethnicities to be able to rise up and do things that they maybe couldnt have done in any other country, he said. In an interview last week, he said, The idea was to take the basic Lincoln Memorial and reshape it a bit, make it more modern, scrub it up a bit. When you go to the Lincoln Memorial today, you see this great statue of Lincoln, he said. But theres no real museum or education center about Lincoln. So I think it would be a good idea to have such a thing. His gift is the latest in a series of multimillion-dollar donations he has made to historically themed projects around the Washington area. [Rubensteins gifts to history and heritage] Last April, he announced a $5.37 million donation to refurbish the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery. In 2014, he gave $10 million to Montpelier, the historic Orange, Va., home of James Madison; $5 million to the White House Visitor Center; and $12.3 million to Arlington House, the home of Robert E. Lee. And after the earthquake, he paid $7.5 million of the $15 million cost to repair the Washington Monument. Rubenstein is a co-founder of the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based global private equity firm. Gay Vietzke, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said the goal is to broaden the story of Lincoln. This place has become symbolic of so much more, she said last week. And in this tiny footprint, its near impossible to talk about . . . the power of the place and Lincolns legacy and why its really relevant to us today. Our hope is were going to do that with this very, very special gift, she said. The money will go to the National Park Service through the National Park Foundation, the Park Services nonprofit fundraiser, officials said. The Park Service will kick in about $6 million to the project. This is a very long overdue rehabilitation, said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. Its old and tired. In some ways, weve let this place get . . . run-down, he said. The improvements that are going to be made are going to make it a much more welcome place to be. The Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and is in the midst of an effort to raise $350 million in donations, Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said. It has a nearly $12 billion backlog in deferred maintenance, he said. The Park Service was established under President Woodrow Wilson on Aug. 25, 1916. The 38,000-ton Lincoln Memorial is built on fill dredged from the Potomac River. It is supported by a series of huge concrete pilings that were sunk 44 to 65 feet through the fill down to bedrock. Its very cool, Jarvis said last week. When we build the new exhibit and visitor-use space, it will . . . give the public an opportunity to actually see underneath the memorial. After the announcement Monday, Park Service officials conducted a tour of the cavernous basement, or undercroft, of the memorial. Resembling a dim, subterranean cathedral, the area is filled with the gigantic concrete pilings and arched supports that hold up the structure. Ground was broken for the memorial on Lincolns birthday Feb. 12 in 1914. The cornerstone was set a year later. The memorial was dedicated in the presence of Lincolns 78-year-old son, Robert, on May 30, 1922. Jarvis said some of the work will begin this year. I feel great about it, he said. Its our centennial year, he said. Were announcing the restoration of one of our most iconic sites . . . [and] the public phase of the [fundraising] campaign. . . . Im feeling like its a pretty good year. Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D) clarified Sunday that his Congressional campaigns use of the NAACP name and logo in a campaign email were not authorized by the national civil rights organization. (Patrick Semansky/AP) Former Maryland lieutenant governor Anthony G. Brown (D) clarified Sunday that his congressional campaign was not authorized to use the NAACP logo and name in a message that staff members sent last week invoking the national civil rights organization. Brown said the Feb. 12 message titled Happy Anniversary NAACP was not an endorsement of his campaign and blamed the mistake on an administrative error after he had approved the text of the email, which was sent to supporters. To avoid any possible confusion regarding that message, I am writing to clarify that the NAACP had no advance notice of our plans to send the message, Brown said Sunday. My message was not intended to suggest that the NAACP endorses or supports my campaign. The original message lauded the more than 100-year-old organization for its consistent fight for equal justice. It is unclear whether the NAACP reached out to Browns campaign directly and asked the candidate to remove the logo. The NAACP does not endorse candidates for public office. However, people connected to the organization have done so independently. June White-Dillard, a former chair of the Prince Georges County chapter, endorsed Browns primary rival, Glenn Ivey, and was included on a list of endorsements his campaign announced last week. Bob Ross, the current chapter president, has not officially declared his support but said in an interview Sunday that he plans to endorse Ivey. We got all good candidates and we just have to decide who will be the best one, he said. So Im leaning toward Glenn Ivey. Brown and Ivey, formerly a top prosecutor in Prince Georges, are battling to be the choice for voters in the Fourth Congressional District, which includes parts of the vote-rich Washington suburb and Anne Arundel County. Ivey has outraised all the primary contenders, including Brown, who has fallen behind in contributions but boasts the widest name recognition after his unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 2014. Both men are vying for the Democratic Party nomination to fill the seat of Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D), who is running for the Senate. They are competing against four others, including state Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk (Prince Georges). Pena-Melnyk, the only woman in the race, has campaigned vigorously and raised enough money to lift her into second place behind Ivey in fundraising. Military veteran Warren Christopher has crisscrossed the district making appearances but has not kept pace with his top rivals fundraising. Education advocate and professor Alvin Thornton also is running alongside former Census Bureau employee Terence Strait, a newcomer who said his brand of politics aligns with that of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a senator from Vermont. The primary will be held April 26. Democratic candidate Kathleen Matthews makes a point during a debate last month in Marylands 8th District congressional race. The seat is held by Democrat Chris Van Hollen, who is running for the Senate. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Democrats running for office in Montgomery County know they have to bring their A-game to Leisure World. The Silver Spring senior community of 8,000 is packed with active, knowledgeable voters who faithfully turn out for elections. It is a tough crowd, even for a seasoned politician. Former news anchor Kathleen Matthews and wine retailer David Trone, two first-time candidates in the contest for Marylands 8th District Democratic congressional nomination, found out just how tough at a Valentines Day reception Sunday afternoon. Matthews and Trone, two of the three leading contenders in the April 26 primary, fielded two hours of often-blunt questions about their qualifications for office. The skeptical tone was set by Democratic activist Paul Bardack, who asked Trone to explain the more than $150,000 he has contributed in recent years to state-level Republican candidates. Why does your nationwide support for right-wing Republicans translate to your desire to get the Democratic nomination here in Maryland? he asked. Trone, making his first appearance at a candidate forum since entering the race Jan. 27 with a vow to self-fund his campaign, is one of the Democratic Partys most prolific fundraisers at the national level. He explained that the money to the GOP was simply the cost of doing business in many of the red states where his company, Total Wine & More, operates. [Congressional race pits incumbency vs. gender vs. business success] My business interests are different than my personal interests, Trone said, adding that he had no connection whatsoever on a personal basis with the Republican candidates. His only objective, he said, was to expand markets for his stores. If you want to get anything accomplished, you want anything done in the state of Texas or South Carolina or North Carolina and all the things youve gotten done are very pro-customer and narrow focus you have to work with Republicans and Democrats, he said. Others asked Matthews and Trone how, in the absence of legislative records, their merits as candidates could be assessed. And why, questioners wondered, hadnt they paid their dues by starting political careers at the board of education or county council? We might not all have legislative records, but we have records, said Matthews, a former WJLA anchor and Marriott executive. Twenty-five years on television night after night covering your stories and gaining your trust. She also spoke of her decade as a top communications and government relations executive at Marriott, during which, she said, she moved a good but conservative company toward more enlightened approaches to the environment and treatment of LGBT employees and customers. Trone delivered probably his strongest response of the day, asking Leisure World residents, in essence: How have career politicians been working out for you? So maybe we might argue that its a good thing to be coming from outside the process and bringing some fresh ideas, some willingness to have change, Trone said. Change can be a really good thing. But if you just keep having the same old, same old, were going to get the same old results, which are deplorable. [DNC says Obama praise of Trone not an endorsement] Another novice candidate, former State Department congressional liaison Joel Rubin, said that Trone, far from an outsider, was part of a broken political system. With all due respect, Mr. Trone, what you described in the beginning is exactly what is wrong with Washington, Rubin said. You do not need to be buying legislatures in order to get results. . . . You can make change in Washington if you fight for it. You dont have to buy it. To the question of how she would support labor unions if elected, Matthews pledged to protect the right to organize, citing her membership in the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA, which merged with the Screen Actors Guild in 2012 to become SAG-AFTRA), and that of her husband, MSNBCs Hardball host Chris Matthews, in the Directors Guild of America. She also described herself as a voice for unions at Marriott, which has had rocky labor relations at some of its hotels. Trone acknowledged that unions once played an important role when businesses treated workers so unfairly. But he said the 5,000 employees at Total Wines more than 120 stores have never been compelled to organize. Were about family, Trone said, describing the good pay, benefits and meritocracy that were the basis of his operation. Questioning highlighted some differences among the candidates. State Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (Montgomery) vowed to push for a single-payer health insurance system rather than work to improve the Affordable Care Act, praising the national model in France, where he lived for a year. Nonprofit executive David Anderson, echoing other candidates, said Raskins stance was unrealistic. In an ideal world, the United States would have a single-payer system, Anderson said. But we dont live in an ideal world. . . . This isnt France. All contenders explained how they would excel at constituent service and praised the District 8 incumbent, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) for setting the standard. Matthews who mentioned that her husband has a call into his office because of trouble getting his Social Security check again cited her work as a journalist and corporate executive. Del. Ana Sol-Gutierrez (Montgomery) said that she sponsored legislation to make drivers licenses available to immigrants regardless of their legal status. Del. Kumar P. Barve (Montgomery) said he was the first elected official to go to the Maryland Public Service Commission and hold Pepco accountable for its poor response to the 2012 derecho. Raskin, who said that everything we do in office is constituent service described his efforts to pass legislation allowing home delivery of wine, which drew a smile from Trone. For the first time, the eight contenders (a ninth, Dan Bolling, was absent) were asked where they stood on the Democratic presidential race. Gutierrez, Barve, Raskin and former Obama White House aide Will Jawando said they were undecided or not ready to endorse Hillary Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Trone, Matthews, Anderson and Rubin said they stood with Clinton. State Sen. Jamie Raskin, during a debate for the Maryland 8th Congressional District seat at the Aspen Hill Library last month. (Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post) Here comes David Trone, again. Walking the suburban Maryland farm that his father lost. Chatting up employees at one of his big-box wine stores. Behind the desk in his modest office. His self-financed wave of television, radio and digital ads has been hard to miss for voters in Marylands 8th Congressional District. Its the leading edge of the Potomac millionaires vow to spend whatever it takes to win the April 26 Democratic primary. Trones torrent of cash is a challenge for the eight other Democrats in the race, especially the two candidates regarded as front-runners: State Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) and former Marriott executive and news anchor Kathleen Matthews. While the next campaign finance reports arent due until shortly before the primary, Democratic insiders estimate that Trone, who entered the race on Jan. 27, has already spent more than $2 million on advertising, polling, direct mail and staff. Thats more than either Raskin ($1.3 million) or Matthews ($1.5 million) have raised since last spring. Trone, Raskin and Matthews all present a progressive message to voters in the liberal 8th, the mushroom-shaped district that stretches from Takoma Park to the Pennsylvania line and has been held since 2003 by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who is running for the U.S. Senate. [Death of Scalia plunges high court, national politics into turmoil] Democratic candidate Kathleen Matthews is seen during a debate for the Maryland 8th Congressional District seat at the Aspen Hill Library in Aspen Hill, Md. (Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post) They pledge to attack climate change and income inequality, reduce gun violence and protect abortion rights. They want to raise the minimum wage, make college more affordable and establish a path to citizenship for immigrants. With two months until the start of early voting, the three who met with other Democratic hopefuls for a debate Sunday at Leisure World are pursuing different paths to victory. Call it incumbency vs. gender vs. entrepreneurial success. Raskin, 53, is trying to build on the grass-roots organization thats lifted him to three election victories in his Silver Spring-Takoma Park senatorial district. Hes running as a true-blue progressive, pointing to major roles he played in passage of Marylands 2013 marriage equality legislation and repeal of the death penalty. An outspoken critic of runaway campaign spending, Raskin says he will almost certainly be outspent by Matthews as well as Trone. Public office is something you earn, not something you buy, he said in a recent online fundraising pitch. For Matthews, 62, Trones emergence could diminish her appeal to moderates in the northern and western reaches of the district. But it also sharpens what is already an advantage: running against seven men and one other woman in a district where women are 60 percent of the Democratic primary electorate. [Women hold key to 8th District Democratic primary] She often reminds audiences that Sen. Barbara A. Mikulskis retirement and the departure from Congress of Rep. Donna F. Edwards, who is running against Van Hollen in the senatorial primary, could leave Maryland with an all-male House delegation. Matthews tries to offset her lack of legislative experience by talking up her 30 years as a television reporter and anchor, which she says afforded her first-hand experience with the countrys biggest issues. She emphasizes her decade as an executive at Marriott, where she said she helped broaden the companys environmental consciousness and made it more hospitable for LGBT employees. I always believed that the way to win was to get in early, let the voters see me up close, Matthews said. I think having a self-funded candidate jump in three months before the election doesnt change that. Trone, 60, and his brother Robert built Total Wine & More into the nations largest privately held retailer of beer, wine and spirits, with more than 130 stores in 18 states. Hes a prodigious national Democratic donor and has been generous to both parties at the state level, where his business is regulated. [Trone has donated more than $150,000 to state-level Republicans] He is fashioning himself as a more civil, Democratic version of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump: a plain-speaking, answers-to-no-one businessman pursuing a liberal rather than a conservative agenda. Trone has taken several shots at Trump already, criticizing the million-dollar loan the Republican received from his father as a young man and his hard-line stance on immigration. Trump makes me livid, Trone said in an interview. Hes insulting to his opponents. Hes antagonistic to women. People need to see that business candidates are open and supportive. Trone said his career has given him broad experience in working with both Democratic and Republican officeholders. He offers some unorthodox ideas, such as offering basic banking services at post offices to help low-income families avoid payday lending and other predatory financial practices. He wants to hold colleges accountable for their graduation rates (although he doesnt say exactly how) and favors loan forgiveness for students who commit to five years of public service after graduation. His campaign is modeled in some ways after that of Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), another wealthy, self-funded Potomac Democrat. Delaney spent $2.3 million of his own money in 2012 to knock off the favored Democratic primary candidate in Marylands 6th District, State Sen. Robert J. Garagiola, and then Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R), a 20-year incumbent. But the 8th is more liberal than the 6th, and the field of candidates stronger. Moreover, the success rate for self-funders is relatively low. The Center for Responsive Politics found that fewer than 15 percent of self-funded congressional candidates defined as those who spent at least $500,000 of their own money won their races between 2002 and 2012. In Marylands 2006 senatorial primary, Democrat Josh Rales, another Potomac businessman, spent $5 million of his own money and captured just over 5 percent of the vote. The rest of this years 8th district Democratic hopefuls, with far less money in the bank, are having to grab attention any way they can. Will Jawando, a 33-year-old African American, is basing his appeal on demographics and Washington experience. Congress is not Annapolis. Tea Party Republicans are not Maryland Republicans, said Jawando, a former Obama Senate and White House aide. Who represents the great diversity of our community? Del. Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery), 57, the senior legislator in the field, is serving his seventh term in the House of Delegates, including a long stint (2003-14) as majority leader. Last year, he led the move to pass a moratorium on fracking. An accountant by training, he emphasizes his business experience hes CFO of a Rockville environmental cleanup company and says he wants more education and training for what he calls middle-skills jobs, such as utility line workers. Del. Ana Sol-Gutierrez (D-Montgomery), 74, has made her life her message: immigrant, chemist and systems engineer, senior Transportation Department appointee in the Clinton administration, first Salvadoran American to win public office in the United States with her election to the Montgomery County Board of Education in 1990. Like Matthews, the four-term state lawmaker says Congress needs more women at the table. Joel Rubin, 44, is a former congressional liaison to the State Department and co-founder of J Street, the liberal advocacy group that promotes a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. David Anderson, 49, an executive for a nonprofit that raises money for college scholarships and internships, says he wants to see family and tax policy changed to provide more support for stay-at-home mothers. A ninth candidate, Dan Bolling, entered his name just before the Feb. 3 filing deadline. A retired biotech executive who lives in Bethesda, Bolling, 65, ran for Congress in Indiana in 2012. He favors changes to Congresss committee and leadership structure that he says would make it more functional. On the Republican side, five candidates are vying for the nomination, including three who signed up just before the filing deadline: Dan Cox, Jeffrey Jones and Liz Matory, who had originally filed as an independent. None have the name recognition or financial support wielded by the Democratic front-runners. Kik is a popular mobile messaging app that allows users to remain anonymous and appeals to a younger crowd. After the recent death of 13-year-old Nicole Madison Lovell, authorities have growing concerns that it is also being used by online predators. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post) Kik is a popular mobile messaging app that allows users to remain anonymous and appeals to a younger crowd. After the recent death of 13-year-old Nicole Madison Lovell, authorities have growing concerns that it is also being used by online predators. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post) Teenagers, a historically wily demographic, are increasingly moving their digital social lives from public sites where their parents hang out to smartphone messaging apps, giving them nearly complete privacy in their online social lives. Apps such as Kik, Line, WhatsApp, Ask.fm and Whisper can often be used anonymously, without parental controls, and in Snapchats case even automatically erase inappropriate pictures. The popularity of these apps is showing up in surveys and focus groups. Kiks use has soared to 40 percent of teens. To parents, many of whom are so clueless about technology that they rely on their children for tech support, the danger is obvious. To advertisers, the opportunity is enormous. They are butting in on the discussions, figuratively and literally. Line, a messaging app started in Japan in response to a devastating earthquake, is trying to make inroads in the United States selling animated digital stickers of pop culture characters ranging from Snoopy to Darth Vader. At a loss for words? says Lines website. Spice up your chats with animated and talking stickers! On Kik, advertisers are texting with teens the next part of this sentence is not fiction using bots. MTV, Under Armour, Funny or Die, Amazon, fashion blogs, movies, the Indianapolis Colts and The Washington Post are using artificial intelligence to push their brands with quirky conversations. A screenshot of a conversation with a 'bot' on Kik. Kik has gained a large following of users in middle schools but has also become an avenue that pedophiles are using to contact and exploit minors. (Kik) This reporter to the MTV bot: Hi! MTV bot: Why hello there! I know we just met, but you should check this out . . . This is a link to MTV.com. Blynk Style, a fashion-adviser bot: Lets get started. Tell me what you want to see. This reporter clicks Mens fashion. A picture pops up of a man in an outfit this reporter would never wear. Its fascinating, said Catherine Boyle, an analyst with eMarketer. These messaging apps present very different ways for brands to engage with younger consumers. Banner ads are never going to work. Branded bots are a really clever way to let brands offer a more natural presence of themselves. For Kik executives, the endgame is not just advertisements. Its what they call conversational commerce. The company is modeling itself after WeChat, a Chinese messaging app with nearly 700 million users who buy things and pay bills through the service. Kik executives imagine a day when users can chat with bots that help them buy clothes or other products without leaving the app. Like this: I really need a pair of black shoes. If I could speak like that to a chat bot and it came back with ideas, thats a lot easier than browsing around, said Paul Gray, Kiks director of platform services. I think this generation is keen for that. New shoes, teen drama, and selfie after selfie sounds like pure fun. But teens have followed dark paths on messaging apps, bullying kids, sending nude photos, meeting up with strangers who turn out to be pedophiles. Experts say that handled correctly, these new social malls can be treated by parents the same way as the offline malls. That is, by putting limits on what is allowed to happen there, building enough trust and understanding that teens arent afraid to seek help. Parents should make clear, experts say, that they can and will monitor what happens on their childrens phones, either by looking or using an app that reports activity back to them. They have to know that safety is important, said Leticia Barr, a parent of a middle-schooler and former Maryland elementary school teacher who blogs about technology at TechSavvyMama.com. Its just like when we used to hold their hands crossing the street. In many ways, the teenage desire to stay ahead of parents digitally is no different than wanting free rein at the mall to hang out with friends, drum up drama, trade zingers, and even meet strangers. What happens on these apps isnt public, which is why the kids like them, said Catherine Steiner-Adair, a Boston-area psychologist and author of The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age. There are no parents around. There are no teachers around. Thats positive, in some ways. Like hanging out in the basement while their parents watch television upstairs, teens experiment with their identity, goof off, learn what they value in friends. Kik pushes that idea by not requiring phone numbers or other real identifiers just user names, however many someone wants. Your relationship with your mom is different to your relationship with your BFF, the company says in a list of reasons why user names are better than phone numbers. Your relationship with your friend from Clash of Clans is different to your relationship with that person you met on Tumblr. So why have one identifier for them all? You can have multiple usernames, so you can be who you want with whoever you want. That kind of autonomy is exhilarating to teens and their not-fully-formed frontal lobes. It represents their space, visible to the peer group more than to adult surveillance, Sonia Livingstone, a London School of Economics professor and digital media expert, wrote in a paper on teens and online risks. The problem: What, for an adult observer, may seem risky is, for a teenager, often precisely the opportunity they seek. Its a tricky spot for parents. You have to balance between being a helicopter parent and free-range kids, said Hilary Barker, a Montgomery County, Md., mother of a 12-year-old girl. From a parenting perspective, once you open the door its like Pandoras box. Kik wasnt familiar to many parents until the killing of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, allegedly by a Virginia Tech student who chatted with her on the app. Our kids are always one step ahead of us, said Barr, the Tech Savvy Mama blogger. The next hot app is out there and we have no idea about it. It is not known exactly what transpired on Kik between Nicole and David Eisenhauer, the student accused of killing her. She described him to a friend as funny and really nice. Deonte Carraway, a volunteer at a Prince Georges County, Md., school who allegedly made pornographic videos of students, also used the app. [Va. Tech student charged with killing 13-year-old: Truth can set me free] For parents, its difficult to know when they need to step in. About half of teens dont tell anyone about online sexual solicitations or pornography, according to studies by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Why? Some teens dont think the situations were serious enough. Others fear being cut off from the services, which is seen as roughly equivalent to being sent to an isolation island. The angst is not all that surprising given what smartphones have become in society, for adults and teens. They arent just transmitting gossip about friends and pictures of fancy meals. These exchanges are banal and mundane, Richard Ling, a mobile communication scholar at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, wrote in a recent paper. This does not mean, however, that they are not important. It is through these seemingly prosaic exchanges, which are most likely only entertaining to the immediate participants, that we weave the threads of social cohesion. Kik has a bot that teens can chat with if theyre bored. This reporter: Why do teenagers love Kik? Kik bot: Because. This reporter: Can you please answer my question? Kik bot: Unfortunately Im a bot and not smart enough to help you. Imagine a rope that runs completely around the Earths equator. You cut it and tie in another piece of rope that is 710 inches long, increasing the total length of the rope by a bit under 60 feet. Now imagine that the rope is lifted at all points simultaneously, so that it floats above the Earth at the same height all along its length. What is the largest thing that could fit underneath the rope? A. Bacteria. B. A ladybug. C. A dog. D. Einstein. E. A giraffe. F. The space shuttle. This is a question (slightly edited) from the math and science site Expii.com. In The Math Revolution in the March issue of the Atlantic magazine, Peg Tyre cites it as an example of a new pedological ecosystem thats contributing to a heartening rise in math abilities shown by many American students. Common in Russia and other former Soviet states, she says, this approach involves clustering students by ability in small groups and giving them problems that could be solved in a variety of ways. The idea is that math is not learned by teaching kids rules and asking these students to apply them, but by asking them to look at the real world and apply broader reasoning skills. Tyre writes that American kids are a lot better than they used to be at math she begins with U.S. teenagers victory over usual powerhouses China, Russia and South Korea at the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad last summer but that most of the gains have come as the result of private initiatives outside the U.S. educational system. Tyre writes about the Russian School of Mathematics, with 17,500 students this year in after-school and weekend math academies in 31 locations around the United States; the Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics, or BEAM, a nonprofit based in New York; and an assortment of math circles and other programs. The challenge, Tyre says, is to incorporate this kind of learning back into the school systems possibly via that familiar and sometimes controversial institution, the gifted-and-talented program. Its all interesting and, for a change, rather optimistic. BEAM offers an encouraging example of better math programs for lower-income students. A seventh-grader in the South Bronx, bored with regular school math, was delighted when presented with this unconventional problem because there was no obvious formula for solving it: You have a drawer full of socks, each one of which is red, white or blue. You start taking socks out without looking at them. How many socks do you need to take out of the drawer to be sure you have taken out at least two socks that are the same color? The answer is four. And the answer to the first problem is Einstein. But how do you arrive at those answers? Tyre doesnt say. You figure it out. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took a victory lap in December, declaring that his first year in charge of the Senate brought the chamber back to its venerable tradition of free-flowing debate, breaking a spell of dysfunction. By any objective standard, I think the Senate is clearly back to work, the Kentucky Republican declared at a year-end news conference. Now, barely six weeks into the new year, McConnells biggest declaration is about not letting the Senate work. About two hours after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalias death was made public, McConnell issued a statement declaring that the Senate would not consider a replacement to succeed him so that the voters in November could have a voice in the selection by picking a new president to make the choice. By any objective standard, its a high-risk move by McConnell, whose own majority could be at stake with seven GOP-held seats in peril in November. From President Obama to Senate leaders, Democrats have begun to accuse McConnell of preventing senators from doing one of their most solemn duties in considering who should serve on the highest court in the land. [Scalias death flips Supreme Court dynamics] Such a refusal would set up the potential for the November elections to become far more consequential than they already appeared. Voters will be deciding the next president and, therefore, who gets to decide the ideological balance of the Supreme Court, as well as determining which party controls the Senate and gets to decide whether to confirm that nominee to the court. The late justice has long been considered the ideological leader of the courts conservative flank, making the Scalia succession even more important to Republicans who viewed his writings as the foundation of constitutional thinking. Let them stand up and tell the American people they wont be responsible, said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking minority-party member of the Judiciary Committee. Leahy, who is also the most senior senator, said McConnell should at least let the committee vet the nominee and then have a full vote on whether to confirm the selection, suggesting it will become a major issue for control of the Senate next year. That would be reason enough to help the voters make up their minds in Senate races, he said. For now, McConnell is standing pat. By Sunday afternoon, aides reported that there had been no calls between Obama and McConnell, or any other senior administration officials, not even Vice President Biden, who has the closest relationship with McConnell of any White House official. McConnells allies agree that they should not let a president in his final months in office make a lifetime appointment to the court that will likely flip the ideological balance for perhaps a generation to come. Leahys counterpart, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary chairman, called it standard practice over the past 80 years to not nominate and confirm Supreme Court justices during a presidential election year. He added that Obamas use of executive actions that end up battled out in the federal courts added to the rationale for not considering an appointment until the new president takes office. It only makes sense that we defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court justice, Grassley said in a statement. The election-year record, however, is actually contradictory on whether to confirm nominees then, and it has rarely been an issue. In February 1988, on a unanimous 97-to-0 vote, the Senate confirmed Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in the final year of Ronald Reagans presidency, an opening that occurred in mid-1987. The only time since World War II that an opening occurred during a presidential election year was in 1968, when the outgoing president, Lyndon B. Johnson, nominated Justice Abe Fortas to succeed retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren. Fortas withdrew after the Senate blocked him on a first ballot just weeks before the election. Bucking up McConnell, politically, are the Republican presidential candidates, each of whom Saturday night at a debate in South Carolina called for the seat to remain vacant until one of them has squared off with the Democratic nominee in the general election. Even House Republicans in potential swing districts issued proclamations that Obama should not get to fill the vacancy. The next president must nominate a justice who will continue Justice Scalias unwavering commitment to the founding principles, said Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), whose Northern Virginia district Democrats have targeted. What remains to be seen is whether Republican incumbents facing difficult elections can withstand the pressure from their opponents to not even give the Obama selection a full hearing and vote. Former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, the probable Democratic challenger to Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), was delivering a speech Saturday in Cleveland before the news of Scalias death on the importance of preventing the court from being further radicalized with conservative justices. Now, Strickland said in an interview Sunday, I intend to continue to talk about this until the polls close. His line of attack against Portman is going to be over whether the incumbent will abdicate any consideration of the selection to replace Scalia: Senator Portman, who has your allegiance, your country or your party leaders? Portman has so far declined to comment on the process or politics of the succession, only praising Scalia as one of the preeminent Supreme Court justices of our time. One potential move by McConnell and Grassley would be to allow the nomination to go forward all the way to a confirmation vote on the Senate floor, knowing that the odds of any Obama selection winning are negligible. Such a move would allow endangered incumbents such as Portman and Sens. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) to tell their constituents they performed their duty. Obamas first two choices for the court, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, were relatively free of controversy and were replacing members of the courts liberal wing, so there was no ideological shift in the balance. Despite that, just nine Republicans voted for Sotomayor and just five voted for Kagan. Of those five Republicans, only Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) remain in office. Graham has already indicated that he does not want to let Obama fill the vacancy, making it an uphill challenge to win a simple majority to get a nominee confirmed. Even if he could find a half-dozen Republican votes, Obama would probably need 60 votes to clear a near-certain filibuster by Senate conservatives. The Democratic caucus has 46 members, meaning Obama would somehow need to find 14 Republican votes to end a filibuster a tally that would be nearly impossible under the best of circumstances. Strickland said that Republicans could not hold the seat hostage because they do not like the current occupant of the Oval Office. The people have spoken, on two occasions, he said, referring to Obamas 2008 and 2012 victories. It is pure raw politics, and when it comes to the court, we have a higher duty, he said. Two blood-building drugs injected soon after birth may give premature babies a lasting long-term edge, boosting brain development and IQ by age 4, a first-of-its-kind study found. The study was small but the implications are big if larger, longer studies prove the drugs help level the playing field for these at-risk newborns, the researchers and other experts say. Preemies who received the medicines scored much better by age 4 on measures of intelligence, language and memory than those who did not. The medicine-receiving groups scores on an important behavior measure were just as high as a control group of 4-year-olds born on time at a normal weight. The results are super exciting, said Robin Ohls, the lead author and a pediatrics professor at the University of New Mexico. She said it is the first evidence of long-term benefits of the drugs when compared with no blood-boosting treatment. Although the treated babies didnt do as well as the normal-weight group on most measures, their scores were impressive and suggest greater brain development than the other preemies, Ohls said. They scored about 12 points higher on average on IQ tests than the untreated infants but about 10 points lower than the normal-weight group. On tests measuring memory and impulsive behavior, the treated babies fared as well as those born at normal weight. Here is how those differences would show up in a preschool setting: The untreated group would be the children who struggle a little in class, while those who received the medicines would do well but not as well as those born at a normal weight, said Michael Schreiber, an expert in neonatal-perinatal medicine and pediatric critical care at the University of Chicagos Comer Childrens Hospital. Survival of extremely tiny preemies has improved significantly in the past 50 years, but treatment for medical problems and developmental delays linked with prematurity has not kept pace, Schreiber said. He was not involved in the study. He said larger studies that include more diverse patient populations are needed to determine whether the drugs can help a broader range of preemies. The study involved 53 children, most white or Hispanic, born more than a month premature and weighing less than three pounds at hospitals in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Two dozen normal-weight children also were included. Results were published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Shortly after birth, the preemies were randomly assigned to receive injections of either erythropoeitin three times weekly, darbepoetin once a week for several weeks, or no treatment. The drugs build red blood cells and are approved to treat anemia caused by cancer treatment or resulting from other conditions. Preemies lack the ability to make new red blood cells and often need frequent blood transfusions to replace blood taken for lab tests. The drugs, in doses similar to the ones studied, are sometimes used to try to reduce their need for transfusions. The drugs can increase endurance by boosting oxygen levels in the blood and have been implicated in some doping scandals. Sandra Juul, a pediatrics professor at the University of Washington, is leading a larger multi-center study of both drugs in preemies and said it is too soon to recommend the medicines for treating developmental delays. Still, because almost half of infants born extremely early have significant developmental problems, any treatment that could improve their lives is incredibly important, Juul said. Hannah Manning in 2013 at age 10, before a new type of DNA test revealed that she had an extremely rare hereditary disorder. (Family Photo) For most of her 13-year life, Hannah Manning was a mystery to her doctors. At age 2, she had her first seizure. At 4, she was diagnosed with autism. She developed cognitive deficits, muscle weakness, exercise intolerance, swallowing difficulties, a speech impediment, balance and coordination problems and gastroparesis, a condition that slows the stomachs ability to empty the food inside. Hannahs mother, Christina Wyatt Manning, of Baldwinsville, N.Y., was baffled after several genetic tests came back normal. Finally, in December 2014, Christina and her wife, Kristin Manning, got the explanation they had long been seeking. The answer emerged after doctors ran a new type of DNA test, called next-generation sequencing, to identify abnormalities that may cause disease. The test showed that Hannah had a gene mutation that causes spinocerebellar ataxia autosomal recessive 9, or SCAR9, an ultra-rare, recessively inherited neurological disorder. Hannahs doctors believe she is the only person in the United States with the disease and perhaps one of only two dozen in the world. Next-generation sequencing technology became commercially available only recently, after the first test was given approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 2013. But scientists and clinicians say it has already identified multiple cases similar to Hannahs, where a patients puzzling symptoms turned out to be signs of a rare disease. As this technology gets cheaper and faster, experts say more patients will get tested and find they have rare diseases. They will have the satisfaction of finding out what is causing their symptoms but then will often face a frustrating question: What do you do when diagnosed with a rare disease that has been studied little and has no known treatment, and few other patients to turn to for support? We found a needle in a haystack with this diagnosis, Christina Manning says. Since then, she has been researching her daughters condition nonstop and blogging on her website in hopes of finding researchers, medical specialists and patients who know anything about SCAR9. One physician and researcher she connected with is Michael Kruer, a pediatric neurologist at Phoenix Childrens Hospital who specializes in genetic diseases and has studied hereditary ataxias, the group of disorders to which SCAR9 belongs. Rare diseases are literally coming out of the woodwork, Kruer says. Were starting to realize that, collectively, these rare diseases are more common than we ever thought. For SCAR9, Kruer says, We dont exactly know what the true prevalence of this disease is. While about two dozen patients around the world have been identified, there may be more who havent been diagnosed yet. In the United States, a rare disease is defined as one that affects fewer than 200,000 people. Because rare diseases affect such small populations and because they are so diverse, it is difficult to conduct the clinical trials that might lead to cures. The Orphan Drug Act of 1983 provided incentives for drug companies to develop treatments for rare diseases. That improved matters somewhat: Before 1983, only 38 drugs for rare diseases had been developed, while 400 have been approved since the law went into effect. But 2015 saw considerable progress, with 21 out of 45 new drugs approvals for rare or orphan diseases. Still, for most rare diseases, patients have few options. Joan Pellegrino, a geneticist at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, first met Hannah in September 2014. Pellegrino typically sees patients after they have been to several other specialists who have been unable to identify the etiology, or root cause, of their illness. Hannah had taken several genetic tests over the years, so Pellegrino and her team suggested whole-exome sequencing, which searches all the protein-coding genes in a persons genome for mutations responsible for disease. The exome represents only about 1 percent of a persons genome, or genetic code, but it contains around 85 percent of known disease-related variants. These new DNA tests are often not covered by insurance. Whole-genome sequencing ranges from about $1,500 to $3,000, while whole-exome sequencing can be about half that. The results of Hannahs test were illuminating. She would have never been diagnosed with this clinically. Nobody would have ever proposed SCAR9 as a diagnosis because she didnt have an abnormal MRI, a scan that in patients with SCAR9 often shows brain atrophy, or loss in brain volume, Pellegrino says. The test results were a mixed blessing. The Mannings finally had an answer for what was wrong with Hannah. But the family soon realized there was no community of SCAR9 patients and no drugs to slow the progression of the disease. In SCAR9, the body doesnt make enough of a vitamin-like substance called coenzyme Q10, which allows mitochondria to produce energy needed for cell growth and maintenance. Kruer says theres some evidence to suggest that coenzyme Q10 supplements may help mitigate symptoms, but theres not enough research to know for sure. Hudson Freeze, director of the Human Genetics Program at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, Calif., says many patients such as Hannah probably have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed because the technology didnt exist to identify their conditions until recently. Doctors have had to rely for a long time on symptoms to figure out whats wrong with patients, he says. Now, with the availability of these techniques, almost everybody is going to get their DNA sequenced. That can sometimes be problematic. Because these tests may reveal hundreds or thousands of irregularities in a persons genome, Freeze says, it can be difficult to know which ones are disease-causing. Some mutations are pretty much a slam-dunk. Other ones are just a prediction of what we think might be causing a disease, Freeze says. And some mutations might not even be pathogenic, or likely to cause disease and no one knows yet which is which. In Hannahs cases, a mutation in the ADCK3 gene resulted in SCAR9. ADCK3 was a slam-dunk because its a validated gene, one that has been shown to actually cause SCAR9. But Freeze says of the nearly 7,000 rare diseases that have been identified, about 3,000 do not yet have a known genetic cause. With the new DNA sequencing technology, though, most of the remaining disease-causing genes might be identified by 2020, according to some genetic experts. Theres so much in genetics thats available now that wasnt available even 10 years ago, Pellegrino says. Now that were doing this on so many more patients, it might be that more patients with rare diseases will be picked up. Next-generation sequencing is broadening the list of traits associated with certain diseases, Pellegrino says. Many of Hannahs symptoms do not match those of other patients with SCAR9, so her doctors think hers may be the only known case in the world with this type of SCAR9. Next-generation sequencing is far from the end of the road for rare-disease patients and their families, though. A genetic diagnosis doesnt necessarily give you a specific prognosis in the long term, Freeze says. For Bo Bigelow and his wife, Kate McCrann, of Falmouth, Maine, the results from a whole-exome sequencing test in March 2014 didnt even provide a conclusive diagnosis for their 6-year-old daughter Tess, who has global developmental delay, visual processing disorder and hypertonia, which makes muscles difficult to move. Years of genetic testing turned up nothing, but the whole-exome sequencing test showed that Tess has a mutation in a gene called USP7. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston published a study in September showing that, in seven children, the mutation seems to cause developmental delays, including autism. Bigelow and McCrann are awaiting lab results to know for sure whether the mutation is causing Tesss symptoms. Bigelow says the sequencing test was nonetheless helpful. Since it was done, he has been able to connect with parents of children with other rare diseases, which has provided a sense of community. Both families are hopeful that treatment options will eventually be found. But time is of the essence: Hannahs condition is degenerative, and the patients with the same mutation as Tess seem to worsen as they age, too. Trying to find a cure for this disease has been such a lonely thing, Manning says. Until then, the Mannings, like Bigelow and his wife, are taking things one day at a time. Quality, not quantity of life: Thats our goal. We want to do everything to make Hannah happy, Manning says. Two years ago a hospital administrator confirmed that my brother Gary had tuberculosis. Then she told us the bad news. Its worse than we thought, she said. There might not even be any medication to help him. I didnt understand. Its the 21st century, not the 1800s or even early 1900s. We have sophisticated machines and advanced robotics; surely we know how to cure TB? But the doctors at the Southern California hospital where Gary was being treated kept trying new antibiotics and nothing was working. Garys symptoms had started a few weeks before, with a 103-degree fever. We took him to the emergency department, where he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. In the hospital, he continued to lose weight, and his fever would not go down. He looked so frail; I worried he would break if I touched him. It was hard to watch the big brother who had always protected me, who was then only in his mid-30s, waste away in front of me. Gary was tested for TB, but the results were confusing. First, we were told Gary had TB, then that he didnt have it, then again that he did. But pneumonia and TB are treatable, so why wasnt my brother getting better? I demanded to speak with his nurses, his doctors and the county health department. That is when the hospital health administrator told me there was no hope. The hospital had isolated Gary in a tiny room with a bed and a bathroom. I had to wear a cloth mask when I visited, and his doctors wore full hazmat-like suits. I dont know how to help you, one doctor told us. Another apologized. Ive just never seen a case like yours, he said. Finally, the hospital staff told me that Gary didnt have just multi-drug-resistant TB: He had extensively drug-resistant TB. Later I would learn he had one of the most drug-resistant forms of TB ever diagnosed or treated in the United States, among the most drug-resistant in the world. A dark history Tuberculosis has haunted humans for thousands of years. In the late 1880s, when the bug that causes TB Mycobacterium tuberculosis was first identified, the airborne disease was responsible for killing 1 of every 7 people in the United States. The bacteria can attack any part of the body but usually attacks the lungs. It wasnt until antibiotic treatment was developed in the mid-1900s that the disease was brought under control. Between 1953 and 1985 the number of new TB cases in the United States dropped by 74 percent. People began to believe that it had been eradicated, and resources were diverted from TB surveillance, treatment and prevention to other areas of health care. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit in the 1980s, TB rates began to increase once again in the United States. TB is the most common opportunistic infection affecting HIV-positive people. Increased federal resources and programs were devoted to those with HIV/AIDS, and by the mid-1990s rates of TB were decreasing again. In 2014 there were 9,412 reported new cases of TB in the United States or three new cases per 100,000 people. While this is a 2.2 percent decrease from 2013, it represents the smallest decrease in the rate of the disease in more than a decade. This alone is not cause for alarm, but there are worrying trends health systems limited experience with and institutional knowledge about the disease, the lack of new TB medications, the toxicity of drugs used to treat drug-resistant TB, and the lengthy and disruptive treatments that drug-resistant TB requires. While the overall TB incidence in the United States is declining, the incidence of multi-drug-resistant TB is not. Worldwide, TB is the No. 1 killer of people with HIV. One-third of the worlds population has latent TB, meaning that they have TB in its dormant state but that the disease has the ability to reactivate. [Vast majority of U.S. tuberculosis cases come from abroad] Individuals with TB have the potential to infect up to 10 to 15 people each over the course of a year. According to the World Health Organization, only 1 in 4 of the estimated 480,000 people who developed multi-drug-resistant TB globally in 2014 were diagnosed and notified. India, China and Russia accounted for more than half of those 480,000 patients. Something on his lungs I grew up in Hollywood, but Gary and my two older sisters grew up in Russia and Armenia. Our family is Armenian and moved to the United States while I was still young. Gary later returned to the former Soviet Union and was living in Russia with his own nuclear family in 2009 when he developed a cough. Doctors there diagnosed pneumonia. It wasnt the first time that Gary had been sick. In his 20s he had been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease that can result in the spinal vertebrae fusing together, causing a hunched-forward posture. He was given immune-suppression medication, something I now believe may have made him more vulnerable to developing TB. Gary continued to suffer bouts of pneumonia on and off for the next several years. At the hospitals in the United States, doctors occasionally mentioned seeing something on his lungs when they X-rayed them. In the end, they always concluded it was scar tissue from his past bouts of pneumonia and sent him home with more antibiotics. In December 2013 Gary developed the fever that would not break. But this time, the doctors also tested him for TB. It was the third time he had been to the emergency department for a cough that fall. And the first time he was tested for TB. Gary, a musician, was divorced by this time, and his son and daughter were living in Russia. It fell largely on me and my sisters to care for him. After much lobbying on my part, Gary was transferred to Olive ViewUCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Caitlin Reed is the medical director of the inpatient TB unit there, and I truly believe that if it wasnt for Reed, Gary would be dead right now. New hope As the incidence of TB in the United States declines, fewer doctors are familiar with the disease and are often late to diagnose it, according to Reed. In 2000, a study from Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Tuberculosis Research Laboratory reported that TB had become rare enough in the United States, and its treatment complicated enough, that doctors in private practice often did not get the treatment right. The Hopkins authors suggested that these doctors were responsible for most of the countrys new drug-resistant cases. A patient faces better outcomes when treated by a public health physician such as Reed, who has seen more cases of the disease. Reed started testing various antibiotics to see what would work. At one time, Gary was on about a dozen antibiotics at once. The drug that probably saved his life was a new one, bedaquiline, for which the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval in late 2012. Gary began taking bedaquiline in March 2014 and a few months later was deemed culture negative, meaning he was no longer contagious. But his battle was far from won. One of Garys lungs was so badly damaged by TB that Reed decided on a drastic measure. Her strategy was to remove the largest burden of the disease by surgically removing the damaged lung and then using drugs to kill the remaining disease in the other lung. A method used before antibiotic treatment was available, lung surgery for TB is not as common as it used to be. John Mitchell, a surgeon at National Jewish Health in Denver who has treated many TB patients, agreed to remove Garys lung. After the surgery, he came back to California to recover, and we had to force him to walk. He felt as if he couldnt breathe. Hed panic and refuse to move. Gary is out of the hospital now. He uses an oxygen tank constantly and must continue antibiotic treatment for two additional years. The stress of treatment The treatments themselves have taken their toll. One of the antibiotics damaged Garys hearing, and if I stand just a few feet away, he cant hear me unless I yell. Other drugs have brought on a short temper, paranoia and nerve damage in his hands and feet. There is no guarantee that the burning pain he experiences in his limbs will ever lessen or go away. If he continues to take the drug that causes the nerve damage, theres a chance he could no longer be able to walk. He takes more drugs to ease the nerve pain and slow the progression of the nerve damage. His memory is so bad we dont trust him to take his medications without supervision. Hes on steroids that give him pimples all over his face and body and discolor his skin. Yet its a damned if you do, damned if you dont situation. If a TB patient doesnt take his medicine, he dies. Gary now lives with our father and one of my sisters. He has gone from the attractive teenager whom people approached about being a model to a man who avoids going out to avoid peoples stares. Excursions are a hassle anyway: There is the loading of oxygen tanks, the packing of medication and the fact that he has to be home at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. so the health department can watch him take his most important medications drug resistance could result if he did not take them regularly or interrupted treatment. He wears a mask when he goes to the doctors office or hospital, to protect him from germs. He has had several colds, and each time he ends up back in the hospital. The next one could kill him. There was another option one we all fought for, including Reed. The drug is called delamanid and was approved by European and Japanese regulators in 2014. It is not yet approved in the United States but is available under the FDAs expanded access, or compassionate use, program. The program requires buy-in from the patients physician, the FDA and the drug manufacturer. But when Reed appealed to the Japanese drug manufacturer, Otsuka, to allow her to use delamanid on Gary, it denied her request because the drug had never been tested for use in combination with bedaquiline. Reed had high hopes for using the drugs in combination. Delamanid would have replaced the drug that was causing Garys nerve damage. However, it is unknown whether the two drugs are safe to use together; we believe its a risk worth taking when the alternative is eventual paralysis. In early 2015 the pain of Garys drug regimen became too much to endure, and he told his doctors he could not bear to take the drug that was causing his nerve damage any longer. They replaced it with another drug, which caused kidney damage. He is on a third drug now, one we hope will work out better, in combination with his other medications. The nerve damage and pain continue, and he still takes medication to combat it, along with very high doses of painkillers. Gary is almost done with his drug treatment. Following additional testing, delamanid use with bedaquiline is now allowed under limited circumstances through the compassionate-use protocol. An urgent need The last effective diagnostic for latent tuberculosis was introduced in 1891; the last vaccine for TB was introduced in 1921; and before the approval of bedaquiline in 2012, a new first-line drug for TB had not been introduced in the United States since 1967. In the United States the small number of TB cases means that there isnt much monetary incentive for companies to stock TB drugs, which has resulted in widespread shortages of critical TB medicines and testing supplies. There is also an urgent need for new, more effective vaccines for use in preventing TB infection, disease manifestation and recurrence, internationally and even domestically. TB has not yet been relegated to the history books. As my familys story continues to unfold, the diseases burden is very real, and the next chapters remain uncertain. Aleksanyan is an actress and chief operating officer of Smart Actors, a company that offers online acting and mentoring sessions. She wrote this essay with Katya Cengel, a freelance writer. This article was excerpted from the Narrative Matters section of the journal Health Affairs and can be read in full at healthaffairs.org. EGYPT Officers conviction overturned in killing Egypts highest appeals court on Sunday overturned the conviction of a police officer sentenced to 15 years in prison for the killing of a female protester in a January 2015 shooting captured on video and in photos. Cassation Court Judge Taha Qassim also ruled that a new trial be held for the officer, Yassin Hatem Salah Eddin, who was convicted and sentenced in June last year for premeditated manslaughter. The ruling, reported by Egypts official MENA news agency, appeared to be in line with the acquittals or suspended sentences received by dozens of police officers who stood trial for the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The Jan. 24, 2015, killing of Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, a 32-year-old activist and mother of a young boy, touched many Egyptians after images circulated of her with blood running down her face while leaning on another protester. She and some 40 fellow members of a leftist party had gathered in downtown Cairo that day with the intention of laying wreaths at nearby Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising, in remembrance of protesters killed during the popular revolt. Associated Press AFGHANISTAN U.N.: Civilian injuries worst since 2009 Civilian injuries in Afghanistans long war with the Taliban rose last year, with women and children again bearing the brunt of the violence, the United Nations said in a report Sunday. A total of 3,545 civilians were killed in 2015 as a result of the war, the U.N. report said, with an additional 7,457 wounded. The figures mark a 4 percent drop in civilian deaths, but a 9 percent rise in civilian injuries, compared with 2014. The U.N.s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 2015 had the highest number of total civilian casualties recorded by UNAMA since 2009. It also said that 10 percent of civilian casualties were women, up 37 percent from the year before. It said 25 percent were children, up 14 percent. The most important finding in the report is that 11,002 Afghans civilians, noncombatants have died or been injured in 2015; this figure surpasses by 4 percent the same figure for 2014, UNAMA head Nicholas Haysom said. The report found that most of the dead and injured were caught in cross-fire. Associated Press NORTH KOREA Plant funded arms, luxuries, Seoul says North Korea channeled about 70 percent of the money it received for workers at the now-shuttered Kaesong industrial park into its weapons programs and to buy luxury goods for the impoverished nations tiny elite, South Korea said Sunday. The jointly run park, just outside the North Korean city of Kaesong, employed about 54,000 North Koreans who worked for over 120 South Korean companies, most of them small and medium-size manufacturers. Seoul closed the park last week in retaliation for North Koreas recent rocket launch. In a statement Sunday, South Koreas Unification Ministry did not detail how it arrived at the 70 percent estimate. Associated Press Central African Republic goes to polls: Voters turned out for a presidential runoff election that many hope will solidify peace after more than two years of bloody sectarian fighting in the Central African Republic. The vote pitted two Christian former prime ministers against each other: front-runner Anicet Georges Dologuele and second-place finisher Faustin Archange Touadera. 3 Palestinians killed in West Bank attacks: Three Palestinian teenagers were killed and a fourth was critically injured as they allegedly tried to attack Israeli security forces in three separate incidents in the West Bank. The injured teen, a veiled Palestinian described by locals as a 14-year-old girl, was shot when she allegedly tried to stab an Israeli border police officer at a checkpoint in the southern city of Hebron, police said. Bahrainis protest on uprisings anniversary: Hundreds of youths shouting anti-government slogans took to the streets in Bahrain despite a heavy police presence to mark the fifth anniversary of an uprising calling for political change in the tiny island kingdom. The 2011 protests in Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Navys 5th Fleet, were the largest of the Arab Spring demonstrations to rock the Gulf Arab states but were crushed after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent reinforcements. Cliffs collapse in New Zealand quake: A strong 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Christchurch on New Zealands south island, causing cliffs to collapse into the sea but no major damage to the city, which was devastated by a 2011 quake that killed nearly 200 people. The epicenter of Sundays quake was nine miles east of Christchurch and at a shallow depth of 9 miles, seismologists said. From news services CHARGES BROUGHT by Prince Georges County authorities against 22-year-old Deonte Carraway beggar the imagination. He allegedly victimized young children by directing and videotaping them performing sex acts. Equally incomprehensible is that some of these unspeakable activities are said to have occurred at a public elementary school during school hours the very place where parents expect their children to be safe. Just as Mr. Carraway must be held to account for his alleged behavior, so must school officials answer for the indifferent, if not negligent, supervision of children entrusted to their care. We really should have done better and could have done better by these children was the apt understatement of Prince Georges States Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks at Wednesdays news briefing about the case. An investigation is ongoing, but police said they have identified 16 childre nbetween 9 and 13 years old who were victimized by Mr. Carraway, arrested last week on felony child pornography and related charges. He was a volunteer at Judge Sylvania W. Woods Sr. Elementary School in Glenarden, where officials said some of the abuse occurred. Most troubling are allegations contained in a civil lawsuit filed last week on behalf of a 9-year-old Sylvania Woods student whose uncle alerted police after he found a nude photo on the childs cellphone. A complete absence of any supervision and oversight, the lawsuit charges in detailing allegations of school leadership failing to act when suspicions were supposedly raised about the volunteers behavior. Kevin M. Maxwell, the school systems chief executive, said the schools are working with law enforcement to determine exactly what happened; the principal was placed on administrative leave out of an abundance of caution. Ms. Alsobrooks said action absolutely will be taken if investigation determines that adults shirked their legal obligations to protect children. That is good to know, but school officials were slow off the mark in providing information to the community following Mr. Carraways arrest. Their inability to provide clear answers unsettled parents and grandparents of Sylvania Woods students who gathered for a meeting Thursday. Prince Georges has made progress in recent years in bringing improvement to its public school system. Officials need to move quickly to determine exactly what went wrong at Sylvania Woods and put in place better systemwide protections so that the schools are the safe places that parents expect and children deserve. Is John F. Kerry an enabler? The question occurred to me as I listened to the U.S. secretary of state speak of the recent success of Syria negotiations with Russia and others, talks that Kerry said have produced an agreement on a cessation of hostilities. This is the moment. This is a hinge point, Kerry told prime ministers, generals and others gathered at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Decisions made in the coming days and weeks and few months could end the war in Syria or it could define a very difficult set of choices for the future. Kerry has believed peace to be tantalizingly within reach before. As far back as spring 2013, he emerged from a Moscow meeting praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for agreeing to cooperate on a plan under which the government of Syria and the opposition have to put together, by mutual consent, the parties that will then become the transitional government. In November, Kerry declared that Syria could be weeks away from a big transition. As hinge points have come and gone during five years of war, the situation in Syria has devolved from horrifying to catastrophic. The death toll, long pegged at 250,000, has surely soared well past that. More than half the citizens of a nation of 22 million have been forced from their homes, with more than 4 million leaving the nation as refugees. The resulting mass migration has triggered what Kerry called the gravest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II, a near-existential . . . threat to the politics and fabric of life in Europe. As Kerry was discussing the latest diplomatic development, Russian planes were bombing civilians in the city of Aleppo and cutting off its supply line, raising the possibility that the city will be encircled and 400,000 more people forced to flee or face possible starvation, a favorite tactic of Syrian ruler and Putin ally Bashar al-Assad. We are being completely outfoxed in Syria by Putin, former U.S. ambassador Nicholas Burns, also attending the conference, told me. We are being humiliated. Weve lost our strategic foothold, and weve abdicated our leadership. All of which made me wonder whether Kerry is an enabler not of Putin or Assad, but of his own boss, President Obama. Kerry came into office in Obamas second term persuaded that the Syrian war, then not quite two years old, could be ended only through political settlement but that the opposition would have to be strengthened before the regime would settle. Obamas senior aides in his first term too had favored more robust support for Syrias rebels. But Obama repeatedly concluded that action more training, no-fly zones, provision of more effective weapons was riskier than inaction. That left Kerry with no option other than diplomacy and diplomacy with an extraordinarily weak hand. Time and again he hoped that Iran and Russia, Assads patrons, could be persuaded to see the world as the United States saw it. Time and again, Russia strung the Americans along while going its own way, forcing Kerry to give ground step by step dropping, for example, his insistence that Assad leave power as a first step to settlement. Well, you might say, at least he tried and maybe this time his efforts will bear fruit. I admire Kerrys doggedness. But diplomacy that perpetually, and falsely, holds out the prospect of imminent progress can end up providing a cover and an excuse for inaction. The options available to Obama from the start were risky, and maybe none would have helped; maybe he was right not to give the rebels missiles to shoot down the helicopters that were dropping barrel bombs on civilian neighborhoods; maybe safe zones would not have spared Europe from its near-existential crisis. But the mirage of negotiated peace has helped spare the administration and Congress, and the nation from even having to debate those possibilities seriously as one of the greatest humanitarian and strategic disasters of our time has unspooled. You can see a comparable case of diplomacy-as-anesthetic on the other side of the world, where the United States does nothing as North Korea becomes a full-fledged nuclear state, though it is U.S. policy that North Korea shall not become a nuclear state. There, the logic has gone like this: Only China has leverage over North Korea; surely it is in Chinas interest to prevent North Korea from going nuclear; therefore, the United States needs only to enlist China to pressure North Korea. The logic is impeccable, but, sadly, wrong. China turns out to fear North Korean instability more than North Korean nukes. The diplomacy has been fruitless, but it has allowed the administration to avoid debate over more direct, and difficult, options. Speaking here Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he could not share Kerrys hopes for a Syria agreement that allows Russia to keep bombing. Putin is practicing diplomacy in the service of military aggression, he said. The only thing that has changed about Mr. Putins ambitions is that his appetite is growing with the eating, McCain said. Common sense will not end the conflict in Syria. That takes leverage. Read more from Fred Hiatts archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. THIS ONE shouldnt be complicated. The fourth year of President Obamas four-year term has just begun. Senators are elected to six-year terms, and all of them have at least 11 months still to serve. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has created a vacancy on the nine-member Supreme Court. The Constitution tells the president to nominate justices and senators to confirm or reject those nominees. Yet within hours of Justice Scalias passing, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had declared that the Senate will not do its job. Partisans on both sides began scouring the historical record for precedents concerning judicial nominations in the fourth year of presidential terms. That record, though scant, does not bolster Mr. McConnells case, in our view, and it is almost beside the point. The issue is whether the Senate will continue its downhill slide toward politicization of judicial nominations or seize an opportunity to regain some respect as a deliberative, constitutional body. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. noted in a public appearance in Boston recently that Justices Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were both confirmed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities, while more recent nominees Samuel A. Alito Jr., Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were approved on largely party-line votes, though they were no less qualified and no more ideological than their predecessors. That suggests to me that the process is being used for something other than ensuring the qualifications of the nominees, the chief justice said. He said the politicization in turn has a negative effect on how Americans view the court, The Posts Robert Barnes reported. We have rebuked both parties for their part in the deterioration, including Democrats for the poisonous way they engineered changes in confirmation rules for lower-court judges, and both sides for blocking qualified nominees. Each bit of bad behavior is taken as a justification to do something worse when the other side gets a chance. Now Mr. McConnells blanket refusal to consider a nominee has the potential to start a new downward cycle. We understand that, if positions were reversed, Democrats who are now piously invoking the Constitution would be articulating a different view. But that doesnt make Mr. McConnell right. If a Republican is elected president in November and Democrats recapture the Senate, what is to prevent them from refusing to vote at all? Nothing in the Constitution decrees when a lame duck becomes lame. Meanwhile, the nation is harmed by having a hobbled court. Mr. McConnells ill-considered fiat has put a spotlight on a handful of Republican senators facing tough reelection battles in purple states who, it is conjectured, may be politically harmed if they refuse to treat a court nominee with respect. We would shine the spotlight instead on freshman Republican senators, who bear no scars from past judicial fights and who in some cases ran for office on a platform of renewed fealty to the text of the Constitution. Mr. Obama should nominate the best qualified person he can find, not one chosen for maximum political advantage. Then senators should insist that they be given the opportunity to do what their states elected them to do: evaluate the nominee fairly, and vote aye or nay. COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT Juan Manuel Santos basked in bipartisan acclaim when he visited Washington this month, and no wonder: At a time when Americans are doubting the nations ability to manage foreign military interventions, Mr. Santos was here to celebrate one that succeeded. Plan Colombia, a 15-year effort to support the Colombian army against rural-based militants deeply enmeshed in drug trafficking, has brought about what looks like the end of what Mr. Santos calls the oldest, cruelest armed conflict in the whole of the Western hemisphere. It is, as The Posts Karen DeYoung reported, widely considered one of the most successful U.S. assistance efforts in history. That wasnt always the case. When Plan Colombia was first proposed by President Bill Clinton in 2000, human rights groups and congressional Democrats carped that it focused too heavily on aid to the Colombian army, which appeared to be losing the fight against both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and right-wing paramilitary groups. As the New York Times reported at the time, there was concern that a program of such size could inexorably lead to a broader American military commitment to the war and the potential for American soldiers to be drawn into combat. That didnt happen. Instead, under former president Alvaro Uribe and Mr. Santos, who served as his defense minister, Colombia beefed up and professionalized its army with U.S. help, allowing it to gain a decisive military advantage over the FARC and right-wing paramilitary groups. The result was successful peace talks, first with the paramilitaries and now with the FARC, which is expected to complete a deal with the Santos government to disarm and sever its links with drug trafficking by late March or early April. The relevant lesson is that U.S. military support for allies embroiled in civil wars is critical to an acceptable political settlement a truth that the Obama administration unfortunately has disregarded in Syria. To be sure, Mr. Santoss prospective peace deal with the FARC remains controversial in Colombia. It is opposed by Mr. Uribe, who says terrorists who committed war crimes will escape consequential punishment and instead will be allowed to run for office. U.S. human rights groups raise similar objections about military commanders guilty of human rights abuses. Mr. Santos answers that all those guilty of crimes will be investigated, judged and sanctioned, though the penalties will not include conventional prison sentences or extradition to the United States. As for future political activity by FARC leaders, that is one of the settlements virtues. This is nothing different than improving our democracy, Mr. Santos told us. [Rural] regions that have never been represented in the political system will now be represented. To his credit, Mr. Santos committed to putting the final accord with the FARC to a referendum in Colombia, a risky vote given the widespread popular antipathy toward the group. If democratically ratified, the concessions made for peace will have a legitimacy that will merit support from Colombias allies, including the United States. The Obama administration has proposed increasing aid to Colombia to $450 million annually, while renaming the program Peace Colombia; that reinvestment in a U.S. success makes good sense. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), front, and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) in January. McConnell has said that the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalias death should not be filled until after the next president takes office. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia introduced us to the unofficial Thurmond rule as a rationale for the Republican Senates deferral of its responsibility to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat for a year. Over the years, that unwritten rule operated in a very different context. When I worked as a Senate staffer in the 1970s, partisan ardor for a particular position was no less intense than it is today, but it was overridden by a greater rule: the oath of office, the binding agreement between the electorate and the elected that each member had to do his or her job. In practice, that meant that the Senate, often called the worlds greatest deliberative body, actually deliberated. Its members debated fiercely, often without compromise, but then they sat down and did the rest of their jobs they negotiated. Now the Senate majority leader tells us that we, the people, are not entitled to any debate or deliberation. The president could nominate a federal judge, such as one whose name is being discussed, who received 97 to 0 approval from the Senate, but to no avail. With the Supreme Court poised to decide on pivotal matters that could stall on a 4 to 4 vote, we should content ourselves with another heavy dose of Washington gridlock. This should be unacceptable to any voter because it smacks of arrogance and paternalism; the message is well acknowledge your vote as long as it serves our purpose. The Supreme Court has work to do that is vital to our country. If the Republican-majority Senate wants to prove itself capable of governing, it must show the American people that it can do its job. Bob Honig, Potomac Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia participates at the third annual Washington Ideas Forum at the Newseum in Washington ,Thursday Oct. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) In the first minutes after the shocking news spread Saturday that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley tried to be reasonable. It didnt go well for him. Grassley (R-Iowa), informed in a phone call from Des Moines Register reporter Jason Noble that Scalia had died, responded honorably, saying he didnt want to talk about replacing Scalia yet. I wouldnt make any prognostication on anything about the future because theres so many balls in the air when those things are considered, he said. But in the following two hours, those balls fell on Grassley. The conservative Twitterverse erupted with demands that the Senate refuse to confirm anybody nominated by President Obama to replace Scalia. Washington Post reporter Robert Barnes explains where the Supreme Court stands after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and how the vacant seat will impact the presidential election. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) Conservative firebrand Ted Cruz, the presidential candidate and a member of Grassleys committee, declared that we owe it to Scalia for the Senate to ensure that the next president names his replacement a sentiment echoed by other Republican presidential candidates. Then, at 6:41 p.m., not two hours after the San Antonio Express-News broke the news of Scalias death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared that this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. About 40 minutes later, Grassley folded. The fact of the matter is that its been standard practice over the last nearly 80 years that Supreme Court nominees are not confirmed during a presidential election year, he declared. He added that it only makes sense that we defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court justice. Grassley climbed down so quickly that he erroneously accepted a conservative claim, which was making its way around the Internet, that no nominee had been confirmed in a presidential election year; Justice Anthony M. Kennedy was, in 1988. Grassley corrected his statement to say nominated and confirmed. Observed Noble, the reporter who had spoken to Grassley earlier: Grassleys forceful statement marks a rapid rhetorical shift from less than two hours before. The swift reversal by the Senate Judiciary chairman was part of an unseemly but not unsurprising spectacle that greeted Scalias death. Democrats and Republicans alike rushed to dig in about whether a successor for Scalia should be considered in the next 11 months without even a respectful pause. Whether one loved him or hated him, Scalia was a towering figure, and he deserved at least a moment before the bickering began. McConnell, in his statement, said the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. But the people have already had their say. They reelected President Obama in 2012. And they elected a Republican majority to the Senate in 2014. That majority has every right to reject Obamas nominee. But McConnell and his colleagues appear to be asserting that they wont even consider a nominee no hearings and no vote. This is a grim commentary on the current state of dysfunction in American government. If Republicans refuse to confirm an Obama nominee, they will almost certainly break the record for the longest vacancy on the court since the court expanded to nine members in 1869. And that delay 391 days in 1969-1970, was because the Senate rejected two of Richard Nixons nominees, not because it wouldnt take up any. There was a longer vacancy 27 months in the 1840s, as the nation slid toward Civil War. Are we really at a similar point today? Its up to Mitch McConnell, and everybody else, to stop it. Its called delay, delay, delay, Donald Trump said to applause at Saturday nights GOP presidential debate in South Carolina. The proverbial before-the-body-was-cold pronouncements began nine minutes after the San Antonio paper tweeted Scalias death. Sean Davis of the right-wing publication the Federalist tweeted: If Scalia has actually passed away, the Senate must refuse to confirm any justices in 2016. Four minutes later, Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Senate Judiciary Committee member Mike Lee (R-Utah), tweeted that chances were less than zero of an Obama nominee succeeding. Another committee Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, tweeted a headline to justify inaction. Schumer in 2007: Dont confirm any Bush Supreme Court nominee, it said. But thats not what Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), the incoming Senate Democratic leader, said. I will recommend to my colleagues that we should not confirm a Supreme Court nominee EXCEPT in extraordinary circumstances, Schumer said, and in the next breath explained: They must prove by actions not words that they are in the mainstream. Thats a fine standard. Force Obamas nominee to prove that he, or she, is in the mainstream. But unless the Senate wants to return to antebellum divisions, dont deny that nominee consideration. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. As former president George W. Bush prepares to hit the campaign trail in South Carolina on Monday, the chants of Bush lied, people died are back. But this time they are not coming from Code Pink protesters; they are coming from Donald Trump. It turns out the front-runner for the GOP nomination is a 9/11 truther who believes Bush knew 9/11 was going to happen but did nothing to stop it. Moreover, Trump says, Bush knew there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but lied to the American people to get us into a Middle East war. That puts Trump to the left of even Nancy Pelosi. At Saturdays debate, Trump was asked whether he still felt, as he said in a 2008 interview, that it would have been a wonderful thing for Pelosi to impeach Bush and get him out of office because he got us into the war with lies. Trump refused to disavow his comments, declaring, You call it whatever you want. I want to tell you. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none (emphasis added). This is uninformed left-wing claptrap. Trumps allegation was definitively refuted by the bipartisan WMD commission led by former senator Chuck Robb (D-Va.) and Judge Laurence Silberman. Silberman has called Trumps allegation that Bush lied dangerous, writing it is one thing to assert . . . that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make the horrendous charge that President Bush lied to or deceived the American people about the threat from Saddam. Trump also repeated his claim that then-CIA Director George Tenet gave Bush advanced notice of the 9/11 attacks, but Bush did nothing even though he did know it [9/11] was coming. Turning to Jeb Bush on the debate stage, Trump declared, The World Trade Center came down during your brothers reign, remember that. Thats not keeping us safe. . . . And George Bush by the way, George Bush had the chance, also, and he didnt listen to the advice of his CIA. Donald Trump just went after President George W. Bush and Jeb Bush wasn't having it. (CBS) This is the realm of conspiracy theory. In Republican circles, it is heresy. And in normal times, it would be disqualifying for a candidate seeking the GOP presidential nomination. Unfortunately, these are not normal times. But if there is any state where such rantings should backfire on Trump, it is South Carolina. Jeb Bush may be polling at about 10 percent there, but George W. Bush remains the most popular Republican in the Palmetto State. A poll two months ago found that the former president had 84 percent approval among South Carolina Republicans. Moreover, President Bush has always had a special bond with our service members and veterans, who stood with him even through the darkest times in Afghanistan and Iraq because they knew he was as committed to victory as they were. So attacking Bush on his conduct of the war on terrorism should not go over well in a state that is home to major military bases such as Parris Island, Shaw Air Force Base, Fort Jackson, Joint Base Charleston and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. There are likely a significant number of Trump supporters in South Carolina who are also George W. Bush supporters. They probably did not appreciate seeing their presidential candidate viciously attack their beloved former president. This does not mean that Trump supporters offended by his attack on George W. will suddenly rally around Jeb (who had his best debate Saturday and vigorously came to his brothers defense). The question is: After hearing Trump spout MoveOn.org talking points, is there even a fraction of Trump supporters who will reconsider and take a second look at the rest of the GOP field? Ted Cruz might well have benefited, but he stood silent during Trumps anti-George W. Bush harangue. Marco Rubio did not, and he got thunderous applause when he jumped to the former presidents defense, declaring, The World Trade Center came down because Bill Clinton didnt kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him, and adding, I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not Al Gore. Will any of this translate into votes? Trump had a 20-point lead in South Carolina going into Saturdays debate, so it remains to be seen whether he will pay a price. This much is certain: If repeating the left-wing conspiracy theories about 9/11 and Iraq does not hurt Trump in South Carolina, nothing will. Read more from Marc Thiessens archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. A special House committee formed amid the debate over Planned Parenthoods handling of fetal tissue has launched a broad investigation into the matter, requesting documents from more than 30 agencies and organizations, including some of the nations most prominent research institutions. Critics have raised concerns about the breadth of the Republican-led inquiry and are worried about the privacy implications of the wide-ranging requests. The investigation is moving ahead quickly despite recent legal setbacks for the Center for Medical Progress, the antiabortion group that produced the undercover videos that sparked the inquiry. Two of the people involved in producing the videos were indicted by a Texas grand jury last month, and earlier this month a federal judge in California issued a second restraining order preventing CMP from publicly releasing more of its work. But Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House panel, said in an interview last week that the questions the videos raise persist. You have these precious children that are aborted and then these parts are being sold, she said. People want to give this a good and thorough look. [Special House committee will investigate Planned Parenthood, abortion issues] She announced Thursday that the panel would issue subpoenas to three organizations that failed to fully cooperate with document requests. The burst of activity made it clear that the panel, which emerged from last years turmoil inside the House GOP, is not planning to shy away from some of the countrys most polarizing issues in a presidential election year. The subpoenas went to StemExpress, a California firm that prepares human specimens for researchers; Southwestern Womens Options, an Albuquerque abortion clinic; and the University of New Mexico, whose Health Sciences Center conducts medical research using fetal tissue. In a letter Friday, the panels Democrats sharply objected to the subpoenas, calling them abusive and unjustifiable. The requests have generally sought materials across more than a dozen categories, according to people who have reviewed the letters. The University of New Mexico released its correspondence with the panel Friday. The initial request, dated Jan. 6, sought a wide range of records in 19 categories, including a list of entities with which the university has exchanged fetal tissue; an organizational chart listing all personnel dealing with that tissue; laboratory equipment records; assorted banking, accounting and tax records; copies of various university policies and guidelines; and communications with local, state and federal officials. In a subsequent email, a staff member requested the names of all employees and students who perform or assist in performing abortions or conducting fetal tissue research, prompting objections from the universitys attorneys. The panels ranking Democrat, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, said she was concerned that the names of researchers or clerical employees could be leaked or inadvertently released, making them targets for antiabortion extremists. Im not suggesting that they want to put these people at risk, she said, but they could be made to be at risk. The university said in a statement that it was disappointed by the subpoena and that it was cooperating with the requests and would provide additional records next week in accordance with an extension previously negotiated with the panels staff. Blackburn on Friday defended the breadth of the document requests and said the names are necessary to develop a complete picture of the fetal tissue trade. I think they fully understand what we are seeking, she said. If theyre not going to work with us, were going to have to come at this a different way. The identities of the organizations that have been contacted have been closely held. Republicans say they want to protect the integrity of their investigation; Democrats and the institutions say they fear undue public scrutiny if the requests are publicized. About half of the requests have gone to academic institutions or research hospitals, people familiar with the panel say. The rest have gone to clinics and procurement entities, many of which are targets of antiabortion activists. Southwestern Womens Options, for instance, is one of a handful of U.S. clinics that perform late-term abortions, while StemExpress was featured in some of the Center for Medical Progresss videos. StemExpress said in a statement that it has turned numerous materials over to the House panel as well as to other congressional committees that opened investigations in response to the videos. Throughout this process, StemExpress has continued to protect its clients confidentiality, and to abide by its legal obligations, the company said. The Select Investigative Panel now seeks confidential client information and the identity of individual scientists and researchers through the issuance of a subpoena. Southwestern Womens Options said in a statement that it has cooperated with investigators and delivered documents Friday. We will continue to be responsive to the panels inquiries and will do so in a manner that protects individuals safety and privacy, it said. The special committee was proposed in September, as then-House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) sought to tamp down a growing revolt from conservative Republicans. After the videos summer release, GOP lawmakers pressed to strip federal health-care funding from Planned Parenthood, whose affiliates perform about one-third of the nations abortions. With President Obama and congressional Democrats firmly opposed, such a move was likely to cause a government shutdown, which Boehner was determined to avoid. The revolt ultimately forced Boehner to resign, but plans proceeded for the panel, frequently called the Select Committee on Planned Parenthood by Republicans and Democrats alike. On a party-line House vote, it was given broad authority to investigate fetal tissue procurement and U.S. abortion practices in general. One group that has not been subject to the panels inquiries is Planned Parenthood. But Blackburn did not rule out that a request might be forthcoming, and Schakowsky said she expected one. They have an agenda, which is to discredit this kind of activity, Schakowsky said. They want to find something that documents what theyve already concluded that fetal tissue research, that the whole process involved with that is illegitimate in some way. David Daleiden, the activist behind the Center for Medical Progress videos who is now facing a felony fake-ID charge in Texas, said in a recent interview that the documents will tell the story of how fetal tissue moves from abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood to intermediaries such as StemExpress to researchers. I think that committee has a lot of tools at its disposal that no investigative journalist, no matter how good, has access to, he said. [Activist behind anti-Planned Parenthood videos turns himself in] The financial and accounting records the panel has requested could be used to examine whether any of the entities violated a 1993 federal law banning the transfer of human fetal tissue for valuable consideration. Planned Parenthood has said it has been paid only reimbursements for the overhead involved in the preparation and transportation of tissue donations. A dozen states have investigated those claims and found no wrongdoing. Although Blackburn said it is unlikely that the panel will make any report before the presidential election in November, its work is certain to continue to be suffused with politics. That has been made plain in the names Republicans and Democrats are using to describe it. For the former, it is a select investigative panel to protect infant lives; for the latter, it is to attack womens health. Blackburn said that after months in the shadows, the panels work will soon go public. Its first hearing is set for early March; the subject and the witnesses who will be invited have not been determined. This is focused on infant lives, and we are going to go at it, she said. Schakowsky said Democrats will soon issue their own document requests, with an eye toward illuminating the benefits of the medical research in question. Were more than willing to have a two-sided discussion about fetal tissue and scientific research, she said. Sandhya Somashekhar contributed to this report. Less than a week before the Nevada caucuses, Hillary Clintons political nightmare came to the Origin India restaurant near the Las Vegas Strip. More than 100 activists were packed between a curry buffet and a canvas sign for Bernie Sanders. They talked. They made caucus commitments. They cheered as a multiethnic coalition of speakers asked them to dump the longtime Democratic presidential front-runner. She had the same information as Bernie, and she voted for the war in Iraq, said Vicenta Montoya, an immigration lawyer. She supported a wall along the border. And while she was secretary of state, she did absolutely nothing to alleviate the hardship of people separated from their families. The white Americans have already shown the momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire, said Zaffar Iqbal, a doctor and a member of Muslims for Bernie. Now is the turn for Nevada to stand up. Until quite recently, Clintons campaign saw Nevada as a chance for a face-saving victory after an anticipated defeat in New Hampshire. But that defeat turned out to be a trouncing. Now, the Sanders campaign is trying to prove that she can be beaten anywhere. Nevada, where the senator from Vermont is facing off against Clintons allies among organized labor leaders and a Latino-heavy electorate, has become the first test. [The Fix: Why Hillary Clinton should be worried about Nevada] Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes a photo with a supporter's cell phone Sunday at a get-out-the-vote evnet at a Las Vegas community center. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Clintons hopes rested on her overwhelming advantage among voters of color part of a firewall her aides have claimed in many states that follow overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire on the electoral calendar. Sanders, however, is betting that his appeal among young and working-class voters, revealed so dramatically in New Hampshire, is strong enough to transcend race. Nevada is a chance to disprove this firewall fantasy that the Clinton campaign has put out there, said Jeff Weaver, Sanderss campaign manager. If we do well, it destroys that myth. Sanderss aides say there is strong evidence in their internal polling that young and working-class Latinos are coming his way. Even the Clinton campaign is now playing down expectations. In a conference call with reporters last month, campaign manager Robby Mook said Clinton held a 25-point lead in the state. But in the wake of the New Hampshire defeat, Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon pointedly called Nevada a state that is 80 percent white voters, universally seen as a way to undercut the story that Sanders is making gains outside of progressive white voters. (In 2008, fewer than 70 percent of caucus-goers were white.) And both campaigns competed intensely in the state over the weekend with more appearances to come before the caucuses in five days. On Saturday the Sanders campaign asked in an email for volunteers across the country to help us call Spanish-speaking voters in Nevada and find out who is for Bernie and who is still undecided. Clintons campaign deployed squads of Spanish-speaking union members. Twelve Sanders campaign offices have mushroomed across the state. He is outspending Clinton in TV ads by roughly 2 to 1, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Those ads, which began in November, now feature the Latina politician Lucy Flores, a former state legislator, explaining why she thinks only Sanders can fix the country. More than a hundred paid staffers have hit the ground, aided by Latino pro-Sanders groups from as far away as Los Angeles. On Sunday, Sanders even wound up in the same black Las Vegas church as Clinton, sitting at the opposite end of the first pew. The people of Nevada were some of the hardest hit by the Wall Street meltdown, Weaver said. People lost their homes, they lost their jobs. [Democrats say Clinton must sharpen her pitch to compete with Sanders] Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a Las Vegas high school Sunday. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Clintons performance in Nevadas 2008 caucuses taught her campaign two crucial lessons heading into this years race. Her victory in the popular vote revealed an advantage against Barack Obama among Latinos and Las Vegas union workers an advantage her supporters anticipated would grow even stronger against Sanders. And her loss in the delegate count, despite the popular-vote win, revealed an organizational weakness and strategic shortcoming that her aides vowed to correct this time around. Mook ran that 2008 Nevada campaign. As the caucuses neared, the culinary workers, an important constituency, were on the fence. The Culinary Union endorsed Obama at the last minute, Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), a Clinton endorser, recalled during a visit to one of Clintons seven campaign offices over the weekend. Then, the members voted for Hillary. It was really something to see. The reverse may be happening this year. Despite Clintons overwhelming support among union leaders, the Sanders campaign is making a concerted bid among the rank and file. And if his disadvantage among minority voters is fading, the Sanders campaign sees that as part of the pattern; as he becomes better known, supporters say, voters from every demographic warm to him. The contrast was stark at the two candidates first post-New Hampshire rallies in Las Vegas. For Clinton, it was at a union hall in the suburbs, plastered with the banners of her labor allies the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the ironworkers union, the bricklayers, the American Federation of Teachers, and Service Employees International Union Local 1107. Less than a thousand turned out, many of them at the behest of their unions. And among the die-hards were people considering voting for Sanders. Hillary messed up on a couple big things, said Miguel Landeros, a 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer who had come to the rally because the union was turning out members. People can say anything, but youve got to find out whether theyve acted, added Jose Ceniceros, also 19 and a member of the union. Those young Latinos were outnumbered by activists who could count the ways Bill Clintons presidency had helped them and by union members who were cold to Sanderss promise of revolution. The presidency is not some Jet Ski that you ride over the waves of partisanship, Linda Overby, 58, said. Clintons pitch was tailored precisely for skeptics like Overby. The former secretary of state recalled the 2008 economic crisis and suggested that the Obama administration deserved more credit than it had received for financial reform and the Affordable Care Act. This state was especially hard hit, Clinton said. Too many people lost their jobs. Too many people lost their homes. I remember going door to door in 2008, walking streets and neighborhoods, into peoples homes, people who had done everything right but couldnt keep going because one family member had lost a job. Clinton also has reached out relentlessly to Latino voters, starting last year with an emotional roundtable with Dreamers undocumented Latinos brought to this country as children to whom both Clinton and Sanders favor granting legal status. The Sanders campaign, with a later start on the ground in Nevada, simply contrasts that with the consistency of his pitch for income equality. Over the weekend, the campaign dispatched surrogates who included Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Chicago mayoral candidate Jesus Chuy Garcia to rev up young voters and talk to union members. More than 30 shop stewards from the culinary union had a meeting with Grijalva, who then sped over to a town hall meeting where dozens of Sanders volunteers got an education on immigration policy. People committed a year ago, seven months ago, and committed to Hillary regardless of what was going to happen, Grijalva said. But members are not locked in. The town hall was light on criticism of Clinton and heavy on policy. But the volunteers also learned what to say if anyone repeated a critique Clinton had made: that Sanderss vote against the 2007 immigration bill meant he was not a true ally. I would have voted against it, too, Grijalva said. She voted for the fence, and Bernie didnt. So what does that say? Sanderss rally at a high school gym on Sunday was at least twice as large as Clintons, and the senator picked up a bullhorn to thank an overflow crowd. It skewed young, and it appeared to make converts out of people who had only just heard of Sanders. Inside the gym, a boisterous crowd repeatedly interrupted Sanders with cheers and chants of Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! as he ripped through his 45-minute stump speech, decrying the influence of the billionaire class and recounting his progress in a race against the anointed candidate of the establishment. Ferdinand Deguia, 28, a cook who said he was astonished to get a W-2 form that showed he made only $23,000 last year, said Sanders appealed to him on several counts. Among them: his pledges to raise the minimum wage and offer free tuition at public universities and colleges. And Deguia liked what Sanders had to say about criminal justice reforms. I have friends and family whove got into the system, some for drug offenses, some more serious, Deguia said. Ive seen it myself, the revolving door, and someones got to do something about it. Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report. Flowers are placed in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a towering conservative voice on the court, has triggered a political showdown over his succession. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) White House officials began sifting through their pool of potential nominees for the newly vacant seat on the nations highest court Sunday, girding for battle with Republicans who are insisting that President Obama leave the choice of a new justice to his successor. But Obama pledged Saturday to nominate a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly Saturday during a hunting trip, and on Sunday, principal deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said the White House expected the Senate to give that nomination appropriate consideration when the time came. Schultz said the White House would not rush on a nomination this week, given that the Senate will be in recess. As the president said last night, he takes his constitutional responsibility seriously and will approach this nomination with the time and rigor required, Schultz said. At that point, we expect the Senate to consider that nominee, consistent with their responsibilities laid out in the United States Constitution. But it was clear Sunday that any nominee would become the focus of an epic debate that promises to tie the Senate in knots and dominate the 2016 election campaign. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), one of the GOPs leading presidential candidates, vowed Sunday to filibuster any nominee the White House sends to Capitol Hill. This is a 5-4 court, Cruz said. This next election needs to be a referendum on the Court. The people need to decide. Speaking on ABCs This Week he added: We should not allow a lame duck to essentially capture the Supreme Court in the waning months of his presidency. While Obama suggested Saturday that the Senate is constitutionally obligated to consider a replacement for Scalia as soon as possible, Republicans have forcefully rejected that argument. Cruz, appearing on NBCs Meet the Press, said the Senate is not remotely required to consider such a nomination. And Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another prominent presidential hopeful, used the moment to try to rally voters to his side by promising that he would replace Scalia with a conservative justice like the one they have just lost. When Im president of the United States, Ill nominate someone like Justice Scalia, Rubio said in an appearance on CNN. Obamas problems extend beyond the obviously heated campaign rhetoric. Congressional Republicans have staked out similar positions, warning the president that any nomination he sends to the Senate will face delay or defeat, and they have the numbers to back up their threats. To overcome a GOP filibuster, Obama will need to win the support of all 46 members of the Democratic caucus and at least 14 Republicans to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance a nomination to final approval. In 2013, when Democrats were in the Senate majority, they forced a controversial rules change, invoking the so-called nuclear option, to allow the approval of lower-court judges by a simple majority. Those changes did not apply to Supreme Court nominations, which can be filibustered, and are therefore subject to the higher 60-vote threshold. Republicans were furious about the 2013 changes, and that residual anger could be a huge obstacle for any Obama nominee. [Obama transforms the federal bench, but at a cost to his own administration] Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) warned in an interview that the Democrats decision to change the judicial confirmation rules has made it nearly impossible to confirm a Supreme Court nominee under the current president. I voted for every Supreme Court justice nominated by [George W.] Bush and Obama. I believe the Senate should be deferential to qualified picks, Graham said Saturday in an interview. But I did tell [then-Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid and the president that the consequence of changing the rules in the Senate to pack the court will come back to haunt them. Graham said he warned Obama directly: Youre leading the effort to turn the rules upside down, to pack the [Supreme] Court. . . . There will be consequences, and Ill find it very hard for me to support a nominee now that we are inside of a year before the next presidents swearing-in. Washington Post reporter Robert Barnes explains where the Supreme Court stands after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and how the vacant seat will impact the presidential election. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) Administration officials would not provide further details about the selection Sunday, but in the past the president has taken about a month to forward a name to the Senate once a vacancy opened up on the Supreme Court. It took him that long to nominate Justice Sonia Sotomayor after David Souter announced his retirement, and to pick Justice Elena Kagan after John Paul Stevens said he was stepping down. Some hopeful Democrats now see the nomination of a sitting senator as the best chance Obama has to seat another justice on the Supreme Court before leaving office. In an interview Saturday, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, repeated his previous calls for a justice with a different background than serving on federal appellate courts. Weve got to start getting some nominees from outside the judicial monastery, he said, adding it could be a politician or a prosecutor with a strong legal background. Somebody who can handle the law. There are several Senate Democrats who fit that description, including Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Christopher A. Coons (Del.) and Richard J. Durbin (Ill.). But individuals who have spoken with the White House about the nomination process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no final decisions had been made, said the president is interested in a candidate who is young enough to serve an extended period of time. Only two of those senators Klobuchar, at 55, and Coons, at 52 are younger than 60, the age Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was when she was nominated. The president has also prized diversity in his judicial picks, and the federal bench remains fertile ground for nominees of color as well as those who are women. Although Obama has installed fewer federal appellate judges than either Presidents Clinton or George W. Bush, he has put enough nominees on the bench that Democratic appointees are in the majority on nine of the nations 13 circuit courts. In that group, the 9th Circuits Paul J. Watford, a 48-year-old African American, and Sri Srinivasan, a 48-year-old judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who would be the first South-Asian American on the Supreme Court, would be the leading contenders. Others include the D.C. Circuits Patricia Ann Millett, 52, and Jane L. Kelly, 51, a judge on the 8th Circuit who was confirmed 96 to 0 with the support of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Merrick B. Garland, a former prosecutor who serves as the D.C. Circuits chief judge, is a possibility because he is well liked by Republicans. If Republicans show they are determined to block a nominee under any circumstances, it may complicate the administrations calculations and could spur the president to make a more adventuresome choice. That could include judges such as Lucy H. Koh, the first Asian American district judge in the Northern District of California, or Monica M. Marquez, who is the first Latina and first openly gay justice on the Colorado Supreme Court. Or the president could draw from the ranks of his own administration, where Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson are all possibilities. Charles Geyh, a professor at Indiana Universitys Maurer School of Law, said the uncertainty surrounding the confirmation process might prompt some candidates to bow out, and it would favor someone with a political background with some sort of cachet on both sides of the aisle, especially with Republicans. Geyh, who is the author of Courting Peril: The Political Transformation of the American Judiciary, said that a current or former elected official would probably have a greater tolerance for undergoing what is likely to be a difficult ordeal and would mean theres at least a snowballs chance in hell this would work. Robert Barnes contributed to this report. South Korean protesters stage a rally in Seoul Monday to oppose the possible deployment of the United States advanced defense system THAAD on the Korean peninsula. (Ahn Young-Joon/AP) The threat of an American missile defense system being stationed in South Korea appears to have concentrated minds in Beijing on how to punish Pyongyang. China now seems ready to support limited United Nations sanctions against North Korea over a recent nuclear test and rocket launches, partly in response to U.S. pressure, experts said Monday. Beijing has reacted angrily to the prospect of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system being deployed in South Korea, but a tougher line from Washington and Seoul seems to be having some effect on Beijing's calculations, experts said. At the very least, Beijing is now talking up the prospect of stiffer sanctions against North Korea. In an editorial on Monday, China Daily argued that the missile defense system was not the answer to the North Korean crisis. There will be no ground for its introduction should the parties agree to a sanctions package that is sufficient for Pyongyang to reevaluate its nuclear program, the editorial said. For that to happen, the new U.N. resolution must truly bite. [South Korea, U.S. to start talks on anti-missile system] The editorial echoes comments by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who told Reuters in Munich on Friday that the United Nations should adopt a resolution to ensure North Korea will pay the necessary price and to show there is a consequence for its behavior. China, of course, would never admit it was reacting to American pressure. It still favors much weaker sanctions than those proposed by the United States and is likely locked in negotiations to soften the blow, according to Yanmei Xie, a senior China analyst at the International Crisis Group in Beijing. It could even be argued that Beijing is merely hyping the likely effect of a limited sanctions package to convince Seoul that the anti-missile system deployment is unnecessary and to cast Washington as the real troublemaker. Still, even nationalist tabloid Global Times argued Monday that China should shift policy toward North Korea in the face of mounting pressure and growing challenges. It argued that elite and public opinion was changing, with greater numbers of people now seeing North Korea as a burden and an annoying neighbor rather than an old friend. This in turn led to a shift in favor of actions that make Pyongyang feel pain for its obduracy. The more Chinas policy in this regard departs from public opinion, the more political cost China has to pay, the Global Times wrote. After North Korea launched a rocket this month, apparently to test its ballistic missile technology, Seoul agreed to begin talks with Washington on deploying a THAAD unit with the U.S. military in South Korea. THAAD is a land-based system designed to shoot down incoming short-, medium- and intermediate-range missiles, and could offer South Korea and some of the 25,000 U.S. troops deployed there greater protection against missiles launched from the North. The threat of deployment comes amid growing frustration in both Seoul and Washington not only with Pyongyangs actions but also with Chinas muted response. [China backs U.N. move to denounce North Korea over nuclear test] But some Chinese experts argue the THAAD system is mainly used for intercepting long-range missiles rather than short-range ones, and that its real target is China. They argue that the proposal has undermined Beijings friendship with Seoul and widened distrust with the United States. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Monday that the missile defense system would directly violate Chinas strategic security interests, and he condemned relevant countries for using the Korea peninsula issue to undermine those interests. There is still a huge gulf separating China and the United States in terms of their strategic goals over the North Korea issue, said Shi Yinhong, director of the Center for American Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing. He said China was willing to speed up U.S. Security Council negotiations but would not agree to any sanctions that covered its own trade with North Korea or affected its neighbors access to food or oil. Any sanctions, he said, would be less tough than measures China itself adopted in 2013, shortly after President Xi Jinping took power and at a time when relations with Washington were on an upswing. Now it is impossible for China to do the same thing, given the state of Sino-U.S relations, he said. Also, if China sanctions North Korea like it did in 2013, North Korea will become more of an enemy. The Crisis Groups Xie said China probably aims to do just enough in terms of sanctions to placate the South Korean government and convince Seoul to again drag its feet over the THAAD deployment, as it has done for years. China may agree to narrow sanctions targeting certain individuals and entities but not those that could remotely threaten to destabilize the country or regime, or turn North Korea into an openly hostile neighbor, she said. Sanctions of that nature might dial up the pressure on the North Korean regime a notch but are very unlikely to persuade it to abandon a nuclear program that has become a cornerstone of the regimes national security calculations, experts said. Gu Jinglu contributed to this report. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Polands ruling party, attends a ceremony in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Feb. 10 to commemorate the 2010 plane crash that killed his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, and 95 others. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters) To his supporters, he is the mastermind of a ballot-box revolution that thrust the Polish right wing back into power after eight years of centrist rule. To his enemies, he is a Eurosceptic populist, eviscerating Polands democratic institutions in the pursuit of power and revenge. But in the four frenzied months since his conservative Law and Justice Party won the first single-party parliamentary majority in post-Communist Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, 66, has set a single, consistent message for his flock: Ignore the critics. A weak Poland is comfortable for different powers in Europe and outside Europe, Kaczynski told a ballroom packed with Polands right-wing elite last week as he accepted an award for Man of the Year, his second in less than a week, from a pro-government magazine. Later, he added, The way we have been attacked, the rhetoric has resembled that of Stalin. The breakneck speed of political change in Poland, long considered the flagship of successful post-Soviet integration into Europes economic and political system, has produced shock waves at home and in Brussels. Kaczynski, a veteran politician, co-founded Law and Justice with his identical twin, Lech, the former president killed in an air crash in 2010. Law and Justice won voters with appeals to traditional Catholic values and economic support, including a pledge to send 500 zlotys, about $125, each month to families with at least two children. To bolster its power in Parliament, the government has packed judges onto Polands highest court and hindered its ability to strike down legislation. It has also replaced the leadership of the countrys broadcast media. New laws have increased political control over the prosecutors office and the powers of surveillance given to police. [Polands controversial new media law could get it booted off Eurovision] Critics say Kaczynski is following his 2011 prediction of a Budapest in Warsaw, mimicking the consolidation of power and rejection of modern liberalism in neighboring Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They are destroying all of the security mechanisms normally built in the democratic system, the checks and balances, said Mateusz Kijowski, founder of the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, which organized demonstrations that brought thousands of protesters onto the streets beginning in November. Now we have one central point of power: Mr. Kaczynski. Law and Justice members say that the outrage is exaggerated. Kaczynski, who rarely gives interviews to foreign journalists, defended his record to The Washington Post in brief remarks, saying that the governments actions were no worse than those of the previous party, Civil Platform. I have explained to our American friends that they shouldnt be worried about Polish democracy, Kaczynski said in response to a Post reporters question during the award ceremony in Warsaw. The political shift in Poland has come at a critical moment for Europe, as extremist parties such as Frances National Front are gaining power in the face of an unprecedented refugee crisis and other pressures. Polands new leadership, citing the terrorist attacks in Paris last November, has rejected an agreement to accept 4,500 migrants that was brokered under the previous government. In December, Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, said that Polands actions had the characteristics of a coup. In January, the European Commission announced it would investigate whether new legislation on the Constitutional Tribunal and the media in Poland violate the European Unions rule-of-law standards. [Why Europeans should care about the return of Polands right] Officials in Law and Justice said they believed they could contain the conflict, adding that the need for unity in Europe would take precedence over disagreements about the political situation in Poland. Another crisis between Europe and Poland will weaken Europe at a crucial moment of the migration crisis, the Brexit and all the other real challenges, said Krzysztof Szczerski, the presidents secretary of state and a member of Law and Justice, referring to the possible exit of Britain from the E.U. Europe cannot afford losing Poland, he said. I think this is the message that works. The vote that brought Law and Justice to power in October was largely driven by disaffection with the center-right Civil Platform, which was criticized as elitist and inert after eight years in power. Mysterious wiretaps also revealed party officials racking up large restaurant tabs. What is it called when you do the same thing over and over expecting different results? said Rafal Andrzejewski, a Warsaw-based businessman who said he had voted for Civil Platform twice before the last elections. Insanity, right? Kaczynski, whom one political analyst called the most hated politician in Poland, ceded the stage to younger, more moderate faces, as the party took advantage of the lefts collapse, winning 37.6 percent of the popular vote and a majority of seats in Parliament. Asked why he had not chosen to run for national office himself, Kaczynski said simply: I considered this gave us bigger chances to win. But Law and Justices victory has come with serious baggage, including a belief among some party members that the plane crash that killed Kaczynskis brother near Smolensk, Russia, in 2010 was the result of a Russian plot and that Polands previous government bungled the investigation. Although a government-appointed committee in 2011 said that the plane crashed after descending too low in thick fog, the Polish Parliament opened a new probe into the crash last week. The death of his brother is said to have had a profound effect on Kaczynski. [Polands disturbing tilt to the right] Ryszard Petru, the founder of a new liberal party named Nowoczesna, or Modern, which won 7.6 percent of the vote in the 2015 parliamentary elections, said that Kaczynski may be motivated by revenge. Everything is done to put into jail those people responsible for the plane crash in 2010 where Kaczynskis twin brother died, he said in an interview. He also wants to change the way people perceive this accident. Petru also said Kaczynski views Hungary as a model for Poland. He would like to make Poland a country that is Eurosceptic, very traditional, more closed, on the periphery of the European Union and Europe, self-confident, similar to Hungary. In a remarkable visit last month, Orban met with Kaczynski, officially only a member of Parliament, for six hours at the historic Niedzica Castle in southern Poland. Asked if he was copying Orbans political playbook, Kaczynski expressed support for Orban but said that Poland and Hungary are different countries with different experiences. Signaling a tightening bond of shared defiance to Brussels in Central Europe, Orban three days later promised to veto sanctions if the European Commission chose to punish Polands new government. Read more Pope and Russian Orthodox leader to hold historic encounter in Cuba After four months, Russias campaign in Syria is proving successful for Moscow New Russian legislation could ban holding hands in public if youre gay Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world Hours before he went to jail Monday, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert released a homemade video protesting his innocence and maintaining that he had never taken bribes while serving in public office. He then left his spacious villa in the Jerusalem hills, escorted by his security detail and trailed by news photographers, and entered Maasiyahu Prison in nearby Ramle to begin serving his 19-month sentence. His drive to jail was carried live on Israeli television. Olmert is the first Israeli prime minister to spend time behind bars, a fact that commentators here acknowledged with a mix of both pride and shame. Pride that the Israeli justice system in this case was both robust and impartial, that even the rich and powerful can be held to account. And shame that an internationally known Israeli leader could be exposed as a dirty politician who not only solicited bribes but conspired to obstruct justice. Olmert was found guilty in March 2014 of taking money from real estate developers to build a massive luxury apartment complex in Jerusalem, called Holyland, when he was mayor of the city. The development is infamous, both because of its size and the disparagement of critics, who consider it an eyesore. In a separate case, Olmert was also convicted of accepting campaign contributions from American Jewish businessman Morris Talansky in exchange for political favors when he was mayor. As a member of the center-right Likud party, Olmert was repeatedly elected to parliament and was mayor of Jerusalem for 10 years. Olmert served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009. He led the country during its 2006 war with Lebanon, which many Israelis considered a disaster. His popularity plummeted to 3 percent. He was one of the Israeli leaders who, with then-Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, struggled and failed to make a peace deal with the Palestinians. He waged war against Hamas militants in Gaza in 2008. [Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert given 6 years in prison for taking bribes] In the video he released to the media Monday morning, Olmert said the transformation from a prime minister, entrusted with Israels security, to a person who must now sit behind bars is painful and strange to me. Known for his love of fine cigars and expensive tastes, Olmert will spend the next year and a half in a shared cell in a section of the prison that Israeli media have taken to calling the VIP wing. I also want to say that I deny outright the charges relating to bribery attributed to me, Olmert said. It is also important for me to note that all the charges do not touch on the time of my tenure as prime minister, but during his run as Jerusalem mayor. He said he accepted the sentence with a very heavy heart. No one is above the law, said Olmert. Outside the prison in Ramle, a handful of supporters of the former prime minister and a few foes turned out to see Olmert enter the secure facility, where he will be housed in a special wing renovated in recent years for special prisoners judges, police officers, politicians who cannot safely live among the general prison population, including inmates serving time for robbery, rape and murder. Although Olmert is the first former prime minister to serve jail time, he is not the first high-level Israeli official to be incarcerated. The countrys eighth president, Moshe Katsav, is serving an seven-year sentence for rape and other sex-related crimes. Ofer Shmueli, the warden of Maasiyahu Prison, told Israeli media that his staff had been given special training to treat the former prime minister with respect but not forgo the prisons rules and discipline. Roll call is at 6 a.m, after that prisoners must clean their cells and the public areas in the wing, Rami Ovadia, a former warden of the prison, said in an interview on Israeli radio. After that they eat breakfast, nothing fancy, and there are no special requests. Ovadia said there is an exercise yard and a library exclusively for prisoners in Olmerts wing. They can also order newspapers or watch television. It is unlikely that Olmert will be put to work, and it is still unclear exactly how he will spend his days. The former prime minister is only entitled to bring in basic personal belongings socks, towels, a blanket, toiletries and books. This is a drastic change in personal freedom, for any person who suddenly finds himself behind bars it is not simple, but for someone who once had a lot of power and was involved in making high-level decisions to suddenly not be able to decide what he will eat for breakfast, what time he will get up and go to sleep, it is very complicated and difficult, said Orit Adato, a former commissioner of the Israeli Prison Service. She said that while Olmert is unlikely to get preferential treatment inside, his presence in jail is different to other prisoners. It is not that he will be treated differently, but his security affects the publics security because of his knowledge and the information he has been privy to, she said, referring to the years that Olmert was the recipient of Israels top secrets. Even during visiting hours, he will be kept separate from the general prison population. Adato said that it was a sad day for Israel and that Olmerts entry into prison hurt the national morale. Its hard to accept it, but on the other hand it proves that we are a state that is able to stand up to its top leaders and say: You are not above the law, she said. Children peer from a partially destroyed home in Aleppo, Syria. The fighting around Syria's largest city has brought government forces closer to the Turkish border than at any point in recent years. (Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda via AP) Across the olive groves and wheat fields of the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, a battle with global dimensions risks erupting into a wider war. Russian warplanes are bombing from the sky. Iraqi and Lebanese militias aided by Iranian advisers are advancing on the ground. An assortment of Syrian rebels backed by the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are fighting to hold them back. Kurdish forces allied both to Washington and Moscow are taking advantage of the chaos to extend Kurdish territories. The Islamic State has snatched a couple of small villages, while all the focus was on the other groups. Ahead of a supposed pause in the hostilities negotiated by world powers and due to be implemented later in the week, the conflict seems only to be escalating. Turkey joined in over the weekend, firing artillery across its border at Kurdish positions for a second day Sunday and prompting appeals from the Obama administration to both Turks and Kurds to back down. Syrias civil war long ago mutated into a proxy conflict, with competing world powers backing the rival Syrian factions almost since the earliest days of the armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. But perhaps never before have the dangers or the complications of what amounts to a mini world war been so apparent as in the battle underway for control of Aleppo. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev warned of the risks at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, saying that the world had already descended into a new Cold War. [U.S., Russia and other powers agree on cessation of hostilities in Syria] Theres a spiral of insecurity here that is not being managed, said Salman Shaikh, a political consultant whose Shaikh Group is engaged in mediation efforts in the Syrian war. What we are seeing is a classic, really complicated balance-of-power struggle that could become a very dangerous situation. For now, the focus of the fighting is the rural hinterland of Aleppo, a landscape of rolling farmland dotted with villages and towns that are steadily being pulverized by the relentless Russian bombardments. Residents said the intensity of the strikes has increased since the announcement of the cease-fire agreement, perhaps as Russia and its allies seek to maximize their gains ahead of its possible implementation. Defeating the rebels here would enable the government to encircle and eventually crush the rebels in their stronghold in the eastern portion of the city of Aleppo, perhaps inflicting a decisive blow to the five-year-old rebellion against Assads rule. [Trapped Syrian refugees are pawns in a wider war] But more is at stake than the outcome of Syrias war. The Aleppo offensive is affirming Moscows stature as a dominant regional power across the heart of the Middle East. The advances by Shiite Iraqi and Lebanese militias are extending the sway of Iran far beyond the traditional Shiite axis of influence into Sunni areas of northern Syria. Although Syrias army is claiming the victories, rebels, military experts and videos by the fighters themselves say almost all of the advances are being made by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, the Iraqi Badr Brigade, Harakat al-Nujaba and other Iraqi Shiite militias that are sponsored by Iran. Meanwhile, the Aleppo countryside is emptying. Tens of thousands of people have streamed north to the Turkish border to escape the airstrikes, where they are being blocked by a Turkish government that is hosting 2.5 million Syrian refugees. They tell stories of entire villages being crushed and communities displaced. Mohammed Najjar, a resident of the town of Marae at the heart of the contested rural area, said that barely 5 percent of the town remained behind. His extended family had lost 15 houses just since the Aleppo offensive began two weeks ago, he said, speaking by telephone from the border area after he fled Marae last week. [Syrian rebels are losing Aleppo and perhaps also the war] Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said that driving people out of their homes has long been part of the Syrian governments strategy. Theyre depopulating areas of people whose loyalties are impossible to recover, he said. Its a much cheaper and easier way to occupy territory than by trying to win hearts and minds. Theyre simply going to push people out so that there is no insurgency. For Turkey, the biggest concern is that the vacuum along its borders will be filled by Kurds, whose dreams of independence have been brought closer by the chaos in Syria. The Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, have already been taking advantage of U.S. airstrikes in eastern Syria to expand a Kurdish enclave there. Now they are taking advantage of the Russian airstrikes around Aleppo to extend eastward from Afrin, another Kurdish enclave. The stated Kurdish goal is to link the two enclaves into one extended Kurdish territory that would span more than half of Turkeys border with Syria. The Kurdish expansion has caused friction between Washington and Ankara because Turkey regards the YPG as an affiliate of the Turkish Kurdish organization known as the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey. But the United States does not regard the YPG as a terrorist group and has worked closely alongside it in the fight against the Islamic State. Now, fighters with an alliance of Kurds and Arabs led by the YPG are closing in on the border town of Azaz, which controls the biggest Turkish gateway into Syria. Turkish artillery opened fire Saturday and again Sunday against two villages and an air base recently captured by the advancing Kurds in retaliation, a Turkish military statement said, for shells fired by the YPG that landed on a military base inside Turkey. Vice President Biden telephoned Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday to urge Turkey to halt its shelling. He emphasized the imperative for de-escalation in the area, according to a White House statement Sunday. Separately, a State Department statement called on the Kurds not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory. Within hours of the appeals, the Kurds seized another northern Aleppo village, Ain Daqna, and Turkey resumed its bombardment. There is no mood in Turkey for a war in Syria, but the risk of an unintended escalation is real, said Faysal Itani of the Washington-based Atlantic Council. Tensions between Russia and NATO member Turkey are already sky-high following Turkeys downing of a Russian jet last November, and any miscalculation could quickly trigger a Russian response. Turkey is under immense pressure, he said. It has a quasi-Kurdish state emerging on its border, and the groups it championed are being destroyed. Saudi Arabia also has talked of sending troops to Syria, prompting some speculation that the kingdom may be preparing to support a Turkish incursion. Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday, however, that Riyadh would send special forces only if the United States decides ground forces are needed for the fight against the Islamic State. So the timing is not up to us, he said during a news conference in Riyadh. Zakaria Zakaria contributed to this report. Nearly 50 civilians were killed in missile strikes on hospitals and two schools in northern Syria on Monday, the United Nations said, deepening the countrys humanitarian crisis despite plans for a temporary cease-fire later this week. Doctors Without Borders said that at least seven people were killed early Monday when rockets hit a clinic that it supports in Idlib province. The group also said eight people were missing in what it called a deliberate attack on its facilities. Doctors Without Borders did not say which group or military had fired the rockets; rights groups have documented numerous Russian and Syrian government strikes on hospitals and medical facilities across the country. In total, at least five medical facilities and two schools in Idlib and neighboring Aleppo province were attacked Monday, a U.N. spokesman said. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Mondays carnage casts doubt on Russias willingness and/or ability to stop the Syrian government from carrying out strikes on civilian targets. People carry a stretcher amidst debris after a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was hit by suspected Russian airstrikes near Maaret al-Numan, in Syria's northern province of Idlib, on February 15, 2016. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images) In a statement Monday, Kirby urged the cessation of hostilities that the Syrian people desperately need. The fresh fighting comes after Syrian regime forces backed by Russian warplanes, Iranian troops and Iraqi militia fighters have made significant gains against rebel forces in northern Syria in recent weeks. The advances have raised the stakes of the nearly five-year-long conflict, which already has transformed into a proxy war. [A mini world war rages in the fields of Aleppo] Last week, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which have supported the Syrian rebels, said that they planned to intensify strikes on the Islamic State in Syria and that they were also considering deploying ground troops to the country. Turkish and Saudi officials walked back those statements on Monday after U.S. diplomats called for calm. Its not true, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said Monday of reports that Turkey had already sent in a limited number of troops. Syrias state-run Syrian Arab News Agency published a letter from the countrys foreign ministry to the U.N. Security Council over the weekend. It claimed that Turkish forces were among 100 gunmen that entered the country Saturday in an operation to support anti-government rebels. There is no thought of Turkish soldiers entering Syria, Yilmaz said, according to Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also said late Sunday that the decision to deploy ground troops is up to the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State. The timing is not up to us, Jubeir said from the Saudi capital, Riyadh. But Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria, has vowed to prevent Syrian-Kurdish militias from seizing more territory that they could use for a future state. And Saudi Arabia has already been worried about growing Iranian influence in the region, analysts say. A Saudi diplomat said Sunday that Saudi Arabia was very serious about sending ground troops into Syria but that it will wait to see whether plans for a pause in hostilities agreed on by the United States and Russia transpires later this week. The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said the disarray on the Syrian battlefield spurred Saudi to action. He added that Riyadh wanted to counter Islamic State militants and Iranian influence in the country. Time is running out, he said. We are waiting for the peace process to end. We believe it will fail, and when it does, the situation will be completely different. He said Saudi officials discussed the possibility of sending troops with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during a recent three-day visit to Saudi Arabia. Yilmaz confirmed that a decision had been reached for Saudi Arabia to send four F-16 fighter jets to Turkeys Incirlik air base. Read more: Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Cunningham reported from Cairo. Only hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unveiled a vague plan Friday for the cessation of hostilities in Syria, US allies pushed for a major escalation of the war, as leaders of many major states met at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). On Saturday, Turkish and Saudi officials confirmed that they plan to begin bombing and launch a ground invasion of Syria. Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch an operation from the land, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Yeni Safak, adding that Saudi Arabia is ready to send both jets and troops to Incirlik air base in Turkey. Washington has given these operations its blessing, though they threaten to unleash a war that could engulf the entire Middle East and escalate into world war. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday that he expected commandos from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to invade Syria. Carter claimed they would attack the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS); however, Turkey and Saudi Arabia support Sunni Islamist forces in Syria like ISIS, and their aim would be to destroy Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime. Speaking to Germanys Sueddeutsche Zeitung Friday night, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir personally threatened the Syrian president: There will be no Bashar al-Assad in the future. The Iranian military, whose units are operating alongside Russian and Syrian government forces against NATO-backed Sunni Islamist groups, warned Sunday that they would respond to military escalation by Turkey and Saudi Arabia in kind. We will not let the situation in Syria get out of control so that some rogue states could implement their policies. If needed, we will take some appropriate decisions, declared Deputy Chief of Staff Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev had already warned that Saudi ground operations could provoke a new world war. He told Handelsblatt, A ground operation draws everyone taking part in it into a war... The Americans and our Arab partners must consider whether or not they want a permanent war. As Russian bombings and Syrian offensives threaten to retake the city of Aleppo from the opposition, NATO and its allies are signaling that they are willing to launch staggeringly reckless escalations to ensure the defeat of Assad and Moscow. The main MSC panel Saturday erupted into arguments over Syria as Kerry and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls attacked Russia, warning that NATO would not allow its Islamist proxies to be beaten. Kerry accused Moscow of repeated aggression in Syria, declaring, To date, the vast majority, in our opinion, of Russias attacks have been against legitimate opposition groups. He continued: Assad and his allies, including Russia, might believe that by defying the will of the international community they can win the war. If that is what Russia and Assad think, then I believe they would have been missing the lessons of the last five years. The US-backed opposition forces may be pushed back here and there but they are not going to surrender, Kerry said. The French prime minister echoed Kerrys hard line. We know that to find the path to peace again, the Russian bombing of civilians has to stop, Valls said. Whatever the death toll caused by the Kremlin oligarchys air strikes in Syria, the criticisms of Kerry and Valls are hypocritical and false to the core. The central cause of the war, which has claimed 300,000 lives and forced 11 million Syrians to flee their homes, is the drive of NATO and its Middle East allies to topple Assad. Sunni Islamist militias like Ahrar al-Sham and the Farouq Brigades, which they back as moderate opposition forces, advocate the creation of Sunni theocracies and sectarian violence against Shia Muslims. Medvedev, who sat next to Valls in the conference hall, replied by accusing him of fabricating his charges against Russia. There is no evidence of our bombing civilians, even though everyone is accusing us of this, he said. Medvedev then attacked NATOs stance towards Russia as hostile, comparing the situation to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. We have fallen into a new Cold War, he said. Nearly on a daily basis, we are being blamed for the most terrible threat to NATO as a whole, to Europe, to America, to other countries. They make scary movies where Russia starts a nuclear war. I sometimes wonder: are we in 2016 or 1962? Medvedevs reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which nearly led to nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, is not an idle one. Amid escalating crises between Russia and NATOfrom Ukraine, the naval standoff in the Black Sea and the Baltic republics, to Syriaever larger sections of military-diplomatic officialdom are concluding that all-out war between nuclear-armed powers is possible or even inevitable. The official conference document, the Munich Security Report 2016, made clear that world war is a possibility. It asserted, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the escalation of violence between major powers cannot be dismissed as an unrealistic nightmare. The fact that world leaders are bitterly arguing among themselves, while acknowledging that they are placing the world on the verge of wars that could annihilate humanity, testifies to the bankruptcy of the capitalist social order. Riven by social inequality and class tensions, torn apart by competition for profits and strategic advantage between the major powers, global capitalism has reached a dead end. The leaders of the major imperialist powers, including the US, Germany, France and Britain, see no alternative to war. Thus, MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger declared in closing remarks to the conference, There is a need for the use of military force to make and to enforce peace. It is sad that it is so, but it is so. The conference report listed many regional issues as posing serious threats. It cited crises in Brazil and Turkey, the dissolution of the European Union, a British exit from the EU, thinly veiled nuclear threats in Eastern Europe, the need to find hundreds of millions of jobs for Africas rising population, and Chinas rising economic and geo-strategic weight. The assembled officials are also increasingly aware of and concerned about the danger of social struggle: an upsurge of the working class from below. Significantly, the report identified mass social anger as one of the Top 10 Risks for 2016. It fretted, As slower growth and stagnating living standards stoke popular discontent, angry citizens will take to the streets. The conference also discussed the migrant crisis, as hundreds of thousands of Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi refugees flee war to Europe, where they have largely gone to Germany. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier used it to promote German remilitarization, a policy announced at the 2014 MSC. I think many of you were here two years ago, when we discussed the changing role of Germany and its responsibilities, he observed. Today we consider our responsibility in an absolutely different way: when the migration crisis started, we realized that this was about certain actions rather than abstract duties. This issue drew a reactionary retort from the French prime minister. Warning of the possible dissolution of the EU, Valls declared that Paris is not favorable to Berlins call for quotas to distribute refugees across the EU and that France would agree to take in only 30,000 refugees. A medical research works on results of tests for various diseases, including Zika, at the Gorgas Memorial laboratory Panama City on Feb. 5. (Photo: AP/Arnulfo Franco) WASHINGTON (AP) The government is shipping Zika virus tests for pregnant women to health departments around the country, but warning there could be temporary shortages, as travelers try to tell if they returned with an infection that could put a developing baby at risk. Health officials dont expect widespread transmission of the mosquito-borne virus in the continental United States, but said Thursday that Puerto Rico is especially vulnerable. They asked for emergency funding from Congress to battle an outbreak that is quickly spreading through Latin America. We may see rapid spread through the island and we need to respond urgently, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a Senate appropriations subcommittee. The Zika virus is suspected of causing a rare but potentially devastating birth defect, an abnormally small head, which can indicate underlying brain damage. Brazil has reported an apparent increase in cases of that defect, called microcephaly, as Zika exploded in that country, although scientists havent definitively proven the link. With each passing day the evidence that Zika is causally related gets stronger, Frieden said. Even in this week, the data thats come out makes it look very much like this is a virus thats what we call neurotropic it targets the nerve cells. Related: Study Highlights Zikas Devastating Spread to Fetus His agency last month found the Zika virus in the brain tissue of two dead newborns from Brazil and in placentas from two miscarriages. On Wednesday, European researchers caring for a woman who returned there from Brazil reported a post-abortion autopsy that found the virus in her fetus severely damaged brain one a fraction of the proper size and lacking the usual crinkly folds. Story continues If someone is actively infected, the CDC has a test that diagnoses Zika fairly well. But most people experience no symptoms or very mild one, and the antibody test used to tell afterward if they were infected isnt very accurate. It might reflect prior infection with related viruses instead. The CDC is urging pregnant women or those trying to become pregnant not to travel to Zika-affected areas. But if they already did, the CDC is telling doctors to test the women for Zika between two weeks and 12 weeks after they return. Those thought to have been infected then could undergo ultrasound scans to monitor fetal development. Frieden said the agency has shipped 62,000 of those Zika tests for pregnant women to health departments and is working on more but there may be a period of weeks or a couple of months where there arent enough tests for the women who want to have them done. Related: Brazil and University of Texas Reach Deal on Zika Vaccine How long after Zika exposure is it safe to get pregnant? Asked by lawmakers, Frieden responded, If this behaves as other viruses behave, there would be no risk to the next pregnancy after some period of a month or so, but we dont know that for sure. The Obama administration has asked Congress for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight Zika at home and abroad, including mosquito eradication, study of the microcephaly link and developing a vaccine. We are stretched, Frieden said, telling lawmakers the money is needed fast, within weeks. Asked if health officials couldnt instead use unspent money that Congress allocated for Ebola in West Africa, Frieden said those remaining dollars are committed to ensuring the remnants of that outbreak are stamped out. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said later Thursday that the House would act on the Zika spending request, though he said Republicans would search for spending cuts elsewhere in the budget to cover the cost and would scrub it for unnecessary items. We do anticipate some kind of bipartisan action on this because this is a problem we want to get ahead of, Ryan said. What Is the Zika Virus? More on the Zika virus on Yahoo Health: Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Health on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. WARNING: We're about to recap The Walking Dead's absolutely insane mid-season premiere! If you do not wish to know everything that happened in the series' deadliest episode of all time, leave now! For everyone else, grab your favorite weapon and let's go The Walking Dead kicked things off with a bang -- literally! -- during Sunday's highly anticipated midseason premiere with one of the most unexpected and satisfying moments of the series, and it only got more, and more intense as the hour continued. With a total of 12 human casualties and an unexpected bullet wound, Sunday's episode proved to be the most deadly and gruesome episode of the entire adrenaline-pumping series and we've rounded up the nine biggest moments! WATCH: New 'Walking Dead' Trailer Features A Hysterical Maggie! AMC 1. Daryl to the Rescue: Forget the crossbow! Daryl's newest badass weapon of choice is a military-grade RPG -- aka a rocket propelled grenade -- and he used it in the most shockingly satisfying moment. Just as Negan's gang of motorcycle vigilantes were about to slaughter Abraham and Sasha in the middle of the street, Daryl came to their rescue with an explosive twist. He blew up seven members of the cocky crew (and killed another with his bare hands!) before giving the most Daryl-esque explanation: "What a bunch of assh**es." 2. So Long, Sam: Rick came up with a new plan for his walker guts-soaked friends: Head to the quarry to get the vehicles and round up the walkers. Father Gabriel stayed behind to keep Judith safe in the church, but when Jessie suggested that Sam stay behind as well, the little brat (who should have already died) refused. "I can keep going!" he stubbornly assured his mother. While moving in the dead of night -- and camouflaged within a sea of walkers -- Carol's hauntingly intense monsters monologue from season five began to echo in Sam's mind. Paralyzed with fear, Sam refused to keep moving and as his mom tried to coax him forward, two walkers came out of nowhere and devoured the little boy alive. Story continues RECAP: Who Should've Died Instead of [Spoiler!] on 'The Walking Dead'! 3. A Mother's Worst Nightmare: While watching as the flesh was ripped from her youngest son, Jessie instinctively (yet stupidly) began to sob and cry out. Naturally, Jessie's uncontrollable screams caused her to be the night's next victim. As she disappeared under a pile of undead demons, Rick began to have a series of flashbacks about his Alexandria crush and went into a state of shock. 4. Backstabbers: Despite the fact that Jessie was being ripped a part, her grip on Carl's hand remained unbreakable. Once Rick finally snapped out of his dearly-departed daze, he used his ax to hack away at Jessie's hand and free Carl from her death-locked grip. Just as we thought we'd seen enough casualties for one scene, Jessie's oldest son, Rob, picked up Carl's gun from the ground and pointed it at Rick with a simple, yet ominous threat: "You." Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Michonne used her trusty Katana to literally stab Ron in the back. WATCH: 'Walking Dead' Teases Negan's Debut (and We're Terrified!) AMC / Image Comics 5. An Eye for a Family: Despite falling to the ground from Michonne's attack, Ron still managed to pull the gun's trigger, but he missed his target. Rick remained stunned, but unharmed. Carl, on the other hand, did not fare as well as his father. As the teen raised his head up, trails of blood gushed out from under the brim of his sheriff's hat. He turned to Rick and let out a simple, "Dad?" before passing out on the ground. Just as it happened in the Walking Dead comics, Carl was shot in the face and subsequently lost his right eye. 6. The Alexandrians Fight Back: While Doctor Denise turned on all the lights in the infirmary to save Carl's life, Rick ran outside to begin fighting off all the walkers that were drawn to the beams. His tenacity and bravery inspired the rest of the sheltered Alexandrians to finally fight back and embrace their killer instincts. Father Gabriel said it best: "We've been praying together. Praying that God will save our town. Well, our prayers have been answered. God will save Alexandria because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves." WATCH: 'Walking Dead' Star Lauren Cohan Dishes on Maggie's Fate! 7. We Almost Lost Glenn -- Again! With Maggie stuck at the top of the wall's watchtower, Glenn enlisted Enid to climb up and rescue his wife while he distracted the walkers away with a gun. Just as it looked that Glenn was going to be overtaken and killed (again!) by a swarm of zombies, Sasha and Abraham came to the rescue with machine guns, and unleashed a wave of walker-killing bullets. 8. Banishing Walkers to a Fiery Grave: With Daryl, Sasha and Abraham back in town, the battle against the walkers reached an epic climax. Daryl dumped gallons of gasoline into the town lake and then, once again, fired his new favorite weaponinto the water creating a fiery pond from hell. Drawn to the light, the herd of walkers unsuspectingly stumbled into their own graves while the citizens of Alexandria viciously slaughtered the rest. PHOTOS: Has 'The Walking Dead' Cast Paul 'Jesus' Monroe? 9. Carl's Fate: At the very end of the epic hour, Rick sat by Carl's beside and gave a heartfelt speech to his unconscious son about all the changes he wants to do in Alexandria now that the residents proved their worth. "I want to show you the new world, Carl," Rick pleaded. "I want to make it a reality for you. Please, Carl, let me show you." The gruesome episode ended on a high note with Carl slowly closing his hand around his fathers. The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC. What did you think of tonight's death-filled mid-season premiere? Which shocking moment was your favorite? Share your thoughts with @LeanneAguilera on Twitter! Related Articles WHAT DO COLUMBAN LAY MISSIONARIES DO? Lay missionaries also take time to reflect on their life's journey. They join workshops and seminars, e.g., that which foster better understanding among cultures. They too study so that they are more effective in their chosen ministries. Once a year they come together to share their mission and personal experience by way of the annual gathering. This is the time to strengthen bonds, build bridges, and discuss issues of common concern. Lay Missionaries are engaged in catechesis and bible studies, family life, youth, women, children and prison ministries. Others are involved in programs for migrants, elderly, environment and care for creation, differently abled persons. Still others are engaged in inter-faith dialogue, health and livelihood programs.Lay missionaries also take time to reflect on their life's journey. They join workshops and seminars, e.g., that which foster better understanding among cultures. They too study so that they are more effective in their chosen ministries. Once a year they come together to share their mission and personal experience by way of the annual gathering. This is the time to strengthen bonds, build bridges, and discuss issues of common concern. WHERE ARE COLUMBAN LAY MISSIONARIES SENT? Filipino Columban Lay Missionaries have served in Pakistan, Peru, Brazil, Britain, Fiji, Ireland, Korea, Myanmar, China, Taiwan and Chile. Columban Lay Missionaries also serve in Japan and US-Mexico border. At present, there are 14 active Filipino lay missionaries. There is one in Ireland, one in Britain, five in Taiwan, three in the Philippines, one in the USA-Mexico border, one in Pakistan, one in Myanmar, one in the Central Leadership Team based in Hong Kong. (Updated August 2022) A search of the vehicle revealed 17 pounds of suspected cocaine and dozens of unknown pills. The substances were located in a hidden compartment in the rear of the vehicle. Conferencing Zone Week in Review: Logitech, Polycom, and TrueConf Share Tweet By Kyle Piscioniere Web Editor By Kyle PiscioniereWeb Editor Here at The Conferencing Zone, we deliver the most important conferencing industry news. Now, with the workweek behind us, lets take some time to review the major trends. This week was all about the group. Collaborative videoconferencing is really the next big hurdle for the industry, and companies are all scrambling to provide the first best solution. Logitech (News - Alert) led this weeks charge with the release of its GROUP Conference Room System. Contributor Rory Lidstone explains how the smaller company is taking on Microsoft (News - Alert), Cisco, and others already in the conference room market. He also details GROUPs specs, which may make it more competitive in the already fierce market. Not to be outdone, Polycom (News - Alert) deployed its new Video Collaboration Solution, RealPresence Centro, to a limited client: NATO. The international organization will be demonstrating RealPresences capabilities before the product goes to the open market. Rounding out this weeks product deployments, TrueConf will be updating their video conferencing systems with 4K video. Now youll be able to see every shadow, wrinkle, and furrowed brow on your bosss face in exquisite detail. And finally, we got a video interview with virtual meeting room maker Masergy Communications. Paula Bernier (News - Alert), Executive Editor at TMC, sat down with Dean Manzoori to go over the market, Masergys contributions to the enterprise ecosystem, and the future of videoconferencing. For one last, intensive look at collaborative technology, be sure to watch Paulas interview. It should be fun to watch the video conferencing market level out. So many new, better, and updated products are hitting the shelves, though, that it may be a while before we see any final stasis. And the big players will continue to dominate while the bit players scramble. Thats it for this week. Enjoy the weekend, and well see you next week for the Conferencing Zone Week in Review. The African Network for Environmental Sustainability (ANFES) aims to ensure that environmental sustainability research agenda and commercial exploitation of local communities natural resources benefit local communities by responding to their needs and aspirations and by improving their livelihoods opportunities. MONDAY, Feb. 15, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Millions of family and friends who help older, disabled adults manage medications and navigate the health system may be sacrificing their own well-being, a new study suggests. Caregivers who provided "substantial help" with health care in these settings were roughly twice as likely to experience physical, financial and emotional difficulties as those who did not provide that help, the study found. Such caregivers, if they worked for a living, were three times more likely to be less productive on the job due to caregiving-related distractions and fatigue, according to the analysis. The researchers believe it's the first nationally representative study of the effects of caregiving experienced by those who assist older adults with health care. "Families are really invisible, even though they're commonly attending medical visits or they're involved when someone's in the hospital, managing the transition back home," said study author Jennifer Wolff. She is an associate professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. The study is published in the Feb. 15 online edition of JAMA Internal Medicine. Caregivers see themselves as daughters, sons, spouses and friends -- not necessarily as "caregivers," Carol Levine, director of the New York City-based United Hospital Fund's Families and Health Care Project, explained in a commentary in the same issue. They may feel uncomfortable or too overwhelmed to take advantage of support groups and services, she said. Yet, they are the ones asking questions about treatments, giving injections and managing medications -- a stressful role that can take a toll on their well-being, she said. "By expecting family members to do all this stuff with relatively little support, we've created a multigenerational set of health problems, and so I think it's extremely concerning," Levine said. Using data from two national surveys, Wolff and colleagues estimated that 14.7 million unpaid caregivers in the United States -- mostly family members -- assist 7.7 million older adults. Nearly half of the older adults have dementia, and more than a third have a severe disability, the study findings showed. And 6.5 million of those caregivers provide substantial help with health care, meaning they assist with coordinating care and managing medications. Another 4.4 million provide some help, and 3.8 million provide no help with health care, the investigators found. Caregivers who provide substantial help with health care are more likely to live with the older adult than those who provided some or no care, the researchers said. And they devote much more time to caregiving -- more than 28 hours a week -- than caregivers who don't help with health care (just over eight hours a week). Almost half of caregivers who provided substantial help were assisting an older adult with dementia, the researchers reported. Caregivers who provide substantial help are five times more likely to curb participation in things they enjoy -- such as visiting friends, attending religious services or participating in clubs or group activities -- than those who provide no help with health care, the study revealed. Health care reforms aimed at rewarding teams of providers for the value of care they provide have largely ignored the role that family caregivers play, the study authors explained. "It's a crisis of the system," Wolff said. "I think that families are often really disadvantaged because they don't have a recognized role in the health system." Dr. Eric Coleman, a geriatrician at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, said caregivers don't want to be assessed by the health care system; "they want to feel more confident and prepared." Coleman, winner of a 2012 MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellowship for his work on transitioning patients from hospital to home, has developed a website and tools to help caregivers manage a loved one's care at home. Likewise, the United Hospital Fund's Next Step in Care website provides advice and tips for caregivers navigating the complex health care system. Such tools, though, are only part of the solution, Levine said. What's needed, she said, is more creative thinking about how to help caregivers unwind and de-stress. For example, Levine mentioned one program that brings together people with Alzheimer's and their caregivers to sing and perform in concert. Respite care that provides caregivers a needed break from their responsibilities may be helpful, too, but tough to find in rural areas, she said. "We need to give caregivers the freedom to say you matter as a person, and that doesn't just mean your physical health; that means your mental well-being, your quality of life," Levine said. More information There's more on caregiving at the University of Colorado, Denver. Via Vanguard: Medical doctor dies of Lassa Fever in Rivers. Excerpt: PORT HARCOURTA medical doctor with Rivers State-owned Braithwait Memorial Specialist Hospital, BMH, Dr. Livy Ijamala, has died from Lassa Fever, bringing to three the number of people killed by the disease in the state. Chairman of the state branch of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Furo Green, disclosed this yesterday in Port Harcourt, saying the late doctor, Ijamala, who died in the early hours of yesterday from the ailment, had contact with patients infected with Lassa Fever. Dr. Furo added that the late medical doctor had been buried in line with recommendations of World Health Organization, WHO, for deaths from contagious diseases. He also said a team from WHO had already visited the hospital for assessment, adding that the hospital had been decontaminated and that those who had contacts with the late Dr. Ijamala had been placed on observation. He said: Last night, one of our hard-working doctors in the department of obstetrics gynaecology, Dr. Livy Ijamala, lost his life following infection with Lassa Fever. This is the price medical doctors and health personnel pay for offering health services to the public. The hospital is being decontaminated as we speak. All medical doctors and healthcare personnel that had primary contact with the late medical doctor have been placed under observation. as doctors begin strike He also said medical doctors in the state were on three days strike to protest the frequent abduction of medical doctors in the state. He said within the week two of his colleagues, Dr. Isaac Opurum and Dr. Ib Aprioku were taken hostage at separate times. He said in 2015, 21 doctors were abducted in the state. According to him, the warning strike was to draw attention to the plight of medical doctors. Canada, US, Mexico ink MoU to Cooperate on Climate Change Published: February 15, 2016 Canada, United States (US) and Mexico have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Climate Change and Energy Collaboration to tap into energy cooperation among three countries. The MoU was signed at the North American Energy Ministers Meeting held in Winnipeg, Canada and hosted by Canadas Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr. Key facts This energy cooperation MoU reflects shared vision of three North American countries for a future where an expanding clean energy sector, a sustainable environment. Under the MoU, the three countries will collaborate and share information in key areas such as clean energy technologies, low-carbon electricity and energy efficiency. They will also share information in areas like carbon capture, climate change adaptation, use and storage and reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector including from methane (CH4). They will also work together to increase policy alignment and ensure that North American energy sector is developed effectively, efficiently and responsibly. During the meeting, the three ministers also discussed the importance of trilateral cooperation and continental approach to energy. They also launched a web platform featuring new energy maps. These maps for the first time depict North American energy resources, production and infrastructure in a single place. 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Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe The number of houses on the Washington, D.C. market this year will increase, but not by as much as previous years. UrbanTurf reported that the listings are also expected to spend less time on the market and have higher prices. Already, the housing inventory growth has soured. According to new data from RealEstate Business Intelligence, the number of active listings in January 2016 rose 4.1 percent year-over-year, a major difference from 2015's difference to 2014. In January 2015, the year-over-year growth was 17.9 percent, while in January 2014, the year-over-year growth was 11.5 percent. Elliot Eisenberg of RealEstate Business Intelligence told UrbanTurf that this sharp decline in growth is attributed to historical cycles and sustained buyer demand. He expects the inventory growth to turn negative by mid-year and last for 18 months. Why DC's Housing Inventory Growth Will Turn Negative in 2016 [UrbanTurf] The Lincoln Memorial will soon undergo what is most likely the biggest overhaul for the structure since it was dedicated almost 100 years ago. The National Park Service announced that the Memorial will be renovated with help from philanthropist David Rubenstein's $18.5 million donation. The renovation is expected to take four years. The Memorial will remain open during the work. The renovation will expand the exhibit space, bathrooms, and bookstore inside the Memorial. This area beneath beneath the chamber that supports the statue of Abraham Lincoln will increase from roughly 750 square feet to 15,000 square feet, reported The Washington Post. After the work is complete, visitors will be able to view the foundation that supports the memorial along with the graffiti placed there by the workers who built the monument in 1922. The slate roof will also be repaired, and the 60-foot-long Jules Guerin murals inside will be restored, according to The Washington Post. Damaged brick and marble masonry will also be repaired. Rubenstein's donation was part of the National Park Foundation's Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks, which is the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in the Foundation's history, according to the National Park Service's press release. The effort's goal is to raise $350 million. Currently, over $200 million have been raised. Past projects Rubenstein has contributed to include the repair of the Washington Monument in 2012 and the refurbishment of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in April 2015. Lincoln Memorial, nearing 100, to get multimillion-dollar overhaul [The Washington Post] David Rubenstein Donates $18.5 Million to the National Park Foundation to Restore the Lincoln Memorial [PR Newswire] Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. A top court in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday sentenced four Emiratis to death after convicting them of joining the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, local media reported. The 4, who were tried in absentia, are part of a group of 11 defendants accused of "joining the terrorist Daesh group in an Arab country", the official WAM news agency said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. Local newspapers said that the group had travelled to Syria. They were also charged with "promoting" IS online, helping to finance the group and insulting UAE leaders, WAM said. 3 other Emiratis, a Bahraini, a Mauritanian and a Syrian were handed jail sentences of between three and 10 years, the local Gulf News daily reported. Another Emirati was acquitted. Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court does not allow international media access to such trials. The UAE is a member of the US-led coalition that has been bombing IS jihadists in Iraq and Syria since September 2014. UAE authorities have enacted tougher anti-terror legislation, including harsher jail terms and even introducing the death penalty for crimes linked to religious hatred and extremist groups. In July, the UAE executed an Emirati woman for the jihadist-inspired 2014 murder of an American school teacher in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall. Her husband is accused of seeking to carry out attacks on targets including Abu Dhabi's Formula 1 circuit and has reportedly claimed to be the local leader of IS. He is currently on trial. In another case, the same court jailed three Arabs for 10 years each after convicting them of ties to the Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen, WAM said on Sunday. It acquitted 3 others for lack of evidence against them, it added. The UAE is also playing a key role in a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the Huthis and their allies in Yemen since March last year. Source: Agence France-Presse, Feb. 15, 2016 The industry corridors are echoing with the chatter around various sops proposed by the government to improve the power situation in the country. New Delhi: Solar power industry wants the government to give tax incentives and financial support to make 'solar' an attractive and viable option, ahead of the Union Budget. The government has ambitious plans for deployment of 175 GW renewable power capacities by 2022, including 100 GW of solar. "The solar rooftop industry will certainly need better non-recourse financing options by increasing power sector exposure limits of domestic banks," one of the players in the solar industry said. Amplus Solar MD & CEO Sanjeev Aggarwal said extension of tax holidays, waiver of electricity duty and banking charge for solar rooftops, activating REC benefits for rooftop projects and captive projects will certainly motivate more rooftop installations to come up in cities and towns. "The industry corridors are echoing with the chatter around various sops proposed by the government to improve the power situation in the country," he said. "The need of the hour is to create an effective ecosystem to enhance solar power generation capacity across India. Enforcement of net metering guidelines across states and renewable purchase obligations, strengthening of grid infrastructure to accommodate intermittent solar power, and promoting storage solutions by way of incentives, subsidies etc. form the foremost asks of the solar power industry," he added. While bankability of the discoms still remains a concern, going ahead it will be necessary for the state and centre to conduct targeted studies to assess strengthening of grid infrastructure to accommodate intermittent solar power and banking of power, Aggarwal added. The solar rooftop industry will certainly need better non-recourse financing options by increasing power sector exposure limits of domestic banks, another player in the solar industry said. KPMG's Santosh Kamath said in the forthcoming budget there should be an outlay for incentivising storage technologies which would be useful for both solar as well as the Electric Vehicle industry. Asserting that there should be allocations to make coal plants flexible, he said this may be provided to states with high levels of solar and wind resources as a support mechanism to encourage adoption. He said the government should continue with allocations for the solar water pump programme to make it sustainable. New Delhi: Actress Shabana Azmi says she is confident her upcoming movie 'Neerja' will get a clearance for release in Pakistan, amid reports that it has been banned there. The Sonam Kapoor-starrer, based on real incidents during the hijacking of the Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi airport in 1986, has been banned in Pakistan allegedly for showing the country in poor light. "The film is yet to be seen by the selection committee. So, we are waiting for their reaction and we are absolutely confident that once they watch the film they will have no problem with it," Shabana, who plays Neerja's mother, told reporters here. "Neerja was awarded the Ashok Chakra by Indian government, a medal by Pakistan and a citation by the US government. There is no way that we will tell a story in which a girl was awarded by Pakistani government and show the country in poor light. I'm really confident that when they will watch the film, they will realise their apprehensions were completely misfounded." When asked to comment, director Ram Madhavani said there is no official word yet and they will come to know in another two days. The movie revolves around Neerja Bhanot, a flight attendant on board a Pan Am Mumbai-New York flight, who was shot dead by terrorists during the hijacking while trying to save the lives of passengers. The movie team along with Neerja's brothers have launched a biography on the late flight attendant. Mumbai: With just few days to go for Sonam Kapoors Neerja, the makers have released yet another heart-wrenching track 'Aisa Kyun Maa'. This special song which pays tribute to all mothers will have you reaching out for tissues. The beautiful track has been sung by Sunidhi Chauhan with her signature aplomb. The film directed by Ram Madhvani features Sonam as Neerja, a Pan Am chief purser who was gunned down by terrorists when Flight 73 was hijacked to Karachi in 1986. Watch the song below. If you are willing to experiment with your taste buds, then this is the perfect occasion. Mumbai: The celebration of 'The Year of the Monkey' continues and we give you another reason to celebrate this Chinese New Year. This auspicious festival is a month long affair and The Year of the Monkey follows the steady Year of the Sheep, a year dedicated to contemplation. Born in this year? Then here's something you should know. Monkey is a mischevious sign, is clever, inventive, funny, social. And just to let you know 2016 is a combination of monkey sign with fire heralds an adventurous year full of confidence, innovation and decisiveness. If you are willing to experiment with your taste buds, then this is the perfect occasion. With changing trend and people embracing different cultures, various restaurants in India are celebrating this tradition with limited edition menus that are designed especially for this time. When you think of Chinese food, the first thing that comes into your mind is dumplings, juicy pork belly, sticky rice and cigar mantou roll. "Conventionally, the Chinese celebrate the New Year by indulging in dumplings, dishes featuring fish, oranges & noodles amongst many other ingredients, since they are considered lucky," says Chef Stanley, Head Chef of India, Yauatcha. "As a Modern Cantonese dim sum teahouse, our restaurant commemorates Chinese New Year at a global level. This year is the Year of the Monkey and we have special offerings that celebrate this fact," says Nelson Nair, General Manager, Yauatcha Mumbai. "Our our chefs have developed a limited edition menu for our customers to experience the flavours of Chinese New Year," Nair added. Here's what you must try when you plan to savour Cantonese cuisine on your next visit: Kiwi and black olive dumplings: (Photo: Yauatcha, Mumbai) You might have tried various dumplings, but we bet you nothing can beat this one. Kiwi and black olive dumpling are refreshing for your palette. Corn, carrot and curry dumpling: (Photo: Yauatcha, Mumbai) These dumplings are a must try. The finely chopped veggies easily manage to tackle your taste bud and you wouldn't resist going for another one. " I have used unique and luxurious produce such as White Truffle, Belgium Pork Belly & Lobster. In order to suit the Indian palate and preferences, I have included special vegetarian options and ensured a balance of flavors is established in the Chinese New Year menu," says Chef Stanley, Head Chef of India, Yauatcha. Wok Fried Lobster: (Photo: Yauatcha, Mumbai) Though not everyone is a lobster fan but when tossed with the right sauce it can make you go crazy. This dish delivers the perfect poise of pulpy and juiciness with classic Hunan spice. Braised pork belly: (Photo: Yauatcha, Mumbai) Cooked in yellow bean sauce, this pork will make you lick your finger. Served with cigar mantou roll, braised pork belly is indeed a perfect pick. Macaroon platter: (Photo: Yauatcha, Mumbai) End your meal with this yummy platter that will definitely satisfy your tummy. Make your pick from blackberry, gin & tonic, elderflower ginger, chamomile, bitter orange almond and rose rosehip macaroons and let us know which one you liked. The study suggests that men who want to have the best chance of conceiving should take this into account. A US study says that a good way of improving the quality of a mans sperm and thereby increasing his fertility is for him to sleep naked at night and wear boxers during the day. This study from the US National Health Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Stanford University in California was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which is being held from 17 to 21 October in the US city of Baltimore. Its findings showed that underwear that is too tight can affect sperm quality and reduce the likelihood of reproductive success. To arrive at these conclusions, the team of researchers followed 500 men for 12 months, tracking their choice of underwear during the day and at night and recording their sperm quality data. They discovered that those who wore boxers during the day and slept in the nude had a 25% lower risk of DNA fragmentation in their sperm, which can affect sperm quality, compared to men who usually wore tight underwear during the day and night. Among men in the general population attempting pregnancy, type of underwear worn during the day and to bed is associated with semen quality, said Dr Katherine Sapra, the studys lead author. Reducing exposure for bed decreases DNA fragmentation and better quality parameters are observed in men wearing boxers during the day and none in bed. The study suggests that men who want to have the best chance of conceiving should take this into account, although it also mentioned that additional research is required. Previous studies have shown that heat exposure and tight underwear had a negative impact on fertility by destroying part of the sperm cells. But this is the first study to link clothing habits, day or night, with sperm quality. Frances National Institute for Health Surveillance (InVS) undertook a vast survey between 1989 and 2006, which was published in the December 5, 2012 edition of the journal Human Reproduction. It showed that sperm count had decreased by 30% in France and the number of spermatozoa was falling by 2% each year. Sperm morphology was also increasingly atypical. In the UK, 40% of men sleep naked according to a survey published in 2014 for the textile brand Cotton USA. The pouches are sealed with diluted milk by using a packing machine. Hyderabad: Milk is being adulterated on a wide scale in the city with the authorities turning a blind eye. Several gangs adulterate milk at the dairy level on the citys outskirts. They mix chemicals to produce synthetic milk. These chemicals have a negative impact on human health. In Hyderabad city, the gangs are adopting a simpler method to cheat people. They add up to 50 per cent water to dilute milk supplied by branded dairies. To mix water, the gangs only need a pair of scissors, polythene sachet packers, cones, water and empty milk sachets. A Worker cuts open the pouch, pours milk into a container where it is mixed with water. Cyberabad additional DCP (Crimes) B. Srinivas Reddy said, These gangs skillfully cut the corner of milk sachets and take out the milk. They add an equal amount of water and seal the sachets with packing machines. These gangs select colonies where middle-class families reside or slum areas. People living in these locations generally are not too particular about the manufacturing and expiry dates printed on the milk sachets. Hyderabad task force DCP B. Limba Reddy said, Last year we arrested a gang that was making synthetic milk and the case was handed over to drug control officials. South and East Zone task force teams additional DCP N. Koti Reddy said that the police had been trying to contain food adulteration. Recently we nabbed ghee adulteration and illegal banana ripening gangs. If we get any leads about milk adulteration, we will conduct raids, he said. Cyberabad team arrests an offender The Cyberabad Special Operations Team on Sunday apprehended a person for adulterating milk with water. Malkajgiri SOT inspector N. Ch. Ranga Swamy said that D. Amrutha Lalu, 42, from Sainagar, Neredmet, a native of Maharashtra, had taken to milk adulteration for easy money. He procured empty sachets from tea vendors and hotels at Neredmet, adulterated fresh milk by mixing water up to 50 per cent and filled the empty sachets in the morning. He sold the adulterated milk sachets in colonies and slums, he said. Police seized a packing machine, 100 litres of milk, a plastic tub, a funnel and about 300 empty milk sachets. SOT police has handed over the accused along with the seized property for further action. Bengaluru: A 30-year-old Ugandan woman was allegedly assaulted by a Nigerian man, after she refused to buy him liquor. The woman, who does not have a passport, is undergoing treatment and the police are on the lookout for the absconding accused. Shakira Nsonko, a resident of Kukkenahalli near Banjara Layout, has filed a complaint with Hennur police. The accused has been identified as Onsas. According to the complaint, Shakira had gone to a hotel run by Joy, who prepares African food, in Banjara Layout around 10 pm on February 10. She had gone there for dinner and she was drunk. Her friend Gifletin was accompanying her. After a while, Onsas went to the same hotel and had a few drinks. Later, he allegedly asked Shakira to buy him a few drinks. But when she asked whether she knew him, he reportedly picked up a quarrel. Meanwhile, her friend left the hotel as she had some work. After she left, Onsas allegedly pushed her and slapped her, the police said. Joy, who runs the hotel, came to her rescue, took her inside a room and locked it. The complainant informed her boyfriend Tony about the incident. After sometime, when she came out of the room and was walking towards the parking lot, she was against attacked and pushed by Onsas. He also allegedly assaulted her with a knife and fled from the premises. She sustained injuries on her forehead and by that time Tony reached the spot and took her to a hospital in Kammanahalli, the police said. Shakira reportedly did not tell the doctors that it was an assault, but claimed that she was involved in a road accident in Kengeri. The accused is known to her boyfriend Tony. After the incident, Onsas reportedly called Tony and told him that he would bear the medical expenses and requested him not to file a police complaint. As part of the procedure, when the hospital authorities contacted the Kengeri traffic police, they said that no accident occurred in their jurisdiction on the night of February 10, the police said. A police team was sent to question her and she changed her statement to say that the accident took place in Babusapalya. When Banasawadi traffic police were contacted, even they said no accident had taken place. The doctors later informed us that it was an injury inflicted by a knife. When she was questioned, she revealed that she did not want to file a complaint initially. As the accused did not pay the medical expenses, she had decided to file a case, an official said. The Hennur police, who have registered a case, are on the lookout for Onsas. Mumbai: Concerned over JNU row, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor today said government should not interfere much in the functioning of universities and that such educational institutions should be treated as autonomous. "My personal view is that we shouldn't have too much government interference in universities. Even as minister, I felt our education system is over-regulated and under- governed," Tharoor said on the sidelines of 'Make in India Week' here. "We should leave universities as autonomous places," he said, adding that as a minister he would not have written to the Vice Chancellor about matters related to disciplining or punishments. The former Minister of State for Human Resource Development was reacting to the controversy at JNU that erupted last week over holding an event on the campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. During the event, anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised, while denouncing the hanging of Guru. Subsequently, JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on sedition charges, following complaints by BJP MP Maheish Girri and ABVP. Expressing his disappointment on incidents in Hyderabad and JNU, Tharoor said "this is not the India of the future that we are trying to build". "We want an India where students grow up in an academic environment of hope, an academic environment where they have freedom to think and express themselves and to disagree," he said. "Disagreement is the essence of democracy, we should let them have that," he added. Mumbai: On an acerbic note, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed took to Twitter to pour out his resentment against Home Minister Rajnath Singhs recent remark on how the former was behind the crackdown in JNU. He accused the Indian government of fooling its citizens on the basis of flimsy twitter accounts. Expressing himself in a series of tweets, Saeed said, "All allegations put forward by India are based on hatred and enmity towards Pakistan." Alleging me for #JNU protest based on a Fake account in my name is a prime example of how Indian government fools its own people. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 All allegations put forward by India are based on hatred and enemity towards Pakistan. #JNU #FakeAccountScam Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 He further released a video wherein he said that he was saddened by the way the Union Minister tried to malign his name by holding him responsible for the lockdown in the University. Saeed further said that Kashmiri youth are not acting on anyone's order. Kashmiri youth are not acting on anyone's orders. The opression and atrocities they have faced is enough to make them resilient #JNU Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 Pakistan's ideology is resonating from Srinagar to Delhi, can't hide reality. Kashmiris are writing history with their determination. #JNU Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 On Sunday, Rajnath Singh accused Hafiz Saeed of being responsible for spearheading the protests at JNU on the death anniversary of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed . This is a truth that the nation needs to understand,said the Minister in an interview in Allahabad. Singhs comments came in the wake of Saeeds fake twitter handle that sparked a furor across social media. The handle carried a hashtag asking Pakistan to support the JNU crackdown. Jumping the gun, Delhi Police issued a notice on social media platform, asking students not to get carried away by such tweets. Advisory issued by Delhi police (Photo: Twitter) However, later on it was found that the much talked of Saeeds twitter handle was a fake one. New Delhi: Faiza Outalha, the divorced wife of American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, has replied to all questions of National Investigation Agency (NIA) relating to her knowledge of the conspiracy behind 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Besides Outalha, the probe agency also recorded the statement of a New York-based cousin of Headley through a questionnaire sent through the US Department of Justice, official sources said. Headley, who is at present undergoing a prison term of 35 years in a Chicago jail for conspiring in terror attacks in Mumbai and Denmark, had started a video parlour in New York in 1997. The legal process of quizzing Outalha concluded only after the NIA sent a fresh request in French to Moroccan authorities for recording her statement pertaining to her knowledge of her estranged husband's association with LeT terror group. French is generally used by the Moroccan government for international diplomatic communications. The Moroccan government had earlier sent Outalha's reply in response to a Letters Rogatory (LR) sent by the NIA in 2012 but it did not cover many of the questions asked by terror probe agency. The NIA had registered a case in 2009 to probe the activities of Headley in India. In the absence of any Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty between India and Morocco, the LR had been issued on the basis of "Assurance of Reciprocity", thereby promising the African country of all assistance in any legal cases in future. Outalha had visited India twice and was used by Headley, a US national whose father was a Pakistani and mother a white American, while carrying out a reconnaissance mission at Hotel Taj Mahal in Mumbai. During her stay in Pakistan, Outalha had met Hafiz Saeed and complained to him against Headley that he used to misbehave with him and also misappropriated her money. She had also gone to the US embassy in Islamabad and informed the authorities there about Headley's involvement with terror groups like LeT and Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, the sources said. Outalha, who married Headley in February 2007 and divorced him a year later, has been able to give security agencies an insight into the personal life of Pakistani-American terrorist, besides his connections in Mumbai. After the divorce the two had patched up and she had flown to Mumbai from Karachi. She came to India for a second time, entering the country through the Wagah border. During her first visit in 2007 she stayed with Headley at Taj Mahal Hotel and later in Oberoi-Trident, both targets of the 26/11 attack. On her second visit in May 2008, she entered via Wagah and went straight to Manali for a holiday. She later toured some areas of Shimla, including nearby Kufri, a popular tourist destination. During his recent deposition before a Mumbai court via video link, Headley had said Outalha had lodged a case against him with the Race Course police station in Lahore. He said the complaints were mainly about his being abusive and not returning money he had borrowed from her. However, In January 2008, she had complained to the US Embassy in Islamabad that Headley was involved in terrorist activities and was also closely associated with Lashkar. Headley told the Mumbai court that Lashkar operative Abdul Rehman Pasha, one of the wanted accused, had advised him to keep her busy for safety reasons. "Perhaps Pasha had apprehensions that she might disclose the conspiracy plan," Headley said. Besides her, the first cousin of Headley had also recorded his statement to NIA about his mental state while he was working with him in his video parlour at New York. He said that Headley had become a devout Muslim and did not like working at the video parlour. NIA, which was handed over the task to probe the activities of Headley, has already filed charge sheet against Headley, his Canadian-Pakistani accomplice Tahawuur Rana, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the outfits operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and five others including two army majors believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI. The NIA, however, refused to share information tendered by Outalha. Earlier, Headley's another wife Shazia and business associate Raymond Sanders had turned down a similar request of NIA to answer questions related to his association with the terror group, citing a US privacy law. New Delhi: Chairman of All-India Anti-Terrorism Front Maninderjit Singh Bitta along with the kin of Parliament attack victims today demanded stringent action against the students allegedly involved in the "anti-national act" in the JNU. They also threatened to protest if no action was taken against those guilty of holding an event in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on the JNU campus. "We demand stringent action against those who had raised slogans against India, the judicial hanging of terror convict Afzal Guru, in support of Pakistan and demanded freedom of Kashmir. "They have insulted the sentiments of those families whose sons, brothers or husbands have sacrificed their lives during the 2001 Parliament attack," Bitta told reporters here. He said there was a need to find out those who were supporting the students. "Has the Government become so weak that it is not able to find who among 50 students had raised pro-Pakistan slogans?" Bitta said, adding that he will meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar along with the martyrs' family. "We will ask the VC to expel those students and hand them over to police. Footages are in front of him and he should take action. He should not allow the JNU campus to become a hub of politics," Bitta said. He also said if action was not taken against the guilty within a month, then he along with the kin and widows of Parliament attack victims will take out a protest march outside JNU. "Nobody asks us how they we are doing or what problems we are facing. But from time to-time salt is rubbed on our wounds. Fun is being made of the sacrifice of our family member and our sentiments are being insulted. "Action should be taken against the students who have raised the issue of Afzal Guru," said Gangadevi, wife of Delhi Police Assistant Sub-Inspector Nanak Chand who lost his life in the Parliament attack. Bihar Sharif: A local court on Monday issued arrest warrants against suspended RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav and three others in connection with a rape case involving a minor. Additional District and Sessions Judge Rashmi Shikha also issued a warrant to conduct searches at the legislator's residence at Pathra village of Nawada district where he allegedly raped the minor girl on February 6. Public prosecutor Manzar Hasan Khan said that the court also recorded the statements of the victim's sister and father in which they corroborated the rape incident. Deputy Inspector General of Police Shalin had on Saturday issued an arrest order following a complaint against the MLA by the 15-year-old girl from Nalanda who had alleged that Yadav raped her on February 6 at his residence. The statement of the girl has been taken under section 164 of IPC and an FIR in the case was lodged against Yadav with women police station, Nalanda, on February 9, he said. The girl had identified the accused MLA when his photograph was shown to her and later she identified him in person also, the DIG had said. Following the public prosecutor's contention that police team was prevented from collecting forensic evidence at Yadav's residence in Nawada on Sunday, the judge also issued search warrant of his residence in Nawada. The team from Nalanda had gone to collect bedsheet and clothes for forensic test but Yadav's supporters demanded the presence of a magistrate to collect the forensic evidence. RJD took serious note of Yadav's alleged misconduct and suspended him from the party on Sunday. The party also served a show-cause notice to the legislator to explain his position. Yadav won from Nawada seat in the recent Assembly election and had previously served as a minister in the RJD government. New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking a CBI probe into the 2002 hit-and-run case on the ground that corrupt means have been adopted in securing the acquittal of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. "These are all wild allegations. He must have spent Rs 25 crore on lawyers," a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi observed when the lawyer said there were news reports quoting Salim Khan that they had to spend Rs 25 crore in securing acquittal for his actor son. "What are the materials to substantiate this; they must have hired lawyers. How can you say that they did something wrong," it said and dismissed the PIL filed by advocate M L Sharma. The PIL had alleged that Salman and others had "succeeded" in manipulating "police and judicial system" in the case. The same bench is hearing appeals filed by Maharashtra government and the family of the victim, who were killed in the incident, against the acquittal of Salman in the case. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represents the state government in the case, had argued that Salman was driving his SUV in a drunken state when it ran over the victims sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai in 2002. He had also debunked the theory that instead of Salman, his driver Ashok Brahmadev Singh was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser on the night of September 28, 2002 when it crashed into a Bandra pavement, killing one and injuring four others. The high court, in its verdict passed on December 10 last year, had held that prosecution had failed to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that the actor was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and was drunk. The judgement by the high court had come on an appeal by Khan, seven months after he was pronounced guilty by the trial court. The magistrate's court had conducted the trial for a much lesser offence of causing death by rash and negligent driving. On May 6 last year, a sessions court had convicted Salman in the case. Hyderabad: The state government will seize illegal buildings and layouts that exist after the BRS/LRS deadline of February 29. The earlier policy of the government was to demolish illegal buildings, but it has now decided to instead seize them. Notices to property owners on the seizure, if they fail to apply for LRS/BRS, are being prepared. Municipal administration and urban development officials are in the process of framing new rules. The government has also sought legal opinion, and it was informed that this could be done if the Municipal Act was amended. The government is of the view that if illegal buildings constructed spending crores of rupees are demolished, it would serve no purpose. If the government takes possession of these, they could be utilised and would generate revenue. However, the Act needs to be amended for that, said T. Chiranjeevulu, HMDA commissioner. The government will demolish only those illegal buildings that cause major inconvenience to the public by way of encroaching roads, parks or other public places. The government had announced BRS and LRS on November 2, 2015, the initial deadline being December 31, 2015. It was extended till January 31 and again till February 29 following representations from various quarters. However, K.T. Rama Rao, who took charge as MAUD minister recently, announced that February 29 would be the final deadline and ruled out any further extension. He said that the government will deal with all illegal buildings sternly after the deadline. The government has received only 1.15 lakh applications for BRS and 58,000 for LRS and earned nearly Rs 150 crore towards applications fee. It expects another Rs 1,000 crore towards regularisation fees. MAUD officials estimate that there are another 75,000 illegal buildings in GHMC limits for which owners havent applied for BRS. High Court advocate C. Damodar Reddy said, The government needs to amend the GHMC, HMDA and Municipal Act in the Assembly for the purpose. If the Act is amended, the government can seize illegal buildings. It cannot be done by issuing GOs. Inconsolable family members of Venkateswaralu and Rama Rao who drowned off Marina beach on Sunday afternoon. (Photo: DC) Chennai: A frolicking dip in the sea off Marina turned a watery grave on Sunday afternoon for two persons who were part of a group celebrating the wedding anniversary of a friend. The incident reported off in Marina Beach came as a chilling dampener for couples who thronged the beach to celebrate Valentine's Day. Police said Venkateswaralu, (26), and his cousin Rama Rao, (25), both residents of Pallavaram, were pulled into the sea by strong currents, at around noon. Those who accompanied them raised an alarm and fisherfolk from the neighbouring fishing hamlet went into the sea in a rescue attempt. The duo was fished out of the sea and rushed in a 108 ambulance to the GRH (Government Royapettah Hospital) where the doctors declared the duo 'brought dead'. The bodies were subsequently moved to the morgue. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Venkateswaralus cousin Praveenkumar said that they had come to the beach only around noon. We were here to celebrate a friend's wedding anniversary, he said, when he was waiting at the morgue. Rama Rao was married and working in the clerical cadre in the civic body. Venkateswaralu, a bachelor, had completed his M.Pharm and was looking for a job. Jaipur: When the government failed to provide health services, people in two remote villages of Rajasthan did something remarkable. Instead of pleading or protesting a very common tactic used by people to force government to accede to their demands- they generated own resources to build state of art hospitals in their respective villages. A distance of more than 300 km separates village Chanod in Pali district to Gida in Barmer district but shared similar problem: primary health centre in their villages were in ruins. In Chanod, the public health centre had been functioning in a building that was donated in 1928 by the erstwhile ruler of the area. The building was in dilapidated conditions and the roads leading to it, in time, proved too narrow for ambulances. Similarly, in Gida, not just the building is weak but the roof is also leaking. The villagers gave many presentations but the state government didnt release any budget for the repair. It was tough on doctors to treat people in such conditions and slowly people stopped going to these primary health centres. But, people didnt sit quietly. They decided to take matters in their hands. The inspiration came from two people. In Chanod sarpanch Shankar Lal Gehlot was the driving force behind the donation drive. Gehlot who left behind a flourishing business in Mumbai to return to his village himself donated Rs one crore. With more than Rs 3 crore, the villagers turned a small health centre into a huge hospital equipped with modern facilities. It has an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), operation theatre and extensive diagnostic facilities. But, these facilities remain un-utilised as two doctors from a nearby public health centre (PHC) now function out of this hospital. More doctors are needed but for that the PHC has to be converted into community health centre, which is facing the typical bureaucratic hurdle. As per government rules a PHC can only have two doctors only a community health centre can have more doctors. However, despite several requests the sanction is yet to come. My village needed a health centre. People would otherwise go as far as Pali and Sumerpur even for minor health problems. We built the hospital but the government is not appointing doctors despite several requests, Gehlot said. On the other hand, in Gida, it was a doctor appointed at the PHC who encouraged people to collect money for repair of the health centre. The 700 villagers contributed Rs eight lakh and converted the health centre into a private hospital-like, clean and neat health centre along with CCTV cameras and flowers. It has now become the top Primary health Centre of the state with annually 25000 outdoor patient visits, six times more than mere 4200 in 2012. It is also top on the ranking for last five years in family planning. We sat with villagers to discuss the problem and how this can be changed. We had Rs 11 lakh from contribution by villagers and donations that was spent on flooring, roof repair and CCTV cameras. This is now top PHC in the state with 25000 OPD, said Dr. Jogesh Choudhary, head of the PHC. Mumbai: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said his ministry was aware of the possible risk of avalanche at Siachen Glacier but not of the exact spot where the snow slide struck killing ten soldiers earlier this month. "We had the information about the risk of avalanche in Siachen glacier. However, this information was not meant for this particular place (where the disaster occurred)," Parrikar said while addressing media on the sidelines of 'Make In India' event here. Ten soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of Madras Regiment, were trapped under tonnes of snow after their post was hit by avalanche at the altitude of 19,000 feet close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan on February 3. While all of them were confirmed dead earlier, the rescuers found Lance Naik Hanmanthappa Koppad alive under snow after six days. However, he died on February 11. "Still, I am personally monitoring each and every case relating to the battle casualty on monthly basis so as to ensure that the families of the victims get all the relief in time," Parrikar said. Replying to a query on the report of supply of F-16 planes by the US to Pakistan, the minister said, "Only a notification for the proposed supply of F-16 planes to Pakistan is issued by the US Congress. However, we have already raised an objection to the US' move on the issue". India had already conveyed its "displeasure and disappointment" over the Obama administration's decision to sell eight F-16 jets to Pakistan worth nearly USD 700 million. New Delhi: Top political leaders continued to trade charges over the events at JNU. BJP president Amit Shah claimed that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was supporting anti-nationals and claimed that he wanted another division of India, while the Congress leader said the BJP was following an agenda of creating divide and hatred. As the exchanges between the BJP and the Congress grew shriller, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury also targeted the BJP, saying there could be no bigger farce than Godse-worshippers putting out certificates on nationalism, in a sharp counter-attack to the Left parties being labelled as anti-national. Mr Gandhi returned fire, saying the BJP wanted to control everyones views. Addressing a meeting in Assam, he said, The BJP and the RSS are following an agenda of creating divide and hatred, as can be seen from the recent developments in JNU, by imposing their views forcibly on people. Mr Shah, attacking on Rahul Gandhi said he had proved that the national interest had no place in his mind. Opposition must apologise, says Amit Shah BJP president Amit Shah asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi a host of questions and demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support for anti-national forces in the name of the Lefts progressive ideology was not acceptable. An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in the national interest had the Central government kept quiet? Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals? Mr Shah wrote in a blog. Mr Shah said the Congress was frustrated at the success of the Narendra Modi government. Bengaluru: The leopard that was captured at Vibgyor School in Whitefield last week was not fed on Sunday evening as it was supposed to be treated with sedatives on Monday morning. Usually when an animal is to be sedated, and treated the next day, we dont feed it the previous day, Dr Nirupama Jaisingh, Veterinary Officer, Bannerghatta Biological Park, told Deccan Chronicle. After the sedation, the animal was supposed to be subjected to physical examination. The final report on the health of the big cat was scheduled to be sent to the Forest Department, she said. We are wondering as what made the big cat escape from here as it was regularly fed with 4-5 kg of chicken every day. Usually we understand the psychology of the wild animal that has been captured and put inside a cage. For the first two days, the leopard ate only 100-150 gm of chicken. That is because the animal is frustrated as it is not used to the new environment where it is surrounded by iron rods, concrete structures and humans making visits. Id restricted people from visiting the leopard as it was aggressive in the cage. But after a couple of days, it mellowed down and started eating around 4-5 kg of chicken every day, she said. Forest officials search the area where a leopard, which was caught at Vibgyor School, escaped from Bannerghatta National Park on Monday (Photo: SATISH B.) Veterinarians are wondering why only this leopard escaped and not the 20 other big cats that have been caged at the zoo. Wildlife experts said that it was probably because the leopard had not adapted itself to the new environment. Also, as it was made to stay hungry on Sunday night, it made desperate, random attempts and succeeded in getting out. May stray into human habitats again! "It is difficult to say whether the leopard will go back to the human habitat as it is handicapped (it has a broken canine tooth and a glaucoma-like ailment in its left eye). Hence we are advising the people in the neighbouring villages to be careful and stay alert. We will have our patrolling teams do their rounds as well to trace the animal," says Dr. Ravi Ralph, PCCF adding that "As it was blind in the left eye, and did not have a canine tooth, we decided to keep him at the rescue centre and treat him. If it has escaped and is there in the forest, it can take good care of itself, but then we wanted to be on the safer side for the sake of the animal." May have escaped into the forest "Only the inquiry committee's report will confirm that the animal has escaped and gone out. Most likely if it has escaped it could have escaped into the forest because the natural hiding place for an animal is the forest. We believe, it will not go towards human habitation, but in any case, we are taking precautionary steps having increased patrolling and vigil. This will be done by the forest department officials, and we will also advise surrounding villagers to stay alert," Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary. Likely hideouts searched The forest department officials formed teams and patrolled the nearby areas in the forest to trace the leopard as soon as the news of the leopard escape broke out on Monday morning. The six-member team constituting a veterinary doctor (armed with tranquilizer gun) in each team, along with range forest officer and others patrolled in a jeep from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the National Park forest area to trace the animal. They had gone to a spot in the forest where water was there, where the animal could have probably visited for quenching its thirst after its escape, said a forest official. Last checked at 4 am The last time, the leopard was checked on by the forest watchers was at 4:00 a.m. on Monday, after it was checked for routinely at around 6:00 p.m. on Sunday evening. There are 20 other leopards, three tigers and 18 lions housed in the BBP Rescue Centre in total. Only 3 watchers The 10-acre BBP Rescue Centre has only three forest watchers. Usually, all the 17 animal holdings are kept locked at night. Our watchers have to only monitor the animals that come near the rescue centre and chase them away, a senior official said. Bear escaped too A Himalayan bear, which the watchers have named Begalamma, escaped from its cage and enclosure 10-15 days ago. It was traced two days later. Additional Chief Secretary Mahendra Jain and PCCF Ravi Ralph inspecting the spot at the rescue centre, from where the leopard that was caught at Vibgyor School escaped from the Bannergatta National Park on Monday morning A leopard with friends in high places? The leopard that was captured at the Vibgyor School in Varthur last Sunday and led to an unprecedented shutdown of schools in the area, escaped from its cage and enclosure from the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) Rescue Center right under the nose of forest watchers, disappearing into the wild on Monday early morning. The leopard was spotted scaling a 25-feet enclosure fence by a forest watcher named Girish at around 6:45 a.m., who started shouting and raising an alarm to alert the other two forest watchers, Nagaraj Shastri and Krishnappa, who were on duty on Sunday night. The leopard had managed to manipulate an iron rope that went through the roof and inside the cage, which had a trap door on one end of it. When the iron pulley is pulled, it lifts and opens the door, and when it is dropped, a weight suspended on the other end which is kept on a parapet wall outside the cage falls, so that the door falls and shuts," said a forest officer. The amazing thing is that the leopard had either figured it all out, or was just plain lucky that the complicated pulley and weight system worked when he played around with it! Or did one of the guards take pity on the animal from the wild and let him go back to his own? Clearly, after the door was lifted and he was able to get out of the cage through the open door, the leopard came into what is called a squeeze cage (where the animal is squeezed into the cage so it remains unable to move while being given treatment) which does not have a roof through which it would have jumped into the enclosure area. The big cat then scaled the 25-feet high diamond-netted fence and disappeared into the wild even as it dawned on the forest watcher what was happening, added the forest officer. "We have seen other leopards playing with those iron threads that run through the roof inside their cages, but usually the door never opens," Bhagyalakshmi, Range Forest Officer told Deccan Chronicle. Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary to Government Forest, Ecology & Environment Department along with Dr. Ravi Ralph, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) (PCCF) inspected the cage and the enclosure in the rescue center where the leopard escaped from the Bannerghata Biological Park on Monday morning. "We came and inspected the cage and the enclosure. Prima facie, it looks like it's not that easy for the leopard to escape out of the cage as the forest watchers say," said Mr. Mahendra Jain. "According to them, as what they have told me, the leopard was trying to play with the iron rope which could have opened the door slightly through which it managed to sneak out into the squeeze cage which had a slide door and jump out through its roof into the enclosure after which it scaled the high fence and escaped into the forest," added Mr. Jain. "It is rather impossible for the leopard itself to cross these three barriers alone and escape and we do not know if someone has let it go out of the cage into the enclosure to play for a while, and we will have to check on that. It's understandable that the leopard can climb the tree and then cross over the high enclosure fence, but how did it come out of the cage is yet to be examined technically," said the additional chief secretary. "We have got some footprints and pug marks outside the enclosure and also some leopard fur that the experts collected from the fence that it scaled. We will conduct an investigation and confirm whether it's the same animal that escaped to file a report on the incident," Mr. Jain added. "We have constituted an inquiry committee to investigate into the matter and the responsibility will be fixed action will be taken," Dr. Ravi Ralph said. The 4 to 6-year-old male leopard was shifted to the rescue center on February 7, Sunday for medical treatment as it was handicapped with a broken canine tooth in its left upper jaw, and a glaucoma-like ailment in its left eye. The leopard was rescued from Vibgyor school premises in South East Bengaluru after a 5-hour long operation where three people were injured including Sanjay Gubbi, scientist and tiger conservationist. BJP MLA O.P. Sharma thrashes one of the JNU students who were protesting against the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar outside the Patiala House Courts in New Delhi on Monday. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Mayhem erupted in New Delhi Patiala House court complex as 50-odd men in lawyers robes on Monday attacked journalists, students and teachers of JNU and unidentified people within and outside the court, dubbing them as anti-nationals in the wake of a raging row over the arrest of a student leader of the prestigious university. A Delhi BJP MLA, Mr O.P. Sharma, who happened to be present in the complex, also joined the lawyers in beating up a person, later identified as CPI activist Ameeque Jamai, who was taken to the Tughlak Road police station. Read: Universities under siege, Modi govt directing JNU crisis, alleges Prakash Karat The violent scuffle took place as JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, against whom a sedition case has been filed, was to be brought before metropolitan magistrate Lovleen for remand proceedings. Sensing more trouble, the police produced the student leader before the magistrate at the Vasant Kunj police station, where his custody was extended by two more days. Read: Arrests at JNU could harm our democracy The lawyers, claiming to be patriots, first targeted JNU students and teachers inside the court, beating them up and saying JNU was a den of anti-India elements and terrorists. It all started with some men in black robes threatening journalists and a handful of students and teachers. Lawyers hurled shoes at victims Some men in black robes started asking journalists and a handful of students and teachers to leave the courtroom where Kanahiya Kumar was to be produced. When asked why they were being told to leave, the so-called lawyers became violent. Read: JNU row: Indian Journalists Union condemns attack They not only used abusive language, but also started assaulting all the students, teachers and journalists present inside or outside the courtroom. Some even hurled shoes at them. Even the mobile phones of some journalists were snatched. All this took place in the presence of a large police contingent deployed at the court complex. The Centre later stepped in, and Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi promised action would be taken against those involved in the attack on media. The escalating standoff over Kanhaiya Kumars arrest also saw JNU students going on a days strike demanding his immediate release. A plea was also moved in the Delhi High Court seeking a NIA probe into the sedition case. The JNU sent a status report to the HRD ministry about the situation, and the action taken over the event organised against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Justifying the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi claimed he raised anti-national slogans at the controversial event in the campus, but said the police had so far found no evidence linking the LeT to the event. The escalating standoff over Kanahiya Kumars arrest on sedition charges saw the students going on strike till he is released. The JNU Teachers Union too has decided to stay away from classes. The Delhi police commissioner said Kanhaiya Kumar had raised anti-national slogans at the JNU event, but admitted that the police had so far found no evidence to link the LeT to the event so far. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stepped in to save the embarrassment caused to Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur by a suo motu judicial order passed by Justice C.S. Karnan of the Madras high court staying the recommendation for his transfer as a judge of the Calcutta high court on February 12. Taking note of submissions by senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the registrar-general of the Madras high court on Justice Karnans action, a bench of Justices J.S. Khehar and R. Banumathi said the operation of all or any administrative/judicial order(s) passed by Justice C.S. Karnan, after the issuance of the proposal of his transfer from the Madras hC dated 12.02.2016 (unless specially assigned to him, by the chief justice of the high court), shall remain stayed till further orders. Read: India is a racist nation; I am ashamed to be born here: Justice CS Karnan The bench said it will be open to the hC chief justice not to assign any further administrative/judicial work to him. This would imply that no other orders shall be passed by Justice Karnan, suo motu or otherwise, in any matter not specially assigned to him. Earlier Mr Venugopal presented an affidavit by B. Hari, registrar-cum-private secretary to the Madras HC chief justice dated 14.02.2016 saying Justice Karnan had orally stayed the transfer order and the written order will be issued Monday. He also drew the courts attention to various suo motu orders passed by Justice Karnan in the past few days. Initially the bench did not stay Justice Karnan s suo motu order but only asked the hC chief justice not to assign him any work. It said a copy of this order shall be furnished to Justice C.S. Karnan by the HC registrar-general. All orders by Karnan stayed But in the afternoon a copy of the order was submitted to the bench, that updated the order and stayed all orders by Justice Karnan after February 12. The bench said: A perusal of the affidavit reveals Justice C.S. Karnan has received the proposal of his transfer from the High Court of Madras dated 12.02.2016. Having taken note of the situation, in our view it would be appropriate that Justice C.S. Karnan should hear and dispose of only such matters as are specially assigned to him by the CJ of the Madras HC. Earlier, in his suo motu order, Justice Karnan referred to the communication on his transfer and said: It is beyond my comprehension to discern Your Lordships comment on better administration and would suggest that Your Lordship refer to the (decision of the) nine-judge bench of the apex court delivered in 1993. Your Lordships proposal of transfer goes against this judgment. Your Lordships order is indicative of being an administrative order. New Delhi: Sensing that recent incidents like the flareup at Jawaharlal Nehru University along with the constitutional crisis in Arunachal Pradesh and the Pathankot terror attack have given the Congress-led Opposition enough ammunition to disrupt the coming Budget Session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting of leaders of all major political parties in both Houses on Tuesday. Sources said the main aim of the meeting will be to ensure that the proceedings are smooth when Parliament meets on February 23. This is the first time after he became Prime Minister that Mr Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of leaders (who are also floor managers) of political parties before a Parliament session. Not all-party meet, says Centre It is being seen as a way to reach out to the Opposition, mainly Congress, to enable the peaceful working of Parliament and also to prevent a washout. The sources clarified that it was not an all-party meeting, as that is something which the Lok Sabha Speaker calls just a day before a session begins. The meeting which the PM has convened is of all floor managers of major parties to ensure a smooth session. The meeting comes as the government is trying to push key reform Bills like GST and labour laws, and soon after the PM accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-chief Rahul Gandhi of disrupting Parliament to avenge the Congress defeat in the 2014 polls. A few days ago former PM Manmohan Singh accused the Modi Government of not engaging the Congress seriously to break the logjam over GST. New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee has approved the dismissal of Visva Bharati Vice-Chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta, in a first instance of sacking of the V-C of a Central University, Union HRD ministry said. The President, who is the Visitor of Central Universities, has approved the dismissal of Visva Bharati V-C Dattagupta, as proposed by the ministry, a spokesperson for the ministry said. The move comes after months of uncertainty over the issue. The HRD ministry had earlier this month sent the file to the President recommending dismissal of Dattagupta after the Union Law and Justice Ministry and the Attorney General of India approved the procedures followed by it in the matter. Dattagupta was facing allegations of financial and administrative irregularities. The Presidents office, had earlier raised certain queries after which the ministry had sought the opinion of the Law Ministry. Mukherjee had twice returned the file relating to Dattagupta to the HRD Ministry asking whether denying the V-C a hearing in person on allegations levelled aga-inst him was legally tenable, triggering speculation that both were not on the same page. However, after the Law ministry backed the HRDs view, the file was again sent to the President paving the way for the V-Cs dismissal. Allegations against Duttagupta included drawing salary from Visva Bharati and pension from JNU simultaneously in alleged violation of the law. As per norms, he was required to have got his pension amount deducted from the pay he received from Visva Bharati. Duttagupta was also charged with making irregular appointments, including that of the Controller of Examinations, despite having no powers, and sanctioning key posts in violation of the Visva Bharati Act. Hyderabad: The Telangana state government seems to have failed to learn its lessons even after losing the smart cities race in the first phase recently. On the other hand, the AP government is far ahead of TS. The TS government is sitting on works in cities/towns identified by the Centre under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) scheme. Though the Centre had approved Rs 200 crore in November 2015 to take up works in 10 major cities/towns in TS, the government is yet to prepare Detailed Project Reports. While the deadline of March 31 to utilise these funds is fast approaching after which the funds will lapse officials are still struggling to prepare DPRs and accord approvals. In AP, the chief secretary-headed committee had already approved the State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) worth Rs 662 crore. Only six cities have DPRs ready The chief secretary-headed committee has also submitted the proposals to the Centre, which has even released the first installment of Rs 66.29 crore. Since the SAAP approval has been accorded, there is no risk of AP losing the Central funds even if they remain unutilised as they will be carried forward to the next year. But in TS, the SAAP approval is yet to be accorded. The Centre has the power to penalise states that fail to release matching grants and utilise funds within the deadline. It had issued guidelines in September 2015 and approved funds in November 2015. It had even sanctioned Rs 40 crore to prepare DPRs. Out of 10 cities/towns, only six have prepared DPRs and secured approvals of the committee headed by the principal secretary of MAUD. However, these DPRs need to be get final approval by the SAAP. Later, tenders have to be called and finalised before executing the works. Ghaziabad: A 24-year-old Snapdeal employee, who was missing since Wednesday evening, returned home on Friday soon after she had called up her family to tell them that she was on a train from Panipat in Haryana. Suspense remained on the circumstances of Deepti Sarna's disappearance, with Superintendent of Police (city) Salman Taj Patil saying that they are investigating the case and will quiz her later in the day as she needs rest now. He said Deepti Sarna has not been "physically harmed". "We will probe as to how she had gone to Panipat. We are very sure that she has not been physically harmed and she is fine," the SP told reporters here. Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Singh along with other officers will question the girl about the incident, Patil said. On Wednesday around 8.30 PM, Deepti went missing after she was travelling in an auto she had hired from outside Vaishali Metro Station. According to police, Deepti was on her way from Vaishali metro station to the old bus stand of Ghaziabad where her father Narendra Sarna, a resident of Kavi Nagar, was waiting to pick her up. Deepti's father said today that she called him up in the morning and told him that she was in train in Panipat and coming to Vaishali. "She told me that she will come to Vaishali, but I asked her not to come to Vaishali and said I will come to New Delhi Railway Station to pick her. "I don't know how she came (managed to escape). She was calling me up from the phone of her co-passenger in the train. She was found sitting in the train. I don't know whether she was in trauma," he told reporters here. Deepti's mother said that her father picked her up at New Delhi Railway Station. "She had called up her father in the morning and told him to pick her up," she further said. After she went missing, her father had told the police that when the auto crossed the Hindon river bridge on Wednesday's evening, Deepti called him and gave him the location. She was also heard shouting at the auto driver for taking a wrong route, he had said, adding thereafter her phone was switched off. Police had soon swung into action and launched a manhunt to search the girl. Police had yesterday started combing operation in the jungles of Morti near Raj Nagar extension under jurisdiction of Sihani gate police station. As per call details of Deepti's phone, that was her last location. Police was trying to trace Deepti by electronic surveillance and monitoring some other mobile numbers. Some auto drivers were also summoned for questioning. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Chief justice of Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to its controversial judge, Justice C S Karnan, who has been transferred to the Calcutta High Court. Also read: Justice Karnan 'stays' CJI order on his transfer The apex court passed the order on an application moved by the Registrar of Madras High Court, who is also private secretary to the Chief Justice, seeking an order to restrain Justice Karnan from doing any judicial work. The apex court noted the application moved by senior advocate K K Venugopal, which said Justice Karnan, on receipt of the transfer order, had suo motu decided to pass an order against his own transfer and had listed the matter for today. Taking note of this submission, a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi said, "We consider it just and appropriate to allow the Chief Justice of the High Court not to assign any judicial work to him (Justice Karnan)." The bench which perused the affidavit filed by the Registrar, said "consequent upon the copy of this order is furnished to Justice Karnan by the Registrar of the HC, it will be open to Justice Karnan to enter his appearance before this court, if desired by him, in the pending matter (before the apex court). If he does so, it will be at his own cost." New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refrained from passing an order on a plea to legalise passive euthanasia and the right of terminally-ill persons to execute 'Living Will' not to prolong their lives by putting them on life support systems and kept it open for the government to take a call on both the issues. "The issues of passive euthanasia and Living Will is being considered by the government. However, we may clarify that the pendency of the petition should not come in the way of the authority to take a decision," a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice A R Dave said. "We are not passing any order at this stage," the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, Shiva Kirti Singh, A K Goel and R F Nariman, said while agreeing with the view of the Centre that the court should post the next hearing in July and till then allow a public debate to take place in the peoples' court, that is Parliament. Additional Solicitor General P S Patwalia opposed the plea of NGO Common Cause and its advocate Prashant Bhushan that the court should consider and pass an order at least on the limited issue of Living Will, till a legislation is enacted. He submitted that since the Health Ministry was examining the Law Commission report after which a Bill would be drafted by the Law Ministry, the apex court should defer the hearing and wait till July for the debate to take place. When the bench asked Bhushan, "do you want court's verdict or the people's verdict on it," he said the issue of Living Will is not the subject of parliamentary debate as it concerns the fundamental right to life guaranteed under the Constitution which also covers the right to die with dignity. However, the bench was of the view that "it is something which should be debated in peoples' court, i.e Parliament." As Bhushan argued for consideration of the limited issue of Living Will saying that it is given by the terminally-ill persons of sound mind, the bench asked, "would it not be a case where you are permitting a miracle to happen?" During the hearing, the ASG gave an example of former Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, who is in coma for over two years, saying that his family members are hoping that medical science has developed and he will return to normalcy and are against withdrawing life support system. A doctor-turned-advocate, who has sought intervention in the matter, said the issue concerning euthanasia is very sensitive and has to be deliberated in a careful manner. Dr Kishore submitted that persistent vegetative state does not mean that a person is dead, so the life support system should not be withdrawn. He elaborated that during his career as a doctor for 40 years, he had come across three cases from across the globe that after being in coma for 19 years, they have returned to lead a normal life. Putting the onus on the authority to take a decision on the issue assumes significance as the Centre in its latest affidavit has said it has framed a draft legislation on the issue but would await the apex court's verdict on it. "Based on recommendations of the expert committee, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has proposed formulation of legislation on passive euthanasia. The expert committee has further suggested certain changes in the draft bill. "The committee has not agreed to active euthanasia since it has more potential for misuse and, as on date, it is prevalent in very few countries worldwide," the ASG had said in the last hearing. He had also submitted that the Law Commission's report favouring legalising of passive euthanasia with certain safeguards is being examined and a bill will be drafted thereafter. The court is awaiting the government's stand in its endeavour to examine a plea to legalise passive euthanasia by means of withdrawal of life support system to terminally-ill patients. The apex court on January 15 had asked the government to make its stand clear in a reasonable time. The law officer apprised the bench about the 241st report of the Law Commission which has stated that passive euthanasia should be allowed with certain safeguards and there was a proposed law -- Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patient (Protection of Patients and Medical Practioners) Bill, 2006. He had said his contention will also be based on 6.7 regulation of 2002 in Medical Council of India Act which says that practicing euthanasia shall constitute unethical conduct. However on specific occasions, the question of withdrawing supporting devices to sustain cardio-pulmonary function even after brain death, shall be decided only by a doctors' team and not the treating physician alone. The bench was hearing a PIL filed in 2005 by NGO Common Cause which said when a medical expert opines that the person afflicted with a terminal disease has reached a point of no return, then he should be given the right to refuse being put on life support system, as otherwise it would only prolong his agony. The apex court had two years ago issued notices to states and Union Territories on the issue, even as the Centre had strongly opposed the petition saying it was a form of suicide which cannot be allowed. Another five-judge bench had then said that states must also be heard as the issue pertained not only to the Constitution, but to morality, religion and medical science. The NGO had prayed for declaring the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and sought a direction to the government to adopt suitable procedures to ensure that those with deteriorating health or the terminally ill should be able to execute a Living Will and attorney authorisation for termination of life. It had explained that there were three types of euthanasia -- positive, passive and Living Will. It said the emphasis was on the category of Living Will in which a person makes an advance declaration that if during his treatment, it becomes clear that there is no chance of revival, he should not be put on life support system or ventilator. While referring to 6.7 regulation of 2002 under Medical Council of India, the bench wanted to know about implication of the regulation if the four words 'even after brain death' is deleted from it. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had submitted that the issue should be debated and decided by the legislature and it was not a matter to be adjudicated by the court. The bench had appointed senior lawyer and former Solicitor General T R Andhyarujina as amicus curiae to assist it in the case relating to legalising euthanasia. The present PIL has contended that a person whose life was ebbing out should be allowed to die as the continuance of the life with the support system was an unnatural extension of the natural life span. A Constitution Bench was set up after a three-judge bench had on February 25, 2014 referred the matter to a larger bench saying it was extremely important to have a clear enunciation of law in view of inconsistent opinions in its previous judgement. It had said that its verdict of 2011 allowing passive euthanasia was delivered on a "wrong premise". "In view of the inconsistent opinions rendered in Aruna Shanbaug case and considering the important question of law involved which needs to be reflected in the light of social, legal, medical and constitutional perspective, it becomes extremely important to have a clear enunciation of the law. "Thus, in our cogent opinion, the question of law involved requires careful consideration by a Constitution Bench of this court for the benefit of humanity as a whole," the court had said. It had said that its earlier Constitution Bench verdict, which was wrongly relied in Aruna Shanbaug case, had held that the right to live with dignity will be inclusive of the right to die with dignity, but the judgement did not arrive at a conclusion on validity of euthanasia. BJP workers led by former minister R. Ashok protest in Bengaluru on Sunday against the arrest of party leaders Jagadish Shettar and Pralhad Joshi in Dharwad. (Photo: DC) Bengaluru: Though the Congress had won the majority of seats in the recent Council polls from the local bodies constituencies, the opposition BJP is now confident that it can outperform the ruling party in the Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections. The first phase of the ZP/ TP polls was held on Saturday and the second phase is due on February 20. In the previous election, the BJP had won 12 ZPs and 101 TPs in the state. Though it was in power in the state in 2011, it has failed to perform better than the Congress, then in the Opposition, which had won a majority of ZP and TP seats in that election. Speaking to this newspaper, a BJP senior functionary said the party was confident of retaining 12 Zilla Panchayat seats in districts considered its strongholds and also do better in the TP elections. This time, the BJP has launched a positive campaign highlighting the misrule of the Siddaramaiah government in the last three years, he said. The BJP is hoping to win its strongholds like Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Davangere, Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Belagavi and Gulbarga ZP. We have our usual vote banks in the coast, Malnad and Uttara Kannada districts. Except for Old Mysuru and Rural Bengaluru, the party will do better than the Congress in the ZP elections. This time party senior leaders too have actively participated in the election campaign, the leader added. To win the ZP and TP elections, the BJP had poached on local JD(S) and Congress leaders who were fed up with their party and leaders. The BJP cadre approached potential leaders in Udupi, Dakshna Kannada, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi and Belagavi and won them over. New Delhi/Guwahati: Trading bitter charges over the escalating JNU row, BJP chief Amit Shah today alleged that Rahul Gandhi was supporting "anti-nationals" and wanted another "division" of India while the Congress vice president said the BJP was following an agenda of creating "divide and hatred". As the exchanges between the BJP and Congress grew shrill, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury targeted the BJP, saying there can be no "bigger farce than Godse-worshippers" putting out certificates on nationalism, in a sharp counter to Left parties being labelled as "anti-national" forces. Yechury's predecessor Prakash Karat accused the NDA government's "top" machinery of "directing crisis" at JNU and charged the Narendra Modi dispensation with imposing ideological hegemony on varsities in the country. Speaking on the raging JNU controversy for the first time, Shah asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul a host of questions and demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology is not acceptable. "An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet? "Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?", Shah wrote in a blog. Noting that slogans like 'Pakistan zindabad', 'go India go back' and those in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Kashmir's independence and India's destruction were raised in JNU, the BJP President wondered if the Congress leader had joined hands with separatists. "Does he want another division of India by giving a free run to separatists in the name of freedom of expression? The kind of statements the Congress vice president and other leaders of his party have made in JNU have proved again that national interest has no place in their mind," Shah said. Rahul attacked the BJP and RSS over the JNU row, saying they do not have respect for diversity of the nation's culture and wanted to control everyone's views. "The BJP and RSS have no respect for the diversity of the nation's culture and sentiments of the people. They just want that everybody follow their views," Gandhi said at a party meeting in Gohpur in Assam's Sonitpur district. "The BJP and RSS are following an agenda of creating divide and hatred, as can be seen from the recent developments in JNU, by imposing their views forcibly on people," he said. "They find terrorism everywhere, even in universities and brand anybody who do not agree with their views as terrorists," he added. Karat said said ever since the Modi Government came to power, universities across the country have been under siege and there have been constant attempts to "impose ideological hegemony" on universities. Karat, who is also ex-JNUSU president, made these remarks during his visit to the university campus to express solidarity with the protesting students. New Delhi: Congress on Monday hit out at Home Minister Rajnath Singh over his claim that Hafiz Saeed backed the JNU protest, accusing him of "communalising" the issue and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask his Pakistani counterpart to arrest the Lashkar chief for terror attacks in India. "Rajnath communalising #JNUATROCITY at PULPIT of Pulp Patriotism. Tell PM's Biryani friend Nawaz Sharief Arrest Hafiz Seed for terror attacks," senior Congress Leader Manish Tewari said in a tweet today. Rajnath communalising#JNUATROCITY at PULPIT of Pulp Patriotism.Tell PM's Biryani friend Nawaz Sharief Arrest Hafiz Syeed for terror attacks Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) February 15, 2016 Home Minister Rajnath Singh had yesterday claimed that the event on JNU campus in Delhi against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from Saeed, a statement that sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. Read: Sitaram Yechury gets threat calls over JNU row, police launches probe On Saturday, a post on an alleged "fake" account @Hafeez SaeedJUD - along with the name Hafeez Muhamad Saeed invited JNU students to Pakistan, "to continue their Pro-Kashmiri, Anti-India Propaganda in our Universities". "The incident (Afzal event) at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand," Singh had said, adding, "what has happened is very unfortunate." Later, a Home Ministry spokesperson said that Singh's statement was "based on the inputs available from different agencies." Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh sought to know from the government which agency had given inputs to the government on the issue. "Would Home Minister pl clarify on which Agency's input did he make a statement of JNU's connection with Hafiz Saeed," Singh said in a tweet. Indias relations with the United States are on a strong enough foundation that they wont get shaken unduly by the move to equip Pakistan with eight state-of-the-art F-16s. But the Obama administrations move comes at a awkward time, when Pakistans complicity in sponsoring terror attacks is exposed almost daily, including by David Coleman Headley in video testimony to an Indian court. Such insensitivity is nothing new for the US, which considers Pakistani goodwill vital as it disengages from Afghanistan by pushing a pact between the Afghan Taliban and the Kabul government. But such support also flies in the face of Pakistan transgressing all norms by encouraging strikes even against US servicemen, openly backing the insurgent Haqqani Network operating in the AfPak border region. The irony of adding the F-16s to Pakistans arsenal is that, as even pro-Pakistan hawks in the US are aware, these advanced fighters cant fight terrorists on the ground, even though the Pakistan Air Force has the dubious record of pounding Balochistan with its bombers. The F-16s will only tilt the subcontinents military balance, in which Pakistan has the strategic advantage of playing one superpower against the other, that being neighbour China. Indias move to summon the US ambassador to South Block only reflects the resentment in New Delhi over the US game of patting India on the back while continuing to supply arms and ammunition to Pakistan. It is no secret that Washington can often be a Janus-faced friend, and India has known this for decades now. Students affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protest outside the office of the vice chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI) The recent JNU-related incident of arresting the students union president Kanhaiya Kumar and charging him with sedition is a completely botched affair, made infinitely worse by Union home minister Rajnath Singhs thoroughly misconceived intervention. The entire episode casts our democracy in the darkest shades which underlines that it is intolerant of protest, that it suppresses debate and discussion even in the context of a university, and that it is eager to accept only the Hindutva view of nationalism and patriotism. Without a shred of proof, Mr Singh chose to make the implausible claim on Sunday that the action of a section of the student body which was protesting the hanging of Afzal Guru, convicted for the attack on Parliament, three years ago had received support of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba chief Hafiz Sayeed. This is evidently intended to raise the nationalist pitch shortly before Assembly elections in five states and days before the opening of the Winter Session of Parliament when the government is expected to face severe criticism on a range of issues. The Left parties and the Congress have challenged the home minister to offer proof in Parliament. If he fails to do so, he would be deemed to be highly irresponsible. The most charitable view is that the government is seeking to divert attention from its many failures by taking refuge in patriotism. Mr Kumar was despatched to prison without an inquiry, but recent claims and allegations suggest that a section of the ABVP, the student body of the RSS, acted as agent provocateur, and raised pro-Pakistan slogans at the protest meet for which Mr Kumar has been punished. The intention was evidently to discredit and penalise ABVPs opponents in campus politics. The allegation must be thoroughly investigated.Something similar had happened at Hyderabad University last month when dalit students were demonised, leading to the suicide of Rohith Vemula. In the case of both Hyderabad and JNU, a BJP MP acted as trigger by falsely representing non-ABVP student politics as anti-national to the Union HRD minister and the upper echelons of the government. n the JNU case, the HRD minister and the home minister have both come out using language lacking in balance against students and even indulging in a reference to Mother India, as Smriti Irani did. JNU teachers and students went on a day-long strike on Monday to demand the release of Mr Kumar. The demand has found endorsement across the spectrum, except from those linked to the Sangh Parivar. However, the teachers and students would do well not to resort to a prolonged strike. Let teaching and knowledge-production not suffer. The issues raised by them and by the home minister point to the dangers of majoritarianism in a democratic society, against which the country must guard itself. New Delhi: Sector watchdog Trai will set inter-connection charges for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls once the Department of Telecom (DoT) amends the relevant clause of the Unified Licence framework. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended amending the licence provision for inter-connection at the IP level, which would facilitate Internet-based calls, alternatively known as VoIP calls. A telecom company is required to pay inter-connection charges when its subscriber makes a call to one on another network. The charge gets added up in the final price, which the subscriber has to pay. Currently, there are inter-connection charges for VoIP calls as the licence did not have a clause for inter-connection at IP level. "How can we determine charges till the time licence is not amended? When this licence condition is accepted... we will determine the inter-connection charges for the IP-based network," a senior Trai official told PTI. He added that Trai has only recommended amending, and not regulating the licence provision. "It's Trai's domain to determine charges. However, till the time DoT accepts the proposition, we can't determine the charges," the official explained. Proposing to amend the licence, Trai has said there is no explicit clause relating to inter-connection at the IP level in the existing licence, which necessitates insertion of sucha clause. Since IP-based networks, Trai said, continue to proliferate and traditional circuit switch networks are gradually being phased out, there exists the need to facilitate inter-connection. Once the Department of Telecom (DoT) amends the licence, it will benefit telecom operators as they can terminate Internet calls on each other's network. The new IP-based network as well as its co-existence with legacy network is expected to give rise to operational, inter-connection and service quality issues, which need to bead dressed for successful migration to IP-based networks, Trai had said earlier in a consultation paper. Networks of all telecom companies are inter-connected, which is vital for completion of calls or sharing of messages through mobile or landline phones. The clause 27.3 of the Unified Licence specifically deals in inter-connection between networks of different licensees for carrying circuit-switched traffic. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. There is a lot that IS probably has underway that the US doesn't have full insight into, he said. (Photo: AP) Washington: The Paris terror attacks in November that killed 130 people were an intelligence failure, America's top spymaster has said, warning that the Islamic State is planning an attack on the US. "Paris was a failure of intelligence. All but one of the eight terrorists were French citizens, trained by ISIS in Syria. They returned, unnoticed, and attacked six locations killing 130 people," CIA Director John Brennan said. There is a lot that IS probably has underway that the US doesn't have full insight into, he said. "We knew the system was blinking red. We knew in the days before that IS was trying to carry out something," he told CBS in an interview on Sunday. "But the individuals involved have been able to take advantage of the newly available means of communication that are walled off, from law enforcement officials," Brennan said adding that the IS has been using very sophisticated technologies and communication systems. "I'm expecting them to try to put in place operatives, the material or whatever else that they need to do or to incite people to carry out these attacks, clearly. So I believe that their attempts are inevitable. I don't think their successes necessarily are," he noted saying it was inevitable that IS will try to attack the US. IS he observed, is trying to provoke a clash between the West and the Muslim world to gain more adherents. "Because what they are claiming is that the United States is trying to take over their countries which are the furthest thing from the truth," he asserted. Brennan argued that the intelligence security services have stopped numerous attacks and operatives that have been moved from maybe Iraq to Syria or into Europe. They have been stopped and interdicted and arrested and detained and debriefed because of very, very good intelligence, he noted. "But the failure in Paris allowed ISIS to attack with bombs and assault rifles," said the CIA Director. Noting that there are reports that ISIS has access to chemical precursors and munitions that they can use, he said he CIA believes that IS has the ability to manufacture small quantities of chlorine and mustard gas. "There's always potential for IS to transport those chemical weapons to the West. "This is why it's so important to cut off various transportation routes and smuggling routes that they have used," he said. The CIA chief said the waterboarding method of torture is not being used and would not be used in the future. "The cyber environment can pose a very, very serious and significant attack vector for our adversaries if they want to take down our infrastructure, if they want to create havoc in transportation systems, if they want to do great damage to our financial networks. There are safeguards being put in place. But that cyber environment is one that really is the thing that keeps me up at night," he said. Washington: A Supreme Court nomination battle that was ignited on Saturday with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia has given Democrats an explosive new issue that could bolster their chances of regaining majority control of the US Senate. The impact could be felt most acutely in "swing" states, where Republicans are trying to hold onto Senate seats, political strategists and analysts said. The high stakes are also expected to prompt greater voter turnout that could favour Democrats. With no clear idea of who President Barack Obama will nominate as Scalia's replacement, it was way too early to know exactly how this fight will play out in already rollicking presidential and congressional elections. But, "in this hyper-polarised political environment we are currently operating in, I can only assume the battle over this (court) nominee will dominate the political debate from here on out," said Jim Manley, a strategist and former top aide to Democratic senators. Manley noted Republicans are facing tough races for Senate seats in swing states such as Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and could find themselves in even tighter spots because of the divisive fight over Scalia's replacement. These Republican candidates, who either already serve in the Senate or are vying for open seats, have to especially thread the needle in their politically divided states on social issues, like abortion rights, that so dominate Supreme Court confirmation fights. Democrats already enjoyed an advantage in the November Senate elections, having to defend only 10 seats while 24 Republican seats are up for grabs in the 100-member chamber. Democrats need a net gain of five seats to win back the majority they lost in the 2014 elections. Republican Refusal Just hours after Scalia's death at the age of 79, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proclaimed that whoever moves into the White House on January 20, 2017 - and not Obama - should pick the replacement for the late conservative jurist. The Senate must confirm presidential nominees to the life-time appointments at the nine-justice high court, whose recent decisions have had a deep impact on the country, from the legalization of same-sex marriage to election campaign finance. "If the Republican leadership refuses to even hold a hearing, I think that is going to guarantee they lose control of the Senate, because I don't think the American people will stand for that," proclaimed Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who was interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. Meanwhile, McConnell's announcement sparked new fundraising pleas in the presidential and congressional campaigns, which already were awash in campaign contributions. Ron Bonjean, a former top Republican Senate leadership aide and current political strategist, acknowledged that Republican Senate candidates from swing states "may be placed in an awkward position" by the Supreme Court fight. While some may be pressured to join Democrats in calling for a confirmation vote depending on who Obama nominates, Bonjean also saw a potential upside for those Republicans. With anti-establishment candidates like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders far exceeding expectations in their quest for the presidency, Republican Senate candidates in swing states could feel emboldened to break from party ranks. Senator Mark Kirk in Illinois, for example, is one of those Republicans in a swing state facing a potentially rough race. The 2016 campaigns already were generating an avalanche of voter interest with control of the White House and Congress hanging in the balance. Now, with the ideological control of the Supreme Court also to be decided, "That leads to only one conclusion: Increased turnout" of voters in November, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist. Higher turnout often helps Democratic presidential candidates, which in turn could help Democratic Senate candidates. However, Sabato also noted that with the Supreme Court vacancy ascending in importance, it could rally establishment Republicans who currently oppose the anti-establishment Trump to support him if he becomes the party's nominee. And that, in turn, could boost Republican turnout in tight Senate races. A riot policewoman stands on a cordoned-off street following overnight clashes between protesters and police in the Mongkok area of Hong Kong. (Photo: AFP) Hong Kong: A senior Beijing official on Sunday blamed "radical separatists" for a riot that erupted in Hong Kong last week, the worst clashes the city has seen since mass pro-democracy protests. In unusually blunt remarks on a local Hong Kong matter, Zhang Xiaoming, Beijing's top representative in the semi-autonomous city, told reporters the violence that left dozens of police officers hurt also showed elements of "terror". "After the riot in Mong Kok, we are feeling very much shocked and saddened," Zhang told reporters. "We strongly condemn those radical separatists who have become increasingly violent, even (carrying out) activities that showed terror tendencies," the director of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong said in Chinese. The clashes erupted when protesters gathered following official attempts to remove illegal hawkers from the busy commercial neighbourhood of Mong Kok during Lunar New Year celebrations late Monday night. Police fired warning shots in the air, while demonstrators hurled bricks levered up from pavements, charged police lines with homemade shields and set rubbish on fire. About 100 people were injured, including police officers, journalists and protesters, and 65 were arrested in the disorder, rare in Hong Kong. Some 30 of them have been charged with rioting. Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying said today most of the protesters were unemployed and did not reflect mainstream views. "The majority of them are jobless. Quite many of them belong to radical political groups. Their political demands cannot reflect the majority of society," the chief executive said. The battles have been dubbed the "fishball revolution" after a favourite Hong Kong street snack and reflect underlying tensions over the erosion of the city's traditions. Demonstrators included "localist" activists who want to restrict Beijing's influence on the city. Mong Kok, on the city's Kowloon peninsula, was the scene of some of the worst violence during the 79-day "Occupy" pro-democracy street protests in late 2014. The mass rallies seeking fully free leadership elections in the city blocked some major streets for more than two months. Hong Kong was returned by Britain to China in 1997 with its way of life protected for 50 years by a joint agreement. But there are fears that freedoms enshrined in the agreement are being eroded by Chinese influence, including the recent case of five Hong Kong publishers known for titles critical of Beijing, four of whom it is confirmed have been detained on the mainland. "A suicide terrorist was at the wheel. He blew himself up," RIA news agency quoted an unnamed Dagestani security source as saying. "According to preliminary data, militants from 'the southern terrorist group' were behind the explosion." (Photo: Google Maps) Moscow: A car bomb killed two policemen at a traffic checkpoint in Russia's volatile republic of Dagestan on Monday, local media reported, quoting law enforcement officers, and some security officials blamed a suicide bomber from a local extremist group. "A suicide terrorist was at the wheel. He blew himself up," RIA news agency quoted an unnamed Dagestani security source as saying. "According to preliminary data, militants from 'the southern terrorist group' were behind the explosion." The explosion, which also wounded several policemen and civilians, hit the police post near the town of Derbent in Dagestan's southeast. Dagestan neighbours Chechnya, where Moscow fought two bloody wars against Islamist separatist fighters before finally regaining control of the region. Dagestan, a patchwork of ethnicities and languages, has become a hub of militant Islam in the North Caucasus and some militant groups have sworn allegiance to ISIS. Mr Tusk cleared his diary in the run-up to the summit for last-ditch talks in Berlin, Paris, Athens and other capitals to press key leaders for an agreement despite what he called a very fragile situation.. (Photo: AP) Brussels: The quest to prevent Britain crashing out of the European Union faces its moment of truth this week, with EU chief Donald Tusk touring key capitals in a final push for a deal at a crucial Brussels summit. Many of Prime Minister David Camerons demands for reforms ahead of a referendum on Britains membership of the crisis-hit bloc still face opposition just days before the meeting on Thursday-Friday. Mr Tusk cleared his diary in the run-up to the summit for last-ditch talks in Berlin, Paris, Athens and other capitals to press key leaders for an agreement despite what he called a very fragile situation. Mr Cameron, who met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hamburg on Friday, said he was confident of a deal although I rule nothing out if he does not get an agreement. Ms Merkel meanwhile said that her wish was to avoid a so-called Brexit in a referendum that is expected to be held in June. Three years after Mr Cameron first demanded reforms and announced a referendum, the issue has come down to quibbles over a few words and sets of brackets in proposals that Mr Tusk unveiled last month. Mr Tusks meetings with Ms Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and others on Monday and Tuesday are meant to solve what EU sources said were outstanding issues after negotiators in Brussels failed to reach a breakthrough. The EU will lurch very much in the wrong direction if Britain votes to leave in an in/out referendum, foreign secretary Philip Hammond warned Sunday. The British minister predicted that negotiations with other European leaders to secure a reform deal for the bloc would go to the wire at a European Council summit on Thurs-day and Friday. There isnt a deal yet, Mr Ham-mond told BBCs Andrew Marr Show. We have to make progress, there are blanks in the text. The text on the table recognises there can be a period of four years in which people are treated different. That is a major breakthrough in challenging one of the sacred cows of EU ideology. I dont think thats going to get resolved before Thursday, he added. Weve got a negotiation that will run through this week and I have no doubt that will go right to the wire. Mr Hammond accepted that Britain might get slightly less than we expect in some areas, but stressed that European leaders understand we have to have a robust deal if the British people are to vote to remain within the European Union. Meanwhile, Faced with the possibility of Britain leaving the European Union, Londons EU workers feel depressed and fearful of their place in the UK as the debate affecting their future swirls around them. Will they need a visa? A work permit? Have to reach a points or salary barrier in order to stay? Pack their bags and leave? It is difficult to predict consequences and the government says it is not planning for the possibility of a British EU exit. But uncertainty is very unpleasant, said Roch Glowacki, 24, a trainee lawyer from Poland. He came to London as a student in 2010 and saw his future in Britain, but is now worried. The consequences of Brexit could mean I will want to, or have to, leave, he said, adding that London might lose its prestige outside the EU. As insurance, he and others like him are considering taking up British nationality. People who have lived in the kingdom for five years can now apply, though the process is getting harder. The Argentine pontiff made his plea during an open-air mass with 300,000 Catholic faithful in Ecatepec, a Mexico City suburb plagued by murders and the disappearance of women. Ecatepec, Mexico: Pope Francis urged Mexicans on Sunday to turn their country into a land of opportunity where there is no need to emigrate or mourn victims "of the merchants of death." The Argentine pontiff made his plea during an open-air mass with 300,000 Catholic faithful in Ecatepec, a Mexico City suburb plagued by murders and the disappearance of women. Francis urged them to make "this blessed land of Mexico a land of opportunity, where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream, no need to be exploited in order to work, no need to make the despair and poverty of many the opportunism of a few, a land that will not have to mourn men and women, young people and children who are destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death." Drug violence and the plight of migrants are two major themes of the pope's visit, which started Thursday and ends Wednesday at the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez. Kiev: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday accused Russia of acting as a "terrorist organisation" in Syria and vowed to deliver a robust response. "If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response," Davutoglu said through an official translator during a visit to Kiev. Tensions between Russia and Turkey have soared over Moscow's backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia's intense air campaign against what it claims are "terrorist" targets in its allied Middle Eastern state. Turkey has long backed Assad's ouster and like other Western nations accuses Russia of predominantly bombing Syrian rebel groups backed by Washington and its allies instead of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Assad's forces have most recently used Russian air support to move ever closer to the rebel stronghold of Aleppo in northern Syria. The resulting refugeee flood toward Turkey has put renewed pressure on Ankara to open its border with Syria temporarily -- a move Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has until now been unwilling to take. Davutoglu further slammed the Syrian peace talks that were halted after only a few days this month in Geneva as "diplomatic theatre" for which "the international community will ultimately bear responsibility". Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare appearance by a serving premier before the country's Supreme Court on Sunday to defend a contentious natural gas deal. Critics say the agreement between the government and a consortium including US firm Noble Energy, pushed by Netanyahu, overly favours the firms involved and have petitioned the court to block it. There have also been denunciations of political manoeuvring by Netanyahu to override anti-trust authorities. "This is the first time that I have asked to appear before the... court, and to the best of my knowledge it's the first time in the history of Israel that a prime minister has requested this," Haaretz newspaper quoted him as telling the justices. "The current plan has no alternative and if it is not approved it will cause the country long-term harm," private television station Channel Two reported him as saying. "Without this plan there will be no competition, no development, no investment." Entrance to the courtroom was restricted, with no broadcasting or recording allowed. Neither the government not the court released a statement on Netanyahu's address. The deal he champions concerns development of the Leviathan field in the eastern Mediterranean, described as one of the largest recent natural gas discoveries. Currently only the Tamar field west of the port of Haifa is in production, and the government argues that depending on a single source which is a potential target for sabotage means that diversifying supply is of strategic as well as economic importance. "We shall not have energy security as long as we have only one gas field, which is within range of missile fire" from enemies such as Hezbollah in south Lebanon, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told the court on February 3. Israel's monopolies commission opposed an initial agreement between the government, Noble and its Israeli partner Delek, leading to months of further negotiations under strong political pressure. To sidestep the commission, Netanyahu used an obscure clause allowing the deal to be pushed through by the economy minister. After the incumbent minister resigned rather than overrule the regulators Netanyahu then took over the post himself. The size of the Leviathan field is estimated at 18.9 trillion cubic feet (535 billion cubic metres, or bcm) of natural gas, along with 34.1 million barrels of condensate. Noble and Delek also control Tamar, which holds 250 bcm of natural gas, and lies 80 kilometres (40 nautical miles) west of Haifa. The F-16 had been trying to refuel in mid-air when the pilot discovered a malfunction with his fuel system, which meant he could only fly for 15 minutes nowhere near enough to reach safety. (Photo: AFP) Baghdad: Quick-thinking by the crew of a US Air Force refueling plane has saved the life of a pilot and his expensive F-16 fighter jet over Islamic State territory, according to a media report. The F-16 had been trying to refuel in mid-air when the pilot discovered a malfunction with his fuel system, which meant he could only fly for 15 minutes - nowhere near enough to reach safety. Instead of leaving the pilot to fend for himself, the KC-135 Stratotanker tanker crew decided to diverge from its area of responsibility, and safely escorted the F-16 to its base while refueling every 15 minutes on the way to allied airspace, CNN reported. Without mid-air refuelling, the pilot faced the dangerous prospect of having to eject over Islamic State territory. US Air Force commander Lt Col Eric Hallberg said: Over 80 per cent of his total fuel capability was trapped and unusable. Knowing the risks to their own safety, they put the life of the F-16 pilot first and made what couldve been an international tragedy a feel-good news story, Hallberg said on the incident that happened last year. The jet first ran into trouble when it connected to the KC-135 but was forced to disconnect after taking on 500lbs of fuel - just a fifth of the 2,500lbs it should have had. After a second failed attempt to refuel, the pilot ran through a checklist and was able to tell the tanker crew about the fuel emergency. The Air Force did not say where the incident took place or which country the F-16 pilot was from. The tanker crews actions may have saved the airman from a fate like that of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh, who was shown being burned alive in pictures and video by Islamic State extremists after he ejected and was captured. As of February 10, the US and its coalition partners have conducted a total of 10,242 strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. India expressed displeasure over decision of the US to notify the sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan. (Photo: AFP) Islamabad: Pakistan and Indias trust deficit was once again exposed as Washington approved the sale of the F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad with New Delhi fiercely opposing the decision. The previous day, India expressed displeasure over decision of the US to notify the sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan. We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism, Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for Indias Foreign Ministry, said. On Sunday, Pakistan expressed disappointment at the Indian government's reaction regarding purchase of F-16s from the United States. A senior foreign ministry official said Pakistan was struggling to convince India that Islamabad did not want war with India nor it was sponsoring terror activities in the neighbouring country. We are ourselves victim of terrorism and naturally do not want the menace to flourish. Our strong defence is only aimed at avoiding a war rather than encouraging it. War is never an option for us, he said. He maintained India believed every bullet or gun Pakistan purchased or produced was designed against it. We have been trying to tell them we want talks and the F-16s or other jets were for our defence not for attacking India without any reason. Trust level is quite low, he added. Another official said back-channel contacts were more positive than the overt efforts for peace. Behind the scenes, they agree we have the right to improve our defence. The statements against F-16s etc are just political stunts, he claimed. He said the back-channel contact were always sensible while the direct talks were more emotional keeping in view the sentiments of the hawks in both the countries. The official said efforts were being made to improve the trust level which, he admitted, was an uphill task. Former Pakistan ambassador Fauzia Nasreen said Pakistan has always played its positive role for dialogues with India on the issue of Kashmir. Pakistans stance on the issue is very logical, which may lead to peaceful resolution of the dispute at hand. The United Nations and the United States must pressurize India for the solution of the matter, she said. Ms Nasreen said all the stakeholders must be taken on board. China can also play its positive role in solving the issue because the prosperity of the region depends on the permanent solution of Kashmir issue, she added. Analyst Dr Mohammed Khan said once the Kashmir issue is resolved, the two nations will concentrate more on business than blame game. Mr Khan said the trust level could only get a boost when the two countries become friendlier to each other. The two nuclear armed neighbours, working to return to table after the last months Pathankot terror attack, have always had complex relations due to the bitter past. Relations between the two states have been defined by the violent partition of British India in 1947, the Kashmir conflict and the numerous military conflicts fought between the two nations. Consequently, even though the two South Asian nations share linguistic, cultural, geographic, and economic links, their relationship has been plagued by hostility and suspicion. According to a 2014 BBC World Service Poll 21% of Pakistanis view Indias influence positively with 58% expressing a negative view while 17% of Indians view Pakistan's influence positively against 49% expressing a negative view. The university in the town of Charsadda is named after liberal, secular political figure hailed as a spiritual leader by an anti-Taliban political party. All four attackers were killed in the shootout with Pakistani troops at the Charsadda campus. (Photo: AFP) Peshawar: Amidst tight security, Pakistan's prestigious Bacha Khan University reopened on Monday, nearly a month after Taliban militants stormed the varsity in the country's restive northwest and killed 21 people, mostly students. Vice-chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat welcomed students in the university campus in Charsadda town which is located about 50 kilometres from Peshawar. "Enough measures were in place to foil any further attack. We are satisfied with the security arrangements at the campus," Marwat said. Bacha Khan University (BKU) has planned special lecturers to relieve the students of the "psychological trauma" and start their normal studies, he said. Security clearance has been given to the BKU and that eight policemen will be stationed on the university premises and a mobile van will be deployed outside. Four female university employees would be tasked with keeping an eye on female students, Charsadda district police officer Sohail Khan said. "The threat to the educational institution is not over yet. Not only the BKU but institutions are at threat but it does not mean to close everything forever," he said. He said police and army were tackling militancy directly and smashing their networks and arresting facilitators. Earlier, on January 25, BKU briefly reopened before closing down indefinitely. On January 20, four heavily-armed terrorists attacked BKU named after the iconic Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Authorities have arrested four facilitators who helped the attackers enter Pakistan and took them to Mardan city. They had entered Pakistan from Afghanistan via the Torkhum border. However, the main facilitator, "terrorist A", who received and made arrangements for the attackers at Torkhum border checkpost is still at large. Officials claimed that the attack on BKU was planned and controlled from Afghanistan as the phone call of commander Omer Mansoor, who later claimed responsibility, was made from Afghanistan. The BKU assault came about a year after terrorists attacked an army-run school in Peshawar that killed nearly 150 people, most of them students. The Pakistani military intensified an ongoing offensive, named operation Zarb-e-Azb, against extremists in the tribal areas after the 2014 attack. Chairperson of standing committee on law and justice Senator Nasreen Jalil has called a meeting of the committee this week to take up the matter. (Representational Picture, Photo: AFP) Lahore: Pakistan's Senate will discuss a controversial clause in the landmark Hindu Marriage Bill that calls for annulment of a marriage if any of the spouses converts to another religion, after unanimously passing the law recently. The National Assembly committee on law and justice last week approved the draft law on Hindu marriages, paving the way for registering marriages in the minuscule religious minority of Pakistan following decades of delay and inaction. Chairperson of standing committee on law and justice Senator Nasreen Jalil has called a meeting of the committee this week to take up the matter. The Hindu Marriage Bill clause 12(iii) says, a marriage will be annulled if any of the spouses converts to another religion. Ms Jalil said some opposed the clause others supported it. There needs to be a consensus among the committee members. "If there is a consensus on deletion of the clause the committee will forward its recommendations to the speaker of National Assembly," Dawn Newspaper quoted her as saying. On the other hand, National Assembly standing committee has witnessed serious opposition to the deletion of the clause by Maulana Mohammad Khan Sheerani, the JUI-F parliamentarian and chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). Pakistan Peoples Party's Shugufta Jumani and Ali Mohammad of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said if any of the spouses converted to Islam, the marriage should be terminated. PPP Senator Taj Haider said "I do not understand how the marriage will be annulled if any of the partners converts to Islam. The clause will also discourage cross-marriages". Ruling PML-N member Ramesh Kumar Vankwani who is also patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said the matter is related to the basic human rights of Pakistani Hindus. "There are fears the clause would be misused for forced conversions of married women the same way young girls are being subjected to forced conversions," he said. He also referred to the current practice by elements who kidnapped teenage girls and eventually presented them in courts along with a certificate that the girl had married after converting to Islam. Islamabad: Pakistan's Sindh Assembly on Monday passed the Hindu Marriage Bill making the province the first in the country to allow the minority community to register their marriages, amid calls from a leading Hindu group to remove a controversial clause in the landmark bill. The bill, moved in the assembly by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Khuhro, will apply to entire Sindh province, which has a sizeable population of Hindus. "Since the creation of Pakistan, it is the first time that such a law is being passed. The decision has been taken to provide mechanism for formally registering Hindu marriages in Sindh," Khuhro said. It was passed after a national parliamentary panel last week cleared its draft, paving way for registration of marriage and divorce for the Hindu community in Pakistan. Read: Remove annulment clause in Hindu Marriage Bill: Pak council The bill fixes the minimum age of marriage at 18. According to the bill, it is necessary that a marriage is solemnised after consent of both male and female and at least two witnesses must be present at the time of the solemnisation and registration of the marriage. According to the bill, every marriage being solemnised under this act will be registered with the union council/ward within 45 days of the solemnisation. The bill should have retrospective effect for the purpose of validation and registration of the marriage prior to this law. Any person who fails to get his marriage registered will be liable to pay a fine of 1,000 rupees. Other provinces and the federal government need to adopt separate bills to enable Hindu get marriages registered. The absence of a Hindu Marriage law was a huge hindrance to get marriage certificates, national identity cards and share in property. Hindus in Pakistan have long demanded a separate personal law to regulate their marriages. But the bill has generated controversy in equal measures over a clause that calls for annulment of marriage if any of the spouses converts their religion. Ramesh Vankwani, patron in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said the Hindu community in the country was concerned about the clause. "The objectionable clause 12(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Bill can be used for forced conversions of Hindu girls and women. It states that a marriage could be terminated if either spouse converts to another religion," he said. "Already we have brought up the issue of forced conversion of Hindu women and girls particularly in rural areas of Sindh with the government and this clause can lead to its misuse," said Vankwani, also a lawmaker of the ruling PML-N party. There were many instances when Hindu girls were abducted and later presented before court with certificates confirming their conversion and marriage to a Muslim man, he said. Seeking to put an end to the controversy, chairperson of standing committee on law and justice Nasreen Jalil said she has called a meeting of the committee this week to discuss the concerns expressed by the Hindu community. While the duo was going to the doctor, some militants started beating her. Unaware of the fact that the man accompanying her was her brother-in-law and not a stranger, the militants also attacked the man. (Photo: AP, Representational Image) Kabul: In a shocking incident, an Afghan woman was publicly beaten up by several Taliban militants because she was being accompanied by her brother-in-law instead of her husband, according to a report in Independent. While the duo was going to the doctor, some militants started beating her. Unaware of the fact that the man accompanying her was her brother-in-law and not a stranger, the militants also attacked the man. Reports suggest that this might have been a case of misunderstanding. The attackers might have thought that the woman had left the house with a stranger, which according to them is un-Islamic. A video footage made rounds on the internet in which the woman can be seen pleading to her attackers to leave her alone. She tried to convince them that she needed to visit the doctor urgently and her husband was unavailable at the moment, so she had to ask her brother-in-law to accompany her. Although police officials have confirmed the brutal act of the militants, they said that they could not take any action as a case has not been registered. Even today, in some of the rural parts of Afghanistan, a woman is not allowed to go out with or talk to a stranger man. It is considered to be against the Islamic codes and is even subject to punishment. Kakar and 12 other girls were suspended from sitting in their Intermediate final exams by Principal Abida Ghous of Government Girls Degree College. (Photo: Pixabay) Karachi: A 17-year-old girl in Pakistan's southwest, who led a protest against suspension of classes at her college owing to a shortage of female teachers, has committed suicide alleging that the college principal refused to send her examination form to the board. Saqiba Kakar, a second year Intermediate student of Government Girls College in Muslim Bagh ingested poisonous pills on Friday after the principal of her college refused to send her examination form to the intermediate education board. Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri of the Balochistan province has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Kakar and 12 other girls were suspended from sitting in their Intermediate final exams by Principal Abida Ghous of Government Girls Degree College, Muslim Bagh for staging a demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club in June 2015 demanding resumption of classes at their institution, her family said. The girls, who had travelled all the way to Quetta last year to stage a protest, said the principal, had cancelled classes because there were "no female teachers at the school". The girls also claimed that around a 100 girls were not receiving education just because the principal had removed all the male teachers from the college who were teaching there for last many years. Azizullah, the brother of Saqiba said despite the girls submitting apologies to the college principal for the protest they were not allowed to sit in their final exams and his sister was extremely depressed. The Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education exams are scheduled to start from April 1. Baluchistan Education Minister Rahim Ziaratwal said a three-member committee had been formed to investigate the tragic incident. trump made vodka??:blink: yep - it failed his 3rd marriage is doing well and they have been married for a decade.. wow - old is he? how many marriages? and one of them has lasted a whole ten years? that's about half the age of his daughter isn't it? I'm so impressed. I guess after making it for FORTY years, 10 doesn't seem like such an achievement. he's a great dad according to his daughter ivanka. really? the man who gives her everything money can buy thinks he's great? I'm truly shocked. he's still a billionaire so he must be doing something right in the business world. he's a billionaire because YOU AND I AND EVERY OTHER AMERICAN has bailed him out of his bankrupties. Jesus. Talk about supporting somebody who is against your own interests. 1 of the reasons i like him more and more is he's not a politician! i'm sick of politicians! they are all the same no matter what party they are--liars! power and money hungry.. I'm that old also. That's not the point. It's the arrogance of it. I haven't used any such language to describe Scalia in any way. To quote Marco Rubio yesterday... "I don't think Obama should be nominating anyone for this court" Who the **** is that arrogant son of a bitch to decide whether or not the President should be nominating anyone for the court? Or to put it another way, who gives a rats *** what you think about it Marco? You're a nobody, and a second rate, wannabe, also ran. Now try to show up to do the job the tax payers elected your sorry *** to do. We'll let you know when it's your turn to vote. And that goes doubly for Ted Cruz. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing, during the next few hours, the arrival of troops participating in the largest and most important military maneuver in the history of the region called Northern Thunder (Raad Al-Shamal). Military forces from 20 Arab nations are gathering at King Khalid Military City in Hafr Al-Batin, near the Kuwaiti border to participate in the exercise, one of the largest of its kind in terms of the number of countries with the participation of 20 Arab, Islamic and friendly countries, including: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Senegal, Sudan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Chad, Tunisia, Comoros, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Egypt, Mauritania, Mauritius, in addition to the Peninsula shield forces. Northern Thunder is the largest military exercise of its kind in terms of the number of participating countries and qualitative military equipment of diverse sophisticated weapons and military equipment, including fighter jets from different models reflecting the large quantitative and qualitative spectrum being enjoyed by these forces, as well as the participation of a wide range of artillery, tanks, infantry, air defense systems and naval forces, in a simulation of the highest level of maximum alert of the armies of the 20 participating countries. The exercise represents broad support from Arab nations to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that has been involved in recent months in a number of conflicts, namely Yemen and Syria, as well as an open challenge to Iran. Saudi Arabia is sending planes to the Incirlik Air Base in the southern Turkish province of Adana, where jets from the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition are already based, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has stated, amid reports on Feb. 14 that the jets have already arrived. Saudi Arabia has deployed F-15E strike fighters to the Turkish airbase at Incirlik, a forward base hosting US lead coalition air forces operating against Daesh in Northern Syria. According to Turkish sources the Saudi planes are expected there within 2-3 weeks. The Saudi deployment is part of a larger plan that could involve operations against Daesh that will require cross-border ground maneuvers into Syria. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also told reporters on Feb. 14 that his country was ready to send special forces to Syria to take part in ground operations against ISIL, without giving further details. Turkey and Saudi Arabia have long advocated in favor of a ground operation in Syria but no concrete decision has been taken for such an operation. Riyadh and Ankara are both opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose foreign minister last week warned that any ground intervention would amount to aggression that must be resisted. Al-Assiri said the decision to deploy an unspecified number of jets to Turkey followed a meeting in Brussels of U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition members, who decided step up their fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq. He stressed that Saudi Arabia made its decision in coordination with the coalition and a ground operation was being planned. There is a consensus among coalition forces on the need for ground operations and the Kingdom is committed to that, al-Assiri said. Military experts will meet in the coming days to finalize the details, the task force and the role to be played by each country, he added. Updated: February 18, 2016: A federal judge on Thursday denied Lockheed Martins motion that could have forced Oshkosh Corp. to stop working on a $6.7 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) contract while a lawsuit over that contract award continued. A week after the court decision, following careful deliberation, Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its protest of the JLTV contract award decision in the Court of Federal Claims. This decision lifted the last legal obstacle from the program and Oshkosh Corp. can now keep working on its JLTV contract, focusing on production and delivery. The procurement of JLTV could net the company more than $30 billion over the next 25 years. Lockheed in its motion to halt work argued that the military applied different standards to the two companies when evaluating the contract and held misleading meetings with the company about the bid. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is unveiling two new loitering weapons at the Singapore Airshow this week. The Green Dragon - a compact loitering man-in-the-loop guided weapon and the Harpy New Generation (NG), an autonomous anti-radiation Loitering weapon, are both based on the HARPO family and technology. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is unveiling two new variants of its Harpy/Harop loitering weapon family at the Singapore Airshow this week. The first is the Harpy New Generation (NG) an autonomous, anti-radiation loitering weapon designed to Suppress and Destroy Enemy Air Defense (SEAD/DEAD) operations. The second is the Green Dragon, a compact, lightweight variant of the HAROP, which uses Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR)-guidance to provide man-in-the-loop capability. HAROP and Green Dragon are designed to locate, track and destroy high-quality static and mobile targets. Harpy NG was developed to counter the newer types of air defense radar threats that have evolved since the introduction into service of its first-generation predecessor, in the early 1990s. It automatically engages emitters and radar-dependent threats in an area of responsibility assigned to it. The NG retains its predecessors original 15 kg. warhead, but has a new and improved RF seeker which covers a wider frequency range, to match the migration of modern target-acquisition and fire-control radars to the lower frequency bands. Utilizing the HAROP airframe, the Harpy NG also offers a longer loitering time of about six hours, extended range and a higher altitude ceiling. The common platform enables commonality in maintenance and training across several families of loitering vehicles operated by some of its customers. In addition to its service with the Israel Defense Forces, Harpy also serves as a loitering counter-air-defense weapon with a number of international customers, including India, South Korea, Chile, Turkey and China. Harop is operational with India and Azerbaijan. Boaz Levi, IAI Corporate Vice-President and General Manager of the Systems, Missiles & Space Group, said: IAI is introducing these new Loitering Munitions, intended to refresh, update and complement our already successful family of LMs. The new tactical products serve to bolster the abilities of small, tactical, infantry units and Special Ops, with a special emphasis on solving operational problems in urban areas. The other new member of IAIs family of LMs is the Green Dragon a tactical, affordable weapon which addresses the growing demand from military users for organic, persistent, situational- awareness diagnosis and rapid kinetic response. It is also suitable for small ground units and special operations forces, operating as an organic loitering weapon which enables both ISR and attack capabilities in short-response time. As an all-electric LM, Green Dragon operates silently for up to two hours, during which its operator can collect visual intelligence of surrounding areas up to a range of 40 km. Green Dragon can locate and acquire targets and, upon a command from its operator, can dive on designated targets to impact and explode with an accuracy better than 1 meter (CEP). The operator can abort the attack any time before impact, through a built-in abort and circle capability, designed to prevent unnecessary collateral damage or mistaken targeting. The Green Dragon weighs 15 kg. and uses an electro-optical micropop EO/IR payload for surveillance, targeting and terminal homing. Its warhead weighs almost 3 kg. The Green Dragon is carried and launched from a sealed 1.7-meter-long canister that can be carried by a soldier in a backpack or stacked on a small vehicle in groups of 12-16 launchers. Upon launch, the weapon expands to a cruciform 1.7-meter-wide shape optimized for loitering and terminal dive. It is controlled from a tablet-sized control panel, through a tactical, low-power datalink. Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK) is highlighting at the Singapore Airshow two unmanned ground vehicle systems (UGV) demonstrating robotics applications of combat systems. The two platforms selected by STK are the Amstaf Israeli wheeled UGV from Automotive Robotic Industries and the TheMIS tracked UGV from Milrem of Estonia, Both debut a Singapore Airshow carrying ST Kinetics remotely controlled weapon systems. Amstaf has already proved its operational use, guarding villages, military facilities and infrastructure site sin operational use and field evaluations in Israel, South Korea, Poland and Canada and other locations worldwide. The configuration used by Singapore Technologies include both 66 and 88 electrically powered vehicles dubbed Jaeger UGV. It is equipped with diesel engine and charger alternator that keeps battery full at all time, supporting up to 48 hours of autonomy. When silent operation is mandatory the vehicle can endure over 6 hours on battery power only, quick charging enables the robot to top-up its battery from the on-board charger in 3 hours. The second platform on display is the Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System (THeMIS) from Milrem UGV. TheMIS ADDER (a variant where UGV THeMIS and RWS ADDER are integrated) is a weaponized unmanned ground vehicle equipped with a remote weapon station. The vehicle has independent, electrically powered propulsion units embedded in each track. The TheMIS development has been funded by the Estonian Ministry of Defence. The prototype of the UGV was unveiled at DSEI 2015 in London, UK last autumn. Its kerb weight is 750-850 kg and maximum speed is 25-35 km/h. The platform can carry its own weight (750kg) as payload, bringing the total gross weight to more than 1.5 tons; yet the wide tracks maintain the ground pressure as low as 0.069 kg/cm2, maintaining high off-road maneuverable and amphibious capability with high mobility in mud, sand, water and snow. The vehicle can be remotely controlled by an operator, or follow the operator from a safe distance, while maneuvering to avoid obstacles. In addition to the use as a mobile, remotely operated weapon or anti-tank missile carrier, TheMIS can also assume other missions such as combat casualties evacuation, firefighting, demining, CBRN reconnaissance, combat support supply mule. Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality. This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape. All the posts here were published in the electronic media main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts. Credit scores are complicated, so the process of improving them can look different for everyone. Get some helpful tips here, along with more business and economy news in case you missed it. Oregon State University will hold a book reading and discussion on Wednesday about a black man almost certainly unjustly executed for a 1943 murder on a train near Tangent. The Color of Night: Race, Railroaders and Murder in the Wartime West, was written by Western Oregon University History Professor Max G. Geier, who will give his presentation from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the fifth floor of the Valley Librarys Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Light refreshments will be served. Geiers book tells the story of a Robert Folkes, a train cook from South Central Los Angeles who was charged with the murder of Martha James despite inconsistent and contradictory eyewitness accounts. James, a white and southern woman newly married to a Navy pilot, was killed in her train sleeping berth near Albany. The investigation into the case and the trial in Linn County Circuit Court garnered sensational media coverage at a time of intense wartime fervor and extensive black domestic migration. Folkes controversial execution in the gas chamber reshaped how Oregonians and others in the West thought about race, class and privilege, according to a news release. Prosecutors, police and reporters colluded, in wartime, to stage the trial as a moralizing ritual for a public purpose that had little to do with justice, reads a summary of the book on the OSU Press website. The crime and its aftermath also galvanized civil rights activists, labor organizers and community leaders into challenging the flawed judicial process and ultimately the death penalty in Oregon. Attendees at the book reading also will get a sneak peak of a new oral history project under development at Special Collections and Archives interviews with 20th century African American railroad porters. Prominent Republicans this weekend suggested that President Barack Obama should simply hand off nominating a successor to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to the next president. Its a ludicrous suggestion, and Republicans know it. Obama made it clear that he would move forward with nominating a successor to Scalia, the firebrand conservative who was found dead Saturday at a private residence in Texas. He was 79. The cause of death was still uncertain on Sunday. In fact, in any other circumstance, had Obama actually said he would wait a year to name a successor to Scalia, Republicans would be arguing that the president was guilty of dereliction of duty and they would be right. The Supreme Court is far too important an institution to leave short-handed for any length of time, although the battle over confirmation will be fascinating. The whole affair again highlights an important question to ask presidential candidates that generally has gone unasked until now. The Scalia vacancy is particularly interesting because the justice was part of a 5-4 conservative majority. His death raises the possibility that the court could deadlock 4-4 on a variety of important issues until his seat is filled. (In a tie vote, the ruling of the lower court stands.) And the nomination gives Obama an opportunity to turn that conservative majority to a more left-leaning court. Seeing how these Supreme Court nominations are one of the ways in which a president can leave a lasting legacy, its silly to imagine that Obama would just boot this opportunity to the next president. Because Supreme Court justices are appointed for life (or until they choose to retire), its always a bit of a crap shoot nominating someone you think will tend to be on the conservative side or the liberal side. Its not unusual for justices to experience some ideological drift during their years on the court: Look no further than Chief Justice John Roberts, who has enraged conservatives with his rulings on the Affordable Care Act. (In Roberts case, though, this may be less a question of ideological drift than the chief justice carrying out the role he sketched out during his confirmation hearings, as a carefully restrained jurist who typically seeks to reach rulings based on what he believes legislators intended rather than what he thinks the law should be.) Expect Obama to play a bit of a centrist card in his nomination for Scalias replacement; he might, in fact, be looking for someone a bit to the right of his previous nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The possibility that Obama might be looking for someone who could serve as a second swing vote on the court (Anthony Kennedy currently relishes that role) is almost mouthwateringly intriguing for court watchers. In the meantime, Scalias death should serve as a reminder to voters that perhaps the single most important thing presidents do is appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Arent we interested in what sort of justices Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush or Donald Trump or Marco Rubio or John Kasich or Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would appoint in the very likely event that the next president will get to make one or two appointments to the court, and possibly more? (Three of the sitting judges are 77 or older.) We should be. Now would be a particularly good time to start asking. (mm) Reports indicate the Turkish army has crossed the border into Syria. "The Syrian government says Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen it said entered Syria on Saturday accompanied by 12 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, in an ongoing supply operation to insurgents fighting Damascus," Reuters reports. "The operation of supplying ammunition and weapons is continuing via the Bab al-Salama crossing to the Syrian area of Azaz," the Assad government says. Meanwhile, since all that would take to unleash a full-blown war is for some Russian to be unexpectedly blown up, events like this do not inspire much confidence in the Syrian "ceasefire": #Breaking Several mortars reportedly impacted the vicinity of the Russian embassy in Damascus #Syria Michael Horowitz (@michaelh992) February 14, 2016 On Saturday, the geopolitical world was shocked when Turkey began shelling Aleppo, where the Syrian opposition has its back against the wall in the face of an aggressive advance by Hezbollah and the IRGC supported, of course, by Russian airstrikes. To be sure, everyone knew Ankara and Riyadh would have to do something quick if they wanted to preserve the rebellion. Their proxies are being rolled up rapidly by Hassan Nasrallahs army and Vladimir Putins air force juggernaut. But few expected the escalation would come so quickly. But Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unpredictable (just ask the lone surviving pilot of the Su-24 Turkey shot down in November) and this weekend, he decided that theres no time like the present when it comes to starting World War III. Officially, Turkey says its shelling Kurdish positions in Syria in self defense. Its all about securing the border against hostiles, Ankara says. Of course the idea that the YPG are set to invade Turkey is laughable. The Syrian Kurds have secured enough space in their own country to declare an autonomous proto-state, and they neednt aspire to capturing Turkish territory. They are abusing U.S. support to capture land from the opposition,a Turkish official said, reflecting Ankara's anger at the fact that Russia and Hezbollah's offensive is making it easier for the Kurds to consolidate their gains. The U.S. should tell them to stop rather than telling Turkey to stop. But for Erdogan, thats precisely the problem. Ankara fears the YPGs gains will embolden the PKK militarily and the HDP politically and last Junes elections clearly suggest that an emboldened Kurdish minority has the power to shake up the political scene. And so, Turkey is set to take the fight to Syria in the name of fighting terrorists, which for Erdogan, means eradicating the Kurds. As we noted on Saturday, the challenge for Ankara and Riyadh is this: somehow, Turkey and Saudi Arabia need to figure out how to spin an attack on the YPG and an effort to rescue the opposition at Aleppo as an anti-ISIS operation even though ISIS doesnt have a large presence in the area. Incredibly, Turkey seems less concerned about the optics than we thought. In short, Erdogan looks as though hes prepared to simply enter the war on the pretext that Turkey needs to roll back the YPG which, youre reminded is explicitly backed by the US. In a way that makes sense. You cant very well shell Aleppo and use ISIS as an excuse. The groups presence isnt large enough in the area. But what you can do is say the PKK are terrorists, theyre allied with the YPG who are in Aleppo, and therefore, we need to shell Aleppo. (Saif al Dawle neighborhood of Aleppo) Put in the simplest possible terms, what Erdogan is really doing is trying to reopen supply lines closed by Russia and Iran by wiping out Kurdish forces who dominate the northern border with Turkey. Turkish drones suspected of penetrating Syrian airspace over northern #Aleppo to find additional targets for artillery strikes. Daniel Nisman (@DannyNis) February 14, 2016 The shelling continued on Sunday. "The Turkish army shelled positions held by Kurdish-backed militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, killing two fighters," Reuters reports, citing the admittedly dubious Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The YPG controls nearly all of Syria's northern frontier with Turkey, and has been a close ally of the United States in the campaign against Islamic State in Syria, but Ankara views the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey." Jaysh al-Thuwwar, an allied group warned Turkey against further attacks, saying if the country "has goals in our dear nation, we will defend our land and our people, and view it as a hostile party". Again, this comes from the very same groups the US is overtly supporting with arms and air power. So not the CIA-sponsored opposition. Turkey is shelling fighters who literally have the clearance to call in US airstrikes from warplanes that, in an irony of ironies, are flying from Incirlik, the Turkish air base. And speaking of Incirlik, the Saudis are moving into position. #Turkey and Saudi Arabia reportedly established a joint operation room for syrian operations, as Saudi jets arrived to Incirlik #Syria #KSA Michael Horowitz (@michaelh992) February 14, 2016 They're also conducting "exercises" dubbed "North Thunder" or, "Road North." Here's SPA (translated): Witnessing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the next few hours the arrival of troops participating in the military exercise largest and most important in the history of the region, "Raad north," In the King Khalid Military City Hafr al-Batin in the northern kingdom will be implemented exercise which is the largest military maneuver in terms of the number of countries, with the participation of 20 Arab, Islamic and friendly country, in addition to the Peninsula shield forces, and these countries are: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Senegal, Sudan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco , Pakistan, Chad, Tunisia, the moon, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Egypt, Mauritania, Mauritius, in addition to the Peninsula shield forces. Islands constitute Raad north, the largest military exercise of its kind in terms of the number of participating countries, and military equipment quality of weapons and military equipment diverse and sophisticated, including fighter jets from different models reflect the large quantitative and qualitative spectrum, which show him those forces, as well as the participation of a wide range of artillery and tanks, infantry and air defense systems, naval forces, in a simulation of the highest level of high alert for the armies of the countries 20 participation. Exercise Raad North represents a clear message to the Saudi brothers and brothers and friends of the participating countries stand united to face all challenges and to maintain peace and stability in the region, in addition to the emphasis on many of the goals, all in full readiness circle and maintain the peace and security of the region and the world . Analysts say that the exercise Raad North confirms that the leaders of the participating countries, are fully in line with the vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the need to protect the peace and stability in the region. A lot of words to say this: "We're flexing our muscles on the way to invading Syria." "What is present now is aircraft that are part of the Saudi forces," Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri told Al Arabiya News Channel on Sunday, referencing the Saudi presence at Incirlik. "The kingdom is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition (against ISIS) may agree to carry out in Syria," he added. Remember, Turkey also shelled the Syrian army on Saturday. Turkish artillery shelled Syrian territory, targeting Syrian Kurdish positions and the positions of the Syrian Arab Army, SANA news agency reported, citing a letter from Damascus to the UN. Expect those attacks to continue in the name of "self defense." Meanwhile, the Russians aren't letting up. Aleppo will be recaptured and that, as they say, is that. "Russia is determined to create facts on the ground, and when they have accomplished this, then they will invite the West to fight a common enemy, this is ISIS," Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament says, underscoring our contention that Russia is determined to negotiate from a position of absolute strength. "Let's be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia's assault on Aleppo to continue for another week," John McCain exclaimed. "Mr Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime, he wants to establish Russia as a major power in the Middle East, he wants to use Syria as a live fire exercise for Russias modernizing military." Right. And America is seemingly powerless to stop him. In the short term, the only question now is this: how long will it be before Turkey or Saudi Arabia kills a Hezbollah fighter or an IRGC general? Or worse: what happens when a Russian ends up dead at the hands of the region's Sunni powers? Supreme Court justice reshaped a misguided legal culture. (Photo: Alex Wong, Getty Images) I am saddened beyond words by the death of a man who I have known well for 34 years. Justice Scalia was brilliant, funny, outspoken and, in a very deep way, quite humble. I will miss his company sorely, as I did when my own father died in 2003. Antonin Scalia is one of only 112 Americans to have served on the U.S. Supreme Court , but he is the most important justice in American history greater than former himself. Justice Scalia believed in following the law and in textualism. And he never misconstrued federal statutes to reach constitutional issues he wanted to decide the way did in famous cases like and in . Justice Scalia will be remembered for his commitment to the principle that judges should be guided in deciding cases by the original public meaning of the texts that they are interpreting. He has totally reshaped the legal culture so that today there is much less use of legislative history and much more reliance on the constitutional text than there was prior to his elevation to the Supreme Court in 1986 . Even liberal justices like Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan often joined Justice Scalias opinion or wrote textualist opinions that Justice Scalia could join. Scalia has fundamentally and forever reshaped the way Americans will think about law. Justice Scalia leaves behind a treatise on statutory interpretation as well as hundreds of opinions that reveal his original public meaning textualist approach. Scalias work on originalism was picked up and used by important liberal originalist scholars like Akhil Amar and Jack Balkin at . It is rare for a single Supreme Court justice to trigger such a scholarly response, but Justice Scalia did so. One of Justice Scalias most important opinions was a lone dissent, which he wrote in Morrison v. Olson, a 7 to 1 opinion , in which Scalia argued that the independent prosecutor law, which was on the books from 1978 to 1999 was both dangerous and unconstitutional. His arguments carried the day, and by 1999 both the Democrats and the Republicans in Washington, D.C. had seen the wisdom of Scalias dissent. The independent counsel law was allowed to sunset out of existence. Another important Scalia opinion came in District of Columbia v. Heller where Justice Scalia held in a scholarly and historical opinion that the protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for his or her own personal defense and not only if they are members of a state national guard unit. This landmark ruling has had a huge effect in protecting the gun rights of law abiding citizens. Justice Scalia was often on the conservative side of the Supreme Court, but he had a strong rule-of-law libertarian streak that occasionally caused him to side with the Supreme Courts liberals. He joined a five to four majority opinion that held that laws against flag burning were unconstitutional , and he recently ruled that the police cannot attach GPS tracking devices to peoples cars or bring drug-sniffing dogs to their front doors without getting a warrant first. Justice Scalia did the right thing in these cases because he followed the law and not his political policy preferences. In his nearly 30 years on the Supreme Court Justice Scalia never let his fame or power go to his head, and he engaged warmly and humorously with his colleagues, his law clerks, and his former clerks who came to see him once a year at his annual law clerks reunion. When I clerked for him he used to regularly go jogging or play tennis with us and he loved a good joke at his own expense. Once when he was driving with one of his nine children across the country they stopped somewhere in Kansas at a roadside motel to spend the night. He went up to the front desk and asked for a room. The desk clerk asked the justice his name. He answered "Scalia." The desk clerk said he would have to spell that out. So the justice spelled out S-C-A-L-I-A. Oh," responded the clerk, "like the Supreme Court justice! Justice Scalia leaves a monumental legacy of books and opinions; colleagues on the Supreme and lower federal courts whose views he has affected; law clerks and students he has taught; and attendees from hundreds of speeches touched by his infectious enthusiasm for the law as he understood it. No future justice can hope to rival Justice Antonin Scalia, but we all can and should continue to learn from his legacy. A pain in the derriere who is looking for peace and quiet while learning to draw and to express herself. :-) To let you know I'm still learning so I draw after pictures I found on the internet. Most of the time, I draw in black and white but I'm always trying some new stuff. Disclaimer Please inform the editors of this blog of any errors of fact in this blog. Also, if you are the owner of copyright of any of the photos used and wish it to be removed, please inform the editors. We always welcome comments, but we moderate them to reduce spam, gratuitous unkindness and so forth. Because we moderate comments, they won't appear on the blog until one of us publishes them, but we try to do that in a timely way. We've had to make a change to the commenting page. People had told us that Blogger was eating their comments, so now, rather than embedding comment editing with the posts, it has to be done on a separate, full page. Unfortunately, the 'reply' option has disappeared so comments will just follow one another. We'll see how this goes. FINALLY, please note that we assert copyright for the material written by us that appears here 11 Countries That Consume the Most Chocolate in the World id you know that if you live in one of the 11 countries that consume the most chocolate in the wo... 6 years ago Today is Presidents Day in the United States, when Americans pause to honor their national leaders, beginning with the first president, George Washington. From the time of his death in 1799, his birthday, February 22, was marked unofficially. It formally became a national holiday in 1885. Over time, Americans also began honoring another great leader, Abraham Lincoln, whose February 12 birthday falls near Washington's. Official recognition of the two began in 1971, with a day honoring all presidents every year on the third Monday of the month. Washington won lasting fame for leading Americans to victory in the war for independence from Britain. His popularity was such that he could have made himself a king if he'd so chosen. Some of the officers in his army, impatient with the democratic process, urged him to do just that. "Banish these thoughts from your mind," Washington said, and issued a stern reprimand to those who made the suggestion. He ordered the army disbanded, resigned his commission as commander-in-chief and retired to private life. At the time, America was a loose confederation of thirteen states. Over the next six years, Americans struggled to devise an effective federal government, but one that left important powers to the states. Many Americans distrusted the idea of a central government and feared abuses of power by federal officials, especially the president. At this critical time, Washington was the one person who most Americans were willing to trust. He was the unopposed choice to be the nations first president. When he took office, the United States had a constitution, but its government was not yet organized. When he stepped down, the U.S. was recognized by the world's major powers. Washington put the nation on a sound financial footing and created an effective military to protect America's expanding frontiers. In revolutionary France, democratic ideals gave way to turmoil, terror and repression. But in the United States, under Washington's leadership, revolution produced stable, democratic, and lawful government. By leaving office voluntarily after two four-year terms, he set an important precedent for all future presidents. He also oversaw a peaceful transfer of power from one elected leader to another, a principle vital to democracy and an example for peoples around the world. After a horrible bus ride, we got a tuk tuk to the Apple Guest House and arrived around 8am. Our host is a lovely Australian couple named Robyn and John, and their son who they adopted from Laos when he was 21 years old. She had great suggestions and we listened to all of her ideas. Lots of little laneways in Luang Prabang We left our things and went out to get an amazing breakfast at a true Parisian Patisserie called Banneton. We ate some of the best croissants we have ever had and drank delicious coffee. Then, because we couldn't help ourselves, we ordered a ham and cheese crepe and fruit pastries too. beautiful temples everywhere The little baby elephant We walked around town visiting some small temples, and then went back to the guest house to check in and head out for our elephant ride. The elephant ride was great. They introduced us to the baby elephants first and to then to the other elephants. They told us how there used to be thousands of elephants in Laos, and that the original name of Laos meant Land of a thousand elephants. The elephants in this reserve were protected. Elephants were used for farming and had a very difficult life. They were used harshly and beaten often. People would also kill elephants to steal their ivory tusks, and there are now very few elephants left. This sanctuary is working towards saving these majestic animals. They are still quite a ways off from a First World concept for a sanctuary, but giving rides to tourists is a way to raise money, so they do. The elephants are still not treated very well, seeing as they still feel they need to beat the elephant for two weeks when it is young to make it afraid of the mahout, but it is definitely better than the alternative. The mahouts do not have a much better life than the elephants, so you cant really blame them if they want the elephant to work as hard as them, be beaten as much as they were as children and have less to eat than they want like their skinny mahouts. If anyone wants a good cause, getting funding to save elephants in Laos would be remarkably good. Riding the elephant The elephant chair was wooden and cushioned and quite comfortable, and the ride was nice - just about half an hour or so and then back. Most of the mahouts walked and led their elephants, and then spent the rest of the day chopping sugar cane for the tourists to feed their elephant. After the elephants, they took us to the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. As a bonus, it is at a nature reserve with sun bears and beautiful trails through the woods. You can go swimming in the pools that form under each little waterfall The colour is amazing - no photoshop help in these photos .... We took so many pictures of every little waterfall The final waterfall That night we went to Robyns recommended restaurant, Kaiphain. It is a training restaurant for street kids, so that they can learn a skill. They are so successful that the kids are snapped up immediately by high end Thai restaurants. The food was superb, and the entire meal cost us $25. If you are ever in Luang Prabanb, you must try this restaurant. Our amazing dinner at Kaiphain That night we went to Robyns recommended restaurant, Kaiphain. It is a training restaurant for street kids, so that they can learn a skill. They are so successful that the kids are snapped up immediately by high end Thai restaurants. The food was superb, and the entire meal cost us $25. If you are ever in Luang Prabanb, you must try this restaurant. In the morning, we slept in and then went back to Banneton for breakfast. We walked around to markets and temples and museums and up the back steps on Mount Phousi. We came down the front steps. We went to the storytelling theatre. I thought it was one of the best things I have seen on this trip. It was a really good storyteller, telling local myths and legends, accompanied by an old man playing a traditional stringed instrument. Statues of Ogre on Mount Phousi The storytellers Later we went back to the hotel to change for supper. Robyn suggested that Blue Lagoon was really nice. It was, and the food was good, but it cost more than Kaiphain and the food wasn't nearly as delicious. We went to the night market and picked out the mask we wanted, and a few other trinkets and headed off to bed. The monks on their early morning alms walk The temple inside the Palace grounds This temple is covered with mosaic close up of the mosaic We got up at about 5am and headed to the market to buy alms for the monks. Every morning they walk in procession through the streets with their alms buckets collecting food for the day. I bought little oranges. We saw the monks coming and in my haste to get the oranges out of the little plastic bag, I dropped them all and they went bouncing and rolling around just as the monks came. I managed to gathered them up in a pile before the monks slipped and fell on the little field of round oranges under their feet, and was able to put the few that hadn't bounce around in their buckets. The others oranges were ok and I picked them up and wiped them off and put them more neatly in an easily accessible cloth bag and we went to the main site. I was able to hand out the rest of the oranges without creating an obstacle course. We followed the rules. I stayed lower than the monks by kneeling on the ground, and reaching up to put an orange in their buckets, and Greg stood a respectful distance away (across the street) and took photos. It was sad to see that not all tourists respect this ceremony, and there were some people pushing in front and shoving cameras in monks faces to get close up shots. Many tourists seem to just buy little packaged cookies and snacks that look remarkably like Halloween treats to put in their little alms boxes. I think that some people miss the point that this is their daily food, and not snacks to enjoy at recess. We packed up all of our bags and then I chatted with Robyn and two women from Alaska, while Greg went out exploring a few more temples. At noon Greg came back and took me to a lovely little restaurant out across one of the long bamboo bridges, and then we headed off to the airport. These bamboo bridges have to be built every year by the monks after they wash away in the wet season. This is the bridge across to the restaurant In the restaurant across the bridge waiting for my two margaritas! The airport security tried to take away the fork that I had in my luggage (it was a gift from the Cambodian wedding). He said it was dangerous and I couldn't have it on the plane. I finally convinced him to let me take it... Then on the same plane, they gave me a metal knife and fork to eat with!!! Yikes! a knife too! This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 18 years and 38,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going. "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." ~~Thomas Jefferson "Who will protect us from those who protect us?" Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. ~ Thomas Jefferson "None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free." ~~Goethe RENO With the national economy still unsteady, many local businesses owners, agricultural business owners and community leaders in Nevada are concerned about the impact on their businesses. To help these businesses and government leaders create plans to minimize the economic risk, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension will host the Nevada Agricultural Outlook workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 25. Presenters will be at the Washoe County Cooperative Extension office, 4955 Energy Way in Reno, and at the Clark County Cooperative Extension office, 8050 Paradise Road, Suite 100 in Las Vegas. Participants can attend at those locations, as well as tune in via interactive video at Cooperative Extension offices in Carson City, Elko, Fallon, Lovelock, Winnemucca and Yerington. Anyone watching national news will notice that the economy is still in extreme flux, said Extension Specialist Tom Harris, director of the University Center for Economic Development. Given such uncertainty in the international and national economies, Nevadas businesses and government leaders need sound economic information and forecasts to create strategies for the coming year. Information from this workshop will help our businesses and leaders involved in or concerned with agriculture develop plans and strategies to minimize the economic risk. The workshop will provide insight on the impact of economic trends, possible impacts of sage grouse designation, and the forecast for homegrown foods. Agriculture business owners, rural and urban business owners, county commissioners, city officials, and others involved in economic development are invited to attend. Topics include: -- Trends in International and National Economy, presented by Stephen Miller, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- Trends in Agricultural Prices, presented by Mike Helmar, research analyst and agricultural economist for the University Center for Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Reno -- Representative Ranches in Nevada, presented by George Knapek, program director of Representative Farms and a member of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University -- Impacts to Representative Ranches from Sage Grouse Land Withdrawals, taught by Brian Herbst, research associate at the Agriculture and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University -- Regional Impacts of Agriculture and Withdrawal, presented by Harris -- Panel Discussion on Local Agriculture, led by Lincoln County Extension Educator Holly Gatzke and Northeast Clark County Extension Educator Carol Bishop, with University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Cost of the conference is $20 per person at the live locations in Reno and Las Vegas only, and includes all handout material and lunch. All other interactive video sites are free. For the Reno workshop, register online at http://renoagoutlook.eventbrite.com/. For the Las Vegas workshop, register online at http://lasvegasagoutlook.eventbrite.com/. For more information, contact Jennifer Kintz at kintzj@unce.unr.edu or 775-945-3444, ext. 12. Gov. Brian Sandoval: Justice Scalia was a titan of American jurisprudence, a fierce originalist in his interpretation of the United States Constitution whose writing style and intellect will be called upon for the guidance and edification of generations of legal scholars, said Governor Brian Sandoval. I am proud to say I met Justice Scalia following our states legal communitys Red Mass. It was a privilege to welcome him to our state and an honor to join him in celebration of the Mass which greatly influenced his personal and professional life. Today, the Sandoval family joins the Nevada family and our nation as we celebrate the life of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. I pray that his family finds peace and comfort during this difficult time. Sen. Dean Heller: I was saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Justice Scalia earlier today. By standing fiercely in defense of the Constitution, Justice Scalia served as a strong and principled conservative voice on the highest court in our country. His presence on the Court will be sorely missed for both his legal acumen and his razor sharp wit. Lynne and I send our condolences to his family. Attorney General Adam Laxalt: Today, our nation lost one of its finest public servants: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. I am deeply grieving the loss of Justice Scalia in two ways: as a friend, blessed by his kindness, and as an American, blessed by his wisdom. Few in the history of this nation have done more to defend, preserve and protect the United States Constitution. Few have been better endowed by their Creator to articulate the principles upon which our liberty rests. And even fewer, if any in our history, have used that ability better than Justice Scalia. He was by my account, and no doubt by many, the greatest jurist of our lifetime. Justice Scalia was a lion of liberty. He was also a man whose personal life mirrored the greatness of his public works. He was the father of nine children, and a husband in a marriage that lasted fifty-six years. Justice Scalia guided me to the church where I met my wife, Jaime. His son, Father Paul Scalia, married us. Through his family, writings and opinions, Justice Scalia shaped countless lives. His life served as a reminder that one could be profoundly committed to both ones country and ones family. Few carried more responsibilities or had more demands on their schedule than Justice Scalia. Yet he took the time to visit Nevada to attend our Red Mass and to fly fish on our rivers and lakes. He always made time for those who needed him. He was never in a hurry, but savored this life, while cognizant of the life to come. He wore his greatness lightly. I will miss him as friend and as a mentor. I am deeply saddened for the Scalia family, and for all of those fortunate enough to call Antonin Scalia a friend. We have lost one of our greatest bulwarks against those who would undermine our Constitution, the rule of law and our American way of government. As a lifelong Catholic, Justice Scalia was an admirer of St. Paul, so perhaps it is best to end with him. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. It would be hard to better describe Justice Scalia. Sen. Harry Reid: There is no doubt Justice Antonin Scalia was a brilliant man. We had our differences and I disagreed with many of his opinions, but he was a dedicated jurist and public servant. I offer my condolences to his family. The President can and should send the Senate a nominee right away. With so many important issues pending before the Supreme Court, the Senate has a responsibility to fill vacancies as soon as possible. It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat. Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senates most essential Constitutional responsibilities. These are the responsibility of the editor and convey the newspaper's view on current affairs-both domestic and international Esperanza Aguirre announcing her resignation as head of the Madrid branch of the PP on Sunday. LUCA PIERGIOVANNI (EFE) The Popular Party (PP) faces the pressing need to pay its dues to society over some of its past practices. While it is not the only group to be affected by corruption, it is one of those that has done the least to implement reforms. Party leaders have been subject to the needs of acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who put the brakes on a wave of attempted resignations triggered by the PPs dismal showing at municipal and regional elections in May 2015. Since then, these leaders have remained quiet that is, until this past Sunday, when Esperanza Aguirre, head of the PPs Madrid branch, announced her resignation over her inability to remain at the helm of a structure riddled with corruption suspects. In these conditions, it seems impossible for any other party to help Rajoy get reinstated as PM Aguirre has good reasons to take responsibility. As the Punica investigation progresses, there is growing suspicion about the seriousness of the acts that may have been committed by aides of hers who once wielded great power and influence. Meanwhile, the massive probe into the Gurtel kickbacks-for-contracts scheme has already made it clear that nobody and nothing was putting a check on corruption or on the fraudulent use of taxpayers money. The question was not how much longer Aguirre could hold out, but rather, how come she had not resigned sooner. Whats happened in Madrid is that the judge and the Civil Guard have been putting two and two together and reaching a logical conclusion: if the former secretary general of the party in the Madrid region, Francisco Granados, is suspected of corruption on a large scale, then the entire party may be infected. There is something serious going on there, admitted Aguirre in her Sunday press conference. It is abusive for authorities and party leaders involved in corruption investigations to try to hang on to their posts come hell or high water. Politicians have to answer to their voters, not just to the judges. The abuse committed by the constant mixing of the legal and political levels has led many voters to turn their backs on corrupt parties. Aguirre has good reasons to take responsibility A new generation of politicians has either enforced or accepted an agenda of reform, and it is now suicidal for corruption suspects to seek refuge in legal loopholes just to keep their place in politics. But it is not just them: party chiefs have to be accountable for the proper management of taxpayers money by the individuals who work for them. They also have to be responsible for staging clean election campaigns, which have been tainted by corruption stemming from violations of political financing legislation. Unfortunately for Rajoy, there was (alleged) corruption within the central structure of the party with which he has been both secretary general and prime minister, as demonstrated by the involvement of several national party treasurers in criminal investigations. And it was also there in the Madrid organization an allegation that has not helped him politically and the Valencian branch, which happens to be one of his most important backers. The PP remains jammed by Rajoy, who has suspended all regional conventions until the national one is held, although the date for this has been postponed until further notice. But this is not stopping the wave of scandals that rises with every new step taken by the courts, where numerous cases affecting the party remain pending. In these conditions, it seems impossible for any other party to help Rajoy get reinstated as prime minister. The sooner he understands this, the less complicated it will be to form a new executive in Spain following the December 20 general election. English version by Susana Urra. Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez. Mariscal (EFE) The session to name a new Spanish prime minister will be held on March 2 and 3. Congressional speaker Patxi Lopez announced the date on Monday morning after meeting with Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, who has been tasked with forming a government in the wake of the general election of December 20. The debate is scheduled for March 2, and the vote for the next day Sanchez told the head of Congress that he hopes to have garnered enough political support by then to ensure that he gets voted into office. The debate is scheduled for March 2, and the vote for the next day. Sanchez came in second with 90 seats at an inconclusive election that was formally won by the Popular Party (PP) with 123 seats. But acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been unable to attract enough support from other parties to ensure his own reinstatement. Instead, the runner-up has been asked to try to form an alternative alliance of his own in order to break the stalemate and give Spain a new functioning executive. If Sanchez were to fail, and no alternative agreement reached, Spaniards would be forced to go to the polls again on June 26. Before the session, Sanchez will have to put any agreement he reaches to Socialist Party members for their approval Until March 2, Sanchez will continue to meet with other party leaders to try to find enough common ground for either a governing coalition or, failing that, at least a yes vote at the investiture session. But before deputies meet for that pivotal session, Sanchez will have to put any preliminary agreement he reaches with other groups to Socialist Party members for their approval. Party officials have been optimistic in recent days about the chances of reaching a broad agreement with other congressional forces. Sanchez is not, however, seeking to ally himself with the PP. He and Rajoy met briefly on Friday but failed to find any points in common. The acting prime minister would like to craft together a grand coalition comprising the PP, Socialist Party and emerging Ciudadanos, but so far Sanchez has turned down the offer. No matter what the outcome, a record has already been set in Spain: it will have been two and a half months between election day and the investiture vote, the longest period ever covered with an acting government. English version by Susana Urra. Cuban President Raul Castro waves goodbye towards the plane carrying Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirril on Sunday. Desmond Boylan (AP) More information Cuba devuelve a Estados Unidos un misil que llego por azar a la isla An inert Hellfire training missile belonging to the United States, which was mistakenly sent to Cuba from Europe in 2014, was returned to Washington on Saturday by authorities in Havana. The US government had been trying to recover the missile for more than a year because it feared that its technology would be shared with countries such as North Korea or Russia. But the thawing of bilateral relations between Cuba and the United States made it possible for the missile to be returned in one piece. We can say, without getting into specifics, that the inert training missile has been returned with the cooperation of the Cuban government, said US State Department spokesman Mark Toner. In a statement, he credited the re-establishment of diplomatic relations and the reopening of the US embassy in Havana, which allowed Washington to discuss with Cuba 'issues of mutual interest. The government of Raul Castro also confirmed in a statement that the missile had been given to US officials on Saturday. A Heillfire missile similar to one shipped to Havana by mistake. Getty Cuba explained that the missile had was shipped to the island as a result of an error or mishandling in its country of origin. It was discovered during a routine customs check of a cargo plane that had arrived from Paris in June 2014. The 40-kilo Hellfire, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is a laser-guided, air-to-surface missile which can be used in helicopters or drones. The United States sent it to Europe to be used in NATO training exercises in Spain. Lockheed Martin had sent it to Rota military base in Cadiz from Orlando, Florida with the State Departments approval. After it was used in the NATO training, the missile, which did not contain any explosives, was transported by land from Cadiz to Madrid. It was supposed to be shipped to Frankfurt where it would continue on a journey to Orlando. But for some unknown reason, the missile was placed on board an Air France flight to Paris, where it was later shipped on another flight to Havana, where it would remain for more than a year. English version by Martin Delfin. Pablo Iglesias and Pedro Sanchez, during their meeting last week in Congress. Bernardo Perez With political stalemate still reigning in the wake of the inconclusive December 20 general election in Spain, the leader of anti-austerity group Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, sent a document to the Socialist Party (PSOE) on Monday calling for a referendum on Catalan independence should the two parties go into a coalition government. As part of ongoing cross-party negotiations, the counter-offer sent by Podemos states that urgent charges are needed in government restructuring. The paper also describes the role Iglesias should have as deputy prime minister, including supervising the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and official BOE state gazette. As deputy prime minister, Iglesias wants to supervise the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and other entities A coalition government with Pedro Sanchez as prime minister and Pablo Iglesias as deputy prime minister would provide for a checks and balances system [], reads the text. In other words a guarantee that the days of steam rolling and governments that refuse to answer up to their policies are over in our country. Podemos also reiterated its desire to control 15 of Spains ministries. But the biggest demand in the Podemos document is the call for a Catalan referendum within the first years of the new term, a vote that would be organized through a new ministry for plural nationalities. The proposal to develop a plural national state, where all the national regions can develop their government under an equal and cooperative manner without any restrictions, is an obligation for our own identity as a country, the document stated. A Catalan referendum will be organized through a new ministry for plural nationalities, says Podemos Sanchez, who is continuing talks with the leaders of all the political parties before the first investiture session in Congress on March 2, met with Iglesias on February 5 but no agreements on pacts were reached. However, Sanchez has said that he wont support any type of proposal that could see the break-up of Spain, such as Catalan independence. The Socialist Party reacted with surprise to the Podemos counter-offer on Monday. Once more, Mr Iglesias has shown that he doesnt know where he is, nor what role he should be taking, said PSOE spokesperson Antonio Hernando. The politician went on to point out that it is PSOE chief Pedro Sanchez who has been called upon by Spains King Felipe VI to lead the negotiations to form a government, and not Iglesias. As such we call on Mr Iglesias to abandon this role, which is not his to take, and it is now the moment to take advantage of this opportunity if he really wants to get on board with change and support a progressive government of reform. English version by Martin Delfin. SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Google Ad Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully Google Ad The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens ANCA Issues National Call to Action to Stop Taxpayer Funding of Aliyevs Aggression Hetq.am: Which Armenians Held Money in HSBCs Private Swiss Bank? A financial scandal of international proportions erupted after Herve Falciani, then an employee of HSBCs Swiss Private Bank, smuggled out the names of over 100,000 individual and corporate bank customers with secret accounts set up for tax evasion and more nefarious purposes. Falciani turned over the documents to French tax authorities who then launched an investigation into the concealment of hundreds of millions of dollars from tax authorities. The smuggled documents were later obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) via the French Le Monde newspaper. In addition to tax evasion, the documents offered a glimpse into the murky and inner world of the HSBCs Swiss private banking arm, an institution that seemingly profited from doing business with a host of unsavory characters worldwide. The ICIJ then created a 45-person team to study the documents. The findings were summarized in a February 8, 2015 article entitled Swiss Leaks: Murky Cash Sheltered by Bank Secrecy. The entire ICIJ study, Swiss Leaks, is a detailed account of the more than US$100 billion held by the HSBCs private banking system, broken down by countries and clients. While the ICIJ prefaces the Swiss Leaks study by stating that There are legitimate uses for Swiss bank accounts and trusts, the media organization also points out in the article cited above that These disclosures shine a light on the intersection of international crime and legitimate business. The international crimes include arms trafficking, the trafficking of blood diamonds, in addition to tax evasion and outright money laundering.In its study findings the ICIJ admits that not all account holders were breaking the law. At first, HSBC demanded that the ICIJ destroy all the data it had obtained. In January 2015, after being informed of the full extent of the reporting teams findings, HSBC made the following confession. We acknowledge that the compliance culture and standards of due diligence in HSBCs Swiss private bank, as well as the industry in general, were significantly lower than they are today. HSBC added that it had tightened controls and implemented reforms, and that its Swiss private bank had reduced its client base by almost 70% since 2007. The Swiss Leaks study revealed that 106,000 clients from 203 countries had accounts totaling more than US$100 billion at the private HSBC bank. The data was broken down into three categories: the accounts opened at the Swiss bank and account holders from 1988-2007; operating accounts and their maximum amounts in 2006-2007; notations by made bank employees regarding clients and conversations with them. When compiling its list of top countries by #clients/by $money, the ICIJ decided not to display detailed information for countries with $0 and with 3 clients or less. Of note is that one client could be linked to more than one country, given that citizenship, place of birth and residence is taken into account. The Top Countries by Client Number (2006-2007) Switzerland 11,235 France 9,187 United Kingdom 8,844 Brazil 8,667 Italy 7,499 The Top Countries by $Money (2006-2007) Switzerland US$ 31.2 billion United Kingdom US$ 21.7 billion Venezuela US$ 14.8 billion USA US$ 13.4 billion France US$ 12.5 billion So where did Armenia rank in the listings? The country ranked #146 among the 203 countries with the largest dollar amounts in the leaked Swiss files. (As for Armenias regional neighbors, Turkey was 23rd on the list with 3,105 clients and total accounts of $3.5 billion at HSBCs Swiss bank. Russia was 35th on the list 740 clients and $$1.8 billion. Iran was 38th 573 clients and $1.5 billion, Georgia was 132nd - 25 clients and $29.4 million. Azerbaijan was 167th - 14 clients and $3.8 million.) 10 Clients Associated with Armenia and Other Armenians with Swiss Bank Accounts According to Swiss Leaks findings, there were 10 clients associated with Armenia (4 had an Armenian passport/nationality) who opened 21 client accounts between 1989 and 2006 that were linked to 23 bank accounts. The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Armenia was $5.8M. 17 of the 21 client accounts were opened by private individuals, 2 by offshore companies and two were numbered accounts. The ICIJ states that these ten clients held a total of $15.4 million in the bank between 2006 and 2007. While Swiss Leaks stated that four of the ten clients were either citizens of Armenia or had Armenian nationality (not ethnic), Hetq obtained data from the ICIJ regarding the ten clients and it turns out that all are ethnic Armenians or companies registered in Armenia. Furthermore, there are other ethnic Armenians, citizens of other countries, who held accounts in the Swiss bank. As such, they are not included in the list of clients associated with Armenia. (We will have something to say about these other Armenians later on). For now, lets see who these ten clients were. Karekin II - Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians HSBC internal files first listed Karekin II among its clients in 2000. He was connected to an account named His Holiness Karekin II Nersis that listed one bank account and held as much as $1,074,926 in 2006/2007. The leaked files do not specify the exact role that Karekin II had in relation to the account. In response to an ICIJ query, the Mother See at Etchmiadzin claimed that the account in question was opened by His Holiness Karekin II's predecessor "for the benefit of the Church and its charities, and that the account was transferred to His Holiness Karekin II Nersissian upon the death of his predecessor to be used for the same purposes. The Catholicosate the area of responsibility of the Catholicos- of the Armenian church is a national religious institution and is not subject to any taxes" and that His Holiness "has immunity from any taxes." Radik Martirosyan Martirosyan, who has served as the president of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia since 2006, also had an account in the Swiss bank. Born in 1936 in the NKR village of Mataghiz, Martirosyan opened a client account in the bank on December 4, 1997 when serving as rector of Yerevan State University (1993-2006). From 2006-2007 Martirosyan had $14,684 in the Swiss bank. His client account was numbered 3310FT. Only Martirosyan can explain why his account was numbered. For more details visit Hetq.am Azat Arshakyan: Government is formed by co-villagers (video) Azat Arshakyan, a former member of Armenias Supreme Council, says Serzh Sargsyans recent speech was partially addressed to Armenian citizens. Serzh Sargsyan addressed his speech to the public, saying that there are problems but these problems are not caused by them, Mr Arshakyan said on Monday. He says there are 4D format problems in Armenia. People are leaving Armenia, the industry is dying, and there are numerous social problems. Serzh Sargsyan has another year [until the end of his tenure], if he starts to solve problems, we shall ask him to stay in power and continue his work, otherwise we shall count the days and hours, waiting for the end of his presidency, Mr Arshakyan said. Those 4D problems started in 1991 and 1992, said his Republican opponent Sukias Avetisyan. He says that they have never said that everything is good in the country but the new Constitution will solve these problems. Mr Arshakyan says it is necessary to identify people who are responsible for the current state of affairs. We need to find those who undermine the economy and promote emigration. The power is formed by co-villagers. Armenia is becoming poorer while they are getting richer. They have a list in their hands and they know who stands behind this mess. Let them call those people and punish them, he said. In his speech, Serzh Sargsyan called on everyone to speak about concerns and problems and try to find solutions to them, said the Republican MP. SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully Google Ad The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens ANCA Issues National Call to Action to Stop Taxpayer Funding of Aliyevs Aggression Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (Source: baochinhphu.vn) The Prime Ministers attendance at the event was made at the invitation of US President Barack Obama, according to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry on February 13th. This unprecedented gathering, the first hosted by the US with the ASEAN leaders, builds on the deeper partnership that the US has forged with ASEAN since 2009 and is expected to further advance the USs rebalance to Asia and the Pacific, the White House said on December 30th, 2015. For nearly 40 years, the US and ASEAN have worked toward stability, prosperity, and peace in Southeast Asia. This summit will provide leaders a forum to strengthen cooperation under the new US-ASEAN strategic partnership, launched in November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, on political, security, and economic issues, the White House stated. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam./. It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the EU agrees to lift Belarus sanctions in bid for closer relations EU foreign ministers decided Monday to lift the bulk of the bloc's sanctions against Belarus, in recognition of democratic progress made by the former Soviet state, paving the way for closer relations - despite lingering human rights concerns. GALLERY Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko (C) with his youngest son Nikolai (R) during a Victory Day parade in Minsk, Belarus, 09 May 2015. Brussels (dpa) - Belarus has been called Europes last dictatorship, but its dealings with the European Union and the United States have warmed since Minsks release of political prisoners and the countrys contribution to a deal on the Ukraine crisis.In October, following a broadly democratic presidential election, Brussels suspended travel bans and asset freezes against 170 people - including President Alexander Lukashenko - and three entities until February 29. Washington also offered sanctions relief to nine Belarusian entities.EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to permanently lift the suspended sanctions once they expire at the end of the month."There is an opportunity for EU-Belarus relations to develop on a more positive agenda," they said in a joint statement, acknowledging positive steps taken over the past two years.The Belarusian Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision - which must now be put into law - as an opportunity to strengthen collaboration and regional stability.This rapprochement "clearly proves that only dialogue is the most effective tool for settlement of disputes," ministry spokesman Dmitry Mironchik said in a statement."This decision marks an important phase on the way towards full normalization of relations and opens new possibilities for broadening comprehensive interaction between Belarus and the EU," the statement added.The ministers decided, however, to keep an existing arms embargo in place for 12 more months, along with restrictive measures on four people thought to be involved in the disappearance of regime critics 15 years ago.Despite the recent signs of progress out of Minsk, rights groups worry that serious shortfalls remain in the areas of democracy and human rights, including the existence of the death penalty, a practice opposed by the EU.Member states had been divided over the best course of action, with some believing that sanctions relief will improve the situation in Belarus, while others preferred to retain some leverage over Minsk."This is clearly not a rosy or perfect picture, far from that," said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, adding that ministers had "agreed on a critical engagement - where some might underline more the critical, some might underline more the engagement.""I think that what we have on the table today is a good compromise," added Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, whose country had lobbied for keeping sanctions in place.The remaining measures will make it easier to ratchet up pressure on Minsk if the situation deteriorates again, an EU diplomat noted on condition of anonymity.Belarus is one of six former Soviet states with whom the EU has sought closer relations, under its Eastern Partnership programme.The policy has strained relations with Russia, notably in the case of Ukraine where the attempt to forge closer ties between Brussels and Kiev triggered the countrys current crisis. Poroshenko invites investors to participate in modernization of Ukrainian GTS Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the Munich Security Conference has called Russian gas transportation project Nord Stream 2 political and urged to invest in the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS). "The main objective of the Nord Stream 2 project is political. We invite investors to modernize the Ukrainian gas transportation system," presidential press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko wrote on Twitter. President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, in turn, said that "Europe should fulfill its commitments to Ukraine and invest more in its economy." Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers is expected to adopt a decision on Monday, February 15, concerning the situation around the blocking of Russian trucks in some Ukrainian regions, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said in a press release posted on its website on Sunday. "The Ukrainian cabinet's meeting at which an appropriate decision will be made concerning the situation [with the blocking of Russian trucks] has been set for February 15, 2016," it said. The ministry also said that it had suggested holding daily meetings of the rapid response staff involving representatives of the Economic Development Ministry, the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service, the National Police and other agencies concerned. "The main task of this staff is to constantly monitor the situation and formulate a coordinated proposal to be considered by the cabinet of ministers. At the moment, technical consultations are also being held with representatives of the European Commission and EU member states," the ministry said. Private joint-stock company Evrotek, the former key shareholder of the eponymous retail company of the Evrotek Group (all based in Lviv), plans to open a branch in Russia. The company has reported in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market of Ukraine, the decision was made by the company's supervisory board on February 10. The company said that the branch will fulfill the functions of the private joint-stock company and present it in Russia. The branch will be located at 50, Aviamotorna Street in Moscow. Private joint-stock company Evrotek was founded in 1995. It is the operating company of the group. It leases property and organizes construction works. Mykhailo Veselsky founded Evrotek in 1995. At first, the company sold grain and sunflower seeds and supplied fuel to farmers, however in 2003 the company started producing sunflower oil and in three years it occupied 15% of the Ukrainian market, with annual sales worth $95 million. In 2006, Veselsky sold the business to Kernel Group and invested the funds in the creation of the new Fresh retail chain. Evrotek Group is presently developing five multi-format retail stores chains - Fresh, Arsen, Soyuz, Kvartal and Fresh-market. Evrotek Group said that as of July 30, 2015, its owners were Veselsky and Horizon Capital. Ukraine temporarily suspends transit movement of Russian trucks on the Ukrainian territory, in response to the stoppage of movement of Ukrainian trucks by Russia on its territory in violation of the rules and procedures of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the bilateral intergovernmental agreement on haulage by road. "Until Russia presents explanations and the issue is settled Ukraine temporarily suspends transit transportation by trucks registered in Russia on the territory of Ukraine," the cabinet saidin a press release on Monday. "After a cabinet meeting held on Monday, February 15, the Infrastructure Ministry and Foreign Ministry will take the relevant steps," the cabinet said. According to the press release, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said that the Russian Federation violated the WTO rules and procedures and on a unilateral basis stopped movement of Ukrainian trucks on the territory of Russia. Foreign Ministry of Ukraine urgently sent a note to Russia demanding to expand the illegal actions. He added that Ukraine demands that Russia urgently fulfills the WTO requirements and resume transit movement of Ukrainian trucks. Yatseniuk also said that Ukraine is holding consultations with EU members and sending requests to the EU members regarding the fulfillment of the WTO basic principles by the Russian Federation. As reported, the action to block Russian trucks started on February 11 in Zakarpattia region. Then activists in Volyn region joined them and the number of regions where activists blocked trucks reached 10. The Infrastructure Ministry said that the ministry does not have powers to react to actions of activists. The Transport Ministry of Russia on Sunday said that the movement of trucks registered in Ukraine was suspended in Russia. Restructuring of Sberbank of Russia's debt could be ground for restructuring of other unpaid government-secured credits The successful restructuring of credits of OJSC Sberbank of Russia that was the result of a joint and agreed process could be a basis for restructuring of other unpaid government-secured credits as part of the country's debt transaction, the Finance Ministry of Ukraine has reported. "Ukraine remains committed to finding a good faith resolution of all remaining external debt issues consistent with the constraints imposed by the IMF Extended Fund Facility and the contractual terms of the agreement reached in November 2015 with sovereign bondholders," the ministry said on Friday. The Finance Ministry welcomes the successful restructuring of the sovereign-guaranteed term facility agreements between Sberbank of Russia and each of Ukravtodor and Pivdenne State Design Bureau worth some $367 million. According to the report, pursuant to the restructuring, the outstanding principal balance of the bilateral loans (approximately $367 million) and accrued interest thereon was discharged in full, and the bilateral loans were terminated, in exchange for the delivery to Sberbank of $284,152,000 aggregate principal amount of Ukraines 7.75% senior notes due 2019, representing 75% of the outstanding principal balance of the bilateral loans (plus accrued interest), and $ 91,857,000 aggregate notional amount of Ukraines GDP-linked securities, representing the remaining 25% of the outstanding principal balance of the bilateral loans. Therefore, the debt was reduced by 25%. Finance ministry hopes to send $500 mln out of IMF's credits in 2016 to finance budget The Finance Ministry of Ukraine hopes to send $500 million out of $5.8 billion expected to receive from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016 to finance the budget, according to a borrowing schedule for 2016 presented by the ministry at a roundtable entitled "The policy of the Finance Ministry on the internal borrowing market in 2016." The ministry said that the sum will arrive in June 2016. Deputy Finance Minister of Ukraine Artem Shevalev told reporters after the roundtable that the issue has not yet been discussed with the IMF, but the possibility is outlined in the program. Director of the debt policy department at the Finance Ministry Halyna Pakhachuk said that if the plans are not realized the ministry plans to cover a lack of financing thanks to the placement of currency-pegged government domestic loan bonds. As reported, Ukraine in 2016 plans to attract $8-10 billion of financial assistance from foreign creditors, including $5.8 billion in the form of four tranches from the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Turkey will provide a $50 million five-year loan to Ukraine. The intergovernmental agreement on the provision of the loan was signed by Finance Minister of Ukraine Natalie Jaresko and Economy Minister of Turkey Mustafa Elitas on Monday during a visit of the Turkish delegation headed by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. As reported, on February 11, 2016, the Ukrainian government approved the signing of a $50 million five-year loan agreement with Turkey in 2016 with a maturity of no more than 5 years at a rate of 2.5% the highest. Jaresko said that this is one of the steps of support of the Ukrainian government by the G20 countries. The denunciation by Russia of agreements with Ukraine related to the Black Sea fleet made it impossible to service and repay the debt of $605.86 million, which was previously repaid by the annual offset of $97.75 million by Kyiv on the public debt and Moscow's payment for the use of the Black Sea fleet base in Crimea, Ukraine's Ministry of Finance has said. "At present there is no instrument to service and repay the debt as Russia unilaterally stopped, denounced these agreements," the director of the debt policy department at the Ministry of Finance, Halyna Pakhachuk, said at the round table "The Ministry of Finance's policy in the domestic borrowing market in 2016." "Accordingly, the debt is accounted but it is not serviced," she stated. As reported, Ukraine and Russia in the first quarter of 2015 for the first time since 1997 stopped carrying out the said annual mutual settlement, which was regulated by the intergovernmental agreement dated 1997 on cross charge related to the division of the Black Sea fleet and the Russian Black Sea fleet's staying in Ukraine. The document was signed by Prime Ministers Viktor Chernomyrdin and Pavlo Lazarenko in Kyiv on May 28, 1997. "This agreement is valid until the full execution by the parties of the obligations arising from it," reads the agreement. Ukraine, Turkey premiers instruct their ministers to resume talks on FTA between Ukraine and Turkey Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatseniuk and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu have instructed their ministers to resume negotiations on a free trade area (FTA) between the countries. "Negotiations on a free trade area between Ukraine and Turkey were suspended in 2013. Now we jointly give instructions to our ministries to start technical consultations on the resumption of negotiations for the establishment of a free trade area, which will be held in March," Yatseniuk said at a press conference in the Cabinet. Yatseniuk also proposed that the Turkish side considers further investment in energy and infrastructure projects in Ukraine, including gas. At the same time, he noted that this is the first winter when Ukraine did not buy Russian gas after January 1. The Ukrainian premier thanked Turkey for the issue of a five-year $50 million loan. "By issuing a $50 million loan, Turkey demonstrated its support for economic reforms in Ukraine," Yatseniuk said. Russia has violated the territorial integrity of Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria, Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv on Monday. "The new concept of Russia's policy is the continuation of expansionism and aggression. What started in Abkhazia continues in Crimea now. There are three countries whose territorial integrity has been violated by the Russian Federation. These are Georgia, Ukraine and Syria," he said. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is now under threat over Armenia, which enjoys support from the Russian Federation, he added. Davutoglu said he shared the opinion that the way Russia has been behaving in Syria now is due to the fact that it has not received a proper response for its action in Ukraine. "Russia is trying to use every moment when the international community has failed to respond," he said. In his words, Russia is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Ukraine and Syria and for forcing millions of people from these countries to leave their homes. According to him, by further shelling and bombing civilians, Russia makes Syrians emigrate to the EU via Turkey, which has already given shelter to more than 2.5 million refugees. "The period of the Soviet Union ended 25 years ago. Attempts to go back to that era will do no good to anyone," Davutoglu said. The Turkish premier called on Russia to respect the territorial integrity and the peoples of Syria and Ukraine under international law and stop using ballistic missiles and vacuum bombs. Ukraine posts $632.5 mln surplus of foreign trade in goods in 2015 - statistics The surplus of Ukraine's foreign trade in goods amounted to $632.5 million in 2015, whereas in 2014 the deficit was $527 million, the State Statistics Service has said. According to its data, last year exports of goods decreased in comparison with 2014 by 29.3%, to $38.135 billion, imports by 31.1%, to $37.502 billion. The service said that 2015 Ukraine conducted foreign trade operations with partners from 217 countries. Exports of goods to the EU amounted to $13.018 billion, or 34.1% of total exports, and decreased in comparison with 2014 by 23.4%. Goods were exported to the Russian Federation (12.7%), Turkey (7.3%), China (6.3%), Egypt (5.5%), Italy (5.2%), Poland (5.2%), India (3.8%), and Germany (3.5%). Exports to Russia fell by 50.7%, to $4.83 billion, while imports by 41.1%, to $7.485 billion, the deficit of trade in goods amounted to $2.655 billion. Imports of goods from EU countries amounted to $15.344 billion, or 40.9% of the total volume, and decreased in comparison with 2014 by 27.2%. Imports of goods from Russia accounted for 20%, Germany for 10.4%, China for 10.1%, Belarus for 6.5%, Poland for 6.2%, Hungary for 4.1%, and the United States for 3.9%. Ukrainian army reports 71 attacks on its positions in Donbas Ukrainian army positions came under 71 attacks over the past day, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters has written on Facebook. Mortars were fired in 20 shelling instances, the report said. Ukrainian strongholds in Krasnohorivka, Pisky, Talakivka, Mayorsk and Zaitseve were shelled by mortars. The Donbas militants used 120mm mortars in Zaitseve and Krasnohorivka. Grenade launchers and small arms were fired on Ukrainian fortifications in Novotroitske, Maryinka, Avdiyivka, Novhorodske, Opytne, Pisky and the Butivka coal mine. Ukrainian strongholds in the village of Luhanske came under attack of large-caliber machineguns and an anti-tank missile system. The press center reported a clash near the village of Hnutove in the Mariupol sector. Mortars and small arms were fired there. Ukrainian positions were attacked by use of small arms in Shyrokyne. "Here, and in other areas, our servicemen returned fire," the press center said. A meeting of the Advisory Committee of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda will be held in early March, spokesman for the president of Ukraine Sviatoslav Tseholko has said. "A meeting of the Advisory Committee of the presidents of Ukraine and Poland will be held in early March," he wrote on Twitter. The press service of the Ukrainian president reported Poroshenko and Duda had agreed on this during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. "The heads of the two states exchanged views on a wide range of issues of bilateral relations, as well as security problems. Among other things, they highlighted the importance of the holding this year of the next meeting of the intergovernmental Ukrainian-Polish commission on economic cooperation," the press service said. The parties also welcomed the start of work of the joint Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian brigade and discussed the ways to intensify a dialogue in the context of Ukraine's relations with NATO. Poroshenko, Kerry discuss need for maintenance of sanctions against Russia for it to fully implement Minsk accords Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference discussed the need for the maintenance of sanctions against the Russian Federation for its full implementation of the Minsk agreements. "Petro Poroshenko and John Kerry noted the need to maintain sanctions against Russia for it to fully implement the Minsk agreements and terminate aggression against Ukraine," the press service of the Ukrainian president has said. Poroshenko also informed the U.S. official about the Ukrainian side's approaches to the settlement of the conflict in Donbas. "The Ukrainian head of state expressed hope that the United States would continue to support the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and would contribute to the consolidation of international efforts," reads the report. The sides also discussed the political and diplomatic ways for the de-occupation of Crimea. In this context, the president of Ukraine called for the active protection of rights of Crimean Tatars. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has stressed the need to purge the judiciary and dismiss the judges accused of corruption, saying that it is one of the most important stages to fight the corruption in Ukraine. "The judges accused of corruption or illegal sentences should leave the judiciary once and forever," Yatseniuk said a TV program, titled "10 Minutes with the Prime Minister," on Sunday. He said that the first step had already been made in that direction the Verkhovna Rada had voted for corresponding amendments to the Constitution, which now need to be given a second reading. After that, the premier said, new bills on the judicial system and status of judges should be tabled in parliament for the second reading. As was reported, the Ukrainian presidential administration said it hoped that the Verkhovna Rada would support judiciary-related amendments to the Constitution in spring 2016 and these changes would start to be implemented three months later. Natalie Jaresko should be the next prime minister of Ukraine as a person who has an unblemished reputation, Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavicius who resigned has said. "Anyway, irrespective of holding the early election or not, Ukraine needs the technocratic government. If this concerns the crisis of values, the next prime minister should have the unblemished reputation. The obvious candidate who meets the requirement is Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko. She could be blamed only for her American origin, but as experience of the Baltic states shows this is more positive that negative fact," Abromavicius wrote in his blog for Ukrainska Pravda online publication on February 12. He said that the new prime minister should gather a government of technocrats with reputation, and Ukraine would receive a chance of flying to the absolutely new level. "The main task of the government should be the acceleration of reforms in all areas, first, the reform of the State Fiscal Service and quick and transparent privatization," he said. Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu has announced that his country does not recognize the occupation of Crimea and has pledged to support Ukraine as a strategic partner. "Ukraine is not simply a neighbor, it's a country with which we've got strategic relations," he said at the beginning of talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Arseniy Yatseniuk in Kyiv on Monday. He also assured that Turkey sees Crimea as part of Ukraine. "Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence is of fundamental value to us, therefore we consider Crimea to be an integral part of Ukraine." Davutoglu also promised to "fully support Ukraine in the face of the challenge that emerged after the break-up of the USSR." "We are also grateful for solidarity shown in various issues," he added. U.S. ambassador describes Kasko's resignation as "blow to Ukraine's reform progress" U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has described Deputy Prosecutor General Vitaliy Kasko's resignation as a "blow to Ukraine's reform progress." "Kasko was a champion for change w/in the Prosecutor General's Office. His resignation is a blow to #Ukraine's reform progress," Pyatt wrote on Twitter on Monday. The U.S. Ambassador stresses Ukraine deserves a clean judiciary and will require top-to-bottom rule of law reform to address pervasive corruption and cronyism. "[The] United States will continue to assist those in prosecutorial domain committed to operating under new rules," Pyatt tweeted. As was reported, Kasko announced his resignation on Monday, February 15. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has sent 63 profiles of official investigations against government officials to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NAB). "I sent 63 cases of official investigations to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau during the previous week," Yatseniuk said on TV Channel 1 + 1 last week. As reported earlier, NAB Director Artem Sytnyk Thursday denied any pressure on the Bureau either in the case related to Economic and Trade Minister Aivaras Abromavicius in other investigations. The joint report of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the special mission of the European Parliament, which has been working to establish the list of what the Ukrainian parliament needs to hold the internal reform, will take place in Brussels on February 29 as a part of the Ukrainian week in the European Parliament, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Groysman has said. "There will be a final report on February 29. We will hold a large meeting of members of the Ukrainian parliament and the European Parliament in Brussels, where our joint report will be presented... I think a lot of important decisions will be taken there, which we will need to put into practice," Groysman said opening the international conference on parliamentary ethics in Kyiv on Monday. He stressed that the political culture was the foundation of any political process and that the Ukrainian parliament and Ukrainian parliamentarians needed to learn much in this area. According to Groysman, one of the key issues of the joint report will be a question of ethics. Russia's Ministry of Transport said that it has seized 161 vehicles operated by Ukrainian motor carriers, as at 14:30 Moscow time on Monday. Inspectors from the Rostransnadzor (the Federal Transport Oversight Service) issue a protocol of the seizure of documents relating to the respective vehicle in the course of the transport control, drawing up an inventory list and placing the vehicles on specially designated parking lots, the ministry said. However, the ministry reminds that the restrictive measure does not affect the regime governing the cargo transit from Ukraine to Kazakhstan under the Russian presidential decree of January 1, 2016 on the transit road traffic bound to Kazakhstan and originating from Ukraine. No cases where truckers acted unlawfully have been registered yet. Joint projects in security and defense sector on agenda of Kyiv-Ankara cooperation - Yatseniuk Ukraine and Turkey will cooperate in defense and security sector, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has said. During a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Kyiv on Monday, and when talking about the bilateral cooperation Yatseniuk noted that "the third set of questions [of cooperation] is the joint projects, including in the security and defense sectors." "I am truly grateful for the opportunity to meet with your minister of national defense," Yatseniuk said. KYIV. Feb 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) The defense team of former First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Arbuzov has said that Pechersky District Court in Kyiv has violated the law when granting a motion by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to hold a special pre-trial investigation with regard to their client. "The court has grossly violated the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, first of all, because it is considered this motion in the absence of representatives of the defense team," Arbuzov's defense counsel Serhiy Kovalev said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine. He stressed that even representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office pointed out that the participation of defense lawyers is mandatory. "It should be noted that the defense team has not shied away from participating in the hearing, but merely insisted on the provision of their right to study the materials of the case and scheduling the next meeting in three days, as envisaged by the Criminal Procedure Code," Kovalev said. Arbuzov's defense counsel said that the court ignored the petition. "The whole of last week, the meetings on the case were appointed several times a day, which is beyond any reasonable timeframes," he said. Kovalev also noted that the court did not respond to the similar demand of the defense lawyers who were appointed by this very court through the Legal Aid Centre. In addition, the defense counsel pointed out that the consideration of this case per se lasted "less than a minute," after which the judges retired to the deliberation room. "Of course, the defense team will appeal against the court ruling, including in the European Court of Human Rights, unless higher courts in Ukraine cancel this illegal ruling," Arbuzov's defense counsel said. As reported, on February 15, MP Mustafa Nayyem of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc said that the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv granted a motion by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to launch a procedure of the conviction in absentia of former head of the National Bank of Ukraine, former Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov. File photo shows the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in Livingston, Louisiana, the United States. U.S. scientists said Thursday they have detected the existence of gravitational waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity 100 years ago. (Xinhua/Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab) BEIJING -- The discovery of gravitational waves in the United States on Thursday by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has encouraged scientists around the world, with China set to accelerate research. China's domestic gravitational wave research project "Tianqin," at Sun Yat-sen University has been awaiting government approval since July, according to Li Miao, dean of the University's institute of astronomy and space science in south China's Guangdong Province. At an estimated cost of 15 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) Tianqin will be carried out in four stages over the next 15 to 20 years, ultimately launching three high-orbit satellites to detect the waves. Chen Yanbei of LIGO, said Tianqin is different from the research by the U.S. ground-based observatory in that it will observe the waves from space. "Tianqin is likely to collect better information, as a larger black hole may be detected from space than the one detected from the ground," said Chen. Sun Yat-sen University is willing to cooperate with other institutions,and has plans for 15,000 square meters of observatory and laboratory on Fenghuang Mountain in Zhuhai City, Guangdong. Another domestic gravitational wave project "Ali," named after the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) observatory in Ali, Tibet, and led by the CAS institute of high energy physics, has totally different objectives -- detecting the first tremors of the Big Bang, primordial gravitational waves. According to Zhang Xinmin of CAS, at high altitude and with good weather, Ali is regarded as the fourth best site on the globe to detect primordial waves. "Ali will be much cheaper. The first phase will cost around 100 million yuan and results are expected in five years," he said. China lags behind in gravitational wave research and the team is seeking international cooperation and foreign specialists, said Wang Yifang, head of the CAS high-energy physics institute. BEIJING, Feb. 14 -- The triumph of directly detecting a gravitational wave has made it possible for human beings to look deeper into space when the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) successfully sensed the ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the merger of two massive black holes 1.3 billion years ago. This discovery is due to the efforts of over 1,000 scientists from universities around the United Statesas well as in 14 other countries. Among them was a team of five Chinese scientists from Tsinghua University who worked on gravitational wave data analysis. "It is an extremely exciting discovery, and our group dealt with data," said Prof. Cao Junwei, head of LIGO Scientific Collaboration research group at Tsinghua University. As the only member from mainland China in LIGO scientific collaboration (LSC), Cao's group focused on gravitational wave data analysis using advanced computing technologies to help "purify" the received signals. In search for real gravitational wave signals, scientists had to damp out irrelevant vibrations caused by noise sources, which is no easier than identifying a Morse code tapped on a wine glass at a grand party bustling with noise. The group applied a method of "machine learning" to the analysis, which originated in the field of artificial intelligence. It compared the signals in the gravitational wave channel with other channels, and the coupling of signals helped rule out irrelevant signals. That transformed the signal detection and identification into problems of data analysis and processing, which is a strong point of the Tsinghua group, Cao told Xinhua. "In a long period of time, LIGO was not sensitive enough to see a passing gravitational wave. What we captured and processed are all noises. But it was no waste of time. The experiences helped LIGO upgrade and improve sensitivity," Cao said. He noted that the observation of a gravitational wave fulfilled the prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity and opened a new window on exploring space. It will also drive cutting-edge development of optics, engineering, computer science and many other relevant subjects, he said. To accelerate its domestic research, Cao said, China should develop its own gravitational wave observatory, but before that, loads of work needs to be done. Moreover, China should strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation as well as cultivate its own research personnel in the field on the basis of existing research, he said. As Chinas position in the world shifts, Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year is no longer celebrated only by Chinese people, but has an ever larger effect internationally. This is part of a trend of a further integration between Chinese culture and cultures all over the world. Media around the world have written stories to mark the Chinese New Year the Year of the Monkey. "China Spring Festival Holiday Retail Sales Spike 11.2 percent"; "Spring Festival Gala Chunwan is the most-watched on Earth"; "Could UK do more to attract Chinese tourists in the Year of the Monkey?" "Chinese people now using red socks to protect themselves"; "Chinese tech giants battle out for virtual red packets"... Foreign leaders and leaders of international organizations not only sent Chinese New Year greetings to the Chinese but also attended celebrations to mark the Year of the Monkey all over the world. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said with humor in his Spring Festival greetings, "The Year of Monkey has come. I'm also a 'monkey'. Monkey implies intelligence, agility and good fortune. So, it's a good year full of hope and energy." U.S. President Barack Obama remarked in his Lunar New Year greetings that the Year of the Monkey is "an opportunity to cherish the rich heritage that connects children with their past, and the traditions theyll carry into the future." More than 2,000 festive events and celebrations to mark a "Happy Chinese New Year" were held in over 400 cities from 140 countries and regions all over the world this year. Now, more than a dozen countries have set Spring Festival as a national holiday. The Financial Times called the lunar new year one of the world's oldest festivals. UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said the Chinese New Year has become UNESCO's traditional festival, Chinese culture contributed beautiful colors to the world. This year also marked that for the first time, the Chinese New Year became an official public school holiday in New York City. On the Hudson River, Chinese New Year, the Year of the Monkey was celebrated with a grand firework display. The "first citizen" of the Belgian capital of Brussels the bronze fountain sculpture of Manneken-Pis" put on a traditional Chinese costume. The 2016 Chinese New Year Parade marked the first of its kind ever held in the city of Brussels. Chinese New Year is no longer a new thing to the world, but more like a new lifestyle for people from all over the world to accept and take. Chinese New Year has become a bridge to enhance friendship among the peoples, and promote the dynamic progress of human society and a bond to maintain world peace. The article is edited and translated from the Chinese version of source: People's Daily. CHONGQING, Feb. 14, 2016 -- Vehicles queue to pass the Jiulongpo Toll Station on the Chongqing-Kunming Highway in Chongqing, southwest China, Feb. 13, 2016. Chinese passengers made a record number of trips during the Spring Festival holiday, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) on Sunday. Passenger trips reached 400 million from Feb. 7 to 13, up 6.7 percent from last year, MOT data showed. Over 47 million trips were made by rail, more than 333 million on road and about 8.5 million by air. Road trips were up by 7 percent. (Xinhua/Chen Xingyu) BEIJING, Feb. 14 -- Chinese passengers made a record number of trips during the Spring Festival holiday, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) on Sunday. Passenger trips reached 400 million from Feb. 7 to 13, up 6.7 percent from last year, MOT data showed. Over 47 million trips were made by rail, more than 330 million on road and about 8.5 million by air. Road trips were up by 7 percent. This year, the Chinese are expected to make 2.91 billion passenger trips across the country during the 40-day lunar New Year travel rush, or "Chunyun", which lasts from Jan. 24 to March 3 and is the world's largest annual human migration for family reunions. About 1.47 billion passenger trips were made from the start of Chunyun to Feb. 13, up 3.5 percent year on year. The U.S. has requested China's cooperation in resolving the the DPRK nuclear issue, at the same time, it planned to deploy the THAAD system with its allies, which confuses and angers the Chinese people, said Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of Chinas National Peoples Congress Saturday. During a panel discussion of the 52nd Munich Security Conference, Fu Ying expounded Chinas position on the North Korea nuclear issue, international orders and China-US relations. When asked about whether China has lost control over North Korea, Fu responded with humor that this is a question with typical Western thinking. China will never control other countries, or be controlled by them. Take the DPRK nuclear issue, on the one hand, the U.S. has requested China's cooperation, on the other hand, it planned to deploy the THAAD system with its allies, which confuses and angers the Chinese people, Fu explained. As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the media on Friday, China holds three principles: firstly, nuclear weapons must not exist on the Korean Peninsula under any circumstances; secondly, military action is not an option; and lastly China's national security must not be undermined, she added. Endeavoring to address the concerns of each side, China advocates to eventually halt the nuclear program in North Korea by restarting the Six-Party Talks. China is fulfilling its responsibility, while the U.S. should do the same, Fu said, adding that the key to solving the issue lies with the U.S. Regarding China's role in the future, Fu thinks people should not evaluate China from the perspective of the U.S, and that China will not become another U.S. China was among the most impoverished countries in the world 30 years ago. As a developing country, China will embark on a path of win-win cooperation with other countries in accordance with its own national conditions and visions. In her keynote speech Fu also mentioned that American values, its system of military alliances and international organizations including the U.N. are the three pillars of the "U.S.-led world order". China cannot totally agree with this order, as it believes in a U.N.-centered world order together with a series of international mechanisms, laws and principles. As one of the founders, China has a sense of belonging to the current world order. Apart from benefiting from and contributing to the international order, China also participates in its reform, Fu said. Kevin Michael Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister, NG Eng Hen, Singaporean Minister of Defense, and Robert Corker, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations also attended the meeting. Russian man trapped in Shandong successfully returns to Beijing with help of policeman Chinese policeman offers help to Max, the Russian man who travels in China and becomes trapped in Yucheng city of east China's Shandong province due to the language barrier. (Photo/Iqilu.com) Max, a Russian man who is traveling in China became trapped in Yucheng city, east China's Shandong province, due to the language barrier. Fortunately he successfully returned to Beijing with the help of local policemen. At 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2016, the public security bureau of Yucheng received a report that a foreign man was trapped in the Yucheng service area of the Beijing Taipei Expressway and needed help. Du Xingbao, a policeman who was on duty quickly went to the site. Chinese policeman offers help to Max. (Photo/Iqilu.com) Nobody could understand what the foreign man was saying. Through limited communications, Du found that this man could not speak Chinese and could only speak a little English. Through checking the passport and visa, Du knew that the man named Max is from Russia. Du Xingbao downloaded a Russian-Chinese Translation App and communicated with him through that. The man in his 20s entered China from Khorgos Port. Not having much money, Max thumbed a ride to Mount Tai. "Beijing, Beijing," he expressed his destination with poor English. Du contacted the bus company in Jinan city and a driver promised to take Max to Beijing for free. "Chinese good! Chinese policeman good," Max was so happy and thanked the policemen with limited English. Du Xingbao downloads a Russian-Chinese Translation App. (Photo/Iqilu.com) Du Xingbao downloads a Russian-Chinese Translation App. (Photo/Iqilu.com) "Chinese good! Chinese policeman good," Max thanks the policemen with limited English. (Photo/Iqilu.com) Max takes on the bus happily. (Photo/Iqilu.com) My Favorite Quotes Recent Quotes Portfolio Summary Your most recently viewed tickers will automatically show up here if you type a ticker in the Get Quotes box on the top of the page. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Orkhan Quluzade - Trend: Since the beginning of The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project, it has attracted the attention of Western countries and such Asian countries as China, which is located on the Silk Road, Binali Yildirim, Turkish minister of transport, shipping and communications, said in an exclusive interview with Trend. Yildirim said that the safest and most efficient transport corridor between Asia and Europe will stretch not only via Turkey but also Azerbaijan and Georgia due to the implementation of this project. The minister said that the BTK railway will become even more important after it is connected with the Marmaray project (in Turkey) and thus connecting Europe with Asia. "The BTK construction is underway," he said. "The rail transport is expected to start in 2017." He said that the BTK project will further strengthen the neighborly and fraternal relations among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, adding that this will enable to supply the goods produced in these countries to the world markets. "Taking this into account, for Turkey, BTK is a network having economic and cultural aspects," Yldrm said. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement. Azerbaijan allocated a loan of $775 million for the construction of the railway's Georgian section. The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) finances the project in accordance with the Azerbaijani president's decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities', dated February 21, 2007. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be constructed in 2016. The peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be equal to one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti will visit Azerbaijan in June 2016, Azerbaijan's economy ministry said Feb. 15. Chakrabarti made the remarks during the meeting with Azerbaijan's economy minister Shahin Mustafayev in London, according to the message. The EBRD president said that he attaches great importance to cooperation with Azerbaijan and supports the ongoing reforms in the country. "The measures being held in Azerbaijan are very important and positive," said Chakrabarti. In turn, the Azerbaijani minister said that business and investment opportunities of Azerbaijan will be presented to investors within the framework of the EBRD regular annual meeting to be held in London May 11-12, 2016. Throughout the cooperation with Azerbaijan, EBRD has allocated 2.8 billion euros to the country for implementation of around 161 projects. One of the main tasks of EBRD is to ensure a stable development of Azerbaijan's non-oil sector by investing in the small and medium-sized private enterprises. Azerbaijan is the largest recipient of EBRD funds in the Caucasus, as well as one of the largest recipients of this organization's funds in the CIS and Eastern Europe. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 Trend: The Governor of the US State of Hawaii David Ige signed a Special Message condemning the Khojaly Massacre, which was committed by Armenia's armed forces against the Azerbaijani civilians in 1992, the message of Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles said Feb. 15. "On behalf of the people of Hawaii, I wish to express my deepest sympathies for the pain, suffering and loss of life that transpired 24 years ago," the Hawaii governor said in the message. "As you gather to commemorate the tragedy that occurred in Khojaly, it is important to remember those who have suffered from senseless violence." This special message of recognition is the first official document in Hawaii concerning the Khojaly Massacre. Thus Hawaii has become the 19th US State to condemn the Khojaly Massacre, as well as recognize and honor its innocent victims. On February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian military, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi, committed genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. Among those 613 killed in the massacre, there were 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. A total of 487 civilians became disabled as a result of the onslaught. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. The event became the largest massacre in the course of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend: The US respects Azerbaijan's sovereign right to raise issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh in regional and international organizations, including the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the US Department of State told Trend Feb. 15. The US Department of State made the remarks commenting on the role played by Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, with regard to a resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, which wasn't passed in PACE. Previously, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on a report titled "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water." The report prepared by MP Milica Markovic, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, was adopted Jan. 26 at the PACE Winter Session in Strasbourg. However, the second resolution on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was not passed by the PACE. Earlier, in an interview with an Armenian newspaper, US Congressman Adam Schiff said Nuland played a special role in the non-adoption of the said resolution by the PACE. The OSCE Minsk Group is the negotiation format accepted by the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the US hopes the sides will remain fully committed to working closely with the Co-Chairs of the group on a negotiated settlement, according to the US Department of State. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: The relations between the EU and Azerbaijan must be absolutely better and more concrete, especially in economic sphere, European Parliament Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki told Trend Feb. 15. "We should improve relations between the EU and Azerbaijan and the EU member countries and Azerbaijan," he said. "Role of Azerbaijan in Europe's common energy security policy is substantial and we want a diversified source of energy to Europe and to deeper cooperation with Azerbaijan is absolutely in our economic and also political interest," he said. "EU-Azerbaijan cooperation is obligatory for both sides." Czarnecki also dismissed the recent statement by the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry regarding the fact that the EU Eastern Partnership initiative has failed. The Eastern Partnership program envisages political association and economic integration of EU with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It does not envisage the EU membership. The Eastern Partnership initiative does not provide the possibility for its members to become members of the European Union, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said Jan. 29 in his speech during a session of the Polish Parliament. "The Business Year" interview with Elmar Mammadyarov, minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan. As Azerbaijan experiences some domestic economic difficulties, what are the pillars of Azerbaijan's foreign policy that support the country on an international level? Over the years, the foreign economic policy of the Republic of Azerbaijan has been guided by five pillars, namely strengthening trans-regional energy, ICT, and transport connectivity, attracting FDI, and the preservation of economic security, effectively integrating local SMEs into global value chains and increasing the exports of national competitive products to foreign strategic markets. By acknowledging the role of international trade in achieving sustainable, balanced, and robust growth, our national development strategy is based on the improvement of trade legislation, trade facilitation, simplification of customs procedures, expansion of bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation, the diversification of our export structure, and the promotion of non-oil exports. We are working on developing a policy that facilitates trade, simplifies non-tariff barriers, and increases the competitiveness of local SMEs. Recognizing the importance of trade facilitation, we have recently established the Transit Cargo Coordination Council to elaborate a uniform, efficient, and transparent tariff policy in rail and maritime cargo transportation and to facilitate the process of cargo shipping. We believe that these measures will significantly contribute to boosting trans-regional trade. During the past 10 years, the number of our trading partners reached 150, we signed more than 60 bilateral trade and economic partnership agreements, the country's external trade increased by 4.3 times, including six fold in exports, and by 2.6 times in imports. Over the past decade, the poverty rate has declined in Azerbaijan from 50% in 2001 to 5% in 2015. Our unemployment rate today stands at 4.9%. Azerbaijan is implementing a number of industry and trade-related measures aimed at promoting a more favorable environment for local and foreign businessmen. In 2015, we registered a positive economic performance and economic growth in the non-oil sector stood at 8.4%. In your address to the UN General Assembly in September 2015, you spoke about Azerbaijan in the context of the global economy. How has Azerbaijan's role in the international arena expanded as a result of transnational pipelines and other infrastructure projects like TASIM and the BTK railway? Integration in the global economy has been at the core of Azerbaijan's foreign economic policy. Azerbaijan is committed and is currently the only country producing for the establishment of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), which will play substantial role in the diversification of natural gas suppliers to Europe. Two important projects, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), are now being implemented within the framework of the SGC, which has the potential to meet up to 20% of Europe's gas needs in the future. Energy infrastructure projects have significantly strengthened Azerbaijan's relationship with our close partners and intensified the regional cooperation with Turkey and Georgia, which has yielded remarkable results in other fields as well. Azerbaijan also actively participates in the advancement of important transcontinental transport corridors by investing in the transport infrastructure projects, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway and the New Baku International Sea Port. The BTK railroad, which is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2016 or early 2017, is designed to enhance the transit capacity of Azerbaijan and increase trade flows across the region. The BTK railway will be another step in positioning the South Caucasus as a major transit route between Europe and Asia. In addition, Azerbaijan has initiated the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) as a major regional initiative aimed at the creation of a transnational fiber-optic backbone, targeting primarily the countries of Eurasia from Western Europe to Eastern Asia. This project envisages building a major new transit route from Frankfurt to Hong Kong, contributing to the creation of an open information society, increasing internet speed, and developing new internet services. Azerbaijan has been continuously proactive in its promotion of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation among partner countries by initiating and supporting all potential projects aimed at the development of not only Azerbaijan, but the wider region as well. With the current tension between Russia and Turkey, how important is it to Azerbaijan to maintain strong relations with both countries? Relations are being dynamically developed in almost all fields of cooperation with both Turkey and Russia, and Azerbaijan places a particular emphasis on deepening its ties with both countries. Azerbaijan's relationship with Turkey, as a strategic ally, and with Russia, as a strategic partner, has historic roots and the volume of signed documents, as well as regular mutual visits, is further proof of strong relations. Regrettably, the fighter jet incident has negatively affected the relations between the two countries. The current state of the relationship between Russia and Turkey is in no way desirable for Azerbaijan. Needless to say, both Turkey and Russia play an important role in maintaining the security and stability in the South Caucasus region and beyond. Azerbaijan remains interested in enhancing its relationship with both countries by all possible means. We hope that, as a result of joint efforts, the relations between Turkey and Russia will be normalized through dialogue and mutual understanding. Following your visit to Panama and Costa Rica's announcement to open an embassy in Azerbaijan, how would you characterize Azerbaijan's relations with Central America? The development of relations with Central America, and in a broader context Latin America, is of significant importance to Azerbaijan's foreign policy. The political relations with Central and Latin American countries have been rapidly developing over the last few years. Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, and Mexico have recently opened their embassies in Azerbaijan. Along with our embassies in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Cuba, we have recently established diplomatic missions in Columbia, Peru, Uruguay, and Chile. Further proof of good political relations, Azerbaijan obtained large support from Latin American countries when it became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. My visit to Panama, the visit of Costa Rica's Foreign Minister, the visits from Deputy Foreign Ministers of Argentina and Uruguay last year, and the announcement of Costa Rica to establish an embassy in Azerbaijan are all vivid examples of the intensification of relations between Azerbaijan and the countries of the region. Trade and economic cooperation are paramount in our relations. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Latin American countries was approximately $300 million in 2014. Azerbaijan will continue to work closely with its Latin and Central American partners toward the further promotion of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation. How does hosting large-scale international events like the Formula One Grand Prix help advance Azerbaijan in the international arena? We consider our country's cultural diversity as a strength and advantage, which gives us ample opportunity to contribute to the promotion of intercultural dialogue and understanding. Sport plays a vital role in this respect, uniting people and countries. More than 300 international sport events have been held in Azerbaijan in last 12 years. In 2015, Azerbaijan successfully hosted the First European Games and we earned 56 medals in total, finishing in second place after Russia. These games, as well as the IV Islamic Solidarity Games, which will be held in Baku in May 2017, demonstrate Azerbaijan's promotion of the ideas of cultural diversity, tolerance, and peace as the universal principles of sport. It is not a coincidence that our country was selected as a host for the next Formula One Grand Prix. We are proud of hosting such a prestigious tournament and will do our best to ensure it is organized and conducted at the highest level. We hope that the race participants, guests, and tourists will be able to familiarize themselves with our beautiful country, its ancient culture, history, and tradition, and enjoy our hospitality. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 14 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkish Petrol Ofisi Oil Company has been reoffered for sale, Turkish Kanal7 TV channel reported. Currently, the company's representatives meet with potential investors. Turkish Dogan Grubu Holding, which was the owner of Petrol Ofisi company, sold 95.75 percent of its share to Austria's OMV in 2010. In May 2015, Petrol Ofisi company was released for 237 days from participation in tenders held in Turkey due to failure of OMV's previously taken obligations. A similar ban for a year in respect of the company was introduced in 2009. The decision of Turkey's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has been canceled after the company's appeal to court. Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) annulled the license of the OMV Petrol Ofisi company for the sale of oil products and gas. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb. 15 By Demir Azizov - Trend: A protocol on changes to the Uzbekistan-Pakistan agreement on double taxation avoidance and prevention of income tax evasion has been approved upon the Uzbek President Islam Karimov's decree. The presidential decree was disseminated by the Uzbek media Feb. 15. Under the decree, the country's foreign ministry was tasked to send a notification about the fulfillment of inter-state procedures by Uzbekistan necessary for the agreement to come into force. The Cabinet of Ministers, as well as the relevant ministries and agencies were instructed to ensure control over Uzbekistan's meeting its commitments as it was prescribed. The protocol on changes to the Uzbekistan-Pakistan intergovernmental agreement on the double taxation avoidance and prevention of income tax evasion, dated 1995, was signed during Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif's official visit to Uzbekistan in November 2015. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend: North-South international transport route will allow reducing the period of cargo transportation from India to Russia twofold, Russian Railways JSC said Feb. 15. Russian Railways JSC and Azerbaijan Railways JSC, within the framework of North-South international transport route, agreed to cooperate in attracting cargo flows via Azerbaijani and Russian railways through the organization of goods transportation via the route India-Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia and vice versa. Russian Railways Logistics JSC and ADY Express will be the project's operators. The first dispatch via these routes is planned until the end of March 2016. "Currently, cargo from India to the European part of the Russian Federation is provided via sea transportation (route A), and the estimated travel period from the Nhava-Sheva (Mumbai) port to Moscow is about 40 days, "said the company. "The new multi-modal B route will include using sea, railway and vehicle transportation and allow reducing the transportation period twofold." It was also noted that the optimization of period by 14 days is expected in the future. During the negotiations the sides agreed on competitive rates: the tariff for transportation of 40-foot container via the Mumbai-Moscow route will not exceed $3,000. North-South transport corridor is intended to connect Northern Europe to Southeastern Asia. It will serve as a link to connect the railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia. It is planned to transport six million tons of cargo per year via the North-South corridor in the first phase, and 15-20 million tons of cargo in the future. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend: Azerbaijan's SOCAR-AQS drilling has started drilling a new well at the Western Absheron field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, the company told Trend Feb. 15. "The drilling of the horizontal well at the Western Absheron field will be carried out from the fixed offshore platform," said the company. "The well there is 890 meters in depth. In addition, the company conducts preparatory work for drilling new wells at the Bulla Deniz and Guneshli fields." SOCAR-AQS was established in 2007 by SOCAR and Absheron Drilling as a joint venture, providing integrated services for drilling and well servicing. Currently, SOCAR-AQS mainly conducts drilling from the fixed platform No. 11 in the shallow part of the Guneshli field, as well as from the platform No. 1 at the Umid field. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 15 By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend: Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has issued a decree allowing the Agriculture and Water Resources Ministry to sign a number of contracts for the purchase of agrochemicals and harvester spare parts. The decree also said that Germany's Umax Trade GMBH will supply the country with agrochemicals to be used for wheat cultivation and cotton sowing this year, as well as for locust and perennial weeds control. Turkmenistan is expected to sign contracts with several foreign companies for the purchase of spare parts, wheels, lubricants and expendable materials for harvesters and tractors. The country plans to produce 1.6 million tons of grain and 1.05 million tons of cotton this year. Over 1.4 million tons of grain and 1.1 million tons of cotton were produced in 2015. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.14 By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend: BASF called the Iranian top official's statement about this company's $4-billion investment plan in Iran "a rumor". The managing director of Iran's National Petrochemical Company (NPC), Marzieh Shahdaei announced on Feb.12 that the world's largest chemical company, Germany's BASF, has announced readiness to invest $4 billion in a petrochemical project in Iran. "BASF intends to take a 60 percent stake in the first phase of investment in Parsian Special Energy Zone, southern Iran, Shana news agency quoted her. She said that the remaining 40 percent investment will be secured by Iranian companies, Shahdaei said, adding that the German company is willing to raise the volume of investment in the next phases of the project. Answering to Trend about the issue, the Vice President at Communications & Government Relations of BASF Group Elisabeth Schick said on Feb.14 that "BASF does not comment on rumors". Before, the NPC director for planning, Hamid Reza Rostami also said in December 2015 that BASF was ready to invest $6 billion in Iran's petrochemical sector. "The foreign company has decided to make direct investment in Iran and also transfer technology and management, and secure guaranteed market. We welcome such opportunities," the official added. Part of the investment will be related to steam crackers and olefins, while other parts are related to propylene, gas-to-polymers and methanol-to-olefins, he explained. Iranian media also quoted Kurt Bock, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF who visited Iran in late 2015 that "German technology and quality of work are highly respected. So, we have good chances to reestablish links with Iran. Iran's petrochemical industry is progressing. When Iran rejoins the global economy, it will affect the markets." There is not any information about BASF's negotiations with Iran on the company's official website. Iran is planning to attract about $70billion in foreign direct investment in its petrochemical sector by 2025. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Tehran expects that the Japanese state-run companies will increase their oil purchase from Iran at least to the pre-sanctions levels, said Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iranian oil minister. He made the remarks during a meeting with Katsuyuki Kawai, a special advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Tehran Feb. 15, the oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported. "Tehran and Tokyo can continue their cooperation in the oil sector," Zanganeh said, adding the two parties can enjoy strategic relations in various areas, including energy sector. He further said that Iran and Japan can cooperate in different energy sectors, including refining, LNG and petrochemical industry, as well as investment and financing of projects. Zanganeh also announced that Japanese prime minister is expected to visit Iran this year. Mohsen Ghamsari, executive director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, earlier said that Iran plans to triple its crude oil export to Japan once the sanctions are lifted. Tehran's current crude oil exports to Japan stand at 110,000 barrels per day, which is planed to reach 350,000 barrels per day, Ghamsari said last October. He also said that Tehran currently supplies only 3 percent of Japan's 3.5 million barrels per day of crude demand, after the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Kuwait. Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in Tehran on Monday asked Iranian people at large to take part in the upcoming elections, while inviting them to exercise solidarity and cooperation, especially on the eve of the crucial event, IRNA reported. Speaking to a group of people in Rey, Ayatollah Rafsanjani said each vote in the elections will strengthen popular and religious foundations. Elsewhere in his address, Ayatollah Rafsanjani asked for active presence in the international centers and said to solve regional problems, especially in order for logical campaign against terrorism in the neighboring states, effective action should be taken, which will be possible in light of dynamic diplomatic activity. The Ayatollah said Iranian people proved to the world that any effort to humiliate other nations is the manner of a limited minority. Addressing the Iranian people, Ayatollah Rafsanjani said: 'Dear Iranian people, holding moderate ideology, will come on the scene and prove to the world that political extremism and efforts to downgrade other nations is the trait of a limited minority. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend: Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan has arrived in the Russia capital, Moscow, at the official invitation of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss the expansion of military cooperation. Dehqan is expected to confer with high-ranking political and military officials to discuss regional, bilateral and international issues, Iranian defense ministry's website said. On the same day, Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Jabber Ansari has announced that a long-awaiting deal for the purchase of the Russian S-300 air defense missile systems has been finalized. "The S-300 defense system is being delivered to Iran," Ansari told reporters Feb. 15. Iran and Russia have had ups and downs over the S-300 system deal which dates back to 2007. Iran filed a complaint against Russia at the International Court of Arbitration in 2010 as Moscow suspended the delivery of the system under the $800 million-deal due to the international sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program. However, with the scrapping of the international sanctions as part of a nuclear deal, which went into force Jan. 16, Iranian officials are confident that they will receive the missile system soon. Meanwhile, prior to Dehqan's Moscow visit, Iranian military officials voiced the country's interest in importing technology for manufacturing homemade T-90 tank from Russia. Although Iran had earlier announced plans to purchase T-90 tanks, Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of the Iranian army's ground forces later denied it, saying Iran is looking to produce its own tanks. Meanwhile, Iranian media suggest that the Islamic Republic eyes purchasing the Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft from its strategic ally. However, Iranians have refused to disclose further information regarding the number of the fighters. Dehghan's visit comes only days after Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that Iran plans to boost defense cooperation with Russia and buy more weaponry from Moscow. Iran will not cease its efforts to fight against Daesh and the al-Nusra Front jihadist groups, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Monday, Sputnik reported. The minister ruled out the participation of the Daesh and the al-Nusra Front representatives in the political resolution of the conflict in Syria. "We agreed that the fight against terrorist organizations, in particular the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front, will not be stopped," he said after a meeting in Brussels with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Zarif argued that the process of peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict "has been launched, but some forces decided to withdraw from it." Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 Trend: Georgia will provide the foreign citizens, who are on its territory due to the conflicts in their countries, with temporary asylum, Georgia-Online reported. "This status will be granted for this category of foreign citizens in Georgia for one year," Georgian Minister for Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees Sozar Subari told reporters Feb. 15. "But as soon as the situation is stabilized in their countries, they will be required to return home." "All personal files of foreign citizens will be considered," the minister said. "The reason is that there may be some individuals who have arrived in Georgia for some other purpose. These individuals will have to return home within one month." Chancellor Angela Merkel said that a no-fly zone in Syria would be beneficial, German media reported on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported. In an interview with German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung, Merkel hinted at "a kind of no-fly zone" for refugees in war-torn Syria where warring factions would not conduct airstrikes. Turkey has repeatedly called for the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria. The Syrian civil war, which enters its sixth year next month, has claimed more than 250,000 lives and turned Turkey into the world's largest source of refugees and displaced persons. Around 2.7 million Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkey since the civil war began. The EU's largest economy Germany has taken in a record 1.1 million refugees in 2015, but the refugee influx has strained municipalities and local authorities. Tehran has shown interest in the deliveries of Russian S-400 air defense systems but the two countries are not currently holding any negotiations on the topic, Russian Special Presidential Envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said, Sputnik International news agency reported. "No, there are no talks being held on the S-400," Kabulov said. "The Iranians have noted that they would principally be happy [to receive them], but there haven't been any negotiations." A number of news outlets earlier cited Hossein Dehghan as saying that Tehran could purchase the S-400s from Moscow if necessary and that the issue was apparently being discussed. Kabulov also said that Russia will soon deliver S-300 air defense systems to Iran. "Deliveries will be made soon," Kabulov said. Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan earlier said that the first shipment of Russian S-300s would be made in the first quarter of 2016. Earlier, Iran ordered from Russia five S-300 divisions worth over $800 million. However, in autumn of 2010, the then President Dmitry Medvedev banned transfer of the equipment to Tehran. The contract was terminated, the prepayment was returned to Iran, but as the contract was not observed Iran filed a suit to the Geneva arbitration court claiming almost $4 billion. In spring 2015, Russia's President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban on supplies of the S-300 systems to Iran. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 Trend: Moscow is keeping calm with regard to Tehran's missile program: there can't be any objections against something that isn't a subject to international restrictions, says Zamir Kabulov, Russian president's special envoy for Afghanistan. "Firstly, Iran's missile program isn't a subject to any restrictions," RIA Novosti quoted Kabulov as saying Feb. 15. "That [missile program] is Iran's right." "They don't develop offensive weapons," he noted, adding that on the other hand, various countries are threatening Iran. "And they [Iran] have the right for self-defense," he stressed. Kabulov also claimed that the West demonstrates concern on the matter "for its own reasons", adding that when the West needed to "wedge itself" in the Iranian market, it quickly forgot about all of these restrictions. "So, this is hypocrisy in many cases," noted the diplomat. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 Trend: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the laws on ratification of the protocols, envisaging a decrease in the number of unused territories of military grounds leased by the Russian defense ministry in Kazakhstan, the official portal of legal information said, RIA Novosti reported. The protocols were signed in Moscow April 16, 2015. One of the laws envisages the changes and additions to the terms of use and lease of the Sary-Shagan military testing ground in Kazakhstan, as well as changes in the lease contract of the military ground. The press service of the European Council confirmed Monday that the restrictive measures against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko will not be extended. "His name is not on the list of four individuals that have remained under sanctions," a press service official told RIA Novosti, adding that an official statement was expected to be out by March 1. The EU foreign ministers decided earlier on Monday to lift restrictive measures against 170 Belarus individuals and three companies, but to maintain sanctions against four individuals linked to the unsolved disappearances of two opposition leaders, a journalist and a businessman. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 Trend: Turkey set NATO up by shooting down a Russian plane, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, RIA Novosti reported. Medvedev said that much depends on the resolution of the alliance's leadership to impact the most concerned member-states, provoking conflicts with other countries. "Turkey has set up NATO, rather than itself," Medvedev said in an interview with Time magazine. "It is very irresponsible." He said that the Russian policy in this sense is absolutely peaceful. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Russia is speculating on reports regarding the possibility of the World War III, said Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. "No country is lobbying for the start of the World War III," Turkish news channel TRT Haber quoted Davutoglu as saying Feb. 15. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Turkey deteriorated after a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by the Turkish Air Force on Nov. 24, 2015. Turkey said the warplane violated its airspace, while Russia denied the claim. Further speaking about Turkey's firing on the forces of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Syria as a response to shelling of Turkish lands, Davutoglu said the country's armed forces will continue strikes on the militants' positions. Turkish Minister of National Defense Ismet Yilmaz said Feb. 15 that the country's armed forces fired upon four regions in northern Syria as a response measure to cross-border threats. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 Trend: Turkey officially informed Moscow about the introduction of a visa regime for journalists from February 15, 2016, the Russian foreign ministry said, TASS reported. "The Turkish side has officially informed the Russian foreign ministry about the introduction of the so-called "journalist visa" for Russian journalists, intending to visit Turkey for their professional activity, as well as for a short period of less than six months from February 15, 2016," the statement said. Earlier, the Turkish foreign ministry said that the introduction of visas for Russian journalists is a response to similar conditions for Turkish journalists, put forward by the Russian side. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Turkey soured after a Russian SU-24 violating Turkish airspace was intercepted and shot down on Nov. 24, 2015 by Turkish F-16 fighters. Hangzhou Love Hotel (Photo : Hotel.com) Chinese businessmen seeking good money should consider investing in love hotels. Current operators said they feel no competition because of the large market versus the limited number of such establishments. According to English.cri.com, across China, there are only 300 to 500 love hotels that have romantic themes compared to regular hotels. Given that the country has more than 1 billion people, the number of themed hotels is only a drop in the bucket, according to Wang Fang, manager of the Tian E Lian Love Hotel. Advertisement In contrast, there are over 30,000 love hotels in Japan, which have been popular in the country among married and unmarried couples for decades now. The industry was recording a $40-billion growth per year in Japan even during hard times. The shortage of rooms in love hotels in China was especially felt on Sunday, Valentines Day, when pairs married and unmarried check-in to spend the day in love hotels. Long lines were seen at the reception of a love hotel in Wuhan City, capital of Hubei Province. The bulk are young unmarried couples who want new romantic experiences beyond the traditional hotel room. The couples have different themed rooms to select from that would feed their fantasies. The rooms usually offer circular beds and Jacuzzis, while some even have sex toys and items for sado-masochistic lovers such as whips and chains. The boom in love hotels is fueled by changing attitudes toward sex as young Chinese marry later, but have sex and love affairs earlier, according to Xinhua News Agency. And for the growing number of affluent Chinese, because of the limited number of love hotels in the country, many travel to Japan as early as the first week of February to try the love hotels in their Asian neighbors. Japan Today reported that at the start of the Lunar New Year, Chinese tour groups were renting entire love hotels in Japan. Buses are seen parked outside the themed hotels with the sign kash-kiri that means the establishment is reserved or chartered, meaning off-limits to walk-in guests. Hong Kong Watch And Clock Fair Opens To The Public (Photo : Getty Images) Given how wealthy Chinese travelers are acquiring expensive luxury items of famous brands such as Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Rolex, if the 2006 comedy film were made a decade later, it would probably be titled The Chinese Wears Prada. Thats because with their $183 billion (1.2 trillion yuan) spending on luxury goods in 2015, Chinese consumers now account for 46 percent of global luxury sales, according to Fortune Character Group. The Beijing-based firm said that over 60 percent of their purchases, worth $116.8 billion, were on luxury products such as mobile devices, makeup and handbags. Advertisement The amount was bought by 1 percent of Chinas population, or the 120 million Chinese tourists who went shopping overseas in 2015. Their spending accounted for no less than 12 percent of global spending, reported China Daily. The spending spree is a testimony to the growth in Chinese consumption when aboard, which expanded by an average of 27.8 percent yearly in the last decade, twice the growth in domestic spending. It indicates the fast expansion of the affluent in China despite the recent slowdown in the Asian giants economy. In contrast, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that domestic spending on consumer goods grew year-on-year by 10.7 percent, reaching 30.1 trillion yuan. Had Chinese tourists bought at home one-third of the goods they purchased abroad, it would have boosted Chinas retail sales of consumer goods by 1 percent, estimated Li Jian, senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. However, despite these brands available in China, Chinese travelers prefer to buy these items abroad so that over 80 percent of global luxury brand sellers in China had shuttered their mainland outlets, such as Louis Vuitton which closed three stores, reported The South China Morning Post. Wang has already advised the United States to exercise caution regarding the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. (Photo : Getty Images) Chinese diplomats in senior posts encouraged the United States to exercise caution in any action that might cause damage to China's interests, according to a report by China Daily. One issue officials fear will result in backlash is the deployment of a missile system allowed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Advertisement The missile system will be launched by the United States and will cover Russia and China. The two countries were already provoked earlier this month as the ROK launched a rocket on Feb. 7. Shortly after the missile launch, ROK and the United States began talks regarding the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system located in the U.S.'s military base in South Korea. THAAD is one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world. It can successfully intercept and destroy ballistic missiles, regardless whether they're inside or outside the Earth's atmosphere. THAAD particularly targets long-range missiles. China has already reiterated that it will approach the matter diplomatically, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi stating that they will be "safeguarding China's national security interests" as a core principle in an interview with Reuters during the Munich Security Conference. China "resolutely objects to any attempt by any country to infringe China's lawful rights and interests in the name of the peninsula nuclear issue," Wang added in a news release issued by the Foreign Ministry on Friday, Feb. 12. "The deployment of the THAAD system by the U.S. . . . goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent," Wang said. "It directly affects the strategic security interests of China and other Asian countries." Wang has already advised the United States to exercise caution regarding the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The meeting took place in Munich on Feb. 12. Wang also warned against "adding new complications to regional peace and stability." Meanwhile, Alexander Timonin, Russia's Ambassador to the ROK, expressed opposition to THAAD's possible deployment as early as Feb. 2. China accommodates over 200 times the number of international students back four decades ago. (Photo : Getty Images) Although statistics indicate that China is the third largest host of international studies, the reality paints a different picture for Fang Jun, deputy director of the Ministry of Education's Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, China Daily reported. Advertisement Data from the Ministry of Education stated that there were over 377,000 students from 203 countries in China back in 2014. According to Fang, the quality of education, sources, and educational structures offered to its international student group must be reviewed and updated in the soonest possible time. China may have improved a lot in terms of providing education for international students in the past 40 years, but several other issues need to be addressed especially now that China accommodates over 200 times the number of international students back in 1978. "At present, China mainly relies on its cultural, cost-performance and geographic advantages to attract international students," said Fang in an interview with China Daily. "In the future, the focus should be shifted to improving the quality of education and forging a good reputation to attract more brilliant international students from different countries." One issue, according to Fang, is the unbalanced number of students in educational programs. Most international students have enrolled in arts-based subjects like Chinese language, while courses in sciences and engineering are populated by a small proportion of the total population. Another matter is the rate of international students who come to China to pursue higher education. According to China Daily, only 44 percent of international students come to China to study at degree level or higher. Other students only stay for a semester or two, while others opt to enrol in short-term study programs. Diversity of students is another concern, as most international students in China come to neighboring countries in Asia or Africa. It's the exact opposite in the United States and the United Kingdom, the top two destinations for international students. "Efforts need to be made to diversify the sources and types of international students coming to study in China," said Fang. Meanwhile, Chen Zhiwen, editor of China's largest online education portal EOL, thinks it's understandable why international students come from neighboring countries. "Looking at the picture across the world, international students have two general directions of mobility--traveling within their own continent, or traveling from underdeveloped and developing countries to developed countries," Chen said. Travel Peak Appears At End Of Chinese Spring Festival Holiday (Photo : Getty Images) Chinese Lunar New Year 2016, as expected, resulted in the biggest mass migration in China as millions of migrant workers when home for the Spring Festival. However, a growing number of them bought only one-way tickets. Thats because reverse migration is starting to grow in China as more people opt to return to their home provinces to start businesses rather than work in polluted and gridlock cities. The reason behind the growing number of Chinese workers who opted to stay for good in rural areas after traveling home during the Spring Festival is because of better opportunities now available, reported Global Times. Advertisement The impact is not just economic, but also social, as working adults with children left with their elderly parents now get to rear their offspring and allow their older kin to rest. In Chongqing, over 1.72 million migrants have come back since 2010, resulting in the number of left behind children reduced by about 180,000 in the past three years. But the challenge to bring back more is greater since there are about 270 million migrant workers in China, 60 percent of whom have jobs outside their hometowns. Some remained migrant employees, but opted to seek employment in nearer provinces rather than return to the rat race in Shanghai or Beijing. Convincing more Chinese to stay put after the Lunar New Year holiday ends would mean reducing in 2017 the 2.91 billion passenger volumes that is expected for the 2016 yearly mass migration in China, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission. That covers the period Jan. 24 through March 3. If the migrant workers persuaded to come home for good must stay permanently, local governments should put in place preferential policies to improve the entrepreneurial environment in rural areas since entrepreneurs in the provinces face more challenges in the areas of skills and capital, said Dang Guoying, researcher on rural development with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Rescuers carry a victim of the Feb. 6 Taiwan earthquake. China has pledged assistance to the victims of the quake. (Photo : Getty Images) Days after a devastating magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit the southern part of Taiwan, various groups from mainland China have extended aid to the victims. The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) announced that it has donated around 5 million yuan ($769,000) to the relatives of the victims. The funds was passed by ARATS to its Taiwanese counterpart Straits Exchange Foundation, who will in turn hand it over to the Taiwan Red Cross Society for helping the injured, the Global Times reported. Advertisement According to ARATS president Chen Deming, his organization contacted SEF immediately after the quake to offer assistance. The Red Cross Society of China has donated 2 million yuan ($304,782) for the relief effort. Meanwhile, the Yo Fo (Jade Buddha) Temple in Shanghai donated 500,000 yuan ($75,600) to the victims. The temple's abbot, Jue Xing, also led a group of monks in prayer for the victims. Shanghai Association of Taiwan vice president Hu Hsing-chung extended gratitude on behalf of the victims and their families to Jue and all those who have given help. The quake hit the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung at around 3:57 a.m on Feb. 6, causing several buildings to collapse, particularly those in nearby Tainan, where a 16-story apartment building in the Yongkang District toppled. Rescuers ended the search for missing people at around 3 p.m. that day, with the total death count registering at 116. Taiwanese Cabinet member Sun Lih-chun said that the government is expected to allot $758 million for the relief and rebuilding efforts in the affected region. Meanwhile, Health Minister Chiang Been-huang informed that the Tainan city government will be giving $91,000 to the families of those killed in the quake, the China Post reported. As part of the assistance package for victims, the Interior Ministry will also be offering rent assistance to the affected families. U.S. to Withhold $34M From U.N. Fund (Photo : Getty Images) Chinas National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) does not have a second child deposit policy or is collection such kind of fees. Officials of the commission spoke on Sunday to dispel rumors over the alleged collection. NHFPC made the clarification after there was a surge in complaints on social media site Sine Weibo that local marriage registry offices were collecting the second child deposit, costing 1,000 yuan ($155) to 8,000. The complainants said that they were promised the refund of the deposit after the birth of the second infant as part of the countrys two-child policy which started on Jan. 1, 2016. Advertisement The fee is allegedly collected on newly married couple in 2016 by marriage registry offices in Liaoning. Jiangsu and Shandong Provinces. But Hudu Media debunked the reports as unfounded speculations. China started loosening the one-child policy in 2013, but by late 2014, married couples applying to have a second child reached only 804,000 as of September 2014, less than half the expected 2 million couples, according to a statement from the NHFPC, reported The Wall Street Journal. When Beijing announced the change in policy in 2013, businesses anticipated a baby boom, causing a spike in the shares of baby formula makers and other infant-related businesses. However, the boom did not happen as fewer couples showed they want another child, surprising the NHFPC that wants to have more children as Chinas population ages. Among the factors cited for the lack of interest among Chinese couples of expanding their families are the spiraling cost of living, focus on higher education and better employment migration opportunities for smaller families. Wang Feng, demographer, describes the numbers as way, way off the mark, because less than 7 percent of the estimated 11 million Chinese couples eligible to add one more child applied. China plans to send high-orbit satellites to conduct further research on gravitational waves over the next 15 to 20 years. (Photo : REUTERS) China plans to conduct more research on gravitational waves following the discovery of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in the United States on Thursday, Feb. 11, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Advertisement The report quoted Li Miao, dean of the Institute of Astronomy and Space Science in south China's Guangdong Province, as saying that the country's research project on gravitational wave, "Tianqin," at Sun Yat-sen University has been submitted for government approval since July. Tianqin will be carried out in four stages over the next 15 to 20 years, at an estimated cost of 15 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), with the final launching involving three high-orbit satellites to detect the waves. Chen Yanbei of LIGO said that unlike the research by the U.S. ground-based observatory, Tianqin is different because it will observe the waves from space. "Tianqin is likely to collect better information, as a larger black hole may be detected from space than the one detected from the ground," said Chen. The report added that Sun Yat-sen University has expressed willingness to cooperate with other institutions, and has plans for 15,000 square meters of observatory and laboratory on Fenghuang Mountain in Zhuhai City, Guangdong. China has another domestic gravitational wave project, "Ali," named after the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) observatory in Ali, Tibet, and led by the CAS Institute of High Energy Physics. The project has totally different objectives as it detects the first tremors of the Big Bang, primordial gravitational waves. According to Zhang Xinmin of CAS, Ali is regarded as the fourth best site in the world to detect primordial waves at high altitude and with good weather. "Ali will be much cheaper. The first phase will cost around 100 million yuan and results are expected in five years," Zhang said. Wang Yifang, head of the CAS high-energy physics institute, said that as China lags behind in gravitational wave research, the team is seeking international cooperation and foreign specialists in the field. Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NPC, echoes China's stand for common security and calls for an inclusive world order at Munich Security Conference held on Feb. 14. (Photo : REUTERS) A Chinese official declared in Munich on Sunday, Feb. 14, Chinas position of standing for common security and called for an inclusive world order, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress of China, told a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference that China does not want to see the world divided again by exclusive military blocks, and opposes the repression by the U.S. and other Western countries on China's political system. Advertisement Fu noted that the world needs to change and must have an inclusive world order and framework, with a common roof to accommodate, as much as possible, diverse interests, needs and ideas. The Chinese official said that China stands firmly for the international order and system which is based on the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, reiterating what Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his speech in Seattle during his visit to the U.S. last September. According to the report, Fu explained that China had also proposed mechanisms where the existing international order is insufficient, citing as an example the creation of the "Belt and Road" initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which are the new public goods that China is offering. On the China-U.S. relations, Fu remarked that the two countries have a common interest in world affairs and their cooperation is needed to address global challenges. The official added that Xi has previously proposed to build a new model of major-country relationship with the United States that features non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. In a report by the Strait Times, Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said that Beijing now plays a critical role in setting new rules, given China's leadership role due to its economic and military weight. "China, too, must now articulate its vision for its desired global order," the Singaporean minister told a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. "Its own stability is now dependent on the stability of the overall system." The Munich Security Conference is an annual informal meeting on international security policy that focuses this year on the war in Syria, the refugee crisis, and the European security order. Chinese-American officer Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in a darkened public housing stairwell. (Photo : REUTERS) More than 10,000 people are set to join rallies across the U.S. next week to protest the conviction of a Chinese-American police officer involved in the case of a man who died from a bullet which ricocheted, the Global Times reported. Advertisement The report said that the local Chinese-American community called the verdict a "result of politics, not justice." Peter Liang, a New York City police officer, and his partner were conducting a patrol when his gun went off and the bullet bounced off a wall and hit Gurley in a dark stairwell. Liang was convicted of manslaughter on Thursday, Feb. 11, for killing Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old black man. "Some white police officers have accidentally killed unarmed people, too, but the punishment for them was lighter compared to the one Liang received. Liang should not be treated differently because of his race," Wang Tian, president of the Beijing Association in Los Angeles, who plans to organize protests over the conviction, told the Global Times on Sunday, Feb. 14. Wang said that rallies will be held on Feb. 20 in several cities across the U.S. as more than 10,000 people have answered the call. The report said that the verdict is the latest in a series of cases in the U.S. involving unarmed black men killed by police officers. It is also one of the rare cases in which a police officer is convicted of manslaughter in the line of duty. The report added that chat groups were formed on social media such as WeChat to support Liang, while several Chinese-language media in the U.S. wrote commentary on the conviction. John C. Liu, a former New York Council member who ran for mayor in 2013, called for "justice reform." A day after the conviction, he referred to Liang as an "Asian scapegoat" on his Twitter account. "The Chinese in the U.S. are still a weak group. We don't have political muscle and are always discriminated on or victimized. We demand a fair trial for Liang, as well as a voice for the Chinese community," Wang said. Liang may face up to 15 years in jail, if he is sentenced, the report said. In 2014, Darren Wilson, a white police officer, fatally shot an 18-year-old boy in Ferguson, Missouri. But the U.S. Department of Justice cleared Wilson in the shooting and announced that he would not be charged in the incident. Sumatran women dance the Tor-tor folk dance to welcome tourists at the Tuk-tuk village in Samosir, Indonesia's North Sumatra Province. (Photo : REUTERS) Chinese tourist arrivals in Indonesia are expected to increase this year, as the Southeast Asian country has developed special historical destinations, enhanced supportive policies and improved promotions, a senior tourism official said in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Advertisement Indonesian Tourism Ministry's deputy for overseas promotion, I Gde Pitana, said that China and Indonesia have strong historical backgrounds that become one of the main engines for the two countries' tourism industries. "China is the main market for us. In 2016, it will be the biggest market, (overtaking) Singapore, Australia and Malaysia," Pitana was quoted as saying. According to Pitana, Indonesia expects 2.1 million Chinese, nearly double compared with last year's target of 1.3 million. The ministry said the number is more than a sixth of the 2016 goal of 12 million total inbound travelers, while the country received 10 million last year. The report said that Indonesia has much higher expectations for Chinese visitors this year due to promotional campaigns, and cultural and historical destination development, in addition to a new visa-on-arrival policy adopted last June. The total solar eclipse will also be visible from parts of Indonesia this spring, according to the report. Pitana said that Southeast Asia only got a small slice out of the nearly 120 million Chinese who traveled overseas last year. Out of these, about 6 million visited Thailand and 2 million headed to Singapore. Indonesia has received accolades from the global tourism industry, the report said. The country got three out of four awards at the 12th United Nations World Tourism Organization Awards Forum and three out of six at the ASEAN Travel Association Forum. "This indicates what we have done is in line with international standards," Pitana said. "We expect Chinese visitors to be convinced of the appropriateness of Indonesia as a tourist destination." Since Sept. 2014, Indonesia has been preparing to receive more Chinese, especially on China's Lunar New Year, known in Indonesia as Imlek, Pitana added. "For the preparations of the Imlek, we have cooperated with all stakeholders and made preparations in several provinces, including how to organize celebrations for welcoming Chinese visitors," the official said. A total solar eclipse will be witnessed in Indonesia on March 9, about a month after this year's Imlek rush. "There will be 10 cities where you can witness the eclipse, which happens once in hundreds of years," Pitana said. "The longest eclipse will be visible in Sulawesi Island, six minutes. Preparations have been made to welcome visitors to experience the rare event, including facilities at sea." The eclipse can be viewed around Bangka Belitung Island aboard a hundred yachts and a replica of the legendary ship from Indonesia's ancient Majapahit Kingdom, the official said. In addition, several Indonesian destinations will host sites visited by acclaimed Chinese explorer Zheng He, who pioneered the ancient Maritime Silk Road in the 15th century. "We have a celebration of the journey of Commodore Cheng Ho (Zheng He) every year," Pitana added. To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry. Disclaimer Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes. Ethical and Otherwise: Engineering In the Headlines is a collection of over 40 of the most popular blog posts selected from nearly ten years of Karl Stephans engineering ethics blog. Bridge collapses, airplane crashes, train wrecks, explosionsthe most widely read blog posts are all here, from the truth about why the Titanic sank to the latest recall scandal. This ebook is available in both Kindle and iBook formats. The former court verdict against the CSF officer was deemed the first and toughest such sentence against a policeman for killing protesters since the 2011 uprising Egypt's Court of Cassation overturned on Sunday a 15-year jail sentence issued to a police officer for the fatal shooting of protester Shaimaa El-Sabbagh during a peaceful march last year in downtown Cairo ahead of the fourth anniversary of the January 25 uprising. The court ordered a new trial of the Central Security Forces (CSF) officer Yaseen Mohamed Hatem in front of a different district court. The policeman's lawyer, Fareed El-Deeb, said that the march where El-Sabbagh was killed took place under exceptional circumstances due to the timing of the anniversary, adding that if his client had an intention to commit murder, dozens of casualties would have fallen. El-Deeb added to his defense that the march, organised by Egypt's Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP), was not given a permit by the interior ministry, claiming that the demonstrators created a state of confusion for the forces. The lawyer pushed to prove the absence of criminal intent and murder for his defendant by adding that the killing of 32-year-old El-Sabbagh resulted from the indiscretion and inexperience of a young 25-year-old police officer. In June 2015, a Cairo court sentenced the CSF police officer to 15 years in jail after it convicted him for "beating that led to the death" of El-Sabbagh -- a charge similar to manslaughter, as well as "deliberately wounding" other protesters. El-Sabbagh was killed after being hit with birdshot fired by the CSF police officer. Egypt's CSF often disperse protests using birdshot and teargas. The former court verdict against the CSF officer was deemed the first and toughest such sentence against a policeman for killing protesters since the 2011 uprising. Search Keywords: Short link: Cairo University head Nassar cites 'the protection of the rights of the patients and work interests' as a reason for the decision Cairo university head Gaber Nassar issued a decision to ban female doctors and nurses from wearing face veils in all of the universitys hospitals and clinics starting from Sunday. The decision will be applied on doctors, nurses, hospital technical assistants and all staff in Qasr Al-Aini hospital as well as other medical facilities owned by the state-owned university. Nassars decision cites the protection of the rights of the patients and work interests. Last October, Nasser issued a decree to ban the university's academic staff from wearing face veils, also known as niqab, inside classrooms. He justified his decision by saying that the number of teaching staff members wearing the full-face veil is only 10 out of approximately 22,000 members teaching in 24 faculties. "The university received reports from some of the faculties deans regarding difficulties in communication between students and teachers wearing the niqab, particularly in language courses," Nasser said at the time. "The ban aims to enhance the quality of communication and education." A court verdict in January said that Nassar had the right to ban teachers from donning face veils inside classrooms. Lawyers representing 100 Cairo University researchers who wear the face veil filed the case against the ban. Search Keywords: Short link: A short video on the CBC show Momken (Its Possible) stirred controversy for its perceived portrayal of women from Upper Egypt as unfaithful to their husbands The Chamber of Media Industry suspended late on Sunday the CBC programme "Momken" (It's Possible), hosted by Khairy Ramadan, for 15 days pending investigations by a legal technical committee on accusations that a guest insulted women from Upper Egypt. The show hosted Taymour El-Sobky, the Facebook administrator of "Diary of a suffering man", which has over 1 million followers, who said women -- especially from Upper Egypt -- have a tendency to cheat on their husbands. In response to a question about the main problems of marriage that he receives on his page, he said that women cheat on their husbands, and the latter know, forgive them, then get tired and leave. "Thirty percent of women have a readiness for immorality... but just cannot find someone to encourage them," he said, explaining that his page has a significant number of followers, which is revealing. "Today, it is very normal for a woman to cheat and seek it," he said. El-Sobky cited Upper Egypt's governorates of Assiut, Minya, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan as places where arranged marriages take place, meaning that women often find themselves with men they did not know previously. The Chamber of Media Industry called on all channels to boycott El-Sobky, adding it would support any legal action against him. The decisions also included calling for the parliament to issue a law that organises the media collectively so that rights and duties in the industry can be defined. CBC channel also issued a statement on Sunday apologising for El-Sobky's statements. "We apologise to all the citizens of the governorates of Upper Egypt, women and men, and to everyone who got offended by this in every Egyptian governorate, and to all the women of Egypt. We also assure you that the pride and honour of every Egyptian citizen is a priority and more worthy than anything else," CBC's statement said. CBC said that the video, which was approximately five minutes long, was extracted from an episode that was aired two months ago, and did not include any objections from anyone regarding El-Sobky's comments. The clip made it appear as if the channel was only showing one side of the story, "which contradicts reality," the CBC statement added apologitically. CBC's statement also read that the rest of the episode included replies from people who called in to refute El-Sobky's conclusions, as well as ojections from the host and the other guests on the show. The administration at CBC decided to boycott El-Sobky, "in respect to popular sentiment because people were hurt by what he said. The Press Syndicate also issued a statement late on Sunday condemning the content of the controversial video CBC aired. "While the Press Syndicate appreciates CBC channel's apology about the video that angered Egyptian women, its assurance that it is partial to the views and that they do not represent the channel's opinion about Egyptian women, it [the Press Syndicate] calls upon journalists and media people to watch out and not be dragged into the crises that distract us from discussing the main issue in society. "It also calls for not repeating this in the future and to avoid hosting such people who insult women or any sect of the society, in respect of all citizens' feelings and to protect public safety and societal cohesion." After receiving threats death threats, El-Sobky apologised in a video last Thursday, saying his words were taken out of context by administrators of Facebook pages in Upper Egypt who shared the video, adding that even his mother is from Upper Egypt's Qena. "I strongly apologise if my words in the episode were misunderstood and I call upon people to watch the whole episode and they will find that I did not offend or insult. It is impossible that I would insult the women of Upper Egypt or women in general. "On my page, I discuss marriage situations sarcastically. And I apologise for the third time, as the issue has taken another turn. I get death threats, and reports have been filed to the police to protect myself and my family. I apologise again and I did not mean to offend anyone by any means." Search Keywords: Short link: Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright visited Cairo on Sunday as part of an Atlantic Council delegation aiming to 'develop a long-term framework for US policy in the region' Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright that now that Egypt has finished its post 2013 transition period goals, Cairo is focused on development, adding that the country wants to create a balance between security and freedoms. Albright visited with El-Sisi in Cairo on Sunday as part of the Atlantic Council delegation which included former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. Hadley and Albright head the Middle East Strategy Task Force, an Atlantic Council initiative which "tries to better understand the underlying dynamics behind the current crises in the Middle East and develop a long-term framework for US policy in the region." El-Sisi said the current circumstances make it necessary for Egypt and the United States to develop their strategic relations, adding that Cairo and Washington must base their relationship on mutual interests and respect. The meeting also tackled regional challenges in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. El-Sisi told the delegation he believes it is important to block the supply of money and arms to terrorist organisations in areas of crisis in order to reach peaceful solutions. Meanwhile, the American delegates urged Cairo to continue playing a leading role on the regional and international level, saying Egypt is a centre of stability in the Middle East. El-Sisi urged the delegates to convey to Washington that the US should continue working to achieve a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The president also called for adopting an international strategy to fight terrorism, which does not rely solely on security and military measures, but also promotes education and "the values of accepting the other." Search Keywords: Short link: Egypts Ministry of Interior dismissed reports by western media of slain Italian Giulio Regeni being taken into police custody as 'completely incorrect' Egypt's police denied that an Italian student who was recently found dead in Egypt had been in custody as he disappeared days before his recent murder. A media official from Egypts Ministry of Interior "dismissed [on Monday] reports in Western media that Giulio Regeni was arrested by Egyptian security before his death," the ministry said in a statement Monday. The New York Times reported on Friday that eyewitnesses claimed that the student was led away by two men believed to be Egyptian security agents, on the night he disappeared. The newspaper also reported that, three security officials said Mr. Regeni had indeed been taken into custody." These claims were later published in an Italian paper. On Friday, Italian newspaper Il Corriere Della Sera said a street vendor told Italian investigators that he saw plain-clothed officers "taking" Regeni outside a metro station the evening he vanished. The newspaper also reported that Regeni feared for his safety after noticing that he was being photographed by an unknown observer while attending a meeting with fellow researchers on 11 December. The Egyptian interior ministry said information published about Regeni's disappearance is "completely incorrect," adding that a team of investigators is in "complete cooperation" with the Italian authorities to determine the circumstances of the killing. The ministry added that results of the investigation will be made public once "definite information is obtained." Italy has sent investigators to work with Egyptian authorities to determine the circumstances of Regeni's death. The body of Regeni, a PhD student who had been conducting research on independent trade union movements in Egypt, was found with signs of torture along a road on the outskirts of Cairo earlier in February. The discovery of Regini's body came nine days after he disappeared on 25 January, the five-year anniversary of the 2011 revolution. Two days following the discovery of Regeni's body, the corpse was repatriated upon Rome's request. An autopsy conducted by Italian authorities in Rome revealed that the 28-year-old was subjected to torture. Egypt's Forensic Authority sent its own autopsy report to the general prosecution on Saturday. The reports findings have not been made public yet. Search Keywords: Short link: The Egyptian president wants Japanese businesses on board for more economic projects Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will head to Japan at the end of February in a visit intended to open new horizons for Egyptian-Japanese cooperation, state-owned MENA news agency reported on Monday. Japanese MP Yuriko Koike, the head of the Japan-Egypt Parliamentary Friendship Association, said during her visit to Egypt that El-Sisi is interested in boosting cooperation in the fields of education and scientific research. She added that the Egyptian president will discuss with Japanese officials a possible increase in Tokyo contribution in the Grand Egyptian Museum being built near Giza's pyramids as well as Cairo Metro Line 4, among other projects. On Saturday, Egypt's trade and industry minister Tarek Qabil said that El-Sisi's visit counts as an important step towards enhancing economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries. Qabil described the visit as a good chance to discuss investment opportunities in Egypt and establishing partnerships between the Egyptian and Japanese private sectors at a time when Egypt is launching several national mega-projects. During the visit, his first since he came to power in 2014, El-Sisi is expected to meet with senior officials including the Japanese prime minister, the Japanese emperor, Japanese MPs and representatives of Egyptian and Japanese companies. In November 2015, Egypt's ambassador to Japan Ismail Khairat said that Japan was committed to financing a solar power plant in Hurghada at a cost of $100 million, the first deal of its kind between the two countries in the renewable energy field. Search Keywords: Short link: The syndicates general assembly will discuss press freedoms and the unified media draft law Egypt's journalists syndicate called on Sunday for a general assembly on 4 March to discuss several issues including press freedoms and the recently proposed media and press law. "This general assembly comes at a very critical time in Egypt. Aside from the usual matters related to the syndicate, we have the issue of press freedom and the media laws proposed by the government," Khaled El-Balshy, head of the freedoms committee and the journalists syndicate told Ahram Online. El-Balshy called on fellow syndicate members to attend the assembly at the syndicate headquarters in Cairo. "The members are required to come to the general assembly and I urge them to attend as it comes at a critical time." According to the journalists' syndicate, there are currently 32 journalists not all syndicate members detained and jailed in Egypt, including 18 in cases related to journalism. The House of Representatives is expected to discuss the unified draft law for media and journalism, which was initially drafted by the journalists syndicate, the media industry chamber, the high council of journalism, and a number of legal experts, before sending it to the cabinet. The draft law aims to regulate the licensing and day-to-day operation of press and media in Egypt. Leading members of the journalists syndicate have expressed concern that the draft bill may be amended by the government in a manner that does not serve journalists' interests. Search Keywords: Short link: A majority vote of confidence is required within 30 days for the cabinet to continue its duties Egypts prime minister is scheduled to present his cabinet's programme to the parliament either by the end of February or in early March in preparation for the MP vote of confidence, MENA reported on Monday. According to Article 146 of the country's constitution, the president appoints a prime minister who forms a cabinet. The cabinet then presents its programme to the parliament. A majority vote of confidence in the cabinet is required within 30 days of its formation. If a majority vote is not reached, the president appoints another PM based on the majority party or coalition. If the parliament does not agree on the plan of the new PM, then the House of Representatives is disbanded and new parliamentary elections take place. PM Sherif Ismail told MENA that the parliamentary session where the cabinet will give its statement will take around one hour. He added that the cabinets strategic and economic programme will be handed out to the MPs during the session. The current cabinet is headed by PM Sherif Ismail, who was appointed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in September 2015 and has 33 portfolios. The cabinet was appointed before the election of the new parliament. Ismail was petroleum minister in 2014 until his appointment as PM. Egypt's new parliament is composed of 596 MPs, an unprecedented figure in Egypt's 150-year-old parliamentary history. Search Keywords: Short link: Cairo University decided on Monday to revoke an earlier decision to end a post-graduate scholarship abroad for staff member Kholoud Saber following wide criticism and controversy. "Finally, the arts department informed me of an official decision from the head of Cairo University [Gaber Nassar] to cancel the decision of summoning me back to Egypt and recommending that I continue my study leave to earn the PhD," Saber said on her Facebook account. Saber is set to continue her year-long scholarship for PhD studies at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, which started last September. She thanked people who provided "support and pressure" that led to the reversal of the decision. Last week, over 20 rights groups "strongly condemned" the December decision to end the scholarship for Saber, where she was informed by the Egyptian university that her study abroad permit was revoked based on a decision by the information department at the Ministry of Higher Education. The reason behind revoking the permit was unclear. The rights groups described the decision to end the female assistant lecturer's scholarship as one that "has dangerous ramifications for academic freedom [in Egypt]...and undermines the university's independence." Search Keywords: Short link: Jordan's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood has formally cut ties with the region-wide movement based in Egypt, a spokesman said Monday. The decision is the latest setback for the wider Brotherhood, once seen as the main political beneficiary of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings but hit hard in recent years by government crackdowns. The Jordanian branch has undergone several splits over the past year, with breakaway groups emphasizing a domestic agenda. The original core group decided late last week, in a meeting of its main decision-making body, or Shura Council, to change its bylaws and cut ties with the parent movement, said a spokesman, Moath Khawaldeh. "On Thursday, the Shura Council met and amended the basic law, disconnecting the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan from Egypt," he said. Egypt's Brotherhood, from which ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi hails, is declared a terrorist organisation in the country. Khawaldeh said the decision is part of reform efforts ahead of internal elections next month. Jordanian analyst Ibrahim Gharaibeh said he believes the core group came to see its parent movement as an increasing liability. "This led to political concerns (for the group) in Jordan and the group's ability to survive," he said. Three relatively pragmatic groups have broken away from the more hawkish Brotherhood core group and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front, over the past year. Disagreements focused on whether to participate in elections in Jordan and the nature of ties with the parent movement and the militant group Hamas, the Brotherhood branch in the Palestinian territories. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: A prominent Salafi preacher called Monday on Cairo University's female medical students and staffs to disobey a recent decision made by the universitys head to ban them from wearing face veils in all of its hospitals and clinics starting this week. "The decision is in opposition to the rules of Sharia, the judiciary and the constitution," Yasser Borhami, the deputy leader of ultra-orthodox movement Salafist Call (Al-Dawaa Al-Salafiyyai) said in a press statement. "If any of you were prohibited from working for not implementing the decision, go file a lawsuit," Borhami added. Head of Cairo University Gaber Nassar issued the decision on Sunday, citing the protection of the rights of the patients and work interests. The decision will be applied to doctors, nurses, hospital technical assistants and all other staff in Qasr Al-Aini Hospital as well as other medical facilities owned by the state-owned university. In October 2015, Nasser issued a decree banning the university's academic staff from wearing face veils, also known as the niqab, inside classrooms. He justified his decision by saying that the number of teaching staff members wearing the full-face veil is only 10 out of approximately 22,000 members teaching in 24 faculties. "The university received reports from some of the faculties deans regarding difficulties in communication between students and teachers wearing the niqab, particularly in language courses," Nasser said at the time. "The ban aims to enhance the quality of communication and education," he added. Search Keywords: Short link: A Saudi-led coalition air strike on a sewing workshop killed at least two people and wounded 15 in the rebel-held Yemeni capital on Sunday, the factory owner told AFP. "Two employees, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed and 15 others wounded in the overnight air raid," Faisal al-Musaabi said. A search was underway for another employee still buried under the rubble of the building in the east of Sanaa, he added. The coalition has been carrying out air strikes against Iran-backed rebels across Yemen since March. The rebels, who have controlled Sanaa since September 2014, reported a higher death toll of 11 employees killed and four others wounded in the strike on the workshop, according to their sabanews.net website. The United Nations says more than 6,100 people have been killed in Yemen's conflict since the coalition began its raids, about half of them civilians. Search Keywords: Short link: Observers of Oman usually describe it as the "Switzerland of the Middle East" due to Sultan Qaboos bin Saids neutral approach to foreign policy. Omanwith Yousef bin Alawi heading the foreign ministrysucceeded in maintaining strong ties with the United States, Britain, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), while also forging relations with Iran. This was clear in Omans contribution to the breakthrough in the nuclear talks with Iran that ended in July 2015 with a deal that benefited Washington. For Rex J. Brynen, political science professor at McGill University, Oman is neutral in the sectarian tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as roughly 70 percent of Omanis, including Sultan Qaboos, are neither Sunni nor Shia, but Ibadi (a school of Islam). Though a GCC member-state, Oman has a longstanding commercial relationship with Iran. It has concerns on some aspects of both Iranian and Saudi foreign policy, accordingly remaining neutral and promoting a reduction in regional tensions, Brynen said. Hatim Al-Taei a member of Oman's State Council and editor-in-chief of Al-Roya newspaper said that Oman's foreign policy is characterised by stability and continuity in terms of being open to all parties in the region, and "nothing has actually changed over the past 45 years." "The Omani constitution does not allow the sultanate to join military alliances or any blocs that have certain orientations, which explains why it does not interfere in the affairs of other states, Al-Taei pointed out. The analyst referred to the decision of all Arab countries who cut diplomatic relations with Egypt following the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, a trend that Oman did not follow. As a matter of fact, the Egyptian case is not an exception in Omans history of foreign relations. Oman refused the GCC decision to back Iraq against Iran during their war in the 1980s. It did not withdraw its ambassador from Qatar following the adoption of such a step by Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain in March 2014 and it did not join the Saudi-led military coalition against Yemen's Houthi rebels. Omani-Iranian ties: The big question Omans strong relations with Iran began in the 1970s and have since developed rapidly. Oman has represented Iran's interests in a number of Western countries on several occasions, Mohammed Mohsen Abo El-Nour, an Egyptian political analyst and researcher in international relations, told Ahram Online. "The relationship between the Sultanate and Iran dates back to the 1970s during the time of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, when Iran intervened militarily in 1973 to help Sultan Qaboos defeat the Dhofar province rebellion," Abo El-Nour said. "Tehran helped the Sultan restore his rule even after the deposition of the Shah following the 1979 Islamic revolution. The Sultanate reciprocally helped Iran in its nuclear program negotiations by using its good ties with the US and UK." On an economic level, Oman and Iran cooperated in the extraction of natural gas from some common fields between both states, as well sharing control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where 40% of the world's tanker-borne oil passes. Shortly after the nuclear deal was signed, Moody's Investors Service said that Oman and the UAE would likely benefit most from the lifting of trade sanctions on Iran as it will pave the way for increased flow of trade and investment. "After sanctions on Iran were lifted, a hike in the traffic of oil tankers and commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz is highly likely, which will make an Omani-Iranian military cooperation unsurprising," stated Al-Taei. The recent naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran represented an indicator of Al-Taei's expectation that it will spark anger among the Sultanate's Gulf neighbours. Muscat frequently hosted meetings between world powers and Iran that remained secret for many years. Oman insisted, according to Al-Taei, that a political solution was possible instead of a US-Israeli military intervention in Iran that seemed possible on several occasions. "There were some extreme Gulf voices that disliked the Omani role, but Oman did not listen to these voices. Qaboos himself visited Tehran in August 2013 and met with Iranian leaders in an attempt to bridge the gap between the West and Iran to help overcome points of contention, which were mostly technical. "Al-Taei explained. Iran is broadly blamed for dramatically fueling many conflicts in Arab countries such as Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Most political commentators in the Gulf believe that the nuclear deal will unleash the evils of Shia Iran in the region and negatively impact the Sunni world, especially in light of the latest escalation between Riyadh and Tehran. Yemen Oman's position as a mediator is a unique case, as it is the only Gulf state that refused to engage in the Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Houthi rebels while also remaining an active and important player in the crisis. One example of its critical role in Yemens ongoing conflict can be traced to the visit of some senior Houthi leaders to Muscat several times in the past eight months, Abo El-Nour noted. "Oman, with its good ties with the Iranians, is the most suitable party to push to resolve conflicts in both Yemen and Syria, although it depends on the willingness of the actors involved to make compromises and reach comprehensive settlements, he said. Historically speaking, Oman has strong bonds with the Yemeni people, as the former has set up a series of sincere initiatives to bridge the gap between the Houthis and the coalition, although Saudi Arabia has dubbed the Houthis a terrorist group and considers them an enemy of the kingdom. "In this frightening and uncertain conflict, everyone understands that there is a chance for hope. The Gulf states are aware that Oman is keen on reaching a resolution for Yemens war, especially with its access to all players in the conflict. I believe a compromise is possible within few months, but there are some concessions that everyone should make," Al-Taei argued. Brynen lacks the same optimism about prospects of peace in Yemen. Although he mentioned that Oman could be "an important mediator" in Yemen, he believed that major domestic actors "seem unlikely to show much flexibility." Civilians are suffering a terrible toll in the fighting tearing Yemen apart, with casualties now topping 8,100, nearly 2,800 of them killed, amid Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, shelling by pro-Houthi forces and other clashes, according to a United Nations report released in January. Syria & Libya At the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2012, Oman made an initiative, establishing contact with Bashar Al-Assad's regime and the opposition to resolve the conflict before it turned bloody. According to Al-Taei: "Omans foreign minister visited Syria on 27 October 2015, seeking a political solution, and there were also real initiatives inside the Arab League, but they were thwarted by some Arab countries that deliberately pushed for further escalation." Oman opposed the Arab League decision when it suspended the membership of Syria. It said that such a movement is only for good of the Islamic State group and the Al-Nusra Front. Syrian foreign minister Walid Al-Muallem paid a visit to Muscat in August 2015, which was the first by a Syrian official to a Gulf state since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. The visit reportedly came at the behest of the Iranians as a kind of face-saving for all parties involved in this complex equation. For Iran, being a main supporter to Al-Assad's regime, the Omani role is acceptable, and no doubt about their need for Muscat's support when it comes to peace talks. More than 250,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the Syrian war, the United Nations estimates. Half the countrys pre-war population more than 11 million people have been killed or forced to flee their homes. At the end of 2015, Muscat also played a mediatory role in another ongoing Arab conflict, this time in Libya. Bin Alawi received the UN special envoy to Libya Martin Kobler and discussed with him the latest developments on the Libyan front as well as efforts by the UN envoy with Libyas warring parties. The information that was circulating, according to Abo El-Nour, indicated that Oman was keen to intervene to help resolve the Syrian crisis in light of the Vienna and Geneva negotiations. The complexity and liquidity of the crisis, however, as well as the multiple conflicts in Iraq, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, made the Omani task unachievable, as all issues were interrelated. "I think Oman faces countless obstacles that will eventually do away with its mediation efforts." Search Keywords: Short link: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview that Moscow does not plan to maintain its military presence in Syria indefinitely. In an interview with Time magazine Medvedev was asked if Russia would help its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in his stated aim of restoring his control over all of Syria. "We have no plans... for such a never-ending presence in Syria. We are there pursuing an entirely limited, concrete objective," Medvedev said, according to a transcript of the interview released by the government. Search Keywords: Short link: Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz denied a report that some Turkish soldiers had entered Syria at the weekend and said Ankara was not considering sending troops into its neighbour, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Monday. Syria's government had said Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen who entered Syria on Saturday with 12 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, in an operation to supply insurgents fighting Damascus. "It is not true ... There is no thought of Turkish soldiers entering Syria," Yilmaz told a Turkish parliamentary commission when asked about the allegation by the Syrian foreign ministry, made in a letter to the U.N. Security Council. Turkey's army shelled Kurdish YPG militia targets in northern Syria over the weekend, after the group seized an air base north of Aleppo, further complicating the conflict on NATO-member Turkey's southern border. Ankara regards the YPG as a terrorist organisation and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 31-year-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey. Washington, which does not see the YPG as terrorists, backs the group in the fight against IS in Syria. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolgu has demanded that the YPG withdraw from areas it has captured from Syrian rebels. U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russia on Sunday to stop bombing "moderate" rebels in Syria in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to efforts to end the war. Yilmaz also denied reports that Saudi Arabian aircraft had arrived at Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against IS militants, but said a decision had been reached for Saudi to send four F-16 jets. A Turkish soldier was killed on Sunday evening after Turkey's security forces clashed with a group at the Syrian border that was trying to enter Turkey illegally, the armed forces said in a statement. The Turkish military, which regularly detains people crossing back and forth across the Syrian border, said in its statement on Monday the clash occurred in the Yayladagi area of Hatay province at 7:15 p.m. Search Keywords: Short link: Shelling from Yemen has killed a Saudi border guard on duty on the southern frontier, the interior ministry said on Monday. He died during a bombardment on Sunday evening of a border post in the Al-Harth sector of Jazan region, it said in a statement published by the official SPA news agency. More than 90 civilians and soldiers have died in shelling and skirmishes along the border since last March, when a Saudi-led coalition launched a military intervention in Yemen. The coalition is backing Yemen's government against Iran-supported Shia Huthi rebels and their allies who overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014. The United Nations says more than 6,100 people have been killed in the fighting since March, about half of them civilians. Search Keywords: Short link: A retired security officer in southern Saudi Arabia has been shot dead in an attack claimed Monday by IS group. Police spokesman Colonel Mohammed al-Harbi said that a man in the Abu Arish area of Jazan region, bordering Yemen, reported at about 2:30 am (1130 GMT Sunday) that his father "was being shot at from an unknown source at his farm". Police did not identify the victim or give further details of his former security duties. They said a "criminal investigation" was under way into the killing. Usually the Saudi authorities describe IS-related attacks as "terrorism". IS said in a statement that it had shot dead retired Brigadier Ahmed Fayie Assiri "at his farm in Abu Arish area of Jazan." IS has claimed previous attacks on Saudi security forces as well as deadly bombings and shootings that targeted the Sunni kingdom's Shia minority, which the Sunni jihadist IS group considers to be heretics. Jazan and other southern border districts have also been subjected to shelling from Yemen since last March when Saudi Arabia began leading an Arab military coalition against Houthi rebels in the neighbouring country. Search Keywords: Short link: Hundreds of Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli soldiers who raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday, leaving a number of people wounded. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said 28 people were shot, including one in the head, during clashes in the Al-Amari camp at the entrance to the West Bank city of Ramallah. A squad of around 25 Israeli soldiers arrived in the camp, which is located on the edge of the city where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters, early on Monday morning. Once in the streets of the camp, soldiers clashed with hundreds of youths who threw stones and glass bottles. The soldiers responded by firing rubber bullets and live ammunition. During the ensuing clashes one soldier was injured by stones and needed to be aided by colleagues, AFP journalists on the scene said. The Israeli army did not give a reason for their raid in the camp, speaking only of "operational activity". An Israeli army spokeswoman said "dozens of rioters hurled homemade explosives and rocks at forces". The AFP journalists saw no explosive devices. "Forces called on the rioters to halt the assault using riot dispersal means. Upon the continued violence the force responded, shooting towards the main instigators," the spokeswoman added. The clashes lasted for nearly three hours before ending when the soldiers left the camp, which was set up in 1949 to accommodate Palestinians expelled from their land by the creation of Israel a year earlier. Some of the soldiers were picked up by military jeeps, while others left to a nearby settlement. Palestinians followed them, blocking the main road from Ramallah to Jerusalem for about half an hour. An estimated 15,000 people live in the camp. The clashes were the latest in more than four months of Israeli use of deadly force against Palestinian protesters in the occupied Palestinian territories. Since October 1, 172 Palestinians, 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean have been killed, according to an AFP count. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: Turkey will not allow the Syrian border town of Azaz to fall to Syrian Kurdish fighters, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday, warning of a "severe response" if they advance. "We will not let Azaz fall," Davutoglu was quoted as saying by private NTV television on his plane en route to Ukraine. "The YPG (the People's Protection Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates (river) and east of Afrin," he added. Turkish artillery has struck at Kurdish militia targets in Syria since the weekend, with Ankara insisting it was returning fire. Ankara accuses the YPG of being the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, and it fears Syrian Kurds are seeking to carve out an autonomous Kurdish region on Turkey's border. Turkey confirmed on Monday that it shelled advancing Kurdish fighters in northern Syria for a third day. Foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said Ankara "retaliated in kind" when an attack from an area under YPG control targeted a border post in Turkey. The Damascus regime has condemned Ankara over the shelling while urging the United Nations to act. "Currently YPG elements were forced out of the Azaz neighbourhood. If they come closer to Azaz, they will receive the most severe response," Davutoglu said. "The necessary intervention will be made (by Turkey) against the YPG when it is required." Turkey has been gravely concerned by the moves of the Kurdish fighters on Azaz and has so far defied calls from its Western partners to stop artillery bombardments of YPG positions The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Kurdish-Arab militia alliance in which the YPG plays a key role, has also seized the Minnigh air base in northern Syria. Davutoglu warned the SDF to withdraw from the airport, issuing a veiled threat of possible Turkish military action if they failed to do so. "They will withdraw from the airport... "If not, the airport will be rendered unusable," he said, without elaborating. Davutoglu said the "the YPG is clearly Russia's instrument in Syria right now," the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. "Russia is using those tools to be able to corner Turkey. Therefore, our stance has a legitimate basis." Russia is the key ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Turkey wants to see ousted. Relations between Ankara and Moscow nosedived after Turkey shot down a Russian war plane on the Syrian border on November 24. And Ankara accuses Moscow of bombing Syrian opposition forces backed by its Western allies instead of the Islamic State. Turkey's opposition to the YPG and its political arm the Democratic Union Party (PYD) is also straining relations with the United States which supports the Syrian Kurds as effective fighters on the ground against Islamic State (IS) jihadists. Washington has urged its key NATO ally to cease firing of Syrian Kurdish positions. The Turkish government has also denied claims it sent troops into northern Syria, with Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz saying late Sunday that Ankara has no intention of intervening on the ground. Search Keywords: Short link: Bahraini authorities have arrested four Americans, including journalists, during protests marking the fifth anniversary of a Shia-led uprising in the kingdom, police said on Monday. "We are aware of reports that US citizens have been arrested (in Bahrain). We have no comment due to privacy considerations," a State Department spokesperson told AFP. A police statement published by the official Bahrain News Agency did not initially specify the identities or nationalities of those arrested, or who they work for. But a later update said the four were American and included a woman. They were arrested in the Shia town of Sitra on Sunday during clashes between security forces and protesters, the statement said. "One of them was masked and taking part with a group of saboteurs in Sitra in acts of rioting and sabotage and attacks on security officials. "The other three were arrested at a security checkpoint in the same area." The four entered Bahrain between February 11 and 12 and "provided false information to concerned authorities," claiming to be tourists, police said. However, "some of those arrested had carried out journalistic activities without permission from concerned authorities, in addition to carrying out illegal acts." Their case has been referred to the public prosecution. Home to the US Fifth Fleet, Bahrain was rocked by an Arab Spring-inspired uprising demanding reforms and a constitutional monarchy on February 14, 2011. Authorities crushed the protest movement one month later. But demonstrators still take to the streets and clash with police in Shia towns surrounding Manama. Search Keywords: Short link: International attempts to end the chaos in Libya took a step forward on Monday as a new national unity government was proposed to lawmakers. A UN-backed council of rival Libyan factions announced the formation of the revised cabinet late on Sunday, after a previous government was rejected last month in a blow to peace efforts. Years of political turmoil since the 2011 overthrow of long-time dictator Muammar Ghaddafi have left Libya divided between rival governments and beset by violence as militia forces battle for power. The oil-rich North African nation has also become an increasingly important haven for the IS group just across the Mediterranean from Europe. Members of Libya's internationally recognised parliament, based in the eastern city of Tobruk, met and adjourned until Tuesday after it was reported earlier that a vote on the new government would take place later on Monday. "The MPs want to know the programme of the government, and to discuss the CVs of the ministers," MP Khalifa al-Daghari told AFP. Approval of the cabinet -- headed by prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj -- would be a vital step in resolving Libya's political disarray, capping off months of difficult diplomacy. Daghari also said the MPs wanted Sarraj to attend the next session. He said Sarraj "didn't communicate with the parliament, and that's why we are asking him to attend the next session. He can ask to postpone it, but we want to see him here in the parliament." UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler urged members of the House of Representatives (HoR) to stand behind the new administration. "The journey to peace and unity of the Libyan people has finally started," Kobler wrote on Twitter. "It is crucial now that HoR endorses the government of national unity. It's a unique peace opportunity that must not be missed." The so-called Presidency Council, tasked under the peace effort with forming the government, revised the line-up after parliament rejected a 32-member cabinet as too large. It had set a 10-day deadline for a smaller cabinet which expired on Sunday. "We hope that this will be the beginning of the end of the conflict in Libya," council member Fathi el-Mejebri said on Sunday from Skhirat, Morocco, where the group has been meeting. The revised government would be composed of 18 ministers with Mahdi al-Barghati in charge of the defence ministry -- a post which had been a major stumbling block in talks. Barghati is close to Libya's internationally recognised administration but his nomination was opposed by powerful army chief General Khalifa Haftar. Divisions remain -- two of the council's nine members refused to endorse the government -- but lawmakers told AFP dissidents were in the minority. Two thirds of lawmakers need to first approve the overall political agreement and then a simple majority must pass the confidence vote in the government. The internationally recognised government is based in Libya's far east, having fled Tripoli after a militia alliance including Islamists overran the capital in August 2014. The alliance has established its own administration and parliament called the General National Congress. About a third of GNC members supported the unity deal when it was agreed in December, but its formal approval is not required for the government to start working. The power-sharing deal has been given added urgency by fears that IS group, under pressure in Syria and Iraq, is establishing a new stronghold in Libya. The jihadist group has seized control of Gahdhaffi's coastal hometown of Sirte and launched a wave of assaults on rival forces, including suicide attacks that have killed dozens in recent months. It has also made a concerted push to seize key oil facilities in Libya, which sits on estimated reserves of 48 billion barrels, the largest in Africa. Foreign diplomats have piled pressure on Libyan officials to finalise the unity government and expressed deep concern over IS group's growing influence. In Rome earlier this month, top diplomats from the US-led coalition bombing IS in Syria and Iraq rejected calls for foreign military intervention in Libya, insisting instead on the need for political stability. Search Keywords: Short link: Turkey's air force on Monday began five days of air defence exercises with Saudi Arabia, the Turkish military said, as the two countries forge an increasingly tight alliance on Syria. Six Saudi F-15 fighter jets will take part in the air defence training in the central Turkish region of Konya, the military said in a statement. The exercises are within the framework of cooperation and military training between the two countries and had been scheduled in advance, it added. They will last until Friday. But the start of the exercises comes just two days after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Saudi jets would be based at Turkey's air base of Incirlik in Adana province to fight Islamic State (IS) group militants. He also said that Turkey and Saudi could even launch a ground operation in Syria against IS, while emphasising no decision had been taken. Saudi Arabia and Turkey both see the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as essential for ending Syria's five-year civil war and are bitterly critical of Iran and Russia's support of the Syrian regime. Turkey and Saudi back rebels who are seeking to oust Assad and both fear the West is losing its appetite to topple Assad on the assumption he is "the lesser of two evils" compared to the IS militats. Search Keywords: Short link: Iran is poised to export its first oil shipments to Europe since international economic sanctions were lifted in mid-January, the oil ministry's SHANA news service reported on Monday. It said two million barrels of oil were being pumped aboard a tanker at Kharg Island in the Gulf, bound for French energy giant Total. Another two tankers were preparing to ship a million barrels each to Spain's CEPSA and Lukoil of Russia, SHANA reported. It cited oil terminals official Pirouz Moussavi as saying on Sunday that loading of the tankers would be complete within 24 hours. "For the last four years, no oil has been shipped to Europe because of the unjust sanctions against our country," Moussavi added. In early 2012, the European Union and United States strengthened economic sanctions against Iran because of its controversial nuclear programme, forcing the Islamic republic to halt oil exports to Europe. Since then, Asia -- mainly India and China -- have been the main market for Iranian oil. In recent years, Iranian oil exports have fallen from more than 2.2 million barrels per day to about one million bpd. It currently produces 2.8 million bpd. Iran's nuclear agreement last July with world powers means that now that most of the sanctions have been lifted it can resume oil exports to Europe. Last month, the National Oil Company said it had ordered production to increase by 500,000 bpd -- a move Tehran had long planned once the nuclear deal with world powers took effect. When President Hassan Rouhani visited France in January, a deal was signed with Total to buy 160,000 bpd. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the contract with Total would take effect from February 16, SHANA said. Oil prices rose on Monday with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March delivery climbing 57 cents to $33.01 per barrel from Friday's close. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April advanced 36 cents to $33.72 a barrel in midday London trade. Search Keywords: Short link: Central Africans cast their ballots on Sunday in an election meant to restore democratic rule, determined to turn the page on years of bloodshed that has killed thousands and split the impoverished nation along religious and ethnic lines. One of the world's most chronically unstable countries, Central African Republic was pitched into the worst crisis in its history in early 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters toppled President Francois Bozize. Christian militias responded to Seleka abuses by attacking the Muslim minority community. One in five Central Africans has fled, either internally or abroad, to escape the violence. Two ex-prime ministers, Faustin-Archange Touadera and Anicet-Georges Dologuele, were contesting a presidential run-off that will determine who will be charged with the enormous challenge of restoring peace and reuniting the nation. Touadera has portrayed himself as an anti-corruption stalwart, while Dologuele pledges to revive the economy and draw in investors hesitant until now to exploit significant gold, diamond and uranium deposits. Authorities were also trying to re-run a first round of legislative polls which were cancelled over irregularities. In Bangui's PK5 neighbourhood, the capital's principal Muslim enclave following a campaign of ethnic cleansing, some voters arrived before dawn to queue at the main polling centre. Alima Zeinabou Shaibou, 32, who like most Muslims in the southwest has been forced to leave her home, crossed the road from the mosque where she now lives with her five children to be among the first voters. "I want there to be a change. I want Christians and Muslims to live together as before," she said. The voting centre in PK5 witnessed violent attacks by local militia during a December constitutional referendum. And though the situation has remained largely calm during the election period, Sunday's vote was held under heavy security. Armed soldiers from MINUSCA, the country's 11,000-strong U.N. mission, guarded polling stations while attack helicopters circled in the skies over Bangui. Armoured vehicles from a 900-soldier French military contingent patrolled the streets. "AN ACT OF LOVE" Polls generally opened on time at 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) in Bangui, a marked improvement on a Dec. 30 first round of voting, when ballot materials arrived late or not at all in many areas. Polls were due to close at 4 p.m. on Sunday. "I have noticed less turnout today than for the first round. But I'm very pleased that the second round is better organised," said former Senegalese prime minister Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye, heading the African Union's elections observer mission. The first round turnout of nearly 80 percent was largely viewed as a popular rejection of the violence, which has left the northeast under the control of Muslim rebels while Christian militias roam the southwest. Both Dologuele, a banker, and trained mathematics professor Touadera have made the restoration of peace and security the centrepiece of their campaigns. Both candidates are Christians. "We hope that the people will vote massively for my candidacy, because it is a candidacy of unity," Touadera told reporters after voting. "We think they have heard the message." "I wish a happy Valentine's Day to everyone," Dologuele told journalists. "I would like Central Africans to consider (voting today) an act of love for their country." Expectations were running high in a nation where nearly every household has been affected by a crisis which has in some cases pitted long-standing neighbours against one another. While the polls should reinstate democracy after three years of unpopular interim administrations, analysts warn the election of a new government is only the first step in a long process. Whoever wins the presidency will face the daunting tasks of extending state authority outside the capital, rebuilding the army, jumpstarting a moribund economy and re-establishing a semblance of security across a nation awash with guns. "It's cheaper to buy a grenade in Bangui than it is to buy a can of Coke. That's how bad it is here," said Lewis Mudge, Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch. Search Keywords: Short link: Despite their distant geographical locations, divergent economies and different cultures, Japanese and Egyptian women have been encountering similar challenges impeding their empowerment and active participation in public life. "There are a lot of cultural and traditional barriers in both countries, which has to do with the value-system of society," Miwa Kato, UN Women country director in Egypt, told Ahram Online. "So much of how things work in these two societies is oriented towards males, such as legal practices, working hours, evaluation systems in schools, and job performances are all geared around a very masculine-biased culture," Kato highlighted. Abla Abdel-Latif, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council for Economic Development, said on Sunday that "once women are born they are always referred to as somebody's daughter or somebody's wife. "In short, they are raised to serve. I think the same problem exists in Japan. Women should realise their own dreams," added Abdel-Latif, who is also the executive director of the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies, in a forum titled 'Role of Women and Youth in Transforming Societies: Egypt and Japan, Comparing Notes'. Makiko Tachimori, vice chair of the Women in Business Committee for the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, confirmed that there are similar challenges for women and girls in Japan. "In Japan, you can't have both; you can either have a family or be a working woman," she said. Japan ranks 101 out of 145 countries in gender equality, while Egypt ranks 136, making it among the bottom 10 countries, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2015. The report was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress among the thresholds of political and economic empowerment, education and health. "In the past 15 years, Japanese women constituted 10 to 15 percent of the national legislative council, said Keiko Yamamoto, correspondent at NHK World Department and Founder of Baratoge women in media networking community. She adds that in Japan, there is a lot of debate and disagreement on this quota, which echoes the one implemented in Egypt this year for parliament. Yamamoto asserts that there should be a strong presence for women in local community councils to impact state policies. "Women are present in most fields but not in leading positions. That is why there is no change on the ground," she remarks. There are 89 female MPs in the current Egyptian parliament elected in 2015 representing up to 15 per cent, which exceeds the 12 per cent quota for women on electoral lists. According to Egypt's parliamentary election law, the quota for women only applies for non-independent candidates on electoral lists. "Positive" image President of the Japan-Egypt Parliamentary Friendship Association Yuriko Koike says that there are often false stereotypical images of both Egyptian and Japanese women. Koike, who has lived in Cairo for five years in the 1970s and studied at Cairo University, says that in Japan and the West, Egyptian women are believed to be passive, quiet and follow in the footsteps of others; a stereotype that mirrors that of Japanese women. "This is a unique similarity," Kato said. "In these two countries, women are perceived as victims hiding in the background, even though there are strong, active women as we saw in the forum." "I personally know that in both societies, there are women who are strong and vibrant," said Kato, adding that addressing women's issues should be systematic reform, not individual cases. "Media has such a big role to play. It has to work on how to portray womenand what kind of heroines [are depicted] to set the pattern," she said, affirming the importance of role models. "By changing and working on improving the situation for women, and this applies to Egypt as much as Japan, this would definitely improve the status quo of the community at large, Kato concludes. Search Keywords: Short link: Two Russian policemen died and many people were injured in a car bomb blast at a checkpoint in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Monday, the interior ministry said. The blast occurred as police officers were attempting to inspect a Lada car at a checkpoint near the village of Dzhemikent on the Caspian Sea, the interior ministry's district office said in a statement. "Two police officers died and two more were hospitalised with injuries," it said. A source in the region's security forces was quoted by TASS news agency as saying the blast was a suicide bombing. "There is only a piece of the head left from the suicide bomber, a foot and a hand. One of the fingers that's left will help identify him," the source said. "The car was sold recently, its previous owner has been identified." Head of the region Ramazan Abdulatipov said a total of 18 people were injured. Russia's anti-terrorist committee (NAK) said the blast was caused by a device placed in a car based on two artillery shells and was equivalent to 30 kilogrammes of TNT. "The blast happened inside a passenger car," said a NAK statement quoted by news agencies. Dagestan has been gripped by nearly daily violence for years due to a simmering Islamist insurgency there, though it has abated during the conflict in Syria which has seen an exodus of Russians from the North Caucasus to join the insurgent fighters in the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front. In December, IS claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting in Derbent, a city in Dagestan with an ancient citadel that is popular with tourists. The victim was reportedly an employee of the Russian border service. Search Keywords: Short link: At least one person was killed in Uganda on Monday as police and opposition supporters clashed in the capital days ahead of presidential polls, police said. "Police can confirm one person died during the confusion today," Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango told AFP, without giving further details. Opposition politicians said three people had been shot dead, but the claims could not be independently verified. "Three of our supporters have been shot dead and several other people have been seriously injured and are in hospital," said Mubarak Munyagwa, who is hoping to be mayor in Kampala for the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party. Police fired tear gas to disperse opposition supporters as they briefly detained a top presidential challenger, FDC leader Kizza Besigye. Seven opposition candidates are vying to deny veteran leader President Yoweri Museveni a fifth term at the February 18 election, and there are fears violence could mar the campaign, with all sides accusing each other of arming militias to press their claims to power. Museveni faces his stiffest challenge yet from Besigye, his former personal doctor, and Amama Mbabazi, a former prime minister and ruling party stalwart now running as an independent. Search Keywords: Short link: As well as harming the country and the president, and undermining Egypts progress, security intrusions may ignite a new revolutionary wave inside universities I wrote earlier about security intrusions that can damage the country as well as the president. I also wrote about an assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University who is preparing her PhD at a university in Europe, while security agencies sent a letter to the university requesting that she be sent back and her studies terminated. I watched on YouTube a phone-in by the president of Cairo University to Gaber El-Armoutis programme where he read out my article. In the phone call, the university president said it is nothing to do with the university, adding that there may be security reasons relating to the state's higher interests. He also said that anyone can be wrong, even the security agencies. Here are the facts of the matter: 1. The board of the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University and the university board and president (through his deputy) approved a personal grant given to Kholoud Saber, assistant professor in the faculty, to earn a doctorate degree in psychology from the University of Leuven in Belgium. The university board agreed on 12 August to grant her study leave with payment, and paid an airline ticket. She filled in four copies of forms to security agencies and left. 2. The chairman of the department called her a few months later and sent her a letter asking her to return, because security agencies did not grant approval. Some professors called the university president asking him to intervene and he promised to help resolve the issue. 3. As well as the universitys approval, the law clearly makes a distinction between academic missions funded by the state which require the approval of the Executive Committee of Missions at the Ministry of Higher Education and sabbaticals that are not funded by the state. Besides, the committees opinion is only advisory and not final. This committee meets twice every academic year, and therefore recalling Saber has nothing to do with academic missions, but rather with security agencies intruding on the independence of the university and not wanting Saber to earn a doctorate from a reputable university (among the top 100 in the world) without funding from the state, even though she is the top of her class with honours. This is only because Saber is a respectable person and leader who is popular with her colleagues and students, and refuses to follow directives from security agencies. She played a key role in standing up to the Muslim Brotherhood, out of patriotism and not because security agencies made her do it. Security agencies do not want honourable, patriotic leaders to become members of university faculties, but instead want kind people who listen to orders or at least are not active. Ideally, they would be spies for security agencies, writing reports about their colleagues. 4. If security agencies have valid reasons for requesting Saber's return and the termination of her studies they should make them public and send them officially to the president of the university. If there is a threat to national security, they should tell us about it. Egypt will not make any progress, nor be secure, nor will the regime grow in strength and popularity, without patriotic academic leaders in universities, active labour unions, student unions, and professional syndicates. That is when the people become the main support for the regime, instead of doing constant battle with security agencies. Security agencies must understand that their job is to protect Egypt, not destroy all that is good in the country. Tension is building up and one month ago a petition was signed by dozens of university professors, whose numbers will grow by the hundreds at Cairo University, and others in support of Saber. Why push the country to the precipice? Why undermine the presidents popularity unnecessarily? Why create a new problem for the president of Cairo University who is already burdened by hundreds of others? To those in charge of security, either make public the rationale with documented evidence or withdraw your letter. We want justice and will not be silenced. Stand up, Egyptians. Egypt is always calling on you. The writer is head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. Search Keywords: Short link: A haul of slaughtered pangolins that police in Guangdong Province seized from illegal traders in 2014. The animals are used in traditional Chinese medicine (Beijing) A long-anticipated draft amendment to China's wildlife protection law has sparked a controversy, with many conservationists saying that instead of offering better protection to endangered species, the revision does the opposite. The proposed changes to the 1989 wildlife protection law were made public in late December, after two years of drafting. The government invited the public to give its views of the proposed changes from January 29 to February 5. For years, conservationists have called for better legal protection of wild species, many of them endangered due to rapid exploitation and development. Despite public opposition, practices such as breeding tigers and bears to use their body parts in traditional Chinese medicine and other commercial uses have never been stopped. The hope was that the law would be changed to address these issues, but many conservationists say they are frustrated by the proposed revisions. They said although some progress in wildlife protection would be made, the revision in many ways does the opposite because it classifies endangered species as "natural resources" that can be bred in captivity for commercial purposes. The draft also opens door for public exhibitions or performances of wildlife by authorizing provincial or city governments to issue permits for the shows. "It is shocking," said An Xiang, the director of Dexiang Law Firm in Beijing. Allowing exhibitions and performances with little central government supervision in a law supposedly designed to protect the species is a step backward, said An. Animal and environmental protection organizations such as China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation and Friends of Nature have started organizing online campaigns to push legislators to alter the amendments. Great Losses The first article of current wildlife protection legislation says "the law was made to protect, develop and properly utilize the wildlife resources," wording that is often criticized by animal protection experts. "The law offers protection for utilization," said Sun Quanhui, senior science advisor at World Animal Protection China, a non-profit animal welfare organization. Sun said that when the law was promulgated, the economy was underdeveloped and many people relied on hunting and trading animal parts for a living. But the situation has changed with economic growth, he said, so the law should be updated accordingly. Sun was disappointed by the latest draft because it continues to say that its purpose includes "regulating the utilization of wildlife." Many animal protection experts interviewed by Caixin said that the existing law includes many loopholes that create room for poaching and illegal trading of wildlife products that have pushed many species to the verge of extinction over the past two decades. The law also encourages breeding wildlife for commercial use, but critics say this neither protects wild animals nor means farmed animals live in good conditions. The Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia the number of black bears being farmed, many so their bile can be used in traditional Chinese medicine, has risen to 10,000 in recent years. But their living conditions are often poor and this practice seems to do little to help the population of the black bears in the wild increase. For instance, the population of black bears in the Changbai Mountains, in the northeast, actually fell by 93.4 percent from 1990 to 2010. Also, more than 6,000 Siberian tigers are living in captivity, some for public shows and others for their pelts. This has not stopped the number of wild Siberian tigers in the country to decline to less than 30, state media says. A 2015 report by the World Wildlife Fund, an international non-governmental organization, blamed commercial utilization as a major factor threatening wildlife species in China. The report said that over the past four decades, the population of the country's terrestrial vertebrates, which includes birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, fell by nearly half. "China has also experienced one of the greatest biodiversity losses globally," the report said. Work in Vain Animal protection experts say they are frustrated that the new draft law continues viewing wildlife as a resource to be developed and used. The word "utilization" appears 24 times in the new draft, compared to eight times in the current law. Mang Ping, a professor at the Central Institute of Socialism in Beijing who has advocated for the wildlife protection law to be revised for years, said she was disappointed by the draft since it grants legal basis for commercial use of wild animals without clear restrictions. An also said the draft law helps industries involved in wildlife exploitation. The proposal allows for using animals and their parts for scientific research, breeding, public exhibition and other special purposes through a license from provincial authorities, which contradicts a 2013 regulation that bans all animal performances, he said. An said the draft also includes a stipulation that any use of wildlife products in traditional Chinese medicine and food production must follow the country's drug and food safety rules which actually offers a legal basis for the activity. "If the draft revision is approved, extracting bear bile will have solid legal support as long as the practice meets food safety standards," said Fang Dan, a bear protection activist. "Many NGOs' efforts over the years will prove to be in vain." Civilization Test Some scholars say they are happy with the draft because it says that wildlife utilization practices must follow "social principals and morals," and bans cruelty to animals. However, critics say the wording is too vague to be useful. Nevertheless, this is the first time in China that cruelty to animals is clearly banned by law, said Chang Jiwen, an environment policy expert at the State Council's Development Research Center. Chang, who participated in the drafting of the legal amendment, said another important area of progress regards protecting habitats, and pointed out that it requires central and local levels of government to set aside funds for wildlife protection. Sun also applauded content on habitat protection, saying greater effort should be made to protect animals in the wild rather than breeding them in cages. Zhou Ke, a law professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said China's long tradition of using wild animals for food and medicine products and the business chains that have been formed are major hurdles in promoting wildlife protection. He argues that this will require the government to educate the public and help those in animal industries seek new livelihoods. "Wildlife protection law is a small part of a country's entire legal framework, but it is a test of a country's level of civilization," said Zhou. (Rewritten by Han Wei) (Beijing) The Ministry of Public Security launched a website on February 13 to collect information from investors who state media says were bilked in a large Ponzi scheme that involved the lending platform Ezubo. The website will collect information over the next three months from investors who were swindled out of money by two peer-to-peer lending websites that were controlled by the Beijing-based financial company Yucheng International Holdings Group Ltd., the ministry said. Investors will be asked to provide information such as their account usernames, amount of initial investment, returns they received and the amount of money the platforms owed them. Restitution will be based on that information after it is verified, the ministry said. The ministry said this was the first time in China that police were using a website to help investors recover stolen money. It will also handle similar cases in the future, it said. One of the online financing platforms, Ezubo, attracted 50 billion yuan from about 900,000 investors from July 2014 to December by promising high annual returns, the official Xinhua News Agency reported earlier. Company executives spent the money they got from Ezubo on personal items and high salaries, Xinhua said. They may also have sent some of the money out of the country, to a war-torn area of Myanmar on China's border, people close to Ezubo told Caixin. Police told the official news agency they are working with the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the central bank to recover ill-gotten gains from Ezubo. Twenty-one people involved in running Ezubo have been detained, Xinhua said. Among those arrested were Ding Ning, chairman of Yucheng, and Zhang Min, a former president of the company. Police raided Ezubo's offices in several cities on December 8 after local financial regulators found signs the website was running short of money and that executives had started to move funds, destroy evidence and plan to flee, Xinhua said. The other lending platform, Zhimajinrong, or Sesame Finance, ceased operations shortly after Ezubo closed, it said on social media in December. It is unclear how much investors lost in that scheme. (Rewritten by Chen Na) From early next year, U.S.-bound Korean air passengers will be exempted from a second screening in front of the boarding gate, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Tuesday. Currently, U.S.-bound passengers have their belongings checked for a second time near the boarding gate after the regular inspection at security and customs checkpoints. The U.S. introduced the extra check since reporting an attempted terrorist attack using liquid explosives on a U.S.-bound flight in August 2006. This caused passengers an extra wait of 30 to 40 minutes in small spaces near boarding gates and played havoc with duty-free purchases, which had to be bought at least an hour before departure and picked up at the boarding gate after the extra inspection. About 2.4 million U.S.-bound passengers have to put up with the inconvenience every year. Seoul in May last year asked Washington to exempt Koreans from a second inspection and Washington has finally decided to accommodate the request because Korea scored high points in all categories in a 2010 aviation safety evaluation by the U.S. government. "For almost 30 years, Justice Antonin 'Nino' Scalia was a larger-than-life presence on the bench -- a brilliant legal mind with an energetic style, incisive wit, and colorful opinions," Obama said. "He influenced a generation of judges, lawyers, and students, and profoundly shaped the legal landscape. He will no doubt be remembered as one of the most consequential judges and thinkers to serve on the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia dedicated his life to the cornerstone of our democracy: The rule of law." Although Obama and Scalia rarely saw eye-to-eye on constitutional matters, the president was quick to pay tribute to Scalia and his judicial legacy. He also authored some of the high courts most colorful dissents on President Barack Obama's signature health care law, gay rights, and prayer in public schools. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Justice Antonin Scalia authored some of the Supreme Court's most conservative and impactful opinions on voting rights, immigration, and terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to name but a few. The arch-conservative jurist's passing guarantees a confrontation between the White House and the Republican-led Senate on confirming a successor, and could put ideological control of the high court at stake in this years presidential election. The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia set off a legal and political earthquake in Washington and beyond. Focus on Vacancy No sooner had condolences and tributes been uttered, the nation's attention shifted to filling the Supreme Court vacancy. Federal judicial nominees must be confirmed by the Senate, and Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell swiftly issued a statement saying, "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president." Obama, meanwhile, signaled he will not be deterred. "I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time," the president said. Senators across the ideological spectrum were quick to weigh in. Republicans, two of whom are vying to be their party's presidential nominee, say no Supreme Court pick will be confirmed until a new president is sworn in next year. "We're not going to move forward until theres an election. And I think that's the right decision," said Senator and presidential hopeful Marco Rubio, speaking on ABC's "This Week" program. "The Senate has not confirmed a nominee that was named in the final year, an election year, in 80 years. This is a lame-duck president," said another presidential contender, Republican Ted Cruz, also on ABC. "This next election needs to be a referendum on the court. The people need to decide." Senate Democrats Disagree "The fact is, when you elect a president, you have to assume a Supreme Court vacancy, he is going to make the nomination," said Senator Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "And it would be a sheer dereliction of duty for the Senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote." "The constitution is pretty clear. It's the job of the president of the United States to appoint, nominate members of the Supreme Court, and the Senate confirms," said Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who is running for president as a Democrat, on ABC. "President Obama in my view should make that nomination. I hope he does it as soon as possible." Such arguments triggered a blunt response from Cruz. "If the Democrats want to replace this nominee, they need to win the election," the senator said. Supreme Court justices have lifetime appointments, and Scalias successor could move the court's ideological center of gravity on a multitude of polarizing issues including abortion, gun control, corporate power, and environmental regulation. If Senate Republicans hold true to their pledge, the November election will not only decide the next occupant of the White House for four years, it will impact the makeup of the Supreme Court for a generation or more. U.S President Barack Obama has discussed the Syria crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasizing the importance of Moscow playing "a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria." The two leaders spoke by phone Saturday to "discuss the decisions and agreements made at the February 11 meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and to stress the importance of rapidly implementing humanitarian access to besieged areas of Syria," a White House statement said Sunday. The Obama-Putin discussion came just days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced a plan for a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria within a week, with a formal cease-fire to follow at a later date. Russia began carrying out airstrikes in Syria in late September, with the stated goal of diminishing Islamic State forces. But Western governments say the majority of the airstrikes are targeting moderate groups opposed to Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. Moscow has rejected the criticism. The U.S. Forces Korea has deployed another PAC-3 Patriot missile battery that can intercept ballistic missiles at a low altitude, it said Saturday. The deployment comes after Seoul and Washington also agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batteries here in response to North Korea's latest nuclear test and rocket launch. The Patriot battery arrived on Feb. 8 from the 11th U.S. Air Defense Artillery Brigade in Texas. It will be put into action during a drill with the 35th U.S. Air Defense Artillery Brigade in Osan, the USFK said. The USFK currently has 12 PAC-2 and PAC-3 batteries. South Korea and the U.S. will carry out missile defense drills during annual joint exercises starting next month. The PAC-3 is taunted as capable of intercepting the whole array of North Korean missiles, from KN-02 and Scud to Rodong and Musudan, which have ranges between 120 and 4,000 km North Korea may have built a mock-up of parts of Seoul near the Yongbyon nuclear facility for military training purposes, Radio Free Asia reported last Wednesday. The claim comes from Curtis Melvin of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, who analyzed Google Earth satellite imagery of the site in North Pyongan Province. The site sits northwest of the Yongbyon nuclear facility and was built in just one month between September and October 2014, Melvin said, adding it is the biggest military training camp built since Kim Jong-un came to power in 2012. It consist of an area for small-scale tactical operations drills, a 400-m range for artillery practice and a virtual training ground for vehicles. The satellite images also show communications antennae and related structures. The training ground "appears to have been designed with a specific area in mind and could have been modeled on some part of Seoul," RFA said. But Melvin added he could identify no specific parts of Seoul that may have served as the model, prompting a military source here to dismiss the story as idle speculation. Meanwhile, RFA quoted a North Korean source as saying Kim Jong-un ordered the military to prepare three years' worth of rice for their troops. And North Korean schools are reportedly telling students that there will be a "major war of unification" this year. The BBC plans to launch a North Korean radio service this autumn. The move is part of the broadcaster's initiative to expand its World Service, announced in September last year. The daily broadcasts will last 30 minutes each and will contain information about Northeast Asian politics and foreign news coverage of North Korea. The BBC is expected to recruit Korean-speaking anchors and reporters soon. Production is overseen by BBC headquarters in London, with the programs transmitted from Singapore. The service will be available on the Internet as well. The U.K. parliament has been urging the BBC since 2008 to provide accurate information to North Koreans and help lead changes in the isolated state. Most North Korean households have radios and will probably be able to tune in. Veteran flutist shares his musical vision with children who cant see From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-02-15 02:07 FOR the students of Pang Ying, music unlocks a world they cant see. Pang, 53, is principal flute and director of programs at the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. For a quarter century, he has been teaching music to visually impaired children from the Shanghai Childrens School for the Blind. He conducts the lessons in his spare time and charges no fee. One of those students, Zhang Zhenyu, is 37 and makes a living as a piano tuner and music studio owner. He was born blind. Teaching the flute to blind kids has become a part of my life because making them happy gives me great happiness, Pang said. When Shanghai Daily visited Pang one afternoon this month, he was giving a private lesson to Zhang Minhui, a 19-year-old who lost her sight six years ago. Zhang Zhenyu was in the next room tuning a piano. Pang was sitting with Zhang Minhui, reading from a score to acquaint her with the notes. Using a scale with small rectangular holes and a stylus traditional Braille tools she was swiftly punching dots to record the notes for future use. The lack of scores published in Braille in China means more work for Pang. Reading scores aloud and repetitively to different students must be boring for Teacher Pang, but he has to do that because, after two or three years, the Braille papers are usually worn and no longer usable, said Zhang Minhui. In 1992, Pang and a few colleagues from the Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra were asked by the Childrens School for the Blind to give music lessons. At one time, the school had orchestras of both Western and traditional Chinese instruments, but the former was discontinued because of a lack of teachers. Pang is the only one of the 1992 group still teaching part-time at the school. It took blind students a long time to understand the structure of the flute, to hold it correctly and to produce the right sounds, he said. Indeed, it can take a blind student seven or eight years to reach the proficiency that a sighted player can achieve with two or three years of lessons, he said. And not every blind child is gifted with musical talent, he said. But I often tell them that they feel the charm of music with their ears and heart because they tend to be more sensitive to sounds than ordinary people. Zhang Minhui said music has become her whole life now. I just listen because I cant see anything, she said. Music cheers me up immediately. After three years of lessons with Pang, she has passed the citys level six exam for the flute. There are 10 levels of competency, and Pang said most of his students achieve at least level eight. During a visit to Shanghai in 2014, world renowned flutist Andrea Griminelli praised one of Pangs young students as highly proficient and no different from a sighted player. Pangs students have only to look at history to draw inspiration from some renowned blind musicians, including flutists. One was German Friedrich Dulon, who died in 1826. Blind at the age of 6, he learned the flute from his father and later from another blind flutist, Joseph Winter. Dulon, who crossed paths with Mozart, was also a composer. His surviving compositions include a flute concerto, 16 duos and a set of 11 caprices for solo flute. In more modern times, Rahsaan Kirk, an American jazz musician who went blind as a child, was acclaimed for his performances on the flute and the tenor saxophone. Learning a musical instrument is not easy, even for those with perfect vision. Its rigorous work that demands discipline and practice. Teacher Pang is stern and corrects even the most minor mistakes in my playing, said Zhang Minhui, one of Pangs six current students. When I first began lessons, I couldnt bear the constant scolding and often cried. But thats all in the past now. She said she hopes to become a flute teacher herself some day. Her mother, Ma Hong, who accompanies her daughter to flute lessons, said Pang is more than a teacher. He is a friend to whom Minhui entrusts her little secrets, Ma said. Minhui is now a much happier girl than several years ago, when her entire expectations of life were destroyed by the illness that left her blind. Zhang Zhenyu said its hard to describe how Pangs devotion inspires a blind person to embrace life. When you learn to play a musical instrument as a blind person, you also learn that nothing in life is insurmountable, he said. Zhang Zhenyu also plays the bass, piano and saxophone. He gave his first recital at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center last December, playing Mozarts Flute Concerto in D Major. It was the dream of a lifetime to give my own concert, he said. Pang, standing in the wings of the stage during the concert, said the performance was not perfect but perfect enough for him. In China, blind people are often channeled into work as masseurs because they can work their hands without sight. But Zhang Zhenyu preferred to get his hands around musical instruments. He now operates a music studio with a few blind friends. In my early days, there were few choices for blind people, he said. But now, opportunities have opened up, largely because of technological advances like computers and the Internet. Zhang Zhenyu said he would like to start an amateur ensemble of visually impaired musicians, and is looking at software options that might be able to automatically turn digitalized music scores into readable material for the blind. I am hoping this software will be a great aid to the blind learning instruments, he said. Pang said his years working with the visually impaired have changed his whole way of seeing them. Most of us tend to feel sorry for blind people and subconsciously relegate them to the margins of our society, he said. But they are actually just regular people with physical impediments who deserve the same dignity and opportunities as everyone else. Getting into overseas students' good books 2016-02-15 11:56 The country is planning to overhaul the university system to attract larger numbers of foreign applicants, reports Zhao Xinying. Students from Malaysia and China watch a performance during a Malaysian cultural festival organized by the Beijing Foreign Studies University in November. WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY In 2014, more than 377,000 students from 203 countries studied in China, according to the Ministry of Education. The Institute of International Education calculated the number of foreign students as 356,499, and ranked the country as the third-largest host of international students after the United States and the United Kingdom. Whatever the true number, in the eyes of Fang Jun, deputy director of the Ministry of Education's Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, the statistics don't tell the whole picture. Although the numbers proclaim China as the world's third most-popular location for students from overseas, factors such as the middling quality of the education provided and the sources and structure of the international student group need urgent review and updating, he said. Judging by the numbers alone, China has made great progress in the provision of education for international students in the past four decades. In 1978, about 1,900 international students studied in China, but by 2014 that number had risen more than 200 times. Currently, about 2,500 universities offer places to international students, while in 1990 only about 100 universities were allowed to recruit students from overseas. Fang said the sector is unbalanced because most international students study arts-based subjects, especially Chinese language, and those studying sciences, engineering and business account for a small proportion of the total. Another imbalance is the low number of students studying at degree level or higher. Only 44 percent of international students come to China to study for a degree. The others are on short-term study programs, many as exchange students who stay for a semester or two before returning to their countries to study for a degree. The situation is the reverse of those in the US and UK, where degree students account for the majority of the international group. In addition, rather than coming from a wide range of countries, most of the overseas students pursuing degrees in China are from concentrated regions, with more than 70 percent hailing from neighboring countries in Asia or from the African continent. "Efforts need to be made to diversify the sources and types of international students coming to study in China," Fang said. Musiyazwiriyo Selina Vimba, a student from Zimbabwe, joins in a game to celebrate Spring Festival at Jiangsu University in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, on Feb 2. YANG YU / FOR CHINA DAILY Chen Zhiwen, editor-in-chief of EOL, China's largest online education portal, said it is understandable that a large number of China's international students come from countries in Asia and Africa. "Looking at the picture across the world, international students have two general directions of mobility traveling within their own continent, or traveling from underdeveloped and developing countries to developed countries," he said. According to Fang, affordability is one of the factors that international students find most attractive about studying in China. He has noticed that medical students account for more than one-fifth of the long-term academic body, and many of them are from Myanmar, Laos, India and Sri Lanka. "Those countries are unable to nurture their own medical talent, which means their students have to travel overseas if they want to study medicine," he said. "It's much easier, cheaper and more convenient to study medicine in China compared with Western countries." The charging standards released by the Ministry of Education show that an international student studying at undergraduate level pays an annual tuition fee of 14,000 yuan to 26,000 yuan ($2,100 to $3,600). In the UK, the cost of undergraduate study varies greatly between public and private universities, but most students pay around 10,000 pounds ($14,500) a year. "At present, China mainly relies on its cultural, cost-performance and geographic advantages to attract international students," Fang said. "In the future, the focus should be shifted to improving the quality of education and forging a good reputation to attract more brilliant international students from different countries." Foreign students during a pottery class at a Chinese cultural activity in Yixing, Jiangsu, in December. DING HUANXIN / FOR CHINA DAILY The Ministry of Education has set a target of 500,000 international students in China in 2020, but a number of obstacles will have to be overcome before that goal is realized, according to Fang. He said the lack of courses taught in English is a key challenge because many prospective students are dissuaded by the language barrier. In Fang's experience, English-speaking countries such as the US, the UK and Australia have unparall-eled advantages when it comes to attracting overseas students, and those advantages have provided those countries with large amounts of foreign exchange. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that from April 2014 to March last year, international students contributed a record A$17.5 billion ($12 billion) to the national economy, a year-on-year rise of 14 percent. The 2015 Open Doors Report, published by the Institute of International Education, found that the 975,000 international students at colleges and universities in the US contributed $30.5 billion, and supported more than 373,000 jobs during the 2014-15 academic year. In comparison, some non-English-speaking countries despite being highly developed and offering good-quality education either have to invest vast sums to provide free education or offer large scholarships to lure students from overseas, Fang said. China is a non-Anglophonic country, and Mandarin has a global reputation as a tough language to master, so the dearth of courses taught in English and the sometimes indifferent teaching can play decisive roles when international students are deciding where to study, he added. Katerina Galajdova, from the Czech Republic, studied Chinese in Beijing during the 2014-15 academic year. She said Czech students are reluctant to study in China because the language barrier seems insurmountable. "Here (the Czech Republic) people don't really study Chinese, only a few people do. People learn English as their first foreign language, and Chinese is a very exotic' language for us," she said during an exchange on WeChat, an instant messaging platform in China. Galajdova believes Chinese universities should provide a more-diverse range of courses in English to make them more attractive to overseas students. "More qualified English programs and teachers would help. Programs about international trade, business, and other related topics," she said. A survey by the University and College Admissions System, a company that provides services to overseas students hoping to attend a Chinese college or university, showed that the difficulty of learning Chinese is driving the need for courses taught in English. However, by 2014, just 15 percent of Chinese universities that recruit international students were providing courses in English, according to the survey. Zheng Tianying, the company's CEO, said the growing number of courses taught in English, particularly at undergraduate level, is becoming an irresistible trend for China's universities. Despite that, the reality is that most Chinese universities are lagging far behind the trend, which limits the number of international students prepared to study in the country, he said. Mutual recognition According to Wang Huiyao, president and founder of the Center for China and Globalization, a think tank in Beijing, the language barrier and poor teaching are not the only problems facing prospective international students in China. Many are also dissuaded by the difficulties of transferring academics credits between countries and also by the obstacles they face to verify their qualifications outside China. "If your home country doesn't recognize the credits or academic degrees you obtained in China, then in most cases, you wouldn't be willing to come to study in China, right?" Wang said. By late last year, 43 countries had signed agreements with China to simplify academic credit transfers and provide mutual verification of qualifications. "China should communicate and cooperate more frequently with educational institutes in other countries, to make credit transfers and verification of qualifications easier and smoother," Wang said. "That would definitely help China to attract more students from a larger number of countries." Fang said the Education Ministry is aware of the problem and that a platform is being built to enable mutual recognition and easy transferability of credits awarded to international students in both China and their home countries. "It's not an easy task, but we've made some breakthroughs," he said, citing the ministry's recent cooperation with U15 an association of 15 research universities in Canada, including the universities of Alberta, Toronto and Waterloo as an example. Thanks to the enhanced cooperation, some prestigious Chinese universities selected by the ministry will offer a series of high-quality courses to attract U15 students to study in China for four to eight semesters. The credits achieved will be recognized by both countries. "The members of staff at China's embassy and consulates in Canada are optimistic about the recruitment prospects, and about 500 Canadian students are expected to study in China under the program this year," Fang said. Contact the writer at zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn The decision came after the apex court found the appointment was not in accordance with the UGC rules. #Navy plans Navy eyes creation of unmanned command in 2040s South Korea's Navy is seeking to create a new command running unmanned ships, submarines and aircraft in the 2040s, the armed service said Friday, in an effort to address a potenti... #SK data center fire SK C&C's data center raided over massive server outage Police on Friday raided regional offices of SK C&C, the host of the data center for Kakao Corp., in an investigation into a data center fire last week that caused massive servi... Electronic act Disclosure are the latest band to be added to the programme for this year's gigs at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham in Dublin. The Lawrence brothers, who released their second album 'Caracal' last year, will play the outdoor venue on June 28th, with support from Vince Staples. Tickets are 49.65 including booking fee, and on sale from usual outlets this Friday at 9am. The only other act announced for RHK so far has been Sigur Ros with special guest James Vincent McMorrow on June 26th. Saucer of milk for one... Elton John has said that his fellow Brits The Rolling Stones are 'not relevant' in a new interview. Speaking to an unnamed US radio station, according to The Mirror, he is quoted as saying: "What I think the Rolling Stones should do is a great blues record, and go back to what they used to do and do things like Come On, the Chuck Berry song like they did in their early career. That is what they should do. I think Mick [Jagger] wants to still be relevant on the radio. Well, they are not. And I think Keith [Richards] would love to do a record like that. And that is what they should be doing. John has just released his new album 'Wonderful Crazy Night', which may explain some of his cattiness. Meanwhile, it's been revealed that The Rolling Stones - who are currently touring in South America - are under armed guard and are travelling separately after a 55-year-old man working at their Argentinian gig in La Plata was shot dead during a botched robbery. The would-be thieves attempted to hijack a vehicle that was transporting the takings from the bar after the gig. Charlie Cox says his return as Daredevil "still feels too good to be true" The European Union started looking into the imports of Chinese steel, warning that they would stir unfair competition and threaten Europes steel industry that is already being inundated by cheap imports. Brussels is focusing mostly on the imports of seamless pipes, hot-rolled flat steel and heavy plates from China. Last week, the worlds leading steelmaker ArcelorMittal accused China of its huge loss of $8-billion in 2015, which triggered major downsizing. EU Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malstrom, said in a statement that the EU could not allow unfair competition from artificially cheap imports to threaten our industry. She said that she was determined to use all means possible to ensure that our trading partners play by the rules. In addition to launching the probe into selected imports, the EU Commission also imposed anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled flat steel imports from China and Russia and steel bars used in construction also imported from China. Commissioner Malstrom also wrote a letter to Chinese Commerce Minister, Gao Hucheng, urging him to take all appropriate measures to curb the steel overcapacity and other causes aggravating the situation. The EU Commissioner warned Beijing that it would face new investigation if nothing is done about the accusations. In 2015, Chinese steel exports rose by 50 percent, which destabilized the global market and especially the EU. China produces about a half of the global steel output but the slower domestic demand forces Beijing to look for foreign markets. As a measure designed to deal with the excess production, China has announced plans to cut output by as much as 150 million tons over the next five years. Analysts say that the country is currently overproducing about 340 million tons annually. The latest series of probes further fuels the already existing stand-off between China and the EU, whose relations were already plagued by many trade disputes in the past, the most prominent being those over solar panels. Pageviews from the past week Recent Comments You need to enable JavaScript to read this. Donkey skin sector needs tonic of supply Updated: 2016-02-15 09:57 (Xinhua) Women study cooking ejiao at a traditional Chinese medicine promotion event in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to China Daily] A shortage of donkey hides used to produce the traditional Chinese medicine ejiao has resulted in a deluge of imitations, with around 40 percent likely to be fake. Donkey-hide gelatin, known as ejiao in Chinese, is made by boiling the donkey's skin and refining the results into a tonic. Ejiao is mainly taken by women who suffer from anemia, dry coughs or dizziness. The name was coined in Dong'e county in East China's Shandong province, where it was originally produced. Around 5,000 tons of ejiao are produced annually in China, according to figures released by Shandong Ejiao Trade Association. To realize such production, around 4 million donkey hides are needed each year. Annual supply in China is less than 1.8 million, meaning as much as 40 percent of the products claiming to be ejiao are counterfeit, according to the figures. "With the current donkey hide supply, only 3,000 tons of ejiao can be manufactured each year," said Dong Shuguang, an ejiao consultant with more than 20 years experience in the industry. Production of donkey hides has dwindled in China due to the animal's low fertility rate and long rearing period, prompting a 23 percent annual price hike. Last year, the average price for a complete donkey skin exceeded 2,600 yuan ($395). As a result, people have begun using the skins from mules, horses, pigs and oxen to produce counterfeit tonics, according to Bu Xun from Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences. "A donkey skin can cost up to 3,000 yuan, while horse and mule hides are only 200 yuan each. Pig skins are even cheaper," Bu said. An industry insider said on condition of anonymity that some manufacturers sell the fake products to supermarkets or drug stores in remote counties or townships, or through online shops. The revelation has shocked many, eliciting more than 16,000 comments on web portal 163.com by Jan 28. Many commenters said they were surprised counterfeits were so common. A precious TCM ingredient, ejiao is believed to have amazing medical effects and is widely used as a blood tonic in China. Official statistics show that 90 percent of the country's ejiao products are made in Shandong province. Over thousands of years, ejiao has been incorporated into different products, including desserts, which can fetch between 400 yuan and 4,000 yuan. According to Chinese medical documentation, ejiao is only effective when made with donkey hide, while the side effects of taking fake ejiao cannot be exaggerated. Fake ejiao made from horse skins has been known to cause miscarriages in pregnant women. According to Bu Xun, it is very difficult to differentiate donkey skin from mules and horses, making it easy for manufacturers to get away with fake products. Current testing methods are ineffective, he said. "China primarily tests for traces of oxen in ejiao products during inspection, so products made from the skins of pigs, horses and other animals flow into the market easily," Bu said. He said that DNA tests could guarantee genuine ejiao products. Some manufacturers in Shandong are already using DNA technology to ensure real products, according to Shandong Ejiao Trade Association. A major ejiao producer, Dong'e Ejiao Co Ltd in Shandong, is taking the fight against fakes to the source. At 20 donkey farms across the country, the company is inserting chips into each animal, assigning them a unique ID. The chips contain information regarding the source, slaughter, transportation and sale of the donkeys. If customers find any poor quality products, they can report to authorities. "The government should improve supervision, while the industry should be more disciplined," said Qin Yufeng, a State-level expert on ejiao production. Qin said the government should support donkey breeders by offering subsidies to encourage more breeding. RATINGS OUTTA SIGHT: Essential RIGHT ON: Exceptional GROOVY: Solid FUNKY: You Might Dig It LAME: Bad Scene, Man SQUARE: Unwatchable And the Truly Strange . . . FREAKY: Demented We want your comments and your story tips! geniusofdespair@yahoo.com (use ALL caps in subject line) afarago@bellsouth.net. Actually I never look at my email, Genius, so write to Gimleteye. Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has decided to ban wording associating Poland with death camps built on the countrys territory by the Nazis, seeking to end the irresponsible use of the phrase Polish death camp once and for all. Polands officials have long considered it insulting that their country is often mentioned in references to World War II death camps that were built and largely operated by the Nazis on Polish territory. Read more Now the minister wants to introduce laws officially punishing those who use such misleading phrases, Reuters reported on Saturday. The project has already been presented to Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, who reportedly reacted to it positively. This will be a project that meets the expectations of Poles, who are blasphemed in the world, in Europe, even in Germany, that they are the Holocaust perpetrators, that in Poland there were Polish concentration camps, Polish gas chambers, the news agency reported Ziobro as telling Polish RMF radio. Enough with this lie. There has to be responsibility, the minister added. Concentration camps built by the Nazis outside of Germany are almost never referred to as Polish in Poland, but the phrase Polish death camps is still widely used in publications outside of the country. (AFP) Israel's Ehud Olmert on Monday becomes the country's first ex-prime minister to sit behind bars as he begins a 19-month prison term for separate counts of bribery and obstruction of justice. The 70-year-old will report to Maasiyahu prison in the central Israeli town of Ramle, where former Israeli president Moshe Katsav is also serving a seven-year prison term for rape and sexual harassment. The Israeli Prisons Service says that Olmert will be admitted to the prison's special block 10, "which is intended to house prisoners who for various reasons cannot be placed with the general prison population." Citation The names of three of the six people who were killed in Sundays fatal bus crash west of Modiin have been cleared for publication: Yaakov Meir Heshin, 27, a Breslev Hassid Yisrael Weinberg, 26, a Slonim Hasid Chaya Pasha Frenkel, 23, from Jerusalem Levy Yitzhak Amdadi, 17, from Yavniel The Heshin family said that Yaakov was on his way to Bnei Brak in order to meet a potential bride. In his youth he studied at the Nadvorna Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. "He was a great guy who charmed those around him," the family members said. Yisrael Weinberg was on his way to Bnei Brak to celebrate the wedding of his cousin but the tragic accident foiled those plans. Chayra Frenkels husband, who was with her on the bus, was moderately injured in the accident. Doctors at the Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Tzrifin are continuing to treat Sarah, 20, from Jerusalem, who is supposed to be married soon and was seriously injured in the fatal accident. Her family remains next to her in hospital and ask the public to pray for Sarah bat Dina. ZAKA emergency services spokesperson Moti Bokchin, who was among the first to arrive at the scene of the lethal crash, recalled what he saw in a conversation with Arutz Sheva. "The place looked like a battlefield, some of them (the victims) flew from the bus, some of them were crushed to death," he said. Medics had noted that a number of the victims were trapped in the bus, apparently as it crushed on impact with the truck that was standing on the side of the road jutting into the lane. MORE A rejection message sent to an Israeli couple over AirBnB has gone viral due to the sender's vitriol towards his potential guests, despite not knowing anything about them other than their nationality. Ben Kelmer shared the message on Facebook, explaining that he and his wife were looking for accommodations for their upcoming trip to London. He sent a short message to a potential renter, whose name was not revealed, explaining their schedule and asking about transportation. "The day you stop occupying someone's land, I might consider hosting you," the host wrote back. "This is how the world pictures you: aggressive settlers occupying lands, destroying houses. In a few words: not respecting basic human rights. On that basis, I cannot even consider hosting you, even if you pay me millions." The host knew nothing of the couple's political views or even where they live in Israel. As Kelmer pointed out, even if the the criticisms were legitimate, the same logic would dictate that all Iranian citizens hang homosexuals and stone women. Fortunately, the bigoted host appears to be in a minority. The message has sparked an outpouring of support for Israel, including from many non-Jews. One person responded by saying, "Hey Ben, I'm English and I'm truly sorry you had this experience ! There are morons everywhere in the world and I'm sorry you had to deal with some of ours ! #racistidiots" AirBnB is a popular website for advertising and finding short-term rentals. Some commentators have urged Kelmer and others to contact the site about the bigoted member. AirBnB's policies state that hosts "may accept or deny anyone who requests to stay at their place for any reason," although the website's official Facebook page commented on the post, expressing apologies for the experience and promising to look into the incident. READ MORE A Jewish historian and outspoken critic of Austrias approach to returning property looted by the Nazis is being kept in jail for defrauding the state over a restitution claim, despite the discovery of crucial new evidence. Stephan Templ, 55, was convicted of serious fraud for hiding the existence of an estranged aunt when he applied on behalf of his mother for the return of a building in Vienna which was seized from his family in 1938. But papers found in the state-run offices set up to facilitate the return of properties to heirs and descendants show that authorities were made aware of the existence of Elisabeth Kretschmar in 2003. Representatives of the organisation had testified during Templs trial that they had no knowledge of his aunt. The judge said Templ had deliberately withheld the information about her, and in so doing had damaged the Republic of Austria because the aunts potential one-twelfth share of the building had gone to Templs mother, rather than to the state. At the trial there was no discussion about why the onus was on families dispossessed of their property by the Nazis to prove their right to reclaim it by detailing their own genealogy. Templ was sentenced to three years in prison, which was reduced on appeal to one year. He has been held in Viennas Simmering jail since 15 October. Leading Holocaust historians condemned his conviction in a strongly worded letter to the Austrian government. The documents were discovered in the offices of the General Settlement Fund (GSF) in central Vienna by Templs legal team on 22 December, three years after they first began asking to view them. In the papers seen by the Guardian, Templ noted his aunts name and address on an application form a total of six times. The GSF is believed to have eventually processed the documentation in 2006. After repeated denials and refusals, Mr Templs legal team was eventually granted access to documents which conclusively prove that the Austrian authorities knew about his aunt, said Robert Amsterdam, an international lawyer with Amsterdam and Partners, which is representing Templ on a pro bono basis. It is outrageous for Austria to claim that Templ hid the existence of his aunt when her name is mentioned six times in documents submitted by him to the panel. Amsterdam has filed a petition against Austria on behalf of Templ with the United Nations human rights council. He is convinced Templs treatment including the states refusal to release him and launch an investigation in light of the new and crucial evidence is direct retribution for his efforts to expose what he describes as the states woefully inadequate attempts to compensate the Jewish owners of stolen properties. His 2001 book Unser Wien (Our Vienna) sparked an international furore. It catalogued hundreds of prominent properties seized by the Nazis that were never returned, including major Viennese landmarks from the citys famous ferris wheel to luxury hotels and tailors, as well as the building at the centre of his own claim, the Furth sanatorium. The 19th-century villa was a private birth clinic belonging to Lothar Furth, a cousin of Templs grandmother. A month before its expropriation on 3 April 1938, Furth, the head of the clinic, and his wife, Sue, were forced by a caretaker to clean the pavement in front of the building using toothbrushes as an act of humiliation. The couple then retreated to the operating room at the top of the hospital and injected themselves with poison. In a suicide note, Furth wrote: We have had enough. Amsterdam said: From the first look at this case, we thought it was political, and had nothing to do with the law or a sense of justice, but everything to do with singling out this Jewish troublemaker. This case is as good as it gets if youre trying to prove the retribution of the Austrian system. This entire case is predicated on a legal fiction the state has never been damaged and its an absolutely historic obscenity for Austria to claim this is the case. Stefanie Lucas of the GSF said in an email: It is not true that the GSF has known about the existence of Stephan Templs aunt since 2003. She said that whenever it examined an application for in rem (a lawsuit against an item of property) restitution, the arbitration panel consulted all documents in the possession of the GSF and listed them under evidence in its decision. It goes without saying that this procedure was also followed for the application of Stephan Templs mother. She said strict data protection laws [to protect our applicants] prevented her from giving more detail. Austrias justice ministry declined to respond to repeated requests for comment. Templ said by phone from Vienna: The indictment is in tatters, so I dont understand why they dont release me. Apart from the fact they should never have put the victim of the [property] theft behind bars in the first place, its now six weeks since this new evidence came to light and the authorities do nothing. Its further proof of what a farce the whole case is, as Ive said all along. US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died on February 13, 2016. Justice Scalia was a strong-willed and polarizing figure on the bench. Here are five little-known facts about Justice Scalia as they relate to the Jewish community. Chutzpah in the Supreme Court Justice Scalia a Roman-Catholic judge from an Italian-American background was the first judge to use the Yiddish word chutzpah in a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. He employed the word meaning audacity or nerve in a 1998 case, National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley. Interestingly, in his concurrence with the majority opinion, Scalia felt moved to define some other words: decency and respect, using the American Heritage Dictionary. He apparently felt that chutzpah was sufficiently well known to need no such explaining in his written comments. Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel Scalia was one of three dissenters in the 2015 case of Zivotofsky v. Kerry, which heard arguments that the United States should describe the place of birth of Americans born in Jerusalem as Israel. Americans born in Jerusalem have had their place of birth described on their passports as Jerusalem since Israels founding. Menachem Zivotofsky, an American born in Jerusalem, had petitioned to have his passport reflect his place of birth as Israel instead. The case went to the Supreme Court, and many legal scholars thought the Court would recognize his plea, allowing Jerusalem, Israel to describe the place of birth on passports of Americans born in Jerusalem. Instead, the Supreme Court ruled that Jerusalem continue to be listed without the word Israel on US passports. Criticizing his fellow justices, Antonin Scalia wrote that their reasoning was a leap worthy of the Mad Hatter, and firmly stated his belief that Americans born in Jerusalem should have Israel listed as their place of birth on their passports. Public Menorahs In 1989, Antonin Scalia was part of a majority on the Court that ruled that a menorah had the right to stand on public property. The case County of Allegheny v. ACLU was brought by prominent US attorney Nathan Lewin, an Orthodox Jew who has defended Jewish rights before the Court and was an old Harvard Law classmate and sparring partner of Justice Scalia. Unlikely Friendship and Opera Despite their radical differences on the bench, Justices Antonin Scalia (one of the Supreme Courts most conservative members) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (a liberal judge, and one of the Courts three Jewish Justices) were fast friends. The two brought their families on vacations together, regularly went out together, and met up each New Years Eve. "Call us the odd couple," Scalia recently said. "She likes opera, and she's a very nice person. What's not to like?" (Then added with his trademark wit: "Except her views on the law.) In 2015, a one-act opera, Scalia/Ginsburg by Derrik Wang debuted, chronicling the pairs unlikely friendship. 82-year old Justice Ginsburg is the heroine of the piece, with Scalia, who was 79, presented as her comic foil. The two judges made a series of joint appearances together, promoting the opera, and pleading for unity and civility across the political divide in increasingly bitter partisan times. Reading the Talmud While Justice Antonin Scalia was known for his strong Catholic faith, he also found time to learn about other legal traditions including Jewish law. Visiting the University at Buffalo Law School in 2002, he met with Adjunct Law Professor and Rabbi Noson Gurary and learned about what Judaism has to say on some pressing legal issues. Justice Scalia later wrote to Rabbi Gurary, expressing his appreciation of learning about Jewish law. Knowledge of another legal system helped him to understand [the U.S. legal] system better, Gurary said about Scalias correspondence. Later that year, Scalia was one of only three Supreme Court Justices (along with two Jewish Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer) who attended and spoke at inaugural meeting for the National Institute for Judaic Law. That organization founded by Scalias old law school colleague Nathan Lewin and his daughter Alyza provided regular classes and events to educate people about Jewish legal issues. The kick-off event was another first a kosher dinner for 200, the first served in the Supreme Court. Kiev - The Ukrainian Prosecutors Office launched a criminal investigation over the weekend into Shas MK Yaacov Margis visit to Crimea last week, in an effort to dissuade others from visiting the peninsula and giving legitimacy to Russian rule there. Margi, chairman of the Knesset Education Committee, stepped into a diplomatic mine-field last week when he met with the head of the Russian-established government in Crimea, Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, breaking with Israels policy of maintaining strict neutrality in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014. According to a statement on the website of the Prosecutors Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a criminal investigation against Margi was launched into the illegal entry into Russian-annexed Crimea. According to the statement, Margi and his delegation violated the procedure for entry into the territory annexed by Russia. While recovering from her fourth delivery in the obstetrics ward of Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalems Ein Kerem, her three younger children were taken for treatment after being exposed to drain cleaner at home. The father had been watching his children at home in the ultra-Orthodox Bukharan Quarter when he discovered all three children ages a year and eight months, two years and eight months and four years were playing with drain cleaner. They were taken to the hospital, the youngest one in moderate condition and the other two good condition. The toddlers suffered skin burns from the caustic soda, which is used to unclog drains and should not have been reachable by the children. Dr. Hashavia Saar, a specialist in the pediatric emergency room, said caustic soda melts the tissues. It may be that the youngest child swallowed the caustic acid. We are continuing to conduct tests for an in-depth investigation. Signs of ingestion of caustic soda include mucous, hoarseness and oral lesions. In such a case, the child must be rushed to the hospital for treatment. External burns from the chemical, including burns in the eyes, must be washed immediately with running water for at least 10 minutes. Then they must be taken for urgent medical care. In any case, do not give them milk or water to drink, he said. The father was with the children in the emergency room while his wife was upstairs in obstetrics. I was with the children at home. Usually, such chemicals like caustic soda are on top of the clothes dryer and the service porch is closed, so the children cant get in. But this time I went in to take care of the wash and the door remained open. Suddenly, he said, my daughter came crying and couldnt be calmed. I washed her face. My elder daughter said she saw blood. Then my son came with skin burns and blood. I understood that they were harmed and called Magen David Adom. They arrived quickly and took them to Hadassahs trauma unit. The father added: I call on parents to make sure that dangerous chemicals are kept out of the reach of children. What happened to us ended with a miracle [that they are alive], but we must watch with 1,000 eyes because these materials are very dangerous. Site: spiritualdating From: astoulove4u Date: Jan 05, 2016 Hello, My name is Astou I saw your profile today on (doctor.dating) and get interested to know you here is my email (astouu4@hotmail.com) send me an email so that i will send you my photos and tell you more about my self. lot of love please contact me here astouu4@hotmail.com From: Astou george Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2016 08:45:11 +0000 Subject: MY PHOTO FOR YOU Hello my dear, I am happy to write to you and wish to thank you for responding to my friends request, i hope by the grace of God we will make good out of the friendship. My name is Astou George, i am 25 years old, from SUDAN, single and presently living in the refugee camp in Dakar due to the civil war that broke in my country. I am seriously looking for a honest, reliable and lovely person who can show me true love and someone who can show me concerned and attention never to betray me. Age or distance does not matter, i only need a true love. My late father Dr George Athor was Secretary of State in charge of the disabled in the regime of Laurent Gbagbo before the rebels attacked our house one morning and killed and murdered in cold blood my parents and other members of my family. I was the only survival because i was out when the ugly incident happened. I managed to make my way to a nearby country Senegal where I leave now as a refugee in a refugee camp. This is my photo before the civil war. I would also like to see your own picture if you have any. I will send you a telephone number to call me on the next email if you wish. I am for real love,so be honest with me so that i can visit you soonest after knowing you better. I would like to know more about you. Your likes and dislikes, hobbies, occupation/profession. I will tell you more about myself in my next mail. Your Truly, Astou From: Astou george Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2016 08:08:28 +0000 Subject: THIS IS ALL ABOUT ME Hello Dearest, I am glad to write to you, how are you? Hope you are fine, I thanks God for you. Your message was a total relief to me. May God protect you for me because he is the one who brought you in my life. I will like him to make away for you, me, and i promise to be with you and i will like you to help me to come out of this camp so that i come to your country and have a free life. In this camp, our freedom is restricted because we do not have any traveling paper. Its just like one staying in the prison and I hope by Gods grace I will come out of here very soon. We don't have any relative now whom we can go to, all our relatives ran away in the middle of the war. The only person we have now is Reverend Chris Joseph who is the Reverend Minister in charge of the church on this camp (CHRIST THE SAVIOR MISSION). He has been very nice to me since I came here but I am not living with him rather I am living in the women's hostel because the camp have two hostels one for men the other for women. The Pastors Telephone number is +221781122633 Feel free to call me through his number because i have told him about you. If you call, tell him that you want to speak with me, he will send for me from the hostel to come and answer your call. As a refugee I don't have any right or privilege to any thing be it money or whatever because it is against the law of this country. Again we do not work nor do anything for living as a result of that eating is very difficult as we are given food ones a day. Please listen to this, I have my late father's statement of account and death certificate here with me which I will send to you latter, because when he was alive he deposited some amount of money in a leading bank (Standard Chartered Bank) in London which he used my name as the next of kin, the amount in question is $5.3 (Five Million, three Hundred Thousand US Dollars). So I will like you to help me process and transfer this money to your account as my 'foreign partner' which was the bank's condition to get the money transferred. From it you can send me money to prepare and get ready my traveling documents to come and meet with you. I kept this secret to people in the camp here, the only person that knows about it is the Reverend Chris Joseph because he is like a father to me. So in the light of above i will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for I am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it. Remember I am giving you all these information due to trust and believing that no one will think to hurt me after hearing all that i have gone through. My favorite language is English but our language is french but I speak English very fluently because both my father and mother studied in Europe. Meanwhile I will like you to call me by 13 o'clock GMT Senegalese local time, like I said i have a lot to tell you. Have a nice day and pray for me. Awaiting to hear from you soonest. Thanks and remain blessed. Astou george From: Astou george Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2016 15:08:00 +0000 Subject: THIS IS BANK INFORMATION Hello Dearest, I thank you ones again this day. I will also like to see you face to face and will use this opportunity to let you know that GOD has chosen you to help me among est other men on earth; its now left for you and God who directed you to me to help me out from this predicament i found myself. I know you are the man i am going to depend and trust my life. I am not going to give your love to any other man because i know you will satisfy me, so needless of looking for another man. Please i have not told anyone except you and the Reverend Father about the existence of this money and i will like you to please keep it secret and confidential because since it is money, all eyes will be on it. Remember i trust you that is why i am giving you all the information. I have informed the bank about my plans to claim this money and the only thing they told me is to look for a foreign partner/representative who will stand on my behalf as a trustee due to my refugee status and according to the laws of this country. In this regard i will like you to contact the bank immediately with this information, tell them that you are my foreign partner and that you want to know the possibilities and procedure of assisting me in transferring the five million three hundred thousand US Dollars($5,300,000) deposited by my late father of which i am the next of kin into your account in your country. The contact information of the bank is as follows: (STANDARD CHARTERED BANK PLC UK.) Email address: (Standardcharteredbanklondon@iname.com) The name of the transfer officer is DR. Richard Meddings. Telephone number: +447980222833 Fax number +4470593149 Information about the deposit code is as follows. Name of depositor: Dr George Athor. Nationality: SUDAN Next of kin: Miss Godline Astou george. Amount deposited: $5.3 million. Account Number: SCBUK745608902546/QB/91/A Godline is the name my parents called me while they were alive and Astou is the name that people and friends know me. Contact the bank now on how to transfer the $ 5.3 million Dollars deposited by my late father of which i am the next of kin. I have mapped out 15 percent for any person that was going to assist me assuming you have not come into my life and 5% for any expenses that might come up in this transfer. My dear i am glad that God has brought you to see me out from this situation and i promise to be kind and will equally need you in every area of my life plus investing this money since i am still too young to manage this amount of money. As i told you before, this camp is just like a prison and my prayers is to move out from here as soon as possible. Please make sure that you contact the bank so that after the transfer you can send some money from that money for me to prepare my traveling documents to meet with you in your country. I will still wait for your call. Thanks and hopping to hear the good news once you contact the bank. I love you Kisses Astou From: "standardchartered banklondon" Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:23:45 +0100 Subject: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK PLC 27 CLEMENT LANE LONDON EC4N7AP UNITED KINGDOM. PHONE: +447980222833 FAX; +4470593149 Sir, I have been directed by the director of Foreign Operation/Wire Transfer to write you in respect to your mail which we have received. Actually, we have earlier been told about you by the young lady Miss Godline ASTOU GEORGE, that she wishes you to be her trustee/representative for the claim of her late father's deposit with our bank. The late father Dr geroge athor was our late customer with substantial amount deposited with us. Hence you have been really appointed as a trustee to represent the next of Kin. However before our bank will transact any business concerning the transfer of the fund with you, we will like you to send the following documents to our bank: 1. A power of attorney permitting you to claim and transfer the fund to your bank account on her behalf.This document must be endorsed by a Senegalese resident lawyer. 2. The death certificate of (Her deceased father)confirming the death. 3. A copy of the statement of the account issued to her late father by our bank. 4. An affidavit of oath from the Senegalese high court. 5. A scanned copy of your Identity/international passport. 6. Letter of probate from the high court of Senegal where Miss Godline ASTOU GEORGE is residing. Note that the above are compulsory, and are needed to protect our interest, yours, the next of kin after the claims. These shall also ensure that a smooth, quick and successful transfer of the fund is made. We promise to give our customers the best of our services. Should you have any question(s), please contact our foreign transfer officer DR. Richard Meddings, on office telephone number; +447980222833 Thank you for your cooperation DR. Richard Meddings (TRANSFER/WIRE OFFICER) From: Astou george Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2016 16:07:37 +0000 Subject: MY DEAR CONTACT LAWYER NOWa My Darling How are you today, I believe you are doing well. God will bless and reward you for every effort you are making to see me out from this horrible situation i found myself today. As for me i am fine here with all hopes that you will assist me to transfer my money to your position for a better life with you. I appreciated the way you are handling this transfer of my money to your position pending my arrival to meet with you to start a new life. I am suffering here in the prison called refugee camp and i believe with you i can start a new life in your country after the transfer of my money to your account. Darling I can see what the bank is demanding before they will transfer my money to your position. Presently i have my Late Father Death Certificate and Deposit Certificate with me here which i have given to the lawyer to send to you when you contact him. The only problem we have now is the Power of Attorney which the bank said that it will be issued by a lawyer here in Senegal for me to sign my signature on it. After reading your mail, i discussed it with REV. CHRIS JOSEPPH and he gave me the contact of this lawyer Dr Barrister CEDRIC HERMANN. He is one of the lawyers working with the united nations here in Dakar Senegal I will want you to contact him on both phone and email telling him that you are my foreign partner that you need his services to prepare a power of attorney that will enable you transfer my 3.5 million dollars from STANDARD CHARTERED BANK to your account on my behalf due to my refugee status. His contact informations are as follows, NAME...Barrister Cedric Hermann E-mail address ( barristercedrichermann@yahoo.com ) Office telephone number +221766330952 Dear please contact him so that he can get us those necessary documents for the transfer. I also told him about helping me for processing my traveling documents of which he told me that he will render any service to us. God bless you as you contact him immediately. Yours in love Astou Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 08:54:56 +0000 (UTC) From: barrister barrister Cc: Astou george Subject: THE COST AS DEMANDED BY THE HIGH COURT DR CEDRIC HERMANN CHAMBER & SOLICITOR`S (Esq.) Principal Attorney Sage Law Firm 48 Avenue Lamine Gueye International Airport Rd Dakar - Senegal Telephone No: +221766537242 Date:01/18/2016 Ref: CSS/LMU/S/08 SUBJECT: POWER OF ATTORNEY AND AFFIDAVIT OF OATH ATTENTION SIR, HAVE CAREFULLY NOTED YOUR DETAILS,VERY CONTENT OF IT ARE WELL UNDERSTOOD AND CLARIFIED. Prior to my inquiries from Miss Astou George and from STANDARD CHARTERED BANK PLC, I was made to understand that there are four (4) documents required by them before the transfer of the money to your account. 1)A copy of death certificate of her late father and a copy of his statement of account which is already with your partner here. It's now remaining the other two documents, which is Power of attorney and the affidavit of oath which will enable the bank to deal with you on behalf of your partner,in view of above and from my inquiries.. The costs as demanded by the high court are as follows: Swearing of affidavit of oath: 120 Euro to be paid in court. Authentication of the power of attorney: 200 Euro to be paid in court. Stamp duty fee: 100 Euro to be paid in Court. Notary fee:150 Euro to be paid in court. My service fee: 250 Euro to be paid in my law firm. TOTAL CASH NEEDED AT HAND........................ 820 Euro It takes a maximum of (2) full working days to get this documents issued upon the payment to the inland revenue office here in Dakar Senegal,you are hereby urgently requested to send the money (820 Euro) Through the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER with the name of my secretary: NAME: Cedric Hermann ADDRESS:48 Ave. Lamine Gueye STATE: Dakar COUNTRY: Senegal As soon as the money are sent, i will start the preparation of the documents. Advising on the transfer control number and senders name,as soon as the information and the money are made available i shall pay in the money while taking the issued payment receipts to the concerned ministries for the issuance and legalization in your partner favor of the inheritance claim enhancing documents, while upon issuance submitting same to STANDARD CHARTERED BANK PLC and enforcing that the money transfers is effected to your account without any delay. There is no preferential treatment in relation with the above fee, hence, mandatory by any client. (OUR PRIORITY IS TO RENDER THE BEST SERVICES TO OUR CLIENTS) Yours in service, (Esq) Principal partner. Barrister Cedric Hermann Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 12:35:37 +0000 (UTC) From: barrister barrister Subject: ATTENTION ATTENTION SIR, I WANT INFORM YOU THAT I HAVE RECEIVE YOUR MAIL? I HAVE MAKE ALL THE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENT FOR THE PREPARATION OF YOUR DOCUMENTS, MY SERVICE CHANGE WE BE AFTER THE TRANSFER OF THE FOUND TO YOUR ACCOUNT? SEND ME THE MONEY AS I DIRECT YOU THROUGH THE WESTERN UNION, I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME TO STAY, I WE BE TRAVELING TO UNITED STATE? I NEED TO RECEIVE THE MONEY TO ENABLE ME TO GET YOU THE DOCUMENTS BEFORE I TRAVEL, IF YOU TRANSFER THE MONEY THROUGH ACCOUNT OR BANK TO BANK TRANSFER IT WE DELAY MY TRIP, WESTERN UNION IS THE EASY WAY FOR ME TO RECEIVE MONEY HERE IMMEDIATELY AS SOON AS YOU SEND THE MONEY, IT IS SAVE FOR ME OK, GO AHEAD TO SEND THE MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION, I PROMISE YOU THAT YOUR DOCUMENTS WE BE READY IN TWO WORKING DAYS, INFORM ME IMMEDIATELY YOU SEND THE MONEY, WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY, THANKS. DR CEDRIC Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 15:13:51 +0000 (UTC) From: barrister barrister Subject: ATTENTION ATTENTION, YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT I ASK YOU TO DO IF YOU NEED MY SERVICES, I CAN'T CHANGE MY TRIP BECAUSE OF YOU, I HAVE A BUSINESS PARTNER IN YOUR COUNTRY HE USE TO SEND ME MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOUR OWN CASE IS DIFFERENT, WESTERN UNION IS EVERY WHERE IN YOUR COUNTRY AND THERE SERVICE IS THE SAME, ATTENTION ,GO TO THE WESTERN UNION AND SEND THE MONEY, IF YOU DON'T NEED MY SERVICES YOU CAN LOOK FOR ANOTHER LAWYER THAT WE GET YOU THE DOCUMENTS, I CAN'T CHANGE MY DATE BECAUSE OF YOU, I AM TRAVELING FOR A BUSINESS MEETING IN THE UNITED STARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME WHICH I CAN'T AFFORD TO MISS.THANKS DR CEDRIC Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2016 17:19:58 +0000 (UTC) From: barrister barrister Subject: ATTENTION ATTENTION. BELOW IS THE ACCOUNT DETAIL TO MAKE THE PAYMENT. Account Name ------ PRINCE JOHN DUKE Account number------- 0052676337 Bank Name -------- DIAMOND BANK Swift code-------- DBLNNGLA Sort code --------- 063231887 From: Astou george Date: Sun, 8 May 2016 10:56:35 +0000 Subject: THANKS FOR ALL YOUR EFFORT Hello Dear, I am happy to inform you about my success in getting the fund transferred under the cooperation of a new partner from Australia.Presently I am in Australia for investment projects with my new partner with the total money. Meanwhile, I didn't forget all your past efforts and attempts to assist me in transferring those funds despite that it failed us some how. Now you will need to contact the priest as at the time I was in Dakar Senegal, his name is Reverend Sister Marry Johnson the priest and his direct email address is: ( sistermarr@outlook.com ), Ask him to kindly send you a certified bank draft of ($ 280.000.00) which I prepared and kept for your compensation for all the past efforts and attempts to assist me in this matter which later failed. I appreciated all your efforts at that time very much. So feel free and get in touched with Reverend Sister Marry Johnson and direct him where to send/post you the bank draft. Please do let me know immediately you receive it so that we can share our joy after all the sufferings at that time. In the moment, I am very busy here because of the investment projects which I and my new partner are having at hand. Remember that I had forwarded this instruction to him on your behalf, therefore establish contacts with him for the delivery of the bank draft to you without delay,T ake care and Yours Sincerely, Astou If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- As speculation swirls over whom President Obama could nominate to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, the White House is ruling out the possibility of an appointment while the Senate is out of town. "Given that the Senate is currently in recess, we dont expect the President to rush this through this week, but instead will do so in due time once the Senate returns from their recess," White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz told ABC News. "At that point, we expect the Senate to consider that nominee, consistent with their responsibilities laid out in the United States Constitution." Following the passing of Scalia Saturday, top Senate Republicans including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, dismissed the idea that they would approve any nominee Obama put forward. It left open speculation as to whether the White House would attempt to push through a nomination without the Senate's approval, through a recess appointment. Obama was thwarted in 2012 when he tried to appoint members to the National Labor Relations Board while the Senate was on a break, but holding pro forma sessions every three days. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that the Senate was not on an official recess then, as it is through the rest of this week. When asked about the possibility of a recess appointment, Schultz pointed to the president's comments on Scalia's passing Saturday, when he said he would put a nominee forward "in due time." "There will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote," Obama said. "These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. They are bigger than any one party." The White House's acknowledgement that it will put a nominee in front of the Senate is the first step in what could develop into a tumultuous political fight in Obama's final year in office. As of Sunday afternoon, Senate leadership has not replied to ABC News' requests for comment about whether it will hold confirmation hearings once a nominee is announced. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. (Repeats earlier story with no change in text) By Neil Jerome Morales and Anshuman Daga MANILA/SINGAPORE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Philippine Airlines Inc (PAL) is close to announcing a deal to secure about half a dozen wide-body Airbus jets to serve U.S. and Europe long-haul flights, several people familiar with the matter said. The deal for Airbus A350-900 jets, likely to be announced at this week's Singapore Airshow, would be valued around $1.8 billion at list prices based on an outright purchase, though other deal structures may be considered, said the people who were not authorised to speak to the media. One source said this could involve PAL leasing the planes. PAL and Europe's Airbus declined to comment. "We do not comment on discussions we may or may not be having with our customers," an Airbus spokesman said. "PAL will announce in due time its fleet orders which will add to its existing roster of aircraft," the airline said in an emailed statement responding to a query from Reuters. "These will be utilised for international routes. It is a choice between an A350 and (Boeing) 787, as stated by PAL President Jaime Bautista last year." PAL's order comes at a time when rival Cebu Pacific is also expanding its local routes. PAL, the country's No. 2 airline, is taking in more aircraft as it grows its lucrative international network to cater to increased demand from millions of Filipinos working overseas. PAL's expected fleet acquisition underscores the buoyant outlook for Southeast Asia's fifth-largest economy as it bucks a global slowdown. It is forecast to expand by 6 percent this year - one of the fastest growth rates in Asia. However, there are concerns among manufacturers gathering in Singapore that overall demand for new jetliners is slowing after a record wave of orders. The Philippines' fourth richest man, Lucio Tan, began a review of PAL's operations after taking over the airline's management in 2014. PAL and its budget unit operate about 60 Airbus jets, six Boeing aircraft and around nine Bombardier airplanes. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales, Anshuman Daga, Siva Govindasamy and Tim Hepher, Editing by Eric Meijer) A woman walks next to a BlackRock sign pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York, October 11, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz By Simon Jessop and Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, says there is no need for a stress test of whether the mutual fund industry could repay a large number of panicking investors in the event of a fresh financial crisis. Reduced market liquidity has spurred talk of conducting a test similar to those undertaken on the banking system. The Bank of England is committed to testing the mutual fund sector's overall ability to withstand widespread redemptions, after a survey it conducted last year showed that funds were overly optimistic about their ability to cope. But Barbara Novick, BlackRock's vice chairman, said the idea showed a misunderstanding of how markets work and any such test would not produce any meaningful results. "I'm not sure what stress test people are even talking about when they say 'it will test all funds'. Really? What category? What does that look like? So, I can't even envision what that test would be or why it would be meaningful," she told Reuters. Stress testing funds individually, as regulators have tested banks in Europe and the United States since the financial crisis, would be far better, said Novick, whose firm manages $4.6 trillion in assets on behalf of retail and institutional clients. Novick said that if a particular security fell in price, certain types of mutual funds would step in as buyers, along with hedge funds and other market participants such as yield-hunting insurers and pension funds. "If you just look at one piece of the eco-system, you're missing the dynamics of how the market works." That was particularly important given mutual funds only held a small slice of the debt market, she wrote in a discussion paper released on Monday. A total of $34 trillion of U.S. debt securities were held by non-mutual fund investors such as pension funds, charities, insurers and households, the report said, while open-ended mutual funds and exchange-traded funds held just $5 trillion. (Editing by Ruth Pitchford) SAO PAULO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Verde Asset Management, Brazil's largest hedge fund, is reluctant to make a large bet against domestic equities in the face of a large inflow of foreign investment, chief investment officer Luiz Stuhlberger told Valor Economico. In an interview published on Monday, Stuhlberger said he disagreed with the sentiment of non-resident investors who consider Brazilian assets to be good value. They have yet to factor in a much bigger budget shortfall and some potential state company bail-outs that could cause Brazilian asset prices to fall further, he told the paper. "I think the foreigners are wrong, but I can't put that investment thesis against such a big inflow," he said. Stuhlberger said he did not believe President Dilma Rousseff will be impeached but will instead complete her term without passing necessary reforms. Stuhlberger said Brazil's economy, already facing its worst recession in decades, will probably have to get even worse for voters to elect an opposition candidate in 2018. Sao Paulo-based Verde oversees about 21.8 billion reais ($5.45 billion) in third-party and proprietary capital. ($1 = 4 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Greg Mahlich) LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Monday on news that ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela would hold a previously unpublicised meeting in Doha this week, adding to speculation of a global output deal. Benchmark Brent crude gained more than 60 cents in after-hours trading. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak will attend the meeting on Tuesday in what would be the largest producer gathering since OPEC's last formal session in early December, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. After settling at $33.39 a barrel earlier in the day, barely changed from Friday, Brent rose to more than $34 a barrel by 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT). That adds to Friday's 11 percent surge, the biggest one-day jump in over seven years. U.S. futures gained about 30 cents prior to the close of trade at 1 p.m. EST, hours early due to the Presidents Day holiday. Trading was thin across the board, potentially limiting the impact of the news. Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino made no comment on his arrival to the Gulf state of Qatar on Monday, a witness said. Del Pino has been visiting major oil producers to rally support for the idea of "freezing" production at current levels to stem spiralling prices, sources have said. The meeting is the latest sign of renewed efforts by OPEC members to try to tackle - possibly together with non-OPEC producers - one of the worst oil gluts in history, which has pushed prices to the lowest in more than a decade. Nigeria's oil minister told Reuters the mood inside OPEC was shifting to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on propping up prices. Russia has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries despite the falling price of oil, but in the last few weeks Moscow has sent mixed signals about the possibility of cooperation. On Monday, Russia's representative to OPEC said it was in talks on coordinated output cuts with individual OPEC members, mainly Venezuela, but not with the organisation itself, news agency Interfax quoted him as saying. Story continues "The fact that the market has reacted so strongly certainly indicates that these comments are being taken seriously," analysts at Frankfurt-based Commerzbank wrote. However, many analysts, including the International Energy Agency, are still sceptical OPEC will cut a deal with other producers to reign in ballooning output. "We continue to believe that if prices were to be artificially supported with production cuts it would only give more expensive forms of production more room to breathe and would only solve the problem in the short term," Phillip Futures said in a note. Iran is exporting 1.3 million barrels per day of crude, and will be pumping 1.5 million bpd by the start of the next Iranian year on March 20, a vice president was quoted as saying on Saturday. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Leff in New York; Karolin Schaps in London; Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; editing by Dale Hudson, Susan Fenton and Dan Grebler) * Jan exports -11.2 pct y/y, vs f'cast -1.9 pct * Jan imports -18.8 pct y/y, vs f'cast -0.8 pct * Trade surplus $63.3 bln, vs f'cast $58.85 bln * Govt may not set trade growth target for 2016 * Weak trade data could put pressure on yuan -analysts (Adds details, quotes) By Winni Zhou and Kevin Yao BEIJING, Feb 15 (Reuters) - China's January trade performance was worse than expected as tepid demand persisted both at home and abroad, raising expectations of further government measures to arrest the slowdown and to quell market jitters. January exports fell 11.2 percent from a year earlier - the seventh straight month of decline, while imports tumbled 18.8 percent - the 15th month of decline, both far worse than expected, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday. Exports declined even though China has allowed the yuan to weaken nearly 6 percent against the U.S. dollar since last August, underlining the extent to which global demand has weakened. China posted a record trade surplus of $63.3 billion in January - partly due to soft demand and falling commodities prices, versus $60.09 billion in December. "Overall, we believe the sharp drop of trade in January was a reflection of weak external demand, especially given the weak exports of neighbouring economies such as Korea and Taiwan," ANZ economists Li-Gang Liu and Louis Lam wrote in a research note. "The record level trade surplus indicates that China continued to run a large current account surplus, and this should help offset some of the capital outflow and alleviate some depreciation pressure on the renminbi (yuan)." Analysts polled by Reuters had expected exports to fall 1.9 percent, after slipping 1.4 percent in December, while imports had been expected to drop only 0.8 percent, following a 7.6 percent slide in December. The poll forecast a trade surplus of $58.85 billion. China will keep the yuan basically stable against a basket of currencies and it will not allow speculators to dominate market sentiment regarding China's foreign exchange reserves, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan was quoted as saying on Saturday. Story continues Premier Li Keqiang has said Beijing will not promote exports through currency depreciation, although some policy advisers have been calling for sharper yuan falls. "Today's numbers hint that Chinese currency is still under pressure to weaken. That said, recent strength in onshore and offshore yuan is largely due to the central bank's effort to dampen speculative positions," said Zhou Hao, Commerzbank Asia senior emerging markets economist in Singapore. UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK China's exports to the United States, the country's biggest market, fell 9.9 percent in dollar terms in January from a year earlier, while exports to the European Union - the second biggest market, fell 12 percent, the customs data showed. The customs office said it expected downward pressure on China's exports will ease, starting in the second quarter of this year. A source at the Commerce Ministry also said the government would not set an annual target for foreign trade this year. Some economists, such as those at ANZ suspected false trade invoicing, often used to hide speculation in the yuan, may have distorted the January numbers even further, pointing to big swings in trade with Hong Kong. Fake transactions were widely suspected to be one reason behind a much milder drop in December trade than markets had expected. The customs data showed Hong Kong's exports to mainland China fell 2.6 percent year-on-year in dollar terms while its imports from the mainland jumped 108.1 percent. For 2015, China's total trade tumbled 8 percent from 2014, well below the government's target of 6 percent growth and the worst performance since the global financial crisis. Trends in January and February can also be distorted by the long Lunar New Year holidays, with business slowing down weeks ahead of time and many firms scaling back operations or closing. China's commerce ministry has warned that the country's external trade is facing relatively severe pressure in 2016, and few analysts expect a sudden improvement in global demand. China is expected to target economic growth in a range of 6.5 percent to 7 percent this year, sources have said, setting a range for the first time because policymakers are uncertain on the economy's prospects. The world's second-largest economy grew an annual 6.9 percent in 2015, the poorest showing in a quarter of a century. (Reporting by China Monitoring desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Sam Holmes) An investor uses a mobile phone in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing, China, July 9, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Files By Nathaniel Taplin and Samuel Shen SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese shares ended only modestly lower on Monday as trade resumed after a long holiday, largely shrugging off last week's tumble on global markets, while Beijing took another swipe at currency devaluation talk with a strong fix for the yuan. Both the CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen and the Shanghai Composite Index ended down 0.6 percent after their first day of trade since February 5. The losses were unexpectedly light, given Japan's Nikkei alone sank 11 percent last week, though the Chinese indexes have had a more brutal 2016, losing about 22 percent and 12 trillion yuan ($1.84 trillion) in market value so far. The bourses initially opened down more than 2 percent, but a strong rally elsewhere in Asia, especially Japan, and a rise in the yuan lured investors back to the market. "Many traders exited their positions ahead of the holiday, and the weak opening gave them a chance to buy back some shares," said David Dai, Shanghai-based investor director at Nanhai Fund Management Co. "Previously, there was strong yuan depreciation fears. Now, the currency has strengthened, and that is also a market-stabilising factor," he added. Brokerage Industrial Securities said in a report that Chinese shares could even post a modest rebound in February as currency fears dissipated, which would in turn ease pressure on capital outflows and give the People's Bank of China (PBOC) more room for monetary stimulus. The PBOC fixed the yuan at its highest rate in over a month as it continued efforts to stem devaluation speculation. Reflecting the recent retreat in the U.S. currency, the Monday fix of 6.5118 yuan per dollar, a reference point for trading, was much stronger than the 6.5314 set before the holiday, and the onshore spot rate firmed more than 1 percent to 6.4972. The offshore yuan was also firmer and in step with the onshore rate, eliminating a discount that had made it more difficult for the central bank to stem capital outflows. Story continues WEAK TRADE DATA In an interview over the weekend, PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said speculators should not be allowed to dominate market sentiment regarding China's foreign exchange reserves and it was quite normal for reserves to fall as well as rise. Zhou said there was no basis for the yuan to keep falling, and China would keep it stable versus a basket of currencies while allowing greater volatility against the U.S. dollar. China reported its weakest economic growth in 25 years for 2015, and on Monday it released figures showing imports and exports both fell more sharply than expected in January compared with a year earlier. Chinese markets appeared to shrug off the disappointing trade numbers, though they will add to worries about a global economic slowdown. Figures out over the weekend suggested there was still life in the Chinese consumer, however, with retail sales growing 11.2 percent during the week-long Lunar New Year vacation compared with the same period last year. The holiday is especially important for retailers, which vie for customers by launching promotions and discounts. Millions of people take time off work to travel and generally spend more than usual during the break. ($1 = 6.5146 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Additional reporting by Jianxin Lu; Writing by Wayne Cole and Will Waterman; Editing by Kim Coghill) It might have made more sense if Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had been on stage Saturday night in South Carolina attacking former Republican President George W. Bushs decision to invade Iraq in 2003. That fateful move, which many believe destabilized the Middle East, cost a huge loss of U.S. military personnel, treasure and cleared a path for ISIS. Instead, it was Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump delivering the indictment during a two-hour, nationally televised GOP presidential debate. The billionaire businessman declared as he has done before -- that the Bush administration lied about the threat of weapons of mass destruction in convincing Congress and the American people to go along with an invasion that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Related: Trump: If Cruz Keeps Cheating, Ill Sue Him for Being Canadian Obviously the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake, Trump bellowed, as he turned his gaze towards former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who is now counting on support from his older brother to reenergize his struggling campaign for the GOP nomination. George Bush made a mistake, Trump continued. We can make mistakes, but that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East. An irate Jeb Bush denounced Trump for tormenting him and his family as blood sport, adding, I am sick and tired of him going after my family. Trump was at it again on Sunday, saying on ABC News This Week that W had made a horrible mistake and that despite spending $2 trillion on the war and suffering huge casualties We have nothing to show for it. Related: Trump, Kasich Get a Bump in Latest South Carolina Poll Trump ducked a question about whether he still thinks that George W. Bush should have been impeached, as he suggested in an interview with CNN in 2008. But he insisted that the invasion of Iraq started the chain of events that leads now to the migration maybe the destruction of Europe. Story continues He started the war in Iraq, Trump told host George Stephanopoulos. Am I supposed to be a big fan? . . . We would have been so much better off if Bush and the rest of them went to the beach and didnt do anything. Trump has taken delight in attacking and belittling Jeb Bush practically from the day he entered the race last June particularly after Bush finished fourth in the New Hampshire primary last week with 11 percent of the vote after spending $36.1 million in the Granite State. Clearly, Trump believes he could further humiliate and finish off Bushs long-shot campaign for the nomination by repeatedly visiting the sins of his famous brother on him in an effort to discredit Jebs prowess in foreign policy and national security. Trump also accused George W. Bush for ignoring warnings from the U.S. intelligence community about a terrorist threat just before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Related: George W. Bush to make first appearance for brother Jeb Trumps political instincts have served him well until now even after his outrageous comments belittling Arizona GOP Sen. John McCains distinguished Vietnam War era service because he had been captured and made a prisoner of war. Yet many analysts questioned Trumps performance Saturday night in Greenville, S.C. They warned that he had taken a big risk in going after a former Republican president who still enjoys widespread support among South Carolina conservatives who dont necessarily agree with Trumps assessment of the war. A Washington Post-ABC News poll last May found that 54 percent of Republicans nationally still think the Iraq war was worth fighting, while 41 percent said it was not. Moreover, a January 2007 poll by the newspaper revealed that 83 percent of Republicans thought that Bush had made the country safer and more secure. Although Bush left office with a lowly 34 percent approval rating, according to Gallup, a recent poll by Bloomberg pegs his approval rating among Republicans at 77 percent, The Washington Post noted yesterday in questioning whether Trumps Saturday night performance might backfire on him. George W. Bush has largely stayed on the sidelines during the early going of the primary campaign, although he has helped raise money and appeared in a radio ad in South Carolina last week offering support for his brother. But the former president is flying to North Charleston tonight for his first joint campaign appearance with Jeb and he is likely to attract a large crowd. Jeb Bush has struggled for more than a year in attempting to demonstrate that he is his own man when it came to forging a new foreign policy and defense posture, but without criticizing or second-guessing his brothers handling of the war in Iraq and the Middle East. Related: Donald Trump: I Always Carry a Gun Now, with the fate of his candidacy on the line, Bush will fully embrace his brother tonight in a desperate effort to remain a viable, second tier candidate in the GOP presidential contest. And the help couldnt come any sooner. In a new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll released Sunday, Trump continues to lead in South Carolina with 42 percent of Republican voters, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas with 20 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida with 15 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 9 percent. Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson each received just 6 percent support. I think theres a lot of interest in my brother coming, Jeb Bush told CNN. And hes been helpful all along in a lot of different ways. Giving me advice and helping me to raise money. Doing all sorts of things. But this is the appropriate time for him to do something he has not done before. This is the right time, when its important and when people are watching. My brother will help a lot, Bush added. The point is, is he a popular Republican? You bet he is. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. journalist and three members of her camera crew were detained in Bahrain on Sunday, Reporters Without Borders said on Monday, urging Bahrain to release the four American citizens "rapidly and without harm." In a statement, the group described Anna Day and her three colleagues as experienced journalists, who had most recently worked on virtual reality documentaries in Egypt and Gaza. Bahraini police said earlier they had detained four foreign nationals. Bahrain's interior ministry said in a statement the four were "suspected of offences including entering Bahrain illegally having submitted false information to border staff, and participating in an unlawful gathering." The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that U.S. citizens had been arrested but declined further comment. A representative for Day's family rejected any suggestion that the four were involved in any illegal behaviour or non-journalistic activities. The Arabic-language Mira'at al-Bahrain (Bahrain Mirror) said the four were detained in Sitra, a Shi'ite village east of Manama, on Sunday while covering clashes between local demonstrators and security forces. The demonstration was meant to mark the fifth anniversary of widespread Arab Spring protests in 2011 mainly by Shi'ite Muslims demanding reforms and a bigger share in government. Those protests were put down violently by Bahrain security units with help from security forces from Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia. But the kingdom, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, continues to see bouts of unrest, especially in villages where Shi'ites are a majority. A friend of Day's, who asked not to be named because of her own work as an independent journalist in hostile areas, said that government accreditation for foreign correspondents in Bahrain can be difficult to get and can imply restrictions, so freelancers commonly work without it. "It is sad that the fifth anniversary of the 2011 protests has been marked by the arrest of yet more journalists in Bahrain, which has since become one of the worst jailers of journalists in the Arab world," said Sherif Mansour, the Middle East and north Africa programme coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international advocacy group. The Committee called for the release of the four and noted that at least six other journalists are currently imprisoned in Bahrain in connection with their work. Day has reported in the Middle East, northern Africa, India, Brazil and Mexico and her work has been published by the New York Times, CNN, Al Jazeera English, Huffington Post, CBS, Daily Beast and other media. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry and Dan Grebler) French farmers burn tyres at a road block to protest falling prices near a Lidl supermarket logistic warehouse in Sailly-lez-Cambrai, near Cambrai, France, February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol By Sybille de La Hamaide PARIS (Reuters) - France failed to secure further relief measures for its struggling livestock farmers at a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers on Monday, as it tries to contain protests sparked by persistent low prices. French dairy and meat farmers have been staging protests for weeks, blocking roads, dumping manure, straw and earth in front of public buildings and supermarkets. The growing crisis had prompted President Francois Hollande last week to promise tax cuts for farmers and to call for decisions at the EU farm minister meeting. France, the EU's largest agricultural producer, had gone to Monday's EU meeting with a set of proposals to regulate oversupply in the milk and pigmeat sectors, but the European Commission asked it to come back with new proposals. Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan will go to Paris on Feb. 25 to meet French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll to discuss these measures, ahead of the next meeting of EU farm ministers in mid-March. "We have several days to work on new solutions and convince all our partners and the Commission (...) to make proposals," Le Foll told reporters after the meeting. France initially favoured lifting the price at which milk producers can sell into public storage but many member states were still at odds with that system, recalling times when it led to large stockpiles, he said. "The agreement that seems to be shaping up is that, to contain the rise in output, we need to innovate," he said, adding that there were several potential tools, without detailing them. In its proposal to Monday's meeting, France had suggested financial incentives for farmers who voluntarily reduce production when prices fall. It also called for longer periods for EU-subsidised storage of pork and a lifting of Russia's embargo on EU pork. Hogan said some of French proposals, such as using export credits and renewing efforts to get Russia to lift an embargo on pigmeat, deserved consideration but would need EU-wide support. Story continues "All of us agree that this is not a situation of business as usual, that this is a very deep-seated and difficult market situation for our farmers," Hogan said. "I think some time might be needed to bring a broad consensus in the Council." Le Foll said he had the backing of countries including Germany and Spain for further support measures for farmers on top of a 500 million euro package granted last year. As it seeks to ease tensions with farmers before the politically important Paris farm show at the end of the month, the French government has also been warning supermarket retailers not to push prices down during annual negotiations with suppliers this month. (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Bate Felix and David Evans) With just five days left before the South Carolina Republican primary, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is counting on his brother, former President George W. Bush to tip the scales in his favor among voters. On Monday night, Bush will join Jeb for the first time on the campaign trail for a rally at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center. The Bush campaign began promoting the event last week on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR): Honored to have my brother joining me on the trail this week. Join us Monday in Charleston. Thousands are expected to attend and there is already a wait list for the event. The Bush campaign did not immediately respond to requests for ticket distribution totals. Over the weekend, Bush and Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump went head to head on the GOP debate stage arguing over George W. Bushs tenure as commander in chief. Bush stood his ground saying his brother kept America safe after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, but Trump struck back calling the Iraq War a big fat mistake and adding, "The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George W. Bush - He kept us safe? That is not safe," said Trump. Gibbs Knotts, the political science chairman at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, says the battle on the debate stage is a preview of the Bush tag team appearance which is already creating intrigue in the media. Everyone is talking about it and wondering if George W. is going to take on Trump. Bush was known for being a tough president with this Texas cowboy image. He talked tough and was willing to use the military, so it will be interesting to see what he says, said Knotts. According to a Bloomberg Politics Poll conducted by Selzer & Company in November of 2015, former President George W. Bushs approval rating was 45% nationally. However in the Palmetto state, the 43rd president along with his father, former President George H.W. Bush is highly regarded, and both won the South Carolina primary during their White House bids. Story continues Knotts says South Carolina is a state that puts a lot of stock in the military and national security issues which are a strong area for George W. Bush who is still a very popular president when it comes to his support for the troops. The Bushs have done well in South Carolina over the years. I think it is smart to bring out George W. Bush in a place like South Carolina where he will be better received. Bush is a former president, so he might help Jeb emerge as an establishment candidate, said Knotts. To have a former president whos dealt with some of the worst crises that this country has faced like 9/11 to say look I have done the job I know how difficult protecting the U.S. is and I feel like this person, who happens to be my brother, has demonstrated that level of leadership that can be very powerful. Doubling down on his attack of George W. Bushs legacy over the weekend, Trump took to Twitter on Monday with a warning: Now that George Bush is campaigning for Jeb(!), is he fair game for questions about World Trade Center, Iraq War and eco collapse? Careful! Trump followed up with another jab at Jeb Monday afternoon during a campaign rally in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. I think he [Jeb Bush] should have used his family a long time ago he wouldve done better, said Trump. Radio and TV ads featuring the former president also started running in South Carolina last week endorsing Jeb Bushs ability to lead. In the 30-second spot Bush says, "The first job of the president is to protect America. The next president must be prepared to lead. I know Jeb. I know his good heart and his strong backbone. The 2016 campaign trail is looking more and more like a Bush family affair; ahead of the New Hampshire primary Bush tapped his 90-year-old mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, to join him. According to exit polls in the Granite state, Bush finished in 4th place with 11% support. In a recent CBS News/YouGov poll, Bush ranks in 5th place with 6% support from likely South Carolina GOP primary voters; Trump holds a commanding lead with 42%. South Carolina Republican primary voters will head to the polls on Saturday, February 20. Related Articles SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The number of air accidents and resulting fatalities dropped in 2015 from the previous year, and was well below the five-year average, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday, making 2015 "an extraordinarily safe year". Some 68 accidents occurred last year, compared with 77 in 2014 and an annual average of 90 over the last five years, according to IATA's latest annual report on aviation safety. Of 2015's accidents, four were fatal, versus 12 a year earlier. "In terms of the number of fatal accidents, it was an extraordinarily safe year," Tony Tyler, IATA's director general and chief executive officer, said in a statement released on the eve of this week's Singapore Airshow, Asia's biggest aviation trade fair. The accidents covered by the report killed 136 people, down from 641 in 2014 and a five-year average of 504, according to IATA, which represents some 260 airlines or 83 percent of the world's total air traffic. If the losses of aircraft in incidents involving planes operated by German low-cost carrier Germanwings, a unit of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, and Russia's Metrojet last year are included, the total number of deaths rose to 510, according to IATA. But the Germanwings and Metrojet incidents were excluded from IATA's accident statistics, as they were classified as deliberate acts of unlawful interference. A pilot of the Germanwings aircraft deliberately crashed that plane in the French Alps, while the Metrojet flight was suspected to have been brought down over the Sinai peninsula by a bomb smuggled on board. "While there are no easy solutions to the mental health and security issues that were exposed in these tragedies, aviation continues to work to minimise the risk that such events will happen again," said Tyler. IATA said the 2015 global jet accident rate, measured in hull losses per 1 million flights, was 0.32, compared with 0.27 in 2014 and 0.46 in the previous five years. (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) Comment Policy Advance Indiana allows you to post comments via this blog subject to the guidelines set forth herein. You understand that any comments you post are your own and are not those of Advance Indiana. You further understand that Advance Indiana is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced in your comments. Unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, racially offensive, or otherwise objectionable comments are not acceptable. If you think any content posted or otherwise included in Advance Indiana violates the guidelines set forth herein, then please alert Advance Indiana. Advance Indiana reserves the right to pre-screen, edit, and remove any post as it deems appropriate. You specifically acknowledge that Advance Indiana has no obligation to display any post submitted or otherwise provided via Advance Indiana. hillary clinton Hillary Clinton wants to mobilize the most diverse percentage of caucus-goers in the history of Nevada presidential campaigns. But she's starting small. "There's really no clean way to even translate the word 'caucus,'" Clinton's Nevada organizing director, Jorge Neri, said in an interview in December. Neri was on the phone with Business Insider to discuss the launch of a new program in Nevada, "Caucus Conmigo" or "Caucus With Me" a program aimed at helping Spanish-speaking caucus-goers turn out to vote for Clinton. "Branding it 'Caucus Conmigo' is kind of informing people what [caucusing] even means," Neri said. While it may have once seemed like a precaution, the campaign's months-long effort to ensure Latino supporters caucus for Clinton on February 20 may prove one of its greatest advantages against US Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vermont) surging populist campaign, which almost beat Clinton in Iowa's caucuses and swamped her in New Hampshire last Tuesday. Clinton's Nevada team, which numbered around two dozen paid staffers during the fall, was already on the ground when she formally announced her run earlier this year. The goal was to win a diverse swath of the electorate and avoid a repeat of 2008, in which Clinton won the popular vote but did not win the delegate count. The initial Caucus Conmigo training sessions, conducted in Spanish, aimed to educate and train volunteers on what a caucus is and how to participate. The campaign also used the sessions to identify potential bilingual precinct captains, who conduct the individual caucuses on caucus day and serve as canvassers for the campaign. The training sessions also educate volunteers on how to go out into the community and encourage Hispanic voters to caucus. Clinton's campaign began with meetings once a month at locations around the state where there are higher concentrations of Spanish speakers, but has ramped up frequency in recent weeks. Nevada political observers told Business Insider that though the state party has previously engaged in targeted efforts in Spanish and English to engage Latinos, Clinton's early strategy was pretty unparalleled in state politics. Story continues "We have not previously seen such a concerted effort by a specific candidate, so the Clinton campaign efforts towards Latino voters is impressive," top Nevada Democratic strategist Andres Ramirez told Business Insider in an email late last year. The state-specific caucus program is one of many initiatives that the Clinton campaign has launched across the country with the larger goal of mobilizing record support from Latino voters early on, hoping that it could also help in the general election. The campaign has launched Spanish-language canvassers and phone-bankers in several states. In October, Clinton's campaign summoned key Latina volunteers and supporters to her headquarters in Brooklyn for a weekend strategy and training session aimed at laying the groundwork for projects to increase turnout among Latina voters. hillary clinton But whatever head start the Clinton campaign had in Nevada appears to be evaporating. Despite getting off to a bumpy start in October, with a high-profile local-staff resignation, Sanders has since ramped up appearances in the state, booking swing-throughs earlier that yielded larger crowds than the campaign said it was expecting. The New York Times noted that the campaign deployed dormant Iowa staffers to beef up its 90-person-strong staff already in the state, and has reportedly outspent Clinton on television ads. A Democratic operative unaffiliated with the presidential campaign told Business Insider in January that many volunteers from nearby Southern California were coming into the state to bolster Sanders' get-out-the-vote campaign. And Sanders is far from conceding the Latino vote to Clinton. The campaign has conducted Hispanic phone-banking in early states, and has spent heavily on Spanish-language radio ads. "Latinos are really gravitating towards our campaign, and the numbers are changing every day, especially in states like Nevada," Sanders' Hispanic media director, Arturo Carmona, said during a call with reporters in December. Carmona said that even if the numbers weren't totally reflected in the polls, the campaign was seeing an uptick in interest from Hispanic volunteers. "We had thousands of Latino and Spanish-speaking volunteers doing a call a couple weeks back with one of our celebrity endorsers, George Lopez," Carmona said. "We got nearly 1,000 volunteers in one hour." In an interview with KNPR, Sanders said that his campaign was looking to win Latino voters, hinting that he'd particularly try to woo union workers, who make up a sizeable bloc of voters primarily in the Las Vegas service industry. "I think we're going to put together a very strong coalition of workers in that state," Sanders said. "I think we're making in roads into the Latino community and I think we got a real shot to win it." hillary clinton nevada Though it's far from the only issue important to Latino voters in the state, Clinton has wooed support from prominent members of the Latino community by touting her record on immigration reform. While immigration activists acknowledge that Sanders is offering a comprehensive reform agenda, behind the scenes some advocates have reservations. Sanders' campaign has repeatedly touted the senator's vote in support of the 2013 comprehensive immigration bill, but some on the left still have doubts that he's sincere. Several prominent national immigrant advocates told Business Insider that they are wary that Sanders still isn't fully committed to pushing immigration reform. The senator's record on the issue is mixed: He notably opposed a 2007 reform effort on the grounds that it would drive down wages for American workers. Though he says that it is important for the US to start down the path to naturalizing the estimated 11 million people who immigrated to the US illegally, Sanders also still cautions that business interests who support immigration reform are looking for a way to depress wages. "There is a reason why Wall Street and all of corporate America likes immigration reform, and it is not, in my view, that they're staying up nights worrying about undocumented workers in this country," Sanders said in an interview last year. "What I think they are interested in is seeing a process by which we can bring low-wage labor of all levels into this country to depress wages for Americans, and I strongly disagree with that." NOW WATCH: This 45-second animation shows how the states have voted in every presidential election More From Business Insider A logo of Bank of East Asia is displayed at a news conference in Hong Kong, China February 15, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip By Denny Thomas HONG KONG (Reuters) - Bank of East Asia Ltd , a family-run Hong Kong lender, rejected a call by activist investor Elliott Management Corp to put the bank up for sale, saying the challenging economic and business environment would bode ill for such a process. Elliott, which owns a stake of about 7 percent in Bank of East Asia (BEA), earlier this month heaped pressure on the bank to sell itself, saying its executives had serially mismanaged the business, leading to weak performance and poor returns for minority shareholders. BEA, which has a $7.6 billion market value and is one of the last remaining family-run banks in Hong Kong, said on Monday it would carry out a strategic review of its share register business Tricor Holdings Ltd, of which it owns about 76 percent. The rest of that business is owned by NWS Holdings. BEA has hired Goldman Sachs to conduct the review, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The source was not authorised to speak to the media about the matter. Goldman Sachs was not available for an immediate comment. "The management team and the board remain committed to maximising shareholder value and believe that the best way to achieve this in the current environment is to focus on execution and improving the bank's business," the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Elliott, which is known for battles against corporate boards, responded by saying BEA's "future business and operational initiatives are too little, too late". "Enough is enough, and the board should now move forward by starting an auction process to explore the possibility of a sale of BEA," the statement added. BEA also reported a 16.8 percent drop in its full-year net profit of HK$5.64 billion ($724.6 million). BEA shares closed up 2.4 percent, while the benchmark Hang Seng share index (.HSI) finished 3.3 percent higher. BEA counts Spain's CaixaBank and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc as its other top shareholders. (Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Susan Thomas) A woman selling grilled corn takes shelter under an umbrella as it rains on a beach in Mumbai in this July 11, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Files By Mayank Bhardwaj and Naveen Thukral NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - As India prepares to import corn for the first time in 16 years, at least one stipulation in its international tender has become much tougher to meet - that shipments of the crop are completely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The Asian country of 1.2 billion people does not allow cultivation of any genetically modified food, and has rules that are supposed to ensure that imports contain no trace of GMOs.But an explosion in the use of GM crops worldwide means that purity grade has become harder to attain and, with a growing risk of the supply chain being contaminated, underlines the vulnerabilities faced by countries trying to stay GM free. Even a shipment containing a handful of genetically altered seeds could cross pollinate with local varieties and mean that in India's case farmers end up illegally growing GM crops. "They can buy non-GMO corn, especially out of the Black sea region, but I doubt anybody can offer shipments with zero presence of GMOs," James Dunsterville, an agricultural commodities analyst at Geneva-based commodities information platform AgFlow. South Korea's Daewoo International won the tender to ship 250,000 tonnes of non-GM corn to India from Ukraine, but two international traders in Singapore and an exporter in Kiev said Ukraine could at best guarantee 99.1 percent non-GM corn. "The biggest risk of accepting anything less than 99, or 100, percent is that the imported GM corn may eventually get mixed with conventional seeds that farmers sow in India," said an Indian government scientist. "If, God forbid, any GM seed gets mixed here, it'll spoil the entire Indian agriculture," added the scientist, who asked not to be named since he was not authorised to talk to media. Daewoo declined to comment but two sources close to the company said it would be able to meet the requirements and that it was aware of the conditions in last month's tender issued by Indian state-run firm PEC. Story continues RISKS OF CONTAMINATION Shrinking arable land, volatile weather and a world population tipped to top 9 billion by 2050 are increasing pressures to plant GM crops to boost yields and protect from pests. Much of the corn in major producers such as the United States, Brazil and Argentina is GM, helping production hit record levels in recent years and keeping a lid on food prices. Global corn prices (Cv1) have recovered about 13 percent after hitting a 5-year low in 2014 but are still more than 50 percent below a record price of $8.49 a bushel in 2012. Indicating the difficulty of keeping GM free, Greenpeace said that Chinese farmers were illegally growing GM corn, despite an official ban on cultivating GM varieties or other staple food crops. The environmental group said almost all samples taken from cornfields in some parts of the north-east, China's breadbasket, tested positive for GMO. China has not directly commented on the report, though officials have issued warnings to seed dealers and farmers not to use unapproved GM seeds. Some farm economists have said India should speed up efforts to embrace GM foods after China took a step towards this with its bid for Swiss transgenic seed developer Syngenta (SYNN.VX). But public and political opposition in India remains strong amid fears they could compromise food safety and biodiversity. GM advocates say such fears are not scientifically proven. "India must reject cargoes from suppliers who promise to provide corn that is only 99.1 percent free of GM organisms, said Devinder Sharma, an independent food and trade policy analyst based in Chandigarh, highlighting a risk of contamination. However, Sharma said that it had become standard global practice for GM-free buyers to settle for crops that were up to 99 percent GM free. A source at trader PEC said India's condition that the imports were non-GM was sacrosanct. PEC received 15 bids from global traders including Daewoo, Noble, Cargill and Agro Corp to supply corn mainly to be used as animal feed for India's poultry industry. But Singapore-based traders said there could have been more participants in the tender but for the non-GM restriction. Though Ukraine and growers in Europe, such as France, do produce non-GMO corn, suppliers may not be able to guarantee supplies are completely free of gene-altered grains because of common bulk handling systems, said a trading manager with an international trading company. "It could be a dirty truck or a dirty conveyor belt. It only takes one seed to get a GMO positive result." (Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in KIEV; Editing by Ed Davies) SOLNA, SWEDEN--(Marketwired - February 15, 2016) - International Business Systems (IBS), a leading global supplier of integrated ERP, warehouse management systems (WMS) and supply chain solutions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jayne Archbold as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Archbold is a seasoned executive with 18 years of experience in the ERP sector, most recently at Sage Group plc, where she led the global mid-market and enterprise customer business. Known for her keen attention to people and customer engagement, Archbold has a track record of driving product innovation, operational transformation and growth. "I'm delighted to join IBS. With its fantastic pool of talent, loyal customer base and a reputation for outstanding service, IBS is a strong business with great potential," said Archbold. "IBS is a uniquely qualified partner for businesses looking to adapt to the rapid changes sweeping through the distribution sector. I look forward to working with the team at IBS to deliver world-class products and services to our current and future customers." Archbold succeeds Steven Hargreaves, a Marlin Equity Partners Operating President who served as interim CEO following the acquisition of IBS by Marlin Equity Partners in July 2015. "We are extremely pleased to name Jayne Archbold as CEO of IBS. Her impressive record of achievement over a long career in the industry, combined with her passion for people including customers, employees and partners, makes her supremely qualified to lead IBS and fulfill our shared vision for the future of the business," said Hargreaves. Archbold, an experienced CEO and managing director, has a record of delivering profitable growth in enterprise software businesses. At Sage Group plc, since 1997, Archbold's career developed through management and leadership roles of consistently growing scope and achievement. Most recently, she was CEO of Sage Mid-Market Division Europe, responsible for expanding the company's first-ever global ERP product into new geographies and taking it from regional to global distribution, achieving double-digit growth during the last 12 months in her post. Archbold represents the ERP sector as an active council member of Gerson Lehrman Group, the world's leading platform for professional learning. Story continues For more information about International Business Systems, visit www.ibs.net. About IBS International Business Systems (IBS) is a leading global provider of integrated ERP, WMS and supply chain management solutions to the distribution, wholesale and 3PL sectors. For more than 35 years, we have helped customers such as Cramo, MECA, New Wave Group, Eltex of Sweden, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Skanlog, Volvo, Oriola, Ardo, Rexel, Galexis, Stockhabo, Smeding and many more streamline, automate and accelerate their distribution network processes, and drive profitability and efficiency. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/2/14/11G082812/Images/IBS_CEO_Jayne_Archbold-ed2e50da04d192d0964a0ac66413c1d3.jpg (Repeats story from Sunday) * Iran has one of the world's biggest zinc deposits * Investors look at potential, curbed by slump in mining sector * India considering $2 bln aluminium smelter in Iran By Eric Onstad LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Iran's rich deposits of zinc, copper, gold and other minerals are tempting international investors after the lifting of Western sanctions, but development of the sector will take time and problems will have to be overcome. A slump in metals prices and uncertainty about working with the Tehran government, which controls virtually all the country's mines, means that many foreign mining firms are not scrambling to sign deals. Nevertheless, some agreements have already been struck and other foreign firms have been looking at Iran's mining and metals sector in the weeks following the scrapping of sanctions as part of a nuclear deal, which went into force last month. Iran, which boasts one of the world's largest undeveloped zinc projects and myriad other mines, has been trying to lure investors since it became clear that sanctions would be lifted under last year's deal signed by Tehran and six world powers. Iran's state-owned mines and metal holding company IMIDRO told an Australian mining conference in November that its mining sector needed $20 billion of investment by 2025. "Iran absolutely has world class mining assets, which have hitherto been shrouded from investors, but we're in the depths of one of the darkest, worst downturns in mining for some time," said Neil Passmore, chief executive of Hannam & Partners boutique merchant bank in London. The slump in commodity prices has hit international mining firms, forcing them to sell assets, cut dividends and slash capital spending to preserve cash, but some deals with Iran are still being done. "During the six to 12 months that it's looked likely sanctions would be lifted, people have been starting to do some work and now that things have opened up, they're increasing the pace," Passmore added. Story continues In India, national aluminium company NALCO said last month it planned to send a team to Iran to explore setting up a smelter worth about $2 billion and state-run KIOCL is considering building an iron ore pellet complex. Other companies from Italy and China to South Korea have either signed deals or are looking into possibilities. FACTBOX-Iran's mineral wealth spans gold to zinc UNCERTAINTY But highlighting the uncertainty among potential investors, NALCO said it was also looking at Oman and Qatar as possible sites for its aluminium smelter. A spokesman for global miner Rio Tinto , which was previously involved in the Sara Gunay gold project in Iran, said there was no work being done by their exploration team regarding the country. Chief Executive Mark Bristow of Randgold Resources, which has experience of mining in risky areas of Africa, told Reuters the firm was not interested in Iran. Dealing with Iran, which is beset by political infighting between pragmatic and hardline factions, can be complex and time consuming. Foreign energy executives hoping to invest in oil and gas fields there complain Tehran has still not revealed contract terms, abruptly cancelling a conference due to be held this month when they had expected it to do so. Although minerals development may take years, Iran's bounty and low energy costs will eventually build it into a substantial player in the global metals industry, analysts say. Iran's Mehdiabad project is one of the world's largest zinc deposits, which was previously due to be developed by Australian's Union Resources, with annual output of 300,000 tonnes a year. Iran says it has 68 types of minerals, including iron ore, coal, gold and copper with total reserves of 43 billion tonnes. Besides growing as a producer, the country of 80 million people is also set to help boost global demand for metals since it is the biggest economy to rejoin the global trading system since Russia, following the breakup of the Soviet Union over two decades ago. "As they get more oil revenue, there's no reason why they shouldn't look to diversify the economy and drive metals exports," said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Societe Generale in London. "It plays both ways, as they're welcomed back into the international fold, hopefully they'll also contribute to the demand side of the ledger, as they've got a young and rising population." (Reporting by Eric Onstad; editing by David Stamp) By Osamu Tsukimori and Aaron Sheldrick TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, which once consumed about 10 percent of global oil output in its refineries, is undertaking the biggest refining contraction of any country, ending a dominant era in oil markets while exposing itself to fuel imports from neighbours. With four of its five largest refinery companies set to merge, Japan could be left with only 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity by 2020 and as little as 2.3 million bpd by 2030, according to a Reuters analysis based on discussions with industry officials, analysts, government officials and suppliers. Japan may have to rely on fuel imports from China and South Korea, countries with which it shares long-standing historical disputes. The country's oil-refining capacity peaked at 5.6 million bpd in 1982, data from the BP Statistical Review of Energy shows, and that year global oil output was 57.3 million bpd. Oil, and Japan's ability to refine crude into transportation and industrial fuels such as gasoline and diesel, built the country's modern economy. From 1965 to 1972, when Japan averaged 9.25 percent gross domestic product growth at the height of its economic miracle, the country more than doubled its oil-refining capacity to 4.6 million bpd. "They were the pioneers of refining in the Asia Pacific (but) that has been slowly overtaken by the giants of China and India," said Suresh Sivanandam, senior manager, refining research Asia Pacific, at Wood Mackenzie in Singapore. "There is no single country that has cut on such a scale before," said Sivanandam. As recently as 2008, Japanese refining capacity was 4.65 million bpd, BP data shows, making it the world's fourth-largest processor at the time, behind the United States, China and Russia. In 2014, India overtook Japan for the first time after its capacity fell to 3.7 million bpd. Japan's refiners are now vying for business from a shrinking, aging population that consumes less fuel because of more efficient vehicles and a turn to gasoline-electric hybrids. ENERGY SECURITY Japan's refining pullback will change international oil markets as a customer that valued long-term contracts, and fostered relationships to sustain them, cedes to more spot minded, nimble traders from China and India. The change will hit Middle East crude suppliers the hardest, said the analysts and officials that spoke to Reuters. Additionally, such a savage cutback in refining capacity may expose Japan to a greater dependence on transportation fuel imports, Sivanandam said. "They will have to import 200-300,000 bpd of gasoline, which is not ideal," he said, particularly in the peak summer driving period. This amount of imports could potentially be about 36 percent of the country's gasoline demand by 2020, based on a forecast from Japan's Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry (METI) that gasoline consumption will equal 830,000 bpd by then. Japan's government is fine with this trade-off of fuel imports for crude imports, said a senior trade official. Japan depends on imports for all of its oil consumption needs. Refineries have plenty of spare capacity now and will have in the future as the industry catches up with the reality of a population using less oil, said the official. "Japan imports all of its crude and if imports of oil products surged, that would not heighten the supply risk substantially," said a senior Japanese trade official who declined to be named. "If imports surged, refiners would deal with it." While Japan could cope with depending on gasoline imports, shutting refineries still poses other security issues, said Fereidun Fesharaki, the founder of FGE energy consultancy. "When you close down the refineries you close down the less efficient ones, which produce more fuel oil," he said, adding that fuel oil filled the early gaps in electricity production after the Fukushima nuclear disaster shut reactors. "So if you have (another) nuclear issue you need more fuel oil. This is a very important issue that most people have ignored," he said. MERGERS Recognising the refining overcapacity, Japan's government has pushed companies to shut less sophisticated plants. Bowing to the inevitable, refiners themselves are leading the consolidation. First, Idemitsu Kosan Co <5019.T> on Nov. 12 agreed to take over Showa Shell Sekiyu <5002.T>, a smaller rival. Then, on Dec. 3, JX Holdings <5020.T>, Japan's largest refiner, agreed to merge with TonenGeneral Sekiyu <5012.T> by 2017, with a plan to streamline refinery operations. These were the first refining mergers since 2010. Because of its size, JX is the most likely company to shut units once it completes the merger with TonenGeneral, the Reuters analysis shows. [nL3N15H1UJ] "Japan becomes less important. That's the way it going to be, it is going to become a 2 million barrel a day market," FGE's Fesharaki said. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori and Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he hopes Group of 20 finance leaders will take appropriate measures to address global economic woes when they meet in Shanghai next week. "Excessive currency volatility is undesirable," Abe told parliament, adding that Tokyo will take appropriate action in the exchange rate market as needed. Speculation has simmered in markets that Japan's Ministry of Finance may directly intervene in the market to prevent sharp yen rises from hurting the country's exports. (Reporting by Leika Kihara and Stanley White; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim) By Promit Mukherjee MUMBAI (Reuters) - JSW Group, whose businesses range from power to steel and cement, is looking to buy distressed port assets in the country as part of a strategy for a massive expansion of its ports capacity, its chief financial officer said. "We are going for inorganic growth as there are assets that is available and that makes more sense today, and at the same rates or rates much lower than that of organic growth," CFO Seshagiri Rao told Reuters in a recent interview. The acquisition push comes as many of JSW's domestic peers in a heavily leveraged industry look to sell assets to pay off debt racked up in recent years, before India's economy began to cool. Rao said JSW itself plans to cut borrowing at its debt-laden steel unit by expanding capacity and production. Having borrowed heavily to expand its steel and power arms, JSW was named by Credit Suisse last year as one of India's 10 most indebted groups, with debt pile equal to $8.6 billion in the fiscal year ended last March. JSW Infrastructure, the group's unlisted ports unit, currently has a port capacity of 33 million tonnes spread across three ports on the western coast of India. The company plans to increase that more than six-fold to 200 million tonnes by 2020, Rao said. Rao said the group's flagship firm, JSW Steel, is expanding production capacity by 4 million tonnes by end of this month to take it to 18 million tonnes per year. That will help lower the steel unit's debt ratios. Debt-to-equity and debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) ratios will drop to 1.75 and 3.75 respectively by the end of March 2018, from 1.83 and 6.66 at the end of December 2015, he said. JSW Steel, in which Japan's No. 2 steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc owns a 15 percent stake, and JSW Energy currently have a combined debt of 550 billion rupees ($8.08 billion). Rao said the businesses were able to service their loans. Rao said JSW's port and cement units both make money, and JSW can raise debt or equity to fund acquisitions. The CFO also confirmed domestic media reports that JSW is actively considering expanding cement operations, including by acquiring 11 million tonnes per year of India cement-making capacity from Franco-Swiss giant LafargeHolcim Ltd. Also on the group's radar is local rival Jaiprakash Associates' 20 million tonnes per year cement business. ($1 = 68.0925 Indian rupees) (Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia wants to see improved relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia at a time when joint action is needed to influence global oil prices, the RIA news agency on Monday quoted Zamir Kabulov, a senior official at Russia's Foreign Ministry, as saying. "We all need stability on the oil market and a return to normal (crude) prices," RIA quoted Kabulov as saying. "And these are the key nations, especially Saudi Arabia and Iran, which is striving to return to the oil market, anticipating the removal of sanctions," Kabulov said. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn) Iran is purchasing more and more military hardware from Russia, as Tehran moves to aggressively beef up its military capability after decades of international economic sanctions. Moscow will deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran in "the nearest time," RIA news agency quoted Russia's Foreign Ministry as saying on Monday. Related: Russias Military Buildup Continues with Big New Fighter Jet Order Russia and Iran signed an $800 million contract in 2007 for the supply of five S-300 systems, but the advanced defensive weapons system deal was frozen in 2010 due to U.N sanctions. Russian President Vladimir Putin approved delivery of the air defense missile system in April 2015. Iran has also shown interest in buying more advanced, S-400 missile systems, which are currently deployed at Russias airbase in Syria, but no formal talks have reportedly been held. The news of the S-300s imminent delivery comes on the heels of an announcement last week on Irans Ministry of Defense web site that the Islamic Republic will sign a contract with Russia for the purchase of Sukhoi-30 fighter jets. The fighter jet, which is part of Moscows military arsenal in the war in Syria, is said to be comparable to the American F-15E fighter-bomber. Related: Putin Sends Russias Deadly New Fighter Jet to Syria While the exact number of fighters and the timeline for signing the deal remain unknown, an Iranian defense official said that Iran would be involved in the production of the aircraft. Iran needs to "seriously focus on the air force and fighters," the official said. "We are moving toward a contract. We told them that we need to be involved in the production (of the plane) as well. The acquisition, and Iranian involvement in the production, mark a significant step for the country as it seeks to become an even greater regional power in the already volatile Middle East. Iran's air force relies on domestically altered versions of outdated warplanes, including former Soviet Union-era MiGs. At the same time, Tehran is backing forces in conflicts in Syria and Yemen; if those allies begin demanding more support, or Iranian leaders want to expand their influence, the nations military arsenal would benefit from a massive upgrade and from the technical knowhow gleaned from helping build the new equipment. Story continues Related: Putin Flexes His Muscles in the Pacific with the New Su-35 Fighter Russia also stands to benefit economically and diplomatically from turning Iran into a client. Moscows economy has been walloped over the last several years, thanks to international sanctions over its aggression toward Ukraine and the tumbling price of oil. Arms sales offer an easy cash infusion into Russias economy. Its no secret that Russias foray into Syria was motivated by Moscows concern over losing a major arms partner in Damascus. By increasing its entanglements with Iran, Russia bolsters a partner and leaves the U.S. and its allies playing catch-up as the Kremlin draws the Islamic Republic deeper into its orbit. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Eight years ago, Dulce Valencia and her mother Maria Sanchez crossed the border from Mexico to begin their new life in Nevada. Now 20 years old, Dulce knows the harsh reality and fear that goes along with being an undocumented immigrant in America. I was out there sharing my story and I was undocumented so part of me was like what if someone sees this and what if someone calls ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]? What if I come home and my mom is not there what am I going to do? But I tried not to think about it, we cant let fear hold us back, said Dulce Valencia. Dulce arrived to the United States in December of 2007, just missing the deadline to qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Established by President Obama in 2012, the immigration policy allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. before their 16th birthday and continuously lived in the U.S starting in June 2007 to receive a renewable two-year work permit and deportation exemption. That was my wake-up call that I needed to fight for myself and I needed to do something about my situation, she said. Dulce put her volunteering efforts to good use with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), a bi-partisan group that unites diverse Nevada organizations to fight for issues such as immigration, healthcare and economic justice. PLAN is one of several organizations that invited 2016 candidates to the presidential forum, Real Solutions for Real People on Saturday at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Democratic contenders campaigns were the only ones that agreed to be in attendance: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clintons surrogate, New Jersey U.S. Senator Corey Booker. We will have regular community folks, immigrant communities, fast food workers, Native American leaders -- a very racially diverse working class audience interested in hearing from candidates who want to deliver on key issues like immigration reform, minimum wage and make sure we invest in rural communities, said Bob Fulkerson, state director of PLAN. Story continues Fulkerson says this is an opportunity for the candidates to showcase their policy positions before the first-in-the-West caucus on February 20, the next contest in the Democratic race. Approximately a third of the audience will be made up of immigrants from the Latino community, which Fulkerson says is an essential vote in the presidential race. First and foremost they are looking to keep their families together; People are looking not to have their mom deported and they are looking for their kids to be able to stay with them. Beyond that they want economic security, a decent wage for a hard days work and they are not getting the same things that all working class people want, said Fulkerson. For Dulce Valencia its a chance to share her story and question candidates about the important issues that matter to her family and community. She hopes to encourage and educate people who can voice their choice at the polls, like her brother Jesus who was born in the U.S. and will be voting for the first time this year. Even though I cant vote, my brother will be voting in my honor. I dont tell him who to vote for but I want him to listen and see which candidate is going to support our family, immigration reform and who is going to support raising the minimum wage, said Valencia. Every vote matters; Those of us who cant vote wish we could vote. Valencia recently qualified for a work visa under her mother and started working with PLAN while attending college. She hopes within eight years to reach citizenship status. The Real Solutions for Real People presidential forum will be live streamed on KJIV 89.1 FM. Related Articles * Italy's economic data weakens * Prospects dwindle for promised cut in public debt * PM Renzi faces having to make steep budget cuts in 2017 * Seeks concessions from EU, attacks "budget pedants" By Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte ROME, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Italy's public finance difficulties are set to deepen as its economy weakens, and it may be punished by the markets even if Prime Minister Matteo Renzi reaches a compromise with the European Commission over this year's budget. Gross domestic product grew just 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2015, data showed on Friday, as the recovery from a three-year recession petered out. The official forecast of 1.6 percent growth in 2016 already looks far out of reach. Tax revenues may also disappoint, making it less likely Italy can bring down its huge debt for the first time in eight years as Renzi has promised. In another blow, officials say privatisations of the state railways and public air traffic control company are unlikely to go ahead this year as planned due to difficult market conditions. Before these setbacks, Renzi was already locked in an unusually heated row with Brussels over his 2016 budget, which the Commission says risks breaking the EU's fiscal rules after he raised targets for the budget deficit and public debt. It will give a definitive verdict in the spring, and may ask for adjustments. Renzi has demanded more leeway in the rules and attacked the Commission's "budget pedants". Experience suggests a face-saving compromise will be reached. But the Commission knows it risks losing credibility. "Italy has benefited more than any other country from budget flexibility," its Deputy President Jyrki Katainen said this month. "If we go on with this flexibility of the rules we won't have any more rules." But even if a deal is done, it will only push back the problems for a few more months, and they are getting bigger all the time. DEBT MOUNTAIN Having delayed promised debt reductions for four years now, Rome would have to make a much bigger fiscal adjustment to meet its commitments in 2017. Story continues Its public debt ratio of more than 130 percent of economic output is the second-highest in the euro zone after Greece's, and unless Renzi wins even more concessions he will have to find cuts of more than 15 billion euros ($17 billion) in 2017. Rome has not seen that kind of entrenchment since the height of the 2011 debt crisis when former prime minister Mario Monti passed draconian measures to save the country from bankruptcy. But Renzi faces a toxic combination of faltering growth, stalled privatisations and, despite the shield of the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme, higher borrowing costs. There is also a growing risk of a full-blown Italian banking crisis. The country's lenders, burdened with some 200 billion euros of bad loans, have lost almost 30 percent of their value on the Milan stock market this year. The gap between the yields on 10-year government bonds (BTPs) yields and safer German Bunds has climbed to more than 1.3 percentage points from 0.9 points in December. Some analysts fear Italy could follow Portugal, whose bond yields posted their biggest weekly rise for more than three years last week as investors fretted over Lisbon's public finances and the health of the world economy. "Italy is definitely vulnerable. As long as there is a risk-off environment, there is a risk that the BTP-Bund spread could widen further," said Daniel Lenz, a bond strategist at DZ Bank. Renzi must call an election by early 2018 at the latest. He has seen austerity-minded governments in Lisbon and Madrid thrown out of office recently and does not want to follow suit. His approval ratings have slumped over the last year and domestic hostility to cuts remains high due to the listless economy and high unemployment. He is under pressure from opposition parties eager to cash in on the strong rise in anti-European sentiment among ordinary Italians. Nevertheless, Italy signed the tougher "fiscal compact" that the euro zone drew up in 2012 in response to the debt crisis, mandating steep annual debt falls. It even made annual balanced budgets a constitutional requirement. But Rome has yet to put the rules into practice. Its debt has climbed steadily and parliament has voted each year to allow itself a special exemption to the balanced budget law. SQUARING THE CIRCLE This year, if the Commission does not force Renzi to amend his budget, the deficit will fall marginally to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product from 2.6 percent in 2015. After cutting taxes by more than 5 billion euros this year, Renzi has slated deeper cuts to corporate and income tax in 2017. At the same time, he has pledged to narrow the deficit in 2017 down to 1.1 percent of GDP. How he hopes to perform this feat has not yet been explained. Gustavo Piga, an economics professor at Rome's Tor Vergata University, urged him to take his dispute with the Commission even further and renege on his budget commitments for 2017. "Italy needs real fiscal stimulus," he said. "Renzi should tackle the 20 percent of wasteful spending in the state sector, while launching a programme of public investment and hiking the budget deficit target to 4 percent." Renzi is unlikely to follow that advice, even with problems mounting from all sides. Although growth is weakening, Italy has been out of recession for more than a year, meaning that under current rules justification for more EU budget leeway has all but disappeared. "There is no more room for flexibility, and it wouldn't be good for Italy either," said Daniel Gros, head of the Brussels-based economic think-tank CEPS. "Now, with markets more averse to risk, Italy would be well advised to be very prudent." ($1 = 0.8872 euros) (Additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe in London; Editing by Hugh Lawson) By Sinead Cruise and Anjuli Davies LONDON (Reuters) - Dwindling job security, heavier workloads, regulatory upheaval and the poor public image of the banking sector are taking a toll on the mental health of Britain's bank workers. Eight years after the global financial crisis, stress in the industry has pushed up demand for insurance to protect revenues against the cost of paying staff too sick to work, insurance data show. "The problem has gone into a new stratosphere since the financial crisis ... Those who still have a job are vilified," said Jagdev Kenth, director of risk and regulatory strategy in the financial institutions group at Willis Towers Watson. "Most haven't had anything to do with the scandals. They're working longer hours, doing two to three jobs, under greater pressure. Something has to give." Once havens for prestigious, highly-paid and lifelong careers, banks have undergone rapid cultural and structural change at the behest of regulators tasked with reining them in. Tougher capital rules, hefty misconduct fines, and the closure of riskier business lines have forced banks to slash staff. Ten of Europe's largest lenders have axed 130,000 jobs since June, Reuters data shows. The impact of stress has reached all the way up to the higher echelons of the banking industry. In 2011, Lloyds Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio took two months off after suffering sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Two years later senior British banker Hector Sants, at the time head of compliance at Barclays, was signed off on medical after suffering stress. Sants subsequently resigned. As risks of a global recession mount, investors want banks to slim down further. Almost three out of four bank employees admitted to workplace stress manifested by anxiety attacks, insomnia, headaches and depression, a survey conducted by trade union Unite between September and December showed. Some 85 percent of respondents, mainly working in retail and back office roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and TSB, said they worked additional unpaid hours last year. Story continues Lloyds, RBS and TSB referred requests for comments to trade body the British Bankers' Association, which represents all the banks covered by the Unite survey. Around two-thirds of respondents cited heavier workloads and around a fifth blamed pressure to perform. Seventy-two percent said they were considering quitting their jobs as a result. "Work-related stress is a very serious and increasing problem," said Dominic Hook, the union's National Officer for Finance, responsible for 130,000 members in financial services. "We are working with employers to tackle the issues that cause stress, such as long working hours and the effect of long-term staffing reductions," he said, adding that a separate survey covering staff at Barclays was under way. PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE The British Bankers' Association said protecting staff's physical and mental wellbeing was "a top priority" for its members, who are devising more innovative ways to prevent problems occurring. These include in-house counsellors, mental health 'first aid' courses, yoga sessions for traders, and more comprehensive mental healthcare plans. HSBC said it had a number of initiatives to reduce stress-related illnesses. "These include providing a healthcare plan to all employees with a comprehensive mental health benefit for employees and their family," it said. Several UK lenders have teamed up with the Bank Workers Charity to provide training for line managers on supporting stressed staff more sensitively. "Banks are conscious that there are trends that make life stressful for their employees ... they are focusing on wellbeing in a way that they weren't 10 years ago," Paul Barrett, head of wellbeing at the Bank Workers Charity, told Reuters. "There is some way to go, but they are being more proactive." Health and Safety Executive statistics show jobs in financial services are 44 percent more likely to lead to stress-related illnesses than the average UK job, meaning employers are also taking steps to control the hit to their finances caused by staff absences. Demand for special insurance products known as Group Income Protection (GIP) policies is rising steadily among financial sector employers, according to global insurer MetLife. Tom Gaynor, Employee Benefits Director at MetLife UK, said the average employer paid the equivalent of 1 to 1.5 percent of annual payroll to insure themselves against the cost of staff sick leave. "In the UK, about 12-13 percent of companies take up GIP. In banking that figure is close to 100 percent. I don't know an investment bank that doesn't do it," he said. Data from MetLife's core U.S. market showed investment banks are up to 30 percent more likely to make claims for staff suffering mental and psychological conditions than other policyholders on its books. HUMAN COST OF CRISIS Suicide mortality rates per 100,000 of population in the City of London, home to the historic Square Mile financial district, have consistently outnumbered any other London borough since 2009, government data accurate to end-2013 shows. "Part of the problem is that we are an industry that downsizes all the time," said one banker who has been made redundant several times in a career spanning more than three decades. "London is also the first place people cut. There's a constant threat of being axed in London," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is still seeking work in the sector. Those suffering from stress in the workplace were reluctant to talk on the record to Reuters given the sensitive nature of the topic. This may also mean many cases go unreported as employees fear telling their line managers or colleagues. New patient assessments at a specialist wellbeing clinic operated in the City by private mental healthcare firm The Priory are up 106 percent in the year to Jan. 31, with more than 70 new patients registering on average each month. "People are feeling overwhelmed with the vast change in this business and in their careers," said consultant adult psychiatrist Dr Paul McLaren. "Some people may thrive on that but many more struggle and this increases the chances of them developing a mental illness, particularly if they have a vulnerability." A soon-to-be published survey by Willis Towers Watson found a dislocation between what employers believe are the root causes of workplace stress and what their staff are actually stressed about. The biennial Staying@Work Survey, which covers around 1,700 companies worldwide, showed more than four-fifths of employers thought a lack of work-life balance and excessive organisational change were the biggest burdens on staff. But 69 percent of employees said their top concern was inadequate staffing, followed by 65 percent who identified poor pay. That means prospects for a major rebound in mood and morale among bank workers look remote. "It's very difficult in an industry that is downsizing and shrinking and doesn't know where it is going. It's perpetual boom and bust," the banker said. "Although right now it looks like bust, and then bust a bit more." (Editing by Andrew Roche and Janet McBride) The new logo of the ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany's industrial conglomerate, is seen in front of their headquarters before the annual news conference in Essen, Germany, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp's components division is expanding to a new administrative site in Germany to accommodate new orders for shock absorbers from the automotive industry, it said on Monday. The steel-to-elevators group said it would move about 200 administrative staff from its shock absorber unit Bilstein's headquarters in the town of Ennepetal, North Rhine-Westphalia, to a new site in Bochum, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) away. "Our order books are very healthy at the moment," said Peter-Klaus Kirner, chief executive of Thyssenkrupp's shock-absorber business, declining to give details of the new orders. "In the next few years our growth will come mainly from new auto industry orders, and we need to be prepared to handle it, including our development and administrative departments." Thyssenkrupp said it was not immediately hiring new staff but needed room to grow. Thyssenkrupp's Components Technology unit reported a 3 percent decline in comparable orders in the quarter to end-December, saying orders from car makers were robust but trucks and construction machinery orders were weak. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Adrian Croft) By Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Hackers used a Russian-based internet provider and made phone calls from inside Russia as part of a coordinated cyber attack on Ukraine's power grid in December, Ukraine's energy ministry said on Friday. The incident was widely seen as the first known power outage caused by a cyber attack, and has prompted fears both within Ukraine and outside that other critical infrastructure could be vulnerable. The ministry, saying it had completed an investigation into the incident, did not accuse the Russian government directly of involvement in the attack, which knocked out electricity supplies to tens of thousands of customers in central and western Ukraine and prompted Kiev to review its cyber defenses. But the findings chime with the testimony of the U.S. intelligence chief to Congress this week, which named cyber attacks, including those targeting Washington's interests in Ukraine, as the biggest threat to U.S. national security. Relations between Kiev and Moscow soured after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and pro-Russian separatist violence erupted in Ukraine. Hackers targeted three power distribution companies in December's attack, and then flooded those companies' call centers with fake calls to prevent genuine customers reporting the outage. "According to one of the power companies, the connection by the attackers to its IT network occurred from a subnetwork ... belonging to an (internet service) provider in the Russian Federation," the ministry said in a statement. Deputy Energy Minister Oleksander Svetelyk told Reuters hackers had prepared the attacks at least six months in advance, adding that his ministry had ordered tighter security procedures. "The attack on our systems took at least six months to prepare - we have found evidence that they started collecting information (about our systems) no less than 6 months before the attack," Svetelyk said by phone. Researchers at Trend Micro, one of the world's biggest security software firms, said this week that the software used to infect the Ukrainian utilities has also been found in the networks of a large Ukrainian mining company and a rail company. The researchers said one possible explanation was that it was an attempt to destabilize Ukraine as a whole. It was also possible these were test probes to determine vulnerabilities that could be exploited later, they said. (Writing by Matthias Williams; additional reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) 2000 - 2022 24 .- . focus-news.net, () . 24 . 24 . . 24 . We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Quebec police identify officer killed in line of duty A very sad day for this mans family, and for Canada... R.I.P. Quebec provincial police have identified the police officer who was shot and killed in Lac-Simon, Que., on Saturday night as 26-year-old Thierry Leroux.Police say the incident occurred at about 10:30 p.m. when officers responded to a call about a "conflict" at a residence in the small community near Val D'Or, approximately 500 kilometres northwest of Montreal."Shortly after police arrived on the scene, at least 1 shot was fired in their direction (it was) not possible (for them) to react," Sgt. Claude Denis, a spokesman for the Surete du Quebec, told CTV News.Denis said that Leroux suffered serious injuries and later died.Another officer was taken to hospital, but his injuries are not life-threatening.Denis said that Leroux had been a member of the Lac-Simon police force for six months."It is very sad. This is a young policeman," he said.The alleged shooter has been identified as Joseph Anthony Raymond Papatie, 22, a resident of Lac-Simon. He suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead in the residence, Denis said.Police say the officers did not return fire and they believe Papatie may have shot himself.Authorities did not reveal whether Papatie lived at the residence where the incident occurred.The alleged shooter left behind a Facebook message in French with an apology to friends and the line I killed a police. There were also various photos of the 22-year-old wearing military fatigues.Lac-Simon Deputy Chief Pamela Papatie told reporters social workers are in place to help friends, family and community members.In a statement, a spokesman for the Canadian Union of Public Employees said that Leroux was from Lac St-Jean, Que., and expressed his sympathy for Leroux's family."We are shaken by this horrible news," said Stephane Lachance."We offer our most sincere condolences to Thierry's family and loved ones."Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Parti Quebecois leader Pierre Karl Peladeau also expressed their condolences for Leroux and his family on Twitter.The Ministry of Public Safety has launched an independent investigation, which is being overseen by the Surete du Quebec............................. And so. Here we are exactly one week after the Plattsmouth Journal published Sen. Bill Kintners column, The Way It Has Always Been in the Legislature. The column also appeared on our website two days earlier. His column is based on Michael Michalkos 2011 blog post, What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Human Behavior. The blog relates a story about a supposedly scientific study done with monkeys showing that monkeys learn behaviors from other monkeys even if they do not know the origin or rationale behind the behavior. The senator used this blog to compare the monkeys to processes in the Legislature. See last weeks issue for the column. I knew the column would create a stir once published, but because I am an editor, not a political adviser, we printed it in our Feb. 11 issue. It is also noted on our Opinion page that the views of the column writers are not necessarily the views of Plattsmouth Journal staff, its sister papers or its owner Lee Enterprises. The stir came in the Legislature when it opened session Thursday morning. Speaker Sen. Galen Hadley chastised Kintner for writing such a negative column. According to news reports, a majority of the senators gave Hadleys words a standing ovation. Following new reports in statewide media, I received emails from three people wanting Plattsmouth Journal to respond and/or retract the senators column. All three wanted it noted that Sen. Kintner plagiarized the material from social media. One gentleman reminded me that if Kintner were on The Journal staff, we would fire him for plagiarism. It was also noted that Kintners column did not meet the editorial standards of The Journal. I asked each person if I could share their thoughts about Kintners column in our Letters to the Editor section. One refused and the other two gave me no answer. Now, in response, its time for me to explain a few things. The Journal has long published columns written by this districts state senators, Nebraska Governor, U.S. Senators and U.S. Congressmen, not because the staff necessarily agrees with what they say in the columns, but to give readers an insight into what these officials are thinking and voting on. It is not my place to call or email them after receiving one of their submissions to say, Gee, I dont think this column would be good for you to share with your constituents. Nor should readers want me put the column in File 13 until one comes along that I like better. No, I didnt realize he took it word for word from a blog. But I will say that most written words on social media are plagiarized from someplace. Michalkos story of the monkeys is also referred to as the parable of the monkeys, because the scientific study he incorporates in the blog never happened the way it is told. It truly is more of an urban legend that a scientific study. It is very loosely based on a 1966 study done by Gordon R. Stephenson with rhesus monkeys. In this case, however, there were no ladders, no cold water and no bananas. There were monkeys, air blasts, objects and scientists. If you want to read about Stephensons study I suggest looking at his report, Cultural acquisition of a specific learned response among rhesus monkeys, published in 1967 in Progress in Primatology, page 279-288. Basically, Michalko turned the study into a parable on human behavior. From my research on this parable, it has been around for a very long time and is frequently plagiarized. You be the judge. In no way am I defending Sen. Kintners opinion. Thats not my job. I will, however, until my dying breath, defend his right to having one and letting his constituents know what that opinion is, right or wrong, good or bad. As for myself, Ive always been proud of Nebraskas Unicameral. I love that Nebraska is the only state with a non-partisan Unicameral. Partisanship has gotten our country into the mess its in today, in my opinion. Ive also come to know some fairly wonderful state senators in the past 23 years working for a newspaper including Roger Wehrbein, Dave Pankonin and our own Mayor Paul Lambert. In any of their cases, it is the voters who decide by casting votes whether to fire them or not. Newspapers simply fulfill their role as the Fourth Estate and try to keep government as transparent as possible. And were not, to say the least, monkeying around. Rethinking Africa and Black History From The Ramparts Junious Ricardo Stanton Rethinking Africa and Black History "The role racism played and continues to play in shaping world history is a tragedy which negatively influences all people. There are those who are correct in their belief that the race issue is irrelevant and is an impediment to human development. In reality there is only one race, "the human race" which has been proven to have originated in Africa . Yet, for years scientists have ignored and even fabricated data to sow that humanity developed in Europe or Asia rather than acknowledge Africa is the site where the greatest evidence of early human development is to be found." Anthony T. Browder, Exploding The Myths Vol. 1 Nile Valley Contributions To Civilization page 14. Cheyney University recently wrote a column in the Philadelphia Tribune suggesting we should abolish Black History Month. I suspect he used the word abolish for shock value to get folks' attention so they'd read the column. His insightful column shared the role Carter G. Woodson played in the origin of Negro History Week which later evolved to Black History Month. He mentioned the organization Carter G Woodson founded, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History . and its mission to promote the study and appreciation of African and African American history and culture Michael Coard my friend and co-activist in our struggle to saverecently wrote a column in the Philadelphia Tribune suggesting we should abolish Black History Month. I suspect he used the wordfor shock value to get folks' attention so they'd read the column. His insightful column shared the role Carter G. Woodson played in the origin of Negro History Week which later evolved to Black History Month. He mentioned the organization Carter G Woodson founded, theand its mission to promote the study and appreciation of African and African American history and culture Brother Coard is of the opinion, as am I, that Black History/African History should be expanded and incorporated into every aspect and facet of US pedagogy. I have had discussions with him on this topic and he and I both agree African History is the longest record of human progress and accomplishment and is indeed world history despite the fact much of this history is unknown, suppressed or ignored.. Africans were the first to walk upright, the first people to cogitate about the meaning and purpose of existence, create and use tools, invent musical instruments, weapons, created metallurgy, develop water way navigation, boats and seafaring. Ancient Africans invented art, science, engineering, healing modalities, philosophy, spiritual awareness, mathematics, writing and formal education. On the social level, Africans invented rituals and ceremonies such as marriage, defined families, created rites of passage, governance and government. Unfortunately most of us are not aware of these accomplishments or believe what I'm saying because Europeans, the Johnnie come lately to the human stage, control the historiography and narrative about human progress. To add insult to injury they have disingenuously and arrogantly placed themselves at the epicenter of all human progress. Even the few whites who attempt to tell the truth about Africa ; people like Basil Davidson, Robert Bauval, Johan Heine and others, are ignored or marginalized. When people of African heritage attempt to set the record straight, right the wrongs and counter the lies of Eurocentric historiography they are denounced, vilified and attacked. We are in a war for truth and the very soul of Africa . As African people we must be vigilant and implacable in our quest for the truth and remain steadfast in our mission to set the record straight. New information is coming out all the time about the vast civilizations that developed and flourished on the continent of Africa . We can no longer depend upon Europeans for our history or the truth about humanity. We must realize European leaders have deep psychological insecurities and inadequacies that prompt them to distort and depict history in such a way as to put their forbearers who in terms of global chronology and physical existence were not significant factors on this planet until a mere few thousand years ago as the ultimate in human genius. European elites have created a compensatory narrative of history to be a balm for their inadequacies, inferiority complexes and to justify their abhorrent behavior. Africa is a huge landmass, it is the second largest continent on the planet. Africa is not a country. Europe is not a continent contrary to what white folks want us to believe and what we were taught in school! All of the area of Europe and North and South America could fit inside of Africa ! We have to begin to see Africa in that light, its bigness and vastness as the birthplace of humanity and human genius. New discoveries are happening all the time about the brilliance of African people. As great as the Nile Valley Civilizations were, new information is being uncovered that indicates there were advanced civilizations throughout Africa that advanced culture. In their book Black Genesis The Pre Historic Origins and Ancient Egypt Robert Bauval and Thomas Brophy two white men state that the artifacts, megaliths and structures at the site called Nabta Playa were in fact created by Black Africans who built those structures to track the stars and for use as ritualistic and ceremonial sites. These Africans were in contact with other communities including the Nile Valley, Nubia ( Sudan ) and the Mediterranean . They have concluded Nabta Playa were megaliths built and designed by ancient residents to align with the heavens specifically the star Sirius and the three stars of Orion's belt. Changes in the earth's climate and topography impacted the area and the expanding desertification of the Sahara covered the lush river beds that had existed there thousands of years ago which played a major role in the life of Nabta Playa. Recently megaliths were discovered in South Africa and named Adam's Calendar that similarly align with Orion's stars and other heavenly objects. What were originally thought by Europeans to be cattle pens for livestock are now surmised to be remains of temples, sun and star calendars, remnants of dwellings and other structures. Dating of the stones indicate the structures are over 75,000 old! "Adams Calendar is controversially suggested to be the oldest man-made structure in the world. Sometimes referred to as 'African Stonehenge', it predates both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza by tens of thousands of years. Located in Mpumalanga , South Africa it is a standing stone circle about 30 meters in diameter and has been estimated by some accounts to be more than 75,000 years old. Various astronomical alignments have been identified at the site and it is possibly the only example of a completely functional, mostly intact megalithic stone calendar in the world. Scattered throughout the mountains of South Africa are thousands of stone circle ruins. The first estimates of the number of these ruins was made in 1891 by English explorer Theodore Bent. He estimated there were about 4,000 in this area of the world. By 1974 the estimate had risen to 20,000. Today, researcher and authority on the subject, Michael Tellinger, has estimated the number of ancient stone ruins to be 100,000 or possibly much higher. Some of these 'stone circles' have no doors or entrances while most are connected by an expansive network of channels that are often misinterpreted as 'roads' by some historians. This connected grid of circular ruins are immersed in a seemingly never-ending expanse of ancient agricultural terraces surrounding the structures. Adams Calendar is considered to be the most famous among these ruins." http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa/adam-s-calendar-oldest-megalithic-site-world-003160 Interestingly when Europeans first discovered the stone structures of Great Zimbabwe in South Africa they refused to believe Africans could create such magnificent living arrangements so they attributed them to some unknown 'whites civilization'. When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798 he was astonished at what he and his army saw. He immediately experienced cognitive dissonance because in his warped megalomania he could not believe indigenous Africans created such an awesome civilization. Similarly there are whites who say the Adam's Calendar megaliths in South Africa are the work of extraterrestrial aliens, the Annunaki. According to the people who hold this view, the gold mines in the area thousands of years ago were used to mine gold and send it back to the Annunaki's native planet Nibiru. I don't doubt extra terrestrials are real or that intra-dimensional (differing frequencies of energy/matter) pathways exist. Nor do I deny there are ways to alter human consciousness to communicate with deceased ancestors and other intelligent spiritual entities our Africans ancestors called Neters, Orisha, or Sunsum for example. This has all been part of African social, cultural and spiritual practices for hundreds of thousands of years. I'm just not into the Annunaki Nibiru stuff. Nevertheless, we need to investigate and discover what made the heavens so fascinating to our ancestors, what motivated them to build such huge megaliths and monuments of stone exactly aligning them to the stars, how did they cart those stones some weighing several tons apiece to the sites throughout Africa and how did they develop the skills to carve and chisel the stone so magnificently? We have a lot to learn about ourselves and our brilliance. I'm sharing this information about Adam's Calendar to let folks know how ancient and great Africa and Africans are; to suggest we need to rethink and expand our perspectives on Africa . The prehistoric megaliths in South Africa (Adam's Calendar), Nabta Playa in Nubia, Tiya in Ethiopia, the Bouar in Central Africa, the magnificence of the Nile Valley Civilizations and the more recent megalith discoveries of Ikom in Nigeria demonstrate continent wide genius. We are a deep and creative people. The sad reality is most of us are unaware of this genius. We know very little about the ancient African heritage for several reasons but we can rectify this situation. We are the ones who need to get busy, study, do research, support African centered scholars and archeologists in their mission to counter and correct the ignorance and deliberate defamation of Africa and Africans. It is our responsibility to learn, teach and spread the knowledge world wide about our greatness and accomplishments. It's time we rethink Africa and expand our connection to the motherland. -30- Ethiopian Airlines, the leading, fastest growing and most profitable African airline, will start twice daily flights to Delhi with the latest B737-800 New Generation Sky Interior aircraft, as of March 26, 2016. Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, said, We are pleased to offer our customers a double daily service to Delhi. India being one of the strongest economic muscles zooming into the global economic picture, availing more frequencies would catalyze the channeling of investors from both countries and facilitating business. Moreover the addition of the flight would have a paramount significance in strengthening the growing economic, political, and social relationship of the two countries in particular and the two continents in general. Our customers will be able to make an immediate connection to cities like Hargeisa, Khartoum, Nairobi and some Southern African flights. Ethiopian is a global Pan-African carrier serving more than 92 international destinations across 5 continents and operating the youngest fleet in Africa with less than the industry average age of 5 years. The airline is expanding to new destinations, and in the past year has introduced service to Tokyo, Manila, Dublin, Los Angeles, Cape Town, Durban, Gaborone, Yaounde, and Goma. Game Developers Conference organizers are excited to highlight some promising day-long sponsored developer days for GDC 2016 next month that offer cutting-edge insights into the art and business of game development from Amazon, Imagination Technologies and Google. These developer day sessions take place during the first two days of GDC: Monday and Tuesday, March 14th and 15th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Google is back this year to host a full day of fresh insight, announcements and discussion. In the morning, you'll hear about how to develop great games, grow your user base and earn more money. Then download a ton of tips from Google's Lightning Talks. Spend the afternoon with Google experts and mobile developers in interactive discussion to get your questions answered, provide your feedback directly to product leads and exchange ideas with peers. Don't miss this opportunity to find tools and tips that will help you grow your games business. After that, consider checking out the Imagination Developers Connection on Tuesday. Presented by Imagination Technologies, it promises to be an exciting full-day event that includes presentations and interactive sessions with Imagination Technologies' PowerVR graphics and ray tracing experts. Plus, you'll have a chance to learn about the PowerVR GPU roadmap and recent announcements; advanced ray tracing techniques for mobile and desktop development; creating efficient Vulkan applications on the PowerVR Architecture; and migrating from OpenGL ES to Vulkan using the new PowerVR SDK framework. And if that's not up your alley, you can swing by Amazon's developer day on Tuesday to get the latest details on how you can use Amazon's App Store and Amazon Web Services to turn your game into a viable business, right from the source. Building games as an indie or AAA studio is serious business, you might have trouble finding success if you don't treat it as such. At Amazon's Tuesday dev day the Amazon Appstore and AWS teams will teach you everything you need to succeed, from game ideation, creation, scaling, monetization, marketing to polishing and publishing. For more details about these and other announced GDC 2016 sessions, check out the GDC Session Scheduler. Plus, conference officials look forward to announcing many more GDC 2016 sessions spanning a diverse array of game industry issues in the weeks ahead. GDC 2016 itself will take place March 14-18th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2016, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech. The blog covers releases in the areas of free and mainstream jazz, world music, "art" rock, and the blues. Classical coverage, which was originally here, continues on the Gapplegate Classical-Modern Review (see link on this page). Where are we right now and how did we get here? That's the concern. At midday on Friday 5 February, 2016 Julian Assange, John Jones QC, Melinda Taylor, Jennifer Robinson and Baltasar Garzon will be speaking at a press conference at the Frontline Club on the decision made by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the Assange case. We do not know if we will ever again see the equivalent of the siberian traps. We can see a super volcano at work, but that is likely to be... Outline without work hard make sacrifices all honest not to brag committed burnout the minute don't really want an MBA tough questions any don't all exactly you same and absolutely not exactly actually do fundamental feel many after time I saved learned strongly before same must why bike drive almost never Attachment: File comment: DOC Version of Obscure SC Rules GMAT SC Trivia.doc [61 KiB] Downloaded 250 times To download please login or register as a user Attachment: File comment: PDF Version of Obscure SC Rules GMAT SC Trivia.pdf [140.26 KiB] Downloaded 305 times To download please login or register as a user before and not supported any of that desperately 0) Introduction1) GMAT is Not a Big Deal2) Reality Check3) Study Habits4) Do Practice Exams5) Score History and Mini-Debriefs6) Resources7) General8) Quant9) Verbal10) AWA11) IR12) Do a Debrief After Each Exam13) Advice for GMAT Club14) Thanks0) IntroductionI am an African native English-speaker engineer working at a technology company. I want to pursue an MBA to help transform Africa (especially Sub-Saharan African) into the economic titan that I envision it to be. I mention the fact that I am an African to encourage other Africans that with hardwork and dedication, they too can score highly on the GMATcutting corners or even worse cheating on the exam.1) GMAT is Not a Big DealI'm sure that the following point won't be heeded by many here especially those who have worked very hard on the GMAT but have not seen results commensurate with their hard work.The point is that the GMAT does not matter as much as people think it does unless one's GPA is not that stellar. The whole point of the GMAT is to segregate people into distinct groups based on their scores and to show that one can perform at a certain academic level in school; it has little to do with being a business leader at an organization. In my humble opinion, the only sections that seem to be relevant to being a business leader are IR, CR, AWA, and RC decreasing in relevancy in that order. We have professional editors for SC and computer programs for Quant. Strengthen other parts of your application if your GMAT score is not that great (720+).2) Reality CheckThe following may make some of you upset, but it is only for the best, and has worked for me.Unless you have been blessed with natural talents for performing well on the GMAT, you need toto own this exam and must. This means eliminatingpotential distractions such as Facebook, TV, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Vine. I have found that all of these things especially TV are just pure time wasters. You won't be less "informed" not knowing what frivolous act Kim Kardashian engaged in, what jokes Obama made, or what exotic place your friend visited for the nth time. On the contrary, you will find out that your life will be more productive as a result. Bewith yourself and understand that as a future CEO, executive, or world leader, you won't and shouldn't have time for these things.Trust me, I know about the hard work part, and the many small things that one misses while studying for the GMAT. As a Christian, I deal with my problems through prayer in addition to hard work. Because I wasn't seeing much progress, I chose to fast 7 hours one Saturday each month for several months before I saw improvement in Quant and CR. The eureka moments came frustratingly slowly, but I am grateful that they came. I had to delay spending time with my friends and family, because of the GMAT. I also had to cut down my time working out at the gym and thus frustratingly gained fat and lost the hard-earned muscle that I built. In total, I did 1783 Verbal questions, 604 LSAT LR Questions, 561 LSAT RC Questions, and 1343 Quant questions. Note that these don't include questions I did when I wasn't home. This is, but to show you howI was to the GMAT.Of course in order to prevent, you should also schedule weekends for playing hard (watching a movie, going out with friends, etc.), but don't overdo it and have the discipline to get right back to GMATthat weekend is over.If you don't want to work hard for this exam, it most likely means that you eitheror dislike standardized exams. If you don't mind standardized exams, at this point, you should ask yourself thesuch as why do I want an MBA? Is it to allow my parents to continue living vicariously through me? Is it just because my friends are pushing me to do it? Is it just because it's another box to check? If the answer toof these questions is "yes", you most likelywant an MBA and should stop your journey now, because you will most likely be miserable doing the MBA and will not work hard if you are admitted to a program. If the answer toof these questions is "no" and you dislike standardized tests, you need to swallow this dislike and muster up the will to work hard anyway. You must understand that some things on the path to one's passions and dreams may not be glamorous and must get done.Reference: https://lawschooli.com/harsh-truths-tha ... -the-lsat/ 3) Study HabitsBuild good habits when taking real questions (timing and strategy such as scanning through SC choices and knowing when to give up on questions). This is very important, because when you take the real exam, your mind will switch to auto-pilot, and however you've answered practice questions will bethe same way you will answer real exam questions. With that being said, find the study habit that works for; there is no one right way to study. You are a unique being and things that work for someone else might not work for you.4) Do Practice ExamsYou need to do practice exams to build stamina for your actual exam, and to harden your study skills. I suggest that you take at least 4 practice exams each weekend before the weekend of your actual exam. These exams need to be done under theconditions as the GMAT exam. This means having an 8-minute break and penalizing yourself for exceeding the break time. I thought that time over the break would be deducted from time used for reading the directions first and then time used for answering questions in the section, but it is deducted from time on the section only (typical of GMAC). You would also be wise to take the exam on the pad that is given on the GMAT. sells both the pad and pen as a unit on Amazon. Unfortunately, the pen can't be ordered separately once it runs out, so you will have to order both the padpen even if you want just the pen.5) Score History and Mini-Debriefs09/14/11620 (Q44, V31, AWA 4.5)I was interested in management consulting and wanted to take the GMAT to augment my poor SAT scores and poor GPA. I studied half-heartedly for 2.5 months and really had no idea what I was doing. I only found out about GMATClub about 1 month towards the end of my prep. I struggled with a lot of Quant concepts such as remainders, probability and combinatorics, and inequalities. For SC, I only eliminated answer choices based on SVA rules. Interestingly, I foolishly still expected a Q50+, V40+.09/16/14690 (Q47, V37, IR3)I was still mentally tired after taking a practice exam 3 days ago. This really hurt me in Verbal, and I could not even read the last question, because of fatigue. Quant owned me, because I sacrificed accuracy for speed and could not answer questions about remainders or absolute value. I had no idea how to handle SC, because I did not see splits available; the questions seemed fundamentally different from those in GMATPrep. Even though I thought that I was an RC master at this point, I forgot how to answer INFER questions. I was completely blindsided by this exam.11/08/14610 (Q47, V28, IR7)I took my time during this exam in Quant and assumed that I did well, and was shocked at the score. In Verbal, I spent too much time on an RC question that I had to rush through the remainder of the section, but didn't expect so low of a Verbal score.12/20/14700 (Q50, V34, IR5)I was tired before this exam and woke up at 04:30 even after taking Benadryl and NyQuil to knock me out. I really didn't feel that I performed that well in Quant, but I was ahead of time, so I was surprised at the Quant score. I'm thankful to God that I had a lot of time left in the section, because I ran out of room on my pad and it took 45 seconds for the Pearson employee to see me trying to get her attention. It was after this exam that I believed that I could actually score a Q50 and aimed to do so on subsequent exams. In Verbal, I struggled a lot in CR especially with ASU questions, I couldn't really understand RC passages, and I didn't really know how to tackle SC questions. Needless to say, I bombed the section.08/08/15700 (Q49, V36, IR6)I had a lot of insomnia before this exam and because of that, I could not understand Quant word problems, CR, or RC at all. I basically had to guess on such questions. I expected a lower score given my mental condition.08/28/15690 (Q48, V35, IR5)I figured out that SC was pulling my score down and spent the next 20 days reviewing it. I took this around Friday afternoon right after taking a half-day of work. I suggest that you don't do this, because I was tired midway in Quant and thus was tired for the rest of Verbal. Again, I did not understand how to tackle SC questions and flopped as a result. However, interestingly, CR was the section that pulled my score down.12/28/15750 (Q49, V42, IR2)Before taking this exam, I resolved to owning Verbal by creating strategies for each subsection. After months of laziness, I invested time in vertically scanning answer choices and focusing on the meaning rather than reading each answer choice left to right and focusing on grammar. I don't know whether that actually paid off given the circumstances surrounding my exam.This literally was a miracle test. I went to bed at 22:00 and woke up at 02:17 and couldn't go back to bed again no matter how hard I tried. When I arrived at the test center, I suddenly had diarrhea and had to take about 15 minutes getting rid of it. When I felt better, I decided to start my exam. Needless to say, I was tired when doing the AWA and wrote 5 weak paragraphs. I then began IR, but the diarrhea returned. I rushed through the section to get enough time to use the restroom, so that my performance on Quant wouldn't be impacted. I clicked submit on IR with 10 minutes remaining, assuming that I would have 10 minutes plus the break time to use the restroom, but after clicking submit, I only had the break time. I dashed to the restroom for my last chance to empty my bowels. It finally worked, and I was able to do Quant diarrhea free!Verbal was a different animal; RC was very difficult but SC was manageable, so I thought that I was performing poorly. Because of my frustration with the insomnia and the fact that I had to take the exam many times, I just answered wildly on RC. I was extremely shocked at the score, because of how I took the exam. I bought the ESR and saw that Verbal was CR 51, RC 34, and SC 46. I have never seen anything like it. I clicked accept scores and walked out in complete shock and thanks to God for allowing me to reach my target score.01/15/16730 (Q50, V39, IR2)Even though I reached my target score in my last sitting, I decided to retake the exam because of the extremely low IR score.This was the only exam that I took in which I was well-rested. IR was the hardest section, and because I had foolishly spent 5 minutes on the first question and a lot of time on other questions, I was forced to skip 3 questions in a row. I was told that IR was not an adaptive section, so skipping questions like this was not a problem. I focused on owning the last 3 questions on the IR section and did so, so I was surprised at the low IR score. Quant was a breeze. I knew that I was faring well, because I owned each question that came to me. I was beating the clock and banked time to address hard questions. I foolishly repeated the mistake I made in IR in Verbal and thus spent too much time on SC questions in which I could not figure out the answer for the life of me. Because of this, I had to rush through questions that I knew that I would have owned given time.After this exam, I contacted the GSB, HBS, and Sloan admissions offices in order to task them about the effect of a low IR score. HBS gave me a vague response, but GSB and Sloan told me that it really does not matter compared to the overall GMAT score, and that they look at the entire package. At this point, I realized that my GMAT journey had finally come to an end. Thank God for His faithfulness and grace over the last 28 months.6) Resources2012, 2015 (electronic version), 2016* This is needed especially for SC to build a recognition of GMAT's voice for correct and incorrect answers. As many people have harped on, there are not that many 700+ questions in this book, so you need to look at other sources such as GMATPrep and Tests.* Explanations for SC and for some Quant questions especially for the hard questions are hit or miss, because you need to remember that GMAC's main goal for the GMAT is to order people based on their scores. People who see the true errors (the 700+ scorers) will figure it out and will be able to solve similar problems on test day and those that don't (the non-700+ scorers) will not and will most likely miss it on test day. You'll definitely see this in SC when answer choices with comparison or modifier errors have explanations that say "awkward or wordy". See https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... tml#p71580 * If you want to perform well in Quant, you need to get to the point where you can solve 95% of these questions in 115s or fewer, because most of them are in the low 600s.GMATPrep 2 Free Tests* These exams except for SC resemble what one would see on the actual exam.GMATPrep Exam Pack 1* These exams most resemble the GMAT. Some of the Quant questions are easy though.GMATPrep Question Pack 1* Resembles what one would experience on the GMAT; answer explanations for SC and some Quant questions are hit or miss.GMATClub Verbal Tests* These are terrible and can hurt your score! I scored a V28 on one, which was far from most of my scores on any of my actual GMAT exams or GMATPrep exams.GMATClub Quant Tests* These are too hard and are not needed for scoring a Q50 on the exam. The best I scored while taking these is a Q43.Verbal and Quant Guides* Good for foundational knowledge; if you want to own Verbal especially SC, you need to be familiar with obscure rules, which you gain an understand of by doing hard problems and reviewing explanations by experts such as Ron Purewal and Stacey Koprince.Tests* Quant is too hard and Verbal is easy; other than that, these tests allow you to simulate an exam experience.VeritasPrep Tests* I bought these, because I had taken the exams several times and didn't want to continue seeing inflated scores.* IR is horrible; it is more like an extension of Quant.* Quant is decent but several questions test the exact same concept, an event that is rare on the exam.* Verbal especially SC is not that good.The Next 10 Actual Official LSAT PREPTESTS (29-38) and 10 New Actual, Official LSAT PREPTESTS (52-61)* These were gold for CR and RC practice. The questions are written in the same language as the GMAT and are useful if you need extra practice for CR and RC. The LSAT is a tougher exam than the GMAT, so don't worry if you don't perform at a high level for a big chunk of the questions. You should take each relevant LR or RC question under GMAT time limits (average of 2 minutes). You should also ignore LR questions that are not tested in CR such as Sufficient Assumption, Principle, Least Likely to Be True. Also, ignore questions that have arguments that depend on Conditional Logic. Please keep in mind that the LR arguments are typically shorter than the GMAT arguments, but are usually more complex than them.* Explanations for PrepTests 29-38 https://www.manhattanprep.com/lsat/forums/ (Know that the response time on these forums can be months or years, but most common questions have already been answered)* Explanations for PrepTests 52-61Bible* This gives you a good foundation for answering CR questions, but you must know that it is a very-watered down version of the same book for the LSAT. It seems as if the authors were too lazy to remove conditional logic and the extensive list of flaws (for the flaw question type) from the book, items that wereessential to CR.The LSAT Trainer: A remarkable self-study guide for the self-driven student* In hindsight, I would have purchased this book in order to perform well on CR and RC over Bible. Of course, one should ignore the items not related to the GMAT such as Sufficient Assumption, Principle, Match The Flaw, and Logic Games (weirdly enough, Logic Games are sometimes tested in IR).Thursdays with Ron* I watched about 10 of these videos (mostly for CR and SC), but didn't find any of them useful.Forums* GMATClub (awesome for Quant;)* Forums (awesome for Verbal and for Quant)Online Courses* Only useful for learning basic sentence correction rules.* I found the 700+ Quant questions too easy.* This didn't help me for CR whatsoever.* Some lessons have mistakes.* As far as SC goes, the explanations from arethe same as those in the . I can't remember how many times the "expert" stated how an SC choice is "so awkward that it should be shot", mirroring what the GMAT explanation stated albeit with more emotion.GMAT Pill* The Verbal Pill is a complete waste of money and the app stinks big time. Zeke stated that you don't have to remember rules for SC and for a while I believed that until I realized that youhave to memorize rules for SC. The only useful piece of information that I gained from this course is how to tackle RC questions.* The SC Pill is a complete waste of money and Zeke basically renames grammatical elements such as modifiers to descriptors. His treatment of parallelism and comparisons is so elementary that it can't be used to tackle hard SC problems in those categories.* This course is designed for non-natives.* I do commend 's emphasis on understanding the meaning of a sentence on first read.7) GeneralYou must focus on understanding core concepts before touching official GMAT questions and definitely before touching GMATPrep exams. This is especially true for the Quant and SC sections. This is where the strategy guides and Bible come handy. Do the practice questions in those books and redo them until you master the concepts. Specifically for Quant, go to Wikipedia, Khan Academy, and other sites on the web to understandproperties of basic geometric figures, combinations, probabilities, and statistics. For SC, you have much less leeway, because the GMAT's rules on a grammatical property generally disagree with other sources.You have to time yourself when doing these problems, so that you can develop an internal timer when doing questions. This way, you willwhen you are spending too much time on a problem.Know that some questions will take much longer than the average time to solve and some will take less than the average time to solve. That means that some Quant questions will take 3 minutes and some will take 90 seconds and some Verbal questions will take 3 minutes and others will take 60 seconds.8) QuantIn order to perform well in this section, you need to doproblemsyou solidify the concepts. Focus less on whether you solved a problem correctly than on whether you understood all concepts tested. If you solved a hard question correctly but had no idea how, you missed it! If it took you too long to solve a question correctly, you also missed it, because it implies that you did not master the concepts tested.It also pays to learn how other people solved problems. This requires some humility, so swallow your pride and adapt their methods. I had to do this for questions asking how many zeros are in a large number and those asking the unit's digit of a large number, and I can't tell you how muchor how much Iwhen I did so.If you are aiming for a high score, you need to know which types of problems are best suited for solving using algebra, those that are best suited for solving using number picking, and those that are best suited for solving using your knowledge of mathematical properties. You really cannot own Quant unless you have a good grasp of knowing which tool to use. From experience, I have found that a large number of percentage and inequality questions lend themselves to number picking. However, Irecommend that you focus on scoring a Q50 rather than a Q51, because a Q51 is not worth the time investment especially if you don't have a V40+ score. Time spent on achieving a Q51 can be spent increasing one's Verbal score, which matters more to one's overall score than Quant.You need to understand that 99.9% of the time, all the information in the stimulus is needed to solve the problem. This is especially true in DS and for Geometry. I can't tell you how many questions I wasn't able to solve quickly or at all because I neglected information in the stimulus. If the problem contains a circle, square, triangle, or other figure with special properties, it must mean that properties of that figure will be relevant to solving the problem. If a problem says that x is nonnegative, it must mean that 0 cannot be used for determining whether a statement is sufficient or insufficient.For DS, I have found in hindsight that looking at the statementsrephrasing the problem, is helpful to know how to rephrase the problem.Don't be obsessed with probability and combinatorics section, but still have a strong understanding of it. On the real exam, you will see questions from many categories, so at max, you might see 3 problems of this type. Interestingly enough, this is one of the few sections in which theconcept is tested in different ways.9) VerbalOnce you get a high Quant score (Q49+), focus on maximizing your Verbal score, since a higher Verbal score weighs more than a higher Quant score.9.1) SCYoumaster the basic grammar rules to perform well in SC. Any company that tells you that you don't have to do so is cheating you. Also, understandan SC question is wrong; if you eliminate an answer choice, because of some vague reason such as awkwardness or wordiness, you don't understand the true grammatical error and you are cheating yourself.Comparisons* The Comparison question type is just a special case of the Parallelism question type. Other than the fact that answers can be eliminated because of an illogical comparison (comparing an ecosystem of an organism to an organism), most answers can be eliminated because of bad Parallelism or ambiguous Parallelism. This means that there are no such hard and fast rules as "as many X as Y" or "more X than Y". This also means that as weird as it sounds, you can compare verbs to verbs. For example, the following sentence is completely parallel and grammatically correct: More people in Nairobithanto work. The verb "bike" is compared to the verb "drive".VTVF (Verb Tense Verb Form)* This is one of the most difficult concepts to master. You should know the basics of the simple tenses, perfect tenses, conditional tenses, and subjunctive tenses. However, you shoulduse VTVF as the primary reason for eliminating answers, because you could eliminate a correct answer. You should use it as a last resort.Meaning* Meaning-Based questions comprise a greater and more noticeable percentage of GMAT questions more so than any released GMATPrep source would like you to believe. The best way to tackle these questions is to understand the intended meaning on a first read, to eliminate answers based on any easy grammatical issues that you find, so that you have a higher probability of getting the question right, and finally to pick the choice that best conveys the intended meaning of the sentence.Obscure RulesAttached are all of the obscure rules that helped me answer tough SC questions.9.2) CRThis was my Achilles' heel when it came to performing well in Verbal. I couldn't hack the arguments and failed to successfully get questions correct that contained answers that seemed all correct. Because of this, I exhausted all of the official CR material. I generally only got official questions correct, because I remembered the answers to the questions. I was not in a good situation, so to get more practice with CR, I followed the advice at the following site http://poetsandquants.com/2014/10/05/us ... l-mastery/ and used the LSAT LR questions. I not only had an endless supply of LR questions but also had lots of expert answers to past LSAT questions stored in LSAT forums. This was also useful for my nemesis in CR: necessary assumption questions. I needed lots of practice for this, so I was grateful for the large number of questions available to answer.9.3) RCRead and understand the passagelooking at the questions. Reading the passage first will give you a map of the information located in the passageit will give you confidence eliminating choices that were not mentioned in the passage. In fact, RC answer choices are generally wrong because they areby information in the passage. That's it! No special rules or formulas to remember.You must also be able to have a decent grasp of the following before you dive into the questions: Purpose, Organization, and Tone.The purpose is the primary reason that the author wrote the passage. Understanding this will help you answer main idea and organization questions within a minute.The organization is about how the passage the is structured. An example of this is: the first paragraph provides background information about a problem, the next two paragraphs talk about two different solutions, and the last paragraph talks about how one solution is preferred. Knowing the organization will help answer organization and main idea questions and provide you with a map of where important details are located.The tone is about how the author feels about the main point or about his or her critics. This can easily be seen through the author's word choice such as "critic A falsely assumes", "critic B fails to consider", "critic C's position is weakly supported". Knowing the tone will help answer questions about the tone of the passage and of what the author thinks about certain entities mentioned in the passage such as his opponents, adherents, or a certain idea.A guide for doing well on RC on GMATClub encourages you to read books or articles to prepare for RC, but I didn't findhelpful. You best prepare for RC by reading RC passages in GMAT or LSAT material, since they are very different from non-GMAT or non-LSAT passages.10) AWAFollow ChineseBurned's guide ( http://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6- ... 64327.html ) and you will excel.11) IRThis section doesn't really matter for admission, however I've heard that consulting companies are starting to require high scores for this section, and you really can't practice for it. The best you can do is review LSAT Logic Games in case you get an ordering problem, and ensure that you don't spend too much time on any one question. I wish I had learned the latter lesson in hindsight.12) Do a Debrief After Each ExamYou should do a debrief after any practice exam you take and especially after real GMAT exams. You should pay attention to which concepts (inequalities, absolute values, meaning-based questions, comparisons, assumptions, CR-like questions in RC, etc.) you had trouble with. Then, you should review them thoroughly.13) Advice for GMATClub13.1) GMATClub needs a Verbal BunuelGMATClubneeds to hire a Verbal counterpart to Bunuel, because it seems that most members of this site struggle with Verbal yet perform extremely well in Quant. However, interestingly enough, this site is too Quant-focused. Performing well in Verbal in addition to Quant will ensure a high score. Whoever is hired needs to explain Verbal questions (especially tough Verbal questions) at their fundamentals. This is especially important for tough SC and CR questions in which all answer choices look correct.13.2) GMATClub needs to Purge All Questions from Non-Reputable SourcesWe need to stick to Official GMAT or at least reputable unofficial questions such as ; we need to remove all unofficial questions especially for Verbal from the site, because they do more harm than good. I can't stress enough the importance of studying from official sources. One's performance on Verbal especially SC depends on one's understanding of GMAT's voice, so that one can discern a right answer from 4 wrong ones. Using questions from non-reputable sources distorts that voice.14) ThanksI would like to thank Jesus for His grace in granting me understanding on how to tackle tough Quant topics such as COMB/PROB, Absolute Value, and Remainders and the entire Critical Reasoning section.I would like to thank my family and friends for all of their prayers, support, and endless supply of home-cooked food throughout this long journey.I would like to thank Bunuel for his extensive Quant explanations, VeritasPrepKarishma for her witty Quant explanations, Ron Purewal for all of his ingenious Verbal and even Quant explanations, StaceyKoprince for all of her clever Verbal explanations, and bb for creating this awesome free resource that is GMATClub. The sun has set over the city and the Empire State Building is beating like a heart, so there's no more denying it: it's Valentine's Day, it's way below freezing, and you've got work tomorrow. This dismal and frigid Sunday night really has nothing going for it (unless you're really excited about the premiere of Vinyl, to each their own), and so in the interest of communal self-care, we're offering you a few ways to pass the empty hours between now and bedtime. 1. Visit a foreign country from the comfort of your own couch All of Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdain's new(ish) CNN series is currently available for streaming on Netflix, and if you're not watching, you're missing out on what might be the most consistently excellent televised nonfiction of our time. The chef, writer, and travel addict has utilized the news networks' big budget and deep reach to visit places like Libya, the Congo, and Tokyo's seediest back alleys, and the stories he brings back are compellingly told and beautifully shot. Plus, there's plenty of food porn. Just check out his trips to Thailand and Vietnamepisodes where the spicy ingredients and high humidity seem to flow right through the screen. It's hot and hungry TV. 2. Make a pagan love pact Gothamist editor Ben Yakas has been brushing up on his Wiccan rituals, and he's offering some...strange...ways of expressing your love. "Make a blood pact with your significant other," Yakas said. "Is he willing to mix his blood with yours? That's how you can tell he's really into you, ladies." If you've got love notes and keepsakes from past lovers stashed somewhere, he suggests building "an elaborate blanket fort and then burning those mementos inside of it to stay really toasty." Just remember to play safe, witches! 3. Work on your iPhone photo skills If you're not using a smartphone in 2016, what gives? And if you're using a Samsung, what, you think you're better than the rest of us? The truth is, iPhones still rule the roost when it comes to phone photography, and you owe it to yourself and your Instagram followers to learn how to make proper images with them. Whether you've got a new-fangled 6s or are still clinging to your so outdated OG iPhone 5, this clip, which comes from the ever-excellent Youtube channel Digitalrev will give you some useful, easy pointers on how to up your on-the-go photography game. Spend some time shooting still lives around your apartment, or better yet, a portrait of your sweetheart. 4. Listen to The Life of Pablo on repeat In case you haven't heard, Kanye West has finally dropped his much-anticipated seventh album, The Life of Pablo. And while its release has been something of a haphazard mess, the music at the center of it all is brilliantaggressive and melodically nuanced in ways that it seems only Kanye can make possible. The New York Times fawned over TLOP in a review published earlier today, claiming that it perfects "the art of aesthetic and intellectual bricolage, shape-shifting in real time and counting on listeners to keep up...This is Tumblr-as-album, the piecing together of divergent fragments to make a cohesive whole." But you don't need Tumblr to enjoy Kanye's newest music. All you need is a good pair of speakers and an open mind. By the time you get to the end of "Ultralight Beam," you'll understand. Sign up for a 1-month TIDAL trial and listen here. We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today A housekeeper found a millionaire tech investor dead in his Time Warner Center condo. The Daily News reports that Jay Greenwald, 51, was found fully clothed in bed in his 32nd-floor condo in the 80 Columbus Circle tower. An NYPD spokesman said officers arrived at around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and found a man face-down, and that paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Police told reporters that Greenwald was found beside empty pills bottles, and a 33-year-old woman with him said they'd been doing cocaine, according to the News. The woman thought he was sleeping, the New York Post reported. The News wrote that Greenwald made a bundle running a 1-900 psychic hot-line company in the 1990s, and after selling it in 1999, co-founded an internet marketing firm called Traffix and started an email marketing company called Datran. More recently, he had been investing in startups. "He was a very talented guyhe didnt fail. He won at just about everything he tried, except this," his onetime business partner Jeffrey Schwartz told the tabloid. "You play with fire and you get burned." A police department spokesman said that investigators haven't ruled out foul play, but that there were no immediate signs of it. The Medical Examiner's Office will determine a cause of death. Greenwald bought a condo in the building, famous for serving as a safe-deposit box for foreign plutocrats, for $6.275 million in 2010, property records show. 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Stressing that American democracy is built on "the unshakeable principle that everyone should have an equal vote, even idiots," Oliver reminds us that that principle is under attack. But it's not mythical ballot box fraudsters that Oliver takes aim atit's the GOP lawmakers in states like Wisconsin, Texas, and North Carolina who support strict Voter ID laws. "Voting is a right," Oliver chides. "If you take it away, you ruin democracy." His segment sites studies that have found polling place ID laws disproportionately reduce African-American and Latino votes, and to put it in perspective, Oliver reminds us that "It's just one of those things that white people seem to be more likely to have, like a sunburn or an Oscar nomination." The truth is, voter fraud doesn't have a meaningful impact on modern elections, and so Oliver rolls out a series of clips in which two Pennsylvania state reps slip up and admit that voter ID laws made it possible for Mitt Romney to win more votes there during the 2012 election. And then, finally, Oliver gives us the real goods: footage of the very same lawmakers who push for Voter ID laws committing voter fraud themselves, casting votes for absent senators and refusing to admit any wrongdoing. Oliver proposes that any politician who has ever supported an unnecessary voter ID law, should be "forced to obtain a new id every single time they want to pass a bill just to make sure they are who they say they are. And yes they might say 'John, that's ridiculous. There's no real reason to make us do that. And its so cumbersome it could prevent us from engaging in the democratic process,' to which I would say welcome to the fucking club." New York state does not require voters to show ID on election day. You do, however, need to register to vote. Find all the information you'll need to participate in democracy right here. A Virgin Atlantic flight headed for JFK was forced to turn around and land back at Heathrow Airport in London last night after some jerk shined a laser at it, and possibly injured a pilot. Virgin Flight 025 was carrying 252 passengers and 15 crew members when it took off from London shortly before 8 p.m. Audio posted by an air traffic monitoring website apparently captured the exchange between a pilot and a London air traffic controller. "We have a medical issue with one of the pilots after a laser incident after takeoff and we're going to return to Heathrow," the pilot says in the recording. The plane reportedly turned around starting when it reached the west coast of Ireland. Passenger Bethany McHutchinson told Sky News: "I think it's really scary, whether it was by accident or on purpose. If anything had happened, if it had been really serious, it could have put everyone's lives on the plane in danger." A spokeswoman for the airline said the affected pilot was taken to a hospital as a "precautionary measure," but did not provide further details about his or her condition. Virgin apologized for the inconvenience and put up affected passengers at hotels overnight. They are expected to fly out today. "We are working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser," the company said in a statement. London leads the U.K. for number of reported laser-jerk strikes, with 48 in the first half of 2015. New York is also a hotbed of laser-idiot activity. The Federal Aviation Administration logged 160 "laser events" at JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports from the beginning of 2015 to December 11th. You walk out of the cold into a tiny, steaming, jewelbox of a restaurant in the city, where there's no room for a coat check and limited space for hooks, and once you get a seat, you naturally begin to de-layer. Off comes the hat, the scarf, the gloves, the coat, the sweater; now where do you put them? Do you fold your coat then drape it on the back of your own chair, stuff your gloves and scarf and hat inside your coat pockets, and then proceed to peruse the menu like the self-contained, dignified, veteran city diner that you are? Or maybe you peel the layers from your body and push them as far away from your person as you can, because you're feeling claustrophobic and sweaty and clammy and you're hungry, and you're thirsty, and you just want to relax and you can't be bothered to keep track of your possessions. Did you maybe hang your coat the chair of an adjacent table? No one's sitting in it at this exact moment so it must be what it's there for then. Did you pile up your layers onto a twisted heap of textures and fabrics on the banquette, kinda like a spoiled brat's nest? Did you even notice the frayed end of your scarf dragging on the floor, daring someone to trip on it? Is that your hat just sitting on top of the other table? This, friends, is winterspreading. It's like manspreading, but gender-neutral. Anybody can do it, all it takes is a sufficiently puffy jacket and absolutely no conception of your surroundings. Mark, 35, a server and bartender who has worked in NYC restaurants for the past seven years, knows the behavior well. He describes a typical winterspreading scene: "It's like watching the weird kid at school who eats their hair unpack their lunch in the cafeteria. They need the whole table to distribute everything just so. If there's empty chairs nearby, forget about it. Chairs aren't for sitting! They're meant to be festively decorated with infinity scarves and holiday shopping bags!" Winterspreading might occur in other cities that experience...winter, but it strikes me as a distinctly New York affliction because of the high ratio of people to available space. Be it the train at rush hour or Sunday brunch in Williamsburg, we are constantly committing transgressions of personal space. (Scott Lynch / Gothamist) I asked Gothamist's Ask a Native New Yorker columnist Jake Dobkin to weigh in on the etiquette of the issue. "Given the usurious rent that most NYC restaurants pay for their spaces, there's rarely room for a coat check. That doesn't mean your coat gets an extra seatunless it's buying an entree," he told me. "The correct etiquette is to drape your coat over the back of the chair, or if that doesn't work, sit on it like a cushion, with your hat and scarf stuffed inside. This may be uncomfortable. Meditate on that discomfort- perhaps use it to feel sympathy for the many other people suffering around you, like the busboys making $2 an hour, or the line chef who has to work 16 hour days just so some restaurant entrepreneur can charge you $40 for steak frites." Besides being an indicator of a sense of entitlement and lack of empathy, winterspreading actually hinders the way restaurants are run. The Bitchy Waiter, the blogger and soon to be published author who has amassed an online following from sharing his service industry gripes, says the culprits are people who've never worked in a restaurant before and "don't understand the concept of table rotation and shared space." "It's not okay to use the adjacent table and say 'I'll move it if you need it' because we will need the table and we shouldn't have to ask you to have manners," he explained. "I guarantee that if we request they move it, they will look around the restaurant and find one other open table indicating that the next customer should go sit there instead. Nope, that fucks with our seating rotation and the server whose turn it is does not deserve fewer tables just because some mannerless asshole is too self-important to let his coat, scarf, hat and gloves remain in his own personal space." A server at the ever-bustling Walter's in Fort Greene, who wished to remain anonymous, described "a general lack of awareness" among diners who occasionally knock the glasses off the tables with their "giant puffy coats." The burden is not exclusive to servers; bartenders, too, have to contend with the 'spread. Katharine Heller, host of the podcast Tell the Bartender, says she'll actually lose business when customers load up empty barstools with their outerwear. "When we get busy, a new customer will assume a person is sitting there and has just gone to the bathroom. If they really would like to sit, they will go to a different bar. I have nothing against a nice infinity scarf, believe me. It's just that coats and hats don't drink, and if they were to, they'd probably be terrible tippers." And some patrons get that. Molly Lamb, an esthetician in Williamsburg, says that if she's seated at the bar, "I sit on top of my coat, gloves go in pocket, and I specifically carry a bigger purse in the winter to put my hat, scarf, etc. But I really do love a damn coat check!" It seems coat checks have been reduced to little more than nostalgia. Self-proclaimed "maitre diva" John Winterman, who has worked in the Daniel Boulud restaurant group for more than a decade and is now a managing partner at Batard, wrote in a 2014 article in Town and Country that "one of the more disturbing trends (outside of Ugg boots and the rise of Hollister) would be the decline and downright disappearance of the Cloak Room, or Coat Check." In the article, he bemoans the trend of diners declining to check their coats, even when given the option, which he attributes to "the casualization of America." When we spoke on the phone, he clarified his stance: "At Daniel, we had the luxury of a large coat check. It has three Michelin stars, the check averages were very high, we were required to check coatsthey didn't want to see coats draped over chairs. If someone was cold, we had pashmina wraps we would distribute." Winterman continued, "I think all restaurants with at least a Michelin star should have an option for putting coats somewhere, within reason. I think it's unreasonable to suggest restaurants should have to find a place for your motorcycle helmet. At Batard, we have one Michelin star, it's more of a casual fine dining spot, with no dress code and a very limited coat check. But recently we found some dead space and we put in shelves for people to put their bags." (Though this has created an unintended consequence: bagspreading. "They're checking sometimes two or three bags a person! Winterman says. "I don't know how people move about the city carrying what they do.") Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick, founder of the The Etiquette School of New York, also lamented the disappearance of coat checks. "There's only two optionsI don't like either of them," she said. "If you are sitting in a booth, if there's room, you can put it beside you. Same with at the banquette, but if people are sitting next to you, you don't want to put your coat down because it would crowd them. The only other option is to put it on your chair." At the Spotted Pig in the West Village, a combination of ingenuity and cooperation goes a long wayhooks are tacked on the walls above almost every table, providing a no-brainer spot to hang your winter wears. Hostess Claire Keichel explained, "My job as a host is to point out the hooks so people don't [winterspread]." Beyond dispensing etiquette to the clueless, maybe theres a practical solution: losing the layers. It's 2016; advancements in outerwear technology have shown us that bigger and puffier do not necessarily equal warmer! And those trendy $1,000+ "arctic tech" Canada Goose parkas with coyote fur ruff hoods have been debunked as more status symbols than cold weather game changers, anyway. You're going out to eat, not mushing huskies in the Iditarod. So I implore you, fellow diners: the next time you go out to eat, rein in your winterspread. Take this is a public service announcement. Be kind to the tables, chairs, barstools, and most of all, the people with whom you navigate the shared space around you. Winter sucks enough; now don't make it worse. Kate Mooney is a writer living in Brooklyn. For more cold takes, follow her here. News VIDEO: Sheikh Sultan inspects progress of 'Hanging Gardens' project Sheikh Sultan was briefed on the plans for the remaining stages in the implementation of the project, which extends over an area of one and a half million square feet, listening to the progress of work and the most important completed and remaining stages. James George Stiffler, who is on trial in Helena for fatally shooting a man he says was robbing his home in 2013, has been permitted to carry The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has partnered with Trout Unlimited to propose the first of what may be many legacy mine reclamations in the Little Blackfoot River drainage south of Elliston. The Lily/Orphan Boy Mine is an abandoned hard rock mine contaminated with arsenic and lead located on private property about 10.5 miles south of Elliston. The site, which because of human and environmental health risks ranks 10th on DEQs statewide priority list of abandoned mine lands, includes a portion of Telegraph Creek, a tributary of the river. DEQ released environmental documents this week announcing a public meeting and requesting public comment on a proposal to remove the contaminated material and transport it to a repository. The documents, called an expanded engineering evaluation and cost analysis, include a no action alternative, an alternative to excavate and dispose of material in an unnamed off-site repository and a preferred alternative to excavate and dispose of material in the Luttrell Repository located 6.6 miles away. Trout Unlimited and the conservation district are partners in this, so its really exciting for us because its a much different way than weve operated before, said DEQ Abandoned Mine Program Supervisor Autumn Coleman. Were used to just going in and cleaning up mines ourselves, so its an interesting project to partner with a nonprofit. DEQ investigated mining contamination in the drainage from roughly 2007 to 2010. The work was then dropped as the program refocused attention on coal mine reclamation, leaving the data unused, Coleman said. Trout Unlimited essentially picked up where DEQ left off, she said. I think thats one of the best parts is that all this money spent on the investigation isnt just sitting on a shelf somewhere. From my perspective, its a really good project. Trout Unlimited began an abandoned mine reclamation campaign in the West around 2005, said TU project manager Rob Roberts. The initiative came through a realization of falling federal budgets and capacity to address legacy mine waste, he said. The nonprofit established a relationship with the Lolo National Forest, partnering on several projects before Roberts switched his attention to the Upper Clark Fork River -- a federally designated Superfund site. As we started delving into the upper Clark Fork, we looked at the Little Blackfoot as a potential priority because it contains multiple mine sites on the states priority list, he said. Roberts and Trout Unlimited partnered with the Helena National Forest and DEQ as mine sites fall both on national forest and private lands. The Lily/Orphan Boy became the initial focus due to mine waste literally in the stream channel and the threat of a flood dispersing the waste to where it could not be recaptured, he said. The sites landowner is also highly interested in getting the waste removed, he added. Both Coleman and Roberts said they hoped the project could act as a showcase for the partnership and an example to area landowners. Lily/Orphan Boy is not an overly technical reclamation with low risks, Roberts said. As the partners look to the future, Roberts can see at least a decade of work in the Little Blackfoot drainage reclaiming multiple mines. Reclamation projects are often a boon to local economies for local contractors, lodging and supplies, he added. Recently the U.S. trade representative signed a multinational trade deal called the Trans Pacific Partnership. To be finalized, Congress has to ratify it. As a rancher, I am not only concerned by the TPP, I am outraged by what it would mean to this country. I cant help but see through the empty logic that our own industry is using to support this deal. Since NAFTA was signed in 1994, the average annual U.S. agricultural trade deficit with Mexico and Canada has more than doubled to $800 million, and our cattle herd has shrunk significantly. Since NAFTA we have seen imports of diseased Canadian cattle, have been forced to keep the borders open to their herd, and sacrificed the health of the entire American cattle herd and U.S. population. Also, because of NAFTA we had to reverse country-of-origin labeling, an overwhelmingly popular law to label where U.S. meat is from. The TPP is known as NAFTA on steroids. We are setting up the U.S. to face these challenges and lose our sovereign rights with 9 more countries. Some of my fellow ranchers are excited by the idea of access to more markets without tariffs, yet they dont connect that the TPP doesnt prevent currency manipulation. This simply means that countries are still able to effectively manipulate the price of your meat or wheat, at their own will. Tell the Montana delegation NO on TPP. Steve Charter Shepherd BUTTE -- Six-year-old Annalyn Halvorsen loves mermaids because they have super powers. The "wise-beyond-her-years" Butte girl is super in her own right as she faces a medical diagnosis that may one day cause her heart to fail, but it has yet to crush her precocious spirit. "She is sick and dying and full of life," said Annalyn's father, Wayne Halvorsen, in an emotional interview with The Montana Standard. Annalyn was born six weeks early at St. James Healthcare and within a day was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare heart defect that causes the heart to be severely under-developed. The then-tiny newborn and her mother, Lisa Rooney, were immediately flown to Seattle Children's Hospital where the family was told multiple surgeries would be needed to increase the blood flow to Annalyn's body and bypass the left side of her heart to restore heart function. Annalyn had her first procedure at less than a month old at the Seattle facility and a second one when she was 6 months. By age 4, her parents learned her left lung was not working. A double lung-heart transplant, they were told, had a "maybe five-year survival rate." Butte's elevation of more than 5,500 feet caused Annalyn to be "very hypoxic," said Rooney. "She couldn't run, play like other kids" and had little appetite, she said. A third procedure at a San Francisco hospital by the surgeon who performed the first two surgeries in Seattle failed during Annalyn and Rooney's several-month stay in the Golden Gate City. In November 2014, Rooney took her daughter to the Oregon coast to live with family and benefit from the lower elevation. But Annalyn suffered from severe medical post-traumatic stress and was miserable, said Rooney, her voice breaking. She added that Annalyn could not eat, vomited blood several times a day, and ended up with aspiration pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs and bronchial tubes. In early 2015, Halvorsen said he and Rooney made the decision to seek a heart-lung transplant at a Palo Alto, California, children's hospital, where they were told their daughter was in advanced heart failure. Rooney said Annalyn's kidneys were also failing, her liver was enlarged, and her one good lung had started to fail. "We thought she was going to die," Rooney said. A transplant would require Annalyn to take "massive diuretics" and lose 15 pounds of fluid that she had retained due to her failing heart. Five weeks went by, and she had only shed four and a half pounds of fluids. "By the fifth week, she was devastated" said Rooney, adding that Annalyn kept saying, "'I just want to go home and sleep in my bed.'" Annalyn longed to return to Butte; she even missed the taste of her hometown water. If she only had five days in Butte, it would be better than multiple procedures and hospital stays, the family decided before bringing her home in June 2015. "When we stepped foot in Butte, she was like 'I'm home.' It's what's kept her living," Rooney said. Halvorsen and Rooney had divorced the previous year. Halvorsen kept the home fires burning with son Chance, now 20, while Rooney sought treatment for their daughter on the West Coast. Rooney and Annalyn's homecoming signaled a new chapter for the family and a conscious effort to make every moment count, because "it's about her." A supportive community of family and friends sustains them, Rooney said. A gift of a king-size bed has become a sanctuary, creating a safe and cozy place for Annalyn to bask in her parent's love each night as she slumbers next to her oxygen machine, her beloved Chihuahua Bentley, and pet cat. The 37-pound girl, who adores Harry Potter, caramel vanilla ice cream and knock-knock jokes, has touched the lives of many, including the men and women of the Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department. When Undersheriff George Skuletich invited her to participate in the city's Fourth of July parade, she asked to join with the police. She was sworn in at an official ceremony July 3 and received a badge, certificate and uniform. "She calls me her partner," said Skuletich with a smile. The undersheriff revealed that a 9-year-old niece died from a heart condition. That experience helped to fuel his close bond with Annalyn, whose parents Skuletich said are lifelong family friends. At the Butte Police Protective Association annual holiday celebration Jan. 16, Annalyn was awarded Officer of the Year for "arresting" a criminal named Kevin, a Butte detective who had agreed to dress up like a "bad guy" so that Annalyn could get her wish of feeling like a real cop. "It was great; she got a standing ovation," Skuletich said, adding that Annalyn met her arrestee, who told her he turned his life around and was now working with the police department. "It's been a special thing for the department. Every officer has adopted her as one" of their own, Skuletich said. "I just look at Annalyn the toughness is an inspiration." Rooney said the recognition by law enforcement is heartwarming and has had a profound impact on her little girl. Each day is a gift to Annalyn and her family. Her buoyant spirit and humor make surprise visits. On Friday, her parents asked her how bats navigate. "Echolocation," she said excitedly. "They sleep in the day just like my brother." "He's famous too. He told me to say that. He asks my dad for money. I don't do that 'cause I already have money," said Annalyn proudly. Rooney said her daughter is physically unable to have a much-needed transplant. Annalyn runs hot, and her rosy cheeks indicate fluid retention. She takes three different "powerful" diuretics every six hours in addition to other medications. Being angry at God has been a fierce reality bite, but Rooney is thankful for the time they have with Annalyn. Rooney has learned patience and humility. For Halvorsen, his daughter's battle has taught him to live each moment. Along the journey, Rooney has seen Halvorsen's compassion and a father who has been present. "I think of how much he's truly given of himself for the goodness of our family," she said. SEELEY LAKE -- At 18 months old, Jenny Greger's father plunked her in the sled bag and took off on her first sled dog trail run. She hasn't stopped running since. At 6:20 a.m. Sunday, 20-year-old Greger flew across the Morrell Creek Trailhead finish line of the Race to the Sky's 100-mile event. She didn't dilly-dally the last 5 miles either. Second-place finisher Laura Daugereau was hot on Greger's heels and finished just one second later. "This was the hardest I've had because it was almost neck-to-neck at the finish," said Greger, of Bozeman. "This is the closest race I've ever been in." As Greger neared the end, she could see Daugereau's head lamp close behind. Greger turned hers off, hoping Daugereau couldn't see her (it was pitch black at the time). It worked for a bit, but then Daugereau got so close that she could see Greger even without her head lamp. "We were both running up the hills, and she was inching up on me and inching up on me," Greger said. "And I knew I've run the trail enough times I knew how close we were to the finish. It's not like I was cruising in the last few miles, knowing I had it. I was like shoot, I'm running out of distance, and she's making up the distance. So I definitely had to work for it." Her father holds the record at Race to the Sky; he's raced it 11 times. This year, he served as the head race marshal. As a child -- a wild one, she said -- she would grab her purebred Belgian shepherd, Mim, and run into the mountains to play. She had to be home before dark, and Mim was always dragging, exhausted but loyal, by her side. The mushing life played a huge role in her decision to become a veterinarian working with the dogs on her own, and learning from her father, the mushing community and race vets. She's in the pre-vet program at Montana State University. Her rigorous class schedule means she was only able to train on weekends, and sometimes at night, which is why she entered the 100-mile race this year. "It's really technical, steady planning, progressing in mileage from the beginning of the year to this race," she said. She started with 3-mile runs and worked her way up to a 52-mile run, training the dogs on speed and endurance. "This was a little bit of a step because we hadn't done two big runs back-to-back that length yet," she said. She races with Alaskan huskies and Belgian shepherd crosses: McGee, Bella, Jasper, Flame, Ranger, Viper, Flyer and Black Hawk. McGee and Bella lead the way. "This race is pretty solid. I know what to expect," she said. "I know the trail like the back of my hand." This is her fifth time competing in the 100. She's competed in the 300 twice, winning in 2014. She competed in the 300 again last year, but had to scratch halfway through due to the warm weather and lack of snow. That made it hard on her dogs, with their heavy coats. Because there was so little snow, they weren't able to "dip" -- dip down and eat snow to cool them off while they're running -- during the race. The hardest part is dealing with sleep deprivation. Gerry Walker, one of the 300-mile mushers, agreed wholeheartedly. "Staying awake " said Walker, of Pierceland, Saskatchewan, Canada. "I was falling asleep standing up on the runners." He decided to scratch on Sunday. The altitude is higher here, and it's warmer. His dogs, which are getting older, he said, are conditioned to colder temperatures. "I hate to do that, but it's in the dogs' interest," he said. This was Walker's second time in Race to the Sky (he took fourth place three years ago), but he's been mushing for 14 years. Before, he was a rodeo cowboy for 25 years, touring all over Canada and the U.S. "I think I thought I got old enough that maybe I should smarten up with the rodeo," he said. "Now I got a worse habit." But he loves the outdoors and dogs, and he can train his dogs right in the provincial park that borders his farm. On Sunday, sleeping mushers lined the walls of the Seeley Lake Community Center -- knocked out after hours of non-stop work. The rest sat around the center, eyes glazed over with fatigue. Brett Bruggeman, of Great Falls, was the first of the 300-mile mushers to make it to the Seeley Lake checkpoint at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, next heading toward Owl Creek Packer Camp. The race continues Monday as the 300-mile mushers race toward Lincoln, where they started on Saturday. The awards are scheduled to be presented Tuesday night in Helena. ANTI-AUSTRALIAN SENTIMENT TOWARD GREEKS IN PERTH IN THE VENIZELOS ERA Published in The National Herald, November 21-27, 2015 Issue Authored by Stavros T. Stavridis ------------------------------ We are excited to announce that The National Herald has given Hellenic Genealogy Geek the right to reprint articles that may be of interest to our group. ------------------------------ From September 1916 to June 1917 Greece had two rival administrations: one under King Constantine in Athens and the Provisional Government under Eleftherios Venizelos in Thessaloniki. This schism highlighted the political divisions existing in Greek society with the former pursuing a neutral foreign policy whereas the latter wanted to join the ranks of the Entente powers: Britain, France, Russia, and Italy in fighting the Central Powers: Germany, Austro-Hungary, Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire. These divisions would major repercussions for the Greek-Australian community beyond the First World War. In Australia, ordinary Anglo-Australians could not distinguish between Venizelists and Royalists and considered them suspect and possibly disloyal to the British Empire. The occupation of Fort Rupel in May 1916, the establishment of the government in Thessaloniki, the demobilization of the Greek Army, the handover of mountain batteries, and the Benazet-Constantine agreement, led to the differences between the Anglo-French and Venizelists with King Constantine. On December 1, 1916 the clash between Anglo-French marines and Greek Royalist forces in Athens (also known as the Noemvriana) would have a major impact on the small Greek-Australian community. The Australian press described King Constantine action as full of "treachery," judged him "guilty," acted with "duplicity," was "cunning," "fooled the diplomats refusal to hand over guns," and acted with "perfidy." Despite his neutral stance, he was known for his pro-German proclivities. The Greeks in Melbourne (Victoria), Sydney (New South Wales), Brisbane (Queensland) and Perth (West Australia) passed resolutions supporting Eleftherios Venizelos and expressing allegiance to the British Empire. It is worth noting that Australian Government had earlier conducted a secret census in June 1916 to ascertain the number of Greeks domiciled in Australia. This information was divided into two categories: Form A (Return of Greeks giving personal particulars which included address, name of person, sex, age, occupation, nature of transport, distance from capital city and remarks) and Form B (Return of places where Greeks are known to congregate which showed locality, means of communication: nature of transport and distance from capital city, club, cafe, or other institution, name of manager, number of persons and remarks). The remarks column highlighted a very small number of Royalist sympathizers in Australia. It was the Greeks of West Australia (WA) who suffered the most of their compatriots in Australia. Greek businesses in Perth, Kalgoorlie, a goldmining town, and Boulder were destroyed and looted by rioters. Press reports highlighted that 100 Greeks fled Kalgoorlie for Perth. The events that unfolded in Constantine's Greece between September and December 1916 were widely reported in the Perth and Kalgoorlie press displaying anti-Constantine headlines. Such headlines would have influenced these hotheads not to be able to distinguish between Venizelists and Royalists. Rioters were arrested and prosecuted with some serving jail time for their actions. There was an antipathy for Greeks in Australia like in the United States during the Great War. The Western Australian Greeks were concerned for their safety and requested the protection of the British Government. They cabled Venizelos in Thessaloniki, asking him to lodge a protest on their behalf in London. Venizelos informed them to make representations to the Governor-General of Australia, Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1914-20 regarding their concerns. Finally, this came to the attention of the Australian Prime Minister, William Hughes who cabled the Premier of WA to investigate the riots that had taken place. These communications high-lighted two aspects of the Australian political system at this time. Firstly, all official communication sent by the Australian Prime Minister went via the Governor-General to the Colonial Office in London and vice versa; and secondly, the Federal Government had no jurisdiction as the riots came within the purview of the State Government of WA. The Greeks of Perth were characterized as disloyal and treacherous by Anglo-Australians and dispelled such notions by showing their loyal to the British Empire. They prayed for an allied victor and even a tiny number of pro-Constantine sympathizers were horrified as to what occurred in Athens. Many Greeks were British subjects and had been resident for more than 20 years in West Australia. They sought compensation for destruction to their businesses. The Greek Consul in Perth filed for damages but was declined by the WA Government. Originally, the victims' claims of 11,728-4-0 was reduced to 5388-10-0 on the recommendation of Commissioner, A. Green. Moreover, representations to the Australian Government in 1917, 1920, and 1921 for compensation was declined on each occasion despite the Greek Government's approach to London. There were Greeks who hired private counsel to recover damages for their losses only to be rebuffed by the Australian Government on April 9, 1919. This issue dragged on for more than a decade when the Consul General for Greece, L. Chrysanthopoulos, a career diplomat, requested on February 21, 1930 for a reconsideration of the Greek claims. The Australian Government declined to reopen the case for three reasons. Firstly, a long time had elapsed when this event occurred and the Attorney General's department had never rendered a legal opinion on it; secondly, the Departments of Treasury and Defense made the original decision of not providing compensation; and finally, it seems the Australian Government sought to find a legal avenue to avoid paying compensation and cited an instance to shore up its position. The WA Premier informed the Federal Government in January 1917 that the police exercised all due diligence in trying to quell the riots and to afford protection. Furthermore, police arrests and convictions obtained was insufficient. There was no evidence to back up this claim. However, the Australian Government laid down principles based on international law to cover such a future eventuality for compensation. It stated: "(a) A State is responsible for damages caused to the person or property of a foreigner by persons taking part in a riot or mob violence. If the movement is directed against foreigners as such, or against persons of a particular nationality, when it is shown by the claimant State that there was negligence on its part or on the part of its officials to prevent the damage; and (b) in a federal State the Federal Government assumes this responsibility." In conclusion, the Greek-Australians in Perth were over-whelmingly pro-Venizelist and concerned as to what happened in Athens. The refusal of both the Australian and WA Governments to pay compensation highlighted its discriminatory position towards the Greek community. It is regrettable that the political divisions in Greece impacted this small community and also exposed the anti-Greek sentiment in some sections of Anglo-Australian society. In this corner, Dr. Leslie Parrott. In that corner, Dr. Les Parrott. Come out swinging ... and may the best same-named Parrott win. But first: some back story. Thirty-three years ago, two doctors, each called Leslie, found true love and, soon after, enduring wedlock. They also found that, among a host of other long-term relationship challenges, conflict is handled best by those who know how to fight well. Their mantra: "Conflict is natural in most marriages ... the price you pay for deepening intimacy." Hence, Parrot vs. Parrot, a grudge-free match coming Feb. 21 to Peoria's Northwoods Community Church, fast on the heels of the most romantic day of the year. Besides being a licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Parrott (Les) is also an ordained Nazarene minister, thus the aptness of the event's church forum (though, he insists, no specific faith agendas are being promoted). The other Dr. Parrott (Leslie) is not a minister, but she is a marriage and family therapist. Together the Seattle-based couple have pooled their formidable resources to internationally noted status as, among other things, New York Times best-selling authors, regular TV guests ("Oprah," "CBS This Morning," CNN, "The View," etc.) and globe-trotting guest speakers/relationship mentors in countries far and wide. "Fight Night," as the currently touring live event is officially dubbed, features the Parrrotts squaring off in a two-round match "to help couples learn how to fight well." And not just legal couples, but inquiring singles, too, said Dr. Les (the Parrott interviewed for this story), noting singles typically make up a sizable chunk of each show's audience. "This is intended as a date night, and it's fun, first and foremost," said the Kankakee native with roots deep enough in Midwestern turf to know what makes us tick hereabouts. "Secondly, you get to learn while you laugh in 2 hours," he adds, noting that the evening is structured in true WWE fashion: It starts with Round One, in which the Parrotts address the subject of "why we fight with the person we love most." Following a break, the bell sounds for Round Two, in which the topic is "how to fight with the person you love most." All told, the two rounds culminate in the overarching theme of the Parrotts' basic premise of that aforementioned mantra about conflict being the price we pay for intimacy. Who should know better than an "old married couple" of 33 years? "We're not here to say, 'look how great our marriage is, so do it like us' ... we're here to show you what we've learned from our own fights," he adds. Like, say, the time early on in their union, when they had a little, but loud, meltdown on the streets of San Francisco, involving a trolley. Les jumped on, extended his arm for Leslie to grab and jump up, too. But she pulled back, leading to an exchange witnessed by the crowded trolley's occupants as well as the couple they were visiting with, who retreated across the street to avoid the spat. Leslie's retort to pulling back: "I trust God for my safety, but I can't trust you!" Ouch. Then there was time that the marriage counselors were en route to a marriage retreat, where they were the star speakers. And they were on the verge of being late. Les was in the car fuming; Leslie, in the office gathering papers, eventually showed up as rain began to fall. Then she dropped all her papers, with hundreds of handouts and notes pages landing in or near a curb-side puddle. Physicians, heal thyself ... especially before you get thee to the marriage retreat? "We were young enough when these fights happened that we've learned a lot since," Les admits. "We have fewer of them now, and when they do happen, we've learned how to turn the tables on them and make them work to our advantage." Bottom line: "Every marriage has conflict; it doesn't matter how loving you are," he adds. "I used to be suspicious of marriages where the people told me they never fight. But, truth be told, there are a few out there where the couples have similar personality types, which includes conflict avoidance." Les calls that's a coping mechanism that suppresses the conflict, but doesn't necessarily resolve it. In general, he says, "the absence of fights doesn't auger well for most marriages," while, at the same time, "clean and constructive fighting is better than down-and-dirty fighting." Despite having the same names and professions, the two Parrots come into their roles as individuals in the realm of offering enlightened views "coming from different perspectives as a man and a woman." By squaring off with those perspectives be it in their books, their TV appearances or their live stage shows "we try to bridge that gap by making people realize that part of understanding how to have a good fight has a lot to do with understanding the differences between genders." The United Methodist Women of the United Methodist Church-Illinois Great Rivers Conference urge all registered voters to vote in the March 15 primary election. As women and Americans, we have been given the privilege of voting, a freedom that many in this world do not enjoy. We understand many do not vote in the primary election because they have to ask for a particular ballot. Do not let that prevent you from voting this year. You can register to vote until Tuesday, Feb. 16, for the primary or later for the General Election in November. Contact the county clerk's office in your county. It is easy to become a registered voter. There are more than 9,000 United Methodist Women members in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and more than 800,000 in the world. UMW mission is to women, children and youth in the local church and community, in the state and across the world. Please exercise your voting privilege by voting on Tuesday, March 15. Marjorie A. Stout, president Illinois Great Rivers Conference, United Methodist Women DURHAM, N.H. (AP) The oversized Carly Fiorina campaign signs along New Hampshire's Route 4 weren't enough to keep the Republican presidential hopeful's campaign alive past Tuesday's primary, but they could end up helping people with disabilities live their lives more independently. For the past four years, University of New Hampshire professor Therese Willkomm has been seeking donations of discarded campaign signs for use in her occupational therapy classes, where students cut up the corrugated plastic to create assistive items ranging from tabletop iPad stands to a clip that can hold a sandwich for someone who can't use his arms. "We noticed that there were tons of election signs all over and they were made of this corrugated plastic material, and we thought, 'Holy cow, we can make tons of assistive technology solutions for people with disabilities. We can get a bumper crop of these signs coming in,'" Willkomm said. "And so we contacted the Democratic Party and the Republican Party and we asked them if they could donate the discarded election signs. We are now up to over 78 items you can make for people with disabilities using these election sign materials." Willkomm said she's always looking for new ways to use everyday items to help people with physical challenges, and she urges her students to think outside the box, or in some cases, cut it up and re-use it. Given the big role New Hampshire plays in the presidential nominating process with its first-in-the-nation primary, there's no shortage of material. Willkomm recalled driving home Wednesday night and spotting the Fiorina signs. "I thought, 'Wow, this is really great. Let's see if we can get them because they announced that they are stopping in the primaries, right?" she said. Under New Hampshire law, all campaign signs must be removed by the second Friday after the election, though signs promoting the primary winners Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders can remain. Some campaigns save their signs and send them on to other states. On Thursday, Willkomm's class got a visit from 28-year-old Marika Steir of Atkinson, who has limited mobility due to cerebral palsy. Willkomm and her students used election signs to fashion a holder for her iPhone that can be attached to her wheelchair. Steir's aunt said her niece works full time at an adult day care center and strives to be as independent as possible. Steir currently keeps her phone in a bag hanging off the side of the chair, but that has not been ideal, she said. "You worry about, is it going to fall out or someone going to steal it?" she said. "It makes her less independent if someone has to take it out and check it to see what the messages are." The items are cheap, durable and light-weight. And if someone doesn't like the candidate depicted on the recycled sign, the items are easy to decorate with colorful foam sheets. "The reason we love corrugated plastic and election sign stuff is that it washes up very easily, it lasts forever, things we've made four years ago are still working great today," Willkomm said. "And what if someone said, 'You know what? I don't want this anymore.' We can still salvage this piece, we can still make tons of things out of this material. So we can continue to reuse it over and over again. We are not going to throw any of this stuff away because you can make tons of solutions with it." DECATUR Love it or hate it, Mother Nature's Valentine's Day gift to Central Illinois was a blowing white bouquet of snow. Sunday's accumulation ranged up to 4 inches in some parts, more towards Lincoln and Springfield, with the Decatur area picking up about 3 inches. Illinois State Police reported multiple crashes and vehicles in ditches and dealt with dozens of collisions on roads ranging from icy interstates to snow-packed county backroads. Drivers were warned to use extreme caution if they had to travel. Other people with no particular place to go made the most of it. Cross-country skiers and one couple clad in snowshoes hit the trails around Rock Springs Nature Center. Macon County Conservation District worker Ethan Snively was busy, meanwhile, blasting snow away from the nature center building using a backpack leaf blower. It's not designed for blowing snow but on nice, powdery snow it works well, Snively said. That nice and powdery snow became the problem for Macon County snowplow crews as wind gusts to 25 mph easily draped the snow over rural roads in heavy drifts. They're looking very white right now, said Macon County Highway Engineer Bruce Bird, when asked about the appearance of county roads early Sunday afternoon. We've got (snowplow) crews out and they're keeping up with what's out there, it's just that half an hour after they've gone through it looks like no one had been there to touch the road at all, Bird added. He said the snowfall in the county Sunday appeared to be double some early projections, but he said his crews were likely to make better progress after 6 p.m when the snow was due to fade out. The National Weather Service in Lincoln, which issued a winter weather advisory for Sunday and described the snow as causing havoc on highways, said light snow showers and patchy freezing drizzle were expected overnight into today. But the effects would be short-lived as temperatures today were due to hit a high of 36. There's a 50 percent chance that up to an inch of snow could then return Monday night into Tuesday, but a warming trend will reach a high of 40 degrees Tuesday afternoon and soon melt it all. Friday's high is predicted to reach close to an unseasonal 60 degrees, with low to mid-50s the high on Saturday. Meteorologist Kirk Huettl said the weather is going from unseasonal low temperatures that preceded Sunday's snow to unseasonal highs: We're finally getting out of this arctic air mass that has been with us, added Huettl. Our normal highs are in the upper 30s for this time of year and now, if you're heading to St. Louis Friday, they're looking at 68 for a high. The meteorologist said Sunday's bout of snow, part of a widespread storm that caused severe problems in other parts of the country, still hasn't lifted our annual snowfall to normal levels. We still running a few inches below normal for this time of year, he explained. BLUE MOUND -- While serving as a bombardier with the 8th Air Force, Lt. Robert Peck Wilcox of Blue Mound was shot down over France. A French family hid him from the Germans for more than eight months, believed to be the longest any American was protected from the Nazis in occupied France. That was more than 70 years ago. But the French people who live in the region where Wilcox was hidden, in the wine region near Bordeaux, have not forgotten him nor the brave people who risked their lives to rescue him. As part of the festivities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victorious end to World War II, a ceremony was held in the tiny southwestern town of St. Simon de Pellouaille in December to honor Wilcox and his French benefactors. Wilcox, who served as a rural mail carrier in Blue Mound after the war for 23 years, died in 1999. When the French people reached out to his family to send representatives from across the ocean for the ceremony, it was fitting that his granddaughter, Kari Foster, decided to make the trip. Foster, who grew up down the road from her grandfather and was close to him, was contacted via Facebook in November by an Englishwoman living in France who was hired to try to reach the aviator's family. I was a little skeptical, Foster said, adding that the contact was facilitated because she posted the story of her grandfather's adventure on the social media site. The ceremony was scheduled to take place just a few weeks later. Foster tried to persuade some of her family members to join her. But they were busy, so she made her first overseas journey by herself. It was just such short notice, but there was no stopping me, said Foster, who has been fascinated by her grandfather's amazing story for as long as she can remember. She was persuaded to make the trip partly because she had recently survived a motorcycle accident in which her friend was killed and she was incapacitated for most of the summer. That made me feel like I should go, Foster said. In addition to her connection with her grandfather, whose memory she serves by keeping his diaries and newspaper clippings of his return visits to France, Foster has become friends with French people who were acquainted with Wilcox. Bernard Ballenger, who has written articles on the war, visited Blue Mound in October with his wife, Dominique, and two grandchildren. They put French flags on my grandparents' graves, Foster said. They're in the Hall Cemetery in Blue Mound, right behind our house. So when the Ballengers heard about the ceremony, they offered to host Foster during her visit. They met her at the Bordeaux airport Dec. 16. They took me sightseeing every day, Foster said, adding she finally got to see for herself the sites she had heard so much about from her grandfather. They took me on the route he walked before he was hidden. They showed me where my grandfather bailed out and landed. She got to see the distillery where Wilcox hid the first night he was on the ground. The next night, he came upon Frederic, a teen who was on a bicycle. Frederic took him home and told his mom and dad, 'Here is an American.' They decided to hide him. Wilcox was kept mostly in an attic, over a stable. No one else in the little village knew he was there, Foster said, adding that her grandfather was a farmer, just like the people who hid him. Besides being hidden the longest period of time, it is possible Wilcox broke the record for showing gratitude and staying in touch with his French benefactors. He returned to France to visit Monsieur and Mademoiselle Nadeau in 1967, '77, '80 and '83. My grandfather sent them numerous family photos over the years, Foster said. On the day of the ceremony, Dec. 19, Foster was driven in a procession in a restored U.S. Army mail van, apparently left over from the days when soldiers swarmed through France en route to Germany. I was in awe, Foster said, at the coincidence of riding in a postal vehicle, as her grandfather did for so many years. The Nadeau family, including Frederic, were no longer alive, Foster was moved to see the graves of the people who saved her grandfather. The U.S. consul gave 1,000 euros to redo the graves of the Nadeau family, she said. The graves were in disrepair. Foster met an 85-year-old woman named Helen, who lived next door to the Nadeaus. She said that she and her husband were friends with Foster's grandfather. During his visits to France, he would frequent their grocery store and buy gum from them. He wrote them constantly, two or three times a month to different people, Foster said. Wilcox had learned some French during his stay at the Nadeau farm. He would write his letters in French, using the dictionary. The people who attended the ceremony expressed their gratitude for what the Americans did to liberate their country. Just because I was his granddaughter, I was treated like a queen, Foster said. The plane in which Wilcox flew on Dec. 31, 1943, was never recovered. After antiaircraft flak opened a hole in its nose and caused an engine fire, the crew bailed out and the plane crashed into the ocean. Wilcox had dropped the bombs as they approached their target, the Cognac airport. One of the greatest gifts Foster received was a collection of seven pieces of an American plane, recently recovered in the area, which was shot down during the same mission as Wilcox's B-17 bomber. It was given to her by Michel Souris, a man who has found more than 6,000 pieces of that plane through his determination to unearth and preserve history. A lot of people in the area are interested in the history of what the Americans were doing there, Foster said. She had many unforgettable experiences in France, including visiting the room where her grandfather had been hidden. The trip was a magnificent adventure, meeting so many people who let her know that Americans, especially her grandfather, were important to them. She was proud to represent Peck Wilcox and the men who flew with him to liberate Europe. That was one of the biggest honors I ever had, she said. Dear Abby: I have been working for four years. I need to work to help my husband financially. However, over the last few months, I've felt torn about not being a stay-at-home mom. My grandmother, who is in her 70s, has been taking care of my son full time while I work, but her health isn't the greatest now. I don't trust any of the day care in my area and can't afford one anyway. I really want to be a stay-at-home mom, but still feel obligated to help bring in money. How do I get over my guilt for not wanting to work outside the home full time? Stuck in Delaware Dear Stuck: You are not the only mother who feels this kind of ambivalence. Many others are as torn as you are. Perhaps it would help if you focus harder on thinking about this rationally rather than emotionally. When your grandmother's health no longer allows her to care for your son, you may have to cut back on your schedule to be with him, or your husband may need to take a second job. Also, some people manage to work from home, and you may want to explore those opportunities. Foreign travels Dear Abby: My son is more than likely going to win a trip to the Dominican Republic through his employer. He's planning to take his wife with him. Their two children will stay with me or their other grandma. With the way the world is now, I wouldn't go on a vacation with my husband, fly to another country and leave my children behind. I would let him go alone so that in case something happens, my kids would have at least one parent left. I understand that we should not give in to fear and give up what we like to do, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take logical precautions. My children would be more important to me than a vacation. What is your opinion on this? Living in the Real World Dear Living: My opinion is that you should stay out of it, and let your son and daughter-in-law enjoy that hard-earned vacation. If they were visiting a country where the threat level was high, I might think differently. However, to repeat what you said in your letter, "we should not give in to fear and give up what we like to do" because we are afraid of what "might" happen. That's not living; it is hiding. Addict issue Dear Abby: I love attending religious services on Sundays and the Communion during them. I quit drinking alcohol almost 18 months ago. Our church serves wine (not grape juice) during Communion, and I have been told not to drink anything alcoholic. How do I cope with this situation? Sober and Proud of It Dear Sober: Congratulations on your sobriety. This is something to discuss with your clergyperson. If you have been warned that tasting the Communion wine could sabotage your sobriety, perhaps you should consider partaking only of the bread. n n n For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.) 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Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Dave Zweifel is editor emeritus of The Capital Times. dzweifel@madison.com and on Twitter @DaveZweifel Robert Froehlke, a UW-Madison law school graduate who was Secretary of the Army during the tumultuous last years of the Vietnam War and chair of the first capital campaign for the UW Foundation, has died in Arizona. He was 93. Froehlke, a Neenah native who grew up in Marshfield, was nominated to be Secretary of the Army in 1971 by his boyhood friend and former Congressman Melvin Laird, who was Secretary of Defense at the time. When Laird became part of President Richard Nixons Cabinet in 1969, he named Froehlke to his team, with Froehlke rising in the department to become Secretary of the Army two years later. In his obituary provided by son Bruce Froehlke, Robert Froehlke said his greatest satisfaction as Secretary of the Army was The successful completion of the Armys mission in Vietnam and the improvement in the Armys confidence, credibility and climate. In completing the Vietnamization of South Vietnam, by withdrawing all U.S. combat troops and transferring combat responsibilities to the South Vietnamese, 1.5 million military personnel, including 500,000 ground combat troops, were withdrawn by 1973. Following his resignation as Secretary of the Army in 1973, Froehlke went back to the insurance industry, first heading several insurance organizations before becoming chairman of the board of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1982, then CEO of mutual funds at IDS in 1987, retiring in 1992 at age 70. As national chairman of the first comprehensive capital campaign for the UW Foundation, the effort raised more than $400 million. Froehlke is survived by his wife, Nancy, four children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Burial is set to take place in Arlington National Cemetery, with a memorial service in Wisconsin; dates have not been set for either. Organizers of the new food pantry at East High School hope to feed hungry students and provide a blueprint for other schools. You hear all these struggles that students around you are having students that dont have access to food all the time, said senior Hannah Rittman, 17, who also noted that students who are hungry dont learn as well. The Food for Thought Pantry was opened in a small room on the second floor of East High School. The pantry, which started serving students at the beginning of January and had an official grand opening last week, is still evolving. Currently, students who need to use the pantry contact Helena White, Food for Thought Club adviser and speech and language therapist, who has kept a fruit bowl in her room for hungry students for years. In the food pantry, the students grab a backpack and fill it with whatever they need and then return the backpack later. The idea was hatched by community members Joel Wish and Lea Aschkenase, whose mother was involved with a food pantry at a Massachusettes high school. They contacted Jani Koester, resource teacher in the transition education program that works with homeless students in the Madison School District, who confirmed the need for a pantry, especially at East High School. At East, 56 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch, well over the state average of 37 percent. Since September 2015, East has identified 114 homeless students. Aschkenase, Wish and other community members then approached officials at East, where the Food for Thought Club was established to run the pantry. The community members also have garnered support for the food pantry. UW Health at the American Center has been a backbone to the program through its food donations, and First United Methodist Church, which has a pantry of its own, has offered storage space. In addition, a donation barrel has been placed in the usher area at the Overture Center where Jim Green, who also has been involved in getting the pantry off the ground, is an usher. The groceries that are stocked include items that can be prepared in a microwave and some items that are ready to eat. Koesters daughter, senior Rowan Koester-Jess, 17, is the leader of the club and wrote a grant proposal to get money for the backpacks from the high schools Purgolder Philanthropy Club. Koester-Jess also is a member of Purgolder Philanthropy and encouraged others in the club to get involved with the food pantry. Sophomore Maggie McGlenn, 16, said using an unidentifiable backpack means students wont stick out when they obtain the food. We are all in a place of privilege, said Sophomore Eliza Meyer, 15, about herself and other members of the Food for Thought Club. I never have to worry that I am not going to have food to eat. The state Assembly is expected to vote Tuesday on a package of bills that aims to reduce the financial burden of higher education, as the Senates top Republican warns the scope of the legislation will likely be reduced to keep its price tag down. State Rep. Dave Murphy, R-Greenville, co-author of many of the proposals, said Monday he is still optimistic the full slate of bills which would give a tax break to some student loan borrowers and increase funding for need-based grants to technical college students, among other provisions will be signed into law. But Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Sunday on WISN-TV that the bills will be scaled back as a result of lower-than-expected state tax revenues. A lot of initiatives, I think, are going to be much tougher to get through in the final months here in the Legislature, just because of the price tag thats associated with them, Fitzgerald told WISN. Myranda Tanck, a spokeswoman for Fitzgerald, said Monday that specific plans for reducing the proposals cost have not been made, but would likely involve only passing some of the bills or paring back certain provisions so they are less expensive. Fitzgerald said he wants to see the bills price reduced from its current $10 million to around $2 million. It will probably be just doing as much as we can with what the remaining spending allows us to do, Tanck said. Democratic critics have said the bills even in their full form would only help a small percentage of current students and graduates with debt, and wont do nearly enough to make college affordable. The state Assembly will take up the bills, which Gov. Scott Walker touted in his State of the State address, during a floor session Tuesday. Murphy has been in talks with Walker, Republican leadership and senators about the legislation, he said, but has not yet discussed removing or cutting back on provisions. Murphy said some compromises on the package could be made, but declined to say what those were. Along with the tax break and aid funding, the bills would provide state money to give students emergency grants to cover unexpected expenses and hire coordinators to match Wisconsin college students with internships. They would also mandate that institutions provide students with financial literacy information about the loans they are taking out. Even in light of the tighter financial picture, Murphy said he believes all of the measures are worth passing and will have support in the Assembly. Were going to keep pushing to try to get the package through as intact as we possibly can, and well see how that all falls into place as we go forward, Murphy said. Its all good legislation. A Senate committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bills Wednesday. Terri Griffiths, chief of staff for committee chairwoman Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, said a committee vote on the bills has not been scheduled. Election officials wont just be checking your photo IDs at the polls on Tuesday. Stopwatches in hand, some in Madison will also be looking to see whether the new state requirement that voters show identification prior to voting adds to the wait time to cast a ballot. Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell and Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl are collaborating with the UW-Madison Political Science Department to time the vote at Tuesdays nonpartisan primary so adjustments can be made prior to the April 5 presidential primary and spring election, the fall primary in August and the general election in November. Were interested in understanding the effect of various changes on election administration, said professor Ken Mayer. The data will be collected at city of Madison polling places, then fed into a model created by MIT, so scenarios played out at the polls later in the year can be handled by having more workers at the polls, organizers said. Well give people an idea how long itll take to vote, McDonell said. Local officials had hoped to check IDs of voters while they waited in line. But state statutes dont allow that, so an extra poll worker will be at the table where voters sign the poll book to check IDs. With only about 10 percent of eligible voters expected to vote on Tuesday, lines shouldnt be very long. But authorities urged voters to still be prepared for delays. When the timing was checked at a special election in Waukesha, it took twice as long at the polling book as before, McDonell said. In 2012, about 26 percent of eligible voters turned out for the presidential primary, 20 percent for the partisan primary and 70 percent for the presidential election, according to the Government Accountability Board. The trickle of votes on Tuesday will become a gusher in November, especially in certain polling places. On the UW-Madison campus, well see a 3,600 percent increase in votes cast between February and November, McDonell said. On the ballot Tuesday will be a primary election for state Supreme Court and a smattering of municipal and county races. Incumbent Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, appointed to the court by Gov. Scott Walker in October, is being challenged by Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Joe Donald and State Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg. The top two finishers advance to the general election in April. When Antonin Scalia was nominated to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan in 1986, his Senate confirmation was as placid as a church social. Democrats were too occupied with the simultaneous nomination of Justice William Rehnquist to be chief justice to pay much attention to the other guy. The Judiciary Committee hearings on Scalia were largely pro forma, and the Senate approved him by a vote of 98-0 while 33 members voted against Rehnquist. The selection of a replacement for Scalia, who became the most powerful and durable conservative voice the modern Supreme Court has ever had, will be nothing like his 1986 experience. His unexpected death Saturday set the stage for the most incendiary, high-stakes confirmation battle since Robert Bork (also chosen by Reagan) went down in flames in 1987. There are a few reasons why this time is different. First, Scalia was a passionate and formidable advocate for a jurisprudence that stressed the importance of leaving most issues to elected leaders rather than judges. His forceful championing of Second Amendment rights and property rights, along with his fiery denunciations of the courts rulings in favor of abortion rights, racial preferences and same-sex marriage, made him as beloved on the right as he was loathed on the left. When someone so influential leaves the scene, both sides rush to fill the vacuum. The split between four Democratic-appointed liberal justices and four Republican-appointed conservatives lends unusual importance to the appointment of the ninth member of the court. Obama could tilt the balance to the liberal side, with major consequences on a host of issues. But that wont happen if the Republican-controlled Senate can prevent it, which it probably can. With just 11 months left in Obamas tenure, the Republican Partys legislators and candidates appear united in favor of putting off any replacement until after Jan. 20, 2017. They envision a Republican president choosing a justice in the image of Scalia who would be easily confirmed by a Republican Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said flatly that this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president, suggesting he will block any confirmation vote. Republicans could also agree to a vote only to hand Obama a humiliating defeat. In Saturdays GOP presidential debate, the candidates agreed Obama should not be allowed a third Supreme Court appointment. That strategy could be a bad bet. If compromise were an option, Obama might be persuaded to settle for a centrist candidate to peel off a few Republican senators. If Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders were elected, either would feel emboldened to make a more liberal choice and might have the backing of a new Democratic majority in the Senate. ... A nomination by Obama might not come to a vote, but it will force senators to take a public position on the nominee. Those are risks both parties appear ready to take. The president will send a name to the Senate, demanding that senators fulfill their constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on such appointments. Republicans will portray his effort as an arrogant break with historical custom, which they say rules out Supreme Court appointments in a presidents final year. And then we will have a rare referendum on the high court snuggled into an election for president. Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-02-15 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at CONTENTS [01] Farmers throughout the country continue their mobilisations [02] PM Tsipras chairs meeting on government work [03] ND leader presents Greek positions on refugees problem to EU ambassadors [04] Greek budget primary surplus jumped to 1.193 bln euros in Jan [01] Farmers throughout the country continue their mobilisations Farmers of northern Greece remain at their blocks noting that the "struggle is at its most crucial point". Greek-Bulgarian borders at Promachonas will be open from 11:00-15:00 to all vehicles and at Exochi customs said that the customs will be open for buses and cars from 10:-15:00 and 17:00-22:00 while the customs are closed throughout the day to lorries and trucks. Egnatia motorway at Kedryllia and Niselio are closed while Malgara will close at 12:00 on Monday for 24 hours. Evzoni and Doirani customs (Greek-Fyrom borders) will be closed from 12:00-15:00 and 20:00-23:00 and from 18:00-22:00 respectively. In western Macedonia, the Greek-Albanian border at Krystallopigi and the Greek-Fyrom border at Niki will be closed throughout the day. Moreover, in Peloponnese farmers continue to keep closed the Athens-Corinth motorway at Corinth Canal while farmers also blocked the old national road from 18:00 on Sunday until 18:00 on Monday. [02] PM Tsipras chairs meeting on government work A meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and ministers on the government work is underway. The upcoming EU summit on the refugee crisis and the crucial meetings of the prime minister dominate the meeting. [03] ND leader presents Greek positions on refugees problem to EU ambassadors New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis' meeting with the 28 envoys of EU state members was completed on Monday. The working breakfast was part of Mitsotakis' initiative for the promotion of the Greek position on the refugees issue abroad. The main opposition leader, who has already met with Alternate Migration Minister Giannis Mouzalas and has visited the refugees camps in Mytilene, will have a series of meetings with the European leaders and officials within the week on the sidelines of the European People's Party meeting in Brussels. [04] Greek budget primary surplus jumped to 1.193 bln euros in Jan The Greek budget recorded surplus of 1.077 billion euros on an amended cash basis in January, up from a surplus of 367 million euros in January 2015 and a budget target for a surplus of 197 million, the Finance ministry said on Monday. The budget also recorded a primary surplus of 1.193 billion euros in January, from a primary surplus of 443 million last year and a budget target for a primary surplus of 307 million euros. State budget net revenue totaled 4.219 billion euros in January, up 10.4 pct from targets, while regular budget net revenue amounted to 3.654 billion euros, down 0.2 pct from budget targets. Tax returns totaled 296 million euros in January, down 49 million euros from budget targets, while Public Investment Programme revenue amounted to 565 million euros, up 405 million from targets. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article High Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting Related Posts: iPhone If you've had the Touch ID fingerprint reader on your iPhone repaired through unofficial channels, it could be at risk of being bricked if it's upgraded to iOS 9.The Guardian has a story of a freelance photographer, Antonio Olmos, who broke his iPhone while working in Macedonia. Because of the lack of an official Apple repair center, Olmos had it replaced by an unofficial third-party. Later his iPhone was offered an iOS upgrade that failed to complete and left him with a bricked handset showing error 53.Apple says there is nothing that can be done short of buying a new iPhone."The whole thing is extraordinary," said Olmos. "How can a company deliberately make their own products useless with an upgrade and not warn their own customers about it?"Olmos isn't the only person affected by this. A quick Google search unearths a lot of people who've been left with a bricked iPhone.The issue is that if the Touch ID sensor is replaced - of the ribbon cable it is attached to - the new parts need to be paired with the iPhone. And the rub is that only be carried out by an authorized repair center. iOS 9 appears to check for this pairing, and if it has not been carried out, it bricks the iPhone without warning.Since the Touch ID sensor is central to the security of the iPhone and Apple Pay, it makes sense that it incorporates anti-tampering security features, but that's little comfort to those who weren't expecting their device to be bricked by an update.Bottom line, if you've had the Touch ID sensor replaced on an iPhone 6 or above by anyone other than an Apple authorized repair center, don't upgrade to iOS 9, because if you get hit by 'Error 53' then your iPhone is history. Huffines Motor Company was founded the company on two principles which are still the benchmark for all the decisions made at the dealerships today, Treat the customer the way they want to be treated & Support the local community. On this day when we remember the people who died on a battle field, may we also remember those who died for their faith -- for the freedom t... All of us, every single man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth were born with the same unalienable rights; to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And, if the governments of the world can't get that through their thick skulls, then, regime change will be necessary. Brief notes fromIn " Minoan Asherah ", Stephanie Budin seeks to explain the form of the Judean Pillar Figure *, goddess figurines holding their breasts and with "a pillar-shaped, free-standing base". She argues that these combine features from Levantine figurines, which hold their breasts, and Cypriot figurines, which wear a "hoop-skirt". The result is an alternative to "the traditional Levantine female divine iconography... The pillar-shaped based covers, hides, or otherwise deletes the most consistently significant attribute of Levantine female iconography: the prominent display of the genitalia." Judean prudishness - or perhaps the figurines represent Asherah, "with a base that would not only emphasise her tree- or pillar-like associations, but would clearly render her distinct from the more erotic Istars and Astaroth of the surrounding regions." ( Paul Butler has very kindly made his drawings for this chapter available online.)In "The worship of Anat and Astarte in Cypriot Iron Age sanctuaries", Anja Ulbrich writes: "The evidence for the worship of Astarte... shows her as a multi-faceted deity, who includes the functions of war- and city-goddess as well as a goddess of female sexuality, love and fertility. Anat is also "multi-faceted", but her primary role in Ugaritic myth is as goddess of war, "whose sexual activity is doubtful and elusive... This connects her strongly with the virgin Greek Athena, with whom, in the inscriptions from Iron Age Cyprus, Anat is invariably equated." A bilingual inscription is dedicated to "Anat, fortress of the living" in Phoenician, and "Athena Soteria Nike" in Greek.Ulbrich notes that coins from the Cypriot city of Lapithos show Athena with her Corinthian helmet on one side, and on the other, "a female head en face with a helmet with cow-ears and bovine horns with wings attached to them... this iconography points to prototypes from the Near East, where horned helmets, wings and arms" appear in depictions of war-goddesses (usually identified as Ishtar - the Mesopotamian equivalent of Astarte). This means that Canaanite goddesses with horns, or horned helmets, could be either Anat or Astarte, as could the goddess on these Cypriot coins. (Only Anat is described as having wings in the texts, which can help with her identification.) Both Anat and Astarte had sanctuaries on Cyprus, but it's not known if they were separate sanctuaries or those of a pre-existing goddess. "Astarte-figurines, depicting naked females with prominently rendered breasts and pubis, who partly touch their genitalia" were introduced from Phoenicia and were used as votives.Hathor was worshipped in Phoenicia, but, outside Egypt, only on Cyprus were large Hathor-capitals found, made from local limestone - like this one at the Met.* Not to be confused with the Pillar Figure of Judea, obvs.__Clarke, Joanne (ed).. Council for British Research in the Levant and Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2005. Ohio Governor John Kasich's campaign won't be in South Carolina much this week leading up to Saturday's primary. It appears the campaign is not focused on gathering southern conservative votes, but instead targeting Midwestern GOP moderates that are more concerned about economic issues. That political strategy fits well with campaign staffers like the Schrimpf brothers, who led Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner in a similar - and victorious - campaign in 2014. Kasich has the backing of Illinois GOP leaders, too. This morning, Kasich made an appearance in Michigan, Chris Schrimpf Tweeted this am: Reporters immediately focused in on Whites call for George Ryan to be one of the three wise men to mediate. Lock House Speaker Mike Madigan and Gov. Bruce Rauner into a room and have three former governors mediate the dispute. His idea for solving the budget impasse in Springfield? Every once in a while an idea so stupid gets floated in Springfield that it just takes ones breath away. This past week, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White spoke such a thought. Last week, Secretary of State Jesse White made a suggestion to solve budget crisis White was asked whether Ryan's conviction on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and fraud made it appropriate for him to be involved in budget discussions. "That's OK, but we're not talking about corruption right now, we're talking about good government," White told Illinois Radio Network. Huh? In fairness to White, I think what he means is that we didnt have conflicts like this when Ryan or the other members of his proposed trio -- Ryan, Jim Edgar and James Thompson -- were the states chief executives. Thats because they went along to get along. Ryan and Thompson, along with Madigan, ramped up the states spending and left state government finances in precarious condition when each left office. And Jim Edgar reminds me of my favorite Mark Twain quote: An honest man in politics shines more there than he would elsewhere. And yes, Edgar is honest. But he is no revolutionary. The crowning achievement of Edgars time in office was the so-called Edgar Ramp, which was touted as a cure for the states pension woes. A better name for it would be the Edgar Time Bomb. In case you havent noticed, the bomb has gone off. And that smoldering crater? Its the Land of Lincoln. Back in the 1990s, Edgar, legislative leaders and union bosses reached a grand compromise that called for having low annual pension payments while Edgar was in office and higher ones when future governors were in office. And those negotiating the compromise played make believe. They pretended that future Illinois politicians were going to be better behaved than past ones. They imagined no one was ever going to skip a pension payment again. And they even planned that no future governor would ever promise overly generous pension benefits to the government union bosses who helped them get elected. They even conjured up unrealistic expectations of future prosperity to pay those ever-escalating pension payments. Well, Illinois now has an unfunded pension liability of $113 billion by far the biggest in the nation. And our states finances are in shambles in part because about 25 percent of every tax dollar going into state government gets sucked away to pay for those pensions. And whats Mike Madigan solution? Raise taxes again. But now hes dealing with a governor not willing to acquiesce. Rauner has said he will not support a tax increase until the state undergoes fundamental political and economic reforms. A stance to which Madigan has dug in his heels and said no. But unlike past Illinois governors, Rauner isnt budging either. Change is hard. It threatens Madigans power. But Illinois needs reform. The only way Illinois can remove itself from this cycle of despair is to change how it operates. But thats not the sage advice Rauner would likely receive from Jesse Whites proposed trinity of political mentors. After all, they are products of the current political system. But change is what Illinois needs. And Bruce Rauner needs to stand strong. Scott Reeder is a veteran statehouse reporter and a journalist with Illinois News Network, a project of the Illinois Policy Institute. He can be reached at sreeder@ilnews.org. Readers can subscribe to his free political newsletter by going to ILNEWS.ORG or follow his work on Twitter @scottreeder Linking the Ferguson example in 2004 with that of rancher Clive Bundy's Nevada dust-up within the same year ( See Article 1 published at Illinois Review, Friday, February 12), and most recently the new conflict among more ranchers and government at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that resulted in police killing one of the ranchers, seems to point toward a developing pattern. One day after Thorner and ONeils article was published at Illinois Review, news media information revealed the heavy hand of law once again struck at both the City of Ferguson and rancher Clive Bundy. There is a growing concern among citizens that some government officials have been and are continuing to abuse their authority. There are many examples and evidence of this starting at the very top level of our government. Will there be further conflicts, and if so will it be the catalyst for further insurgency by citizens against government? Ferguson was under pressure by the federal government (Attorney General Loretta Lynch) to submit to specific demands. Ferguson officials did not think it in their community's best interest to comply with the new procedures demanded of them, and Attorney General Lynch's federal boots stomped down. Ferguson has now become a political tool for a federal power grab. The city may well end up with a federalized police department. In an unexpected twist, federal authorities not only arrested the ranchers who had occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, but they also arrested Cliven Bundy. At 69, Bundy was charged with "conspiracy, assault on a federal officer, obstruction, having a weapon, and other offenses stemming from his role as the leader of an April 2014 clash with federal officials at his ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada. The 32-page criminal complaint cites Mr. Bundys role in recruiting about 200 armed supporters to face off with federal agents who had come to remove his cattle from the Bureau of Land Management property in 2014 over a grazing dispute. The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge As alluded to in the above paragraph, in early January of this year another explosive situation developed between ranchers and the government. This incident involved father and son ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond and resulted in the occupancy of the Malheur NationaI Wildlife Refuge. It all began over a controlled burn" on Hammond's land, initiated as a clearing of dry grass land to protect their family's property from a potential wildfire. The federal government initiated charges claiming the Hammonds had burned federal land in the process. The Hammonds acknowledged the fire accidentally strayed and burned grass on federal land. The Hammonds were arrested and a trial resulted. The judge sentenced Dwight Hammond to three months in prison and his father Steven Hammond to one year in prison, even though there was no proof of deliberate arson. Both men completed their sentences, but after their release from prison, a federal judge stepped onto the scene claiming the punishment of the Hammonds was not enough. The Ninth Court of Appeals stated: Given the seriousness of arson, the ranchers should have been given a five-year sentence; the reduced sentence was grossly disproportionate to the offense. Dwight Hammond called the new ruling a death sentence," largely due to his advanced age. The Hammonds appealed to the Supreme Court, but it would not accept the case. Currently, Dwight and Steven Hammond are appealing to President Obama for clemency. Ranchers support Dwight and Steven Hammond The new sentence was deemed exceedingly unfair by fellow ranchers, who believed the Hammonds' rights had already been violated by the first sentence. Ranchers knew an arson charge was inappropriate for what was actually a common occurrence by ranchers in the area. There is always a risk with controlled burns exceeding the intended limit, but there is a bigger risk to the land and property without the burn. Ranchers had reached a limit to what they would endure from officials who appeared to them as enemies just looking for ways to discourage, discredit, and harm them. A group of ranchers joined together in a peaceful protest near the Hammonds' home. Brothers, Ryan and Ammon Bundy, driven by their growing anger of perceived injustices, broke away from what had been a peaceful protest and led a group of armed militiamen to take over the unoccupied headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2, 2016. It soon became obvious that the Refuge was being occupied by the renegade ranchers. The following explanation was given by the ranchers occupying the Refuge: The facility has been the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds. Were planning on staying here for years. This is not a decision weve made at the last minute. Ryan Bundy further stated, Many of the men at the refuge are willing to fight and die to protect the rights of states, counties, and individuals to manage local lands." Sadly, that proved to be true in the days ahead. FBI Challenges the Killing of a Rancher The Malheur NationaI Wildlife Refuge occupation went viral in the media on January 26, 2016, when the mostly peaceful occupation turned violent. Law enforcement officers shot and killed rancher Robert "LaVoy Finicum as he drove on Highway 395, about fifty miles north of the occupied Malheur site. Not helpful was the conflict that developed in Harney County, Oregon over the nature of Finicum's death. In an interview the day before he died, Finicum claimed that the government appeared to be ramping up for action. He voiced his concern saying: Theyre doing all the things that show that they want to take some action against us. Kris Anne Hall, legal advisor for the Coalition of Western States and a defender of the armed Oregon take over, stated during an interview on The Joe Miller Show that no shots were fired by any of the protesters, but multiple shots were fired by federal agents at the protesters' car. Additionally, Ms. Hall claims LaVoy Finicum was "summarily executed" while on his knees with his hands in the air. This claim was disputed by police, but there is no doubt Finicum was shot at least six times, while no shot originated from Finicum. Further contradicting Ms. Hall are police claims that Finicum was going for his gun when shot. But there are witnesses who claim Finicum was shot multiple times, including in the face at close range after he was likely dead. As of February 9, 2016, the autopsy report has not been released, which could prove helpful in determining whose version is most accurate. However, the FBI did release a video of the chase and the shooting on January 28, 2016, to the Oregonian that carefully examined all in slow motion. The detailed second by second account of the shooting can be viewed on this site. In existence is another video of the police chasing Finicum's car, taken from a helicopter overhead. After the Finicum family viewed it, they called the shooting unjustified, even going so far as to accuse the authorities of a cover-up. The new claims are bolstered by the account of Shawna Cox, who was riding in Finicum's vehicle during the chase and shooting. Another passenger, Victoria Sharp, provided confirmation that Finicum was fired upon before he left his truck. Conservation Plan negotiated as Beacon of Hope What makes the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge flare-up so upsetting to stakeholders -- including ranchers, environmentalists, and federal agents -- was a conservation plan that had been agreed upon for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the Harney Basin. The plan took three years to negotiate. An agreement was reached that considered ranchers' livelihoods, ecological concerns, and local economic sustainability. Accordingly, the plan had become a beacon of hope in the region, as well as in other rural communities faced with similar conflicts. Joel Webster, Western Lands Director of TRCP (Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership), is credited with engineering the conservation agreement. In an interview Webster said: We try to sit down with people and develop a shared vision early on in the process or at least make sure our vision isnt stepping on theirs. You do it in a way that minimizes conflict. Collaborative planning processes such as the one worked out in the Harney Basin are the essence of good land management." Nevertheless, conflicts do arise because the economic survival of some ranchers depend on access to water on public lands located in the high desert owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), especially during the critical spring and summer months. Some ranchers even purchase grazing and water access to BLM owned high desert public land. Furthermore, some landowners are not as amenable to that kind of collaboration with the federal government, claiming officials seek what is called state sovereignty over public lands: a transfer of rule making an administrative authority over taxpayer property: from federal agencies to state and county authorities. It might come as a shock to many that the federal government owns 650 million acres of land or 1/4 of all the land in the U.S. Most of the land is in the West. Movement growing to seize land from Centralized Agencies Webster is concerned over a growing movement to seize land management decisions away from centralized agencies. His concern is based on how more and more ranchers and farmers -- called "radicals" by Webster -- are speaking up against public lands and oppose government control of any kind. The result is a perception of injustice. As in the Hammond case, there is a shrinking gap between those like Bundy and moderates who want to work with the government. Concern also exists that the desire to wrest management authority away from public representatives at BLM and FWS could possibly become mainstream. Webster understands why ranchers are upset, but he does not see Bundy's approach as a solution. As Webster noted: It clearly seems unreasonable to put somebody in prison for five years for burning 139 acres of public land. There are some legitimate frustrations out there like that. Webster then added: But we have a system of laws put in place for reasons. You get engaged if you dont like the laws and try to change them. You dont hold a stand-off. Ranchers claim they tried the legal approach without success. Impact of Standoff Unknown It is difficult to ascertain the kind of impact the refuge standoff will have on the freshly-healed partnerships negotiated by Webster between ranchers and federal workers in the community prior to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation. If the November 2014 Senate campaign is an indication, in which Cory Gardner (R) defeated Mark Udall (D) for U.S. Senate, the public seems to have sided with the ranchers, The Gardner/Udall political contest was largely about the smothering effects of government regulation. There does appears to be a growing sympathy for the ranchers as they are perceived as hard-working, honest people who are land rich and dollar poor, challenged by continual harassment inflicted by government agencies. The recent shooting of Finicum can only add to the community's concern. The standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge finally came to an end, when on Wednesday, February 10, 2016, forty-one days after the occupation of Malheur began, the last rancher surrendered to the FBI. There are inevitable consequences when crisis situations are not successfully managed before tempers flare and situations become harder to control. Most everyone ends up losing in the end. Granted, the conflict that created the situation in Oregon is far from over. The ranchers involved have accomplished their primary goal of having their concerns made public, although not to the extent of those who rioted, thrashed, and burned Ferguson or those who marched on the streets of large cities chanting No justice! No peace! No racist police! Unfortunately in calling attention to their plight, one rancher paid the ultimate price, his life, for doing so. Will the authorities now be more open to initiating productive discussions to hear ranchers concerns? The fate of the protestors arrested and taken into custody might be an indicator of what the future might hold for the Great Basin region of this nation. As for Ferguson, many now believe much of what transpired in Ferguson was a deliberate, orchestrated effort to federalize the police, to eliminate local independence through strong armed consent," and to send a message to other police departments around the country that the same thing can and will happen to them if they do not submit to federalization. It appears to be a first step to initiate the Obama civilian national security force that he called for in July, 2008. It seems prudent for all citizens to be alert to what is happening and realize this is not just about a few rare incidents; it is about protecting our Country, Constitution, and honest citizens from intrusive government actions. Air Force Gets Its Own Combat Dive Badge After Using the Navy's for Years Air Force officials said there is a notable distinction between Navy divers and their divers, which was a key reason for... I spent some time literally weeping for my country today. I know we're all worried about a lot of things. But what triggered my tears to... Beijing's active participation in the process to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict has fulfilled its commitment as a responsible nation, experts said after a cease-fire deal was reached in Munich. On Friday, the United States, Russia and China, among other nations, agreed on a cessation of hostilities "within a week" in Syria and delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas of the country. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Reuters on Friday that, although differences remained, all major parties came to realize that the crisis in Syria needed to end. "We hope this hard-won consensus can really be implemented," Wang said, reiterating Beijing's support in letting the Syrian people decide the future of their country. Li Shaoxian, a senior expert in Middle East studies at Ningxia University in northeastern China, said the deal had saved the stalled peace negotiations between the government of President Bashar Assad and the opposition, "a diplomatic goal long pursued by China". Wang made two trips to Europe over the Syrian issue, one to the United Kingdom and the other to Germany. In London, Wang said China had provided nine installments of humanitarian aid to Syria and would provide 10,000 metric tons of food to refugees. Hosting both the Syrian foreign minister and opposition officials in January is also more proof of China's effort to support the peace process laid out by the United Nations Security Council, Li added. China will not take part in the Syrian crisis by picking sides, but will play its role in fighting terrorism, Li said, citing Beijing's recent counter-terrorism cooperation, capacity building and intelligence sharing with Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Li Weijian, a Middle East studies researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said China is playing a unique role compared with countries that chose to support one side in the conflict. A neutral and impartial solution is needed, he added. wangxu@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 02/15/2016 page3) By India Today Web Desk: Pursuing its philosophy of 'Winning' in 2016, India's largest luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz today, strengthened its presence in Pune, by inaugurating its second state-of-the-art dealership.Trinity Motors showroom is located in the posh locality of Kalyaninagar and its fully-equipped workshop is situated in Wagholi.The luxury car showroom and the 2 S workshop was inaugurated by Roland Folger, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India and Gaurav Ghatge, Executive Director, Trinity Motors. advertisement Speaking on the occasion, Roland Folger, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said,"Our philosophy for 2016 is 'Winning' as we strive to create newer avenues to create proximity with our distinguished customers. We are amidst one of the most exciting phases in the Indian luxury automotive market today as we are the fastest growing luxury car brand in the country. Last year, Mercedes-Benz sold the highest number of cars since its inception in India. Mercedes-Benz India also received tremendous impetus as it remains 'India's Most Awarded Luxury Car Manufacturer'. We have an exciting year ahead of us as we prepare to launch several of our fascinating new products for our discerning customers. Mercedes-Benz India also has the best network reach and we are committed to extend our brand promise of 'Best or nothing' to our patrons." Mr. Folger further elaborated, "We are glad to inaugurate our second luxury car dealership and service centre in our vibrant hometown of Pune. We will be inaugurating 10 new outlets this year as part of our 'winning' philosophy, of which qualitative network expansion drive is an integral part. Our efforts towards creating customer fascination and addressing increasing customer differentiation for the brand has resulted in the creation of many industry best practices and infrastructure. The creation of the 'S Lounge' at Trinity Motors is one such fine example. 'S Lounge' is designed to provide an immersive modern luxury experience of the Mercedes-Maybach and the S-Class to our elite customers who value our brand promise 'The Best or Nothing'. Trinity Motors now has the distinction of having India's first 'S Lounge'. We are confident that Trinity Motors with such a splendid infrastructure and highly accomplished manpower will make owning a Mercedes-Benz a truly memorable experience for its customers." The state-of-the-artdealership and the workshop of Trinity Motors are spread over a cumulative area of48,500 sq. ft., augmenting it as a luxury car destination for luxury car enthusiasts. The dealership is located in the prime locality of Kalyaninagar,the service centre is located at Wagholi with convenience of access for customers. With more than100 well-trained staff working in the showroom and the service centre, Trinity Motors has put together a team which is dedicated, motivated and eager to set new benchmarks in customer delight. Trinity Motors boasts of showcasing the entire range of Mercedes-Benz cars by creating a massive 11 car display at the showroom in Kalyaninagar. Additionally, 20 bays are readily available at the service centre in Wagholi exclusively meant for maintenance and repair. The dealership also features an exclusive S Lounge.It is a premium lounge furnished with wooden floors, exclusive carpets and imported furniture. The lounge is specially designed to showcase the S-Class flagship models of Mercedes Benz including the Mercedes-Maybach. This is done keeping in mind the Pune customers who are known to have a penchant for S-Class models. In addition, there is a Mercedes caf, a video wall and a separate children's play area intended for the customers.Trinity Motors is located at Plot No. 1, Opposite Gold Adlabs, Kalyaninagar, Pune. advertisement 'The S Lounge': Trinity Motors is the first dealership of Mercedes-Benz in India boasting the exclusive 'S Lounge' created for the customers of the exquisite Mercedes-Maybach and the S-Class luxury sedans. Adorned with wooden floor, highly exclusive carpets, imported furniture, the 'S Lounge' boasts of a lavish luxury atmosphere and exudes opulence to the core. With segmented wall panels having integrated elements, latest accessories display and audio-visual display built into the wall panels unit, the 'S Lounge' is the most distinctive arena of Trinity Motors. The magnificent Mercedes-Maybach and the flagship S-Class luxury sedans will be exclusively displayed at the S Lounge. Mr. Gaurav Ghatge, Executive Director, Trinity Motors commented, "Trinity Motors is proud to be associated with an iconic brand like Mercedes Benz. We are in complete alliance with the Mercedes-Benz's 'Winning' philosophy that aims at connecting closely with our valued customers. It will be our relentless endeavour to make customers for life through our brand experience and unwavering commitment to service excellence. We are glad to witness that Pune is emerging as an evolved cosmopolitan city with a significant rise in the young and affluent customers in the recent years. Home to small and big scale manufacturing, IT, education, real estate and hospitality industry, Pune has established itself firmly in the map of luxury destinations. We are delighted to deepen our presence here.We, at Trinity Motors, are confident of delighting our customers with an unparalleled luxury purchase and ownership experience." advertisement The inauguration of Trinity Motors will see Mercedes-Benz expanding its footprint with the 83rd outlet across 40 cities in the country. Mercedes-Benz has the dense stand most qualitative network of any luxury car maker in India. The expansion drive will continue this year with the inauguration of 10 new outlets. The network expansion is well-strategized bringing the company closer to the established customers, potential patrons as well as offering all visitors the opulence of the Mercedes-Benz world. --- ENDS --- The suspension, the first nationwide since the earthquake and the tsunami of 2011, was due to an explosion on January 8 in one of its subsidiary plant Aichi Steel, which manufactures material for automobile components. It has been estimated that the weeklong suspension led the global leader in car manufacturing to stop production of between 70,000 and 80,000 cars. By Indo-Asian News Service: Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor on Monday resumed production at its domestic plants after a week-long suspension of operations due to a shortage in steel, caused by an accident in a subsidiary's factory. In a statement, the company confirmed that "production resumed as scheduled" and thanked the "understanding and cooperation of our suppliers, dealers, customers, and everyone else affected by this incident," EFE news reported. advertisement ALSO READ: Toyota recalls Scion FR-S to fix ignition key problem All assembly lines of the 16 Toyota factories in Japan, as well as other component plants of the company, stopped operations on February 8, affecting production in its subsidiaries Hino, Daihatsu and Lexus. It has been estimated that the weeklong suspension led the global leader in car manufacturing to stop production of between 70,000 and 80,000 cars. While presenting its latest half-year results earlier this month, Toyota had acknowledged that the temporary slowdown of domestic production, which accounts for around 50 percent of the total, could have some impact on its annual accounts. ALSO READ; Toyota considers Daihatsu buyout, denies Suzuki tie-up talks The suspension, the first nationwide since the earthquake and the tsunami of 2011, was due to an explosion on January 8 in one of its subsidiary plant Aichi Steel, which manufactures material for automobile components. --- ENDS --- The Directorate of Education (DoE) received over 73,000 applications against about 23,000 seats for nursery admissions under the EWS category, draws for which will be held today. By India Today Web Desk: The Directorate of Education (DoE) received over 73,000 applications against about 23,000 seats for nursery admissions under the EWS category, draws for which will be held today. The DoE has also issued guidelines to schools regarding the computerised draw, which has been centralised for the first time. "The total number of online applications received is 73,059 and total number of seats is 28,193. Hence, every applicant can't be selected in draw of lots," a DoE official said, according to PTI. advertisement "The draw for admissions will be conducted tomorrow and the school allotted for admission under EWS/DG category shall be sent through SMS on the registered mobile number of the applicant within 24 hours of completion of draw of lots. "The successful applicant may approach the school allotted in draw upto February 22, failing which his or her candidature will be cancelled," the official added. Schools have been asked to properly scrutinize Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificates and any income certificate from the parents/applicants who have been selected under Disadvantaged Students Category (DG). "The school shall carefully carry out the necessary scrutiny/verification of the documents produced. The school must also verify the genuineness of EWS/DG certificates issued by the different departments through online, if available, or in writing from the office of issuing authority," the circular said. "The school shall not ask for income certificate from those EWS category parents who submit copy of BPL/AAY/Food Security Card issued by Food and Civil Supply Department. The school shall not impose the condition for attested copies of documents," it added. Check: Karnataka Muslim girl secures 93% in Ramayana exam Click here to get more education news. Get latest updates on exam notifications and scholarships across India and abroad here . --- ENDS --- Capping her legal battle, transgender K Prithika Yashini along with 21 other members of the community today received appointment orders as Sub-Inspectors of police. The candidates will undergo SI training in Chennai. K Prithika Yashini along with 21 other members of the community today received appointment orders as Sub-Inspectors of police By Press Trust of India: Capping her legal battle, transgender K Prithika Yashini along with 21 other members of the community today received appointment orders as Sub-Inspectors of police. Yashini, hailing from the city, and 21 other transgenders received the appointment orders from City Police Commisioner Smith Saran after undergoing medical check-up. The candidates will undergo SI training in Chennai, police said. advertisement Yashini had moved the Madras High Court last year after her application for the post of SI was rejected by the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB). The court in November last had directed the TNUSRB to appoint her as SI as she is entitled to get the job and also asked it to include transgenders as third category. The court had appreciated the cause canvassed by Yashini. Yashini told PTI today that her ambition was to become an IPS officer. She said she will help transgenders like her get education and employment. "I will take action against those involved in child abuse and sexual harassment," she said. --- ENDS --- By Sneha Agrawal: The high of pollution in the Capital is not a new story, but the audacity to implement the odd-even scheme, and that too successfully, is what the Aam Aadmi Party government says is new. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with his Cabinet colleagues, celebrated his government's completion of a year in office on Sunday, announcing new schemes for Delhiites as well as addressing issues over phone calls. Thanking citizens for their support to the odd-even plan that was implemented in Delhi from January 1 to 15, Kejriwal said: "I had read a lot on the odd-even scheme. Several cities in the world tried it but failed to achieve success. But Delhi is one city that successfully implemented the scheme and agreed to participate in the second phase. When we started campaigning for the first phase of the scheme, we began with an open mind. We had decided to withdraw the plan within the first two-three days of its implementation if it created a hurdle for the citizens. But the response was worth appreciation." advertisement Talking about the second phase of the odd-even scheme that would come into effect in April for a period of 15 days, Delhi Transport and Rural Development Minister Gopal Rai said that the government had hired 500 state marshals to enforce the second phase with further efficiency. "Despite unavailability of public transport, the first phase of the plan was remarkably implemented. It not only reduced the pollution levels by 20-24 per cent but also presented a picture of congestion-free Delhi for the citizens. People were surprised to find roads free of traffic which they had never thought of," Rai said. During an interactive session, the AAP leaders were flooded with questions on AAP canteen, poor attention given to senior citizens in government hospitals, poor health infrastructure, corruption, unauthorised constructions, adulteration in food items, turning Yamuna shores into spots for tourist attraction, participation of public in decisionmaking process and other issues. The Delhi chief minister used the opportunity to take a dig at the Modi government and simultaneously campaign for the upcoming MCD polls. Responding to a query from one Abhishek on Twitter, who had asked why the Delhi government wasn't resolving the tussle with the Centre over the Delhi Police, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said,"Modiji is trying to protect the corrupt in Delhi. The Delhi Assembly had passed the Jan Lokpal Bill which has been sent to the Centre for its approval. Once it is approved, Lokpal will nab these (corrupt) people." Responding to another question on similar lines from a caller, Sisodia said: When the AAP formed its government, Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) was doing well to apprehend corrupt persons." On inviting RWAs before finalising next year's budget, Kejriwal said: "RWAs would be approached in the month of March for their suggestions while drafting the budget. 300 mohalla sabhas accross the Capital would be held for them to give their inputs on how the expenditure should be made in their area by the government." Canteens Ashish Khetan, vice-chairman of Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body of the AAP government, said by the end of this year around 80 Aam Aadmi Canteens will come up in the city. Tenders would soon be floated to execute the same. Sisodia requested him to start such canteens inside Delhi University as well so that it helps outstation students. advertisement Kejriwal said the government also planned to rehabilitate people living in JJ clusters and they will be shifted to multi-storied apartments, adding that the government has identified five JJ clusters to execute the project in the first phase. Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government would soon launch a drive to curb food adulteration in the city, which is aimed at creating awareness among people of Delhi. Also read: 1st anniversary of AAP govt: Arvind Kejriwal presents report card --- ENDS --- Terming the completion of one year of the Delhi government as a Black Day, state BJP on Sunday staged a protest against the AAP dispensation. By Mail Today: Terming the completion of one year of the Delhi government as a Black Day, state BJP on Sunday staged a protest against the AAP dispensation. It said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has failed to deliver on his poll promises. The protest was held about 50 metre away from the NDMC Convention Centre where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues were celebrating their one year in office. Holding placards - Har Roz Naya Bawal, Ek Saal Kejriwal - BJP activists shouted slogans against the AAP government. BJP leaders including Satish Upadhayay, RP Singh, Tarun Chugh, Udit Raj and Maheish Girri released black balloons as a mark of protest. advertisement Addressing the gathering, Chugh said the AAP government has not fulfilled even a single poll promise it made to the people before the Delhi Assembly elections. Listing the failures of Kejriwal government, he said the party had assured it would install CCTV cameras across the city but nothing has happened. Even the promise made to women about deployment of marshals has not been fulfilled, he added. Referring to the raging JNU row, he said, "This is not a political issue but related to the nation, and Kejriwal should stop playing politics on this. You (Kejriwal) should be ashamed for terming the death sentence given to Afzal Guru as 'killing'. Not only that, you are calling JNUSU president and his supporters, who shouted slogans against India on JNU premises, 'innocent'," he said. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta alleged people were being deprived of development. Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhayay criticised the AAP government for wasting public money on advertisements extolling its won achievements. Also read: AAP government's 1-year report card: Arvind Kejriwal gets a thumbs up --- ENDS --- Former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani was arrested for sedition in connection with an event at Press Club of India, in which a group shouted slogans hailing Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. By India Today Web Desk: Former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani was arrested for sedition in connection with an event at Press Club of India, in which a group shouted slogans hailing Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Geelani is likely to be questioned by Delhi Police in connection with the sedition case lodged against him at the Parliament Street police station. advertisement An FIR has been registered against Geelani and other unnamed persons under Sections 124A (sedition), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of IPC in connection with the event at the Press Club in which anti-India sloganeering took place. The action against Geelani, who was acquitted in the Parliament attack case, comes even as Delhi Police yesterday registered a case of sedition in connection with a Tuesday event at JNU campus against the hanging of Afzal Guru following complaints by BJP MP Mahesh Girri and ABVP. The police today claimed to have registered the sedition case against Geelani and others after taking suo motu cognizance of media clips of the incident. "By the time we registered the case, we had received no complaints from any party," the police said. Police also claimed that Geelani was booked as he is presumed to be the main organiser of the event. "Request for booking a hall at press club was done through Geelani's e-mail and the nature of the event was proposed to be a public meeting," the police stated. Police are monitoring video footage and trying to ascertain the identity of the ones involved in anti-India sloganeering. Police shall question several individuals who were present at the event. Press Club of India issued a show-cause notice to the member who had booked the conference hall for the event on Wednesday. A group allegedly led by Geelani had shouted slogans hailing Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during a public meeting at the Press Club of India on February 10. Geelani had been acquitted by the Delhi High Court in October 2003, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in August 2005 which at the same time observed that the needle of suspicion pointed towards him. He will be produced before a Delhi court today. Also Read: Afzal Guru row: JNU sends status report to HRD Ministry JNU row a result of conspiracy: RSS JNU row: They are students, not criminals says Kapil Sibal on sedition charges --- ENDS --- JNU today sent a "status" report to HRD ministry about the situation in the campus and the action taken by the varsity in connection with an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, during which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. By India Today Web Desk: JNU today sent a "status" report to HRD ministry about the situation in the campus and the action taken by the varsity in connection with an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, during which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. The HRD ministry had last week sought a report about the February 9 incident which has sparked a widespread outrage among various quarters. advertisement "We got a communication from the ministry seeking information about the investigation being conducted by the university about the incident. A response has been sent today," JNU registrar Bhupinder Zutshi said. The report read as follows: Four students, namely, Umar Khalid, Komal, Anirban and Awasthy sought permission of the Dean of the Students for organizing an event called "Poetry reading - The country without Post-Office" on February 9, 2016 at 5.00 pm at Sabarmati Dhaba. On 9th Feb, around 3.00 pm, it came to the notice of the administration that the poster for the event was captioned "Against the Bramanical Collective conscience, against Judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat in Solidarity with the struggle of the Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self determination". The Vice-Chancellor immediately convened a meeting of the Registrar, Chief Security Officer, Dean of Students and the Chief Proctor. Following the meeting, the Dean of students told the CSO to inform the students organizing the event that the permission for holding the event has been withdrawn. In spite of being informed by the security staff that the permission has been withdrawn and repeated requests not to go ahead with the event, the organizers went ahead and organized the programme where allegedly certain objectionable slogans were raised. The organizers invited the media to cover the programme without permission from the university authorities. Considering the gravity of the incident that took place on 9th Feb, the university authorities constituted a High Level Enquiry Committee of three senior faculty members on 10th Feb, 2016 to enquire into the whole incident. The committee is expected to submit its final report by 25th Feb, 2016. On 11th Feb, 2016 the Deputy Police Commissioner, South Delhi contacted the Security officer and sent a letter stating that anti-national sentiments were voiced by some students of the University on 9th Feb, 2016. He also sought permission to the police to enter the premises to take necessary steps. Considering the serious nature of the alleged offence, permission was given to the Police to investigate the matter as per law of land. The Vice-Chancellor apprised the Deans of Schools and the Chairpersons of the Special Centers about the situation on the ground on 11th Feb, 2016. On 12th February, the Enquiry Committee comprising Professor Rakesh Bhatnagar, Professor Himadri Bohidar and Professor Suman K. Dhar submitted a preliminary report and recommended that eight students identified by them should be debarred from academic activities while allowing them to stay in hostel as guest. The report was accepted by the Vice-Chancellor and the Chief Proctor was asked to implement the recommendations. Press was briefed about the Preliminary Enquiry Report. advertisement The apprehension of Faculty members about the police presence on campus was discussed with the Faculty representatives and a letter was sent to the Police requesting them to take utmost precautions before entering the University Campus if required under law. The police officers also gave the assurance that police will enter the University Campus only if absolutely necessary as per law and the university authorities will be informed in advance. Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Chancellor, JNU visited the University on 13 th February, 2016 and met with the Vice Chancellor, faculty members, senior officials, staff members and karmacharis. He expressed concern about the unfortunate incident that took place on 9th February, 2016 in JNU Campus which led to disturbance of peace and tranquility, affecting its academic programme. He appreciated the quick response by the Vice Chancellor and his team, in dealing with this matter in setting up the enquiry committee and also many other follow up actions. He emphasized the need for all sections of the JNU community to extend full support to the JNU Administration and expressed confidence that effective steps would be taken to restore normalcy on campus and to ensure that such incidents do not recur. advertisement The University authorities are doing everything possible to maintain peace and tranquility on the campus so that normalcy is returned and we get back to academics which is the main function of the University. On 14th February, the Vice-Chancellor issued an appeal through the press requesting everyone to help create a conducive academic atmosphere. The entire JNU community is supporting the Administration in our efforts to restore peace and normal academic functioning of the University. Also Read: Kanhaiya Kumar raised anti-India slogans: Delhi Police commissioner justifies JNU student leader's arrest Lawyers attack journalists, students as JNU student union president Kanhaiya is produced in court JNU row: BJP, Cong at loggerheads, Amit Shah wants apology from Rahul --- ENDS --- Former Solicitor General Soli Sorabjee today delineated the law on sedition and said that even if some of the slogans raised at JNU were 'problematic', they do not amount to a charge of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar, who happened to be at the event where the slogans were raised. By India Today Web Desk: Former Solicitor General Soli Sorabjee today delineated the law on sedition and said that even if some of the slogans raised at JNU were 'problematic', they do not amount to a charge of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar, who happened to be at the event where the slogans were raised. The former attorney general of India spoke exclusively to India Today's Managing Editor Rahul Kanwal. Here's what he said advertisement India Today: With all the eminence and the experience that you have, we like you to weigh in on whether or not the application of sedition charges against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar is correct or incorrect? Sorabjee: It all depends on facts. First of all, let's understand what sedition means. Any criticism of the government, any disapprobation of the measures of the government, however strongly expressed is sedition. Considering the validity of the Section 124A, in the Kedarnath case, the section is limited to acts or words or deeds, which have a tendency to disrupt public order, or which incite violence. Q: If we transpose the 1962 Kedarnath case and apply the same parameters to JNU case, has sedition been wrongly applied? A. It depends. If they merely said 'Pakistan zindabad', I find it very deplorable, but that's not sedition. If they said that this Indian state is a very despotic state, people will not get to be aware of their fundamental rights, and there is no use protesting against it, and we must overthrow it, then it is inciting to violence, then it attracts sedition. But all depends on facts. Q: The facts. Some of the slogans chanted at JNU - 'Pakistan zindabad', 'Go India go back, 'Bharat ki barbaadi tak jung rahegi, jung rahegi' [We'll fight till India is destroyed], 'Kashmir ki azadi tak jung rahegi, jung rahegi' [We'll fight till the time Kashmir is there], 'Afzal hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hai' [Afzal, we are ashamed that your killers are still alive], 'Tum kitney Afzal maroge, har ghar mein Afzal niklega' [An Afzal will be born for every Afzal killed], 'Afzal tere khoon se inqualab aayega' [Afzal, your blood will bring about a revolution]. A: Merely saying 'Pakistan zindabad', is not sedition. The next one [Bharat ki barbaadi ..] is problematic, but I would rather say not sedition. The section is a very serious penal section. It has provision for very clear-cut cases. 'Afzal, hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hai' [Afzal, we are ashamed that your killers are still alive], 'Tum kitney Afzal maroge, har ghar mein Afzal niklega' [An Afzal will be born for every Afzal killed], This would be incitement. This is not a borderline case, but it has to be proved. This has to be established. Q: The JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar has not made these comments. There was a bunch of students from the Democratic Students Union who made this comment. Those people are currently absconding, and sedition charges are made against someone who has not made these comments. advertisement A: If what you say is correct, then it is absolutely wrongly applied. Mere presence at a gathering doesn't mean sedition. Unless he actively abetted and encouraged them, and took part in them. [If the police admits that he didn't make the slogans] then how come sedition charge be slapped against him? It's completely wrong... If the facts which you say are correct, then there's been a grave error in judgment. Let's see it in totality. The students have a certain point of view. They want to express it. May be they expressed it beyond the borderline.... including 'Hindustan barbaad, and so on', this is leaning more toward freedom of expression. Here is the entire interview: --- ENDS --- The BAFTA 2016 ceremony saw protesters gathered at the event with banners of #BAFTABlackout to show their discontent with the Academy over the lack of diversity in the nominations this year. Protesters who are part of a group called Creatives of Colour Network, stage a demonstration Sunday February 14, 2016, at the junction of Russell Street and Bow Street in London. Photo: AP By India Today Web Desk: The head of the British Academy Film and Television Awards, Amanda Berry says its annual ceremony does not feature more ethnic minority nominees because the film industry itself is not diverse enough. ALSO READ: BAFTA 2016 - Here's what Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen have to say about #OscarsSoWhite ALSO READ: BAFTA 2016 winners' list - The Revenant and Mad Max Fury Road win big advertisement Berry said that she supported the peaceful protest against the lack of diversity outside the star-studded BAFTA event, that was held in London on February 14 night. She told the Daily Telegraph that not enough movies are made with diverse talent so "the pool of people to draw award winners from isn't diverse enough." She added that "people can only vote on what they've seen." Her comments follow a controversy surrounding racial diversity at the Oscars. The movie awards season has been dominated by debate about why the film industry remains dominated by white men. All the acting nominees for the Oscars both this year and last have been white. Protesters outside the BAFTA awards venue with #BAFTABlackout banners. Photo: AP This year's BAFTA can be called slightly more diverse, with two black actors - John Boyega and Idris Elba nominated in different categories. Idris Elba was nominated in the supporting actor category for Beasts Of No Nation, whereas John Boyega picked up the EE Rising Star award. Sidney Poitier, black American actor who became the first black best actor Oscar winner in 1963, received a lifetime achievement award this year for his contribution to cinema. A group called Creatives of Colour Network had organized a protest against lack of racial diversity in the show business beside the red carpet at the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday. Demonstrators rallied under the hashtag #BAFTABlackout, and distributed leaflets declaring the awards "male, pale and stale." Like Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British Film Academy says it will work to make sure its 6,500 voting members become a more diverse group. On the red carpet, Boyega said that he was glad the issue was being aired. "I just think a larger conversation is being had and I think that's a very, very positive thing," he said. (With inputs from AP) --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen as BAFTA presenters jokingly addressed diversity issues in Hollywood which started off with a popular tag #OscarsSoWhite. ALSO SEE: Leonardo DiCaprio to Idris Elba, here's a look at their best moments ALSO READ: The Revenant and Mad Max Fury Road win big at BAFTA 2016 According to a report in Independent, Rebel Wilson poked fun at the diversity debate and said, "I have never been invited to the Oscars, because as you know they are racists, but the BAFTAs have diverse members and that's what we all want to see in life. Diverse members." advertisement When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its 2016 Oscar nominees, only white actors were among the chosen few in the top four categories. And it resulted into a huge controversy and started trending on social medai with #OscarsSoWhite. Not just Rebel Wilson, Sacha Baron Cohen also talked about the controversy when arrived for the award ceremony. "I don't think it's that the members of the Academy are actually racist, I just don't think they are presented with enough films that are diverse," Sacha told The Gaurdian. He also said, "The main reason I agreed to present at this awards ceremony is that BAFTA has shown none of the discrimination and prejudice, which is so shamefully on display at the Oscars. It gives me great pride that every year BAFTA makes sure that one of the lead actress nominees is a dame... Dench, Smith." BAFTA was also questioned for its diversity and a small group of protesters did gather outside the Royal Opera House. British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) were held on February 14, 2016 in London. --- ENDS --- The Bengaluru police arrested nine drug peddlers and recovered heroine worth Rs 15 lakh near IBS Business School on Mysuru Road, yesterday. By Mail Today: The Bengaluru police arrested nine drug peddlers and recovered heroine worth Rs 15 lakh near IBS Business School on Mysuru Road, yesterday. The police formed different teams and captured them posing as buyers. According to the police, the accused Shivachenna (41), Manu (24), Ranjit Kumar (24), Harish (26), Basavaraj (30), Lokesh (30), Guru (20), Chetan (24) and Kumar (29) were trying to sell heroine to students in front of the institute. advertisement A case has been registered against all the accused under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The police also seized a car, two motorbikes and 10 mobile phones from the accused. --- ENDS --- When you realise you're being stalked, how do you react? Do you panic and shout or run for dear life? By Somya Abrol: Having the slightest intuition about someone's eyes constantly being on you, without even being entirely sure, is unnerving, to say the least. Being a college student, who travelled 20km one way every day, didn't help the cause. My typical day's travel included 12km of bus travel and the rest of the stretch comprised an oft-uncomfortable shared-auto ride. And this was a time before CNG autos. advertisement I was in my first year of Bachelors, and was just about getting over the school-to-college inertia. One afternoon, my new friends suggested we go out to get some cheap Chinese food after college, which meant having to travel back home around 6 pm, which was a little before sun-down, so I didn't say no. That was the day I first felt eyes on my back. Though I reached home, safe and sound, it was a feeling I couldn't shake off. A couple of other such intuitions made me confide in a friend at college; she asked me to, "Stop acting crazy. You're not all that pretty!" A quick laugh made me forget all about it, till that night, I received a blank call on my home landline. Though blank calls weren't an unknown phenomenon then, there was something particularly disturbing about this one-I could hear someone breathing heavy on the other side. My saving grace was, I was living with my parents. So, the next day, when the phone rang around 11ish pm, my father offered to pick it up--which continued for 7 subsequent nights. A month later, our college played host to a yearly fest, which I participated in as part of the dramatics team. Since the fest was closing with our play, my journey back home started only around 7pm. And as fate would have it, the bus broke down about 5km from my residence. I decided to get off and take an auto to cover the distance. Only, when I was trying to get an auto rickshaw to stop, a bike came and stopped about 5 metres away from me, on just the spot where a tree's shade stopped the street light from reaching. I could feel my stomach curdling. I knew I was going to be trouble in a matter of seconds if I didn't do anything right now. Luckily, an auto stopped, and I got in, not before thinking twice. And surely, the bike started to follow the auto. For about a kilometre, the biker tried his best to drive parallel to the auto. I tried to look, to see if I recognised the face--it was covered with a dark coloured mask. advertisement I had to do something, and it had to be now. At some distance, a little off my route home, I spotted a PCR (Police Control Room) and found the strength to mutter the words, "Bhaiyya, vo PCR ke paas rokna, kuch kaam hai." Though the auto waala protested, since we were going to go off route, I told him I'd pay extra. All I had to do was sit in the auto, next to the PCR, for a couple of minutes, till a police officer emerged from the vehicle and asked me what I wanted. I told him my situation; he asked if I remembered the bike's registration number. Of course I did. He took out something that looked like a log book and noted the number down, before asking for my name. After a brief, incomprehensible conversation he had on the walkie-talkie, he asked me to stay put, to check whether the bike was going to return. It didn't. I stayed there for 20 minutes, and with a heavy heart, started my journey back home--and managed to reach home safe 10 minutes later. advertisement Though the blank calls stopped after this, I couldn't forget the nerve-wracking panic that moment created in my head. The incident did make me surer of myself, though--it's just a matter of acting smart or scared in those 60 seconds you get to react in such a situation. --- ENDS --- On Sunday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh ruffled some feathers after he said the protest in the varsity had the backing of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. By Kumar Vikram: The JNU controversy is showing no signs of dying down. On Sunday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh ruffled some feathers after he said the protest in the varsity had the backing of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. "The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is the truth that the nation needs to understand?. I would also appeal to all political parties not to view such episodes through the prism of political gains and losses," Singh said. advertisement As Opposition parties began lashing out at the home minister, the Ministry of Home Affairs got into damage control mode and said Singh's statement was based on intelligence inputs. "The home minister's statement Continued from page 1 is based on inputs available from different agencies," a ministry spokesperson said without divulging more details. Earlier in the evening, top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a meeting at the PM's residence to take stock of the situation. According to party sources, a host of other issues, including the upcoming Assembly elections and the Budget Session of Parliament were also discussed in the meeting. "JNU must have come up for discussion as the government is under attack from the Congress and the Left over the issue," a party leader said requesting anonymity. He added Modi took note of every development related to the controversy. Reactions Meanwhile, the home minister's statement drew a host of reactions from across the political spectrum. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said it was a serious charge that was levelled against the students and the allegation must be backed with evidence. In a series of tweets, Omar urged the home minister to go public with the evidence that prompted him to level such allegations against students of JNU. "That #HafizSaeed supported the #JNU protests is a very serious charge to level against the students. The evidence must be shared with all. Cracking down on students & using #HafizSaeed to justify the crackdown is a new low, even for this NDA government," he tweeted. Echoing similar views, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja also urged the home minister to share the evidence with the country to back his allegations. Singh's comments come two days after a series of tweets, purportedly posed by Saeed, asked Pakistanis to support the agitation in JNU. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on the other hand, also the joined the ongoing debate and made a veiled attack on the Congress and the Left over the issue. The ideological mentor of the BJP said some political leaders were condoning the anti-national acts instead of demanding action against the guilty. RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said: "Instead of studying, the students are involving in anti-India activities on the tax payers' money. Some teachers are also supporting them. This is serious." The BJP also lashed out at the Congress saying that the Grand Old Party was siding with anti-India forces. advertisement "Rahul Gandhi is confused and the Congress is frustrated. They are unable to digest the popularity of the Modi government. It is the height of negative politics that the Congress has sided with anti-national forces to target the Centre," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. The home minister, on Friday, had warned of strongest possible action against those allegedly involved in raising anti-India slogans during the event at JNU. "If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on the country's unity and integrity, they will not be spared," he had said. Singh had also asked the Delhi police to take strict action against those involved in anti-national acts. Also read: #BigAfzalFight: JNU protests had support of Hafiz Saeed, says Rajnath Singh --- ENDS --- An answer to a Quora thread by Harshit Agarwal, a second-year JNU student, tell us the seldom shared story of what 'exactly happened' inside JNU on February 9. By Vivek Surendran: The JNU campus row has left the nation divided - on one side we have the central government and a section of people who call the students terrorists, jihadis, pro-Pakistanis and naxals, and on the other we have the teachers, students and artists who are protesting against the university crackdown. To speak in the social media lingo, the former group, the blind supporters of the government and its decisions, are referred to as 'bhakts' and are lately accused of being custodians and self-proclaimed role-models of patriotism, and the latter group are referred to as the 'sickulars' or the 'loony-liberals', who have taken up on themselves the 'struggle' to keep democracy and secularism alive in the nation. advertisement A meeting called by ex-members of Democratic Students Union (DSU) to protest the hanging of 2001 Parliament terror attack mastermind Afzal Guru, led to the arrest of students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges and now has become a movement of sorts, with over 5,000 students protesting at the JNU campus and HM Rajnath Singh accusing the Afzal Guru event had the backing of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. Also read: JNU campus row: Delhi police to probe whether teachers are shielding the accused Many stories about the Afzal Guru event went viral, and one of those was a video of a prime time debate where an anchor stamps the JNU students as traitors, terrorists and anti-nationals, reiterating slogans like "Bharat ki barbaadi tak jung rahegi" and "India go back", apparently used during the event, but there is a side of the story that is seldom spoken about or reported in the national media. So what exactly happened in JNU on February 9? Harshit Agarwal, a second-year JNU student, answered a Quora thread titled "Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus Row (February 2016): What do you think about the JNU protest?" and explained what happened there, as he witnessed it. The answer has, by now, got 19.1 thousand views and is going viral on social media platforms. Here's what he wrote. "On February 9, ex-members of DSU had called for a cultural meeting of a protest against what they called 'the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat' and in solidarity with 'the struggle of Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self-determination.' A lot of Kashmiri students from inside and outside the campus were to attend the event." Describing the members of DSU, which he terms is an ultra-leftist group, Harshit says they're a group of well read students, not terrorists or naxals by any means, and during the two years he spent in the campus, never has he witnessed or heard about terror activity 'as much as of throwing a stone' about them. He then asks, "Did they do something wrong in organizing a meeting over the issue of Kashmir? Is the issue of Kashmir so sacred to us and our brains so brainwashed with the idea of nazi-like nationalism that we are not even ready to hear about the issue of Kashmir from Kashmiris themselves?" and says though he is not aware of exact nuances of the political matter, he is ready to hear, learn and debate all sorts of opinions. He also says he doesn't support secession of Kashmir. advertisement Also read: JNU row: 'We will split India' slogan raised by JNUSU members, claims ABVP video Harshit's next question is, "Now, did the organizers of the meeting do something wrong in calling Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat's execution 'judicial murder'? And was it the first time somebody raised an objection on capital punishment and the judgement of a court?" and points out very many people who have condemned this hanging in the past but haven't been stamped anti-national. What happened next? The members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) wrote to the administration asking it to withdraw permission of organising the meeting by DSU as it was 'harmful for campus atmosphere' and to avoid clashes, the administration did. Harshit says ABVP was scuttling the beautiful 'democratic space' JNU offers and that's when DSU asked for help from Jawaharlal Nehru Students' Union (JNUSU) and other student organisations like the Students Federation of India (SFI), and All India Students Association (AISA). DSU requested them to gather in support of their 'right to democratically and peacefully hold meetings' and NOT in support of their stand on Kashmir or their political ideology. advertisement JNUSU and other student organisations decided to go ahead with the meeting and to not let ABVP scuttle the hard-earned democratic space, to debate and discuss, in the campus. Also read: Omar Abdullah slams Rajnath Singh's Hafiz Saeed supporting JNU students remark Shouting of anti-national slogans: The administration denied the permission to use mics, and the organisers agreed. Harshit says "the ABVP mobilized its cadres and started threatening and intimidating the students and organizers. They started shouting cliched slogans like 'Ye Kashmir Hamara hai, saara ka saara hai,'" and that it was in response to this, the organisers shouted "Hum kya chaahte? Azaadi". Harshit asks, "Do you think there was something highly inflammatory and dangerous in this statement? Think about it. Nations break all the time. We were chanting the same slogan under Britishers," and clarifies "I have no problems with a group of students simply shouting slogans in support of a particular region's freedom. They were not planning a conspiracy to overthrow the government and seize Kashmir from India. They were simple students who read, travel and learn about socio-political issues and have a stand about it." advertisement "Tum kitne Afzal maaroge, har ghar se Afzal niklega!" "This group of students believed that he did not deserve capital punishment and also have their skepticism about his involvement in the parliamentary attack. I am picking up this from wikipedia - "It has to be noted, that in its judgement of 5 August 2005, the supreme court admitted that the evidence against Guru was only circumstantial, and that there was no evidence that he belonged to any terrorist group or organisation," writes Harshit. "And this directly from the Supreme Court judgement: "The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender" he adds. "So, a group of students believe that Afzal Guru was framed, had no role in the attack on the parliament and his capital punishment was wrong. Big deal? And were therefore shouting, "Har ghar se Afzal niklega!" Harshit says "these people are not carrying any arms, all they are carrying are ideas," and "So, in such a case, what should the state do? Charge them for conspiracy against the state? Or maybe merely try to engage with them, debate with them about a difference of opinion? And was this some secretly organized meeting about overthrowing the government smuggling in bombs and grenades? No, this was a public meeting. Everyone was invited. You were free to disagree with them. They are not doing it in hiding. If they were terrorists they would not come out in public! But didn't you see them all at your TV channels courageously defending themselves and their right to have a difference of opinion? Tell me, which traits of terrorists do you find in them?" Harshit also explains the "Bharat ki barbaadi tak jung rahegi, jung rahegi" and "India, Go back" slogans. You can read it his full post here. He ends his long answer with a plea - "At such a crucial time, when JNU is facing all kinds of fabricated lies and flak from media, I would urge all of you to stand with JNU. It is one of a kind of university and it's absolutely beautiful, both in it's spirit and geography," and adds "I urge you all to visit my university sometime. It welcomes everyone, accommodates everyone...:)" Nearly 5,000 people from different walks of life, students, teachers, activists and artists are in the JNU protesting in "Defence of Democracy and Right to Dissent". They formed human chains, raised slogans and burnt effigies demanding sedition charges against Kanhaiya be dropped and to end what they call as the 'witch-hunt of students in the University". Here are some glimpses: Thousands of students and teachers gathered today at JNU demanding release of Kanhaiya #StandwithJNU Kavita Krishnan...Posted by Aswathy Senan on Saturday, February 13, 2016 Teachers leading the way, these are our teachers #Respect #LongLiveJNU "Teachers formed a human chain to protect us...Posted by Caroline Maninee on Saturday, February 13, 2016 Day 2 #JNU: In Defence of Democracy and Right to Dissent!13 Feb 2016 More than 2500 students, teachers and civil...Posted by V Arun Kumar on Saturday, February 13, 2016 It is also to be noted that several social media users have pointed out that it is some ABVP activists who raised Pakistan Zindabad slogans, which led to the entire controversy. Though the matter is said to be under investigation, it cannot be ruled out if the ABVP students got carried away. What do you think about the JNU row now? Let us know through the comments below! --- ENDS --- BJP president Amit Shah took on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who had visited the campus last week to show solidarity with the JNU students."Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is frustrated and he is so distraught that he has failed to understand what is anti-national and what not," said Shah in his blog.Amit Shah demanded an immediate apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul for supporting anti-India protests at JNU.Rahul, who visited the JNU campus along with Delhi PCC chief Ajay Maken and former Union Minister Anand Sharma, was shown black flag by members of ABVP.On Friday, cops arrested JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges. By India Today Web Desk: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided not to buckle under pressure amid the massive row over an event held in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at Delhi's prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University. BJP president Amit Shah took on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who had visited the JNU campus last week to show solidarity with the students, and said the Congress leader is frustrated over 2014 Lok Sabha poll defeat. advertisement Amit Shah, in his blog post , said, "Congress is yet to come out of depression after 2014 loss. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is frustrated and he is so distraught that he has failed to understand what is anti-national and what not." "The Congress part has forgotten its political responsibilities. Whatever happened in JNU can not be seen through the prism of nationality," the BJP president added. Responding to Rahul's charge that BJP's rule reminds one of Hitler's era, Amit Shah said, " The closest resemblance of Hitler's era in India has been that of the Emergency, which was imposed by Indira Gandhi. I ask Rahul Gandhi, was the Emergency in 1975 a demonstration of Congress commitment to democracy? Was Indira Gandhi not Hitler-like?" Amit Shah demanded an immediate apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul for supporting anti-India protests at JNU. Meanwhile, talking to India Today TV, Congress leader Tom Vadakkan asked," Who is Amit Shah to issue a character certificate to the Congress?" "This is not about Congress party playing a positive role. If students are supressed in any part of the country, we have the right to fight. At the same time, let me add, any anti-national activity ... we will not accept." Amit Shah's attack on the Congress leadership came a day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh claimed that whatever happened in JNU had support of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) chief Hafiz Sayeed. "The incident of JNU had the support of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. It's an unfortunate incident," Rajnath Singh said on Sunday. "I appeal to all the political parties that whenever such situation arises, where anti-India slogans are raised, the entire nation must speak in one voice," he added. Senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said the Home Minister shouldn't "manufacture evidence and go by what's on the ground". The Home Ministry later clarified that the minister and the police were misled by a tweet reportedly from a Twitter handle in the name of Hafiz Saeed. On Sunday, media reports said that Saeed's handle was fake. His Twitter handle was blocked months ago. advertisement JNU VC appeals for calm JNU vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar today appealed for calm in the campus after students refused to attend classes in protest against arrest of the JNU student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Kumar's arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties. "Through the media let me appeal to all communities to bring normalcy to the situation; our doors are open to all to come and talk to us," the VC said. Kumar said that he wants classes to resume and that the university is open to different views but he doesn't see any need for strikes. Student organization have decided that 8 students, who were debarred from academic activities, will not appear before JNU enquiry committee, as they feel enquiry committee is not fare. Also Read: JNU row: 'We will split India' slogan raised by JNUSU members, claims ABVP video #BigAfzalFight: JNU protests had support of Hafiz Saeed, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh After Afzal show, JNUSU president arrested for anti-India conspiracy Anand Sharma says he was attacked by ABVP activists at JNU, files complaint advertisement JNU campus row: Even prostitutes better than female protesters, says Haryana CM's ex-OSD Jawahar Yadav #BigAfzalFight: JNU campus turns into a political arena post sedition charges on students --- ENDS --- Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal today slammed the Modi government, and said that a party which believes in divisive politics and fake encounters should not lecture on Nationalism. By India Today Web Desk: Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal today slammed the Modi government, and said that a party which believes in divisive politics and fake encounters should not lecture on Nationalism. Sibal also questioned the interpretation of the sedition law and demanded an explanation from BJP president Amit Shah for misleading the nation over the volatile issue. "The law is very clear that sedition can only be applied when there is intent to overthrow the government and not by merely shouting slogans", Sibal added. advertisement He also said that the Supreme Court has clearly defined sedition and one hopes that peopIe involved in the case will bear in mind the definition. Sibal offered solidarity to Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU president who was arrested earlier this week after a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy was registered against him for holding an event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised. "Instead of dealing with university students in the way they should be dealt with, they are being dealt with as criminals," he said. Also he said that the people, who come to the JNU, belong to very poor families from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and have been sent by their families to become something. "I hope this is asked of the PM in the Parliament what does he think of our children..Are they going to make criminals of children..why are they dealing with secessionists..He does not name Saeed Hafeez when Pakistani flags are raised in Kashmir as they are in alliance with the PDP..They will do agreements with NSCN.. what about sedition then", Sibal adds. BJP does not buckle The BJP however is adamant and is not willing to back away from the sedition charges slapped against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. BJP president Amit Shah took on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who had visited the JNU campus last week to show solidarity with the students, and said the Congress leader is frustrated over 2014 Lok Sabha poll defeat. Amit Shah, in his blog post , said, "Congress is yet to come out of depression after 2014 loss. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is frustrated and he is so distraught that he has failed to understand what is anti-national and what not." Also read: Afzal Guru row: JNU sends status report to HRD Ministry JNU Crackdown: Lawyers beat up journalists as student leader Kanhaiya is produced in court --- ENDS --- While the accused tried to portray the incident as a road accident, it later turned out to be a case of honour killing. By Mail Today: A 27-year-old man from Delhi, who had gone to Gurgaon to celebrate Valentine's Day with a Facebook friend, was thrown off the fourth floor of an apartment building by two people in the upscale Sushant Lok area on Saturday night. While the accused tried to portray the incident as a road accident, it later turned out to be a case of honour killing with the victim's girlfriend breaking down before the police and narrating the sequence of events that led to the victim succumbing to his injuries in hospital. The accused have been arrested. advertisement As per the complaint that was registered on the basis of the girl's statement, victim Ishwar alias Nishant had constantly been in touch with her for past seven months and had asked her to celebrate Valentine's Day with him in Gurgaon. She met him at the Huda City Centre metro station on Saturday before going to the multi-storey building in Sushant Lok area. "While they were talking to each other in the flat, the girl's brother-in-law identified as Ramesh (30) and his driver Anil Kumar (25) reached there. On seeing Ishwar in the flat, the duo brutally assaulted him in a fit of rage before taking him to the balcony, from where they pushed him off," said Sandeep Ahlawat, SHO of Sushant Lok police station. An FIR has been registered against the duo under Section 302, 201 and 34 of the IPC at the Sushant Lok police station. --- ENDS --- By Samonway Duttagupta: One man is sometimes enough to make a world of difference to a region's environment. The Molai forest, situated in the Jorhat district of Assam, is a burning example of this. Jadev Molai Payeng, a resident of the Aruna Chapori village, has single-handedly created a forest that spreads across an area of 1,200 hectares. Planting different species of trees over a period of 30 years, Payeng has actually turned a piece of barren land into a huge area of dense forest, that is home to an interesting mix of wildlife. This amazing contribution towards the region's environment has earned Payeng the title of The Forest Man of India. advertisement Named after its creator, the Molai Sanctuary now attracts travellers from different parts of the world, who visit this place to witness Payeng's beautiful world. The forest is home to a wide range of wildlife species, including a few Royal Bengal Tigers, Indian rhinos, deer, rabbits, apes and numerous species of birds. Over the years, it has also become an important migratory route for more than 100 elephants. Also read: World's largest river island is in India! The Forest Man of India, a documentary film made by Ankur Didwania, offers a detailed glimpse into the forest and its creator. The documentary shows Payeng remembering his humble efforts for doing something for the environment, that grew into the forest that it is today. He says, "In the summer of 1979, a lot of snaked died. The heat then was similar to what we had yesterday. The death of that many snakes made me realise that one day the human race could perish." With this concern, Payeng spoke to the elders of his village. Although they didn't take him seriously, but were generous enough to give him 20 bamboo seedlings. Payeng planted them in dry sand, surrounded by a fence that he had built himself -- and that's how Molai Sanctuary was born. Watch this documentary for a visual tour of the forest: --- ENDS --- Earlier, students were only interested in doing MBBS but now a days the mindset has changed and students are deliberately opting for Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). By Neetu Chandra Sharma: Dental education in India is apparently becoming famous among students with a 100 per cent occupancy in BDS seats in the preceding years, Dental Council of India (DCI) officials said. Authorities, however, said that the Union Health Ministry is trying hard to promote nonclinical education in dentistry which has few takers. "In past few years, almost 100 per cent BDS seats were occupied by students, except in Punjab this year. In Punjab, the management quota seats were also made mandatory to be filled through examinations. Rest of the country witnessed full occupancy of BDS seats," said Dr Anil Kumar Chandna, member DCI. advertisement Earlier, students were only interested in doing MBBS but now a days the mindset has changed and students are deliberately opting for BDS. Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is giving a boost to dental education, however, there is a problem in non-clinical courses in MDS. Not many students opt for non-clinical courses because job opportunities are limited to teaching only while clinical branches have a lucrative option of practice," he said. Acknowledging the fact that India is currently facing a shortage of skilled dentists, the Union Health Ministry is looking at increasing the seats in MDS courses across India like MBBS seats. Recently, out of 41 recommendations received from the DCI, 25 applications of MDS course in respect of 15 dental colleges have been recommended for permission for the academic year 2016-17. The ministry is looking at the rest of proposals closely. According to a study published in Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, in India, 0.088 per cent of dental health worker per 1000 population exists and inequalities in the distribution of dentists is also there. Certain states are experiencing an acute shortage of dental health personnel whereas certain cities are over fledged with dentists like Karnataka, Maharastra, Tamilnadu being states with high concentration & Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal being the least. There is gross inadequacy in availability of the current stock of dentists and public health dentists and significant inequalities in their distribution among the states. Poorly performing states, in terms of health outcomes, have a greater shortfall in the number of dentists. "While production of dental health workers in India has increased in recent years, it is at the cost of increased privatisation of dental education. The rapid growth in the production of dentists has not helped in addressing the public health system woes," the study said Also read: Now, an app a day keeps the dentist away --- ENDS --- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a meeting of leaders from major political parties tomorrow to seek their cooperation for the smooth running of Parliament during the Budget session beginning next week. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a meeting of leaders from major political parties tomorrow to seek their cooperation for the smooth running of Parliament during the Budget session beginning next week. Sources in the government said Modi invited leaders of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and maintained that it is not an all-party meeting and the bills the government seeks to introduce or pass in the session will not be discussed. advertisement "He will seek their cooperation to run the Houses smoothly," a government functionary said. The meeting comes close on the heels of the Prime Minister accusing Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, on various occasions, of disrupting Parliament to avenge defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress chief had hit back at Modi, saying efforts were made to "suppress her party's voice" whenever it tried to raise issues concerning the poor and common man in the House. Senior ministers have often accused the top Congress leadership of scuttling plans to pass the GST bill in Parliament. The bill is pending in Rajya Sabha. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accused the Modi government of not engaging Congress seriously to break the logjam over GST. Also Read: Union Budget to be presented on February 29, Budget Session from February 23 to May 13 --- ENDS --- Five persons have been arrested by the Ghaziabad Police for kidnapping Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna. One of the accused is said to be known to the family. By India Today Web Desk: The Ghaziabad Police has arrested five persons in connection with Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna's kidnapping. Sources said one of the accused is known to the family. Police investigations have also revealed that the kidnapping plan was hatched by a person named Devendra, who is a resident of Haryana. Police said Devendra was in love with Dipti but could not muster the courage to convey his feelings to her. advertisement "This is a case of one-sided love affair. Devendra had been stalking her (Dipti) for many days but she was unaware about it," Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police Dharm endra Singh said. Singh said the main accused in the case is a psychopath. Devendra, who hails from Panipat in Haryana, is a history-sheeter and carries a reward of Rs 20,000 on his head. "It is just like a case portrayed in the movie Darr, where Shah Rukh Khan is involved in a one-sided affair. They are hardcore criminals," Singh added. Ghaziabad Police is likely to hold a press conference later in the day to give out the details of the case. On the evening of February 10, Dipti left her Snapdeal office in Gurgaon for her home in Ghaziabad. She took an autorickshaw from outside the Vaishali metro station. The auto rickshaw driver, who was known to Devendra, dropped her at a secluded place. Dipti told the police that she was blindfolded by her kidnappers. Dipti said that she was not assaulted sexually by the kidnappers. Two days later, on Friday, Dipti called her family to say she was safe and was on a train to Delhi. She told the police that the kidnappers took care of her and gave her food. No ransom call was made to Dipti's family. Also Read 5 arrested in Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna kidnapping case Snapdeal employee Dipti's abduction: 4 goons, 48 hours, a 10-km walk and freedom Kidnapped Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna returns home Kidnapped Snapdeal girl Dipti Sarna found, reunited with kin but questions remain --- ENDS --- Sources say the SIT will take its next step in the investigation only after it gets a reply from the premier medical institute. By Ankur Sharma: The Delhi Police's Special Investigation Team, which is probing the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, has shot off a letter to the AIIMS board outlining the discrepancies in medical reports and seeking clarifications for them. Sources say the SIT will take its next step in the investigation only after it gets a reply from the premier medical institute. "There has been confusion and contradictions over various reports. Various questions also arose related to the post mortem reports. Initially, doctors found that Sunanda died due to Alprax but they later said the death was unnatural. We wrote to AIIMS 10 days ago with a set of questions regarding the medical reports and we will decide on our future course of action only after we get a reply. A final decision on the lie-detector test on Shashi Tharoor will also be taken after the hospital replies," a senior police officer said. advertisement According to sources, the SIT has raised a question on the injection mark allegedly found on Sunanda's body. Cops have also raised concerns on the lidocaine excretion process. "We have asked why doctors did not conduct a specific test on the respiratory organs," the sources added. Investigators have hinted that a reminder may be sent to AIIMS doctors in case they do not revert by this week. Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi on Sunday said Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram and husband of Sunanda Pushkar, Shashi Tharoor, may be called in once again for questioning in connection with the case. The commissioner also heaped praises on the SIT for conducting a thorough probe in the case. "I must say we are on the right track and the SIT is doing a great job. If the SIT deems it fit, it may summon Tharoor again," he said and added that a number of reasons were responsible for the 'slow' progress in the case. Tharoor was questioned for five hours by the SIT inside the premises of south Delhi's Vasant Vihar police station on Saturday. The latest round of questioning was in light of AIIMS' medical board opinion on the FBI report of Sunanda's viscera and other crucial evidence, a police source said. ALSO READ Sunanda Pushkar death probe: Shashi Tharoor repeats she died due to medication Sunanda Pushkar case: Will only comment once the probe is over, says Tharoor --- ENDS --- The 2009 Army policy allows promotion as Colonels to combat units - infantry, mechanised infantry and the armoured corps - and not to those in engineering, signals and artillery units. By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court today upheld Army's policy of preferential promotion to those in combat units. The court also directed the concerned authorities to create 141 additional posts to accommodate those who were denied a promotion due to this policy. The 2009 Army policy allows promotion as Colonels to combat units - infantry, mechanised infantry and the armoured corps - and not to those in engineering, signals and artillery units. advertisement Army's preferential promotion policy was challenged on the ground that it is discriminatory and has a bias towards combat staff. The Armed Forces Tribunal had rejected the policy and government had approached the Supreme Court. The Centre had defended the policy, claiming it will encourage young officers. The main petitioner in the case, Lieutenant Colonel PK Choudhary, argued that all ranks of Colonel and above would be affected due to what he described as a biased promotion policy. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to fill up the 141 additional posts which were created to compensate other Corps. Whether command exit policy continues or not will be known once the full order is uploaded on Supreme Court's website. --- ENDS --- Investigative reporting from the inner city to Wall Street to the United Nations This is the blogspot version InnerCityPress.com The Kansas Republican Party is filled with characters on the inside. I'm looking through the window and holding up a mirror. 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To the best of my ability I write about my experience of the Universe Past, Present and Future About Me I'm a patent lawyer located in central New Jersey. I have a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where I studied graphite intercalation compounds at the Center for Materials Research. I worked at Exxon Corporate Research in areas ranging from engine deposits through coal and petroleum to fullerenes. An article that I wrote in The Trademark Reporter, 1994, 84, 379-407 on color trademarks was cited by Supreme Court in Qualitex v. Jacobson, 514 US 159 (1995) and the methodology was adopted in the Capri case in N.D. Ill. An article that I wrote on DNA profiling was cited by the Colorado Supreme Court (Shreck case) and a Florida appellate court (Brim case). I was interviewed by NHK-TV about the Jan-Hendrik Schon affair. I am developing ipABC, an entity that combines rigorous IP analytics with study of business models, to optimize utilization of intellectual property. I can be reached at C8AsF5 at yahoo.com. View my complete profile The IPKat has been aware for some time that the Patents Court, in the person of Mr Justice Birss, has been devoting considerable time to a series of cases concerning mobile phone technology (Unwired Planet v Huawei and Samsung). The dispute concerns five patents which Unwired Planet acquired from Ericsson and one which it had filed itself. These patents were asserted against Huawei, Samsung and Google (the last of which has settled and is no longer a party to the litigation). Due to the scope of the litigation, it was streamlined at an early stage with Mr Justice Birss deciding to hold a series of five technical trials on the issues of infringement and validity of the patents in question, followed by a non-technical trial to decide between competing views as to what constitutes a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licence as well as other competition and licensing issues. The technical trials are rumbling along, with a first decision ( [2015] EWHC 3366 (Pat) ) having issued on November 23, 2015, and a second decision ( [2016] EWHC 94 (Pat) ) issuing on January 29, 2016. Unwired Planet won the first trial, with EP (UK) 2 229 744 being upheld as valid and infringed. Huawei and Samsung won the second trial with EP (UK) 2 119 287 and EP (UK) 2 485 514 being held invalid for obviousness. Igor Nikolic, your guest post writer The IPKat does hope to cover these decisions on infringement and validity in due course, but before doing so he has an opportunity to put the litigation in context for readers, thanks to a guest post from Igor Nikolic , a PhD student at University College London who is writing a thesis on FRAND licensing under the supervision of Sir Robin Jacob and Dr. Christopher Stothers Igor writes as follows: On 29 January, Mr Justice Birss gave judgment in the second UK patent trial between Unwired Planet, Samsung and Huawei, holding that two of Unwired Planet's patents are invalid for obviousness. The case concerns patents that were declared essential to telecommunication standards developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Standard essential patents (SEPs) are patents which would inevitably be infringed by operating in accordance with a standard. Since, for example, all modern smartphones must implement 4G, 3G and 2G telecommunications standards, SEPs are of great value to their holders. Any smartphone manufacturer will inevitably infringe on such SEPs and should take a licence for the use of SEPs in question. ETSI, however, requires SEP holders to give an irrevocable commitment to grant licences on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND terms). What exactly is a FRAND licence is far from clear. As well as being at issue in the Unwired Planet litigation, it was also the subject of another dispute due to come before the UK courts ( Vringo v ZTE ). Recently, however, it was announced that Vringo and ZTE have reached a settlement, so it appears that Unwired Planet is the only case that may provide any answers in the near future. The Background In 2013, Unwired Planet acquired from Ericsson more than 2,000 patents and in March 2014 initiated infringement proceedings against Huawei, Samsung and Google asserting 5 SEPs bought from Ericsson and one non-SEP developed by Unwired Planet. The defendants responded that Unwired Planet's patents are invalid and not infringed. They also argued that while Unwired Planet had offered a licence, the offer was not on FRAND terms. They further argued that the transfer of the SEPs from Ericsson infringed competition law. What is a FRAND licence? During the trial, both Huawei and Samsung conceded that they are willing to take a licence if patents are proven to be valid and infringed. However, they disagreed with Unwired Planet on what constitutes a FRAND licence. Unwired Planet offered a worldwide portfolio licence on all of its patents essential to 2G, 3G and 4G standards, while Huawei submitted that that it is willing to take a licence only for particular SEPs found to be valid and infringed, and only with respect to certain territories. The following are some of the questions the court is expected to resolve on trial: is the licensor obliged to offer a single patent licence if requested by the prospective licensee (i.e. can a FRAND licensor insist on a portfolio licence or can the prospective licensee demand individual licenses only for some SEPs?); is the licensor obliged to offer a licence on SEPs essential to a particular standard (i.e. Huawei alleges that Unwired Planet does not hold any 2G SEPs and argues that it should therefore not be required to take a licence for this standard); is the licensor obliged to offer a licence for SEPs relating to a particular territory if requested by the prospective licensee? (i.e. must the prospective licensee accept a worldwide licence, or can it choose the territories for which its wants to take a licence?); In a preliminary judgment on 24 April 2015 ( [2015] EWHC 1029 (Pat) ), Birss J held that these issues cannot be decided by summary judgment, but must be resolved after a full trial. With respect to the first issue, the judge noted that it is perfectly possible that both portfolio and individual licensing offers might be FRAND. He was concerned with what happens if each side refuses the others FRAND offer. There was nothing in the ETSI rules or FRAND declarations that regulate such a situation. In his words: The obligation owed by a patentee to ETSI may only be to make a FRAND offer and once a single FRAND offer has been made, the obligation to ETSI is fulfilled. It is an open question whether such a single FRAND offer is determinative of the question of whether the court must grant an injunction. Perhaps a patentee also owes a duty to ETSI to accept a FRAND proposal from a Defendant. Regarding the second issue, the judge noted that with respect to competition law, if the patentee had no 2G patents then a licence proposal which covered 2G as well as 3G seems unlikely to be legitimate. However, Huawei did not base its claim on competition law, but on ETSIs IPR policy which is silent on this issue and, further, Unwired Planet submitted that it does, in fact, hold patents essential to the 2G standard. With respect to the third claim, the judge noted that it also might be possible that both options are FRAND. Huawei submitted that a problem with worldwide proposals is that they involve paying for sales in countries in which Unwired Planet has no patent rights, like Iran. The judge disagreed and held that there is a distinction in intellectual property licensing between the scope of rights and the royalty-bearing event. With no patents in Iran, Huawei does not need a licence from Unwired Planet to sell phones lawfully in Iran. However, Huaweis phones sold in Iran will be made in countries in which Unwired Planet has patents (China for example) and therefore making them will need a licence. If the royalty-bearing event is sale, then whether the products made under licence in China are sold in Iran or in the UK does not matter. The products all need a licence to be manufactured but the royalty is calculated by the selling price. Transfer of FRAND commitments and competition law Samsung claimed that Ericsson breached competition law in following ways: by transferring patents to Unwired Planet, there was a failure to ensure transfer of an enforceable FRAND obligation; by dividing its patent portfolio into two parts (Ericsson retained some patents itself and transferred some to Unwired Planet) unfair higher royalties will be earned; that certain terms of the sale agreement represent price-fixing clauses. In a further preliminary judgment on a strike-out motion, on July 21, 2015 ( [2015] EWHC 2097 (Pat) ), Birss J. struck out the first competition law claim in the preliminary judgment, but left the remaining claims to be decided on full trial. With respect to the first alleged breach of competition law, Samsung had argued that Ericssons FRAND commitment was not transferred to Unwired Planet because the sale agreement did not compel Unwired Planet to give a FRAND commitment; and even if it did, the obligation under the sale agreement was only enforceable by Ericsson and not by third parties. The judge found that Unwired Planet submitted a FRAND commitment to ETSI, which is enforceable by third parties. Next, Samsung alleged that the sale agreement should transfer Ericssons FRAND obligation. Namely, when the Unwired Planet patents were part of Ericsson's portfolio, the obligation to license them on FRAND terms meant that such licence took into account their inclusion within a much bigger portfolio. Now that the patents have been divided out, Unwired Planet's FRAND obligation does not take into account other patents held by Ericsson. Therefore when Unwired Planet licenses them, more money is likely to be earned from licensees than would have been the case if they had remained within Ericsson's portfolio. Birss J noted that it would be unreal and commercially unworkable for competition law to require that the transferor's own FRAND obligation should somehow be transferred in the manner alleged by Samsung. Accordingly, that would mean looking back at the position of the transferor in order to decide what FRAND terms were today. It is sufficient for the transferee to give its own FRAND declaration, which Unwired Planet did. As to the second competition law breach, Samsung alleged that by dividing the patent portfolio Ericsson breached Article 101 TFEU because Ericsson retained the right to a substantial share in the licensing revenue generated by Unwired Planet, it can transfer further (unspecified) patents to Unwired Planet, and because Unwired Planet is a non-practicing entity (or more directly a patent assertion entity). Birss J was sceptical about Samsungs arguments, but decided not to strike them out. He expressed concern that Samsungs arguments cut across the idea that a subset of patents from a portfolio could ever be transferred out of a larger portfolio. In his words: the transfer obviously takes the patents out of Ericsson's portfolio and so out of the ambit of Ericsson's FRAND commitment. I cannot see how that alone could be contrary to Art 101. [] I am also sceptical about the breadth of Samsung's complaint that Ericsson is trying to earn more money from its patents, as if that is a sin. It is not. Regarding the third competition law breach, Samsung alleged that certain clauses in the sale agreement are hard core restrictions of competition law and amount to horizontal price fixing. The relevant clauses are 3.4, which sets out the minimum payment to Ericsson by Unwired Planet, expressed in a percentage of net sales revenue and payable regardless of whatever royalty rate has been agreed between Unwired Planet and the licensee; and clause 6.1(aa), which provides that Unwired Planet cannot license the patents other than on terms in which the royalty due is a percentage of the aggregate net sales revenue of the licensee. The judge considered that, taken together, these clauses might contribute to the creation of an anti-competitive incentive to charge higher royalties and decided not to strike out this claim. Conclusion It is expected that the series of technical trials will continue into the summer and that the non-technical trial related to FRAND and competition law issues will follow in October. [The IPKat notes that the non-technical trial is scheduled to last 13 weeks] Unwired Planet presents a good opportunity to clarify the content of FRAND licences and competition law issues related to the transfer of FRAND-committed SEPs to non-practicing entities. Because there has been an over load of spam comments on this post, I have disabled comments. Please check out another one of my many posts.... J/Boats News is a digest of worldwide events, regattas, and news for sailing enthusiasts and members of our J Community. Contributions regarding your racing, cruising or human interest stories on-board J's are welcome- please send to "editor@jboats.com". And Getting Rid of the Blotches It is a wonderful, but also occasionally painful fact that landscape photography is often at its ... Are you interested in joining an international organization with a long term commitment to fighting poverty? Would you like to work in a challenging environment and develop a career focused on demonstrating shared core values that achieve results? SNV Ethiopia is looking for a: Project Finance Officer based in Addis Ababa on a local employment contract SNV, Netherlands Development Organization, has worked in Ethiopia since the 1970s and currently operates in SNNPR, Oromia, Amhara and Tigray regional states, providing capacity strengthening support in three sectors Agriculture, WASH and Renewable Energy. Through its work in agriculture, SNV in Ethiopia supports the development of number of value chains such as milk and milk products, honey and bees wax, oil seeds and edible oil, fruit and pulses, livestock and horticulture. This takes a value chain development approach, with special focus on improving access to sustainable markets for smallholder farmers and by developing business-to-business relations and improving business development services. Key responsibilities: Provide accurate and timely responses to senior management, and a high quality Checked/ consolidated financial report as per the donors requirements. Oversees and make sure to have a smooth and timely payment and procurement process is in place with proper documentation and flow of required supporting documents. Makes sure to have proper documentation as per donor and SNVs internal requirements, oversees proper coding of expenditures and make necessary measures timely to assure quality of data. Responsible to have periodic internal control assessments to assess the need for corrective actions, responsible for the audit preparation and undertaking the necessary procedures. Responsible for periodic cash forecast, overseeing cash flow and timely availability of fund in project bank account. Propose for budget revision when needed and undertake necessary budget preparation process as per the donors and SNVs internal requirements. Accountable for the overall financial management tasks of the project hierarchically directly reporting to the country finance officer. Responsible for close follow up of project related employees time record, leave management and other HR related matters where needed. To fully participate in the senior management team of each project taking a full share of responsibility for the overall success of the project. To attend weekly senior management meetings to help coordinate and prioritize the keys tasks. To become knowledgeable about the detailed work of the project, able to Deputize for the Project Leader, if needed. We need team players able and willing to do whatever it tasks to make the project as success. Required Number: One Salary & Benefits: Competitive Application Deadline: February 14, 2016 BACKGROUND: The Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has been established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify and address systemic bottlenecks to Ethiopias agricultural development. The Agency does this through problem-solving, implementation support, and capacity building of stakeholders involved in implementation of interventions that address the systemic bottlenecks. The Agency reports to a Transformation Council chaired by the Prime Minister and whose co-chair is the Minister of Agriculture. The programmatic focus of the Agency responds to a core set of needs identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Transformation Council. Within the Agency, issues are divided into three different groups: Production and Productivity which includes Inputs and Crop Protection, Livestock, Research and Extension, Mechanization and Rural Finance; Agribusiness and Markets including Market Support Services, Commercial Farming, Agro-processing & Market Development, and Cooperatives Development; and Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Agricultural Growth including Natural Resource Management, Sustainable Land Management, Gender Equality and Nutrition, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, and Planning and MLE. Across the programs, the ATA engages public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models. Our Culture We have an exceptional team of employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results. Our culture is one where talented individuals are committed to doing their best and work together to achieve excellent results. At ATA, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the countrys agricultural sector. We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training. We recognize our most valuable assets are our people and are committed to providing our employees with the tools and training necessary to achieve their career goals. POSITION SUMMARY: ATA, in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Bureau of Agriculture, USAID and CNFA, is implementing a three-year Feed the Future Ethiopia Commercial Farm Services Project. The objective of this project is to improve smallholder productivity, food security and incomes through the development of sustainable private sector driven agricultural input supply and services by creating 20 new Farm Service Centers (FSCs) throughout Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and SNNP Regions. These FSCs will serve as innovative and replicable private, retail input supply and farm service businesses model for scaling up private farm supply and service networks in Ethiopia and throughout Africa. Working under the supervision of the Project Officer Regional Business Development, the Project Officer Regional Crop Specialist will be responsible for providing technical guidance and conducting capacity building activities in delivery of crop related extension services to Farm Service Center staff, and support FSCs crop related extension services to smallholder clients. The Crop Specialist will also be responsible for ensuring that FSC grantees conduct thorough demand assessments in seeds (cereals, horticulture), agro-chemicals, farm tools and facilitating training/demonstration activities of these products for FSC customers/smallholder farmers. ESSENTIAL DUTIES: Organize and conduct training programs and seminars for FSC staff and clients, in cooperation with program technical staff and consultants; Organize events such as field days, demonstrations and visits by input suppliers on behalf of the FSC; Organize and conduct training of smallholder farmers and extension agents on the value and use of improved inputs; Develop linkages between input suppliers, output markets and the FSCs; in conjunction with the business development officer, support FSCs to have access to improved agricultural technologies and facilitate technology demonstrations on FSC own land or on the land of FSC customer farmers; Assist FSCs to have a good working relationship with the local Office of Agriculture, Cooperative Promotion Office, Livestock Agency and any other relevant development partner operating in the area; and Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe When I first reported about the Imperial Doctress nearly two years ago, I was adamantly against Liu Shi Shi's character falling in love with the second male lead, Huang Xuan's Zhu Qiyu. I was strongly shipping Wallace Huo's character, Zhu Qizhen, with Liu Shi Shi's Tan Yunxian (pseudonym Hang Yunxian). I even decided to abandon following the news about Imperial Doctress when I found out the story may not go in the direction I wanted. After watching Zhu Qiyu's first appearance and the available promotional materials, I'm completely sold on Huang Xuan's performance as Zhu Qiyu, Zhu Qizhen's younger brother and later the seventh emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He prevented the Ming Dynasty from suffering a similar fate as the Song Dynasty, which got split into the Northern Song and Southern Song when the Jurchens invaded northern China.My interest in Zhu Qiyu escalated when I found out his character will significantly darken as the series progresses and acts as a deterrent to Tan Yunxian's professional aspiration in medicine. Surprisingly, I look forward to watching how Zhu Qiyu and Tan Yunxian's turbulent marriage will unfold. I get a bad feeling I'm on the wrong shipping boat because I'm definitely a minority in shipping for Tan Yunxian and Zhu Qiyu. And Zhu Qiyu and Tan Yuanxian's relationship is destined to go downhill. I've also been reading rumored leaks that Tan Yunxian's true love is Wallace Huo's Zhu Qizhen and she will eventually fall out of love with Zhu Qiyu. The scriptwriter hinted that Tan Yunxian and Zhu Qizhen shippers will see sunlight later. So Wallace Huo may actually get the girl's heart at the end! If the scriptwriter gave me this bit of information two years ago, I would probably be happy. Unfortunately, I have a major change of heart and don't care for Wallace Huo's character anymore.To create the character of Tan Yunxian and generate some dramatic effects, the scriptwriter actually based this single character on three different women who existed in the Ming Dynasty: Tan Yunxian, Empress Hang, and Imperial Consort Tang. Tan Yunxian was a famous female doctor who lived during Zhu Qizhen's son's reign. She was only three years old when Zhu Qizhen died and wasn't even born when Zhu Qiyu was alive. Empress Hang was Zhu Qiyu's second empress who gave birth to his only son. Imperial Consort Tang was also another woman in Zhu Qiyu's harem who became a burial sacrifice when Zhu Qiyu died at the age of 30. Based on this fact and materials released so far, Tan Yunxian will become Zhuyu's concubine and give birth to his only son. Whether this child will survive or not remains a mystery. He will also depose his first wife, Empress Wang, to elevate Yunxian's position.I heard Yunxian may be reluctant to marry Zhu Qiyu because she probably senses his change. After Zhu Qiyu becomes emperor, he will transform from a kindhearted gentle prince into a power-hungry ruthless man. He constantly gets jealous and resents Yunxian for spending three years in Mongolia with his brother and siding with his brother against him. Probably due to some misunderstanding, he becomes overly suspicious of any interaction between Yunxian and Zhu Qizhen. I heard that the role of Zhu Qiyu was offered to many actors, including Li Yifeng, but the actors refused to accept the role because his character becomes too unlikable. His dark transformation in the later episodes most likely will earn him many boos.Perhaps my good feelings for the real Zhu Qiyu in history translated into more tolerance for the drama character who will turn evil. Compared to his older brother, Zhu Qizhen, a lousy emperor who killed capable officials, Zhu Qiyu was a competent ruler who held the county together against the Mongol invasion and was able to use the right people to do the job. I read that because of Zhu Qizhen's foolishness, he indirectly destroyed 500,000 Ming soldiers.Though Zhu Qiyu was considered a capable emperor, he was not known to be very nice. He put his older brother under house arrest for eight years. I just hope the TV series won't make him too evil and becomes despicable to a level where any form of personal redemption and forgiveness will be impossible. I don't want to see Zhu Qiyu's selfish ruthlessness foils for his brother Zhu Qizhen's quiet self-sacrifice and suffering. With production of the Washington, D.C., Metros new generation of subway cars still behind schedule, the transit agencys general manager said he will visit Kawasaki Rail Car's Lincoln factory in a few weeks and grab people by the lapels, at least figuratively, to impart a message to the company's executives. The message is: This is front and center on my mind, said Paul Wiedefeld, who inherited a litany of problems when he became Metros top manager in late November, including a slowdown in the manufacturing of the agencys much-ballyhooed 7000-series rail cars. The message is: Get these things rolling off the assembly line at the level that we want them to be rolling off the line. Since Metro acknowledged in October that design flaws in the new, technologically advanced cars were causing a lag in delivery, production has increased somewhat, the agency said last week. Eight new cars arrived from Lincoln in January, meaning Metro has 96 of the 7000-series cars. Based on the original delivery schedule, however, the agency should have more than 130 by now. By 2018, Metro intends to buy 748 of the cars, commonly known as 7Ks, in a $2 billion modernization of its rail fleet. The production slowdown is delaying one of the agencys most important safety measures: Scrapping 270 cars that date to the opening of the subway in 1976. Though still in use, those cars are not considered crashworthy by current standards. Hours before Wiedefeld made his frustration known Thursday, nine members of Congress from the Washington area weighed in with a letter to Kawasaki executives in New York and Tokyo. Unfortunately, we are becoming increasingly concerned about quality issues that have arisen, the letter says, referring to brittle door bolts, loose seats and balky computer software in the 7Ks. It is imperative that Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. work expeditiously with Metro to resolve any outstanding issues with the 7000-series rail cars so that production can resume and the delivery of the cars can return to the anticipated schedule, the letter says. We share the frustrations of our constituents who have long expected the 7000-series railcars to increase Metrorail reliability and safety. A lot of the money being paid to Kawasaki comes from U.S. taxpayers. The federal funding is appropriated annually, and our delegation has led efforts to protect those dollars in the face of recent attacks from Members of Congress who do not support this critical transit investment, the letter says. Any delay in delivery of the cars would undermine our efforts to keep this funding on track. On Thursday, his final day of working for Metro, the agencys former deputy general manager, Rob Troup, said he was very pleased that eight new cars were delivered in January, an increase over the monthly rate in the latter part of 2015. However, wed like to see 12 to 16 a month, Troup said. The production problems are being worked through, he said, but we have not caught up. He declined to predict when Kawasaki will get back on schedule, saying, Mr. Wiedefeld will be going out to Lincoln, Nebraska, to make a determination about the status of production. Ill let him speak to that. After a half-decade of design work, engineering tests and wrangling over funding for the 7Ks, Metro approved the start of mass production last spring. Wiedefeld said his visit to the factory will be less about viewing the production process than about emphasizing Metros concerns. Ive seen many manufacturing plants, he said. I dont need to see another one. In an emailed statement, Mike Boyle, vice president and plant manager of the Lincoln plant, said the cars are thoroughly tested and inspected before leaving the Lincoln plant, and they are safe and operate as specified. "Kawasaki staff have been on hand since car delivery to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority began. We are working closely with WMATA operations on a daily basis to make sure problems identified in Washington, D.C., are solved immediately and countermeasures put in place to prevent reoccurence." Boyle said the problems being discussed "were corrected some time ago, and their general nature are not atypical of any complex rail car project." Initially, it was a little-sister thing. A tag-along-with-your-big-sister-to-a-summer-conference thing that very quickly became a Joanna Hejl thing, because the things she heard at that conference the summer before her freshman year stayed with her. They took root and grew into the passion that shes convinced will define her future, and last week led to her testifying before a legislative committee. Hejl, now an 18-year-old senior at Lincoln High, had always known smoking was bad for your health. But what caught her attention, what stuck with her from that presentation four years ago from the youth-led group No Limits, is how tobacco companies target women (Youve come a long way, baby!) and young people, minorities and the LGBTQ community. How they exploit those groups, target the marginalized, the vulnerable. That really drew me in, she said. That is a social justice issue. And fighting for social justice pushed her forward, maybe, she thinks, because she grew up in Nebraska where being kind and welcoming is a part of the ethos, part of why the states marketing folks came up with the slogan Nebraska Nice. Thats something social justice is about, Hejl said. Being kind and treating others fairly. So Hejl joined Nebraskas No Limits, the youth-led anti-tobacco organization whose funding comes from the 1998 settlement with the big tobacco companies and is funneled through the state Department of Health and Human Services. Shes been on the groups state board, been involved in the annual Kick Butts rally -- the largest such event in the country, according to the No Limits coordinator. Shes gone to symposiums in Washington and in 2013 was named the Central Region Youth Advocate of the Year by the national nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. She earned a fellowship for the Washington-based anti-tobacco nonprofit called the Truth Initiative. You had to be 18 to be eligible. She convinced them to accept her when she was 17. When she was in Washington, she attended a training on how to talk with senators -- a system called hook, line and sinker she still uses when shes trying to convince lawmakers to support her cause. On one of those trips to Washington, Hejl learned something else about herself: That her passion for social justice is fueled by a love of lobbying. She jumped in on her first trip to Washington, finding herself and a friend standing outside then-Sen. Ben Nelsons office, convincing themselves to walk in. But heres the thing about lobbying: Its easy when the lawmaker agrees with you. It wasnt until later, when she went to Rep. Adrian Smiths office to argue for a congressional bill, that she knew she loved it. She was arguing a point about funding tobacco prevention programs, a provision in a larger bill connected to the Affordable Care Act. And so Smith was not terribly receptive. He made arguments against the bill; Hejl and her colleagues made arguments for it. And so it went, until Smith stood, stuck out his hand and thanked the young people for their time and interest. It was at that moment we knew we were in the right, and he couldnt make any points against us, Hejl said. That really made me want to advocate and lobby, in that very moment. It was exhilarating. Hejls penchant for advocating and leadership has been fed by the Nebraska Human Resource Institute, an organization that pairs school children with university students to develop young leaders. She began when she was 6, and is still a part of the organization and its leadership development program at Lincoln High. I definitely think having a background in leadership, relationship building and being a positive force definitely influenced me to be more involved in the anti-tobacco issue, she said. She's applying to colleges now, leaning toward political science or public policy. She wants to be a public health professional some day, continue her focus against tobacco, to work on public policy. As a high school student, the fight against tobacco takes up a lot of her time, but not all of it. Shes been on student council. She's loved theater since she was in her first production at the Haymarket Theatre in second grade and has been involved in Lincoln Highs theater program. She's an accomplished Irish dancer. Even though her brother and sister attended Southeast, she came to Lincoln High to be part of the International Baccalaureate program. But she opted out of that program so she could spend a year in Germany as an exchange student. She spent nine months in Germany, learned a lot about herself, the culture and the language. Once home, she started a club at Lincoln High called Changemakers. Its an advocacy group, still in its infancy. Hejl talks about the anti-tobacco movement because thats where her experience lies. But she welcomes anyone interested in advocating for a cause, regardless of the topic. Because, Hejl said, her generation doesn't seem interested in politics and that must change because theres too many important issues that will affect her and her peers down the line. We have to have a say (on those issues), and people arent just going to ask us, she said. We need to say this is important and this is what you need to do about it. Its why she testified last week before the Legislatures Revenue Committee on Chairman Mike Gloors bill to raise the cigarette tax. She testified for a similar bill before. And there's no question: If need be, she'll be back. Driven by the rising cost of defined benefit pension plans, cities and states are finding ways to change those plans and cut future costs, a pension expert told a group reviewing Lincoln's pension program. When Chuck Reed was mayor of San Jose, California, voters in the city of 1 million -- a Democratic-leaning city in a Democratic county in a Democratic state -- approved several pension reforms. The courts overturned some of those changes, including requiring current employees to pay substantially more of the pension costs, but the changes are saving the city about $30 million a year, Reed told members of the city's special Pension Review Committee last week. That appointed committee is studying the city's defined pension plan for police and firefighters and expects to have a report ready for city leaders this spring. The city will be looking at the defined benefit pension issues in its next budget cycle, said Mayor Chris Beutler, pointing to the enormous increase in the city's contributions to these plans, from $3.4 million in 2007 to around $12 million next fiscal year. "Dealing with the police, fire pension plan must be a priority in 2016," he said recently. Reed described some of the changes other governmental jurisdictions have made in an effort to curb the costs of defined benefit pension plans, which guarantee lifetime monthly retirement checks usually based on previous earnings. * Reducing benefits for future years of service. * Change cost-of-living adjustments. * Ending the practice of sending out a 13th monthly check, sometimes called a bonus check, to retirees when earnings from pension fund investments are above a specific level that year. This is a practice in Lincoln. * Creating new pension plans for new employees. These include moving from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans and hybrid plans that use both defined contributions and defined benefits. * Increasing the retirement age. * Increasing the contribution for employees. * Reducing retiree health benefits for plans that include health benefits. It is common for cities to eliminate the extras, that 13th check, for example, and reduce cost-of-living adjustments, Reed said. It is also a common practice to increase employee contributions. There are probably 100 different things the city could do. There is no one answer for Lincoln, he told the committee, which has spent the past two months learning about the citys defined benefit plan for police and firefighters. Other city employees have a defined contribution plan, where the city and employee contribute to the plan, with no guarantee of how much will be available upon retirement. Cities and states are looking at defined benefit pension plans because the cost of guaranteeing retirement benefits is hurting government entities' ability to fund services, said Reed, who is now part of Retirement Security Initiative, a bipartisan advocacy organization focused on protecting the fairness and solvency of public sector retirement plans. Reed offered to come to Lincoln at the expense of his organization after learning about the pension review committee. Like Lincoln, San Jose adequately funded its defined benefit pension plans for years, but was hit by the stock market collapse of 2008 and subsequent low rates of return. San Jose also faced much worse budget problems than Lincoln during the recession. San Jose laid off about a quarter of its workforce, including some police and firefighters, and cut city employees' pay by 10 percent. All San Jose city workers have defined benefit plans, while only police and firefighters are covered by these plans in Lincoln. Some of today's funding issues stem from previous decisions. Many communities increased pension benefits during the irrational exuberance of the 1990s, Reed said. We thought we were rich and the stock market was going to go up forever, so we had benefit increases and wage increases," he said. In deciding what to do city leaders need to look at the benefit level they desire, what should be the risk of employees and taxpayers, the impact on employee retention and recruiting and the legal constraints, Reed said. In California the general legal rule is that you cannot make changes for current employees. What they expected on the day they were hired is vested and cannot be taken away, he said. There is a given in any pension plan, he said. No matter how you design your plan, if you dont put money in it, it wont work. Many places are systematically underfunding their plans, he said. The six-member committee will hear from union representatives at its next meeting Feb. 23 and will begin working on recommendations to city leaders in March. WASHINGTON -- Much of Hillary Clinton's difficulty in this campaign stems from a single, unalterable fact: She is a woman. I'm not referring primarily to the Bernie Bros, those Bernie Sanders supporters who fill the Internet with misogynistic filth about Clinton. What drags down her candidacy is more pervasive and far subtler -- unconscious, even. The criticism is the same as in 2008: She doesn't connect. She isn't likable. She doesn't inspire. She seems shrill. "She shouts," Bob Woodward said on MSNBC this month, also suggesting she "get off this screaming stuff." Joe Scarborough, the host, agreed: "Has nobody told her that the microphone works?" At that, Clinton supporters hollered -- about the double standard that condemns her but not Sanders, who bellows at the top of his lungs. The episode was part of a stream of commentators (generally men) taking issue with Clinton's demeanor and conduct in a way they don't do with Sanders. At a Clinton rally last week in New Hampshire I discussed the decibel dilemma with Jay Newton-Small, of Time. "It's very hard for a woman to telegraph passion," she explained. "When Bernie yells, it shows his dedication to the cause. When she yells, it's interpreted in a very different way: She's yelling at you." That's not about Clinton; it's about us. "It is a subtle kind of sexism that exists that we don't recognize," said Newton-Small, who literally wrote the book on the matter: "Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works," out last month, includes a chapter on Clinton. "When women raise their voices, people tend to get their hackles up. People I talk to at Clinton events put her in a maternal role: Why is she screaming at me? Am I in trouble?" Campaigning While Female also deprives Clinton of the ability to make lofty promises. Sanders, for example, has a $15 trillion nonstarter of a health care plan. If Clinton floated such a plan, the media would mock it as patently absurd. But Sanders gets a pass. Why the double standard? "Men are the guys who want to go out and buy the motorcycle and women are the purse-string holders," Newton-Small said. "It's a very traditional role we are putting women into by making them the one saying, no, we can't do all these really fun things. This is a very stereotypical box she gets put into, which then makes it very hard for her to be inspirational." This is the essence of Clinton's trouble: If she can't plausibly offer pie-in-the-sky, and she can't raise her voice, how does she inspire people? This hurts particularly with young voters -- the same segment that shunned Clinton in 2008. Clinton's "likability" problem also has something to do with her lack of a Y-chromosome. It's a direct consequence of the imperative that she demonstrate her toughness. Men can be tough and warm at the same time -- think Ronald Reagan -- but for women, it's a trade-off. In 2008, she played down gender and positioned herself as "ready to lead on day one." This time she took a softer approach but eventually found herself back in the position of arguing that she'd be a better wartime leader than Sanders. For Clinton, "it's a really tough needle to thread to be tough enough to be a commander in chief and still be likable," Newton-Small said. I disagree with those who scream sexism every time somebody criticizes Clinton. But there's no denying that women are more often the victims of online savagery. That was true long before the Bernie Bros. Sanders objects to the Bernie Bros but may encourage them when he talks about the "drama" Clinton creates and her "shouting." It's also hard to imagine a male candidate being faulted for his wife's misbehavior the way Clinton is blamed for her husband's. There's not much Clinton can do about this. But she can make the case that while Sanders talks "revolution," her presidency actually would be one, because the first female president would govern differently from her 44 predecessors. Clinton has been at the vanguard of the women's movement for decades, but the movement has been so successful that young voters, even women, don't realize how much has changed -- and how having a woman as president could complete that Quiet Revolution. "Women in general are better listeners, are more collegial, more open to new ideas and how to make things work in a way that looks for win-win outcomes," Clinton told Newton-Small in "Broad Influence." Now that's something worth shouting about. A judge has ruled against a Florida man who sued the doctors and psychiatrists who treated him at the Lincoln Regional Center, where he was held for 19 years on a misdiagnosis. John Montin, 53, had accused them of failing to properly evaluate him, saying that led to improper treatment plans and ultimately to his continued confinement. In an order last week, Senior U.S. District Judge Lyle Strom said Montin may have a right against unnecessary and improper confinement, but that it was not the doctors' decision that kept him there but rather a state judge's. "In addition, the decision to release a person acquitted on grounds of insanity is placed on the court who tried the committed person, not the doctors working at the LRC," the federal judge wrote. For years, Montin's doctors pointed to his denials that he was mentally ill as evidence that he was when they made annual reports to a judge who ultimately decided whether Montin still was mentally ill and dangerous. In 2012, Montin's attorney persuaded Dr. Klaus Hartmann, a psychiatrist at the center, to read a 500-page transcript of his trial in Hayes County, which differed considerably from accounts from law enforcement of the 1993 incident that led to Montin's arrest. After that, Hartmann changed his view of the situation and began working to obtain his release. And in 2013, another Regional Center psychiatrist, Dr. Edward Kelly, reached the conclusion that a psychosis induced by medication Montin was taking for back pain had led to a 1993 incident in Hayes County. When Montin stopped taking the medicine, the psychosis was gone. A judge ordered his release on July 16, 2013. In 2014, Montin sued, seeking more than $22 million in damages for incorrectly being labeled mentally ill and for unnecessarily being held and subjected to treatments he didn't need. He also was seeking $760,000 in lost wages and $10 million in punitive damages. In July 2015, the case survived a legal hurdle and was allowed to move forward but suffered a blow in November when Senior U.S. District Judge Lyle Strom agreed to dismiss Dr. Mario Scalora as a defendant in the case. Scalora worked at the Regional Center from 1993 until 2010 under a contract between the state-run hospital and the University of Nebraska. In an order last week, Strom agreed to dismiss the 15 other defendants, all Regional Center employees Montin had sued. The ruling leaves a single defendant, Corrine McCoy, who was a program director and a member of Montin's treatment team. He accused her of trying to impose behavioral restrictions on Montin in an attempt to limit his access to courts. Montin is expected to appeal Strom's decision. When the suit was filed, his attorney, Mike Gooch, said Montin's treatment team for years relied on misinformation in police reports, rather than court records, in determining that Montin had delusional disorder. Lawmen said Montin, who was on a trip from Florida, walked up to a rural Hayes County home saying it belonged to his ancestors and that he was taking it back. They said that led to an 11-hour standoff that ended with a shootout, but no one was injured. At trial, evidence showed the residents had answered the door with shotguns, and Montin hid in a ditch overnight. Deputies said they might have heard a single shot. In 1993, a jury found him not guilty of attempted murder and a second weapons charge, and not responsible by reason of insanity of false imprisonment and use of a weapon. He was committed to the Lincoln Regional Center. One of the oldest family gatherings in the world is getting underway in the Platte River valley. Half a million sandhill cranes will stop in the valley through mid-April to feast on leftover field corn and turn over cow pies with their long needlelike beaks, looking for tasty bugs, frogs, grubs and snakes. The cranes roost at night in the shallow waters of the Platte during the annual migration and put on about 20 percent of their body weight before flying on to northern Alaska, Canada and Siberia. Theyll spend the summer hatching chicks before flying south again next winter. The elegant birds stand three to four feet high, have crimson caps on their heads, white cheeks and a 7-foot wingspan. In flight, their long dark legs trail behind streamlined, gray bodies. They are among the oldest species of birds on the planet; fossil records indicate they've been around for more than 9 million years. The mass migration through Nebraska generally starts about Valentine's Day, peaks in March and tapers off by mid-April. I think the birds will be on schedule, said Kent Skaggs, operations manager for the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon. Our snow is already disappearing pretty quickly. The snow is going to be gone by the time most of the birds arrive here, unless we get additional storms. In fact, he said, he saw a small flock flying over the Rowe Sanctuary on Jan. 31. Those early birds might have flown back south after a blizzard earlier this month blanketed fields in snow, hiding their spring banquet. When we get a snowstorm like that, if its a thick enough blanket of snow where it prevents the birds from feeding, they might retreat a little further south where they can access food, Skaggs said. Or they may have weathered it out and waited for things to thaw. The number of sandhill cranes in the state usually builds to a significant number by the first week of March. The spectacle brings about 70,000 bird-watchers and millions of tourism dollars to the region each year. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Business Research report in 2010 found the annual economic impact to be more than $10 million. If you live in Nebraska or places nearby and havent seen this yet, its essentially right here in your backyard, Skaggs said. "Come out and take a look at it." The cranes are only one of hundreds of species of birds that stop during the spring migration. The Platte River valley is also a great place to see the northern pintail, mallards and snow geese. The snow geese migration peaks during late February or early March. There are many places in Nebraska from which to see the cranes, but bird-watchers should take care not to trespass on private property. Visitors are welcome at the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center, and those who want a close-up view can reserve a spot in a viewing blind for a fee. Morning and evening viewings are scheduled daily during March and early April, last about two hours and are led by trained guides. For more information, visit rowe.audubon.org or call 308-468-5282. The Crane Trust near Grand Island also offers viewing blinds and tours for visitors in the morning and evening. See cranetrust.org or call 308-384-4633. People can drop by the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center at the Alda exit on Interstate 80 for more information about public crane-viewing spots and guided tours on weekends. Make reservations early. Many of the blinds fill up quickly for mid-March, which is the prime viewing time. More than 1,000 members of the community met at Pinnacle Bank Arena last week to learn the latest developments with Prosper Lincoln, a community initiative bringing people together to make the city better. A Community Agenda has been established for Lincoln and three priorities identified Early Childhood, Employment Skills and Innovation. Prosper Lincoln leaders encouraged citizens across the city to get involved and help make a positive difference in each area. During 2015 an engagement team invited representatives from all sectors of the city to determine what the community could do to ensure youth are successful, the economy grows and the city remains strong and vibrant. Under the leadership of the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, more than 2,100 ideas were gathered and work groups were assigned to set goals and objectives, which led to the creation of a Community Agenda and three community areas of focus being determined. Early Childhood The goal is to help all children, regardless of their background, learn and grow during their early years. According to Lincoln school officials, 700 at risk children are on a waiting list to attend Lincoln Public Schools early childhood programs and one goal is to ensure every child has space to attend a program by 2020. The Nebraska Children and Families Foundation will serve as the support organization for this priority. Employment Skills The goal is to have a workforce with the talent to meet the increasing demand from employers for stronger knowledge and capability skill sets. Enhancing job skills will result in more employment opportunities, which can help reduce poverty levels while promoting higher wages and better benefits for local workers. Southeast Community College and the Lincoln Public Schools will serve as the support organizations for this priority. Innovation Lincoln strives to be a city of innovation for all sectors, from cradle to grave, which will make things better for residents throughout the community. Prosper Lincolns goal is to create a culture of innovation that can be passed on from one generation to the next. Nebraska Innovation Campus, Firespring and FUSE Coworking will serve as the support organizations for this priority. The level of community-wide input this past year has been incredible and as a result, three priority areas have been selected for our community agenda, said Barbara Bartle, President of the Lincoln Community Foundation. Now it is our turn, every sector of our city to work together and to coordinate efforts and resources. No single institution or individual can achieve the goals of the community agenda. It will take each one of us working together and supporting each other to make a difference for all of us. Bartle said commitments are already being made and implemented. She noted the Lincoln City Libraries will soon start a 15 Minutes a Day reading program for preschool children to help promote school readiness and success. She also said the following Lincoln businesses and organizations have made commitments to support Prosper Lincoln: Abel Foundation Ameritas Buffet Early Childhood Fund Firespring FUSE Coworking Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development Lincoln City Libraries Lincoln Community Foundation Lincoln Industries Lincoln Public Schools Mapes Industries Inc. Nebraska Children and Families Foundation Nebraska Innovation Campus Nelnet Southeast Community College Tetrad Property Group Union Bank W.K. Kellogg Foundation Individuals, organizations and businesses throughout Lincoln are asked to get involved in Prosper Lincoln and help advance these priority areas. People are encouraged to search for the perfect opportunity to volunteer, stay connected, join the community, give time and make a donation to support young children, employment skills and innovation on the Prosper Lincoln website. More information can be found at www.prosperlincoln.org. Natalie Schieuer, a student at Lincoln Pius X High School, has been named one of 100 award recipients for the inaugural year of The Emperor Science Award program. Bristol-Myers Squibb is a founding donor of the program, an initiative designed to encourage high school students to explore careers in science, specifically cancer research and care, through a unique mentoring opportunity. Bristol-Myers Squibb is proud to recognize Natalie as an Emperor Science Award recipient. She was chosen from a pool of nearly 1,200 well-qualified 10th and 11th grade students from across the country with a passion for pursuing a career in science and cancer research, said Laura Bessen, Vice President, Head of U.S. Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Our hope is to inspire more students to explore careers that may lead to future innovation in cancer care, and know Natalie will represent Pius X High School and the entire Lincoln community as she continues to enhance her knowledge and skills through this one-of-a-kind mentorship program. I am most excited to work alongside my mentor and observe what it takes to be successful in the medical profession, shared Natalie who recently had a teleconference with her mentor. Natalies mentor will be esteemed scientist Dr. Hussein Tawbi from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. In addition to working with Dr. Tawbi on a multi-week cancer research project, Natalie will also receive a Google Chrome Notebook to enhance her studies and to extend the collaboration with her mentor, a $1,500 stipend for expenses, and the opportunity to continue her mentoring program throughout high school in order to further her academic pursuits. Dr. Tawbi and I are hoping to work on our project from early July to late August, and that I will be able to go to MD Anderson in Texas for at least part of the project and to shadow Dr. Tawbi, noted Natalie. The remainder of the time, she will be able to work on the research project from a facility in Lincoln and contact Dr. Tawbi via Skype. Natalie learned of this career opportunity and the award in November from Pius X Anatomy teacher, Mrs. Shari Schneider. I want to thank Mrs. Schneider for telling me about this opportunity, said Natalie. I want to pursue a career as a doctor and this program is a once in a lifetime opportunity to expose myself to the medical profession in a hands on way. Natalie joins 99 other students from rural, suburban and urban communities in 40 states to comprise the first class of Emperor Science Awardees. Part of the application process was to write an essay concerning the importance of cancer research, as well as answering questions about how this program would impact me if I were to win and why I was interested. I had a lot of fun learning about cancer and cancer research while I formulated my essay. Nicole Fleck-Tooze, special projects administrator with Lincolns Parks and Recreation Department, will outline the continued growth of Lincoln's trails system when the Great Plains Trails Network (GPTN) holds its annual meeting at 1 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 21) at the CHI Health Nebraska Heart Medical Office, 7440 S. 91st St. The public is invited. Fleck-Tooze will discuss the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch, the 7.5 mile-long corridor linking Pioneers Park and Spring Creek Prairie with a recreational trail near Denton. The corridor will support economic development, build on Lincolns nationally recognized trail system, support environmental education, and promote the enhancement and preservation of one of Nebraskas most valuable resourcestallgrass prairies. Glenn Johnson, general manager of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, and Sara Hartzell, park planner for Lincoln Parks and Recreation, will also speak at the meeting. Johnson will give an update on the MoPac Trail expansion. Hartzell will give an overview of the Lincoln Trails system, and showcase the progress that has been made on the trails in 2015 and trail projects under way. The trails system is now over 132 miles in length, and includes 86 miles of commuter/recreation trails, and 46 miles of hiker/biker trails in parks. Following the presentations, GPTNs annual awards program and election of the 2016 board of directors will take place. Refreshments will be provided. The GPTN is a nonprofit organization that supports a network of trails in Lancaster County and Nebraska. GPTN is comprised of a group of people dedicated to the preservation and use of Nebraska trails for hiking, biking, walking, running, horseback riding and transportation. For more information about the annual meeting, contact Roger Hirsch, president of GPTN at 402-421-1018, rhirsch@neb.rr.com, or visit www.gptn.org. The arrival of the home-show season and the anticipation of spring brings thoughts of remodeling to many Nebraska residents. Whether your home improvement project is small or large, if you are hiring someone to do it, there are some considerations to be nailed down. Your Better Business Bureau has some tips for those planning to attend a home show and for those planning to hire a contractor. Home show homework Home shows are a great place to get new ideas on the possibilities for your project. Here are some things to keep in mind for maximizing your home show experience: Do a little investigating ahead of time. Look for websites of the vendors and explore them to understand better what they offer. (Visit the shows website to find a list of exhibitors.) Research online by searching for the companys name plus words like complaints and reviews. Check out specific contractors with the BBB at bbb.org. Make a list to remind yourself of what questions you may have for potential contractors at the show. Doing this ahead of time can insure that you dont overlook something when distracted by all the sights and sounds at the show. Know your budget for the project and exactly what the objective is. Clear goals can help you avoid impulsive commitments when talking to a companys representatives. Resolve to stick to your budget. Choosing your contractor The time-tested method of word-of-mouth is still the best way to guarantee that you will be happy with the contractor you use. Nothing beats a friends experience when it comes assessing the pros and cons of a company. Nevertheless, you should get quotes from at least 3 contractors for purposes of comparison. Make sure you gave them each the exact same specifications for the job. Ask for references from the company and follow through by checking with those individuals. The mere fact that they were willing to give you names does not mean that they are on the up-and-up. Some count on consumers failing to actually check on the references they were given. Find out how long the company has been in business and what their address is, then check whether they are where they said they were with a drive by. Be sure to inquire about the contractors licensing, what permits your job would require and whether they are insured for personal liability, workers comp and property damage coverage. Get documentation. Ask as well if they might be subcontracting part of your job. Get the same documentation for the subcontractor. Cooling off If you sign up to purchase something at a home show remember that Nebraska law guarantees you three days to cancel any purchase of $25 or more made at a location that is not the permanent address of the seller. Thats the Cooling-Off-Rule. The salesperson must verbally inform you of your cancellation rights at the time of the sale. They must give you two copies of a cancellation form and a copy of your contract or receipt. Home improvement projects are notorious for disrupting a households routine. Thats usually unavoidable, but there is no reason your bank account should have unexpected disruptions as well. Select a reputable, trustworthy contractor to insure that your remodeling project goes well. For questions about contractor selection, contact your BBB by calling 800-649-6814 or 402-436-2345. RACINE COUNTY The 2016 election season kicks off Tuesday with eight primary races being contested. Polling places across Racine County will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. In a change from the 2012 presidential and 2014 gubernatorial elections, voters will be required to show a photo ID at their respective polling places. In Racine County, there are seven primary contests: Two village trustee positions in Mount Pleasant, three city aldermen positions in Racine and two Racine Unified School Board positions. All county residents may also cast votes in the Wisconsin Supreme Court primary. The top two vote-getters in each primary race will square off in April 5 general election. Following is a quick look at the candidates running in the primary contests. More information about the races can be found at Journaltimes.com: Racine Unified School District Three people are running for the new District 6 board seat: Ernest J. NiA, 67, pastor of Wayman AME Church; Jim Venturini, 57, a sales executive for David Insurance; and John Heckenlively, 52, a writer. Three people are running for the new District 7 seat: Brian F. OConnell, 62, retired city development director; Adrienne M. Moore, 45, a public defender attorney; and incumbent Don J. Nielsen, 69, a retired high school counselor. Mount Pleasant Four candidates will square off for two spots in the race for village trustee No. 2: Terri Isaacson, 57, a technical support administrator at Putzmeister; Ken Otwaska, a 72-year-old retiree; Donald Schulz, 68, a former town and Village Board member; and incumbent Rick McCluskey, 66, an investigator. Three candidates are running for the No. 6 trustee spot: incumbent Anna Marie Clausen, a 67-year-old former Village Board president; John Martini, a 59-year-old physician; and Jon Hansen, 54, a Racine County reserve deputy sheriff. City of Racine Three people are running for the District 2 alderman spot: Robert Anderson, 60, a former city alderman; incumbent Mollie Jones, 70, a retired executive assistant at CNH; and Yasin Mahdi, 32, a safety specialist at CNH. Four people are running for the District 4 alderman position: Edwin Santiago Jr., 30, a cellular phone store manager; Daryl Carter Sr., 44, who works at Case High School; John Dunk, 56, owner of Johns Dock, and Tracey Larrin, 51, a cashier and cook at Captain Johns Deli. Three people are running for the District 6 alderman spot: Jen Adamski-Torres, 36, a marketing and sales support manager; Jeffrey Peterson, 52, a retired Racine Fire Department captain; and incumbent Sandy Weidner, 63, employment coordinator at UW-Milwaukee. State Supreme Court Three candidates are running for two spots: Incumbent Rebecca G. Bradley, JoAnne F. Kloppenburg, and Joe Donald. An initial version of this story contained an incorrect first name for 2nd District City Council Candidate Yasin Mahdi. The error has been corrected. STURTEVANT Sweeter days are on the horizon for local sweet tooths. KP! Toffee, which has made handcrafted gourmet-style toffee in the village since 2010, hopes to open a small retail space at its operation at 9602 Durand Ave. later this month Pending village approval, the sugary wares will sold in a 400-square-foot space between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to KP! President Mike Clark. Adding retail sales at the operation will mean hiring one or two part-time employees, Clark said. The company also plans to add a 7-foot vinyl banner over the door, Clark said. Toffee is a soft candy made by boiling sugar and butter. KP! toffees milk chocolate, dark and white are sold in amounts ranging from 2 ounces to a 2-pound tin. Without the onsite sales space, KP! workers now have to refer visitors looking to buy to nearby retail spots such as Piggly Wiggly stores in Racine. KP! products are available at more than 160 grocery stores, speciality shops and retail outlets across the Midwest, said Clark, who purchased the business along with his sister, Kate, in March 2015 from founder Karen Peltier. Peltier, using a recipe from a family friend, set up a small commercial toffee cooking operation in leased space in West Allis. She moved the operation to Sturtevant in the fall of 2010. The Clarks have almost doubled the manufacturing space in the past year to nearly 4,000 square feet, Mike Clark said. Clark said he developed the idea for the retail space in the past several months as business slowed down after the Christmas candy crunch. Were always looking for opportunities for growth, said Clark, who spent 35 years in commercial constriction in Chicago before buying the toffee business. For us, the costs are already built in. Clark said the onsite space would not undercut the prices charged by local retail outlets. We dont want to take away customers away from anyone, he said. Were looking to expand the base. Plan gets preliminary nod The village Plan Commission voted 6-0 to approve the proposal last week. The Village Board will vote on the commissions recommendation for approval during their meeting, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, said Village Administrator Mary Cole. Clark said, pending final approval, he expects the space to be up and running by the end of February. The company plans to do a formal opening sometime in March. We will be right in time for Easter, Clark said. The state Senate passed a bill that would open up more forest land in a state conservation program to logging and allow more of those lands to be closed to the public on Tuesday. The Managed Forest Law program, run by the Department of Natural Resources, allows landowners to pay reduced property taxes in exchange for committing to sustainable forestry practices. The bill doubles the amount of Managed Forest Law land in a given municipality that may be closed to the public at the landowners request. It also requires the DNR to act by May 2017 to propose a way to open up more of the land to timber harvesting. The Senate passed the bill 20-11. License plates: A bill that would create a new process for groups to obtain special license plates. Right now, the state Department of Transportation cant issue special plates to political groups, churches and groups that encourage hatred and discrimination. Sen. Mary Lazichs bill would require the DOT to post a groups application online. Applications would have to include the signatures of at least 500 state residents who intend to buy the plates. If anyone objects to the application, the DOT could approve the groups application only if the Legislature signs off. The bill allows the DOT to collect a $25 voluntary payment from group members and pass the money on to the group. A Madison man charged with shooting a former grocery store co-worker to death last week outside the store where they worked was ordered to stand trial on first-degree intentional homicide and reckless endangerment charges. Christopher T. OKroley, 26, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday before Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke. He did not enter pleas to the charges against him but will do so when an arraignment is set before the assigned trial judge, William Hanrahan. A criminal complaint states that OKroley blamed Caroline Nosal, 24, of Stoughton, for getting him fired from his job at Metro Market, 6010 Cottage Grove Road, after she complained to management that he was harassing her. The criminal complaint states that Nosal had rebuffed OKroleys desire to have a more serious relationship, which upset OKroley. After his arrest, OKroley told police that he bought the handgun he used to shoot Nosal on Feb. 1, right after he was fired, and that he planned to shoot Nosal that day, but instead decided he needed time to practice with his new gun, according to the complaint. After finding out when Nosal would be leaving work on Feb. 2, OKroley waited for her in the parking lot and shot her, the complaint states. OKroley fired shots at a Madison police officer, who returned fire, on Feb. 3 when he was spotted by a passer-by near East Towne Mall. Nobody was hurt by the shots. A former girlfriend told the Wisconsin State Journal that OKroley has had mental health issues for years and that he attempted suicide in 2014. OKroleys lawyer, state Assistant Public Defender Adam Welch, said he couldnt comment on whether he plans to pursue an insanity defense for OKroley or whether he had decided not to enter a plea to the charges on Tuesday in order to consider a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. OKroley, who appeared in court shackled to a wheeled restraint chair, but no longer wearing suicide prevention clothing, remains in the Dane County Jail on $1 million bail. Christopher OKroley told police after his arrest Wednesday that he would have shot Caroline Nosal to death one night earlier, except for one thing: He realized he had never fired the gun he bought on Monday and wanted to practice with it. By the time he had practiced firing and returned to Metro Market, 6010 Cottage Grove Road, where OKroley and Nosal had worked together, he told police, Nosal had already left work and gone home. OKroley went home, ordered pizza, and watched movies, according to a criminal complaint. OKroley, 26, of Madison, was charged Friday with first-degree intentional homicide after he allegedly returned to the Metro Market on Tuesday night and shot Nosal, 24, of Stoughton, in the head and abdomen after she left work for the night. OKroley was also charged with first-degree reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting at Madison Police Officer Michele Walker, as she tried to arrest OKroley near East Towne Mall on Wednesday afternoon. According to the criminal complaint filed Friday, OKroley told police he bought the gun he used to shoot Nosal after Metro Market fired him by phone on Monday afternoon, and he had intended to use it that night. OKroley had worked there with Nosal, and co-workers described a relationship between the two that soured after OKroley wanted more, according to the complaint. Two weeks before the shooting, Nosal had complained to store management that she was being harassed by OKroley, who was then suspended. After he was suspended, OKroley told police, he began planning to kill Nosal and himself if he was also fired. Then on Monday, he was fired. On Friday, OKroley appeared in court, where bail was set at $1 million. He was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair and wore a suicide prevention smock. A former girlfriend told the Wisconsin State Journal that OKroley had tried to commit suicide in 2014, and that he has been seriously mentally ill for the past decade. According to the complaint: OKroley learned from text messages that he exchanged with former co-workers on the pretext of going to collect belongings when Nosal was not at the store that she finished work at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. He told police that he knelt down beside her car with the gun in his hand. When he saw Nosal turn the corner, he stood up, pointed the gun at her and shot her in the chest. When she fell, he told police, he shot her once more in the head. He told police that it was easy to kill Nosal, and that he killed her out of anger because she had ruined my life. He also described himself to police as a sociopath. After the shooting, OKroley wrote in a text message to one co-worker, I killed Caroline and Im about to kill myself. So dont be surprised when I dont respond anymore. After the shooting, he told police, he realized he couldnt kill himself, so his plan was to hijack someones car at gunpoint. A tip alerting police that OKroley had been spotted in the East Towne area brought Officer Walker to the area, and OKroley said he was surprised by her and admitted to firing his gun twice at her. Im glad I didnt hit her, he said. I dont know what else, I guess Im sorry but ... I dont know if I am sorry, Im just glad I didnt hit her. About OKroleys gun, Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said, We believe that he purchased the firearm locally and legally at a store; however, that part of the investigation is still ongoing. Last year, the state Legislature eliminated a 48-hour waiting period to buy a handgun, a measure that was opposed by most Democratic legislators. State Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, recently introduced a bill to reinstate the waiting period, citing as examples a suicide that was carried out without having to wait for a gun, and a homicide elsewhere in Wisconsin, also carried out with a newly purchased gun. These are two examples of what the waiting period was designed to prevent, Taylor said. Nosals death, she said, does illustrate that we need a cooling-off period. While its not certain that a waiting period would have avoided tragedy in this case, Taylor said, anything we can do that makes a difference in avoiding homicides, we must do. Though he had no criminal record, homicide suspect Christopher OKroley was being investigated for sexual assault when he allegedly shot a former co-worker to death last week outside a Far East Side grocery store. OKroley, 26, also had been picked up on warrants for unrelated matters at least twice by Madison police in September 2013 and by Cottage Grove police in September 2014, according to law enforcement sources and court records. OKroley also was briefly hospitalized in September 2014 after trying to kill himself, according to an ex-girlfriend who told the Wisconsin State Journal he has been mentally ill for the past decade. However, nothing in his past not the alleged suicide attempt, or the apparent mental health issues or his past run-ins with police rose to the level of preventing him from legally buying the Smith and Wesson handgun that police say he used to kill Caroline E. Nosal, a former girlfriend who rejected his advances, on Feb. 2. Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said OKroley legally purchased the gun from a local store on Feb. 1, but, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to say where it was bought or where OKroley told police he practiced shooting it later the same day in preparation for the alleged murder. Nosal, 24, of Stoughton, was walking to her car outside Metro Market, 6010 Cottage Grove Road, when she was shot around 8 p.m., shortly after finishing her shift at the store. A court complaint Friday charged OKroley with first-degree intentional homicide in her death and with first-degree reckless endangerment for allegedly firing at the first Madison police officer who tried to arrest him. A separate filing for a warrant to search OKroleys car on Friday notes OKroley was listed as a suspect in a sexual assault that allegedly occurred Dec. 26 at his home in the 800 block of North Thompson Drive. A Madison police report filed the next day said the victim, a 20-year-old woman who knew OKroley, reported falling asleep at his house after watching a movie and waking to find some of her clothing isnt the way it should be, police spokesman Joel DeSpain told the State Journal. She believes she may have been sexually assaulted, DeSpain said. In those types of cases, typically someone is not arrested immediately. You need to do the forensics. Police talked to OKroley about the sexual assault allegations at his home later on Dec. 26, DeSpain said, after the woman reported the incident. Both agreed to undergo forensic exams at a local hospital, and investigators are awaiting the results, DeSpain said. Its an active investigation of an acquaintance sexual assault, DeSpain said. He was cooperative in the sense that he voluntarily went in for an exam. He was somewhat vague about what he remembered happening overnight. The warrants issued for OKroley in 2013 and 2014 appear to be tied to civil matters involving long-running disputes over the birth and support of his son, now 8, with Amanda M. Joers, 26. She and OKroley met in high school. DeSpain said Madison police jailed OKroley in September 2013 after an officer making a traffic stop found a warrant for not paying child support. The traffic stop came after OKroley drove through a red light on West Doty Street. Then on Sept. 11, 2014, Cottage Grove police picked up OKroley on a warrant, Dane County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said. Schaffer could find no record of what that warrant was for, but Joers said it was for non-payment of bills involving their sons birth. Later in September 2014, Joers said she called for an ambulance after finding OKroley overdosing in a bathtub at his mothers Cottage Grove home, where he had gone for an arranged day of child visitation. The medications were prescribed to OKroleys mother, Joers said, adding that OKroley was not on any medications that she knew of for mental health issues at the time of the attempted suicide. OKroley left the hospital where he was treated within a few days, Joers said, and returned to his job at Metro Market. State and federal laws say nothing about barring guns for people who attempt suicide. Only those involuntarily committed to a mental institution because they pose a danger to themselves or others, or those who are judged unfit to own a weapon by court order, are prohibited from owning guns for mental health-related reasons. OKroley told detectives after his arrest for the fatal shooting on Feb. 3 that he was a sociopath who killed Nosal out of anger because she ruined his life, according to the court complaint. OKroley said he blamed Nosal for getting him fired after she reported to store managers that he was harassing her after their relationship soured. Jane Stillwater is a freelance journalist, war correspondent, blogger, political Cassandra and author. Her latest motto is "Stop Wall Street, War Street, Big Pharma and Big Tech from destroying our world." The Basic Court of Pec, a region in western Kosovo, has issued an indictment charging 14 Serbians in the region with committing war crimes in 1999. Although charging the suspects in Pec, the arrest warrants [B92 report] appear to show that at least some of the suspects reside outside of Kosovo. According to Ljubomir Pantovic, a lawyer in the area, the crimes are being classified under the Kosovo Criminal Code, which went into effect in 2013 and is more restrictive than the previously applicable code. Pantovic is also quoted as not being surprised by the charges, considering there is a group of 15 individuals that have warrants out for their arrest, and he expects more of these charges to come. In January Oliver Ivanovic, a Serbian politician in Kosovo, was sentenced to nine years in prison after being arrested [JURIST reports] in January 2014 for the murder and torture of Albanian civilians during the 1999 war where Kosovo fought for its independence from Serbia [BBC backgrounders]. In response to the widespread commission of war crimes during the conflict in Kosovo, the EUs justice mission in Kosovo (EULEX) [official website] was created in 2008 [JURIST report] to assist in the effort of bringing perpetrators to justice. A EULEX prosecutor in the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office filed an indictment [JURIST report] against 15 defendants in November 2014 in the EULEX Mitrovica Basic Court. The individuals were accused of war crimes against civilians that occurred at a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) detention center in Likovac in 1998. Fatmir Limaj, an ally of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was acquitted [JURIST report] by EULEX in September 2014 for the third time after his retrial began [JURIST report] in April. Kosovo officially seceded [JURIST report] from Serbia in 2008. [JURIST] The lawyer for a suspect in a 2015 bombing in Bangkok on Monday retracted his clients earlier confession a day before a scheduled military court appearance to formally hear the charges against him. The suspect, Bilal Mohammed, maintains he had no involvement [Guardian report] in the August bombing that left 20 people dead. Mohammed was arrested [Reuters report] in late August while carrying a Turkish passport that authorities claim was fake. Mohammeds lawyer contends that his client was tortured by Thailands junta, resulting in a forced confession. The Thailand state claims there is video linking Mohammed to the location immediately prior to the bombing. The state also denies allegations of torture. Mohammed is scheduled to appear in military court Tuesday with another suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, who also confessed to a role in the August bombing. It is unknown if Mieraili will attempt to contravene his earlier confession in court. On August 20 the Royal Thai Police issued an arrest warrant [JURIST report] based on a sketch from a security video for a foreign man thought to be the bomber who targeted and bombed the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok. The man in the video left a backpack at the shrine 15 minutes before the explosion. Police believe that the unidentified man was assisted by two others shown standing near him in the video. Although it is not confirmed whether or not these individuals were working in concert, police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri believes without doubt that the individual responsible for the bombing was not working alone. The shrine has since been re-opened to the public. A Thailand military court indicted two foreigners [JURIST report] who authorities believe were involved in the Erawan Shrine bombing last August. The two men from the western Chinas Xinjiang region have been charged with 10 counts, including conspiracy to explode bombs and to commit premeditated murder. [JURIST] The US Senate [official website] on Thursday approved [vote count] legislation that will place a permanent ban on states taxing Internet access. The Senate, by a vote of 75-20, passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 [materials]. Although the main provisions of the bill will strengthen enforcement of US duties on foreign goods, the bill also includes an extra provision known as the Internet Tax Freedom Act. The provision will also implement some taxes on digital goods and services. The vote was lauded by many, including the Internet Tax Freedom Act Coalition [advocacy website], which stated [press release], [t]his legislation ensures, once and for all, that hundreds of millions of consumers, students, families and businesses across the country will never have to pay onerous taxes to use the Internet. Supporters of the legislation are pushing for Congress to take the next step and improve enforcement of state sales tax collections related to Internet purchases, which this bill does not address. Rights of Internet users, including net neutrality [JURIST backgrounder], have emerged as a major political and legal issue in the US and internationally. In April US Congressman Doug Collins introduced a resolution [JURIST report] to block net neutrality rules [JURIST report] that were introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last February. Also last February the FCC adopted Open Internet rules [JURIST report] by a 3-2 vote. The Open Internet Order reclassifies broadband Internet as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, bringing broadband providers within the authority of the FCC. In 2014 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced [JURIST report] that the proposed law on Internet tax would not be introduced in its current form. The tax was originally set to be 150 forints (USD $0.62) per gigabyte of Internet traffic but would be capped at 700 forints per month. The law also received harsh criticism from telecommunication firms and Internet companies that claimed it would reduce the countrys competitiveness. [JURIST] The highest appeals court in Egypt on Sunday overturned the 15-year prison sentence levied against a police officer for the killing of a female protester in January 2015. The officer, Yaseen Mohamed Hatem, will face a new trial for charges of battery leading to death [NYT report] for the fatal shooting of Shaimaa el-Sabbagh. Sabbagh was a participant in a march in Tahrir Square in remembrance of the individuals killed during the 2011 protests [JURIST backgrounder]. The graphic images and videos of Sabbaghs death raised international concern over human rights abuses in Egypt. Earlier this month an Egyptian appeals court overturned [JURIST report] the death sentences of 149 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood accused of executing an attack on a police station near Cairo in 2013. Last year an Egyptian court sentenced the defendants to death in a series of mass trials that were used to denounce the ex-president Mohamed Morsi and his supporters, many of whom align with the pro-Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. Approximately 500 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death [IBT report] in early 2014. In total, it is estimated that more than 1,000 people have been killed and 40,000 have been jailed [BBC report] as a result of the crackdown on Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt. Last month Egyptian authorities clamped down on dissidents [JURIST report] in an effort to avoid further political unrest marking the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising. At the instruction of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi [BBC profile], Egyptian security forces searched over 5,000 homes, seized activists in public, closed an art gallery, raided a publishing house and arrested a medical doctor in a nighttime raid, all as precautionary measures. [JURIST] Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert [Knesset profile] began his 19-month prison sentence on Monday following his attempts to appeal his conviction for bribery. Olmert was convicted [JURIST report] in 2014 for accepting several bribes for housing projects in Jerusalem during his term as mayor. While his original six-year sentence was postponed and later reduced by the Israeli Supreme Court, he was given a month extension [JURIST report] after the court denied his plea bargain for a concurrent obstruction of justice sentence. Before Olmert was transported to Maasiyahu Prison [official website], he stated in a video [BBC report] that he still denies his current charges. As Olmert serves his sentence, his lawyers must address his fraud and breach of trust sentence from last May regarding the USD $150,000 he received [NYT backgrounder] from American businessman Morris Talansky to pay election and personal expenses. His lawyers have appealed the matter [NYT report] and hope that Olmert may serve the sentence concurrently with his bribery sentence. In July 2012 Olmert was acquitted [JURIST report] of two major counts of corruption but found guilty of a third lesser charge in the culmination of a three-year trial. In a 700-page ruling three senior judges of a Jerusalem court rejected the prosecutions key accusations that as a cabinet minister and Jerusalems mayor before becoming prime minister Olmert received bribes from US businessman Moshe Talansky, and that Olmert defrauded Israeli charities by double-billing them for overseas fundraising trips, a charge popularly referred to as the Rishon Tours double-billing affair. Olmert was convicted of breach of trust for granting illegal favors to a long-time friend and business partner while serving as minister of industry, trade and labor between 2002 and 2007. In September 2012 the court sentenced [JURIST report] Olmert to a one-year suspended sentence and a fine of about USD $19,000 for the charge of breaching public trust. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released a report [text] Monday stating hundreds of women who were victims of rape during the 2007-2008 Kenyan post-election violence are still suffering from long-term trauma, poverty, and social exclusion, and the Kenyan government is not providing basic assistance [HRW report]. The violence during this period resulted in more than one thousand deaths, approximately 600,000 people displaced, and around 900 victims of sexual violence, but HRW believes these official reports are most likely underestimates. The Kenyan government has provided limited compensation to people who were displaced or lost property, providing some money, housing, and land. Survivors of rape and other sexual violence have largely been excluded and very little has been done to address their specific medical or other needs. HRW released a report [text, PDF] in 2011 detailing some of the events stemming from this violent period but is now focused on the rape victims because of the lasting physical, psychological, and social effects that are not being addressed or treated. In January Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto [official profile] appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] to argue for the dismissal of the charges of crimes against humanity [JURIST report] during the post-election violence. The ICCs investigation and prosecution of the Kenya Situation [ICC backgrounder] has been ongoing since 2010. In March 2015 the ICC withdrew its charges [JURIST report] against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was accused of crimes against humanity for post-election violence, but indicated it would renew the charges if presented with enough evidence. African leaders urged [JURIST report] the ICC in February of last year to drop cases against Ruto or suspend the charges until African concerns are considered by the court. In December 2014 prosecutors asked the court to drop [JURIST report] charges against Kenyatta. In response to the charges against Kenyatta and Ruto, the African Union [official website] unanimously resolved [JURIST report] in 2013 that African heads of state should be immune from prosecution by the ICC. Also in 2013 Kenyas National Assembly approved a motion [JURIST report] to leave the ICC. [JURIST] Serbian lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that will allow restitution of heirless and unclaimed Jewish property taken during the Holocaust. The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) [advocacy website], which aggressively campaigned for the bill to be passed, said [AP report] that Serbia is leading the way as one of the first countries in Europe to pass such legislation. The property that the bill covers will be returned to the local Jewish community. Gideon Taylor, chair of the WJRO, stated [press release]: This is a step toward justice and the recognition of history. Today, Serbia remembers those who perished in the Holocaust. We look to other countries to follow Serbias lead and return heirless Jewish property so that it can help Holocaust survivors in need, commemorate those who died and strengthen Jewish life in these communities where so much was destroyed. The press release also noted that the new law will provide urgently needed funds and property to sustain and revitalize Jewish life in Serbia. The bill is the first legislation on heirless Jewish property passed since the 2009 Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues [materials] was passed by Serbia and 46 other countries. The 2009 legislation called for the restitution of heirless and unclaimed Jewish property and emphasized the importance of providing restitution for communal and individual immovable property. The WJRO had campaigned in partnership with the Federation of Jewish Communities in Serbia [official website] for two years to get the legislation approved. The legislation had US support as well. A letter [document, PDF] from the US House of Representatives [official website] stated that the measures passage would express Serbias commitment to justice and the rule of law, and establish Serbia as a model for other countries in Europe who have not yet provided restitution for heirless property. [JURIST] Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni [official website] on Saturday urged African nations to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Speaking during a televised presidential debate, Museveni accused the court of working against Africa [Bloomberg report] and said the court is not serious about their problems. Museveni has been the President of Uganda for 30 years and is currently a candidate for President in the February election. He argued that Uganda should already have left the court. Last month the ICC opened the confirmation of charges hearing [JURIST report] against accused Lords Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen [ICC materials]. Ongwen made his first appearance before the ICC last year amid opposition from the Ugandan government, which wished to try him in the country after his surrender [JURIST reports]. The countrys attorney general assured the ICC last February that Uganda would cooperate [JURIST report] with his trial. [JURIST] The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) [official website] on Sunday reported [press relase] that civilian casualties in Afghanistan had reached a record high 11,000 in 2015. The report [text] states that the civilian casualty rate has risen in Afghanistan once again. The report further notes that despite a reduction of over 10 percent in civilian causalities caused by the government, there was an increase in anti-government attacks around populated areas. UNAMA detailed a list of actions to be taken by anti-government elements, the government of Afghanistan, and International Military Forces to mitigate further casualties. UNAMA has been documenting the civilian casualty rate in Afghanistan since 2009. In November the US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] and Pentagon officials completed their investigation [JURIST report] into the October 3 bombing of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) [advocacy website] hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, and announced [statement] that it was an avoidable accident caused primarily by human error. In October MSF called for an independent investigation [JURIST report] into the attack by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. Also in October the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an investigation [JURIST report] into the Kunduz hospital attack and for the results of an investigation to be made public. Several days prior to the hospital attack, the UN rights leader also requested that all parties in the Taliban attack in Kunduz attempt to keep civilians out of harm [JURIST report]. In August the UN said that a new report shows a significant increase in the number of women and children being hurt or killed [JURIST report] in Afghanistans war against the Taliban and other insurgents. In June the UN Secretary-Generals Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mark Bowden, stated that the hostilities in Afghanistan are leading to the killing and wounding of thousands [JURIST report] and the forced relocation of families into neighboring countries. UN Special Rapporteur on the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [official website] Marzuki Darusman [official profile] is asking the UN to provide North Korea with notice that Kim Jong Un may be investigated for crimes against humanity. In a report [text, DOC] to the UN Human Rights Council made public Monday, Darusman outlines that North Koreas leader is ripe to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, and that three independent legal experts should determine the best course of action to be established for both North Korea and victims of abuse. Darusmans report will be considered by the Human Rights Council next month. North Korea has been an international source of concern due to the countrys human rights record and instability. The US House of Representatives [official website] last month approved [press release] legislation that would increase sanctions against North Korea for its continuation of nuclear testing [JURIST report]. Japan and the EU recently circulated [JURIST report] a draft UN resolution condemning North Koreas human rights abuses and encouraging the UN Security Council to refer the country to the International Criminal Court [official website], noting reports of torture, limits on freedom of mobility, restrictions on freedom of speech, restrictions on freedom of religion, privacy infringement, arbitrary imprisonment, prison camps and more. Darusman expressed deep concerns [JURIST report] regarding human rights violations in the country just a month earlier. In November 2014 Darusman said that there is enough evidence to hold Kim Jong-un responsible for massive human rights atrocities [JURIST report] committed in the country. In response to these concerns, the UN in June opened a new office [JURIST report] in Seoul to specifically monitor human rights in North Korea. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Australia rejects calls to let asylum seeker baby stay Australia's government says it will stand firm on its asylum seeker policy amid protests over a one-year-old girl's impending deportation to Nauru. China team to visit Capital for feasibility study: KMC After Kathmandu Metropo-litan City decided to procure electric buses from China, a Chinese team will be visiting Kathmandu shortly for a feasibility study, a senior metropolitan official said. Five Palestinians killed 'after attacking Israelis' Five Palestinians, three of them teenagers, have been shot dead after trying to attack Israeli security forces, Israeli officials say. Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years. Industries in Pokhara resuming operations Factories in the Pokhara Industrial Corridor have started to resume full operations. Palpa store owner remanded into custody for black marketeering LP gas A store owner in Palpa, allegedly involved in black marketing of cooking gas, has been remanded into custody for court proceedings on Sunday. PM Oli visits Pashupatinath Area Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has visited Pashupatinath Temple on Monday, the day especially dedicated to Lord Shiva. He also paid homage to Pashupatinath on the occasion. TU seeks donor support Lacking funds to begin reconstruction of its earthquake-damaged infrastructure, the Tribhuvan University on Saturday organised a donor conference to seek aid for rebuilding its offices and colleges as well as bettering the quality of education. We should focus on implementing past agreements with India After assuming office in October last year, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is set to leave for his first India visit later this week. Love the article on Gaddaf i Samosa Iyoha Hello from Johannesburg I was amazed to find a website for Africans in Hungary . Looks like you have quite a community there. Here in SA we have some three million Zimbabweans living in exile and not much sign of going home ... but in Hungary??? Hope to meet you on one of my trips to Europe; was in Steirmark Austria near the Hungarian border earlier this month. Every good wish for 2011. Geoff in Jo'burg I'm impressed by ANH work but... Interesting interview... My comment to the interview with his excellency Mr. Adedotun Adenrele Adepoju CDA a.i-- B.Ayo Adams click to read editor's mail We must rise above tribalism & divide & rule of the colonialist who stole & looted our treasure & planted their puppets to lord it over us..they alone can decide on whosoever is performing & the one that is corrupt..but the most corrupt nations are the western countries that plunder the resources of other nations & make them poorer & aid the rulers to steal & keep such ill gotten wealth in their country..yemen,syria etc have killed more than gadhafi but its not A good investment for the west(this is laughable)because oil is not in these countries..when obasanjo annihilated the odi people in rivers state, they looked away because its in their favour & interest..one day!I think from what have been said, the Nigerian embassy here seem to be more concern about its nationals than we are for ourselves. Our complete disregard for the laws of Hungary isn't going to help Nigeria's image or going to promote what the Embassy is trying to showcase. So if the journalists could zoom-in more focus on Nigerians living, working and studying here in Hungary than scrutinizing the embassy and its every move, i think it would be of tremendous help to the embassy serving its nationals better and create more awareness about where we live . Taking the issues of illicit drugs and forged documents as typical examples.. there are so many cases of Nigerians been involved. But i am yet to read of it in e.news. So i think if only you and your journalists could write more about it and follow up on the stories i think it will make our nationals more aware of what to expect. I wouldn't say i am not impressed with your work but you need to be more of a two way street rather than a one way street . Keep up the good work... SylviaHe is an intelligent man. He spoke well on the issues! Thanks to Mr Hakeem Babalola for the interview it contains some expedient information.. 1. Yes. Its important to cast my votes early and avoid the lines on Election Day. 2. Yes. With nearly two weeks of early voting, its a more convenient way to take part. 3. No. Its better to wait until Election Day, in case any last-minute information surfaces. 4. No. Im not planning to vote early or on Election Day. It isnt worth my time. 5. Unsure. It depends on how the campaigns are shaping up. Ill play it by ear. Vote View Results OWN A HOUSE AND PAY MONTHLY WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED: EMPOWERMENT TIME Blog Archive Blog Archive February (1) December (1) November (1) October (2) August (4) July (5) February (3) January (3) October (1) September (6) August (1) June (29) May (57) April (23) March (77) February (69) January (85) December (99) November (19) October (138) September (244) August (327) July (219) June (367) May (169) April (204) March (197) February (189) January (35) December (42) November (30) October (6) March (3) February (1) October (1) I get homesick for a time and place that no longer exists" FDC presidential flag bearer Dr Kiiza Besigye has been detained at Kira road police station. Besigye who was briefly detained at CPS was later driven transferred to Kira road. He was arrested together Kampala woman MP, Nabirah Naggayi Sempala. Besigyes lawyer and city lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has also already arrived at the station. Besigye was blocked at Jinja road traffic lights as he proceeded to Nakasero Market and Arua Park where he had planned to address supporters as he continues with his campaigns in Kampala. Trollfest '09 Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, How I sold out to da Man. Robbie Bell again performs: Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells and Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to Dancing with the Stars, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango. Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and Big Cat Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything). Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge. Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson". In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word jackass was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up. In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates. Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one. Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!! This is definitely a Beaver production. Note: Security provided by INS. By Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. According to several reports the North Koreans successfully put a satellite in to space on Feb. 7. What it means in the short run: - This is the second (in a row) successful test of a three-stage ballistic missile. The "satellite test" is simply a cover for North Korea testing the technology for a missile that can target Alaska, Hawaii, and the West Coast of the U.S. The technology, design, launch, etc. in short, everything is exactly the same for a military missile as it is for a "rocket carrying a satellite." The only difference is the payload, which in the case of a satellite launch would be a bulbous looking object, instead of a warhead, or in the case of most test launches, a dummy warhead (which would look more "triangular"). A satellite launch sends the payload into space as opposed to sending it back down to earth. - This is the second test (in a row) that shows North Korea has mastered the technology for a three-stage missile. While many pundits will say the missile takes a long time to set up (in this case, less than two weeks apparently), and can thus be taken out before it is launched, that would be missing the point. The point here is for North Korea to test their three-stage ballistic missile technology so that it can use this technology in other missiles that would conduct a military mission. - This test launch took less time to set up and was conducted (successfully) more covertly than any other launch in North Korean history. - This launch appears to be of a new, improved (much larger) version of the Taepo Dong. The North Koreans have been collaborating on an 80-ton rocket booster for an improved (larger, with longer range) version of the Taepo Dong for at least the past two years with Iran. The North Koreans have also been expanding the facility in the Northwest part of the country to accommodate a larger missile for the past two years. - If this is in fact the new, improved version of the missile, it now means that North Korea has successfully tested the largest missile with the longest range ever in its inventory. Thus, North Korea continues to take important steps in improving its ballistic missile technology. - Despite knowing that this test would cause outrage in the international community and even with its key ally, China, North Korea went forward with it. This likely means that the Iranians are paying the North Koreans billions of dollars to conduct three-stage ballistic missile technology tests on their behalf. Thus, we can expect more tests like this in the future. We also can expect to see shipments of ballistic missile components to Iran in the near future. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for launching more satellites as Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket carrying what it claimed is an earth observation satellite last week, the North's state media said Monday. The North's leader offered words of encouragement to scientists, technicians and officials who contributed to the successful launch of its satellite, named Kwangmyongsong-4, at a banquet on Saturday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The leader "called for turning out scientific research to hit a higher target with the present great success as a springboard for greater victory and, thus, launching more working satellites," in the future, it said. On Feb. 7, the North sent what it called a satellite into orbit, a move which Seoul and Washington viewed as a covert test of intercontinental ballistic missile technology. The rocket launch came ahead of the birthday of late leader Kim Jong-un, the father of the current leader, which falls on Tuesday. Kim said that the rocket liftoff came even as hostile forces were getting "ever more frantic to suffocate" the North, stressing that the North's push for scientific research should be continued. The celebratory event was joined by First Lady Ri Sol-ju; Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly; and top military official Hwang Pyong-so, the KCNA said. (Yonhap) South Korea's financial entities have strengthened their security postures against possible cyber attacks by North Korea in the wake of heightened inter-Korean tensions, officials said Monday. They are responding to the government's elevation of its cyber alert level and the military information surveillance status after detecting ample signs of security breaches by Pyongyang, which follow a series of provocative actions such as a nuclear test last month and the launch of a long-range rocket last week. After its third underground detonation test in February 2013, North Korea launched multiple large-scale cyber attacks, targeting the websites of South Korean government offices, local banks and media outlets. According to officials here, major banks and insurers have taken steps to tighten their online security to guard against any attempt by the bellicose regime to infiltrate their systems. Woori Bank, the country's third-largest lender, set up an emergency task force in charge of monitoring its online system, and is carrying out security checks more frequently than usual. "We are analyzing the patterns of North Korea's cyber attacks over the past five years to draw up plans on how to counter possible cyber incidents down the road," said a bank official. Shinhan Bank is also operating an emergency response team, assigning more staff to online system management as part of its strengthened monitoring efforts against possible cyber attacks. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. is taking similar moves by conducting safety checks of its system on a frequent basis and launching proactive information-gathering activities on new types of malicious code, according to its officials. "We are keeping close tabs on North Korea's moves regarding possible breaches of cybersecurity to preemptively deal with them so as to minimize any damage to the wealth of our customers," a Samsung official said. (Yonhap) China would have to pay a higher political cost at home if it continues to resist calls to put enough pressure on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program, a newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party warned on Monday. China, North Korea's diplomatic and economic lifeline, has been reluctant to put crippling economic sanctions on the isolated ally, despite the North's fourth nuclear test and launch of a long-range rocket. In an editorial, the state-run Global Times newspaper said China's leadership has been under pressure as "a growing number of Chinese, both elites and the general public, deem North Korea is China's burden and an annoying neighbor instead of an old friend." "Changes in public opinion are altering the external environment of China's policy on North Korea and can be converted into pressure that pushes the Chinese government to ramp up sanctions against Pyongyang," the editorial reads. "The more China's policy in this regard departs from public opinion, the more political cost China has to pay." South Korea and the U.S. are set to begin formal talks this week to deploy an advanced American missile defense system in South Korea to better protect Seoul from Pyongyang's growing threats of its nuclear and missile programs. Reactions by Chinese officials, including Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, to the possible deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea were stronger than their criticism against North Korea's rocket launch. While the Chinese newspaper voiced concerns over North Korea, it issued a warning against the strengthening military alliance between South Korea and the U.S. "Washington wants to pull Seoul to its side and intensify the military pressure on China. China needs to stay alert and flexible and safeguard its bottom line," it said. Analysts say China's leadership is reluctant to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea because a sudden collapse of the regime could spark a refugee crisis at its border and lead to a pro-U.S., democratic Korea on its doorstep. (Yonhap) No Yes, a light case Yes, two or more light cases One serious case Two or more serious bouts Vote View Results After six years, *The Nut Graph* will cease publication from tomorrow onwards, making this column the last one to be published. Editor and co-founder Jacqu... 8 years ago While El Nino's promised storms have yet to pound Southern California, heavy surf created by the weather phenomenon has been slowly, silently punishing beaches, and hitting San Pedro's Cabrillo Beach especially hard. Over the last few weeks, waves have slammed the beach, "turning it into a mostly rocky shoreline," the Daily Breeze reports. "It's a disaster ... It's washing away," said a member of the Cabrillo Beach Boosters. While it's definitely common for beaches to erode during the winter, this year's El Nino has really whipped the surf up, creating waves sometimes as high as 12 feet and causing extra damage to the shoreline, an LA County lifeguard says. He says that across the county, beaches have experienced "25 to 50 percent erosion since last summer." Aside from being visually startling, the decrease in beach space might have harmful repercussions for the area. The landmarked Cabrillo Beach Bathhouse is pretty close to the water and has flooded at least once, in the 1980s, when the combination of big waves and heavy rain rolled through. Some are calling for the installation of a berm to protect the bathhouse until a plan for restoring the beach can be put into action. (It wouldn't be the first time: back in 1991, sand was trucked in from El Segundo to fluff up the beach at Cabrillo.) A rep for Councilmember Joe Buscaino, who represents the area, says that they're talking with the Port of LA and the city's Department of Rec and Parks to try to figure out where they can get some more sand to build a berm and prevent even more erosion. Cabrillo Beach isn't the only LA beach hit hard by erosion: Zuma Beach in Malibu has also been roughed up pretty bad by big El Nino waves this winter. El Nino was supposed to bring a succession of powerful storms to SoCal, but so far has not. Experts are holding strong, saying there's still time for huge storms to show up, but that we need to "be patient." What happened to all the sand at San Pedro's Cabrillo Beach? [DB] Take a Good Look at LA's Record-Breaking February Heatwave [Curbed LA] Paul McClean was already the designer synonymous with glassy, expensive mansions in the wealthiest parts of Los Angeles, but when he signed on recently to help developer Nile Niami create LA's biggest and most expensive house evera 104,000-square-foot, $500-million monster on a hilltop in Bel Airhe might just have unseated architect Richard Landry as the Megamansion King of Los Angeles. The OC Register takes a look at McClean's rise to prominence, from that first Bird Streets mansion, to houses that drew attention from the likes of fashion designer Calvin Klein, to that record-setting Bel Air beast of a home. Let's get to know him: Dublin-born McClean got his start in the OC, but his business started to expand to LA after he designed a house in the Bird Streets above the Sunset Strip. In 2009, the house sold for $10 million, and "That lofty price during the height of the recession generated more business." The Winklevoss Twinsfamous for suing Mark Zuckerbergbought one of McLean's houses, located in the Bird Streets, for $18 million in 2012. Another Bird Streets house sold for $39 million. In 2014, rising Swedish DJ Avicii spent $15.5 million on a McClean-designed estate in the Birds. Last year, a house McClean designed sold to fashion designer Calvin Klein for $25 million. About 15 years in, he says he's designed "50 to 60" houses. Seven of those alone were for Irish real estate investor Paddy McKillen, "who commissioned McClean to design two homes in Laguna Beach, plus five others for himself and family members in Los Angeles." Although he designs the houses, he's technically not an architect: "He's been so busy, he has postponed the last of eight tests he needs to pass to become a licensed U.S. architect." Instead, he's just hired a licensed architect to work on his staff. After first working with Nile Niami in 2009 (on a mansion that sold for $8.25 million), they worked together on half a dozen other projects before Niami tapped McClean to design the Bel Air mansion that's being advertised as a $500-million trophy property. "McClean reacted in disbelief when Niami outlined his plans for the new Bel Air mansion, a palatial spread his team dubbed 'The One.'" For what it's worth, at least one experienced broker thinks the pricetag is pure bananas. "It has as much chance of getting $500 million as $500 billion. It's ridiculous. It's ludicrous, and everybody knows it's ludicrous. It's an ego thing. Every agent knows he's not selling for that number," says an LA broker "who sells luxury homes around the globe." Niami maintains it's actually a really good deal at $500 million. The beastly compound is now "about halfway built." McClean says that it has about 74,000 square feet of living space in the main house (which has a 5,000-square-foot master bedroom, a casino, and a lounge with walls made of jellyfish tanks), and then additional space in a guest house. The house as it's planned also has a water treatment room and a cigar room, but "It keeps changing. We keep trying to find new things," McClean says. Previous reports on the mansion did brag that it had almost every amenity in the world. McClean "never set out to produce what may be Southern California's biggest and ritziest mansion. He merely dreamed as a wee lad in Dublin of designing beautiful homes." He came to California because of its connections to his biggest architectural heroes: Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, and Rudolph Schindler. More than half the houses McClean designs are 8,000 square feet or more, and "About 40 percent are between 4,000 and 8,000 square feet." So expanding his imagination to design a 100,000-square-foot estate was a challenge. "There are very few homes this size," McClean said. "We had to think of it in a different manner than other homes. We looked at hotels. We even looked at palaces because that's what this is, a modern-day palace." On such a big scale, there are lots of extras that are not standard for most of the homes McClean designs. "We have a full security center that comes straight from the Death Star," McClean says, plus a room just for flowers and passageways just for staff use. "The master bedroom alone is like a large home." Designing the world's priciest home: O.C. designer creates a plan for $500 million L.A. 'giga-mansion' [OC Register] Will Megamansion Architect Richard Landry Be the Guy to Spark America's Populist Revolution? [Curbed LA] The New Biggest Mansion in Los Angeles Will Ask $500 Million [Curbed LA] Calvin Klein Drops $25 Million on Bananas Mansion in the Hills [Curbed LA] Here's Swedish DJ Aviici's Insane Bird Streets Mansion [Curbed LA] SPRING GREEN Jim and Mike Ring can only build so many muscle cars a year. In 2015, their shop in this Sauk County village near the Wisconsin River rebuilt three vehicles, a pair of 1965 Ford Mustangs and a 1958 Ford pickup truck. On the docket this year are four vehicles: a 1969 Chevy Camaro, a 1969 Dodge Charger and a 1965 convertible Ford Mustang. The fourth, scheduled to be completed by November, is a 1948 Cadillac for a North Dakota businessman. The project includes cannibalizing two 2016 Cadillac ATS-V sedans for parts to help give the 1948 car a more modern feel and comfort. Our customers want the look and the prestige of an old car but something that works better, that feels more like a car built today, Jim Ring said. The only (original) thing left on some of these cars is the title and the look of an old car. Nothing else is left. But while most of the Ringbrothers builds can cost $500,000 or more, come equipped with 600 horsepower engines and receive international attention, the companys growth is happening one door handle, spoiler and gear shifter at a time. A parts business, that began about 12 years ago with hood hinges for a 1965 Mustang, it has ballooned into a more than $1 million business for the Rings, who design and manufacture parts for other shops, authorized dealers and gearheads building cars in their home garages. Custom car-builds account for about 50 percent of the companys revenue with 10 percent of sales attributed to collision repairs on everyday vehicles. The remaining 40 percent is in the design, manufacture and sale of parts. But that percentage is growing and in the next five to 10 years, carbon fiber hoods and doors, aluminum clutch pedals, window cranks, valve covers and just about any another part needed to build a classic car could account for 75 percent of the companys revenues. Its the cars theyre building and the things that theyre doing and the exposure theyre getting internationally, Lisa Wahl, Ringbrothers sales and operations manager, said, when asked about the growth potential. Every day, were getting orders from all over the world. The Rings, who grew up in nearby Plain and barely graduated from high school, have been building high-powered Mustangs, Camaros and other beefed-up vehicles for more than 20 years. At one time, they begged publications such as Hot Rod and other major automotive magazines to feature their work but now struggle to keep up with the press clippings and Internet sites that feature their work. Two recent builds have also placed in the top 10 at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas, one of the largest custom car events in the world. A 1966 Chevrolet Recoil Chevelle built for an Ohio man was named the General Motors Best in Show in 2014 and featured on a episode of Jay Lenos Garage. In November, at the 2015 SEMA show, a custom 1965 carbon fiber wide-body Fastback Mustang dubbed Espionage was among the top vehicles. The car, with a supercharged 959 horsepower engine, was built for a Russian businessman who wanted a unique ride to drive around the streets of London. The Rings, who are booked for builds through 2018, recently shipped nearly all the parts for a 1965 Mustang similar to the Espionage to a deep-pocketed client in Kuwait. He really loved this car and all the components we built for this car, Jim Ring said. And thats happening more and more, because honestly, we are so busy that I cant even do any more than were doing so at least I can help these people get the right stuff. The growth in the parts business has resulted in expansion to the Ringbrothers campus along Highway 14 and across the street from the Round Barn Lodge. A $500,000, 6,000-square-foot, building was added last fall and is home to a parts warehouse, manufacturing facility and a clean area for the assembly of custom-built cars. The production area includes a CNC machine that cranks out parts from aluminum billet but a second $100,000 CNC machine is scheduled to arrive in a few weeks. That will help the Rings keep up with the demand. Many of the parts designed by the Rings and their engineers were being manufactured by other companies but much of that production is being brought back in-house. The Rings say the move will lower their costs and allow them to better manage inventory. One of the keys to the business is that a single part custom built by the Rings can then be mass produced and sold to average car owners who want to spruce up their ride a couple hundred dollars at a time. Most guys dont realize what it takes even for the most (insignificant) piece, Ring said. It starts out on a napkin, then you CAD draw it ... buy the piece of aluminum, then you machine it. That one piece might be $3,000, but then you can make it for $15. All of the time that goes into it is just mind-boggling. As Ring showed off the shelves of the warehouse, he pointed out a wide range of parts. They included door lock pulls for a 1957 Chevy and vent covers for a 1969 Camaro. There are steering columns for a 1967 Mustang, hood hinge kits for a 1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass and door mechanism kits that fit Chevy and GMC pickup trucks built between 1967 and 1972. But while parts for specific vehicles are many, universal parts that fit a variety of makes and models are seen as a growth area for the Rings. Those parts include rear spoilers, gas caps, turn indicators, aluminum power-steering reservoirs and carbon fiber hood scoops. Aluminum, exterior door handles that cost $350 a pair are among the biggest sellers for the Rings. There are a lot of people who cant afford a custom build but would love to have the look and feel of a Ringbrothers car so the accessories do it, Wahl said. Universal is where its at because then youre not car specific, Jim Ring said. If you create parts that fit several different things, youre opening up a lot bigger market. Ring started his car business in 1991 with his brother, Mike, joining the business in 1994 after Jim built a 5,000-square-foot shop. In 2005, they received their first request for a full custom build, a 1967 Mustang. A 3,500-square-foot addition was built in 2009. The brothers started making their own parts after becoming dissatisfied with the quality of the parts they were buying from other manufacturers. The quality wasnt so great because a lot of that stuff was made overseas so it kind of frustrated us, Jim said. We really wanted to pay attention to what we were making and build good quality parts for these early cars, the Mustangs, the Camaros and the Chevelles. Quality was a huge driver. The parts business has grown 20 percent each year over the past two years with revenue growth for the overall business, now at about $3 million a year, expected to increase by 75 percent by the end of 2017. The company employs 13 people, four of them dedicated to the parts business that later this year may expand its presence in the Australian market. One of the newest hires is Matt Moseman, who grew up on his familys farm 10 miles east of Spring Green. Moseman, 24, graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and for a time worked for Vortex Optics in Middleton, a maker of high-end rifle and spotting scopes and binoculars. He now runs a CNC machine and designs parts for the Rings, whom hes known for years. Its really just two down-to-earth guys and thats what really drew me, Moseman said. Theres really no egos here. Its just guys having fun and enjoying what they do and theres something really to be said about that. For the past few months, the sounds of custom-made electric guitars have occasionally echoed through the hall of the Coulee Region Business Center, also known as the small business incubator, in La Crosse. Thats because a former French photojournalist and current pilot and aerial photographer has started San Graal Guitars LLC, an electric guitar manufacturing business, in the incubator at 1100 Kane St. Bruno Jacquet moved into his space in the incubator at the end of November. Since then, he has been busy setting up his manufacturing operation and making his first components and complete guitars. Since moving into the incubator, Jacquet has made four complete guitars including three of the five models he intends to market to guitar shops (including one or two in the area) and online. And he has designed and made several sets of pickups that can be used on Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars. Jacquet, who is 59, plans to hire two employees who probably will begin working at San Graal Guitars this spring, when he begins his May-through-November job as a photographer and pilot for the La Crosse-based Scenic Concepts aerial photography business. He will make guitars himself part time during those months. Jacquet uses computerized technology to create his guitars unique sound and unique pickups. San Graal means Holy Grail, Jacquet said, adding that his goal is to produce the Holy Grail of custom guitars. Todd Wolfgram, amplifier and electronics technician at Daves Guitar Shop in La Crosse, designed control circuitry that allows San Graal Guitars to produce an expanded range of sounds. He said he wanted the widest range of sounds we could create, Wolfgram said of Jacquet. Wolfgram also serves as a technical adviser to him. The sounds range from almost an acoustic sound to an overdrive sound without using any external pedals or effect on an amplifier, Jacquet said. And its done with no preamp or batteries inside the guitar. Jacquet uses high-quality wood (with varieties such as rosewood, quilted maple, mahogany and ash) to make his guitars. Depending on the guitar, Jacquet said, it can take him 40 to 80 hours to make one if hes working by himself. The first San Graal Guitars will sell for $2,000 to $3,700 each, depending on the model and options. Later probably no sooner than the end of this year Jacquet plans to begin offering a line of lower-priced guitars with parts made in a foreign country, probably India or China. They still would be assembled in La Crosse so that I can control the quality, but would sell for less than $900, he said. Before starting San Graal Guitars in the incubator, Jacquet made and sold guitar bodies, necks and complete guitars under the Jacquet Guitars name. Jacquet had played guitars in bands while growing up in France, and in 2005 he built his first guitar for his son, Jacob. For the next five years, he used the Internet, local resources and working with two local luthiers (a term for someone who makes musical stringed instruments) to learn more of the art of guitar making. Working from home, he began selling unfinished guitar bodies in 2005 on eBay, and since then has sold about 300 guitar bodies. He also began manufacturing guitar necks, and made about 55 complete guitars under the Jacquet Guitars name. These guitars and parts were sold all over the world the U.S., England, France, Italy, Israel, Austria, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Canada, and Ive probably missed some, Jacquet said. Jacquet said he has an extensive woodworking and technical background. He began playing guitar at the age of about 11 or 12. He was a photojournalist covering wars in the early 1980s, including conflicts in Afghanistan and Lebanon. He later became an aerial photographer in France and came to the United States in 1994 to be a pilot in this country. Jacquet moved to La Crosse in 1996 to work for Scenic Concepts. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Trustees of an Iowa community college have reprimanded the school president for plagiarizing a portion of his Martin Luther King Day speech last month. Last week the Kirkwood Community College board approved a motion expressing its disappointment that President Mick Starcevich didn't attribute the source of an anecdote he used. It came from a blog post that had appeared on The New York Times website. The board commended Starcevich for publicly admitting and taking responsibility for the offense eight days later, during a college forum. Board chairwoman Lois Bartelme told the newspaper that the board tried to balance the seriousness of the offense with the successes in Starcevich's long tenure at the college. ___ The Dane County Sheriff's Office says it happened around 2 p.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 18/151 in the Town of Blue Mounds. It says a northbound SUV lost control on the slippery highway. The driver and four passengers ages 18 to 7 were taken to UW Hospital. It says the 9-year-old who died there was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected. His name has not been released. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalias death has turned a second-tier topic into a central facet of the 2016 presidential campaign: Among the new presidents first acts likely will be nominating a justice who will determine the balance of power on the court. Potential court openings havent dominated debates thus far in the campaign, and voters have not often raised it, aside from a suggestion to Hillary Clinton that, if elected, she would appoint Barack Obama. But Scalias death changes all that, vaulting into prominence a choice that will determine the countrys course on voting rights, abortion, immigration, campaign finance, the environment and other issues. The battle lines were drawn within minutes after Scalias death was announced, with Obama saying he would nominate a successor and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who controls the schedule, saying that the Senate should not take up an appointment in the 11 months remaining in the presidents term. Republican presidential candidates immediately backed McConnell. Democrats objected, arguing that selecting a justice is Obamas job and deciding in prompt fashion is the Senates. The political ramifications are many: Democrats and Republicans will have an issue around which to rally voters who might have considered the court a secondary issue, if that. Obama will have a chance to appoint a nominee who could influence political races up and down the ticket by appealing to a specific demographic group, even if the nominee is not ultimately confirmed. Candidates in hot Senate races will be pressed to say how they would vote on Obamas pick, since those elections will determine who controls the nomination process next year. And voters will witness a contemporaneous example of the Washington gridlock that already has inflamed anger on both sides in this presidential campaign. Maybe a Supreme Court vacancy will remind people that presidential elections are not circuses they really are important, said Charlie Cook, a nonpartisan political analyst. The stakes just went up, and now everyone knows it. More often than not in presidential campaigns, hypothetical court appointments have had limited impact on voters decisions. In 1984, Democrats tried to turn the court into a campaign issue, hoping to block President Ronald Reagan from re-election. Voters ignored them, and two years after the Reagan landslide, he picked Scalia for the court. But voters now are far more partisan than they were 30 years ago, and the issue is no longer abstract. McConnells delay tactic represents a huge bet that a Republican will win the White House. But if the issue maintains its prominence through Election Day, Democrats would seem to benefit, as they almost always do when high-profile issues lead to increased turnout. If nothing else, the winning Democratic candidate will now have an issue around which to unify the party no small thing given the current vitriol between supporters of Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Democratic candidates trying to take back the Senate majority also would benefit from higher turnout, and the ability to hammer Republican incumbents over the Senates inaction. Those Republicans will be caught in the middle between their leadership and voters with a fresh reason to be irritated with Washington. Republican seats hang in the balance in several key states, including New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Democrats stand to benefit because so much of what the court does directly affects Democratic voter groups that are growing in size: its judgment on gay marriage opened opportunities for gay Americans; its verdicts on abortion rights are a central issue for Democratic women; and many of the partys other constituencies, including African-Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans, have mobilized around voting-rights issues that the court has ruled on in recent years. Republican positions on many of those issues have reflected the views of the partys base among conservative white Americans, who are a smaller percentage of the electorate every four years. Obamas announcement that he would put forth a nomination in due time, and that he expected the Senate to do its job by taking it up promptly, will put a public face on the impasse and frame Republicans as the cause. For the presidential campaigns on both parties, the open question is whether the Supreme Court vacancy will mean a reopening of the debate over which candidate is the most electable. Among Democrats, Clinton has argued that she is most ready and most electable. But voters entranced by Sanders have paid little heed. On the Republican side, two senators who would be voting on the nomination were it to occur this year Texas Ted Cruz and Floridas Marco Rubio will now have greater standing to argue that their Senate experience is valuable. During Saturday nights presidential debate, Cruz said that Scalias death underscores the stakes of this election. We are one justice away, he said, from reversals of conservative victories on abortion restrictions, the Second Amendment and the religious liberty of millions of Americans. But the same argument about electability surfaced after the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., and the result has been a muddle on the Democratic side and the continued dominance among Republicans of a nonpolitician, Donald Trump. Despite the absence of much discussion of the court in the campaign so far, several of the candidates have given a sense of what they would look for in a nominee. Cruz, for example, who prides himself on his record of arguing cases before the high court, has criticized Chief Justice John G. Roberts for being insufficiently conservative and has questioned the high courts decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Clinton was asked at a Democratic town hall in Derry, N.H., last week what litmus tests she would impose on nominees. Im looking for people who understand how the real world works, who dont have a knee-jerk reaction to support business, to support the idea that, you know, money is speech, that gutted the Voting Rights Act, she said. And then she turned to the issues that, Democrats now hope, may end up building their vote in November: We have to preserve marriage equality. We have to go further to end discrimination against the LGBT community. Weve got to make sure to preserve Roe v. Wade, not let it be nibbled away or repealed. Both Clinton and Sanders have said that one litmus test for them would be overturning the courts decisions on campaign finance that have opened the doors further to big-money dominance of campaigns. Republicans, for their part, have fought against Obamas executive actions, including his plan to prevent the deportation of 5 million people living in the country without proper papers. An appeal on that case has been headed to the court a court now in flux but at the center stage of American politics perhaps as never before. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering a request to fill more than 105 acres of wetlands and to clear about 117 acres of vegetation for the construction of a high-voltage power line between Holmen and the Madison area. Most of the proposed wetland impacts would be temporary as contractors install matting to accommodate heavy machinery during the construction of the Badger-Coulee transmission line, according to a permit application published Friday. At least 273 poles erected to carry the 181-mile line will permanently fill about one acre of wetlands, according to the application. The project will require clearing vegetation from about 117 acres of forested wetland, although more than 91 percent of the route approved by Wisconsin utility regulators follows existing interstate highway and transmission line right-of-way. The proposed route includes two crossings of the Black River and one of the Wisconsin River, in addition to 105 other waterways. It could affect a handful of threatened or endangered species, including the Northern long-eared bat, the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake and the Karner blue butterfly, as well as the Higgins eye and sheepnose mussels. The Corps of Engineers is accepting comments on the application through March 13 from the public as well as federal, state, local and tribal agencies. There is no public hearing scheduled, though people can request one by writing to the Corps. A joint venture of American Transmission Co., Xcel Energy, La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative and two other utilities, the 345-kilovolt line will originate at a new substation on Briggs Road in Holmen that was completed this fall as part of CapX2020, another high-voltage transmission project running across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. According to ATC, the 180-mile line will improve system reliability and provide a pipeline to bring wind energy from western states to eastern population centers. The $580 million estimated price tag will be passed on to ratepayers throughout the Midwest. It will connect to CapX2020, a project connecting western Minnesota and the Dakotas to Rochester and La Crosse. The Wisconsin portion of CapX was completed in September with an approved price tag of $211 million. Construction on Badger-Coulee began Jan. 20 in Dane County and is expected to continue through the end of 2019. From 3 p.m. Wednesday to 3 p.m. Thursday: Police calls LA CROSSE 6:56 p.m., theft, 1900 block of South Ave. 7:31 p.m., theft, 4600 block of Mormon Coulee Road 8:16 p.m., theft, 1100 block of Island St. 1:34 a.m., hit and run, Seventh and Market sts. 2:07 a.m., domestic disturbance, 1100 block of Rose St. 2:38 a.m., domestic disturbance, 1800 block of 20th St. S. 8:42 a.m., hit and run, 1100 block of Rublee St. 9:22 a.m., theft, 300 block of Jay St. 10:48 a.m., theft, 13th and Main sts. 11:07 a.m., hit and run, 2500 block of State Road 11:17 a.m., property damage, 100 block of 19th St. N. 1:36 p.m., domestic disturbance, 1200 block of Fourth St. S. ONALASKA 2:15 p.m., animal bite, 1200 block of Crossing Meadows Drive HOLMEN 8:51 a.m., theft, 700 block of Silver Drive 10:28 a.m., property damage, 400 block of Walnut Drive Fire Calls LA CROSSE 3:03 p.m., accident with injury, 1400 block of Tenth St. S. 3:11 p.m., first responder, 4600 block of Nottingham Ave. 3:44 p.m., vehicle accident, 2400 block of Rose St. 3:45 p.m., first responder, 1800 block of Loomis St. 4:00 p.m., accident with injury, 00 block of Copeland Ave. 4:21 p.m., accident with injury, 3500 block of Park Lane Drive 5:37 p.m., accident with injury, 1200 block of La Crosse St. 6:14 p.m., first responder, 600 block of Monitor St. 6:40 p.m., first responder, 4400 block of Mormon Coulee Road 9:51 p.m., first responder, 200 block of Pearl St. 10:02 p.m., carbon monoxide report, 1900 block of Hyde Ave. 11:12 p.m., first responder, 300 block of 23rd St. S. 11:29 p.m., structure fire or alarm, 400 block of Seventh St. S. 12:30 a.m., first responder, 1200 block of Badger St. 2:28 a.m., first responder, 2900 block of East Ave. S. 3:05 a.m., first responder, 900 block of State St. 9:22 a.m., first responder, 600 block of Rose St. 11:15 a.m., first responder, Campbell Road and State St. 11:45 a.m., accident with injury, 4800 block of Mormon Coulee Road 11:57 a.m., first responder, 400 block of Alexander St. 1:07 p.m., structure fire or alarm, 200 block of Eighth St. N. 2:38 p.m., natural gas odor, 00 block of Copeland Ave. ONALASKA 3:22 p.m., accident with injury, 9500 block of Hwy. 16 4:54 p.m., first responder, 1000 block of Oak Ave. N. 7:48 p.m., accident with injury, 2300 block of Thomas Court 7:49 p.m., carbon monoxide report, 2100 block of East Ave. N. 10:58 a.m., accident with injury, Interstate 90 and Hwy. 16 11:40 a.m., accident with injury, Hwy. 157 and Interstate 90 HOLMEN 5:52 p.m., accident with injury, 900 block of Linden Drive 7:25 p.m., first responder, 2100 block of Bluffview Court 8:53 p.m., first responder, 1900 block of Fauna St. 11:54 a.m., accident with injury, Hwy. 53 and Hwy. T 2:37 a.m., vehicle accident, 7100 block of Hwy. M BANGOR 3:03 p.m., natural gas odor, 1400 block of Labus Drive WEST SALEM 6:33 a.m., first responder, 100 block of Harmony St. N. This 1940s postcard view of the Grandad Bluff shelter house also shows the first flag pole to grace the summit of the bluff. This 65-foot steel pole was erected 75 years ago Feb. 20, 1941, as part of a project funded by cash donations from local businesses, citizens and school children. The pole served for 43 years until 1984, when it was replaced by a new pole, which in turn was replaced in 1988, after being struck by lightning. The flag pole erected in 1988, was damaged by high winds in Nov. 1998 and replaced in 1999 by a 70-foot pole that remains on the bluff today, according to Tribune files. Anyone with more information about this photo or wishing to donate photos of the Coulee Region may contact the La Crosse Public Library Archives at 608-789-7136. Longtime District 21 Supervisor Vicki Burke will face two challengers Amber Hackman and Dan Hanson on the Feb. 16 primary ballot to represent constituents in the town of Onalaska. Hackman, a 34-year-old Spanish teacher for the Minnesota Virtual Academy, and Hanson, a 64-year-old consultant for nonprofit organizations, will challenge retired teacher Burke, 71, who has served on the board since 2000. During her time representing District 21, which includes Brice Prairie, Burkes worked to create a strong job-creating environment, for the county, she said, including voting in favor of the downtown development project last year. I think the decision weve made on Lot C will strengthen La Crosse and be a good thing for the whole county, Burke said. Outside her service on the county board, Burke is also a member of the Brice Prairie Conservation Organization, treasurer of the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission and chairwoman of the La Crosse County Democratic Party. Im very much involved in the community itself and Brice Prairie, and that makes me, I feel, a good representative, Burke said. Hanson last ran for public office in 1973 but is no stranger to serving in the public eye. Hanson has served on Western Technical Colleges board for 12 years, including two years as chairman. I know the people in and out. I know perhaps three quarters of the board already, Hanson said. As a member of Westerns board, he helped administer the colleges $79.8 million referendum, passed in 2012. Were about three quarters of the way done and were under budget, Hanson said. Hanson has also served on the La Crosse County Crime Stoppers and Western Wisconsin Workforce Development boards. Hanson said he didnt enter the race because he believed Burke was doing a bad job but rather because he believed it was time to give Brice Prairie voters a chance to have new representation. I think I can do a better job, and I think its time for new eyes on the county board, Hanson said. I have the background to make sure that somebody keeps a good eye on the county. Hackman previously served a partial term on the Black River Falls City Council in 2014 until a move back to Brice Prairie forced her to give up her seat. Hackman says her high school Spanish teacher, Pat Hoch, inspired her to public service by teaching her the importance of giving back to the community. Its something I can do, Hackman said. I like to read. I like to research. I enjoy learning about those kinds of things. Hackman plans to take a level-headed approach to spending if shes elected. Government in general seems to overspend, and that seems like something I can help with, Hackman said. Hackmans priority if elected would be reducing the countys debt, which she says is much too high after the county board authorized $43 million in borrowing to pay for downtown projects to convert Associated Bank into a new administrative center, add onto the Health and Human Services building and build more office space into the Law Enforcement Center. Its just like a slow killer, Hackman said. Its like a cancer on society, so I think trying to reduce the deficit is our main goal. Burke disagrees that the countys debt level is out of control, saying it was carefully planned out by county officials and board members. I think we have taken a very long-range plan in the debt and securing a solid financial base for the county, Burke said. Burke pointed to the countys AA1 credit rating as evidence that the county is in good shape, adding that only five of Wisconsins 72 counties have higher ratings than La Crosse and only six have lower property taxes per capita. I think those things speak to our handling of the finances of the county, Burke said. Hanson, however, believes the county can do better, especially when it comes to preparing for changes in state funding to programs. They have no room to borrow anymore without affecting their bond rating, and that would directly affect you and me, Hanson said. The following editorial was published in Sundays Wisconsin State Journal: Even lame ducks have been known to fly. Teddy Roosevelt made the Grand Canyon a national monument in his final year as president. Ronald Reagan steered a historic reduction of nuclear weapons through the U.S. Senate while communism was collapsing. Bill Clinton oversaw a record budget surplus. Expectations are understandably low for the final year of Barack Obamas second term. A highly partisan presidential election will only encourage further gridlock in Washington. Yet with help from House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, some big things can still get done. Obama, of course, is a Democrat, while Ryan is a Republican. The two were rivals in 2012, when Ryan ran as the GOPs vice presidential nominee. But big differences on policy and politics shouldnt stop progress for America. Where agreement does exist, legislation should move forward, with both leaders benefiting from accomplishment. Ryan has little interest in enhancing Obamas legacy. But approving popular measures with bipartisan support will improve the GOPs chances of holding swing seats and majority control in the House this fall. Obama highlighted several promising goals for the coming year during a recent White House meeting with Republican leaders, followed by a private lunch with Ryan. Four of Obamas priorities can and must be achieved, with the Democratic president staying open to GOP suggestions for cooperation: 1. Approve the free trade agreement with a dozen Pacific Rim countries. This wont be easy because several Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are stoking economic fears for electoral advantage. But free markets are the most effective way to lift prosperity in America and abroad. The Trans-Pacific Partnership will let the United States guide the rules for global trade, rather than China. That will mean more protection and opportunity for innovators, labor and the environment with stronger economic growth. 2. Commit more resources to fighting cancer. The president called for a moonshot effort to cure cancer in his State of the Union address. The goal deserves more resources for research, including promising studies at UW-Madison. If new dollars cant be found, then existing federal spending should be reprioritized. 3. Confront heroin addiction. Bipartisan support for stopping this scourge is strong, as evidenced by several smart laws the Wisconsin Legislature has adopted in recent years. This includes stricter monitoring of pain medications, better data to improve deterrents and wider availability of a drug that counteracts overdoses. 4. Overhaul the criminal justice system. Ryan seems especially interested in this goal as a way to reduce poverty. He and the president have expressed support for flexibility on sentencing nonviolent drug offenders, and doing a better job of reintegrating inmates back into society, including federal help in finding work. Obama has less than a year remaining in the White House. But thats enough time to get these four goals done. The bulging confines of the DeForest School District will get some much needed relief. Voters in the northern Dane County district on Tuesday approved a $41 million spending plan to improve and expand multiple buildings. School officials said the improvements, that include increasing elementary capacity by 350 students, were needed as the 3,600-student district has continued to grow. Another 2,000 homes could be built in the district in the next 10 years. "This means our community has a strong belief in what we do as public educators," said Superintendent Sue Borden. "There's an understanding of where we are in the district and the growth were experiencing." The project will spend $18.6 million to rebuild Eagle Point Elementary School at its existing location, improve bus and motor vehicle traffic before and after school and demolish the existing school. At Windsor Elementary, $17.2 million will be spent for major additions and remodeling and to demolish the oldest section of the school once the improvements are completed. Those two projects are scheduled for completion by the spring of 2017. The remaining $5.2 million will improve security and traffic at Yahara Elementary School and improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics space by remodeling and adding on to the middle school and remodeling the high school. Those projects should be finished by this fall, Borden said. DeForest was one of 57 school districts in Wisconsin with referendum questions on Tuesday's ballot. Other measures approved include an $8.35 question in Verona for land purchases and $2.5 million for a fine arts center in the Adams-Friendship School District. Voters in the Platteville School District approved a $15 million referendum to fund several building projects, including a major addition to Westview Elementary School. School officials stressed a sweet selling point -- the referendum does not raise property taxes. That's because the referendum was planned to coincide with the retirement of debt from a 1996 referendum. Essentially, it's a wash financially for property owners. "We knew it was a zero net increase for residents, and we also knew this was a referendum with a positive outcome for every child," said Superintendent Connie Valenza. "Platteville residents have always been very supportive of education, and this is further proof." Things did not go so well for the Mayville School District. Voters in the Dodge County district rejected both questions on the ballot: $19.3 million to renovate the high school and $3.7 million for a new gym. Superintendent Patricia Antony said opponents of the spending package waged a vigorous grassroots campaign. "There's a very active tea party group here -- one of the most active in the state -- and there is no good tax to them," she said. Several districts asked voters for permission to exceed state imposed spending limits. In Jefferson, voters rejected a plan to spend $2.8 million over the next three years to maintain elementary class size and other programs. In Benton, one of the state's smallest districts, voters approved the fourth three-year operations package since 2006. In each election, the winning margin has increased in the district, located in southwestern Wisconsin. "I think people believe in our schools and value our schools," Superintendent Kyle Luedtke said. "Its a partnership." In Wisconsin Heights, a district that straddles the Dane/Iowa county line, voters approved spending an additional $3.25 million over the next two years to fund operations. It's the fourth referendum approved by voters since 2009 and closes the gap on what would have been a $1.6 million deficit. Only 22 percent of the district's funding comes from the state. "The work ahead of us is to demonstrate the value and deliver on this opportunity," said Superintendent Mark Elworthy. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida picked up another top GOP endorsement Friday as Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, announced she will serve as his presidential campaign co-chairwoman. Vukmir, the Senate's assistant majority leader who was a top supporter of Gov. Scott Walker's short-lived presidential campaign, said in an interview that Rubio told her Wisconsin will be a key state on the way to the 2016 GOP nomination, which is the campaign is ramping up its efforts here. Two weeks ago Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, announced he would be Rubio's co-chairman. Another 18 GOP representatives and Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, had also announced they will back Rubio. Wisconsin's primary is April 5, which is late in the cycle, so its relevance will depend on whether the early nominating contests clarify a still robust Republican field. In national polls, Rubio lags behind frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson, but in the latest Marquette Law School Poll he received the most combined first and second choice support among Republican respondents. Vukmir said when she attended a College Republicans event earlier this year attendees expressed the most support for Rubio. Also, as a daughter of Greek immigrants, she said she connects with Rubio, whose parents were Cuban immigrants. "He's always resonated with me from that perspective," Vukmir said. "This country needs to have a greater emphasis that this is a place of opportunity." Gov. Scott Walker on Monday issued an executive order barring state agencies from coming up with a plan to comply with President Barack Obama's new rules for cutting greenhouse gasses. Walker's order comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last week issued a stay of the implementation of the new Environmental Protection Agency's rules pending the outcome of legal challenges to the new plan. Obama's power plan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants in the United States by about one-third within 15 years. It relies heavily on wind and solar energy, among other renewable resources, to accomplish the goal. Wisconsin joined a number of states last year in suing the Obama administration over what Attorney General Brad Schimel called "a radical plan for reducing carbon emissions." In 2014, a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C., 12 coal-dependent states sued over the proposed restrictions, including Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming. Wisconsin will join this lawsuit. In his order that lasts until the court's stay is lifted, Walker called the rules "burdensome." "Clearly, this rule exceeds the Presidents authority and would place an undue burden on the Wisconsin ratepayers and manufacturers," Walker said in a statement. "The stay granted last week by the Supreme Court validates our concerns about this rule. The Executive Order we issued today protects our taxpayers from an unnecessary cost of up to $13 billion as we continue to act in the best interests of Wisconsin citizens." A copy of Governor Walkers Executive Order is attached. Protesters agitating for a better climate on University of Wisconsin campuses for students of color have repeatedly asked to address the Board of Regents, but say they havent received a straight answer on why they have not been put on the agenda. They have never given a valid reason, Lamonte Moore said in an email last week. Moore is an organizer with United Council of UW Students, a statewide advocacy group. He said the issues pushed by United Council, affecting students of color and other groups underreprested on UW campuses, are routinely given short shrift by university officials and some student groups. Students mounted protests at Board of Regents meetings in December and February. Their reading of demands and shouts of Power! from the audience area two weeks ago at a Union South meeting prompted board president Regina Millner to gavel a brief recess while protesters were led out by university police. Millner directed a question about why the regents dont give the students a spot on their agenda to spokesperson Alex Hummel. Hummel, in turn, referred to remarks by system president Ray Cross at the Feb. 5 meeting. In a report on his Jan. 21 meeting with students from United Council, Cross passed along concerns about hardships and injustices some rooted in the larger society that impacted their lives and learning. He then urged chancellors and regents to make the time and space for students of color to share their experiences. We are working on a plan to expand the conversation to campuses throughout the UW System, Cross said. We want to engage more students, including students of color and elected student leaders directly on their campuses. Moore first contacted regent Gerald Whitburn, chair of the education committee, about getting on a board meeting agenda in November, shortly after 600 students and allies at UW-Madison marched in solidarity with students at University of Missouri who ousted two top administrators over their mishandling of race issues. UW-Madison student Kenneth Cole, organizer of that November BlackOut march, has been working with United Council students on subsequent protests. Refused a chance to publicly bring their issues to regents in December, Moore contacted the regents office about getting on the February agenda weeks beforehand. Again, the group was not scheduled. Moore says Cross emphasis on working with elected student government leaders reflects an effort by UW System Administration to push United Council from the table since the group was defunded by the state Legislature in 2013. Legislators removed a mandatory $3 student fee to United Council, a statewide student advocacy group, from law in the 2013-2014 budget bill. The action, which has left the group scrambling for funding, was supported by some former student leaders who criticized the groups liberal slant on issues. The United Council was established in 1960 to lobby the Legislature for students on issues like financial aid, tuition and student recruitment and retention. Its focus in recent years expanded to concerns of underrepresented, LGBT and students of color. United Council organizers have been snubbed by campus student government leaders, Moore said. For example, only four campuses responded to his efforts to get feedback on race issues late last year, he said. A lot of the issues that we have been bringing to the forefront with the BlackOut Movement such as students of color experience, student of color/diversity organizations being defunded, and violation of student rights have been continually silenced, Moore said. Students on the UW-Madison campus may soon get the change to register their support or nonsupport for advocacy on such issues. A committee of the student government group, Associated Students of Madison, on Thursday recommended that a referendum question offered by BlackOut activists be allowed on the March student government elections ballot. The question asks students, Do you support the use of ASM resources to grow certain grassroots student movements approved by Madison students?" The referendum needs to win approval of another committee before it can appear on the ballot, ASM president Madison Laning said Friday. And even if the referendum is approved by students, it does not indicate specifically support for funding of BlackOut activities or efforts to improve the campus climate for students of color, Laning stressed. Any student organization could seek financial support for its movement through an established procedure, she said. Still, the support to put the question on the ballot in a rare referendum is significant, Laning said. Q: How long do I have before I need to update my address on my drivers license after moving? A: When a person moves to a new address within Minnesota, the law requires them to update their drivers license within 30 days. If a person moves to Minnesota from another state, they must update their drivers license within 60 days. The same also applies to those changing their name on a drivers license. Note: Students attending college are exempt and can legally use their parents address. To change your address on your license, you must visit a Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) location in person. DVS officials will use your existing license, ID or other photograph file to verify your identity. If DVS doesnt have a photo on file, or you have changed your name, you will need to provide additional identification. This includes the following: One primary document (Example: Certified birth certificate, valid passport) One secondary document (Example: An additional primary document or U.S. social security card) Certified marriage certificates, certified divorce decrees or other certified court orders for name changes. Proof of residence. The fee for an updated or replacement Minnesota license is $15.75. For a list of other documents and information, go to https://dps.mn.gov, click divisions and click on driver and vehicle services. If you have any questions concerning traffic related laws or issues in Minnesota, send them to Sgt. Troy Christianson of the Minnesota State Patrol, 2900 48th Street NW, Rochester, MN 55901-5848, or reach him at Troy.Christianson@state.mn.us. Most people find it hard to believe that a rural community with a population of only 979 could host something more international than a lutefisk supper. But Houston (or should we say Hooston?) certainly does, and it does it with pride (and the help of the entire town.) The International Festival of Owls started in 2003 simply as a hatch-day party for Alice the Great Horned Owl, who worked at the Houston Nature Center. There were some other live owls invited, some kids activities and it was called the Festival of Owls. Three-hundred people showed up. Not bad for a little town. Within a few years, owl-crazy people started flying to Houston in early March from Alabama, California and other warm places that people go to in winter from Minnesota, not vice versa. After some initial head scratching, festival organizers realized there was no other event like it in North America. In 2006, the festival added a World Owl Hall of Fame to present awards to humans and owls who were working diligently to make the world a better place for owls. And guess what? The winners usually come to Houston to receive their awards in person and speak at the festival. Little Houston has played host to the top names in owlology from Nepal, Taiwan, South Africa, Kenya, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, England, Norway, Finland, Canada and the U.S. This year, hall of famers coming to the International Festival of Owls, scheduled for this weekend, include Pertti Saurola from Finland, who has been climbing trees, putting up nest boxes, and studying owls in depth for 50 years (and he still climbs trees, although now he has to resort to using some climbing equipment.) Joining him will be Ronald van Harxen and Pascal Stroeken from The Netherlands, co-founders of the Dutch Little Owl Working Group. Some of you may be familiar with Canadian Jim Duncans long-term work with Great Gray Owls and the citizen science nocturnal owl surveys hes coordinated for 25 years. Although Duncan is already in the hall of fame, his former Long-eared Owl ambassador Nemo is joining him this year. And last but not least, Jim Warren, Executive Director of the Carolina Raptor Center, will be receiving an award on behalf of Dudley, a Great Horned Owl who lived to a ripe old age working as a foster parent and educator. So there are a few foreign dignitaries. Is that all the international there is? Nope. There is also an international owl coloring contest. The hundreds of entries each year flood in from around the globe, with 16 countries represented thus far for the 2016 festival. The artwork is used to decorate all the storefronts in Houston during the festival, helping to create an owl-immersion experience. International photographers arent left out, either. Theres also an international owl photography contest that attracts entries from a variety of countries. Youll only see the top 10, selected by professional wildlife photographers, however. These are printed and everyone who goes to the festival gets to cast their vote to determine the winners. The rest of the festival involves anything and everything you can imagine having to do with owls, and then some. Think owl-themed food (owl face pancake breakfast at the Lutheran church, owl-themed bake sale, owl coffees), owl nest box building, owl pellet dissection, all kinds of owl crafts, a kids owl-calling contest, bus trips to call in wild owls at night, a bus trip during the day, raffle, banquet, story time, medallion hunt, face painting, owl merchandise of all kinds, and more. Its all owl. The live owl programs are always the highlight of the festival, with Saturdays attendance normally topping more than 500 people at each live owl program. (Be sure to come on Friday or Sunday if you want to avoid the biggest crowds.) The Illinois Raptor Center will be bringing its feathered staff and will alternate two different programs throughout the festival, using different birds in each of the two different programs. Species youll see include Snowy, Barn (flying over the crowd), Short-eared, Great Horned, Barred and Eastern Screech-Owls. If you mosey over to the owl center, youll also meet the centers own Eurasian Eagle Owl and Great Horned Owls who work there on a regular basis. Most festival attendees are unable to resist the huge variety of owl items for sale in the gift shop (and of course all proceeds benefit the owl center, so you can indulge yourself for a good cause. Heck, the whole festival benefits the owl center, so feel free to indulge in everything.) For those who need a breath of fresh air, the Parade of Owls art tour will wind you through the streets of Houston and down into the natural playground at the Houston Nature Center as you discover the 10 public owl sculptures by four different artists. The owl bug is contagious, as you know if youve been bitten. Houstons festival has served as the impetus for an owl festival held annually in Nepal as well as one in Italy usually held every two years. Lets admit it: not everyone wants to come to Minnesota in March. The International Owl Center, which opened one year ago in conjunction with the Festival of Owls, is functionally an outgrowth of the festival. Now people can come year-round and learn about owls and what they can do to help them at the only owl education center in the United States, located in Houston. You can find more information and register online for the festival at www.festivalofowls.com or by calling 507-896-OWLS (6957). Lyla Mae Benjamin, 92, of Tomah passed away Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, at Mayo Health Systems Sparta. She was born Aug. 25, 1923, to Edward and Erma (Martin) Bernhardt in Wilton. She was a member of the Tomah Senior High School Graduating Class of 1940. She was united to James Earl Church on Dec. 1, 1945. He preceded her in death. On Dec. 29, 1963, Lyla was united in marriage to William D. Benjamin. He preceded her in death on June 25, 2014. After high school Lyla moved to Madison, and attended Beautician School. She then worked as a beautician in Chicago, and later at Camp McCoy. She was a waitress for the Tee Pee Supper Club and the Carlton Restaurant. She was a Certified Nursing Assistant at the Department of Veterans Affairs Tomah, until her retirement in 1985. She worked for La Crosse Nursing after her retirement. Lyla had an active AVON business for many years. Lyla and Bill enjoyed to travel across the U.S., and took trips to California, Boston, Florida, Reno, Branson, and South Dakota, to name a few. She was a faithful and devoted member of St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church and served on the St. Paul Missions and Ladies Aid. She had a generous heart and volunteered for TOPS, the ABC Store, in the gift shop at the Tomah Memorial Hospital, and at Harmony Manor. In her younger years she enjoyed dancing, and in her later years she enjoyed playing euchre and taking nightly walks with her friends or family. Lylas greatest love was her family and family gatherings. At the beginning of each month Lyla would plan birthday and anniversary cards for her family and friends including, a $2 bill or a special note or verse, she treated it as her personal ministry. She was an excellent cook and baker, and will always be remembered for her pumpkin pies. Whoever would stop by to visit Lyla, a person or pets, she would have to serve them something to eat. Lyla was a devoted wife, a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother, who had a generous and kind personality; she was always willing to help anyone in need. She had a steadfast faith in her Lord and Savior and will be remembered as a candle in the darkness. She is survived by four daughters, Margaret Ann (Peggy) Benjamin of Madison, Sherry Tolle (Gary) of Warrens, Ruth Blow of Tomah, Connie Steele (Kim) of Roseville, Calif.; three sons, David Benjamin (Junko) of Madison, William R. Benjamin (Little Bill) and Tom Church (Vicki) all of Tomah. She is further survived by 16 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; a sister-in-law, Alta Bernhardt of Tomah; nieces, nephews; other relatives; and friends. In addition to her parents, she is further preceded in death by her husband, Bill; a sister, Joyce Howie; two brothers, Donald and Howard Bernhardt. A funeral service will be 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, at St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church, 525 Superior Ave., Tomah. Pastor William R. King will officiate. Burial will be in Oak Grove Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited to call from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, at Sonnenburg Family Funeral Home, 801 E. Monowau Street, Tomah, and from 10 a.m. until the time of the service Monday at the church. Online condolences may be given at www.sonnenburgfamilyfh.com. Vernon County Sheriffs Department officers dealt with a drug overdose last weekend that may be connected to the potent new form of heroin that has led to multiple overdoses in La Crosse County. Vernon County Sheriff John Spears said rural residents, who may not have to deal with issues of drug abuse on a daily basis, would be shocked to learn of the number of heroin investigations that are ongoing in Vernon County. We have overdoses and we have investigations that are tied to some of the main players in the heroin investigations in La Crosse County, Spears said, Tuesday. While we cant say for certain that we are dealing with the effects of the new batch of heroin that has caused the problems in La Crosse County, its just a matter of time before we see it. Spears said laws regarding medical privacy often hinder police investigations into overdoses that involve street drugs. Such is the case with the overdose last weekend local authorities are still waiting on information to determine the exact cause of the overdose. Viroqua police Chief Daron Jefson echoed Spears concerns. As with a lot of things that pop up in La Crosse first, its just a a matter of time before we see it, Jefson said Monday. La Crosse County concerns La Crosse county health officials and police are addressing drug problems arising from drug overdoses attributed to a new batch of heroin on the streets. La Crosse area police investigators reported an uptick in heroin use during the past 12 to 18 months. Our health partners see trends before we do because of patients seeking treatment, investigative Capt. Shawn Kudron said. Dr. Chris Eberlein of Gundersen Health System said heroin may be cut with the synthetic opiate Fentanyl, which dealers use to increase the quantity of drugs they are dealing. The Fentanyl increases the illegal drugs potency by 50 times. Eberlein, an emergency room doctor at Gundersen, blames the super-potent heroin for several recent non-fatal overdose cases and said it may have killed 29-year-old Mellisa Dobrunz, whose body was found Sunday on the South Side of La Crosse. Police said she likely died of an illegal drug overdose. Police did not comment on Dobrunzs death or that of 27-year-old Shannon Richardson, whose body was found last week on the north side of La Crosse, because of the pending investigations. We had been doing fairly well with overdoses until the recent spate of cases, said Eberlein, who also serves as medical director for Tri-State Ambulance. One of the overdose cases, in which the patient nearly died, told medical personnel that it was among the strongest heroin he used, Eberlein said. The extra-strong heroin makes a very dangerous habit even more dangerous, said Eberlein, adding that the best method of avoiding the problem is not to use illicit drugs. The ages of overdose patients range from young teens to people in their 60s, Eberlein said. He underscored the importance of the antidote Narcan in saving lives, saying, often we see them when they are soaking wet after someone tried to wake up a victim in the shower. That doesnt work, Eberlein said. Spears said that Narcan has been effective at helping prevent drug overdose deaths so much so that drug users often carry it with them. Dangerous path Law enforcement often focuses on the drug dealer, not the end user. Thats where the numbers start to get higher than people would think, Spears said. There are people out there who may use heroin only recreationally and with certain people. A lot of these users never get on our radar. They also are the users who may be more susceptible to overdosing on a bad batch of heroin. Spears said families may be dealing with drug abuse, which is expensive in many ways. There are peripheral crimes involved with drug abuse. Drug treatment is costly and not always effective. Many of the people who could benefit the most from drug education do not participate in free informational sessions provided by schools regarding protecting adults and children from drug abuse. We deal with all aspects of this and it is scary, Spears said. It can tear a whole family apart. We know people who are involved. It puts a tremendous strain on everyone around them. Heroin is used intravenously and is smoked. Heroin use is increasing regularly at a rate of 45 percent according to the American Public Health Association. The drug were concerned about the most when it comes to its growth in use is heroin, Spears said. Heroin use and abuse is on the increase in all counties in Wisconsin. Monday, February 15, 2016 As a companion piece to the Delaware Planet Fitness case I discussed a few days ago, here's another case about negligence liability releases and gyms, this one involving a Gold's Gym in Pennsylvania: Hinkal v. Pardoe, No. 165 MDA 2014 (behind paywall). In this case, the plaintiff was a member of Gold's Gym who used the personal trainer services offered by the gym. She was injured while working with weights under the direction of her Gold's Gym personal trainer. (Here, unlike in the Planet Fitness case, we get some details about her injury. It was a serious neck injury and required two separate surgeries, and it was alleged the injury resulted from there being too much weight on the equipment she was instructed to use and that she was told to continue using even after she complained of injury, because the personal trainer, it was alleged, didn't recognize the seriousness of the injury.) As in the Planet Fitness case, the Gold's Gym membership agreement that the plaintiff signed contained a release from liability for negligence. The court went through an analysis of whether this release was enforceable, noting that in Pennsylvania such releases are enforceable where they do not contravene public policy, they entirely concern two private individuals and their private affairs, and both parties bargain freely and the contract is not one of adhesion. Here, the court found that this contract was between a private individual and an entity concerning the individual's private affairs, and it was not against public policy because it did not concern any matter of public interest, which the court defined as "employer-employee relationship, public service, public utilities, common carrier, and hospitals." In addition, the court found that the plaintiff was not required to enter into a membership with Gold's Gym, so the plaintiff could not complain that she did not have bargaining power, because her decision to sign the membership agreement was purely voluntary and she could have walked away. Interestingly, the plaintiff didn't really seem to argue against any of those conclusions on the part of the court. What the plaintiff seemed to argue was that the release wasn't valid because she never read it and Gold's Gym never mentioned it to her or explained to her that she was exposing herself to the risk of being unable to sue based on negligence. She asserted that she signed the contract without reading it (as, let's face it, we almost all do) and without any in-depth discussion of it with Gold's Gym and that therefore the clause couldn't be enforced against her. The court, however, was unsympathetic. It pointed out that she had a duty to read the contract before she signed it and that her signature not only indicated that she knew she should have read it but also appeared directly after a line directing her to make sure she read both sides of the agreement. The release was written in ambiguous and straightforward language and she would have understood it had she read it, according to the court. There was, however, a dissent in this case, and while that dissent wasn't on the plaintiff's side with regard to not reading the contract, it did believe that allowing a release of liability for negligence in this situation was against public policy. As far as the dissent was concerned, gyms "implicate health and safety concerns," and so should therefore be a matter of public concern in the same way hospitals are. In fact, there was precedent that Pennsylvania had refused to allow a waiver of negligence liability in a case involving health treatments at a spa under the reasoning that it involved health and safety, and the dissent thought this case should fall under the same umbrella. Because Gold's Gym purported to provide for the physical health of its members, the dissent thought the public had an interest in ensuring that the services offered by Gold's Gym were qualified and held to a duty of care. The dissent also pointed out that other states would reach this same public policy conclusion, pointing specifically to New York as a state that would have held this release invalid, which we just saw in the trampoline park case. So there you have it: Another gym case, and another opinion supporting the release of liability for negligence, but this one with a dissent raising the question that such releases might be against public policy. https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2016/02/negligence-liability-releases-pennsylvania-golds-gym-edition.html . . . . Emperors and kings Are but obeyed in their several provinces, Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds; But his domain that exceeds in this Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man. A sound magician is a mighty god. * * * Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel bough, That sometimes grew within this learned man. Faustus is gone; regard his hellish fall, Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise Only to wonder at unlawful things, Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits To practise more than heavenly power permits. Christopher Marlowe, "Dr. Faustus" (before 1593) A history of Presidents' Day The third Monday of February is known as Presidents Day in the United States. For almost 100 years, America officially honored the birthday of its first president, George Washington, on February 22. That is his birthday. That date was a national holiday until 1968. That year, the U.S. Congress passed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The measure meant that some public holidays would always fall on a Monday. Today, the U.S. honors its first president on the third Monday in February, and not on Washingtons actual birthday. The holiday is also now commonly called Presidents Day. Many say it also honors Abraham Lincolns birthday. The nations 16th president was born on February 12. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act gives workers a three-day weekend. It also gives shops and marketers a chance to have special Presidents Day sales. The U.S. federal government, however, still recognizes the holiday as Washingtons Birthday. Presidential Facts and 'Firsts' The year 2016 is a big year in America. The presidential elections take place this November. As the country focuses on electing a new president, let us take a look at some presidential facts and firsts. Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State, is running to become the first woman president of the country. If elected, she would also be the first First Lady to become president in history. Her husband, Bill Clinton, was Americas 42nd president. Not to be outdone, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to become the first Jewish president of the U.S. If elected, Sanders would also be the first self-declared socialist to become president in a strongly capitalist country. This year, Jeb Bush is trying to become the third member of his family to win the presidency. His father, George Herbert Walker Bush, was the 41st president and his brother, George W. Bush, was the 43rd. But the Bushes were not the first father-son presidents. That title belongs to the Adams family. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, was the first son of a president to become president. John Adams, his father, was the nations first vice-president. He went on to become Americas second president. And Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president, followed his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, to the White House. In an election year when voters are unhappy with the unequal distribution of wealth, businessman Donald Trump is looking to become the first billionaire to win the White House. That would make him the richest president ever. Some experts say that John F. Kennedy, the 35th president, currently holds the title of richest person to serve as president. Kennedy was also the youngest person to be elected president, as well as the youngest president to die in office. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. If Donald Trump does win the Republican nomination, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, will not be able to become the first foreign-born president. Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate, was born in Canada to a U.S. citizen. The U.S. Constitution requires that presidents be natural born citizens. But, the meaning of natural-born citizen is not exactly clear. People read the rule in different ways. The first natural-born president of the U.S. was not George Washington or John Adams. It was Martin Van Buren, the eighth president. He was born in 1782, six years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. All seven presidents before Van Buren and William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, were not natural-born citizens. They were born before 1776, when the American states were still colonies. William Henry Harrison himself does have one presidential first. He was the first president to die in office. Harrison was president for only 32 days, the shortest time of any president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president, served the longest time of any president. He held office for 4,422 days. After Roosevelts death, the 22nd amendment was passed. It limited a person to two four-year terms as president. That law prevents Barack Obama, the 44th president, from running for another term. Obama, of course, will always be known as the first black president of the United States. Hai Do reported on this story VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story uniform adj. not varying or changing cousin - n. a child of your uncle or aunt distribution - n. the way that something is divided or spread out assassinated. - v. killed usually for political reasons We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. Talking birds, goats butting heads, and a giant tortoise that hangs out with chickens are all part of a living classroom. High-school students at the Career Center in Arlington, Virginia are learning firsthand, and hands-on, how to care for animals. They are at the animal science laboratory, learning about, and taking care of, about 50 species of animals. Holding a happy rabbit in her arms, Elleny Alemu says it is so cute. She says soon she will be getting one of her own. Miguel Zambrano doesnt feel the same way about Snickers. That is a temperamental brown miniature horse. Zambrano is feeding her hay, hoping she will let him brush her. She gets mad if you just sometimes dont even pay attention to her. I do not want a horse. Its going to be way too much work. Zambrano is one of 70 students taking the yearlong animal science program. Students learn in class and hands-on with the animals. It gives them both class credit and a chance to learn what it is like to work with animals. Sydney Miller takes a rabbit for a walk, to give it exercise. She takes the animal on a leash, like a dog. They walk past cages of rats, salamanders and even a hedgehog. I wanted to learn more about different kinds of animals and get like a hands-on experience. Something not so fun she has to do is clean the rabbits cage. Rabbits are very dirty, actually, she explains. I have to clean his litter box and bedding every day. One day, Miller hopes to be a veterinary technician. Many high schools have animal science programs. But animal-science teacher Cindy Schall says this program is different because they have a large number of different kinds of animals. They include exotic sugar gliders -- small nocturnal marsupials with big eyes that live in Australia and Indonesia. The students take turns every two weeks taking care of a different animal. Everything from cats to the less than human-friendly scorpions. Schall explains that the students learn hand taming. They have to hold them for at least 10 minutes. Yes, that includes snakes and even tarantulas a kind of sometimes deadly spider. Schall says she helps the student, by first holding the animal herself. Part of the care includes weighing the animals and checking them for any health problems. Sarah Maller looks into the eyes of a rodent, a degu. "I have to see if there are any little eyelashes or anything in the way, or scratches. Kimberly Rodriquez learned something new when she fed a turtle a small dead mouse in a tank with fish. She says she was surprised to find out the turtle eats meat, and he gets along with the fish. Lab assistant Rebecca Brumbaugh helps the students. She says that, like people, animals have minds of their own. They have their good days and their bad days. Megan Johnson wants to be a vet. She pet a chinchilla as she held it. "The different animals have different personalities and they connect with different humans. Ruben Stann weighs a golden-colored albino horned frog. He says he feels an emotional bond with animals. "You have to kind of make a little connection. For me, it's very relaxing." And connecting to the natural world is not always easy for the students living in the mostly urban Virginia towns just outside Washington, D.C. Im Anne Ball. Deborah Block reported on this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Do you have animals? What kind? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story tortoise n. a turtle that lives on the land firsthand adj. coming directly from seeing or experiencing something rabbit n. a small animal that usually lived in holes in the ground, with soft fur and long ears temperamental adj. likely to become upset or angry miniature adj. very small leash n. long thin piece of rope or chain used to hold an animal salamander -n. a tailed amphibian, which have a soft, moist, scaleless skin hedgehog -n. a mammal with spiny hairs on the back and sides veterinary technician n. a person who helps a veterinarian, an animal doctor exotic adj. very different, strange or unusual nocturnal adj. something active at night marsupial n. a kind of animal, like a kangaroo, that carries its babies in a pocket of skin on the mothers stomach scorpion n. a small animal related to spiders, with two front claws and a curved tail with poison in the end hand taming n. training animals to obey people chinchilla - n. a small South American animal that has soft gray fur albino adj. lacking pigment, white urban adj. relating to cities and people who live in them At a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in California, President Barack Obama is looking to solidify Americas leadership role in the Asia Pacific region. All 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are meeting with the U.S. at the historic Rancho Mirage retreat in Sunnylands. Behind the beautiful backdrop, the leaders will take on difficult issues important to the region. Obama hopes to continue his Asian pivot to place more American political and military power in the fast-growing area. The U.S. and China are competing for influence among Asian nations. The talks will include closer relationships on people, trade and commerce, cooperation against violent extremism, and establishing rules and principles to guide nations on different issues. South China Sea dispute A main discussion point will be territorial disputes in the South China Sea and Chinas increasing activities in the region. White House officials said the U.S. will send a very clear message to ASEAN leaders that it opposes Chinas militarization of the disputed territories, and any increase in tensions there. The U.S. is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes. But it will continue to press for freedom of navigation. The U.S. interest in the South China Sea is the free flow of commerce, said Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security advisor. The administration says ASEAN is the heart of the Asia Pacific, and the best way to build a structure for peaceful and legal pursuit of interests. The more that we can establish clear rules of the road for how issues are managed, for how disputes are resolved, the more stable and prosperous this region is going to stay going forward, said Rhodes. North Koreas recent rocket testing is also expected to be discussed at the meeting. The U.S. and ASEAN leaders will discuss how China can help pressure Pyongyang to end its provocative actions. The U.S. and China disagree on North Korea, but the U.S. sees common interest in keeping the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free. "We are exceptionally candid in confronting the many differences and tensions that exist between us, said Daniel Kritenbrink, National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs. He said our relationship with China is stable and complex." Daniel R. Russel is Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He said the ASEAN summit is not about China, but about creating an ASEAN committed to rules and fairness. It allows major countries like the United States and other powers to engage constructively as partners, Russell said. Obama will speak about human rights and democracy at the meeting. But administration officials said ASEAN countries have very different political models and human rights and democracy records. American officials say that countries that show positive movement towards democracy, like Myanmar, will get U.S. support. Mary Alice Salinas reported on this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. What agreements do you want to see come from the ASEAN summit? Let us know. Write a comment in the section below or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story solidify - v. make something stronger retreat - n. a place that is quiet and private pivot - n. the action of turning around pursuit n. the act of following or chasing someone or something prosperous adj. having success usually by making a lot of money provocative adj. causing discussion, thought, argument, etc. candid adj. honest stable adj. in a good state or condition that is not easily changed or likely to change commit v. to say that someone will definitely do something to make someone obligated to do something From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report. Willpower is a mysterious force that helps us to control our actions and achieve our goals. We also call willpower determination, drive and self-control. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines willpower this way: Willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals. short-term in order to meet long-term goals. Willpower allows us to ignore unwanted thoughts, feelings or desires. Willpower is a limited resource that you can use up. That last part is important. The theory that our willpower is limited is where psychology experts are divided. For many years in the world of psychology, the widely accepted theory has been that our willpower our self-control is limited. If we are not careful, we can use up our willpower before a task is completed or before a goal is reached. Psychologists who believe that willpower is a limited resource say using up our willpower is the main reason some of us fail to achieve our goals. However, in recent years, other psychologists have challenged this theory. A new theory says that the amount of our available willpower is affected by our attitudes about willpower. But first, lets go back to the limited supply theory. The Chocolate-and-Radish Experiment An experiment back in the 1990s formed the popular theory in psychology that your willpower is limited. The experiment is known as the Chocolate-and-Radish Experiment. Researchers put 67 study subjects in a room that smelled of freshly baked chocolate cookies. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Instead of warm, rich chocolate cookies, researchers gave one group radishes to eat cold, bitter radishes. The other group of subjects ate the chocolate cookies. Then researchers asked both groups to solve a difficult puzzle. The group that ate the radishes gave up on the puzzle after 9 minutes. The group that ate chocolate cookies worked twice as long on figuring out the puzzle. The researchers concluded that the group that resisted the chocolate cookies had used up their willpower. Willpower is like a muscle that can lose strength and tire. Other experiments that support this theory have found that willpower is like a hungry child in need of a sugar fix. When we use our willpower, it robs our brain of energy, or glucose. So, feeding the brain a little sugar when doing a difficult task helps you to fill up your willpower resource. The new theory on willpower But a new theory contradicts the idea that willpower is limited and can be charged up with sugar. Carol Dweck is a professor of psychology at Stanford University. In 2013 she and her team asked 87 college students in Germany, Switzerland and the United States to describe their beliefs on willpower. Some said they believed willpower is a limited resource. Others said they believed willpower was plentiful and even increases the more it is used. Dweck then asked the study subjects to complete a difficult mental task. This first task was followed by a second that required the subject to resist an impulse and use their willpower. Dweck described the results in an interview with LiveScience. She said those who believed their willpower was limited grew tired after the first task. They performed poorly on the second task. But, if they received a sugary drink before the second task, they performed better. Dweck also said that people who believed willpower is limited were always looking for signs that they were running out of willpower, or they thought they needed the sugar fix. However, the study subjects who believed willpower was unlimited did not tire during the second task and they did not need a sugar boost. Dweck said the results suggest that willpower is not in limited supply. Instead, it is peoples beliefs about willpower that shape their behavior. She and her team published their findings in August of 2013 in the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Tips how to use your willpower limited or not But what do all these studies mean to you? Regardless of what you believe, the American Psychological Association website has advice for people trying to achieve their goals. Avoid Temptations . If you believe that your willpower is limited, remove outside temptations . This way you will not waste your willpower. As the expression goes, out of sight, out of mind. . If you believe that your willpower is limited, remove outside . This way you will not waste your willpower. As the expression goes, out of sight, out of mind. Make a Plan . For example, if you have to study over the weekend, set aside a certain period of time to get your work done. But also make time for fun, too. . For example, if you have to study over the weekend, set aside a certain period of time to get your work done. But also make time for fun, too. Think about your motivations . Are your goals your own or someone elses? Studies and common sense suggest that people who pursue goals that are their own are more motivated to reach them. . Are your goals your own or someone elses? Studies and common sense suggest that people who pursue goals that are their own are more motivated to reach them. Focus on one goal at a time. Many push their willpower too much. They try to quit smoking, save money, lose weight and get a better job all at the same time. This may use up their willpower, if they believe in the limited supply theory. Instead, focus on one goal at a time. Many push their willpower too much. They try to quit smoking, save money, lose weight and get a better job all at the same time. This may use up their willpower, if they believe in the limited supply theory. Instead, on one goal at a time. Think you can! There is evidence to support that if you believe you can do it, you can. A little positive thinking goes a long way! Im Anna Matteo. What do you think? Is willpower a limited resource? Or do we have an unlimited supply to draw from? Let us know in the Comments section. Anna Matteo wrote this for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ___________________________________________________________ Words in This Story determination n. a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult resist v. to fight against (something) : to try to stop or prevent (something) temptation n. a strong urge or desire to have or do something contradict v. to say the opposite of (something that someone else has said) : to deny the truth of (something) impulse n. a sudden strong desire to do something focus n. a main purpose or interest motivation n. a force or influence that causes someone to do something There was good news last week in the Legislature for those of us who believe we need to get creative about ways to attain the state of Oregon The memory of a beloved pet inspires one couple's fight against injustice. LEXINGTON, Neb. Believe it or not, one can grow up to become a Hotdogger or someone who drives around the country driving the famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Two Hotdoggers, Molle Klein and Kelly Burger will visit Lexington on Friday, Feb. 19 from 1 to 5 p.m. outside Plum Creek Market Place. The event is free and open to the public. Klein is known as Mustard Molle, while Burger is known as Ketchup Kelly. While making a stop in Chicago this week, Klein talked via telephone to the Lexington Clipper-Herald about traveling across the country a vehicle often known as the big wiener. The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile gets half a million requests for visits each year. We travel across the country, we are on the central team (based in the Midwest), we operate one of six Wienermobiles, Klein said. Klein said her year as a hotdogger, someone who travels and drivers the Wienermobile, started June of 2015 in Portland,Ore. She and Burger have traveled to 28 states so far, Klein said. Both Hotdoggers would be available to give out whistles and tours of the inside of the Wienermobile, which features ketchup and mustard themed seats, during their visit to Lexington, Klein said. Next week the Wienermobile will be in Nebraska the whole week, making stops in Lexington,Lincoln,Hastings and at Valentine on Valentines Day, she said. No matter what part of the country they visited or the age of the residents who catch a glimpse of the Wienermobile, the reactions were always similar, Klein said. Kids look at it in shock, it looks like a huge hotdog, they say. The older crowd gets memories of when they saw it before. Klein said her favorite reaction of someone looking and recognizing the Wienermobile was when an older lady in her 70s had her jaw drop and who was jumping up and down. Our purpose is to make people smile. The best part of the job is interacting with people. You cant be mad when you see the Weinermobile. "Political ideas that have dominated the public mind for decades cannot be refuted through rational arguments, they must run their course in life and cannot collapse otherwise than in great catastrophe." A Regular Commentary on Strategic Affairs from a Leading Commentator and Analyst 2021 book: Future War and the Defence of Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stand With Ukraine! [Pitbull] Travis Barker! Joe Perry! Robin Thicke! And Yours Truly This is history in the making Now say it with me... Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Oooh! Say it with me... Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Oooh! Ain't street no more Built a school I thank my mom I thank Miami [Robin] I'm a bad man In an evil world Maybe I'm a bad man, in a woman's world Come on over Give me what I deserve (give it to me baby) Are you ready for love? Come and get it, girl Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Oooh! Come and get it, girl Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Oooh! I'm cool with it Made my own playbook [Robin] I'm a bad man In an evil world And you're my type of Maybe I'm a bad man, in a woman's world Come on over Give me what I deserve (give it to me baby) Are you ready for love? Come and get it, girl Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Oooh! Come and get it, girl Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Ooh-ah, ooh-ah Oooh! [Guitar Solo by Joe Perry] I'm a bad man Baby I'm a bad man But don't get it confused [Robin] I'm a bad man In an evil world And you're my type of New Delhi: Reduce the tax rate but let exemptions stay: that is India Incs appeal to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the upcoming Budget. Apex business chambers, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), have made a fervent appeal to the government to lower headline tax rate from the current 30% while also pleading for myriad tax exemptions to stay. In the last Budget, Jaitley had promised a phased reduction in corporate tax rate from 30% to 25% over a four year period but had inserted the caveat that this will be accompanied by a phase out of various tax exemptions. Already, analysts have predicted that the two actions together could mean that the effective rate of taxation on companies would only go up at a 30% headline tax rate, the effective tax companies now pay is at an average of just 23.4% due to various exemptions. India Inc is of course justified in seeking lower taxation but it is the timing of this plea which invites comment. Just earlier this month, the Prime Minister had mocked the very terminology which defines concessions to companies as incentives while terming concessions to the poor and farmers as subsidies. This could be indicative of the kind of Budget Jaitley will present in a fortnight from now. Farmers have been struggling with two back-to-back years of droughts and the government would be justified in considering their woes on priority this time around. Besides, amid all round fears of the FM struggling to stick to his own fiscal consolidation target, would he find avenues to lower headline corporate taxation while also offering myriad exemptions? In 2013-14, corporate tax revenue was 21% of the governments total receipts by no means a small contribution to the revenue kitty. CII has recommended in its pre-Budget memorandum that the corporate tax rate should be brought down to 23% (all inclusive) and that a roadmap for phasing out exemptions should be given to stakeholders. It is not clear if this recommendation is about headline or effective rate of corporate tax. Ficci meanwhile has said 25% rate should include education cess and surcharges while pointing out that exemptions phase out should not be on a lock stock barrel basis across sectors. There are various sectors where the turnaround time for the companies to reach a break even and start earning profits takes longer than some other industries.. There would be certain entities which would have recently commenced commercial operations, and now will have to tackle phasing out much faster than anticipated and planned. Thus, the phase out of deductions and exemptions should be applicable in a selective manner and beyond that which would consider the sensitivity of various industries. At a manufacturing seminar at FICCI last week, Planning Commission member Bibek Debroy had indicated that a reduction in corporate exemptions was coming this year. Taxation rates and cost of compliance cannot be lowered as long as there is a barrage of exemptions. The FM has said phasing out corporate exemptions is linked to lowering in peak (corporate tax) rate from 30% to 25%. But this (phasing out exemptions) will mean an effective increase in effective corporate taxes, he said. But Professor at the Parish School of Economics, Thomas Piketty, has warned the government against cutting corporate tax rate to 25% saying this could be dangerous for India in the long-run. He said history showed that there is constant pressure on governments to gradually bring down corporate tax rates, which potentially increases the income gap between large corporate houses on one hand and small, medium enterprises on other hand. Some reports have suggested that Jaitley may pare tax breaks on sectors like research & development on projects in underdeveloped regions while also inserting a sun set clause for tax breaks in sector such as SEZs. As of now, profits from SEZ exports are exempt from corporate tax, while only the minimum alternate tax (MAT) is levied on book profit and this too is recoverable in the future. Infrastructure projects also similarly only pay MAT while R&D companies enjoy tax holidays. Girish Vanvari, head of tax at KPMG says pulling the plug on corporate tax exemptions is not a great idea now when the global economy is slowing down. Industry needs to be supported. Focus should instead be on widening the tax base. Another taxation expert points out that widening the taxation base could include taxing farm incomes, enhanced efforts to unearth black money and in resolving tax disputes. According to estimates, as much as Rs 6 lakh crore is stuck in tax disputes. Anyway, the Finance Ministers key concern on corporate tax rate may have to do more with perception rather than actually taxing companies more. Remember, corporate tax rates are much lower than the 30% rate in India in most countries of Europe and Asia. But then, there are minimal exemptions in these countries, effectively simplifying the tax regime. The attempt of the government is to reduce headline tax rates, curb exemptions in a bid to align India more with global economic realities. Rajesh H Gandhi, Partner Tax at Deloitte Haskins & Sells says he expects a token reduction of 1% in the headline rate in this Budget with the FM also bringing in some clarity on the plan to phase out exemptions from April 2017. This way, companies will be better prepared to deal with exemptions withdrawal. Will Jaitley manage to please all the subsidy needing poor as well as India Inc by not trimming subsidies and also leaving corporate exemptions intact? Sandeep Chaufla, Partner at PwC, says the expectation is that there would be a decrease in headline tax rate by 1% without disturbing existing exemptions and deductions. If that happens, the suit boot ki sarkar jibe of Rahul Gandhi may lose much of its sting since the government would have moved on from an either or debate over subsidies versus corporate exemptions to look after both segments of the economy. New Delhi: As it scurries to garner funds to ensure release of jailed chief Subrata Roy, embattled Sahara group has begun another mammoth exercise of taking back loads of investor documents it had given to the markets regulator Sebi in 128 trucks over three years ago. The move follows Sebi getting Rs 41 crore, from interest earned on money deposited by Sahara for investor refunds, as reimbursement of expenses incurred by the regulator in this high-profile case including towards huge storage costs of these documents that are key to verification of investors. In this long-running case, the Supreme Court had ordered Sahara in August 2012 to deposit with Sebi over Rs 24,000 crore collected from nearly three crore investors through issuance of certain bonds. Sahara was also asked to give Sebi the entire sets of investor documents for verification so that the money can be refunded to genuine investors. Consequently, Sahara had sent 128 trucks, containing more than 31,000 cartons full of documents to Sebi, which had to hire special storage facility for their safekeeping. The regulator later digitised those documents for easier access. The group said Sebi refused to take custody of another batch of documents, estimated at about 25 percent of total investor documents, that were sent by it to the regulator. As per the court orders, Sahara is to pay for the expenses incurred by Sebi towards the storage of documents and other expenditure involved in the investor refund process. Amid mounting costs associated with the storage of the documents, Sahara has now sought taking back the custody as Sebi has digitised the original papers. The regulator has agreed to return the original documents, provided they are kept in "safe custody under double-locking system by Sebi and Sahara", a senior official said, while adding that the Supreme Court has also given its approval for the same. When contacted, a Sahara spokesperson confirmed that the group has begun working on an arrangement for safe keeping of these documents and the costs would be "naturally" much less. "We shall prefer to transport documents ourselves," the spokesperson told PTI in reply to queries on whether Sahara would want Sebi to transport the papers back to it and reimburse them the associated costs. The spokesperson further said Sebi has refunded only Rs 50 crore to the Sahara investors in the last 40 months. "After publishing four times through 144 newspapers in the country, Sebi could get demand of only Rs 52 crore, whereas Sebi has our Rs 12,000 crore (including interest earned)" in the Sebi-Sahara account, the spokesperson added. "So, it is painful that that we have to pay Rs 41 crore," he said on reimbursement of expenses incurred by Sebi. The spokesperson further said, "Sebi has not yet received around 25 percent of the document, for the reason best known to Sebi. After discussing with Sebi, we shall take a decision whether this 25 percent documents shall be kept with rest of the documents or not." Roy and two other senior group executives have been in Tihar Jail for nearly two years, even as it claims to have refunded over 95 percent of the investors directly. Following a plea by Sebi, the Supreme Court earlier this month directed that a sum of Rs 41,44,76,410 be reimbursed to the regulator towards the expenditure incurred by it on various items in connection with the Sahara matter. "The reimbursement shall be out of the interest amount earned by the deposit made in SEBI Sahara Account. The adjustment shall be without prejudice to Sahara's right to seek refund if any in accordance with law," the court said. Before the court, Sahara counsel submitted that since the entire record filed by the group has been digitised, the original documents can be returned to avoid the recurring expenditure which Sebi was incurring towards rent of the storage facility hired by it. Sebi counsel said that the regulator has no objection to the return of the documents provided they are kept in safe custody under double locking system. The court said that once Sebi was satisfied with the storage facility, Sahara was free to transfer the records. Listing the matter for further hearing on March 29, the court said in its order dated February 2 that the "needful shall be done within six weeks". Sebi has generated about 20 crore scanned pages of PDF documents and has created a database out of them. The total volume of this electronic data, including the PDF files, is 70 terabytes. Terabyte, wherein the prefix tera is derived from the Greek word for monster, is a measure of computer storage capacity and one TB is approximately a trillion bytes. Late last year, Sebi had disclosed in its latest annual report that it had refunded over Rs 42 crore to the bondholders of the two Sahara firms while discrepancies were found in nearly 3,000 refund applications. Sebi had said it received 10,456 applications and made refunds with respect to 7,296 applications for an aggregate amount of Rs 42,42,36,472 including interest of Rs 18,04,58,872, as on June 3, 2015. The total amount claimed by the 10,456 bondholders stood at over Rs 50 crore, while the disputed cases involve refund claims to the tune of about Rs 7.65 crore. The total refund had stood at Rs 1.25 crore as on March 31, 2014, including interest of Rs 43.83 lakh, relating to 445 applications. The refunds are being made from the amount deposited by Saharas with the regulator as per the Supreme Court orders. The total amount deposited by Saharas as on 31 March, 2015 stood at Rs 8,790.08 crore, Sebi had said. Sebi had initiated the refund process on 28 May, 2012, while two series of advertisements were released in August 2014 and December 2014 and a format of application for refund was put on the regulator's website. Sebi has constituted a special enforcement cell to specifically handle work relating to the verification process of documents submitted in terms of the directions of the Supreme Court and also to handle matters connected therewith. PTI As political tensions roiled the debate over the dominant themes of sedition and 'India versus Afzal League' set on fire after a high volume protest in JNU last week, the Delhi Police on Monday detained former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani in connection with sedition charges slapped on him for allegedly organising an event at the Press Club of India to mark the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in New Delhi. On the same day, not far away from the Press Club, "BJP sympathizers in the garb of lawyers" beat up journalists, flinging barbs like "desh ke gaddar"(traitors) and snatching mobile phones so those who wanted to record a piece of the action could not. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said Geelani was called for questioning and asked about the anti-India slogans raised by participants at an event where he himself was the speaker. Geelani has been detained and he is being questioned at the Parliament Street police station, a senior police official said following suo motu action based on media clips of the alleged incident. On the same day, a mob of lawyers thrashed reporters before a hearing in a sedition case against JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar in Patiala House court complex in Delhi. Kumar, who was arrested and charged with sedition by the Delhi Police last Friday, was sent to police remand for two more days. Four journalists, including one from IANS, and some JNU students were assaulted. A group of people in the garb of lawyers, but were sympathisers of the BJP, thrashed JNU students who were produced in court today The lawyers indulged in rowdyism. Outside the court, BJP MLA O P Sharma and a group of hooligans attacked students and journalists. The phones of journalists were snatched away. These people were aware that they were journalists This hooliganism unleashed by the BJP they may be shouting patriotic slogans but that is totally to misguide the people. The hooligans were led by a BJP MLA, Congress spokesperson P C Chacko is quoted in The Indian Express. Writing in The Indian Express, Alok Singh recounts how he saw other students being roughed up at Patiala House court before he came under attack. The embedded tweet here published on CNN IBN shows a BJP MLA beating up a person outside Patiala House court and then he later defends his actions in the name of 'patriotism'. BJP MLA caught on cam assaulting a person outside Delhi court, justifies act in the name of patriotism #JNUCrackdownhttps://t.co/FMNmRKogug CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) February 15, 2016 In a blog, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah attacked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "supporting forces inimical to India's interests". The Congress hit back by invoking Mahatma Gandhi and his assassin Nathuram Godse. Shah wondered if the Congress leader had "lent his voice to the separatists". Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said his party did not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse". The arrest of Jawaharlal University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges continued to evoke condemnation from the opposition parties. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna that the central government had "framed" him. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Prakash Karat visited the JNU campus on Monday and said the party did not accept the central government's definition of nationalism. The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday. The controversy began when some JNU students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of executions of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said on Monday that Kanhaiya Kumar had joined the meeting on the campus where anti-national slogans were raised and he also raised slogans. Kanhiaya Kumar, who belongs to the CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF), has denied the charge. At least four of a group of journalists gathered at the Patiala House court on Monday afternoon to cover Kanhaiya Kumar's court production were assaulted by a section of lawyers, witnesses said. IANS reporter Amiya Kumar Kushwaha was slapped inside a courtroom while some other journalists were attacked on the court premises by lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans. Indian Express reporter Alok Singh told IANS that he and a group of journalists were standing outside the courtroom when some lawyers began thrashing JNU students and media persons present there, including Amit Pandey of IBN7 and Manu Shankar of Kairali TV. Journalists also saw O.P. Sharma, one of the three BJP legislators in the Delhi assembly, allegedly chasing and hitting a JNU student outside the court. Earlier, scuffles broke out as lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' ordered JNU students and journalists out of the courtroom as well as the court premises. No reasons were assigned. Some JNU students said that lawyers shouting 'Long Live India, Down with JNU' physically forced them out of the court premises. The violence took place despite a big police presence in the court complex in the heart of the capital. Shah said Rahul Gandhi should apologise "to the nation for his support to forces inimical to India's interests". "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university," Shah said. "But the kind of statements Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves there is no place for national interest in their thinking." Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had succeeded in controlling "anti-national sentiments in Kashmir" but the Congress "is igniting unfortunate anti-national activities at the JNU". Shah said Rahul Gandhi was not able to "differentiate between anti-national and pro-national activity". Surjewala said anyone who had committed a wrong at JNU should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "Those who killed the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Surjewala told reporters. He said the Congress has a stellar record in strengthening the integrity of the country. Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi, who talked to the media at the university gate, said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should tell the nation the definition of nationalism. Editors Guild condemns attack "The Editors Guild of India took serious note of the assault on journalists and strongly condemns this attempt to intimidate the media through the threat of physical violence, and prevent the journalists from doing their job," it said in a statement. First person reports from the reporters representing television news channels and the print media point to a physical assault by lawyers allegedly supporting the BJP who ordered them to leave the court premises where the case was being heard, the statement said. JNU row: Nothing wrong in killing those raising pro-Pak slogans, says BJP MLAhttps://t.co/E9VIweifs1 #JNUCrackdown pic.twitter.com/63GS6NgXGu CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) February 15, 2016 Will take stern disciplinary action against guilty people: Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman,BCI on attack on journalists pic.twitter.com/sSw8kSoU86 ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Protest to courtroom drama,JNU row is growing intense with each passing day Here's what triggered #JNUCrackdown pic.twitter.com/iUBw14kyh2 CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) February 15, 2016 With IANS inputs New Delhi: Faiza Outalha, the divorced wife of American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, has replied to all questions of National Investigation Agency (NIA) relating to her knowledge of the conspiracy behind 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Besides Outalha, the probe agency also recorded the statement of a New York-based cousin of Headley through a questionnaire sent through the US Department of Justice, official sources said. Headley, who is at present undergoing a prison term of 35 years in a Chicago jail for conspiring in terror attacks in Mumbai and Denmark, had started a video parlour in New York in 1997. The legal process of quizzing Outalha concluded only after the NIA sent a fresh request in French to Moroccan authorities for recording her statement pertaining to her knowledge of her estranged husband's association with LeT terror group. French is generally used by the Moroccan government for international diplomatic communications. The Moroccan government had earlier sent Outalha's reply in response to a Letters Rogatory (LR) sent by the NIA in 2012 but it did not cover many of the questions asked by terror probe agency. The NIA had registered a case in 2009 to probe the activities of Headley in India. In the absence of any Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty between India and Morocco, the LR had been issued on the basis of "Assurance of Reciprocity", thereby promising the African country of all assistance in any legal cases in future. Outalha had visited India twice and was used by Headley, a US national whose father was a Pakistani and mother a white American, while carrying out a reconnaissance mission at Hotel Taj Mahal in Mumbai. NIA, which was handed over the task to probe the activities of Headley, has already filed charge sheet against Headley, his Canadian-Pakistani accomplice Tahawuur Rana, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the outfits operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and five others including two army majors believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI. The NIA, however, refused to share information tendered by Outalha. Earlier, Headley's another wife Shazia and business associate Raymond Sanders had turned down a similar request of NIA to answer questions related to his association with the terror group, citing a US privacy law. PTI Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today denied describing Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an encounter in Gujarat, as a daughter of Bihar and threatened to sue the media for putting words into his mouth. Show me any piece of evidence that I described Ishrat Jahan as daughter of Bihar? Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of the Janata Ke Darbar Mein Mukhya Mantri program me. I have been perusing through records and news clippings to ascertain if I ever used this (describing Ishrat Jahan as a daughter of Bihar). After doing necessary ground work, I will initiate legal action against the media, electronic as well print, for putting words in my mouth to this effect, he said. I am very guarded in using words and making comments on anything, and will not tolerate this of putting words in my mouth to defame me, the Bihar Chief Minister said. In the wake of David Coleman Headley testifying Ishrat Jahan as a terrorist, the BJP had dug Kumars reported old comment describing Jahan, born in Bihar, as a daughter of Bihar to hit out at him. The BJP leaders have on several occasions used the narration to accuse Kumar of appeasing a particular community as part of vote bank politics. PTI In February last year, the complainant accusing RK Pachauri, former director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of sexual harassment recorded a detailed statement before the magistrate. Economic Times accessed the statement and reported that Pachauri, during a climate change summit told the complainant that if she ever got a boyfriend, he (Pachauri) would castrate him. He said this after seeing her speak to a male colleague. Pachauri also forced a kiss on her, despite protests and also sent her a copy of erotic literature he had written, 'Return to Almora' and insisted that she read it. The second complainant, too, according to the ET report, was asked by Pachauri to read the novel. The second complainant told the magistrate that she would be handing over more incriminating evidence to the police. On 3 September, 2013, the first complainant had received an SMS, allegedly from Pachauri. The SMS had read "From now onwards I shall call you LIFE: Lovely Inspiration of Excessive Fondness," reported an Economic Times article. This is one of the many lecherous messages, emails and inappropriate advances recorded in the 500-page chargesheet that has been compiled against Pachauri. NDTV reported that the chargesheet will also include statements of 25 key witnesses. Scroll.in also reported that the Delhi police said that Pachauri was guilty of "outraging the modesty of a woman", in addition to sexually harassing her, stalking and trying to intimidate the complainant. The chargesheet also states that Pachauri had misused his powers as the Director General of TERI and that there was "enough evidence to prosecute" Pachauri. According to the ET report, Pachauri had made 34 calls to the complainant from his mobile phone between February 2014 and March 2015, the complainant called him 26 times. In addition to this, the chargesheet also lists 6000 SMSes, Whatsapp messages exchanged between Pachauri and the complainant between September 2013 and February 2015. Pachauri has denied the allegations, claiming that his email ids, mobile phone and WhatsApp messages have been hacked. But the police, however, will not wait for a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report the report will be filed in supplementary chargesheet when its received. We were students, too. Nothing extraordinary or magical about it. These JNU kids are not some new, improved product. We also were anti-establishment and happily loathed the system. We also protested and had rallies and sang songs from Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and had huge posters of Che Guevera on the walls of our rooms and batted for Fidel Castro. We knew what it was to be blowin in the wind and we believed fervently a change would come. We read Eldridge Cleavers Soul on Ice, it was our almanac, and from Berkeley to Woodstock to the fight against corruption in Bihar, we also swayed in solidarity. We thought the government was the pits and was there only to ruin our happiness and be the boot on the neck. But never the country. There was a difference, always a difference. We marched against Enoch Powell and his anti-coloureds rant in Britain. We screamed ourselves hoarse over apartheid in South Africa. At the height of our adolescent rage we backed the Naxalites in West Bengal and found it also romantic to have candle light vigils. We had our share of sit ins and walk outs and waving of banners. And we came back home with Jimi Hendrix in our hearts. It was the age of protest and the flower children. We cried with the world, were less insular, more global, heard the voices in the night Bobby. We heard them but we never slagged off the country. The authorities, the police, the bureaucrats, the venal and the evil politician, but never equated them with the country. We did not become pro-China in 1962 after it won the war against us. We did not have pro-Pakistani rallies in 1965 and 1971, that would have been unthinkable. We had great issues. The feminine mystique. The Vietnam war. Racism. Corruption on the home front. We also were not open to any discussion because we were 18 and our parents were ignorant and teachers tools of the system, which itself was insufferable, and the cops were fuzz and we were victims of this conspiracy called governance and we would fight it. We were invincible. But we were never anti-India and we did not give comfort and succour to those who did not wish us well. So lets not include such conduct as we see in the JNU case as a reflection of the students we are forever and a day exuberance. That is a cop out for rank bad behaviour. Either they are carrying on this anti-national activity of their own volition or they are being used as pawns by leftist groups. Whatever, they have to lie on the bed they have made. Also, let's not downplay the seriousness of their intent. Slogans like destruction of India are raised and it is wished that India is carved up into sixteen pieces (solah tukde), they dont become less serious because they are raised within JNU or that those raising them are students. It was not just a bunch of students in experiment and those who are now saying, kids will be kids, should wake up to the reality and Mommy and Daddy should have more than just a little chat with them. Thats the difference. Dont touch my country and if you dont like being Indian the door is wide open, bug off. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday allowed TERI's executive Vice Chairman RK Pachauri, facing sexual harassment allegations by a former woman colleague, to travel to Sharjah on Tuesday where he will be conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award. The court allowed Pachauri's application to travel abroad after he sought permission to go to Sharjah from 16 to 18 February where he is likely to be conferred with the award. In his application, he stated that he will also have a meeting with Secretary General of Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation for which he needs to travel abroad further from 22 to 26 February. Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan granted permission to Pachauri while noting the submission of the Investigative Officer that investigation in the matter was complete and charge sheet is likelyn to be filed soon. "In these circumstances, the accused is permitted to travel as per his itinerary subject to furnishing of one local surety of Rs 4 lakh to the satisfaction of this court and upon furnishing and undertaking that he will make himself available to the investigating officer as per the requirement," the magistrate said. The court also directed him to file a copy of his travel tickets and intimate the court and the IO after his return. Advocate Ashish Dixit, counsel for Pachauri, submitted that his client has been invited as a guest of honour at the First Annual Water and Energy Congress at Sharjah from 16 February where he is scheduled to deliver lecture and has been selected to be conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Alleem Business Congress. During the pendency of the trial, Pachauri has been allowed at least nine times to travel to various countries, including USA, UK, China, Japan, France, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Kuwait, Somalia and Saudi Arabia. On 13 February last year, an FIR was registered against Pachauri on charges of sexual harassment under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(d) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). PTI Srinagar: Authorities on Monday imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar following a strike call by separatists against the killing of two civilians allegedly in firing by security forces during a violent protest on Sunday. Shops and other business establishments remained closed due to the call given by separatists groups including both factions of Hurriyat Conference. The two youths, including a girl, were killed and several others injured as protesters clashed with police in Pulwama on Sunday. They were protesting against an encounter in Kakapora area of the district in which a militant was killed. Authorities have deployed police and paramilitary personnel in strength in the south Kashmir town to maintain law and order, a police official said on Monday. He said there was no report of any untoward incident in the area since Monday morning. Authorities also imposed restrictions in six police station areas of the city following violent protests on Sunday evening, the official said. He said the police station areas where restrictions have been imposed are Khanyar, Nowhatta, Rainawari, Maharajgunj, Safakadal and Maisuma. PTI By Yashwant Deshmukh On 14 February 2014, he came in hot with a promise to realise all the unfulfilled dreams of his millions of fans and to deliver his subjects from all hardships. This was the second coming for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the pedestal of power in Delhi as its chief minister. And a year on, the flame of his fame glows on unparalleled but what has definitely taken a hit is his idea of a Utopian Delhi. It's the stink that has certainly dented the image of the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. When we say stink, it is the most recent strike by MCD workers that kept the National Capital trash-filled, air polluted with pungent smells and burgeoning garbage heaps spilling on to the streets that made an eyesore. A Firstpost/CVoter exclusive that conducted a survey among 5,526 voters from Delhi Tracker Panel in the last two weeks and then compared it with its Annual Tracker of 8,107 Delhi voters in last 12 months to prepare the First Year Report Card for the Arvind Kejriwal government. The stink has put a blemish on the Kejriwal government as the survey found that "90 percent Delhites agree that the political tussle between the state government and Centre has ruined Delhi." A whopping 77.1 percent of the BJP supporters blamed the AAP government in Delhi for letting the National Capital to be awash in trash, while 29.4 percent of the surveyed AAP supporter base held the Centre responsible and another 49.7 percent of them put the onus on the BJP-run MCD respectively. There is little doubt that not many are impressed by this infectious blame-game between the state government and the Centre that has diverted precious energy and time from actual governance into trivial protocol issues. Although it would be injustice to not give due credit to the Kejriwal-led government including his war on corruption, there is an increasing sense among the public that the blame game has become a potent weapon to hide one's own shortcomings at all levels MCD, state and the Central governments. "While AAP and Congress voters are blaming the Centre, the Congress and BJP voters are blaming the state government. Interesting all three AAP, Congress and BJP voters are upset with MCD. That should send distress signal to the saffron camp," the survey said. There is an increasing belief among the AAP and Congress voters that the Centre is needlessly interfering too much with the day-to-day functioning of the state government. A 79.3 percent of AAP supporters and 56.1 percent of the Congress voters respectively are of the opinion that Centre is trying to trip the Kejriwal-government on every possible opportunity. However, 79.9 percent of the BJP supporters disagree that the Centre is meddling with the affairs of the Delhi government. There is also another side to this blame game saga. In the following table as you can see, 62.7 percent of Congress supporters and 84.6 percent of BJP voters respectively have blamed the AAP government for putting the onus on the Centre for everything. This find, as expected, has been negated by 68.6 percent of the AAP voters. Despite being at loggerheads with the Centre for most part of the year, Kejriwal has managed to keep his personal ratings high throughout the year. A total of 54.7 percent of the respondents have given a thumbs up to Kejriwal, and within it 95.4 percent are AAP supporters. Among the surveyed, 61.3 percent and 78.2 percent of the Congress and BJP respectively did not express happiness with Kejriwal's performance, the Firstpost/CVoter survey said. He also turned out to be the most preferred chief minister as a total of 46.1 percent respondents vouched for him. While 17.2 percent wanted an unknown face as the chief minister, 17 percent of them would love to see BJP leader and Union Minister Harshvardhan as the chief minister. That Kejriwal's charm still works is the testimony to the fact that AAP can still win the polls if they are held today. The Firstpost/CVoter survey found that "at no point of time the popularity of party has gone down among its supporters in Delhi." The party has been constantly maintaining a lead of 15 percent over the BJP in all polls. The BJP seems to have struck at the core vote share of about 33 percent while the Congress recorded a minor improvement but "still not crossing the psychologically important threshold of 20 percent votes", the study said. A total of 59.2 percent of the sample are happy with the performance of the Delhi government, of course, this includes 95.8 percent of the AAP supporters. Among the respondents 49.2 percent of Congress supporters and 71.8 percent of BJP voters did not give a cheer to the Delhi state government. The debate whether Delhi should be given full statehood or not has been one of the most gripping one in the last one year. The survey finds that the Delhi voters are unhappy with the split-governance in the Half-State. An overwhelming majority of more than 80 percent voters support this idea including supporters from Congress, BJP and AAP. The BJP supporters however are not comfortable with the idea of Delhi Police being under the control of the state government, the survey finds. Anger against the Delhi government is at its minimal now. But with a bunch of incompetent MLAs spoiling the broth, Kejriwal should be careful in not allowing this anger snowball into a mammoth case of anti-incumbency. What is anti-national? The most anti-national people are the people who are suppressing the voice of this institution. You must question them at every single step. A youngster expressed himself and the government says he is an anti-national. That was Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi jumping into the sedition debate during his rabble-rousing speech at the JNU campus on Saturday, designed to put him on the right side (or is it the left?) of the faculty and students of JNU protesting against the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. He even linked it to the Rohith Vemula suicide to suggest that the current central government was not just hell-bent on throttling campus dissent but also evil enough to invent a new episode to wipe out the bad memories of an earlier one. Sample this passage from the Indian Express: 'These are the same people who called Rohith (Vemula) anti-national, he said, adding that this was an attempt by right-wing forces to sideline the Vemula issue. They thought that by crushing you, they are destroying Vemula. But they dont know that they are making you stronger, he added. But in his eagerness to jump on to the anti-BJP bandwagon, is Rahul Gandhi walking on egg shells? Is he, by identifying students booked for sloganeering for the destruction of India and its splintering into sixteen parts as the only symbols of JNUs legacy of liberalism and free speech, not standing up for the wrong cause? This premier institution, named after his great grandfather, surely stands for much more than defending the rights of the radical left and secessionist groups or embodying them as the voice of this institution itself. While Rahul has not been careful with what he has said, (rising to the defence of those who chanted 'Bharat ki barbadi tak jung karenge jung karenge) he was extremely choosy about what he left out of his speech. Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt, for example. Rahul either does not know or did not care to mention that Maqbool Bhatt, founder of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and the hijacker of an Indian Airlines plane, was sent to the gallows in Tihar by his grandmother Indira Gandhi. Bhatt was hanged on 11 February, 1984, days after the JKLF kidnapped and killed Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre. Indira Gandhi refused to negotiate with the JKLF, which wanted Bhatts release for Mhatres. She was aware of the consequences that might follow in the valley. But for her, it was nation first. Similarly, in the case of Afzal Guru, it was the Manmohan Singh government, remotely run by Sonia and Rahul, which ordered the hanging of Guru on 9 February, 2013 after due process. So when he says that the freedoms of the students who want to glorify the hanging of Bhatt's and Gurus martyrdom are being smothered by the BJP bullies, where does that leave his own party that cleared the hangings? Does Rahul Gandhi not realize that he is ceding the entire nationalist plank on a platter to the BJP, more prominently to Narendra Modi? The vice president of the Indian National Congress seems to be on a mission to negate the rich social, political and nationalist legacy of a whole lot of freedom fighters who were associated with the party during the freedom movement and also his own family elders, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He endlessly talks about voices of dissent but again two things are important: First, in the name of dissent and freedom of expression, do students (or for that matter any citizen) have the right to indulge in anti-India propaganda to the extent of glorifying persons hanged for acts of terror against the country? In any case, the right to dissent is not absolute. Rahul should know if that were to be the case, Sharad Pawar, Tariq Anwar and PA Sangma would not have been thrown out of Congress for questioning his mothers foreign origins. Or for that matter, President Pranab Mukherjee would not have been dropped from Cabinet and then thrown out of Congress party by Rajiv Gandhi on the mere suspicion that he aspired to become prime minister after Indira Gandhis assassination (as disclosed in his book The Turbulent Years 1980-96). Second, by continuously talking about dissent or manufacturing a dissent within and outside Parliament, he is missing the point of building a consensus on issues of national interest. The problem with Rahul Gandhi is that he has not seen an Indian university campus as a student. He has begun touring them only at the age of 45, that too depending on which campus hits the headlines. He therefore seems enamoured of leftist ideas and ideals, which most Indian youth fancy in their late teens and early 20s and discard in their 30s. CPI leader D Raja was there in JNU because Kanhaiya Kumar belongs to the CPIs student wing AISF. CPM general secretary Sitharam Yechuri was there because two of the accused named by the police belong to the SFI, the student wing of CPM. But what was Rahul Gandhi doing there? Was he trying to impress the leftists or to align his own NSUI with SFI and AISF? Rahul Gandhi, it seems, does not set agenda of his own but lands at places where theres a set agenda. New Delhi: One year on, the Muslim community that voted overwhelmingly for Arvind Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party in the Assembly polls, appears disillusioned. The AAP, they feel, is no different from other parties; it used Muslims as a vote bank and then trashed them like used tissue paper. Several well-known Muslim scholars and social activists, including office-bearers of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI), and alumni and student leaders of these universities had joined Kejriwals party with great expectations. A majority of them have left accusing the AAP of being no different from the Congress and the BJP. According to the 2011 census, Muslim voters accounted for 12 percent of the citys total electorate. A CSDS survey says that 53 percent of them voted for the Congress in the 2013 Assembly polls. There was a Muslim consolidation in the partys favour and four out of the eight seats the party won went to the community. This happened, political analysts say, not because of the communitys affection for the Grand Old Party, but because it was unsure whether the AAP was capable of defeating the BJP. But things changed in the next election when the community threw its entire weight behind the new party. It secured an unprecedented 77 percent votes of the community. Four of the five candidates registered victory with impressive margins. In addition, the AAP won nine of the 10 constituencies where Muslim population stands at around 30 percent. Members of the community say that despite their massive support to the party, they were neither given due representation in the party, nor in the government. Though judging a government on the basis of its performance in one year is premature, it is also a reality that Muslims have not been given their due share in the party as well as the government. Of the 20 AAP spokespersons, I am the only representative from the community. Why is this? Do we have dearth of talent? No, it is nothing but a bias against us, Iliyas Azmi, member of AAPs national executive and political affairs committee, told Firstpost. Among the volunteers who have been rewarded with plum postings, handsome salaries, accommodation and other perks, there is no Muslim. No Muslim AAP MLA has been appointed as parliamentary secretary to the ministers. There is also not a single Muslim face among those appointed as consultants to the chief minister, deputy chief minister and cabinet ministers. Of the total 170 standing counsel and additional standing counsel, only one advocate was appointed as additional standing counsel. Of the total 29,444 posts of teachers in the city, only 262 are reserved for Urdu teachers. Appointments have been made for 70 seats, the remaining 192 (73 percent) reserved seats are still vacant. The party, he alleged, was never serious about the upliftment of minorities. It (AAP) has played with the sentiments of Muslims. It used them to secure their votes and after coming to power, dumped them, said Azmi, one of AAPs founding members. Similar allegations were levelled by noted educationist Firoz Bakht Ahmed, who had joined AAP but later left it accusing it of having no internal democracy. Arvind Kejriwal is a very undependable person. His policy is to use people like a tissue paper and throw them away once their job is done. Muslims supported the AAP to strengthen its mission of honesty. The AAP securing a majority of Muslim-dominated constituencies was a kind of backlash against the Congress and the BJP. But the partys leadership does not trust Muslims and therefore, only two Muslim MLAs were given ministerial berths, he said. He said he found intellectual dishonesty in the party. I supported the party thinking that if it comes to power, it would focus on government schools especially Urdu-medium schools that are in extremely pathetic conditions the facilities of which would be improved to be better than the best of public schools. But nothing happened in the past year, he added. Asked whether it was not premature to jump to a conclusion, he said Morning shows the day. Pervez Ahmad, an old time associate of the party, raised concerns over the governments negligence towards educational backwardness in the community and sanitary condition of Muslim localities. There are only three government schools in Okhla where 9,000 students are enrolled in two shifts. Over 65,000 children of the community are deprived of their basic right to education because of the absence of government schools. I shot off several letters to the Delhi government, but it was of no use. The proposal to increase seats in such schools have not even been implemented so far, forget about setting up new schools, said Ahmad, who runs a software development firm and had played a key role in AAPs social media campaign in favour of Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan. Belal Ahmad, a resident of Seelampur, said health, access to clean water, sanitation and regularisation of unauthorised colonies were common woes of the community. "Kejriwal had promised us that these basic facilities would be available to us soon after his party came to power. But after one year, things stand where they were," he complained. Defending his party, AAPs minority wing president Firoz Ahmad said Muslims should not lose patience. "Our party is committed to fulfilling the promises it has made. People have given us the mandate for five years. Therefore, jumping to conclusions after only one year is not fair," he said. Asked about people's complaints regarding representation, he said, "We do not do appeasement politics like other parties. We believe in social justice for every section of the society." New Delhi: With issues like President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, Pathankot terror terror attack and JNU row set to generate heat in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached out to the Opposition by convening a meeting of leaders of major political parties on Tuesday. The exercise is aimed at seeking cooperation for the smooth functioning of the Budget session in the backdrop of virtual washout of proceedings in the last two sessions due to a host of issues. Significantly, this is the first such meeting convened by the Prime Minister who has come under attack from a section of the Opposition, especially the Congress which has accused him of being hell-bent on confrontation and failing to take other parties into confidence. Government managers have time and again maintained that the key reform GST bill was top of the agenda of the government in the three-month-long session which starts on 23 February. Government sources maintained that it is not an all-party meeting and the bills the government seeks to introduce or pass in the session will not be discussed. "He will seek their cooperation to run the Houses smoothly," a government functionary said. The meeting comes at a time when government wants to push key reform bills like GST and labour laws in the session. The meeting comes close on the heels of the Prime Minister accusing Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi on various occasions of disrupting Parliament to avenge defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress chief had hit back at Modi, saying efforts were made to "suppress her party's voice" whenever it tried to raise issues concerning the poor and common man in the House. Senior ministers have often accused the top Congress leadership of scuttling plans to pass the GST bill in Parliament. The bill is pending in Rajya Sabha. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accused the Modi government of not engaging Congress seriously to break the logjam over GST. PTI Peshawar: A Pakistani university attacked by the Taliban last month re-opened on Monday guarded by hundreds of police, highlighting a pervasive atmosphere of fear after the Islamist group vowed to continue to strike schools throughout the country. Meanwhile, the university has also demanded the government arm its staff as it seeks to boost security after the deadly assault in which 21 people were killed, officials said. "We have demanded weapons from the government and weapons licenses for all teachers and management officials," Bacha Khan university registrar Hamidullah Khan told AFP. Authorities at the university in Charsadda in Pakistan's troubled northwest have also called for police checkpoints both inside and outside the campus and watch towers to protect students, he said. The Bacha Khan attack, which bore chilling similarities to the Peshawar massacre, has spurred the debate on arming teachers in Pakistan once more. University registrar Khan said the campus had been reopened Monday but only to administrative staff, with classes suspended indefinitely as authorities seek to improve security. "Students wanted to resume the classes," he said. "We appreciate their courage, but we now cannot take any risk on security." Students and teachers were being screened by police and security guards at the entrance to the campus Monday, an AFP journalist said. "They (militants) cannot stop us, we will try to face them and continue our studies," a student who gave his name as Abdullah told AFP. University employee Jehangir Khan echoed the call for the government to provide tighter security, noting the university was surrounded by open fields. "Students are afraid," he said. Meawnhile, the university's vice-chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat told AFP, "I am very happy to announce that the university has been re-opened today but amid very strict security." He said the university was re-opened with an objective "to defeat the mindset of militants, which was behind the terrorist attack of January 20". On Friday, the Taliban faction behind both the Peshawar massacre and the Bacha Khan attack posted a video message vowing to target schools throughout the country, calling them "nurseries" for people who challenge Allah's law. The attack shattered the sense of security growing in the troubled region a year after the Peshawar school massacre, in which more than 150 people mainly children were killed. A sense of panic has gripped parents across Pakistan in the wake of the university assault, with rumours of attacks leading to closures of education institutions. Last week, a government-run girls college for women in Rawalpindi evacuated hundreds of students following an exchange of gun-fire between police and car thieves nearby. Last year saw the fewest number of civilian and security forces casualties to militant attacks since 2007 the year the umbrella Pakistani Taliban group was formed though the threat of attacks, particularly on "soft targets" like schools, remains. Pakistan has been fighting a homegrown Islamist insurgency since 2004, when militants displaced by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began a campaign against Pakistani forces in the country's border tribal areas. Overall levels of violence have fallen since a concerted military push against the Taliban's bases that began in 2014. AFP It could not get bigger and better than this for the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), All-India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam (AITUI), an umbrella organisation of Sufi Sunni which claims to represent 80 percent of total Indian Muslim population, believes that Sangh is a nationalist organisation and suggests that it would not mind engaging with them to contain growing penetration of Wahhabi ideology, which is driving ideological force behind terrorists outfit Islamic State, Lashkar or Jaish. They are arguing that national unity and integrity comes first. Talking to Firstpost, Maualana Sahabuddin Razvi, General Secretary of All India Tanzeem Ulema-e-Hind and one of the leading cleric of Barelvi tradition said, "India's unity and integrity is under threat. Wahhabism funded by Saudi Arabi and Qatar is spreading its tentacles in the country. Desh ki salamiyat ko khatra hai. (The nation is at threat) We have to take effective measures to contain that." And to that effect he says they will not have any hesitation in talking to the RSS. "Ye RSS ke log mulk se mohabbat karte hain, mulk ke liye kam karte hain. Aur Wahhabi mulk ke khilaf gatiwidhi karte hain and hamesa bahar ke Saudi (Arabia) ki taraf dekhte hain. Hum RSS ya XYZ koi bhi jo mulk ke saath mohabbat karta hai uske saath kam kar sakte hain, lekin mulk ke gaddre-ewatan (wahhabi followers) ke saath kam nahi kar sakte (The RSS guys love this nation. They work for nation. And Wahhabis keep on working against nation and look outward, to Saudi Arabia for guidance. We can work with RSS or any XYZ who love this nation but never with the traitors of this nation)", Maulana Razvi said. He also appreciates Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his supportive gesture to anti-terror, anti-Wahhabi call given by him. The All India Tanzeem Ulama -e- Islam leaders are willing to engage with PM Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The AITUI had on 8 February held a huge conclave at New Delhi Talkatora indoor stadium and is planning to hold a mega convention cum public meeting Lucknow in next few months where they expect lakhs to participate. Incidentally that meet will happen when heat of electioneering would have started for 2017 January-February UP assembly elections. When asked if this would that not be construed as a supportive move for the BJP and anti-Mulayam Singh Yadav, Maualana Razvi snapped "nobody should be talking like that. We are not for or against any political party. We don't care if it is viewed as anti-Mulayam. Our aim is simple, not to allow Wahhabism spread its root in India. We are not asking our followers to support or oppose any particular political party. It is up to them, it is up to their personal wisdom. Our movement precedes foundation of the BJP, since the time of Ala Hazrat, way back in nineteenth century. In changed times, with emergence of terrorism, ISIS in particular that Hindus, government and people at large have started understanding our point of view". Sufi Sunni or Barelvi's are against Deoband. Their contention is that Darul Uloom, Deoband in Saharanpur largest Islamic Seminary in India or in South Asia is Indian manifestation of Wahhabis. Our argument is all Wahhabis are not terrorists but all terrorists are Wahhabis. "If you look at the list of Talibanis who died, 25 percent are from Deoband Saharanpur and 75 percent are from its branch in Pakistan, Sube Sarhad located on Pakistan-Afganistan border. Despite that those from Deoband have had been held in high esteem by the successive governments, Congress in particular. The media too follows them. Despite the fact that their belief has nothing to do with waqf, they are the once who are packed in all waqf committees and Haj committees", AITUI leader said. "Sufi Kaun, Wahhabi Kaun, ye apko pehchanana hoga, hum hukumat se doo took baat karna chahte hain. (You will have to recognise who is Sufi and who is Wahhabi. Followers of Wahhabi thought process have to be removed from all official positions. We have now come out in the open to talk about that and are willing to have an open debate with Deoband leaders)," Maulana Razvi said. By Lieutenant-General Prakash Katoch The decision of the Barack Obama administration to sell eight F-16 Block-52 aircraft to Pakistan worth $699 million in the face of US lawmakers' opposition to the deal over Islamabad's alleged support for terrorist groups, has been most unfortunate. It belies the hope that the US actually wants to upgrade strategic ties with India beyond the money that US firms can make with India opening up to foreign investment in all sectors including defence. The US sale to Pakistan includes eight F-16 Block-52 aircraft two C and six D and models with the F100-PW-229 increased performance engine; 14 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems; eight AN/APG-68(V)9 radars; and eight ALQ-211(V)9 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suit. This despite Bob Corker, chairman, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee writing to John Kerry, secretary of state objecting to this proposed sale. What is more ludicrous is the pusillanimous US explanation that these F-16s are being given to Pakistan for facilitating operations in all-weather, non-daylight environments, providing a self-defence/area-suppression capability, and enhancing Pakistan's ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. The US very well knows that these F-16s will actually be used for: One, in conflict against India and Afghanistan; Two, supporting Taliban and Al-Qaeda operations into Afghanistan; Three, butchering the Balochis where Pakistan has been launching genocide in the past years. The US has turned a blind eye to even the discovery of mass graves indicating gross human rights violations. The Pakistani facade of aerial and artillery barrages against terrorist strongholds in North Waziristan, after warning the terrorist hierarchy to get away (as reported by Pakistani reporters on ground), is also well-known to the US. Besides, the US also knows that both the Talibans (Afghan and Pakistani) have joined hands, are linked with the ISI, and that the rise of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Afghanistan is through Pakistan. To compound matters, Pakistani regular army personnel are operating covertly inside Afghanistan. One view in the US is that Lockheed Martin, manufacturers of F-16s were able to undertake effective lobbying for this sale, but surely Obama does not need Lockheed money for another election since he cannot stand for presidential elections a third time, unless he is looking at support for a post-election post which is being speculated in the US. This apart, with the US economy dependent on its weapon exports that have gone up exponentially over the past 15 years, its record in world affairs including with respect to terrorism is far from clean; having been behind the rise of Al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban and even the IS. Michael Flynn, former director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency has revealed in an interview to Al Jazeera that Obama knew he was helping (IS) to grow but decided to do it anyway. The fact is that IS was merrily exporting oil through Turkey (with full knowledge of the US) until Russian president Vladimir Putin started bombing the tanker convoys, destroying thousand of tankers with Russian air strikes. John Pilger, in his May 2014 article In Ukraine, the US is Dragging Us Towards War with Russia, wrote, Every year the American historian William Blum publishes his updated summary of the record of US foreign policy which shows that, since 1945, the US has tried to overthrow more than 50 governments, many of them democratically elected; grossly interfered in elections in 30 countries; bombed the civilian populations of 30 countries; used chemical and biological weapons; and attempted to assassinate foreign leaders. He added, In many cases, Britain has been a collaborator. Coming from a US historian, this is significant especially since Blum himself had worked in the US State Department. But coming to Washington's love of Islamabad, while Pakistan's terror export has been supported by the US through financial and military aid no matter how inadvertently besides ignoring blatant nuclear proliferation by Pakistan (not even interrogating AQ Khan), of significance is the recent statement by James R Clapper, Director US National Agency to the US Senate Committee on Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Committee on 9 February, 2016. While multiple issues including terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and proliferation, and counter-terrorism were covered by him, the 30-page statement devotes just four lines to Pakistan, that too clubbed with India which says: Relations between Pakistan and India remain tense despite the resumption of a bilateral dialogue in December. Following a terrorist attack in early January on Pathankot Air Force base in India, which New Delhi blames on a Pakistani-based group, Indias engagement with Pakistan will probably hinge in 2016 on Islamabads willingness to take action against those in Pakistan linked to the attack. What more to signify the bias of the Obama administration and US intelligence towards a country that is acknowledged as the mother of terrorism? India's national security advisor Ajit Doval had disclosed in November last year how Obama dropped billion dollars worth of high-technology weapons into Pakistans lap including systems designed to deliver nuclear warheads: Perhaps the US administration is firm in its belief that Washington continues to control the Pakistani military, little realising how much of that control has passed into Chinese hands already. It is equally significant to note that the Obama administration has been making consistent efforts in perception management through Western think tanks (US, British, Canada) in favour of Pakistan, at the cost of India. One example is the fraudulent propaganda of an India-Pakistan nuclear war to permit US molly-coddling Pakistan despite Islamabad waging proxy wars on India and Afghanistan. The second is to orchestrate an Indian withdrawal from the Saltoro Range knowing Chinese strategic lodgment in Gilgit-Baltistan, Shaksgam Valley and the aggressive stance in Eastern Ladakh that no Pakistani is anywhere on the Siachen glacier and the whole region is Indian Territory under the 1948 UN Resolution on Kashmir. The third is to curtail the Indian role in Afghanistan, to permit Pakistan expand its strategic depth even as it continues to attack Indian assets in that country using the Haqqani network. From the foregoing, it appears that Obama administrations interest in India does not go beyond cooperation on the high seas and as long as its interest in Asia-Pacific is secure and cooperation by India is available in the Indian Ocean Region, it does not mind India losing territory along the Himalayas to the China-Pakistan nexus even if it is at the cost of Indias strategic interests. On the contrary, persistent efforts are on for India to lose out on strategic space in the mountains through think tanks that have also bought over certain Indian stooges. That Afghanistan is being abandoned to its fate with all the military and financial aid being sent to Pakistan, is also reality. In 1971, the Richard Nixon administration moved the USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal to prevent India acting against Pakistani genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), not to mention how the Americans were hopping mad when India still went ahead. Yes, the Obama administration promises sharing defence technology when it actually fructifies remains to be seen, but without addressing the aforementioned core issues, there is little scope for the India-US strategic partnership to attain the desired levels. Ironically, the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Committee mentioned above warns of the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating during 2016; little wonder and it could be much worse with Pakistan unchecked, no matter what the strategic US agenda. While it appears nigh on impossible for the Obama administration to change tack, hopefully the next US President will take a more responsible recourse towards South Asia and India-US strategic cooperation. Two young girls were rushed to hospital with serious burns after a fondue mishap in Sydney's south on Sunday. Emergency services were called to a home in Kiora Road in Yowie Bay just after 6pm following reports that multiple victims had been burnt in a fire. Paramedics were called to Yowie Bay after reports of multiple people being injured in a fire. Credit:Seven News Paramedics arrived to find two girls, aged five and seven-years-old suffering serious burns. The seven-year-old suffered burns to her chest, face, hands and legs, while the five-year-old sustained burns to her chest, arms and legs. An Australian hospital is refusing to return an asylum-seeking baby to a detention center. Hundreds of people are keeping a vigil outside the Brisbane hospital to show their support for the doctors, Baby Asha and her parents. Asha, who is 12 months old, was born to asylum-seeking Nepalese parents after they arrived in Australia. Asha was accidentally scalded with hot water at a detention camp on the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru. Asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are sent to detention camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. They are blocked from being resettled in Australia, even if found to be refugees. Lady Cilento Children's Hospital said in a statement Asha "will only be discharged once a suitable home environment is identified." The hospital's move came as state governments, churches and activists stepped up their efforts to stop the return of some 267 refugees to Nauru following a High Court ruling. Queensland state's Health Minister Cameron Dick has sided with the doctors. He said in a statement Sunday he "strongly support[s] doctors in our hospitals to make the right clinical decisions." Doctors For Refugees co-founder Richard Kidd said in a statement on Facebook Sunday that his organization "commends the Brisbane doctors who put their responsibility to patient care ahead of political pressure. . .Doctors are ethically bound to provide their best care and resist any government attempts to interfere with this." While Australia has defended its immigration policies, human rights groups have been harshly critical of the policies and the conditions of the detention centers. The French news agency, AFP, reports the government-funded Human Rights Commission has found that children who lived in the Nauru center have high levels of mental illness. Honeybees have a huge role in the ecosystems of tropical climates, but illegal logging and unsustainable honey harvesting are hurting their population. Honeybees have co-evolved with flowering plants, and their overall health is an indicator of an ecosystem's well-being. Damian Magista, a specialist on honeybees and the founder of Bee Local, who recently returned from a trip to Cambodia, told VOA Khmer that he is concerned about a decline in the honeybee population. Bees are "losing ground," with the decline of ecological diversity and the continuation of traditional honey hunting practices, which can wipe out entire colonies, he said. Magista, whose company is based in Portland, Oregon, spent about two weeks in Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey provinces trying to learn more about Cambodian honeybees. Cambodia has two species, Apis dorsata and Apis florea, which are found mostly in Southeast Asia. The dorsata species, or giant honeybee, can produce a honeycomb up to three meters long. "We don't see them here in the U.S., obviously," Magista said. "You don't find them in a lot of places. If we lose them, we'll be losing out on a lot." Bees benefits, honeys demand The bees themselves are also beneficial, he explained, because their combs and honey are rich sources of food, and their wax is used in pagodas and places without electricity. But a reduction in bees means a dwindling of a culture of beekeeping and bee products, he added. "Because the bees are dying out, that culture is slowly dying, as well." Despite the decline, Magista said there's still a market for Cambodian honey, but it will require five- to 10-year programs in order to "have a group of folks teach them beekeeping techniques and provide the support and infrastructure." Cambodian honey could be sold for as much as $10 per kilogram, more than similar honey from Thailand or Vietnam, according to a USAID assessment. Some non-governmental organizations are dedicated exclusively to helping with beekeeping, such as the Angkor Center for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Siem Reap, and private-sector promotion projects in Pursat province. A New Zealand-supported project in 2013 exported its first 500 liters of honey to Japan. Egypt's highest appeals court has overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial for a police officer currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for his role in the death of a female protester in early 2015. Egypt's official MENA news agency announced the decision Sunday in the case of Yassin Hatem Salah Eddin, who was convicted in June of premeditated manslaughter in the death of activist Shaimaa el-Sabbagh. The 32-year-old victim was hit with police birdshot while she and others sought to lay memorial wreaths in Cairo's Tahrir Square to honor those killed in 2011 in anti-government protests that led to the ouster of autocrat president Hosni Mubarak. Witnesses later said police ignored pleas to allow an ambulance access to the shooting site, and said police also prevented anyone else from helping the victim. Egyptian media described el-Sabbagh as an advocate for workers' rights and a leading member of the Popular Alliance Party in the city of Alexandria. She was the mother of a young boy. Sunday's MENA news report said the policeman's defense lawyer had argued that circumstances surrounding the demonstrations leading to el-Sabbagh's death triggered confusion among police officers assigned to enforce bans on street demonstrations. Authorities in Zimbabwe are holding a cargo plane registered by a U.S. company after it was found with a bloody corpse on board when it stopped for refueling Sunday in Harare. The company, Western Global Airlines, said the situation was currently under review. Zimbabwean authorities impounded a Western Global Airlines cargo jet after a dead body believed to be a stowaway and millions of South African rand were found on board. Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe spokeswoman Anna-Julia Hungwe said the South Africa-bound cargo plane was coming from Germany with what she said was diplomatic cargo when it landed Sunday in Harare for refueling, but it was not allowed to take off after a bleeding corpse was discovered to be on board. "The reason for the grounding was to facilitate further investigations, which is now being done by the home affairs," she said. Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said all state security agencies are at the airport. "Investigations are still continuing, the team is firm on the ground since yesterday," said Charamba. "So normally when they are investigating they do not give updates because they have to tie up some loose ends." News reports say it appears the dead person had sneaked into the plane's landing gear. The South African Reserve Bank says the aircraft was carrying a bank consignment and it is working with authorities to ensure the cargo is released and transported to South Africa. Zimbabwe authorities say the six-crew member, believed to be American, Pakistani, and South African nationals, is cooperating with investigators. Interest in organic farming is swelling in Idaho to the point that the state Department of Agriculture is seeking to boost the number of inspectors to five from three, including one new inspector right away. The arrival of two large manufacturers in Idaho, Amys Kitchen and Clif Bar, significantly increased the demand for organic products from Idaho certified organic producers, the department told legislators this week. At the same time, some of Idahos largest existing ag businesses, including major milk processors, asked to start the organic certification process, which takes three years. Clif Bar hopes to open a bakery it is building in Twin Falls this spring. Amys Kitchen bought a former Heinz plant in Pocatello in October 2014 and reopened it that December. National figures now show 81 percent of families report buying organic products, said state Agriculture Director Celia Gould. And dairies that are going organic need organic feed. In the past year, Gould said 149 operations requested application information to go organic, and 47 new applications were received. More than 200 inspections were conducted. Gould made her budget pitch Monday to lawmakers on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Several lawmakers questioned her about why she is requesting state general funds for the second of the new positions, rather than relying on fees from the producers. Gould said the state needs to get inspectors into the field before the funds to pay for them arrive from the inspected businesses. We dont have much choice we had to get going on it, said state Ag Director Celia Gould. Its a big deal. The training is very costly for our inspectors, Gould said. With funds for the coming year, she said, Were hopeful that we can ramp up to the point that the fees will then take over for us. The Department of Agriculture employs the equivalent of 201 state employees. Seasonal workers can bump that up to more than 600 during the peak of the agricultural production season. Just 26 percent of the departments overall budget of $30 million comes from state tax funds. Nine percent is from federal funds and 65 percent from dedicated funds largely consisting of fees on producers. For next year, Gov. Butch Otter is recommending a 5.4 percent increase in state general funds for the department and 8.9 percent in total funds. Idaho and Washington have conflicting state laws that demonstrate how people separated by a border even fishermen and biologists can be ruled by opposing beliefs. Anglers continue to be confused and conflicted about the differing fishing regulations, especially the stands the two states take on handling wild steelhead and salmon. Both states enforce rules that prohibit snagging and require anglers to use barbless hooks in the Columbia and Snake river systems mainly to satisfy federal endangered species protections that apply to some wild stocks. Steelhead with an intact adipose fin cannot be reduced to possession and must be released. Hatchery-raised steelhead have their adipose fins clipped before they are turned out into the rivers and swim to the Pacific Ocean to mature. When they return to their natal streams a few years later to spawn, the clipped fins distinguish the hatchery fish from the wild fish coming at the same time. These marked hatchery fish are the ones anglers can catch and keep for eating during open seasons. But one distinct rule difference between the states gets scrutiny every time a photo is published of a lucky angler holding a big, wild Idaho steelhead out of the water on a boat before its released. Washington prohibits anglers from taking wild steelhead and salmon out of the water for a photo before the fish is released. Idaho doesnt go that far. Idaho Fish and Game thinks its important for anglers to be able to take pictures of fish (including steelhead) as this will enrich their fishing experience and enhance their memories well into our future, Joe DuPont, regional fisheries manager in Lewiston, said when I queried him about the differences in state rules. This is why we give the directions in the fishing regulations pamphlet on how to release fish and properly hold a fish for a photograph (pages 40, 49 and 50). We do not believe holding fish out of the water in this manner will increase their mortality. (Sturgeon are an exception. They cannot be removed from the water in Idaho.) Rules aside, a recent photo published on Spokesman.com/outdoors of a wild steelhead being held on a boat before being released generated plenty of atta-boys and angler envy. The image also prompted concern. As a lifelong steelhead fisherman, I was stunned at the picture you put in your article about fishing the Clearwater, wrote Tuck Miller, a former licensed outfitter and guide. That is obviously a wild fish thats protected by a number of regulations Lifting large, wild steelhead out of the water dramatically increases their mortality within two hours, he said. Fishermen killing large, wild steelhead due to improper handling is unacceptable. Miller cites studies that indicate significant handling mortality of wild large steelhead. The death rate rises exponentially as fish size increases, he said. Jim Fredericks, Idaho Department of Fish and Game fisheries bureau chief in Boise, says those studies are based on incomplete research and not conclusive. He said hes confident Idaho rules sufficiently protect the fish. However, the amount of time a fish is exposed to air factors into the fishs chances of survival, according to a recent survey of studies about the impacts of exposing fish to air detailed in the journal Fisheries. The survey concludes that an angler should take no longer than 10 seconds to remove the hook, snap a photo and return a fish to water. Air exposure causes inadequate oxygenation of the fishs blood, known as hypoxia, and damages the gills, causing injury that increases with the time the fish is exposed to air, the study says. Reducing air exposure is critical when the landed fish is exhausted and water temperatures are beyond normal range, especially in sensitive species, said co-author Katrina Cook. She is a PhD student at Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Laboratory at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. Groups such as the Native Fish Society and Trout Unlimited see the survey as evidence to their Keep Them Wet campaigns for catch-and-release fishing. Authors of the survey say anglers give a trout the best odds of survival if they unhook the fish while its submerged in a knotless mesh net. Rainbow trout mortality has been shown to be highest from air exposure when the trout has struggled to escape. Survival is higher for fish that remain calm. Idaho appreciates that some fishing groups are trying to discourage their memberships from lifting fish out of the water for prolonged periods, Fredericks said. Some groups have appealed to Fish and Game managers to follow suit with Washington. We respectfully explained our reluctance, Fredericks said. When you look at the population-level impact the time out of the water for a photo has on these fish, its very minimal. Prohibiting people from a neat opportunity to take a picture seemed unnecessary, although we agreed to put additional guidelines in the rules pamphlet, including recommendations to use nets rather dragging fish up on the rocks or bouncing them in the bottom of a boat. Good handling minimizes injury, he said, noting that Idaho is undertaking its own research on the impacts of air exposure to fish as well as to their progeny. But the last thing we should be doing is vilifying anglers who catch and release fish in a good way. Idaho Fish and Game recommends precautions such as keeping a camera ready and having a plan when the fish is lifted out of the water to support it properly, reduce loss of mucous and scales from the fish and minimize air exposure. Some of the differences between our two bordering states are dramatic. For instance, marijuana use that is legal in Washington could result in a jail sentence in Idaho. Lifting a wild steelhead or salmon totally out of the water is an infraction in Washington. Its not in Idaho, but the practice is still worth contemplation, and perhaps refinement. TWIN FALLS A convicted drug dealer who told police he has Lou Gehrigs disease escaped during a police chase early Wednesday but was arrested later that day while sleeping in an apartment outfitted with hidden security cameras and a police scanner, officers said. Carlos Jose Tena, 40, of Twin Falls was arraigned Thursday in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court on felony counts of eluding an officer and possession of a stolen vehicle. Twin Falls police officers stopped Tena for a traffic violation about 3:45 a.m. Wednesday while he was driving a Chevrolet Impala with fake license plates, court documents said. During the stop, Tena gave police his correct address and valid registration for the car, which officers confirmed was reported stolen. Tena fled the scene driving erratically and without headlights, forcing officers to give up chasing him because it was too unsafe, court documents said. But because Tena gave them his real address, police got a search warrant and went to that apartment late Wednesday morning. A woman answered the door at the apartment in the 500 block of Jefferson Street about 11:20 a.m. and told police where Tenas room was. Officers went into the room to find him sleeping, court documents said. Tenas clothes and shoes were soaking wet and hanging up to dry, and the heat was turned to high. Officers noticed the apartment was outfitted with concealed surveillance cameras displaying footage on a large TV, and one officer said he could hear his own radio communications over a police scanner mounted on the wall, court documents said. Two officers approached Tena and put handcuffs on him while telling him they had a warrant for his arrest, court documents said. Tena allowed police to search his room, where they found syringes, a baggie of methamphetamine, marijuana and a skull-shaped bong. Inside the apartment, officers also found the original license plates for the stolen Impala and Tena told police he was a convicted drug trafficker, drug dealer and methamphetamine user. Online court records showed Tena pleaded guilty to grand theft in Cassia County in 1996 and was sentenced to up to five years in prison. In 2001 in Cassia County he pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and was sentenced to three to seven years in prison. Online prison records show Tena was released from the Idaho State Penitentiary on March 22. Tena was also listed as most wanted out of Cassia County in June on charges of attempted strangulation and domestic battery. While talking to police about the traffic stop early Wednesday, Tena said he has Lou Gehrigs disease and has difficulty speaking. An officer said Tenas behavior changed throughout the interview and he spoke without difficulty unless he was being questioned about crimes he was suspected of committing. Tena told the officer he didnt know where the Impala was parked or why he fled from police, although he admitted to running from police for unknown reasons, court documents said. He also admitted to knowing the license plates on the Impala didnt match the Impalas registration. Tena is being held in Twin Falls County Jail on $100,000 bond and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19. BOISE A House committee has rejected a proposal to fund primary care for the uninsured, raising questions on the future of the governors plan. The bill, brought by House Health and Welfare Chairman Fred Wood, R-Burley, would have put some money from the Millennium Fund, or the money the state gets as part of the 1990s settlement with the big tobacco companies, into a dedicated account for the Primary Care Access Program. This would have provided about half of the money needed for PCAP through mid-2022. But, the House State Affairs Committee rejected the bill on a 6-8 vote, with two Democrats and six Republicans joining together to kill it and block holding a full hearing. The bill to create the PCAP program itself was introduced Thursday, and the program would cost an estimated $30 million a year. Wood said his bill addressed only part of the programs possible funding, and additional funding would come from savings the state has been seeing on catastrophic health-care costs as more poor people get insurance on the state exchange. This bill deals strictly with this funding, Wood told the committee. Obviously, with the PCAP program (there) is a much wider discussion of how were going to completely fund the PCAP program. And the savings in the CAT program is part and parcel to that. So what does this mean for the future of PCAP? Its going to be an obstacle, said House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley. Bedke, who had just heard of the bills rejection a few hours before, said he would have to reassess how to move forward. Sometimes you have opposition both on the right and on the left, and this is one of those issues I think, Bedke said, referring both to more right-wing Republicans who oppose creating a new government program and Democrats who support full Medicaid expansion. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee held a hearing on Medicaid expansion earlier this month, but the committee didnt vote, and Chairman Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, said at the time he wanted to wait for the PCAP bill before taking any action. Gov. C.L. Butch Otter had originally proposed diverting some cigarette and tobacco tax money to fund the program. Bedke said the funding idea could be part of the discussion down the road, but doesnt think it will be now. The Idaho Community Action Network, a progressive advocacy group particularly involved in Hispanic issues, held a rally on the Capitol steps Monday calling for full expansion, with chants like Health Care Cant Wait! and Close the Gap!, a reference to the 78,000 Idahoans who dont qualify for Medicaid but are too poor to qualify for subsidized insurance on the exchange. Abby West is one of those who are in the gap. She lost her insurance after her divorce. With three children, she said, she would need to make more than $2,000 a month to qualify for the exchange. I dont want to be one of these 300, she said, referring to a commonly cited estimate of the number of Idahoans who die every year but might not with Medicaid expansion. I want to be healthy so I can love and care for my children. Luis Herrera said lack of insurance is a particularly big issue for Hispanics 49 percent of Hispanic adults in Idaho are uninsured, he said, and 6 percent of deaths among Idaho Hispanics are from diabetes, double the number for non-Hispanic Idahoans. The politics behind this issue is literally killing people, Wendy Henry said. Health care cant wait. Infant Safety, CPR Infant safety and cardiopulmonary resuscitation class, 6:30-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in the Oak Rooms on the lower level of St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls. New parents, grandparents and caregivers learn CPR and what to do if a baby chokes. The class isnt a certification course. Free; no registration required. 208-814-0402. Victims Support Support group for victims of domestic violence, 6:30-8:30 p.m. every Tuesday at the Mini-Cassia Shelter Haven of Hope, 323 First St. in Rupert. Information: Rachel, 208-312-7021. Alzheimers Support Alzheimers Association, Greater Idaho Chapters Caregiver Support Group meeting, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at Twin Falls Senior Center, 530 Shoshone St. W., Twin Falls. The group meets on the third Wednesday every month. Information: Pattie Dennis, 208-734-4264 or 208-539-4290. Childbirth Childbirth refresher course, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, in the Oak Rooms on the lower level of St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls. Topic: Review of childbirth preparation and medical center procedures, and a tour of the maternal and child unit. Bring a labor support person, if possible. Cost is $15; pre-registration is required: 208-814-0402. Grief Support Visions of Hope meeting, 5 p.m. every Thursday at Hospice Visions, 1770 Park View Drive, Twin Falls. This grief support group is open to everyone in the community. Information: 208-735-0121. Mental Health Support Mental Health Support Group, 5:30 p.m. every Thursday at Family Health Services/Behavioral Health building, 1102 Eastland Drive N., Twin Falls. The free support group is open to Magic Valley residents. Information: 208-734-1281. Heart Health St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center is offering a free heart health seminar at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, in the Oak Rooms on the lower level of St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls. The topic is Heart Healthy Lifestyle Choices by Dr. Rosenblum. Pre-register: 208-814-0095. Asthma Education Free asthma education class for patients and caregivers to assess and manage asthma will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18. The class is presented by St. Lukes Magic Valley and meets on the third Thursday of each month. Pre-registration is required. To register and for location of the class: 208-814-8765. Anxiety Support Anxiety Support Group, 6 p.m. every Thursday at Magic Valley Fellowship Hall, 801 Second Ave. N., Twin Falls. Support for those who experience anxiety, panic attacks or depression. Learn about the signs, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and coping skills. Information: Cathy Shaddy, 208-410-2768. Joint Replacement Free class on total joint replacement, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at BridgeView Estates, 1828 Bridgeview Blvd., Twin Falls. Meet in the lobby. Topics: Preparing for joint-replacement surgery, amount of pain, recovery time, insurance coverage, care after surgery, discharge planning and long-term rehabilitation. Tours of the BridgeView rehabilitation facility are available. Pre-registration is required, Amy at 208-280-0047 or Sarah at 208-280-0045. C-sections Caesarean childbirth class, 6:30-9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, in the Oak Rooms on the lower level of St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W. Topics: Caesarean deliveries, pain management, non-conforming labors and hospital procedures. Free; pre-registration is required: 208-814-0402. The New Hampshire presidential primary seems to have set the shape of the Republican contest for some time to come, bringing into focus some questions awaiting Idahos Republicans. And for Idahos many establishment Republicans, those may be eerie questions. (Ill get to the Democrats later.) This years Republican nomination battle is far more splintered in Idaho than it has been for many years. Four years ago, the establishment was solidly behind Mitt Romney, and until he dropped out in 2008 he had strong backing then as well. George W. Bush had the Idaho establishment firmly in his corner the two elections before that. Idahos three-term governor, C.L. Butch Otter, and its longest-serving members of Congress, Sen. Mike Crapo and Rep. Mike Simpson, seem to have stayed out of the fracas so far. Maybe they were uncertain how the field would play out and how Idaho would react. Or they may have observed what happened to other endorsees. Sen. Rand Paul, backed by Rep. Raul Labrador, has dropped out. And Sen. Marco Rubio, backed by Sen. Jim Risch, Controller Brandon Woolf and Idaho Falls businessman Frank VanderSloot (a veteran of the Romney campaigns), only days ago seemed ascendant but had the daylights kicked out of him in New Hampshire, and his campaigns future is highly uncertain. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, backed by former Idaho Gov. and Sen. Dirk Kempthone, lives to fight another day, but right now seems a long shot for the nomination. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, backed by Idaho legislators Marv Hagedorn and Robert Anderst, did well taking second place in New Hampshire (after barely registering in Iowa), but he invested almost everything he had time, money, people into that state, and has scarcely any campaign organization or built-in support in the states yet to vote. Just two Republican candidates actually seem well positioned for the race to come: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and businessman Donald Trump. Cruz has a couple of fairly well-known Idaho Republicans backing him, Treasurer Ron Crane and former state Republican Chair Norm Semanko, but if theres wider support it isnt yet very visible. As for Trump, Im not sure who his highest-profile Idaho backers would be. Theres a Facebook page called Idaho for Donald Trump 2016 with 860 likes, but hardly any local content almost all of it is reposts of national material. And yet statistically, Trump probably has a significant number of Gem State supporters. Who will Idaho Republicans support for president, assuming and this is looking actually more likely than not right now the race is still competitive by the time Idahoans get to vote on it? I read a fascinating analysis (wish I could recall where I saw it) drawing a structural distinction between the Trump and Cruz campaigns, and implicitly the difference between those two and a conventional mainstream campaign (like a Bush or Rubio, assuming one of them survives to the later stages). It goes something like this: Trump supporters are mainly individualists, drawn to the campaign person by person or family by family, and are numerous but for the most part not well organized into groups. Cruz people by contrast tend to be organized, some in ideologically-based organizations (like the various conservative groups that have splintered the Kootenai County Republican factions), others tied to evangelical or other churches, still others linked to other kinds of organizations groups with strong ideological or religious drives which have not been satisfied with the national Republican Party (which Cruz calls the cartel). Cruz has carefully reached out to these groups around the country, and won support from many of them. Then theres the mainstreamers, who would be those most traditionally tied to Republican party organizations and officials. What makes the Idaho analysis so hard is this: The first two groups, which clearly exist in substantial ways in Idaho, have not in the past played a large role in selecting the states presidential nomination choices. This year, those individualized dissidents and the dissatisfied small groups, who in the past often seem to have taken their lead from the party organization, appear much less likely to do that, and may go their own way which might translate to substantial votes for Trump and Cruz, as in many other states. Right now, the Idaho Republican establishment may have reason to be as spooked as the national Republican establishment is. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2015 > Perverted Logic of Powerful Corporate Interests drive the India-France (...) by Harsh Kapoor The French President was in India as the chief guest at the surreal nationalist military parade of January 26, 2016. As is the practice, he was accompanied by a high-powered delegation and many multilateral deals got signed between the two countries. There are big ones that have been in the news, have been in the making for many years and may still take time to fructify. These concern the sale by France of nuclear power plants and of flying war toys to India. Indias proposed purchase of military weaponry and nuclear power plants from France constitute the big centrepieceattention and money involved in the overall scheme of Franco-Indian ties of the moment. These involve the sale of the Rafale-Multi Role Fighter jets, made by Dassault, said to be the most expensive in the world, and the sales of EPR (European Pressurised Reactors) nuclear reactors, made by Areva, also in the league of the most expensive. Both these, that is, the civilian nuclear programme and defence procurement, are holy cows that are tightly sealed off by a firewall insulating them from reasoned public scrutiny; all this is managed and scripted by bureaucrats, lobbyists and keepers of national interest who hold the keys. The Indian establishment of recent times seems to have grown very big pockets and a big-time folie de grandeur where the bigger, more expensive, noisier, higher, shinier are seen as better benchmarks. (A sign of times we are in, that Indias Prime Minister walks about in clothes with his name printed on it all over.) Undue influence of foreign vendors and big Indian and foreign firms and lobbyists is a new reality in the corridors of our decision-making circles. That a new corporate-military industrial complex is shaping Indias drive down this road is a matter which should be the subject of social and economic enquiry by the academia. That is the Indian side of the picture. But what is driving the French establishment in this foray into India? The French authorities and the corporate elites see India (and China) as the new market to push their wares. Its as banal and straight as that. Its mostly about shoring up economic ties and in the process principally to bailout two crises-ridden sections of the French economy, namely, the civilian nuclear sector and the sagging military-industrial sector. Both of these continue to exercise a considerable hold over the French elites. Dassault, the French aircraft-maker, has been selling military aircrafts to India for decades. In the 1990s it was Mirage 2000 whose upgrade for the Indian Air Force had became a white elephant; and now the incredibly expensive Rafale is in the line for sale to India. Dassault originally offered the Rafale combat aircraft with comprehensive transfer of technology (ToT) for $ 10 billion. But after winning the tender, it increased the cost to over $ 30 billion. In 2012 India announced the 20 billion dollar purchase of 126 multi-role combat aircraft and Dassaults Rafale had won the contract. Be that as it may, Dassault has seen its sales sag over the past yearsit saw a drop of 17 per cent in consolidated net sales in 2014. So the India sale is important to keep the assembly lines up and working and take care of sagging finances. Let us look at the story of the crisis-ridden French civilian nuclear programme to under-stand why the sale of the French EPR reactors for the proposed Jaitapur nuclear park is important to the French. The French civilian nuclear programme is one of the biggest in the world and the share of nuclear energy in French energy production is 75 per cent. It has 58 operating nuclear reactors all of which are now old. According to the latest report of the Cour des Comptes, the French national audit office, it would cost over $ 100 billion to extend the life of all French reactors for another 40 years. The European Pressurised Reactor or EPR was a new generation design and a big bet of the French reactor-maker, Areva NP. The initial optimism from the EPR and the orders for new plantsfirst in Finland in 2003 (Olkiluoto), then in France in 2006 (Flamanville) and thereafter in China in 2007 (Taishan)has dissolved with both Olkiluoto and Flamanville now nearly three times over-the-budget and at least 10 years and five years late respectively. Even the Chinese plants under construction are running late. Not a single functioning nuclear plant running the EPR reactor exists so far. There have been huge problems with the reactor design and construction quality despite years of experience in nuclear plant engineering in France. The highly trusted and independent-minded French nuclear safety agency (ASN) has found problems with the pressure vessel forgings in the Flamanville plant. On June 4, 2014 the French satirical newspaper, le Canard Enchaine, had revealed that the concrete of the containment building of the nuclear plant in Flamanville being cast for the EPR in Flamanville was full of holes, like Swiss cheese. Because it was built under bad weather, tiny fractures of up to 42 cms appeared. The construction was delayed by four months to fix the damages. And this was not the first time there have been problems in the building site, including because of the use of bad quality concrete EDF had imported from low-cost steel from Russia for the polar bridge, a structure 60 metres above the ground used to load and discharge the reactor vessel with its uranium fuel. The quality of the steel was never checked. (See: http://leblogdejeudi.fr/jaitapur-les-experts-lepr-dareva-echec-industriel/) The initial cost of the French EPR reactor was to be 3 billion euros but current estimates say it would be close to 11.5 billion euros. [One billion euros come to Rs 7000 crores and one French reactor would cost more then Rs 70,000 crores whereas the annual plan outlay for Maharashtra is Rs 47,000 crores.] The very largely state-owned company, Areva, that made the EPR has been running huge losses. In 2014 the losses were close to 5 billion euros. In July 2015 Areva sold off its reactor business to the French state-run electricity utility, EDF, which is also the biggest operator of nuclear power plants. Now the EDF, which has been economically sound, will have to manage the many very economically risky foreign projects of the former Areva. Experts say the EPRs design problems and costs have dragged down Areva economically and the EDF is unlikely to want a similar fate for itself. The EDF has been developing its own designs for smaller nuclear reactors. Given the construction and operation problems of the EPR there is a possibility that the EDF could shelve the EPRs giant reactor programme and place it in long-term cold storage. The in-principle sale of six EPR reactors to India is a bet for the rescue of the crisis-marked French nuclear sector imagine an injection of 60 billion euros if the price is, say, 10 billion dollars a piece. There was a joint venture by Areva and L & T, the Indian engineering major, which is negotiating the price of building the Jaitapur reactors with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). They say the will bring down the price by sourcing the parts under a make an India bid. All this will need to be reworked with the EDF being the new French entity in charge. The recent experience in regard to the building of the Kudankulam plant needs to be kept in mind. There have been major engineering problems, it seems. The large experience in India has been with Canadian reactors and it took years of training and close relations. Building and running the new French EPR reactor, which no one has seen function so far, is a very risky proposition with little engineering experience of building and running these in India. It is a risky road India should avoid. For the first time in France trade unions in the nuclear and electricity sectors have issued a warning to the French state that the cost over-runs and engineering problems in foreign projects of the Areva and now EDF should be put on hold as there is the risk of dragging down the parent companies in France. Indian decision-makers need to pay heed and not go for a long-term lock-in situation that they cant get out of. There is still time to put on hold the Jaitapur EPRs. After Fukushima policy-makers everywhere had a rethink with regard to nuclear energy programmes. But in India nothing seems to have happened and it appears we dont have and independent nuclear energy regulator for which there has been widespread demand in this country. Nor have we scaled down our nuclear energy programmes. Strategic reasons seem to have more importance in these matters on which decisions need to be taken with sane economic considerations in mind. References and further reading 1. Cour des Comptes,Le cout de production de lelectricite nucleaire, Communication to the Enquiry Commission of the National Assembly, May 27, 2014, p. 227. http://www.ccomptes.fr/Actualites/A-la-une/Le-cout-de-production-de-l-electricite-nucleaire 2. Colere des salaries dAreva devant le gachis industriel (Le Monde|14.09.2015)http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2015/09/14/colere-des-salaries-d-areva-devant-le-gachis-industriel_4756739_3234.html 3. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Flamanville-EPR-vessel-anomalies-under-scrutiny-0704154.html 4. Piece non conforme a Flamanville: EDF remet le couver(cle) [8 fevrier 2016] http://energie-climat.greenpeace.fr/piece-non-conforme-a-flamanville-edf-remet-le-couvercle 5. Areva: la folle histoire dun desastre Par?Bertille Bayart (Publie le 27/01/2016) http://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2016/01/27/20005-20160127ARTFIG00448-areva-la-folie-des-grandeurs-puis-la-descente-aux-enfers-du-groupe-cree-par-annelauvergeon.php 6. "France to merge Arevas nuclear business with EDF controlled JV.", Power Technology, June 5, 2015. http://www.power-technology.com/news/newsfrance-to-merge-arevas-nuclear-business-with-edf-controlled-jv-4594497 7. Autorite de surete nucleaire (2015), Flamanville EPR reactor vessel manufacturing anomalies, April 7, 2014. http://www.french-nuclear-safety.fr/Information/News-releases/Flamanville-EPR-reactor-vessel-manufacturing-anomalies 8. Projet nucleaire dEDF au Royaume-Uni : Il est urgent dattendre ! 1er fevrier 2016 lhttp://www.force-ouvriere.fr/projet-nucleaire-d-edf-au-royaume-uni-il-est-urgent-d-attendre?lang=fr 9. Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), A Vibrant Military Industrial Complex for Self Reliance, VIF Occasional Paper, No. 4, 2012. (The author is an independent researcher familiar with the political and economic situation in France.) Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova also predicted the attacks on the Twin Towers, when in 1989 she said: Horror, horror! The American brethren will fall after being attacked by the steel birds. The wolves will be howling in a bush, and innocent blood will be gushing. (1989) Happened as predicted. The World Trade Center Towers in New York collapsed following terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 . The WTC Towers were dubbed Twins or Brothers. The terrorists drove passenger planes the steel birds- into the towers. The bush obviously relates to the surname of the current U.S. president. She also anticipated the devastating tsunami in 2004 that hit the Thai coast, A big wave will cover a large coast with people and villages where everything disappears under water. She also said that in 2023 the Earths orbit would change, which would melt the poles and set fire in the Middle East The old woman said: Great Islamic war would begin in Syria culminating in complete control of Rome, in 2043. It also stated that there would be established a definitive Caliphate and that Europe would cease to exist, to become a continent almost empty and wastelands devoid of any form of life. One of the most shocking prediction was made in 1980. The blind old woman said: At the turn of the century, in August of 1999 or 2000, Kursk will be covered with water, and the whole world will be weeping over it. The prediction did not make any sense back then. Twenty years on, it made a horrifying sense. A Russian nuclear submarine perished in an accident in August of 2000. The sub was named after the city of Kursk , which by no means could have been covered with water. Among the many predictions, there are some quite exotic, such as ensuring that aliens will help man to live underwater in 2130, or a possible war on Mars in 3005. Finally, perhaps the most fantastic yet the most apocalyptic: Vanga assured that there will be no survivors on Earth, circa 3797. Here we leave a list of predictions for the coming years: Muslims invade Europe. There will be major changes in the Earths orbit. The population of Europe will disappear as a result of wars. There will be an attempt to travel to other planets like Venus, with the hope of finding other sources of energy to Earth. Water levels rise due to the melting of the poles. Communism contagious return to Europe and the rest of the world. The rebirth of nature. A new sun illuminates the dark side of the planet. This could refer to a scientific project that began in 2008 and will create an artificial sun using nuclear energy. extraterrestrial civilizations might reach our planet. Global Drought. Two large volcanoes erupt. Mars is threatened by a comet. Two artificial Suns collide and leave the Earth in total darkness. A war on Mars will change the trajectory of the planet. A comet reaches the Moon, so the Earth is covered by a ring of rocks and ashes. The Earth dies but mankind has advanced enough to move to a new solar system. 5079: The universe will end. And what do you think? Vanga settled in Bulgarias Petrich during the 1930s, where she predicted the beginning of WWII. Her fame spread very quickly throughout Bulgaria, and one day she was visited by King Boris III. Vanga warned the king against Bulgarias participation in the war. Bulgarian politicians did not listen: the country joined Hitler and then found itself among the defeated. It was only the post-war patronage of the USSR that rescued Bulgaria from the territorial dismemberment. The Bulgarian politicians, who visited Vanga, spread the news about the prophetess to their counterparts from other countries. As a result, Vanga became known in the whole world. The list of events, which she predicted so precisely, is really impressive. King Boris III visited her again in 1942 and 1943. The blind woman (she was in her thirties back then) told the king that he would die on August 28, 1943. In February of 1943 she told the king that she could see a red flag above his palace. Her predictions came true. King Boris III died on August 28, and the red flag was raised above Sofia in the autumn of 1944. Bulgaria became a socialist country. In socialist Bulgaria, where Vanga spent most of her life, people treated clairvoyants and mystics mostly negatively. Communists believed that Vanga was spreading superstitions, distracting people from the building of socialism. In the autumn of 1952, the prophetess found herself in big trouble when she said that Josef Stalin would go into the nether world. Vanga was jailed as a result of that prediction, albeit not for long. The prophesy came true the Soviet generalissimo died indeed. Stalins death did not save the prophetess from political persecution, though. The fact that Vanga was a native of Macedonia (Yugoslavia) was haunting the minds of Bulgarian special services. Bulgaria was having very tense relations with Josip Broz Titos Yugoslavia, which gave Bulgarian secret service a reason to believe that the prophetess was an agent of the western neighbor. During the 1970s, Bulgarian special services continued to collect compromising materials against Vanga. They searched her home once and found 90,000 levs, which was a huge amount of money for a socialist country. Vanga was not jailed, but she was described in reports as an underdeveloped and impudent woman. There were high-ranking officials in the country, who defended Vanga. Many in Bulgaria still remember the story when an official lost his briefcase with important documents. The police and the special services could not find the case, so they had to ask Vangas help. The case was found, and the prophetess was awarded with a letter of gratitude. In general, one may say that the authorities of socialist Bulgaria treated Vanga differently. On the one hand, the communist ideology made the authorities struggle against the witch. On the other hand, the local elite realized that they could make profit on Vanga. Special services took her visitors under control and began to collect 10 levs from Bulgarian and $50 from foreign visitors. Economists calculated that Vanga brought 9 million levs to the Bulgarian treasury. In 1967, Vanga was employed for a non-existent position as a state official. Her life took such a turn owing to the efforts taken by the daughter of then Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov, Lyudmila Zhivkova. Lyudmila was interested in esoteric teachings and visited the prophetess many times. Lyudmila enjoyed great popularity in the country. She developed a very warm friendship with Vanga herself. In the beginning of 1979 Vanga said that Lyudmila Zhivkova would die in a car accident. Special services tried to prevent the tragedy, but it did not help. Zhivkova survived the car accident, but then died two years later. In 1987, when Todor Zhivkov was still ruling the country, Vanga predicted major changes for the nation to come. She said that Bulgaria would soon have another leader, a prominent scientist, who would not be a proponent of Lenins doctrine. In 1992, Bulgarian philosopher Zhelyu Zhelev came to power in the country. The socialist regime in Bulgaria collapsed, and the country continued its development following EU and NATO standards. Vanga was predicting major political events happening in the whole world. She predicted the incursion of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia, the assassinations of US President John F. Kennedy, Indian prime ministers Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, the collapse of Anastasio Somozas dictatorship in Nicaragua and many other historic events. Nowadays, many Russians wonder if Vangas prophecy about Russia is going to come true some day or not. In 1979, during her meeting with writer Valentin Sidorov, Vanga said: All will thaw, as if ice, only one remain untouched Vladimirs glory, glory of Russia. Too much it is brought in a victim. Nobody can stop Russia. All will be removed by her from the way and not only will be kept, but also becomes the lord of the world. Before her death in 1996, Vanga predicted glorious future for Russia again. According to the Bulgarian clairvoyant, Russia will be the worlds only superpower. Specialists calculated that 68 percent of her prophecies had come true. We only can wait and see if her other prophecies become real or not. On this blog you'll find a daily analysis of the forecast of the surf, windsurf, kitesurf and foiling conditions in Maui. Email me if you need a Maui surf guide or a surf, SUP, SUP foil, prone foil or windfoil lesson. I've been teaching water sports since 2001. For the first time in about 60 years, an American manufacturing facility has been green-lighted to operate in Cuba; the plan is to build small, inexpensive tractors there to sell to farmers in the country, with an eye toward expanding sales to Latin American countries, as they have low or no taxes on Cuban imports, so the 25-horsepower tractors can be priced competitively in those locations as well. This is good news for Cubans - and not just the farmers; some 300 people will be hired over the next five years or so to produce the machines. The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017. "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do. We're looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve," Clemmons said. "It's our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries." Eventually, they expect to branch out into building track-hoes and forklifts as well. This is something that hasn't happened there since Fidel confiscated American assets back in 1959, which prompted the U.S. embargo. Yesterday, the Cuban government announced that they've returned a Hellfire missile to the USA that they said had been inadvertently shipped from Paris to Havana two years ago - and they didn't return it by launching it at us. They've also announced that they'll be bringing broadband internet into Cuban homes, along with setting up 100 public WiFi access points around the country; internet access in the country has been for the most part illegal until now. On Tuesday, Cuba's Transport Minister and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation will sign a deal authorizing the first regularly scheduled commercial flights between the U.S. and Cuba since shortly after the 1959 revolution. And so a sense of normalization is underway. Gazas only access to the outside world beyond Israels control was opened by Egyptian authorities on Saturday for 2 days. The Rafah crossing point is in southern Gaza and hundreds have headed towards the area hoping to be able to cross into Egypt. More than 25,000 people have registered to cross citing urgent needs and 3,500 for medical purposes according to the authorities in Gaza but only a small amount of them are expected to pass through. Senior Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, welcomed the Egyptian goodwill gesture at a press conference in Gaza and hoped that the crossing will be opened permanently because there are thousands of people on the waiting list. Cairo opens the crossing for a short period every few months. Authorities said only 765 Palestinians were authorized to cross into Egypt on Saturday. The northern crossing point at Erez is controlled by Israel and Ramy Abdu, Director of the Gaza chapter of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said only a few people could pass through there because more than 80% of Palestinians are banned formally or by de facto from travelling through it. He added that those who do pass often face humiliation or blackmail; a method used by Israel to recruit informants to spy in Gaza in exchange for the privilege to use the crossing point. Gaza has endured a tight blockade, enforced by both Israel and Egypt since Hamas took control of the region in 2007. The 2014 hostilities between Hamas and the Israeli forces are reported to have left around 1.9million Palestinians in Gaza economically devastated and in dire need of humanitarian aid. Saad Hariri, a Lebanese politician close to Saudi Arabia who has been on a self-imposed exile since the toppling of his cabinet in 2011, returned to his native country to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father; Rafik al-Hariri. In a speech delivered at a rally, Saad Hariri said lawmakers need to elect a president unless their real candidate is the vacuum which has existed for 21months. Lebanon has been without a president since the end of Michel Suleimans six-year term in May 2014 and Hizbullah, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and some of their allies have been unable to agree on a consensus president, repeatedly boycotting the parliamentary sessions for the President election. The Lebanese have paid the price at home and abroad, Hariri said, stressing that Lebanon will neither be an Iranian province nor hostile to Riyadh. Politics in Lebanon is strictly divided on sectarian lines and Saad Hariri, a Sunni and leader of the Al-Mustaqbal Movement and the March 14 Alliance, said he is behind the proposal as President of Suleiman Franjieh, a Member of Parliament for the Maronite seat of Zgharta-Zawyie, in North Lebanon, and one of the strongest allies and a close personal friend of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Hariri claimed the move stirred the stagnant political waters and led to the historic reconciliation of Franjiehs Lebanese Forces and Aouns Free Patriotic Movement. Saad Hariri took a swipe at Hezbollah, which supports Aoun, as he stated that the Lebanese presidency deserves more attention and efforts than the Syrian, Iraqi or Yemeni presidencies. He said focus should be on ending the siege on the presidency, the government and the parliament in the country rather than taking part in besieging Syrian towns. He boasted that Al-Mustaqbal does not fear elections as long as the candidate abides by the Taef Accord, the law and constitution, and coexistence, and as long as he puts the national interest and Lebanons safety ahead of any regional scheme. A message was also addressed to Iran. We will not allow anyone to pull Lebanon to the camp of hostility towards Saudi Arabia and its Arab brothers. Lebanon will not be, under any circumstances, an Iranian province. We are Arabs, and Arabs we shall remain, underlined Saad Hariri. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert began serving his 19-month prison sentence at Ramles Maasiyahu Prison Monday, following his condemnation by a court on two separate wrongdoings. Olmert has been handed in 2014 a 19-month imprisonment sentence over his involvement in bribery and corruption cases in the construction of Jerusalems massive Holyland residential complex during his tenure as mayor of Jerusalem and his attempt to obstruct legal procedures in various cases against him. Olmert had led a war of aggression against Lebanon in 2006 after succeeding Ariel Sharon as Israelis Prime Minister. Security forces and experts told Israeli media that the former Premier will be put under close watch to insure his safety and prevent any mishap, such as a suicide attempt. Prison officials also point out that Olmert as ex-Prime Minister and privy to state secrets must not be exposed to inmates from organized crime groups or those convicted for national security crimes. Olmert will join former Israeli President Moshe Katsav, who is five years in to a seven-year term for rape, sexual assault and harassment of a number of female employees during his tenure as Tourism Minister and President. Olmert is the first Israeli Prime Minister to serve a prison sentence. In a separate justice decision concerning Israeli public figures, a Jerusalem labor court last week convicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus wife of abuse of house-keeping staff. The plaintiff, Meni Naftali had sued Sara Netanyahu for abuses and received $42,000 in compensation. The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, is expected on Wednesday in Paris for a working and friendship visit in France, it was officially announced in Rabat Monday. The visit will start by a meeting at the Elysee with French President Francois Hollande. Talks between the two heads of State will cover, besides the multi-faceted cooperation binding the two countries, several political and security issues of common interest, and the situation prevailing in the Maghreb and the Middle East. According to diplomatic sources, the preparations for the climate change international conference COP22, to be held in Marrakech in November 2016, will also be brought up during the meeting as France is the current chairman of COP21. On February 22, King Mohammed VI will chair, in the presence of the French President, the launch ceremony of Moroccos House of Culture to be held in the Paris-based Arab World Institute. Moroccos House of Culture, a kind of cultural center, will be built in the mythical district of Saint-Michel in Paris. The King wants the Moroccan House of Culture and similar houses to be established in other capitals to become true socialization places for the Moroccan diaspora and genuine centers reflecting and promoting Moroccos cultural heritage in host countries, the ultimate aim being to foster intercultural exchange, deepen mutual understanding and promote the living together principle as lack of understanding often breeds conflicts. The Sovereigns coming visit to France and his talks with President Hollande are part of the regular high-level contacts between the two leaders and reflect the excellent relations existing between the two countries and the shared resolve to enhance these relations further. Hillary Clinton ditched her plans to give a public speech in Palm Beach County Monday to focus on the next early state and sent her husband Bill instead. Bill Clinton is scheduled to give a speech at the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach at 2 p.m. Doors open at 12:30. The former president is a strong surrogate for his wife, but it shows that she is now battling for the nomination -- something that appeared to be an easy ride for her just months ago. Hillary Clintons speech was supposed to be her first public event in South Florida since she spoke at Broward College in October. But a few days after her resounding loss to Democratic rival Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, her campaign announced that she would skip Florida to focus on Nevada before the Feb. 20 caucus. For months, polls showed Clinton far ahead of Sanders in Nevada but a TargetPoint poll last week showed a tie. Her Nevada schedule showed two get-out-the-caucus events and a womens health meeting Monday. On Sunday, she met with DREAMers, illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Both Clinton and Sanders attended Sunday services at the same African-American Church in West Las Vegas. But Clinton has a commanding lead over Sanders in South Carolina which holds the next Democratic primary Feb. 27. Clinton led Sanders 62.7 to 31.3, according to a Real Clear Politics average of the polls between mid-January and mid-February. After her razor thin victory in Iowa and loss in New Hampshire -- two largely white states -- Clintons supporters have been banking on hopes that she will do far better in more diverse states such as South Carolina where blacks make up more than half of the Democratic electorate. Read our preview here. And here is what the Republican National Committee had to say: Hillary Clintons failure to pull away from Sanders in the primary is forcing her to blow off Florida," spokeswoman Ali Pardo said in an email. "If Clinton is having this much trouble in the primary against a self-proclaimed socialist from Vermont, how can she expect to be competitive in the state in the general election? When someone waved a Donald Trump sign during Bill Clinton's speech in Palm Beach County Monday, the former president was ready with multiple retorts: "I took his money for our foundation where I use it to better than he is using it now." Clinton also told the crowd: "I remember when (Trump) called me to say how terrible the Republicans had been to me and Hillary and how unfair they were and how great a job Hillary did as a senator." For those who support Trump's proposals to build the wall between the U.S. and Mexico and to deport 11 million people "then you should follow him like Moses into the promised land." Trump and the Clintons were once pals -- the Clintons attended his 2005 wedding. And Trump has admitted that he supported their foundation and her Senate campaigns in the past. via @adamsmithtimes Well, it's looks like Martin County Republican State Committeeman Eric Miller is not the only one unhappy about Florida GOP Vice Chairman Joe Gruters serving as Donald Trump's Florida co-chairman. The Famuan reports that a group called Students for a Democratic Society at Florida State University held a "Dump Trump" rally this weekend featuring a Trump pinata and called for Gruters to step down as a trustee at Florida State: ...Students created a petition demanding Joe Gruters immediate resignation. He is a member of FSUs Board of Trustees as finance chair and according to the flyer, the main promoter of Trumps racism in Florida.... Gruters, a Sarasota accountant and chairman of the Sarasota accountant was an early supporter of Rick Scott for governor in 2010, and Scott appointed him to the FSU board in 2011. He term actually expired in January, but when we asked the governor's office whether Scott had any concerns about Gruters whether he intended to appoint him for another term, a spokeswoman sounded like Gruters' Trump campaign role was a non-issue. Gov. Scott asks his higher education appointees to keep tuition low and make sure degrees are aligned with jobs when students graduate. Joe Gruters has done that, said spokeswoman Jackie Schutz. Gruters also brushed off the criticism and suggestions that he should resign from any positions while serving as co-chairman of the Trump campaign along with Susie Wiles. Wiles managed Gov. Scott's first campaign, and Scott has come just short of endorsing Trump. "What's going to happen when Trump's their president?" he asked of the students, while noting that college campuses should encourage as many different viewpoints as possible. "I'm not stepping down from my position on the board of Florida State." --ADAM C. SMITH, Tampa Bay Times Got some ideas about economics, policy, science, art or whatever, and you can write? Let us know here , we're looking for contributors! Copyright:2007 through 2022, MilleFioriFavoriti:LLC all rights reserved Unless indicated, all photos and writings are my personal property and can not be used or reproduced without my written permission. My e-mail address is available in my profile. Thank you very much! HAMILTON Theres something not quite right when it comes to the Bitterroot Valleys mule deer herd. Talk to people who have lived here for decades and they will tell you there used to be a lot more mule deer on the public lands surrounding the valley floor. Others are quick to say that theyve never seen so many mule deer in the bottomlands. There are a lot of opinions out there about why that is, said former state biologist Craig Jourdonnais. Its just like there used to be a lot of opinions on elk five or six years ago. Were going to try to come up with facts for people. Jourdonnais is currently employed as the MPG Ranchs principal investigator for big game. Hes joining with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bitterroot biologist Rebecca Mowry and lead FWP research biologist Kelly Proffitt to conduct a three-year mule deer study in the valley. The study got underway earlier this month when Mowry, Jourdonnais and other researchers began darting mule deer does in the south and north ends of the Sapphire Mountains and fitting them with GPS collars that will track them for the next three years. Before winters end, the researchers plan to have captured and collared a total of 30 mule deer does for the study. On the south end of the valley, the study will focus on the herd that lives between Skalkaho Road and the East Fork of the Bitterroot. On the north end, does will be captured between Miller Creek and Burnt Fork. The radio collars will be divided equally in both areas. The collars provide six to eight locations per day via satellite. The collars also have a mortality sensor, which will allow researchers to find any animal that dies hopefully quick enough to determine the cause of the mortality. Both the areas have already had a large amount of vegetative survey work completed during previous elk studies. That data that we already have in place will help be a benefit, Jourdonnais said. These studies that weve completed in the Bitterroot are now starting to build on one another. Jourdonnais completed a smaller deer study in the West Fork several years ago, which he said kind of primed the pump and helped us to develop the questions that we wanted to pursue. *** This mule deer study in the Bitterroot could serve as a pilot for other locations around the West that are seeing similar declines and changes in land use by mule deer, Mowry said. When state biologists and researchers first started talking about the potential of taking a hard look at why mule deer numbers fluctuate so much and sometimes dont rebound, there was talk about completing a statewide study, she said. After that was considered, we found that the different regions had different issues, she said. It didnt make sense to do one statewide study. The Sapphire Mountains offer good mule deer habitat, but their numbers have fluctuated over the years, especially in Hunting District 270 where buck mule deer are protected under regulations designed to grow large trophy bucks. While buck numbers are on the upswing in the East Fork of the Bitterroot, Mowry said doe numbers have remained stable or are declining. Im interested to see if the differences in management strategies or components of the habitat are making a difference in doe mule deer survival, Mowry said. Im also curious to see if the large numbers of bucks that we carry in the trophy district might be detrimental to the herd. I dont know what well find. Were all coming at it with an open mind and see what the data says. So far, the researchers have collared three does in the East Fork of the Bitterroot in the Rye Creek area. Another eight have been collared in the northern reaches of the Sapphire Mountains. There have been a couple of interesting observations. The first deer we collared moves a lot further than we thought it would, Mowry said. The researchers also noted a significant difference in body condition between does captured in the north and south ends of the valley. In the north end, they were a little bit fatter, she said. In the south, weve only captured deer right off Rye Creek. There isnt a lot food for them there. They are quite a bit thinner. Ill be interested to see if the deer are doing better in areas like French Basin and Sula Peak. Initially, the researchers had planned to capture the deer using baited clover traps, but a late elk hunt in the north end of the valley forced them to dart the animals with a fast-acting tranquilizer instead. Once the animals go down usually just a few minutes after being darted the researchers blindfold the animals to keep them calm. They then take a blood and fecal sample, assess body condition, attach the collar and insert two ear tags, including a red one that warns people about eating the deer. The tranquilizer can be bad for humans, Mowry said. If someone does harvest one of the deer with a red ear tag, they can call us and we can tell them when they were darted. After finishing the process, the researchers give the deer a reversal drug. They usually wake up in four or five minutes, Mowry said. They get up and walk away. Jourdonnais said the MPG Ranch is one of the principal funders of the project. The Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association donated money as well. Scott Kuehn is not of a fan of reality television. That 'Ax Men' program has put our profession back 30 years, said the Salmon River Wood forester. Its just so staged. Thirty or 40 years ago, you might have yahoos like that working in the woods, but those days are long gone. Kuehn is preaching to the choir as he visits with his boss, Joe Fraser, at the fork in the road on the Threemile Wildlife Management Area on this springlike morning. The two are checking maps and making sure their crew is doing everything just right on a timber sale thats certain to be scrutinized in the coming months. The thinning project on the state-owned wildlife management area is the first of perhaps many more to come as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks looks to improve wildlife habitat in the forests. Weve had a pretty good run here so far, Fraser said. Were down to two or three weeks if the weather holds. Originally slated to thin about 250 acres of overgrown ponderosa pine forest, FWPs new forester added another 127 acres to the contract after the sale price came in higher than expected. They want us to get rid of some encroachment thats happened into this meadow, Fraser said. They also want to open up some areas where there is some aspen. ... Its not your normal timber sale. They are focused on improving wildlife habitat, just like they should. The sale will produce a couple hundred truck loads of logs to Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake. The trees that wont make a board are hauled to a pulp operation in Bonner. Some of the smaller trees will be made into rails at a facility in Clancy. But more importantly for Fraser, the work means that some of his employees can go home at night and be with their families. Thats a luxury that doesnt happen all that often anymore. His crews are scattered on jobs in three states. You do what you have to to keep people working, he said. *** Fraser founded Salmon River Wood in 1982 after relocating to Missoula from Idaho when logging on federal lands all but ceased. Several loyal employees followed him to the new location where opportunity to log on tribal, private and state lands was enough to sustain the logging company. Fraser has been working in the woods for about as long as he can remember. I always wanted to become a logger, so I became one, he said. The first timber sale that he bought, Fraser put up his own home and land as collateral. Today, his logging company is one of the largest that remains in the state. Its a challenging time for the industry, especially with the warped view the public gets from television of the people who work in the woods. We have millions of dollars of equipment out here on any given day, Fraser said. The guys who work for me have to be professional. You cant treat people like they do on those reality shows. Reality TV is not reality, Kuehn said. Unfortunately, thats who the public thinks we are now. Just down the road, Jake Kries is flawlessly operating a half-million-dollar piece of equipment thats processing logs into piles headed for the mill or Bonners pulp operation. Not too long ago, Fraser said he watched Kries process 90 logs in 20 minutes using the same machinery. Hes so productive, its just scary, Fraser said. Its expensive to run that machinery. You need to know that the operator is top notch. Ive never seen him get rattled. Hes calm and steady. Exactly the kind of guy we like. Hes a Christian guy with a young family who is raising three kids, Fraser said. Hes just nice guy trying to make a living for his family. Thats just like it should be. Fraser said hes careful when it comes to hiring. His employees must be willing to take a drug test and steer clear of trouble. I have the right to pick who I want to work for me, he said. I dont want trouble. I dont want to work with some derelict. Most of my guys are just decent family men. Thats how most logging companies are these days. Most of the hard-living riff-raff are gone, Fraser said. The mills all have the specs that need to be met. You cant afford to have mistakes. The public doesnt understand the kind of financial risks that mill owners and loggers take to keep people employed, he said. These family-owned mills are multi-million-dollar businesses, Fraser said. If people knew the real profit margins that they operate under and the risks they take to remain open to support their communities, they might take a different view. This is a way of life for people, he said. Were all trying to do the right thing for the people who work for us. Most of us who are left are getting up there in age. Were going to wear out. Some young guys are going to have to step up to the plate. As the decades have passed, Fraser said its been the people hes worked with who have made everything possible. You get emotionally involved with them, he said. Thats not only me, when youre talking about a mill that employs all these people and supports a town. What are those mill owners going to do when times get tough? Well, theyre going to do the right thing. They are solid men who support a lot of young families. When youre done with this life, youre going to leave here with nothing, Fraser said. All youre going to leave behind are the bonds that youve formed with others. ... Whats the American dream? Maybe it just comes down to finding a way to help someone else as you travel down that road. SEELEY LAKE At 18 months old, Jenny Greger's father plunked her in the sled bag and took off on her first sled dog trail run. She hasn't stopped running since. At 6:20 a.m. Sunday, 20-year-old Greger flew across the Morrell Creek Trailhead finish line of the Race to the Sky's 100-mile event. She didn't dilly-dally the last 5 miles either. Second-place finisher Laura Daugereau was hot on Greger's heels and finished just one second later. "This was the hardest I've had because it was almost neck-to-neck at the finish," said Greger, of Bozeman. "This is the closest race I've ever been in." As Greger neared the end, she could see Daugereau's head lamp close behind. Greger turned hers off, hoping Daugereau couldn't see her (it was pitch black at the time). It worked for a bit, but then Daugereau got so close that she could see Greger even without her head lamp. "We were both running up the hills, and she was inching up on me and inching up on me," Greger said. "And I knew I've run the trail enough times I knew how close we were to the finish. It's not like I was cruising in the last few miles, knowing I had it. I was like shoot, I'm running out of distance, and she's making up the distance. So I definitely had to work for it." Her father holds the record at Race to the Sky; he's raced it 11 times. This year, he served as the head race marshal. *** As a child a wild one, she said she would grab her purebred Belgian shepherd, Mim, and run into the mountains to play. She had to be home before dark, and Mim was always dragging, exhausted but loyal, by her side. The mushing life played a huge role in her decision to become a veterinarian working with the dogs on her own, and learning from her father, the mushing community and race vets. She's in the pre-vet program at Montana State University. Her rigorous class schedule means she was only able to train on weekends, and sometimes at night, which is why she entered the 100-mile race this year. "It's really technical, steady planning, progressing in mileage from the beginning of the year to this race," she said. She started with 3-mile runs and worked her way up to a 52-mile run, training the dogs on speed and endurance. "This was a little bit of a step because we hadn't done two big runs back-to-back that length yet," she said. She races with Alaskan huskies and Belgian shepherd crosses: McGee, Bella, Jasper, Flame, Ranger, Viper, Flyer and Black Hawk. McGee and Bella lead the way. "This race is pretty solid. I know what to expect," she said. "I know the trail like the back of my hand." This is her fifth time competing in the 100. She's competed in the 300 twice, winning in 2014. She competed in the 300 again last year, but had to scratch halfway through due to the warm weather and lack of snow. That made it hard on her dogs, with their heavy coats. Because there was so little snow, they weren't able to "dip" dip down and eat snow to cool them off while they're running during the race. The hardest part is dealing with sleep deprivation. Gerry Walker, one of the 300-mile mushers, agreed wholeheartedly. "Staying awake ," said Walker, of Pierceland, Saskatchewan, Canada. "I was falling asleep standing up on the runners." He decided to scratch on Sunday. The altitude is higher here, and it's warmer. His dogs, which are getting older, he said, are conditioned to colder temperatures. "I hate to do that, but it's in the dogs' interest," he said. This was Walker's second time in Race to the Sky (he won fourth place three years ago), but he's been mushing for 14 years. Before, he was a rodeo cowboy for 25 years, touring all over Canada and the U.S. "I think I thought I got old enough that maybe I should smarten up with the rodeo," he said. "Now I got a worse habit." But he loves the outdoors and dogs, and he can train his dogs right in the provincial park that borders his farm. On Sunday, sleeping mushers lined the walls of the Seeley Lake Community Center knocked out after hours of non-stop work. The rest sat around the center, eyes glazed over with fatigue. Brett Bruggeman, of Great Falls, was the first of the 300-mile mushers to make it to the Seeley Lake checkpoint at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, next heading toward Owl Creek Packer Camp. The race continues Monday as the 300-mile mushers race toward Lincoln, where they started on Saturday. The awards are scheduled to be presented Tuesday night in Helena. In her Jan. 26 opinion, Congress must not pass the water compact, Jeanette Zentgraf displays a willful disregard for the facts behind the compact, as well as the events leading to its passage. Rather than focusing on the facts of what the compact does and how it will benefit Montanans, she calls the passage of the compact an affront to those who testified against itas if her feelings about the compact somehow outweigh the real benefits it will provide to water users across our state. Zentgrafs mindset is a prime example of the way this small group of opponents approached the compact during the legislative sessionreplacing reality with beliefs and facts with feelings. When Gov. Steve Bullock signed the compact, he did not defy any law or judicial challenge, as Zentgraf suggests. He signed it because a bipartisan majority of the legislature put it on his desk after years of negotiations, public meetings and discussions where this small group of compact opponents had many opportunities to have their voice heard and be part of the solution, yet time and time again chose instead to sit on the sidelines. By supporting the compact, Bullock, Attorney General Tim Fox and all those who voted to pass the compact through the legislative process acted in the best interest of Montanans. It is thanks to their actions that farmers, ranchers and water users across our state can rest a little easier knowing they wont be forced into court and that their water rights are protected. Those who testified in favor of the compact detailed the impacts that failing to pass the agreement would have on their farms, ranches and small businesses. The people that comprise the backbone of our states economy, along with tribal members and experts on Montana water law, all testified to the crucial role that passing the compact played in protecting our states water resources for future generations. Yet opponents like Zentgraf turn a blind eye to the fact that without the compact, many farmers and ranchers would be forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend their existing water rights in courtdollars that for many would be the difference between paying off their operating loan for the year and going out of business. Additionally, Zentgraf claims that passing the compact deprives opponents of the ability to file lawsuits. The passage of the compact does no such thing. Anyone who disagrees with the agreement is free to have his or her day in court. If they want to litigate, there is nothing in the compact that prevents them from doing so. However, not passing the compact would have forced those who have no desire to be involved in litigation to engage in an uphill battle to defend their water rights against those of the tribes, many of which carry the priority date of time immemorial which would make it nearly impossible for those defending their rights water to prevail in court. Without the compact, Montanas water users are left with nothing but a hope and a prayer that the water sustaining their livelihood will be there in the future. Before staking the lives and businesses of those who depend on the successful passage of the compact on her beliefs, perhaps Zentgraf should take a moment to consider the hard science behind the compact and the real financial implications for our state if it is not passed. When Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his run for president, Democratic Party insiders scoffed, having already anointed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as their chosen heir to succeed Barack Obama in the White House. I mean, the thought that some 74-year-old self-defined democratic socialist could challenge the Demo Party machine was laughable. Well, here we are a couple of debates later and fully into the primary season, and its safe to say the party insiders arent laughing anymore; theyre feeling the Bern and its scorching their establishment agenda with the growing flames of Sanders political revolution. The signs that Clintons mega-bucks campaign might be in trouble came at the Iowa caucuses, which she was expecting to win handily. But that conclusion began to melt during a heated debate in which Sanders nailed Clinton on taking $675,000 from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs for three speeches over an 18-month period. You can do the math and come to the same conclusion voters are coming to: who pays someone almost a quarter of a million dollars for a speech that isnt expecting more than a little quid pro quo from that politician? Hillary Clinton snapped back that she would have many more targets for Wall Street reform than Sanders and quipped I have Wall Streets number. Indeed, those who watched or read Clintons quote almost immediately thought We bet you do. Just press $ on speed dial and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein will answer. When asked whether she would be releasing the transcripts of those speeches, Clinton prevaricated further, saying she would look into it. Really, Hillary? You want us to believe all those high-cost speeches you gave, which were recorded by professional transcription services, arent readily available to the politician who gave them? Or maybe its just that you dont want voters to see the pragmatic promises you made to the same bums who fleeced Americans out of billions of dollars through risky and losing speculative actions like bundling mortgages and selling derivatives. When the dust settled from the non-voting Iowa caucuses, the result was a near dead heat between Sanders and Clinton. The klaxons began sounding and red lights started flashing at Hillarys campaign headquarters, not the least because Sanders was overwhelmingly taking young voters, both men and women, away from Clinton. Then came the news that Sanders had outraised Clinton in January by about $10 million. Mind you, Clintons campaign is sucking bucks from super PACs, fossil fuel lobbyists, and Wall Street while Sanders has eschewed that entire fundraising scheme in favor of small contributions from his supporters. No matter what the Demo political machine believes about traditional wisdom in big-bucks fundraising, its impossible to ignore that Sanders has received an average of $27 per contribution from over 3 million donors. Seems the little people, who are tired of the billionaires calling the shots in our nation, are responding to Bernies promise to break up the too big to fail banksters who have already bought and paid for Clinton. Next came the New Hampshire primary, where Sanders was expected to win, but Clintons team thought theyd be competitive until another couple strategic blunders popped up in Clintons mistake-laden campaign. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a noted warhawk from Bill Clintons presidency, insulted millions of women when she announced that there was a special place in hell for women who didnt help each other. Equally insulting was the explanation from ancient feminist Gloria Steinem that the reason young women were supporting Sanders was because of the young men working on his campaign. Those two testimonials worked about as well as Clintons dodge on the Goldman Sachs speeches and initiated a tidal wave of backlash from women nationwide. The result? Sanders wallops Clinton in New Hampshire, pulling twice as many votes with an astounding 83 percent of men and women voters age 18-29 one-fifth of the electorate while taking 78 percent of first-time voters, and fully 55 percent of womens votes. Results from distant states may not seem relevant to Montana, but a poll last week by Helenas Independent Record asked readers which presidential candidate they supported. Guess what? Sanders drew 652 votes to Trumps 390, while Clinton came in a distant third at 325. The campaigns are a long ways from over, but for now the electorate sure seems to be embracing Bernie Sanders' political revolution. In the meantime, theres simply no doubt that Sanders rivals are feeling the Bern! Most citizens might be surprised that under current law, lobbyists are allowed to buy legislators dinners, drinks and other gifts. More alarming, however, is the volume of and inadequate disclosure for these gifts. Most days during the session, a legislator is eating or drinking something provided by privately funded groups interested in influencing the legislative process. I often hear from voters that they dont believe politicians care about people like them. We must do everything we can to restore peoples faith that our government is of, by and for the people. Pursuant to those ends, I plan to propose legislation in the next session to change the current $50 limit on gifts from lobbyists to a comprehensive and total ban on all gifts from lobbyists to legislators. States like Minnesota and Florida have enacted similar bans on gifts from lobbyists, and such measures have enjoyed considerable support. Though its unlikely that a legislator would change his or her vote on a bill for a free sandwich, it is obvious that lobbyist-funded receptions, dinners and other events can crowd out the voice of regular citizens who cant provide similar gifts. Over the long run, the access that these gifts provide to lobbyists has a distorting influence. To be sure, lobbyists play an important and legitimate role in the legislative process. Thanks to term limits, few legislators have more than two or three sessions under their belts. Were also citizen legislators. We have real jobs to tend to back home outside of the four months the legislature meets every other yearand that means leaning on guidance from lobbyists, who have years of consistent experience and knowledge on their issues. But the influence of lobbyists can cross the line when, in addition to their expertise, they open the door to after-hour dinners, drinks and other gifts. Time is a commodity in short supply during the session. A legislator must vote on hundreds of pieces of legislation in a few months. When a lobbyist can enjoy two hours with a legislator leading up to a critical committee vote, few other citizens get equal time. The point here is not that legislators whove accepted dinners, drinks or other gifts from lobbyists are corrupt. A comprehensive gift ban isnt about accusing any individual of corruption. It's about creating a healthy framework in which a citizen-driven democracy can function. I have attended dinner events funded by private interest groups, and Ive been consistently impressed by the integrity of those who've stepped up to represent their legislative districts across Montana. It's a hard and largely thankless job. Last session I was proud to support Republican Sen. Duane Ankneys Disclose Act, championed and signed into law by Gov. Steve Bullock. The bill closed loopholes that previously allowed out-of-state special interest groups to spend millions in Montana politics while keeping the source of the money secret. The pernicious Citizens United decision requires us to build on the success of the Disclose Act, especially since a lobbyist may now be engaged in unlimited independent expenditures aimed at influencing legislative races. A gift ban will challenge the way things work in Helena. Our state Legislature works better than the U.S. Congress because folks with different perspectives actually work together to solve problems. Medicaid expansion, the water compact and keeping the sage grouse off the endangered species list all required legislators to reach compromises with those across the aisle. Some of those relationships undoubtedly formed in the wee hours of a downtown dive. Banning privately funded events will require us to replace them with efforts by legislators to continue to get to know one another as people rather than political opponents after work hours have ended. I have no doubt that introducing a bill to ban gifts from lobbyists will rankle special interests, but I welcome the debate. If you agree, I encourage you to contact your legislator. It will take a massive amount of public support to enact such a law, but helping average citizens have the access to their legislators that lobbyists do is worth it. Under a gift ban, legislators can continue to benefit from lobbyists experienceswithout benefiting from a free steak, too. I was a public health nurse for 25 years. I created and administered the refugee program, which included health education, communicable disease control and cultural sensitivity. The refugees were from Laos, Cambodia, Russia, Tibet, Thailand and Vietnam. They came with disease and chronic conditions. Many did not understand the germ theory, and many had inadequate knowledge of hygienic measures. Some could not read and write their own language, making it more difficult for them to learn English. There were many cultural barriers. Some had never seen a toilet, used a washing machine or refrigerator, or driven a car. Their job skills ranged from slash-and-burn farming to building houses, fixing cars and farm equipment, and the restaurant business. Some were very passive and some were very aggressive. They came with their own belief systems but they did not force their beliefs on us. All of the refugees had things in common. They drained health systems, they took jobs and housing from already inadequate supplies, and schools had to provide tutors and culturally sensitive materials. In one to five years most had moved on to reunite with their families in larger communities where jobs and resources were more plentiful. These refugees came here because they worked for our government and/or they were being slaughtered or persecuted. They came here legally. I learned so much from the refugees. What would the Syrians bring? How long will they stay? What jobs and housing is available in a community already complaining of inadequate housing and jobs? What disease and health issues will they bring? Will they bring terrorists? Will they try to force their beliefs on us? Will they want to learn and be a productive part of this community? To have refugees takes much preparation, long-term commitment, time, community resources and realistic goals. This is true whether it is one refugee or several. Pat Dontigny, Missoula HELENA It would be good if the toilets didnt periodically overflow at Hawthorne Elementary School. And if the speech therapist could move her office out of the former shower room. And then, there are the cracks and peeling facade that can be so demoralizing. These are just a few of the problems cited by staff working at the 95-year-old Hawthorne Elementary School on Helenas West Side. Across town, it's rotten pipes that have John Carter worried. A civil engineer, Carter oversees Helena School District facilities. Sealed in a plastic bag on the shelf in his office is a rusted-out piece of sewer line that burst at Bryant School last year. One of the most recent breaks was a pipe outside Project Alternative Learning on Christmas Eve, causing water shut-offs to part of Helena's downtown and Westside. It also caused sinking of the school parking lot and part of the street. Carter and Helena are not alone. Nearly 70 percent of Montanas schools were built before 1970, according to the states 2008 "Public Schools Facility Condition Assessment, which was based on a review of known building ages. A 2013 Helena Public Schools assessment reported the average age of Montana school buildings is around 53 years old. Helena's Carter keeps a series of ever-changing databases and spreadsheets tracking the lifespan of roofs and boilers across the elementary school and high school districts and prioritizing major projects at 18 school buildings (and 11 modulars) before disaster strikes. The projects are many, since the average age of Helenas school buildings is 64 years, he said. Carter is trying to deal with an estimated $60 million in deferred maintenance costs during the next 15 to 20 years. Just in the next five years, the district is due to replace $5.5 million in elementary school roofs. There are some 1.1 million square feet of floors in the district to keep track of and replace as needed. Carter relies on a 10-year deferred maintenance bond that passed in 2013, that provides annual amounts of $1.25 million for elementary school buildings and $750,000 for two high schools and the PAL building. He supplements this with grants he writes, having received $2.8 million in the past eight years from a variety of sources. In June 2015, a $70 million elementary school bond was soundly defeated by voters by a 60-40 margin. It would have built two new elementary schools and a large addition on another elementary school, and paid for renovations at six others. Until the voters find a bond thats palatable, Carter has a lot of work ahead stretching funds. Its something hes made into an art form. Take a Helena Middle School boiler with a life expectancy of 30 years. Its now 81 years old and is finally getting replaced this year. The 2013 Helena Public Schools assessment cites guidelines by the National Center for Educational Statistics that school buildings are typically considered functionally obsolete at age 60, which raises eyebrows in a city like Helena that prides itself on its historic heritage and buildings. Older school buildings can lack things like flexible floor plans and ways to easily wire in new technology. They also lack energy efficient windows, classroom sinks needed for teaching science and art and ADA accessibility and can need seismic upgrades or have asbestos and lead paint issues. But newer buildings arent always the answer. Helenas Jim Darcy School, which was built in 1965, and is the districts fifth-newest building, was being considered for demolition because of its rapidly failing physical condition. Deferred maintenance can be deferred only so long, before it takes its toll. Pay now or pay later, said Anthony Perpignano, president of CWG Architects in Helena, which is designing a new school addition in White Sulphur Springs. 'Foundation was crumbling' White Sulphur Springs elementary students had been attending class in a building with walls that wept when it rained, according to a previous Independent Record story. The high school roof has leaked since the early 1960s. A safety inspection revealed that the elementary schools foundation was crumbling and mold was causing bricks to fall away in some places. Lights in the elementary school had to be turned off during rain as to avoid a short caused by the leaky roof. Last fall, the community passed a $9.4 million bond to construct a 70,000-square-foot building adjoining their high school. White Sulphur Springs is just one example of a much larger problem, said Perpignano. Theres not enough money to keep up with maintenance, he said. Its an epidemic and it goes across the state. Inadequate funding at all levels, from the school district to the state to the federal government contribute to the problem, Perpignano said. But since no money is on its way any time soon, he advises its a good idea for school districts to have a long-range facility plan. East Helena Public Schools has had such a planning committee for decades, he said. Trigger points are identified ahead of time. As these are approached, the district has time to make plans and take them to the voters. Marrying old with new Some school districts, such as Billings, have been able to marry the old with the new, earning praise from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The National Trust works, where possible, to renovate old school buildings with historic value, rather than raze them. Downtown schools that are razed can have a destructive ripple effect on neighborhoods and downtowns. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Billings decided to renovate three historic neighborhood schools and added new additions to two of them this past year, according to former Broadwater Elementary School PTA president Ann L. Clancy. She worked with a fellow parent, architect Scott Atwood, in spearheading the effort to save downtown schools. Four were slated for closing; three of them were saved. The success is just this year, she said. The district added architecturally matching new structures to the historic schools, she said. Now we can see these schools last another 100 years. She questions the bias against older buildings. What do you think people are doing in Europe, where people are using buildings hundreds and hundreds of years old? Americans have a "throw-away mentality, she said. We put up these crappy buildings and then just tear them down. Aging gracefully Not every aging school building is limping toward retirement or a wrecking ball. Sunset Elementary School in Greenough, 32 miles east of Missoula, was built around 1910. Its actually two one-room school houses that were moved and merged into one, according to supervising and sole teacher Toni Hatten. Despite its age and small enrollment five at the moment the school has up-to-date technology, said Hatten, including a whiteboard, a Smart Board and really good Internet service. Her students use iPads a lot and online curriculum. Technology is a huge part of our day. We use it daily multiple times, she said, between typing, practice work, research and presentations. The students each have their own Chromebook. My young kids are pretty advanced, she said of their tech skills. Hatten, who arrived at the school in Fall 2011, said her board is very supportive of technology and professional development, and just sent her to a major technology conference in Orlando, Florida. One of the challenges of an older building is little critters, she said. You always have to be vigilant to make sure it is under control. Not only is there an occasional mouse, but also a squirrel or two have ventured indoors. Despite the limited and fluctuating enrollment, the ranching community has been strongly supportive of the school and continues to invest in it. The bathrooms were just remodeled and the lighting has been upgraded. We are supported by tax dollars from the local community, she said. Its the best! she said of teaching at Sunset. By far, its the best position Ive had. Its a fabulous environment. I think every teacher should experience it. Basin School, 37 miles south of Helena, celebrates its 120th anniversary this year and has an enrollment of 17. While the building is sound, technology can be a challenge at times, said supervising teacher Harmony Letang. Were pretty much the Internet hub of the town, she said. To retrofit the technology into the school setting is always a challenge, particularly the wiring. They also need to make sure they have adequate bandwidth for students to do standardized testing. Our facilities are dated, she said, particularly the bathrooms, which are small and have just two stalls per gender. The building also lacks a gymnasium. Letangs been teaching there since 2003, and since that time theyve upgraded the siding and replaced an oil-fueled boiler with propane heat. The school also put in all new energy-saving windows and a Smart Board. But some of the advantages of an older building, she said, can outweigh the inconveniences. Its a unique setting. It doesnt look like every other school. It has unique character, said Letang. We still pull the bell rope in the bell tower to call kids in from recess. Theres an immediate sense of history, she added. Former students stop in and tell stories about what it was like when they attended. Thats a real benefit that connection to history. I think the building is very well suited to teaching, she said. We are able to get online. I never felt like the building was any kind of hindrance. I just think its a fantastic place to work. I think it has a lot of charm. I love the place. Neighborhood schools This is a sentiment partially echoed in Helena at Hawthorne School by its teachers. Some things maybe not the plumbing work beautifully. Staff members realize their building could be closed because of declining enrollment and the buildings structural problems. We value the community, the small-school size, said teacher Eric Lehman. He believes thats one of the reasons Helenas bond failed in 2015 people didnt want to lose neighborhood schools. The Hawthorne children feel they belong they all know each other and all the staff, and the staff know them. Theres a lot of parent support and involvement. Some parents walk their kids to school in the morning, stay for the morning pledge of allegiance and then visit on the playground. The staff members talk about long-term friendships that formed and flourished over the years between families, providing an extended family network for children. I worked in a bigger school and you dont have this sense of community, said Anne Bartsch. Neighborhood schools are not a common thing, added Lehman, who taught in a large school in Washington, D.C. BILLINGS With a month left to qualify for the Montana ballot, only three presidential candidates have made the cut. Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have gathered enough Montana signatures to be part of states June 7 primary election. The rest of the crowded presidential field has slightly more than four weeks to get at least 500 people to endorse their bids. Trump and Sanders qualified just in the last few days, Cruz a little earlier. The last time I checked was two days ago, and Sanders had 1,300 signatures. The other two were in the 600s, Blair Fjeseth, of the Montana Secretary of States office, said late last week. Andy Boyd, a Bernie Sanders supporter in Bozeman, said Sanders easily qualified for the Montana ballot. Supporters have evolved from a loose-knit group interested in Sanders to an organized campaign that will be forming phone banks and calling voters to get out the vote. There is still no official office in Montana for the Sanders campaign, though supporters communicate through Facebook and meet regularly. Trump supporters are also without an official campaign headquarters in Montana, but coordinate events through Facebook. A map of Facebook likes, posted Thursday by New York Times statistician Nate Silvers 538 Blog, showed that Montana is Ben Carson country when it comes to Facebook likes, with 29 percent of the likes by Montanans liking candidate pages on the social media site. Sanders was second with 24 percent. Trump was third with 21 percent. Cruz was fifth at 13 percent. Carson has not qualified for the Montana ballot, but has received the most financial support from Montanans, according to campaign reports filed Jan. 31. Hillary Clinton was sixth in Facebook likes by Montanans at 4 percent. But Clinton also is close to qualifying for the Montana ballot, said Carol Williams of Missoula, a former legislator who is currently spearheading Clintons Montana campaign. We literally were waiting for Hillary to sign the initial affidavit for signatures to be gathered, Williams said. I think maybe it wasnt until mid-January. As in 2008, the Democratic primary is turning into a horse race. Williams said she expects Clinton will visit Montana at some point. There's a chance Clinton will send surrogates to the state in March. SILAO, Mexico Sheathed in colorful woolen ponchos and wearing crisp white hats, the cowboys rode their horses through green fields and blond meadows, holding banners of Christ the King and the Virgin of Guadalupe. The cowboys were in the midst of a three-day pilgrimage last month through the central highlands of Guanajuato, an 84-mile trip to the mountaintop statue of Christ the King, among the tallest and most sacred in Mexico. The first pilgrimage began more than 60 years ago, when an ailing cowboy set out to seek salvation at the feet of the statue. Though the region has transformed since then, with family farming giving way to manufacturing, this tradition has grown, attracting thousands of devotees every January. This year, the pilgrimage drew more than 3,000 people, most of them men. Times have changed and we dont harvest as much, said Juan Isidro, a farmer from a nearby ranch who has attended the pilgrimage for eight years. Those traditions are being lost. ST.-LOUIS, Senegal On a hazy afternoon last week, about two dozen Senegalese commandos dressed in dark green camouflage uniforms landed their black Zodiac boats on a sandy beach and clambered ashore, their M-16 rifles at the ready. Within minutes, they were walking stealthily in small groups through low scrub brush to sneak up on their target several hundred yards away: the village lair of an Algerian terrorist financier they had been hunting for days. Moments later, shots rang out and a hooded, handcuffed man was hustled from his hide-out to the awaiting boats. In truth, the raid was simulated: The shots were blanks, the terrorist an American airman playing a bad guy. But the threat recreated in this training exercise at an abandoned beach resort here has become increasingly and unsettlingly real, Senegalese officials say. Trying to stay a step ahead of terrorist and illicit smuggling networks that are pushing deeper into West Africa, Senegal created a new riverine commando squad last year to help patrol the Senegal River that delineates a 500-mile border with Mauritania to the north. Manlai Baatar Damdinsuren with two of his adjutants. Damdinsuren was Mongolian patriot and nationalist who took part in revival of Mongolian... (Beirut) The authorities arrest of a former BBC reporter on February 3, 2016, shows the risk dual nationals face if they choose to live in Iran. The family of Bahman Daroshafahi, who has been working as a translator, has not been able to find out about why he has been arrested, or by whom, or what charges he might be facing. Irans unaccountable security agencies run roughshod over President Hassan Rouhanis promises of a more inclusive Iran, said Sarah Leah Whitson , Middle East director. This pattern of arresting Iranians who were simply excercising their freedoms of expression and association while living abroad seriously undermines the notion that Iran actually welcomes having its own citizens return home. Daroshafahi, a dual British-Iranian national who has worked as a journalist for the BBC Persian television channel and website, returned to Iran in September 2014, after living in the United Kingdom for several years. When he arrived at the airport, the authorities seized his passport. Over the next two months, Intelligence Ministry officials periodically interrogated Daroshafahi about his activities as a journalist, but at the time did not file any charges against him. Plainclothes officers from an unidentified security agency arrested Daroshafahi at a friends house on the morning of February 3, 2015. The officers took Daroshafahi to his parents house, showed him an arrest warrant, and proceeded to confiscate his digital devices. When his parents asked the officers for an explanation and to identify themselves, they refused to respond. Daroshafahis friends reported that his Telegram messaging application account was active for several hours after his arrest and, in at least one instance, authorities used the account to engage in conversations with a contact. Daroshafahis family went to Evin Prison in Tehran on February 6, where they managed to speak with an official on the telephone who confirmed that their son was being held there. The official told them that he would not be able to contact his family for another week. Two days later, Daroshafahi called his parents and told them he was detained in a cell and was being interrogated, but provided no further details about his charges or the identities and affiliations of his interrogator(s). Iranians who have acquired dual citizenship or have lived outside the country appear to be particular targets for security forces, Human Rights Watch said. Despite repeated calls by President Rouhani encouraging Iranians in the diaspora to return, authorities have arrested and prosecuted several Iranian citizens who have done so. On October 15, 2015, Iranian authorities arrested Siamak Namazi, a dual Iranian-American citizen and the head of strategic planning at the Dubai-based Crescent Petroleum who was visiting his family in Tehran. He remains in detention, but the charges against him are unclear. Jason Rezaian , the Washington Post journalist who was recently released in a swap of prisoners between Iran and the United States, spent 18 months in a section of Evin Prison controlled by Irans Revolutionary Guards and was convicted and sentenced to a term unknown even to him. Mostafa Azizi, a documentary filmmaker and Canadian permanent resident, was arrested on February 25, 2015, while visiting his family in Iran. Branch 15 of Tehrans revolutionary court sentenced Azizi, who remains in prison, to eight years for acting against national security, insulting the Supreme Leader, and propaganda against the state. On May 10, 2014, Irans Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization arrested Seraj Mirdamadi, who had worked as a journalist for the Radio Zamaneh website when he lived in France. He had returned to Iran in 2013, and had been subjected to several rounds of interrogation before his arrest. On July 27, 2014, Branch 15 of Tehrans revolutionary court sentenced Mirdamadi to six years in prison for assembly and collusion against national security and propaganda against the state for his journalistic activities. He is in of Evin Prison. Mirdamadis father told Roozonline website that Judge Abolghasem Salavati at Branch 15 of Tehrans revolutionary court said during the trial that he was going to make an example of Mirdamadi so that others would not think about returning. In April 2014, Irans Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organizations officers arrested Hossein Nouraninejad, a journalist and member of the Participation Front political party, two months after he returned from Australia, where he had been in graduate school. In June 2014, a revolutionary court sentenced Nournajinejad, who had been released on bail after two months of solitary confinement, to six years in prison on charges of propaganda against the state and assembly and collusion against national security. A court of appeal reduced Nournainejads sentence to one year. Nouraninejad is in Evin Prison. Link: Montana State Prison inmate Dewey Eugene Coleman died on Sunday at the Lewistown Infirmary of natural causes, according to a news release from the Montana Department of Corrections. He was 67. Coleman was sentenced out of Rosebud County on Nov. 21, 1975. On July 4, 1974, 21-year-old Peggy Lee Harstad went missing. Her car was found the next day, abandoned just a few miles from her home in Rosebud. Her purse was found in a culvert a few more miles away, according to stories in the Gazette archives. Harstad was driving between Rosebud and Harlowton when she offered a ride to two hitchhikers, later identified as Dewey Eugene Coleman and Robert Dennis Nank. Her body was discovered in late August on the north bank of the Yellowstone River near Forsyth. Nank and Coleman were arrested in October 1974 in Boise. Nank confessed that he and Coleman had raped, beaten and drowned Harstad, while Coleman denied that he was involved. Both were charged with deliberate homicide, aggravated kidnapping and rape. At the time, a conviction of aggravated kidnapping had a mandatory death sentence attached, but that law was repealed in 1977. Nank entered a plea agreement, allowing him to have the kidnapping charges dropped, avoiding the death penalty, in exchange for testifying against Coleman. Coleman was convicted on all three counts, and was sentenced to 100 years for the homicide and 40 years for the rape charge. For the kidnapping, he received the mandatory death sentence, Gazette archives show. Nank later escaped from the Nevada prison in which he was being held in 1981, along with three other convicted murderers. He had been transferred to the prison from Deer Lodge out of fear of retribution for testifying against Coleman. Coleman appealed the sentence, and the Montana Supreme Court determined the mandatory death sentence to be unconstitutional. Coleman was again sentenced to death in 1978 under a new statute. The execution was scheduled for late November of 1981. Though no executions had been carried out in Montana for more than 39 years, the primary means of execution was still hanging. However, Montana State Prison Warden Hank Risley had the prison's gallows removed, stating that he didn't want his institution to carry out executions. Yellowstone County Sheriff Richard Shaffer took matters into his own hands, secretly constructing a gallows over a stairwell on the ninth floor of the Yellowstone County Courthouse. Just days before the hanging was to take place, Coleman was granted a stay of execution. Coleman later argued that his death sentence was handed down because he was black, and that Nank was given preferential treatment because he was white. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Coleman in 1988, commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment. Coleman was to be eligible for parole this year, though a previous hearing with the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole in 2011 did not go in his favor. When Butte school district officials applied for a $1.2 million grant from the state Quality Schools Program to upgrade the HVAC central heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at Butte High School and annex last year, they figured the district had a pretty good shot to get the money. After all, a 2011 QSP grant allowed the Butte school district to make earlier air and heating upgrades to the buildings. But the districts 2015 energy-related request, like many others from around the state, tanked because the 2015 Montana Legislature failed on the last day of the session to pass a $150 million infrastructure bill. We were truly disappointed, said Superintendent Judy Jonart. We would never have predicted that infrastructures have to be funded. Butte is one of 29 school districts statewide that were recommended for upgrades to HVAC systems or other energy-efficiency projects, which would have resulted in savings on heating and cooling bills. Since the grant program was first funded in 2011, the state has received more than 100 applications for such projects. We were awarded the grant, and it was submitted to be funded, said Jonart. But it was the first time the legislature did not fund it. ... Once you put that kind of work into it (grant-writing) and are recommended to be funded not getting it was such a huge disappointment. Since the Quality Schools Grant was not forthcoming, the district drew on its high-school-building reserve cash fund of $3 million to make long-needed upgrades to heating and air conditioning systems in the annex. Dennis Clague, Butte district business director, said the reserve will not take away from other priority projects in the district. Jed Hoopes is putting together a project list, and it will be prioritized to see what needs/can be done with the remaining funds, added Clague. In 1990, when they connected the whole school to the annex, they put some new controls on it, but that was it, said Hoopes. The original equipment they didnt touch. So its basically never been upgraded; its all original (equipment). Phase 1, completed during the 2015 holidays, included upgrading air conditioning in adjacent high-school administrative offices located near the annex. None of those offices had proper heat or AC, said Hoopes. We did the pieces that werent disruptive to the school during Christmas and Thanksgiving, said Jonart. Now its on to the annex itself, where myriad Phase 2 projects are planned. The $1.2 million will cover: Refurbishing the existing HVAC with new energy-efficient systems. Upgrading an existing multi-zone air handling unit. Servicing variable air volume systems. Installing at least three rooftop AC units. Servicing hot water and baseboard heating and ventilation units. The air systems will accommodate eight zones including a conference room to replace pipes, ducts and other infrastructures that need upgrades. Hoopes recently led a tour of the annex boilers and AC units. The rooftop units have reached the end of their lives, said Hoopes. Theres some duct work were going to straighten out, and there are some control sequences for the heat itself so the area isnt overheated. Spikes in heat brought calls for more temperature stability from some teachers whose classrooms are housed in the annex family and consumer science, welding, and art, for examples. Jonart and Hoopes expect phase 2 to be completed by next fall. The district has put Quality Schools Grants to very good use in the past, said Jonart. A 2011 Quality Schools Grant of $506,000 improved the Butte High Digital controls in the main academic building and replaced an annex boiler. And similar grants within the past 10 years were used to replace boilers at Hillcrest Elementary and Kennedy Elementary. Because of the boiler replacements plus the work weve done at Butte High, Jonart said, we have saved funds so we could go in and do window replacement and retrofitted lighting. Those have all reduced energy (consumption). We are really getting to be energy-efficient because of these things. The previous grant resulted in "phenomenal" energy-efficiency savings of as much as $75,502 annually and "the work currently underway in the annex will add an additional $15,395 in savings annually, Jonart said. Meanwhile, questions abound for the next grant cycle for fiscal year 2019. The application process has started, but again, it will ultimately be up to the legislature to give school districts like Butte the ability to fund future projects for their aging buildings. The FWP Commission has made it clear they favor political solutions over game management with the 43 antlerless shoulder seasons on private lands only. The commission wants the elk hunters to butter up to landowners like Galt to hunt elk and on an appointment list for the chosen few. Doesnt the Commission understand Montana elk hunters prefer to hunt on our public lands BLM, National Forest and public State Lands? The shoulder season is a bad choice for Montana. Concern of too many antlerless elk on certain areas the Commission should have considered a 2-3 week antlerless season during the regular season with an option of extending the regular antlerless season by one week. That option would take into consideration of restricting hunting if elk moved onto designated winter ranges with unusual weather conditions. The best option remains a 2-3 week antlerless season during the regular season. The FWP has become political with less voice of the Montana hunter ears seemed to be opened to environmental organizations. This will not change until we have a new Governor, Commission and Director. The field biologists are very good at their job and go a long way to represent the resource -- its the Helena regime that's the problem. What I would recommend with a new Governor. Change the name of FWP to Montana Fish & Game Management Department. We would have a Game Management and Fisheries Management Division in Helena and a new mission that represents management for the good of the resource and sportsmen. The Parks Division would become a division in Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation no longer in FWP. All indications point out elk hunters were not in favor of this shoulder season but were overruled by politics. This approach is contrary to the wishes of the hunters. In the election process look at individuals who will represent the resource over politics. Montanas wildlife deserves more we do not need the same political cronies deciding how to manage and regulate our fish and wildlife resources. The future of hunting for the younger generation is under siege with less hunting opportunity and public land access. The elk shoulder season is a clear indication FWP Commission wants our big game resource privatized I would fire them all. -- Jack D. Jones of Butte worked as a wildlife biologist in Montana for 36 years with the Bureau of Land Management. MUSCATINE, Iowa The Muscatine Police Department has welcomed several new officers to the force in the past few months. In this 15 Minutes, we introduce Officer Britt Jameson. Age: 27 Hometown: Illinois City, Illinois Graduated: Westmer High School, Muscatine Community College and Western Illinois University. He earned a degree in law enforcement justice administration. Jameson graduated from the Iowa law Enforcement Academy on Dec. 4, 2015. He has been a working patrol officer since early December. Jameson worked as a dispatcher in Muscatine County for two years before deciding to join the police department. Why did you get into dispatching? "I just kind of saw it as a foot in the door really. I just kind of learned about everything. I ended up enjoying it but I really wanted to be on the other side of things." Why did you want to be a police officer? "You know, it started when I was really young. You see the car and the lights and you think, oh, that's really cool. Kind of the general answer is I really wanted to get out there and make a difference. I want to change the way people see officers. I really want to help people. I want to help them with their problems, protect people." What do you mean when you say you want to change the way people see police? "Right now police are getting a bad rap. There's always some bad apples but I mean 99 percent of officers out there are good. They are people that really want to help people and I just want to put that out there. I am very fortunate to be where I am at." What has that been like? "It's completely different dealing with people face to face compared to on the phone. You get a lot more stories. You interact with people a whole lot more. I like talking to people." He's been working a series of rotating shifts. What have you enjoyed most about the job so far? "I would say just being out talking to people. Coming from dispatch, where you are stuck in one room for 12 hours, that's a little tough. Getting out there where you can drive around and talk to people, I enjoy that." What are you looking at in the future? "I think I'd like to be part of the K-9 program. I think that would be an enjoyable program to be in." MUSCATINE, Iowa The Muscatine City Council has approved a resolution of support for an application by HNI to the state's High Quality Jobs program. "This project is a multi-location, modernization investment. It will be approximately a $26.8 million investment. Part of that, $8 million of that, is in additional research and development efforts. The rest of it is predominantly in machinery and equipment. So this is an investment in equipment. It is an investment in processes. It's an investment in layout. It is also and investment in ergonomics," said HNI Vice President Gary Carlson. With the council approval, the city becomes the sponsor of the application. "It is really focused on making us more efficient and effective," Carlson told the council Thursday night. Councilman Scott Nativig asked Carlson about a note in the application about HNI keeping manufacturing in Muscatine. HNI does have manufacturing facilities elsewhere. "It's a wonderful city for HNI Corporation and we have a great partnership with the city and with the county and with the community and I guess our heart is here as well," Carlson said. The High Quality Jobs program provides qualifying businesses tax credits and direct financial assistance to off-set some of the costs incurred to locate, expand or modernize an Iowa facility. "This is going to be a super project for our community. HNI continues to invest for all of us in the town and it's a great opportunity to extend their commitment to the community," said Greg Jenkins, president & CEO of the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "We talk often about how economic development is about existing industry growth and sustaining it. This is the truth." The Iowa Economic Development Authority board is expected to review the application at its meeting next Friday. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia possessed one of the greatest legal minds of our generation. His unexpected death on Saturday was a tremendous loss for the nation that he loved, for the rule of law that he championed, and for the Constitution he strove to restore throughout his 30 years on the court. Winston Churchill once said, If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it. Many Americans, including our best lawyers and judges, have been lighting their candles for more than three decades from the knowledge that Scalia spread through his decisions, his writings and his speeches on how to properly interpret and apply the Constitution. Our nation has had many Supreme Court justices, but few have changed the course of the law. Justice Scalia was one of those few. His profound legal analyses will continue to influence the court for a long time to come. And because the courts today have so much power over our everyday lives, his work will also profoundly influence the nation as a whole. Activist judges seek to interpret that is, change the law to implement their particular views on social issues and government policy. Justice Scalia taught that judges must apply the law as it is written, regardless of their personal views. His view of the Constitution was that its text must be applied as the men who drafted those words understood and intended those words to work. He rejected the view of those who want a Living Constitution one that allows judges to legislate from the bench simply by decreeing that those words and text mean whatever they want it to mean. As Scalia wrote in his 2012 book, Reading Law The Interpretation of Legal Texts: While it once pretended to reflect at least the current societys revised beliefs (always as perceived by judges, to be sure), in recent years that pretense has been abandoned, and it has been explicitly acknowledged that the Living Constitution means what reform-minded judges think it should mean. The result, he noted, is that many issues that should be decided by the people have now been declared by judges to be off-limits to the democratic process. It is clear from his many brilliantly written decisions that Justice Scalia believed in our democratic system, in our Republic. He trusted the American people to make decisions on crucial, controversial issues that judges have no authority and no business deciding. Justice Scalia understood how dedication to the rule of law has made America quite different many other nations. His book urged judges to follow his proper methods of textual interpretation of the Constitution and the law, staying out of politics and social ideology. If judges will do that, he argued, the law will be more certain, and the rule of law will be more secure. Antonin Scalia was, beyond doubt, one of the best justices to ever serve on the Supreme Court. But no summary of his career would do justice to the man if it did not also mention his wonderful sense of humor. His speeches were always highly entertaining. And, when hearing oral arguments, his eruptions of sarcastic and often acerbic wit raised many a laugh in the courtroom. His written opinions, particularly his sharp dissents, not only explained the law but also pointed out often in a humorous way the mistakes made by his liberal colleagues on the court. It is a mark of the man that those colleagues were also great personal friends of Scalia. They, too, will miss his presence in the courtroom at the Supreme Court. As we ponder the loss of Justice Scalia, another Churchill quote comes to mind. I am ready to meet my maker, he said, but whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter. I have no doubt that the Great Maker is already enjoying a spirited and wonderful debate with a man whose intellect, humor, wit, humility and faith made him a leading light in his church, his community, the law, and the highest court in the land. We will miss him greatly, but history will remember how lucky we were for his presence. Hans A. von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He is the co-author of Whos Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk and Obamas Enforcer: Eric Holders Justice Department." He wrote this for InsideSources.com. "The political turmoil of this year has left us in moral incoherence." No, that's not a premature assessment of the race for the presidency of the United States this year, but the line may resonate. It was actually spoken by the late William F. Buckley Jr. in 1999. Take a moment away from South Carolina and Super Tuesday, and travel for a moment in your imagination to Valladolid, Spain, in March of 1545, to a scene that Dawn Eden highlights in her new book, "Remembering God's Mercy." A Jesuit priest, Father Peter Faber, arrives at a royal court to enter the chapel there. But the porter outside does not recognize him or allow him entry. Faber recalls in his spiritual diary, "Memoriale": "I ... reflected on how Christ had been so ill received everywhere in the world. And I prayed that it be granted the porter and me not to stand and wait too long before the gates of paradise, undergoing purification. ... So it happened that I came to love the porter all the more, he being the cause of my devotion." Faber made no scene. He received the inconvenience as a gift. Who does such a thing? Reflecting on the life of Faber, who he named a saint, Pope Francis said: "An authentic faith always involves a profound desire to change the world. Here is the question we must ask ourselves: do we also have great vision and impetus?" A few months ago a famous, respected professor at an Ivy League university said to me something along the lines of: Jesus was pretty clear on the Sermon on the Mount. You remember where the Beatitudes were laid out: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" et al. The professor, who is not a Christian, brought it up because he saw Pope Francis as representing that wealth for the nations: Jesus and His Gospel message, a radical way of life that could change the world. It would keep the poor, the sick and otherwise forgotten from ever being lost in the chaos of everything else. If our politics is missing moral coherence, this is because it is often missing from our own lives. Buckley, the founder of National Review, said in another speech: "We cannot repay in kind the gift of the Beatitudes, with their eternal, searing meaning ... But our ongoing failure to recognize that we owe a huge debt that can be requited only by gratitude (marks us as) in revolt against our benefactors, our civilization, against God Himself." Back on the campaign trail, I thought of Faber as I listened to Ohio Gov. John Kasich's speech on the night of his second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary. Here he was about to rev up his campaign with some new momentum, and yet, on the eve of Ash Wednesday, he seemed to be setting the stage for 40 days of something different, at least rhetorically. "The people of New Hampshire have taught me a lesson, and from this day forward, I am going to go slower, and spend my time listening and healing and helping and bringing people together to fix our great nation." He went on: ""We're all made to help the healing of the world, if we would just slow down." We can't be good stewards if we never take the time to notice what we ought to be grateful for. Lent during a time of chaotic, angry politics could include an ecumenical prayer such as the one that George Washington used to end a letter to a Hebrew congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1790: "May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy." Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com. Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] As owner of this blog, I bear no responsibility to what other contributors/bloggers may post. I encourage all to speak freely without indulging in libel or defamatory content. Anyone who feels offended by any posting can email me and I will remove the offending article if appropriate. Contact me at redbeansg@yahoo.com redbean Shabnam Khayrulloevna KHUDOYDODOVA was born on 20 December 1986 in the city of Kulyab of the Tajikistan SSR. She is the mother of a daug... Kenyas prettiest cop, Brenda Wanjiru has undoubtedly taken the country by storm. All it took was one photo and officer rose to instant fame thanks to her charming looks. But beyond her ravishing beauty, there is more to Brenda that will make you admire and respect her even more. She spoke to Citizen Digital last week and told her story. Here it is: Emma was born and raised in Nyahururu I am the first born in a family of two (one girl, one boy). I was born and raised in Nyahururu. I used to skip rope and ride the bike a lot; its something I do to date. I attended Nyandarua Boarding Primary School, and later Giriambu Girls High School in Kirinyaga County the former school of prominent politician Martha Karua. She is a resilient single parent After completing secondary education, I fell pregnant my childs father was my first serious boyfriend. He was living in Ongata Rongai, and I was staying at my aunts place in Kiserian, Kajiado County. She was a Bishop, and so she was my godmother. I was born again at that time. Two months into the pregnancy, he said he wasnt ready to become a father. I told him: I am 19, so where do we move to from here? he said: You can always go back to your mums place, I dont mind. She however chose to stick by him; hoping against all odds that he will change for the better. Nonetheless, peace proved to be a pipe dream. He became verbally abusive, violent, constantly absent I was traumatised. I had just completed high school. All I had was a KCSE certificate; I wondered where I would go to next. After the people around me knew I was pregnant, they abandoned me even some members of my family deserted me. With so many deserting her, did she find solace in the arms of her mum how did she (mum) react? My mum was very disappointed at first she had a lot of plans for me. She strained a lot to educate my brother and I. After the storm blew over, the small-town beauty went back home. After leaving the guy, I took a bus back to Nyahururu where I stayed for a whole year raising my baby. I was confused and I had lost hope. I did not have friends; I did not have anyone to talk to. Boys at the estate laughed at me ulitukataa, ona sasa umerudi ushago na mtoi (you rejected our advances, now youve returned to this rural setting with a kid), they would say. Summing up the experience in three words, Emma said: Life was hard! Emmas dad was also a police officer Emma was brought up by a single mother, after her police officer dad left the family in the early 90s. My dad separated from my mum in 1993. He was a cop. One day I had come from school and found he dad had left my mum was pregnant with my brother then. Mum, a civil servant, was forced to go back to school to further her studies so that she could support us. With her mum back at school and a younger sibling in the home, Emma had to step up. When she was away, I would take care of my younger sibling. I started being responsible at a tender age. She quit a sales managerial job After a year in Kirinyaga, I told mum I was ready to come back to Nairobi and she agreed. Mum stays at Buruburu. She rented a single room for me in Jericho. Upon returning to the bustling city, Emma soon got to work on building her career. Mum enrolled me in college where I studied social work and community development. After completing the course, I landed a job with a Nairobi firm as the regions sales manager. I was very industrious, but I still felt something was amiss with the job. After much introspection, I realised I had always wanted to be a cop. Her dad inspired her to the career Like most young women, Emma looked up to her dad. This admiration drove her to pursue a career in Kenyas security sector. I learnt quite a lot from my dad, and saw the areas I could improve on. I wanted to become a better cop if theres anything like a better cop. I wanted people to see that a police officers job is as respectable as any other. After coming to this realisation, Emma resigned from her management job. I quit my sales managerial job in August, 2012 after failing to report to work for a whole week. I told mum that during the next police recruitment, I would go home (Nyahururu) to try my luck. Luckily, the police recruitment exercise would come up in September, 2012 a month after her resignation from her previous job. She went through the recruitment exercise hopeful she would be successful which she was. But the success did not come easy. I would wake up every morning at 5am to jog; mum would even call and remind me to exercise. On the recruitment day, I ran on the field several laps (5kms) and the ground was sweltering hot! My daughter was among those cheering me on, telling people around her: Mama yangu atakuwa polisi! (My mum will become a police officer!), so when I made it in the recruitment exercise, I was ecstatic! Like other officers, Emma went through training at Kiganjo Her glowing feminine beauty might deceive you that she did not endure gruesome training at the famous Kiganjo Police Training College but no, Emma is as tough as they come. She successfully went through months of rigorous preparation to be a certified police officer. I felt being a police officer is my calling, and it would get me to the next step. I eventually graduated. Everyone was happy for me. She is multitalented, auditioned for TPF Season 4 In my family, I am one of the most gifted: I can sing and play the piano. In high school, I was very popular! Friends on Facebook ask me: Do you still sing? Just like she did for the police recruitment, Emma jumped on the opportunity to explore her musical talent on Citizen TVs Tusker Project Fame. In 2010, I auditioned for Tusker Project Fame nikachujwa na judge Ian. I made it on the first day of auditions; but come the second day, I was eliminated due to stage fright which is very true; I was struggling! It was not lack of talent that held her back, but the aftermath of the personal issues she was struggling with that affected her performance. It was that time I had just given birth and I was still suffering from low self-esteem. My mum was proud of me nonetheless. She doesnt stomach negative energy I am easygoing, but very principled. If I get to know you are the kind of a person who will bring me down, I would detach from you and thats it. I have been hurt before, and I know how it feels like. I dont need that energy now. I thank God though for every experience that has happened to me. So what does she do with her free time? 90 per cent of my time is occupied by two things: my job and my daughter. I am a bit laid back. I like having fun, but it should be reasonable, worthy and mature. Her mum is her best friend My mum is very conservative and strict. When she calls and asks me to see her, I show up at her office almost immediately. She then tells me: You are doing this wrong, I dont like it. Can you change it! Mpaka wa leo, na sikai kwake. Respecting her mum and heeding to her instructions has paid off for Emma. Listening to what she says has made me reach where I am today. She is mentor to me. We are best friends. When we even cut communication for a while, she asks me: Who do you think is my best friend? My friends are my children, and you are my girlfriend. She has taught me parenting. I have also made my daughter my best friend. Of her daughter, Emma says: Lanisha is 7, but is mature for her age. I have a close relationship with her. She is cautious on matters marriage The experience of teenage pregnancy, being deserted by the father of her child and violence in her then relationship has made Emma to develop some sort of marriage phobia. My experience with Lanishas dad has made me fear venturing into marriage; he was violent. My dad was also violent towards my mum that makes the institution of marriage doubly intimidating. Which other experience am I waiting for those were good enough! Does this mean that it would take long before she considers marriage? It seems so, but in the future I might change on my perception but for now, no thank you. Emma is a certified karateka Its often hard to convince a citizen that you are a nice cop. I however believe in doing what is right; if you are wrong, then you are wrong. I would do what I was taught to do. Emma, a certified karateka (karate martial artist), says she only uses the skill when needs be. The fashionista who is a strong admirer of Cristiano Ronaldo, Tameka Tiny Harris and Kim Kardashians sense of style says she will serve in the police force until she retires. She is single Emma is single. However, when she will be ready to date, she prioritizes the following attributes in a man: I need a family man a guy who values me and my daughter. I have never had a complete family. I would appreciate a God-fearing man; a guy who is responsible, easy, emotionally secure and understanding. I would need someone who is not violent. Above all, I would want a man who will win the heart of my daughter; that is the one who will marry me even if he is a street urchin, bar man or waiter. We would work it out as long as Lanisha calls him daddy, I am done wedding, asap! Citizen Digital Three wives are reportedly not seeing eye to eye after their husband, a tea hawker, passed away in January 29 2015. The man was once an air traffic controller before losing his highly paying job to turn into hawking tea in Kayole. Now, the reason as to why his wives are at daggers drawn is because the company the man used to work for is supposed to pay 10 million windfall in compensation. Known as Kangethe, the late husband lost his job with Directorate of Civil Aviation following an industrial strike back in 2002 and had worked in the company since early 1990s. The sudden sack saw a helpless Kangethe draw back to a humble life that forced him to start selling tea and mandazi in the Nairobi slum. However, the Court of Appeal heard their case and recently concluded that the fired workers be compensated for the years theyve spent jobless. The youngest of the three wives, Nancy Kangethe who lived with his husband till death whisked him away, claims that some of the deceaseds relatives are now trying to forge their interest in the compensation money. Apart from that, two more women, including Kangethes first wife, have also come out to declare their interest in the share with claims of him having sired kids with them. Despite the scramble for compensation, the late Kangethes was buried in his Gatundu home after a post-mortem in Kenyatta University mortuary. The burial is said to have been undertaken in haste and the reading of his eulogy ignored. Well, lets wait for the trio to battle it out in the court. Award winning comedian and MC, Phelix Odiwuor popularly known as Jalango has revealed the joke that got President Uhuru Kenyatta laughing to tears. The two met at the wedding of Kenya Power Chief Executives Daughter Chemeli Chumo and her boyfriend Kevin Oduor in Karen a fortnight ago. Some photos from the colourful wedding ceremony showed the President and Jalango share a hearty moment as they shook hands and posed for a selfie amidst laughter from the selected guests. Speaking to Pulse, Jalango revealed the joke that had the president in tears. I thanked Uhuru for being passionate about art and for supporting the youth and also told him that I will be vying for presidency in 2022. That is what got him laughing. It was a cracker, He said. Well, I am a Raila man but when the President calls, you must answer. It was one of those emceeing events that make big statements that you are really the best there is, he added. The Government has announced that it will be auctioning 40 portraits of retired President Mwai Kibaki. These are part of unwanted items set to be disposed off on February 23 at the National Treasury Building on Harambee Avenue in Nairobi. Treasury published the tender notice on Friday last week. This comes in the wake of a debate on whether to display the Presidents portrait in places of work. Siaya Governor Cornell Rasanga controversially replaced President Uhurus portrait with that of CORD leader Raila Odinga, and urged all CORD governors to do the same. Many saw this as a sign of disrespect to the President and the institution of the Presidency, but State House did think it was a big deal. Spokesman Manoah Esipisu said that there is no law compelling anyone to display Presidential portraits in their premises, and that this is merely a tradition carried forward since colonial times. On the Kibaki portraits, this is a good time for collectors to do their thing. TEHRAN, Iran Iran says it has exported its first crude oil shipment to Europe since it reached a landmark nuclear deal with world powers, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday. IRNA quoted Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi as saying the shipment was the first in five years and marked "a new chapter" in Iran's oil industry. He did not elaborate but IRNA said several western tankers have loaded Iran's oil in recent days. Iran plans to add 1 million barrels to its oil production following implementation of the nuclear deal, which lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran restricting its nuclear activities. Iran expects an economic bonanza after the lifting of sanctions, which will allow it to access overseas assets and sell crude oil more freely. Javadi said Iran has already reached agreement to export oil to France, Russia and Spain. The country used to export 2.3 million barrels per day but its crude exports fell to 1 million in 2012. Iran's total production currently stands at 3.1 million barrels per day. In order to retake its market share, Iran said in January that it will add to its production despite the drop in prices and should not be blamed for the further price drops. Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia is OPEC's largest producer. In November, Tehran unveiled a new model of oil contracts aimed at attracting foreign investment in anticipation of the lifting of sanctions. Iran has sweetened the terms of the new model, hoping to bring in $30 billion in new investment. The new contracts last 15 to 20 years and allow for the full recovery of costs. The older model contracts were shorter term and investors complained of heavy risks and losses. COLUMBUS, Ohio A federal trial over a $100 million investors' lawsuit against Venezuela includes allegations of fraud, hints of an international criminal conspiracy, and references to diamonds, German junk bonds and a mysterious house fire in Switzerland. At issue in the 2004 complaint are three-decade old promissory notes issued by a now-defunct government-sponsored Venezuelan bank. Venezuela has confirmed the debts belonging to an agricultural development bank known as Bandagro are the government's obligations and must be paid, argue attorneys for Skye Ventures in Columbus, where the 2004 purchase of the notes happened. "This case is straightforward: It's about a bank's refusal to honor a debt," Charles Cooper, a Columbus attorney representing Skye Ventures, wrote in a Jan. 27 court document summarizing investors' arguments. Lawyers for Venezuela say the notes are fakes with forged signatures and were never guaranteed by the government. "The evidence will show not only that the purported notes are fake, but also that the plaintiff seeks to capitalize on a long-running international fraud," Albert Lucas, a Columbus attorney representing Venezuela, said in a Jan. 27 filing summarizing the Venezuelan government's case. The trial began last week before federal Judge Edmund Sargus and is expected to last four to six weeks. The legitimacy of the promissory notes is at the heart of the case, which includes more than 700 individual filings and thousands of pages of documents. Skye Ventures says it based its decision to purchase the notes on a 2003 opinion by the Venezuelan attorney general and a 2003 report by the country's Ministry of Finance that said the notes were valid and must be paid. Venezuela said that the opinion and report weren't binding and that Skye Ventures had every reason to know the notes were fraudulent. Venezuela says the fraud was perpetrated by "a notorious international criminal" who, before he died in a house fire in Switzerland, had previously been convicted of crimes related to fake Bandagro promissory notes. Lawyers for the country also deny claims by Skye Ventures that a group affiliated with that criminal purchased such bonds "in exchange for 'much more' than $250 million, supposedly comprised of an unspecified combination of diamonds, German junk bonds and cash." "This is a farce. It never happened," said attorneys for Venezuela. In turn, Skye Ventures says Venezuela has created a story "that requires the listener to believe that an unbelievably wide-ranging conspiracy existed" to create fraudulent notes and later fool the country's minister of finance and attorney general. "The truth is, as always, much simpler," said attorneys for Skye Ventures. Before the case went to trial, numerous courts settled issues related to the timing of the complaint, whether Venezuela was immune from being sued and whether the case could be tried in the U.S. Dr. Ron Kraft, president of Napa Valley College, will speak on Reforming Public Higher Education in California: Opportunities and Barriers to Success on Thursday, Feb. 18, from 7-8:30 p.m. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters Napa County, the talk will be held in the Napa Valley College Librarys Community Room. The league has asked Kraft to speak on this topic to inform its membership and a subcommittee studying education issues. Chapter members and the community are invited to attend this free program. Rachel Ruvinsky thought she was a lesbian. As a teenager, shed fallen into a serious relationship with her best friend. She was one of the few students at her high school to be out; she joined the schools gay-straight alliance but quit because the group was too cliquey. I didnt feel like I fit in, she recalls. When she gradually realized she was also attracted to men, she was surprised. I remember being very much in denial, the now-22-year-old says. Then about a year after she and her girlfriend broke up, Ruvinsky felt ready to look for a new relationship, and to try dating men as well as women. When she created her first OkCupid profile at age 19, she listed a few of her interests, such as art and video games, and included a poor-quality photo of herself. Back then, she says, she responded to every message in her inbox. One of the first was from Bennett Marschner, a 23-year-old video-game technical artist who described himself as a shameless vehicular vocalist. He seemed funny, she thought. Ruvinsky wrote back, saying she also enjoyed singing while driving. They met for dinner at an Indian restaurant in Germantown, Maryland. I was really nervous and trying not to fidget, she recalls. But she quickly felt comfortable around Marschner. After dinner, they watched a few episodes of Firefly, a sci-fi television show they both like, until well after midnight in Ruvinskys parents basement. They kissed. The next morning, Marschner texted, saying he wanted to be upfront: He wasnt looking for anything serious. Ruvinsky didnt want anything super- casual, so she figured that would be it. But Marschner persuaded her to keep seeing him, reassuring her that it wouldnt be a booty-call thing. They could both see other people. I was like, Okay, I like hanging out with you, she remembers saying. The next time they discussed their relationship status was a few months later. Marschner told her his other relationships, with two other women, werent so casual; there was an emotional attachment. Hed been reading about polyamory, he said, and he thought it applied to their situation. Ruvinsky did, too: We knew it was more than casual, but we didnt have a word for it. Since then, the two go out with other people separately or hang in a group. A lot of times, Marschner says, if you get more than one of us together, were going to sit on a couch and cuddle and make out. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines polyamory as: The fact of having simultaneous close emotional relationships with two or more other individuals, viewed as an alternative to monogamy, esp. in regard to matters of sexual fidelity; the custom or practice of engaging in multiple sexual relationships with the knowledge and consent of all partners involved. Polyamory in the United States has roots in the 19th-century Oneida Community in upstate New York, where all members were considered married to one other, according to Deborah Anapol, author of Polyamory in the 21st Century. Modern versions came out of the free-love movement of the 1960s, but the term polyamorous, combining the Greek and Latin words for many and love, wasnt coined until 1990 and was added to the OED in 2006. It draws adults of all ages, and online dating has made it easier for the polyamorous and poly-curious to find one another. In January, OkCupid recognized the growing prevalence of polyamory among its users, who are generally 35 or younger, by allowing people to search the site as a couple. According to the sites data, 42 percent of its members would consider dating someone in an open or polyamorous relationship. Marschner and Ruvinsky havent searched as a couple, as shes looking for new partners but he isnt. Ruvinsky and Marschner keep each other in the loop on their other dates and relationships. Sometimes Marschner will screen OkCupid messages for Ruvinsky, deleting anything unwelcomingly vulgar, prompting her to jokingly call him her sexcretary. All that sharing was harder in the beginning, Ruvinsky says: I felt so inadequate, and I would feel kind of jealous. But then she learned Marschner talked about her, positively, to his other partners. The jealousy dissipated, and the relationship, she says, felt less hierarchical and more equal. If one of them feels jealous, they try to pinpoint what insecurity or self-esteem issue might be to blame. Its important to realize that its valid to be jealous or envious of another partner, Ruvinsky says, but not necessarily true. More than jealousy, though, the emotion they talk about is compersion, a feeling of joy when ones partner finds happiness with another. Ruvinsky says she feels it when Marschner texts her after a good date with someone else. He says he feels it when he meets women he thinks Ruvinsky might like and those instincts turn out to be right. Over a year ago, Marschner introduced Ruvinsky and Hannah Schott. They gathered for a night of figure-drawing, each taking a turn as a nude model. Schott now lives in New Zealand, but Ruvinsky still has the picture Schott drew hanging in her bedroom. Within the web of partners, one-on-ones, threesomes and orgies have been known to happen. (They test for sexually transmitted diseases every three months or when a new person joins the mix.) But Marschner says polyamory isnt necessarily about sex. Polyamory is about being in love with multiple people. Marschner and Ruvinsky say they are thrilled to be free of the constraints that can come with monogamy: They dont have to be everything, sexually or emotionally, to each other; they can be open about their attraction to others. It might be fueled by youthful idealism that will crash and burn as she and Marschner get older, but for now they seem happy. Ruvinskys eyes light up as she describes having so much love to give, and receiving it, too. Even the love you feel, feels different, she says, not in terms of quantity or quality, just in how it feels. Part of me thinks Im just making upfor lost time, Marschner says. I didnt have much of a social life at all, growing up. Then right out of college, I moved in with my girlfriendand I knew all of her friends, but they never really became my friends. Now Marschner has a romantic and social web that revolves around him. I probably spend more time on it than I should sometimes, he says of his two primary relationships (one with Ruvinsky, another with a boyfriend) and three less-serious ones. Asked to map it out for a reporter, Marschner drew a diagram of dozens of people. Straight lines connected people with ongoing relationships; long dotted lines for former relationships; short dotted lines for people who have sexy times, as Marschner put it, but arent in a relationship. The connections are fluid, too. An ex of one of Marschners former partners is now housemates with one of his current partners. When members of the web get together, its as if a group of high school or college friends is reuniting. Primary, secondary and past partners piled into a booth at Bar Louie in Rockville, Maryland, in late December. Some are meeting for the first time. Are you a hugger? Zia Frazier asks, and waits for the go-ahead before embracing Sam Brehm, a 21-year-old model and fire performer who met Marschner at a medieval camping trip. (The poly community is big on consent, starting with something as simple as a hug.) At different times throughout the night, Marschner keeps a hand on Brehms leg while deep in conversation with Ruvinsky. Ruvinsky compliments Fraziers makeup: Im just watching your eye shadow, she says with awe in her voice. That blending. Marschner asks Frazier, who is 23 and just finished her first semester of grad school in San Francisco, about a new guy she is dating whos poly and straight. Is he pretty? he asks. Hes tall as s-, she says. Before moving west, Frazier said she had connected with Ruvinsky and Marschner separately on OkCupid, and the three came together just a few weeks before Fraziers move. We were going to keep in contact so much more, Marschner says. They order extra cocktails before happy hour ends, eat off each others plates and offer one another sips and cherries out of their drinks. When Frazier complains about having to write so many papers and the long lines at the DMV, Marschner says: Thats what you get for going to California and leaving us all behind. Frazier says she has a couple of dates set up for when she returns to San Francisco. Girls, too, she says. Im excited. Ruvinsky wishes she could say the same. Sometimes, she admits, she still feels lonely. It would be nice to date someone outside of the web, she says. Mostly everyone inside the web is more established with other people in the web, and I would like to find someone who isnt ... especially a girl. If you want to see 40-ton gray whales, now is the time to hit the Whale Highway. Thousands of the giant marine mammals, many traveling with their 1-ton offspring, are migrating from the warm lagoons of Baja California, Mexico, heading north for the Bering and Chukchi seas. Hop on a whale-watch boat in Half Moon Bay, and youll soon be in the middle of the action. Wait until summer, and you can travel from San Francisco to the Farallon Islands in search of blue whales, the largest animal to ever have lived on earth, and humpback whales, those lively, 50-foot-long acrobats that tend to leap high out of the water and fall back with a magnificent splash. Pacific white-sided dolphins, harbor porpoises, Rissos dolphins and northern right whale dolphins also are frequently seen near the Farallons in summer and fall, and of course sea lions, seals and otters are often spotted, too. Just 27 miles west of San Francisco, the rocky islands serve as the largest seabird rookery in the eastern Pacific. From April through November, some 300,000 birds nest there. Spotting a tufted puffin bobbing in the water behind your boat is a thrill, but this is a story about whale watching, which happens to be my passion. For more than 32 years, I have sat in boats large and small, viewing whales off both U.S. coasts, in Hawaii, in Alaska and off Canada and Mexico. Some 3,300 tour operators in 199 countries take 13 million people a year to see what I call the greatest show on water. On a trip out of Half Moon Bay last March, I watched four male gray whales try to attract the attention of a female whale right next to our boat. What was that loud thump? A 10-foot-wide whale tail, smacking our vessel. To protect the animals, laws for boat operators restrict how close boats may come, but the whales dont know these laws. Repeatedly, Ive seen whales swim alongside tour boats for a bit of people watching. That doesnt happen on every trip, but just being out on the water, hearing these mammals exhale or seeing a 15-foot-long flipper held aloft, is exhilarating. One sunny day near the Farallons, a whale watcher called out, Were going to need a bigger boat! and pointed to a 6-foot-tall, sea-shiny dorsal fin in the distance. Sharks have been sighted on whale-watch trips, but this was a lone male orca, swimming our way. Orcas, also known as killer whales, are the top predators of the sea, larger than even great white sharks. Sightings of migrating gray whales now through mid-May are common. The whales are on a 3,000-mile journey, and because many have year-old or new calves with them, they tend to swim slowly, often close to shore. The blue whales and humpbacks found near the Farallon Islands in summer and fall are feeding, taking in a ton or more each day of krill, the tiny creatures these giants eat. A handful of local tour operators offer trips to see gray whales. Oceanic Society, a nonprofit organization that supports whale research, runs trips on Saturdays and Sundays from Pillar Point Yacht Harbor in Half Moon Bay. The cost is $59 for adults (16 and older) and $54 for children 8 and older. Younger children are not permitted on the boat, which carries 48 passengers. Advance reservations are recommended. Oceanic Societys eight-hour trips to the Farallon Islands begin in May and run through November. Offered every weekend and some Fridays, trips depart from Marina Yacht Harbor in San Francisco. Some trips also stop for passengers at Sausalitos Clipper Yacht Harbor. The fee is $128 per person, and group rates are available. For details, see OceanicSociety.org. A few sport-fishing and charter boat companies and one firm with a catamaran also offer occasional whale-watch trips out of Half Moon Bay. Consult with Google for details. San Francisco Whale Tours (SanFranciscoWhaleTours.com) and San Francisco Bay Whale Watching (sfbaywhalewatching.com), both owned by the same individuals, offer year-round trips to the Farallons every day to see grays now and humpbacks and blues later in the year. A six-hour trip costs $99 per person; a five-hour trip costs $79. The boat, which carries 49, leaves from Pier 39 in San Francisco. Advance reservations are recommended. Concerned about seasickness? Bonine, a non-drowsy medication, is sold over the counter. I like to take one tablet the night before a trip and a second one an hour before leaving the dock. You wont want to spoil your trip by risking sea sickness, and if you wait until youre on the boat, its too late. Before you go on a whale watch, carefully read the trip operators suggestions about what to bring. Believe them when they say youll need warm layers, rain gear, sunscreen, snacks, a hat and sturdy shoes. All told, whale watching is a splendid spectator sport and I promise you will never forget what you see. Napa County government is taking stock of its efforts from law enforcement to health and social services to finances - and is asking the question, Is anyone better off? The result is the 280-page Performance Measurement Report chock full of data. It offers no grand, sweeping conclusions, but instead is a kaleidoscopic view of various, specific county programs and conditions. Health and Human Services officials made the case during the Feb. 9 Board of Supervisors meeting review of the report that local efforts to combat poverty are a matter of life-and-death. Public Health Officer Karen Relucio compared people making an average of $106,500 annually in a west Napa neighborhood to those making $61,345 annually in an east Napa neighborhood. The richer residents have an average life expectancy of 86 years, the poorer ones a life expectancy of 76 years, she said. Basically, a $45,000 income gap between these two neighborhoods really costs 10 years of life, Relucio said. This is in two neighborhoods that are four miles apart. She based this analysis on state Department of Public Health death statistics with addresses and the 2010 Census. Health and Human Services officials said that social and economic factors play a 40 percent role in determining health. That compares to behavior at 30 percent, and clinical care, the environment and genes at 10 percent each. They then turned to statistics included in the Performance Measurement Report to give the Board of Supervisors a socio-economic look at Napa County. Napa County in 2014 had 9 percent of its households living below the federal poverty limit, compared to 10 percent in 2010 and 16.4 percent statewide, they said. The threshold is a family of four earning less than $24,008 annually. The highest concentrations of poverty are in the city of Napa, Relucio said. The county's highest unemployment is in the city of Napa and American Canyon, as well as near Yountville. She attributed the latter to unemployed veterans connected with the Veterans Home of California at Yountville. When looked at by census tract, the areas with the lowest educational attainment are sections of the city of Napa, she said. Educational attainment - the ability of folks to graduate from high school ultimately determines their employment and ultimately determines income level, Relucio said. The countys strategies to make a difference include increasing CalFresh and MediCal enrollment, helping people get jobs and bringing needed services to specific neighborhoods. If we are able to get our Napa County citizens to achieve health equity, we ultimately improve the health of all of Napa County, Relucio said. In another section, the Performance Measurement Report shows Napa County had 534 violent crimes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault - in 2014. That is more than the 417 in 2013, but less than the 10-year annual average of 542. The county in 2014 had 2,385 property crimes, a 10-year low and below the 10-year annual average of 3,004. County officials are awaiting 2015 data. It will reflect the effects of Proposition 47, the statewide initiative that converted some nonviolent offenses, such as certain drug possession and shoplifting offenses, from felonies to misdemeanors. Our good news today may not sound quite the same next year when we talk about our crime rates, Chief Probation Officer Mary Butler told the Board of Supervisors. Registrar of Voters John Tuteur oversees efforts to increase the number of registered voters. The county has registered 77 percent of eligible voters, compared to 73.3 percent statewide. The Performance Measurement Report called voter registration a measure of a communitys civic vitality. Unfortunately, California ranks 44th in the nation in terms of the number of eligible voters who actually register to vote, Tuteur told the Board of Supervisors. The county has entered a new era of outreach, Tuteur said. That includes going to high schools to register voters. He sees upcoming state changes that will also make a difference. The new motor voter law in 2017 will register everyone who applies to the Department of Motor Vehicles for a drivers license, unless they ask otherwise. Auditor-Controller Tracy Shulze looked at the countys general government debt. Low debt services allows for flexibility in spending money on county programs and services, she said. Napa County over the years has borrowed to do such things as building the Sheriffs Department building, buying land for the future jail and doing South Campus remodeling work. In 2014-15, it paid $4.7 million in principal and interest for general government debt. That debt service is 1.96 percent of general fund spending and has averaged 2.15 percent annually over the past decade. Schulze called the ratio very low. Go to http://www.countyofnapa.org/uploadedFiles/Departments/County_Executive_Office/Documents/2016PerformanceMeasurementReportFINAL.pdf to see the Performance Measurement Report. Wily politician that he is, Jerry Brown tried to dampen potential opposition to an overhaul of criminal sentencing laws hell place on the November ballot. Brown met with some but not all law enforcement groups and made some tweaks in response to their criticism. He closely guarded details of the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 until just before his announcement late last month. He even submitted it as an amendment to a pending ballot measure dealing with juvenile justice, thereby virtually eliminating any chance for opponents to influence title and summary processing by the Department of Justice. However, one major group Brown didnt consult beforehand the California District Attorneys Association has declared its opposition. The CDAAs members decided last week to oppose Browns measure after finally getting a face-to-face meeting with the governor and delivering an analysis labeling its provisions drastic changes to our sentencing laws that significantly undermine more than four decades of criminal justice policies approved by the Legislature and California voters The measure would, the prosecutors allege, directly or indirectly repeal even the three strikes and youre out law mandating life terms for repeat felons, adopted by voters in 1994, as well as other sentence enhancements for habitually violent offenders. Through a spokesman, Brown pushed back, saying, The DAs have a long record of opposing sensible criminal justice reforms, and their opposition here is no exception. Their 28-page campaign document is disappointing, replete with distortions and hyperbolic rhetoric and inconsistent with public safety. He did not, however, answer the DA allegations in detail. Brown said his measure is aimed at rolling back the so-called determinate sentence law that he signed during his first governorship in 1977. By reducing sentences for some crimes and making it easier for inmates to be paroled, it also would hold down Californias prison population, which once topped 160,000 but since has dropped sharply by federal court order. Brown touted an endorsement by San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, but apparently all other DAs will oppose it. Merced Countys Larry Morse and Ventura Countys Gregory Totten said they sought meetings with Brown prior to his announcement, but were limited to dealing with aides and not allowed to review the measure in advance. Some other law enforcement groups are weighing whether to join the opposition, but Brown could be in position to affect their decisions. Hes negotiating with the Correctional Peace Officers Association of California on a new contract, for example, and sheriffs are asking Browns administration for hundreds of millions of dollars in jail construction funds. Finally, Brown has a $24 million campaign treasury he could devote to the measure, while the DAs say they have no campaign war chest. Dan Walters writes for The Sacramento Bee. Montenegro marked an important step on its road towards NATO membership on Monday (15 February 2016), beginning two days of Accession Talks in Brussels. The talks cover the details of membership including political, military and legal questions, and provide an opportunity for both sides to clarify outstanding issues. Following the talks, the next step will be for Allies to sign an Accession Protocol, after which Montenegro will begin attending NATO meetings as an invitee. Once all Allies have ratified the Protocol, Montenegro will be able to accede to the Washington Treaty and become the 29th member of the Alliance. The talks are being chaired by Ambassador Thrasyvoulos Terry Stamatopoulos, NATOs Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy. The Montenegrin delegation is led by Ambassador Dragana Radulovic, Head of the Montenegrin Mission to NATO. Opening the talks, Ambassador Stamatopoulos said: the holding of the Accession Talks today is a mark of the progress made by Montenegro since regaining its independence. NATO membership will reinforce Montenegros security and sovereignty. Since 2009, NATO and Montenegro have worked closely together through the Membership Action Plan, which helps nations prepare for possible future membership. In December 2015, NATO Foreign Ministers invited Montenegro to start Accession Talks. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the invitation as historic saying it makes clear that NATO keeps its door open, to complete our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace. The North Atlantic Council met members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Monday (15 February) and discussed priorities for this years NATO Summit in Warsaw as well as how the Alliance is adapting to the new security challenges. The discussions were part of regular consultations between the two organisations. The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Warsaw Summit agenda will be driven by two major themes, balance and adaptation. The Alliance will need to ensure a right balance between addressing challenges coming from the East and from the South. And the Alliance will also need to ensure a right balance between deterrence and dialogue with partners who do not necessarily share NATOs core values, including Russia. He highlighted that a strong deterrence posture goes hand in hand with NATOs readiness to have dialogue. Mr. Stoltenberg said that fulfilling the Wales Defence Investment Pledge will help the Alliance achieve these objectives. Members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and of the North Atlantic Council also discussed NATOs decision to provide support to assist with the refugee and migrant crisis in the Aegean See and cooperation between NATO and the European Union. The Secretary General also had a separate meeting with the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Mr. Michael Turner. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is an inter-parliamentary organisation of parliamentarians from NATO member countries and associate countries and is independent from NATO. It provides a link between NATO and the parliaments of NATO member countries, to help build parliamentary and public awareness and understanding for Alliance policies. World oil prices on the rise Newspaper: Russia dismisses Armenia PM's news on Karabakh Russia PM in Yerevan, to discuss with EEU colleagues single oil, natural gas markets formation Newspaper: Why is Iran in hurry to open consulate in Armenias Syunik Province? France, Spain, Portugal agree to build Barcelona-Marseille natural gas pipeline Admiral: U.S. should now prepare for Chinese 'invasion' of Taiwan Harutyunyan: I cannot imagine Artsakh's future without presence of Russia Harutyunyan: Without questioning path of our independence, we must meet with Baku Prime Minister of Finland does not think that Hungary and Turkey will block country's application for NATO membership Iranian FM: U.S. made hasty statements in connection with protests Former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim involved in car accident in Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan: Artsakh people's right to self-determination is non-negotiable Iranian MFA calls it important to form platform with Armenia and India on North-South corridor Details of EU monitoring mission in Armenia are known Foreign Ministry: It seems Ankara is more interested in opening corridor through Armenia than Azerbaijan Mirzoyan: Unexpected third countries support Azerbaijani interpretation of road to Nakhchivan Foreign Ministry: Armenia, Iran and Bulgaria initial agreement on creation of Persian Gulf-Black Sea corridor Israeli Defense Minister to visit Ankara Armenian Foreign Minister names main obstacle to solving problems with Azerbaijan Erdogan once again raises issue of so-called 'Zangezur corridor' Armenian and Iranian FMs to open Iranian Consulate General in Syunik province tomorrow Abdollahian: Aliyev assured that he does not want border changes, Iran will prevent implementation of such idea Iranian Foreign Minister in Yerevan supports '3+3' platform Iranian Foreign Minister recalls Tehran's 'red lines' in regional issues Mirzoyan: We highly appreciate Iran's principled position regarding territorial integrity of Armenia UK imposes sanctions against Iran for alleged delivery of drones to Russia Yerevan hosts meeting of Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in narrow composition Armenian and Iranian Foreign Ministers meet in Yerevan in extended format Charles Michel: EU energy deal possible, but difficult Erdogan says Baku should demand 'compensation' from Yerevan Pashinyan: EEU mechanisms are of great help, trade turnover between Armenia and Belarus has doubled Yair Lapid: Russia-Iran relations are serious problem for Ukraine, Europe, and whole world Amir-Abdollahian: Iran is against presence of foreigners in this region, both in Azerbaijan and Armenia Pashinyan at EAEU meeting: Fundamental principles of world economic system in question Iranian Foreign Minister's official visit to Yerevan begins Macron says Germany should not isolate itself in Europe EU begins deployment of mission on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Trump's son made fun of Zelenskyy's ability to ask West for money EU to provide emergency aid for Armenia residents affected by recent Azerbaijan military aggression Azerbaijan army units fire at Armenia positions Mikhail Mishustin arrives in Yerevan EU approves new sanctions against Iran over alleged drone deliveries to Russia Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting begins in Yerevan Baku calls OSCE mission to assess situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border 'private visit' On fourth day of IRGC military exercises on border with Azerbaijan, artillery destroys planned targets Liz Truss quits as UK Prime Minister Turkey parliament to consider extending Turkish militarys mandate in Azerbaijan Dollar falls, euro rises in Armenia Russias Putin ratifies agreement on simplification of payments for goods transit within EEU territory Stoltenberg: Almost all NATO countries have agreed to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance Ombudswoman of Armenia: Azerbaijan prevents removal of remains of fallen soldiers Zakharova: Matter of holding CSTO Collective Security Council meeting being worked out Ombudswoman of Armenia: I received video materials from EU special representative about Azerbaijanis Armenia Security Council chief, UK army general discuss cooperation in security Armenia and Kazakhstan discuss bilateral military cooperation Iran says U.S. and Israel won't be able to split the republic 201 bodies are identified of Armenia soldiers who died as result of September military aggression by Azerbaijan Iran FM to arrive in Armenia today Turkey, Azerbaijan presidents officially open international airport in occupied Artsakh territory Armenia President visits several leading Bulgaria IT companies Ruben Vardanyan: I will assume Artsakh State Minister position at beginning of November Armenia PM on making EU observation mission permanent: I'm not sure about that US State Dept.: Our ultimate goal is peaceful resolution between Armenia and Azerbaijan Armenia, Qatar to collaborate in tourism sector Turkey president travels to Azerbaijan Bandits in Russia cut off Armenian man's hands, shoot him in legs President of Armenia, mayor of Bulgarias Plovdiv discuss avenues for deepening of cooperation Armenia has new customs attache at Upper Lars checkpoint on Russia-Georgia border Karabakh official: Baku goes for gradual escalation, provocation of situation Armenia to get 33mn grant from EU for police, migration service, business development in Syunik Province Lacote: OSCE observation mission deployment will contribute to respect of Armenia territorial integrity World oil prices going up Russia extends flight restrictions at 11 airports Newspaper: Karabakh delegation to head for Moscow, meeting with Putin considered probable Newspaper: Azerbaijan aggression on September 13 paralyzes Armenia public administration for some time Azerbaijan army opens fire towards Armenia positions at midnight Retired US Air Force general is offered consulting job in Azerbaijan at rate of $5,000 a day White House is puzzling over how to avoid meeting between Putin and Biden at G-20 summit Eduard Aghajanyan: Once again I remind that Armenia was deprived of opportunity to protect rights of people of Artsakh U.S. says that limiting Russian oil prices is not aimed at OPEC Further strengthening the independence of Karabakh is one of the important aspects of our national demands. Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Aram I, noted the aforesaid at the final session of the congress that was held in the Antelias Mother Seatin Lebanonof the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, and which was devoted to the evaluation of the Armenian Genocide Centennial. He urged not to forget that some of Armenias neighbors constantly think about recapturing Karabakh. Lets not forget that even the countries considered being our friend, proceeding from their geopolitical interests, dont have an approach so favorable for us regarding the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Therefore, we need to be alert, Catholicos Aram I stressed. Our [Armenian] peoples physical presence in Karabakh is imperative. The strengthening of our brave army in Karabakh is the primary duty of us all. Against the ample material or military opportunities the others have, we [i.e. the Armenians] have the courage of our young soldiers, and the full support of our nation. YEREVAN. The European Union (EU) hopes that the forthcoming parliamentary election in Armenia will be conducted on the firm international and legal basis, and will become a big boost to the further development of the country. Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski, on Monday told the aforementioned to reporters. As per the European official, the EU tends to believe that the 2017 parliamentary voting in Armenia will be held on the basis of a good Electoral Code, which will reflect the recommendations by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Also, head of the EU Delegation to Armenia urged the countrys authorities to consider the upcoming parliamentary election as impetus for the political, democratic, and economic development of Armenia. Switalski added that he has seen a lot of commonalities during his talks with the countrys authorities and the opposition members, and received many signals that the Electoral Code of Armenia will be agreed upon in a very righteous, professional, and accountable manner. YEREVAN. Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski, supports each and every positive element in any speech by the president of the country, and believes that President Serzh Sargsyan is devoted to any effort aimed at the development of Armenia. Switalski on Monday told the above-said to reporters. Reflecting on the Presidents most recent address, he noted that they have issued a statement and called on Armenias government and opposition parties to consider the recommendations by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the need to include these recommendations in the new Electoral Code of the country. The EU ambassador added that they will support any respective efforts by the Armenian President, government and all interested parties, and that these efforts shall be a unique national consensus. On February 12, President Serzh Sargsyan announced that major rearrangements and redistribution of power will be implemented within the branches of power in Armenia, and by the year 2018. YEREVAN. Orphaned children are relatively few in Armenia, and family values are very strong in the country. Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski, on Monday told the above-said to reporters. He noted this within the framework of the first awareness conference regarding the EU-funded Equal Opportunities of Personal Development for Orphaned Children program, which is implemented in Armenia. In his words, the EU has adopted several strategic documents which underscore childrens rights. Switalski stressed, however, that Armenia is a special case, the respective situation is quite different in the country, and he urged not to do anything to change this situation in Armenia. The ambassador noted that there are two very important relevant factors for the EU. First, civic awareness needs to be conducted as to how to work with children and how to protect them. And second, activity opportunities should be given to children. We do not object to a discussion of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in regional and international organizations. Ambassador James Warlick, the US Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, stated the aforesaid speaking to Turan news agency of Azerbaijan and the Voice of America, reflecting on the two resolutions that were submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). We support Azerbaijan and Armenias right to raise the issue as they choose, Warlick noted. The Co-Chairs wanted to emphasize that the Minsk Group remains the negotiation format accepted by the sides. We hope Armenia and Azerbaijan will remain fully committed to working closely with the Co-Chairs on a negotiated settlement. As mediators, we believe the only path toward peace is at the negotiation table. Our negotiations aim to reach a lasting settlement based on the principles of international law, the UN Charter, and the Helsinki Final Act, particularly the principles of territorial integrity, self-determination, and non-use of force. The occupied territories will need to be returned to Azerbaijans control as part of a comprehensive settlement, which would also include a determination of status for Nagorno-Karabakh. The sides and the Co-Chairs share the opinion that the primary elements of a settlement will be based on the Madrid principles. The proposals currently under discussion between the sides and the Co-Chairs are guided by those principles. YEREVAN. - President Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) coalition is being formed and this is done to weaken the positions of the current PM. Expert on political and electoral technologies, Armen Badalyan, told the aforementioned to Armenian News NEWS.am correspondent. In his words, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) actually plays no role in the negotiation process. Instead the Armenian President ARF-D talks are underway. And the ruling party, according to the expert, has become the third party with the active participation of the current PM. At this stage, RPA needs no coalition; cooperation with ARF-D is advantageous to the current Armenian President. The objective is one to weaken the positions of the PM in the Government. And ARF-D hopes that getting administrative leverages, it will be able to get involved in the next parliament, Badalyan said. 79 mosques were returned to the Muslim community of Georgia since 2014. Similarly, 12 synagogues and one church building were returned to the Jewish community and Evangelical Protestant church respectively. However, neither in 2014 nor in 2015 did the Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese of Georgia get back any of its church buildings illegally seized by the Soviet authorities. This becomes evident from the information included in the report of the Georgian State Religious Affairs Agency, Yerkramas reports. In 2015, 3,500,000 lari were allocated to the religious organizations from the state budget as a financial compensation. The Muslim community, the Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese in Georgia and the Jewish community got 2,200,000, 600,000 and 300,000 lari respectively. The Catholic community got 400,000 lari. These amounts are allocated to compensate the damage caused by the Soviet authorities. In 2015, 35 mosque buildings in Adjara were returned to the Muslim community. The Jewish community got back 5 synagogues (altogether 12 synagogues since 2015). The church building located in Gori city was returned to the Evangelic Protestant Church. The land in Batumi city has been handed over to the Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese in Georgia for the construction of a religious and educational center, the report reads. 22:58 Mysuru in Karnataka has retained its position as the cleanest among all million plus and capital cities while Dhanbad in Jharkhand has been ranked the worst. These are findings of the first ever cleanliness ranking of cities since Swachh Bharat Mission was launched in October 2014. Cities in the top 10 club include Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Rajkot, Gangtok and Greater Mumbai while the worst 10 include Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Patna and Kalyan-Dombivili. Results are based on the marks scored in respects of the main components of Swachh Bharat Mission, availability of infrastructure and service levels related to sanitation such as individual household toilets, public and community toilets and collection, transportation and processing of municipal solid waste. A release issued by the urban development ministry said that the objective of the survey was to measure the scenario regarding sanitation in selected cities, efforts made by these cities to improve sanitation through necessary strategies, to assess the impact of Swachh Bharat Mission and to promote a spirit of healthy competition among cities. PARIS: Facebook will be tried in France for blocking a French teacher's account after he posted an image of a nude painting, a media report said. A Paris appeals court threw out Facebook's appeal after the social media giant argued that only the US courts had jurisdiction to hear cases against it. The court also backed a March 2015 ruling which said Facebook's clause forcing all users to agree that any litigation must be based in California, where the site is based, was abusive', The Local reported on Saturday. Facebook was sued by a teacher whose account was blocked after he posted a 19th century painting by Gustave Courbet, The Origin of the World, depicting a woman's genitalia. The teacher filed a complaint against the social media giant, saying the site could not differentiate between pornography and art. Noteworthy, Facebook closed its legal arm Facebook France in May 2012, meaning complaints have to be filed in the US. On the basis of this, in a hearing on January 22, Facebook's lawyer argued that the site did not fall under French jurisdiction as users have to sign a clause agreeing that only a California court can rule in disputes relating to the firm. However, the teacher's lawyer Stephane Cottineau said: "It is hugely significant because this decision creates jurisprudence not just for Facebook but for other social media networks who use their being headquartered abroad, mainly in the United States, to attempt to evade French law." "They might be multi-nationals but the court ruling means they are not outside French law. If they set up in France and contract workers here, then French law must be applied to them," Cottineau added. The French court will now decide whether or not the teacher's freedom of expression was violated when Facebook blocked his account. Read Also: Astrophysicist Wants India to Set Up 3rd LIGO Two New SMARC Modules to Boost up Kontron SEOUL: South Korea has boosted its military information surveillance status in response to alleged threats of cyber attacks by North Korea, media reports said on Sunday. South Korea's Information Operations Condition (INFOCON), a five-tier threat level system used by the country's military to defend against cyber attacks, was raised to Level 3. "We believe there's a larger possibility that North Korea may launch cyber attacks on the South, and recently upgraded our Information Operation Condition," a military official said. The INFOCON was earlier upgraded from Level 5 to Level 4 following Pyongyang's nuclear test last month, EFE news reported. Reports of the latest upgrade come one week after North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket carrying a satellite into space. The action has been interpreted by much of the international community as a disguised ballistic missile test. Read Also: Astrophysicist Wants India to Set Up 3rd LIGO Two New SMARC Modules to Boost up Kontron Pakistan has expressed surprise and disappointment over the Indian Government's move to summon US Ambassador Richard Verma to express displeasure over the Obama administration notifying the sale of eight F-16s to Islamabad. "We are surprised and disappointed at the Indian Government's reaction. Their army and arsenal stock is much larger and they are the largest importer of defence equipment," Pakistan's Ministry of External Affairs (MoFA) spokesperson said in a statement. "As regards F-16 sale, Pakistan and the United States closely cooperate in countering terrorism. US spokesperson clearly announced that the sale is to enhance precision strike capability," he added.(ANI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday flayed the Opposition for questioning Home Minister Rajnath Singh over his claims of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed's support to the event on JNU campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. "Instead of showing unity against anti-national forces, why are people posing as spokesperson of a terrorist. Technically this subject has no basis and it is totally inappropriate," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Triveditold ANI. "Politically this incident is both unfortunate and condemnable," he added. Trivedi further stressed that instead of being sensitive to national security, these people were are hell bent on tarnishing the image of country. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said that Singh's statement that the JNU event had the backing of Saeed was based on inputs from 'different agencies'. Earlier in the day, Singh had said the anti-national protests in the JNU campus had the backing of Hafiz Saeed. "I also want to make it clear that the JNU incident has the support of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. We should also understand this reality that Hafiz Saeed has supported this incident and it is extremely unfortunate," he told the media here. Meanwhile, Singh's comment about Saeed's links with the JNU event has sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said it is a "very serious charge" to level against the students and that the evidence must be shared with all. CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Home Minister has to come out and share the evidence he has with the country to back up his "serious allegation". CPI leader D Raja also demanded that the evidence be made public. (ANI) "The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly condemns the cowardly attack on its Central Committee office in New Delhi," the party said in a statement. "At around 3.30 p.m. this evening a few goons owing allegiance to the rightwing forces attacked the Party headquarters. Party comrades who rushed to defend the office apprehended one of the attackers and handed him over to the Delhi Police," it added. The Left Party in its statement further said that the Delhi Police must thoroughly investigate this incident and take action against the culprits and their mentors. "Those who hero worship the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi as a 'national hero' have the temerity to accuse the CPI(M) of being anti-national. We do not require certificates of patriotism from such elements," it added. It further alleged that the move was politically motivated and that the party would meet this challenge politically and defend themselves against such attacks. Three youths on Sunday tried to vandalise the CPI(M) headquarters here. The attack came in the backdrop of the raging row over an event at the JNU campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. (ANI) Earlier in the day, Singh had said the anti-national protests in the JNU campus had the backing of Hafiz Saeed. "I also want to make it clear that the JNU incident has the support of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. We should also understand this reality that Hafiz Saeed has supported this incident and it is extremely unfortunate," he told the media here. Singh further said that his government would not pardon all those who have raised slogans against the nation's integrity. The Home Minister told the CPI (M), CPI and JD (U) members, who met him yesterday seeking the releasing of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar that the court would decide whether further action should be taken against those students arrested. Kanhaiya was arrested on Friday on sedition charges over a protest organized in the JNU campus on February 9 against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. (ANI) With the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) forming alliance for the upcoming polls in Tamil Nadu, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said 'two zeroes cannot add up to hero'. "We have an alliance and we will come with our NDA alliance very soon," Javadekar said. "As far as Congress-DMK joining, I can only say that two zeroes don't add up to hero, and therefore, it will not make an impact. People of Tamil Nadu have been frustrated with the politics they have witnessed over half a century and they want change and fresh start," he added. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had yesterday formally announced that his party would fight the assembly polls in an alliance with the DMK. After parting ways before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the two parties announced their coming together. Unlike in the past, the Congress apparently had no preconditions for joining the alliance this time, especially since the DMK is likely to apportion seats keeping in mind the need to accommodate more parties such as DMDK, IUML and perhaps other smaller outfits. The Tamil Nadu polls are expected to be a largely three-cornered contest, with the AIADMK and allies and a BJP-led alliance as the other fronts. Denying that his son raised anti-India slogans in the varsity, Kanhaiya's father this episode is being blown out of proportion under political compulsions. "It is an attempt to suppress the Left movement and he (Kanhaiya) did not shout anti national slogan," Kanhaiya's father Jaishankar told ANI. Kanhaiya's mother Meena Devi, who is an anganwadi worker, said this is an attempt to suppress the poor, adding that her son has been arrested for interrogation as he is the president of the students union. The Delhi Police had earlier on Friday arrested Kumar on charges of sedition. (ANI) The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) teachers association on Sunday said that they have never supported any unconstitutional activity inside the campus and have always opposed it. "It is a sad thing. Today after Emergency one of our leaders (JNUSC Pres.) has been picked from the campus on charges of sedition from the campus. This was done during emergency and we know that for 19 months, our president lived in jail but he came out and didn't change his ideology," JNU teachers association president Ajay Patnaik told a press conference. He also said that the university is very progressive and always gives space to the marginalised section of the society. "We in this campus have never supported and have always opposed any unconstitutional activity. But that doesn't mean that you (government) will pick up anyone and put sedition charges against him," he added. Patnaik further said that the university provides space for debate and discussion. "We stand for social harmony, secularism, democracy and liberal space. We love our autonomy and want to preserve our autonomy at whatever cost," he said. He also said the JNU teachers association always stands for upholding the Constitution of India and the values enshrined therein. Meanwhile, Professor Nandita Narayan said that the right to dissent doesn't amount to sedition. "Universities are those spaces in the country where the democracy remains alive. They teach the students how to have a dialogue. They are the places where dissents are allowed to crop up. Right to dissent doesn't amount to sedition," Professor Nandita Narayan said. The Delhi Police had earlier on Friday arrested JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition. Kanhaiya, who has been booked with charges of sedition, was arrested on Friday over a protest organised in the university campus on February 9 against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. (ANI) Inaugurating a training programme on development agreement implementation for district-level office heads organised by the office of the Investment Board Nepal and Nepal Administrative Staff College in Kathmandu, Prime Minister Oli urged the government employees to work without any fear. He, however, expressed dissatisfaction over the trend of civil servants escaping work and then fearing high-ranking officials in the bureaucracy, reported The Himalayan Times. The Prime Minister said that local administration and investors should take the locals into confidence. He also expressed concern over the obstruction by locals to large scale projects. He further said that all should work together for development and prosperity of the new Constitution, which has already been promulgated through the Constituent Assembly. A total of 20 participants, including chief district officers and local development officers, land revenue and forest officers and Nepal Electricity Authority are part of this training programme, which will run until February 18.(ANI) Parisian teacher Frederic Durand-Bassas' Facebook account was suspended without notice five years ago for posting Gustave Courbet's 1866 painting 'The Origin of the World', which depicts female genitalia. Meanwhile, the Paris court has dismissed Facebook's appeal that the case should be heard exclusively in California, where the company is based, the independent reported. "On one hand, Facebook shows a total permissiveness regarding violence and ideas conveyed on the social network. And on the other hand, it shows an extreme prudishness regarding the body and nudity", Durand-Bassas' lawyer Stephane Cottineau said. (ANI) "The function of a university is to provide high quality of education to students. As a university we would like to focus on academics. Maintaining a conducive environment in JNU to achieve our goals should be our primary concern," Kumar said in a press note. "We request everyone to help us focus on our main objective without any interference," he added. The Delhi Police had earlier on Friday arrested JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition. (ANI) Bassi said clarification would be sought wherever required, adding that Tharoor's statements would be analysed, and thereby proceedings will be made. He further said no prejudices will be made regarding the case. The SIT questioned Tharoor for over five hours on. He has earlier been questioned twice. Earlier, Bassi had said Sunanda Pushkar's death was not a natural one. In January last year, the Delhi Police had registered a case of murder in connection with the death of Sunanda. An AIIMS medical board had found poisoning as reason for her death following, which the police had sent her viscera samples to an FBI lab in Washington. Sunanda was found dead inside her suite at a five-star hotel in New Delhi in January 2014. The SIT is likely to file the final report in the case by February28. (ANI) "Like all those interested in improved connectivity and equitable access, we'll be following the upcoming spectrum auction closely. That said, we have not filed to participate," the Google spokeswoman said. Meanwhile, Wireless providers such as Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), AT&T Inc (T.N) and T-Mobile and cable operator Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) have confirmed their participation in the auction, Reuters reported. Google had last participated in a FCC auction in 2008 but did not buy any airwaves. The auction this year will begin on March 29. (ANI) Expressing grave concern over the anti-India protests against 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue MG Vaidya on Sunday said it was extremely unfortunate that some politicians were 'condoning' the incident instead of demanding strict action. "The Left-led demonstration at JNU campus in support of a convicted terrorist with anti-India slogans on placards is a matter of grave concern. With the exchequer's money, the students are getting involved in anti-India activity and even some teachers are supporting it," Vaidya told ANI. The RSS ideologue's remark came hours after the Congress alleged that the government was hell-bent on branding anyone against them as 'anti-national' and said that the entire JNU was being attacked instead of initiating action over a handful of students over the Afzal Guru event in the campus. "The JNU incident once again demonstrates the intrinsic fascism of the RSS, BJP and the ABVP. These people feel that the only voice in the public discourse should be their voice. The fundamentalists, who occupy the highest seats in this government, want to use every opportunity available to shut JNU and convert it into a 'shishu mandir'," Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI. Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi today dispelled rumour that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been asked to take over the JNU row probe. Bassi said that his men are competent enough to investigate each and every case which they register. Reports earlier suggested that the Delhi Police top brass was keen on transferring the case to the Special Cell or the National Investigation Agency since "links between the JNU students and terrorist Afzal Guru" need to be probed. A status report on the JNU case has already been submitted to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung. (ANI) The strike follows the recent attacks and the murder of two lawyers - Shrawan Kumar Verma from Lucknow and Ashok Kumar Ahirvar from Hamirpur last week. Ajay Kumar Shukla, a member of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council said that the strike was to protest against the investigation into the two murders which has has so far resulted in no arrests. Even the state government seemingly is not interested in expediting the probe, he added. The Bar Council has also demanded that families of both lawyers be given Rs. 45 lakh as financial aid, in lines with similar compensation given by the Akhilesh Yadav government to Mohammad Akhlaq, a Muslim man who was killed in Dadri last year on charges of consuming beef. The lawyers have also threatened to further expand their agitation if their demands were not met and the culprits not nabbed at the earliest. --Indo-Asian News Service md/ksk ( 180 Words) 2016-02-15-08:29:33 (IANS) Kumar was arrested on Friday allegedly for raising anti-India slogans at an event organised by students on the JNU campus to commemorate the death of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was executed in 2013. He was sent to three-day police custody after the Delhi Police told the court that they wanted to probe his alleged links to 'terrorist groups'. Kumar was arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and sedition under sections 124A and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. (ANI) The strike, which has been called by Mumbai Auto Rickshaw Taximen's Union, is likely to have a big impact of suburban Mumbai, as city's taxi drivers are also set to join the strike. According to reports, the government has raised the cost of permits to Rs 15,000. The Auto Drivers' union allege that the cost of renewal of permit has also been raised. The union has demanded that cab aggregators should be banned, besides taking action against vehicles who are involved in unauthorized ferrying of passengers. They have also demanded that auto rickshaw drivers and owners be given recognition of "public servant". (ANI) Criticising Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Yogi Adityanath for suggesting that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) should be closed, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader AK Padmnabhan said that the saffron party is trying to target the progressive views expressed in varsity, adding that such attempts would be strongly opposed by the students. "These people have been against progressive views. JNU has been a university where progressive views and Constitutional values are being upheld. They have been targeting that. This will be resisted as the professors, students and employees are all together and the whole country is protesting. Use of sedition charges against students shows where they are taking the country," Padmnabhan told ANI here. He also slammed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for saying that "JNU incident" was supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. He said that Singh should verify facts before making such statements. BJP's Gorakhpur MP, Adityanath, had yesterday reportedly said that JNU had become a blot on education and that it should be closed. Meanwhile, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising anti-India slogans, will be produced before a Delhi court today as his three-day police remand ends. Kumar was arrested on Friday allegedly for raising anti-India slogans at an event organised by students on the JNU campus to commemorate the death of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was executed in 2013. He was sent to three-day police custody after the Delhi Police told the court that they wanted to probe his alleged links to 'terrorist groups'. (ANI) South Korea's imports of Iranian crude oil tripled in January from a year earlier with the United States lifting sanctions on Tehran, but shipments remain far below pre-sanction levels, customs data showed on Monday. The world's fifth-largest crude importer brought 859,223 tonnes of Iranian crude oil last month, or 203,165 barrels per day (bpd), three times higher than 273,626 tonnes imported a year earlier, the data showed. That marks the highest imports for January since 2012 when South Korea shipped in 975,967 tonnes, the data showed. The country, along with other major Iranian crude buyers, had to slash Iranian crude imports from mid-2012. The Islamic Republic on Jan. 17 emerged from years of economic isolation as world powers lifted sanctions after confirming that Tehran had curbed its nuclear programme. Iran is exporting 1.3 million bpd of crude oil, and will be pumping 1.5 million bpd by the start of the next Iranian year on March 20, a vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri was quoted as saying on Saturday. Under sanctions, South Korea and other major Iranian crude buyers were required to ship in no more crude than levels imported in 2014. Seoul bought 5.7 million tonnes, or 114,595 bpd, of crude from Tehran last year, down 8 percent year-on-year, according to the customs data and Reuters calculations last month. Overall, South Korea imported 10.84 million tonnes of crude in January, or 2.56 million bpd. That was 4.6-percent lower than the 11.37 million tonnes imported a year earlier, according to the customs data.Final data for last month's crude oil imports will be released by state-run Korea National Oil Corp later this month.REUTERS DS PR0712 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0137-590675.Xml Curfew-like restrictions have again been imposed in downtown and Shehar-e-Khas (SeK) and Maisuma in the civil lines following a general strike called by separatist organizations today in protest against the death of two students in security force firing in south Kashmir Pulwama.Restrictions have also been imposed in parts of Pulwama to prevent any law and order problem. Official source said that restrictions have been imposed under Section 144 CrPC to maintain law and order. However, the situation on the ground today was totally different as people were being asked to remain indoor in areas falling under police stations of Khanyar, M R Gunj, Nowhatta, Safa Kadal and Rainawari in the downtown and SeK.Additional paramilitary forces and state police personnel have been deployed since early this morning to strictly implement the restrictions. People living on both sides of the Nallahmar road and Nowhatta alleged that they were not being allowed to move out of their houses by the security forces deployed in the area. All main roads have been closed with barbed wire and people were being directed to return to their homes. However, the main Safa Kadal road to S K Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) remained open though only patients and medical staff were being allowed to go.MORE UNI BAS SB 1034 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-590724.Xml Chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq and a number of hardline HC leaders remained under house arrest in Srinagar since last evening, official sources said here. However, chairman of hardline HC Syed Ali Shah Geelani and another senior amalgam leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan are in New Delhi. A spokesman for the HC said that the Mirwaiz was put under house arrest last evening. He said a large number of security forces and state police personnel had been deployed outside his Nigeen. Aiyaz Akbar, spokesman for the hardline HC said he and several other leaders of the amalgam, including Mohammad Ashraf Sehrahee, were again put under house arrest since last evening. ''We were released only on Friday evening after remaining under house arrest from February 8, Mr Akbar. We were not being allowed to move out by the security forces deployed outside,'' Mr Akabar said. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) front chief Mohammad Yaseen Malik also remained confined in his Maisuma house where restrictions have been imposed since early this morning to prevent any demonstrations. Both the factions of the HC had called for a general strike today in protest against the death of two students Danish and Shaista allegedly in security force firing in south Kashmir Pulwama where people were protesting near an encounter site. A local militant was killed in the encounter which was going on when the reports last came in today.UNI BAS SB GC1127 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-590750.Xml The Nifty too gained by 163.50 pts to 7,144.45. The sensex registered a intra day high and low at 23,197.67 and 23.480.18 points respectively. The Nifty recorded intra day high and low at 7,146.05 and 7,056.80 points respectively. Sectoral indices like Materials, Capital Goods, Energy, FMCG, Industrials and IT stocks rallied. Scrips like Tata Steel, Adani Ports, SBIN and L & T too jumped while Bharti Airtel was seen weak in intra day trade. The gainers were Tata Steel by 9.57 pc to rs 238.70, Adani Ports by 7.02 pc to Rs 191.25, SBI by 6.68 pc to Rs 165.30 and L & T by 4.66 pc to Rs 1102.80. The sole loser was 1.18 pc to Rs 321.40. Asian shares bounced to snap a five-session losing streak today as a strong fix for China's yuan eased devaluation concerns and Shanghai stocks returned from the Lunar New Year holidays with onlymodest losses. The Shanghai Composite Index eased 2.2 per cent in its first session since February 5, a relatively benign move given the wild swings seen worldwide recently. Still, rallies in European bank stocks and on Wall Street on Friday helped soothe jitters enough for MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan to rise 1.2 per cent. That follows a loss of almost 4 percent last week. UNI NV HK1120 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-590801.Xml A case has been registered on a complaint that three threatening calls were made at a landline number of the headquarters of Communist Party of India-Marxist here on Sunday night, Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal told IANS. "The caller allegedly used filthy language against Sitaram Yechury." Security has been beefed up outside the CPI-M office after the threatening calls, Narwal said. He said the caller identified himself as an "Aam Aadmi Balveer Sena" member. Meanwhile, students of the university have gone on strike, demanding release of JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is due to be presented before a city court on Monday. Scores of JNU students formed a human chain and raised slogans on Sunday, demanding that sedition charges against Kanhaiya Kumar be dropped. Kumar was arrested last week in a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy filed over holding an event marking the anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's execution, during which anti-India slogans were raised. --Indo-Asian News Service rak/kb/vt ( 210 Words) 2016-02-15-12:57:33 (IANS) Monday is the 40th day of mourning for Mufti Sayeed who died on January 7 in a New Delhi hospital. Mehbooba Mufti accompanied by her mother Nusrat Ara, brother Tasaduq Mufti, sister Rubiaya Sayeed and other members of the family went to Bijbehara town to offer prayers at her father's grave. Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary troops was made all along the 40-km road from Srinagar to Bijbehara town to secure passage for the Mufti family. While restrictions have been imposed in six police station areas of Srinagar, heavy deployment of security forces has been made in all major towns in south and north Kashmir areas to maintain law and order on Monday. A shutdown called by separatists affected life in the Kashmir Valley as public transport, markets and other businesses remained closed. The shutdown has been called in protest the killings of two youths, 19-year-old Danish Rashid Mir and 22-year-old Shaista Hamid, in firing by security forces in Kakapora area of Pulwama district on Sunday. Police said Shaista died from a bullet injury suffered during cross-firing between militants and the security forces. Danish, according to police, died because a tear-smoke shell hit him on the head when protestors were trying to break the cordon laid during a gunfight in the area. Ten other civilians injured in the protests at Kakapora on Sunday are being treated in two hospitals in Srinagar city. --Indo-Asian News Service sq/kb/vt ( 273 Words) 2016-02-15-13:23:34 (IANS) Malik, who remained confined to his house at Maisuma because of curfew-like restrictions imposed since early this morning to prevent any demonstration, was suffering from high fever. A spokesman for the front told UNI that Malik was later admitted to a private hospital in the uptown city, where he was being attended by the doctors. He said some tests were also conducted. The spokesman alleged that Malik has contracted acute infection at central jail in Srinagar where he remained lodged after a local court sent him to seven days remand on February 8. Malik and three other front leaders were arrested during a demonstration at Budshah Chowk, near here demanding mortal remains of JKLF founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Bhat and Guru were hanged and later buried in Delhis Tihar jail on February 11,1984 and February 9,2013 respectively. However, Malik and others were later released on bail on Friday evening. Separatist organisations had called for a general strike today in protest against the killing of two students Shaista and Danish in security force firing at Kakpora in Pulwama yesterday. UNI BAS SB GC1305 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-590877.Xml With the JNU protests taking a political colour post Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that the event had the backing of LeT chief Hafiz Sayeed, CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat on Monday questioned the Centre's definition of nationalism and said that they would prefer to wear the 'anti-national' badge with honour. The former CPI (M) general secretary, who visited the JNU campus to meet the protesting students, extended his party's support to their cause. "It has become a much wider issue for the society because this is not a clash of ideas between different groups of students. It is the government and the establishment directly intervening to set the agenda to change the framework of our education system and values," Karat told the media here. "They were not unpatriotic by any chance. We do not accept their definition of nationalism, their version of nationalism. If they call us anti-national, we wear it with a badge of honour," he added. Karat further said he is visiting the varsity as a former student, adding that the situation in the JNU is worse than during the times of emergency. The students are protesting over the arrest of JNU student's union president Kanhaiya Kumar on the charges of sedition. Kumar was arrested after he allegedly made a speech against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. The agitating students today raised slogans against the Delhi Police, asking them to leave the campus. The CPI (M) leaders, including Sitaram Yechury, have been demanding Kumar's release. Yechury has even accused the BJP of trying to carry forward the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's ideology. (ANI) The 34th Agartala Book fair got off to a flying start here at Agartala on Sunday afternoon with hundreds of people thronging the fair complex in front of Umakanta Academy English medium school. Altogether 121 including 35 local book sellers and publishers opened stalls in the fair, which will continue up to February 25 next. Other than Tripura booksellers from Kolkata, Assam, Delhi, Goa, Kerala and Bangladesh participated in the fair. The inaugural programme was attended by a host of dignitaries including Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Bhanulal Saha and eminent Bangladesh painter and artist Mohammad Hasem Khan. In his speech as chief guest the Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, focused on the importance of book fair as a major cultural event and the deepening socio-economic and political crisis in India. Sarkar expressed his concern over consistent violation of constitution and rule of law by the party ruling at centre. He however did not specifically named the BJP or central government but raised the issue of intolerance and religious fundamentalism and in which the Book Fair can play a major role in uniting the people against all these. "Against intolerance based on the ideology of secularism for strengthening the unity of mankind we should be able to move ahead. To spread all these amongst the citizens of our state the book fair should be dedicated. What I feel is that in the present situation of our country this book fair is very much necessary, related and relevant," said Sarkar. "In the name of Hindu religion the manner in which a malign chapter is being attempted to be brought forward, we feel that this is an insult of Hinduism and damaging it. Those who believe in Hinduism and have read the religious texts can anyone show where there is any mention about that people from other religion should be hated and at any cost and if necessary with force be converted into Hindu religion. Where is this mentioned? Is there any other bigger Hindu Indian then Vivekananda?" he added. In the inauguration programme, ICA Minister Bhanulal Saha, special secretary of ICA department Soumitra Bandopadhya and director of ICA department Shantanu Debbarman also delivered their speeches. Focused on youth and children, the annual festival is organised by the Information Cultural Affairs (ICA) Department of Tripura with the cooperation of the state publishers. Book lovers consider the fair to be a golden opportunity for getting the best collection of their favourite writer which they rarely get to see in the Agartala market during the other time of the year. Subash Singha Ray, a book lover from Bangladesh said: "Those who are engaged with books are tolerant, mankind loving and patronise democracy, culture and lenience. There shall be differences in views and outlooks but books shall unite us in one platform. Later year there were 400 stall in the Bangladesh Book Fair but this year the number of stalls had increased to 600 and during January the fundamentalists conspired to burn the entire Bangladesh but still people came out to buy books." Writers and publishers are also very happy about the fair doing good business. The objective of this fair is to generate reading habits among the youths, encourage writers and publishers as hundreds of books are released on the occasion. In spite of the new generation attracted towards internet and e-book every year there is an increase in selling of books during the fair. The Agartala Book Fair started in the year 1981 and is the only state government sponsored fair in the country. (ANI) Amid escalating face-off between the Centre and the JNUiites over an event held to commemorate the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Jawaharlal Nehru University vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar today appealed to the striking students and teachers to end their agitation, saying that the issue can be solved through dialogue.''I appeal to the entire JNU community, it is our responsibility to bring in normalcy so that we go on with our academic activity,'' he said.''We believe that any problem can be solved through discussion and there is no need for any strike,'' the Vice-Chancellor added. Mr Kumar said a high-level inquiry committee was already looking into the matter. "We have already formed a high-level inquiry committee to look into the matter and they are collecting all the evidence available, he said. ''Inquiry Committee would file report by February 25.'' The Jawaharlal Nehru University row escalated further yesterday with Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying that anti-India protests had the full backing of Lashker-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, which enraged the Left and other Opposition parties besides the university teachers and brought out students on streets in protest. JNU students president Kanhaiya Kumar was held three days ago under sedition charges for allegedly commemorating death anniversary of Afzal. The students are on strike demanding the release of Kanhaiya Kumar. Scores of JNU students formed a human chain and raised slogans yesterday, demanding that sedition charges against Kumar be dropped.UNI SY SW AE 1427 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-591071.Xml Placing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in crosshairs preceding to Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit in the state, Madhya Pradesh Congress President Arun Yadav today demanded the regime to first seek adequate compensation from the Centre for peasants. Crop damage has been to the tune of Rs 22,000 crore. The Centre has approved only Rs 2,033 cr as compensation. It is equivalent to oont ke muh mein jeera (a drop in the ocean), Mr Yadav told reporters here. The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Sherpur village in Sehore district for taking part in a Kisan Sammelan during which he will be felicitated. Is the felicitation justified under such circumstances? he asked. Besides, the Revenue Department had sent a proposal to the Centre for distribution of Rs 4,239.39 crore as compensation. Later, an additional compensation of Rs 900 crore was sought following the inclusion of more tehsils, said Mr Yadav. He demanded Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to first bring adequate compensation from New Delhi for being distributed to debt-ridden peasants prior to the event. Mr Yadav said the state government has decided to provide Rs 500 each to peasants for participating in the Kisan Sammelan. He said the regime is spending Rs 25 cr to bring peasants to the programme and around Rs 100 cr in organising the event. He demanded that the BJP provide Rs 5,000 to each farmer participating in the event. He also alleged that the ruling dispensation has managed to bag Krishi Karman Award for the fourth consecutive time by manipulating figures. He questioned the rationale of the award at a time when crops have been damaged and peasants have been deprived of compensation. In the past 12 years, more than 29,000 farmers committed suicide. Likewise, 2,230 farmers took their own lives in the past seven months, Mr Yadav added. UNI PS AE BL1544 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-591181.Xml Amidst continued uncertainty over formation of next government in Jammu and Kashmir, a delegation of BJP is likely to meet Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on the Chharrum(40th day) of her father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed this evening. However, a senior leader and former minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government, which was headed by Mr Sayeed, Naeem Akhtar told UNI that there is no information that BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav is arriving here today to meet Ms Mehbooba. Jammu and Kashmir is under Governor's rule since February 8, a day after Mr Sayeed breathed his last in AIIMS, New Delhi after PDP and BJP failed to form the next coalition government. Mr Akhtar said a delegation of BJP is likely to visit the residence of Ms Mehbooba this evening to pay homage and offer condolence on the 40th day Chharum of Mr Sayeed. However, he said it is just to offer condolence and nothing more should be read in it. When asked about the media reports that Mr Madhav is arriving here today to discuss government formation in the state, Mr Akhtar said he has no such information. When again asked if he has any knowledge about Mr Madhav arriving in Kashmir, the PDP leader, who was government spokesman during previous coalition regime, said although he donot known but Mr Mahav can come to Kashmir or any other place when he (Madhav) wishes as there is no restriction. He said the party has authorised Ms Mehbooba to take final call on the issue of government formation in the state. The PDP and BJP compromised their stands on a number of issues, including Article 370 and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) when the coalition government was formed after more than two month-long discussion last year.MORE UNI BAS SV GC1455 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-590955.Xml The Uttar Pradesh government was cooperating with central agencies, including NIA, on terrorist organisations activity in the state. "The issue is very sensitive and hence no politics should be done. There is no such specific input about the terrorist activity in the state including that of Al Qaeda or any other outfit," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohammad Azam Khan told the state assembly today. He said everyone should condemn the acts of the terrorist organisations and it is unfortunate that a community is being singled out on the name of terrorism. "India is a state of secular harmony and already the Muslims have suffered due to the partition once and any other acts further would certainly create another communal rift in the country," he added. Replying to a querry, the Minister said further discussion on the issue should be avoided and asked the Chair to hold an all-party leaders meeting to address the issue which has now turned out to be a major national and international problem. "We want UP to be safe for the people and government was doing everything for the safety of the masses and hence cooperating with Central agencies with holding meeting with them regularly," Mr Khan said. However BJP member Shyamdeo Rai Choudhury said that the matter is serious and the state government is taking the issue lightly. " UP is always a soft target of the terrorist outfits and even the central agencies have warned the state about the existence of sleeping modules," he said. Congress member Akhilesh Pratap Singh too sought to know from the government whether the Centre has warned the state about the growing activity of SIMI and ISI in the state. Leader of the Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya also expressed concern on the rising act of terrorist activities in the state and asked the government to be more sensitive on the matter.UNI MB SW CS1504 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-591065.Xml A top A'chik Songna An'pachakgipa Kotok (ASAK) militant commander, the main accused in the kidnapping and killing of the Intelligence Bureau officer and a cloth merchant, has been killed in an encounter with Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commandos in Meghalaya, police said today. However, police said six to seven militants managed to escape from the encounter site.Sengbath D.Shira, the commander of ASAK was gunned down in an encounter with SWAT commandos in a jungle near Kemdang village in South Garo Hills district, Inspector General of Police (Operations), G.H.P.Raju said. Shira is the prime accused in the abduction and murder of central intelligence officer Bikash Kumar Singh and Cloth merchant Kamal Saha. They were abducted on September 24 from Panda area, near Rongara in South Garo Hills. Both Singh and Saha were killed and their bodies recovered from Bolchugre village, near Baghmara a month later on October 24. UNI RRK KK SB CS1412 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-590910.Xml Diversified natural resources company Vedanta Ltd today it will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government to build an aluminium park in the state. This state-of-the-art plug-and-produce aluminium park will be set up across 240 acres of land, providing an exclusive ecosystem for industries dependent on, as well as manufacturing aluminium conductors, extrusions, castings, foils, powder and paste, it added.The park will facilitate easy transport of aluminium in liquid form and help in cost savings that will be a game-changer for the downstream industries, the company said. Abhijit Pati, CEO-Aluminium, Vedanta Ltd, who was present during the announcement said, This collaborative effort will create a win-win situation for all. The park has the potential to attract over Rs 1,000 crore of investment which can be operationalised within a relatively short timeframe.He added, In full capacity, the park can generate direct and indirect employment to approximately 17,000 people. With this kind of infrastructure, Odisha can become the aluminium hub of the world. The proposed aluminium park will be adjacent to Vedanta's 1.6 mtpa smelter along with 3,600 MW of power generation facilities. The Government of Odisha will provide necessary infrastructure for setting up the industries with incentives as per the IPR, in the form of land, electricity and others, the cost of which will be recovered from the investors who shall establish their units.UNI NM ABI 1652 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-591470.Xml "I feel awkward that the Indian Government is alleging my role in the protests by Jawaharlal Nehru University students based on a fake account in my name. It was a fake account and I have no role to play in it," he said in a video posted on the YouTube by 'JuD Videos'. Amid strong criticism over the protests at JNU, the Home Minister Rajnath Singh had yesterday said that this entire episode had the backing of the LeT chief. "The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand," Singh told reporters in Allahabad on Sunday. The Home Minister's comments had come days after a tweet, on a fake twitter handle, appeared under a hashtag asking Pakistanis to support the JNU protests. Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said today the tweet was blasphemous and tried to incite youth against the lawfully established government of India. The Delhi Police had reacted within hours of the tweet, putting out an advisory on Twitter asking students not to get swayed by Saeed's tweet. "Do not get carried away by such seditious anti-national rhetoric," the Delhi Police said in its advisory on social media. The police in other metros such as Mumbai and Hyderabad were also tagged to draw their attention. (ANI) An ongoing Kanyakumari-Kashmir padayatra by social reformer Sri M will enter national capital New Delhi on Wednesday. The 67-year-old spiritual guide is slated to meet top administrators, influential leaders and the common people over the next 15 days in a bid to promote inter-faith harmony. The Delhi leg of the 16-month 'The Walk of Hope' will see the famed yogi holding walks, visiting religious places of various faiths, delivering talks and interacting with the public besides constitutional authorities such as the President of India and the Chief Minister of Delhi. The Feb 17-March 3 padayatra in the National Capital Region will begin from Gurgaon with an eight-km march to Chattarpur Mandir and conclude with a daytime walk to Khalsa College followed by a farewell at Alipur in northwest Delhi bordering Haryana. In between, Sri M will be meeting President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 19 and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the walk on February 18, besides holding two days of Nirahar Satyagrahas against terrorism and communal violence. There will also be cultural evenings featuring music concerts by Manav Ekta Band (IIT February 18), Hindustani vocalist Kalapini Komkali (IIC, February 22), fusion music by Indian Ocean band (Nehru Park, February 27) and choral music (Sacred Heart Cathredral, February 28), besides Kathak dance (IIT, February 18) and a play 'Amir Khusro' (India Islamic Centre, February 29). The 7,500-km pan-India walk with 70 volunteers, which started from Kanyakumari with Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir as their destination, has been reaching out to millions of people. For Sri M, who has penned the bestseller 'Apprenticed to a Himalayan master-A Yogi's Autobiography', the aim is to interact with 10 million fellow Indians in eleven states by the time the Walk concludes after 500 days of journey in May this year. "The hope is to erase disparities arising from a misunderstanding of our diverse culture and religions, thus uniting the humanity of India through a spiritual approach proving people can live together despite all differences," says Sri M, who was born Mumtaz Ali Khan and runs the Manav Ekta Mission. The Manav Ekta Mission, a wing of the Satsang Foundation established by Sri M, powers the Walk of Hope. The other highlights of the Delhi round are talks at IIT (Feb 18), IIC (Feb 22), AIIMS (Feb 26) and India Islamic Centre (Feb 29), besides visits to Hindu and Jain Temples, Churches, Masjids, Gurdwaras, Ashrams, Dargahs, educational institutions, night shelters, parks and other public places. The Nirahar Satyagrahas (Feb 24 and 25) will be of nine hours each and are slated to be held at Jantar Mantar (Sansad Marg). Sri M will also attend felicitation functions at Teen Murti House on February 19 and Siri Fort Auditorium. (ANI) Launching a frontal attack on the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thinks anyone who is against the government is 'anti-national', and added that anyone who supports them is 'pro-national'. "This attitude will throw them out in 2019. They have failed in fulfilling the promises they had made to the people. You are pro-national if you support the government, if you say anything against the government, you are anti-national," Kumar told the media here. "No one is saying what happened was right but people who raised anti-national slogans must be identified. Who was raising anti-national slogans? Show the proof. Don't just make baseless allegations," he added. Nitish further stated that Kanhaiya belonged to Bihar. "Everyone is commenting on it. Even we demand proof. What are you doing on those whose faces can be seen raising slogans? We have reached a phase of technology where many proofs are available and everyone has the right to place it," he said. Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out between students and lawyers outside Patiala House court during the hearing of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising anti-India slogans. The students, who have been demanding Kumar's release, alleged that they were roughed up by a group of lawyers when they entered the court premises. During scuffle, journalists were also attacked by some lawyers inside the court premises. "I am not even a JNU student. We are peacefully waiting for him. Some 6-7 lawyers, started pointing towards us and then they abused and called us Pakistanis," said one of the eye-witnesses. "These lawyers thrashed a journalist. I saw them beating him up brutally. They were saying that it is not the court but them who will decide the matter," said another person present at the court. The students have been protesting inside JNU over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar. He was arrested after he allegedly made a speech against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. (ANI) BJP state spokesperson Hiten Goswami hit out at Mr Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to eastern and northern Assam from today. He questioned why Gandhi had stood in support of the JNU students who had raised anti-India slogans and accused him of indulging in anti-national activities by doing so. Mr Goswami also accused Mr Gandhi of supporting the separatists in the country by extending support to the offending JNU students. Criticising Assam CM Tarun Gogoi for inviting Mr Gandhi to Assam, Mr Goswami questioned the MP's silence on 'deteriorating' law and order situation in the state. Mr Gandhi is on a two-day tour of the state from today, during which he will visit northern and eastern belt of the state and interact with micro booth level workers, women workers, tea tribe and adivasi leaders and apolitical leaders.UNI SG AKM AE BL1758 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-591510.Xml Addressing a meeting of micro-level booth management party workers at Gohpur in northern Sonitpur district, Mr Gandhi alleged that the BJP government was trying to divide the people along religious lines and warned the people against falling victim to such divisive politics. He also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to keep his pre-poll promises and was trying to woo people only with words but no welfare action on ground. Mr Gandhi later addressed a women workers' rally at Bihpuria, also in northern part of the state, and urged the workers to gear up for the coming Assembly elections. He will address another party meeting at Titabor and meet leaders of tea tribes and adivasis at Sivsagar, where he will spend the time, in the eastern part of the state. Mr Gandhi is scheduled to hold a meeting with intellectuals and apolitical leaders of Sivsagar tomorrow and then take part in a 'padyatra' (foot march) from historic Ahom era amphitheatre Rang-ghar to a local field, before leaving for New Delhi. UNI SG AKM AE NS1745 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-591585.Xml According to a report by ZDNet, the California based tech giant would build on 2,50,000 square feet of land in real estate firm Tishman Speyer's WaveRock facility at Hyderabad's IT corridor. The amount of money to be pumped for the project is expected to be around USD 25 million (Rs 150 crore). "It's a very positive development as Apple has not looked at cities only in India, but across many places in Europe and other parts of the world. Their decision to have the facility in Hyderabad is a strong endorsement of the city as a major IT hub in the country," said Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary to IT department in the state of Telangana. (ANI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing took to the streets to protest against the CPIM, CPI and the Congress for their stand on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) row and accused them of siding with anti-India forces. According to the protesters, the JNU students in the name of 'Right to Expression' were chanting 'anti-national slogans and giving anti-national speech' during last week's protest in the varsity and to which the CPIM, CPI and Congress were fanning for getting political mileage. "What does right to expression mean? It gives the right to speak what one dislike or like. Maybe you dislike a person or strategy but can you raise question on our national integration or support that. We protest this type of incident and it's a shame for the entire nation," said BJP spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty. "It proves that those against the independence of India that is the CPIM and CPI parties which right from the starting of our nationalist movement were against India's independence. Even when China attacked India they supported China, they supported the division of India and Pakistan. They support the Maoist movement for division of India...... now the anti-nationalist approach of CPIM and Congress has become clear before everyone." The protest rally started from the BJP state office at Krishnanagar and ended at Colonel chowmouni. (ANI) In order to assess the promises made by the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh ,Shahi Imam Maulana Ahmed Bukhari has called an all-important meeting of representatives of the Muslim community here on February 20. The meeting of the Maulana seems important in the wake of the coming 2017 assembly elections. The Shahi Imam is apparently unhappy with the ruling Samajwadi Party though during the 2012 assembly polls, Maulana had supported the SP. Shahi Imam Maulana Ahmed Bukhari told UNI from New Delhi on telephone that in the meeting, Muslim leaders would chalk out a plan for assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh slated to be held on 2017. " Muslim clerics from all over the state would meet in Lucknow on February 20 at 1100 hrs to discuss on the present role of the government for the Muslims and decide on the future course of action," he stated. Maulana Bhukhari, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the ruling Samajwadi Party, saying it was not fulfilling any of the promises made to the Muslim community during 2012 assembly polls. The Maulana said the Uttar Pradesh government had failed to give security to minority community besides the promise to provide them reservation, jobs,education facilities were not fulfilled. He also said the SP government's announcement to set up Urdu model schools was also not fulfilled. The Maulana condemned the communal violence of Muzaffarnagar and murder of Akhlaq in Dadri and said Muslims feel unsecure in the Akhilesh Yadav government. Maulana Bukhari extended his support to the SP in 2012 assembly elections and issued an appeal to the Muslims to vote for the party although he did not had a good relationship with senior party leader Mohammad Azam Khan. Ahmed Bukhari said the Muslim community was not satisfied with the ruling S P government. "As I had asked the community to vote for the SP, now they are asking me what the state government had done for them," he said. "I have met SP supremo Mulayam Singh several times with our demands and grievances but nothing have materialised so far," he said.UNI MB RSA AE VN1900 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-591505.Xml Unidentified miscreants looted a sum of Rs 5 lakh from a person who had come to deposit the amount in Bank of India branch in this district.Victim Asit Rai, was busy filling up the depositing form and had kept the bag below in which he was carrying the cash. Seizing the opportunity, the miscreants who were already inside the bank decamped with the cash.The entire episode has been caught on the CCTV installed in the bank. Police said later a police team visited the spot and took stock of the situation. Meanwhile, the bank management has urged the district administration to increase the security in the bank.UNI XC-AK AKM AE BD1924 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-591882.Xml This was announced here today by General Secretary BKU( Ugrahan) Sukhdev Singh Kokari after their meeting with various farmers unions and farm labourers and also with the district presidents of BKU Ekta Ugrahan. Joginder Singh Ugrahan was also present at the meeting. Mr Kokari also stated that farmers and farm labourer about one dozen unions would press for the early allotment of 10 marlas plots to the farm labourers. He also stated their unions also pressing for the compensation of Rs 40, 000 compensation to cotton growers per acre for the loss of cotton crop and Rs 20, 000 per acre to farm labourers. Earlier the Chief Minister postponed their meeting of January 27, due to illness. Both Mr Kokari and Joginder Singh Ugrahan hoped that Chief Minster would give patient hearing to all farmers demands aon February 18 meeting at Chandigarh. Another Demand legislation of proposing of new money laundering act to save farmers from the clutches of commission agents and also waiving of crop loans and said that the if Modi government can waive of 1.14 lakh crores of corporate loan and why not by the state governments poor farmers.UNI XC AE BL1849 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-591411.Xml Prime Minister Modi has invited leaders of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha of major political parties on Tuesday morning. The Budget Session of the Parliament will begin on February 23. While the first session will continue till March 16, the second session will take place from April 25 to May 13. President Pranab Mukherjee will address the joint session of Parliament on February 23. The Railway Budget will be presented on February 25 while the Union Budget will be presented on February 29. The government is keen to push its legislative agenda, thwarted in the last two sessions, while the Opposition is all geared up to target the ruling dispensation on a host of issues, including the suicide of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula and imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh. The ongoing political crisis in Jammu and Kashmir is also likely to be raised by the Opposition during the Budget Session. The government has been critical of the Opposition for blocking the House proceedings and important legislations. (ANI) As political slugfest between the Centre and Opposition today continued over pro- Afzal Guru Row event in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the national capital today witnessed a chain of protests and counter protests on the issue. Families of soldiers martyred during Parliament attack met here Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and expressed their anguish over commemoration of death anniversary of Afzal Guru inside JNU campus and Press Club of India. Under the banner of GIA (Group of Intellectuals and Academicians), around 100 doctors, teachers and professors staged a protest this evening outside Press Club of India, demanding strict action against those who felicitated organisers of an event, held inside it, hailing Afzal Guru as martyr. Raising slogans such as Deshdrohi Bharat Chodo (anti-nationals must leave country) and India First, Nation First, the protestors submitted a memorandum to PCI President, asking him to take action against those who supported that event morally, ideologically and financially. Monica Arora, spokesperson of GIA, said their delegation will meet the Home Minister on the issue and demand a thorough probe to unearth the ''nexus between anti-national elements, present in JNU and PCI, and Pakistan.''Lodging their strong protest against events hailing Afzal Guru, the mastermind of Parliament Attack, families of soldiers martyred during the attack along with Anti-Terrorist Front Chief Maninder Singh Bitta met the Home Minister and lodged a strong protest with him on the issue. We are pained to see that some people have shouted anti-India slogans. Its disrespect to our soldiers, who laid their lives while defending their motherland. If the government takes no action against such elements, we will sit on dharna inside JNU campus, the Chief of Anti-Terrorist Front told reporters after meeting Mr Singh with martyrs families. More UNI RG RSA AE 1932 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0377-591920.Xml Santosh Jha, the main accused in the gruesome murder of two engineers, was produced before a local court today. Jha, who allegedly masterminded the twin murders, is presently lodged in Bhagalpur Central Jail. He is involved in nearly two dozen cases of unlawful activities, including murder, extortion and kidnapping. The outlaw was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Rajesh Kumar Dwivedi after Darbhanga police procured a production warrant from the court against him. After his production in the court, Jha was sent back to Bhagalpur Central Jail under tight security. Two engineers of a road construction company Muksh Kumar and Brajesh Kumar were shot dead by criminals under Baheri police station area in Darbhanga district on December 26 last year. UNI XC-DH PL AE NS2001 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-591971.Xml : Amid a dip in Keralas alcohol consumption owing to government measures, Subodham I-CON 2016 will begin here on Wednesday with the aim of further bringing down use of intoxicants among the people of the state. The three-day international conference on Effective Strategies for the Prevention of Alcohol & Substance Abuse will be inaugurated Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the evening function to be presided over by Excise Minister K Babu. British global policy expert Mr Derek Rutherford will deliver the keynote address at 1600 hrs on February 17. The conference aims to learn from best practices in the area of demand reduction, harm reduction and research from around the globe, as well as showcase the states experience in substance abuse policy making. Sessions include discussions on global and national policies and strategies, the role of faith-based organizations and a plan of action on the way forward, Shri Babu told a press conference today. Alcohol consumption in the state has come down, said the Minister. While the WHO (World Health Organization) aims to bring alcohol consumption down by 1 per cent annually, there has been a 10 per cent decrease in the state in the past five years. Through Subodham I-CON 2016, we hope to do fight alcohol and substance abuse in a more scientific manner and keeping in mind current research. Political leaders from the Opposition Left Front as well as the BJP have been invited to participate, the Minister revealed. The Excise Departments Subodham initiative, which aims to create an addiction-free Kerala, has been allocated Rs 15 crore by the government for awareness, research and rehabilitation programmes. Around 150 national and international delegates are expected to participate in the day-long sessions on February 18 and 19 at the Mascot Hotel Convention Centre. Conference participants include representatives from the WHO, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance and NGOs. A public awareness programme is scheduled at Shangumugham Beach on February 18 at 6 pm, with a special performance by the popular Oorali Band. The valedictory session will be inaugurated by Governor Justice (Rtd) P Sathasivam on February 19. UNI DS KVV AK 2112 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-591592.Xml Bloggers from Brazil to Belgium and Spain to South Africa took part in the Kerala Blog Express Season 3 that began today. Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar flagged off this year's edition at the Mascot Hotel, which witnessed the participation of 30 leading bloggers from 25 countries. Launched in 2014, Kerala Blog Express is a two-week long road trip that targets the most influential bloggers in the global travelling community, who will share their experiences with readers, recommend destinations and also act as travel agents. "After two hugely successful editions, the response to the third season of Kerala Blog Express has been remarkable," said Anilkumar. "I hope that this year will be even more successful and will further help in promoting tourism," the Minister said. He also expressed his gratitude to the Kerala Blog Express partners such as Silk Air, Airtel and other hospitality groups. The Kerala Blog Express 1.0 was a great success due to its accurate planning and well designed execution. It created a significant buzz worldwide about Kerala as a tourist destination. The second season, with added attractions, reaped benefits of the impact that the first edition created and sustained the momentum in the tourism sector. This year, the participant registrations hit a new high with more than 1,000 bloggers from 66 countries registering for the event. The selection of participants is made by travelling enthusiasts themselves online by voting for their favourite bloggers. Those who get the highest votes are chosen. The 30 participants of Season 3 were selected on the basis of factors such as nationality, number of votes they received, social media reach and quality of the blog. The participants this year include Carla Boechat and Patricia Schussel Gomes from Brazil, Rebecca Coutant and Brittany Kulick (United States), Els Mahieu (Belgium), Javier De La Cruz Valdemoro (Spain), Verushka Ramasami (South Africa), Matthias Derhake (Germany), Cline Simon (France), Brittany Hemming (Canada) and Aleksandra Swistow (Poland). "The presence of Keralites are felt across the globe, likewise we want the world to come to Kerala for exploring the beauty of the state," said Kerala Tourism Secretary Jyothilal. "Kerala, one of the top ten biodiversity hotspots in the world is a land Ayurveda, Yoga, martial arts. We suggest every travel to come to our land for Ayurvedic treatment that will rejuvenate your mind and soul" Jyothilal added. "The bloggers through this trip will get to know the Kerala products like Kathakali, Sadya, and Village experience" said Kerala Tourism Director Smt TV Anupama while introducing the bloggers at the flagging-off ceremony. "The two-week travel plan that ends on February 28 covers major tourist destinations from Thiruvananthapuram to Wayanad," she added. The bloggers shared their joy and excitement on being the part of the Blog Express. Nidhi Thakur from Himachal Pradesh, the only Indian Blogger said that she is very eager to explore Kerala that was familiar to her only through movies with the picturisation of songs with dance sequences. Mirela Surghie, from Romania said that Kerala is known for its Ashrams in her country. Seventy-five percent of my travel blog readers are women. Travelling helps women to live their dreams and enjoy themselves, which I am doing now, she said. UNI DS KVV AK 2120 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-591928.Xml Advocate Satish R Girji, who assisted theDirectorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), Chennai, in theDisproportionate Assets (DA) case against Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterJayalalithaa, has moved the Karnataka High Court against DVAC denialof payment of Rs 6.83 lakh to him towards professional fee in the case. When the case came up for hearing today, Justice Ashok BHinchigeri ordered issuance of emergency notice to the Director, DVAC. Mr Girji said that he was 'orally' asked by the DVAC to assistSpecial Public Prosecutor G Bhavani Singh in the case beforeKarnataka High Court (till the Apex Court struck down hisappointment] in the appeals filed by Ms Jayalalithaa challenging herconviction in the DA case by a special court. The petitioner claimed that the DVAC had paid him Rs.3.88 lakhafter deducting Rs 44,651 as Income Tax deducted at source (TDS) forhis appearance and legal assistance from January to February 22,2015 in the DA case. Later, he sent the final bill for another Rs.4.33 towardsprofessional charge and Rs 2.5 lakh as fee for appearance in thecase from February 23 to March 13, 2015 to the DVAC after the HighCourt delivered its verdict in May 2015. However, the DVAC on September 19, 2015 wrote to him stating that"as per the available records in this Directorate, no authorisationwas given in your name by the Government of Tamil Nadu to appearbefore the Karnataka High Court in connection with the criminal appeals." The petitioner contended that Rs 3.88 lakh, which the DVAC hadpaid him directly after TDS, clearly proves that he was authorisedto assist in the DA case. He has also produced the TDS certificate. Claiming that the DVACs response that he was not authorised toappear in the criminal appeals was an attempt save themselves, thepetitioner questioned why the DVAC had paid him Rs 4.33 lakh if hewas not authorised to assist it in the case.UNI MSP KVV AK 2100 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0285-592044.Xml "I do not want to make a political statement. However, those who speak against the unity and sovereignty of the country will not be condoned. We are ready to shed the last drop of blood for the nation. If someone raises anti-national slogans, it is an unforgivable crime," Singh said. The Delhi High Court earlier today, placed JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested in connection with a sedition case, in two-day police custody. The court will on Tuesday hear the plea seeking National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe in the sedition case levelled against Kanhaiya Kumar. Kumar was arrested last Friday over a protest organized in the JNU campus on February 9 against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. However, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi had earlier dispelled the rumour that the NIA would probe the JNU incident, saying his men are competent enough to investigate each and every case which they register. Bassi, however, said that the Delhi Police is duty bound to inform the NIA. (ANI) The prime minister is expected to seek the cooperation of the political parties for the smooth functioning of parliament during the budget session which begins on February 23. The meeting comes amid differences between the government and the Opposition over the police action in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. The BJP and the Congress have also sparred with each other over disruptions in the winter session of parliament. The government is keen on the passage of some pending legislation including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill during the budget session. The GST bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the government does not have a majority. --Indo-Asian News Service ps/pm/bg ( 155 Words) 2016-02-15-22:27:32 (IANS) Protesting against Jaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student rally in New Delhi, leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Congress today walked together in a apolitical rally here. The rally named Democratic Forum against Suppression was joined by CPI(M) leaders, including Sujan Chakraborty, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Rajya Sabha member Ritabrata Banerjee and Congress leaders, including Omprakash Mishra, Arunabha Ghosh Abdul Mannan, Samir Aich and theatre personality Kaushik Sen which was officially 'apolitical'. Members of several democratic organisations, students and intellectuals, including theatre artist Kaushik Sen, took part in the rally. The rally started from College Square and ended at city's downtown Esplanade area. Senior Congress leader Omprakash Mishra said, "BJP and its wing RSS, taking the help of Delhi Police, attacked protesting students of JNU in an undemocratic way. Modi government wants to divide this country. We have to protest against it." Condemning of the incident, theatre personality Kaushik Sen said, "As a citizen of Kolkata and as an Indian, I am here today. Such practice by a political party, which has a strong base, is dangerous for the country. Today's rally is very important. We all have to protest against the incident." "Like Trinamool Congress, BJP too is creating an alarming situation against anyones right to give his or her opinion. The BJP and RSS nexus is the most dangerous one, Mr Sen added. CPI(M) leader and former Kolkata Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said, "We have organised a protest rally here, when country's democracy and constitutional rights are being attacked. It is tough time for this country. We have to fight to save our democratic and constitutional rights." Congress leader Abdul Mannan called all democratic political parties and apolitical organisations to protest jointly against the incident. "This not a political event. All democratic political parties should fight jointly against it. I thought Trinamool Congress (AITC) or our state government would move against it. But they did nothing. Because, what's being done in Delhi by BJP, autocratic Trinamool is committing the same things here in the state. Our movement will be continued until the end of autocratic governments in Centre and this state as well," Mr Mannan said. Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader and senior lawyer Arunabha Ghosh said, "Narendra Modi, an uneducated Prime Minister, is acting like the country has been damaged badly by the JNU protest! Modi also went to Pakistan, suddenly, without any notice. We don't know, what did he discuss with Nawaz Sharif there." "I am surprised, how did they slap the arrested students with 124-A ! They should not be charged under this section," Congress leader and senior lawyer Arunabha Ghosh added. Left Front leader Sujan Chakroborty said, BJP and RSS is invading peoples democracy. Bengal is facing same situation from Trinamool Congresss government. People should now come together to protest against the attempt that is being made to choke their voice of expressing their honest views. CPI(M )Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee said, "We marched in the streets of Kolkata to protest against the autocratic things, which are going on in our state and country as well. What is happening, this is undeclared emergency." "Protesting against the autocratic designs, irrespective of any political colour, affiliation, flag and banner, people hit the streets of the city. This protest will be continued," Mr Banerjee added. The CPI(M)'s students' wing- Student Federation of India (SFI) held a demonstration in front of Kolkata's prestigious Jadavpur University's where the effigies of Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee were burnt. They also blocked the road for nearly 20 minutes. All India Students' Association (AISA) also hosted a protest campaign at College Square in the afternoon. JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar has been arrested in charge of sedition and raising anti- national slogans for he has been put behind bars.UNI BM RSA VN2249 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-592235.Xml Members of Torontos Sikh community on Sunday delivered dozens of pink boxes containing cupcakes, and chocolates to four womens shelters here, just to say someone cares, according to a media report. Each care package included handmade cards authored by elementary school children. You are great, read one Valentine. You are beautiful, said another, thestar.com reported. Something as small as a cupcake could make someones day, said Sarpreet Pannu, a member of the group. We met with some of the women in one of the shelters and saw how it put a smile on their face, she added. The initiative was based on the Sikh tradition of langar - the communal kitchen - where a meal is served for free. Pannu was one of 25 volunteers who spent the past several weeks coordinating the joint effort to deliver 160 treat-filled parcels to four shelters in the Greater Toronto Area. She worked out the logistical details with shelters, such as drop-off times, as well as finding donors to supply the pastries and chocolates. Nellies Womens Shelter director Margarita Mendez said charitable acts such as these were always welcome, no matter how big or small. Its nice to have little gifts say someone cares, she said. Sikh organisations in five other Canadian cities -- from Montreal to Vancouver -- were also part of the campaign. More than 1,600 such packages are expected to be delivered by Sikh groups nationwide. --Indo-Asian News Service vr/ ( 248 Words) 2016-02-15-08:35:33 (IANS) Pakistan's United Nations Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi called for an effective 'preventive strategy' to deal with violent extremism while stating that the rise of 'Islamophobia' in the West had fuelled the process of radicalisation. According to the Dawn, Lodhi made the statement while participating in the General Assembly debate on the recently announced UN Secretary General's Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism "Economic deprivation, political injustice, social exclusion and marginalisation of people need to be addressed not only in the local context but also in the wider international context," she said. "The international community, in particular the United Nations, already has a responsibility to address these issues. Doing so, diligently, will also address the drivers of violent extremism and the conditions conducive to terrorism," Lodhi added. Asserting that the rise of 'Islamophobia' in the West had fuelled the process of radicalisation, she accused 'xenophobic politicians' of trying to build their political strength by spreading fear and deliberate mischaracterisation of people of other faiths. "This has so far gone unchecked and unfortunately unprincipled, xenophobic politicians have sought to build their political fortunes by spreading fear and deliberate mischaracterisation of people of other faiths or culture," Lodhi said. She stated that Pakistan was grateful to note that the international community was finally acknowledging the need to go beyond security and military-centred counter-terrorism measures and adopt a more comprehensive approach. "Pakistan has long advocated this so that the underlying factors that drive terrorist violence are addressed in their entirety," Lodhi said. Deploring any attempt to associate extremism and terrorism with any country, race, religion, she urged the international community to ensure that this was fully reflected in their national and international actions. (ANI) Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo briefly detained a prominent opposition leader, the government said, two days before a general strike to pressure President Joseph Kabila to step down from office.Kabila is required by the constitution to stand aside in December after 15 years in power. Critics accuse him of trying to delay a presidential vote due in November in order to stay in office. Dozens died in protests over this issue last year.Martin Fayulu, president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECIDE) party and one of the organisers of tomorrow's strike, was held briefly for "incitation to public disorder", government spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters, declining to elaborate further.Mende said Fayulu was released after a few hours because of his immunity as a national deputy. Investigators will transfer his dossier to parliament, which could authorise judicial proceedings against him, he added yesterday.Mende declined to say who had detained Fayulu.The director of the UN's Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) in Congo, Jose Maria Aranaz, confirmed Fayulu's release last evening, adding he had been detained by Congo's military intelligence service.Opposition leaders have called for all Congolese people to stay at home tomorrow. It is not clear how well observed the strike is likely to be."It's the same pattern of intimidation contrary to freedom of peaceful assembly enshrined in the constitution," said Aranaz.The United Nations said in a report in December that a crackdown on political dissent, including summary executions and arbitrary detentions, would likely undermine the credibility of upcoming elections.REUTERS DS PR 0452 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0137-590648.Xml Israeli police officers fatally shot two Palestinians who opened fire at them outside Jerusalem's walled Old City, police said, on a day when officials said three other Palestinian assailants were killed in two other incidents.A police spokeswoman said two men used automatic weapons to shoot at officers stationed on the Damascus Gate plaza, a busy entrance to the Old City and the scene of many previous violent incidents, and they responded swiftly and shot the two.Multiple rounds of gunfire could be heard on amateur video footage taken during the incident late in the evening, with traffic, including a commuter bus, stopped nearby. There were no reports of other casualties.Earlier yesterday, the Israeli army said troops shot and killed two Palestinian teenagers who were throwing stones at cars in the occupied West Bank after coming under fire from one of them.In a third incident, a Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli paramilitary policeman at a checkpoint in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, and was shot dead, police said.Israeli security forces have killed at least 163 Palestinians, 107 of whom Israel says were assailants, while the others were shot dead during violent anti-Israeli protests, as the bloodshed persists into a fifth month.Stabbings, shootings and car rammings by Palestinians have killed 27 Israelis and a US citizen since early October.As well as frustration over Jewish settlement-building, deemed illegal by the United Nations, on land Palestinians want for a state, tensions have been rising over Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound and Islamist calls for Israel's destruction.In yesterday's shooting near the West Bank city of Jenin, "two assailants hurled rocks at cars", a military statement said. "Forces arrived and were fired upon by an assailant. Soldiers responded and shot the attackers, resulting in their deaths."The Palestinian Health Ministry said two 15-year-old Palestinians were killed.Wassef Abu Baker, a 56-year-old local resident, told Reuters that after hearing gunshots, he drove to within 40 metres of where one of the teenagers was lying on the ground."He was still moving. The soldier shouted at me to move back and they fired at him - maybe it was 12 bullets," he said.Abu Baker said he could not see whether the person on the ground was armed. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted a photograph of what appeared to be an M-16 assault rifle on the pavement, which he said was the weapon used against the soldiers.REUTERS DS PR 0501 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0137-590652.Xml Celebrating Mass for more than 300,000 people in one of Mexicos poorest and most dangerous cities, Pope Francis took a swipe at the country's rich and corrupt elite .Decrying "a society of the few and for the few", he denounced deep inequality and the vanity and pride of those who consider themselves a cut above the rest."That wealth which tastes of pain, bitterness and suffering. This is the bread that a corrupt family or society gives its own children," the pope said at the Mass in the city of Ecatepec.Francis urged his listeners to struggle to make Mexico "a land of opportunities where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream" and where drug traffickers, whom he called "dealers of death", would not ensnare their children.Mexico is home to one of the worlds richest men, billionaire Carlos Slim, and a wealthy political class stained by corruption even as much of the country is steeped in poverty and violence.A gritty expanse of cinder block homes north of Mexico City, Ecatepec has seen a surge in crime in recent years as it became infested with warring drug cartels.Fueled by a weak economy and youth unemployment, gang violence has driven the city's murder rate to one of Mexico's highest.It is notorious for the unsolved murders of scores of women, the bodies of many found abandoned in garbage dumps or tossed in a canal only miles from where Francis spoke yesterday.'NO DIALOGUE WITH THE DEVIL'The pope warned Mexicans not to succumb to evil: "You cannot dialogue with the devil because he will always win," he told them.Ecatepec is home to a giant statue of "Santa Muerte", or Saint Death, a cult figure followed by millions across the Americas.The saint is often depicted as a skeletal "grim reaper" draped in white satin robes, beaded necklaces and carrying a scythe, and is believed to grant requests without judging people.Although he did not address Santa Muerte in his Mass, the Roman Catholic Church has been dismayed by the cult's rise at a time it is battling competition from other religions."The Mexican Church already was very concerned by expanding Protestantism and now it must contend with a folk saint venerated mostly by Mexicans who still consider themselves Catholic," said Andrew Chesnut, the author of a book about the cult.A sea of Catholic faithful greeted the pope as he flew into Ecatepec aboard a white helicopter, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his image, chanting, cheering and waving flags. Tens of thousands of others lined the streets."We are living through a period of great violence ... May (the pope) give us strength to continue to bear this, to keep struggling against it," said Maria Dolores Angeles Martinez, a 26-year-old housewife from Ecatepec.Across the country, more than 100,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the last decade and some 26,000 are missing.President Enrique Pena Nieto has failed to significantly curb the bloodshed, with murders rising last year after falling early in his term.Before becoming president, Pena Nieto was governor of the State of Mexico that is the home to Ecatepec. In the second half of his 2005-2011 term as governor, the murders of women doubled.Corruption and incompetence are rampant in under-funded police forces across Mexico. The vast majority of murders are never solved and family members complain authorities show little interest in the cases of the missing.Francis condemned corruption in a hard-hitting speech at the presidential palace on Saturday.Unlike his predecessor Pope Benedict, who visited Mexico's conservative heartland in 2012, Francis is stopping in some of the country's most troubled corners on his first trip as pontiff.He will travel on Monday to Mexico's poorest state Chiapas, where he will say Mass with indigenous communities. Evangelical Christian groups have made huge advances in Chiapas, weakening the Catholic Church's influence.The pope will also meet with young people in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state where drug gangs and armed vigilante groups have waged a bloody conflict.He then concludes his trip in the notorious northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, where he will address the tide of illegal immigration into the United States, meet relatives of victims of violence, and visit a prison. REUTERS DS PR 0740 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0137-590678.Xml Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Monday called North Korea's decision extremely regrettable and totally unacceptable, public broadcaster NHK reported. He said Japan has filed a strong protest with North Korea and demanded that it return all abductees to Japan as soon as possible based on a bilateral agreement reached in Stockholm in 2014. The agreement calls on North Korea to start a fresh investigation into the whereabouts of the missing Japanese nationals. Suga said the abduction issue is extremely important to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration. He said the government will pressure North Korea to resolve it based on the principles of "dialogue and pressure" and "action for action". --Indo-Asian News Service ksk/vm ( 145 Words) 2016-02-15-13:33:37 (IANS) A Chinese ethnic Uighur man arrested in Thailand over a bombing that killed 20 people in Bangkok last year denied today charges of murder or involvement in the attack, retracting an earlier confession his lawyer said he was tortured into making.Adem Karadag, also known as Bilal Mohammed, is due to appear at a military court on Tuesday, along with a second suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, to formally hear the charges. Police said both men had confessed to having a role in the Aug. 17 explosion.A lawyer for Karadag, said his client was coerced into confessing that he took part in the attack. Most of the victims were foreign tourists, raising concerns that the country's lucrative tourist industry could suffer."At the time he was tortured and under pressure. That is why he confessed to the charges against him," lawyer Schoochart Kanpai told Reuters after visiting Karadag in detention."He still maintains he has no involvement in this. The only charge he accepts is illegal entry."Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, doubted whether the two suspects had been tortured while in military custody."I am fairly certain nothing happened to the suspects while they were in military custody," he said.No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Thai authorities have said was in retaliation for a crackdown on human smuggling gangs and not a terrorist attack.But some security experts say the bomb was in retaliation for Thailand's forced repatriation of more than 100 Uighurs to China in July rather than in response to a crackdown on human smuggling gangs.China has long faced criticism for the perceived harsh restrictions it places on religion and culture in Xingjiang, where the majority of Uighurs live.The two suspects had first been charged by a military court in November, but neither had accepted or denied the charges because of interpretation issues at that hearing, Schoochart said. They were indicted on 10 charges, including murder and illegal possession of explosives, but not terrorism.The lawyer did not say whether the second suspect, Mieraili, would also deny the charges against him on Tuesday.Police have been issued warrants for 17 people in connection with the attack, he said. Fifteen of those wanted are still at large. REUTERS SV CS1300 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-590921.Xml Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad is under investigation for defaming the attorney-general in blog posts criticising his failure to bring corruption charges against Prime Minister Najib Razak, police said today. The feud between Malaysia's past and current leaders has gripped the Southeast Asian nation for almost a year, with Mahathir repeatedly calling on Najib, his former protege, to step down over a financial scandal at indebted state-fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). In a February 5 posting on his personal blog, Mahathir wrote attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali had "no credibility", after he cleared Najib of any criminal offences or corruption arising from a graft probe into a $681 million deposit in Najib's personal bank account. Najib replaced the previous attorney-general and appointed Apandi just weeks after a Wall Street Journal report on 1MDB revealed the deposits of vast sums in Najib's account. Apandi closed investigations into Najib earlier this month after concluding that the money was gifted by a member of the Saudi royal family, and most of it had been returned. . Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said several police reports had been lodged against Mahathir over his attack on Apandi. "We will investigate according to the proper legal procedures. If there is a case to be made, we will discuss it with the attorney-general's chambers and take further action if needed," Khalid said at a press conference in George Town, the main city in Penang state. Mahathir on Monday used his blog account to issue his own challenge to Apandi. "As a good Muslim he should swear on the Koran in a mosque witnessed by mosque officials and the public that the reports did not implicate Najib in any way," wrote Mahathir. "He should not try to cheat by vowing in his heart something else, and swearing aloud something else. That would be a double sin. He will go to a worse hell." In several earlier blog posts, Mahathir had accused Apandi of protecting Najib and expressed doubts about Apandi's willingness to cooperate with his counterpart in a Swiss investigation into 1MDB. To shore up his position, Najib has silenced dissenters within his party, in the opposition and the government. Aside from replacing the attorney-general, he also sacked his deputy prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, last year. Earlier this month Najib loyalists within the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) forced Mahathir's son, Mukhriz Mahathir, to quit as chief minister of the northern state of Kedah. Mahathir was also questioned by the police in November after he made a surprise appearance at an anti-government rally in Kuala Lumpur and called for Najib to resign. But no action has been taken so far.REUTERS SV GC1418 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-591021.Xml Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert released a video statement insisting on his innocence today, before arriving at prison in a motorcade to begin a 19-month sentence for corruption. Olmert is the first former head of government in Israel to go to prison. During his premiership from 2006 to 2009, he was internationally credited with working towards a peace accord with the Palestinians, until graft scandals forced him to step down. "As prime minister I was charged with the highest responsibility of safeguarding Israel's citizens. Today I am the one to be locked behind bars," he said in a video released to media before he pulled up at Maasiyahu prison in central Israel in a motorcade protected by bodyguards assigned to former leaders. "At this time, it is important for me to say once more, as I did in court and outside it, that I completely deny the bribery charges I was accused of," Olmert said in the video. Olmert was assigned to a small wing of the prison, where he will be segregated for security reasons from the general population along with co-defendants in the real estate scandal. He will wear a prison uniform, have two cellmates and spend his first day in jail busy with assessment sessions with a social worker, criminologist - to assess, officials say, whether he is suicidal. Olmert was found guilty in 2014 of two bribery charges: accepting 500,000 shekels ($129,000) from developers of a Jerusalem real estate project widely regarded as one of the city's worst eyesores and 60,000 shekels ($15,500) in a separate land deal. He was sentenced to six years in jail, but the term was cut by the Supreme Court in December to 18 months after it overturned his conviction on the first bribery charge. Last month, a lower court tagged a month on to that sentence for obstruction of justice. A separate eight-month prison term is pending since Olmert's conviction last May in another case related to cash payments he was alleged to have received from an American businessman. Olmert, 70, is the most prominent of several Israeli politicians to be jailed in recent years. They include former president Moshe Katsav, convicted of rape, and present Interior Minister Aryieh Deri, once imprisoned for corruption. A lawyer by profession, Olmert began his political career in the 1970s as a lawmaker who targeted organized crime. As Israel's leader, Olmert waged war against militants in Lebanon in 2006 and the Gaza Strip in 2008. He claimed significant progress in talks with the Palestinians, offering an Israeli withdrawal from much of the occupied West Bank, though no agreement was reached.REUTERS SV VP1422 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-591078.Xml European Union foreign ministers said today they were prepared to impose more economic sanctions on Burundi following the failure of talks to end a political crisis in the Central African country that has killed more than 400 people. "The EU ... stands ready to impose restrictive measures against those whose actions might have led or might lead to acts of violence and repression (and) serious human rights violations," ministers said in a statement released during a meeting in Brussels, adding that those hampering a political solution could also be targeted. The EU last year imposed asset freezes and travel bans on four officials close to President Pierre Nkurunziza who are accused of using excessive force during clashes in the run-up to his re-election.REUTERS PY BL1515 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-591214.Xml Turkish security forces hit Kurdish militia targets in Syria for the third day in a row after a border security outpost on the border was attacked today morning, the foreign ministry spokesman said."Today our border security outpost in the Hatay area at the Syrian border was attacked. Retaliation shots were fired in return," spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters.Earlier today, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would not allow the town of Azaz in northern Syria to fall to the Kurdish YPG militia, backed by the PYD party. REUTERS PY VP1655 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-591493.Xml The German government said today it did not believe that Russia and the West had entered a new Cold War and that it was in any case up to Moscow to prevent such a deterioration in relations."To people who talk about a Cold War or the danger of a Cold War, like Russian Prime Minister (Dmitry) Medvedev, all I can say is that this is definitely not the view of the German government," German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said. "One must say that it is in his hands to prevent such a situation."Foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer added that there was no alternative to dialogue with Moscow against the backdrop of what he called "pretty intensive and difficult conflicts of interest" with Moscow. REUTERS PY VP1656 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-591497.Xml Seven people were killed in air strikes in Syria on a hospital supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the charity's France president said today, adding that he believed Russia or Syrian government forces were behind the attack."There were at least seven deaths among the personnel and the patients, and at least eight MSF personnel have disappeared, and we don't know if they are alive," Mego Terzian told Reuters.The hospital near Murat al-Numan in the northern Syrian province of Idlib was struck earlier on Monday by four missiles."The author of the strike is clearly ... either the government or Russia," he said, adding that it was not the first time MSF facilities had been targeted in the country.The hospital, which has 54 staff and 30 beds, is financed by the medical charity. MSF also supplies medicine and equipment to the facility.REUTERS PY NS1823 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-591785.Xml Russia today accused Turkey of continuing to assist terrorists getting into Syria. "According to incoming information, the Turkish side continues assisting the illegal penetration of fresh groups of jihadists and mercenaries with arms into the territory of Syria to replenish the units of the Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groupings battered in battles," Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement ."Wounded militants are being brought into Turkey across the border along with scattered bandit groups for rest and subsequent re-formation," the statement said.It said Russia will support a motion in favor of raising in the UN Security Council the question of Ankaras provocative actions towards Syria."Moscow expresses the most serious concern over the Turkish authorities aggressive actions towards the neighboring state," it stressed. "Russia will support a motion for putting the issue on the UN Security Councils agenda. The Security Council should express its clear opinion of Ankaras provocative polices, posing a threat to peace and stability in the region of the Middle East and outside it," the statement added.Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Rossiya 24 TV channel on Monday that Russia launched a military operation in Syria because it could no longer handle the inaction of the US-led coalition. "Our colleagues from BRICS reacted to such measures, to the operation of Russias Aerospace Defence Forces in Syria with understanding," Ryabkov said. "We have a task in BRICS to form a working group on fighting terrorism. Our special agencies maintain contacts with colleagues from BRICS. However, there is a great distance between such work and what Russia does to defeat the Islamic State terrorist organization," he added."We entered Syria and started using aviation there because we thought that it was impossible to put up any longer with quasi-actions, or in fact inaction of US-led coalition that could not solve its tasks," Ryabkov said.UNI XC CJ AE 1842 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-591825.Xml Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Syrians with attempting to join Islamic State militant group after border patrols arrested them as they tried to enter Turkey from Bulgaria, the interior ministry said today.The three Syrians, who had refugee status from Germany, had already made one unsuccessful attempt to enter Turkey through Greece earlier this year, the ministry said."During operational activities their affiliation to Islamic State has been established, as well as their intention to join the terrorist group," the ministry said in a statement.The three men, who had already been given six-month suspended sentences for attempting to cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border illegally. They now face up to 10 years in jail if convicted.Bulgaria, which lies across one of the routes of migrants and refugees influx to western Europe, has called on Brussels to close all its external borders until it comes up with a joint solution to the migrant crisis. REUTERS CJ NS2041 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-592118.Xml Bahraini police have detained four US citizens, including one who was masked and taking part in a riot, a senior police official said today, and local media reported they were journalists covering a protest.The other three were detained at a checkpoint in the same area outside Manama, the director of police in the capital said in a statement that described the alleged rioters as vandals.The police chief said the four had entered the country as tourists on Feb. 11 and 12 but some of them "carried out media activity without a licence from the concerned authorities, in addition to committing acts that violate the law".The Arabic-language Mira'at al-Bahrain (Bahrain Mirror) said that four American journalists had been detained in Sitra, a Shi'ite village east of Manama, on Sunday while covering clashes between local demonstrators and security forces.It published photos of a masked person it said was a journalist for the Huffington Post website who was running with his hands in the air while being chased by two policemen. It said the photos had been published by activists on social media.The demonstration was meant to mark the fifth anniversary of massive Arab Spring protests in 2011 mainly by Shi'ite Muslims demanding reforms and bigger share in government.Those protests were put down violently by Bahrain security units with help from security forces from Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia.But the island kingdom, where the US Fifth Fleet is based, continues to suffer from bouts of unrest, especially in villages where Shi'ites are a majority.The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that US citizens had been arrested, but declined further comment, citing privacy considerations.REUTERS CJ NS2043 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-592124.Xml UN North Korea human rights expert Darzuki Marusman has asked the United Nations officially to notify North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he may be investigated for crimes against humanity. In a report seen by Reuters on Monday, Darusman recommended that the UN Human Rights Council arrange an official communication "to advise him and other senior leaders that they may be investigated and, if found to be responsible, held accountable for crimes against humanity committed under their leadership"REUTERS CJ NS2104 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-592159.Xml The European Union will not extend its economic sanctions on 170 Belarusians, including those on authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, but will maintain its arms embargo, the bloc's foreign ministers agreed today.The sanctions were already lifted for four months at the end of October in a gesture to Lukashenko, as the European Union seeks to improve ties with the man whom the United States once said runs Europe's last "dictatorship."Officials said the EU will keep sanctions for another year on four men suspected of being behind the disappearances of political opponents in BelarusREUTERS CJ BD2233 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-592238.Xml A commission led by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has drafted a new constitution which extends the presidential term to seven years from five and removes the upper age limit on candidates for presidency.The move solidifies Berdymukhamedov's already sweeping powers at a time when the gas-rich Central Asian nation is suffering from a sharp drop in export revenues.Turkmenistan's rubber stamp parliament may pass the new constitution, published by main state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan today for national discussion, later this year.Berdymukhamedov, 58, is serving his second term as president after securing re-election in 2012. The current constitution imposes no limits on the number of terms he can run for, but sets a ceiling for presidential candidates' age at 70 years.His predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov had ruled as president for life until his death in 2006, becoming the centre of a bizarre personality cult.Niyazov's official title was Turkmenbashi, leader of all Turkmens. A local city was named after him and Niyazov's gilded statue was erected in the capital Ashgabat.Berdymukhamedov has gradually dismantled Niyazov's cult, but only to replace it with his own one. He now also has a gilded statue of himself and state media refer to him as Arkadag, meaning protector.Other Central Asian leaders are also looking to strengthen their grip on power as economies across the region struggle with a drop in commodity prices and the spillover from Russia's recession.Allies of Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon have called a referendum on constitutional changes that would allow him to run for an unlimited number of terms.Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called a snap parliamentary election last month that will make it easier for his Nur Otan party to retain control over the legislature. REUTERS CJ VN2236 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-592243.Xml By Zhao Bochao, Lin Hao KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A two-day summit will kick off on Monday between ASEAN leaders and its host U.S. President Barack Obama at the Sunnylands Center in California, which is the first such meeting to be held on the U.S. soil. It's believed that the U.S. government will take the gathering as an opportunity to exert its clout in Southeast Asia against a backdrop of growing Chinese influence in the region, when Obama may wish to reach consensus among all ASEAN member states to issue a statement on the South China Sea disputes that will touch on China. However, experts said that as the Southeast Asia traditionally have taken a neutral stance in the tussling between powers, and there are huge mutual interests and deep cooperation between the region and its most important neighbor China, ASEAN is not expected to take sides between the United States and China in the summit, and the China-ASEAN ties will not be affected. Although a U.S. State Department official has claimed that the imminent summit is "not anti-China," China will inevitably be an important topic in the discussion. "The issue of South China Sea will for sure be featured in the discussions in the context of the freedom of navigation," said Tang Siew Mun, head of the ASEAN Studies Center and concurrently senior fellow at the Regional Strategic and Political Studies program at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute based in Singapore. However, during the summit, while countries like the Philippines may continue to play the victim and urge the ASEAN to take a hard stance against China over the territorial disputes with the backing of the United States, ASEAN as a whole is not expected to take sides on this issue due to its strong and complicated ties with China. William Kirby, T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University, said that all the attending countries have complex relations with China, most of which are very positive. Speaking with visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last month, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said "for the South China Sea issue, we should ... try to encourage the countries concerned in the dispute to continue negotiations with each other because ASEAN has no rights to measure land for any sides." As part of Obama's Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy, the summit also sees different expectations from its ASEAN attendants. "It is hard to say that there is a strong consensus of all ASEAN countries what they expect from the United States. Some want stronger or more robust U.S. presence in the region, while others prefer less," said Ngeow Chow Bing, senior lecturer at the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya. While the minimum consensus is that all will prefer the United States to continue to have at least some presence, that presence should not be seen as making ASEAN countries feel compelled to pick a side between the United States and China, he added. Ngeow said that there may also be different policy preferences or agendas between the United States and ASEAN for the summit. "While the United States may want to make the summit's discussions devoted to mostly China-related issues, some ASEAN countries may expect that the summit can focus on U.S.-ASEAN rather than U.S.-ASEAN-China," he added. Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said that the activities by various claimants in the South China Sea have quieted down a lot in recent months, and to some extent the United States is trying to refocus a lot of regional claimants' attention on the South China Sea. He said that the United States would win more friends if it focuses more on for example economic cooperation with the Southeast Asian countries. "If U.S. so-called rebalancing to Asia or pivot to Asia is anchored more on the economic front, we will certainly welcome that," he added. Ngeow echoed Oh's opinion by saying that the United States should think more towards economic cooperation with all Asia-Pacific countries (including China) in its "pivot" rhetoric rather than focusing too much on territorial issues. In this sense, all the countries should think about how to steer international politics in the pacific region towards more cooperation rather than being fixated on territorial issues, he said. Text and Photos by Kok Yufeng Dakota Adventures organiser Cai Yinzhou (centre) poses with (from left to right) Bilyy Koh, Lim See Leck, Yew Yeok Ching and Ah Hiang, residents who have lived around the Dakota Crescent estate. Walking along the Geylang River which runs parallel to Dakota Crescent, Bilyy Koh points to the paved sidewalk and trimmed grass bordering what is now a built up canal that flows into the Marina Barrage. This used to be all mud, black mud, Koh said. He said the river used to flow directly into the sea and the silt would change colour as the tides ebbed and flowed. His family raised chickens and ducks there and occasionally, a baby crocodile would rear its head, the 62-year-old added. Together with four others, Koh brought a small group around the estate on Friday morning (12 February) dispensing nuggets of history and trivia as part of a new heritage trail called Dakota Adventures. The trail, organised by social entrepreneur Cai Yinzhou, aims to help people better understand the historical significance of the estate and its social impact. Built in 1958 by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT), HDBs predecessor, its art-deco style buildings have been slated for redevelopment and residents have to move out by the end of this year. Many have already done so. One of the things that struck me the most was when news came out that (Dakota Crescent) was going to be torn down. There was a lot of reaction but subsequently it began slowly dying down, Cai said This was similar for many of the other iconic landmarks slated for development and it made me realise that the community needed, in some way, a voice to help them to either continue that noise or to convert it into some sort of action, the 26-year-old added. Friday was Cais first test run, and subsequent trails will be held weekly, culminating in a ticketed public event on 12 and 13 March for Singaplural, the anchor event of the annual Singapore Design Week. Tickets cost $35 and the trail on the 12th is already sold out. Story continues He said 30 per cent of the fees he collects will go to the elderly residents that help him on these three-hour-long tours. Cai debriefs his first trail group on Friday (12 February) Not your usual heritage trail Cai has been organising a similar trail in his neighbourhood of Geylang over the past two years, quitting his events planning job in late 2014 to do it full-time. The reason why the trail was created is because I think context is important, he said. You need to walk the ground and you need to talk to the people in order to understand what the social landscape of a place is. He conducts his Geylang trails with a small team, but enlisting the help of the elderly residents adds a new, more personal dimension to the trail in Dakota, Cai said. We can talk about the importance of the SIT flats or Dove Playground, but that wont matter without the people that live there, he said. For Shinn Teo, 24, listening 72-year-old Yew Yeok Ching talk about the 20-odd years she spent living at the estate made her realise the impact that relocation can have on the aged population at Dakota. You realise the kind of connections that they will have might be lost because people start moving around and (the estate) was what they lived with for so many years. For them to lose that, its like taking a part of them away, said Teo, who works in the hospitality sector. She added, The trail is not your usual heritage trail because it includes personal stories. I could come here on my own, just Google and do whatever (research) Yinzhou has done. But talking to the residents was what I treasured. According to Cai, getting the residents on board the project was no easy task. They were initially sceptical about what we were doing and didnt think other people would be interested to know about Dakota, he said. They would say, Im already going to move away, why do you still want me to do this kind of things. I have no time. But for Koh, whom Cai managed to rope in, the trail is an opportunity to inject energy into the younger generation and get them to appreciate heritage and conservation. Bilyy Koh poses for a photograph in his three-room rental flat at Block 12 Dakota Crescent. After living at the estate for more than 50 years, he will have to move to a new block of rental flats at nearby Cassia Crescent at the end of this year. Like a childhood love For as long as he can remember, home has always been a three-room rental flat at Block 12, just above the defunct Tian Kee provision shop, which has been converted into a cafe. Now, he is the only resident left in the two-storey building. The rest of his neighbours have already moved out and soon Koh will also have to leave, moving to a new block of flats currently being built at the nearby Cassia Crescent. The former hairstylist moved there with his parents, four brothers and two sisters when he was just four years old, a time he remembers vividly. This (Dakota Crescent) is like my childhood love, Koh said with a laugh. Thats why the memory is so strong, the attachment is so strong. Soon, the estate where Koh has lived for more than 50 years will also become another one of these fond memories. A sense of belonging is so important because we need Singaporeans to tell others that we have heritage also, Koh said. Thats why Im so passionate about conserving the facets of this whole place. Its distinct, he added. Its the whole precinct If you bring your foreign friends to Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio, you see the buildings there are all so stale, he added. (Dakota Crescent) is like a whole other world. By Joe Brock JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa's biggest economies have been hammered by the collapse in commodity prices over the past 18 months but there are still investment bright spots to be found. In cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, Kinshasa and Johannesburg, growth remains robust and investors are prospering in the retail, financial services, technology and construction sectors. This means investors can now re-adjust their strategy for Africa. Instead of taking a view on the continent as a whole, or choosing one country over another, they can seize opportunities city by city. Sub-Saharan Africa is urbanizing faster than anywhere else in the world and city dwellers have more money to spend. "In the current economic environment, investors want areas where success is proven, growth is strong and will remain strong. Big African cities give you that," said Jacob Kholi, a partner at Abraaj, a private equity firm with $9 billion under management. "It has become even more important to focus on these key cities than before," Kholi added. Nairobi is the most attractive destination for foreign investment, according to a 2015 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, followed by Accra, with Lagos and Johannesburg equal third. Consumption per capita in Accra is 1.6 times greater than the average in Ghana, 2.3 times bigger in Lagos than the average in Nigeria, and 2.7 times larger in Nairobi than nationally in Kenya, Abraaj estimates. Lagos, one of the world's fastest growing cities and with a population of 20 million, expects economic growth of 7 percent this year, twice the pace of the country as a whole. Even South Africa, which is grappling with youth unemployment of over 40 percent and could slip into recession this year, has areas where industry is booming. "Looking around here, you wouldn't know things were so bad," construction worker Sifiso Zwane told Reuters in Johannesburg's wealthy Sandton business district. Story continues "Rich people will always find a way to make more money," said Zwane, with cranes filling the skyline behind him and billboards advertising new retailers like Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Hennes & Mauritz . There are similar stories elsewhere. This year, Kenya is set to unveil the Two River malls in Nairobi, the continents largest shopping center outside South Africa, with brands like Porsche, Hugo Boss and Frances Carrefour already booking space. "The economy still has opportunities," said Gabriel Modest, a jeweler who says demand for the gold necklaces and bracelets he sells remains strong. "Sometimes you have to treat yourself," he added, ordering a bowl of muesli and yoghurt at an upmarket Nairobi coffee shop. In Lagos, plans are in place to develop the vast multi-billion-dollar Eko Atlantic city, a Dubai-style gated community that will boast chrome skyscrapers, business parks, palm trees and a marina. "MEGA-CITY" By 2025, Mckinsey estimates that more than 80 cities in sub-Saharan Africa will have populations of more than one million, accounting for 58 percent of the region's growth. This rapid urbanization means Africa's big cities will need more roads, hospital and power stations, while growing numbers of new inhabitants will be buying consumer goods like instant noodles, washing powder and mobile phone cards. Though some big companies like Massmart , Barclays and Nestle have slowed expansion plans in Africa in the last two years they are still making healthy profits in the big urban centers, according to banking sources. "Our investment is focused on cities where we see the best opportunities even if the investment environment in the rest of the country isn't as robust," said Louis Deppe, partner at Actis, an emerging market-focused investment company. "The 'mega-city' trend is still very much on the cards." The share of Africans living in urban areas is expected to grow from 36 percent in 2010 to 50 percent by 2030, with cities expected to be home to 85 percent of the national population in some countries, according to the World Bank. The rapid urbanization of mostly the young and unemployed is placing a huge strain on infrastructure and will put pressure on politicians to direct more resources towards cities. Inequality in African cities is already among the highest in the world. African governments with stretched public finances will need to improve housing and social safety nets in cities and diversify their economies to support rural areas in order to avoid an increase in inequality that could stir up discontent. "In a more risk-averse world, 'urban bias where there are proven returns - is likely to be reinforced. Investors will look at urban areas," said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered. "This trend runs the risk of the rural electorate being marginalized in especially unequal regions, it may raise political risks, and the potential for unrest." Back in Lagos, business is still expanding for cab-owner Cyril Ugochukwu, whose earnings are running well above the target he set for his business, which has contracts with online firm Easy Taxi. "Individuals must make trips whether times are good or bad," he told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri in Nairobi and Chijioke Ohuocha in Lagos; Editing by Giles Elgood) Site: zorpia From: aowsayid Jan 13, 2016 Hello dear contact me to my Email (blessing4usayid@hotmail.com) From: blessing sayid Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2016 10:11:43 +0000 Subject: HONEY THIS IS MY PICTURE HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON DEAREST ONE, am happy reading from you today, it is my pleasure to speak with you as you honor my invitation. once again am happy to be acquainted. i appreciate your response. i will love to introduce my self to you today. my name is miss Blessing sayid Awa i am 24 yrs old, i came from Liberia in Africa. i am the only daughter of Dr Wilson Awa. my late father was the director of sobaz oil before his death from the war going on in my country. it was one early morning rebels attack to our house killed my parents on a cold blood i am the only one left. i flew to a near by country Dakar Senegal where i am staying now as a refugee. i am doing my second year in nursing school before the incident occurred. attached here is my pictures. i will tell you more about me in my next mail awaiting to hear from you. yours in love Blessing Sayid Awa From: blessing sayid Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2016 10:15:34 +0000 Subject: HONEY THIS IS MY PICTURE HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON My Dear, How was your day?. I believe it was fine. Mine here is very cold and like you know I am living in the refugee camp here in Dakar In this camp Its just like one staying in the prison and i hope by Gods grace i will come out here soon. I don't have any relatives now whom I can go to as all my relatives ran away in the middle of the war. The only person I have now is Rev. Pastor Samuel Benjamin who is the pastor of the (Christ for all Churches ) here in the camp, he has been very nice to me since I came here but i am not living with him rather i live in the females hostel because the camp have two hostels one for men the other for women. The Pastors Tel number is +221764856919 if you call, please tell him that you want to speak with me so that he will send for me in the hostel. Call from 1.00pm GMT. please. As a refugee here i don't have any right or privilege to any thing be it money or whatever because it is against the law of this country. I want to go back to my studies because i only attended my first year before the tragic incident that lead to the death of my parents took place. Please listen to this, i have my late father's statement of account and death certificate here with me which i will send to you latter,because when he was alive he deposited some amount of money in a leading bank in which he used my name as the next of kin,the amount in question is $9.5M (Nine Million Five Hundred Thousand Us Dollars). I have wrote to them and they told me that i will have a foreign partner who will assist me because of my refugee status So i will like you to help me transfer this money to your account and from it you can send some money for me to get my traveling documents and air ticket to come over to meet with you. I kept this secret to people in the camp here the only person that knows about it is the Reverend because he is like a father to me. So in the light of above i will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for i am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it. Sir i will like you to send me all this mentioned particulars in under for me to know you more and know whom i am dealing with, Below here is what i need from you so that i can then send to you the bank information as well as my late father's account number (1) Full name (2) country of residence & city and your phone number in case i want to call you Remember I am giving you all this information due to the trust i deposed on you. I love you because you are honest and understanding man.You are truthful ,a man of vision and hardworking.My sweet heart, i will soon be with you for more love and marriage in your base. My favorite language is English. Meanwhile i will like you to call me like i said i have a lot to tell you. I want to hear your voice of love. Have a nice day and think about me. Awaiting to hear from you soonest. Yours Forever in mind, Blessing Sayid Awa From: blessing sayid Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2016 13:34:30 +0000 Subject: HONEY CONTACT THIS BANK TODAY FOR THE TRANSFER AND CALL ME My Dearest. How are you today, hope you are fine, dear i want to thank for all your effort and love towards me, you have given me hope and i will also like to see you face to face, i like you very much and i want you to know that before i contacted you i saw your profile that you matched mine and you are the type of man i am looking forward to spend the rest of my life with. I am not going to give your love to any other man you will satisfy me, so needless of looking for another man. Please i have not told anyone except you and the Reverend about the existence of this money and i will like you to please keep it secret to other people because since it is (MONEY) all eyes will be on it. Remember i trust you honey that is why i am giving you all this information's!. My love is for you and you alone, i will like to hear your voice please, just call the Rev and tell him that you want to speak with me, he will tell you the actual time you call again and he will send for me immediately. His office phone no +22176 4856 919 I have informed the bank about my plans to claim this money and the only thing they told me is to look for a foreign partner who will stand on my behalf due to my refugee status and the laws of this country. You will have 15% of the total money for helping me and the remaining money will be managed by you in any business of your choice while i go back to my studies. In this regards i will like you to contact the bank immediately with this information below, tell them that you are my foreign partner and that you want to know the possibilities of assisting me transfer my 9.5 million dollars deposited by my late father which i am the next of kin to your account in your country. The contact information of the bank are as follows, BARCLAY'S BANK PLC LONDON. Email address (barclaysbankoflr@aol.co.uk) or (foreign_operations_d@yahoo.co.uk) (bank_barclays_c@aol.co.uk) The name of the transfer officer is: Mr. Charles S. Doyle Telephone number +447031853504 Office Fax number +448717152567 The Account Number Is: 0643I0870146/QB/71/B1 Contact them now on how to transfer the 9.5 million dollars deposited by my late of which i am the next of kin. I have mapped out 15% for your assistance My dear i am glad that God has brought you to see me out from this situation and i promise to be kind and will equally need you in every area of my life including investing this money since i am still too young to manage it. As i told you before, this camp is just like a prison and my prayers is to move out from here as soon as possible. Please make sure that you contact the bank so that after the transfer you can send some money from that money for me to prepare my traveling documents to meet with you in your country.I will send some more pictures latter when i know your mind about this. Meanwhile i will like you to call me by 2pm my time the number once again +22176 4856919 Yours forever in love Blessing sayid Awa Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2016 04:11:18 -0500 From: bank_barclays_c@aol.co.uk Cc: blessing4usayid@hotmail.com Subject: WELCOME TO BARCLAY'S BANK OF LONDON PLC Barclays bank plc 1 Churchill Place, London,E14 5HP,United Kingdom FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION, Sir, We received your current inquiry about the estate of one of our late customers and I am writing to you in respect to your mail which we received today. Actually, we have earlier been told about you by the young lady who is (the next of kin to her late father's fund deposit to our bank that she wishes you to be her trustee/representative for the claim of her late father's deposit with this bank. Her late father is one of our late customers with sum substantial amount of money he deposited with us. Hence you have been really appointed as a trustee to represent the next of Kin. However before our bank will transact any business concerning the transfer of the fund to your bank, we will like you to send the followings immediately to our bank: 1. A power of attorney permitting you to claim and transfer the funds to your bank account on her behalf. Note: This Power of attorney must be endorsed by a Senegalese resident lawyer since the money is originated from there in Africa and the young lady is currentlyresiding in Senegal. 2. The death certificate of Her deceased father confirming his death. 3. A copy of statement of account issued to her deceased father by our bank. 4. An Affidavit of support from Senegalese high court there in Senegal. Note: The above are compulsory,and are needed to protect our interest,yours and the next of kin after the transfer has been made. These shall also ensure that a smooth, quick and successful transfer of the fund is made within 48hrs from when we receive the above named documents. We promise to treat our customers with uttermost truth and Sincerity. For more information/s please contact me The World operational/Transfer Officer through email address thus (barclaysbankoflr@aol.co.uk) for more clarifications and or question/s you may need to ask. Yours Faithfully, Mr Charles Doyle` Phone +447031843604 From: blessing sayid Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2016 12:17:26 +0000 Subject: HONEY HAVE A NICE DAY. My dear, How are you today? I hope you are fine, but as far as I'm really happy that you're there for me. Honey i thank you very much for your email, and I appreciate your concerns for me, mine is a wonderful man you really love you, but I missed that. Honey not know how to express my love for you, but I'll do it when I come to you in fact receive mail after Bank today I was so happy. Here are the contact again as fellow lawyer. Bar (Dr) SIDNEY ELLIOT. E mail (barr_stersidneyelliot@yahoo.fr) or its complement private email: (barri.stersidneyelliot@hotmail.com) Office phone number is +221776846876 Miel have no other person unless you try it by all means I know I am suffering and I come here to help you and spend the rest of my life with you. Honey really want to marry you is why I trusted you and this money is the only thing left to me by my late father and I would not lose so try to make sure they follow his instructions let us help you get the power and affidavit oath as requested by the bank, but I have with me the death certificate of my late father and the last statement issued to him before his death. Now all that remains is the power of attorney and affidavit oath as requested by the bank. My love, my joy is that this is the last step and my prayer is that the lawyer must agree to help .I believe that as soon as the bank receiving the documents withing 48 hrs the money will be transferred to your account. Honey I love you please take good care of yourself for me because I care about you that. Kissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. Waiting to hear from you. Yours forever blessingSayid Awa From: SIDNEY ELLIOT Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 13:34:15 +0000 CC: "blessing4usayid@hotmail.com" Subject: MY FINDINGS FROM THE HIGH COURTa Attention. Sir, This is to inform you the cost of prepare a power of attorney and swear an affidavit of oath from the high court here for you and your partner. I have discussed with chief magistrate of the high court here in Dakar Senegal. We discussed about preparing and standing on your behalf at the high court to get an authorization letter and swear an affidavit of oath that will enable you to stand on behalf of your partner to transfer his late father's fund from A Bank in Europe, to your account in your country or elsewhere. Meanwhile, prior to my inquiries from the high court here in Dakar Senegal this morning. I was made to understand that there will be four (4) documents required by the bank before the transfer of the money to your account. 1. A copy of Death certificate of the deceased customer. 2. A copy of His Statement of account. (WHICH SHE WILL HAVE WITH HER, AS PROVE). It's now remaining the other two documents. Which is power of attorney and the affidavit of oath these two documents is what will enable the Bank to deal with you on behalf of your partner. In view of above and from my inquiries, it will cost the sum of EURO 540 for authentication of the power of attorney, EURO 260 for swearing of the affidavit of oath at the federal high court here before it becomes valid, EURO 220 for notary stamping at the notary office (before it will go out from Senegal here) and my legal consultation fee of EURO 120. Total of (Euro EURO 1140) to get everything done. YOU ARE TO TRANSFER THIS MONEY TODAY THROUGH MONEY GRAM OR WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER WITH MY NAME AND ADDRESS BELOW: SIDNEY ELLIOT. NO 96 AVE CITE MILLIONAIRE DAKAR SENEGAL. MAKE SURE YOU INFORM ME IMMEDIATELY YOU TRANSFER THE MONEY TODAY,SO WE CAN START THE PREPARATION OF THE DOCUMENTS (WHICH WILL BE READY BY THE NEXT TWO WORKING DAYS). I HAVE ATTACHED MY INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT FOR YOU TO SEE WHOM YOU ARE DEALING WITH.NOTE; WE COLLECT PAYMENT BEFORE RENDERING SERVICES(AS THE BARRISTER'S LAW OF THE NATION DEMANDS),CODE 98/1999 CONSTITUTION.(MY PRIORITY IS TO RENDER THE BEST SERVICES TO MY CLIENTS) Yours sincerely in Service, Bar (Dr) Sidney Elliot (Esq) (Senior Advocate). No 96 Ave Cite Millionaire (2nd-floor) Dakar, Senegal. Office tel +2217768465876 Email Add (barri_stersidneyelliot@yahoo.fr) (barri.stersidneyelliot@hotmail.com) From: SIDNEY ELLIOT Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2016 18:28:24 +0000 Subject: FROM:DR SIDNEY ELLIOTT Attention. Sir, Hello Mr this is to inform you that you should use the information of my secretary to send the money through bank account. This is the account information of my secretary. Seee the information bellow here. ACCOUNT NAME: MENDY ENNA SIRA BANK NAME: BANK OF AFRICA SENEGAL ACCOUNT NUMBER: 02758300003 BANK CODE: SN100 SWIFT CODE: AFRISNDAXXX GUICHET CODE: 01004 RIB 91 IBAN : SN08 SN10 0010 0400 2758 3000 0391 Again, make effort by sending me the scan copy of the payment slip to my mail box here after you have made the payment in order to speed up proccessing the required documents needs for the transaction. Yours sincerely in Service, Bar (Dr) Sidney Elliot (Esq) (Senior Advocate). No 96 Ave Cite Millionaire (2nd-floor) Dakar,Senegal. Office tel +2217768465876 Email Add (barri_stersidneyelliot@yahoo.fr) (barri.stersidneyelliot@hotmail.com) From: SIDNEY ELLIOT Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2016 12:00:32 +0000 Subject: FROM:DR SIDNEY ELLIOT THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU SHOULD USE THE INFORMATION I HAVE GIVE TO YOU SEE THE INFORMATION BELOW HERE ACCOUNT NAME: MENDY ENNA SIRA BANK NAME: BANK OF AFRICA SENEGAL ACCOUNT NUMBER: 02758300003 BANK CODE: SN100 SWIFT CODE: AFRISNDAXXX GUICHET CODE: 01004 RIB 91 BAN : SN08 SN10 0010 0400 2758 3000 0391 I HAVE GAVE YOU MY SECRETARY ACCOUNT FOR YOU TO USD IT AND SEND THE MONEY TO ME SO I CAN RECEVOIR THE MONEY HERE SOME TIME I WILL DAY BUSY SO SHE WILL GO COLLECTED THE MONEY FOR ME OK AGAIN, MAKE EFFORT BY SENDING ME THE SCAN COPY OF THE PAYMENT SLIP TO MY MAILBOX HERE AFTER YOU HAVE MADE THE PAYMENT IN ORDER TO SPEED UP PROCESSING THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS NEEDED FOR THE TRANSACTION SERVICES TO MY CLIENTS! YOURS SINCERELY IN SERVICE BAR SIDNEY ELLIOTT(ESQ) (SENIOR ADVOCATE) From: blessing sayid Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2016 18:33:37 +0000 Subject: GOOD NEWS Dearest friend, I wish you happy new day. I know you many not remember me any more but today i have remember you and that is how world is also how God want it to be you can go back to your mail so that you will remember me very well, Am Miss blessing sayid who is crying for your help when she was in the Refugee Camp in Dakar Senegal, But because of one reason or the other, meanwhile to keep my promise as i told you then, I am very happy to inform you about my success in getting the fund transferred under the co-operation of a new partner from Uruguay. Presently i am in Uruguay for investment projects with my own share of the total sum. Meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assist me in transferring the funds despite that it failed us some how. I have to Compensate you. Now you will need to contact the to the Rev. Father whom used to be a God-father to me when i was in Dakar, his name is Rev. samuelbenjamin and his Email address is as follows: (samuelbenjamin54@hotmail.com) Ask him to send you a certified bank draft of $ 200.000.00 which I prepared and kept for you as compensation for all the past efforts and attempts to assist me in this matter. I appreciated your efforts at that time very much. so feel free and get in touched with Rev father samuelbenjamin and instruct him where to send you the draft cheque. Please do let me know immediately you receive it so that we can share our joy and happiness after all the sufferings at that time. At this moment, I am very busy here because of the investment projects which I and my new partner are having at hand, finally, remember that I had forwarded instruction to the Rev samuelbenjamin on your behalf to receive that money. Therefore feel free to get in touch with him and he will send the cheque to you without delay. May God be with you. With Regards, Miss blessing If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... Beirut (AFP) - The United Nations and Washington on Monday condemned air strikes on medical facilities and schools in Syria that the world body said killed almost 50 civilians, with the US implicating Russia. Also ahead of a hoped-for ceasefire, Kurdish fighters in northern Syria captured a key town despite Turkish cross-border shelling, a monitor said, as Ankara and Moscow traded accusations over their military entanglement in the conflict. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad poured cold water on the plan for a ceasefire to begin later this week, saying it would be "difficult" to implement. The UN said air strikes on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria's Aleppo and Idlib provinces killed nearly 50 civilians including children. UN chief Ban Ki-moon considers that "such attacks are blatant violations of international law", added the organisation's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. The United States, which like the UN did not identify who carried out the air strikes, said two civilian hospitals were hit in and around Aleppo in northern Syria: one run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and another in Azaz city. Such action "casts doubt on Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people", the State Department said. But Syria's ambassador to Moscow, Riad Haddad, said the hospital had been the target of a US raid. "American warplanes destroyed it. Russian warplanes had nothing to do with any of it -- the information that has been gathered will completely back that up," he told Russia's state television channel Rossiya 24. The increasing violence on the ground in Syria and war of words between Ankara and Moscow have dampened hopes that a proposed cessation of hostilities will take hold this week. "They are saying they want a ceasefire in a week. Who is capable of gathering all the conditions and requirements in a week? No one," Assad said in televised remarks. Story continues "A ceasefire must mean stopping terrorists from strengthening their positions. Moving weapons, equipment, terrorists or strengthening positions must all be forbidden," he added. UN peace envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura arrived Monday in Damascus, a government source there said, amid the ceasefire push. Without assigning blame, MSF confirmed a hospital supported by the charity was hit in Idlib, northwest Syria, and said seven people were killed and at least eight were missing, presumed dead. - Turkey resumes shelling Kurds - Turkey, meanwhile, resumed shelling Kurdish-led forces in several parts of Aleppo, alarmed by their recent advances against mostly Islamist rebels. Ankara accuses the Kurdish forces of ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least two children were killed in Monday's shelling, and an AFP journalist on Turkey's border said Turkish howitzers fired for around 20 minutes from the Akcabaglar region. Despite the shelling, the coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured Tal Rifaat, the Observatory said. Barely 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border, the town was seized from an alliance of mostly Islamist rebels. The SDF had already seized the nearby Minnigh airbase and severed the road between Tal Rifaat and rebel-held Azaz on the border. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said Turkish artillery on Monday fired on Tal Rifaat itself for the first time. Turkey fears the Kurds will be able to create a contiguous Kurdish territory just across the border in northern Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned earlier Monday that Ankara would not let Azaz fall to the SDF, adding that "the necessary intervention will be made". - EU joins condemnation - Moscow says its military intervention has targeted the Islamic State jihadist group and other "terrorists", but rights groups say Russia's raids have caused disproportionately high civilian casualties. The MSF-supported hospital in Idlib is one of several health facilities Russia is accused of hitting since its aerial campaign began September 30. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini branded the Idlib attack "unacceptable" and urged "all parties (to respect) basic principles of humanitarian law". Acts such as the "deliberate" bombardment of a hospital "constitute war crimes", said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. The Observatory also reported 10 civilians, including three children, killed in suspected Russian strikes in and nearby Azaz. The strikes in Azaz hit near a hospital, it said. Russia's air strikes have allowed government forces to press a major operation that has virtually encircled rebels in eastern Aleppo city, as well as pushing them from much of the region to the north. They have angered Turkey, with Davutoglu on Monday warning: "If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response." Moscow called Turkey's shelling in Syria "provocative" and said it supported raising the issue at the UN Security Council. A US State Department spokesperson urged Turkey and Russia to avoid any further escalation. "It is important that the Russians and Turks speak directly, and take measures to prevent escalation," the spokesperson told AFP. More than 260,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. The Epcot-like headquarters of Airbnb in San Francisco features rooms modeled after those in popular hosts homes: the Moroccan room has bedouin prints everywhere, red carpet and yellow walls, while the Washington, D.C. room includes a cowskin carpet and a model fireplace complete with firewood. Its perhaps no surprise the company was founded by designers you expect style here. But the right hand of those designers is a confident, sharp lawyer. Already, Belinda Johnsons seen the company through no shortage of legal and public affairs conflicts, including issues over taxation, through a New York Supreme Court case, and via some ire in San Francisco as residents argued the company allows the wealthy to push out longtime tenants. Its also been her job to manage the wild web of international regulations as the company establishes itself as a global operation. Sharing-economy companies like Uber and Airbnb, says NYU Stern business professor Arun Sundararajan, face a legal and governmental regulatory landscape that is much more complex. Meet Belinda Johnson, Airbnbs top legal mind who recently landed a promotion as CEO Brian Cheskys go-to-woman. (Hiring her was one of the best decisions we ever made, Chesky tells OZY.) Fresh to the title of chief business affairs and legal officer, the 48-year-old Johnson was deputy general counsel of Yahoo in its heyday before coming to Airbnb, the reportedly $25-billion sharing-economy giant that allows individual homeowners to rent out their properties whether that be apartments, refurbished vans or even tree houses to everyday travelers. Exciting times in the biz arent restricted to her Airbnb days, though. A Texas native, tight-lipped and impeccably groomed, Johnson tells me she never saw herself going the traditional law firm path, instead feeling the magnetic pull of the tech industry during its first boom. Johnsons career has indeed taken her a different route. In the tech world, lawyers are rarely responsible for simply interpreting on-the-books precedent Johnsons job feels more like navigating policy and sculpting a new regulatory framework; very little of the industry deals with established laws, says Vivek Krishnamurthy, clinical professor at Harvards Cyberlaw Clinic. Johnson learned to look by analogy at other industries, she tells me, and to think about self-regulation. Story continues Belinada Belinda Johnson, chief business affairs and legal officer, is Airbnbs top legal mind. Source: Sean Culligan/OZY Its easy to feel Johnsons authority in her presence. Shes got a helluva handshake and doesnt exactly evoke the warm hospitality I expect of a Southerner or of an Airbnb host for that matter. Raised in suburban Sugar Land, near Houston, Johnson was a gymnast and always ambitious. Though shes a litigator the kind of lawyer who sometimes stands up dramatically in court she says she wasnt the kid who argued at the dinner table with mom and dad. She loved policy, advocacy, taking a position. Her mother was a stay-at-home mom who worked occasionally as a real estate agent, but it was her dad a banker who influenced Johnsons career hunger. Hers is a persona that Airbnb needed in public, amid its flurry of media coverage. I ask Johnson if shes ever witnessed the anger of San Franciscans on the anti-gentrification bandwagon. Her mouth clamps shut and she glances around. Um, she says. No; those were isolated events. Though Airbnb is sometimes lumped with Uber as a company that allows everyday people to make money by way of other everyday people, Sundararajan draws a distinction. Airbnb, he says, has made its mark by trying to include its hosts in legal and business matters. Meanwhile, Uber (which didnt respond to our request for comment) has a reputation for focusing things centrally, away from its drivers. One major challenge Johnson has faced down since she joined the company in its third year, impressively early for a lawyer: New Yorks attorney general butted heads with the company, arguing that nearly three-quarters of Airbnb hosts used the platform illegally. But Johnson quickly developed models for adding taxes to users in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. Exciting times in the biz arent restricted to her Airbnb days, though. Before Yahoo, Johnson took the music-streaming business Broadcast.com public. And as a litigator specializing in employment law fittingly, years before sharing economy companies #disrupted it all she enjoyed a few court appearances. Mostly, though, those days were slower, full of junior-level work, taking depositions and the like. After 12 years at Yahoo, Johnson grew antsy, and went gunning for the Airbnb gig. The companys founders were incredibly cognizant, she says, of the regulatory challenges theyd face, and brought her on quickly she walked right into many late-night phone calls trying to puppeteer the international goings-on of the company from afar. Today, Johnson enjoys working out (you can tell) and lives with her two daughters down the highway, in Redwood City. I ask about her favorite stay: an Airbnb in Berlin, where a fellow mom showed her around the city. And does she host? Of course, she says. Im curious does she throw parties for guests, give them a splash of a time? Shes a bit vanilla in her answer; she asks them what they like to drink, what they like to do. Shes efficient in handshaking me out of the room. After all, shes a lawyer, not a host. Related Articles By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has a number of likely options as he looks for a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday. Within a few hours, Obama said he intends to make a nomination, despite Republicans stressing they opposed any appointment being made until after November's presidential election. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate would have to approve the nomination. If Obama's nominee is not confirmed by the Senate, the White House could use the process to energize Democratic voters ahead of the presidential and congressional elections in November. If a Democratic nominee were to replace Scalia it would lead to a sizable shift in the ideological balance of the high court, which has had a conservative majority for decades. Here are some of the possibilities, including two prominent Asian-American judges: Sri Srinivasan Among those the administration could turn to is Sri Srinivasan, 48, who has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since May 2013. He would be the first Indian-American on the court and has impeccable bipartisan credentials. The Senate confirmed him on a 97-0 vote three years ago. He was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor, now retired, a 1981 appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan. At Srinivasan's confirmation hearing, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, now a presidential candidate, described himself as a long-standing friend dating back to their time together as law clerks in the U.S. appeals court based in Richmond, Virginia. Cruz said Srinivasan had done a "very fine job" in answering the committee's questions. During his nomination to the appeals court, prominent Republicans such as former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson supported Srinivasan. At his 2013 investiture, leading lights of the legal establishment from both parties praised him. Federal appeals court judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee for whom Srinivasan was also a law clerk, called him lightning smart. So far on the appeals court, his rulings have not sparked controversy. Jacqueline Nguyen Other names the administration could consider include Jacqueline Nguyen, 50, a Vietnamese-American who has been a judge on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since May 2012. The first Asian-American woman to sit on a federal appeals court, she was confirmed by the Senate in 2012 by a 91-3 vote. When she was a child, Nguyen fled South Vietnam with her family toward the close of the Vietnam War in 1975, and then lived in a refugee camp in California. Nguyen was a federal prosecutor and district court judge in Los Angeles before she was elevated to the appeals court. Paul Watford An African-American who is also a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Paul Watford is another possibility. He was an appellate litigator at the Munger, Tolles & Olson law firm before Obama nominated him to the appeals court in 2011. Watford, 48, clerked for 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, a libertarian-leaning Republican, and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of Scalia's colleagues on the Supreme Court. He was confirmed by a 61-34 vote, as some Republicans raised concerns about Watfords work as a lawyer on immigration and death penalty cases. Jane Kelly Jane Kelly, a white woman and former public defender who has served on the St. Louis, Missouri-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since April 2013. She was supported by Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the key committee that would review the nominee. Kelly, 51, clerked for now-retired Judge David Hansen, a friend of Grassley's who served on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She was confirmed by the Senate on a 96-0 vote. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Joan Biskupic. Additional reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Martin Howell) Wellington (AFP) - Australia inflicted a crushing innings defeat on New Zealand with a day to spare in the first Test in Wellington when they dismissed the home side for 327 on Monday. In a Test that will be remembered for two majestic innings by Adam Voges and Usman Khawaja, as well as an umpiring howler, Australia won by an innings and 52 runs. Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood all shared the spoils as the last six New Zealand wickets fell for 149 on day four. Australian captain Steve Smith said it was the first step in their quest to regain the number one Test ranking which will require them sweeping the two-Test series. "We want to be number one in the world in all three formats and I think this Test match is a step in the right direction," he said. "It was a pretty good toss to win. Having said that, we had to put the ball in the right areas for extended periods and I think we did that. We put the NZ batters under pressure and reaped the rewards." New Zealand were on the back foot from the time they lost the toss and were 51-5 in the first session, according to skipper Brendon McCullum. "Conditions were difficult on that first morning," he said. "We came up against a team who played a very, very good Test match and we were just a little bit short. It's not a reinvent the wheel situation but we've got to tidy up a few areas." New Zealand had been set a target of 379 just to get in credit in their second innings after Voges' 239 set up Australia's first innings of 562. The recognised New Zealand batsmen made starts, but were unable to turn them into big scores. After getting to 218-7 it was left to the last three batsmen to add 109 runs. Tim Southee was in a one-day mood with 48 off 23 balls and Mark Craig contributed an unbeaten 33. At the top of the order, Tom Latham scored 63 and Henry Nicholls, on debut, added 59 while Martin Guptill made 45 and Kane Williamson 22. Story continues Williamson and BJ Watling are renowned as doughty batsmen capable of occupying the crease for a long time but neither lived up to their reputation in the face of a tight bowling attack. Lyon occupied one end with his off-breaks and the quicks were rotated at the other with a plan for each of the batsmen. - Battle of wits - Watling has featured in two world-record stands for the sixth wicket at the Basin Reserve in the past two years. He batted for 510 minutes with McCullum in a 352-run stand that saved a Test against India in 2014 and last year batted for 479 minutes in an unbeaten 365-run stand with Williamson to beat Sri Lanka. But he was undone in 40 minutes by Australia when he attempted to cut a Lyon delivery and was beaten by the turn with the ball taking an inside edge to ricochet into the stumps. Nicholls resumed the day at 31 and won a battle of wits with Hazlewood who fired down a series of good length deliveries, seaming the ball away and tempting the left-hander to chase the shot. When Nicholls refused to take the bait, Hazlewood switched to a short delivery which was pulled to the square-leg boundary. Bird eventually claimed the 24-year-old with a good length delivery that bowled him as he tried to turn it to the on side. Southee and Craig delayed the inevitable, putting on 59 for the ninth wicket. Lyon finished with four for 91, while Mitchell Marsh took three for 73. Australia had been in charge of the Test from the time Smith won the toss and New Zealand were out within two sessions on a green-topped wicket. As the wicket flattened out, Australia were able to score more freely with their cause helped by umpire Richard Illingworth wrongly calling no ball when Voges was bowled by Doug Bracewell on seven. The 36-year-old went on to make 239 while Khawaja added 140 to have New Zealand effectively out of the game after the first innings. The second Test starts in Christchurch on Saturday. It will be the last international for the retiring McCullum. By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's honeymoon period may be ending, with economists and political analysts blaming a lack of new policies for a drop in poll numbers that has reignited speculation of an early election. Turnbull on Saturday announced more than a dozen changes to his ministry, a decision forced on him by the resignation of one minister, the retirement of two others and the sacking of two more over their involvement in political scandals. A Fairfax-Ipsos poll of 1403 people taken on Feb. 11-13 showed the government's worst numbers since Turnbull ousted Tony Abbott in a party coup last September, narrowing its lead over the center-left Labor Party by four percentage points to 52-48 percent. A hostile upper house Senate continues to stymie any major policy moves and Turnbull is facing rearguard action from his party's conservative wing despite sticking to Abbott's unpopular stances on same-sex marriage and climate change. An early election may be Turnbull's best chance to demonstrate bold leadership and reverse what seems to be a growing sense of buyer's remorse, said Peter Chen, a senior lecturer in government at the University of Sydney. "If you're going to follow Tony Abbott's agenda, then why did you roll him in the first place? It seems purely motivated by personal factors," Chen told Reuters. "I ... think that the early election is the more likely possibility," he said after the poll was released. Plummeting commodity prices have depleted the government's coffers, a major financial stumbling block for Turnbull, whose rise was sparked partly by his image as a prudent financial manager based on his background in the private sector. Australia in December forecast its budget deficit would swell to A$37.4 billion ($26.6 billion) in the year to June as falling prices for key resource exports open a gaping hole in tax revenue. Turnbull last week raised the possibility of an early election after ruling out a rise in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) under pressure from within his own party, despite strong support from economists. The government's ability to have a stimulatory budget prior to the election is constrained by the size of the budget deficit, said Shane Oliver, Chief Economist at AMP Capital Investors. "It has got its hands fairly well tied. Overall revenue remains under threat and the government doesn't like the idea of increasing government spending, so it's not going to have a tax and spend set of policies going into the election," he told Reuters. "The ditching of the GST as an option suggests that maybe structural reform is off the table." (Reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Richard Pullin) Danish helmer Bille August is set to travel to Italy to direct Versace, an English-language biopic of the late fashion designer Gianni Versace. The movie is being lead-produced by Italys Oberon Prods. Jesper Morthorst at Svensk Filmindustri is co-producing. Versace will chronicle the designers rise to fame in the late 1970s, when he launched the brand, and end with his murder in 1997, when he was shot and killed at his Miami mansion. It will be a biopic in the vein of Walk the Line. It will portray a genius fighting his own demons, and it will be uplifting and moving rather than dark and tragic, said Morthorst. Versace struggled his whole life to find an inner peace and love, and he had finally found both just before he was killed. The $12 million movie will be co-produced by Spanish and Belgian partners. Casting is under way and the lensing is expected to kick off by year-end. Morthorst is the producer of Danish comedy series Rita, a Netflix original drama thats now in its third season. Before shooting Versace, August will lense 55 Steps, with Helena Bonham Carter playing Eleanor Riese, a hospital mental patient who championed a class action suit that sought to allow hospitalized mental patients to refuse or have a say in their medication. Related stories Berlin: eOne Acquires U.K. Rights to George Clooney's 'Suburbicon' Berlin: 'Alone in Berlin's' Emma Thompson Tells European Story Berlin: MPAA Stands By Europe's Industries on Digital Single Market Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl. So goes the standard structure of most rom-coms. Things get a little more complicated, however, when you set the story in Saudi Arabia, a country with a few additional stumbling blocks when it comes to unmarried boys and girls hooking up with one another. So lies the basic outline for Barakah Meets Barakah (Barakah Yoqabil Barakah), an unlikely love story from first-timer Mahmoud Sabbagh set in the port city of Jeddah. "I wanted to make a film about the disenfranchised youth, the millennials, who are more voiceless and have less political representation, less economic opportunities," says Sabbagh, who, like many emerging Saudi creatives, cut his teeth making YouTube videos. "It's also about censorship, the layers of censorship and authority." Read more: Berlin Hidden Gems: 'P.S. Jerusalem' Doc Offers an Unflinching Family Portrait The story sees twentysomething civil servant Barakah run into Bibi, an online star with a hugely popular vlog. But where other rom-coms might follow the hilarious consequences of the would-be-couple's various interactions, the ever-watchful eye of Saudi's rather strict authorities - coupled with any unchaperoned public meeting being strictly prohibited - makes even getting to the first date a near-impossible endeavor. "It's a love story against the odds," says Sabbagh, who points out that, hindered by such restrictions, youngsters have turned to smartphones and social media in a rather big way, with many blossoming relationships played out in cyberspace. And in casting his romantic male lead, the filmmaker turned to one of country's rising social media stars. Hisham Fageeh, alongside his friends Fahad Albutairi and Alaa Wardi, became an Internet sensation in 2013 with his song "No Woman, No Drive," which used Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" to mock the notorious female driving ban. The YouTube video racked up some 13 million views and helped show the world that, despite what many might think about their country's seemingly harsh exterior, Saudi Arabians aren't averse to laughing at themselves. Story continues Read more: Berlin Hidden Gems: Kiwi 'Born to Dance' Steps Up But aside from the comedic elements at play, Sabbagh says he hopes to use his film as a standard-bearer during what has become an interesting period in the kingdom's history. "There is this notion of change in Saudi now; we have a younger leadership, and it seems this change has been coming at faster pace than ever," says Sabbagh, adding that he's hoping Barakah Meets Barakah has a domestic screening despite the lack of theaters (although there's no official ban, there aren't any cinemas in the country). "We profit from this new political climate. The kids over there are doing a great job, and we'd like our film to be a symbol of change and growing opportunities for the youth." On day three of the European Film Market in Berlin, Lionsgate acquired U.K. distribution rights to Ghost Stories, the big screen adaptation of the Olivier-nominated supernatural stage production of the same name. Co-written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, the film will star Martin Freeman (The Hobbit franchise, Captain America: Civil War, Fargo) and BAFTA award-winner George MacKay (Pride, Sunshine on Leith), with Nyman reprising his role as Professor Goodman from the stage show. The deal was negotiated by Lionsgate U.K.'s head of acquisitions, Nick Manzi with Mike Runagall of Altitude Film Sales. Ghost Stories will be produced by Claire Jones (Sightseers, Kill List), along with Robin Gutch ('71, Kill List) for independent production company Warp Films. Principal photography will commence in September. See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival Meryl Streep said Hollywood is giving female directors more opportunities to tell their own stories and the green light is coming from younger decision-makers, not gray-haired studio execs. The Oscar-winning actress, taking time away from being jury president at the Berlin International Film Festival to give an acting master class on Sunday, was asked whether women were getting more directing gigs in Hollywood. "Yes, it's moving in a very positive direction," she responded. Streep added that closing Hollywood's gender gap behind the camera called for getting minds to open up in executive suites. "We need 40- to 50 year-old white males to be interested in the stories of their wives and their mothers," she told the Hebbel Am Ufer Theater audience. So far that's not happening nearly enough in clubby boardrooms, except with younger execs. "They [older men] don't feel invested in that journey. Younger men do, and that's good," said Streep. Read More: Berlin Jury Chief Meryl Streep Responds to Diversity Concerns: "We Are All Africans Really" She added "you have to make noise" to get more women into decision-making leadership, echoing the current debate around more racial and gender diversity in Hollywood boardrooms. Streep earlier in the Berlin festival faced criticism for suggesting "we are all Africans really" when asked about concerns over the all-white Oscar nominations this year. But on Sunday, she insisted some in Hollywood boardrooms have to make way for new voices. "Our industry will always depend on diversity in the boardroom, where the money is," said Streep. "All the talk about equality and diversity among the lower levels of the endeavor won't change things if the money and decisions are still made by one people whose taste will necessarily decide what kind of films will be made." She also talked about her long and legendary Hollywood career during the master class, and revealed her favorite director was Mike Nichols. Each time they worked together on such projects as Silkwood, Angels in America and Postcards From the Edge, Nichols would quiz the actress on how she felt about other directors she had worked with. Story continues "It's like being asked about the other boyfriends you've had. 'Does he do it better than me?' is what I heard from him," recounted Streep. She also insisted her varied career as an actress was down to not worrying about her physical and sexual appeal as she got older. "You cannot have a long career and play as many characters as I have, at all different ages, and maintain your magazine cover vanity," Streep said to applause. "You can't. And It's useless. And it's stupid. It's unartistic. And who cares?" See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival has a spotty record of delivering films that go on to Oscar glory. The awards-season success of Berlin's 2014 lineup, which included Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel (nine nominations, four Oscars) and Boyhood (six noms, a best supporting actress win for Patricia Arquette) is the exception to the rule. More typical was last years Berlinale, where the only Oscar-nominated performance to come out of the festival was Charlotte Rampling's. Her road to the 2016 Academy Awards started with the best actress Silver Bear she picked up for Andrew Haighs 45 Years. Co-star Tom Courtenay took Berlins best actor prize, and the film was snatched up by Sundance Selects for U.S. distribution. "It was an important debut," says Arianna Bocco, senior vp acquisitions for IFC Films & Sundance Selects. "Charlotte and Toms acting wins obviously set the stage for the film with the critics and set us up to position the film as an awards film." Read More: EFM's Rising Value of the "Gray Dollar": Aging Stars Driving Hot Projects But while few expect a flood of awards contenders to emerge from Berlins 2016 lineup, Oscar handicappers are eyeing a handful of projects and performances that could break out and go the distance. Jeff Nichols sci-fi chase drama Midnight Special premiered in competition and opened to strong reviews, leading to speculation that it could become an awards contender. While genre films arent often a part of the Oscar discussion and the movie has an early (March 18) opening in the U.S., Michael Shannons performance as a father protecting his superpowered young son and Kirsten Dunsts weighty role as the mother could earn recognition further down the line. Loving, another film from Nichols, screened at the European Film Market and impressed awards-season specialists Focus Features. In its first acquisition since ousting Peter Schlessel to refocus on specialty films, Focus bought Loving for the U.S. market for about $9 million. The true-life story, starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga as an interracial couple in the 1950s, seems like obvious Oscar bait. Story continues Other likely contenders to follow in Ramplings Berlin-to-Oscar-nomination footsteps are Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson as a couple who resist the Nazis in Vincent Perezs Alone in Berlin; Colin Firth and Jude Law in Michael Grandages literary biopic Genius; and French icon Isabelle Huppert, who dazzled in the competition entry Things to Come and is being tipped as a favorite for Berlins best actress prize. Cynthia Nixon also is getting raves for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies A Quiet Passion. Read More: Berlin: Why 'Midnight Special' Director Wanted More Michael Shannon, Less Dialogue Onscreen (Q&A) As with Boyhood, two films playing in Berlin after strong debuts at Sundance could continue to pick up steam. Former Focus chief James Schamus Indignation could generate heat for supporting actor Tracy Letts (who has a buzzworthy 10-minute battle-of-the-wits scene with Logan Lerman), while Ira Sachs Little Men could do the same for Greg Kinnear. Also watch out for Andre Techines Being 17, which, depending on whats offered in Cannes, could be Frances official Oscar submission, and, for documentaries, Gianfranco Rosis refugee film Fire at Sea is a clear frontrunner to win a Golden Bear on Saturday. "Typically, there are always a few films that stand out for the U.S. market, whether they are the high-end foreign-language films or prestigious English-language films," says Bocco. "[Berlin is] extremely focused on the filmmakers, and the festival offers a wide variety of films to consider." See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival Yosuke Kubozuka will star opposite Elizabeth Banks in Sloane URens adventure drama Rita Hayworth With a Hand Grenade. Banks is starring as war photographer Caroline Baker, who is shot down and stranded on a South Pacific island with only one other inhabitant, a marooned Japanese soldier (Kubozuka). The pair evolve from sworn enemies to reluctant allies as they remain stranded on the island for decades. Radiant Films International is selling the film at the market, while UTA Independent Film Group is handling domestic rights. The project is eyeing a fall 2016 shoot. Rita Hayworth with a Hand Grenade will serve as Sloane URen's sophomore feature film after helming 2011s Dimensions. Antony Neely wrote the script, and Robert Graf is producing. Kubozuka co-stars with Liam Neeson, Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield in Martin Scorseses Paramount film Silence. The popular Japanese actor has worked on a slew of films and won two Awards from the Japanese Academy for his performance in Go. Sarajevo (AFP) - A former Bosnian Serb policeman who has already served time in prison for taking part in a massacre during the 1992-1995 war was arrested Monday on fresh war crimes charges. Bosnian police detained Darko Mrdja along with two other ex-members of his police unit, Radenko Marinovic and Milan Gavrilovic. Prosecutors accuse the trio -- as well as a fourth suspect who is already behind bars for a separate war crime -- of murdering non-Serb detainees in the early months of the Bosnian conflict. They are suspected of having killed at least 10 people being transferred to detention camps in the northwestern town of Prijedor and a nearby village in July and August 1992, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. Mrdja was in 2004 sentenced to 17 years in jail by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague after pleading guilty to taking part in the mass execution of some 200 Muslim and Croat civilians whose bodies were thrown off a cliff. Mrdja, now 48, was released in 2013 after serving more than two-thirds of his sentence. He then returned to Bosnia. During his trial Mrdja apologised to the families of the victims and said he was an "honourable" soldier until the end of the war. The massacre took place in August 1992, when Bosnian Serb police took more than 200 prisoners, including Muslim detainees from Prijedor's notorious Trnopolje detention camp, to the Koricanske Stijene cliff. The victims, who had been told they were on their way to a prisoner exchange, were shot after being forced to kneel at the edge of the cliff. All but 12 died. Bosnia's 1990s inter-ethnic war claimed some 100,000 lives. The Balkan country's courts are allowed to try low-profile war crimes cases, while the ICTY is tasked with cases involving top wartime officials. By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Bosnia formally applied for membership of the European Union on Monday, although Brussels says it must carry out a series of reforms before the application can even be considered. A war in Bosnia in 1990s, part of the breakup of Yugoslavia, killed some 100,000 people. The country remains split along ethnic lines and economically impoverished, lagging behind its Balkan neighbours on the path towards the EU. Sarajevo has wanted to apply on several occasions, but the 28-nation EU said each time it had to further improve its economy, justice system, rule of law, public administration and political institutions to be able to become a candidate - a message Brussels reiterated on Monday again. "We see that our neighbour Croatia is already a member state, Montenegro is on its EU integration path, as well as Serbia. Bosnia and Herzegovina is also a part of this continent," Dragan Covic, the chairman of Bosnia's presidency, said in submitting the application letter in Brussels. "We are aware that this is our task, that we need to do it." Bosnia must also adjust a 2008 pre-membership agreement to reflect changes after Croatia, also an ex-Yugoslav republic, joined the bloc in 2013. The Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian war split the country into the largely Bosniak and Croat region of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the mostly Serb region of Republika Srpska. It also established a national government, whose presidency is shared by a Bosniak, a Croat and a Serb. "It's the beginning" of a long journey, Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said. "Membership is not possible in couple of months, or even a few years." The Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders, added that Bosnia's application would only be considered after "meaningful progress in the implementation of the reform agenda is achieved", meaning Sarajevo would not be given candidate status for now. PEACE PROJECT In its latest report on Bosnia in 2015, the EU said it had actually fallen back on some issues, including "the conditions for the exercise of the freedom of expression" and the required judiciary reforms. But Federica Mogherini, the head of foreign affairs for the EU, emphasised the positive message of the move on Monday for both Bosnia - with its complex matrix of governments in different regions and elaborate decision-making procedures - and the bloc, engulfed with multiple crises. "I think it's good news first and foremost for the people of your country, who can see today that ... if all the levels of government of the country move together towards a common goal, it can be achieved," she said. "At a time when the Union is questioned from within," Mogherini said, the eagerness of European countries to join the EU "reminds us all of how lucky we are being able to live on a continent that has the ability of giving peace. " (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Larry King) Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilian researchers said Monday that the discovery of Zika in the brains of babies with microcephaly adds to growing evidence of a link between the mosquito-transmitted virus and the birth defect. "We have detected its presence in the brain tissue," Lucia Noronha, a pathologist from the Brazilian Society of Pathology, told AFP. "The Zika virus caused brain damage and that reinforces evidence of a relationship between Zika and microcephaly," she said. Earlier, Noronha's team at the PUC-Parana University was the first to discover Zika in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women -- raising alarm over a link between the virus and microcephalic babies, who are born with damaged brains and abnormally small heads. "We received samples of brain tissue from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. They're the same samples that were sent to the United States, where researchers at the Centers for Disease Control came to the same conclusion: that there is Zika in the fetus' brain," she said. Brazil is hardest hit by a huge outbreak of Zika, with some 1.5 million people infected. Although in most cases there are few symptoms, the fear is that pregnant women who become infected risk having babies with the birth defect. The Health Ministry says that between October and February there were 462 cases of microcephaly, up from an average of 150 previously. Another 3,852 cases are suspected. Health Brazils Zika-related abortion debate sparks backlash Alarm in recent months over the Zika virus, which many researchers believe can cause microcephaly in the fetuses of pregnant women, has prompted calls, both inside and outside Brazil, to loosen a near-ban on abortion in the worlds most populous Catholic country. But the pro-choice push is creating a backlash, particularly among the families of disabled children. The growing national debate is also spilling out into the courts, and will likely intensify in the months to come. Abortion is not the answer to the Zika virus, we need to value life in whatever situation or condition it may be. Sergio da Rocha, the president of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops In Brazil, abortion is illegal except in cases of rape, danger to the mothers life or anencephaly, another birth defect involving the brainalthough in practice wealthy women in urban areas have relatively easy access to safe abortions in private clinics, while the poor often rely on dicey back-alley procedures. Brazil and several other Latin American nations experiencing outbreaks have urged women to put off pregnancies. But critics say the recommendation is impractical in a region where access to sex education, contraception and pre-natal care is precarious and most pregnancies remain unplanned. LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's push to win backing from its European partners for its wish list of EU reforms will go "right to the wire" at a summit this week, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday. "There isn't a deal yet, there is a working draft, there are lots of moving parts and we have got a negotiation that will run through this week, and I have no doubt will run right to the wire," he told BBC television on Sunday. He said progress was needed to nail down key demands in the areas of competitiveness, the relationship between countries in the bloc that use the euro and those that do not, national sovereignty and access to welfare benefits. British and EU negotiators have already broadly agreed much of a reform package, but tricky political issues, notably on migration, are still outstanding. Prime Minister David Cameron is hoping to return from a summit of European leaders on Thursday and Friday in Brussels with a package of reforms that he can take to the British people in a referendum on whether to remain in the EU. "Our European partners understand that we have to have a robust deal in each of those areas if the British people are to vote to remain inside the European Union," Hammond told the Andrew Marr show. The campaign to remain in the bloc stepped up a gear on Sunday, when the boss of airline easyJet said Britain's membership of the EU was the reason that the cost of flights had plummeted, while the range of destinations had soared. "Whatever way to look at it, the EU has brought huge benefits for UK travellers and businesses," Carolyn McCall wrote in the Sunday Times. "Staying in the EU will ensure that they, and all of us, continue to receive them." Campaigners to leave, however, repeated claims that EU supporters were running a fear campaign to scare people into voting to stay. "Those that wish to remain in the EU should make the positive case for the supranational European project rather than frightening people," former defence minister Liam Fox told the newspaper. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Ros Russell) Paris (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron failed to strike a "Brexit" deal with French President Francois Hollande on Monday after European Union chief Donald Tusk warned the issue of Britain's future in the EU posed a "real" risk for the 28-nation bloc. A French official said after the discussions in Paris that there was a "political willingness" to find an agreement, but "more work is needed, particularly on economic governance", before a key EU summit this week. Tusk -- on a lightning tour to discuss "Brexit," as Britain's possible exit from the EU has been dubbed -- warned the bloc was at a "critical moment". "It is high time we started listening to each other's arguments more than to our own," he said during a visit to Romania. "It is natural in negotiations that positions harden, as we get closer to crunch time. But the risk of break-up is real because this process is indeed very fragile." Tusk, president of the European Council, warned the 28 EU leaders to handle the negotiations on Thursday and Friday "with care" because "what is broken cannot be mended". Britain, which does not use the euro, wants a deal that will protect it from ever having to pay into a fund to protect the eurozone. It also wants any issues that affect all member states to be discussed by all member states and not just the 19 nations that use the euro. France, which along with Germany is a key decision-maker in the bloc, reportedly fears this could amount to Britain having a veto over the plans of eurozone countries. Cameron hopes to secure a deal in Brussels that could pave the way for an "in-out" referendum to be held in Britain as early as June. In London earlier, his spokeswoman said: "We have made progress (on renegotiation) but there's details to be pinned down. "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed," she added. Story continues Cameron wants the EU to recognise a series of principles including that countries outside the eurozone like Britain should not face discrimination or disadvantage. - 'Far-reaching reforms' - His spokeswoman said Britain was seeking "significant and far-reaching reforms". "There are still details to be pinned down and what matters is that we get the substance right," she added. The British prime minister also spoke Monday to Tusk, who was first in the queue in Paris for a meeting with Hollande before Cameron arrived. Asked if he thought a deal could be pushed through this week, Tusk told reporters: "I hope so." In a reminder that whatever deal he strikes is unlikely to satisfy some factions in Britain, the anti-EU UK Independence Party accused Cameron of being a "chicken" after he pulled out of a meeting where its leader Nigel Farage would have been present. Cameron had been expected to attend a meeting of presidents from each of the European Parliament's groups during a visit to Brussels on Tuesday. Instead, Cameron will only be holding a series of bilateral meetings, including with European Parliament president Martin Schulz and three MEPs involved in the negotiations. "The prime minister is chicken," Farage said. The meetings are important because even if the bloc's leaders agree changes in areas including child benefit payments to EU migrants in Britain, as Cameron wants, the European Parliament must still approve the changes. The EU is already facing questions about its future as it struggles with the biggest migration crisis in 70 years, and there are fresh fears about the health of the euro currency. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned Sunday that the EU will "lurch very much in the wrong direction" if Britain votes to leave. Hammond also predicted that negotiations at this week's summit "would go to the wire". The ramifications of a British exit from the EU were underlined when the head of HSBC hinted that the global lender could shift its operations to Paris if British voters choose to leave the bloc. "We are lucky in the sense that we have a major bank in France," Douglas Flint told BBC radio. "So, if we were to leave and if there were to be restrictions, ultimately on the renegotiation of Britain's position, we have the ability to move activity and people between London and Paris," he said. Washington (AFP) - Sparks flew as Republican hopefuls brawled in their latest debate, and viewers tuned in, making it the most watched so far in the 2016 race for the White House, CBS television said. The last debate before the key South Carolina primaries later this month was the most watched (13.51 million viewers) so far this election year, the network that hosted Saturday's clash said, citing Nielsen. The event hit its peak audience between 10:00 and 10:30 pm (0100 and 0130 GMT Sunday) with 14.63 million viewers, CBS added. It was also this year's highest-rated debate in adults aged 25-54. Held in Greenville, South Carolina, the debate quickly turned nasty and divisive, with billionaire Donald Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Senator Ted Cruz exchanging heated verbal blows. It was an extraordinary back and forth on the national stage. Candidates often ignored the moderators and went after each other in perhaps the most aggressive exchanges of the nine Republican debates to date. The broad Republican field has narrowed to six candidates, led by Trump. Prague (AFP) - Leaders of four EU countries that once lay behind the Iron Curtain warned on Monday against "new dividing lines" in Europe and urged cooperation with Turkey on the migrant crisis. The Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak prime ministers meeting in Prague within the framework of the Visegrad Four (V4) group also agreed a joint position on a deal designed to prevent Britain from leaving the EU. The moves came as European Union chief Donald Tusk warned Monday there was a "real" danger of the 28-nation bloc breaking up over so-called Brexit and called for greater EU coordination to address the risk. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka is expected to present the V4 position to Tusk in the Czech capital on Tuesday. "We are aware of the risks and negative consequences of any potentially emerging new dividing lines in Europe," V4 premiers said in a joint statement. "We are determined to work actively and resolutely to prevent... new dividing lines." In a separate statement, they also backed Greece in its efforts to protect the southern border of the passport-free Schengen area and urged the EU to move quickly on an action plan with Turkey intended to curb the flow of refugees and migrants from that country. Greece announced Monday it would open four "hotspot" migrant registration centres this week to help curb an influx that brought more than a million people to Europe last year. Sobotka said the EU should coordinate all steps with non-member Balkan states and support steps taken by Bulgaria and Macedonia to protect their borders. Earlier on Monday, Czech state secretary for EU affairs, Tomas Prouza, tweeted that Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov had complained "direct assistance from the European Commission is zero, therefore help from Visegrad, Austria, Slovenia important." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country was ready to provide "human resources and material to countries that are ready to build a defence line south of Hungary." His Slovak counterpart Robert Fico offered 300 policemen as border guards in case Greece failed to protect its border, making it necessary for Bulgaria and Macedonia to boost their border controls under what he termed a "plan B". The leaders also called for "common solutions" and tackling "the root causes of the current migratory pressure, including ending of war in Syria" and warned that the flow of refugees and migrants would increase again in the spring. Rancho Mirage (United States) (AFP) - President Barack Obama and Southeast Asian leaders will discuss Tuesday a common response to a key United Nations court ruling on China's island-building when they meet in the United States. The White House, betting that China does not want to be seen as a regional bully, has mustered an informal coalition of Pacific allies to demand that Beijing respect the rule of law. Obama is hoping to secure a united front against China's territorial ambitions as the US hosts representatives from 10 ASEAN countries at Sunnylands. The secluded, sprawling California desert retreat has been beloved by US presidents since Dwight Eisenhower. The UN's Permanent Court of Arbitration is expected to decide in April or May whether China's claim to a vast expanse of sea inside a "nine-dash line" has legal merit. China has also increased its military presence in these areas subject to myriad territorial claims. A collective US-ASEAN endorsement of the court's verdict -- whatever the outcome -- would heap pressure on China, which refuses to recognize the court. They "hope that, if not immediately, then over time, the Chinese will not want to be isolated and an international pariah, a country that doesn't agree with international law," said Ernest Bower of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Hoping to increase pressure on China over land grabs in the South China Sea, Obama opened the meeting by declaring a US-ASEAN "shared goal of building a regional order where all nations play by the same rules". The White House sees this summit, and the prestigious venue, as an opportunity to champion Obama's "pivot to Asia" and ASEAN's growing importance, before the president leaves the White House in January 2017. "As president, I've insisted that even as the United States confronts urgent threats around the world, our foreign policy also has to seize on new opportunities. And few regions present more opportunity in the 21st century than the Asia-Pacific," Obama said. Story continues "That's why, early in my presidency, I decided that the United States, as a Pacific nation, would rebalance our foreign policy and play a larger and long-term role in the Asia-Pacific." - Strong pushback - The summit comes as ASEAN and US officials report increasingly strong pushback from Beijing, which is using diplomatic and economic muscle to weaken criticism. Officials say Cambodia and Laos -- two ASEAN countries that have no claims in the South China Sea -- are coming under particular pressure to break ranks. Those countries are also the destination for large flows of Chinese investment. "The message is 'fall in line, or else,'" said one Southeast Asian diplomat. "China has leverage." But some see signs that pressure is beginning to backfire -- forcing ASEAN countries to turn further toward the United States. That is something Obama will hope to capitalize on at Sunnylands. In Myanmar, Beijing's long-held influence waned as military leaders feared becoming overly dependent on China, opening the way for better relations with Washington. Myanmar's outgoing leader Thein Sein was not set to be at the summit. He decided to remain at home as talks inside the regime intensify over whether to change the constitution to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to become president. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung did attend, after initially canceling amid a power shakeup within Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. At home, Obama's latest effort to champion his pivot is likely to be overshadowed by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. But the White House will hope to at least send a message to the region that Washington will remain engaged. "It's the first time we have hosted ASEAN leaders here in the United States for this kind of meeting," said National Security Advisor Susan Rice. "That we have succeeded in doing so reflects a return on seven years of significant and sustained investment by this administration and by President Obama personally. "It demonstrates our enduring commitment to this vital region." Presidential trips to Vietnam and Laos are expected later this year to reinforce the point. The White House said Obama would visit Vietnam in May when he travels to Japan for the G-7 Summit. Chinese trade slumped in January, authorities said Monday, as both exports and imports tumbled with feeble domestic and global demand dragging on the world's second-largest economy. Exports dropped 11.2 percent year-on-year to $177.5 billion in dollar terms, Customs said, while imports plummeted 18.8 percent to $114.2 billion -- giving the Asian giant a record monthly trade surplus of $63.3 billion. Tremors in overseas markets and weakness in partner economies have weighed on China, a main driver of the world's economic growth, and the globe's largest trader in goods. Rock-bottom prices for commodities such as oil and slowing growth in infrastructure spending have hit China's import values, while exports have been hurt by frail overseas demand, along with rising labour costs and the increasing competitiveness of rival economies. "We believe the slump in trade growth mainly reflects weakening investment demand, possibly from weaker property investment and measures to reduce overcapacity," wrote Nomura analyst Zhao Yang. The figures were far worse than expected, with economists forecasting a 1.8 percent fall in exports in a Bloomberg News survey, and a 3.6 percent slide in imports. China's economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015 -- the lowest rate since 1990 -- and is expected to slow further this year, with the darkening perspective contributing to plunges in global stock markets in recent weeks. It has also been a factor in the decline of the yuan currency in recent months, but analysts said the record trade surplus gave Chinese officials some breathing room to cope with the floods of cash that have flowed out of the country. On Monday the yuan leapt up more than one percent in onshore trade, its biggest gain for more than a decade according to Bloomberg News. The large positive trade balance "should help offset some of the capital outflow and alleviate some depreciation pressure on the RMB", said the ANZ analysts. Story continues - Happy new year? - The export figures were sharply lower than the 1.4 percent slide in December, when imports had declined 7.6 percent. Inward trade was hammered in January, falling in both volume and value terms, which a BofA Merrill Lynch research report said was "due to weakness in domestic demand and further downward adjustments in commodity prices". China's leaders are looking to retool the economy to one focused more on consumer spending, but BofA Merrill Lynch said the lack of investment in fixed assets -- such as the big-ticket infrastructure projects that long fuelled China's growth -- would drag on imports. "The sharp drop of trade in January was a reflection of weak external demand," ANZ analysts wrote in a note, citing weakness in trade partners Korea and Taiwan, although they added seasonal factors may have been an issue. Capital outflow from China was nearly $160 billion in December alone, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Over the weekend China's central bank chief blamed foreign speculators in part for volatility in the yuan currency and said there was no further basis for depreciation. "China has the world's largest foreign exchange reserves," People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the bank's website Saturday. "RMB depreciation has failed to lift China's export growth so far," wrote researchers with China International Capital Corporation, adding that authorities should make clear their plans for the currency. The benchmark Shanghai index fell as much as 2.95 percent in the morning after a week-long holiday for the Lunar New Year, but pared losses during the day as other regional markets surged, closing down 0.63 percent. While the trade figures were shakier than expected, Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a research note that "things may not be quite as bad as they look" due to distortions in the data resulting from the shifting Lunar New Year holiday and capital flows. Seasonal volatility meant it was "arguably too early to jump to conclusions" before the February figures became available, he said. Customs earlier gave the figures in yuan terms, which showed exports down 6.6 percent, imports falling 14.4 percent, and a trade surplus of 12.2 percent. BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry on Monday urged the United States and North Korea to sit down with each other face-to-face and resolve their problems, as tension continues to climb on the Korean peninsula after North Korea's latest rocket test. While China was angered by the launch, it has also expressed concern at plans by Washington and Seoul to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system, saying it would impact upon China's own security. "The focus of the nuclear issue on the peninsula is between the United States and North Korea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing. "We urge the United States and North Korea to sit down and have communications and negotiations, to explore ways to resolve each other's reasonable concerns and finally reach the goal we all want reached." North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 carrying what it called a satellite, drawing renewed international condemnation just weeks after it carried out a nuclear bomb test. It said the launch was for peaceful purposes, but Seoul and Washington have said it violated United Nations Security Council resolutions because it used ballistic missile technology. North Korea's nuclear bomb test last month was also banned by a U.N. resolution. China, while frustrated by North Korea and having signed up for numerous previous rounds of United Nations sanctions on its isolated neighbor, has said it does not believe sanctions are the way to resolve the problem and has urged a return to talks. Numerous efforts to restart multilateral talks have failed since negotiations collapsed following the last round in 2008. Chinese popular opinion has become increasingly fed up with North Korea, a country once a close diplomatic ally. In an editorial on Monday, the official English-language China Daily called for new U.N. sanctions to "truly bite". "The threat of a nuclear-armed DPRK is more real than ever," it said, using the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Hong repeated that North Korea would have to "pay a price" for its behavior. Tension persists on the Korean peninsula. Last Wednesday, South Korea suspended operations at the Kaesong industrial zone just inside North Korea, as punishment for the rocket launch and nuclear test. The North on Thursday called the action "a declaration of war" and expelled the South's workers. Kaesong, which had operated for more than a decade, was the last venue for regular interaction between the divided Koreas. Asked about the zone's shutdown, Chinese spokesman Hong said the peninsula was in a "complex and sensitive" phase. "We hope all sides can take steps to ameliorate the tense situation," he said. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Las Vegas (AFP) - Hillary Clinton is courting Las Vegas, visiting the workaday back rooms of Sin City's glitzy casinos to rev up her White House run after a crushing loss to Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. Nevada holds the next Democratic nominating contest on February 20, and Clinton is expected to do well in the western state, where she spent the weekend campaigning. "I need your help on Saturday at 11," she says over and over again here, referring to the 11 am start time of the caucuses, the neighborhood gatherings that select delegates to the Democratic nominating convention in July. Victory for Clinton will depend on the faithfulness of her following among the tens of thousands of maids, servers, croupiers and others whose livelihoods revolve around Las Vegas's hotel-casinos. It's in the entrails of the luxurious Caesars Palace and in the windowless employees' cafeteria at the old Harrah's that she has gone to plead her case. Clinton is in familiar territory here. Ovations greet her when she enters a room, and she is immediately surrounded by well-wishers. Hotel maids, some of whom barely speak English, whip out their smartphones to have their picture taken with "Hillary." "May you be the president," a kitchen worker tells Clinton in Harrah's employee cafeteria. "That means the world to me," Clinton responds, batting her eyelashes. Las Vegas is home to 73 percent of Nevada, a sparsely populated state of immense deserts and rugged mountains. Half its 2.8 million residents are white, the rest are Hispanics, blacks and Asian in origin. Because of that diversity, the Democratic Party in 2008 gave Nevada a prime place on the primary calendar, just after the very white states of Iowa and New Hampshire. In Nevada, as in Iowa, the nominating process is conducted through meetings in neighborhood locales where participants join groups in favor of one candidate or the other, rather than vote directly for a candidate. Story continues In 2008, 15 percent of the participants were Hispanic and 15 percent were black. Clinton prevailed over Barack Obama, winning two thirds of the Hispanic vote. This go around, Clinton established an early presence in Nevada, opening a campaign headquarters last July, four months before Bernie Sanders did. Dozens of local personalities have endorsed her candidacy. When Sanders' activists descended on a rally Friday organized by the powerful culinary union, which has 57,000 members, most of them Hispanics, Clinton's immense local following was plain to see. "No, no, no. Hillary!" Gabriela Rivera tells a Sanders volunteer who vainly tries to give her a leaflet. "The woman is strong!" But the Clinton team is trying to dampen expectations, fearing that the Sanders wave among young voters (more than 80 percent of those under 30 voted for him Iowa and New Hampshire) could spread to non-white voters here. It's the big unknown of the primary season. - Polls lacking - At the Sanders headquarters in Las Vegas, volunteers of all ages go in and out, leaflets in hand. The campaign has put resources into the state: more than 100 paid campaign staffers, 12 offices, and a bigger advertising budget than Clinton's. Communications director Emilia Pablo, who was born in Mexico and raised in California, believes young people will be drawn to Sanders regardless of their race or ethnicity. "The young folks want to join the political revolution, and then they tell their parents, uncles and aunts, who might have been set for Hillary Clinton, but then these young kids (say), 'Mom, Dad, you might want to have a second thought,'" she says. The Vermont senator has also made some Hispanic allies, like the publisher of the Spanish-language monthly El Reportero, Luis De Leon. "The majority of the Latinos that have to work 12 hours from sun up to sun down, they see themselves in that," he said, of Sanders' denunciation of the widening gap between rich and poor. No Democrat can win their party's nomination without substantial minority support. In South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Texas, black and Hispanic Democrats outnumber whites. The black and Hispanic communities are very different, sociologically and in terms of their priorities, but Clinton has so far gained their support. A CNN poll in January found that 58 percent of non-whites nationally preferred Clinton, as did three quarters of South Carolina's black Democrats. The enthusiastic welcome she received Sunday at a historically black Baptist church in Las Vegas, attests to her popularity compared to Sanders, who was given a polite reception at the same service. But polls are lacking in Nevada, and focus only on Hispanics. Sanders hopes that his victory in New Hampshire, which made a big splash in the media, will make him better known here, and set the stage for a surprise on Saturday at 11. The Democratic presidential contest in Nevada, once considered a cakewalk for former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, has turned into a pitched battle between Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders just days before next Saturdays Democratic caucuses. A survey released last weekend by the conservative Washington Free Beacon/Target Point Polling showed Clinton and Sanders in a standoff, 45 percent to 45 percent, with 10 percent still undecided. Clinton was up by as many as 23 points in other polling last December, but appears to have lost considerable ground in the face of Sanders aggressive campaigning and major ad buys that have eclipsed Clintons media effort. Related: Clinton Scrambles as Sanders Puts the Black Vote in Play According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sanders has spent twice as much as Clinton on TV ad buys in Nevada, $2.93 million to $1.46 million. Sanders ad buys cover 7,000 spots in the Las Vegas and Reno markets compared to just 4,289 for Clinton. In a state with a large Hispanic population and influential labor organizations, Clinton was expected to dominate the Democratic caucuses. Yet Sanders progressive agenda of free health care and college tuition and comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship has cut into Clintons support among Latinos, blacks and young people. The new Washington Free Beacon poll shows that Democrats give Sanders a clear edge over Clinton in matters of trust and honesty, caring about average Americans and offering a progressive agenda. His promises to soak the rich to finance national health care and other benefits appeals to many Democrats trying to decide on a candidate. Moreover, his overwhelming 22-point victory over Clinton last week in New Hampshire has greatly added to the Vermont democratic socialists momentum. Sanders late last week picked up an endorsement from the Las Vegas-based International Brotherhood of Electric Workers Local 357, marking an important inroad on the labor movement. However, Clinton has been endorsed by more than 20 labor groups, including the influential Service Employees International Union. Labor endorsements in Nevada are highly significant because of the organizational muscle they often bring to political caucuses. Story continues Related: How Bernie Sanders Just Shook Up the Democratic Primary. Again Clinton has also been hurt by the decision of retiring Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic minority leader, to remain neutral in the presidential contest. There is little doubt that Reid would like to see Clinton nominated by the Democrats. But according to Politico, the political grand master believes that a rowdy face-off between Clinton and Sanders could stoke Democratic registration in his home state and give Reids preferred successor former state attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto a boost in a tough general election campaign. Still, the Clinton campaign organization has been active in Nevada since April and may have a slight edge over Sanders in turning out voters for next weekends caucuses. Both camps are aggressively courting Latinos with Spanish language ads. Thirty-percent of the Democratic electorate in 2008 was black or Hispanic. With a hair-thin victory in Iowa and a humiliating loss in New Hampshire to show for more than a year of campaigning and mega fundraising, Clinton can ill afford to lose again in Nevada. But if she falls again to Sanders or barely squeaks by then it would be essential for her to win the following week in South Carolinas Democratic primary to avoid panic setting in. In that race, African Americans will likely make the difference in the outcome. Clinton and Sanders went toe to toe in pursuit of the black vote on Sunday when they jointly appeared at the Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Las Vegas. Related: Sanders' Landslide Win in New Hampshire Puts Huge Pressure on Clinton The Washington Posts John Wagner reported that the morning was somewhat awkward for the two Democratic rivals, who didnt bother to shake hands or talk and rarely made eye contact. Sanders went first, talking about his religious convictions before shifting to issues of criminal justice reform and education and the harsh realities of a post-recession economy. No state in America knows more about the impact of the greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street than the state of Nevada, he said. This state was decimated. The pastor let Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a civil rights icon, introduce Clinton, who reiterated her claim that Sanders emphasis on cracking down on Wall Street banks, addressing income inequality among the middle class and reforming campaign finance laws was too narrow, and that she would bring a broader perspective to the presidency. I am not a single-issue candidate, and this is not a single-issue country, she said from the pulpit. Because if we were to achieve everything about banks and money in politics, would that end racism? Would that make it automatically going to happen that people would be able to get jobs they deserve, the housing they need, the education their children need to have? Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: KINSHASA (Reuters) - Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo briefly detained a prominent opposition leader on Sunday, the government said, two days before a general strike to pressure President Joseph Kabila to step down from office. Kabila is required by the constitution to stand aside in December after 15 years in power. Critics accuse him of trying to delay a presidential vote due in November in order to stay in office. Dozens died in protests over this issue last year. Martin Fayulu, president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECIDE) party and one of the organisers of Tuesday's strike, was held briefly for "incitation to public disorder", government spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters, declining to elaborate further. Mende said Fayulu was released after a few hours because of his immunity as a national deputy. Investigators will transfer his dossier to parliament, which could authorise judicial proceedings against him, he added. Mende declined to say who had detained Fayulu. The director of the U.N.'s Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) in Congo, Jose Maria Aranaz, confirmed Fayulu's release on Sunday evening, adding he had been detained by Congo's military intelligence service. Opposition leaders have called for all Congolese people to stay at home on Tuesday. It is not clear how well observed the strike is likely to be. "It's the same pattern of intimidation contrary to freedom of peaceful assembly enshrined in the constitution," said Aranaz. The United Nations said in a report in December that a crackdown on political dissent, including summary executions and arbitrary detentions, would likely undermine the credibility of upcoming elections. (Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Tom Heneghan) N'Djamena (AFP) - Riot police violently shut down a protest on Monday by hundreds of young Chadians in the capital N'Djamena, after photographs of a girl who had allegedly been brutally gang-raped spread on social media. One protester was reported to have been shot dead as police moved to disperse the demo with tear gas, a fellow demonstrator told AFP on condition of anonymity. Police spokesman Colonel Paul Manga denied that any protesters had been killed and said two of the girl's alleged rapists had been arrested. Protesters said a girl, named as Zouhoura, was kidnapped last weekend and gang-raped by five young men from the families of senior officers. The men then allegedly posted a video online showing the victim in tears. The video has since been removed. On Monday morning, pupils from Zouhoura's high school and other protesters gathered outside her home and marched to the court to demand compensation for the girl. Singing the national anthem, they marched holding banners that read "Justice for Zouhoura" and "We are all Zouhoura, our dignity is being denied". "As we arrived not far from the court, police fired tear gas. They also used live bullets," one protester told AFP. "Then they chased us through the city, and at the Liberty High School one of us fell, hit by a bullet." Manga said the situation was "under control", adding: "There were no victims, to my knowledge." In a statement, Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno lashed the rape as a "barbaric, vile and unmentionable act" and swore "justice will be done." Fashion designer Zac Posen has announced plans to turn a hobby he uses to "de-fashion" into a full-fledged cookbook. Fans and Instagram followers of the New York-based designer may already have seen the news coming. In between snaps of his latest collection, glimpses of his work studio, and his fabulous celebrity friends, Posen has also been posting photos of the meals he whips up at home. Meals such as soba noodle soup with mini chicken quenelle (or dumpling) and asparagus; fried calamari; Kenchinjiru Buddhist vegetable soup; risotto with peas and porcini mushrooms; and strawberry rhubarb pie. Recently, Posen officially announced plans to publish a collection of his recipes with Rodale on Instagram. "Thank you to my @instagram followers for your continuous excitement," he wrote alongside a snap of a meringue pie topped with edible flowers. "You made this happen." In an interview with Vogue, Posen credited his Instagram fans for planting the seed for the idea. "If it had not been for the response from the followers on social media, I never would have taken the plunge and put a cookbook together," he said. Posen also called cooking a hobby that allows him to "de-fashion" and described his culinary style as "rustic to refined." If the meals on his Instagram account are anything to go by, fans can expect Asian -- notably Japanese -- influenced recipes, Italian dishes as well as French techniques, no doubt influenced by his French partner Christopher Niquet. When he wasn't dreaming up ladies' fashions in his younger years, Posen says he was reading recipes in "The New York Times," "The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook," the French instructional guide "La Varenne Pratique" or watching the Discovery Channel's "Great Chefs" program. Posen's foray into the food world is hardly the first time fashion and food have met. Versace, Bulgari, Ralph Lauren, and DSquared also have restaurants or bars around the world attached to their name. The Zac Posen cookbook is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2017. Nairobi (AFP) - Insurgents in Burundi hurled a series of grenades on Monday, killing a child and wounding at least 30 people in the latest in a string of attacks, the security minister said. Men on a motorbike threw three grenades in the symbolic heart of the city, while two other blasts were reported in a northern suburb, according to witnesses and a journalist group, SOS Medias Burundi. A young child was killed, with SOS Medias Burundi issuing a photograph of the victim, a small corpse covered by a blanket lying on the street. Public Security Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni confirmed a child was killed and 30 people wounded. Grenade blasts have become commonplace in the city, but it remains unclear who carries out the attacks, which have increased in the past two weeks. Security forces, rebels and opposition all blame each other for the killings. Presidential press chief Willy Nyamitwe confirmed the attacks, saying that "as usual... terrorists kill civilians with grenades." Burundi plunged into crisis in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for and won a controversial third term, sparking street protests, a failed coup, regular killings and a nascent rebellion. Hundreds have been killed in the violence and at least 230,000 have fled the country. "We do not know what is going on. but it is clear they want to terrorise us. I heard three grenade explosions and here, near the central roundabout, there were several wounded," said one witness, who asked not to be named. The leader of the failed May 2015 coup, ex-general Godefroid Nyombare, now leads a rebel group, Forebu. The rebels formed the force "to protect the population" and uphold the Arusha Agreement that paved the way to the end of the country's 1993-2006 civil war -- an accord they say Nkurunziza violated by his third term in power. By Loucoumane Coulibaly ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Persistent hot and dry weather in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa regions has damaged trees and could reduce the quality of beans and the size of the mid-crop, farmers said on Monday. Ivory Coast's dry season runs from mid-November to March but farmers still rely on periodic showers to aid the development of the April-to-September mid-crop. This year dry weather and seasonal Harmattan winds -- which blow in from the Sahara and can sap soil moisture and reduce the size of beans -- have been unusually strong in most regions. In the eastern region of Abengourou, known for the quality of its beans, farmers said Harmattan winds continued to rage and bush fires had destroyed several plantations. NDri Kouao, who farms near Niable, close to the border with Ghana, was worried that farmers would not have enough beans to sell in the coming three months because of the lack of rain. "There is practically no more flowers and young fruits on the trees," said Kouao. In the western region of Soubre, in the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers reported no rain last week and were concerned about poor soil moisture. "If it doesn't rain before the end of this month, that will be the end of the mid-crop because the trees are very worn out and will not be able to produce beans of good quality," said Lazare Ake, who farms on the outskirts of Soubre. In the center-western region Daloa, which produces a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers said the dry weather had damaged many trees. Similar growing conditions were reported in the southern regions of Aboisso, Agboville and Divo. (Writing by Makini Brice, editing by David Evans) A year on from her Berlinale Silver Bear (and subsequent Oscar nomination) for 45 Years, Charlotte Rampling is experiencing a great deal of good fortune. This week, the actress nabbed the lead in the Jane Austen adaptation Sanditon and a key role alongside Josh Hartnett in the sci-fi fantasy Valley of the Gods. The dramatic rise of the art-house icon who celebrated her 70th birthday this month underlines a growing trend in a market where flashes of gray are becoming increasingly sought after. Official Secrets, toplined by Harrison Ford, 73, and Anthony Hopkins, 78; Oppenheimer Strategies, starring Richard Gere, 66; The Sleeping Shepherd, with Isabelle Huppert, 62, and Willem Dafoe, 60; and Carrie Pilby, with Nathan Lane, 60, and Gabriel Byrne, 65, are just some of the big-name projects on display at the ongoing European Film Market that feature the industrys "older" talents. Then theres J.K. Simmons, 61, whose profile has soared since his Oscar win last year; he has EFM titles The Bachelors, The Runaround and Worlds Apart in the mix. Read More: Berlin: Michael Shannon, Cynthia Nixon Performances Spark Early Oscar Talk Tannaz Anisi, president of 13 Films, which is repping the romance Worlds Apart, says the pedigree such names bring supports all level of budgets. "Up-and-comers are more risky, but if a film is packaged with a great balance of proven actors and up-and-comers, you might just have a winning combination," she says. Buyers are also after projects that appeal to more senior moviegoers, a burgeoning demographic. "Older people are the fastest-growing age group in the West, and they love to go to the cinema but for intelligent, character-driven stories, not just for visual effects and things blowing up," adds Mimi Steinbauer, CEO of Radiant Films (Carrie Pilby), pointing to the two Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films ($220 million combined), Bridge of Spies ($163 million) and Quartet ($59 million) as recent successes. Story continues The "gray dollar" is also strong in Japan, where 33 percent of the population is older than 60, roughly double the share of the U.S. "Many production companies are shifting toward more dramas, targeting older people," says Miyuki Takamatsu, managing director of sales banner Freestone Productions. Meanwhile, leading studios Toho is developing its first "elder thriller." Perhaps EFM title Beyond the Sun has trumped them all, landing the services of arguably the most famous older face on the planet: Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 79, aka the Pope. Patrick Brzeski contributed to this report. See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival By Timothy Mclaughlin LOI TAI LENG, Myanmar (Reuters) - Speaking to 1,000 of his soldiers at a mountain base on Myanmar's border with Thailand, the leader of a powerful ethnic armed group called on other rebels to join government-led peace talks and appealed for unity among the country's minorities. "Stop shooting and come to the negotiation table," said Yawd Serk, who leads the 6,000-strong Shan State Army-South (SSA-S). "Whether it is trustworthy or not, we should grab the chance to talk." Ending decades of ethnic conflict is one of the biggest challenges for the incoming government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has made it her first priority. But although Yawd Serk signed a government-brokered ceasefire deal last October, in a much-needed boost to the peace process of outgoing President Thein Sein, over the winter some of his troops have been fighting another ethnic group for control of remote swathes of eastern Myanmar. That a contingent of Yawd Serk's soldiers could travel unchallenged some 300 km (190 miles) north to fight the Ta'ang National Liberation Army near the border with China shows how little control Suu Kyi's government will have over Myanmar's wild hinterlands at the start of its five-year term on April 1. It also highlights the shifting loyalties and complexities that have made peace so elusive in the ethnic conflicts that have plagued the former Burma since World War Two. Mark Cutts, head of office for the United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Myanmar, said since fighting erupted on Feb. 7 more than 3,000 people were reported to have fled. "Most of the displaced people are taking shelter in monasteries," he said. Yawd Serk has courted international businesses since signing the ceasefire and recently joined a study trip to Switzerland. He is not willing to lay down his arms, however, or give up influence over a region rich in gold, timber and gemstones. "Disarming is impossible," said Yawd Serk, flanked by a heavily armed security detail including a man who said he was a former member of U.S. special forces. NATIONAL DAY The SSA-S leader was speaking as thousands of Shan from Myanmar and Thailand flooded his windswept headquarters at Loi Tai Leng, perched on a ridge a few hundred meters from the Thai border, on Feb. 7 to mark Shan National Day. Visitors pitched tents on the mountainside. The base's main thoroughfare, a dirt road straddling Thailand and Myanmar, was lined with carnival games, noodle stands and mobile phone booths selling Thai mobile phone SIM cards. "We are not soldiers with guns but we help as much as we can," said Lar Yen, 33, selling Shan souvenirs with the proceeds donated to the SSA-S. One of the new cadets was Sai Sai Wan, 28, who, like many soldiers, said he joined the group to protect Shan heritage and shared its deep distrust of the Myanmar military that ruled the country with an iron fist for decades. "We need to protect our people and our country. We don't want the Burmese army controlling our future," he said. He signed a five-year contract in December and will be paid $11 a month for his service. While ethnic groups carry many grievances rooted in decades of discrimination by a government and military dominated by the Bamar majority, their vested economic interests, many illicit, and human rights abuses make achieving peace a daunting task. Officers in Yawd Serk's militia say it has given up forced recruitment from villages and towns, though the U.N. Secretary General still lists the SSA-S as "persistent perpetrators" in the recruitment and use of children in its ranks. The SSA-S emerged under Yawd Serk's command in 1996 as a breakaway faction of a narco-army led by heroin kingpin Khun Sa, who signed a ceasefire with the then-ruling junta. It has been accused of continued involvement in the drug trade along the borders with Thailand and China, an allegation its members reject. To fund its operations, the group collects "taxes" on everything from mining and logging operations to cars driven by residents of towns under its command. Asked what would happen if someone refused to pay, one group member said: "You are going to have some trouble." (Additional reporting by Soe Zeya Tun; Editing by Alex Richardson) Toulouse (France) (AFP) - The EU's top economic affairs official said Monday that companies should pay taxes where they earn profits, days after a report of another firm using aggressive strategies to lower their bill. When asked about a report that the world's top furniture company Ikea may have underpaid taxes by one billion euros using aggressive tax strategies, Pierre Moscovici said "a company should pay taxes where they generate profits". The EU's economy commissioner told journalists during a visit to the southern French city of Toulouse that "we've had enough of multinational firms benefitting from this or that favourable rule ... to avoid paying tax where they did business to pay little in taxes in countries where the rates are low." He declined to name any company. But the Green/EFA group in the European Parliament said at the weekend it had commissioned research that shows Ikea "structured itself to dodge 1 billion euros in taxes over the last six years using onshore European tax havens". Responding to the report the European Commission said on Saturday it would examine the claims, while Ikea defended its management of its tax affairs. Moscovici announced last month a raft of measures to combat tax avoidance, in addition to EU investigations under way into the tax deals of major groups such as Apple, Starbucks and McDonald's. The measures from the European Commission call for big companies to be obliged to report profit country by country -- a break with the previous practice that allowed multinationals to secretly shift revenue across borders to save on tax. Another requirement will compel nations to agree on minimum standards for drawing up tax rules, so that multinationals stop the practice of shopping around for loopholes to avoid paying tax altogether. The initiative comes amid growing public outrage about tax avoidance by multinational corporations. Last month Google agreed to pay 130 million ($185.4 million, 172 million euros) in back taxes to Britain after a scathing government inquiry into the search giant's tax arrangements. Finance minister George Osborne hailed the agreement as a victory but the sum provoked a barrage of criticism for being too low. Moscovici noted that small and medium-sized businesses "pay on average 30 percent more in corporate taxes than multinationals. That can't, shouldn't continue." BRUSSELS - European Union state aid regulators will examine a report by a group of EU lawmakers accusing Swedish furniture retailer IKEA [IKEA.UL] of avoiding paying at least 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in taxes over a six-year period. IKEA has said it paid an effective corporate income tax rate of about 19 percent in 2015. The study commissioned by the Green party in the European Parliament said the world's biggest furniture retailer was able to do this by shifting royalty income through a Dutch company and possibly though Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. It said the company also benefited from tax schemes in Luxembourg and Belgium. The European Commission, which has already ordered Dutch and Luxembourg authorities to recover up to 30 million euros from Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles respectively, said it would look into the matter. "The Commission has taken note of the report and its findings and will study it in detail," Commission spokeswoman Vanessa Mock said. Separately, the Netherlands on Dec. 23 challenged the Commission's decision at the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second-highest, the Commission's Official Journal showed on Monday. Fiat followed on Dec. 29 with its appeal and Luxembourg on Dec. 30. Hearings are likely toward the end of the year, with judges expected to rule next year. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) Brussels (AFP) - The European Union, strife-stricken Burundi's biggest aid donor, on Monday warned the country could face "appropriate measures" if it does not remedy its human rights record but stopped short of cutting assistance. Burundi has been in turmoil since July when President Pierre Nkurunziza won a third term, which the opposition said was illegal and in breach of an accord ending a horrific 1993-2006 civil war which left 300,000 dead. EU foreign ministers said talks with Burundi under the Cotonou agreement, which lays down strict rules for mutual cooperation including the promotion of human rights, had failed to resolve Brussels' concerns. "The EU will adopt the appropriate measures necessary in view of the lack of positive signals," a statement said. The statement gave no details of the measures envisaged at a time of almost daily bloodshed in the small central African country. EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said after the foreign ministers' meeting that while a suspension of aid is on the table, "it was not today's decision." "That is going to be considered in coming weeks and I will give you all the details when the decision has been taken," Mogherini said. The foreign ministers' statement also said it was "essential" that the government take part in talks with the opposition. "Any other step towards de-escalation and political opening will also be a very significant positive signal," it said. "The EU, which is one of Burundi's main development partners, confirms its willingness to continue its support for the Burundian population through its development activities," it added. EU aid programmes for Burundi over the period 2014-20 are worth some 430 million euros ($482 million) and any threat to them would be serious for a very poor country beset by growing violence. An EU diplomatic source told AFP on Friday that the bloc was considering the suspension of direct aid to Burundi's government in light of the worsening situation. A grenade blast on Monday killed a child and wounded at least 30 people in the latest in a string of attacks, Burundi officials said. Security forces, rebels and the opposition all blame each other for the hundreds of killings since last year. By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's senior diplomat said on Monday there was no Cold War climate between Moscow and the West as they agreed to a pause in the fighting in Syria, although Russia's prime minister said tension was growing. At a security conference in Munich on Friday, world powers agreed to a "cessation of hostilities" that would let humanitarian aid be delivered in Syria and was envisaged to start this week. But a day later Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the gathering that Moscow and the West had "fallen into a new Cold War". "I have not seen the climate of Cold War in these last days," EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini said when asked to comment on the Russian warning. She urged all the parties to the Syria agreement to stick to their commitments. But Russia, Damascus' main foreign ally, has yet to stop its air strikes, which support the advance of government troops and allied militias on Syria's largest city, Aleppo. Speaking in Brussels on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied that backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- which include Teheran -- were using the revived diplomacy around Syria as a cover to pushing for more military advances on the ground. "We're not trying to use diplomacy to gain anything, but at the same time people cannot use diplomacy in order to provide human shield for al-Nusra and Islamic State working as a leverage," Zarif told a news conference with Mogherini, referring to the radical Islamist militias. "What we agreed in Munich is a cessation of hostilities, not a pause to allow the allies of certain regional players to regroup," he said in criticism of Iran's foe Saudi Arabia. Sunni power Saudi Arabia opposes Assad, as well as Islamic State. Riyadh has said it was ready to participate in a ground operation in Syria if the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State there decides to start one. New hostilities have also broken out between Turkey and the Kurdish YPG militia since Munich, prompting Berlin to urge restraint. "As part of the Munich Agreement...all sides are called on - even before the start of a ceasefire - to contribute to an immediate reduction in violence," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. "That goes for Russia and the Syrian regime's military operations around Aleppo and the latest attacks by PYD militias in northern Syria. In view of the tense situation, Turkey too must show restraint." The war in Syria has killed at least 250,000 people as Assad, the rebels seeking to oust him, and the foreign backers of the rival sides have failed to agree on ways to end the conflict, which created a breeding ground for radical Islamists. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Alastair Macdonald, editing by Larry King) BUCHAREST (Reuters) - European Council leader Donald Tusk said an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday will be crucial for the future of the bloc, with talks to keep Britain in the EU at critical moment. Tusk said the risk of a break-up was real and that there was a need to handle the negotiations over Britain with care. "After my talks today with President Iohannis, Prime Minister Cameron and President Hollande and before meeting Prime Minister Tsipras, Prime minister Sobotka and Chancellor Merkel tomorrow, I have only one political reflection. This is a critical moment," Tusk told reporters after a meeting with Romania's President Klaus Iohannis. "It is high time we started listening to each other's arguments more than our own. The risk of a break-up is real because this process is indeed very fragile and must be handled with care. What is broken cannot be mended." Tusk said that Britain's membership in the EU was at stake. "At stake is also the future of our European Union, where we will all have to decide together and where we cannot and will not compromise on European values." (Reporting by Luiza Ilie, Writing by Radu Marinas, Editing by Angus MacSwan) By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Islamic State militants attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq with mustard gas last year, in the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a diplomat said, after tests by the global chemical arms watchdog. A source at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that laboratory tests had come back positive for the sulfur mustard, after around 35 Kurdish troops were sickened on the battlefield last August. The OPCW will not identify who used the chemical agent. But the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the findings have not yet been released, said the result confirmed that chemical weapons had been used by Islamic State fighters. The samples were taken after the soldiers became ill during fighting against Islamic State militants southwest of Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The OPCW already concluded in October that mustard gas was used last year in neighboring Syria. Islamic State has declared a "caliphate" in territory it controls in both Iraq and Syria and does not recognize the frontier. The matter is expected to be raised at the next meeting of the OPCW's 41-member Executive Council in a month, an official said. If Islamic State used chemical weapons, experts are still uncertain of how the group might have obtained them, or whether it could have access to more. Another diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syrias stockpile was a possible source of the sulfur mustard used in Iraq. That would mean Damascus had failed to fully disclose its chemical weapons program, which was dismantled under international supervision in 2013-2014, the diplomat said. "If Syria has indeed given up its chemical weapons to the international community, it is only the part that has been declared to the OPCW and the declaration was obviously incomplete, the diplomat told Reuters. Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment but have previously denied any part of the country's former stockpile remains undestroyed. Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons stockpile after hundreds of people died in an attack with Sarin nerve gas in a Damascus suburb in 2013. Western countries blame that attack on the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which denies it. Iraq's chemical arsenal, part of a "weapons of mass destruction" program used to justify the U.S.-British invasion of 2003, proved to have been destroyed and dismantled in the Saddam era, although U.S. troops occasionally encountered old Saddam-era chemical munitions during the 2003-2011 occupation. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a specialist in biological and chemical warfare, said Islamic State fighters may have developed their own chemical weapons capability, and could be preparing to use it again. Im pretty convinced that the mustard IS are using in Iraq is made by them in Mosul," he said, referring to the main city in northern Iraq, which Islamic State fighters have occupied since 2014. "They have all the precursors at hand from the oil industry and all the experts at hand to do it. Sulfur mustard is a Class 1 chemical agent, which means it has very few uses outside chemical warfare. Used with lethal effectiveness in World War One, it causes severe delayed burns to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; editing by Peter Graff) (Reuters) - The death on Saturday of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the high court's most outspoken conservative judge, is setting up a major political showdown in a presidential election year between President Barack Obama and the Republican-controlled Senate over who will replace him. The following questions and answers address the process of how a new justice is nominated and approved. Q: Who nominates justices to the Supreme Court? A: The president has the sole power to nominate justices, under Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Q: Must President Barack Obama - whose term ends on Jan. 20, 2017, when the new president is sworn in - nominate a justice to fill Scalia's vacancy? A: No, he is not required to, and immediately following Scalia's death, a number of Republican senators urged Obama to let the vacancy be filled by his successor. Q: But Obama still has the right to nominate someone? A: Yes, he does. The White House on Sunday said Obama plans to nominate someone to fill the vacancy, but he will wait until after the U.S. Senate is back in session on Feb. 22. Q: What happens after the president nominates someone? A: Any nomination requires U.S. Senate approval, by a simple majority vote, so at least 51 senators, out of the 100 total, must vote for approval. The Senate is currently controlled by the Republicans, who hold 54 seats. But before the nomination goes before the full Senate for a vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing. The nominee gives testimony at the hearing and answers questions from the committee's members. And the Judiciary Committee, which is majority-controlled by Republicans, could even refuse to hold hearings. Q: Once the Judiciary Committee holds a hearing, is the nomination then automatically brought before the full Senate? A: No, the committee votes on whether to put the nominee before the full Senate. Q: When a nominee goes before the full Senate, is a vote taken immediately? A: No, the Senate debates the nomination. Debate continues until a senator asks for unanimous consent and move to a vote. Q: What happens if there is no unanimous consent? A: This is where things get interesting and where party politics really come into play. If there is no unanimous consent, the Senate must vote on whether to end debate, something known as "cloture." For Supreme Court nominations, 60 votes of the Senate are required to end debate. If the vote to end debate fails to garner at least 60 votes, debate continues, which is known as a filibuster. Q: So what is the chance of a filibuster on a nominee by Obama? A: The Republicans currently control the Senate, with 54 seats, versus the 46 held by Democrats and senators who caucus with the Democrats. So the Democrats on their own clearly do not have the 60 votes to end a potential filibuster. That said, some Republicans could decide to vote with the Democrats to end a filibuster. Q: Are there any potential nominees who Republicans might approve? A: Yes, there are some names being suggested by observers who might be palatable to Republicans. Q: What happens if the process is dragged out and Scalia's Supreme Court seat is still vacant when the new president takes office next January? A: That is a big wild card because no one knows at this point whether a Republican or Democrat will be the next president. It is also possible that the Democrats could win back control of the Senate in the Nov. 8 elections. There are 34 Senate seats up for election in November, as the body's 100 seats turn over in a staggered fashion, with roughly a third of the seats up for election every two years. Republicans face tough races for Senate seats in various swing states, such as Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And Democrats in the November elections will only have to defend 10 seats, while Republicans are on the line for 24 seats. Q: What happens with Supreme Court rulings while a seat remains vacant? With only eight justices currently on the bench, could not there be tied decisions? A: Yes, it is true that eight justices currently serving there could be tied votes on some cases that have already been argued before the court, but on which decisions have not yet been made. However, the Supreme Court keeps operating, and there is a mechanism in place in the case of a tied vote. If that is the case, then the ruling by the lower court (i.e., the ruling by the last court before the case was brought to the Supreme Court) remains in place. There are some big issues before the court that had been expected to be wins for conservative causes that could end up being wins for liberals if the lower court rulings are affirmed. Similarly, there are cases in which Scalia was likely to be a key vote for the conservatives in which a tied vote could result in upholding a lower court ruling favored by conservatives. There have also been cases of tie votes resulting in the Supreme Court ordering that a case be reargued after a new justice is confirmed. Sources: Reuters http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/nominations/supreme-court http://judicialnominations.org/how-the-confirmation-process-works http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/tie-votes-will-lead-to-reargument-not-affirmance/ (Compiled by Leslie Adler, editing by G Crosse) Havana (AFP) - Cuba's former revolutionary president Fidel Castro on Monday said the historic meeting in his country between the heads of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches raised worldwide hope for peace. "The singular importance of the meeting between Pope Francis and His Holiness Kirill in Havana is that it raised hope for people around the world," Castro wrote in an article in state media. "Peace has been the golden dream of humanity and the yearning of peoples at every moment in history," he added. "Thousands of nuclear arms hang over the head of humanity. The religious leaders' fundamental aim was doubtless to prevent the most brutal of wars that could break out," he said, referring to Francis and Kirill. The two promised on Friday to work together for peace, as they held the first meeting between the leaders of their two branches of the church since the Great Schism of 1054. At a mass in Havana on Sunday, Kirill said he had "met in an open, fraternal and loving atmosphere" with Francis. Cuba's hosting of the meeting reflected the communist-ruled island's growing profile in international affairs since it restored diplomatic ties with the United States last year after decades of hostility. Fidel Castro, 89, handed over control of Cuba's leadership due to health problems in 2006 to his brother Raul, 84, who formally became president in 2008. The patriarch met with Fidel Castro during his visit to Cuba and they discussed subjects such as poverty and peace, the government said in a statement. Kirill left Cuba on Sunday and travelled to Paraguay, where he held a mass on Monday in the capital Asuncion. He paid tribute to Russian immigrants who fled to Paraguay after the 1917 Russian revolution. DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. journalist and three members of her camera crew were detained in Bahrain on Sunday, Reporters Without Borders said on Monday, urging Bahrain to release the four American citizens "rapidly and without harm." In a statement, the group described Anna Day and her three colleagues as experienced journalists, who had most recently worked on virtual reality documentaries in Egypt and Gaza. Bahraini police said earlier they had detained four foreign nationals. Bahrain's interior ministry said in a statement the four were "suspected of offences including entering Bahrain illegally having submitted false information to border staff, and participating in an unlawful gathering." The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that U.S. citizens had been arrested but declined further comment. A representative for Day's family rejected any suggestion that the four were involved in any illegal behavior or non-journalistic activities. The Arabic-language Mira'at al-Bahrain (Bahrain Mirror) said the four were detained in Sitra, a Shi'ite village east of Manama, on Sunday while covering clashes between local demonstrators and security forces. The demonstration was meant to mark the fifth anniversary of widespread Arab Spring protests in 2011 mainly by Shi'ite Muslims demanding reforms and a bigger share in government. Those protests were put down violently by Bahrain security units with help from security forces from Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia. But the kingdom, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, continues to see bouts of unrest, especially in villages where Shi'ites are a majority. A friend of Day's, who asked not to be named because of her own work as an independent journalist in hostile areas, said that government accreditation for foreign correspondents in Bahrain can be difficult to get and can imply restrictions, so freelancers commonly work without it. "It is sad that the fifth anniversary of the 2011 protests has been marked by the arrest of yet more journalists in Bahrain, which has since become one of the worst jailers of journalists in the Arab world," said Sherif Mansour, the Middle East and north Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international advocacy group. The Committee called for the release of the four and noted that at least six other journalists are currently imprisoned in Bahrain in connection with their work. Day has reported in the Middle East, northern Africa, India, Brazil and Mexico and her work has been published by the New York Times, CNN, Al Jazeera English, Huffington Post, CBS, Daily Beast and other media. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry and Dan Grebler) Conakry (AFP) - Shops, banks and offices remained closed and streets empty of traffic in Guinea's capital and in other cities Monday, the first day of an open-ended general strike called by trade unions. Union leaders are demanding that prices of basic commodities and fuel be brought down by the government, while also pressing home pay claims. "The strike is being followed 100 percent," Louis Mbemba Soumah, general secretary of the Syndicated Union of Workers of Guinea (USTG), told AFP. The union, one of the largest in the west African country, called jointly for the strike with the even bigger National Confederation of Workers of Guinea. Police were deployed in strength in the capital Conakry, mostly on major roads and in front of university and school premises, and schools were closed, an AFP journalist saw. Health workers in public hospitals were only providing legally-required minimum services, unions said. Even usually bustling markets were shut down, with only a handful of service stations open in the city centre. Public transport also ground to a halt, said Amadou Bah, manager of the bus station in the suburb of Bambeto. "No vehicle will be leaving here, either on domestic routes or abroad," he said. Government spokesman Albert Damantang Camara urged the strikers to remember that Guinea was still recovering from the Ebola epidemic, which badly hit the economy. "Given the current state of our finances, we can't afford to lose what little income we have," he said, referring to fuel duties. Residents reached by telephone also reported total shutdowns in major towns such as Kankan in the east, N'Zerekore in the south, Labe in the north, Boke in the northwest and Mamou in central Guinea. The last strike on such a nationwide scale took place in January 2015. BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's foreign minister pressed Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime on Monday to reduce attacks around Aleppo and called on all parties in the Syria conflict to show restraint. Major powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a cessation of hostilities in Syria, but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties - the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it. Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial centre before the conflict. "As part of the Munich agreement, all sides are asked to contribute to an immediate reduction in violence, even before a ceasefire comes into effect," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. "This refers to military operations by Russia and the Syrian regime around Aleppo and recent attacks by PYD militias in North Syria," Steinmeier said, referring to a Syrian Kurdish party and its associated militias. The situation in Syria has been complicated by the activity of Kurdish-backed combatants in the area north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, which has drawn a swift military response from artillery in Turkey. "Considering the tense situation, also Turkey must restrain itself," Steinmeier said in the statement, issued on the fringe of a meeting with his European colleagues in Brussels. There is little optimism that the deal reached in Munich will do much to end a war that has lasted five years and cost 250,000 lives. The German government also said on Monday it did not believe that Russia and the West had entered a new Cold War and that in any case it was up to Moscow to prevent such a deterioration in relations. "To people who talk about a Cold War or the danger of a Cold War, like Russian Prime Minister (Dmitry) Medvedev, all I can say is that this is definitely not the view of the German government," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert. "One must say that it is in his hands to prevent such a situation." (Writing by Tina Bellon, editing by Larry King) BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government expects 500,000 refugees to come to Germany this year, German newspaper Rheinische Post cited sources from the Federal Labor Office as saying. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told Frank-Juergen Weise, head of both the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and the Federal Labor Office, to prepare for an influx of that size this year, the newspaper said in an advance copy of a report due to be published on Tuesday. The German Interior Ministry was not immediately available to comment on the report. Last year some 1.1 million migrants arrived in Germany. German media tend to use the word refugee to refer to both refugees and migrants. (Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Alison Williams) Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday backed a call from Turkey for a no-fly zone over parts of Syria, saying it would alleviate the situation of displaced Syrians. "In the current situation it would be helpful, if there could be such an area, where none of the parties are allowed to launch aerial attacks, that is to say, a kind of no-fly zone," she told the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung, when asked about opening up such areas to host people fleeing fighting in the war-torn country. She acknowledged that it was impossible to negotiate with "terrorists from the Islamic State", "but if it's possible for the anti-Assad coalition and the Assad-supporters to come to an agreement, that would be helpful." Turkey, which is already hosting around 2.2 million Syrian refugees, has been calling for a secure zone within Syria where the displaced could find refuge. Top diplomats from world powers agreed at talks in Munich last Friday on a "nationwide cessation of hostilities" within a week, in the latest bid to find an end to Syria's five-year conflict. But doubts are growing over whether the deal can be honoured, as Turkey has defied international calls and shelled parts of northern Syria for a third day on Monday, while a suspected Russian air strike killed nine people at a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders in the north-western part of the country. MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian online marketplace Snapdeal has raised $200 million in a fresh funding round led by Canada's Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the company said. The latest fund-raising follows $500 million raised last August in a round led by Alibaba Group Holding , SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> and Foxconn <2317.TW>. The e-commerce market in India is expected to grow to $220 billion in the value of goods sold by 2025, from an expected $11 billion this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a recent report. (Reporting by Himank Sharma; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) Many people waited for Valentines Day this year not only to share special moments with their significant others but also to see the return of The Walking Deads second half of season 6. And wow, did AMC deliver! Watch out, zombie fans, this post is filled with spoilers so stop reading if you havent seen the episode yet. DONT MISS: Heres how to give your Android phone a huge speed boost, just like Apple sped up iOS 7.1 The action picks off right where we left it. On the one hand, we have Alexandria overrun with walkers, as our heroes try to make their way out. On the other hand, we have three friends in a gas truck that get ambushed by Negans henchman. Unlike previous episodes, where the main characters were scattered in and around Alexandria, everything comes together in this one. Rather than focusing only on the point of view of some of the most important characters, the episode gives each of them time to shine, as they reunite to do the same thing theyve been doing for a few years now: Fight to the death against the undead. the-walking-dead-mid-season-premiere-trailer Its Daryl who steps up to the plate early in the episode as he fires a rocket-propelled grenade at the bikers who stopped him, Abraham and Sasha. One RPG shot is enough to kill Negans soldiers and to save Abraham and Sasha. This particular turn of events also tells us that the shows creators will postpone our meeting with Negan for at least one more episode. Meanwhile, back in Alexandria, Rick and the gang are trying to sneak through a zombie-filled area by wearing zombie guts in the hopes of fooling them. But the plan to quietly sneak out and regroup takes a turn for the worse as expected because of Sam. We knew it would happen. The scared kid freaks out, lets out a cry, and the nearest walker gets him. Jessie, his mom, is taken next, as she screams in horror and agony what mom could stay silent watching her youngest boy die like that? And so, on Valentines Day, Ricks new sweetheart dies. Story continues He doesnt have a chance to think about it all yet, as he still has to save Carl and the others. Ron, Jessies eldest, manages to grab a gun in the ensuing chaos and shoots just as Michone puts her sword through his back, killing him in the process. Thats how Carl gets shot in the eye. And everyone is running all of a sudden. Dont worry, Carl will survive, thanks to Denise. the-walking-dead-episode-609-2 The last time we saw Denise, she was taken by a lone Wolf gang member who eventually dies thanks to a combination of zombie bites and Carols shooting. Uncertain of what will happen to Carl, Rick picks up his ax, exits the shelter and start swinging left and right driven by sheer anger. However, thats enough to motivate the others to take action. And its not just the old gang out on the street who help Rick: Everyone else from Alexandria joins the fight, showing that when push comes to shove, theyre able to stand up for themselves. We already know Carol is a fearless leader, but episode 9 also shows us a different side of Rosita. Shes organized, shes focused, and she can do whats needed in emergency situations such as this one. Glenn and Maggies encounter is also heart breaking, especially since the episode was scheduled for February 14th. After a long absence, Glenn comes to rescue Maggie, but does so by putting himself in apparent danger and it seems like hes done for until Daryl and Abraham save the day by joining the fight with lots of heavy weaponry. Many characters go through major transformations in Episode 9, including Rick, who finally finally realizes that he can start trusting people again. In the aftermath of the battle, he promises Carl that Alexandria will thrive again. And we cant wait for the next Walking Dead episode to arrive. Related stories Watch: The first 4 minutes of The Walking Dead premiere just leaked 'Walking Dead' star does awesome impressions of the living famous 'The Walking Dead' mid-season premiere has a brand new trailer More from BGR: This is the stunning iPhone 7 we all deserve This article was originally published on BGR.com By Nita Bhalla SILIGURI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Law enforcement agencies in northern India have rescued at least 160 Nepalis trafficked across the border since two powerful earthquakes struck last year, a senior Indian official said. The twin quakes in April and May killed more than 8,800 people and injured tens of thousands in the impoverished Himalayan nation. Around two million were left homeless. Following aid agency warnings that human traffickers could prey on vulnerable survivors in the aftermath of disasters, authorities in Uttar Pradesh passed an order directing areas bordering Nepal to be vigilant. "The day the earthquake happened, I went to my office and issued a sensitisation letter to all the district magistrates and superintendents of police in all the seven districts which border Nepal," Kamal Saksena, home secretary for Uttar Pradesh state, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Then we conducted video conferences with all of them and asked people from all the relevant ministries such as women and child and labour and other departments to all attend so that there was communication and coordination." Trafficking was rife in Nepal even before the earthquakes, with an estimated 12,000 Nepalese children trafficked to India every year, according to a 2001 International Labour Organisation study. Activists said risks were much higher after the quakes when traffickers or "brokers" duped devastated families who had lost their homes and breadwinners to hand over their children with the promise of a monthly salary and a good job in India. Yet the reality is very different. Girls and women not recruited into prostitution are sold as domestic slaves in India and other countries. Boys are taken into forced labour. Saksena said authorities provided training for more than 4,000 people, including police inspector generals, district magistrates, railway police, border forces, child protection officers and shelter home staff. This included examining suspected trafficking routes and destination points such as train stations, border check posts and interstate bus stations. They also focused on how to identify suspected traffickers and the proper procedures after rescues and arrests. "We tell them what to be alert for. People travelling with large numbers of children for example," Saksena said in an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of an anti-human trafficking conference in the eastern town of Siliguri. "One sub-inspector intercepted a couple in their mid forties who had 15 children. The children lied saying their parents were taking them to Mumbai for sight-seeing. We found out the children were sold to the traffickers for 1,500 rupees ($22) each." Saksena said between 50 to 60 arrests have been made so far and the cases are currently being investigated. Most of those rescued since April have been repatriated, he added. "Prior to earthquake, we weren't really doing that much training," he said, adding that had now changed. "To coordinate with all the stakeholders with the same sensitivity and synergy is quite an effort." (Reporting by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org) Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq's federal government will pay the salaries of the cash-strapped Kurdish region's employees if it halts its independent oil exports, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Monday. Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, facing a financial crisis due to low oil prices, has announced its employees will be paid partial salaries until further notice and that months of unpaid wages will be considered loans to the government. "Give us the oil and I will give every employee in Kurdistan (their) salary," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state television. Iraqi Kurdistan has been independently exporting crude via Turkey from northern territory it controls since a deal with Baghdad on oil and revenue-sharing collapsed last year, a move the federal government considers illegal. Abadi, who has previously put Kurdistan's oil exports at over 600,000 barrels per day, said this amounts to the region's share of the federal budget, which Baghdad is withholding. "Exports from the region represent around 16 percent of the oil exported... from all Iraq, so the region has obtained its (share of the) budget," he said. The Kurdish austerity measures have sparked widespread anger among regional government employees, some of whom have protested or gone on strike. Massud Barzani, the region's de facto president, has called for a referendum on independence, but Kurdistan's financial woes effectively rule out a viable state for now. Abadi has said he hopes Kurdistan will remain part of Iraq. As the Iraqi premier grapples with a dire budget crisis caused mostly by the collapse of oil prices, he also vowed to crack down on "ghost fighters" in the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation units. These pro-government paramilitaries forces are nominally under his control but are dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias. "We have the financial provisions, but they increased their numbers beyond that," Abadi said of the fighters' salaries. Story continues "Those fighting on the frontline are not getting paid because those sitting at home are. Is that fair?" he asked. "I must support the real fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi," he said. Abadi did not specify the number of "ghost fighters" but an adviser to his office said earlier this month that only around half of the estimated 120,000 Hashed members were active fighters. Hashed al-Shaabi volunteer fighters, who played a major role in halting a sweeping offensive by the Islamic State group in 2014 and later in pushing the jihadists back, have since been officially incorporated into the security apparatus. Some high-profile Hashed al-Shaabi commanders are political rivals of Abadi. By Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's Labour Party, junior partner in Prime Minister Enda Kenny's ruling coalition, promised on Monday to hold a referendum to boost access to abortion if voters return it to government this month. But abortion is so divisive that Labour would likely face opposition from Kenny's Fine Gael party, which is wary of tackling an issue that could alienate conservative voters, despite a sharp drop in the Roman Catholic Church's influence. The country's complete ban on terminating a pregnancy was lifted in 2013 after large street protests from both sides of the debate. It is now allowed if a mother's life is in danger. Ireland holds a general election on Feb. 26. In its election manifesto published on Monday, the center-left Labour Party promised a referendum to remove the article in the Irish constitution that gives the unborn child an equal right to life to that of its mother. It said it would then pass legislation to allow abortion in the event of rape or incest or when doctors deem that the fetus has no chance of survival. "If Labour is in government, we will ensure that there is a referendum," Labour leader Joan Burton told journalists, calling it one of three core promises in the party's manifesto. Labour and Fine Gael remain short of the support needed to secure re-election, recent polls have suggested, but abortion is a potent issue that could rally Labour's liberal electorate. Over 75 percent of Irish voters support abortion in cases of rape, incest or when the fetus would not survive, a poll in January indicated. But only 41 percent said they would support abortion on demand, the Newstalk/Red C poll said. To hold the referendum, Labour would have to overcome opposition in Fine Gael, which expelled five members of parliament after they defied the leadership to oppose the 2013 referendum. To avoid a divisive debate in the party, Kenny promised to hold a citizens' convention to discuss the issue and allow party members a free vote on its recommendations. Burton said she was "very confident" she could convince the Fine Gael party to agree to a vote, pointing to Labour's success in legalizing same-sex marriage despite early unease among some Fine Gael voters. The main opposition parties are divided, with the center-right Fianna Fail ruling out a vote on abortion if it is part of the next government, while left-wing nationalists Sinn Fein have said they will hold a referendum. The 2013 abortion legislation was adopted following the death of a woman who was not allowed to abort her dying fetus, a controversy that made international headlines, reopening a decades-long debate. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's top court on Monday rejected a Palestinian hunger striker's request to be moved to the West Bank for treatment but said he could be transferred to annexed Arab east Jerusalem. The supreme court gave Mohammed al-Qiq until 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Tuesday to decide whether to agree to his transfer from hospital in northern Israel to Jerusalem's Palestinian-run Makassed Hospital. The 33-year-old is reported to be close to death after 83 days on hunger strike in protest against his internment under Israel's administrative detention laws. His internment was officially suspended on February 4, but he was still prevented from leaving hospital in Afula in northern Israel where he is handcuffed to his bed. Qiq's lawyer has said his client will continue his fast "until he is freed", and demanded he be moved to his West Bank home city of Ramallah but the Israeli military prosecutor opposed the application. A supreme court statement said it recommended the "transfer of the hunger striker to Makassed Hospital in east Jerusalem to continue his treatment". It added the move was "in the framework of the frozen administrative measures concerning him", raising the possibility he could be detained again if he ends his hunger strike. Although the Makassed is Palestinian-run, Israel views the whole of Jerusalem as an integral part of its territory and has raided the hospital a number of times in recent months to arrest individuals or seize equipment. Qiq, a father of two and a correspondent for Saudi Arabia's Almajd TV network, was arrested at his home in Ramallah on November 21. He has been refusing food since November 25 in protest against the "torture and ill treatment that he was subjected to during interrogation", according to Addameer, a Palestinian rights organisation. The United Nations has expressed concern about his fate, with the International Committee of the Red Cross describing his condition as critical. Israel's Shin Bet domestic security service says Qiq was detained for "terror activity" on behalf of the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Israel's controversial administrative detention law allows the state to hold suspects without trial for periods of six months which are renewable indefinitely. JERUSALEM (AFP) - Ehud Olmert was once described as "probably the best" politician Israel had ever produced, but the debonair ex-premier who began a prison term for corruption on Monday has seen a humiliating fall from grace. Olmert, 70, became Israel's first ex-prime minister to serve jail time when he walked into the Maasiyahu prison in the central city of Ramle for the 19-month term. Once known for relaunching peace efforts with the Palestinians while prime minister between 2006-2009, Olmert is now likely to be remembered for allegations that led one judge to speak of "corrupt and filthy practices." A balding father-of-four with a lean physique, roguish grin and a reputed taste for fine cigars, Olmert maintained his innocence in a video message before entering prison. You can imagine how painful and strange this change is to me, my family, loved ones and supporters," Olmert said in the video, looking haggard and downcast. He added that he believes the public will eventually see that while I was prime minister, there were sincere and promising attempts to reach peace. The charges against him date to before his time as prime minister, to the years when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and economy minister, among other positions. Olmert was born near Haifa on September 30, 1945 during the British mandate of Palestine. A lawyer by trade, he surprised many rightwing friends in the early 1970s by marrying left-leaning artist Aliza, who brought up their children with equally liberal views. He entered the cabinet in 1988 and five years later was elected mayor of Jerusalem, a post he held for a decade but in which he rarely distinguished himself, before returning to the government under Ariel Sharon in 2003. With Sharon, he broke away from the rightwing Likud party in 2005 to form the centre-right Kadima and became premier the following year after Sharon suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. Story continues - Unfulfilled promise - Before taking over as prime minister, Olmert was recognised as a key strategist behind many of Sharon's boldest moves, including Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza as well as their split from the Likud. Time magazine was so impressed that it dubbed him "the 12th Israeli to serve as prime minister and probably the best politician of them all". After Sharon's collapse, Olmert led Kadima to victory in March 2006 on a platform of dismantling dozens of settlements and withdrawing troops from most of the West Bank. But from that point, things began to go downhill, with his West Bank plan shelved after a bloody 34-day war against Lebanon's Hezbollah that summer which left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers. Unlike many of his predecessors, Olmert lacked an illustrious military background and his handling of the conflict was harshly criticised. Although he rejected peace talks for decades, Olmert underwent a late-career conversion. Following the relaunch of peace talks in November 2007 ending a seven-year hiatus, Olmert met several times with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, reportedly making far-reaching concessions in a bid to reach an agreement. But the talks were abruptly halted just over a year later when Israel embarked upon a devastating three-week offensive in Gaza. Olmert also entered into Turkish-mediated talks with long-time foe Syria in May 2008 over Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights. He resigned as premier in September 2008 after police recommended he be indicted for graft, but he remained in office until March 2009, when Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in to the post, which he has held ever since. Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's economy contracted in the last quarter of 2015, official data showed Monday, dealing another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's faltering bid to boost growth. The figures will fan talk of fresh Bank of Japan measures, after policymakers shocked markets last month with an unprecedented negative interest rate policy -- widely seen as a desperate move to kickstart the world's number three economy. Weak demand for big-ticket items like cars and home appliances held back the vast economy which shrank 0.4 percent in October-December -- or an annualised 1.4 percent drop. That was Japan's second quarterly contraction in 2015, although GDP edge up a tepid 0.4 percent for the whole year, underscoring Tokyo's challenge in slaying deflation and cementing a sustained recovery. Tokyo brushed off the weak numbers, saying that "the fundamentals (of the economy) remain good", but analysts countered that Abe's growth plan was stumbling. The premier's bid to revive Japan's once-soaring economy, dubbed Abenomics, has also been shaken by a bloodbath on equity markets since the start of the year and a resurgent yen that threatened to dent companies' profits. "The latest data show that it is difficult to say that the Abe government has achieved of its goal of a 'virtuous cycle' of rising incomes, wages, and investment," said Tobias Harris, political risk analyst at US-based consultancy Teneo. "Japan has remained too dependent on export-led growth, which has suffered in light of Chinas slowdown and the effects it has had on the global economy." Japan's factory output has suffered as worries persist about global growth, with revised data Monday showing industrial production contracted 1.7 percent in December, worse than a preliminary 1.4 percent drop. However Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock index soared more than seven percent Monday, boosted by bargain-buying and a weaker yen following last week's 11 percent drop. Story continues - 'Not carved in stone' - The yen, which surged four percent last week against the dollar, turned lower Monday on talk about the BoJ unveiling fresh monetary easing measures as well as speculation about Tokyo intervening in currency markets to stem the unit's rise. The wild volatility on world markets and sharp swings in the yen since the start of 2016 prompted Abe on Friday to hold an emergency meeting with Japan's central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda. The BoJ shocked investors by announcing the negative rate policy last month, a plan that aims to prod banks into lending by charging them for storing excess reserves with it. But as his growth programme wobbles and the BoJ struggles to hit an ambitious two-percent inflation target, Abe must decide whether to follow through with another sales tax hike next year. The rise is seen as key to containing a spiralling national debt, but it could further dent spending. "It is not carved in stone, if the real problems are going on he can push it out," said Nicholas Smith, Japan strategist at brokerage CLSA, referring to the planned tax rise. "With what's going on in the market, this is a temptation." Abe's growth plan -- big government spending, central bank monetary easing and reforms to the highly regulated economy -- appeared to bear fruit at first. The yen weakened sharply, which boosted Japanese exporters' profits and sparked a huge stock market rally. But sustained growth has been elusive and Abe's efforts to overhaul the economy have been widely criticised as half-hearted. Tokyo will be watching labour talks this spring closely for signs that firms are ready to put more cash into employees' pockets, which would offer hope for a pick-up in consumer spending. "The government plans to raise the consumption tax in 2017, so we will probably see an increase in spending later this year ahead of the hike," said Taro Saito, senior economist at NLI Research Institute. "But I don't think we should expect the fundamentals of the Japanese economy to recover easily." Japanese telecom giant Softbank said Monday it will buy back about 14 percent of its shares for more than $4.0 billion, after the stock plunged since the start of the year. The company plans to buy 167 million shares over one year starting Tuesday at a total cost of around 500 billion yen ($4.4 billion), it said. "The proposed share repurchase will be funded through proceeds from the sale of assets and cash on hand, but not through any debt procurement," the company said. The buyback -- which tends to beef up a stock's value -- comes after SoftBank's Tokyo-listed shares dropped 28 percent since the start of the year amid wild volatility on global markets. Last week, the company -- which owns a huge stable of firms including US-based mobile giant Sprint -- said its nine-month net profit was down by more than one-quarter from a year earlier. The shares closed at 4,400 yen on Monday, rising nearly six percent on the back of a huge rally in Tokyo. In August, Softbank president and former Google executive Nikesh Arora said he would buy a whopping $483 million in company shares to show confidence in SoftBank's prospects. By Steve Holland CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush enlisted his brother, former President George W. Bush, on Monday to try to give him a lift as he looks for a strong showing in South Carolina's crucial primary. The 69-year-old George W. Bush, who won the 2000 and 2004 Republican primary contests in South Carolina en route to presidential victories those years, was to appear with Jeb at a 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) rally in North Charleston, days before Republicans vote in the state on Saturday. Before that event, the elder Bush and his wife, Laura, visited with U.S. military veterans at an American Legion Post in Columbia, South Carolina, to try to encourage the state's large contingent of military personnel and veterans to get behind his brother's White House bid. The former president looked as comfortable as ever as he made a rare campaign appearance, shaking hands, posing for pictures and cracking jokes. The appearance of the elder Bush on the campaign trail is seen as helping Jeb with South Carolina Republicans who hold the former president in high regard. But it also carries some risks given his launching of the Iraq war in 2003, which ended up being unpopular with many Americans and which rival Donald Trump has seized on to criticize him. George W. Bush's standing has risen among all Americans since he left power in 2009 and he has stayed on the sidelines of his brother's presidential bid, headlining private fundraisers but otherwise staying off the campaign trail. That he is getting out in public now shows the urgency that Jeb Bush sees in a good performance in South Carolina. Bush finished in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses and in fourth place in the New Hampshire primary - the first contests in the state-by-state battles to pick a party nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election. In South Carolina, opinion polls show Jeb currently running in fourth place behind Trump, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Trump, who is the national front-runner in the Republican race and is leading in polls of South Carolina, scheduled an afternoon news conference in Charleston and was likely to criticize the Bush family anew. At a debate of the Republican presidential candidates in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday, Trump accused George W. Bush of squandering trillions of dollars to wage the Iraq war over weapons of mass destruction that did not exist, and noted that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had occurred on his watch. Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor whose studious demeanor and policy-heavy campaign is in sharp contrast to Trump's fired-up rhetoric, has been hitting back. On Monday he said he sees Trump as attempting a hostile takeover of the Republican Party with positions that go against party doctrine, such as his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. Bush, mocked by Trump as a "low-energy" candidate, has been the only Republican candidate to take on Trump consistently at the debates. He goaded the New York billionaire into angry outbursts in Greenville in the most acrimonious debate of the 2016 cycle. "It was ugly, I guess. Part of it was related to the need to make sure people knew that Donald Trump is not a conservative and he got angry and, you know, kind of lost it a little bit," Bush told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. A radio ad running in South Carolina by Bush's SuperPAC, Right to Rise, called attention to Trump's frequent use of profanity. As Trump's voice is heard, his expletives are bleeped out and an announcer says: "Is this the type of man we want leading our country?" (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Frances Kerry) Maggie's Plan star Julianne Moore on Monday threw her support behind efforts to give same-sex couples in Italy the right to raise families. "Everyone having a family is a matter of human rights. Every individual should have the right to have a family," Moore told an Italian reporter at the Maggie's Plan press conference during the Berlin Film Festival, where the Hollywood actress was asked how she felt about Italy's "step-child adoption." After getting clarification that Italian legislators were considering allowing a gay couple to adopt a child if one of the partners is a biological parent of the child, Moore offered support for same-sex parenting. Her support followed Moore, also starring alongside Ellen Page in Freeheld, where they played a same-sex couple caught up in a legal battle over pension benefits. Read More: 'Maggie's Plan': TIFF Review Moore appeared in Berlin with co-star Greta Gerwig to promote Rebecca Miller's Maggie's Plan, a love-triangle comedy also starring Ethan Hawke. The film sees Gerwig playing a woman bent on becoming a single mother, only to stumble into a more complicated family. Sony Pictures Classics earlier picked up the North American rights to the comedy out of the Toronto Film Festival, where Maggie's Plan had its world premiere. See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival By Fiona Ortiz (Reuters) - A Kentucky lawmaker fed up with anti-abortion laws in her state has introduced a bill that would require men seeking erectile dysfunction drugs to visit a doctor twice, get a note from their wives and swear on the Bible to be faithful. Representative Mary Lou Marzian, a Democrat from Louisville who has been a lawmaker for 22 years, told Reuters on Monday the bill is symbolic but she is glad that it has gotten attention because she is trying to make a point about government intrusion. "My point is to illustrate how intrusive and ridiculous it is for elected officials to be inserting themselves into private and personal medical decisions," Marzian said by telephone. "A health-care practitioner shall ... prescribe a drug for erectile dysfunction only to a man who is currently married," reads House Bill 396, which was introduced late last week. Marzian introduced the bill days after Republican Governor Matt Bevin signed an informed consent law that requires women to consult with a doctor before having an abortion. Marzian, 61, who is a retired nurse, said she also plans to introduce a bill requiring gun buyers to meet with victims of gun violence before they can purchase firearms. "That would also be to make a point. It will not go anywhere," she said. Marzian said there are a number of other bills before the Kentucky Legislature that would limit access to abortions in one way or another. "We need to stop it, we need to allow women and men to make their own decisions with their doctor and their family," she said. (Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Leslie Adler) Beirut (AFP) - Kurdish-led forces on Monday seized a key rebel bastion in Syria's Aleppo province, extending the opposition's losses in the region after a major regime operation there, a monitor said. The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, seized control of Tal Rifaat from mostly Islamist rebel forces on Monday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. The SDF capture came despite Turkey shelling the town to try to halt the alliance from advancing after several days of attacks on the one-time rebel stronghold. It left the rebels in Aleppo with only a few remaining bastions, including the town of Marea, just east of Tal Rifaat, and the border town of Azaz to the north. Elsewhere, the rebels have largely crumbled in the face of a major regime operation backed by Russian air power and the simultaneous SDF advance. In recent days, the SDF seized the Minnigh airbase from rebels, and regime forces have virtually encircled the opposition-held eastern part of Aleppo city. The opposition defeats have angered Turkey, a longstanding backer of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Ankara is particularly sensitive about the SDF advances. It views Syria's powerful Kurdish forces as affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed group that waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Turkey has shelled SDF positions for the past three days and warned it will not allow Azaz to fall, but so far has been unable to halt the coalition advance. Syria's Kurds have avoided officially siding with either government or opposition during the war, choosing instead to concentrate on building a semi-autonomous region in areas that are largely Kurdish-majority in north and northeast Syria. Their latest advances are part of a bid to unite the Kurdish town of Afrin in western Aleppo province with Kurdish areas to the east. Turkey is strongly opposed to the creation of a united Kurdish region along its border with Syria, and has warned that it is willing to intervene to halt the project. More than 3,500 civiliansa quarter of whom were childrendied as a result of conflicts in Afghanistan last year, and another 7,500 others were injured, according to a United Nations report released on Sunday. The figure marks a 4-percent increase in civilian casualties since the previous year and the highest number since the organization began keeping track in 2009. But as awful as those numbers are, they dont convey the full extent of the atrocities, Nicholas Haysom, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said during a press conference on Sunday. The real cost we are talking about in these figures is measured in the maimed bodies of children, the communities who have to live with loss, the grief of colleagues and relatives, the families who have to make do without a breadwinner. These are the real consequences of the acts described in this report. RELATED: Women Fleeing War Say European Refugee Camps Are No Safe Haven The spike in civilian deaths was attributed to an increase in ground fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces, as well as suicide bombings and other attacks in major cities carried out by anti-government forces, including the Taliban. Though civilian casualties at the hands of anti-government forces declined 10 percent overall since the previous year, they comprised about 62 percent of all civilian casualties in 2015. A surge in casualties from suicide attacks and targeted killings is behind the increase. The Taliban publicly took responsibility for about a quarter of those casualties. The report comes four months after President Obama halted plans to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan and just five days after the U.S. Army said it would deploy hundreds more soldiers to combat the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand, marking the largest deployment of U.S. military forces outside major Afghan bases since the end of the NATO mission in 2014, according to The New York Times. Story continues Helmand is the province second-most affected by improvised explosive devices favored by the Taliban, according to the report. Its cover photo of a man carrying a young girl injured by an IED illustrates the violence that has consumed the region almost continuously since Soviet forces invaded in 1979, leading to an insurgency against the puppet regime that led to the Soviets withdrawal, the rise of the Taliban and its harboring of al Qaeda, and an American invasion following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. FULL COVERAGE: The Global Refugee Crisis The inability of U.S.-led forces to quell the insurgency or make peace with the Taliban and bring stability to the troubled country has driven thousands of Afghans to flee their homes, seeking asylum in Europe. Afghans accounted for 29 percent of the refugees who crossed the Mediterranean into Europe this year, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and are the second-largest group of asylum seekers in the European Unionnext only to Syriansduring the third quarter of 2015. The United Nations report, which detailed more than 230 alleged war crimes committed by the Taliban, called on the perpetrators of the deadly attacks to be held accountable. To curb civilian casualties, the United Nations also called on anti-government forces to end their use of IEDs in heavily populated areas, on the Afghan government to disarm all militias, and on international military forces to review current targeting protocols. Related stories on TakePart: A Lucrative CropIt's Not Opium PoppiesMay Help Afghanistan's Farmers Nude Paintings Rile Afghanistan, and Not Just the Taliban U.N. Officials Fear the Worst After Hunger Rates Spike in Afghanistan Original article from TakePart BEIRUT (Reuters) - Former Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri said on Monday he was committed to backing his rival Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency, indicating an almost two-year deadlock over the job will not be resolved soon. There are two main candidates - Marada movement head Franjieh and former general Michel Aoun - for president, a post reserved for a Maronite Christian. Parliament has met at least 35 times without being able to agree on who should get the job. Hariri, the Sunni Muslim leader of the Future Movement party, returned to Beirut on Sunday to mark the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. He has been holding consultations with Lebanese politicians from his March 14 bloc and others. "We have a commitment and our commitment to Suleiman (Franjieh) is clear," he said after meeting his ally Sami Gemayel, head of the Kataeb Christian party. It was only Hariri's third visit to the country since the Hezbollah-dominated March 8 alliance toppled his government in 2011 and he left for exile in Saudi Arabia and France. Lebanon has been without a president for nearly two years and rival political blocs, backed respectively by rival regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran, have failed to reach an agreement on who should fill the vacuum. On Sunday, Hariri publicly confirmed for the first time that he put forward a proposal late last year for Franjieh, an ally of Hezbollah and friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to fill the post of president. Some of Hariri's March 14 allies disapproved of Franjieh being nominated. Last month, Christian politician Samir Geagea, a Hariri ally, declared his support for the 80-year-old Aoun. Hezbollah also says it is backing Aoun. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is fighting in Syria alongside the Syrian army against insurgents who have received backing from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other states. (Writing by Mariam Karouny and; Lisa Barrington; Editing by Tom Heneghan) SKHIRAT, Morocco (Reuters) - Libya's Presidential Council named a revised lineup late on Sunday for a unity government under a United Nations-backed plan aimed at ending the conflict in the North African state. One of the council's members, Fathi al-Majbari, said in a televised statement that the list of 13 ministers and five ministers of state had been sent to Libya's eastern parliament for approval. But in a sign of continuing divisions over how to bring together Libya's warring factions, two of the council's nine members refused for a second time to put their signatures to the proposed government, according to a document posted on the Presidential Council's Facebook page. The U.N. plan under which the unity government has been named was designed to help Libya stabilize and tackle a growing threat from Islamic State militants. It was signed in Morocco in December, but has been opposed by hard-liners on both sides from the start and suffered repeated delays. "We call on Libyans suffering from the fighting ... and the members of parliament to support the Government of National Accord, which will provide the framework to fight terrorism," Majbari said. Libya slid into conflict soon after the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi five years ago. Since 2014, it has had two competing governments, one based in Tripoli and the other in the east, both of which are backed by loose alliances of armed brigades and former rebels. Islamic State has taken advantage of a security vacuum to establish a foothold in Libya, taking control of the city of Sirte and threatening to expand from there. Western governments have urged Libyan factions to back the unity government so that it can start taking on the threat and call in international support where needed. Last month the eastern parliament, which has been recognized internationally, rejected an initial proposal for a unity government amid complaints that, at 32, the number of ministers nominated was too high. There have also been divisions over the distribution of posts and the future control of Libya's armed forces. Prime Minister-designate Fayez Seraj, who also heads the Presidential Council, told reporters on Sunday that the latest appointments took into account "experience, competence, geographical distribution, the political spectrum and the components of Libyan society". Many of the names on Sunday's list were different from last month's proposal, though the nominee for the key post of defense minister, Mahdi al-Barghathi, was unchanged. U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler was quick to congratulate the council on announcing a new cabinet. "The journey to peace and unity of the Libyan people has finally started," he tweeted. (Reporting by Aziz al-Yaakoubi in Rabat, Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Phil Berlowitz) GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA (Reuters) - Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad is under investigation for defaming the attorney-general in blog posts criticizing his failure to bring corruption charges against Prime Minister Najib Razak, police said on Monday. The feud between Malaysia's past and current leaders has gripped the Southeast Asian nation for almost a year, with Mahathir repeatedly calling on Najib, his former protege, to step down over a financial scandal at indebted state-fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). In a Feb. 5 posting on his personal blog, Mahathir wrote attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali had "no credibility", after he cleared Najib of any criminal offences or corruption arising from a graft probe into a $681 million deposit in Najib's personal bank account. Najib replaced the previous attorney-general and appointed Apandi just weeks after a Wall Street Journal report on 1MDB revealed the deposits of vast sums in Najib's account. Apandi closed investigations into Najib earlier this month after concluding that the money was gifted by a member of the Saudi royal family, and most of it had been returned.. Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said several police reports had been lodged against Mahathir over his attack on Apandi. "We will investigate according to the proper legal procedures. If there is a case to be made, we will discuss it with the attorney-general's chambers and take further action if needed," Khalid said at a press conference in George Town, the main city in Penang state. Mahathir on Monday used his blog account to issue his own challenge to Apandi. "As a good Muslim he should swear on the Koran in a mosque witnessed by mosque officials and the public that the reports did not implicate Najib in any way," wrote Mahathir. "He should not try to cheat by vowing in his heart something else, and swearing aloud something else. That would be a double sin. He will go to a worse hell." In several earlier blog posts, Mahathir had accused Apandi of protecting Najib and expressed doubts about Apandis willingness to cooperate with his counterpart in a Swiss investigation into 1MDB. To shore up his position, Najib has silenced dissenters within his party, in the opposition and the government. Aside from replacing the attorney-general, he also sacked his deputy prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, last year. Earlier this month Najib loyalists within the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) forced Mahathir's son, Mukhriz Mahathir, to quit as chief minister of the northern state of Kedah. Mahathir was also questioned by the police in November after he made a surprise appearance at an anti-government rally in Kuala Lumpur and called for Najib to resign. But no action has been taken so far. (Reporting by Kuala Lumpur newsroom; writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Praveen Menon and Simon Cameron-Moore) Meryl Streep said Hollywood is giving female directors more opportunities to tell their own stories and the green light is coming from younger decision-makers, not grey-faced studio execs. The Oscar-winning actress, taking time away from being jury president at the Berlin Film Festival to give an acting master class on Sunday, was asked whether women were getting more directing gigs in Hollywood. "Yes, it's moving in a very positive direction," Streep answered. She added that closing Hollywood's gender gap behind the camera called for getting minds to open up in executive suites. "We need 40- to 50 year-old white males to be interested in the stories of their wives and their mothers," Streep told the Hof and Hau Theater audience. So far that's not happening nearly enough in clubby, grey-faced boardrooms, except with younger execs. "They (older men) don't feel invested in that journey. Younger men do, and that's good," Streep said. Read More: Berlin Jury Chief Meryl Streep Responds to Diversity Concerns: "We Are All Africans Really" She added "you have to make noise" to get more women into decision-making leadership, in an echo of the current debate around more diversity in Hollywood boardrooms. Streep earlier in the Berlin festival faced criticism for suggesting "we are all Africans really" when asked about concerns over the all-white Oscar nominations this year. Streep also talked about her long and legendary Hollywood career during her Berlin master class, as she revealed her favorite director was Mike Nichols. Each time they worked together on projects like Silkwood, Angels in America and Postcards From the Edge, Nichols would quiz her on how she felt about other directors she has worked with. "It's like being asked about the other boyfriends you've had. 'Does he do it better than me,' is what I heard from him," Streep recounted. She also insisted her long and varied career as an actress was down to not worrying about her physical and sexual appeal as she got older. Story continues "You cannot have a long career and play as many characters as I have and maintain your magazine cover vanity," Streep said to applause. "You can't. It's anarchic. And who cares?" See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Lisa Barrington AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - About 50 civilians were killed when missiles hit five medical centers and two schools in rebel-held Syrian towns on Monday, the United Nations and residents said. The carnage occurred as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo. Fourteen people were killed in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border when missiles slammed into a school sheltering families fleeing the offensive and a children's hospital, two residents and a medic said. Bombs also hit another refugee shelter south of the town and a convoy of trucks, another resident said. "We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital," medic Juma Rahal said. At least two children were killed and scores of people injured, he said. Activists posted video online purporting to show the damaged hospital. Three crying babies lay in incubators in a ward littered with broken medical equipment. Reuters could not independently verify the video. In a separate incident, missiles hit another hospital in the town of Marat Numan in Idlib province, in northwestern Syria, said the French president of the Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) charity, which was supporting the hospital. "There were at least seven deaths among the personnel and the patients, and at least eight MSF personnel have disappeared, and we don't know if they are alive," Mego Terzian told Reuters. "The author of the strike is clearly...either the government or Russia," he said, adding that it was not the first time MSF facilities in Syria had been attacked. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence across the country, said one male nurse was killed and five female nurses, a doctor and one male nurse are believed to be under the rubble in the MSF hospital. Also in Marat Numan, another strike hit the National Hospital on the north edge of town, killing two nurses, the Observatory said. VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the attacks, which the U.N. said killed close to 50 civilians, were a blatant violation of international laws. "These incidents cast a shadow on the commitments made at the ISSG (International Syria Support Group) meeting in Munich on Feb. 11," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said. The United States also condemned the intensified bombing of northern Syria and said it ran counter to commitments made by world powers in Munich last week to reduce hostilities. Residents in both towns blamed Russian strikes, saying the planes deployed were more numerous and the munitions more powerful than the Syrian military typically used. "The hospitals hit today have been rendered completely non-functioning...such attacks, whether deliberate or not, deprive people of the very limited services still available in the country," a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Rescue workers and rights groups say Russian bombing has killed scores of civilians at market places, hospitals, schools and residential areas in Syria. Western countries also say Russia has been attacking mostly Western-backed insurgent groups. But Moscow has said it is targeting terrorist groups and dismissed any suggestion it has killed civilians since beginning its air campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces in September. The town of Azaz has been the scene of fierce fighting as Kurdish anti-government forces advance from the west. They have reached the edge of town, only a few kilometres away from the main Bab al Salam border crossing. The Syrian army is advancing from the south. Both the Kurds and the army want to wrest control of that stretch of border with Turkey from the insurgents that currently hold Azaz. Russian bombing raids on rebel fighters are helping the Syrian army to advance toward Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial center before the conflict. If the army takes the city, it will by the Syrian government's biggest victory of the war. (Additional reporting by Pauline Mevel in Paris; Editing by Katharine Houreld) LUANDA (Reuters) - Fifty-one people have now died in a yellow fever outbreak in Angola, less than two months after it started spreading in the capital, the national director of health said. Health experts say the outbreak has been exacerbated by a breakdown in sanitation services and rubbish collection in Luanda and other cities, leading to an increase in the mosquitoes that carry the disease. A total of 240 people were now infected, the southern African country's top health civil servant Adelaide de Carvalho told a forum over the weekend. More than 450,000 people had been vaccinated in the capital, out of a target of nearly 1.6 million, she added. City authorities have slashed their budget for rubbish collection to cope with a budget crisis, leaving piles of waste building up in poorer suburbs including Viana, where the first case of yellow fever was reported in late December. There has also been an increase in malaria, cholera and chronic diarrhea, health officials say. Many sanitation contractors say they have not been paid, or are struggling to import equipment because of foreign exchange shortages. Angola relies on crude exports for around 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings and a 70 percent decline in oil prices since mid-2014 has hobbled Africa's third largest economy, sending the kwanza currency plummeting. Yellow fever symptoms include severe headache, nausea, vomiting and fatigue, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (Reporting by Herculano Coroado; Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by James Macharia and Andrew Heavens) PARIS (Reuters) - A hospital supported by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Idlib province of northern Syria was "deliberately" hit by air strikes on Monday and eight people are missing, MSF said in a statement. "This is a deliberate attack against a health establishment," said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF head of mission. "The destruction of this hospital deprives about 40,000 people of healthcare in this conflict zone." MSF said the hospital was destroyed after being hit by four missiles following two attacks within a few minutes interval. At least eight people are unaccounted for. It did not identify the origin of the air strike. The hospital, which has 54 staff and holds 30 beds, is financed by the medical charity. MSF also supplies medicines and equipment to the facility. (Reporting By John Irish and Marine Pennetier; Editing by Paul Taylor) PARIS (Reuters) - Seven people were killed in air strikes in Syria on a hospital supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the charity's France president said on Monday, adding that he believed Russia or Syrian government forces were behind the attack. "There were at least seven deaths among the personnel and the patients, and at least eight MSF personnel have disappeared, and we don't know if they are alive," Mego Terzian told Reuters. The hospital near Murat al-Numan in the northern Syrian province of Idlib was struck earlier on Monday by four missiles. "The author of the strike is clearly ... either the government or Russia," he said, adding that it was not the first time MSF facilities had been targeted in the country. The hospital, which has 54 staff and 30 beds, is financed by the medical charity. MSF also supplies medicine and equipment to the facility. (This version of the story was refiled to correct dateline to Paris from Munich) (Reporting by Pauline Mevel; Writing by John Irish; Editing by James Regan) Letter-aus The sparse expanse of South Dakota are a long way away from the coastal shores of Australia, but a letter is forging a mysterious connection between the two. Reddit user rhymnocerous claims to have found this letter in an abandoned house located in the midwestern U.S. state. Posted online on Saturday, he claims it was written in the mid-1980s by a boy named Eric from Slacks Creek, a suburb of Brisbane. See also: American duo win world's largest short film festival in Australia "Hi! Once again," the letter, addressed to Mary, reads. "The reason I've written a second letter is because I'd forgotten to tell you how I became a born again Christian," Eric continued, that being one of those things you might forget to mention when you dot pen to paper. The letter details how Eric found himself in a car accident and encountered a nurse at hospital who asked him about his religious beliefs, before buying him a bible and converting him to Christianity. He lost contact with the nurse after he was discharged from hospital, as it was demolished soon after. Okay then. "Do you think you could help me, but I don't know how you could help me," the letter ends. Reddit sleuths are already in action, with user ddquince pointing out the address on the letter was a house that had been sold twice, first in 1985 then in 2002. So Eric, if you're still around and reading this, the Internet is out there looking for you. We've contacted the original poster, rhymnocerous, for comment and extra clues. If you know Eric, contact Johnny Lieu. By Julia Payne ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria is in talks with oil majors and banks to raise capital for new drilling and to repay up to $4 billion in debt that the state oil firm has accumulated over years of mismanagement, the firm's head told Reuters. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who is also the minister of state for petroleum, said he wanted to increase output to up to 2.5 million barrels per day by the end of 2016. Currently, the OPEC member pumps 2.3 million bpd. President Muhammadu Buhari has made reforming the oil sector a priority as a slump in oil prices hammers the economy. The former military ruler has fired the NNPC board and appointed Kachikwu to overhaul a company whose opaque structures have allowed corruption and oil theft to flourish. Nigeria's oil and gas output has been relatively stagnant as big offshore projects have been held up by much-delayed government funding and uncertainty over fiscal terms. Africa's biggest economy produces oil with foreign and local firms through production-sharing contracts and joint ventures (JVs) but investments have been held up because NNPC has been unable to pay its part: bills have been piling up since 2012. Kachikwu said debt as of November stood at $3.5-$4 billion, which NNPC wanted to cut through deals such as a $1.2 billion multi-year drilling financing signed with Chevron in September. "The target is that over 2017, we'll begin to look at zero," he said in an interview, referring to debt and the goal of ending the need for JVs to depend on NNPC cash. NNPC was in talks with oil majors such as Italy's Eni and oil traders Vitol and Gunvor, seeking partnerships to revamp assets such as refineries after decades of neglect. Cash-strapped for years, it reported a loss of 267.14 billion naira ($1.3 billion) for 2015. "My ideal would be to bring in third party capital, do a joint investment and management of the refineries and work out a pay-out process over 5 to 6 years basically on lifting of some portion of the finished products," Kachikwu said. He added that the government would also advertise concessions for pipelines and depots next month. RAISING FUNDS NNPC was also looking into revamping joint ventures with local firms to boost productivity but this would depend on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a project to revamp the sector held up in parliament for years. Kachikwu said NNPC was in talks with the Senate to speed up the process by splitting the PIB into three parts covering governance, taxation and business items such as oil block licensing. NNPC would also restructure strategic alliance agreements held by Atlantic Energy to raise funds for oil blocks sold by Royal Dutch Shell. The controversial deals were signed under the previous oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was briefly arrested in London last year on suspicion of corruption. [nL5N1223TQ] Former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi alleged that Atlantic's deals were one route through which tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues were diverted from state finances. Kachikwu said NNPC expected to conclude a deal within two months for a new partner to pay up to $1.3 billion to take over the Atlantic agreements. The blocks were originally sold to indigenous oil companies by Shell. "I'm saying to Atlantic, sorry, you're out because there's been a breach," he said. "Whoever comes in has to give a sign-in fee almost equivalent to what I've lost ... we'll have a massive increase in volume out of those fields, we're going to have 150,000 to 200,000 bpd from the current 40,000 to 50,000 bpd." (Reporting by Julia Payne; Editing by Ulf Laessing and Ruth Pitchford) MUNICH (Reuters) - Fighters for the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram have been trained in Somalia on Africa's eastern coast before returning to West Africa, Somalia's president told a security conference in Germany on Sunday. Somalia, plagued by political in-fighting, corruption and attacks by al Shabaab insurgents, has recently made limited progress towards creating a functioning political system, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. "Without a stable Somalia, the whole region of the Horn of Africa will remain unstable and by and large, the African continent. There are proofs and evidence that (for) some time Boko Haram has been trained in Somalia and they went back to Nigeria," he said. "The terrorists are so linked together, they are associated and so organised, (that) we the world we need to be so organised," he said, speaking in English. It was not clear from his comments whether he believed al Shabaab was still training Boko Haram fighters, who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Somalia's al Shabaab, which has links to al Qaeda and wants to overthrow the Somali government and impose a harsh version of Islamic law, claimed responsibility for a blast this month that punched a hole in the fuselage of a plane. (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Ros Russell) Japan's seventh-ranked Kei Nishikori captured his fourth consecutive ATP Memphis Open title on Sunday by defeating 18-year-old US wildcard Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4. Top seed Nishikori won his 11th career ATP crown by taking his 17th consecutive Memphis match victory. He joins Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the only active players to have won the same event four years in a row. "It has been amazing," Nishikori said as he accepted the guitar-shaped champion's trophy. "It was really fun on the court. This is something I've never done before, something new. I'm very happy for that." Fritz, in only his third tour-level event, was the youngest American in an ATP final since a 17-year-old Michael Chang won at Wembley in 1989. "It was a great week for me," Fritz said. "Winning the tournament four times, that's incredible. He was too tough for me today." Fritz smashed a backhand winner down the line to break Nishikori's first service game of the match -- his lone break of the contest -- and then held at love himself for a 3-0 edge. But the Asian ace bounced back by winning six of the next seven games. A double fault cost Fritz a break in the fifth game and he struggled to hold in the seventh, denying Nishikori break points on two aces and a service winner. Nishikori broke in the ninth game on a forehand winner and held at love to claim the first set after 36 minutes. In the second set, Nishikori broke on a forehand winner for a 3-2 lead and forced Fritz to save two match points in the ninth game before holding in the 10th on a forehand winner to end it after 79 minutes. After starting the week 1-2 in ATP play, Fritz will jump from 145th to 103rd in the world rankings. "I'm sure he has got a bright future and is going to be among the top players very soon," Nishikori said of Fritz. Fritz, last year's US Open junior champion, made his ATP debut last year at Nottingham, beating Carreno Busta before a second-round exit. He lost to compatriot Jack Sock in five sets in the first round of last month's Australian Open. By Anshuman Daga and Sarah McFarlane SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Three liquefied natural gas (LNG) traders at Asia's biggest commodity trade house, Noble Group Ltd, including two co-heads of the team, are leaving to join rival trader Glencore, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Noble and Glencore declined to comment. The sources said that Noble will continue to trade LNG, having restarted its London-based trading desk in 2014. Noble will still have about five people involved in the LNG business. The departures come after a tough period at Noble. The company's shares have shed more than two-thirds of their value in the past year, after Iceberg Research alleged the company inflated its assets by billions of dollars by inaccurately representing the value of its contracts. A slump in commodity markets also hit the firm. Noble has rejected the accusations of accounting irregularities. Last month, Noble's executives said the company was taking measures to bolster its balance sheet. It has slashed capital expenditure on areas such as its non-ferrous metals business and sold its stake in its agribusiness unit. LNG, however, has been an attractive area for commodity traders, as a wave of export projects planned over the past decade come to fruition, boosting supply and creating trading opportunities. One of Noble's biggest LNG ventures has been its two-year supply deal into the burgeoning Egyptian market after the country launched two import terminals last year, enabling it to quickly become a significant buyer of the fuel. Switzerland-headquartered Glencore noted last year that LNG offered growth opportunities for the trade house. Two trade sources separately told Reuters that two LNG traders from Glencore had recently departed from the company. Glencore declined to comment on the departures. (Reporting by Anshuman Daga in SINGAPORE and Sarah McFarlane in LONDON; Editing by Alison Williams) By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday said President Barack Obama had started preliminary discussions with his team about naming a Supreme Court justice nominee and accused Republicans of "bluster" for saying they would not confirm his pick. White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters that administration officials had been in touch with Senate offices about the process, which is shaping up to be an epic fight between Republicans and Democrats in a presidential election year. Republicans, who control the Senate, say Obama should put off naming a replacement for conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died over the weekend, and leave it to the next president to decide. Democrats say it is the president's responsibility and right to make the choice. Americans choose a new president in November elections. Obama leaves office in January 2017. Schultz laid out some of the criteria that Obama would consider in his decision making process, including adherence to precedent and bringing one's own ethics and moral bearings to decisions on the court in which the law is not clear. "The president seeks judges who understand that justice is not about some abstract legal theory, or a footnote in a casebook, but it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of peoples lives," he said. Schultz said there was clear precedence for the U.S. Senate to confirm a Supreme Court justice during a presidential election year and called on lawmakers to give Obama's eventual nominee a fair hearing and a timely vote. Scalia's death leaves the court evenly divided between liberal and conservative justices. "The Constitution does not include exemptions for election years or for the presidents last term in office. Theres no exemptions for when a vacancy could tip the balance of the court, Schultz said. Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have made clear they would not support an Obama nominee. Story continues Schultz said such "bluster" had been used before on issues such as raising the U.S. debt limit but ultimately failed. This is not the first time that Republicans have come out with a lot of bluster, only to have reality ultimately sink in, he said. At each pass, they took a hard line. They tried to play politics. But ultimately, they were not able to back up their threats. Obama is in California for a summit with Southeast Asian leaders. He returns to Washington on Tuesday. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Alan Crosby) By Tom Perry and Jeff Mason BEIRUT/RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russia on Sunday to stop bombing "moderate" rebels in Syria in support of its ally Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to latest efforts to end the war. Major powers agreed on Friday to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties - the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it. Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are meanwhile helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial centre before the conflict. There is little optimism that the deal reached in Munich will do much to end a war that has lasted five years and cost 250,000 lives. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Obama had spoken by telephone and agreed to intensify cooperation to implement the Munich agreement. But a Kremlin statement made clear Russia was committed to its campaign against Islamic State and "other terrorist organisations", an indication that it would also target groups in western Syria where jihadists such as al Qaeda are fighting Assad in close proximity to rebels deemed moderate by the West. Russia says the "cessation" does not apply to its air strikes, which have shifted the balance of power towards Assad. It says Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are the main targets of its air campaign. But Western countries say Russia has in fact been mostly targeting other insurgent groups, including some they support. The White House said Obama's discussion with Putin stressed the need to rush humanitarian aid to Syria and contain air strikes. "In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," the White House said in a statement. AID THREATENED Relief workers said efforts to deliver humanitarian aid were being threatened by the latest escalation of violence. "We must ask again, why wait a week for this urgently needed cessation of hostilities?" said Dalia al-Awqati, Mercy Corps Director of Programs for North Syria. The situation in Syria has been complicated by the involvement of Kurdish-backed combatants in the area north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, which has drawn a swift military response from artillery in Turkey. The Kurdish YPG militia, helped by Russian air raids, seized an ex-military air base at Menagh last week, angering Turkey, which sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish group that waged a bloody insurgent campaign on Turkish soil over most of the past three decades. Turkey began shelling while demanding that the YPG militia withdraw from areas it has captured from Syrian rebels in the northern Aleppo region in recent days, including the Menagh air base. The bombardment killed two YPG fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Syrian Kurdish PYD party rejected Turkish demands for withdrawal, while the Syrian government said Turkish shelling of northern Syria amounted to direct support for insurgent groups. France called on Turkey to stop the shelling, but Turkey said it would continue to respond to Kurdish militia attacks in Syria. Syria also said Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen that entered Syria on Saturday with a dozen pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns in an operation to supply rebel fighters. Other fronts were also active on Sunday. Kurdish-backed forces were fighting with insurgent groups near Tel Rifaat in the northern Aleppo countryside, while further south, government forces renewed their shelling of rebel positions to the northwest of Aleppo city. The Observatory also reported air strikes by jets believed to be Russian in areas east of Damascus, north of Homs, and in the southern province of Deraa. Reaction from politicians in the West to the Munich deal was sceptical. U.S. Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal as a breakthrough. "Let's be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia's assault on Aleppo to continue for another week," he said at security conference in Munich. "Mr Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime," McCain said. A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria through armed force. Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, said Russia was determined to create "facts on the ground", to bolster its negotiating position. "RECONCILIATION" As the fighting continued, the Syrian army urged citizens in Deraa province, the Ghouta area east of Damascus, and in rural districts east of Aleppo to quickly seek "reconciliation" with the government. So-called local reconciliation agreements are often seen as a means for the government to force surrender on insurgents, and have typically followed lengthy blockades of rebel areas and the civilians living there. Saudi Arabia confirmed it had sent aircraft to Turkey's Incirlik air base to join the fight against Islamic State, but said any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria must await a decision by the U.S.-led coalition combating the militants. Any ground operations in Syria will lead to "a full-fledged, long war", Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned. (Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla, Angus McDowall, Orhan Coskun, Katya Golubkova and Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Dominic Evans) This story first appeared in the Feb. 19 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Bridge of Spies Production Design: Adam Stockhausen Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich Steven Spielberg wanted to shoot as much of the Cold War drama on location as possible, including at the New York Bar Association, used for the law firm of James Donovan (Tom Hanks). "It's a beautiful building with amazing windows," says Stockhausen. "The trick was that it's busy. When there were a couple of hours free, we'd rush in to do a little bit of work, swapping out every piece of furniture and painting the place." Read More: Oscars: 5 Nominated Sound Editors Reveal Tricks to Their Trade The Danish Girl Production Design: Eve Stewart Set Decoration: Michael Standish Brussels' Horta Museum, designed by art nouveau architect Victor Horta, became a key gallery office in the film. "It embodied the look we were trying to go for in that part of the film where Lili has almost fully transitioned into her feminine self," says Stewart. "Just like the Lili in Gerda's paintings at that moment, the architectural structure was delicately curved with soft, diffused light. We were allowed to hang our own paintings and dress the space to our needs, replacing furniture and adding lighting." Mad Max: Fury Road Production Design: Colin Gibson Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson Plans to shoot in the Australian desert were scrapped when flooding caused a giant flower bed to grow in the original location. "But Namibia was terrific; it had five flavors of desert," says Gibson. "We built about 300 fake rocks ranging from a couple of feet in diameter to 60 feet around to cover trees and small plant life. We put in some of the roads; we built platforms and ramps. The locations were fantastic blank pages, but we still did a lot of work to make them film-friendly." Story continues The Martian Production Design: Arthur Max Set Decoration: Celia Bobak To tell the Mars survival story of Mark Watney, the filmmakers traveled to Wadi Rum in southern Jordan. "It works very well as Mars in its geology and color," says Max, adding that VFX was used "to embellish the rock formations and add gigantic volcanoes," including Mars' Olympus Mons, which is 374 miles in diameter. The exterior of Watney's Hab was built on location, based on research with NASA and visits to JPL and the Johnson Space Center. The Revenant Production Design: Jack Fisk Set Dectoration: Hamish Purdy "The challenge was to find locations that looked like they could have been of another time and create a journey for Hugh Glass [Leonardo DiCaprio] that didn't look repetitive," says Fisk, adding that he sought out locations that looked dangerous, had large scale and would indicate that Glass was getting somewhere. "The first attack sequence was shot in Alberta, near the water, then we went to British Columbia. I wanted a forest with huge trees for the bear attack to look primal and to make Leo look smaller." A Pakistani university attacked last month by the Taliban reopened on Monday guarded by hundreds of police, highlighting a pervasive atmosphere of fear after the Islamist group vowed more strikes on schools. Gunmen stormed Bacha Khan university in the northwestern town of Charsadda on January 20, killing teachers and students in a rampage that left 21 dead. The attack shattered a growing sense of security in the troubled region a year after the Peshawar school massacre, in which more than 150 people -- mainly children -- were killed. "I am very happy to announce that the university has been reopened today but amid very strict security," vice chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat told AFP, saying the objective was "to defeat the mindset of militants". A sense of panic has gripped parents across Pakistan in the wake of the university assault, with rumours of attacks leading to closures of educational institutions. Last week a government-run girls' college in Rawalpindi evacuated hundreds of students following an exchange of gunfire between police and car thieves nearby. It followed a similar incident at a girls' high school in the central city of Faisalabad just weeks earlier. At the university on Monday police and commandos were seen taking up positions on rooftops, while students passed through body scanners and were frisked before entering. Marwat said the university had set up special camps for the psychological treatment of traumatised students. "We have come to the university today with a firm commitment to uphold sacrifices of our fellow students," said Rehmat Ullah, 20, a student of in the biotechnology department. Iftikhar Alam, a professor, added: "We are starting classes today to make it clear to the world that we are ready to defeat our enemies and those who want to plunge Pakistan into darkness and illiteracy." The university attack was claimed by a faction of the Taliban, with its commander Khalifa Umar Mansoor calling schools "nurseries" for people who challenge Allah's law. Story continues He said in a video last month that instead of targeting professional soldiers, "we will target the nurseries that produce these people". Elsewhere on Monday a soldier was killed and another wounded by an improvised explosive device in the South Waziristan tribal region, bordering Afghanistan. A security official told AFP the soldiers were sweeping the area for IEDs so a military convoy could pass when one exploded. Pakistan has been fighting a homegrown Islamist insurgency since 2004, when militants displaced by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began a campaign in border tribal areas. Three years later the umbrella Pakistani Taliban group was formed. Overall levels of violence have fallen since a concerted military push against the Taliban's bases began in 2014, and last year saw the fewest casualties among civilians and security forces since 2007. But the threat of attacks, particularly on "soft targets" like schools, remains. PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The university in northwest Pakistan where Taliban gunmen killed at least 20 people last month reopened for classes on Monday with teachers - but not students - allowed to carry weapons. Pakistani Taliban militants have threatened more assaults on schools and universities since the Jan. 20 attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, fuelling a growing sense of insecurity in the country. The attack had reminded Pakistanis of the horrors that took place a little over a year earlier, when militants massacred 134 pupils at an army school just 19 miles (31 km) away, in Peshawar, the main city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Before Monday's reopening the university took extra security measures, installing new CCTV cameras, hiring more armed guards, and raising the height of boundary walls, vice chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat told Reuters. The university also decided that teachers could continue to carry their own licensed weapons as long as they do not display them in classrooms, Marwat said. A chemistry professor who was killed during last month's assault had been lauded as a hero for firing back at the attackers. But Marwat said the school decided to reject a request from some teachers to issue them firearms. "After taking whatever security measures were possible for protection of students and faculty members, we opened the university today for classes," Marwat said. Students who owned weapons had to submit them at the entrance of the campus, he said. Firearms are easily available in northwest Pakistan, and gun ownership is ingrained in the culture of Pashtun tribes of the region. Many of the returning students arrived at the campus with their parents and relatives, who waited while they went to classes. Several, however, were still too traumatized to attend school or were made to stay home by scared parents. "I know the university has been opened today, but my parents didn't allow me to go today," said student Ihsanullah Khan. "I am not afraid and will definitely join my friends very soon." Vice chancellor Marwat said the university had arranged counseling sessions for students and for recreational trips elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani army said the attack on the university was masterminded by Umar Mansoor, a Pakistani Taliban militant based in Afghanistan, who was also blamed for the Peshawar school massacre. The Pakistani Taliban are fighting to topple the government and install a strict interpretation of Islamic law. On Monday, an IED blast in Pakistan's volatile South Waziristan region on the border with Afghanistan left one paramilitary soldier dead and three injured. (Reporting by Jibran Ahmad and Hafiz Wazir; Writing by Mehreen Zahra-Malik; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Hundreds of stone-throwing Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli soldiers who raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday, leaving 28 with gunshot injuries. The Palestinian health ministry said 28 people were shot and wounded, including one in the head, during clashes in Al-Amari camp at the entrance to the West Bank city of Ramallah. A squad of around 25 Israeli soldiers arrived in the camp, located on the edge of the city where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters, early on Monday morning. Palestinian security sources said the army tried to arrest an official from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, who managed to escape. The Israeli army did not give a reason for their raid in the camp, speaking only of "operational activity". Once in the streets of the camp, which is home to 15,000 Palestinians, soldiers clashed with hundreds of youths who threw stones and glass bottles. The soldiers responded by firing rubber bullets and live ammunition. One soldier was injured by stones and needed to be aided by colleagues, according to AFP journalists on the scene. An army spokeswoman said "dozens of rioters hurled homemade explosives and rocks at forces", although the AFP journalists saw no explosive devices. "Forces called on the rioters to halt the assault using riot dispersal means. Upon the continued violence, the force responded, shooting towards the main instigators," the spokeswoman added. The clashes lasted for nearly three hours before troops left the camp. Some of the soldiers were picked up by military jeeps, while others left to a nearby Jewish settlement. Palestinians followed them, blocking the main road from Ramallah to Jerusalem for about half an hour. Later on Monday, Israeli police said they arrested a 15-year-old Palestinian girl carrying two knifes in her bag after she approached police on the edge of the Old City of Jerusalem. Story continues "Police units at Damascus gate arrest suspicious female terrorist with knives before carrying out attack. No injuries," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted. The events were the latest in more than four months of violence rocking Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Since October 1, 172 Palestinians, 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean have been killed in a wave of violence, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out attacks but others died during clashes and demonstrations. MANILA (Reuters) - Jewelry, property and stocks confiscated from the Philippines former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family following his ouster 30 years ago will be put up for sale, government officials said on Monday. Marcos fled to Hawaii in 1986 following a near bloodless popular revolt, known as "People Power". He had ruled the Philippines for 20 years, during which time his family amassed an estimated $10 billion. Sources at the finance ministry said the government is looking to raise at least 838.85 million pesos ($17.70 million) from the sale of two real estate properties, company shares, and the jewelry. "Proceeds from the sale will go to the Bureau of Treasury and Philippine Commission on Good Government," Gil Beltan, deputy finance secretary, told reporters, referring to the agency established to track down the Marcoses' fortune. About 300 pieces of jewelry, including a rare 25-carat barrel-shaped pink diamond, are among the assets that will be auctioned. The three jewelry collections, which had been kept in a vault at the central bank, have been appraised by international auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's. The government had tried to auction the three jewelry collections in 2005 but the late dictator's widow Imelda Marcos contested the move, claiming ownership of two of the sets. One was found in the presidential palace after her family's hasty departure and another was seized in Hawaii, where they lived in exile. Imelda Marcos, now an elected member of Congress, is best known for leaving behind more than 1,200 pairs of shoes when she and her late husband fled. She has vowed to recover her family's seized assets. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in 1989. Their only son, Ferdinand Junior, is a senator. He is running for vice president in the May election and latest independent polls showed him to be a top contender. ($1 = 47.4030 Philippine pesos) (Reporting By Manuel Mogato; Editing By Simon Cameron-Moore) Monterrey (Mexico) (AFP) - Authorities found "luxury cells" with aquariums, portable saunas and even a bar at a Mexican prison where 49 inmates were killed in a brawl, officials said Sunday. The warden and superintendent of the Topo Chico prison in the northern industrial city of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state, were arrested and accused of drug trafficking and failing to apply security measures. A guard faces charges of fatally shooting one of the inmates during Thursday's melee. Zetas drug cartel leader Ivan Hernandez Cantu, alias "El Credo," had a king-sized bed in his cell, a huge flat-screen television and a luxury bath, the Nuevo Leon state prosecutor's office said. "At the time of the attack, a lady was with him," chief prosecutor Roberto Flores said. Authorities say the battle stemmed from a dispute over control of the prison between Hernandez and another Zetas leader, Juan Pedro Zaldivar Farias, alias "Z-27." Most of the victims died when they were stabbed or beaten with sticks by other inmates during the skirmish. The state government said Sunday that police took control of the prison and "put an end to the self-government that leaders of organized crime exerted with the complicity of some authorities." The prison had "luxury cells" with air conditioners, mini-fridges, digital televisions, aquariums and portable saunas, the government said in a statement, adding that authorities had seized everything. The prison had food stands, convenience stores and even a bar that were operated by inmates, the statement said. Relatives of inmates said that the prisoners had to pay high prices to get water and food due to the bad quality of the meals provided by the prison. Authorities also found hundreds of figures of Santa Muerte, a Grim Reaper-like "Death Saint" worshiped by criminals but also millions of ordinary Mexicans. "All the privileges are over," state public safety chief Cuauhtemoc Antunez said. Story continues The prison had 3,800 inmates at the time of the riot, 35 percent over capacity, and it was housing drug cartel members as well as suspects of less serious crimes awaiting trial. Authorities transferred 233 inmates, including the two Zetas leaders, to other prisons following the violence. The day after the massacre, officials found scores of makeshift knives, hammers and drugs inside the prison. As Bernie Sanders defies expectations with a resounding New Hampshire victory and a virtual tie in Iowa, Democratic Party leaders still insist Hillary Clinton is the pragmatic choice to beat Republicans and bring effective leadership and changeif incrementalto Washington. Clinton and her supporters frame the race, and her appeal, as a matter of ready on day one leadership and get things done practicality. But what does the record show, and what do leadership and pragmatism really mean? On the pragmatics of electability, nearly every major national poll consistently shows Sanders equaling or bettering Clinton against all Republicans. Polls show Sanders nearly tied with Clinton nationally and rising. On electability, if anything, Sanders has the edge right now. There is nothing empirical to suggest Clintons superior electabilityquite the contrary given her loss to Barack Obama in 2008 and her flagging campaign this year. While Clinton might gain more moderate Independents (particularly against a polarizing Republican nominee), Sanders can inspire massive Democratic and liberal Independent turnout and likely win over many white working-class swing voters. Recommended: Why Antonin Scalia Will Rank Among the Most Influential Justices Clintons most persistent attackparroted by mainstream mediaclaims that Sanderss agenda is perhaps laudable but unrealistic. Moderation is more effective, she claims. However, this is a misreading of American politics and factual comparisons of the candidates track records. The Clinton pragmatism frame is a strangely naive and fatalistic misjudging of political culture and dynamics. During most of his eight years in office, President Obama has tacked to the center in hopes of bipartisan compromise on everything from gun control to the budget, only to be met by relentless Republican obstruction, even labeled a socialist dictator. Republicans did much the same during Bill Clintons first termpushing him more deeply into the political center, where, with plenty of support from Hillary, President Clinton and the Gingrich Congress gutted welfare, enacted a deeply compromised crime bill, and reversed bank regulations (something Hillary is OK with even after the financial crisis). Story continues No matter where a Democratic president is on the spectrum, Republicans block and push rightward. In her campaign, as in the past, Hillary Clinton has compromised her agenda before the political battle even begins. Based on her record and political positions, it is not credible for Democrats to hope that a Clinton presidency can deliver progressive change. It is not pragmatic to hope that Clinton, by dint of her centrist leanings, can work with Congress on anything other than a centrist agendaat best. To the extent that she gets things done with a Republican legislature, based on an electoral mandate of centrism, there is zero prospect of progressive reform on Wall Street, corporate accountability, wealth inequality, or campaign finance. In politics, if you demand a mile, you get a foot; demand a moderate inch, and at best, you get a centimeter. Recommended: George Washington, Man of Mystery On the other side of the ledger, history shows that political and social change emanate from persistent pressureorganizing and arguing for a more just world, not settling for what is deemed realistic before getting to the negotiating table. Remember when gay rights and gay marriage were unrealistic? Remember when voting rights, desegregation, and other basic justice were far from pragmatic? They became real through years of dedicated, principled, idealismby insisting the unrealistic become real. Clintons brand of pragmatism surrenders progressive change to centrism. If liberals and progressives support a $15 per-hour minimum wage, universally accessible health care, fair taxes on corporations and wealth, and meaningful reforms of Wall Street and campaign finance, they should elect a president who actually fights for these things. Sanders has spent his whole political life in pursuit of these ideals, and his campaign has moved these conversations to the fore; Clintons record on the other hand shows a consistent pattern of following, not leading on these issues. Clintons brand of pragmatism surrenders progressive change to centrism even before negotiations begin. Change is not, as Clinton has claimed, a matter of magical thinking or waving a wandit is about pushing ideas, building movements, and challenging the status quo. Even before the general election, Clinton is campaigning on a deflating and defeatist politics of half-a-loaf pragmatism, aiming lower on minimum wage, opposing free college, opposing single-payer health care. With Sanders, there is no question he will push for meaningful progressive change. No candidate can guarantee passage of their platformbut at least Sanders makes change possible. Recommended: What Scalia's Death Means for Religious Liberty in the United States On the question of leadership, Clintons other central campaign theme is her record of experience. As first lady, Clinton failed at health-care reform. She never pushed for single-payer health care and never built a coalition for anything beyond a compromised managed-care system. She also supported three of Bill Clintons signature measures, which all proved disastrous: welfare rollback, which unraveled safety-net supports for poor families, low-income women, and millions of working-class Americans; the omnibus crime bill with its three strikes and mandatory minimum sentencing, which contributed to a generation of long-term, largely African American inmates and felons; and NAFTA, which helped impoverish millions of Mexican and Central America farmers, leading to mass migration and social and economic upheaval. In one undistinguished term as U.S. senator, Clinton opposed gay marriage, voted for the Iraq war, and supported the Patriot Act, among other positions. As secretary of state, while logging impressive global mileage, Clinton pushed for aggressive regime change in Libya, and she worked hard to expand corporate military contracts and fracking abroad. Whether the American public finds her record favorable or not, it is not one of progressive, forward-looking leadership. Sanders has consistently demonstrated leadership, speaking out, introducing legislation, and laying the political groundwork on a wide array of issues, including: gay rights (long before they gained mainstream support), workers rights and union rights, universal single-payer health care, family and medical leave protections, and expansions of Social Security. On nearly every major issuelabor and economic justice, to the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, welfare reform, NAFTA, the Keystone XL pipeline, and the Transpacific PartnershipSanders has taken clear consistent stands, while Clinton has waffled, backtracked, and leaned to the center. There is no magic wand to accomplish change. No candidate or president can promise changehe or she can only make it possible. What makes change happen, history and current U.S. politics show, is principled and courageous commitment and integritynot Clintons fatalistic pragmatism, which insists that pushing for more is unrealistic and therefore capitulates before the fight even starts. On the other hand, it is entirely pragmatic to expect a President Bernie Sanders to fight hard for the justice and equality issues he has championed his entire political lifegiving these ideas a chance, rather than no chance at all. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. By Paul Taylor BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Panic rather than love may keep Britain in the European Union when voters cast their ballots in a referendum, probably in June, on whether to stay in the 28-nation bloc under Prime Minister David Cameron's "new settlement". While few may be swayed by the lightly amended membership terms, a plunging currency, tumbling share prices and fears for property values could drive enough Britons to opt at the last minute for the status quo rather than a leap into the unknown. That was how the British political establishment managed by the skin of its teeth to hold the United Kingdom together in 2014, when Scottish voters tempted by the centuries-old dream of regaining independence from England ultimately chose safety. It is also a plausible scenario for the EU vote, especially since a decision to leave would reopen the Scottish question. Ordinary Brits tempted to give the unloved "Europe" a kicking may plump for stability to avoid economic uncertainty rather than risk financial and political turmoil. In Scotland, the communications director of the "Better Together" campaign, Rob Shorthouse, got into trouble for joking that his strategy was "Project Fear". The idea that unionist campaigners were setting out to frighten voters stirred outrage in the nationalist camp, but it proved effective. Eurosceptics accuse Cameron of planning a similar scare campaign now, but events may produce the same impact even without political orchestration. Two weeks before the Scottish vote in September 2014, a single opinion poll showed independence supporters had taken a slender lead for the first time. That jolted financial markets and prompted banks and insurers to announce contingency plans to move their headquarters south of the border amid uncertainty over what currency an independent Scotland would use. Economic anxiety trumped political adventure in the final days of campaigning, with British leaders rushing to Scotland to tell Scots how much the rest of the United Kingdom valued them, and how they were "better off together". With a record high turnout of 84.6 percent, Scots voted by 55.3 to 44.7 percent against breaking up the union. It's an understatement to say Britons are less emotionally attached to the EU than they are to national unity. Yet the potential economic damage from a "Brexit" could be greater than if Scotland had left, and the former might trigger the latter. Economic forecasters say the British economy would suffer a significant setback if the country decided to leave the EU, with its 500-million-strong single market, common external trade policy and free movement of capital, goods, services and people. An exit vote would not take effect immediately but there would be several years of uncertainty and acrimony while Britain negotiated a new, more distant relationship with the bloc. The City of London financial center, which has thrived as an offshore capital for euro trading, would almost certainly lose some ground. How much is a matter of fierce dispute. Eurosceptics say that EU supporters made the same case in the early 2000s that if Britain did not join the euro, the City would wither. On the contrary, it has flourished. Yet leaving the EU would present a different challenge. Big foreign banks use London as their European gateway due partly to the EU's "passporting" principle that an institution regulated in one member state can trade all over Europe. Some are now making contingency plans to move certain activities and staff to Dublin or Frankfurt in case of "Brexit", bankers say. Fewer bankers and less investment would hit property values over time. Uncertainty over the status of some 2.1 million EU workers in Britain could also dampen the housing market. Since markets tend to anticipate and hedge for political risk, it is reasonable to assume that if opinion polls are showing the "Leave" campaign in the lead in late May or early June, some of that damage would start to occur before the vote. U.S. investment banks Goldman Sachs and Citi have both estimated the pound could lose between 15 and 20 percent of its value against major trading currencies if the "Out" camp wins. A run on sterling could start in the final phase of the campaign, just as the middle classes are packing their beachwear for continental summer holidays in the euro zone. While many British companies have kept quiet about support for EU membership to avoid upsetting shareholders or customers who favor a "Brexit", currency instability, stock market losses and an incipient investment freeze could make them more vocal. Even strong EU supporters such as Charles Grant, director of the London-based thinktank Centre for European Reform, acknowledge that the "In" campaign will struggle to convince voters of the positive case for staying in the bloc. "There are many reasons to be pessimistic about the campaign," he told a Brussels audience. "The 'Out' campaign have jolly good arguments superficially... Big business is pathetic and cowardly." Opponents argue that under EU rules, Britain cannot control its national borders to shut out migrant workers; that the UK net contribution to the EU budget would be better spent on the National Health Service; and that foreign judges in the European Court of Justice should not be able to overrule British courts. By contrast, many of the benefits of EU membership in global trade, international political influence and shared norms and values are hard to quantify and explain simply, Grant said. Hence the temptation for pro-EU campaigners to focus more on what Britain stands to lose in case of a "No" vote - foreign investment, jobs and security. "Project Panic" may not be the official strategy, but it looks likely to play a big role in shaping the British vote. (Writing by Paul Taylor; editing by Adrian Croft) By Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI, Pakistan(Reuters) - Pakistans southern province of Sindh on Monday became the countrys first region to give its small Hindu minority the right to register their marriages officially. Non-Muslims make up only about three percent of the 190 million population of Pakistan, which was founded as a haven for the sub-continent's Muslims on independence from the British in 1947 with a promise of religious freedom to minorities. But Hindus have had no legal mechanism to register their marriages. Christians, the other main religious minority, have a British law dating back to 1870 regulating their marriages. The objective of this bill is to provide a formal process of registration of marriage for Hindus, said the bill passed by the legislature in Sindh, where most of Pakistan's Hindus live. The law can be applied retroactively to existing marriages. Without the law, Hindus say their women were easy targets for rape or forced marriage and faced problems in proving the legitimacy of their relationships before the law. Widows have been particularly disadvantaged. Pakistan's Hindus and other minorities have faced a surge of violence in recent years as militant Islamists attack groups that do not share their strict interpretation of Islam. All of Pakistan's minorities - Hindus, Christians, Ahmadis and even Shi'ite Muslims - say they feel the state fails to protect them and sometimes even tolerates violence against them. Many complain the problem has become worse since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won an election in 2013. Sharif has close ties with Saudi Arabia, whose brand of conservative Wahhabi Islam is preached by many of the people who denounce minorities. The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom said in a recent report that conditions in Pakistan had "hit an all-time low" and governments had failed to adequately protect minorities and arrest those who attack or discriminate against them. But many see the passage of the bill as a ray of hope. Now after the passage of this bill in the Sindh assembly, after 70 years, Hindus will also have a marriage certificate just like Muslims do," said Shahnaz Sheedi, the coordinator for South Asia Partnership Pakistan, a civil rights movement. "We hope that bill will be soon adopted at the national level, she said. The National Assembly in Islamabad has been considering such a bill it is still in committee. (Editing by Mehreen Zahra-Malik; Editing by Tom Heneghan) The vow by Senate Republicans to not vote on any nominee President Obama picks to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia represents a huge gamble that could have major consequences for the GOP in the 2016 presidential election and on Capitol Hill next year. The announcement by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), made roughly an hour after Scalias death was confirmed, surprised observers on both sides of the political aisle. Related: Justice Antonin Scalia Dead at 79 The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president, McConnell said in a statement. Delaying such an important decision, which could influence the highest court in the land for generations, is in keeping with the Kentucky lawmakers general strategy: hold onto the Republican majority in the Senate by avoiding controversial votes that could imperil GOP incumbents in 2016. But abandoning the chambers mission to advise and consent is fraught with political risks for McConnell and his colleagues, and the avoidance of a vote could create its own controversy. If the conflict stretches on, Democrats will once again be able to paint Republicans as the party of no, with zero interest in governing. Related: Trump: If Cruz Keeps Cheating, Ill Sue Him The idea that Republicans want to deny the president of the United States his basic constitutional right is beyond my comprehension, Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said on Face the Nation. He said the main leverage his party has is rallying the American people. Coming out so swiftly on the matter could give Obama the upper hand in the election-year fight. Its unclear how Republicans will be able to explain their intransigence if Obama nominates a moderate someone who would be confirmable if the White House had a good relationship with Congress and they continue to sit on their hands. Story continues The president has said he would nominate someone in due time, and its likely that he wants to spare his successor Democrat or Republican from being handicapped with a major political fight over the court within his or her first 100 days in office. Even if McConnell does buckle to public pressure and decide to hold hearings on a nominee, it could add to the increasingly bitter fight with hard-right members like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Related: Is This Why Bernie Sanders Is Going Easy on Hillary? On Sunday the presidential contender vowed to filibuster any Obama nominee to replace Scalia. This should be a decision for the people, he said on ABCs This Week on Sunday. Let the election decide. If the Democrats want to replace [Scalia], they need to win the election. But I dont think the American people want a court that will strip our religious liberties. I dont think the American people want a court that will mandate unlimited abortions on demand, partial-birth abortion with taxpayer funding and no parental notification, and I dont think the American people want a court that will write the Second Amendment out of the Constitution. Asked whether he would filibuster Obamas choice, Cruz said: "Absolutely. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), another White House hopeful, said the president can nominate whomever he wants, but "it's pretty clear" that the Senate isnt going to act. "We're not moving forward on it, period," he said during on NBCs Meet the Press. Radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt tapped into the mood of many of his fellow conservatives when he tweeted hed rather see the Democrats take back the Senate because of a Supreme Court brawl than not have one at all. I'd rather lose the Senate majority with a fight than SCOTUS w/o one. #NoHearingsNoVotes, he said. I'd rather lose the Senate majority with a fight than SCOTUS w/o one. #NoHearingsNoVotes Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) February 14, 2016 Ohio Governor John Kasich, another 2016 contender, on Sunday said that if he were in Obamas shoes, hed throw political caution into the wind and let it ride. When you have that kind of division, it's really hard to get this done. If I were president of the United States, you know, and I could keep the Congress together, of course I would send somebody, he said during an interview on ABC. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Moscow (AFP) - Russia said on Monday that Turkey's shelling of Kurdish and Syrian regime positions in the north of the country was a "provocative" action. "Starting from February 13, Turkish artillery concentrated in border areas is carrying out massive strikes on Syrian towns recently freed from terrorists by regime forces and Kurdish militia," a statement by the Russian foreign ministry said. "There have been many civilians killed and injured, infrastructure and residential houses destroyed," it said. "Moscow expresses its most serious concern about aggressive actions by Turkish authorities against a neighbouring state," the statement said. "We see it as overt support of international terrorism." "Russia will support discussion of this issue in the UN Security council for a clear assessment of the provocative line pursued by Ankara, which is creating a threat to peace and security in the Middle East and beyond." Turkey on Monday was shelling for the third day positions of Kurdish fighters, accused by Ankara of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Moscow has been carrying out a campaign to support the Syrian army's offensive since September and also has struck a tighter alliance with the Syrian Kurds who opened an office in Moscow last week. Ankara has vowed to keep carrying out the strikes despite criticism from Western allies in the US-led coalition, with the spiralling disagreements making the prospects of a ceasefire set to start next month increasingly unlikely. By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - If you believe online polls, Britain's looming referendum on whether to quit the European Union will be a tight race that the "out" camp could win. But if you trust telephone polls, the "in" camp should triumph by a wide margin. The divergence has raised fresh questions about whether polling is reliable after the industry suffered a severe blow to its reputation last year when a general election resulted in a Conservative victory that it totally failed to predict. The stakes in the referendum could hardly be higher. The EU risks losing its second-biggest economy and one of its two main military powers, while the consequences for Britain in terms of trade, growth and influence in the world could be profound. The pollsters are desperate to get it right this time. "I don't think the polling industry can afford to get this one wrong and I think the world will be looking at our performance," said Martin Boon, director of pollster ICM. The trouble is that pollsters disagree on which method - phone or internet - is producing better results, and independent experts say it is impossible to know for sure. "The honest truth is there's an awful lot of uncertainty surrounding this referendum," said academic John Curtice, Britain's foremost expert on electoral behaviour. "If the online polls are correct it's quite close, and we don't know which set of polls is correct, if either." Over the past six months, the two firms that have been conducting phone polls, ComRes and Ipsos MORI, have consistently found the option to stay in the EU was ahead by well over 10 percentage points, and in some polls by more than 20 points. But online polls, which are being done more frequently by YouGov, ICM and four other firms, have found that the two sides are neck and neck. The largest lead in an online poll was nine points for the out camp, in a YouGov poll published on Feb. 4. Curtice has been overseeing a "poll of polls", a rolling average of the six most recent phone and web polls, which provides a summary of the overall referendum polling picture. http://bit.ly/1O4xUc3 Last updated on Feb. 7 when it showed 51 percent in favour of remaining and 49 percent wishing to withdraw, the poll of polls has never shown a lead for the so-called "Brexit" option. ENGAGEMENT GAP? Pollsters pointed out that these were early days, with major uncertainties hanging over key aspects of the referendum. Those include when it will take place, whether some high-profile politicians like London Mayor Boris Johnson will campaign to leave, and what final deal on Britain's membership terms Prime Minister David Cameron will secure from Brussels. Pollsters from both sides of the divide also said they expected there would be some convergence between the two methods as campaigning intensified and voters became more engaged. For now, a phone versus online debate is in full swing. One argument put forward in favour of phone polls is that web panels tend to attract more politically engaged respondents, as people must voluntarily participate rather than receiving uninvited calls. This could skew online results towards the out camp, regarded as the more committed group. Tom Mludzinski, director of political polling at ComRes, said it was also difficult for internet polls to reach elderly voters. He saw a risk that those older people who did take part in online surveys were not typical of their age group and potentially more passionate about wanting Brexit. "Our experimentation has led us to view telephone to be the most reliable for this particular issue," Mludzinski said, adding that for certain other contests online polls were better. But others countered that respondents to phone polls may not be representative of the broader population either, because most people hang up and only a small minority take part. Boon said that in one phone poll conducted by ICM before last year's election, it took 28,000 calls to get 2,000 interviews. He said low response rates were common nowadays. Several pollsters noted that in the run-up to the election, online polls over-estimated support for anti-EU party UKIP while phone polls under-estimated it, which some said reflected how web surveys attracted the more politically engaged. If there is a correlation between the UKIP vote and support for Brexit, as seems likely at least to some extent, then that could suggest a similar effect in the EU referendum polling. Boon said this was possible but speculative as he had found no evidence of UKIP voters being over-represented in ICM's online referendum polls. "My personal inclination is that the telephone polls are probably a bit too far one way and the online polls are a bit too far the other way, which magnifies the separation between the two," he said. 'AN INTRIGUING MYSTERY' Anthony Wells, director of political and social research at YouGov, said a further source of uncertainty was the fact that online polls were getting a much higher proportion of "don't know" responses than phone polls. "If the difference between the two is how knowledgeable people are and how strongly people feel and how engaged they are in politics, then the 'don't knows' should be the other way round," he said, adding that this was "an intriguing mystery". One risk is that people could be telling phone interviewers they favour staying in the EU because they don't want to seem uninformed and they perceive that stance to be uncontroversial, a psychological factor that would not affect online polls. "If it is causing more people who don't have an opinion to say that they would vote to stay in the EU then the leads for 'remain' in the phone polls are phantom," Adam Drummond, who manages political polling at Opinium, said in a blog. Further complicating the picture is the fact that most pollsters changed their surveying techniques after last year's election fiasco, and may tweak them further when an independent inquiry into what went wrong makes recommendations next month. That raises the prospect that the poll figures could change in coming weeks and months, reflecting different methods rather than an underlying shift in public opinion. Boon said that ICM was in the process of applying technical innovations that would have a material effect on referendum voting intentions in its future polls, though he declined to say which of the in or out camps would benefit. Taking all the arguments and counter-arguments into account, these are nervous times for pollsters, as expressed by Boon when asked to pin down the reason for the phone-online divide. "If I knew that I'd be sitting very much more comfortably than I do sit." (Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Pravin Char) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator John McCain said on Sunday he would subpoena 10 U.S. sailors to testify about their brief detention by Iran if the Obama administration does not provide the findings of an investigation into the incident by March 1. "It's an option that I do not want to exercise," McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters as he was returning to the United States from an international security conference in Germany. The sailors were detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after their two patrol boats strayed into Iranian waters on Jan. 12. U.S. officials later blamed a navigational problem. The Americans were freed the next day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry intervened with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, averting a diplomatic crisis just days before implementation of the Iran nuclear deal and the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran. Iranian media broadcast videos of the detainees, including scenes in which Revolutionary Guards personnel trained weapons on the sailors as they kneeled. The Obama administration has said the sailors' speedy release showed the power of diplomacy and the promise of its new engagement with Iran. The U.S. Navy had briefed McCain several times about the incident, and would continue to do so as the investigation proceeded, said one U.S. official. Republicans have been critical of the deal with Iran, and some say the detainment of the sailors showed how little regard Iran had for the United States. McCain said he had been told the sailors were still being debriefed, but added that he assumed that administration members were "dragging their feet" in completing an investigation into the incident, which he accused Iran of exploiting for propaganda purposes. "I guarantee you, if they don't have a debrief by the first of March like they said, we'll have a hearing and we'll subpoena. We're not going to wait any longer," McCain said. "We will subpoena the individuals if we have to." McCain said he raised the case in a meeting on Saturday with Kerry on the sidelines of the security conference in Munich. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Peter Cooney and Richard Pullin) MUMBAI (Reuters) - The NSE Nifty jumped more than 2.6 percent on Monday, its biggest daily percentage gain in more than a year, encouraged by strong trading in shares of banks and miners after a selloff last week. The broader Nifty ended at 7,162.95, while the benchmark BSE Sensex gained 2.47 percent to close at 23,554.12. Among gainers, State Bank of India soared 9 percent on value-buying after the stock fell as much last week. India's biggest lender on Friday reported the biggest fall in its quarterly profit in nearly five years as bad loan provisions jumped. Construction and engineering stocks also surged. Industrial group Larsen & Toubro jumped 9.1 percent. (Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi) BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia's ruling leftist party remains on course to win March elections with a double-digit lead over the closest challenger but may lose its outright majority in parliament, an opinion poll showed on Monday. Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party had 38.4 percent support in the Polis poll, down from 41.0 percent a month ago and the 44.4 percent that gave it a clear majority in the 2012 vote. Monday's survey showed Fico winning 67 seats in the 150-member parliament. A coalition with his most likely ally, the nationalist SNS party which has gained in polls, would give them a combined 83 seats. Newcomer centrist party Siet, which has sought to establish itself as the main opposition force, polled at 10.4 percent, down from 13.8 percent in January. Fico has made immigration a main platform of his campaign, while the opposition has focused on anti-corruption rhetoric and promises of business-friendly reforms. The two-time prime minister remains popular thanks partly to a package of social welfare measures in the last year, including hikes to maternity benefits and halving the sales tax on some groceries. However, he has also faced public protests in the past weeks from teachers and nurses demanding higher wages. A strong result for Siet and other center-right and ethnic Hungarian parties could lead to either a wider coalition led by Smer, a grand coalition of Siet with Smer, or a wide coalition of opposition parties that would eject Smer from power. (Reporting By Tatiana Jancarikova; Editing by Andrew Heavens) By Peroshni Govender JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The South African government should sell some state companies to improve public finances which have been hit by a weak economy, a privatisation team commissioned by President Jacob Zuma has recommended. The team's report, released over the weekend, did not mention any companies. Analysts said any sales would probably be smaller companies and not struggling power utility Eskom or national carrier South African Airways. Many of South Africa's 300-odd state entities are a drain on the government's purse. If Zuma's government were to adopt the recommendation, it would mark a departure from the ruling African National Congress's stance since coming into power in 1994, that state companies should not be sold off. The report, released over the weekend, said "governance, ownership policy and oversight systems were found to be inadequate" in state-owned companies and recommended the government sell underperforming companies either fully or partially. Zuma, in his annual state of the nation speech last week, said the government needed to tighten its belt in the face of a weak economy, which has been hit by a global slump in commodities and by power cuts due to an inefficient power sector, but analysts said it was unlikely to sell key state assets. "It needs to be taken with a very large pinch of salt," Nomura International's emerging market economist Peter Attard Montalto said of the report. "It will apply mostly to smaller parastatals and is unlikely to shift the dial on Eskom." Analysts have frequently said that cash-strapped Eskom, which was granted 20 billion rand ($1.27 billion) to refurbish aging power plants, and loss-making South African Airways should be privatised. In July the government sold off its stake in mobile phone firm Vodacom at a 10 percent discount to market prices to raise money for Eskom. ($1 = 15.7965 rand) (Editing by James Macharia and Susan Fenton) JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Impala Platinum said on Monday it expected half-year profits to fall by as much as 20 percent due to lower rand prices for its main commodity. Headline earnings per share - a measure of profit which strips off certain one-off items - will be between 50 cents and 59 cents, a decline of between 20 percent and 10 percent. Impala, the world No. 2 producer of the metal used for emissions-capping catalytic converters in cars, said the rand prices for platinum are down 15 percent compared to a year earlier causing the decline in profits. Shares in Implats, which have more than halved in value over the last year, fell 0.74 percent to 35 rand by 1500 GMT. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by James Macharia) Were 22 long months away from the release of Star Wars: Episode VIII, but on February 15th, 2016, principal photography on the next installment of the new trilogy official began at Pinewood Studios in London. In order to celebrate the occasion, Lucasfilm published a short video that shows what could be the opening shot of Episode VIII. DONT MISS: This is the stunning iPhone 7 we all deserve If you havent seen The Force Awakens, you may want to hold off on watching this video. That said, youd have to be living under a rock to not know about this characters appearance: Now, I dont want to speculate too much based on a 30 second video with 15 seconds of (what appears to be) footage from the movie, but it looks like were going to pick up right where we left off when Episode VIII releases in 2017. The video seems to imply that Rian Johnson, the director of Episode VIII, went back out to Irelands Skellig Michael island to pick up some additional footage with Luke Skywalker and Rey. Theres no telling how far the movie will jump into the future throughout its running time, but its nice to know that this thread will be tied up right away. Its going to be tough to wait two more years to see what Rey, Finn and Poe have been up to, but at least we have Rogue One to look forward to in the meantime. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on December 16th, 2016 and Star Wars: Episode VIII launches on December 15th, 2016. Related stories Star Wars gets mashed up with Mario Kart in the best video of the week 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' has officially begun filming The brilliant 'Star Wars'/'Making a Murderer' mash-up poster More from BGR: This is the stunning iPhone 7 we all deserve This article was originally published on BGR.com If there was one word that summed up the celebrity style on the BAFTA red carpet on Sunday then it was 'drama'. As the 69th edition of the British Academy Film Awards opened its doors in London, some of the brightest stars in Hollywood showed off sleek but theatrical sartorial tastes. Leading the way was Australian actress Cate Blanchett, who stunned in a high-necked Alexander McQueen dress that featured a glittering floral bodice that curved into a slim-fitted fur-textured dark skirt. A Tiffany & Co. cuff and earrings added to the dazzling effect. Also rocking a textured skirt was UK actress Laura Haddock, whose sophisticated all-black ensemble was livened up by a feathered skirt that stopped at the ankle to reveal a pair of blocky platform sandals. British talent Kate Winslet also opted for head-to-toe black, but her asymmetrical and geometric hemlines meant that the overall look was sharp and modern. US actress Julianne Moore took a similarly minimalistic approach, sporting a cream halterneck dress with black straps that ran all the way down her back, providing the perfect sartorial lesson in alternative tuxedo dressing. American starlet Dakota Johnson kept things classic in floor-length red Dior, but her plunging neckline, loosely frilled skirt and lack of jewellery kept things alluringly stark. Meanwhile Rooney Mara embraced a softer look in a whimsical Givenchy gown in dusky pink that featured shredded geometric sleeves, and Saoirse Ronan kept things wonderfully simple in a strapless floral Burberry dress and gem-hued three-tier Chopard necklace. Khartoum (AFP) - Sudanese troops and rebels have clashed around an army base in the restive South Kordofan state, both sides said on Monday, but giving conflicting accounts of the fighting. The Sudan People's Liberation Army-North has been battling President Omar al-Bashir's troops in South Kordofan and Blue Nile since 2011, but there has been relatively little fighting there this year. SPLA-N forces on Saturday "repulsed a convoy leaving Abry and heading to Lamray and pushed back the invading forces to the Abry garrison and entered its trenches and the fighting is still going on there," rebel spokesman Arnu Lodi said in a statement. Abry is a village south of the South Kordofan state capital of Kadugli where the Sudanese military has a base. Most of the territory around Abry is thought to be rebel-controlled. Lodi said the SPLA-N destroyed seven enemy land cruisers and killed 60 troops, losing seven of its own men. Sudan's army denied the claims, saying the SPLA-N had been shelling the Abray base for days. "The insurgents had been shelling the Abray site with artillery and Katyusha (rockets) for more than a week and some of them attacked the site and they were repulsed and pushed back," spokesman Brigadier Ahmed Khalifa al-Shami told AFP on Monday. "We didn't suffer any losses," he said, adding that many SPLA-N troops had been killed. Sudanese security forces rarely grant media access to South Kordofan, making it impossible to verify the often conflicting accounts from both sides. The SPLA-N launched its insurgency nearly five years ago, saying the two states were being marginalised. Until the Abry clashes there had been relatively few reports of fighting in the states so far this year, after Bashir gave a New Year's Eve speech extending a ceasefire for a month in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and the western Darfur region, where rebels are fighting a separate insurgency. There have been heavy clashes around Darfur's Jebel Marra area in recent weeks, with tens of thousands of civilians thought to have fled their homes because of the violence. Bashir is wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court related to the Darfur conflict, which the UN says has caused more than 300,000 deaths since it started in 2003. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Public support in Russia for the country's air strikes in Syria has slipped since the Kremlin launched its air campaign more than four months ago, a poll showed on Monday, but a comfortable majority still back the bombing. The survey, by the independent Levada Center, showed that 59 percent of Russians backed a continuation of Moscow's air campaign in Syria, which began on Sept. 30, compared to 27 percent who were opposed. Approval levels were slightly higher than a Nov. 15 Levada poll which found 55 percent of Russians broadly supportive. However both surveys suggest support has fallen since the start of the bombing campaign when Levada found that 72 percent of Russians were broadly supportive of the strikes when asked at the start of October. That may reflect fears, expressed in earlier surveys, that Russia could get sucked into a protracted Afghanistan-style conflict and follows the downing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt in October, an episode described as a terrorist act by the Kremlin in which 224 people were killed. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the plane bombing, saying it was revenge for Russia's Syria intervention. Monday's survey also found Russians were not following events in Syria as closely as they were at the end of last year. Pollsters say people are more preoccupied with Russia's economic crisis, which has prompted the steepest fall in real incomes since President Vladimir Putin came to power 15 years ago. Levada said its results were based on interviews it had conducted with 1,600 adults across Russia from Jan. 22-25. It said the margin of error did not exceed 3.4 percent. (This story has been refiled to correct a typo in the name of Russian polling organisation "Levada") (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by) Moscow (AFP) - The Syrian ambassador to Moscow on Monday accused the United States of destroying a hospital backed by the humanitarian group MSF, amid US accusations that Russian air strikes had targeted medical facilities in the war-torn country. Riad Haddad, Syria's envoy to its ally Russia, told the state TV channel Rossiya 24 that the hospital in Idlib had been hit earlier in a US raid. "American warplanes destroyed it. Russian warplanes had nothing to do with any of it -- the information that has been gathered will completely back that up," Haddad said. The United Nations said earlier that air strikes on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria's Aleppo and Idlib provinces, northwest Syria, killed nearly 50 civilians including children. MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres -- Doctors without Borders), which like the UN did not attribute blame, confirmed a hospital supported by the charity was hit in Idlib, and said seven people were killed and at least eight were missing, presumed dead. The US State Department, meanwhile, condemned air strikes that hit two civilian hospitals "in and around Aleppo," identifying them as one run by MSF, the Women's and Children's Hospital in the city of Aziz. The statement did not mention Idlib specifically. It said such action "casts doubt on Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people". Haddad said US accusations "are a sign of the war of propaganda, which began in the very first days of the conflict in Syria." Damascus (AFP) - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad poured cold water Monday on an internationally backed plan for a ceasefire to begin later this week, saying it would be "difficult" to implement. His comments were the first from the embattled leader on the plan put forward by world leaders in Munich last Friday for a so-called "cessation of hostilities" to begin within a week. "They are saying they want a ceasefire in a week. Who is capable of gathering all the conditions and requirements in a week? No one," Assad said in televised remarks in Damascus. "Who will talk to the terrorists? If a terrorist group refuses the ceasefire, who will hold them to account? Practically, talking (about a ceasefire) is difficult," he said, according to a transcript of his comments published by state news agency SANA. World powers last week put called for immediate humanitarian access throughout Syria and a ceasefire to begin within a week, which would not include Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front or the Islamic State (IS) group. But the details of just how the plan would be implemented remain to be worked out, with a UN panel co-chaired by the US and Russia tasked with the job. Assad said a ceasefire could not mean "that everyone stops using their weapons." "This is the narrow sense," he said. "A ceasefire must mean stopping terrorists from strengthening their positions. Moving weapons, equipment, terrorists or strengthening positions must all be forbidden," he added. The international plan is intended to bolster the chances for new peace talks, which began at the end of January but collapsed before getting off the ground amid mutual suspicion and opposition calls for the implementation of UN resolutions on protection of civilians and the lifting of sieges. As the talks opened, the regime launched a major operation in northern Aleppo province, backed by Russian forces, drawing the ire of the opposition and its backers including Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Story continues The two countries have talked recently about the possibility of dispatching ground forces into Syria to fight IS, and Assad warned that any such intervention into his country would have "global, not just local, repercussions". The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura arrived in Damascus late Monday on a surprise visit to discuss the ceasefire plan and efforts to renew peace talks later this month. He is due to meet Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem for talks on Tuesday, a government source told AFP. It looks like AT&T is done messing around. The carrier on Monday announced that starting right now it will offer up to $650 in credits per line to customers who are switching from other carriers. The process for getting these credits is pretty simple: Buy a new phone through AT&T Next, activate your service, port your current number and then trade in an eligible phone. MUST SEE: This is the stunning iPhone 7 we all deserve This is a significant upgrade from AT&Ts previous offer where it gave you $300 in total credits if you switched from another carrier and traded in an eligible phone. T-Mobile, of course, got the ball rolling with these sorts of offers just over two years ago when it started offering subscribers from other carriers up to $650 per line for switching. These offers are some of our best to date, said AT&T Mobility CEO Glenn Lurie. Our $650 credit is a great reward for new customers who switch to AT&T and our buy-one, get-one free is another great reward for our valued customers in the market for new smartphones. There has never been a better time for new and existing AT&T customers to rack up the savings. This deal could be especially good for DirecTV subscribers who also subscribe to a non-AT&T mobile service, as theyll not only be eligible for the $650 in credits for switching but they will also be able to subscribe to AT&Ts special unlimited data plan. Check out AT&Ts full press release at this link. Related stories AT&T says 5G will be 100 times faster than LTE and may even launch this year Which carrier has the fastest LTE network in America? AT&T is bringing back some of its most popular holiday deals for a limited time More from BGR: This is the stunning iPhone 7 we all deserve This article was originally published on BGR.com Flags flew at half-mast across Taiwan Monday as the island mourned more than 100 people who died when an earthquake toppled an apartment complex, as families demanded justice. Many residents of the 16-storey Wei-kuan complex in the southern city of Tainan were buried in rubble after the 6.4-magnitude quake on February 6. Rescuers called off the search for survivors over the weekend after all the missing were accounted for. All but two of the 116 dead were from the building. More than 380 people were inside the complex on the night of the quake. Lunar new year celebrations scheduled by government agencies were called off Monday, and Tainan's government sought the freezing of further assets belonging to the developer and architects of the building. Anger is growing over accusations of shoddy building work -- prosecutors have said there were flaws in the building including inadequate steel reinforcement bars, and the developer is among three men facing charges over the disaster. Frustration grew after photos of rubble at the site showed foam and tin cans had been used as filling in concrete structures. "The developer really had no conscience constructing such a building. He should be severely punished," Liu Kun-min, whose brother, sister-in-law and two sons were killed in the quake, told the Apple Daily newspaper. Tainan's city government on Monday sought to freeze Tw$220 million ($6.6 million) in assets belonging to nine people -- among them the developer Lin Ming-hui, his shareholders, two architects and a contractor. The government is acting on behalf of 93 families involved in the collapse. "The developer left so many people dead and homeless," a man surnamed Chang, who was pulled out from the rubble, told Apple Daily. "We certainly want compensation. It's good to see the Tainan city government take more active steps to freeze their assets." Lin and architects Cheng Chin-kui and Chang Kui-pao, as well as a contractor linked to the building, have already seen Tw$30 million in assets frozen by the Tainan district court last week at the request of the city government. Story continues Lin, Cheng and Chang are in custody and facing charges of professional negligence. A further Tw$10 million was frozen by the court at the request of the non-profit Legal Aid Foundation acting for two people who were severely injured. "They are angry and frustrated, they want the three to be brought to justice," Emilia Hsieh, spokeswoman for the foundation, told AFP. Hsiao Po-jen, head of the city government's legal affairs, said Monday that a relative of architect Cheng had been stopped trying to withdraw more than Tw$10 million from his bank account. Tam O'Braan has had several lives. Having been a soldier, an agronomist and an entrepreneur, he now grows tea in the foothills of the Scottish Highlands, and is the envy of those who once called him crazy. Four years since he began growing tea at Dalreoch, a former sheep farm close to the small Scottish village of Amulree, the Irishman saw his tea crowned a winner at the Salon de The awards in Paris last year. Now O'Braan sells his tea in luxury stores like Mariage Freres in Paris where it goes for 78 euros for 20 grams ($87 for 0.7 ounce) and London's Fortnum & Mason, where it brings 40 (51 euros, $57) for 20 grams, as well as to famous hotels like The Dorchester. "My neighbours thought I was mad," O'Braan said. "We were told categorically by people who have been working in the tea industry for 30, 40 years, that it couldn't be done." Scottish 19th-century botanist Robert Fortune had already shown it was possible to grow tea in Scotland but his project failed due to having the wrong plants. Determined not to make the same mistake, O'Braan imported tea trees that grew in the foothills of the Himalayas (Camellia sinensis sinensis), before adapting them to the Scottish climate. The plant seeds, which are similar to small nuts, are germinated outside before the plants are grown in a small unheated greenhouse. "Those plants who originally started on the foothills of the Himalayas, that can deal with snow, are even stronger," O'Braan said. - Revolutionary tea? - Once the tea plants have adjusted, Scotland has proved to be an ideal place for them to grow, with its fog, high rainfall, hilly landscape and rich soil. "It's well accepted among tea experts that the finest teas in Darjeeling or Assam come from areas which are shrouded in clouds for the majority of the year," O'Braan said. "Also because the plants are in what many would consider to be an unnatural environment, we're producing a certain amount of chemical stress within the leaf. That's responsible for the rather sweet flavour that our tea produces." Story continues The harvest, which is currently beginning and will continue until September, collects the youngest leaves for white tea and rougher leaves for green and black tea. Dalreoch Estate tea is the first white tea whose leaves are smoke-dried, making it "revolutionary and unique", according to Mariage Freres. In the Habitat cafe in the village of Amulree close to Dalreoch, owner Mike Haggerton offers sceptical customers free samples of the teas. "We give a little bit to our clients and the reaction is never been anything other than 'this is incredible'," Haggerton said. "There is the potential for so much more great tea to come out of Scotland." - Scottish tea growers - In 2015 O'Braan produced 500 kilos (1,100 pounds) of tea from his 14,000 plants and founded the Scottish Tea Growers Association in a bid to be more recognised in a land better known for its whisky. Ten people have joined him, creating small tea plantations of about 1,000 plants each in places like the Isle of Mull and the Lowlands. O'Braan hopes that there will be 28 tea growing sites in Scotland by 2017. "From the same tea plant you can make 300 different types of tea. So there's no reason why my neighbours should look to manufacture the same as I'm doing," O'Braan said. "In fact we should all diversify and make different types of tea." "We're not going to replant Scotland. It's always going to be boutique, artisan tea," he said. Members of the association can use a small tea processing plant that O'Braan is setting up on his farm. The production of Dalreoch itself is sold out for the next four years, according to O'Braan -- meaning there should be plenty of business to go around. Indian Kashmir largely shut down on Monday as a general strike was called to protest at the killing of two civilians during a gunbattle between troops and suspected separatist militants. Authorities also imposed a curfew in parts of the region's main city of Srinagar, where hundreds of police and paramilitary troops patrolled deserted streets and erected checkpoints to halt any protests. "No one is allowed to leave their home. There are soldiers everywhere," Umar Ahmed, a student, told AFP by phone from his home in Srinagar's old quarter. Businesses closed throughout the region after separatist leaders, placed under house arrest to prevent them leading protests, called for a strike, while Kashmir University cancelled student exams. Authorities also suspended train services in the region to stop protesters gathering. A female university student was killed on Sunday as troops cordoned off Kakpora village, 35 kilometres (22 miles) south of Srinagar, suspecting the presence of militants. Police say she was caught in crossfire between troops and militants after stone-throwing villagers gathered in support of the rebels. A teenage boy also died after being hit by a tear-gas canister. Witnesses say soldiers fired on the protesters, killing the woman who was standing outside her home. Other protesters were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, they say. Militants fighting against Indian rule of the Himalayan territory have wide support among Kashmir's Muslim residents, who often gather on the streets to protest during rebel gunbattles with government forces. Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since the two countries became independent in 1947. Both claim the territory in full. Since 1989 several rebel groups have been fighting Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, demanding either independence or a merger of the region with Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead. The Hunt, the previous film from Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, was a dark tale of small-town Danish life and how a community can turn against their own in this case when a kindergarten teacher (Mads Mikkelsen) is ly accused of child abuse. Now, after a detour to make the period drama Far From the Madding Crowd (starring Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts) for the BBC, the director, 46, is back at home with The Commune, which premieres Wednesday in competition. Vinterberg drew on his childhood as source material for his story written with The Hunt co-writer Tobias Lindholm of a group of idealistic young families in 1970s Copenhagen who decide to live together. He spoke with THR about nostalgia, the difference between a commune and a cult and why his next Danish movie will be "a love letter to alcohol." Read More: Berlin: Buyers Looking for Laughs With A-List Comedies How did the idea for this film come about? When I was 7, my mum and dad decided to move with me and my sister into a commune. In America, I know communes are looked at as a kind of sect, something religious, or hippies living on vegetables in the countryside. It wasnt like that. These were academics, people working in TV, professionals. My dad was a film critic. They lived a completely normal, atheist, slightly leftist lifestyle. It wasnt like free sex and drugs everywhere. But it was a very optimistic, free-spirited atmosphere. With maybe a few too many beers. Why did you decide to make a movie about it? I was thinking a lot about how many people now live alone in Denmark. Even couples often live separately. A lot of people live with loneliness. I wanted to talk about loneliness. And abroad, whenever I mentioned the word "commune," people said, You have to do that. I was doing a stage version of my film The Celebration at the Burgtheater in Vienna, and the director said, We have the best actors in the world here, do your commune play with them. So I improvised the play with the actors. When I saw the opening, with people in tears, laughing and crying at the same time, I felt the warmth of my childhood come back. That was my main gasoline for making the film, the nostalgia. Story continues How close is the story to your own experience? I wrote the screenplay with Thomas, and we changed it. Its not a film about my childhood anymore, its become fiction, its become drama. It starts out positive and happy, but the second hour is pretty dark Im exposing all sides of life, both the electric feel I remember from my childhood and the tragic consequences of trying to share too much. Like The Hunt, its an exploration of a community and the relationship of a community to the individual. And its about a loss of innocence. See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival I met my own commune a month ago. I hadnt seen most of them for 20 years. In my head, they were the same vital, young group of people. But they are separated, they are divorced. Theyve gotten old. I had somehow lived under the idea that one day I could move back. But I realize that isnt going to happen. Why do you think the communes didnt work? The world changed. In 1975 in our commune, you had a table full of people, and some guy would suggest paying rent according to income. And that guy would be the one earning the most money! But in the 1980s, the values of freedom and individualism were introduced, and it was the beginning of the end. And communes werent new or sexy. There might be another wave coming. Lots of youngsters my daughters ages are moving into apartments together. And the older generation who lived in communes are moving into communities together. Youve done a couple of English-language films, and youre attached to direct a movie, written by Robert Rodat, about the Kursk Russian submarine disaster. But you keep coming back to Denmark. Why? Thomas and I wanted to do The Hunt as an American movie. We pitched agents and they said, Forget it. With that topic child abuse you wont be able to raise a dime. Go back to your artistic subsidies in Europe. And Im so happy we did, because it made it so real and pure. Im Danish. I guess I come from the soil here. I can do a film in a spaceship or, like with Kursk, a submarine, where the world is alien for everyone. But if its close to everyday life, I have to be careful. If I walk into a Copenhagen deli, I know everything on the shelves, I know something about the guy behind the counter. If I go to a New York deli, thats foreign territory. And that familiarity is important when you make personal, truthful films. Read More: Berlin: Political Hot-Button Films Set Love Stories to Ukraine Famine, Racially Charged Israel So what will be your next homegrown movie? Thomas and I are developing a movie about alcohol, a celebration of alcohol, a love letter. Its an acknowledgment that when you start drinking, the conversation expands. World War II was won by a huge boozer, and some of the best literature on the planet was written by drunk people. Drinking on the one hand makes life grow. On the other hand, you die from it. But the story of how you die from it has been told many times. The film is a response to the very medical and chaste way of living thats spreading like a disease. Whats it called? Maybe Ill call it Drunk. No, actually it doesnt have a title. Theres a Danish one, but its untranslatable. We have a lot more words for drinking than you have in English. A top ruling party official called on Monday for South Korea to develop its own nuclear deterrent to combat the growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea. Support for a nuclear-armed South Korea is a minority voice in the country, but one that grows louder after every nuclear test by the North. US tactical nuclear weapons were withdrawn from South Korea in late 1991, though the country remains under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella. In the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test last month, Won Yoo-Cheol, the ruling Saenuri Party's floor leader, said it was time for the weapons to be re-deployed or for South Korea to get its own. "We cannot borrow an umbrella from a neighbour every time it rains. We need to have a raincoat and wear it ourselves," Won was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency in a speech to the National Assembly. South Korea is one of 190 signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- a pact that North Korea walked out on in 2003. There are few takers in Washington for the idea of a nuclear-armed South Korea which would set back a longstanding, if repeatedly violated, principle of not allowing new nations into the nuclear club. In an effort to reassure one of its key Asian allies, the US Air Force sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber on a sortie over South Korea shortly after the North's nuclear test on January 6. South Korea's late military strongman Park Chung Hee -- the father of current President Park Geun Hye -- had flirted with nuclear weapons in the 1970s when then US president Jimmy Carter planned to remove American troops from the peninsula. Trilobites were savvy killers who hunted down their prey and used their many legs to wrestle them into submission, newly discovered fossils suggest. The fossils come from a site in southeastern Missouri, not far from the city of Desloge. They are trace fossils, which means they preserve not the organisms themselves, but their burrows. The burrows were made by various species of trilobite as well as by unknown, wormlike creatures. A statistical analysis of these burrows and their intersections shows that they cross one another more than expected, a sign that the trilobites were deliberately hunting down their wormy prey. In a subset of those cases, the trilobites seemed to sidle up to the burrows in parallel, perhaps so they could latch onto the worms lengthwise with their row of legs. [Video: Primitive Sea Creatures Were Advanced Ninja Attackers] "This is legitimately the moment of interaction between the trilobite and the animal that it ate," said study researcher James Schiffbauer, a paleobiologist at the University of Missouri. Trilobite tracks The discovery of these fossils came about by accident. During a department field trip to visit a local lead mine, the researchers made a side trip to a known fossil spot. While there, study co-author John Huntley, also a professor at the University of Missouri, stumbled across a block of fossilized burrows, frozen in silty shale. The sediment was set down during the Cambrian period, between 540 million and 485 million years ago, when the area was a shallow nearshore environment. The shallow bottom was likely covered with a dense microbial mat, which made for a rich food source for wormy (or "vermiform") creatures. These worms were, in turn, prey for trilobites. "It became sort of a small shallow-water hunting ground for the trilobites," Schiffbauer told Live Science. Graduate student Tara Selly took on the painstaking task of cataloguing and counting the burrows and their intersections. Her findings revealed that the worm and trilobite tunnels intersected about 30 percent of the time more than would be expected based on chance alone. Story continues "Likely one-third of [the burrows] were actually capturing predatory events," Selly told Live Science. A moment in time The trilobites known from this area belong to species with particularly large eyes, Schiffbauer said. Those eyes may have made them adept hunters, he said, able to seek out burrow entrances or impressions. The critters would then burrow down to grasp their prey. "What we're seeing is really sophisticated behavior fairly early on in what some people would say is a very simple creature," Schiffbauer said. The trilobites might also have used scent to sniff out their prey, he said. Predation is important to understand, Huntley told Live Science, but it can be hard to see in the fossil record. Some Cambrian fossils have recorded animals inside the gut tracts of other animals, but it's not clear whether they were hunted and eaten or scavenged. Other signs of predation in the fossil record are wounds or drill holes in skeletons or shells, Huntley said. "In this case, what we're getting is actually impressions of the body," Huntley said. "It's a different window into this process that we know is important ecologically and really important evolutionarily as well." The research iss detailed online in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitterand Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science. Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Ankara (AFP) - Turkey's air force on Monday began five days of air defence exercises with Saudi Arabia, the Turkish military said, as the two countries forge an increasingly tight alliance on Syria. Six Saudi F-15 fighter jets will take part in the air defence training in the central Turkish region of Konya, the military said in a statement. The exercises are within the framework of cooperation and military training between the two countries and had been scheduled in advance, it added. They will last until Friday. But the start of the exercises comes just two days after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Saudi jets would be based at Turkey's air base of Incirlik in Adana province to fight Islamic State (IS) militants. He also said that Turkey and Saudi could even launch a ground operation in Syria against IS, while emphasising no decision had been taken. Saudi Arabia and Turkey both see the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as essential for ending Syria's five-year civil war and are bitterly critical of Iran and Russia's support of the Syrian regime. The two overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim powers have in recent months moved to considerably tighten relations that had been damaged by Riyadh's role in the 2013 ousting of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, a close ally of Ankara. Turkey and Saudi back rebels who are seeking to oust Assad and both fear the West is losing its appetite to topple Assad on the assumption he is "the lesser of two evils" compared to the IS jihadists. ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish security forces hit Kurdish militia targets in Syria for the third day in a row after a border security outpost on the border was attacked on Monday morning, the foreign ministry spokesman said. "Today our border security outpost in the Hatay area at the Syrian border was attacked. Retaliation shots were fired in return," spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters. Earlier on Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would not allow the town of Azaz in northern Syria to fall to the Kurdish YPG militia, backed by the PYD party. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Daren Butler) ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey and Israel are close to signing an agreement on compensation for the killing of 10 Turkish activists by Israeli commandos in 2010, a Turkish ruling party official said on Monday. The former allies have stepped up efforts in recent months to restore a relationship that was severely damaged following the Israeli raid on a Turkish boat, the Mavi Marmara, which had been trying to breach a blockade on the Gaza Strip. Turkey has insisted there can be no normalization in ties with Israel unless its conditions for ending the Gaza blockade and compensation for the deaths of the activists are met. Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling AK Party, said in a live interview on Haber Turk television station: "The point has been reached in the talks at which (an agreement) can be signed." He did not say whether progress has been reached on lifting the blockade. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, when asked, said he had no comment on the matter. Israel allows commercial goods into Gaza daily but limits the transfer of certain items such as cement and building materials as it fears militants will use them to build fortifications. Officials describe the blockade on Gaza, which is supported by neighboring Egypt, as a necessary means of preventing arms smuggling by Palestinian militants. (Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Editing by David Dolan) Beirut (AFP) - Turkey defied international calls and shelled parts of northern Syria for a third day on Monday, insisting it would not allow Kurdish-led forces to seize key areas along the border. The renewed shelling and fresh violence elsewhere in Syria -- including a suspected Russian air strike that killed nine people at a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders -- cast doubts on international efforts for a ceasefire to take hold this week. The Turkish assault continued despite calls from its Western allies for restraint and drew fierce criticism on Monday from Russia, which said the "provocative" shelling was "creating a threat to peace and security in the Middle East and beyond." The cross-border Turkish artillery fire, which began on Saturday, has added to an increasingly complex situation in Syria's northern Aleppo province just days before the ceasefire is due to begin. Top diplomats from world powers agreed at talks in Munich last Friday on a "nationwide cessation of hostilities" within a week, in the latest bid to find an end to Syria's five-year conflict. But advances in recent days by mainly Kurdish forces in Aleppo province have raised deep concern in Ankara, which accuses them of links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed movement that waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Following similar fire on Saturday and Sunday, Turkish shelling again hit several parts of Aleppo province on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group. - Kurdish-led forces advance - Among the areas hit was a road west of the town of Tal Rifaat, where a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has launched an assault. The town, only 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Turkish border, is held by an alliance of mostly Islamist rebels and one of their few remaining bastions in the area. Story continues The shelling killed at least two children in the area on Monday, the Observatory said. The SDF was advancing despite the shelling, it said, and there was heavy fighting inside the western limits of Tal Rifaat. The SDF has already seized the nearby Minnigh airbase from rebel forces, and severed the road between Tal Rifaat and the key rebel-held town of Azaz on the border with Turkey. Turkey fears the Kurds will be able to create a contiguous Kurdish territory just across the border in northern Syria. Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned Monday that Ankara "will not let Azaz fall" to the SDF, adding "the necessary intervention will be made". He also warned the SDF to withdraw from the Minnigh airbase, saying it would be "rendered unusable" if they failed to do so. The situation is a major headache for Washington, which has backed the Kurds in their battles against the Islamic State group despite the discomfort of fellow NATO member Turkey. In recent days, Washington warned the Kurds not to "take advantage" of the situation in Aleppo to seize new territory. Turkey is also a key member of the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria, and is allowing coalition planes to carry out sorties from its Incerlik base. Ankara's shelling has prompted criticism from Damascus, which has urged the UN Security Council to take action. Turkey on Monday also denied claims it had sent troops into northern Syria and rejected reports it was planning a ground intervention. - 'Russia raids' kill civilians - Russia, a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad which launched air strikes in Syria last year, said it would support the issue of the Turkish shelling being raised at the Security Council. Moscow and Ankara have repeatedly clashed over Syria and on Monday Davutoglu issued a stark warning. "If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response," Davutoglu said. The Russian strikes have allowed government troops to press a major operation in Aleppo that has virtually encircled rebels in the east of Aleppo city, as well as pushing them from much of the region north of the city. Moscow says its strikes target IS and other "terrorists," but activists and rights group say they have killed hundreds of civilians. On Monday, the Observatory said nine people including a child were killed when a suspected Russian strike hit a hospital supported by MSF near Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province. MSF confirmed that a hospital it supports in the northwestern province had been destroyed in air strikes and said eight members of staff were missing. "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said MSF Syria operations chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Observatory also reported 10 civilians, including three children, were killed in suspected Russian strikes in Azaz and an area nearby. The strikes in Azaz hit near a hospital, the monitor said. ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey accused Russia of carrying out an "obvious war crime" on Monday after two schools, a hospital and a Medecins Sans Frontieres medical center near the Turkish-Syrian border were hit by missiles, killing tens of people. The carnage occurred as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo and residents blamed the strikes on Russia. Turkey warned that bigger and more serious consequences would be inevitable if Russia does not immediately end such attacks, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said late on Monday. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Alison Williams) Beirut (AFP) - Turkish forces shelled Kurdish fighters in northern Syria for a third day on Monday but failed to stop their advance, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based monitor said Turkish troops were shelling the road to the west of the town of Tal Rifaat, which has been a key target of a Kurdish-Arab alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Aleppo province. The group said the shelling also targeted the region to the west of the Syrian border town of Azaz. The alliance's advances have angered opposition-backer Turkey, which accuses the Kurdish forces of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. "Fighting has been ongoing since Sunday in the western part of Tal Rifaat between the SDF and rebels," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. "At least 26 rebels have been killed in the fighting" for the town in recent days, he added. Tal Rifaat is a key remaining bastion of mostly Islamist rebel forces in Aleppo province, where the regime this month launched a major operation backed by Russian warplanes. Simultaneously, the SDF forces have been advancing in the region, seizing the Minnigh air base from rebels, attacking Tal Rifaat and cutting the road leading from the town to Azaz on the Turkish border. On Monday, SDF forces seized the village of Kfarnaya, two kilometres (1.2 miles) south of Tal Rifaat, the Observatory said. The Kurdish advance is a complication for Washington, which has backed the SDF in its fight against the Islamic State group, but has also warned the alliance not to take advantage of the fluid situation in Aleppo by seizing new territory. Ankara (AFP) - Turkey will not allow the Syrian town of Azaz just across from the Turkish border to fall under the control of Syrian Kurdish fighters, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday. "We will not let Azaz fall," Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the private NTV television on his plane en route to an official visit to Ukraine. "The YPG (the People's Protection Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates (River) and east of Afrin," he added. Turkish artillery struck at targets of Kurdish militia at the weekend, with Ankara insisting that it was returning fire under the rules of engagement. The regime in Damascus has condemned Ankara over the shelling while urging the United Nations to act. But Davutoglu said: "The necessary intervention will be made (by Turkey) against the YPG when it is required." Turkey has been gravely concerned by the moves of the Kurdish fighters on Azaz and has so far defied calls from its Western partners to stop artillery bombardments of YPG positions. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Kurdish-Arab militia alliance in which the YPG plays a key role, has also seized the Minnigh air base in northern Syria. Davutoglu warned the forces to withdraw from the airport, issuing a veiled threat of possible Turkish military action if they failed to do so. "They will withdraw from the airport," he said, referring to the Minnigh air base. "If not, the airport will be rendered unusable," he added, without specifying further. Turkey accuses the Syrian Kurdish forces of being the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody war against the state since it took up arms in 1984. Russia is the key ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Turkey wants to see ousted. Bilateral relations have also nose-dived after Turkey shot down a Russian war plane on the Syrian border on November 24. Story continues Davutoglu said the "the YPG is clearly Russia's instrument in Syria right now," the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. "Everyone must see this. Today the PKK in Turkey and YPG in Syria are clearly instruments of Russia," he said. "Russia is using those tools to be able to corner Turkey. Therefore, our stance has a legitimate ground." Turkey's opposition to the YPG and its political arm the Democratic Union Party (PYD) is also straining relations with the United States which supports the Syrian Kurds as effective fighters on the ground against Islamic State (IS) jihadists. Athens (AFP) - Turkish warplanes repeatedly entered Greek airspace on Monday, the state ANA news agency said, as NATO prepared to deploy ships to the Aegean Sea against migrant smugglers. The Athens News Agency said six warplanes and a navy transport plane had carried out over 20 violations of Greek national airspace near eastern and central Aegean islands. Two of the planes were armed and mock dogfights occurred on two occasions when Greek fighters moved to intercept, the agency said. No live rounds were exchanged. The incident occurred as a NATO naval group was to launch patrols in the waters between the two countries to deter people-smugglers facilitating the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants into Europe. Albeit NATO allies, Greece and Turkey have a fraught history going back centuries and remain at loggerheads over territorial and airspace rights in the Aegean. Athens fears that Ankara could exploit the refugee crisis to strengthen its presence in the Aegean, where it claims the waters and airspace surrounding many Greek islands near its coastline. Greece and Turkey nearly went to war over a cluster of uninhabited Aegean Sea islets in 1996. Athens has said it is keen to work with Turkey on stamping out people-smuggling networks, but it wants Ankara to apply a bilateral agreement on migrant re-admission which is currently all but inactive. Thousands of migrants are still crossing the Aegean daily from Turkey -- with many dying in the attempt -- after over a million made the perilous journey last year. ASHGABAT (Reuters) - A commission led by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has drafted a new constitution which extends the presidential term to seven years from five and removes the upper age limit on candidates for presidency. The move solidifies Berdymukhamedov's already sweeping powers at a time when the gas-rich Central Asian nation is suffering from a sharp drop in export revenues. Turkmenistan's rubber stamp parliament may pass the new constitution, published by main state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan on Monday for national discussion, later this year. Berdymukhamedov, 58, is serving his second term as president after securing re-election in 2012. The current constitution imposes no limits on the number of terms he can run for, but sets a ceiling for presidential candidates' age at 70 years. His predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov had ruled as president for life until his death in 2006, becoming the center of a bizarre personality cult. Niyazov's official title was Turkmenbashi, leader of all Turkmens. A local city was named after him and Niyazov's gilded statue was erected in the capital Ashgabat. Berdymukhamedov has gradually dismantled Niyazov's cult, but only to replace it with his own one. He now also has a gilded statue of himself and state media refer to him as Arkadag, meaning protector. Other Central Asian leaders are also looking to strengthen their grip on power as economies across the region struggle with a drop in commodity prices and the spillover from Russia's recession. Allies of Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon have called a referendum on constitutional changes that would allow him to run for an unlimited number of terms. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called a snap parliamentary election last month that will make it easier for his Nur Otan party to retain control over the legislature. (Reporting by Marat Gurt; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, editing by Ed Osmond) Moscow (AFP) - Two Russian policemen died and many people were injured in a car bomb blast at a checkpoint in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Monday, the interior ministry said. The blast occurred as police officers were attempting to inspect a Lada car at a checkpoint near the village of Dzhemikent on the Caspian Sea, the interior ministry's district office said in a statement. "Two police officers died and two more were hospitalised with injuries," it said. A source in the region's security forces was quoted by TASS news agency as saying the blast was a suicide bombing. "There is only a piece of the head left from the suicide bomber, a foot and a hand. One of the fingers that's left will help identify him," the source said. "The car was sold recently, its previous owner has been identified." Head of the region Ramazan Abdulatipov said a total of 18 people were injured. Russia's anti-terrorist committee (NAK) said the blast was caused by a device placed in a car based on two artillery shells and was equivalent to 30 kilogrammes of TNT. "The blast happened inside a passenger car," said a NAK statement quoted by news agencies. Dagestan has been gripped by nearly daily violence for years due to a simmering Islamist insurgency there, though it has abated during the conflict in Syria which has seen an exodus of Russians from the North Caucasus to join the jihadist fighters in the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front. In December, IS claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting in Derbent, a city in Dagestan with an ancient citadel that is popular with tourists. The victim was reportedly an employee of the Russian border service. By Rujun Shen SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Any move by China to fly jet fighters from runways on its new man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea would be destablising and would not deter U.S. flights over the area, a senior U.S. naval officer said on Monday. Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, the commander of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, also urged Beijing to be more open over its intentions in the South China Sea, saying it would relieve "some of the angst we are now seeing". "We are unsure where they are taking us," Aucoin said of China's recent moves during briefing with journalists in Singapore. "So we are going to sail, fly, operate throughout these waters....like we have been doing for so long," he said. That, he added, included "flying over that airspace." Chinese and regional security analysts expect Beijing to start using its new runways in the disputed Spratlys archipelago for military operations in the next few months. It last month tested for the first time the 3,000-metre runway built on a reclamation on Fiery Cross Reef by landing several civilian airliners from Hainan island. (Link to previous stories) Aucoin said he could not give an estimate when he expected Chinese military jets to start operating in the Spratlys. "It's a destablising uncertainty," he said when asked about the impact of possible Chinese jet fighter patrols. He said it would raise questions about the intentions. China claims much of the South China Sea, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims. International concern is growing over tensions in the waterway, which carries an estimated $5 trillion in trade every year, including oil used by northeast Asian nations. Since last October, two U.S. warships have sailed close to Chinese claimed features in the Spratly and Paracel archipelagoes in so-called freedom-of-navigation operations that Beijing has warned are provocative. Chinese officials complained last December that a U.S. B-52 bomber flew close to one of Beijing's artificial islands. Other U.S. surveillance and transport planes routinely fly throughout the South China Sea. Chinese warships and civilian vessels routinely flank U.S. naval ships in the area, but Aucoin said engagement between the two navies would continue, saying the relationship was "positive". "(The) International Law of the Sea has helped (China) for so many years. We just want them to respect those rights so that we can all continue to prosper," he said. (Reporting by Rujun Shen in Singapore; writing by Greg Torode in Hong Kong; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday voiced alarm at reports of deadly attacks on Syrian schools and hospitals, including a medical center run by the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders (MSF), a U.N. spokesman said. "The secretary-general is deeply concerned by reports of missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in Aleppo and in Idlib, which killed close to 50 civilians, including children, and injuring many," said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. "Such attacks are a blatant violation of international laws," he added. "These incidents cast a shadow on the commitments made at the ISSG (International Syria Support Group) meeting in Munich on Feb. 11." (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau, editing by G Crosse) DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy for Syria, has arrived in Damascus and will meet Syria's foreign minister on Tuesday, a Syrian government official said. De Mistura is making the surprise visit as world powers push for a ceasefire in the Syrian conflict. He suspended peace talks in Geneva last week after only three days, but hopes to bring parties back to the negotiating table by Feb. 25. "He will be meeting (Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem) tomorrow," a Syrian government official, who was outside of the country, told Reuters. A senior UN official confirmed that de Mistura had arrived in Syria for an unscheduled visit to "follow up on commitments made in Munich." World powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a cessation of hostilities that would let humanitarian aid be delivered in Syria. The talks in Damascus will include discussion of the resumption of peace talks set for Geneva on Feb. 25, including procedural issues, the Syrian official said. The ceasefire was scheduled to start a week later, but Syrian army offensives continue unabated across the country, backed by Russian air strikes. A recent push by Kurdish-backed forces to take territory between Aleppo and the Turkish border from Islamist and other rebel groups is further complicating the conflict. Turkey is now shelling Kurdish positions in Syria. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington, writing by Lisa Barrington; editing by Angus MacSwan and G Crosse) Kampala (AFP) - At least one person was killed Monday as Ugandan police fought running battles with opposition supporters, firing tear gas and briefly detaining a top presidential challenger days ahead of polls to elect the head of state. Kizza Besigye, a three-time failed presidential candidate who heads the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, was held after street clashes as he campaigned in the capital Kampala ahead of Thursday's election. "Police can confirm one person died during the confusion today," Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango told AFP, without giving further details. Opposition politicians said three people had been shot dead, but the claims could not be independently verified. "Three of our supporters have been shot dead, and several other people have been seriously injured and are in hospital," said Mubarak Munyagwa, FDC's candidate for Kampala mayor. "They were firing tear gas, a lot of tear gas," said FDC supporter Swaibu Mugalu, 32, describing how police blocked Besigye from holding a rally in central Kampala. Besigye was driven to a police station, before then being taken home by police, with police spokesman Onyango stressing he was "not under any form of arrest." FDC spokesman Semujju Nganda claimed "several" supporters were injured during scuffles with police. "We protest in the strongest terms police brutality towards our supporters and targeting our candidate," he said. Minister for the Presidency Frank Tumwebaze however said it was "madness" that Besigye had tried to hold a rally in the centre of the capital, saying the police had a duty to ensure calm. He accused Besigye of "seeking publicity... after sensing defeat ahead." Besigye has been repeatedly arrested in the past, and is commonly freed without charge shortly after. He called for restraint after his release. "I appeal to my supporters to be calm. Let us remain firm and law-abiding. We shall assert our rights," Besigye said, according to the New Vision. Story continues - US warns on violence - Seven opposition candidates are vying to deny veteran leader President Yoweri Museveni a fifth term at the February 18 election, and there are fears violence could mar the campaign, with all sides accusing each other of arming militias to press their claims. Museveni faces his stiffest challenge yet from Besigye, his former personal doctor, and Amama Mbabazi, a former prime minister and ruling party stalwart now running as an independent. The US State Department on Monday stressed the need for a "peaceful, transparent and credible electoral process" and called on all sides to "refrain from provocative actions or rhetoric that raise tensions." Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo earlier this month claimed opposition parties were raising militia to disrupt the election, claims they have denied. "Violence or threats of violence from any group or individual are unacceptable, and those who participate in such acts -- regardless of which candidate they support -- must be held accountable," the US statement added. "We strongly urge the government and electoral authorities to ensure a level playing field and transparent process, including through fair application of the law, so that all candidates have an equal opportunity to express their views and voters have the opportunity to hear them." Museveni, who seized power in 1986, is one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, after Equatorial Guinea's President Theodore Obiang Nguema, Angola's Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Cameroon's Paul Biya. Aged at least 71, Museveni is widely expected to be re-elected, having changed the constitution in 2005 to allow him to run again. London (AFP) - Britain's government intervened Monday to try and save the tradition of printing all laws on vellum made of animal skin, which dates back beyond the Magna Carta but is under threat to cut costs. The House of Lords decided last week that the centuries-old practice would be scrapped and laws would be printed on paper instead of goatskin or sheepskin in a bid to save A80,000 (103,000 euros, $116,000) per year. That prompted fury among some lawmakers in the House of Commons and a senior lawmaker in Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party, James Gray, was set to organise a debate to try to block it. In a bid to secure the future use of vellum, Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock told the Daily Telegraph that his department would be prepared to cover the cost of recording all laws on animal skins. "While the world around us constantly changes, we should safeguard some of our great traditions and not let the use of vellum die out," he said. Paul Wright, general manager of William Cowley, Britain's last remaining vellum makers and suppliers to parliament, welcomed the intervention. He argued that printing laws on vellum lent them a greater sense of gravity, giving the example of the result of Britain's looming referendum on whether to leave the European Union. "If we record that on paper, does it not almost lessen it?" Wright told the BBC. But parliamentarians spoke out to make clear it was them, not the government, who would decide whether vellum would continue to be used. "It's an important principle that parliament, not government, holds and cares for its archives," Chris Bryant, the main opposition Labour party's shadow leader of the House of Commons, wrote on Twitter. Vellum scrolls with laws on are kept in the Act Room in the Victoria Tower at the Houses of Parliament. They take up a large amount of space -- one, an act dealing with taxation dating back to 1821, is nearly 350 metres long and would take two men a full day to roll up. KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine has banned Russian trucks from crossing its territory in response to a similar move by Moscow, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Monday. Diplomatic and trade ties between Russia and Ukraine have broken down over Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and a pro-Russian separatist conflict, a dispute that has now hit road freight. "Ukraine has temporarily suspended ... transit permits for cargo vehicles with Russian registrations until it receives an explanation and resolution of this dispute," Yatseniuk said in a statement. On Sunday, the Russian transport ministry barred Ukrainian trucks because Ukrainian activists had been blocking some Russian trucks from entering Ukraine. "Unfortunately the Ukrainian government is incapable of restoring order. The fact that some thugs are holding up trucks with firearms, means that there are no authorities in Ukraine," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. The ban does not apply to Ukrainian cargo trucks traveling to Kazakhstan via Russia, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. (Reporting by Alessandra Prentice and Darya Korsunskaya; Editing by Matthias Williams and Robin Pomeroy) Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine on Monday banned the transit of Russian trucks across its territory in a tit-for-tat response to an escalating trade war between the feuding ex-Soviet states. The measure follows a halt to all flights between the neighbours and an effective Russian freeze on Ukrainian imports that have hit the cash-strapped country's industrial exports especially hard. It also underscores the vast amount of energy Kiev's Western allies must still spend to resolve Ukraine's 21-month eastern separatist conflict and to mend their own tattered relations with Moscow. The Ukrainian government said its decision was taken because Russia had "violated the World Trade Organization's rules and procedures and bilateral intergovernmental agreements... by unilaterally halting the movement of Ukrainian trucks." It added that the ban would stay in force until Kiev received an adequate explanation from Moscow. Russia's transport ministry said on Sunday it was imposing its restrictions "in response to the suspension of passage" of its own trucks across Ukraine. Nationalist groups in western Ukraine had spent nearly a week trying to keep Russian trucks from crossing into the rest of Europe in protest over the Kremlin's alleged support for pro-Russian separatists in the country's east. But no formal decision to stop Russian traffic had been taken by the Ukrainian government itself before Monday's statement. Moscow's response to Kiev's announcement was swift. "This is an issue of tremendous importance," Russian news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying in Moscow. "It absolutely outrageous to see such travesties against our truckers being tolerated by the Ukrainian authorities." And Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the situation "disgraceful". "This has to be given an adequate response," Medvedev told his cabinet. Moscow news reports said Medvedev suggested shutting the Russian border to all forms of traffic coming in from Ukraine. Story continues - Munich failure - Germany and France have been spearheading Western efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution that could end Ukraine's separatist conflict and warm Kiev's frozen ties with Moscow. The pro-Russian insurgency that Moscow denies backing has killed more than 9,000 people and left the rebels in control of a region roughly the size and population of Wales. The revolt was fuelled by the February 2014 ouster of Ukraine's Russian-backed president and Moscow's seizure of Crimea the following month. But efforts by Paris and Berlin to bridge some ground between Moscow in Kiev during last week's Munich Security Conference fell flat. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier emerged from Saturday's meeting to warn that time was running out for the two sides to settle their disputes. The West has imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia that Moscow has countered by banning imports of food from nations allied with the new Ukrainian leadership. Several EU state hit especially hard by Russia's trade embargo have been hoping to ease some of the bloc's punitive measures against Moscow when they come up for a review in July. But US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday that sanctions against Russia would remain in place until Moscow implemented all aspects of a peace plan agreed by the sides one year ago. "Put plainly, Russia can prove by its actions that it will respect Ukraines sovereignty, just as it insists on respect for its own," Kerry said. By Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - A senior Ukrainian prosecutor resigned on Monday, calling the office he worked for a "hotbed of corruption", another blow to government attempts to clean up the judiciary, a crucial step to unlock more Western aid. The resignation, the second exit of a Western-backed reformer in under a fortnight, came a day before a possible no confidence vote in parliament that could topple Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk and lead to a snap election. Failure to tackle endemic corruption has derailed a $40 billion aid program that keeps the war-torn country afloat. If Yatseniuk falls, it would further delay negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for the next tranche of money, $1.7 billion, which has been on hold since October. "Today, the General Prosecutor's office is a brake on the reform of criminal justice, a hotbed of corruption, an instrument of political pressure, one of the key obstacles to the arrival of foreign investment in Ukraine," Deputy General Prosecutor Vitaliy Kasko said in a televised statement. Kasko's move follows the exit of Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, who accused vested interests, including a close ally of President Petro Poroshenko, of meddling in his ministry and trying to siphon off state funds. Kasko's accusation that there was merely a facade of change in the prosecution service is damaging to Poroshenko, who has resisted pressure to fire General Prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Vladislav Kutsenko, an aide to Shokin, dismissed Kasko's resignation as self-publicity. But U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt called Kasko "a champion for change". "His resignation is a blow to #Ukraine's reform progress ... #Ukraine deserves a clean judiciary. Will require top-to-bottom rule of law reform to address pervasive corruption + cronyism," he tweeted. Yatseniuk's approval ratings have plummeted to less than 1 percent since he came to office in 2014 after protests ousted the previous pro-Russian government. The economy has tanked and a conflict with separatist rebels has no end in sight. Parliament convenes on Tuesday to debate a report on the four-party coalition government's performance, which could precipitate a no confidence vote. A parliamentary source said that, after a meeting of various faction leaders on Monday, "the general mood is that the government should leave." The prosecution service was hit by scandal last July when two high ranking officials were detained on suspicion of corruption and a large quantity of diamonds and money were found in raids on their homes. (Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Damascus (AFP) - The UN's peace envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura was making a surprise visit to Damascus on Monday, a government source told AFP, as world powers push for a ceasefire this week. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said De Mistura was expected to arrive later Monday and meet Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem on Tuesday. The envoy's visit comes after world powers last Friday called for immediate aid access throughout Syria and a "cessation of hostilities" to begin within a week. The plan was intended to help pave the way for the resumption of peace talks presided over by De Mistura that collapsed earlier this month. The source said the envoy was expected to discuss the ceasefire and aid access plan, as well as the possible resumption of talks on February 25. He said it was not yet clear how long De Mistura would be in the country. Earlier, the envoy's office had announced that a press conference scheduled for Tuesday in Geneva was being pushed back to Friday, without giving a reason. Washington (AFP) - The United States on Monday urged Turkey and Russia to avoid any further escalation after the two traded verbal blows over their respective military actions in war-torn Syria. "It is important that the Russians and Turks speak directly, and take measures to prevent escalation," a State Department spokesperson told AFP. Tensions with Turkey have soared over Moscow's backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia's air campaign against what it claims are "terrorist" targets in the country. The intensifying war of words has dampened hopes that a proposed cessation of hostilities will take hold this week. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu earlier accused Russia of acting as a "terrorist organisation" in Syria, and worsening the refugee crisis on Turkey's doorstep through its "barbaric attacks on civilians." Turkey has long backed Assad's ouster and like other Western nations accuses Russia of predominantly bombing Syrian rebel groups backed by Washington and its allies instead of the Islamic State group. Russia meanwhile described Turkey's shelling of Kurdish and Syrian regime positions in the north of the country as a "provocative" action. Ankara has vowed to continue the strikes on Kurdish fighters, who it accuses of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey. Washington has found itself in a highly uncomfortable position on the issue: it is allied with Turkey as part of the US-led coalition against IS and in NATO, but also supports the Syrian Kurds. Likewise, the United States is Russia's partner on the Syria peace process, but has spent the past 10 days demanding an end to its strikes in northern Syria. Viacom's Viacom International Media Networks unit will launch its Paramount Channel in Thailand, marking the network's entry into Asia, it was announced Monday. The Paramount Channel has been one of the growing network brands of VIMN. It first bowed in Spain in 2012 and has since debuted in France, Russia, Romania, Hungary and Latin America. At the end of this month, it is also being introduced in Italy. VIMN has secured its first distribution deal for the channel in Asia with pay TV operator CTH, which will launch it on its satellite TV and over-the-top streaming services in May. Financial details weren't disclosed. The agreement also includes a new licensing deal for MTV Thailand. "The introduction of Paramount Channel in Asia is a key, strategic step in deepening our presence both in Thailand and in Asia, while expanding our portfolio of adult-targeted brands, said Mark Whitehead, executive vp and managing director for VIMN Asia. Said CTH CEO Amarit Sukhavanij, Were proud to be the first to offer Paramount Channel in Asia and to make it the first 24-hour movie channel available to our subscribers across multiple screens. Paramount Channel is an advertising-supported movie channel with a total international reach of more than 90 million households, including the Thailand launch. Under the deal, CTH will manage advertising sales together with VIMN Asia for both Paramount Channel and MTV Thailand. Read More: Viacom's Paramount Channel to Launch in Italy [Warning: This story contains spoilers from episode 609, "No Way Out," the midseason premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead and the comic book series the show is based on.] AMC's The Walking Dead went there. After six seasons-plus of wondering if the zombie drama would see Carl (Chandler Riggs) have his eye shot out, the series went there during Sunday's episode, delivering one of the biggest landmark moments from creator Robert Kirkman's comic book series. Read More: 'Walking Dead' Bosses Dissect "Big Pivotal Moment" in "Horrifying" Midseason Premiere While the Scott M. Gimple-led drama remixed just how Carl lost his eye as the show is prone to do the moment captured the same shock and emotional impact as in the comics. (In the comics, Carl's eye is shot out by a stray bullet from Douglas, the leader of Alexandria that was remixed to Deanna, played by Tovah Feldshuh on the series.) Read More: 'Walking Dead's' Chandler Riggs on Carl's Eye-Opening Shocker Here, Riggs and special effects wizard and exec producer Greg Nicotero who directed the episode explain how they brought the shocking moment to life. "That was one of the trickier aspects of the episode," Nicotero admits. "We wanted to follow the graphic novel in terms of the extent of the injury because in the comics, Carl's wound is very important in terms of how he moves forward." In the comics, the experience (as you'd expect) dramatically changes Carl and evolves the character into a more hardened and introverted teen who is fierce in his dedication to protecting Rick and his community. He eventually takes it upon himself to try and end Negan's terror (which we won't spoil here). "We did a head cast of Chandler and sculpted a dummy head of him with the wound incorporated into it," Nicotero says. (Check out four exclusive photos of the extensive process, below, courtesy of Greg Nicotero.) Story continues "We used the graphic novel as reference but if you look at the wound in the comic (at top), he would never survive that bullet hole," Nicotero adds. "So we had to make sure it was something we believed Carl would be able to survive the impact of. It was as if the bullet hit that part of the skull that's just above the cheekbone and ricocheted outward and sent bone fragments into his eye. When Rick picks up Carl and runs through the horde of zombies and into the infirmary, that was all with the dummy. That wasn't Chandler." "The dummy itself is pretty spot-on and astounding looking," he continues. "Then we had a prosthetic on Chandler. For actual reveal, we did what we did on Breaking Bad: we put a prosthetic on Chandler's face, shot the puppet head of Chandler with the wound and added the hole and depth of the wound to the puppet head on to Chandler digitally. What we did with Gus Fring on Breaking Bad, when he got blown up, we had a prosthetic on him and added the depth that you can't get on a real human being on to the head." For Riggs, the process was twofold as well, as he and co-star Alexandra Breckenridge (who played Jessie, who died during the sequence) had to also have molds of their arms made as the series would see Rick as he does in the comics cut off a dying Jessie's arm to save Carl. "They molded our arms so they could chop off a hand in the actual shot. Then they molded my face so they could make a mannequin," Riggs says. "That was a really weird process because your face is encased in this stuff and you can't move at all but you can breathe and but you can't see. When they shot it, I didn't have anything on my eye. I had some blood around my eye and they didn't actually have any makeup on my eye until Rick was carrying Carl inside the infirmary." "When he was running through the field, that was the mannequin," Riggs says with a laugh. "It was only a prosthetic over my eye when Rick was bringing Carl into infirmary. It was a prosthetic that took 30 minutes to apply and dress. It was a lot of fun for me but not for anyone else, I think!" Click here for more from Riggs on Carl's loss, here for more from Nicotero and the producers on the shocking episode and here for Breckenridge's exit interview. The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC. Spike TVs Lip Sync Battle continues to be a surprisingly successful show every time we think the idea is played out, they suck us back in with another great celebrity/song combo. Where else are you going to see Mike Tyson get jiggy to Salt N Pepas Push It? Or Channing Tatum belting out Let It Go? And now, heres Randy Couture in full 80s aerobic gear lip-syncing to Lets Get Physical by Olivia Newton John. Thats whats going down this Thursday as the former multi-division UFC champion takes on stand-up comedian Gabriel Iglecias, better known as Fluffy by his fans. Theres no word on what songs Fluffy will lip sync, but hes gonna have to pull out the stops if he wants to compete with Couture and his team of leotard-clad dancers. This isnt Coutures first reality show rodeo, either. He also appeared on the 19th season of Dancing With The Stars (theres been 19 seasons of Dancing With The Stars?!?) and was eliminated three weeks into the show. Based on some of his stiff-looking moves in the Lip Sync Battle preview above, were not too surprised. He also starred in a Spike TV original reality show called Fight Master: Bellator MMA. That was part of a developmental deal Randy signed with Viacom that stole him away from the UFC, resulting in a huge falling-out between Couture and UFC president Dana White. Theres a good chance this appearance on Lip Sync Battle is the latest opportunity offered him through that deal making us wonder if he made the right choice leaving the UFC. Check out more Lip Sync Battle insanity right here. RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top national security adviser Susan Rice said on Monday that she expects China will support new international sanctions on North Korea for its recent rocket launches. "I think it unlikely that China wants to be seen by the international community as the protector of North Korea given its recent outrageous behavior," Rice told reporters at a briefing. "Given that, I expect that they will indeed come on board with significant new sanctions and we're working toward that end," Rice said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton) Two things emerged from the Munich security conference last week, which seem to make little sense when considered side by side. One, the major powers agreed to a cessation of hostilities in Syria. Skeptics think this will amount to little because those waging the war on the ground werent there, but a pennys better than an empty pocket. Two, the danger that the Syrian crisis will escalate beyond Syria is suddenly too real to be ignored any longer. A local war has already gone regional by no ones design; the risk that it could turn global is now unacceptably high. Related: Putin Sends Russias Deadly New Fighter Jet to Syria The short of it is that Syria must be putand urgentlyinto the wider context of East-West relations. We can no longer think about Syria separately from Ukraine or the weirdly familiar buildup of military forces on either side of Russias borders with Europe. The new imperative falls to Washington and Moscow. Both must transcend the ever-worsening tension between them, if only temporarily, in the interest of addressing a security environment whose perils now supersede narrow strategic ambitions. There are signs both sides may be moving in this direction. On Saturday President Obama telephoned the Kremlin to engage Vladimir Putin in an apparently wide-ranging exchange on Syria, Ukraine, a united front against terrorismamong the Russian presidents favored themes these daysand greater contacts at Defense Ministry level. The early reports were sketchy, but the telephone encounter appeared to be more cooperative than confrontational. Well have to see. Related: Putin Stirs the Pot in Turkey and Iraq The agreement to halt hostilities in Syria, which doesnt have the formal structure even of a ceasefire, was an achievement under the circumstances. But it was instantly dwarfed by the weeks other events. On Saturday The Independent reported that Saudi Arabia, having hinted a couple of weeks ago that it might deploy troops in Syria, has begun sending fighter jets and ground units to Incirlik, the air base in southern Turkey from which U.S. warplanes already fly sorties into Syrian airspace. Story continues The London daily quoted Mevlut Cavusoglu, theTurkish foreign minister, confirming the deployments and Riyadhs declared intentionspluralto attack the Islamic State and oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This is bad news three times over. First, Saudi Arabia has so far shown little desire to attack ISIS, which is its ideological offspring, and remains focused on fomenting a coup in Damascus. Second, throwing in with the Turks augurs more of the same. Over the weekend, Turkey began shelling Kurdish troops allied with the U.S. and the Syrian army. Related: Putin Flexes His Muscles on the Ukraine Border For once, Damascus may have it right: On Saturday, the foreign ministry sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general, asserting that the Turkish artillery campaign is direct support of terrorist groups. Third, one of Moscows unstated intentions in Syria is to put Washington on notice that the era of regime change in the Middle East and elsewhere is over. This was repeatedly made plain when I reported from the Russian capital in December. No surprise, then, that the Russians warned at the Munich conference last week that a Saudi intervention in Syria risks a new world war. In an earlier interview with Handelsblatt, Premier Dmitry Medvedev asserted, The Americans and our [Arab] partners must think hard about this: Do they want a permanent war? (The original German is here.) The threat of escalation is clear. Whatever one thinks of the Russian intervention in Syria, this has to be taken seriously. (Step 1: Stop indulging the Saudis and the Turks as they fight on the wrong side in Syria in the name of Sunni nationalism.) The extent to which great-power rivalry has come to define the Syrian crisis is now beyond question. Syria must therefore be placed on the negotiating table alongside Ukraine and the Obama administrations just-announced decision to refortify Europes eastern borders with Russia via NATO. Related: How Saudi Arabias Troops Could Swing the Fight Against ISIS Neither case is as urgent as Syria, but both are getting there. Angela Merkel has signaled European frustration with the Kiev governments failure to implement promised reforms and constitutional revisions for many months. After Economics Minister Aivaras Abromvicius resigned two weeks ago, asserting that the government remained awash in corruption, IMF Director Christine Lagarde bluntly warned that the funds $40 billion bailout was in jeopardy. Medvedev, the Russian premier, stated last week that weve already begun a new Cold War. Its hard to argue otherwise, and the Russians dont appear to be the only ones unsettled by the thought. Javier Solana, the former secretary-general of NATO, took issue with NATOs planned expansion in an interview Saturday with RIA Novosti. Its contrary to the alliances founding act, he told the Russian news agency, and it is this document that gave us the opportunity to have a structure of cooperation with Russia. I get a distinct whiff of a changing mood wafting through the air between West and East. Theres talk of ending sanctions against Russia as early as this spring, and Obamas call to Moscow Saturday was a long way from his huffy-and-puffy refusal to meet Putin at a scheduled summit three years ago. The two sides remain at odds on numerous questions: This is inevitable. But these contacts have just become essentialthe main event in world affairs, in my viewand they are no longer treating such questions as Syria and Ukraine as if they were separate. They never truly were. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: (Reuters) - Detectives in New York are investigating a woman's claim that former Governor Eliot Spitzer assaulted her at a midtown hotel, a New York law enforcement source said. Lisa Linden, a spokeswoman for Spitzer, said there was no truth to the allegation. Manhattan police are attempting to determine whether Spitzer, who resigned from the governorship during a prostitution scandal in 2008, was involved in the incident, which allegedly occurred on Saturday, the law enforcement source said. The law enforcement source would not provide details on the nature of the alleged assault. The New York Post said the woman had accused Spitzer of choking her, but Reuters could not independently confirm that report. CNN reported that police went to the hotel Saturday after receiving a call about an emotionally disturbed person, citing an unnamed source. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Editing by Richard Pullin) MANILA (Reuters) - A minister in the Philippines has urged women to delay pregnancy until more is known about the mosquito-borne Zika virus raging in Latin America, even though the Asian country's only reported case of zika was four years ago. Much remains unknown about Zika, but the virus has been linked to thousands of cases of birth defects in Latin America, and the World Health Organization has declared an international public health emergency. "To those who are not in a hurry to get pregnant, maybe they can postpone and wait next year when we know more about the virus," Health Minister Janet Garin said in a radio interview on Sunday, suggesting they practice family planning methods. Garin said she was also asking Filipinos to avoid Zika-affected countries because "travelers, who contracted the disease abroad, may then transmit the virus sexually to their partners". The scare over Zika has been heightened by warnings from the Pan American Health Organization that in a few cases the virus could have been sexually transmitted. The Philippines, sole reported case of Zika was in 2012 and involved a teenage boy in Cebu island in central Philippines. "While we do not have any reported cases as of now here in the Philippines, we know that the threat is there," Lyndon Lee-Suy, spokesman for the health ministry, told Reuters on Monday. "Even the husbands should be aware of the risks of pregnancy." There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms. On Monday, an outspoken Roman Catholic bishop accused the health minister of using the scare over Zika to suggest people practice family planning. "It is beyond her competence to say that," Archbishop Oscar Cruz said. "Is it in her job description to say when women may get pregnant or not? Is it?" The government is seeking to implement a controversial reproductive health law and the state is promoting the use of contraceptives. (Reporting by Karen Lema and Manuel Mogato; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) Police await statements in abuse case On Saturday, the woman began posting photos showing several bruises about her body. Along with the photos came allegations that it was the businessman who inflicted the injuries. The woman revealed that she had been a victim of domestic abuse for the past 12 years. Since the photos began circulating on social media the police has intervened. Newsday was told that while a report was made to the Chaguanas Police Station, the woman has not yet given a statement to investigators. Sources at the CID said that as soon as a statement is given and records produced, an arrest will be made. The woman was expected to be interviewed yesterday, by the head of the Central Division to determine whether she wishes to press charges, however Newsday understands no such interview took place. The woman has since removed herself and her two children from her husbands home. She is also expected to receive counselling from the Victim and Witness Support Unit, and her two children are to be referred to the Child Protection Unit, and the Childrens Authority. In a statement sent to the media, political leader of the ILP, Rehka Ramjit, an attorney- at-law, said consent in this particular matter is not necessary for charges to be laid against the businessman. It would be misleading for the police or anyone to state otherwise Ramjit said in the release, It is trite law that any act deemed a criminal offence by the State is considered a crime against the State and the victim becomes the Virtual Complainant. A crime against the State can be proven without the direct evidence of the victim. The most obvious example of this is in the case of a murder where there is no victim to give direct evidence. Perfect post-Carnival reading These are books that keep the excitement and magic of Carnival going while you work your way towards the reflective period of Easter. Heres my list of post-Carnival/pre-Easter reading. 1. Snapshots of the History of Trinidad & Tobago: A Walk Back in Time by Angelo Bissessarsingh Just in case you missed my review on Carnival Tuesday, Ill put Angelos book on the top of the post-Carnival/ pre-Easter reading because it is a fascinating look at the history of Trinidad and Tobago that will appeal to all readers even if youre not a fan of history or nonfiction. In his book, Angelo concentrates on people more than events and proves that history can be light and informative. He makes Trinidad and Tobagos history come alive. 2. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You Shes Sorry by Fredrick Backman and Henning Koch Call this a fairy tale for adults. I listened to the audio version of this book during Carnival when I was too sick to pick up a book and found it utterly charming. This is the story of seven-yearold Elsa and the world her 77-year-old granny constructed before her death. With fairy tales from the Land-of-Almost Awake and Miamas, Elsa is able to navigate her way through grief and the horrific world of bullies that threatens her. When Elsas granny dies, she leaves a series of letters for Elsa to deliver. They all contain an apology. This is a book that will keep you smiling while it celebrates individuality and imagination. This book is also an engaging mystery. Some of you might know Backman from his first book, A Man Called Ove. 3. My Bones and My Flute by Edgar Mittelholzer Twenty years ago, this was one of my favourite Caribbean novels to teach. Thankfully, its back in print again. The story of artist Milton Woodsleys trip up the Berbice River in Guyana with his boss, the affluent Henry Nevinson, turns eerie when Woodsley is introduced to the mysterious legend of a flute player no one can hear. Woodsley begins to suspect that there is something more to this trip than Woodsleys invitation to come and paint. Richly descriptive and filled with tension, this is my favourite book by Mittelholzer. 4. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson Theres no political satire funnier than the story of Alan Karisson, who runs away from a nursing homes and runs into a whole heap of trouble with drug smugglers. Alans past life as an explosive expert who stumbles on some of the worlds most famous leaders -- from Stalin to Franco; is weaved through his current current that includes many colourful characters and an elephant. Alan has been called the Swedish Forest Gump, and rightfully so. 5. How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair by Jonathan Beckman -- I found this to be a bizarre piece of history. This is the story of a trial in 1785 that became the talk of Paris and all of Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and a scheming woman who made her way into Marie Antoinettes court were accused of forging the queens signature to obtain a very expensive diamond necklace, which the queen refused to pay for. Marie Antoinette vehemently denied any involvement in the necklace affair. Was Marie Antoinette really innocent? Judge for yourself in this real-life historical mystery. There you have it: five books that make perfect post-Carnival reading. Asamis body to be returned to Japan When that certificate is obtained, all arrangements will be made to fly the body from Trinidad to Japan . Newsday understands that relatives of Nagakiya did not wish to come to this country, stating that they were afraid for their safety and preferred that the body be returned to Japan. The Consul General of the Japanese Embassy last week ordered that the body of the 30-year-old victim be removed to a local funeral agency to be embalmed in preparation for the return to Japan . According to well placed sources, most of Nagakiyas bruises were centred around her face and police believe she knew her attacker. Yesterday the search widened for the man captured on CCTV footage leaving Picton Court with Nagakiya late Tuesday evening . Nagakiya, who arrived in the country on January 1 to play pan with PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars, played mas on Carnival Monday and Tuesday with Legends. On Ash Wednesday, her body still clad in her carnival costume, was found on the western end of the Queens Park Savannah. An autopsy revealed that she was manually strangled. Future of Point Fortin Mayor now in doubt I dont know that it is advisable for anyone to be supporting something which is clearly unacceptable, the unacceptability of which has resulted in the Mayors withdrawal from office, Rowley told reporters at the Piarco International Airport prior to his departure for an international summit, when asked about remarks made by Point Fortin Mayor Clyde Paul. That does not sound to me as a very sensible position and I did mention very early on that we are holding people responsible for individual conduct, Rowley said. People are responsible for their own conduct and they will be held accountable. Accountability comes in a variety of ways. There is public opinion. There is sanction. We take it on a case by case basis. However, the Prime Minister said he would not be looking into the comments of Paul, but will intervene if there is any dereliction of duty. On Saturday, hours before Tim Kees announcement of his resignation, remarks attributed to Paul circulated on social media. In one comment, the Point Fortin Mayor stated, What action Tim Kee must resign for. I hope when the truth of the young ladys murder unfolds some people could handle it. In a subsequent interview with CNC3s Kamal Georges, Paul confirmed the remarks were his and further said, Those people who are making it out to be as crime as usual in Trinidad and Tobago would be surprised and, of course, be disappointed. We must not put a spin on this thing. I will take the heat for it. Those people who were at City Hall they have an agenda. They are political and they are hypocrites. Paul yesterday came under fire from politicians and individuals on social media. The Independent Liberal Party (ILP) strengthens its call for Point Fortin Mayor Clyde Paul to either resign from office or be removed by the Council for his continued arrogant, callous and disrespectful statements in the aftermath of the murder of Japanese pannist Asami Nagakiya, said the ILPs Sunil Ramjitsingh. We encourage all civic-minded citizens to raise their voices and demand that Paul must go. One person on Facebook remarked, Im beginning to wonder about the criteria one must meet in order to be a mayor. But while the storm over Tim Kees remarks looked set to widen, Rowley yesterday said the Port-of-Spain Mayor, who is also the PNM Treasurer, would not face sanction from the PNM party. As far as the PNM is concerned, the matter which attracted our attention from the very beginning has been properly dealt with in the end and we are satisfied with that, the PNM political leader said. The Prime Minister said he had no authority to fire Tim Kee. The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago has no power to dismiss any mayor so the call to me to dismiss the mayor was quite misdirected, the Prime Minister said. He now has to tender his resignation to the Council because the removal of the mayor is a matter for the Council. The Municipal Corporation Act, Section 15, states a mayor may resign on his own volition but continues in office until a successor has accepted the post. Rowley said he had spoken to Tim Kee and expressed to him that his comments were unacceptable. The Mayor was told that in my very first comments to him at 9 oclock or thereabouts on Thursday morning. Asked why, when questioned later in the day by the media on Thursday, he did not state his view about the wrongness of the remarks, Rowley said, I had only seen a portion of what was on the news. I did not see it in detail until the night when I was asked. If he had not seen the full remarks of Ash Wednesday, why did he call Tim Kee on Thursday morning to say the remarks were unacceptable? I had seen sufficient to have communicated with him instantly on that morning, Rowley said. He added, I am the father of two daughters. The very first time they played mas, they played with Poison and I played with them to ensure that they were properly looked after....I would in no way create an environment or conversation that says that any woman who is harmed or, God forbid, killed, is as a result of how she presented herself. That is a conversation which I cannot countenance as the father of two daughters and the brother of two sisters. The Prime Minister added, Let us not get carried away with this. Princes Town MP Barry Padarath on Saturday called on Rowley to apologise for his original stance on Tim Kee. Street to be named after Joey Lewis He made the announcement during the funeral service for Lewis held on Saturday at the Queens Park Savannah, Port-of- Spain. Rondon expressed condolences on behalf of the Toco Old Boys and Girls and the people of Toco. He explained that for the past 47 years, Lewis had brought joy to the people and party lovers in Toco. He created an atmosphere that makes everybody want to dance, he said. He reported that the corporation will be honouring the Joey Lewis orchestra at their next statutory meeting. They will also be planning a Joey Lewis Day in Toco and unveil a street named after him. Rondon said they appreciate the work he has done in Toco. During the ceremony he presented a plaque to Lewis widow Judy. During the ceremony yesterday, Lewis son-in-law Tyrone Diaz said the offering was collected partly to start a Pal Joey Lewis Music Scholarship Fund which would be set up to assist anyone pursuing a degree of masters providing that they do research on Lewis. The next generation may not meet Joey in a dance party but when they do their research they will understand what was lost, he added. He noted that two other plans for the offering include assisting people with Parkinsons disease and contributing to alternative methods to cancer treatment that do not involve chemotherapy; his father had both Parkinsons and cancer. The family plans to set up an account for contributions throughout the year. Former band member Enricke Moore in his remarks extended condolences to the family and said he wanted to pay last respects to the man who led dance music in this country for more than 60 years. He described him as a family man, loving husband, father to his children and to the orchestra members, advisor, reliable, trustworthy, and a true leader who led the orchestra in style. Moore noted that Lewis was a very prolific composer and arranger and most of the music the orchestra played he had written. He said for their special music you had to go to a Joey Lewis performance to hear it. Everyone danced to Joey Lewis. Everyone is still dancing today to Joey Lewis, he added. Moore expressed hope that Lewis would be honoured posthumously with a doctorate in music. Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates The church here in Trinidad and Tobago is the first place outside of Ethiopia that an arm of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was established. Springer was the one who brought the faith to the Western world after a six month visit to Ethiopia in 1952. Since his return he has not only built other the branches of the church around the country, but has done so in other countries including, Jamaica, Martinique and Guadeloupe. He stated his pastoral work has resulted in him travelling to over 80 countries to lecture and he has been the guest of many world leaders. Kihanet Abraham Springer noted his main challenge in pioneering the church and keeping it alive over the years has been, people not able to understand. Not the masses but people who assume leadership in different avenues. Still, he was most thankful for the Grace of God over the years. At yesterdays celebration many well-known persons of other faiths attended the service. These included Nobel Khan, former senator and president of the Inter-Religious Organisation, Indian High Commissioner Gauri Shanka Gupta and former Catholic Bishop of New York, Trevor Bentley.. Cuffie: Radio still important Cuffie said, For some citizens who do not feel comfortable with or have chosen not to embrace new media, radio performs the roles of comforter and companion. The Minister continued, As Trinidad and Tobago continues to improve its ICT structures, radio, which marked our first venture into wireless communication, must be recognised as a modern communication tool. Observing that the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) defines radio as the, mass media reaching the widest audience in the world, Cuffie stated, Here in TT, there are few people, if any, who can say that they do not listen to the radio, do not own or have never owned a radio. Saying that radio from inception has, brought people, families and communities together and remains a reliable source of information, the Minister said the Government, will continue to ensure that we use all media, especially the radio to achieve our vision of facilitating good governance and creating a nation of engaged and empowered citizens. Cuffie, a former journalist, extended best wishes to the TT Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), Media Association of TT (MATT) and the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) on this occasion. Ads soon for new Director of Womens Health Noting that the DWH post was formulated to address what he described as unacceptably high numbers of maternal and infant deaths, Deyalsingh told reporters this particular Cabinet decision was made two weeks ago and the ministrys focus now is on advertising the post. For the first time in this country, we will have someone dedicated to womens issues, womens health, which includes womens maternal mortality and infant mortality, because both our rates for infant mortality and maternal mortality are unacceptably high. So that person (DWH) will be charged with the responsibility of driving that initiative. Responding to Newsdays question about how soon these ads will start appearing, Deyalsingh replied, The ads are now being constructed, so I hope to have them out before the end of February. The Health Minister also spoke about the fact that heart disease is the number one killer of women and men under 70 in Trinidad and Tobago. Yesterdays luncheon formed part of efforts to raise awareness about this and to help raise funds to support the Go Red for Women Campaign. In his speech, Deyalsingh described women as the bedrock of societies and urged women to stop following the bad lifestyle examples of men which has seen women now at equal risk as men for developing cardiovascular disease and/or having a stroke. Too many women, unfortunately, are following men in making bad lifestyle choices in the foods that they eat, in the lack of exercise, in their bulging waistlines...Societies are built on womens strength, women are the bedrock of societies and if you as women, and we as a society, continue to have our women make these bad choices when it comes to lifestyle, we weaken the fabric of society. Deyalsingh then declared that this Government, of which I am a part, is intent on having a permanent intervention (via) an NCD (non-communicable diseases) programme so that... we can reduce the number of... women, and men who die prematurely before the age of 70 due to NCDs. The minister said details of the plan would be unveiled after Government has finalised details of the funding with programme sponsor, the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB). $100M spent on Red House Rowley also dared former Speaker Wade Mark now an Opposition Senator to meet him in the Parliament if he had concerns over the move. I have taken personal responsibility for that and if there is any person that has a problem with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago taking charge of a situation which is wholly unacceptable, then such a person can meet me in the Parliament, Rowley told reporters at a news conference at the Piarco International Airport. Where the public interest is not being wellserved, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has a duty to intervene and I do not have to report to Mr Mark on this matter. Mark has accused the Executive of breaching Constitutional rules and principles by taking over the project which was previously subject to a bi-partisan Parliament committee. He has said the Parliament should be supreme and proper committee processes should be invoked if economic conditions require a change in the project scope. Rowley yesterday said $100 million had been spent on the Red House yet the progress has been minimal. It is the intention of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Prime Minister, in particular, to end what has been going on with respect to these buildings, the Prime Minister said. We have spent about $100 million on the Parliament over a 15-year period. And when I met with that matter a few weeks ago, I had been told that we are at the starting block. He said Mark had played a role. As a matter of fact, he has been part of the problem, the Prime Minister said. It is his view that it is the Speaker who is supposed to do this.... Before we came into office we informed the population. And we now have a mandate.... A people who cannot preserve its cultural heritage is not deserving of nationhood. Prior to Carnival, the Office of the Prime Minister announced Rowley would chair a committee overlooking restoration of not only the Red House, but also other long-running restorations, including of the Magnificent Seven around the Queens Park Savannah. I toured the Presidents House last week, Rowley said yesterday. It is a disgrace. Absolute disgrace. The Prime Minister said while a Parliamentary committee in the Tenth Parliament had called for a special building to be constructed alongside the Parliament, this is no longer required. What had been embarked upon by way of the Parliament and the committee which died when the Parliament was prorogued was an arrangement where you were going to embark on construction of new Parliamentary quarters, Rowley said. There is no requirement for that now and we have no ability so to do and this Parliament, acting within its remit, is not going to construct any facility for Parliamentary use when we have other options available. And those options are a matter for the Government and we advise the Parliament. The Governments responsibility is to ensure that the Parliament is properly housed, not to ensure that the Parliament spends money on the housing. (MEXICO CITY) Pope Francis issued a tough-love message to Mexicos political and church elites Saturday, telling them they have a duty to provide their people with security, justice and courageous pastoral care to confront the drug-inspired violence and corruption that are tormenting the country. The raucous welcome Francis received from cheering Mexicans who lined his motorcade route seven-deep contrasted sharply with his pointed criticism of how church and state leaders here have often failed their people, especially the poorest and most marginalized. Experience teaches us that each time we seek the path of privileges or benefits for a few to the detriment of the good of all, sooner or later the life of society becomes a fertile soil for corruption, drug trade, exclusion of different cultures, violence and also human trafficking, kidnapping and death, bringing suffering and slowing down development, he told government authorities at the presidential palace. In a subsequent hard-hitting speech to his own bishops, Francis challenged church leaders known for their deference to Mexicos wealthy and powerful to courageously denounce the insidious threat posed by the drug trade and not hide behind their own privilege and careers. He told them to be true pastors, close to their people, and to develop a coherent plan to help Mexicans finally escape the raging waters that drown so many, either victims of the drug trade or those who stand before God with their hands drenched in blood, though with pockets filled with sordid money and their consciences deadened. The speech was met with tepid applause, with only a handful of bishops standing in ovation. Francis entire five-day trip to Mexico is shining an uncomfortable spotlight on the churchs shortcomings and the governments failure to solve entrenched social ills that plague many parts of the country poverty, rampant drug-inspired gangland killings, extortion, disappearances of women, crooked cops and failed public services. Over the coming days, Francis will travel to the crime-ridden Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec, preach to Indians in poverty-stricken Chiapas, offer solidarity to victims of drug violence in Morelia and, finally, pay respects to migrants who have died trying to reach the United States with a cross-border Mass in Ciudad Juarez. Francis began his first full day in the country with a winding ride into the capitals historic center to the delight of tens of thousands of Mexicans greeting historys first Latin American pope. Despite an exhausting Friday that involved a historic embrace with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Francis obliged their demands and stopped to hand out rosaries to the elderly, sick and disabled who gathered in front of his residence. The mileage that Francis is clocking standing up in his open-air popemobile is a testament to his appreciation of Mexicans need to see him up close: After a 14-mile (23-kilometer) nighttime ride in from the airport and the 9 miles (14 kilometers) logged Saturday morning, Francis still has about 93 miles (150 kilometers) more to go in the popemobile before his trip ends Wednesday. In a nod to his thrifty ways, three of the five popemobiles Francis will use are being recycled from his U.S. trip in September. Francis is also sticking to an economy car when hes not in a popemobile, using a tiny white Fiat to move around. Francis began Saturday by meeting with President Enrique Pena Nieto at the presidential palace. He told the president and other members of government that public officials must be honest and upright and not be seduced by privilege or corruption. Corruption permeates many aspects of Mexican society, from traffic cops and restaurant inspectors who routinely shake down citizens for bribes, to politicians and police commanders who are sometimes on the payroll of drug cartels. Even Pena Nietos administration has been tainted by what critics call fishy real estate dealings by people close to him, including the first lady, with companies that were awarded lucrative state contracts. Francis said political leaders have a particular duty to ensure their people have indispensable material and spiritual goods: adequate housing, dignified employment, food, true justice, effective security, a healthy and peaceful environment. In his speech, Pena Nieto said he shared Francis concerns about hunger, inequality and the dangers of people letting themselves be carried away by evil. Pena Nieto, who has sought to make economic reform, modernization and bolstering the middle class hallmarks of his administration, is suffering the lowest approval ratings of any Mexican president in a quarter century. Francis then met with his own bishops at the citys cathedral, issuing a six-page mission statement urging them to be true pastors and not gossiping, career-minded clerics who spew words and inoffensive denunciations that make them sound like babbling orphans beside a tomb. Speaking off the cuff, he urged them to maintain unity and show more transparency. If you have to fight, fight. If you have to say things, say them, but do it like men: to the face, he said. Later in the afternoon, Francis heads to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the largest and most important Marian shrine in the world. Francis has spoken reverently of his most intimate desire to pray before the icon so beloved by Latin Americans, Catholic and not. Francis visit has been cheered by Mexicans who have been treated to six previous papal trips five by St. John Paul II and one by Benedict XVI and are known for their enthusiastic welcomes. Tens of thousands of people lined Francis motorcade route, some watching from rooftops and balconies, and thousands more gathered in Mexicos main square, known as the Zocalo, to catch a glimpse as he arrived for his meeting with Pena Nieto. Authorities set up huge TV screens that transmitted the scene inside the National Palace. What the pope told the president shows he is very aware of the violent situation the country is going through, said 48-year-old Jose Luis Santana, who watched the popes speeches at the Zocalo. I think (the speech) was good, and hopefully it will be able to change things. On a broad avenue leading to the Zocalo, hundreds of people waited for hours for the pope to arrive. Its very cold, but its worth it to see his holiness, said Maria Hernandez, 69. This will be the third pope Ive seen. Hopefully his visit will help us to be better Mexicans. Francis denunciation of the social ills afflicting Mexico reflected the reality of the worlds largest Spanish-speaking Catholic country: According to government statistics, about 46 percent of Mexicans live in poverty, including 10 percent in extreme poverty. Mexicos homicide rate rose precipitously after then-President Felipe Calderon launched a war on drug cartels shortly after taking office in 2006, with the bloodshed peaking around 2011. Murders declined somewhat for the next three years after that, before ticking up again in 2015. Women have been particularly targeted: At least 1,554 women have disappeared in Mexico state, bordering Mexico City, since 2005, according to the National Observatory on Femicide. ___ Associated Press writers Peter Orsi, Carlos Rodriguez, Eduardo Castillo, Juan Zamorano and Jacobo Garcia in Mexico City contributed to this report. PM addresses students and teachers at the DAV College Managing Committee New Delhi, Mon, 15 Feb 2016 NI Wire PM addresses students and teachers at the event Nayi Disha, Naya Sankalp organized by the DAV College Managing Committee. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addressed students and teachers at the event "Nayi Disha, Naya Sankalp" (New Direction, New Resolve) organized by the Dayananda Anglo Vedic College Managing Committee. Speaking on the occasion, he said that Swami Dayananda, continues to inspire even today. He said that the Arya Samaj, which was founded in the backdrop of the 1857 uprising for Independence, fought against superstition, and has been a force for reform. The Prime Minister said that the Naya Sankalp new resolve should be to raise Indias stature globally. This, he said, would be true homage to Swami Dayananda. He said that with DAVs huge strength of students and alumni, if they resolve to work on certain issues, they can together achieve significant results in a short span of time. He said the attempt should always be to create a modern and scientific India of the 21st century. The Prime Minister noted that the DAV College Management Committee had offered to support his Clean Ganga initiative. Welcoming this, the Prime Minister said that this was an initiative that could only succeed through peoples involvement. The Prime Minister also spoke of various Government initiatives for the benefit of the youth, such as Mudra Yojana, Start-Up India and Skill Development. Source: PIB Radha Mohan Singh's address on the National Seminar and "Assam Krishi Unnayan Mela" 2016 Assam, Mon, 15 Feb 2016 NI Wire Country's farmers can be benefitted only when the new agricultural technologies are utilized by them at the field level, says Shri Radha Mohan Singh Union Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh attends the National Seminar and Assam Krishi Unnayan Mela 2016 at Guwahati today. During the occasion, Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that Assam and rest of the North Eastern states have abundant natural resources, congenial climatic conditions and large population of educated youth which makes the region suitable to trigger Indias second Green Revolution. He also said that comparative advantages of the region in producing fruits, vegetables and other horticulture products can be tapped by setting up small-scale processing units for the local market which will also boost rural employment. Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that the countrys farmers can be benefitted only when the new agricultural technologies are utilized by them at the field level. Our Prime Minister clearly told that the countrys development is not possible until our village and farmers are not developed, he added. The text of the Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singhs address on the occasion is as follows: The north-eastern region occupies eight percent of India's land area and is home to four percent of its population. Agriculture provides livelihood to 70% of the regions population. In Mizoram, around 51% of population lives in rural areas and is dependent on agriculture. The figure in Sikkim is as high as 89%. However, the pattern of agricultural growth has remained uneven across the region. The states continue to be net importers of food grains for their own consumption. However, over the last decade, the demand-supply gap of food grains in the north-eastern region had narrowed down. The region has low proportion of irrigated area and investment in building irrigation capacity has been insufficient. The Farmer brothers and sisters it is clear that Assam and rest of the North Eastern states have abundant natural resources, congenial climatic conditions, large population of educated youth makes the region suitable to trigger Indias second Green Revolution. Comparative advantages of the region in producing fruits, vegetables and other horticulture products can be tapped by setting up small-scale processing units for the local market which will also boost rural employment. As stated by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Bhai Modi, the North-East should focus on a second green revolution through organic farming. Assam is predominantly an agricultural state and over 75% of the population is dependent on agriculture. Paddy is the most important food crop grown in the state. Cash crops like tea, jute, cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane, potato etc. contribute considerable acreage. Among the horticultural crops produced in the state, orange, banana, pineapple, areca nut, coconut, guava, mango, jackfruit, and citrus are the important ones. The state has an estimated 39.44 lakh hectares of gross cropped area, of which net sown area is about 27.01 lakh hectares. Area under pulses and Oilseeds are 1.05 and 2.26 lakh hectare respectively, rice area covered by HYV are 63% of total rice area. Consumption of chemical fertilizers and Organic Manure are 63.2 and 73 kg per hectare. Similarly, Consumption of Chemical Pesticides and Bio- Pesticides are 39 and 6 g per hectare. But it is surprising that, our Prime Minister has started the Traditional Agricultural development Scheme for the promotion of organic farming and given Rs. 5.76 crore to the Assam state. That money is also not utilized by the state government, whereas, previously no money were allotted for such a scheme. In addition, for the promotion of organic farming in the North Eastern states Central Government has sanctioned Rs. 100 crore, unfortunately the state government is not able to utilize it. The countrys population is increasing, but the agricultural land is not increasing. Modi Government has decided that the 14 crore farmers who is having the land should be issued a soil health card so that, they can know what disease they have in the field and accordingly how much pesticides and fertilizers can be used. For this, Assam Govt. has been allotted Rs. 1.33 crore for the management of soil health card in the state, till now that money also unspent by the state government. For the irrigation of the rainfed area, the fund has been allotted and unfortunately the state government is not able to utilize it. Few days back I came to Guwahati and said the in the year 1994-95, Government of India has sanctioned Rs. 1300 lakh for the Dairy Development Project in the 10 districts of Assam State. In the year, 2004-05 again Rs. 910 Lakh has been issued by the Central Government, but from that also Rs. 300 lakh has been siphoned. No report of that scam was given by the state government to the centre and what happen to that money and culprit, nobody knows. The loss is obviously to the people of Assam. There is no dairy development in the state. Countrys farmers can be benefitted only when the new agricultural technologies are utilized by them at the field level. Our Prime Minister clearly told that the countrys development is not possible until our village and farmers are not developed. The countrys development is possible only when our North East will develop, for that, our Prime Minister has decided to open New Delhi based I.A.R.I. at Assam. For the land of this institute, letter has already been given to the state government. Government has shown four places and the officials of the institute have selected one place, and for that also, the state government is demanding Rs. 1.60 lakh per bigha. It is surprising that, the institute will benefit the farmers of the region. Normally, the state government is providing the land free of cost, dont know, the state government is strengthening the farmers or own family. Modi Government is committed to bring the second green revolution in the North East. The headquarter (ATARI) of all the North Eastern KVKs are at Umiam, which include 25 KVKs of Assam also. The KVKs in Assam have significant achievements. The KVKs of the Assam conducted 3736 on farm trials and demonstrations under different thematic areas of crops and livestock enterprises during 2014-15 under close supervision and guidance of ICAR-ATARI, Zone-III. Apart from that, the KVKs of Assam have conducted 1020 hectare of oil seeds and 425 hectare of pulses in the year 2015-16. As many as 65174 numbers of farmers and extension personnel in the Assam state were imparted training programmes on different areas of crops, livestock enterprises, fisheries and home science. During the year 2014-15, the KVKs in Assam produced 598.69 tonnes of quality seeds, 4.04 lakh of planting materials and 2.02 lakh livestock (piglets, poultry chicks etc) and fish fingerlings. KVKs in Assam were successful in soil sample analysis and supply of 6577 Soil Health Cards (SHCs) to farmers during the current year (2015-16) and soil testing kit has been made available to 17 districts for soil testing. In this year, ICAR allocated Rs. 26 crore for the presently functioning 25 KVKs in Assam. KVK Karbianglong under Assam Agricultural University was conferred merits of recognition for implementating government sponsored new programme ARYA (Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture) with financial support of Rs 1 crore for sustainable self-employment and income security of the unemployed youth of the district. Some of the special programmes for KVKs of Assam such as; E-connectivity for the KVKs-Cachar, Kamrup, Lakhimpur and Sibsagar, Soil & Water Testing Labs for KVK Barpeta and Dibrugarh, Rain Water Harvesting for KVK Karbianglong, Minimal Processing Facilities for KVKs Karbianglong and Sonitpur , Portable Carb Hatchery for KVKs- Dubri, Hailkandi, Jorhat and Nagaon, Integrated Farming System for KVKs- Chirang, Kokrajhar and Udalguri, Technology Information Unit for KVKs- Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur and Sonitpur Mini Seed Processing for KVKs-Cachar and Nalbari were implemented under 12th five year plan;. By considering the geographical scenario and benefit of the farmers of this region, we have decided to open a new ATARI at Guwahati. This ATARI will serve technology dissemination and extension needs and management for the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. This ATARI will be responsible look after the welfare and functioning of KVKs in 25 districts of Assam, 14 districts of Arunachal Pradesh and 4 districts of Sikkim, which will cover the 64% of area and 71% population of North Eastern region. Report of the Site Selection Committee for establishment of KVK in Dima Hasao district of Assam had already been submitted to ICAR and is at the final stage of its sanction. The state of Assam has contributed substantially to the food basket of the North east India and has the potential to fulfill the food grain demand of the whole region. The region has highest per capita availability of water in the country but seldom has its potential been utilized. To enhance the optimum utilization of water in the country, our government has started Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojana. I am pretty sure that the second green revolution will have its root in the north eastern region in which Assam is surely going to play a major role. Source: PIB Hon'ble Governor, Himachal Pradesh, visits Surajkund Mela Faridabad, Mon, 15 Feb 2016 NI Wire On Sunday afternoon, Hon'ble Governor, Himachal Pradesh, Acharya Sh Dev Vrat, visited the Surajkund International Crafts Mela at Faridabad. The Hon'ble Governor and his family were extended a warm welcome at the Dhanteshwari gate by Dr Sumita Misra, Principal Secretary to Government of Haryana, Tourism Department-cum-Chairperson, Surajkund Mela Authority and Sh Vikas Yadav, Managing Director, Haryana Tourism-cum-Chief Administrator, Surajkund Mela Authority. Hon'ble Governor visited the Haryana's Apna Ghar and as a mark of respect, he was tied the ceremonial Haryanavi turban. He also visited a couple of stalls and later, he along with his family proceeded to the Chaupal and enjoyed watching the performances of the international troupes. He complimented the efforts of Haryana Tourism and Surajkund Mela Authority that organize the Surajkund International Crafts Mela at such a grand scale. He further added that this Mela evokes a great response from countries across the globe and the participation of nearly two dozen countries epitomize that the Mela has grown by leaps and bounds. He also stated that this Mela has given impetus to handicrafts and helped in employment generation. Later, Hon'ble Governor Acharya Sh Dev Vrat and his family were also honoured on the Chaupal. Kangana Ranaut recently spotted at a private dinner hosted by Narendra Modi New Delhi, Mon, 15 Feb 2016 NI Wire Mumbai, February 15th, 2016: Kangana Ranaut was recently spotted at a private dinner hosted by Narendra Modi held in honour of the 'Make in India Week'. The actress looked gorgeous in a Cynthia Rowley outfit and a sequenced Miu Miu headband. The private dinner was also attended by Bollywood stars like Aamir Khan. The actress is known to make a stylish entry at events and is turning heads with her fashion choices. She will be next seen in Rangoon opposite Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. About Me newwavegeo I've been writing about pop music on a professional basis since 1990. View my complete profile Russia-Backed Syrian Army Gains Foothold In Aleppo, Peace Hopes Fade France called on Turkey to stop the shelling, but Turkey said it would continue to respond to Kurdish militia attacks in Syria. Putin "wants to use Syria as a live-fire exercise for Russia's military", the senator and 2008 US presidential candidate said. Hitman GO: Definitive Edition Coming to PS4, PS Vita, PC Next Week The PlayStation versions support Cross-Buy, which means purchasing it on one platform unlocks it for free on the other. There's no word on price yet, but the original iOS release cost 3.99 on the App Store, with extra DLC for sale. Scientists detect gravitational waves predicted by Einstein hundred years ago During the 1970s and 80s, Joseph Taylor, Jr and his colleagues first demonstrated the existence of gravitational waves . Dr Daw has been working on gravitational wave data analysis, as a member of the LIGO scientific collaboration . Louisiana man who opened fire on police officers dies Moore says a bullet grazed one officer's head; the other officer was hit in the stomach but protected by his bulletproof vest. On Saturday, the officers responded to an early morning report of a domestic disturbance reported by a woman who knew Smith. Extra 1bn a year to treat mental health problems The report also shines a light on problems for children - one in ten of whom have a diagnosable mental health condition. It committed to investing an extra 1bn a year by April 2020 and promised more transparency on mental health spending. Clinton unveils Nevada argument on Sanders Sanders, addressing about 4,000 activists at the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner in St. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., get into their auto after arriving for a campaign rally, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, in Las Vegas. NYC police officers wounded in public housing shooting Three shots were fired in return by the officers; the male officer who was injured fired two shots and a third officer fired once. It's gonna be hard for me and I won't let go of the fact that you're not here until time allows me. "I don't have much to say". Woman Asks Kasich Why She Should Support Him In The DEMOCRATIC Primary Appearing with his wife and their daughter, Chelsea, Bill Clinton said Sanders is trying to shut down debate inside the party. And I think there are some realities here of sexism, but the point is, these are two women who are passionate advocates. Wounded NYPD officer leaves hospital Liang has pleaded not guilty, and his defense has suggested he had his gun drawn because of the unsafe nature of the assignment. Espeut was one of the two NYPD officers shot Thursday night while doing a "vertical patrol" of the Melrose Houses in the Bronx. Man kills six employees at education office in Saudi Arabia Two other people have been wounded in the assault, in the remote community of Ad Dair, next to the border with Yemen . He was unable to immediately confirm how the victims were killed but state television reported it was a shooting. Clinton seeks to cut into Sanders' New Hampshire advantage But young women are continuing to flock to Sanders whose assault on corporate America and Wall Street has fired up his campaign. David Axelrod, a CNN contributor and former top adviser to President Barack Obama, suggested that the blame lies at the top. Manhattan crane topples into street killing 1, injuring 3 The Department of Buildings said it implemented numerous recommendations and there is more oversight of cranes than ever before. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the crane was being moved into a secure position because of high winds when the incident occurred. Officials working to determine cause of NYC crane collapse Ramsey said Friday that there was, "very little doubt" that the man arrested Friday was also serving as the city's prosecutor. Twisted red-colored metal from the plunging boom smashed into parked cars and debris littered streets and sidewalks. Led Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal Signed Amid Protests Trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim countries including the United States have ceremonially signed a free-trade deal. Meanwhile, the White House has warned Congress that a delay in ratifying the deal will cost the US economy. Recap of the South Carolina Republican Presidential Debate Saturday's GOP debate in SC contained misquotes of Stalin, enraged shouting, a Spanish debate, and accusations of mooning. The result makes SC an ideal place for Jeb's campaign to finally roll him out, in a last-ditch attempt to thwart Trump. Hello everyone! I'm a writer of historical fiction next to being a pensioned teacher. I like to share my views on life and actuality, along with bringing you interviews with bestselling authors and guest blogs. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. In his first address to the Egyptian parliament Saturday, President Abdel Fattah Sisi hailed the projects achieved by his government and affirmed that the transition to democratic rule was completed, acknowledging however that terrorism continues to be a challenge. From this place, under parliaments dome, the Egyptian people declare to the entire world that they have laid the foundation of a democratic system and rebuilt constitutional institutions, the president said. He said his government has made in just 18 months major strides towards achieving a national project centered on the reestablishment of security and the revival of economy. He claimed that the multiple projects that were launched and completed will contribute to redrawing the nations map. Sisi said the country regained its regional and global influence that shrunk following the end of the Mubarak regime. Focusing on the challenges, the president said the security forces have managed to break the back of terrorism in Egypt and they will continue without laxity as they strive for progress and stability. Attacks by extremist groups are frequent in the North African country especially in the Sinai Peninsula. President Sisi said confronting terrorism will not distract them from building a democratic, civil and modern state, in an indirect response to the critics accusing him of ruling the country with an iron fist and accusing his Government of having enacted laws restricting street protests and press freedoms, giving the police vast powers and allowing crackdown on the opposition. In his message to the lawmakers, Sisi urged them to defend the state and be aware of those who do not want for this country to be an exception in a troubled region after it succeeded in aborting a conspiracy in reference to the short-lived Muslim Brotherhood-led government. Analysts think however that Sisis speech will not appease criticisms of his Government. The fight against the Islamic State in Syria is slowly paving way to a fight for or against the stay of President Assad in power as regional and global powers continue to have opposing views over his role in the country. Saudi Arabia is adamant that Assad must leave and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir claimed that the Syrian president is weak and finished. Saudi is preparing to launch ground offensives in the war torn country and has already deployed warplanes in a Turkish airbase as Ankara began to bombard Kurdish forces. Damascus has condemned the Turkish shelling which has continued for two days describing it as repeated crimes and attacks against the Syrian people and Syrias territorial integrity. It urged the UN Security Council to put an end to the crimes of the Turkish regime. Presidents Obama and Putin had a telephone discussion over the situation in Syria and a statement released by Kremlin stated that they assessed the just ended International Syrian Support Group meeting in Munich and the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 in order to work towards a ceasefire and promote a real political process. Putin called for a common front against terrorism while Obama, according to the White House, urged Russia to play a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria. Russia began its airstrikes on September 30 and it has helped pro-Assad forces to make important territorial gains. Minister al-Jubeir said if the Syrian president stays in power for long, it would be because of the obstinacy of the Syrian regime and that of its allies. If a political process fails, there is no option to remove Bashar al-Assad except by force, al-Jubeir said. The foreign ministers of Tunisia and Algeria have reiterated their opposition to foreign intervention in Libya, raising concern that such an intervention might affect their national interests. The two countries, both neighbors of the war-torn country, called on the rival parties to reach a political agreement to promote stability in the country and pool energies to fight terrorism. Tunisian foreign minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said Sunday at the end of a two-day visit to Algeria that forming a national reconciliation government will help deal with key issues while his Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra, said that his country and Tunisia want to be a significant part of the solution rather than a part of the problem. The call for military intervention has been made by European countries which are increasingly concerned by the threat posed by the presence of the Islamic State in Libya. Lamamra said Algiers does not believe that a military action and bringing more arms to Libya would achieve calm there. None of Libyas neighboring North African states is likely to support a military intervention in Libya. Egypt has cancelled a historic meeting between President al-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz opened the lid over the security cooperation between the two countries. Cairos decision followed comments made by Yuval Steinitz earlier this month concerning security cooperation between Egypt and Israel. Steinitz reportedly indicated that President al-Sisis orders to flood several Hamas-made tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt were made at Israeli requests. He also affirmed that security cooperation between Israel and Egypt is better than ever, and asserted that flooding is a good solution for the challenge of tackling Hamas intricate tunnel system. The ministers comments were also unwelcome in Israel as security authorities knew that the comments would frustrate Cairo which has been developing secret ties with Jerusalem. Cairo fears the disclosure of security cooperation with Israeli will flare up domestic anger and trigger popular protest against al-Sisi who will be treated as traitor and colliding with the enemy. Many Egyptians view security cooperation with Israel a treason against the Palestinians and against the Arab world in general. For Al-Sisi, Hamas, a movement deemed as the Palestinian branch of the Egyptian outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, is a threat to national security. Cairo also accuses Hamas of colliding with Islamic States Sinai local branch that has inflicted losses to Egyptian security forces since 2013. According to The Jerusalem Post Cairo needs support from Israel to destroy Hamass tunnels linking Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula. Relations between Egypt and Israel strained after ousted President Mohamed Morsi had recalled Egyptian ambassador to Jerusalem following Israeli incursion on Gaza. Israel has reportedly supported al-Sisis military coup against Morsi. Since last year, both countries have been working to thaw ties. Al-Sisi appointed a new ambassador to Jerusalem while Israel reopened its foreign mission in Cairo after it was stormed in 2011. A new Libyan national unity government has been formed in Moroccan Atlantic Coastal city of Skhirat, outskirts of Rabat, rekindling hopes to restore peace to this country rocked by violence fueled by rival groups. The new revised list for a unity government under a United Nations-backed plan has been worked out in a bid to bring stability to the North African country. The Tobruk-based parliament, which has been recognized internationally, rejected last month a 32-member list, saying it includes too many ministers. The Tobruk lawmakers had refused to endorse the first proposed government unity list because the UN did not exclude amendments added by Islamist groups. The amendments that angered the Tobruk lawmakers would have given the unity government the power to fire all senior Libyan officials not unanimously approved by its members. The Tobruk government saw this as an attempt to remove their fiercely anti-Islamist army chief, General Khalifa Hafter, whose forces have been fighting Islamist militias nationwide for over a year. The impasse dealt a hard blow to months of tough negotiations with the North African countrys two rival governments. The negotiations were conducted by the UN envoy for Libya Bernardino Leon with and carried on by his successor Martin Kobler. The new cabinet list, made up of 13 ministers and 5 ministers of state, has been sent to Libyas eastern parliament for approval. Kobler said in a tweet that the proposal is a unique peace opportunity that must not be missed, deeming it crucial now that the Tobruk House of Representatives approves it. Several analysts are pinning high hopes that the revised government list will help to end violence and political crisis in the country that fell apart after the fall of former dictator Muammar Gadafi in 2011. The international community has pledged to support the Libyan national unity government in restoring peace and stability to the North African country endangered by terror groups. King Mohammed VI is expected in Paris next Wednesday on a working and friendship visit to France, during which he will confer with President Francois Hollande. During this summit meeting, the two heads of State will discuss an array of issues of common interest, primarily bilateral cooperation, the situation in North Africa, and the two countries joint efforts to fight terrorism. The climate change international conference COP22, scheduled in Marrakech next November 7 through 18, will also be high on the agenda of talks, as France holds the presidency of the COP21 until it hands it over to Morocco in Marrakesh. The Wednesday meeting will be the third between the two heads of State since last November. Actually King Mohammed VI had called on President Hollande at the Elysee few days after the November 13 terror attacks that targeted several areas in Paris, killing 130 persons. During this meeting, President Hollande had hailed Moroccos valuable cooperation and effective assistance as well as the effectiveness of the Moroccan intelligence services that helped track down the authors of the Paris attacks. It was indeed the intelligence provided by Morocco that helped put the French investigators on the trail of Belgian-Moroccan jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, who was killed during a raid carried out by the Police against his hideout. The Moroccan and French leaders had then voiced their countries shared determination to carry on together the fight against terrorism and radicalization and to work jointly to settle regional and international crises. King Mohammed VI and President Hollande had also met on November 30 on the sidelines of the climate change international conference COP21 held in Paris. This new friendship and working visit will surely give a new momentum to the already exceptional partnership binding the two countries. News, notes, and observations from the James River Valley in northern South Dakota with special attention to reviewing the performance of the media--old and new. E-Mail to MinneKota@gmail.com By Steve Holland By Steve Holland CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Former President George W. Bush came to the aid of his brother Jeb Bush's Republican presidential campaign in South Carolina on Monday with a rousing endorsement of his character and a call for voters to reject the angry bluster of Donald Trump. The appearance of the elder Bush on the campaign trail may help Jeb Bush with South Carolina Republicans who hold the former president in high regard. But it also carries some risks, given his launching of the Iraq war in 2003, which ended up being unpopular with many Americans and which Republican front-runner Trump has seized on to criticize him. George W. Bush, who has stayed out of politics for the most part since leaving office in early 2009, showed he remains an engaging speaker, generating cheers repeatedly over 20 minutes from the biggest crowd Jeb Bush has enjoyed in his campaign. Without mentioning Trump by name, the 69-year-old George W. Bush left no doubt he was talking about the New York billionaire who uses incendiary rhetoric at his campaign events. "These are tough times and I know that Americans are angry, but we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and our frustrations," the former president said. Real strength, he said, means facing challenges and prevailing. "Strength is not empty rhetoric. It is not bluster. It is not theatrics. Real strength comes from integrity and character. And in my experience, the strongest person isn't usually the loudest person in the room," George W. Bush said. Whether the elder Bush's presence will help his 63-year-old brother in the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday remains to be seen. Jeb is running fourth in polls in South Carolina, behind Trump, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Trump, at a news conference in Charleston earlier in the day, continued a stream of insults directed at the Bush family, insisting that the former president bore responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that took place on his watch. "Excuse me, the World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush, right? It came down. That was the greatest attack in the history of the United States worse than Pearl Harbor.... We weren't safe," Trump said. George W. Bush offered some vivid imagery of what took place on Sept. 11 without addressing Trump's criticism and saluted U.S. military personnel, a key constituency in South Carolina. In his first public campaign appearance of the year for his brother, George W. Bush also met privately with South Carolina's Republican governor, Nikki Haley, who has yet to endorse a candidate for the primary vote. George W. Bush's standing has risen among all Americans since he left power in 2009 and he has stayed on the sidelines of his brother's presidential bid, headlining private fundraisers but otherwise staying off the campaign trail. That he is getting out in public now shows the urgency Jeb Bush sees in a good performance in South Carolina. Bush finished in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses and in fourth place in the New Hampshire primary - the first contests in the state-by-state battles to pick a party nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election. Jeb Bush predicted a good showing on Saturday, telling the crowd that "Saturday is going to be a surprise." Trump is also keeping an eye on Cruz and trying to prevent him from gaining ground on him. He issued a statement accusing Cruz of dirty politics for running a negative ad against him. Trump also threatened to sue Cruz to determine whether he can legally serve as president since he was born in Canada and therefore might not meet the requirements set out in the U.S. Constitution. "One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him," Trump said. (Additional reporting Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry and Dan Grebler) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters' editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage. RANDALL HILL WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump blasted close rival Ted Cruz on Monday, threatening to file a lawsuit challenging his eligibility for the White House if the Texas senator does not take down his " false ads." The New York billionaire, whose campaign has long been littered with insults, called Cruz "totally unstable" and said he is "the single biggest liar Ive ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them." Speaking at a news conference in South Carolina, Trump said he could "fight back" by bringing a lawsuit against Cruz over the fact that he was born in Canada, which Trump argues makes him ineligible to become president. "If he doesnt take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately," he said. Cruz scored a key early victory in the Republican race to pick a nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election when he won the Iowa caucuses earlier this month, and has been attacking Trump on a range of issues. Trump said the Republican National Committee should intervene to stop Cruz from misrepresenting his views and policies on issues such as abortion, gun rights, healthcare and potential Supreme Court nominees. He said he had signed a pledge with the RNC agreeing not to run a third-party candidacy, and to support the eventual Republican nominee, and the RNC should do its bit to keep the campaign fair. "The bottom line is the RNC is controlled by the establishment ... and special interests," Trump told reporters. "I signed a pledge, but it's a double-edged pledge. As far as I'm concerned, they're in default on their pledge." Trump's remarks, days ahead of Saturday's Republican primary in South Carolina, came after increasingly bitter exchanges between the two candidates in recent weeks. Cruz has hammered Trump on key issues, and said on Saturday that if elected he would appoint liberals to the Supreme Court. Trump has long said that Cruz may not be constitutionally qualified to serve as president because he was born in Canada. The U.S. Constitution says only "natural born" citizens can become president of the United States. Born in Calgary, Alberta, to a U.S. citizen mother and a Cuban father, Cruz has accused Trump of bringing up his birthplace simply because Cruz is leading some polls. Last month, Cruz said Trump, who led the movement questioning whether the Hawaiian-born President Barack Obama was really from the United States, had asked his lawyers to look into the issue of Cruz's birth in September and concluded there were no issues. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Frances Kerry) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters' editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage. The familiar emergency alert system, the one where we in the U.S. occasionally hear a radio or television broadcast interruption that... The specter of Scalia may loom even larger over the GOP than they currently realize. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday, there was instant and near unanimous agreement from Republican politicians that no replacement should be nominated or confirmed until a new president is sworn in next year, a logic obviously pinned to the coin-toss chance that a Republican will win the White House this fall. Democrats, in turn, were quick to reject that stance as unprecedented and unconstitutional, and President Obama confirmed on Saturday night that he would indeed be nominating a replacement judge. Minutes later at the GOP debate, every Republican candidate made it clear they wanted any Obama nominee blocked, while Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio hastily postured to make Scalias seat a central issue for their campaigns. In addition, while the quick consensus behind rejecting any Obama nominee may seem like an easy punt for White Househopeful Republicans, its also probably an essential one, lest they risk alienating the partys powerful base. But whatever the GOP chooses to do next, the path ahead will be fraught with risks and ramifications. On one hand, a vacant seat let alone a conservative legends vacant seat will definitely be used by both parties to crystallize the stakes of Novembers elections and use base issues like abortion and gun control to drive core supporters to the polls (a dynamic which could heavily influence the primary races as well). The problem for Republicans is that this extra energy might naturally favor Democrats, as the New Yorkers John Cassidy suggests: It is well known, and accepted on both sides, that the Democrats hopes of holding on to the White House hinge on getting a high voter turnout on November 8th. If you were a Democratic strategist trying to maximize turnout, what would you most like to see? One possibility, surely, is the prospect of the election being transformed into a referendum on the President versus the do-nothing Republican Congress. The Atlantics David Frum, a conservative, takes another angle on this point, noting that Republicans are provoking Obama and may not like the result. He points a finger at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who quickly vowed on Saturday to bar any Supreme Court nominee put forth by the president: By assuring Obama that he need not worry that a nominee will actually serve on the Court, McConnell empowered and invited the president to play radical politics with the nomination. The big concern Democrats have (or should have) about 2016 is the decline in turnout that occurred between 2008 and 2012. Obamas support dropped by 3.6 million votes between his election and his re-election. The Republican ticket gained only 900,000 votes over the same four years. Absenteeism was most marked among younger voters and Latinos. What saved Obama was the loyalty and commitment of African Americans: their participation actually increased between 2008 and 2012 and it was their ballots that provided the president with his margin of victory. If they should feel uninspired in 2016, the Democratic nominee is likely doomed. Democrats will want to do everything they can to rev up African American excitement and energy. Such as for example, nominating somebody like Eric Holder, who might welcome his nomination with a fiery statement about voting rights, affirmative action, and Black Lives Matter. And then there is the down-ticket risk for the GOP, as the New York Times summarizes: Republican officials privately acknowledged that refusing to bring Mr. Obamas appointment to a vote could prove difficult to sustain, particularly with the Senate controlled by a handful of Republican incumbents from moderate and liberal-leaning states. It was notable that Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who faces re-election this year, made no pledge about blocking Mr. Obamas pick in his statement regarding Justice Scalias death. No matter what, Times Jay Newton-Small points out that Mitch McConnell is now probably between a rock and a hard-right place: The Republican Party is already splitting between the Establishment and anti-Establishment wings. If the Establishment were to cave on this nomination, the anti-Establishment wing would gain even more power, ahead of key primaries that will not only pick the next presidential nominee but nominees for state and federal races. In many cases, if extreme anti-Establishment candidates win those primaries, they wont have a shot in the general election. Already, McConnell has a tough battle ahead keeping his slim four-seat majority. Republicans in seven states that Obama won both in 2008 and 2012 are up for reelection: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Five of those races are currently toss-ups. So not only would presidential hopefuls like Cruz and Rubio be forced to vote on a potential court-changing nominee, but so would all eight of those vulnerable senators. Congress might need a lot more renovation in the near future. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images On the other hand, if Obama nominates a moderate judge and Republicans reject him or her, only to lose the presidential election and Senate this fall, they will have traded a slightly-liberal court for a very liberal one, as a new Democratic president with a Senate-majority would likely nominate a true liberal next year. Slates Mark Joseph Stern tries to think through the GOPs logic: [A]re Republicans so confident in the likelihood of one of these alternatives that theyre willing to risk the worst possible outcome? Are they so horrified by the modest liberal victories that would come with the confirmation of a moderate as to deploy a strategy that could bring the second coming of the Warren Court? And, just as critically, are they really certain that a presidential election entirely focused on the impact of the court on American life as this one surely now will plays to their advantage? Most Americans, after all, absolutely despise Citizens United and want to keep Roe v. Wade on the books. An election that focuses overwhelmingly on money in politics and first-trimester abortion is a losing election for Republicans. Of course, the Republican strategy in the Obama era has been based on massive, unprecedented risks like this one, and the Senate stonewallers might just have the winning hand. But the odds that this particular gamble plays to their favor strike me as chillingly low. Adds Stern, Expect to hear a growing din of chatter along these lines as more Republicans survey the political landscape and realize that the obstructionist path forward may also be the riskiest. Theres also another potential problem if the now eight-justice Court splits evenly on current and future controversial cases, since split decisions will simply uphold lower-court rulings. In other words, the vacant seat leaves all lower-court rulings in place, a scenario which would give liberals a distinct advantage, argues Linda Hirshman in the Washington Post: [Most of the country] is governed by appeals courts dominated by Democrats. The suit against Obamas environmental initiative, which the Supreme Court just stayed, came from the liberal D.C. Circuit, which had unanimously refused to grant the stay. Now the Obama administration can simply have the Environmental Protection Agency come up with a slightly different new plan and run to the liberal D.C. courts to bless it and refuse to stay it. Its unlikely the now-divided Supreme Court would come up with a majority to stay the new rules [] Thats why the effect of an equally divided court has enormous potential to strengthen Obamas hand in dealing with the Republican Senate in picking a replacement: Even if the GOP blocks his nominee, the policy outcomes would be very similar to what theyd be if the court had a liberal majority [] Right now, McConnell sounds like he doesnt recognize the peril his party is in. If Obama signals that hes willing to take advantage of the situation by taking actions like passing new environmental rules or moving for rehearing in the pending cases, hell put pressure on the Senate by getting what he wants without his court pick. Two-thirds of the people in the country live in blue-court America. Then again, even if the Republicans block Obamas nomination, win the White House in November, keep the Senate, and nominate and confirm their own judge, they still might not get what they really want, as the American Conservatives Daniel McCarthy warns: No matter what happens, conservatives who hope that Supreme Court appointments will turn the tide of the culture war are apt to be disappointed. Since the brutal Robert Bork hearings, a generation of lawyers aspiring to land on the Supreme Court one day has learned to keep quiet about controversial subjects. That first of all makes identifying reliably right-wing nominees difficult, and it further means that having acquired a habit of avoiding conflict even a right-leaning nominee might not have much spirit for battle once on the court. Certainly its hard to imagine any new justice following Scalias example as an outspoken cultural combatant. Justice Alito is not quite another Scalia, and future justices promise to be more in the mold of John Roberts. Stepping back, Voxs Ezra Klein is concerned about nothing less than the entire American political system. Looking at the looming battle, he worries the countrys democracy is about to fail a massive test by proving that a divided government in present-day America is no longer capable of actually governing: This isnt to predict constitutional collapse over a Supreme Court vacancy [] But if American politics cannot fill a Supreme Court vacancy amidst divided government in any of the 25 percent of years that are presidential election years, then that is proof that our system is deteriorating in its capacity to govern amidst divided party control that the space for effective governance is narrowing because of party polarization. Divided government is a common occurrence in American politics. It didnt used to signal disaster for the systems ability to solve problems. If it does so now, then the country will, over time, pay a serious price for a political system that no longer fits its political parties. Lastly, while this fight will almost certainly play out along hyperpartisan lines, Irin Carmon takes some time to consider the warm friendship shared between Justice Scalia and his ideological opposite on the Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images The NYPD is investigating a claim that former New York governor Eliot Spitzer assaulted a woman. According to several reports, the woman told the police that Spitzer choked her while the two were in a room at the Plaza Hotel on Saturday night. After the alleged attack, the accuser slit her wrists and had to be hospitalized. From the New York Daily News: The unidentified woman knew Spitzer for about two years, a source said. Believed to be in her 20s, she is from Russia and the two may have been arguing about her returning there. She made the allegations after police responded to the hospital. Spitzer was no longer at the hotel at that point, the source said. The woman apparently doesnt want to press charges, but its up to police and prosecutors to determine whether any charges will be filed. CNN reports, After she was taken to the hospital, the former governor showed up there, obscuring his face with a skull cap, according to the source. At the hospital, the source said, the woman told police that she and Spitzer had gotten into a verbal dispute that turned physical. She has reportedly since returned to Russia. Spitzer spokesperson Lisa Linden told reporters, There is no truth to the allegation. Spitzer resigned from the governorship in 2008 after an investigation revealed that hed paid for sex. More recently, he unsuccessfully ran for city comptroller. Erykah Badu at the Pyer Moss show. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Erykah Badu is on the ground, winding a strip of masking tape around a models ankle, fusing his black Palladium boots to his baggy pants. Anyone who doubted the hands-on quality of the musicians first-ever runway styling gig should be silenced by that sight or that of her teasing out a models forelock under his conductors hat. She futzes until shes satisfied, then she says, in that warm, recognizable voice, I love that. I love it. Badu has styled editorial spreads before, but the Pyer Moss show is her first Fashion Week gig. How did she link up with the labels designer Kerby Jean-Raymond? Well, Kerby tells the story better than I do, she says quietly, tucked onto a couch at Milk Studios, wearing an oversize denim coat, round sunglasses, and a naval-looking hat with an orange pin that reads LSD and a yellow pin that reads ACID. Weve been trying to reach out to Erykah for a minute, says the self-effacing Jean-Raymond. Just because of her vibe and energy we always wanted to bring it to the collection somehow, but I could never connect the dots. He eventually connected them through Jason Rembert, a stylist who works with Ciara and Rita Ora, and is a college friend of Jean-Raymonds. He was styling her for an event and he pulled clothing from me, and she ended up loving it and keeping it. I used that as a tool for Lets talk about styling the show. I thought he was calling me like, I need my shit back now, Badu breaks in, laughing. The two quickly fell into a rhythm, sometimes working over Skype, with Jean-Raymond emailing Badu who lives part-time in Dallas his sketches for the collection, which he called Double Bind, and which he said was themed around depression. The artworks, the graphics, and everything around it deal with the topic, he says. Youll see it in the mannerisms, in the colors that we use, its not as bright as it usually is. Youll see it in the music choice, an orchestra and choir that performed operatic versions of Fetty Wap and Nicki Minaj tracks while clad in hospital gowns emblazoned with the Pyer Moss brand name. (A couple of the musicians tried to remove their Milk backstage wristbands pre-show, then decided to keep them, figuring they looked enough like hospital bracelets.) It could also be seen in pins like the one Badu wore, prescribing potions for a variety of ills, including MOLLY, OXY, XANAX, and LEAN. Badu, for her part, contributed seven trunks worth of vintage items from her considerable trove. Pyer Moss has become known for making political statements, like the They Have Names T-shirt Jean-Raymond designed two years ago which listed the names of unarmed black men killed by police officers and last seasons meditation on police brutality. But he says that fall 2016 is not political, its just personal. Its just human. That said, there was at least one starkly political message: The closing model carried a sign reading, My demons won today. Im sorry, which were the dying words of Black Lives Matter activist MarShawn McCarrel, who killed himself this week. As the collections 3:30 call time drew closer, Badu and Jean-Raymond were hands-on until the moment the models walked out on the runway. She was up until two oclock in the morning, working in the studio on buttons and pins and things like that, Jean-Raymond said. And she takes everything that she does very seriously. Its not like a celebrity putting their name on something. Badus willingness to get her hands dirty bore that out. She is down there, he pointed out, tying shoelaces. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Photo: Landon Nordeman/ Landon Nordeman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2016. Prosecco prices set to rise due to lack of availability at entry point The days of cheap Prosecco could be numbered as the base price has risen by around a quarter in the past year, a leading importer has warned. Hallgarten Druitt made headlines last year after freezing its prices and said it has been able to repeat the feat on most wines this year, but Prosecco is a notable exception. Managing director Andrew Bewes told OLN: Prosecco will hit everyone. The cost of production has risen. The base price has gone up 20%-25%. We will see it moving more in line with the Champagne market. There is still some cheap Prosecco lying around, just like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but it wont last forever. We will see a lack of availability at entry point. Bewes believes the prestige section of the Prosecco market will open up and there will soon be a clear gulf between entry-level and the high-end wine. Prosecco is similar to Pinot Grigio in that there are no big brands the name Prosecco is a brand itself but Bewes believes some of the bigger producers names will come to the fore, led by those willing and able to supply the high street. Bewes said: There has been a bit of a rebalancing. We did freeze our prices last year. That was well received. The exchange rate largely went in our favour. Just as we were doing our 2016 pricing the pound collapsed. It led to a bit of a quandary, where costs go up, of course. Duty has eased. We have seen a rebalancing. Our partners in Australia and New Zealand bent over backwards when their currency was incredibly strong and we have allowed some price rises there and thats largely been sucked up by exchange rates. The euro is the other way round. We have gained on transport. The cost of shipping wine into the UK has reduced along with the oil price. We have held the vast majority of our prices. Hallgarten was showing off wines from a diverse range of countries including Japan, India, Greece and Lebanon at its recent London tasting, and a particular highlight was its newly overhauled South African range. Bewes said it enjoys its role as a niche supplier of a wide range of weird and wonderful wines to the off-trade, but has been working hard to improve its offering of core wines for the independent channel. He said: We decided to stop treating the independent sector as an add-on to our restaurant focus and launched a dedicated list and rejigged our pricing strategy to reflect that sector. Independents have been receptive. We have a fantastic position, being a marginal player. We have long been used by the independent sector as an obliging partner to supply a large number of wines in smaller volumes. Where we havent tuned into changing needs of independents is on core wines, where we are so good in the on-trade. We need to move from jam only to a bit of bread and butter. To give the best prices you need to have economy of scale and that largely boils down to cost of delivery and fulfilment. He added: We have had a good year with supermarkets. Our position with grocers is similar to our position with the independents. We provide niche products and we arent really involved at the more acute end of the market with high volumes and low margins. A lot of rationalisation has been at the volume end. But we are also seeing a dumbing down at the upper end, which is tough to watch. We passionately believe that the only reason for us being here is exciting consumers, and that happens with wine between 8-20. The shelf space for that has diminished and thats why independents are coming to the fore. Its very difficult to sell boutique, high-end products without that hand sell. The advantage an independent has is the equivalent of a restaurant with a sommelier. They can stick their neck out and say, try this its fantastic. The independent retail section is really exciting and I would hope its in for more growth. Like every sector it contains the good, the bad and the ugly. After the failure of First Quench some have reappeared and transformed themselves into genuine specialists and others have continued with a basic range or a c-store range. Our interest is on the specialist end of the market. Related articles: Living the Orthodox Catholic Faith in the Anglican Tradition jadeameliabadwi To my one and only on Valentine's Day, the one who has brought so many memories over the years, we've had many laughs, we've had many tears, I fell just as hard as he fell when Janine pushed him down the cliff, the one I hold closest to my heart...Barry. ( @jedstruts you're alright too ) jedstruts @jadeameliabadwi buys the best Valentines presents jesymix14 Course he did leigh_love_life Time to be that annoying couple that boasts about what they're doing on Valentine's @kiff_jordan 14.02.16 - @dramaparklane @cirocgb - Valentines Night With These Two @aaroncarlohair @perrieeele Love is in the air, so Jade, Jesy and Leigh-Anne spent Valentine's Day with their boyfriends/fiancee, while Perrie keeps enjoying the single life and went out and partied with friends. Jade and new boyfriend Jed spent the day at her apartment, probably because this was their last day together for a while, Jed is going on tour with his band to the USA, and they started the day watching Arsenal's game and drinking from Disney Princesses mugs. Hours later, both of them shared the same picture on Instagram and gave me literal heart eyes. I'm such #Jaded trash that it's not even funny at this point.The only glimpse we got from Jesy and her fiancee Jake was the card that he gave her, but it was really funny and once again Jake reminded us that he's a sweetheart with a sense of humor. No idea of what they did today.Leigh-Anne and her longtime boyfriend Jordan went to a hotel for the day, where they enjoyed of champagne and the pool.Lastly, Perrie went out with Aaron and Waz. They went to the night club Drama in London. sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ONTD, how was your Valentine's Day? I spent it with my family and ate a lot, so I think it was a good one. We can be each others Valentines if you didn't have one. The EIA recently published the February edition of their Short-Term Energy Outlook. If you follow this month to month, and I do, you will notice their prognostications change a little every month. And over several months those small alterations can add up to some rather dramatic changes. Nevertheless, below are several charts with their current oil production projections. The EIA STEO only gives monthly data for total liquids. All C+C data is quarterly and annually. The monthly projected data begins in February 2016. Projections for quarterly and annual data begin January 2016. The EIA says Non-OPEC total liquids dropped .5 million barrels per day in December and another .36 mbd in January. But then, other than another short drop in the first quarter of 2017, they see things leveling out for the next two years. Related: Oil Rallies Over 12% As OPEC Rumors Reach Markets For the total world, the EIA expects far better production numbers than just for Non-OPEC. They expect new highs to be reached in 2016 and again in 2017. They see U.S. total liquids dropping in 2016 before a slow rise through 2017, but not overtaking the peak in 2015. Apparently the EIA thinks Russia has had it. They see a drop in December 2016 then a huge drop in January 2017. I have no idea why. However the scale here makes the decline seem greater than it really is. From January 2015 to December 2017 the decline is only 400,000 barrels per day. Related: If A Cut Is Going To Come It Wont Be From OPEC Adding the other FSU nations to the mix, mostly Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, only exacerbates the decline, making it half a million bpd between January 2015 and December 2017. Looking at just Crude + Condensate I think we get a better picture of what the EIA really expects in the next two years. They expect Non-OPEC C+C to drop 580,000 bpd in 2016 and another 170,000 bpd in 2017 for a total of 750,000 bpd over the two years. They are expecting far better things out of OPEC however. They have OPEC total liquids up 1,010,000 barrels per day in 2016 and another 870,000 bpd in 2017. They do not project OPEC C+C. But taking a closer look at their U.S. Projections: The EIA expects U.S. C+C to drop 740,000 barrels per day in 2016 and another 230,000 bpd in 2017 for a total decline over two years of 970,000 barrels per day. Related: A Market Collapse Is On The Horizon However they have U.S. total liquids faring much better than just C+C. They have total liquids declining by only 490,000 barrels per day in 2016 and increasing by 100,000 bpd in 2017. What this means is that US Other Liquids, that is NGLs, biofuels and refinery process gain must show a very impressive gain while everything else is going to pot. They show other liquids increasing by 250,000 bpd in 2016 and another 330,000 bpd in 2017. Most of this increase has to come from NGLs as biofuels are only a minor input and refinery process gain pretty much follows C+C consumption. But Using their projections for Dry Gas production we find that gas production increased more than other liquids increased in 2015. However they say gas production will increase by only .4 percent in 2016 while other liquids increase by 4.6 percent and a similar story in 2017 though not quite as dramatic. Bottom line: I find the EIAs past production data very accurate. However their projections appear to be pretty lame. This observation is proven out by the fact that those projections are constantly changing. Also, those Other Liquids projections seem to make no sense whatsoever. It appears to be mostly a fudge factor. But the very biggest problem with the EIAs projections is with OPEC. That is because it is not a projection at all but an estimate of what will be needed to meet world demand. That is they estimate Non-OPEC production, then they estimate world demand, and the difference between the two will be the Call on OPEC. That is, they will simply expect OPEC to make up the difference, whatever that difference may be. Lately however, OPEC seems to be producing a lot more than their call asked them to. That is, they appear to be ignoring their call. And they will likely do likewise when they are expected to produce more to meet demand. They are all currently producing flat out and if there is a call on them to produce more, it will very likely go unanswered. I expect the Call on OPEC is a running joke between OPEC nations. By Ron Patterson More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: BNP Paribas, Frances largest bank, announced that it would no longer lend money to struggling oil and gas companies in the United States. "Given the current environment in the oil and gas markets and the short to medium term outlook, BNP Paribas has decided to halt the redevelopment of its reserve-based lending business," BNP said in a statement. The bank will continue to work with its existing borrowers, but wont lend to new ones. The French bank was concerned that default rates among energy companies would rise, sources told Reuters. It was the second time that the bank pulled out of lending to energy companies in the U.S. it sold a unit to Wells Fargo in 2012 before reentering the space in 2014 when oil prices shot into triple-digit territory. It isnt that BNP Paribas was a large lender to shale companies it wasnt. But the move illustrates the increasingly grisly landscape in the energy sector for borrowers and lenders alike. Related: Oil Glut Compounded By Cracks In Global Economy The Wall Street Journal reported that three oil and gas drillers maxed out their credit lines in recent weeks. Midstates Petroleum Co., Linn Energy LLC and SandRidge Energy Inc., collectively tapped $1.5 billion in new borrowing, the full extent of their credit lines. Maxing out a credit line is a worrying sign that a driller has now exhausted all of its options, and as the WSJ puts it, the company could be building up its cash reserves ahead of a bankruptcy filing or that it is worried lenders may at some point cut off access to credit. The prospect of default, in turn, could end up burning a lot of banks. Lenders are concerned that as prices fall and liquidity is burned by operations and interest payments, at one point do the revolvers, in fact, become impaired? Damian Schaible, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, told the WSJ. For now, large banks are not concerned because energy represents a small share of their whole loan portfolio. Wells Fargo says the energy industry only represents about 2 percent of its loans. Still, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup are building up cash reserves in order to protect themselves against bad loans. Together, the three banks have set aside $2 billion to cover for their energy losses. Wells Fargo says it has about $17 billion in outstanding energy debt that could be at risk. Bank of America admitted that over $8 billion of its $21 billion in energy loans are to high-risk companies. Related: OPEC-Russia Rumors Persist After Comments From Rosneft Chief Smaller banks could be hurt worse. S&P downgraded four regional U.S. banks because of their exposure to bad energy debt. A big turning point could be the credit redetermination period in April, which could present another blow to struggling oil and gas companies. Lenders make periodic reassessments of the creditworthiness of drillers, adjusting the credit lines to borrowers based on their specific circumstances, oil prices, and economic viability of the assets companies are sitting on. As oil and gas reserves become uneconomical as oil prices drop, credit lines based on the shrinking recoverability of those reserves get cut. In October, the credit lines for the oil and gas industry were slashed 10 to 20 percent. Another cut will likely take place in April, with analysts expecting a reduction of a similar amount. On the flip side, pulling the plug on drillers could end up doing more damage, endangering any chance that the bank has of getting repaid. Pushing a company into bankruptcy could cut into production, reducing cash flows. Moreover, selling off assets another avenue of repayment is not an appetizing endeavor right now in the depressed marketplace. Related: ISIS Forced To Cut Wages As Oil Revenues Tank Over the past year and a half since the oil price crash began, lenders have tried to work with their energy clients to ensure that they keep the lights on, if for no other reason than to ensure they get repaid. Banks were generally lenient during the credit redetermination period last year. Its a bit of a catch-22 situation, Harry Tchilinguirian, the head of commodity markets strategy at BNP Paribas in London, told the FT in January. If you limit finance to a US [exploration and production] sector that is living beyond its cash flow, then you run the risk that production will fall and companies will fail to meet their financial obligations. However, oil is now down below $30 per barrel, more than 30 percent lower than where prices were during the last credit redetermination period in October. Even the most lenient bank may not be able to help the most indebted oil and gas companies. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Imagine having to move out of your home and neighborhood because the air you're breathing is poisonous. That is what happened to thousands of Los Angeles residents forced to move away from the Porter Ranch area following a massive gas leak in October from a storage facility run by SoCal Gas. Thankfully for the residents who had to flee their homes, at the companys expense, they will soon be returning. On Thursday the blowout, which happened in a 60-year-old well below the Santa Susana Mountains that was previously used to pump oil, was capped. Residents will have about a week to come home after inspectors deem the area safe. The utility's announcement marks the first time the leak has been under control since it was first reported on Oct. 23. The well will be surveyed to find out what went wrong, before being permanently plugged with cement. The incident has become a public relations and legal nightmare for SoCal Gas, which is owned by Sempra Energy, based in California. Unsurprisingly, environmental groups were quick to pounce on the amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and mercaptans (used to detect the odour of natural gas) that have been spewing into the atmosphere. According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), at its highest flow rate the well was releasing the equivalent amount of pollution as 7 million cars a day. The release of over 77,000 metric tons of methane is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for California, which is a leader in U.S. efforts to curb global warming. State authorities and environmental groups say the leak is now California's largest contributor to climate change. Related:In Spite Of Its Vast Oil Reserves, Cuba Fails To Woo Investors The danger to human health was enough for Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency. Around 2,000 children were assigned to outlying schools after they complained of symptoms including bloody noses and difficulty breathing. As of the first week of January, SoCal Gas had spent around $50 million to combat the leak and accommodate displaced residents. The company may have to pay out millions, or billions, more in compensation. Litigious Californians have initiated over 25 lawsuits against SoCal Gas, including one by Erin Brockovich's law firm Weitz & Luxemberg. Brockovich (yes that Erin Brockovich) is known for her $333 million lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), which she successfully sued for contaminating the water supply of Hinkley, CA, depicted in a Hollywood movie. Brockovich only lives about half an hour from Porter Ranch. But while Brockovich and others are calling the SoCal leak the BP spill on land, the reality is that the two situations are vastly different, and SoCal gas is unlikely to face the severe financial penalties that BP did for its 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. While SoCal Gas could, if found guilty, face penalties up to $25,000 a day for every day it didnt report the leak and $1,000 a day for each day it polluted, the damages are likely to be a drop in the ocean compared to the agreement the U.S. government and five states reached with BP last July. The largest corporate settlement in U.S. history has the oil giant paying $18.7 billion in penalties to settle nearly all the claims against it, bringing BP's total pre-tax charge for the 507-million-litre spill to $53.8 billion. Related: Computerized Trading Creating Oil Price Volatility A measure of lost market cap between the two incidents doesn't really work either. While BP stock shed 55 percent in the first 60 days after the spill, Sempra Energy only declined by 6.7 percent during the same period, around the same loss as the S&P 500. Low natural gas prices have kept its losses from escaped product to a minimum, allowing Sempra to earn about $1.3 billion in the first nine months of 2015. A more apt comparison is the Pacific Gas & Electric natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, near San Francisco, also in 2010. That accident killed eight people and cost PG&E a record $1.6 billion fine. Still, it's a fraction of the BP settlement. So why are natural gas leaks, whose environmental effects are surely as damaging to the atmosphere as oil spills are to oceans, given an easier ride by the courts? One answer is obvious, the other, not so much. Natural gas is invisible, meaning its escape just doesn't carry the same emotional and political charge as spilt oil. For politicians, TV coverage of middle-class families living at motels is a far cry from oil-covered baby seals, San Diego Tribune columnist Dan McSwain observed wryly at the end of January. Related: Rig Count Plunges Yet Again, Down Another 30 Another reason to underestimate natural gas leaks is their prevalence in the United States. According to a Stanford University study quoted by PBS, methane emissions are around 50 percent higher than official projections from the EPA. PBS notes that methane seepage occurs at all stages of oil and gas production, including leaks from pipelines, flaring and fracking. Finally, oil companies are an easier target than utility companies, which are typically regulated, and protected, by government. Nearly bankrupting an oil company with fines hurts shareholders, but crippling a utility can make the lights go out, McSwain writes. Of course, none of the above excuses negligence on behalf of gas utilities or natural gas producers whose responsibility to the environment, especially in today's age of eco-awareness and activism, should come ahead of the balance sheet. But it does suggest that natural gas, while considered more environmentally palatable than oil or coal, also carries risks that need to be carefully managed. Andrew Topf Of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Iran is loading two million barrels of oil on a tanker in the Gulf in preparation for its first oil exports in 24 hours to Europe since the lifting of sanctions last month. According to official Iranian media today, the tanker is at Kharg Island in the Gulf and the exports will go to French oil giant Total SA. But this is only one of three tankers preparing to export Iranian oil to Europe. A second and third tanker are loading one million barrels each, headed for Spains refiner CEPSA and Russian Lukoils trading arm, Litasco. Related: Ecuador Gutted By Low Oil Prices: Rig Count Down To One Earlier this month, Total agreed to buy between 150,000 and 200,000 barrels of Iranian crude a day. According to Iranian media, Total would start importing 160,000 barrels per day in line with a contract that takes effect already on 16 February. The Iranian Oil Ministry says that its crude oil sales to Europe have exceeded 300,000 barrels per day, counting the Total deal. The Ministry also says that Italian oil giant Eni is interested in buying 100,000 bpd from Iran, and that such a contract will be discussed soon in Tehran. Related: The Hidden Agenda Behind Saudi Arabias Market Share Strategy Iran is also increasing exports to Japan, in what is being viewed as a challenge to its OPEC rivals Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE. Since December, Irans exports to Japan have increased by 34 percent, according to Russian RT news agency, while Saudi Arabia has seen only a 5 percent increase in its exports to Japan. All in all, Iran is reportedly eyeing 10 percent of Japans market share, or a daily export volume of 350,000 barrels. Last month, the Iranian National Oil Company ordered an increase of 500,000 barrels per day of production. By James Burgess of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Libyan Coast Guard has intercepted an oil tanker flying the flag of Sierra Leone in Libyan waters, heading to Malta and suspected of carrying illicit cargoes of Libyan oil. The 900-ton, 61-meter-long Captain Khayyam bunkering tanker was escorted to a naval base Tripoli, where it will be further investigated. The tankers crew consists of nine people of various origins, including Turkish, Ukrainian, and Azerbaijani, believed to be smuggling around 1 million liters of Libyan oil. Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the authorities have attempted to intercept a number of vessels believed to be smuggling Libyan oil, but not all attempts have been successful. Related: UAE Offers India Free Oil To Ease Storage Woes One tanker, the Baku, ignored orders to halt and fled to Malta. In September, in western Libya the Coast Guard in western Libya intercepted a tanker with a Russian flag as it was attempting to break away with a load of oil off the coast of Zuwara. Libyan authorities claimed that Italian and Russian navy ships attempted to intervene and release the tanker. Last week, Libyas national oil company (NOC) said it had become aware of several companies trying to charter ships to load illicit cargoes of Libyan oil at the Marsa el-Hariga export terminal. Related: A Bubble Induced Economy & The Wage Gap Libya has Africa's largest oil reserves, estimated at 48 billion barrels. Its production was estimated at 1.6 million barrels per day in 2011 but has fallen by one-third due to the ongoing civil war between parallel governments and their loyalists. More recently, the Islamic State (ISIS) has also moved to gain a foothold in Libya, launching attacks on Libyan oil facilities and taking control of the Libyan city of Sirte and hundreds of miles of its coastline. By James Burgess of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Nigerian military has apprehended the mastermind of the Agip oil pipeline bombings that lost Italian Eni thousands of barrels of oil that have spilled into waterways and fishing grounds. Prince Alvin Cockman Oygun (AKA Commander Abula) was apprehended by military authorities shortly after the launch of a string of attacks on the pipeline earlier this month, but the government of Nigeria withheld this information. Eni is in charge of oil operations in Bayelsa State, and the attacks resulted in the loss of 16,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily. The Agip pipeline bombings were the second major attack on the OPEC members installations since an arrest warrant was issued this month for former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, AKA Tompolo. Related: Why Todays Oil Bust Pales In Comparison To The 80s Ekpemupolo, formerly high-profile leaders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), is wanted by Nigerian authorities for money laundering and the illegal diversion of more than $200 million. Also this month, Nigerias state oil company was forced to shut down its Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries following an attack on pipelines bringing crude to the plants. The Niger Delta was previously home to an insurgency by local militants who wanted a greater share of the regions oil wealth. A 2009 amnesty deal that saw the government provide the militants job training and monthly cash stipends is credited with quelling the violence. Related: The Hidden Agenda Behind Saudi Arabias Market Share Strategy Following the amnesty, many former leaders enriched themselves through lucrative pipeline protection contracts under previous president Goodluck Jonathan. With a new president now at the helm in Nigeria, a massive anti-corruption campaign is hitting hard at these earlier relations, and retribution attacks are expected to continue. The most recent attack is the fifth on an oil installation in the Niger Delta since the beginning of this year, sparking fears that the insurgency is being revived in earnest. By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Republicans are preposterously assuming they can block any nomination President Obama puts forth to fill the US Surpreme Court vacancy created by the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016). This presumed political power exceeds the intentions of the authors of the US Constitution when they created three independent branches of government- the Executive, the Judicial and the Legislative branches. Each branch of government is separate and checks on the powers of each other. In other words, the US Constituton was written with the intention of preventing any one political party or governmental branch from controlling the nation. Except, the Republicans don't see it that way, anymore. Rather, the Republican party has been on a systematic process of dismantling the government they pretend to honor and, moreover, take an oath to protect. Senator Mitch McConnell R-KY, didn't even wait until the family of Justic Scalia had acknowledged the departed man's death, before he leaped to the media with the outrageous announcement that President Obama should not nominate a replacement to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. It's assumed, of course, that President Obama will nominate nominate a liberal and thereby ruin the Republicans' plan to dominate the court with right wing conservative justices. In fact, Senator McConnell should be censured for his mistatement about the judicial nomination to fill Scalia's seat. What he said was clearly unconstitutional. In fact, Article II of the US Constitution authorizes the President of the United States to make judicial appoinntments to fill court vacancies. It's totally irresponsible for a US Senator to tell a President what to do, because doing so violates the separate but equal branches of government and therefore breeds the seeds of sedition, in my opinion. Now Republicans who often seem to preach as though the US Constitution is a sequel to the Bible, are trying to rewrite what Justice Scaia would himself have upheld. Indeed, without a doubt, the President is authorized to nominate a successor to the Surpeme Court. Even more important, Preisident Obama was elected to be our nation's leader by a margin of 5 million votes, thereby giving him the authority to make a Supreme Court nomination at any time during his presidency. Thankfully, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusettes, an academic politician, has politically humiliated Senator McConnell for his disrespectful leap to usurp the Executive decision by President Obama to nominate a successor to Justice Scalia. Senator Elizabeth Warren D-MA After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that he would lead Republicans in obstructing President Obama yet again, this time by leading his party to abdicate their Constitutional duties , (Wait!!! Isn't this seditious behavior?) Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) reminded McConnell that President Obamas will is the will of the people and that he won by five million votes. Senator Warren said in a statement, Senator McConnell is right that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. In fact, they did when President Obama won the 2012 election by five million votes. Then Warren proceeded to remind McConnell about that thing Republicans are always claiming to worship the Constitution, specifically Article II, Article II Section 2 of the Constitution says the President of the United States nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Wait for it I cant find a clause that says except when theres a year left in the term of a Democratic President.' Warren reminded McConnell that Republicans took an oath just like Democrats did and if they fail to do their duty, their talk about loving the Constitution is empty, Senate Republicans took an oath just like Senate Democrats did. Abandoning the duties they swore to uphold would threaten both the Constitution and our democracy itself. It would also prove that all the Republican talk about loving the Constitution is just that empty talk. Senator Warren is absolutely correct. The idea that Republicans get to obstruct the power of the presidency invested in Obama by the people in not one but two elections is outrageous. Republicans think that obstructing President Obamas nominee is good politics and will help them in the 2016 election. However, 2016 was already set to be a tough year for Republicans in the Senate. Mitch McConnell must be suffering from Fox induced epistemic closure if he doesnt see that these tactics will not sell in blue or moderate states. Furthermore, if Republicans want to run against President Obama again....they have never come close to beating him... The next time a Republican waves their pocket version of the Constitution around as they drone on about the debt as an excuse for why they have not shown up to work for weeks , someone ought to remind them that they cant pick and choose what works for them from the Constitution, like they do from the Bible. (In other words, for Republicans violate the specific instructions given to our governmental leaders as adopted in the US Constitution, when they take oaths to support the law, is sedition, in my opinion.). Labels: Justice Antonin Scalia, Politicususa.com, President Barack Obama, Sarah Jones, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Mitch McConnell The headline on the Onion's obituary for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia summed up a lot of what Scalia's legacy will come to mean: Justice Scalia Dead Following 30-Year Battle With Social Progress. Scalia's most notable dissents and other pronouncements over the last couple of decades have been almost all centered around social issues. His dissent on the Obergefell case last year, the one that cemented a right for same-sex couples to marry nationwide, shows this as much as any. "The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie," he wrote of the majority opinion. In a another part of the dissent, he invoked the free-love movement of the 1960s: "Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality [whatever that means] were freedoms? And if intimacy is, one would think Freedom of Intimacy is abridged rather than expanded by marriage. Ask the nearest hippie." Similar scholarly and witty retorts peppered his majority opinion dissents in cases about the expanding health care through Affordable Care Act, knocking down anti-sodomy and anti-gay sex laws, trying to ban the death penalty ("Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached," he wrote) and more. Say what you will about Scalia's actual jurisprudence, he was a smart and talented wordsmith. But he could also be mean-spirited as well as witty in his rejoinders on such issues. Over the years, he's compared homosexuality to child pornography and outright murder, for example. In oral arguments last December in an affirmative action case, he suggested that minority college applicants ought to give up on top-tier universities and set their sights on "a less-advanced school, a slower-track school where they do well." The good news, as that Onion headline suggests, is that Scalia was simply on the wrong side of history on these issues. The moral arc of the universe is bending away from his deeply Catholic morality and his harsh, boot-strap economic philosophy. The lower-court decision on that affirmative action case, for instance, will now possibly stand (depending on the whims of Justice Anthony Kennedy), meaning that mediocre white people may not to claim their privilege quite as easily any more. Fingers crossed on that one. At any rate, Scalia's legacy in these social-issue areas will be felt only in its absence and in the writings and rantings he leaves behind exemplifying the fuddy-duddyism of those in his mold. While he was not a literal flat-earther (that I can find), Scalia's moral pronouncements will be filed in the same dustbin of history. Except on one issue of particular importance to me: gun control. Scalia wrote the majority opinion in the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller. Legal scholar Jeffrey Toobin explains why this was so important in his New Yorker obit for Scalia. "Reversing a century of interpretation of the right to bear arms," Toobin says of Scalia, "he announced that individuals have a constitutional right to possess handguns for personal protection. The Heller decision was so influential that even President Obama, whose politics differ deeply from Scalias, has embraced the view that the Second Amendment gives individuals a constitutional right to bear arms." This may feel surprising to you given that, for the better part of 40 years, the National Rifle Association has been telling Americans that they have an individual right to bear arms fully outside of any government regulation. NRA headquarters are emblazoned with only the second half of the Second Amendment, the half that says nothing about a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state. The only thing that matters to them is right of the people to keep and bear arms, unfettered by government intrusion. However, until Heller, that was not the law of the land. Toobin mentions "a century of interpretation," and according to the Law Library of Congress, the pre-Heller view of firearms ownership had been the judicial standard since at least 1875. Some scholars even suggest that James Madison's original intent, based on the context of the amendment's writing and passage in 1789, was based entirely in the amendment's first half. "The 2nd Amendment represented Madison's attempt," wrote historian By Joseph J. Ellis in 2013, "to respond to the fears of a standing army by assuring that national defense would reside in the states and in militias, not at the federal level in a professional army. The right to bear arms derived from the need to assure that state militia could perform its essential mission." Scalia's ruling doesn't leave guns totally unregulated; he explicitly wrote that the government could still restrict who gets a firearm none for violent felons, for example and even some kinds of firearms, as Heller applied only to handgun bans. Yet as Toobin notes and as Ellis echoes, the Second Amendment as an amendment about individuals rather than about militias is now not only the law of the land but also basically the general understanding. Even Obama, the former professor of Constitutional law, sees the Second Amendment now in terms only of individual rights, says Toobin. So whatever happens in the fight to replace Scalia on the court, it seems unlikely that Obama is going to seek out someone who will make overturning Heller a possibility. Make no mistake, that fight over Obama's nominee will be critical. Republicans have already decided that their "advice and consent" is basically to tell Obama to sit down and shut up. Wisconsin's own Ron Johnson is one of dozens of GOP senators insisting that Obama ignore his Constitutional duty to nominate someone and instead leave the seat vacant until the next president is sworn in next January. It strikes me that Scalia, with his insistence on textual originalism when interpreting the Constitution (even when, as we've seen, his interpretation might conflict with the original intent) would, if he could, rhetorically smack the mess out of those senators. There is no question Obama must make a nomination, nor is there a question that the Senate should hold a vote. Just keep in mind, though, that whether you agree with Scalia's treatment of gun laws or not, whoever that nominee is, whoever the next justice on the court will be, America's epidemic of gun violence will not be easily helped given Scalia's one, lasting legacy: his unprecedented and ultimately dangerous inversion of the second amendment. The opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff. Walt Kelly is the Milwaukee lawyer who represented Steven Avery in his civil lawsuit after being freed from jail the first time, and he just finished watching the Netflix documentary series "Making a Murderer" that is causing such a huge stir around the country. And Kelly, who did not represent Avery in his homicide trial, thinks that lightning can strike twice and that Avery may well be freed from jail a second time. "There is a momentum to things like this," he said. "I know the two women who did the documentary. They arrived in Manitowoc thinking, I think, that they were going to get into some lefty kind of story about being wrongly convicted. Instead they spent 10 years getting this story. "I think the documentary was amazing and so detailed." OnMilwaukee's Jessica McBride has been a leader in profiling the documentary and the case, and you can read her stories here and here. Kelly didnt want to touch the idea of whether the Manitowoc Sheriffs Department framed Avery, a key theory of the defense lawyers Dean Strang and Jerry Buting. "I will say this," Kelly said. "I think Dean and Jerry did an outstanding job under some very, very trying circumstances. "I went up there for the preliminary hearing after Steve got arrested. At one point I thought that they might try for a change of venue. But opinion in that community was split right down the middle, half for the cops and half for Avery. Im sure the lawyers thought, reasonable doubt, and didnt try to change the venue. "Then came the bombshell with Brendan (Dassey)," Kelly noted about Averys nephew who confessed, then later recanted his confession, to committing the crime with his uncle. "That changed everything and made it much harder on the defense." Kelly pointed out there is a habeas corpus action pending on Dassey and that it has been sitting around for more than a year. A habeas corpus is a legal action seeking relief from unlawful imprisonment. Kelly, who is one of the top lawyers in Milwaukee, said there was no way he was going to defend Avery in the homicide trial. "Im a civil lawyer. The only way I would have been involved would be if Steve Glynn (one of Milwaukees most prominent defense attorneys) would have taken the case and I would have helped." Glynn and Kelly handled Averys civil lawsuit and I asked him about Avery. "What you see in the documentary is what he is," Kelly said. "Hes a simple man. Very plain spoken. There are times when he seemed to get everything, and other times when he seemed a little confused. But hes been through a lot." Kelly said he was uncertain about the legal steps necessary to get Avery either out of jail or a new trial. "Ive read the appellate briefs," he said. "I cant imagine a judge not seeing what Brendans attorney and investigator allowed to happen to their client and not be concerned about it. "I think this film is the kind of thing that can really bring results for Steve. Well see." Reprinted from Truthdig Bernie Sanders, who has attracted numerous young, white, college-educated supporters in his bid for the presidency, says he is creating a movement and promises a political revolution. This rhetoric is an updated version of the "change" promised by the 2008 campaign of Barack Obama and by Jesse Jackson's earlier National Rainbow Coalition. Such Democratic electoral campaigns, at best, raise political consciousness. But they do not become movements or engender revolutions. They exist as long as election campaigns endure and then they vanish. Sanders' campaign will be no different. No movement or political revolution will ever be built within the confines of the Democratic Party. And the repeated failure of the American left to grasp the duplicitous game being played by the political elites has effectively neutered it as a political force. History, after all, should count for something. The Democrats, like the Republicans, have no interest in genuine reform. They are wedded to corporate power. They are about appearance, not substance. They speak in the language of democracy, even liberal reform and populism, but doggedly block campaign finance reform and promote an array of policies, including new trade agreements, that disempower workers. They rig the elections, not only with money but also with so-called superdelegates -- more than 700 delegates who are unbound among a total of more than 4,700 at the Democratic convention. Sanders may have received 60 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, but he came away with fewer of the state's delegates than Clinton. This is a harbinger of the campaign to come. If Sanders is denied the nomination -- the Clinton machine and the Democratic Party establishment, along with their corporate puppet masters, will use every dirty trick to ensure he loses -- his so-called movement and political revolution will evaporate. His mobilized base, as was true with the Obama campaign, will be fossilized into donor and volunteer lists. The curtain will come down with a thunderclap until the next election carnival. The Democratic Party is a full partner in the corporate state. Yet Sanders, while critical of Hillary Clinton's exorbitant speaking fees from firms such as Goldman Sachs, refuses to call out the party and -- as Robert Scheer pointed out in a column in October -- the Clintons for their role as handmaidens of Wall Street. For Sanders, it is a lie of omission, which is still a lie. And it is a lie that makes the Vermont senator complicit in the con game being played on the American electorate by the Democratic Party establishment. Do Sanders' supporters believe they can wrest power from the Democratic establishment and transform the party? Do they think the forces where real power lies -- the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, corporations, the security and surveillance state -- can be toppled by a Sanders campaign? Do they think the Democratic Party will allow itself to be ruled by democratic procedures? Do they not accept that with the destruction of organized labor and anti-war, civil rights and progressive movements -- a destruction often orchestrated by security organs such as the FBI -- the party has lurched so far to the right that it has remade itself into the old Republican Party? The elites use money, along with their control of the media, the courts and legislatures, their armies of lobbyists and "think tanks," to invalidate the vote. We have undergone, as John Ralston Saul has written, a corporate coup d'etat. There are no institutions left within civil society that can be accurately described as democratic. We do not live in a capitalist democracy. We live in what the political philosopher Sheldon Wolin calls a system of "inverted totalitarianism." In Europe, America's Democratic Party would be a far-right party. The Republican Party would be extremist. There is no liberal -- much less left or progressive -- organized political class in the United States. The growth of protofascists will be halted only when a movement on the left embraces an unequivocal militancy to defend the rights of workers and move toward the destruction of corporate power. As long as the left keeps surrendering to a Democratic Party that mouths liberal values while serving corporate interests, it will destroy itself and the values it claims to represent. It will stoke the justifiable rage of the underclass, especially the white underclass, and empower the most racist and retrograde political forces in the country. Fascism thrives not only on despair, betrayal and anger but a bankrupt liberalism. The political system, as many Sanders supporters are about to discover, is immune to reform. The only effective resistance will be achieved through acts of sustained, mass civil disobedience. The Democrats, like the Republicans, have no intention of halting the assault on our civil liberties, the expansion of imperial wars, the coddling of Wall Street, the destruction of the ecosystem by the fossil fuel industry and the impoverishment of working-men and -women. As long as the Democrats and the Republicans remain in power we are doomed. The Democratic establishment's response to any internal insurgency is to crush it, co-opt it and rewrite the rules to make a future insurgency impossible. This was true in 1948 with Henry Wallace and in 1972 with George McGovern -- two politicians who, unlike Sanders, took on the war industry -- and in the 1984 and 1988 insurgencies led by Jackson. Corey Robin in Salon explained how the Clintons rose to power on this reactionary agenda. The Clintons, and the Democratic establishment, he wrote, repudiated the progressive agenda of the Jackson campaign and used coded language, especially regarding law and order, to appeal to the racism of white voters. The Clintons and the party mandarins ruthlessly disenfranchised those Jackson had mobilized. Sanders' supporters can expect a similar reception. That Hillary Clinton can run a campaign that defies her long and sordid political record is one of the miracles of modern mass propaganda and a testament to the effectiveness of our political theater. Sanders said that if he does not receive the nomination he will support the party nominee; he will not be a "spoiler." If that happens, Sanders will become an obstacle to change. He will recite the mantra of the "least worst." He will become part of the Democratic establishment's campaign to neutralize the left. Sanders is, in all but title, a Democrat. He is a member of the Democratic caucus. He votes 98 percent of the time with the Democrats. He routinely backs appropriations for imperial wars, the corporate scam of Obamacare, wholesale surveillance and bloated defense budgets. He campaigned for Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential race and again in 1996 -- after Clinton had rammed through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), vastly expanded the system of mass incarceration and destroyed welfare -- and for John Kerry in 2004. He called on Ralph Nader in 2004 to abandon his presidential campaign. The Democrats recognize his value. They have long rewarded Sanders for his role as a sheepherder. This is a reprint from NewsBred. The striking municipal employees of Delhi this week relented after the high court intervention but it appears only a pause before it drops its broom again on rulng Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Typically, AAP sees the role of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its control of Capital's civic agencies behind this mess at their door. Mess literally is at every door. In Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ludhiana, Pune--name any city and any town. Strikes only put the pictures in front of our eyes, which we feint, dodge, duck, skirt, nose-block or sprint every day in front of proverbial dhalaos (proverbial garbage dump in our neighbourhoods). Now that you can't evade the headlines, pictures, putrid smell or rotting garbage on Capital's streets, and are pinned to the wall, brace for a knock-out punch. India generates 62 million tonnes of trash every year by its nearly 400 million people living in urban India, now the world's third-largest garbage accumulator. The World Bank sees a 240-percent rise in it by 2026. Now hold your breath (pun intended); nearly 45 million tonnes of it is untreated. Put it this way, it amounts to nearly 3 million trucks that, if laid in a row, would scale half the distance between the earth and the moon. So let's take a closer look at this mounting mess. Delhi and Mumbai (10,000 tonnes of garbage every day) are obviously top of the heap but lesser towns are no less alarming. Ludhiana has crossed 1,000 tonnes of waste a day and so has Nagpur or Indore. And all of this doesn't include the industrial waste. Rapid economic growth, flight to cities, overcrowding, pathetic urban planning, corruption--all have taken a heavy toll. Last month, Mumbai was wrapped in toxic smog for days. So bad was the air quality that schools were ordered closed. It so happened that Deonar, one of Mumbai's biggest landfills, had suddenly caught fire. It receives 5,000 tonnes of waste every day. Bad news. Deonar, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims, would be shut down this year. The landfills in Gorai and Chincholi Bunder have already been closed due to over-use. Same is true of Mulund, which is facing a closure. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). It's time for Greece to stand up for itself. No, not against the waves of traumatized refugees that are besieging its incredibly long and unfence-able coastline, but against a Germanic-led initiative to label the tortured country as a scapegoat in the Syrian crisis. Imagine you live in an apartment building surrounded by a tent city. You can only afford a ground floor unit, which is vulnerable through a myriad of glass windows and doors. Your corrupt leaders left the building years ago, taking their ill-gotten gains with them to the Caymans or Switzerland, so you, who never saw or spent that money, can barely afford to eat, much less, pay for a guard or for bars for the doors and windows. The war of austerity has already depleted your savings, and is leading your own people to starvation, homelessness, and suicide. Now, imagine the fat cats in the military-security-oil/gas-industrial complex on the other side of the 'river' fomenting chaos in the Middle East to feed their swollen coffers; actors who've made a devil's alliance with power-players seeking to expand their influence in the Anatolian war zones, such as Erdogan's Turkey, Wahhabist Saudi Arabia, and Netanyahu's Israel. Add in the crew that's currently living in the penthouse of your apartment building, Angela and her friends who are looking for a growing labor pool, tax base, foreign aid, and obeisance to the 'divide and conquer' strategy now being plotted to undermine Europe and the euro. Finally, imagine thousands upon thousands of fat cat-created refugees are now descending on your apartment building, breaking into your home and taking the last breadcrumbs from your mouth. Shouldn't Angela and the "landlords" mount a "federal" emergency intervention to come and help you address this human hurricane for which you are blameless? Shouldn't they help with resources, human and financial to help you both protect your home and offer humanitarian aid as the refugees are repatriated or relocated in the countries that are responsible the Syrian chaos? Why are you being made a scapegoat for the years of Angelic starvation that have made you so weak you can barely stand, much less carry out the solo security guard function that the penthouse is demanding? The EU, which couldn't find resources to help a torched Greece regain its human dignity and European footing, gave 3 BILLION dollars to Erdogan's Turkey to stop the flow of refugees. And yet, Turkey, a major player in the Syrian battle, has continued to allow thousands of refugees to "escape" from its coastlines with nary a cork in the "leak". (I won't mention Turkey's history of land grabs and ethnic cleansing against Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds.) I'll just say that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others near and far have caused this mess--don't take the EU's money and dump the refugees onto Greece. Meanwhile, the Greek people are being flooded with a human tragedy from the sea, and an inhuman tragedy from Brussels, which continues to impose pension and salary cuts on the poor and working class while sharing champagne with those who stole Greece's funds. And now, instead of coming down the stairs to Greece's rescue, the EU, and former SSRs that owe a debt to Greece, are locking their doors and blaming Greece for not falling on their swords for the corrupt EU. No. No! It's time for Greece to stand up and shout that this must cease. The refugees are an EU problem, not a Greek one, and EVERYONE in the EU needs to contribute, humanly and financially to the solution. If fences are put up and borders are closed, the EU needs to "build" and enforce those borders in the waters between Greece and Turkey, not in the mountains between Greece and the former Yugoslavia. Funding to Turkey, a fascist proto-empire under Erdogan, must stop immediately, and those funds must be used to help Greece, Italy, and other countries affected by the crisis. Scapegoating Greece must end immediately--Greece's inclusion in the Schengen pact must be maintained, and this brutal and unjust criticism of an assaulted country must end. The 300 are bleeding and Thermopylae must not be an expectation in 2016. And, finally, let's put the blame for this tragedy where it belongs. There are plenty of candidates, across rivers, seas, and ponds. One place where there should be no blame is a country that needs to reclaim its heroism, even if it means speaking truth to the powers that are. He now states that he opposed the invasion of Iraq before it began, so vividly that it seems he now believes it really did happen as he claims. Here's why it is so real in his mind. He knows, as the American public should, that if he had the passion against the war that he now describes, if he did foresee the chaos it would leave in its path with hundreds of thousands dead and displaced, he was the one man who could have launched an opposition that may have energized the anti-war movement from the Right, in a way that could have possibly changed the course of history. Let me take a step back to my own memory of an event during that period of his life that shows his ability to manipulate not only the City of New York, but the major organizations of retired members of the military . It shows how he only thought of this as a means of personal self aggrandizement without even a fleeting thought about the benefit of our country or civilization itself. I was part of crowd viewing what the New York Times described as . ...."the largest military parade since WWII along Fifth Avenue of New York City on Veterans Day 1995." Planes roared overhead, tanks rumbled by, cannons boomed salutes and church bells pealed across the city and the nation as huge crowds turned out and more than 33,000 marchers -- led by Medal of Honor winners and veterans of many conflicts -- joined the Nation's Parade, the official culmination of four years of celebrations marking the Second World War's 50th anniversary. I felt there was something very wrong with who was taking salutes as the Grand Marshall of this parade. Donald Trump had amassed a fortune, and like most who do, it was not by being a self effacing nice guy. This man whose closest participation in the U.S. Military was the uniform he wore in prep school, had the audacity, and charisma to take a place usually reserved for Medal of Honor winners or heads of state. He received the salutes of those who risked their lives, were maimed and suffered in combat against our enemies, without any shame at all. From the same N.Y. Times article: Also in the reviewing stand was the developer Donald Trump, who provided the only note of controversy in an otherwise positive day. Many veterans were angry that organizers had agreed to name Mr. Trump, who is not a veteran, as grand marshal in exchange for his contribution of $200,000 and help in raising additional funds. After 911, Trump was never the man he now describes as the "antiwar activist," yet he has become so intoxicated with adulation of his supporters that he now knows that mere lies will not change their love of him. (He knows that his besotted supporters will not even be deterred, when it's his own words that belie his current claim- see end of this essay) He expressed this clearly at a recent campaign speech when he said, almost incredulously, "I could take a gun and shoot a (random innocent) person on fifth avenue, (bang, he demonstrates) and I wouldn't lose a vote. The people love me!" This story of his trying to stop the Iraq invasion has been jumped on by the media like no other, as he then expanded on his fantasy of anti-Iraq war protester by turning on the the entire George W. Bush administration. Politicians change their minds all the time, or find ways of explaining a position that had seemed like a requirement for long term political viability, such as voting for the 2002 Iraq War Resolution. Those such as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton who had such aspirations, at least both acknowledge their actions then with regret for their error. Trump, while amazing on one level, but true to his character, is doubling down, not only revising his own recent words where he publicly acknowledged he only turned against the war when it started to bog down during the occupation, but now challenging everyone, Republican, Democrat or independent, every who refuses to line up to drink in his delusion that he is courageously leading a battle against the world wide media conspiracy that goes under the false flag of "reality." I remember my own feeble efforts against the Iraq war in front of a few thousand people in the audience in Cannon park in Carlsbad CA, as the country was counting down for the invasion. People had parked their cars dozens of blocks away to walk to this demonstration, and I waited with those who wanted to speak. I got the microphone and my anger at what was our country was about to be led into overcome any self consciousness. I started by quoted the statistic that something like half of Americans believed that Iraq was responsible of 9-11. And asked, "Was it Iraq who attacked us on 911?" The crowd roared back, "No." I felt the passion of those united against this illegal, immoral invasion.. After a couple more such calls and response, I felt I had not only expressed my feelings, but led the audience in shouting out theirs. It felt good, yet I was aware of the futility of my efforts and those thousands in the park. There were rallies like this held not only across the country, but throughout the world. Millions joined in, but one individual with the wealth, media savvy and misguided respect from the military, had he the will to use it, just may have made a difference. Just as he was able to be the linchpin that organized the largest military parade in the history of New York City he could have organized such as an anti-war parade. And those who knew the suffering of combat would have joined in with him. And that man, someone with such courage, the fictional creation of those who have become cynical over decades of the obfuscation of political discourse, may well have been the person who two decades later is worthy of being elected President of this country. But the actual man, Donald J. Trump, did nothing to prevent this war. And as such, tacitly supported this illegal immoral war for regime change that lit a fire of then unknown consequences, with the dire effects now becoming tragically clear. --------------- His own words from last years debate where he gives the date of his opposition to the war 16 months after it began: "In July of 2004, I came out strongly against the war in Iraq because it was going to destabilize the Middle East," he said at the Aug. 6 Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News. "I am the only one on this stage who knew that and had the vision to say it. And that's exactly what happened. The region became totally destabilized." My brother and I learned to shoot At summer camp. That is where gunpowder Became my favorite smell; It had a tangy burned pungency That hung in the air after each shot, Better than Christmas. After five or six shots We would all run up To inspect our targets Even though our acute vision Had already reported back our score. With our guns We were all rebel-princes, Hooded heroes and highwaymen, Plotting ways to defend the commoner From our hideaway In the king's forest. And then there was the boy Who shot his whole family In the same town as our camp. They knocked down the house, Bulldozed it flat and planted pine trees Over the spot. The name of the boy And the family was never uttered again. It was like they were whited out. But the trees are still there Serving vigil. When we weren't at camp, We took our .22s to the sand pit And shot at cans on boulders, Rarely missing except on purpose When we targeted the boulders To hear the zing of ricocheting bullets. One time, in the sand pit, We spotted a big Hognose snake. (Snakes grew bigger when I was little.) We got a box over it and the mothers came. They called the police Who responded straight-away, Told us all to stand back And shot it through the head Before we had a chance to grow up And learn to read And fall in love with snakes And find out that Hognose snakes are harmless Rat-eaters. But I still remember The dusty bloody carcass of that big snake Lying still in the sandy dirt After it stopped writhing, And feeling that the cop Did the wrong thing Even if the snake was, as he declared, Poisonous. And the whole thing was very anti-climactic. But the cop and the mothers Had done their duty. And I couldn't wait to get back to My childhood Which only lasted a few more years. Reprinted from Reader Supported News Congressman John Lewis has shamed himself. Long a hero to now-aging activists, he sullied his long-expected endorsement of Hillary Clinton by disparaging her opponent Bernie Sanders' well-documented participation in the civil rights struggle as a student at the University of Chicago. After announcing that the Congressional Black Caucus PAC was backing Clinton, Lewis answered a reporter's question about Sanders: "I never saw him. I never met him. I chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for three years from 1963 to 1966. I was involved in the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, the march from Selma (Alabama) to Montgomery and directed the voter education project for six years. I met Hillary Clinton, I met President Clinton." Others of us know young Bernie's work and still speak highly of his student activism for peace and civil rights. We can also point to detailed confirmation in the Chicago Tribune, Rick Pearlstein's profile of Sanders in The University of Chicago Magazine, and Mother Jones, which thoughtfully reproduced pages from old editions of the student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon. Bernie's biggest success came as a leader of the campus chapter of the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), when he spearheaded a lengthy campaign against landlords of university-owned buildings in Hyde Park for refusing to rent off-campus housing to black students. "We feel it is an intolerable situation when Negro and white students of the University cannot live together in university owned apartments," Sanders told The Maroon in January 1962. As picketers left one of the residences, people yelled, "Go back to your jungles." Bernie's agitation led to a 15-day sit-in in the reception room of the office of university president George Beadle, followed by continued protests and negotiations that finally forced the university to desegregate its housing. Sanders also led pickets against a local Howard Johnson's after the arrest of 12 CORE demonstrators for trying to eat at a HoJo's in North Carolina. He was arrested and fined for resisting arrest in a protest against school segregation on Chicago's south side, and he went with several comrades to the giant March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. "Bernie was clearly a leader," recalled Mike Edelstein, who served on campus CORE's executive committee at the time. "He was taken seriously. You couldn't take him for anything else because, like now, his humor is not his foremost trait." He was "very smart and very policy oriented," said classmate Mike Parker, who is now in his 70s and -- with Bernie's support -- is leading a fight to close down a polluting Chevron refinery in Richmond, California. "Knowing someone like him was part of the inspiration for what we're doing here." Less well known, Parker and some of Bernie's other comrades went to graduate school at Berkeley and helped shape the Free Speech Movement, which was largely about the right to advocate and organize on campus for civil rights demonstrations in neighboring Oakland and San Francisco. This is how progressive movements for social change take on a life of their own, and to belittle Bernie's role insults a whole generation of activists, black and white, who worked where we were to do what we could, all at a time that Hillary Clinton was still a Goldwater Girl. Hillary changed, and Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are now pushing her to change even more. But that gives her campaign no license to let John Lewis bear false witness against Bernie to shore up black support in South Carolina and beyond. What makes all this even sadder is that Lewis knows firsthand the sting of dirty politics at the highest level. Back in August 1963, when I was still a grad student at the University of Michigan, John came to speak at a meeting of our local Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). He was scheduled to be the youngest speaker the following week at the March on Washington, and he was testing the bombshell he intended to drop. "In good conscience," he planned to say, "we cannot support wholeheartedly the [Kennedy] administration's civil rights bill, for it is too little and too late. There's not one thing in the bill that will protect our people from police brutality. This bill will not protect young children and old women from police dogs and fire hoses, for engaging in peaceful demonstrations." "You tell us to wait," he went on. "We cannot be patient. We want our freedom, and we want it now." "If we don't see meaningful progress here today," he concluded, "there will come a day when we will not confine our marching to the South. We will be forced to march through the South the way Sherman did -- nonviolently." Thrilled by John's presentation at Ann Arbor, a group of us from SDS stood right by the Lincoln Memorial waiting eagerly for him to give his speech. What we did not know, and what John learned only hours before, is that some of Kennedy's backers refused to appear on the podium with John if he insisted on giving the speech he had written. In the end, Kennedy's people forced him to say what they wanted, a story SNCC leader James Forman tells in The Making of Black Revolutionaries. Lewis confirmed most of the details to The Washington Post. In the end, John's attack on Bernie may not have much impact, and could well backfire the way that Gloria Steinem and Madeline Albright's remarks ended up hurting Hillary with young feminists. Several black leaders and activists are already endorsing Bernie as the candidate who best embodies the moral imperative of our time, and John Lewis has only demeaned himself to score a few cheap political points. But common decency and a proper regard for our shared history demand that Hillary disavow his comments and that they go beyond sterile apologies and both set the record straight. Reprinted from Reader Supported News The passing of Justice Antonin Scalia gives Obama the greatest test of his presidency. (Image by (photo: Pete Souza/White House)) Details DMCA is clear now that the Supreme Court as Obama leaves it will define both his presidency and his legacy. The sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia is not just seismic, it's a 10.0 on the American political Richter scale. Ironically it's the biggest thing to happen in the U.S. politically since Bush v Gore, the decision that opened the door for the composition of the current court, until Scalia's death. Without any doubt Senate Republicans will seek to thwart Obama's efforts to appoint a third Supreme Court Justice during his tenure. In essence, Republican leaders have said to Obama, almost unanimously, "Don't go there." Obama replied without hesitation, "I am going there." The stage is set for the biggest, most significant showdown between a U.S. president and an opposition party in decades. The Republicans in the Senate have the upper hand tactically. As the majority party they control what comes to the floor for a vote and what does not. Further, with a majority they have the voting advantage as well. But as president, Obama has the podium. Political analysts point to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, as Barack Obama's signature achievement. But that may not be the lasting effect. The for-profit health care industry is already finding creative, effective, and very profitable ways to game the ACA statute. Often the people who are Obamacare's most visible proponents are not actually enrolled in an Obamacare plan. The people who do have Obamacare plans aren't so sure. They find that they do have access to medical treatment but they are required to use a separate entrance. History will more likely regard Obama's two greatest achievements as Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Should he succeed in placing a third justice, there is no doubt that the remaking of the Supreme court will be his lasting legacy. This is the moment of his presidency. Probably nominating a sitting judge, someone who has already been approved by the Senate, gives Obama the most political leverage. Even a nominee who was previously approved by the Senate will still be subjected to the approval process again, and could still be blocked by Senate Republicans. But it really increases the political risk factor of obstruction. A sitting judge, perhaps someone like U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell, whose widely noted ruling restoring protections for Great Lakes wolves set her apart. The ruling established Judge Howell as having a crucial depth of understanding on the environment. That will be of immense importance in coming decades as the U.S. and the world struggle with climate change. Additionally, with her sharply worded rebuke of the Obama administration's Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, she left no doubt as to her independence from political influence. Obama will fight this battle to remake the Supreme court -- in the court of public opinion. If he can increase the political risk of thwarting his nominee to a critical-mass level, Senate Republicans may well relent. In any case, what real argument do they have? Obama is a duly elected U.S. president, with all powers intact. He has nearly a full year left in his term, one quarter of the time he was elected to serve. The entire nominating and approval process normally takes 4-6 weeks. It is absolutely his right -- or as he put it, his "constitutional responsibility" -- to appoint a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia. The Republicans have the power to to obstruct Obama's presidential powers, but there is no reasonable independent political argument to support doing that. The political skill Obama displays in this moment can leave an indelible impact on the course of American history. The day is his to seize. Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News. When it comes to gun violence on Valentine's Day, many will think of the 1929 massacre as Al Capone's South Side gang battled with an Irish American gang for organized crime's control of Chicago during the Prohibition Era. But it has only been eight years since Stephen Phillip Kazmierczak shot 25, killing 5 at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL on Valentine's Day. Unlike the 1929 killings of battling mobsters, Kazmierczak's victims were students attending an oceanography class at a state university. Kazmierczak may have been institutionalized for a year and given a psychological discharge from the Army, but he passed his background check like the Virginia Tech, Aurora, Tucson, Umpqua, Roanoke, Fort Hood, Santa Barbara, and Navy Yard mass killers (and most others). In fact, five days before the massacre he bought four firearms at Tony's Guns in Champaign, IL. According to published sources, Kazmierczak strode into an auditorium-style lecture hall that held 120 students wearing a black T-shirt with the word "Terrorist" written across the chest imposed over an image of an assault rifle. (Was he wearing that T-shirt when Tony's sold him lethal weapons?) He sported a black utility belt with two magazine holsters, a holster for a handgun, three handguns (a 9--19mm Glock 19, a .380 ACP SIG Sauer P232, and a .380 ACP Hi-Point CF380) and eight loaded magazines. He also carried in a 12 gauge Remington Sportsman 48 shotgun concealed in a guitar case. The police recovered 55 un-expended rounds of ammunition from the scene, including two fully loaded magazines containing rounds for a .380 semi-automatic pistol. Like so many mass shooters, Kazmierczak was mentally disturbed and amassing lethal weapons. He was discharged from the Army in 2001 for lying on his application about his mental illness. Before the murders he was on psychoactive drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist and sent his girlfriend a gun holster and ammunition and a textbook on serial killers. Nice. The year before Kazmierczak's murders there were two other Valentine's Day spree killers. Sulejman Talovic killed five in Salt Lake City's Trolley Square mall and Vincent Dortch killed three at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Both also breezed through their background checks. In fact, Talovic, who was a Bossnian immigrant, bought his weapon at Sportsman's Fastcash without even showing a second form of identification said investigators police. Like Kazmierczak, he had "gun rights." US gun violence is a public health epidemic. Tell President Obama to declare a National State of Emergency by signing the petition. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Erasmus (Image by WorldBeyondWar.org) Details DMCA I'm afraid that one of the best books I've read on war abolition may be overlooked by non-Catholics, because its title is Catholic Realism and the Abolition of War (by David Carroll Cochran). The book does draw on Catholic arguments against war and work to rebut Catholic arguments in favor of war, but in my view this enriches the debate and detracts not at all from Cochran's universal argument for the elimination of all war -- much of which has little or nothing to do with Catholicism. I've added this book to my war abolition shelf along with these books of my own and others: Beyond War: The Human Potential for Peace by Douglas Fry (2009) Living Beyond War by Winslow Myers (2009) War Is A Lie by David Swanson (2010) The End of War by John Horgan (2012) Transition to Peace by Russell Faure-Brac (2012) War No More: The Case for Abolition by David Swanson (2013) Shift: The Beginning of War, the Ending of War by Judith Hand (2013) War: A Crime Against Humanity by Roberto Vivo (2014) Catholic Realism and the Abolition of War by David Carroll Cochran (2014) A Global Security System: An Alternative to War by World Beyond War (2015) War Is A Lie: Second Edition by David Swanson (April 5, 2016) "War's two great lies are its righteousness and its inevitability." Thus begins Cochran's book, and he demonstrates the truth of his statement beyond any reasonable doubt. He examines the lies that are told to start wars and the lies that are told about how wars are conducted. We might call these two kinds of lies mendacia ad bellum and mendacia in bello. Cochran puts a major emphasis on the latter, pointing out that war kills a large number of innocents -- and always has, even in earlier epochs armed by very different weaponry. There never was any just ad bellum or jus in bello. Cochran includes among the innocent both civilians and soldiers. Including only civilians is enough to make his point, as wars have always killed large numbers of civilians (though the percentage of dead who are civilian has increased in recent decades to the point where it is the vast majority of those killed). Cochran does not consider soldiers innocent because their side of a war is defensive. He considers them innocent on the side of the aggressor as well -- and not only those soldiers who quietly regret what they are doing or those who honestly believe the propaganda that would justify their actions. No, even combatants who fully support the war are innocent, in a certain sense, in Cochran's view. This seems at odds with some Catholic tradition. I remember Erasmus urging that clergy refuse to bury in consecrated ground anyone slain in battle: "The unfeeling mercenary soldier, hired by a few pieces of paltry coin, to do the work of man-butcher, carries before him the standard of the cross; and that very figure becomes the symbol of war, which alone ought to teach every one that looks at it, that war ought to be utterly abolished. What hast thou to do with the cross of Christ on thy banners, thou blood-stained soldier? With such a disposition as thine; with deeds like thine, of robbery and murder, thy proper standard would be a dragon, a tiger, or wolf!" I find Cochran's case for soldiers' innocence convincing, although I have really very little interest in whether his position is more properly Catholic than someone else's. He points out that it is generally viewed as wrong to kill soldiers who are wounded or surrendering. This, Cochran writes, is because they have done nothing to deserve being slaughtered, although slaughtered they are in the general course of a war. One idea put forward by war supporters is that in the normal course of war, soldiers are mutually engaged in self-defense against each other, but Cochran points out that the justification of self-defense for individuals outside of war only works when an aggressor has attacked a victim. War is conducted on a very different scale and with very different norms. Soldiers during a war are not expected to try all nonviolent approaches first before resorting to violence, and in fact routinely kill other soldiers who do not pose any imminent threat. Most killing in historical battles has happened after one side has begun retreating. Remember how the United States killed 30,000 retreating Iraqi soldiers during the 1991 Gulf War. The ultimate fallback justification for the mass-murder of war is that innocents can be slaughtered if the harm done is outweighed by the goals of the war. But such goals are often secret or lied about, and it is the war makers who get to decide whose deaths are outweighed by what goals. U.S. terrorist Timothy McVeigh blew up a government building in 1995 and claimed that the deaths that resulted were merely "collateral damage" because killing those people had not been his purpose. The U.S. military plays the same game, the only difference being that it is allowed to get away with it. Partly the military gets away with it by constantly claiming to have found technological solutions to collateral damage. But, in fact, the latest such ploy -- weaponized drones -- kills more civilians than it kills people for whom anyone asserts any (always unsubstantiated) right to murder. To call combatants innocent in analyzing the morality of war is not, in my view, to diminish the moral superiority of refusing to fight. Nor is it to suggest some sort of moral perfection in the individual lives of soldiers. Nor is it to set aside the Nuremberg standard that requires disobeying illegal orders. Rather, it is to understand that no justification exists for killing soldiers. There might be a justification for otherwise sanctioning their behavior, and -- more so -- the behavior of those who sent them into war, but not for killing them. Not only is war dramatically different from normal individual relations in which one might speak of self-defense, but, Cochran shows, it is also radically different from police work. Legitimate, praiseworthy police work seeks to reduce and avoid violence. It targets people based on suspicion of wrongdoing unique to the individual targeted. It seeks to facilitate the work of courts of law. War, on the contrary, seeks to maximize violence, targets entire armies and populations, and pauses not for any court rulings but sees two sides each declare the other guilty en masse. Calling a war a "police action" or giving soldiers actual policing duties does not change the fact that war is not policing. While good policing creates "order," war creates violence, chaos, and instability. Opposing war because it is immoral, and opposing war because nonviolent tools work better, are not separate approaches at odds with each other. War is immoral in large part because it does not work, because it generates enemies and violence rather than reducing them. The moral arguments of the first part of Catholic Realism and the Abolition of War are excellent, but the real high point of the book may be its review of past institutions of mass violence that were considered moral, natural, inevitable, and permanent, but which are now gone. You'll find this case sketched out in most of the books listed at the top of this article, but Cochran does the best job of it I've seen. He includes discussions of dueling and slavery, but also the less commonly used examples of trial by ordeal and combat, and lynching. In some ways, trial by ordeal and combat is the best example because the most dependent, as is much of war, on the actions of a government, albeit local level governments in many trial-by-ordeal-and-combat cases. While rulers understood that trial by ordeal and combat did not actually produce the truth it claimed, they went on using it for many years as they found doing so convenient. Catholics produced complex justifications for it, similar to those produced by "just war" theory. Trial by ordeal and combat was deemed moral and necessary for self-defense, protecting the innocent, and creating peace and stability. Gradually cultural and political changes ended the supposedly un-endable. Dueling's supporters also believed it necessary, and eliminating it naive and dreamy. They claimed that dueling maintained peace and order. Cultural and political change brought majorities to consider dueling laughable, barbaric, ignorant, shameful, and a threat to peace and order. Slavery, in the form that has virtually vanished, rested on fundamental lies and contradictions, including recognizing and not recognizing the humanity of those enslaved. It also rested on "just war" theory which maintained that slavery was a generous alternative to the mass-murder of conquered peoples. As humanitarian warriors claim that wars are for the benefit of their victims, defenders of slavery claimed that it benefitted the people held captive. As war supporters today claim that it maintains a way of life that is by definition greedy and unfair, supporters of slavery contended that it was essential to the existing way of life of the slave owners. Interestingly, Cochran stresses that the evidence shows the demise of chattel slavery not to have been driven by any economic forces but rather by a moral revolution. Just before slavery was ended, it was extremely profitable. But, writes Cochran, "globally minded political and economic elites came to see slavery as an embarrassing deviation from international norms." Lynching may not have been exactly legal, but it was an established institution, and the arguments used to maintain it closely resemble the fallacious claims made about other institutions of violence. Lynching, its supporters said, was defensive, defending the white race through an inevitable "racial instinct." They believed, however, that it should be used as a "last resort." That is, they believed that, until they gradually didn't any longer believe it, until lynching gradually became seen, not as a defense of but as a threat to law and order. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Reprinted from Paul Craig Roberts Website While you are enjoying your Sunday, the insane neoconservatives who control Western foreign policy and their Turkish and Saudi Arabian vassals might be preparing the end of the world. Any person who relies on Western media has no accurate idea of what is happening in Syria. I will provide a brief summary and then send you to two detailed accounts. The neoconservative Obama regime set-up the Syrian government headed by Assad for overthrow. A long propaganda campaign conducted in Washington's behalf by the Western media portrayed the democratically-elected Assad as a "brutal dictator who uses chemical weapons against his own people." Washington organized and supported a front group posing as democrats and involved them in conflict with the Syrian military. With conflict underway, Washington began predicting that something had to be done to overthrow Assad before he used "chemical weapons against his own people." Obama turned these predictions into a "red line." When Assad used chemical weapons against Washington's puppets, the US would invade Syria. With the "red line" drawn, a false flag chemical weapons attack was staged, or an accident occurred, that Washington used to say that Assad, despite the US warning, had crossed the "red line." Preparations for an invasion began, but hit two roadblocks. David Cameron, Washington's puppet prime minister of Great Britain was unable to deliver British support for the invasion as the Parliament voted it down. This left Washington uncovered and vulnerable to the charge of naked aggression, a war crime. Russian diplomacy threw up the other road block by securing the removal of all chemical weapons from Syria. Their invasion plan frustrated, the neoconservatives sent the jihadists they had used to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya to overthrow Assad. Initially known as ISIS, then ISIL, then the Islamist State, and now Daesh, a term that can be interpreted as an insult. Perhaps the intention of the name changes is to keep the Western public thoroughly confused about who is who and what is what. Washington now pretends that it is fighting the Islamist State, but Washington is doing its best to frustrate the success of the Russian/Syrian alliance that is defeating the Islamist State... Washington's support of the Islamist State is the cause of the war in Syria. General Michael Flynn, the recently retired head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has stated publicly that it was a "willful decision" of the Obama regime to support ISIS. See also here. The neoconservative insistence that "Assad must go" comprises a threat to the security of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah is the Lebanese force that has twice defeated Israel's attempt to annex southern Lebanon for its water resources. Hezbollah is dependent on Syrian and Iranian support for its arms and financing. Israel wants to be rid of Hezbollah. The Islamic State that Washington is trying to create in Syria would provide Washington with a means of destabilizing Iran and Russia by exporting jihadism into those countries. The Russian Federation has Muslim populations as do former provinces of the Soviet Union that now cooperate with Russia. By bogging down Russia in internal conflicts, Washington can move Russia out of the way of Washington's exercise of hegemony. Similarly, non-Persian populations in Iran could be radicalized by jihadism and used to destabilize Iran. In order to protect themselves, Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah have come to the support of Syria. The Russians are there legally at the invitation of the Syrian government. The US is there illegally. Russian air power in support of the Syrian Army has turned the tide against the Islamist State. The invaders are being driven out. The neoconservatives cannot accept this defeat. Reprinted from RT An end to the Syrian conflict is desperately needed. But the latest plan for a cessation of violence is unlikely to take hold, as the deal struck by international powers is based on fundamentally opposing premises. In short, Washington and its allies want regime change, while Russia and Iran insist that President Bashar Assad and his government are the legitimate ruling authorities in Syria. All sides are mandated by UN resolutions to respect the sovereign will of the Syrian people -- to determine the political future of their country. But the Western powers and their regional partners, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar in particular, are insisting -- explicitly or implicitly -- on their objective of ousting Assad. This premise of unlawful interference in the affairs of a sovereign state is the crux of the problem, and why the latest seeming agreement for a nationwide truce is as thin as the paper it is written on. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced the proposal for a cessation of hostilities following six hours of negotiations with 15 other member states belonging to the International Syria Support Group in Munich last Friday. The truce is supposed to come into effect later this week. The truce outlined in an ISSG communique does not apply to two militant groups: Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL/ISIL or Daesh) and the Jabhat al Nusra Front. Both are linked to Al Qaeda and are officially listed by international governments as terrorist organizations. The provision also exempts "other terror groups" but does not specify the names. This is a major loophole in the proposed truce deal which will make its application extremely problematic if not infeasible. That loophole also alludes to the foreign-backed nature of the conflict in Syria. Following the Munich communique, the Syrian government and its Russian ally both said that their combined military operations against terror groups would continue. President Assad vowed that his armed forces were moving ahead with their offensive, backed by Russian air power, to "retake the whole country." He said the battle for the northern city of Aleppo -- the country's largest -- was crucial to "cut off terrorist supply routes from Turkey." Given the delineation of terror groups in the Munich communique and in recent UN resolutions (2249 and 2254), it would appear incontestable that the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies have every right to maintain the military momentum. Yet Syria and Russia's continued offensive around Aleppo over the weekend provoked recriminations from Western powers. Western media coverage tended to portray the continuation of military operations as a bad faith breach of the tentative truce. Reuters news agency reported: "Russia keeps bombing despite Syria truce; Assad vows to fight on." Secretary Kerry expressed irritation when he said: "If the Assad regime does not live up to its responsibilities and if the Iranians and the Russians do not hold Assad to the promises that they have made... then the international community obviously is not going to sit there like fools and watch this. There will be an increase of activity to put greater pressure on them." Kerry even warned that "greater pressure"could involve foreign troops being sent into Syria, without naming from which countries, saying: "There is a possibility there will be additional ground troops." The top American diplomat made the comments while attending the Munich Security Conference along with several world leaders, held the day after the truce deal was brokered by the ISSG. Kerry told delegates ominously: "We hope this week can be a week of change. This moment is a hinge point. Decisions made in the coming days, weeks and months can end the war in Syria. Or, if the wrong choices are made, they can open the door to even wider conflict." Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also addressed the Munich conference, but he warned that any ground invasion in Syria by foreign forces ran the grave risk of unleashing an all-out war. Over the weekend, it was reported that Saudi F-16 warplanes are to begin flying out of Turkey's NATO base at Incirlik, allegedly on combat operations against the Islamic State terror group in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a combined Saudi-Turkish ground force was ready to intervene in Syria, and there were reports of cross-border Turkish artillery shelling of Syrian Kurdish sites. The nub of the proposed truce is that Syria and Russia are legally entitled to eradicate ISIS, Al Nusra and related groups. Strategically, too, it can be argued that the defeat of such illegally armed insurgents is a priority task in creating conditions for an end to the five-year conflict. However, "the related terror groups" also include many other militants whom Western governments and Western media mendaciously refer to as "moderate rebels." So, while the Syrian Arab Army and Russian fighter planes can legitimately make the case that these groups are to be targeted, Washington and its allies will deceptively allege that Moscow is attacking "moderate rebels." This is a risible fiction constructed by Western governments, their regional partners and the Western media. It is well documented that groups like Jaish al-Islam, Jaish al-Fateh, Ahrar al-Sham and Farouq Brigade -- heavily sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- are integrated with the officially recognized Al Qaeda terrorist organizations. Even the so-called "secular" Free Syrian Army -- much championed by Washington -- is in league with ISIS and Al Nusra, as are the Turkmen brigades openly supported by the Turkish government. US government-owned news outlet Voice of America described the terror-rebel connection in the following delicate way: "The Munich deal writes out any cessation of hostilities for not only the Islamic State but [al Qaeda] affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra or other groups deemed terrorists by the UN Security Council. Some of those groups, aside from IS, have been battlefield allies of other rebel factions around Aleppo." Would you like to know how many people have visited this page? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. BP graduated from college in the mid sixties (at the bottom of the class?) He told his draft board that Vietnam could be won without his participation. He is still appologizing for that mistake. He received his fist photo lesson from a future Pulitzer Prize winner. (Eddie Adams in the AP lunch room told him to get rid of the everready case for his new Nikon F). A Pulitzer Prize winning reporter broke BP in on the police beat for a small daily in Pa. By 1975, Paul Newman had asked for Bob's Autograph. (Google this: "Paul Newman asked my autograph" and click the top suggested URL.) His co-workers on the weekly newspaper in Santa Monica,(in the Seventies) included a future White House correspondent for Time magazine and one of the future editors high up on the Playboy masthead. Bob has been to the Oscar ceremony twice before Oscar turned 50. He is working on a book of memoirs tentatively titled "Paul Newman Asked for my Autograph." In the gold mining area of Australia (Kalgoorlie), Bob was called: "Col. Sanders." Articles Listed By Date List By Popularity Search Title Date Between Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 and Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Page 1 of 21 First Last Back Next 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 View All (3 comments) SHARE Joe Scarborough: 'I was proven wrong!' Liberals were right about his former Republican Party. .In a lengthy, heartfelt statement, Joe Scarborough says he was wrong, and Liberals were right about the Republican Party. Tuesday, April 26, 2022.In a lengthy, heartfelt statement, Joe Scarborough says he was wrong, and Liberals were right about the Republican Party. (2 comments) SHARE Economist/Professor Dr. Richard Wolff assigns blame for inflation where it belongs, and it ain't Biden. Economist & Professor Dr. Richard Wolff pointed out that our current inflation is a choice in no uncertain terms. Let's stop the insanity. Saturday, April 16, 2022Economist & Professor Dr. Richard Wolff pointed out that our current inflation is a choice in no uncertain terms. Let's stop the insanity. (3 comments) SHARE Terrell Jermaine Starr, the perspective of the Ukraine Russia conflict Americans must hear Terrell Jermaine Starr, a foreign affairs journalist in Kyiv, Ukraine, gives the most detailed story about the Ukraine/Russia conflict. Monday, February 21, 2022Terrell Jermaine Starr, a foreign affairs journalist in Kyiv, Ukraine, gives the most detailed story about the Ukraine/Russia conflict. (2 comments) SHARE The Nation's Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel discusses Ukraine & more about our political state The Nation's Editorial Director & Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel discusses issues about the U.S. and NATO's Ukraine stance & much more. Sunday, February 6, 2022The Nation's Editorial Director & Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel discusses issues about the U.S. and NATO's Ukraine stance & much more. SHARE Thugs-In-Ties-Suit: 3 Axis Advisor Prez Antonio Ciaccia on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) report. Antonio Ciaccia exposes Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and their drug pricing complicity. My question is, should PBMs even exist? Tuesday, December 7, 2021Antonio Ciaccia exposes Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and their drug pricing complicity. My question is, should PBMs even exist? SHARE IRONIC: Supreme Court ruling will hurt Red State poor women as Blue State women maintain choice It is ironic that "freedom-loving-don't-tread-on-me" Red States are taking away women's control of their bodies as Blue State women maintain theirs. Tuesday, December 7, 2021It is ironic that "freedom-loving-don't-tread-on-me" Red States are taking away women's control of their bodies as Blue State women maintain theirs. SHARE Norm Ornstein defines the Republican Party: The GOP, It is not a party, it is a cult. When the GOP has lost someone like Norm Ornstein so completely it is clear that the Republican Party is no longer a viable political instrument for the people. Wednesday, December 1, 2021When the GOP has lost someone like Norm Ornstein so completely it is clear that the Republican Party is no longer a viable political instrument for the people. SHARE Sen. Heitkamp hands Gov. Christie his a$$ on subsidizing state taxes. Southern states are the takers! Fmr. Gov. Chris Christie gave Fmr. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp a layup to point out an inconvenient truth for Republican states. They are welfare states. Wednesday, December 1, 2021Fmr. Gov. Chris Christie gave Fmr. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp a layup to point out an inconvenient truth for Republican states. They are welfare states. SHARE Chuck Todd dropped false equivalence between Dems & Republicans? Aren't you embarrassed? Chuck Todd showed a level of personal disgust with the politicians he schmoozed with as he temporarily dropped the false equivalence. Wednesday, December 1, 2021Chuck Todd showed a level of personal disgust with the politicians he schmoozed with as he temporarily dropped the false equivalence. SHARE Foul: Western countries penalize South Africa for exposing Omicron which may have started in the West. The optics are terrible but there nonetheless. South Africa did the right thing by Omicron and we made them pay. What? Wednesday, December 1, 2021The optics are terrible but there nonetheless. South Africa did the right thing by Omicron and we made them pay. What? (3 comments) SHARE OUCH! Former Republican operative slams the GOP: "You have to burn the party to the ground" Why? Republican operative Stuart Stevens did not mince his words. He has given up on the GOP and thinks it needs a complete rebirth. Wednesday, December 1, 2021Republican operative Stuart Stevens did not mince his words. He has given up on the GOP and thinks it needs a complete rebirth. (1 comments) SHARE The two infrastructure bills may be a worse capitulation than the two Obamacare bills. We must have very long memories. I have seen this game before. And guess who has always won? I do not need to answer. Not human infrastructure. Monday, November 29, 2021We must have very long memories. I have seen this game before. And guess who has always won? I do not need to answer. Not human infrastructure. (1 comments) SHARE Big Pharma uses the patent system to rip us off. Example: Insulin costs $6 to make. We pay $300. We allow Big Pharma to screw us. We pay for the initial research of the drugs, and then they rip us off when we need it. Sunday, November 28, 2021We allow Big Pharma to screw us. We pay for the initial research of the drugs, and then they rip us off when we need it. (1 comments) SHARE Chuck Todd ridicules Mississippi Governor on vaccine mandate objection: It's a pro-life position. Chuck Todd mainly was on his game as he ridiculed the hypocrisy exhibited by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on vaccines vs. women's choice. Sunday, November 28, 2021Chuck Todd mainly was on his game as he ridiculed the hypocrisy exhibited by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on vaccines vs. women's choice. (2 comments) SHARE Al Franken on Republicans: We have to be as ruthless. We have to be stone-cold killers. Al Franken wants Democrats to get as tough as Republicans and describe the infrastructure bill for what it does. Wednesday, October 6, 2021Al Franken wants Democrats to get as tough as Republicans and describe the infrastructure bill for what it does. (1 comments) SHARE Jake Tapper completely destroys Mississippi Gov: With all due respect Governor, your way's failing. CNN's Jake Tapper did his journalistic job demolishing Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves for his COVID failure. Sunday, September 19, 2021CNN's Jake Tapper did his journalistic job demolishing Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves for his COVID failure. SHARE Michael Levitin discusses the accomplishments of Occupy Movement on its 10th year anniversary. Journalist, Professor, and Author Michael Levitin discussed the successes of the Occupy Movement on this 10th anniversary. Thursday, September 16, 2021Journalist, Professor, and Author Michael Levitin discussed the successes of the Occupy Movement on this 10th anniversary. SHARE Medicare Advantage is a fraud. Watch what Thom Hartmann exposes before choosing. Thom Hartmann visits and reveals an inconvenient truth about Medicare and Medicare Advantage and the fraud that is our healthcare system. The first part of the interview discusses the ills of our healthcare system in general. We discuss the Medicaid Advantage fraud at18:33. Wednesday, September 15, 2021Thom Hartmann visits and reveals an inconvenient truth about Medicare and Medicare Advantage and the fraud that is our healthcare system. The first part of the interview discusses the ills of our healthcare system in general. We discuss the Medicaid Advantage fraud at18:33. (1 comments) SHARE Democracy For America CEO Yvette Simpson on the state of our Democracy and the Progressive movement. Yvette Simpson, CEO of Democracy for America, discussed the structural problems of our Democracy and how the Progressive movement can solve it. Wednesday, September 15, 2021Yvette Simpson, CEO of Democracy for America, discussed the structural problems of our Democracy and how the Progressive movement can solve it. (1 comments) SHARE COVID infected Greg Abbott plays Republicans for fools as he infects them. The psychopathy is DEEP! I try to be measured, but when we have politicians effectively killing their constituents as TX Gov. Greg Abbott does, we must expose them. And we must do so graphically. Wednesday, August 18, 2021I try to be measured, but when we have politicians effectively killing their constituents as TX Gov. Greg Abbott does, we must expose them. And we must do so graphically. Page 1 of 21 First Last Back Next 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 View All by NW Spotlight Whats the difference between a bike accident and rape? Dont know? Well dont feel bad, apparently neither does Oregon state Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene). Using his position as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, Prozanski successfully blocked an effort to increase the statute of limitations in Oregon for rape from 6 years to 20 years. A NY Times article at the time noted that half of all states have NO statute of limitations on rape at all. Despite that, Prozanski reduced the proposed increase from 20 years down to 12 years. Prozanskis unusual resistance to the increased statute of limitations caused a victim of the Portland jogger rapist to ask why is Senator Prozanski protecting rapists? After successfully limiting the increase to 12 years, Prozanski said he wanted time to convene a work group and revisit the possibility of a 20-year limit during [the 2016 short session], and that he thought its something that needs to be fully vetted now so we can have a better understanding. Some of the rape survivors saw that as a thinly veiled excuse to avoid action. SB 1553 in the short session The outcome of the work group was the current Senate Bill 1553. SB 1553 Authorizes prosecution of first-degree sex crimes any time after commission of crime if prosecuting attorney obtains corroborating evidence of crime. Requires prosecuting attorney to present evidence reasonably tending to negate guilt to grand jury. OK, that sounds really good it brings Oregon up to where half of states already are with regards to statute of limitation for rape. Bikes and rape But then it gets a bit strange. SB 1553 ALSO Creates new manner of committing crime of assault in the third degree when person with criminal negligence causes serious physical injury by means of motor vehicle. That part of SB 1553, the biker bill, makes it a felony for a motorist to hit a bicyclist if there is serious injury to the bicyclist and the motorist displays criminal negligence. Criminal negligence means that a person a person fails to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will occur or that the circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that the failure to be aware of it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation. The impetus for the biker bill, which is intended to address the negligence gap, was the tragic May 2015 case of Alistair Corkett who lost his leg in an accident. The case involved a pick-up driver who tested positive for marijuana and was driving while uninsured, who had made a legal left turn in front of the bicyclist from the designated left turn lane. Corkett, the bicyclist, was going pretty fast, did not appear to slow down as he approached the intersection and did not move into the Bike Box based on what a witness told police. A Multnomah County deputy district attorney said Although [the motorist] may have been negligent or even careless in failing to yield the right of way [the bicyclist], his conduct is not the type of conduct that rises to the level of criminal conduct. Speaking on the case and the current law, Multnomah County DA Rod Underhill, himself a competitive bike racer, told attendees at a biking event It pissed me off. Im angry. It just doesnt seem right. We need to change the law. During testimony on the bill, Senator Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer) expressed concerns that the new law might be unfair to some road users. In a comment directed to DA Underhill, she said, I understand the motivation to want to nail a person to the wall, but I also have concerns the other way. And maybe its because of my phobia of driving in Portland where it seems like there are bicycles coming out of nowhere all the time. Why is the biker bill in SB 1553 isnt is worthy of its own bill? Could concerns like those expressed by Sen. Thatcher cause legislators to vote NO on SB 1553 out of concerns on the biker bill portion of SB 1553? Would that be fair to all the work done by the work group on the rape statute of limitations? Does the biker bill portion need to be more fully vetted to ensure it isnt unfair to some road users? Does it need a work group too one that could bring recommendations back for the full regular session next year? Shouldnt motorists be given the same legislative consideration as accused rapists were given? Shouldnt the biker bill be in its own bill? There is no good reason to be combining these two very serious issues both are of sufficient complexity and gravity to warrant their own bills. UPDATE Good news for rape victims! The legislation to increase the statute of limitations in Oregon for rape has been separated into its own bill, SB 1600. Unfortunately for the families & friends of the UCC tragedy victims, the biker bill has now been tacked on to the UCC victims information protection bill in SB 1553. UPDATE #2: The bill to lift the statute of limitations in Oregon for rape (SB 1600) has passed the Oregon Senate and House and is headed for signature to Gov. Kate Brown! The biker bill (SB 1553) died in the House Rules Committee. This begs the question of what would have happened to the rape statute of limitations if the unrelated biker bill had not been split out in to a different bill? It also raises the question of WHY Sen. Prozanski combined them in the first place was it yet another attempt by Prozanski to protect rapists (hoping the biker bill would be a poison pill for the rape statute of limitations) or was he trying to push a pet biking bill on the backs of rape victims? 12 reasons why Cameron will lose on Brexit The pundits have got it wrong: The Brits will vote themselves out of Europe. By DENIS... Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks during the 52nd Munich Security Conference . Photographer: Dmitry Astakhov/TASS via Getty Image Airstrike Targets Russia Sanctions Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said his country is in a new Cold War with the U.S. and its allies, underscoring the tenuous level of trust thats putting a day-old plan for a truce in Syria at risk.The clash, with echoes of superpower rhetoric during the 20th century, played out at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday even as Russia, Europe and the U.S. say theyre seeking cooperation to end Syrias civil war, resolve the armed standoff in eastern Ukraine and make progress toward lifting European economic sanctions against Russia.Fresh from helping craft the accord for Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that the U.S. is reneging on the agreement and put the chances of success at less than 50 percent. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, addressing the meeting separately, demanded an end to Russian bombing of groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.This is a hinge point, Kerry told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. We hope this week can be a week of change. It is critical for all of us to take advantage of this moment to make this cessation of hostilities work.On stage at the international gathering of diplomats and defense officials, Medvedev set a different tone, blaming the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization for stoking conflict. Jens Stoltenberg, the alliances secretary general, said Russia is using its nuclear arsenal to intimidate Europe.The political line of NATO toward Russia remains unfriendly and closed, Medvedev said in a speech. It can be said more sharply: We have slid into a time of a new Cold War.All major outside powers in Syrias five-year-old conflict, including the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, on Friday backed a truce thats set to start on Feb. 19. Peace efforts intensified as Russian President Vladimir Putins almost six-month bombing campaign backing Assad delivers results, with government forces threatening to drive rebels out of Aleppo, one of their strongholds.Lavrov said the agreement wont lead to anything unless theres constant military coordination between Russia and the U.S. in Syria. He and Kerry met later Saturday to discuss the matter and agreed on concrete steps to be taken in the next few days toward that goal, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.The U.S. has refused to coordinate its coalitions airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria with the Russian bombing campaign because of accusations Russia isnt focused on the jihadists but the Assad opposition.Kerry warned Russia to stop bombing Assad opponents that arent jihadists. To date, the vast majority -- in our opinion -- of Russias attacks have been against legitimate opposition groups, he said in his speech. We think it is critical that the Russians targeting changes.Russias military intervention since September has upended U.S.-backed efforts to force Assad from power, raised speculation that U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey may escalate their involvement in the conflict and added to the flow of refugees thats straining unity in the European Union. About 260,000 people have died in Syrias war, which has caused the biggest migrant crisis in Europe since World War II and escalated the threat of terrorist attacks.Kerry sought to maintain pressure on Putin over Russias encroachment on Ukraine, which led to sanctions on Russia and a peace plan brokered by Germany and France last year in Minsk, Belarus, that has stalled. With the armed standoff between pro-Russian separatists and government troops in eastern Ukraine unresolved, Lavrov met his counterparts from Germany, France and Ukraine on the conferences sidelines on Saturday.Russia has a simple choice: fully implement Minsk or continue to experience economically damaging sanctions, Kerry said in Munich.Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-13/russia-sees-new-cold-war-as-nato-chief-criticizes-nuclear-threat Saudi Arabia is to deploy military jets and personnel to Turkeys Incirlik Air Base in the south of the country, Ankara said. The base is already used by the US Air Force for their sorties in Syria. The deployment is part of the US-led effort to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said."At every coalition meeting, we have always emphasized the need for an extensive result-oriented strategy in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group, he said, referring to IS by an Arabic-language abbreviation.Cavusoglu spoke to the Yeni Safak newspaper after addressing a security conference in Munich, Germany, where the Syrian crisis was one of the top issues on the agenda."If we have such a strategy, then Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch a ground operation, he added, fueling concerns that a foreign troop invasion may soon further complicate the already turbulent situation in the war-torn country.Earlier, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE voiced their readiness to contribute troops for a ground operation in Syria on the condition that the US would lead the intervention. Damascus and its key regional ally, Iran, warned that such a foreign force would face strong resistance.Turkeys and Saudi Arabias claims that taking out Assad is a necessary prerequisite for defeating IS are hypocritical and are complete nonsense," political commentator Marwa Osman told RT. She added that the Syrian army led by President Bashar Assad is the only force on the ground fighting ISIS.Osman said that the potential invasion would be catastrophic for the Syrian public and a major mistake for Turkey and for Saudi Arabia as it would be a fight that will not end until the bloodshed [comes].She also brought the Saudi Arabias resolve to fight IS into question, saying that it was Saudi Arabia that is spreading Wahhabism and adding, ISIS came within the actual ideology of Saudi Arabia.The US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have shared goals in Syria, as all three want the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad to be toppled by rebel forces. On other issues they differ. For example, the US supports Kurdish forces in Syria who scored significant military victories against IS, but Turkey considers them terrorists and is targeting them with airstrikes.Russia, which supports the government of Bashar Assad, seeing it as the only regional force capable of defeating IS on the ground, has warned against a ground intervention, which, Moscow believes, would only serve to prolong the war in Syria.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev called on his Western counterparts "not to threaten a ground operation" in Syria, stressing that Moscow is doing its utmost to pave the way for a lasting peace in the war-torn country.Russia and other leading world powers have brought Damascus and a number of rebel groups to negotiations and leveraged them into agreeing to a ceasefire. The agreement, however, remains shaky, as neither side trusts the other, and the unity of the rebel delegation remains questionable. The terrorist groups IS and Al Nusra Front are not part of the talks.Source: https://www.rt.com/news/332354-saudi-turkey-jets-deployed/ Suspects of Iraqi-Kurdish origin detained near Turkish border with more than 20 guns and tens of thousands of bullets The Greek-Turkish border. Photograph: Giannis Papanikos/AP Greek police have arrested three British men in two separate operations on suspicion of trying to move a large number of guns and ammunition into Turkey The men, aged 22, 28 and 39 and all Iraqi Kurds with British passports, were found to have tens of thousands of small-calibre cartridges and more than 20 pistols and rifles close to the border with Turkey on Saturday evening.The 39-year-old suspect was found to have 200,000 cartridges and four pistols on him when he was apprehended close to the Turkish border crossing. The other two had 18 rifles and 27,000 cartridges when they were detained at a town near the border after days of surveillance.We dont have any evidence to connect them with Isis we have informed Europol and Interpol, a police official said on Sunday. The weapons were not combat rifles but could have been used for training, he added.The suspects were due to be taken before a local magistrate on Sunday or Monday on suspicion of illegal possession of weapons and smuggling.Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/14/two-heavily-armed-britons-arrested-in-greece FO expressed surprise at Indian govt disappointment ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Sunday expressed 'surprise' at the Indian government's disappointment over the United States' decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. A 'disappointed' India on Saturday summoned the US envoy in New Delhi, Richard Verma, to 'convey its displeasure' regarding the Obama administration's decision to notify the sale of the aircraft to Pakistan. Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met the US ambassador at the ministry to convey India's disapproval of the deal to Washington, in a meeting which lasted 45 minutes. "Their army and arsenal stock is much larger and they are the largest importer of defence equipment," Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a statement. "With regards to the F-16 sale, Pakistan and the United States are closely cooperating in countering terrorism efforts," he said, adding that the US State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner had earlier announced that the purpose of the sale was the enhance Pakistan's precision strike capability. It is in US security interests to support Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts, Toner had said. The $699 million deal consists of eight Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets, along with training, radar and other equipment. The F-16 aircraft will allow the Pakistan Air Force to operate in all kinds of weather, at night, as well as "enhance Pakistan's ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counterterrorism operations," the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency, which coordinates such foreign arms sales, said in a statement. The proposed deal will now go through a 30-day notification period after which it will be finalised. The new aircraft will add to Pakistans sizable force of fighter jets which includes more than 70 F-16s and dozens of French and Chinese attack aircraft. Earlier in January, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif during a National Assembly briefing told lawmakers that an Indian lobby, as well as Pakistan's former ambassador to the US are "working against us" and had approached the US House of Representatives to lobby against the sale of the fighter jets, causing a delay. It is US national interest to sell eight F-16 jets to Pakistan WASHINGTON: The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency has issued a certification saying that its in US national interest to sell eight F-16 fighter jets and related equipment to Pakistan. The certification is needed to satisfy the US Congress where some key lawmakers are strongly opposing the sale. A national interest certification, however, is rarely challenged. This proposed sale contributes to US foreign policy objectives and national security goals by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner in South Asia, says the certification sent to Congress with the sale notification. The proposed sale improves Pakistans capability to meet current and future security threatsand enhance(s) Pakistans ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, the agency informs the lawmakers. It also clarifies that the proposed sale will not alter the basic military balance in the region (and) there will be no adverse impact on US defence readiness as a result of this. The clarification rejects Indias claim that the proposed sale will alter military balance in South Asia and it also disregards objections raised during recent congressional debates that it will adversely affect US defence interests in Afghanistan where Washington still has thousands of troops. According to the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency, the eight F-16 fighter jets and related equipment will cost Pakistan $699.04 million. On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry sent his departments annual budget to Congress, proposing a financial assistance of $859.8m for Pakistan, which includes $265m for military hardware. This indicates that Pakistan will have to bear most of the costs for the F-16 deal. On Friday, the US State Department informed Congress that it has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan for F-16 Block 52 Aircraft, equipment, training, and logistics support. Kashmiri to observe black day in protest against the killing of its activist 15 February, 2016 Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Types of Casino Payment Methods Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love Are Slot Developers Important for players? Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry Woke Bingo MUZAFFARABAD: Relations between the ruling PPP and the opposition PML-N in Azad Kashmir, which have been at daggers drawn since Saturdays clash in Kotli, took a turn for the worse on Sunday when the former announced that it would observe a black day on Monday in protest against the killing of its activist and the latter called for a judicial inquiry to unearth the facts. In Islamabad, the PML-N called for resignation of the AJK prime minister, according to APP. Chaudhry Munshi, 65, was killed when activists of PML-N and PPP clashed in Nakial area and police used teargas to disperse them. Peoples Party to observe black day today in protest against the killing of its activist in Kotli; PML-N calls for judicial probe The PPP claimed that the deceased was its worker and its leaders at his funeral vowed to bring the killers to justice. We will observe a black day on Monday against the unreasonable meddling by federal ministers, their provocative speeches aimed at inciting PML-N workers to create unrest and the murder of a PPP activist, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed said at a press conference. In a scathing attack on the federal government, he said he had urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to rein in his ministers, but to no avail. Instead of conquering Azad Kashmir, the federal ministers should conquer Srinagar and (Narendra) Modi. He said he would soon write to Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif and heads of (other) institutions in Pakistan to take notice of the language being used by federal ministers in AJK. He accused the PML-N of vitiating the peaceful atmosphere. We will not allow anyone to practise the politics of baton and bullet in our territory. The AJK premier said his policy of reconciliation was misconstrued as weakness, but such tactics could not pressurise him to give in. On Saturday, the AJK chief secretary ordered the divisional commissioner to submit in 24 hours an inquiry report on the incident. Without naming him, Mr Majeed said since he was the chief executive no bureaucrat could order an inquiry without his approval. Information Minister Sardar Abid Hussain Abid and several other ministers also issued almost identical statements accusing the PML-N of resorting to strong-arm tactics to steal victory in the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, Azad Kashmir PML-Ns president Raja Farooq Haider rejected the allegations and said the PPP was trying to exploit the tragedy for gaining political mileage. I offer my condolences to the bereaved family. The deceased was related to a PML-N leader but PPP leaders want to do politics on his dead body, which is shameful and disgusting, he said at a press conference. Mr Haider, who is Leader of the Opposition in the AJK Assembly, called for a judicial inquiry to unearth the facts. He said that while the cause of death was yet to be determined, PPP leaders were using cooked up stories to influence the investigation and trigger a tribal feud. They also misled their central leadership, he added. Its the PPP which is creating law and order problems under a well thought-out plan because they know that they are now a rejected lot, Mr Haider said. Meanwhile, MNA Faryal Talpur, who calls the shots in AJK, has summoned a meeting of PPPs parliamentary party on Tuesday to discuss the situation. APP adds: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs adviser Dr Asif Kirmani asked the AJK premier to step down because of his failure to protect life and property of the people. The AJK government has completely failed to deliver while corruption is rampant in all state departments and, therefore, Chaudhry Abdul Majeed should quit his office immediately, he said while addressing a press conference along with PML-Ns AJK Secretary General Shah Gulam Qadir and other party office-bearers in Islamabad. Dr Kirmani alleged that the AJK prime minister was in Nakial and giving directives to activists of his party during the clash. The incident, he said, demonstrated the ulterior motive of Chaudhry Majeed who had distorted facts and conveyed wrong information to leaders of his party. PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto should better depute some sane person to get correct information about the incident, he added. Dr Kirmani alleged that the participants of the PPP youth rally, while passing through Nikaal Bazaar, had chanted indecent and vulgar slogans against the PML-N leadership and then started attacking shops and business outlets owned by people belonging to the PML-N. The activists of his party, he said, reacted in self-defence and the clash broke out resulting in the loss of a precious life which was highly regrettable and condemnable. The adviser accused the AJK police of encouraging the attackers, launching a crackdown on PML-N workers, raiding their houses and harassing their women and children. He regretted that instead of registering a case on the complaint of PML-N workers who had either been injured or whose shops and property had been damaged, an FIR was lodged against them. The son of PML-N leader Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan was also nominated in the FIR, although he was not at the place, he added. Dr Kirmani said the AJK prime minister was even refusing to accept the findings of a commission constituted to investigate the Kotli incident. Chaudhry Majeed should wait for the commissions report which would unveil facts about the incident, he added. ISRAEL - LIGHT TO THE NATIONS It's not exactly what you think. (87.7 FM) MENTA (88 FM) 88.6 (88.6 FM) HIT (88.9 FM) MUSIC (89.2 FM) (89.5 FM) (89.8 FM) (90.1 FM) 1 (90.4 FM) FM (90.6 FM) (90.9 FM) (91.2 FM) (91.6 FM) GALAXY (92 FM) (92.3 FM) KISS (92.9 FM) ORANGE (93.2 FM) (94 FM) NOVA FM (94.6 FM) (94.9 FM) ATHENS DEEJAY (95.2 FM) FLASH (96 FM) RED (96.3 FM) PEPPER (96.6 FM) ROCK FM (96.9 FM) EASY (97.2 FM) LOVE (97.5 FM) REAL FM (97.8 FM) A 9.84 (98.3 FM) DERTI (98.6 FM) ALPHA (98.9 FM) (99.2 FM) (99.5 FM) (100.3 FM) (101.3 FM) SFERA (102.2 FM) NITRO (102.5 FM) Sport24 (103.3 FM) (104 FM) HOT FM (104.6 FM) ATLANTIS (105.2 FM) (105.5 FM) MAD (106.2 FM) KOSMOS 107 (107 FM) (87.6 FM) 88 (88.5 FM) RAINBOW (89 FM) ARENA (89.4 FM) IMAGINE (89.7 FM) ZOO (90.8 FM) V FM (91.1 FM) (91.4 FM) RSO (91.7 FM) (92.4 FM) (93.4 FM) (94.2 FM) (94.5 FM) (94.8 FM) (95.1 FM) METROPOLIS (95.5 FM) NEXT (96.1 FM) FM 100 (100 FM) VELVET (96.8 FM) REPUBLIC (100.3 FM) NORTH (98 FM) (98.4 FM) 1 (99 FM) FLASH (99.4 FM) (99.8 FM) FM 100,6 (100.6 FM) (101.7 FM) (102.3 FM) PLUS (102.6 FM) SPORT (103 FM) STUDIO 3 (103.5 FM) ROCK RADIO (104.7 FM) (104.9 FM) 1055 ROCK (105.5 FM) (105.8 FM) CITY (106.1 FM) REAL FM (107.1 FM) LIBERO (107.4 FM) SUNSHINE (107.7 FM) 269 FM 69 Radio 80s AK Radio AMEA Greek Active Radio Akous Radio Alchemy All Music Andromeda AntiCrisis Arion Arion 2 Arion Kids Arion Radio Arion Arty Athens Party Athens Party R'n'B Athens Party+ Athina Radio A FM B-Side Bangee Bet Radio Beton7 Art Radio Biscuit Radio Ble Blue Radio Botox Radio Breeze Cafe Cannibal Radio Classical Radio Cool Radio Crash Radio D Radio D.I.T. Radio DM Radio DeeJay Radio Delicious Radio Discomania Domotel Deluxe Driver FM Drivetime Dromos Radio Dynamic Web Radio Echoes Edgar s Stage Elixir Radio Energy FM Epigee Radio Ernest Radio Eurovision.fm Evolution Radio Eyeonyou Radio Flippin Radio Freedomway Radio Fun Radio G13 Radio GR4U Gazi Ghost Radio GingeRadio Hellenic Radio Perth IEK Radio In Athens Radio In Love Indieground Radio Intersonik Jam Radio Jazz In Jazz Radio Join Radio Kiss Dance Radio LXR Radio Lemon Radio Like Radio Limit Radio Loco Radio Maga Radio Musices My Classic Palko VPradio Velvet. Radio FM Radio Radio 01 Radio From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... From Kinderdijk to Kampen. Photos with pinhole camera 47 photos taken with pinhole camera of the changing landscapes if you follow the rivers Lek, Rhine and IJssel from Kinderdijk to Kampen in the Netherlands. Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks organization are being treated as a threat instead of what they are: a journalist and a media organization that are exercising their fundamental right to receive and impart information in its original form, free from omission and censorship, free from partisan interests, free from economic or political pressure. This blog has my view on matters of Politics and related matters. While most people around the world consume news and information from their TV, radios, computers and tablets, in one Afghan province a centuries old tradition is still being practiced. Meet the town crier of Bamyan, a man who delivers the news and ads to your door, personally Ghayor Waziri has this report. For decades town criers were responsible for delivering news and information. But in the digital age, the tradition has almost died out. These days there are not many people like Juma Khan left. Khan has been personally delivering the news to the residents of Bamyan province since 1986. I was a farmer when I was young and living in Kabul. Sometimes I did some laboring, but then in 1986 I came to Bamyan province. The city was very old and the person who was working as the newsman in the province had just passed away, explains Khan, As I was a bit educated and could read and write, I started working as the next newsman. In the 1940s and 50s, Jaar-chi, the equivalent to the town criers of medieval Europe, were well known in Afghanistan... But these days few remain. Juma Khan says he never thought about being a famous town crier, but he soon become very well known in Bamyan, with his clear and loud voice. When I started my job as a newsman in Bamyan, the town crier was the only way to inform people about events. After announcing some news and ads like sport events, executions and so on. I got famous, he says, In that time we didnt use so much paper so I had to memorize everything. Now it is easier to bring everyone the news, and ads. It is written on paper and I then read the announcements to the public. Bamyan is a mountainous province in central Afghanistan. Despite the growth of media in the country, Bamyan, because it is so remote, is rarely covered. Only one radio and national television broadcasts from Bamyan, but its coverage is limited. It means most people in the city, like shopkeeper Zahra Laali, get their news and public announcements from Juma Khan, who is also called Landani. It is more than 10 years ago that I came to Bamyan province and opened my shop here, mostly I get information about events, news and commercials via Landani, she says, I think he is doing a very important job, as radio and TV broadcasting is just for a few hours here and most people dont have access to them. Because of his job as a source of local news, people call Juma Khan, Landani, which in Persian means the Londoner. The name is a joking reference to his rivalry with BBC radio. When Landani walks through the city, most people come out to hear the latest news. When I announce something everyone pays attention to my voice, what is being said by me, he says, They want to know what is going to happen in the province. As you followed me for few minutes in the city, you saw how many people were pay attention to me and they called on me to tell them what is new. Juma Khan receives between 6 and 10 items of news and ads each day, mostly from the public and the local government. Kazim, who works for the media department of Bamyan municipality, also takes his announcements to Khan to deliver. It is the most efficient way to deliver the news, he says. Our announcement today is about a big campaign for city cleaning that we are going to start. We are also asking people to keep the city clean. That is why I took the announcement to Landani to inform people and ask them to help us, he says, I paid him when I gave him the letter, as he is famous in town everyone pays attention to him. Juma Khan enjoys his job and says he will continue for as long as he can. For every announcement I receive US$3-4, says Khan, I am happy with my job, but recently I became weak, sometimes I feel pain in my legs and waist but I will do my job up to end of my life... Bamyan has among the lowest rates of education in Afghanistan. And no one is Khans family is literate enough to take over. But for now, Landani is still going strong, and is the most trusted source of news in Bamyan. A womans movement challenging a centuries-old practice of denying women entry into the most sacred areas of worship in Hindu temples and Muslim shrines is generating a heated debate across India. It is evoking calls from women from across the religious spectrum, uniting those who believe the practice is a violation of fundamental rights and religious freedom. Bismillah Geelani has the story. At New Delhis Hazrat Nizamuddin shrine, a group of musicians is performing a Qawwali, or a Sufi devotional song. Hundreds of men and women including many foreigners are seated in a circle around the musicians listening attentively to the Urdu and Persian lyrics. The song is in praise of the 14the century Sufi saint Nizamuddin Aulia who lies buried in the shrine. Hazrat Nizamuddin is one of the worlds most famous Sufi shrines and equally popular among Muslims and non-Muslims. Deputy administrator of the shrine, Afzal Nizami, says its doors are open for all. The Sufis came with the message of peace, love and brotherhood and these are concepts that humanity will always need in order to survive. The Sufis spread their message from shrines like these and it was for everyone so anyone, whether believer or atheist has always been welcome here, he says. While anyone can visit the shrine, the entry to the most sacred space-the grave of the saint, is restricted to men. Women are traditionally kept away from it. Nizami explains the reason. Every system has its own way of functioning and this is the way it works here and it has been like this for centuries. The reason basically is Islam does not allow intermingling of men and women, he adds. Similar practices of restricting womens access to the places of worship are followed at various other shrines, mosques and Hindu temples. But strong voices of protest challenging the archaic notions have begun to emerge. The debate gained momentum after an announcement at the Sabrimala Temple in the southern state of Kerala. The temple wanted to install a machine at the temple gate to scan women devotees... As a centuries-old tradition only women who have reached menopause or havent yet hit puberty, are allowed inside the temple. Bhakti Pasricha is a lawyer. She has filed a lawsuit against the temple authorities accusing them of discrimination against women. The temple authorities then washed the entire temple to purify it and created such a hue and cry about the whole thing, she says, It was so humiliating. We thought that on the one hand we are being taught about the right to equality and when someone being an equal devotee and follower of the same religion tries to practice it this is how she is being treated. The announcement by temple authorities last year sparked an online womens campaign called, Happy to Bleed. Activists like Nikita Arora used sanitary napkins as placards with slogans against gender inequality. Bodily functions should not be offensive; men should not be in a position where they judge women for going through something that is so natural, argues Arora, Its about time that we stop letting men make decisions for women based on their bodies, it is not fair. The campaign spread across the country and soon took the form of street protests with women storming temples and shrines demanding their right to worship freely. Fifty-year-old Asha Devi joined one such protest earlier this month in the Western state of Maharshtra. This is injustice. Why cant women go where men can? How are we different? We are also created by the same God. He created us as equals then why are these men discriminating against us, says Devi, Why do they deprive us of our rights? This cant go on like this anymore. The womens agitation has brought out deep divisions in the Indian society and a debate is raging between traditionalists and the modernists across the country. Hindu religious leader Acharya Ajay Sharma insists that tradition is supreme and must be adhered to. What we do following our whims and wishes is arbitrary but what we do following scriptures and tradition is wisdom. Men and women are not equal. They are different and their rights are defined, he says, Women enjoy special rights and special protections. But they cant always have it both ways. Several womens groups have approached courts urging legal remedies to end the discriminatory practices. But some warn that confrontation could create further divisions. Madhu Kishwar, editor of the monthly Womens magazine Manushi believes that consultation and cooperation is the way to bring about a real change. These traditions will have to go but the change cannot be forced from outside, it has to come from within, she says, There should be a dialogue between the devotees and consensus to change something... If we force our way through law, police or any other means we will only make the change even more difficult. One group of visually impaired students demonstrate their new skills during Festival Mitra Netra in Jakarta. (Photo: Kate Lancaster) Yayasan Mitra Netra, a foundation that aims to improve quality of life for the blind, recently held its second annual festival in Jakarta. The festival provides an opportunity for young blind and visually impaired students to showcase their new skills and boost their confidence. From the Indonesian capital, Kate Lancaster attended the event see their talents on show. From the wings at the blind festival in South Jakarta, one group of students is excitedly waiting their turn. Each student is holding the shoulder of the student in front of them before they walk onto the stage in formation. Once on stage this group of teenagers is telling the story of the Princess and the Pea. Its a symbolic tale about the power of feeling, rather than sight. There are around 70 visually impaired students, from young children to teenagers, here to demonstrate their new skills everything from their English language skills to storytelling, music and mathematics. The festival first started last year when the NGO, Yayasan Mitra Netra, decided to give the students an opportunity to demonstrate their talents. BambangBasuki, 66, the chairman of Yayasan Mitra Netra, is also blind. So he knows how challenging it can be. Bambang says he first experienced discrimination when he applied to teach at a school and was rejected because of his blindness. He describes how it felt. I felt that there was hope to become a teacher and I had the spirit. I had the goal, I had the hope but it was diminished by discrimination, he says. It was the lack of help from schools that inspired Bambang to start Yayasan Mitra Netra. The institutions will tell us that, yes, it is your right, but we cannot accommodate your special needsThats when I realised that there should be an organisation, he explains. Bambang says that the festival helps to boost the students confidence, and of course there are some prizes for the best performances. Here in Indonesia, facilities for the visually impaired are limited, especially in schools. To accommodate the needs for the visually impaired is still our burden, he says, Especially as more and more visually impaired go to schools, so more and more students need to be accommodated. That is the challenge. To fill in the gaps, Mitra Netra has partnered with schools and parents of the visually impaired for more than 25 years. The children are able to learn academic and non-academic subjects at Mitra Netra to complement what they learn in school. The students are taught how to read Braille, play music, and speak German and English. Desvita is a ten-year-old student who attends the classes. She has been learning English through the foundation for six months and is excited to show what shes learned. My name is Desvita I am ten I like playing the piano [and] singing songs, she says. Yayasan Mitra Netra also provides education and support to the families of the visually impaired. They believe that helping the parents to better understand the needs of blind children is a great investment in their future. Darujah has a 14-year-old son, who has been a student at MitraNetra for 7 years. In addition to the new skills, she says that Mitra Netra has helped to calm her sons mood swings and his behavior has improved. Speaking at the Indonesian Visually Impaired Association anniversary recently, the government promised to ensure the visually impaired receive the same opportunities for education as all students. Plans for more facilities are in the works, but for now in Jakarta, its all about Mitra Netra. Medical marijuana is legal in New York, but veterans doctors are still forbidden from recommending it. Its a painful irony for those like retired Cpl. Matthew Welch, whose wartime injuries 11 years ago left him with severe nerve damage and phantom pains in his left leg. To me, were the people who fought for freedom. We should not be restricted the way it seems like were being restricted, said Welch, who lives in Corinth with his wife and three children. It seems a lot harder for a veteran to get medical marijuana than a civilian, he said. Welch, 34, an Army National Guard soldier, was wounded in 2004 while serving in Iraq. As he was driving a Humvee in the city of Samarra, a roadside bomb exploded. The vehicle took most of the blast, but shrapnel left a Nerf ball-sized wound in his left knee and severed a nerve. Some of it also landed in his right knee and remains there today. Eventually, Welch was flown back to the U.S. He spent a month in recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He said after the original injury, he ended up with compartment syndrome when pressure swelled up in his lower leg and physicians had to cut it open. A skin graft from his thigh covered the wounds in his lower leg and he lost the muscles that move his toes. The nerve damage left him with little feeling from mid-shin up to above the knee and no feeling from the mid-shin down to the toes, except for strange pains. I can suffer the same pains as an amputee (phantom pains) as if they were feeling a foot like its still there. Because of the nerve damage, I have the same issue, Welch said. He said some days the pain hits three to five times. Others days, not at all. Theres always a nagging tingling and sometimes it feels like a nail being driven into his big toe, he said. I just have to grit through it every time it happens until it goes away, he said. He was prescribed Gabapentin, an anti-epileptic drug for neuropathy. But then he noticed mood changes and was feeling symptoms of depression. He was then prescribed an antidepressant, Lexapro, but that wasnt effective without another antidepressant that was supposed to improve its effectiveness. After all that, I ended up with severe diarrhea, he said. He would take three anti-diarrhea pills a day along with his three medications, and then at one point was prescribed Ambien because he couldnt sleep. He felt fatigued, like he was drifting through life, and decided the pain was better than the fallout from the medications. It went on for years as doctors tried to find the right medications. I just got to the point where I was like, You know what? Im sick of this. Im done. And I just stopped it. It sucks because my phantom pains will literally stop me in my tracks. It feels like someone is driving a nail into my big toe, he said. He doesnt know if medical marijuana is the answer, but he would at least like the freedom to discuss it with a doctor. I havent had a civilian doctor in roughly 16 years, which is another issue I have with the law (in New York). You have to go the doctor, and if your doctor isnt part of the program, he or she can find you a doctor to get it, but if you have back pain and want Percocets (a combination of acetaminophen and oxycodone), you can go to any doctor. But I cant go online to find medical marijuana doctors. If youre going to treat it like a medicine, you should treat it like any other medicine, Welch said. Not only would those doctor visits not be covered by the VA benefits, he also, like everyone else, would have to pay out of pocket for medical marijuana because insurance companies arent covering something that is still federally illegal. State laws So far, 23 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical marijuana. Another 17 states allow the use of CBD, one of the active compounds in marijuana. In New York, since the January roll-out of the program, 378 physicians have registered for the program and 805 patients have been certified by their doctors, according to the state Department of Health. Patients cannot search the list of doctors. Only medical professionals have access to it, so if a patients doctor does not recommend medical marijuana, patients can ask their doctor to check the list. There are only 10 medical conditions, accompanied by complicating conditions such as chronic pain, in New York that qualify patients for medical marijuana. In New York, medical marijuana is only available as pills, through an oil dropper called a tincture or in a vape pen. Smokeable marijuana is not permitted. The Veterans Affairs directive that prohibits VA doctors from discussing medical marijuana expired Jan. 31 of this year. As of Thursday, the VA had not issued a new directive, but that announcement could come any day, said Marc Brumer, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Gillibrand is leading a bipartisan coalition of 22 senators and representatives urging the VA to change its current policy and allow veterans the option of medical marijuana as a treatment in states where it is legal. Gillibrand has led a bi-partisan effort to give veterans access to medical marijuana. Brumer said there are two ways it could change an act of Congress or the VA changing the directive themselves. The VA directive prohibiting providers from completing forms seeking recommendations or options regarding a veterans participation in a legal medical marijuana program was issued in 2011, at a time when the legal landscape of marijuana was very different. In addition to the 23 states and the District of Columbia, late last year the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved an amendment to the 2016 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill that would have allowed VA physicians to discuss medical marijuana treatment and prohibited the VA from taking action to deny a veterans ability to participate in a legal state program. The Veterans Equal Access Act was also introduced in the House of Representatives. Invisible illness Welch said some of the worries he has, even if he were to find a civilian doctor to prescribe it, involve the loss of his benefits. He is not alone. There are several national groups fighting for this, including Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access and the Veterans Cannabis Collective. Despite that, he was nervous about his name being public, scared of people branding him with a stigma for wanting to try it. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Mark DiPasquale, co-founder of Veterans Cannabis Collective, said in a news release issued by Gillibrand that a veteran commits suicide about every 65 minutes because the veteran is suffering from an invisible illness that few people see. His quote seemed to echo Welchs experience. On top of that, we are being over-medicated with drugs filled with chemicals to treat one symptom and cause countless others. The controlled substances act of 1970 has cannabis categorized as a schedule one drug, while all the drugs they prescribe are killing thousands of us while cannabis kills none. We need the cares act of 2016 passed now to stop the death toll, DiPasquale said. Gillibrand and 21 other senators and representatives sent a letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald urging a change in the directive, which the VA could do independent of the congressional action. Our veterans shouldnt be discriminated against simply because they want to see a doctor at the VA and utilize the benefits they have earned. Ill continue pushing the VA to fix this problem and ensure that our veterans are able to access all treatment options that are legally available in their state, Gillibrand said in a news release issued Jan. 31. Gillibrand is the lead sponsor of the bipartisan Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act that would reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, recognizing its accepted medical use. It would also allow states to import CBD, or cannabidoil, recognized as a treatment for epilepsy and seizure disorders, and permit financial services and banking for marijuana dispensaries so theyre not cash-only businesses as they are now. CAMBRIDGE Following the news about chemical contamination of drinking water in nearby Hoosick Falls, Cambridge Mayor Carman Bogle kept getting telephone calls and emails from residents who wanted to be sure their water was safe. With everything going on in Hoosick Falls, residents asked if our water was safe, and I said, Lets just do it and be done with it, Bogle said Monday about conducting a test. You might as well just do it and know its OK. I am always about doing what the residents want. The federal Environmental Protection Agency told Hoosick Falls residents to stop drinking municipal water in December, more than a year after contamination of the system serving 4,500 people was revealed by a private citizen and confirmed by local officials. The chemical, PFOA, or perfluorooctonaoic acid, was used for decades in nonstick and stain-resistant coatings and hundreds of other products. American Water, which provides water service in Cambridge, offered to do the test itself, but Bogle said she heard from a number of residents who said they would prefer it be done by an independent laboratory. So I called American Water back and they said they would have to pay to have the test done anyway, so they would pay for an outside lab to do it, said Bogle, who noted she is searching for a lab and is unsure whether she will have the village use the same one as Hoosick Falls did, or use one in Florida. Bogle said once the test is complete the results will be mailed directly to the village. She is unsure when the results will be back, but she also noted that American Water will release its annual Department of Health review in April. I want to thank the residents for their patience during this process, Bogle said. We are committed to providing peace of mind to the residents in regards to our water quality. Bogle said she is pleased with American Waters cooperation and with the companys recent construction of a new water tower. We had a situation where some of the hydrants outside the village didnt have enough pressure, so the water company built a new tower, Bogle said, noting the new tower doubled the water pressure. They have been very good to work with, she said of American Water. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has told New Jersey-based Honeywell International and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, part of a Paris-based global conglomerate, that they must enter into binding consent orders to finance a state Superfund cleanup launched at the Hoosick Falls site four weeks ago. Saint-Gobain also has a factory in Granville, which makes different products and does not use PFOA. Granville officials are having the villages water tested and are waiting to hear back about the results. PFOA, which manufacturers have voluntarily phased out, doesnt break down in the environment and has been linked to numerous diseases, including cancer. The EPA has set a nonenforceable short-term exposure limit of 400 parts per trillion for PFOA in drinking water, but water suppliers arent routinely required to test for it. Groundwater under the Saint-Gobain plant near the towns municipal wells tested at 18,000 parts per trillion, the company reported last year. Municipal and private wells have tested at levels above 400 parts per trillion. No other local towns or villages have discovered PFOA contamination. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. GREENWICH Holster, a 6-year-old Australian shepherd from High Goal Farm in Greenwich, is becoming quite the commuter to and from New York City. Were on our way back to the city for the awards ceremony at Madison Square Garden, said Wendy Cerilli, Holsters trainer, in a telephone interview Monday afternoon. On Saturday, Cerilli guided Holster to the Westminster Kennel Club masters agility title, the top agility award in the competition. He was on that night, and I was on that night, said Cerilli, who had three other dogs in the competition. Were still in shock. It was the first time at Westminster for Cerilli, who owns High Goal along with her husband, David. She said there were a number of local competitors at the event. New York City is really not that far when you consider we travel to California, Texas and Wisconsin, said Cerilli, whose family owned Holsters sire and grandsire. The Cerillis own 10 dogs and will host a show at their training center this weekend. Hes a very loyal and hardworking dog, Cerilli said of Holster. He really listens well and tries to do the right thing. Busy day for locals At least two other local dogs placed in competitions at Westminster. Leda, a border collie owned by Tara Baggerman of Gansevoort, was second in the 20-inch jump competition. Baggerman runs Follow the Leda, a dog-training school. One of her students, Salem Central School Principal Jared Davis, brought his boxer/foxhound mix, Kisses, to the competition, and the dog finished sixth in the 24-inch jump competition. Davis and his wife, Joanna, who own four dogs, adopted Kisses from the SPCA of Upstate New York. We spent a lot of time working with her confidence, said Davis, who made his first trip to the Westminster show. She was really afraid of everything. HUDSON FALLS Mike Powers remembers attending the Hudson Falls Teen Canteen back in the 1960s. It was in the basement across from the post office, and wed go down there after school and they would spin records and we would sit around and talk, Powers said. But my mom worked at GE, so at 4:30 I would have to book it up the stairs and get across the street so she could pick me up. Powers was among a number of residents who attended a Valentines Celebration fundraiser at the American Legion put on by members of Amorak Youths board of directors and, perhaps more importantly, by the teens in Amoraks new teen program. This has been a walk down memory lane, Powers said. Whats great is that the kids are in the kitchen and theyre out here serving the food, said Jane Havens, a Kingsbury resident and supporter of Amoraks programs. Her husband, Tim, said he is very impressed with Amoraks programs. These people are the best, he said. I dont know any of them, but I can see all the good they are doing. Stacey Fusco, Amoraks treasurer and a local resident, said she is buoyed by the support the program has been receiving. Its been great. We got donations for this event from all over the area, not just Hudson Falls, she said, waving her hands toward the ticket raffle, the silent auction and the items for the live auction. Weve had a really great response from the school. Her son, Nick, is part of the Amorak program, which is already offering close to a dozen activities and has more planned. Its really a great thing for us, Nick Fusco said. It definitely offers a lot more for people who didnt have it before. Hudson Falls teens will be able to shadow students at SUNY Adirondack on Wednesday and will also attend a Fun Day there later in the month. The teen group has already visited Fort Hudson Nursing Center and wrapped gifts for local children. They will be painting a mural on the second floor of the American Legion and will also attend CPR and first-aid classes. In addition, 18 Hudson falls students are taking music classes through Hudson River Music Hall, including guitar and piano classes from professional musician Jonathan Newell, who is also a college music professor. The turnout is great, Newell said. Its a great faculty, and the school music department has been working closely with us. Weve got Bob Bates, who is a Julliard (conservatory) graduate teaching fiddle, and Stu Kuby, who was the artistic director for Coca-Cola commercials that included Paula Abdul and Elton John, teaching songwriting. The Amorak people are good folks and thats why we really enjoy working with them, Newell said. Its a great opportunity for the kids. Tim Havens said he remembers his parents dropping his older brother and sister off at the old Teen Canteen. It was great for them to have a place to go to and it helped them tremendously, he said, going on to praise the new program as well. Think about this: Some of the kids you had wrapping presents for the little kids had never wrapped presents before. They are learning important things like that. Beyond the classes already being offered, Amorak is also hoping to have the local teens set up a wildlife sanctuary, learn financial skills and read with children as part of the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program. The much-maligned polar vortex paid a quick visit to the region over the weekend, dropping temperatures well below zero and reminding everyone of its extended stay last winter. Just as quick as it got here, its going to zip back out, but it did bring us a small piece of winter, said Jeremy Davis, a meteorologist at Weather Routing Inc. in Glens Falls. It was a slice of the Arctic that just swung down here, but its going to be gone quickly. The temperature at Warren County airport in Queensbury hit zero at 5 p.m. Saturday, then dropped to -13 by 7 a.m. Sunday and was still no higher than -3 at noon. The overnight low was not a record. That mark was set 13 years ago at -24. The daytime high temperature Sunday tied the low-maximum record at 4 degrees, matching the reading in 1979 and 1987. For the record and for a little jealousy the all-time high temperature for Valentines Day is 53 degrees, set in 1946. Winds calmed as Sunday progressed, and the forecast for overnight called for them to be light and variable. The low was expected to hit -13 again, and Mondays forecast from the National Weather Service is for a high near 23 and a chance of snow, mainly after 2 p.m. The winds will pick back up, and the wind chill could be as low as -18. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for 1 p.m. Monday to 1 p.m. Tuesday. Snow is expected into the evening, with possible accumulations of between 2 and 6 inches before turning to sleet at about 3 a.m. Tuesday, then to rain. The low is expected to be about 19 degrees. We could get a couple inches, but it wont last long, Davis said. Tuesday morning will start with freezing rain, then rain as the high surges to 42 degrees, a turnaround of nearly 60 degrees from Monday mornings low. The low early Wednesday morning is expected to be about 25. Wednesday is expected to bring more precipitation, ranging from snow to rain with a high near 38 and an overnight low near 15. The weather is expected to turn colder at the end of the week, but not as cold as the weekend was. Thursdays forecast calls for mostly sunny and a high near 27, with a low of 6 degrees. Friday will be partly sunny with a high near 34 and a possibility of snow, and Friday nights low should be 28. Saturday, rain is expected with temperatures in the high 30s. Real Winter Carnival The show went on for the second weekend of the Lake George Winter Carnival, but the frigid temperatures did result in some changes and come cancellations. The barbecue cookoff took place inside at Shepards Cove, and the toasting of the marshmallows was held at Duffys Deli. Make Your Own Sundaes took place at the Magic Castle on Sunday. The dogsled rides, ATV wagon rides, wish lantern fly off, polar plunge and duck races were all called off. The ATV poker run was held Saturday, and the human foosball tournament went on as well. The pink limousine rides, to benefit cancer research, were also held Sunday. On the mountains The cold weather allowed Willard Mountain in Easton to continue to make snow, and officials said Sunday they expected the best conditions of the year. The cold postponed Sundays lessons and closed the tubing park. The parking lot at West Mountain was crowded at noon, partly for the days U.S. Ski and Snowboard racing event. Officials reported 13 trails and four lifts open with a base of 12 to 24 inches. Spencer Montgomery, Wests co-owner and general manager, said his crews used the cold temperatures to wrap up their snow-making for the year. If we got bare patches, we may make some snow, but this is the end of making it for the whole mountain, he said. This is an important week for the mountain, Montgomery said, since school break started Friday. Weve got nine days of school break, and we need to have at least five good days to call it a victory, he said. I think we will get that many. Monday will be good, Tuesday wont, but then Wednesday and beyond should be good. Montgomery said the junior ski races brought about 150 competitors out Sunday, but the cold forecast held the general numbers down a little. Personally, I think between zero and 10 degrees and sunny is better than 30 degrees and overcast, he said. At Gore Mountain in North Creek, 45 of 103 trails were open, as were 12 of 15 lifts. The temperature at the summit at 2 p.m. was -11. Colder elsewhere New York made the National Weather Services record books for at least the second time this year with Watertown turning in the coldest temperature in the continental U.S. at -37. Last year, on Feb. 16, Watertown had the coldest reading in the nation at -34. Last month, Saranac Lake had the national cold-weather record at -27. To the south, the Central Park Ice Festival in New York City was canceled due to the weekends cold temperatures. Last month, a winter festival in the city was canceled by heavy snowfall. Central Park set a record for Feb. 14 with a -1 reading. The last time it got below zero in Central Park was in January 1994. Boston reached -9, breaking the record set in 1934 by 6 degrees. Record cold hit Worcester, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Hartford, Connecticut. In Montpelier, Vermont, the overnight temperature hit -19, tying a record set in 2003. Information from the Associated Press was included in this report. The simple pleasures of beering locally. I'm older now, and simple beer pleasures are the most meaningful to me. They tend to be encountered locally. It is my aim to get unplugged and explore some of them, slowly and thoughtfully. I'd tell you where it's leading, except that I've no idea ... and that's the whole point of the journey: To find out. Tarris Rosell, PhD, DMin What Kansans Need to Consider about House Bill No. 2150 How does it seem to you? (The Kansas Death with Dignity Act)As of mid-2015, nearly 7 out of 10 Americans polled answered that question, Yes, including 48% of those who attend church weekly . The vast majority of Americans , and 81% of young adults ages 18-34, currently favor physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Are they right? Could that large a majority possibly be mistaken?Kansas legislators, like those in most states, have had opportunity to consider making PAS legal. It is already legal, with restrictions and regulations, in several other states, most notably Oregon, Montana, Vermont and Washington, and as of this year California. The addition of California now makes the question relevant to 1 in 10 of all Americans. The 1994 Oregon Death with Dignity Act served as the model in California, and also for Kansas House Bill No. 2150 , introduced last year. No hearing was held.Governor Jerry Brown, a Catholic Christian, recently signed that CA legislation after much thought. Kansas Governor Brownback, also a Catholic, seems unlikely to sign such a bill even if it were to get out of committee and garner enough support to get through both chambers of the Kansas legislature. Is this good public policy? Or are we wrong-headed in the Heartland?One of the influences credited with raising Gallup percentages especially among young people was the physician-aided death of 29-year old Brittany Maynard.Brittany was living in California when diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of terminal brain cancer. After much research and discussion, Brittany decided to move with her husband and mother to Oregon so as to qualify for that state's "death with dignity" protocol. After establishing residency and meeting with physicians, Brittany received her lethal prescription of drugs, to be used or not at the recipient's will. If taken as a means to end life, Oregon law specifies that the drugs would need to be taken by Brittany's own hand. No one could do it for her.Upon experiencing multiple seizures and cancer-related pain, Ms. Maynard decided to take a lethal dose of medications prescribed for this purpose, and thereby end her life on November 1, 2014. Close family and friends accompanied her at the time of departure. It was said to have been a peaceful death. Was it a "death with dignity?"In a dialogue group I attend monthly, involving mostly physicians and chaplains, the Brittany Maynard case was discussed after viewing a six-minute YouTube video posted by Brittany prior to her death. I have facilitated discussion of this case with groups of seminarians and medical students, also. Each time, I poll the participants on their opinion of PAS. Regardless of the group, percentages mirror those of Gallup. So should the majority rule in Kansas on this matter?A hospice physician friend suggested that Brittany Maynard might have utilized palliative care in hospice. He acknowledged that this could not guarantee a death without pain and suffering, but that hospice care places value on a dying patients dignity. Indeed, most surely do, and most hospice deaths seem relatively peaceful. This is what I, and most bioethicists I know, advocate rather than expanding access to PAS. It may well be that the American majority has been misled, and that the better way to achieve death with dignity is to promote palliative and hospice careespecially for those groups who dont have access to comprehensive care. But really, for all of us. Brittany and at least 859 other terminally ill patients in Oregon over the course of the last 15 years or so, have chosen a different route to their deaths . Even in Oregon this remains a remote event, affecting only about 3 deaths in 1,000. I dont condemn them nor their assisting physicians. Condemnation gets us nowhere good. I urge thoughtful and respectful ethics dialogue instead.I advocate for better advance care planning, earlier end-of-life conversations between patients and their physicians, and more robust discussions about goals of care in advance of health crises. Increased public funding seems necessary so as to train more palliative care and hospice physicians. More research, and research funding, is needed for rigorous evaluation of the care currently being provided to dying patients.This seems to me the better path to death with dignity, not only in the Heartland but everywhere.RESOURCES: Labels: advance care directives, bioethics, chronic pain, death with dignity, end of life care planning, medical ethics Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether Read more Google Alert - Hotels Google Alerts - Hotels Resilient business travellers buoy Action Hotels' earnings Reservation of sun beds in Khao Lak hotels - Khao Lak Forum Intercontinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) Receives Equal Weight Rating From Barclays Capital ... Help! 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Email delivery powered by Google Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States Identifying the Roots and the Resolve of the Arab-Israeli Conflict Sam Rohrer explores the roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict in this discussion with Bill Salus. Topics discussed include: When and Why It Started. Gods Response: Past and Present. Resolving the Conflict, (Psalm 83) Biden calls for a 2-State solution and Hurricane Ian bites back In this prophecy update Tom Hughes and Bill Salus look at the Hurricanes that hit Canada and Florida in possible relation to Lapid's, Biden's and Trudeau's push for a 2-State solution. Also discussed are the topics of the Obadiah fatal Palestinian Prophecies, the Destruction of Damascus and much more. The Times of Israel Top 5 Headlines Loading... Israel National News Briefs Loading... UFO Update! Bill Salus UFO Encounter! LA Marzulli shares the Bill Salus seeming encounter with UFO's The IDF in Bible Prophecies In this teaching video, Bill Salus identifies several unfulfilled Bible prophecies that involve today's Israeli Defense Forces. Newsmax - America Top 5 Headlines Loading... Israel National News Top 5 Headlines Loading... Prophecies that can occur between Now and Eternity This message was given by Bill Salus at the Harvest Christian Centre Prophecy Conference 2022 in Park Hills, Missouri on 9/9/2022. He presents a Last Days 12-Stage Timeline of Prophecies that could occur between Now and Eternity which he has written about in his 5-book series, the NOW, NEXT, LAST, FINAL and MILLENNIUM Prophecies. He focuses this presentation on the Pre-Tribulation prophecies; prophecies that could find fulfillment before the Rapture. The Wars Leading to Armageddon Join Bill Salus and Mondo Gonzales on this Prophecy Watchers TV show as they explore some of the unfulfilled biblical wars. The Road to Armageddon: The Pre-Tribulational Prophecies Trailer ...This is the official trailer for a new 4-disc DVD from Prophecy Watchers TV that features Bill Salus and Mondo Gonzales. Emergence of the Exceedingly Great Israeli Army in Bible Prophecy ...In this 5-minute video, Bill Salus and Tom Hughes explore how the Israeli Defense Forces exist in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. This video is an excerpt from the Pre-Tribulation Prophecies DVD. The Terrorization of Egypt by the Israeli Defense Forces in Isaiah 19:16-18 ...In this short 4-minute video, Bill Salus and Tom Hughes discuss the future prophecies about Egypt in Isaiah 19:1-18. Egypt's peace pact with Israel ends when Isaiah's prophecies begin. This video is an excerpt from the Pre-Tribulation Prophecies DVD. Does Psalm 83 Describe Israels War BEFORE Gog & Magog? ...On today's Watchman Newscast, host Erick Stakelbeck is joined by author Bill Salus of Prophecy Depot Ministries to break down the Bibles mysterious Psalm 83 passage and whether it describes a future war between Israel and its enemies, led by Iran and its proxies. Some say this passage was already fulfilled in 1967 or 1948. However, Salus believes these events have yet to take place and will transpire before the war of Gog and Magog. Could Psalm 83 set the stage for Gog/Magog showdown as described in the Book of Ezekiel? Future Prophecies Revealed | Tom Hughes and Bill Salus ...For the last 10 years Bible prophecy experts, Bill Salus and Pastor Tom Hughes have opened Gods Word and discovered a series of little-known future prophecies that have escaped the notice of most Christians. This TV show explores some of them. The Spiritual Survival Kit for Those Left Behind ...If the Rapture happened today, would you or someone you love, be left behind to face the travails of the Seven-Year Tribulation Period? This treacherous period is when God pours out His wrath through a series of twenty-one judgments on Christ-rejecting humanity. Its undoubtedly the worst time to be alive in the history of the planet and the signs of the times point out that this time draws frightfully near! PREPARE YOUR LOVED ONES WITH THE SPIRITUAL SURVIVAL KIT FOR THOSE LEFT BEHIND. Disaster in Iran: Iran has Double Trouble in the End Times Pastor Tom Hughes and Bill Salus explain the Jeremiah 49:34-39 prophecy of Elam. It seems ready to happen and it appears to be a nuclear disaster by the Persian Gulf. (This is an excerpt from their Pre-Tribulation Prophecies DVD). The Destruction of Damascus is a Pre-Tribulational Bible Prophecy Bill Salus and Tom Hughes explain the Isaiah 17 prophecy about the destruction of Damascus. This is an excerpt from their Pre-Tribulation Prophecies 2-Disc DVD. NEW 3-DISC DVD - EZEKIEL 38: WHEN GOD DEFENDS ISRAEL FOX News Top 5 Headlines Loading... Will Ancient Prophecies be Fulfilled in Our Lifetime? On this Prophecy Watchers show, Bill Salus and Mondo Gonzales reveal some ancient biblical prophecies that could happen in this generation. Iran's Double Trouble in the End Times In this interview with Kurt Hudspeth and co-host Dr. Larry Miller of the God Family and Radio Show, Bill gives his insight, based on years of study, into the future biblical battles that are now stage setting. These end times epic events will have a global impact and our world will be shaken. Bill sees Prophecy as a witnessing tool that authenticates the sovereignty of God, Who told us the end from the beginning and wants to inform us because He loves us. Bill hopes that as Christians learn about these things in the Word of God that they will evangelize to the lost. RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: What Are The Prophetic Implications For Israel? ... Tom Hughes and Bill Salus give a timely update on Ukraine, Russia, USA and Israel in prophecy. Newsmax - Newsfront Top 5 Headlines Loading... WND (World Net Daily) Top 5 Headlines Loading... The Coming Ezekiel 38 Invasion TV Show ...Bill Salus explains why Ezekiel 38 is the marquee event of the end times. What Happens in the Aftermath of Ezekiel 38 and 39? In this Prophecy Watchers TV show Bill Salus and Mondo Gonzales explore the important details about what happens in the aftermath of the Lord's supernatural defeat of Russia, Turkey, Iran and their hordes in Ezekiel 38 and 39. The MIDEAST WAR is COMMING! Tom Hughes and Bill Salus start with a Mideast update. Then Bill addresses Daniel 11:37, (will the Antichrist be a homosexual)? Also explored is whether or not the 144,000 Jewish evangelist are virgins as per Revelation 14:4. Several other prophetic topics are discussed. Click Banner Below to Visit our Ministry Website The Global Government in the Millennium - Christ Rules with a Rod of Iron In this short video Bill Salus teaches about the global government in the MILLENNIUM. This message explains how and why Jesus Christ rules with a rod of iron. Discover the Jewish and Gentile branches of government during this 1000 year Messianic Age. Psalm 83: Is it an unfulfilled prophecy? In this 8-minute video below, Bill Salus responds to his critics about the Psalm 83 prophetic war Subscribe to our YouTube Channel The Destruction and Restoration of Planet Earth ...This short 2 1/2 minute video is taken from the Bill Salus DVD entitled, The MILLENNIUM Prophecies and the NEW JERUSALEM. At the end of the Seven-Year Tribulation Period the present planet will be destroyed, but the good news is that Jesus Christ will restore the earth to its former glories for the MILLENNIUM. ...In this short video, Bill Salus peers into the prophetic future and shares what he foresees coming in the Middle East. The stage is clearly set for, not one, but several last days biblical wars to happen. These epic foretold events could turn 2022 into an apocalyptic year. This video excerpt was taken from the timely Prophecy Watchers TV show entitled, Prophecy Update: Israel's Nuclear Showdown with Iran. This Prophecy Watchers show can be seen below. Prophecy Update: Israel's Nuclear Showdown with Iran Join Mondo Gonzales and Bill Salus as they discuss and analyze the momentous events that are happening in Israel currently. The Nuclear talks in Vienna are going nowhere. Israel passed a $1.5 billion dollar legislative packet in October authorizing the training and preparation for a direct attack on Iran's nuclear sites. Iran's brigadier general openly acknowledges recently their desire to wipe Israel off the map. This isn't just the typical saber-rattling. There are new red lines that are being crossed and Israel is now being forced to take decisive action as Iran poses an existential threat. Watch The MILLENNIUM Prophecies and the NEW JERUSALEM trailer Buy the MILLENNIUM Prophecies and the NEW JERUSALEM book and DVD in a bundle Buy the Entire Bill Salus End Times Commentary Series The Eternal Order and The New Jerusalem On this Prophecy Watchers TV show, Bill Salus explains the highlights of the Millennium and the Eternal Order that follows. He also covers the events in the Aftermath Age, which is a time period between the Millennium and Eternal Order. Bill Salus and Tom Hughes are together again. This timely video explores several Pre-Tribulation Prophecies. This show ends with a live Q and A. The MILLENNIUM Prophecies: the 75-Day Interval ...On this Prophecy Watchers TV show Bill Salus explains what happens in the 75-Day Interval that sets up the Millennial Kingdom. The 3 Jerusalems (Bill Salus article) The Pre-Tribulation Prophecies Trailer Order the Pre-Tribulation Prophecies The Top 20 Pre-Tribulation Prophecies Bill Salus & Tom Hughes Reveal The Pre-Tribulation Prophecies WATCH THIS RECENT PROPHECY WATCHER TV SHOW... Salus and Marzulli discuss groundbreaking Bible prophecies ... This video received over 150,000 views, but was recently censored. So we have reposted it. Watch it before it gets removed again. Mideast Update: The 3 Hamas Prophecies (11:25 minute video) Did you know that the Hamas and Palestinians appear to be identified in Bible prophecy? In this Mideast Update, Bill Salus discusses the current Hamas vs. Israeli conflict and reveals the 3 prophecies that appear to allude to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza. Vintage Video: The Post-Rapture Pre-Tribulation Gap Period ...Bill Salus explains the gap of unspecified time between the Rapture and the Seven-Year Tribulation Period....We are building our YouTube channel by posting NEW and OLD videos into a library for our viewers. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE by clicking the YouTube button at the bottom right of this video. It will take you to our channel and then click on the SUBSCRIBE BUTTON. 2021 Update: Why America Will Fall From Superpower Status (Part 1) ...In this 24-minute video Bill Salus points out that America is morally and spiritually bankrupt. He identifies when the USA said "GOODBYE GOD," and how that provoked GOD to abandon America. Why America will Fall from Superpower Status (Part 2) ...In this video, Bill Salus provides a summary of the Ezekiel 38 prophecy. Bill also presents the biblical, historical, archaeological, geographical and geo-political arguments that America is a cowardly young lion of Tarshish in Ezekiel 38:13. This means that America is a sideline protestor during the end times Magog Invasion into Israel. As such, America is pictured in a less than super-power status. Bill presents the possible scenarios that could cause America to decline between now and the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38. The FINAL Prophecies Book & DVD are Now Available Watch The FINAL Prophecies TV Show Goodbye Birth Pangs Hello Tribulation Nuclear Showdown In Iran ...Buy this book and DVD at prophecydepot.com The LAST Prophecies on Prophecy Watchers TV Bill Salus has another information packed visit with Gary Stearman of Prophecy Watchers. They highlighted some key content of Bills new book, The LAST Prophecies. What is meant by the Final/Terminal Generation? What is the end times timeline? What starts the 7-year Tribulation and what is its purpose? They also discussed that there will be a final worldwide revival amidst the judgments of the Trib-Period and also pondered, what are the end time technologies that the ancient apostles and prophets tried to describe? The LAST Prophecies Book Trailer Now Available: Order a copy of The LAST Prophecies Book for $16.95 Is AMERICA in EZEKIEL 38? The Catholic Church in the Tribulation ... Bill Salus explains the future of the Catholic Church in Bible prophecy. Revealing the Mystery of End Times Babylon Dr. David Reagan and Nathan Jones interview Bill Salus on Christ in Prophecy TV. The topic that is discussed is the true identity of the GREAT CITY called Mystery, Babylon. Is it New York City, Jerusalem, Mecca, Rebuilt Babylon, Iraq, or is it Rome, the city that sits on seven-hills? Watch this TV show to hear the arguments that strongly suggest that the Harlot world religion is the Catholic Church and that the GREAT CITY that it's headquartered in is ROME! BILL SALUS EXPLAINS WHY PSALM 83 IS A NOW PROPHECY ON PROPHECY WATCHERS TV ... Many prophecy buffs believe that Ezekiel 38 is the prophecy that could happen Now, but Bill Salus explains why that is not likely. He says Psalm 83 is a Now Prophecy, but certain preconditions exist today that suggest Ezekiel 38 is a Next Prophecy. This follows a prediction by the Ghana Meteorological Service that 2016 will see the country experience a severe drought. According to the Meteorological Service the dry weather condition is as a result of the El Nino weather events that is epitomized by continues dry winds , and drought. El Nino is a naturally occurring weather episode that sees the warm waters of the central Pacific expand eastwards towards North and South America. It was originally recognised by fishermen off the coast of South America in the 1600s with the appearance of warm water in the Pacific Ocean. With the situation set to worsen this year, there are concerns about Ghana's food production and supply, as crop production is directly dependent on rainfall pattens in the year. The Deputy Minister of Agric, Dr. Alhassan Yakubu said on the Citi Breakfast Show, Our crop production is directly dependent on seasonal rainfall on an annual basis so any disruption of our national rainfall in any particular year will definitely hit our crop production. The Deputy Agric Minister conceded that the country's food production will face dire consequences if the condition persists. Climate Change There are vivid signs of the repercussions of Climate Change on Ghana's weather patterns and agriculture. For a country whose water bodies were created by torrential, continues rainfalls, Ghana's rainfall patterns are becoming increasingly dry with time. By 2020, an estimated 75250 million people in Africa would be exposed to increased water stress, a 50 per cent reduction in yields from rain-fed agriculture in some regions and agricultural production, as well as severely compromised access to food. In Ghana, crops are getting destroyed due to periods of extreme heat and heavy rains. Imani last week, released, what was at the time, the first report on an alleged fraudulent award of Interconnect License to Afriwave Ghana Limited. In that report, Imani accused the independent Applications Evaluations Panel of the National Communications Authority of several fraudulent conducts in the evaluation of Afriwave's bid, including skewing the scores to suit Afriwave. This pushed the NCA to hold a press conference to debunk the claims and clarify all misconceptions about the award of the ICH contract to Afriwave. The Authority then followed up with a press release which addressed each claim by Imani Ghana. Imani has now issued the latest alert in response to the NCA's latest report, released Monday morning, in which the NCA dared Imani Ghana's president, Franklin Cudjoe, to name the panel member who, he claims, leaked the panel report that backs his claim of fraud. In their response, IMANI Ghana, amongst other things, have accused the NCA of doctoring the new report they are allegedly brandishing as the real report. According to Imani, inconsistencies in the scanning and contrast of the printing shows that the new report was doctored from the old, which is infact the one in the possession of Imani. Here is the full alert as released and copied to Pulse Business: Since IMANI launched its public campaign for a review of the NCAs handling of the Interconnect Clearing House (ICH) matter, and resurrected our longstanding position that: 1. There should be no monopoly in the newly created license category (as is the case in Nigeria and other places where ICHs have been operating for a decade or more); rather, more than one company should be licensed to provide the service; and 2) The telecom companies should have a say in which company they engage to provide the service, since the due diligence in respect of this matter is both commercial and technical, we have been the subjects of extreme mudslinging by the Deputy Minister of Communications and assorted accessories to the fraud that is seeking to impose a discredited model on Ghana (readers are asked to check how a corrupt and disgraceful attempt to impose a monopoly ICH was defeated in the Philippines in 2001). Let us emphasise clearly, once and for all, that IMANIs interest in this matter begun as far back as early 2015, when the diabolic idea of a monopoly, mandatory, ICH was first mooted. We are not mounting this campaign on behalf of any company in particular. In fact, our belief is that until the flawed policy itself is amended no tender shall meet the public interest test. Now, let us take a look at the latest, twisted, attempt by the NCA to perpetuate the con that is now unravelling very fast in the public domain, and embarrassing the people and government of Ghana. A careful look at the NCA's newly published report shows the following: (i) Inconsistencies in the color format for scanning the same document presumably from the same scanner. Funny enough these inconsistencies correspond to the actual report narrative, and that of the evaluation score table. These two categories are different in colour / contrast. It can only be inferred that different scanners, different scanning periods, apply to these categories, as it is impossible to change the contrast for different pages of the document when scanning. (ii) Standard report writing does not suggest that captions/subheadings appear as the last line on a page whiles the narrative of that subheading goes onto another page. Indeed this principle is completely kept throughout the report we have. However, because the report was doctored, the fear of distorting information on subsequent pages makes them leave these trails. Check page 23 of 66, 20 of 66 etc of the newly doctored report of the NCA @ http://www.nca.org.gh/downloads/ICHL_Application_Evaluation_Report.pdf (readers are advised to save this on their hard drives as we expect potential further tampering) (iii) Take a look at the final detailed score sheet, which is also an exhibit/appendix 3 on page 60. If their scanned evaluation report is anything to go by, then the right side of appendix 3 should have been perforated from the binding, if it truly came from the same document. However, appendix 3 alone isn't perforated, whiles the appendix 3 inserted in the evaluation report is perforated. (Audit Trail will expose those who are not trained to think like auditors and forensic examiners). Talk less of the differences in the contrast from the scan of both documents. Some readers may have followed the ongoing discussions in the media. It turns out the Deputy Minister of Communications has three versions of the NCA report when it should now be clear that the legitimate copy of the report is what was leaked from within the tender process itself to IMANI. The new, fraudulent, report has 66 pages with the last page blank. The legitimate, properly signed and endorsed, report has 67 pages. These contraptions must derive from the Deputy Ministers unsigned and amenable soft copy which he brought with him when he appeared on the news and current affairs radio show, Newsfile on Saturday the 13th of February. He was badly exposed by the keen acumen of Mr. Kweku Baako and Mr. Matthew Prempeh, MP. This freshly doctored NCA report, which has no signature of the board chairman alongside those of the members of the evaluation panel, now joins the newly released scanned version of a strange hard copy of the report, which the Deputy Minister appears to have belatedly placed the signature of the board chairman of the NCA on a separate sheet. The signatures of the AEP on the new report of the NCA significantly vary as they were signed in narrower boxes whilst the original document had them in slightly bigger boxes with the hand written approval of the NCA Board Chairman. Now wait for the clincher! Using a forensic PDF metadata extractor and OCR algorithm, redacted and sanitised information can be retrieved from the document, and some frightening tell-tale signs appear. We analysed 30 PDF documents on the website of the NCA and developed a metadata benchmark. We saw digital signatures and other trails linking various NCA documents to apparent employees such as: FREDERICK ASUMANU JUSTICE APPIAH & ADI ASHONG in various clearly authentic NCA documents. This latest document, apart from the fact that attempts have been made to remove authorial marks, was: Produced on a Sunday, the 14th of February (i.e. yesterday) on a wholly different device using different grades of paper and bears fascinating traces to documents issued by the Ministry of Communications and none whatsoever to documents authored and released from the NCA. Clearly, this could not have been retrieved from NCA electronic archives as purported, nor was it even prepared at the NCA. We have equally suspicious evidence from the metadata that we are continuing to analyse. Suffice it to say that there is now conclusive backing for the accusation that the Deputy Minister of Communications and certain individuals at the NCA are not shy about manipulating the official record to perpetuate this con of an ICH policy, and that they are happy to even forge and tamper with documents to do so. It has also now emerged that the Ministry of Communications actually approached Cabinet for approval for the tendering process on December 10, 2015 when it had together with the NCA already awarded the licence in January 2015 and June 2015! It is also now in the public domain that the Ministry of Communications is in a fierce tussle with the Ministry of Finance over which Ministry has the mandate to undertake revenue assurance. The mandate is in law (Reference Section 14 of the Communications Service Tax Act, 2008) and the Finance Ministry through the Ghana Revenue Authority has it, not the Ministry of Communications. So, the reader should by now understand the source of the energy at the Ministry to drive through the flawed ICH policy come what may. IMANIs Policy Stance & Responses to the Ministrys & NCAs Misguided Defence of the ICH Debacle 1) TIME FRAME FOR THE EVALUATION WAS SHORT NCA: As a rebuttal to Imanis accusation that the timeline for the evaluation of the applicant was too small, NCA said the entire process began from November 2014 with extensive public consultation. IMANI: The process mentioned by the NCA was not the Evaluation process since the application deadline was 17th December, 2014 and the schedule of the Application Evaluation Panel (AEPs) work, which they claim to have stuck to, showed that the evaluation began on the 2nd January, 2015. Page 11 of the AEP report shows that the AEP was requested according to the TOR to submit the report to the NCA by 23rd January, 2015. According to the release today and the NCAs statement at the press conference, the report was presented to the NCA board on 29th although the same NCA told Ghanaians in their first release that the NCA received the report by the 23rd. At any rate, how could a committee report had been completed by the 29th of January, reviewed by management of the NCA, submitted to the Board of the Agency, carefully deliberated upon by members of the Board in advance, voted upon, and then been signed by the Chairman of the Board on 30th January! This indecent haste shows not only how willing the NCA was to throw out of the window all dictates of sound governance, but also how much pressure must have been brought to bear on them to subvert due process. 2) PRE-QUALIFICATION, REVIEW AND TECHNICAL GUIDANCE FLAWS NCA: It says that pre-qualification was actually done but it was done through a combination of two stages by the AEP as said on page 12. Also, the NCA board did its review within two days (29th and 30th of January, 2015) and Technical guidance was provided by Mr Albert Enninful Engineer and Deputy Director-General of the NCA who was chairman of the AEP. IMANI: This is another of those instances where the people in charge of our national affairs show unbelievable and embarrassing lack of familiarity with due process. The whole point of a prequalification exercise is to prevent unqualified applicants from entering the full evaluation process in the first place, and by so doing to save time for the critical substantive phases of the exercise. There is no seriousness in a proposal that combining pre-qualification and the full exercise amounts to the same time. In fact, it is incompetent thinking and practice. Furthermore, purporting to review and approve a document of such importance with over 65 pages in a day or two by nine people, all of whom would have had to spend time examining the contents ahead of time before attending the final vote, shows the quality of the administrators we are saddled with as a country. Also, the presence of Albert Enninful could not have made much difference since the manipulated scores emanated from the very Technical Sub-committee in which he was a member. 3) NO CLAIM OF REFERENCES OR TESTIMONIALS NCA: The NCA claims that there was no need for this since ICH services are a novelty and no firm which applied had the prior record of providing all the full range of services required either in Ghana or any other country. IMANI: This is weird logic. Are there no companies in the world providing ICH services? Isnt the NCA saying that the bid winner is partnering to provide the service? Couldnt there have been visits to locations where these partners are purportedly delivering such services? Doesnt Ghana have to learn from such experience? What about the component services that together make up the ICH? Couldnt the Panel have made site visits to verify that the tendering companies and their partners have successfully deployed such services in a context SIMILAR to the high-risk context of an ICH? In fact, this statement is a major indictment on the attitude that the AEP took to this incredibly important exercise. 4) MANIPULATION OF SCORES TO GIVE AFRIWAVE THE CONTRACT NCA: NCA claims that the report with IMANI is fabricated and it is a fraudulent attempt by IMANI to alter public documents for reasons best known to them. IMANI: There is sufficient proof that the document with IMANI is the true and original final report presented to the NCA Board because it not only contains all the signatures of all eight (8) members but also the signature of the Board Chairman by the 30th of January. The Board Chairman clearly stated and signed that it has been accepted and approved by the board. The evidence of the Chairmans signature is not on the so-called final report published on the NCA website. Also, the attempt of deception by the NCA of the general public is clear from their responses so far. The first statement released by the NCA clearly said that, Imani based their arguments on a draft report.Furthermore, we note that even the draft report that Imani has in its possession answers all the questions that they asked, so we are amazed that Imani fails to make reference to the said responses. But at the press conference, the NCA responded to a question by a journalist by saying that they did not know what document Imani has. Today, the NCA has released another statement signed by the same William Tevie who signed the first statement. Todays story is that Imani altered the documents? The discerning Ghanaian public can clearly judge! The report published by the NCA (without the NCA Board Chairmans signature) is also short of one (1) page (that is, it is 66 pages), when the actual report in IMANIs possession with all signatures contains 67 pages showing that the NCA has decided to change and share a different report with the public. Indeed, pages 60 to 65 show features different from the remainder of report by looking not only at the font size but also the topic of APPENDIX 3 is coloured blue which suspiciously gives away the NCA as having changed original report. More damning is our forensic examination of the PDF, which shows its recent vintage and extra-NCA origins. 5) OTHER ISSUES It is critical for the general public and the policy community in Ghana to understand very clearly what the NCA is purporting to do with the ICH policy it has concocted. Firstly, unlike anywhere in the world, this interconnect clearing house is not just an exchange point for traffic from one telco to the other. It is also going to sit on every telecom network and MONITOR every call. It will serve as a billing conciliation service and also manage data and VAS intermediation. In short, it is going to be a mini-God imposed on the telecom industry, run by a monopolist selected through dubious means by a dogged few. Firstly, this flies in the face of all common sense. If the ICH is going to be carrying traffic, then it is also a telecom carrier, with an incentive to under-declare revenue. Best Practice suggests in such a context that it cannot play both roles. Secondly, monitoring every call is not a sound way of measuring revenue because telcos reserve the right to change pricing and apply discounting at their own pace and in consonance with competition. Thus, the expensive, over-engineered, approach of mounting probes to count phone calls is misguided. There are software packages costing a few tens of thousands of dollars that can monitor billing directly using airtime activation as a leaner, more, effective option. Lastly, at no point in our history and the history of so many nations has a monopoly service provider in any part of any value chain ever delivered excellent service. A monopoly provider cannot fear sanctions of their clients if they underperform, making such a provider a dangerous limitation of critical redundancy in the network. It is for these and many other reasons that we are calling upon the President to intervene and establish a commission of enquiry to look into all these matters as the behaviour of the Deputy Minister of Communications show clearly that the Ministry is now compromised. The Commission of Enquiry should also engage an independent, world class, forensic examiner to get to the root of this fabrication and tampering spree. "I am proud to be the First African leader to visit Iran after the nuclear agreement and also the first Ghanaian leader to come here after the Islamic Revolution," Iranian State broadcaster, Press TV, quoted him as saying at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Sunday. READ MORE:President Mahama arrives in Tehran According to Mahama, Ghana is hopeful of cooperation in a variety of fields, including oil and gas, agriculture, power generation and production of cement, home appliances and engineering products. "We think Iran enjoys a good advantage in these fields and can become a suitable partner for Ghana," he said. "I also thank Iran for its agricultural services which it offers to poor and remote areas in Ghana which have led to better production and food security in these regions," he said. He was welcomed at the Mehrabad International Airport by the Iranian Minister for Agriculture, Mahmoud Hojjati. HISPAG had threatened to demand cash from NHIS subscribers when they come to various health centres due to outstanding arrears being owed them by government. But, at the just ended meeting, the NHIA assured the service providers that it would soon pay the outstanding arrears. A statement signed at the end of the meeting said that HISPAG shall continue to provide service to NHIS members while the NHIA works to settle a good part of the arrears in one month. The NHIA shall continue to work with the Ministry of Health for the approval and subsequent implementation of the 2015/2016 NHIS Tariffs and Medicines List by March 15, 2015 to ensure cost of medical care provision at NHIS credentialed facilities reflects market realities, the statement said. RELATED: NHIA to pay claims of health service providers by Jan. 15The statement also added that HISPAG shall work with its members to resolve issues of compliance with NHIS procedures and processes that affect reimbursement of claims to providers. This is because according to the NHIA service providers whose credentialing status has expired will not be reimbursed for services provided within the period of credentialing expiry. This is part of measures the NHIA is putting in place to ensure compliance with regulations and procedures established by the health Insurance Act, 2012, Act 852 which regulates the NHIS." "The NHIA and other stakeholders shall continue to make the case for an even more improved flow of funds to facilitate provision of quality healthcare at NHIS credentialed facilities, the statement said. The NHIA is currently owing services providers about 5 months arrears. Calculation on how much the Authority pays for conditions and medicines covered under the Scheme are jointly done and agreed on by the NHIA and various stakeholders including service providers, which is then approved by the Ministry of Health before implementation. Much remains unknown about Zika, but the virus has been linked to thousands of cases of birth defects in Latin America, and the World Health Organisation has declared an international public health emergency. "To those who are not in a hurry to get pregnant, maybe they can postpone and wait next year when we know more about the virus," Health Minister Janet Garin said in a radio interview on Sunday, suggesting they practice family planning methods. The scare over Zika has been heightened by warnings from the Pan American Health Organisation that in a few cases the virus could have been sexually transmitted. The Philippines, sole reported case of Zika was in 2012 and involved a teenage boy in Cebu island in central Philippines. "While we do not have any reported cases as of now here in the Philippines, we know that the threat is there," Lyndon Lee-Suy, spokesman for the health ministry, told Reuters on Monday. "Even the husbands should be aware of the risks of pregnancy." There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms. On Monday, an outspoken Roman Catholic bishop accused the health minister of using the scare over Zika to suggest people practice family planning. "It is beyond her competence to say that," Archbishop Oscar Cruz said. "Is it in her job description to say when women may get pregnant or not? Is it?" Speaking to Radio France International, the journalist said he was doing some quite elaborate investigations that would span the continent, and include a country in the West. Its interesting, it's going to be about children, it's going to be about some abuse, you'll be shocked at the details, you will see, he said. Anas said it will air on a major international network, but could not provide further details. Anas has made a career of exposing corruption and illegal activities across Africa. He was asked for his opinion on corruption in Ghana under President John Mahama, Anas said he was not interested in partisan politics, as his work transcends all political parties. He said he had found and tackled corruption during the John Kufuor administration, the John Atta Mills administration and the Mahama administration. Corruption will always be there, it's our attitude towards it which makes the difference. My kind of journalism probably shows this more because it deals with three tenets - naming, shaming and jailing - I make sure I follow through to see that that is done. He was also asked about oil production in Ghana and if that would bring more corruption. He said oil production in Ghana has attracted a lot of dubious characters into the country a problem that other oil-producing countries on the continent also face. I'm sure that, perhaps, many more bad guys would target Ghana and come this year, next year. What we have to do is make sure that whatever decisions have been taken - that we want to use our oil money for - we make sure that we police government. Anas spoke with Pulse.com.gh last month, where he said 2016 will also bring a new prosthetic look but the details are shrouded in mystery. On the international front a lot is happening, when you talk about Africa Investigates we have some shocking revelations that are going to come out in 2016 and I am very excited about them," he told Pulse.com.gh Police received a distress call about a robbery incident at Mampong, in the Ashanti region, on February 10 and on arrival police spotted two brothers on a motorcycle and fired at them, believing them to be the armed robbers. It was later discovered the two brothers, one a tutor, were seeking help for a female tutor who was believed to be under attack. The case is currently being investigated by the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS). However, Amnesty International Ghana director Lawrence Amesu said the case should be investigated by an independent body. "It is unfortunate that the police itself has to investigate the issue," he told Pulse.com.gh. Amnesty International had been advocating for an independent authority so people will have trust when they go to report there will be an investigation and the report will be given. Very often the police say they are going to investigate but we don't get the report. Amesu also said the shooting is a human right issues, and showed police needed better training on human rights and use of force. We call on the police to be very circumspect during these armed robbery situations and mob situations. We can catalogue a list of situations where people lost their lives because live ammunition is used by the police, and most of them are shot from behind which means the people are not necessary attacking the police. Amesu said it was understood the men were riding a motorbike away from the police. In my discussions with the police they always say they only shoot if it is a life threatening situation where the police are attacked, in this situation and several other situations we do not think the police are using the appropriate tools for the arrests, he said. Police were tasked with arresting suspects and bringing them to justice through the court, Amesu said. We have always drawn attention to the fact that if someone is suspected to be an armed robber does not give a licence to the police to shoot and kill, in fact anybody who is concerned to be an armed robber has to be taken through the justice system. Nobody is guilty until proven guilty. "It is unfortunate we have been having these issues coming very often and the police are the ones taking such action. Amnesty would continue to call on police management to provide more training for police, especially recuits. Amesu said there should be ongoing training on human rights and acceptable use of force. However, Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Tanko disputed this. We have the needed training to embark upon the activities that we do, but there is no perfection in any human endevour. So there are bound to be mistakes. Tanko told Pulse.com.gh the officers involved in the Mampong shooting had said the brothers on the motorcycle appeared to be turning and holding something they suspected to be weapon. The officers' version of events was to be investigated, Tanko said, and anyone with information was urged to call the police. We agree that it was an unfortunate situation - it shouldn't have happened. That is why the police administration is concerned about it, that is why they have instructed PIPS to take over the situation. Tanko could not comment on the need for an independent body to investigate the police, but said there had been calls from within the administration for it. He said anyone in the police administration suspected of misconduct would be investigated and duly punished. We have our rules of engagement - you cannot just shoot someone because that person has committed a crime, it is the duty or the direction of the court to punish offenders. Police officers only have to arrest and hand them over to the court after our investigations have been made. No one was currently in police custody over the incident, but Tanko said police were still investigating the clashes and if they get evidence on suspects, they will be rearrested and charged. The day of the disturbance we managed to get some footage so we are using that footage to identity those involved. Those we arrested unfortunately we didn't get anybody who was in the footage. Police were still searching for more people suspected to be involved in the clashes. We have declared some people as wanted because we believe they were those who were jumping in on the disturbances. As of now we have not been able to arrest them. We are still on the ground trying to locate them and arrest them to assist in the investigations. He said Tafo was now very calm. People are going about their normal business. We have military and police officers performing their duties to ensure there is no trouble. Last week a curfew was imposed on the town, from 6pm until 6am, but it has been reduced to 8pm until 4am, Tanko expected it to be reduced and then lifted, but could not say when this will happen. It depends on the situation on the ground, he said. This according to him will make the refinery much more efficient and profitable. In an exclusive interview with Pulse Business, Dr. Manteaw bemoaned the phenomenon of politicians rewarding board positions on these public institutions to political foot soldiers. " Over the years, government upon government have awarded management and board positions in institutions on the Tema Oil Refinery and other similar institutions to their political foot soldiers. These appointments are not based on experience or qualification. They are based on who campaigned for the ruling government during elections or who didn't." The Tema Oil Refinery has been reeling under massive debt over the years, and has struggled to stay operational. Though government announced in January that the refinery will begin operations again by the end of February 2016, there are skepticism about its efficiency once it starts. Dr. Manteaw believes that government needs to offload its ownership in Tema Oil Refinery on the Stock Exchange for private investors to buy. " The solution is for government to relinquish ownership in the refinery, and leave shareholders to appoint a governing board and the management of the company. They will be in a much better position to fire management if they feel they are not working well enough" On whether the privatisation will not incur public wrath like in the case of Merchant Bank and the Agricultural Development Bank, Dr. Manteau said, " No. The reason why people agitated against the sale of Merchant Bank and others was a lack of transparency. There was no transparency. But if this is done in a very transparent manner, it will rather court public support." Dr. Manteaw cited the example of the privatisation of State Insurance Company and the privatisation of the Ghana Commercial Bank. " When government floated its Ghana Commercial Bank shares on the Stock Exchange, it was completely oversubscribed. That was massive support for the privatisation of a public institution. Same for SIC. Ivestors had to be turned away because the IPO was over subscribed. This goes to show that if the process is done very well, and transparent enough, it will receive public support." Pulse Business, also asked the Co-Chair of the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), if leaving an essential institution like the Tema Oil Refinery in the hands of private investors will not cost fuel prices to skyrocket, Dr. Manteaw said the downstream petroleum sector is now a competitive market and is fair game for all players today. Addressing party supporters in Northern Region capital Tamale over the weekend, Prof Delle uged supporters to remain united for victory in the upcoming November 7 polls. The problems of the CPP come from within not without. We must brace ourselves together and dont let any traitor come and destroy that unity that we are trying to build. All evil spirits shall be buried in Tamale here, he added. The CPP faced some internal wrangling after Samia Yaaba Nkrumah accused the flagbearer, Ivor Greenstreet of vote-buying in the just ended partys presidential primary. Ivor Greenstreet, who subsequently denied the allegations, urged party supporters in Tamale to vote massively for him in the General elections. "I am pleading with you to try me also, so I can show you what I can do for this country and I promise I will never let you down," he told the Christians at the Bethel Methodist Church. On his campaign to win the confidence of the electorate during the first leg of his four-day tour of the Western Region, Nana Akufo-Addo asked churches to pray for Mr J. B. Danquah-Adu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North, who was gruesomely murdered last Tuesday, and Mr Ben Kwaw, the late acting chairman of the party in the region. "I am asking you to pray for me too. Pray to God so He grants me strength, courage, wisdom and a compassionate heart to be a good leader. In this election year, I am asking for your support for me and the NPP. I am pleading with you to try me also, so I can show you what I can do for this country and I promise you I will never let you down," he said. This follows the sudden death of the Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa North constituency Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, on February 9, 2016. The by-election will be held in accordance with Article 112 (5) of the Constitution as amended. It also stipulates that whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk to Parliament shall notify the Electoral commission in writing within seven days after the vacancy occurred, and a by-election shall be held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred. (6) Notwithstanding clause (5) of this article, a by-election shall not be held within three months before the holding of a general election. The Accra Regional Police command on Thursday, February 11, 2016, confirmed the arrest of the suspect in connection with the death of the Abuakwa North MP. A source at the Police Command told Pulse.com.gh that the suspect, Daniel Asiedu was picked up at his hideouts on Thursday. He has been handed over to the national headquarters for further interrogation. The seat which has been the strong hold of the NPP since 1996 was occupied by the flagbearer of the party, Nana Akufo-Addo who was the member of Parliament. In a telephone interview with Pulse.com.gh, Eastern regional chairman of the NPP, Alhaji Umar Bodinga is confident the NPP will retain the seat. He said the party will wait for the Electoral Commission (EC) to open nominations before it decides a date to hold primaries for the election. Asked whether the NPP will contest in the by-election considering that the general elections is nine months away, Alhaji Bodinga said "Yes..the NPP will contest if the EC gives the go ahead." "The NPP will field a strong candidate who will win and win convincingly in memory of the late JB Danquah," he said. NPP June primaries During the NPP primaries in June 2015, the late JB Danquah contested Mr Kay Amoah Jnr, a lawyer by profession. JB Danquah polled 235 votes to beat his main contender who polled 117. The National Democratic Congress were not available at the time of filing this report. There is no denying the fact that increase in utility tariffs, taxes and the availability of other basic necessities by the government would be the basis on which people will vote. Already, some Ghanaians have began complaining about what they describe as abysmal performance by the Mahama led administration which they believe has plunged the country into unbearable economic hardship and high level of corruption. Pulse.com.gh chanced upon a conversation by some commuters on their way to work. While others feel disappointed about Mahama's administration, others feel he should be given another chance. "Mahama has disappointed Ghanaians. The people around him too are lying. They tell you, oh...you will win the elections," one commuter is heard saying. What is more, oil prices are still high in Ghana even though prices of the product continue to fall on the international market. The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has subsequently explained that Ghana cannot review downwards the prices of petroleum products, due to outstanding loans it has to pay off. The development has however not gone down too well with Ghanaians, who feel that will be the bane of the current administration. "Fuel is almost free in the market now. 218 dollars to 28 dollars per barrel. Meanwhile, election period...You are making a mistake," another commuter fumed. Recently, President Mahama assured Ghanaians of a better economy with a positive impact in their pockets after he is given a second term. The president had argued that his first four years in office has been spent improving the social infrastructure of the country which had been in dire need of a face lift for some time now. However, one of the commuters is wondering why the president had failed to do so all this while. "He [Mahama] is telling the people that this year, he will put money into their pockets ...So he knows that they[ NDC government] will put money into people's pockets but you didn't do it. You think governance is about money. This guy, he is a disappointed guy oo," another commuter opined. But, in spite of the above criticisms of his administration, some Ghanaians feel he should be given another chance. With others, President Mahama has the right to contest the 2020 elections, that is, if he is to lose the upcoming polls. They base this on the efforts by the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo to capture the reins of power, despite two failed attempts to do so. The partnership between MTN and Uber will deliver to MTN subscribers free rides worth N6, 000, which is N3000 off your first two rides. Uber got a $200 million boost from investors to help its push into emerging markets, according to the economic times. The latest round comes from Luxembourg-based investment group LetterOne (L1), according to a joint statement. "Our goal is simple: reliable and affordable transportation everywhere, for everyone, at the push of a button," said Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick. The partnership will provide MTN Subscribers the opportunity to move freely around Lagos. Wherever MTN Customers may be headed to a restaurant or heading out for a meeting, Uber will move you wherever you need to go and MTN will also ensure fast & reliable access to the app, anywhere in Lagos. MTN subscribers who download and sign up for Uber with the promo code Yelloride will receive two free rides up to the value of N3000 each. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Confirmed speakers include: + Hon. Minister. Kemi Adeosun (Minister of Finance) + Zouera Youssofou (CEO, Dangote Foundation) + H.E Gov. Nasir El-Rufai (Governor, Kaduna State) + Eyitope Kola-Oyeniyan (Group Head, International Banking, FBN) + Asue Ighodalo (Founder of Banwo & Ighodalo) + Hadiza Bala Usman (Founder, Bring Bank Our Girls Movement) + Dr. Zainab Bagudu (Founder, Medicaid Cancer Foundation & First Lady, Kebbi State) + Dr. Hilda Titiloye (Founder Skin 101 clinic) + Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien (Founder, Growing Businesses Foundation) Speaking about #SheHiveAbuja, She Leads Africa co-founder Afua Osei said: We designed #SheHiveAbuja to give our community members, or #MotherlandMoguls as we call them, 360-degree support in their lives as professional women. They will be able to learn hard skills such as: However, we also have sessions that cover lifestyle issues such as our Health & Wellness session, designed to teach attendees how to stay mentally and physically healthy as they develop their careers. We even have a professional Style and Beauty Night to cover fashion and makeup in the workplace. This session will be hosted by Adama Indimi in partnership with Fashpa, Jide Of St Ola and Skin 101, Abuja Attendees of SheHiveAbuja will even enjoy discounted services from partner organizations including: , #SheHiveAbuja is part of the SheHive Tour which will take the bootcamp to 7 cities in 2016. Previous editions have been held in Lagos (September 2015 video here) and Accra (January 2016 - photos here). Former participants have described it as a life changing experience. One participant described how implementing a marketing trick she learnt at SheHiveAccra helped her close a sales lead the very next day. Tickets for SheHiveAccra are quickly selling out and so interested participants are encouraged to secure their spots as soon as possible. Tickets range from N7,500 for a day pass to N15,000 for a weekend pass to N80,000 for an all-access pass that includes access to all weekend session plus an additional 2 day of training with SLA's co-founders in a small and intimate setting. To purchase tickets, please use this link. More information about #SheHiveAbuja can be found at sheleadsafrica.org. Companies looking to partner with She Leads Africa can reach out by contacting info (at) sheleadsafrica.org. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The gay wedding was supposed to be between Ibrahim Lawal (husband) and Umar Tahir (wife), both from Kaduna State It was learnt that the police acted on intelligence report about the gay wedding and stormed the venue and made sure it was stopped since such a union is illegal in the country. The FCT Police Public Relations Officers (PPRO), ASP Anjuguri Manzah, said the command received an intelligence report and swiftly moved to the venue of the event to stop the marriage from holding. We acted based on the provisions of the Same-Sex Prohibition Act signed into law in 2013. We received an intelligence report and acted fast by moving to the venue of the event to stop it. We arrested the intending couple, Ibrahim Lawal and Umar Tahir, as well as the sponsors of the wedding and the owner of the hotel where the event was billed to hold. Manzah said the police were investigating the case and would charge the couple and other persons involved in the ceremony to court. Same Sex marriage is a crime in Nigeria after the Federal Government signed into the the Same-Sex Prohibition Act in 2013. The suspect identified as Chineyen Okoro, was arrested along with his roommate, 16-yr-old, Kalu, by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly abducting and robbing three factory workers. PUNCH Metro reports that the workers had been returning from their workplace at about 9.30pm on Tuesday when Okoro, and his gang members, with the help of guns, ambushed them in the Ntabo, Ogba Ayo area, leading them to an uncompleted building. Okoro and his gang members, who are reported to be at large, are said to have robbed the workers of their valuables. One of the victims, 24-yr-old, Ibrahim Oladeji, revealed that he had taken courage, challenging Okoro after the other two female victims had managed to escape. Speaking on the harrowing incident, Oladeji said: He (Okoro) and his gang members stopped us around Ogba Ayo while we were returning from Sango. He pointed a gun at us and we were forced into an uncompleted building. They ordered us to lie down and collected our phones and wallets. I had about N15,000 in my wallet. He gave the items to one of his gang members and told him to run away. One of the two ladies among us managed to escape. I told the other lady, Moji, to also run. I summoned courage and challenged him. I punched him in the face and he hit me with the gun. He then fled.I chased him into a corner where a man, who heard me shouting thief, thief apprehended him. The police later came to arrest him. The Area Commander in charge of Area K Police Command, Morogbo, Mr. Osung Ekpo, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) reportedly died mysteriously while swimming at an undisclosed hotel. The Guardian reports that a Police source had revealed that the incident was the worst valentine gift for the police. Mr Ekpo had reportedly been in the company of his friends, and had been celebrating St Valentines Day when he decided to swim and drowned. Eye witnesses accounts reveal that he had been rescued from the pool and rushed to an undisclosed hospital but died some time later. Lagos State Police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police revealed to The Guardian that the ACP had gone for a swimming exercise when the sad incident occurred. Speaking with correspondents, Badmos had said: Yes, we lost ACP Ekpo, the Area Commander, Area K Command. He was exercising in a swimming pool when he died. I am preparing a press release, which I would send to you soon. He further stated that having another Polio outbreak would be very shameful to the country, and that hopefully Nigeria would be declared Polio free by 2017. "With respect to funding even though we will not boast of taking care of all your needs but we will certainly do our best. Once we get approval, we will give you priority because it would be a shame to us if we have one single outbreak. I describe the Lassa outbreak as embarrassment it would become a shame if we have further outbreak of polio virus," Adewole said. "We are proud of you, we would continue to support you, you made us proud so the only thing we can do is to continue to play our role as a nation and with the support of Mr. President and international backing, we have no option than to succeed in the final eradication" ,he added. Nigeria was removed from the Polio virus endemic list in July 2015 by WHO after no new case was recorded in 15 months. Ipaye also told newsmen that pregnant woman has also contracted the disease, adding that she has been moved to the isolation centre at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu. The commissioner said The deceased was responding positively to treatment before she started developing complications on Saturday. The state government was planning to celebrate the success of her case while the family was planning a thanksgiving Service before her death. He also said the primary contacts of the victim, numbering up to 121, are being closely monitored, adding that none of them have shown any sign or symptom of Lassa Fever. Ipaye also told newsmen that the family of the dead victim has been instructed to bury him, in line with the World Health Organisation and National Protocol on management of Lassa fever. News reports recently revealed that a university lecturer, and Dean, College of Postgraduate Studies, Department of Biological Sciences, Redeemers University, Ede, Osun State, Prof. Christian Happi said Yoruba people are immune to the Lassa virus which causes Lassa fever. According to the epidemiology bulletin, , a condition that results in babies being born with abnormal small head that can result in developmental problems has been linked with Zika virus. If a pregnant has the virus, there is a 50% chance that the baby will be born with Microcephaly. According to The Nation, there is another missing $400million loot of the late dictator on the Island. The EFCC may go after a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Damian Dodo, "any moment from now" over the funds, the newspaper reports. It quoted a source at the agency, saying: We are probing the whereabouts of 22.5m (N6.18billion) loot of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha which was recovered from the Island of Jersey. The EFCC cannot locate where the money was remitted to. According to records, the late Head of State allegedly stashed the funds through a Lebanese called Bhojwani. But when the Office of the AGF was alerted by a whistleblower, the government of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan opened discussion with the Attorney-General of the Island of Jersey. The AG of the Island of Jersey cooperated fully with the government, leading to the repatriation of the 22.5m. We want to know where the money is; we need records from those involved. The source added that the EFCC would be "inviting Damian Dodo, who played a key role in securing the 22.5m (N6.18billion) loot for the Federal Government to give the details. About another $400million Abacha loot also stashed on the Island, the source said it was not clear if the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan collected the funds. He said: There is also uncertainty about $400million Abacha loot on the Island. The government of Island of Jersey pledged to repatriate the stashed funds and even initiatted a process towards that. As I speak with you, no one can account for the $400million. What we have been hearing is that the Government of Island of Jersey was demanding a proportionate part of the funds. Again, there is uncertainty whether the loot was remitted or is diverted or still on the Island. This is why the EFCC team is stepping up investigation into Abacha loot on this tiny island. Reacting to the issue, Dodo told The Nation that a UK-based lawyer, Erico Monfrini collaborated with a three-man Federal Government team namely; Dodo, ex-Attorney-General of the Federation Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) and EFCCs ex- Secretary Mr. Emmanuel Akonmaye to retrieve the N6.18billion Abacha loot. He said: The EFCC was part of the negotiation for the repatriation of the 22.5m (N6.18billion) loot; it should just go through its records instead of calling for my head over nothing. The former Secretary of EFCC represented the commission at every stage of the recovery. The terms of agreement were clearly spelt out and the Federal Government provided the account in which the recovered funds should be paid. At inter-governmental level, the EFCC can ask the Federal Government to contact the Government of Island of Jersey for all transaction records. I have nothing to hide. No repatriation negotiation was done under the carpet at all. We did our best for this nation in recovering the looted funds. The Government of Island of Jersey wanted the substantial part of the money and we said no. We said Nigeria needed the money more than the Island of Jersey. It is just vendetta. I have nothing to hide. They have searched all my accounts in order to find out whether or not I transferred money to Adoke. They could not find anything against me. I think they are after the former AGF at all cost. The EFCC was involved from the beginning to the end, why cant they check their records instead of scandalising me. According to the statement, the team led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Dr Mariam Masha, visited Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi, Borno and Yobe States, It stated that the team conducted the mission as part of its on-going Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) programme in the region ravaged by insurgency. "The team actively engaged with state Governors, decision-makers as well as top government functionaries, Civil Society Organizations, private sector players and traditional rulers. "The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Emergency Management, Humanitarian and Relief agencies and other active partners in the recovery efforts in the affected states were also engaged. "In the course of the tour of the affected areas, the team of officials visited several camps and resettlement centres for the IDPs in the different states. "It also visited the insurgency ravaged public institutions such as hospitals, markets and military formations. "The team also gained firsthand knowledge of human and physical conditions in the camps and resettlement centres. "It afforded them the opportunity to empathise with the people and also reassured them of the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buharis administration toward addressing their challenges, it stated It stated that the visit focused on validating the processes through which data were to be collected and how to develop internationally acceptable mechanisms to maintain contact with focal points in all the states. The statement recalled that the federal government had last month unveiled this assessment programme with high-level collaboration with the international organisations. It stated that the programme was aimed at supporting government in its short, medium and long term efforts towards peace building and sustainable recovery in the North East region. The statement reads: On Friday, a patrol team from 5 Brigade, traversing Dogon Gida and New Marte stepped on an undetected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) buried by suspected Boko Haram terrorists. Unfortunately, 4 soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries and their vehicle was badly damaged. The wounded soldiers have since been evacuated by Nigeria Air Force. Nevertheless, the team has been reinforced and have continued their patrols until they fish out the perpetrators and neutralize them. Similarly, to further buttress the collective resolve in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists between Nigeria and our neighbouring countries, troops of 25 and 26 Task Force Brigades in conjunction with Cameroonian forces carried out clearance operation against the Boko Haram terrorists around Ngoshe village. While the Cameroonian troops carried out the clearance, their Nigerian counterparts provided blocking forces at strategic points where they decisively dealt with fleeing terrorists that tried to escape. Consequently, troops of 121 Task Force Battalion also advanced to Mararraba, Angwan Fada, Dale, Wizha, Bokko Timit, Bokko Nasanu, Bokko Hide, up to Ngoshe village where they linked up with the Cameroonians. During the operations all Boko Haram terrorists enclaves within the area were cleared. In the process, the troops killed 10 Boko Haram terrorists and also rescued 45 persons which included 17 women and 28 children. The troops also discovered that the terrorists cratered the road linking Pulka, Mararraba and Ngoshe and safely detonated 5 IEDs buried by the terrorists. In addition, they also destroyed an IED manufacturing workshop in the village. They also cleared Sino village. The Cameroonian forces have also knocked out Boko Haram terrorists gun trucks, raided and cleared several IED making factories along the border towns. The village of Yakshari was attacked at around 9:30 am on Saturday, with the assailants slaughtering 22 residents by slitting their throats before emptying food stores and taking away all the cattle. We believe the same gunmen carried out both attacks on the two villages, he added. The reports were confirmed by a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force who spoke to Sahara Reporters. [Boko Haram] has slaughtered twenty-two people in Yakhari village today, including children, and our food items were looted, he said. He also affirmed that eight persons had been killed in Kachifa village adding that the village was burned down and that there is nothing standing there. The attacks come despite repeated claims from the Nigerian government that it has defeated Boko Haram. ------------------------------------ Najatu said she was not consulted and that the appointment was made through a National Daily. She announced her rejection of the appointment in a quarter-page newspaper advert, saying she used the same medium the appointment came through. The advert reads: "I, Najatu Muhammad, wishes to thank you so much for considering me worthy of being appointed the chairperson of Dutse Federal University. Its however, unfortunate that I was not consulted before the announcement in the media. I also regret that I have to use the same medium to announce that I cant accept the appointment for some personal reasons. "I will however remain an ardent supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari in his effort in charting a new course for this country. A course that we pray will put this country back on the path of progress. "I will also continue to support the presidents fight against corruption and other ills of this country. My unflinching support for the President will remain for Allahs sake and country. "I pray that Allah will continue to guide and protect our President. Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Abdullahi is a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance. According to Premium Times which cited a Presidency source, Gusau's removal was not unconnected to the controversial 2016 budget, which was described by Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State as a national embarrassment. The online new portal said Buhari believed Gusau, who wasappointed to the office on August 18, 2015 failed to effectively deliver on his mandate. He was supposed to serve a four-year tenure, but cut short in less than six months after his appointment. The new Director-General (Budget) is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the Federation, a statement by the presidency said. The President also appointed Ben Akabueze as the Special Adviser on Planning to the Minister of Budget and National Planning. Akabueze is the immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State. He has worked in senior management positions in Citi Bank, Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa, NAL Merchant Bank, Sterling Bank and BIA Consulting Limited, among others. The denial was made via a statement released by NAF spokesperson, Ayodele Famuyiwa over the weekend. It reads: The attention of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has been drawn to a statement to the effect that the NAF has located the position of the Chibok girls. Please let it be known that this statement is a misrepresentation of the interview that the NAF Director of Public Relations gave the Channels Television that was aired on Friday 12 February 2016. The NAF is hereby making it categorically clear that in the said interview the Director made mention of the NAFs ability to identify POSSIBLE LOCATION that the girls might be in. Hence, the NAF wishes to categorically state that it has at no time identified the specific location of the Chibok girls. However, it is working round the clock with surveillance aircraft covering the over 157,000 km2 area of the North East in order to identify the position of not only the Chibok girls but other Nigerians that might have been held captives. The over 200 girls were abducted on April 14, 2014, and most of them remain in captivity. ----------------------------------------- Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who is also the minister of state for petroleum, said he wanted to increase output to up to 2.5 million barrels per day by the end of 2016. Currently, the OPEC member pumps 2.3 million bpd. President Muhammadu Buhari has made reforming the oil sector a priority as a slump in oil prices hammers the economy. The former military ruler has fired the NNPC board and appointed Kachikwu to overhaul a company whose opaque structures have allowed corruption and oil theft to flourish. Nigeria's oil and gas output has been relatively stagnant as big offshore projects have been held up by much-delayed government funding and uncertainty over fiscal terms. Africa's biggest economy produces oil with foreign and local firms through production-sharing contracts and joint ventures (JVs) but investments have been held up because NNPC has been unable to pay its part: bills have been piling up since 2012. Kachikwu said debt as of November stood at $3.5-$4 billion, which NNPC wanted to cut through deals such as a $1.2 billion multi-year drilling financing signed with Chevron in September. "The target is that over 2017, we'll begin to look at zero," he said in an interview, referring to debt and the goal of ending the need for JVs to depend on NNPC cash. NNPC was in talks with oil majors such as Italy's Eni and oil traders Vitol and Gunvor, seeking partnerships to revamp assets such as refineries after decades of neglect. Cash-strapped for years, it reported a loss of 267.14 billion naira ($1.3 billion) for 2015. He added that the government would also advertise concessions for pipelines and depots next month. RAISING FUNDS NNPC was also looking into revamping joint ventures with local firms to boost productivity but this would depend on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a project to revamp the sector held up in parliament for years. Kachikwu said NNPC was in talks with the Senate to speed up the process by splitting the PIB into three parts covering governance, taxation and business items such as oil block licensing. NNPC would also restructure strategic alliance agreements held by Atlantic Energy to raise funds for oil blocks sold by Royal Dutch Shell. The controversial deals were signed under the previous oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was briefly arrested in London last year on suspicion of corruption. Former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi alleged that Atlantic's deals were one route through which tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues were diverted from state finances. Kachikwu said NNPC expected to conclude a deal within two months for a new partner to pay up to $1.3 billion to take over the Atlantic agreements. The blocks were originally sold to indigenous oil companies by Shell. Speaking on behalf of the OPC members, the OPC Kwara State Coordinator, Mr. Maruff Olanrewaju, said Just of recent, you are all living witnesses when a former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo went to Oni of Ife, he prostrated flatly before Oni. But when Gani Adams went, he just bowed his head with hand shake to Oni. That is disrespectful. Adams is a disgrace to Yoruba culture. When you are promoting culture and you cannot bow in front of one of the most highly respect Oba in Yoruba land that is unacceptable. Olanrewaju also accused Adams of collecting N10.6b from former President Goodluck Jonathan. He said Adams promised our members that if Jonathan released money, each member will get between N200,000 and N250,000 as empowerment. When Jonathan released N1.6bn through Musiliu Obanikoro, for that empower, there was nothing to show for it. He said He(Adams) should explain how Jonathans money was spent. Before the election, there was a publication by a former National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress now Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that Adams had collected N9bn from Jonathan to disorganize the Yoruba race. We denied that but later we came to the realization that truly he collected the money. The President of the Conference, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama gave the warning on Sunday in Abuja during the Catholic Bishops Conference at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral. He admonished the priests to shun worldliness and materialism. He charged them not to succumb to the temptation of importing unwanted doctrines that would promote personality and curry favour. "We must not be frightened into believing in God of ``now, now, cajoled by mouth watering material attractions or ostentatious living of some ministers of God. "We should emphasise the need for sober Christianity without tricks, rhetoric, fanfare and the craze for social media publicity. "All priests must not compete with trendy pastors to see visions and utter prophecies because they sometimes cause psychological disposition. "We should help people to interior conversion and attitudinal change, he said. He urged Christian religious leaders to admonish Christians to pray ceaselessly and evangelise through genuine witnessing and not wooing people with material things or any form of moral coercion. "We must avoid melo-dramatic displays that look like modern broad-way shows. "Catholic priests should avoid flamboyant spirituality and noisy liturgy and teach the people values of internalised prayers from the heart. "The gifts of speaking in tongues, miracle and prophecies are good as long as they are genuine, he said. Kaigama further urged Christians to help humanity in love to conquer poverty and narrow the yawning gap between the rich and the poor. Mbakas members have accused the You will recall that Mbaka was moved from Christ the King Catholic church in GRA, Enugu metropolis, to Our Lady Parish, Emene. Punch reports that a statement signed by the Adoration Ministry members, said What Bishop Michael Eneja saw and allowed, Bishop Gbuji protected and watered but Bishop Onaga uprooted in a most barbaric and despondent manner. Adding that Most Nigerians know that the uncommon silence of Bishop Onaga over Fr. Mbakas prophesy of the defeat of the Goodluck Jonathans PDP-led government by President Muhammadu Buhari was not really for nothing. He was just waiting for the time to carry out the script of the stalwarts of the overthrown party. The members also said Barely few weeks before the posting, the voice of a faction of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a socio-cultural group, was heard barking at Fr. Mbaka to shut up over his prophesies. And now comes the posting done in such a manner as to really shut Fr. Mbaka up. Sources close to Bishop Onaga disclosed to us that the Bishop said he transferred Fr. Mbaka out of pressure from Ohanaeze and PDP. The posting is not Holy Ghost oriented but PDPnized and Ohanaezenized, and any cleric be him pastor, bishop or cardinal that supported this is enemy of the Holy Spirit, they said. Sun reports that this is as a result of the intervention of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Speaking on behalf of the other militant commanders, General OC Babaeere and General America Tekeiminikpoba , in a statement said We write to express our desire to surrender our arms and embrace the amnesty program as long as the federal government is sincere. With the timely intervention of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, we the Commanders from Arepo Camp, Ikorodu Camp, Abule Camp, Fatorla Camp, Camp 5, Ibafo Camp, Magboro Camp, Epe Camp, Itokin Camp, Ilepete Camp, Okenekene Camp, Agric Camp, Gbokoda Camp and their environs, have made up our minds to accept amnesty because of the peaceful approach of the Minister of State for Petroleum. Adding that We also agree that all NNPC facilities and its subsidiaries must work for the betterment of Nigeria and the economic efficiency in the face of dwindling oil prices. However, our willingness to surrender should not be seen as an act of cowardice, rather, as an act of patriotism. Also, as we accept this amnesty, it is important to state that the first amnesty was not holistic and was characterized with fraud and fraudulent selections. We were not included in that amnesty program. Even as we tried all avenues to join the program, we were ignored completely, the commanders said. The militants also said We are using this opportunity to call on all Nigerians to work with Mr. President to enable Nigeria move ahead. So, as we have agreed to come out, we state that we should be properly co-opted into the amnesty program. This is very important because we have skills and very vast knowledge and experience in the region. We have farmers, ship captains, ship engineers, divers, technicians, welders et cetera, and we have lived all our life in the region. Therefore, we understand every inch of the region. Suffice to say that we have integrity. We believe in the peaceful dialogue and peace initiative by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, and we will wait patiently for the response of the federal government so that we all can move Nigeria forward, the commanders said. Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who visited parks and fun spots within the metropolis report that most of them were full to capacity. NAN reports that the roads leading to Millenium Park, Silverbird Galleria, Wonderland and the Jabi Lake Park were blocked by traffic. Some of the people who spoke to NAN were happy at the turnout, but expressed displeasure at the limited parking spaces available at the event centres. Miss Linda Nwachukwu who expressed bitterness at how long it took to park her vehicle at the Silverbird Galleria, stressed that if she had known, she would not have come out. At the Jabi Lake, Mrs Emily Joseph, who came with her husband and her son said she was surprised at the turn out of fun seekers at the resort. At the millennium park, Mrs Gladys Umoren who sells soft drinks said she made more sales more than ever. "Other years were not like this, I thank God, she said. Wasiu Ogundimu, a taxi driver told NAN that since he started work at 12 p.m. he had been very busy conveying people to different fun spots. John dedicated the awards to other hopeful actors saying; '"Guys, I haven't been doing this for a long time, it's a fluke! I'm gonna share this award with all the young dreamers who are determined, who are hard working, who are quite frankly amazing. This is also for you. Blessings for your path and God bless." The 23-year-old beat other nominees including Dakota Johnson, Brie Larson, Taron Egerton and Bel Powley. The actor joins previous winners like Will Poulter, Tom Hardy, Kristen Stewart, Noel Clarke, Eva Green and James McAvoy to win the prize. ALSO READ: undefined Boyega (born 17 March 1992) is an English actor born to Nigerian parent. He came into limelight for playing Finn in the 2015 film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The inclusion of a black stormtropper in the 'movie caused quite a stir on social media in November 2014. ALSO READ: undefined In an interview,the actor had described the reaction as unnecessary, saying; Im in the movie, what are you going to do about it? You either enjoy it or you dont. Im not saying get used to the future. It's is already happening. People of colour and women are increasingly being shown on screen. For things to be whitewashed just doesnt make sense." The remark was made by the groups Chairman, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola on Saturday, February 13, 2016, on the side-lines of an interdenominational service, Punch reports. What is wrong with it? A former President of Peru (Alberto Fujimori) was jailed, Bamgbola said when he was asked his opinion on calls for Jonathans prosecution. Also, a popular prime minister of Israel (Ehud Olmert) was jailed. If a nation puts you in a position of trust and you betray that trust, you should go to jail no matter who you are. I have no sympathy for anybody. Just make sure you get it right, and we get the facts right as well, he added. Corruption under Jonathans government has been a major subject of discussion in recent times after it was alleged that officials misappropriated funds meant for Nigerias waragainst Boko Haram. The discovery was made by a special panel constituted by Buhari to investigate arms purchases in the country from 2007-2015. Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki is at the fore of the investigations and is alleged to have supervised the alleged laundering of $2 billion funds meant for the procurement of arms. He was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on December 1, 2015 and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the day after. The former NSA is reported to have implicated several prominent persons in the deal including former governors, ex-ministers and members of Jonathans party, Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). According to a report by Punch Newspaper, following the Supreme Court judgment on his trial at the CCT, the Senate President had began moves to seek favours from the President and Tinubu. Though the moves by Saraki are said to have been indirect, he is rumoured to be desperate to reach a favourable agreement with the top political figures before the hearing of his 13 counts charge of false asset declaration resume on March 10, 2016. To reach the President, Saraki had allegedly sent a delegation led by Senate leader, Ali Ndume and Dino Melaye to meet with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo while the President was on a six days vacation. Though Ndume denied discussing Saraki's trial with the Vice President when he met with him, it is believed that the Vice President had clearly stated that the president would not mix personal tribulations with the national issues. While the Senate President keeps seeking other means to reach out to the President for favours, he's reported to have sent out emissaries to Tinubu, who sources say have cut all ties with the Kwara State ex-Governor. Tinubu, sources disclosed, has decided to wash his hands and will not say a word again regarding Saraki, thus, all efforts to reach him has been blocked. He has been visiting other African countries preaching the gospel of Democracy and become unavailable for the delegates led by opinion leaders and clerics that Saraki had sent to his Bourdillon home in Ikoyi, Lagos. The Supreme Court had on February 5, 2016 ruled that Sarakis trial should continue at the CCT. The apex court had affirmed the propriety of Sarakis trial at the CCT on 13 counts of false asset declaration. Saraki and Tinubu fell out in June 2016 when he defied the directive of the APC and became the Senate President under controversial circumstances. Meanwhile, the Senate President's media aide had reiterated that Saraki meets with the President when national issues arise, thus, it would be wrong to say he's seeking favours or contact with him. Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), along with AccessNow, Google, Facebook, Civicus, and Internews are the organizers of the event. Several experts, Internet Freedom advocates, journalists and government officials from all across Africa have confirmed participation at the event,said Adeboye Adegoke, Program Manager (ICT Policy) at PIN, according to a TechCabal report. Hon. Chukwuemeka Ujam, the Vice Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Telecommunications, Titi Akinsanmi-Bolarinwa, Lead, Policy and Government Relations, Google, Ebele Okobi, Head of Public Policy, Africa, Facebook, Ephraim Kenyanito, Sub-Saharan Africa Policy Analyst, AccessNow, BudgIT co-founder, Seun Onigbinde, Japheth Omojuwa, award-winning journalist, Tolu Ogunlesi, Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, among others, are some of the confirmed panelists, per the report. Media reports reveal that Legal Director at Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI), Nani Jansen, will deliver the keynote address. Jansen has served in freedom of expression cases before national and international courts, and human rights tribunals, including the European Court of Human Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, among others. For government policy contribution to the conversation, PIN has invited the Nigerian Minister of Communications, the National Security Adviser, the Director General of Department of State Security Service, and the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission. The incentives would range from tax holidays to ICT Innovation funds and ICT Incubation schemes to drive the sectors growth, according to a Nigeria CommunicationsWeek report. Mr. Adebayo Shittu, minister of Communication, and Afolabi Imoukhuede, senior special assistant to the President on Job Creation/Youth Employment, revealed this during the visit of the Minister to the Yaba Technology Ecosystem Hubs in Lagos, recently. Speaking after accessing institutions like the Co-Creation Hub, iDeaHub, among others, the Minister expressed satisfaction with the infrastructure, saying, We want to replicate what is happening here in other parts of the country in partnership with key stakeholders. We are going to start in Ibadan and Katsina state in the next three months as both the Governors have agreed to provide facilities for the establishment of these hubs. He disclosed the Buhari administration's plans on focusing on the ICT sector of the economy to drive all-encompassing economic growth. As you all know, the ICT innovations is powering economies across the globe, creating employments and wealth. It is impacting on the way we live and the way we do businesses; the Buhari administration is at the forefront of diversifying our economy, Government is resolved to develop the ICT sector through Local Content initiative. Government will continually support Yaba and all ICT hubs across the country because it is a veritable platform to achieve our ICT objectives, Shittu said. We believe with these incentives, the sector will witness tremendous growth and generating employment and massive wealth for our people. We are also going to monitor the hubs across Nigeria in order to ensure standards and to mold them for global competitiveness. Our aim is to make Nigeria the ICT hub for Africa, he added. He asked entrepreneurs in the sector to list some of the challenges they face and the sort of intervention they want from the Government to in sustain the existing hubs. Imoukhuede added that the Government will consider tax holidays and rebates for qualifying tech start-ups so that they can employ more people and grow the entrepreneurial sector of the economy. We are working on the details to ensure that we get it right. We have a million jobs to be created this year and we have a target to create three million jobs over the next three years-2016-19. What is keen for me as the SSA on Job Creation is for us to be able to look at which sectors we can create jobs, and ICT, for us is a key area for job creations. For two reasons- you can create jobs within the sector, and you can use ICT as an enabler to also create a lot of jobs. That is why we are focusing on ICT and the digital world for jobs creation; it is therefore important that we visit places like Co-Creation, where you can achieve an organic growth, he said. Bosun Tijani, CEO, Co-Creation Hub, in his presentation on The Yaba Technology Ecosystem How we got here and where we d like to go, said there is no nation on earth today that can prosper without using technology. The Cc-Hub boss said that beyond the incentives, the government should patronize the companies in the sector by giving them business. For instance in the last election, we built a website that was used to encourage people on how to vote, when to vote ; we also built another site for ID cards registration- it was so good that INEC adopted it. Somebody paid for that work; that is the kind of collaborations we want. 60 percent of what we do here is building other people's businesses by using our creativity and knowhow to make society better, he said. According to CNN, US carriers will have 15 days to submit applications to the Department of Transportation for routes they'd like to fly between the US and Cuba. Reports also have it that Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and staff from the State Department will fly from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington DC to Cuba to formally sign an agreement to resume flights between the two countries. Speaking on the development, Foxx reiterated how a commencement of commercial flights meant a great deal to the people of both countries, pointing out that "there's so many cultural connections between the two countries, in some cases family connections, the ability to have educational exchanges and things that happen as a result of resumption of this service, is really, really significant." Based on the agreement between both countries which was arrived at in December, there is potential for 110 daily round-trip flights in and out of Cuba. This includes 20 daily flights to Havana and 10 daily flights to other airports on the island, while the airline bidding process will likely last until the middle of March. Officials however point out that commencement of flights between both countries will likely resume in October, although there are no plans in the near future for Cuban-owned planes to land in the US under this agreement. Thus, the new arrangement will facilitate visits for travelers that fall under one of 12 categories: That was a central message from this year's Munich Security Conference, an annual event where leaders and diplomats from Europe, the Middle East and the United States gather to debate the world's problems. It ended on Sunday on a far gloomier note than it started -- with doubts being cast over a fledgling truce plan for Syria, with Russia defiant and confrontational, and Berlin struggling to win over European allies in the refugee crisis. "You have leaders who are disconcerted and overwhelmed," said Constanze Stelzenmueller, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, describing this year's gathering as "oddly limp". "The lack of confidence is as pervasive as a damp fog. Germany is doing its best on the diplomatic front, but there is a real struggle to find pragmatic solutions and form effective coalitions." On the eve of the conference, a meeting of major powers hosted by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier agreed to a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria, providing a glimmer of hope in a five-year war that has killed at least 250,000 people. But within hours, signatories to the deal itself were calling it into question. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the chances of it failing were greater than success, and made clear Moscow would not stop its air strikes in support of Syrian forces descending on the northern city of Aleppo. His remarks and those of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appeared to dash hopes of a more constructive approach from Moscow. Medvedev warned of a new Cold War and evoked President Vladimir Putin's confrontational Munich speech of 2007, in which he accused the United States of a destructive drive to become the world's "one single master". "They were both here to deliver a telegram from Putin," said Francois Heisbourg, special adviser to the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research. "The message was: we don't take you seriously, and we're going to make life difficult for you 24/7." On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his German counterpart Steinmeier did their best to sound optimistic. But by Sunday, one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's senior conservative allies in parliament, Norbert Roettgen, was telling the audience that he had no faith that Russia would behave constructively in Syria, accusing Moscow of creating "facts on the ground" there to bolster its negotiating position. MORE LEADERSHIP Two years ago at this conference, Steinmeier, German President Joachim Gauck and Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen all called for more active German leadership in foreign affairs, arguing that it was no longer acceptable to shy away from "Fuehrung" 70 years after the end of World War Two. Since then, Berlin has taken the diplomatic lead in the Ukraine crisis and agreed to join the fight against Islamic State through the provision of arms to the Kurds and military support to allies carrying out air strikes in Syria. But with a war-weary United States hesitant to become too entangled in Syria and anyway distracted by its own election campaign, Berlin is finding it difficult to forge consensus and looking more isolated than ever on its central objective -- to limit the flow of refugees into Europe from Syria and other troubled spots in the Middle East and Africa. In Munich, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls made clear his country would not take a single refugee more than the 30,000 Paris has already agreed to accept under a European Union pact. In a setback for Merkel, Valls also rejected the idea of a permanent mechanism for distributing refugees across Europe, a crucial plank of the German leader's push to convince Turkey to cooperate in stemming the flow of migrants. Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda made clear in Munich that Russian aggression was a far bigger priority for his country than refugees. The messages suggest that Merkel, whose popularity ratings have slid over her refugee policies ahead of three important state elections next month, may struggle to put together a convincing "coalition of the willing" in Europe to help her in the crisis. "Despite valiant attempts by both the German foreign and defence ministers to put the refugee crisis at the heart of debates here, the issue that tops all others is Syria," said Jan Techau, director of Carnegie Europe, who also attended the conference. Diplomats in Munich expressed doubts about the latest German initiative in the refugee crisis -- Merkel's push to have NATO ships patrol the Aegean Sea to help Turkey and Greece crack down on criminal networks smuggling refugees into Europe. "We're not sure how this will work," said one European diplomat. "It looks to me like Merkel just wants to show that Germany is not completely alone." Heisbourg described the NATO initiative as the latest attempt by Germany to push Europe in the direction it wants on the crisis, but predicted failure. The team's report, released over the weekend, did not mention any companies. Analysts said any sales would probably be smaller companies and not struggling power utility Eskom or national carrier South African Airways. Many of South Africa's 300-odd state entities are a drain on the government's purse. If Zuma's government were to adopt the recommendation, it would mark a departure from the ruling African National Congress's stance since coming into power in 1994, that state companies should not be sold off. The report, released over the weekend, said "governance, ownership policy and oversight systems were found to be inadequate" in state-owned companies and recommended the government sell underperforming companies either fully or partially. Zuma, in his annual state of the nation speech last week, said the government needed to tighten its belt in the face of a weak economy, which has been hit by a global slump in commodities and by power cuts due to an inefficient power sector, but analysts said it was unlikely to sell key state assets. "It needs to be taken with a very large pinch of salt," Nomura International's emerging market economist Peter Attard Montalto said of the report. "It will apply mostly to smaller parastatals and is unlikely to shift the dial on Eskom." Analysts have frequently said that cash-strapped Eskom, which was granted 20 billion rand ($1.27 billion) to refurbish aging power plants, and loss-making South African Airways should be privatised. In July the government sold off its stake in mobile phone firm Vodacom at a 10 percent discount to market prices to raise money for Eskom. Michael Sykes, 23, of Brooklyn, was charged with three counts of first degree murder, as well as robbery, the NYPD said in a statement on Saturday night. Rebecca Cutler, 26, and her three children ages 2, 1 and 4 months, were all found stabbed on Wednesday at a Ramada Inn on Staten Island, where the city had been putting them up in lieu of a shelter. Only the two-year-old survived the attack. Authorities said Sykes was the father of the youngest child. "Thanks goes to the hard-working officers of the NYPD for bringing Mr. Sykes into custody," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement, adding "I hope the family members of the young mother and her small children can find some amount of closure in knowing he has been apprehended." Chief of Detectives for the New York City Police Department Robert Boyce said security cameras at the motel showed Sykes entering the room where the family had been staying. Sykes left the room a few minutes later and took a bus to a ferry that runs between Staten Island andManhattan. Police believe he stabbed Cutler and the children before leaving. Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg DES MOINES Gov. Terry Branstads plan to fund water quality improvements by extending a school infrastructure tax cleared one hurdle in the Iowa House Monday, but lawmakers heard concerns from several groups representing school interests. After hearing from more than a dozen lobbyists, two members of a House Agriculture subcommittee signed off on House Study Bill 601. This the first step in maybe a long process, Rep. Lee Hein, R-Monticello, chairman of the subcommittee and Ag Committee, told more than 60 people who attended the subcommittee hearing. Well at least try to keep the conversation going. In his Condition of the State address in January, Branstad proposed addressing statewide water-quality by extending the state sales tax dedicated for school infrastructure for 20 years. The first $10 million collected each year would go to support school infrastructure. Revenue over and above that would go toward the water quality initiative. Branstad projected schools will still be getting $20.7 billion for infrastructure otherwise funded by property taxes while $4.7 billion will be channeled to improving Iowa waterways. Subcommittee member Rep. Peter Cownie, R-West Des Moines, welcomed the proposal because of the growing tension between agricultural interests and those concerned with water quality. He said two proposals for addressing water quality have been put forward in the past year: the Des Moines Water Works suing northwest Iowa counties and the governors plan. I like this way a lot better, he said, adding that the lawsuit has brought attention to a serious issue that affects Iowans. Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge, didnt sign off on the bill, but shes pleased lawmakers are continuing to move the ball forwards. Shes not convinced this is the only way to do this. At his morning news conference, Branstad said his approach is gaining growing support from environmental, business and agricultural groups, along with leaders in education, and he is willing to incorporate ideas from legislators to get the initiative approved this session. But speakers representing school boards and administrators as well as the states largest schools and rural schools voiced concerns that if some sales tax revenue is diverted, there wont be enough funding for infrastructure needs. The way HSB 601 is written, it could reduce funds earmarked for property tax relief from $6 million to $210,000 a year. Municipal and private water utilities and rural water associations were concerned the bill excludes them from being eligible for funds. They are eligible now for funds from many state water infrastructure programs. Representatives of farm groups and commodity organizations were supportive, saying their members want to be part of water quality efforts and the bill would provide a source of cost-share funding. Ted Stopulos of the governors office offered an amendment to give schools flexibility to use the funds for transportation needs, for example. The funds could not be used to build stadiums, and projects with a price tag of $1 million or more would be subject to voter approval. The bill is not subject to the Friday deadline for legislation to make it out of a full committee to remain eligible for consideration because it is in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which makes it exempt from funnel provisions. Maybe your husband, wife or significant other forgot the day. Maybe youre single by choice or otherwise. Nevertheless, over-the-top expressions of love seemingly existed everywhere Sunday and the whole weekend, really. Now its Feb. 15 and time to recover. The makeup gift All is not lost. You can make up for a Valentines Day blunder, local romance experts say. Both Meghan Strohman, manager of Neckers Jewelers in DeWitt, Iowa, and Jeannie Mannion, with Millers Florist in Moline, both suggest going big to get back into good graces. Admittedly, both say they dont have to deal with the situation frequently. A big flower arrangement might heal some wounds, Mannion said. Ill tell them, You really screwed up, so you really might want to do something extra nice, extra special. Strohman understands that not everyone does romance and that it is her job to coax it out of them. The three days before Valentines Day were busy, and the shop opened especially on Sunday because of the holiday. We try to help them be romantic and give them ideas, she said. Whether they listen or not is one thing. For Valentines Day, the shop sold many bracelets, charms and necklaces for women and watches, necklaces and some bracelets for men. If somebody comes into the store today with a hat in hand and a wallet out, Strohman knows what shell say: Lets try to knock her socks off with an awesome piece of jewelry. Her socks? Are the people in the dog house usually men? Most of the time, yes, both say they are working with men. How about women? No, they never blow it, Mannion said, only half teasing. Forgiveness The Rev. Richard Pokora, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bettendorf, said dwelling on disappointment and hurt keeps couples from trying to achieve something better in the future. Every relationship will have hurt at some point, he said. Forgiveness isnt necessarily for the person who has been hurt its for ourselves, he said. He points to Luke 23:34, which tells what Jesus says before his crucifixion: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Pokora says Jesus forgave, even though he was not asked. Forgiveness doesnt make a situation right. It relieves us of the pain so were able to get back on track. Moving on Mary Telisak, a licensed mental health counselor at Compassion Counseling in Bettendorf who also is completing her doctorate in marriage and family counseling, suggests those who are disappointed in their partner should express their concerns but also understand limitations. I would seek to make my needs, my feelings known, she said. A partner should express that gifts, for example, are an important way to show love and that not receiving a gift could be taken as not being caring. At the same time, she said, Its important to meet their spouse where they are and learn others ways of expressing and receiving love. Bottom line: Talk to your partner about your feelings and your relationship. Treating yourself Valentines Day doesnt have to be a sad day if there isnt one special someone in your life. Lori Bishop, owner of Serenity Salon & Day Spa, Moline, often books groups of women who come together on the day to celebrate their special relationships. They call it Galentines Day and pamper themselves with a massage and other salon treats. It doesnt have to be a holiday for couples, she said. You can go out and do something for yourself. Nuestras horas son minutos cuando esperamos saber y siglos cuando sabemos lo que se puede aprender. (Our hours are minutes when we wait to learn and centuries when we know what is to be learnt.) --Antonio Machado . (Those who do not know geometry may not enter.) --Plato Sapere Aude! Habe Muth, dich deines eigenen Verstandes zu bedienen! (Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!) --Kant For six chilly January mornings, Rapid City employees waited for deer to catch the scent of the alfalfa bait and wander into their gun sights. At the end of the hunt, the city had reached its goal, killing 100 deer in this year's urban deer management program. According to Lon VanDeusen, Parks Division Manager, this year's harvest was modest. At its peak, the program killed 300. In 1995 the city started the program to reduce the deer population within city limits, primarily to prevent property damage caused by car accidents and landscape destruction. The parks team determines the number of deer to be harvested by conducting a yearly trend survey in areas in which deer are usually found. This year's survey was conducted in October with the state Game, Fish & Parks Department. The goal of 100 was down from 150 in 2015. VanDeusen said, "We are hoping the reduction of deer indicates our program is working." He added, "We arent out there to eliminate every deer in town, but just maintain a manageable number." From Jan. 6 to Jan. 11, in predetermined locations around the city, parks employees used apples and alfalfa to bait and kill the deer. This year, the largest number of deer were harvested near Highway 79 North, at the southeast edge of the city. The deer harvested included mule doe, whitetail buck, and whitetail doe. Sioux Falls began its own deer management program last year and consulted Rapid City about best practices, according to VanDeusen. For this year's harvest, Sioux Falls expects to bag 75 deer, according to the Police Department, which runs the program. In total, this year's deer harvest cost the Rapid City taxpayers $11,514. The largest expense, $3,940, came from processing 3,558 pounds of meat. The ground meat is donated to the Feeding South Dakota food bank in Rapid City. This year, the meat from the deer harvest was processed in coordination with the nonprofit South Dakota Sportsmen for Hunger, which helped pay for some of the processing fees and coordinated with the food bank. Sportsmen Against Hunger was formed in 1993 in Rapid City by Dr. Jeff Olson and Dr. Tom Krafka. The goals of the organization are to provide meat to poverty-level families while also reducing the local deer population. The organization has been working with the city for several years to coordinate the deer processing during the yearly thinning. Olson said he is proud of the effort. "We know where the meat is going," he said, "and it goes to people who really need it." EDGEMONT | What for months has looked like a bleak market in the oil industry hasn't discouraged some people, or some companies, from taking a shot at oil and gas leases on three parcels of private land west of Edgemont, but within the boundaries of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. According to Russ Pigors, a physical scientist with the Belle Fourche Bureau of Land Management office, a lease sale will be held for the three Fall River County parcels on July 12. The BLM is asking for public comment on what sort of environmental impact permitting oil and gas exploration on these leases might have. Pigors described the process as standard for the BLM whenever oil and gas leases are done. The comment period ends on March 8. Pigors said the three parcels total about 720 acres, and include two 320-acre tracts and an 80-acre tract. One is about 5 miles due west of Edgemont, another is 6 miles northwest of town, and the third is about 8 miles southwest. Oil prices have been dropping since mid-2014, hitting a 12-year low on Thursday before rallying sharply on Friday on news that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is considering cutting production. The U.S. benchmark for crude oil rose 11.5 percent on Friday to $29.13 a barrel, according to reports. "The price of oil generally reflects the lack of interest in leasing," Pigors said in a phone interview. "Some years, we have over 100 (leases for sale), and now we have just three." He pointed out that he was talking about only federal leases; the state and private owners also sell leases. The three near Edgemont are privately owned parcels of land, Pigors said, within the grasslands boundaries. But since the federal government owns the mineral rights to this land, and the BLM manages those rights for the federal government, the BLM must conduct public hearings on potential environmental impacts before these properties can be leased. Pigors said the parcels are usually "nominated for mineral leases by oil and gas exploration companies or by private individuals seeking to drill wells. The names of the companies or people nominating the leases are kept confidential. That confidentiality, Pigors explained, is to protect companies from giving competitors an edge. In many cases, lease sales do not result in actual oil or gas wells. Companies or individuals acquire leases in much the same way that an antique dealer might acquire a box of items at a public sale, hoping to find valuables within. The Edgemont area is accustomed to having holes poked in the ground. Pigors said there was "a big boom" in the early 1980s, and several companies still have oil and gas wells producing south of Edgemont. The BLM, Pigors said, is required to do either an environmental assessment or a Determination of National Environmental Policy Act Adequacy (DNA) document on the potential leases prior to their being included in the lease sale. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of proposed actions prior to making decisions. That includes making decisions on permit applications, adopting federal land-management actions and constructing highways and other publicly owned facilities. Using the NEPA process, agencies evaluate the environmental and related social and economic effects of their proposed actions. Agencies also provide for public review and comment. This policy, according to the EPA, requires the federal government to use all practicable means to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony. The current DNA related to the three up-for-lease parcels, authored by the Belle Fourche BLM office, maps the location of the potential leases and notes possible impacts on two birds: Spragues pipit, a bird that is a candidate for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but its listing is precluded by higher priority listings; and the sharp-tailed grouse. Also, possibly important fossils and Native American artifacts could be uncovered at the site, requiring special handling. The BLM conducted its DNA investigation of the sites during December, after contacting tribal representatives from 13 Native American tribes, including: the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Sioux Tribe, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations) and Yankton Sioux Tribe. No correspondence of culturally sensitive areas has been received from these nations. The BLM DNA also contains some stipulations applying to these leases. The stipulations include: Special handling for cultural resources and artifacts and mitigation measures should these be found. Consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if endangered or threatened species are disturbed, specifically no activity on the site between April 15 and July 15 if Spragues pipit is discovered there, along with other mitigation and conservation efforts. Admonitions to locate activities and facilities away from water resources and to deposit no waste materials below the high water line in riparian areas or areas adjacent to riparian areas. No activity on the site between March 1 and June 15 when within a mile of a sharp-tailed grouse lek, and no activities at the site if a sharptail lek is within a quarter-mile (line of sight) of the location. If approved for leasing, these three parcels would be included in the July 12 lease sale. For more information contact the BLM South Dakota Field Office at 605-723-8714, or write to BLM South Dakota Field Office, Attention: Russ Pigors, 310 Roundup St., Belle Fourche, SD 57717. As many of our nations top military officials have pointed out, we are facing some of the most serious threats since World War II. But unlike World War II, some of todays threats differ significantly from the nuclear and conventional military threats that have largely shaped our national security programs for many decades. As we saw during the Paris terror attacks last fall, terrorists are using sophisticated technology to help carry out their attacks. Technological advances and our increasing dependence on information technology for all aspects of our lives also means we are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the cyber threat is one of my greatest national security concerns. I recently introduced legislation to help streamline the hiring process for cybersecurity professionals at the Department of Defense (DOD). The Cyber Command Employment Personnel Training Act of 2016 would improve DODs hiring practices by making certain DOD hiring officials are trained on new hiring and pay flexibilities for civilian cybersecurity employees. These flexibilities permit faster hiring and higher pay for these employees than is normally the case for the U.S. civil service. Civilian cybersecurity employees play a vital role in mitigating cyber threats against our nation and expedited hiring and pay authorities are key to placing them quickly at pay levels that are competitive with the private sector. However, these hiring and pay-related authorities work only if hiring officials at DOD are aware of them. My legislation will make certain those officials are trained on these authorities as they seek to fill cybersecurity positions in their organizations. This bill would be especially beneficial for universities like Dakota State University in Madison. DSU is a leader in cybersecurity efforts, integrating technology into the culture of the entire campus. I am pleased to work with DSU on this legislation to improve this process and help assure DOD is working with the best possible talent. In turn, our armed forces will be better equipped to deal with cyber threats on our nation. I recently had an opportunity to discuss DODs cyber-defense policy. One issue of concern, which I brought up during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, is that our government has not clearly defined when a cyber-attack constitutes an act of war. During the hearing, top intelligence officials confirmed that it would be beneficial to have a clear policy that provides this definition. I believe a clear and coherent policy on what constitutes an act of war would help DOD respond to attacks in a timely manner as well as deter potential attackers. There is much work to be done to meet the many challenges of cybersecurity, but I am confident we will meet these challenges. We have the most innovative military and economy in the world. I will continue to seek solutions to better protect our nation from mounting and potentially catastrophic cyber threats. Russian nationalist Potkin to remain in detention until late June MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court has upheld a lower courts ruling to extend the detention of Russian nationalist Alexander Potkin, also known as Alexander Belov, who stands accused of laundering money allegedly embezzled from BTA Bank, for six months, RAPSI learnt in the court on Monday. Potkin (Belov) will stay in jail until June 21. Belov was arrested on October 15, 2014 at the Hotel Intourist Kolomenskoe in Moscow on charges related to the embezzlement of $5 billion from BTA Bank. At the time of the arrest, Belov allegedly had documents on him that effectively tied him to the embezzlement. The court initially placed Belov under house arrest, but later sent him to a pretrial detention center after an extremism case was opened against him. Investigators believe that Belov (Potkin) was a mastermind in a money laundering operation in 2012-2014. He was also suspected of involvement in laundering money that was embezzled from BTA Bank by its former chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov. Ablyazov, who allegedly defrauded BTA Bank of more than $6 billion, left Kazakhstan for the UK, where he was granted political asylum in 2011. However, he remained a fugitive from justice since February 2012. His whereabouts remained unknown until he was detained on July 31 near Cannes, France. Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine are all seeking his extradition. In October 2015, French authorities approved the extradition to Russia of Kazakh tycoon Ablyazov. Ex-Rusnano chief Melamed to stay under house arrest MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court on Monday upheld the house arrest of Leonid Melamed, former chief of the Russian nanotechnology corporation Rusnano who stands charged with embezzlement, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. Melamed will remain under house arrest until March 1. The Investigative Committee claims that Melamed illegally transferred 220 million rubles ($2.8 million) worth of budget funding, allotted to Rusnano in 2007-2009, to Alemar Co., which he controlled. Former top Rusnano managers Andrey Malyshev and Svyatoslav Ponurov are also involved in the case. The suspects pled not guilty. In 2008, when the deal was being closed, Anatoly Chubais had already replaced Melamed, corporate sources said. They added that Melamed had not inflicted any losses on the company and promised to cooperate with law enforcement agencies. Earlier, Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov said the buzz around this case would negatively affect the national business climate and the investigation itself. LAKEWOOD, CO What is on the horizon for U.S. farmers in 2016 as they finalize plans for planting this spring? The March Agricultural Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey approximately 84,000 of the nations farmers to determine their plans for the upcoming growing season.Each year, the agriculture industry eagerly awaits USDAs Prospective Plantings report, which provides the first survey-based estimates of U.S. farmers planting intentions for the year, said NASS Mountain Region Director Bill Meyer. The March Agricultural Survey provides the factual data that underpins these projections, making it one of the most important surveys we conduct each year.NASS will mail the survey questionnaire in February, asking producers to provide information about the types of crops they intend to plant in 2016, how many acres they intend to plant, and the amounts of grain and oilseed they store on their farms. NASS encourages producers to respond online or by mail. Those producers who do not respond by the deadline may be contacted for a telephone or personal interview.NASS will compile and analyze the survey information and publish the results in the annual Prospective Plantings report and quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released on March 31, 2016.As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential, as required by federal law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified. These and all NASS reports are available online at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/. World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) would like to express its deepest condolences and sympathy to all those affected by the mu... Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next. Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003. Welcome to my blog. Here you will find information that is both interesting and useless. You can even see how Steve, my camera, sees the world through my eyes, or get your hands on my latest novel, Jihad Joe at: Thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the coffee and cake. Sorry we ran out of donuts. About this blog In my mid 30s, this blog is about birds (mainly gulls) and birding. I'm normally in southeast London, but travelling in the Western Palearctic and further afield as much as possible. A kid lister still trying to grow up. Jesus really loves the people of Madagascar. What are the odds of two ships with entirely different missions, serving one God, crossing paths in a tiny town off the east coast of Madagascar. A town that is friendly and safe by day but whose demons come out at night, to play. A town seeped in prostitution, kidnapping and robbery. A town where the locals are warm and friendly, where coconuts hang from palm trees swaying in the sultry air and the brilliant blue of the Indian Ocean beckons seductively. This town, this beautiful nation, that we have come to love has had an influx of hope, healing, help and knowledge in hundreds of different ways, depicting the love of Christ, channelled through the crew of the Africa Mercy and the Logos Hope, representing over 60 nationalities. Solely aggregation of news articles, with no opinions expressed by this service since 2009 launch on this platform. Copyright to all articles remains with the publisher and HEADLINES ARE CLICKABLE to access items. (Subscription by email is recommended,with real-time updates on LinkedIn and Twitter.) I give my consent to Sakshi Post to be in touch with me via email for the purpose of event marketing and corporate communications. Privacy Policy SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com Feb-15-2016 13:48 TweetFollow @OregonNews Saudi Arabia's Role in the Unprecedented Azerbaijan Money Value Fall Ilham Aliyev and the Azerbaijani manat, are in critical financial condition. Ilham Aliyev Courtesy: vestnikkavkaza.net (SALEM, Ore.) - In an interview with BBC, Arif Mammadov, a former employee of the Azerbaijani foreign ministry, revealed that Saudi Arabia's economic and political approaches in dealing with Azerbaijan have caused serious damage to the country and led to its money's worth loss. According to the Azeri Sizinyol news agency and The BBC, Arif Muhammadov, who defected to Europe, said in an interview that Ilham Aliyev traveled to Saudi Arabia last summer, and met with government officials hoping to help them tackle the falling oil prices which are severely impacting the Saudi economy. Azerbaijan's economy is strongly affected by the falling oil prices. It is also true that increased costs of European competition imposes a lot of pressure on the Azerbaijani state budget. Muhammadov also said Saudi Arabia has promised Ilham Aliyev in this trip to offer grants and considerable investment as a compensation for a part of the consequences of falling Azerbaijani oil prices, in return for creating a cultural space for Takfiri Wahabis' activities and implementing limitations for Iranian and Azerbaijani Shiites. According to this report, a few months before, the Azerbaijani economic bankruptcy led to a 20% value reduction of manat against th US dollar. Aliyev denied this being the case, in a television interview. After a year, Ilham Aliyev confessed that his strategic mistake was the dismissal of Eldar Mahmoudov, who attempted to launch a Saudi-sponsored coup against Ilham, to declare war on Russia while arming North Caucasus Wahabi groups. Events in Nardaran, a settlement and municipality on the Abseron Peninsula in Baku, Azerbaijan, are viewed as another strategic blunder and a result of Saudi and Turkish influence in the Azerbaijani government. The Website Silkroadreporters.com, wrote, "On November 27 officers from Azerbaijans Ministry of National Security stormed into Nardaran, a small, pious village in the suburbs of Baku, in a special security operation. Fourteen people, including Taleh Bagirzada, a religious scholar who was recently released from prison, were arrested. Five were killed in what locals and human rights defenders are calling a violation of religious rights and what the government is calling an anti-terrorism operation." The ostensibly Shiite president of Azerbaijan is said to rely on Saudi Wahhabis, and their betrayal of Shiite Muslims over the past year. Inside sources say he also failed to provide grants he had promised. Politically, Ilham Aliyev is in critical condition. In recent days, the Azerbaijani Manat has lost fifty percent of its value against US dollar and this brings massive economic problems to the country. http://www.silkroadreporters.com/2015/11/30/azerbaijani-authorities-storm-nardaran-in-anti-terrorism-operation/#sthash.8CoDVz02.dpuf" _________________________________________ Foreign-affairs | Human-rights | Military | Business | Most Commented on Articles for February 15, 2016 | Articles for February 16, 2016 Adrian Martinez thrives in K-State offense Turning Adrian Martinez loose has not come back to bite Kansas State. The senior quarterback has yet to turn the ball over this year. Hello beauties, welcome to Asoebi fashion Friday!! We refuse to let you go into this weekend without looking glamorous and fabulous in your... Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. 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Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use." Mandatory minimums require federal drug defendant's sentence of life + five more years in prison | Main | US Sentencing Commission provides notice of proposed 2013 priorities May 25, 2012 Effective commentary urges greater us of "compassionate release" Julie Stewart, the president and founder of FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums), has this effective new commentary at The Crime Report headlined "Lets End the Death Rattle Rule." Here are excerpts: It is easy for most Americans to identify ways in which the government wastes money, but it is not often you come across a federal program that is both wasteful and cruel. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) compassionate release program fits the bill. Some background will help. When Congress passed the landmark Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, in the interest of truth in sentencing it abolished parole at the federal level and eliminated all but a few opportunities for a judge to revisit and shorten a sentence once it had become final. One little-known opportunity permits courts to order the immediate release of prisoners in extraordinary and compelling circumstances. Although Congress did not restrict this opportunity to situations where an inmate was in grave medical condition, the relief which became known as compassionate release was limited to such cases. But, and this is important, a judge cannot act unless the BOP asks the court for the sentence reduction. Before 1994, the BOP would only file motions in court to release terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. It did not matter if the inmate was bedridden or suffered from advanced dementia, or how many taxpayer-funded medical services he required. In 1994, the BOP slightly broadened its qualifications to include those with a terminal illness and less than a year to live, but it made no difference. BOPs macabre standard became known as the death rattle rule, as in, no death rattle, no release. Despite the wider standard, during the 1990s, an average of 21 inmates a year received compassionate release, a figure that represents 0.01 percent of the federal prison population. Sentencing reform groups, including Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), were dismayed by BOPs cruel administration of the compassionate release program. The Bureaus nonsensical stinginess resulted in families being kept from their incarcerated loved ones when they died, and in taxpayers footing the bill for extraordinary, end-of-life health care expenses that could have been shouldered by inmates or their families. In 2007, the U.S. Sentencing Commission adopted sentencing guidelines to broaden eligibility for the compassionate release program. The Commissions amendment was an overdue but straightforward interpretation of the Sentencing Reform Act. It interpreted to the Acts extraordinary and compelling circumstances to include, but not be limited to, instances where: (1) the inmate is suffering from a terminal illness; (2) he is suffering from a permanent physical or mental health condition that prevents him from caring for himself and from which he is not expected to improve; and (3) the death or incapacitation of the inmates only family member capable of caring for the inmates minor children. The BOP responded to this not-too-conservative, not-too-liberal interpretation by promptly ignoring it. Instead, it has continued to follow its grisly death rattle rule. Nothing has changed. The rate of compassionate release motions filed by the BOP from 2000 to 2001 is the same as it was during the 1990s: an average of just 21 per year. In roughly 24 percent of those motions, the inmate died before the district court even had a chance to rule on the motion. Even the lucky ones are often forced to spend their final days fighting the BOP bureaucracy. Under the BOPs rules, nearly every layer of the bureaucracy gets a chance to say no to an inmate seeking compassionate release.... The need for compassionate release is only going to grow. First, the number of older prisoners has increased by 750 percent nationwide over the last two decades. Second, the BOP is already suffering from severe overcrowding; its facilities are operating at 138 percent of capacity. Lastly, Congress is facing a massive budget problem. Though it is asking agencies to look everywhere for cuts, the BOP is seeking an increase of more than $80 million to activate two new prisons. Even if administered correctly, the compassionate release program cannot solve BOPs overcrowding problem or Congresss budget challenges, but it can help. Taxpayers need not subsidize expensive medical services for inmates who pose no threat to public safety. Ultimately, however, we need to expand the compassionate release program to save more than money. We need to do it save our nations soul. May 25, 2012 at 08:10 AM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e2016305d24a0d970d Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Effective commentary urges greater us of "compassionate release": Comments In 1988, there was a significant shiver that assaulted the nation's soul. We have yet to shed the fear of Willie Horton or, as regard's Julie's morally and fiscally correct plea, the fear of unleashing a Willie Horton. Posted by: alan chaset | May 25, 2012 8:37:33 AM 'Ultimately, however, we need to expand the compassionate release program to save more than money. We need to do it save our nations soul.' So we need to release murders and other violent offenders in order to save our souls.Because if a murder is dieing that in some way mitigates the crime that put them in prison to begin with. Some magic wand is waved that makes the murder suddenly okay. If you want to release non-violent criminals to make room. Okay, at some level I would agree. But violent criminals should serve their entire sentence. Period. Posted by: jim | May 25, 2012 12:59:34 PM The prison-industrial complex has a vested intersts in keeping as many persons incarcerated for as long as possible. Posted by: anon13 | May 25, 2012 1:49:25 PM I may have the only personal experience with this issue of anyone who will write a comment on this blog. I was a practicing lawyer before going to prison in 2000, for 8 years. In September 2005, during my time (2 1/2 years) at U.S Penitentiary-1, Coleman, Florida (a maximum security prison), I prepared a Petition for Compassionate Release for the man who was then believed to be the longest-serving inmate in the entire Federal prison system (then 108 prisons!). He had been convicted of Kidnapping Resulting in Death in June 1964, when I was 2 years old. By the time I met him, he was a frail old, chain-smoking man (he died before the BOP did away with tobacco products in 2006) in a wheel chair. He was terminally ill with cancer, which had spread throughout his body. Because he was illiterate, the Warden told him to get someone to help him prepare a Petition for Compassionate Release, so that he might die on the street with his people, instead of in prison. His friends referred him to me, as I was arguably the most highly educated inmate (and only "real" lawyer) in the prison. One reason that Wardens don't like having inmates die in prison is that they have to call the local Coroner (who is a State, not a Federal employee) to come investigate deaths inside the prison itself. When near death, some inmates are moved to outside hospitals, so that they will die in a place where no Coroner's investigation is necessary. If the inmate dies in prison, the BOP must also bear the cost of either cremation or transporting the body to his family for burial. Also, inmates in Penitentiaries (where 2/3 have life sentences) get upset at seeing the dead bodies of their fellow inmates being removed upon death. The problem with the current BOP Compassionate Release policy is that it takes far too long (more than 6 months!) to get a decision, after the prison doctor has diagnosed the inmate as terminal. The inmates die in prison before their Petitions can move thru the bureaucratic decision-making process. Such Petitions must be approved by the Warden, the Regional Director, the Director of the BOP in Washington, D.C. (and his senior medical staff)and by a Federal Judge. Unless the process is streamlined and shortened, all terminally ill inmates will continue to die in prison or in hospitals near their prisons, not with their families. In the case I worked on, one morning in September 2005 the inmate was discovered dead in his cell after breakfast but before work call. I watched his cellmate (who discovered him dead) sit outside and cry for half an hour. The prison's inmates were locked on their living units and work call was delayed for 2 hours while the Coroner came to investigate and take his body away. The body was removed thru back hallways, so that the other inmates would observe it being removed. Inmates regularly die at Federal Medical Centers (FMCs, medical prisons, such as exist at Butner, N.C., Dallas, Tx., Rochester, Minn. and Lexington, Ky.), which actually have hospice units for the terminally ill. Palliative (non-medical) care is provided by other inmates. The FMCs are always locked down when the bodies are removed. The current Compassionate Release system is cruel to both the inmates and their families and should be revised. Posted by: Jim Gormley | May 25, 2012 2:14:56 PM Jim, Death sucks. So? Our decisions have consequences. One of the consequences of deciding to kill someone is the real chance that you will not die with your family at your bedside (probably the same fate the victim of the person in your example experienced). The murderer sealed his own fate and it has nothing to do with a cruel system. Posted by: TarlsQtr | May 25, 2012 2:51:49 PM It's depressing that people like TarlsQtr exist -- people who would respond as he did to Mr. Gromley's words. Posted by: Calif. Capital Defense Counsel | May 25, 2012 3:38:55 PM "It's depressing that people like TarlsQtr exist." Hey TarlsQtr, I guess that means you're supposed to commit suicide -- but when you do, please use "compassion." This wonderful blog has more than its share of amusement value. Posted by: Bill Otis | May 25, 2012 4:00:53 PM 'The current Compassionate Release system is cruel to both the inmates and their families and should be revised.' Not for anything it was cruel that your clients victim had to die. If some is sentenced to life in prison, then that means he should die in prison. Becoming old and sick changes nothing. Posted by: jim | May 25, 2012 5:08:51 PM How about the people Bill Otis sent to prison for life for non-violent, victimless, drug crimes? Should they be left to die in prison? Posted by: Calif. Capital Defense Counsel | May 25, 2012 5:42:04 PM Mr. Gormley, y are not the only commenter with personal experience in this area. If your "client" was convicted of an offense that occurred in 1964, he was sentenced under pre-Guidelines law. Therefore, after serving, what, 41 years(?) he was either ALREADY eligible for parole (and denied by the US Parole Commission), or he had a non-parolable natural life sentence. In either event, the decision to release was NOT in the hands of the BOP, or the Courts. Either USPC d the discretion to grant parole and denied it, or he was sentenced to die in prison. Precisely what sort of relief were you/he seeking? And incidentally, for those who complain of the taxpayers footing the bill for terminally ill [pateients in prison, precisely who do you think is going to pay for hospital care if the dying inmate is released? It simply comes out of a different taxpayer pocket (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) Posted by: anon | May 25, 2012 6:12:41 PM CCDC -- "How about the people Bill Otis sent to prison..." They might have taken the trouble to obey the law, not that that ever counts with you. BTW, I didn't send anyone to prison. Only judges do sentencing. Maybe you should have learned that by now. Posted by: Bill Otis | May 25, 2012 7:31:53 PM Bill Otis, it must be wonderful to be white, highly intelligent, come from a stable family, get a great education with encouragement from highly motivated parents, have a great career, earn money, buy a house. Yes, in such circumstances its easy "to obey the law," particularly when the law in large part is made by people such as yourself. In its majesty the law forbids the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under bridges. If only everyone could be like you, there would be no prisoners at all. Posted by: onlooker | May 25, 2012 8:54:48 PM Onlooker - your comments are on the money, but Bill Otis is not highly intelligent. No highly intelligent person could be a true believer and willing participant in the war on drugs. Bill Otis is. He is responsible for many decent, non-violent people being put in cages for decades. Posted by: Calif. Capital Defense Counsel | May 25, 2012 9:14:48 PM onlooker -- I can't help being amused by your Marxist-lite list of my characteristics. Have we met? I don't recall it. In order to avoid being arrested, I actually employed a different set of criteria from the ones you set forth. The criteria are widely available no matter what your race, income, family status or vocation: 1. Don't steal stuff. 2. Don't lie to or mislead people with legitimate authority (or, preferably, anyone). 3. Get a normal job and keep at it even if occasionally annoying. 4. Stay away from drugs you know are illegal. 5. If you're in school, stay there until you graduate. 6. Get married before you have kids. 7. Be honest even if it makes you look bad. Only that builds trust. 8. Resolve your disputes without violence. 9. Pay your own bills and expect others to pay theirs. 10. Quit nursing grudges and complaining. Everybody has problems. Would you mind telling me which of those standards is available only to rich, white Stanford graduates? If you want me to admit that these are largely the standards of the repressed, Puritaniical, boring, un-hip Fifties, not a problem. That's exactly what they are. And if you want to tell me how much the country has improved by adopting the do-your-own-thing, follow-your-own-rules, drugs-for-everyone, crime-is-only-a-capitalist-construct, get-someone-else-to-pay-your-bills standards that became popular thereafter, feel free to do that too. The huge majority of our citizens of all races and all economic circumstance avoid committing serious crime. This is because they understand, even if you don't (or refuse to) that the ten rules listed above are not that hard to live by. Posted by: Bill Otis | May 26, 2012 9:30:28 AM Bill: While there are many criminals who should be in prison (particularly violent ones), the length of sentences and conditions of incarceration in the U.S. (as well as the numbers of people incarcerated) are far beyond those of any other country on earth. The U.S. has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of it's jail and prison inmates. We incarcerate people at 5 times the rate of our peer First World countries. More than 20 million Americans (6% of the adult population) has a felony conviction. U.S. Senator James Webb (R.Va.) introduced a Bill (which hasn't been enacted)that would have appointed a Blue Ribbon Panel to review and revise the entire Federal criminal justice system. As Senator Webb has pointed out, the above-referenced statistics mean one of two things. Either Americans are five times more criminal than the citizens of other First World Countries, or there is something fundamentally wrong with out criminal justice and prison systems. When I was in one Federal penitentiary, I found a 22-year old black inmate from D.C. who had received a mandatory life sentence (3 or more felony drug convictions) pursuant to section 851. The total amount of drugs involved in his 3 felony possession convictions was 8 ounces of marijuana and 3 grams of heroin. It will cost the Government more than $2 million to keep him in prison for the next 50+ years. And I think there is something fundamentally wrong with a system that can and will impose those kinds of sentences on such a young man over such relatively small quantities of drugs. The Bureau of Prisons should also follow its own regulations, Federal statutes and the amendments to the Guidelines concerning Compassionate Release. As the F.A.M.M. article makes clear, they had to capitulate when a lawsuit was brought against them in Federal Court for not following their own rules. Posted by: Jim Gormley | May 26, 2012 11:57:01 AM Jim Gormley -- If people would follow the ten easy, ordinary rules I set forth in the post before yours, imprisonment in this country would wither to next to nothing. It's simply and demonstratively no use to keep complaining about the system, which is largely the same no matter which party is in power, when the true key to reducing incarceration lies in our own behavior's back yard. Posted by: Bill Otis | May 26, 2012 3:32:31 PM Bill, I agree that the fifties were peaceful wonderful years for childhood. I know I've told this story before, but here it is again. In the fifties my husband and a group of friends captured the town law enforcement officer. They took his guns and tied him to a tree. For this outrageous prank they all received a good talking to. If a group of teen agers were to try this today their lives would be quite different. Posted by: beth | May 26, 2012 6:36:41 PM beth -- Your comments confirm what I've thought for some time now: That if you and I sat down for a lunch, we'd agree much more than we'd disagree. Posted by: Bill Otis | May 26, 2012 7:41:24 PM Onlooker stated: "it must be wonderful to be white, highly intelligent, come from a stable family, get a great education with encouragement from highly motivated parents, have a great career, earn money, buy a house." I know many people that have almost none of those things and get by just fine without robbing liquor stores. And guess what? It is not even rare in this great country, where a lowly Cherokee squaw can rise up to write cookbook recipes and run for the US Senate in Massachusetts. Posted by: TarlsQtr | May 27, 2012 12:05:35 AM CCCP stated: "It's depressing that people like TarlsQtr exist..." I always pictured you walking in a largactil shuffle from your Thorazine cocktail. Thanks for the confirmation. Posted by: TarlsQtr | May 27, 2012 12:15:06 AM TarlsQtr -- This Elizabeth Warren story is one of the most revealing displays about the heart of liberalism I've ever seen. Totally priceless. It pits against each other the two principal, reigning liberal dogmas: (1) insert yourself into some grievance group, so you can grab the moral high ground and talk with condescension to everybody else; and (2) lie to your heart's content, secure in the knowledge that your membership in (1) with enable you to shout over, and brand as racist, anyone with the poor manners to have noticed, and said out loud, that you're fibbing. Really, a true classic. Posted by: Bill Otis | May 27, 2012 8:50:17 AM I'm seriously happy to discover this great site the future of this discussion is getting good and more useful for me. Thanks for sharing. Posted by: GED Testing system | May 29, 2012 6:28:52 AM The President asked that the Federal Bureau of Prisons expand this program of Compassionate Release. Aside from entering a drug rehabilitation facility the only way to obtain an early release from a federal prison would be through this program. The Federal Bureau after the President's request has made it clear that they will not expand this program beyond their 'death rattle rule'. The President increased the budget for the federal prison system as no measures are being taken to decrease the population or growth. Posted by: lyn | Feb 20, 2013 10:03:30 AM I found this blog and its very interesting to me to see what people think about compassionate release. I am working on trying to get my brother approve for compassionate release. My brother was in prison for durg felons, did his 8 year, came out for about to months and then went back in because he violation parole by drinking was sentence back into prison for another 9 months. Then about a couple weeks later he was diagnosis with a Brian tumor deceied to go through with the surgery and when we got the news he wasn't going to make it. But when we got there day by day he was slowly making progress. They approve him for furlough. He was in the hospital for about two months having surgeries after surgeries. Then right when he was getting better they moved him to a FMC prison. Now he is a little slow, remembers the past but the present is still very foggy for him. To me I just don't understand why do they take so long to approve a compassionate release. I really feel the if you are not doing a life sentence, you didn't kill anyone they should be a little easy on the process because when you have a love one who going through a brain injury they are going to need a lot of therapy and help to a go recovery. I just don't know why they make the Federal law so taught and sometime I think is ridiculous. Like for example when my brother went in for surgery we were so worried about him, call the prison they would not inform us about his condition until about two weeks later on the day after his second surgery that didn't go so go they finally inform us to let us know his condition was very poor and wasn't going to make it. But I think that it's not wroth to keep a person in prison when they only have a couple months to finish their time in prison who is either ill or is physically or mentally disable. Posted by: Linda | Dec 11, 2013 3:31:52 PM Do you know what are the step for compassionate release??? Because parole did come out to look at the place that my brother will be living at so do you know how much longer he has till they approve the compassionate release?? Posted by: Linda | Dec 11, 2013 3:37:30 PM Bill Otis: Your list for avoiding arrest seems to identify behavior that many members of the U.S. Congress have difficulty conforming to. Hard to believe in that lily-white, highly educated, privileged bastion of truth. 1. Don't steal stuff. 2. Don't lie to or mislead people with legitimate authority (or, preferably, anyone). 3. Get a normal job and keep at it even if occasionally annoying. 4. Stay away from drugs you know are illegal. 5. If you're in school, stay there until you graduate. 6. Get married before you have kids. 7. Be honest even if it makes you look bad. Only that builds trust. 8. Resolve your disputes without violence. 9. Pay your own bills and expect others to pay theirs. 10. Quit nursing grudges and complaining. Everybody has problems. Posted by: Judgg Naught | Feb 17, 2016 5:48:46 AM Post a comment Reviewing just some of the Miller meshugas in some states | Main | Fraud sentencing of National Lampoon CEO no laughing matter (though recommended sentence are funny) November 30, 2012 New report assails (lack of) compassionate release in federal system Back in 1984, Congress gave authorities the power to let people out of federal prison early, in extraordinary circumstances, like if inmates were gravely ill or dying. But a new report says the Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few inmates from taking advantage of "compassionate release." The federal prisons house more than 218,000 inmates but, on average, they release only about two dozen people a year under the program. By contrast, the state of Texas, no slouch when it comes to tough punishment, let out about 100 people on medical parole last year, researchers say. "Why are so few people getting out?" asks Jamie Fellner, a senior adviser at Human Rights Watch who helped write the new study. "You have a prison system that is grotesquely overcrowded, you have prisoners who pose no meaningful threat to public safety and yet they're being denied release?" Fellner says she's convinced the culture of the federal prisons and the Justice Department acts as an iron curtain for all but the sickest inmates people with less than a year to live, who can't even walk or use the bathroom on their own, let alone commit another crime.... Mary Price, general counsel at Families Against Mandatory Minimums, helped write the new report. She says she's tried to help Mahoney and many other inmates win compassionate release. "We don't sentence people to die alone in prison when we've given them a five-year sentence," she says. Price says Congress gave judges the authority to make decisions about which prisoners could be released for "extraordinary and compelling" reasons. But under the rules, the Bureau of Prisons has to petition the court first. And the bureau usually says no without ever involving the court. For instance, Price and Fellner say they couldn't find a single case in the last 20 years where prison authorities had granted a compassionate release for an inmate to care for young children after a spouse or partner died, even though Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission expressly left open that option.... Advocates at Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums are calling on the Bureau of Prisons to open up its procedures. And they're asking Congress to pass a law that would allow prisoners to go directly to the courts if the bureau shuts them down. The Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, is reviewing the program, too. He says it could help save money and cut down on prison overcrowding. As highlighted via this NPR piece , headlined "Federal 'Compassionate' Prison Release Rarely Given," Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums have today released a big new report criticizing the poor administration of the federal compassionate release program. Here are excerpts from the NPR piece: The full report is available at this link, and here are two paragraphs from the lengthy report's summary: Congress authorized what is commonly called compassionate release because it recognized the importance of ensuring that justice could be tempered by mercy. A prison sentence that was just when imposed could because of changed circumstances become cruel as well as senseless if not altered. The US criminal justice system, even though it prizes the consistency and finality of sentences, makes room for judges to take a second look to assess the ongoing justice of a sentence. Prisoners cannot seek a sentence reduction f or extraordinary and compelling circumstances directly from the courts. By law, only the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP, the Bureau ) has the authority to file a motion with a court that requests judicial consideration of early release. Although we do not know how many prisoners have asked the BOP to make motions on their behalf because the BOP does not keep such records we do know the BOP rarely does so. The federal prison sys tem houses over 218,000 prisoners, yet in 2011, the BOP filed only 30 motions for early release, and between January 1 and November 15, 2012, it filed 37. Since 1992, the annual average number of prisoners who received compassionate release has been less t han two dozen. Compassionate release is conspicuous for its absence. November 30, 2012 at 12:54 PM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e2017d3e51aa71970c Listed below are links to weblogs that reference New report assails (lack of) compassionate release in federal system: Comments It appears that since 1992, some 4000, persons, give or take, have been released under the compassionate release program. It be interesting to know the recidivism rate during this 20 year period for persons given compassionate release. Posted by: C | Nov 30, 2012 4:11:21 PM hmm "Although we do not know how many prisoners have asked the BOP to make motions on their behalf because the BOP does not keep such records we do know the BOP rarely does so." Well first maybe it's time thier bosses damanded they keep those records and make them public information and second maybe we need a clean sweep thourght bop and ask the inmates Posted by: rodsmith | Nov 30, 2012 11:18:08 PM I agree with you rodsmith. The BOP needs some oversight. They seem to be running wild with no repercussions from anyone. Posted by: Jill | Dec 1, 2012 9:52:17 AM My husband died from pancreatic cancer. The death certificate listed cause of death as pancreatic cancer. Compassionate release was denied last December and he died alone in prison this past April. The BOP denial letter said he did not have cancer. Posted by: Widow | Dec 2, 2012 9:21:28 AM Hello, my name is Rebecca. My husbands brother is incarcerated at Butner Correctional Facilty, in Butner , North Carolina. He has liver cancer. He was told he has only 6 to 9 months to live December 2012. He applied for a compassionate release, to which they denied. He is in need of a surgery and they will not approve it.He has tumors that spasm,that cause him pain. His wife just left him , and his children are in need of him. We are looking for any help in any form, please point us in the right direction. Thank you , Rebecca and Terry Florez Posted by: Rebecca | Jul 2, 2013 12:25:40 PM Post a comment "Clemency: Old Problems and New Solutions" | Main | Is the death penalty now essentially dead in North Carolina? Federal sentencing law has been indefensibly harsh for a generation, but in theory it has contained a safety valve called compassionate release. The 1984 Sentencing Reform Act gives federal courts the power to reduce sentences of federal prisoners for extraordinary and compelling reasons, like a terminal illness. In practice, though, the Bureau of Prisons and the Justice Department, which oversees the bureau, have not just failed to make use of this humane and practical program, but have crippled it. That is the disturbing and well-substantiated conclusion of a new report by Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums. From 1992 through this November, a period in which the population of federal prisons almost tripled from around 80,000 to close to 220,000 inmates, the bureau released 492 prisoners under this program. This is a mere two dozen or so on average each year, and the number has so far not surpassed 37. The percentage of prisoners released has shrunk from tiny to microscopic.... The United States Sentencing Commission has identified several extraordinary and compelling reasons that could justify compassionate release: terminal illness, a permanent physical or mental condition, impairment due to old age, the death or incapacitation of a family member who has been solely responsible for the care of the prisoners minor children. But as things have turned out, the human rights report says, virtually the only ground the bureau accepts for compassionate release is a terminal illness with up to a year of life expectancy. To make matters worse, even when the prisoner meets its excessively strict tests, the bureau itself decides whether the prisoner should be set free in effect usurping discretionary powers that Congress awarded the courts. The report offers some sound remedies. Congress should modify the law to give prisoners themselves the right to seek compassionate release from a court. Congress should require the bureau to publish all program data, including the number of requests denied and why. And Congress should reaffirm the role of the courts as final arbiter. In (sentencing) memoriam: why I am already missing Justice Scalia | Main | US Sentencing Commission to conduct hearing on compassionate release and conditions of supervision February 14, 2016 Prognosticating SCOTUS possibilities in light of existing politics One of many reasons last night I first thought of Loretta Lynch as a SCOTUS nominee was because I think that, for both legacy and political reasons, Prez Obama may be very interested in nominating someone who is (1) an African American, and/or (2) a woman, and/or (3) someone who has been already confirmed to a significant federal position by the current GOP-controlled Senate. The only person who came to mine filling all three of these criteria is current Attorney General Loretta Lynch. In this lengthy post at SCOTUSblog, Tom Goldstein talks through his thinking on this front and seems to share my view of the key factors political and practical likely to motivate Prez Obama here. But, seeing some practical problems with nominating AG Lynch, Tom concludes his post stating that "at this point I think that Judge Paul Watford is the most likely candidate." Especially because I recall Tom being spot-on in a lot of prior SCOTUS nominee predictions in recent years, I am now inclined to view Judge Watford as something of a front-runner now. Of course, there are any number of other possibilities, and here are some helpful "short-list" articles from various thoughtful court-watchers worth checking out: from Josh Gerstein at Politico; from Dahlia Lithwick at Slate; from Dylann Mathews at Vox. After reviewing these lists, I see two additional candidates who (like Judge Watford) satisfy two of the three criteria I have listed at the outset of this post and who, in my view, have some other possible political/diversity benefits. Here are their names and backgrounds via the Vox piece: Jane Kelly US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Any nominee is going to have to go through the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). And no nominee is going to make Grassley happier than Jane Kelly, a career public defender from Iowa whose nomination for the federal bench Grassley championed, leading to a unanimous confirmation in 2013. She was also, coincidentally, a Harvard Law School classmate of Barack Obama's, graduating with him in 1991. Her record as a defense attorney might spark some objections from law-and-order-oriented conservatives in the Senate, but it's hard to argue she lacks empathy for victims of crime. In 2004, while jogging, she was tackled and beaten by a male stranger, requiring months of recovery before returning to her practice. None of this guarantees she will be confirmed. But if Kelly is not confirmable, it's hard to imagine anyone is. Jacqueline Nguyen US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit By contrast, Watford's colleague Nguyen who was born in Vietnam and would be the first Asian-American justice was confirmed the same month as him in 2012, by a whopping 91-to-3 margin. She's also a UCLA Law alum, and is only 50, meaning she'd have a nice long tenure. She got some criticism from liberals for filing a lone dissent defending a police officer who tased an innocent bystander, but if anything that should help her win over Republican votes. She also is far better versed in hovercraft moose-hunting jurisprudence than any other SCOTUS contender. But Nguyen is also, for better or worse, a bit of a blank slate without that many major decisions on her record (with a possible exception being a First Amendment case where she and two Republican colleagues found a school uniform policy unconstitutional). That makes it hard to judge what kind of justice she'd be, which could make both Obama and the Senate more hesitant. The fact that both of these women were confirmed without any significant opposition from the Senate makes them both, I think, look like more moderate picks than folks likely Lynch and Watford. In addition, for practical reasons, I think it is very significant that Judge Kelly is from Iowa and has Senator Grassley as a backer. For political reasons, the fact that Judge Nguyen is an immigrant (and did not go to any Ivy League schools) makes her a uniquely interesting possible nominee. Prior related post: UPDATE: I am intrigued to now see Tom Goldstein has this new post up at SCOTUSblog on this front which get tarted this way: This post substantially revises and supersedes my earlier one on how the political parties will likely approach the Scalia vacancy, in which I had concluded that Ninth Circuit Judge Paul Watford was the most likely nominee. On reflection, I think that Attorney General Loretta Lynch is more likely. I also think that the Republicans will eventually permit the nomination to proceed on the merits and reject it on party lines. February 14, 2016 at 03:29 PM | Permalink Comments Picking the wrong candidate, one that is too far to the left, before the primaries will only fuel the grass roots populism of certain candidates. I hope there is a cautious pause before anything is even discussed. (former OSU student from RI) Posted by: Douglas | Feb 14, 2016 3:44:43 PM I don't understand the woman aspect. He has already nominated two women, both who have been confirmed. This isn't to say he can't or must not nominate a third but it is to say that his legacy on that front is already sealed. I don't see an addition to his legacy on that front by nominating a third one. 2000 years in the future: Legal scholar one: "But hey, it says that some guy named Obama only nominated TWO women when he could have nominated THREE women." Legal Scholar two: "Right, this is what I am sayin'. The whole country fell apart after that! What kind of loser only goes 2/3 of the way!" Posted by: Daniel | Feb 14, 2016 4:24:45 PM http://abovethelaw.com/2016/02/who-will-obama-nominate-to-replace-scalia-a-gamblers-guide/ Above the law now has a post up. The most intriguing is bringing Sandra out of retirement. If Obama wants to do his duty and punt the ball, it is possible though at her age why the hell would she want to do it?! Posted by: Daniel | Feb 14, 2016 5:00:06 PM The main point of nominating a woman, Daniel, is political: Dems always want and need women, especially young women, to be motivated to come out and vote for them. This is one big reason why we often hear "war on women" talk around election time. If Obama nominates a woman, every female Dem plays up claims of gender bias if/when the male-dominated GOP Prez candidates and GOP-male-dominated Senate seeks to prevent even a vote. In addition, at least a few of the six female GOP senators are considered relatively moderate and may feel particular disinclination to vote against an impressive female nominee. Another possible benefit of a female appointment would be to free up a future Prez not to be quite so concerned about gender issues when replacing Justice Ginsburg in coming years. But this seems a much less significant concern than the short-term political one. Posted by: Doug B. | Feb 14, 2016 5:49:25 PM Obama should nominate a moderate Republican. It would still be a net gain for the left on the Court (Scalia being the opposite of moderate), and the Republicans in the Senate might pause before vetoing a fellow Republican. Posted by: sagebrush | Feb 14, 2016 6:26:47 PM Re Jane Kelly, I can't see a career public defender getting through this Senate, no matter how well-respected. Posted by: sagebrush | Feb 14, 2016 6:29:25 PM "I think that Attorney General Loretta Lynch is more likely." Eh. ANOTHER non-judge especially now? Come on. Tom Goldstein is really overthinking things there, trying a bit to sound all wise and politically savvy. I'm still thinking the Indian-American judge on the top of Dahlia Lithwick's short list would be the most logical choice. I understand the value of making up for lost time regarding nominating a woman, but do think two is not a bad deal. A public defender on the bench would be a nice touch though. The Grassley angle is interesting. Posted by: Joe | Feb 14, 2016 6:46:00 PM @Doug. I think both you and Tom are mistaken and you risk costing Hillary the Presidency on this basis (maybe that's the point, IDK). The fact is that your argument is deeply sexist. What has astonished me about the most recent election cycle is how young women understand the argument is sexist and resent it for being sexist. The fact is that the majority of young liberal women support a 70 year old man; Sanders won the under 30 female vote by a 6-1 margin over Clinton in Iowa. Dems always want and need women Not any more. This type of argument is going to lose the vote of liberal women, not gain it. They want to be judged on their own merit, not because of their vagina. BTW, this is one reason why Warren has been so quiet this election cycle. She knows that some of her most important shock troops in future election cycles are young liberal women. She doesn't want to alienate them by endorsing Hillary before she has too. It is crucial to her own future political ambitions that she not been seen as endorsing Hillary just because she is a woman. If it is perceived that Obama has nominated another woman because of the fact she is a woman that is going to be seen as a provocation by young liberal women rather than a placation. This generation gap between young liberal women who perceives the revolution as over (having won it) and the older generation that perceives it as not being won yet is one of the most interesting aspects to this election cycle. In this regard another female could actually harm Obama's legacy, rather than enhance it. Posted by: Daniel | Feb 14, 2016 6:52:43 PM Tom Goldstein knoes exactly as much as the rest of us when it comes to a potential nominee: zilch. Posted by: GrizzlyBear | Feb 14, 2016 8:03:21 PM I would like a Supreme Court Justice who has tried criminal cases on behalf of defendants in his/her career. Right now there are 8 Justices who have never done that and only one has tried a jury trial as a lawyer. The person on the 8th Circuit who was a public defender would be acceptable to me. Posted by: Liberty1st | Feb 14, 2016 10:10:14 PM Daniel: you are right that young women are not drawn to female tokenism. But Obama would nominate someone clearly qualified, and I think she could be an appealing focal point for gender politics. Hillary is struggling to secure the young liberal white female vote because she is from a different generation and she has serious credibility issues and the Clinton name. But those voters will not swing the general election, it will be the soccer moms. Posted by: Doug B. | Feb 14, 2016 11:37:00 PM Incredibly sad that the one institution in the USA that should be totally independent from politics, is a martyr to it. No wonder the rest of the justice system is so twisted in a reflection of it. Posted by: peter | Feb 15, 2016 8:54:42 AM To be fair peter, the nomination process is given to political actors, so it's going to be at least somewhat political by design. Posted by: Joe | Feb 15, 2016 10:06:14 AM A person who was a public defender and is now an appellate judge would add some knowledge to the other eight justices who never tried a case for a defendant in their narrow lives. That women on the Eighth Circuit needs to be looked at. Posted by: JackMehoff | Feb 15, 2016 1:08:07 PM I would note, in considering possible nominees, that seven of the eight current justices spent most of their pre-court career in the Washington-Boston corridor. While there is no requirement for geographical diversity on the court, there are great legal minds that practice or sit on the bench in other parts of the country. Posted by: tmm | Feb 15, 2016 4:49:06 PM Jane Kelly, it is. Posted by: Joe | Feb 15, 2016 7:47:34 PM Judge Jane Kelly has an Irish name. The Irish have long been discriminated against. Remember the movie Blazing Saddles where the mayor agreed to let the Freedmen in and then paused and yelled: But Not The Irish! Well, its time for an Irish woman to be on the Court. Posted by: Liberty1st | Feb 15, 2016 7:48:54 PM Post a comment Two men are dead and a third fights for his life after an early-morning shooting at one of San Francisco's most popular tourist spots, and a San Francisco Supervisor is blaming the deaths on a shortage of police officers. According to San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Sergeant Michael Andraychak, officers were called to the Twin Peaks lookout at 2:06 a.m. Sunday. When they arrived, they "located three adult males suffering from apparent gun shot wounds." Of the victims, a 19-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, while a 18-year-old and a 21-year-old were transported to the hospital. The 21-year-old has since died, Andraychak says, and the 18-year-old "remains hospitalized with life threatening injuries." According to the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office, the man who died on the scene has been identified as 19-year-old Rene Mora, and the man who died at the hospital was identified as 21-year-old Julio Peraza. Both are residents of Santa Rosa, the ME's office said. According to Andraychak "the suspect, an adult male, targeted these victims and fled the scene after the shooting." He has not been seen since, and no arrests have been made in the case. KTVU reports that "It is unclear if the shooting was captured on nearby surveillance cameras." Speaking to CBS5, District Eight Supervisor Scott Wiener appears to suggest that the shooting was a result of SFPD staffing issues. Acknowledging that the area has recently been plagued with crime, Wiener says that "we've had some real challenges up on Twin Peaks, particularly auto break-ins, some violent crime, but mostly auto break-ins." "We don't have enough police officers, we need more police," Wiener says. Last summer, Wiener co-sponsored an ordinance requiring the SFPD to increase staffing based on San Francisco's uptick in population. In July, Wiener argued that the influx of SF residents means SFPD needs to have a minimum of 2,279 police officers instead of the current minimum of 1,971 police officers. However, a SF Budget and Legislative Analyst report released in January "determined that if the Police Departments staffing level is altered, then it should be based on the departments workload demands, rather than based on an increase in San Franciscos population," the Ex noted last week. A minimum staffing level based on population is not considered a rigorous and analytical staffing method," the report read. The Board should request that any changes made to the minimum staffing level should be based on a workload-based assessment that accounts for department-specific conditions, as well as a comprehensive examination of historical workload data." Welcome to my corner of the world! Glad you dropped by. Browse around and discover a collection of QSL cards from international broadcasters, old and new. Read an article or two about radios and the hobby of radio listening. Happy DXing!!! Chronicles of my thoughts on practically anything and everything. SIOUX CITY | The attorney for a man accused of shooting a Sioux City police officer took the rare step Monday of seeking a gag order to prevent police and prosecutors from further commenting publicly on the case and his client. Matthew Metzgar said that comments made by Sioux City Police Chief Doug Young and Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings concerning previously dismissed kidnapping charges against Isaiah Mothershed would make it difficult for his client to receive a fair trial in Woodbury County. "The matter should be tried before a jury based upon the facts it is presented and not comments by the prosecution and law enforcement in the media," Metzgar said in his motion. Mothershed, 18, of Sioux City, was arrested last week on two counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree robbery in connection with a string of robberies and the Feb. 7 shooting of Sioux City police Officer Ryan Moritz in an apartment at 2947 Park Ave. Metzgar also asked that the trial be moved from Woodbury County because those same comments by Young and Jennings, plus media coverage of the case, would make it hard to find an impartial jury here. A hearing on the motions will not be scheduled until after the county attorney's office files a trial information, a court document containing the official charges Mothershed will face, court administration officials said. That document could be filed by the end of the week. In his motion, filed Monday in Woodbury County District Court, Metzgar took issue with Young's comments that appeared on a Feb. 9 front-page story in the "voice of Siouxland" Sioux City Journal. That story referenced Mothershed's arrest on kidnapping charges in July for an incident in which Mothershed was accused of binding, blindfolding and burning a man and a 17-year-old boy, then putting them in the trunk of his car. The two later escaped. Jennings later dismissed the case, saying more evidence was needed. Young was quoted during a Feb. 8 news conference saying, "It's very disturbing to the department and officers who work hard here to put criminals in jail. I don't know what the circumstances were to dismiss the charges, but we know what (Mothershed) is capable of doing, he's shot a police officer." Metzgar then quoted a story from the Feb. 10 issue of the Journal in which Jennings said the case remained open and he would be refile charges if necessary evidence was gathered. "Anytime you have an individual you believe committed certain acts and crimes, you want to see them brought to justice," Jennings was quoted as saying in the article. If granted, the gag order would prevent the police department and county attorney's office from publicly making statements or releasing information about Mothershed or other witnesses, expressing an opinion of any evidence that might establish guilt or innocence or making out-of-court statements about any evidence gathered in the case or prior investigations involving Mothershed. Young said Monday that he had not planned to release any more information about the case. "What's been said's already's been said, and there's nothing else to say," Young said. Jennings said in an email that he would not comment on Metzgar's motions. Leesa McNeil, court administrator for Iowa's 3rd Judicial District, which includes Woodbury County, said she could not recall a gag order being sought by an attorney in her 33 years in the district. In that time, McNeil said, judges have issued court-initiated orders limiting attorneys' public comments in various cases. Mothershed remains in the Woodbury County Jail on a $300,000 bond. Police said that he pulled a gun from a couch while his hands were handcuffed behind his back and shot Moritz in the leg while awaiting transport to the jail. During an ensuing scuffle, the gun fired again, and Mothershed was shot in the leg. He spent three days in the hospital before being released and booked into the jail. He is suspected in five robberies, all involving firearms, from Dec. 7 through Feb. 6. He is also accused of firing a shot at a homeowner who was chasing him after interrupting one of the break-ins. Six others have been arrested in connection with the robberies. SIOUX CITY | Alvin L. Dickes, 68, of Sioux City began his journey home to Heaven on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, at a local hospital after a 2-year courageous battle with complications from numerous surgeries. Services will be 1 p.m. Tuesday at St. Michaels Catholic Church in South Sioux City, with Monsignor R. Mark Duchaine officiating. Burial will be in St. Michael's Cemetery at South Sioux City. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., and a vigil service at 7 p.m., at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Online condolences may be given at www.meyerbroschapels.com. Alvin was born Oct. 7, 1947, in Hartington, Neb., the son of Irvin and Hilaria (Koch) Dickes. He graduated from South Sioux City High School in 1966. Alvin married Janet Johnson-Graves on May 10, 1975 in South Sioux City. He worked for Flavorland, Floyd Valley, Siouxland Beef and John Morrell, and owned and operated Als Tree Service until his stroke in 2004. After his recovery, Alvin enjoyed working as a greeter at the South Sioux City Walmart. He always joked with the customers and asked if they brought their helmet because Walmart had "falling prices." Alvins passions in life were spending quality time with his family, especially his grandkids, his tree cutting business, cheering on his favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, having his daily coffee at Harveys Restaurant, and snuggling with his cat, Casey. Alvin was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Halloween was his favorite holiday, and he always looked forward to seeing his grandkids in their costumes. Alvin was known for his great sense of humor and making everyone laugh by cracking jokes and doing crazy things, which he continued to do until his last day. One of his famous sayings was, "Where would you be without a laugh." He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. Survivors include his wife, Janet of Sioux City; children, Alvin Jr. and wife, Kelly Dickes of Ventura, Iowa, Tim and wife, Deanna Graves of Sioux City, Terry and wife, Amy Graves of Sioux City, Brad Dickes of Clear Lake, Iowa, and April and husband, Dan Jolin of Dakota Dunes, S.D.; 10 grandchildren; four great-grandsons; brothers, Gerald and wife, Kelly Dickes of Sioux City, and Larry Dickes and Kenneth Dickes, both of South Sioux City; and sisters, Sandy Harvey and Barbara Dickes, both of South Sioux City, and Judy Dickes and Debbie Faber, both of Sioux City. He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Michael; and sisters, Patty Dickes and Donna Rojas. VERMILLION, S.D. | Residents in the Phi Delta Theta house at the University of South Dakota campus woke up Sunday morning to a statement spray-painted on the house that officials call baseless. The phrase We date rape was scrawled in yellow paint on the side of the west side of the house, facing North Dakota Street, sometime in the early morning Sunday. The spray-paint has since been mostly removed from the buildings surface, but university officials say the investigation will not end there. We take actions like this very seriously, President James W. Abbott said in a statement. USD will cooperate fully with the Vermillion police investigation. Laura Roof, coordinator of Greek Life at USD, said the harmful statement was unwarranted and uncalled for toward the fraternity. It is a very big statement against the fraternity, but the university has no reports on file of any sexual assaults (there), so theres no reason for us to believe we need to investigate the fraternity, she said Monday. "We are more concerned with their safety and well-being at this time." Sgt. Isaac Voss with Vermillion police said a preliminary investigation suggests that one person participated in the vandalism. But with no witnesses and no security cameras on the premises, suspect information is limited. However, Voss emphasized that the chapter members have not been investigated for any such crimes. Its important that people here know that there isnt anybody who lives in those fraternities that are under investigation for any sort of crime, let alone something as serious as a sex crime, he said. Roof said as of now, it is unclear if the suspect is a current student or not. Should a student be found responsible, he or she will face discipline as determined by the Student Rights and Responsibilities office on campus. But while information related to the suspect is gathered, the fraternity seeks answers why it was the target of the allegation. We really didnt understand why someone would vandalize our house, chapter president Tyler Isackson told The Volante, USDs student newspaper Sunday. (We were just) in a panic mode with us trying to get it taken care of. Right now were pretty calm with the situation and we just hope that we can possibly find the person who committed the act. Phi Delta Theta members have no clue as to who is responsible, Isackson told the Volante. No one was injured in the incident. Roof said students in the fraternities and sororities are aware of the dangers and repercussions of sexual assaults. Students receive training about what to do in event of a sexual assault and the Title IX deputy on campus is active ensuring claims are followed and handled appropriately. Mike Wahba, director of chapter service for Phi Delta Theta general headquarters, said the statement made against the house opposes the core values of Phi Delta Theta. Phi Delta Theta has a zero tolerance for sexual assault, he said in an email to the Journal. In fact, the fraternity implemented 'Taking a Stand: Preventing Sexual Misconduct on Campus,' a mandatory program designed and provided by the Fraternal Health and Safety Initiative to all of its chapters in 2015. Wahba added that the national chapter is working with local alumni volunteers and the university to gather more information. DES MOINES | Gov. Terry Branstads plan to fund water quality improvements by extending a school infrastructure tax cleared one hurdle in the Iowa House Monday, but lawmakers heard concerns from several groups representing school interests. After hearing from more than a dozen lobbyists, two members of a House Agriculture subcommittee signed off on House Study Bill 601. This the first step in maybe a long process, Rep. Lee Hein, R-Monticello, chairman of the subcommittee and Ag Committee, told more than 60 people who attended the subcommittee hearing. Well at least try to keep the conversation going. In his Condition of the State address in January, Branstad proposed addressing statewide water-quality by extending the state sales tax dedicated for school infrastructure for 20 years. The first $10 million collected each year would go to support school infrastructure. Revenue over and above that would go toward the water quality initiative. Branstad projected schools will still be getting $20.7 billion for infrastructure otherwise funded by property taxes while $4.7 billion will be channeled to improving Iowa waterways. Subcommittee member Rep. Peter Cownie, R-West Des Moines, welcomed the proposal because of the growing tension between agricultural interests and those concerned with water quality. He said two proposals for addressing water quality have been put forward during the past year the Des Moines Water Works suing northwest Iowa counties and the governors plan. I like this way a lot better, he said, adding that the lawsuit has brought attention to a serious issues that affects Iowans. Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge, didnt sign off on the bill, Although shes pleased lawmakers are continuing to move the ball forwards, shes not convinced this is the only way to do this. At his morning news conference, Branstad said his approach is gaining growing support from environmental, business and agricultural groups, along with leaders in education and he is willing to incorporate ideas from legislators to get the initiative approved this session. However, speakers representing school boards and administrators as well as the states largest schools and rural schools voiced concerns that if some sales tax revenue is diverted there wont be enough funding for infrastructure needs. The way HSB 601 is written, it could reduce funds earmarked for property tax relief from $6 million to $210,000 a year. Municipal and private water utilities and rural water associations were concerned that as the bill is written excludes them from being eligible for funds. They are eligible now for funds from many state water infrastructure programs. Representatives of farms groups and commodity organizations were supportive, saying their members want to be part of water quality efforts and HSB 601 would provide a source of cost-share funding. Ted Stopulos of the Governors Office offered an amendment to give schools flexibility to use the funds for transportation needs, for example. However, the funds could not be used to build stadiums and projects with a price tag of $1 million nor more would be subject to voter approval. The bill is not subject to the Friday deadline for legislation to make it out of a full committee to remain eligible for consideration because it is in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which makes it exempt from funnel provisions. Local search drives more clicks and calls than any other marketing channel, making it the most effective marketing technique for small business. Not convinced? Just ask the BrightLocal team, which found that local search delivers a greater ROI than other digital marketing channels, according to its September 2015 survey. Further underscoring this finding: 34 percent of small business owners told BrightLocal that if they could only choose one marketing channel, theyd pick local search. Is your company feeling equally bullish about local search? If not, thats understandable. Googles rollout of Google My Business a combination master dashboard for Google Plus, Google Maps and Google Search (and confusingly the latest iteration of Google Places) has left plenty of small businesses confused. Keeping up with Googles ever-changing search algorithm can be hard enough, not to mention keeping tabs on the latest local search changes. Location proximity and industry categories play just a small role in Google map listings. In order for your business to rank highly, when it comes to Google My Business local SEO, you need to master the art (and science) of local SEO, starting with Google My Business. For over 13 years Ive been doing local SEO for many of our clients, and Ive seen every change from search engine algorithm updates to the look of Googles search results, including local and mobile. One solid way to attract visitors to your website and to your business, especially if youre a brick and mortar business, is by having an optimized Google My Business page. said Seth Rand, Founder and CEO of Rand Marketing. For example, lets say you live in Philly, youve just been in a car accident and need a great injury lawyer. Google Philly injury lawyer and before you even see a listing of websites, youll see a map with the top three local results. Heres the kicker: these Google My Business local SEO results are oftentimes different from the search results below the map, which could be informational pages on finding credible personal injury attorneys or a Pennsylvania attorney directory. The local listings are what your prospective clients or customers will see first; thats why ranking highly in these listings matters so much. In this case, the top ranking is for The Law Offices of Joel J. Kofsky. So how can your company get to the top of Google map rankings like The Law Offices of Joel J. Kofsky did with Philly injury lawyer? Heres what you need to know. What is Google My Business? Google My Business is a master dashboard that connects your business directly with customers, whether theyre looking for you on Search, Maps or Google+. Think of it as a master information hub from which you can manage all things Google. Once youve verified your account, youll need to confirm that your accounts NAP (name, address, place) information is correct, along with your business hours. This information will be visible in search results, so its absolutely critical to keep up to date. How Does Google My Business Impact Map Ranking? A number of different factors will impact your map ranking, including complete NAP information. Reviews can impact your ranking as well, and can also give you some valuable insights into what clients think about your business. Consider this search for find a doctor charlotte NC. Carolina Physicians Group is listed in the top three search results with three reviews. Click on these reviews, and the top one is pretty critical about the ability to get appointments, even though it was from two years ago. While a single bad review wont sink your local ranking, cumulative negative reviews can discourage customers and ultimately hurt business. How Do I Optimize My Listing? Once youve claimed your company profile, the next step is to optimize your business information. This includes inputting the correct location, choosing the relevant business categories, adding images (with appropriate keywords), inputting correct hours of operation, and keeping tabs on your reviews. Google places is one of the only platforms online that is fully free and can generate amazing business leads almost instantly if you know how to optimize your map properly, we made a very special and unique guide that sums it all up for google maps marketing and a few bonuses. said Guy Sheetrit, Founder and CEO of Over The Top SEO Conclusion Once youve mastered your Google My Business local SEO properly, its time to target third party visibility through other local search sites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, Bing, and Refer Local. Create local content, strategize keywords, build quality links and capitalize on social media outreach to drive local traffic. Glad to have you back for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 . The idea is to promote blogging and friendship and allow you to get to know yoursel... Disclosure This blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. There are many fitness goals out there that we desire. Some of us want to be leaner and others wish to put on muscle mass. The thing is, for you to achieve your fitness goals, you need to LA PLATA, Md. (Feb. 15, 2016)It was like any other day. Other than Keymar Green's youngest brother, Joshua-Jaydin being home from school sick, nothing was out of the ordinary. "It started out like a regular day," Keymar, a Thomas Stone High School sophomore, said. But 6-year-old Joshua-Jaydin, who has severe asthma, was still under the weather for the third day, so Monique Woods, the boys' mother, took him to the doctor. After landing in the ER for a few hours, Joshua-Jaydin returned home. Woods, getting ready to run out to pick up the medications her youngest son needed, called on Keymarwho was nappingto keep an eye on Joshua-Jaydin who also was asleep. Then he woke up. "He was hysterical," Woods said, adding that he wasn't aware of his surroundings and was having trouble breathing. Keymar woke up when he heard his uncle yelling. The house was frantic. Someone had called 911, Woods was attempting CPR. She knew how to do it, but in the moment she froze. "I saw her with my brother," Keymar said. "She had tears in her eyes." "He put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Mom, I got this,'" Woods said. Two weeks earlier he had come home from school excited, showing off a certificate saying that he was CPR certified. He took it in Angela Juergens-Connolly's health class at Stone. The certificate went up on the refrigerator. It's still there. The teaching of cardiopulmonary resuscitation was mandated for high school students in 2014. Dubbed Breanna's Law, it went into effect at the start of the 2015-16 school year and is a graduation requirement. Keymar's CPR training helped save his brother's life. Joshua-Jaydin is a vivacious first-grader who wants to be a policeman when he grows up. "His energy makes me feel old," said Keymar, 15. Keymar isn't "Mrs. J.C.'s" only student who was put to the test. Jenesis Andrews-Kendale, also a Thomas Stone sophomore and a friend of Keymar's, was working on homework one evening when her mother, Rachelle Andrews-Mobley was checking on Jenesis's grandfather, Gerald Andrews, who lives with them. The 69-yesar-old has dementia and would sometimes "play possum," Jenesis said. That evening he said he wasn't feeling well. Andrews-Mobley was going to leave him alone, let him take a nap. Jenesis, who had learned the warning signs for strokes thanks to a project she had just turned in for health class, knew something wasn't right. The left side of her grandfather's face was drooping, his speech was garbled. Jenesis asked her mother to call 911. Once at University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center, they learned Andrews did have a stroke and while there, had a second one. "I'm ecstatic that health is one of those things that has not been taken out of schools," Andrews-Mobley said. Juergens-Connolly's said she tries to stay current on health issues and has a "no heads down" rule in her classroom. But health is something that her students are genuinely interested in, she said. There are no daydreamers in her class. "This is stuff about them," she said. "It relates more to me than some of my other classes," Keymar said. "You have to take that stuff seriously," Jenesis said. "Because it really could help." "It makes me feel good that they pay attention," said Juergens-Connolly who has been with the school system since 1999. "They're the ones who are putting it into practice. I'm just teaching what I'm supposed to." "Jen took it seriously," Andrews-Mobley said. "She learned something and was able to apply it to help our family." The 27-year-old homeless man accused of killing a psychiatrist in a Gayborhood hotel may have two public defenders representing him at his next court appearance. Manuel Baez currently is retaining private-practice attorney Paul Michael Dimaio, according to court records. Its not clear what motivated the change in representation. Dimaio did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Philadelphia Municipal Judge David C. Shuter presided over a Feb. 10 preliminary hearing for Baez, which was ultimately continued. Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore asked for a Feb. 16 status hearing to assure public defenders could be appointed. She recommended Francis Carmen and Susan Ricci because they had previously worked with Baez, whose last known address was in Bethlehem. Baez faces charges of criminal homicide, robbery and related offenses. He was denied bail and is being held in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. Baez was arrested in connection with the Dec. 21 death of Dr. Howard Baker, 75, of Lower Merion Township. According to authorities, Baker was staying at Rodeway Inn at 12th and Walnut streets, a couple blocks from his practice in the 1400 block of Walnut Street. A housekeeper at the hotel discovered Bakers body around 11 a.m. He was naked on the floor with a belt wrapped tightly around his neck. The cause of death was ruled strangulation, according to Officer Leeloni Palmiero, a Philadelphia police spokesperson. Investigating officers determined two males visited Bakers room separately the evening before his body was discovered. The second was seen leaving the room just after midnight with Bakers wallet and backpack. Authorities contend this person was Baez. A motive has not been released. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Puerto Rican judge Maite Oronoz Rodriguez has been nominated to head the U.S. territory's Supreme Court as the first openly gay chief justice in the United States. Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced the nomination on Friday afternoon calling it a ``new time'' for Puerto Rico's judicial branch. At 39, Oronoz Rodriguez is also the youngest member of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court. ``It's time to strengthen justice to face the challenges'' and "to pass the administration of justice to present generations who will live the results,'' the governor said in making the nomination. The 39-year-old was first appointed to the high court in June 2014. She previously served as the commonwealth's deputy solicitor general and chief legal counselor for the city of San Juan. In accepting the nomination, Oronoz Rodriguez said it was time for her to ``step down from the podium and receive with open arms a citizenry that demands human justice.'' Her nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. Oronoz Rodriguez is in a public relationship with Gina Mendez, the chief of staff for Senate President Eduardo Bhatia. Gay rights activists hailed the nomination. ``With this nomination, Maite Oronoz Rodriguez makes judicial history; not just in Puerto Rico, but for the entire country,'' said Lambda Legal attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan. He called the nomination ``a significant step towards a judiciary that reflects the growing diversity of the United States.'' Lambda is a nonprofit group that aims to achieve full civil rights for gay people. The religious group Puerto Rico Pro Family criticized her lack of experience. Spokesman Cesar Vazquez Muniz attributed her nomination to her political connections and sexual orientation. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Utah Senate committee has approved a proposal adding protections for gay and transgender people to the state's hate crime law. The bill would also dole out stiffer penalties for any crimes against a person or their property if the action was motivated because of the victim's race, disability, gender or other protected traits. St. George Republican Sen. Steve Urquhart sponsors the measure and says Utah's existing hate crimes law isn't strong enough for anyone to be prosecuted for a hate crime. Several conservative and religious groups opposed to the measure say they worry it makes thoughts and beliefs a crime and carves out special protections for some classes of people. A Senate judiciary committee voted 5-1 Thursday evening to advance the measure to the full Senate for a vote. Development in the sector is good, but mostly comes from EU funds. Font size: A - | A + AFTER several years of decline, Slovakias construction sector significantly improved last year. This was mostly the result of the country trying to draw the last European Union funds from the package allocated for 2007-2013 period. Though analysts say that the sector will continue expanding also this year, the growth will not be as rapid as in 2015. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement After the construction boom in 2008, conditions in the sector kept deteriorating every year. In 2015, however, the situation started stabilising, Zsolt Lukac, head of the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia, told the TA3 news channel. The construction sector bounced from the bottom and has a chance to move forward, Lukac told TA3 in October 2015. Over the first eleven months of 2015, construction output amounted to 4.8487 billion, up by 17.1 percent year-on-year. Domestic output grew by 17.8 percent to 4.6226 billion. The volume of works in new construction, renewals and enhancements rose by 24.5 percent to 3.4557 billion, while repairs and maintenance works rose by 2.8 percent to 1.1262 billion, according to the data of the Statistics Office (SU). Non-domestic output grew by 5.7 percent y/y. Concerning the structure of domestic output, the share of new construction, renewals and enhancements grew by 4.1 percentage points to 74.8 percent, the share of repairs and maintenance works was reduced to 24.4 percent, according to SU. The sector benefited mostly from massive investments into infrastructure construction, caused by the need to exhaust EU funds from the previous programming period which Slovakia needed to spend by the end of 2015, said Lubomir Korsnak, analyst with UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia. The production in this segment increased by 50 percent y/y on average, while it amounted to 70-80 percent in summer, he added. In the second half of the year, however, the growing economy and restoring residential real estate market drew also the building construction sector which was able to partially substitute the infrastructure sector which gradually started losing dynamics due to completion of the EU-funded projects, Korsnak told The Slovak Spectator. Though the production in the building construction sector was good, it still lags behind its 2008 maximums by nearly one-third, he added. Road construction helps Transport Ministry spokesperson Martin Kona confirms the impact of state investments into big infrastructure projects on the construction sector. More intensive construction and modernisation of roads and railway corridors as well as finishing the 2007-2013 programming period in some operational programmes undoubtedly impacted the dynamics of construction for a while, and also increased employment in this sector, Kona told The Slovak Spectator. Also Jiri Vacek, head of CEEC Research company, says that mostly transport infrastructure helped construction grow in 2015, particularly the orders from the Transport Ministry. Deriving the funds had a significant impact, and the government tried to use the maximum of funds and exhaust the sources to construction, Vacek told The Slovak Spectator. The companies are, however, afraid of what will happen after EU funds are exhausted. One of outcomes may be that there will not be enough work for employees. Though the country will start drawing funds from the 2014-2020 period in the beginning of 2016, the impact on economics will not be as massive as in 2015. The volume of public investments may thus decrease, Livia Vasakova, economic advisor to EC Representation in Slovakia, told the Hospodarske Noviny daily. The value of public orders, however, has already dropped by 22.3 percent between January and August 2015. The employers may thus be afraid they will not have enough orders, which may result in layoffs, Vacek told Hospodarske Noviny. The positive impact of public investments on employment growth is only temporary, and there is a question whether it will continue growing also after the funds are exhausted, INESS think tank analyst Robert Chovanculiak told Hospodarske Noviny. Kona says that drawing the EU money will continue also in 2016, especially when it comes to big infrastructure projects. Thus they do not expect any negative impacts on construction. Better protection of small firms The year 2015 saw several small construction companies going bankrupt, as a result of late payments they received for their work. The late payments are considered one of the biggest problems which complicate doing business in the construction sector, the public-service RTVS reported in late December. The problem was re-opened mostly in connection with the Vahostav scandal, when the construction firm did not pay most of its suppliers. The situation improves, but it still remains very serious, Vacek told RTVS, adding that the improving conditions are mostly due to the fact that companies refuse to take orders for dumping prices. One way to improve the situation is the introduction of the bank guarantee. Every company willing to construct highway or expressway sections will have to show it. If they are late with payments, the guarantees will be paid to smaller suppliers, RTVS reported. Construction companies, however, warned that the guarantee may increase prices. Another measure, which came into force in the beginning of 2016, allows companies not to pay VAT from unpaid invoices. While originally the changes were to apply only to companies with an annual turnover of 75,000 and less, the final document increases the upper limit to 100,000, according to RTVS. Companies active in the construction sector welcomed the change, though some firms considered the limit low. Lukac told TA3 that the adopted measures may help prevent tax evasion. Scandal with stability The second half of 2015 brought another big issue. Media outlets reported that Apollo Business Centre 1 in Bratislava and Centroom multifunctional building in Piestany (Trnava Region) have problems with their stability. Both buildings were emptied in October due to structural flaws and a danger of their collapse. Experts say that pressure to reduce costs and construction times and insufficient supervision are behind increasing problems with the structural stability of these buildings. Back in the summer of 2012, a similar problem occurred and the roof of a five-storey garage of the 3nity development in Bratislava collapsed just two weeks before it was set to get final approval. The incident took place on a Sunday, averting injuries. That, however, was not the case when a highway bridge under construction collapsed close to Kurimany in November 2012, that left four workers dead and 11 injured. The Apollo, Centroom and 3nity projects are connected with the name of one structural designer, Jan Tomcani. After the collapse of the roof in 2012 he was stripped of his licence he held between 2001 and 2013 and charges were filed against him. Thanks to the initiation of public discussion about these problems, the situation partially improved and investors began paying more attention to the quality of the companies which will carry out their projects, Vacek told The Slovak Spectator. In many cases, however, the competitions are decided based on the lowest price regardless of the quality, so nothing is won yet, he added. Growth should continue The construction sector should expand also in 2016, though the growth will not be as massive as in 2015, analysts say. We expect that after completing the EU-funded projects the segment of infrastructure construction will significantly drop in annual terms, Korsnak said. No significant highway construction began last year, the completion of competitions on several stretches was postponed to the beginning of this year, including the definitive decision over construction of the new Bratislava bypass via PPP projects. The big infrastructure projects will gradually start again later in the year, he added. The loss caused by infrastructure projects will be partly compensated by the growing segment of building construction, though not right from the beginning of 2016. All in all, we expect the construction sector will maintain last years production level, Korsnak added. We still expect the more significant launch of investments, particularly from private investors, said Vacek, adding that the private investments may impact also the employment growth in the sector. AT ITS programme conference that took place a mere 21 days before the general election, the ruling Smer party promised an improvement in quality of life and again focused on the refugee crisis, which prevailed in public awareness the past few weeks despite problems in education and health care. Font size: A - | A + Political analyst Grigorij Meseznikov considers the conference on February 13 an effort by Smer to stop the decline in election preference polls. Prime Minister Robert Fico deemed the refugee crisis a risk if Smer was not included the next government. The attitude towards refugees will also be critical in talks concerning a future ruling coalition, election campaign head (incumbent Culture Minister) Marek Madaric said, as quoted by the Sme daily. Smer plans to create the government with one of the standard political parties - the ruling party considers opposition Christian-Democratic Movement (KDH) and Most-Hid; as well as its former coalition partner, the Slovak National Party (SNS) to meet this criterion. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Most-Hid leader Bela Bugar says it is not necessary to threaten voters with migrants when Slovakia has one of the toughest asylum systems and that it is not wise to weaken Slovakias position in the EU hinting at the refugee quotas lawsuit against Brussels. Fico announced that if his party is in the next government they will not withdraw the lawsuit. The PM also repeated the statement that compact communities are unwelcome but this time he did not single out Muslims. We will not create any compact communities with a different religion, he stated, without specifying what he meant by this. His previous statement about the need to prevent the forming of a compact Muslim community had been handled by the General Prosecutors Office, which turned down the accusation that those statements were of criminal content. The prime minister promised voters, for example, an increase in minimum wage; the document lacks, however, specific proposals to solve problems in the education system, or nurses wages. Meseznikov said, as quoted by Sme, that a complete election programme should include specific proposals, proceedings and solutions for all spheres which Smers is missing. The programme approved at the conference consists of four points, each of which is elaborated in several sentences. The partys goals include increasing minimum wage to 500 monthly (by 2020), creating 100,000 new jobs, slashing the unemployment rate to under 10 percent, keeping stable prices and abolishing regional economic differences. As for education and health care, the party promises to fulfill its pledges, in agreement with representatives of school and nurses organisations. Among the biggest risks of electing opposition parties, Smer sees a government composed of several inhomogenous, disparate parties, and placing refugees in Slovakia. The original political programme of Smer was published on January 12 on its website and included a mere five sentences, deemed general phrases by analysts. The conference in Banska Bystrica was meant to enhance the programme priorities. Smer held a programme conference in 2010 as well, but at the time it was two months until the election, rather than three weeks. SLOVAKIA has been positively affirmed by Fitch Ratings. The agency has affirmed Slovakias long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at A+, with a stable outlook. Font size: A - | A + It says that its A+ ratings balance robust institutions, including the countrys membership of the eurozone which has helped attract foreign investment, against a fairly high GDP volatility that reflects sector and market concentration. Fitch foresees a stable growth for the country, at 3 percent yearly, mainly boosted by strong domestic consumption. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Effectively, this means that it is an attractive country in the eyes of foreign investors who monitor data of rating agencies and build factories or lend money accordingly, the Pravda daily wrote. Moreover, Fitch Ratings expects a gradual reduction of the state budget deficit and public debt, regardless of potential changes in political leadership and policies, thanks to positive macroeconomic development and improved tax collection. The agency also appraises considerable progress in solving unemployment and good macroeconomic development, the finance ministry informed the SITA newswire. I am glad that we are a country which constantly works at improving, Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said. Our positive direction has been appreciated already by a second rating agency [after Standard & Poors] which expressed trust in us by its evaluation. The Standard & Poors rating agency on January 29 confirmed Slovakias rating at A+ with a stable outlook, whereby Slovakia, along with Ireland, now has the ninth-best rating from among 19 eurozone countries. WHISTLEBLOWER Oto Zarnay was right about the allegations that he made about the school in Kosice, where he worked as a teacher until he was fired in 2013, and its ungrounded spending of public finances, the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) audit found. Font size: A - | A + Oto Zarnay was a regular teacher at the Business Academy Polarna in Kosice. He also served as the head of the school board at his school. In 2013, Zarnay started pointing to discrepancies in accounting and financial services of the school. The Business Academy set a public procurement for the provision of the external legal services for 10,000 for the 2010-2012 period. Zarnay requested a reasonable explanation from the school management, since this sum was quite immense for that kind of service. Zarnay was not put off by the unwillingness and evasiveness of the school to clarify the purpose of these financial resources, but his curiosity did not pay off for him, since he was fired in May 2013, officially due to organisational reasons. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement However, a disappointed Zarnay, who had been teaching Slovak language at the Business Academy Polarna for 25 years, did not give up and has been arguing with the representatives of the school that his dismissal was not justified. Zarnay also initiated an investigation of this case at the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) and its current director, Karol Mitrik, decided that an extraordinary audit would be carried out at the school. Although the audit lasted longer than originally expected, NKU finally reached its conclusions in mid-February. The auditors took a look at the budget, accountancy books and internal control system. A breach of financial discipline amounting to 51,000 occurred, owing to the use of public resources beyond the legal scope, said the spokeswoman of the Supreme Audit Office, Daniela Bolech Dobakova for Dennik N. Neither the rules concerning the provision of the public resources (almost 49,000) were met, nor their economical spending (more than 2,000). NKU auditors also found that the school did not determine the subject of the order precisely and it did not keep all the documents after signing the contract, which is also illegal. Furthermore, NKU found that the contract for legal services was signed for 5,400 in 2010 and in April 2012 for another 6,600. Nevertheless, the Business Academy Polarna was not able to come up with relevant evidence that would prove to what purpose this money had been used. The school argued that these sums were set approximately according to available price determination. However, NKU ascertained that one other school in Kosice had a contract with the same legal company, but 1,800 cheaper. NKU thus confirmed that financial fraud occurred at the Business Academy in Kosice. Zarnays dedication and determination was also awarded by the civil associations Fair-Play Alliance and Via Iuris in 2013, when he was awarded the White Crow award for whistleblowers. Oto Zarnay, who had been unemployed for more than one year after being sacked, is now running in the upcoming parliamentary elections for Ordinary People and Independent Personalities-NOVA (OLANO-NOVA) and welcomed the conclusions of NKU. I am glad that three years after I pointed out non-transparent usage of the financial resources at the school where I was teaching, my suspicions have been finally confirmed, he said as quoted by the SITA newswire, and added that truth will always win at the end and its worth risking for it. The school, however, voiced dissatisfaction with the results, which it labelled ungrounded and will probably resort to appeal procedures. The NKU press release is not based on the Protocol about the result of NKU audit because, for instance, it states disutility of legal services that is not stated in the Protocol at all, said director of the Polarna school Peter Ivan for Dennik N. Tomas Kolar The joint declaration indicated how "deeply united" Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill are in recognizing the suffering "because of a lack of reconciliation and respect." "They showed how much the world needs Christ, and spoke with great love and concern for the good of humanity and especially for the welfare of our Christian brothers and sisters who are being persecuted," McPartlan stressed, lauding their "noble, urgent and prophetic" message. Rev. Dr. John P. Burgess, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary professor, called last weeks meeting a "breakthrough," despite the two leaders "skillfully" avoiding areas of disagreement. "Today Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill have publicly recognized each others moral authority. While the two churches will not unite anytime soon, this meeting points the way to greater friendliness and cooperation," Burgess argued. "Nothing that they said makes me cynical. On the contrary, it gives me great hope that Christians from different churches and traditions can speak with one voice." Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse from the American Orthodox Institute argued that Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis historic encounter carefully treads the "prism of Cold War politics" "The message was written with full awareness of the very real differences between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches but at the same time affirmed the common cultural legacy that remains from the periods when Rome was still in communion with her Orthodox brethren," Jacobse observed. The importance of the two denominational leaders' meeting was highlighted in the joint statement, which lamented "the transformation of some countries into secularized societies, estranged from all reference to God." "Russia has firsthand knowledge of the damage secular forces can bring while the Christian West seems to be rushing headlong into the kind of secular darkness from which Russia is emerging," Jacobse stressed. Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis meeting last week was ever more pressing to highlight the "shared cultural legacy" of Christianity amid what he termed a "secular assault" against the religion. De Watt's found an extravagant way to market his product by showing the entire process of his air business from capturing the air into bottles and shipping it to his customers in China. This way, people can see exactly from where the products come from and for what they're paying a hefty price. "With other companies, artists and students, who bottled air before, there was never any evidence to show from where they actually bottled it from, so I thought the best thing to do is to show the whole process," the man shared his secret with Radio Sputnik. De Watts and his friends go around various places around Britain, including Dorset, Somerset, Wales, Wilshire and Yorkshire, where there is clean air and make sure to show how they gather the product and put it into bottles. The air entrepreneur currently lives in Hong Kong from where he runs his own company called Aethaer, which he proudly calls as the "Louis Vuitton or Gucci" of fresh air. After downing the plane Erdogan ran to Nato for protection, half-hoping for a shooting war with Russia. Yet Moscow kept its cool and proceeded to exact a different kind of revenge. It doubled down on its strikes against of the jihadists answerable to Ankara who held the piece of Syrian territory along the Turkish border. Soon enough the area was mostly liberated by the Syrian army, and the supply lines from Turkey to the jihadists holed up in parts of Aleppo were cut off. Now it looks like the entire city may soon be completely purged of the rebels. So the jubilation over poking Russia in the eye proved short-lived, as the Turks soon realized that they bit off more than they could possibly chew. Now Erdogan is being reduced to blackmailing his hapless Nato allies into fighting his Russian battles. With his Syrian strategies lying in ruins, one of the few options still open to him is to play the refugee card. In recent times Erdogan has acquired an unusual hold over the Europeans, as witnessed by his bragging about being able to drown Europe in refugees that Turkey has accumulated from the Syrian conflict. With Europe essentially at Ankaras mercy, its politicians have little choice but to do Turkeys bidding. Germanys chancellor Angela Merkel, in trouble at home for her misguided refugee acceptance policies, recently went to Turkey to plead with Erdogan for relief. Faced with the threat of more refugees being unleashed upon the beleaguered Europeans, she agreed to play Erdogans game and lashed out at Russia for alleged civilian deaths in Aleppo and causing a humanitarian crisis. Yet Merkels indignation lacks conviction. She knows full well that the people fleeing Aleppo are mostly jihadists and their cohorts. Merkel must also be aware that Turkey has been tightening its border controls in an effort to cause entry bottlenecks, thus creating the impression of a human tsunami coming at it. But her fear of jihadists soon turning up on Germanys doorstep under the guise of refugees is probably real. Turkey has also been scheming on the diplomatic front in an attempt to ward off the defeat in Syria. Together with the Saudis and Syrian rebel groups it has been trying to torpedo the Geneva talks between Damascus and the opposition. Demands were made for the talks to be delayed until after the governments advance on Aleppo halts. Yet Russia is unlikely to fall for such trickery. The Russian-Syrian-Iranian coalition can be expected to press on until such time when the time is right for them to stop. In any event, the demands seem to be empty bluster since the Turks are not in a position to materially affect developments on the ground. By unnecessarily antagonizing the Russians Erdogan has dug himself into a hole. Had he chosen to work with Russia instead of fighting it, his country would have had a chance to get a honorable seat at the table of the Syrian settlement. Now all that is in doubt, to say the least, and Turkeys position looks increasingly irrelevant and untenable. Well, it's different. I've visited Lvov, Ternopol, Kiev, Odessa and Mariupol. Yes, I should admit that the majority in Western Ukraine are against Russia and Russians. Some even call them "trash" and "drug addicted". There was this funny moment at the hotel when a girl at the front desk talked with us only in Ukrainian. For her it was obvious that we should know Ukrainian so she didn't even try to talk in English with us. But I can't say that western Ukrainians support Poroshenko and his government. They support only the EU and desperately want to join it. You can see many EU flags in many places in West Ukraine. In Odessa I didn't see EU flags at all. We met and spent several days with a lot of pro-Russian people there and we visited Kulikovo Polye. I can tell that, even after the extremist terrorist act of May 2nd 2014 these people are ready to fight for justice, their spirit is not broken. I want to believe that they won't see another insane attack by Ukrainian far-right extremists. In Mariupol I've spent just three days. I saw a lot of soldiers there, everywhere. - What can you tell us about the future of the anti-NATO movement in Czech and Slovakia? Surely anti-NATO feelings will rise in our society. People have started to realize that NATO is not here to safeguard us, but to provocate another conflict or destroy another country considered "evil" by the USA in yet another of their illegal wars. Of course that's not bad for the US, they'll get profit from their wars and they're too far from the zone of NATO wars and conflicts to be negatively affected. We can't say the same for us Europeans we don't have an ocean between us and the Middle East. Not long ago, NATO even attacked a European country, Yugoslavia. What can we say about them today? Can we review Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo as successful results of this war? I can't. It is difficult for me to say that NATO policy is pro-European, especially pro-Czech. Because of US/EU policy we already have millions of migrants from Ukraine and a migrant crisis from those coming from the Middle East. But it is not enough for them. They want to destroy Belarus and Russia also. And the question is Where? Where is there a successful example of their policy? Why, after all their failures they dare to call us into another conflict? - What thoughts do you have about future of Novorossiya and Ukraine? I think difficult times will come for Ukraine and Novorossiya. I don't think that Ukraine is capable of becoming EU member in close future. In my opinion, Novorossiya will be like Trasnistria 2.0. Of course, with benefits because it shares common borders with Russia, that's why it wont be easy for west to install there a blockade. -What is your plans for future? Maybe you want to visit Donbass too? In my plans to visit Russia this summer. Of course, I want to see, also Novorossiya but it will depend on my financial opportunities. Also, I want actively participate in public life of Czech and Slovakia. In recent decades, Saudi Arabia has played major role in global oil pricing. The country has enormous oil reserves (many of them are not even explored) and a great number of oil wellbores. Thus, in a short period of time, the Saudis are able to increase output and drive oil prices even lower. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, the worlds third-largest supplier, can decrease output to a point where prices will rise again. Nevertheless, despite a record deficit of nearly $100 billion in 2015 due to falling oil revenues, Riyadh is ready to keep output unchanged and, consequently, ready to even lower global oil prices. Perhaps, Saudi Arabia is ready to keep prices at a level which would make unprofitable other oil production techniques like fracking or super-deep drilling. Concerns over Chinas economy The Chinese government officially expects growth of six percent in 2016, which at first glance does not look like a reason for concerns. However, investors say Beijing manipulates its output figures and hides the actual data. The slump in Chinese markets in early-2016 was translated as a signal that the Chinese economic miracle is exhausting. Such prospects have been seeding concerns in global commodity markets. During the last decade, Chinas oil consumption rose from 7 to 11 million a day. As a result, any signal of economic slump in China immediately shocks the oil market. Warming winter in the northern hemisphere According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2015 has become the warmest year on official record since the 19th century. Due to the atmospheric phenomenon known as the El Nino Southern Oscillation, 2016 is expected to be warm too. Winter 2015/16 in the northern hemisphere was so warm that demand for heating fuel in the US, Europe and Japan significantly dropped, which in turn hit oil prices. OPEC is no longer in full control of the market The investigation has built its case on evidence provided by Irfan Peci, an ethnic Bosnian and an informant for the domestic intelligence agency BfV, who once led the German branch of the so-called "The Global Islamist Media Front," a propaganda organization associated with al-Qaeda, Berliner Morgenpost wrote. In his book The Jihadist: Terror made in Germany" published in 2015, Peci wrote that he had received 500 euros from his BfV handler, which he was to hand over to an important Islamist leader in order to build confidence and gain more information about al-Qaeda activities. According to Peci, he had earlier paid 300 euros to members of the so-called German Taliban Mujahidin group with the full knowledge of his BfV curator. The Munich Security conference turned out to be a PR-party of US neoconservatives, whose main goal was to soil Russia's reputation and present it as the world's number one enemy. A half a million euros was spent on the security for the event in 2015, a large difference compared to 350,000 euros in 2014. How high will be the costs for 2016 is yet unknown but it would be a big surprise if the event would recieve less money than before, the article said. According to the newspaper, US President Barack Obama does not support the US-neocons and is trying to work together with Russia in order to deescalate the situation in Syria. He has received support from German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who again has proved to be the voice of reason. The UK, which has jurisdiction over tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Jersey and Guernsey, was recently accused of striking a "sweetheart" deal with Internet giant Google, after announcing that the company would pay back only US$190 million (130 million) worth of tax based the past decade's earnings. Proponents of the TTIP, which is still in the negotiating phase, say the deal will be hugely beneficial to all parties involved as it will slash red-tape between the US and EU, allowing for more trade and business. However, critics say it will wash away labor and environment standards in Europe and allow large multinational corporations to undermine the sovereignty of member states in such areas such as tax. Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now said approving the TTIP "could effectively prevent us from bringing about laws that could address tax injustice." "The ability to enact effective and fair tax systems to finance vital public services is one of the defining features of sovereignty. The fact that multinational companies would be able to challenge and undermine that under TTIP is testament to the terrifying extent of the corporate grab embedded in this toxic trade deal." Concerns Over Corporate Courts The issue of corporate courts, formally known as investor-state dispute settlement systems (ISDS), have been hugely controversial amid concerns over their transparency, objectiveness and the impacts they can have on national policy. #TTIP #ISDS reform is unacceptable reason 8: No independent judges pic.twitter.com/a1PCVayt3V Friends of the Earth (@foeeurope) February 15, 2016 Proponents say such mechanisms are put in place to protect investors and ensure foreign investment is worthwhile, however critics argue that such measures are unjust and give unprecedented power to multinational corporations. The report argues that such measures are unjust, noting that while corporations can sue governments for anything perceived to have breached investment potential, "there is no comparable system of international justice for states" to do the same. "If a state has a dispute with a corporation over its tax bill, it can't launch an ISDS case this is a one-way system, accessible only to foreign investors (domestic companies can't use it either)." Cecilia Olivet from the Transnational Institute said the trade deals like TTIP need to be challenged to prevent such corporate courts from being allowed to operate in Europe. "The evidence of the dangers of these investment deals continues to mount. Not only do they affect health and the environment and cost taxpayers millions in legal fees they also affect the ability of governments to tax corporations effectively. This is yet more money lining the pockets of corporate executives stolen from the public taxpayer." The ex-chancellor supported Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer on the issue of the withdrawal of anti-Russian sanctions. Earlier, Seehofer was accused by his colleagues of playing into Putin's hands after he stressed the negative impact of anti-Russian sanctions on the German economy. Schroeder said that during his recent visit to Moscow, the Bavarian Prime Minister acted "solely in the interests of Germany" and did not attempt to pursue a course different from that of Berlin. MOSCOW (Sputnik) According to the party, Cameron said he would be holding consultations on February 16 on the proposals he had made to the European Union in order to renegotiate the countrys membership of the 28-nation bloc before the referendum. UKIP revealed that the plans had changed and Cameron would only be holding selected talks. "The Prime Minister is chicken. I received my official documentation this morning to say that I was one of several meeting the PM tomorrow morning and he has now run away scared. Frankly I'm not surprised. Not only is the deal pitiful but he would not want me exposing the fact that even if he wins the referendum, the European Parliament will veto it," Farage said in a statement as quoted by his party. Cameron vowed to hold a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union by the end of 2017. Ahead of the vote, Cameron is seeking to revise the terms of his country's membership of the bloc. In 2004 TORs programming code was released to the public and the project gained support from the Electronic Frontier Foundation an international digital rights watchdog. Nowadays, anyone with enough computer resources and free time, can own a Tor relay server, or 'node.' However, if you take a closer look at characters of the Onion Matrix, besides the likes of Neo the Hacker, you are also just as likely to find the shadow of Agent Smith. Yasha Levine a reporter with Pando Daily, in his interview to The Zero Hour with Richard Eskow, pointed out that not only was the Tor project launched by the US military intelligence complex, its also still being funded by the government: Im talking about the Department of Defense, Department of Defense grants, about CIA-connected propaganda outfits that run Voice of America, Im talking about State Department grants that are dedicated to promoting Freedom of Democracy abroad, so its pretty much a kind of a privatized project of the US government that was initially developed and designed in the US Naval Labs in DC. In 2014 a group of authors with personal and professional ties to the Tor network warned that some Tor servers in Germany were under surveillance by the National Security Agency, and NSA is actively tracking anyone who uses privacy and anonymity tools such as the Onion Router. Others, like Edward Snowden, the whistleblower and former US Government contractor who shed light on the CIA and NSA global surveillance programs, praise the Onion Router for its role in protecting people from global surveillance. Snowden said in his interview with the Tor Project website that the design of the system is structured in such a way that even if the US Government wanted to, it would be unable to subvert it because it's a decentralized authority: Without Tor, the streets of the Internet become like the streets of a very heavily surveilled city. There are surveillance cameras everywhere, and if the adversary simply takes enough time, they can follow the tapes back and see everything you've done. With Tor, we have private spaces and private lives, where we can choose who we want to associate with and how, without the fear of what that is going to look like if it is abused. Just as with many other technologies, there is a flipside to Onion Routing. Throughout the history of Tor, law enforcement agencies have shut down dozens of hidden websites dedicated to child pornography, smuggling and forgery, drugs and firearms trading. But despite criticism, Tor activists are certain of one thing the technology itself does more good than evil, and they are prepared to stand by their beliefs. A recent crowdfunding campaign helped the Tor network gather more than two hundred thousand dollars in donations from more than 5,200 people. Even 20 years after its launch, for thousands of Internet users The Onion Router technology remains a vital instrument in preserving their online anonymity and security. Dawson further said that the US has basically just drawn a red line so that they can blame everything on another party when things dont work. Who is going to [honor the] ceasefire? No one really, as the Turks are killing Kurds today and yesterday and that is continuing. We are talking about boots on the ground which is just escalation . One thing they did talk about was humanitarian aid to the areas hardest hit. They mentioned Madaya, Kerry said directly, but according to the residents of Madaya themselves, the last aid that went to the city ended up in the hands of these moderate rebels who moderately just cut peoples heads off, moderately starve people or shoot kids. So if they are sending aid they have to do a better job and make sure that it reaches people who really need it, Dawson said. Regarding the Syrian Army, the analyst said that, Every time the Syrian Army had significant gains, they wanted a ceasefire but it was only temporary so they could regroup, come back and attack again. This meeting was a lot of talk about nothing. It was funny to me to hear John Kerry say that these talks have nothing to do with the gains that have been made by Iran, Russia and Syria; and that is obviously what brought these talks about and that is obvious why they are trying to negotiate and [they] are trying to get the Russian air campaign to stop. They are claiming that [the Russians] are bombing civilians and moderate rebels, however, no evidence of that has been provided. Yet, when the US tried to provide its own evidence of an air campaign, they used footage of Russian air campaigns, the analyst said. Saudi Arabias foreign minister warned that if the Syrian political process fails, Assad will have to be removed by force. Talking about how likely such a scenario actually is, Dawson said, He is saber rattling for his Sunni, Wahhabi fanatics to get behind his position for his own political needs. I dont think even the Americans want Assad to go; their goal is to break Syria and prolonging the conflict has been the point the entire time. He further assessed the Syrian conflict and spoke about the prospects for a settlement in Syria. Against the background of the ongoing violent clashes between troops of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the fighters of the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham in the northern province of Aleppo, Turkish armed forces continue to fire on positions held by Syrian Kurds near the village of Azaz. Tark Ebuzeyt said, This morning, Turkey once again attacked the village of Der-e-Jemal, the region of Ming and an airbase, which are located in the (Kurdish) controlled territory in the Azaz area. As a result of this attack, two of our soldiers were injured but none were killed. In the area affected by the fire, a number of buildings were destroyed and heavy damage was done. The commander further stated, the attack by the Turkish armed forces will not stop us. In spite of everything, we will not stop our fight against terrorists. We will continue to fight until we cleanse the region from Daesh and similar terrorist groups, Ebuzeyt said. MOSCOW (Sputnik) In December 2015, the Turkish authorities declared a curfew in a number of southeastern regions where armed clashes between Ankara forces and PKK's fighters continue. The Turkish General Staff has said that about 850 Kurdish militants have been killed since mid-December. Kurdish activists, in turn, argue that most of the dead were civilian victims. "We believe that the main responsibility for the events in southeast of the country lies with the [ruling] Justice and Development Party (AKP)The actions of the authorities, the bans introduced by them contradict the norms of legislation," Levent Gok said. According to the official, the civilians of the region are trapped between the PKKs "extremist actions on one side and illegal, anti-democratic, inhumane policy of the government on the other." The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) is going to be first tested on April 17 and the trials will last up till September 2017. The project is structured around the main goal of tracking enemy submarines. Though it's not weapons-equipped, ACTUV can be useful not only to address a serious emerging threat but as an intelligence collection ship with zero human error. The relatively small size of 140 tons and 40 meters in length makes the ship maneuverable and highly enduring with up to 90 days of work in a row. Its maintenance cost ranges from $15,000 to $20,000 per day, according to the portal Gizmodo. According to the analyst, the allegations predicting failure for the Russian operation in Syria were based on initially false assumptions and incorrect historic remarks. "For example, comparing the Russian aerial campaign in Syria to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 is absurd! First of all, the regional and global environment has dramatically changed since then. In recent years, the Russian Armed Forces has undergone significant modernization. By 2020, they will be re-armed by 70 percent with modern equipment. [] And the operation in Syria has proved those measures highly effective," he said. According to Lombardi, Moscow has had a clear strategy in fighting terrorism in Syria, including strengthening the Russian position in the Middle East. He also noted that no one can predict the outcome of Vladimir Putins strategy in Syria. "However, I dont think Russia will lose in Syria," he underscored, saying that in fact Russian foreign policy enjoys broad support in the international arena. "Russia is not diplomatically isolated. Many major nations like India support Russia in the UN, and like China in the UN Security Council. What is more, after the November terrorist attacks in Paris, many European countries, particularly France, have started drifting away from the risky US policy in the Middle East. Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Iran and Israel are supporting Russian efforts in the Middle East. Even some Pentagon generals and strategists have called for cooperation in Moscow," the analyst explained. Previously, many analysts had expressed the view that the previous search for a compromise with the Kurds had pushed Erdogan away from the Turkish electorate. By aggravating the situation, Erdogan has spoiled the image of the AKP being a pro-Kurdish party and mobilized his part of the electorate. As a result, in the by-elections of November 1, 2015 his party AKP improved its results to 49.5 percent from 40.8. Western politicians have remained silent about the clashes in Turkish Kurdistan between security forces and Kurds, because Europe is dependent on Turkey in solving the refugee problem. Meanwhile, the United States wants to continue using the countrys Incirlik military base, Selma Irmak said. Unfortunately, the international community looks indifferent to these developments. Turkey has captured Europe, using refugees from the Middle East as a weapon against Europe, blackmailing it. The US is also silent because it has common interests with Turkey. For example, the United States wants to continue using the Incirlik airport, hence they are silent too. The Turkish Army just gets bolder from such impunity, the Turkish MP said. In December, the Turkish government announced a curfew affecting a number of Kurdish regions in south-east Turkey, particularly Sur, Diyarbakir, Cizre and Silopi in Sirnak Province, as well as Nusaybin and Mardin in Dargecit Province. In Cizre and Sura, street clashes continue between security forces and fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party. MINSK (Sputnik) Earlier in the day, the EU Foreign Affairs Council decided to partially lift sanctions from some Belorus individuals, in particular, not to extend the restrictive measures for 170 individuals and three companies whose listings are currently suspended. The ministers also encouraged increased cooperation between Belarus and the Council of Europe with a view to becoming a full member. "We welcome todays decision of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on lifting the majority of restrictive measures against Belarus and intensification of cooperation with our country. This decision marks an important phase on the way towards full normalization of relations and opens new possibilities for broadening comprehensive interaction between Belarus and the EU," Dmitry Mironchik said in a statement. According to him, the decision goes in line with the interests of Belarus, the European Union and the whole European region in general. . If you do not agree with the blocking, please use the Access to the chat has been blocked for violating the rules . You will be able to participate again through:. If you do not agree with the blocking, please use the feedback form The discussion is closed. You can participate in the discussion within 24 hours after the publication of the article. TBILISI (Sputnik) Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said Monday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) expert team will arrive in the Caucasus state later this month as part of an investigation into the 2008 South Ossetia conflict. "The ICC group will arrive in Georgia on February 27 and, of course, our Ministry of Justice will actively cooperate with them and provide all the necessary information," Kvirikashvili said after talks with ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the Munich Security Conference. In 2008, Georgia launched a military offensive against the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which escalated into a five-day war with Russia. Both regions declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s. Their statehood was recognized by Russia following the 2008 conflict. "In this context, a great deal depends on the determination of the North Atlantic leaders to influence the most disturbed NATO members, who provoke conflicts with other countries. After all, this is an issue of discipline within the alliance," Medvedev stressed. NATO's actions spur the new Cold War, but a Soviet-era confrontation is not yet underway, the Russian prime minister clarified. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference earlier on Saturday, Medvedev said that NATOs political line toward Russia signaled that ties have "slid down to the level of a new Cold War." "I never said that a new Cold War has begun, but I said that NATO decisions bring a new Cold War nearer. I said this and I will say it again," Medvedev stressed. Moscow was not interested in "permanent war," including after ground troop deployment in Syria, he clarified. "Regarding the behaviour of certain NATO member countries. If some of our colleagues from the Baltic region have constant phantom pains, if they have nightmares about the Soviet Union, seizures and uprisings," the Russian Cabinet leader said. I have ceased to post on this blog as I am now at steadyaku47.com All that is here have been included in that website and, where possibl... SLS Project is an info space for courses taught in the Anthropology Dept. at Washington U. in St Louis (Prof. Bret Gustafson). Confronting St. Louis and MO politics has made me a bit outspoken. Opinions are my own, not the university, not the students, not the department. On St. Louis: @slsproject On energy politics: @energy_politics *This post was originally posted last February 15, 2016, and was updated last September 30, 2017. Frankly speaking, Seoul has replaced Paris as the city where in-the-know girls look to see whats new, whats now, and whats next in beauty. Back in 2011, Marie Claire reported that Korean skin care is about 12 years ahead of other countries like the US and France in terms of technology. Thats why for the past decade Seoul has been a buzzed-about secret among beauty diehards. But now the secret is out and theyre expanding. Korean beauty products are more accessible these days especially in the Philippines, and thanks to Althea Korea itll be much more accessible. What is Althea Korea? What do they offer that others dont, and is it really worth buying from them? They are new in the Philippines so Im sure a lot of Filipinas have questions about their service, so here are the five things you should know about Althea Korea: 1. Althea Korea is a company that just recently received funding from a Silicon Valley venture capital firm called 500 Startups. The amount was undisclosed, but it is enough to give Althea a confidence to push outwards Korea to the Southeast Asian Market. Currently, they are in Singapore and Malaysia, and today, they just launched in the Philippines. (Update 09/20/2017: Althea is now available in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.) 2. They do not just offer the trendiest and hard-to-find products from internationally well-known Korean brands like Laneige, Innisfree, Tony Molly, Skinfood, Clio, 3CE, Nature Republic, Etude House, and Banila Co (to name a few), they also offer items from little-known brands like Piolang, B&Soap, and W-Lab that you should definitely add to your next haul. 3. Their products are 100% authentic and ships directly from Seoul, South Korea. Recently Tony Molly and Etude House filed a lawsuit against a well-known online shop in the Philippines for selling fake products. In Althea, Filipinas will no longer have to worry if they are buying fake products. 4. Althea offers free shipping on orders over Php999 and above. It takes 10 days to arrive and has a 30-Day unconditional returns and refund. They have local partners so your orders will not be held in customs, nor you have to pay customs duty. For more details, read the FAQ below. 5. Althea Korea promises that they will offer products om lowest possible price. I was lucky to be one of their Beta Shoppers, meaning I was able to shop on their Philippine website on ph.althea.kr before the official launching today. And heres what I got: 1. Etude House AC Clinic Daily Toner (Php460) // 2. Laneige Water Sleeping Mask (Php980) // 3. Clio Tinted Tattoo Kill Brow (Php750) // 4. Peris Tint Marker (Php340) // 5. Black Pack Cleanser (Php560) // 6. Missha Red Ginseng Sheet Mask (Free) I must say, without bias that 1) these are all authentic products. 2) The shipping was fast (only 1 week) despite arriving straight from Korea to my doorstep. And 3) the products are actually cheaper than those offered by local stores. For example, the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask cost more than Php1000, in some even Php2000 but I only got it for Php980 for the same 70mL size. Frequently Asked Questions FAQ: What is the Althea Philippines Discount Coupon, and how much discount will I get? ANSWER: Every new sign up to Althea Philippines gets Php150 credits that they could use to shop, but you can also get Php200 Althea discount coupon when you sign up using this link. And you can get another Php150 credit when you register for their newsletter. FAQ: Are my Althea orders will be held at the customs? And do I have to pay customs duty tax? A: No and no. Althea partnered with a South Korean shipping company that partnered with Philippines LBC shipping company. So your orders will not be held in the local postal offices customs which are notoriously slow and corrupt. And this also means you dont have to pay a pricey customs duty tax. FAQ: What if my orders didnt reach Php999, how much is their shipping fee? A: Altheas regular shipping fee cost Php260. So if your order didnt reach Php999, I recommend contacting your friends. Asked them if there are items theyve been wanting to buy in Althea so you all take advantage of the free shipping. FAQ: What are the payment methods available? A: Althea accepts credit card and PayPal, but if you dont have those they partnered with DragonPay which has 4 payments methods: 1) OTC non-bank, 2) ATM/OTC, 3) Online Banking, and 4) Cash On Delivery for the Philippines residents. They had problems with it so they discontinued it before but as of August 17, 2017, they announced that is it back! FAQ: I dont have a bank account, how do I buy in Althea? A: Most people who asked me these questions are students who dont have bank accounts yet. So if youre a student or someone without a bank account, I recommend choosing Cash-on-Delivery or paying thru DragonPay and choose OTC Non-Bank. OTC means over-the-counter so you dont need a bank account. Just go to one of the banks listed in DragonPay that will be sent to your email address after you ordered. In the bank, get a deposit slip. Asked the guard if you dont know what it is. Fill it up with the details sent to you by DragonPay and pay at the counter. That easy! If you have more questions, dont hesitate to ask below by leaving a comment. Or send me a direct message on my Instagram. Photo Sources: 1 & 2 Disclaimer I own the rights to all images and text on this blog. If you use any images or text for your own agenda, for profit or not, I will sue you. And yes, I will make litigation drag out for years. And I will win. Just something to think about. Editors note: Todays editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times. Editorial content from other publications is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News. State lawmakers should stop rattling their partisan swords over education-funding reform, which has pushed Washington to the brink of a constitutional crisis. Partisan leaders in the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate are squawking over agreements not quite sealed and courage for bold reforms not exercised. Stop it. Both factions deserve demerits for tardiness. Lawmakers have known for years that they were letting children down by failing to amply fund a uniform system of education, in violation of the state constitution. They and the governor are now in contempt of court under the McCleary lawsuit, which began in 2007. Progress has been made, but the hardest tasks including inevitable tax increases and changes to collective bargaining have been put off as long as possible and pushed back until after Novembers election. Legislative leaders insist they need more time and information. Senate and House proposals would establish a task force to figure out how the state can directly pay for basic education and end schools reliance on an inequitable hodgepodge of local levies. By January, the task force is to recommend how to solve this Rubiks Cube. The plan was for the Legislature to then finish the job during its 2017 session when it will be preparing the next biennial budget. But Team Olympia cant even punt without squabbling over details. Republican senators are now pursuing a more ambitious plan for a plan than the version Democrats and some Republicans in the House approved last month. In the Senate Ways and Means Committee, they added welcome accountability measures. Theyre calling for improved school-district accounting and for the state auditor to ensure districts are properly using levy proceeds. Theyre also clarifying state limitations on how districts can spend local levy dollars. Ambiguity in this area, and lax oversight, enabled Washingtons school-funding system to become a jumbled mess. The quality of education now varies depending on levies that districts can get voters to approve. The system now shortchanges some. A bipartisan education work group called for the fixes to be done by the end of the 2017 legislative session theoretically in late April 2017. That deadline was passed by the House. It would put the new funding approach in place before the 2017-18 school year. It might also meet the Supreme Court deadline to fully implement the fix by 2018. Yet the Senate committee amended the deadline last week, pushing it back to Dec. 31, 2017. That could defer fixes until the 2018-19 school year. Theres no ambiguity by 2018 means the 2017-2018 school year, said Tom Ahearne, the plaintiffs attorney in the McCleary case. Hes confident the later deadline will be shot down immediately by the court. Its not clear why Senate leaders want more time. Perhaps its a bargaining ploy. Regardless, its an extremely risky strategy and one the full Senate should reconsider. The increasingly impatient Supreme Court is teed up and ready to take another swing at the Legislature if it doesnt see timely progress. If it decides lawmakers are delaying fixes further, it could impose a doomsday response, such as suspending all tax preferences or preventing school from resuming in September until the problems are addressed. High courts have used such options in Arizona, Kansas and New Jersey to force recalcitrant lawmakers to make education fixes. Nobody wants the turmoil and uncertainty that further sanctions and a showdown between branches of government would bring to Washington taxpayers, companies and families. "We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844 Between January 2003 and September 2006, out of 138 letters to the editor that I sent to the Financial Times before I placed them on this blog they published these 15 . Not bad! Thank you FT!Unfortunately, since then and until the very last day of the decade, out of some 1.000 letters that you can find here, FT published none, zero, zilch. Of course FT is under no obligation whatsoever to publish any of my letters and of course one should not exclude the possibilities that my letters might have quite dramatically gone from bad to worse yet one wonders.My usual suspects are:1. Someone in FT with a delicate ego feels his or her importance diminished by giving voice to a lowly non PhD from a developing country daring to opine on many issues of developed countries.2. That FT has some sort of conflict of interest with the credit rating agencies that makes it hard for them to give too much relevance to someone who considers they have been given too much powers.3. The FT establishment had perhaps decided there were only macro economic problems and not any financial regulation problems, and wanted to hear no monothematic contradictions on that.4. That FT feels slightly embarrassed when someone repeatedly asks the emperor-is-naked type question of what is the purpose of the banks and realizing this was something FT should have itself asked a long time ago.5. It is way too much oversight for FT to handle.6. Or am I just supposed to be a living example of one half of the Financial Times motto, namely that of "without favour"Which one do you believe is closest to the truth? tech2 News Staff Following on footsteps of tech biggies Google and Microsoft, another giant -- Apple is set to open its technology development centre in India, in Hyderabad, says this report. The new centre, reports ZDNet, will be built on 2,50,000 square feet of land in real estate firm Tishman Speyer's WaveRock facility at Hyderabad's IT corridor. The amount of money to be pumped in is pegged at $25 million or Rs 150 crore. The report also reveals that this centre will create 4,500 jobs. The tech giant is expected to open its innovation centre in June launch full fledged operations by end of the year. "It's a very positive development as Apple has not looked at cities only in India, but across many places in Europe and other parts of the world. Their decision to have the facility in Hyderabad is a strong endorsement of the city as a major IT hub in the country," Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary to IT department in the state of Telangana, told ZDNet. Confirming the development, a statement from Apple says," Weve been investing to expand our operations in India and are thrilled to have passionate customers and a vibrant developer community across the country. We are looking forward to opening a new development office in Hyderabad that will be home to over 150 Apple employees supporting maps development. The office will also have space for many contractors who will support our ambitious efforts locally. " Earlier this month, there were reports of Apple getting clearance to open retail stores in India too. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Amitabh Kant had confirmed about receiving Apples application. A report said that the Indian government is planning to push through Apples application to set up outlets. Apple should qualify as a provider of cutting-edge technology. That would exempt the maker of iPhones and iPads from a rule forcing foreign businesses that retail a single brand in India to procure 30 percent of a products inputs locally, the report adds. Needless to say, Apple makes most of its products in China. This doesnt come as a surprise as Apple is looking to expand markets in a bid to prove the most recent predictions wrong. Unlike others, Apple hasnt tapped the potential of emerging markets like India and is heavily reliant on third-party resellers in India. Soon after Katy Hubertys predicted six percent drop in profits, a first of sorts, Apples forecast revealed its first ever projected revenue drop in 13 years. This was driven, in part, by the slowest-ever increase in iPhone shipments as the Chinese market, critical to Apples growth, showed signs of weakening. Nash David Facebook India's Managing Director, Kirthiga Reddy, on Friday announced that she is quiting from her current position to relocate to Facebook's headquarters at Menlo Park, California. Kirthiga Reddy joined Facebook in 2010 as its first employee in India. According to an update on her Facebook page Reddy said she would be relocating to the United States in the next 6-12 months. "I have also begun to explore new opportunities at Facebook back at Menlo Park," Reddy said in a Facebook post. Reddy said she was working closely with William Easton, MD of emerging markets (Asia Pacific), and Dan Neary, vice president of Asia Pacific, to search for her successor. Since the move comes days after regulators in India introduced rules to prevent differential pricing policies based on content, it is widely speculated that this move could be a result of the setback to Facebook's plan to roll out Free Basics in India. Facebook in India was tight-lipped saying there was nothing more to add in addition to the post by Kirthiga Reddy. In fact, responses indicated that the Facebook update by Reddy was the sole communication they had received. However, a Facebook spokesperson issued a comment to Reuters saying "As she had planned for some time, Kirthiga Reddy is moving back to the U.S. to work with the teams in Headquarters." In addition, the spokesperson said, "During her time in India, Kirthiga was not involved in our Free Basic Services efforts." Effectively, the statement highlights that in Facebook's key growth market India the MD wasn't involved in Free Basics which required close liasoning with government authorities. That seems odd. Probably the local leadership of the market could have helped handle the matter in a better way. Effectively, the scathing letter from TRAI to Facebook wouldn't have happened either. I remember several years ago, when Facebook didn't have an India office, reaching out to Facebook for a comment required the request to go to Menlo Park for approval by Mark Zuckerberg. However, considering that Facebook had a presence in India with a local Managing Director, it seemed that the best thing to do would be to engage with the authorities to find a balanced way out. But as per the statement from Facebook, Reddy wasn't involved in the activities around Free Basics in India. In effect, Zuckerberg's pet project and its failure has come in as an opportunity for the India MD to relocate to the Facebook headquarters and "explore new opportunities at Facebook." Even member of the board of directors and investor in Facebook Marc Andreessen was in the news recently for linking India's opposition to Free Basics with its 'anti-colonialism.' We hope she finds the "right kind of opportunity" at Facebook in Menlo Park in the US, one of the two places she can call home. More importantly, we hope her successor is given more responsibility in furthering future projects by Facebook in the India market. Kirthiga Reddy did her engineering from MGM College of Engineering in Nanded. She passed out in 1992 as the second rank in the University. Interestingly, when she was looking out for job opportunities, she was led to Yashwant Kanetkar, author of the popular book in engineering colleges in India Let Us C. As an intern, she would help the author with the programming examples in his book. It's been an impressive journey for her rising up from Nanded to Stanford, to joining Facebook and taking over as the India MD. With inputs from Reuters. hidden Alphabet Inc's Google will not participate in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's upcoming auction of broadcast airwaves that can help the wireless industry improve coverage, a spokeswoman told Reuters. Some industry watchers had expected Internet search giant Google to be a dark horse participant in the auction. In April last year, the company launched a new U.S. wireless service that switches between Wi-Fi and cellular networks hosted through Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc's networks. Google last participated in a 2008 FCC auction but did not buy any airwaves. "Like all those interested in improved connectivity and equitable access, we'll be following the upcoming spectrum auction closely. That said, we have not filed to participate," the Google spokeswoman said. The FCC will be auctioning off valuable 600 megahertz airwaves that can travel long distances and penetrate buildings. The auction is aimed at wireless carriers and other companies that want to improve existing wireless networks or build new ones. Wireless providers such as Verizon Communications Inc, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile and cable operator Comcast Corp have said they will take part in the auction. The FCC's deadline for interested bidders to file applications to participate in the auction ended on Wednesday. The auction will kick off on March 29. Reuters tech2 News Staff Apple just got hit with a lawsuit for almost every smartphone and smartwatch it has on sale. The company that filed the lawsuit is none other than Immersion, one that supplies haptic feedback tech to a number of manufacturers. The firm states that a number of Apple devices including Apple iPhone 6, Apple iPhone 6 Plus, Apple iPhone 6s, Apple iPhone 6s Plus, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition infringe Immersion patents. Immersion in its official release stated that the above mentioned devices infringe on two of its patents. The first one is to do with the 'Haptic Feedback System and Stored Effects' (U.S. Patent No. 8,619,051) which allows a device to provide feedback by responding with a vibration and even the ability to store those patterns and effects. The second patent is to do with the 'Method and Apparatus for Providing Tactile Sensations' which involves the technology used to provide the vibration feedback. Apple technologies like 3D Touch, Force Touch, the Taptic Engine inside the Apple Watch, and vibration patterns for ringtones and notifications infringe on Immersion's patents. "Immersion and its employees have worked diligently for over 20 years to invent solutions and build an ecosystem of content and playback devices that enable realistic and rich digital experiences. Touch matters, as it informs, excites and humanizes the digital world we interact with every day. Many of our licensed customers are market leaders that benefit from our innovation in touch technology," said Immersion's CEO Victor Viegas. "While we are pleased to see others in the industry recognize the value of haptics and adopt it in their products, it is important for us to protect our business against infringement of our intellectual property in order to preserve the ecosystem we have built and the investments that we have made in continuing to advance haptic experiences," added Viegas. "We will vigorously defend the intellectual property we have developed when it is infringed." Also a part of the patent infringement lawsuit is AT&T, a US carrier who so far has been picked up for promoting the use of the technologies that infringe Immersion's patents. Even worse is that the haptic feedback specialist has also filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission. The same seeks an exclusion order that could see the a nationwide sales ban in the US on all Apple devices that infringe upon the said patent. hidden Delhi High Court has sought TRAI's response on Bharti Airtel's plea challenging the regulator's Interconnect Usage Charges Regulations fixing termination charges for landline to wireless as zero paise and wireless to wireless at 14 paise per minute. Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) or termination charges are payable by one telco, whose subscriber makes a call, to another whose subscriber receives the call. The charge is payable by the first for using the second's network. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath issued notice to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and sought its reply by the next date of hearing on March 1. The court also tagged the matter with a similar plea moved by Vodafone Mobile Service Ltd in November last year. In its plea, Airtel has sought quashing of the Telecom Interconnect Usage Charges Regulations issued by TRAI on February 23 last year. The telecom major has also sought directions to TRAI "to fix termination charges by applying the cost based and work done principle on a non-discriminatory basis". Vodafone in its plea has claimed that the regulations are illegal, bad in fact and in law, arbitrary and in gross violation of the principles of natural justice, beyond the functions of TRAI. Vodafone had told the court that the fixation of terms of interconnectivity, which includes the termination charge by TRAI, cannot be zero where costs are incurred by the terminating operator and therefore, the regulations fixing the charge as zero is ultra vires the provisions of TRAI Act. PTI tech2 News Staff Android 6.0 Marshmallow has started rolling out for the Moto G (2nd Gen) smartphone in India. The update offers features such as Doze, Google Now on Tap, app permissions and more. The company had kicked off a small-scale Marshmallow update soak test for users in India and Brazil back on 22 January. The company says, "We are excited to announce a new software update for Moto G (2nd Gen.) by Motorola. This update brings Android 6.0 Marshmallow to your phone along with other improvements. Android 6.0 Marshmallow improves your mobile experience with battery-smart features and new app permissions that give you even more control." However, one feature that will not be present is the Moto Assist, which Motorola deprecated in favor of the Do Not Disturb functionality from stock Android. Some of the new features such as App Standby helps to reduce the drain of the smartphone by putting the seldom-used apps into a reduced activity state. With App Links, one can decide what the right action is for each of your apps when you tap a web link. Android Marshmallow also enables the smartphone's SDcard to fully extend device internal storage rather than just being used for media files. With Do not disturb, you can now easily configure interruptions by tapping the Do not disturb button in the quick settings panel. If you have not received a notification message for this update, you can follow the steps below to manually update your phone. Select the Settings icon in the apps menu and then select "About phone". Select "System updates" and then select "Yes, Im in". After the software is downloaded, select "Install now". After the software is installed, your phone will re-start automatically. Your phone will then be updated to Android 6.0. hidden Charities in South Asia are piloting new software which aims to speed up the repatriation of rescued victims of human trafficking who have been smuggled from countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh and forced into slavery in India. South Asia, with India at its centre, is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Charities focusing on the rehabilitation of victims say repatriation is often one of their biggest challenges and can, in some cases, take years. There is a lack of effective international coordination between states to verify victims' identities and trace their places of origin - often remote, impoverished, interior regions with poor telecommunications and infrastructure, they add. Developed by aid agency Plan India and Bangladeshi social enterprise Dnet, the Missing Child Alert (MCA) is a database programme - with the victim's data, including their name, photo and place of origin - which can shared between South Asian nations. "We've had cases that have taken up to three years for the person to be repatriated back to their home countries and they are stuck in shelter homes for all that time," Mohammed Asif, Plan India's director of programme implementation, said on Saturday. "After testing this technology, we have found repatriation can be done much faster as the sharing of information and tracing of a person's home will be immediate and agencies can quickly try to reunite them with their families." There are no accurate figures on the number of people being trafficked within South Asia, but activists say thousands of mostly women and children are trafficked to India annually from its poorer neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh. Most are sold into forced marriage or bonded labour working in middle class homes as domestic servants, in small shops and hotels or confined to brothels where they are repeatedly raped. The MCA, which is being piloted by ten charities in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, would allow the details of a rescued victim to be entered into the system and agencies in the country of origin immediately alerted. The one-year pilot began in January and will be assessed at the end of 2016, Asif told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on the sidelines of an anti-human trafficking conference in the east Indian town of Siliguri. "If we are successful in demonstrating this is a much more efficient system which will achieve safer and faster repatriation, we may be able to get the three governments to adopt this, and eventually the whole region," he said. "If adopted, this alert system will create pressure on the traffickers if they know that this information is being already being shared across borders and make it much more difficult for people who perpetrate these crimes against women and children." Reuters Naina Khedekar At the Samsung Forum that was held last week in Kuala Lumpur, the company gave us a glimpse into its new innovations, some being announced for the Indian market. The smartphone maker launched two new phones - Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 2016 editions - but it was the array of connected devices that stole the show. (You can watch our hands-on video with the Galaxy A7 here.) Samsung reiterates its commitment towards Tizen being the OS of choice for IoT. The new line of SUHD TVs running Tizen highlight the Quantum dot display that aims at better picture quality. The bezel-less curved design and a new, easy and integrated Smart TV experience using the Tizen OS. The company also had the 4K and a mammoth 8K TV on display. Rishi Suri, Director-Product Marketing Consumer Electronics tells us, "We've done a lot of innovation with Tizen. This year the SUHD lineup that has been introduced can offer a lot of flexibility. Firstly, until last year, the voice feature was accessible by only some premium handsets but that's changed and can be used with all Androids and Windows devices. The scalability has gone up. Secondly, with Tizen, we've been able to introduce the concept of one remote using which you can use TV, GTH, PlayStation and so on. Tizen has a whole lot of benefits, and we've been investing heavily. Going forward the reality and acceptability of Tizen." The company has put forth smarter living with its smartphone-connected home appliances. A connected TV that can talk to your phone or a phone that can control your refrigerator. The innovations simply want you to live smarter along with your home appliances. And, it has ensured to cater to almost every sphere of life, from Add Wash washing machine and Android-enabled printer to air conditioner with built-in stabiliser and everything in between. As we tip toed into the kitchen, Samsung has introduced the new Smart Convertible 5-in-1 refrigerators priced at the mid-segment for India. It lets you convert the freezer into a fridge when pressed for extra space, vacation mode that turns on only the freezer if required to store something for long, and interestingly a season mode that converts freezer into fridge and switches off the rest. The refrigerator section is the highlight, but not the 5-in-1, rather the Smart Family Hub that isn't launched for India. Fortunately, Samsung did showcase the Family Hub refrigerator that features a large 21.5-inch display on the right door, upper side running Tizen. It seemed a delight. With the smart fridge,leave errand notes, share and update calendars, pin photos using your smartphone. One of the interesting features that caught our attention was called the Morning brief. Push the button, and the fridge gives you a brief about the date, day, weather, and so on. Three cameras installed inside the fridge; capture image every time the door closes to track the amount of stocks inside. One of the coolest display'was this transparent OLEd display. Its a 55-inch panel with 45 percent transparency and you can easily view the set of necklaces placed behind the display. Its a Full HD resolution and with 100 percent of Adobes RGB spectrum. Right next to it was the mirror display that lets us see ourselves clearly into it. The display apparently recognises if you are man or woman and quickly puts up an advertisement about a certain discount. Both these were put up in the B2B hall, and aim at malls, shopping centers, and so on. Another interesting product on display was the Gear VR. On wearing, it seemed light and for the limited time we got with it, it was as if we aren't wearing a headgear at all. While using it, the front black flap snapped out, but was quickly fixed by the team on the floors. A video - not so clear - took us to the virtual world and we could watch around the video by moving our head in all directions, as if we were present right there. The Gear VR is pretty much what we've been hearing about it. It is cool, light and very innovative, but content is what Samsung should be focussing on. Samsung's focus on smarter living seemed a mix of connected devices and also aimed at helping pull down electricity bills. The company has always given a special mention to IoT in the big tech events in the past few years. And, Tizen only makes sense as company's own OS doesn't just promise to be more flexible and would help in revenue stream. After all, how long could Samsung simply strengthen Google's software profitability. With connected devices making their way into the Indian market, it seems just the beginning of a wider acceptance of IoT in India. However, this leaves us with many unanswered questions such as pricing, standards that could make the technology more accessible irrespective of manufacturer, make or size, and so on. hidden Indian online marketplace Snapdeal has raised a $200 million, giving it a valuation of around $6.5 billion, as the firm looks to ramp up investments in logistics and infrastructure in the fast-growing domestic e-commerce sector. The fundraising, led by Canada's Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and funds advised by Iron Pillar, comes at a time when there are increasing worries about incremental funding among Indian startups. In December, Snapdeal co-founder had told Reuters the company is looking to increase spending on logistics and technology to better compete with rivals. Indian e-commerce market, dominated by Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal, is estimated to be worth $220 billion by value of goods sold by 2025. E-tailers, however, are racking up millions of dollars in losses in their bid to capture market share through deep discounts. The latest fundraising comes after the company raised $500 million raised last August in another round led by Alibaba Group Holding, SoftBank Group Corp and Foxconn. Flipkart closed a $700 million fundraising round last year. With substantial funding, Snapdeal is looking to expand its services. One area Snapdeal will focus on is to cut delivery times by investing in better data analytics and demand forecasting, co-founder Rohit Bansal had told Reuters in an earlier report, towards the end of 2015. "We have done over 10 acquisitions and investments in the last one year, almost all of them in the field of technology or supply chain and payments," he had said. "With all these investments we have been able to reduce our delivery times by 70 percent in the last one year." Quick and cheap delivery is important to be able to win over customers in a competitive industry in which companies are burning through substantial cash to grow. Reuters hidden Space tourism projects leaped off the drawing board when a $10 million prize was offered as an incentive for private development of manned rockets, but it took years to make a winner. Many more years have passed since, but the only space tourists have been a few wealthy people who paid millions of dollars for trips aboard Russian rockets to the International Space Station. Things to know about space tourism: X PRIZE In 1995, the St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation conceived the idea of a $10 million reward for development of a privately financed, reusable spaceship capable of carrying three people to an altitude of 62 miles twice within two weeks. The X Prize announcement the following year was timed to an anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's nonstop flight from New York to Paris aboard the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927, which won the aviator the $25,000 Orteig Prize that was offered in 1919 for the trans-Atlantic flight. At the time the X Prize was announced, maverick aerospace designer Burt Rutan, creator of the Voyager aircraft that circled the globe in 1986, speculated that the $10 million prize could be won in three years. In fact it took more than eight. SPACESHIPONE The Kittyhawk moment for private manned spaceflight occurred on June 21, 2004, when SpaceShipOne designed by Rutan and funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen soared more than 62 miles above the California desert and then glided to a landing at Mojave Airport as crowds cheered. Standing by the stubby-winged, three-seat spacecraft, test pilot Mike Melvill said seeing the curvature of the Earth from that altitude was "almost a religious experience." The feat placed SpaceShipOne in the lead among more than two dozen competitors for the $10 million reward, by then renamed the Ansari X Prize after the Ansari family of Dallas, which made its wealth in telecommunications and funded the prize. Rutan subsequently announced he would go for the prize later that year. SpaceShipOne launched again on Sept. 29, reaching the required altitude after Melvill ignored a request to abort because the craft went into a series of rolls. Well within the two-week period required by the contest, the craft launched on Oct. 4 with test pilot Brian Binnie at the controls. After it landed, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis announced the altitude was official and the SpaceShipOne team clinched the prize. Where does space begin? Earth's atmosphere does not abruptly stop and the vacuum of space begin, but the altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers) is accepted as a useful boundary line by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, a keeper of flight records. Known as the Karman line, it is used to distinguish between aeronautics and astronautics. Melvill, the SpaceShipOne pilot, received the first commercial astronaut wings awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration after surpassing the line. The U.S. Air Force, however, awarded astronaut wings to five of its pilots who flew above 50 miles decades ago in X-15 rocket planes used for hypersonic research. Three civilian X-15 pilots who also surpassed that altitude were belatedly awarded astronaut wings in 2005, two posthumously. The first American in space, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, rocketed to an altitude of 116 miles on May 5, 1961. SPACEPORT In a remote stretch of desert in southern New Mexico, officials at Spaceport America the world's first futuristic hangar and runway designed specifically for commercial space travel have been anxiously awaiting Virgin Galactic. Taxpayers footed the nearly quarter-billion-dollar bill for the spaceport years ago in hopes of it being a gateway for space tourism. With Virgin as the anchor tenant, the delay in flights has made it tough for the spaceport to get off the ground. Spaceport director Christine Anderson can't wait to attend the upcoming unveiling of SpaceShipTwo. She said seeing it in person will make the progress even more real. "I'm excited they have a spaceship built and things are looking forward and it's full speed ahead for them," she said. Anderson acknowledged there's no question that Virgin Galactic is the linchpin for the state's space tourism aspirations. With flights expected to start sometime in 2017, the spaceport expects to see as many as 100,000 visitors by 2020. Space tourism projects at a glance Virgin Galactic later this month in Mojave, California, is preparing to roll out its new SpaceShipTwo, a vehicle the company hopes will one day take tourists to the edge of space. It comes roughly 15 months since an earlier incarnation was destroyed in a test flight, killing one of the pilots. Despite the setback, the dream of sending tourists to the edge of space and beyond is still alive. Space tourism companies are employing designs including winged vehicles, vertical rockets with capsules and high-altitude balloons. A look at projects currently under development: VIRGIN GALACTIC The most prominent space tourism program, the commercial space line founded by adventurer-business mogul Sir Richard Branson will use a winged rocket plane dubbed SpaceShipTwo, successor to SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 won the $10 million Ansari X Prize that was intended to spur the industry's development. SpaceShipTwo is designed to be flown by two pilots and carry up to six passengers on a suborbital trajectory to altitudes above 62 miles (100 kilometers), an internationally recognized boundary of space. Like early U.S. X-planes, Virgin Galactic's craft will be carried aloft by another aircraft, called WhiteKnightTwo, and released at about 50,000 feet before its rocket engine is ignited for a supersonic thrill ride to the fringes of space and a view of the Earth far below. The space line says SpaceShipTwo's cabin is roomy enough for passengers to float during a few minutes of weightlessness before beginning an unpowered glide to a runway landing. A key feature of the design is the so-called feathering system a term derived from the feathers of a badminton projectile. Twin tails extending rearward from the tips of each wing rotate upward as a means to slow and stabilize SpaceShipTwo as it re-enters the atmosphere. The "feathers" then rotate back to their normal position for the rest of the glide and landing. Virgin Galactic's first SpaceShipTwo was destroyed on Oct. 31, 2014, when a co-pilot prematurely unlocked the feathers during a powered test flight and aerodynamic forces broke the craft apart. The co-pilot was killed but the pilot parachuted to safety. The company will roll out its new SpaceShipTwo later this month in Mojave, California, but the timeline for testing and commercial operation has not been released. Hundreds of people have put down deposits of $250,000 for a chance to fly into space with Virgin Galactic, which plans to operate from Spaceport America in New Mexico. BLUE ORIGIN Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin project is testing a vertical-takeoff rocket topped by a six-passenger capsule for suborbital hops. Like Astronaut Alan Shepard's pioneering 1961 flight during Project Mercury, the capsule separates from the booster rocket and descends beneath parachutes without going into orbit around the Earth. The unconventional twist is reusability. Blue Origin recently conducted a test launch from Texas in which the rocket dubbed New Shepard performed a vertical landing, slowing its descent by relighting its engine as it fell back to Earth. In January, the company launched the same rocket and it again landed intact. Blue Origin says that during flights passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness after the capsule separates from the booster. Passengers will be able to leave their seats and float about the capsule before a signal tells them to be reseated for landing. The company has chosen Florida for its base of operations. Details of space tourism operations have not been released. XCOR AEROSPACE The company has spent years developing a rocket plane named Lynx that is intended to be capable of making multiple flights each day with a pilot and one passenger aboard. Unlike Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, the Lynx will take off under its own power from a runway, climb toward space and then glide back to a runway landing. XCOR also plans flights surpassing an altitude of 62 miles. In December, the company said it reached a milestone in development of the Lynx propulsion system by successfully using waste heat to drive essential engine parts, eliminating the need for large and heavy tanks of compressed gas. XCOR, now headquartered in Midland, Texas, also reported progress late last year in completing structural components of its first Lynx as well as a flight simulator system for pilot training. The company says it has more than 350 clients. The price of booking a seat rose from $100,000 to $150,000 on Jan. 1, but the company has not said when flights will begin. "The fact is that we are in a process in which you just can't rush things," Lynx test pilot Harry van Hulten said in press release last fall. WORLD VIEW The Arizona company plans to loft passengers to altitudes above 100,000 feet in a capsule suspended below a "parawing" and a helium balloon. The trip some 19 miles high would be to "near space" but would give a substantial view of the Earth far below while avoiding the stress of G forces endured during rocket flight. Compared to flights on rocket-powered space tourism vehicles offering a few minutes at the top of a suborbital trajectory, World View envisions spending two hours at the maximum altitude, with amenities such as a lavatory. The two-member crew then begins the landing process by venting helium until the capsule descends to 50,000 feet. The balloon is then released and the parawing allows the capsule to glide to a landing spot. The company announced last month that it plans to conduct launches from Spaceport Tucson. AP hidden By R Vaidyanathan A Lok Sabha member of Parliament, Meenakshi Natarajan, was to introduce the Print and Electronic Media Standards and Regulations Bill 2012.The bill provides, among others things, for a regulatory authority with sweeping powers, including powers to ban or suspend coverage of an event or incident that may pose a threat to national security from foreign or internal sources. It even provides for a fine of up to Rs 50 lakh, suspension of a media organisation's licence for up to 11 months and cancellation in some cases. Natarajan, a first-time MP representing Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, is an All-India Congress Committee secretary and a member of Rahul Gandhi's core team of youth leaders. The bill, incidentally, was not introduced since she was absent on the day it was taken up. "The bill was based on her (Natarajan's) views. These are not the views of Rahul Gandhi. Neither are these his views or nor has she got his consent to this bill," Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said. Earlier, Press Council of India Chairperson, former Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju, called for regulating social media, saying it would prevent unpleasant material from making it into the public domain. "Social media like Facebook and Google need to be regulated as a lot of dirty and filthy material is available on these sites and these affect the minds of the younger generation," Katju said during an interaction with women journalists at the Indian Women Press Corps. Katju also supported some kind of regulation for media, and especially electronic media. "Everybody should have self-regulation. I was scared when I was the high court judge that if I took a bribe I would be impeached by Parliament. A lawyer's licence can be cancelled by the Bar Council of India and similarly a doctor's licence can be cancelled by the Medical Council of India for any medical negligence. So everybody is accountable except the media, especially the electronic media. They say we will have self-regulation. Then everybody should have self-regulation, why should there be laws? The very fact that you have laws is that society realises that self-regulation is not all that sufficient. There should be some fear among media," he said (Read here). According to Katju, Indian media has been playing a very irresponsible role. "I am not against the media and fight for their rights as nobody else would have. I am not calling for controlling media but regulating them. Maybe a separate committee should be constituted and the media fraternity should be a part of framing its guidelines," he said. In the eighties, it was the print media which was in the forefront of exposing corruption and other misdeeds of government and political leaders. But by the beginning of this century TV has overtaken print media in terms of "Breaking News" - whether it is the Adarsh scam or Commonwealth Games or the 2G spectrum scandal. TV as a medium has become the main stream. The print media is struggling to function as a pure news media since TV pre-empts it the previous night. Printed newspapers are thus trying to focus on analysis and backgrounders to stories. TV is focusing on combining views and news bundled into one. But a significant change has come about with the advent of social media such as Twitter and Facebook. They have captured the imagination of youth, especially since they are fully democratic - with no owner or editorial control. In print and mainstream media, owners appoint editors who vet the news and views to be published. So is the case with TV media. But in the social media everybody has an equal chance and all are kings and the speed of dissemination is unbelievable. It is not constrained by a sense of controlled partisanship or private agenda because for every viewpoint there are 100 counterviews. There is a general perception that the print and electronic media are run by Left liberals in our country who do not provide opportunities for other views to surface. This could be due the fact that most of the journalists have been brought up in the Nehruvian tradition of Left liberalism and the Columbia School of Journalism. Even the local journalism schools encourage such points of view. Many an editor has come out of these schools of journalism. So, to that extent, Right-wingers, both of the economic and religious varieties, have found the social media to be an effective tool to counter the perceived Left liberal print and TV medium bias. Since they are not bothered about being "insiders" or "consensus builders" and they are unpaid part-timers, they focus sharply on the rightist point of view. They also are in the forefront to expose wrongdoing by the ruling establishment. Two recent examples highlight their success and provide clues to the shape of things to come. For instance, when the Abhishek Manu Singhvi (AMS) CD hit the social media they circulated it far and wide. In Twitter jargon, AMS was "trending" for many days. This made the case not only popular but also difficult to be ignored. The issue was his alleged sexual dalliance with a middle-aged lawyer in his chambers during day-time and the insinuation is that he promised to help make her a judge. His driver, who was allegedly unhappy with him, was supposed to have made the recording. The video was removed from some locations on Youtube, but enterprising persons managed to put it in several different locations, some which can be censored and some which were not easily amenable to censorship for technological reasons. The Delhi High Court had given an injunction based on AMS's petition. But neither the court nor government had the wherewithal to prevent the videos from being distributed globally. The TV channels, by and large, were silent, and, by doing that, they actually worsened the situation for Singhvi. It was perceived that the mainstream media protects the high and mighty, particularly if they belong to the "narrow elite" of Delhi compared to, say, small town leaders. Both TV and print media were suddenly talking about privacy and consenting adults. But social media quoted the Swami Nithyananda case and argued that you cannot have different yardsticks for different individuals. It was reasoned that Nityananda was a private individual while AMS was not. Actually AMS was chairman of the standing committee of Parliament and spokesperson for the ruling party. When the mainstream media published his denials and his version of the story, it increased the curiosity of the average reader/viewer. The advantage of social media is that it has millions of writers who are also editors unlike mainstream media, where a bunch of senior editors try to decide what is good for their readers/viewers. Another important case is the supposed "land grab" by the present president in constructing a palatial residence in Pune for constructing a post-retirement home. As the supreme commander of the armed forces, Pratibha Patil was perceived as misusing her position since the said land was meant to be used by army personnel. The issue was first exposed by Vinita Deshmukh, a staff of MoneyLife (a financial journal from Mumbai) and soon Twitter carried it far and wide. It appears that the president tried to influence army officers in Pune through some influential people, but even that was highlighted by the social media. In this entire episode, mainstream media was circumspect, as in the case of the AMS videos. The mainstream carried largely denials from the office of the president. The denizens of social media saw this as yet another example of mainstream media not taking up substantive issues involving the powerful elite. When the president finally announced that she would be giving up the Pune residential plans, it was, in a sense, a victory for social media. So it seems that we are moving from the print era to TV and social media. Social media may not be powerful enough to move voters, but it is already able to take on the powerful. It is interesting to observe that social media participants always ask about sources and verification before jumping to conclusions, With the Right to Information (RTI) Act available in India, social media may begin to get their own feeds using RTI. In other words they need not get news only from print or electronic media. They are not controlled by business houses or by political parties. In other words, we are entering an interesting era of millions of editors in cyberspace, unpaid and driven by agendas that also include the social good. These social media participants are slowly turning out to be unpaid guardians of our Republic. Of course, there is talk of regulating or controlling the social media - like Justice Katju wants. It is also interesting to note that he was on Twitter for a short period, but has since wound up his account. Those who talk of controlling the social media know not what they are talking about both from a technological point of view and from the intellectual evolution point of view. It is actually real power in the hands of the middle class captured from the narrow ownership-driven agendas of the elite. So don't be surprised if the next major scam is exposed by the social media rather than the mainstream media. R Vaidyanathan is professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Views are personal Junkyard Laser Focus Altbier. 5.3 % ABV. Junkyard Brewing, Moorhead, MN. And here we have the first appearance in the Nib of a 16 ounce ... This Page has moved to a new address: Sorry for the inconvenience Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service Comilla University students block Dhaka-Chittagong highway Students of Comilla University on Monday blocked Dhaka-Chittagong highway four about one and a half hours demanding punishment of the miscreants involved in a recent attack on their university bus. Mahmudur Rahman, sub-inspector of Kotbari police outpost, said the students blocked the highway in Nandanpur Bishwaroad area around 11am which halted the vehicular movement for one and a half hour. The students also staged a demonstration on the campus and abstained from attending their classes and examinations protesting the incident. Later, additional superintendent of police Ali Ashraf Bhuiyan rushed to the spot and assured the students of taking action in this connection within 24 hours. Following the assurance, the students withdrew their blockade. Earlier on Sunday evening, a group of miscreants attacked a university bus in Jhautola area of the town which left 25 students injured. -- Comilla, Feb 15 (UNB) Turkey will continue to strike back at Kurdish fighters in Syria: Davutoglu German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shake hands during a welcoming ceremony in Ankara. AFP, Ankara : Turkey will continue to strike back at Kurdish fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, despite growing pressure on Ankara to stop the shelling. In telephone talks, Davutoglu told Merkel that Turkey "will not permit the PYD to carry out aggressive acts. Our security forces gave the necessary response and will continue to do so," his office said in a statement. Turkish artillery struck at targets of the PYD and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia on both days of the weekend, while insisting that it was returning fire under the rules of engagement. Davutoglu alleged to Merkel that the Syrian Kurdish forces, who Turkey accuses of being the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), had been advancing with Russian air support. Russia is the key ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Turkey wants to see ousted. He said the move by the Kurdish fighters was aimed at uprooting "hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians" from the border region and "creating a new humanitarian crisis" that would affect both Turkey and the European Union. "This is aimed not just at Turkey but also the European Union," he said, warning of a "new wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees". The EU and Turkey, which hosts over 2.5 million Syrian refugees, are already grappling with the crisis that saw around one million migrants cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the EU in 2015. France had earlier called for an "immediate halt" to Turkey's artillery bombardments while the US State Department had also urged Turkey to cease firing. Turkish police on Sunday clashed with pro-Kurdish protestors in a flashpoint district of Istanbul, leaving at least two wounded, an AFP photographer and reports said. Protesters in the Gazi district of the European side of the city -- known as a staunchly anti-government stronghold -- came out to protest against military operations in the Kurdish-dominated southeast which activists say have left dozens of civilians dead. Police arrived in armoured vehicles and fired tear gas canisters, while wounded protesters were taken away on stretchers, the photographer said. Pro-Kurdish media reports said that at least two were wounded and the police had used live ammunition. But this was not confirmed by official sources. The army has for the last month pressed a campaign to push Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants out of their southeast urban strongholds, backed by curfews. But campaigners say it has come with a heavy human cost. Dutch minister to EU members: Dont shut borders to migrants A Macedonian police officer checks identification documents of migrants, before allowing them to cross the border from Greece, near the southern Macedonia\'s town of Gevgelija. AP, Skopje : Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders has urged EU member states not to close their borders to migrants, suggesting that "effective border control is more important." Koenders, whose country holds the rotating 6-month EU presidency, told reporters in the Macedonian capital Skopje that the Netherlands will continue to talk with Austria, Macedonia and Greece to find an effective solution on migrants and avoid unilateral measures. He said he thinks it is still possible to avoid a "domino effect and an uncontrollable situation." Koenders also pointed out the need for EU countries to take special care for vulnerable groups of migrants, such as women and children. Koenders was in the border town of Gevgelija Sunday and will cross into Greece. He will meet with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras later Sunday. Slovenia to clamp down on migrant border entries Meanwhile, Slovenia said Sunday it would clamp down on the number of migrants allowed to enter the country, ahead of tougher measures set to be announced by neighbouring Austria later this week to slow down the influx. The two EU member states, which also belong to the passport-free Schengen zone, have become key transit nations for migrants and refugees trekking up through the Balkans to reach western Europe. Austria, which has hardened its stance in recent weeks, will in the coming days announce a daily cap on the number of migrants allowed to enter the country via its main border crossing with Slovenia. The country of nearly nine million people last year received 90,000 asylum claims, one of the bloc's highest rates per capita. In anticipation of Vienna's move, the Slovenian interior ministry said it would also begin limiting the arrivals to avoid becoming a bottleneck. State TV reported the tougher controls would start Monday morning and see the number of people allowed to cross the Sentilj checkpoint into Austria restricted to 1,000 per day. Slovenia said in a statement released by its interior ministry it had informed neighbouring Croatia, the next country along the migrant trail, of its decision to bring in tougher border controls. Hermann Muhr, the spokesman for Austria's Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, confirmed to AFP Sunday that "a series of tougher measures will be announced in the course of this week including a daily quota of migrants, in line with what Germany is already doing". Last month, Vienna already warned it would cap this year's number of asylum claims at 37,500 and deport at least 12,500 people. The continent is grappling with its worst migrant crisis since World War II, which shows no sign of abating. In 2015, over a million people reached Europe's shores -- nearly half of them Syrians fleeing a civil war that has killed more than a quarter of a million people. Germany has been the main destination for most of the migrants once they land in Greece or other points in Europe. Austria, along with the so-called "Visegrad Four" group -- Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic -- is accusing Athens of failing to protect the EU's external borders. The Visegrad Four will meet leaders from Macedonia and Bulgaria, which both share a border with Greece, in Prague on Monday to discuss reinforcing border controls. Russian PM says military wont stay in Syria for ever Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev answers a question from the audience at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany. Reuters, Moscow :Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview that Moscow does not plan to maintain its military presence in Syria indefinitely.In an interview with Time magazine Medvedev was asked if Russia would help its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in his stated aim of restoring his control over all of Syria."We have no plans... for such a never-ending presence in Syria. We are there pursuing an entirely limited, concrete objective," Medvedev said, according to a transcript of the interview released by the government.Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has warned other nations against committing their troops to a ground action in Syria, saying it would only exacerbate the conflict.Medvedev, speaking in an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the text of which was released by his office Friday, said "a ground operation draws everyone taking part in it into a war."Commenting on a Saudi proposal to send troops to Syria and the possibility of U.S. involvement in ground action, Medvedev said there wouldn't be a quick victory, rather a "permanent war." He reaffirmed that Russia, which has conducted air campaign in Syria since Sept. 30, has no intention to engage in ground action.Medvedev said the conflict must be resolved through talks, not by opening another front in the war.Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the world was fighting a new Cold War, warning of grave consequences for the West if it didn't cooperate with Russia in Syria and elsewhere."We have slid, in essence, into times of a new Cold War," Medvedev said in a speech Saturday to senior international officials at a marquee security conference in Germany.Medvedev cited the Syria conflict as an arena of much needed Russian-Western cooperation, especially on military issues.The key to resolving that conflict, he said, was the cooperation of "Russian and American military officials - regularly, constantly, every day."Medvedev insisted in his speech and a short Q-and-A session alongside French Prime Minister Manuel Valls that the West faced a stark choice: cooperate with Russia on common interests such as fighting terrorism and ensuring stability in the Middle East - or face a permanent, global conflict. He said the U.S. and Western Europe had departed from a post-World War II security architecture that had ensured 70 years of relative stability. Tsipras chides EU, IMF for reform assessment delay AFP, Athens : An assessment of Greece's attempts to reform its struggling economy is being held up by disagreements between the European Union and the IMF, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said. "Negotiations on the reform plan have fallen behind, which is in nobody's interest," he said Sunday, cited by the Avghi daily, close to Tspiras' Syriza party. Greece sent creditors its pension reform plans at the start of January but "to date we have had no official response from the institutions, which is due to disagreements at their heart," Tsipras asserted. Facing fears it may yet have to quit the eurozone, cash-strapped Greece is under mounting pressure to deliver credible reforms, notably on pensions, International Monetary Fund European zone head Poul Thomsen said last week. The IMF worked with the EU on two previous bailouts for Greece since 2010 but the IMF said itself it would not participate in the third rescue plan without credible reforms and an EU agreement to ease Greece's debt burden. Ten days ago, a first round of talks held in Athens between creditors and Greek authorities proved inconclusive. The Greek government says further talks will be held soon. But Thomsen's comments last week warned against "over-optimistic assumptions (which) will soon cause Grexit fears to resurface once again and stifle the investment climate." He added that pension reforms were crucial-Greece spends some 17 percent of GDP on pensions according to Eurostat, more than any other EU member. For a time last year there were fears Greece would have to exit the eurozone after defaulting on a debt payment to the IMF, which fears Athens' ability to deliver on reforms to cut soaring public debt. But in July the EU stepped in with a new EUR86 billion of financial aid programme-which the IMF has not joined-in exchange for economic measures and pension reform, still the subject of hot debate. Athens responded to Thomsen's concerns by accusing the IMF of "demanding the application of a radically different programme than that agreed" by Greece and its eurozone partners last year. Avghi further quoted Tsipras as saying Greece "demands an end to fetters put unilaterally in place by some (people) preventing a first evaluation" of Athens' proposed reforms. He added that "Europe cannot continue discussing unreachable (budgetary) objectives, especially now, when it is facing important challenges such as the migration crisis" stemming from the conflict in Syria. Govt implements 6 street children dev centers, JS told State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Begum Meher Afroz Chumki on Monday said the government is implementing six children development centers under the supervision of Bangladesh Shishu Academy for the welfare and rehabilitation of street children. The state minister said this while replying to a question from independent lawmaker Hajji Mohammad Selim in the Jatiya Sangsad. Of the six centers, one is absolutory earmarked for girls at Ajimpur in Dhaka city. Among the rest five centers for boys, one each is situated at Gazipur and Karaniganj in Dhaka division and Rajshahi, Khulna and Chittagong divisions. She said the government has taken various steps to rehabilitate the street and underprivileged children across the country. The centers have provisions for supplying food, accommodation, education, treatment and cultural training, she added. Syria crisis: Hospital strike deliberate, says MSF The strike left the MSF hospital in Maarat al-Numan in ruins BBC Online: Seven people have died in an air strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in northern Syria, the organisation said, calling it a "deliberate" attack. MSF said Syria's government or Russia was behind the raid in Maarat al-Numan. There has been no response from either. A further eight people are missing from the raid, the medical charity said. Separate strikes on a hospital in the same town, as well as on a hospital and school in Azaz, killed at least 12 people, activists and witnesses said. The raids in northern Syria come days after Russia and other world powers agreed to a limited cessation of hostilities, to begin later this week. Almost five years of civil war in Syria have led to the deaths of more than 250,000 people. More than 11 million people have been displaced. MSF said its hospital in Maarat al-Numan was hit by four missiles within minutes of each other. This "leads us to believe that... it wasn't an accidental attack, that it was deliberate," said Sam Taylor, the spokesman for MSF operations in Syria. Mego Terzian, president of MSF France, told Reuters "either the [Syrian] government or Russia" was "clearly" responsible. Monday's attack leaves tens of thousands without medical care in the town, the charity warned. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said nine people were killed, including a child. The raid also left dozens of others wounded, it added. Another hospital in Maarat al-Numan was also hit, opposition group the Local Co-ordination Committees said, killing three people. Solar power plant in Sunamganj BPDB inks deal with SKorea Staff Reporter : Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDP) on Monday signed a deal with Haor Bangla- Korea Green Energy Ltd (HBKGEL) to install 32MW solar power plant in Sunamganj. Company secretary of BPDB Mazharul Islam and Chairman of HBKGEL Ki Young Le signed in the agreement on behalf of their respective companies. HBKGEL is a joint venture initiative between five local and South Korean private companies. Parliament member from Sunamganj- 1 constituency, Moazzem Hossain Ratan is the managing director of the JV Company with a major share in the company. Under the contract, BPDB would buy electricity from HBKGEL at Tk 13.6 per unit or kilowatt-hour. Now, the average cost of electricity generation is, however, hovering around Tk 5.80 per unit. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, power division secretary Monwar Islam and BPDB chairman Md Shamsul Hasan Miah attended the signing ceremony at Bidyut Bhaban in the city. Nasrul Hamid said that the government has been trying to supply electricity to the people including haor and power grid isolated island areas by setting solar panel in an affordable price. The power plant will be installed for generation within next 18 months as per agreement. The plant is expected to generate 5,186 crore units of electricity a year. Under the contract, HBGEL will not receive any capacity payment or any compensation if the BPDB does not buy electricity from it. Monwar Islam said that the government has plans to generate 2,000MW power from solar-based facilities by 2021. The BPDB signed the deal under the controversial Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act, 2010 as it had awarded the contract without tenders. Hasina to nominate UP chairman aspirants Staff Reporter : Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina will give nomination to her party's chairman candidates in the upcoming Union Parishad elections schedule to begin from March 22. The ruling party on Monday sent a letter signed by AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam to the Election Commission (EC) in this regard. The letter contains the name and sample signature of Sheikh Hasina. A three-member delegation led by party's information and research secretary Afzal Hossain submitted the letter to the EC. Election Commissioner M Shah Newaz received the letter. AL central unit leader Sujit Nandi and SM Kamal were present during the submission of letter. The first phase election to country's 752 Union Parishads will be held on March 22. The EC will arrange polls to 4,275 Parishads out of 4,546 in six phases by June next. "All political parties are supposed to submit name of the person who will give nomination to the candidates for his or her respective parties. We have submitted our party President Sheikh Hasina's name to Election Commissioner Shah Newaz," he told journalists. He added AL President Sheikh Hasina will give her approval to the party's nomination forms.' Earlier, the party high command asked its grassroots leaders to send names of party candidates by February 15 (Monday) for contesting the Chairman posts in the six-phase Union Parishad elections. They were asked to suggest a single aspirant for each chairman post with the party's ticket. As per the decisions, an election board has been formed for each Union Parishad comprising six grassroots leaders-presidents and general secretaries of district, upazila and union units of AL For the first phase, last dates for filing and withdrawal of nominations are February 22 and March 2 respectively. After the EC completes scrutiny by February 24, polls symbol will be allocated on March 3. The country's Union Parishads have so far gone to polls eight times-in 1973, 1977, 1983, 1988, 1992, 1997, 2003 and 2011. The 2011 elections, too, were held in two phases. Govt wants to 'free' country from its opponents: Fakhrul UNB, Dhaka : BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday alleged that the government has resorted to a repressive path to 'free' the country from its opponents. "The government is filing false cases against our leader Khaleda Ziathere's no opposition leader who is not facing at least 10-15 cases. The motive behind filing the false cases is to make the country free from politics and opposition party," he said. Speaking at a discussion, he also said 'false' cases are being filed against opposition men to make sure that the country will only be run by a 'single party, Awami League'. Bangladesh Nationalist British Law Students' Association arranged the programme at the Supreme Court Bar auditorium. Fakhrul said, the current 'authoritarian regime' has put the country into deep crisis by 'annihilating democracy and imposing its misrule'. He renewed his party's call for a dialogue to overcome the crisis through a national consensus. Mentioning that BNP has no aim to go to power, Fakhrul said, "We want to ensure a proper election system through which power can be handed over in a peaceful way. We also want to protect people's voting rights so that a representative government is formed." He also criticised the government for what he said blocking the release of Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman by showing him arrested in a fresh case. "The move was taken to keep him in jail and harass him with a political motive." Tk 626 cr extra cost proposed Sagar Biswas : The cost of Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane project has increased again, and for that reason an amendment was made to the project proposal [PP] for the fifth consecutive time to readjust the additional expenditure. Road and Highways Department [RHD] recently sent the revised PP, along with an increasing amount of Tk 626.64 crore, to the Planning Commission for approval, officials said on Monday. With the newest increase, the total cost of project will bump to Tk 3816.93 crore from its earlier amount of Tk 3190.29 crore. Not only that, the RHD also has sought more time for completion of the project, they added. Source close to the Planning Commission told The New Nation yesterday that the revised project proposal would be placed for final approval before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council [ECNEC] meeting scheduled to be held today [Tuesday]. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also Chairperson of ECNEC, is expected to preside over the meeting. Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane, a 192.3km stretch of the highway, is being upgraded to four lanes, beginning from Daudkandi toll plaza and ending at Chittagong city gate. The project, which began in 2006, was supposed to be finished in 2012. But tender corruption, political unrest, lack of building materials, removal of illegal land-grabbers, and other obstructions resulted in the project duration being extended several times. When contacted, Project Director Engineer Ibne Hasan Alam yesterday said, "A revised PP will be placed at the ECNEC meeting to increase time and cost for completing the project perfectly. Hope, we will be able to finish the project within the timeframe." Explaining the progress of the project, the project director further said, "Out of ten road packages stretching 192.3 km, we have already completed 143 km pavement. It is 93.60 per cent of total work." RHD officials said, "Already the work of 20 bridges [out of 23] and 240 culverts [out of 242] have been completed. Seven km concrete road has been constructed in 16 important portions of the four-lane." Apart from it, six new bazaar areas have been included in the project. These are: Chhoto Darogar Hat, Sitakunda Bypass, Kadam Rasul Bazar, BMA Gate and Port Connecting Road. Rigid pavements would be constructed in these roads by spending Tk 136.44 crore. Besides, additional Tk 1.29 crore would be spent for introducing safe traffic movement. Last year, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that the project - despite being a priority project - had faced tender cancellations twice and changes of project director 11 times. The minister also told a parliamentary watchdog body that his ministry would do everything possible to finish the project early. He previously told parliament that the project would be completed by December 2014. The project was approved in 2005 with an approximate cost of Tk 2161 crore and its completion period was fixed from January 2006 to June 2012. But in first DPP [Development Project Proposal], the cost of the project was increased to Tk 2382.17 crore. Later, the cost was further increased in a special DPP to Tk 2410.17 crore. In the third time, the cost of project was increased to Tk 3190.20 crore and timeframe was also extended to December, 2014. Two hospitals bombed in Syria, 19 killed Arutz Sheva :At least 19 people were reported killed and dozens of others injured in air strikes and rocket attacks on two separate hospitals in northern Syria Monday.At least ten people were killed and 30 injured when air strikes and rocket artillery damaged parts of a hospital in the town of Azaz in Aleppo province, the rebel-controlled Aleppo local council said on Monday.The head of the council's media office, Abu Thaer al-Halabi, told Al Jazeera that a section of a highway that facilitates the main supply line for humanitarian aid to the region was also destroyed in the raids.Halabi added that he believed the strikes were carried out by Russian fighter jets.Meanwhile, suspected Russian air strikes also targeted a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province. At least nine people were killed, including a child, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. "A building that housed a hospital supported by MSF was destroyed on Monday by aircraft, presumably Russian," said the British-based monitor. A spokesman for the Syria Civil Defense in Idlib confirmed that the hospital was hit but had a lower death count. "At least four people have been killed while several others have been injured. We expect the death toll to rise," he said - identifying himself only as Radi.At least 13 people were reportedly injured in the air strikes, and rescue workers dug through rubble in an attempt to reach several people buried underneath. "Extreme damage has been caused to the hospital. Six floors have been almost reduced to rubble. This hospital is located in an area previously surrounded by restaurants and has no rebel strongholds. It has been functioning for over a year now," Radi said.MSF condemned the attack in a report released on Monday. While it did not give a death toll, it said at least eight members of staff were missing after four rockets hit the 30-bed facility, which had 54 staff, two operating theaters, an outpatients' department and an emergency room. "This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms," said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF's Head of Mission."The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," Massimiliano said. MSF supports around 150 hospitals in Syria.Russian warplanes have conducted air strikes in Syria since September 30 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The Observatory said that it determines whether strikes were carried out by Syrian, Russian or US-led coalition aircraft based on the location of the raids, flight patterns and the types of planes involved. Israel ex-PM Olmert begins prison term for corruption AFP Ramle, Israel : Ehud Olmert, once feted for his peace efforts with the Palestinians, on Monday became Israel's first former premier to serve jail time as he began a 19-month sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice. With the nation transfixed and Israeli television broadcasting live, the 70-year-old entered the Maasiyahu prison in the central city of Ramle just before 10:00 am (0800 GMT). He was escorted to the prison by officers of Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency as a crowd of journalists watched from nearby. A debonair man reputed to have a taste for fine cigars, Olmert's prison term closes a chapter in a long legal odyssey since he left office in 2009. The charges against him date to before his time as prime minister, to the years when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and economy minister, among other positions. In a video message released on Monday morning before he began his sentence, Olmert maintained his innocence. "You can imagine how painful and strange this change is to me, my family, loved ones and supporters," said Olmert, looking haggard and downcast. "I totally deny all the bribe charges attributed to me." He added that "over the course of my extensive career I also made mistakes, though none of them were criminal by nature in my opinion. I'm paying a dear price for some of them today, perhaps too dear. "With a very heavy heart, I'm accepting my sentence today. Nobody is above the law." Olmert was initially given six years' prison in May 2014 for taking bribes in the early 2000s in connection with the construction of Jerusalem's massive Holyland residential complex, but the sentence was later reduced to 18 months. Last week, an Israeli court handed him an additional month for obstructing justice. He admitted to the crime as part of a plea bargain in that case. His prison sentence could still be extended further. The Supreme Court is debating his appeal against a third sentence of eight months for fraud and corruption. The Israeli Prisons Service says he has been assigned to special block 10, "which is intended to house prisoners who for various reasons cannot be placed with the general prison population." He will join four other unidentified inmates in block 10, which has a maximum capacity of 18, and he will eventually have to share a cell. Inmates are allowed to bring from home four pairs of underpants, four pairs of socks, two towels and two sweatshirts without hoods or lining. They can also bring with them one blanket (not a duvet), two sheets, a pillowcase, and religious books and articles. Born near the port city of Haifa, Olmert was elected to parliament in 1973 for the rightwing Likud party and served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003. He later joined the cabinet. If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs. Judge Marilyn Castle Judge Marilyn Castle of the 15th Judicial District Court today made official her candidacy for the Louisiana Supreme Court. She is seeking the District 3 seat, which includes the parishes of Acadia, Avoyelles, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jeff Davis, Lafayette, St. Landry and Vermilion. The seat is currently held by Supreme Court Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll, who is nearing the end of her second 10-year term and has reached the mandatory retirement age. The election is Nov. 8. Our judicial system was founded upon the principles of fairness and impartiality. Cases must be decided based upon the law and evidence, not sympathy, prejudice or personal relationships. These are the standards which have guided me as a district court judge, Castle, who has served as a district court judge for the past 17 years, said in announcing her candidacy. I am running based upon my reputation and record, not campaign promises. I hope the voters will examine my record, find that it merits their support and will elect me, as an experienced, principled leader. After completing her undergraduate degree at LSU, Castle went on receive her juris doctorate from LSU School of Law. She was an assistant district attorney and spent 20 years in private practice focusing on commercial litigation, having handled more than 100 cases before the Louisiana Supreme Court. Castle became the first woman to serve as president of the Lafayette Parish Bar Association. Castle has twice been selected to serve as the chief judge for the 15th Judicial District Court and was recently named 2016 president of the Louisiana District Judges Association. In 2008 Castle received ABizs Women Who Mean Business award. She is a founding board member for the Lafayette Community Health Care Clinic and serves on the Lafayette Parish Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee. Earlier this month, Third Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Jimmy Genovese of St. Landry Parish announced his candidacy for the District 3 seat. Both Castle and Genovese are Republicans; retiring Justice Knoll is a Democratic. Monet rahapelien ystavat ovat viime vuosina loytaneet netticasinot ja olleet ihmeissaan. Verrattuna kotimaisen Veikkauksen kivijalkarahapeleihin puhutaan aivan eri tason palautusprosenteista ja lisaksi pelaaminen on aarimmaisen helppoa ja turvallista. Netticasinoiden maara on tana paivana todella suuri ja niita loytyy jokaiseen lahtoon, suurin ongelma aloittelevalla pelaajalla onkin tehda valinta siita, minka netticasinon valitsee. Kaikkien netticasinoiden mainospuheet naet lupaavat kauniita asioita ja niiden lapinakeminen on tietysti tarkeaa. Nyrkkisaantona voidaan kuitenkin jo kattelyssa todeta, etta jos valitsemasi netticasino on lisensoitu ETA-alueella, sen kanssa ei tule olemaan ongelmia, ellei niita itse jarjesta. Kay tutustumassa parhaisiin netticasinoihin osoitteessa www.ilmaiskierroksia.info! Ensimmainen nyrkkisaanto on siis varmistaa, etta valitsemallasi netticasinolla on ETA-alueen lisenssi. Suurimmassa osassa tapauksista se on Maltan eli MGA:n lisenssi. Myos Viron, Englannin ja Gibraltarin lisensseja nakyy ja naissa valvonta on jopa Maltaa tiukempaa. Lopputulema on kuitenkin se, etta ETA-alueen lisenssi takaa suomalaisille verovapaat voitot seka sen, etta niita valvotaan kontrolloidusti. Maailmalla on iso nippu Curacaon lisenssilla toimivia netticasinoita ja niistakin suurin osa on laadukkaita. Ne eivat kuitenkaan ole suomalaisille asiakkaille verovapaita, joten emme suosittele niita. Tana paivana markkinoille on ilmaantunut paljon ETA-alueella toimiva netticasinoita ilman rekisteroitymista. Jos tarkoitus on vain pelata yksittaisia pelikertoja, on varsin helppo suositella naita. Netticasinot ilman rekisteroitymista tarjoavat palvelun tunnistautumisen verkkopankin avainlukulistan avulla ja saman palvelun kautta tapahtuvat talletukset ja mahdolliset voittojen nostot silmanrapayksessa. Normaaleihin netticasinoihin pitaa asiakkaan rekisteroitya, tehda talletukset ja tunnistautua dokumenttien avulla. Tama on lisenssiehtojen mukainen kaytanto, eika kovinkaan monimutkainen, mutta silti monet asiakkaat haluavat yksinkertaista ja nopeaa palvelua. Toki normaalit netticasinot tarjoavat usein asiakkailleen laadukkaita talletusbonuksia ja erilaisia kampanjoita, joten kannattaa tarkkaan punnita, kumman ratkaisun valitsee. Kannattaa myos muistaa, etta tunnistautuminen tehdaan vain kerran, joten mikaan jatkuva riippakivi se ei ole. Suomalaiset asiakkaat ovat netticasinoille tarkeita, joten kaikilla vahankin laadukkailla netticasinoilla on suomenkieliset sivut seka suomenkielinen asiakaspalvelu suomenkielisyys kannattaakin ottaa netticasinoa valittaessa nyrkkisaannoksi. Vaikka tana paivana englanninkielisyys on harvoille ongelma, on suomenkielisten netticasinoiden maara niin valtava, etta suosittelemme niiden kayttoa. Rahansiirrot ovat tana paivana niin hyvassa mallissa, etta niiden kanssa tuskin tulee mitaan ongelmia. Kolme tarkeinta segmenttia: Suomalaiset verkkopankit, luottokortit (Visa, Mastercard) seka nettilompakot (Skrill, Neteller) loytyvat jokaisesta laadukkaasta netticasinosta. Viime vuosien trendiksi noussut verkkokauppa on kehittanyt rahansiirrot niin laadukkaiksi ja nopeiksi, etta niiden suhteen ei ole enaa vuosiin ollut ongelmia. Luonnollisesti netticasinot kayttavat naita samoja palveluita ja hyotyvat kehityksesta. Naiden isojen linjojen jalkeen netticasinon valintaan vaikuttavat luonnollisesti tarjottavat tervetuliaisbonukset uudet asiakkaat saavat tana paivana kovan kilpailun myota merkittavia etuja netticasinoilta ja niita kannattaa luonnollisesti vertailla. Erilaiset talletusbonukset, ilmaiskierrokset seka ilmaiset pelirahat tuovat suuriakin rahanarvoisia etuja ja niiden vertailu on ehdottomasti kannattavaa. Myoskaan useampien tilien avaaminen ja tervetuliaistarjousten kayttaminen ei missaan nimessa ole huono idea. Kun edella mainitut asiat ovat mieleisia ja vaihtoehtoja on vielakin jaljella, mennaan jo nyansseihin. Toki pelivalikoima on yksi kriteeri, mutta taman paivan netticasinoissa tamakin asia on paasaantoisesti varsin samanlainen. Toki useamman samantasoisen netticasinon vertailussa kannattaa yleensa valita se, jossa on eniten peleja tarjolla. Vaikka omat suosikit loytyisivatkin useammasta, voi tulevaisuudessa mielenkiinto nousta joihinkin muihin peleihin ja silloin on tietysti mukavampaa, etta ne loytyvat valikoimista. Viimeisena voidaan nostaa esiin kaytettavyys joidenkin netticasinoiden sivut ovat vilkkuvia, valkkyvia ja epakaytannollisia. Omaan silmaan ja kaytettavyyteen sopiva sivusto on luonnollisesti aina se paras valinta. Tarjonta netticasinoissa on tana paivana valtava ja jokaiselle loytyy varmasti se oma netticasino onnea matkaan! Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes. What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection? Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were. Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly. Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection: You get to see exactly what will happen to your money When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor. Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on. A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with. You find out about potential major repairs Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing. If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately. You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home. Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly. You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best. This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit. Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home. You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home. You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price. You can sell your home faster and for more money If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are. In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price. Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for. Your home will hold its value longer As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property. When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home. You can make smart decisions about property investments Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property. If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal. There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about. If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing. They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit. You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for. For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money. You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building. You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure. Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so. As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. -Jesus -John 14:6 Alan Maki A favorite book... A working class point of view Researcher, Writer, Activist Blue Bonnets in Texas Hill Country Texas Longhorn Uniting People... Cactus An "Open Letter" to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and the DFL on the Minimum Wage http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-open-letter-to-minnesota-governor.html Community activist Liane Gale stands up for a living--- non-poverty--- Minimum Wage http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/green-party-community-activist-liane.html Climate change and the military-industrial complex: By: Alan Maki http://canadiandimension.com/articles/5890/ Writing a "Letter to the Editor." Write, and write often. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number where you can be reached for verification that you wrote the letter. If one newspaper won't publish your letter send it on to the next newspaper. http://let2editor.blogspot.com/ A number of people have asked me to expand my thoughts about "Letters to the Editor" and how to use them more effectively... do you have additional ideas?Write, and write often.Be sure to include your name, address and phone number where you can be reached for verification that you wrote the letter.If one newspaper won't publish your letter send it on to the next newspaper. Contact info: Alan L. Maki 58891 County Road 13 Warroad, Minnesota 56763 E-mail: red_finn@live.com Cell phone: 512-517-2708 Blog: There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed. Ernest Hemingway More working people need to sit down at their keyboards and "bleed" on blogs, FaceBook, leaflets and rank-and-file newsletters. 58891 County Road 13Warroad, Minnesota 56763E-mail: red_finn@live.comCell phone: 512-517-2708Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/ There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.Ernest Hemingway Full Employment Now! Full Employment We need a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace & Prosperity. We need a *21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace & Prosperity*. The time has come to fulfill the dreams and promises that were intended to be part o... 9 years ago I was asked a question; this was my answer. At a recent forum in Thief River Falls, Minnesota where I was on a panel discussing Minnesota's financial woes, I was asked what I would do if I was governor. This is a fair question. This was my answer: Please keep in mind as I proceed with my thoughts that there is a "fare" and a "fair." One is spelled "f-a-r-e" and means something completely different from "fair" spelled "f-a-i-r." If I were elected governor of Minnesota the very first reforms I would implement to solve the state's budget problems would be: 1. A hefty tax on the rich like Mark Dayton promised as he campaigned for election but reneged on once elected. 2. Substantially increase the taconite tax; the mining companies are robbing us blind leaving us with poverty and pits filled with pollution while they abscond with the profits. This has to end. 3. Place a really hefty tax on the forestry industry in the form of stumpage fees; cut down any tree and you pay what the tree is really worth. 4. I would place toll booths at the entrances to each and every casino in Minnesota charging the exact same fee Minnesotans are charged to enter our State Parks. Anyone who can afford to gamble can afford such a fee. I would also initiate a "gambling license" on all gamblers. Just like a fishing license Like most of you, I am fed up with this "circus in the Cities." Democrats and Republicans don't know the difference between the words "f-a-r-e" and "f-a-i-r;" we should give them all a dictionary not our votes. I think most Minnesotans would agree with these four solutions. So, what kind of democracy do we have where politicians won't do what people want and expect? It's just like the priorities at the national level... like they say in the Navy--- it's a SNAFU. If you don't know what a S-N-A-F-U stands for, look it up in the Urban Dictionary on your computer when you get home. If the United States government would stop spending our tax dollars on this insane militarism and all these dirty imperialist wars we would have the money to put people to work solving the problems of the people. I recently read this little book by former Democratic Vice-president under FDR, Henry Wallace, "Sixty Million Jobs." I would encourage everyone to read this book because it was in 1945 when this book was published to support the Full Employment Act of 1945 when Democrats and Republicans--- at Wall Street's insistence--- decided not to take Henry Wallace's advice provided in this book that our country began going way off track. Henry Wallace pointed out that Peace will put everyone to work which will solve just about every major problem we have in this country. "If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people." Tony Benn Can the Penokees be saved by people attacking workers' rights? The struggle to save the Penokees and worker's rights Question... Who gave their consent to make this a "two-party system" where only one class gets representation? How capitalism works... How capitalism works explained from a worker's perspective... Abba Ramos, a veteran organizer in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union: "If they can get a trained monkey to unload that boxcar tomorrow morning, rest assured, they'll have them over there and they'll have some bananas for lunch, and you'll be out on the street looking for work. Simple as that. You've got to remember, they follow only one rule of economic law, and that's that maximum production-minimum cost yields the greatest amount of profit. They don't deviate from that." Helpful tip Notice: You can make the picture or writing on my blog bigger or smaller on your monitor simply holding down your "Ctrl" key while hitting your "+" key to enlarge size or your "-" key to reduce size. A new banner to promote my blog My computer; a billboard for peace that travels with me Video: Dirty Jobs Summit and Affirmative Action Nicole Beaulieu, Curtis Buckanaga, MNDFL State Representative Joe Mullery and Alan Maki For good jobs with real living wages provide the American people with free health care For Peace, Job and Justice MNASAP Minnesota Arms Spending Alternative Project Me and Howard Dean... not exactly "old chums" Keep True, a life in politics by Howard Pawley Taking it to the streets... Obama has to go. A program for real change... * Peace--- end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and shutdown the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil. * A National Public Health Care System - ten million new jobs. * A National Public Child Care System - three to five million new jobs. * WPA - three million new jobs. * CCC - two million new jobs. * Tax the hell out of the rich and cut the military budget by ending the wars to pay for it all which will create full employment. * Enforce Affirmative Action; end discrimination. * Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage * What tax-payers subsidize in the way of businesses, tax-payers should own and reap the profits from. * Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions. * Defend democracy by defending workers' rights including the right to collective bargaining for improving the lives and livelihoods of working people. * Roll-back and freeze the price of food, electricity, gas and heating fuels; not wages, benefits or pensions . * Wall Street is our enemy . Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood for a real change. Search This Blog Follow and support the important working class' victory at the polls in Canada Canadian workers and their New Democratic Party are blazing the path of independence from the big-business controlled political parties. Manitoba will be having elections in the fall. Workers here in the United States should be paying attention to Canadian politics as there is a lot to learn. Ask your union to link its websites to the Canadian Labour Congress, New Democratic Party and Manitoba NDP. Also, I would encourage you to paste this into your own personal blogs, web sites and FaceBook and other social netwoking sites. Here are the links: Canadian Labour Congress--- http://www.canadianlabour.ca/home New Democratic Party--- http://www.ndp.ca/ Manitoba NDP--- http://todaysndp.ca/ Also, check out Howard Pawley's new book--- "A Life in Politics, Keep True" available through: http://msupress.msu.edu/bookTemplate.php?bookID=4250 Check out my blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/ Contact info... Phone: 512-517-2708 E-mail: red_finn@live.com About Me Alan Maki United States I have been involved in the peace, labor, civil rights, and environmental movements for over 30 years, and I am a socialist. I would encourage everyone to get involved in promoting the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which came into existence on December 10, 1948; we should strive to use the yearly anniversary of this document to popularize it. We need to struggle to create a more progressive, socially just society where all working people receive real living wages and have a voice at work, and in their communities. I have worked with casino workers across Minnesota who are trying to organize a union. I have worked with people in northern Minnesota struggling to save the Big Bog, the primary freshwater aquifer--- this bog is being mined for peat. In my spare time during the spring and fall you can find me fly fishing on the Dark River, a pristine designated trout stream;in the winter ice fishing on Lake-of-the-Woods. I look forward to hearing from you. Nothing human is alien to me. View my complete profile Martin and Malcolm... My dog Fred... Vote for Mark Dayton to "tax the rich" and enforce affirmative action General McCrystal... please don't leave me alone like a Rolling Stone with no way home... Barack Obama and the greedy Wall Street pigs he represents A note from Governor Pawlenty This blog is proud to be a part of the ever growing and expanding People Before Profit network . Question... Could Minnesota's debt be eliminated by modestly taxing the Indian Gaming Industry in Minnesota? If, so, why haven't any of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party candidates for governor brought this idea forward as part of their campaigns? Other businesses and industries are faced with a myriad of taxes... shouldn't there be a level playing field in taxation? Wouldn't such a tax on gaming revenues amounting to tens of billions of dollars provide working people and small business owners and the middle class with a little much needed tax relief? Suggestion: Ask this question at a "meet the candidates forum;" no one else will ask this question if you don't. Comment: We have toll booths at the entrances to all Minnesota State Parks; put up toll booths on the public roads going into all casinos--- budget problems solved. Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade Ideas and Opinions Health care reform Health Care Real health care reform creates jobs Our organization is distributing this in union circles and beyond in preparation for the AFL-CIO's National Convention in September: Sisters and Brothers, ... Important Notice... Due to recent budget cuts and the cost of electricity, gas and oil, as well as current market conditions and the continued decline of the economy, The Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience. Ideas and Opinions Ideas and Opinions Two views. Which way for organized labor and the working class. Listen to this. Richard Trumka's main speech to the AFL-CIO's National Convention: http://ww... 9 years ago Senator David Tomassoni Global capitalism in crisis... Capitalism on the skids to oblivion... Galbraith on the failed president, which side is he on? Galbraith on the failed president, which side is he on? James K. Galbraith Economist, Author Posted: December 6, 2010 10:48 AM Whose Side Is the White H... 11 years ago Health Care Reform... a real proposal for change Roger Jourdain Rudy Perpich Floyd B. Olson Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act Building a new era of justice and peace Post from Alan Maki's Blog Building a new era of justice and peace The United States has 800 military bases on foreign soil... What we need--- instead--- is 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States where people can universally access, for free, all their health care needs from pre-natal care, to general health care to eye, dental and mental care right through to burial. Instead of moving in this progressive direction, President Barack Obama and the United States Congress are moving in a most reactionary direction towards establishing military bases in outer space as they seek to insure the profits of both the merchants of death and destruction and the profit-driven health care industries... talk about skewed priorities and your wacky ideas which will execerbate the problems surrounding the failing capitalist economy, and ideas devoid of common sense. In addition to these 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil, Barack Obama and the United States Congress continue funding--- with our tax-dollars--- the Israeli killing machine to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Where is the "change?" This is the change Americans want, and the change we need: A network of 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States would create over four-million good-paying, decent jobs--- talk about your "economic stimulus" package! We would be redistributing the wealth as we are planting the seeds of socialism while helping to eradicate poverty by keeping people healthy and getting them well when sick. Think about this kind of solution in relation to what Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and the Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers are offering the American people, and the peoples of the world... just what is the reason for bailing out the banks and AIG and maintaining more than 800 expensive U.S. military bases of foreign soil? The Mt. Carmel Clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada offers us a glimpse at what militarization and wars continue to rob us of. The problems created by Wall Street will not be solved as long as the military-financial-industrial complex is allowed to squander human and natural resources on militarism and wars... we might just as well be dumping these resources out into the ocean... at least no one would die in wars. These merchants of death and destruction must be stopped if humanity is to survive in a livable world. The time has come to talk about working class Marxist politics and the economics of livelihood... capitalism has failed humanity miserably and left us a real mess to clean up. Capitalism is on the skids to oblivion and unless we take a "left turn" we will continue down this road to perdition. Something for working people to think about and discuss around the dinner table... the capitalist sooth-Sayers certainly are not going to broach such solutions to the problems of working people as they hide behind the skirt of Rosy Scenario as this global capitalist economic depression intensifies while wars rage on. The times and conditions call for "building a new era of justice and peace;" this is one step in that direction; this is the change the American people voted for. Alan L. Maki Founder, Frank Marshall Davis Roundtable for Change A gift returned... Dear Mr. Ambassador, Thank you for the 3 bottles of wine that you sent me as seasons greetings. I wish to you, your family and everybody in the Embassy a happy new year. Good health and progress to you all. Unhappily, I noticed that the wine you have sent me has been produced in the Golan Heights. I have been taught since I was very young not to steal and not to accept products of theft. So I cannot possibly accept this gift and I must return it back to you. As you know, your country occupies illegally the Golan Heights which belongs to Syria, according to the International Law and numerous decisions of the International Community. I take the opportunity to express my hope that Israel will find security within its internationally recognized borders and the terrorist activities against Israel territory by Hamas or anybody else will be contained and made impossible, but I also hope that your government will cease practicing the policy of collective punishment which was applied on a mass scale by Hitler and his armies. Actions such as those of these days of the Israel military in Gaza remind the Greek people of holocausts such as in Kalavrita or Doxato or Distomo and certainly in the ghetto of Warsaw. With these thoughts allow me to express to you my best wishes for you, the Israeli people and all the people of our region of the world. Athens, 30/12/2008 Theodoros Pangalos, Member of Parliament (Greece) Auto workers fight for union recognition 1930's Labor Journal Labor A National Approach for Making the Minimum Wage a Living Wage A National Approach for Making the Minimum Wage a Living Wage *Join Us for a 2-Hour Conference Call Discussion* Sunday, April 27, 2014 8-10pm ET / 7-9pm C... 8 years ago Capitalism on the skids to oblivion... Capitalism on the skids to oblivion... The crisis of working class family debt Economics for working people: Real solutions to the mortgage crisis Ray Stevenson, working class legend We are fed up! Boycott Mobil/Exxon/Esso Stop the robbery at the pumps Coleman Young... a politician who brought forward real solutions to the problems of working people Coleman Young testifies before House Un-American Activities Committee A great YouTube video from Virginia Beach... Karl Rove on Trial Introduction Karl Rove on Trial Everybody knows... Everybody knows the boat is leaking. Everybody knows the captain lied.... Everybody knows the plague is coming. Everybody knows its moving fast. Everybody knows ... Leonard Cohen Historic victory AKEL anti-fascist, anti-imperialist elected Eleni Mavrou It takes a struggle to win... Education Organization Unity Action Madam Labor Secretary International Womens Day http://internationalwomensdaymarch8.blogspot.com/ Ann Holdreith Autumn Sky By: Ann Holdreith On the ride home from Toledo, from a worn out school resurrected for good honest men, for men with kids and grandkids, guys who eat sugar doughnuts and wink while they hammer-out fenders and hurl the carcasses of metal beasts, against autumns haunted sky, I wonder if they remember the grip of thighs around engine-less muscle and sweat, ragged dirty hair assaulting the wind, buttocks and back pounding with hooves that know exactly where they belong on this earth. On the way from Toledo, a pulsing cloud of blackbirds hurls its wings against the dying blue; dark umbrellas opening to summers last ride. Carlton, Minnesota Help Stop Sulfide Mining in Michigan's Upper Peninsula... urgent action needed http://www.yellowdogwatershed.org/index.htm Along the North Shore of Lake Superior "Peace Bridge" demonstration Democratic majority in the Michigan House abandons casino workers... Wednesday, August 8, 2007--- Lansing, Michigan. By a shameful vote of 63 to 41... not a single Michigan Legislator--- with the exception of one lone Republican--- would take a stand in defense of the rights of casino workers to be employed in a workplace free of second-hand smoke. Not one single Michigan Legislator would take a stand for casino workers being paid real living wages protected by state and federal labor laws along with the right to organize for collective bargaining. House Democratic Floor Leader Steve Tobacman and Democratic Representative Barbara Farrah did this dirty work for the Fertitta Family and the Kansas City mob which will "skim" the profits from the Gun Lake Casino like they have done in all the other casinos managed by the Fertitta Family. The United Auto Workers union leadership, fearing estrangement and being shunned by the Democratic Party, dropped its feeble opposition to this legislation giving a hint as to how they intend to abandon autoworkers in the present contract negotiations with the "Big Three." Minnesotans give Bush a piece of their mind... Lake Michigan A thought... Dogs have fleas, society capitalists. The fleas are not good for the dog nor the capitalists for society. Both live on their hosts. Wisconsin homestead on a fall day Blog Archive What's in the clouds? Perhaps some harmless water vapor? This Land Is Your Land music video Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie As John Stuart Mill wrote in 1866, "I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it." Or, as Rick Santorum put it, "We will never have the media on our side, ever, in this country. We will never have the elite, smart people on our side." In other words, Republicans only appeal to stupid people or rich people who aren't that bright. The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. CARBONDALE The Illinois Attorney General issued a binding opinion concluding that the Illinois State Police has violated the states Freedom of Information Act by improperly withholding graphic crime-scene photographs requested by Molly Youngs father. The state police has been instructed to turn over the photographs to Larry Young according to the Feb. 10 letter from Madigans office, penned by Michael Luke, counsel to the attorney general. It states that ISP has 35 days to contest the decision, should the agency so choose, by filing a complaint for administrative review with the circuit court of Cook or Sangamon counties. Larry Young said in an interview Monday that he does not intend to personally review the photographs, but plans to ask experts to review them, in addition to other ISP and Carbondale Police Department documents and photographs related to Molly Youngs 2012 death case that he has fought to have access to for nearly four years. My intention is to get the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Young said, when asked what is the next step for him. Until I see the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I cant tell you the answer to that exactly. AG: privacy exemption inappropriate ISP denied Youngs request for the photographs on Sept. 30, citing a section of the public records law that exempts from disclosure personal information which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The binding opinion from Madigans office says ISPs use of that exemption is inappropriate because, in this case, Young is the father of the decedent and the executor of her estate, and by filing the FOIA request, consented to the disclosure to him of personal information concerning his daughter. He has therefore waived his personal privacy interest in withholding the photographs from dissemination to him, the letter states. It continues, ISP has not articulated a legal rationale that would justify withholding personal information concerning Molly Young from her father, including death-scene and autopsy photographs. Questions loom four years later Molly Young, at the age of 21, died on March 24, 2012, from a gunshot wound to the head. She died in the Carbondale apartment of Richie Minton, whom she had previously dated. The Carbondale Police Department was the first to respond to the scene, but the case was then turned over to ISP investigators because of Mintons employment with the city. At the time, he was a dispatcher with the Carbondale Police Department. Questions have loomed in the nearly four years since her death about who fired the gun that killed Molly Young, and Larry Young has maintained his belief that she was murdered. The Justice for Molly Facebook page where Larry Young frequently provides updates on his pursuit of information related to her death case has more than 25,000 members. An autopsy conducted the day after her death by Dr. Raj Nanduri classified Youngs death as a suicide, and Jackson County States Attorney Michael Carr found in August 2013 insufficient evidence to make a murder charge. In October 2014, an independent review by the Illinois States Attorneys Appellate Prosecutors Office determined there was no conclusive evidence to issue an indictment related to her death. But it also stopped short of ruling her death a suicide, stating evidence was inconclusive. Molly Young's father wins records from Carbondale police CARBONDALE Another Illinois law enforcement agency has been found to have violated state p Public Access Bureau's multiple opinions This Feb. 10 binding opinion from the Attorney Generals Office stems from an Aug. 12 FOIA request that Young sent to ISP seeking records, including the crime-scene photographs, related to the death investigation of his daughter. According to the attorney generals letter, on Sept. 30, ISP responded to Youngs request in part, but denied the photos. On Oct. 26, Young submitted his request for review to the Attorney Generals Public Access Bureau. Young said it was one of several FOIA requests he has sent ISP, some of which the agency failed to respond to at all. This isnt the first time the Public Access Bureau has determined that ISP and the Carbondale Police Department wrongfully withheld public records from Larry Young. In 2015, in two different determinations, the Public Access Bureau issued non-binding opinions stating that both agencies had incorrectly claimed exemptions in denying some of Youngs requests. Seeking photo comparisons Young said the Carbondale Police Department turned over a volume of documents to him this past fall, with Mayor Mike Henry and Chief Jeff Grubbs paying him a personal visit to his home in Johnston City to deliver the records. Young believes there are still records the Carbondale Police Department has failed to turn over, but said he did obtain crime-scene photographs from the Carbondale Police Department. Young said his persistence in obtaining crime-scene photographs from both agencies is because he wants experts to be able to compare those from the morning taken by the Carbondale Police Department to those ISP took in the afternoon after obtaining a search warrant of Mintons home as the lead agency on the case. HERRIN In 1967, they really did pave paradise and put up a parking lot. But theres more to this tale. In 1957, Louie Gualdoni had purchased the P&R meat market where he had been working for the previous owners, Ernest Ruggeri and Charlie Parigi. Louie who passed away on Jan. 25 at the age of 85 renamed the market on Monroe Street in Herrin, Louies P&R acknowledging new ownership with a nod to its roots. But a decade later, city officials came to him and said theyd like to build a big parking lot downtown. So they bought him out. So he sold, said Tony Gualdoni, Louies son. Louis Gualdoni HERRIN Louis H. Gualdoni, 85, passed away peacefully at 5:25 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, i With three children at home to support, Tony made a decision to leave the deli business and pursue another job. He took a test to be a meat inspector working for the state. He got a job, but we were going to have to move north. He didnt want to do that, Tony said. Louie decided to give the market a go at a new location on Walnut Street. Thanks to that decision, fifty years later, this little slice of Herrin is still serving up a hard-to-find selection of Italian meats and cheeses as part of its full-line deli, in addition to various pastas and other specialty items. People drive from all around Southern Illinois to take home the sausage, bratwurst, luganiga, an Italian breakfast sausage, or salameats, a garlic-flavored sausage that is the delis most popular item. Tony and his wife, Alisa, now own the business, and plan to well into the foreseeable future, at least until they can put their youngest son through school, Tony said with a laugh. Tony and Alisa have been co-owners of Louies P&R since 2000, and Tony and his brother, Chris, were co-owners from 1992 to 2000. Louie had decided to retire in 1992, and sold the business to the two boys, though he never fully walked away, Tony said. He retired, but he was always here helping us, Tony said. Tony credits his father will instilling in him the value of hard work and good customer service, two things that he said are a must for a small grocery and deli to survive in todays market. Tony said he and his brother and sister were taught the magic of these three words: hello, goodbye and thank you. With his fathers passing a few weeks ago, Tony said hes been blown away by the outpouring of support for his family. Just this past week, Tony said he went to the mailbox one day and pulled out 19 sympathy cards. Its unbelievable the outpouring of love, he said. Its way far and above and beyond what we as a family ever dreamed. Tony said thats because of all the many little things his dad did over the years to help people. When people were short on cash for groceries, he was known to forgive their bill or allow them to keep a tab at the store to be paid when they could. One person recently told him about how, as a young man out with his new wife, Louie had approached them to say hello, and when they went to leave, the couple was informed he had also paid the tab. Louie's P&R is a hidden gem in Herrin HERRIN -- A Southern Illinois gem nestled in a small town is where residents and those passi Tony said he was blown away by that story, and then beside himself when another person approached him with the same scenario, indicating that was a common gesture in Louies life. I want to be like that, Tony said. I want to be just like my dad. Those who know Tony say hes nicely filling his fathers big shoes. As Tony was speaking to the newspaper, a customer walked in, and without missing a beat, Tony turned to him and said, Hey Jim with a big smile. Beyond the product, what keeps loyal customers coming back to Louies P&R week after week is the way employees treat them. At Louie's, one is more than a walking wallet. We kind of make it like a family, he said. We get to know people and thats nice when you call somebodys name when they come in and theyre kind of impressed with that. Its just our nature. Jim Cislaghi, a U.S. Mail carrier, said he loves coming into Louies P&R for a deli sandwich on a break, and often takes fresh meat back home to throw on the grill. Small businesses such as Louies are the real gems of Southern Illinois, he said. This is a great place, great atmosphere, great people, Cislaghi said. You walk through the door and they say good morning or good afternoon. They welcome you with arms open. SPRINGFIELD The Capital City was quieter than usual this past weekend with most state agencies shut down for Lincolns Birthday. With that state holiday on Friday and the national Presidents Day holiday on Monday, most of state government found itself with a four-day break. Meanwhile, a bill by state Rep. Andre Thapedi, D-Chicago, would make President Barack Obamas Aug. 4 birthday Illinois 13th paid state holiday. How does that compare to paid holidays in the federal government and in the private sector? Right now, Illinois has a dozen paid holidays. Those are: New Years Day, Martin Luther King Day, Lincolns Birthday, Washingtons Birthday (Presidents Day), Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, General Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Thats according to the states Department of Central Management Services. The federal government has ten paid holidays, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Those holidays are the same as Illinois, minus Lincolns Birthday and Election Day. Lawmakers welcome Obama's message of civility amid impasse SPRINGFIELD The ongoing budget impasse between Democrats and Republicans in Illinois was f Statewide, according to a survey of about 500 employers by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the average number of paid holidays in 2016 averages about 8.8 days. The 2016 Illinois Chamber Paid Holiday Survey indicates six holidays are those most widely celebrated with a paid day off. In order of prevalence, they are New Years Day at 98.2 percent, Labor Day at 98.2 percent, Thanksgiving at 98 percent, Memorial Day at 97.6 percent, Independence Day at 97.3 percent and Christmas at 90.4 percent. The next most-awarded holiday days are Good Friday at 34.6 percent, New Years Eve at 27.2 percent, Martin Luther King Day at 20.6 percent, Presidents Day at 18.5 percent, Veterans Day at 16.3 percent, and Columbus Day at 8.9 percent. In the bottom tier are floating holidays, 5.2 percent; Lincolns Birthday, 2.6 percent; the employees birthday, 2 percent; and Jewish holidays; 1 percent. Washingtons Birthday and Casimir Pulaski Day each came in at less than 1 percent. Obama built bipartisan reputation in Illinois Senate Given the deep partisan divisions that have characterized his presidency, it strikes some as About 1.3 percent of the respondents in the chambers survey indicated Election Day is recognized with a full paid holiday, while 1 percent said it is awarded as a half-day. Perhaps in a nod to the president, Thapedi filed the Obama birthday measure Feb. 2, about a week before Obamas speech at the Statehouse where the president, also a Chicago Democrat, began his career in elective office. The bill remains in the House Rules Committee and might or might not make it to the full House, where a debate could prove interesting. While some lawmakers might feel strongly about honoring Obama, others are sure to question the timing and value of another state holiday when Illinois is without a budget, deeply in short- and long-term debt, and without a contract with its largest employee unions. CLEMSON A record number of attendees met recently for the 2016 South Carolina Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Conference. Orangeburg Countys John Felkel, Dani Hallman, Heath and Meredith Prescott, Dean Hutto, Sara Shuler, Corey Shuler, Kayla Fralix, Richard Hutto, Ashlee Newman, Landrum and Ali Weathers, Randall Carson, and Hank Hutto were among the more than 200 young farmers and ranchers who traveled to Clemson University to network, to become better leaders in their communities and to share their experiences within the agriculture industry. Conference attendees had the opportunity to listen to world-class speakers on topics overreaching all aspects of agriculture. They learned about everything from ag technology, soil nutrition and labor, to agritourism, organics and ag literacy. Dean Hutto of Orangeburg County was elected as the 2016 SCFB Young Farmer and Rancher Committee Chair. He takes his role following the leadership of Steven Long of Lexington County, last years chair. Steven has shown great leadership during his tenure as Young Farmer and Rancher Chair. He has not only been a true visionary and decision maker, but also a servant leader to the committee. We are thankful to Stevens efforts and look forward to the guidance and knowledge of our newly elected chair, Dean, SCFB President Harry Ott said. Loni Rikard of Lexington County won the 2016 Young Farmer and Rancher Excellence in Agriculture Award, which recognizes young farmers and ranchers who do not derive the majority of their income from an agricultural operation but who actively contribute and grow through their involvement in agriculture, their leadership ability and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. Jimmie Lee and Katie Shaw of Newberry County won the 2016 Young Farmer and Rancher Achievement Award, which recognizes young farmers and ranchers who have excelled in their farming or ranching operations and exhibited superior leadership abilities. The large number of attendees at this years conference is indicative of a renewed interest shown by young farmers throughout the state. Our Young Farmer and Rancher program is growing with an increasing number of young people interested in agriculture and expanding their knowledge of farming. We were really excited to host our largest group ever this year, especially with this being the first time the conference has been held in Clemson, SCFB Young Farmer and Rancher Coordinator Jessica Cabrera said. Calhoun County had the most members present, boasting 19 young farmers and ranchers at the conference, and received the award for the Largest County Delegation. The Young Farmer and Rancher program is one of many purpose activities sponsored by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation. By connecting farmers to the larger community, Farm Bureau cultivates understanding about agricultures importance to South Carolinas local economies. To learn more, log on to scfb.org. MEMPHIS, Tenn. U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 9.1 million cotton acres this spring, up 6.2 percent from 2015, according to the National Cotton Councils 35th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey. Upland cotton intentions are 8.9 million acres, up 5.7 percent from 2015, while extra-long staple (ELS) intentions of 208,000 acres represent a 31.2 percent increase. The survey results were announced today at the NCCs 2016 Annual Meeting in Dallas. Dr. Jody Campiche, the NCCs vice president economics and policy Analysis, said, Planted acreage is just one of the factors that will determine supplies of cotton and cottonseed. Ultimately, weather, insect pressures and agronomic conditions play a significant role in determining crop size. She said that with abandonment set at 11 percent for the United States, Cotton Belt harvested area totals 8.1 million acres. Using an average U.S. yield per harvested acre of 831 pounds generates a cotton crop of 14.0 million bales, with 13.4 million upland bales and 595,000 ELS bales. The NCC questionnaire, mailed in mid-December 2015 to producers across the 17-state Cotton Belt, asked producers for the number of acres devoted to cotton and other crops in 2015 and the acres planned for the coming season. Survey responses were collected through mid-January. Campiche said, History has shown that U.S. farmers respond to relative prices when making planting decisions. During the survey period, the cotton December futures contract averaged just under 65 cents per pound, which is very similar to year-ago levels. However, corn and soybean prices are 8-12 percent below year ago levels, so price ratios of cotton to competing crops are a bit more favorable than in 2015. Survey respondents in the Southeast indicated a 5.1 percent decline, lowering the regional total to 2.1 million acres. Across the six states, the results are mixed with increased acreage in Alabama and Florida and a decrease for the other four states. The survey indicates more cotton in Alabama at the expense of wheat and soybeans. Floridas acreage almost exclusively is moving away from peanuts into more cotton. In Georgia, cotton acreage is expected to decline by 5.0 percent with corn and soybeans pulling acres from cotton. In South Carolina, cotton acreage is expected to decline by 13.5 percent with shifts to corn and soybeans. North Carolina is shifting to primarily soybeans and corn, while corn benefits from the modest decline in Virginia. The survey responses indicate that the modest increase in cotton acreage is largely the result of weaker prices of competing crops and improved expectations for water and favorable planting-time weather. Comments from respondents underscored the very difficult financial conditions facing cotton producers. For the past two years, U.S. cotton producers have struggled with low cotton prices and high production costs and with current futures markets indicating steady prices, producers economic situation is not likely to improve in 2016. Some producers, in fact, will find it very difficult to obtain production financing for the current year. On a Friday evening in January in their Walker Avenue home, Henry and Shelia Ashe were taking a nap with the sound of the television in the background. The couples four young grandchildren were enjoying one anothers company at the residence. The tranquility was shattered when Shelias 11-year-old grandson screamed, Grandma, get up! It is on fire! When I jumped up, my husbands shirt was on fire, Shelia said. I pulled the shirt off but he was already burned. We called 911. The next few moments are a blur, she says. It was a split second, Shelia said. All I had to do was think fast and get those kids out of there. She said she and her grandchildren had to crawl out of the house because of the heavy smoke. In the meantime, Henry had already escaped the blaze. I ran through the back door and made my way to the back of the house, he said. I laid down on the ground, but the smoke came up and down to me. I was almost out of breath when I heard somebody say, Anybody back there? Henry said his neighbor came to his rescue, put him on his shoulders and took him out of harms way. If he had not done that, I probably would not have been here today, Henry said. I am appreciative I am still alive. But, I am still shook up. Henry suffered third-degree burns on his head, neck and the right side of his body. He was transported to the Regional Medical Center and from there was taken to the Augusta Burn Center. Although he has undergone a few surgeries and regularly goes back to Augusta for follow-up appointments, hes slowly recovering. Shelia and the grandchildren were all able to get out of the house unharmed. The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety arrived at the 1724 Walker Ave. residence at 8:25 p.m with three fire engines and a ladder truck, according to an ODPS incident report. Upon their arrival, heavy smoke and fire were visible, the report indicates. Crews attempted to cut a hole in the roof for ventilation while another team attempted to make an entry-point attack; however, the firefighters had to withdraw due to flashover conditions, the report states. A transitional attack was made from offensive to defensive due to the heavy fire conditions, according to the report. The report notes the fire appears to have started in a carport and spread into the attic. Shelia told fire officials Henry had placed kerosene close to a fireplace and heard a loud noise when the fire started. The fire was ruled unintentional. The Jamison and Four Holes fire departments provided assistance in salvage and overhaul. The single-floor house is a total loss, with the damage estimated at $70,000. It is totally gone, Shelia said. There is nothing to save. While the exact cause of the fire is unknown, Orangeburg County Chief Fire Operations Officer Teddy Wolfe said home heating fires are a common occurrence when the weather gets cold. The biggest thing is to know what it is you are using to heat (with), Wolfe said. He said if residents use gas as their heating fuel, they need to make sure a carbon monoxide detector is in the home. If wood is being burned, residents need to make sure it is not pine because this will clog up a chimney and cause a fire, Wolfe said. Never use an oven to heat your home, he said. It is not made for that. If you forget it and leave it on, what is going to happen? Wolfe also noted that electrical heaters typically draw more current than traditional residential outlets can handle. Those tend to trip breakers, he said. If its tripping, there is a reason because it has gotten so hot it cuts off. Electric heaters are temporary, Wolfe added. They should not be 24/7 nor 365-day heating sources. One of the best steps homeowners can take is to make sure their smoke alarms are operating correctly, he said. If you are not testing them, you just as well not have them, he said. Test them and replace the batteries. Since the fire destroyed their home, the Ashe family has been living with their daughter in Orangeburg as they begin the process of searching for an apartment. The American Red Cross did assist the family with basic needs shortly after the fire, but their needs continue. We need sheets and curtains for windows, Shelia said. We need clothes, bed spreads and furniture. Those interested in assisting the family are encouraged to call 803-662-0358. CAMDEN Out on the hustings, people often ask me: Can you explain South Carolina? I just shake my head. Its complicated, I say. The simple answer, eternal and everlasting, is anti-secessionist James Petigrus remark: South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum. For those keeping an eye on the upcoming South Carolina primary contests, including the droves of journalists now combing the state for fresh fodder, a bit of background is in order. As to my bona fides, suffice it to say that my family settled hereabouts in the late 1600s. Essentially, the state is three within one, each with its own personality and voting history Upcountry (conservative), Midlands (mixed) and Lowcountry (liberal) plus the separate nation of Charleston, which is its own, singular place. The city is a Democrats town, owing not least to its large African-American community. But also, port towns tend to play a little looser than the land-locked. Most of South Carolina otherwise consists of small rural towns that honor tradition in all its forms. Most important, however, South Carolina is the joker in the nations deck. Although increasingly difficult to put the state in a box politically so many non-natives have discovered its charm and beauty certain relevant characteristics of its indigenous peoples bear mention. First, South Carolinians arent just anti-establishment. Theyre anti-everything if it means theyre expected to perform or respond in certain predicted ways. This tendency is especially acute when elites (aka not from around here) are involved. Thus, a local might do the opposite of what is anticipated based on history or demographics, even if against his own interests. Companion to this quirk is a strong current of what-the-hell-ism that courses through the veins of generations of good ol boys and girls, i.e. descendants of the Scots-Irish with all their stubborn pride. If they dont much cotton to foreigners (see above), they also dont care much for authority. In their book, the fact that candidates think they should be president pretty much disqualifies them for the office. But you gotta vote for somebody. May as well be Donald Trump. Is he everything a true Southerner dislikes in another human being? Absolutely. But if the elites dont like him, goes the thinking, then maybe I do. See how this thing rolls? Same thing on the Democratic side. At any other time, Bernie Sanders would be an impossible candidate unfamiliar and beyond the norms of Southern rectitude. Hes loud, angry and graceless with an accent you dont hear much in these parts. But Sanders has something the others dont. Hes real as dirt. If theres one thing a native son or daughter cant stand, its fakery. Whether from the ladies who smile and say, How nice, when they mean something extremely different or the politician who suddenly cant take his hands off a gun or Bible southerners have a knack for spotting a fraud. Hillary Clinton enters troubled waters here, particularly among African-Americans. Despite a likely endorsement from the ever-influential Rep. James Clyburn, it may not matter enough. As just one signal, Clintons recent visit to the state for Martin Luther King Day celebrations left many feeling colder than the weather dictated. She was nowhere in sight for the march in Columbia, where Sanders joined the front line. At a ceremony on the Statehouse steps, she breezed out of the warmth of the building, took her seat and read her prepared remarks. People notice these things. At another service later in the day, half of the black audience held Sanders signs, according to Bud Ferillo, a longtime South Carolina political operative and now head of the nascent South Carolina Collaborative on Race and Reconciliation. The message? The Clinton machine is showing its age and is out of touch with Democratic voters in 2016, Ferillo says. His prediction: Clinton might still win the Palmetto State, but if Sanders puts in the time Barack Obama did in 2007-08 (he lived here), he could pull an upset. An African-American friend in Camden responded to my plea for comment with only a photo showing Clinton dancing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with the hosts black DJ. The caption, playing off the rap hit Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae): Now watch me beg, for all the black votes. Ouch. So there you have it, much condensed but representative based on my own several conversations and interviews. Then again, what the hell, its South Carolina. All you know for sure is that whatever happens, there will be blood. SANTEE South Carolina farmers facing steep losses from last years flood must await government action on financial assistance as the new Farm Bill and private crop insurance are not built to handle such a disaster, according to presenters at a recent event sponsored by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service. While politics may be distasteful for some, it is essential to survival, S.C. Farm Bureau President Harry Ott said at the S.C. Cotton Growers annual meeting sponsored by Clemson Extension and the S.C. Cotton Board. The 2014 Farm Bill eliminated direct, guaranteed payments and disaster assistance to farmers, which placed a heavy burden on private insurance coverage. Ott said that early estimates show insurance covering about one-third of the $370 million in crop losses stemming from Octobers historic flood. Clemson University agricultural economist Nathan Smith agreed, saying that costly insurance premiums prompt farmers to opt for higher deductibles, which reduce claims payments. Additionally, coverage is capped at 85 percent of a farmers planted acreage, and most farmers can only afford policies that cover between 65 and 75 percent, Smith said. Any claims payments farmers do receive are based on market prices, which tend to be lower than the prices local growers actually would receive if they had crops to sell to local merchandisers and processors. When you factor all of that in, yeah, insurance is only going to cover about one-third to half of the loss, Smith said. The 2014 Farm Bill may not be much help either. It is not meant to handle the magnitude of the disaster we just had, Smith said. The 2014 Farm Bill replaced direct, guaranteed payments with the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. While ARC and PLC may provide some revenue protection, payments are variable and uncertain and cotton is no longer covered under the program. Payments to farmers, for example, are based on average county revenue, which will be extremely low this year because of the drought and flood. Additionally, those payments are capped at 10 percent of county revenue, so payments to farmers will be low compared to the magnitude of individual losses, Smith said. The Farm Bill puts reliance on private insurance, he said. Farmers are likely experiencing issues with filing claims, meanwhile. In some cases, farmers are required to harvest crops to receive a claim based on crop appraisal, said Jeanne Lindsey, a senior risk management associate with the U.S. Department of Agricultures Risk Management Agency. I understand that was an issue for some producers because the ground was so wet they couldnt even get in there to harvest, Lindsey told attendees of the cotton meeting. South Carolina cotton production dropped 72 percent last year, while peanut production was down 35 percent, according to initial estimated from the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Agricultural Statistics Service. Of 278,000 acres of cotton planted last year in South Carolina, just 124,000 acres were harvested and the per-acre yield was down 36 percent from 2014, federal data shows. Direct crop losses from the flood amount to $329 million, according to analysis by the USDA, the Farm Service Agency and the S.C. Department of Agriculture. Farmers suffered another $46 million in losses because wet conditions prohibited them from planting winter wheat, vegetables and fruit. Typically, insurance provides a buffer for farmers who have some crop to sell but less than a normal operating year, Ott said. But now many farmers have no crops to sell, he said. Insurance cant fill that hole. He said government assistance is needed to keep some farmers in business. Congress approved $300 million in disaster assistance for which South Carolina farmers could receive a share, Ott said, but state government must approve the release of that federal funding. Additionally, the S.C. Farm Bureau is working with state lawmakers to allocate some state assistance to farmers, but lawmakers have not yet approved it, Ott said. I make it a point of not missing the annual Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, and this year was/is no different as it's a street pho... Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti will visit Azerbaijan in June 2016, Azerbaijans economy ministry said Feb. 15. Chakrabarti made the remarks during the meeting with Azerbaijans economy minister Shahin Mustafayev in London, according to the message. The EBRD president said that he attaches great importance to cooperation with Azerbaijan and supports the ongoing reforms in the country. The measures being held in Azerbaijan are very important and positive, said Chakrabarti. In turn, the Azerbaijani minister said that business and investment opportunities of Azerbaijan will be presented to investors within the framework of the EBRD regular annual meeting to be held in London May 11-12, 2016. Throughout the cooperation with Azerbaijan, EBRD has allocated 2.8 billion euros to the country for implementation of around 161 projects. One of the main tasks of EBRD is to ensure a stable development of Azerbaijans non-oil sector by investing in the small and medium-sized private enterprises. Azerbaijan is the largest recipient of EBRD funds in the Caucasus, as well as one of the largest recipients of this organizations funds in the CIS and Eastern Europe. /By Trend/ /By Azernews/ By Aynur Karimova Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the troika engaged in implementation of giant energy and transport projects, have met in Tbilisi to discuss the progress of construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, current problems, railway transportation among the three countries and future prospects of cooperation. The talks held on February 12 as part of the 7th meeting of the trilateral Coordination Council on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project also covered the multi-billion Great Silk Road project, as well as large-scale projects carried out in the region for strengthening relations, developing the tourism potential and enhancing the economic-trade turnover among the states and nations. Azerbaijan's Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov stressed the importance of the BTK project, which is expected to play an important role in development of economic, socio-cultural relations among the three countries. Binali Yildirim, Turkish Transport, Maritime and Communication Minister, said his country supports this project which will unite Europe and Asia, and will do its best for successful completion of construction of the railway. After signing a final protocol of the meeting, the transport ministers of the three countries held a press conference. BTK cost may increase Speaking at the press conference, Mammadov said the cost of the Georgian-Azerbaijani section of the railway, which now amounts to roughly $775 million, may increase due to current economic processes taking place in the world. "In general, the cost of any project jumps, as initially the project is developed, and then, after conducting some analysis, the official price is set," he said. "Some $200 million has been allocated for the project under the first tranche, while the second tranche amounted to $575 million. The total cost of the project amounted to $775 million. The budget of the project for the current year reaches $150-170 million, but it can rise due to the current global financial problems." Mammadov's such a statement was supported by Georgian Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili. BTK attracts interest Yildirim believes that since the beginning of implementation of the BTK railway project, it has attracted the attention of Western countries and such Asian countries as China, which is located on the historical Silk Road. He told Trend that the BTK railway will become the safest and most efficient transport corridor between Asia and Europe stretching not only via Turkey but also Azerbaijan and Georgia. "It will become even more important after it is connected with the Marmaray project (in Turkey) and thus, connecting Europe with Asia," he said. "The BTK construction is underway and the rail transport via this route is expected to start in 2017." Yildirim believes that the BTK project will further strengthen the neighborly and fraternal relations among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and enable to supply the goods produced in these countries to the world markets. Taking this into account, for Turkey, BTK is a network having economic and cultural aspects, Y?ld?r?m said. The BTK railway, being constructed on the basis of a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement, will play a significant role in the revival of the historical Silk Road and will enable expansion of the relations from Europe to the Anatolia, Central Asia and the Far East. Azerbaijan's state oil fund SOFAZ finances the project in accordance with the Azerbaijani presidents decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities', dated February 21, 2007. The peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be equal to one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. The Tbilisi meeting is expected to become a significant milestone in the implementation of the BTK railway and to accelerate the completion of the project in a short term. The European Commission keeps pushing for the diversification of energy sources, routes and suppliers, as well as encourages the emerging LNG market, the EU Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sef?ovi? said in his speech at the Internationale Energy Agency in Paris. The speech of Sef?ovi? was published on the European Commissions official website. We will continue discussions with third countries, in particular those in our immediate neighbourhood, especially in Energy Community countries, not only on security aspects in a narrow sense but also on issues such as renewables and energy efficiency, Sef?ovi? said. Today the Southern Gas Corridor is among the European Commissions energy projects, which aims at the diversification of the EU gas supply sources and routes. Azerbaijani gas in considered as the main source for that project. The Southern Gas Corridor, which envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European markets, has been included in the European Commissions PCI (projects of common interest) list. In particular, Expansion of the South-Caucasus Pipeline, Trans Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Interconnection Greece Bulgaria (IGB), as well as the Trans Caspian pipeline are among the included in the PCI list projects. Speaking about the Energy Union strategy Sef?ovi? said that by the end of this year the Commission intends to put forward some 90 percent of its proposals. A single European energy market, according to Sef?ovi?, will allow the EU to increase its security of supply by allowing energy to flow freely across its borders therefore offsetting oversupply on one side of a border with over demand on another. He also stressed that one of the main points of focus for this year is decoupling the geo-political tensions, especially on Europe's eastern borders, from Europe's energy security. A central element of the EU's Energy Union strategy is bridging missing links in the energy infrastructure. Building missing cross-border links between the Baltic Sea region and the rest of the EU energy market is a priority for the commission, Sef?ovi? said. /By Trend/ The Governor of the US State of Hawaii David Ige signed a Special Message condemning the Khojaly Massacre, which was committed by Armenias armed forces against the Azerbaijani civilians in 1992, the message of Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles said Feb. 15. On behalf of the people of Hawaii, I wish to express my deepest sympathies for the pain, suffering and loss of life that transpired 24 years ago, the Hawaii governor said in the message. As you gather to commemorate the tragedy that occurred in Khojaly, it is important to remember those who have suffered from senseless violence. This special message of recognition is the first official document in Hawaii concerning the Khojaly Massacre. Thus Hawaii has become the 19th US State to condemn the Khojaly Massacre, as well as recognize and honor its innocent victims. On February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian military, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi, committed genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. Among those 613 killed in the massacre, there were 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. A total of 487 civilians became disabled as a result of the onslaught. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. The event became the largest massacre in the course of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. /By Trend/ The US respects Azerbaijans sovereign right to raise issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh in regional and international organizations, including the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the US Department of State told Trend Feb. 15. The US Department of State made the remarks commenting on the role played by Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, with regard to a resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, which wasnt passed in PACE. Previously, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on a report titled Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water. The report prepared by MP Milica Markovic, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, was adopted Jan. 26 at the PACE Winter Session in Strasbourg. However, the second resolution on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was not passed by the PACE. Earlier, in an interview with an Armenian newspaper, US Congressman Adam Schiff said Nuland played a special role in the non-adoption of the said resolution by the PACE. The OSCE Minsk Group is the negotiation format accepted by the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the US hopes the sides will remain fully committed to working closely with the Co-Chairs of the group on a negotiated settlement, according to the US Department of State. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. /By Trend/ The relations between the EU and Azerbaijan must be absolutely better and more concrete, especially in economic sphere, European Parliament Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki told Trend Feb. 15. We should improve relations between the EU and Azerbaijan and the EU member countries and Azerbaijan, he said. Role of Azerbaijan in Europes common energy security policy is substantial and we want a diversified source of energy to Europe and to deeper cooperation with Azerbaijan is absolutely in our economic and also political interest, he said. EU-Azerbaijan cooperation is obligatory for both sides. Czarnecki also dismissed the recent statement by the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry regarding the fact that the EU Eastern Partnership initiative has failed. The Eastern Partnership program envisages political association and economic integration of EU with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It does not envisage the EU membership. The Eastern Partnership initiative does not provide the possibility for its members to become members of the European Union, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said Jan. 29 in his speech during a session of the Polish Parliament. /By Trend/ Moscow is keeping calm with regard to Tehrans missile program: there cant be any objections against something that isnt a subject to international restrictions, says Zamir Kabulov, Russian presidents special envoy for Afghanistan. Firstly, Irans missile program isnt a subject to any restrictions, RIA Novosti quoted Kabulov as saying Feb. 15. That [missile program] is Irans right. They dont develop offensive weapons, he noted, adding that on the other hand, various countries are threatening Iran. And they [Iran] have the right for self-defense, he stressed. Kabulov also claimed that the West demonstrates concern on the matter for its own reasons, adding that when the West needed to wedge itself in the Iranian market, it quickly forgot about all of these restrictions. So, this is hypocrisy in many cases, noted the diplomat. /By Trend/ A revolutionary 10-minute test for cancer which yields "near perfect" results could be available in the UK by the end of the decade. Scientists are now able to diagnose the deadly disease using just a single drop of saliva, known as a liquid biopsy. Costing around 15 the cheap technique picks up on fragments of tumour DNA, and is hoped to be a breakthrough in early diagnosis, boosting survival rates. Estimated to be available in the UK within four years, the cheap test is so simple it could be done in doctors office, pharmacies and even peoples homes. Currently only blood tests are available to detect cancer, and results usually take around two weeks. Unveiling the pioneering new research, Professor David Wong, from the University of California at Los Angeles, said it was due to enter full clinical trials later this year. Speaking at the the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, Prof Wong added he expected approval from the American Food and Drug Administration with two years. He told the conference: If there is circulating signature of a tumour in a person blood or saliva, this test will find it. We need less than one drop of saliva and we can turn the test around in 10 minutes. It can be done in a doctors office while you wait. Early detection is crucial. Any time you gain in finding out that someone has a life-threatening cancer, the sooner the better. So far the saliva test has had near perfect accuracy on lung cancer patients. The non-invasive test could also hold the key to early detection in some cancers, such as pancreatic, which currently has no effective early screening capabilities. Statistics from charity Cancer Research UK shows just under half of deaths in the UK were due to lung, bowel, breast or prostate cancers in 2012. Prof Wong was hopeful the test could be used to diagnose different forms of cancers in the future, and added: Down the road it might be possible to test for multiple cancers at the same time. Prototypes are currently being developed which will be rolled out in China and Europe, and the test would need regulatory approval before being available in the UK. About Me Tom I'm Canadian so I love the outdoors and all things beautiful and peaceful whether in creation or by human design. I came to know Jesus Christ personally when I was twenty eight years old. Life is rich, full, and beautiful knowing Him regardless of ones circumstances of life. View my complete profile Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a leading financial institution, launched a full merchant solution that consists of bundled products and services that cater to the various financial and transactional needs of SMEs in the UAE. The package offers the ADIB Point-of-Sale (POS) machine, which helps businesses to accept card payments in their outlets, an ADIB Business Merchant Account with a waiver on monthly maintenance fees, and access to state of the art internet banking with unlimited number of free local and international transfers. The bundle also provides business owners with the option to use ADIB POS Finance, which offers merchants considerable finance amounts with competitive rates against their Point-of-Sale receivables. In a challenging economic environment for SMEs, it is becoming more difficult for them to operate efficiently and secure finance, said Mahdi Kilani, head of ADIB Business Banking. We believe that these businesses are still and will remain the engine of growth for the UAE economy and need support from financial institutions with a clear view of their needs. Therefore we have come up with this solution that allows us to offer SMEs the opportunity to grow their businesses, reduce their operating costs, and get access to finance with competitive pricing, he added. With this launch, ADIB has become first Islamic bank to combine POS Machine, current account, and business finance in one offering. TradeArabia News Service Leading real estate expert JLL has signed an agreement with the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) to jointly launch a new housing index for the city. The JLL-JCCI Jeddah Housing Index is intended to collect, consolidate and share data on the housing market in Jeddah, thus bringing considerable transparency for investors and other participants in the citys residential market. In addition to enhancing transparency, the index will improve the quality of information available by collating information from major developers and other sources. Using the latest information technology, JLL will design an online questionnaire as part of its research methodology, and utilise other online resources to ensure the integrity of the data, said a statement from JLL. The first set of results will be published in JLLs second quarter report on the Jeddah real estate market which will be out later this year. In 2015, the property expert had signed a separate deal with JCCI to collect and share data on Jeddahs retail real estate sector. Zyad Al Bassam, the vice chairman of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, said: "The JLL-JCCI Housing Index will be a valuable resource for private sector investors as it will provide strategic insight which is not currently available." "There will be a greater volume of high quality and trustworthy information available as a result of our combined expertise. Overall, the index can contribute towards making the citys housing market more attractive to public and private investors," he added. Jamil Ghaznawi, the national director and country head of JLL (Saudi Arabia), said: "It is a privilege to once again partner with the JCCI, this time in bringing greater clarity to Jeddahs residential market. We are especially proud of the use of technology to enhance data collection and analysis, which is surely a first in the kingdoms fast evolving real estate sector." JCCI chief Khalid Bashwayer said: "This MoU highlights a fantastic initiative by JLL as it will allow us to make significant progress in improving the overall transparency of Jeddahs residential market." "The housing index also promises to provide better information for investors and the general public as it will provide data that is much more accurate and comprehensive," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties is monitoring the amount of real estate it puts up for sale as it tries to manage the impact of a slowdown in the sector, a company executive said on Monday. He was speaking after the developer reported a 5.6 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net attributable profit, helped by higher recurring revenue from assets such as shopping malls, schools and hotels. Economic growth in Gulf countries is slowing as low oil prices have led to spending curbs and job cuts across major sectors. Residential prices in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE and home to most of the country's oil reserves, rose 25 per cent in 2013 and 2014 but flattened in 2015. "We are watching how much we're releasing into the market," Aldar chief development officer Talal Al Dhiyebi told reporters on a conference call without giving further details. "In the last two to three months, we've seen a slight slowdown on demand but we are selling at a smaller rate." Transaction volumes in Abu Dhabi were also flat, according to Matthew Green, head of research at consultancy CBRE Middle East, which could lead to deflationary pressures. Still, Aldar would raise capital expenditure to around Dh2.5 billion this year from around Dh1.1 billion in 2015, the chief financial officer Greg Fewer said, as the company spend on six projects launched since 2014. Most of these projects had strong order books, including its affordable housing scheme on Reem Island which was 90 per cent sold, Dhiyebi said. Aldar's shares were down two per cent at 0857 GMT against a 0.5 per cent dip in the wider market.-Reuters Governments around the world are urged to harness digitisation and re-imagine labour markets to drive down unemployment, upskill the workforce, and grow their economies in a new report. Global unemployment has reached nearly 200 million people, with the majority being under 30 years old, while 30-40 per cent of the global workforce is under-utilized, according to Shaping the Future of Work: Technologys Role in Employment by The Economist Corporate Network, the business advisory arm of The Economist Intelligence Unit, launched recently at the World Government Summit in Dubai, UAE. With the rise in the Digital Economy and Internet of Things era, employers are increasingly looking for highly skilled labour. However, there is a major mismatch between available jobs and applicants, according to the report, which examined some of the worlds 20 largest economies. Digitisation offers a unique opportunity for government-led efforts to provide decision-makers at all levels with actionable data, said Selim Edde, global lead for Employment and Labour Market Digitisation, SAP. As a result, countries can re-imagine the labour market models and re-platform processes to effectively match talent with opportunities, upskill job seekers and empower entrepreneurs. This digital journey has started across the world. Now, the question is not whether digitisation will happen or not, it is who will be the leaders and who will be the laggards. Governments must take the lead in developing nationwide and regional technology platforms across the public, private, and civil society (academic, non-governmental organizations, individuals) sectors, with a strong focus on supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises, the report asserted. By leveraging Big Data, analytics, cloud, and mobile solutions, this integrated technology platform could analyze millions of data points across citizens educational background, skills, and match them with job postings and talent development programs. Governments hold a vast amount of data about citizens and residents. Big Data analytics on this technology platform can unlock these data into actionable insights to support efforts to reduce unemployment, and also create value, economic growth, and more agile governance, said Rainer Binder, managing director of Accentures global employment and social services practice. However, the technology platform alone will not solve unemployment. Governments in southern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa must first address underlying structural issues, such as underinvestment in value-added industries, insufficient jobs, misalignment between jobs and skills, and educational quality, according to the report. The GCC could benefit from internal labour mobility, especially for the high turnover of low-skilled workers, where a technology platform could enable organizations to save costs by recruiting and training locally. As there is also a shortage of mid-level skill sets, the region could benefit from introducing programs to upskill technicians and nurses, for example, the report said. Government innovation and public-private partnerships are essential for unlocking insights from Big Data analytics to drive Dubais transformation to a global benchmark Smart City. We are working with partners to use a centralized technology platform that not only enhances daily lives, but can also connect individuals to potential careers, said Dr Aisha Bin Bishr, director general, Smart Dubai Office. In the Mena region, Saudi Arabia in particular is forecasted to see more than 226,000 new entrants into the labour market per annum by 2025, totalling 17.9 million over the next 10 years, according to the report. The Saudi government will need to accelerate initiatives to support private sector employment, economic diversification, foreign investment, talent competitiveness, and female job placement, the report added. Similarly, South Africa which has the worlds highest unemployment rate is called on to develop national educational standards, open up labour markets, and support affirmative action policies to integrate the disadvantaged into the workforce, according to the report. Asian countries face a variety of issues, led by Chinas weakening economy, Japans tight labour market, and South Asias low female labour force participation. However, technology applications could help them to weather the economic slowdown, and put in place tools that can deliver suitable jobs, the report said. TradeArabia News Service Roland Krueger, president, Infiniti Motor Company Limited, visited the Infiniti Middle East offices earlier this month. Over the course of his visit, Krueger met with the regional teams covering all areas of business operations for the year ahead, said a statement from Infiniti. The company recently announced its 2015 results where it delivered over 8,300 vehicles across the Middle East at a growth rate of 18 per cent, it said. Krueger said: The Middle East is a vital part of Infinitis growth plans. With continued strong double digit growth figures its importance to Infiniti from a global perspective is apparent. Infiniti has a range of new product and powertrain developments for the year ahead that is certain to further the excellent performance of the brand in this region, he said. The brands strong sales performance has continued into 2016 with Infiniti registering excellent January results accounting for an increase of 3 per cent with 731 vehicles delivered to customers in the Middle East, further added the statement. Krueger also visited Arabian Automobiles, the authorised distributor for Infiniti in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. The president expressed his gratitude for the continued support of the Infiniti brand and the importance of Arabian Automobiles as well as Infinitis extensive dealer network in the region as a cornerstone for the ongoing successes of Infiniti, it said. Michel Ayat, chief executive officer of Abdul Wahid Al Rostamani Automotive Group, said: It is an honour to host Krueger at our Arabian Automobiles IREDI centre in Dubai. His visit is a testament to the importance of the UAE as well as the wider Middle East region and the strategic role it plays in contributing to the growth of the Infiniti brand. Additionally, Krueger as well as senior leadership from Infiniti Middle East and Arabian Automobiles were presented with the EVO Middle East Magazines Small Car of the Year award for the Infiniti Q30. The Q30 which had its global launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show and regional premiere at the Dubai International Motor Show last year, represents Infinitis first global entry into the fast-growing premium compact segment. The vehicle is set to arrive in the Middle East in the second half of 2016. On a global level, the brand broke the sales records in 2015 once again with 215,250 vehicles, up 16 per cent from the previous year. This was also the first time Infiniti broke the 200,000 threshold, it stated. TradeArabia News Service A countrys economic growth only makes its citizens happier if the gains are evenly spread, a London Business School expert said, warning that a narrow focus on GDP is leading to myopic economic policy. Our research provides an explanation for one of the most puzzling findings in the social sciences over the past half century: an increase in wealth not always increases happiness. This is the famous Easterlin paradox, said Dr Selin Kesebir, assistant professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School. We find that an increase in GDP only makes us happier if wealth is evenly distributed. Countries with growing income inequality often fail to increase average happiness, even if they succeed in boosting GDP. We know that happier people are also more productive, so this really matters. Even wealth distribution should create a virtuous cycle more happy people, more productively contributing to the countrys economic growth. The findings come at a time when income inequality is growing globally. A recent Oxfam report (An Economy for The 1 per cent) shows that the worlds wealth is becoming ever more concentrated, with 62 billionaires now holding as much wealth as the worlds poorest 3.5 billion. When wealth is concentrated among a small group it evokes a sense of unfairness among the rest of society, Dr Kesebir said. When growing wealth is more evenly distributed across income brackets, we often observe an increase in life satisfaction, she explained. For example, in Scandinavia, where income inequality is low, happiness increases with increasing GDP. Finland has the strongest correlation between an increase in GDP and average happiness. In many developing Latin American countries however, where wealth is still very much concentrated among a small portion of elites, increasing wealth does not come with more happiness, and happiness levels sometimes even go down as the economy grows. The new research by Dr Kesebir and Shigehiro Oishi, professor of Psychology, University of Virginia examines the relationship between GDP per capita and happiness in two different data sets covering 34 nations in total. These sets consisted of 16 developed nations and 18 developing Latin American nations. The researchers found that economic growth had a less positive and more negative effect on happiness as income inequality increased. The study has important implications for economic policy in both developed and emerging nations. To achieve an increase in national happiness, countries must recognise that producing more wealth alone is not sufficient. Countries with a greater gap between rich and poor need to consider that growing economic wealth may not create a happier citizenry, said Dr Kesebir. The implications are particularly relevant in the current climate. The US for one is seeing widening income inequality and happiness has stagnated since the 70s. But the US is not alone and others will follow if they fail to re-frame the economic policy debate. TradeArabia News Service Sennheiser, a leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems, will showcase its latest products at Cabsat, the Middle East and Africa's largest broadcast, digital media and satellite expo, next month in Dubai, UAE. The audio specialist will debut in the Middle East its new EK6042 dual-channel camera-mount receiver- the worlds first receiver capable of working with both analogue and digital transmitters, said a statement from the company. Sennheiser will also demonstrate its broad range of audio solutions for broadcast, studio and live production applications, it said. Cabsat will mark the culmination of Sennheisers AVX contest which has seen scores of the regions up-and-coming filmmakers submit their entries in the hopes of winning the companys audio for video solutions. At the exhibition, a panel of judges which includes Allie Ghaffour, head of Audio for Al Jazeera and Achim Gleissner, commercial manager for the broadcast and media segment for Sennheiser, will pick three winners. Additonally, Sennheiser as the Diamond Sponsor of the content marketplace in Cabsat, will participate in a panel discussion on the democratisation of content capture with the emergence of new technologies. Mig Cardamone, director of sales and marketing at Sennheiser Middle East, said: This competition has been our way of engaging with and supporting local content producers. We really want to encourage up and coming local talent to create interesting and engaging content that demonstrates their audio and video skills. Were looking forward to seeing the level of talent that we have here and also to awarding an excellent audio for video solution based around AVX that will help them with their future projects and productions, he said. TradeArabia News Service Hi guys, my new calendar is available to order now. Please click the link below to order to your door. Thanks for looking! http://www.lulu.com/shop/nick-sa... 2 years ago So when they butt-stroked me to the head from an AK-47 and I was bleeding down the side of my face and they threw me back in the cell I could The Wyoming Business Alliance has held meetings in the last year in each of the state's 23 counties to discuss economic development pertaining to individual counties and communities. Among the top economic issues raised statewide were air service, quality Internet and cellphone connectivity, attractive downtowns and a way to capture interstate highway traffic. Results of the county meetings were turned into individual reports for each county, as well as a statewide summary report. Those reports were discussed at a presentation over the weekend in Cheyenne. Wyoming Business Alliance President Bill Schilling says the next step is to involve state lawmakers. Weve all heard the news: its raining in Wyoming. Falling energy prices have resulted in fewer jobs and declining revenues for local and state government. Over the next few years, Wyoming is expected to face an over $600 million shortfall in anticipated revenues. In Wyoming, 66 percent of our budget (FY2015) is derived from current and historic mineral production. Declining energy prices coupled with efforts in Washington to regulate Wyoming energy out of existence, make our budget future anything but certain. It is estimated that federal regulations surrounding natural gas, and changes in the oil and coal markets, have resulted in over $300 million in financial losses for Wyoming. However, boom and bust cycles are nothing new to our state. And while we cant control the energy sector, we can control our budget. Thats why the Wyoming Legislature has worked diligently over the past several years to build up our savings and keep spending measured. Weve worked hard to control the growth of government over the last four years while developing reserves required to maintain services. In the last two budget cycles, Wyoming has saved over $1.1 billion. According to several national organizations, Wyoming is one of the very few states leading in fiscal responsibility. What we have spent, weve spent wisely, building foundations to help get us through these lean times and lessen future downturns. Weve invested in one-time infrastructure projects and education systems across the state. Weve supported towns and counties to grow their communities and local economies. And weve funded projects and programs to diversify our economy and help ensure an economically viable future for our energy sector When it comes to addressing our budget shortfall, there is no silver bullet. As lawmakers, we are looking at any and all options to continue funding essential programs and projects while ensuring we are as prepared for the next energy downturn as we are today. From exploring reductions in the standard budget, investing to diversify and grow our economy to tapping into reserves, Wyoming needs to strike a balance among saving, investing and spending. Well need to examine ways to streamline agency processes, eliminate duplicative programming and find opportunities to scale back on initiatives that arent producing measurable results for taxpayers. Wyoming also needs to ensure lawmakers have the flexibility to continue to make smart investment decisions with state savings. While trimming our budget will help ensure Wyoming is living within its means during an energy downturn, it will be no easy task. Cuts and funding reductions will have real impacts on our schools, communities and local governments. Throughout the budget session, legislators must be diligent, thoughtful and targeted when deciding where to allocate funds. Recognizing the risks and challenges of a state budget so heavily reliant on one industry, the Wyoming State Legislature has been investing in projects and programs that aim to diversify our economy. As a result, weve seen growth in many sectors including tourism, construction and technology. Investing in the growth of these industries is an investment in the future of our state, and an insurance policy against dramatic state budget swings courtesy of fluctuating energy prices. At the same time, however, we have worked to ensure a role for Wyoming energy not only in the coming months and years, but decades. With a revenue stream reliant on mineral production, its essential for Wyoming to take a pro-active approach in protecting and promoting our energy sector. Weve worked hard to make targeted investments in opportunities to protect and grow our energy economy such as the energy mega-campus, coal export terminals and the Integrated Test Center. In the days ahead, Wyoming legislators will have to make many tough decisions. Decisions with the potential to impact nearly every Wyoming citizen. Decisions that will inevitably force us to make compromises with the shared goal of ensuring a brighter future for our state. Decisions that we cant take a rain check on making. DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. Running through the same morning routine before work, Ivan Grijalva climbed into his truck for his commute to work. As he was driving down a Tucson country road, a single headlight appeared in Grijalva's rearview mirror. The vehicle sped past his truck and proceeded ahead. The fast-moving motorcycle headed towards a busy main road ahead before entering the intersection. According to Gilbert Fimbers, he approached the intersection slamming his motorcycles brakes and laying down his bike. "I don't remember the impact, just the sound of my bike getting hit in the intersection," said Fimbers, motorcycle crash victim. Fimbers gasped for breath as Grijalva pulled him out of the road by his collar. "I jumped out of my truck and found him on the ground," said Grijalva, 355th Dental Squadron dental assistant. "I pulled him away from the traffic and turned him around; that's when I noticed that his leg was completely gone." Through the dark of the early morning, Grijalva saw Fimbers missing leg in the light of passing vehicles. Fimbers was bleeding heavily from his wounds and was in a state of distress and shock. He was twisting and turning, unleashing screams of pain. Grijalva, using his knowledge from how he constricts blood flow with bands when starting IVs at work was able to correctly apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. "I looked up at him and asked him, 'am I going to die?'" said Fimbers. "He said 'no buddy'." During the incident people had stopped to move the motorcycle crowding around in shock not quite knowing how to help. "I didn't wear a belt that morning so I lifted up his jacket and saw his, pulled it off and wrapped it as tight as I could around his amputated leg," Grijalva said. "With my other hand, I called 911." As Grijalva waited for the ambulance to arrive, he held the tourniquet in place and tried to minimize Fimbers movements. Fimbers recalled the pain he was in and how Grijalva kept talking to him to keep him calm. "He kept screaming and I just tried to make sure he stayed conscious," Grijalva said. If Grijalva hadn't stopped, Fimbers would have bled out and died, confirmed both Grijalva and Fimbers. A man was arrested Monday in connection to a midtown hit-and-run that left a bicyclist with serious injuries. Troy Gosnell, 46, was booked into the Pima County jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and aggravated assault with serious physical injury, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. On Sunday shortly before 3 p.m., police responded to the 1500 block of South Craycroft Road and East 25th Street and found a bicyclist who was struck from behind, said Dugan. The bicyclist was in a marked bicycle lane and was headed north on Craycroft. He was not wearing a helmet, Dugan said. He was treated by Tucson Fire Department paramedics and taken to Banner-University Medical Center. The victim was struck from behind by a white over gray mid-size SUV, Dugan said. The vehicle fled the scene. Traffic detectives found that a vehicle fitting the description of the one linked to the crash pulled into a parking lot blocks north of the crash, said Dugan. Roads in Pima County remain in poor condition, and the organizer of a new website and Facebook page wants to make sure no one, especially elected leaders and those who want to get elected, forgets. Tucson attorney Phil Larriva is one of the people behind an effort called Fix Our Pima County Roads. It is an election-year effort to increase public awareness of candidates positions, solutions and commitments to Fix Our Pima County Roads, Larriva told Road Runner by email. The road-repair Facebook page has gotten more than 900 likes since it first started posting items around January. The posts include photos of potholes people send to the organizer and a lot stories from the Arizona Daily Star about transportation and infrastructure funding. While the Facebook page has a measure of the sniping and name-calling from commenters that such forums inevitably attract, Larriva seems genuinely earnest in moving beyond political finger-pointing. Rather, hes searching for solutions to an impending crisis in our transportation infrastructure. The scope and extent of the road problem requires less spending for other things and increasing revenue for road preservation and maintenance, he wrote to Road Runner. Increasing revenue by way of gas taxes, a Pima County half-cent sales tax and/or passing bonds for only street-specific road preservation, maintenance and reconstruction (not new roads) is probably necessary. Larriva asks an important question in all this: If there wont be an increased gas tax coming from the Legislature, what then? The roads under Pima Countys purview have deteriorated to the point where as much as 60 percent are rated poor to failing. Its standard for local governments to lay their funding woes at the Legislatures doorstep, and theres some truth in that. Local governments rely on state vehicle-licensing fees and gas taxes for nearly their entire transportation budgets. Thats how the system was set up in 1974. In an effort to minimize local taxation, state lawmakers created a statewide gas tax to be apportioned like pieces of a pie to local governments. Its called revenue-sharing, and for a time it worked. But over the years, lawmakers invited more parties to the table to share the pie. New slices were cut for things like the states general fund or to supplement the Arizona Department of Public Safety budget. At the same time, gas taxes havent changed since about 1990. Its a per-gallon tax on fuel, but revenue has diminished as modern cars used less fuel. Counties in particular have a legitimate complaint against the state when it comes to the funding formula. The money gets doled out based largely on total gas sales within the county. That naturally leads to Maricopa receiving the lions share of the funding about $104 million to Pimas $49 million. But Maricopa and Pima counties are responsible for roughly the same miles of roadway, while Pima has nearly 100,000 more residents in unincorporated areas. Even with the inequities, local governments arent blameless for the poor conditions of the roads. Other communities in the state have adopted dedicated sales taxes to fund roadway repairs and maintenance. That hasnt happened locally. County supervisors have been almost silent on a possible county-wide sales tax to fund road repairs. It would take unanimous approval, a hard sell to the two Republicans on the board. Regular annual allocation from Pima Countys general fund to pay for road maintenance also have been in short supply. The Board of Supervisors put $5 million into pavement-preservation projects a few years ago, but it was little more than a drop in the bucket. The county also continues to pay for the 1997 HURF bond, where voters approved a plan to essentially borrow against future gas-tax disbursements to fund new roadway projects. Thats maybe the biggest problem for the county too much money has been invested in needed new construction and not enough put into maintaining the existing infrastructure. Down the road The Arizona Department of Transportation plans a long-term transportation planning workshop in Tucson this week. The meeting will be at the Pima Association of Governments office at 1 E. Broadway, Suite 401, on Thursday, Feb. 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. PHOENIX The death Saturday of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could undermine efforts by Arizona Republicans to undo the states 30 legislative districts. Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who asked the high court in December to void the current lines, said much of his pitch was based on the constitutional one-person, one-vote requirement. Brnovich said that was squarely aimed at Scalia, who defined himself as an originalist, believing the language of the Constitution means exactly what it says. What makes Scalias death significant for that case is the possibility the court would have ruled 5-4 that the Independent Redistricting Commission acted illegally in creating districts with unequal populations. Without Scalia assuming he would have sided with the challengers that would result in a 4-4 tie, leaving intact the lower court ruling, which concluded the commission did not act illegally. And that, in turn, means the current lines remain through at least the 2020 election, lines that Republicans who challenged them contend give unfair advantage to Democrats. The fight surrounds the population differences among the 30 districts. Challengers contend the commission intentionally packed non-Hispanic Republicans into some districts so the remaining districts had a higher proportion of Democrats. That would give candidates from that party a better chance of getting elected. Attorney Mark Hearne, representing a group of Republicans who brought the original lawsuit, said the numbers bear that out. He pointed out that if the states population was equally divided by 30, each district should have about 213,000 residents. But he said some Republican districts had more than 221,000 residents; five Democrat districts had fewer than 205,000. But a three-judge panel accepted arguments by the commission that that was done in hopes of ensuring the U.S. Department of Justice, which had to preclear the maps, would find them in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act and its mandate to not dilute minority voting strength. Brnovich, who joined the challenge on behalf of Republican Secretary of State Michele Reagan, told the justices they should overturn that ruling. He said the intent of the commissioners is legally irrelevant, telling the justices they should instead focus on that one-person, one-vote requirement of the U.S. Constitution. Essentially what happened was by overpopulating the other districts, the voters in the overpopulated districts had their votes diluted, Brnovich argued. And by diluting those votes, it violated the Constitution. No statute can trump the Constitution, Brnovich said. But Brnovich said Sunday his constitutional arguments did not necessarily mean Scalia was going to side with challengers. Theres no way you can predict what any judge is going to do, he said. And Brnovich acknowledged that Scalia could just have easily concluded the legal fight is simply about politics, an issue that the justices often try to avoid. Scalia did, in fact, express some skepticism to arguments made by Hearne that the commissioners, in creating unequal size districts, showed an intent to violate the law. The justice noted the lower court concluded the commission had made a good-faith effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act. And he said the commissioners own attorneys told them the changes in lines that were made were needed. That doesnt show a bad motive on their part, does it? Scalia asked Hearne. Hearne conceded the point. But I dont think this courts ever held that bad legal advice justifies a constitutional violation, he said. There is some evidence the maps drawn by the commission the ones being challenged did help increase Democrat representation. Following the last redistricting, there were 13 Democrats in the 30-member Senate and 24 Democrats out of 60 House members. That compares with just nine Senate Democrats and 20 in the House before redistricting, though Democrats have had larger numbers in some prior years. Scalias originalist philosophy was on display in a separate redistricting case where the high court last year upheld the power of Arizona voters to give the responsibility to draw congressional districts to the commission. Scalia dissented, pointing out that the Constitution specifically requires congressional lines to be drawn by each states legislature. He specifically derided the conclusion by the majority that the people who created the commission and took the duty away from lawmakers are the ultimate legislature, calling it so outrageously wrong, so utterly devoid of textural or historic support, so flatly in contradiction of prior Supreme Court cases, so obviously the willful product of hostility to districting by state legislatures. Browse volunteer opportunities on the Volunteer Center at United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizonas website, volunteer.unitedwaytucson.org, or call 903-3977. Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona: Help provide emergency home repair services for low income homeowners in Tucson and throughout Pima County. On the job volunteer training is provided. Easter Seals Blake Foundation: Looking for a patient volunteer to work with special needs child. Volunteer is needed from 8:30am-11:30am Monday-Friday and must have a negative TB test and a current fingerprint clearance card. Green Valley-Sahuarita Volunteer Clearinghouse: Serve as a liaison and work with community organizations identifying and meeting their volunteer needs. Requires a few hours a month by phone or email. Alitas: Casa Alitas is looking for volunteers to welcome immigrant families and teens into our hospitality house. The experience is social, requires multi-tasking, and often requires critical thinking skills. Conversational Spanish skills are desired. Pima Council on Aging: Volunteers serve as PCOA emissaries to provide factual information, educational materials and referrals to older adults and their caregivers. Monthly in-service training and resource materials are provided. Story Time at Anamax Park: Story time is a gathering of about 20 to 30 children from infants to age 5 and their caregivers. Volunteers read stories and sing songs with the children, then the children complete an arts and craft project. Volunteers must pass a background check. OPINION: "Its time to look beyond the party affiliation and the big-name endorsements. We want Southern Arizona voters to be engaged and educated as they tick names on their ballot so they can select candidates who will advocate for the health needs of our community," writes Judy Rich, CEO and president of TMC Health. Help India! Imphal : Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang on Sunday flayed the Manipur government for passing three anti-tribal bills in the assembly, and termed it unconstitutional. At a public meeting in Ukhrul district of Manipur in connection with the Naga seed-sowing festival Lui Ngai Ni, he said: The Congress government had done so with an eye to the votes from the valley people in the 2017 assembly elections. The bills were passed without knowing the history of the Nagas. Support TwoCircles Meanwhile, Manipurs Congress legislator N. Biren said some organisations invited the Nagaland chief minister to the function which only showed the mistrust and disunity among the people of Manipur. In the hills in Manipur, there is no democracy since voters are arm-twisted to vote for the candidates projected by certain groups, he said. Zeliang said the four legislators of the Naga Peoples Front in the Manipur assembly have resigned in protest against the passing of the bills. However, the speaker has not acted yet on the resignations. Violence erupted following the Manipur governments adoption on August 31, 2015 of three landmark bills Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill 2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (seventh amendment) Bill 2015, and Manipur Shops and Establishment (second amendment) Bill 2015. The bills are pending with the president. Houses, properties of ministers and legislators were burned down by a frenzied mob. Police opened fire at protesters, and eight people were killed. One youth died in a road accident during the protests. On the festival, he said it teaches people to work harder, and will also help develop tourism. The Naga bodies should organise a festival which will encompass all Nagas spread in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, he said. Help India! New Delhi : Congress workers led by Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken on Sunday took out a candle-light march to observe Chhalawa Diwas and said the first year of the Aam Aadmi Party government in the capital was a total failure. Shouting slogans, Congress workers who marched from Rajghat to ITO Chowk said the Arvind Kejriwal government should concentrate on proper governance instead of indulging in blame game and politicising every issue. Support TwoCircles Maken said the participation of a large number of Congress workers in the candle-light march showed their anger against the AAP government. He said Kerjiwal had begun his political career with social activist Anna Hazares India Against Corruption (IAC) but his government brought a very weak and toothless Jan Lokpal bill. He accused the Kejriwal government of squandering public money by issuing advertisements about its achievements. The Congress on Saturday brought out a booklet giving zero marks to the AAP government for its performance in the first year of its governance. Help India! By Zaidul Haque, Twocircles.net Kolkata: Muslims constitute a much larger proportion of the poor and the deprived in West Bengal, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said while releasing a report on the status of Muslims in the state. Support TwoCircles The report, titled Living reality of Muslims in West Bengal, shows that about 80% of the Muslim households in rural West Bengal report their household income as Rs 5,000 or less per month, which is close to the cut-off level of income for poverty line for a family of five. What is even more striking, according to the report, is that 38.3% Muslim households in rural West Bengal earn Rs 2,500 or less per month, which is one-half of the cut-off level of income for the population below the poverty line. More worryingly, only 3.8% households reported to earn Rs 15,000 and above per month. Sen, who could not speak due to health conditions, said in a written statement, The report is directly concerned with a huge proportion of the population of the West Bengal, about a quarter of which is Muslim. That, of course, is not a new finding. What is remarkable is the fact that Muslims constitute a much larger proportion of the poor and the deprived in West Bengal. The fact that Muslims in West Bengal are disproportionately poorer and more deprived in terms living condition in an empirical recognition, gives this report an inescapable immediacy and practical urgency. Although the Trinamool Congress has claimed that Muslims have benefited under its rule in the state, the report, released by the Social Network of Assistance to People, a West-Bengal based association, in collaboration with Pratichi Institute of Sen and Guidance Guild, proves otherwise. The survey was carried out in 325 villages and 75 urban wards from a sample of 81 community development blocks and 30 municipal bodies, over a period of four years. The report, which focuses on six important indicatorsDemography, Health, Gender Discrimination, Literacy and Education, and Amenities, Citizenship Status and Cultural Practicesshows that Muslims lag behind on almost all important markers that show social progress. For example, at 68.3%, the literacy rate among the Muslims in rural West Bengal is about four percentage points lower than that for general population as per Census 2011. The rural urban gap in literacy is almost the same as found from the census data. Interestingly, the gender gaps in literacy among Muslims in both rural and urban areas are narrower compared to the general population. In terms of the percentages of the population that has completed certain levels of education, Muslims in West Bengal lag behind others, which were revealed by comparisons between the primary survey and the Census 2011 figures: among literate Muslims, only 2.7% hold a graduate degree or above. The survey data show that overall enrolment ratio for Muslim children of age 6-14 is 85.5% and the girls are marginally ahead of boys (86.4 vis-a-vis 84.6). About 15% Muslim children age 6-14 years are found to be out of school. While 9.1% were never enrolled, 5.4% dropped out. Financial problems emerged as the major factor for not being able to go to school (42.5% boys and 40.4% girls). The distance to school comes next. Some complained about the lack of infrastructural facility in school. Interestingly, around five percent of those who discontinued education admitted lack of motivation as the factor behind dropping out of school, as they did not see any future benefit from education. On an average 10.6 Secondary and Higher Secondary schools exist for one lakh population in the state. However, it is much lower in Uttar Dinajpur (6.2), Murshidabad (7.2) and Malda (8.5), the three districts where Muslims constitute very high percentage of the population, the report said. Analysing the employment scenario, the report said that the work participation rate for rural Muslims in West Bengal, which is defined here as the percentage of population belonging to the working age group 15-65 years who are actually working, is about 45, which means that 55% of the population in the working age group are not working. Does it mean that they are unemployed? Not necessarily. While some of them are unemployed, some of them are not in the labour force. The latter group includes those who are attending educational institutions. this may not necessarily imply that 55% of Muslims are unemployed, the overall low work participation rate among the Muslims is due to very low work participation among the women. Only 8.9 per cent of the Muslim women in the working age were found to be working, the report added. Sen added that while we have had some understanding of this lace from earlier studies, particularly the Sachar Report, but they have been based and this applies to the Sachar Report itself on secondary information, available from unrelated investigations, aimed at other problems and often based on routine data collection. This report fills a major gap at least begins meeting the gap in poverty information related to Muslims, he said. Regarding the health condition of Muslims, the report added that Bengal has on average 1.8 hospitals per lakh population in the blocks. Underage marriage among Muslims in West Bengal seems to be par with the general population. Data from the present household survey shows that Muslims access to tap-water is nearly 40% less (15.2%) of the overall population (Census-2011, 25.4%), which in a way displays a combined community and class exclusion. The report shows that nearly 13.2% Muslim adults do not hold voter cards. The provision of drainage system for the Muslim households (12.2 %) is nearly one-third of overall provision in the state (31.6%). The report also quoted NFHS-3 data to show that the preference for at least one son (82.1%) and at least one daughter (79%) among the Muslims, which is much higher than that for the Hindus (74.2% and 68.7%), indicates a relatively less glaring bias against girl children among the Muslims. The report also says that the use of traditional fuels for cooking is much higher among the Muslims (85.9%) as compared to the average population of the state (68.6%). Absence of free and fair regulation process of LPG fuels may have denied legitimate access of LPG cylinders to many Muslim families and also the cost of LPG plays a debilitating role for the poor Muslims in the state. Photo: Sandip Saha While other Bollywood stars were celebrating a lovely Valentines Day, the king khan Shahrukh Khan woke up to a bad news. His next Bollywood release Raees has been in trouble right from the time it was announced and recently the troubles took a nasty turn when volunteers of a organization threw stones at Shahrukh Khans Mercedes car. The car was parked at Hyatt Regency located at Ahmedabads Ashram Road where the star is staying. While the hotel security tried to stop the attack, the damage was done and the troublemakers had fled the scene. Post the violent protest, security for Shahrukh Khan has been beefed up at the hotel and on his Raees sets where he will be shooting until the Ahmedabad schedule of the Raees shoot wraps up. The whole fiasco began in November 2015 with Shahrukhs misunderstood intolerance in India statement. Shahrukhs earlier release Dilwale also faced heat due to the misunderstood statement on intolerance. Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang members in Kutch Gujarat had then protested against his statements and the crew of Raees was brought to a standstill. The police have been trying to identify the guys responsible for the current attack through the CCTV footage but the attackers have been reported to be wearing masks thus making their arrest a difficult task indeed. Though they were wearing a mask, the police are reported to be successful in nabbing down one of the accused among the 15-16 who were present. Also on Sunday 17 members of the BJP Yuva Morcha burned down Shahrukh Khans effigy and protest against him outside his hotel. They were arrested in the evening under section 188. The rear windshield of Shahrukh Khans Mercedes has been damaged in the attack where stones were thrown on his car; luckily the star was not in the car at the time of the attack. Amidst this havoc, Shahrukh Khan and Pakistani actress Mahira Khan who is making her Bollywood debut with Raees shot for a beautiful nikaah scene for the movie at the magical monument of Sarkhej Roza. Directed by Rahul Dholakia Raees stars Shahrukh Khan in the role of a liquor baron in the dry state of Gujarat and is stated to release on July 3 Eid 2016 along with Salman Khans much awaited Sultan. Union Public Service Commotion (UPSC) published notification for recruitment for various officers, Assistant Professors posts in various government colleges. For more details about this recruitment like, age limit, educational qualification, pay scale, how to apply, selection process as under. You can view official notification by following link. Total no of Posts: 170 Name of the Posts, Educational Qualification & Age limit: Application Fee: Candidates are required to pay a fee of Rs. 25/- (Rupees Twenty five) only either by remitting the money in any branch of the SBI by cash or by using net banking facility of the SBI or by using visa/master credit/debit card. No fee for SC/ST/PH/Women candidates of any community. No "fee exemption" is available to OBC male candidates and they are required to pay the full prescribed fee. Applications without the prescribed fee would not be considered and summarily rejected. No representation against such rejection would be entertained. Fee once paid shall not be refunded under any circumstance nor can the fee be held in reserve for any other examination or selection. Selection Process: The category-wise minimum level of suitability in interviews, irrespective of whether the selection is made only by interview or by Recruitment Test followed by interview, will be UR-50 marks, OBC-45 marks, SC/ST/PH-40 marks, out of the total marks of interview being 100. In cases where selection is made by Recruitment Test (RT) followed by interview, the candidate will have to achieve minimum level of suitability in their respective category at both stages i.e. Recruitment Test as well as Interview. The minimum level of suitability in case of RT shall be decided by the Commission on case to case basis. How to Apply: Candidates must apply online through the website http://www.upsconline.nic.in. Applications received through any other mode would not be accepted and summarily rejected. Candidates must upload documents pertaining to educational qualification(s) and experience (preferably in prescribed format), if any, as claimed in the online application, in a single pdf file in such a way that the file size does not exceed 2 MB and is legible when a printout taken. For that the applicant may scan the experience certificate in 200 dpi grey scale. Documents like Pay Slip, Resume, Appointment Letter, Relieving Letter, Un-signed Experience Certificate etc. must not be uploaded in the Document Upload Module. Important date: So far in the 2016 election, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been accused of possibly violating laws due to actions of his campaign. With the Texas primary set for March 1, Republicans are fighting over the 155 delegates at stake and Cruz is pulling no punches in his attempt at coming out a winner, as highlighted by The Young Turks and the Ring of Fire on Feb. 15. Fake Texas checks A new mailer has been sent out to registered voters in the Lone Star State, listing the Texas senator's official address with "Check Enclosed" written on the envelope. Inside contains a check made out to the Cruz campaign for $45 dollars, and asks the recipient to mail it back to participate in what is known as a "matching program." A left-wing activist group in Texas, Progress Texas, has filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, which the Cruz campaign could be charged with violating the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which "requires businesses sending out fake checks to make sure people aren't tricked into sending money." In detail, the law demands that "SPECIMEN-NON-NEGOTIABLE" be visible in a minimum of 18-point lettering."We filed the complaint because no candidate is above the law, not even Ted Cruz," Progress Texas deputy director Phillip Martin said in a statement. History of Cruz's "dirty tricks" Shortly before the Iowa caucus earlier this month, the Cruz campaign sent out mailers claiming to be "official public record," which may be grounds for a violation of criminal law. Republican state Secretary of State Paul Pate was critical of Cruz, stating, "potential false representation is, in fact, a violation of criminal law." On the night of the Iowa caucus, staffers with the Cruz campaign made calls to Ben Carson supporters, claiming the retired neurosurgeon had dropped out of the race in an attempt to gain votes. The Tea Party favorite Cruz ended up the winner in the Hawkeye State, but not without controversy. Republican front runner Donald Trump has since accused Cruz of cheating, threatening a possible lawsuit over his Canadian birth to challenge whether or not he is eligible to run for president. With the GOP candidates continuing to battle it out for the party's nomination, it's unknown how far they will go to walk out a winner. Mainland's Taiwan affairs chief expresses condolences over Taiwan quake again Updated: 2016-02-15 14:35 (Xinhua) BEIJING - Zhang Zhijun, the Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief, on Monday conveyed condolences from leaders of the mainland to the victims of the strong earthquake that struck southern Taiwan more than a week ago. The 6.7-magnitude quake hit Kaohsiung on Feb. 6, just two days ahead of the traditional Lunar New Year, leaving 116 dead, over 550 injured and huge property losses. "The sudden loss of so many compatriots and the damage to so many homes grieve us greatly," Zhang said during a phone conversation with Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Andrew Hsia on Monday morning. Following the powerful earthquake, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Premier Li Keqiang expressed their deepest sympathies to affected Taiwan compatriots and conveyed condolences to the victims while vowing aid. The State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office and the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) contacted Taiwan authorities immediately after the quake to offer help. Many mainland-based institutions, enterprises, social groups and citizens have been closely following the situation and expressed their sympathies, including those affected by a deadly earthquake in Sichuan Province in 2008 who once received help from Taiwan. The mainland's Buddhist and Taoist associations held prayer rituals in Beijing for the quake victims. ARATS donated 5 million yuan (769,000 U.S. dollars) to Taiwan, according to Zhang. Zhang said compatriots across the Taiwan Strait are "a community of shared destiny who are attached by blood," and their support for each other has proved their close relationship as one family. During the conversation, Hsia expressed his gratitude to concerns shown by leaders and people from various circles from the mainland. China-Russia Expo to be held in Russia in July Updated: 2016-02-15 20:20 (Xinhua) HARBIN -- The third China-Russia Expo is scheduled to be held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg from July 11 to 15, the organizing committee said on Monday. It will be the first time that Russia has held the event. The first two China-Russia expositions were held in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The five-day event will help to showcase products, technology and projects in sectors and fields including equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, resource development, agriculture, forestry, finance, education, tourism and regional development, the committee said in a statement. The expo, an important platform for bilateral economic and trade cooperation, will be jointly hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Heilongjiang provincial government and Russia's Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Industry and Trade. Spring Festival boosts China abroad Updated: 2016-02-15 14:20 By Xinhua(China Daily USA) Holiday gives people worldwide chance to learn more about the country's culture and traditions As Chinese at home and abroad celebrate Spring Festival, people worldwide are also using it as an opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture and traditions. On Tuesday, Spring Festival sounds filled the air at the Lincoln Center in New York when the New York Philharmonic played classical pieces by Chinese composers. The orchestra started the tradition of hosting an annual Spring Festival concert in 2012 to celebrate China's cultural heritage and to honor the Chinese-American community. What stunned the audience most was the final piece, also the New York premier of Chinese composer Tan Dun's symphony Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women. This was not merely a multi-layered symphony with sonic grandeur and a triumphant finale, but an audiovisual masterpiece aimed at preserving a disappearing ancient language used exclusively by some women in Hunan province. In San Jose, Costa Rica, the home of Chinese-Americans Raymond Tang and his wife Isabel Yung was decked out in red and the door was covered with Chinese characters. The Tang family also helped to prepare cultural activities planned by the Chinese community in Costa Rica. "I think people in Costa Rica know what Spring Festival is. People called me to wish me a happy Year of the Monkey," Yung said. Francesca Romana Di Biagio, an Italian journalist at the Il Giornale newspaper in Milan, said more and more Italians, including many who have no links with China, like to celebrate Spring Festival. "The festival has become increasingly popular in Milan. Many people have got into the habit of celebrating it in Chinese restaurants - a sign of the growing integration of the Chinese community in Italy," she said. In the early 1990s, Milan used to celebrate Spring Festival with "extraordinary dragons and lanterns full of colors and joy", said Davide Rossi, a historian and director of the Locarno-based Institute of History and Philosophy of Contemporary Thought. "This means that the Chinese community in Milan for a long time has been very influential in being able to transfer the value and beauty of Chinese traditions," he said. Last year, the Chinese Ministry of Culture organized more than 800 events to celebrate Spring Festival in more than 320 cities in 118 countries and regions. China has set up 25 overseas cultural centers to promote the country's culture and strengthen exchanges and cooperation. In November, President Xi Jinping and Singaporean Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong opened the China Cultural Center during Xi's visit to the city state, which shares cultural roots and maintains close relations with China. (China Daily USA 02/15/2016 page5) At dawn or dusk, Angkor Wat dazzles Updated: 2016-02-15 14:44 By Xu Lin(China Daily USA) After 700 years, what remains is more than just remains More than 700 years ago, Zhou Daguan, a Chinese diplomat, recorded for posterity details of his stay in Angkor in The Customs of Cambodia, a work that would one day play a key role in the discovery of the abandoned, forest-clad Angkor by the French. Apart from the book, the brick and stone temples that remain are the only tangible way for us of the 21st century to get to know about the art and civilization of the mysterious Khmer Empire of the 9th-14th centuries. Angkor Wat was built as a state temple dedicated to Vishnu, one of the Hindu trinity, in the early 12th century. Like other Khmer architecture, the temple boasts pyramids created by stepped terraces that symbolize a temple-mountain and concentric galleries of elegant bas-reliefs. It is one of the world's largest religious monuments, a miniature of the Hindu universe, with its five central towers representing the peaks of Mount Meru. The first carvings at the main entrance to catch the eye are the beautiful apsaras, female divinities in Hindu mythology. There are more than 2,000 of these in the temple, with different expressions, postures and hairstyles. The most unique is several meters south - revealing her teeth in a grin. You have to cross a 350-meter-long causeway before climbing steep stairs to the central shrine at the towers. The causeway's balustrades are in the form of nagas, or seven-headed serpents, with guardian stone lions next to them. Traditional belief has it that this is a rainbow bridge that links the world of humans with that of the gods. One thing to be keenly aware of before you visit Angkor Wat is that the view you get of will differ markedly depending on what time of day you are there; the views of sunrise and those of sunset are world's apart. At dawn, about 7 am, many gather at a pond near the causeway to enjoy the temple's pretty silhouette and reflection. Outside the central temple complex are the well-known intricate bas-reliefs about historical events and Hindu mythology. One 49-meter-long panel depicts 88 gods and 92 asuras pulling the body of a giant naga to churn the Sea of Milk for 1,000 years to produce amrita, the elixir of immortality. The gods keep their promise to give half of the amrita to asuras, but the latter try to steal it. You can easily see that the churning created dancing apsaras and various marine life such as fishes, crocodiles and turtles. Another place that offers fantastic narrative bas-reliefs is the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom. It shows historical battles on water and on land, and the daily lives of people in the early 13th century. The Khmer soldiers have short hair and are often armed with shields and spears, and their commanders ride elephants. A group of their allies, Chinese soldiers, have beards and topknots. The expressions on the faces of the soldiers is as varied as their number. When you are inspecting the walls a cursory look will not do; look closely and you will see fascinating scenes and vivid detail. For example, Chinese place bets on a cockfight, women weigh their goods in the market and there is a troupe of jugglers. On the upper terrace of the temple 37 face-towers remain, just like a chain of mountain peaks. Most are carved with four faces with cardinal points. Just like the smile of Mona Lisa, their smiling faces make people feel peaceful and ponder over life. Sometimes you will even see a cat seeming to ponder the structures. Angkor Thom was the capital of Khmer until the 17th century. Its south gate is the most well-restored one, with a tower of four faces. In front of the gate is a road above a moat lined by two rows of figures each carrying the body of a giant naga - gods and asuras respectively. As with so much that Zhou recorded in his book, he seems to have got this just right. The heart of Angkor Thom is the 330-meter long Elephant Terrace, with carvings of elephants with mahouts along its walls. There are carvings of lion-head men and garuda (bird-man, Vishnu's vehicle), with raised arms as if they are supporting the terrace. On the staircase are three-headed elephants with trunks pulling lotuses from the ground. Next to it is the Leper King Terrace, carved with mythological scenes such as nagas and deities with swords. You can find hidden reliefs when you enter a zigzagging trench by a narrow entrance. The best way to travel around the city is by tuk tuk, a motorcycle that pulls a two-wheeled trailer. It's better to take a car while visiting temples in the suburban area such as Beng Mealea. The unrestored temple with collapsed galleries and towers is a perfect place for hiking. The main entrance is just a pile of giant stones and you have to walk on a wooden path built in recent years, if you want to explore further. The winding tree roots twine around the remaining structures, making this place like a wonderland. After about 800 years, the temple and ancient trees have a symbiotic relationship. The broken naga sculptures, lintels with carvings and pillars everywhere try to tell their stories to visitors - in vain, alas! Our tuk tuk driver told us that more and more young people are learning English and even Mandarin to get a decent job in tourism. The daily income of a Chinese-speaking tour guide is twice that of those who speak English, because of the demand. In scenic spots it is not just the scenery that you spot, but adorable children as well, touting cheap souvenirs such as magnets and postcards in Mandarin and English. The urge to help them by buying their wares is almost irresistible, until you consider that if you hand over your money some parents will keep their children out of school so they can make easy money this way. Instead, you can donate things such as clothes and stationery to schools or local NGOs and stay a little longer to do volunteer work. If you go: A direct flight between Beijing and Siem Reap city is about five hours. Siem Reap International Airport is seven kilometers from downtown. The common currency used is the US dollar and small change is useful. Do take mosquito repellent, medicine for diarrhea, heatstroke and cold. xulin@chinadaily.com.cn Clockwise fromtop: Temples in Angkor tell us the art and civilization of the Khmer Empire; kids touted cheap souvenirs in a temple; fried instant noodles is a common street food in the SiemReap; it's convenient to travel by tuk tuk; facetowers in Bayon Templemake people feel peaceful and ponder over life. Photos By Xu Lin/ China Daily (China Daily USA 02/15/2016 page8) The "moon speech" by US President John F. Kennedy on Sept 12, 1962, at Rice University was ambitious and idealistic when he said, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." However, when 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders laid out a vision for society to provide free college education, raise the minimum wage to $15, expand Social Security and address the widening income and wealth gap and the criminal justice system, he was labeled by his Republican and Democratic rivals as unrealistic or socialist. Michael Moore's new documentary Where to Invade Next, which hit theaters across the US on Feb 12, reminds Americans that not only have many of these "unrealistic" and "socialist" ideals become a reality in European countries such as Norway, Sweden and Finland, they are described by those in Scandinavia as ideas originated in the US. The movie certainly struck a chord with the American audience as I watched in the Landmark E Street Cinema in Washington on a freezing Saturday afternoon. Many of them applauded at the end, not to mention the laughter during the hilariously funny movie. Long, paid vacations in Italy, a year of paid maternity leave in Scandinavia and a surprisingly cozy prison in Norway are just some of the contrasts with American society today. So striking are the words from Italian and Finnish employers/capitalists who talk about the importance of treating their workers well and of having a society that is equal, unlike the one in the US. Moore showed that for a little higher tax rate, the people from France to Scandinavia enjoy a much better life than the Americans. He explained that most Americans have no idea that a large chunk of the US taxpayers' money was spent on the military. According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Priorities Project, 53.71 percent, or $598 billion, of the discretionary spending in 2015 was on the military, more than the combined spending on education, medical care and health, housing and community, energy and environment, transportation, science, food and agriculture, veterans' benefits and government. Most of the 2016 Republican and Democratic candidates have not talked about this issue. Instead, many of them have argued for more spending on the US military by exaggerating threats across the world. Having lived in New York and Washington for the last six years, I have always wondered why New Yorkers and Washingtonians don't complain about cell-phone service that is unavailable once inside the subway systems, considering communications are so important for everyone in the 21st century. Some time ago, I told my American colleague that cell-phone service is never interrupted in the Shanghai or Beijing subway systems. "Maybe Americans don't know you can have cell-phone service in the subway," the colleague said. In a talk at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on Feb 10, Larry Summers, a former secretary of the Treasury under president Bill Clinton and a chief economic advisor for President Obama in 2009 and 2010, expressed deep concerns about the fruits of economic growth not being widely shared. He asked the mostly SAIS students and faculty if any of them feel proud as Americans of Kennedy or LaGuardia airports in New York. Many flights at Kennedy are international, and Summers asked if any of those international airports connected aren't nicer than Kennedy. "And we are supposed to be the greatest and richest country on earth," he said. US highway systems and airports used to be the envy of the world after World War II, but they have become increasingly dilapidated compared with the rest of the world, which has invested heavily in infrastructure in recent decades. A figure cited by both Summers last week and Bill Gates earlier is that China used more cement from 2011 to 2013 or 2011 to 2014 than the US used in the 20th century. In her 2010 book Third World America, Arianna Huffington also argued that excessive spending on war and the military at the expense of domestic issues is denying society and ordinary Americans of the American Dream. Moore's movie is the latest reminder that a nation that claims to be the greatest and most exceptional seems to quickly forget its ideals. Contact the writer at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com Kai-Fu Lee: Cities power China's Internet startups Updated: 2016-02-15 12:33 By Niu Yue in New York(China Daily USA) China's urban density makes it the best breeding ground for Internet startup companies, according to one of the country's top Internet executives. China's megacities are the world's best on-demand economy incubator because "China possesses 54 big cities with a population over 2 million, but the US only had four such big cities", said Kai-Fu Lee, chairman of China's Innovation Works. Lee spoke at a panel discussion at the China Institute in New York on Feb 10. Due to the population density in Chinese cities, the Chinese Internet entrepreneurial market has "an apparent edge" over its American counterpart, said Lee, whose company is one of the largest early-stage investment firms that invest in Chinese Internet startups. Lee, the founding president of Google China, who also has worked at Apple and Microsoft, said people in urban areas in China live in high-rise apartments, and their demand for various services made the online service sector a more lucrative market compared with that of the US. In the US, Lee said the typical consumers are families living in less-densely populated area who drive miles to shopping centers. Lee's company has invested in a series of startups that specialize in online services and cultural products, including Edaixi, an on-demand instant laundry online service, and Duocai Shijia, an online interior remodeling service that can be user-driven. Lee's company has invested in several online cartoon studios, and each received millions of dollars in funding, among which the most well known is U17.com, China's largest online original cartoon website, which launched One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes, a blockbuster Kuso cartoon series. China already has the world's largest mobile Internet market. According to China's Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the country now has about 900 million mobile users, 600 million smartphone users and 300 million online-payment customers. Lee said China has a much higher market saturation of online payment systems compared with the US, which is dominated by the traditional credit card system. China is "a better environment for online consumption", he said. Deng Yongqiang, secretary of the Tsinghua University Alumni Association, who is in charge of online entrepreneurship investment, said his association invested only in "entrepreneur projects that feature Internet service and products". Deng invested in about 50 different kinds of startup companies out of hundreds of initiatives and applications annually. "No exceptions," Deng said, when asked about off-line startups. "It is inevitably true that Internet entrepreneurial startups should be the next wave of the Chinese economy's engine," said Deng. Beijing is the unrivaled hot spot for Chinese startups because of a preferential governmental policy and the well-established Zhongguancun Venture Park, Deng said. "We had some business in other Chinese big cities like Shanghai," said Deng, "but the climate in Beijing favors young entrepreneurial startups most." Li Chen, a Boston-based entrepreneur, said his website, Liaoyuan.io, specializes in integrating hundreds of young Chinese entrepreneurs in North America and is helping to create an industry-based social platform for entrepreneurship. Li said his company has had two successful rounds of financing, and now has 20,000 registered members with four branch offices in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai. Long Yifan in New York contributed to this story. From left: Chinese Consul General Li Qiangmin, Congressman Al Green and Southern News Group CEO Wea Lee enjoy a lion dance along with other festival goers at the 25th Texas Lunar Festival on Feb 13 in front of Houston City Hall. The Texas Lunar Festival has expanded from an Asian community celebration to an annual event involving all communities in Houston in celebration of traditional Chinese culture as well as the diversity of the city. Food, performances, games and prizes drew crowds throughout the day. MAY ZHOU / CHINA DAILY Embassy plaza renaming seen as 'provocative' Updated: 2016-02-15 12:33 By Bian Ji in Washington(China Daily USA) China protests vote that affects building address China has urged the US to stop "provocative" actions after the US Senate unanimously passed a bill to rename a plaza in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington after Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese writer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Liu was convicted of inciting subversion of state power in 2009. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and deprived of his political rights for two years. "It's provocative and counterproductive. We strongly urge the US side to stop such actions," Chinese Embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters. In its Feb 14 editorial, Beijing-based Global Times said: "The apparently provocative move intends to outrage and unsettle China. But this is no big deal. In addition to anger, it will enable us to learn more about the US from another perspective: the US has big problems in abiding by the rules and keeping self-respect and its Congress acts so rashly." The measure would change the address of the Chinese Embassy in Washington from 3505 International Place to 1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza. The editorial said that the US has been "at its wits' end in dealing with China as it is reluctant to employ military threats or economic sanctions that may backfire. The only option for Washington seems to be petty actions that disturb China. But these can help China better understand what vile characters it will meet during its rise and face whatever awkwardness comes by dealing with them," the editorial said. The Feb 12 bill was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a leading 2016 Republican presidential candidate. The passage of the bill on a Friday was meant to be a trade-off between Cruz and Senate Democrats. As a result, Cruz had ended his holds on nominees including US President Barack Obama's new ambassadors to Norway and Sweden and two top State Department officials. The Senate also confirmed those nominations on Friday, according to Reuters. Senate rules allow any member to block a nomination by a procedure known as a "hold". Cruz had imposed the holds last year after Washington and other world powers reached a deal with Iran in which it agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Several Senate sources, including high-level Republicans and Democrats knowledgeable about the process, said Cruz had dropped the holds after Obama's fellow Democrats said they would not oppose the plaza-naming measure, Reuters reported. A White House spokesman, quoted by Reuters, said Obama's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill. Site: waydate From: missnancy Date: 2016-01-08 16:33:09 Good day. It's my pleasure meeting you, and that you enjoying your day? Can you allowed me to introduce myself to you. My name is Nancy; I will like to know you. I hope all is well with you, i saw your profile on site and i will be happy if you write to me on my private email (nancy4lv33@outlook.com) so that i will send you my picture and tell you more about myself. Thank you and God bless you; hope to hear from you Nancy From: Nancy Wilson Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2016 06:19:47 +0000 Subject: From Nancy Hello Dear, With respect and humble submission, I beg to state the following few lines for your kind consideration, I hope you will spare some of your valuable minutes to read the following appeal with sympathetic mind. I must confess that it is with great hope that I write to you this mail, which I know and believe by faith that it must surely find you in good condition of health. My name is Nancy Wilson Debor, I am a young girl of 21 years old. I'm from Republic of Liberia and presently I am residing in the refugee camp here in Republic of Togo as a result of the civil war in my country. I was a first year student of law at the university before the incident that led me into this situation of been in refugee camp in Republic of Togo. I'm a very simple, honest, respectful, Caring, sincere and beautiful girl. My late father Dr. Wilson Debor was the Managing Director of Rainbow Gold and Diamond Mine Company, also a successful exporter of Cocoa during his life time. I am the only child of my parent. It is sad that the rebels attacked my house one early morning killing my mother and my father. Equally my mother was a senior lecturer at the university before her untimely death. I don't have any relative now whom I can go to, all my relatives ran away in the middle of the war. I am the only survivor in my family because I am the only child of my parent. After the recent crisis that resulted to the death of my parent, I was taken to Republic of Togo for safety by Red Cross under Catholic Caritas as an asylum, which is how I came to the Camp. As a refugee here I don't have any right or privilege to anything be it money or whatever because it is against the law of this country. Please listen to this carefully, I have my late father's Fund Deposit certificate and Deposit Agreement and death certificate here with me, because when he was alive he deposited some amount of money in a bank in Republic of Togo which he used my name as the next of kin, the amount in question is Six Million, Seven Hundred Thousand United State Dollars (USD$6,700,000.00). Already I have informed this bank about my intention to claim my late father's deposit. The bank told me to look for a foreign partner who will assist me in transferring the funds due to my refugee status here, as a refugee I am not allowed the right of claim to the money but through an appointed representative as the united refugee law governing refugee all over the world states. Now I want an honest partner overseas who will assist me in transferring this money. I kept this secret to people in the camp here; you are the only person that I am telling this. So I will like you to help me to transfer this money to your account and from it you can send some money for me to get my traveling documents and air ticket to come and reside permanently in your country till such a time that it will be convenient for me to return back home if I so desire. This is because I have suffered a lot of setbacks as a result of incessant political crisis in Liberia. The death of my father actually brought sorrow to my life. I also want to invest this fund under your care in any business of your choice since I'm still young to manage it. I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards. Your suggestions and ideas will be highly regarded. Now permit me to ask these few questions: (1.) Can you honestly help me from your heart? (2.) Can I completely trust you? (3.) What percentage of the total amount in question will be good for you after the fund has being transferred to your account and I come over to meet you? Please, consider this and get back to me as soon as possible. Immediately I confirm your willingness, I will send to you my Pictures and also inform you more details involved in this matter. In summary, I will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for I am afraid of losing my life and the money. Kind Regards, Nancy. From: Nancy Wilson Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2016 09:53:07 +0000 Subject: Bellow here is the contact of the bank. My Dearest I really appreciate your concern, fist i will like you to start by contacting the bank and find out the possibility and documents needed from you in transferring this fund to your position. I have decided to entrust my whole life in your hand and hope that you won't betray the trust. I believe in my heart that your help to me will bring something good to you, and i assure you that if God will use you to help me out of this situation, i will never forget you in my life and with what you have said in your mail to me i now have the confidence to go ahead with you. Bellow here is the contact of the bank. Diamond Bank Togo Telephone: +22899640162 Fax Number: +2282222145 Address: 3519, Bd. du 13 Janvier, Doulassame, SWIFT CODE: DBLNTGTG Email: diamondbank@safrica.com Information about my late father & the deposit Ref. number are as follows: Name of depositor: Mr. Wilson Debor Arlum Nationality: Republic of Liberian Beneficiary: Miss. Nancy Wilson Debor Amount Deposited: US$ 6.7 Million Purpose of Deposit: Safe keeping Country of Deposit: Togo. Please Call the Bank, When you get them on the line, you tell them that you are calling behalf of the fund of Mr. Wilson Debor from Liberia with Ref. account number 006249622743483002, you are representing me as my foreign partner as well as the next of kin to the fund, and ask them the possibility of transferring this fund to your position in your country. Please do your best to make sure that you make contact with the bank as soon as you get this mail, i will advise you to call them on their telephone, and send an email to them for them now so that they will know our seriousness, whatever you discuss with them get back to me so that i will be knowing what is happening. My prayer is for God to grant me my pursuance and by the grace of God he will surely see us through. The most important thing is to make sure that you make contact with the bank let us hear from them before any other thing will be done. Go ahead and contact them. I am expecting to hear from you with the response from the bank. Please take good care, and always pray for me. God bless you, Nancy Below is the sample of what you can send to the bank with the document i sent to you. My Name is .......... My mobile number is...........I am a nationality of.............am contacting you behalf of Miss Nancy Wilson Debor about the account deposited by her late father Mr Wilson Debor Arlum, with Reference account number '006249622743483002'i am Miss Nancy Wilson Debor foreign partner and i want to find out the what documents required from me and the possibility of transferring the money to my position in my country, what i should do. Thanks and waiting for your urgent response. Mr............ From: "diamondbank@safrica.com" Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 08:38:20 +0100 Subject: DIAMOND BANK TOGO DIAMOND BANK TOGO Office Address: 3519, Bd. du 13 Janvier, Doulassame, BP 3925, Lome Togo Telephone: +22899640162 / +22898465963 Fax: +2282222145 / +2282398760 Email:diamondbank@safrica.com For Your Kind Attention, Mr. , I have been directed by the director of Foreign Operation/Wire Transfer to write you in respect to you and your partner's mail which we have received. Actually, we have earlier been informed about you by the young lady Miss. Nancy Wilson Debor that she wishes you to be her trustee/representative for the claim of her late father's deposit with our bank. Late Dr Wilson Debor Arlum is our late customer with substantial amount. Hence you have been really appointed as a trustee to represent the next of Kin. The amount in question is Six Million, Seven Hundred thousand United States dollars. (USD$6,700.000.00). However before our bank will transact any business concerning the transfer of the fund to your account, we will like you to send the followings: 1. Fund approval certificate from ministry of finance here in Togo and endorse by a Togolese lawyer. 2. Power of attorney and affidavit of oath from high court here in Togo, this is permitting you to claim and transfer the funds to your bank account in your country on your partner's behalf. Note: This Power of attorney and affidavit of oath must be endorsed by a Togolese resident lawyer. 3. Scan copy of your international passport or driving license for proper identification. Note that the above are compulsory, and are needed to protect our interest, yours, the next of kin after the claims. These shall also ensure that a smooth, quick and successful transfer of the fund is made. We promise to give our customers the best of our services. Should you have any question(s), please contact foreign transfer officer Dr. Fabian Kassim on telephone number for more directives /clarifications. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and we promise to give our customers the best of our services. In case you do have lawyer here in Togo tell us so that we can get you a trusted lawyer that can help you in getting those legal documents on your behalf. Yours Faithfully, Dr. Fabian Kassim (Foreign Operation/Wire Transfer Dept). From: Nancy Wilson Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 17:57:13 +0000 Subject: Take care and i will be back to check on you. Dear Love, I just receive this email now and i do not know what the bank really mean. Do they request all these documents from us before they will transfer the money? Please let me understand what they really need from us because you no better than me and i have the copy of my late father's deposit certificate and death certificate but i do not have the Fund approval certificate, Affidavit of oath and power of attorney. Sir, how about it? Please i need to know what i can do here or can you ask the bank to use their lawyer to get us the papers from their court? Or should i search for a lawyer here myself who can assist us? Please let me know what i can be doing because i am very happy to know that the bank is ready to release my late father's money. I am now praying to God so that I will join you in your country in short time because all my heart is gone out of this refugee camp since i have the left inheritance funds which can change my future life. Please i will be happy for you to try all your best to see that bank transfer the money to your account so that I will relocate to your country once the transaction is completed to your bank account. Take care and i will be back to check on you. Yours Lovely, Nancy Wilson From: Nancy Wilson Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 07:06:13 +0000 Subject: Lawyer contact. Hello, I understood now and here is the lawyer's contact details. Kindly contact the lawyer to help us for the preparation of this documents. Name: Barrister Clement Kojo Email: barr.clementkojo@hotmail.com / clementkojo@lawyer.com Phone: +22893022221 I wait for your reply with the response from the lawyer. Nancy. From: "Clement Kojo" Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:21:59 +0100 Subject: Attention: , Attention: , Sequel to your mail and your partner's message Miss Nancy Wilson to my noble law firm here on how to prepare a Fund approval Certificate, power of attorney and swear an affidavit of oath from the high court here for you and your partner. I made inquire about the issuing to you an authorization letter and affidavit of oath that will enable you to stand on your partner's behalf to transfer her money from Diamond Bank Togo, to your account in your country or elsewhere. Prior to my inquiries from the girl and the high court here in Lome Togo, I was made to understand all the documents required by bank before the transfer of the money to your account. In view of above and from my inquiries, it will cost the sum of $1050 for Fund approval certificate from ministry of Finance, $690 for authentication of the power of attorney, $1200for swearing of the affidavit of oath at the federal high court here before it becomes valid, $120 for notary stamping at the notary office and my consultation & legal processing fee of $310. Total of ($3,370.00) Three thousand, three hundred and seventy United States Dollars only to get everything done. You are to transfer this money today through western union money transfer or MoneyGram to my name and address below: RECEIVER'S NAME: CLEMENT KOJO ADDRESS: 143 RUE DE INDEPENDENCE LOME COUNTRY: TOGO AMOUNT: 3,370.00 DOLLARS But in case your country has no western union or money gram facility, just let me know so that i will send to you a bank account where you will transfer the money for my receiving, make sure you inform me immediately you transfer the money today, so we can start the preparation of the documents (which will be ready by the next two working days) attached here is my international passport, my lawyer license card to enable you know whom you are dealing with. Note we collect payment before rendering services (as the barrister's law of the united nation demands), for a huge transfer. (My priority is to render the best services to my clients) Bar clement kojo +22893022221 From: "Clement Kojo" Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 16:41:10 +0100 Subject: ACCOUNT DETAILS BELOW IS AN OFFICAIAL ACCOUNT DETAILS THIS LAWFIRM IS SENDING YOU FOR THE PAYMENT OF 3370 DOLLARS. ACCOUNT NAME:....... OGBONNA UCHE BANK CODE: ................. TG055 Branch Code:................. 01706 ACCOUNT NUMBER: ............... 111412661201 SWIFT CODE:................ ECOCTGTG NAME OF THE BANK:.............. ECOBANK - TOGO CLERIB: ..........39 IBAN CODE:............. TG055 706 111412661201 39 If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... US caution urged over missile move Updated: 2016-02-15 03:25 By ZHANG YUNBI(China Daily) China diplomats warn over deployment of US defense system in the ROK "The deployment of the THAAD system by the US goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. Senior Chinese diplomats have warned against any actions that damage China's interests by using the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue as an excuse. The warning comes as the United States is being allowed by the Republic of Korea to deploy a powerful missile system that will technically cover China and Russia. Hours after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched a rocket on Feb 7, the US and ROK angered China and Russia by deciding to start talks on deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to the US military base in the ROK. In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said "safeguarding China's national security interests" was a key principle for tackling the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. China "resolutely objects to any attempt by any country to infringe China's lawful rights and interests in the name of the peninsula nuclear issue", Wang said on Friday, according to a news release issued by the Foreign Ministry. "The deployment of the THAAD system by the US ... goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent," Wang said. "It directly affects the strategic security interests of China and other Asian countries." When meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Munich on Friday, Wang said the US must be cautious about undermining China's security interests or "adding new complications to regional peace and stability". Fu Ying, the National People's Congress' foreign affairs chief, said on Saturday at the Munich conference that China is puzzled and angered by the US actions, People Daily's website reported. Fu added that the US had told China to cooperate on the peninsula nuclear issue while Washington had been involved in discussions with its allies about deploying the THAAD system. Romance and rejection triggered Updated: 2016-02-15 05:18 By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Tokyoand Islamabad(China Daily) Snapshot of love: Li Zhao takes a selfie with Zhang Jianna after they obtained their marriage certificates in Fuyang, Anhui province, on Sunday. Valentine's Day coincided with the first day back at work after Spring Festival. WANG BIAO / FOR CHINA DAILY Valentine's Day stirred passions in at least one Asian country but was given the cold shoulder in another. In Japan, women elbowing each other in the stampede to buy chocolate for the men in their lives brought stores to a standstill at the weekend. But in Pakistan, President Mamnoon Hussain urged the nation to refrain from celebrating Valentine's Day. In Japan, men do nothing to mark the Feb 14 festival, while the women do battle in heaving aisles, loading up on confectionery for their menfolk. If the women are lucky, the men will reciprocate on White Day in March, when they traditionally give white gifts, including sweets and lingerie. "My feet hurt, my arms hurt and my head hurts," said Kana Shimizu, clutching two bags of Belgian chocolate that cost more than 10,000 yen ($90) at a plush store in Tokyo's Ginza district. "This one is for my boyfriend, the other one is for me. I don't want him having all the fun," she said. Having splurged on honmei (true love) chocolate, the 27-year-old hair stylist rushed off to find somewhere less upmarket to buy treats for her male work colleagues. "They can make do with cheap chocolate," she said. "No, seriously. It's such a pain every year." In Pakistan, the president said that Valentine's Day, which is celebrated traditionally in the West by lovers, had no place in the Muslim-majority nation. Speaking to a crowd of students on Friday, he urged them to focus on their studies instead. Other officials criticized Valentine's Day. Sino-Africa think tank to boost Africa's employment levels Updated: 2016-02-15 05:50 (Xinhua) NAIROBI -- A Sino-Africa think tank is planning to boost the employment of African youth by increasing their skills in the construction sector. Adedana Ashebir with the Sino-Africa Centre of Excellence (SACE) Foundation told Xinhua in Nairobi that they will roll out a project to strengthen the skills of Africa's labor force in the building sector. "We have been in the planning stages for over a year now and we hope training will commence by the beginning of 2017," Ashebir said. SACE said that project will begin as a pilot project in Kenya and will thereafter be rolled out to the rest of Africa. In the past decade, a large number of Chinese firms have undertaken construction of infrastructure projects in many African states. "We therefore want to make sure that Africans have the requisite skills to work for the Chinese firms," Ashebir said. SACE plans to partner with technical and vocational training centers in Kenya to undertake the project. Ashebir said that the construction industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the continent with a potential to provide employment opportunities for millions of Africans. She added that the issue of job creation is a key concern for most African governments. "High unemployment has multiple consequences such as increased poverty levels," she noted. "Many African governments are therefore undertaking transformational projects with the help of the Chinese government," she observed. According to SACE, Chinese firms can play a big role in modernizing Africa's building industry. Huge fire engulfs venue at 'Make in India' event Updated: 2016-02-15 09:55 (Agencies) Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the venue of a cultural event during 'Make in India' week in Mumbai, India, February 14, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] MUMBAI - A huge fire engulfed the venue of a cultural event in Mumbai on Sunday that was being held at the opening of a "Make in India" week launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drum up foreign investment. Television pictures showed fire breaking out at the front of the outdoor stage during a performance by dancers. Fanned by high winds, it quickly spread, licking the sides of a scaffolding rig and lighting up the night sky. Thousands of spectators, among them dignitaries including the chief minister of the host state of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, were evacuated safely. "Venue was evacuated immediately. Traffic management allowed early dispersal without any trouble," Fadnavis tweeted, adding that no fatalities or injuries were reported. The fire broke out at 8:24 pm (1554 GMT) due to a short circuit and 14 fire engines and 10 water tankers took just over an hour to bring it under control, said Raviraj Kamde, fire officer at the Maharashtra Fire Control Room. Kamde confirmed there were no casualties and people at the event had been evacuated safely. Eyewitnesses said the evacuation was orderly. "We were shaken with the sudden announcement that there has been a fire at the venue but thankfully there were multiple exit routes," said Heman Goyal, a Delhi businessman who was attending the event. "There was chaos but we all got out in time. I saw parts of the stage burning." The blaze is likely to overshadow the message of India being open for business that Modi wanted to send. When he opened the investor jamboree on Saturday, Modi called Make in India "the biggest brand India has ever created". The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland took part in Saturday's gala opening ahead of Make in India Week, which is being attended by 2,500 foreign companies and 8,000 firms from India. California officials help ring in the New Year Updated: 2016-02-15 12:33 By Lia Zhu in San Francisco(China Daily USA) Mark Leno (left), California state senator, David Chiu (center), California state Assembly member, and Phil Ting (second from right), California state Assembly member, celebrate Chinese New Year with community members on Feb 12 in Leno's office in San Francisco. Miss San Francisco (second from left) and Miss Sing Tao also attended. Lia Zhu / China Daily California state Senator Mark Leno was joined by two Chinese-American state Assembly members - David Chiu and Phil Ting - to celebrate the Chinese New Year with community members on Feb 12 in Leno's office. More than 100 local residents, including Chinese community leaders, visited the representatives' offices and talked with the officials. Chinese New Year celebrations have been held in the state building for 13 years, but it was the first time that a state senator and Assembly members hosted community members in their offices. Leno, representing California's 11th state Senate district, which includes San Francisco and part of San Mateo County, told the guests that the Jewish Lunar New Year and the Chinese Lunar New Year had some things in common - celebrating the year's harvest with families. He said senators and Assembly members don't always agree with each other but he has established a good relationship with Chiu and Ting. He also thanked his two colleagues for their efforts to introduce bills that benefit California residents. Ting, who represents the 19th District, encompassing western San Francisco and northern San Mateo County, praised Leno's work for San Francisco residents. He extended holiday greetings to the guests in Chinese. Chiu, who represents the 17th District encompassing the eastern half of San Francisco, said they held the reception in their offices this year because residents have fewer opportunities to visit the state building. He said he hoped the community would learn more about their work through the event. liazhu@chinadailyusa.com Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. Some people claim that the death penalty does not do anything to help the victims families. However, the same can be said of life impriso... Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected unanimously in the 12th tenure. Photo: Trong Chinh/VNP One thousand five hundred and ten official delegates, representing more than 4.5 million Party members nationwide attended the congress. The 12th Congress received 242 letters of congratulations from political parties, organisations, diplomacy delegations and international friends. The congress showed the anonymity of spirit and iron determination of the whole Party, people and army in the future to reach the master target of Boosting the building of a clean and strong Party, improving the Partys leadership and combat capacity, building a strong political system, bringing into full play the aggregate strength of the whole nation and socialist democracy, pushing forward comprehensively and harmoniously the renewal process, developing economy rapidly and sustainably, striving to turn Vietnam into an industrialised country toward modernity, improving the spiritual and material life of the people, struggling resolutely and persistently in order to firmly safeguard the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and to defend the Party, State, people and the Socialist system, maintaining an environment of peace and stability for national development, proactively and actively integrating into the world to develop the country, enhancing the position and prestige of Vietnam in the region and in the world. Panoramic view of the Congress. Photo: Trong Chinh/VNP Delegates cast their votes on members of the 12th Party Central Committee. Photo: VNA Delegates vote by a show of hands for the 12th National Party Congresss Resolution. Photo: Trong Chinh/VNP Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and members of the 12th Party Central Committee present themselves before the congress. Photo: Trong Chinh/VNP The congress elected a 200-member Party Central Committee, comprising 180 official and 20 alternate members. The 12th Party Central Committee convened its first plenum to elect the Politburo, the Party General Secretary, the Secretariat and the Inspection Commission. The Party General Secretary in the 11th tenure, Nguyen Phu Trong, was re-elected unanimously as Party General Secretary in the 12th tenure. The re-elected Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivered a speech to close the 12th Party National Congress. In his speech, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that the 12th Party Centre Committee will join the entire Party, people and army to continue upholding the fine traditions and valuable experience of the Party, strengthening the unity in will and actions, promoting innovation in thinking and creatively applying, developing Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thoughts, being consistent towards the goal of national independence and socialism, innovating methods and working style of the Partys leading bodies from the central to the grassroots levels in a systematic, practical and democratic manner, as well as promoting close bonds with the people, completing all assigned tasks, and contributing to successful realisation of the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong called upon the Party, people and army as well as Vietnamese expatriates to uphold the values of patriotism, self-reliance and national unity to realise the congress resolution. This would help open a new development period for the country towards socialism. Right after the closing session, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong chairs an international press conference. Photo: Trong Chinh/VNP 19 members of the 12th Politburo : 1. Nguyen Phu Trong (Party General Secretary) 2. Tran Dai Quang 3. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan 4. Ngo Xuan Lich 5. To Lam 6. Nguyen Xuan Phuc 7. Nguyen Thien Nhan 8. Dinh The Huynh 9. Pham Minh Chinh 10. Tong Thi Phong 11. Vuong Dinh Hue 12. Tran Quoc Vuong (Chairman of the 12th Party Central Committees Commission for Inspection) 13. Pham Binh Minh 14. Truong Thi Mai 15. Truong Hoa Binh 16. Nguyen Van Binh 17. Vo Van Thuong 18. Dinh La Thang 19. Hoang Trung Hai 3 members of the Secretariat: 01. Nguyen Hoa Binh 02. Nguyen Van Nen 03. Luong Cuong Story: Thanh Hoa - Photos: Trong Chinh, Thanh Hoa & VNA How fast can you tweak a product and bring an upgrade into the market? How fast do you react to consumer feedback and change? How quickly can you sift through data and take a decision? Let's get this straight first: No one likes to do things or take a decision in a jiffy. You need data and information and space to roll things over in your mind, consider the pros and cons and then proceed. The great thing about the world today is that you can do all of that without delay. You have all the tools at your disposal to collect data, slice and dice them and turn them into actionable insights in no time. In other words, there are no excuses for being late. Speed is hygiene if you wish to compete and win in a hyper-competitive marketplace. Pallavi Jha, managing director (MD), Dale Carnegie Training India, puts the dilemma before leaders succinctly: "The new business reality is: do more in less time with fewer resources. Given this, the ability to allocate scarce resources is a key responsibility for a leader today." If one were to really break it down, speed is of the essence in decision-making, in reacting to consumer feedback or demand and speed in getting things off the drawing board and into the market. How do you stay in constant contact with your customers and get your products in their hands as quickly as possible - all of which can make or break a business? So how are leaders reacting to this need for speed? For Vivek Gambhir, MD, Godrej Consumer Products, "Now every aspect of life as well as business calls for higher ambidexterity." And from a leadership point of view, this starts with a clear view of the company's vision. Next comes clarity regarding decision-making - what decisions have to be made and at what level of the organisation. "If decision-making is clear then the speed of response automatically becomes fast," says Gambhir. This also has a bearing on how agile the organisation can be. "Agility, once again, is a consequence of a leader being clear about the company strategy," adds Gambhir. So if in the past, it took 18 months for Godrej to come up with a product innovation, the window now is down to six months. The organisation has achieved this level of speed by changing a lot of internal processes. For one, it has simplified the procedure of potential business acquisitions by putting together a clear merger and acquisition (M&A) playbook in place. This way the company can identify interesting transaction opportunities quickly. Linking agility to time to market, Sumit Bhattacharya, executive president, strategic businesses and marketing, HCL Infosystems, says, "Time to market (speed) is a function of multiple factors such as the structure of an organisation and the level of empowerment of people. A flat decision-making structure within the organisation with clear decision-making responsibilities accelerates time-to-market ability of an organisation." On the shortening product cycle, Abhijit Nimgaonkar, principal, ZS Associates, cites an examples from the pharma industry, a sector he has followed closely. "Earlier, pharma companies followed a 10-year cycle covering functions such as research, product formulation, market testing etc. before a product launch. Today, all these processes have to run simultaneously. The entire process now is lean, mean, faster - from testing to commercialisation." While it is important for a leader to be aware and in sync with the organisation's vision to take relevant decisions quickly, it is equally important to nurture the ability to sift through varied data sets to see what is relevant. Capturing the challenges that the deluge of data presents, Puneet Kaura, MD and CEO, Samtel Avionics, says, "In today's highly volatile and connected world, while information aggregation is not a challenge, information segregation is. One has to constantly filter out and retain valuable information from the plethora of stimuli targeted at us all the time." Kaura also cautions against glossing over networking. "If you are well-connected, information finds a way to you rather than the other way round. I and my team grab every chance that we can get to gain knowledge and to be mentored by those who have an in-depth knowledge of the business." Staying abreast of what's going on around you is unavoidable when planning the launch of a product. "This poses three challenges - generating continuous and genuine insights, empowering an organisation and balancing data-driven approaches with intuition," underlines Nitin Prasad, MD, Shell Lubricants India. He says a smart organisation will keep a finger on the pulse of the market via social media, pressing into service insight generation experts who can quickly identify a growing trend. On the empowerment front, it is a good idea to give local teams the freedom and authority to make the decisions they need to, to speed up execution. The challenge in balancing data-driven processes with intuition can daunt many leaders, says Prasad. The deluge of data has led to sophisticated data management techniques, but it can lead to what he describes as "analysis paralysis". And that is the space where experts and mentors can step in. Vivekanand Venugopal, vice-president and general manager, Hitachi Data Systems, India, suggests an easy way to break out of that paralysis: listening to one's gut feeling whenever in doubt. Venugopal says no amount of innovation or speed will work if a company fails to find relevance among customers and partners. "To accelerate the relevance and adoption of solutions, you have to behave like an entrepreneur by collaborating with different stakeholders and forming alliances to provide the best platform for customers." Hitachi Data Systems leverages its big data and social innovation labs to generate a fair idea of what the customer wants. Learnings from international markets has helped Godrej cut time and cost to develop new products. Good Knight Fast Card is a case in point. Initial research by the company revealed that India alone sees 24 million cases of malaria each year and 90 per cent of the population resides in malaria-prone areas. Also, in rural India, the penetration of household insecticides is very low. Lastly, the products available were either expensive or needed electricity. Godrej responded to the challenge and moved quickly to introduce the Good Knight Fast Card, a product that broke the price barrier, worked instantly and did not require electricity. "The idea for this product came from a similar product we had launched in Indonesia," says Gambhir. Having a wide footprint also makes the task of soft launch easy. "We test market response to new products by introducing them in a select geography. This helps us to quickly understand acceptance levels and make adjustments before a full-fledged product launch," says Sanjay Bhutani, MD, India and SAARC, Bausch + Lomb India. Remarkably, companies today are not only looking to amplify positive feedback; they are keen on discovering negative feedback as well and channelising it into positive learnings for the brand. For instance, Shell Lubricants has a senior management review on all negative feedback it receives through its "Hot Alerts". The company challenges itself on what can be done to address the cause of the comments. All "Hot Alerts" are rigorously followed up with the specific individual or company who raised them. Similarly, at Bausch & Lomb, each complaint is addressed within 24 working hours. Any product-related feedback on social media is received by brand custodians. Once the team understands the nature of the complaint, a dedicated team of experts takes appropriate action. The company also has an internal MIS wherein all feedback is recorded and shared at the national and international levels. This helps it identify areas of improvement and also serves as a quality check dashboard. Don't waste time: Kiran Koteshwar Kiran Koteshwar Take time out: Leaders need to have time and make time. Administrative tasks take a lot of mental space; hence delegation becomes important. If I see an opportunity or an area of improvement, I take an unconventional route and engage directly with the ones I feel are apt for implementation. I then inform their seniors - this is where relationship equity places a key role. Stay informed: Staying abreast of situations and having a finger on the pulse is the key to effective decision-making. We have "management by exception" work culture where exceptions are discussed face to face at all levels. We also have live reports to look at trends, weakness, opportunities. Be proactive: In any crisis, big or small, we proactively keep our consumers informed through social media updates, and as required keep adding latest updates frequently and periodically. Innovation matters: Innovations are best implemented with the ones who thought about it. Creating situational leaders helps foster talent and most importantly implementation is easier. Expert TakeCFO, SpiceJet What goes up must come down - a piece of folksy wisdom that has been adequately highlighted by the persistent downturn in oil prices. When oil prices were ruling at above $100 a barrel, the market believed that the developing countries' hunger for commodities would continue to drive up prices. There was the odd forecast of a barrel of crude fetching $150 to a barrel. Today, it is a different story. Developments on the supply side, along with concern about China's growth moderation, have made sure that oil prices decline, with the main benchmarks recently breaching the level of $30 a barrel. Jim Chalmers warns disaster floods will weigh on GDP growth Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed the "initial estimate" the recent flooding would have on the economy but warns costs associated could be "even more significant" ahead of his first federal budget on Tuesday. Limited value: Liberal Senator against royal commission into COVID Liberal Senator Jane Hume acknowledged the long-term effects of lockdowns and school shutdowns but said Australia fared well compared to other countries. Heavy rain, hail and more flood warnings for four states this weekend Millions of residents along the east coast have been told to brace for more wet weather this weekend, with warnings of large hailstones for Friday and severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rain to already flooded river systems. Australian leaders react to Liz Truss resignation Australian leaders have reacted to the latest news in British politics with the resignation of Liz Truss and the potential return of Boris Johnson, in what could be the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years "on fast forward". WATERLOO Officials at UnityPoint-Allen Hospital are ecstatic to play a role in bringing nearby Logan Plaza back to life. Logan Plaza, the once-thriving retail center on Waterloos east side, appears set to get the type of redevelopment people have been asking and waiting for decades to see. Local developer Ben Stroh has stepped in and with city incentives will raze Logan Plaza, the original 1960s-vintage strip mall, and replace it with new medical offices and retail businesses. Thats a sweet spot for Allen officials, who have been in expansion mode in recent months. Pam Delagardelle, UnityPoint CEO, said the hospital hopes to be involved, but nothing is set. We are so excited about whats happening over at Logan Plaza, said Delagardelle. We are grateful to Ben Stroh and the people in the city and on the City Council who have prioritized this project and moved it along. City officials seemed to welcome news of the plan to redevelop the Logan Plaza property. Im excited, and I think the entire community is going to be happy with this, Mayor Quentin Hart said when the project was first announced. Its the perfect time, and we have a trusted developer thats from this community. Because details had not been finalized, Stroh declined to comment on specifics; however, he did say he was enthused about the project. Im extremely excited. Ive been extremely impressed with the help that weve gotten from the city, Stroh said. Mayor Hart has been absolutely great to work with. Stroh said he started a conversation about Logan Plaza with the city with former Mayor Buck Clark, and Hart also was a part of the process from the beginning. That energy is what its gonna take to make that part of Waterloo great again, Stroh said. Hart has lobbied for the redevelopment of Logan Plaza for the last eight years as a representative of the Fourth Ward on the city council. Allen already has announced a major new primary-care clinic center in Cedar Falls. Now, the hospital is looking to the Logan Plaza property to continue those plans, Delagardelle said. Stroh is a longtime business owner and head of the North Crossing LLC investment group. Revitalization efforts have made headway in the area, but plans for Logan Plaza have come and gone. The once-robust shopping area has been described as a vacant, dilapidated eyesore. Stroh is paying upfront for the acquisition and demolition of the vacant strip mall and out-lot buildings along with acquiring more than 50 acres of land north of Logan Plaza from Menards. Most of the Menards property will be turned over to the city for future retail development. The city will then reimburse Stroh $1 million annually in TIF funds for eight years to cover those costs. Under the plan, the current MidPort and Logan TIF districts will be combined into a new East Waterloo Unified Urban Renewal and Redevelopment area. That will allow the city to use new property taxes generated in either district to help pay for economic development incentives in the other. The agreement requires North Crossing to build $9.5 million in tax-paying medical clinics, a restaurant and convenience store over the next three years. Those buildings would receive 50 percent property tax rebates. Our organization is really not spending a lot of capital on buildings and buying properties, so we were able to find a young developer here in town who has worked with the (Waterloo) City Council, so were are going to be working with him, hopefully, to put some clinics over there, Delagardelle said. Allens board appears likely to endorse the plan when it meets Feb. 23, Delagardelle said. The most exciting part about that really is getting that area cleaned out, she said. Its really gone downhill quite a bit, as a matter of fact. Stroh did not return a telephone call for comment; however, hospital officials have been communicating with the developer, Delagardelle said. We worked very closely with him; as a matter of fact, were taking a lot of our investments right now and putting them into physicians and putting them into care coordination and analytics to coordinate care better, she said. As opposed to us doing buildings and buying properties, we look for somebody to work with us to obtain that property and clean that up. Allen has been looking to decompress its facilities, and Logan Plaza presents an ideal venue for doing that, Delagardelle said. We wanted some medical offices over there, she said. We have a lot of pressure on our emergency department for people that do not need to be in the emergency department. And, youre aware of the fact that we opened a family medicine clinic on-site here a couple of years ago; that doesnt belong in a hospital. So, were looking at decompressing the hospital. What services will be available, once the project is completed, are details that still have to be worked out, Delagardelle said. I had promised we would let people know that when we were able to announce that, but I think if you think about family medicine and you think about urgent care or decompressing the emergency department, but Im not able to talk about that, she said. Allen had talked about expanding its service footprint in Waterloo since last summer, when it announced plans for the new center in Cedar Falls. Were really wanting to invest in Waterloo, Delagardelle said. We have 29 family practitioners that will be occupying that space in Cedar Falls, but we also want to continue to make an investment on the northeast side of the community. The Logan Plaza expansion will mesh with plans for Cedar Falls, Delagardelle said. It articulates perfectly, she said. Were really trying to extend our footprint to be where people are. Instead of trying to cram everything into this campus, were really trying to decompress and send our providers out to where people are in an effort to coordinate care better. The plans also meld with UnityPoints evolving business model, said Kevin Vermeer, the three-state systems new CEO. For us, that means well continue to have great acute-care hospitals, but well put greater emphasis on managing patients in their home and outside of the hospital setting, so these clinics, ambulatory settings, outpatient services and, on the other side, post-acute services, youll see us continue to invest in those types of opportunities in order to better outside of the acute-care setting, he said. WATERLOO A surviving heirloom of the U.S. Navy ship on which Waterloos five Sullivan brothers served, fought and died during World War II will go on display Sunday for the first time in 30 years in the ships namesake city. The Juneau-Douglas City Museum in Juneau, Alaska, will have on public display the silver table service of the cruiser USS Juneau, sunk after the naval Battle of Guadalcanal in late 1942. It was put in storage after the ship went to war following its 1941 christening. It was presented to two successor Navy ships named USS Juneau, the last decommissioned in 2008. It is believed to have been in storage since then. The service is being kept out of public view until Sunday. We are very proud to host the USS Juneau presentation silver here at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. Were very excited, Jodi C. DeBruyne, curator of collections & exhibits at the Juneau museum, wrote in an e-mail. The silver is not an acquisition for us as it has not been added to the museums collection. The silver belongs to the U.S. Navy and they have loaned it to us for a term of 10 years. A Juneau service club, the Mendenhall Flying Lions, affiliated with Lions International, found out the silver was in Navy storage in San Diego, DeBruyne wrote, and provided the museum with a Navy contact, who worked with city officials on legal details for the loan. The Mendenhall Flying Lions assisted again by providing a courier for the silver and covering the costs associated with getting the silver from California to Juneau. A silver set typically, a tea set or punch set is the traditional gift from a city to a ship that is being named for it that started in the 1880s, DeBruyne explained. The city of Waterloo launched a similar fund drive for a silver tea service for the present-day Navy destroyer USS The Sullivans, presented by then-Waterloo Mayor John Rooff at the ships commissioning at Staten Island, N.Y. in 1997. It included funds raised by students at St. Marys Catholic School in Waterloo, which the Sullivan brothers attended as boys. The Juneaus silver service was presented to the ship by the then-mayor of Juneau, Harry I. Lucas on October 25, 1941, the day of the ships launching, at Kearny, N.J., DeBruyne wrote. The silver was purchased by funds raised by the community of Juneau, deBruyne wrote. We have some community members who were school age children at the time remember donating their dimes to the cause. The Juneau was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sunk Nov. 13, 1942, as it and other battle-damaged U.S. ships were returning from the naval Battle of Guadalcanal. All but 13 of the Juneaus crew of 700 perished, including George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan of Waterloo. Many crew members survived the actual sinking but died at sea of exposure or shark attacks in following days. The ships surviving silver service was presented to two successor USS Juneaus a cruiser that saw service during the Korean War and served from 1946-55, and an amphibious dock ship which served from 1969-2008 and saw service during Vietnam. The last ship brought it to the Alaskan capital in the 1980s for display during the dedication of the USS Juneau memorial in that city. The silver originally had a punch bowl, ladle, tray, 24 cups and 4 candlesticks, DeBruyne wrote. The current silver that is on loan to us has a punch bowl, ladle, tray, 24 cups and only 2 candlesticks. The punch bowl, ladle, tray are original to 1941. The cups and candlesticks are replacement pieces added during the last USS Juneaus time in service. DECORAH Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx intends to tighten security during an upcoming high-profile murder trial being moved here from Boone County. Defendant Alexander Fazzinos attorney, William Kutmus of West Des Moines, strenuously objects to the idea, claiming in court documents the resulting armed camp at the courthouse is unnecessary and potentially prejudicial. Kutmus alleges a bunch of overwrought and jittery county officials ... have been conducting clandestine meetings and fretting about a parade of horribles all with the predictable consequence that they have worked themselves up to a tizzy ... Emily Fazzino, 32, died Jan. 29, 2012, apparently in her bathtub in Boone. Law enforcement officials in April 2013 arrested her husband and charged him with first-degree murder. She is the daughter of Boone-based Fareway Stores board chairman and former CEO Richard Beckwith. The case has been working its way, slowly, through the judicial system since the arrest. Judge Michael Moon granted a change of venue in December 2013 and moved Alexander Fazzinos trial away from Boone County. The proceedings are scheduled to begin Feb. 22 in Decorah. Sheriff Marx proposes restricting access to the courthouse by closing some entrances, using metal detectors to screen visitors and posting uniformed officers in the courthouse and perhaps in the courtroom. Marx reached the decision after consulting law enforcement officials in Boone County. The sheriff in Boone County is Gregg Elsberry and chief deputy is Rick Lampe. The Boone police chief is William Skare, and his department has jurisdiction over the case. Boone County deputies were brought in to address security issues, according to Lampe, and recently visited Decorah. We were up there two weeks ago. We just wanted to get our ducks in a row, Lampe said. The Winneshiek County Courthouse in Decorah is a very, very old courthouse. It has some limitations. Why it was selected, I dont know. According to Kutmus, Marx, in the Decorah News, warned residents it might be a good idea to visit the courthouse this week or next week if you need to talk with someone in one of the offices. Kutmus also objected to the newspapers headline: Fazzino Trial This Month Requires Beef-Up Security. Kutmus accuses the Boone and Winneshiek county sheriffs offices of acting like Hannibal (the Cannibal) Lecter has again been captured. The court initially set Fazzinos bond at $1 million, cash only, but Kutmus and his partner, Trever Hook, successfully argued for a reduction. Judge Moon subsequently lowered the amount to $500,000, cash or surety, and Fazzino posted bond in April 2013. Fazzino is living with his three children in Missouri, according to Kutmus, and has attended at least 10 hearings in Iowa related to the case. The issue of visible security is significant for the trial, Kutmus argues in his motion. ... It is not within the discretion of a bunch of bureaucrats to butt-in and, by employing overzealous security measures (and thats putting it kindly in this particular case), give the jury the impression that the defendant is a person to be feared ... , Kutmus wrote. Kutmus refers to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that concluded noticeable security measures might create the impression a defendant is dangerous or guilty in jurors minds. He argues the district court, in this case Moon, should set the parameters for the trials security measures. According to Kutmus, the point is to ensure Fazzino gets a fair trial. Scott Brown, assistant Iowa attorney general, and Boone County Attorney Daniel Kolacia are prosecuting Fazzino. They filed a response Thursday to Kutmus claims.. Brown said Kutmus reacted with the usual hyperbole and thesaurus in hand ... to the newspaper article and proposed security measures. Brown and Kolacia, during the trial, will try to convince jurors Emily Fazzino died because of asphyxiation caused by neck compressions and/or drowning, and her husband is responsible. In their response Thursday, Brown and Kolacia contend Kutmus has generated negative impressions of his client by comparing Alexander Fazzino to Hannibal the Cannibal, a fictional serial killer depicted in the 1990s movie The Silence of the Lambs. The defense attorneys characterizations are at best an overreaction and at worst paint his own client in a very poor light by underscoring the nature of the crime ... , Brown wrote. He added sheriffs offices typically arrange courthouse security. Black Hawk County every day provides security officers at a single entrance into the courthouse available to the public, and a permanent metal detector is positioned at the door. Every visitor is screened. Many smaller, less-populated counties in Iowa, however, do not go to such lengths. Instead, temporary measures uniformed officers and hand-held or mobile metal detectors are employed when officials decide a need exists. Lampe described the security measures as standard procedure, and noted, in fact, similar security measures were in place in the Boone County Courthouse when Fazzino was still in custody. It may seem in Winneshiek County a little out of the ordinary. Its not every day that they get a high-profile trial, Lampe said. We just need to be on the safe side. According to Brown, sheriffs are usually proactive when officials suspect emotions will run high. Given the tenor of the defendants motion it should be evident how high emotions are running. The motion has the effect of dosing a smoldering fire with kerosene, Brown wrote. He suggests the trial be moved to another county that has not been exposed to the article ... and more importantly to a venue that has not been exposed to the reaction by the defense that is now in the public eye. A hearing related to Fazzinos trial is scheduled Tuesday. It is not clear from court records whether Judge Moon or the attorneys will address the security issue at that time. After a very long legal process, the end came swiftly. Jurors in Jasper County deliberated just 2 1/2 hours a relatively short amount of time for a murder trial on whether Dustin Jefferson helped his mother kill his wife. The group, seven women and five men, concluded he did. Jurors unanimously agreed Jefferson, 40, aided and abetted first-degree murder. When he is sentenced April 28, Judge Mary Chicchelly will order a mandatory life term with no possibility of parole. And while the final verdict seemed to arrive without much fuss, in actuality the decision was nearly 2 1/2 years in the making. Kerry OClair Jefferson, 32, died Sept. 25, 2013. She bled to death after being stabbed twice in the neck. For the family, including OClair Jeffersons mother, Marlene, waiting for a complete resolution must have been excruciating. Jurors in Tama County previously convicted Ginger Jefferson, Dustin Jeffersons mother, of first-degree murder, and she is serving a life sentence. But on the very day jurors debated Ginger Jeffersons guilt or innocence in May 2014, law enforcement officials were preparing paperwork and filing the murder charge against Dustin Jefferson. So OClair Jeffersons family started waiting. Legal battles forced them to reset the clock twice more. The most recent trial represented the states third attempt to prosecute Dustin Jefferson. His first trial in Tama County stopped when his defense attorney questioned the racial composition of the jury panel. Jefferson is a member of the Meskwaki tribe based in Tama County. Prosecutor Laura Roan and Tama County Attorney Brent Heeren proceeded to a second trial. That ended in a hung jury, with 11 on the panel voting to convict and one person holding out for not guilty. Without a unanimous decision, the process restarted. Roan and Heeren presented evidence over four days in Newton. Gaul responded with one witness for the defense, and then jurors took up the matter. A former British prime minister, William Gladstone, is often credited with a familiar quote: Justice delayed is justice denied. Perhaps. And in this case the verdict did require an extended amount of time. But note something else Gladstone said: It is the duty of government to make it difficult for people to do wrong. In that regard, the state represented here by Roan, Heeren and a great number of police officers and investigatiors ultimately prevailed in this case. Credit is due their diligence and dedication over so many months. OClair Jeffersons family cried as Judge Chicchelly announced the verdict. It wont bring her back, one person said through her tears. No, it wont. 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Bianca Murillo is the latest recipient of the Graves Award in the Humanities. Bestowed every other year, the award will enable Murillo to travel to Morocco, Algeria and Egypt to pursue her project, Trans-Saharan History: Centering Connectivity in African Studies. By visiting these destinations all important transfer points in North Africa for trans-Saharan goods she hopes to explore historical and popular representations of the Sahara and desert crossings. The Graves Award will not only enhance my ability to mentor, advise and teach students in African Studies, it will also provide the experience to develop a sub-specialty in trans-Saharan history for another book project, Murillo says. This is the fifteenth time a Willamette faculty member has received the award since Professor Emeritus Roger Hull secured a Graves in 1971 to visit Europe for the first time. The Graves Award is sponsored by Pomona College, with oversight from the American Council of Learned Society. Its intent is to encourage and reward outstanding teaching in the humanities. Nearly 40 private colleges and universities in Oregon, Washington and California are eligible to nominate one faculty member for the honor. The next request for proposals will be announced in fall 2017. For more information, contact the Office for Faculty Research & Resources. If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first. Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well. What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that. The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players. How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long! Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up. Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home. Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves. Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino. Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information. Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead. With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks Betway: Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway. Coral Casino: Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account. Ladbrokes Casino: Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits. Paddy Power Casino: Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits. William Hill Casino: William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival. Bonus: 100% Match Bonus up to 100 Register Now Betway: 100% Match Bonus up to 100 Claim Now Coral Casino: 25% Cash Back on Deposits Claim Now Ladbrokes Casino: 35% Cash Back on First 3 Deposits Claim Now Paddy Power Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200 Claim Now William Hill Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200 Claim Now If youre interested in trying out an online casino but arent quite ready to commit to one, why not try out one of the many no deposit casinos weve reviewed? You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit. Canl Bahis siteleri sektoru son derece onu ack ve farkl ozelliklere sahip bir sektordur. Elbette bahis secenekleri arasnda yuksek kazanc getiren alan kuskusuz canl bahistir. Peki, canl bahis nedir? Canl Bahis Nedir? Canl bahis adndan da anlaslacag gibi devam eden musabakaya bahis yapmaktr. Bu bahis musabaka devam ederken de yaplabilir olmasdr. 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Sonrasnda dahil olmak istediginiz musabakann saatini ogrenip, gerekli analizleri yapmalsnz. Tahminlerinizi belirledikten sonra karsnza ckacak olan bahis sayfasndan istediginiz hamleyi yapmalsnz. Bahis tutarn belirledikten sonra musabaka baslayacaktr. Canl bahis diger normal bahis esaslarna gore farkllklar icermektedir. Bunlardan en onemlisi musabakann gidisatna gore islem yapabilir olmaktr.Ayrca musabakann 2. Yarsna gore hamle yapp ayr bir bahisin soz konusu olmas da ciddi avantajdr. Dogru hamle ile sizde istediginiz bahisi yapp kazanc elde edebilirsiniz. Nitekim canl olarak yapacagnz bahis icin mac oncesi raporlara gore hareket etmek onemlidir. Cunku takmlarn durumlarn analiz etmek tahmin gucunu arttracaktr. Misal tamnn en iyi oyuncusu sakat ya da kart cezals ise takmn performansnda dusus yasanacaktr. Buna ek olarak takmn deplasman performans ile evinde ki performans ayr olacaktr. Burada da takmn musabakay nerede yaptgna bakmak gerekir. Bu ayrntlar da iyice analiz ettikten sonra bahsinizi yapp kazanmann keyfini yasayabilirsiniz. Canl Bahis Siteleri Son derece yuksek getiriye sahip bahis sektoru uzun zamandr faaliyet gostermektedir. Cok ciddi rakamlarn soz konusu oldugu bu sektor zamanla sanal ortamlara donusmustur. Elbette guvenli ve bir o kadar da avantajl olan bu siteler cok yonlu frsatlar sunmaktadrlar. Canl iddaa siteleri gerek yeni uyelere gerekse de hali hazrdaki uyelerine bolca bonus frsatlar vermektedir. Yatracagnz tutara gore belirlenen bonuslar site icerisinde rahat hareket etmenizi de saglayacaktr. Canl bahis sitelerini kullanmadan once mutlaka guvenli olup olmadgna goz atmalsnz. Zira baz kullanclar guvenli olmayan sitelerden yaptklar islemlerden dolay magdur olmaktadrlar. Nitekim guvenli ve sorunsuz hizmet sunan yurt ds site tercih etmek en dogru secenektir. Sektorde uzun yllar faaliyet gosteren siteleri tercih edebilirsiniz. Bu alanda yer alan yabanc siteler musteri memnuniyetine onem vermektedir. Oncelik site kullanclarn sorunsuz sekilde bahislerini yapabilir olmasn saglamaktr. Bahis sitelerinde amac hem daha fazla kullancya hizmet vermek hem de sektorde emin admlarla ilerlemek onceliklidir. Dogru site tercihi ile sizde canl bahislerinizi sorun yasamadan gerceklestirebilirsiniz. Sizler icin hazrlams oldugumuz canl bahis siteleri listesi su sekildedir; Mobilbahis Tempobet Bets10 Bahigo 1xbahis Betboo Youwin Superbahis Sralams oldugumuz bu siteler sektorde basarl islere imza atms sitelerdedir. Canl bahis konusunda beklentileri karslayacak olan bu siteler sizlere kolaylk sunmaktadrlar. Bol bonuslu secenekle de sizlere farkl bahis yonlerini sunacaklardr. Sistemsel etki icerisinde her zaman etkin sonuc alabilmek icin surekli olarak faaliyet icerisindedirler. Canl Bahis Taktikleri Bahis sektorunun en fazla dikkat edilmesi gereken hususu dogru taktik ve dogru tahmindir. Elbette dogru tahmini yapabilmek icin analizi cok iyi yapmak gerekir. Canl bahis taktikleri arasnda ilk sra analiz gelmektedir. Analiz yapamadgnz zaman basarl tahminlerde bulunmanz pek de mumkun degildir. Cunku bahiste onemli olan konu musabakann analizini cok iyi yaplmas gerektigidir. Canl bahisin ozelliklerini iyi bilmek ve nasl bir hamle yapacagnz bilmek gerekir. Ozellikle riskli maclarda yaplacak degerlendirmeler cok daha onemlidir. Canl bahis yapacaklarn takip edecegi degerler takmlarn durumlar ile alakal olmaldr. Performans uzerine kurulu bahis sisteminde takm degerlendirmesine iyi bakmak gerekir. Iki takmn son 5 macta nasl bir sonuc ortaya koyduguna bakarak hareket etmek onemlidir. Ayrca hangi takm evinde daha iyi performans sergiliyor diye de ayrca bakmak gerekir. Analizlerle alakal puan durumlarna da goz atmak cok onemlidir. Puan degerlendirmesinde oncelikle takmlarn ihtiyaclar ile dogru orantl hareket etmek gerekir. Cunku olusturulan performans takmn da durumunu ortaya koymaktadr. Nitekim istenilen sonucu elde edebilmek icin tum ayrntlar bilmek gerekir. Takm ici duzenden tutunda da takmn son durumuna kadar her ayrnt onemlidir. Iki takmn birbirleri arasnda ki sonuclar da incelemek gerekir. Burada dikkat edilecek detaylarn basnda maclarda kac gol oldugu ve gollerin hangi dakikalarda atldgdr. Cekismeli gecen musabakalarda bazen goller ilk yarda daha fazla olurken baz maclarda da ikinci yarda daha cok gol olmustur. Iki takm arasnda ki maclarda gollerin cogunlugu ilk yarda geliyorsa buna gore bahis yapabilirsiniz. Canl Bahis Siteleri Bonuslar ve Kampanyalar Bahis yapanlar veya yapmay dusununler sitelerin sunmus olduklar frsatlar merak etmektedirler. Cunku siteler daha fazla kullancya erismek icin her donem kampanyalar duzenleyerek kullanc odakl hamleler yapmaktadrlar. Canl bahis bonuslar ve kampanyalar oldukca populer olup, siteler bu konuda adeta birbirleri ile yarsmaktadrlar. Birbirinden farkl ozelliklere sahip olan kampanyalar size frsatlar sunmaktadr. Daha cok kazanma ihtimalinizi arttran bu bonuslar daha cesur olmanza da dogrudan etki edecektir. Nitekim bonuslar sitelerin cekiciligini ve avantajlarn arttrmaktadr. En cok kazandran canl bahis siteleri bedava bonuslar ve kampanyalar icin http://www.milano2018.com/canli-bahis-siteleri-2022/ linkinden yardm alabilirsiniz. Hos geldin bonusu ile baslayan ve sonrasnda para yatrdkca bonus veren cok sayda site bulunmaktadr. Canl bahis bonusu veren siteler yeni uyelere sunduklar frsatlar farkl kampanyalarla mevcut uyelerine de sunmaktadrlar. Hali hazrda siteyi kullananlarn da bonus frsatlarndan yararlanmalar icin donemsel kampanyalar olusturmaktadrlar. Boylece baska sitelere gidisler olmayacag gibi site de daha keyifli zaman gecirmek mumkun klnmaktadr. Bu tur eklentiler yapan sitelerde musteri memnuniyeti daha fazladr. Bahis siteleri ozellik ve uygulama bakmndan farkllklar bunyelerinde bulundurmaktadrlar. Verilen bonuslarn olusturulmas ve kullanclar aktarlmasnda yatrlan para miktarlar belirleyici olmaktadr. 1.000 TL yatran bir kullanc yuzde 20 bonus frsat olan bir kampanyadan 200 TL bonus kazanabilmektedir. Yatracag tutar 10.000 TL oldugunda bu bonustutar 2.000 TL olabilmektedir. Gerceklesen ve uygulanan esaslar tamamen donemsel olarak yaplan kampanyalarla alakaldr. Iyi Canl bahis siteleri bonuslar ve kampanyalar icin sitelerin vermis oldugu oranlar takip edebilirsiniz. Canl Bahis Siteleri Para Yatrma Online Canl bahis yapacaklarn merak ettigi konulardan bir digeri de para yatrma islemleridir. Oldukca onemli olan bu konuda hata yapmamak cok onemlidir. Canl bahis sitelerine para yatrma islemi sanlann aksine son derece basittir. Oldukca basit ve uygulama esas dogru etki olusturan bu yapda sizde islemi rahatca tamamlayabilirsiniz. Para yatrma konusunda su yolu izleyebilirsiniz. Guvendiginiz ve herhangi bir sekilde aklnzda soru isareti kalmayan bahis sitesine uye olmanz gerekmektedir. Uyelik islemini sorunsuz sekilde tamamladktan sonra para yatrma islemine gecebilirsiniz. Kullanacagnz siteye uye olduktan sonra karsnza kullanc ad ve sifresini gireceginiz yer gelecektir. Buraya giris yaptktan sonra site icerisine islemlere devam edebilirsiniz. Sitede yer alan para yatrma sekmesine tklayp sonrasnda karsnza gelen sayfay inceleyebilirsiniz. Para yatrma bolumunde yer alan ksma ne kadar para yatracagnz yazp devam tusuna basmalsnz. Yatrmak istediginiz tutar girip sonrasnda da devam tusuna bastktan sonra karsnza kart bilgilerinizi gireceginiz sayfa gelecektir. Kredi kart kullanarak para gondermek isteyenlerin tercih ettigi bu sayfa tum bilgiler girilip islem onaylanmaldr. Canl bahis sitelerine para yatrma islemini gerceklestirmek icin hesaba havale secenegini de kullanabilirsiniz. Site icerisinde musteri hizmetleri ile iletisime gecerek banka hesap numaralarn ogrenebilirsiniz. Belirtilen IBAN numarasna istediginiz tutar havale edebilirsiniz. Havale ederken acklama ksmna yazlacak bilgilere dikkat etmelisiniz. Kredi kart veya banka havalesi ile gerceklesen para yatrma islemi sonucunda site hesabnzdan bakiyenize bakabilirsiniz. Bakiyenize gore dilediginiz sekilde bahislerinizi gerceklestirebilirsiniz. Canl Bahis Siteleri Para Cekme Canl bahiste dogru hamleler ve dogru tahminler sonucunda kazandgnz bedeli geri almak isteyebilirsiniz. Kazanclarnz istediginiz banka hesabnza cekebilmek icin uymanz gereken kurallar soz konusudur. Oncelikle bahis sitelerinden para cekebilmeniz icin uye olurken dogru bilgi paylasmnda bulunmanz gerektigidir. Cunku canl bahis sitelerinden para cekme islemi icin kullanc hesab ile talep edilen banka hesap bilgilerinin ortusmesi gerekir. Yani uye olurken verilen bilgi ile banka hesab kime ait ise o bilgiler ayn olmaldr. Bu uygulama sitenin hem kullancsn hem de kendisini guvene alma politikasdr. Ayrca frsatclarn onune gecerek yeni bir uye olusumunun da onune gecmek amac gutmektedir. Uye olan kisi farkl para cekilme talebi verilen hesap farkl oldugunda para cekme islemi gerceklesmeyecektir. Bahisleriniz sonucunda kazanc elde edebilir ve bu kazancnz da hakknz olarak almak isteyebilirsiniz. Burada son derece basit uygulama soz konusu olurken siteler aras farkl gorunumler soz konusu olabilir. Fakat yine de tum sitelerde uyenin site icerisinde para cekme bolumune girmesi yeterlidir. Burada cekilecek olan tutarn belirlenmesi ve hesap numarasnn girilmesi ile birlikte islem onay gerekecektir. Para cekme taleplerinde sizden gerekli bilgiler istenmekte ve havale islemi istenilen bilgiler esliginde yurutulmektedir. Dogru bilgi paylasmak sorunsuz para cekebilmeniz en onemli kuraldr. Istenilen bilgiler girildikten sonra site sorumlular gerekli kontrolleri yapp herhangi bir sorun yoksa ksa surede hesabnza gerekli paray aktaracaklardr. Canl Bahis Sitelerinden Para Cekmek Icin Istenen Belgeler Bahis sitelerine uye olduktan sonra baz kullanclar para cekme taleplerinin karslanmadg konusunda sikayetlerde bulunmuslardr. Bu sikayetlersektorde uzun zamandr bulunan guvenilir bahis siteleri de yer almaktadr. Fakat sikayetlerin dayanaklarna bakldgnda ise islerin tamamen farkl oldugu gorulmektedir. Yasanan bu durum kullanclarn hatal bilgi girmesi ve uyelik bilgileri ile banka bilgilerinin uyusmamas ile dogru orantldr. Birde canl bahis para cekmek icin istenen belgeler eksik ya da hatal olarak sunulmus olabilir. Ortaya ckan karsklar neticesinde para cekme talebinde bulunan kisi istedigini alamadg icin sikayetci olmaktadr. Oysa ki istenilen bilgiler dogru ve istenilen evraklar eksiksiz sunulsa para cekme islemi sorunsuz olacak. Sitelerin para cekme konusunda dikkatli hareket etmesi hilelerin ve illegal faaliyetlerin onune gecmek adnadr. Cunku baz kullanclar farkl bilgiler vererek ikinci hesap acabilmektedirler. Bazen de bilincsizce hatal bilgi girilebilmektedir. Hatal islemlerin cozumu konusunda islem yaptgnz sitenin musteri temsilcileri ile gorusebilirsiniz. Talepleriniz dogrultusunda para cekme islemlerinde ki sorunlar giderilecektir. Canl bahis para cekmek icin istenen belgeler listesi su sekildedir; Kullanc bilgileri ile banka bilgilerini karslastrmak icin kimlik fotokopisi Banka hesap bilgileri Ikametgah ve kisiye ait herhangi bir fatura. Kacak Iddaa Turkiyede dogrudan bahis yapmak icin resmi kanallar kullanlabilmektedir. Fakat tercih edilen ve oran olarak cok daha fazla frsatlar sunan kacar iddaasiteleri bulunmaktadr. Bu siteler kanunlara aykr sekilde yaplmakta olup, yasal bir dayanag yoktur. Elbette bu sitelerin kurulus merkezi Turkiye olmayp, ds ulkelerdedir ve faaliyetler belirlenen siteler uzerinden yaplmaktadr. Kacak Iddaa oldukca riskli olup, cok dikkatli olunmas gerekir. Kacak Bahis Kanunlar cercevesinde istediginiz gibi bahis yapamayabilirsiniz. Bahis yapabilmek icin ya kanuni olarak sorun olmayan ulke dsnda ki kumarhanelere gitmeniz veya kacak bahis sitelerinden islem yapabilirsiniz. Zira bu durum tehlikeli olsa da cok sayda site guvenli sekilde bu alanda hizmet vermektedir. Kacak bahiste oldukca fazla secenek bulunurken yuksek oranda kazanc sunuyor olmas da ragbeti arttryor. Illegal Bahis Bahisin bircok alanda yasak oldugu Turkiyede bu alanda cok sayda yabanc merkezli siteler hizmet vermektedir. Illegal bahis sektorunde faaliyet gosteren siteler guvenli hizmet anlays ile kullanclarna frsatlar sunmaktadr. Yurt ds merkezli bu siteler sorunsuz sekilde hizmetlerini surdururken bulunduklar ulkelerde kanunlara uygun sekildedir. Elbette faaliyet noktasnda bulunduklar ulkelerde sorun teskil etmese de Turkiyede faaliyet gostermeleri kanunin yasaklanmstr. Yasads Bahis Gerek olusturulan etkenler gerekse de ortaya konulan riskler yasads bahis de oldukca tehlikelidir. Kanunlarn mudahil olduklar bu alanlar da hem kullanclar hem de populer bahis yaptranlar tum riskleri goze almaktadrlar. Fakat yasaklardan uzak sekilde guvenli hizmet sunan siteler de bulunmaktadr. Takipler neticesinde kapatlan sitelerin muhakkak alternatifleri kurularak yollarna devam etmektedirler. Canl Iddaa Siteleri Nelerdir? Dunya genelinde kabul gormus cok sayda guvenli hizmet veren populer bahis siteleri bulunmaktadr. Elbette bu siteler dunyann bircok ulkesinde faaliyet gosterse de Turkiyede yasaktr. Sektorde yer alan cok sayda legal iddaa siteleri bulunmaktadr. Herhangi bir kanunsuzlugun olmadg bu sitelerden hzl ve guvenli islem yaplabilmektedir. Tabi bu sitelerde uygulanan oranlar yasal olmayan sitelere gore daha dusuktur. Illegal sitelerin tercih edilme sebeplerinin en onemli etkeni de olusturulan oranlardr. Peki, Iddaa siteleri nelerdir? Faaliyetleri ve uygulama esaslar nelerdir? Turkiyede faaliyet gosteren yasal iddaa siteleri listesi su sekildedir; Iddaa Bilyoner Tuttur Birebin Oley Nesine Misli Iddaa 2004 ylnda hizmet vermeye baslayan Iddaa Spor toto tarafndan kurulmus olup, ilk etapta bayilik seklinde calsmaya baslamstr. Elbette zamanla gelisen teknolojiye ayak uydurarak internet uzerinde de populer bahis severlerin hizmetine sunulmustur. Kuruldugu donemde devletin resmi kurumu olarak faaliyet gosterirken gelinen yeni donemde ozellestirilmistir. Bilyoner Turkiyede faaliyetine 2006 ylnda baslayan Bilyoner ilk ozel yasal bahis sitesi olma ozelligine sahiptir. Guvenilir bahis siteleri Turkiyede bunlardr. Ksa surede populer olan site halen faaliyetlerini sorunsuz sekilde surdurmektedir. Tuttur Ksa surede adndan bahsettirmeyi basaran Tuttur 2009 ylnda faaliyetlere baslamstr. Guvenilir bahis siteleri arasnda yerini almstr. Gunumuze dek bircok alanda populer bahis yapanlara frsatlar sunarken avantajlar ile de begeni toplamstr. Birebin Kullanc odakl calsmalar surdurse de 2011 ylnda sektore giren Birebindiger sitelere gore daha az ragbet gormektedir. Bahis oynamak ise bu sitede oldukca kolaydr. Elbette farkl yaklasmlara sahip olmasndan dolay ilerleyen sureclerde adndan sklkla bahsettirecek gibi gorunuyor. Oley 2009 ylnda Dogus yayn gruplarnn istiraki olarak kurulmus olup yasal olarak herhangi bir sorunu olmayan sitelerdendir. Bahis siteleri arasnda hzl cks yapms bir sitedir. Oley yapms oldugu yenilikler ile kullanclarn da dikkatini ksa surede cekmeyi basarmstr. Nesine Birbirini takip eden surecte Nesine de yine 2006 ylnda hizmet vermeye baslamstr. Yasal bahis siteleri arasnda yerini almay basaran firma ksa surede sevilen ve ragbet goren bir site olmustur. Misli 2009 ylnda sektore cok hzl giris yapan Misli cok sayda reklam filmi ile on plana ckmay basarmstr. Internet uzerinden hem yasal hem de sorunsuz hizmet veren bahis sitelerinden bir tanesi olmustur. Canl Bahis Siteleri Kayt ve Uyelik Islemleri Her zaman populerligini koruyan ve surekli gelisim gosteren canl bahis gun gectikce daha da gucleniyor. Bahis oynamak icin ise sitelere uye olunmas gerekir. Yuksek getirisi ve begeni toplayan faaliyetleri ile cok sayda site bu alanda faaliyet gostermektedir. Elbette sorunsuz sekilde uye olmanz ve faaliyetler gostermeniz de oldukca kolaydr. Canl bahis siteleri kayt ve uyelik islemleri dakikalar icerisinde gerceklestirilecek yapya sahiptir. Uye olacagnz siteyi belirledikten sonra siteye girmeniz gerekmektedir. Girdiginiz sitenin ana sayfasnda uye ol ya da kayt ol bolumu bulunacaktr. Siteler arasnda degiskenlik gosteren bu alanda temel unsurlar bulunmaktadr. Elbette farkllklar olsa da temelinde benzer bilgiler uye olmak isteyen kisilerden talep edilmektedir. Uye ol bolumune tkladktan sonra karsnza uyelik bilgi formu ckacaktr. Bu formda sizin kim oldugunuzu ogrenmek ve sitenin guvenligini saglamak adna islemler yaplmaktadr. Uyelik formunda yer alan ad soyad bolumunu eksiksiz ve dogru sekilde doldurmalsnz. Sizden bu formda istenen bilgilerin tamamn girmeniz istenecektir. Istenen bilgiler mutlaka dogru ve eksiksiz sekilde olmaldr. Eksik veya hatal bilgi uyelik islemlerinde sorun teskil edebilir. Yine de yanls bilgi girisine ragmen uyelik islemleri tamamlanabilir. Fakat boyle bir yol izleyenler sonrasnda buyuk skntlarla karslasabilirler. Bu skntlarn basnda da para cekme islemlerinde yasanan sorunlardr. Uyelik islemleri dikkatli ve ozenle doldurulmas gereken yapdadr. Canl bahis siteleri kayt ve uyelik islemleri gerceklestirilirken verilen bilgiler site yonetimi tarafndan muhafaza edilmektedir. Herhangi bir sekilde 3. Sahslarla paylaslmas gibi bir durum soz konusu degildir. Bu faaliyetleri surduren sitelerin guven unsurlar arasnda bu nokta onceliklidir. Bahis sitelerine uye olurken hatal bilgi paylasmnda bulunmak size faydadan cok zarar verecektir. Diyelim ki bilgileri hatal girdiniz ve uyelik onayland. Uyelik tamamlandktan sonra siteye para yatrdnz ve kazanc elde ettiniz. Kazancnz sonrasnda hesabnza almak istediginizde karsnza banka bilgileri bolumu gelecektir. Para cekme talebi gerceklestikten sonra site uyelik bilgileri ile banka hesap bilgileri ortusmez ise paranz alamazsnz. Boyle bir durumla karslasmamak adna bu hususa ayrca dikkat etmelisiniz. Feb 15, 2016 | By Tess A research team at Trinity College Dublins Amber Science Centre has recently been awarded a grant of 2.5 million to continue the research and development of their 3D2DPrint project, which consists of a new type of long lasting battery that can be housed and hidden within any type of material, from the human body in 3D printed cardiac devices, to clothing, to smartphones. The 3D2DPrint research project is being led by Professor Valeria Nicolosi, an expert in nanomaterials who has received the coveted European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant no less than four times. Now, with more than 11 million in funding over the past five years, Nicolosi and her growing and multidisciplinary team are making some impressive advances. Professor Valeria Nicolosi Nicolosi explains the significance of the ERC funding, Since 2011, the first year of my ERC Starting Grant, my group has grown from three to 25 people. The ERC grants I have been awarded were not only important in helping fund our research and grow our team, but to also help leverage more funding and realise partnerships with large multinationals. What is key is that these Grants allow us to take the next step with our research whether it is the licensing of technology or starting up a new company. The high-tech battery being developed is being created through a combination of 2 dimensional nanomaterials and 3D printing technologies, which are being used to create custom and complex objects to house and enhance the capabilities of the nanomaterials. Eventually Nicolosi and her team are hoping to introduce fully customizable batteries, which could be used for any number of applications, from a 3D printed smart watch, to smart textiles, to cardiac devices, which could also be 3D printed. The new and extremely long-lasting batteries would also offer an alternative to the commonly used Lithium-ion batteries which are embedded in most consumer electronics but which pose certain risks, such as flammability. The work Prof Nicolosi and her team are doing is at the forefront of their fields, and this grant will help them take the next step in combining the teams expertise of advanced materials methods to integrate nanomaterials into 3D-printed energy storage devices, said Prof Michael Morris, director of Amber. Nicolosi has been working as an ERC research professor at Trinity College Dublin and as a principal investigator with Amber since early 2012. The Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research centre is funded by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and has as its aim the partnering of science researchers with industry, as well as making Ireland a fertile and competitive place for innovative research and development. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Drill Results Confirm Wide Zones of Large & Jumbo Graphite Perth, Feb 15, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Triton Minerals Ltd ( ASX:TON ) (Triton or the Company) is pleased to announce additional drilling results from the Balama North Graphite Project, which comprises the Nicanda West and Nicanda Hill graphite prospects. Drill results from Nicanda West confirm wide zones of graphite mineralisation - Further drilling results from Nicanda West confirm that graphite mineralisation is dominated by large to jumbo flake - Key results include: - 31m at 10.4%TGC - 8m at 10.3%TGC - 13m at 9.1% TGC - 35m at 8.1%TGC Additional drill results from Nicanda Hill - Geotechnical drilling for definitive feasibility study (DFS) confirm the robustness of the resource model. - Intersections include: - 37m at 13.1%TGC from 20m Encouraging flotation test work results from Balama South Progress and Results from Ancuabe are expected to be released in March 2015 quarter. Nicanda West, which is located 1.2km north west from the main Nicanda Hill deposit, has been tested by a total of eleven (11) diamond drill (DD) core and three (3) reverse circulation (RC) drillholes. Initial assay results have been received from a further three (3) DD holes that were competed at the end of 2015. These results confirm that the graphite mineralisation at the Nicanda West prospect is dominated by large to jumbo flake. Results from a further four (4) exploration holes are pending. At the Nicanda Hill prospect several hydrogeological and geotechnical drillholes, completed as part of the DFS, have been sampled and the results have confirmed the geological interpretation and JORC Resource estimate. Preliminary flotation test work results, from the emerging Balama South prospect, have been received with a final concentrate grade of 97%TGC, recoveries of 90% and a distribution of greater than 30% of large (>150u flake. This high purity, combined with the large flake distribution is encouraging for future development. BALAMA NORTH DRILLING RESULTS Nicanda West Prospect Nicanda West (formerly named the P66 prospect) is distinguished by the high percentage of large (>150?) and jumbo (>300?) flake graphite that forms the main mineral constituent of a partially gneissic-textured host rock. Drilling results reported previously from Nicanda West indicate thick zones of graphite mineralisation that form true widths of up to 190m. Selective higher grade zones, some averaging up to 12.9%TGC, are developed within the broader mineralised zone. The latest results (Table 1) have confirmed these thicknesses with a downhole intersection of 169m returned from drillhole ref GBND0061. The additional drill results received (Table 1) indicate both uniformity and continuity of graphite grade both along strike and down dip. In the Nicanda West area, overburden is limited to a 2m thick veneer of alluvial sediments. The initial target at Nicanda West, as suggested by the VTEM data, extends over a minimum strike length of 1,000m. To date approximately 500m of strike has been drill tested (Figure 1 in link below). As reported by the Company in a previous announcement dated 14 October 2015, SGS Lakefield OreTest (Perth) completed initial flotation test work on Nicanda West core samples, as detailed below in (Table 2 in link below). A simple four-stage flotation process yielded a total graphitic carbon (TGC) grade of 96.1% including a preserved proportion of large and jumbo flake of 53% >150u underpinning the potential quality of this mineralisation. Nicanda Hill Prospect In the process of assessing the hydrogeological and geotechnical conditions within the proposed open pit perimeter at Nicanda Hill for the DFS, Triton completed a series of DD core and RC drillholes. The results from these holes were received after the completion of the updated Resource estimate (as reported on 30 October 2015). However, the results from these holes are considered significant in that they further confirm the accuracy of the geological interpretation and JORC Resource estimate. Hydrogeological drillholes, GBNPD02 and GBNPZ02, each intersected over 80m grading 6.6%TGC and 8.1%TGC respectively with selective zones averaging up to 20m at 12.9%TGC (Table 3 in link below). The geotechnical holes GT04, GT05 and GT07 were not fully sampled as the majority of the core was used for geotechnical studies designed to test for pit wall stability. However, the remaining intact intervals returned assay results including 37.2m grading 13.1%TGC. BALAMA SOUTH FLOTATION TEST WORK RESULTS The Balama South prospect is located 35km south west from Balama North. Initial flotation test work was completed on a 32kg rock chip bulk sample collected from the central section of the Balama South prospect. The test work was conducted by Mintek (Johannesburg). Balama South host rocks typically comprise very coarse grained schist that contain coarse graphite flake, similar to the Ancuabe style of graphite mineralisation. The presence of vanadium in the schist, as evidenced by the presence of roscoellite, is similar to Balama North graphite mineralisation. This graphite schist appears to be a hybrid style of graphite mineralisation. Table 4 in link below shows the flake distribution and key results that include a final concentrate grade of 97%TGC with recoveries exceeding 90%. More than 34% of the flake size exceeded 150?in size. These initial test results are encouraging and further exploration is justified. The main VTEM anomaly, located 5km to the north of the sample site, is still to be fully assessed. ANCUABE PROGRESS Triton will update the progress at the Ancuabe Project by the end of the current quarter, as the Company assesses the data being received from the laboratories from the initial exploration drilling completed in 2015. If the data from the twenty (20) completed drillholes is deemed sufficient, an initial estimate of tonnages and grade will be undertaken so that the Company can advance development plans for Ancuabe. Complete assays from this initial drilling will be received within the next few weeks. Preliminary test work at Ancuabe has returned some of the highest quality jumbo and super jumbo flake graphite in the world with over 73% of flake exceeding 300u and 43% exceeding 500u. In addition to its superior flake size, the preliminary test work also indicates that the deposit can produce grades of >98%TGC from flotation. CONCLUSIONS - The additional drilling results underpin the significant and robust graphite deposit at Nicanda West which is characterised by large to jumbo flake graphite, - The style of the Nicanda West deposit has similarities to the Ancuabe style of mineralisation, - Metallurgical test work has achieved high grades of graphitic carbon concentrates with a dominant proportion of large and jumbo flake at Nicanda West, - Nicanda West graphite is suitable for both battery applications and expanded graphite products, - At Nicanda Hill additional drilling information has further confirmed the robustness of the geological interpretation and JORC resource estimate, and - Progress towards initial assessment of Ancuabe is due this quarter as assay work is completed. To view all tables and figures, please visit: http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-TON-752704.pdf About Triton Minerals Ltd Triton Minerals Limited (ASX:TON) is an ASX listed, responsible mineral explorer and resource management company headquartered in Perth, Australia. Led by a highly experienced management team, Triton Minerals' vision is to grow shareholder's value through discovery or development of base metal, gold and other precious metal deposits. Triton has made excellent progress with its three Graphite projects located in the Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique, with the program successfully identifying a number of graphitic exposures. It is the Company's belief that the Mozambique, Balama North Project could host multiple and very substantial world class graphite deposits. Private equity fund managers are looking to act conservatively in the coming year as investors continue to fret about the economy, according to a new survey by BDO USA. Ninety-five percent of the PE firms surveyed by BDO plan to close five deals or less in 2016, and investment levels are similarly conservative, with 93 percent of fund managers expecting to invest $250 million or less in the coming year. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed believe the international environment will be favorable for PE firms looking to invest in 2016, but only 35 percent of respondents anticipate pursuing more cross-border transactions this year. The study found that Europe-based managers have a more optimistic outlook for the private equity investment environment. While 64 percent of the U.S. managers surveyed describe the current investment environment in their country as favorable, close to 88 percent of the European respondents see the current investment climate as favorable. European fund managers also expect more cross-border activity in the coming year when compared to their American counterparts. Industry specialization and personal relationships are an important part of deals. A 57 percent majority of PE leaders said they specialize in an industry or region in order to identify and successfully execute deals, using their capital to focus on key industries and markets. The technology and healthcare sectors are expected to experience increased valuations. With 65 percent of fund managers predicting the tech sector will experience increased valuations in the coming year, while 63 percent cite the healthcare/biotech sector. "While PE interest in some healthcare segments, such as hospital and inpatient services, has been tempered up to this point, PE funds continue to be active in specialty areas such as behavioral health, dermatology and pain management, where they can leverage their operational expertise through a buy-and-build strategy and scale," said Patrick Pilch, managing director and healthcare advisory practice leader with the BDO Center for Healthcare Excellence & Innovation. Close to one-third of those surveyed said the manufacturing sector will generate the greatest opportunity for investment in the next 12 months. While the manufacturing sector in the U.S. has suffered from lagging exports due to a strong U.S. dollar and weak demand for durable goods, investors see opportunity thanks to the low cost of energy in the United States. They say that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach and if the man is Dil Thi Gujarati, then even more so. The only Gujarati GEC in the state Colors Gujarati, brings its viewers a unique travelogue based food show Food Thi Gujarati, premiering on February 15, 2016 every Monday to Saturday at 7PM. Elaborating on the same, Sanjay Upadhyay Programming Head Colors Gujarati said, Other than their fun loving nature and diverse cultural history, Gujaratis are also very well known for their love for food. Food Thi Gujarati is a finite half hour television series that showcases the quest for good food in usual and unusual places across the state of Gujarat wherein we give our viewers a sneak peek into the historic importance, lifestyle, flavor and the best recipes that various hotels and restaurants have to offer. Producer Archana Shah from The Final Cut Production further added saying, COLORS Gujarati and us have a longstanding relationship. The Rasoi Show is the longest running show on the channel and we are delighted to be producing yet another food show in a distinctive travelogue format for them. We hope the audiences give Food Thi Gujarati as much love as they give The Rasoi Show. Food Thi Gujarati aims to take you around to the best and the most popular restaurants available in the cities and towns of Gujarat. Over an incredible journey of fun and food, this travelogue will be hosted by Heli Majmudar and Shaunak Vyas who in turns will take you through the best recipes and the specialty that the hotel offers. Goodricke, the West Bengal based tea company, has partnered with Posterscope India, the out-of-home agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, to launch a promotional campaign at the Kolkata Book Fair 2016 to advocate its popular tea brands, Roasted and Barnesbeg. The primary objective of the campaign is to create a branding and sampling exercise for the product at the Kolkata Book fair 2016. And to meet this objective, Posterscope created a 20-feet tall 3-D structure at a prominent location on the grounds. This latest product from the Goodricke stable is a ready to drink (RTD) cup, which requires only hot water to make instant tea. Each canister will hold 10 such cups. The campaign is primarily targeted at the masses who are the consumers of Darjeeling Tea or Green Tea. The structure has now become a Showstopper at the Kolkata Book Fair 2016 as the unit stands to be the only dynamic stall at the Book Fair. It becomes the Photo Opportunity Panel, with people clicking photographs and taking selfies and uploading the same on social network instantly. The unit is supported by a Selling kiosk of the new product, which is currently seeing a huge footfall, and demand for the new product. Vikram S. Gulia, Senior General Manager, Goodricke Group says, This new product was conceptualized keeping in mind the company ethos of delivering the best quality teas to its consumers. Traditionally our company has always tried to promote the leisure and pleasure associated with tea drinking. However, with the growing popularity of tea as a beverage amongst the youth, we decided to launch a product that provides the pleasurable experience of tea along with the convenience. For the get-set-go consumers, we have our special Ready To Drink range. The Kolkata Book Fair proved to be a good platform to interact and connect with the pulse and the buzz of the city, its citizens. Haresh Nayak, Regional Director, Posterscope Asia Pacific. & Managing Director, Posterscope Group India added, We are extremely happy to be associated with Goodricke for this campaign which has turned out to be a massive success. Our long term association with Goodricke and our strength in understanding the clients marketing and consumer necessities has led to the success of the this partnership. Merv is one of those examples that clearly demonstrate how high we (humans) think about our civilization and how little we actually mean. Once, the most advanced region on Earth, the part of ancient Persia, dotted with bustling cities along the famous, historical Silk Road. Now - the few remains of strongholds as well as defensive walls that used to be the witnesses of enormous power stand silently stripped of their grandeur in the middle of nowhere and the only citizens that settle in the destroyed fortresses are some little desert rodents and herds of camels nibbling wilted shrubs. How to get to Merv First, you need to reach the city of Mary (32 km/20 miles from Merv). You can fly there from Ashgabat (the white marble capital which is unique on a global scale - I've described it here) - the fares in Turkmenistan are low. We took this flight - it's incredible how popular the flights are in Turkmenistan, the planes are modern and always full. It's not that easy to organize your own transport in Turkmenistan, so you'll have to get some help from a local tourist agency. Contrary to popular belief, it's quite easy and straight forward to get a visa and enter this locked and completely off the beaten off country. If you do, a great adventure will await for you as Turkmenistan is completely different from anything you've seen before. If you need to get more info on how to get to Turkmenistan, have a look at my post about Ashgabat - in the section "How to get to Ashgabat". Merv is not just one or two monuments - it's a huge archaeological site (although it looks more like a desert). Due to its location, it's not properly looked after. It hurts to see that those once beautiful monuments are not restored (although some signs of restoration works slowly started to appear) and seem to be completely abandoned. To visit the whole area, you must get a local guide who will drive you around. Having your own car is not an option unless you know exactly where to go - the roads are not in good condition, there are very few maps available and there is no information at Mary airport whatsoever. You have to organize everything beforehand, back in Ashgabat or even before entering Turkmenistan. Merv - The Impressions The main thing about Merv that impresses and frightens at the same time is the vast emptiness of the region. We visited Turkmenistan in November and the autumn colors add the feeling of sadness to the desert landscapes (in the summer the heat and dust can be unbearable and there is no shade around). The area is pretty large, it takes around half a day to visit Merv. Besides the main sites and monuments, it's incredibly interesting to witness the ordinary countryside life in one of the most unavailable countries on Earth. In Turkmenistan, there's a huge contrast between the futuristic, ultra modern cities and towns and villages where time seems to have stood still. It's hard to believe now, when you only see sand and few remains of walls, that Merv was supposedly the largest city on Earth in the 12th century! First settlements in the region appeared as early as the 3rd millennium BC. Similarly to nearly all sites located in the midst of the endless land bordering by several different kingdoms, Merv suffered enormous damage through warfare and was passed from hands to hands: it belonged to the Persians, Arabs, Turks, endured Mongol and Uzbek invasions before it sank into oblivion in the 18th century and the whole world forgot about it. Main things to see in Merv To be honest, it wasn't the archaeological monuments that impressed us the most. Due to their miserable condition, it's nearly impossible to imagine what the city looked like during the times of prosperity. However, the atmosphere of the place is unique and brings the reflection about the time running out - nothing is eternal - even the greatest civilizations came, flourished and declined. It's kind of depressing to come to this conclusion, but the very same fate is awaiting our cities nowodays - although it may seem that we're so advanced that nothing can destroy us. Unfortunately, history proves otherwise. So, let's enjoy this brief moment instead of creating conflicts and wars! Great and Little Kyz Kala The Great Kyz Kala (or Gyz-Gala, depending on spelling) is the only remaining fortified building which is preserved so well that it's possible to see the original shape of the walls. It dates back to the 6th century AD. The Kyz Kala has a very unique, distinctive pattern on the outside which cannot be seen anywhere else. No one knows for sure, what the buildings were used for or if the grooves were made only for decoration purposes. Little Kyz Kala is situated just beside, but there's not much left of it. To be honest, I must admit that in the picture the Kyz Kala looks more magnificent than in real life. Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar The mausoleum (12th century) is a typical example of the oriental, eastern architecture. It stands literally in the middle of nowhere, you can spot it from Kyz Kala. Around, you'll see many camels and local farmers. It's one of the very few historical monuments on the Silk Road in Turkmenistan that have been restored as it was destroyed by the Mongol invasion. The interior is decorated with beautiful, symmetrical design and it's pretty impressive. The Ashkabs Mausoleum The double mausoleum of the Ashkabs date back to the 15th century and is in the process of restoration. It resembles the mausoleum of the other ancient site in Turkmenistan - Konye Urgench (near Dashoguz - I've described it here). There is a very interesting cemetery just beside. Assocham has asked the government to increase the personal income tax exemption limit in budget to Rs 4 lakh from Rs 2.5 lakh for all individual taxpayers. The industry body also demanded additional incentives for savings and higher tax allowance for expenditure on education and health, quoting findings from its Aam Aadmi survey. Over 87% respondents in the poll said increasing the basic tax exemption limit from the present Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh should be the minimum that the Finance Minister should announce in the 2016-17 budget, Assocham stated. The industry chamber also recommended a hike in personal IT exemption limit to Rs 4 lakh in its pre-budget memorandum. The higher exemption limit was necessitated by increasing cost of living, particularly with regard to health, education and transport, it added. Besides, noting that the amount of medical expenses reimbursed by the employer on treatment of employees or their family members is exempt from tax to the extent of Rs 15,000 per annum, 88% of the respondents advocated hiking the limit to Rs 50,000 per annum as the present threshold was set way back in 1998. Similarly, deduction of Rs 15,000 under section 80D for payment of medical insurance premium was set in the year 2008. In order to encourage and bring more people under the health insurance umbrella, the deduction should be increased to Rs 50,000, said majority of the respondents. The poll was conducted in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun etc. About 500 employees from different sectors were covered by the survey from each city on an average. Majority of respondents said leave encashment exemption limit for tax calculation should be raised to Rs 10 lakh as the current limit of Rs 3 lakh was notified by the CBDT way back in 1998. Also the children education allowance exemption limit should increase from the present Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 per month. Likewise, the hostel expenditure allowance which is presently exempt up to Rs 300 per month per child for maximum of two children be increased to Rs 3,000 per month, Assocham said. BJP President Amit Shah on Monday, questioned the logic behind Congress vice president Rahul Gandhis stand on the JNU row and sought that he make a public apology for the same. Alleging that national interest had no place in Gandhis mind, Amit Shah asked if the congress party had joined forces with the separatists of the country and if were hoping for another partition. I want to ask Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi that if this is not anti-national then what is. I want to ask Congress and Rahul Gandhi if they support sedition in the name of freedom of expression, Shah asked. If Congress wants to support this in name of freedom of speech, want to ask them what is more big proof against anti-nationals? Shah said. An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet? Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?, Shah wondered. Claiming that the Modi government had triumphed in controlling anti-national sentiments even in Kashmir, Shah complained that instead of being a responsible opposition, Congress was fuelling the shameful incident at JNU. I seek answers from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi to my questions on behalf of 125 crore countrymen and also demand that Rahul Gandhi apologise to the country for his action, Shah wrote. At least 14 civilians were killed when missiles hit a childrens hospital, a school and other locations in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border on Monday, a medic and two residents said. They said at least five missiles hit the hospital in the town centre and a nearby school where refugees fleeing a major Syrian army offensive were sheltering. A resident said a refugee shelter south of the town was also hit by bombs dropped by jets believed to be Russian. A scuffle broke out in Patiala Court on Monday afternoon as JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar who was arrested on sedition charges last week was produced in court. During the scuffle, one person claiming to be a lawyer slapped a JNU student while three journalists were also attacked. Lawyers were seen forcibly throwing JNU faculty and students out of the court room. Woman constables too were asked to come inside to the courtroom to ensure that JNU faculty were taken out of the premises. Teachers and students of JNU supporting Kanhaiya Kumar were allegedly manhandled and forced out of court by lawyers shouting slogans like Long Live India, down with JNU. Kanhaiya Kumar, the chief of the JNU students union, was arrested on Friday by plainclothesmen on campus for allegedly participating in the Afzal Guru event on February 9, in which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. He gave an anti-national speech and was part of the unlawful assembly where anti-national slogans and speeches took place, Delhi Police chief BS Bassi said. Many students have refused to attend classes at the prestigious university over the arrest. Their demand for Kanhaiya Kumars release has been supported by political parties like the Congress and Left. Some 500 teachers of the prestigious university have also decided to go on strike. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said yesterday that the Afzal Guru event was supported by terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed. What happened at JNU has been fully supported by Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed. I appeal to all political parties that whenever such situations arise where anti-India slogans are raised, the entire nation must speak in one voice, the home minister said. As the comment led to opposition anger, the Home ministry clarified that Rajnath Singhs remarks were based on inputs from different agencies. Five people have been arrested along with psychopath stalker in the abduction case of Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna on Monday morning. Police said he was in one-sided love with the executive and inspired by the 1994 film Darrs character featured by Shahrukh Khan. The 24-year-old, who went missing on 10 February, but subsequently returned home two days later, took a police team through the route that her abductors took on Sunday. Police investigations have also revealed that the kidnapping plan was hatched by a person named Devendra, who is a resident of Haryana. Dharmendra Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ghaziabad said, The main accused Devendra was in a one-sided love affair with Dipti. He even went on to make an analogy to the movie Darr, starring Shah Rukh Khan, and added that criminals like him were hardcore. Further, Singh said that this stalker had stalked Dipti for over a year, after first spotting her in a metro at Rajiv Chowk, but could not muster the courage to convey his feelings to her. Singh said the main accused in the case is a psychopath. Devendra, who hails from Panipat in Haryana, is a history-sheeter and carries a reward of Rs 20,000 on his head. It is just like a case portrayed in the movie Darr, where Shah Rukh Khan is involved in a one-sided affair. They are hardcore criminals, Singh added. Dipti, 24, went missing near Delhi on her way home from work and after she took an auto-rickshaw. After leaving the Snapdeal office in Gurgaon, Dipti took the metro to Ghaziabad and then got into an auto. The auto driver was allegedly among the kidnappers. Two days later, on Friday, Dipti called her family to say she was safe and was on a train to Delhi. She told the police that the kidnappers took care of her and gave her food. No ransom call was made to Diptis family. By J.B. Handley In my last post Frantic: CDCs Dr. Diane Simpson Travels the World to Find Dr. Poul Thorsen , I detailed the desperate world travel of Dr. Diane Simpson, a CDC employee tasked with proving, at all costs, that thimerosal in vaccines was not causing autism. If desperate times call for desperate acts, than there is no desperate act more extreme than the study ultimately published due to Dr. Simpsons world travel, Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence From Danish Population-Based Data . More than any other, this study has been used to club our community over the head that thimerosal couldnt possibly cause autism. Of course, it was published in Pediatrics, a journal that appears to have no standards whatsoever if a paper written by anyone anywhere exonerates vaccines. A few years ago I took the time to read every published study that proved vaccines dont cause item. Knowing this Danish study was the biggie, I started here. Its hard to put into words how dishonest and outrageous a study this is, and I knew after reading it that we were in for a long fight: if scientists will lie this explicitly and call it a study and if Pediatrics will publish something this dishonest, they are playing to win at all costs. Herewith, an analysis of the original Danish study, prepare to be disgusted and outraged: Thimerosal was removed from Danish vaccines in 1992, and the original Danish study published in Pediatrics in 2003, Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence From Danish Population-Based Data (with co-author Dr. Poul Thorsen) proclaimed that not only did autism rates not go down after its removal, they actually went up! The study's lead other, Kristeen Madsen, had been one of the Danish researchers Dr. Diane Simpson reached out to early on in her world travel of 2001. This study was highly fraudulent for the following reasons: The data as it was captured was blatantly obscured. The study looked at data between 1970-2000. In 1995, the Danish registry added "Outpatient Clinics" to their count of autism cases. It turns out that Outpatient Clinics are where 93% of Danish children are diagnosed with autism, so the number of autism cases before 1995 did not include the clinics. More surprising, the authors even note this in the study: "since 1995 outpatient activities were registered as well...the proportion of outpatient to inpatient activities was about 4 to 6 times as many outpatients as inpatients...this may exaggerate the incidence rates." Exaggerate the incidence rates? It is the equivalent of doing a study on "Divorce Rates in North America" and counting Mexico and Canada only for the first few years, then adding in the United States, and noting that divorce rates went up. As a SafeMinds critique of the study noted, "Therefore, their purported increase after 1994 can be explained entirely by the registration of an existing autism population that did not require hospitalization." To compound the problem, Denmark also changed the diagnostic code they used, to the more universal ICD10 code, beginning in 1993, which would have further raised the rates.Dr. Madsen, in his communications with Dr. Diane Simpson two years earlier, actually noted this discrepancy in Danish data in an email exchange:Dr. Simpson: "Did they [autism rates] increase after 1993??"Dr. Madsen: "Yes but not very dramatically and there could be more reasons for that. First of all we had a change from ICD8 to ICD10 in 1994 and furthermore our outpatient clinics were registered in our surveillance from 1995."The rates of autism in Denmark and the number of vaccines and amount of mercury received in children are markedly lower than the U.S.Danish children receive 75% less Thimerosal than American children, they receive immunizations when they are older, and the U.S. autism rate is TEN TIMES the rate of Denmark (Denmark is 1 in 1,600, U.S. is 1 in 166).As an example, here is an email exchange back in 2001 discussing data from Great Britain between Dr. Verstraeten, the author of the CDC's internal analysis, and Robert Chen. Dr. Verstraeten notes that the British numbers will probably not be helpful because the Thimerosal received by British children is too low relative to American children:"The maximum exposure is indeed relatively low...it may not be worth doing this after all." Denmark's Thimerosal was as low or lower than Britain, but they proceeded with the study anyway.The study authors were conflicted, and the conflicts were not reported in the study, as they should have been.Of the seven co-authors of the study, three had received direct funding from the CDC on vaccine-safety related projects. Two of the authors were employees of Statens Serum Institute, a Danish vaccine manufacturer. Here's SSI's Annual Report . Interestingly, page 28 shows that sales of vaccine products to the U.S. were particularly high in 2002. None of these conflicts are mentioned anywhere in the study.CDC actually wrote a letter to Pediatrics recommending publication of the study. This letter , written prior to the official date of submission, reveals how involved in the study CDC was (remember, one of their employees was a co-author). Jose Cordero, Director of the Division of the CDC responsible for developmental disabilities, oversees the CDC's efforts to fight autism. He notes, "its findings provide one strong piece of evidence that thimerosal is not causally linked to autism." Dr. Cordero, too, had seen the Generation Zero data and attended the meeting in Simpsonwood. (Authors note: it is always Pediatrics that is willing to publish these studies, for obvious reasosns.)The public health establishment seems to have a simple strategy: get anything published, and then spin the hell out of it and confuse the public, and they perhaps never did it better than with this original Danish study which is still cited as proof by many that vaccines dont cause autism.* *As you can imagine, when the study was published in 2003 it was criticized by our community, and for good reason. Heres AoAs Mark Blaxill back in 2003, from this great analysis,"A report by Madsen et al. published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in their journal Pediatrics1 claims to provide evidence against a link between autism rates and the mercury in thimerosal, a preservative used in childhood vaccines. Unfortunately, the study analysis is full of flaws and inaccuracies, invalidating the conclusions regarding thimerosal.The study adds little of value to the scientific literature on autism and mercury. The report provides information on autism rates in Denmark that is distorted and misleading. These distortions allow the authors to make assertions about a rising trend in autism "incidence" in the 1990s that has no basis in fact."And, heres Boyd Haley, Ph.D., recounting his experience with the 2004 IOM when he tried to explain the fraudulent nature of this work (a work which was cited as one of the primary studies behind the 2004 IOMs conclusions):I have been calling this work fraud every since it came out, even at the 2004 IOM Committee meeting where Dr. Marie McCormick ended my questioning of Dr. Hviid, who was presenting the Danish data, because he would not, or could not tell me the autism rates in the USA vs Denmark---he feigned not understanding my question because the maximum rate of autism was less than 4/10,000 in Denmark in 2000 whereas in the USA the rate was 67/10,000 having increased from about 3-4/10,000 from 1985 and earlier.This makes all the Danish studies invalid, it is like studying the effect of mosquitoes on the spread of malaria and doing the studies in Alaska instead of the PanamaThis data was manipulated to appear to cause an increase in the autism rate after the removal of thimerosal. One educated in epidemiological sciences has to be really incompetent to not find this deceptive utilization of the Danish data-----this apparently includes the responsible individuals at the CDC and in the AAP.When I first read this study I remember wondering, what the hell kind of scientists would even put their name next to something like this? As we learn more about Dr. Poul Thorsen, I think were finding out.J.B. Handley is Co-Founder of Generation Rescue By Jim Thompson Last week Dr. Coleen Boyle, director of the U.S. CDC National Center on Birth Defects and Development Disabilities, testified before Congress in regard to a probe into the CDCs dismal response to the Autism epidemic in this country. In stark contrast to this epidemic, Dr. Boyle defended the CDCs actions of both recommending as well as funding the injection of flu vaccines with the preservative Thimerosal for injection into the bodies of children and pregnant women (Federal Vaccine For Children Program) and (CDC List of Vaccines for Children Program with Thimerosal). This hopeless fact that the CDC still recommends this as safe was defended by elusive references to studies by industry scientists. Upon questioning by US Representative Bill Posey in regard to an industry scientist Poul Thorsen, who is still on the FBI wanted list for defrauding the CDC for over a million dollars, Mr. Posey declared, This guy is a humongous scum bag and one of the most wanted men on earth. Then Mr. Posey asked why the CDC relied on the studies by him. Dr. Boyle responded that there were only two studies on autism with this indicted scientist listed as contributing author. When asked why multi-dose vials of flu vaccine still contain Thimerosal, Dr. Boyle responded, I can provide you with that information [later]. When asked how many multi-dose vials of the flu vaccine still contain Thimerosal, Dr. Boyle replied in the same way. So how many studies were published by this humongous scum bag and how many multi-dose shots of flu vaccine are there? According to this CDC web site, during 2012-2013 approximately 135 million doses of flu vaccine will be distributed in the United States (CDC). From this website one can determine that approximately 72 million doses contain Thimerosal--each with mercury equal to one half cup of D009 mercury hazardous waste (half cup of D009) . Since 2002 there were twenty one autism studies published by P.Thorsen--four of which were published since the April 13, 2011 federal indictment of this humongous scum bag. Apparently some journals could care less about the indictment and continue to publish papers by this corrupt industry scientist. Another one came out just last month. By John Gilmore A US government-financed research group in Denmark lied about the role of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine in causing autism in a highly-publicized and influential study, Autism Rate Among Danish Children Reported in A Population Based Study of Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccination and Autism. The authors claimed that, This study provides strong evidence against the hypothesis that MMR Vaccination causes autism, even though the data in the study clearly shows that children who got an MMR vaccine had a 45% higher rate of full-syndrome autism than children who were not vaccinated, and a 31% higher rate of less severe forms of autism. This data can be seen at this link below, Table 2 . Last week we presented evidence that the same US-government financed operation in Denmark fabricated evidence in an influential study to cover-up the role of mercury in vaccines causing autism. Both studies were prepared by a research group led by Dr. Poul Thorsen, a Danish epidemiologist hired by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to produce a series of studies looking at health outcomes in Danish children. Several of the studies looked at the role of vaccines in causing autism, and all the studies prepared under Thorsens direction concluded there was no connection. In 20011 Thorsen was indicted by the US Attorney for allegedly embezzling $2 million from the CDC. He is currently a fugitive. Vaccine safety studies are pretty straightforward. You look at one group of people who get a vaccine, and then you look at a group who did not get the vaccine. If there is more of a health problem in the group who got the vaccine than those who didnt, then there very well could be a problem with the vaccine. Simple.But the Thorsen group didnt do the study using the straightforward, conventional way. The data showed a much higher number of autism cases in the MMR vaccinated group than in the unvaccinated group, and If they did it the usual way they would have had to conclude that the MMR may cause autism. So instead of comparing cases of autism, they compared life-years with autism, and life years without autism. In short that means if a child was 8 years old at the end of the study period and that child was diagnosed with autism, when he was 6, he would be counted as 2 life-years with autism, but 6 life years without autism. If it sounds silly and confusing it is, by design. They had to come up with a way to avoid showing that they had found a greater rate of autism among the children who got the MMR. And this is the method they chose to do it.Last week we discussed how the Thorsen group provided a third-rate study with abundant indicators of possible data fabrication to absolve mercury in vaccines from having a causal role in autism. They appear to have done a similar job for the MMR. These two studies have had a powerful influence on US Autism research priorities, vaccine policy and provided much of the pretext for the dismissal of more than 5000 cases in the National Vaccine injury Compensation Program. The wiley Dr. Poul Thorsen continues to elude the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, the NSA and all the other apparatus of the federal government. The rest of the authors are Danish. One of the authors, however, Diana Schendel, Ph. D., is still employed by the CDC. It would be fascinating to hear her explanation of why the team chose to present the information in an unconventional way that arrived at the exact opposite conclusion that conventional epidemiological methods would have produced. Of course, the finding of no correlation was politically expedient, and it provide a pretext for assaulting the work of Andrew Wakefield,the English researcher who the hypothesized a possible connection between the MMR, autism and bowel disease. Perhaps, Dr. Schendel could clarify how this happened if she was invited to testify under oath at the hearings of the House Committee on Government Operations and Reform on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program scheduled for November. The studies she worked on with Thorsen have profoundly influenced NVICP policy and are therefore highly relevant to the hearings, and unlike Thorsen the feds could probably locate Schendel.Moreover, there is a clear pattern of data fabrication and concealment in the studies the CDC had Thorsen prepare, and all the subterfuge has the same result: hiding the clear role vaccines have in causing autism.Autism Rate Among Danish Children Reported in A Population Based Study of Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccination and Autism, Madsen KM, Hviid A, Vestergaard M, Schendel D, Wohlfahrt J, Thorsen P, Olsen J, Melbye M., New England Journal of Medicine. 2002 Nov 7;347(19):1477-82 John Gilmore is a founder and executive director of the Autism Action Network, a national 501(c)(4), non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization engaged in a range of issues including health access, special education, rights of the disabled, vaccine rights and safety, and research funding. Mr. Gilmore has more than ten years of experience organizing state and national legislative efforts. He lives in Long Beach, New York with his wife Jennifer and his two sons, Jack, and Luke who has developmental delays as a result of a vaccine-induced encephalopathy. Mr. Gilmore has a Masters In Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at U. C. Berkeley. He also teaches politics and media studies to undergraduates in New York City. SafeMinds calls upon the US Department of Justice and the US Department of State to bring Dr. Thorsen back to the United States and to justice. We also call upon Chairman Darrell Issa and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to take up this issue as an oversight activity this year. We believe this warrants a Congressional hearing to understand this failure to fully address the allegations, to determine if others at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were complicit, and to address the failure of the CDC and the scientific community to investigate all of the studies from this project while holding current findings in deferral until fully investigated. Following Thorsens indictment in 2011, SafeMinds issued a statement calling for an independent review of vaccine/autism research for data manipulation and conflicts of interest. To review those comments, click HERE. A year later a full report delivered to Chairman Issa, the Committee and other members of Congress outlined the issues. For that detailed report on Poul Thorsen, click HERE. In 2013, the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS/OIG) elevated Thorsen to the top of their Most Wanted List. Information from the OIG may be viewed HERE. A Brief Background on the Indictment: The Criminal Indictment No. 1:11-C R-194 United States of America v. Poul Thorsen states that beginning around February 2004 and continuing through February 2010, that Thorsen aided and abetted by others known and unknown, did knowingly devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises and omissions of material facts, well knowing and having reason to know that said pretenses, representations and promises were and would be false and fraudulent The indictment provides that Thorsen submitted false invoices and created private invoices (from a CDC laboratory using false signatures). He is alleged to have stolen more than $1 million from a CDC grant to Denmark he helped establish while working at CDC. If convicted on all counts, Thorsen could face up to 260 years in prison and $22.5 million in fines. Three years after this indictment: no extradition, no trial, and no verdict on Thorsen. It still remains unknown if others from CDC were part of his scheme. We do know that Dr. Diana Schendel, Thorsens champion at the CDC when he first arrived, and who continued to publish as a co-author on papers with him after the indictment, has resigned her CDC position and accepted a position with Thorsens former employer Aarhus University in Denmark. About Poul Thorsen: As noted in the SafeMinds report submitted to Congress in 2012, Thorsen developed a strong relationship with his CDC colleagues while serving as a visiting scientist. Thorsen successfully promoted the idea of awarding research funds to Aarhus University in Denmark to study the relationship between autism and vaccines before returning to the university to lead the project. Keep in mind, the CDC was under immense pressure to respond to the public outcry to the autism epidemic and the link between thimerosal and autism, and vaccine injury and autism. SafeMinds was among those pointing out the inherent conflict of interest for CDC with monitoring the safety of vaccines while also promoting vaccines. Thorsen, from what is known about the case, played on the urgency of the situation. Without his findings, vaccine safety becomes highly suspect. HHS and DOJ Continue to Use Thorsens Research to Deny Vaccine Injury Compensation: The Thorsen-led Danish studies affect the autism community significantly by substantiating the governments arguments in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. SafeMinds and many in the autism scientific community had called the quality and outcomes in the Danish studies into question even before the Federal indictment. The Danish Studies, along with the Verstraeten paper, were the basis for the IOMs rejection of an autism-vaccine injury/thimerosal link. Furthermore, these studies, and the IOMs findings were the basis of the evidence presented by the Justice Department on behalf of Health and Human Services which denied 5,000 families justice in the in the Autism Omnibus proceedings of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). SafeMinds believes that no research paper co-authored by Thorsen should be used by the government for defining vaccine injury. While failing to bring him to justice, it remains unconscionable that the very Justice Department responsible for indicting him and for prosecuting his case, continue to use papers he co-authored to substantiate legal decisions that absolve vaccine damage. Thorsen Remains Free and Continues to Publish Research: Poul Thorsen is not in hiding. He remains a free man, living in the open and working in Denmark. SafeMinds confirmed last year that he works at the Sygehus Lillebaelt Hospital in Kolding, Denmark. He has continued to co-author research as recently as October 2013. Papers topics include autism, some with his former CDC colleague, Dr. Diana Schendel while she remained at the CDC. For at least the second time since his indictment, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons have included his work in their annual meeting. His co-author presented earlier this month at their 2014 annual meeting in Salt Lake City. The evidence (P105) is present in the final program HERE on page 128. The United States good relations with Denmark should have allowed the Justice and State Departments to bring Poul Thorsen to justice within three years. As we approach the middle of Autism Awareness Month we can make this week, Bring Thorsen to Justice Week. Consider making two calls: (1) Call the White House (Switchboard: 202-456-1414) and ask President Obama instruct Secretary Kerry and Attorney General Holder to bring Thorsen back to the United States and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. (2) Call Congressman Darrell Issa (Washington Office: 202-225-3906) and request that he conduct a hearing on Poul Thorsen before the summer ends. You might also consider posting a message to Congressman Issas Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/darrellissa. Let us know in the comments section what happens with your calls. February 12, 2016 Ehud Olmert, Israels prime minister from 2006 to 2009, has reported to jail, where he will become a run-of-the-mill prisoner. Olmert, 70, will spend 19 months behind bars, serving a sentence for corruption for his involvement in a bribery scandal that occurred while he was mayor of Jerusalem. In the brief history of the Jewish state, nothing like this has ever happened before at the prime minister level. In 2011, Israels eighth president (2000-2007), Moshe Katsav, was sentenced to seven years in prison for aggravated sexual assault, a sentence he is currently serving. Before that, former Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson was sent to prison in 2009 for white-collar crimes. But never before has an Israeli prime minister been sent to prison. In Israel, the prime minister is the equivalent of the American president. He is the leader; he is the captain, the Israeli version of the commander-in-chief. And now he is going to jail. Apart from the legal precedent and aside from all the tragedies personal, familial and national the situation is also a logistical nightmare. As a former prime minister, the Shin Bets VIP Security Unit provides Olmert with a security detail 24/7, no matter where he goes. He travels in a government limo and his home and office are under constant protection because Olmert is considered one of Israels emblems of government who requires round-the-clock security. The reason for that is simple: Olmert knows state secrets. He knows everyone and everything. Some of the most intricate and important classified military decisions were made personally by him. Someone like him would be a treasure trove of information for terrorist groups or foreign intelligence agencies. How can such a person be sent to prison? The first question raised was what would happen with his security once he begins his sentence. Will the former prime minister bring his security detail to prison with him? Since Israel has never faced this kind of dilemma before, the prison service and the Shin Bet were forced to ponder the problem in depth before coming up with a special protocol to handle the logistics. It was decided that the VIP Security Unit will remain outside the prison walls, only joining Olmert in the event that he leaves the prison on furlough. Within the prison itself, he will be protected by a team of security guards who received special training under Shin Bet supervision. It isnt every day that a prime minister becomes an ordinary prisoner, so the system must get used to dealing with this bizarre situation. Another question raised was whether Olmert would be allowed to serve his sentence with other prisoners. The authorities came up with a creative solution here. A new wing, Division 10, was created in the minimum-security Maasiyahu Prison. Olmert will be kept in a cell designed for three prisoners in an isolated wing that will house only white-collar criminals, traffic offenders and other inmates convicted of bribery. Prisoners who will be in contact with him will be screened first. The prime ministers cell will be covered by security cameras, which will keep track of everything happening there 24/7, and a special sentry will be posted by the door. Olmert will not come into contact with any unvetted prisoners, out of fear that they might attack him or attempt to extort him. The big problem is how he will pass the time, as he will not be able to work like other prisoners. As of now, he is sentenced to 19 months, which is considerable, but there is certainly a chance that this time will be increased once the appeals process in other scandals in which Olmert has been convicted eventually ends. Olmerts sentence could grow by many more months. It is hard to believe that this is the very man who won an election less than a decade ago and served as the prime minister of Israel for almost three years. The rise and fall of Olmert could be the basis of a Greek tragedy or a Latin American telenovela. He reached the pinnacle of power in a historical twist of fate, after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke in January 2006. Olmert, who was then the deputy prime minister, benefited from the sudden lack of leadership. After winning the election, he led Israel through the Second Lebanon War (2006) and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza (2008-2009). According to foreign sources, during Olmerts tenure, Israel also bombed the nuclear reactor that the Mossad allegedly uncovered in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, effectively eliminating President Bashar al-Assads top-secret nuclear ambitions in a matter of minutes in a smooth operation that went completely under the radar (2007). The ongoing civil war in Syria erupted three years later. As far as Olmert is concerned, he would prefer to go down in history not as someone who went to war, but as the person who went farther than anyone in the history of modern Israel to reach peace with the Palestinians. During his final year in power, Olmert held a long series of personal, intimate meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. These concluded with Olmert presenting Abbas with a written proposal, which expressed his readiness to give up almost all (94%) of the West Bank so that a Palestinian state could be formed. The proposal included the transfer of Jerusalem neighborhoods to the Palestinians and a creative solution to the problem of the right of return. No other Israeli leader had ever made such a far-reaching proposal to a Palestinian leader. When Olmert informed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the details of his offer, she was visibly moved by it. In fact, she could hardly believe what she was hearing. Rice devoted an entire chapter to the issue in her book No Higher Honor, claiming that Olmert went even further and risked more than late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Ultimately, Abbas did not even reply to Olmerts proposal, just as he did not respond to a proposal he received from President Barack Obama in the White House on March 17, 2014. Olmert eventually did not survive politically, but for entirely different reasons. Today, he has his own intriguing conspiracy theory about what actually happened next, claiming that his willingness to go so far unleashed great and powerful forces that financed a long campaign to depose him. Olmerts legal struggle to prove his innocence dragged on for years before it ended in his excruciating fall. His final appeal was accepted in part by the Supreme Court, which reduced his original six-year sentence to just a year and a half in prison. And yet, regardless of all that, as of today, Olmert will go from being a free citizen, a former prime minister and a respected Israeli public figure to a prisoner serving his sentence. There are those who believe that putting an Israeli prime minister behind bars testifies to the resilience of Israels democracy. They say that it is evidence that Israel still has an independent judiciary and law enforcement system. The problem is that much has changed in Israel ever since the authorities went after Olmert. Todays circumstances are completely different from those in which the police could investigate the prime minister fearlessly and without bias. February 12, 2016 TEHRAN, Iran Iranian authorities have announced initiatives to tax unfinished residential buildings in Tehran and vacant homes in major cities. The move appears aimed at helping to stimulate demand in the housing market, which has been in a deep recession since summer 2013. Another motive could be to increase tax revenue as the government is expected to face a budget deficit in the Iranian fiscal year running to March 20, 2017, given the weakness in oil prices. On Feb. 2, the Tehran City Council gave the mayor approval to tax builders who delay finishing construction projects in the metropolis. The so-called suspension tax is expected to free part of the 100 trillion rials ($3.33 billion) in resources tied up in 400,000 construction projects that are underway across the country, according to leading Iranian economic daily Donya-e Eqtesad. The paper, however, has not clarified how many of these unfinished projects are located in Tehran. Tehran municipality will be allowed as of the next Iranian fiscal year, which begins March 20, to charge speculators up to 1 million rials ($33) per square meter for each month they delay finishing construction projects. The move, which is expected to increase the municipalitys revenue in the coming Iranian year, is seen as an effective way to reduce speculative activity in the housing market. However, some market players say the measure comes too late. A real estate agent in the Iranian capital who spoke on condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor that the Tehran City Councils move could have been made far earlier, when the property market slipped into recession more than two years ago. With the sanctions having been lifted now, speculators will automatically accelerate their activity to free their blocked capital, the broker told Al-Monitor. According to a report recently released by the Central Bank of Iran, there were 16,300 transactions in Tehrans real estate market in the monthlong period ending Jan. 20. The figure was 8.5% higher than the same period in the previous year and 29.1% higher than the previous period. However, prices plunged by 3.1% year-on-year in the review month and 1.9% compared to a month before. Although some analysts believe the recent jump in transactions is related to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Hamed Mazaherian, deputy minister of roads and urban development, says it will take the housing market months to see the positive impact of sanctions relief. He forecasts that the market will start recovering in the second half of the next Iranian year. Meanwhile, some officials continue to seek to accelerate the recovery of the housing market through disciplinary measures. Late last month, Vice President of National Tax Administration Ghassem Panahi announced that the final implementation of a long-awaited tax on vacant homes in Tehran and other major cities will take place by March 21, 2017. The new law seeks to charge speculators who buy and hoard apartments with no intention of inhabiting them or renting them out, but merely to benefit from the capital gains once property prices rise. Tax officials hope the new tax law, which they have been sitting on for some three years, will help free up at least part of the 1.6 million vacant housing units in Iran. But how likely is it that the government will be able to establish a huge database of these homes over the coming year? Panahi is confident that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development will be able to use an already-designed online mechanism to track commercial apartments as well as occupied and vacant homes by March 20, 2017. In the first year after the implementation of the new law, homeowners who refuse to rent their vacant apartments for a one-year period must pay half of the annual rent of their apartments in tax. The payable tax will double if homeowners continue to keep their apartments vacant for a second year, and triple by the end of the third year. The tax on vacant homes has not been broadly welcomed, with many property market analysts criticizing it as ineffective. Critics say renting a home in Tehran and other big cities is a great way to earn extra income for many Iranians. Indeed, the majority of homeowners prefer renting out their homes, given the ongoing rise of rents in past years despite a decline in home prices. The head of the Real Estate Agencies Union in Tehran, Hessam Oghbai, is of the same opinion. In a recent interview with the economic magazine Tejarat-e Farda, he said that the government has to improve the business environment and enhance competition in the housing market if it is serious about reducing the number of vacant homes. He believes that solutions other than raising taxes could work better and calls for a boost in the construction of apartments though he acknowledges that such taxes could reduce speculative demand in the long run. More broadly, there is the question of why the Iranian government is moving to impose the property tax so late, even as a majority of analysts predict that it will not result in a significant shift. It appears that the government has adopted a long-term approach toward the growing property industry and is trying to diversify its sources of revenue. Indeed, in the past few months, several foreign real estate investors, including a British one, have shown interest in the property market, an Iranian business consultant who is familiar with the matter told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. Given the promising prospect of an inflow of foreign investment to meet the demand for 1 million housing units per year, the government appears to be planning for the future by using taxation as a tool to shape the decisions of individual homeowners and also impose discipline in the countrys key housing sector. February 14, 2016 Turkish military attacks on US-aligned Syrian Kurdish groups and the possibility of Turkish and Saudi ground troops entering Syria could upend the fragile peace accord worked out by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) last week. The introduction of Turkish and Saudi ground forces would further risk a major escalation in the war and a whole new round of misery for the Syrian people. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Feb. 13 that Saudi Arabia was sending fighter jets to Incirlik Air Base and that both countries would consider potential ground operations in Syria. This is something that could be desired but there is no plan. Saudi Arabia is sending planes and they said, 'If the necessary time comes for a ground operation, then we could send soldiers,'" Cavusoglu said. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, perhaps in response to a US request, clarified Feb. 14, "The kingdom's readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh [Islamic State] in Syria this US-led coalition so the timing is not up to us." US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has expressed frustration at the disappointing contributions of some of the US regional allies, including Turkey, to the US-led anti-IS coalition. Carter reportedly secured a commitment from Saudi Arabia on Feb. 11 to step up its contributions to the air campaign against IS, in addition to discussions of possible training and ground forces. This column would support more substantial contributions of Saudi Arabia and Turkey to the air campaign against IS, but Turkish and Saudi intentions in Syria are not so neatly aligned with those of the United States in defeating the terrorist group, which US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper characterized in a Feb. 9 testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as the pre-eminent terrorist threat because of its self-described caliphate in Syria and Iraq, its branches and emerging branches in other countries, and its increasing ability to direct and inspire attacks against a wide range of targets around the world, Turkeys priority in Syria is not the defeat of IS, however, but rather that of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers the PYD and YPG to be extensions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with which his government is fighting a bloody civil war in southeastern Turkey. The United States does not share Erdogans assessment of the PYD and YPG as terrorists and instead considers the Syrian Kurdish forces as among the most effective of the Syrian armed groups battling IS and not connected with al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra; as this column described last week, some of the anti-Assad groups backed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia do have ties with Jabhat al-Nusra. Metin Gurcan describes how pro-government Turkish media have been hyping a possible military intervention in Syria to prevent Syrian Kurdish forces from moving west of the Euphrates. This is the true intent of Turkeys threats of intervention in Syria. Turkey has over the past few days been shelling Syrian Kurdish strongholds in northern Syria and demanding the YPG withdraw from the areas it has taken as a result of the intensified fighting around Aleppo. Gurcan describes the Turkish government public relations campaign as a surreal journey in trying to persuade the public that Turkey is winning, not losing, in Syria. Despite the jingoism of the Turkish media hawks, the consequences of a Turkish intervention could best be described as both desperate and potentially catastrophic for Turkey, Syria and the region. Russia has already made clear that it would enforce a no-fly zone, so Turkey could face a confrontation with Russia. Other risks include the consequences of any intervention in Turkeys own civil war with the PKK; the likelihood of taking on both the Syrian government and Syrian Kurdish forces; and potential clashes with the United States, which, along with Russia, coordinates military operations with the PYD and YPG. Kadri Gursel explains that despite the bravado of Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party, the Turkish military may resist sending forces into Syria. Erdogan has implied that a military intervention might be the means to redress the free fall in Turkeys Syria policy, saying, We dont want to repeat the Iraq mistake in Syria, referring to the Turkish parliaments rejection of a government authorization to send military forces into Iraq in 2003. Gursel explained, Having cornered himself in Syria, Erdogan again wants to use force to break free. And the only force he has at his disposal is the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces], which seems reluctant to be exploited for that purpose. In short, the resistance the TSK puts up to Erdogan is the only mainstay that Turkey presently has to avoid an adventure doomed to drag it into a catastrophe. One can only commend the restraint of US diplomats in managing Turkeys increasingly disruptive approach to Syria policy, although the time may be coming when US policymakers may have to recognize Turkeys role as an outlier in the efforts to end the war in Syria. Erdogan taunted the United States on Feb. 10, saying Washington was responsible for a sea of blood by backing the PYD and asking, Are you with us or with this terrorist organization?" Erdogan then criticized the visit of Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the anti-IS coalition, with PYD officials in Kobani. "How can we trust you [the United States]? Who is your partner the terrorists in Kobani or me? This prompted what Cengiz Candar characterized as one of the most powerful rebuffs American authorities have ever unleashed at a Turkish president when State Department spokesman John Kirby said, We do not see them as a terrorist organization and will continue supporting them. With regard to Saudi Arabia, its stepped-up commitment to the defeat of IS comes with a catch. Jubeir, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 12, reaffirmed that Saudi Arabia believes defeating IS is directly connected to removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Jubeir said that Assad is the single most effective magnet for extremists and terrorists in the Middle East and overthrowing him is our objective and we will achieve it. Jubeirs statement should be a warning about the caveats and consequences of a possible Saudi military intervention in Syria. His assertion about the connection between Assad and IS seems, to put it politely, strained, and out of step with the assessment of the US intelligence community that IS is the pre-eminent terrorist threat in the world. Is Assad the single most effective magnet for IS occupation of Iraqi territory? Is Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shiite, also a magnet for IS fighters? Is Assad the magnet for IS expansion into Libya, or the groups threats of further terrorist operations in the West? Why would a secular, nonsectarian post-Assad government be any less a magnet for IS? On Feb. 12, Russian Foreign Miniser Sergey Lavrov called out Jaish al-Islam, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, in defense of Russian support for Syrian military operations in Aleppo: The leader of Jaish al-Islam who has been eliminated, [Zahran] Alloush, made quite clear statements about the ideology of this movement. He said that all the Levant should be cleared of dirt meaning Alawites directly, who, as he said, are even more disloyal than Christians and Jews. And he said that his brothers are Jabhat al-Nusra fighters who he's fighting with against common enemies. So these are the guys who are now around Aleppo, at least on the western part. On the eastern part, with our help, the government forces have already unblocked this city and according to our data those who are fleeing this area are fighters who are just trying to escape. And let us not forget that all those who are now around Aleppo that is, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam and other more moderate groups are being supplied using the same route from one place in the territory of Turkey. So this factor should also be reckoned with, since the UN Security Council resolution that was adopted before Resolution 2254 prohibits any supplies that support terrorist groups. Ali Mamouri provided probably the most complete assessment of Alloushs hate-filled ideology in Al-Monitor last month. The increased focus of the threat from Jabhat al-Nusra was a positive outcome of the ISSG deliberations last week. In addition, the assessment of the US intelligence community that al-Qaeda's affiliates have proven resilient and are positioned to make gains in 2016 should be a catalyst for more intensive military coordination with Russia against Jabhat al-Nusra. Asaad Hanna reports on the establishment of Sharia courts in Idlib and other areas outside of Syrian government control. This column has warned for more than two years of the mainstreaming of radical jihadist groups in Syria. It should be increasingly indefensible to engage in any form of relationship with al-Qaeda, even one or two steps removed. Vitaly Naumkin writes, The Kremlin does not believe that a successful campaign against IS or any other terrorist group in Syria or a cease-fire are possible without closing the Syrian-Turkish border. A river of foreign jihadis, arms and merchandise is flowing into Syria, with contraband oil traveling in the opposite direction. Russia sees no reason why it should not target the positions of Jabhat al-Nusra, which is part of al-Qaeda and is using as a front an alliance with those whose ideological views can be considered moderate. Jabhat al-Nusra, just like IS, is among the main targets of the Russian air force. At the same time, Moscow confirms that it stands ready to reach an agreement with moderate opposition groups, but still has differences with the Western and regional ISSG partners over who can or cannot be categorized as terrorists. A trend to watch may be the increasing isolation of Saudi Arabia and Turkey in US and Russian efforts to end the war in Syria. The Wall Street Journals Jay Solomon reported this week that Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan are in regular contact with Russia about its military operations in Syria. This is not to say that these countries are on board with all of Russias aims and objectives, but is yet another sign that Saudi Arabia and Turkey may be shifting to being outliers in a fragile and tentative effort to bringing the war to a close. February 12, 2016 SANAA, Yemen In Al-Gumhouri Teaching Hospital in Sanaa, a security guard in a hallway has covered his mouth and nose with a face mask and refuses to shake hands with patrons asking his permission to visit patients in the hospital. The guard told one of the visitors, Sorry, we are taking precautions because of the virus. He was referring to the swine flu virus (H1N1), which has been infecting residents of one of the poorest countries in the Middle East amid a devastating civil war that has attracted regional intervention and has been ongoing for 11 months. This new killer came on the scene in mid-January, and as of the beginning of February had killed 20 people and infected 26 others, according to statements Al-Monitor obtained from the Yemeni Ministry of Health. Tamim al-Shami, spokesman for the Ministry of Health told Al-Monitor, Sixteen people in the capital, Sanaa, have succumbed to the virus. The first cases of people being infected with H1N1 were reported in 2009 in the United States and Mexico. At the time, the World Health Organization declared a state of emergency, fearing a global pandemic. Patients typically present with extremely high fevers and pneumonia. By early February, local authorities in the oil-rich province of Hadramout, on the Arabian Sea nearly 500 miles from Sanaa, had recorded 30 cases of H1N1, four of them fatal. According to health officials, Seiyun General Hospital had treated 15 cases. The town of Seiyun lies in the middle of a desert valley some 223 miles from Hadramout's provincial capital. Authorities were asked to quickly provide treatments, protective wear and money for medical staff. Last year, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that more than 15 million people needed lifesaving health assistance in Yemen. Medical services in the country had been deteriorating even before the outbreak of the current conflict. The civil war and a blockade by the intervening Saudi-led Arab coalition have greatly exacerbated the suffering. The land, sea and air blockade by the Saudi coalition, which is fighting the Houthi rebel group Ansar Allah, has led to a shortage of more than 200 essential medicines, according to Shami. He said the essential medicines desperately needed by patients are insulin for diabetes, pills for patients with heart and blood pressure disorders, cancer medications and kidney solutions. Since the Saudi-led coalition launched military operations March 26, 2015 at the request of former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi after the Houthis overran Sanaa and overthrew his government the import and manufacture of medicines have decreased, the three biggest importers of medicine told Al-Monitor. An administrative employee at the Pharmacare International Manufacturing Company in Sanaa told Al-Monitor, The blockade on Yemen has prevented the importation of raw materials to make medicines. But this is not the only problem. Access to US dollars [to pay for the medicines] amid the current economic situation is extremely difficult. The price of the US dollar on the black market in Sanaa has reached 250 Yemeni riyals, a record 35 riyals above the price set by Yemen's Central Bank, a sign of one of the main downsides of the tensions plaguing the country. The same employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added, All the parties deal with us cautiously because we import raw materials to make medicines, and we can turn these materials into explosives as well. To import these materials, we must obtain a license from the Yemeni National Security [Bureau] and seven government institutions, as well as communicate with the Arab coalition leadership. Due to these obstacles impeding their import, these materials are unavailable. Health care facilities in Yemen have also been affected, directly and indirectly, by coalition raids. Shami told Al-Monitor that 345 hospitals and clinics had been damaged in airstrikes. The attacks have not been limited to local health care facilities. Even MSF facilities have been hit despite being protected by international humanitarian law. MFS was hit by three airstrikes in less than three months. Taiz, Yemens third-largest city, with 3 million people, is experiencing extremely difficult health conditions due to a blockade imposed by the Houthis. The city is witnessing heavy fighting pitting Houthi rebels backed by military forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against Popular Resistance forces loyal to the Hadi government. The latter are attempting to retake the city, which the Houthis have controlled since last spring. The local Mwatana Organization for Human Rights has reported that Taiz is being deprived of basic services because of the blockade, noting that the rebels had prevented the entry of basic necessities such as water, food and medicine through the crossing points they control in the major ports. This has led to the drastic deterioration of health conditions. Some patients have died because of a lack of oxygen. Sohail al-Thobhani, general manager of Al-Rawda Specialist Hospital, which is treating victims of the war in Taiz, told Al-Monitor, The health situation has greatly deteriorated. The UN delegation that visited Taiz on Jan. 22 noticed this. Thobhani warned of impending disaster because of the accumulation of garbage and the absence of government, stressing that the Houthis' blockade is almost entirely responsible for declining health conditions, which he described as catastrophic. The persistence of this dangerous humanitarian situation, which the United Nations considers to be one of the worst, is heavily affecting poor Yemenis and will lead to further economic deterioration, which in turn will have negative repercussions on basic needs, such as health and food. The UN reported in December that some 21 million Yemenis, about 80% of the population, were in need of help. Ezell's sign.JPG A notice on the door of Ezell's Express on Crestwood Boulevard in Birmingham, Ala., alerts customers that crews from the Travel Channel will be filming in the restaurant. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com) Andrew Zimmern wasn't here this time, but the Travel Channel was back in Birmingham this past weekend to film segments that will possibly air on the globetrotting chef's new show "Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations." Film crews for the Travel Channel were scheduled to visit the Irondale Cafe and Ezell's Express on Sunday, as well as a few other locations in the Birmingham area. The "Delicious Destinations" crew was interested in the histories behind the Irondale Cafe's famous fried green tomatoes popularized in Fannie Flagg's book and movie and in Ezell's legendary fried catfish, which goes back to the original Ezell's Fish Camp that opened in Choctaw County in 1937. The restaurant owners signed non-disclosure agreements that prohibited them from talking to the media about the Travel Channel's visit, and a representative from the network contacted by AL.com declined to offer specifics about the "Delicious Destinations" trip here. Zimmern -- whose other Travel Channel shows include "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" and "Bizarre Foods America" -- came to Birmingham three years to film an entire episode of "Bizarre Foods America" here. During that trip, Zimmern visited Eagle's Restaurant, the Red Pearl, Niki's West, Miss Myra's Pit Bar-B-Q, Hot and Hot Fish Club, Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q and other locations. The segments filmed this past weekend in Birmingham could air on "Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations" sometime later this year. Comic Book Company In a Monday, Feb. 8, 2016 photo, srtist Ethan Newsome-Jackson brings the character "Breeze" to life on his sketch pad as he works at The Comic Strip in Tuscaloosa. He and writer Kristofer James Pearce are the authors of several comic books and they are still students at the University of Alabama. (Gary Cosby Jr./Tuscaloosa News via AP) (Gary Cosby Jr.) For more than a year, Ethan Newsome-Jackson and Kris Pearce have been obsessed with the same woman. She only exists on paper, but for the two University of Alabama students, creating the character in the upcoming comic book "Breeze" has been grueling, mainly in how to present the heroine's duality. "She's very care-free, where she enjoys all kinds of things, but she lives in a very dark world," Newsome-Jackson said during a recent work session with Pearce at The Comic Store on Hargrove Road. "She actually gets through it and keeps her sense of humor about it." Even the way Breeze looks, complemented with spiky hair and a mask, is a combination of deliberate choices. "A lot of feminine characters in the comic book world are usually sexy and the artists accentuate their body parts," he said. "But with Breeze, we wanted to keep it sexy, but not have too much." As Newsome-Jackson sketches story panels for an upcoming issue, Pearce explains that "Breeze" was an effort to not only create a character that recalled the comic book heroines they grew up reading, but with a twist. "We wanted to give a deadly character a fun power," Pearce said. "She's like a deadly fairy." When published, "Breeze" will become the next installment in the duo's comic book company, Dream Ink Comics, which has produced five comics and sold more than 100 copies since distribution began in August. Three years ago, Newsome-Jackson and Pearce hit it off through their mutual appreciation of comic books, especially "Batman," the Japanese manga series "Akira" and "Static." However, it was their unfavorable discussion of a comic book they had recently read that started something bigger. "We just sat there and thought 'I can do a better job than this,' " Newsome-Jackson said. "We then decided that we should try to do something." The first comic created was "Ghost Phase." The plot involves a character who fights crime through special powers he developed after being exposed to radiation while buried alive. "The first book we did took about six months because we had no idea what we were doing," Newsome-Jackson said. "From there, we shortened the time to about a month or so." Pearce does the majority of the writing, but both men complement each other throughout the production process. For example, Pearce said Newsome-Jackson keeps the stories grounded to involve realistic problem-solving in unrealistic circumstances, while Newsome-Jackson credits Pearce for bringing in three-dimensional characters that flesh out the drawings. "I think being good friends for three years helps," Pearce said. "We're not afraid to tell the other that one idea could be better." Since starting Dream Ink Comics, the partners have released "Ghost Phase," ''Red Dragon" and "Negative Zero," which is sold in stores as close as Little Rock, Arkansas, and as far away as Vancouver. Since August, the company has sold over 100 copies of its comics. When the duo gave a copy of "Ghost Phase" to The Comic Strip owner Greg Hulsey, he immediately started selling copies. "I'm hoping they can produce more books so I can give them their own rack," Hulsey said. Newsome-Jackson, who is majoring in aerospace engineering, said he hopes to continue the company after he leaves the University of Alabama. Although he does not want to go into comic publishing full time, creating comics gives him something that reinvigorates him. "For me, I'm learning a lot through partly owning this company," he said. "You learn how to time manage, market, research and a lot of different things you would never think you would have to learn." Pearce, who would like to work in film production, said creating comic books has helped him improve as a writer. "It definitely has taught me so much, like character development and story arc," he said. "You have to be very specific in getting from the beginning to the middle to the end and that took a long time to learn." For the time being, Newsome-Jackson and Pearce are just focused on doing the best stories they can. "Each one has been better than the last," Newsome-Jackson said. DREW TAYLOR, Tuscaloosa News A Chilton County man has been missing for more than a week, and lawmen are asking that anyone who has seen him to please call investigators. Jeremy Todd Wilson, 34, was last seen walking on County Road 448 in Clanton about 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 7. The Chilton County Sheriff's Office since then has carried out a massive search effort that has included helicopters, tracking dogs and ground searches, said Sheriff John Shearon. The search concluded on Friday, but investigators will resume some of the efforts on Tuesday. "They did everything they could possibly do,'' Shearon said Monday. "We're hoping he's with somebody because I know the family is going through all kinds of turmoil." Wilson was last seen wearing an Alabama hoodie, blue jeans, black and white Nike shoes and a gray Under Armour shirt. He is described as a white male, 5-feet, 4-inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. He has green eyes and brown hair. There is nothing at this point to indicate foul play, the sheriff said. "We really just don't know at this point,'' he said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Chilton County Sheriff's Office at 205-755-4698 or Chilton County 911 at 205-755-1120. Tipsters can also provide information via email at ken.harmon@chiltoncountyso.org. U.S. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Saturday, often was a proponent of states' rights during his 30 years on the high court - including one case from Alabama involving a BMW paint job. And, as in the case of the BMW paint job, Scalia's opinions were often filled with biting criticism of his colleagues' opinions or criticism of plaintiffs' arguments. In 1996, the high court was asked to rule on an appeal of the case of a Birmingham doctor who was awarded $2 million by an Alabama court for his lawsuit against a BMW dealership over a paint job on his new $40,000 car. In the majority 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court said the car dealer shouldn't have to pay the $2 million because its behavior was not "reprehensible," the ratio of the award to the harm was too high, and because amounts that could have been awarded in a similar criminal or civil suit would be much lower. Scalia, who was in the minority, saw it differently. He said the issue should be the responsibility of the Alabama courts to decide. "Today we see the latest manifestation of this court's recent and increasingly insistent concern about punitive damages that 'run wild,'" Scalia wrote in his dissenting opinion. "Since the Constitution does not make that concern any of our business, the court's activities in this area are an unjustified incursion into the province of state governments." Here's how Scalia voted on some other notable cases from, or involving, Alabama: Women on juries Scalia was also in the minority in a 6-3 decision in 1994 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an Alabama case that keeping people off juries because of their sex is just as unlawful as excluding them based on their race. The decision came in the appeal of a paternity lawsuit in which the father says his rights were violated when an all-female jury in Jackson County decided he fathered a boy. A jury of 12 women decided against James Bowman after a 1991 trial in Jackson County, and ordered him to pay $415 a month in child support. In an opinion the Associated Press described as dripping with sarcasm, Scalia wrote for his two other fellow dissenters in the case that the majority's "opinion is an inspiring demonstration of how thoroughly up-to-date and right-thinking the justices are in matters pertaining to the sexes ... and how sternly we disapprove the male chauvinist attitudes of our predecessors." "The price to be paid for this display -- a modest price surely -- is that most of the opinion is quite irrelevant to the case at hand," Scalia said. Scalia noted that it was men -- not women -- who were excluded from the Alabama jury. "In order, it seems to me, not to eliminate any real denial of equal protection, but simply to pay conspicuous obeisance to the equality of the sexes, the court imperils a practice that has been considered an essential part of fair jury trial(s) since the dawn of the common law," Scalia said. Minority voting districts The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, on March 25, 2015 ruled in favor of black plaintiffs, the Alabama Democratic Conference and Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama, who say the state's legislative district maps improperly packed African-American voters into minority districts. "Frankly, I do not know what to make of appellants' (ADC and Caucus) arguments," Scalia wrote in a minority dissenting opinion. "They are pleaded with such opacity that, squinting hard enough, one can find them to contain just about anything. This, the Court believes, justifies demanding that the District Court go back and squint harder, so that it may divine some new means of construing the filings." Right to a lawyer In 2002, Scalia wrote a dissenting opinion in an Alabama case in which the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision that defendants deserve a lawyer even if facing only a suspended jail term for a minor charge. In that case, the majority upheld an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in favor of LaReed Shelton, who acted as his own lawyer and was given a 30-day suspended sentence for assault, plus two years probation. The charge stemmed from a fight at his rural grocery store. He argued that the state should have given him a lawyer because he could not afford his own and he might have faced jail time if authorities decided he was not living up to the terms of his probation. Alabama and an outside lawyer the court appointed to make a related argument said Shelton never would have been sent to jail, and could have had a lawyer if he needed one later in the court process. Scalia wrote in the opinion for the four dissenting justices that the decision would lead to a far heavier burden on states than the majority acknowledges. "Today's imposition upon the states finds justification neither in the text of the Constitution, nor in the settled practices of our people, nor in the prior jurisprudence of this court," Scalia wrote. English-only drivers' license Martha Sandoval sued state officials in federal court claiming that Alabama's English-only test policy was discriminatory. She won lower court rulings. Alabama had adopted an English-only amendment to the state constitution in 1990. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2001, however, reversed the lower court rulings. The high court stated the case presented the question of whether private individuals may sue to enforce disparate-impact regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sandoval had argued that the state's department of public safety received federal funds so it fell under the requirements of that Act. "Language in a regulation may invoke a private right of action that Congress through statutory text created, but it may not create a right that Congress has not," Scalia wrote for the majority opinion. "Thus, when a statute has provided a general authorization for private enforcement of regulations, it may perhaps be correct that the intent displayed in each regulation can determine whether or not it is privately enforceable. But it is most certainly incorrect to say that language in a regulation can conjure up a private cause of action that has not been authorized by Congress. Agencies may play the sorcerer's apprentice but not the sorcerer himself." Same sex marriage/Searcy v. Alabama Scalia again brought up states' rights in his dissenting opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last June to make gay marriage legal throughout the nation - including Alabama. "This is a naked judicial claim to legislative--indeed, super-legislative--power; a claim fundamentally at odds with our system of government," Scalia wrote in his dissenting opinion. "Except as limited by a constitutional prohibition agreed to by the People, the States are free to adopt whatever laws they like, even those that offend the esteemed Justices' 'reasoned judgment.' A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy." Scalia also had joined Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thomas in a Feb. 9 in a dissenting opinion last year that would have stayed - at the request of Alabama's Attorney General - a federal court judge's ruling to allow gay marriage to begin in Alabama ahead of the June ruling. Same-sex marriages began that day in a number of Alabama counties, but in early March were halted by an Alabama Supreme Court order until the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June. Mentally retarded executions In a 6-3 ruling in 2002 that affected Alabama and 19 other states, the Supreme Court barred the execution of mentally retarded people, saying it was unconstitutionally cruel. The ruling left it up to the states to decide what constitutes mental retardation, something that clarified in later rulings. Scalia wrote on behalf of the dissenters that the ruling was not grounded either in the Constitution nor in current social attitudes about the death penalty. "Seldom has an opinion of this court rested so obviously upon nothing but the personal views of its members," he wrote. Shelby v. Holder Scalia was among the 5-4 majority that overturned the formula in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 used to determine which jurisdictions, including Alabama, are required to get federal government permission for election changes. The decision, which critics say was a major blow to that civil right legislation, was the result of a lawsuit brought by Shelby County. Harris v. Alabama Scalia was part of the majority 8-1 decision in 1995 that affirmed Alabama's law that allows judges in capital murder cases to override jury recommendations on sentencing a defendant to death or life without the possibility of parole. A few of the justices now appear ready to overturn judicial overrides in Alabama. Juvenile killers In a 5-4 decision in Miller v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles convicted of capital murder could not be automatically sentenced to life without parole. The court had previously ruled that juvenile killers could not be sentenced to die, leaving judges in Alabama only the option of life without parole sentences for those convicted of capital murder. Scalia joined three other justices in dissenting decisions in that case. Campaign contribution limits Scalia was in the majority in the court's 5-4 opinion in Shaun McCutcheon v the Federal Elections Commission. In that case the U.S. Supreme Court struck down restrictions on the total amount of money that a person can contribute to federal candidates for office. Hitching Post Scalia was in the minority of a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2002 that stated three Alabama corrections officers could be sued for monetary damages by an inmate handcuffed to a hitching post in 1995. The court said the officers did not have the protection from lawsuits normally given state employees because they should have known that handcuffing a prisoner to a restraining bar clearly was cruel and unusual punishment that violated the Constitution. ADA SUIT Scalia was in the 5-4 majority on the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2001 decision that limited the federal government's power over states when it prevented two disabled state employees from suing Alabama for discrimination. The decision preserved states' immunity from damage seeking lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Associated Press contributed to this story Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, among the frontrunners for the Republican presidential nomination, has been confirmed for a visit to Alabama, AL.com has learned. Rubio will be in Huntsville on Feb. 27 for a private fundraiser, according to Sam Givhan, chair of the Madison County Republican Executive Committee. Huntsville-area GOP officials are hopeful Rubio will also hold a public campaign event but nothing has been scheduled. The Alabama primaries are March 1. State Rep. Will Ainsworth, co-chair of Rubio's campaign in Alabama, told AL.com on Monday that Rubio is planning a public rally somewhere in the state the day of the Huntsville fundraiser but nothing has been confirmed at this point. The Rubio fundraiser will be at 6 p.m. Givhan said Monday he did not know where the fundraiser will be held. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is still considering a visit to Huntsville as well, as AL.com reported earlier this month, but no firm plans have been made. Another leading Republican candidate, Ted Cruz, has also not confirmed a visit to Alabama, according to U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, the Cruz campaign chair in Alabama. Brooks said plans are fluid at this point to maximize Cruz's candidacy in what's known as the March 1 SEC Primary. Givhan also cautioned that plans are ever-changing given the course of the campaigns. The three Republican frontrunners all visited Alabama last year. Rubio addressed a crowd of about 850 supporters in Guntersville on Dec. 1, 2015. "We're obviously excited to have Sen. Rubio come back to Alabama," Ainsworth said. "He's got a lot of support." Updated Feb. 15, 2016 at 2:45 p.m. with comments from state Rep. Will Ainsworth. GOP 2016 Trump Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump meets with attendees during a campaign stop Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016, in Milford, N.H. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz continued to joust for primacy heading into the South Carolina primary next weekend, foregoing policy differences for name-calling and insults. Trump called Cruz "nuts," "dishonest" and "an unstable person," while Cruz questioned both Trump'sconservative credentials and whether he had the temperament to be president. Cruz is trying to weakenTrump's standing among South Carolina's social conservatives and evangelical Christians, a key voting bloc in Saturday's contest. "The people of South Carolina want a consistent conservative they can trust," Cruz told reporters before his rally in Aiken. He also released a new television ad attacking Trump, showing footage of his praising Planned Parenthood and Hillary Clinton. It ends with the line, "South Carolina cannot trust Donald Trump." Trump threatened to sue Cruz, challenging his eligibility to serve in the White House unless he stops airing what Trump calls "false ads" and retracts what the billionaire real estate mogul called a series of lies. Trump called Cruz "the most dishonest guy I think I've ever met in politics." "I think he's an unstable person," he said, later declaring: "He's nuts." Speaking to hundreds of supporters, Cruz said he intends to make the presidential race a referendum on the Supreme Court and the importance of electing a president who will nominate conservatives. The issue is at the forefront of the presidential race following the sudden death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, whom Cruz praised as a "lion of the law." Cruz said before his rally that a vote for Trump would be a vote for doing away with Second Amendment gun rights, predicting that the billionaire businessman would appoint liberal justices to the Supreme Court. He ticked off a list of Democrats Trump had donated to in the past, including 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry. Cruz also blasted Trump's sister, a federal appellate judge, calling her a "radical pro-abortion extremist" who should not be considered for the Supreme Court vacancy. Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, is a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Trump has said she would make a good justice, but Cruz said she would not be a good choice, citing an opinion she wrote in 2000 that held a New Jersey law banning late-term abortions placed an "undue burden" on a woman's constitutional right to have the procedure. Cruz also took issue with Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Both called him a liar during Saturday's debate. Cruz said they both "simply scream 'Liar, liar!'" whenever their records are questioned, and that approach would not work when negotiating with the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cruz also blasted Trump's apparent confusion during a Republican debate last year over what constituted the nuclear triad as an example of how the real estate mogul is unprepared to be president. And Cruz again returned to criticizing Trump's praise of Planned Parenthood. Cruz released a television ad on Sunday attacking Trump for previously saying Planned Parenthood "serves a good function." In Saturday's debate Trump said that the organization "does do wonderful things, but not as it relates to abortion." "He's entitled to have that opinion," Cruz said Monday. "A lot of liberal Democrats have that opinion." Cruz also said Rubio's positions on supporting a path to citizenship puts him in line with "a lot of liberal Democrats" including Hillary Clinton. Rubio has previously supported a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, but has backed off that position and now says border security must be increased first. Even as Cruz sharpened his attacks on Rubio and Trump, he said the campaign "shouldn't just be about insults and personal attacks." Franklin Graham by Frank Couch.jpg Evangelist Franklin Graham preached each night of the Festival of Hope in Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 14-16, 2015. (Frank Couch) Franklin Graham is coming to Alabama. Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, will host a prayer rally in Montgomery on April 14 from noon - 1 p.m. The event is part of The Decision America Tour in which Graham is making a stop in every state. The Alabama rally will be held on the west front steps of the Alabama Capitol. In December, Graham said he was leaving the Republican Party over its failure to defund Planned Parenthood. Graham has declined to endorse a presidential candidate in the primaries but has expressed his admiration for front runner Donald Trump. In a 2015 interview with AL.com, Graham said he planned to spend the next year urging Christians to vote. "I'm going to every state, calling people to repentance, to faith in Christ, to vote for candidates that support biblical values," Graham said. "I'm not going to endorse any candidates. I've been disappointed too many times. I want the Christians to get out and vote. Some of these elections are won and lost not by millions, but by hundreds of votes. In 2000, with Bush and Gore, it came down to just a handful of votes. Every vote counts. Many Christians think their vote doesn't count. It does count." Graham is now the head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He's no stranger to controversy and, in recent years, has become an outspoken critic of Obama administration policies related to same-sex marriage, immigration and abortion. Denzinger This July 28, 2014, photo shows Jakob Denzinger's portrait on the tombstone of his empty grave in Cepin, eastern Croatia. The suspected former Nazi prison guard at Auschwitz and other death camps, Jakob Denzinger, has died in his native Croatia at the age of 91. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) ZAGREB, Croatia -- Jakob Denzinger, a suspected former Nazi prison guard at Auschwitz and other camps, has died in his native Croatia. He was 91. The death announcement by Denzinger's family says he was buried Saturday at a local cemetery near Osijek in eastern Croatia. Local media said he died at hospital on Thursday. Denzinger was born in present-day Croatia, which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. He started serving with the Nazi SS at the age of 18, in 1942, while Croatia was under a pro-Nazi puppet regime. He was posted at several camps, including the Auschwitz death camp complex in occupied Poland. Denzinger moved to the U.S. after the war, settling in Ohio where he became a successful plastics industry executive. Years later, the Justice Department uncovered his past. In 1989, as U.S. prosecutors prepared their case to strip Denzinger of his citizenship, he first fled to Germany and later moved to Croatia. Denzinger was among dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals and SS guards who collected millions of dollars in U.S. Social Security benefits after being forced out of the United States. An Associated Press investigation into the issue resulted in a law in 2014 barring suspected Nazi war criminals from receiving U.S. government pension benefits. Croatian authorities in 2014 opened an investigation of Denzinger's World War II service, but he was never tried. He had refused to comment on the allegations. Scalia The hearse which transported Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's body to the airport from Sunset Funeral Home departs the Atlantic Aviation hangar at El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. (VIctor Calzada/The El Paso Times via AP) WASHINGTON -- The body of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was taken to a West Texas airport Sunday afternoon and was being flown to Virginia after it was determined he died of natural causes and an autopsy was not necessary. Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes, said Scalia's body was taken from the El Paso facility late Sunday afternoon and was being flown to Virginia, though he had no details. Scalia's family didn't think a private autopsy was necessary and requested his remains be flown home as soon as possible, he said. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Sunday she consulted with Scalia's personal physician and sheriff's investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding the 79-year-old had died of natural causes. He was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch Saturday morning. Guevara says the declaration was made around 1:52 p.m. Saturday. Terry Sharpe, assistant director for operations at El Paso International Airport, said a private plane carrying Scalia's body departed around 8 p.m. EST. Scalia's body was accompanied to the airport by U.S. marshals, he said. He said he didn't know where the plane was headed. The U.S. Marshals Service referred questions about the flight to Supreme Court officials, who did not immediately respond to inquiries. Scalia's weekend death was as much of a shock to those at the ranch as it was to the rest of the nation The owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, where Scalia died, said the justice seemed his usual self at dinner the night before he was found "in complete repose" in his room. John Poindexter told reporters Scalia was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests. He arrived Friday around noon. The group had dinner Friday night and Scalia was his "usual, personable self," Poindexter said. Scalia retired around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep, according to Poindexter. A procession that included about 20 law enforcement officers arrived in the early hours Sunday at the funeral home more than three hours from the ranch, Lujan said. Kristina Mills, a history teacher at nearby Chapin High School, came to the funeral home to pay her respects and brought flowers. "Recognizing his contribution to serving our country just compelled me to come," she said. "I wanted to do yellow roses because for him dying in Texas. I didn't want his family to have bad memories of Texas." In the nation's capital, where flags flew at half-staff at the White House and Supreme Court, the political sniping soared, raising the prospect of a court short-handed for some time. The Senate's Republican leader, backed largely by his party's White House candidates, essentially told a Democratic president in his final year in office not to bother asking lawmakers to confirm a nominee for the lifetime seat. Scalia's colleagues praised his brilliance and grieved his death. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and Scalia "were best buddies" for more than 30 years. Justice Clarence Thomas said, "It is hard to imagine the court without my friend." President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the high court, where Scalia served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation and U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world. While flags were being lowered, the campaign-year political heat has risen over the vacancy on the nine-member court. At issue is whether Obama, in his last year in office, should make a nomination and the Republican-led Senate should confirm that choice in an election year. Obama pledges a nomination "in due time." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., thinks it should wait for the next president. The Republican resistance to an election-year confirmation got a thorough public airing on the GOP debate stage just hours after Scalia's companions found him dead. Republicans argued that Obama, as a lame duck, should not fill the vacancy created by Scalia's death, but leave it to the next president -- which they hope will be one of them. The Constitution gives the Senate "advice and consent" powers over a presidential nomination to the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz, one of the two GOP senators running for president, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the GOP-controlled Senate is doing its job. "We're advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court," Cruz said. But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings on a nominee, said it would be "sheer dereliction of duty for the Senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote." Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy told CNN's "State of the Union" that he believes McConnell is "making a terrible mistake. And he's certainly ignoring the Constitution." U.S. officials expected to sign an agreement with Cuba, allowing up to 30 direct flights from the U.S. a day. Like most Cubans, Richard Soler cannot afford to travel. But, he says, he is still seeing the world, with each tourist he meets. He gives horse-drawn carriage rides on the streets of Old Havana. When the expected wave of American and foreign investment arrives, he says, this Cuba, in a time capsule, wont wash away. There is nobody like the Cubans. Not a McDonalds nor a Kentucky Fried Chicken is going to change Cubans. Its a lie. Tourism is one of Cubas primary sources of income. Since U.S. President Barack Obama announced that his country was going to normalise relations with Cuba in December 2014, it was as if a floodgate opened. In 2015, three and a half million visitors came to the long-isolated island, an increase of half a million from the year before, according to the Centre for the Study of the Cuban Economy at the University of Havana. Some people have this idea, I want to visit Cuba before it changes too much. I want to visit Cuba before the Americans overflow the country, says Ricardo Torres, an economist with the centre. But Cuba is struggling to keep pace with the growing demand. On Tuesday, American officials are expected to sign an agreement with Cuba, allowing up to 30 direct commercial flights a day to the island a first since the U.S. imposed an embargo on Cuba in 1960. How the country will cope with the influx when shortages of certain goods are still a reality is unknown. As you walk around Havana, it is not unusual to see a construction crane in the sky or a building site for a hotel. But airports, hotels and the infrastructure of the country are in dire need of renovation and expansion. Casaparticulars There arent enough hotel rooms and if one is lucky enough to book one, the rates keep rising. Its a chain. Frankly, well suffer for some years because you do not change that reality in a few years, says Torres. This may be the perfect moment for casaparticulars. Long before Airbnb existed, Cubans were renting out rooms in their homes to tourists. Theyre called a casaparticular in Spanish, or private house. Jesus Nordase is capitalising on the moment. In 1997, he and his extended family began renting rooms in one house. Now, they have three. He wont say how many rooms he rents. But he boasts that hes frequently fully booked and hes raising room rates. Its the best moment since we opened. One of the things we have is a lot of recognition and freedom of operation. But Nordase says the Cuban government still only allows each person to own one house. There is no organisation for owners of casaparticulars or formal co-operation. Perhaps necessity will expedite a change. The people we spoke to are confident of two things. No amount of investment or influence by tourists will contaminate, as Nordase put it, the Cuban identity. However challenging it may be, they believe that the government will devise a strategy to expand development without overshadowing what makes the island distinctive. Whether its next year or in 10 years, Soler told us, tourists are guaranteed to experience the Cubano spirit. As figures show grieving families have vetoed organ donations by deceased loved ones, the UK adopts a new approach. Seven-year-old Fraser Bates has already saved at least four lives and helped two other people to see again, thanks to a decision taken by his mum, Anna. Last December, Fraser and his father Stuart were hit by a car. Both later died from their injuries. Anna-Louise Bates took the decision to allow her husband and son to become organ donors. Since then, Fraser has given at least four people the chance to live. When the difficult decision came it was no decision at all, she told Al Jazeera. I knew expressly what Stuey would have wanted me to do and Fraser was never ever treated as a child. He was very concerned following the Paris shootings and always wanted to give anything that he could to help anyone else. I knew that this is what he would have wanted too. I didnt realise the effects of my decision and the importance of it until afterwards and the amount of comfort it has brought me and my family. To know Fraser has given the ultimate gift of life to at least four others and to know Stueys wishes were fulfilled is amazing. But not all families approach organ donation with the same attitude. Vetoed donations NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), the body responsible for organ donations in the UK, recently released figures that show at least 547 families had vetoed donations by a loved one since 2010, despite the fact the relative was signed up to the organ donor registry. For Anna-Louise, the fact that they had discussed organ donation as a family meant that she knew exactly what her husband would have wanted. She has now set up a charity to help others to have these conversations. Stuey and I were friends with Teddy Holstens mum, Jessica, who just won the Pride of Britain award, and it was following watching the show that we talked about organ donation generally. In 2015, Teddy Holsten became the UKs youngest organ donor, after living for just 100 minutes. Ill be honest, I wasnt sure [about organ donation] but it was Stuey who saw the importance of it. I was not aware of these problems [with families preventing donations] until being part of the process, Anna-Louise said. This is one of the objectives of the Believe charity, to look into this and to try and make the process easier for families. Stuey had opted in but I still had the power to overrule his decision, which I do not think is right. According to NHSBT, refusals by the family members of those who had opted to be donors have meant that an estimated 1,200 people missed out on potentially life-saving transplants. There are currently more than 6,500 people in the UK waiting for a transplant. NHSBT has responded to concerns about the shortfall in donations and the vetoing by families by changing the way in which donation is approached. Instead of seeking consent from families in cases in which the potential donor has already signed up to the register, relatives will be given a leaflet explaining that consent rests with the deceased. Families can still override this if they really want to, but they would need to provide reasons for their decision and discuss it with a specialist. Anthony Clarkson, the assistant director of Organ Donation at NHSBT, told Al Jazeera that while they already had legal consent to go ahead with donations if the deceased had signed the registry, it was still important to support the families involved. Technically, in law, we have consent because they have consented in life, he said. For some families, however, it might not be the right thing and of course we would respect that. Emotional strain In Scotland, relatives already have to fill out a form explaining why they are removing consent, and give evidence that the potential donor had changed his or her mind. We were considering whether to introduce that form elsewhere so that when a family has to sign that form it really makes them think, Is this what we want to do?' Clarkson said. The third measure is ensuring as many people as possible when they join the register tell their family. This last point, he added, would help to reduce the emotional strain on families having to make a decision about donation. The hope is that families who know thats what the relative wanted to do will be in a very clear position and ready for the approach of an organ donation specialist. What we dont want is for them to come to a decision and then regret it, particularly when the relative is on the register. For health advocate Sharon Brennan, who has cystic fibrosis, the idea that relatives can deny a deceased persons final wish is troubling. A life chance In August 2013, the now 35-year-old health campaigner and writer received a phone call that changed her life. She had been on the lung transplant registry for just five and a half months when she was told a viable match had been found but even then she struggled to believe the operation would go ahead. I was convinced it wouldnt go ahead because there are so many people I know that have waited for four, five, six, even seven calls, so to get it on your first is quite rare. READ MORE: Finding organ donors among Qatars Muslim community Sharon was so convinced that the procedure would not, ultimately, go ahead that she messaged friends she had been planning to meet at the weekend to tell them to still expect to see her. Id had oxygen [needed because of her illness] delivered to their house and I was texting her right up to the last minute. She was replying saying I should probably be concentrating on my transplant. When I was ill and waiting it was very odd to think that [I was] dying. Cystic fibrosis is a very unusual condition because you have it all your life and you struggle quite a lot, but that becomes normal. Although I knew I wasnt going to have a very long life expectancy it is kind of weird to look back and realise I didnt have long left because I was struggling to do anything. At the time when youre living through that it is amazing how you can adapt your thinking to think, not that youre OK, but that youve got time left. It was only after the transplant when I realised what it is to be healthy, that I realised how ill I was. I definitely wouldnt be alive now without having had that transplant. A second chance Beyond the huge impact it has on those waiting for transplants, Sharon also feels that refusing to allow donations affects the families of the deceased. How are they going to feel three months down the line, when that sudden grief has not dissipated but theyve learned how to deal with it better, that they actually denied their loved one their last wish? she asked. We talk a lot about people like me getting a second chance in life, but actually by saying no to what a donor wants to do, youre taking away their chance to save someone. Theres already a big gap between people who believe in donation and actually act on it, so to have someone who signed up means it is obviously something they actually wanted to do and I dont think anyone should have the right to take that away. I do think the families need emotional support through the process, but I dont think they should be able to say no, unless they can genuinely say that the potential donor changed their mind. Support in difficult times In the UK, only 34 percent of people have opted in to be organ donors, but more than 90 percent support the idea of donation. This gap is one thing that prompted Wales to change its organ donation system to one of presumed consent. This means that unless a person actively decides to opt out of donation, it is assumed that they have no strong objections to the procedure in the event of their death. Dr Chris Jones, the deputy chief medical officer for Wales, told Al Jazeera that the country had run a two-year campaign to make sure people understood the change before it came into effect in December 2015. We have a duty of care to the families and it is very important that they understand their options. What deemed consent means is that they have a responsibility to provide evidence to prove they didnt give their consent to be a donor, he explained. Our hope is that it will lead to more organ donors as fewer families object to donation. READ MORE: To donate or not to donate Although specific figures are not yet available for the true effect of deemed consent, Jones said that anecdotally there has already been an increase in people opting in. He added that the work of the specialist nurses, who guide families through the donation process and offer support, was essential to the process. Religious perspectives on donation Shibu Chacko is one of 250 specialist nurses in the UK who work to support families through the organ donation process. He told Al Jazeera that each day in the UK, at least three people die for want of a viable organ. Organ donation comes at a most traumatic of times for families when a loved one dies. Talking about organ donation as part of the end of life care is very emotional for families and must be handled very sensitively by health professionals, he said. We work with clinicians and hospital staff but we do also engage with local communities to help raise awareness and answer questions and address misunderstandings about organ donation. Some colleagues community work focuses specifically on working with minority faith and ethnic groups. We know there are several perceived barriers to donation often relating to beliefs, traditions and practices around death. All the major religions of the UK support the idea of organ donation and transplantation. However, many people are unsure what their religions views are on organ donation. We have produced guides in several languages about each religions perspective on donation. READ MORE: The organ traders Chacko added that this kind of thing is essential as people from the same ethnic group are more likely to be a close match. Our research shows only around half of the population have discussed donation with their family, even when they have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register. We need conversations about organ donation to be part of everyones life. If you know you want to donate your organs after death, it makes it much easier for your family if you have the conversation in life. We need to revolutionise public attitudes towards donation so more patients get the organ transplant they desperately need. It is this cultural change that Anna-Louise Bates believes will make the decision-making process easier for grieving families. Knowing Stueys wishes made the decision simple and I would strongly recommend that people have this discussion, she said. The comfort that we have had is tremendous and without it I think that life going forward would be far more difficult. Pope Francis is currently on a historic five-day visit to Mexico. The Argentine pope is the first Catholic pontiff to visit the presidential palace since Mexico and the Vatican restored diplomatic relations in 1992, after years of animosity because of the churchs role in the countrys politics. Francis was welcomed on Saturday by exuberant crowds in Mexico City after a stop-off in Cuba where he met Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, in the first papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in nearly 1,000 years. Local Catholics hope that the pontiffs message of peace will resonate through the country and beyond. If Egyptian officials are really interested in improving the countrys image, they should take corrective action. If recent comments made by Egypts foreign minister are any indication, his divorce from reality may be near completion. Sameh Shoukry, Egypts highest ranking diplomat, complained in a recent exclusive interview with Foreign Policy that his government is being unfairly maligned, especially on the human rights front. He said lies repeated against the Egyptian government are part of a Western propaganda campaign reminiscent of Nazi propaganda. Foreign Policy quoted Shoukry as saying: Are we to return to the ideologies and the practices of [Joseph] Goebbels, where he says that if you repeat a lie sufficiently it becomes a truth? In particular, Shoukry took issue with a claim made repeatedly by human rights groups, academics, and journalists that Egypt has arrested 40,000 people since the start of its summer 2013 crackdown. He implied that the claim was both preposterous and offensive to Egypt. It has been an onslaught of 40,000, repeated and repeated and repeated in the public domain until it has been accepted as a matter of fact, Shoukry grumbled. Anti-Egyptian propaganda Shoukrys gripe over reported arrest numbers is difficult to understand. The Egyptian government while underestimating arrest figures and keeping precise official data private has itself acknowledged in press statements that it has arrested tens of thousands of people during its crackdown. Shoukry would do well to review the statements of his Interior Ministry colleagues before complaining about anti-Egyptian propaganda. ALSO READ: Another Arab Spring is coming to Egypt In March 2014, Egyptian security officials told the Associated Press that they had arrested 16,000 people after the elected President Mohamed Morsi was deposed in July 2013. While no one but the Egyptian government knows the exact number of post-coup arrests, an estimate of 40,000 appears safe, if not overly conservative. by At the time, Joe Stork, of Human Rights Watch, argued that the 16,000 figure was almost certainly a gross underestimate, noting that Egyptian human rights groups had documented and confirmed the names and locations of more than 21,000 people who had been charged. Following March 2014, the crackdown continued unabated. In July 2014, an Egyptian Interior Ministry official acknowledged that the number of arrests had risen to 22,000 again, almost certainly an underestimate. More recently, the Egyptian government acknowledged in an interview with an Egyptian state-run newspaper that the Interior Ministry arrested 11,877 people between January and September 2015. Thus, a total of 33,877 arrests can be easily confirmed purely on the basis of a small handful of Egyptian government press statements, which, importantly, do not even cover the entirety of the post-coup period. Undoubtedly, many arrests were also made from July 2014 to December 2014 and from October 2015 to the present not represented here and about which the Egyptian government has remained silent. While no one but the Egyptian government knows the exact number of post-coup arrests, an estimate of 40,000 appears safe, if not overly conservative. It is not surprising, then, that so many academics, Western human rights groups, and journalists have accepted without problem the arrest data gathered by independent sources such as the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, which has compiled a statistical databaseof arrests. Post-coup Egyptian political order The arrest numbers come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the post-coup Egyptian political order. In late 2013, the Egyptian government passed a protest law that effectively criminalises protest. The government later passed an overly broad anti-terrorism law that considers certain non-violent acts of civil disobedience as terrorism. These and other draconian laws have been used to arrest and prosecute thousands, including journalists, academics, and activists. Shoukrys recent comments about arrest numbers do not represent his first brush with absurdity. In May 2015, shortly after taking over as foreign minister and immediately following a series of unprecedented mass death sentences issued by Egypts judiciary, Shoukry defended Egypts justice system against a global outcry led by human rights groups, diplomats, and independent academic and legal experts. ALSO READ: Egypts revolutionary conundrum In 2014 and 2015, Egyptian judges issued four mass death sentences, including one sentence against 529 people for the alleged killing of a single police officer, and a separate sentence against 100 people, including several individuals who, human rights and legal experts noted, were apparently either dead or in jail at the time the crimes they were accused of committing were carried out. Death sentences and hangings In a separate judicial case, Egypt hanged six young men in spite of evidence noted by human rights organisations showing that the men could not possibly have committed the crimes they were accused of committing they had all been in jail long before the crimes were carried out. In a May 2015 press conference that followed the death sentences and hangings, Shoukry took offence at suggestions that Egypts judiciary may be politicised or otherwise unjust. Addressing a series of critical statements by academics, global human rights groups, and foreign diplomats, Shoukry said, the Egyptian people do not accept that others should doubt the integrity of [their] judicial system. Ignoring the evidence presented by independent observers, he argued that Egypt was keen about implementing the rule of law and separation of powers. Egypt has become an international laughing stock, thanks in large part to comments made by Shoukry and other government officials, who have consistently denied or downplayed human rights abuses and pushed the absurd line that Egypt is the victim of a global conspiracy. If Shoukry and his government colleagues are interested in improving Egypts international standing, they should consult a basic Image Restoration text, which would instruct them to acknowledge abuses, express remorse, and take corrective action. If recent government performance is any indication, the chances of any of this happening are slim. Mohamad Elmasry is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications at the University of North Alabama. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. For Ankara, nothing is worse than a Kurdish corridor along Turkeys frontier with Syria. Can Kasapoglu is a defense analyst at the Istanbul-based think-tank the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. With the Turkish army targeting Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) fighters in northern Syria while the Royal Saudi Air Force deploys fighter jets to Turkeys Incirlik air base, the prospect is raised of a joint Turkish-Saudi incursion. To predict Ankaras next move, first, one should understand the Turkish administrations geopolitical perspective and threat perceptions. Under the cover of the Russian air-ground campaign, the Syrian army has not only reversed control of terrain massively, but has changed the balance of power by clearing key rebel bastions along the primary axis of the conflict. More alarmingly for Turkey, recent developments on the battleground caught many Turkish analysts off-guard. As Bashar al-Assads forces were preparing for a decisive siege of Aleppo, Ankara focused on halting the regimes northern push and preventing a large influx of refugees. Dangerous gains Meanwhile, shockingly, YPG, the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) affiliated Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), has started to make dangerous gains between Tal Rifaat and Azaz, having captured a key jumping-off point, the Menagh air base. In the eyes of Turkish decision-makers, if there is something worse than seeing a regime takeover in Azaz, it might be a complete PYD corridor along its frontier with Syria. ALSO READ: A Syria without Syrians More importantly, the YPG fighters are now receiving close air-support from the Russians. This is a game-changer for Turkey. The military geostrategic consistency between Assad's forces' northern offensive and YPG's push for critical positions between Tal Rifat and Azaz completes the alarming picture for Ankara. by First, close air-support operations necessitate co-ordination between the ground elements and supporting air platforms. Especially when belligerents fight in close proximities, adjusting fire support co-ordination lines is important to prevent dangerous friendly-fire situations. Thus, YPGs recent success in receiving Russian close air-support suggests the presence of Russian forward air controllers among the YPG fighters. Secondly, the military geostrategic consistency between the northern offensive of Assads forces and the YPGs push for critical positions between Tal Rifat and Azaz completes the alarming picture for Ankara. Clearly, the Turkish administration has been monitoring a menacing harmony on its doorstep between the YPG, the regime, and the Russian contingent. Turkeys current moves and limited military operations through stand-off artillery fire should not be confused with Ankaras great expectations at the very outset of the civil war. Clearly, at the beginning of the Arab Spring, the Turkish elite saw opportunities for broadening Turkeys sphere of influence through rise of conservative, Muslim Brotherhood-offshoots in the region, particularly in Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria. Thereby, Ankaras support for the moderate Syrian opposition and a no-fly zone over Syria were not much different from Turkeys political support to the Morsi government in Egypt in terms grand strategy. Asking the right question However, the current situation is more about defending territorial unity of the republic than restoring imperial foothold in Turkeys historical hinterland. Put simply, Ankaras strategic reading depends on a volatile geopolitical calculus assessing that collapse of the Sykes-Picot status quo, coupled with mounting PKK terrorism in the home front, would not be a bearable burden for Turkeys national security. This explains why Ankara runs the risk of a rhetorical exchange with the United States, and downing a Russian aircraft in the absence of tangible Western support. At this point, lets ask that topical question; could Turkey and Saudi Arabia launch a joint operation in Syria? For a precise answer, we need to go over the key political-military parameters. As much as the Turkish army has one of the best artillery capabilities in the region, recent military history proves that artillery fire alone would not be decisive enough to repel YPG elements from the Menagh airbase. ALSO READ: Aleppo can be a turning point in Syrias civil war Thus, a land incursion supported by considerable air superiority would be needed. Naturally, following the Su-24 incident, Ankara would be hesitant to fly over the Syrian airspace. At this point, the Saudi option comes into the picture. Although the Royal Saudi Army is not structured as an expeditionary force, RSAF could support a limited Turkish incursion. Yet, in doing so, the burgeoning Turkish Saudi coalition should deploy more than only four F-15SA strike-fighters to Turkeys Incirlik Base. Moreover, any Royal Saudi Air Force missions would be flown under the Russian air defence threat in northern Syria, and Riyadh is not likely to risk a direct confrontation. Besides, Washington would not be happy to see the Saudis flying anti-PYD missions, and that would remain an important political drawback. Opposing to the US and Russia at the same time could be costly for the Kingdom. Nevertheless, Ankara and Riyadh could still work on a plan that would extend the limits of an anti-ISIL mission. In this scenario, Turkey could launch a limited incursion for deterring the YPG advance towards Azaz and setting a safe zone to respond refugee influx, while the Saudis could fly with additional rules of engagement for protecting friendly forces on the ground. In such a case, the Kremlins and Tehrans strategies for further escalation, as well as Washingtons stance, would be the key determinants to either ignite a regional war, or pave the ground for an international consensus over the future of Syria. Dr Can Kasapoglu is a defence analyst at the Istanbul-based think-tank the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM). The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Amid Russian air raids and the advance of pro-Assad forces, some students persist in going to class. Aleppo The recent advance on Aleppo by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al Assad has spurred thousands of residents to flee for the Turkish border. Pro-Assad forces, backed by Russian air raids, are seeking to retake areas of Syrias largest city that are under the control of rebel groups. Aleppo is divided between areas controlled by rebel groups and by the Syrian state. Many of Aleppos schools have continued to operate despite the war. Some have moved underground for protection from bombs, resulting in improved security even as Aleppos humanitarian crisis worsens. However, low attendance, underdeveloped curricula, lack of funds and continued air strikes against schools remain major obstacles for students and teachers alike. Sixteen-year-old Samir Atrash, a high-school student in Aleppos rebel-controlled Mashhad neighbourhood, walks to school amid the debris and rubble that five years of civil war has created. Although he finds history and geography difficult, he likes accounting and gym classes. [My by Shadi put fear in me, to the point that I think staying in the street is safer than going to school.] In the Sukri neighbourhood, which is also controlled by rebels, 15-year-old Shadi al-Agha works with his father in a coffee shop. Although he wants to be an Arabic teacher one day, his dad forbids him to go to school, fearing it will be attacked. Some parents have kept their children out of school since the countrys civil war began in 2012, and residents in Aleppo say schools have been targeted by the regime. A study by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Save the Children claims over 30 Syrian schools had been attacked by September 2015, including some in Aleppo. Russian airstrikes, which began in late 2015, have hit schools recently as well. Al-Agha stopped attending school altogether in 2012 when his family began moving frequently, which made it difficult for him to continue his studies. Of course I want to return to school as soon as possible. But my dad keeps telling me that schools are targeted by Assads bombs, Agha told Al Jazeera. [He] put fear in me, to the point that I think staying in the street is safer than going to school. READ MORE: Aleppo is symbolic of the coming apart of Syria Atrashs school, like many others in Aleppo, had been closed for years as a result of the war. School is hard because my classmates and I had to stop going for more than two years, he told Al Jazeera. His school was closed between 2012 and 2014. Now things are better because the school is open; there is bombing, but its better [less] than before, he told Al Jazeera. According to Zaid Mohammad of the Syrian NGO Kesh Malek, Aleppo is home to 130 schools that are currently operating or in the process of being re-opened. Meanwhile, teachers and administrators lament the bombings damage to the citys schools, while acknowledging improved security. Majid Marai has around 50 students in his four English language classes at the Sakhar Halaq school in the rebel area of Aleppo. While his school has not been directly attacked, he said his students behaviour has changed since the war. Many of them behavelike men. This is nice at first glance, but its a risk to their childhood, he said. Some students have left school altogether. About a year ago there was a bombing campaign against schools and several students left [the school], he said. However, like Atrash, Marai said the situation was getting better and that most students have returned to school. Moreover, he claims that schools are safer nowadays, because many of them moved to basements underground in 2015. INFOGRAPHIC: Communities under siege in Syria Yet schools in Aleppo continue to suffer from physical damage, a lack of funding and inadequate curricula, Marai added. There are organisational problems. Our curriculum was developed in haste by the Syrian interim government. We need to re-do it. There were strikes last year against schools, but no schools were underground. Now the situation is more or less better, in spite of the bombing still targeting the city in general. Ayman Amr Hashem, director of the education office for the Free Aleppo Governorate Council, which rules rebel-controlled parts of Aleppo and operates several of the citys schools, agrees that the curriculum needs reform and that damaged schools must be repaired. We need more organisation and rehabilitation of educational centres, he said. Because bombs have hit schools, teachers have lost a lot of experience due to the continual cancelling of classes. But local authorities often lack the funds to rehabilitate and re-open schools, and the Free Aleppo Governorate Council struggles to pay its employees. Hashem acknowledges that schools in Aleppo receive funding from abroad. But he is critical of this funding, which comes from both western and Middle Eastern states, as being politicised and wants the money to be used to repair the schools, not develop curricula. Despite the risk, students and teachers continue to go to school in dangerous Aleppo. I want to be an engineer, said Atrash. Why else would I take the risk of going to school? Like my dad always says: The future requires hard work and sacrifice.' There is little students can do in the event a school is bombed, although Atrash said he has a routine to stay safe. When the bombs come I drop to the ground, put my hands on my head and get under a table. More than 700 litres of ice found in gel bra inserts and art supplies in one of countrys largest drug busts ever. Australian police have seized more than $900m in methamphetamine, a narcotic known as ice, which had been hidden in gel bra inserts and art supplies, in one of the countrys biggest drug busts ever, authorities said. Three people from Hong Kong and a Chinese national were arrested during the joint operation with China, which Justice Minister Michael Keenan described on Monday as the largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine in Australian history. This has resulted in 3.6 million individual hits of ice being taken off our streets with a street value of 1.26bn Australian dollars, he said. This largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine to date is the result of organised criminals, targeting the lucrative Australian ice market from offshore, he added. Chris Sheehan, the Australian Federal Police commander, said that the operation began in December 2015 when the Australian Border Force examined a shipping container out of Hong Kong in Sydney. It originated in mainland China. That shipping container was found to contain gel bra inserts and hidden inside those gel bra inserts was 190 litres of liquid methamphetamine, he said. The seizure was referred to the Australian Federal Police who began an investigation which traced an additional 530 litres of liquid methamphetamine to five storage units in Sydney, where they were found inside art supplies. In January, a 33-year-old Hong Kong man was arrested and charged in connection with the original seizure. A further two people from Hong Kong, a man, 37, and a 52-year-old woman, along with a Chinese man, 59, were arrested and charged with knowingly taking part in the manufacture of a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug over the stash in the storage units. We are alleging that the people we have arrested werent just mere bit-players, they were significant players within this criminal network, said Sheehan, adding that they all face life in prison if convicted. The sting was part of Taskforce Blaze, a rare operation established in November between the Australian Federal Police and the Chinese National Narcotics Control Commission the first joint effort between the two against the booming ice market. The two sides are working together to gather intelligence relating to concealment methods, trafficking routes and syndicates facilitating methamphetamine imports from Southeast China into Australia. This critical international co-operation is already paying significant intelligence dividends, said Keenan. The bust comes two months after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled a 300m Australian dollar strategy to combat the growing use of ice following a government report that Australia had proportionally more users than most countries. The report showed that the use of the highly addictive drug had doubled since 2007 to more than 200,000 users in 2013, with anecdotal evidence of higher current numbers. An Australian Crime Commission report published last year found that while $80 bought one gramme of ice in China, users in Australia had to pay $500 for the same amount. At least 21 people killed in suspected Russian raids on three hospitals and a school in provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. At least 21 people have been killed and dozens others injured in air strikes and rocket attacks on a school and three hospitals in separate locations in northern Syria, Al Jazeera has learned. In the deadliest incident, at least 14 people were killed and about 30 injured when air strikes and rocket artillery damaged parts of a hospital in the town of Azaz in Aleppo province, the media office at the rebel-controlled Aleppo local council said on Monday. In the same raid, a school where refugees were sheltering was also hit. No death toll has been confirmed. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a news conference in Kiev on Monday that a Russian ballistic missile hit the school and hospital in Azaz. The head of the media office, Abu Thaer al-Halabi, told Al Jazeera that a section of a highway that facilitates the main supply line for humanitarian aid to the region was destroyed in the raids. Halabi also said the strikes were carried out by Russian jets. MSF hospital hit Meanwhile, two strikes on Monday morning targeted a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, killing at least seven people. The medical humanitarian organisation said the hospital was hit by four missiles in two attacks within a few minutes of each other. Five patients, a caretaker and a hospital guard were killed, MSF said. Eight members of staff are missing, presumed dead, while other patients are also missing, but their numbers are currently unknown, the group added. There were at least seven deaths among the personnel and the patients, and at least eight MSF personnel have disappeared. We dont know if they are alive, Mego Terzian told the Reuters news agency, adding that he believed Russia or Syrian government forces were behind the attack. Earlier, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine people, including a child, had been killed in the presumably Russian raids. Q&A: Kurdish fighters carry out ethnic cleansing in Syria A spokesman for the Syria Civil Defence in Idlib confirmed that the hospital was hit but said four people were killed. At least four people have been killed while several others have been injured. We expect the death toll to rise. There are doctors and MSF staff missing, Radi said, without stating his full name. At least 13 people were reportedly injured in the strikes, as rescue workers were trying to reach several people buried under the rubble. Extreme damage has been caused to the hospital. Six floors have been almost reduced to rubble. This hospital is in an area previously surrounded by restaurants and has no rebel strongholds. It has been functioning for over a year now, Radi said. Also in Idlib province, another strike hit the National Hospital in Maarat Al-Nouman. Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr, reporting from the Turkish town of Gaziantep near the Syria border, said: This is not the first time a hospital or a health facility has been targeted in Syria. What we understand is the facility in Idlib that was hit this morning was serving up to 40,000 people who live in what MSF called an active zone of conflict, so they will be denied health services, she added. The health system in Syria as a whole really has all but collapsed and undoubtedly a very grim situation. The hospital was hit four times in two series of at least two attacks within a few minutes of each other #MSF pic.twitter.com/HGFxdWK96S (@MSF_Syria) February 15, 2016 Additional reporting by Al Jazeeras Diana Al Rifai Al Jazeera speaks to protesters at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University after students arrest over anti-India slogans. Massive protests have paralysed one of Indias top universities in New Delhi after the president of the student union was arrested on sedition charges. Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Friday over a protest condemning the 2013 execution of Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri convicted of a 2001 attack on Indias parliament. Kumar, a left-leaning student leader, was arrested amid allegations that anti-India slogans were chanted at that protest. On Monday, several student groups called for a strike on campus and very few students attended classes. READ MORE: Indian police arrest student leader on sedition charges Over the weekend, thousands of students and teachers from several universities and colleges across India held protest rallies at the university. The arrest came after a student faction linked to the ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a police complaint against the campus event. On Thursday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that If anyone shouts anti India slogan & challenges nations sovereignty & integrity while living in India, they will not be tolerated or spared. Speaking to Al Jazeera, protesters and supporters of the movement decried what they called the police and governments fascist and terror-like behaviour, as they feared a crackdown on freedom of expression. Here are some of their views: Nirjhar Mukherjee, teacher in Vidyasagar college, west Bengal I have seen the destruction of India outside the gates of JNU. Those people who are shouting anti-student slogans outside the gates of JNU are real fascists. It is first time in my life I have seen the students of this university so terrified. Its a suffocating situation here. The government has made curbs and is blocking access to the university. Its [the clampdowns] results will be very dangerous. Syed Zaigham Abas, Guest faculty at JNU, Delhi This campus has a debate culture. From the day this university was established, there have been discussions and protests. The students of this university are politically conscious. They speak for the poor and marginalised communities; protests are part and parcel of this university. This is the first time the government has tried to suppress their voice, but it is really hard. Atul SG, MPhil student at JNU There was no search warrant. The police came in civilian clothing and made a terror-like situation on our campus. They arrested our student president. It is really undemocratic and unethical. We will fight until our leader is released Varsha Nair, Masters student at JNU We want to save the political space that JNU has been for a long time. This space has come after a long struggle and sacrifices. If the government is going to shut it down, it wont close without a struggle. They arrested the president on a false case; it was a proper planned attack on JNU. The government, for a long time, was waiting for some excuse to attack us. Now they say we shouted anti-national slogans. Anna Diem, Masters student on exchange from Switzerland at JNU This university is very politically conscious. It is an amazing university, it is a free thinking place. I wish we had such an university in Switzerland. But for the last few days, it is suffocating. The government is trying to suppress the voice, the government is trying to finish the democratic culture of this university. Shubra Sharma, MPhil student at JNU We are opposing the hostile environment created by government over the last few days in the university. We want the immediate release of our president. We want the police to go from our university. The government is trying to ruin the life of poor students. It is really sad to see this kind of situation in our university. Shreya Ghosh, PhD student at JNU The government has made false charges on the student leader. It is a conspiracy against the university. The government does not like the freedom of expression. It feels like we are living under a dictatorship, not a democracy. Interviews and photos by Al Jazeeras Showkat Shafi. Follow him on Twitter: @ShowkatShafi Israel has said it is examining an online video showing a border policeman pushing over a Palestinian in a wheelchair as tensions rose following an attempted stabbing in the occupied West Bank. The video, filmed by a local activist, has stirred Palestinian anger. An Israeli spokesperson said on Monday that the incident is under investigation. The video was said to have been taken on Sunday after a 20-year-old Palestinian woman was shot while trying to stab an Israeli policeman in the flashpoint city of Hebron. UpFront Does the Israeli occupation fuel extremism? Palestinians in the area attempted to approach the woman, who was left in critical condition, as Israeli border police tried to keep them back. An officer is seen pushing the man in the wheelchair, which then tips over backwards. Some Palestinians then move forward towards the man in the wheelchair while another officer points his weapon at one of them, kicks him and orders him back, before firing a stun grenade. The man was not seriously hurt in the scuffle. READ MORE: Building the occupation A spokeswoman for the Israeli justice ministry said the case was under investigation by its police investigations department, declining to provide further details. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident occurred a few minutes after an alleged stabbing attempt took place in the nearby area. A crowd gathered and attempted to get into the area where the attack had taken place, he said. Border police dispersed the crowd and used non-lethal means. The man in the wheelchair was part of that crowd that had gathered. Protests against Israels ongoing occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip have boiled over into violence in recent months. Since October 1, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 176 Palestinians, including bystanders, unarmed demonstrators and attackers. READ MORE: Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez urged to boycott Israel At least 27 Israelis have been killed in stabbing or shooting incidents carried out by Palestinians. Palestinian, Israeli and international rights groups have decried Israel for using excessive force and, in several cases, fatally shooting assailants who they contend could have been arrested. More than half a million Israelis live in more than 150 Jewish-only settlements across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Residing in heavily guarded communities, settlers are protected by both Israeli security forces and private security guards. Freelance journalist Anna Therese Day among those arrested, family says, as rights group calls for their release. Four US journalists have been arrested in Bahrain, accused of entering the country illegally, joining protests and lying to border staff. Bahraini police said on Monday that they had held four foreign nationals, while the US State Department said it was aware of reports that US citizens had been arrested in the Gulf nation. A statement from Bahrains interior ministry said the four were suspected of offences including entering Bahrain illegally having submitted false information to border staff, and participating in an unlawful gathering. WATCH: Bahrain Shouting in the dark An earlier statement from the interior ministry said the four were Americans. The freelance journalist Anna Therese Day was among those arrested, according to a statement from Days family. The four are experienced journalists, having most recently worked on virtual reality documentary filmmaking in Egypt and Gaza, and we hope the Bahraini authorities will release them rapidly and without harm, the Day familys statement said. Anna and her crew are committed journalists who only want to ensure they can undertake their profession ethically and thoroughly. The allegation that they were in any way involved in illegal behaviour or anything other than journalistic activities is impossible. Reporters Without Borders called for the four to be released rapidly and without harm. WATCH: Bahrain, five years after the protests The Arabic-language Miraat al-Bahrain, or Bahrain Mirror, newspaper said that four American journalists had been arrested in Sitra, a Shia village east of Manama, on Sunday while covering clashes between local demonstrators and security forces. The demonstration was meant to mark the anniversary of 2011 protests mainly by Shia Muslims. Those protests were put down by Bahrain security units. WATCH: The media war in Bahrain The US State Department said it was aware of reports that US citizens had been arrested, but declined further comment, citing privacy considerations. Earlier in the week, hundreds of people took to the streets of the Bahraini capital, Manama, to mark the uprisings anniversary. Police on Saturday fired tear gas and used rubber bullets at the Shia Muslim demonstrators who were calling for political reform. For the past week, Turkish military forces have been shelling targets in northern Syria held by the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, the armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Union Party, a group designated by Turkey as a terrorist organisation. Over the weekend, Ankara demanded that fighters leave the areas they captured from opposition forces in the northern part of Aleppo, including the Menagh airbase in the city of Azaz. Ankara has urged the protection unit fighters, known as the YPG, not to expand their territory for some time. But both Washington and Ankara hold opposing views on Kurdish groups fighting in Syria. While Washington views the Syrian Democratic Union Party, or PYD, as a close ally in the campaign against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria, Ankara believes that it is the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. Turkish forces have been bogged down in battle with the PKK for more than 30 years. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, while the PYD is not. Al Jazeera talks to Yasin Aktay, an MP who is deputy chairman for foreign affairs in the ruling Justice and Development Party, on the Turkish shelling on the PYD, the current situation in northern Syria, the refugee crisis and US-Turkish relations in the context of the Syrian crisis. OPINION: Syrian Kurds and Turkeys Kurdish question Al Jazeera: Why is Turkey shelling Kurdish fighter targets? And what is Turkeys red line on the PYD and YPG activities? Civilians in Syria rely on Turkey as the only safe place to take refugee, but this is unsustainable. They cannot rely on us forever and Turkey cannot keep on acting as the fool in the situation it is facing. Yasin Aktay: The PKK is carrying out ethnic cleansing in northern Syria through its offshoot there, the PYD. The group has been doing this with the support of Russia. The PYD goes to territories where there is no or a small Kurdish population, and works to deport non-Kurdish ethnic population out of these areas. Aleppo is perhaps the only place where Syrians can still breathe. There is a humanitarian corridor [from Turkey] to Aleppo, allowing people to keep on with their lives in this key city. If this humanitarian corridor was blocked, which PYD seeks to achieve, people cannot go on with their lives in Aleppo and they will try to take refuge in Turkey, fleeing ethnic cleansing. Turkey keeps on with its open-door policy, helping people in need. However, Ankara can no longer tolerate such [PYD] activities in Syria, which will create a situation that will make people leave their homes and make Turkey pay the price for it. At the end of the day, an ethnic group [Kurdish] which has a minor population in Syria is trying to take over a very large part of the country. Al Jazeera: How do the PKK and PYD collaborate? Aktay: Following Turkeys offensive on PKK targets in the country, these [PKK] terrorists have began entering Syria and fighting there. They are trying to create a corridor through the Syria-Turkey border. This creates an obvious security risk for our country. Al Jazeera: Do you think that the PYD is in full co-operation with the Syrian regime? Aktay: This has been valid since the early days of the Syrian crisis. The Syrian government managed to get the PYD to work for it, despite the fact that Kurds were repressed for decades under the regime there. The PYD is opposed by other Kurdish factions in Syria and among Iraqi Kurds as well. It does not represent the Kurdish people of Syria.The group has always functioned in full co-operation with the Syrian intelligence and always betrayed Kurds while working with the Syrian regime. OPINION: The Syrian Civil War has become a perpetual conflict Al Jazeera: Ankara always advocated safe zones for refugees inside Syria. Do you think this is still possible? Aktay: The safe zones would keep the refugees inside Syria and prevent ethnic cleansing there. These are the reasons why we want safe zones. However, the international community does not seem to care about the refugee situation resulting from the Syrian crisis. Turkey is paying the entire price for the situation as the world powers are occupied with other calculations. Civilians in Syria rely on Turkey as the only safe place to take refugee, but this is unsustainable. They cannot rely on us forever and Turkey cannot keep on acting as the fool in the situation it is facing. Al Jazeera: Saudi Arabia recently positioned warplanes in the Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey. Will these planes act together with the US-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or in any other way? Aktay: They are expected to be operating with the coalition. It is not common for countries to act individually in these situations in terms of international legitimacy. With the same concerns, Turkey keeps acting within its own borders for self-defence purposes and targets the Syrian territory only when there is an attack or a definite threat on Turkish soil. We cannot say the same thing for Russia and Iran, the supporters of the Syrian regime. Russia is an occupying power in Syria, utilising the regimes invitation. And Iran has active military forces in Syria. Al Jazeera: The US urged Turkey to stop shelling PYD targets on Saturday. How do their different views on the PYD affect the relationship between the two allies? Aktay: We are at a point where we will not change our stance to keep good relations with the US. If the relations will be spoiled because of that, then so be it. Turkey cannot tolerate what has been going on close to its borders anymore. If theTurkish military does not intervene in the current situation, the country gets attacked by the elements located inside Syria. The US should understand this fact. As an ally, the US administration should realise that it cannot be friends with the enemies of Turkey. And Ankara cannot change a stance on an issue that is so vital for its national interests just because the US backs the PYD, a terrorist organisation that is no different from the PKK. If the US still believes that the Syrian regime is a member of the axis of evil, it should also see that the PYD is an ally of this regime. The regime has killed hundreds of thousands of people in recent years. If one aids the PYD, it means that one is aiding the regime. We need Washington to explain this dilemma to us. Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_uras Council names a list of 18 ministers which the internationally recognised parliament will vote on this week. Libyas UN-backed Presidential Council announced the formation of a revised national unity government, with the internationally recognised parliament to vote on the line-up early this week. One of the councils members, Fathi al-Majbari, said in a televised statement late on Sunday that the list of 13 ministers and five ministers of state had been sent to Libyas eastern parliament for approval. Majbari, announced the list just before the deadline to reach an agreement expired. We hope that this will be the beginning of the end of the conflict in Libya, Majbari said from Skhirat, Morocco, where the council has been meeting to try to come up with a government. But in a sign of continuing divisions over how to bring together Libyas warring factions, two of the councils nine members refused for a second time to put their signatures to the proposed government, according to a document posted on the Presidential Councils Facebook page. The United Nations plan under which the unity government has been named was designed to help Libya stabilise and tackle a growing threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It was signed in Morocco in December, but has been opposed by hardliners on both sides from the start and suffered repeated delays. The council that reached the agreement is made up of nine members from Libyas rival factions and headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, the prime minister-designate. Journey to peace Sarraj, who also heads the Presidential Council, told reporters on Sunday that the latest appointments took into account experience, competence, geographical distribution, the political spectrum and the components of Libyan society. Many of the names on Sundays list were different from last months proposal, though the nominee for the key post of defence minister, Mahdi al-Barghathi, was unchanged. UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler was quick to congratulate the council on announcing a new cabinet. The journey to peace and unity of the Libyan people has finally started, he tweeted. Anas El Gomati, a political analyst and founder of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute, said the latest agreement might not bring peace to Libya. Im quiet pessimistic about this new development. The majority of whats fueling the civil war in Libya has been hidden behind the rhetoric around the war on terror, about saving the revolution but in fact most of the strategic fighting on the ground has been about resources: financial, military and other infrastructural resources around the country, El Gomati told Al Jazeera. The discussions have not focused anything more than bringing people to the table. So, we have got a peace government but we havent got a peace deal, El Gomati said. Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 fall of long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi, with two rival administrations and armed groups fighting for control of the oil-rich country. A rebel alliance overran Tripoli in August 2014, establishing its own government and parliament and causing the recognised administration to flee to the countrys remote east. Classes resume at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda nearly a month after Taliban killed 21 students and teachers. A Pakistani university has resumed classes amid heightened security nearly a month after Taliban fighters stormed the campus, killing 21 students and teachers. The Bacha Khan University, in the town of Charsadda in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, re-opened on Monday, guarded by hundreds of police, highlighting an atmosphere of fear after the Taliban vowed to continue to strike schools throughout the country. The universitys vice chancellor Fazal-ur-Rahim Marwat welcomed the students back, assuring them that all possible security measures had been taken. I am happy to announce that the university has been reopened today but amid very strict security, vice chancellor Marwat told AFP news agency, saying the objective was to defeat the mindset of militants. READ MORE: Pakistan attack My son died protecting his guests The university also decided that teachers could continue to carry their own licensed weapons as long as they do not display them in classrooms, Marwat said. I carried my licensed gun today to the university, as we are still not sure about the security measures taken after the attack, Murad Ali, an office assistant at the university, told Al Jazeera. We are responsible for saving our own lives and cannot rely on anyone else. This attack has left us scared and fearful for our lives. The attack, which occurred on January 20, shattered a growing sense of security in the troubled region, a year after the Peshawar school massacre in which more than 150 people mainly children were killed. These people [Taliban] are against the idea of education. They want to attack us so we can stop educating the youth of this country, but no matter what happens, we wont stop, Fahim Jan, a statistics professor at the university, told Al Jazeera. By targeting educational institutes they want us to live in fear, so we can refrain from attending schools and colleges. Their motive was the same when attacking the Army Public school in 2014. But you see, these attacks are not affecting us. We are still here. Security measures Police and commandos were seen taking up positions on rooftops of the university, while students passed through body scanners and were frisked before entering. Marwat said the university had also set up special camps for the psychological treatment of traumatised students. READ MORE: Bereaved families decry Pakistan campus security We have come to the university today with a firm commitment to uphold sacrifices of our fellow students, said Rehmat Ullah, 20, a student of in the biotechnology department. The university attack was claimed by a faction of the Taliban. Its commander Khalifa Umar Mansoor called schools nurseries for people who challenge Allahs law. He said in a video last month that instead of targeting professional soldiers, we will target the nurseries that produce these people. The university is named after the liberal, secular political figure, Abdul Ghaffar Bacha Khan, who was hailed as a spiritual leader by an anti-Taliban political party. Pakistan has been fighting homegrown rebel fighters since 2004, when the Taliban, displaced by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, began a campaign in border tribal areas. Three years later the umbrella Pakistani Taliban group was formed. Overall levels of violence have fallen since a concerted military push against the Talibans bases began in 2014, and last year saw the fewest casualties among civilians and security forces since 2007. Five dead, including three teenagers, after alleged assaults on Israeli security forces in West Bank and Jerusalem. Israeli forces have shot dead five Palestinians, including three teenagers, in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, after they allegedly attacked Israeli forces. In the first incident, the Israeli army shot and killed two 15-year-old boys in Araqa, west of Jenin, after the Israeli soldiers allegedly came under attack. The Israeli army said in a statement on Sunday that one of the boys was armed with a rifle and shot at the soldiers. The perpetrators hurled rocks at passing vehicles west of Jenin. When forces arrived at the scene, an assailant opened fire at the soldiers. The force responded to the shooting and fired towards the attackers, resulting in their deaths, the statement said. The teenage victims were identified as Nihad Raed Waked and Fuad Marwan Waked, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Later on Sunday, a 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead after an alleged stabbing attack by the Mazmuriya checkpoint north of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the teenager as Naeem Ahmad Safi from Ebideyeh, north east of Bethlehem. Also on Sunday, a young Palestinian woman allegedly tried to stab an Israeli policeman but was shot in the attempt in the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli police said. She was taken to hospital in critical condition. INSIDE STORY: Palestine Is hunger-striking an effective protest Police said that the woman drew a knife on a border police officer at a checkpoint and the officer, who was unharmed, shot her. She was identified as Yasmin al-Zaru, 20. The incident took place near the shared religious site known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque. Tensions are high at the site a 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead in a stabbing attempt there on Saturday. Late on Sunday violence also flared in central Jerusalem when two Palestinians allegedly attacked Israeli police just outside the Old City walls before being shot dead by officers, police told AFP news agency. A police statement later said that one was spotted carrying a bag in a way that made officers suspicious. When they ordered him to drop the bag he allegedly pulled out a weapon and took aim, but was shot dead before he could pull the trigger, according to the Israeli police statement. The statement added that a second gunman then opened fire but was killed by police without wounding any officers, it said. Israeli police said the attackers, both about 20, were armed with improvised automatic weapons. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 176 Palestinians have been killed since violence erupted in the occupied territories in early October, with near-daily reports of alleged attacks that resulted in killings by Israeli security forces. At least 27 Israelis have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians since then. Massive protests have paralysed one of Indias top universities in New Delhi after the president of the student union was arrested on charges of sedition. Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested at Jawaharlal Nehru University in the capital on Friday over a protest condemning the 2013 execution of Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri convicted of an attack on Indias parliament. Kumar, a left-leaning student leader, was arrested amid allegations that anti-India slogans were chanted at that protest. On Monday, several student groups called for a strike on campus and very few students attended classes. Over the weekend thousands of students and teachers from several universities and colleges across India held protest rallies at the university. The arrest came after a student faction linked to the ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party filed a police complaint against the campus event. On Thursday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that If anyone shouts anti India slogan & challenges nations sovereignty & integrity while living in India, they will not be tolerated or spared. READ MORE: New Delhi campus row grabs national attention A day later, Delhi police entered the university, searched dormitories, demanded audio and video recordings of the pro-Guru demonstration, and arrested Kumar. He has denied making any anti-India comments, according to news reports. Smriti Irani, Indias human resource minister, supported Kumars arrest, telling reporters: The nation can never tolerate an insult to Mother India. Several political commenters said that the arrest was an attempt by the government to silence dissent. The arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar and the crackdown on political dissent at JNU suggest that we are living under a government that is both rabidly malign and politically incompetent, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the head of the Centre for Policy Research, a leading New Delhi-based think-tank, wrote in an opinion piece over the weekend. The government reaction to the protests at the prestigious university, well known for its politically active student body, is seen by many as part of a rising tide of intolerance in India since Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014. Over the past few months scores of artists, scientists and historians have returned government awards to protest against what they view as the governments silence or complicity in creating a climate in which criticism is viewed as unpatriotic. UN says missiles hit five hospitals and two schools in Aleppo and Idlib provinces as hopes for peace fade. Up to 50 people including many children were killed and dozens of others wounded in air raids on two schools and five hospitals in separate locations in northern Syria, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said. Farhan Haq, the UN deputy spokesman, quoted Ban as saying on Monday that the death toll was a result of missile attacks and that victims included children. Ban called the attacks blatant violations of international laws that are further degrading an already devastated healthcare system and preventing access to education in Syria. The secretary-general said the attacks cast a shadow on commitments made by nations seeking to end the Syrian conflict at a conference in Munich on February 11, which included a cessation of hostilities within a week and an end to attacks on civilians. He did not say who was responsible for Mondays attacks, but some monitor groups suspect Russian raids. In separate statements on Monday, France and Turkey branded the incident a war crime. READ MORE: Syria war powers agree on cessation of hostilities MSF Hospital hit A hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, northwest Syria, supported by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), was among those hit, the aid group said. MSF said the strikes devastated the hospital and that at least seven people had been killed and at least eight more were missing, presumed dead. The author of the strike is clearly either the government or Russia, Mego Terzian, the groups France president, told the Reuters news agency. READ MORE: Predicting Turkeys next move in Syria MSF said those killed in the strikes were five patients, a caretaker and a guard. The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict, MSF Syria operations chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo said. In a separate incident, at least 14 people were killed and about 30 injured when air strikes and rocket artillery damaged parts of a hospital in the town of Azaz in Aleppo province, the media office at the rebel-controlled Aleppo local council said on Monday. In the same raid, a school where refugees were sheltering was also hit. The head of the media office, Abu Thaer al-Halabi, told Al Jazeera that a section of a highway that facilitates the main supply line for humanitarian aid to the region was destroyed in the raids. Halabi said the strikes were carried out by Russian jets. Also in Idlib province, another strike hit the National Hospital in Maarat Al-Nouman. War of words The Syrian government, backed by Russian air strikes, launched a major offensive from the north of Aleppo and captured several strategically important towns earlier this month. The offensive has led to the displacement of more than 50,000 civilians from Aleppo, tens of thousands of whom have amassed in camps at the Turkish border. Yet, the strikes have angered Turkey, with Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, on Monday issuing a stark warning to Russia. If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response, he said. His comments escalated a war of words with Moscow, which earlier criticised Turkeys shelling of Kurdish-held positions in northern Syria as provocative and said that it wanted the issue raised at the Security Council. Turkey continued shelling Kurdish-led forces in several parts of Aleppo province, alarmed by their recent advances against rebel groups in the country. Ankara accuses the Kurdish forces of links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed movement that has waged a decades-long armed campaign against the Turkish state. Turkey is concerned that the Kurds will be able to create a contiguous Kurdish territory just across the border in northern Syria. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least two children were killed in Mondays shelling. But despite the bombardment, the coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was advancing inside the key rebel-held town of Tal Rifaat, the Observatory said. The town, barely 20km from the Turkish border, is held by an alliance of rebels and is one of their few remaining bastions in the area. READ MORE: Aleppo can be a turning point in Syrias civil war The Observatory said that SDF fighters now controlled more than 70 percent of the town, with heavy fighting continuing in its north and northeast. The SDF has already seized the nearby Menagh airbase from rebel forces and severed the road between Tal Rifaat and Azaz. Davutoglu warned on Monday that Ankara will not let Azaz fall to the SDF, adding the necessary intervention will be made. But an SDF spokesman told Al Jazeera on Monday: Turkey artillery shelling has not and will not stop our advance to Azaz. More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria since the countrys conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Sweden, which received most child refugees in 2015, tries to find some of Europes tens of thousands of missing kids. The EUs criminal intelligence agency says more than 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees have disappeared after arriving in Europe in recent months. It is feared many may have become victims of trafficking. Watch Mohammed Jamjooms reports from Sweden above. Damascus addresses UN over Turkeys shelling of its northern territory as Kurdish fighters say they will not retreat. Syrias foreign ministry has condemned Turkeys shelling of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and sent two letters voicing its concern to the United Nations, Syrian state media reported. Turkish artillery shelling of Syrian territory constitutes direct support to the armed terrorist organisations, the ministry told the UN secretary general and the Security Councils chairman on Sunday. In the past two days, Turkish forces have shelled Kurdish-held areas in Syrias northern province of Aleppo, as it urged fighters with the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the Syrias Democratic Union Party (PYD), to leave areas it had captured there. The Syrian government expresses strong condemnation of Turkeys repeated attacks on the Syrian people and its transgression into the Syrian territory, calling these attacks a gross violation of the Syrian sovereignty and a flagrant breach of the UN Charters objectives and principles, the rules of the international law and the Security Councils counterterrorism resolutions, the letters said. The shelling came after Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, warned on Saturday that Ankara would, if necessary, take military action against PYD fighters if they do not retreat from the territories they gained in the past few days from Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups.. Peace hopes fade as Syrian army tightens grip on Aleppo The YPG is in control of almost all of Syrian-Turkish border and, in recent days, the group and its allies have expanded their territorial gains by taking advantage of a major Russia-backed government offensive in Aleppo. Turkey considers the PYD and its YPG militia to be branches of the PKK, which has waged a decades-long armed campaign against the Turkish state. The PKK is seen as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. and EU, while the PYD is not. We wont retreat On Sunday, Kurdish-backed fighters said they will not withdraw from the areas they have recently captured in the countrys north. Taj Kordsh, a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman, told Al Jazeera on Monday that the group has captured almost half of Tal Rifaat, a town in Aleppos northern suburbs, on Sunday evening. Despite Turkeys shelling, we are advancing and have captured the towns train station. We will retaliate if the shelling continues, Kordsh said. The YPG, Jaish al-Thuwar and other Kurdish groups are part of the SDF, a coalition founded in Syrias mainly Kurdish northeastern region in October 2015. Dozens of fighters from the al Nusra Front from and Ahrar al-Sham have been killed in the clashes, and until now, heavy clashes are taking place, Kordsh added. Opinion: The Syrian Civil War has become a perpetual conflict Speaking to Al Jazeera from Afrin on Sunday, Tarek Abu Zeid, a spokesman of Jaish al-Thuwar, a YPG ally, said: We recently captured Menagh airbase, and we are close to capturing Tal Rifaat. Referring to the Islamic State of the Iraq and Levant group, he said: Our aim is to reach ISIL-controlled territories. We want to fight this terrorist group. Turkey wants us to return to Afrin. This wont happen. We are advancing, we wont retreat. Additional reporting by Al Jazeeras Diana Al Rifai At least one person killed as police and opposition supporters clash after presidential candidate Kizza Besigye held. At least one person has been killed in Ugandas capital Kampala as police clashed with opposition supporters after briefly detaining a leading presidential candidate twice as he tried to hold campaign rallies days before a general election. Several people were wounded in the clashes as police fired bullets and tear gas while opposition supporters hurled rocks and erected street barricades in the capitals Wandegeya suburb, witnesses said according to a Reuters news agency report.. The main opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who heads the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, was held on Monday evening, his second brief detention of the day, after marching with thousands of supporters to a rally in Kampala. He was released soon afterwards, a party spokesperson said. Police said Besigye was held because he did not stick to an authorised route, and his diversion would disrupt businesses. Police can confirm one person died during the confusion today, Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango told the AFP news agency, without giving further details. Opposition politicians told AFP that three people had been shot dead, but the claims could not be independently verified. FDC spokesman Semujju Nganda said several supporters were injured during scuffles with police. We protest in the strongest terms police brutality towards our supporters and targeting our candidate, he said. But Frank Tumwebaze, minister for the presidency, said it was madness that Besigye had tried to hold a rally in the centre of the capital, saying the police had a duty to ensure calm. He accused Besigye of seeking publicity after sensing defeat ahead. READ MORE: Uganda opposition threatens election boycott The outbreak of violence came just three days before presidential and parliamentary elections are due to take place on February 18. Coleen Nantongo, an FDC parliamentary candidate for Kampala Central, said the unrest cast a dark cloud over the upcoming polls. Uganda is doomed, she said. We cannot have a fair election when this is what the police do. Whenever there are elections they tear-gas us and arrest us, so how can we be expected to have a fair competition? Earlier in the day, Besigye, who has lost three disputed elections against long-running president Yoweri Museveni, was also briefly detained for leading a procession of supporters in Kampala. Opposition supporter James Magara, 40, said that the arrests raised doubts that the election would be free and fair. There is no democracy in Uganda, and now the whole world will see it. Museveni does not want to lose so he sends the police after us, but this time we will not accept it. We will not let him continue like this, he told Al Jazeera. Although parts of the campaign period have been relatively peaceful in Kampala, the international community has before raised concerns over repression of opposition figures. In October 2015, Besigye was placed under what the police called preventive arrest after a series of protests over high fuel prices. Museveni has been in power since 1986. Additional reporting by Tendai Marima. Follow Tendai on Twitter: @i_amten With the introduction of new regulations against whale hunting, Faroe Islanders question the future of their traditions. Editors note: This film is no longer available online. The inhabitants of the stunning Faroe Islands pride themselves on their self-sustainability and respectful affinity with their environment. As director Benjamin Huguet films, in sometimes shocking scenes, they are used to raising and hunting their own food. But with international protests against whale hunting and the introduction of new regulations, they have to question the future of their traditions. FILMMAKERS VIEW By Benjamin Huguet The making of my film, The Archipelago, started with the reading of the book Moby-Dick. As a documentary filmmaker, I became fascinated by Herman Melvilles use of true stories and encyclopedic information as the main substance of his novel. I was also struck by his cinematic writing and scenic description. I understood Moby-Dick in relation to our never-ending conflicting relationship with the environment a theme which I have explored previously in my films. Hence I thought Melvilles book would be a great starting point for approaching a documentary. I started looking for a story, a place where the hunt for a wild animal would bring strong symbolic meaning. After a two-day boat trip from a tiny port in Denmark, I arrived very early in the morning in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands. Discovering that remote archipelago, I quickly realised that the place lived in a very different rhythm; the days are short, weather is rough and unreliable and the air is moist and cold. I had never set foot on the Faroe Islands before and was soon seduced by the friendship and hospitality for which the Faroese are famous. I soon met the artist, Trondur Patursson. As a younger man he travelled around the world with his friend and documentary film-maker Tim Severin, together investigating the truth behind the Moby-Dick story. Later, I was introduced to Bjartur, a young hunter and a nature lover, who would guide me around the islands outdoor activities and introduce me to the Faroese wildlife. As is often pointed out by the anti-whaling activists, the Faroese enjoy many of the comforts that characterise the western world. In spite of this, the Faroese make a point of getting part of their food from their immediate environment; catching birds, fishing, farming are all common among the Faroese, where whaling is one of the many means of adaptation to the environment. In the Faroe Islands, whale hunting is a non-commercial activity. Meat is shared between the local communities and may be processed by any Faroese. I come from continental Europe, where we hear about the wrongful treatment of animals in our industrial farming and slaughterhouses. As such, and considering that the pilot whale is not an endangered species, I found the practices of the Faroese difficult to oppose, or to have strong arguments against. The Archipelago has been shown in several screenings and festivals around the world. I have enjoyed great conversations about the environment, self-sustainability and locavorism. Not everybody embraces the practice of the Faroese but we can identify with the inhabitants of this tiny island, and understand their concerns and their way of living. My intention for The Archipelago was to bring together several opposing elements to help us to form an opinion on the matter. I hope the film allows us to consider the Faroese whale hunt in a less confrontational approach and to develop new ways of thinking in our relationship with the environment. Having been commissioned by Swedish Radio in the early 1960s, Jazz pa Svenska (Jazz in Swedish) (Megafon Records, 1964) becameand remainsthe best-selling jazz recording in that country. The spare interpretations of early Swedish folk tunes was rendered by pianist Jan Johansson and bassist Georg Riedel. More than fifty years later, that country's quintet, Oddjob, mines those historical records once more on Folk.Not widely recognized in the US, Oddjob's personnel are not without ties to well-known western artists. Trumpeter Goran Kajfes has toured throughout Europe, North Africa and Mexico working withand others. A current project with's children, Neneh and Eagle-Eye Cherry, is a tribute to the late trumpeter. Similarly, bassist Peter Forss has been touring with the Cherry's son and has worked with trombonistPer "Rusktrask" Johansson has played with theTrio,, and. He is co-leader of a group with saxophonistas well. Pianist Daniel Karlsson has played with the Lennart Aberg Quintet and Big Band and toured and recorded withand. Drummer Janne Robertsson has a classical background, but after switching to jazz, he has played and recorded with many Scandinavian pop and jazz groups.Oddjob finds the stimulus for their original readings by translating the functional purpose and tone of old folk practices, and improvising, in some cases as an overlay, on field recordings, from the Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research. Each of the seven tracks are chronologically numbered with the prefix "Folk...." Herding calls (as in cows and goats) are the unlikely source of many of the compositions on Folk. "Folk #1," for instance takes its cue from a cow horn; essentially the type of hollowed antler used since the middle-ages.Similarly, "Folk #2" and "Folk #3" are based on herding methods but one piece, mimicking staccato singing, and the other, a buck horn. Related to that general theme is "Folk #5" is based on shieling music; "shieling" being the mountainous habits of shepherds. "Folk #6" and "Folk #7" are rooted in more conventional traditions; the first, that of vocal calling, and the latter, on attempts to revive the herding music that was fading from common use in the early 1900s.Ok. If one were not familiar with the remote world that inspired this album, the concept may seem a little less than compelling. In fact, Folk is filled with exquisitely constructed jazz compositions that would have no obvious connection to the model, for the uniformed listener. Johansson, Kajfes, and Karlsson use the archival material as a jumping-off point, telling the story in completely modern terms. The hallmarks of Oddjob's seven previous albums are top-notch musicianship, improvisation and flexible rhythms and that's completely in line with what the group has done so beautifully on Folk. UF was Ryan Lotts dream school. The then-17-year-old New Jersey high school senior was one of 30,800 who applied for a spot with UFs class of 2019. To separate himself from those students, he sent an admissions officer a dozen red roses and about eight chocolate chip cookies, which cost $30. He also sent a $25 T.G.I. Fridays gift card. A few weeks later, he was accepted to UF. Each year, more students apply to Floridas top colleges, but roughly the same number are admitted. To stand out from other applicants, students send food, flowers, jewelry, photo albums and videos to admissions officers. On Friday, UF invited 13,624 students to join UFs class of 2020. With more than 32,000 applicants, the schools acceptance rate went from 44.4% for the class of 2019 to 42.5% for this years admits. Lott, now an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, said he thinks his odd gifts to admissions officers helped him get accepted to UF. I was a little nervous, definitely. Its tough to get into from the New Jersey area, he said. Dacia Bowra, a UF admissions officer for the last 10 years, said gifts dont affect applicants chances. When UF is sent small items, such as flowers and food, they are put out for the entire office. Items of greater value, such as gift cards or jewelry, are sent back. But despite this policy, she said shes noticed more students like Lott trying to stand out in one way or another. Once, a student sent her an orange and blue chair after being told there was a limited number of seats available at UF. He said that he wont take up that much space, she said. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Another student sent in a Wheaties box with his picture on the box and quotes about how great he was, she said. The boxs nutritional information showed the students academic record. Letters of recommendation are another way students try to diversify themselves from others, Bowra said. Parents will have senators and state representatives write letters. But theyve gotten other letters as well. There was a letter of recommendation from a dog, she said. Its also common for students to send in treats, such as jam, apple butter and cookies, she said. What Bowra remembers most, she said, is one student who sent cookies to the office every month for about five months. But UF isnt the only school to receive odd gifts from prospective students. At the University of South Florida, David Lee Henry, the admissions director since 2010, said he hasnt seen students send much more than photo albums. Theres traditionally a lot of creativity that goes into these photos and albums, he said. The albums are usually painted green and gold with the USF bulls symbol on top, he said. But unlike admissions officers at other Florida universities, he said USF has seen less of these gifts in the past two years. Theyre just really trying to sell the fact that Im a bull, I bleed green and gold, he said. At the University of Central Florida, the admissions department receives yellow and black photo albums, with pictures of high school students dressed in UCF clothes, said Gordon Chavis, the vice president of admissions. He said he remembers one student who wanted to study photography sent a picture of herself dressed up as a knight, UCFs mascot. UCFs admissions have gotten more competitive, he said, and students have tried to make them stand out because of that. I think they try to emulate whatever they think the institution wants, he said. If you really want to impress us, send us black and gold. He said one student sent enough Papa Johns pizza for the entire admissions staff about 75 people, to boost his chances. Over the years, they just kind of blur, he said. Even with elaborate gestures, some students cant face their rejections. Its a day that Maureen Yeung, a UF admissions officer, doesnt look forward to. People will drive to UF after decisions come out, she said. One student, after being denied admittance, stood outside the office of a former admissions officer, holding a sign up to her window, Bowra said. The sign read, Please admit me. A few parents have even moved to Gainesville, she said, taking a staff job at UF in the hopes there is a preference for children of faculty and staff. But there isnt. Parents have also offered to pay in full for their childs tuition if admitted, Bowra said. Theres a gentleman from New York who offered to pay all four years of tuition right now, she said. Students have also forged a letter of admissions to get in, Yeung said. When students receive their admissions letter, their friends who werent accepted will change the name on the letter and call admissions saying they were accepted, but havent received admissions materials. Its heartbreaking, she said. A video about oppression within UFs Student Government reached more than 29,000 views as of press time on Facebook after being posted at 9:08 p.m. Sunday. The video has received more views than the number of students who voted in the Spring 2015 SG election. According to Alligator archives, 12,742 students voted that semester. The video was posted on a Facebook page called Not My System, an alliance of students seeking to end oppression in SG, according to the page. In the video, Sabrina Philipp, a former Swamp District A senator, talks about her role in SG and how she received privileges because she was in a sorority. The video comes two days before students will vote for 50 senators elected by college and credit hours. A new Student Body president, Student Body vice president and Student Body treasurer will also be elected Wednesday. Students will also vote on an amendment to allow for online voting, so students dont have to vote in person. Philipp said she wants to end the System, an institutionalized practice in SG in which students with Greek affiliations receive preference for positions and votes are coerced, she said. One of her goals in creating the video is to emphasize the importance of online voting. She said online voting is critical to defeating the system. Philipp said in the video she helped found Impact Party. Blake Murphy, the campaign manager for Impact, said Philipp wasnt a founder. Im pretty disappointed, he said. Sabrina Philipp is not someone who has ever been affiliated with the Impact Party. Praveen Varanasi, the Access Party president, said the video can help students learn about the inner workings of SG. It helps people understand what were fighting for, Varanasi said. This sort of system is exactly what were trying to defeat. Philipp said shes received a few personal attacks, but the majority of response has been positive. She said the videos aim is to remain non-partisan and to inform students about SG. Before I leave UF, I want to share my story and try to make a difference and empower the students at UF, she said. I feel empowered by the support that Ive received from others. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Contact Melissa Gomez at mgomez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MelissaGomez004. As the sole conservative columnist of the Alligator, I bravely lead my wolf pack of one each week to advocate a conservative point of view and dispute my liberal colleagues in the opinions section. Ill gladly use this column to perform my latter role. Last week, an editorial told students, Dont be a Ted Cruz. Of course, bashing Sen. Cruz, R-Texas, is nothing new on this campus. Although Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., is my first choice, Cruz is my very, very strong second. Naturally, I was very dismayed reading the editorial, but I couldnt say I was surprised. And I was certainly not surprised reading this in the piece: Here at the Alligator, were often accused of being a bastion of frightful liberal bias Were also aware that some believe we let liberal politicians in the U.S. if such a thing, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Ma., excepted, even truly exists off the hook for their transgressions, reserving our vitriol solely for conservative politicians and persons of importance. The jesting editorial goes on to say students should not strive to be like Ted Cruz because his undergraduate and law school classmates didnt think he had a very good personality. Even his former roommates dont support his presidential run! Because of these clearly non-trivial reasons, students should forget Cruz and support someone else. Kids, Dont be a Ted Cruz. For some reason, I dont think the editorials arguments are persuasive. I think being a Ted Cruz is extremely enviable, but let me first attack the articles argument. Sticking with the not-being-surprised theme of this column, Im not surprised that students at an extremely liberal college, Princeton University, and an extremely liberal law school, Harvard Law School, would find Ted Cruz, a very vocal conservative, disagreeable. If I was a liberal student at those schools, I wouldnt like having my arguments constantly being dismantled by the champion debater. The fact that Type-A, Harvard-educated lawyers dont like Cruz makes me like Cruz more. As for the disgruntled roommate, I for one can very confidently say I am probably not the best roommate. Like Cruz, my roommates are probably not in my future base of political support. But then again, who among us is a fantastic roommate? Now, heres why you should be a Ted Cruz. You should strive to be the best. Cruz is a remarkably driven individual. As the son of a Cuban immigrant who spoke little to no English, Cruz earned his spot at Princeton. There, he was a champion debater. He then went to the illustrious Harvard Law School where he was deemed a terrific student and one of the top students of the extremely liberal professor Alan Dershowitz. Cruz became a law clerk to the chief justice of the U.S., which is not an easy feat! Later, he bested an establishment candidate in a Texas Senate race and is at war with both Democrats and Republicans. While being attacked by both sides, he stays ideologically pure and resilient in the face of intense criticism, especially from college newspapers that attack not only his policies but his personality. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now I say very emphatically, Be a Ted Cruz. But dont be an Elizabeth Warren. Oh no. Dont be a person who made a career of fighting income inequality but lives in a million-dollar-plus home, has a net worth of about $9 million and received a nearly-half-a-million-dollar salary from her Harvard Law gig. Shes doing her part in the war to fight income inequality. And certainty dont be a Bernie Sanders. No, no. Dont be a guy who praised Fidel Castro you know, our democratic and saintly friend in Cuba. Completely forget the fact that hes a murderous thug who killed thousands of his own countrymen. Students, dont be a Warren or Sanders. Students, be driven, be smart and be bold. Be a Ted Cruz. And dont let your roommates hold you back. Michael Beato is a UF political science senior. His column runs on Mondays. 2005 .. The Secretary-General calls on all Central Africans, including the candidates, to ensure that the presidential run-off and the new round of legislative elections, scheduled to take place on Sunday, 14 February, are conducted in a peaceful and credible manner. The Secretary-General commends the Transitional Authorities for their efforts to complete the transition process by 31 []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... AR's Editor Joe Shea Talks About Elections On Iranian TV Bear Stearns Saved By Fed As Lehman Bros. Falters; Major Bank Failure Looms Over Wall Street, Sends Markets Into 200-Pt. Dive Lie Upon Lie Five Years Into the Iraq War The Administration Still Churns Out Lies by Randolph Holhut A Small Tragedy Even at 90, As Friends Turn Cool She Knows the Show Must Go On by Joyce Marcel I'll Take Me Imagine John Wayne or Arnold In Heels, Silk and a Girdle by Elizabeth Andrews Sen. Nelson Calls For New Fla. Primary; Gov Crist Backs 'Do-Over' Who'll Win? Ask Spock Spock.com Engine Predicts Winners By Site Searches; It Can be Wrong by Jay Bhatti Chatting Up The Cat God Gave Me Dominion Over Him But I Think He's a Non-Believer by Constance Daley Death of a Thug The Life and Horrors of Suharto by Andreas Harsono ___________________________ This Just In Sierra Club: McCain Ducked All 15 Key Votes On Green Laws (AR) A Work By AR's T.S. Kerrigan Is Chosen As 'Best Poem' By Wordpress Site Murder At Mile 63 The Deadly Assault and Bush Administration Cover-Up by S. Eben Kirkesby and Andreas Harsono 5427 14th St. West, Bradenton, FL 34207 $6.99 Fish Fridays! Manatee Co.'s Only 24-Hr. FREE Wi-Fi Paid Advertisement On Native Ground AFTER 5 YEARS, WE'RE STILL LIED TO ABOUT IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Next week is the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And it is likely that sometime in the next couple of weeks, the 4,000th American soldier will die in Iraq. [MORE] Momentum OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - It's 1931, and a 14-year-old girl is standing alone on a stage. She's small and lively with dark curly hair, widespread hazel eyes, slender wrists and an open, eager face filled with the wonder of performing. Her name is Rose, and one day she will be my mother. But now she is performing an Eugene O'Neill monologue called "Before Breakfast" for a ladies' club in a wealthy suburb of Long Island. [MORE] One Woman's World COMFORTABLE WITH MYSELF by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I'm not sure but I think I may be socially incorrect. [MORE] On Native Ground ENOUGH FOR A WAR, NOT FOR A PEOPLE by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week, the National Governors Assn. met in Washington, D.C. One of the tasks the NGA had on its agenda was to ask President Bush to increase federal spending on roads, bridges and other public works projects as a way to stimulate the economy. He rejected their pleas out of hand, claiming that infrastructure projects wouldn't offer any short-term economic boost. [MORE] Brasch Words BEWARE THE SELF-REVERENTIAL PRESS by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Shortly before the primary votes this past week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter called Sen. Barack Obama's surge to the Democratic nomination "inevitable." It also called for Hillary Clinton to "start her campaign for Senate majority leader." [MORE] Constance A CONVERSATION WITH MY CAT Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Normally, when the cat starts his evening rant of meowing continuously until he makes his point, I just take it as long as I can, pick him up, and put him in the garage for the night. He doesn't want to go, but the meowing stops and I don't care if he likes it or not. [MORE] Momentum OUT OF STRUGGLE, ART by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here we are again at the crossroads of art and social change, having the opportunity to watch good and great films about the lives of women in support of the Women's Crisis Center. [MORE] Campaign 2008 HOW TO PREDICT SUPER TUESDAY II WINNERS? ONLINE SEARCH by Jay Bhatti NEW YORK, March 4, 2008, 7:00PM ET -- With the outcomes of the Texas, Vermont, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries to be decided tonight, how possible is it that online searching can predict who will win tonight's primaries? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T VOTE; IT ENCOURAGES THEM by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Call me angry and disgusted but don't call me un-American because I won't be voting come November. [MORE] On Native Ground BUSH AND THE KEYBOARD COMMANDOS by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the days tick down toward the eventual departure of President George W. Bush from the White House, it's a hopeful sign that most Americans are no longer moved by his Administration's constant exploitation of terrorism for political gain. [MORE] Momentum WHICH AMERICA DO YOU LIVE IN? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a little confusing. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] On Native Ground FIDEL RETIRES: NOW THE COLD WAR IS REALLY OVER by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Maybe now, we can finally say the Cold War is over. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] One Woman's World POLITICS IS NO PARTY by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Are you having a hard time focusing your eyes? Do you have faint red spots all over your body? Is there a ringing in your ears and do you see wavy lines when you look at your television set? Do your hands shake when you try to hold a cup of coffee? And have you recently been forgetting what day of the week it is - or what year? [MORE] Make My Day FOR BETTER OR WORSE ... A LOT WORSE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse." [MORE] Constance YOU CALL THESE RIGHTS? by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When you express an opinion you hope to persuade others to your point of view. It doesn't always happen but still, opinion writers try. [MORE] Momentum THE BRIDGE WOMAN by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Out there in America - yes, still - is a generation of women who were born in the 1940s, raised in the 1950s, and who came to radical consciousness in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I am one of them. Hillary Clinton is one of them. [MORE] On Native Ground OBAMA AND MY GENERATION by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I originally planned on voting for Dennis Kucinich in the Vermont Primary on March 4. [MORE] The Willies: WARNING: THIS MEDICATION MAY MURDER YOUR FRIENDS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla. -- You've heard the warnings, haven't you? Stop Prozac and you may take a shotgun, an Uzi or an AK-47 and mow down your family and friends, or even a whole classroom full of your fellow students. You didn't? Well, that warning is not on the bottle, but like countless mass-murder incidents before it, Friday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, as well as the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 32 last year, was probably precipitated by the effect of stopping medications that suppress anger and other powerful emotions but do not relieve the underlying cause. Isn't it time we started warning people - or stopped prescribing these medicines? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T KNOCK ON MY DOOR by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I wish I could feel delight in my poet's mansion being like Grand Central Station all the time, but I can't. And I wish my place was such a place that someone would one day write: "Her door was always open and she always made you feel all fuzzy and warm in her presence. She could make a cup of coffee seem like a banquet." [MORE] Reporting: Panama PANAMA'S VIOLENT LABOR UNREST INTENSIFIES Mark Scheinbaum PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb, 15, 2008 -- After just one day of relative calm, wildcat construction strikes by some members of Panama's largest union flared up again Friday morning, four days after a police sniper shot one worker. More than 140 demonstrators have been injured and at least 500 arrested, authorities say. [MORE] Brasch Words TO STIMULATE ECONOMY, BUY A CHINESE-MADE U.S. FLAG by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Walking down Main Street, pushing a grocery cart loaded with clothes, toys, and appliances was Marshbaum. Fastened to the right front corner of the cart was an American flag tied onto a three-foot ruler. [MORE] Make My Day THE TOOTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- To commemorate the death of noted shark exploder Roy Scheider, and the "Jaws" movies that resulted in Erik never setting foot in the ocean again, we are reprinting this column from 2003. Shark Experts 0, Sharks 1 [MORE] Momentum THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - As I write this, it's raining ice. Maybe a half a foot of snow and ice has already landed up here in the woods of Dummerston. Our cars are encased in it, and the door to the house is blocked. The satellite dish that brings in our Internet service quit about 20 minutes ago - frozen solid. [MORE] The Willies AMERICA TO HILLARY: GET OUT! by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 13, 2008 -- Sen. Hillary Clinton has adopted the Rudy Giuliani strategy, and it's working - for Sen. Barack Obama. It turns out to be the strategy all Democrats are seeking - an exit strategy. But it's not for Iraq. It's for her exit from the race for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. [MORE] Constance CONFESSIONS OF A DISAPPOINTED VOTER by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A week ago at just about this time, I completed an article and was about to submit it as scheduled to The American Reporter. I was feeling rather elated, ready to show up on Super Tuesday morning, firmly touch the X next to Rudy Giuliani's name and get on with my day. He was my choice; he would get my vote. [MORE] Reporting: Florida SIERRA CLUB SET TO SUSPEND FLA. CHAPTER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 10, 2008 -- The national Sierra Club is set to suspend its Florida chapter after years of divisive infighting, the president of the national club told Florida members in a letter delivered to some this weekend. It is the first time in its 116-year history that such a step has been considered by the club, according to news reports. [MORE] One Woman's World PLANT A NEW WORLD THIS SPRING by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- For a little while, the men will just have to toss and turn in their fear-free-women beds. For a small space of time Hillary Clinton will just have to trudge on toward the White House without my faint applause in the background. [MORE] On Native Ground VERMONT AND THE 5 STAGES OF CONSERVATIVE GRIEF by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- First, Vermont tried to convince the nation to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. [MORE] Make My Day REBEL WITHOUT A TONGUE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Kids' brains work in amazing ways. At times, they can grasp complex concepts and make impressive discoveries. Other times, you have to wonder how we ever survived as a species. [MORE] The Willies FOR DEMOCRATS, NOW IT'S ABOUT RACE, INCOME AND GENDER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Feb. 6, 2008 -- It's not a good time to be a Democrat. As the Super Tuesday results demonstrated, the presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has divided the partly along clear racial, income and gender lines - the very distinctions the party has sought to erase in principle but has emphasized in its pursuit of diversity. [MORE] Momentum SUPER TUESDAY BLUES by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Super Tuesday has come and gone and I still can't get excited about the upcoming presidential elections. [MORE] The Willies ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY, YOUR PUSH IS NEEDED by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 5. 2008 -- I'm expecting a sea change tonight. I believe that for the first time in this nation's history we will once and forever banish racism as the deciding factor in the destiny of African-Americans, and indeed adopt diversity as our path to the future. [MORE] Campaign 2008 AT 88, EVERY VOTE REALLY COUNTS by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 5, 2008 -- Pearl Turner will caucus for Mitt Romney tonight in Denver. [MORE] One Woman's World STAND BY YOUR WOMAN by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- The black vote. The gay vote. The fundamentalist vote. The Hispanic vote. [MORE] An AR Special SUSPECTS IN BENAZIR ASSASSINATION HAVE TIES TO MUSHARRAF by Ahmar Mustikhan WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Gordon Brown this past Monday feted coup-leader-turned-President Pervez Musharraf at 10 Downing Street, Britain's new prime minister probably didn't ask the Pakistani dictator a question that is now on many minds: Did you order the murder of Benazir Bhutto? [MORE] Momentum TO THE VERMONT DELEGATION: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. Back when President George W. Bush and Dick Vice President Dick Cheney were building up to their loathsome war in Iraq, very few people were brave enough to call the bullies' bluff. [MORE] On Native Ground IF BUSH HAS HIS WAY, WE'LL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. - In his final State of the Union address on Jan. 28, President Bush cautioned against accelerating U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, saying that it would endanger the process that has been made over the past year. [MORE] Campaign 2008 CLASH OF COMMENTS AND PROTESTORS AT CLINTON, OBAMA RALLIES IN DENVER by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 1, 2008 -- At least four presidential campaigns of both partiers rolled into in Denver this week ahead of the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries in 22 states, but it was the Democratic presidential contenders who drew the big crowds and duked it out Wednesday. If sheer numbers are any indication, Sen. Barack Obama - preceded by a buoyant and beautiful Caroline Kennedy - won the round handily. He is the overwhelming favorite to win the Colorado primary next Tuesday. [MORE] The Willies WHY THE FLORIDA PRIMARY STINKS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 30, 2008 -- I was with my wife and daughter driving the back way from Miami home to Bradenton when we stopped at a McDonald's in Clewiston, the only big town along the vast shore of Lake Okeechobee, the state's precious freshwater reservoir. The McDonald's had three televisions at a central seating area, each tuned to a different network, and our table was in front of CNN as the very first election results started to pour in around 7:30PM. With them, almost as counterpoint, suddenly came such an overwhelming odor of cow plop that my wife started to throw up as we all ran to the parking lot. [MORE] Passings: Suharto DEATH OF A KEMUSU THUG by Andreas Harsono JAKARTA - A few minutes after hearing that former president Suharto had died in his hospital bed, Marco, a militia leader in downtown Jakarta, raced to Suhartos house, wearing his jungle camouflage and began guarding the Suhartos residence on Cendana Street. [MORE] Constance I REMEMBER YOU by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.. -- It seems to be more often lately that the sentiment is spoken but it's always been out there: "You never get over the death of your child." This is true. But the heartfelt expressions come from some who cannot fathom the notion of losing a child; their own child is who is in their mind, not another mother's child. [MORE] On the similarities between Canadas Conservative party and the GOP, I have previously argued that the latter must not repeat the mistakes of the former if it wishes to succeed in November 2016. As I explained, the Conservatives lost the recent Canadian election at least in part because they failed to stick by their central principles, attempting to cater to the voting bloc of the opposition parties by soft-pedaling or even abandoning basic policy decisions or by camouflaging their fundamental ethos so as not, they calculated, to alienate the electorate. The result was predictably twofold: in manifesting as Liberal lite the party made no inroads among a skeptical population and simultaneously lost many of its long-standing supporters, in total dropping 67 of its previous 166 seats. When a party begins to shed its own constituents by aping the agenda of its competitors or by failing to reframe its image, it has effectively sealed its fate. Greg Richards points out in a cogent article for American Thinker that The ascendancy of liberalism in America is the cause of the silence of Republicans in Congress since they won the House in 2010. One would think that a solid majority in the electoral body closest to the people would provide a platform for advancing the Republican case. But no. The Republican establishment is unwilling to challenge the liberal world view, [which] controls the debate in the public space Republicans have had neither the skill nor the intestinal fortitude -- the courage -- to operate outside the culturally dominant liberal paradigm. This species of timorous shuffling in party values may partially explain how supposedly intelligent people can turn their country over to a goofy adolescent like Justin Trudeau. The utterly vacuous Trudeau is Canadas version of the ludicrous Sir Andrew Aguecheek, that dear manikin whose proper place is in Shakespeares Twelfth Night and not in the prime ministers residence. For their part, Americans have twice surrendered their country to a poorly educated Leftist, congenital prevaricator, and unqualified hologram of a personality with no demonstrable track record to speak of and a cadre of dubious associates who work against the interests of the nation. Moving Kylo Ren into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is no less devastating than installing Andrew Aguecheek at 24 Sussex Drive. Obviously, such popular drifts into electoral insanity are not easily countered, but it seems to me that the only antidote with a chance of working is adherence to principle, pride in genuine achievement, clear messaging and a strong front of party unity. A congressman like Joe Wilson, of You lie fame, or Tom Cotton, the only Republican senator who opposed the recent, Iran-friendly Corker Bill, represent a vanishingly small corps of stalwart political figures whose stance should be emulated by party campaigners. They will eventually be vindicated. The lesson is not that hard to process. Speak truth, stand by conviction, and be fearless. Professional politicians, swaying to the fickle winds of electoral calculations, would be astonished to find that such principles can be winning propositions. The fact remains: if a political organization begins to function as an enabler for the other side, practicing a sort of tactical pentimento in order to hide or modify its fundamental tenets and defining assumptions, it succeeds merely in channeling the doctrines of its political opponents. Its defeat is assured. An astute political party will stand by its basic axioms and confidently, even flamboyantly, assert them in the public domain. It must absolutely avoid laboring to become something it is not. There are, of course, other desiderata as well that need to be taken into consideration. Republicans must spell out past accomplishments and present policies concretely and persuasively. They must hold the chattering classes in evident disdain and call the mainstream medias bluff instead of catering to its elitist prescriptions, as Donald Trump and to some extent Ted Cruz have done. They must find a way of refreshing their public image, in part by adhering to covenant rather than opportunism, in part by acting like an order of Templars rather than a casino of gamblers. As for the culture war in which we have been embroiled since the Sixties, there is no doubt that it has been won by the Left, and as Andrew Breitbart said, Politics is downstream from culture. But with fortitude, will, and integrity, one need not go with the flow. One can, as Breitbart wished and strove to do, eventually change the narrative. Currents can begin to meander away from a charted course. Historical verdicts can in the course of time be reversed. And intelligence can sometime (however seldom) prevail against years of Leftist indoctrination and accusations of racism and bigotry. But the Republicans have far too long continued to row, row, row their boat gently down the cultural stream when they should be bucking the current and fighting their way back to the source. Poor optics, bad messaging, playing by the oppositions rules, and lamely surrendering to the culture rather than striving with Breitbartian resolve to change the narrative all contributed to Canadas Conservative Partys shellacking in 2015. The GOP will likely follow suit in 2016 unless they get their act together, put an end to in-house sniping, crank up the old mojo, and figure out how to behave like true-red Republicans. About three-quarters of the way into the debate Saturday night, moderator John Dickerson threw Ben Carson a hanging curveball. He reminded Carson that hes repeatedly spoken out against political correctness and, in effect, invited him to say something politically incorrect. The Baltimore neurosurgeon replied with a few not very coherent and completely unmemorable sentences. Bens response was not even mentioned in USA Todays blow-by-blow recap. It was the usual take-away from Carsons debate performances -- that hes a nice guy, hes not a politician, hes for smaller government, that he ought to have a tall espresso rather than a bottle of water under his lectern, and that he has some great plans on his website. He could have hit Dickersons hanging curve out of the park. Carson is the only guy on stage who can talk about African-Americans. He might have mentioned several things, starting with the black crime rate. According to the most recent Uniform Crime Reports of the FBI, African-Americans, 13.2% of Americans, committed 52.2% of murders, 56.4% of robberies, and 31.3% of rapes. The 52% figure is consistent over three decades. Carson might have said the obvious. This is much too high. The majority of victims are African-Americans. Nineteen Americans were killed by jihadists in 2015. Thats 469 fewer murders than in Chicago last year. The GOP field is happy to talk about San Bernardino. Chicago goes unmentioned. The majority of the Windy City homicides were blacks killing blacks. Carson might have said the problem is not cops targeting African-Americans. Its African-Americans targeting European-Americans and each other. Thanks to Colin Flaherty, AT readers are familiar with black mob violence across the country, especially on summer and holiday weekends. Most Americans arent, though theyre aware of incidents involving youths at their local malls. Ben might have mentioned the epidemic of flash mobs. He might have talked about the real root causes -- a culture that idealizes violence, and the inability or unwillingness of African-American parents to teach their children to respect the lives and property of others. Behind this failure is the nearly 75% illegitimacy rate among blacks. This is another politically incorrect subject Carson might have explored. The rate was only 25% in 1965, when Daniel Moynihan sounded the alarm. Carson has, in the past, called for compassionate action rather than Affirmative Action, though tentatively and infrequently. Why not repeat this in response to Dickersons question, without equivocation, and add that Affirmative Action is simply unfair? Its unfair to African-Americans as well as European- and Asian-Americans. High-achieving blacks are stigmatized by it, and those who are admitted to colleges that they would not have otherwise qualified for struggle and become resentful. Ben would have a lot of African-Americans on his side if had had the temerity to oppose Affirmative Action. In one recent poll, 44% expressed the view that college admission should be based strictly on merit. While the rest of the field was busy attacking each other, Carson might have landed a blow against the race hustlers. Bernie Sanders had a widely publicized meeting with Al Sharpton last week. Ben might have pointed out that while white leftists suck up to them, Al and Jesse are not respected by the African-American middle class. Again, Carson was the only person on the stage who could have mentioned the unmentionable. With his polling numbers in South Carolina sinking to the 2% he got in New Hampshire, one would think it would occur to him to take advantage of his great asset: he does not have to be mealy-mouthed about race. European-Americans voted for Obama in 2008 with the expectation not only that the election of an African-American would appease blacks, but that, inevitably, he and the First Lady would have to tell African-American kids some hard truths. You need to do what successful minorities, including West Indians, have done: stay in school, work hard, respect your parents, keep off drugs, dont get pregnant, dont blame others, etc., etc. Ben Carson has not convinced voters that he would do much to bridge the great racial divide in this country. That requires candor and tough talk. When Dickerson threw the hanging curve, the bat never left Carsons shoulder. Folks, America has come a long way, baby negatively. An irate woman called a major radio talk show regarding Ted Cruz: "The last thing I want is a president wearing a fish [a symbol of Christianity] on his back!" I pray that those who share this foolish woman's prejudice are a minority. Christianity played a huge role in the founding of our country. Empowered solely by their incredible Christian faith, the Pilgrims (also known as saints and separatists) courageously sought a land where they could worship freely. These incredibly brave people had no idea what to expect regarding their journey and life in the new world. America was built on the unique idea that our freedom comes from God individual liberty and freedom, rather than being ruled by a monarch. Amazingly, over 200 years later, the left has been allowed to move our country closer to what we escaped ruled by a tyrannical government mandating our every action. Things have gotten so far out of whack that idiots (I'm sorry) view faith in God as a negative. So this woman who called the radio show is horrified at having a Jesus dude in the W.H. Well here is who we have now occupying our Oval Office. Our president is a morally bankrupt narcissist who places his socialist/progressive extremist agenda and his legacy above the lives of Americans. Obama's illegal open borders policy to recruit new Democrat voters has caused the rape and murder of Americans. Our kids are contracting strange diseases from illegal alien students whom Obama demanded our schools take in. Obama crammed Obamacare down our throats against the will of a majority of Americans. Cancer patients lost their life-saving doctors due to Obamacare. Obama's death panels decide who gets surgery or pain pills until death. A guy at a big-box hardware store was in a cast, moving with great difficulty. He was slowly gathering lumber for a project. I asked, "Excuse me, sir. Why on Earth are you here?" He replied, "I have to work. My Obamacare deductible is $5,000." Our current president defends, protects, and funds Planned Parenthood, which murders babies and sells their body parts, receiving a premium price for intact heads. While repeatedly impugning Christians, Obama favors Islam and has instructed his DOJ to jail Americans who dis Islam a religion that suppresses women and kills homosexuals and non-believers. Obama did everything in his power to send black kids who were doing well in charter schools back to failing public schools to appease the teachers unions. Our current president seeks to punish anyone who does not enthusiastically embrace sodomy. Most Americans are clueless regarding Obama's daily assaults on our freedom and liberty and the best interest of America and her people. But this woman on the radio says no, no, no, we cannot have a Christian in the W.H. Well, I say a Christian is exactly what America desperately needs, not someone who says he is Christian when it is convenient. We need a real-deal washed-in-the-blood-of-Jesus-Christ Christian running our country. Ephesians 6:12: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." In other words, the battle to restore America is spiritual. This is why everything the left/Democratic Party seeks for America is anti-God and undermines the biblical rock-solid foundation upon which our unique, extraordinary nation was built. This also explains those who instinctively hate Ted Cruz. For example: Democrat presidential contender Bernie Sanders, in essence, wants everyone on government welfare. This is evil, folks; it destroys human potential. I witnessed this in my black family. My cousins (five boys and a single mom) lived their entire lives on welfare. Two sons broke free. One achieved remarkable success. Only one son is alive today, living in a nursing home. He never had a job in his life. He had God-given gifts and talents, undeveloped and unpursued. This is Sanders's vision for America: government providing everything. Evil. It is not surprising that Sanders despises capitalism, because it is Christian. Another sign that we are engaged in a spiritual battle to restore America is the left's irrational support of Islam versus its hate for Christians. If sharia law ever took over America, Madonna, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and others could not be who they are. Islam vehemently opposes everything these liberal entertainers stand for. Homosexuals would be punished and probably killed. Women who do not toe the Muslim line are raped, even killed. Christianity attracts non-believers with love and does not condone killing non-believers, as does Islam. So what gives? Why do leftists celebrate, respect and highly praise Islam while dissing Christians at every opportunity? The left's wickedness is manifested in its repulsion from traditional principles and values and its hatred for Jesus. How dare Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven? The Democratic Party, which claims to represent the mainstream, welcomes with open arms all who despise the God of Christianity and all things wholesome and good. America desperately needs a hero, folks. And that hero is a Christian: Ted Cruz. The importance of Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away this past weekend, is based not just in what he said in his Supreme Court opinions, but how he said it. Famous for his biting and even entertaining dissents, Scalia at times (and usually the right ones) expressed a common sense moral outrage at both his liberal and less consistent conservative colleagues. He was the everyman in his outrage, saying what we might want to say about their departures from sound constitutional jurisprudence, but far more gifted with a legal genius shaped by an originalist view of the Constitution -- and a wittiness that made conservatives smile and chuckle. His flamboyant style of writing legal opinions made him what marketing guru Seth Godin calls a purple cow. He stood out in a field of more common brown cows. But more than that, it was the boldness of his style that made him an intellectual leader for originalism. In a city and system of institutions that tend to stifle and hold back the candid, he made candor about the original intent of the Constitution his brand. He gave conservatives hope that the Constitution would not be lost for a lack of honesty or standing by principle, the shortage of which are trademarks of Washington and government. Scalia understood that American constitutional law is based in the morality that civil society should be structured such that we should do no harm to others. The we includes government. The Constitution is structured to limit governments harm to individuals and our God-given rights. Scalia understood the need for judicial fidelity to that structure. This rule of law over government itself is a key to originalism, and creates a bright-line contrast with the progressive view that the ends of those in government are at least almost always what are best for the rest of us despite transgressing the Constitution. The Founders understood both the perpetual necessity and dangers of government, and therefore structured the governing law over government -- the Constitution -- to limit the dangers. Scalia was criticized by liberals in the legal profession, particularly academicians, for his famously biting opinions. Some claimed Scalias zingers created contempt for the courts. To the contrary, it was Scalias deep and passionate respect for the role of the courts in our constitutional structure that led to his judicial poking at how some judges have an inflated and faulty sense of their authority. In his dissent to the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision recognizing a constitutional right to gay marriage, for example, he wrote this about the majority opinion: I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of [founding-era Supreme Court Justices] John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie. Justice Scalia was certainly not above growing in his understanding of the Bill of Rights. Known to many as a law-and-order conservative, Scalia nevertheless wrote one of the most important decisions in recent decades about the protections guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment for searches and seizures. His majority opinion in U.S. v. Jones from 2012 brought the Fourth Amendment back to its roots in concepts of trespass. His opinion countered a dangerous neglect of property rights by progressives who, not fond of property rights, favored a less comprehensive privacy focus, which had controlled Fourth Amendment jurisprudence for some decades to the exclusion of a property rights approach. Scalia wrote, [F]or most of our history the Fourth Amendment was understood to embody a particular concern for government trespass upon the areas (persons, houses, papers, and effects) it enumerates . . . But as we have discussed, the . . . reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test has been added to, not substituted for, the common-law trespassory test. Scalia led for civil liberties by returning to this originalist understanding of the Fourth Amendment, which mentions property but not privacy. The common law concepts of trespass on our persons and property, and our rights in their security vis-a-vis others who seek to intrude on that security, are broader that mere privacy. Scalia recognized in this opinion that to prevent harm -- but only after following basic procedures or protocols designed to limit abuses by government -- may searches and seizures occur. When government neglects the notions of trespass inherent in the Fourth Amendment, even our privacy is threatened. Scalia also became more of a First Amendment champion. His disappointing dissent in McIntryre v. Ohio Election Commission from 1995 about anonymous political speech was countered by Justice Clarence Thomas in a short treatise on the subject in the form of a concurring opinion. Scalia would later become one of the most reliable justices on the First Amendment. In expressly targeting the dangerous dissent by Justice Stevens in the Citizens United case, Scalia exposed Stevens poor attempt to come across as using an originalist approach against the First Amendment. Stevens, no originalist, was throttled by Scalias scathing concurring opinion: The Framers didnt like corporations, the [Stevens] dissent concludes, and therefore it follows (as night the day) that corporations had no rights of free speech. Of course the Framers personal affection or disaffection for corporations is relevant only insofar as it can be thought to be reflected in the understood meaning of the text they enactednot, as the dissent suggests, as a freestanding substitute for that text. But the dissents distortion of proper analysis is even worse than that. Though faced with a constitutional text that makes no distinction between types of speakers, the dissent feels no necessity to provide even an isolated statement from the founding era to the effect that corporations are not covered, but places the burden on petitioners to bring forward statements showing that they are (there is not a scintilla of evidence to support the notion that anyone believed [the First Amendment ] would preclude regulatory distinctions based on the corporate form. As the life and work of Justice Scalia are honored and remembered, conservatives would do well to be grateful for his bold leadership on behalf of the originalist moorings of constitutional jurisprudence. Here we go, the biggest battle of the Obama Administration since Obamacare. With Antonin Scalias passing, the wisest jurist of the past fifty years has left us. President Obama will quickly build his political machine to press the U.S. Senate, with help from every available media outlet, to support the idea of his appointing a liberal justice to replace Scalia. This appointment will be dressed up as a moderate, but with this opportunity before him, Obama will not waste the chance on a moderate. The appointment would radically tip the Supreme Court away from the current balance of 5-4, away from constitutional restraint and in favor of judicial activism. The new court could be expected to methodically unmake the American commitment to rule of law, as defined by applying constitutional text to facts, without political interference. The new court would soon become a politicized branch of the Federal government, locking in liberal congressional actions and creatively remaking laws. In this way, the new court would seek to remake society in a liberal activist mold, objectively endorsed by only a fraction of America. This lurch to the Left politically remaking the definition of judicial review -- would decisively eviscerate 200 years of respected jurisprudence and institutional behavior what we call constitutional history. So, how can it be stopped? What would our Founders, writers of the U.S. Constitution, say? The answer seems clear. But let us play out likely events, to see how dangerous this situation is. Within weeks, the president will loft a name and liberal groups will coo about the choice. Recorded endorsements of this nominee will be dragged out, especially for his or her inferior judicial confirmation. Senators will be called hypocrites for not now supporting him or her. Charges of racism or sexism can be expected. There will be intense battles in the U.S. Senate. Pressure will mount to a point where shaming becomes a form of art, no reference to the nearly 100 years of confirmation precedent and 200 years of deference to the electorate. Hearings will be demanded. If the nomination gets close to the floor, a handful of brave senators, like Senator Cruz and possibly Rubio, will put a hold on the vote, but will be pressed mercilessly to be reasonable, accommodating, fair, to stop being racist. If such a nomination got to the floor, expect the master of filibuster, Senator Cruz, to try to stop it. He might last as long as any, but a three-fifths vote in the Senate would eventually sideline him. Here is where we must stop. The weight of history, prudence and democracy is with those who seek to preserve this decision for the next president, whoever that may be. Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution -- the so-called Appointments Clause -- allows a president to appoint certain public officials, only with the advice and consent of the Senate. The operative word is consent, or the appointment is void. Historically, Senate consent to any nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court is essential. Moreover, the higher the appointment and the closer to end of a presidents term, the more delay has been viewed as appropriate. Thus, President John Tyler forward, there have been extended delays in confirmation of a U.S. Supreme Court justice. This is especially so where deep divisions existed between a sitting president and Senates views on major issues, when dysfunction roils president and Senate (as in Tylers time), when concern exists over nominee positions or qualifications, and when divisive issues lie before the U.S. Supreme Court. We see all of these now. In multiple cases, time elapsed between the death of a justice and seating of his replacement has been in excess of a year, sometimes upwards of two years. While that it not the norm, it is also not outside historys track. In this case, there appear to be a number of arguments for delay -- some historical and others prudential. Specifically, while historically delay is counseled by todays deep national division and pending election, delay is wise for other reasons. The respect that Americans will accord the Court, and rule of law itself, may hang in the balance. A new president will be supported by the majority of our country, imbuing that presidents nomination with authority, which will preserve authority for the Court. If that president were a woman, Obamas nominee would have preempted the right of the first sitting woman to appoint her own Supreme Court Justice; if the next president is focused on one or two issues, such as banking policy or campaign finance reform, Obama would have preempted that presidents chance to fill the vacancy. Likewise, if the next president is a strict constructionist, as Justice Scalia was, then that president deserves the right to appoint a like-minded jurist. Finally, there can be little doubt that finding the right replacement for an irreplaceable giant of legal jurisprudence should be lengthy to find the right choice. Which brings us to the ultimate question: If the President nominates a nominee in the fading months of his tenure and the Senate stops that nomination until the session ends, could President Obama jam the country with a first-ever recess appointment of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice? There is profound irony in this question. In the 2014 decision National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, the U.S. Supreme Court, aided by Scalia, tipped against recess appointments. In June of that year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down (9-0) three of the presidents recess appointments, effectively deeming them unconstitutional, made during a pro forma congressional break of three days. Justice Scalia himself explained. With uncanny prescience, he wrote what some have called a withering concurrence. He warned against transgressing the text of the U.S. Constitution, sounding like Senator Cruz, who clerked for conservative Justice Rehnquist. When the Court set an arbitrary 10-day rule, Scalia lit into majority writer Justice Breyer: The Courts decision transforms the recess-appointment power from a tool carefully designed to fill a narrow and specific need into a weapon to be wielded by future Presidents against future Senates, adding that real answer was to limit, not allow recess appointments beyond what the Founders had intended. Bridling at the sudden 10-day invention, Scalia added: A self-aggrandizing practice adopted by one branch well after the founding, often challenged, and never before blessed by this Court -- in other words, the sort of practice on which the majority relies in this case -- does not relieve us of our duty to interpret the Constitution in light of its text, structure, and original understanding. As they say in some parts of the country, boom tick. Scalia nailed it, on a contingency soon related to his own legacy. The torch is being passed. There is no justification for taking away from the next president the prerogative that will follow the pending election. There is no basis for a recess appointment, legally or otherwise. But if that absurdity were to occur, the U.S. Senate and a worthy Nation should immediately seek to have it stayed, thrown out as unconstitutional, or -- if need be -- keep the U.S. Senate in session for a period of less than ten days, barring a recess appointment -- even under Justice Breyers opinion -- and justly vindicating Justice Scalias fidelity to the Constitutions text. Robert B. Charles, is a former litigator who clerked on the US Court of Appeals, served in the Reagan and Bush White Houses, taught law at Harvard Universitys extension school, and was appointed by George W. Bush as Assistant Secretary of State, where he worked on rule of law issues. As one who does support female and male candidates who promote ideas and causes in which I believe, I was naturally disappointed when several women lost. Can you say Sarah Palin and Carly Fiorina? But of course, I was thrilled when Nikki Haley won her race for governor of South Carolina, made especially satisfactory because she was a woman of minority heritage and a Republican from a Southern state. So I thought I was in heaven or beginning to see it. And it looked pretty good to me. But what do I know? Not much, according to the experts, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and feminist icon (to many) Gloria Steinem. Shocked at Clinton's floundering campaign and the successes of Bernie Sanders, a formerly obscure senator from the small, relatively unimportant state of Vermont, in winning women's votes, especially those of younger women, the two lashed out, revealing their true contemptuous feelings toward women who don't toe their feminist line. It wasn't very pretty, and both were forced to retract, making insincere apologies that only worsened their situation. After Clinton's losses, Albright decreed "there is a special place in hell for women who don't help each other" i.e., vote for other women. However in Albright's limited geography of heaven and hell, avoiding hell means only helping/voting for liberal women. Therefore, I, and many other women, are condemned to hell because we either supported conservative women and/or we...gasp!...thought independently and supported a man instead of a woman. And now Albright is in her own kind of hell, maybe not a special one but one of her own making because this expression, which she admitted to using numerous times over the past two decades, is considered undiplomatic. So she's been forced to apologize. In a rather insincere and unconvincing op-ed in the New York Times, she blubbered: I HAVE spent much of my career as a diplomat. It is an occupation in which words and context matter a great deal. So one might assume I know better than to tell a large number of women to go to hell. But last Saturday, in the excitement of a campaign event for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, that is essentially what I did, when I delivered a line I have uttered a thousand times to applause, nodding heads and laughter: Theres a special place in hell for women who dont help each other. It is a phrase I first used almost 25 years ago, when I was the United States ambassador to the United Nations and worked closely with the six other female U.N. ambassadors. But this time, to my surprise, it went viral. I absolutely believe what I said, that women should help one another, but this was the wrong context and the wrong time to use that line. I did not mean to argue that women should support a particular candidate based solely on gender. But I understand that I came across as condemning those who disagree with my political preferences. If heaven were open only to those who agreed on politics, I imagine it would be largely unoccupied. However, I do want to explain why I so firmly believe that, even today, women have an obligation to help one another. In a society where women often feel pressured to tear one another down, our saving grace lies in our willingness to lift one another up. Uh, nevertheless, despite these fine-sounding final words, I find no record of her supporting any Republican woman, no record of her telling her fellow Democrats to stop the nasty condescension and mockery of Sarah Palin by her fellow Democrats in the presidential campaign nearly eight years ago. And what advice did Albright offer Ms. Rodham Clinton (as she was known when she was first lady) when she willingly acquiesced in, as Albright put it, further tearing down Paula Jones or Juanita Broaddrick or others already torn down by her husband? Did she condemn Hillary then to hell? I don't think so. After all, in her whitewash of herself, she admits she's condemned women who disagree with her to hell "a thousand times, to applause, nodding heads and laughter." I don't think Jones or Broaddrick applauded or laughed. Perhaps they wondered what the hell she was talking about. Gloria Steinem is also in a hell of her own making for similarly publicly condescending to women young women especially who dare to support a white male. When asked by Bill Maher why young women were supporting Sanders over Clinton, she dismissively answered, When youre young, youre thinking, 'Where are the boys?' The boys are with Bernie." But they'll change she confidently asserted because women get "radical" when they get older. After being roundly criticized for this, what was her pathetic feminist apology for reducing young girls to boy-crazy creatures? It wasn't her fault she explained on Facebook, she was "misinterpreted." In a case of talk-show Interruptus, I misspoke on the Bill Maher show recently, and apologize for what's been misinterpreted as implying young women aren't serious in their politics. What I had just said on the same show was the opposite: young women are active, mad as hell about what's happening to them, graduating in debt, but averaging a million dollars less over their lifetimes to pay it back. Whether they gravitate to Bernie or Hillary, young women are activist and feminist in greater numbers than ever before. Maybe. Maybe not. But of course young girls will gravitate to Where the Boys Are, and have been doing it since time immemorial. And why shouldn't they? Except for a minority, that's what they do. But Gloria, another question is why are the boys for Sanders and not for Clinton? And why are the girls, too? Sexism? For some, sure. But both the boys and the girls and the men and the women seem to prefer Bernie because of all his promises for free stuff. And, well, he's new, he's different, and Hillary is so been-there-done-that, succeeding only through a man, her husband. And with all those old white men advising Hillary, the same kind of white men who over 20 years ago referred to Paula Jones as trailer-trash who would do anything when a $5 bill is dragged through the area without a peep of protest from Steinem or Albright, why should a young person, especially a lower-middle-class individual, man or woman, identify with Clinton? Steinem herself awkwardly answered the question eight years ago when Clinton was running for the presidency against another man, Barack Obama, whining: Women Are Never Front-Runners Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy. (snip) So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects only the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; (snip) and because there is still no right way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what. (snip) What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system; thus Iowa women over 50 and 60, who disproportionately supported Senator Clinton, proved once again that women are the one group that grows more radical with age. (snip) This country can no longer afford to choose our leaders from a talent pool limited by sex, race, money, powerful fathers and paper degrees. Its time to take equal pride in breaking all the barriers. We have to be able to say: Im supporting her because shell be a great president and because shes a woman. But, like Albright, Steinem was silent at the slurs flung on a real frontrunner at the time, Sarah Palin, a woman without a powerful husband, money, or a fancy degree who cheerfully and competently accomplished much on her own? Did Steinem defend Palin against the mockery cast upon her because she lacked these talent pool credentials? Did she complain when liberals men and women insulted Palin's children or her husband? Did she follow her own advice and state about Palin, "I'm supporting her because she'll be a great [vice] president and because she's a woman"? Of course not. Steinem's selectivity and hypocrisy exposes the hollowness of her complaints. So for all their accomplishments and they have many, to their credit Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem are in their little hell one where time has passed them by and they are unable to adapt. And as for me, I'm in my own special heaven or an Albright/Steinem hell as I watch the politics not as usual unfold. And that is special. When I was growing up, both Washington's birthday (February 22) and Lincoln's birthday (February 12) were national holidays. It didn't matter if they fell on a Friday or Monday; we marked the calendar every year on those dates to celebrate the lives of two of our greatest presidents. But in 1968, to throw a bone to federal workers, Congress changed the law to allow for three-day weekends and Monday holidays and both Washington and Lincoln were snubbed. Leave it to Congress to muck things up. In 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holidays Act, which moved the official observance of Washington's birthday from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in February. Some reformers had wanted to change the name of the holiday as well, to Presidents' Day, in honor of both Lincoln and Washington, but that proposal was rejected by Congress, and the holiday remained officially Washington's Birthday. Nevertheless, there was a popular misconception that the day had been officially renamed, a misconception only reinforced by the fact that the third Monday in February can only occur between Feb. 15 and Feb. 21. This means that the holiday is always after Lincoln's birthday and before Washington's birthday, without ever coinciding with either. Furthermore, some states which had previously celebrated Lincoln's Birthday dropped the observance after the federal holiday reforms, supporting the notion that the two presidential birthdays had been combined. While the name change has never been authorized by Congress, it has gained a strong hold on the public consciousness, and is generally used on calendars, in advertising, and even by many government agencies. There have been attempts to introduce legislation requiring federal agencies to call the day Washington's Birthday, but these have never gotten very far. No matter what's in the law books, the popular usage is now well established. For me, the issue isn't whether we should call today "President's Day" or "Washington's birthday." The issue is honoring our first president by making February 22 a holiday regardless of what day of the week it falls on. Washington's greatest biographer, James Flexner, calls him "The Indespensable Man." What makes that statement unique in American history is that Washington was indespensable to both the Revolution and the founding of the American government. Could the American republic have come into being and thrived without George Washington? It's hard to imagine an America without him. For his contributions to winning the fight for our independence and his unparalleled leadership in the early days of the republic, George Washington's birthday needs to be a national holiday. It took them long enough! Perhaps naively believing the all the fine rhetoric Democrats use to mask their embrace of crony capitalism, the young supporters of Bernie Sanders assumed that by getting a 22% margin of victory in New Hampshire their guy would win a majority of delegates. I have warned them, and now they are catching on. Daniel Strauss reports in Politico: Pro-Sanders threads on Reddit have been burning up with calls for action, with some supporters even reaching out to superdelegates (who are typically Democratic governors, members of Congress, and top state and national party leaders) to lobby them on the Vermont senators behalf. Progressive groups are also taking a stand: There are currently two petition campaigns designed to urge superdelegates to reflect the popular vote, rather than the sentiment of party elites. In one of them, MoveOn.org activists are targeting undecided and committed Hillary Clinton superdelegates with a clear message: wait until all the votes are counted before throwing support behind a candidate. (snip) As of Sunday, the petition had 112,107 signatures with a goal of 125,000 signatures. "The next big thing will be this wave of petitions targeting individual superdelegates," said MoveOn Washington Director Ben Wikler. "Asking individual members of Congress and governors and other superdelegates to individually make a pledge to support the will of the voters when it comes time to count their votes." A second petition by three progressive groups asks superdelegates to "announce that in the event of a close race, youll align yourself with regular voters - not party elites." That petition, which grew by 10,000 signatures between Friday and Sunday, had 171,010 signatures Sunday, with a stated goal of 175,000. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died, deeply mourned by his friends and admirers, while liberals are happily celebrating his demise (in their usual indecent fashion). La Raza, radical environmentalists, and the affirmative action establishment are celebrating today. Scalias sudden death leaves a 4-4 split on the Court, neutralizing the power of the Court until a ninth justice is confirmed. But Obama might try to make a recess appointment, thereby sabotaging the Senates advice and consent role. He has already done that with the fraud-filled Iranian nuclear surrender treaty. This president has open contempt for the U.S. Constitution, and Scalia was a passionate constitutionalist. The battle lines for a successor were drawn within 24 hours of Scalias death. No post-mortem was conducted in Texas, which is itself a major reason for concern and one that is easy to solve by insisting on an extremely thorough study of his remains by highly reputable pathologists. There are very few indispensable people in this world, but Justice Antonin Scalia came as close as anyone. His sudden death creates an opportunity to change the balance on the Court for years to come, a major long-term aspiration of the hard left. Scalia was beloved by American conservatives and ferociously hated by the left, not excluding the highest levels of the Democratic Party. That is why it is crucial to have a Joint Committee of Congress to put any reasonable doubts to rest. We are living in extremely dangerous time, both domestically and in foreign affairs. Domestically, we are more divided today than we have been since Vietnam. The Party Line media have gone out of their way to divide the country by race, gender, and sexual preference. Those divisive tactics have enraged some people on both sides to the point of threatening violence. American politics works peacefully only with some degree of basic trust, even among political opponents. Healthy politics allows for heated debate without shredding that trust. Obama has left no doubt that he is determined to change the balance on the Court for many years to come. On the GOP side, Donald Trump instantly recommended delay, delay, delay on any successor. Justice Scalias sudden passing may have been due to natural causes. But for the first time since the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr., many Americans are sincerely wondering what might have happened. They are not just on the paranoid fringe. President Obama is constantly claiming unconstitutional powers, something that Justice Scalia opposed with all the intellectual force at his command. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court itself has come under serious criticism ever since Chief Justice Roberts issued self-contradictory opinions favoring Obamacare. Hillary Clinton is being credibly accused of national security felonies as secretary of state, and the DOJ and FBI are said to be at odds on indicting Hillary. If she becomes president, there is likely to be a bloodbath in the permanent government in D.C. A perfect storm is rising in American politics. As we can tell from the jubilation on the left, Justice Scalia had hateful enemies, and he must have received death threats, which the FBI must now re-examine. The American public must also know on whose authority an obviously necessary post-mortem examination was avoided. The best way to restore public trust is to appoint a bipartisan congressional committee to oversee a medical pathology team. In the seven years of Obama, Washington, D.C. has become a city of fear. No one was afraid to smear and assault George W. Bush during his presidency. But Obama has been nearly immune and its not just his magical charm. Obama and Jarrett use ruthless tactics to frighten the politicians in D.C. Some Democratic City Machines, including Chicago, have a long history of gang collusion. Saul Alinsky advocated a left-syndicate alliance in Chicago, and Alinsky wrote the political agitation manual for Obama and Hillary. None of this comes close to proving that Justice Scalia died from anything other than natural causes. We simply do not know at this point. But we can know the answer by conducting the appropriate post-mortem examination. It is only reasonable to insist on that. Last years Mobile World Congress went down in the history books as the first major unveiling event during which Samsung took the wraps off two different flagships in the Galaxy S lineup: namely the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge. However, judging by the supply issues surrounding the Galaxy S6 Edge shortly after its market debut, it was clear that the Korean tech giant did not expect this particular variant to be as sought-after as it was. This year, Samsung is expected to introduce the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge on February 21st at MWC in Barcelona, and according to fresh reports, the Korean company has decided to ramp up the production of flexible AMOLED displays in order to avoid supply shortages. One of the reasons why the Galaxy S6 Edge was in short supply after its release was due to the fact that Samsung Display was not able to manufacture enough flexible panels to cover the unexpectedly high demand. However, according to unnamed industry sources cited by BusinessKorea yesterday, Samsung has already begun operating its A2 (5.5-generation) and A3 (6-generation) flexible OLED production lines located in South Chungcheong Province at full capacity, in anticipation of the Galaxy S7 Edges market debut. Generally speaking, the companys A2 line is able to manufacture up to 24,000 sheets of glass per month, with each one of these mother glass sheets yielding 220 panels. The A3 6-generation production line can yield 15,000 mother glass sheets per month, with each large panel consisting of 300 smaller displays, each measuring 5-inches diagonally. Advertisement Its worth noting that the aforementioned A2 production line was Samsungs only plant designated to manufacture flexible OLED panels at the time the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge was released, so in light of these new reports its relatively safe to assume that this year the Korean company will be able to avoid running into low-yield issues. Industry insiders claim that both the A2 and A3 plants can produce up to 9 million flexible AMOLED displays per month combined, assuming that they operate at full capacity. Both the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are expected to be officially unveiled at MWC 2016 in Barcelona on the 21st day of the month. Based on previous leaks and rumors, the Galaxy S7 should rock a 5.1 or 5.2-inch display whereas the Galaxy S7 Edge will apparently be equipped with a larger 5.5-inch panel. The long wait for Samsung smartphone owners to get Marshmallow on their handsets is now finally over. According to an official announcement from Samsung Electronics, the Android 6.0 update is now finally here for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. The update will roll out to users of the two said devices globally, meaning, whether youre in Boston or Beijing, San Antonio or San Marino, youre likely to get the update notification soon enough on your device. The company has also said that it will soon be rolling out Marshmallow to some of its other devices, provided of course, they are compatible with the latest and greatest version of Android. There is, however, no word on which particular devices have made the cut to get Marshmallow, and which ones havent. Samsungs press release also says that it will make separate announcements on details of OS updates schedule for each market according to market situation and carriers requirements. Also, unlocked models might get the update sooner than carrier-locked variants, which is of course, to be expected, seeing as that has always been the case across OEMs. With the latest incoming software, owners of the Galaxy S6 Edge can expect some cool new functionality for the edges of their devices. Marshmallow will allow users to increase the width of the curved edge to 550 pixels from the current 260, which will enable more content to be displayed on the curved area. While Samsung hasnt provided an exhaustive changelog, the latest update is expected to bring along standard Marshmallow features like Google Now on Tap, an all-new app drawer and an app permissions manager. Advertisement Samsung has been beta-testing its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge Marshmallow ROMs for a while now, so the full release of the final stable version isnt exactly unexpected. If anything, the company is one of the last remaining major Android vendors to be rolling out Marshmallow to its 2015 flagships, now that LG, HTC and also Sony have updated their last years premium handsets to Android 6.0 over the past few weeks. While the company is yet to announce when the update for Galaxy Note 5 will come along, hopefully, it wont be long before the owners of Samsungs flagship phablet too will get Marshmallow on their handsets. With competition between wireless carriers intensifying in the US, AT&T has now announced a new promotional scheme to attract users from other carriers into its fold. According to an AT&T press release, starting with immediate effect, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint subscribers will get up to $650 per connection in bill credit if and when they choose to switch over to AT&T and buy a new handset on AT&T Next. The amount includes early termination fees as well as any outstanding lease on the existing handset. The offer is already live as of Monday, and can be combined with other promos that are currently being run by the company. AT&T recently launched a few new promos including a buy one, get one scheme on the occasion of Valentines Day. The company is also offering unlimited data to those who subscribe to its DirecTV and U-verse TV services. AT&Ts press release also states that the offer is a limited time one, and will end on the 31st of March. For some reason, the offer is not applicable in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Miami-Dade County. According to a prepared statement released by the President and CEO of AT&T Mobility, Mr. Glenn Lurie, These offers are some of our best to date. Our $650 credit is a great reward for new customers who switch to AT&T. There has never been a better time for new and existing AT&T customers to rack up the savings. Advertisement That may well be the case, but AT&T is not the only carrier in the country to be offering financial incentives to wireless subscribers for ditching their current carriers and joining a new one with the promise of better, more financially-viable subscription plans. Last December, Verizon introduced a very similar promo, whereby the nations largest carrier started offering financial incentives to the tune of $650 in bill credit to customers of rival carriers. Sprint has its own Cut your Bill in Half promo that it runs from time to time, promising to reduce the bill for those who switch over to the carrier from their current service providers. Late last year, T-Mobile started offering a whole year of free Hulu to those who switch to the carrier. Alphabet isnt the only one working on Autonomous cars. Ford, GM, Tesla and several other car makers are also working on autonomous cars, and the University of Michigan has even put together a state-of-the-art track at their campus in Ann Arbor. However, Alphabet is looking to create their own track where they can test their own self-driving tracks. Seeing as Google has a campus in Ann Arbor (Alphabet and Google co-founder Larry Page is an alumni of the University of Michigan located in Ann Arbor, MI), they are looking to create a track nearby. According to a report out of Crains Detroit Business, Alphabet is looking for an area of about 30,000 square feet for their new R&D facility. The company has been looking in Farmington Hills, Troy, and Southfield. All of which are about 20-30 miles from their Ann Arbor campus. Its likely that Ann Arbor could soon become a test city for the companys self-driving cars. After all, autonomous cars are legal in the state of Michigan, with Ford and General Motors both testing out their own autonomous cars in the state. Advertisement Currently, Alphabet is only testing their self-driving cars in a handful of cities. However news broke last week that the company may expand across the pond into London. As officials have been in contact with Alphabet about bringing their self-driving cars over that way. Right now, Google has been focusing their self-driving car initiative on the US. But in order for self-driving cars to be the future, it will need to expand outside of the US. Especially with the company competing with both Ford and GM, two companies that have been making cars for years and years. Definitely have a big advantage over Google. Nothing is official just yet, but we could see Google creating their own self-driving car track here pretty soon. A bit interesting that they are aiming for the suburbs when the Mayor of Detroit has been pushing more and more companies to come into Detroit. Although theres not much room in Downtown Detroit for a 30,000 track for Google to test out their self-driving cars. With a highly-successful 2015 now behind it, Chinese telecommunication equipment and consumer electronics giant, Huawei Technologies, is looking to keep up its momentum now that were well into the new year. With a view towards doing just that, the company has been launching mid-range smartphones like the Honor 5X and the Honor Holly 2 Plus in markets ranging from China to Europe and the US to India. However, even as its Honor-branded affordable handsets continue to earn new customers globally, the P-Series smartphones continue to remain Huaweis premium lineup. The P8, launched back in April last year, is the current premium handset from the company, along with the Mate 8 phablet, which was launched late last year and comes with a giant 6-inch display. Now, it isnt exactly a secret that Huawei is planning to introduce its P9 flagship sooner rather than later, what with leaks regarding the device coming thick and fast in recent times. Latest rumors about the upcoming gadget now claim that it will have a 1080p display panel instead of a QHD one something that can be found on an increasing number of premium handsets of late. While theres no way to actually corroborate the claims, some other Chinese smartphone vendors, including Huaweis biggest competition, Xiaomi Technology, are also looking to stick to the tried-and-tested 1080p panels for their 2016 flagships if rumors are to be believed. While Huawei is far from detailing the specs of its upcoming smartphone, earlier rumors have given us a few hints about what the P9 may be like. Advertisement The upcoming premium handset is expected to feature a 5.2-inch 1080p display panel and will be powered by the Kirin 955 chip from Huawei. The 64-bit octa-core CPU is expected to be clocked at a frequency of between 2.3 to 2.5 GHz, while 4 GB of RAM is what users will get as part of the package. Earlier rumors, meanwhile, had suggested a QHD screen as well as the Kirin 950 SoC, along with 6 GB of RAM in the Huawei P9. The device will apparently also carry a 12-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel selfie cam. Whats interesting is that the latest leak also points at a number of model numbers for the upcoming handset EAV-AL10, EAV-AL00, VNS-AL00 and VNS-CL00. There is however, no word on whether the different model numbers represent region and/or carrier-specific variants, of if the phone itself will come with different hardware configurations at different price points. LG is, as most of you know, one of the largest tech companies in the world. This company is best known for manufacturing smartphones and various other appliances we use around the house on a daily basis, but LGs Tone headphones are also quite popular. LG has introduced various Bluetooth headphones over the last couple of years, and the company has decided to announce yet another pair ahead of MWC, the Tone Platinum headphones. These are LGs high-end Bluetooth headphones, and have been announced by the company along with the X series of smartphones which weve talked about recently. The LG Tone Platinum headphones will be showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona alongside LG X cam, X screen, and of course, LGs flagship, the LG G5. The LG Tone Platinum headphones look really sleek, and sport an ergonomic design. The earphone housing has been made out of aluminum, and LG has partnered up with Harmon Kardon when it comes to these headphones. The company has opted for the Balanced Armature design as the module fo these headphones, in order to minimize distortion. The LG Tone Platinum headphones come with the aptX HD Audio Codec in order to approve sound quality over Bluetooth, and minimize latency. The noise canceling dual microphones are also included her, which should help you out if youre located in noisy environments. Now, LG has also included Voice Commands as part of the package, with the help of which you can control incoming calls. The Tone & Talk app has also been improved in order to support Voice Memo and Find Me via Android-powered devices (Android 4.1+). Advertisement The LG TONE Platinum is a showcase of innovative technologies that aims to deliver premium sound quality in a form-factor that millions of customers have come to embrace. LGs TONE offerings are second to none in the wireless Bluetooth world which is a key growth area for our mobile business, said Michael Park, Vice President in charge of Innovative Personal Devices Business Division at LG Electronics. These headphones will be available in the US in March, and other markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America will follow soon after. As already mentioned, these headphones will be showcased at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is right around the corner. This is one of the largest tradeshows in the world, if the largest one, and were about to see tons of exciting tech being presented there. It is worth mentioning that Samsung, LG and Xiaomi have already confirmed that theyll hold press conferences during MWC; and have teased their new flagship devices. Samsung will, almost certainly, introduce their Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones, while LG will unveil their LG G5 handset. The Xiaomi Mi 5 will also make an appearance, and Samsung and LG have actually scheduled announcements on the same date, February 21st, which is quite interesting. Tons of other companies will make an appearance in Barcelona, and were in for a yet another exciting show. That being said, we already have plenty of prediction articles on our site. Weve talked about Samsungs flagships, products Xiaomi will possibly announce etc. Well, were here to do a roundup of sorts, well talk about Chinese smartphone manufacturers in particular, and what can you expect them to announce during MWC. Various companies have confirmed that theyll be at the show, but not many of them actually hinted and what can we expect them to announce. Xiaomi is one of those companies which will surely steal the show considering theyre announcing their new flagship, but what can we expect out of the rest of China and Taiwan-based OEMs? Well, lets try to find out, read on. Advertisement Xiaomi Xiaomi is one of two largest China-based smartphone manufacturers at the moment, and the company has already confirmed that the Mi 5 will be announced not only on MWC, but in China as well, on the same date actually. Xiaomi will make this announcement on February 24th, and aside from the Mi 5, they might also introduce the Mi Drone that was mentioned quite frequently lately. Youll be able to control the Mi Drone using your Mi Band fitness tracker, allegedly, though a smartphone app will quite probably also going to be announced. Keep in mind these are just rumors and were not entirely sure this is what Xiaomi will announce. Considering this is Xiaomi were talking about, its possible were in for something rather unexpected as well, well see. Advertisement Huawei Huawei was incredibly successful last year. This company has managed to become worlds third largest smartphone manufacturing company, and has managed to sell 108 million smartphones. Huawei had plenty of announcements to share with us during CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas last month, so theyll probably going to be significantly less active at MWC. Still, Huawei might introduce their next-gen TalkBand fitness band at MWC, and perhaps an entry-level or mid-range devices, perhaps even several of them. We doubt theyll introduce the Huawei P9 which was rumored quite a few times thus far, Huawei will quite probably schedule a separate event for that in March or April. The Huawei Watch Android-powered smartwatch was introduced back as CES 2015, but it was released in September last year during IFA; so we doubt Huawei will be looking to introduce the Huawei Watch 2, though they might release a new variant of the Huawei Watch, additional colors maybe. Advertisement Asus Asus is a well-known company, not only in the PC world, but in the smartphone world as well. The companys ZenFone devices were quite popular last year, theyve managed to sell 20.5 million of those devices last year, while theyve shipped out only 4.4 million in 2014. Asus aims to sell 30 million ZenFone smartphones this year, and in order to do that, theyll need not only to release quite a few compelling devices, but also announce their ZenFone 3 lineup as soon as possible. First ZenFone 2 devices were introduced back in 2015 during CES; so were wondering when will they introduce ZenFone 3 units, will it happen during MWC? Quite probably not, Asus will almost certainly going to schedule a separate event for this, their ZenFone units are quite popular at this point, and Asus probably wants to make big announcements separate from tons of new well see at MWC. The company will quite probably bring tons of ZenFone units and showcase them during the Mobile World Congress, but we dont expect any major announcements from Asus later this month. Advertisement Acer Acer hasnt exactly been announcing many Android-powered smartphones lately. This company has introduced several Chromebooks and a couple of Windows-powered devices, but not many Android-powered units for quite some time now. So, will they make a big announcement during MWC? Well, thats hardly likely, we havent really seen any potential rumors or leaks regarding Acers products which might get announced at the Mobile World Congress, but we do expect them to announce something considering theyll be present on the show floor. So, what to expect? Well, quite probably IoT stuff, at least thats what we believe well see out of Acer later this month, but Acer might surprise us, well see. Advertisement ZTE ZTE has showcased their already released Nubia and Axon products during CES last month, and weve also seen a glimpse of the companys upcoming Nubia Z11 flagship. So, will the Nubia Z11 going to be announced during MWC? Well, quite probably not. Nubia, ZTEs subsidiary, has introduced the Nubia Z9, Nubia Z9 Mini and Nubia Z9 Max at a separate event in China in March last year. Now, Nubia wasnt exactly a global company, but it was announced during CES last month that the Nubia.com site is live, and along with that the upcoming global presence of Nubias devices. So, even though its possible they plan to introduce Nubia devices at MWC this year, we do believe theyll want to hold a separate event like many other companies out there. Much like Xiaomi, Nubia will want to hit both China and the rest of the world with this announcement, and its possible theyll hold an event both in China, and somewhere in Europe / US at the same time at some point this year. Chances are well see the Nubia Z11 smartphones announce in the next month or two, so stay tuned for that. Advertisement HTC So, weve been seeing quite a few rumors and leaks regarding HTCs upcoming flagship, the HTC One M10 aka Perfume. HTC is expected to announce this phone soon, but considering the fact Samsung and LG will probably steal all the attention during MWC, chances are HTC will wait with this announcement until next month. Weve seen several reports that this Taiwan-based company plans to introduce their new flagship next month, and that it might go on sale in April. So, can we expect HTC to introduce something during the trade show? Well, yes, but we doubt that HTC will aim to make a huge announcement later this month. The company has been betting big on VR, so the HTC Vive VR headset will quite probably be present at the show, and HTC will almost certainly bring along the One A9 and One X9 smartphones to let people try them out and promote them at the same time. Advertisement OnePlus OnePlus has managed to get the attention of consumers last year when they introduced their second-gen flagship, the OnePlus 2, and the mid-ranger OnePlus X smartphone. Both of these phones have been available for quite some time now, and are now available invite-free for those of you who want to purchase them. Were still not sure if OnePlus intends to come to the Mobile World Congress, but one thing is for sure, they wont be making any major announcements at the show. OnePlus 3 will be announced later in the year (quite probably July), and OnePlus Xs successor will arrive in Q4 quite probably. If we get any additional info regarding OnePlus, well make sure to let you know, but if they come to the Mobile World Congress they will quite probably just showcase their current lineup. Meizu Meizu is one of the fastest growing smartphone manufacturing companies in the world. This China-based company has released a couple of really compelling devices last year, lead by their PRO 5 flagship. Now, Meizu will be present at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, but were still not sure what will they announce over there. There are several possibilities actually, they might be planning to introduce the long-rumored PRO 5 Mini handset, or perhaps a Ubuntu-powered PRO 5. This company has introduced Ubuntu-powered units in the past, and it is possible that theyre planning to re-release the Meizu PRO 5, but this time with Ubuntu installed on it instead of Android. Well just have to wait and see what happens, stay tuned. Lenovo Lenovo has been releasing smartphones for quite some time now. Theyve been mostly focused on India lately, but according to latest reports, the company might introduce a new smartphone during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. According to what weve heard, this might even be a high-end device made out of metal, but unfortunately we dont exactly have the details at the moment. Other than that, they will quite probably only showcase their already announced products. Either way, Lenovo is quite a mystery at the moment, which might even be a good thing, it certainly makes things interesting. MediaTek MediaTek isnt a smartphone manufacturer, but a mobile SoC manufacturing company. MediaTek will make an appearance at the show, but we still dont know what to expect. Their Helio X20 flagship SoC has already been announced, but it hasnt been released to smartphone manufacturers just yet, so is MediaTek planning to make the SoC officially available during the show? Well, its possible, but its more of a guess than anything else, we havent really heard anything regarding this thus far. Other than that, MediaTek will quite probably talk about their already announced lineup of devices during the show. Zopo is a China-based company which some of you probably heard of by now. This company has introduced the Speed 7 and Speed 7 Plus devices last year, both of which were really compelling offerings, especially if you consider their price point. That being said, Zopo is getting ready to launch yet another smartphones soon. The company has confirmed a while back that their new flagship, the Zopo Speed 8, will be introduced during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona later this month. The company will hold their press conference on February 24th, and we already know that it will be fueled by MediaTeks Helio X20 64-bit deca-core SoC. That being said, Zopo has already teased the design of this phone, but we didnt get to see how will the whole device look like, until now that is. If you take a look at the provided image, youll get to see Zopo Speed 8s full design. The phone will be made out of metal, and a fingerprint scanner will be placed below the rear-facing camera and dual-LED, dual tone LED flash. The back of the phone will be textured, as you can see in the image, and the company has already confirmed some spec info, aside from the SoC. This device will ship with 4GB of RAM on the inside, and a 3,600mAh battery will also be a part of this package. The Type-C port and NFC will also be included here, and on the back of the phone youll be able to find a 21-megapixel snapper (Sonys IMX230 sensor). The 8-megapixel front-facing camera will also be included here, and a 5.5-inch panel will be placed up front, though its resolution is still unknown. We also know that the Speed 8 will ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, with some additions from Zopo though. Advertisement That is pretty much it. By the looks of it, Zopo Speed 8 will be a really sleek looking handset, and it will be interesting to check out the final products. Zopo will introduce this phone the same day Xiaomi plans to unveil their flagship, so it will be a rather interesting day, thats for sure. Either way, stay tuned for additional details, well report back if something pops up before the announcement. (ANSA) - Mexico City, February 15 - Pope Francis will travel to the state of Chiapas in Mexico's south on Monday to visit indigenous people of the area bordering Guatemala, many of whom suffer extreme poverty. On Sunday during his Angelus in Ecatepec, near Mexico City, the pontiff blasted narcos, calling them "traffickers of death". He called on Mexicans to "be on the front lines, to be proactive in all the initiatives that could help make this holy Mexican land a land of opportunity". On Monday Pope Francis will celebrate Mass with the indigenous people of San Cristobal de Las Casas, in a ceremony officiated in three local languages in addition to Spanish, followed by lunch with local indigenous representatives. Later in the afternoon he will visit families at the stadium in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, before arriving back in Mexico City around 8 p.m. local time. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman on Monday described last week's meeting between Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Havana as "unique". Spokesman Dmitri Peskov said "it was a unique meeting, both in terms of content and of its symbolic importance". He also stressed the significance for "the defence of the rights of Christians all over the world, especially in those places where it is not just necessary to defend the interests, but also the lives of Christians". (ANSA) - Milan, February 15 - Italian shoe manufacturers on Monday called for government intervention to mitigate a drop in the volume of global exports of nearly 5% in 2015, driven by the fall in oil prices, devaluation of the ruble and geopolitical tension among other things. The value of exports over the same period rose by 2%, however. "We are suffering as a result of sanctions against Russia, which have sent buyers from Russia and the ruble area running," shoe manufacturers' association Assocalzaturifici president Annarita Pilotti said. In the first ten months of 2015 the volume of sales in Russia fell by 32%, in Ukraine by 44.6% and in Kazakhstan by 23.6%, Assocalzaturifici said. "Our government ... must intervene in Europe to denounce the serious damage suffered by the Italian economy," Pilotti added. The call came on the second day of the annual international theMICAM shoe fair in Milan, where visitor numbers on day one were up 13% over last year. Pilotti called for recognition of the investment made by manufacturers in research and innovation, along the lines of companies operating in the chemical or mechanical sectors. "Each new collection can cost between 100,000 and 1.5 million euros depending on the size of the firm," the Assocalzaturifici president said. Help could also come from the regions under the coordination of Marches executive regional councillor for economic development Manuele Bora. He is expected to gather regional representatives to call for a revision of sanctions against Russia and explore new markets. "Overexposing ourselves in the eastern market was a mistake," Bora said. "Italian footwear needs to look to the whole world within a programme of globalisation. I have in mind the US and Iran," he concluded. (ANSA) - Rome, February 15 - Cairo on Monday denied media reports that Italian researcher Giulio Regeni was detained by Egyptian security forces before being tortured and murdered, State news agency MENA said. "In an official statement published by the interior ministry, an information department source denied reports published in the Western media that Italian academic Giulio Regeni was arrested by members of the security services before his death," MENA reported. Italian investigators looking into the death, however, are taking the hypothesis that the Egyptian officials were involved seriously, ANSA sources said. The 28-year-old's burned, cut, and mutilated body was found dumped in a ditch on February 3 after he went missing on January 25 - the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended the regime of Hosni Mubarak. The Cambridge University PhD student, who was conducting research in Cairo, was reportedly scared after he was photographed at a December 11 independent Egyptian trade union meeting. There has been speculation Egyptian security forces may have mistaken Regeni for a spy or that the killing could be linked to an article Regeni wrote under a pseudonym, which referred to that meeting. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Monday said that in coming days he'll review progress with the Italian investigative team that has been in Cairo for about 10 days probing Regeni's brutal murder. Gentiloni called Italy's partnership with Egypt "an important one" and said he expects "full and total collaboration on the part of the Egyptian authorities". "It's clear that we won't settle for easy reconstructions or convenient truth," Gentiloni said. "And it's also clear that the passage of time won't diminish our efforts on this issue," he said. International media have argued that Regeni's death raised important questions about the alleged repression of opponents to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government in Egypt. Premier Matteo Renzi said before Regeni's funeral in the northern town of Fiumicello on Friday that Egypt's friendship with Italy means that it must find and disclose the truth about Regeni's murder. "It's a dramatic case and I once again I express my condolences to Giulio's family and I say what we have already said to the Egyptians - friendship is a precious thing and it is only possible with the truth," Renzi told Radio Anch'io. Egyptian Ambassador to Rome Amr Helmy said Monday that international media reports on Regeni's being picked up by police were "false" and the investigation could be hurt by what he called "speculation". (ANSA) - Cairo, February 15 - Cairo on Monday denied media reports that Italian researcher Giulio Regeni was detained by Egyptian security forces before being tortured and murdered, State news agency MENA said. "In an official statement published by the interior ministry, an information department source denied reports published in the Western media that Italian academic Giulio Regeni was arrested by members of the security services before his death," MENA reported. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Monday said in coming days he'll review progress with the Italian investigative team that has been in Cairo for about 10 days probing the brutal murder of Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni. Gentiloni called Italy's partnership with Egypt "an important one" and said he expects "full and total collaboration on the part of the Egyptian authorities". "It's clear that we won't settle for easy reconstructions or convenient truth," Gentiloni said. "And it's also clear that the passage of time won't diminish our efforts on this issue," he said. The 28-year-old Regeni was a Cambridge University PhD student conducting research in Cairo on independent trade unions. His burned, cut, and mutilated body was found dumped in a ditch on February 3 after he went missing on January 25 - the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended the regime of Hosni Mubarak. (ANSA) - Rome, February 15 - Italy's civil unions bill faces voting in Senate this week, and is divided into 19 articles with two parts, one dealing with civil unions and the other with cohabitation. Following are the main points: - ADOPTIONS. Gay couples can't adopt children, but, the bill provides for the so-called "stepchild adoption". If one of the partners already has a child or children, the other partner can adopt that partner's child or children and the children thus can grow up in the new family, but only if the other biological parent is absent or no longer living. Stepchild adoption is already permitted for heterosexual couples through Article 44 in the law on adoptions. Stepchild adoption is one of the key components creating controversy and partisan division for this bill. In Italy, the Rome Juvenile Court in 2014 rendered a de facto stepchild adoption decision when it said that no law expressly prohibits a same-sex partner from adopting his or her partner's child or children, given that the primary objective is "the higher good of the minor", thus allowing adoption by a woman whose female partner gave birth through assisted reproductive technology. - CIVIL UNIONS. A same-sex couple can register a civil union at city hall with two witnesses present. The union is certified by a document that contains information about the identities of the individuals, their marital property regime, and residency. The couple can choose one of their two surnames or decide to use both. - IMPEDING CAUSES. A civil union cannot take place if any of the following circumstances apply: if one of the individuals in the couple is still married, if one of the individuals is younger than 18 years old (unless otherwise authorised), if one of the individuals has been declared mentally infirm, if the individuals are related by blood, or if one of the individuals has been convicted of murder or attempted murder of the other partner's spouse. - LEGAL REGIME. Italy's civil code is the basis for governing the rights and reciprocal responsibilities of the couple, including children, residency, financial obligations, familial abuse, interdictions, dissolution of the union, and pension reversibility (the proportion of the pension transferred to the beneficiary's survivor). However, several amendments exclude this reference, and it is one of the parts of the bill that could be significantly modified. - RECIPROCAL ASSISTANCE. The same-sex couple is given the same rights as heterosexual married couples in terms of health assistance, imprisonment, joining or separation of assets, cosigning a rent contract, and pension reversibility. Proposed amendments might modify this part of the bill. - DE FACTO COHABITATION. The law recognises some of the basic rights already provided for by law, including cosigning a rent contract, assistance in hospital, temporary support of an ex-partner in financial difficulty, as well as the opportunity to decide on an asset regime through a notarised cohabitation contract. Migrants: EU, response with and not against Greece EU Commission, we'll do anything possible to support States (ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 15 - "The European response to the refugee crisis will be provided with Greece and not against Greece", said EU Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas. "We'll do everything we can to support our member-States and face" this flow of refugees "the most important one since the second world war", explained Schinas pointing out: "Greece has made substantial progress and we hope" this tendency will be confirmed. The EU Commission freed 12.7 million Euros of emergency funds for Greece in order to supplant the hosting capacity of the continental area. The funds come from the Fund for asylum, migration and integration (Amif) and will be employed to provide at least 8,000 new places. The funds will be used to finance mobile homes for the temporary hosting of refugees from the regions of central Macedonia and Attika.(ANSAmed). (by Paul Virgo). ROME - Cairo on Monday denied media reports that Italian researcher Giulio Regeni was detained by Egyptian security forces before being tortured and murdered, State news agency MENA said. "In an official statement published by the interior ministry, an information department source denied reports published in the Western media that Italian academic Giulio Regeni was arrested by members of the security services before his death," MENA reported. Italian investigators looking into the death, however, are taking the hypothesis that the Egyptian officials were involved seriously, ANSA sources said. The 28-year-old's burned, cut, and mutilated body was found dumped in a ditch on February 3 after he went missing on January 25 - the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended the regime of Hosni Mubarak. The Cambridge University PhD student, who was conducting research in Cairo, was reportedly scared after he was photographed at a December 11 independent Egyptian trade union meeting. There has been speculation Egyptian security forces may have mistaken Regeni for a spy or that the killing could be linked to an article Regeni wrote under a pseudonym, which referred to that meeting. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Monday said that in coming days he'll review progress with the Italian investigative team that has been in Cairo for about 10 days probing Regeni's brutal murder. Gentiloni called Italy's partnership with Egypt "an important one" and said he expects "full and total collaboration on the part of the Egyptian authorities". "It's clear that we won't settle for easy reconstructions or convenient truth," Gentiloni said. "And it's also clear that the passage of time won't diminish our efforts on this issue," he said. International media have argued that Regeni's death raised important questions about the alleged repression of opponents to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government in Egypt. Premier Matteo Renzi said before Regeni's funeral in the northern town of Fiumicello on Friday that Egypt's friendship with Italy means that it must find and disclose the truth about Regeni's murder. "It's a dramatic case and I once again I express my condolences to Giulio's family and I say what we have already said to the Egyptians - friendship is a precious thing and it is only possible with the truth," Renzi told Radio Anch'io. Gentiloni to review Regeni investigation in coming days Foreign minister says 'we won't settle for convenient truth' (ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 15 - Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Monday said in coming days he'll review progress with the Italian investigative team that has been in Cairo for about 10 days probing the brutal murder of Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni. Gentiloni called Italy's partnership with Egypt "an important one" and said he expects "full and total collaboration on the part of the Egyptian authorities". "It's clear that we won't settle for easy reconstructions or convenient truth," Gentiloni said. "And it's also clear that the passage of time won't diminish our efforts on this issue," he said. The 28-year-old Regeni was a Cambridge University PhD student conducting research in Cairo on independent trade unions. His burned, cut, and mutilated body was found dumped in a ditch on February 3 after he went missing on January 25 - the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended the regime of Hosni Mubarak.(ANSAmed). BEIRUT - At least 50 people died in Northern Syria following missile attacks that hit 5 hospitals and two schools in two locations in northern Syria, the United Nations reports. Among the facilities hit by the strikes, an hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the gynechological clinic and the pediatric unit of the Azaz hospital, between Aleppo and the Turkish border. Egypt denies Regeni detained before torture, murder Gentiloni says Italy won't accept convenient truth (by Paul Virgo). (ANSA) - Rome, February 15 - Cairo on Monday denied media reports that Italian researcher Giulio Regeni was detained by Egyptian security forces before being tortured and murdered, State news agency MENA said. "In an official statement published by the interior ministry, an information department source denied reports published in the Western media that Italian academic Giulio Regeni was arrested by members of the security services before his death," MENA reported. Italian investigators looking into the death, however, are taking the hypothesis that the Egyptian officials were involved seriously, ANSA sources said. The 28-year-old's burned, cut, and mutilated body was found dumped in a ditch on February 3 after he went missing on January 25 - the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended the regime of Hosni Mubarak. The Cambridge University PhD student, who was conducting research in Cairo, was reportedly scared after he was photographed at a December 11 independent Egyptian trade union meeting. There has been speculation Egyptian security forces may have mistaken Regeni for a spy or that the killing could be linked to an article Regeni wrote under a pseudonym, which referred to that meeting. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Monday said that in coming days he'll review progress with the Italian investigative team that has been in Cairo for about 10 days probing Regeni's brutal murder. Gentiloni called Italy's partnership with Egypt "an important one" and said he expects "full and total collaboration on the part of the Egyptian authorities". "It's clear that we won't settle for easy reconstructions or convenient truth," Gentiloni said. "And it's also clear that the passage of time won't diminish our efforts on this issue," he said. International media have argued that Regeni's death raised important questions about the alleged repression of opponents to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government in Egypt. Premier Matteo Renzi said before Regeni's funeral in the northern town of Fiumicello on Friday that Egypt's friendship with Italy means that it must find and disclose the truth about Regeni's murder. "It's a dramatic case and I once again I express my condolences to Giulio's family and I say what we have already said to the Egyptians - friendship is a precious thing and it is only possible with the truth," Renzi told Radio Anch'io. (ANSAmed). First attempt to install Sanchez as Spanish premier March 3 Debate on investiture to be held March 2 (ANSAmed) - MADRID, FEBRUARY 15 - Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez will seek a mandate as premier from MPs in a vote to be held March 3, the president of Congress of Deputies, Patxi Lopez, said Monday. The debate on his investiture will take place in the lower house March 2. Sanchez will be elected as the new Spanish premier if he receives votes from an absolute majority of the 350 deputies March 3. If necessary a second vote will be held March 5 in which Sanchez will be elected if he obtains a majority of the votes cast.(ANSAmed). CAIRO - The list of ministers of the Libyan government of national unity which shall be submitted to the Tobruk Parliament was finally completed, announced UN Envoy for Libya, Martin Kobler and several Libyan media, pointing out that the government is formed by 18 elements (13 "ministers" and five "ministers of the State"). With respect to the 32 member list of the national unity government rejected by the Tobruk parliament last month, the new list confirms names suggested for the Defense and Interior posts, while a new name appears for the Foreign Policy desk, according to a document published on Twitter by website Libya Channel. Al-Mahdi Ibrahim Al-Burghuthi was confirmed as head of the ministry of Defense, one of the most sensitive spots and one which caused heated controversy and divisions. Al-Burghuthi, a commander from the east of the country was welcomed by pro-Islamists militias in Tripoli despite the fact he was taking orders by general Khalifa Haftar. Al-Aref Saleh Al-Khouja, already minister of the Interior in Tripoli was confirmed in the same post as on the list of January 18. Mohamed al Taher Sayala replaced Marwan Abusrewil as minister of Foreign Affairs. His name appears in some media sources as deputy Foreign Minister and minister of Cooperation in the latter years of Muammar Gheddafi's regime. "Best wishes to the Presidential Council on the nomination of the national unity government. The journey towards peace and the unity of the Libyan people has finally begun", tweeted UN's Secretary's Special Representative for Libya, Kobler adding: "It is now crucial for the Chamber of Representatives to confirm the government": "it is a unique opportunity for peace and it cannot be squandered". Naples confers honorary citizenship on PKK leadr Ocalan Mayor De Magistris says city working for peaceful co-existence (ANSAmed) - NAPLES, FEBRUARY 15 - Naples city has conferred honorary citizenship to Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish leader of the PKK who has been held in detention in Turkey for 16 years. Naples Mayor, Luigi De Magistris, conferred a parchment certificate of citizenship and a medal of the city to the PKK leader's niece, Dilek Ocalan. The decision was based on "sentiments of sharing principles of democracy, equality and freedom for the Kurdish people" to whom "the city of Naples is linked by affection, esteem and friendship," the city said in a statement. The mayor said that "Naples is a city of peace and wants to create a community of living together, trying to build peace between Turkey and Kurdistan, like between Palestinians and Israelis." "We don't want to re-write history, we don't have the means to do so, but in our territory we want to demonstrate that one can live together, that love can prevail over hatred". Dilik Ocalan said the honorary award "is an important step for us and we ask whoever wants peace and brotherhood to support this struggle which begins from grassroots". A public debate on Kurdish resistance and a solidarity concert for Ocalan were being held in Naples Monday evening. (ANSAmed). CAIRO - "In an official statement published by the Ministry of the Interior, a Department of Information source rejected the information published by Western media according to which the Italian academic Giulio Regeni was arrested by elements belonging to the security services before his death": several Egyptian media reported, among which the official Mena news agency. "The source said that Western media published deeply flawed information regarding the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the Italian and added that a sizable investigative team has been entrusted to uncover the motives behind the assassination of the Italian and this team is fully cooperating with its Italian counterpart". The text concludes: "the results of this research and of the investigation will be announced once useful results will emerge". 'Speculation' hurts Regeni case, Helmy Media information false, says Egyptian ambassador (ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 15 - Egyptian Ambassador to Italy Amr Helmy on Monday warned against "speculation" over the probe into the torture and murder in Cairo of Italian student Giulio Regeni. Helmy said the investigation was proceeding "in a satisfactory" way. In order to find the culprits, he said, "it is necessary to wait" and let the joint Italo-Egyptian investigation reach "an objective conclusion on the case". Egypt has denied reports its security forces detained Regeni. Helmy said western media reports that two security officers took Regeni into custody on January 25, nine days before his body was found, were "completely false". (ANSAmed). Daily Summary: Five referrals submitted to the Judicial Inspection on the name of Camelia Bogdan. A decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania shatters the attachment ordered in the Telepathy case file Mihai Gadea returns Thursday night with a new explosive edition of the Daily Summary, on Antena 3. After the disclosures made by the Political Investigation Group related to the Telepathy/ICA case file and presented by Mihai Gadea and Mugur Ciuvica, Wednesday in the same show, the Judicial Inspection started an investigation in this case. The situation judge Camelia Bogdan is currently in ? All the while that people die in hospitals countrywide , Romania is the only country indicting the ones whose names follow: the former prime minister, the former head of ANAF, former deputy PM and Minister of Internal Affairs MAI, former general prosecutor of Romania, former head of DIICOT, former Minister of Development, former head of the secret service and several ministers. "Is it a question or a fact that following the cascade attacks of the then President in office, Traian Basescu, against Antena 3 and its founder, a decision to confiscate the premises of Antena 3 and the sentencing of Professor Dan Voiculescu was ruled", asked Mihai Gadea. Five referals registered by the Judicial Inspection on the name of Camelia Bogdan Invited on the program, Adina Anghelescu revealed that the Judicial Inspection has got a new leadership, of only 9 days. "He is a sensible judge, a professional, Mr. Lucian Netejoru, who assumed to refer this. (..) I asked how many complaints are pending resolution by the Judicial Inspection on the name of judge Camelia Bogdan and found that there are five. For 3 of which they have already started disciplinary investigation. They are not allowed to tell me what those complaints targeted, but intuition tells me that one of these disciplinary investigation is done in the Telepathy case, "said Adina Anghelescu. The CCR decision puts in doubt the attachments conducted in the Telepathy case file Mihai Gadea and Adina Anghelescu presented the Constitutional Court decision no.11 of 15.01.2015 regarding the exception of unconstitutionality that shows where the errors have been committed in the said case. The Court finds that the assets that were acquired before the entry into force of Law 63/2012 cannot be attached when offenses were committed after 2012. 1.847.000 viewers watched the Daily summary yesterday evening After a search of the Madrid PP's headquarters on Thursday, there is now more evidence that points to illegal financing by the PP. According to to Spanish radio network Cadena SER, the diary of Francisco Granados, ex-Secretary General of the Madrid PP, records a total of two million euros that the Madrid PP allegedly received from businessman Javier Lopez Madrid, a member of the Board of Directors of OHL and son-in-law of businessman Juan Miguel Villar Mir. According to these documents, the businessman made numerous payments to Beltran Gutierrez, former manager of the Madrid PP. The investigation now centers on the period of time when the PP was receiving these sums. Meanwhile, Esperanza Aguirre, president of the Madrid PP, has distanced herself from the accused leaders in her party and said she feels supported by the PP national leadership after the search ordered yesterday by Eloy Velasco, a judge from the National Court. Aguirre, who yesterday denied that the Madrid branch of the PP had financed itself illegally, appeared on Friday before the committee that is probing graft in the Madrid Assembly, the regions parliament. The president of the Madrid PP boasted about her political career and insisted that throughout her 33 years of public service she has appointed "more than 500 individuals to office, of which only two have let me down". She was referring to Francisco Granados, her former deputy currently in prison for his involvement in the Punica case--, and to Alberto Lopez-Viejo, former councilor in the Community of Madrid, whose involvement in the Gurtel case is under investigation. On the other hand, she asserted that corruption is "destroying" all the political parties, including the new political groups such as Podemos and C's. "Those who believe that corruption is not destroying them are very mistaken", said the PP power broker. Aguirre argued that defendants from the PSOE "are twice as many" as those of the PP; in Ciudadanos she mentioned the "two councilors from Valdemoro", and in Podemos, the investigations by the UDEF of "financial contracts with Iran. On Thursday Spains Guardia Civil turned up at the PP headquarters in Madrid and seized computer equipment belonging to Beltran Gutierrez, former PP regional manager. Previously, the officers had searched his home, and also that of businessman Javier Lopez Madrid, whose name is mentioned in Granados' papers. The police were seeking evidence of irregular financing of the party related to an alleged corrupt plot led by Francisco Granados, former secretary general of the PP in Madrid. Ciudadanos: the scourge of corruption disqualifies Rajoy The economic spokesman for Ciudadanos in Madrids parliament, Toni Roldan, said that the acting President of the Spanish government, Mariano Rajoy, cannot be "the leader of [political] change" in Spain because for years his party has assumed a high level of corruption. Asked in the hallways of Madrids Congress whether the latest police operation against corruption in the Madrid PP could affect the discussions between Ciudadanos and the PP, Roldan warned that, after these cases, Rajoy "cannot lead" the transformation of the country. Madrids regional government distances itself from the PP On Friday and in the midst of the scandal, Angel Garrido, presidential councilor and government spokesman in the Community of Madrid, distanced himself from the regional PP --embroiled in cases of corruption. The administration led by Cristina Cifuentes is "clearly very different", said Garrido, who added that he considers the behavior of leaders involved in the plot "shocking". "We have a policy of zero tolerance for corruption", he said, "as it ultimately hurts us all", he lamented in a statement to Efe, the Spanish news wire. In addition, he noted that the regional Madrid government was a plaintiff last summer in the Punica case. As such, he asked that the judicial powers act "as rapidly as possible", so that those responsible for corruption are locked away". Regarding the possibility that the Madrid PP will end up being managed by an ad hoc committee --as in Valencia--, Garrido assured that he has no knowledge of this matter. The airlines new website, which is available in English, Arabic, and Russian, has been redesigned to offer a fresh look and feel and many new features. When visiting flydubai.com, customers are now offered a more personalised online experience by receiving customised content based on their location and previous interaction with the site and a layout that automatically adjusts depending on the device being used. In addition, new destination guides and travel tips provide are provided. Ramesh Venkat, chief information officer said: Were excited to see the launch of our newly designed website. The recent relocation of our reservation system from Orlando to Dubai alongside the redesign of our website confirms our commitment to providing our customers with the best possible experience when navigating flydubai.com. The Iranian airline has signed for the two aircraft, according to free zone islands economic development organisation. The jets will be delivered by the summer. Earlier this year Arabian Aerospace reported Kish had met Airbus to discuss its need for 10 new aircraft meet its projections for growth as the island recovers it reputation as a resort and free zone. Reportedly, Russia's United Aircraft had been hoping to supply Kish Air with the Tupolev Tu-204SM. Pictured: A KIsh Air Tupolev which will be replaced by Airbus 321s. All the latest Ashbourne news. Ashbourne is an historic market town in Derbyshire. Situated on the southern edge of the Peak District, it is known as the 'Gateway to Dovedale' and the 'Gateway to the Peak District'. Ashbourne is famous for the annual Royal Shrovetide Football Match, which has been played since at least 1667, although its origins may date back centuries earlier. Ashbourne became a Fairtrade town in March 2005. The popular Tissington Trail, which follows the route of the former Ashbourne to Buxton railway, starts on the edge of town. Keep up to date with the latest news from the town by signing up for our newsletter. by Melani Manel Perera Sri Lankan authorities renew their commitment to complete the national reconciliation process. The International Committee of the Red Cross presented a report titled 'Needs of the Families of Missing Persons in Sri Lanka: Living with Uncertainty. For Foreign Minister, the process of reconciliation must be undertaken not to "appease international pressure or to keep the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, but because "we owe it to the people of our nation to forge a new future where all citizens will be treated with equal dignity and respect." Colombo (AsiaNews) Representatives of Sri Lankas Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) met to discuss the latters report titled Needs of the Families of Missing Persons in Sri Lanka: Living with Uncertainty. Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva chaired the meeting. The Deputy Foreign Minister reiterated that the Government of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe recognise the importance of dealing with the issues related to the families of missing persons and that it was with this recognition that the Government on 14 September 2015, announced in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, its commitment to establish, by Statute, an Office on Missing Persons based on the principle of the families' right to know, said a Foreign Ministry press release. The meeting comes just a few days after the High Commissioner for Human Rights UN Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein paid a visit to the country and urged it to "defeat the demons" of its 30-year bloody conflict, which saw the Sri Lankan military pitted against Tamil Tiger rebels. Deputy Foreign Ministry de Silva stressed the achievements of the current Sri Lankan government, which signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The UN General Assembly adopted the former in 2006. Now, for the first time in 16 years, the government will allow the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances to visit and has approved, pending parliamentary approval, the issuance of Certificates of Absence for the missing. Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera stressed the need for reconciliation in the country and appealed to the victims on both sides to join the consultation process. There are many here today who still have fears and doubts, Samaraweera said; however, the process of reconciliation must be undertaken not to "appease international pressure or to keep the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein happy," but because We owe it to the people of our nation to forge a new future where all citizens will be treated with equal dignity and respect." David Taylor, senior associate at Herbert Smith Freehills , tells Australasian Lawyer why the best advice hes ever received came from his dad.My family thought I could debate issues for a living and expected me to go to the bar. However, I found I was less enticed by being on my feet and more drawn to the strategy and complexities of big cases. The interactions a lawyer has with different people (clients, your team, other parties and counsel) also appealed, along with the work up to, and including, trial. All this led me down the lawyer path.This year will mark 10 years at Herbert Smith Freehills. I started at what was Freehills in 2006 when I came over from London with my then fiancee (now wife). We both grew up in London and needed to get away from endless months of cold and darkness. I was offered an opportunity with Freehills in Sydney and I jumped at it. We had no idea how long we would stay. A decade later we are both Aussie citizens and raising our son here. We love it here and have no plans to return to London.Im not sure about strangest, but the most challenging for sheer complexity and number of parties would have been the shareholder class action against Centro.Another separate matter I was involved in that stands out saw a plaintiff attempt to use the court system to bully and threaten a client into settling a case with no basis. I was very happy when the Court took a stand against it and threw the case out and awarded our client indemnity costs.A good question! I would probably want a fun, possibly controversial and engaging table so would likely invite John Cleese, Michael McIntyre and Jeremy Clarkson. However, I could also go for an intellectually stimulating table and for this I would invite Sir David Attenborough, Neil Armstrong and Stephen Fry.For more expensive food in Sydney, I would say Prime for steaks or Glass Brasserie. For a more reasonably priced meal, my wife and I love Radio Cairo in Cremorne interesting, tasty food at a great price. I also lived in Melbourne for 18 months and we loved Cookie and Chin Chin.Something my dad told me when I was younger Know what you know, and what you dont know, know that you dont know it. The point he was trying to make stuck with me - know the limits of your knowledge, and be aware there are others who know a lot more than you. Something my mentor once told me has also stayed with me never take credit for someone elses work.A lot of random things I like cars, computers, music, martial arts and travelling. But these days I enjoy spending most of my free time looking after my son.a presenter on Top Gear (UK).Im a class action lawyer, so for me, probably the introduction of contingency fees (or at least the continued debate as to the appropriateness of introducing such an arrangement). The regulation of litigation funders will also continue to be a hot topic.Work harder on global warming issues and the protection of Australias natural environment. Im not an massive environmentalist, but Im terrified by the seeming lack of care about Australias amazing environment.My Herbert Smith Freehills colleagues. Quite simply the best lawyers I know, whilst being tremendous people to work with.Install a coffee machine in my office? On a serious note, I wouldnt change much I really enjoy what I do. Naked pictures of a New Zealand judge holidaying at a nudist camp have been posted on the resorts website to promote it. The pictures, posted without the judges knowledge, show a full-frontal of the naked judge in one photo playing petanque and in the other posing on a grass lawn. According to the NZ Herald, the pictures were removed after the Herald on Sunday enquired about the pictures. The Herald has chosen not to name the judge. An image of [the judge] posted to a website without his knowledge has just been brought to my attention, said Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue. Any issue relating to judicial conduct is a matter for the independent Judicial Complaints Commissioner. I am unaware of any complaint made to the commissioner in respect of [the judge]. The commissioner has the power to investigate but not discipline judges. Doogue told The Herald that the pictures would not be considered a breach of the NZ official Guidelines for Judicial Conduct as they are intended as guidance and not as rules. But The Herald reported that the guidelines warn that a judge attracts closer public scrutiny than other members of the community both in and out of court. The standing of the judiciary is adversely affected by conduct which, for others, might not attract serious criticism, they say. Judges must therefore accept some restrictions on conduct and activities as a consequence of appointment. The judge, who could not be reached for comment, has previously attracted criticism for giving a high-profile New Zealander names suppression in a controversial case. Pineglades Naturist Club president said that the club owns the copyright and said that those photographed had given written consent. It's a free world. Come and have a look at what we're all about. All the positive things never get talked about, he said. Launching in March, the Sydney Exoneration Project will combine forensic psychology and legal expertise to review cases for individuals who have met the criteria to have their conviction assessed by the project. Undergraduate and postgraduate students in psychology and law will be able to apply to be supervised to review cases.Research shows eyewitness misidentification is by far the key cause of wrongful convictions, while other contributing factors can include false memories, false confessions, and laboratory error, said founder and director Dr Celine Van Golde.The Sydney Exoneration Project applies forensic psychological research into memory and testimony to investigate these issues.The Sydney Exoneration Project said there is currently no reliable data to estimate the number of wrongful convictions in Australia but said that US researchers estimate that between 0.5 and five per cent of American convictions are recorded against innocent individuals.Wrongful convictions happen in this country, said David Hamer, associate professor of Evidence and Proof and Sydney Exoneration Project supervisor.But without any real mechanism to identify and address them, Australian legal systems are left without a clear picture and means of amending miscarriages of justice.NSW had a DNA review panel which only lasted between 2007 and 2014 and failed to correct a single miscarriage of justice. It only considered serious cases where producing a DNA profile would clear the defendant.The Sydney Exoneration Project will consider cases where no DNA evidence is available, instead assessing eyewitness error and false confessions to verify a persons innocence.Not Guilty: The Sydney Exoneration Project ultimately seeks social justice for those in need, Van Golde said. Hey Guys, So I just got the greenlight for my Bridging Visa A wich is a blessing. However I am currently on a Student Visa that will not run out until april of 2017. I literally can not afford school anymore since I payed for the visa application and my hands are tied legally becauuse of my work restrictions. Now I know that I need tovolountary cancel my student visa and it's a risky. But I'd rather do that than get reported because I failed to pay for school.My question is now where do I write my cancelation to and How long does that process take? I live in Sydney if that helps. According to ICCT, advancing the timeline is a positive move; OEMs to work with emissions control suppliers to customise solutions for India. On January 6, 2016, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, had announced on Twitter: Me and my colleagues Prakash Javadekar (Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change), Anant Geete (Union Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises) and Dharmendra Pradhan (Union Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas) have taken a unanimous decision to leapfrog to BS-VI directly from 01/04/2020 Pradhan too tweeted that commitment to meet the deadline of 01.04.2020 for introduction of BS-VI fuel in country reaffirmed great decision. Pradhans tweet, which hails the governments firm decision of skipping BS-V emission norms and leapfrogging to BS-VI, erases all doubts about the oil marketing companies (OMCs) disagreement over being able to deliver the required fuel grade in four years time. The governments decision to implement BS-VI emission norms on new vehicles with effect from April 2020 has drawn concerns from the automotive industry specifically in the areas including rising costs, engine bay design issues, using diesel particulate filters (DPF) vs fuel efficiency trade-off, design time for tailor-made solutions for vehicles sold in India. OEMs and key suppliers of emission-related technologies have expressed their reservations against the early deadline. THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL It can be recalled that while addressing the automotive industry at the 55th SIAM annual convention in New Delhi last year, Gadkari had urged the fraternity to work upon stricter vehicular emission-related technologies. We cannot continue to postpone our decision of delaying the implementation of stricter emission norms (and of pan-India execution of one country one fuel policy highlighting the delay in pan-India availability of BS-IV fuel, and the opposition for early deadline by the auto industry). Soon someday the Supreme Court will pass a decision of implementing stricter norms and we will have no choice but to adhere to the same, Gadkari had said. WHAT ICCT THINKS The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a US-based independent, non-profit organisation involved in technical and scientific analysis of vehicular emissions worldwide, supports the implementation of the BS-VI emission norms in India by 2020. In his exclusive communication with our sister publication Autocar Professional, Anup Bandivadekar, passenger vehicles program director at ICCT, said: The move to skip BS-V, and go directly to BS-VI makes a lot of sense from a technical point of view. Advancing the date of implementation of BS-VI will generate tremendous health benefits over the long term, and the additional costs of cleaner fuel and vehicles will be offset by resulting health benefits (for the economy as a whole) in a matter of a few years. So, on the whole, this is a very positive development. This advancement will also have cost implications for the vehicles. While the costs will be moderate for petrol cars, diesel cars are likely to get more expensive by about Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 per vehicle depending on engine size. Indian automakers such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are known to already have the access to the BS-VI technology that goes into cars and CVs. For example, M&Ms SsangYong has been selling Euro-6 vehicles in EU and Korea for the last few years. M&M is also known for exporting the XUV5OO and other models fitted with DPFs in Europe. He also stated: A similar case can be made for Tata Motors, which has been selling Euro 6 trucks (Prima/Novus) under the Tata Daewoo brand in Korea since last year. They (OEMs) will have to work with emissions control suppliers, most of whom are global players, to customise the solution for the Indian market, but there is plenty of time to do that between now and 2020." Supporting the governments move, Brady Ericson, president and general manager of BorgWarner Emissions Systems, which currently supplies exhaust gas recirculation technologies to leading OEMs in India including Maruti Suzuki India, said: BorgWarner fully supports implementing BS-VI emission standards in India by 2020. The country is facing significant air quality challenges. If fuel can meet the required quality levels across India, automotive technologies are already available to meet the accelerated timeline. BorgWarners technologies are specifically engineered to help automakers improve fuel economy, emissions and performance. With our local testing and validation capabilities, BorgWarner is well positioned to help our customers meet new requirements with fast-to-market solutions. According to a report by the ICCT, given that the BS-VI emission norms are implemented in India in 2020, the emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) into the air (for all vehicles combined) could be reduced by more than 12 thousand metric tonnes and by close to 200 thousand metric tonnes by 2024 respectively. This underlines the tremendous health benefits by advancing the BS-VI standards timeline. Now what the automotive industry needs to consider is, if car buyers are ready to pay more for safety features, why will they not pay more to breathe safer air and address the issue of premature mortality? Amit Panday (Autocar Professional) TDI According to a report published by Bild , officials are working on a proposal concerning random emission testing in Germany. Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the publication that the testing system will be completely random, unannounced, and will target all manufacturers with sales operations in the country. In plain English, the random emission testing system is comparable to random doping tests.A draft of the proposal is expected to be sent to the lower house of the Parliament on Thursday. From there on in, its up to the Bundestag to decide if such tests will help the German automotive industry wash its sins. If the proposal passes as law, it will be interesting to wait and see if other European countries such as France, Spain, and Great Britain will take up the idea and implement similar emissions testing procedures.While the German government is busy making proposals to prevent another Dieselgate from happening, regulators in the United States are hard on the heels of Volkswagen. The manufacturers proposed fix for its cheating 2-literengines was rejected by the California Air Resources Board. Why's that?An excerpt from the clean air agencys release on the rejected fix mentions that the proposed plans contain gaps and lack sufficient detail, the descriptions of proposed repairs lack enough information for a technical evaluation, and the proposals do not adequately address overall impacts on vehicle performance, emissions, and safety. Thats the California Air Resources Boards way of giving the middle finger to Volkswagen.At the end of the day, Volkswagen made a decision to cheat on emissions by using a defeat device, then it tried to cover it by acting all mighty. Compounding a lie is bad enough, but signing Monty Pythons Always Look on the Bright Side of Life after youve been caught red-handed is the lowest a liar can go. ECU Now that more and more 488 GTBs have reached their owners, aftermarket developers are working overtime to dip into the potential of the TT Prancing Horse. Things have already started to heat up, with one of the first examples of this coming from the video below.The footage shows us a Ferrari 488 GTB review done in the UAE, where German tuner PP-Performance's dealer is currently playing with the Ferrari in question.For now, anremap has allowed the power to jump from the factory 670 hp to 720 hp. And the company obviously has bigger plans, which should mean the F12's 740 hp output will be exceeded soon. While this may be the kind of increase that won't surprise anybody, that's the whole idea - simply playing with the ECU of your 488 will make it faster than an F12berlinetta.Even in stock trim, the 488 manages to beat the V12 grand tourer in many acceleration tests, so as long as the driver of the mid-engined machine understands a thing or two about traction, the tuned supercar has all the chances of winning such races.However, before you jump to conclusions, there are two things we need to mention. First of all, the character of the naturally aspirated V12 motivating the F12berlinetta means its drivers get to enjoy a different, more refined type of sensation, a feat that is easily confirmed when comparing the soundtracks of the two Fezzas.Then there's the traction matter - given the fact that Ferrari engineers had to mix the playful handling nature of any Maranello product with the hefty low-end torque of the twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8, the 488 has to fight for its grip when setting off. And the tuning doesn't exactly help with that. Proposals for new autopilot upgrades can be shocking. Even entry-level wing-leveling systems start at $10,000, not including installation. But that wont buy much. Higher-end models with add-on options can easily snowball a project to $40,000. Thats roughly the cost of an average engine replacementor an average Skyhawk. For years, S-Tec (now Cobham Avionics) has dominated the autopilot retrofit market with thousands of STC approvals, from Cessna 150s to Beech 1900s. But S-Tec isnt the only game in town. Century and Bendix King still build autopilots, too. Theres also Avidynes DFC90. Its a drop-in, AHRS-based solution for replacing and increasing the performance of existing S-Tec systems. Heres a look at the current retrofit autopilot market thats trending toward digital interfaces, increased reliability and higher costs. Stability Matters Since pilots buy autopilots to fly the aircraft more smoothly and with more accuracy than a human, its easy to have unrealistic expectations on what a modern system can do and how well it might perform. Rather than an automatic pilot, the better description is flight control system. Thats because what were really asking the system to do is maintain aircraft stability, particularly when turbulence and out-of-trim conditions depart the airframe from the intended roll-and-pitch axis. In addition, we expect full-featured systems to precisely fly all segments of an instrument approach, including course reversals and holding patterns, following the lead of integrated GPS navigators and FMS systems. Attitude-based systems do all of that more precisely than a rate-based system. Its all about the precision and stability of the reference source that feeds the autopilot computer. An attitude-based autopilot computer receives roll and pitch signals from a compatible attitude gyro (or digital AHRS, in a PFD-equipped aircraft). A rate-based autopilot works by reference from a rate gyro inside an electric turn coordinator, arguably a less stable reference, especially in turbulence as the turn coordinator bounces. As we reported in the instrument upkeep article in the January 2013 issue of Aviation Consumer, PFD systems equipped with non-spinning, electronic gyros have become the preferred sources for driving autopilots. Theyre more precise, reliable and promise a longer life. Youll still need a backup attitude gyro, but it doesnt need to have the outputs for driving the autopilot. The AHRS does that when connected to a digital gyro emulator/converter (Garmins GAD43 or Aspens EA100). While arguably less precise than attitude-based autopilots, rate-based models are notoriously easier to install, cheaper to purchase and might require less upkeep than attitude-based models. But theres a performance tradeoff, especially when installed in quicker airframes. A lower-end rate-based model may be an acceptable match for an Archer, but not enough autopilot for a speedier Malibu, for example. Bendix King KFC225 Once the leader of the autopilot market, Bendix King introduced the KFC225 for new production Beech Bonanzas and Barons. The all-digital, attitude-based KFC225 was intended as a modern replacement for the venerable KFC200/150. Bendix King made significant improvements when designing the KFC225, eliminating the heavy KC295 remote flight guidance computer in favor of a flat-pack, self-contained computer/controller that mounts in the radio stack. It reengineered the KS270-series mechanical servo actuators to an improved servo speed control, or tach feedback, design. Plus, it added an integrated altitude preselect and vertical speed function, eliminating the remote KAS270 altitude selector system. Theres also voice prompting and an optional yaw damper that still requires a separate yaw rate gyro. The KFC225 went out of production during Bendix Kings hiatus from the market, but its back in the lineup with an interface thats based around Garmins G500/600 and Aspens Evolution PFD. When the KFC225 was introduced, the STC included the KCS55A mechanical HSI system and the KI256 flight director gyro. Now, the installation approval is blanketed under Garmin and Aspen STCs. But that doesnt make the KFC225 a player in all aircraft, although Bendix King says the STC list is expected to grow. For now, its available for the Beech Baron and Bonanza series, Cessna 421 and 414, Piper Navajo Chieftain and the newer GippsAero G8. Bendix King says the system will be approved for the Cessna 210 series and the Piper PA46 Malibu Mirage in mid 2014. Pricing for the KFC225 starts at $28,000, but that doesnt include an Aspen or Garmin PFD or a gyro emulator. Aspens single-screen Evolution PFD is roughly $15,000 installed, while a G500 might easily top $20,000. You could install the system with the KI256 flight director gyro, priced at $20,000, and the KCS55A slaved compass system with HSI for $17,000, but we cant see why anyone would do that. If you have an existing KFC200, a KFC225 could be an easier retrofit than starting from scratch, since some of the existing servo mounts and other supporting hardware might be utilized. Century Forget the rumors that Century isnt making autopilots any more. There are four current-production models in the Century lineup and all are compatible with Aspens EA100 autopilot gyro emulator (it can also replace the 52D-series attitude gyro in vintage CII, III and IV autopilots). Centurys Alan Flewitt says the company holds more autopilot STCs (over 1600 approvals) than any other autopilot manufacturer. It also offers field and factory support for vintage systems from its headquarters in Mineral Wells, Texas. The expandable C2000 autopilot remains the companys top selling system, available in a basic single axis or up to a three-axis configuration that Century calls the Total Solution model. It has roll, pitch, flight director and yaw damper. In the basic roll configuration, the C2000 has heading hold/select, VOR, localizer and back course intercept and track. When interfaced with an HSI, the system is designed to intercept a course at shallow angles, but when equipped with a traditional CDI theres an automatic 45-degree course intercept function. With GPS steering, a $2854 option, the system will intercept a GPS course and approach at any angle. The pitch expansion option adds altitude hold, attitude command, glideslope capturing and tracking, control wheel steering and pitch trim prompting. Altitude hold systems that have trim prompting warn the pilot when the aircraft is out of trim so they can manually trim the pitch axis. Automatic electric pitch trim, requiring an additional trim servo, takes care of that chore automatically. If theres a downside to installing the C2000, its the amount of radio stack space thats required to accommodate the 2.25-inch-tall control head. Centurys solution to this is the $20,000 C4000 and $16,500 Triden systems. These are similar to the C2000 (using the same model servos) but have different control heads (the C4000 uses a Dzus rail mount while the Triden fits in a 3-inch ATI cutout). While these systems currently have limited STC approvals, adding an aircraft on a case-by-case basis could be easy. Flewitt says since the C2000, Triden and C4000 all fly exactly the same way, the FAA doesnt require demonstration flight testing for approval. That saves a huge amount of time in the approval process. While the STC list is growing, current applications include the Cessna 182 and 421, Beech Bonanza and Piper Comanche. Both the C4000 and Triden systems have, in our view, busy displays. There are no fewer than 20 mode annunciators in the C4000. But then again, it has a lot of modes, including integral GPS steering, vertical speed select and hold, plus glideslope capturing (from either above or below the glideslopea useful feature that many systems dont have). Cobham S-Tec S-Tecs entry-level model is the $9793 System 20. Its esssentially a wing leveling and nav tracking system thats integrated into a turn coordinator/controller, with optional heading command (requiring a compatible directional gyro, HSI or PFD). Theres also an optional $2300 ST-901 GPSS system. S-Tec offers an upgrade for adding altitude hold to the system, requiring a pitch computer, pitch servo and pressure transducer. This makes it the System 30 with trim prompting. Other basic models include the panel-mounted System 40 and 50, using a separate turn coordinator and controller. These systems are nearly identical to the System 20 and 30, except for mounting (none will support automatic trim). The way we see it, theres little advantage buying the two-piece 40 or 50 system unless you want localizer backcourse tracking, a function thats lacking in the 40 and 50. On the other hand, the System 50 is all self-contained, with a pitch computer built into the console. The System Thirty requires the installation of a remote pitch computerincreasing the labor effort. STECs flagship retrofit system is the 55X, with self-contained computer/controller. It has vertical speed command, nav tracking and glideslope capturing, GPSS and it supports automatic electric pitch trim (a $5500 option). Theres also the optional SA-200 altitude preselect/alerter with voice callouts. At $11,733, it includes a new United Instruments encoding altimeter. The $5710 ST-360 alerter is available, with less automation and more complex feature set. The System 60-2 is aimed at larger aircraft and has remote pitch and roll guidance computers. It has many of the features of the 55X, less GPSS. For add-on altitude hold, theres the PSS (pitch stabilization system). It supports automatic pitch trim and has glideslope capturing. The System Thirty Alt is also a stand-alone altitude hold system, less autotrim and glideslope interface. Avidyne DFC90 Avidynes DFC90 plug-and-play retrofit autopilot is designed to drive S-Tec servo actuators, while plugging into an existing S-Tec 55X mounting rack and wiring harness. Whats compelling about a DFC90 upgrade is transitioning from the S-Tecs analog, rate-based concept to a digital attitude-based platform. It interfaces with the AHRS in Avidynes Entegra or Aspens Evolution PFD. This means earlier Cirrus models, to name one high-performance application, will benefit from the DFC90. If youve flown a Cirrus thats equipped with an S-Tec 55, you might have noticed sloppy approach coupling and tracking, especially in strong winds. The DFC90 solves these issues, based on our evaluation. It also steps the interface up a few notches, with airspeed hold thats commanded on the airspeed bug of the PFD. Unlike the 55X, the DFC90 doesnt require manual arming of its GPSS mode. It automatically engages GPSS mode when youre tracking a GPS course. Theres also a fully functional flight director. The other draw is envelope protection, including a straight-and-level mode that recovers from unusual attitudes (recovering to wings-level from 60 degrees of bank and 30 degrees of pitch). The DFC wont let the aircraft get too slow or too fast, pitching up or down accordingly. We like the DFC90s ergonomic design, with mode logic designed for an easy transition from a 55X. But dont expect a while-you-wait drop-in installation. Most existing Entegra and Evolution PFD systems will need to be upgradedrunning anywhere from $3500-$6000on top of the $9990 cost for the autopilot computer. Installation might cost $1500 to $2000, including flight testing. Avidyne recently added STC approval for the DFC90 and Aspen Evolution combination for a wide variety of Beech Bonanza applications, as well as approval for some models of the Cessna 182. Choose Carefully The key is selecting the proper autopilot for your mission and airframe. Since an autopilot will likely expand your mission, consider one with advanced approach capability, especially if instrument flying is your plan. For higher-end aircraft, accept that pricier, higher-end autopilots will be better suited than entry-level models. This includes models with autotrim, yaw damper and attitude-based control logic. For tighter budgets and lighter airframes, the S-Tec 20 is our top pick if you can live without altitude hold. You can always upgrade later by adding the additional components. The Avidyne DFC90/Aspen Evolution combination wins for performance. With a growing STC list, it could be the easiest way to advanced functionality at a lower cost. This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Aviation Consumer magazine. For more great content like this, subscribe to Aviation Consumer! 15 February 2016 18:25 (UTC+04:00) By Nazrin Gadimova Azerbaijani student was injured as a result of a ceasefire violation by the Armenian armed units on February 15, 2016. 17-years-old Joshgun Mammadov received two gunshot wounds in his arm and leg, the Agdam District Central Hospital reported. He is currently being treated in the hospital. The health state of the injured student is normal. It is not the first time when the Armenian side targets the civilians. Last time, three residents of Azerbaijans Terter region have been injured as a result of ceasefire violation by the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts -- Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 15:27 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova The energy-consuming countries are standing in a queue for entering Iranian market after the removal of Western sanctions on Tehran. Enjoying huge oil reserves of about 158 billion barrels, Iran has set a priority to develop its oil industry and attract foreign oil companies to the country. Asmeret Asghedom, an expert at the U.S. Energy Information Administration believes that the oil industry of Iran is attractive both for European and Asian companies. "There have already been some international companies that have signed deals to invest in Irans energy industry and restart their purchases of Iranian oil," she told Azernews. "In late January 2016, after the nuclear deal was signed, Iran signed energy and non-energy deals with companies in France and Italy. For the energy-related deals, Italys Saipem signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a pipeline in Iran and upgrade two refineries (Shiraz Pars and Tabriz), while Frances Total signed a memorandum of understanding to import 200,000 b/d from Iran. Greeces largest refinery, Hellenic Petroleum, also agreed to buy oil from Iran. South Africa has also said it would resume purchases of Iranian oil." India and China also rush to the Iranian market, according to the expert. "India is another country that has shown interest to invest in Iran," she said. Last year, the Indian company ONGC Videsh submitted development plans to develop the Farzad-B gas field. The plan has not been approved yet. Iran is also continuing to work with Chinas Sinopec for the development of the Yadavaran oil field and with CNPC for the development of the North Azadegan oil field." Touching upon the possibility of investment from the U.S. companies, Asghedom noted that these companies are precluded from investing in Irans energy industry "because the U.S. primary sanctions against Iran remain in place." Free of sanctions, Iran plans to increase its oil export by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), and then raise the figure by another 500,000 to two million bpd within a six month period at the next step. Recently, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has called for $200 billion of investment for development of oil industry of Iran, the fourth country in the world for its proven oil reserves. At a time when the market already is grappling with a global supply glut and fluctuating oil prices, Iran is keen to return to the world market with huge steps. In this regard, the country plans to attract foreign companies to the oil industry by introducing new Iran Petroleum Contracts (IPCs). Asghedom believes that attraction of such volume of investment in Iran's oil industry will depend on several factors. "This depends on numerous factors, such as when the bidding for the IPCs/projects that are being offered begins and the length of the bidding and approval process," she said. "IOCs [International Oil Companies] will also have to go through a due diligence process when choosing which Iranian local service companies to work with to fulfill Irans local content requirements. Because U.S. primary sanctions remain in place, IOCs cannot work with Iranian persons/entities that remain on sanction lists, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)." Asghedom is sure that the current proposed IPC model is more attractive than Irans buyback contracts "because the IPC allows IOCs to participate in the projects production phase and the projects costs will not be fixed, unlike in the buyback contracts." However, each IPC will have to be negotiated for each project so the attractiveness and benefits to international oil companies (IOCs) may vary by project, she stated. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 12:19 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Azerbaijan, a country located on the western edge of the Caspian Sea and at the crossroad between East and West, opens travel offices in Turkey and Russia. Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev announced last week that relevant agreements have already been signed for the opening of offices of the Ministry and Azerbaijan Tourism Association in these neighboring countries. The opening of the national offices in Turkey is scheduled for late February, while the offices in Russia will operate by mid-March. The minister further underlined the increase of tourists from neighboring Russia, Iran and Georgia, associating it with the fact that the Azerbaijani tourism companies maintain financial calculations in the national currency manat. Travel companies and hotels operating in the countrys regions make the calculations in national currency and this is expanding tourist flow in Azerbaijan, he emphasized, adding that prices offered in the national tourism industry today, can compete with those offered in the region. Garayev also reminded that this year the Land of Fire expects an increase in the number of tourists due to hosting of large-scale events. To promote the countrys tourism potential, Azerbaijan has opened several travel offices in different countries including Germany, and UAE. Experts say the Dubai office opened in 2011 gives efficient fruits and last year the number of visitors from Gulf countries, mainly Dubai, Doha and other cities significantly increased. To promote Azerbaijan, also known as the "Land of Fire", in these countries and to increase the awareness of foreigners, these offices held several presentations and advertising campaigns in these countries. The travel offices signed several agreements with the travel agencies of these countries, ensuring the sale of tour packages to Azerbaijan. Being one of the most visited countries in the region, Azerbaijan attracts tourists with the blue sea, mountains of delicious fruit and exquisite cuisine. The country attracts mostly tourists from Russia, Turkey, Georgia, and Iran, who make up roughly 95 percent of Azerbaijans tourist base. Currently, Azerbaijan is able to accommodate some 2.5 million people visiting the country a year in 530 both luxury and 2-3 stars hotels. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 11:17 (UTC+04:00) Hawaii has become the 19th U.S. State to condemn the Khojaly Massacre, as well as recognize and honor its innocent victims. David Ige, Governor of the U.S. State of Hawaii has signed a Special Message condemning the Khojaly Massacre, which was committed by Armenias armed forces against the Azerbaijani civilians in 1992. This special message of recognition is the first official document in Hawaii concerning the Khojaly Massacre, the Azerbaijani Consulate General in Los Angeles reported on February 15. On behalf of the people of Hawaii, I wish to express my deepest sympathies for the pain, suffering and loss of life that transpired 24 years ago, the Hawaii governor said in the message. As you gather to commemorate the tragedy that occurred in Khojaly, it is important to remember those who have suffered from senseless violence. In 1992, the Armenian military, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi, committed genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. Among those 613 killed in the massacre, there were 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. A total of 487 civilians became disabled as a result of the onslaught. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. The tragedy became the largest massacre in the course of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war. Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. have produced no results so far. 15 February 2016 13:20 (UTC+04:00) The relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan must be absolutely better and more concrete, especially in economic sphere. European Parliament Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki made the remark while talking to Trend on February 15. We should improve relations between the EU and Azerbaijan, as well as the EU member countries and Azerbaijan, he said. Role of Azerbaijan in Europes common energy security policy is substantial and we want a diversified source of energy to Europe and to deeper cooperation with Azerbaijan is absolutely in our economic and also political interest, he said, stressing that the EU-Azerbaijan cooperation is obligatory for both sides. Czarnecki also dismissed the recent statement by the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry regarding the fact that the EU Eastern Partnership initiative has failed. The Eastern Partnership program envisages political association and economic integration of EU with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It does not envisage the EU membership. The Eastern Partnership initiative does not provide the possibility for its members to become members of the European Union, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said on January 29 in his speech during a session of the Polish Parliament. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 17:23 (UTC+04:00) By Nazrin Gadimova The United Kingdom does not recognize the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, State Minister for European Affairs David Lidington said during political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and the UK held in London. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov headed Azerbaijani delegation, while David Lidington represented the UK. The parties believe that the political dialogue between Azerbaijan and Great Britain is at a high level. Khalafov and Lidingston also expressed confidence that the first meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission, held on February 11, 2016 in London, will contribute to the expansion of economic cooperation between the parties, especially in the non-energy sector. The current state of the peace talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also discussed at the meeting. Khalafov praised the British position regarding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and expressed interest in deepening bilateral cooperation with the United Kingdom. He also noted that Azerbaijan expects the United Kingdom to take the relevant steps to prevent illegal visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Lidington, in turn, said that the UK attaches special importance to cooperation with Azerbaijan and stressed the existing potential for expansion of bilateral relations. Noting that the country will continue to support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, he added that the United Kingdom does not recognize the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh region and did not have any relationship with it at the official level. Earlier, at a meeting with UK State Minister for Trade and Investment Francis Maude Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev submitted a list of companies engaged in illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Mustafayev noted that this is unacceptable, and the British government should take measures to prevent such incidents. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surround districts that make up 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, are under occupation of Armenian armed forces. -- Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 18:12 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova Azerbaijan, an important participant of any process that takes place in the continent, has again approved its significant role in such vital issues as Europe's energy security and international security by being invited to the Munich Security Conference. The 52nd Munich Security Conference which was held on February 12-14 showed that Azerbaijan is firmly embedded in the international security system and its role in strengthening this system is undeniable and nothing can change this reality. The conference attended by more than 400 participants, including heads of states and governments, foreign and defense ministers, politicians, scientists and heads of international organizations, discussed the most topical issues of the current international agenda - the crises, as well as current and future challenges of international security. The key topics of this conference were the migratory crisis in Europe, the war in Syria and the future of the European security. In addition, the fight against terrorism, energy security and climate change also were high on the agenda. Bilateral and multilateral discussions on various topics were organized on the sidelines of the conference. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended the Energy Security Roundtable on the Geopolitics of Low Oil Prices as part of the Munich Conference on February 12. During the meeting the participants discussed the issues of impact of oil prices on oil-producing countries. The main idea which was voiced during the roundtable was that despite significant decrease of oil prices, the main thing for each country is to be able to balance the situation in a timely manner. Azerbaijan, according to President Aliyev, faced with a real challenge, but "due to the policy of diversification and investments in infrastructure, we, I think, managed to find a way out from this situation with minimum losses." "The task in the coming years will be to diversify our export potential, and here, of course, we come to the point of necessity to continue economic reforms, create even better conditions for private sector, attract more investments and start a large-scale privatization program. All of these elements have already been declared as our state policy, and I am sure that we will succeed," he said. The development of each country should continue not depending on whether oil prices are low or high. In this regard, in the coming years the task of Azerbaijan, more than 90 percent of export of which is oil and gas, will be to develop the non-oil sector and to diversify its export potential. The country has achieved reduction of dependence on oil factor dramatically during last 5-10 years. Oil is only 30 percent of Azerbaijan's GDP. Now the government is set to achieve the same picture in the country's exports. President Aliyev also attended the Panel Discussion "Climate and Energy Security: Is the Heat Still on?" of the Munich Conference on February 13. Addressing the discussions, President Aliyev said post-oil period has already begun for Azerbaijan. "I am absolutely sure that if we manage to successfully implement our plans in the coming years, Azerbaijan will completely eliminate dependence on oil. As I have noted, due to the recent fall in oil prices, post-oil period has already begun for Azerbaijan, and we should find our place on the global market as a country exporting not only oil and gas but also other products," he noted. The potential accumulated from previous years, allowed Azerbaijan to safely adjust to new realities and to carry out reforms promptly that have already brought the first successes. Drop of oil prices have not hindered Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations before the partners. Currently, the Southern Gas Corridor project is being implemented. As President Aliyev said, "it is an energy security, a project of diversification of not only routes, but also the resources of the project, which will bring benefits to us - the producers, transit countries and consumers." During the discussions, President Aliyev said problems for the development of the country and the region occur not from crude oil prices but from ongoing Armenian aggression, including in terms of environmental and energy security. Referring to the water blackmail of Armenia, President Aliyev said that the water resources flowing to the territory of Azerbaijan are located in neighboring countries, and this itself creates a certain threat for the country. For example, as a result of Armenian aggression, illegal activities - the destruction of forests - are carried out and water sources are polluted. President Aliyev also drew attention to the recently adopted PACE resolution on Sarsang water reservoir. According to the document, Armenia holds the reservoir in the blockade, and as a result, the population of Azerbaijan cannot use this water resource. "In January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution condemning Armenia for creating perpetrated problems in providing the neighboring regions with water. This resolution, adopted by a majority in the Parliamentary Assembly, makes a call to stop bringing pain to people. Unfortunately, they are using the reservoir, constructed in the years when Nagorno-Karabakh was a de facto part of Azerbaijan, for creating problems for the civilian population," he stated. Commenting on a question of a representative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry regarding the allegations of Baku to Yerevan, President Aliyev said not only Azerbaijan, but also international organizations blame Armenia in the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands, for example, the UN Security Council that adopted the relevant resolutions. "We blame Armenia in occupation, and not only we. The highest international organization - the UN Security Council does it," President Aliyev said. "The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories. We do not blame the Armenian people, but the Armenian government for the Khojaly genocide, when Armenian vandals killed innocent people only because they were Azerbaijanis and this genocide is already recognized by more than 10 countries. We accuse Armenia on suffering of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons who became refugees in their native land. Some 40,000 of them are from Nagorno-Karabakh, while 750,000 - from other occupied regions of Azerbaijan, and 200,000 were driven out from Armenia and subjected to ethnic cleansing. All these are the result of your occupation. This is the result of the policy pursued by you against a neighboring country, and the occupation must end. The main condition for achieving peace in the region is the release of Azerbaijani lands from the occupation." De-occupation is the only condition for confidence building between the conflicting parties, he added. "Armenia wants the status quo to remain unchanged. We want to change the status quo Thus, the first step is withdrawal from the occupied lands, and after it, we will begin to cooperate," he said, responding to the questions addressed to him. Azerbaijan, not in theory but in practice, faced with problems of terrorism, refugees, occupation and threats to its security. When Europe has not thought about the possibility of such a migration crisis today, Azerbaijan faced the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons, and resolved it alone, without any help, without calling any conference. It is a bitter experience, but the country has it, and it can be useful in today's conflict-ridden world. In early February, President Aliyev participated at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in London. It once again showed Azerbaijan's importance for the world as a country enjoying smooth and friendly relations with all the countries involved in the Syrian crisis, and with all the countries of the Muslim world. Being the leader of the region, and a secular Muslim country, where representatives of different faiths coexist in peace and harmony, Azerbaijan expressed its readiness to share its experience in managing the refugee problem. Regional leadership, economic and political stability, participation in the fight against international terrorism, the role of one of the main sources of energy security of Europe, and an important point of intersection of trade and transport routes - all these make the participation of Azerbaijan on a global-scale meetings much more important and actual. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 11:56 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the troika engaged in implementation of giant energy and transport projects, have met in Tbilisi to discuss the progress of construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, current problems, railway transportation among the three countries and future prospects of cooperation. The talks held on February 12 as part of the 7th meeting of the trilateral Coordination Council on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project also covered the multi-billion Great Silk Road project, as well as large-scale projects carried out in the region for strengthening relations, developing the tourism potential and enhancing the economic-trade turnover among the states and nations. Azerbaijan's Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov stressed the importance of the BTK project, which is expected to play an important role in development of economic, socio-cultural relations among the three countries. Binali Yildirim, Turkish Transport, Maritime and Communication Minister, said his country supports this project which will unite Europe and Asia, and will do its best for successful completion of construction of the railway. After signing a final protocol of the meeting, the transport ministers of the three countries held a press conference. BTK cost may increase Speaking at the press conference, Mammadov said the cost of the Georgian-Azerbaijani section of the railway, which now amounts to roughly $775 million, may increase due to current economic processes taking place in the world. "In general, the cost of any project jumps, as initially the project is developed, and then, after conducting some analysis, the official price is set," he said. "Some $200 million has been allocated for the project under the first tranche, while the second tranche amounted to $575 million. The total cost of the project amounted to $775 million. The budget of the project for the current year reaches $150-170 million, but it can rise due to the current global financial problems." Mammadov's such a statement was supported by Georgian Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili. BTK attracts interest Yildirim believes that since the beginning of implementation of the BTK railway project, it has attracted the attention of Western countries and such Asian countries as China, which is located on the historical Silk Road. He told Trend that the BTK railway will become the safest and most efficient transport corridor between Asia and Europe stretching not only via Turkey but also Azerbaijan and Georgia. "It will become even more important after it is connected with the Marmaray project (in Turkey) and thus, connecting Europe with Asia," he said. "The BTK construction is underway and the rail transport via this route is expected to start in 2017." Yildirim believes that the BTK project will further strengthen the neighborly and fraternal relations among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and enable to supply the goods produced in these countries to the world markets. Taking this into account, for Turkey, BTK is a network having economic and cultural aspects, Yldrm said. The BTK railway, being constructed on the basis of a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement, will play a significant role in the revival of the historical Silk Road and will enable expansion of the relations from Europe to the Anatolia, Central Asia and the Far East. Azerbaijan's state oil fund SOFAZ finances the project in accordance with the Azerbaijani presidents decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities', dated February 21, 2007. The peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be equal to one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. The Tbilisi meeting is expected to become a significant milestone in the implementation of the BTK railway and to accelerate the completion of the project in a short term. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 13:42 (UTC+04:00) By Nazrin Gadimova Azerbaijan may launch a seismic equipment production, a source in the countrys IT-market told Trend. Today, seismic equipment used in Azerbaijan is purchased mainly from the U.S., the UK and Norway, the source said, adding that the country can arrange the mass production of this equipment, but for this, products should be export-oriented. The interviewee believes that involvement of foreign customers is a key moment, since this can reduce the prime cost of the finished product. The source further noted that it is possible to produce vibration detectors and controllers adapted to work in the field conditions. Currently more than 30 seismic stations are established in Azerbaijan. The supplier of the seismic equipment is American Kinemetrics Company. All stations are connected to the satellite system, while the leading station is located in the territory of the Academic Town in Baku. Using this satellite, the leading station receives regular information from the vibration detectors installed in seismically active spots of the country. Along with the seismic stations, Azerbaijan uses 25 GPS-stations. GPS-stations allow defining the displacement of the Earth's crust caused by earthquakes in the region, as well as to measure weak vibrations of the earth's crust with split-hair accuracy. All measurement data is sent to the Republican Seismological Centre, where undergo other types of measurements and then is used to predict areas of high seismic activity. Azerbaijan, located in seismically active zone, places a special emphasis on the development of seismic experience and installation of seismic stations. The first seismic station in Azerbaijan was established in 1902 in Baku. Scientists believe that seismic zones with the potential to produce dangerous force cover the entire country, while the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt passes directly through Azerbaijan. -- Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 14:24 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli British BBC has aired a video reportage on the Ali and Nino film, shot based on a novel with the same name by an Azerbaijani writer. Chief Director of the British film Asif Kapadia, who is also a BAFTA award winner told BBC about the shooting of the movie, which was recently premiered at the prestigious American Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Kapadia told that the story takes place in the Caucasus. Today, the region is very important in kind what is going in the world now. Here the East meets the West, Europe meets Asia, Islam meets Christianity. Its very stunning place. And its nothing like what I imagined. It was a crazy journey to this unknown world, he said. The film tells a love story of two young people, who have different religious faiths and nationalities, on the backdrop of World War I and the independence movement in Azerbaijan. An Azerbaijani Muslim boy Ali and Georgian Nino live in the oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan which at the beginning of the 20th century was a melting pot of different cultures. Despite differences in cultures, they have loved each other since childhood. The film's executive producer is Leyla Aliyeva, producer is Kris Thykier. Screenwriter of "Ali and Nino" is a British novelist, screenwriter and film director Christopher Hampton. Most scenes were shot in accordance with the original story, and on-screen work reflects both positive and negative aspects of the relationship between the two heroes. Ali and Nino, being one of the most original works of the 20th century literature is a tale of love by an Azerbaijani novelist who wrote under the pen name Kurban Said. Since its initial publication in 1937, the acclaimed novel has been translated into 33 languages worldwide with nearly 100 reprints. The stars of the 104-minute film include Adam Bakri, Maria Valverde, also known from movie Three meters above the sky, Mandy Patinkin, Connie Nielsen, Riccardo Scamarcio, Homayoun Ershadi and others. Of note, another screen work of Kapadia "Amy" filmed in 2015, nominated for the "Oscar" in the category "The best feature-length documentary." -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 17:13 (UTC+04:00) The European Commission keeps pushing for the diversification of energy sources, routes and suppliers, as well as encourages the emerging LNG market. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic made the remark at the International Energy Agency in Paris, the Commissions website reports. We will continue discussions with third countries, in particular those in our immediate neighborhood, especially in Energy Community countries, not only on security aspects in a narrow sense but also on issues such as renewable and energy efficiency, Sefcovic said. Currently, the Baku-backed Southern Gas Corridor is among the Commissions energy projects, which aims at the diversification of the EU gas supply sources and routes. The Southern Gas Corridor, envisaging gas supply from the Caspian region to the European markets, has been included in the European Commissions Projects Of Common Interest (PCI) list. In particular, Expansion of the South-Caucasus Pipeline, Trans Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Interconnection Greece Bulgaria (IGB), as well as the Trans Caspian pipeline are among the included in the PCI list projects. Speaking about the Energy Union strategy Sefcovic said that the Commission intends to put forward some 90 percent of its proposals by Late 2016. He believes a single European energy market will allow the EU to increase its security of supply by allowing energy to flow freely across its borders therefore offsetting oversupply on one side of a border with over demand on another. He further noted that one of the main points of focus for this year is decoupling the geo-political tensions, especially on Europe's eastern borders, from Europe's energy security. A central element of the EU's Energy Union strategy is bridging missing links in the energy infrastructure. Building missing cross-border links between the Baltic Sea region and the rest of the EU energy market is a priority for the commission, Sefcovic said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 17:57 (UTC+04:00) By Nazrin Gadimova The CIS will undergo reforms during the jubilee session of the CIS Heads of State Council to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on September 16, 2016. This was announced during the regular session of the Council of Permanent Representatives of the CIS member states, held on February 9, 2016. Kyrgyzstan's Resident Representative in CIS charter bodies and other agencies Kubanychbek Omuraliyev believes that CIS will continue working, but it needs some transformation. There are some aspects concerning the CIS agencies that need to be revised, he said. This process occurs in such organizations as the OSCE, the UN, and the European Union. The CIS has already existed for 25 years and now it is time to optimize its structure. Currently, there are about 70 authorized and specialized bodies in the CIS. Thus, optimization will be carried out precisely in order to cut away redundant functions. Omuraliyev added that thanks to these reforms, financial costs would be reduced, while performance will grow up. The bill is supposed to be worked out during the CIS Foreign Ministers Council session to be held in Moscow on April 8, 2016. This document will deal with cooperation in politics, exchange of geospatial data and personal data, the execution of court rulings, and equal university admission rights for citizens of the CIS member states. Moreover, during the session, parties prepared a draft agenda of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, to be held on April 8, 2016. This draft includes issues relating to cooperation policy, the exchange of geospatial information and personal data, execution of court decisions, as well as granting equal rights for admission to higher education institutions to citizens of the Commonwealth countries. Some documents are devoted to cooperation in the fields of health, culture, establishment of basic organizations in various fields. The Permanent Representatives also discussed upcoming events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the CIS, as well as the draft agenda of the next meeting, and a joint meeting of the Permanent Representatives of the Council and the Commission on Economic Affairs of the CIS Economic Council. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional international organization regulating relations between the states that were part of the USSR, was established on December 8, 1991. On December 21, 1991, the leaders of eight former Soviet Republics Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, thus bringing the number of participating countries to 11. The CIS is a loose association of states. Possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security, CIS has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention. Furthermore, eight of the nine CIS member states participate in the CIS Free Trade Area, and five of these form the Eurasian Economic Union, a customs union and single market of over 180 million people. -- Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 10:38 (UTC+04:00) Iran made a deal with six world powers for more global engagement and booming economy. The deal, implemented on January 16, ended sanctions which had brought the countrys economy to its knees. In the days following the implementation of the JCPOA (official name for the nuclear deal), one could see more and more of foreigners walking down the streets of capital city Tehran. They are either tourists or businessmen seeking a share of the giant market that has opened up to them. For the time being we are seeing mostly businessmen, and I have to add that was I expected beforehand, a hotel clerk told Trend February 14. What I mean is businessmen were preparing for this day and now they are here exploring the market. But, most of the visiting foreigners look like more official people coming with delegations and rather very business-minded than otherwise, Jamshid, a clerk at a hotel downtown Tehran said. Thats why you see them going to rather high-class hotels rather than any place around the city. I guess we have to wait some more to see real ordinary foreigners visiting us, he added. Numerous delegations from especially European and Asian countries have been visiting Iran since about a year ahead of the implementation of the deal when prospects were on the rise that Iran and the powers would succeed in pushing the task home. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also responded the visits by traveling to Italy and France a few days after the deal was put into force. Numerous economic agreements have been signed during the visits. Iran plans to rebuild its economy via foreign expertise, technology, and finance. The deals so far signed expand a wide area from transportation to oil, gas and insurance. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 16:22 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Zika virus, outbreak of which was reported in Brazil in May 2015, not threatens Georgia. Director of the National Center for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze announced about this while talking to RIA Novosti, adding that however Georgia takes measures to prevent the penetration of the virus into the country. "There is no threat of Zika virus spread in Georgia. The government takes disinfection measures to prevent the spread of the Zika virus and its impact. We have the opportunity to diagnose the virus. No Zika infection case was reported in Georgia so far. Speaking about the treatment, there is no vaccine for Zika, although a race to develop one is underway", said Gamkrelidze. Zika virus is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. For the first time a mosquito-borne virus was discovered in the 1940s in rhesus monkeys in Uganda. Some studies suggest that the virus can be transmitted to humans through blood transfusion and sexual transmission. The virus`s symptoms include mild fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. Infants are most at risk from the Zika virus, as mothers can pass the virus. A mosquito-borne disease has been a source of public anxiety since November when the Brazilian officials reported about an incidence of a birth defect called microcephaly due to this virus. Many countries have warned pregnant women to take extra precautions against the virus. Cases of Zika virus are also observed in some European countries, including Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. The virus was most recently detected in Russia. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 16:54 (UTC+04:00) Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has issued a decree allowing the Agriculture and Water Resources Ministry to sign a number of contracts for the purchase of agrochemicals and harvester spare parts. The decree also said that Germanys Umax Trade GMBH will supply the country with agrochemicals to be used for wheat cultivation and cotton sowing this year, as well as for locust and perennial weeds control. Turkmenistan is expected to sign contracts with several foreign companies for the purchase of spare parts, wheels, lubricants and expendable materials for harvesters and tractors. The country plans to produce 1.6 million tons of grain and 1.05 million tons of cotton this year. Over 1.4 million tons of grain and 1.1 million tons of cotton were produced in 2015. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 February 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Very soon Azerbaijan will enjoy its city in the sky not inferior to the historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in Peru. Like the mysterious city of the Incas, Azerbaijani Alinja Fortress is located on a mountain slope, rising up to the top in a stepped form. The fortress, dated back to the 6th-8th centuries, is located at the eponymous mountain near the town of Julfa in the Nakhchivan. The restoration of the fortress is nearing to completion and this unique historical monument will officially open soon. Nakhchivan, which is considered one of the centers of civilization development in the East, has more than 1,500 historical and cultural monuments, and about 60 of them including the fortress city Alinja Gala have great international significance. At the time, reigning over the whole surrounding area it was able to become a reliable fort located at the commercial and military road, passing through Nakhchivan. The fortress was one of the most powerful fortifications of its time and was mentioned in many historical sources. Alinja is more widely known as treasury-house of the Turkic Seljuks, and the residence of Azerbaijani Atabek Eldanizids-states ruler Muzaffar al-Din Uzbek, where he spent his last years. The fortress saw many conquerors, destroying and rebuilding several times. The famous commander and Turco-Mongol conqueror Tamerlane was admired by the majesty of Alinja and even came here to personally make sure that his troops seized the impregnable fortress. Alinja was a kind of a small town, with its residential and public buildings, treasury, army and stables. Spanish traveler of the 15th century Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo described the fortress in this way: Alinja stood at the high steep hill, surrounded by walls with towers at the bottom. Inside the walls, on the lower slopes of the mountains there were a lot of vineyards, orchards, pastures, springs and water tanks. The restoration of the historical monument started in 2014 and archaeologists had to sweat to restore the fortress as close as possible to its original appearance. Head of the archaeological team Veli Bakhshaliyev told Moscow-Baku news portal that restoration work began in one of the lifts to the fortress. Through a road constructed to the mountain, workers carried the building materials by hand to the top. In a short period of time, the archaeologists almost managed to turn the Alinja Gala into original condition. The walls were strengthened and western and eastern gates of the fortress acquired the original state. During the excavations residential and public areas, stables, barns, tandirs, pools of water and underground water pipes kyahriz were found. Houses were located close to each other and were heated by a small stove. All discoveries such as hand mills, pottery, axes and coins allow us to imagine the lifestyle of people living here, he said. Today, Alinja Gala admire many by its extraordinary view including walls, starting from the foot of the mountain, rise row upon row of the slope, protecting its top placed with residential facilities within it. A museum, which collects exhibits found during the archaeological excavations, is built near the monument. The opening of Alinja Gala is scheduled for spring. This event will be of great importance not only for the history and culture of Azerbaijan, but will also attract tourists to the Nakhchivan region. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Further proof that HRCs Corporate Equality index is a farce. In Missouri, two leading business groups the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Associated Industries of Missouri have come out against a proposal to amend the states existing Human Rights statute to include LGBT people against discrimination. The Associated Industries of Missouri (AIM) appears to be led by several businesses that received perfect scores of 100 on the Human Rights Campaigns 2016 Corporate Equality Index. From The News Tribune: Ray McCarty, executive director of AIM, told the News Tribune his organization is against the state mandating any new protected class of people to that statute. He said many companies AIM represents already have internal non-discrimination policies relating to LGBT people. McCarty said employees not in the LGBT community could claim to be gay or transgender if they anticipate being fired and file a discrimination lawsuit against their employers. Unlike gender, race or disability, McCarty said its difficult for employers to know if their employees are in the LGBT community. Therefore, the burden of proof knowing whether an individual is in the LGBT community during the time of termination falls on the employer when a lawsuit is filed, he said. We dont support discrimination of any kind, but because it is such an area thats going to require decision-making at the company level, it should be something a company does with its own policy that they can change policy in order to adapt, McCarty said. The law is not so easy to change, and somebody can abuse the law by bringing a lawsuit against an employer. Last August the AFL-CIOs Pride at Work called upon all labor unions, labor federations, and labor-affiliated organizations to cease funding HRC at all levels over the obvious problems that HRC has with its Corporate Index. Share this: Tweet More Email Print Mark Douglas, owner of Northern Irish bakery Krazi Baker, has opened a cookery school to raise awareness of traditional Irish griddle breads. Currently based at his home bakery in Dromore, Co Down, the classes are for up to eight people at a time and cost 20 a person. In the future, Douglas is hoping to run residential courses at nearby hotel Newforge House, Co Armagh. He is hoping the classes will raise the profile of traditional Irish goods, such as soda bread, potato cakes, wheaten loaves and all-butter shortbread, which he bakes on a griddle at farmers markets and shows across Ireland. He said: The days when traditional breads like potato cakes and soda farls were regularly baked in many homes, especially in Northern Ireland, have long gone. Its a skill that appears to be dying, and thats sad because griddle breads are tastier. This recognition led me to attempt to do something to keep the technique alive. The bakery school is a logical extension of this commitment. Ive already organised several sessions and these have proved extremely popular. Douglas traditionally bakes and sells his products at events, but recently launched tins of Irish shortbread as his first packaged retail product. According to the Financial Times, the government has abandoned plans to introduce a sugar tax as part of its obesity strategy. Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected the proposal for a sugar tax of up to 20%. But companies will be expected to reduce sugar content in their products if they fail to do so, the question of a tax may be reintroduced. The policy will initially apply to drinks, but could be extended to snacks and other food sectors. Other measures being discussed by Downing Street include restrictions on television advertisements for junk food before a 9pm watershed a plan advocated by the health secretary Jeremy Hunt. Since 2006, advertisements for products high in fat, salt or sugar have been banned during childrens programmes. New sugar labelling Elsewhere, this evenings Inside Out programme on the BBC will follow a sugar labelling campaigner, Rend Platings, who succeeds in persuading Tesco to change its sugar labelling. Platings aims to launch a certification scheme, describing it as Fairtrade but for sugar, for truly no-added-sugar products. She said: Theres new guidance on the different types of sugar we should and shouldnt eat, but nothing on food labels. Sugarwise guarantee Caroline Abel, design manager for Tesco brands Free From, Goodness, Healthy Living, Organic, Tesco Finest, Bakery, BWS, Grocery, and Impulse, said: We would like all retailers to sign up to the Sugarwise guarantee and stock products within the guidelines in at least eight of the 12 categories where children normally consume sugar. We hope to be seeing products appear on Tesco shelves in the forthcoming months that either are certified Sugarwise or could be accredited. The programme will air at 7.30pm this evening (15 February) on BBC1 Cambridgeshire Deputies in Hillsborough County have arrested two suspects in three armed robberies early Sunday. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says just after midnight, deputies responded to an apartment complex on Fox Croft Hunt Road for the report of an armed robbery. When deputies arrived they spoke to the victim who told them she was robbed at gunpoint by two males as she was getting out of her vehicle and walking towards her apartment. Deputies said the victim was "pistol whipped" in the face numerous times and suffered several facial injuries and orbital fractures. During the robbery deputies said one of the suspects fired a weapon and a bullet struck a nearby vehicle. The victim was transported to St Joseph's Hospital where she was treated and released, deputies said. While at the apartment complex, the Sheriffs Office said deputies heard multiple shots being fired within the apartment complex and learned that another person was robbed. Deputies said the victim told then he was exiting his vehicle and walking towards his friend's apartment when two males approached him and ordered him to the ground at gunpoint. The man was kicked and punched prior to being robbed of several personal belongings, investigator said. The Sheriffs Office said the two suspects then went to the apartment and began yelling through the door for the resident to open the door or they were going to kill his friend. Deputies said the resident chose not to open the door and the suspects then fired several shots through the closed door, grazing the victim. The suspect's then fled undetected. As deputies were investigating the robbery, the Sheriffs Office said deputies again heard gunfire in the complex and learned that a third armed robbery took place where the victim was exiting his vehicle and approached by two men who struck him multiple times in the face and then fired shots in his direction. Deputies said they quickly set up a perimeter and spotted the two suspects fleeing on bicycle and were able to pursue the suspects on foot and apprehend them The suspects, 18-year-old Nicholas Gillham and a 15-year-old boy were arrested. Bay News 9 is not identifying the 15-year-old boy per our Crime Guidelines. Gillham was charged with three counts of armed robbery with a firearm, three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied dwelling, two counts of carrying concealed firearm, and aggravated assault with a weapon. The 15-year-old boy was charged with three counts of armed robbery with a firearm, three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied dwelling, and petit theft. Three people were killed and one critically injured in four separate Bay area crashes early Monday morning. A Tennessee man was critically injured after he was involved in a crash on Ulmerton Road near the intersection with Carillon Parkway in the Feather Sound area of Clearwater. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the 27-year-old man was driving a 2004 Ford F-150 east at a high rate of speed at 3:31 a.m. when he lost control of the truck and crashed into a traffic signal pole. Investigators say evidence at the scene suggests a second vehicle may have been involved, and that the two vehicles were possibly involved in illegal street racing at the time of the crash. The driver, whose identity has not been released, was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg in critical condition. Anyone with information about the second vehicle is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at 813-631-4020. More crashes around the Bay area In Pasco County, a Port Richey man died after he was involved in a crash shortly after midnight. Troopers say Daniel Lero, 24, was riding a 2008 Yamaha motorcycle at a high rate of speed south on U.S. 19, just north of Ridge Road, when he crashed into the rear of a southbound 1999 Volvo semi. Lero was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of his injuries. Another motorcyclist, later identified as Anthony L. Brown, was killed in a crash on U.S. 301 at Panther Trace Boulevard in Riverview. Troopers say Brown, 47, died when a Chevy HHR turned in front of him and he was unable to stop in time. Troopers say the driver of the Chevy HHR, Tracy Lynn Watkins, 46, of Riverview, was ticketed for improper U-turn. A third motorcyclist died later that day in Plant City after troopers said he ran a stop sign, then hit a fence and was thrown into a retention pond. The motorcyclist, identified as William N. Major, 26, of Zephyrhills, died at the scene of the crash. In Tampa, Guy Royster, 50, died after he stepped in front of a 2004 Chevrolet van at the intersection of 138th Avenue and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, deputies say. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is investigating a home invasion shooting. According to deputies, an armed person broke into a home in the 8500 block of J R Manor Drive in Tampa just before 5 a.m. Four adults were in the home at the time of the break-in and one of them was shot. That person was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital. His condition has not been released but he is expected to recover. Deputies at the scene waited several hours Monday morning to get a search warrant and go inside the home. The investigators that have gone inside the home have not said what they have found inside or if the people who live there are cooperating. The sheriff's office has not released any suspect or suspect vehicle information. A recent traffic death has many residents of a Bradenton neighborhood concerned about their safety. Residents in GreyHawk Landing are concerned about the intersection of State Road 64 and GreyHawk Boulevard. The growing population of the area has increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area and a man was recently struck and killed by a car near the neighborhood recently. BN9 Traffic resources Bay News 9's Real Time Traffic Reporter Chuck Henson takes an in-depth look at transportation issues around the Bay area. Here a collection of comments made by drivers at the intersection on a recent afternoon: "Its very dangerous, very, very dangerous." "Everybody goes too fast and everybodys in a hurry." "The safety of trying to get out of here, the traffic just barrels along, its very unsafe." "I think its a matter of literally life and death to have a traffic light put in." The Florida Department of Transportation said the intersection is being studied. In the meantime, FDOT said there are plans for a roundabout at the intersection, which officials say would slow down speeding traffic. N. Oregon Coast Event Brings Explorer Clark, His Adventures to Life Published 02/11/2016 at 2:01 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Seaside, Oregon) Bringing Lewis and Clark's time on the Oregon coast to life is always an adventure, and one event coming up in Seaside in the next weeks do just that with vibrant flair. (Above: the Lewis & Clark monument at Seaside's Turnaround). It happens on February 25 at the Seaside Brewing Company as part of its History and Hops sessions. History & Hops is a series of local history discussions hosted by the Seaside Museum at Seaside Brewing Co. While there is not universal agreement among students and interpreters of Lewis and Clarks journals, local enthusiast, student and expert Tom Wilson will share Elk, Salt, and a Monstrous Fish: Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia. Covering the period from Ocian in View through the four months of wintering over and preparing for the return trip, Wilson will interpret writings from the expedition journals not often discussed. The considerations and decisions in choosing camp locations will be discussed as part of understanding how the troop was able to survive. The winter was spent planning and in arduous preparations for the return trip up the Columbia and over the Rockies. Wilson will provide insight into how and why Lewis and Clark made their decisions during their time here. Tom has portrayed William Clark in Searching for York and Clatsop Winter Story, as well as other PBS and OPB segments. He has been doing living history programs and talks, including the Saltmakers Return and Wintering Over, for more than 15 years and has conducted living history training for Ft. Clatsop, Cape Disappointment and Ft. Vancouver National Parks. He has been a member of the Fort Clatsop curriculum advisory board for more than 20 years which included assisting in writing and editing the Parks traveling trunk programs used by schools throughout the United States. Tom is retired after teaching 4th and 5th grades for 30 years in Astoria, Oregon. He is a seasonal Park Ranger at Fort Clatsop. Lodging in Astoria/Seaside - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour Seaside Brewing Co. is at 851 Broadway St., Seaside. Call the Seaside Museum for information 503-738-7065 or 503-984-5324. More about Seaside below and at the Seaside Virtual Tour, Map. More About Seaside hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Rabbi Joshua Taub walks past the sliding doors of an Israeli airport on Feb. 22, he will be setting foot where religious equality for all Jews continues to be a struggle. Taub, a Reform Jew, later this month will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and other leaders to discuss the status of minorities in Israel and other human rights issues at the 127th annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, North America's largest rabbinic organization. Although Reform Jews - and others who practice non-Orthodox Judaism - can become Israeli citizens under the Law of Return, they are not recognized religiously by the state, ruled by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. While in Israel, Taub will spend time with other Reform rabbis and discuss the progress that has been made and the hurdles theystill need to surmount to establish religious equality for Jews. "It's the irony of ironies that the only place where Jews are not equal is Israel," Taub said. This month's event will be the first time Taub, who leads Beaumont's Temple Emanuel, attends the meeting in Israel. The annual conference takes place in different cities in the U.S. or Canada, but every seven years the rabbis meet in Jerusalem to honor the sabbatical number, Taub said. In his six and a half years leading Temple Emanuel, Taub has spent almost as much time outside working with different religious groups to try to close discrimination gaps and address misinformation. One of his initiatives, called Love Thy Neighbor, is an annual interfaith Sabbath celebration that includes prayers, reflections and meditations from different religions and is open to all. "He is very passionate about being inclusive. He wants people to know that our congregation does not discriminate based on anybody's choices," said Allison Getz, who last week became the fifth generation to lead the temple as its president. Taub, who serves on the local Emergency Food & Shelter Program Allocations Committee and is a member of the Beaumont Rotary Club, regularly speaks at interfaith events. Taub blames many current religious tensions on overly rigid ideologies and lack of knowledge, he said. "Beaumont is a much more diverse town than most people are aware," he said. "Our community strengthens when we recognize that." Temple Emanuel has about 200 members - about 110 households - most of whom are older. Taub's involvement in Southeast Texas increases the temple's relevance among younger crowds, Getz said. "It's important to have a rabbi that sees our viability," she said. "This is all about tradition and wanting to see the temple and the Jewish religion thrive." MLibardi@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/ManuellaLibardi This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SOUTHEAST TEXAS TALES Mid-February has brought sunshine and warmth, rather than cold winds and flurries. Heavy winter coats are probably still in storage or gathering dust at the very back of most closets. The high for Presidents Day is a projected 75 degrees with a 40 percent chance of showers - a forecast probably more fitting for spring. But warm weather has at times preceded harsh winter storms. On this day in 1895, Jefferson and Orange counties were still recovering from 28 to 30 inches of snowfall. The winter that year had "almost been as warm as summer," according to a 1997 article in the Beaumont Journal. But the cold started blowing in from the north on Feb. 11. The snow started on Feb. 14 and didn't stop for 24 hours. Cattle herds drifted toward the Gulf to try to escape the storm, but the snow didn't melt for 10 days, causing some of the cattle to die "in piles," according to the Beaumont Journal. The 1895 storm might be the area's most "epic," but several other winter storms have caused chaos and harm to the Golden Triangle since. A 1924 "snow, ice and wind storm" blew electrical lines together and iced telephone lines, according to a Stephen F. Austin State University article written by local researcher Judith Linsley. Communication was cut off from Beaumont-Port Arthur to Houston. Operators would only accept messages that could be deferred because they didn't know when they could be delivered, according to Linsley's article. The electric streetcar line between Beaumont and Port Arthur sent a car to cut the ice. It took 24 hours for the car to run the 20 miles, the article stated. Snow halted travel in the 1895 storm as well. The trains couldn't plow through the more than 22 inches that sat atop the rails, according to the Beaumont Journal. In 1935, a storm that was reported to be the worst since 1895 hit Southeast Texas, Linsley stated in her article. A combination of sleet, snow and wind wiped out an estimated 25,000 head of cattle in Jefferson, Chambers, Liberty and Galveston counties. Ranchers lost more than $250,000 - around $3.6 million today's dollars - and some herds were diminished by 20 percent. The herds reportedly moved south until they walked into the water and drowned, Linsley reported. Some came back out of the water and froze. Thousands of cattle littered the beaches from Sabine Pass to Galveston. Snowfall occasionally makes its way to Southeast Texas when it's least expected. Like in April 1987, when spring snowflakes and a temperature of 24 degrees destroyed blueberry and peach crops in Jasper County, according to Enterprise archives. Fruit farmers lost about $500,000 that year, while vegetable farmers lost $750,000 to $1 million, the 1987 article stated. Fortunately, this February is expected to remain warm. Temperatures this week are not expected to drop below 50. MHeath@BeaumontEnteprise.com Twitter.com/mheath31 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MARFA A first-time guest to the Cibolo Creek Ranch, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was animated and engaged during dinner Friday night, as one of three dozen invitees to an event that had nothing to do with law or politics, according to the ranch owner. Just hours later, he would be found dead of sapparent natural causes, which media outlets were reporting Sunday was a heart attack. "He was seated near me and I had a chance to observe him. He was very entertaining. But about 9 p.m. he said, 'it's been a long day and a long week, I want to get some sleep," recalled Houston businessman John Poindexter, who owns the 30,000-acre luxury ranch. When Poindexter tried to awaken Scalia about 8:30 the next morning, the judge's door was locked and he did not answer. Three hours later, Poindexter returned after an outing, with a friend of Scalia who had come from Washington with him. RELATED: 11 things to know about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and what happens next "We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled," said Poindexter. "He was lying very restfully. It looked like he had not quite awakened from a nap," he said. Scalia,79, did not have a pulse and his body was cold, and after consulting with a doctor at a hospital in Alpine, Poindexter concluded resuscitation would have been futile, He then contacted federal authorities, at first encountering a series of answering services because he was calling on a weekend. "Ultimately they became available and handled it superbly. They flew in by helicopter. They told me to secure the ranch, which I did until this morning," he said. Scalia was just the latest newsworthy guest to visit the celebrity hideaway that covers 30,000 acres near the Chinati Mountains. Mick Jagger, Julia Roberts and Tommy Lee Jones have also partaken of its scenic vistas and luxury accomodations. Established in 1857 by Milton Faver, known as the first Texas cattle baron west of the Pecos, the ranch retains 19th Century constructions, including "El Fortin de Cibolo," a primitive fort designed to protect settlers from Apaches. RELATED: Inside the West Texas ranch where Antonin Scalia was found dead In a special guest package offered last month, rooms went for $545 to $565 a night for two people, with a meal package and ranch tour included. Other activities include hiking, horseback riding, bird-watching and ATV tours. Scalia, who was scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday, had little time to avail himself of the ranch's offerings. Poindexter said he had only met Scalia once before briefly, in Washington. Scalia came to the ranch because he was friends another guest. Poindexter said he knew the other guests. "All the guests were friends of mine, I paid for all of them. There were no politics, no jurisprudence in the slightest," he said. "This was strictly a group of friends that the judge decided to join. He was coming with his son who had to drop out for reasons I don't' know. "It was an honor to have him. He was widely admired. There were no speeches. He wasn't asked any hard questions, it was all about the outdoors and Texas, and what it's like to being a Supreme Court Justice," he said. RELATED: Body of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia arrives in El Paso Scalia's personal financial disclosures show no previous trips to the ranch. The disclosures, posted on OpenSecrets.Org show that the justice made several trips to Texas since 2005 to speak at colleges and universities, including St. Mary's University in 2008. Poindexter, 71, said Scalia's sudden death was both a "personal tragedy" for those at the ranch, and for the nation. "All of us here saw him as a stalwart defender of our way of life in Texas, in a real sense," he said. "It's a great loss. Having made that statement, if it was his time to go, he was surrounded by friends, in fairly nice setting, with a full tummy too. He said he was very happy to be invited so it could have been in worse circumstances," he said. "It's caused all of us here to stop and think about life, how precious it is, and how it is so unexpectedly lost," he added. RELATED: Scalia: 'I probably would want to be a Texan' The body of the Supreme Court justice was moved to an El Paso funeral home early Sunday. The body was driven from Marfa and arrived around 2:30 a.m. at Sunset Funeral Homes, according to spokesman Chris Lujan. Lujan said the funeral home was chosen by family of the justice, and at the advice of a family friend. The El Paso County medical examiner's office said they hadn't received any information regarding the possibility of performing an autopsy. Staff Writer David Saleh Rauf contributed to this report . jmaccormack@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said. Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa. Scalia arrived at the 30,000-acre ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people that night, according to a federal official. He left the party and retired to bed earlier than others, according to Donna Sellers, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Marshals Service. When he failed to appear at breakfast, a person involved with the ranch went to his room, where he discovered his body. A priest was called to administer last rites. A federal official, who asked not to be named, said there was no evidence of foul play and it appeared that Scalia died of natural causes. RELATED: Inside the West Texas ranch where Antonin Scalia was found dead Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, of the Western Judicial District of Texas, was notified about the death from the U.S. Marshals Service. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery said he was among those notified about Scalia's death. "I was told it was this morning," Biery said of Scalia's death. "It happened on a ranch out near Marfa. As far as the details, I think it's pretty vague right now as to how," he said. "My reaction is it's very unfortunate. It's unfortunate with any death, and politically in the presidential cycle we're in, my educated guess is nothing will happen before the next president is elected." RELATED: Ted Cruz, Donald Trump among those to react to Scalia's death on social media The U.S. Marshal Service, the Presidio County sheriff and the FBI were involved in the investigation. Officials with the law enforcement agencies declined to comment. A gray Cadillac hearse pulled into the ranch Saturday afternoon and left about 5 p.m. The hearse came from Alpine Memorial Funeral Home. Scalia's body was taken to El Paso, where it will be escorted back the nation's capital by U.S. marshals and U.S. Supreme Court Police. RELATED: Scalia 'respected and idealized' by St. Mary's law students Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement Saturday afternoon, calling Scalia a man of God, a patriot and an "unwavering defender of the written Constitution." "He was the solid rock who turned away so many attempts to depart from and distort the Constitution," Abbott said. "We mourn his passing, and we pray that his successor on the Supreme Court will take his place as a champion for the written Constitution and the Rule of Law. Cecilia and I extend our deepest condolences to his family, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers." Scalia's death has far-reaching implications for the Supreme Court and a round of major cases the justices are set to decide this summer, including Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, which challenges the university's affirmative action policy, plus a case that contests Obama's immigration policy and another that reexamines the meaning of "one person, one vote," said former U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez. RELATED: Key opinions by Justice Antonin Scalia President Barack Obama is unlikely to successfully name a new justice to replace Scalia before his second presidential term ends, Gonzalez said, because Congress will block any appointment he tries to make. "I don't see that the Republican-led Senate would confirm anybody chosen by President Obama," Gonzalez said. Gonzalez only met Scalia once, when he spotted the justice walking in the U.S. Capital to view a Supreme Court exhibit. Gonzalez asked him how Scalia was doing; Scalia said, "Fine." "I prevailed in my only exchange with the Supreme Court," Gonzalez said. The death immediately became an issue in the presidential race as during a GOP debate Saturday night, five of the six candidates taking part urged Republicans to block any attempt by the president to get his third nominee on the court. Only Jeb Bush said Obama had "every right" to nominate a justice during his final year in office. President Obama, in remarks to the nation, praised Scalia as a brilliant legal mind who influenced a generation of lawyers and students. The President also announced his intentions to nominate a successor, saying he plans to fulfill his constitutional responsibility to fill the vacancy. Scalia was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. Staff writers Vianna Davila, Tyler White, Richard A. Marini and John MacCormack and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Spring Break is just a few weeks away. The University of Houston, Texas A&M, the University of Texas and Texas State all begin their free week March 12. Many of those schools' student will head south to South Padre Island, which recently earned kudos from two national publications. U.S. News and World Report said South Padre was second only to Miami Beach as the best spring break destination. The news site also gave it the first runner-up spot on its list of "cheap" spring break destinations. Travel and Leisure also included South Padre among its recommendations for "most affordable" spring break experiences. We continue to strive to be the best possible Spring Break and year round family destination in Texas and the Southwest. These types of articles are great affirmations of our destinations success in doing so. South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Keith Arnold said in a release. Special events planned for spring breakers headed to South Padre include the electronic music festival, UME (March 16-19), the Beach Bash Music Fest (Wednesday in March) and the Ultimate Daily Beach Party (daily on the beach). Find more information about Spring Break on South Padre here. Browse the slideshow above to see scenes from Spring Break on South Padre Island. Pete Churton A former South Park Middle School teacher will be able to take Beaumont ISD to court on his claim that he was fired because he reported that he was pressured to falsify attendance records, following a ruling by the Ninth Court of Appeals. George Thomas filed a "whistleblower" lawsuit in December 2013, contending the school principal told Thomas, an in-school suspension teacher, to show students were in attendance when they were actually out of school on suspension or absent, according to the original petition. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The actress who appeared in a pulled Ted Cruz political advertisement spoke to a Houston radio station on Monday morning about her new-found fame. Last week it was revealed that actress Amy Lindsay who grew up in Houston -- had appeared in a series of films and late-night cable series with provocative titles like Bikini Airways, Radio Erotica, Carnal Wishes, and Sex Games Vegas. Lindsay appeared in a 30-second Cruz commercial targeting Marco Rubio, one of Cruz's rivals for the GOP presidential nomination. In the ad, titled "Conservative Anonymous," Lindsay plays a woman attending a therapy session in which conservative voters talk about being double-crossed by Rubio. The Cruz campaign pulled the ads once word leaked that Lindsays film career could be called into question. RELATED: Cruz campaign pulls ad featuring Houston-born actress On Monday she spoke to KTRHs Matt Patrick during the final minutes of his morning radio show with co-host Shara Fryer. Lindsay says that she shot six commercials for the Cruz campaign, but that when she was initially hired she didnt know that they were for the Texas senator, but did know that they were for a Republican candidate. I had been waiting for the ads to air since they were shot several months ago, she says. She was waiting for word from the production company she shot them with when a reporter from Buzzfeed called her last week. She didnt know that they were pulled until Buzzfeed called her with the news and asking for comment. As for the claim shes a porn star, Lindsay said that the projects were R-rated films, late-night steamy films, but not porn. Lindsay considers herself a conservative and believed in the words she said in the commercial. I have always voted on the right, she added. She understands why the ads were pulled but thinks that that made them an even bigger deal than they would had they not been pulled. The Cruz campaign tried to explain the mix-up. Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told Politico last week that they wished they had vetted Lindsay better. "The actress responded to an open casting call. She passed her audition and got the job. Unfortunately, she was not vetted by the casting company. Had the campaign known of her full filmography, we obviously would not have let her appear in the ad, Tyler said. Last week, a Miami physician, Henry Lora, MD, plead guilty for his part in a Medicare fraud scheme that yielded more than $20 million in losses, according to eNews Park Forest. Here are six things to know: 1. The physician went before U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno of the Southern District of Florida. 2. Dr. Lora plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, receive healthcare kickbacks and make false statements relating to healthcare matters. 3. Serving as medical director of Miami-based Merfi Corporation, the physician admitted to writing prescriptions for home healthcare and other services for Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for kickbacks and bribes. The prescriptions were not medically necessary nor were the prescriptions provided to the patients. 4. Additionally, Dr. Lora and his co-conspirators falsified patient records to make them appear as if the beneficiaries applied for certain services. 5. Merfi's owner, Isabel Medina, was sentenced to nine years in prison in March 2014 for conspiring to commit healthcare fraud. 6. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which operates in nine cities across the nation, has charged more than 2,300 defendants since its inception in March 2007. The defendants have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $7 billion. More articles on coding & billing: Texas Medical Association sends Zika alert to physicians: 3 observations Iowa Senate votes to repeal governor's Medicaid plan 6 highlights 70% of payers lost money on individual health plans in 2015 4 key points Quality patient care is a core goal for any healthcare provider. In response, many healthcare organizations and stakeholders have developed a number of tools provide support in key areas of patient safety. Here 18 patient safety tools for ASC leaders to consider. Hand hygiene Hand hygiene tools and resources (World Health Organization) Click here Hand hygiene toolkit (ASC Quality Collaboration) Click here Infection prevention Ambulatory surgical center infection control surveyor worksheet (CMS) Click here Ambulatory surgery center infection prevention and control toolkit (Oregon Patient Safety Commission) Click here Environmental infection prevention toolkit (ASC Quality Collaboration) Click here Guide to infection prevention for outpatient settings (CDC) Click here Standard of infection prevention in the gastroenterology setting (Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates) Click here Standards of infection prevention in reprocessing flexible gastrointestinal endoscopes (Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates) Click here Medication safety Ambulatory supplement: Medication safety (Association of periOperative Registered Nurses) Click here Managing medication in ambulatory surgery centers (American College of Surgeons) Click here Safety considerations for medication administration in perioperative settings (American Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities) Click here Surgical checklists Anesthesia safety checklist (World Health Organization) Click here Correct site surgery tool kit comprehensive checklist (Association of periOperative Registered Nurses) Click here Gastroenterology safe surgery checklist for ambulatory surgical centers (American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association and American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) Click here Ophthalmic surgery checklist (American Academy of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses and Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society) Click here SURPASS checklist (SURgical Patient Safety System) Click here WHO surgical safety checklist (World Health Organization) Click here The Public Citizen published an article in PLOS ONE on physicians engaging in sexual misconduct, noting many state medical boards failed to discipline the physicians even after hospitals or other organizations brought penalties. The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of physician reports to the National Practitioner Data Bank from 2003 to 2013. There were 1,039 physicians with one or more sexual-misconduct-related report. Here are six key notes from the report: 1. Three-quarters of the physicians with sexual misconduct reports had only licensure reports. 2. Almost all90 percentwere 40 years old or older. 3. Around 87 percent of the victims in malpractice-payment reports were female. Emotional injury was the predominant injury type. 4. There was a higher percentage of serious licensure actions 89 percent in sexual misconduct-related reports than other offenses. 5. There was a higher clinical privileges revocation 68 percent in sexual misconduct reports than in other offenses. 6. Medical boards didn't discipline 70 percent of the physicians with a clinical-privileges or malpractice-payment report due to sexual misconduct. "It is concerning that a majority of the physician with clinical-privileges action or malpractice-payment report due to sexual misconduct were not disciplined by medical boards for this unethical behavior," concluded the study authors. CMS threatened to end Rosebud (S.D.) Indian Health Service Hospital's Medicare contract last year, and now new problems have been detected at the facility, according to the Rapid City Journal. Last year, CMS identified a number of patient safety issues at the facility, including broken sterilizing equipment and reports of a woman giving birth to a premature baby on a bathroom floor. The hospital subsequently closed its emergency room and submitted an action plan to CMS to address the deficiencies. However, the hospital's Medicare funding is once again at issue, as new violations have been identified. Although he couldn't discuss specific problems, CMS Denver Regional Office spokesman Mike Fierberg told the Rapid City Journal a new corrective action plan is being negotiated. More articles on healthcare finance: Cleveland Clinic's Lakewood Hospital ceases inpatient services California hospital relies on bankrupt district to make payroll Mayo Clinic to close Wisconsin clinic Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital are two of the most prestigious, high-ranking hospitals in the United States. Both institutions are lauded for their commitment to education, research, innovation and clinical care. They have garnered global recognition and their brands are emblems of premier U.S. medicine. But when stacked side by side, how do Massachusetts General and Johns Hopkins compare? Note: Becker's Hospital Review periodically compares the nation's best systems. This article compares Massachusetts General Hospital and Johns Hopkins Medicine. We recently published an article comparing Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic. If you would like to see a comparison of two systems, please email trosin@beckershealthcare.com. 1. Leadership Johns Hopkins: Paul B. Rothman, MD, has served as the dean of the medical faculty, vice president for medicine of The Johns Hopkins University and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine since July 2012. As dean and CEO, Dr. Rothman oversees both the School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Health System. Dr. Rothman attended medical school at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University and earned his medical degree in 1984. He completed a medical residency and rheumatology fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City before joining the medical faculty of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1986. There, he also completed a postdoctoral biochemistry fellowship, studying immunoglobulin class-switch recombination. He eventually became Columbia's Richard J. Stock Professor of Medicine for Immunology and Microbiology and chief of the pulmonary, allergy and critical care division. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Rothman served as head of internal medicine at the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, a role he held for four years. Massachusetts General Hospital: Peter L. Slavin, MD, has served as president of MGH since 2003. Dr. Slavin graduated from Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., in 1979. He earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1984 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990. He completed his training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General from 1984 to 1987, eventually being appointed senior vice president and CMO, a role he filled from 1994 to 1997. Prior to his current role, Dr. Slavin served as president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., from 1997 to 1999. In addition to his duties at the helm of MGH, Dr. Slavin teaches internal medicine and healthcare management at Harvard Medical School, where he is a professor of healthcare policy. 2. System size Johns Hopkins, founded in 1889, is an integrated global health enterprise that operates six hospitals, four suburban healthcare and surgery centers, and 39 primary care and specialty care outpatient sites. It also offers the Johns Hopkins U.S. Family Health Plan, a managed care program developed by the Department of Defense. The USFSP offers comprehensive healthcare benefits to members of the U.S.' seven uniformed services, including active-duty family members, retirees and their family members and survivors. Number of employees: As of Jan. 1, there are 41,000 combined full-time equivalent employees in the Johns Hopkins Medicine system, which includes facilities in St. Petersburg, Fla., Columbia, Md., Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Md., in addition to its Baltimore locations. There are 1,950 full-time attending physicians at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, the system's flagship hospital, 625 attending physicians at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore and more than 2,260 active medical staff across its other hospitals. As of Jan. 1, there are 41,000 combined full-time equivalent employees in the Johns Hopkins Medicine system, which includes facilities in St. Petersburg, Fla., Columbia, Md., Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Md., in addition to its Baltimore locations. There are 1,950 full-time attending physicians at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, the system's flagship hospital, 625 attending physicians at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore and more than 2,260 active medical staff across its other hospitals. Number of beds: The Johns Hopkins Hospital houses 1,192 licensed beds. Combined, the system has 2,816 licensed beds. The Johns Hopkins Hospital houses 1,192 licensed beds. Combined, the system has 2,816 licensed beds. Number of hospital visits: In 2015, there were more than 115,000 hospital admissions, more than 360,000 visits to the emergency department and upwards of 2.8 million outpatient visits across the total enterprise. Massachusetts General Hospital opened its doors in 1811. It is the third oldest hospital in the U.S. and today operates five multidisciplinary care centers known worldwide for innovations in cancer, digestive disorders, heart disease, transplantation and vascular medicine. Number of employees: MGH's main campus and four health centers in Charles, Chelsea, Revere and North End, Mass., employs 24,877 workers, including 2,405 physicians. MGH's main campus and four health centers in Charles, Chelsea, Revere and North End, Mass., employs 24,877 workers, including 2,405 physicians. Number of beds: MGH's facilities house 999 licensed hospital beds. MGH's facilities house 999 licensed hospital beds. Number of hospital visits: the health system admitted 50,679 inpatients and handled nearly 1.5 million outpatients in 2015. Annually, MGH records more than 100,000 emergency room visits, performs more than 42,000 operations and delivers more than 3,600 babies per year. 3. Affiliations John Hopkins has numerous strategic affiliations, including those with Anne Arundel Health System, the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore. It also has international affiliations in Brazil, Chile, India, Japan, Lebanon, Panama, Peru and Turkey. It has joint ownership with hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Singapore, and strategic collaborative engagements in Canada, China, Colombia and Mexico. Massachusetts General Hospital is a founding member of Boston-based Partners HealthCare, which has established regional dominance in the Boston region. MGH has numerous partners, including Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass., Martha's Vineyard Hospital in Oak Bluffs, Mass., and Nantucket (Mass.) Cottage Hospital, as well as other affiliated healthcare providers in Maine and New Hampshire. 4. Academic medicine Johns Hopkins. For the 35th consecutive year, in 2015 Johns Hopkins University was the leading U.S. academic institution in total research and development spending at more than $2 billion, according to the National Science Foundation's ranking. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine was ranked No. 2 in funding from the National Institutes of Health of all U.S. medical schools in 2015, with more than $420 million in funding. In fiscal year 2015, there were more than 1,200 medical and doctoral students enrolled in the medical school, with more than 2,700 full-time and 1,300 part-time faculty. Massachusetts General Hospital is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, where nearly half of the hospital's staff physicians serve on the faculty. With an annual research budget of more than $786 million, MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the U.S., with a program that spans more than 20 clinical departments and centers across the hospital. In fiscal year 2015, MGH was awarded a total of $352.92 million in funding from the NIH. MGH offers 28 residency programs, 19 of which are accredited by ACGME. There are 851 residents, 866 doctoral students and a combined 1,380 research and clinical fellows at MGH. 5. Key financial statistics Johns Hopkins: In fiscal year 2015, Johns Hopkins Medicine had net revenue of approximately $7.18 billion, $7 billion in operating expenses and a budgeted operating income of $182.3 million. Massachusetts General Hospital: In fiscal year 2015, MGH had net revenue of $3.46 billion, $3.25 billion in operating expenses and $2.11 million in operating income. 6. National rankings Johns Hopkins Hospital was ranked No. 3 in the nation and No. 1 in Maryland by U.S. News & World Report in its 2015-2016 Best Hospitals ranking. It is nationally ranked in 15 specialties, with nine in the top five and 11 in the top 10. No. 1 Rheumatology No. 3 Ear, nose and throat; neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; and psychiatry No. 4 Urology No. 5 Diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, and geriatrics No. 6 Cancer No. 9 Nephrology No. 12 Gynecology No. 13 Pulmonology No. 16 Cardiology and heart surgery No. 20 Orthopedics Massachusetts General Hospital was ranked the No. 1 hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its 2015-2016 Best Hospitals rankings. Fifteen of the 16 specialties ranked by U.S. News were in the top 10 in the nation. No. 1 Ear, nose and throat No. 2 Diabetes and endocrinology; neurology and neurosurgery; and psychiatry No. 3 Gastroenterology and GI surgery No. 4 Geriatrics, gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics and pulmonology No. 5 Cardiology and heart surgery No. 6 Nephrology, rehabilitation and rheumatology No.8 Cancer No. 16 Urology Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation last summer that relaxed regulations governing hospital closures in the state. The change has recently been thrown into the spotlight with the proposed closure of a hospital in Chicago Heights, Ill. In January, Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan St. James Health submitted a proposal to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to close its 312-bed Chicago Heights hospital. Residents who would be affected by the closure voiced their concerns to the state health planning board last week. However, under a new Illinois law, their worries will have no bearing on the board's decision. Leglisation, signed by Gov. Rauner in July, eliminated the state health planning board's discretion regarding a hospital closure. Although privately owned hospitals must notify the state board of plans to close a facility, the board no longer has authority to stop the closure, according to the Chicago Tribune. According to the report, the Illinois Hospital Association lobbied for the change. The group's members wanted more flexibility and to eliminate the lengthy review process associated with discontinuing services or closing a facility, an IHA spokesman told the Chicago Tribune. The regulatory change has drawn opposition as well. John Steen, immediate past president of the American Health Planning Association, told the Chicago Tribune, "The whole idea behind community health planning is that the community deserves to have a voice in what goes on. You don't want to close a hospital without considering alternatives." More articles on healthcare finance: Cleveland Clinic's Lakewood Hospital ceases inpatient services California hospital relies on bankrupt district to make payroll Mayo Clinic to close Wisconsin clinic Physicians may want to consider protecting their practice website from unapparent dangers, according to Medscape. Here are six ways to protect your online presence. 1. Buy your domain names, so disgruntled patients or rival practices can't use them to hurt your image. The domain names worth buying include your practice, personal name and closely-linked names. 2. Beef up your cyber security. Although a website can't really be impenetrable, there are many steps to ward off hackers. Keep your systems updated and work with your website host's organization to assure all possible security measures are in place. 3. Make sure you're not breaking the law. All websites must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This means your website's text must be convertible to audio with closed-captions. 4. Assure that you are the legal owner of all images on your website. 5. Leave a note about calling 911 for medical emergencies on your "Contact Us" page. This way, if patients send messages to physicians through the website after hours, they will be alerted to seek immediate attention if necessary. 6. You must alert patients if your website is not encrypted, so patients understand the communication tools are not necessarily secure for personal information. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Northern Ireland's high street retailers are off to a strong start to the year, with shopper numbers on the up after businesses suffered a major slump in the run-up to Christmas. Footfall figures increased 2.6% in January compared to the same period a year earlier, and shot up faster than the overall UK average in the best performance shops here have had since October. Overall numbers increased by 1.7%, but Northern Ireland's shopping centres fared less well, with footfall down 0.9%. But it was still a marked improvement over a 1.1% drop in December, according to figures from the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC). Aodhan Connolly, director of the NIRC, said: "(It has been an) encouraging January for retail as shopper footfall rose to its best performance since last October and vacancy rates across Northern Ireland continue to fall, recording the lowest shop vacancy rate since January 2012. "Our members are hopeful that this positive start to 2016 will be built upon by consumers continuing to spend their hard-earned money on our high-streets and retailers continuing to invest in our economy. "However, for retailers who employ over 70,000 people in Northern Ireland to be allowed to create jobs and grow our supply chain, we need government to work in tandem with us." Michelle Greeves, centre manager at Victoria Square, added the business "had a very positive start to 2016 with sales up 5% on 2015". The strong post-Christmas trade has also been experienced by Suitor Menswear in Belfast. Tom Suitor, who founded the business back in 1992, said sales were up on January 2015. "Post-Christmas we are up on last year in this shop on Rosemary Street, and we were about level in Law Suit (on Upper Arthur Street)," he added. The business is in the middle of a big revamp, moving to one premises and amalgamating both shops. "We want one big store. Our trade has changed here, with our made-to-measure business improving," Mr Suitor said. "Overall, it has been a very good year, and we can't complain." Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, said: "In contrast to the UK where footfall increased in all types of retail destinations, in Northern Ireland footfall in shopping centres declined by 0.9% , although the increase of 2.6% in high streets was the best since October 2015. "Tracking footfall since 2009 has shown that it is the post 5pm period that has been most resilient, with improvements in daytime footfall following an increase in activity in the evening." But Mr Connolly countered that the ongoing review of business rates "needs to realise the unbalanced burden on retailers and provide fairness and equity". "Government must also be aware of the growing cumulative burden of issues as diverse as the national living wage," he added. The number of shops lying empty also dropped here, falling to 14.7%, down from 16.3%. The Assembly will today vote on a controversial proposal to end the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme here. In a shock announcement earlier this month, Enterprise Minister Jonathan Bell said the financial support programme for green energy was to be axed almost immediately because of budgetary pressures. He then announced it would be extended until the end of February, after pressure from MLAs, companies and farmers. Now, John Martin, chairman of suppliers group Biomass Energy NI (BENI), has said the cut-off "is like a guillotine to the renewable energy sector". "We are extremely disappointed that DETI has not managed the policy and applications in such a way that would provide longer term certainty to investors and developers in the market," he said. "Instead, we had positive changes to the RHI scheme announced in September 2015 which came into effect in November 2015. This resulted in a doubling of applications in a single month to November 18 compared to the previous three years." He said the short extension was of "very little comfort to our members and other sector investors". Patsy McGlone MLA, the SDLP chair of the enterprise committee, said the minister had created a crisis. The scheme is now over budget by at least 30m after a surge of applications. Ulster Unionist MLA Adrian Cochrane-Watson accused the minister and his officials of "incompetence on a huge scale". Firms that manufacture and install the equipment claim they will lose millions of pounds, and that up to 2,000 jobs could go. Stacy Martin attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Ridley Scott and Giannina Facio attend the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) British model Lily Donaldson poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London on February 14, 2016. AFP / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images Mark Ruffalo and Sunrise Coigney attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Yui Mok/PA Wire Lily Donaldson attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Yui Mok/PA Wire Katia Elizarova attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Ian West/PA Wire Poppy Jamie attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Annabelle Wallis attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher attend the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Isla Fisher attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Ian West/PA Wire Rebel Wilson attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Ian West/PA Wire US actor Matt Smith poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London on February 14, 2016. AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images Michael Fassbender attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Ian West/PA Wire Idris Elba attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Yui Mok/PA Wire Rooney Mara attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Gwendoline Christie attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Yui Mok/PA Wire Australian actress Cate Blanchett poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London on February 14, 2016. AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images Kate Winslet attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. Sunday February 14, 2016. Ian West/PA Wire British actress Gemma Chan poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London on February 14, 2016. AFP / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) Saoirse Ronan attending the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Sunday February 14, 2016. Ian West/PA Wire The stars at the 2016 Bafta Awards ceremony Close Stephen Fry had harsh words for the winner of the Bafta Award for costume design - although he has insisted they were just "joshing". Jenny Beavan, who won the prize for Mad Max: Fury Road, took to the stage in trousers, a leather jacket and a scarf. After she collected the award, awards host Fry quipped: "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to an awards dressed as a bag lady." The dig drew mixed reactions from the audience, with some booing. But Fry tweeted: "So just a word to the tragic figures who think calling Jenny Beavan a bag lady was an insult. She's a dear friend and she got it. Derrr." He added: "Will all you sanctimonious f****** f*** the f*** off Jenny Beavan is a friend and joshing is legitimate. "Christ I want to leave the planet." He said they had worked together on Gosford Park and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. Beavan accepted the awards with the words: "I live, I die, I live again", before praising the directors she had worked with throughout her career. Fry later tweeted a picture of himself with his arm around Beavan. He wrote: "Jenny Baglady Beavan and Stephen Outrageous Misogynist Swine Fry at the #EEBAFTAs after party." Benicio del Toro is among the new cast announced for Star Wars Episode VIII as it begins filming in London. Wild actress Laura Dern and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran were also announced on the franchise's official Facebook page, although no further details were given on their roles. The new casting was released alongside a short clip of the movie that also introduced new director Rian Johnson, who replaces JJ Abrams. The clip picked up from the first meeting of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on the planet of Ahch-To, with Rey offering him his old lightsaber. The accompanying post read: " We are thrilled to announce Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran will join Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill and director Rian Johnson for Star Wars: Episode VIII, which begins shooting at London's Pinewood Studio today. May the Force be with you, always." The footage was filmed in September at the same location as scenes for Episode VII, on the island of Skellig Michael, off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. Del Toro is best known for his roles in Traffic and Guy Ritchie's Snatch and is expected to play a baddie in the new movie, while Dern is famous for her role in 1993's Jurassic Park and her recent Oscar-nominated turn playing Bobbi, the mother of Reese Witherspoon's character in Wild. They will be joined by relative newcomer Tran, who has appeared in a number of CollegeHumour videos and small roles in TV series like About A Boy. Director Johnson is credited as a writer on the new film alongside George Lucas. Boyega, who will reprise his role as Finn, picked up the EE Rising Star Bafta on Sunday night and confirmed he was due on set just hours after his win. Reality TV star Megan McKenna has unleashed a foul-mouthed Twitter tirade at customers of a Northern Irish nightclub, describing them as "scum" after she walked out of a personal appearance. The Celebrity Big Brother contestant stormed out of popular Strabane nightspot Ruby's on Saturday with her entourage, amid claims that a bottle had been flung. Afterwards she took to Twitter to deliver an expletive-laden rant. As well as branding customers of the nightclub "scum" she called them "absolutely disgusting people". Ms McKenna (23) slated Ruby's as "F***ing worst place I've been in my life" - in stark contrast to fellow reality star, Joel Corry, formerly of Geordie Shore, who seemed only to have good memories of the north-west nightspot. Afterwards he tweeted: "Thanks to Ruby's in Strabane for having me back down to play tonight! Club was bouncing for my whole set! Now back to Belfast!" However, Ms McKenna seemed to be less than enchanted with the locals, tweeting: "Can't believe the scum that go to Ruby's in Strabane. Absolutely disgusting people! Get me home!" Back in England yesterday, she appeared to regret her outburst, deleting the tweet. As she headed to Selfridges for a Valentine's Day treat, she tweeted: "Love the people of Northern Ireland! Just had a bad experience in one club in Strabane". The former Ex On The Beach star then posted several images of herself posing in underwear. The foul-mouthed rant didn't go down well in Strabane, where some annoyed Twitter users branded her a diva and called her out for criticising locals. Erin Quigley posted: "We were waiting for a pic for 45 minutes when we could've been partying - who's the scum now?" And Emma McGrath added: "The UK evicted Megan McKenna after 18 days in CBB. It only took Strabane an hour". McKenna first hit the spotlight after reaching the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent in 2009 as part of music duo Harmony, then becoming a cast member on the third series of Ex on the Beach. In Celebrity Big Brother, she received a formal warning for aggressive and threatening behaviour. Ruby's was asked for a comment but did not respond. Local Sinn Fein councillor Karina Carlin said: "It's certainly not how we would want Strabane to be viewed and I wish it hadn't happened. "Her comments were out of kilter and they weren't befitting of somebody who is in the public eye to criticise an establishment or an entire town." Spain is the next destination for Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan's acclaimed TV show The Trip will be moving home from the BBC to Sky Atlantic. The first two seasons, aired on BBC Two, followed the comedians playing fictionalised versions of themselves on a culinary quest through northern England and then travelling in the footsteps of the Romantic poets on a Grand Tour through Italy The third series, The Trip To Spain, has now been picked up by Sky and will see the two embark on a gastronomic journey from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean Coast, taking in restaurants in Cantabria, the Basque region, Aragon, Rioja, Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia. Coogan said: "Having thought long and hard about yet another sojourn into culinary distractions and middle age, I have reluctantly agreed to Eviva Espana. I have a hole in my diary, there will be free food and accommodation and Rob Brydon is surprisingly good company. I also like Michael (Winterbottom)." Brydon simply stated: "I'm looking forward to reuniting with Steve and Michael for The Trip To Spain." The first series was nominated for best situation comedy at the 2011 television Baftas and Coogan won for best male comedy performance. The comedians will reunite to film the six-episode show later this year, three years after their last trip together on the continent. The road-trip comedy will also reunite creator and director Winterbottom - who helmed Brydon and Coogan in 2005 film A Cock And Bull Story - and producers Melissa Parmenter and Josh Hyams. A fan-led campaign is now attempting to get the four-piece to number one (@jholsson/PA) Viola Beach have entered the Official Top 40 as fans pay tribute to the band who were tragically killed along with their manager at the weekend. The Warrington-based indie band have already placed at number 39 with their single Swings & Waterslides and are expected to rise before Friday's full chart is announced. The four-piece of Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin were killed alongside their manager Craig Tarry when their car plunged off a bridge into a canal in the early hours of Saturday morning while the band were touring in Sweden. A fan-led campaign is now attempting to get the four-piece to number one and has already succeeded in getting the song into the iTunes top three. The band's record label Communion have confirmed that the proceeds from the sale of singles will go to the families of the band and manager. Elsewhere in the charts, Lukas Graham remain at number one for a second week with 7 Years, while Zayn Malik's Pillowtalk looks set to hold firm at two. Jonas Blue & Dakota's Fast Car stays at three, Rihanna's Work at four and Shawn Mendes's Stitches at five. In the album charts, Adele's 25 is on course to reclaim the number one spot five weeks after it last topped the charts. With love in the air around Valentine's Day, 25 could add another week to its seven at the top, although Ronan Keating's new album Time Of My Life debuts just 4,000 combined sales behind in the midweek update. David Bowie's Best of Bowie stays at three, Justin Bieber's Purpose at four, and Bowie rounds off the top five again with Blackstar. Busy bodies: the demands of parenting mean mums and dads have less romantic time together Being parents can be fulfilling, but their connection can also suffer as a result. Agony aunt Suzie Hayman tells Lisa Salmon how they need to look after their relationship as well as the kids. The all-consuming demands of parenthood mean mums and dads often don't have enough time to care for their own relationship. So while a new study has found more than three quarters of British parents (85%) feel more satisfied and happier since having children, it also revealed they have less quality time together, go on fewer date nights and say "I love you" less often than before they had kids. The research, by the family care manager care.com, found most couples only enjoy an average of one date night a month, compared to two a month before they started a family. One in 10 parents admit it's been six months or more since they last went out with their partner, while another one in 10 reckon it's been so long they can't remember their last date night. Not surprisingly, of the nine in 10 parents who say the number of their date nights has dropped since they had kids, 57% say it's because they're too busy, and another 56% struggle to find childcare. But agony aunt Suzie Hayman, a trustee of the parenting charity Family Lives, warns: "It's so important to try to make time for each other. "When people talk about having no time, often it's because they're spending the time they do have doing things that aren't important at home. Close the door on work when you come home, and remember that the people you're living with are more important than the people on your social media network." Here, Hayman shares her tips for balancing your family life with your couple life. MAKE A DATE More than three quarters (87%) of parents admit their attitude to couple time has changed since having children, with four in 10 saying it's become less of a priority, and more than a quarter saying date nights only happen on special occasions. Other reasons for not going on many date nights include not being able to afford it and not wanting to leave the children. But Hayman points out that if childcare or money are an issue, it can be valuable to prioritise time together as a couple at home. "There is a place for having time in your home together, when you say you're going to have a special night really paying attention to each other. It's easy when you've got children to be telling them stories, doing household chores or talking about the kids and being mum and dad, rather than being a couple. "Sometimes it can be fun to ban talking about the children and have an evening at home together being romantic. You can set it up like a date night and have shared time together." CALL YOURSELVES A COUPLE The research found that family time is considered more valued quality time, with 91% of parents admitting they'd now rather spend time together as a family than alone with their partner. "Once you become a parent you start thinking of yourself as a parent," explains Hayman. "Never refer to yourselves as mum and dad - your kids benefit from hearing that you have actual names, rather than thinking your only role in life is being parents and not allowing you to have a life of your own. Calling each other mum and dad means you stop thinking of yourselves as a couple, so you stop doing couple things and stop having that intimate link." RAMP UP ROMANCE After starting a family, parents also admit they share fewer intimate moments and kisses, and have less romance in their relationship. Couples go from kissing each other 13 times a week to just 10 times once they have a baby in their lives. However, there seems to be one thing that doesn't change when children come along - the frequency of sex. British parents have sex an average of twice a week, the same as childless couples. But while sex is still on the menu for parents, hearts and flowers aren't such a priority - romantic gestures drop by a quarter from once a week to three times a month after children are born, while "I love you" is said just 468 times a year - 52 times less than the 520 times couples without youngsters say it to each other. "Romantic gestures definitely fall away," agrees Hayman, "because small children make huge demands, so they get all the attention, whereas the partner has stopped demanding and stopped expecting." REMEMBER WHY YOU FELL IN LOVE If couples don't try to give some priority to their relationship, it could break down, warns Hayman. "Cast your minds back to what it was that brought you together, what you liked about each other and what you liked doing together. Go on a date and talk about each other, listen and ask questions. That effort at communication is really important to either keeping your relationship going, renewing it, or starting again. "Both you and your partner have already invested so much in this relationship and had children together, why not do more to keep it going? Intimate connection is really important." 'We can curl up on the sofa with a box set' Sarah Clarke (35) is a TV presenter and journalist for UTV. She lives in Belfast with her husband Rory, an accountant, and their children, Daniel (4) and Emily (2). She says: It can be very easy for family life to take over. Rory and I both have demanding jobs, and I work shifts into the bargain. You find that lots of your free time can be taken up with the family, particularly when they're little like our two. You always put your children first and they're only small for a short period of time so you want to spend that time with them. We're so mad about them we want to spend as much precious time with them as we can. Equally though we don't want to forget about ourselves. We don't tend to plan ahead as we prefer to be spontaneous, but it can difficult to get a babysitter. When we do, though, it's a night out for a meal and a glass of wine followed by a trip to the cinema, usually at the weekend. Occasionally we get out during the week too. Because Daniel and Emily are still quite young we can get both of them down by 7.30pm or 8pm and, once all of the tidying up and laundry gets done, we can curl up on the sofa with a nice box set. It's a couple of hours where it's just the two of us. Even if we're not going out at the weekend, once the kids are in bed it's an opportunity for us to enjoy a nice dinner together. Rory can be romantic, but his gestures are more thoughtful - he'll get the kids bathed or tidy up the house which is a real support when you have two young children." 'Lunch or dinner out is a time to catch up' Kim Constable (36) is a yoga teacher and lives in Belfast with her husband Ryan. They have four children - Corey (10), Kai (8), Maya (6) and Jack (4) - who are home-schooled. She says: Both Ryan and I work from home, and the kids are at home with us all day too, so we do need to make time together. All the children get up at different times, but often Ryan and I will be up first in the morning and that gives us a little time to make breakfast and sit down at the kitchen table and have a cup of tea together. Because we're not rushing the kids out to school, we're a bit more relaxed and have a little more flexibility. As a couple, we have a no-phone policy too at home, so we can have a proper chat. That little moment of connection between Ryan and I can make a real difference to our day. Once a week, we usually go out for lunch together. Ryan will have had a meeting in town and will text me asking if I want to join him - it's rarely planned. We also go out for dinner, just the two of us, at least once a week. We don't plan to spend time together - this routine has just developed over the years. Evenings can be very busy for us with four kids - someone always needs a hug and as soon as you've served one round of food someone else will be hungry again. It's not a time that Ryan and I can sit and spend time together, because we're doing things for the children. We notice it if we haven't had a proper couple conversation in a little while - we'll both get annoyed with little things. If it's been a few days, then one of us will suggest going out for lunch or dinner to get a catch-up. It helps that the kids are a little older now, they don't need watching every minute like they did when they were younger. Spending time together is very important to both of us, particularly for me as I'm with the kids a lot. Ryan works some evenings and travels away a lot, so this is the hardest time for me, as I'm on my own. It's nice to get a chance to relax with him every now and again." Arlene's sister Kathleen is comforted by her brother Martin in 2011 as a new search for Arlene's body proved fruitless RUC officers search the home of Arlene Arkinson following her disappearance in August, 1994 The long-delayed inquest into the murder of a schoolgirl who vanished in 1994 has heard that she confided to friends that she thought she was pregnant on the night she disappeared. Arlene Arkinson (15) vanished in 1994 after crossing the border from Castlederg to attend a disco in Co Donegal. She was last seen with convicted child killer Robert Howard, who died aged 71 in a Co Durham prison in October. He had been due to give evidence at the inquest. Howard was acquitted of the teenager's murder by a jury that was unaware of his previous conviction for murdering schoolgirl Hannah Williams, 14, in south London. He always remained the police's prime suspect in the Arkinson case. The court heard that Arlene confided to friends that she thought she was pregnant on the evening she disappeared. She had alleged the father was someone close to, but not a member of the Arkinson family. Frank O'Donoghue QC, counsel for the coroners service said: "She was confiding in some friends that she was pregnant and that the father was a person closely connected but not a member of the Arkinson family." The inquest heard Arlene had experienced a trouble childhood after the death of her mother when she was ten. School teachers described her as an "intelligent and well liked pupil" but said her poor attendance was likely to hold her back, Mr O'Donoghue said. Her father struggled with an alcohol addiction and she had lived with a number of elder siblings. And while staying with her sister Anita in 1993 she was sexually assaulted by her brother in law Seamus McGale. Seamus had been imprisoned and was released 10 days before Arlene's disappearance. Robert Howard, the last man believed to have been seen with Arlene on August 14, 1994 was on bail at the time for a previous sexual assault. In her opening evidence to the court today Arlene's sister Kathleen thanked the inquest for holding the new hearing. Speaking ahead of the hearing, Kathleen Arkinson described her sister as a "blue-eyed girl". Choking back tears, she said: "Mummy passed away when Arlene was 11 and Arlene was just the blue-eyed girl of the family. She was brilliant at art, she was good at school. I want people to know the real Arlene. She was our sister and she deserves to be found." Ms Arkinson added that she hoped the long awaited inquest would help "ease" the family's pain. Additional reporting PA Arlene Arkinson inquest begins but family not hopeful truth will out The sister of missing Arlene Arkinson says she fears the truth over the schoolgirl's murder may never come out as a long-delayed inquest finally started today. Kathleen Arkinson will make a round-trip of 170 miles to be present at Laganside court in Belfast. Arlene (15) vanished in 1994 after crossing the border from Castlederg to attend a disco in Co Donegal. She was last seen with convicted child killer Robert Howard, who died aged 71 in a Co Durham prison in October. He had been due to give evidence at the inquest. And last week Secretary of State Theresa Villiers approved a Public Interest Immunity (PII) application for a series of documents linked to the case. The final decision on whether to withhold secret files from being released to the inquest rests with the coroner. Asked if she thinks the truth will emerge, Kathleen told the Belfast Telegraph: "The way things are going, I don't know. Every door I open I keep getting it closed in my face." Kathleen expressed her anger at the NIO for trying to stop the release of information using a PII - something usually reserved for matters of national security. "I want the inquest to go ahead and I want the files all released," she said. "They should be - they have to be released to go ahead with the inquest. "I want them released, but I won't know what is going on until Monday morning. "Who is Theresa Villiers to close all these documents and not release them? "She doesn't even know us, she didn't even know Arlene, she doesn't even know our family. She is a complete stranger to us, and for her to do that, I think is a disgrace. "She is away to America, she didn't even meet me. Who gives her the right to say she is going to close this? She is not Arlene's mother or sister. I would like for her to sit down across a table from me and say why, and now she is away to America, hiding." Kathleen added: "I'm not going through an inquest without Arlene's files being released. The inquest is going on, but why should half of it be all hidden? "Who are they protecting? They are not protecting us, they are not protecting Arlene - that is against Arlene's human rights and ours. "Everything has to come out - the truth. "It is very important we have finally got this inquest, we need justice for Arlene. Arlene was a child of 15 years of age. This inquest means everything to her memory." Kathleen said the inquest will last a month or more and she said it is being screened into a courtroom in Omagh to save the family having to travel to Belfast every day. However, she intends to go to the city for the "important days". Kathleen - who has been critical of police handling of the case - said she wanted to be present when former Chief Superintendent Eric Anderson gives evidence at the inquest. Howard was acquitted of Arlene's murder by a jury that was unaware of his previous conviction for murdering a schoolgirl in south London. He always remained the police's prime suspect in the Arkinson case. Arlene Bernadette Arkinson lived at Drumnabey Park in the Spamount area of Castlederg. She would have been approaching her 37th birthday this April. Although her body was never found, police launched a murder enquiry and the date of her death has officially been listed as August 8, 1994. Lawyers for the Arkinson family have questioned why PII issues would be at play at Arlene's inquest, which is being heard without a jury. Coroner Brian Sherrard is set to hear legal submissions on the PII application tomorrow, with at least part of the hearing due to be held behind closed doors. Castlederg councillor Derek Hussey said yesterday the Arkinson family deserved answers after years of waiting. He said: "They undoubtedly deserve some clarity and answers. People just want the facts and the truth." A 10-minute saliva test for cancer that scientists claim could revolutionise diagnosis has been unveiled A 10-minute saliva test for cancer that scientists claim could revolutionise diagnosis has been unveiled. The 15 'liquid biopsy' test looks for fragments of genetic material in a tiny drop of saliva. Early results from lung cancer patients suggest it has "near-perfect" accuracy, according to the scientist whose team developed the system. Professor David Wong, of the University of California, said: "We need less than one drop of saliva and we can turn the test around in 10 minutes. It can be done in a doctor's office while you wait. "Early detection is crucial. Any time you gain in finding out that someone has a life-threatening cancer, the sooner the better. With this capability, it can be implemented by the patient themselves in a home check, or dentist or pharmacy." He hoped the test, due to be tested in trials with lung cancer patients in China later this year, could be available in the UK by the end of the decade. Eventually it could be used to diagnose a range of different cancers, said Prof Wong, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. An extra 2m a year is to be invested in autism services in Northern Ireland, the Health Minister has revealed. The money announced by Simon Hamilton will be used to reduce growing waiting lists and improve access to autism support services. Mr Hamilton said that despite the dedication of many healthcare professionals, they were struggling to match pace with demand. "Since 2010 the number of referrals for autism assessments has nearly doubled from 1,500 to 2,800 at the end of last year," he said. "Many children and young people are waiting more than 13 weeks for an assessment. This is not acceptable and I am determined to get these waiting lists down. "This money will fund much needed new capacity to ensure there is quicker access to diagnostic services and that, crucially, there is more support for young people and their families." Mr Hamilton said the new money would fund expanded teams in each Trust to improve assessment times and include clinical staff specifically trained in assessing autism. The resources will also be used to expand autism specific support services, with better access to wider services such as speech and language therapy, community paediatrics and occupational therapy. "In tandem, I will continue to work with the board and the Trusts to improve our processes and remodel our services to further drive down waiting lists and improve access to high quality services," he added. Today Alliance councillor Kellie Armstrong is bringing a petition with over 8,000 signatures to Stormont, arguing that both the health and education departments have failed to deliver the appropriate care for those with autism. Ms Armstrong said she welcomes the Health Minister's funding announcement, but that more needs to be done to reduce waiting times. "Whilst 2m going towards autism services can only be welcomed, the reality is it's only a start," she said. "There is nothing in the minister's announcement about creating a more joined-up approach to working with the Department of Education to enable earlier intervention and an appropriate multi-agency approach. "Until we see the Autism Act enacted and waiting times dramatically reduced, then 2m is just a figure. "Children with autism and other learning difficulties are still being consistently failed and no longer should we let it continue. "To date, over 8,000 people have signed my petition. Those people realise their voices are finally being heard. "Therefore the protest and handing over of the petition will still take place, as we need more commitments from the relevant ministers." Ambulances are failing to reach nearly half of 999 calls on time in Northern Ireland, it can be revealed Ambulances are failing to reach nearly half of 999 calls on time in Northern Ireland, it can be revealed. Crews are late to almost 70 life-threatening incidents every day. Government regulations state 72.5% of emergency calls each month should be responded to within eight minutes. But at no point in the last two years did the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) reach that target. In one month more than half of all category A calls were late. The figures were disclosed after an Assembly question from Ulster Unionist MLA Sam Gardiner. Health Minister Simon Hamilton said the response times were "unacceptable" and has demanded improvement. Ulster Unionist health spokesperson Jo-Anne Dobson said: "For many years Northern Ireland had an emergency response system to be proud of. Now, however, people in real emergencies such as road traffic collisions and those experiencing cardiac difficulties are having to wait for longer for emergency assistance to arrive. "That's simply outrageous, and tragically I suspect the massive impact of these delays have already been felt in many emergencies." Since March 2015 the Ambulance Service is expected to respond to 72.5% of category A (life-threatening) calls within eight minutes. Yet between March and October last year a total of 16,698 responses were outside this target. That is equivalent to 68 a day - or 53.7% - on average. Mr Hamilton's answer provides ambulance response times dating back to November 2013. From November 2013 to last October, a total of 45,980 emergency calls were not answered within the eight minutes. Responses within eight minutes steadily decreased from 69.6% in November 2013 to 49.9% last February. Since then they have recovered slightly to 58%, but are still well off the 72.5% target. Ms Dobson added: "The importance of ambulances and paramedics arriving on time cannot be emphasised enough; the longer someone has to wait for assistance in an emergency the greater the risk there is of them coming to serious harm. "The target for category A calls, those which are considered to be life-threatening, is that 72.5% should be responded to within eight minutes. "It is frightening, however, that in the last month figures are available, October 2015, only 58% arrived within eight minutes." Figures obtained by the UUP last year revealed that fire appliances arriving in high-risk situations in the target six minutes had fallen from 77% to 59% between 2011/12 and 2014/15. "Both of these figures now confirm that the crisis in our hospitals has spread across to our emergency services," Ms Dobson added. "I was glad that the minister in his response accepted that the delays were unacceptable, however it was disappointing that he expressed no regret at all for them. "The deterioration in response times and the general collapse in hospital waiting times can be directly attributed to the crisis in the NHS finances, a situation that the current Minister of Health Simon Hamilton helped to create while he was the Minister of Finance." Mr Hamilton said: "I find these response times unacceptable and my department has asked the Health and Social Care Board and the NIAS to improve performance. There have been a number of factors contributing to this including increasing demand. "Over the past five years the number of category A calls resulting in an emergency response attending the scene of an incident has increased by 30.9%, from 43,510 in 2010/11 to 56,934 in 2014/15. "Additional funding of 775,000 has been allocated in 2015/16 and 1,077,000 recurrently from 2016/17 to NIAS to manage the increasing demand for this service." In a statement, the Ambulance Service said: "NIAS acknowledge with regret the deterioration in performance in relation to response to category A calls. "Clearly, increasing demand is a key factor which has been widely recognised within the health and social care system. "There are other factors which have impacted upon this deterioration in response including impact of reconfiguration of acute services; knock-on effect of busier emergency departments and staff recruitment." NIAS said it was using extra investment to increase ambulance response capacity. It added: "It is worth noting that, in real terms, NIAS continues to reach more category A patients quicker than ever before. "In 2014/15, NIAS responded to 2,549 more category A patients within eight minutes than in 2010/11 - an improvement of 8.4%. "Category A response times will also be impacted upon by the availability of crews to respond and this must be set in the context of the increasing number of 999 calls against all calls received in ambulance control. "In 2010/11 NIAS responded to 166,415 calls increasing by 15.6% to 192,443 responses in 2014/15." Last November concerns were raised in England that NHS response times were manipulated in a desperate attempt to meet targets. A policy meant 999 calls were recorded as having been responded to swiftly, even if health professionals did not attend, it was claimed. Thousands of "life-threatening" calls in which the target was missed were reclassified, a whistleblower said. In one English region crews were allegedly able to manipulate figures by proving that public defibrillators were within 250 metres of the patient. Arlene Foster said the months leading up to the crucial vote on whether the UK should leave the EU would clash with the Assembly election campaign Holding the Brexit referendum in June will not allow a clear debate on the issue in Northern Ireland, the First Minister has warned. Arlene Foster said the months leading up to the crucial vote on whether the UK should leave the EU would clash with the Assembly election campaign. The administrations in Scotland and Wales have voiced similar concerns about the mooted June 23 date. A DUP Opposition Day motion in the House of Commons last week urging the Government to postpone the referendum to the autumn was defeated. Mrs Foster said she and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness would hold talks with Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on the issue on March 1. But she stressed those discussions could be "too late" as Prime Minister David Cameron is set to conclude his negotiations with the EU on a reform package in the coming days. The DUP leader said the Government should listen to the concerns expressed in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff. "If they are to give respect to the devolved administrations then they should be listening very carefully to what we have got to say," she said. Mrs Foster acknowledged there were differing opinions within Stormont on whether to stay in the EU. She added: "But I think we can all agree on the fact that we need a very clear debate on the issue of the referendum and unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen." The First Minister had been asked about the timing of the referendum by Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy. He told the Assembly: "I share her obvious concerns at the dismissal of the concerns not just of the people in the north but also I think Scotland and Wales are suffering the same sense of being ignored and being treated with contempt to a certain extent by the British government." A man suffering from a terminal brain tumour has told how his quality of life has been transformed since he started using cannabis oil for treatment. Kieran McCrory (37) has been advised by doctors he has between three and five years to live. Last week in a BBC interview Kieran claimed that since using illegal cannabis oil in his drinks and food, doctors have told him that his tumour had stopped growing. It has not been proven whatcaused his improvement, but Kieran insists that his daily quality of life has changed radically for the better. Research in parts of the US has supported the use of cannabis in cancer treatment, but it's still something the UK Government, and charities like Cancer Research UK, refuse to endorse. Kieran and his wife Sylvia have said they're well aware of the risks but have spoken about how their choice has affected their life and their hopes for the future. "I've always been open and honest to anybody who's asked me about cannabis," said Kieran. "I've even said to my local doctor, I'll never lie to you." "The doctors that I've been speaking to all know I'm doing it. They've said if it's working for you keep doing it. Legally that's all they can say. They're not going to say they support my approach." Read more A man with a terminal brain tumour says he believes cannabis oil has helped prolong his life. Even though it is illegal 38 year old Kieran McCrory says he's going to continue using it. Elaine McGee reports. Posted by BBC Newsline on Thursday, 11 February 2016 Read More After undergoing physically exhausting radiation treatment, Kieran said that he felt so sick he accepted an offer from a friend to try cannabis oil. "When I don't have it, I lie in bed and think I'm going to die," he explained. "Once I got CBD [the cannabis oil] I started taking it in my coffee and cooking with it." Expand Close Kieran McCrory in hospital / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kieran McCrory in hospital "Within the first 24 hours my whole game just picked up, I was walking around the next day, chatting and reading books. The day before I was lying in a hospital bed." He said his wife Sylvia "dreads the day" he can't get the oil. "It's not easy at all to get it because it's illegal, it's very risky. It's a situation that someone like myself shouldn't be in." "I'm not asking to hurt anybody, I'm asking for something that nature has provided and I should be entitled to use." Kieran is now paralysed down the left side of his body, and relies on Sylvia for everyday things like cutting his food and getting dressed. "Having this available to me gives me back the power," he said. "It gives you this burst of energy that you just didn't have lying in hospital after brain surgery." Kieran's wife Sylvia, originally from Australia, said the improvement in his condition has had a huge impact on her life too. Sylvia says that since Kieran has been taking the oil they have now been able to enjoy life together again. She says the couple's dream is now to move to Australia, where she has grown-up children, and for them to start a business. "We've got our own aspirations and dreams that we want to push for, and we feel like we've got a chance now." An inquest is taking place into the death of Arlene Arkinson The prime suspect in the case of murdered teenager Arlene Arkinson posed an extreme danger to vulnerable girls, a coroners' court has been told. Convicted child killer Robert Howard, who was last to see the 15-year-old alive, had a string of convictions, including rape, that dated back decades and was on bail when she vanished in August 1994. The claims were made during the opening day of a long-delayed inquest into the schoolgirl's death. Frank O'Donoghue QC, counsel for the coroners service, said: "There is evidence to suggest that Robert Howard back on August 14 1994 had very significant propensities that made him extremely dangerous to a person such as Arlene." Arlene, from Castlederg, Co Tyrone, disappeared after a night out at a disco across the Irish border in Co Donegal. Howard, 71, was acquitted of the teenager's murder by a jury that was unaware of his previous conviction for killing schoolgirl Hannah Williams, 14, in south London. He always remained the police's main suspect in the Arkinson case but died in prison in Durham last year. "Robert Howard was an extremely dangerous man who was quite capable of causing serious harm to Arlene," added Mr O'Donoghue. Meanwhile, the court also heard how Arlene had a troubled background following the death of her mother when she was aged 11. Her father battled an alcohol addiction and she had lived with a number of elder siblings who expressed concern about her behaviour and social circle. Arlene had been sexually abused by her brother-in-law Seamus McGale who was convicted and jailed in 1993. He was released 10 days before she went missing. Mr O'Donoghue added: "Arlene was a vulnerable teenager at the time she disappeared. "Robert Howard was not the only person who had wronged her or to whom she was vulnerable." On the evening of her disappearance, Arlene allegedly told friends she may have been pregnant. The lawyer added: "She was confiding in some friends that she was pregnant and that the father was a person closely connected but not a member of the Arkinson family." As her body has never been found, the "fact of the pregnancy" has never been proven, the court heard. In their reports, school teachers described the teen as an "intelligent and well liked pupil" but said her poor attendance was likely to hold her back. Although she had gone missing on several occasions Arlene had always contacted a family member within 48 hours. The inquest process, which was started nine years ago, has been plagued by hold-ups, many due to the length of time police have taken to disclose classified papers to the court. Not all documents have been handed over and last week it emerged that a Government minister had signed off on a bid to withhold some top-secret files amid apparent concerns they could harm the public interest. Judge Brian Sherrard, who is presiding over the inquest, is expected t o hear legal submissions on the public interest immunity (PII) application on Tuesday, with at least part of the hearing due to be held behind closed doors. Mr O'Donoghue said the purpose of the inquest was to establish who the deceased was; where, when and why she came by her death. It was not, he claimed, a retrial of Robert Howard or to solely focus on the inadequacy of any investigations by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Police Service of Northern Ireland or An Garda Siochana. He added: "The tardiness of the police has been a focus of considerable scrutiny. It is not the purpose of this inquest to put the police on trial for any shortcomings in their investigation." The court heard only briefly from Arlene's sister Kathleen Arkinson who expressed gratitude that the inquest had finally begun. Addressing Judge Sherrard she said: "Thank you for taking the time to go through with this hearing. I would like to thank my barristers and solicitors. Thank you very, very much. We appreciate it." Ms Arkinson is expected to be recalled later in the week to give more substantial evidence. The inquest is being heard without a jury, with proceedings streamed to Omagh courthouse in Co Tyrone to family members and friends. Speaking outside the court, Ms Arkinson described her sister as a "blue-eyed girl". Choking back tears, she said: "Mummy passed away when Arlene was 11 and Arlene was just the blue-eyed girl of the family. She was brilliant at art, she was good at school. I want people to know the real Arlene. She was our sister and she deserves to be found." Ms Arkinson added that she hoped the long awaited inquest would help "ease" the family's pain. The case has been adjourned. The controversy surrounding the PII application reached the floor of the Stormont Assembly on Monday. Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly raised concern about the move by the Northern Ireland Office during questions to DUP First Minister Arlene Foster. Mrs Foster said it was "impossible" for her to determine the merits of the application, as she had not seen the documents, but she acknowledged the issue had caused upset for the family. "It is something I know that is causing a lot of distress at present," she said. The DUP leader said the murder of the schoolgirl was "one of the most horrific". "It was made all the worse by the fact Arlene's body was never found," she added. Security alerts in Lurgan have cost the PSNI an estimated 74,000 since the middle of January, a DUP councillor has said. Carla Lockhart said people of Lurgan are "fed up, frustrated and disgusted" after another security alert on the rail line in the Co Armagh town caused disruption. The alert began yesterday morning after reports that a suspicious object had been left on the line at Lake Street. Just before 10am police said searches had revealed nothing untoward and the train line later reopened, though services faced delays. Ms Lockhart hit out at those involved in the alert, which she said had caused havoc for residents, commuters, Translink staff and the PSNI. "Once again Lurgan people are being held to ransom by the actions of mindless individuals, who want to destroy, disrupt and ultimately take life," she said. "This security alert on the railway lines is causing major problems for Translink, commuters and brings the good name of Lurgan into disrepute again." The DUP woman said the alert had cost the taxpayer "an absolute fortune with 74,000 alone being lost on policing" since mid January. Last month, a crowd of more than 30 rioters bombarded police with petrol and paint bombs, bricks and bottles. At one point a gunman fired at least one shot at police lines. Officers had been lured into the area by a bomb warning at the railway line, leading to the cancellation of trains. There has been an increase in dissident republican activity in Lurgan in recent months, with several bomb alerts causing disruption on the railway line. A lack of confidence in stop and search powers for munitions is among the factors behind a significant drop in their use, it has been found Police complacency and lack of confidence in stop-and-search powers for munitions without reasonable suspicion have been blamed for a significant drop in their use, an independent reviewer said. The number of searches stands at approximately a seventh of the total five years ago, according to security powers watchdog David Seymour, although dissident republican devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated. He said: "There were a number of possible explanations but the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) I has concluded that there were three main factors in play - officer confidence in the use of powers, complacency and concern that support might not be forthcoming if the exercise of the power resulted in a complaint being made." Munitions have been used to deadly effect in Northern Ireland - Catholic PSNI constable Ronan Kerr was killed when a bomb exploded under his car in Omagh in 2011. Mr Seymour said good work by the PSNI continued to save lives. Better training of officers is being introduced. In 2014/15 use of the power to stop and search for munitions without reasonable suspicion fell by 14% following a drop of 34% the previous year. Mr Seymour independently reviews the operation of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 which confers special powers. He said five years ago the number of such stops to search for weaponry was 29,391. He said: "That (the current figure) is approximately one-seventh of the use five years ago. "Some might say that the power was possibly over-used in the past. Nevertheless the PSNI are concerned, given the ongoing security situation, that the power was now being used too infrequently." Officers have recovered mortar-type weapons from a graveyard in Co Tyrone. In May last year two partially-exploded bombs were discovered at an army reserve base in Londonderry. Mr Seymour added: "The worrying new trends are the increasing sophistication of i mprovised explosive devices (IEDs) and the reckless selection of targets where there is a real risk of harm to the public, for example the use of a device disguised in the advertising hoarding of a betting shop in the Ardoyne and attacks on two hotels that were hosting PSNI events. "Police officers, prison officers and the armed forces remain as prime targets though the methods used are indiscriminate and civilian lives are also put at risk by such tactics." PSNI operational support department assistant chief constable Alan Todd said it is essential that police are effective in keeping people safe, and accountable for how they do that. He said: "This is particularly important where we exercise police powers in respect of our fellow citizens. "The quoted aspect of the report shows that we constantly scrutinise and seek to understand the use of such powers to ensure that use is necessary, proportionate and thoughtful, and address relevant issues as they may arise." Murderer: Alison McDonagh was convicted in 2006 for the murder of George McDowell. The former cell mate of a convicted murderer who was on the run for the past four days has spoken of her relief that she has been caught. On Thursday, Alison McDonagh escaped prison while on release for work placement. The 42-year-old is serving a life sentence for murder. In 2006, Alison Michelle Martin - as she was then known - was jailed for the 2004 murder of her drinking friend George McDowell. During her three-week trial, the court heard how Martin had arranged for the victim, whom she had met a week earlier, to stay at the flat of a friends in Rathcoole. Later she ordered him to leave the flat before stabbing him in the neck with a kitchen knife which killed him. Throughout her three-week trial, Martin always maintained her innocence saying she had been set up and that she actually felt guilty that the man had died as a result of her trying to help him find somewhere to live. The court was also told she had a "propensity" for carrying knives. However, a jury rejected her claims and instead she was handed a minimum 12-year sentence for the murder. Last Thursday, McDonagh, as she is now known, fled custody while out on work placement. On Monday, the Department of Justice confirmed she had been caught. One of her former cell mates said she feared for her life following the escape. The woman - who asked we not name her - said police visited her home, initially to search the property for any sign of the murderer before later informing her they believed McDonagh was intent on tracking her down. They said there was a "credible" threat against her from McDonagh but did not elaborate further. They left her with a booklet on ensuring her protection and said she'd be treated as a priority should she call police as well as putting in place an increase in patrols around her home. She always told me if she ever got the chance she would track me down and kill me, the woman told the Belfast Telegraph. I couldnt believe it when they told me she had escaped and she was after me. Ive been a mess. My husband is battling cancer, this is stress neither he or I need. The woman said her and McDonagh were initially friends and would have shared cigarettes and stories in a cell. McDonagh - as she had throughout her trial - continued to insist upon her innocence of the murder. However, relations soured between the pair and it soon escalated into threats of violence and intimidation. The 43-year-old woman who is a full-time carer for her husband said she was not overly surprised to learn of McDonagh's escape. She added: She always said, first opportunity she got, she would run. I know how dangerous McDonagh can be. I can not believe she escaped on Thursday and there has been nothing said about it. Had the prison authorities or the police made an appeal on Thursday as soon as they knew, she might have been caught sooner." Other than a notification on the Department of Justice's 'Wanted Persons' page last week following the escape, there has been no public appeal for information on McDonagh. "The public should have been told McDonagh has escaped and they need to be told she should not be approached," said the woman. "This is a dangerous woman on the loose and nothing has been said." The Department of Justice said once a prisoner has been reported as unlawfully at large it becomes a police matter. However, police said the publicising of the information was up to the Prison Service. Asked why there was not a press appeal made, a Department of Justice spokesman added: "It is the Prison Service's policy to place those escaped from prison on the unlawfully at large web page." The spokesman confirmed the woman had been caught and arrested by police. A police spokeswoman added: "We can confirm that a woman unlawfully at large has been returned to prison." Told of McDonagh's capture, her former cellmate shouted: "Yes! "Now that is definitely a relief and we can get back to normal life. "Over the past couple of days we have been put through the wringer. I have been on tenterhooks and my husband has been unable to sleep he has been so concerned for my health. "That woman has impacted on so many people and hopefully they think twice before letting her out again." Alison Michelle Martin was sentenced to life following a trial in 2006 over the murder of George McDowell in a Rathcoole flat in 2004. Her trial heard how she was alcoholic and had been drinking for several days before the killing. Martin ordered her friend to leave the flat they were in before getting a knife from the kitchen and stabbing him in the neck. She then left the flat and McDowell, who said he was ok immediately after the assault, was found dead in the morning. The 47-year-old had bled to death. The Belfast woman always denied the murder and insisted she had been set up, however, a jury dismissed the theory. It was revealed in court that prior to the murder Martin had two previous criminal convictions for violence on her record. She was handed a life sentence for the George McDowell murder and ordered to serve at least 12 years before she could be considered for release. And during an appeal in 2012 her legal team argued that evidence submitted during her trial that she had a propensity for carrying knives should not have been allowed as it didnt demonstrate she was capable of murder. However, appeal court judges dismissed the case. Having almost served her minimum 12-year tariff, Alison McDonagh as she is now known, escaped Hydebank Wood Womens Prison last week while on work placement. She was described as having two tattoos on her lower right arm, one a ribbon saying 'mum and dad' and the other saying 'Mad + Mark, Courtney'. She has green eyes and brown hair. In 2009 she was mentioned in a Prison Ombudsman publication about wining third prize in a poetry competition about prison life. No-one was fatally injured in the fires sparked by the tumble dryers. Forty tumble dryers have caught fire in Northern Ireland injuring 11 people, figures have revealed. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the figure was calculated over the past three years, in a statement to the Belfast Telegraph. A Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: "There were 11 reports of injuries in 6 of those incidents with no one fatally injured." It follows warnings from UK Fire Services in November that a number of Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda tumble dryer appliances may pose a fire risk. Two types of tumble dryers, condenser and vented dryers, manufactured by Indesit, were sold under the three brands in the UK and other countries over the last 11 years. The firm is in the process of contacting affected consumers, who were warned not to leave their appliances unattended and to clean fluff from the filter after each use. In "rare" cases a build-up of lint can come into contact with the dryer's heating element, which could pose a fire risk, the manufacturer explained. Customers can check online if their appliance is among those affected by keying in the model and serial number on the Indesit website. Earlier this week it was revealed by the Daily Mirror that tumble dryers cause almost one blaze every day across the UK. Fire Services from across the UK were called to 926 tumble dryer fires between 2011 and 2013, amounting to 309 each year, Freedom of Information data showed. Hotpoint models accounted for the highest number of dryer-related fires with 410 in the three-year period, the paper added. Lisa Dorrian, 25, from Bangor, vanished after a party on a caravan site in the coastal village of Ballyhalbert on the Ards peninsula in 2005 (PA/PSNI) Police have undertaken fresh searches for the body of a missing hairdresser who disappeared almost 11 years ago. Lisa Dorrian, 25, from Bangor, Co Down, vanished after a party on a caravan site 20 miles away in the coastal village of Ballyhalbert on the Ards peninsula on February 28 2005. Police believe she was murdered. Despite a series of arrests, the identification of around 4,000 potential witnesses and more than 275 searches, no-one has been brought to justice. Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's serious crime branch conducted searches on land outside Comber, Co Down, on Monday. They said the ongoing operation at the Newtownards Road had been prompted by "new information being provided to the investigation team". While the general location was searched four years ago for a vehicle linked to the murder, the new investigations are focused solely on finding human remains and are concentrated on a different section of land. The officer in charge of the investigation, detective chief inspector Justyn Galloway, said: "We will be deploying a significant range and amount of resources over the next few days. "These will include search teams, body recovery dogs and ground probes. Other equipment and experts are available, if required. "Lisa's family are being kept fully informed about our enquiries. The search may yield nothing but we feel it is appropriate to act on this new information. "This is the latest search in an extensive investigative programme and demonstrates our commitment to act on information which has been provided to us by someone who is not interested in publicity. "Our enquiries will continue and I would again appeal to the small group of individuals who know what happened to Lisa to tell us precisely what they know before we come to them." Lisa's mother Pat died in December without ever finding out what happened to her daughter. Mrs Dorrian, 59, and her husband John led a decade-long quest to find Lisa's remains. Chip pans are one of the most common causes of fire in the home, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service have said. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service attended more than 80 accidental fires in homes caused by chip pans in 2015. Chip pans are one of the most common causes of fire in the home. In 2015 NIFRS attended 81 accidental house fires caused by chip pans - a decrease on the 2014 figure of 92 accidental dwelling fires caused by chip pans. The NIFRS is using this year's National Chip Week (15-21 February) to warn people of the dangers of using traditional chip pans. Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service Assistant Chief Fire Officer Alan Walmsley said: Chip pans are well known for being a fire risk, but simply changing the way you cook can prevent fire. Our advice is that you stop using a traditional chip pan and invest in an electric temperature controlled deep fat fryer or cook your chips in the oven. If it isnt possible to give up using a chip pan in your home be sure to carefully follow our all year round fire safety advice to reduce fire hazards and cook safely. "Remember - never fill a pan more than one third full of fat or oil; never leave the pan unattended when the heat is switched on and never put the food in the pan if the oil begins to give off smoke, just turn off the heat and leave the oil to cool, otherwise it could catch fire. Do not cook if under the influence of alcohol and remember to keep your grill pan clean. Chips will be on the menu in a lot of homes next week, but remember that even the smallest distraction, like answering the phone when using chip pans to cook, can lead to a fire in a matter of moments so the best advice is to ensure you maintain your concentration and dont leave pans on the heat unattended. Chip Pan Fire Safety Guidelines Never leave any cooking unattended Only fill you pan a third full Do not start cooking if you have had alcohol or are feeling tired Always have an adult attending a chip pan, not a minor Keep chip pans clean. A build-up of fat and oils can easily catch fire. If your chip pan catches fire dont take any risks and follow NIFRS guidelines: Do not move it. Do not tackle the fire yourself. Never throw water on a chip pan or grill pan fire. Turn off the heat if safe to do so but never lean over the pan to reach the controls. Leave the kitchen and close the door behind you. Get everyone out of the house. Dial 999 and ask for the Fire Service. A dissident republican from Northern Ireland was one of the gunmen involved in the murder of a man at a boxing weigh-in in Dublin, it has been reported. The Sunday Times reported that two people involved in the high-profile shooting of David Byrne (34) had been identified by gardai. One is said to be a Co Tyrone Continuity IRA member, and the other a well-known Dublin criminal. Both had been photographed by journalists while leaving the hotel. Garda will step up armed patrols in Dublin's north inner city today to deter any attempts to escalate the feud between two of the Republic's most lethal gangs at Byrne's funeral service. Senior sources have revealed that troops are on standby to assist them in bomb sweeps around the city. And members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit will throw a cordon around the potential flashpoint areas as mourners gather to pay their final respects to Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel on the northside of the city on February 5. Byrne, who is to be buried today in a 12,000 coffin, played an active part in the gang led by underworld boss, Christy Kinahan. A number of associates are expect to turn up at the service. Garda have been monitoring air and sea ports over the weekend to establish how many of those associates are arriving here from Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Senior officers say they do not expect any trouble while the service is being held at the Church of St Nicholas of Myra in Francis Street. A security plan will cover the hours immediately before and after the service, and well-known haunts of gang associates in the capital are also under watch. Armed checkpoints and patrols have been in place across the city since the Regency attack and the tit-for-tat murder of Eddie Hutch snr in the north inner city last Monday. But the armed Garda presence around Francis Street and in Crumlin, where Byrne and several of his associates either live or have connections, has been increased. Signs were hung on the gates of the small Liberties chapel yesterday instructing the public and media that their presence would not be welcomed at the service. Ruth Dudley Edwards, page 21 Ballymena, UK - February 15 , Pictured is the funeral of crash victim Karla Cameron (25) taking place on February 15, 2016 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Pictured is the funeral of crash victim Karla Cameron (25) taking place on February 15, 2016 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The funeral of Karla Cameron, who died in a two-vehicle collision near Ballymena on Thursday, was held at a thanksgiving service on Monday, February 15 in Ballee Baptist Church. Karla, 25, from the Ballymena area, died on Thursday evening from injuries sustained in the early morning collision. Karla's husband David pictured at his wife's Funeral. Picture By: Arthur Allison. The funeral of Karla Cameron, who died in a two-vehicle collision near Ballymena on Thursday, was held at a thanksgiving service on Monday, February 15 in Ballee Baptist Church. Karla, 25, from the Ballymena area, died on Thursday evening from injuries sustained in the early morning collision. Picture By: Arthur Allison. The funeral of Karla Cameron, who died in a two-vehicle collision near Ballymena on Thursday, was held at a thanksgiving service on Monday, February 15 in Ballee Baptist Church. Karla, 25, from the Ballymena area, died on Thursday evening from injuries sustained in the early morning collision. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Karla with her husband David, who has spoken movingly about her The funeral of crash victim Karla Cameron (25) taking place on February 15, 2016 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Pacemaker Press Belfast 15-02-2016: The funeral of Karla Cameron, who died in a two-vehicle collision near Ballymena on Thursday, was held at a thanksgiving service on Monday, February 15 in Ballee Baptist Church. Karla, 25, from the Ballymena area, died on Thursday evening from injuries sustained in the early morning collision. Family members, friends and Karla's husband David pictured at the Funeral. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press Belfast 15-02-2016: The funeral of Karla Cameron, who died in a two-vehicle collision near Ballymena on Thursday, was held at a thanksgiving service on Monday, February 15 in Ballee Baptist Church. Karla, 25, from the Ballymena area, died on Thursday evening from injuries sustained in the early morning collision. Family members, friends and Karla's husband David pictured at the Funeral. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Picture - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Karlas husband David Ballymena, UK - February 15 , Pictured is the funeral of crash victim Karla Cameron (25) taking place on February 14, 2016 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Ballymena, UK - February 15 , Pictured is the funeral of crash victim Karla Cameron (25) taking place on February 14, 2016 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Pacemaker Press Belfast 15-02-2016: The funeral of Karla Cameron, who died in a two-vehicle collision near Ballymena on Thursday, was held at a thanksgiving service on Monday, February 15 in Ballee Baptist Church. Karla, 25, from the Ballymena area, died on Thursday evening from injuries sustained in the early morning collision. Family members, friends and Karla's husband David pictured at the Funeral. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Hundreds of mourners gathered to remember the life of a young Sunday School teacher who tragically died in a road crash. The service for Karla Cameron (25), from Millfields in Kells, took place at Ballee Baptist Church in Ballymena at 2.30pm followed by interment in Ballee Cemetery. She died in a two-vehicle collision on Thursday morning at the Woodgreen junction on the main A26 dual-carriageway between Antrim and Ballymena, a short distance from her home. The crash happened around 9.30am and there was dense fog in the area at the time. Karla was on a day off from work and was on her way to visit her mum. Her heartbroken husband David said she was adored by her pupils in Sunday School, and also at her job with Country Treasures Daycare in Randalstown. David said: "She was the best wife I could ever want, she was a devoted Christian, and she just loved working with children. As a result of the tragic death of my sister in law Karla Cameron there will be a delay with orders. To be honest, I'm... Posted by cranberrylime on Monday, 15 February 2016 "She dedicated her life to children and to helping others. "Karla was unique. "You can think of the words 'superstar', 'amazing' or 'one in a million' - they all describe her. "She was just perfect. "She would have done anything for anyone. "Karla would rather have done things for other people than herself." David (26) revealed how he held his wife's hand during her final hours in the intensive care unit of Antrim Area Hospital. And he said he had been drawing strength from his faith and the support from friends and family since the tragedy. "We were so involved in Ballee Baptist Church," he said. "I know Karla is in Heaven, but I feel so lonely she is not with me." Karla's sister in law said she will be "missed beyond measure". In a Facebook post on her Cranberrylime craft giftshop business she posted a message. She said: "Karla was a sister to Ruth and I, it was always the three of us. We will miss her beyond measure." Pastor Lawrence Kennedy from the church spent time with the family before and following Karla's passing in hospital. He said: "David and Karla were in charge of our children's meetings, our Good News clubs. The folk just loved her and they are devastated at the tragedy." Karla was an assistant manager at Country Treasures Daycare, where owner Kieran McCavana said: "We thought the world of Karla. She didn't just work for us - she was part of the family. Everyone is devastated at her loss. She was extremely thoughtful. "She was so conscientiousness and she was just one in a million and we will miss her deeply. "She worked with us for over three years. Her and my wife know each other exceptionally well. We are all a bit numb. We are closed on Monday for the funeral. Staff are too devastated to work." Translink has apologised to a pregnant woman who was told to get off a bus in the snow because she didn't have change of a tenner. Amie Patterson (18) waited in snow outside Mothercare on High Street, Belfast, for the 11A bus to go to work. But when she got on the 7.45am service to Silverstream on January 15 and handed the driver a 10 note she says she was told that she'd have to get off and wait for another one. She said she was relieved to see the bus coming as she had been waiting at the stop for 10 minutes, cold and wet, and was suffering with backache. "I was standing there waiting like I do every morning to go to work," said the full-time carer, who travels from Islandmagee to the Shankill on public transport every day for work. "My back was sore and I was freezing cold because it was snowing and soaking wet. On my way to the bus I stopped at the bank machine to withdraw the 10 I needed for my fare when a car drove through a puddle and soaked me. "When the bus pulled up, some people got on first and then I did. I handed the driver the tenner and he told me: 'You're not getting on a bus at this time of the morning without change'. "Everybody on the bus saw it but I didn't want to make eye contact with them. "So I asked what I was supposed to do and he told me to get off and wait for the next one. "I was so embarrassed and didn't want a fuss, I didn't want people on the bus thinking I had done something wrong, so I just got off like he said." Around five minutes later Amie got on the 11B with the same 10 note without question. "During her wait she rang her partner Tony Clarke and her mum Louise, who were furious. "I was really raging when I heard how she had been treated," said Louise. "She leaves here at 7am to get the train then the bus to get to her job up the Shankill every day, and it costs her 10 for the two fares. "She's trying to work as long as possible to save money for the baby. I couldn't believe a driver would ask a pregnant woman to wait in the snow. "To think that she was already freezing and made to get off like that, with everybody watching, really angers me." Amie says she arrived at work 30 minutes late and was so upset she asked to take her maternity leave. "It was just the day from Hell," she said. A Translink spokesperson said: "We have carried out a full investigation into this passenger's complaint where she was allegedly refused travel on the 11A Metro service on January 15 while attempting to pay for her journey using a 10 note. "We very much recognise the importance of good customer service and take reports of this nature very seriously. We have taken steps to address this issue internally and our customer services team have also been in direct contact with the passenger concerned to offer our apologies, as this is not the high level of service we aim to deliver." Craigavon Area Hospital is undergoing refurbishment to replace a sewerage system that is no longer fit for purpose. The Southern Health Trust has said sorry after a broken waste pipe at Craigavon Area Hospital spilled raw sewage over a patient in one of the wards last week. The hospital is nearing the end of a major refurbishment programme to replace a sewerage system that is no longer fit for purpose. Repair work on the system began last September following a series of leaks and spills in early 2015. A Southern Trust spokesperson said: "There was a recent incident involving a leak from a pipe in the ceiling above a bedroom in a ward at Craigavon Area Hospital. "The patient in the bedroom was immediately relocated to another room and every effort was made to support the patient following this distressing incident. "Specialist contractors were called in immediately to fix the problem and a very thorough clean-up was carried out by specialist cleaning contractors. Trust domestic teams also completed a full terminal clean of the areas affected." Esther Gishkori, Southern Trust director of acute services, apologised to the patient, saying: "I am very sorry for the distress caused to the patient and their family by this incident. "We have recently replaced many of the old pipe fittings in the hospital with new fittings - this incident was caused by a blockage of the old sewage pipework, which is scheduled for replacement in the coming weeks. "It is planned that all the sewage pipes in the main hospital block will have been replaced by March 31." Local SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly, who previously raised the issue of ruptured pipes at the hospital, said she was disturbed to hear of another incident. "A patient going into hospital does not expect to get sprayed by raw sewage," she said. "I welcome a commitment to update the pipes, but it is a pity we have got to this point. The Health Minister has some questions to answer with regards to the infrastructure of the hospital." Craigavon DUP councillor Margaret Tinsley said she was sorry to hear about the patient concerned and said she did not believe it reflected the standard of care at the hospital. She added: "The care and attention has been second to none. On Friday evening I was in A&E with a constituent and what the staff have to deal with is totally unacceptable." She said any incident regarding raw sewage in a hospital was "very concerning to hear" and welcomed the trust's pledge to replace the sewage pipes by the end of next month. It's just a year since the hospital had to apologise following an incident that led to raw sewage sloshing into the maternity unit, spraying its reception area and soiling files, furniture and gift bags given to expectant mothers. The hospital authorities blamed toilet users for flushing "inappropriate items" down the toilets, leading to blockages in the pipework. Armed Gardai from the forces Emergency Response Unit on patrol in North Inner City Dublin after gang violence resulted in two murders in four days. Niall Carson/PA Wire Gardai will step up armed patrols in Dublin's north inner city today to deter any attempts to escalate the feud between two of the country's most lethal gangs at a funeral service for murder victim David Byrne (34). Senior sources have revealed that the Defence Forces are on standby to assist them in bomb sweeps around the city. Members of the Emergency Response Unit will throw a cordon around the potential flashpoint areas as mourners gather to pay their final respects to Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel on the northside of the city on Friday, February 5. The high security operation surrounding the funeral was being co-ordinated from a garda command unit based on Sundrive Road in Crumlin. While the main roads around the church were not closed, there was an obvious garda presence from early this morning on the routes around Crumlin and Francis Street. Two schools, St Brigid's Primary School in the Coombe and Warrenmount presentation School in the Liberties, were also shut for the day as a security precaution. Mourners for the funeral had been instructed to wear blue, thought to be in honour of one of Byrne's sporting passions. Byrne, who is to be buried today in a 15,000 coffin, played an active part in the gang led by underworld boss Christy Kinahan. A number of associates are expected to turn up at the service. Gardai have been monitoring air and sea ports over the weekend to establish how many of those associates are arriving here from Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Senior officers say they do not expect any trouble while the service is being held at the Church of St Nicholas of Myra in Francis Street. A security plan will cover the hours immediately before and after the service, and well-known haunts of gang associates in the capital are also being kept under watch. Armed checkpoints and patrols have been in place across the city since the Regency attack and the tit-for-tat murder of Eddie Hutch Senior in the north inner city last Monday. But the armed Garda presence around Francis Street and in Crumlin, where Byrne and several of his associates either live or have connections, has been increased. Signs were hung on the gates of the small Liberties chapel yesterday instructing the public and media that their presence would not be welcomed at the service. One sign insisted that no photography, filming or audio recording would be permitted inside or outside the church. Detectives from the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau will be monitoring the service in unmarked cars, while other specialist units will also be active. It is understood that armed members of the Defence Forces have also been made available to be called on if tensions boil over. A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said they could not comment on the current gangland feud for operational reasons, but added they "maintain appropriate support and capability." "The Defence Forces do not "comment on matters of operational security," a spokesperson said. "The Defence Forces maintain appropriate support and capability on call to the Civil Power." Yesterday, roads surrounding David Byrne's family home were closed, with armed Garda checkpoints at the entrance to Raleigh Square. Expand Close The Hutch family / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Hutch family Nearby, Clonard Road was closed to the public, while on Kildare Road gardai maintained another heavy armed presence. Gardai were also visible yesterday searching a black Range Rover Sport close to the Byrne home. Detectives could be seen searching the undercarriage and removing sections of the engine cover and bonnet lining. Gardai say that the saturation policing over the past week has already disrupted the activities of the two gangs involved in the bloody feud and prevented them from carrying out further acts of violence. Several major gangland players have "gone to ground" since the two murders. Gardai have a list of what they describe as "persons of interest", who are suspected of either taking part directly in one of the attacks, planning the murders or providing logistical support to the gangs. Forensic examination of the footage taken at the Regency Hotel and of the getaway car, balaclava helmets and other items abandoned by the killers of Eddie Hutch Sr has played a significant role in drafting that list. Most of those on the list are from Dublin, while some are known to have been regularly commuting between here and mainland Europe. Ken Foy and Adam Cullen, Irish Independent Lottie and her dog Marley outside Lush in Oxford (Lush Oxford/PA) An appeal to help a homeless woman after she confronted a store thief and retrieved stolen goods has reached thousands of pounds. The online appeal, set up by Lush employees after their Oxford branch was targeted, is close to 5,000 after more than 250 people donated to help Lottie and her dog Marley. The branch thanked the public on its Facebook page and said: "We want to ensure that your donations go towards what Lottie needs, and that her actions help to spur our community into larger action for vulnerable people. "We would love for all people moved by this story to get involved with their local community outreach projects and charities." Staff opened the shop on Wednesday morning to discover a laptop and large box of cosmetics worth more than 1,000 had disappeared in the night. Twenty-four hours later, Lottie - who has been sleeping outside the store for around five years - marched in with the stolen products, having successfully challenged the man who took them. Store manager James Atherton, 26, said staff were "completely surprised" to be reunited with the items. "We were amazed and just so joyful. It was fantastic. We weren't expecting to get them back at all," he said. "She confronted him as he walked out. She said, 'I know you are not from Lush', and took the stuff back. This was around 4am." Mr Atherton said he believes Lottie's dream is to own a caravan, but that she would decide how the money was spent, and any extra would go to charities helping homeless people in Oxford. :: To donate to the appeal for Lottie visit www.gofundme.com/hnwj2dfd. David McKean est le nouvel ambassadeur des Etats-Unis au Grand-Duche de Luxembourg. Le president Barack Obama avait annonce sa nomination en octobre. L'actuel "Director of policy planning" au ministere des Affaires etrangeres americain et proche conseiller de John Kerry a ete confirme par le Senat a son nouveau poste au Luxembourg. Cela dit, le Grand-Duc doit juste encore accepter la lettre de McKean, mais cette procedure n'est qu'une formalite. President Obama Announces David McKean as Nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg President Obama has announced David McKean as nominee for the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. The nomination will now go to the U.S. Senate for confirmation. David McKean serves as Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Department of State, a position he has held since 2013. Previously, he served as Senior Advisor for the implementation of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review at the Department of State from 2012 to 2013 and was a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars from 2011 to 2012. Prior to that, he worked as CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston from 2010 to 2011, Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2009 to 2010, and Chief of Staff to Senator John F. Kerry from 1999 to 2008. Mr. McKean also served as Minority Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations from 1997 to 1998 and Special Counsel for the Commodities Futures Trading Commission from 1995 to 1997. He served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy from 1994 to 1995 and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator John F. Kerry from 1987 to 1992. Mr. McKean received an A.B. from Harvard College, a J.D. from Duke University, and an M.A. from Tufts University. It's 7am & I am ready to go. I cannot wait for our tour of the Embera Drua Tribe. A wooden canoe awaits with our Embera guides Albeno & Ramiro, to take us for our ride through the Chagres National Park. We passed two other tribe villages along the way to our first stop, a waterfall. A little trek over rocks and a few corners later I was wading through the waterfall, Albeno tried to catch some fish for us. We had the place to ourselves for about 15 minutes & like clockwork many other tourist boats began to arrive. Time for us to duck out of here and head to our village. The amazing part is our tour goes to the furthest away village about a 1hr boat ride from the dock. Most tours will not go the distance making this village pretty special with very little tourists. We were welcomed to the village by sounds of drums (made from turtle shells), flutes and colourful hibiscus flowers. The tribe leader told us why they had been forced to move away from the Darien Province to where they are now and how new laws prevents them from hunting, farming and fishing within the national park. Our lunch consisted of fried fish, patacones and plenty of fruit. After lunch, we met an older lady who was making rice and pounding flour for patacones. A little girl called Julie stole the show dancing & trying to impress her grandmother. Before we left the tribe did a dance for us. They also explained about their outfits and that the women's outfits cost about $30 to make while the men's only cost about $4. The tribe make their money by weaving baskets, bowls & masks and selling them through out Panama. We booked our tour with Panama Travel $100p.p but I would not recommend them solely because of our guide Jose. Our guide was drinking heavily during our trip which made me uncomfortable since he would be driving us back to the city later that day. The tribe did not speak much English and during a presentation, he decided that he would sit back & relax, leaving us without a translator. However, there was another tour made up of two people. Their guide was Kat of Kats Tours who I actually recommend. She translated for us because our guide was too busy eating peanuts and drinking beer. She explained a lot more about the village for her group. Thank you Kat for taking us under your wing for 2 hrs. More on Panama here Photo by Farah Khan Photo by Farah Khan coming from the waterfall A number of families live within this tribe Our lunch Leaving the village HSBC will keep its headquarters in the UK Banking giant HSBC could move around 1,000 jobs from London to Paris if Britain votes to leave the EU, according to its chief executive. Stuart Gulliver said a Brexit could force the bank to transfer a large tranche of jobs from its UK investment banking arm to its business in France - although the move would depend on the terms of a British exit. The comments came on the same day HSBC pledged to keep its headquarters in London following a high-profile lengthy review. Mr Gulliver said the forthcoming referendum had not impacted the bank's decision to keep its headquarters in the British capital. But he stated that "if the UK leaves the EU it could have a significant impact on our non-ring-fenced bank - our trading room, corporate banking and investment banking - although it would not have an impact on our holding company domicile". He told Sky News: "We have 5,000 people in global banking and markets in London and I could imagine that around 20% of those would move to Paris." The decision to move jobs would hinge on the terms of a British exit from the EU, Mr Gulliver said, including whether the UK could still access the financial services "passporting" regime allowing member states to trade across national borders. Responding to the comments, the Prime Minister's official spokeswoman said: "The PM has talked many times about the issues and choices the British people will have to weigh up when they make a decision on whether the UK should remain or leave, that there are economic risks. "But he has also talked about the confidence we should have in our country and our ability to succeed." HSBC revealed last year it was considering whether to move its headquarters elsewhere over concerns about stricter regulations. HSBC Group chairman Douglas Flint said the decision to keep the London HQ "offered the best outcome for our customers and shareholders". The announcement comes after Chancellor George Osborne made a series of concessions to the City in recent months. Mr Gulliver said: "Having our headquarters in the UK and our significant business in Asia Pacific delivers the best of both worlds to our stakeholders." A Treasury spokeswoman said: "We welcome HSBC's decision. They've looked carefully and dispassionately at the facts and confirmed that the UK is the best place to base a global business. "It's a vote of confidence in the Government's economic plan, and a boost to our goal of making the UK a great place to do more business with China and the rest of Asia." The bank's decision was seized upon by campaigners for UK withdrawal from the EU, who said it undermined pro-European claims that Brexit might trigger an exodus of major firms for the continent. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign, said: "HSBC claimed that it might move its headquarters due to uncertainty about whether the UK would stay in the EU. This was an attempt to scare people into backing EU membership. Today's announcement shows that even the proponents of Project Fear don't actually believe it." But Mr Flint reiterated the bank's intentions to move staff to Paris in the event of a British withdrawal. He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We are lucky in the sense that we have a major bank in France. So, if we were to leave and if there were to be restrictions, ultimately, on the renegotiation of Britain's position, we have the ability to move activity and people between London and Paris. "But our strong economic view is that Britain is better within a reformed Europe." HBSC said the board's decision to keep its headquarters in London was "unanimous". In its later stages, the review was "narrowed" to the UK and Hong Kong, "both of which are considered by the board to be world-class financial centres", it added. HSBC's review was announced in April last year at the bank's annual meeting. It cited increasingly onerous British regulatory conditions and the UK bank levy introduced in 2010 - a tax based on the size of any British-based banks' global balance sheet. Israeli companies, along with other firms which have investments in the occupied West Bank, have been among those targeted by unofficial boycotts in the past. A controversial crackdown being announced by the Government in Westminster plans to ban councils, public bodies and even some university student unions from boycotting unethical companies. Under the plan all publicly funded institutions will lose the freedom to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products or Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Any public bodies that continue to pursue boycotts will face severe penalties, ministers said. Senior government sources said they were cracking down on town-hall boycotts because they undermined good community relations, poisoned and polarised debate and fuelled anti-Semitism. But critics said the move amounted to a gross attack on democratic freedoms. A spokesman for the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: The Governments decision to ban councils and other public bodies from divesting from trade or investments they regard as unethical is an attack on local democracy. People have the right to elect local representatives able to make decisions free of central government political control. That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds. This Governments ban would have outlawed council action against apartheid South Africa. Ministers talk about devolution, but in practice theyre imposing Conservative Party policies on elected local councils across the board. Significantly, and underlining the main target of the ban, the formal announcement will be made by the Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock when he visits Israel this week. Israeli companies, along with other firms which have investments in the occupied West Bank, have been among those targeted by unofficial boycotts in the past. In 2014 Leicester City Council passed a policy to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank while the Scottish Government published a procurement notice to Scottish councils which strongly discourages trade and investment from illegal settlements. Under the new rules all contracting authorities including local councils, quangos and universities which receive the majority of their funding from the Government will lose the freedom to take ethical decisions about whom they purchase goods and services from. The only exemption will be UK-wide sanctions decided by the Government in Westminster. Government sources said the ban could also apply to student union boycotts but added this was a grey area. A spokeswoman for the National Union of Students said they were concerned by any external pressure that could prevent student unions taking decisions on any issue that affects the students they represent. Mr Hancock said the current position where local authorities had autonomy to make ethical purchasing decisions was undermining Britains national security. We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town-hall boycotts, he said. The new guidance on procurement combined with changes we are making to how pension pots can be invested will help prevent damaging and counter-productive local foreign policies undermining our national security. But Amnesty Internationals UK economic relations programme director Peter Frankental condemned the move, warning it could encourage human rights violations. The Conservatives have been accused of turning a blind eye to Israeli human rights abuses in the past. All public bodies should assess the social and environment impacts of any company with whom they choose to enter into business relationships, he said. Wheres the incentive for companies to ensure there are no human rights violations such as slavery in their supply chains, when public bodies cannot hold them to account by refusing to award them contracts? Not only would it be a bad reflection on public bodies to contract with rogue companies, but it would also be bad for responsible businesses that are at risk of being undercut by those that have poor practices. Hugh Lanning, chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, condemned this move as a gross attack on our democratic freedoms and the independence of public bodies from Government interference. As if it is not enough that the UK Government has failed to act when the Israeli government has bombed and killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and stolen their homes and land, the Government is now trying to impose its inaction on all other public bodies, he said. This makes it clear where this Government stands on international law and human rights. Despite the Government admitting that Israels occupation and denial of Palestinian rights is plain wrong and illegal, when it comes to it they will insulate Israel from the consequences of its own actions. It seems that for this UK Government, whatever crimes against international law Israel commits, having a military ally trumps the rights of their own citizens and institutions in this country to support human rights. Boycott background: Unofficial sanctions Last April the French-owned multinational water, energy and waste management company Veolia which collects rubbish for a wide range of British local authorities announced that it was closing down its operations in Israel. The decision followed a concerted campaign to persuade it to halt its work in West Bank settlements, during which the Labour-controlled Birmingham council became at least the third to warn Veolia that it might not renew its 35m-a-year waste disposal contract when it ran out in 2019, if the company continued to operate in the occupied West Bank. In November 2014, Leicester City Council passed a policy to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Jewish groups have recently launched a judicial review of the councils decision, claiming that it amounts to a get-of-out-town order to Leicester Jews. In August 2014, the Scottish Government published a procurement notice to Scottish councils which strongly discourages trade and investment from illegal settlements, though conceding that decisions needed to be taken on a case by case basis. Four Scottish councils have resolved to boycott Israeli goods: Clackmannanshire, Midlothian, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire. Last December two Welsh councils performed a U-turn on their decision to boycott Israeli goods after court proceedings were issued by Jewish Human Rights Watch. Gwynedd County Council and Swansea City Council said the motions had been non-binding and had now otherwise been superseded. Independent News Service Prime Minister David Cameron is spelling out his case for reforming the European Union as he prepares for next week's crunch summit in Brussels David Cameron and French president Francois Hollande have agreed that the draft proposals for reforming Britain's membership of the EU provide a "firm basis" to agree a deal this week, Downing Street has said. The hastily arranged meeting with Mr Hollande came ahead of a crunch Brussels summit at which the Prime Minister hopes to sign up EU leaders to the reforms so he can hold an in/out referendum in June. Downing Street's assertion suggests French concerns over financial protections for non-eurozone states and special treatment for the City of London have been calmed. A Number 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister and President Hollande had constructive discussions on both the UK renegotiation and Syria in Paris this evening. "They agreed that we are making good progress on the UK renegotiation and that the draft text from the European Council provides a firm basis to reach agreement at this week's summit." Mr Cameron will now travel to Brussels for talks with selected MEPs on Tuesday amid Eurosceptic warnings that the European Parliament could veto aspects of the deal after the referendum. MEPs will eventually have to approve parts of the reform package including restrictions on EU citizens' benefits but Downing Street has insisted any deal would be a "legally binding document under international law, entered into by the 28 leaders of member states" and that the European Parliament should deliver on that. Mr Cameron had been expected to meet the heads of all the groupings in the European Parliament but was branded a "chicken" by Nigel Farage after Number 10 revealed the PM will not meet the Ukip leader. Instead he will meet European Parliament president Martin Schulz, leaders of the centre-right EPP and the Socialist grouping, and three MEPs who have been acting as "sherpas" in the negotiations. Meanwhile, European Council president Donald Tusk warned that Mr Cameron's renegotiation was "very fragile" and unless handled carefully could lead to the break-up of the union Mr Tusk said it was a "critical moment" as he told EU leaders to start listening to each other's concerns because "what is broken cannot be mended" and the "risk of break-up is very real". Mr Tusk is undertaking a whirlwind tour of EU capitals including Berlin, Paris and Athens to sell the package of reforms he drafted in response to Mr Cameron's demand for change. Britain's renegotiation is the first item on the agenda for the two-day European Council summit in Brussels beginning on Thursday. However, the gathering of 28 EU leaders is not scheduled to conclude until Friday lunchtime, after which Mr Cameron will call an immediate Cabinet meeting if he secures a deal. That will effectively fire the starting gun on the referendum battle, as Eurosceptic ministers will be given the green light to campaign for a Leave vote in the poll expected on June 23. Mr Cameron had come under pressure from ministers to bring Cabinet forward as Eurosceptics feared the Remain campaign would have an advantage if collective responsibility was not suspended until the next scheduled meeting of the PM's top team on February 23. They believed the Remain campaign would steal a march in the vital first few days of the campaign by leaving the PM free to proclaim the merits of the deal in weekend TV interviews and a statement to the Commons on Monday, while colleagues remained gagged. While the likes of Iain Duncan Smith, Chris Grayling and Theresa Villiers will be expected to join the Leave campaign, all eyes will be on waverers such as Theresa May and Boris Johnson to see which side they back. Agreement this week remains far from certain, with Downing Street confirming that key details still need to be "pinned down". Mr Cameron has made it clear he is ready to wait until the next summit in March to try again for a deal, rather than accept one that falls short of his demands. If the summit runs over into Friday evening or Saturday, the PM will review whether to call ministers to Number 10 for a weekend Cabinet meeting. Lisa Day had a heart attack after being forced to wait almost five hours for an ambulance (Coulter Partnership / PA Wire) A student nurse who died after waiting almost five hours for an ambulance could have been saved if she had got to hospital sooner, a coroner has ruled. Lisa Day, 27, a type 1 diabetic, fell severely ill on September 7 last year and spent the day vomiting blood and complaining of a headache and stomach pains, St Pancras Coroner's Court heard. London Ambulance Service was struggling to cope with "extreme demand" and did not have enough ambulances to send to patients, the court heard. An ambulance eventually arrived at 10.30pm after Miss Day suffered a cardiac arrest and fell unconscious. She was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness and died five days later from a lack of oxygen to the brain stem. Coroner Mary Hassell said: "The reason for the approximate four and a half hour delay in an ambulance attending was because demand outstripped capacity. "If Lisa had received definitive hospital care before she suffered a cardiac arrest in the evening of September 7, the likelihood is she would have survived." Speaking after the inquest through tears, Miss Day's mother Doreen Proud said: "She should still be here. What can I say? It's every mother's nightmare." She later added: "I'm never going to get over this, no mother would. "As a mum, your kids come first. No matter what happens you are always a mum." Asked if she thought she had justice now, she said: "It is helping everyone else but it can't bring my daughter back." Miss Day's sister Katie Edwards said: "She was completely let down." The court heard that Miss Day was assessed by NHS Direct 111 call handlers as DX012, meaning that an ambulance should have been with her within 30 minutes. But the London Ambulance Service was "remarkably busy" that day - a fact the 111 call handlers were aware of - and did not arrive until nearly five hours later. Susan Watkins, the head of quality assurance at the London Ambulance Service who reviewed the case, said the service was struggling with "extreme demand". She told the inquest: "On the day in question we faced increased levels of demand for the service. Incoming calls exceeded the amount of resources we had available - operational resourcing was low. "We were receiving over 300 calls an hour in the hour we got the call from Lisa." More than 200 patients were waiting for an ambulance along with Miss Day, the inquest a heard. The ambulance service was under such strain it upgraded its operations to 'purple-enhanced' - the third most serious category behind 'black' which denotes "catastrophic" conditions. This meant that calls were redirected to other agencies such as 111, and saw staff who usually ring back patients waiting for an ambulance are redeployed to take emergency 999 calls. Miss Watkins said: "Significant pressures were on the service we couldn't reach our immediately life-threatened patients. "Obviously there was a delay to an ambulance being sent to Lisa. While we are handling calls that are being held there should be further ring backs made to the patient. "On the day in question there were two staff allocated to ring backs for all the calls waiting and sadly there was a delay in the ring backs. "There just weren't the people to ring back patients, they should be done but in those circumstances of extreme capacity we redeploy handlers." Miss Day, who lived in Fortune Green, West Hampstead, north London, was staying at a friend's house when she fell ill on the morning of September 7. The day before, her glucose levels had been so high they were off the chart, the court heard. Her friend Luke Halliburton, an acting sergeant with the Met Police, phoned NHS Direct shortly after 5pm and a request for an ambulance was formally made at 5.49pm. By 10.15pm an ambulance had not arrived and the service made a long-delayed call back checking Miss Day's symptoms had not changed. Eight minutes later her friend called 999 after discovering Miss Day had lost consciousness and suffered a cardiac arrest. She was taken to the Royal Free Hospital but never regained consciousness and died five days later from lack of oxygen to the brain caused by diabetic ketoacidosis - complications arising from her diabetes. Miss Day had been due to start training as a nurse at City University in London days after the incident. The coroner delivered a narrative verdict. Speaking after the inquest, Miss Day's brother-in-law Matthew Edwards blamed her death on the under-resourcing of London Ambulance Service. He said: "We are extremely saddened by Lisa's death, and the sadness will last with us now until the rest of our lives. "We believe the death was completely avoidable and ultimately resulted from the under-resourcing of the ambulance service in London. I hope these lessons will be learnt and this case will not happen again." The family said they will continue to campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of diabetes. London Ambulance Service deputy director of operations Peter McKenna said: "We would like to once again offer our sincere condolences to the family of Lisa Day. "We will carefully consider the recommendations of the coroner's court so we can deliver the best care to our patients. "We have also completed our own internal investigation into the circumstances of Lisa's death. The findings of this investigation have been presented to the Day family." Town halls have been warned of "severe penalties" if they impose boycotts on trade and investment with Israel. Guidance to be published later this week will state that locally-imposed boycotts by public bodies - including councils - are "inappropriate" unless formal legal sanctions or embargoes have been put in place by the Government. The guidance will warn that boycotts risk breaching a World Trade Organisation agreement signed by both the EU and Israel, which requires equal treatment for suppliers from all signatory nations. And the Cabinet Office said that town hall boycotts can also "undermine good community relations, poisoning and polarising debate, weakening integration and fuelling anti-Semitism", as well as hindering Britain's export trade and harming international relationships. Visiting Israel this week, Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock is expected to say: "We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts. The new guidance on procurement, combined with changes we are making to how pension pots can be invested, will help prevent damaging and counter-productive local foreign policies undermining our national security." The new guidance will apply to all public bodies, including central government and the NHS as well as quangos and councils. Any public body found to be in breach of the regulations could be subject to severe penalties, said the Cabinet Office. A spokesman for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The Government's decision to ban councils and other public bodies from divesting from trade or investments they regard as unethical is an attack on local democracy. "People have the right to elect local representatives able to make decisions free of central government political control. That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds. "This Government's ban would have outlawed council action against Apartheid South Africa. Ministers talk about devolution, but in practice they're imposing Conservative Party policies on elected local councils across the board." Ryvka Barnard, senior campaigner at charity War on Want - which campaigns in favour of ethical investment and procurement, said: "It's vital we protect the right of local councils to make divestment and procurement decisions based on ethical grounds, in relation to Palestinian human rights, arms trade, fossil fuels, and other issues of concern. We encourage everyone who believes in local democracy to make their voices heard. "This attack on local democracy is the latest in a sustained assault on our democratic rights and freedoms, following the Lobbying Act, Trade Union Bill, Prevent and much else. "The threat is serious, and over 14,000 people have already responded to the Government and made known their opposition to this attack." Rightmove said 2016 could be a good one for first-time buyers House sellers' asking prices jumped to a record high of nearly 300,000 on average in February, a property website has reported. The typical price tag on a property coming to market is now 299,287 across England and Wales, Rightmove said. This is an 8,324 increase compared with the average asking price in January and means the typical asking price in February has surpassed a previous all-time high set in October 2015 by 2,738. Despite the hefty price increases, there are some encouraging signs for aspiring first-time buyers - as Rightmove said 2016 could be their year. The property listings website said the volume of homes with two bedrooms or fewer coming to market was up by 10% in February compared with the same month in 2015. Homes of this size are typically sought by first-time buyers. Rightmove director Miles Shipside said the increase in these property types coming to market could be due to a wave of first-time sellers putting their homes on the market ahead of a stamp duty increase for buy-to-let investors in April. Such investors tend to buy the same types of property as first-time buyers and investors have reportedly been rushing to snap up homes before the deadline. Mr Shipside said: "Regions outperforming the national average with over 10% more newly marketed homes with two bedrooms or fewer are London, East, South East, South West, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber, and if this trend continues the increased competition among new sellers may help to temper price rises. "More and more agents are reporting a healthy return in first-time buyer numbers, and with the cards increasingly stacked in their favour 2016 could prove to be the year of the first-time buyer." Rightmove, whose records go back to 2002, said that the volume of new properties coming to market is now at its highest level since 2008, with a 5% uplift over a year ago. But it warned that the increase is "patchy", with only London, the South East, the South West and Yorkshire and the Humber seeing above-average increases in stock. In the West Midlands, stock is down and the North West and Wales have only seen small stock increases, it said. Two regions have seen double-digit increases in sellers' asking prices over the last year. In London, the average asking price has jumped by 10.5% to 643,843. In the East the typical asking price has leapt even higher, increasing 10.7% to 321,630. All regions have seen asking prices increase over the past year, with the North East recording the smallest annual uplift, rising 0.9% to 144,999. In Wales, asking prices have grown 1.5% annually to reach 171,628. Mr Shipside continued: "The new year's market has hit the ground running in many locations, continuing last year's momentum and resulting in the price of property coming to the market hitting a new high. "Many agents reported high numbers of sales in November and December and properties selling more quickly, so it's encouraging to see signs of replenishment of property, especially in the first-time buyer sector. "However, in spite of the apparent veneer of market buoyancy, those thinking of putting their property up for sale need to avoid being too optimistic with their initial asking price, as most buyers are still understandably being very selective about their future home." Sir John Vickers, chairman of the Independent Commission on Banking, criticised the Bank of England's plans The man behind the UK's retail banking reforms has complained that his recommendations have been diluted. Sir John Vickers, head of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), criticised the Bank of England's plans to build an extra buffer of capital for not being strong enough. "The BoE is proposing substantially milder equity requirements for British banks than did the ICB. The wisdom of this policy is questionable," he wrote in a Financial Times (FT) article. Sir John said his proposals to ringfence banks' retail operations have been watered down. "Given the awfulness of systemic bank failures, ample insurance is needed, and equity is the best form of insurance," he added. "The recent volatility in bank stocks underlines the importance of strong capital buffers. The BoE should think again." The ICB recommended that the six largest banks should have 3% of extra capital in reserve compared with loans, when taking into account their risk. The Bank has suggested a buffer of up to 2.5% and only 1% for the smaller lenders of the six. Chancellor George Osborne has made a series of concessions to the City in recent months. Mr Osborne said in last July's Budget that he would gradually reduce the bank levy over the coming years. He has also called for a ''new settlement'' to end banker-bashing and was widely reported to have ousted tough-minded Martin Wheatley, head of City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in July, raising concerns about political influence at the regulator. HSBC announced that it will keep its headquarters in London after considering moving over the prospect of stricter regulations. The Bank declined to make a comment to the FT on Sir John's concerns. Disproportionate numbers of women barristers are giving up the profession Disproportionate numbers of women barristers are giving up the profession, according to a legal regulator. The Bar Standards Board also says the percentage of women practising as barristers - 35% - has not changed for six years. Board bosses, who regulate and monitor barristers' behaviour, have launched a survey of the experiences of women barristers in a bid to find out how well equality rules are working. "Currently almost 50% of people called to the Bar are women, but women are leaving the profession in disproportionate numbers," says a "professional update" published by the board in legal magazine Counsel. "There is a slow rate of progression as woman make up 35% of the practising Bar, the same percentage as in 2010." The notice added: "Women's representation at the Bar is a growing conversation in the profession and wider society. It's in the public interest that regulation encourages a diverse profession." Retail and hospitality businesses will be among firms most affected by the living wage for adults One in four firms will be affected by the new national living wage, with many having to overcome "significant productivity challenges" to cope with the rate, according to a new report. Research by the Social Market Foundation and the Adecco group found that retail and hospitality businesses will be among those most affected by the introduction of a 7.20 an hour wage for adults from April. Paying the wage to over 25-year-olds will mean that employers will be faced with potential "discrepancies" in rates of pay for younger workers, said the report. Almost a third of workers who will benefit from the wage are in jobs which do not require formal qualifications, the study found. Nida Broughton, chief economist at the Social Market Foundation, said: "The low stock of skills amongst those affected, and the relative lack of access to in-work training, means that businesses and the Government will have to act to make sure that workplace productivity rises alongside the new regulated wage. "If businesses can increase productivity there is less likely to be a risk of higher unemployment as a result of the introduction of the national living wage, and workers will be more likely to benefit." Alex Fleming, managing director of Adecco Group UK and Ireland, said: "The national living wage has the potential to reduce wage inequality and improve people's lives across the UK. "The challenge for businesses, particularly in sectors including retail, wholesale and hospitality, will be in mitigating the impact of the new rate across their workforce and boosting productivity to avoid job losses. "Businesses should consider training as one of the best ways to respond. Many workers eligible for the rate are low-skilled with little further education beyond their GCSEs. This research shows the value of investing in training and skills for long-term. "It is crucial that employers consider what these changes mean for them, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all analysis of any potential impact." One million more people a year with mental health problems will receive treatment in England by 2021, the NHS has pledged. The move comes after a new report found only 15% of people who need psychological therapy in England get access to care, despite mental health problems representing the largest single cause of disability in the UK and suicide rates in England rising after years of decline. The report also shines a light on problems for children - one in ten of whom have a diagnosable mental health condition. Children and adolescents can be sent "anywhere in the country" for inpatient treatment, forcing families to travel long distances, and in some areas one in ten of children's appointments are cancelled because of staff shortages, the report found. As well as a rising suicide rate that peaked in 2014 at 4,882 deaths, the number of people being detained under the Mental Health Act is rising year on year. The leading cause of death for men aged 15-49 is suicide and a quarter of people who took their own life had been in contact with a health professional, usually their GP, in the last week before they died. Suicide is also the second leading cause of maternal death, after cardiovascular disease, but only 15% of areas have the right perinatal mental health services and 40% have none at all. A focus on care for new mothers also aims to see at least 30,000 more women a year receive access to specialist perinatal mental health services which are currently only available in 15% of areas. The plans, set out on Monday in the Mental Health Five Year Forward View, will be funded by an extra 1 billion a year from the NHS by 2020-21. The report authors - an independent task force led by Paul Farmer, the chief executive of Mind - have suggested integrating physical and mental health care and taking steps to ensure that people facing a crisis should have access to mental health care seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Mr Farmer said: "Mental health services have been underfunded for decades and too many people have received no help at all, leading to hundreds of thousands of lives put on hold or ruined, and thousands of tragic and unnecessary deaths." The report - which put the cost of mental ill health to the economy, NHS and society at 105 billion a year - recommends actions to help one million more people a year, 280,000 of whom are those with severe mental health problems who will have their physical health needs met. At the moment, 24/7 community-based mental health crisis care is only available in half the country, but by 2020-21 home treatment for patients in crisis should be available all over England and every acute hospital will have mental health liaison services in emergency departments. The recommendations come as a survey of GPs by Pulse magazine showed 58% of GPs say they have to diagnose child and adolescent mental health "above their level of competence" due to a marked deterioration in access to specialist services. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We have made monumental strides in the way we think about and treat mental illness in this country in the last few decades - from a society that locks people away in asylums to one giving mental health equal priority in law. "But we must accelerate progress even further. Our shared vision of a seven-day mental health service means people will get the care they need, when they need it, and will help us do much more to prevent mental illness in the first place." Shadow minister for mental health Luciana Berger said: "It is very welcome that NHS England has listened to this independent task force and is committing to reforms and additional investment that our mental health services desperately need. "If implemented in full, these changes could make a significant difference to a system which has had to contend with funding cuts and staffing shortages at a time of rising demand, leaving too many vulnerable people without the care they need. "The real challenge will come in ensuring these recommendations are actually delivered. For too long this Tory Government's rhetoric on mental health has not matched the reality on the ground. For the thousands of patients who have been left to struggle without the right support, ministers must keep their promises and deliver these vital reforms that are long overdue." Unison head of health Christina McAnea said: "The provision of mental health services in this country is in a dire state. It is hard to imagine how much worse things can get when children are being sent far away from their families because of a lack of bed and when too may adults harm themselves because they are not receiving the help they desperately need. "This report rightly highlights the urgent and immediate need for extra funding to save services. The Prime Minister has so far failed to live up to his pledge to prioritise mental health. So we are renewing our call to the government to find new money to ensure no one with mental health issues is left to suffer alone." Efforts should be made to preserve languages such as Scottish gaelic, experts say Languages on the brink of dying out should be preserved in light of evidence that shows juggling different tongues is good for the brain, claims a British expert. Professor Antonella Sorace, founder of the Bilingualism Matters Centre at the University of Edinburgh, is investigating the potential benefits of studying minority languages such as Sardinian and Scottish Gaelic. Previous research has already shown that being multilingual can improve thinking and learning ability, and may reduce mental decline with age. The positive effects of learning more than your mother tongue is one reason why "minority" languages should be saved from extinction, says Prof Sorace. "Many of these languages are not valued and so they are not supported," she said at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Washington DC. "People think they are useless, so people don't speak them to their children, for example. "So many of these languages will die, sooner rather than later, because if a language is not learnt by children, that language is dead. "If we can find a way of persuading people that these languages are actually a resource, rather than a problem, or folklore or something that belongs to the past, then we can help these languages to survive a little bit longer and children can have the benefits of bilingualism." A round-up of bilingualism research has shown that: :: Bilingual children are better at understanding people generally, not just via the language they speak. :: Bilingual children and adults are better at focusing their attention and less easily distracted. :: Healthy people who are bilingual have slower rates of mental decline in old age. It is thought that compartmentalising the languages, plus switching between them at the right time, exercises the brain and has a protective function. Prof Sorace, who speaks Italian, English and French and has a working understanding of Spanish and Sardinian, conducted a study of retired people undergoing a one-week intensive course in Gaelic on the Isle of Skye. She found that compared with other older individuals not doing languages courses, they showed improvements in tests of attention and thinking. "We think it's about effort and novelty of the task," said the professor. "It's not proficiency as such, because after a year, these people are not fluent in Gaelic, but the task was novel and they applied effort and their brain responded well." If policymakers could be encouraged to retain languages such as Gaelic, Cornish or Welsh it could have a beneficial impact on health, she said. Prof Sorace added: "That applies to other kinds of bilingualism as well, for example bilingualism due to immigration. "So all these migrants who come and very often think that their language is a problem so they try to stop speaking their language. We are trying to persuade them to keep their language. Of course, a child who moves to Britain has to learn enough English to function well in school, but not from the parents." Colleague professor Judith Kroll, from Pennsylvania State University in the US, who was also attending the AAAS meeting, said: "Recent studies reveal the remarkable ways in which bilingualism changes the brain networks that enable skilled cognition, support fluent language performance and facilitate new learning." The long-awaited findings will be made public on February 25 A report into sexual abuse by BBC broadcaster Jimmy Savile will be published by the end of the month, an inquiry spokesman has said. A statement from the Dame Janet Smith Review said it is expected the long-awaited findings will be made public on February 25, after the report was passed to BBC head Lord Hall on Monday. It comes after a version of the report leaked last month said another "predatory child abuser" could be lurking at the BBC. The statement said: "Dame Janet Smith's completed report was delivered by her to Lord Hall, who received it on behalf of the BBC's Executive Board, this afternoon. "The report is expected to be published by the BBC Trust on February 25, 2016. "The arrangements for publication will be announced by the BBC." The review focuses on the BBC's culture and practices during the years that Savile - and fellow shamed presenter Stuart Hall - worked at the corporation. It's A Knockout host Hall was jailed in 2013 after admitting indecently assaulting 13 girls - one as young as nine - between 1967 and 1985. His sentence was extended in the following year when he pleaded guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting a teenage girl. He was released from jail in December 2015. Former Top Of The Pops presenter Savile was found dead at his home in Leeds in October 2011, aged 84, after a suspected bout of pneumonia. Almost exactly a year later, he became the subject of Operation Yewtree, a formal criminal investigation by the Metropolitan Police . A draft of the report was leaked last month. It was claimed the review condemned the BBC for its "deferential culture" and "untouchable stars", and criticised it for having managers who were "above the law". The report also warned of the possibility that another "predatory child abuser could be lurking undiscovered in the BBC even today". A statement on the Dame Janet Smith Review website expressed disappointment at the leak of the draft and said it was out of date. It said significant changes have been made to its content, adding that the report "cannot be relied upon in any circumstances". Dr Rose Polge, 25, who works at Torbay Hospital in Torquay, Devon, has gone missing A major search operation is continuing for a junior doctor who has gone missing. Dr Rose Polge, 25, who works at Torbay Hospital in Torquay, Devon, has not been seen since February 12. Her car was discovered in a car park near Ansteys Cove, a shingle beach backed by hillside with thick woodland, at 6pm that day. Police officers, along with the coastguard, RNLI and Dartmoor search and rescue are involved in searches to locate her. The searches were halted overnight due to dangerous conditions, but restarted on Monday morning - with support from the police helicopter. A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "We are extremely concerned for the welfare of Rose and are desperate to locate her. "Anyone who has seen Rose or who knows of her whereabouts is asked to call 999 quoting log number 529 for the 12th of February." Dr Polge is described as 5ft 2ins tall with brown eyes and long black hair either worn down or in a pony tail. Martin Ringrose, interim director of human resources at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are aware that one of our junior doctors is missing. "Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this very distressing time. "We will do whatever we can to support the authorities investigating her disappearance and searching for her, as well as providing support to her colleagues, who are anxious for her wellbeing." Among households struggling to make ends meet, six in 10 have someone in work, research found More people are living on low incomes than during the recession in 2008 despite an increase in employment, according to a new study. Families face an increased risk of falling below minimum-income standards even with more work and slightly better pay, said the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). Among households struggling to make ends meet, six in 10 have someone in work, the research found. Cuts in benefits have outweighed improved job prospects to contribute to an increase in the risk of having too little income to meet the minimum income standard (MIS) - based on what the public say is needed for an acceptable standard of living, said the report. The report identified 11.6 million people living below MIS in 2013/14, 28% of individuals covered by the research. This was up from 21% in 2008/09, an increase of about a third over the period. But JRF officials said there were encouraging signs, such as growing employment and a return to growth in the economy which slowed the increases in the number of people falling short of a decent living. Katie Schmuecker, policy and research manager at JRF, said: "Work is the best route to economic security and a better standard of living, and we welcome record levels of employment. "But as well as more jobs, we need better jobs so all families can benefit from economic growth. "Despite working full-time hours, more families are still falling short of what they need to make ends meet. We need the state and businesses to ensure people in work can achieve economy security. "The upcoming national living wage is an important step towards building a society with higher wages and a lower need for welfare, but it won't take all of the strain. "Alongside topping up the earnings of low-income families, more needs to be done to address skills shortages and encourage the creation of more productive jobs that can create prosperity for all." Owen Smith, s hadow work and pensions secretary, said: "This report shows the truth that millions of families already know. It's getting harder and harder for working families to make ends meet, as under this Tory government we are seeing the lowest rate of pay growth for a century. "Instead of doing anything to help Iain Duncan Smith is about to make things much worse. The Tory cuts to Universal Credit will leave more than two million low and middle paid working families 1,600 a year worse off. "This report is yet more evidence that the Tories should listen to Labour's demands to reverse the cuts to Universal Credit." A Treasury spokeswoman said the Government was determined to deliver a "new settlement" for the British people. "Our welfare reforms ensure that the system is fair both for those who need it and the taxpayers who fund it. But there's more to be done, which is why we are introducing a new National Living Wage which will boost the pay of almost six million people. "Together with the further increases to the personal allowance this year people will keep more of the money they earn by paying less income tax. "We're also taking action to support working families by freezing fuel duty, helping councils to freeze council tax bills and offering 30 hours of free childcare to all working parents, because evidence shows that the best route out of poverty is work, not benefits." Hundreds of workers from the UK will be among those pressing for the European Commission to tackle cheap Chinese steel being 'dumped' Steel company bosses will join thousands of steelworkers in a huge demonstration in Brussels on Monday calling for urgent action to help their crisis-hit industry. Hundreds of workers from the UK will be among those pressing for the European Commission to tackle cheap Chinese steel being "dumped" across Europe. Karl Koehler, chief executive of Tata Steel's European operations, will march alongside workers from his company's plants in the UK, including Port Talbot in south Wales where hundreds of jobs are being axed. He said : "The situation facing Tata Steel and other European steelmakers is perilous. "If the European Commission does not take immediate and robust action, thousands of jobs in the industry, and many more thousands in the wider supply chain, will be threatened. "We are not asking for special treatment - we are asking for the European Commission to stand up for fair trade and to give European steelmakers a chance to compete on a level playing field. " Business Minister Anna Soubry said: "We are taking action on energy costs, public procurement and industrial emissions at home to help the steel sector but this is a global problem requiring a global solution. "This conference was convened thanks to UK efforts. We are working with other EU governments, industry leaders and trade unions to stress to the European Commission the need for swifter investigations into dumping and the tariffs then being set at the right level." The Government said it was well aware of the challenges facing the steel industry and was working "tirelessly" to help. GMB national officer Dave Hulse said: "The European Commission has done next to nothing to save steel jobs. "The commission is now directly responsible for bringing more misery to an industry that has been rocked with job losses and communities being destroyed. "We need the Prime Minister to get off the fence and forcefully tell Brussels that toothless action will do nothing whatsoever to assist the UK steel industry. "For example the commission's own investigations of Chinese exports showed a dumping margin of more than 60% on reinforcement steel bar used in the construction industry." Unite national officer Harish Patel said: "Government minsters need to start standing shoulder to shoulder with UK steelworkers by demanding swift action from the EU to stop the flood of cheap imports from China and other countries. "Their refusal to back higher tariffs on cheap Chinese steel will be viewed as nothing short of a betrayal." Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community, said: "Steelworkers across Europe are feeling the effects of unfairly traded imports and a lack of government action. "Unions and businesses are joining together and with one voice demanding our governments back our steel industry." GMB general secretary elect Tim Roache said he feared a meeting of the European Commission to discuss the crisis would be "another talking shop". He added: "Since the problems in the steel industry became clear last September at Redcar, the Government has promised to deal with dumping from China but five months later no decisive action has been taken. "The European Commission has done next to nothing to impose meaningful anti-dumping tariffs. "The commission say that the biggest cheerleader for China to be awarded market economy status is the UK Government which would remove most powers to deal with dumping. "The commission and the UK Government must change course and put saving the steel industry before sucking up to China." Akhtar Javeed died after being shot in the neck as masked men attempted to rob his drinks distribution firm in Digbeth, Birmingham (West Midlands Police/PA) A 26-year-old businessman and a teenage student have been charged with murdering company director Akhtar Javeed. Surjat Mistry, from Leicester, and Lemar Wali from Derby, will appear before magistrates in Birmingham on Monday charged with murder, possession of a firearm and conspiracy to commit robbery. Mr Javeed, 56, died in hospital after being shot in the neck as masked men attempted to rob his drinks distribution firm in Digbeth, Birmingham, on Wednesday February 3. Mistry, of Laundon Way, Leicester, and Wali, of Osmaston Park Road, Derby, were arrested on Thursday and Friday along with a 19-year-old woman who was held on suspicion of assisting an offender. The woman has been released on police bail pending further inquiries. Detective Chief Inspector Martin Slevin, who is leading the investigation, said: "I continue to appeal to people to come forward. "I firmly believe that someone out there may still have information that could help our investigation and I am urging them to call me or one of my team." Mr Javeed, who lived in east London, was among five staff members who were tied up at his business premises in Rea Street South, Digbeth. The father of our is believed to have been trying to fight back when he was shot. Detectives have seized a silver Renault Megane as part of the inquiry, having appealed for sightings of a car seen leaving Rea Street South with its lights off shortly after the shooting. Anyone with information is urged to call West Midlands Police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. A Virgin Atlantic co-pilot was taken ill when a laser was shone into the cockpit after take-off from Heathrow A passenger on board a New York-bound plane which was turned back to Heathrow after a laser incident saw a pilot taken to hospital has described the ordeal as "scary". The Virgin Atlantic flight returned to the west London airport when the co-pilot reported feeling unwell after a laser was directed at the plane as it took off on Sunday. A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic confirmed the incident took place shortly after take-off and that the pilot was taken to hospital as a "precautionary measure", but was unable to offer further details on his condition. She said the safety of the crew and customers on board flight VS025 from London Heathrow to New York JFK was a "top priority". In a recording from the flight, a crew member can be heard telling air traffic control they have a "medical issue" with one of the pilots "after a laser incident on take-off", and that they are going to return to Heathrow. Passenger Bethany McHutchinson told Sky News: "I think it's really scary, whether it was by accident or on purpose. "If anything had happened, if it had been really serious, it could have put everyone's lives on the plane in danger." She added: "It is very scary, especially when you are up in the air and hear stuff like that." It is understood that there were 252 passengers and 15 crew on board the flight. Laser expert John Tyrer, of Loughborough University, is a professor of optical instrumentation and has designed laser safety equipment for the police. He said the pilot could have felt stunned or shocked by the incident, adding: "If you get an attack in your eye it will make your eye water and you may get a headache." Mr Tyrer added: "If the laser is bought from reputable UK supply sources there are power density limits placed on these devices so that they can't cause any damage to the eye. "However, there are people that buy these things off the internet which are shipped in typically from the Far East - which are very, very powerful lasers and have no use as a pointer." In a bid to keep tabs on what is available online, as he continues to develop protective clothing against lasers, he said it is "very worrying" that powerful Class 3B and Class 4 lasers can be bought. A Class 2 laser is usually advocated as suitable for a pointer in situations such as a presentation. This level of device typically has a strength of 1MW but some in excess of 180 times that strength are available. Mr Tyrer said: "That is permanent retinal damage right away." In 2010 a law was passed in the UK which allows offenders to be charged with "shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot". If the distraction or dazzle is serious, a person may be found guilty of "reckless endangerment" and sent to prison. According to the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), a laser can result in temporary vision loss associated with flash blindness, a "visual interference that persists after the source of illumination has been removed", an after-image, an "image left in the visual field after exposure to a bright light", and glare. Balpa general secretary Jim McAuslan said: "Aircraft are attacked with lasers at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength. "It is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. Shining a laser at an aircraft puts that aircraft, its crew and all the passengers on board at completely unnecessary risk. "Modern lasers have the power to blind, and certainly to act as a huge distraction and to dazzle the pilots during critical phases of flight." Between 2009 and June 2015 more than 8,998 laser incidents across the country were reported to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Topping the list for the number of most frequent laser incidents for the first six months of last year was London Heathrow with 48, followed by Birmingham with 32, Leeds Bradford with 24 and Manchester with 23. The Metropolitan Police said inquiries to establish where the latest offence took place are under way and that there have been no arrests. Former president George Bush, left, pictured with Jeb in 2006, will be campaigning for his younger brother in South Carolina (AP) Former US president George Bush will be campaigning for his younger brother Jeb in South Carolina, marking his most direct entry into the 2016 White House race to date. George Bush won a bruising South Carolina presidential primary on his way to the Oval Office, as his father did before him. But for Jeb Bush, the most consequential foreign policy decisions of his brother's time in office are suddenly front-and-centre of his bid to keep alive his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination - thanks to rival Donald Trump. Brash billioniare businessman Mr Trump, the Republican front-runner, used the final debate before the state's February 20 primary as an opportunity to excoriate George Bush's performance as commander-in-chief. The former president, he said, ignored "the advice of his CIA" and "destabilised the Middle East" by invading Iraq on dubious claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. "I want to tell you: they lied," Mr Trump said. "They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none." And Mr Trump did not let up as Mr Bush tried to defend his brother, dismissing his suggestion that George Bush built a "security apparatus to keep us safe" after the 9/11 attacks. "The World Trade Centre came down during your brother's reign, remember that," Mr Trump said, adding: "That's not keeping us safe." The onslaught - which Jeb Bush called Mr Trump enjoying "blood sport" - was the latest example of Mr Trump's penchant for mocking his rival as a weak, privileged tool of the Republican Party establishment, special interests and well-heeled donors. But the exchange also highlighted the former Florida governor's embrace of his family name and history as he jockeys with Florida senator Marco Rubio and Ohio governor John Kasich to emerge from South Carolina as the clear challenger to Mr Trump, who won the New Hampshire primary, and Texas senator Ted Cruz, the victor in Iowa's caucuses. The approach tacks away from Mr Bush's months-long insistence that he is running as "my own man", but could be a perfect fit for South Carolina. Noted South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, who ended his Republican presidential campaign in December and endorsed Jeb Bush in January, said: "The Bush name is golden in my state." George Bush retains wide appeal among Republicans, from evangelicals to chamber of commerce business leaders and retired members of the military. All are prominent in South Carolina, with Bush campaign aide Brett Foster going so far as to say that George Bush is "the most popular Republican alive". The attack on George Bush carries risk for Mr Trump, given the Bush family's long social and political ties in South Carolina and the state's hawkish national security bent, bolstered by more than half a dozen military installations and a sizeable population of veterans who choose to retire in the state. Mr Trump has repeatedly defied predictions that his comments might threaten his perch atop the field. And as he jousted with Mr Trump, Jeb Bush said: "This is not about my family or his family." But the Bush family does have a history in the state that is hard to overlook. In 2000, George Bush beat John McCain in a nasty contest, marred by rumours that Mr McCain had an illegitimate black child - Mr McCain adopted a child from Bangladesh. Exit polls showed George Bush won nearly every demographic group. His father George Bush senior, the 41st president, won twice in the state, beating Bob Dole in 1988 and demolishing Pat Buchanan in 1992. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were in Las Vegas as they campaigned ahead of next weekend's Democratic caucuses in Nevada. The former US secretary of state and the Vermont senator spoke at Victory Missionary Baptist Church in the city. Mrs Clinton was accompanied by civil rights campaigner, congressman John Lewis of Georgia. His appearance was a continuation of Mrs Clinton's efforts to woo black voters, which has intensified following her 22-point loss to Mr Sanders in last week's New Hampshire primary. Both Nevada and South Carolina, which follows the Western state on the Democratic primary calendar, are more racially diverse than lead-off Iowa and New Hampshire. Pope John Paul II declared woman is a 'gift of God' and indicated he was struggling to come to terms with the nature of their relationship Letters written by Pope John Paul II have emerged that reveal the pontiff was involved in an "extraordinary" relationship with a married woman lasting more than 30 years. The former Pope, who died in 2005 and was canonised in 2014, met Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka before he was elected Pope in 1978. The letters, which lay undiscovered and away from public view in the Polish national library until they were shown to the BBC's Panorama programme, tell of a complex and intense friendship in which it has been suggested that Ms Tymieniecka told the pontiff she loved him. In the correspondence, Pope John Paul II declares she is a "gift of God", indicating he was struggling to come to terms with the nature of their relationship. He writes: "If I did not have this conviction, some moral certainty of Grace, and of acting in obedience to it, I would not dare act like this." The letters also reveal he gave her the scapular (a small devotional necklace) his father had given him at his first Holy Communion. There is no suggestion his vow of celibacy was broken at any point. Their correspondence began when Ms Tymieniecka contacted him in 1973 about a book of philosophy he had written. Eamon Duffy, professor of the History of Christianity at Cambridge University, said: "Here is one of the handful of transcendentally great figures in public life in the 20th Century, the head of the Catholic Church, in an intense relationship with an attractive woman." He wrote in September 1976: "My dear Teresa, I have received all three letters. "You write about being torn apart, but I could find no answer to these words." The correspondence can only be understood so far, as the only letters available are the ones he sent to her. The researchers analysing his letters believe that in the early stage of their relationship, around 1975, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka told him she was in love with him. In another letter from September 1976, he explains the gift of the scapular. "Already last year I was looking for an answer to these words, 'I belong to you', and finally, before leaving Poland, I found a way - a scapular. "The dimension in which I accept and feel you everywhere in all kinds of situations, when you are close, and when you are far away." Even after he became Pope, the two continued their correspondence and she visited the Vatican on various occasions. Carl Bernstein, the American journalist famous for uncovering the Watergate scandal was the first person to write about the significance of the relationship in the 1990s. He said: "We are talking about Saint John Paul. This is an extraordinary relationship. "It's not illicit, nonetheless it's fascinating. It changes our perception of him." Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka sold the letters to the National Library of Poland in 2008 and died in 2014. Independent Walter Yakoboski holds an auction guide featuring one of his comic books, Amazing Fantasy No 15, which features Spider-Man (AP) Walter Yakoboski scraped together nearly every penny he made as a cook to begin buying a small collection of rare comic books for 10,000 dollars (6,900), hoping his boyhood passion could one day become an investment. That was in 1979 and at last his pay day could be looming. Mr Yakoboski's copy of Amazing Fantasy No 15 from 1962 - which introduced the world to Spider-Man - could fetch 400,000 dollars (276,000) or more when it goes up for auction later this month. "This is the first time I really sold anything," said Mr Yakoboski, 60, who wants to use the proceeds to buy his late father's 17-acre vegetable farm in Calverton, on eastern Long Island, New York. He insists that the fact that he was recently made redundant as a supermarket baker after more than 27 years is not the reason he is selling now. "I have had it for 36 years and it's just time," said Mr Yakoboski, who is also is selling a 1963 Spider-Man, as well as two Fantastic Four editions and a Justice League of America which, combined, could bring an additional 75,000 dollars (52,000). But the crown jewel is the Amazing Fantasy issue, which Mr Yacoboski originally bought individually for 1,200 dollars (827) in 1980. Its cover, featuring a price of 12 cents, shows Spider-Man clutching a villain in one arm and swinging from his web with the other. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko co-created the web-slinger and his alter ego, the educationally-gifted but awkward Peter Parker, whose life changed forever when he was bitten by a radioactive spider. It paved the way for Spider-Man adventures on television and the big screen. Lon Allen, managing director of the comics department at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, which is conducting the sale on Thursday, said there were probably 4,000 to 5,000 copies of Amazing Fantasy No 15 in circulation, but Mr Yakoboski's copy was in nearly mint condition. "It was graded 9.4 on a scale of one to 10, that's what makes it super desirable and really special," Mr Allen said. "Whoever buys this comic will be joining an elite club." Mr Allen said a private collector reportedly paid 1.1 million dollars (758,000) for a near-mint copy of Amazing Fantasy No 15 in 2011, but estimated the amount Mr Yakoboski's edition may fetch could be a record for a public auction of the comic book. Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of New York-based Metropolis Collectibles, said the 1.1 million-dollar sale, which he was involved with, involved a comic book graded higher, at 9.6. "This book will do great; it's an incredibly important book," he said. "When you have a sale like this there is a residual effect on the entire market, so that also makes it very exciting. It's definitely a special book." Mr Yakoboski admits he never thought about such a pay day when he began reading comics as a child, sometimes sneaking away from trips to the library to visit a nearby comic book store. The collecting of rare editions continued as an adult and Mr Yakoboski says his mother thought it was a crazy way to spend his hard-earned money. His most cherished copies were stashed in a bank safety deposit box - he still has 38 prized editions left - while lesser comics fill cabinets in his Middle Island, New York, home. Heritage Auctions' Allen credits Mr Yakoboski for having a good eye for what might become valuable. He said while others sought to buy entire collections Mr Yakoboski targeted what he thought were the highest quality and rarest comics. "The best stuff always outpaces the market and he bought the best stuff," Mr Allen said. "That was genius." A man holding the flag of Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (Isis) walks across a hill in a propaganda video for the organisation Isis militants attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq with mustard gas last year, the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, according to one Western official. A source at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told Reuters that laboratory tests had come back positive for the sulfur mustard, after around 35 Kurdish troops were taken sick on the battlefield last August. The OPCW would not identify who used the chemical agent. But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the findings have not yet been released, said the result confirmed that chemical weapons had been used by Isis fighters. The OPWC, an intergovernmental organisation based in the Netherlands, has the task of monitoring adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention, an agreement which prohibits the use of chemical weapons and requires their destruction. No one from the OPWC immediately responded to inquiries on Monday. However, the news agency said that the samples that tested positive for mustard gas, were taken from soldiers who became after fighting against Isis militants near Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. Read more Read More The OPCW had already concluded last October that mustard gas was used last year in neighbouring Syria. Islamic State has declared a "caliphate" in territory it controls in both Iraq and Syria and does not recognise the frontier. Experts believe that the sulfur mustard either originated from an undeclared Syrian chemical stockpile, or that militants have gained the basic know how to develop and conduct a crude chemical attack with rockets or mortars, Reuters said. Iraq's chemical arsenal was mainly destroyed in the Saddam era, although US troops encountered some old Saddam-era chemical munitions during the 2003-2011 US occupation. Saddam Hussein used chemicals weapons - among them mustard gas - on several occasions during his time as Iraqs ruler. In March 1988, up to 5,000 people were killed and thousands more injured, after Iraqi forces dropped chemical munitions on the Kurdish city of Halabja. Saddam also used chemical weapons on a number of occasions during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, much of it made up of mustard gas, a blistering agent that destroys the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. It was used with devastating effect during World War One. Syria gave up its own chemical weapons, including stockpiles of sulfur mustard, under international supervision after hundreds of civilians were killed with sarin nerve gas in a Damascus suburb in 2013. Western countries blame President Bashar al-Assad for the attack, though his government denies it. A visitor watches the North side through glass showing a map of the now shut Kaesong industrial park and the border area between North and South Korea (AP) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised scientists involved in the country's recent rocket launch that he said struck a "telling blow" to enemies - and ordered them to press ahead with more. Earlier this month, North Korea ignored repeated international warnings and launched what it said was an Earth observation satellite aboard a rocket. Washington, Seoul and others view the launch as a prohibited test of missile technology and are pushing hard to have Pyongyang hit with strong sanctions. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the ruling Workers' Party gave a banquet in honour of scientists, officials and others who it said contributed to the February 7 rocket launch. Kim and his top deputies were present. In a speech, Kim said the launch gave confidence and courage to his people and dealt a "telling blow to the enemies seeking to block the advance of our country", KCNA said, in an apparent reference to Seoul and Washington. Kim said the North's launch decision was made when "the hostile forces were getting ever more frantic to suffocate" North Korea and called for launching more working satellites in the future. The launch, which followed the North's fourth nuclear test last month, aggravated already-strained ties between the rival Koreas. Last week Pyongyang expelled all South Korean workers from a jointly-run factory park in the North and put the area in charge of the military in retaliation for Seoul's decision to suspend operations there. Seoul has accused North Korea of having channelled about 70% of the money it received for workers at the Kaesong park into its weapons programmes and to buy luxury goods for the impoverished nation's tiny elite. North Korea was able to divert the money because the workers in Kaesong were not paid directly. Instead, US dollars were paid to the North Korean government, which siphoned off most of the money and paid only what it wanted to the employees in North Korean currency and store vouchers, according to Seoul's' unification ministry. The South Korean government estimate did not detail how it arrived at that percentage. North Korea has previously dismissed such views. The park, the Koreas' last major co-operation project, employed about 54,000 North Koreans who worked for more than 120 South Korean companies, most of them small and medium-size manufacturers. The project, which began during an era of relatively good relations between the Koreas, combined cheap North Korean labour with the capital and technology of wealthy South Korea. While the Kaesong closure will hurt North Korea, it is not critical to that nation's economy. North Korea gets the vast majority of its earnings from trade with China. A billboard in Zinacantan, near San Cristobal de las Casas, promotes the visit of Pope Francis to Chiapas state (AP) Pope Francis has denounced the centuries-old exploitation and social exclusion of Mexico's indigenous people. The pontiff celebrated Mexico's Indians during a visit to the southern state of Chiapas, a centre of indigenous culture, where he presided over a Mass in three native languages thanks to a new Vatican decree approving their use in liturgy. In his homily, history's first Latin American pope melded two of his core concerns: appreciation for indigenous cultures of the Americas and the need to care for the environment. "The environmental challenge that we are experiencing and its human causes affects us all and demands our response," Francis said. "We can no longer remain silent before one of the greatest environmental crises in world history." "In this regard, you have much to teach us," he added, speaking under clear blue skies at a sports complex in the mountain city of San Cristobal de las Casas. The soft sounds of marimbas accompanied the opening of the Mass in front of a replica of the brilliant yellow and red facade of the Sans Cristobal de las Casas cathedral, which Francis was scheduled to visit. Crowds chanted "Francis friend, San Cristobal is with you" as he arrived. Some 500,000 faithful were expected to see the pope in the city, including about 100,000 who gathered on the dirt field for the Mass. The visit, at the midway mark of the pontiff's five-day trip to Mexico, is also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in Mexico. Francis has already issued a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against indigenous people in Latin America. On Monday he was celebrating their culture in ways the local church hierarchy has often sought to play down, in a clear demonstration of his belief that Indians have an important role to play in Mexico today. Worshippers began filing shortly after midnight into the site of the Mass, which included readings, prayers and hymns in the three main indigenous languages of Chiapas: Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol, which are spoken by just over one million people, according to Mexico's latest census. The pope was presenting an official decree authorising the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin. Francis has insisted his is a "poor church, for the poor". After the Mass, he was scheduled to hear testimony from a handful of Chiapas families about the hardships they face. "He comes to redeem an entire struggle by the people," said the Rev. Marcelino Perez, an indigenous priest who was charged with translating the homily into Tzotzil. The pope has frequently expressed admiration for indigenous peoples, particularly their sense of custodianship of the environment. As archbishop in Argentina, he was heavily responsible for a major document of the entire Latin American church hierarchy in which bishops praised the harmonious way indigenous people live with nature. Polish steel workers wave flags as they participate in a demonstration around the European quarter of Brussels (AP) Steel company managers have joined thousands of their employees from across the European Union (EU) in Brussels to protest against the import of cheap Chinese products. The European steel industry is accusing China of illegal export subsidies and selling products below production cost, all of which contributes to the crisis in the European steel sector. With whistles and firecrackers, the workers ringed some of the EU institutions to push their demands to keep Chinese steel at bay. The industry argued that if the EU recognises China as a market economy, a status that would allow for even more imports, it would cost tens of thousands of jobs. "Everybody understands that there is a high need to act," said Geert Van Poelvoorde, president of the Eurofer industry group, which was behind the march. The EU currently has 37 trade and legal actions going to make sure that steel imports are fair and provide for a level playing field, something which is especially critical in an age of overproduction and dumping into the European markets. If China is given the recognition of a market economy, it would become even more difficult to take action against trade which is deemed unfair. The European steel sector employs some 330,000 people but the industry says hundreds of thousands of jobs are also at risk in the ceramics, glass, solar panels and other sectors. The Aegis alliance of major European industries says three-quarters of all EU anti-dumping measures involve China and that the complaints about Beijing are only increasing. "Market economy status to China would be a full licence to dump whenever and in every sector China wants to do it," said Aegis spokesman Milan Nitzschke said. Julian Assange speaking from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London A United Nations human rights expert is calling on the UK and Swedish governments to accept the findings of a UN group over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Alfred de Zayas said the two countries should set a "good example" and follow the decision earlier this month by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Mr Assange should be free to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Authorities in Britain and Sweden have rejected the finding, saying Mr Assange has detained himself by seeking refuge in the embassy after facing allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden. Mr de Zayas said in a statement that the non-binding international order requires a "consistent and uniform" application of international law. He said: "The findings of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention should be accepted and their recommendations implemented in good faith. Especially those states who claim to be at the vanguard of human rights should give a good example, even if they do not agree with the conclusions of UN experts. "The international order depends on the consistent and uniform application of international law, and is undermined when states pick and choose. The concept of human dignity is holistic. An a la carte approach to human rights erodes the credibility of the entire system. "It is important that countries that regularly engage in naming and shaming of other countries accept United Nations rulings when they themselves are implicated. It is a matter of intellectual honesty. Prompt implementation of the Working Group's opinion would set an example for the rest of the world." Mr Assange has been living in the embassy in central London for over three years after being granted political asylum by the Ecuador government. He believes that if he is extradited to Sweden he will be transported to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks. If anyone wants to understand the shame of Afghanistan - the yearly cull of civilians, the beheadings, the execution by single shots, the kidnapping of women - they have only to read the shocking UN report just published in Kabul. It is laced with fearful eyewitness descriptions of brutality. Isis features in its 87 pages with its usual depravity (in Afghanistan, of course, not in Iraq or Syria) and the reports statistics show clearly that, last year, there were more civilians killed or wounded in the country than in any year since 2009. In 2015 alone, 3,545 civilians were killed and 7,457 injured. Since 2009, the total civilian dead not soldiers, militiamen or Taliban comes to 21,323 dead. And this, remember, is the graveyard of empires into which we blithely trod after 9/11 on the basis that we would not forget Afghanistan again. We would see it through to the end. The Taliban, in the words of a Canadian commander, were scumbags. Our soldiers would not die in vain. And it has come to this. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is a very professional institution. It has rigourously examined eyewitness testament and its just-published report contains harrowing quotations from victims of the countrys war. In total, 62 per cent of civilian deaths and injuries were caused by anti-government elements and 17 per cent by pro-government forces 14 per cent of these by the US-trained Afghan national security forces. But for reality, take this quotation from the father of a man killed by Afghan army shelling in Wardak province: It was around 8am, and we had finished breakfast at home when I heard an explosion. When I looked out of the window, I saw a man running towards the mosque. My young son called to me and said that my other son had been close to the mosque earlier... When I arrived, I saw one injured person and many bodies. "Then I found my son. He was in the final moments of his lifeI could not even touch his body or move him. The explosion killed eight people,,, Can you imagine how difficult it is when your son is lying in his own blood and you are crying for him? Or this from the witness of an Afghan national army attack in Badghis province: We were having lunch in our tent near the pistachio forest. We heard a helicopter overhead so I went outside to watch it. Suddenly, the helicopter started firing rockets... and one hit my familys tent. I ran over to the tent and saw that the rocket killed my wife and injured my two brothers and my sister. Or this from the witness to a Taliban execution of an engineer who was working for the government: Two Taliban tightened the bindings on the engineers hands. The Taliban commander ordered the execution of the engineer. Without any hesitation, the two Taliban beheaded the engineer in front of me. The commander instructed a Taliban member to record that he had imposed the punishment for supporting the government. He wrote it down and [the] Taliban posted the paper on the engineers body. Or this infinitely sad brother of a civilian killed in crossfire in Kunduz: He called my mobile and said Hey brother...I was shot in my stomach... I dont know who shot me... My injuries are serious... I can see pieces of my own intestines on my motorcycle, After that the line went dead. The next day I saw his dead body and his motorcycle on TV. His body remained in the streets for three days until my relatives could recover it and bury him And here is a woman wounded in a suicide attack in Kabul city: After I had fed my baby and put him back to sleep, I took a sip of water and returned to bed. There was a huge explosion and our roof began to collapse. I saw the roof falling on me and I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my hands, legs and back were bleeding... After 20 minutes, I heard my husband shouting over and over again, Where are the others? My father, my father. The blast seriously injured him and my son. My brother-in-law lost both of his eyes. We are a poor family and have lost everything. UNAMA confirmed that Isil fighters forced the closure of 25 educational institutions in Deh Bala district, depriving 14,102 students including 4,900 girls of education and 341 teachers of work. Here, then, is Isis at work, just as it operates in Iraq and Syria. UNAMA also noted an increase in the number of deliberate targeting of hospitals, clinics and health personnel the report deals at length with the US-Afghan attack on the MSF hospital in Kunduz that killed 42 people in October 2015 and 63 incidents targeting hopitals and medical personnel by anti-government elements. Isis stole all the medicine and equipment from two health clinics in Nagarhar province. There are accounts of Taliban fighting Isis and government militias fighting each other. Needless to say, UNAMA plead with all groups in the war to respect human rights and civilian lives. But I have long nursed the suspicion that many of these groups, including some Taliban units and even Isis let alone the government militias are not fighting about religion or government at all, more about mafia power. Afghanistan, I fear is Mafiastan, fuelled by the billions we ploughed into this poor country after we arrived in 2001. An Afghan told me only a couple of days ago how government army students were watching an American military trainer teach them how to shoot an automatic rifle. The problem was that the students knew much more about shooting than the American. They grew up with automatic weapons in their hands. The only reason they joined was to get knapsacks and free uniforms. The same old story. Incompetence, money, grief and pain. UNAMAs report is first rate. And it brings individual tragedy into a brief, bright and disturbing light. But yes, this is the country we were going to save a decade and a half ago. Independent Q. Could you tell me about your background? A. I'm chief executive of Rivers Agency. Rivers Agency is the statutory drainage authority for Northern Ireland. I've been chief executive since April last year and I was director of Rivers Agency for five years before that. I was the regional engineer for nearly five years before that, so my whole career period within RA has been just under 10 years. Before that I was in Roads Service for 10 years. Q. What are the biggest flooding hotspots? A. It depends how you define hotspots, and also what sources you consider. So the way that we communicate flood risk to people is using the strategic flood map. On the strategic flood map you'll see information risk on the risk of flow from rivers and from the sea. We also have our surface water flood map, and that's flooding which is a consequence of very intense rainfall. Because of the EU Flood Directive we've also done a significant amount of analysis to see where the economic impacts are going to be and what we have identified are 20 significant flood risk areas. Of the 20, Belfast is right up at the top of that, not just because of the flood risk and risks associated with that but because of the amount of economic activity, the properties and the people, and the services that are delivered. Q. What do you do when you learn that very bad weather is on the way? A. We do a lot of planning on what we call the dry days so that we are ready for wet days. We normally get an early weather warning a number of days before the storm and that kicks off the process of checking our infrastructure and checking our grilles. A grille is when an open watercourse goes under the ground through a pipe or a culverting system, and the interface between the open section and the pipe section is where they want to collect any debris. So they put bars across the opening of that pipe and catch material in an area where it is possible to remove it. So whenever we get weather warnings the industrial squads go out and do a grille run to make sure certain grilles are quite clear. They normally do that routinely, on a weekly or monthly basis, but they also do it when they get Met Office warnings. They also do an assessment of just how a bigger event will actually affect the level of the rivers, what the weather has been like in the few days leading up to it. Then all those factors dictate what our reaction is. So, for instance, we recently had very wet ground and high rivers, so any weather warning generally requires us to have people on call. If we're going to see very large amounts of rain, then the night before when the guys go home, they would actually put their sandbags on their vehicle or in some cases take one of the pumps and take that home with them, so that they're ready to respond overnight rather than having to come back into the yard and pick one of the pumps up. But we only do that where we are genuinely concerned because of the amount of rainfall, and it depends on what the weather warning tells us. So there's been a lot of emphasis on that information from the Met Office and it helps us then make an assessment of the kind of input there is going to be. Q. What are the biggest dilemmas you faced in the recent flooding - is it a balancing act? A. We've had wave after wave of winter storms and we've been in a state of very high alert from late November and December. It's been constant throughout that. So far our biggest challenge that we've faced at that time is making sure we allocate the resources that we have to best effect, but at the same time not overtiring particular resources, so there's been a lot of focus in and around our Armagh office. We've actually had to move squads from some of the other areas where there's less impact in order to allow men to go and rest, so that we can continue to man the pumps and provide that service. I would like to pay tribute to the staff. There are many examples of individuals going the extra mile during the recent flood event. A lot of the work fell over the holiday period over Christmas and New Year and a lot of staff gave up their leave to come in. They would have been pumping throughout the night. I have been out visiting our staff on cold, wet, windy nights and they've been very focused on helping communities and very focused on keeping the pumps running. Q. Could anything have been done differently? A. There will be a review, and with the benefit of hindsight we could identify some things which we would do differently. Certainly my response has been that everything that could have possibly been done as far as I'm concerned has been done, in terms of preparation beforehand, advising and providing information to other organisations, down to co-operation with other agencies throughout the event. Also in terms of managing the loughs - the Toome gates were open fully since early November - and also in terms of effort from staff who have been pumping at a number of locations 24 hours a day for weeks. Their efforts have been very significant. Q. Are you noticing any difference in the incidence of significant events over the last few years? A. In the last number of years we seem to have had more very significant rainfall events. But a couple of things have happened to bring flooding clearly to people's attention. One is 24 hour news, so people would be more conscious of flooding. When you compare floods nowadays with floods that happened 50-100 years ago, the significant difference is what is in people's houses to get damaged. We're a much more affluent society than we were 100 years ago so the pain and the loss associated with flooding can be worse. You can't use such a short period as the last 10 years to say the climate is actually changing. But something is happening out there - we're starting to see the shape of a pattern and hopefully a few more years will confirm whether El Nino is back, or is it just what nature's throwing at us or whether this pattern of weather is going to become the norm. Certainly, if this is the norm going forward, we need to think differently about flood risk management. Q. If this keeps on, what is it going to be like in Northern Ireland in 50 years' time? A. As I said to the Stormont agriculture and rural development committee, if this is the pattern now with the predictions of climate change, we need to recognise that we may well be fighting a losing battle. If the climate changes quicker than we can put in schemes, then we need to actually recognise that and work with that. That's not just saying we'll just leave places to flood and just give up. But you have to take a certain different view of it, you need central government and local government and communities and individuals to work together to understand the risk they face and to be ready for floods to occur and to keep a watch. We need to recognise that there isn't necessarily an affordable technically possible scheme to stop flooding. And people might have to make some changes to protect their property, physical changes to minimise the impact of flooding. Recently the minister has launched the home owner flood protection scheme and that's really in recognition of that. In certain areas where there are clusters of properties, you can write a business case that says 'Yes, that is viable, it is possible for the Government to step in and construct something that will minimise the impact'. But that's not always possible, and rather then just say sorry, we can't help, we developed this scheme that is designed to give them assistance if they want to make physical changes to their properties to minimise the impact of flooding. Q. Is it better to speed up the flow of water or slow it down? A. It depends where you are within a system. If we have a flooding problem in Coleraine, where there's a relatively short distance between Coleraine and the sea, it would be a good idea to get the water from Coleraine into the Bann and out to sea as quickly as possible. If you're in a different type of situation in a different area and you're dealing with a different type of flooding, by straightening or making the water move more quickly you could cause a problem to the next town downstream and in that case you would take a different approach, either flood storage or reconnecting rivers with flood plains, using a natural flood risk management approach. Q. Are you looking at ways of increasing the water holding capacity of uplands? A. Basically, with flood risk management plans that's one of the areas that we're looking at. It's no longer about focusing just on the problem area, but we do take a catchment-wide approach and that will include land management in the uplands. Secondly, while there is still a case for some hard engineered schemes, similar to those that we saw in the past, in some areas it may be possible to reconnect rivers with flood plains by the removal of flood banks. This will not be appropriate in all areas, as there may be property that would be at increased flood risk if the defences were removed, but making space for floodwater rather than constraining the river system is a better long term approach, particularly given the climate change predictions. Flood plains are protected through our planning process by not allowing inappropriate development to be permitted. We take this approach because it is better to avoid the risk of property damage rather than allowing development and then constructing defences to reduce the impact of flooding. Within the planning system there is a clear presumption against development in flood plains, except for a small number of exemptions. Q. Would you consider compensating farmers to allow rivers to flood their land? A. It's certainly something that the industry has been thinking about for some time. It's a difficult one from the point of view that the flooding was there for a long time before the land was even farmed. I think the real issue is that some areas have benefited from defences which are no longer viable in the future. Q. Are you disappointed that this approach wasn't included in the latest agri-environment scheme? A. Not so much disappointed, because I'm not sure we're actually at a point where there is a set answer to that, or an acceptance of that. I think where I would be disappointed is that if the industry had got to a point where everyone was in agreement that this was a good idea and it didn't make it in, but I'm not sure the answer is just as clear cut as that. Q. A number of road schemes are proposed that would go through flood plains. Are there any special measures that would need to be taken so this wouldn't cause problems? A. Under our planning policy, PPS15, there is a general presumption against development on flood plains. The exception to that is when it's regionally significant infrastructure and there is no option other than to put it there. As part of that under PPS15 they need to demonstrate that they have mitigation measures that they will put in to compensate for the loss of flood storage. They need to demonstrate that by building that road in the flood plain that they are not actually increasing the flood risk elsewhere. So part of the design of that road will be the risk assessment to assess water levels beforehand. They will model the new road scheme to determine the difference in water levels and see what it impacts upon and make sure there is no harm to property or essential services or anything else. Q. Is there a role for dredging - could it have helped? A. It could possibly help in certain circumstances, so where you get lower flows or they're trying to support land drainage, it could help, particularly in a rainfall event where the water stays within the river channel. If half of that river channel is compromised because of silt, that will have an impact on the land drainage. Whenever we start to go up into bigger flood events like the recent one, the river channel plays a smaller and smaller part. Whenever the river exceeds that river channel and spills out across the flood plain, it's actually that whole flood plain that is carrying moving water. If you compare the size of that whole flood plain with the small channel, the channel plays less and less of a role. But we have good standards of watercourse management across Northern Ireland. Rural watercourses are inspected and maintained on a six-year cycle and urban watercourses are inspected and maintained on an annual cycle. So we do have a good level of watercourse maintenance and we've a very good legacy of that. Q. The scheme in Orangefield Park used the park as flood storage and to divert water away from houses. Are you hoping to use that approach again? A. Orangefield Park was a capital scheme. The local community wanted to redevelop the park and were able to draw down money to improve local facilities. The project took a different view of flood risk management, and we were able to relocate the river within the park, move it further from the houses and reshape the ground to give the river more space. In a flood event the river would have been constrained, but now it can quite happily spill out across that park. The river goes up and down quite quickly and it doesn't really cause any lasting harm. We have photographs of the recent event showing some very high floodwater. In the absence of that scheme, that water would have been in people's houses. With a lot of places it's difficult to use this approach because the decisions of the past have put properties close to rivers. In this case you have a river going through a park which you are able to reshape without actually having to knock down homes. Q. Is there anything that the rest of us should be doing that would make your job easier? A. There's a number of things. First of all, we encourage people to look at flood maps for an understanding of the risk that they face. On June 12 we saw some very high intense rainfall over urban areas. If homeowners can keep their own drains clear, that gives more resilience to the situation and we would also ask them to be conscious of whether there are rivers and grilles and culverted systems on their property. If there is a grille and the homeowner sees a build-up of material on it, it would be useful if people could report it to the flooding incident line before something happens. When we get a Met Office warning we go out and check on our grilles, but you can't be everywhere at all those grilles - there are 1,000 across Northern Ireland. Q. Is there anything we can do so that farmers don't have to face having part of their land in Lough Neagh every year? A. What we faced through the winter storms was a significant amount of rainfall so we did see very high levels in Lough Neagh, higher than we've had on recent records. We don't normally see water levels of this height and wouldn't expect to see them routinely. Firstly, I would encourage farmers to view the information on Flood Maps (NI) to understand the risk they face and take this into account when planning their business activities. Secondly, the management of the lough levels is part of the ongoing review and this will provide further useful information on the limitations of the management regime as we need to understand that it is not possible to stop all flooding. The recently launched homeowner protection scheme is a pilot scheme to widen our approach to the management of flood risk. Details are available on the NI Direct website. SmartThings claimed 3D printers could be used to make replicas of houses and other structures, as well printing meals based on recipes downloaded from chefs Super skyscrapers, underwater cities and 3D-printed homes will all be a reality in 100 years' time, according to a new report on life in the future. The SmartThings Future Living Report, which was commissioned by Samsung-owned internet of things firm SmartThings, was created by a group of academics and futurologists who suggest that in a century's time humans will be able to live in 'Earth-scrapers', which will go up to 25 storeys underground. The academics, which include future architects and urbanists as well as lecturers from the University of Westminster, suggest that 'bubble cities' will be created underwater making the depths habitable for humans. They also believe personal drones will become a staple mode of transport, as well as being used as futuristic "mules" to carry entire homes around the world for holidays. Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who co-authored the report, said: "Our lives today are almost unrecognisable from those a century ago. The internet has revolutionised the way we communicate, learn and control our lives. "Just 10 years ago, technology like SmartThings would have been inconceivable, yet today developments like this let us monitor, control and secure our living spaces with the touch of a smartphone. Over the next century we will witness further seismic shifts in the way we live and interact with our surroundings - working on the SmartThings Future Living Report with a panel of industry experts has allowed me to explore what these could be." The report also suggested that not only will furniture within homes become 3D-printed, but replicas of entire houses and structures could be printed. In the workplace, holograms will enable virtual meetings to take place. 3D-printing food - something already possible today - will also become smarter, with the ability to download dishes from our favourite chefs and print them, ready to eat, in minutes. The colonisation of the Moon and then Mars will also have taken place, with commercial flights into space now a regular occurrence, alongside smarter homes that will be able to house LED screen walls that can be changed to suit the mood, removing the need to redecorate. SmartThings UK managing director James Monighan said: "The smartphone revolution is already ushering in the smart home revolution, which will have massively positive implications on how we live. Our homes are becoming smarter and can now detect the presence of things like people, pets, smoke, humidity, lighting and moisture. And this is just the beginning." 10 Great Quotes by Our Nation's Leaders The greatness of America can be seen in the courageous wisdom of her leaders. The brave men who held the office of President led the country with bravery, all the while encouraging her citizens to rise to every occasion. Here are 10 great quotes from American presidents. Great Quotes from Great Leaders was compiled by Peggy Anderson. Purchase the book and get a free DVD in our Beliefnets new Gift Store, Inspired Faith. Reprinted by permission of Simple Truths (c) 2011. In order to protect the rights of the copyright holder, no portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent. All rights reserved. Republicans in the US House of Representatives are currently trying to get a grip on one small part of the Washington bureaucracy by trying to get the National Science Foundation to concentrate on funding useful science. Lamar Smith, the Texas Congressman who is leading the charge, is firing off shots over NSF's funding for public necessities like a climate change themed musical, an effort that set the taxpayer back some $700,000. He wants standards set in place - things like "increasing the health and welfare of the public". Reasonable enough? Apparently not. Entirely unembarrassed by their excesses, the bureaucrats and their chums are declaring their outrage. President Obama is even threatening a veto. They work for you, I'm told. Digital technology is no longer new to Nigerians as almost everyone is affiliated in one way or the other. From phones to computers to other digital devices, Nigerians have their lives saddled with various digital media platforms and have to keep up with multiple processes and activities to stay on point. Unfortunately, keeping it all on track can become a chore. Before long, you find you have not cleaned your phone in months, your password is no longer functional or is way too easy to guess, etc. and you realise you need a plan to help you clean up digital life and kick off a fresh start. To help Nigerians stay abreast of new technology, Jovago.com, Africas No.1 online hotel booking portal suggest four easy tips. Tune-up your device Computers, laptops and phones require tune-ups at intervals. Take out time to study the device manual and read through relevant instructions that will guide you towards understanding exactly what you need to clean and how to go about it. You may be required to install a software, an app or use an extension, whichever you decide to ensure you backup before you begin. Reset your passwords Passwords are very sensitive and it is essential you stay on top of password trends, that way you keep yours impenetrable. Get a password manager as it is essential to greater online safety and security: It creates unique passwords for all your accounts, remembers those passwords and types them for you in a secure way. The password manager also collects your logins and passwords, and analyses their strength, indicating passwords that need to be changed. There are so many password managers online that are free or at least render a level of free services. Organise your photos Thanks to social media and the incessant need for everyone to almost everyone has a large vault of pictures online as taking pictures and selfies are now essential parts of our daily routines. The truth is, you do not need all your photos on your device all the time. Scroll through the stack of photos on your devices and ensure you delete all useless photos or irrelevant photos. Make up your mind on what photos are essentially important to you, name them, tag them, sort them into albums or folders. Ensure you save them in one location, that way you know that the space is defined for saving photos only. For pictures than you have only in print, you can scan them and save them digitally in these folders as well. Good thing is, if you do not have an external hard disk, you can use the dropbox app or save to your google drive online. Delete apps you do not use Most apps are free and so you find Nigerians crowding their phones with all sorts of apps, even the ones that do not apply to them in any way, even having as much three apps that perform the same functions at a time. While having these apps may seem trendy, they may be the reason your phone keeps clogging or crashing. Sweep through the apps on your phone painstakingly and delete every app you do not use at least once a week. What makes you believe you are producing the best advertising possible? How relevant is your experience really? Recently Y&R lost the Pick n Pay account and a lot of industry commentators were saying that King James (the new guys) would have to get used to writing ads for baked beans and suggested that a lot of their senior talent would be wasted. Well, I'm not so sure about that. Whatever the reasons for change (and let's be honest there are huge fees and commissions at stake here) I'm sure that Pick n Pay had good reasons for doing so and I'm equally sure that King James has the ability to handle such a demanding workload. In fact I firmly believe that, under no circumstances and without exception should any adman (or adwoman) be allowed to claim he has any experience or talent in advertising at all until he's worked on retail or direct-response advertising. It's the acid test for any copywriter, artist, media planner, account planner, strategist in fact for everyone in the agency. It reveals the blunt truth about advertising immediately because, simply and obviously, it proves whether or not an advertising campaign works. That is, whether it produced sales or not. Once you've produced a retail or direct-response ad you have nowhere to hide and no-one to blame for the lack of feet-through-the-door or coupons-in-the-inbox. There is no opportunity for you to wait until the next analysis or annual report. Most copywriting experts, for example, would cringe at the prospect of facing a retail client the morning after one of his advertisements had been printed, aired or broadcast because they'd be terrified at hearing what happened to their campaign. The cash register tells the story and it never lies or exaggerates. It can't be bribed and is totally immune to flattery or rugby tickets. No amount of creative theorising or adspeak can argue against your results following immediately-measurable advertising. It is the effectiveness of advertising that matters not the subtle imagery or the parades of awards that so many admen are fond of. I have extremely eminent company in this belief that all advertising people should be experienced in direct-response and, further, that direct-response is the true foundation of the advertising business. David Ogilvy said My first basic rule consists of this premise: that the proved principles of mail order advertising should be applied to all campaigns. Alan Philips said I am of the view that response tells us more about the realities of the advertising campaign than archaic mythology. Direct response advertising he continued is a most rewarding area of advertising. Rewarding, that is, if you like all aspects of your decisions, strategy, planning, creativity etc., being minutely examined and your efforts judged accordingly. Of course, if you are of the bent that prefers awards to rewards then it might all be a little tedious. The last point about retail or direct-response advertising is that there is often very little time to review or re-think a decision. You have to be quick on your feet and, oh yes, you'll have to work late every day. Read my blog (brewersdroop.co.za) or see what other amazing things we do at brewers.co.za *Note that Bizcommunity staff and management do not necessarily share the views of its contributors - the opinions and statements expressed herein are solely those of the author.* The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) will commission a study to look into the impact of editorial interference in the media industry, which has seen the resignation of many editors, the organisation said. During a meeting held over the weekend, the council discussed extensively the changing media landscape, the commercial and other pressures and their implications on editorial independence. "The consequences of such pressures have manifested themselves in the form of direct proprietal/managerial interference in editorial decision-making processes and indirectly through the blurring of the lines between advertising and editorial," executive director Mathatha Tsedu said. "In light of these serious threats and in recognition of the real implications of the evolvement of our industry, council decided to commission research on the new media landscape and possible models and solutions." Tsedu said the often conflicting and strained relationship between editors and managers has resulted in the resignation of a number of editors over the past two years - an untenable situation that threatens the very essence of media freedom that is crucial to the sustenance of democracy. He added that the process could culminate in a meeting with media managers to establish new rules of engagement with regard to editorial independence and ethical advertising. "Until such time that our research is concluded, Sanef calls on proprietors and management to allow editors to exercise their editorial discretion and work without any interference," he said. The council also agreed that Sanef should urgently meet with the leadership of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to discuss the implications of their decision to threaten journalists from media outlets owned by the Gupta family. Party leader Julius Malema said journalists working for the Gupta-owned broadcaster ANN7 and its newspaper The New Age would no longer be welcome at EFF events and that the party could not guarantee their safety. He subsequently told the Guptas, who are South African citizens, to leave the country or the situation "could become volatile". He accused the Guptas of being a corrupt cartel that was in cahoots with President Jacob Zuma. The matter was taken to the High Court in Pretoria where the Gupta brothers on Tuesday obtained an urgent interdict to stop the EFF from threatening them. Judge Johan Louw granted an order interdicting the party, Malema and its Gauteng spokesperson Ntobeng Ntobeng from making threats of violence against the brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta, and their employees. The interdict was granted while EFF members were protesting outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, waving posters stating "Guptas must go", "Honeymoon is over for Guptas" and "We'll fight war with war" and singing "Shoot Zuma, shoot the Guptas". Source: The Times From the hills of Kyoto comes Matcha, a tea steeped in Japanese lore. It's a finely ground tea leaf that was first used by Zen monks, as it was believed to invoke mental clarity and physical energy. The Japanese regard Matcha as the equivalent of 10 cups of green tea! The tea leaves used to make Matcha are shade grown, which produces more chlorophyll, antioxidants and a higher concentrate of the amino acid L-theanine, stabilising the stimulation that caffeine brings. And because the tea leaf is ingested, drinking Matcha also means that you consume more of what green tea has to offer. After an exploratory journey to Japan to visit the farms and immerse in its culture and traditions, Lady Bonins Tea sought organic Matcha green tea to bring to South Africa. The organic Matcha is sourced through a company that supports small-scale family farms in the Uji region of Kyoto, Japan. The farms have been family run for generations, each generation passing down accumulated knowledge, wisdom and expertise to the next. Their organic methods are also generations old. It is very difficult to produce Matcha that is organic, and not bitter, so the farms and factory have unique methods that ensure the best quality and flavour. The high demand of Matcha has supported these small farms to increase production, benefitting their livelihoods. Sustainable farming practices Lady Bonins Tea blends and distributes organic loose-leaf teas sourced directly from farms that use sustainable farming practices and are community driven. The teas and herbs, by their source, are exceptionally high in quality, improving nutritive content and flavour density. The company currently distributes to retail outlets, online, and through its own shop avenues. It also provides bulk teas with curated menus and experiences to the restaurant trade. And with the support of the DTI, has just entered the export market, focusing on Malaysia, China, Japan, the UK and the US. WildAid, impressed by the concept created by Team Aitch, an 'agency' of students participating in the Vega School of Brand Leadership's annual Brand Challenge, has charged ahead with it in its latest video campaign. Alexander Sudheim WildAid is a wildlife conservation organisation that aims to raise funds and awareness against rhino poaching in South Africa. To find out more about the Vega Brand Challenge, team Aitch's WildAid campaign, and the role of design in SA, we interviewed senior copywriting navigator Alexander Sudheim of the Vega School of Brand Leadership. What is the Brand Challenge all about? How does it help Vega students get a leg up in the industry? The experience is designed to support the Vega purpose of making students industry-ready. By working with real clients on real-world briefs, the exercise raises the stakes by seeing students working outside of the insular academic environment so as to apply their learnings in a manner that has tangible significance. From the industry perspective, it affords insight into how a potential employee has dealt with actual clients and astutely handled tricky briefs. Tell us more about the brief provided by WildAid and how this brief was met. WildAid was in possession of the results of recently-commissioned market research which was tremendously revealing. It showed that the abhorrence of the slaughter of rhinoceros for their horns was shared by South Africans from all walks of life and not a cause celebre among those with time and money to spare. As a result, the brief from WildAid was to create a campaign that reflected the reality of how rhino poaching affects us all, as South Africans; how this scourge was something that impacted upon our collective national identity. The brief was met via a concept that carried the message of this horror affects us all. Describe the video concept, what wow'ed the client about it. The video concept was an extension of the students campaign concept of Rhino Poaching Devalues Us All. Value being something that can be measured in both tangible and intangible terms, the video concept collapsed the two to demonstrate how value in the abstract sense can hit home hard when contextualised in a very real way. The client loved the universality of the concept since it dealt with an indispensable element of every South Africans life. Another interesting aspect of the campaign was the manipulation of the R10 note, could you expand on this? The concept of value is a familiar one. Yet the term is bandied about so much that, ironically, it hovers in danger of losing value. The rhinoceros is an invaluable asset to South Africa. If they all get butchered for the sake of a myth that eating their powdered horn enhances priapism, the loss is incalculable. For one, South Africa, so proud of its Big 5, will now have a Big 4. But how to communicate this loss of value to the majority of South Africans who have never seen a rhino IRL? Well, through the medium in which all have encountered a rhino: the R10 note. Seeing the R10 note suddenly disappeared from their lives makes the reality of the rhino itself having disappeared from their lives so much more palpable. How can design be used most effectively in addressing South Africa's challenges? Design per se is a somewhat troubled term. It is too commonly associated with superficial aesthetic appeal and this is something it requires rescuing from. From providing solutions to landmine clearance to attempts to reduce the claustrophobia of high-density urban environments, design is everywhere. If you really think about it, Alexander Fleming discovered an incredibly clever way to design bread mould in such a manner that it killed infection. Penicillin, in other words, is a fantastic example of how design thinking provided a solution to a seemingly insoluble problem. As such, it is design thinking more than design that has the potential to play a powerful role in overcoming South Africas challenges. We showed fractured communities a way forward with the TRC and showed the world how to keep high seas at bay with the inimitable dolos: with the ingenuity, innovation and hunger to fulfil the promise of progress, thinking design is the only way to think. Team Aitch is Tarryn Prior, Tasmin Weir, Emma Wilson, Butetsi Bugaari, Sasha Benjamin, Leandra Dreyer, David Wilkinson, and Ashley Meyers. Malawi has aspirations to increase mining contributions to GDP from 1% to 20% by 2020. But community-company relations in the mining sector are typical of those across the continent: not good. This, in turn, is not good for investment in the sector. Grain Malunga, Malawis Chamber of Mines and Energy National Coordinator, says that one of the main challenges facing investors is hostility from civil society organisations and negative media reporting about the mining sector. This is why Malawis newly launched Chamber of Mines and Energy hopes to provide support to improve relations between companies and communities. Canada-based exploration and development company, Mkango Resources, which has rare earth interests in southern Malawi, has taken a proactive approach in this regard. For example, it has helped farmers, local schools and households affected by recent flooding. These efforts have not been without civil society and media criticism. Will Dawes, President of Mkango Resources, says that developing long term relationships and ongoing communication with all stakeholders is vital. So too is companies' participation in community development. This needs to be in proportion to the size and financial resources of the company and to the stage of development of projects. Chikale Resources, another Malawi-interested exploration company, is earlier in its journey than Mkango. Managing Director Adam Foley believes that the company can learn lessons from the resource industry in Western Australia, especially when it comes to working with indigenous people and traditional land owners to help create a healthy, prosperous environment. Much more needs to be done Cape Town is playing host to two opposing groups in the mineral resources sector. The private sector is gathered for the Investing in African Mining Indaba, the continents largest mining investment forum. And the Alternative Mining Indaba is gathered under the banner of making natural resources work for the people, leaving no one behind. The mining indaba has been running for 20 years. Its alter ego was started seven years ago to include voices of those affected by mining but who are typically excluded from its agenda. The relationship between communities and companies has grown in importance to the private sector over the last two decades. A sustainable development day is now part of the indaba. This has been spurred on by: attention paid to sustainable development, evident in the Sustainable Development Goals, the creation of the African Mining Vision adopted by heads of state in 2009. The idea was to create a guide for mineral resource development for broad-based socio-economic growth and development, and late last year the International Council for Metals & Mining, which represents the worlds leading mining companies and advances their commitment to sustainable development, released a toolkit. Its aim is to support companies in gaining a more nuanced understanding of how they can measure and influence community support. The impact of these initiatives is not yet clear. Outlook for investment With the outlook for oil and commodity prices expected to be low for some time, junior mineral exploration companies like Mkango seeking to win suitable investors face stiff competition for capital. Dawes points out that for countries with many greenfield sites, mining opportunities tend to require greater amounts of higher risk capital, a situation exacerbated by current market conditions. The World Bank projects that all main commodity prices will decline in 2016, with metals expected to drop 10% following last years 21% decline. This is due to two factors: new capacity is maintaining elevated supplies, and weak growth prospects in emerging market economies, particularly in China, which was one of the main drivers of the commodity boom in the 2000s. Besides access to capital, junior companies in frontier markets like Malawi contend with a host of other challenges. These include limited geophysical data and potentially high operating costs driven by energy deficits, limited transport infrastructure and a skills gap. Government efforts during a downturn The current situation means that it is not only companies which are competing for resources. Countries are also seeking to out-bid each other in efforts to attract investment in exploration and mining. There is value in governments taking a proactive stance. This would involve them recognising risks by working toward streamlining their processes and being accountable for supplying information in a timely fashion. Time delays are very costly and raising money is very difficult, especially for smaller mining companies. This is particularly pertinent for countries such as Ghana which have based revenue projections, budgets and development plans on sustained high commodity prices. Dawes says it is crucial for countries to maintain attractive regulatory and fiscal regimes to attract investment. Countries in Africa, like Malawi, need to develop strategies and policies to encourage both local and foreign smaller and junior mining companies. Unless this is done risky investments wont be made. By risky we do not mean risky for the environment or communities but risky in the sense of investment returns. Investments such as these are crucial for national revenue streams, as are policies promoting low value minerals that can be used in domestic industry and construction. This is increasingly important during the commodity price slump which has no clear upturn yet in sight. Rachel Etter-Phoya, a co-author of this article, is head of accountability, policy and programmes at Citizens for Justice, where she leads the CFJs engagement on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Regulators have given Vodacom, MTN and Cell C the green light to acquire the subscribe base of mobile service provider Altech Autopage. Sergii Gnatiuk via 123RF In September last year, Johannesburg listed Altron announced that the Altech Autopage subscriber base was planned to be sold to MTN, Cell C and Vodacom for R1.46bn. Altech Autopage is a phone service provider that sells the likes of MTN, Cell C and Vodacom contracts. After the deal was recommended by the Competition Commission last year, it was up to the Competition Tribunal to make its call. However, in December last year, the Tribunal referred the deal back to the Competition Commission following concerns raised by a company called Saicom Holdings, which is Altech Autopages largest customer. But the Competition Commission, after investigating the matter, subsequently decided to stick to recommending the deal. This meant that the matter returned to the Competition Tribunal this week, and the Tribunal has on Friday approved the merger with conditions, opening the way for Altech Autopage to shut down in the coming months. Merger conditions Among the conditions are that MTN and Vodacom must - for a period of 12 months after the transfer of Altech Autopages subscriber base - undertake to communicate job vacancies at the two mobile networks to affected Autopage staff. Meanwhile, Cell C is expected to forward its job vacancies to identified candidates at Altech Autopage. The Tribunal defines identified candidates as Altech Autopages affected employees who, in the view of Cell C, are potentially suitable for the position sought to be filled. This process has to happen within 12 months after the date of transfer of Altech Autopages subscriber base to Cell C. Other conditions of the deal include that Altron must make offers to redeploy 86 affected Altech Autopage employees to other entities within the Altron Group. The Competition Tribunal has also tasked Altech Autopage with continuing to make its training initiatives available to all employees for at least a year. Altech Autopage is further expected to make available an employee assistance programme to affected staff as well as their direct families for three calendar months after the implementation of the mergers. Its unclear at this stage about when Autopage could shut down exactly as company representatives were not available for comment at the time of writing. But last year, Altech Autopages former managing director Boyd Chislett said the company was looking to migrate all three customer bases by the 29th of February. Source: Fin24 via News24 Wire #creativeintersections is an interactive, creative conference presenting interdisciplinarity as an alternate thinking approach. School yourself through presentations, networking activities, workshops and brainstorming breakaways that will activate practical engagement. 16 and 17 March 2016. The 4th installment of the ACT | UJ Conference, #creativeintersections an interactive experience - will take place at the UJ Arts Centre, located on the Kingsway campus, on 16 and 17 March 2016. The conference takes as its starting point the stimulating nature of the creative sector, which by its nature pursues alternative ways of thinking and doing things. Although this can appear disorganised and incoherent to outsiders and therefore difficult to engage with for those who sit on the edges this focus on unconventional thinking is ultimately what builds the intrinsic value of the creative industries. An interdisciplinary approach thus lies at the heart of the conference, which aims to stimulate new ways of thinking. The conference will follow an approach, based on studies done on conferences that reveal that people take more away from immersive, experiential experiences than from lecture-type programmes. Conference delegates will thus be able to engage actively and practically in crossing the boundaries of academic disciplines. These intersections will highlight new mediums, theories and connections, with discussions centering on interdisciplinary activities, intercultural dialogue and innovative technologies. As with previous years, the 2016 ACT | UJ Conference will present an invaluable chance for people working at different levels and in different contexts in the sector to meet and learn from one another, in order to identify and leverage synergies and opportunities that they may not previously have been aware of. Delegates will be encouraged to engage with networks outside their existing circles and disciplines, giving them exposure to new ideas. These will be facilitated through brainstorming breakaways and skill swapping, networking events. The aim of The Conference is to share information, knowledge and research with the view of enabling, advancing and inspiring the creative sector, says Pieter Jacobs, CEO of the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT). The programme will consist of: Presentations: Two keynote presentations, two panel discussions and one interview segment. Hatchery Sessions: This will consist of follow- on sessions over the course of the conference. Delegates will be divided into groups to work on creative interdisciplinary focusing on ideas, solutions or collaborations. Pitch Perfect: The Hatchery Sessions conclude with Pitch Perfect, a session during which delegates are able to pitch their idea or solution to a panel of judges to stand a chance to secure a grant for implementation. Maker Workshops: During enrolment, delegates will choose one workshop from a range of practical and more theoretical engagements to complete over the course of the conference. Networking Session: The idea behind this networking event is that delegates would be given an opportunity to barter knowledge for knowledge in a skills- sharing exchange - with everything from 3D printing to crochet. Creatives in Conversation: Three interdisciplinary engagements with leaders in the creative industries will be presented, both leading up to the conference and two following on it. For more information visit the website www.creativeconference.co.za. Reduced early- bird tickets are available from 1 February. Enrol at http://www.creativeconference.co.za/enrolment/. The ACT | UJ Arts & Culture Conference is presented by the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) and UJ Arts & Culture in partnership with the Department of Arts & Cultures Mzansi Golden Economy Programme, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) and SAMRO Foundation with support from the National Arts Council, Nedbank Arts Affinity, Creative Feel Magazine, the British Councils Connect ZA. In this exclusive interview, Ravi Naidoo speaks beyond the borders of this week's Design Indaba conference. He touches on design across Africa, as well the importance of activism in guiding design thinking. If youve been keeping track of my pre-Design Indaba coverage, you already know how this years rendition has evolved since the very first un-conference and what to expect from the 2016 rendition later this week. But theres so much more to Design Indaba than that, especially as creator Ravi Naidoos intention with Design Indaba from the start has been to change behaviour, shift perceptions and activate new projects and new ways of seeing projects of the creative community and the country and across Africa. Here, Naidoo elaborates on how the conference will be more experiential and immersive than ever before, as well as how its activism mindset intends making our local creative industries more adventurous in thinking of global success 1. Why the need to make Design Indaba 2016 more experiential and immersive? Naidoo: Its one way to maintain our competitive edge. We wanted to understand that presentations can become very formulaic. Theres the TED format, which is 18-minutes and a Powerpoint. Its a format thats used all around the world so there is some merit in that, but we prefer to offer diversity and eclecticism, so you dont quite know what youre going to get next. There are multiple formats through which you are able to tell your story, and we wanted to explore every single one of them. So its really the death of the formula we smash it in celebrating raging eclecticism, as Design Indaba going forward isnt just about getting bigger, but also about getting weirder! 2. Lets touch on one aspect of getting bigger: Expanding your reach and inspiring the design industry in the rest of Africa. Naidoo: South Africa has huge potential to become a globally outsourced hub for creativity, much the way India is for IT, South Africa should be for creativity, so if theres any kind of silver lining in the economic cloud around our currency, its that it makes us so much more viable. In addition to inspiration, Design Indaba gives serious credibility and support to the creative community as both a platform and an ability for the creative community to communicate with greater society from government, through to private sector. We then seed some of these ideas through and convert ideas into reality. Weve long held that ideas and intellectual capital will be the X factor in the transformation of the African creative commune. All the things that weve done are done in this absolutely relentless pursuit of finding new models and new ways of reimagining Africa. For example, this years simulcast will be available in most local cities, and weve even expended to Windhoek. Were very excited about that as we want this to be a pan-African event. Were currently simulcasting to two countries in Africa, so we have 52 more to go! Africa is going to be a wonderful theatre for commerce and for social entrepreneurship, for doing business for social impact. Its going to be the place where well find the most radical change, particularly over the ensuing 10 to 20 years. Weve kind of bet the farm in Africa with Design Indaba. Its taken a long while to see it, but I think with the advent of tech everyones connected and with the dividends from bandwidth, from access to better education and the like, the economy is growing apace. 3. Tell us more about emerging talents in Africa and what sets them apart. Naidoo: Im particularly intrigued by a band of young architects speaking at Design Indaba this year who spurned the idea of the private sector and building villas for the rich. Instead, they entirely focus their practise on public spaces, enumerating a lot of the poor in particular, whether its in the grungy, emerging parts of downtown Joburg or in Kigali, and the building of hospitals and schools so badly needed in this previously war-torn country, through to re-imagining the urban framework. These are these new-age architects from Africa who have given themselves a wider mandate and gone beyond just finding commissions, putting themselves in harms way just to find out how they can actually affect change for the public and the people at large. 4. How do you intend spreading the concept of activism across the continent? Naidoo: Weve always had an activist orientation at Design Indaba, so in almost everything that we do, we trying translate it into more than the talk. The corollary to the think tank is the do tank. We think of Design Indaba as more than just a particular event: Its the impetus and the leader; a process of working. For example, exhibition stand had an afterlife built into its design a library at Kannemeyer Primary School in Grassy Park: The CREATe.CHANGE project by Design Indaba and Leg Studios auctioned off carry tables customised by artists. What it's all about: the students at Kannemeyer Primary School in Grassy Park, Cape Town. The BOOK.exCHANGE stand at Design Indaba Expo 2015. Design Indaba Expo team and Leg Studios hand over the cheque to Kannemeyer Primary School. So its quite an interesting ethic to have in design, or at design objects or designing events or experiences, to actually ask the question as to what residual or recurring or multiplied value it can have. Its about asking this question about every single thing that we do. If you have this and other design questions rumbling through your mind, you may just find the answers in the Design Indaba special section on Bizcommunity, through their Twitter handle or at this years three-day conference... By combining creative tactics with strategic insights, many small tech companies with limited marketing budgets have experienced rapid growth. The term growth hacking was coined in 2010 by Sean Ellis, CEO of web-analytics company Qualaroo, to describe innovative, low-cost solutions used by tech start-ups to grow their businesses quickly. The success of these strategies resulted in companies of all sizes across a variety of industries adopting the same measures. There is a common misconception that growth hacking is merely finding ways of marketing without spending, but it involves much more. Different to traditional marketing The main strategies used by growth hackers include content marketing, search-engine optimisation, web analytics and A/B testing, all of which are also often used in traditional marketing plans. However, growth hacking is different because it is a conscious marketing mindset that considers how each strategy will affect the growth of every aspect of the business. According to Ellis, A growth hacker is someone whose true north is growth. Before any strategy is executed, it is evaluated in terms of how it will affect the companys expansion. The product is the starting point; it needs to be innovative and something that people want or need, even if they dont know it upfront. Seamless user experience is essential, and often products are developed with features that allow users to share them easily. Growth hackers take an experimental approach and are not afraid to try new ideas, but every process is measurable. The value of this measurability is that successful tactics can be identified and repeated with a larger scope, offering adaptable, scalable growth. Rapid growth When file-storage service Dropbox wanted to expand, it launched a referral programme to attract new users. For each friend a Dropbox user recruited, they were given 500MB of free storage. In under two years, the tool grew from one hundred thousand to four million users. The simplicity of the recruitment programme and the fact that people wanted free storage space were two key factors that contributed to the rapid growth of the company. Grant Shippey, CEO of digital agency Amorphous New Media, says, Growth hacking is about using sound economic principles to sweat your assets as hard as you can to maximise growth. The agency has also used growth hacking principles to offer its clients increased value in their campaigns and projects. Amorphous breathed fresh life into the printed version of the Edgars Club Magazine, a local clothing retailers promotional publication, by creating a digital version of the magazine in an app for Android and iOS, where it enhanced the existing content of the magazine. The app was designed to make it easy to share articles, which readers were incentivised to do. Mass communication about the digital offering was done through low-cost channels like SMS and email, and from the results of those campaigns, readers who were more likely to engage were targeted with more expensive marketing communications. Our aim was to keep costs relatively low while doing work that was measurable, says Shippey. Within a month of its launch, the app trended at number two in its category in the iTunes Store and number five in its category in the Google Play Store. The success of both these case studies shows how the principles of growth hacking can work in different markets and for different types of companies, from service providers like Dropbox to content producers like the Edgars Club Magazine. As competition for users attention online increases, adopting a growth hacking mindset enables marketers to target their communications effectively and to gain maximum value from their marketing budgets. As founders and directors of Source and Southern Guild , curators of Watershed and Work Shop New Town , and programme directors of Design Network Africa , it suffices to say that Trevyn and Julian McGowan are doing extraordinary things in support of local design. Here, Trevyn tells us how theyre contributing to design in the retail sector, some of the opportunities and challenges theyve come across in the export supply arena, and their unique vision for South African product. Its not about passing trends, she says, its about a lasting visual language Trevyn McGowan How would you describe South African design? South African design is filled with energy and a narrative that makes it interesting. What is your involvement in the industry? We are promotors, facilitators, curators, exhibitors, retailers and exporters of South African design. How does Source contribute to design in the retail sector? Through Source, we export South African products to some of the most famous homeware retailers around the world, thus creating a market for South African products internationally. Weve also opened our own local tableware store, called Odeon, which sells top SA tableware brands. We already have a shop in Watershed, and are in the process of opening another at the Mall of Africa in Joburg. At Work Shop New Town, weve opened our own fashion retail store, selling African brands we love. Source is also the curator of both Watershed and Work Shop New Town, so through these spaces weve contributed to design in the retail sector by creating these platforms for local designers to sell their work in an environment that places it in the elevated category that it should be presented in. Business of Design, the conference programme we have co-founded with Laurence Brick and Cathy OClery of Platform Creative Agency also contributes in this area, as the delegates who attend our conferences are pushed to think differently about the way in which they approach retailers, price their product, work on their export leg and market their businesses, amongst other things, thus growing this sector of the industry. Having worked with many leading global retailers, what have been some major opportunities/challenges in the export supply arena? The opportunity to produce in the kinds of volumes that major international retail chains order, with their stringent supply chain requirements, has forced our suppliers to mature, become more professional and globally competitive. So not only is the income generated from exports and the increase in jobs to fulfil demand meant enormous growth for the industry, but, most importantly, the designers have confidence, take themselves seriously and have expanded their goals and belief in what is possible. Challenges are: electricity power cuts, very expensive and limited packaging options, enormous costs of international trade fairs and exhibitions, limited capacity for large-volume production, pricing, newness in product assortment, meeting deadlines. On the Southern Guild website, its stated: We have far less interest in trends or in the highly polished, technologically driven visions of design prevalent elsewhere. Please elaborate. South African design is authentic, with an inquisitive, adventurous spirit. Pieces often possess a good sense of humour. But, most importantly, they are all touched and developed by hand. Most of our designers are not only designers - theyre makers too. And so their work is crafted with particular attention to detail. And when machines are involved, theres still such care given to these pieces that theyre still very much true to the designers narrative. Its not about passing trends - its about a lasting visual language. Please comment on the Watershed and Work Shop New Town. What is the thinking behind these spaces and how have they had a positive impact on local design? What has been the overall response? The idea behind both these projects was to create special retail hubs where people can purchase South African products. Theyre spaces dedicated to the talent that is so rich in this country. Theyve created a better awareness of the diversity of design available locally, have had a great impact on the local design economy, and have shown the youths that there really is money to be made in design in this country. Theyve both been so well received. By offering these platforms where local design is easy to access in one space people are given an easy route to procure locally designed and produced goods. The new way of shopping - away from a traditional mall - has also been a welcome experience for shoppers. Do you think South Africans have developed a greater appreciation for local design? Or do tourists/international buyers dominate the market? Locals have definitely come to appreciate and understand local design better, as seen in the above (Watershed and WSNT) and also in the response weve had in our Southern Guild gallery, where were showcasing SA design on a collectible level. More South Africans are now buying work by their own designers, and that makes us so happy to see this progression. Click here for Trevyn's 'Behind the Selfie' profile. The Investec Africa Private Equity Fund 2 has closed, raising 295m to be invested in companies in SA and the rest of Africa. Before close the fund had already concluded three deals. Picture: Martin Rhodes via BD Live Last year the fund bought a significant minority shareholding in technology services firm wiGroup, which is looking to grow its footprint outside SA. The fund also invested in IDM, a debt- management company in SA, and made a further investment in telecoms towers business IHS Africa in Nigeria, which was initially acquired by its first fund in 2011. Francois van der Spuy, head of private equity at Investec Asset Management, said yesterday that following the three investments, the fund still had "north of 200m" to invest. "We are looking at some interesting opportunities in countries such as Egypt, Mozambique, SA, Ghana and Nigeria. "We also see opportunities arising in the East African community and Ethiopia," Van der Spuy said. He said the fund would look at transactions between $15m and $40m. He said there was appetite to invest up to $100m, but only alongside other investors. Aims to grow business "We will invest in companies where the owners of the companies have established a track record (and) where there is a management team willing to become a partner," Van der Spuy said. "Our job is not to allocate capital, but to grow business." Van der Spuy said that the company was looking to exit some of its investments in Investec Africa Private Equity Fund 1. "In the next six to 12 months we are probably going to see some news on two to three exits," Van der Spuy said. In Investec Africa Private Africa Fund 1, investments were made in Daraju Industries, a fast moving consumer goods company in Nigeria; Big Media in Angola; OK Zimbabwe; SA Taxi Finance; Seven Energy in Nigeria; and J&J Transport, a Southern African transport and logistics provider. Source: Business Day It looks like you have reached this page in error ... The content you are looking for has either moved, or if you typed in the address there might have been a mistake. If you believe there has been a technical error please let us know. Most Popular Destinations The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/02/2016 (2441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. VANCOUVER The University of British Columbia has the chance to become a national leader in the fight against climate change by rejecting its own finance committees recommendation to not sell the schools investments in the fossil fuel industry, says a spokesman for a campus-based environmental advocacy organization. Divest UBC spokesman Alex Hemingway is calling on the university to launch a new, more open and transparent process for considering divestment that involves not only the administration but also students, faculty and alumni. The universitys board of governors is set to make the final decision Monday on whether to sell off the schools fossil fuel holdings as part of the universitys $1.4-billion endowment fund. UBC actually has an incredible opportunity here to set itself on a path of being a real leader in sustainability and good governance, Hemingway said. We need a more serious and evidence-based process that not only has different relevant experts sitting on the committee itself but also is open to consultations and submissions from stakeholders around the university. Investments tied to oil, gas and coal companies make up about 10 per cent of the universitys endowment. In 2014, UBC students voted 77 per cent in support of divestment. Faculty voted similarly the following January, 62 per cent in favour of selling off the schools fossil fuel holdings within five years. In the wake of the student vote, UBC created a responsible investment policy that set out five conditions to meet before it would consider divestment from any industry. That includes providing evidence that the schools financial interests would not be harmed. Concordia University in Montreal became the first Canadian university to adopt a partial divestment policy in December 2014, though that measure only applies to a $5-million fund a fraction of the schools $130-million endowment. The University of Calgary, McGill University in Montreal and Dalhousie University in Halifax have all decided against divestment. Its true that in Canada we havent seen a major university emerge as a real leader on divestment, Hemingway said. UBC actually has an incredible opportunity here to set itself on a path of being a real leader in sustainability and good governance. Student groups have started fossil fuel divestment campaigns at more than two dozen Canadian schools and more than 200 in the United States. Late last year an advisory committee at the University of Toronto recommended the school divest from fossil fuel companies that blatantly disregard efforts to combat climate change. University president Meric Gertler is expected to make a final decision before April. Follow @gwomand on Twitter Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/02/2016 (2440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. HALIFAX A Nova Scotia aboriginal band is drafting ambitious plans to rebuild a community on the site of a Mikmaq village that was obliterated by the Halifax Explosion nearly a century ago. Black-and-white photos taken at the turn of the last century show a collection of wigwams close to the shoreline at the narrowest part of Halifax harbour. The Mikmaq called it Turtle Grove. Shannon Park, an abandoned community that housed mainly military families and slated for redevelopment, is seen in Dartmouth, N.S. on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Part of the area is the former home of a Mi'kmaq village destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. The Millbrook First Nation is negotiating with the Canada Lands Corporation to purchase land. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan Some of the descendants of those who lived there, members of the Millbrook First Nation, want to develop the site to include a mix of residential and commercial properties. The band, which is no stranger to commercial success, has tentative plans to build a boardwalk, marina, ferry terminal and residential units with office and retail space, some of which would be made available to band members. About 900 members live on the existing reserve in the Truro area, an hours drive north of Halifax. Another 900 live off the reserve, many of them in the Halifax area. That would be reserve land (and) that would create a desire (for band members) to be there, says chief Bob Gloade. Were also looking at some cultural components and marking the history of the residents There could be a monument. At least six families were living at Turtle Grove in December 1917 when a Belgian relief ship and a French vessel carrying munitions collided only a few hundred metres from the village, Gloade says. The resulting blast and tidal wave razed Turtle Grove, killing many of its residents and almost 2,000 others in the surrounding area, making it the worst disaster in Canadian history. To this day, a section of what was once Turtle Grove remains empty. The small tree-lined cove sits idle and overgrown in the shadow of a large, gas-fired generating station known as Tufts Cove. The humble site will soon be declared reserve land as part of an outstanding Mikmaq claim though Gloade says theres a problem. The biggest hurdle that were running into is firming up how much land we can develop so we can plan it out properly. The 3.9-hectare site is stretched so thinly along the shoreline that it would be impossible to develop properly, he says. The band wants to buy more land, but that could take a long time. The site is adjacent to Shannon Park, a 33-hectare former military community built by the Department of National Defence after the Second World War. Abandoned by 2003, it includes more than 400 empty apartment units, a store, two schools, two churches, an arena, swimming pool and community centre. In March 2014, the Canada Lands Company the federal governments real estate arm bought 33 hectares of Shannon Park for $4 million. The Crown corporation presented three development proposals to the public last November and a preferred concept is expected to be submitted for municipal approval this spring. Demolition at the site started earlier this month. The Millbrook band is a partner with the contractor, Dexter Construction. Gloade says talks with Canada Lands are moving slowly. Theres been an interest and a willingness to work with us up until recently and theres kind of a delay and a lack of working relationship with them, he said. Chris Millier, Canada Lands director of real estate, said the federal agency has been working with the band since the project started. We consider them an extremely important stakeholder, he said in an interview. Millbrook is a sovereign entity. Canada Lands would never suppose to tell them what they can and cant do with their property. As for the bands desire to enlarge its footprint, Millier says the agency wont be in a position to talk about that until the Shannon Park project has received planning and design approvals. We dont envision lands being made available to the market much before 2018 or 2019, he said. It seems people are continuing to increase their spend on groceries. According to Kantar Worldpanel, supermarkets have recorded a growth of 3.8% in the last 12 weeks up to the end of January. It follows a similar increase in shopping over the course of Christmas. The report says SuperValu has continued to attract most customers with 25% of the grocery market, up from 24.8% last year. Dunnes enjoyed the strongest rate of growth of the top three supermarkets with sales up 5.1% compared with last year. To stand at 24.1%. Kantar said this is partly due to larger shopping trips where Dunnes saw shoppers spend an extra 1.70 on average every time they visit the store. Lidl has seen double digit growth for the fourth consecutive three-month period to see them with 7.9% of the market, while Aldi, with 8% of the market, also posted a positive performance, with sales 2.9% higher than in 2015. Georgieann Harrington, insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: "Tesco is still in second place, half a percentage point behind SuperValu, with a 24.5% share of the grocery market. "However, sales growth of 1.1% makes this the most positive performance Tesco has seen since November 2012, so things are still looking up for the retailer." Banking giant HSBC has announced it will keep its headquarters in the UK after a high-profile lengthy review. Europe's biggest bank revealed last year it was considering whether to move elsewhere over concerns about stricter regulations. HSBC Group chairman Douglas Flint said the decision to keep the London HQ "offered the best outcome for our customers and shareholders". The announcement comes after British Chancellor George Osborne made a series of concessions to the City in recent months. HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said: "Having our headquarters in the UK and our significant business in Asia Pacific delivers the best of both worlds to our stakeholders." A British Treasury spokeswoman said: "We welcome HSBC's decision. They've looked carefully and dispassionately at the facts and confirmed that the UK is the best place to base a global business. "It's a vote of confidence in the Government's economic plan, and a boost to our goal of making the UK a great place to do more business with China and the rest of Asia." The bank's decision was seized upon by campaigners for UK withdrawal from the EU, who said it undermined pro-European claims that Brexit might trigger an exodus of major firms for the continent. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign, said: "HSBC claimed that it might move its headquarters due to uncertainty about whether the UK would stay in the EU. This was an attempt to scare people into backing EU membership. Today's announcement shows that even the proponents of Project Fear don't actually believe it." But Mr Flint said that HSBC could still shift employees and work to France in the case of British withdrawal. He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We are lucky in the sense that we have a major bank in France. So, if we were to leave and if there were to be restrictions, ultimately, on the renegotiation of Britain's position, we have the ability to move activity and people between London and Paris. "But our strong economic view is that Britain is better within a reformed Europe." HBSC said the board's decision to keep its headquarters in London was "unanimous". In its later stages, the review was "narrowed" to the UK and Hong Kong, "both of which are considered by the board to be world-class financial centres", it added. In a statement, the bank said: "The UK is an important and globally connected economy. It has an internationally respected regulatory framework and legal system, and immense experience in handling complex international affairs. "London is one of the world's leading international financial centres and home to a large pool of highly skilled, international talent. It remains therefore ideally positioned to be the home base for a global financial institution such as HSBC." Mr Flint said maintaining the bank's hub in London was "not only compatible, but offered the best outcome for our customers and shareholders". HSBC's review was announced in April last year at the bank's annual meeting. It cited increasingly onerous British regulatory conditions and the UK bank levy introduced in 2010 - a tax based on the size of any British-based banks' global balance sheet. HSBC, which has 48,000 of its 257,000 staff in the UK, s aid the levy cost it 1.1 billion US dollars (720 million) in 2014. During its review, the bank reportedly looked at bases in Hong Kong, Singapore, the US and Frankfurt. But since then, Mr Osborne said in last July's Budget that he would gradually reduce the bank levy over the coming years. He has also called for a ''new settlement'' to end banker bashing and was widely reported to have ousted tough-minded Martin Wheatley, head of City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in July - raising concerns about political influence at the regulator. The decision to stay in London comes ahead of HSBC's annual results on February 22. The bank said it will no longer review the location of its headquarters every three years, and will only revisit the matter if there is a "material change in circumstances". Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: " Strong banks which can provide the finance businesses need to grow are critical for the British economy. And we want to have truly global companies, major employers like HSBC, headquartered here so this announcement is good news. "HSBC's thorough review and consideration of other international financial centres emphasises the need for the UK to continuously stay competitive on regulation, tax and talent." By Joe Leogue A Fine Gael TD has been branded a "disgrace" after claiming to have "delivered" 150 jobs at a craft beer brewery for his constituency - only to have its founder reject that the politician had any involvement in the company expansion. Furthermore, Kildare North TD Anthony Lawlor (pictured) took credit for his part in delivering the jobs to the town of Kilcock, when the brewery in question had moved to Celbridge, some 20km away. Niall Phelan, founder of the Rye River Brewing Company took to social media to dispute Mr Lawlors claims after a friend of the brewer alerted him to the TDs election literature, in which he listed '150 jobs created Rye River Brewing Company' under the heading 'Delivered to Kilcock'. "I have no allegiance to any political party, but do support hard working politicians and I do believe that there are great public representatives in all parties," Mr Phelan posted to Facebook. "However, I was extremely annoyed when this came through my friends door. Firstly, I have spoken to this politician twice in my life. Secondly to claim that he is responsible for creating jobs in our business is a disgrace," Mr Phelan said. "And third, it shows how little he knows our business, as Rye River has moved from Kilcock to Celbridge where we have announced 150 new jobs on top of the 50 we already created," he said. The businessman said that Mr Lawlor, who was first elected to the Dail in 2011, had "lost his vote" over the claims outlined in the campaign literature. "Our team at Rye River have worked bloody hard and taken huge personal risks with plenty of sleepless nights to create those jobs. Mr Lawlor, you have just lost any chance of any vote from me, because if you're claiming this, what else can I not believe on your leaflet," Mr Phelan said. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Phelan said that he and others at the brewery were all the more annoyed at the claim because of the involvement of another public representative. "We did have help from another public representative who worked with us in the background, who is running in this election, and who has never sought publicity for it," Mr Phelan said. "So for somebody who hasnt given any time to us to come out and claim something like that is a disgrace," he said. He said that the majority of employees at the brewery are constituents of Mr Lawlors, and while many were still undecided as to how they would vote next week, many "now know who they wont vote for". Mr Phelan said that he was "angry and annoyed" but had calmed down somewhat since he first learned of the leaflet. The Rye River Brewing Companys own Facebook page has posted a light-hearted response to the incident on Facebook. It shared a doctored version of the offending campaign leaflet, in which it lists a number of achievements Mr Lawlor "delivered" to Kilcock. These include bringing "a successful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis", launching the first dog into space, finding the wreck of the Titanic and credits the TD with being the "first man to get a fig into a fig roll". Mr Lawlor has conceded that his leaflet incorrectly stated that the company was still based in Kilcock, but said that the literature was not an attempt to claim credit for the brewery expansion. He said that the start-up was supported by Enterprise Ireland and that the leaflet had intended "to share the good news" about the new jobs at the brewery. "I have no intention of taking credit from someone as hard-working as Niall Phelan," Mr Lawlor said. The company that operates Ireland's 999 call centres says it will not recognise the Communication Workers' Union. Conduit Global has again refuted claims from the union that staff have been subject to a toilet break policy. Let Me Tell You is a new bespoke podcast series from Hosts Daniel McConnell and Paul Hosford take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments in recent Irish political history from the unique perspective of one of the key players involved. A Kilkenny man who stabbed shop worker Mairead Moran to death at her workplace and was found not guilty of her murder by reason of insanity, has been committed to the Central Mental Hospital. The trial heard that Shane Smyth (aged 29) believed Mairead Moran had stolen a "vile of his blood" and had "installed hidden cameras" and put "black widow spiders in his house. Mr Smyth, with an address at McGuinness House, Evans Lane, Kilkenny, was charged with murdering Mairead Moran (aged 26) on May 8, 2014, at the Market Cross Shopping Centre in Kilkenny City. Two weeks ago at the Central Criminal Court Mr Smyth pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Moran by reason of insanity. The jury had been told that the facts of the case were not disputed and during the trial forensic psychiatrist Dr Brenda Wright gave evidence that Mr Smyth was suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia at the time. A second forensic psychiatrist, Dr Paul OConnell of the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) also gave evidence that the accused was suffering from schizophrenia and was "not capable of forming a specific intent." Last week a jury of three men and nine women spent 55 minutes deliberating before bringing in a unanimous verdict of not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. Today prosecution counsel Mr John O'Kelly SC called Dr Sally Linehan who is a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the CMH. Dr Linehan told Mr O'Kelly that she had prepared a report to advise the court as to whether Mr Smyth was suffering from a medical disorder and in need of in-patient care. Dr Linehan told the court Mr Smyth was admitted to the CMH on May 16, 2014, where he had presented "evidence of bizarre delusional beliefs" and she had been responsible for his care there since July 15, 2014. The court heard Mr Smyth was treated with Clozapine, an anti-psychotic medication and was later treated with a second psychotic medication but he "continued to present psychosis and delusional beliefs." Dr Linehan told the court that while Mr Smyth does acknowledge his illness, he hopes to be "cured in the future." "In conclusion Mr Smyth is very cooperative, his speech is normal, he denies feeling depressed but I did notice evidence of delusional beliefs and limited insight into his illness," she said. The court heard in Dr Linehan's opinion Mr Smyth suffers from "paranoid schizophrenia" and he has had a "limited response to treatment since" his admittance to hospital. "My opinion is that he has a mental disorder and is in need of in-patient care in a designated centre. This is only available in the CMH," she said. Dr Linehan then recommended to the court that Mr Smyth be committed to the CMH. She confirmed there was a bed available for him there today and staff present in court were available to escort him to hospital. Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan said she heard the evidence from Dr Linehan and "in those circumstances" she made an order for Mr Smyth's "in-patient care and treatment." A man found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murder of a 55-year-old Dublin granddad has been committed to the Central Mental Hospital. Dragos Nica (30), of Mourne Park, Skerries, Co Dublin had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Michael Gannon at Mourne Park, Skerries, Co Dublin on November 14, 2013. The jury were told previously that on the evening of the attack, Mr Gannon was babysitting his daughter Jade's two young children and a neighbour's child at Jade's house in Mourne Park, next door to Mr Nica's house. The court heard that Mr Nica knew Jade Gannon before the killing. Mr Gannon was making dinner when one of the children told him a man was looking in the window of the living-room. Mr Gannon opened the door and was stabbed to death by the accused man, the jury were told. The court heard that the accused delusionally believed he had been deliberately poisoned by Jade Gannon. Taking to the stand at the Central Criminal Court today, Dr Sally Linehan told counsel for the State, Patrick Treacy SC, that Mr Nica suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. "It is my view Mr Nica suffers from paranoid schizophrenia characterised by delusions and more commonly, hallucinations," she said. Dr Linehan described Mr Nica as "polite" throughout interviews she carried out with him since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. "Mr Nica was well kept, polite and his mood appeared normal," she continued. Dr Linehan told the court that Mr Nica denied himself feeling depressed and that he continued to express abnormal beliefs. "I did note that he did express abnormal beliefs leading to the index offence that he had been pricked in his finger," she said. "He (Mr Nica) identified he had benefited from medication," she said. She concluded: "Mr Nica is in receipt of multi-disciplinary treatment and he remains in a secure unit." Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that he is satisfied that Mr Nica requires treatment in a designated centre. "Mr Nica (needs) to be medicated in a supervised way as opposed to by himself," he said. "The special verdict was the only verdict available to them (the jury). I'm satisfied from the report that Mr Nica is suffering from a mental disorder and that the only way he can be treated is in a designated centre," he said. "(I will) make an order committing him to the Central Mental Hospital," he said. "This is a (verdict of) not guilty by reason of insanity. Families don't have the opportunity to give impact evidence," he added. "I want them (Gannon family) to understand I understand the depth of this - it has been a very difficult procedure, in particular for the victims. For what it's worth, I wish them well," he said. He concluded: "It's difficult for Mr Nica's family but their loss is not in tune with Mr Gannon's family." A Kerry resident who slit his house mate's throat in a random attack has been jailed for seven years. Paul Lestrange (aged 40) told his victim to write a will prior to the unprovoked assault and after cutting the man's throat with a bread knife told him: I told you it would end badly. He stopped his house mate and neighbours from helping the injured man until he was overpowered and disarmed. Lestrange, of Rosdedara, Killarney pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing serious harm to James McGuirk and production of a kitchen knife at North Circular Road, Dublin on January 15, 2015. Judge Martin Nolan said Lestrange had bizarrely developed an animus towards Mr McGuirk and slit his throat. He said it was lucky for Lestrange that his victim did not die but that Mr McGuirk no doubt had an apprehension of death and thought he was going to die. He said there appeared to be no particular motivation and noted that Lestrange had a small number of previous conviction which all involved alcohol. He noted Lestrange's expression of remorse. Judge Nolan said this was a very serious assault and that the only possible intention behind the attack was to kill. He said the attack left Mr McGuirk with a severely disfiguring scar. Garda Joseph Gavin told Maurice Coffey BL, prosecuting, that Mr McGuirk shared his house with both Lestrange and Martin Roche who rented rooms from him. He said they appeared to get on well but alcohol was a day-to-day feature within the house. That night his housemates had noticed Lestrange was in an agitated state. Mr Roche went to bed leaving Mr McGuirk and Lestrange in the sitting room. Lestrange began speaking gibberish and making threats such as telling Mr McGuirk to write his will and that things would end badly for him. Mr McGuirk did not pay much attention to him until he saw Lestrange with a large bread knife. Gda Gavin said that nothing had seemed to lead up to the incident, that there had been no argument and it seemed to be a random attack. 'Could feel blood pouring out' Lestrange pointed the knife at Mr McGuirk, still rambling about writing a will. He stuck the knife in Mr McGuirk's neck and pulled it across his throat, telling him: I told you it would end badly. Mr McGuirk said he could feel blood pouring out of the wound. Mr Roche heard the noise and came downstairs to find Mr McGuirk in a chair and Lestrange standing over him with the knife in his hand. Lestrange stopped him from helping and he ran to seek assistance from neighbours. Lestrange initially stopped the neighbours from helping Mr McGuirk as well but was disarmed. Mr Roche alerted the gardai and ambulance. He pointed out Lestrange to gardai on their arrival. Lestrange made admissions to gardai about being present at the house but replied no comment to questions about how the attack happened. Mr McGuirk outlined in his victim impact statement that he suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of the horrific incident. He has been left with a prominent and visible scar. Gda Gavin said he believed Lestrange was reliant on alcohol during this time and that it was a spontaneous and random incident. Lestrange has four minor previous convictions. Kieran Kelly BL, defending, said Lestrange had been drinking on the night in the house and for no apparent reason he had taken possession of the knife and perpetrated the assault. He said Lestrange has not come to any garda attention since and wanted to put this behind him. He regretted the offence and offered an apology to Mr McGuirk. Mr Kelly said Lestrange had grown up in Dublin but currently lived with his parents in Kerry. He had worked for a time in Australia and had in a management position in a hotel on his return here. He said financially Lestrange had nothing to give. Update 11.50pm: The Renua leader Lucinda Creighton outlined her partys three strikes policy for life imprisonment after three convictions for offences like rape and burglary. She argued that previous governments had been soft on crime and not used the powers they already had. Micheal Martin attacked Gerry Adams' past, saying he has denied IRA membership for 30 years - Gerry told Mr Martin to bring any proof he had to the Gardai. Joan Burton attacked Micheal Martin's time in government, calling him the Emperor with no clothes - while Enda Kenny again stayed quiet for long stretches, picking and choosing his punching points. There has been a lot of praise online for moderator Claire Byrne who kept charge of the candidates - at one point walking away into the audience to silence them. Update 11pm: Labour's Joan Burton said her party had a vision of being able to provide quality healthcare in every community. "We have a growing population and we need to have care in our community, we need to be able to get that at a local level." Update 10.50pm: Richard Boyd Barrett of the triple-A/People Before Profit criticised the government for downgrading emergency departments, and allowing some departments to be overcrowded while others lie empty. "At the same time as you can be sitting in a war-zone of a hospital that is overcrowded, you will hear ads on the radio saying 'but if you can pay come to the Beacon Clinic or to Blackrock, you can come in and there's no queue at all'. "Now this is the problem we have a two-tier system where health care is being dished out on the basis of the size of your wallet, not on the basis of medical need." Update 10.15pm: Stephen Donnelly of the Social Democrats said he wants to maintain Universal Social Charge at the current rate. "The USC is a necessary tax for a stable tax base, people do need something back Claire, how we do that is by targeting the cost of living. "We all know, we all know we pay too much for things in this country." Update 10pm: Early exchanges in the debate have been dominated by questions on the economy and previous broken promises. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said his plans to lower taxes would help to create more work - and attacked Fianna Fail in doing so: "The less tax that people have to pay the more you can put at work, and we have evidence of this now with the rising numbers in employment. "When Michael told Bloomberg back in 2010, that it would not be necessary to trigger the mechanism of a bailout. "He told Fox News the same day that the IMF would not be required here, yet the government that he was a party to, did not even know the troika had arrived in the country." Party leaders, officials and the media are gathering in Limerick for the second TV debate in Election 2016. Seven party leaders will take part in the event which commences in University Limerick at 9.35pm. Richard Boyd Barrett, Gerry Adams, Micheal Martin, Enda Kenny, Joan Burton, Stephen Donnelly and Lucinda Creighton will be participating tonight. The Green Party leader Eamon Ryan earlier failed in a High Court bid to join the other leaders on stage. Tonight's exchanges will include selected questions from the audience. The first leaders' debate on TV3 was full of interruptions and bad-tempered exchanges. Read more about General Election 2016 HERE. A Ugandan opposition leader running for president has been arrested while campaigning in the capital, raising tensions ahead of elections widely seen as close. Kizza Besigye was arrested this afternoon in Kampala, where he is holding his last rallies ahead of elections on Thursday. Associated Press journalists saw police whisk away Mr Besigye on a truck as he tried to address a crowd. Police also fired tear gas. Mr Besigye is a four-time presidential candidate who used to be Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni's personal physician. Mr Besigye broke ranks with Mr Museveni 15 years ago, saying Mr Museveni was no longer a democrat. Recent opinion polls show Mr Museveni in a tight race with Mr Besigye, who is promising to run a more efficient government. Leading opposition leader and presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, center, flashes the victory sign from the front seat of a police truck after being arrested by riot police. Pic: AP Ahead of elections, there has been a substantial rise in the number of police deployed around Kampala, which is seen as an opposition stronghold. Mr Museveni says he will deploy the military to protect the peace during the elections and has pledged to "smash" those who threaten national security. "The bottom line is no-one can play around with the security of Uganda when I am president," the 71-year-old leader said. Critics and opposition activists are concerned the military will be used to intimidate opposition supporters during and after the elections. Uganda has not had a peaceful transfer of power since the country's independence from Britain in 1962. Mr Museveni himself took power by force in 1986. The US is urging the government and electoral authorities "to ensure a level playing field and transparent process, including through fair application of the law, so that all candidates have an equal opportunity to express their views and voters have the opportunity to hear them". Pope Francis has told Mexicans to "shun the devil" in a speech aimed against those who traffic drugs. The Pontiff told 300,000 people in a field at the edge of Mexico City to turn the country into a land of opportunity. He says Mexico should not be a place where young people are "destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death". Pope Francis is celebrating Mexico's Indians with a visit to heavily indigenous Chiapas state, where he will preside over a Mass in three native languages, thanks to a new Vatican decree approving their use in liturgy. But the visit, at the mid-way mark of Francis' five-day trip to Mexico, is also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in Mexico. History's first Latin American pope has already issued a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against the continent's indigenous. And he will go further by celebrating their culture in ways the local church hierarchy has often sought to play down, in a clear demonstration of his belief that Indians have an important role to play in Mexico today. "I ask you to show singular tenderness in the way you regard indigenous peoples and their fascinating but not infrequently decimated cultures," Francis told Mexico's bishops, in a speech outlining their marching orders. "The indigenous people of Mexico still await true recognition of the richness of their contribution and the fruitfulness of their presence." The Mexican hierarchy has long bristled at the region's "Indian church", a mixture of Catholicism and indigenous culture that includes pine boughs, eggs and references to "God the Father and Mother" in services. It was a tradition that was embraced by the late bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, Samuel Ruiz, who ran afoul of both the Mexican church and the Vatican at times for his use of the local ways. Monday's Mass will include readings, prayers and hymns in the three main indigenous languages of Chiapas: Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol, which are spoken by just over one million people, according to Mexico's latest census. The Vatican has said the Pope will present the official decree authorising the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin. "Vatican II in liturgy finally comes to Chiapas," said the Rev Manuel Dorantes, an assistant Vatican spokesman, who is from Mexico. Despite the Pope's overture, Chiapas residents say they believe Francis is coming mostly to confirm their faith, not their status as indigenous. "It doesn't matter that I'm indigenous; I think it's more that I'm Catholic," said Emanuel Gomez, 22, a Tzotzil who planned to attend the Mass. "The Pope comes to encourage our hearts and faith as Catholics." He added, though, that the visit would "lift us up so we don't feel scorned by the powerful and rich". According to government statistics, about 46% of Mexicans were living in poverty in 2014. That number surges in Chiapas, where some 76% were living in poverty, 32% in extreme poverty. Francis has insisted that his is a "poor church, for the poor", and is expected to address the problems of poverty and marginalisation on Monday. After the Mass, Francis will hear from a handful of Chiapas families about the hardships they face. "He comes to redeem an entire struggle by the people," said the Rev Marcelino Perez, an indigenous priest who will translate the Pope's homily into Tzotzil during the Mass. Francis' visit comes amid strong challenges to the church in the southern state, including huge inroads by evangelical Protestants who have helped turn Chiapas into the least Catholic and one of the most Protestant and evangelical in Mexico. According to the 2010 census, Chiapas was 58 percent Catholic, compared to a national average of 83 percent. Relations between the two groups have not always been smooth. In some communities, residents have expelled or ostracised any inhabitant who converts to Protestantism, often taking their lands or possessions, or denying them access to basic services like water or electricity. Francis has close personal friendships in the evangelical and Protestant communities, but it was unclear how he might tackle the Protestant-Catholic divide in Chiapas. San Cristobal is home to two of the most famous religious defenders of indigenous people in Mexican history: Bishops Bartolome de las Casas in the 16th century and Samuel Ruiz, who died in 2011. Both were beloved by indigenous people and widely reviled among the wealthy classes and much of the church hierarchy. Many officials accused Ruiz of acting on behalf of the Zapatista rebels in their 1994 uprising for greater indigenous rights. Part of the liberation theology movement that swept Latin America after Vatican II, Ruiz tried to fend off the rapid growth of Protestant denominations by adapting to indigenous customs. One of his controversial measures was to rely heavily on married male lay workers because local culture granted more respect to men with children than to childless, celibate men such as priests. Some in the church worried the married deacons were taking on priestly functions. In 2002, under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican asked the Chiapas diocese to halt deacon ordinations. But under Francis, the ordinations were renewed in 2014. In a sign that Ruiz remains a controversial figure, the Vatican declined to say whether Francis would pray at his tomb during his visit to the cathedral on Monday. "There are many who feel he was more of a political figure than a religious one, often disregarding that the motivation for all that he did was Jesus Christ," Mr Dorantes said. SINGAPORE: Palm oil faces a resistance at 4,071 ringgit per tonne, it may hover below this level or retrace towards... ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Thursday, made it compulsory for the Speaker to issue the production order of an... LONDON: Eight out of 10 people in Britain now disapprove of the government, a YouGov poll showed on Tuesday, as the... PARIS: At least 92 people have been killed as Iran has cracked down on women-led protests sparked by the death of... The departure from the norm easily eclipsed the previous record of 0.29 degrees shared equally by 2002, 2007 and 2015, the agency said. Just a month after the world notched its hottest year on record , January's global land and sea-surface temperatures were 0.52 degrees above the average for 1981-2010, Japan's Meteorological Agency reported. This year has got off to a scorching start, with global temperatures marching to new highs as a giant El Nino rode on the back of creeping climate change, data from Japan and the US show. Temperatures in January are rising at the rate of about 0.75 degrees per century, the agency said. While more data will be released in coming days by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a chart from fellow US agency NASA (see below) also shows January's temperature spiking higher. The data indicates last month had the biggest increase over the previous record for any month in more than a century of records. January also had the largest anomaly or departure from the long-term norm for any month on record, Stefan Rahmstorf, a researcher from Germany's Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research and a visiting professorial fellow at the University of New South Wales, says. "The record is helped along a bit by El Nino, but most of it - more than 80 per cent - is due to human-caused global warming," Dr Rahmstorf said. Newly collected DNA has helped police lay charges over the rape of a 17-year-old woman that went unsolved for almost 20 years. The woman, now 37, was walking alone in Woolloongabba on March 31, 1996, when police allege she was violently and sexually assaulted. DNA collected in an unrelated investigation has helped police investigating a rape 20 years ago, they say. A 51-year-old Bellbird Park man was charged on Saturday with rape and several other offences over the incident. Police said they took DNA from the man last year when they interviewed him over another matter. The ACT government will move to create a new independent authority to oversee legal reporting requirements for child abuse and neglect, ahead of the completion of the royal commission. Under the plan put forward by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, organisations with responsibility for children will be legally required to report any allegations of abuse or neglect to a new statutory authority. The move is designed to end internal reporting and handling mechanisms, previously used by churches and other organisations seeking to handle abuse allegations outside legal structures. New reporting requirements for child abuse proposed: Chief Minister Andrew Barr. Credit:Graham Tidy The scheme would be based on systems already in place in NSW, which the government believes would bring effective reporting requirements to the territory and complement measures already in place in the ACT. The proposed scheme would to increase statutory responsibility by creating a new independent oversight body armed with powers to provide further protection for children and young people. United Airlines's performance on the Sydney-San Francisco route is continuing to meet expectations despite the recent entry of Qantas as a competitor on the once monopoly route, says United managing director Japan and Asia Pacific sales Alison Espley. "Not everybody is flying to San Francisco," she said of the final destination on United. "A high percentage of our passengers are connecting on. That is where our true strength is in San Francisco." United Airlines will fly only Boeing 787 Dreamliners on its Australian routes from March. Credit:FDC United, unlike Qantas's partner American Airlines, has a large hub in San Francisco offering connecting flights as well as deep relationships with the large companies based in the technology-focused city. In documents filed with the US Department of Transportation seeking approval for its deeper alliance with American Airlines, Qantas said without a revenue-sharing partnership, it would not have redirected capacity from Los Angeles to San Francisco in December because United was a "formidable competitor". Virgin Australia has agreed on a long-term strategic partnership with Brisbane-based fly-in fly-out operator Alliance Aviation Services that will see both airlines work together to build up their charter businesses amid tough times in the mining and oil and gas industries. Under the proposed deal, which will need approval from the competition regulator, existing charter contracts will remain with the current operator but all future contracts will be operated as part of the partnership. Virgin Australia has agreed on a long-term strategic partnership with Brisbane-based fly-in fly-out operator Alliance Aviation. Credit:Glenn Hunt The pair will also enter agreements to procure services for each other on a preferential basis, including aircraft, spare parts, maintenance and ground-handling services. Virgin chief executive John Borghetti said the deal would allow both airlines to boost their competitive position in the charter market, where they compete against players like QantasLink, Cobham Aviation Services and Airnorth. Insurance Australia Group is planning to establish an investment fund to buy stakes in emerging growth companies, as new chief executive Peter Harmer seeks to accelerate product development and modernise technology platforms. IAG, which reports its half-year profit on Wednesday, has not finalised how much will be made available for investments or the structure of the fund, which will operate within IAG Ventures, a special innovation unit created in 2014. IAG's board is expected to decide on the investment fund model by April. Peter Harmer wants better technology to accelerate product launches. Credit:Louise Kennerley IAG is also partnering with Braintree, the global payments platform acquired by PayPal, to provide payments technology for some new insurance products. ShareCover, which IAG has created to provide cover for customers renting their houses through Airbnb and Stayz, is running the PayPal Braintree payments platform. This is the same payments technology being used by Airbnb itself, and the other giant of the sharing economy, ride share service Uber. Ron Arnold, IAG's general manager of venturing, said while the new fund may invest in start-ups, its focus would be on emerging growth companies. IAG was looking for investments "that might generate new business models of how to deliver insurance," he said. CBD is sure Kerry would not have minded the $73,000 of tax payers money that was spent on his state funeral some years later. Golden Summer Mining in 2016 is all about digging yourself a big hole and praying you don't go broke in the process. And it helps if there is a glimmer of gold at the bottom of the hole. The dog's breakfast of a result on Monday from gold digger, Newcrest which including earnings being cut by half and a continuing dividend drought has not prevented the share price from soaring over the summer. It has gone from a low of $11 in late November, to a high above $16.80 last week a golden summer for Newcrest investors indeed. Some might even think that its years of misery and disaster and productions stutters are finally behind it. That was the hint from Newcrest's highly remunerated chief executive, Sandeep Biswas, who took home $5.65 million last year, including a base salary of $2.25 million one of the highest in the mining sector. "Newcrest has delivered a strong financial result in a lower gold and copper price environment," he said. Shareholders with long memories might not be so enthused with the recent share gyrations. To keep things in context, former Newcrest boss, Ian Smith, departed in 2011 after offloading $5.3 million worth of shares at more than $42 a pop. Soon after that, the company was forced to report the disastrous results of Smith's Lihir acquisition, and it was all downhill from there. Bruce Almighty "They call him Bruce" Bruce Baird may not have the social media savvy of his son NSW Premier Mike Baird but the veteran politician can do The Hustle better than Van McCoy. The former state federal Liberal MP, who is now ensconced as chairman of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) and relishing it was cranking away at the press release machine over the last week in response to the revolving door on Malcolm Turnbull's cabinet. Last week it was the departure of Warren Truss as the Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister. "Over the 26 years of Mr Truss' political career, I've had the honour and pleasure of working with the man and the Minister and was pleased to again continue our association through the nation's trucking Regulator," said a very personable Baird. "Hailing from a farming family in Queensland, Mr Truss has been a tireless advocate for rural and regional Australia and knows well the impact that sound and practical regulatory reform has on the day-to-day operations of regional communities and families. I'm grateful for the particular interest he took in the regulator's growth and his steadfast support for us during challenging times." And Baird was just as chipper on Monday as he welcomed Truss' replacement, Darren Chester. "As Member for the regional seat of Gippsland, Mr Chester would appreciate the importance of an efficient national road freight task and its role in giving regional economies the best chance for growth," said Baird in the NHVR press release. "I'm looking forward to working with Mr Chester and the Coalition government to boost road safety for all road users, reduce red tape for the heavy vehicle industry and deliver consistency across borders." We look forward to Bruce's announcements on the matter. Google minus Google, the search engine giant which can't seem to find a home for its overseas subsidiaries anywhere other than in a tax haven, has finally erased the error that led it to declare recently that it made a $60,000 donation to the Labor Party in May last year. Google Australia Pty Ltd disclosure was amended "to reflect the fact that no donations have been made to the Australian Labor Party or any other Australia political party," it said in the amendment. Anglo's Australian business could look very different on Wednesday morning. It could shrink its local presence in coal to a couple of mines. When Anglo chief executive Mark Cutifani announces its full year earnings on Tuesday, investors will be watching to see that the mining giant is executing its radical overhaul with a sense of urgency. The miner will outline the details of its asset sale plan: how it plans to cull assets from 55 to 20. It is expected to take more write-downs, and to post a 55 to 60 per cent fall in underlying earnings. The heat is on Anglo chief Mark Cutifani's Australian business to prove it can restructure. Credit:Gillianne Tedder Anglo has a $US4 billion ($5.6 billion) target on asset sales by next year at least half of which is already locked in but pressure is mounting to hit the target. While it is trying to offload its higher-cost, lower quality assets first, it is likely have to go further and put some of its higher value assets up for sale too. That might mean trying to sell some of the metallurgical coal assets in Australia it has been keen to hang on to. Or mothballing the Australian assets it can't sell. In coming months, the court is expected to issue judgments on the ability of the government to regulate carbon emissions, how far states can go in restricting a woman's access to abortion, and how to apply the principle of "one person, one vote" when drawing electoral boundaries. President Barack Obama is required by the constitution to nominate a new judge to the US Supreme Court. Credit:AP If it wasn't clear before to Americans how much the court mattered, it will be now. A vacancy on the court is no longer a theoretical concern for the next president to deal with, but an immediate and pressing issue. The constitution requires President Barack Obama to nominate a replacement for Justice Scalia, and he has affirmed he will do so forthwith. However, any justice Obama proposes will shift the balance of power in the court far to the left, a deeply unappealing prospect for the Republican-dominated Senate that must approve the President's choice. After Scalia's death was reported, leading Republicans were quick to insist his replacement should be picked by the next president and not by President Obama. Texas senator and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz tweeted: "Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement." Florida senator and fellow White House contender Marco Rubio concurred, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement that the vacancy "should not be filled until we have a new president". Opposition parties often become more reluctant to confirm appointments as a presidency comes to an end, but this represents an extraordinary departure from precedent. The Senate can and has rejected presidential appointments in the past, but Senators Rubio, Cruz, and McConnell are not opposing any specific nominee as Democrats did with Robert Bork in 1987 but any nominee whomsoever President Obama might put forward. The longest gap between nomination and confirmation in US history was that of Justice Louis Brandeis, which took 125 days in 1916 also an election year. With more than 11 months remaining in Obama's term, the Senate has plenty of time to give any nominee he puts forward due consideration. An informal and inconsistently applied tradition within the Senate is the "Thurmond Rule", which holds that lifetime judicial appointments should not advance during the final six months of a presidency. Even taking this into account, however, the Senate will not reach that point for many months. Supreme Court nominations are one of the highest-stakes ventures in US politics, and regardless of precedent and propriety, most Republicans have little incentive to allow Democrats the chance to push the US judiciary to the left this close to an election that might well put a Republican in the Oval Office. Democrats will not simply roll over, though: they will use every opportunity available over the coming year to threaten, cajole, and campaign against recalcitrant senators holding up Obama's pick. And presidential candidates from both parties will use the furore to remind their supporters exactly how much it matters which party ends up winning this election as well as the Senate, where Democrats could well regain power, diminishing Republican influence over a nomination in the next term. The liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 82 and the next president could serve for up to eight years. As Scalia's passing demonstrates, death can arrive suddenly for those in their advanced years. When Americans go to the polls in November, they will have witnessed a vicious fight over one empty seat on the court. If it weren't already apparent now, it will be by then: there is more than the presidency at stake in this election. I had seen Obama at the primaries, and at the Democrat Convention. I had waited for him to speak intelligently about the state of America and how he would put it right, but I waited in vain. The cliche at the time, which became more relevant later, was about how he campaigned in poetry but would govern in prose. Some prose can be magnificent: but not his. America was angry after two terms of George W Bush. Though he could not stand, his party's candidate would be punished for how Bush and the lunatics around him had made America an international pariah. The financial crisis of 2008 - the collapse of Lehmann Brothers came between the conventions and polling day - was the last straw. As dawn broke a woman, interviewed outside her run-down house upstate, shed tears while telling an interviewer what the victory meant for her. "I now know," she sobbed, "that my house won't be foreclosed on." I hope she was right: but the evidence of the seven years since Obama the miracle-worker took office suggests she may have been disappointed. The morning after Barack Obama was elected, in November 2008, I put the television on in my hotel room in New York to watch the reaction. Fox News was putting on a brave face, though the sourness and anger were barely contained: but MSNBC, an avowedly liberal network, was in a state of almost convulsive ecstasy. His stump oratory - especially his convention speech, delivered from a preposterous mock-Grecian stage set in Denver - was vacuous. He is clever and has a way with words: but his words contained little. He entranced audiences, first in his own party - which is why he beat Hillary Clinton, arrogant and boring then as now, for the nomination - and then in the wider electorate. John McCain - old, white, Republican and with the media's hate figure, Sarah Palin, as his running mate - didn't have a prayer. As Lehmann's sank, political leaders, including potential presidents, met to discuss what to do. Obama said nothing: and the liberal media praised him for his silence, suggesting it showed his wisdom by reserving judgment on so complex a matter. Perhaps it did. Or perhaps it showed he didn't have a clue. America's slow, stumbling path to recovery, and its awesome level of debt - just under $19 trillion, or 104 per cent of GDP - suggest the latter. The great stimulus the Democrats then engineered disappeared and achieved nothing. The sobbing woman in upstate New York was white and middle-aged. To glimpse how little Obama has done for his own constituency - the poor blacks - it is worth reading an instructive article in the latest New Yorker. It is about evictions in Milwaukee, a city that is 40 per cent black. An industry exists to service evictions - courts, lawyers, removal men, bailiffs - and operates full-time, dealing with masses who cannot pay their rent, or their mortgages. Obama was elected promising to end such misery: but he hasn't, and he never would. America has astonishing wealth: it also has astonishing deprivation and squalor, because there isn't enough well-paid work to go round. I don't know Milwaukee, but am familiar with cities such as Baltimore, Newark and Trenton, which have square miles of squalor. Detroit teeters on the verge of extinction: in thriving cities such as Los Angeles and Washington DC, pockets of affluence sit cheek-by-jowl with areas of appalling poverty and crime. Racial tensions, which a black president was supposed to heal, seem worse than ever - remember Ferguson - and Obama's interventions have often been clumsy. He has failed to control immigration, even though he has the sovereign power to do so. And America has largely rejected Obamacare, which displays all that can go wrong with massive state intervention. Does Malcolm Turnbull have murder on his mind? Because it seems he is trying to impoverish and kill me. It's not a long-standing vendetta, dating back to when he was head prefect and I was a year behind him at Sydney Grammar. We got on OK then. In 1960, the Menzies government ended free medicines under Labor's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Credit:Peter Rae Actually, it's nothing personal. Turnbull, like Liberals going back to Sir Robert Menzies, has it in for public healthcare. They resent public spending on health, funded through taxes, because it diminishes the money their main backers can pocket in profits. Meanwhile, particular corporations in the "health business", especially drug companies and insurance providers, with huge clout, fight to make sure their profits continue to flow. Taylor Swift cautioned Kanye West about the "misogynistic" nature of his latest single Famous in which he sings about bedding the 26-year-old and being responsible for her fame. Under fire from Swift's family and famous friends, the 38-year-old rapper claimed on Twitter on Saturday that Swift approved the lyrics in which he calls her a "bitch", and thought them "funny". But Swift's representatives say the Wildest Dreams singer actually nothing to do with the song and had no idea he would be singing about her. In a letter to committee chairman Damien Tudehope after Fairfax Media revealed the transcript excerpts last week, Ms Cunneen's lawyers "ask that the chair seek written confirmation from Ms Latham and each of the members of the parliamentary committee as to whether either they or any of their staff" leaked the material to journalists. Lawyers for Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen want members of a parliamentary inquiry and corruption chief Megan Latham to give written guarantees they did not leak controversial transcripts of Australian Crime Commission phone taps involving her to Fairfax Media and other news outlets. The letter says Ms Cunneen has instructed them to refer the matter to the commissioners of the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police "for immediate investigation" as to whether the leak breached the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act or the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act. Margaret Cunneen was the subject of an ICAC investigation. Credit:Daniel Munoz Mr Tudehope said: "The committee does not take directions from [Ms Cunneen's] lawyers." The committee met on Monday as planned but the only formal decision made was to postpone its next meeting from this Friday to an as yet undecided date. This was because it has yet to receive legal advice as to its powers to publicly release material gained under the the federal Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act.Excerpts of the secret recording revealed by Fairfax Media capture Ms Cunneen telling a tow truck driver she had sent a message to her son's girlfriend, who had been drinking alcohol, "to start having chest pains" after a 2014 car accident to delay being given a breath test. Australia's megafauna likely went extinct due to humans rather than climate change, new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B has found. A 16-strong team, including one Queensland scientist, meticulously sifted through a broad range of data and found human predation was the likely factor behind the extinction of Australia's megafauna, including the wombat-like diprotodon, the flightless bird genyronis and the giant kangaroo procoptodon. The giant kangaroo: Procoptodon. Credit:Nobu Tomura The finding comes in direct contrast to the existing theory that found megafauna extinction was most likely due to climate change and not the introduction of humans to the continent. James Cook University professor Michael Bird said the team's multidisciplinary effort, which included ecologists, archeologists, geologists, paleontologists and climate scientists, ensured quality control on every piece of available data studied. While the government scrambles to get the last vote it needs to pass its controversial alcohol-fuelled violence laws, the man they are targeting remains unmoved. With the LNP ruling out its support for the lock-out legislation, the government needs either the Katter Party MPs or Labor-turned-independent MP Billy Gordon to join them in the yes vote. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has scheduled last-minute crisis talks with the cross benchers to convince them of the government's position. But Mr Gordon, who resigned from the Labor party ahead of his sacking for "dishonesty", told media on Monday he was unlikely to shift his position. A man facing terrorism-related charges in Queensland has had a Supreme Court bail bid knocked back. Former Islamic bookstore owner Omar Succarieh is accused of fundraising for the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group in Syria and arranging to send an alleged associate to join the fighting. Omar Succarieh arrives at the Brisbane Watchhouse following his arrest in September 2015. Credit:Seven News Justice Jean Dalton denied him bail in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday after finding Succarieh's access to the prosecution's electronic evidence, such as telephone and surveillance recordings, had improved since he was provided with a laptop in prison. In denying bail, Justice Dalton noted the 32-year-old had the chance to use his laptop more than he was doing now while behind bars. Police believe they have already spoken to people who hold the key to solving Logan schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer's murder and hope a new $250,000 reward will provide the incentive to get them to talk. Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson announced the reward on Monday, after the Queensland Government agreed to fund it, along with indemnity from prosecution for the first person person to provide information that leads to the conviction of Tiahleigh's killer. He said the indemnity was particularly important, as detectives surmised they had already interviewed people who knew what happened to the 12-year-old nearly four months ago. Four new electrical tram substations have been built in Melbourne with asbestos flooring imported from China. Testing found a very small risk of exposure to the deadly substance, prompting Yarra Trams to rush to secure the four sites. Three modular electrical substations were built last year in East Brighton, the CBD, Thornbury and one is under construction in West Brunswick. All have flooring that contains white asbestos, which was banned in Australia in 2003. Workers prepare to remove asbestos from the substation in Thornbury. Credit:Simon Schluter Yarra Trams was alerted to the illegal presence of asbestos in mid-December and has issued a legal notice to show cause to Siemens, which was contracted to build them. Siemens subcontracted the work to Adelaide-based Robin Johnson Engineering. The South Australian company claims it was deceived by its Chinese supplier, which provided documentation stating the flooring material was asbestos-free. A bitter legal stoush has broken out within the Australian Bravery Association over allegations its former president and Bayside Council mayor James Long siphoned more than $240,000 to an affiliated organisation without authority. The legal proceedings launched in the ACT Magistrates Court are part of a long-running dispute that began when Cr Long and a former vice-president of the association, Phillip Spence, established the Australian Bravery Foundation, in 2012. Cr James Long in 2004 during an unsuccessful bid for Melbourne City Council. Credit:Angela Wylie The Australian Bravery Association - which supports those who have endured personal hardship after acts of valour - claims it was blind-sided by the transfer of the money to the foundation, which was never approved by the national executive and breached its constitution. But Cr Long and Mr Spence have robustly defended their actions, claiming the funds transfer was approved at three different meetings of the national executive between 2011 and 2012. Land being prepared for sale by the state government should be used to alleviate Victoria's housing affordability crisis, housing groups say. A list on the Department of Treasury and Finance website shows dozens of properties are being readied for sale. The site of the old Deer Park Primary School was put up for sale in 2014. Credit:Patrick Scala Housing groups say the state government should consider offering some of the properties to social housing providers to tackle homelessness and help low-income earners who are struggling to break into the private rental market. The sites include former schools, police stations, departmental buildings, health care sites and research facilities. A woman who left her young son unattended while she assaulted an associate also threatened to slash and stab a witness who was caring for the boy, a court has heard. Kelly Dignan left her five-year-old son alone while she was metres away, holding a long knife to a woman's throat, before she and her partner assaulted the woman outside a Melton house about 3.30pm last Thursday, Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard. Kelly Dignan was in tears after Magistrate Belinda Wallington granted he bail on condition she has no contact with man accused over same assault - her partner and father of one of her sons. Credit:Getty Images A witness who saw the attack called police and also looked after Ms Dignan's son, until the accused threatened to slash and stab her, Detective Senior Constable Damien Fattore told the court on Monday. Magistrate Belinda Wallington granted Ms Dignan bail, but only after telling her she couldn't have anything to do with her co-accused, even though he was her partner of 10 years and the father of one of her two sons. A fresh investigation into Bacchus Marsh and Melton Hospital has uncovered seven more infant deaths, bringing the total number of deaths at the maternity unit to 18, the ABC has reported. In October 2015 the Victorian Health Department revealed it had asked Professor Euan Wallace to probe 11 stillbirths or deaths in 2013 and 2014 at the hospital. The eminent obstetrician found that hospital practices could have contributed to seven of those deaths. The events at the hospital, which is run by Djerriwarrh Health Services, was described by Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy as a "series of catastrophic failures". The plan to elevate rail lines in Melbourne's south-east as a way of removing nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong lacked a proper process to involve the community, planners have told the Andrews government. It comes as the head of Infrastructure Victoria, the state government body created to devise a 30-year plan for the state's infrastructure needs, said his organisation had not been asked about the plan. The government last week announced its plan to start construction this year on the removal of level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong railway stations. But it surprised locals living along the rail tracks by announcing three separate sections of concrete elevated rail tracks would be built, up to three storeys high. Perth once ridiculed as "Dullsville" now has one of the most vibrant bar scenes and late night economies in the country according to one of the world's best bartenders who lives right here. Kiwi-born Ben Tua is one of the best cocktail makers on the competitive international circuit and has a big reputation in Perth as a "bar doctor" who can turn around the fortunes of underperforming spaces. Ben Tua, aka "The Feirce" (yes, spelled like that), crafts a winning creation. Credit:Facebook Also known by his professional name "The Feirce" (yes, spelled that way) Mr Tua was taught to make a Cosmopolitan by the man who invented it and also learned from a master of cocktail history. "Perth has opened up many opportunities for me and I've been lucky to be here as it has transformed itself into a platform for so many new venues to open," he said. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams It is a streetcar named quagmire. A trolley along the Brooklyn waterfront would be a $2.5-billion gift to developers, likely providing a sluggish service that few straphangers will actually use, warns a public transit advocate who was also a top political honcho in Portland, Ore. when a similar service was taking off there. Most streetcar projects in the U.S. provide slow, unreliable service that does not serve many people, said David Bragdon, who served as president of the areas regional Metro Council from 2003 to 2010, and now heads Transit Center, a foundation that funds and advocates for public transit projects in New York. We dont want New York City to repeat the mistakes of other places and spend $2.5 billion if the result is not useful transportation for riders. In the days since Mayor DeBlasio announced his plan to construct a streetcar from Sunset Park to Queens, pols and media commentators have repeatedly cited the West Coast hipster enclaves tram service the first modern-day streetcar system in the country when it launched in 2001 as a model of success. But Bragdon says the Stumptown cable car which claims to cart around 15,000 people every day, though its operators have been caught dramatically inflating ridership figures in the past is regarded by locals as sluggish and erratic, as are many others across the country that have followed in its tracks. I lived right on the streetcar line, across the street from a stop, but I rarely rode it because I could walk most places faster, said Bragdon, who first moved across the country to work for the Bloomberg administration. DeBlasio claims his so-called Brooklyn-Queens Connector would shuttle 24,500 straphangers along the waterfront every week day compared to the 125,000 who ride the G train every day. Around 30,000 commuters currently ride waterfront bus services, but those all hook up to Manhattan-bound subway stops many of which are struggling with rush-hour overcrowding while the mayors vague route appears to connect with only a few, Transit Center said in a recent blog post slamming the idea. One thing the Portland service has done well is help spur development along its tracks, Bragdon says. The line runs through several formerly industrial areas that developers were turning into Dumbo-esque condo districts when it launched. But those same developers also made direct financial contributions to the project, he said, unlike the funding model DeBlasio is pitching, which rests on the assumption that property values will rise along proposed 16-mile line even though construction and house prices in Red Hook, the Navy Yard, and Greenpoint are already booming. Developers in Portland truly did contribute a significant share of the capital cost, not through theoretical tax appreciation, as is talked about here, but through firm commitments, he said. But that doesnt mean allowing developers and businesses to bankroll public transportation is a good idea, says one of Bragdons colleagues. Too many of the countrys streetcar projects have been created by politicians and the real-estate industry with the goal of making money, rather than getting people around, and the Brooklyn-Queens Connector which is being pushed by developer Two Trees and other business interests along the proposed route would be no different, he said. Developers, like our friends here behind the Brooklyn-Queens streetcar, feel the need for some transportation in places where it may not be that strong, said Jon Orcutt, a spokesman for Transit Center and a former policy director at the citys Department of Transportation. They want something visible to sell the area, but they dont know anything about transportation. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams These pony partiers just couldnt rein in their enthusiasm! Thousands of fans of the television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic galloped into Park Slopes sparkling Grand Prospect Hall on Feb. 13 through 15 where attendees say they celebrated their shared love of the pastel-colored animated horses by dressing up as their favorite one. I was really happy with the positive reaction my costume got, said Connecticut native Mike Calzati, who dressed up as beloved character Big Macintosh for the annual convention PonyCon. Calzati commissioned the big, red costume from an online craftsman for the slew of pony conventions he attends every year after PonyCon, he will make his way to Baltimores BronyCon in July. Plenty of younger fans showed up to the all-ages convention to watch pony-inspired rockabilly band the Shakeups in Ponyville play musical tributes to the cartoon and sing until they were a little horse. But the event was mostly dominated by adults who just really love the childrens show about magical ponies. Calzati says he attended with pal and fellow grown-up brony Frist. The duo met at a different pony convention two years ago, and their friendship is now appropriately magical, he said. I was dressed up as a pony, and he was dressed up as a pony, but we didnt really talk at first, said Calzati. The next time, he noticed me and we started talking and we became friends. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Call it a flight of fancier. A Red Hook artist known for bizarre public performance pieces is now training thousands of pigeons to fly in formation over the East River while toting tiny lights on their legs for a series of shows at the Navy Yard in May. It is art, he said, but also a way to celebrate the species often pigeon-holed as rats of the sky and the dying New York pastime of pigeon keeping. I hope it brings attention to a greater appreciation of pigeons in general, and maybe draws more interest in the activity, said Duke Riley, whose previous endeavours include sailing a home-made submarine in Red Hook waters, creating an illegal bar under the Belt Parkway, and staging a mock naval battle inside a fountain while toga-wearing audience members hurled tomatoes and baguettes at him. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the month, Riley who has been a pigeon fancier himself since he rescued one as a boy growing up in Boston will summon the performers via a whistle at sunset, then send the birds soaring out of a ship at the dockyard to light up the sky in a piece called Fly By Night. Many New Yorkers mistakenly think of the city-slicking birds as disease-ridden pests, says Riley, even though and breeding and training the species has been a borough tradition for more than 100 years. But the art is fading as more landlords refuse to let locals keep the birds on rooftops, and replace coops with lounge chairs and grills, he said. A lot of people complain and dont want them, even though they used to be such a New York staple, said Riley. Riley said he first got the idea for the show while reading a military pigeon-training manual. The army used the birds renowned their ability to fly non-stop for long distances to carry messages during World War I and II, and the Navy Yard used to have one of the largest bird boot camps in the country. This isnt Rileys first performance piece starring pigeons he trained 50 birds to smuggle cigars from Cuba to Florida as a comment on the trade embargo in 2013 but it is his largest. The artist had to recruit troops from his friends in the New York pigeon-fancying community to reinforce his own personal flock and complete his massive avian army. And he will have help from public art organization Creative Time the outfit behind the giant sphinx statue in the old Domino sugar factory in 2014, and the two giant beams of light at Ground Zero on the six-month anniversary of 911 in staging the ambitious show. Riley swears the stars of the show will be well cared for he has hired a vet and a team of handlers to look after them and the city will give each one a clean bill of health ahead of the show. And because pigeons mate for life, he says he has made sure pairs and their offspring are being kept together. The performances will be free to the public, but those who want to see them up close will need to reserve their spot online. Fly By Night at Brooklyn Navy Yard (63 Flushing Ave. at Eighth Street in Fort Greene, www.creat iveti me.org/ proje cts/ flyby night ). Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in May. Free. photos by PSquared; words by Bill Pearis Ty Segall & The Muggers @ Baby's All Right 2/11/2016 "I ripped my pants...do you want to see it?" Ty Segall was in a mischievous mood Thursday night (2/11) at Baby's All Right and yes the crowd did want to see it. Earlier, he and his new band The Muggers played The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and decided, apparently last minute, to play a show while here. Billed as another of Baby's "secret shows," it was free... and didn't start till after 2 AM. The band set up while Blonde Redhead were still DJing their afterparty and pretty much hopped on stage as soon as they got their DJ gear off stage, opening with a ragged, spirited cover of The Door's "L.A. Woman." That set the tone for the 45-minute set: a loose and anything goes. Part of that may have been from Ty being in pure frontman mode, focusing on the crowd and not an instrument. I have seen wilder Ty Segall shows, but never one where he offered shots of tequila to the crowd baby bird style, right out of his mouth. It was that kind of night. He and the band, which includes Mikal Cronin, King Tuff, Cory Hanson and Evan Burrows of Wand, and Emmett Kelly of The Cairo Gang, were dressed in glammy theatrical makeup (somewhere between Alice Cooper and Phantom of the Paradise) and played the bulk of Emotional Mugger new songs, and wrapped up the night with a doomy take on The Beatles' "I Want You / She's No Heavy." Ty Segall & The Muggers will be be back in NYC in a couple weeks when their tour officially swings through for two shows at Webster Hall. The 2/27 show with CFM and Axis: Sova is sold out but tickets are still available for the 2/28 show with The Men, and Dion Lunadon. Lots more pics from Ty's late night Baby's show below... Okay, its official: Were on the final nine episodes of the glory that is The Good Wife. So every show has to count no do-overs. With Monday, we get off to a great start as Alicia receives both welcomes and warnings. No time for grieving, as we jump right into Alicias first day back at Lockhart, Agos, & Lee. Did she make the right decision to rejoin the firm? Lets find out. The Good Wife to End After 7 Seasons >>> Welcome Back, Sort of We open with Diane conducting orientation for new associates including Lucca. Yes, Luccas back in associatesville after her partner-time with Alicia. Meanwhile, Alicias in an elevator (what else?) ready for her first day back. Shes feeling uncertain, but Cary seems overjoyed to see her. Office space is at a premium, by the way. (And where did all these people come from anyway?) Despite a shaky chair and substandard office, Alicias already got a case. Howell, the firms own tech director, wants to know if its legal/kosher to sell the new Chumhum tablet, the Foil. His girlfriend Amy found it under her chair at a big conference. Its not actually due on the market for two months, but after tweeting about it, Howells got several online sites eager to get a first peek. He wants Alicia to help him negotiate, but shes not so sure its a good idea. Alicia and Lucca bring Howells case to Diane and Cary. Luccas right that technically the tablet is lost property, so Howell could keep it. Diane and Cary dont want a lawsuit from Chumhum, so Lucca calls the company directly to give constructive notice of the tablets whereabouts. They tell her she cant have a Foil its not on the market. With no way to return it, she and Alicia say Howell can rightfully sell it. Diane and Cary are still wary, though. So this is bureaucracy, Lucca says, realizing theres something to be said for staying small. A Juicy Revelation In the outside world, we learn that when Marissa Gold couldnt convince Alicia to hire her back, she found alternate work at a juice bar. A customer asks her out for lunch and quizzes her about her life, including Peter, Eli and Alicia. Its not long before Marissa smart cookie picks up on the fact that hes more interested in her dad than in her. She even starts recording the conversation. You know how youre not paranoid if theyre really out to get you? When Marissa takes her suspicions to her dad and shows him a selfie with the guy, Elis aghast. Thats not a student named Peter Devereaux, thats a (young-looking) FBI agent named Roland Lavin. Elis so proud of his daughter for her good instinct, he positively beams. (So cute!) Someone Poked the Bear Jason stops by the office to see Alicia. They flirt. They discuss the fact that they kissed. They decide its okay since hes freelance. Okay! Shes smiling until she learns theyre dropping Howells case. Were in a weird place with Chumhum, Cary says. We dont want to poke the bear. Alicia, too, is realizing theres something to be said for staying small. Talking about weird a bunch of police from the TAPS unit show up to arrest Howell for trafficking in stolen property. As they lead him away, Alicia asks, Who are those guys? Howell could get three years, so now the firm is representing him. (He is an employee, after all.) Chumhum CEO (and former Lockhart, Agos client) Neil Gross shows up at the police station, offering to drop the charges if he gets his prototype back and if Howell admits who gave him the tablet. Since that was his girlfriend, Amy, hes not inclined to give her up. But whats really going on here? Why is Gross allowed in an interrogation room with the cops? Who Are These Guys? Jason discovers that TAPS stands for Technology Allied Protection Service. Its a multi-agency taskforce working with Silicon Valley companies to crack down on technology theft. Theyre the I-Police. Despite being a governmental agency, theyre pretty cozy with the business titans. At Howells preliminary hearing, Alicia scores several points about the role of TAPS and its relationship to companies like Chumhum. But the judge just wants to focus on whether Howell should stand trial. Back at the office, Cary and Diane take Lucca off Howells case and put her to work with Monica on one of their many Reese Dipple filings. The two women realize theyre expected to like working together because of their common experiences. Since they seem to be the only non-white faces in the firm, neither of them is fooled. As Old Friends Reunite, Old Enemies Face Off So glad Eli and Alicia are speaking again! Its especially helpful because he needs to warn her about the reappearance of Agent Lavin. They dont know what the FBI could be after. Just then, Anthony Dudowitz, Neil Grosss former business partner, bursts in and accuses Gross of being a fascist. (Think of Dudowitz as Wozniak to Grosss Jobs.) He wants to stand up for Howells right. When Lucca comes to drop off her files on Howell and explains that shes been reassigned to the Dipple work, Alicia says shell talk to Diane about it. I sense a wee bit of conflict coming. In court, Dudowitz claims the stolen property charge is a marketing stunt conjured up by Neil Gross. Lucca argues that means it couldnt be a crime. He then all but accuses Gross of stealing the original Chumhum code. Suddenly Gross tells his attorney to drop this line of questions. Grosss team must be worried, because the TAPS force suddenly shows up at Lockhart, Agos. They want to search the premises for the missing tablet. But they wont find it, Lucca says, because I have it. Diane and Cary are furious with Lucca, especially because they didnt want her involved in the case at all. Diane seems just as annoyed that Luccas sticking with Alicia and calls her old partner into her office to discuss it. Diane admits she was worried about situations like this when Cary invited Alicia back. Lucca isnt Alicias associate shes the firms. The partners have to agree what cases the associates work on. Alicia keeps her cool. Diane, Im thrilled to be back, she says. I want to be of service. But I also return with some cases, clients, and knowledge. Alicia champions Luccas experience and smarts. She shouldnt be given grunt work. Diane says the partners will take her advice under consideration. Yup, bureaucracy sucks. The Good Wife Spin-Off: Could the Show Survive Without Alicia? >>> Corporations Are People, My Friend Alicia approaches Gross with a hypothetical: If she could return the prototype, would he get TAPS to drop the charges against her client? Only if he tells where he got it. Since thats a no-go, then theres nothing to negotiate. Alicia accuses him of buying his own police force. He says, on the contrary, the TAPS agents are heroes. He even takes to the stand to testify to that opinion. He portrays giant corporations as the victims, facing off against hackers and thieves. He denies any kind of publicity stunt because hed never leak a defective product. (Something about the swipe function being substandard.) The judge decides theres probably cause to take the case to trial. Over at the governors, Eli arrives at his office to find Ruth Eastman sitting behind his desk, which used to be her desk, after it was his desk. Shes furious because the FBI has issued her a summons to appear before a grand jury. She thinks hes setting her up, but he denies it vigorously. We may be mercenaries, he says, but even mercenaries have a code. Now hes really worried. Since he knows that Peter Devereaux asked Marissa on another date, he asks her to set it up. At the juice bar, Agent Lavins waiting for Marissa, but gets Eli instead. Gold tells Lavin to back off from Ruth. What do you really want? Lavin wont tell, saying youll find out soon enough. Eli brings his suspicions to Ruth that the FBI is after Peter. But why? Eli admits that Ruth was right when Peter returned home after losing his bid for the POTUS nomination, he had a target on his back. Curses, Foiled Again! Jason tells Alicia its a good thing that tech blog upped its offer for the tablet, because now Howell can make bail. Alicias taken aback. That means someone has been negotiating with him. But who? Maybe no one maybe its just the buzz surrounding the case. Back in court, Alicia offers a new defense. Howell has 450,000 followers on social media, so she declares him to be a citizen journalist. As such, hes entitled to protect the identity of his source. He tweeted about having the Foil, which set off a public discussion about the tablet across the Nets. The judge, who seems like a kind of cool guy, decides to go with it. He declares Howell a journalist. Go free and go crazy, the judge tells Howell. Cary congratulates Lucca on the journalism angle. Now I need you on something else, he says. And shes back in a conference room with Monica. Do you know any spirituals? she asks her new colleague with a laugh. A Warning and a Dilemma Ruth comes to see Alicia with a gift a bottle of powerful booze. It was a bumpy reentrance, she says, as they share the tequila. But Ruth hasnt just come to chat. Shes come with a warning. Mrs. Florrick, I dont want you to get too comfortable, she says. Your husband has a target on his back. No question Peter loves you, but he can hurt you. Drag you down. Not only destroy everything youve done but everything you want to do. Cash out while you still can. She leaves a baffled and concerned Alicia to her tequila as the camera pulls back to show the busy office outside her door. Summary Judgment This definitely counted as a winner in the final nine. Alicia and Jason! Alicia and Cary! Alicia and Eli! Alicia and Diane! (And did I mention Alicia and Jason?) Whether Alicia made the right decision to rejoin Lockhart, Agos remains to be seen, but at least we can get all the main players in one (court)room without having to force it. Clearly the FBI investigation into Peter is part of the end game for the show. Its a clever way to bring us full circle, right back to his original corruption charges. That time, the case against Peter turned out to be bogus (sleeping with hookers, yes; taking bribes, no). But with so much pain, experience, and hard-won wisdom tucked away under her fabulous designer belts, Alicia may not be so willing to stand by her man. Next week, the investigation goes deeper, and the end inches closer. Fortunately, that means the return of some favorites, starting with Elsbeth Tascioni, played by the inimitable Carrie Preston. With the bitter comes the sweet. The Good Wife airs Sundays at 9pm on CBS (for 8 more episodes sob!). (Image courtesy of CBS) In The Walking Dead winter premiere, No Way Out, we pick up right where we left off. Almost everyones lives are in danger. Rick, Carl, Michonne and his group go old-school, cover themselves in walker guts and are attempting to walk among the dead to get out of Alexandria. Meanwhile, Carol and Morgan are holed up with one of the Wolves, fighting over whether to kill him or not. Maggie is stuck up on a post with walkers below, while Glenn and Enid are just outside the walls. And Daryl, Sasha and Abraham could possibly be meeting their fate as they run into the infamous Negans group on their way back to Alexandria. The Walking Dead Winter Finale Recap: Who Doesnt Make It Out Alive? >>> Introduction to Negan It looks like were going to have to wait a little bit longer to actually meet Negan. His group stops Daryl, Sasha and Abraham as they make their way back to Alexandria. He takes away their weapons and explains that he is going to follow them back to wherever they call home to see what its all about. He also explains that anything they own now belongs to Negan. However, just as hes about to shoot Sasha and Abraham, Daryl shoots a rocket launcher yes, a rocket launcher at the gang of bikers and blows them all up. Talk about an explosive beginning! Blending In It seems that back in Alexandria, Ricks plan to cover themselves in walker guts is working. However, once they start moving, he realizes theres way too many walkers to get through. In a clearing, he makes a new plan to head to the quarry to get some cars to drive the walkers out of the town. Jessie reminds him that Judith probably wont make it that far, so Gabriel suggests he take Judith back to the church to keep her safe until everyone gets back. Rick hesitates but agrees that its best for the baby. Jessie wants Sam to go with Gabriel too, but he refuses because, well hes a whiny bitch. The group keeps moving, but Sam has a panic attack, thinking of all those kind words Carol put in his head about the monsters. He stops the group, with Jessie and Ron pleading with him to keep moving. But the walkers get him. Jessie freaks out and starts screaming, thus making her the next walker victim. Rick flashes back briefly to his love interest, but comes to when he realizes that shes still holding Carls hand pretty tightly as the walkers feed on her. He grabs his hatchet and breaks Carl free. But soon Ron is pointing his gun at the two of them, ready to seek revenge for his familys death, I guess. Michonne stabs him, but one round goes off. Just when Michonne and Rick start to move again, as the walkers are distracted with the three fresh bodies to feed on, Carl turns around with a bullet through his eye! Everyone Else Inside the house with Carol, Morgan, Eugene, Tara and Rosita, they try to make a plan to go after Denise and the wolf. Carol is pretty pissed at Morgan and makes a comment that she should have killed him when she had the chance. Meanwhile, Rosita gets pretty nasty with Eugene, telling him hell never make it if he tries to fight the walkers. But I think shes just upset that Abraham might be dead. Outside, the wolf and Denise are waiting for the right moment to make a run for the wall, but Denise is freaking out. They seem to have a brief moment about changing and then run. The walkers start to go after Denise, and the wolf goes back to save her, but he gets bit. She tells him they need to go back to her infirmary so she can save him. However, as they start to make their way back, Carol shoots him from a balcony, and Denise runs to the infirmary. She gets to the infirmary, with Heath, Aaron and Spencer, just in time for Rick to arrive with an injured Carl. Denise immediately starts working on Carl, as Rick goes back out to defeat the walkers. And Glen and Enid make it to the church to get some supplies to save Maggie. They head to the post, and Glen distracts the walkers as Enid climbs up so she and Maggie can get over the wall. The Walking Dead Actor Cory Hawkins Cast as Lead in 24: Legacy >>> Alexandria Pulls Together Rick heads out to kill the walkers by himself. But soon, Michonne and the guys go out to help him. Then some Alexandrians come out of their homes with weapons to pitch in. Carol, Morgan and those guys head out too, with Eugene saying he wants to be part of a story everyone will eventually tell. And then, in a complete 180, Gabriel leaves Judith with another resident, as he too goes out to fight the walkers. And with Glens back literally up against the wall, Sasha, Abraham and Daryl arrive just in time to save him. Daryl then pours gasoline in a stream of water and sets it on fire to draw the walkers away from the town. And then everyone just goes postal and destroys each and every one of the walkers. Can They Rebuild? In the aftermath, everyone is hoping that Carl pulls through. Rick is by his bedside, telling him how proud he is of the community and how they pulled together when they needed to. Hes sure that together, they can rebuild and expand and possibly fulfill that vision of Deannas to make a great place to live and survive. And in a glimmer of hope, Carl moves his hand to show hes okay. But can they really rebuild? First, its going to take a long time to get those hundreds of walkers bodies out of the town. Then they have to rebuild that wall. But there is hope. I think its fantastic the way the residents really pulled together and believed in Rick. Im happy that Carl is finally going to sport that eye patch that he rocks throughout The Walking Dead graphic novels. And while Im pumped to add more conflict with the Negan character, I have a feeling he probably wont be introduced until the end of this season. The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC. (Image courtesy of AMC) From the Pine Barrens and beyond, check out these haunted hikes From the barren Pinelands to the murky bays, check out these haunted hikes and strolls at the Jersey Shore this Halloween season. Burnham-On-Seas Princess Theatre hosted the towns second annual Talent Showcase competition on Saturday night (February 13th). Up and coming bands and musicians performed live in front of two judges at the event, which was held to raise funds for local charity Somewhere House Somerset. Tom Llywarch and Leyton McLean, right, were declared the overall competition winners and they will be performing their guitar set at this years Farmfest. Odds to End, who last year came in third place, were delighted to come second this time around. And Benjamin Kempton and Toby Brewer came in third place with a medley of Jersey Boys. It was a brilliant evening, organiser Lewis Coleman told Burnham-On-Sea.com. From rap music to show songs, and rock and pop, it was a diverse competition. The judges, Oliver Hulme of Farmfest and Dymphna Skehill of Jelli Records, said they found it very difficult to pick the top three. He added: The standard was very high. I expect to see many of the eight acts in future events in the community. Odds to End, above, came came third last year and were second this time Benjamin Kempton and Toby Brewer came in third place at this years event The impressed judges, Oliver Hulme of Farmfest, and Dymphna Skehill of Jelli Records Blue Sky Theatre and Arts produced the event, which raised money for Burnham-based charity Somewhere House Somerset, pictured above Bengaluru-based property developer Prestige group is in final talks to sign a joint development with a local builder in Pune to set up an infotech park in the city. The company plans to build 800,000 sq ft IT park on the six acre land parcel in Pune owned by BU Bhandary Builders, said sources in the know. "The company is expecting rental income of Rs 45 crore every year from the development," said Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director of the company. Prestige will spend Rs 240 crore for building the project, he said. IT/ITeS contributes to 74 per cent of office demand in Pune and developers are looking to tap this demand, experts said. Riding on the back of robust leasing from the IT/ITeS sector, Pune recorded the highest office absorption of 5.03 million sq ft in 2015. This is about 2.4 per cent more than 2014's number of 4.91 million sq ft, according to realty consultant Colliers International. Contradictory to predication of 5.12 million sq ft new supply, only 3.5 million sq ft of new construction was completed in 2015. "This is because a few projects were deferred for completion in 2016. Robust absorption and less new construction has resulted in drop in vacancy levels, to about 20.5 per cent," Colliers said. Once a start-up reaches a certain size, it cannot grow further without raising capital. While most entrepreneurs will know in advance when such a stage is about to be reached, it is important to know what level and kind of funding is required. While too little money has obvious consequences, too much money (or a valuation that seems too high) can result in subsequent rounds of investment becoming difficult. This article discusses the different stages and types of investment in a startup, and how and when an entrepreneur can go about seeking it. Backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, Snapdeal plans to spend more on logistics and technology to better compete with Flipkart and Amazon IndiaOnline marketplace player Snapdeal said the $200 million investment it received would be utilised to strengthen its logistics, while some of the investment would also go into the financial technology (fintech) side of the business.Snapdeal had on Sunday announced that Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, one of the world's largest pension funds, and Singapore-based investment entity Brother Fortune Apparel invested $200 million in the company.It is not a fund raising round per se. Fund raising happens when the company goes to investors to ask for more money. We have enough cash in bank right now and might not go for a fresh funding round anytime soon. This is the result of inbound interest by investors, said a company executive.Backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, the firm plans to spend more on logistics and technology to better compete with Flipkart and Amazon India. It has already spent nearly $35 million to buy 50 per cent stake in logistics services company GoJavas. Although the company has not earmarked money for investments in different verticals, it would spend a substantial amount in making its financial technology arm Freecharge stronger. The growth of fintech is already happening in a phased manner. But, yes, the company would be investing more in Freecharge, the executive added. With this round of funding, Snapdeals valuation has gone past $6.5 billion, up from nearly $5 billion last August when it raised $500 million from a group of investors including Alibaba and Foxconn Technology. E-commerce major Flipkarts valuation is pegged at nearly $15 billion. Snapdeal has raised nearly $2 billion so far. Sources said the next round of funding might not happen anytime soon and the company does not plan to make any fresh acquisitions as well. We continue to make targeted investments in building internal and external capabilities that will enable us to consistently deliver optimal experience for millions of buyers and sellers who transact daily on Snapdeal, Anup Vikal, chief financial officer of Snapdeal, had said earlier. Over the past two years, Snapdeal has made significant investments in technology and in complementary acquisitions in pursuit of its stated aim to build Indias most reliable commerce ecosystem. Founded in 2010, Snapdeal has 275,000 sellers, 30 million-plus products and a reach of 6,000 towns and cities across the country. Ontario Teachers is Canada's largest single-profession pension plan with $154.5 billion in net assets. Snapdeal Total funding: $2 billion Number of rounds: 10+inbound investment Investors * Alibaba * Foxconn Technology Group * Blackrock * SoftBank * SoftBank Internet and Media * Ratan Tata * eBay * SoftBank Capital * Recruit Holdings * Bessemer Venture Holdings * Kalaari Capital * Nexus Venture Partners * Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan * Singapore-based investment entity Brother Fortune Apparel Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's leading IT services provider, has been recognised as the UK's top employer by the Top Employers Institute. TCS has a UK workforce of more than 11,000 employees based across 30 locations, including London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Ipswich, Norwich, Peterborough and Liverpool. The company delivers digital projects in the UK for more than 150 customers, including Boots, BT, Diageo, National Grid, Nationwide, NEST, Marks & Spencer, Thames Water and Virgin Atlantic. "The Top Employers Institute examines the HR practices and offerings that each participating company puts in place for its people, to create and maintain optimal employee conditions. Our in-depth examination concluded thatTata Consultancy Services provides an outstanding employee experience, with high quality initiatives that engage, reward and motivate employees, ensuring that people can develop themselves personally and professionally, and build a rewarding career," said Eleanor Nickerson, Director of UK Operations for the Top Employers Institute. This is sixth consecutive year that TCS has certified as one of the UK's Top Employers. TCS was named Company of the Year at the 2016 Employee Engagement Awards. Nupur Singh Mallick, HR Director, Tata Consultancy Services UK & Ireland, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded the UK's number one Top Employer for the second year running and are looking forward to building on this progress as we continue to invest in training and development for our staff. As one of the UK's biggest IT and digital employers, TCS' priority has always been to create a positive, inspiring environment for its employees, giving them a platform to help them realise their potential and our clients access to a world-class talent pool." TCS is one of just 70 employers to receive a Top Employers accreditation, which is based on in-depth research into nine core HR criteria: Talent Strategy, Workforce Planning, On-boarding, Learning & Development, Performance Management, Leadership Development, Career & Succession Management, Compensation & Benefits and Company Culture. When Bharat Biotech recently announced that it was working on two vaccines to combat the Zika virus, little did its chairman and managing director, M Krishna Ella, know that it would raise questions on his intent. The announcement is being seen as a trigger to raise the company's valuations, especially in the light of recent reports that all its three existing investors - ICICI Ventures, IFC and Subhkam Ventures - are planning to sell their shares. These investors have stayed put for long and this announcement may provide an exit route to them. "We have two Zika vaccines in development; one is recombinant (created by genetic engineering) and the other is inactivated, which will start pre-clinical testing in animals in two weeks," Ella had declared. The announcement also came a day after French drug maker Sanofi said it had launched a project to develop a Zika vaccine and Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical revealed it was investigating the possibilities of developing a vaccine to combat the dreaded virus. Ella denies making this announcement for reasons of publicity and says he wants India to have the first-mover advantage in this field. "I will not hype at the cost of people's health. We don't need any private equity. We have enough grants to carry on our research," he says. ICICI Ventures and IFC hold 11 per cent and 24 per cent stake, respectively, in the company. They'd invested in 2005. Their decision at that time had coincided with a major announcement by Bharat Biotech that it had not only developed a rotavirus vaccine but would also sell it at $1 a dose. It took almost 10 years for that announcement to fructify: Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launched the vaccine, Rotavac, in March last year. The price point was also higher than what the company had promised. FROM VACCINE TO VACCINE 1998: Bharat Biotech launches Hepatitis B vaccine Revac-B+ Bharat Biotech launches Hepatitis B vaccine Revac-B+ 1999: Expands facility to make 100 million doses of Revac-B annually from eight million doses to become the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world Expands facility to make 100 million doses of Revac-B annually from eight million doses to become the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world 2002: Becomes the first Indian company to receive two grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop new vaccines against malaria and rotavirus Becomes the first Indian company to receive two grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop new vaccines against malaria and rotavirus 2005: Ties up with Cambridge-based Acambis for developing Japanese Encephalitis vaccine Ties up with Cambridge-based Acambis for developing Japanese Encephalitis vaccine 2007: Launches BioHib, Indias first indigenously developed and manufactured Haemophilus Influenza type B (Hib) vaccine Launches BioHib, Indias first indigenously developed and manufactured Haemophilus Influenza type B (Hib) vaccine 2010: Launches HNVAC, Indias first cell culture-based H1N1 swine flu vaccine Launches HNVAC, Indias first cell culture-based H1N1 swine flu vaccine 2013: Launches Typabar TCV, worlds 1st clinically proven conjugate Typhoid vaccine Launches Typabar TCV, worlds 1st clinically proven conjugate Typhoid vaccine 2014: Launches Jenvac that protects against Japanese Encephalitis Sector analysts would want to believe the company and give Ella the benefit of doubt. Announcements can create a flutter in the stock market but private equity funds invest after due diligence and not just on the basis of news reports. Moreover, if the announcement is not based on facts, the company's credibility will be hit hard, and there would be legal issues too. For the existing investors, the first exit opportunity came after Sanofi-Aventis had acquired Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Shanta Biotech, in a $781-million deal in 2009, raising interest in Indian vaccine makers. In 2010, there were reports about ICICI Venture planning to use this as an exit opportunity. Bharat Biotech began work on the vaccine in 2014-end and filed for patent for both inactivate and recombinant versions under the name ZikaVac in July 2015. But Ella says the actual idea to work on the virus began as early as 2006 when he experienced the effects of Chikungunya in a village in Tamil Nadu. The Chikungunya vaccine will enter Phase 1 trials shortly. "All the three diseases - Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis and Zika - are transmitted by the same Aeades mosquito. We started work on Chikungunya because it had to be done and not only because of market demand. Is it not appropriate to develop a vaccine against the deadly Zika virus?" he questions. There have been allegations against the company for not following the standard procedure for importing the 'live' Zika virus. An expert committee has been formed by the Indian Council of Medical Research to investigate if the company's research is scientifically worth pursuing. Harish HV, partner at Grant Thornton, says, "Private equity exits are about aligning a buyer and a seller on facts. If it is based on fact, there is nothing wrong in announcing. The company would be valued more only if their statement is true." Bharat Biotech was established in 1996 by Ella and his wife, Suchitra K Ella, with a vision to generate innovative technologies, along with a strong backbone of intellectual capital for the manufacturing of unique vaccines and bio-therapeutics, says the company website. Fighting voiceless diseases Ella, a scientist, spent 16 years in the US where he also taught at the Medical University of South Carolina-Charleston before returning to India. The company's first project was a hepatitis B vaccine that saw $3.5 million investment in 1998. He says his focus has always been on neglected diseases affecting the developing countries and which don't interest multinationals. "Why will America bother about typhoid, which is related to unhygienic conditions?" he says. The company claims to hold a portfolio of 50 patents in vaccine development and has delivered over three billion doses of vaccines to around 65 countries, which contribute most to its revenues. It has in the pipeline nine vaccines that would likely be commercialised in the next three years. The global vaccines market is expected to reach $57.8 billion by 2019 from $33.1 billion in 2014 at compounded annual growth of 11.8 per cent. It has invested $150 million since its inception to build its portfolio of vaccines and lists three vaccines as its major achievements: Rotavac, Chikungunya (which is entering Ph I trials) and Typbar, a typhoid conjugate vaccine that has been commercialised. It received a grant of $40 million for rotavirus vaccine development from the Gates Foundation. Ella does not share the investment that has gone into Zika research, saying "it is negligible, not worth talking about." The company invests 12 per cent of revenue in R&D, excluding the grants that go directly into clinical trials and do not show in the balance sheet. If these are included, the investment would be about 35 per cent. But, Bharat Biotech's struggles will not end with funds. The company has to convince the regulators and international bodies of its work. Utkarsh Palnitkar, partner, head of advisory, head (life sciences practice), KPMG India, says India has a competitive advantage because of its continued focus on the area. However, the immunisation programme is a complete tender-based business and a company needs to be very advanced in game theory in terms of planning its production. This is because sometimes the projected demand for a vaccine when an epidemic breaks out is hugely overestimated and if the production is not aligned to market reality it could result in resources being squandered away in producing vaccines that may not find a market. "The margins would come from participating in global tenders. International volumes are higher and the business is more predictable," he adds. For this, the company has to have in place regulatory approvals and its production facilities need to be certified. However, irrespective of the support, the company believes it would pull through on its 'own' with its over 700-personnel. The situation was the same when the company announced the rotavirus vaccine some 15 years ago. "People laughed at us then too. We proved them wrong, we will do it again," says Ella. Uttar Pradesh government is gearing up to allow 20-seater private air taxis between prominent towns to boost tourism in the state. The government is working on a model, wherein small 20-seater aircraft would connect towns, including Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Allahabad, Meerut etc. The service would be launched under the existing 'Open Sky Policy', which had come into effect in June 2014, but utterly failed to take off due to factors, including commercial viability. About 18 companies, including Jet Serve Aviation, Indus Airways, Aryan, Northeast Shuttles, CD Aviation, Fairwinds Aviation etc had earlier submitted proposals evincing interest in the service. Some companies had even given presentation before the state tourism department. But, no air service could be launched. Recently, Air India (AI) had offered to deploy a 70-seater aircraft for the service, however, the state government wants smaller aircraft to fly in identified routes. "As per our study, we are confident that there is enough viability for 20-seater aircraft. The state government is ready to chip in with viability gap funding (VGF) for the proposed services," UP tourism principal secretary Naveneet Sehgal said. The 'Open Sky Policy' had cleared the way for commercial operation of small aircraft and air taxis to connect towns such as Agra, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Allahabad, Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Moradabad, Kushinagar etc. All these are major commercial and tourism spots. The idea was to cut travel time for commuters. In first phase, Lucknow-Allahabad, Lucknow-Agra, Lucknow-Meerut and Lucknow-Varanasi circuits were proposed to be connected. The policy also provides for underwriting of some seats by the state government to ensure sustainability of the service. To attract aviation companies, the government would also give exemption in Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel to non-scheduled airlines if they operate within the state. However, aircraft weighing only up to 40 tonnes would be eligible for VAT waiver. Besides, the airlines would be provided with free take off and landing facilities at state air strips. In later states, the government wants to connect Buddhist Circuit with air service. This would envisage connecting Kushinagar with direct flight from Lucknow or via Gorakhpur. There has been a significant rise in tourist inflow to UP from 7,27,000 backpackers in 1998 to almost 3 million in 2014. The state figures among the top three tourist destinations in India for both domestic and foreign backpackers. However, lack of proper connectivity and road infrastructure prevents the state from exploiting its full potential. Meanwhile, UP is gearing up to give tourism department hotels and rest houses on lease to private companies. The government has identified 37 such properties all over the state and about 55 companies had recently attended its pre-bid meeting. EOM Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh came under heavy criticism after he claimed that an event at Jawaharlal Nehru University to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received support from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed. His statement assumes significance as this is the first time any senior government minister has alleged the backing of the LeT leader in a protest march held within the country. Even as he made this claim, no evidence has been produced and opposition parties have attacked the home minister, asking him to substantiate his claims. Let's take a look at the origins of LeT and their activities in India 1) The Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure) was formed in 1990 in the Kunar province of Afghanistan. Also known as Jamaat-ud-Daawa, the organisation is based in Muridke near Lahore in Pakistan and is headed by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. 2) Its first presence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was recorded in 1993 when 12 Pakistani and Afghan mercenaries infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC) in tandem with the Islami Inquilabi Mahaz, a terrorist outfit then active in the Poonch district of J&K. 3) The LeT is outlawed in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It was included in the Terrorist Exclusion List by the US Government on December 5, 2001. The US administration designated the Lashkar-e-Taiba as a FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) on December 26, 2001. It is also a banned organization in Britain since March 30, 2001. The group was proscribed by the United Nations in May 2005. 4) The military regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf banned the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan on January 12, 2002. The LeTs professed ideology goes beyond merely challenging India's sovereignty over the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lashkar's agenda, as outlined in a pamphlet titled Why are we waging jihad includes the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India. Further, the outfit seeks to bring about a union of all Muslim majority regions in countries that surround Pakistan. 5) Hafiz Saeed, a scholar of Islam, has said that the purpose of Jihad is to carry out a sustained struggle for the dominance of Islam in the entire world and to eliminate the evil forces and the ignorant. He considers India, Israel and US to be his prime enemies and has threatened to launch Fidayeen (suicide squad) attacks on American interests too. The Lashkar-e-Taiba does not believe in democracy and nationalism. According to its ideology, it is the duty of every 'Momin' to protect and defend the interests of Muslims all over the world where Muslims are under the rule of non-Muslim in the democratic system. It has, thus chosen the path of Jihad as the suited means to achieve its goal. Cadres are drawn from the Wahabi school of thought. 6) Jihad, Hafiz Saeed said during the All Pakistan Ulema Convention held on July 17, 2003, at Lahore, is the only way Pakistan can move towards dignity and prosperity. The LeT has consistently advocated the use of force and vowed that it would plant the 'flag of Islam' in Washington, Tel Aviv and New Delhi. 7) The outfits headquarters (200 acres) is located at Muridke, 30 kms from Lahore, which was built with contributions and donations from the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia being the biggest benefactor. The headquarters houses a Madrassa (seminary), a hospital, a market, a large residential area for scholars and faculty members, a fish farm and agricultural tracts. The LeT also reportedly operates 16 Islamic institutions, 135 secondary schools, an ambulance service, mobile clinics, blood banks and several seminaries across Pakistan. 8) Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is the Amir (chief) of Lashkar-e-Taiba. While Yahiya Mujahid serves as the spokesman of the outfit, Maulana Abdul Wahid is one of the senior leaders. Abdullah Muntazer is the Spokesman for International Media and editor of the outfits Website. Saeeds son Talha reportedly looks after the LeT activity at its base camp in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Saeeds son-in-law, Khalid Waleed, is reportedly part of the LeT office in Lahore. 9) While the primary area of operations of the Lashkar-e-Taiba is Jammu and Kashmir, the outfit has carried out attacks in other parts of India, including in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Gujarat, etc. It reportedly has cells in many cities/towns outside Jammu and Kashmir. 10) The LeT has been able to network with several Islamist extremist organizations across India, especially in J&K, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. LeT is actively engaged in subversive activities in the States of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Hyderabad, Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh at the instance of ISI to expand the frontier of violence outside J&K by subverting fringe elements. Of all the Pakistan-based terrorist groups, the LeT is the only group with support bases across India. 11) The LeT allegedly carried out the terrorist attack at the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bangalore on December 28, 2005, in which one person was killed; Earlier, on October 29, 2005, it engineered the serial explosions in New Delhi killing at least 62 persons; It is also suspected to have carried out the Varanasi attack on March 7, 2006 in which 21 civilians died and 62 others were injured; Three suspected LeT terrorists were shot dead during an abortive attempt to storm the headquarters of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu organization, at Nagpur in Maharashtra on June 1, 2006; The LeT, according to Mumbai Police, carried out the 7/11 serial bombings in Mumbai in which at least 200 people were killed. 12) Indias National Security Adviser M K Narayanan said on August 11, 2006, that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is part of the "al Qaeda compact" and is "as big as and omnipotent" as the international terror network. "The Lashkar today has emerged as a very major force. It has connectivity with west Asia, Europe....Actually there was an LeT module broken in Virginia and some people were picked up. It is as big as and omnipotent as al Qaeda in every sense of the term," he told a private news channel. Asked how significant the al Qaeda connection was in India, Narayanan said LeT was the "most visible manifestation" of the al Qaeda in India. LeT in 2016 January 28: The terrorist outfit is recruiting "vulnerable young men in Pakistan," as part of a larger plan to wage war against India, especially in J&K, a chargesheet filed by the NIA in the Udhampur terrorist attack case has said. The NIA said the LeT "recruited these impressionable young men and put them through various training regimes with the twin objectives of radicalising their worldview and providing them with 'military' skills and they were then illegally pushed into India to join their colleagues and commit terrorist acts." The outfit recruited "guides" to help "trained terrorists" infiltrate India through Helen Det, its launch pad in PoK near the LoC, says the chargesheet pertaining to the August 5, 2015 attack on a BSF bus in Udhampur, J&K. January 29: Nine LeT cadres were named in a chargesheet filed by NIA in the Udhampur terror attack case. The accused include Mohammed Naveed alias Usman, Khursheed Ahmed Bhat alias Khursheed Alam Bhat, Showkat Ahmed Bhat, Shabzar Ahmed Bhat, Fayaz Ahmed Ittoo alias Fayaz Khar, Khursheed Ahmed Ittu, Fayaz Ahmed Ashwar alias Setha, Ashiq Hussain Bhat alias Ubaida and Abu Noman. February 6: A Special Police Officer (SPO) turned militant, identified as Raqib Bashir was killed in a gun battle at Godipora area in J&K's Pulwama District. A joint team of SFs cordoned off Veerbagh village on learning about the presence of three LeT militants in the area. While the SFs were scanning the area, militants fired upon them, triggering a gunfight in which the troops gunned down one terrorist. Raqib was an SPO who had deserted the Police in 2015 to join the Lashkar. He was believed to be responsible for attack on the CRPF in Arwani village of Bijbehara, Anantnag District, in which two personnel were injured. (Based on inputs from South Asian Terrorism Portal) Students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), as well as journalists, were assaulted, allegedly by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members at a Delhi court on Monday. The students and faculty members of the premier education institution were at the Patiala House courts to extend their support to Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar. Arrested on sedition charges on Saturday, Kumar was presented in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen on Monday and his police custody was extended for two more days. The controversy over Kumar's arrest and police action at the university campus - that had now become a major political crisis - was sparked by an event, reportedly in support of Afzal Guru, convicted and hanged for the December 2001 attack on Parliament, at JNU on February 9. Students had allegedly shouted anti-India comments at the event. On Monday, a scuffle broke out among the students and teachers of the university and journalists who had come to cover the proceedings at the Patiala House courts, and a group of people in lawyers' robes. Press Trust of India reported that BJP lawmaker O P Sharma joined the belligerent group and allegedly assaulted Communist Party of India activist Ameeque Jamai. Some journalists accused that their attackers threatened to break their "phones and bones", while the police did not intervene to protect them. Many journalists' organisations, including the Delhi Union of Journalists, Indian Women Press Corps and the Press Club, condemned the attack and urged the government to take action. In a statement, the Editors Guild of India said: "Mobile phones were smashed by the lawyers who threw the journalists out of the court The guild strongly condemns this attempt to intimidate the media." The disturbance in the heart of the capital only aggravated the crisis, which has darkened the cloud over the Budget session of Parliament, to begin on February 23. The death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula and the Herald case could also be used by the Opposition to scuttle House proceedings, just ahead of elections in a number of states this year. It has already turned into a slugfest, with the BJP and the Sangh Parivar protesting what they call "anti- activity at JNU". In a blog post, Amit Shah, the party president, accused Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, who visited the JNU campus on Sunday, of backing "anti-national forces". Rahul Gandhi responded by saying the BJP was stoking fires of divisive politics. EVENTS SO FAR February 9, 2016: Some JNU students protest hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru; he was hanged in February 2013 Some JNU students protest hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru; he was hanged in February 2013 February 11: BJP Lok Sabha MP from East Delhi constituency Maheish Girri complains to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and HRD Minister Smriti Irani about the anti-national protests and lodges FIR BJP Lok Sabha MP from East Delhi constituency Maheish Girri complains to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and HRD Minister Smriti Irani about the anti-national protests and lodges FIR February 12: Delhi Police arrests JNU Students Union chief Kanhaiya Kumar, leading to protests Delhi Police arrests JNU Students Union chief Kanhaiya Kumar, leading to protests February 13: Kumar tells court he didnt raise anti-India slogans, sent to police custody for interrogation to find his links with terror outfits; solidarity protests at JNU Kumar tells court he didnt raise anti-India slogans, sent to police custody for interrogation to find his links with terror outfits; solidarity protests at JNU February 14: Home Minister claims JNU protests have links with Jamaat-ud-Dawas Hafeez Saeed; CPI(M) office in Delhi attacked by three men Home Minister claims JNU protests have links with Jamaat-ud-Dawas Hafeez Saeed; CPI(M) office in Delhi attacked by three men February 15: BJP MLA O P Sharma and some men in lawyers robes beat up journalists and students at Patiala House courts; Kanhaiyas police custody extended; CPI (M) chief Sitaram Yechur receives threats for his support to Kanhaiya BJP MLA O P Sharma and some men in lawyers robes beat up journalists and students at Patiala House courts; Kanhaiyas police custody extended; CPI (M) chief Sitaram Yechur receives threats for his support to Kanhaiya February 16: Protests planned in Delhi by various political groups from either side of the political divide, as well as by journalists Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, from where JNUSU President Kumar hails, and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also expressed their support for the agitating students. At the university, students continued to boycott classes. Their teachers' union has extended its support. Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said action would be taken against the attackers. The crisis which was brewing in the Madras High Court for more than a year over the conduct of one its judges, Justice C S Karnan, spilled over to the Supreme Court on Monday when the apex court barred the judge from hearing any case after he was transferred to the Calcutta High Court last week. A bench headed by Justice J S Khehar also asked the high court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul not to allot any work to the judge. The court said if the judge had anything to say, he could appear before it. In response, the judge, who has been raising issues related to caste discrimination against him, defied the transfer order and issued a stay order on his own against the chief justices letter transferring him. Chief Justice T S Thakur headed the collegium which transferred the judge along with several others in other high courts. Justice Karnan, who has been transferred out for better administration, has also demanded a statement from the Chief Justice. The bench of Justice Khehar today took up the affidavit received from the registrar general of the high court detailing the unprecedented situation arising from the stand of Justice Karnan. Justice Karnan, who has a penchant for controversies, has reportedly sent the copies of his order to the President and other constitutional dignitaries. According to him, his order against the Chief Justices transfer order will remain in force till April 29, 2016. Justice Karnan, 60, has created unprecedented scenes in the high court earlier. In November 2011, he openly alleged that some of his brother judges humiliated Dalit judges, who were targeted on the basis of caste. He called a press conference once to allege that he was facing humiliation since 2009 when he was appointed to the High Court. At one stage, he stormed the court room and criticised the selection of civil judges in Tamil Nadu, alleging bias against Dalits. He had also lodged a complaint with the Commission for Scheduled Castes and Tribes. When the judge on his own stayed the order of his Chief Justice Kaul with regard to the selection of civil judges the high court registrar moved the Supreme Court and the apex court stayed that order last year. He had once told the media that a brother judge deliberately rubbed his shoes against him and trampled a card carrying his name at a function. Two other judges were watching and smiling, he had alleged at the time. The Narendra Modi government on Monday made a fervent pitch to investors to invest in the power, infrastructure, electronics, oil and defence sectors, while promising to break down barriers impeding investments. Piyush Goyal, Minister or state with independent charge for power, coal, new and renewable energy, admitted at the Make in India, Mumbai edition that biofuel and hydro power had taken a bit of a backseat recently, but added that there would be a big thrust to get them going again. The Maharashtra government on Tuesday signed memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with an investment intention of over Rs 45,000 crore in automobiles, steel, fertilisers, realty, IT & ITES, ports and skill development. These MoUs were exchanged in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Make In India Week function at the MMRDA grounds at BKC. These are in addition to the MoU with Vedanta group for a LCD Fab plant worth Rs 20,000 crore and the Rs 1,400 crore MoU with Raymond in the textile sector. Mahindra & Mahindra will invest Rs 8,000 crore, comprising Rs 6,500 crore at its Nashik plant and Rs 1,500 crore in the Chakan unit in the next five years. In Nashik, the company proposes to continue its Ingenio project (Xylo, Qyanto and its variants). Mercedes will investment Rs 2,000 crore at the Chakan plant. This would be the third expansion, taking the vehicle capacity to 80,000 from the present 20,000. Posco and Uttam Galva together signed an MoU but did not disclose the investment amount. Uttam Galva has already announced expansion of its steel plant in Wardha at Rs 3,750 crore while Posco would invest in the Wardha and Sindhudurg plants of Uttam Galva. The state-run Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers would invest Rs 6,204 crore for the third phase of Thal plant to expand urea capacity in Raigad district and another Rs 631 crore in energy saving schemes at Thal plant. Additionally, it will invest Rs 131 crore to revamp its urea plant in Trombay, north east Mumbai. Additional investments include Rs 4,571 crore by Ascendas in Navi Mumbai in the IT sector, Rs 5,000 crore by Panchshil in realty and IT in Pune, Rs 3,750 crore by K Raheja in IT parks, Rs 3,000 crore by Godrej to expand its existing unit at Khalapur in Raigad district. Furthermore, Sudarshan Chemicals proposes to invest Rs 1,100 crore to produce pigment and agro chemicals in Raigad district while JSW Jaigarh Ports Rs 6,000 crore in Ratnagiri district to set up LNG terminal. Additionally, JSW Foundation, Uber, Volkswagen will invest in skill development. To give a fillip to 'Make In India' campaign, diversified metals & mining major Vedanta Resources Ltd has proposed to set up a state-of-the-art aluminium park close to the site of its aluminium SEZ (special economic zone) at Jharsuguda. This state-of-the-art plug-and-produce aluminium park will be set up across 240 acres of land, providing an exclusive ecosystem for industries dependent on as well as manufacturing aluminium conductors, extrusions, castings, foils, powder and paste. For commissioning of the proposed park, Vedanta would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government. The announcement to set up the aluminium park was made by Vedanta during the 'Make in India' week organised in Mumbai. Abhijit Pati, chief executive officer (aluminium), Vedanta Ltd said, "Vedanta is deeply honoured to be the partner of choice for the Odisha government in setting up a crucial aluminium facility. This collaborative effort will create a win-win situation for all. The park has the potential to attract over Rs 1,000 crore of investment which can be operationalized within a relatively short time-frame. At full capacity, the park can generate direct and indirect employment to approximately 17,000 people. With this kind of infrastructure, Odisha can become the aluminium hub of the world." Commenting on the advantages of the park, he said, "The medium to long-term outlook for aluminium production in Odisha is extremely positive. The state has abundant reserves of bauxite and accounts for 55 per cent of India's deposits. Coal, another important raw material for the smelters, is also available in abundance in the state. Easy proximity to the domestic markets and the geographical advantage of a large coastline which gives quick access to ports and the export market make Odisha a favourable destination for downstream industries." The park will facilitate easy transport of aluminium in liquid form, resulting in substantial cost savings that will be a game-changer for the downstream industries. With a holistic ecosystem in place, the park is expected to attract a large number of aluminium/aluminium-based industries generating huge revenues and employment in the region. Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata on Monday asked the government to focus more on infrastructure. Infrastructure has not been able to match the pace of growth in the country. What we lacked is thinking big enough for the growth that we could achieve, he said. Maharashtra has grown at a fast pace over the years but has failed on the infrastructure front, he claimed. This government and the chief minister have displayed a vision of resolving that, looking at it holistically and providing the balance which is necessary for growth. He emphasised on agriculture, terming it as important as the business sector, infrastructure. We need connectivity, both electronic as well as physical, and government policy that facilitates growth, he said. The government should provide young entrepreneurs with more research centres to fuel innovation, as that was a necessity to develop a conducive environment for start-ups in Maharashtra, he added. Apart from IITs and other institutes we have here, which are a source of innovation for young people, we need research centres to encourage innovation, Tata said at the Make in India Week here on Monday. Maharashtra, in every other way, has what it takes. What it needs perhaps (are) industrial parks with all the benefits like the Silicon Valley where young people (move) to immediately establish their dream, he added. Apart from IITs, we need to have R&Ds and Centre for Innovations. We also need financial sectors not only for bankable, but also a strong VC ecosystem is required, said Tata at a seminar. Sun Pharmaceuticals Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi and Bharat Forge Chairman Baba Kalyani were united in their demand for government focus on research and development, innovation centres and the development of a skilling corridor. Maharashtra was the largest contributor to Indias gross domestic product, they said, and the state government must take a lead to further this. The fourth industrial revolution demanded a new skill set that can take away many existing jobs, the business honchos warned. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured the delegates the government would do what was required to develop the skills required for a fourth industrial revolution. The fourth industrial revolution, according to the World Economic Forum, refers to the digital revolution characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. According to an estimate, the future of about 65 per cent of the jobs youth are employed in today would become uncertain as the role of robotics and artificial intelligence increases in society. Kalyani said: these jobs will be extinct in the next 10 to 15 years. The fourth industrial revolution certainly has advantages for a developing country like India. But it requires a different ecosystem that can provide a level-playing field for a developing country, against developed nations. As production is likely to gravitate to where skills are available, said Kalyani. The emphasis for new skill set was apparent across industries. Shanghvi demanded augmenting technical education to make it more suitable for emerging opportunities in biotechnology. Mumbai should become the R&D hub for pharma, he added. Nikhil Meswani, executive director, Reliance Industries, said: Maharashtra needs to develop an intelligent corridor on the pattern of the Silicon Valley, along the lines of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. This should focus on robotics, artificial intelligence and the new demands of the fourth industrial revolution. Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) has estimated castor seed production to rise by 10 per cent stand at 1.39 million tonnes for the year 2015-16. As against this, in 2014-15, castor seed production stood at 1.27 million tonnes. As one of its activities, SEA conducts castor crop estimation in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh every year. For the same, SEA had commissioned Nielsen India to conduct a crop estimation study for the commodity in producing states. As per the latest SEA report, sowing of castor seed crop increased to 1.13 million hectares this year as against 1.10 million hectares in last year. Apparently, reduced water availability led to farmers turning castor crop sowing this year. "Monsoon was not good in castor producing states mainly in Gujarat. Castor does not need much water which increased the area translating into higher production this year," the association stated. As per the report, castor seed production in Gujarat will increase by 8 per cent to 1.15 million tonnes as against 1.06 million tonnes of last year. Area under castor crop registered higher by 6 per cent to 781,000 hectares which was stood at 734,000 hectares in 2014-15. At Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, castor production has been estimated to be up by five per cent to 79,000 tonnes as against 75,000 tonnes. Sowing also gained from 111,000 hectares to 114,000 hectares. However, for the Rajasthan, the report stated a negative production due to decline in sowing area. SEA report estimated 13 per cent fall in production to 144,000 tonnes for the year 2015-16 in Rajasthan. Last year production was 165,000 tonnes. Till date the study has been carried out in major districts of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh in three field survey rounds during October 2015 - February 2016 to assess the crop. Since the castor crop cycle is long, two more rounds will be conducted in March and May in Gujarat and Rajasthan to re-assess the crop estimates which may be revised if necessary. The minimum import price imposed by the government on 173 steel products is possibly the only silver lining for lenders, even as the public banking sector struggles to contain the bad assets on its books. On February 5, the government imposed a minimum import price (MIP) ranging from $341 - $752 a tonne, on certain steel items that will finally translate into higher prices with the halt of cheap imports. So far, other measures by the government hadn't yielded much. Since September, which is when the government imposed a safeguard duty, prices have dropped by Rs 8,000 a tonne, ex-plant. Capacity utilisation too had dropped from around 80% to 72%. The gloom has reflected as much on the balance sheets of steel companies as it has of the banks, unsurprisingly though. According to a presentation by the Indian Steel Association to the government, as of September 2015, the steel sector accounts for 21% of total number of corporate debt restructuring cases having an aggregate of Rs 56,000 crore. The sector's share in total stressed accounts of scheduled commercial banks is 10-11%. Steel producers say that there is potential for an increase in prices of upto Rs 10,000 a tonne over the next few months. Already prices have increased by Rs 1,000-1,500 a tonne. "The MIP regime is expected to improve the margins and capacity utilisations of stronger domestic steel players. However, the extent of margin improvement is unlikely to be sustained over the medium term, given the likely demand-supply mismatch in the domestic industry at current demand growth rates, expectation of weak steel prices in international markets and a limited validity period of six months initially for MIP," an ICRA report said. Increased cash flows would help the companies in making some payment of outstanding dues "There are two parts - deferment of repayment schedule and interest payment. The MIP will help in interest payment," explains Bhushan Steel Director Finance, Nitin Johri. Bankers have extended the repayment schedule for Bhushan Steel under the Reserve Bank's 5/25 scheme which allows the repayment period to be stretched up to 25 years, with periodic refinancing every five years. Companies where strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme -- which \allows lenders to take control of defaulting companies -- have been applied are hopeful of better times with varying degrees. An Electrosteel Steels official said that finished product prices would go up while VISA Steel Chairman and Managing Director, Vishal Agarwal said that from a zero to negative EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) level it was likely to improve to a marginally positive EBITDA. Bankers are of the view that minimum import prices of steel will have a positive impact on the companies under SDR. However, long term sustainability of prices is key to long-term revival of the sector. "Valuation may improve, but not so sure at this stage because as of now, this is a temporary measure,"' said Rajnish Kumar, managing director (National Banking Group), SBI. MIP is in place for six months but it will be up for review after two months. "If minimum import price is there for a longer tenure, it will help attracting new investors. It is a well-known fact that the quality of Indian products is better than that of Chinese products. So even if Indian prices are slightly higher, the buyer will choose Indian products over the Chinese products, which in turn will help the debt-laden steel companies," an official of a public sector bank associated by SDR said. "As a short term measure, the valuations of steel companies will improve. If the measure to have a minimum support price is sustained in the long-term, it will be definitely be helpful for getting new investors under SDR,'' said Vibha Batra, Group Head - Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA. After reporting the largest ever quarterly loss in the sector, Bank of Baroda looks to be in a war zone. P S Jayakumar, managing director and chief executive officer, elaborates on the strategy to negotiate a trying time. Edited excerpts of a talk with Abhijit Lele: The worst is over. What is to be done is done (provisioning). We have put the issues behind and are working to move forward.About 38 are expected to retire over 12 months. We are working on alternatives and also have a defensive plan. We canretain some of the executives, who will enjoy administrative powers.The web-based advertisements to seek talent met with limited response. We have now selected three top-rated hiring firms. Theyd work with us and supplement the advertising, so we will be more successful in hiring persons with the skill and experience the bank is looking for.All activities related to corporate business are now centralised at 15 branches. These are now called corporate financecentres and staffed with the best people. We have also created a product management structure. Retail banking has been further broken down to focus on cash delivery, cash pick-up and deposits. So, those involved will look at the product and on profitability. While the bank has a strong brand name, what it is doing to stay relevant in changing times? We have picked up HTA (an advertising services entity) for the rebranding assignment. We are also redoing branching to look better. They (branches) should entice you to walk in. There is a lot of focus on products and distribution at the head office. So, we now of the value that the head office brings to the field. People are not opposed to this kind of centralisation. It will flush out many activities from branches, giving time for value added work and devote more time for customer service. Give us a year before things converge and you will have a very powerful and modern institution, with the latest technology. There was talk about a medium-term plan. Where do you want to see bank three years hence? We are creating a digital bank, with a combination of channels, product and profitability. We have picked up bright professionals and given them jobs at the general manager level. The bank boasts of a wide network of branches abroad but there is a feeling that the potential has never been utilised. What are the plans to exploit this capacity? Bank is working on a strategy for international operations. It takes a lot of energy and time. We are looking at focused and better quality business in retail banking in Britian, where we have 14 branches. Overall, the bank will focus on local business done locally, the diaspora (non-resident Indians), cross-border trade and investments. A slide in China's exports in January was eclipsed by an even bigger tumble in imports, leaving a record trade surplus for the world's biggest trading nation. Overseas shipments declined 11.2 per cent in January in US dollar terms from a year earlier, the customs administration said on Monday, compared with a 1.4 per cent drop in December. Imports extended a stretch of declines to 15 months, tumbling 18.8 per cent, leaving a record trade surplus of $63.3 billion. The slide in exports suggests the yuan's depreciation since August has yet to result in a sustained boost to the ... Among the late entrants to the Indian auto market, Renault is betting on two brands, Kwid and Duster to gain time and speed over its rivals. While Kwid with 10 per cent market share is currently a distant second to Maruti's Alto (40 per cent) in its category, Duster is among the top five compact SUVs today, the company says. It has 4 per cent of the market while Hyundai's Creta is the bestselling brand in this category. Its two-brand strategy, Renault believes, will help cross a lakh units in domestic sales by 2016 and take its overall market share in 2017 to five from the current 4.5 per cent (Society for Indian Automobiles, SIAM). All forthcoming models will be variants of either Kwid or Duster, says the company. However, this strategy flies against regular industry practice. Most auto companies rely on a portfolio of brands across age and income categories to establish their credentials in the country. But Sumit Sawhney, CEO and managing director, Renault India believes that the two-brand focus has worked for the company. He says that Renault's rise should count among the swiftest by an auto company in India. It is the seventh largest auto maker in the country today within five years of its entry. Most companies, ranked from one to six have been in the country for 15-20 years and those between the ranks eight and 14, more than 10 years. Sawhney says, "We are a young brand, but we are moving very very fast." Critics however are sceptical and say, relying on just Kwid and Duster is a risk. Raising the dust Duster is central to the company's strategy, the four-year old compact SUV identified closely with Renault in India. Sawhney adds that brand's image is extremely important, especially in the entry level segment. Duster has a 'luxury' image, he says. Duster has also played a big role in Kwid's success. Sawhney recalls his interaction with few of the customers in tier-II towns who referred to Kwid as 'Baby Duster' or, as a car from the 'Duster Company' and so on. While Duster clocks around 2,500 units a month, Kwid is selling around 7,000 a month. Kwid is the second largest selling car in the mini hatchback segment for the last two months after Maruti Alto. The sub Rs 7-8 lakh segment in India, the company believes will see phenomenal growth and it expects India to soon be third largest passenger car market in the world. The demand for Kwid is a reflection of this potential. The waiting time for Kwid today is around three to four months. So far 20,000 units have been shipped out and Renault is planning to ramp up production at Oragadam near Chennai from 6,000 a month to 8,000 units by end of February and 10,000 units by March. This will be the fastest ramp up for Renault. By June or July, Renault hopes to clear at least 35-40 per cent of the bookings backlog. "I don't expect 100 per cent of the people who booked will wait for the product, we will see some cancellations," says Sawhney. Renault plans to ease out old Duster models by next month. The new version includes a few new features but, has the same design platform as its predecessor. Two variants of Kwid, a one litre Kwid and Kwid AMT are also on the cards. It will be bringing in more models as its CMF (common module family), the platform it uses, allows the company to create at least five bodies. Nissan, Renault's alliance partner shares the same production facility and platform and is also planning to roll out its new Datsun RediGo soon but the two cannot be compared says Sawhney. The auto industry grew at 8.5 per cent last year but, Renault's growth was around 20 per cent Sawhney says. One of the reasons for swift growth the company believes is that they were able to position Kwid in a manner that it became the preferred brand for first-time buyers. They could do that partly because they got the pricing strategy (sub Rs 4 lakh) right and also because having launched with Duster, they were able to establish themselves as a trusted brand. Many had tried and failed, except Maruti and Hyundai and people were skeptical. But Duster helped address this challenge believes Sawhney. Interestingly Duster has emerged a metro brand while Kwid is a hit in small towns. Many have bought into the small car as an aspirational purchase too, linking its positioning to the more expensive urban Duster. Kwid is also being shown as a 'make-in-india' success story. Localisation is around 98 per cent says the company, which is now planning to increase Duster's localisation to 80 from 70 per cent. The company is also focusing on service, besides traditional centres it has launched mobile workshops. "This is not just a mobile service van, which has basic tools and all. This (Lodgy car) is a workshop on the wheels and it is the first of its kind in India," says Sawhney. These mobile workshops offer doorstep service and can handle around 5-6 cars a day. Renault also plans to expand its distribution network to over 240 by end of 2016 from the current 205. Indian on Monday posted their biggest one-day gain in over a year after the global rout, responsible for last weeks seven per cent fall, eased. Oil prices rallied, while safe haven gold prices retreated as risk appetite improved following a jump in Chinas yuan improved outlook towards the nations economy. The benchmark Sensex and Nifty jumped 2.5 per cent the most since January 2015 led by gains in shares of banking and metal companies. The BSE Sensex gained 568 points (2.47 per cent) to end at 23,554.12, while the Nifty rallied 182 points (2.61 per cent) to 7,162.95. The BSE Metal index soared 8.8 per cent and the BSE Banking index surged around four per cent. Following the rally, market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms went up by Rs 2.52 lakh crore to Rs 88.6 lakh crore. Most Asian ended with gains after the Chinese central banks governor expressed faith in the economy. European were headed for the biggest two-day gains in four years on hopes of a stimulus from the European Central Bank. Experts said the sharp spurt in the domestic market could be because of a short covering and raised doubts over the sustainability of the rally, as situation remains weak. The situation remains the same. Our banking system is in trouble. Corporate earnings growth hasn't happened for year and a half now. Reformist policy measures by the government seem to be few and far between. The road to recovery for the Sensex will be long and hard as it is difficult to see how the risk will mitigate materially so soon, said Saurabh Mukherjea, chief executive officer (CEO), Institutional Equities, Ambit Capital. Its good to see a relief rally, however, fundamentals havent changed in 48 hours to warrant a sustained rally, he added. Brokers said many traders were forced to cover their short positions, which caused stocks to go up further. Among the Sensex companies, Tata Steel was the biggest gainer at 13 per cent, followed by Larsen & Toubro (nine per cent) and State Bank of India (eight per cent). Last week, Tata Steel was down seven per cent, L&T had declined 7.5 per cent and SBI had lost eight per cent. Shares like Bharti Airtel, which had escaped last week's carnage, lost two per cent on Monday. Though it was broad-based recovery, interestingly, all the underperforming sectors such as PSU (public sector undertaking) banks, metal and realty gained the maximum. Perhaps, short covering in these sectors helped them post such gains, said Jayant Manglik, president- retail distribution, Religare Securities. No doubt, the rebound was sharp and steady, but reversal doesnt happen overnight. Last week, benchmark indices had posted their biggest weekly fall since 2009 on fears of a global slowdown and mounting bad loans at Indian banks. Despite Mondays rebound, the Sensex is down 11 per cent year-to-date because of a sell-off of over $2 billion (Rs 13,603 crore) by FIIs. Afghanistan CEO Abdullah Abdullah on Monday reiterated his call to the Taliban to join the peace process, but also slammed the insurgen group for using child soldiers in their ongoing war against the government. Array Addressing guests at a ceremony to mark the 27th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet Union troops from Afghanistan, Abdullah said that the government had a zero tolerance policy towards those who use children in their battles. Array H e added that Taliban should stop using children for their own goals and let children live their childhood, reports TOLO News. Array Speaking on the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which lasted for ten years from 1979 to 1989, Abdullah said, 'We still suffer from the aftermath of that defeat. There is still insecurity in the villages of our country.' Array Abdullah said victory against the Russian Invasion of Afghanistan was a tremendous achievement but, the aftermath had not been good for the nation. Array He went on to say that the defeat of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan 'inspired other nations in the region to become free and live in peace'. President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MasterCard, Ajay Banga, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's official 7, Race Course Road (RCR) residence here on Monday. Banga, who is the also the chairman of US-India Business Council (USIBC), had earlier met Prime Minister Modi in September last year during his visit to the United States. Beginning his business career with Nestle in 1981, Banga spent the next 13 years working in jobs spanning sales, marketing and general management. He later joined PepsiCo and was involved in the launch of its international fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized. Banga, who also has a keen interest in social development issues, is a regular speaker at various fintech and leadership conferences. He has been honoured with the Padma Shri in 2016. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Monday condemned the anti- protests at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, saying such activities would not be tolerated in any part of the nation. "These kinds of anti- activities will not be tolerated in any part of the country.The Supreme Court had given capital punishment to Afzal Guru despite that slogans were raised in his support," said Shah. Shah also used the occasion to target Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. "If the Congress wants to support this in the name of freedom of speech then I want to ask them that what more proof they require against anti-nationals," said Shah. "Do they support the slogans 'har ghar me afzal honge', 'bharat tere tukkde honge'? The Congress must make their stand clear," he added. The Congress vice-president had earlier on Saturday accused the BJP-led NDA Government of "suppressing" students' voice as he visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with them. Gandhi, who interacted with the agitating students, lauded the university for representing free voice. Drawing parallel between the actions against students in JNU and events leading to the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad University, he said the question is why a student is "not allowed to say what he believes in". The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing took to the streets to protest against the CPIM, CPI and the Congress for their stand on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) row and accused them of siding with anti-India forces. According to the protesters, the JNU students in the name of 'Right to Expression' were chanting 'anti- slogans and giving anti- speech' during last week's protest in the varsity and to which the CPIM, CPI and Congress were fanning for getting political mileage. "What does right to expression mean? It gives the right to speak what one dislike or like. Maybe you dislike a person or strategy but can you raise question on our integration or support that. We protest this type of incident and it's a shame for the entire nation," said BJP spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty. "It proves that those against the independence of India that is the CPIM and CPI parties which right from the starting of our nationalist movement were against India's independence. Even when China attacked India they supported China, they supported the division of India and Pakistan. They support the Maoist movement for division of India...... now the anti-nationalist approach of CPIM and Congress has become clear before everyone." The protest rally started from the BJP state office at Krishnanagar and ended at Colonel chowmouni. Launching a frontal attack on the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thinks anyone who is against the government is 'anti-national', and added that anyone who supports them is 'pro-national'. "This attitude will throw them out in 2019. They have failed in fulfilling the promises they had made to the people. You are pro- if you support the government, if you say anything against the government, you are anti-national," Kumar told the media here. "No one is saying what happened was right but people who raised anti- slogans must be identified. Who was raising anti- slogans? Show the proof. Don't just make baseless allegations," he added. Nitish further stated that Kanhaiya belonged to Bihar. "Everyone is commenting on it. Even we demand proof. What are you doing on those whose faces can be seen raising slogans? We have reached a phase of technology where many proofs are available and everyone has the right to place it," he said. Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out between students and lawyers outside Patiala House court during the hearing of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising anti-India slogans. The students, who have been demanding Kumar's release, alleged that they were roughed up by a group of lawyers when they entered the court premises. During scuffle, journalists were also attacked by some lawyers inside the court premises. "I am not even a JNU student. We are peacefully waiting for him. Some 6-7 lawyers, started pointing towards us and then they abused and called us Pakistanis," said one of the eye-witnesses. "These lawyers thrashed a journalist. I saw them beating him up brutally. They were saying that it is not the court but them who will decide the matter," said another person present at the court. The students have been protesting inside JNU over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar. He was arrested after he allegedly made a speech against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. Launching a scathing attack against Home Minister Rajnath Singh for saying that the JNU incident was supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, the Congress Party on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying the shield its student wing Akhila Bharatiya Vidhyarti Parishad (ABVP). Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that the ABVP was trying to bring disrepute to the JNU in the matter. "What the Home Minister has said is very laughable. The Home Minister has spoken very lightly about a very serious issue. They are trying to shield the ABVP. Some videos show that it was ABVP activists who raised anti-India slogans to bring disrepute to JNU," Dikshit told ANI. Array "I think the government isn't just overreacting but purposely reacting to destroy a great institution like JNU," he added. Array Meanwhile, another Congress leader Pramod Tiwari asked the Home Minister to reveal the input based on which he made such a serious remark. "The Home Minister has several inputs. This is a very serious allegation and the Home Minister should make the basis of this allegation public. It should be clarified what input he had and on what basis he made such a statement," he told ANI. Earlier, Conference leader Omar Abdullah and Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja questioned Rajnath's claim that the JNU event about Afzal Guru had the support of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. Rajnath had said a programme that allegedly praised Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University had the support of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. "The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand. What has happened is very unfortunate," he said. Array His comment came two days after a series of tweets, allegedly by Saeed, appeared under a hashtag asking Pakistanis to support the agitation in JNU. However, the Delhi Police claim that it was fake twitter account. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Monday confirmed that they had detained one person with nine live rounds of bullets. In a statement, the CISF said they found the ammunition in the hand baggage of Mr. Ravi Yadav who was travelling to Mumbai from Delhi on a Go Air flight. The CISF further revealed that Mr. Yadav has been handed over to the Delhi Police for interrogation after an FIR was filed. Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said that the Defense Procurement Procedure has been finalized and will be notified soon. Talking to media in the sidelines of Make in India week, he said that it may come into effect from April. Parrikar said that indigenously designed products have been given first priority in the procedure. The Defence Minister said that the production of Akash missile will be doubled and permission has given to export ten per cent of it. Responding to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah's anti- charge, the Congress on Monday asked him not to give lectures on patriotism, adding that the grand old party will fight intolerance. "We are going to fight this intolerance. We condemn anyone raising slogans against the nation. But BJP or any government cannot unleash police forces in the university. They give us sermons, we want to tell Amit Shah that don't give us lectures on patriotism," Congress leader P.C. Chacko said. "A group of people in the garb of lawyers, who are sympathizers of the BJP thrashed the students, who were produced at the court. They were beaten up very badly. The lawyers were indulging in this rowdy behavior," he added. Chacko further alleged that BJP MLA O.P. Sharma and a group of hooligans attacked the students and the journalists. "This hooliganism is unleashed by the BJP. This is totally to misguide the people. We condemn this incident which happened in the Patiala House court today. This is led by BJP MLA O.P. Sharma," he said. He condemned and rejected the statement made by Shah against party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. "We all know what happened in Pune Institute, Hyderabad Central University and in JNU. The BJP cannot tolerate freedom of speech and independent opinion. This is nothing but the intolerance of the BJP," he added. He further stated that the BJP and the RSS cannot tolerate anything which opposes their ideology. "India is India today because of the Indian Congress. India's integrity was kept by giving the blood and life of Indira ji,' he said. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah earlier today condemned the anti- protests at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, saying such activities would not be tolerated in any part of the nation. "These kinds of anti-national activities will not be tolerated in any part of the country.The Supreme Court had given capital punishment to Afzal Guru despite that slogans were raised in his support," said Shah. Shah also used the occasion to target Rahul Gandhi. "If the Congress wants to support this in the name of freedom of speech then I want to ask them that what more proof they require against anti-nationals," said Shah. "Do they support the slogans 'har ghar me afzal honge', 'bharat tere tukkde honge'? The Congress must make their stand clear," he added. The Congress vice-president had earlier on Saturday accused the BJP-led NDA Government of "suppressing" students' voice as he visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with them. Gandhi, who interacted with the agitating students, lauded the university for representing free voice. Drawing parallel between the actions against students in JNU and events leading to the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad University, he said the question is why a student is "not allowed to say what he believes in". Fashion designer Manish Arora will be conferred with the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), France's highest civilian honour. This award comes in recognition of his inspired creations and significant contribution to the fashion world as well as his longstanding ties with France. On behalf of the President of the French Republic, the Ambassador of France to India, H.E. Mr Francois Richier, will confer the distinction on Arora, at a ceremony on Tuesday evening at his residence in New Delhi. The investiture ceremony will be followed by a reception. Created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Legion of Honour is the highest civilian award given by the French Republic for outstanding service, regardless of the nationality of the recipients. The President of the French Republic is the Grand Master of the Order of the Legion of Honour. India recently unveiled its apparel and textile export potential at Mexico's Intermoda exhibition via the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The event was held at the Expo Guadalajara Exhibition Centre in Guadalajara, Mexico. India's participation at the Intermoda was aimed at strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation with Mexico, a strategically-located Latin America country bound by the United States to the North and Belize and Guatemala to the South-East. Being a regular participant, the ITPO aims to provide an excellent opportunity in high potential Mexican markets which attract a large number of buyers from North America and Latin American regions. India's participation offered excellent opportunities for Indian companies to export apparel, textile, leather garments, fashion accessories blouses, skirts, evening wear, woollen shawls, tie & die items, made-ups, fashion jewellery, , wooden block printed garments and terracotta items, etc. The fair also brought together Mexican and international companies, manufacturers, importers and distributors, and was an ideal place for publicising brand image, besides giving one and all the opportunity to analyse competition, step up sales, launch new products, get to know the market trends and expand network of contacts. This fair is regarded as one of the most important and specialised apparel and textile events in Mexico which connects potential buyers. The fair was supplemented with a fashion extravaganza showcasing the latest fashion trends on colours, textures, fabrics and merchandising. The Delhi High Court on Monday placed JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested in connection with a sedition case, in two-day police custody. The court will on Tuesday hear the plea seeking Investigation Agency (NIA) probe in the sedition case levelled against Kanhaiya Kumar. Kumar was arrested last Friday over a protest organized in the JNU campus on February 9 against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. However, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi had earlier dispelled the rumour that the NIA would probe the JNU incident, saying his men are competent enough to investigate each and every case which they register. Bassi, however, said that the Delhi Police is duty bound to inform the NIA. "We have not said that the case should be handed over to the NIA, but when a case is registered under the Section 24 A, under the NIA Act, we have to send a report of the case to the NIA through the Central Government so that the NIA can decide whether they want to investigate the case or not, it's their discretion," Bassi said. "As we have registered an FIR under Section 144 A, under the NIA Act, we are duty bound to inform them, which we did. We have not asked them to take or reject the case, it's their discretion. If NIA takes over, its fine, otherwise, our investigation is on," he added. A scuffle broke out on Monday between students and lawyers outside Patiala House court during the hearing of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising anti-India slogans. The students, who have been demanding Kumar's release, alleged that they were roughed up by a group of lawyers when they entered the court premises. During the scuffle, three journalists were also attacked by some lawyers inside the court premises. "I am not even a JNU student. We are peacefully waiting for him. Some 6-7 lawyers, started pointing towards us and then they abused and called us Pakistanis," said one of the eye-witnesses. "These lawyers thrashed a journalist. I saw them beating him up brutally. They were saying that it is not the court but them who will decide the matter," said another person present at the court. The students have been protesting inside JNU over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar. He was arrested after he allegedly made a speech against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. A scuffle broke out on Monday between students and lawyers outside Patiala House court during the hearing of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising anti-India slogans. The students, who have been demanding Kumar's release, alleged that they were roughed up by a group of lawyers when they entered the court premises. During scuffle, three journalists were also attacked by some lawyers inside the court premises. Array "I am not even a JNU student. We are peacefully waiting for him. Some 6-7 lawyers, started pointing towards us and then they abused and called us Pakistanis," said one of the eye-witnesses. "These lawyers thrashed a journalist. I saw them beating him up brutally. They were saying that it is not the court but them who will decide the matter," said another person present at the court. The students have been protesting inside JNU over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar. He was arrested after he allegedly made a speech against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Vice Chancellor M. J. Kumar on Monday said that a high-level enquiry committee has been formed to look into the ongoing controversy in the campus and urged both students and teachers to restore normalcy and return to pursuing academics. "We encourage an open expression of views and ideas as far as it is peaceful. We believe that any problem can be solved through discussion and there is no need for any strike. We have already formed a high-level enquiry committee to look into this. They are collecting all the evidence that is available," Kumar told the media here. Array Kumar said the committee will submit its report on February 25. Array "The committee is given time up to February 25, let them work and they will come out with their recommendations," he added. Array "We have not asked the police to enter in the campus, or step in the matter and we will be the last one to do that. They asked us some information, some audio and video footage about the incidents that took place here. We have provided that. And, in that connection, they wanted to come to the campus as per law," Kumar said while answering to the question as to why did the police enter the campus. Array On the night of February 9, some students organised a meet at JNU to mourn the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Array Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police registered a sedition case on Thursday and arrested JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition. Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi on Monday said there is clear evidence that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar was chanting 'anti- slogans' during last week's protest in the varsity. Array "There is clear evidence that Kanhaiya was raising anti- slogans and was also giving anti- speech which comes under 124 (A). He was part of this unlawful activity. Interrogation and investigation is still on. We will analyze his interrogation and the result will be put on public domain soon," Bassi told the media here. Array "We have taken all information from him (Kanhaiya). We are gathering more information and all accused will be arrested," he added. Array The police commissioner further said the evidences collected so far suggest that the ABVP was opposing the programme. Array "But if it is found out that they were also raising anti-national slogans then action will be taken against them also," he added. Array Bassi further said the tweet on Hafiz Saeed was blasphemous and tried to incite youth against the lawfully established government of India. Array Home Minister Rajnath Singh said yesterday that the Afzal Guru event was "supported by terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed". Array "What happened at JNU has been fully supported by Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed. I appeal to all political parties that whenever such situations arise where anti-India slogans are raised, the entire nation must speak in one voice," he said. Array As the comment led to opposition anger, the Home ministry clarified that Rajnath Singh's remarks were based on 'inputs from different agencies'. Array The ministry clarification also followed reports that Singh and the police were misled by a tweet purportedly from a twitter handle in the name of Hafiz Saeed. Array On Sunday, Pakistani newspaper The Dawn reported the Hafiz Saeed handle was fake. Hafiz Saeed's Twitter handle was blocked a long time ago. Angry locals took to the streets on Monday after a truck ran over three children in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas killing a child and gravely injuring two other kids. Three students were travelling in a car when a truck rammed into them. The locals set two police vehicles on fire in protest. According to sources, the police was pursuing the truck when it rammed into the car, angering the locals. More details awaited. Eight people, including a woman were killed when a van was crushed under wheels of the Lahore-bound Fareed Express at an unmanned railway crossing near Allah Dino Saand railway station on Sunday night. Four others were seriously injured and reported to be in critical condition. One person in the van escaped the accident. The dead and injured belonged to the same family. They are said to be farm labourers. Hyderabad railway station superintendent Shamsuddin said Fareed Express had left the station at 10.05pm. It collided with the van between Allah Dino Saand and Detha railway stations about half an hour later. The Director General of Health Services, Sindh, Dr Hassan Murad Shah, told Dawn that seven bodies and the four injured were taken to Tando Jam taluka hospital. Later the critically injured were shifted to the Liaquat University Hospital. Ambulances and rescue teams took part in rescue efforts. Russia and Sri Lanka held the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation between on February 12 in Moscow. Russia and Sri Lanka discussed ways to increase bilateral cooperation at the intergovernmental commission meeting. The Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation -Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, the Chairman of the Russian part of the Commission Ilya Shestakov while the Sri Lankan delegation was headed by the Deputy Industry and Trade Minister and Chairman of the Commission T.M.K.B. Tennakoon. During the meeting, the two sides noted the positive dynamics of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Sri Lanka and stressed the interest in increasing mutual trade turnover in the coming years. In particular, the parties discussed issues of cooperation in such priority areas as agriculture, including deliveries of Russian grain to the Sri Lankan market, the tea trade, fisheries, energy, telecommunications, tourism, chemical production, delivery of Russian civil helicopter and aircraft to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested seventeen local fishermen for allegedly engaged in illegal fishing practices. Naval personnel attached to Rapid Action Boat Squadron (RABS) Headquarters in Kalpitiya arrested 17 local fishermen with 5 Fiber Glass. Dinghies engaged in illegal fishing using banned fishing nets in the Uchchamuniya and Kimbulbokka sea areas on 13th February 2016. The arrested persons and the items were handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries for further investigations, reports Lanka Page. Seven pairs of diving fins, 5 GPSs, 18 Conch Shells and 31 Oxygen Tanks were also taken into custody during the arrest. The use of purse seine (Laila & Surukku) nets are banned in Sri Lanka. Earlier this month, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development said that the fishing activities carried out by using Laila and Surukku nets are strictly proscribed and if such an incident is detected, craft along with fishing gear are liable to be confiscated. American tech giant Microsoft has unveiled its latest Windows 10 smartphone, the Lumia 650. The smartphone will go on sale in select European markets starting Thursday at a price of USD 199 (around Rs. 13,500). "Lumia 650 fits perfectly into the enterprise with built-in support for Microsoft business apps. The Lumia 650 will allows IT to test the latest Windows 10 Mobile updates against critical line of business systems and apps," the Microsoft said in a statement. The smartphone features an 8-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash. Some other features include a five-inch Amoled ClearBlack display with HD resolution. It packs 16GB of built-in storage and supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 200GB). The smartphone is backed by a 2000mAh battery and supports Nano-SIM. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers, smartphones and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. It is the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies. A day after Russia said that relations between Moscow and Washington were sinking fast, US President Barack Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the air raids against Syrian opposition forces during a phone call. According the CNN, the White House said that Obama stressed on the "the importance of rapidly implementing humanitarian access to besieged areas of Syria and initiating a nationwide cessation of hostilities." "President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," the White House said in a statement. Array U.S. maintains that Russia's air campaign has killed scores of civilians and jeopardizes the prospects of a peace accord in the civil war-wracked nation. According to the White House, Obama also urged combined Russian-separatist forces to fulfill their Minsk obligations, especially adhering to the cease-fire, in reference to the long-ignored Minsk peace accord that was agreed to a year ago. Armed forces from around 20 countries including Pakistan and Malaysia are gathering in northern Saudi Arabia Sunday for 'the largest, most important military manoeuvres' ever staged in the region. The 'Thunder of the North' exercise involving ground, air and naval forces sends a 'clear message' that Riyadh and its allies stands united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region, reports the Dawn. Saudi Arabia is currently leading a military campaign against Iran-backed rebels in its southern neighbour Yemen. Last December, it also formed a new 35-member coalition to fight 'terrorism' in Islamic countries. Sunday's announcement also comes as the kingdom, a member of the US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group, said it has deployed warplanes to a Turkish air base in order to 'intensify'its operations against ISIS in Syria. Twenty countries among the participants are Saudi Arabia's five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia, it added. It is the 'most important and largest in the region's history'in terms of the number of nations taking part and the weaponry being used. Launching a scathing attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the people, who shot dead Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, are not well placed to preach others about the concept of nationalism. The Congress vice-president, who arrived here today on a two-day visit to Assam, alleged that it was the people from the RSS, who shot three bullets in the chest of Mahatma Gandhi. "These are the same people, who used to ask for forgiveness in front of the British. And today these people are telling others to take the license of nationalism from them. I don't need any license from such people," said Gandhi. "I want to tell these people the more they try to suppress the youth of this country, the more they try to force their ideology, the youth of this country will stand against you in the same manner," he added. He also used the recent JNU incident to target the RSS. Array "What the government is doing is they call a student in Hyderabad University (Rohith Vemula) as 'anti-national' and order the university to throw him out of the campus. They pressurise him so much that he ultimately had to commit suicide," Gandhi said while addressing a rally here. "The same thing happened in IIT where a certain group of students speak something about the Dalits and what the Centre does is they tag them as anti-national," he added. Gandhi also voiced his support for Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, presently in police custody after being arrested on charges of sedition. "The JNU president gave a very good speech of about 20 minutes where he talked about the poor, the marginalised section of the society. What the BJP-led Centre does is calls him 'anti-national' and arrests him. Wherever the youth talk against the RSS, their ideology, they tag them as anti-national," said Gandhi. "It seems that they have the license of nationalism. Only they can say that who is 'nationalist' and who is 'anti-national'," he added. The Congress vice-president also used the occasion to reach out to the people in poll-bound Assam, saying the people associated with the RSS come to the state and voice opinion that there should be one ideology in the entire nation. "If there is one ideology then what will happen to the diversity of this country. There is different ideology in every state and that should be respected," said Gandhi. "They said that the BJP would come in full majority in Bihar. They had to taste defeat and Narendra Modi ji never visited the state after the elections. They ran away from there because the people of Bihar told them that the RSS will not rule the state. The people of Bihar will rule the state," he added. The Congress vice-president's visit to the state comes days after BJP president Amit shah blamed the incumbent government in the state for the continuing infiltration from Bangladesh. Shah, who visited Assam last week, said that the BJP was determined not to let the illegals' infringe upon the rights of people in Assam and the Bodoland region. He also said Assam had been left behind on the development front the past 15 years when the Congress was in power. The BJP president termed the alliance between his party and the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) a historic one and said it will go a long way in ensuring development in the state. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has been projected by the BJP as its chief ministerial candidate. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Army's 'Command and Exit Policy' but asked the government to create 141 additional vacancies for promotion of Combat Unit officers. Under the 'Command and Exit policy', the infantry and artillery officers were given priority while giving promotions. The Centre had filed an appeal in the apex court against the Armed Forces Tribunal order of quashing the 2009 Command Exit Promotion Policy in the Indian Army. The government had in the last hearing given a proposal to create 141 additional vacancies for promotion of the officers of combat support units, to also accommodate officers aggrieved by the Army's 2009 promotion policy, which gave preference to those posted in Artillery and Infantry divisions. An ongoing Kanyakumari-Kashmir padayatra by social reformer Sri M will enter capital New Delhi on Wednesday. The 67-year-old spiritual guide is slated to meet top administrators, influential leaders and the common people over the next 15 days in a bid to promote inter-faith harmony. Array The Delhi leg of the 16-month 'The Walk of Hope' will see the famed yogi holding walks, visiting religious places of various faiths, delivering talks and interacting with the public besides constitutional authorities such as the President of India and the Chief Minister of Delhi. Array The Feb 17-March 3 padayatra in the Capital Region will begin from Gurgaon with an eight-km march to Chattarpur Mandir and conclude with a daytime walk to Khalsa College followed by a farewell at Alipur in northwest Delhi bordering Haryana. Array In between, Sri M will be meeting President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 19 and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the walk on February 18, besides holding two days of Nirahar Satyagrahas against terrorism and communal violence. Array There will also be cultural evenings featuring music concerts by Manav Ekta Band (IIT February 18), Hindustani vocalist Kalapini Komkali (IIC, February 22), fusion music by Indian Ocean band (Nehru Park, February 27) and choral music (Sacred Heart Cathredral, February 28), besides Kathak dance (IIT, February 18) and a play 'Amir Khusro' (India Islamic Centre, February 29). Array The 7,500-km pan-India walk with 70 volunteers, which started from Kanyakumari with Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir as their destination, has been reaching out to millions of people. Array For Sri M, who has penned the bestseller 'Apprenticed to a Himalayan master-A Yogi's Autobiography', the aim is to interact with 10 million fellow Indians in eleven states by the time the Walk concludes after 500 days of journey in May this year. Array "The hope is to erase disparities arising from a misunderstanding of our diverse culture and religions, thus uniting the humanity of India through a spiritual approach proving people can live together despite all differences," says Sri M, who was born Mumtaz Ali Khan and runs the Manav Ekta Mission. Array The Manav Ekta Mission, a wing of the Satsang Foundation established by Sri M, powers the Walk of Hope. Array The other highlights of the Delhi round are talks at IIT (Feb 18), IIC (Feb 22), AIIMS (Feb 26) and India Islamic Centre (Feb 29), besides visits to Hindu and Jain Temples, Churches, Masjids, Gurdwaras, Ashrams, Dargahs, educational institutions, night shelters, parks and other public places. Array The Nirahar Satyagrahas (Feb 24 and 25) will be of nine hours each and are slated to be held at Jantar Mantar (Sansad Marg). Array Sri M will also attend felicitation functions at Teen Murti House on February 19 and Siri Fort Auditorium. Steelmaker Tata Steel India is scheduled to start commercial production at the Kalinganagar plant in Odisha at the beginning of next financial year, while the second phase ramp up with happen once demand gets better. Managing Director TV Narendran said that the company has spent more than Rs. 25000 crore in the last 10 years to build a six million tonne steelmaking plant in Odisha. The commissioning of first phase of three mt has faced several delays until date. Indian steel industry is under tremendous pressure as China, Russia, Japan and South Korea continue to flood the market with cheap steel. Indian government has taken steps to reduce the flow of these imports "The engineering work of second phase we started sometime back and whenever we are ready depending on market we will. We didn't go through all the efforts over 10 years to build just a 3 mt steel plant. I hope the hard part of the work is behind us and then it is up to our affordability to decide how fast we can grow," said Narendran. Narendran hopes that Indian government will continue to spend on infrastructure to help boost demand for domestic steelmakers in India. American automotive and energy storage company Tesla Motors has raised prices on its after-sales service options. The automobile company has also brought new provision which prevents new Tesla buyers from transferring their extended warranty and prepaid service plans when reselling the car, the Verge reported. "Tesla has an affluent customer base, and these buyers rarely keep a car longer than four years or 50,000 miles. By eliminating the warranty transfer option Tesla has largely neutralised the benefits of its extended warranty coverage. It lets Tesla technically offer longer vehicle coverage while exposing the automaker to minimal real-world cost increases. Bottom line, if you can't transfer the warranty, your options as a buyer are reduced," said Karl Brauer, automotive industry analyst for Kelley Blue Book. Earlier, transferring those warranty and service plans to a new owner would cost USD 100. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students have been protesting against the arrest of students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been booked with charges of sedition. Array Here is what has happened so far in this regard: Array February 15 Array Delhi High Court remands Kanhaiya Kumar to two-day police custody. Array Array A scuffle broke out on Monday afternoon at the Patiala House court during the hearing of Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested on Friday on charges of sedition. Array Array Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA O.P. Sharma beat up an unidentified man. As a result, Kumar could not be produced in the court due to tense situation. Array Array The students, who have been demanding Kumar's release, alleged that they were roughed up by a group of lawyers when they entered the court premises. During scuffle, three journalists were also attacked by some lawyers inside the court premises. Array Array Delhi High Court decides to hear the plea seeking NIA probe in the matter on Tuesday. Array Array Hafiz Saeed releases a video refuting Rajnath Singh's claim that the protests by the JNU students had his support. Array Array February 14 Array Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi says there is clear evidence that Kanhaiya Kumar was chanting 'anti- slogans' during last week's protest in the varsity. Array Array JNU teachers association say that they never support any unconstitutional activity inside the university campus. Array Array Home Minister Rajnath Singh says that the JNU incident had the backing of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. Opposition condemns his claims, saying that he should come with proof before making such serious charges. Array February 13 Array Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visits the JNU campus on to meet the students protesting for the release of Kanhaiya Kumar. There he says the most anti- people are the ones suppressing the voice of this institution. He also drew parallels between Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and dictator Adolf Hitler's regime over the arrest of JNU students' union president in a sedition case. Array February 12 Array Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) polit buro Sitaram Yechury compares the JNU incident to what happened during the time of Emergency. He said, "What is happening in JNU? Police on campus, arrests and picking up students from hostels. This last happened during Emergency." Array February 5 Array The controversy at JNU erupts on last Friday when some students paste posters across the campus inviting people to a protest march against 'judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt' and in solidarity with 'struggle of Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self determination' at varsity's Sabarmati dhaba. Harriett Baldwin, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, also known as "City minister" because of her responsibility for the City of London's financial centre, will visit New Delhi and Mumbai from February 15 to 18. Also visiting New Delhi and Mumbai, from February 14 to 19, will be Alok Sharma MP, who has been recently appointed as the British Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Infrastructure to India. As the envoy on infrastructure, Mr. Sharma will be the key contact between the UK and Indian governments, Indian public and private sector infrastructure companies and British financial practitioners. This is Mrs Baldwin's maiden visit to India in her current role and she will promote the UK's flagship collaboration with India on infrastructure financing. With the recent upsurge in rupee denominated bonds listed in London's financial markets last year, Mrs Baldwin and Mr Sharma will hold deliberations with Indian ministers and Reserve Bank of India governor to encourage listing of rupee bonds in London. They will discuss how the City of London can develop as a trading hub for the rupee, and the potential for cooperation on green financing that can help to fund India's renewable energy and clean transport plans. Mrs.Baldwin said, "Developing closer economic and financial ties between India and Britain is key to boosting exports and investment, and creating growth in both of our economies. That's why I'm delighted to visit India to bolster our cooperation across several key areas. India is the fastest growing major economy in the world, and with a population of over a billion people, the opportunities for UK financial firms to partner with and export to India are unlimited." During the Economic and Finance Dialogue between the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in London last month, both countries agreed to explore ways to encourage increased investment in infrastructure with the aim of developing an India-UK partnership fund under the umbrella of India's flagship infrastructure investment initiative, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). Mrs Baldwin and Mr Sharma will discuss the prospects for this collaboration with key private and public sector leaders, with the expectation of signing terms of reference governing the partnership at the G20 finance ministers meeting in Beijing later this month. Mr.Sharma said, "I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron as his Infrastructure Envoy to India, this is an incredibly exciting role. Plans to launch a flagship rupee-denominated bond in London by the Indian Railway Finance Corporation was a key announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to the UK and a strong endorsement of the UK's position as a leading international financial sector. The Indian government has a hugely ambitious programme of infrastructure projects and I look forward to working closely with colleagues in both governments to ensure that we develop rupee-linked debt markets and build closer ties between the UK and Indian capital markets." Mrs Baldwin and Mr Sharma will meet Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, the Governor of the RBI, Raghuram Rajan, SBI Chairman, Arundhati Bhattacharya, and other senior leaders from the banking and the financial services sector, via one to one meetings and roundtables. Both the leaders will discuss key areas of shared interest between the two countries including financial inclusion, regulatory reform, financial technology, and the raising of finance in the UK to fuel India's growth. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sadhvi Prachi on Monday said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was wrong to associate himself with 'anti-national' forces and also questioned his motive behind supporting a students' protest at Jawaharlal Nehru University over the hanging of Afzal Guru. "Rahul Gandhi should tell the nation the definition of nationalism. Hafeez Saeed was absolutely supporting the conference. Congress was also supporting it. Evidences are there, will produce on appropriate time. They are anti- and should be arrested. They eat India's food and raise slogans against India," Prachi told media here. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah condemned the anti- protests at the JNU campus, saying such activities would not be tolerated in any part of the nation. "These kinds of anti- activities will not be tolerated in any part of the country.The Supreme Court gave capital punishment to Afzal Guru despite that slogans were raised in his support," said Shah. Shah also used the occasion to target Rahul Gandhi. "If the Congress wants to support this in the name of freedom of speech, then I want to ask them that what more proof they require against anti-nationals," said Shah. On February 12, JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police and was booked on charges of sedition over a protest organised in the JNU campus against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. A day later, Gandhi visited the JNU campus and met the students who were demanding Kanhaiya's release. At least 20 school students were hospitalised in Sri Lanka after suffering from food poisoning on Monday, police said. The children, aged between eight and nine years, were students of a school in Veyangoda area of western Sri Lanka, Xinhua reported. The students had fallen ill after consuming a morning meal provided by the school and had been rushed to a nearby hospital by the school management. The police were investigating the matter. The third Kerala Blog Express with 30 bloggers from 25 countries, who will promote tourism as they travel across the state for the next two weeks, was flagged off by Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar on Monday. The concept of inviting bloggers to promote Kerala Tourism began in 2014 and has since reaped rich dividends for the tourism industry. "I hope that this year it will be even more successful and will further help in promoting our tourism," said the minister. This year, registrations hit a new high with more than 1,000 bloggers from 66 countries registering for the event from whom the 30 winners were selected. The participants this year include Carla Boechat and Patricia Schussel Gomes (Brazil), Rebecca Coutant and Brittany Kulick (US), Els Mahieu (Belgium), Javier De La Cruz Valdemoro (Spain), Verushka Ramasami (South Africa), Matthias Derhake (Germany), Celine Simon (France), Brittany Hemming (Canada) and Aleksandra Swistow (Poland). Kerala Tourism secretary Jyothilal said the state, which was "one of the top ten biodiversity hotspots in the world, is a land where ayurveda, yoga, martial arts are all present to be seen for the visiting tourists". The bloggers shared their joy and excitement on being the part of the Blog Express. Nidhi Thakur from Himachal Pradesh, the only Indian blogger among the 30, said she was very eager to explore Kerala that was familiar to her only through movies with songs with dance sequences. Mirela Surghie from Romania said Kerala was known for its ashrams in her country. "Seventy-five percent of my travel blog readers are women. Travelling helps women live their dreams and enjoy themselves, which I am doing now," she said. Kerala Tourism director T.V. Anupama said the bloggers through this trip "will get to know Kerala's products like Kathakali, sadya (the traditional lunch served on a plantain leaf) and also the village experience". The Afghan government has expressed grief over the spike in civilian deaths and injuries, the presidential palace said on Monday. On Sunday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released its annual report on protection of civilians in armed conflict. The overall civilian casualties hit a record high in 2015 as about 11,000 non-combatants were killed and injured, Xinhua cited the report that showed a four percent increase in compare with 2014. "This report confirms the horrifically high price Afghans are paying as a result of the conflict, whereby the actions of the Taliban and other terrorist groups are seeking to deny our citizens the right to live in peace and protect their families from harm," the palace said. Some 3,545 civilians were killed and 7,457 injured as the violence spread in different places of the country in 2015. The NATO and the US forces completed their combat mission in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after 13 years of military presence in the country. "The Afghan government is particularly saddened by the sharp increase in loss of life of Afghan women and girls. The Taliban increasingly trained their sights on Afghan women and girls -- maiming them, killing them, and snatching away their constitutional and human rights," the statement said. The UN report has highlighted 37 percent increase in women casualties and a 14 percent increase in child casualties last year in compare with 2014. Some 850 civilians were killed while 570 were injured by targeted killings and attack in 2015. The government urged UNAMA's monitoring team to pay particular attention to the increasing number of targeted attacks on civilian personal and institutions, including community elders throughout the country and especially in the south and southeast. "Our analysts have identified a pattern in the methods in which these violent attacks were carried out and concluded that there is a systematic effort underway to terrorise these communities and intimidate anyone who denounces violence against civilian populations," the statement said. The UN report has attributed 62 percent of the casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 17 percent were attributed to security forces while 17 percent of civilian casualties were unattributed and the rest four percent were caused by explosive remnants of war. Actress Alia Bhatt says attending the famed New York Fashion Week is a "dream" for her. One of her favourite make-up artists, Elton J Fernandez, has been sent to New York Fashion Week by Maybelline New York, and she is "super excited for him as it will be his first-time working backstage with renowned designers and international makeup artists". Wishing him lots of luck, Alia said in a statement: "It has been my dream to attend New York Fashion Week, where ultimate fashion and style icons have made their mark! It's a brilliant platform and I would love to attend Fashion Week next season." Alia is currently busy shooting for a new film with superstar Shah Rukh Khan. -*- 'Rock On 2' shoot nears end The shooting of "Rock On 2" is nearing its end, and actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar has thanked his team for it. Written and directed by Shujaat Saudagar, the film is a sequel to the 2008 film "Rock On!!". "As the Rock On 2 journey nears its end, the riders step off one by one. Thank you Shashank S Arora .. It's been a pleasure. Keep shining," Farhan tweeted. Produced by Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani, the music has been given by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Besides Farhan, the film stars actors Arjun Rampal, Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli who were also seen in the prequel of the film and it also stars Shraddha Kapoor who is new to the franchise. -*- Bejoy Nambiar to launch music video 'Aarachar' on Tuesday Music video "Aarachar", featuring actress Aditi Rao Hydari will be launched on Tuesday, announced its director Bejoy Nambiar. Aditi and Nambiar shot the video for the Kerala-based band Thaikkudam Bridge. "Finally we are launching the music video 'Aarachar' by Thaikkudam Bridge tomorrow, feat Aditi Rao Hydari. Watch this space (sic)," Nambiar, who has films like "Wazir" and "Shaitan" to his credit, posted on the micro-blogging website. "Aarachar" is a Malayalam song but Nambiar also plans to subtitle it in Hindi and English and reach out to a bigger audience. Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Monday launched a scathing attack on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his stand on the Jawaharlal Nehru University row. Shah said no anti-national activities would be allowed in the country. "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country," Shah said in a blog. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," he said. JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days' police custody on Friday although he denied raising the anti-India slogans. The opposition in Jharkhand on Monday demanded the arrest of Dhulu Mahto, a legislator of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for allegedly seeking money from a Russian company in Dhanbad district. "The BJP legislator should be arrested. The state has provided special security to the legislator and he is using it for extortion," Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former chief minister, told reporters here. Dhulu Mahto has described the charge as "baseless" and politically motivated. Earlier, the police had said that a Russian company working with Bharat Coking Coal Ltd at Dhanbad reportedly informed the Russian consulate that BJP legislator Dhulu Mahto has been causing obstruction in their work for the last few months. On Sunday, Jharkhand police spokesperson S.N. Pradhan had told IANS: "Necessary direction has been given to Dhanbad police chief to look into the issue." Soren said that on the one hand Prime Minster Narendra Modi has been inviting investors and on the other his party legislators have been extorting money from foreign companies. Echoing his view, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) legislator Pradeep Yadav said: "The Russian company should seek the intervention of the prime minister. It seems the state government is shielding him." The CPI-ML has also demanded action against the BJP legislator. "Law and order situation is the worst in the state. Rape, murder and crime cases are rising. BJP legislator is harassing Russian company. The legislator should be arrested," Raj Kumar Yadav, CPI-ML legislator, told reporters. The Russian consulate reportedly sent a letter to Chief Minister Raghubar Das informing him about the issue. The company officials on Saturday reported the matter to Dhanbad police and sought security. The police have registered a complaint and started an investigation. The police said that there was deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the areas in which the Russian company operates. The law will prevail and no one will be allowed to interfere in the development work, it said. Dismissing the allegations against him, Dhulu Mahto told IANS: "The allegations are baseless. There is a section of people who want to damage me politically. Let there be a fair probe in this regard." A two-day summit will kick off later on Monday between Asean leaders and its host US President Barack Obama at the Sunnylands Centre in California, which is the first such meeting to be held on US soil. It's believed that the US government will take the gathering as an opportunity to exert its clout in Southeast Asia against a backdrop of growing Chinese influence in the region, when Obama may wish to reach consensus among all Asean member states to issue a statement on the South China Sea disputes that will touch on China, Xinhua reported. However, experts said as Southeast Asia has always taken a neutral stance in the tussle between the powers, and there are huge mutual interests and deep cooperation between the region and China, Asean is not expected to take sides between the US and China at the summit. Although a US State Department official has claimed that the imminent summit is "not anti-China," China will inevitably be an important topic in the discussion. "The issue of South China Sea will for sure be featured in the discussions in the context of the freedom of navigation," said Tang Siew Mun, head of the Asean Studies Centre and concurrently senior fellow at the Regional Strategic and Political Studies programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute based in Singapore. However, during the summit, while countries like the Philippines may continue to play the victim and urge the Asean to take a hard stance against China over the territorial disputes with the backing of the US, Asean as a whole is not expected to take sides on this issue due to its strong and complicated ties with China. William Kirby, T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University, said all the attending countries have complex relations with China, most of which are very positive. Speaking to visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry last month, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said "for the South China Sea issue, we should... try to encourage the countries concerned in the dispute to continue negotiations with each other because Asean has no rights to measure land for any sides." As part of Obama's Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy, the summit also sees different expectations from its Asean attendants. "It is hard to say that there is a strong consensus of all Asean countries on what they expect from the US. Some want stronger or more robust presence of the US in the region, while others prefer less," said Ngeow Chow Bing, senior lecturer at the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya. While the minimum consensus is that all will prefer the US to continue to have at least some presence, that presence should not be seen as making Asean countries feel compelled to pick between the US and China, he added. Ngeow said that there may also be different policy preferences or agendas between the US and Asean for the summit. "While the US may want to make the summit's discussions devoted to mostly China-related issues, some Asean countries may expect that the summit can focus on US-Asean rather than US-Asean-China," he added. Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said the activities by various claimants in the South China Sea have quietened down a lot in recent months, and to some extent the US is trying to refocus a lot of regional claimants' attention on the South China Sea. He said the US would win more friends if it focuses more on economic cooperation with the Southeast Asian countries. Ngeow echoed Oh's opinion by saying that the US should think more towards economic cooperation with all Asia-Pacific countries (including China) in its "pivot" rhetoric rather than focusing too much on territorial issues. In this sense, all the countries should think about how to steer international politics in the pacific region towards more cooperation rather than being fixated on territorial issues, he said. The twiteratti was abuzz on Monday after certain lawyers and BJP leaders assaulted journalists and JNU students in the Patiala House court complex here. Some women journalists were also molested and roughed up in a big scuffle in the court complex, reports said. "India Today's Anusha Soni, Poonam Sharma, Sneha Agarwal (Mail Today) molested in Patiala House," human right activist Samar Anarya tweeted from his verified account @Samar_Anarya. "Two of our reporters Alok Singh and Kaunain Sheriff beaten up by lawyers inside Patiala House court," Indian Express senior journalist Muzamil Jaleel said in a tweet. Criticising the BJP for using violence as a "diversionary tactic" to take attention off the central government's alleged failures, the Aam Aadmi Party condemned the attack on students and journalists. "The BJP attacked students and journalists to divert attn from land scam in Gujarat, the falling SENSEX and the INR," Delhi Water Minister Kapil Sharma tweeted. "I condemn the attack on TV reporters/JNU faculty by few lawyers in Patiala house court. They sud be identified/their license sud be seized," journalist-turned-AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said on the microblogging site. However, there was no dearth of people who took to social media expressing anguish at the JNU fraternity over the recent incidents. "Dear JNU Students, We Fund Your Studies, Not Your Politics Folks pl read, pl RT," Infosys founder-turned-philanthrophist Mohandas Pai said on Twitter. "JNU is an eminent institution & time to #CleanUpJNU & also Crush the naxals & terrorists," Malayalam anchor Rahul Easwar wrote on twitter. Some entrepreneurs also asserted to leave it up to the university to find and punish the guilty in the February 9 event. "JNU issue has trapped Govt into taking extreme measures. This shd be left to JNU to find n punish the guilty," Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said. People from the media also took to the microblogging site to express solidarity with their colleagues who were assaulted. "The Editors' Guild of India, Press Club & News Broadcasters' Association should condemn the attack on journalists at Patiala House. Now!," Pankaj Pachauri, media advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, said. "Delhi Union of Journalists condemns attack on journalists at Patiala House. The Delhi police have remained silent spectators," journalist Manisha Pandey said. By 7 p.m., #SaffronEmergency and Patiala House were among the top 10 national trends on Twitter. Faced with the demand to allow a baby to remain in the country, the Treasurer of Australia, Scott Morrison, on Monday defended the government's strict policy of confining asylum seekers in third countries. Morrison's statement come after a Brisbane hospital staff refused to discharge a one-year-old girl due to the risk of her being returned to an immigration detention centre in Nauru, EFE news reported. The girl was brought to the hospital, along with her parents, in January from the detention centre in the Pacific to have her burns treated and from which she has already recovered. Dozens of people gathered in front of the hospital over the weekend to demand this family be allowed to remain in the country. However, Morrison said, the current policy of confining immigrants in detention centres in third countries has helped stem the flow of boats carrying people trying to reach Australian shores illegally, and that this policy must be retained. "The risk of abandoning the policy in any way, shape or form is basically sending an invitation to resume this traffic," Morrison said. The Australian government sends illegal immigrants, who are intercepted before they reach the country, to detention centres, including one on Manus island in Papua New Guinea and another in Nauru, and process their requests for asylum from there. The Australian Human Rights Commission has reported children detained in these facilities are victims of sexual and physical abuse, self-mutilation, suffer from mental problems and do not have access to adequate medical care. The BJP and the Congress on Monday attacked each other on the Jawaharlal Nehru University incidents even as a few journalists and JNU students were assaulted by certain lawyers in Patiala House court complex here. In a blog, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah attacked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "supporting forces inimical to India's interests". The Congress hit back by invoking Mahatma Gandhi and his assassin Nathuram Godse. Shah wondered if the Congress leader had "lent his voice to the separatists". Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said his party did not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse". The arrest of Jawaharlal University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges continued to evoke condemnation from the opposition parties. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna that the central government had "framed" him. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Prakash Karat visited the JNU campus on Monday and said the party did not accept the central government's definition of nationalism. The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday. The controversy began when some JNU students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of executions of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said on Monday that Kanhaiya Kumar had joined the meeting on the campus where anti-national slogans were raised and he also raised slogans. Kanhiaya Kumar, who belongs to the CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF), has denied the charge. At least four of a group of journalists gathered at the Patiala House court on Monday afternoon to cover Kanhaiya Kumar's court production were assaulted by a section of lawyers, witnesses said. IANS reporter Amiya Kumar Kushwaha was slapped inside a courtroom while some other journalists were attacked on the court premises by lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans. Indian Express reporter Alok Singh told IANS that he and a group of journalists were standing outside the courtroom when some lawyers began thrashing JNU students and media persons present there, including Amit Pandey of IBN7 and Manu Shankar of Kairali TV. Journalists also saw O.P. Sharma, one of the three BJP legislators in the Delhi assembly, allegedly chasing and hitting a JNU student outside the court. Earlier, scuffles broke out as lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' ordered JNU students and journalists out of the courtroom as well as the court premises. No reasons were assigned. Some JNU students said that lawyers shouting 'Long Live India, Down with JNU' physically forced them out of the court premises. The violence took place despite a big police presence in the court complex in the heart of the capital. Shah said Rahul Gandhi should apologise "to the nation for his support to forces inimical to India's interests". "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university," Shah said. "But the kind of statements Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves there is no place for national interest in their thinking." Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had succeeded in controlling "anti-national sentiments in Kashmir" but the Congress "is igniting unfortunate anti-national activities at the JNU". Shah said Rahul Gandhi was not able to "differentiate between anti-national and pro-national activity". Surjewala said anyone who had committed a wrong at JNU should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "Those who killed the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Surjewala told reporters. He said the Congress has a stellar record in strengthening the integrity of the country. Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi, who talked to the media at the university gate, said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should tell the nation the definition of nationalism. The BJP and the Congress on Monday attacked each other on the Jawaharlal Nehru University incidents even as a few journalists were beaten up by certain lawyers in Patiala House court complex here. In a blog, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah attacked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "supporting forces inimical to India's interests". The Congress hit back by invoking Mahatma Gandhi and his assassin Nathuram Godse. Shah wondered if the Congress leader had "lent his voice to the separatists". Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said his party did not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse". The arrest of Jawaharlal University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges continued to evoke condemnation from the opposition parties. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna that the central government had "framed" him. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Prakash Karat visited the JNU campus on Monday and said the party did not accept the central government's definition of nationalism. The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday. The controversy began when some JNU students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said on Monday that Kanhaiya Kumar had joined the meeting on the campus where anti-national slogans were raised and he also raised slogans. Kanhiaya Kumar, who belongs to the CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF), has denied the charge. At least four of a group of journalists gathered at the Patiala House court on Monday afternoon to cover Kanhaiya Kumar's court production were assaulted by a section of lawyers, witnesses said. IANS reporter Amiya Kumar Kushwaha was slapped inside a courtroom while some other journalists were attacked on the court premises by lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans. Indian Express reporter Alok Singh told IANS that he and a group of journalists were standing outside the courtroom when some lawyers began thrashing JNU students and media persons present there, including Amit Pandey of IBN7 and Manu Shankar of Kairali TV. Journalists also saw O.P. Sharma, one of the three BJP legislators in the Delhi assembly, allegedly chasing and hitting a JNU student outside the court. Earlier, scuffles broke out as lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' ordered JNU students and journalists out of the courtroom as well as the court premises. No reasons were assigned. Some JNU students said that lawyers shouting 'Long Live India, Down with JNU' physically forced them out of the court premises. The violence took place despite a big police presence in the court complex in the heart of the capital. Shah said Rahul Gandhi should apologise "to the nation for his support to forces inimical to India's interests". "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university," Shah said. "But the kind of statements Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves there is no place for national interest in their thinking." Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had succeeded in controlling "anti-national sentiments in Kashmir" but the Congress "is igniting unfortunate anti-national activities at the JNU". Shah said Rahul Gandhi was not able to "differentiate between anti-national and pro-national activity". Surjewala said anyone who had committed a wrong at JNU should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "Those who killed the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Surjewala told reporters. He said the Congress has a stellar record in living and dying for the integrity of this country, both prior to Independence and in the years after Independence. The government, he said, "should abandon the path of suppressing voices opposed to it" and focus on governance. BJP president Amit Shah on Monday flayed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for supporting JNU students, asking whether he had lent his voice to the separatists. Rahul Gandhi must apologise for igniting "anti-national activities" at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Shah told reporters here and wondered if the Congress leader had "lent his voice to the separatists". JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested for allegedly raising anti-national slogans during a meeting on the campus on February 9. Kumar has denied the charge. "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university," Shah said. "But the kind of statements Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves there is no place for national interest in their thinking." Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had succeeded in controlling "anti-national sentiments in Kashmir" but the Congress "is igniting unfortunate anti-national activities at the JNU". "I demand an answer from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi over the issue. I also demand Rahul Gandhi to apologise to the nation for his acts," the BJP president said. "I want to ask him if he has joined hands with separatists?" Shah asked. The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after anti-national slogans were raised at a meeting on the campus to mark the anniversaries of the execution of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Shah said Rahul Gandhi was not able to "differentiate between anti-national and pro-national activity". "Is this the definition of nationalism for Rahul Gandhi? By terming anti-national activities as student revolution and describing (the) action against anti-nationals as (an) attack on the freedom of speech and expression, he has shown insensitivity towards the country's unity. "I want to ask Rahul Gandhi: Had it been in national interest if the government didn't act and remained silent? Are you not encouraging anti-national forces by staging support in their protest?" The bodies of nine Indian soldiers, who were buried alive in an avalanche on the hostile Siachen glacier, were brought to the national capital from the frontier Ladakh region on Monday. Wreaths were laid at the Palam airport in Delhi at a solemn ceremony led by Indian Army vhief General Dalbir Singh. Indian Air Force planes were expected to fly the bodies to be handed over to their families in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. The soldiers were killed when an avalanche struck their post around 20,000 feet above the sea level on February 3, burying them under nearly 30 feet of snow. One of them, Lance Naik Hanamanthapa Koppad, was found alive after he remained under the snow for about six days. The nine bodies were retrieved a week after the tragedy. Bad weather in the region had hindered flying out their bodies out of Ladakh to their native places so far. The body of Sepoy Mushtaq Ahmed, who was among the 10 soldiers killed in an avalanche on Siachen glacier, was flown to Hyderabad on Monday and was later taken to his native village in Andhra Pradesh. The mortal remains of the soldier were kept at the old airport of Begumpet here for some time after it was brought by a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force from New Delhi. Top military and civil officials and leaders of various political parties laid wreaths and paid their last respects. The body was later taken to his native Parnapalle village in Atmakur mandal of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. The last rites with military honours will be performed on Tuesday. Mushtaq is survived by his wife and a son. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government on Monday enhanced ex-gratia for the soldier's family to Rs.25 lakh, from Rs.5 lakh announced earlier. The decision was taken at the state cabinet meeting in Vijayawada. The cabinet paid rich tributes to the soldier. It was also decided to provide a job to a member of Mushtaq's family. Earlier, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had announced Rs.5 lakh for the family. He had also announced that the family will be allotted a house. Nine soldiers were killed when an avalanche hit the army's Sonam post at Siachen on February 3. Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, who was rescued alive after being buried under snow for six days, died on February 11 in an army hospital in Delhi. The union Government has seen two important announcements in the recent past. Under the flagship Smart City Mission, it recently announced the first tranche of cities which are to be developed into smart cities. Similarly, on feb 15, the government released the Swachh Sarvekshan-2016 which ranks 73 cities on cleanliness and sanitation. The first list includes 20 cities, none of which are from some of India's biggest states like UP, Bihar and West Bengal. Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, has topped the rankings followed by Pune and Jaipur. The government has offered a fast-track window for next 23 cities to upgrade their proposals and submit them by April 15, to be included in the next tranche. Speaking at the occasion, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu mentioned that an investment of Rs.50,802 crores has been proposed for selected smart cities and towns during the next five years. The first tranche was chosen through a transparent and competitive process according to Naidu. The Swachh Sarvekshan-2016 had a list of cities with a population of more than 10 lakh. The best performing cities lie towards the south and west. Chandigarh and New Delhi were also in the top 10 of the cities considered for the latest round of Swachh Sarvekshan-2016. The east and some portions of the north had cities which have been found to be relatively filthier. Asansol (72) and Dhanbad (73) are at the bottom of the list. However, the main challenge that confronts all the programmes of the government is that of execution and implementation. Implementation is a major challenge for all the projects that India is working on - be it highways, railways or refineries or even present and previous urban development projects in different spaces even for cleanliness. This is because delays are a norm in India's project schedules. Rarely do projects get completed on time and if they do, they often become headlines. A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly lamented the cost and time overruns that have plagued India's implementation capability in the past. Similar is the case when one looks at the projects that were undertaken under the UPA government's Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM); one sees that a lot of cost and time overruns plagued them. A recent article in The Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) written by Amit Garg and Vidhee Kiran Avashia analyses this and points to the alarming statistics on them. Of the 538 projects examined by the scholars, 294 suffered from cost overruns and 303 suffered from time overruns - and 166 projects suffered from both cost and time overruns. Their study also points to the startling fact that an astounding 36 percent of the urban projects suffered from both time and cost overruns. Their analysis offers a cautionary tale to the policymakers in India to look at what went wrong in the case of the previous urban projects. There may be several reasons for India's implementation deficit. Some argue that in a democracy, things often require time as opposed to an autocracy. While there is some semblance of truth to this claim passed on as collective wisdom, mostly, it is a problem of coordination between agencies and precisely fixing responsibility. That is the crux of the issue with respect to delays and implementation deficit in projects. Other reasons are lack of training to the people implementing projects on the ground, land acquisition laws and a host of legislations which prevent work. The government must move quickly to not only announce the next tranche of Smart Cities but also build systems and implementation capability to resolve the issues of implementation deficit. Implementation within the smart cities/clean cities will be a major challenge as the underlying governance structures are where the core of the problem lies. This bridge between the municipal and the union level is a welcome one but much will depend on the implementation of projects on the ground. The focus on technology and public scrutiny to improve systems is another positive from the side of the government. The policymakers will do a host of good to learn from the successful and not so successful experiences of the previous administration. It is hoped in the process the present government is able to build clean, healthy and smarter cities. (The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India. Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for Competitiveness & Editor of Thinkers. The views expressed are personal. Amit can be reached at amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in and tweets @kautiliya) The body of a Class 12 girl student was recovered from a drain here on Monday morning, police said. The girl was identified as Unnati Sharma, resident of Jankipuram locality and a student at Rani Laxmi Bai (RLB) College. She was reported missing five days ago while on her way to college. Her father lodged a complaint after she failed to return home. An investigating police official said they were looking if she was sexually assaulted before she was killed. Lashing out at both the BJP and the Congress, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Monday the only alternative for India was a Left and secular democratic front and it has to begin from Kerala. Yechury said this at a mammoth party gathering at the conclusion of the month-long state-wide yatra of politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan at the Shangumugham beach. Kerala goes to the polls soon to elect a new assembly. "The Congress can never be an alternative to the BJP. In fact, the Congress has facilitated the arrival of the BJP and they are helping each other. It's only we, the Left, who can be a credible alternative to revive the country and bring it back to the forefront of economic development," said Yechury. Hitting out at the BJP, he said the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed in all sectors of economic development, and the rich were getting richer and the poor getting poorer. "In order to wriggle out of this bad economic situation, today, they (BJP) are engaged in communal polarisation and this is leading to unrest in the country. Yesterday (Sunday), even I was threatened and so was our office in Delhi. "Today (Monday), we saw RSS activists arriving in a court in Delhi wearing lawyer's robes and attacking students. "They (BJP) see the Left as the biggest impediment and hence they are attacking us and also the JNU campus. But we are not going to be cowed down by these, as we know how to defend not only ourselves but also our country," he said. Hitting out at the Oommen Chandy government, Yechury said the Congress-led UDF government in the state was competing with the erstwhile UPA government of Manmohan Singh on how to be corrupt. "Every day, there are new scams breaking out under the Chandy government. So now the challenge before us and the people of Kerala is to see that like what they did in 1957, a new path has to be laid for the revival of the country," said Yechury. For that, he said Kerala should elect the Left Democratic Front to power in the upcoming assembly elections, which can show the path to the rest of the country. The Congress on Monday said it does not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse", while responding to BJP president Amit Shah's criticism of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over the JNU row. "Those who killed the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters. Surjewala also attacked the previous BJP-led NDA government over the Kargil intrusion, terror attack on parliament in 2001 and release of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Masood Azhar and the present NDA government over the terror attacks at Udhampur, Dinanagar and Pathankot. He said the BJP's ideological fountainhead RSS hoisted the tricolour at its headquarters 52 years after independence. "The Indian National Congress has a stellar record in living and dying for the integrity of this country, both prior to independence and in the years after independence," Surjewala said. He said the Congress was the inheritor of an ideology in which Indira Gandhi and many other leaders had fought terrorism and made the supreme sacrifice. The Congress leader said anyone who had committed a wrong at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "There is freedom of expression in the country. Rahul Gandhi has similar views," he said. When a handful of people raised anti-India slogans on the JNU campus, the Congress strongly condemned it and demanded that action be taken against them, the spokesman said. The Congress leader said India was strong enough to give fair treatment and a fair trial to its worst enemies. "If that was not our belief and if that was not part of our founding ethos, then (parliament attack convict) Afzal Guru would not have been convicted up to the Supreme Court and punished through due process." Surjewala said the Narendra Modi government, which received an overwhelming mandate in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, has disappointed not only the Congress but the entire country. He alleged that the Modi government was suppressing the voice of democracy and said its attitude was visible during protests in various parts of the country. The government, he said, "should abandon the path of suppressing voices opposed to it" and focus on governance. Amit Shah in a blog said no citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," Shah said. JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges. The controversy started when some students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of the executions of Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days police custody on Friday although he denied raising anti-India slogans. The defence ministry on Monday signed 40-50 MoUs with many global players, including manufacturers of jet aircraft and helicopters, as part of the ongoing 'Make In India Week' here, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said. The production of helicopters and jet aircraft in the country will create employment opportunities for around 100,000 skilled workers, he said at the ministry's pavilion. "The ministry has addressed procedural bottlenecks and 70 percent of licence requirements have been done away with, while the new defence procurement policy will be announced next month and become effective from April 2," Parrikar told mediapersons. The minister said public sector undertakings in the defence sector have seen their exports rise two times and this was set to rise further as they plan to double their production capacities and earmark 10 percent solely for exports. "We will have a new category -- 'indigenously designed, developed and manufactured' -- as the most preferred category for procurement. It will boost domestic private and small scale industry," he said. He said the Akash misile was now 90 percent indigenously designed and developed, while the next variant of the missile was in advanced stages of development. The Indian Air Force will buy 100 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, which was developed in the country, he said. All these initiatives under the 'Make In India' initiative will take the country's economic growth to unimaginable heights from the current levels of 7.0-7.5 percent and the government promises to make the defence market more lucrative for the Indian industry. In pursuance of the government's Act East policy, the external affairs ministry on Monday announced it will hold the eighth edition of the Delhi Dialogue here from February 17 to 19. The Delhi Dialogue is a premier annual track 1.5 diplomatic event to discuss the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Held annually since 2009, this year's edition is being held with the theme "Asean-India relations: A new paradigm". "This is specially pertinent as we prepare to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Asean-India relations in 2017," Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east) in the external affairs ministry, said while briefing the media here. Three major sessions will be held in this year's event - academic, business and ministerial. "This edition is going to build upon the advances that have been made, especially in the last year, towards deepening and strengthening our relationship with Asean," Wadhwa said. "2015 witnessed an intensive engagement with Asean countries at the level of ministers, senior officials, opinion-makers, business leaders etc. and this culminated in the summit level meeting between our prime minister (Narendrs Modi) and his 10 Asean counterparts in November 2015," he said. According to Wadhwa, the Asean region is the fourth largest economy in the world with a population of 622 million, comprising largely middle income people. "Moreover, the Asean-India Free Trade Area (FTA) has been completed with the entering into force of the Asean-India agreement on trade and services, and investments on July 1, 2015," he said. To take advantage of this and to encourage integration of Indian producers in regional value chains of the Asean, India's ministry of commerce and industry was in the process of establishing a project development fund with a corpus Rs.500 crore which would help create manufacturing hubs in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar and Vietnam, the secretary (east) said. "The regional comprehensive economic partnership between Asean and the six FTA partners of which India is a member is expected to be finalised in 2016. That will give a further boost to our trade and investment relations with Asean," he said. Wadhwa said that India has enhanced the Asean-India Science and Technology Development Fund from $1 million to $5 million. An Asean-India innovation platform is also on the cards. "Renewable energy is another area of mutual interest. At the last Asean-India summit in Kuala Lumpur, our prime minister also extended an invitation to Asean countries to be part of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) which he launched in November 2015 and to partner us in sutainable energy initiatives," he said. The ISA is an alliance of some 120 countries situated between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn that receive sunlight for 300 or more days in a year. Wadhwa said that India was offering Asean countries 100 training slots in renewable energy in the country's institutions. Among the dignitaries who will be participating in this year's Delhi Dialogue are Sofyam A. Djalil, minister for national development planning of Indonesia and head of the National Development planning Agency; U Tin Oo Lwin, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Myanmar; Vikasakdi Futrakul, vice minister of foreign affairs of Thailand; Le Hoai Trung, vice minister of foreign affairs of Vietnam; Somchith Inthamith, vice minister of industry and commerce of Lao PDR; Vikram Nair, member of parliament and chairperson of the Governmment Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore as well as chairman of the Singapore-India Parliamentary Friendship Group; Kan Pharidh, under-secretary of state in the foreign ministry of Cambodia; and A.K.P. Mochtan, deputy secretary general for community and corporate affairs at the Asean Secretariat. The Chief Ministers of two northeastern states, T.R. Zeliang of Nagaland and Lal Thanhawla of Mizoram, will also be participating. "Normally we talk about how to integrate the northeast with our Act East policy and in that respect what are the expectations of the northeastern states, what is required by them, what are their priorities and how they can be benefitted from this integration with Asean," Wadhwa said. "So it helps us to articulate those views and these views are taken back by the delegates who are there to put into practice in their own countries," he added. While the presidents of the industry bodies Ficci, CII and Assocham will address the business session on February 17, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will host the ministerial session on February 18. The academic session on February 19 will see discussions between scholars and opinion-makers on issues like Asean and the security of Asia-Pacific and Asean-India and ocean economy dynamics. The BJP's Delhi legislator Om Prakash Sharma allegedly attacked a JNU student at a city court on Monday. The BJP backed Sharma, saying he was opposing anti-India slogans and was hit on the head first, to which he reacted. The Aam Aadmi Party condemned the attack and demanded strict action against the Bharatiya Janata Party leader. However, the Delhi BJP state unit backed Sharma, saying "he did nothing wrong". Delhi BJP's media convenor Praveen Shankar Kapoor said Sharma was not a "badmash" (anti-social element) and he did nothing wrong. "According to Sharma's version to the party, people present in the court premises misbehaved with him first and raised anti-India slogans. When he opposed, a person attacked him on his head and then he (Sharma) reacted," Kapoor told IANS. "Going by his account, I don't think he did anything wrong. Delhi BJP stands with him," Kapoor added. Earlier, Sharma was embroiled in a controversy for allegedly passing derogatory remarks on AAP legislator from Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba. Lamba said Sharma's act of beating a JNU student exposed his mentality. "Earlier on August 9, he planned an attack on me when I was conducting an anti-drug campaign near Kashmere Gate Inter-State Bus Terminal. After that, he passed derogatory remarks on me in the Delhi assembly and broke the mike for which he was fined as well," Lamba told IANS. "Today's (Monday) act exposed his mentality. He should be arrested immediately and an FIR should be registered against him," she said. "He should not walk free just because BJP is in power." The AAP also condemned the attack, saying the BJP was deliberately creating an atmosphere of terror and chaos in Delhi. "The AAP appeals to all residents of the national capital to peacefully reject all attempts by the BJP and its affiliated organisations to destroy the democratic values of the country," the AAP said in a statement. Four journalists, including one from IANS, and some JNU students and teachers were assaulted by a section of lawyers on Monday at a city court. The incident took place just before the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been arrested on charges of sedition, was to be brought to the court. Not just delivering pizzas or attacking enemies in the battlefield, drones are now being used to document and monitor a ravaged landscape on the Dead Sea Plain in Jordan. The findings reveal that looting still continues at the site of Feifa, located 38 km south of Bab edh-Dhra', though at a measurably reduced pace, according to an archaeologist from Chicago-based DePaul University. The site contains a small Iron Age fortified village partly overlying a very large cemetery with ancient tombs. In the last few decades, Feifa has been the focus of intensive looting, with an estimated loss of thousands tombs. "Drones are proving to be powerful new tools to archaeologists for documenting excavation, mapping landscapes and identifying buried features. They also can be applied to monitor site destruction and looting in the present," said Morag M Kersel, assistant professor of anthropology at DePaul. Three seasons of monitoring at Feifa demonstrated that UAVs can provide quantifiable evidence for the rate of ongoing site damage, even in contexts where other remote sensing systems would provide insufficient data. "Between 2013-14, we had 34 new looting episodes -- holes -- clearly people were still looting. In the next year, there's very little or no evidence of looting. Why?" Kersel said. "Is it because there is no demand Early Bronze Age ceramics? "An element of the ongoing research is the examination of why looting has abated. Are there no more graves to loot?," she asked. Archaeologists for years have been using satellite images to quantify the number of looted graves. "Comparing satellite images with the lunar-like landscape of Feifa led us to the revolutionary idea of using drones to gather data with higher resolution from areas of our own choosing," Kersel explained. Kersel discussd how drones are an emerging tool for archeology during a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, last weekend. The ecosystem for skill development, technology and innovation was critical for 'Make in India' to succeed, was the unanimous view expressed by central ministers, officials and industrialists on Monday. Speaking at a seminar on "Make in India: The Way Forward", organised by the central government and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the industry and the government should collaborate in these areas. Parrikar said that with the opening up of foreign direct investment (FDI) to 49 percent, no pendency in approvals for offset and exports, and amendments in the new Defence Procurement Policy, the Indian defence industry was moving in the right direction to be a key beneficiary and contributor to the 'Make in India' campaign. In her remarks at the panel discussion, Commerce and Industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed satisfaction at the cooperation received from various states on reforms to ease of doing business. Expressing confidence on the two-way exchange between the Indian industry with the states as well as the central government, she said the government was there to play the role of a facilitator and not that of a regulator. Amitabh Kant, secretary in the department of industry policy and promotion, said the world of manufacturing was changing very drastically with a paradigm shift in technology and disruptions brought about by robotics, simulations, cyber security and big data analytics has made the global companies to get digitally integrated. There was a need for Indian companies also to embrace such a shift, he said. Ashok Lavasa, secretary in the ministry of environment, forests and climate change, said the online system for environment and forest clearance over the past 18 months enabled the government to give 954 environment clearances translating into Rs.6.5 lakh crore worth of investments. Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, said the overall investment climate has seen significant improvement over the last six months on the back of the policy reforms undertaken by the central government and the measures taken by the states for attracting investments have made it easier to do business. First cargo train from China to Iran arrived in Tehran on Monday, indicating a milestone in reviving the "Silk Road", which has opened a new chapter of win-win cooperation between China and Iran. The train, also referred to as Silk Road train, passed through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran, travelling a distance of 10,399 kms. It had left Yiwu city in east China's Zhejiang province on January 28, Xinhua reported. This train was carrying dozens of cargo containers, according to the deputy of Iran's Road and Urbanism Minister Mohsen Pour-Aqaei, who made a welcome speech after the arrival of the cargo train at Tehran Train Station on Monday. Ancient Silk Road trade route had served as an important bridge for East-West trade and brought a close link between the Chinese and Persian civilisations. The "Belt and Road" initiative was raised by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, which refers to the New Silk Road Economic Belt, linking China with Europe through Central and Western Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, connecting China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Europe. "To revive the Silk Road Economic Belt, the launch of the train is an important move, since about 700 kms of trip has been done per day," said Pour-Aqaei, who was present at the welcome ceremony of the train in Tehran's railway station. "Compared to the sea voyage of the cargo ships from China's Shanghai city to Iran's Bandar Abbas port city, the travel time of the train was 30 days shorter," he said. Pour-Aqaei, also the managing director of Iran's Railway Company, added that according to the plan, there would be one such trip from China to Iran every month. The travel of cargo train from China to Iran is part of a Chinese initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road used by the traders to commute between Europe and East Asia. Tehran will not be the final destination of these kinds of trains from China, the Iranian deputy minister said, adding that in the future, the train will reach Europe. This will benefit Iran as the transit course for the cargo trains from the east Asia to Europe, he said. Chinese ambassador to Iran Pang Sen said that as one of the cooperation projects after Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Iran, the cargo train is playing a important role to promote construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative. Meanwhile, the railway line from Yiwu to Tehran provides the two countries an express and efficient cargo trade transportation method, Pang said, adding that the countries along the railway line will further upgrade rail technology with the aim to make its transportation ability faster and better. A former Somali defence minister was killed on Monday in a car explosion in Mogadishu, police said. Muhidin Mohamad Haji Ibrahim, who served under the government in 2008, was killed as an explosive device fitted in his car exploded, Xinhua quoted a police official as saying. "I can confirm that the deceased died on the spot when the car exploded at a busy junction," he said. Several lawmakers and ministers have been killed in the past in similar incidents, for which Somali militant group Al-Shabaab usually claimed responsibility. Goa Forest and Environment Minister Rajendra Arlekar on Monday said there was no possibility of the peacock, India's national bird, being relegated to the list of vermin. Arlekar was speaking to reporters a few days after Goa's Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said that the peacock, Great Indian bison, wild boar and certain species of monkeys could be soon declared vermin - or nuisance animals and birds. "There is no question of peacock being called vermin," Arlekar said. Tawadkar on Friday said that a process was on to declare peacocks, bisons, wild boars and monkeys as vermin or nuisance animals because they were damaging farm crops and horticulture. While the peacock is the national bird, the bison, also known as the 'Gaur', is the state animal of Goa. "Some farmers said peacocks were damaging their crops in fields in hilly areas. The committee will also assess whether peacocks should be declared vermin or nuisance species," Tawadkar had said. The comments triggered a national uproar and political parties in Goa, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, condemned the comments. State Congress president Luizinho Faleiro said the proposed move to brand the peacock and bison as vermin was "suicidal". The Goa BJP has also distanced itself from Tawadkar's statement, with its spokeperson Pramod Sawant saying there were no plans to declare the peacock vermin. Rome, Feb 15 (IANS/AKI) Touching or squeezing someone's buttocks "uninvited" is sexual assault, Italy's Supreme Court ruled in a sentence published on Monday. The Supreme Court of Cassation issued the ruling against a motorist who groped a policewoman's backside and made obscene remarks to her after she ordered him to pull over. --IANS/AKI mr/ Leaders in motorcycle manufacturing, Hero MotoCorp is now eyeing a pole position in the scooter segment also, a top company official said here on Monday. With its market share in scooters going up to 20 percent from 13 percent three months back, the company's head (national sales) A. Srinivasu said: "We now aspire for leadership in the scooter segment also." However, he refused to provide any timeframe within which the company hopes to reach the number one position in scooters. Honda is now the leader in the scooter segment with a market share of over 50 percent. In motorcycles, Hero MotoCorp has a 53.4 percent market share. The company launched the 110 cc metal body Duet here on Monday. Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea is considering Haryana for its expansion plan in India, the state government said on Monday. This was indicated by Oscar Stenstorm, secretary in Sweden's ministry of enterprise and innovation, as he called on Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, after the investors' road show at the 'Make in India' Centre in Mumbai, a Haryana government spokesman said here. The international retail chain has 328 stores in various countries. The spokesman said Poland has evinced keen interest in investing in Haryana in the fields of agriculture, green technology, water treatment and 'waste to energy'. The offer was made by Poland's First Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Glinski at a meeting with Khattar in Mumbai, the spokesperson said. Haryana, which surrounds national capital Delhi from three sides, has seen big investment from companies, especially from Japan, in the past four decades. Industrial belts in Gurgaon, Manesar, Daruhera, Bawal, Sonipat and Rohtak areas have seen several industries being set up over the years. India's response to the sale of F-16 fighter aircraft by the US "does not make sense", said a Pakistani daily on Monday. An editorial "An end to cordiality" in The Nation called it "a bizarre move" and said that India has reacted strongly against the sale of eight F-16's to Pakistan, and protested by summoning the US Ambassador and expressing its disappointment. "India's response to this sale does not make sense considering the accusations that are hurled over from across the border do not feature air strikes in any capacity. "The much-larger neighbour's defence capabilities are much better than those on this side. The fact that the F-16's will be sold to Pakistan irks India primarily because it feels that any show of solidarity with Pakistan will undermine the assertions of cross-border terrorism," said the daily. It observed that both countries "going out of their way to impede each other is only proof that the bid to improve ties is not genuine". "India and Pakistan have seemingly forsaken the path to reconciliation; Pakistan must have understood that its inability to charge Masood Azhar would be seen as an affront while India knows that finding fault with every deal Pakistan makes is not endearing in the slightest," it added. The daily went on to say that the US has responded indirectly by questioning whether the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan is secure. "The timing of this statement coming directly after India's rancour can only mean that this is an attempt at appeasement. Contradictory statements on the part of the US have become the norm in the case of Pakistan and India. "The sale of the F-16s is a show of belief in Pakistan's attempt in defeating terrorism in the country. However, the US also knows that Pakistan wants to be included in the Nuclear Suppliers Group; in part because of the waiver granted to India. India's membership would make it the only country in the group to have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Chiding Pakistan over the security of its nuclear weapons is a reminder that an entry into the NSG is a distant reality," it said. The editorial said that the attitude on display from the Indian side is a clear indication of how things will be going forward. "The investigation following Pathankot was a catch-22 situation for Pakistan; investigate the way India wanted, without allowing complete access to Pakistani investigators which would never bring up enough evidence to get a conviction in a Pakistani court, or convict Masood Azhar and talk to India on the backfoot." It added that no amount of careful diplomacy can be used to change the relationship until Pathonkot is forgotten or the perpetrators are brought forward; until then Pakistan can expect more protests of this kind from India. India and Sweden on Monday signed an agreement for technical cooperation in railways and other areas. The agreement was signed between the Indian Railways and the Swedish ministries of railways and enterprise and innovation. "The main objectives of the MoU is to develop cooperation in railways and achieve concrete results with regard to bilateral trade, investment and research and technology transfer," a railways ministry statement said. The areas identified for cooperation include benchmark railway projects, exchange of knowledge, training and education and sustainable solutions among others. The agreement's time frame is five years, extendable by another five years with mutual consent, the statement added. Indonesia's top human rights watchdog has opposed the government's plan to use chemical castration as a punishment for convicted child molesters over the violation of human rights principle. "It violates human rights. The offenders should go through correctional period instead of being castrated," Xinhua quoted Siti Noor Laila, deputy chairman of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM), as saying on Monday. She said that punishment should take into account human rights and should only be used to correct misbehaviour of convicts. She also said proper punishment would eventually help offenders follow the community's social system. "Castration can be classified as inhumane and despicable, and it doesn't comply with Indonesia's constitution and commitments for human rights," Laila said. The Indonesian constitution protects everyone, including violators, from torture and misconduct that lowers a person's dignity. Besides that, Laila said Indonesia has ratified an international convention against torture, misconduct or despicable and inhumane punishment. The ratification was legalised through Law No. 5/1998. Indonesia saw rampant child-sex assault cases in recent years that involve serial pedophiles. Indonesian President Joko Widodo planned to issue a regulation in lieu of law, locally known as Perpu, containing harsher punishment against those committed in sexual violence against children. The new punishment includes injection of a hormone to reduce libido and sexual activities against the offenders. The Perpu will also categorise sexual assault against children as an extraordinary crime, similar to terrorism, drug abuse and corruption. Indonesia came after Malaysia and India who considered taking similar measures to deal with such cases. South Korea was the first Asian country to legalise the punishment in 2011. The punishment has long been applied in several states in the US, Russia and Poland. Iran on Monday said it will issue visas for all foreign nationals upon their arrival at Iranian airports, except for those from Britain, the US and seven other countries. The move was aimed at promoting the tourism industry in the country, Xinhua news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari as saying. Ansari did not specify the other seven countries excluded from the airport visa policy, saying only that a list of eligible countries will be announced in the future. "The decision has been made to meet the national interests and we hope it is well-received by the international tourists," he said. Following the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iranian president in 2013, Iran has sought reciprocal visa waiver programmes with some countries as part of its bid to boost tourism. The Japanese government has strongly criticised North Korea's decision to halt its investigation into the fate of abducted Japanese nationals. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Monday called North Korea's decision extremely regrettable and totally unacceptable, public broadcaster NHK reported. He said Japan has filed a strong protest with North Korea and demanded that it return all abductees to Japan as soon as possible based on a bilateral agreement reached in Stockholm in 2014. The agreement calls on North Korea to start a fresh investigation into the whereabouts of the missing Japanese nationals. Suga said the abduction issue is extremely important to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration. He said the government will pressure North Korea to resolve it based on the principles of "dialogue and pressure" and "action for action". Jharkhand Governor Draupdi Murmu's traditional address to the state legislature on Monday, marking the beginning of its budget session, was marred by boycott and slogan shouting from opposition parties. The governor, however, completed her address amid the din and noise. When Murmu started her address, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) legislator Pradeep Yadav started shouting and raised a few issues. The governor was also interrupted by Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Hemant Soren. The JMM, the main opposition party of the state, boycotted the governor's address. The Congress, however, did not. Pradeep Yadav said, "The governor's speech does not talk about the welfare of about 15 percent minorities, and there is also no mention of the 27 percent reservation to Other Backward Castes - OBC - in the state." At present, the OBCs are getting 14 percent reservation in government jobs and in educational institutions in Jharkhand. Talking to reporters, Hemant Soren said, "The state government is trying to shield Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Dhullu Mahto. He is accused of seeking extortion from a Russian company. There is no mention also of help to the farmers in the speech." Jharkhand Urban Development Minister C.P. Singh said, "The opposition parties are indulging in such acts to remain in news and get headlines on front page of the newspapers." JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested last week on charges of sedition, did raise anti-national slogans in the campus, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said on Monday. "Kahaiya Kumar had joined the meeting in the campus where anti-national slogans were raised. He also raised these slogans," Bassi told the media. Kumar, who is with the CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF), has denied the charge. Bassi said Kumar's interrogation was still on and further action would be taken after the investigation gets completed. He also claimed to have identified students who were also part of the JNU campus meeting on Kashmir on February 9 and were on the run. Kumar was arrested on February 12 on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy for allegedly raising anti-national slogans at a meeting to mark the anniversary of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's execution. A section of lawyers assaulted JNU students and journalists at the Patiala House court here on Monday just before JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedition, was to be brought. Scuffles broke out as the protesting lawyers shouting "Bharat Mata ki Jai" ordered the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students and journalists out of the courtroom, witnesses said. An IANS journalist said he too was attacked by some lawyers while another section of lawyers protected him. He said he saw other journalists also being attacked. Some JNU students said that lawyers shouting "Long Live India, Down with JNU" physically forced them out of the court premises. Amid an alliance buzz in West Bengal, leaders of the Left Front and the Congress on Monday marched shoulder to shoulder alongside other political workers in a rally here protesting against the 'atrocities" perpetrated on Jawaharlal Nehru University students by the Narendra Modi government. The rallyists set out from College Square -- the city's educational hub -- and covered a three km stretch to Dorina Crossing near the city centre under apolitical banner Democratic Forum against Suppression. The rally, christened "Kolkata Marches for JNU", saw the participation of representatives of the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal, besides the civil society. West Bengal Congress general secretary Om Prakash Mishra said the rally was taken out to defeat "fascist" forces. "This rally has huge importance. India now needs ideological unity. CPI-M, Congress, Forward Bloc, JDU, RJD -- they have all joined hands here. And those of you who think 'JNU idea is India's idea' if this has to survive, we need the alliance. We are moving towards that," said Mishra, who was the main organiser of the protest. State leaders of both the Congress and the Left Front have been pitching for an alliance to put up a strong fight against the ruling Trinamool Congress. Communist Party of India-Marxist Rajya Sabha member Ritabrata Banerjee, state secretariat member Sujon Chakraborty, former city mayor Bikash Bhattacharya, Congress leaders Somen Mitra, Abdul Mannan, Arunava Ghosh, Communist Party of India state secretary Manju Kumar Majumdar, all India Forward Bloc's Naren Chattopadhyay and theatre personality Kaushik Sen took part in the rally. Ridiculing the BJP's claims that those who were supporting the JNU agitation were acting against national interests, Ritabrata Banerjee said: "How can a force like the RSS, which killed Mahatma Gandhi, give certificate fo patriotism? "The people of India have not reached such a state where they will have to take such certificates from such forces. People have hit the streets today against an undeclared state of Emergency. There is no political colour here." Kaushik Sen said one has to react immediately whenever such issues emerge. "The BJP and organisations like the RSS which bolster the BJP, are regimented and have a wrong ideology. The combination of a disciplined party and a wrong ideology is dangerous. The sooner we react, the better it is for us." The Trinamool and its leader Mamata Banerjee were also criticised by the rallyists. AIFB leader Chattopadhyay questioned Mamata Banerjee's silence at a time the Modi government has brought down "inhuman torture on JNU students". JNU is on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mourn the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police registered a sedition case on Thursday and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days police custody on Friday although he denied raising the slogans. Automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra will make an investment of Rs.8,000 crore in its Maharashtra-based plants, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in a regulatory filing on Monday. "The investment will be made over a period of seven years and will be utilised towards infrastructure development, product development and capacity expansion for vehicles to be rolled out from the company's plants in Maharashtra," it said. Mahindra & Mahindra executive director Pawan Goenka signed the agreement with Maharashtra principal secretary (Industries) Apurva Chandra in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the ongoing 'Make in India' Week on Monday. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday offered 'Fateha' prayers at her father Mufti Muhammad Sayeed's grave in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. Monday is the 40th day of mourning for Mufti Sayeed who died on January 7 in a New Delhi hospital. Mehbooba Mufti accompanied by her mother Nusrat Ara, brother Tasaduq Mufti, sister Rubiaya Sayeed and other members of the family went to Bijbehara town to offer prayers at her father's grave. Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary troops was made all along the 40-km road from Srinagar to Bijbehara town to secure passage for the Mufti family. While restrictions have been imposed in six police station areas of Srinagar, heavy deployment of security forces has been made in all major towns in south and north Kashmir areas to maintain law and order on Monday. A shutdown called by separatists affected life in the Kashmir Valley as public transport, markets and other businesses remained closed. The shutdown has been called in protest the killings of two youths, 19-year-old Danish Rashid Mir and 22-year-old Shaista Hamid, in firing by security forces in Kakapora area of Pulwama district on Sunday. Police said Shaista died from a bullet injury suffered during cross-firing between militants and the security forces. Danish, according to police, died because a tear-smoke shell hit him on the head when protestors were trying to break the cordon laid during a gunfight in the area. Ten other civilians injured in the protests at Kakapora on Sunday are being treated in two hospitals in Srinagar city. Unveiling an ambitious energy security plan, the Nepalese government has proposed to import 600 MW energy from India to lessen its increasing power woes. Though Nepal at present imports 230 MW from India, according to a Nepalese official, India will sell 80 mw electricity to the country from Tuesday via newly installed 400 KV Mujjafarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line. An announcement was made on Monday to import electricity from India after the Indian nodal agency NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam agreed to sell power at Rs.5.5 per unit (IRs.3.44) to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Earlier, the Nepal Electricity Authority, the state-owned sole utility for power generation and distribution, said different power tariff proposed by India-assigned NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam and Power Trading Corporation (PTC) to Nepal had hit roadblock to import electricity from India. Two Indian nodal agencies, NTPC and Power Trading Corporation (PTC), were competing each other to sell electricity to Nepal but there was price war between the two. A team of NTPC arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday to discuss and settle the tariff with the NEA officials. The formal announcement of importing electricity will be made during the visit of Napelese Prime Minister K.P. Oli to India that begins from Friday, Nepal's energy secretary told IANS. After NTPC charged the rate higher than what the PTC offered, the NEA made a request to the Indian side to reconsider its proposal. After Nepal's request, another round of negotiation took place between the NTPC and NEA and the deal was finally sealed. With the import, daily power outages in Nepal will come down to 11 hours from 13 hours, said officials. At present Nepal's total energy demand is 1,300 MW but the Himalayan country is able to provide just 829 MW. The government is going to declare energy emergency probably on Monday owing the growing energy crisis, giving power projects construction a priority and importing 600 MW electricity from India on a temporary basis to cope with the demand. By the end of 2016, the electricity demand in Nepal will reach 1,500 MW so there is no other alternative for Nepal except to import from India, said the document prepared by the ministry of energy while giving reason why energy emergency was needed to be declared. According to the document, Nepal will buy additional 600 MW from India in three stages, said the document. It added that 200 MW will be imported from Muzzafarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line while te rest will be imported from various other cross-border grids. Africans came to India as early as the 13th century as soldiers and there was no prejudice against them at that time. They intermarried with local women, daughters of rulers and notables, and rose to become princes and generals in an era of slavery in America. Their unique global saga will be on display Wednesday at the UN General Assembly building in an exhibition on Africans in India. The contrast is striking between Africans taken in chains to the Americas to toil in plantations and those who were brought to India to fight as soldiers -- opening the way for their rise through the ranks to eventually becoming free and reaching positions of power. "It is very different from what we see in the Atlantic world," said Sylviane A. Diouf, the director of the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery in New York. She is the curator of the exhibition. "At least at that time we cannot see any strong prejudice in India," she said of the African experience. "When we look at the high positions of some of the Africans, whether as rulers, as prime ministers, as generals etc., you can see that although they were foreign, they were black, they were of a different religion that did not prevent them from obtaining high positions." "They also intermarried with local women, daughters of rulers and notables," she added. "There again we can see the absence of prejudice." It is also a contrast to contemporary India, where Africans have come under physical and verbal attacks from politicians and thugs. The exhibition is co-sponsored by the Indian Mission to the UN and the UN's Department of Public Information in association with the Schomburg Center. Along with Diouf, the exhibition is co-curated by Kenneth X.Robbins, an art collector, expert in the history of Africans in India and co-editor of "Africans Elites in India: Habshi Amarat". The exhibition features reproductions of paintings of the remarkable Africans who attained positions of power and influence. They were collected from museums and private collections in India, Europe and the United States, and photographs of the monuments, forts and palaces they built. The Africans brought to India were from the eastern part of the continent and were known as Habshis or Abyssinians and Sidhis. They went across India, to Bengal in the east to Gujarat in the west and to Delhi in the north to the Deccan in the south over centuries. One of the first of the notables was a 13th century Abyssinian named Jalal-ud-din Yakut who rose from a job in the royal stable to become the political ally of Sultana Raziya of Delhi as she fought her brother for the throne willed to her by their father, the Turkish ruler Iltutmish. After a four-year rule Raziya and Yakut were killed in battle. Another remarkable figure is Malik Ambar, an Abyssinian who was brought to the Deccan and in the 17th century rose to become the regent of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmednagar. His portrait figures in the exhibition. The portraits in the exhibition include Ikhlas Khan, another Abyssinian who was the regent of the Deccan sultanate of Bijapur in the 16th century. In Gujarat, the princely state of Sachin founded by African Sufi Sidis held its own into the 20th century when it was incorporated into an independent India. A portrait of the last ruler of the princely state, Sidi Haider Khan, is included in the exhibition. Diouf ascribes the meteoric slave-to-prince ascendancy to a "fluidity between freedom and enslavement" in the system and their military role. In those times "Muslim armies throughout the world were made of free and enslaved men," Diouf said. "Africans were good soldiers and so they incorporated them into their armies, whether in India or in the Middle East. Then those soldiers who were enslaved could be generals and still be enslaved and then they would get their freedom." Their alien status also worked in their favour. "The rulers put Africans in charge of the administration, the army etc. because they trusted them better than the local people," Diouf said. "The people who came from overseas had no family and no clan relations to anybody there and so the idea they were more loyal to the rulers than others." Under the Portuguese, India also witnessed the brutal type of slavery found in the Americas. The slavery practised by the Portuguese "was more like the Atlantic one," Diouf said. "So the slaves who were brought by the Portuguese would run away and live in the forest and in the mountains. And others would run away to the Muslim areas because they could become free and could also rise through the ranks." The pictures in the exhibit and others of the African diaspora in India can be seen at An overview of the exhibition can be downloaded free on ibooks: (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in ) --Ind0-Asian News Service al/pr/tb The non-teaching staff of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here on Monday denounced the university for barring eight students from academic activity without even an inquiry. At the same time, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Staff Association (JNUSA) and Jawaharlal Nehru University Officers Association (JNUOA) also sought action against those who shouted anti-national slogans on the campus on February 9. "The JNU administration has taken the completely undemocratic (step) of debarring eight students from academic activity without any enquiry," said a memorandum submitted to the vice-chancellor. "Suspension of students leaning to a particular ideology without due process is a violation of the principle of natural justice," it said. The escalating protests in the JNU follow the arrest of student union president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges that he too shouted the anti-Indian slogans at a meeting on Kashmir. Kanhaiya Kumar has denied the charge. His arrest has sparked widespread protests by students, teachers as well as opposition parties. Kanhaiya Kumar is from the CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF). The non-teaching staff also expressed "serious concern" over the constitution of a probe committee, which they said has a member close to the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS. The non-teaching staff staged protests in front of the administrative block of the JNU. "We appeal the JNU administration and central government to take strict action against whomsoever is responsible for the (slogan-shouting) incident." "The guilty should be immediately arrested and severely punished," JNUSA general secretary Ajay Kumar told the media. Ajay Kumar told IANS that the non-teaching staff were only protesting and not going on strike. "In case they fail to submit a fair report by 25th (of February), then we have to change our future course of action." The Congress on Monday demanded an investigation into "horror stories of rapes and molestation" concerning tribal population in Chhattisgarh. Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad, Chhattisgarh chief Bhupesh Baghel, leader of its legislative party T.S. Singhdeo and party spokesperson Ajoy Kumar alleged that the state government was indulging in "fake surrender" of Maoists and attempts were also being made to muzzle the voice of the media. "What is shocking and terribly dreadful is the fact that under active watch of the Raman Singh-led BJP government, horrific incidents of rape of tribal women, fake killings and fake surrender of Naxals are openly used as instruments of state terror. Intimidation is used as a potent weapon to muzzle the voice of members of media exposing these crimes," Kumar said. He said a tribal woman was killed in a shootout in 2011, and police dubbed her a Maoist. But the inquiry report was not made public. Kumar said nearly 40 tribal women have complained of rapes and gang rapes by police between October 9-14 last year and January 11-14 this year. He said a team of Congress MLAs had gone into the allegations of rapes in October last year and found the allegations to be true. "The incidents bring out the alarming state of things on the ground. It establishes the anti-tribal and anti-poor mindset of the Chhattisgarh government. We demand a fair investigation into all these incidents," Kumar said. Baghel demanded imposition of President's Rule in the state. Ruling CPI-M's leaders and members on Monday organised protest rallies and demonstrations across Tripura to protest over an attack on the party headquarters in New Delhi. Many protest rallies and demonstrations were organised in different parts of Tripura to protest the attack on Sunday on the headquarters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) -- A.K. Gopalan Bhavan -- in New Delhi allegedly by "Hindu rightist forces". "Some spontaneous protest rallies and demonstrations were held yesterday (Sunday) itself. We urge upon the authorities to take appropriate steps to punish the culprits for their act of cowardice," CPI-M leader Tapas Datta said. "The heinous attack was done following the CPI-M's support to the Jawaharlal Nehru University students who are protesting against the arrest of union leaders and supporters," Datta said. A group of youths, identifying themselves as "Aam Aadmi Sena", on Sunday tried to vandalise the CPI-M headquarters. The three youths sprayed black ink on the wall of the office building and sign board. They tried to write slogans like "Pakistan Zindabad" on the office board. One of them was caught and handed over to police. Delhi Police have stepped up security around the CPI-M office in New Delhi after the party received telephone calls threatening its general secretary Sitaram Yechury for supporting JNU students slapped with sedition charges. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the RSS and the BJP dub as a traitor whosoever speaks or goes against their ideology. "It seems only the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have the licence to say who is a traitor and who is a patriot," he said while addressing a public rally at Titabor in Assam's Jorhat district. Gandhi arrived in Assam on Monday morning and addressed party workers in two meetings at Gohpur and Bihpuria before addressing the public rally at Titabor, the home constituency of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. "I went to Hyderabad a few days back. A Dalit student, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide there. He did nothing wrong. He only said whatever he had in his heart and whatever he had to say. The ministers of the government of India ordered the university that he is a traitor and so he must be banned from the university, forcing him to commit suicide," Gandhi said. "In Indian Institutes of Technology, a youth stands up and tells about the Dalits; the government of India says he is a traitor. The president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union spoke about the poor people, weak people, progress, Adivasis and development etc. What does the government of India say? It terms him a traitor." The Congress leader said that whenever the youth speak out against the ideologies of the RSS and the BJP, they are termed traitors. "It seems only the RSS has opened a shop of patriotism; only they can say who is a patriot or a traitor. They (RSS and BJP) are the people who fired three bullets at Mahatma Gandhiji. These are the people who bowed their heads before the British. Now they ask us to take lessons of 'deshbhakti' (patriotism)?" Gandhi said. "But this is not fair. I want to tell them that more they pressurise the youth, more the youth will stand up against them and challenge them," he said. "What is the meaning of Independence if the RSS can take away the voice of the youth...they have only one agenda - they want power." CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Monday took pot-shots at Home Minister Rajnath Singh for saying that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed backed the Afzal Guru event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus here. "The home minister relies on a fake Twitter handle for information," Karat, who visited the campus on Monday, told the media. The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said: "We don't accept their (central government's) definition and version of nationalism. If they call us anti-national, we wear it as a badge of honour." Karat also said that by filing "cases against elected student leaders under sedition charge", the government was "declaring war" against them. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days' police custody on Friday although he denied raising the anti-India slogans. The new details, when coupled together, provide the researchers with very strong evidence as to how these visages of the dead - considered to be antecedents of Western portraiture - were made. The well-preserved mummy portraits are extremely lifelike paintings of specific deceased individuals. Each portrait would have been incorporated into the mummy wrappings and placed directly over the person's face. They were excavated more than 100 years ago at the site of Tebtunis (now Umm el-Breigat) in the Fayum region of Egypt. The set is now housed at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at University of California, Berkeley. "Our materials analysis provides a fresh and rich archaeological context for the Tebtunis portraits, reflecting the international perspective of these ancient Egyptians," said Marc Walton, lead researcher from Northwestern University. For example, scientists found that the iron-earth pigments most likely came from Keos in Greece, the red lead from Spain and the wood substrate on which the portraits are painted came from central Europe. "We also know the painters used Egyptian blue in an unusual way to broaden their spectrum of hues," Walton added. The researchers identified the pigments used by the artists and the order the paints were applied and to which regions, as well as sources of materials and the style of brushstrokes used. Details of the pigments and their distribution led the researchers to conclude that three of the paintings likely came from the same workshop and may have been painted by the same hand. Working with the museum's art conservators, Walton and his collaborators used non-destructive and non-invasive techniques to extract information about the paintings' underlying surface shapes and colour. The method was also used to determine how the artist layered the paint and to establish the order of the various pigments used in the paintings. This knowledge will help scientists, art conservators and art historians better understand how painting techniques evolved in the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) and beyond. Walton shared the details of the nearly two-year investigation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on February 14. US President Barack Obama on Sunday urged Russia to play a constructive role in Syria by halting its air campaign against so-called Syria's moderate opposition forces. Obama made the call in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday, the White House said in a statement, Xinhua reported. The two leaders discussed the decisions and agreements made at the February 11 meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and stressed "the importance of rapidly implementing humanitarian access to besieged areas of Syria and initiating a nationwide cessation of hostilities". "In particular, President Obama emphasised the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," it said. The two leaders agreed that the US and Russia will remain in communication on the important work of the ISSG. Both the US-led coalition and Russia are conducting military campaigns in Syria. Russia has been launching air strikes against targets of the terror group Islamic State inside Syria since last September, but the US has accused Moscow of bombing moderate opposition forces in Syria in order to help sustain the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The ISSG meeting, sponsored by the the US and Russia, agreed on a nationwide cessation of hostilities to be implemented soon in Syria, and on humanitarian aid delivery to besieged areas in the country. Obama also urged "combined Russian-separatist forces to fulfill their Minsk obligations, especially adhering to the ceasefire and ensuring that the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has full access to all areas of eastern Ukraine, including the international border". "The president reiterated the importance of quickly reaching agreement on the modalities for elections in eastern Ukraine that comply with OSCE standards," the White House statement said. On Ukraine, Putin expressed the hope that Kiev would take practical steps to meet its obligations under the Minsk deal as soon as possible, including constitutional reform, establishing direct dialogue with the two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine, and amendments to the law on special status of the Donbass region, according to an earlier Kremlin statement. Relations between Russia and the Western countries have been undermined by disputes over the Syria and Ukraine issues, with both sides waging a sanction war and cutting dialogues. Russia is shipping S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran, the country's foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said on Monday. "The agreement for the delivery of S-300 systems has been finalised over the past months and they are being shipped to Iran," Ansari said. Iran and Russia have diversified their cooperation, and both the countries have "remarkable" political and defence cooperation, Xinhua quoted Ansari as syaing. Moscow and Teheran signed a $800-million contract in 2007 to supply Iran with five S-300 systems. In September 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled the contract in line with a resolution of the UN Security Council, which banned the supply of conventional weapons to Iran. Iran, in response, submitted a $4 billion claim against Russia to an international arbitration court in Geneva. In early April last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to lift the ban on sales of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems after Iran and six world powers, including Russia, reached a framework accord on parameters of Iran's controversial nuclear programme. Iran withdrew the lawsuit against Russia after the latter agreed to supply the S-300 missile systems. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Indian Army's "command and exit" policy giving priority to infantry and artillery for promotion as colonel, as it asked the government to create another 141 colonel posts. Upholding the 2009 "command and exit" policy, the bench comprising Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Kurian Joseph partially allowed the Centre's plea against the Armed Forces Tribunal's (AFT) March 2015 order setting aside the policy as being violative of Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution. "Tribunal order set aside. Appeal allowed partially. Union of India will create 141 posts of colonel which it had promised," Chief Justice Thakur said. The court set aside the March 2, 2015, order of the AFT which had, while quashing the January 21, 2009, "command and exit" policy, had held that it was weighed in favour of infantry, mechanised infantry and the armoured corps in combat area. The policy was brought to have a younger profile of the command structure in the field as it was felt that during the Kargil war, the response of the army was "sluggish". The thrust of the "command and exit" policy, which earmarked more posts of colonel for the armed wing of the army -- infantry, mechanised infantry, armoured corps and artillery -- so that they may have a commanding officer at the age of 37 years and exiting after two-and-half-year tenure with no repeat appointment. Under this policy, 148 posts of colonel were created -- 750 in 2004 -- which according to the government were erroneously distributed by the army headquarters across the army on pro-rata basis. However, in 2009, 734 posts of colonel under the "command and exit" policy were earmarked exclusively for the armed wing of the army. The AFT by its order said the government would create supernumerary posts to accommodate Lt. Col. P.K. Choudhary and other officers, who were denied promotion on the basis of the "command and exit" policy. Thirty-two years after Indian troops secured key passes on the north-south running Saltoro Range to deny Pakistan access to the Siachen Glacier, it continues to dominate the headlines. Tragedy, no stranger to the glaciated region bordering Sinkiang and the Northern Areas under the control of Pakistan, resulted in a 10-man infantry section from 19 Madras, inclusive of a medic from the Army Medical Corps, being buried alive when an ice wall collapsed near Sonam Post at 20,600 ft. In what had to be a major feat of human endurance, braving the extreme cold and lack of oxygen, rescue teams dug through the 35 feet of ice debris and five days latermiraculously pulled out a survivor, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad. Despite the collective prayers of the entire nation and the efforts of army doctors, this brave soldier too joined his other nine comrades three days after being rescued and evacuated. Even as the rescue drama unfolded before the nation, a leading newspaper in the country published an article written by an associate professor from the Jawaharlal Nehru University suggesting that Indian troops deinduct from Siachen and the glacier be declared a peace park. The article, echoing sentiments expressed in the past, claimed that maintaining troops at Siachen cost the government Rs.5 crore (nearly $735,000) daily and that hundreds of lives had already been lost in holding territory that was of no major consequence. "I'm all for an open debate on matters that concern our national security. However, these debates need to be informed discussions that look at the entire picture and are not just agenda driven," said General V.L. Singh, the minister of state for external affairs who is also a former Indian Army chief. "The last time the 'withdrawal from Siachen' issue was raised, it was in 2012 at the behest of the PMO. Once these behind-the-scenes machinations were exposed on social media, the UPA had quietly dropped the idea." A 12-member Track-II committee had been cobbled together in 2011 with the blessings of then prime minister Manmohan Singh. A former air chief, along with handpicked armoured corps officers (all of them never having served in the region) represented India while on the Pakistan side was a group headed by a former army chief. The two delegations then met in various parts of the globe under the aegis of an Ottawa-based think tank. "The Americans have always had an interest in the region," says Lieutenant General Rakesh Loomba, a former head of Military Intelligence. "Even the maps that initially showed the Saltaro range and the Siachen Glacier as being Pakistani territory were issued by the US Air Force." The blatant cartographic aggression had resulted in Colonel Narendra 'Bull' Kumar leading an Indian Army expedition into the area in 1982 that confirmed the presence of mountaineering groups sent in by Pakistan. Subsequently, Indian troops had secured the key passes on the Saltoro, getting into position just a few hours before Pakistani troops also arrived. Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd), a Special Forces veteran who commanded the Siachen Brigade during the 1999 Kargil conflict, said: "All this talk of withdrawing from Siachen is pure bunkum! First, Pakistan has zero presence on Siachen, notwithstanding whatever their army keeps telling their own people. Their positions are to the west of the Saltoro Ridge. For years, they have tried to dislodge Indian troops from there, but they have never succeeded. We've paid in human lives to secure the border there - it is now the de facto Line of Control with Pakistan while towards the north, we have China that controls the Shaksgam Valley. Why should we pull out? That would amount to shooting ourselves in the foot and a betrayal of all those who have died securing the area." While most Indian Army officers dismiss all talk of de-induction from the glacier, Sanjaya Baru, in his book "The Accidental Prime Minister", touches on the subject, saying a former Indian Army chief, General J.J. Singh, had privately told Manmohan Singh that a withdrawal was doable. "All this is fanciful talk," says Gen. V. K. Singh. "The basic question that needs to be asked from those who wish to withdraw - be it (Ajai) Shuklaji and his friends in Trac II or Professor Happymon Jacob from JNU - after de-inducting where do you want your new line of defence to be set up? Do they have any idea what that will entail? Also, what about the rest of the LOC - have these people any idea of the conditions prevailing there? To just mouth off with no idea about the larger picture is extremely dangerous." "It would mean fortifying the entire Ladakh range that runs from west to east, preparing defences along the Shyok river. The quantum of troops required would be almost 15 times what we have in Siachen now, plus it would make Leh a frontline town," says General Katoch who continues to write extensively on the subject. "If we want to honour the fallen who have sacrificed their lives in Siachen, we need to nip this talk in the bud. We must remember that the gates to India have always been opened from within," Gen. Katoch adds.(15.02.2016 - Shiv Kunal Verma is the author of "The Long Road to Siachen: The Question Why" and "1962: The War That Wasn't". The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at shivkunalverma@gmail.com) South Korea's exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products, key export items of the export-driven economy, declined for four straight months in January. The decline boosted worries about overall economic growth, Xinhua quoted a government report as saying on Monday. The ICT exports tumbled 17.8 percent from a year earlier to $11.86 billion in January, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. It posted the fourth straight month of reduction since October 2015. The falling pace became faster from 1.6 percent in October to seven percent in November and 14.7 percent in December. It posted a 17.8 percent slide in January. Global demand for overall ICT products, including smartphones, weakened amid economic slump, resulting in lower product prices. Handset exports dipped 7.3 percent from a year earlier to $1.9 billion in January, with chip shipments plunging 13.9 percent to $4.53 billion. Display panel exports tumbled 30.7 percent to $2.01 billion and those for computer and related gadgets slipped 10.1 percent to $590 million. Demand for South Korean smartphones reduced as Chinese products gained popularity among global consumers. Overall smartphone market has been declining as well due to saturation of the market. Chip exports got sluggish due to lower prices of DRAM chips and slowing demand for chips used in phones. The display panel market was faltering on supply glut. South Korea's ICT exports to China, the country's biggest trading partner, tumbled 17.3 percent, with those to the US sliding 2.8 percent. Exports to the European Union plunged 20.2 percent and those to the Middle East countries dropped 29.6 percent. Imports of ICT products dipped 15.1 percent from a year earlier to $6.79 billion in January, sending the trade surplus in the ICT sector to $5.07 billion last month. The ICT surplus accounted for almost 96 percent of total surplus in all industries at $5.33 billion. Foreign secretary level talks between Pakistan and India are not conditional to Punjab's Pathankot airbase attack probe, Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawaly said on Monday. The Indian envoy said India and Pakistan are in contact to hold foreign secretary level talks in the near future, Dawn online reported. "I can not give any particular date for the secretary level talks but foreign secretaries from both countries are in constant contact," said Bambawaly. After a series of high-level contacts starting with an ice-breaking meeting in Paris between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his counterpart Narendra Modi and climaxing with the latter's surprise trip to Lahore, Pakistan and India had agreed in December to resume the bilateral dialogue after a hiatus of two years. The resumed dialogue was named Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue and it was agreed that the foreign secretaries of the two countries would meet on January 15 to decide about the timetable and modalities of the process. In the attack on the airbase on January 2, India lost seven security personnel and blamed the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for it. It linked the resumption of the foreign secretaries' meeting to action by Pakistan against JeM. Later, in a high-level meeting presided over by Sharif and attended by army chief General Raheel Sharif, the prime minister reiterated Pakistan's commitment to cooperate with India on the Pathankot incident. Sharif had said the government wants to send a team of special investigators to the airbase for further investigation, and to probe any possible involvement of Pakistan based individuals. A special investigation team set up by Pakistan to probe the assault found no evidence implicating the JeM leader, Pakistani security officials said last week. The attack was claimed by separatist group United Jihad Council, an alliance of Kashmiri militants. The airbase is a mere 50 km from the Pakistani border, and is a major forward operational airbase of the Indian Air Force. IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said on Monday it has been named the United Kingdom's top employer for the second consecutive year by Top Employer Institute. "We are delighted to have been awarded the UK's number one Top Employer for the second year running and are looking forward to building on this progress as we continue to invest in training and development for our staff," said a company statement, quoting Nupur Singh Mallick, HR director of TCS UK and Ireland. TCS is one of the 70 employers to receive Top Employer Institute's accreditation which assesses companies on nine core Human Resource (HR) criteria The HR criteria include talent strategy, workforce planning, on-boarding, learning and development, performance management, leadership development, career and succession management, compensation and benefits, and company culture, the statement said. Established in 1991, Top Employers certification identifies and recognises world's leading companies in HR management and conditions employing industry-leading research methodology and audited by Grant Thornton. "The Top Employers Institute examines the HR practices and offerings that each participating company puts in place for its people, to create and maintain optimal employee conditions," Eleanor Nickerson, director, UK operations, Top Employers Institute, was quoted as saying. Tata Group company TCS employs more than 11,000 employees across 30 locations in UK and serves more than 150 clients including Boots, BT, Diageo, National Grid, Nationwide, NEST, Marks & Spencer, Thames Water and Virgin Atlantic and others. Three school children were killed and another injured when they were run over by a lorry in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Monday, police said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed sadness over the incident. The incident sparked off violence as angry locals put up a road blockade and when police arrived, two of their jeeps were torched. One police firearm was set afire and a traffic police constable was kept confined and thrashed. Three-four policemen were injured in the violence. The speeding lorry crushed the children, aged 5-8 years, at Mathkol on Belgharia expressway where they were waiting for a bus. Three of the victims died on the spot, while the fourth was battling for his life in a hospital. Police removed the road block after additional reinforcement came from Belgharia and Dum Dum police stations. The Rapid Action Force was also deployed. "We have got information about four children. Three have died. One is injured. Police are tying to find out if there were more victims," said Barrackpore police commissioner Neeraj Kumar Singh. He said three-four police personnel sustained injuries in the ensuing violence. "We will take action as per law. The accident will be investigated properly. The lorry driver is now under detention. He will be arrested. A mechanical test will be carried out on the seized lorry. The violence will also be probed," he said. The deputy commissioner (detective department) has been asked to conduct an inquiry. The chief minister described the incident as tragic and said she had deputed Tourism Minister Bratya Basu and Food Minister Jyotipriypo Mallick to the spot. Mallick claimed police were escorting the car of a person arrested in connection with a chit fund case. "The lorry came in the middle. The police tried to stop the lorry. And this caused the accident," he said. The protesters said tempers shot up after police cane-charged the locals. Police, however, denied having made any cane charge. However, the locals said the lorry -- filled with sand -- was travelling at breakneck speed to avoid a chasing police vehicle. "Police regularly stops lorries and trucks on the expressway to demand money. The lorry driver was trying to escape police, one of whose jeeps was on the lorry's trail," claimed a witness. At least three suspected terrorists were arrested in Bulgaria as they tried to leave the country illegally near the border with Turkey, officials said on Monday. The suspects, arrested last Tuesday, made an attempt to go to Syria via Turkey, with the intention of joining the Islamic State (IS), Xinhua quoted the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor's Office as saying in a joint statement. According to the statement, the three suspects were believed to be Syrian citizens, and had refugee status granted by Germany. They left Germany in early 2016 and arrived in Bulgaria on February 6 via Greece. Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz has denied Syria's claim that about 100 Turkish troops had entered Syria, the media reported on Monday. "It is not true," Yilmaz told lawmakers in Ankara during a parliamentary budget meeting on Sunday shortly after the Syrian government made the claim. The Syrian Foreign Ministry has sent a letter of protest to the UN Security Council over the alleged move, Xinhua reported. In a related development, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on Sunday about the situation in Syria, the prime minister's office said. The phone conversation came in the wake of Turkey shelling positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. The Turkish artillery continued to shell Kurdish areas in northern Syria for the second straight day on Sunday, killing and injuring nine fighters of a Kurdish group, a monitor group reported. Two fighters with the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Force, a new rebel alliance comprising of Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters and supported by the West, were killed and seven wounded by the Turkish shelling that targeted YPG positions in Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Turkish officials have repeatedly said that they will not allow the Kurds in Syria to expand more near the Turkish border. The latest escalation also came as talk about a ground intervention by Saudi and Turkish troops in Syria made headlines in recent days. Observers say such an intervention will spark even more chaos in the war-torn country. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said any foreign troops entering the country without the consent of the government "will be sent home in wooden coffins." Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday said Turkey will not allow the fall of Azaz town of Syria's Aleppo province to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). "We will not allow the fall of Azaz. This must be clear to all in the world," Xinhua quoted Davutoglu as saying. Azaz, in northern Syria near the Turkish border, is seen as a critical corridor that connects with bordering Turkey. "For the moment, YPG elements have been driven out from Azaz's surroundings," Davutoglu said. He vowed to give a "severe response" if the military wing of the PYD tried to approach the Syrian town. The PYD is the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the European Union. Turkish officials have repeatedly said they will not allow the Kurds in Syria to expand more near the Turkish border. The latest escalation also came as talk about a ground intervention by Saudi and Turkish troops in Syria made headlines in recent days. Observers say such an intervention will spark even more chaos in the war-torn country. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said any foreign troops entering Syria without the consent of the government "will be sent home in wooden coffins." Lawyers across Uttar Pradesh are set to go on a strike on Monday demanding for further investigation into recent attacks. The strike follows the recent attacks and the murder of two lawyers - Shrawan Kumar Verma from Lucknow and Ashok Kumar Ahirvar from Hamirpur last week. Ajay Kumar Shukla, a member of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council said that the strike was to protest against the investigation into the two murders which has has so far resulted in no arrests. Even the state government seemingly is not interested in expediting the probe, he added. The Bar Council has also demanded that families of both lawyers be given Rs. 45 lakh as financial aid, in lines with similar compensation given by the Akhilesh Yadav government to Mohammad Akhlaq, a Muslim man who was killed in Dadri last year on charges of consuming beef. The lawyers have also threatened to further expand their agitation if their demands were not met and the culprits not nabbed at the earliest. Since October, the military has been negotiating with the defence and finance ministries to finalise financial allocations for the coming financial year, 2016-17. Unfailingly unimaginative, the military's various departments have taken the current year's allocations, upped them by five to 10 per cent and projected that as next year's requirements. As usual, the finance ministry has arbitrarily cut those requests. Like always, when revised estimates are prepared at the end of the year, the capital allocation (for equipment modernisation) will be slashed further since revenue expenditure, particularly salaries, must be paid on priority. Year after year the military ends up spending money quite differently from what had been allocated. I miss the good old days, when the most anti-national element in the new Republic of India was a cooking fat. I decline to be utterly impartial as between the fire brigade and fire," said Winston Churchill once. The government of India has now decreed that some students in JNU are the fire while the government itself is the fire brigade. It has now set out to extinguish this fire with all its might. Apropos "Robbing Peter" (February 13), taxpayer money is being used to bail public sector banks out of their turmoil caused by the piling up of bad loans. The writer has outlined only the pitfalls of Indian banks after their nationalisation. It is true that the turmoil in the public sector banks (PSBs) is alarming. However, it's not their employees or those of banking regulator Reserve Bank of India who are to be blamed for this. Rather, the policies and practices of the largest stakeholder in the banks - the government - are to be blamed, besides day-to-day interference in their functioning. Be it sanctioning or restructuring of loans to the high and mighty corporates or doling out subsidised loans to the masses in the form of political sops, from selection and appointments of chief executives in these banks to setting up of impractical and unviable targets for financial inclusion activities, government interference is omnipresent in PSBs and it has only become more pronounced. In spite of all these shortcomings, Indian PSBs have stood the test of time, moving from "class banking to mass banking" and standing tall even in the midst of a global economic slowdown. Today, implementation of any social sector scheme by the government invariably involves the participation and contribution of banks. Be it opening lakhs of bank accounts of students, NREGA workers, Direct Benefit Transfer beneficiaries and pensioners or for crediting funds of scholarships and many others, the government has more trust in the practices and employees of banks than its own departments. Why can't there be made a norm in every department and public sector undertaking, whereby government business is mandatorily given to any PSB? In all these PSBs, there are inter-zone, inter-branch (within zone) and inter-employee competitions (within a branch). There is a need to change the way the PSBs are manhandled by the political class because even placing private sector executives at the helm doesn't seem to have yielded any positive outcome as a result of unthinking interference to achieve political ends. Sagar Soni Gandhinagar can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.in Baidu's video buyout comes with several warnings. The CEO of China's top search engine is involved in a $2.8 billion bid for the company's streaming site. Offloading the YouTube-like unit will help Baidu's margins, but selling to the boss raises questions about conflicts of interest. Without more details, investors have no way of judging whether they are getting a good deal. Robin Li, Baidu's controlling shareholder, has teamed up with Qiyi's chief executive to make an offer for the China's number two online video provider. The pair have offered to buy the US-listed search engine operator's 80.5 per cent stake - worth $2.25 billion on a cash- and debt-free basis. On the face of it, a sale would bring Baidu financial relief. Online video is an expensive battleground for China's internet giants as advertising revenue fails to keep up with the rising cost of buying and making new shows. Competition is intensifying: Last year, e-commerce group Alibaba offered to take control of top streaming site Youku Tudou at a $5.2 billion valuation. While Baidu doesn't break out Qiyi's financials, it's clear the subsidiary has been a burden. The $53 billion group's content costs - most of which are related to video - jumped 77 per cent year on year to $144 million in the three months to September. Qiyi knocked 5.4 percentage points off its parent's adjusted operating margin in the same period. That's an expense Baidu can do without as it bets heavily on building up its "online-to-offline" services business. This helps explain why Baidu shares jumped eight per cent on news of the offer. The problem for shareholders, however, is that details are scarce. Neither Baidu nor Li have disclosed any strategic rationale for the buyout, or future plans for Qiyi. One theory is that the business might command a higher valuation if listed on the Chinese stock market. But if that's the case, it's not clear why Baidu's chairman needs to act as an intermediary. Li's 54 per cent voting stake in Baidu means he can call the shots. For investors, though, it's another reminder that they have about as much influence over the company as Qiyi's online viewers. One of the peripheral consequences of the revelation by David Headley that Ishrat Jehan is a member of the LeT has been a flurry of activity on my Twitter timeline, with several well-wishers suggesting that for the sin of proclaiming Ishrat's innocence, I should apologise/apply Burnol/leave for a neighbouring country (not Sri Lanka). The S&P BSE Sensex gaining by 560 points was some needed relief to investors but with the washout since January, experts say we need many more of Mondays rally to bring back faith in equities. The benchmark Sensex on the BSE continues to remain in the red, down nearly 14 per cent year-to-date. The question is what an investor should do in these markets. While mid-cap stocks appear a good opportunity, their valuations have not cooled as much, despite the correction in stock prices. On the other hand, experts suggest many large-cap stocks once again appear a good investment opportunity, given the sharp Sensex declines in recent weeks and reasonable valuations. Ajay Bodke of Prabhudas Lilladher explains that as large-cap stocks have withstood ups and downs of the economic cycle, these would be preferred when interest from large foreign institutional investors (FIIs) return in equities. Mega- and large-caps would be sought after, as these companies are operationally well-diversified, he adds. A study of 89 of these scrips (market capitalisation of Rs 10,000 crore and more) from the BSE 100 pack suggests Adani Port, State Bank of India (SBI), Glenmark Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and LIC Housing Finance seem attractive bets. These have fallen by 15-30 per cent since January. The valuations have also significantly reduced from their peaks in September 2015 and, barring stocks such as Glenmark Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma and Maruti Suzuki (as they continue to be among the preferred defensives, despite relatively higher valuations; it is also typical of pharmaceutical companies to command higher valuations), the rest trade at a reasonable discount to the Sensex (valued at 17.4 times the 12-months trailing price to earnings ratio). With much of the bad loan provisioning being accounted for in the December quarter, stocks such as SBI and Bank of Baroda (BoB) again feature on the list of preferred large-caps. "With NPAs (non-performing assets) likely having peaked and valuations having come off from highs, SBI and BoB look attractive at these levels, says Dipen Shah of Kotak Securities. Shah prefers Tata Motors for the positive traction seen in Jaguar Land Rover, and prefers Maruti Suzuki as its stock is expected to benefit from higher consumption. Likewise, in the case of Glenmark Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma, Bodke feels it will not take much for sentiment to swing and a rush to hold these. Experts estimate these stocks could see about 15 per cent earnings growth in FY17. There's a word of caution, too. U R Bhat of Dalton Capital warns that if there is more trouble from Europe or China, one can expect further correction in large-cap stocks. Allocate 25-30 per cent of equity to large-cap stocks and wait for further development (in global markets) to accumulate these, he suggests. Clearly, the message is to buy select large-cap stocks, where valuations are reasonable and earnings growth visibility is good enough. And, buy in small lots by making use of stock corrections. An official in the Mexican state of Sinaloa says the bodies of 13 people have been found in a rural area. The official said yesterday that the nine men and four women apparently died of gunshot wounds. The official was not authorised to be quoted by name under government policy. The state prosecutor's office is still investigating the identities of the dead and possible motives in the killings. Authorities found the bodies near the municipality of San Ignacio, close to the border with the neighbouring state of Durango. The area is among the prime drug-producing regions in Mexico and has been the scene of turf battles between drug gangs. Two persons were killed and three others critically injured in an explosion believed to be caused by a grenade or amortar at a scrap dealer's godown here today, police said. "The exploded material was agrenadeor amortarandmay belong to a the Dogra RegimentalCentrehere," said Bhagwan Swaroop, Inspector General (Law and Order). Mahendra Yadav (23) and Durga Prasad (30) working at the godown, and were allegedly trying to open it with a hammer to take out the brass from it when the explosion took place killing them, police said. Workers of scrap dealers usually enter the firing range and collect brassshellsof fired bullets. Sometime they get unexplodedgrenadesandmortarswhich contain lot of brass, police said. Three persons who were are critically injured have been rushed to Trauma Centre in Lucknow, they said. City SP R A Gautam said the police isquestioning the scrap dealer identified as IndarYadav. Investigation is underway and a bomb disposal squad is checking with all the scrap dealers to find out if they have any such type of explosives, he said. About 26,600 seats for entry level at private schools were today alloted through computerised draws under the EWS category, an experiment that has been introduced by the Delhi government for the first time. The Directorate of Education (DoE) had received over 73,059 applications for nursery, UKG and Class 1 against the total numbers of 28,193 seats. "Out of 28,193 seats, 26,604 were alloted through computerised draws under the EWS category while 1,589 seats remained vacant," said a senior government official. The draws were conducted in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio at Delhi Secretariat here. Successful applicants will be informed through text messages, calls and DoE website. Out of 15,759 nursery seats at private schools under EWS and Disadvantage category, 15,138 seats were alloted. For nursery admission, education department had received 36,377 applications. "3432 seats for UKG admission were alloted against a total of 3499 seats. The department had received 20,892 applications for the same," the official said. While addressing principals at the event, Sisodia said that computerised draws will benefit parents as well as school authorities. "We are reducing our power by introducing computerised draws. Technology has reduced power of officers. The system will ensure transparency in the admission system," he said. For Class 1 admission, out of 8935 seats, 8034 seats were allotted for which the government had received 15790 applications. Sources said that government will also hold another computerised draws as 1589 seats remained vacant. "The successful applicant may approach the school allotted in draw upto February 22, failing which his or her candidature will be cancelled," official added. Schools have been instructed to properly examine Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificates and any income certificate from the parents/applicants who have been selected under Disadvantaged Students Category (DG). "The school shall carefully carry out the necessary scrutiny/verification of the documents produced. The school must also verify the genuineness of EWS/DG certificates issued by the different department through online, if available, or in writing from the office of issuing authority," the circular of the department said. "The school shall not ask for income certificate from those EWS category parents who submit copy of BPL/AAY/Food Security Card issued by Food and Civil Supply Department. The school shall not impose the condition for attested copies of documents," it added. Hundreds of stone-throwing Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli soldiers who raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank today, leaving 28 with gunshot injuries. The Palestinian health ministry said 28 people were shot and wounded, including one in the head, during clashes in Al-Amari camp at the entrance to the West Bank city of Ramallah. A squad of around 25 Israeli soldiers arrived in the camp, located on the edge of the city where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters, early on today morning. Palestinian security sources said the army tried to arrest an official from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, who managed to escape. The Israeli army did not give a reason for their raid in the camp, speaking only of "operational activity". Once in the streets of the camp, which is home to 15,000 Palestinians, soldiers clashed with hundreds of youths who threw stones and glass bottles. The soldiers responded by firing rubber bullets and live ammunition. One soldier was injured by stones and needed to be aided by colleagues, according to AFP journalists on the scene. An army spokeswoman said "dozens of rioters hurled homemade explosives and rocks at forces", although the AFP journalists saw no explosive devices. "Forces called on the rioters to halt the assault using riot dispersal means. Upon the continued violence, the force responded, shooting towards the main instigators," the spokeswoman added. The clashes lasted for nearly three hours before troops left the camp. Some of the soldiers were picked up by military jeeps, while others left to a nearby Jewish settlement. Palestinians followed them, blocking the main road from Ramallah to Jerusalem for about half an hour. Later today, Israeli police said they arrested a 15-year-old Palestinian girl carrying two knifes in her bag after she approached police on the edge of the Old City of Jerusalem. "Police units at Damascus gate arrest suspicious female terrorist with knives before carrying out attack. No injuries," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted. The events were the latest in more than four months of violence rocking Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Since October 1, 172 Palestinians, 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean have been killed in a wave of violence, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out attacks but others died during clashes and demonstrations. AAP leader Anoop Nautiyal today filed a complaint with the Election Commission, accusing 60 out of 70 members of the Uttarakhand Assembly, including Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt, of not declaring their assets before the Speaker. Terming it as a gross violation of the guidelines, he urged the Commission to conduct an inquiry into the findings thrown up by an RTI query and act against the MLAs if they were found guilty. "An RTI query reveals that 44 out of a total of 70 members of the current state Assembly never declared their assets before the Speaker since their election in 2012, while 16 other legislators including Chief Minister Harish Rawat, his predecessor Vijay Bahuguna and Leader of Opposition in the assembly Ajay Bhattdid not declare their assets in 2014-2015. Contending that the declaration of assets by MLAs within three months of their election to the State Assembly and then on an yearly basis by the month of June is mandatory as per Ministers and Legislators (Publication of Assets and Liabilities)Act 1975, Nautiyal said it was "gross violation of the Election Commission guidelines". Expressing hope that the Commission will take note of the points raised by him, the AAP leader said it should conduct an inquiry into the complaint and ask the MLAs in question to furnish declaration of their assets and liabilities within the stipulated time-frame and initiate steps to terminate their membership if they fail to do so. A senior AAP leader, Nautiyal had unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha polls from Tehri. As many as 88,162 tourists arrived in India on e-tourist visa in January this year as compared to 25,023 during the same month last year, registering a growth of 252.3 per cent. The United Kingdom continues to occupy top slot, followed by the US and Russia amongst the countries availing e-tourist visa facility, an official release said. Launched on November 27, 2014, the e-tourist visa facility is currently available for citizens of 113 countries arriving at 16 airports in India. The UK topped the list of countries availing e-tourist visa facilities in January this year with 25.37 per cent, followed by US (15.17 per cent), Russian (9.58 per cent), France (6 per cent), Australia (5.25 per cent), Germany (4.23 per cent) and Canada (4.10 per cent). The share of China was 3.96 per cent, while that of Korea was 3.72 per cent and Ukraine 2.86 per cent. Aadhaar card would not be a mandatory condition for obtaining digital ration cards, Himachal Pradesh minister G S Bali said today. People in the state have been asked to verify their details that have been digitised by the Food and Civil Supplies Department and the bank account details are also being collected. If any person gets Aadhaar number later on, it could be included into the database, he said. The Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister said the Centre has asked the states to either provide foodgrains or give cash subsidy to the beneficiaries of public distribution system (PDS). The state government is not in favour of cash subsidy under PDS and would carry on with the practice of providing foodgrains to consumers through implementation of point of sale machines, Bali said. ABVP today protested here against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his opposition to the arrest of a JNU students' union leader on sedition charges. The ABVP protesters carried placards and BJP flags near the venue of the Congress rally where Rahul was scheduled to address a party rally at Titabor in Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's constituency. The protesters were, however, cordoned off by the security forces and did not allow them further Howard's the rally venue, police said. The ABVP demonstration was in protest against Gandhi going to JNU in support of students there opposing the arrest of their leader on charges of sedition. JNU today sent a "status" report to HRD ministry about the situation in the campus and the action taken by the varsity in connection with an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, during which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. The HRD ministry had last week sought a report about the February 9 incident which has sparked a widespread outrage among various quarters. "We got a communication from the ministry seeking information about the investigation being conducted by the university about the incident. A response has been sent today," JNU Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi said. The varsity has stated the sequence of events in the report beginning from how four students had taken permission for an event titled " Poetry-reading-The country without post office". "On the day of the event, it came to notice of the administration that the poster of the event was captioned 'Against the Brahmanical Collective conscience, against judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat and in solidarity with the struggle of the Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self determination," the report said. "...Despite the university deciding to withdraw the permission the students went ahead with the programme where allegedly certain objectionable slogans were raised. The organisers also invited the media to cover it without permission from university authorities. "The varsity constituted a high-level enquiry committee comprising of three members to enquire into the incident. On basis of the interim report, eight students identified by the panel have been debarred from academic activities while allowing them to stay in hostel as guest," the report added. The varsity has also told the ministry that the final report of the committee will be submitted by February 25. Informing the ministry about the apprehension among faculty members about police presence on campus, JNU has said, "a letter was sent to police requesting them to take utmost precautions before entering the university campus if required under law. Police officers gave us assurance that police will enter the campus only if absolutely necessary as per law and authorities will be informed in advance". The university administration is facing flak from teachers and students who have alleged that the issue was "manhandled". The JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on February 12 in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy over an event at the varsity against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Suspected Russian air strikes hit a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Syria today, killing nine people including a child, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An MSF spokesman confirmed that a hospital supported by the aid group was struck in Maaret al-Numan, about 280 kilometres (170 miles) north of Damascus, but was unable to give a death toll. In a no-holds-barred attack, BJP chief Amit Shah today accused Rahul Gandhi of supporting "traitors" who shouted anti-India slogans in JNU and asked Sonia Gandhi to make Congress party's stand clear whether freedom of expression meant supporting country's division. He also questioned them if it meant supporting Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and such terror attacks and asked Gandhis to apologise to nation if their party is sensitive to the feelings of martyrs' families. Asserting that the shouting of slogans against India and in favour of terrorists like Guru amounted to treason, he told the media that BJP would not allow such an incident to take place in any part of the country. What was more worrisome was the support given by Rahul to the incident, he said. "If Rahul Gandhi wants to support it in the name of freedom of expression, then I will ask the Congress party if that if there can be a bigger evidence of treason than the slogans which were shouted there. "I want to ask Congress if it as a party supports the statements made by its vice president Rahul Gandhi? It should answer this. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi when you support treason in the name of freedom of expression, then do you spare a thought for the families of those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the country?" Shah said. The BJP chief wondered how long Congress will continue with its vote bank and asked if it worries about "providing shelter" to anti- activities while pursuing its vote back . Congress spokespersons were still supporting these ant- activities, he said, and took a jibe at its chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala for calling the Parliament attack convict 'Afzal Guruji'. "What is there in the heart at times comes out," he said. Earlier in the day, Shah wrote in his blog that Rahul had "proved" that interest had no place in his mind and asked if he had joined hands with separatist forces and wanted another division of India. Speaking on the raging controversy for the first time, Shah asked Congress president Sonia and Rahul a host of questions and demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology is not acceptable. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will lay the foundation stone of the state's temporary Secretariat near here on February 17, the construction of which is to be completed in four months. The Interim Government Complex (a temporary Secretariat) will come up at Velagapudi village in Guntur district, Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana said after a Cabinet meeting. Two construction majors agreed to complete six lakh sq ft of building space by June 15 following which the government agreed to increase the cost to Rs 3,350 per sq ft from Rs 3,000 set earlier, he said. "The firms have to engage workers round-the-clock to complete the buildings by June 15 and that involves higher costs. Hence, the Cabinet approved the enhanced rate to be paid to the contractors," the minister said. "The state administration right now is in disarray. The Chief Minister and we (Ministers) are functioning from Vijayawada while the officers and staff are working from Hyderabad. There is no coordination," Narayana said. The state would lose another year if the buildings were not completed by June 15 and government activity shifted to the new Capital region, he added. Rooftops of godowns owned by a state-run corporation in Andhra Pradesh may soon house solar power units. L S R C Prasad, Chairman, Andhra Pradesh State Warehousing Corporation (APSWC), today said "the Corporation is mulling to set up solar power units at spacious rooftops of its godowns." He was speaking to reporters after presenting a dividend cheque of Rs 4.66 crore on behalf of APSWC for 2013-14 and 2014-15 to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu here. Power generated through solar panels can be supplied to state-run APGenco by linking the transmission to its grid, he said. He appealed to the Andhra Pradesh farmers not to undertake distress sale of their produce when prices are low. Instead, they should utilise the APSWC godowns to store their produce and sell them when they get better market prices. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today announced allocation of Rs 1000 crore towards the welfare of Muslims from the next Financial Year. "The government would provide Rs 1000 crore for the Muslim community in the state from next financial year," an official release quoted Naidu as saying. Earlier in the day, a delegation of several Muslim groups from across the state called upon the CM at his Camp Officer here. Naidu also said that a socioeconomic survey would be conducted by government to assess the living conditions of the various backward as well as minority communities in the state. "The government would also allocate funds to backward communities based on the survey and its recommendations," he said. Four robbers allegedly looted Rs 24,000 in cash from a petrol pump at gunpoint in Ummedpur village here, police said. According to an FIR lodged by the owner, Vineet Kumar, the incident took place on Saturday night when four robbers came to the petrol pump in a white coloured Bolero, Sakeet Police Station Station Officer Naushad Ahmad Khan said. They looted Rs 24,000 from Kumar at gunpoint, Khan said. No arrests have been made yet, he said, adding a probe into the incident is underway. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will visit Punjab for a week to take stock of poll preparations of the party. "The AAP chief is expected to visit the state around February 23. However, the details of the visit are still being planned. "He will stay in Punjab for a week during which he will take stock of the poll preparations by the party," said a party source. Party sources said that Kejriwal will emphasis on people-to-people meeting during his one-week visit, rather than holding any mega rally in Punjab which will go to the polls to be held early next year.. The Aam Aadmi Party had successfully organised a mega rally in Muktsar last month. The party hopes to sweep the state poll next year and is locked in a tussle with resurging Congress and the ruling SAD-BJP combine. In October, Kejriwal had visited Punjab, which was hit by protests due to desecration of Guru Granth Sahib. The party has been raising its voice against the problem of drug addiction and issues related to farmers suicide and alleged irregularities in buying pesticides. After having made its presence felt in the state during the Lok Sabha elections, AAP had recently made structural changes in the state unit, which irked many in the party. AAP had opened its account in the Lok Sabha by winning four seats in Punjab in 2014 general elections. However, two of its MPs -- Dharamvira Gandhi and Harinder Singh Khalsa -- have been suspended on the charge of anti-party activities. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today urged Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to set up a major defence production unit in the state. "The setting up of a defence production unit in Assam would not only enable the people of the state to get a share of employment opportunities like other parts of the country but also strengthen the growing emotional bond of the local people with the armed forces," Gogoi said in a letter to the defence minister. He said that in spite of a sizeable deployment of armed forces in Assam, there was no major defence production unit in the state for development and production of arms, ammunition and defence equipment. "It is felt that a major defence production unit should be set up in our state so that Assam is not left out of the purview of the 'Make in India' policy as well as the policies for defence procurement and production which are aimed at establishing a vibrant domestic defence manufacturing sector," Gogoi said. He said the state government would provide all necessary support on priority, including land for the purpose. Condemning the assault on students and journalists at a court here, the AAP today alleged that the attack was "premeditated" by some "BJP hoodlums" in he garb of lawyers. The party also attacked Delhi Police saying the court incident "raises very serious questions" about its credibility and impartiality. "This government sees the children of this country as traitors and Pakistani PM as a peacemaker. They attack students, the media, and fellow countrymen, but how many terrorist camps has this govt destroyed yet. "They call Indians traitors and eat birthday cakes in Pakistan. BJP's nationalism is a big farce," AAP leader and Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra alleged. Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said that lawyers who attacked the students and journalists should be identified and their license seized. "The sequence of events inside the Patiala House court premises clearly point towards a premeditated attack on journalists and students by the BJP hoodlums, with their MLA O P Sharma caught on video attacking an unidentified person in full public view. "It is shameful that journalists on duty were attacked by BJP goons with active cooperation from some individuals faking as lawyers. The BJP is hell-bent on vitiating the peaceful atmosphere of Delhi and is deliberately unleashing violence with police patronage to terrorise all sections of the society," the party claimed. AAP's Delhi unit leader Dilip Pandey and national spokesperson Ashutosh, meanwhile met Special Commissioner of Police Deepak Mishra and submitted the video clips of the JNU incident, demanding a thorough probe. Students, teachers and scribes covering the hearing of sedition case against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar were assaulted in the Patiala House court complex here, drawing condemnation from several quarters. "According to us, the Delhi Police action is not based on law and appears to have been done under the pressure of the Central government. The Police may find it difficult pass the judicial scrutiny of its questionable move. "The AAP treats the investigation in this case as a credibility test for the Delhi Police, which unfortunately in the eyes of the people of Delhi is certainly not viewed as impartial," said the letter signed by Pandey and Ashutosh, submitted to the police. St Stephen's college principal Valson Thampu today claimed that an fraudulent attempt is being made to seek donations for relief to Jammu and Kashmir flood victims in name of the college. "A fraudulent attempt to cheat the public using the name of St Stephen's College and its credibility has come to the notice of the college. Appeal for donations purportedly to provide relief to the victims of J&K floods, made in the name of Rohit Kumar Yadav who is shown as President Students Union society of the college is in circulation," Thampu said in a press statement. "The signature of Rohit Kumar Yadav is forged. The document shows Nandita Narain (faculty and DUTA president) as the supporter. The college has filed a complaint with the police urging appropriate action," it added. Police officials, however, said that no such complaint has been received by them so far. Australian police have seized more than AUD 1 billion (USD 712 million) in crystal methamphetamine, or ice, some concealed in gel bra inserts in one of the country's biggest drug busts, authorities said today. Three Hong Kongers and a Chinese national were arrested during the operation which Justice Minister Michael Keenan described as the largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine in Australian history. "This has resulted in 3.6 million individual hits of ice being taken off our streets with a street value of AUD 1.26 billion," he said. "This largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine to date is the result of organised criminals, targeting the lucrative Australian ice market from offshore." Australian Federal Police Commander Chris Sheehan said the joint operation with Chinese authorities began in December 2015 when the Australian Border Force examined a shipping container out of Hong Kong in Sydney. It originated in mainland China. "That shipping container was found to contain gel bra inserts and hidden inside those gel bra inserts was 190 litres of liquid methamphetamine," he said. The seizure was referred to the Australian Federal Police who began an investigation which traced an additional 530 litres of liquid methamphetamine to five storage units in Sydney where they were found inside art supplies. In January, a 33-year-old Hong Kong man was arrested and charged in connection with the original seizure. A further two Hong Kongers, a man, 37, and a 52-year-old woman, along with a Chinese man, 59, were also arrested and charged with knowingly taking part in the manufacture of a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug over the stash in the storage units. "We are alleging that the people we have arrested weren't just mere bit-players, they were significant players within this criminal network," said Sheehan, adding that they all face life in prison if convicted. The bust comes two months after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled a Aus$300 million strategy to combat the growing use of ice following a government report that Australia had proportionally more users than most countries. The report showed that the use of the highly addictive drug had doubled since 2007 to more than 200,000 users in 2013, with anecdotal evidence of higher current numbers. An Australian Crime Commission report published last year found that while US$80 bought one gram of ice in China, users in Australia had to pay US$500 for the same amount. Vice President Hamid Ansari today lauded former Catholic Bishop Conference of India president Benedict Mar Gregorios, terming the late archbishop as "promoter of inter-religious dialogue and harmony". Addressing a function marking inauguration of birth centenary celebrations of Mar Gregorios, Ansari said the former gave a "new dimension" to spirituality by special emphasis on improving the living conditions of poor. The Vice President noted Mar Gregorios made a "significant" contribution in the spheres of education, agriculture, rural development and housing for the poor. "Archbishop Gregorios was a promoter of inter-religious dialogue and harmony. He was ever willing to intervene on behalf of the administration in resolving communal tensions. "Such were the qualities that led Shri KR Narayan, the former President of India to remark that Archbishop Mar Gregorios was 'the ideal representative and symbol of Indian secularism which is suffused with spiritual heritage'," Ansari said during his speech. He also dubbed Mar Gregorios as a "scholarly" spiritual leader, great spokesperson for secularism and Indian culture, and an educationist. "His focus on ecological balance and his advocacy of education as an empowering platform could well be the template for building a sustainable and empowered India," he said. The event was also attended by Rajya Sabha deputy speaker PJ Kurien, Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla and Apostolic Nuncio to India Salvatore Pennachio among others. During her speech, Heptulla stated she had shared rapport with the Benedict Mar Gregorios and praised showers on him dubbing him as "one of the finest" human beings Indian Christianity ever produced. "He made a sincere attempt to concretize the Indian vision contained in the axiom lokasamastha sukhino bhavanthu and emerged as a spectacular icon of Indian secularism and of all the finer values enshrined in our Constitution," she added. The Minister noted the late Archbishop was also an environmentalist and did his "best" to protect nature by promoting agriculture, animal husbandry and other ecological enterprises. "He advocated cleanliness of surroundings through responsible practices and by planting trees, and cleanliness of mind by constant and universal fraternal love. His passion for the environment and for cleanliness closely resonates with our Government's Swacch Bharat Mission today," she added. BJP activists today burnt effigy of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in front of Vidhan Bhawan condemning his support to "those raising anti-national slogans at JNU". A number of BJP activists gathered in front of Vidhan Sabha and burnt the effigy of Rahul Gandhi alleging that he was "supporting anti-national elements". City BJP president, Mukesh Sharma said those who backed terrorist Afzal Guru and raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans are not "well wishers of the country". They said that BJP would continue to raise issues of national in tersest and expose those involved in anti-national activities. Members of BJP's youth wing today threatened to gherao Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi during his visit here on February 18 if he does not apologies for supporting "anti-national elements". "Members of BJYM will gherao Rahul during his Lucknow visit on Thursday if he does not apologies for supporting anti-national elements," BJP's city president Mukesh Sharma said. Activists of BJYM burnt an effigy of the Congress leader in front of the Vidhan Bhawan. A number of BJP activists gathered in front of Vidhan Sabha and burnt the effigy of Rahul Gandhi alleging he was "supporting anti-national elements" involved in the JNU row. City BJP president, Mukesh Sharma said those who backed terrorist Afzal Guru and raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans are not "well wishers of the country". He said that BJP would continue to raise issues of national interest and "expose" those involved in anti-national activities. Rahul had yesterday accused the NDA government of "suppressing" students' voice as he visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with them, a day after the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case. The Congress Vice President, who had accused the Modi government of "bullying" the institution, scaled up the attack, saying "most anti-national are people, who are suppressing the voice of students in this institution". The mortal remains of two soldiers from Karnataka and one from Tami Nadu, who were buried alive by an avalanche in the Siachen Glacier, were brought here today. The bodies of SepoyMahesh from Mysuru and Subedar Nagesh from Hassan, along with that of one soldier from Krishnagiri in neighbouring Tamil Nadu were brought onboard an IAF aircraft at the HAL Airport this evening. Bengaluru city in-charge ministerK J George along with leaders from political parties and defence officials received the bodies with military honour. The bodies will be taken to their home town by road from the airport, Defence officials said. Of the nine soldiers lost their lives in the Siachen tragedy Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, SepoyMahesh and Subedar Nagesh are from Karnataka. Hanumanthappa, who was the lone survivor when rescued from Siachen, died on Thursday in the Army hospital in New Delhi after almost a week-long battle. The Karnataka government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh along with land and job for the kin of the deceased. Meanwhile, last rites of gunner Sahadev Maruti More, killed in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, was performed at his native village in Vijayapura district today with full military and state honour. Water Resources Minister M B Patil, IT Minister S R Patil, several political leaders and officials were present as More's father lit the funeral pyre. The army killed five suspected Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants while losing two soldiers, including More, during an overnight encounter that ended on Saturday in Kupwara district bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It was a tragic end for More as he was scheduled to return next week to his native place for his marriage. He had delayed the wedding to allow his bride to complete her education. Bodies of six workers, who died of burns in a boiler explosion in tyre melting unit in the city, were cremated here today in the presence of their relatives who arrived from West Bengal. The workers, who had suffered 100 per cent burns in the hospital three days ago, died during the course of period in the Government hospital here. On receiving information, the relatives hailing from Alipurdar district, arrived here and received the bodies after post mortem examination, amidst tight police security. Meanwhile, CITU has demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased and sought action against the erring officials, who had allegedly granted permission to the unit functioning without proper safety mechanism, police said. Andhra Pradesh Home Minister N Chinna Rajappa, who rushed to Guntur from Amalapuram, said an inquiry would be conducted into the mishap and those responsible would be brought to book. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who returned to Vijayawada around 2 AM from a five-day personal trip to Malaysia and Thailand, expressed sorrow over the mishap. AP Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, MLAs Alapati Rajendra Prasad, N Anand Babu, collector Kantilal Dande and other officials supervised the rescue operation. Boeing is bullish on the India-dominated South Asian aviation markets, with airlines showing profits and ordering new planes, a senior company executive said here today. "SpiceJet is talking about ordering 100 planes for the first time... While IndiGo has ordered 430 planes (over the next 10 years)," said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president for Asia Pacific and India Sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Our forecast for that (South Asian) market is about USD 240 billion worth of 1,700 planes - it is a pretty big market," he said. Addressing media on Boeing forecast at the Singapore Airshow 2016, he said low fuel oil price and increasing passenger traffic volume were helping the South Asian airlines. But the airlines are concerned about currency exchange rates against the US dollar, which is becoming strong against many currencies in the world, he said. Keskar would want to see a balanced supply and demand situation in the airline industry, noting that passenger volume was increasing in the region with more and more people with disposable income travelling. He recalled the challenge of managing South Asian airline businesses in the past decade especially the impact of expensive oil, priced at USD 150 per barrel, and the air fare wars. As long as there is a reasonable match between demand and supply, the South Asian airlines will make money. "It is when we have over capacity, which has been the case over the majority of the past decade in India, that is when the problem starts because people do fare wars," said Keskar. But he was happy to note the record profits reported by Jet Airways and SpiceJet and orders following for new planes. "Right now we are quite pleased with where the Asian markets are. Airlines have been in pretty good shape for the last four quarters," he said. As part of its wish list for the Union Budget 2016-17, auto component major Bosch today urged the government to announce new policies, including on labour reforms, to bolster country's competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. Besides, it has also asked for the government support to achieve USD 200 billion turnover as outlined in the Automotive Mission Plan 2026. "Labour reforms is one of the key factors which will enable multinational companies to set manufacturing activities in India on a large scale. We look forward to some practical reforms that will help in productivity improvement," Bosch Ltd Joint Managing Director Soumitra Bhattacharya said in a statement. In April last year, the company had declared a lockout due to worker unrest at the Jaipur plant. The plant, which has a history of labour issues, was also shut for a day in March on account of a day-long strike by the labour union over wage settlement. In 2014, workers at the company's Bengaluru plant had struck work for more than three months over wage settlement. Later on, Bosch group Chairman of the Board of Management Volkmar Denner stated that repeated incidents of labour unrests could hurt investments in India. Bhattacharya said the government has made a very good start last year in fiscal deficit, infrastructure project and more can be rolled out this year. "We expect the new budget to further complement and drive these initiatives as well as bring in new policies to bolster India's competitiveness in the manufacturing sector," he added. Besides, as part of the auto component sector, the company looks forward to the government support to achieve USD 200 billion in turnover as outlined in the Automotive Mission Plan 2026 - a collective vision of the Government of India and the Indian automotive industry, Bhattacharya said. "We are optimistic, the Union Budget 2016 will focus on: roll-out of Goods and Service Tax, infrastructure improvement, labor reforms and reduction in corporate tax among others," Bhattacharya said. The government will present the Union Budget for 2016-17 on February 29. Bosch shares today closed 2.89 per cent up at Rs 16,390.80 on BSE. Bosnia today formally submitted an application to join the EU, hoping to catch up with its Balkan neighbours after years lost following the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia. In the early 2000s, Bosnia appeared set to join the now 28-nation European Union but deep divisions between its Serb, Croat and Muslim communities blocked the political and civil society reforms demanded by Brussels for membership until last year. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the six-month EU rotating presidency, said the bloc was happy to see "Bosnia back on the reform path". "It is urgent to maintain the positive momentum by continuing to implement reforms," Koenders said, stressing that the EU would look carefully at what would likely take some years. Dragan Covic, the chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, said he submitted the application on behalf of all the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina -- Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks. Covic noted that Croatia had joined the bloc in 2013, while Serbia and Montenegro were now making progress towards membership too. Facing "years of many challenges ahead," Bosnia needed to improve its economy and show that it could be a "credible" member of the EU, he said. The 'Taste of Britain Curry Festival' is all set to travel to the home of curries, India, with leading British chefs aiming to recreate an exclusive selection of dishes that have become a hit in the European country. The four-member team will be headed by Azadur Rahman, one of the most experienced and celebrated curry chefs in the UK. Chef Azadur and his team will produce a range of new dishes giving a spicy twist to traditional British meals as well as classic high street favourites like Chicken Tikka Masala, Balti and Vindaloo. A highly acclaimed chef Dominic Chapman will join Azadur and his team during the 10-day long curry festival that will take place from March 18-27 at ITC Maurya, New Delhi. Dominic, who has cooked at two previous festivals and recently appeared in the BBC series the Great British Menu, has started his career under the tutelage of Heston Blumenthal, the world famous three-starred Michelin chef who owns the world famous Fat Duck restaurant. Chef Dominic will be showcasing traditional English cuisine in the hotel's West View restaurant, while his colleagues will offer contemporary British Indian food in the Pavilion restaurant. "This festival illustrates the unique nature of the UK-India relationship and highlights the rich and diverse cultural make up of modern Britain. "This festival, which I have attended in the past, is a wonderful way of showcasing the best of British chefs and their creations," said Keith Vaz, Britain's longest-serving Indian-origin MP. "British food is enjoying a renaissance period after many years and curry has played a major role in helping put us back in the world kitchen. "This festival will create the opportunity not only to showcase the best of British but also help our chefs to bring fresh ideas to their own menus by working alongside the culinary masters of ITC Maurya," said Editor of Curry Life Magazine and Director of the Festival Syed Belal Ahmed. "What greater inspiration could they have than a city which has been famed for its gastronomy for centuries?" "We are delighted to be hosting the Taste of Britain Curry Festival at the ITC Maurya, the flagship property of ITC hotels in India," said Zubin Songadwalah, General Manager. British Prime Minister David Cameron met today with French President Francois Hollande after EU chief Donald Tusk warned there was a "real" danger of the 28-nation bloc breaking up over a "Brexit". As Cameron arrived in the French capital to discuss Britain's EU renegotiation ahead of a key summit this week, Tusk warned Europe was at a "critical moment". "It is high time we started listening to each other's arguments more than to our own," Tusk said during a visit to Romania to discuss Britain's membership of the European Union. The EU is trying to broker a series of reforms to Britain's relationship with the bloc ahead of a looming "in-out" referendum on EU membership that could be held in the UK as early as June. British officials hope a deal can be nailed down at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday that could prevent the possibility of Britain exiting the EU. In London, Cameron's spokeswoman said: "We have made progress (on renegotiation) but there's details to be pinned down. "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed," she added. A deal could pave the way for a referendum on whether Britain should leave the EU or stay in and with it Cameron could support remaining in the bloc. But some of Cameron's demands are proving problematic to his European partners. Analysts say France -- which with Germany is considered the EU's engine -- is likely to want to see changes in what is being proposed over economic governance. The political authority of Delhi cannot bypass the authority of Lieutenant Governor (LG) in matters of transfer and posting of public servants, the Centre today told the Delhi High Court. "The chief secretary has to do all the correspondences under the authority of the LG. The political authority cannot bypass LG's authority in matters of service/transfer/postings and UPSC is the ultimate authority in this matter," Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain told the bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath. Referring to Rule 45 of the Transaction of Business Rules, the ASG said that LG can or may regulate the transaction of business. "Delhi does not have its own public service commission. It is provided by the Union Government and the cadre control is with the Centre and the LG comes into picture here as he is empowered to function as an executive authority," he said. The ASG said decisions taken by LG are in his executive capacity and he has been given wider powers as compared to the Governor of a state. The arguments remained inconclusive and would continue on February 25. The ASG was addressing arguments during final hearing on the issue of interpretation of Article 239AA regarding the powers of the LG on the governance of Delhi. A total of eleven cases arising out of the spat between the LG and the Delhi government, are being heard together by the bench headed by the Chief Justice. On February 4, the Centre had told the court that the LG has statutory powers to disagree with the city government and when a decision is taken in his name, files have to be shown to him. Earlier, the Centre had said that Delhi remained in its control as it was not a full-fledged state. The Delhi government on May 28 last year had approached the high court challenging the Centre's notification of May 21 giving LG absolute powers to appoint bureaucrats in the city. Along with this notification, Delhi government had also challenged the July 23, 2014 notification of the Centre which limited the Anti Corruption Branch's jurisdiction to Delhi government officials only. A powerful car bomb exploded today at a police checkpoint in Russia's Dagestan republic, killing two officers and the car's driver and wounding 19 others, in what appears to have been a suicide attack, investigators said. The explosion, which was set off by two 122 mm shells, destroyed the Russian-made Lada Priori and four other vehicles parked at the police post near Derbent, said Rasul Temirbekov, spokesman for the Dagestani branch of the federal Investigative Committee. Investigators believe it was a terror attack because the driver of the Lada stopped at the checkpoint on his own initiative, Temirbekov said. All that remained of the driver were fragments of his head, hands and feet, he said. Dagestan has been the center of an Islamic insurgency that spread across the Caucasus region after two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. For more than a decade, Dagestan has seen bombings, attacks on police and kidnappings blamed on the Islamic militants. In recent years, the republic has grown markedly less violent as hundreds of militants have left to join the Islamic State group in Syria. Some, however, are now coming back home with battlefield experience. While the returning fighters usually land in jail or are kept under close police surveillance, there have been concerns that the presence of radical Muslims trained in IS warfare could lead to greater instability and violence. Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the IS threat to Russia as a key factor behind his decision to launch air strikes on militants in Syria. He said that between 5,000 and 7,000 people from Russia and other former Soviet countries are now fighting alongside Islamic State militants. Meanwhile, Russia's air campaign in Syria has drawn threats of retaliation from militants there. The Centre today exhorted government agriculture scientists to develop technologies and resources for organic agriculture in the North Eastern Region. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh today met the scientists of Central Agricultural University and Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in this connection. Emphasis should be given on production of farm manure from all organic waste, Singh said after inaugurating the Academic Block of College of Post Graduate Studies, Central Agricultural University, Imphal. He also laid the foundation stone for the new College of Agriculture, Kyrdemkulai, Meghalaya at the College of Post Graduate Studies, Umiam (Barapani) in Meghalaya and then inspected the ICAR Complex, Umiam, in Ri Bhoi District. Later, at an awareness programme on 'Sustainable Hill Agriculture' at ICAR Complex, in Ri Bhoi district, Singh encouraged the farmers to use organic manure and also spoke at length on e-marketing, where the farmers could sell their agricultural production in other parts of the country. About Central Agricultural University, the Union minister termed it a unique agricultural institution in the country, which takes care of the agricultural education, research and extension needs of the six North Eastern Hill states. The University has played a pivotal role in the overall development of the states under its jurisdiction, he said. In view of the huge agricultural potential and human resources development that the North Eastern Region could offer, six new colleges under the jurisdiction of the Central Agricultural University have been planned, he said. Of these, 4 new colleges have already started their first academic session, Singh said, adding that the other 2 colleges in Nagaland and Mizoram will be functioning soon. "To empower the unemployed rural youths, the university has planned 6 vocational training centres and six multi-technology testing centers," Singh said and hoped these centers will make rural youth employment generators rather than employment seekers. The minister also appreciated the role of scientists of Central Agriculture University for participating in the government's 'Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav' scheme. The effort by Central Agricultural University to develop and distribute 2,500 soil health cards to the farmers is appreciable, Singh said and hoped that these efforts will continue and be beneficial for the farmers in future. Turning to the issue of food and nutritional security of the North Eastern states, Singh said it is important to promote the cultivation of oil seeds and pulses. "The effort by Central Agricultural University to promote Rabi mustard is commendable," he said, adding the university will play an important role in increasing the cropping area of different pulses like lentil and lathyrus. The inaugural programme was attended by Members of Parliament, the Director of Indian Council for Agricultural Research Complex, Umiam, S V Ngachan, Senior officers of the Meghalaya government, Vice-Chancellor of Central Agricultural University, scientists of CAU and ICAR, Umiam, students and farmers. The Minister appreciated the performance of students of this Central Agriculture University for doing exceedingly well in the national level competitive examinations. The minister said that he was informed that in 2014, the university obtained second position in India with respect to ICAR-JRF scholarships awarded to its students. During his visit to ICAR, Complex, Singh inaugurated the National Initiatives on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) Laboratory. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the Centre is planning to invest Rs 3 lakh crore on infrastructure development in Maharashtra over the next three years. "I am assuring the Chief Minister that we will complete investment of more than Rs 3 lakh crore within next three years in Maharashtra and we will change the basic infrastructure of the state," the Minister for Road Transport and Highways said at the ongoing Make in India Week here. He also said that around Rs 68,000 crore of road projects will be completed in the state by December. Gadkari, a MP from Nagpur, added that the length of National Highways in the state has been increased three fold to 22,442 kms. He further said that the new greenfield port at Wadhawan near Dahanu will be completed in three years. Earlier this year, Gadkari had said that a total of Rs 2 lakh crore will be spent on expanding as well as building new roads in Maharashtra in next five years. "At present, Rs 20,000 crore is sanctioned for various road development projects in Konkan area of the state alone," he had said. Singapore's Changi Airport has sought more details from the Airports Authority of India before taking a call on the proposed limited operations and management contracts for Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports. After taking off four AAI run airports -- Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur and Ahmedabad from its privatisation agenda, the NDA government had last year decided to hand over Jaipur and Ahmedabad airport to Changi under a limited O&M contract. The documents containing more details on the two airports are likely to be furnished within this week to Changi, a senior AAI official said. Owned by Singapore Government, Changi is world's seventh busiest airport, having handled 55.4 million passengers and over 3.46 lakh aircraft movements in 2015. "A team from Changi has already visited both Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports. As part of the due-diligence exercise, it has sought more details," the official said. After getting the required details, Changi is expected to finalise its proposal in the coming months, the official added. AAI and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) had, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Singapore last November, signed the MoU to co-operate in planning and development of Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports besides other aspects including traffic and commercial development, service quality and operations and management. The Government also accorded its approval to the pact late last month. "Globally, limited O&M contract models are prevalent for the entire airport operations. The AAI has no previous experience in awarding O&M contract model of terminal buildings to other entities...In order to implement the decision, it was necessary to ensure that a suitable entity be engaged for undertaking the O&M contract at Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports," Government had said while giving its nod to the MoU. The city side and air side of Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports, however, will continue to be managed directly by AAI. By 2023-24, Ahmedabad is expected to see a total of 6.77 million passengers while that at Jaipur is anticipated to be 3.75 million. This is the first time that the Government has taken onboard an overseas entity to "partially" operate and manage its airports. Clashes erupted in southeast Turkey today after a rally to mark 17 years since the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK, an outlawed Kurdish movement. About 300 demonstrators assembled in the mainly Kurdish district of Diyarbakir chanting "We will win by resisting" and "long live Apo," in reference to Ocalan. Police unleashed tear gas and water cannons to disperse the rally. Some demonstrators retaliated by firing stun grenades and fireworks, while others banged the shutters of closed shops and banged pots in protest. "If the Turkish people want to have peace in this country, this depends on peace and security in Kurdistan," said Ayla Akat Ata, a Kurdish politician from the city of Batman. The PKK designated a terrorist organization also by the US and the EU renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in late July. Turkish security forces have been engaged in large-scale operations against Kurdish militants since December, imposing controversial curfews in flashpoint areas and raising concerns about civilians caught up in the fighting. Flights from London to New York could take longer and be more expensive in the future due to the effects of climate change, according to a new study that may have implications for the aviation industry. By accelerating the jet stream - a high-altitude wind blowing from west to east across the Atlantic - climate change will speed up eastbound flights but slow down westbound flights, researchers said. The research could have implications for airlines, passengers, and airports. The study, led by Dr Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading in UK, calculates that transatlantic aircraft will spend an extra 2,000 hours in the air every year, adding millions of dollars to airline fuel costs and increasing the risk of delays. "The aviation industry is facing pressure to reduce its environmental impacts, but this study shows a new way in which aviation is itself susceptible to the effects of climate change," Williams said. "The bad for passengers is that westbound flights will be battling against stronger headwinds. The good is that eastbound flights will be boosted by stronger tailwinds, but not enough to compensate for the longer westbound journeys. The net result is that round-trip journeys will significantly lengthen. "This effect will increase the fuel costs to airlines, potentially raising ticket prices, and it will worsen the environmental impacts of aviation," he said. The study looked at the effects of doubling the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, which will occur within the next few decades unless emissions are cut quickly. The average jet-stream winds along the flight route between London's Heathrow airport and New York's John F Kennedy International airport are predicted to become 15 per cent faster in winter, increasing from 77 to 89 km/hr, with similar increases in the other seasons. As a result, London-bound flights will become twice as likely to take under five hours and 20 minutes, implying that record-breaking crossing times will occur with increasing frequency in future. On the other hand, New York-bound flights will become twice as likely to take over seven hours, suggesting that delayed arrivals will become increasingly common. Due to the extra time spent in the air, transatlantic flights will burn an extra USD 22 million worth of fuel annually, and will emit an extra 70 million kg of CO2 - equivalent to the annual emissions of 7,100 British homes. This might only be the tip of the iceberg, researchers said. "The jet stream encircles the globe, and there is one in the southern hemisphere too. It is possible that flights elsewhere in the world will also suffer from a similar jet stream effect," Williams said. The study was published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Hitting back at BJP chief Amit Shah for attacking Rahul Gandhi over the JNU row, Congress today said those once "externed by the Supreme Court over criminal charges" should not teach patriotism to the Congress, which has played a "stellar role" in freedom movement. Party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters here it is ironical that those who are "inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse" are giving new definition of patriotism and love for the nation. He said it was "distressing and condemnable" that "those who helped British and sided with them" in the freedom movement and whose parent organisation RSS did not hoist the National flag at its headquarters in Nagpur were teaching nationalism to Congress. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he alleged that those "whose quest for propagating personal leadership surpassed the interest of the Nation" and which led to the Kargil war first and then attacks in Dinanagar, Udhampur and finally Pathankot should not teach lessons of patriotism to the Congress party. Surjewala also recalled the terror strike in Parliament and freeing dreaded terrorists like Masood Azhar in Kandahar during the Vajpayee regime. Hitting hard at Shah, he said those once "externed by the Supreme Court over criminal charges" should not teach patriotism and love for the nation to his party. Asserting that Congress had played a "stellar role" in the freedom movement with its leaders living and dying for the cause, he said it is also "great inheritor" of the ideology of Indira Gandhi who made supreme sacrifice for the nation. He alleged that there was a pattern to the row in JNU which showed a "concerted conspiracy" of the Modi government and its attitude of "intolerance". He recalled the problems faced by students earlier at FTII, Ambedkar Periyar Centre and Hyderabad University where Rohith Vemulla committed suicide. Seeking to dismiss criticism on the Afzal Guru issue, he said the party believed that Indian Union, 67 years after Independence, is strong enough that "we will give fair treatment and a fair trial to worst of our enemies and if that was not our belief and if that was not part of our founding ethos, then Afzal Guru terrorist would not have been convicted up to the Supreme Court and punished through due process". Besides, he said that if this was not true, then Ajmal Kasab would not have been given a fair trail. In a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi over the JNU row, Amit Shah today said he had "proved" that national interest had no place in his mind and asked if the Congress vice president had joined hands with separatist forces and wanted another division of India. Speaking on the raging controversy for the first time, Shah asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul a host of questions and demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology is not acceptable. Surjewala said that when a handful of people raised anti-India slogans on the JNU campus, Congress strongly condemned it and demanded that action should be taken against them. "But the truth is that Modi Government is suppressing the voice of democracy, the voice of freedom, the freedom of expression and voice of the young students and there is a pattern to it", he said. He alleged that Shah and Modi are levelling "unjustified and unwarranted" allegations to divert attention of the people from core issues of governance and delivery as they have "failed on every single index of development and governance" He later dismissed as a slip of tongue his reference to Afzal Guru as 'Afzal Guruji' during the briefing. He said it should be taken null and void. His clarification came in the wake of the BJP President seeking to make it a major issue. : The Congress manifesto for the coming local body elections was released by District in charge Minister Ramanath Rai at the Congress Party officehere today. Addressing reporters here, Rai, the state forests and environment minister, said the manifesto contained development schemes Congress planned to implement if elected to power. The Panchayat Raj system also need to bestrengthened, he added. Highly beneficial programmes like SarvashikshaBhiyan and MNREGA schemes were implemented during the previous UPA regime, but the BJP government was only giving fake promises, he alleged. He said if elected, his party would ensure that allrural households had toilets and solar facility besides cooking gas connections. The Congress had selected deservingcandidates and the party was confident of winning theelections. Dakshina Kannada district Congress interim President Ibrahim Kodinjaal, MLC Ivan D'Souza, district youth congress President Mithun Rai and others were present. Congress MP Kumari Selja today said her party would raise the issue of the ongoing unrest on the JNU campus in Parliament and demanded that a high-level probe be conducted into the matter. Talking to reporters here, she said the allegation by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the JNU event had the backing of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed was "very serious". "The Union Minister should have shared the evidence with the people of the country to back his serious allegation. Congress would raise the issue in the Budget Session," she said. Singh had yesterday unleashed a political storm with a claim that the event at JNU to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from Saeed. Selja accused the NDA government of doing nothing for railways in Haryana and said she had submitted a memorandum to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu mentioning the demands of the state. She also said the government did not make any efforts to evolve consensus among political parties on the GST Bill and Congress would oppose it in Rajya Sabha if it is tabled sans amendments suggested by the party. The Congress MP said the party would fight with full strength in the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls to save the youth of the state which was pushed into "drug infatuation" by the SAD government. A Delhi court today allowed TERI's executive Vice Chairman R K Pachauri, facing sexual harassment allegations by a former woman colleague, to travel to Sharjah tomorrow where he will be conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award. The court allowed Pachauri's application to travel abroad after he sought permission to go to Sharjah from February 16 to 18 where he is likely to be conferred with the award. In his application, he stated that he will also have a meeting with Secretary General of Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation for which he needs to travel abroad further from February 22 to 26. Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan granted permission to Pachauri while noting the submission of the Investigative Officer that investigation in the matter was complete and charge sheet is likelyn to be filed soon. "In these circumstances, the accused is permitted to travel as per his itinerary subject to furnishing of one local surety of Rs 4 lakh to the satisfaction of this court and upon furnishing and undertaking that he will make himself available to the investigating officer as per the requirement," the magistrate said. The court also directed him to file a copy of his travel tickets and intimate the court and the IO after his return. Advocate Ashish Dixit, counsel for Pachauri, submitted that his client has been invited as a guest of honour at the First Annual Water and Energy Congress at Sharjah from February 16 where he is scheduled to deliver lecture and has been selected to be conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Alleem Business Congress. During the pendency of the trial, Pachauri has been allowed at least nine times to travel to various countries, including USA, UK, China, Japan, France, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Kuwait, Somalia and Saudi Arabia. On February 13 last year, an FIR was registered against Pachauri on charges of sexual harassment under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(d) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). A businessman has been convicted in a cheque bounce case by a city court, saying his defence was false and fabricated and he had taken contradictory stand during various stages of trial. Metropolitan Magistrate Rajat Goyal convicted South Delhi native Harpal Singh Narang under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act for non-repayment of Rs 2,50,000 to the complainant who had invested the amount in his business after they had entered into an agreement. The court observed that the accused had not denied the execution of the agreement and issuance of cheques but made inconsistent statements. "It must be noted here that the defence taken by the accused in the present case has not been a consistent one and various contradictory stands have been taken by the accused himself at various stages in the present trial. "Thus, the contradictory stands taken by the accused himself go to prove the case of the complainant and show that the defence taken by the accused is false and fabricated one." the court observed. According to the complainant Sanjay Verma, the accused who runs an elctrical equipment business, had sought to invest Rs 2,50,000 in his business in April 2013. An agreement had been drafted for the same on condition that an amount of Rs 15,000 will be paid every month to the complainant in lieu of the investment, it said, adding that the accused had also issued two blank cheques as security. Upon failure of repayment, the cheques were submitted to the bank which were returned unpaid. The businessman, in his defence, pleaded that though the agreement was for Rs 2,50,000, the complainant paid only Rs 50,000, of which Rs 15,000 had been paid back as instalment amount. The court, which is yet to pronounce the quantum of sentence, found that all the requirements of Section 138 Negotiable Instruments Act have been met. A Delhi court today extended by two days the police custody of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy in connection with an alleged anti-national event inside the university premises. Kanhaiya was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen where the police sought his custodial interrogation, an official associated with the investigation told PTI. The police told the court that custodial interrogation of Kanhaiya to ascertain the alleged links of the accused persons, including those who are allegedly absconding, with terrorist groups, was required. The court, after hearing the submissions, extended Kanhaiya's police custody by two days till February 17, he said. Earlier in the day, violence broke out in the court complex when groups of lawyers attacked journalists, students and teachers of JNU and unidentified people in and outside the court, dubbing them as 'anti-nationals'. Kanhaiya had earlier told the court that he was neither shouting any slogan nor saying anything against integrity of the country and said he had rushed to the spot only to prevent a clash between ABVP workers and students organising the event. He had claimed in the court that this was a politically- motivated case and he was being framed by the police as he had defeated the ABVP candidate in the presidential elections of the JNU students' union (JNUSU). A case was registered on February 11 under Sections of 124 A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC against unknown persons at Vasant Kunj (North) Police station following complaints by BJP MP Maheish Girri and the ABVP. A group of students had on February 9 held an event in the campus and allegedly shouted slogans against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013. (REOPENS LGD17) Meanwhile, the judicial custody of Umar and Anirban was today extended by 14 days by a court here. The remand proceeding was conducted through video conferencing from Tihar jail, where both the accused are currently lodged. Hitting back at the BJP and RSS for calling them anti-national, CPI(M) today said the party did not want any certificate from those who "venerate" Mahatma Gandhi's assassin as a "national hero" and said they can't be 'browbeaten'. Addressing a rally of party workers on the conclusion of 'Nava Kerala' march here, CPI(M) General SecretarySitaram Yechury said "we do not want any certificate fromthe murderers of Mahatma Gandhi. Our credentials are before the people of the country. Who are these people to call us anti-national and enemies of the country?", Yechury asked. Coming down on RSS-BJP, he said "the RSS of today, which venerates Nathuram Godse as a national hero, has the temerity of calling us National enemies". Alleging that a conspiracy was unfolding in the country to convert the nation into a Hindu Rashtra, he said the tendencies of authoritarianism, communal polarisation and aggressive neo-liberalism was "RSS vision of converting our secular democratic republic into their concept of fascist Hindu rashtra in our country." "This is a big conspiracy that is unfolding under the Modi government', he said. Continuing his attack, Yechury said aggressive communal polarisation was to divert the Modi government's failure on all fronts and the "latest attack on party headquarters was also part of it." "They have threatened me personally at 1.30 AM. They are trying to browbeat us. We will fight and defeat them politically," he said and added that the party knows how to defend itself and the country. "We will continue to defend irrespective of any of your attacks', he said. Yechury alleged that the intensification of communal polarisation by RSS,'which has a hold on the Modi government, was to divert people's attention from its 'misgovernance'. India today was facing an unprecedented crisis in the combination of three aspects-- of neo-liberalism, communal polarisation and authoritarianism that has retarded the process of development, he said. "The aggression in terms of economic policy is combined with aggressive communal offence and now resulted in the attack on our own party head-quarters in New Delhi yesterday and in continuation of that attack on other educational institutions like JNU in Delhi', he said. On the Prime Minister's Foreign policy, he said it was a 'hot and cold policy' and the 'flip flop with Pakistan has resulted in India's image sharply falling and India is considered as a 'junior partner' of U.S. Yechury also slammed the Congress led UDF government in Kerala and said the Oommen Chandy regime and the previous UPA government of Manmohan Singh were competing with each other over corruption issues. (REOPEN MDS10) Yechury alleged that in less than two years, the Modi government was a "failure" on all fronts. All their slogans are "hollow" and its hallmark is "misgovernance" in all spheres. Yechury alleged that the nation's economy was in "bad shape", industrial production had come down, crisis in the agriculture sector had worsened and the suicide rate of farmers in the country had increased by 26 per cent. The rural employment and employment in general had declined, exports has dipped, but prices were skyrocketing, he alleged. The Rupee was falling and despite the fall in oil prices the benefit had not been transferred to the common man, he said. "The sum total of their economic policy direction is more and more hardship to common people, tax concessions for foreign corporates, domestic corporates and greater and greater burden on the Indian people," he said. "This growing discontent, they want to channelise and the only way they can do it only by intensifying communal polarisation," he said. CPI(M) Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, who led the month long 'Nava Kerala' march from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, hit out at the Congress led UDF and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over solar and bar scams and said that the Congress, which still protects the "corrupt CM", had even lost its character as a party. Development was at a standstill in Kerala and the inefficiency and lacklustre attitude of the UDF government had created a crisis in the agricultural, traditional and educational sectors of the state, he alleged. He also alerted people against the alleged attempt by RSS to open it's account in the state Assembly by any means. Slamming UDF's liquor policy, Vijayan said "forced" liquor ban would cause negative results. LDF policy was not prohibition, but reducing liquor consumption, he said.. Veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan said people of the state were watching all the developments. In reply to senior Congress leader A K Antony's remark that CPI(M) is a party that has to be in a museum, he said the Congress party, which once had 400 MPs, had now reduced to 44. "It is that party which has to be enclosed in glass." Politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai and CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, were among those who spoke. As part of global expansion plans, German commercial vehicle maker Daimler has set up two regional centres in Kenya and South Africa for retailing its products that would cater to 41 markets. Daimler India Commercial Vehicle, subsidiary of Stuttgart based Daimler AG, has set up its first regional centre for commercial vehicles in Dubai that would be responsible for Middle East and North Africa business. The second regional centre has been established in Nairobi, Kenya while the third in Pretoria, South Africa, a company statement said. "These (two) regional centres will be responsible for the sales and service of all Daimler brands in 41 markets in East, Central and West Africa and will cover nine markets of Southern Africa," the statement said. Daimler Trucks Asia, a unit of Daimler Trucks, jointly operates Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles. The appointment of regional centres is in the backdrop of expanding the sales and service network under the FUSO brand. Daimler Trucks Asia would benefit from the regional set up with the FUSO brand. "With the opening of these two Regional Centres, we will get close to our FUSO customers in Africa, being able to sell and service better", Daimler Trucks Asia, President and CEO, MFTBC Marc Llistosella said. "We believe that Africa has a big growth potential for robust and efficient trucks and we intend to increase our sales and market share with this step", Llistosella who also heads Daimler Trucks Asia, said. Currently, Daimler Trucks Asia sells FUSO range of products in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa. The vehicles are manufactured at the 400 acre facility at Oragadam near Chennai and shipped to the African markets. The company also plans to begin sales of high-powered heavy-duty truck in 2016 under the FUSO brand in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2015 Daimler Trucks Asia sold 5,900 commercial vehicles in African region of which 4,000 units were under the FUSO brand, it added. Leonardo DiCaprio says shooting "The Revenant" was colder than being submerged in icy waters in the final scenes of "Titanic". DiCaprio won the best actor Bafta award while the film bagged four other trophies at the ceremony last night. The actor and the crew of the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's film had a tough time capturing the survival drama in harsh weather conditions as the director insisted on shooting only in natural light. DiCaprio, 41, however, does not regret the discomforts of playing Hugh Glass, a role that saw him sleeping in a horse carcass and eating raw bison liver, as he feels they have a great movie to show at the end of it, reported People magazine. "This is pretty cold, this whole experience," DiCaprio said when asked about "Titanic" and "Revenant" shooting experiences at the Bafta red carpet. "We should be more used to this cold, but I'm not. It's been awhile," the actor joked at the red carpet. Inarritu, who took home the award for best director, conceded that DiCaprio had to put up with more of the chilly weather during filming but the actor said the whole crew had a tough time. "I suppose I was submerged in the ice a lot more, but look - it was a team effort, we all knew what we were getting into," he said. "We knew we weren't going on a tropical vacation in Hawaii and the Maldives, we were going to be submerged in the wilderness like this. But at the end of the day we have a great piece of art to show for it, so we're all excited to be here. The US Coast Guard says a passing cruise ship has rescued 12 Cuban migrants from an unseaworthy vessel in the Caribbean. A Coast Guard spokesman in Miami says the crew of the Disney Wonder spotted the migrants southeast of Cuba. Petty Officer John-Paul Rios said the cruise ship took the migrants to its next port of call yesterday in the Cayman Islands. There were no reported injuries but Rios said cruise ships have agreed to notify the Coast Guard if they see migrants on dangerous vessels at sea and to rescue them if necessary. An increasing number of Cubans have fled their country and the US normalized relations. Many Cubans fear restored relations will bring an end to the law granting them U.S. residency if they reach the country. Distya Akula, a crude oil vessel co-owned by Elektrans Group, has become the fist Indian tanker to load Iraninan crude post removal of US sanctions against the Gulf nation. "MT Distya Akula is the first Indian Suezmax tanker to load 130,000 MT(metric tonne) of Iranian crude for Litasco, the trading arm of Russia's Lukoil three weeks after the removal of sanctions against Iran," the company said in a statement. The vessel has a deadweight tonnage of 150,000 tonnes. The loading of the crude has taken place from February 5 to 11, 2016. Previously, Distya Akula was in the Persian Gulf heading towards Al Basrah port in Iran on January 31, 2016. Post loading, the vessel will travel from Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf to Constanta on the Black Sea, the company said. Built by Mitsui Ichihara Engineering and Shipbuilding, Japan, Distya Akula has a capacity of carrying a full load of about 149,000 metric tonnes of oil cargoes equivalent to about 6,000 oil carrying road trucks of standard size. In partnership with Arya Industries, Gauri Ships - which is part of the Elektrans Group - co-owns and operates Distya Akula, Suezmax crude oil tanker, the statement said adding with a crew complement of 24, she is flying the Indian flag. "We have always been at the forefront of innovation. Distya Akula's assignment as the first Suezmax tanker to lift Iranian oil in the wake of the removal of sanctions against Iran, is indicative of our ambition to embark as a global leader," Daniel Chopra- Chairman and Managing Director of Elektrans Group said. Elektrans Group, from owning and operating Indian flag vessels to third party vessel management, offers solutions that furnish the current requirements of the global shipping community. "The accomplishment is symbolic of our robust foothold and connects that range across the globe. In an endeavour to explore unforeseen avenues, we consistently innovate to enhance the services rendered to our clients," said Puneet Arya- Joint Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Arya industries. Calling upon the Opposition not to give away 'walkouts' to the government during House proceedings, Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon today said disagreement too is a constructive thought in a democracy. The Opposition should not have a mindset of considering themselves to be a minority and give away walkouts to the ruling party, he said. "This is a Parliamentary system. Disagreement is also a constructive thought in democracy," he added. "The necessity of the House is not just to pass the Budget but it has also got the power to examine the accountability of Budget's expenditure," Oraon said in his speech on the opening day of the Budget session. Asking the members to utilise the next 22-sitting days of the Budget session to the optimum in the interest of the people, Oraon said for this it is necessary to maintain serenity while delivering speech and listen to others seriously. Protection of freedom of expression is to give a chance to others to express as well, he added. He praised environmentalist Simon Oraon and Ace Archer Deepika Kumari for being honoured with Padma Shri. He also greeted Rabilal Tudu for being conferred with 2015 Sahitya Akademi award, bringing pride to Jharkhand. A drone attack on two public buildings controlled by Al-Qaeda militants in south Yemen killed three people today, a local official said. The dawn attack also badly damaged the offices of public water and telecommunications utilities in Huta, capital of Lahij province, the official added. No details about the three victims were immediately available. Witnesses said two drones overflew Huta both before and after the attack. The drone strike came a day after a soldier and a civilian were killed in a suicide car bombing in Huta that a Yemeni military source said targeted an armoured vehicle of the Emirati armed forces. The United Arab Emirates has lost more than 70 soldiers in Yemen since the Saudi-led Arab coalition last March launched a military campaign in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government. Lahij is one of five provinces retaken from Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels last summer by pro-government forces, but security problems persist. Since the coalition intervened in Yemen, Sunni jihadists of Al-Qaeda and also the Islamic State group have exploited the chaos created by the conflict to strengthen their positions in the south. Al-Qaeda has been well-established for years in south Yemen, but now faces competition from IS which has mounted a series of deadly attacks, particularly in Aden, temporary capital of the internationally recognised government. The United Nations says more than 6,100 people have been killed and 29,000 wounded in Yemen's conflict since the coalition began its raids, about half of them civilians. Condemning the attack on scribes covering the hearing of sedition case against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar at the Patiala House Court here, a journalists' body today demanded strong action against the attackers. Alleging that the police remained "mute spectators" to the entire incident, the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) said even women journalists were assaulted and demanded protection of scribes on duty. "Delhi Union of Journalists strongly condemns the blatant attack on journalists, JNU students and teachers at Patiala House Court today. The Delhi police have remained silent spectators. "Even women journalists have been assaulted. We demand that the police protect journalists doing their job. We also demand that take strong action against these violent attackers," it said. At least six persons, including students and mediapersons, were thrashed by a group of men in lawyer's robes inside and outside the Patiala House court where the sedition case against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was to be heard. A scuffle broke out before the court took up the hearing, as the men entered the court room and allegedly started pushing out students and teachers, mostly from JNU, and media persons, asking them to leave the premises. Two print and electronic media reporters were injured in the attack. Rockers Eagles of Death Metal returned to the stage in Stockholm, Sweden to perform their first full gig since terrorists opened fire at their show in Paris, France in November last year. Jesse Hughes and his bandmates were midway through their gig at the Bataclan concert hall on November 13 when gunmen stormed the building and fired at the audience, killing 89 revellers, reported Rolling Stone magazine. The musicians, who escaped without injury, postponed the remainder of their Nos Amis tour in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, which was part of a wider attack on the city, leaving a total of 130 people dead. They returned to the French capital for the first time since the attacks to join U2 for a special appearance at the AccorHotels Arena in December last year, when the two bands joined forces to sing a rendition of Patti Smith's "People Have The Power", and ended their set with a collaboration of Eagles of Death Metal's own song, "I Love You All the Time". The band announced plans to resume its European tour days later, and on Saturday, Hughes and company were back in action at Stockholm's Debaser Medis, where they played a 17-song set, including a cover of Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer". Eagles of Death Metal are slated to head back to Paris on Tuesday, when they will play at the Olympia venue. Fans who were at the Bataclan show in November have been offered free tickets to the new concert. EU foreign ministers agreed today to lift nearly all sanctions on Belarus, including against strongman President Alexander Lukashenko, after improvements in the country's human rights record. The bloc in October suspended asset freezes and travel ban sanctions against 170 individuals and three entities in Belarus and foreign ministers decided to make that decision permanent, a statement said. Four people not included in the October suspension because of their involvement in "unresolved disappearances" remain blacklisted and a longstanding arms embargo will also stay in place for another 12 months. The foreign ministers noted that Lukashenko had, as promised, released the last political prisoners he held -- a "long sought step," according to the statement issued after their regular monthly meeting in Brussels. Together with peaceful presidential elections in October, this represented "an opportunity for EU-Belarus relations to develop on a more positive agenda." Accordingly, ministers agreed to drop most of the sanctions, the statement said. EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said after the meeting that Belarus was "showing a positive trend which we want to encourage." "It is not a rosy or perfect picture, that was the general assessment, but we agreed on a critical engagement; some more focused on the critical, others on the engagement," Mogherini told a press conference. EU diplomatic sources told AFP last week there were some misgivings about ending the sanctions but that on balance, most felt it was the best option to ensure dialogue with Lukashenko and support efforts to improve human rights in the former Soviet-ruled state. The sources also said that the EU was mindful of the wider picture, notably Belarus' role in hosting a series of peace talks between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine. The foreign ministers said the 28-nation EU would keep a close watch on the human rights situation in Belarus, especially in the run-up to this year's parliamentary polls. The EU also wanted more open government, with Belarus urged to allow "civil society to be more involved" while all obstacles to press freedom should be removed. Belarus welcomed the announcement as an "important step" toward normalising relations with the EU. "We are convinced this is in the best interests of Belarus, the EU and the entire European region," the foreign ministry said in a statement. The European Union today lifted nearly all its sanctions on Belarus, including against strongman President Alexander Lukashenko, after improvements in the country's human rights record, an EU source said. The bloc in October suspended its asset freezes and travel ban sanctions against 170 individuals and three entities in Belarus, and foreign ministers and has now decided to make that decision permanent, the source said. Four people not included in the October suspension because of their involvement in "unresolved disappearances" will remain blacklisted and a longstanding arms embargo will also stay in place for another 12 months. At a regular meeting, the bloc's foreign ministers noted that Lukashenko had, as promised, released the last political prisoners he held -- a "long sought step," according to a draft statement seen by AFP. This represented "an opportunity for EU-Belarus relations to develop on a more positive agenda" and accordingly, ministers agreed to drop most of the sanctions, the statement said. EU diplomatic sources told AFP last week there were some misgivings about ending the sanctions but that on balance, most felt it was the best option to ensure dialogue with Lukashenko and support efforts to improve human rights in the former Soviet-ruled state. The sources also said that the EU was mindful of the wider picture, notably Belarus' role in hosting a series of peace talks between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine. In power since 1994 and dubbed Europe's 'Last Dictator' by Washington, Lukashenko's release of the political prisoners was seen as a major step forward despite opposition warnings that it was a sham and Brussels should not drop the sanctions. The president of the European Commission said today that this week's summit of EU leaders to thrash out a deal that would make it easier for Britain to remain within the 28-nation bloc will turn into a fight over social welfare issues. A generous social welfare system has long been at the heart of society in continental Europe and non-discrimination among EU citizens a cornerstone of the union. Hence, the insistence of British Prime Minister David Cameron to deny some of those welfare rights to EU newcomers in Britain for up to four years has been a focal point of criticism. "The social welfare system is, of course, at stake," said EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the eve of a preparatory meeting with Cameron in Brussels. "We have to approach this question of the social welfare system with a maximum of prudence, he said. "This is concerning Britain but it is also concerning the other member states." European Council President Donald Tusk visited Romania today and insisted "we cannot and will not compromise on the fundamental freedoms and values. It is in this spirit that I drafted my proposal for a new settlement for the UK in the EU." Juncker called the proposals that will be discussed at the summit as of Thursday "a fair deal for Britain and this is a fair deal for the 27 other member states." Cameron will visit French President Francois Hollande late today, after meeting with Germany's Angela Merkel on Friday. Britain is demanding concessions before a referendum on whether the UK should leave the EU, a prospect known as "Brexit." Cameron must hold a referendum by the end of next year. If a deal is clinched at the summit that starts Thursday, he might call a vote as soon as June. Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos was in Brussels to discuss the issue, saying his country wants Britain to remain in the EU. Juncker "knows, and I have said it several times, that Romania wants to find a solution for Great Britain to remain in the EU," Agerpres agency quoted Ciolos as saying. Romania joined the EU in 2007, and Cameron visited the country in December to discuss plans to cut some welfare benefits as part of efforts to renegotiate the Britain's relationship with the EU. The US health watchdog FDA in its observation has found major anomalies including systemic data manipulation and manufacturing norm violations at the three plants of Ipca Laboratories. According to the warning letter sent by the USFDA over the three plants, its inspectors observed systemic data manipulation and other current good manufacturing practices violations and deviations at the company's three facilities. Elaborating on the drug firm's Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) facility, the USFDA said: "We observed systemic data manipulation across your facility, including actions taken by multiple analysts, on multiple pieces of testing equipment, and for multiple drugs." During the inspection of the microbiology laboratory, "our investigators observed multiple examples of your firm's practice of back-dating and falsifying laboratory data," the regulator said. Besides, the FDA investigators discovered a lack of basic laboratory controls to prevent changes to the company's electronically stored data. "Your firm relied on incomplete records to evaluate the quality of your drugs and to determine whether your drugs conformed with established specifications and standards," USFDA noted. Further, the company failed to adequately investigate and resolve critical deviations. "Our inspection documented that your firm's quality unit was aware of the lack of controls in your computerised systems to prevent the manipulation and deletion of quality-related data," the USFDA said. "Your site's senior management failed to take sufficient corrective action and prevent the recurrence of these problems," it added. Commenting on the company's Pithampur (Madhya Pradesh) facility, the USFDA said the company failed to ensure that laboratory records include complete data derived from all tests necessary to assure compliance with established specifications and standards. On the third plant in Piparia (Silvassa), the USFDA said: "During our inspection, we documented that your quality control laboratory was conducting trial injections of samples but failed to report all of the data generated." "Your laboratory controls failed to establish scientifically sound test procedures to assure that your drug products conform to appropriate standards of identity, strength, quality and purity," the USFDA added. Until the company completes all corrections, the US health regulator may withhold approval of company's any new applications or supplements, the USFDA said. "Failure to correct these violations may also result in FDA refusing admission into the United States of articles manufactured at the three facilities," it added. Cuba's former revolutionary president Fidel Castro today said the historic meeting in his country between the heads of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches raised worldwide hope for peace. "The singular importance of the meeting between Pope Francis and His Holiness Kirill in Havana is that it raised hope for people around the world," Castro wrote in an article in state media. "Peace has been the golden dream of humanity and the yearning of peoples at every moment in history," he added. "Thousands of nuclear arms hang over the head of humanity. The religious leaders' fundamental aim was doubtless to prevent the most brutal of wars that could break out," he said, referring to Francis and Kirill. The two promised on Friday to work together for peace, as they held the first meeting between the leaders of their two branches of the church since the Great Schism of 1054. At a mass in Havana yesterday, Kirill said he had "met in an open, fraternal and loving atmosphere" with Francis. Cuba's hosting of the meeting reflected the communist-ruled island's growing profile in international affairs since it restored diplomatic ties with the United States last year after decades of hostility. Fidel Castro, 89, handed over control of Cuba's leadership due to health problems in 2006 to his brother Raul, 84, who formally became president in 2008. The patriarch met with Fidel Castro during his visit to Cuba and they discussed subjects such as poverty and peace, the government said in a statement. Kirill left Cuba yesterday and travelled to Paraguay, where he held a mass today in the capital Asuncion. He paid tribute to Russian immigrants who fled to Paraguay after the 1917 Russian revolution. The first train to connect China and Iran arrived in Tehran today loaded with Chinese goods, reviving the ancient Silk Road, the Iranian railway company said. The train, carrying 32 containers of commercial products from eastern Zhejiang province, took 14 days to make the 9,500-kilometre (5,900-mile) journey through Kazakstan and Turkmenistan. "The arrival of this train in less than 14 days is unprecedented," said the head of the Iranian railway company, Mohsen Pourseyed Aqayi. "The revival of the Silk Road is crucial for the countries on its route," he said at a ceremony at Tehran's rail station attended by the ambassadors of China and Turkmenistan. The journey was 30 days shorter than the sea voyage from Shanghai to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, according to Aqayi. The railway will not stop in Tehran "as we are planning to extend the railway to Europe in future," generating more income for Iran from passing trains, he added. The train will leave every month and the frequency will be increased if necessary, Aqayi said. The train is run by private companies using existing routes, Iranian railway company spokesman Sadegh Sakari told AFP. According to Iranian media, more than a third of Iran's foreign trade is with China, which is Tehran's top customer for oil exports. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed last month to build economic ties worth up to USD 600 billion within the next 10 years. It came during a visit to Iran by Xi, the first by a Chinese president in 14 years, and just days after sanctions against Tehran were lifted under a historic nuclear deal with world powers. Xi's signature foreign policy initiative known as "One Belt One Road" is touted as a revival of ancient Silk Road trade routes. The Silk Road is an ancient network of commercial land and sea routes, named for the lucrative Chinese silk trade, that were central to business across the Asian continent connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea. A fishermen body here today decided to hold a rally here on February 24 demanding the Centre's intervention to secure the release of 11 fishermen, jailed in Iran for more than two months. At a meeting here, the Tamilnadu Fishing Workers Federation of Muthupettai Indhira Nagar Coast also decided to submit a memorandum to the District Collector, federation Secretary Krishnamurthy told reporters here. He said if they 11 fishermen were not released, they would picket the Office of the Iran Consul General. The fishermen were arrested by the Iran navy on Dec 1 and had not been released so far. They also demanded relief to the families of the fishermen now jailed in Iran, as given to Indian fishermen languishing in Sri lankan prisons. A Virgin Atlantic flight to New York with 267 people on board was forced to return to London's Heathrow airport after a laser beam was pointed at the plane, resulting in a "medical issue" with one of the pilots. The incident took place late last night (2013 GMT) shortly after take-off, before flight VS025 returned as a precaution, the airline said. There were 252 passengers and 15 crew on board the Airbus A340 aircraft. A Virgin Atlantic crew member was recorded saying to Irish air traffic control that they had a "medical issue with one of the pilots after a laser incident after take-off". The decision was taken by both pilots to return to Heathrow rather than continue the transatlantic crossing. "The safety of our crew and customers is our top priority and we apologise for any inconvenience to those on board," the airline said. Scotland Yard tweeted: "Aircraft forced to return to Heathrow after being hit by a laser strike". Virgin Atlantic said it was working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser. There has been a surge in the number of reported laser attacks on aircraft in the UK in the last few years, according to Civil Aviation Authority figures. More than 1,300 incidents were reported in each of the four years from 2010 onwards, compared to only 20 in 2005. Last year saw one of the most serious cases in the UK. A British Airways pilot's eyesight was reportedly damaged when a 'military-strength' laser was shone into the cockpit of his plane as it landed at Heathrow, the Guardian reported. The busy Heathrow airport itself reported 48 "laser incidents" between January and June last year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. At least four labourers were today killed and two others sustained severe injuries due to an explosion caused by gas leakage in Pakistan's northwest. The leakage occurred in Mardan District of Khyber Pakthunkhwa as a result of which fire erupted in the room and killed four labourers and injured two others, police said. The dead were identified as Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Shehbaz, Faisal and Nauman. They were employed as labourers in an under-construction factory near Colonel Sher Khan Interchange and were living in a rented house, police said. The injured persons Waqas and Akhtar have been shifted to a hospital in Peshawar for medical assistance. Former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius will step down as president of COP21, the UN's climate forum, after being appointed head of France's constitutional court. Fabius wrote yesterday to President Francois Hollande "to tender (his) resignation" as head of COP21, a post in which he helped to steer the troubled UN climate talks to a successful conclusion in Paris last December. Fabius, 69, had expected to stay in the one-year post until November but drew flak in the French political arena for seeking to hold on to two demanding jobs at the same time. COP21 stands for the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) under the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Fabius played a key role in sealing a historic deal under which the 195 UNFCCC states pledged to curb greenhouse-gas emissions to keep global warming to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels. Taking effect from 2020, the accord will also channel hundreds of billions of dollars in help to poor countries that are most exposed to climate change. It was seen as the jewel in the crown of Fabius' long career, which saw him appointed France's youngest-ever prime minister at 37. In his letter to Hollande, Fabius said: "You gave me the honour of approaching me to preside over the Constitutional Council, and I thank you deeply for this. "In my opinion, there is no incompatibility (between this post) and the presidency of the last phase of COP21. "However, given the beginnings of an internal controversy on this subject, I find it preferable to tender my resignation as president of the COP." The COP, the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC, convenes at ministerial level once a year. The presidency is taken up by the country which hosts the big annual gathering. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of contractual employees working with Goa Public Works Department (PWD) would strike work on February 17, demanding regularisation of their services, a trade union leader said today. "On February 17, all the employees working on contract basis with the state PWD would strike work with the demand that their services be regularized," All India Trade Union Congress secretary Suhas Naik told reporters. "A memorandum listing the demands would be submitted to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and concerned government officials," he said. "Every contractual employee would strike work and join the protest in a show of strength. We expect the Chief Minister to take necessary steps and regularize this workforce," he said. Naik said the employees have been hired by the PWD under Labour Supply Society and are working in the projects of supply of potable water, water treatment plants, sewerage plants, construction of roads and other allied services in different divisions and sub-divisions. He saidall the contractual employeesareperforming essentialjoboperationsofcontinuousnature. Continuingto avail their services underPWD-Labour Supply Society and denying themregular appointmentisunjustifiedandisan act ofunfair labour practice, he said. "The Goa bench of Bombay High Court in a recent order ruled that the workers employed in PWD-Labour Supply Society areentitledforregular appointmentwhile filling in the regular vacant posts in PWD," he claimed. "However, the PWDis now tryingto fill in the vacant posts by pick-and-choosemethod, withoutconsideringthe seniority in service of these workers employed under PWD- Labour Supply Society," he said. "We are firm on our demand that all the workers presently workingunderthe PWD-Labour Supply Society areentitled for regular appointmentwhilefilling in regular vacant posts in the PWD. Most workers have completed over 10 years of service," he added. Driven by dip in global prices, India's gold imports increased by 85.16 per cent to USD 2.91 billion last month. In January last year, were worth USD 1.57 billion, according to the Commerce Ministry data. In December 2015, the imports of the metal had more than doubled, year-on-year, to USD 3.80 billion. The prices have been declining at global as well as domestic markets. However, the higher import impacts the country's current account deficit (CAD). India is the largest importer of gold in the world, the demand of which mostly comes from the jewellery industry. During the April-January period of the current fiscal, gold imports have increased to USD 29.36 billion as against USD 27.42 billion in the first 10 months of 2014-15. For the entire 2014-15 fiscal, gold was the third-largest commodity imported to India after crude oil and electronic items. Gold imports stood at USD 34.32 billion last fiscal. In terms of volume, India -- the world's second-biggest gold consumer -- had imported around 900 tonnes in 2014. Gold prices in the international market have fallen to a five-year low. India imported 850 tonnes of gold during January-September period of 2015, as against 650 tonnes in the year-ago period. In the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, CAD rose to USD 8.2 billion or 1.6 per cent of the GDP, from 1.2 per cent or USD 6.1 billion in the April-June quarter. An international gold smuggling racket operated by a Tamil Nadu-based gang through Indo-Myanmar land border has been busted by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, with the arrest of a man hiding nine kilos of the yellow metal valued at Rs 2.76 crore. Maria Selvaraj was arrested here today and 9.120 kg of gold with foreign markings 'Valcambi Suisse,' in the form of gold bars in nine packets valued at Rs 2.67 crore seized from him, the central agency said. He was held on arrival by the Howrah-Chennai Mail and was remanded to judicial custody, DRI said in a release. Selvaraj claimed he had merely acted as a courier for monetary consideration and was not aware of who the actual owner of the gold bars was. He also admitted that the smuggled gold was handed over to him by a person of Myanmar-origin at Kolkata, DRI said. The agency said that based on intelligence inputs, it detected that smuggled gold was being brought here from Indo-Myanmar land borders with the assistance of locals. "DRI Chennai has been working on intelligence regarding gold smuggling through air and sea ports and particularly at Indo-Myanmar land border through transit points by a gang based out of Tamil Nadu," it said. The agency said it developed "specific intelligence" about unscrupulous elements operating from Chennai "who are involved in smuggling gold through Myanmar-India land border." A further probe is on, DRI said. The government has cleared the first-ever policy for the country's capital goods sector, Union Minister for Heavy Industries Anant Geete today said. "The capital goods policy was cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week," Geete told PTI. The policy envisages increasing exports to 40 per cent of production, from the current 27 per cent, while increasing the share of domestic production in India's demand to 80 per cent from 60 per cent, potentially making India a net exporter of capital goods. "The capital goods sector is currently going through many challenges and issues and to address those challenges, the government has launched the comprehensive policy document, the National Capital Goods Policy, today," Geete said at a Make in India week seminar in Mumbai. "The clear objective of the National Capital Goods Policy is to increase production of capital goods from Rs 2,30,000 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 7,50,000 crore in 2025 and raising direct and indirect employment from the current 8.4 million to 30 million," he added. It also aims to facilitate improvement in technology depth across sub-sectors, increase skill availability, ensure mandatory standards and promote growth and capacity building of MSMEs. Key policy recommendations include strengthening the existing scheme of the Department of Heavy Industry on enhancement of competitiveness of the capital goods sector by increasing budgetary allocation and increasing its scope to further boost global competitiveness. It entails stepping up exports of India-made capital goods through a 'Heavy Industry Export & Market Development Assistance Scheme (HIEMDA)', launch of a Technology Development Fund, setting up new testing and certification facility and upgrading existing ones, making standards mandatory in order to reduce sub-standard machine imports, among others. The policy recommends integration of key capital goods sub-sectors as well. For good measure, it advocates launching a Technology Development Fund under the PPP model to fund technology acquisition, transfer of technology, purchase of IPRs, designs and drawings as well as commercialisation of such technologies of capital goods. The policy also suggests creation of a 'Start-up Center for Capital Goods Sector' to provide an array of technical, business and financial support resources and services to promising start-ups in manufacturing and services. These services, it said, should focus on pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation phases of a start-up's growth to ensure a robust foundation is established. The policy also calls for mandatory standardisation, which includes defining minimum acceptable standards for the industry and adoption of International Organization for Standardization norms. An auction of government debt today attracted bids of a whopping Rs 3,448 crore from foreign investors, higher than securities put on offer, indicating a robust demand for such securities. The auction, which was held on BSE's 'ebidxchange'for allocation of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) investment limits in government debt securities worth Rs 3,011 crore (USD 440 million), saw bids for Rs 3,448 crore (USD 504 million),as per the information available with the exchange. At the end of two-hour auction this evening, 22 bids were declared successful. The debt auction quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in bonds, up to the limit purchased. A mock bidding session was conducted on Friday to check the system's performance. Depository data showed that total investments, including limits acquired by foreign investors through auction route, stood at Rs 1,31,924 crore till January 22, which was 97.43 per cent of the total permitted investment limit of Rs 1,35,400 crore in government debt securities. During earlier auctions, government bonds were subscribed multiple times, given the huge interest among foreign investors. The limit for overseas investors in securities was hiked to Rs 1,29,900 crore from October 12 and it was further increased to Rs 1,35,400 crore from January 1, 2016. Prior to October limit, they were allowed to invest up to Rs 1,24,432 crore in government debt securities through auction. State-run Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has purchased 8 lakh bales so far in the 2015-16 marketing year and decided not to buy more as domestic prices have firmed up slightly after demand from Pakistan. Last year, CCI had procured 87 lakh bales of cotton. The cotton marketing year runs from October to September. "We have procured 8 lakh bales at the minimum support price (MSP) so far in 2015-16. No further procurement would take place as prices have started increasing," CCI Chairman and Managing Director B K Mishra told PTI. The cotton has been purchased particularly from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and some quantity from Maharasthra, he said. This year too, the government's cotton procurement was expected to be higher at last year's level due to sluggish demand from China. But increase in shipments to Pakistan as well as announcement of bonus, over and above MSP, to cotton growers in Gujarat have supported domestic prices to rise. Mishra said the country has already exported 40 lakh bales of cotton so far this year, of which 20 lakh bales were shipped to Pakistan. The expected fall in the country's production due to a pest attack and drought for second straight year has also been supporting the prices, a trader said. The government's Cotton Advisory Board has pegged the country's total cotton production to decline to 352 lakh bales in 2015-16 from 380 lakh bales last year. India had exported 67 lakh bales in the entire 2014-15 marketing year. Concerned over JNU row, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor today said government should not interfere much in the functioning of universities and that such educational institutions should be treated as autonomous. "My personal view is that we shouldn't have too much government interference in universities. Even as minister, I felt our education system is over-regulated and under- governed," Tharoor told PTI on the sidelines of 'Make in India Week' here. "We should leave universities as autonomous places," he said, adding that as a minister he would not have written to the Vice Chancellor about matters related to disciplining or punishments. The former Minister of State for Human Resource Development was reacting to the controversy at JNU that erupted last week over holding an event on the campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. During the event, anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised, while denouncing the hanging of Guru. Subsequently, JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on sedition charges, following complaints by BJP MP Maheish Girri and ABVP. Expressing his disappointment on incidents in Hyderabad and JNU, Tharoor said "this is not the India of the future that we are trying to build". "We want an India where students grow up in an academic environment of hope, an academic environment where they have freedom to think and express themselves and to disagree," he said. "Disagreement is the essence of democracy, we should let them have that," he added. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had earlier condemned the Modi government for "bullying" an institution like JNU. Tharoor, a Congress MP for Thiruvananthapuram, also observed that "the university experience is one where students should not feel intimidated by the rules to a point where you are seeing the president of JNUSU being locked-up for three days". "That is deeply distressing," he said. Tharoor also said he has moved a private members bill to change the sedition law. "I felt sedition is another one of these British impositions which the British themselves have abandoned which we're stuck with. We should definitely have a law which forbids people from inciting violence," he noted. Tharoor said the bill, which deals with restricting the applicability of the sedition law, was introduced in the Parliament and has to come up for discussion. "I certainly hope now it will," he said. The Delhi government has decided to raise the amount spent by it on each student under the EWS category to ensure that private schools provide similar facilities to them as under the general category. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio, said that private schools complained against "minimal amount" reimbursed by the government to them for allowing students under Economic Weaker Section (EWS). A senior government official said that under EWS category, government presently gives a "fix amount" to private schools in lieu of taking admission of students who belong to this section. "Most schools complain that as their fee is high, the amount given by the government is not reasonable and say that they shell out much on these students so that they have to extract high fee from other parents who do not come under Economic Weaker Section (EWS)," Sisodia said. The Deputy CM further said, "Keeping this in mind, government has decided to make this fix amount "reasonable". He also said that, however, the government will reach final conclusion only after discussing the matter with the court, school bodies. Earlier in the day, about 26,600 seats for entry level at private schools were alloted through computerised draws under the EWS category, an experiment that has been introduced by the Delhi government for the first time. The Directorate of Education (DoE) had received over 73,059 applications for nursery, UKG and Class 1 against the total numbers of 28,193 seats. "Out of 28,193 seats, 26,604 were alloted through computerised draws under the EWS category while 1,589 seats remained vacant," said a senior government official. Haryana government has amended the area norms for grant of licence permission in low and medium potential towns and to regulate the development of urbanised sector in an harmonious manner. "The amendment has been made to encourage and increase participation of individual landowners, farmers and local developers in the process of planned urbanisation of low and medium potential towns," a Spokesman of the Town and Country Planning Department said here today. He said it would help in diminishing role of public-sector and HUDA for acquiring and developing land for urbanisation on account of stringent provision of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. "Similarly, it would increase housing stock at affordable rates through private participation and discourage unauthorised colonisation particularly in low and medium potential towns," he pointed out. The spokesman also said it would augment deficient physical and social infrastructure through private sector participation for planned development. He said that the location of the site should be in conformity with development plan proposal in terms of prescribed land use. The site should also confirm the sector plan, he said. The spokesman said that for residential plotted colonies, the existing 50 acres of medium potential zone has been reduced to 15 acres and the existing 25 acres of low potential zone has been reduced to 10 acres. Similarly for residential group housing, the existing 10 acres of medium potential zone has been reduced to two acres and existing five acres of low potential zone has been reduced to one acre. He said that for commercial colony, the existing two acres of medium potential zone has been reduced to one acre and existing one acre of low potential zone has been reduced to 0.5 acre. The medium and low potential zones in industrial (general) have been reduced from existing 25 acres and 15 acres to 15 acres and 10 acres respectively. For industrial (green category), the medium and low potential zones would be of five acres and two acres respectively. He said that it has been felt that as the area requirement norms for obtaining licences were on higher side considering the land particularly in low and medium potential towns, therefore, the developers were not showing interest to obtain the licenses in these towns. "Therefore, the government had reviewed the area norms being followed by the Town and Country Planning Department for grant of licences under the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act," he said. Notably, the Council of Ministers in its meeting held on February 3, had approved the area norms for development of various colonies in medium and low potential towns. The Bombay High Court today refused to hear a petition seeking action against the Shani temple trust at Shani Shinganapur in Ahmednagar district for not allowing women into the sanctum sanctorum. The division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade asked petitioner Ramesh Joshi to approach the Aurangabad bench of the high court where a petition on the same issue has been filed. Joshi's petition says that by stopping women from entering the sanctum of the Shani shrine, the temple trust was violating the constitutional right to equality. It also criticises the trust's action of carrying out a 'purification' of the idol after a woman devotee entered the the sanctum recently. The traditional ban on entry of women at the sanctum sanctorum of the ancient temple led to a vociferous agitation by women's organisations last month. The high court here is at present also hearing a petition challenging ban on women's entry at Haji Ali dargah in the city. The court has reserved its order on the petition. Advocate General Srihari Aney has argued that unless the Dargah Board proves that the ban is a part of religious practice, women should be allowed to enter the shrine. Reprimanding Central and Western Railways for not promptly attending to accident victims on suburban routes resulting in their death, the Bombay High Court today asked the authorities to form a core team and take steps on a war-footing to deal with the issue. "Most of whom lose their lives because of delay in treatment and loss of blood... Railways should be sensitive to the issue and form a core team to deal with this. How many times shall we issue orders on this subject," observed a division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade. "Eighty per cent of Mumbai population travel by trains daily from their home in the suburbs to workplace and return in the evening. The commuters certainly know the risk involved in travelling but still they travel by trains after offering prayers to god because they have no choice," the bench said. The high court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by Sameer Zaveri and others seeking measures to make travel safe in suburban trains. Sachin Pawar, brother of Darshana Pawar who died after a fall from a local train after being hit on the head by a thief on February 9, filed an affidavit describing how delay in treatment had cost her life. Sachin said his sister was lying on the tracks for quite a long time resulting in heavy loss of blood. She was first taken to a private hospital in Ambarnath in neighbouring Thane district which refused to admit her. Then she was taken to Ulhasnagar Civil hospital which also did not attend to her. Thereafter, Darshana was taken to KEM hospital in Mumbai which referred her to JJ hospital where she passed away. The bench then asked the Railways and the hospitals concerned to file within a week replies to the affidavit filed by the victim's brother. Meanwhile, in a different case of an accident victim Bhavika Mehta who had lost a leg after a fall from a train while chasing a thief in 2011, the Railways told another division bench of the high court that they were ready to pay compensation of Rs 2.80 lakh and a cheque shall be handed over to the beneficiary by February 18. The bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka has kept the petition for final orders on March 2. : Madras High Court today directed the Chief General Manager (Finance) of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation to enquire into complaints of corruption against the Senior Regional Manager and District Managers in Madurai area, pertaining to illegal appointments and transfers made by them. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana issued the direction to the CGM to complete the enquiry within six weeks and submit a report. Petitioner P Selvam, Supervisor in TASMAC liquor shops alleged that Senior Regional Manager of Madurai, including S Dhanabal in collusion with his Assistant T Ravi and supervisors S Saravanakumar, P Kanagaraj and Kathiravan made illegal appointments and transfers by taking bribe. Many transfers were effected illegally on the recommendation of the Additional Senior Personal Assistant of the Minister for prohibition and excise, identified as G Senthilkumar. The petitioner sought a direction from the court to the Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to register a case based on his complaint lodged on Oct 8, 2015 and investigate. When the case was pending, Additional Superintendent of police, Vigilance and Anti-corruption, said that his ( (petitioner) complaint did not disclose any specific information regarding demand and acceptance of bribe. However, the petitioner gave specific information and forwarded the same to the Managing Director of TASMAC and to the CGM (Finance). Later, the Minister's PA Senthil kumar was relieved from the post. However, no action was taken against the other officials, including the SRM and district managers of Madurai. When he sought information under RTI about the action taken against the other officials, there was no response. Hence, he sought a direction to complete the probe and file a report within time frame. INLD leader Ajay Chautala, serving 10-year jail term in teachers' recruitment scam case, cannot be permitted to insist that his plea for parole be considered along with that of his father and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, the Delhi High Court said today, dismissing the plea. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath dismissed Ajay Chautala's plea against a single judge bench order which had on February 1 granted four weeks parole to Om Prakash Chautala, who is also serving 10-years imprisonment in the case, to attend a wedding but denied the same relief to his son. The division bench noted that while O P Chautala's plea for parole was considered by the single judge, Ajay had contended that his similar plea be adjourned and his father's petition be heard. The single judge had then listed Ajay's plea for April 4. "The appellant (Ajay Chautala) cannot now be permitted to turn around and insist that his petition for parole be also considered simultaneously with that of his father," the bench said. "Even otherwise in our opinion, the case of the appellant and his father Om Prakash Chautala are materially different as the grand daughter of Om Prakash Chautala is getting married. "For the issue of grant of parole on the original grounds i.E. Medical condition and to maintain social ties, the matter is to be taken up on April 4, 2016 i.E. The date to which the petition filed by the appellant stands adjourned," it noted. "We see no reason to interfere with the impunged order passed by the single judge. The appeal is dismissed," it said. 82-year-old senior Chautala had sought 60 days' parole for treatment while Ajay had sought 12 weeks' parole to enable him "to get treatment and maintain social ties". Later, both of them had stated that they have to attend weddings in their family, scheduled in February. Chautalas' appeal against the high court verdict convicting and sentencing them to 10 years in jail was dismissed by the Supreme Court on August 3 last year. Chautalas and 53 others, including two IAS officers, were convicted on January 16, 2013 by the trial court for illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in Haryana in 2000. Besides Chautalas and two IAS officers, the high court had awarded 10-year prison term to Sher Singh Badshami, then an MLA and political adviser to Chautala senior. The Madras High Court today issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a PIL filed by Puthiya Tamizhagam party leader K Krishnaswamy, seeking transfer of a murder probe oftwo Dalit boys in Tirunelveli to the CBI. The division bench comprising justices S Manikumar and C T Selvam, ordered notice to the Home Secretary and Director General of Police, among others, returnable within two weeks. The petitioner submitted that Mariselvam and Murugan, both aged 15, had gone missing on February 1,2015 and were found dead near Pavoorchattiram village on February 5. Mariselvam's mother had lodged a police complaint, but the Sub-Inspector refused to take it. Subsequently, the Inspector registered a murder case, but there was no progress in the probe, Krishnaswamy alleged. The petitioner pointed out that already a case seeking transfer of murder cases of 12 Dalits in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts was pending in the court. He alleged that police had not conducted an impartial investigation, which would have led to the arrest of the culprits. Neither were incoming and outgoing calls of one of the murdered boys examined, nor the post-mortem videographed by the Investigating Officer, the petitioner alleged. Krishnaswamy also sought relief for the families of the two boys by providing compensation to them as per the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act within the time limit. Paving the way for promotions for government employees, the Patna High Court today quashed the Bihar government's resolution putting a ban on consideration for promotion across the board in the state. The court passed the judgment on a bunch of petitions seeking direction to the government for their promotion which they said they were not getting despite being recommended by Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). The state government's General Administration Department (GAD) had on August 12, 2014 passed an order through a resolution that put a ban on consideration for promotion across the board in the state till the final resolution of an SLP in the apex court. "Since things have come to a standstill since August, 2014 in matters of grant of promotion and further since the court does not find any judicial reason to allow the General Administration Department to continue with the order dated 12/08/2014 to occupy the field, the Court is left with no option but to quash the order" issued on that date, Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi said in the order. The directive further clarified that no order passed by GAD will come in the way for promotion, either recommended by DPC or claims of any government servant. The court made it clear that the GAD order will not come in the way for either consideration or implementation of the recommendation of the DPC or other claims of promotion by a government servant of the state, "if they are otherwise eligible for such consideration," it said. It also made it clear that order of the high court will be subject to the final outcome of the Supreme Court in the matter. With regard to the resolution issued by Bihar government on January 28, 2012 giving giving benefit to SC/ST candidates even in promotion and seniority, the bench said that resolution passed by the state government is non-existent. This means that candidates of SC/ST categories would not get benefit of quota in promotions. The single judge bench of the high court had quashed the resolution (giving benefit to SC/ST candidates even in promotion and seniority) holding it to be unconstitutional. The decision was later upheld by the division bench of the high court. The Delhi High Court today paved the way for the screening of a documentary on the victims of violence in the Kashmir Valley without any cut, saying the film does not contain any objectionable material and deserved issuance of a 'U' certificate for public viewing. However, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath noted that so far as insertion of a disclaimer was concerned, Pankaj Butalia, producer-director of documentary "Textures of Loss", has already agreed to do it. The bench concurred with the conclusion of a single judge bench which had directed the Censor Board to issue a certificate for public screening without any cut. "It may be true that the issue of violence in Kashmir is a sensitive topic. However, we do not find any objectionable material in the film in question," the bench said. "We, therefore, entirely agree with the conclusion of the single judge that the film in question shall be issued 'U' certificate without deletions/excisions ordered by appellate tribunal and the order under appeal to the said extent warrants no interference. "So far as the insertion of the disclaimer is concerned, as already mentioned above, the respondent No.1 (Butalia)/writ petitioner has agreed to insert the same," the bench said. The order came on a petition filed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting against May 2015 order of single judge which had set aside the decisions of CBFC and film certification appellate tribunal while holding that a 'U' certificate be issued to the film without any deletions. Upholding the single judge order, the bench observed that the documentary was of approximately 61 minutes and stated to be based on case studies of the people who were affected by the long-drawn violence in the Kashmir Valley. "The writ petitioner has made an attempt to portray the life of the people in the valley of Kashmir, who were affected by long term violence, by interviewing the family members of some of the victims of violence," the bench noted. "The persons who were interviewed had merely narrated their experiences and the loss suffered by them on account of the conflict between the militants and security forces/police. The statements of the persons in the interview were their personal views and the same can neither have any demoralising effect on the security forces nor can they be termed as anti-national," it said. The bench said the film seems to depict the emotions of persons who had lost their dear ones in the violence. While allowing the public screeing of the film without any cut, the bench in its eight-page order said, "Moreover the film is a documentary and cannot be equated with the motion pictures which generally cater for mass audience." "As rightly observed by the single judge, the statement of the father of the child who was killed in one of the incidents of violence, if seen in the context of circumstances, cannot be held to have the effect of demoralising the security forces, much less can be held to have conveyed an anti-national sentiment," it said. Referring to the settled law on the issue, the bench said if the statements, which are directed to be deleted by the appellate tribunal, are judged from the point of view of the theme of the film, they cannot be held to be objectionable on any ground whatsoever. Regarding the disclaimer, the bench held that though the single judge had set aside the direction for its insertion but Butalia's counsel had contended before it that they have no objection on it. In his plea filed before the single judge, Butalia had challenged the December 2013 and September 2014 orders of CBFC and the film certification appellate tribunal respectively. Both the authorities, in their respective orders had directed Butalia to insert a disclaimer as well as make cuts in the documentary before it is allowed for public screening. Butalia, however, had earlier contended that if Shahid Kapoor starrer "Haider" can be screened despite having explicit scenes and showing the army in a bad light, why was he being asked to make cuts in his documentary and insert disclaimers. The division bench of Hyderabad High Court comprising the Acting Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Naveen Rao today directed the Telangana government to file a status report on various measures taken for curbing the farmers' suicides. It also directed the petitioners to submit a list of the farmers who committed suicides during December last year and January this year, within a week. It is to be submitted to the state government too, and the government would be informing the court about the relief provided to the bereaved families. The orders were passed on four PILs including the one filed by the Vyvasayaa Janachaitnya Samithi, seeking directions to the government to take steps to prevent farmers' suicides. The next hearing would be after three weeks. Acting on a petition, the Bombay High Court today directed Mumbai police to register an FIR into the alleged encounter of Sandeep Ghadoli by Gurgaon police at a hotel here on February 7. The order was delivered by a division bench of justices Ranjit More and V L Achilya on a writ petition filed by brother of the deceased. Petitioner Kuldeep Singh alleged that it was a "fake encounter" at the behest of a business rival and demanded that an offence of murder be registered against the police. A team of Gurgaon police allegedly killed Sandeep (32), a resident of Gadoli village in Gurgaon district of Haryana, at Hotel Airport Metro in suburban Andheri. Gurgaon police claimed that there was a shoot-out between them and Sandeep. Public prosecutors Sandeep Shinde and Usha Kejriwal submitted to the high court today that police had registered a case against the deceased under section 307 IPC (attempt to murder) and an Special Investigating Team (SIT) had been formed to probe into the case. However, the high court directed Mumbai police to register FIR into the alleged encounter. The court also allowed Kuldeep to take custody of the body lying at a city hospital. The petitioner alleged that it was a case of murder as police did not give the deceased an opportunity to surrender. He also alleged that the hotel staff had informed that police first hit Sandeep on his head after which he became unconscious and then they shot at him. Kuldeep claimed that Gurgaon police also removed CCTV connection in the hotel lobby and did not inform Mumbai police about the operation. The petition also alleged that the woman, who was accompanying Sandeep at the time of incident, was an informer of Gurgaon police. As MIDC Andheri police refused to register an FIR, the petitioner said he had moved the high court seeking such a direction. The petition admitted that there were several criminal cases registered against Sandeep in Gurgaon, but claims he was acquitted in most of them and was facing trial in two cases. Faiza Outalha, the divorced wife of American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, has replied to all questions of National Investigation Agency (NIA) relating to her knowledge of the conspiracy behind 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Besides Outalha, the probe agency also recorded the statement of a New York-based cousin of Headley through a questionnaire sent through the US Department of Justice, official sources said. Headley, who is at present undergoing a prison term of 35 years in a Chicago jail for conspiring in terror attacks in Mumbai and Denmark, had started a video parlour in New York in 1997. The legal process of quizzing Outalha concluded only after the NIA sent a fresh request in French to Moroccan authorities for recording her statement pertaining to her knowledge of her estranged husband's association with LeT terror group. French is generally used by the Moroccan government for international diplomatic communications. The Moroccan government had earlier sent Outalha's reply in response to a Letters Rogatory (LR) sent by the NIA in 2012 but it did not cover many of the questions asked by terror probe agency. The NIA had registered a case in 2009 to probe the activities of Headley in India. In the absence of any Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty between India and Morocco, the LR had been issued on the basis of "Assurance of Reciprocity", thereby promising the African country of all assistance in any legal cases in future. Outalha had visited India twice and was used by Headley, a US national whose father was a Pakistani and mother a white American, while carrying out a reconnaissance mission at Hotel Taj Mahal in Mumbai. NIA, which was handed over the task to probe the activities of Headley, has already filed charge sheet against Headley, his Canadian-Pakistani accomplice Tahawuur Rana, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the outfits operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and five others including two army majors believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI. The NIA, however, refused to share information tendered by Outalha. Earlier, Headley's another wife Shazia and business associate Raymond Sanders had turned down a similar request of NIA to answer questions related to his association with the terror group, citing a US privacy law. Faiza Outalha, an estranged wife of American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, has replied to all questions of National Investigation Agency (NIA) relating to her knowledge of the conspiracy behind 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Besides Outalha, the probe agency also recorded the statement of a New York-based cousin of Headley through a questionnaire sent through the US Department of Justice, official sources said. Headley, who is at present undergoing a prison term of 35 years in a Chicago jail for conspiring in terror attacks in Mumbai and Denmark, had started a video parlour in New York in 1997. The legal process of quizzing Outalha concluded only after the NIA sent a fresh request in French to Moroccan authorities for recording her statement pertaining to her knowledge of her estranged husband's association with LeT terror group. French is generally used by the Moroccan government for international diplomatic communications. The Moroccan government had earlier sent Outalha's reply in response to a Letters Rogatory (LR) sent by the NIA in 2012 but it did not cover many of the questions asked by terror probe agency. The NIA had registered a case in 2009 to probe the activities of Headley in India. In the absence of any Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty between India and Morocco, the LR had been issued on the basis of "Assurance of Reciprocity", thereby promising the African country of all assistance in any legal cases in future. Outalha had visited India twice and was used by Headley, a US national whose father was a Pakistani and mother a white American, while carrying out a reconnaissance mission at Hotel Taj Mahal in Mumbai. NIA, which was handed over the task to probe the activities of Headley, has already filed charge sheet against Headley, his Canadian-Pakistani accomplice Tahawuur Rana, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the outfits operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and five others including two army majors believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI. Earlier, Headley's another wife Shazia and business associate Raymond Sanders had turned down a similar request of NIA to answer questions related to his association with the terror group, citing a US privacy law. Capt Amarinder Singh today said honest and good people from all political parties are always welcome to join the Congress. The Punjab Congress chief did not rule out the possibility of more leaders from other political parties joining the Congress but refused to divulge any names. Amarinder said the JNU controversy was quite "unfortunate" as the Constitution guaranteed the freedom of expression to everyone and it must not be "muzzled" at any cost. On Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's disclosures that the JNU protests received support from from LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, Amarinder said, "he (the Home Minister) must come out with the details as the country has the right to know." Talking to reporters after inaugurating the SC Conclave of the party organised as part of the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Amarinder said that winnability will be the sole criterion for choosing the candidates in forthcoming assembly elections. Asked whether party can shuffle the candidates in the next assembly elections, the PCC president said, every constituency and every candidate will be thoroughly assessed before the final nomination and if the need be, the party can take any decision. On the issue of alliance, Capt Amarinder said, he had favoured the alliance between the like minded secular parties like the People's Party of Punjab, which had already merged with the Congress, the CPI and the CPM and the BSP. He said, he still favoured an alliance with these parties and was hopeful. Amarinder said, it was immaterial for the Congress whether the Akalis and the BJP contested together or separately. He said, "both the parties had been finished off and the BJP cannot now escape the blame." Amarinder claimed the Aam Aadmi Party was no challenge to the Congress as the party was only creating a false hype. Asked about his allegations that the AAP was pursuing an extremist agenda, Amarinder reiterated that the AAP was playing a dangerous game by playing up "extremist sentiments." "AAP should resort to democratic means and not to the divisive and extremist agenda that can set Punjab on fire," he warned. Himachal Pradesh State Planning Board today approved Rs 5,200 crore annual plan for 2016-17 which is 8.33 per cent more than current year's plan of Rs 4,800 crore. Presiding over the meeting of the Board, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that the plan included Scheduled Caste Sub-plan of Rs 1309.88 crore and Tribal Sub-plan of Rs 468 crore. Social services sector had been given priority in the Plan with an allocation of Rs 1,992 crore (38.31 per cent), followed by Transport Rs 979.04 crore (18. 83 per cent), Energy sector Rs 683 crore (13.13 per cent ) and Agriculture and allied sectors Rs 586 crore (11.26 per cent). The allocation to energy sector included the loan and equity to Asian Development Bank (ADB)-assisted projects. The Chief Minister said that the government had adopted election manifesto as its policy document and had fulfilled all the promises within three years of its present regime. He said that the state government was endeavouring to bring more people in the 15-45 years age group under the ambit of Skill Development Scheme and an outlay of Rs 640 crore had been approved by the Union Government for the purpose. Singh expressed concern over stopping of financial assistance to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore by the Centre following constitution of NITI Ayog and said that the matter had been raised with the centre and NITI Ayog time and again. He said though the core scheme which forms a part of National development Agenda, is being funded in the ratio of 90:10 by Centre and the State, many other optional schemes would be funded in the ratio of 80:20 as per the recommendations by Sub-groups of chief ministers in the meeting of NITI Ayog. It was also disclosed in the meeting that the public sector job ratio in the state is 28 per cent which is higher as compared to neighbouring states. It was ten per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 11 per cent in Punjab, 12 per cent in Bihar and 14 per cent in Haryana. The Chief Minister took serious view of the haphazard cable laying on both sides of the roads, leading to mishaps and said that the contracts should be given on merits of the contractors. A liability/penalty clause should be inserted in the agreements for construction/maintenance of roads and other projects, he said. Europe's largest bank HSBC informed the financial markets today it would remain headquartered in Britain, rejecting a move to Hong Kong despite concerns about increased regulation in the UK. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation said in a note to the London Stock Exchange following a board meeting yesterday that London's many advantages meant it was "ideally positioned" to provide a home base. "Having our headquarters in the UK and our significant business in Asia Pacific delivers the best of both worlds to our stakeholders," group chairman Douglas Flint told BBC radio. It made no reference to growing fears in Hong Kong that the city's freedoms are being eroded by an increasingly influential China, a trend observers say could damage its status as a freewheeling finance hub. The bank began its review of where to put its headquarters in April last year, two weeks before a British general election, amid growing calls for a crackdown on a sector seen by many voters as feckless. It also cited as a reason for the review the British bank levy introduced in 2010 -- a tax based on the size of any British-based banks' global balance sheet which has since been scaled down. A British finance ministry spokeswoman said the decision was "a vote of confidence in the government's economic plan and a boost to our goal of making the UK a great place to do more business with China and the rest of Asia". The final choice had been between Britain and Hong Kong, although the review had also reportedly considered Germany and the United States. The decision will come as a relief to the City, where bank stocks have suffered this year and there is growing concern about uncertainty from a referendum on Britain's EU membership expected this year. "London is one of the world's leading international financial centres and home to a large pool of highly skilled, international talent," the bank's statement said. "It remains therefore ideally positioned to be the home base for a global financial institution such as HSBC," it said, adding that the board decision was "unanimous". Investors cheered the news, with HSBC's share price rising 1.27 per cent at the start of trading to 446 pence and other bank stocks also rallying. The bank's Hong Kong-listed stock rising also rose more than four percent at closing. "This decision is a big vote of confidence in the UK," a spokesman for the British Banking Association trade body said, underlining that banking is "an internationally mobile industry". "We cannot afford to be complacent about the contribution banking makes to the British economy, a sector that employs over half a million people". Global banking giant HSBC today said it could shift 1,000 jobs to Paris if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a referendum expected later this year. "We are lucky in the sense that we have a major bank in France," group chairman Douglas Flint told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "So, if we were to leave and if there were to be restrictions, ultimately on the renegotiation of Britain's position, we have the ability to move activity and people between London and Paris," he said. Commenting on the bank's decision to remain headquartered in London, Flint warned the result of the referendum "potentially does have an impact on the operating activities of our wholesale bank". "Our strong economic view is that Britain is better within a reformed Europe," he said. The bank's chief executive Stuart Gulliver told Sky said a British departure from the EU could have a "significant impact" on the bank's trading room, corporate banking and investment banking. "We have 5,000 people in global banking and markets in London and I could imagine that around 20 per cent of those would move to Paris," he said. Any decision on moving jobs would depend on the terms of a British exit, including whether Britain could still access the financial services "passporting" regime allowing member states to trade across national borders. The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank employs around 10,000 people in France compared to 48,000 in Britain out of a global workforce of 257,000. Prime Minister David Cameron is headed to Paris to meet French President Francois Hollande today on a crucial week culminating in a summit in Brussels where he is hoping to renegotiate Britain's EU membership. Opinion polls indicate a close race between supporters and opponents of Britain staying in the EU and big businesses have voiced concern about the impact from the uncertainty ahead of the vote. A sergeant of Indian Air Force (IAF) allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide at his residence here, police said. Jitendra Maheshwar, who hailed from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, was posted at the Nal Air Force Station and living with his family. He allegedly consumed pesticide late last night after which he was rushed to the hospital, where he died. Police said they were probing what led him to taking the extreme step. Idea Cellular will launch its 4G service in Maharashtra, Goa and North East by next month, a top official said here today. The company has launched the service in 29 towns across 20 districts in eight telecom circles operating in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana and Odisha, Idea Cellular Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajat Mukarji said. "We have already launched the service in South India starting with Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh as planned. Next roll out will be in Maharashtra, Goa and North East by end of March 2016," he told reporters. The company's plan was to cover 750 towns across 10 telecom circles by June 2016, he said. Mukarji and top company officials were here to announce the launch of 4G service in 29 districts in Tamil Nadu. Stating that the company has 1800 MHz 4G spectrum in 10 telecom circles, he said it covers 50 per cent of telecom market contributing over 60 per cent of company's revenue. The company would offer 4G service at 3G rates to subscribers, he said, adding that currently there are one billion people using 4G. Corporates here see a bright spot in India with Singapore's direct investments in the country crossing SGD 15.24 billion, despite a generally weak economic outlook for most of Asia, a media report said today. Investment by firms in India is on the rise, and companies with a presence there say the region's second-largest economy is a challenging market to break into but offers rich rewards. India's gross domestic product exceeded USD 2 trillion in 2014, according to World Bank data. After taking 60 years to reach the USD 1 trillion mark, the Indian economy added the next trillion in just seven years, the Straits Times reported. Singapore's direct investments in India have been rising steadily every year, going up from SGD 9.56 billion in 2009 to SGD 15.24 billion in 2013. Firms in the construction and wholesale and retail trade sectors contributed most to the increase, said national trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore. Manufacturing, financial and insurance services, as well as professional, scientific and technical administrative and support services firms, have also been taking big strides into the Indian market. Singapore and India have been strengthening their economic links in recent years. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with operations in India are optimistic that its economy is on the brink of lift-off, even as Asia remains mired in a slowdown. Oil and gas equipment supplier Chase Resource Management sees India as a bright spot amid the downbeat oil market. Its operations have since expanded substantially, and 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the company's business is now generated through India. "There is still a lot of (oil and gas) work happening on the east coast, and a lot of tenders that we have been bidding for and winning," said director Jayanthi Manian, an Indian origin businesswoman here. "It is not as bad as other markets in Asia," she added. "India is an interesting market and shaping up well for us. We are open to teaming up with other Singapore companies keen on the infrastructure sector there," said Manian. However, she noted that Singapore firms tend to hesitate over venturing into India. "A lot of Singapore companies are scared of moving into India. It is a totally different working culture, and it takes a lot of patience to work there," she said. Vivian Singh, president and chief executive of PC and flash memory manufacturer Strontium Technology, said despite the hurdles, the payoffs can be significant. "In the past, it was important to have a warehouse in every state, but e-commerce is growing fast in India and this helps companies like us," said Singh. India contributes about 30 to 35 per cent of the company's sales which came in at about SGD 350 million last year. India is in talks with Indonesia to export 10 lakh tonnes of rice valued at Rs 3,300 crore as the island nation is expecting fall in production. "Indonesia is expecting a fall in rice production this year and looking to import rice. Indonesia has started the negotiation process," a source told PTI. Rice is a staple food of Indonesia and it had imported rice last year as well. "Though no final decision has yet been taken over the price, but the economic cost to the government for the 10 lakh tonnes rice is about Rs 3,300 crore," the source said. As far as India is concerned, the government is in a comfortable position regarding rice stock. The country has more than 160 lakh tonnes of rice in stock against the requirement of 76 lakh tonnes on January 1. Besides, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has another 127 lakh tonnes of rice in form of paddy. As per the second advance estimate of the Agriculture Ministry, rice production is estimated to be down marginally at 103.61 million tonnes (MT) in 2015-16 crop year (July-June), as against 105.48 MT last year. Already, the procurement of kharif rice has reached 26.13 MT so far this year, much higher than 21.54 MT in the year-ago period. The Centre's nodal procurement agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government-owned agencies undertake procurement operations. The Centre has kept a rice procurement target of 30 MT for the this year. India today requested Britain to swiftly act on its 131 pending pleas for extradition of wanted criminals. The issue was raised by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju before visiting Minister of State for Immigration of the United Kingdom, James Brokenshire. Rijiju raised the issue of as many as 131 pending requests from New Delhi under the Extradition Treaty, a Home Ministry spokesperson said. The UK Minister on his part said these matters are handled by British courts. Brokenshire said the provision of death penalty in India and the European Commission's provisions on human rights were posing hurdles in acceding to the requests. He, however, assured Rijiju of cooperation and said a team of experts will examine the pleas on a case-to-case basis. The Union Minister said New Delhi will explore the scope for the signing of an agreement with London on exchanging information about criminals. India will positively consider the draft and advance signing of the MoU on Information Exchange on Criminality and Criminals with the UK, Rijiju added. The British Minister voiced concern on migrants overstaying their visas in the UK and said Indians constitute the largest such group. Rijiju said India will cooperate but needs to verify the Indian citizens amongst such illegal immigrants. The Union minister also flagged India's concerns over the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) set up by the UK that might be a hurdle before Indians travelling to that country for travel and work. Brokenshire said his government has not reached a conclusion yet on the recommendations of the panel and added the UK, in fact, encourages Indian students to visit that country for higher education. Also, 20,000 jobs are being offered to foreign students and this will largely benefit Indian students, he said. The visiting British delegation referred to limitations in making online payments for Indian e-Tourist Visa following which Rijiju assured the payment gateway was being upgraded. Disappointed at India's decision to auction air-traffic rights, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al-Baker today said it was against the country's interest to "restrict" foreign carriers from operating freely in its air space. "It is not in the interest of India to restrict foreign airlines from operating freely in the Indian air space," he said at a press conference held at the Singapore Airshow 2016. Al-Baker said he was very disappointed at India's decision to auction air traffic rights called bilaterals. "I am very disappointed to note that the aviation policy in India... The Indian authority wants to auction traffic rights into India," he said. The chief executive of the Doha-based premier Gulf airline stressed that the air traffic rights were a sovereign property and should not be auctioned, pointing out the risks in auctioning such rights, for it could be given to an entity in which India might not have a strategic interest. In a submission to the government, the International Air Transport Association has earlier said such a policy could lead to distortions among carriers and lead to higher fares. Al-Baker said foreign airlines should be given freedom to operate in India as it will boost the country's trade and tourism and also generate millions of jobs for Indians. Opening the tourism sector would create millions of jobs for Indians, he said. "India has one of the highest number of tourism spots anywhere in the world... Full of history." He called on authorities not to lose the opportunity to develop India's aviation and tourism markets, saying there is a huge demand from tourists and the Indian diaspora to have a seamless travel to India. Earlier, the Qatar flag carrier had evinced interest in picking up stake in budget carrier IndiGo airlines but Al-Baker in December had said it has "no intention" to invest in any Indian airline. Al-Baker highlighted the business growth of Qatar Airways, saying the airline recorded a compounded average growth rate of about 30 per cent for nearly two decades. He estimates the carrier's passenger traffic should reach 30 million by the end of the current fiscal year in March, up from 24.3 million passengers a year ago. It grew from 400,000 passengers when it began operating at full scale in 1996. Qatar Airways currently operates from 13 Indian cities. India and the UK are going to sign an agreement on infrastructure investment, raising of funds, project financing, among others, on the sidelines of the G-20 Finance Ministers meeting later this month in Shanghai. "We will be signing MoU in terms of collaboration between the UK and the Indian government at the G-20 Finance Ministers meeting which is to be held at the end of this month," Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin said at roundtable organised by IIFCL here. The G-20 Finance Ministers and central bank governors meeting is scheduled to be held on February 26-27 in Shanghai. "Formal collaboration between the UK and the Indian government to build on the work that has already been done in terms of how we can put together the skills from the UK professional service sector, the experience that we have in terms of infrastructure investment in terms of public private partnership, in terms of project financing and formalise that in terms of working relationship," she said. "It (the agreement with India) would cover the raising (funds) which we can be of most assistance. So, I am sure that the things along this line are very much positively discussed ahead of finalising... It will be a government to government agreement," she added. Besides, Baldwin said, both countries agreed to explore ways to encourage increased investment in infrastructure with the aim of developing an India-UK partnership fund under the umbrella of India's flagship infrastructure investment initiative, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). Speaking about IIFCL, Deputy Managing Director Sanjeev Kaushik said the company has been appointed as investment manager for NIIF for the interim period. IIFCL was the first issuer of masala bonds, he said, adding, "we are still in fact in dialogue with the ADB and World Bank if they could help us do that and then customise it for us." Masala bonds are instruments which are rupee-denominated and sold only to offshore buyers. Indian need to improve on their Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure to attract more foreign investments, an Indian-origin business leader said in Singapore today. Indian have a mandatory 2% spending on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which was improving their standings globally. But there was a need to do more work, Rajesh Chhabara, Managing Director of Singapore-based investment consultancy CSRWorks said. "Businesses in India has a very strong tradition of community related or charity work but that is not CSR or sustainability," Chhabara said while calling on the need to build on such community work into an internationally- recognised CSR format. Indian are rated just behind Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Asian leaders in CSR. They need to improve on their CSR disclosure to attract a bigger share from $21.4 trillion in the globally-spread Socially Responsible Investment Funds (SRI), he said. But there are more opportunities to attract the investment from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) which in 2014 had an estimated $21.4 trillion in SRI funds for companies that disclose their social and environmental performance such as through annual Sustainability Reporting. The SRI funds has seen a phenomenal growth from $550 billion in 2012 which are meant for investing globally in companies that qualify on the basis of regular disclosure of sustainability performance by reporting to relevant authorities. Chhabara estimated that only 0.6% or $12.8 billion of this huge funds were being invested in Asian companies which are transparent in their CSR activities. To support the Asian companies, CSRWorks organised its inaugural Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards on January 28, 2016, with the support of the British and the Canadian High Commisssions in Singapore. "In line with global trends, more and more companies in Asia are embarking on sustainability reporting. Our aim is to encourage and promote sustainability disclosure by honouring those who have demonstrated leadership in sustainability reporting," Chhabara said. CSR is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. India's Birla Carbon won Asia's Best online CSR Communication and Asia's Best Materiality Report awards while YES Bank took Asia's Best Community Reporting honor from 180 entries. Renowned Indologist Professor David Shulman has been awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for his breakthrough studies in fields like religion and philosophy. Education Minister Naftali Bennett made the announcement at the recommendation of the prize committee, headed by Professor Shaul Shaked, leading to a bitter debate in right-wing leaning media here which disapproved of the award for Shulman's known left-wing inclinations. The committee said that Professor Shulman of Hebrew University of Jerusalem is "a brilliant researcher who had done breakthrough studies on the religion, literature, and culture of southern India". "He is an internationally renowned expert in this field, and his work is enhanced by his command of a wide range of languages, including Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu and Malayalam", it added. 67-year-old Shulman is known to be active in a left-wing organisation, Ta'ayush, a joint Israeli-Palestinian initiative active in the south Hebron Hills. This made several media outlets to push the education ministry for a comment as it is headed by a right-wing minister who has been in for his views against left-wing activists. "The Israel Prize for Religious Studies is given to Professor Shulman for his breakthrough research into the literature and culture of southern India. Minister Bennett believes that one should not disqualify someone for his opinions, left or right, whatever they may be," the ministry said. Israel Prize is considered the country's highest honour presented annually on Independence Day. It is given to those who have displayed excellence in their fields, or have contributed strongly to Israeli culture or the State. The prize committee in its recommendation wrote that Shulman's studies "excel in their diversity, dealing with literary genres and various research topics including religion, mythology, art, folklore and imagination. In Israel he founded the field of India studies and most India researchers in Israel are his students. Professor Shulman has made an important contribution to research management and teaching in Israeli universities. Through his books and translations, Shulman introduced the field of India studies to Israeli academia and the general public, acting as a sort of ambassador for Indian civilisation in Israel. US born Shulman won the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 1987, making him the first Israeli to be conferred with the honour. He is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Sciences and a winner of the Emet Prize, awarded annually by the Prime Minister's Office for excellence in academic and professional achievements. Indonesian police have arrested dozens of people from radical Islamic groups who were plotting attacks against the airport and other targets in the near future, the national police chief said today. The 33 people were arrested by the police anti-terror unit following last month's attacks in Jakarta which killed four civilians and four assailants, Badrodin Haiti said. The gun and suicide bomb attacks claimed by the Islamic State group and centred around a Starbucks outlet were the country's worst terror incident in seven years, ending a long lull in major terror. Police have launched a crackdown across the country, saying they suspect a broader extremist network helped carry out the assault. Seventeen of those arrested were directly linked to the Jakarta attacks, while 16 others were members of three other radical groups, Haiti said. A group led by an extremist called Hendro Fernando had received 1.3 billion rupiah (USD 97,000) from Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, he said, adding that it planned to launch attacks against Jakarta's main airport and the national police headquarters. Haiti said another group led by a person identified only as 'Helmi' planned to use a car bomb to attack the Jakarta police complex in the city's main business district. A third group, according to the police chief, planned stabbing attacks on traffic police. "Terrorism attacks will still happen in the future because there are other groups who are linked to Bahrun Naim in Syria," he said. Bahrun Naim is one of three high-profile Indonesians fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria. Police say he played a central role in motivating groups in Indonesia to launch attacks in the country. "(Naim) explained and gave motivation about launching a holy war and explained how to make bombs and said that he would send money to anyone who is ready to engage in terrorist acts," Haiti said. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, suffered several major bomb attacks by Islamic radicals between 2000 and 2009, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. A subsequent crackdown weakened the most dangerous extremist networks. Police now say the biggest threat comes from two main sources -- Indonesians in Syria encouraging local groups to launch attacks, and Indonesians who return home from fighting in the Middle East. There are currently 392 Indonesians fighting for IS in Syria and over 50 more are thought to be preparing to leave for the country, police said. Washington's UN ambassador Samantha Power said today that compliance with the Iran nuclear deal was so far "strong", but warned Tehran was still helping fuel conflict and remained a threat. "What this deal does if implemented -- and so far the implementation has been strong but it's very early days -- is it cuts off the pathways to a nuclear weapon and it gives us much more visibility into Iran's programme than we had before," Power told students during a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. She added later that "Iran of course is still a threat. Iran is supporting terrorism. Iran is supporting parties to conflict like the Assad regime (in Syria)". Last July's Vienna agreement between Iran and the permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5 plus one) sees sanctions lifted in return for Tehran ensuring its nuclear programme remains for civilian use. Israel strongly opposed the deal with its arch-foe, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning it would not block Iran's path to nuclear weapons. He also said lifting sanctions would allow Iran to further back proxy militants in the region, including Israeli enemies such as Hezbollah. Netanyahu's outspoken criticism of the accord, particularly in a speech to the US Congress, led to a rift with US President Barack Obama's administration. He has since scaled back his rhetoric, and the United States and Netanyahu's government are currently negotiating a new 10-year defence aid package expected to be an increase over the current USD 3.1 billion Israel receives annually. Power has met Israeli and Palestinian leaders during her visit, expected to end tomorrow. She said Washington's aim was to move the two sides towards "being in a position to restart the negotiations, which is not a position they are in right now". Power met Netanyahu earlier today and said they discussed "steps that could be taken to preserve prospects" for a two-state solution. They also discussed the conflict in Syria and the threat from the Islamic State group, she said. Power's visit comes amid a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October. Since then, 172 Palestinians and 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean have been killed, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out attacks, but others died during clashes and demonstrations. Iraq's federal government will pay the salaries of the cash-strapped Kurdish region's employees if it halts its independent oil exports, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said. Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, facing a financial crisis due to low oil prices, has announced its employees will be paid partial salaries until further notice and that months of unpaid wages will be considered loans to the government. "Give us the oil and I will give every employee in Kurdistan (their) salary," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state television yesterday. Iraqi Kurdistan has been independently exporting crude via Turkey from northern territory it controls since a deal with Baghdad on oil and revenue-sharing collapsed last year, a move the federal government considers illegal. Abadi, who has previously put Kurdistan's oil exports at over 600,000 barrels per day, said this amounts to the region's share of the federal budget, which Baghdad is withholding. "Exports from the region represent around 16 percent of the oil exported... From all Iraq, so the region has obtained its (share of the) budget," he said. The Kurdish austerity measures have sparked widespread anger among regional government employees, some of whom have protested or gone on strike. Massud Barzani, the region's de facto president, has called for a referendum on independence, but Kurdistan's financial woes effectively rule out a viable state for now. Abadi has said he hopes Kurdistan will remain part of Iraq. As the Iraqi premier grapples with a dire budget crisis caused mostly by the collapse of oil prices, he also vowed to crack down on "ghost fighters" in the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation units. These pro-government paramilitaries forces are nominally under his control but are dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias. "We have the financial provisions, but they increased their numbers beyond that," Abadi said of the fighters' salaries. "Those fighting on the frontline are not getting paid because those sitting at home are. Is that fair?" he asked. "I must support the real fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi," he said. Abadi did not specify the number of "ghost fighters" but an adviser to his office said earlier this month that only around half of the estimated 120,000 Hashed members were active fighters. A retired security officer in southern Saudi Arabia has been shot dead in an attack claimed today by the Islamic State group. Police spokesman Colonel Mohammed al-Harbi said that a man in the Abu Arish area of Jazan region, bordering Yemen, reported that his father "was being shot at from an unknown source at his farm". Police did not identify the victim or give further details of his former security duties. They said a "criminal investigation" was under way into the killing. Usually the Saudi authorities describe IS-related attacks as "terrorism". IS said in a statement that it had shot dead retired Brigadier Ahmed Fayie Assiri "at his farm in Abu Arish area of Jazan." IS has claimed previous attacks on Saudi security forces as well as deadly bombings and shootings that targeted the Sunni kingdom's Shiite minority, which the Sunni jihadist IS group considers to be heretics. Jazan and other southern border districts have also been subjected to shelling from Yemen since last March when Saudi Arabia began leading an Arab military coalition against Huthi rebels in the neighbouring country. Israel said today it was examining an online video showing a border policeman push over a Palestinian in a wheelchair as tensions rose following an attempted stabbing in the West Bank. The video, filmed by a local activist, has stirred Palestinian anger. The video was said to have been taken yesterday after a 20-year-old Palestinian woman was shot while trying to stab an Israeli policeman in the flashpoint city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians in the area attempted to approach the woman, who was left in critical condition, as Israeli border police tried to keep them back. An officer is seen pushing the man in the wheelchair, which then tips over backwards. Some Palestinians then move forward toward the man in the wheelchair while another officer points his weapon at one of them, kicks him and orders him back, before firing a stun grenade. The man was not seriously hurt in the scuffle. One Palestinian online condemned "the savagery and cowardice of the occupation". A spokeswoman for the Israeli justice ministry said "the case is under investigation" by its police investigations department, declining to provide further details. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident occurred "a few minutes after a terrorist attack had taken place by a woman terrorist adjacent to that area". "A crowd gathered and attempted to get into the area where the attack had taken place," he said. "Border police dispersed the crowd and used non-lethal means. The man in the wheelchair was part of that crowd that had gathered." Tensions have been high since a wave of Palestinian gun, knife and car-ramming attacks erupted at the start of October. The violence has claimed the lives of 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count. At the same time, 172 Palestinians have been killed, most while carrying out attacks but others during clashes and demonstrations. Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today requested the Centre to consider both Jammu and Srinagar for being brought under Smart City Mission (SCM). This was conveyed by him in a letter to Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, a Raj Bhawan spokesman said. The Governor had a detailed discussion with Naidu during his recent visit to New Delhi regarding the selection of cities under this Mission. The Governor had emphasized that J-K is the only state which has two capital cities where more than half the urban population of the state resides and, besides, 11-12 million tourists and pilgrims visit these cities every year. It was also pointed out that consequent to the intra-city competition among the potential cities to be proposed for inclusion in SCM, there was a tie between cities of Srinagar and Jammu, the spokesman said. Expressing discontent over demolition of remains of a centuries-old Jain temple in Lahore in Pakistan, members of Jain community today urged the Centre to raise the issue with the neighbouring country. They also demanded that steps be taken to find and bring back the idols from the demolished temple. "We have sent an e-mail to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj requesting her to find out through Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi that whether idols of the demolished temple at Lahore's Anarkali Market are safe or not as they hold immense religious and historical importance for us," Jain Yuva Sangthan coordinator, Anurodh Lalit Jain told PTI. If these idols are safe, then process should be initiated to bring them back to India, so that they can be established in a temple in the country with due respect, Jain said. "The Jain community temple, which was demolished in Lahore is nearly 1000-year-old. It is unfortunate that the Pakistan's Punjab Province government targeted the temple, which propagates the message of non-violence and tolerance, by violating court orders. This ill-intentioned step was taken to clear way for a metro line," he said. The authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province last week demolished the remains of the already damaged centuries-old Jain temple, notwithstanding a court order, to pave the way for a controversial metro line project. Located near famous Anarkali Bazaar of old city, mob had damaged Jain Mandir in 1992 after the demolition of Babari Mosque in India. The temple was being used these days for some commercial purposes like shops and the office of the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) and a private filling station before its was completely destroyed. Rail and road traffic was affected in Rohtak-Jhajjar region today as Jat protesters staged protest demanding reservation in government jobs under OBC category. The members of the community blocked the highways and other roads connecting Rohtak to Jhajjar, Sonipat, Panipat and Delhi. The protesters had yesterday blocked the NH-10 passing through Sampla town in Rohtak district during a rally. Haryana's main opposition party INLD also came in full support of the community as the party at a meeting of its state executive held at Sirsa today, passed a resolution favouring reservation for other communities including Jat-Sikhs, Tyagi, Ror and Bishnois. In Rohtak's Sampla town, Haryana Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankhar assured the Jat protesters that he would raise their issue in the Assembly's forthcoming budget session next month. While some protesters agreed to lift the blockade, many decided to continue their protest. Rail traffic on the Rohtak-Delhi section was badly hit, officials said, adding many trains had to be diverted through alternative routes. The protesters, demanding reservation in jobs, also disrupted vehicular traffic on the Jhajjar-Rohtak road and threatened to intensify the stir if the government does not give any firm assurance. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was in Rohtak today, said that the four-member committee constituted by his government on the reservation issue demanded by the community Jats in government jobs, would submit its report by March 31. He said the government would take action on the basis of the report of the committee headed by the Chief Secretary. "The committee was constituted after consultation with all concerned and it would submit its report after considering all aspects concerning the central and state governments and decisions of the judiciary," he said. On February 9, the state government had formed a four-member committee comprising Chief Secretary D S Dhesi, Principal Secretary, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes T C Gupta, Principal Secretary (Industries) Devender Singh and a representative from the office of the Haryana Advocate General to examine the issue in detail. (Reopens DES 48) Earlier, a meeting with Jat leaders was fixed for June 15, but now it would be held on June 17 on request made by them, Chief Minister Khattar had said. Members of All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti have been staging dharnas at various places, mostly in Rohtak, Sonepat, Jind and Hisar districts in support of their demands - with some even sitting on fast unto death. Three months after their violent agitation left 30 people dead, the state government has made tight security arrangement this time. Nearly 20,000 security personnel including approximately 6,000 personnel of the Central Forces are keeping a strict vigil on the Jat agitation this time. A special round-the-clock control room has been set up in Chandigarh to monitor the situation. The protesters are demanding quota under the OBC category, withdrawal of cases registered against community members during the previous stir, status of martyr for those killed and jobs for their next of kin, besides compensation to the injured. Chairman of All-India Anti-Terrorism Front Maninderjit Singh Bitta along with the kin of Parliament attack victims today demanded stringent action against the students allegedly involved in the "anti-national act" in the JNU. They also threatened to protest if no action was taken against those guilty of holding an event in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on the JNU campus. "We demand stringent action against those who had raised slogans against India, the judicial hanging of terror convict Afzal Guru, in support of Pakistan and demanded freedom of Kashmir. "They have insulted the sentiments of those families whose sons, brothers or husbands have sacrificed their lives during the 2001 Parliament attack," Bitta told reporters here. He said there was a need to find out those who were supporting the students. "Has the Government become so weak that it is not able to find who among 50 students had raised pro-Pakistan slogans?" Bitta said, adding that he will meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar along with the martyrs' family. "We will ask the VC to expel those students and hand them over to police. Footages are in front of him and he should take action. He should not allow the JNU campus to become a hub of politics," Bitta said. He also said if action was not taken against the guilty within a month, then he along with the kin and widows of Parliament attack victims will take out a protest march outside JNU. "Nobody asks us how they we are doing or what problems we are facing. But from time-to-time salt is rubbed on our wounds. Fun is being made of the sacrifice of our family member and our sentiments are being insulted. "Action should be taken against the students who have raised the issue of Afzal Guru," said Gangadevi, wife of Delhi Police Assistant Sub-Inspector Nanak Chand who lost his life in the Parliament attack. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today attacked RSS over the JNU issue accusing it of muzzling the youth by branding them as "anti-nationals" and asserted that they will "stand up" and "challenge" it and BJP. "The (JNU) student union president gave a very nice speech on poor, weak, adivasis and the deprived...The BJP government said he is anti-national and got him arrested. "The more the youths of India are suppressed, the more they will stand up and challenge you," he said at a Congress rally here. Lambasting RSS, Rahul charged it with attempting to impose its ideology on the country ignoring the identity and history of the states and muzzling the youth by branding them as "anti-nationals". "Whenever the youth of the country speaks against the RSS and their ideology, they are called anti-nationals. Deshbhakti ke licence ki dukan khol rakha hain RSS? (Only RSS can say who are patriots and anti-nationals)". Continuing his tirade, he said "Who are they? They (RSS) are those who had pumped three bullets into (Mahatma) Gandhi, sought forgiveness from British rulers and today they tell us to take licence from them on desh bhakti. "RSS says there should be only one thought process in India. Then what will happen to your language, identity, culture, history? There are different vichardhara in different parts of the country. Will RSS tell us what to wear, listen to, what the youth should think ?" Congress vice-president said RSS only wants power to "snatch away people's strength. We won't allow that." BJP chief Amit Shah during the day accused Gandhi of backing "anti-nationals" and alleged that he had "proved" that national interest had no place in his mind. He also asked if the Congress vice-president had joined hands with separatist forces and wanted another division of India. Speaking on the raging controversy for the first time, Shah had also demanded that Gandhi apologise for his stand on JNU issue saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology was not acceptable. Earlier at a meeting at Gohpur in Sonitpur district, Rahul said "BJP and RSS are following the agenda of creating divide and hatred by imposing their views forcibly on people, which can be seen from the recent developments in JNU." He alleged that BJP and RSS have no respect for the diversity of Indian culture and sentiments of the people. "They just want everybody to follow their views. Referring to the suicide of Hyderabad Central University scholar Rohith Vemula, Rahul said "He had pain in his mind. He did no wrong, only spoke about his pain. But the mantris of the country ordered the university authority to throw him out. There was so much pressure on him that he committed suicide." The Congress leader had joined a midnight protest march by HCU students on its campus and even spent a night there. "When students in IIT speak for dalits the Government of India says they are anti-nationals," he added. Hitting out at BJP and RSS at Gohpur, he said BJP has over the years followed the policy of "creating a divide between Hindus and Muslims, branding the latter as terrorists." Referring to the coming Assembly polls in Assam and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress vice-president told the meeting at Titabor, the stronghold of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, "We will fight RSS in both the states and wherever they go." "Patriotism is not the monopoly of RSS. Assam has a tradition of people living in unity with all people for thousands of years. Explain to the RSS what is Assam and its history," he exhorted the people. Stating Assam should have a government that stands for all people, he said the state takes together every one from all religions, caste, community, the youth, old, women and poor and that was its strength. Congress and Left Front, joined by several intellectuals, took out a protest march here today against the arrest of a student leader in JNU on "sedition" charges. The march was convened by state Congress general secretary Om Prakash Mishra and was attended by senior party leaders Somen Mitra, Pradip Bhattacharya, and Abdul Manan. Senior Left Front leaders Manju Kumar Majumdar(CPI), Ritabrata Banerjee (CPI-M)), Sujan Chakraborty (CPI-M)) and Naren Chatterjee (Forward Bloc) attended the march, which began at College Square and ended at Esplanade. "We've organised this protest march against the police action and the fascist mindset the BJP government and the RSS. This rally does not belong to any political party so we are not carrying any party flags," Mishra said. Most of the state leaders of both the parties have expressed their opinions in favour of an alliance for the coming Bengal assembly polls. The JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on February 12 in connection with a case of "sedition and criminal conspiracy" over an event at the varsity against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Ritabrata Banerjee said, "We (CPI-M) have been fighting against an undemocratic atmosphere ushered in by TMC in Kolkata for the last five years. Now we are witnessing an autocratic regime in New Delhi too. So we are here cutting across party lines to protest against semi-fascist terror of BJP and RSS." Asked why the TMC was not invited in the march, Mishra said, "We didn't invite anybody. Any party which is in favour of democracy and secularism has joined us. Had TMC believed in democracy they would have joined." Theatre activist Kaushik Sen who was present at the march too lashed out the RSS and BJP government saying they are trying to curb the democratic rights and freedom of speech in educational institutes. Political slugfest over the JNU row spiked today with BJP chief Amit Shah accusing Rahul Gandhi of backing "anti-nationals" and the Congress leader hitting back saying the saffron party was promoting a "divide and hatred" agenda. Police, meanwhile, claimed the student leader charged with sedition had raised anti-India slogans. On their part, the JNU students stepped up their agitation by boycotting classes demanding unconditional release of students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. The teachers association of the premier institute has rallied behind the agitating students but have not struck work. In a related incident, at least six persons, including students and mediapersons, were thrashed by a group of men in lawyer's robes within and outside Patiala House courts during the hearing of the sedition case against Kanhaiya. A BJP MLA, present there for a different case, allegedly roughed up a CPI activist. Amid the raging row, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi, after a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, said Kanhaiya had raised anti-national slogans during a controversial event on JNU campus but admitted police have so far found "no evidence linking the LeT" to the incident. Singh had yesterday claimed the event at JNU to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from LeT founder Hafiz Saeed. Speaking on the the raging controversy for the first time, Shah targeted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi alleging he was supporting "anti-nationals" and wondered whether he wanted another "division" of India. Posing a slew of questions to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, Shah also demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue. Rahul had visited JNU on Saturday and extended support to the students' cause. "An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet? "Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?", Shah wrote in a blog. Addressing a party meeting in Assam's Sonitpur district, Rahul returned fire saying BJP wanted to control everyone's views. "The BJP and RSS are following an agenda of creating divide and hatred, as can be seen from the recent developments in JNU, by imposing their views forcibly on people." Kanhaiya was arrested on Friday in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised. When asked about alleged links between Kashmir militants and the JNU students who were suspected to be involved in the incident, Bassi said, "Kanhaiya's interrogation will be analysed for terror links and the police are looking for some other students who all went absconding after the incident but will soon be arrested." As the exchanges between the BJP and Congress grew shriller, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury targeted the BJP, saying there can be no "bigger farce than Godse- worshippers" putting out certificates on nationalism, in a sharp counter to Left parties being labelled as "anti-national" forces. Yechury's predecessor Prakash Karat accused the NDA government's "top" machinery of "directing crisis" at JNU and charged the Narendra Modi dispensation with "imposing ideological hegemony" on varsities in the country. Karat said ever since the Modi Government came to power, universities across the country have been "under siege". Karat, who is also ex-JNUSU president, made these remarks during his visit to the university campus to express solidarity with the protesting students. Controversial Hindutva leader Sadhvi Prachi was, meanwhile, not allowed to enter the JNU campus. She spent some time with the ABVP activists outside one of the gates of the varsity. Later, speaking to reporters, she attacked Rahul and even demanded that his membership of the Lok Sabha be terminated for supporting anti-national elements. Meanwhile, JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar appealed to the students to not to go on strike or engage in protests so academic functioning of the university is not hampered. "We also stand for free expression of ideas but I believe there is no need for strikes as the problem can be solved amicably. We are reaching out to the entire JNU community to see how the problem can be addressed but academic functioning of the university is of prime importance and should not be hampered," he told reporters. While the teachers association of the university has raised questions over the VC allowing a police crackdown on campus, Kumar said he was bound by the "law of land". "I never invited the police to enter the campus and pick our students. We only provided whatever cooperation was needed as per the law of land. We were bound to do so," he added. An AISF leader and an advocate have also alleged that they were thrashed by a group of persons in the Patiala House court premises when they had gone there to attend the hearing of sedition case against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar. All India Students Federation General Secretary Wishwajeet Kumar, 33, lodged his complaint at the Tilak Nagar Police Station, saying, he was "thrashed" by a "group of 20-30 persons". "I saw a man in advocate's uniform, who was abusing and accusing JNU persons, calling them anti-nationals. When I reached there, a group of 20-30 persons led by 2-3 others started calling me names and thrashed me, as they took me for a student of JNU," Kumar said in his complaint. Kumar was also taken for a medical examination along with two journalists to the RML Hospital. Advocate Amit Srivastava also alleged that he was thrashed in court premises, and lodged a complaint with the police. At around 3.40 pm I saw some advocates raising slogans and badly beating a man. When I tried to stop them and record the incident, I was also thrashed," Srivastava said in his complaint, adding, he recognised some of his attackers. Police said that it was looking through all the complaints including those of the nine journalists and that it will take proper action as per the law. Violence broke out at the court complex when groups of lawyers allegedly attacked journalists, students and teachers of JNU and in and outside it, dubbing them as anti-nationals in the wake of a raging row over the arrest of Kanhaiya. The escalating stand-off over the arrest of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges today saw the students going on strike till he is released. While the teachers yesterday extended solidarity with the students over the issue, they have not joined the strike yet. Kanhaiya, who was sent to three-days police custody, will be produced in court today. Vice Chancellor Jadesh Kumar appealed to the students to not resort to strikes and protests so that academic functioning of the university is not hampered. "We also stand for free expression of ideas but I believe there is no need for strikes as the problem can be solved amicably. We are reaching out to the entire JNU community to see how the problem can be addressed but academic functioning of the university is of prime importance and should not be hampered," he said. While the teachers association of the university have raised questions over the VC allowing a police crackdown on campus, Kumar said he was bound with the "law of land". "I never invited the police to enter the campus and pick our students. We only provided whatever cooperation was needed as per the law of land. We were bound to do so," he added. JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested last week in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised. His arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties. The university teachers had yesterday rallied behind its protesting students and questioned the administration's decision to allow the police crackdown on the campus even as they appealed to the public not to "brand" the institution as "anti-national". Teachers bodies of 40 central universities and Pune-based FTII had also come out in support of the agitating students saying it is an issue of "indiscipline" and not "sedition". JNU today condemned the attack on its teachers in Patiala house court where the varsity's students union president was to be produced in a sedition case even as the university's teaching community decided to join the students strike against the administration from tomorrow. "We condemn the attack on the teachers. Let the law take its course. Any sort of violent activity against anybody is condemnable," JNU Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi said. The standoff escalated today between JNU administration and the students over arrest of the varsity's students union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges, with the students going on strike till he is released. While the varsity's teachers had yesterday rallied behind its protesting students and questioned the administration's decision to allow the police crackdown in the campus even as they appealed to the public not to "brand" the institution as "anti-national", they did not join the students in boycotting the classes today. "The JNU teachers association in an emergent meeting held today decided to join the students' strike from tomorrow. The administration needs to answer how it plans to mend the damage done due to mishandling of the issue by it," JNUTA president Ajay Patnaik said. The teachers who were allegedly attacked by a group of lawyers in premises of Patiala High Court also condemned the act. "We had gone there to attend the proceedings. A group of lawyers started yelling at us that the teachers are also anti-nationalists...We did not hit back because we do not believe in violence. We do not follow nationalism of Nathuram Godse but of Gandhi," said Rohith Azad, faculty who was among those attacked. Nivedita Menon, faculty school of international sciences said, "the attack on teachers today is a clear indication how government is running the country. The lawyers who have taken oath of law are indulging in such fascist activities. Intimidate and deceive is RSS' policy. The moment Modi came to power, RSS has always been demanding that JNU to shutdown. Why are they threatened from us ?" JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested last week in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised. His arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties. History books say that the title of Mahatma was bestowed on Gandhi by Rabindranath Tagore, but the Gujarat government thinks otherwise, insisting that an "unknown journalist" from Saurashtra actually gave the title. The matter has now landed before the Gujarat High Court. Rajkot District Panchayat Sikshan Samiti, which conducted an exam for the post of Talathi in the Revenue department, has cited the work of Narayan Desai, son of Gandhi's secretary Mahadev Desai, to claim that the title was given to Gandhi by the anonymous scribe from Jetpur town. Sandhya Maru, one of the candidates who appeared for the exam, has challenged this "right answer key" besides two other answer keys which were part of the question paper before the high court as the exam had negative marking system for wrong answers. The exam was conducted in six other districts as well. "In the provisional answer key, the answer to the question on 'who first named Gandhi as Mahatma' was Tagore, but in the final answer key the answer got changed to 'unknown journalist'," the petition stated. Hemant Munshaw, the lawyer representing the Rajkot District Panchayat Sikshan Samiti, told the court that papers for the exam were set by an outside agency based on the autobiography of Narayan Desai and not by officials of the district panchayat. "Narayan Desai, who had spent around 20 years of his early life with Mahatma Gandhi, had said in his autobiography that he (Gandhi) was first called 'Mahatma' by a journalist from Jetpur town in Saurashtra when he was in South Africa in 1916 and after that Tagore called him 'Mahatma' (sic)," Munshaw told the court. During the hearing of the petition last Thursday, Justice J B Pardiwala asked the government to conduct such exams with care and dedication, and posted the next hearing for February 26. In her petition, Maru also challenged the answer key to the question: "Which is the longest river in India?... 'The answer got changed from the Ganges to Brahmaputra. Though Brahmaputra is the longest river, it is spread in three countries, while Ganga is the longest (river) in India." She also contested the correct usage of article in the answer key to the question "which article comes before Mt Everest." "The correct answer 'the' was changed to 'a' (in the answer key)," the petition contended. The JSW Group has inked a pact with the Maharashtra government to set up JSW Institute of Skill Development and Training for Trainers. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) aims to create state-of-the-art infrastructure with world-class faculty and curriculum of training in line with international standards of skill development. The pact was signed here among the JSW Foundation, the CSR arm of the JSW Group and the Maharashtra government in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. "This noble project will usher in a new era of development for the country and provide impetus to skill development in line with Make-in-India mission," JSW Group CMD Sajjan Jindal said in a statement. "Our objective is to enable and empower trainers with world-class education and training opportunity to build a competitive ecosystem, resulting in positive socio-economic change by creating more skilled job opportunities," he added. In addition to infrastructure creation, JSW will provide corpus fund for the first two years for functioning of the institute, following which the institute will operate on self-sustainable basis. The institute will analyse manpower skills required for various companies that are likely to enter India in defence, waterways and smart city, in line with the Make-in-India mission. The proposed institute would also have international certification of Germany, Australia and Singapore based on the MoU signed between the Union government and these countries. Among others, the institute would update teachers with the latest technology and development in training methodology through virtual classes. Congress today alleged a virtual jungle raj in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh marked by fake encounters, gangrape of tribal women, false surrender of Naxalites, attacks on journalists and threats to political opponents. Party leaders from the state as also AICC General Secretary B K Hari Prsad attacked the Raman Singh dispensation for the "misrule" alleging it has brought misery for the people. State party chief Bhupesh Baghel demanded imposition of President's rule in the tribal-dominated state claiming that the situation was turning from bad to worse day by day. He alleged that even the main Opposition party was being threatened with "another Jhiram" by the state administration if they planned to go this week to the Bastar region to see for themselves the atrocities on tribals. Two years back, some 25 top leaders of Congress in Chhattisgarh including its chief Nandkumar Patel were killed by Naxalites in the Jhiram valley. Media in the state, they claimed, is a terrorised lot with those publishing exposing the maladministration are threatened and attacked. Two journalists have been killed. AICC spokesman Ajoy Kumar squarely blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the state of affairs in Chhattisgarh saying that he could not escape responsibility for what was happening in a BJP ruled state. A tribal woman Meena Khalko was done to death in 2011 in a police encounter dubbing her as a Maoist, he said adding that the report of the judicial inquiry into the killing has been received by the government long back but is not being tabled in the Assembly. He claimed while Meena was not a Maoist and was gangraped by the police and done away with. Party leaders said that complaints of gangrape and police atrocities have been registered by 15 women in Bijapur district. They alleged that false surrenders of Maoists has become business with a section of the police prompting transfer of a high official recently. Young tribals-men and women-are shown as dreaded Maoists during the surrender when actually their names are never there in the police registers, it was said. Thousands of people from all walks of life today converged here to bid a tearful adieu to Jnanpith award winning Malayalam poet ONV Kurup as his mortal remains were cremated with state honours. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, his cabinet colleagues, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, MLAs, cultural leaders and film personalities besides a large number of admirers and disciples paid their last respects to the departed soul. The body of the 84-year-old poet, who died at a private hospital here on Saturday following cardiac arrest, was brought to the crematorium in a procession. As a mark of respect, a group of artists paid a musical offering to the poet before the funeral. A large number of people had thronged the VJT Hall here yesterday to pay homage to Kurup, one of the most loved and celebrated contemporary poets of Malayalam, when his body was kept there for public homage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Governor Justice (Rtd) P Sathasivam were among those who condoled Kurup's death. A scholar, professor, environmentalist and a recipient of Kendra and Kerala Sahitya Akademi awards, Ottaplakkal Nambiyadikkal Velu Kurup, popularly known as ONV Kurup, had made his presence felt in the state's cultural, social, educational and political fields for the last six decades. Besides his large number of poems on various subjects, ranging from humanity and hope to nature and romance, Kurup was also a leading lyricist. A Padma Vibhushan awardee, Kurup received India's highest honour for literature, the Jnanpith award, in 2007. Kerala and Karnataka have shown their willingness to come on board for UDAY scheme meant for reviving stressed discoms and will be soon joining it, Union Power minister Piyush Goyal said today. "Kerala has taken two weeks time and they have confirmed that they are joining. Karnataka has asked for a few clarifications and will shortly be joining," Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of the Make in India Week here. He said so far 15 states have joined the scheme. UDAY aims at reviving ailing state electricity boards and operational efficiencies of power distribution companies. It envisages on reducing interest burden, cost of power and aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C losses). The minister further said Tamil Nadu has peculiar problem because they have discom, generation and transmission under one company and the government is working with the Centre to sort the issue. "So, there are certain intricacies that need to be navigated, which we are doing with them," he added. Goyal further said the government is also creating a framework to help 12 states and union territories, that don't have discoms but have utilities, to come on board. Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today said a 100-bed hospital under the Employee State Insurance Corporation will be set up and 7 dispensaries into will be converted into hospitals in Tamil Nadu. Besides, the Centre has already handed over the Rs 650 crore ESIC Hospital & Medical College Building in Coimbatore to the state, the Labour Ministry said. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month. "Dattatreya also announced setting up of a 100 bed ESIC Hospital in Sriperumbudur and upgradation of seven ESIC dispensaries at Dindigul, Ranipet, Ambur, Tambaram, Kovilpatti, Rajapalayam, Virudhanagar into 30 bedded ESIC hospitals," the ministry added. The ministry quoted Dattatreya saying that in Tamil Nadu the retirement fund body EPFO is settling 93 per cent claims within 20 days as well as 2.23 crore annual accounts have been updated on April 2015. He also lauded the efforts in issue of Universal Account Number (UAN) numbering 70 Lakhs and redressal of 98.7 per cent grievances by the state. Dattatreya also highlighted the fund provided by the Centre to Tamil Nadu under various schemes, which includes Rs 37,000 crore for National Highways Development, Rs 13,000 crore in pipeline for converting Kulachal Small Port into a major Port and Rs 1,940 crore for the flood affected areas. On queries regarding retrenchment of workers due to closure and liquidation of companies, the minister said the central government's paramount interest is to protect the rights of workers and the recent reform agenda. He also said that the Child Labour Act is being amended to protect the child's right to education by bringing a blanket ban on employment of children upto the age 14 years, and in hazardous industry up to the age of 18 years, with stringent penal provisions for violations. Lanco has received 2-year extension of environment clearance validity, with certain conditions, for its 1,320 MW thermal power plant in Maharashtra. After detailed deliberations, the Environment Ministry panel (Expert Appraisal Committee) "recommended extension of validity of EC (Environment clearance) for two years and ...Amendments in EC subject to the additional conditions," a source said. The panel recommended amendments in the environment clearance for Lanco Vidarbha Thermal Power Ltd's power plant for change in location of water reservoir from within the project site to a distance of about three km from the project site among others. But the additional conditions which panel recommended are that the" PP(project proponent) shall advertise in the local leading newspapers and place on their website, the Ministry's approval on the above extension and amendments for public information." Moreover, "the PP shall apply well in time for prior approval of Ministry for the amendment in EC w.R.T matters if any subsequently arising such as shortage of coal, setting up of coal washery, coal transportation etc., such that the related studies as required or necessary, can also be completed within the EC validity period." Lanco Vidarbha Thermal Power is a coal-fired thermal power project with two super critical units of 660 mw each located in Wardha district of Maharashtra. Coal India subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Ltd the fuel source of the thermal power plant. Four extremist Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka, wanted for alleged rioting outside a court, today surrendered before police after which they were remanded to custody till tomorrow. The General Secretary of the Ravana Balaya, Venerable Ittekande Saddhatissa Thero, President of the Sinhala Ravaya, Venerable Akmeemana Dayarathana Thero and two other monks were ordered to be remanded till tomorrow by the Magistrate court at the Colombo suburb of Homagama. The monks were accused of rioting outside the Magistrate Court on January 26 when the chief of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero was remanded for contempt of court and threatening the wife of missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda. Gnanasara had threatened the wife of the missing journalist during the court proceedings and had also made an inflammatory address to the magistrate. Homagama Magistrate on January 27 ordered those responsible for the protest to be arrested. Police had arrested three persons over the protests including a three wheeler driver and two other individuals. The BBS has been blamed for creating communal disharmony targeting the minority Muslim community. The group had led an anti-Muslim campaign since 2012. Violence broke out in the Patiala House court complex when groups of lawyers today thrashed journalists and students and teachers of JNU while the political slugfest over the arrest of the university's student leader snowballed with BJP chief Amit Shah targeting Rahul and Sonia Gandhi on the issue. The Congress hit back at Shah, saying those once "externed by the Supreme Court over criminal charges" should not teach patriotism to the party, which has played a "stellar role" in freedom movement. Rahul himself attacked the BJP and RSS, saying they do not have respect for diversity of the nation's culture and wanted to control everyone's views. In a significant turn in the probe, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said police have so far found "no evidence linking the LeT" to the controversial event at the JNU to mark protest against hanging of Afzal Guru that triggered the crisis. The Delhi Police a few days ago had pinned a purported tweet of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed in an alert over Twitter asking students not to get carried away by anti-India rhetoric. Yesterday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had claimed that the JNU event had the backing of Saeed that set off a storm of protests from the Opposition. He justified the arrest of Kumar, claiming that he had raised anti-national slogans during the event. On the ground, the JNU students today boycotted classes while teachers decided to follow suit from tomorrow. The university also sent a status report to the HRD Ministry, saying eight students identified by them as shouting slogans at the event. But it is not clear from the the registrar's report whether Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU President, who has been slapped with sedition charge, was among those who allegedly shouted anti-India slogans. Groups of lawyers attacked journalists, students and teachers of JNU and unidentified people in and outside the court dubbing them as anti-nationals. A Delhi BJP MLA O P Sharma, who happened to be in the complex, also joined a group of lawyers in beating up a person, identified as CPI activist Ameeque Jamai, who was taken to Tuglaq Road police station. The violence broke out when JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar against whom a sedition case has been filed was to be brought before metropolitan magistrate Lovleen for remand proceedings but was later taken elsewhere. The lawyers, claiming to be patriots, first targeted the JNU students and teachers inside the court. They beat them up telling them that the JNU is a "den" of anti-India elements and terrorists. A television reporter was attacked while a woman journalist was spared even as the crowd threatened them that their phones and bones will be broken. Outside the court, another group of lawyers thrashed journalists, JNU students and even court officials. BJP MLA O P Sharma who was in the complex in connection with the hearing in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was seen beating up Jamai. Jaitley himself was in the complex for sometime. Later, when asked by the media, Sharma claimed he was roughed up when there a melee when slogans like 'Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad' were shouted. When told there was footage about his beating up somebody, Sharma said "I do not known which video you are taking about." And in the same breath, he said "it is not wrong if some body shouting such slogans is beaten up or even done to death." In all, at least nine journalists were attacked, according to complaint by them with the Tuglaq Road police station. Two of the journalists were taken to RML hospital for medical check up. JNU teachers said 10 of their colleagues were beaten up. They said they had gone to attend the proceedings but a group of lawyers started yelling at them saying teachers were also anti-nationals, Rohit Azad, one of the teachers said. Escalating the row, Shah accused Rahul of supporting "traitors" who shouted anti-India slogans in JNU and asked Sonia to make Congress party's stand clear whether freedom of expression meant supporting country's division. He also questioned them if it meant supporting Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and such terror attacks and asked Gandhis to apologise to nation if their party is sensitive to the feelings of martyrs' families. At least six persons, including students and mediapersons, were thrashed today by a group of men in lawyer's robes inside and outside a Patiala House court where the sedition case against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was to be heard. A scuffle broke out before the court took up the hearing, as some men, said to be lawyers, entered the court room and allegedly started pushing out students and teachers, mostly from JNU, and media persons, asking them to leave the premises. "You (JNU) produce anti-nationals and terrorists. You should get out of the country. Long live India, shut down JNU," they shouted and then pushed the students and teachers out. "When the proceedings were going on, some people wearing lawyers' gowns first started hurling abuses at us. And then suddenly some of them, without any provocation, started beating us badly. They pushed us and beat us up including women students," AISF President Waliullah Qadri told reporters. A BJP MLA, who had come to the court complex in connection with the hearing in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, allegedly roughed up Ameeque Jamai, said to be a CPI activist. The students and teachers refused to go out of the court room and said they have a right to attend the proceedings as it was an open court hearing. At least three students were thrashed by the group of men. The group also began to check the identity cards of media persons and asked them also to leave the court room. The media persons objected to their demand and refused to move out of the court room when they were attacked by the men, who accused the media persons of being JNU supporters and accused them of wrong reporting. Two print and electronic media reporters were injured. There was heavy police deployment in the court complex, but the students alleged that they did not take any action against this group. The policemen later drove all the students, teachers and mediapersons out of the court complex. Violence broke out in Patiala House court complex when groups of lawyers today attacked journalists, students and teachers of JNU and unidentified people in and outside the court dubbing them as anti-nationals in the wake of a raging row over the arrest of a student leader of the university. A Delhi BJP MLA O P Sharma, who happened to be in the complex, also joined a group of lawyers in beating up a person, identified as CPI activist Ameeque Jamai, who was taken to Tuglaq Road police station. The violence broke out when JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar against whom a sedition case has been filed was to be brought before metropolitan magistrate Lovleen for remand proceedings but was later taken elsewhere. The lawyers, claiming to be patriots, first targeted the JNU students and teachers inside the court. They beat them up telling them that the JNU is a "den" of anti-India elements and terrorists. A television reporter was attacked while a woman journalist was spared even as the crowd threatened them that their phones and bones will be broken. Outside the court, another group of lawyers thrashed journalists, JNU students and even court officials. BJP MLA O P Sharma who was in the complex in connection with the hearing in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was seen beating up Jamai. Jaitley himself was in the complex for sometime. Later, when asked by the media, Sharma claimed he was roughed up when there a melee when slogans like 'Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad' were shouted. When told there was footage about his beating up somebody, Sharma said "I do not known which video you are taking about." And in the same breath, he said "it is not wrong if some body shouting such slogans is beaten up or even done to death." In all, at least nine journalists were attacked, according to complaint by them with the Tuglaq Road police station. Two of the journalists were taken to RML hospital for medical check up. JNU teachers said 10 of their colleagues were beaten up. They said they had gone to attend the proceedings but a group of lawyers started yelling at them saying teachers were also anti-nationals, Rohit Azad, one of the teachers said. Nivedita Menon, faculty, JNU School of International Studies, said the attack on teachers was a clear indication how the government was running the country. "You (JNU) produce anti-nationals and terrorists. You should get out of the country. Long live India, shut down JNU," the attackers shouted pushing the students and teachers out of the court room. "Before the proceedings were to start, some people wearing lawyers' gowns first started hurling abuses at us. And then suddenly some of them, without any provocation, started beating us badly. They pushed us and beat us up including women students," AISF President Waliullah Qadri told reporters. The students and teachers refused to go out of the court room and said they have a right to attend the proceedings as it was an open court hearing. The group also began to check the identity cards of media persons and asked them also to leave the court room. The media persons objected to their demand and refused to move out of the court room when they were attacked by the men, who accused the media persons of being JNU supporters and accused them of wrong reporting. There was heavy police deployment in the court complex, but the students alleged that they did not take any action against this group. The policemen later drove all the students, teachers and mediapersons out of the court complex. Later, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi promised action against those involved in the attack on mediapersons in Patiala House court. "Law will take its course. Action will be taken in accordance with law against anybody who takes the law in their hands. I will speak to Delhi Police Commissioner," he told reporters. On his part, Commissioner B S Bassi described the incidents in the court complex as a scuffle and no major injuries have been reported. He said mediapersons were roughed up and added that police will look into complaints relating to the incident and take action. "Certain excesses have been committed by both sides," Bassi said. A driver of a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus today suffered heart attack while driving in Kolhapur district, following which the bus veered, causing injuries to 22 passengers, police said. "The incident occurred near Navli village in Panhala tehsil. The driver Baburao Sawant lost control of the vehicle after the heart attack and the bus collided against a tree. He was killed, while 22 passengers were injured," police said. "The injured persons were admitted to a hospital in Kolhapur while the driver was declared brought dead," a hospital official said. Maharashtra Government today directed the District Collectors of drought-hit Osmanabad, Beed and Latur to temporarily shutdown cattle fodder camps, a decision which was disapproved by a BJP Minister and invited criticism from the Opposition. The Government cited availability of ample local cattle fodder for the next three months to temporary close down the camps, started by the administration after drought was declared in these Marathwada districts last year. In a directive to the Collectors of the three districts, the Government referred to their reports in which they have stated that fodder from Rabbi season crops shall last for another three months. Since the available fodder will last till May 2016, the state-run cattle fodder camps be temporarily closed, it said in a circular. After May, the government will take stock of the situation and if there is a shortage of cattle fodder, it may start the camps once again, it said. The Collectors were also directed to ensure that adequate stock of cattle fodder is available in the summer months. The circular evoked opposition from within the Government with Minister for Rural Development Pankaja Munde calling for a rethink on the decision. In a statement, Munde said she has spoken to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and urged him not to allow closure of these cattle camps. The Chief Minister's response was positive, said Munde, who is also Guardian Minister of Beed and Latur districts. Munde suggested on-site inspection of cattle fodder camps before arriving at a decision to close them. Opposition NCP criticised the Fadnavis Government over the decision, saying it may lead to suicide by already distressed farmers. "The decision will force farmers to commit suicide and the blame shall be on the Government," said NCP member and Leader of Opposition in Council Dhananjay Munde. The decision will lead to cattle dying due to lack of fodder and water, he said in a statement and warned of an agitation by NCP if the decision was not rolled back. "Until now because of availability of fodder and water in these camps, the cattle were able to survive. If they go back to villages they will neither get fodder or water," Dhananjay said in a statement. Taking a jibe at the BJP-led administration, the NCP leader said it appears to have been blinded by the glitz and razzmatazz surrounding the Make in India event and forgotten that some parts of Maharashtra are in grip of drought. Maharashtra government today said it has received investment commitments worth Rs 6 lakh crore in various sectors at an investment seminar during the Make in India Week here. "Today, in the Maharashtra Investment seminar, we entered into 2,560 memorandum of understandings (MoUs) worth Rs 6.11 lakh crore. These investments will be made in diverse sectors and in various parts of the state - Marathwara, Vidharbha, northern Maharashtra, Konkan and Mumbai," Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters on the sidelines of the mega event here today. Some of the big commitments came from Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 8,000 crore), Mercedes (Rs 4,270 crore), Panchshil (Rs 5,000 crore), JSW Jaigarh Port (Rs 6,000 crore) and RCF Chemicals (Rs 6,204 crore) among others. Fadnavis said the government will now start working on translating these MoUs into a real action. "These MoUs will help in generation of employment for 20 lakh youth," he said. The Chief Minister said he is keen to provide seamless mobility in Mumbai by connecting railways, roads and metros which have the potential to attract up to Rs 4-5 lakh crore of staggered investments in Mumbai Metropolitan region over the period of next 5-10 years. NIA today sought more time from a Special Court to submit arguments on framing charges against the accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, saying they were still awaiting a reply from Attorney General on whether the stringent MCOCA should be applied in the matter. "We are still awaiting a reply from Attorney General of India on whether Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) should be applied in the case. Hence, we have asked for more time to submit arguments (on framing charges)," Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal said. "We also need time because charges will be framed after going through a chargesheet filed earlier by Maharashtra ATS ," he said. Reserving its order on National Investigation Agency (NIA)'s plea, the MCOCA Court asked the defence to start its arguments first. The matter will come up for further hearing on February 17. Twelve persons, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit are in jail in connection with the blast at Malegaon, a predominantly Muslim town in North Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. Six persons were killed and 100 others injured in the explosion. The accused have been booked under stringent MCOCA, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and IPC. ATS filed a chargesheet in 2009 but the case was later handed over to NIA, the top anti-terror agency. Following a Supreme Court order, a Special Court has been constituted to hear the case. Sadhvi is also an accused in a case related to the murder of RSS activist Sunil Joshi in Madhya Pradesh. A 28-year-old man was arrested by Punjab Police for allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to gangsters. A .12 bore rifle and 35 live cartridges of .30 bore pistol were recovered from his possession, Mohali SSP Gupreet Singh Bhullar said here today. The accused has been identified as Mahavir Singh, resident of Ferozepur district, police said. The accused had links with fugitive gangsters like Tirath Singh, Aslam and Sandeep and used to supply arms, ammunition and stolen cars to them for carrying out criminal activities, the police alleged. Acting on a tip off, police had laid a cordon at Siswan T-point on February 10 to nab Mahavir. As per information, the accused was going to Baddi in Himachal Pradesh to supply weapons to the gangsters, SSP said. After learning about the presence of police, Mahavir left the vehicle and fled to a jungle area in Baddi. Police then recovered 35 live cartridges of .30 bore pistol from his car, police said. Mahavir was arrested from Ratwara Sahib T-point on the Chandigarh-Mullanpur road yesterday. Police then recovered .12 bore rifle along with two live cartridges which were hidden by Mahavir in bushes on the Siswan-Baddi road, the SSP said. During investigation, it was found that the accused used to provide accommodation to gangsters on rent in Mohali, Kharar and Mullanpur and that he was receiving funds from them. Mahavir Singh was living in Mohali and posing as a property dealer. A case under relevant sections of IPC and Arms has been registered against the accused. Government Railway Police today arrested a 33-year-old man for allegedly molesting a partially visually-challenged girl at suburban Khar railway station on December 22 last year. The accused, identified as Rohit Jayantilal Nandu, was a resident of Dahisar in north Mumbai, GRP officials said, adding they were trying to identify him for the last one and a half months. According to the victim, a law student, on December 22 she was waiting for the train on platform number 3 of Khar station when an unidentified man accosted her and proposed to her, police said. She declined and tried to ward him off, but he persisted. He fled when she called out for help, they said. The man's image was captured in CCTV cameras and it was shown to as many as 2,000 people including railway stall workers, boot-polishers, autorickshaw drivers, college students, teachers, local people of suburban Khar, Andheri, Malad and Churchate, police said. The CCTV footage showed him talking about a sweet shop in Malad area, so the police kept a vigil at the shop too. After identifying him, Nandu was arrested from his house this afternoon and has been been booked under section 354 (molestation) of the IPC, GRP officials said. One youth was injured when unknown men on a two-wheeler fired at him in a crowded road in the central part of the city this morning, police said. A bullet hit a local youth, identified as Kalu, when a bullet fired by the bikers hit his leg. Kalu was taking a relative's child to school at that time. The two men on the motorbike, whom Kalu identified, had some issues with him for long, the police said. "The bikers fired a couple of rounds before fleeing. One of the witnesses have noted down the number of the two-wheeler. We have launched a search for it," an officer of Kolkata Police's detective department said. Kalu has been admitted to hospital. In a departure from bickering, which has come to symbolise the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena ties, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today complimented Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for "successfully" organising the 'Make in India Week'. Uddhav affirmed support to all development activities being undertaken by the state government to make the quality of life better in the financial capital. "You will have support of Shiv Sena in all the endeavours you are undertaking to make the quality of life better in Mumbai," Thackeray said during a session on 'Make in Mumbai' as part of the 'Make in India' Week here. This was Uddhav's maiden foray at MMRDA grounds during the ongoing MII Week. Drawing from the slew of MoUs being signed by the state government at the event, Thackeray said, "We have signed MoU with you (BJP) to make my dreams for Mumbai come true." Making clear that the interests of the sons-of-the-soil should be protected in the development endeavours being undertaken by the government, Thackeray wished the best for Chief Minister's plans for the capital city. Thackeray also posed with Fadnavis for a selfie. The Sena president said educational institutes of international repute should be created, which will not just arrest the issue of brain drain, but also get students from abroad to study here. "There is a need to clear junkyards dotting the eastern coastline in order to create more space for the city," Thackeray, who was present with Fadnavis when the stage caught fire during a cultural event at Girgaum chowpatty here yesterday, said. Agri-startup Milk Mantra is eying Rs 1,000 crore turnover in five years as it look to strengthen position in the eastern parts by expanding milk shake brands across the country. Fidelity Growth Partners backed startup is also planning to raise $25 million from VC funding to finance growth plans. "As of now we are eastern India player with our base in Odisha and selling our fresh dairy products including milk, curd, butter milk and paneer in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Kolkata," Founder and Managing director of Milk Mantra Srikuamr Misra told PTI. "Now we are further strengthening our position in eastern parts for fresh dairy products and at the same time expand our milk shake brand 'MooShake' market across the country. I can say that on back of these two initiatives, our turnover would reach Rs 1,000 crore in next five years," Misra added. The company recently made a foray in the dairy-based functional health category with a ready-to-drink milk beverage MooShake, which is blended with curcumin, an extract from turmeric. With this milk shake brand we are aiming to become a pan-India player, he said. The company manufactures product under the Milky Moo brand and currently has two processing plants with production capacity of 3 lakh litres per day at Puri and Sambalpur districts in Odisha. Misra added their products are in demand because of its quality and the three layer packaging which ensures that there is no light damage to milk and it stays fresh for up to 3 days and need not be boiled. We started from scratch now has over 30,000 network farmers who have been giving us quality and pure milk, he said. In coming days we are looking at contract manufacturing model, especially for Moo Shake brand, he added. mRupee, a subsidiary of Tata Teleservices, has tied up with IRCTC to provide an additional payment gateway. Indian Railways carries more than 23 million passengers a day and the association will allow users one-tap payments for rail ticket bookings via mRupee wallet for a significant number of travellers, the company said in a statement today. ****** Birla Sun Life AMC launches mobile app * Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company today launched a mobile application 'FinGo' offering users to monitor their investments with Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund. "Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund FinGo is our way to simplify mutual fund processes with digitisation, to enhance its appeal across a wider set of users, and non-users across geographies. "The app hosts smart, in-built features such as Quick Transact which allows users to save and repeat their favourite transactions," Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Chief Executive Officer A Balasubramanian said. ****** CSIR-NAL, Tata Advanced Systems ink pact for Mission Computer * CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories has successfully designed, developed and integrated the Integrated Global bus Avionics Processing System (IGAPS) popularly called Mission Computer. CSIR-NAL has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Advanced Systems to collaborate on the indigenous Mission computer. "This collaboration with CSIR-NAL reinforces our continued commitment towards indigenous design, development and manufacturing of key systems and sub-systems for Aerospace and Defence applications, leveraging the technology developed by major Aerospace and Defence Labs in India," Tata Advanced Systems Chairman S Ramadorai said. Eon Electric wins Rs 40-cr order to install LED streetlights * Eon Electric today said it has bagged a contract worth around Rs 40 crore for installing LED streetlights in Rajasthan. Under this project, Eon will install over one lakh LED streetlights across various cities in the state, including Jaisalmer, Gangapur, Sri Ganga Nagar, among others. ************* Gameloft partners Videocon for mobile gaming * Gameloft, an online game publisher, has partnered with Videocon to offer its games like Asphalt Nitro, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, Nova 3: Freedom Edition and Bubble Bash on the latter's smartphones. Gameloft titles, available on Videocon handsets, will be a mix of full and trial version, the company said in a statement. ************* Kstart announces partnership with Google * Kstart, an initiative of venture capital firm Kalaari Capital, today said Google will be technology partner for its seed-stage portfolio companies. The partnership will provide access to Google's mentorship, extensive global network and products for select Kstart portfolio companies, the company said in a statement. ************* Maveric Systems announces key appointments * Software testing company Maveric Systems today announced the appointment of three new Vice-Presidents to strengthen its domain, digital and technology offerings. While Karthikeyan Malayappan has been appointed as Vice President (Retail Banking), Venkataraghavan Seshadri has been appointed as Vice-President Technology-led services and Kishan Sundar as Vice-President Digital Assurance, as part of its efforts to strengthen its core management team, a company statement said. Kridhan Infra to buy 42% stake in Singapore firm for Rs 31cr * Foundation solutions provider Kridhan Infra today said it has entered into an agreement with Singapore-based EPC firm Swee Hong for buying 42 per cent stake in the company for a consideration of Rs 30.92 crore (SGD 8 million). The company's Singapore subsidiary KH Foges has signed the agreement with Swee Hong, wherein the former will subscribe to 300 million new shares in the Singapore firm and 500 million new warrants to subscribe for additional shares in it, Kridhan said in a statement. Each warrant entitles the holder to subscribe for one new share in Swee Hong, the foundation engineering firm said. * * * * * * Safety remains concern in unorganised sector, says NITI Member * Safety is an area of concern in the unorganised sector, so India can introduce hazard engineering as a subject in education to ensure that safety practices are given priority in workplace, NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat said today. "Safety in the unorganised sector remains an area of concern and there is a need to bring in cultural change to ensure best safety systems are adopted. Hazard engineering can be introduced as the subject in education to ensure that safety practices are given priority in the workplace and to bring in cultural change", Saraswat said at an event in New Delhi. He was addressing safety professionals from different sectors at FICCI's Safety Systems Excellence Awards for Manufacturing. Eight units were given awards by Saraswat for their good safety systems. * * * * * * Allcargo Logistics to set up park in Haryana * Allcargo Logistics Ltd today announced the setting up of a logistics park in Haryana. "Allcargo Logistics has in-principle approved setting up of Logistics Park in Jhajjar district of Haryana (Jhajjar Project)," the company said in a filing to BSE. The Jhajjar project is an integrated logistics infrastructure set up which will comprise of rail linked private freight terminal catering to railways cargo movement, free trade warehousing zone, domestic traffic area and other related activities, it said. It will also have the facility to handle both in-bound and out-bound contract logistics services, it added. Hero Cycles launches awareness campaign in Ludhiana * Leading bicycle maker Hero Cycles has launched an awareness campaign in Ludhiana to promote cycling among city residents and encourage them to take to environmental-friendly two-wheelers as their health and fitness partner. The campaign was officially unveiled today by Hero Cycles Chairman and MD, Pankaj Munjal at OP Munjal Rakh Bagh in the presence of fitness trainer Vesna Jacob who spoke in depth about the health benefits of cycling in daily life. "With our cities growing more congested, with lifestyle diseases on the rise and degradation of air quality a major concern, we realise that returning to cycling as a basic transport solution can be a major help in addressing these issues. Medium and small enterprises (MSME) are critical to economic development and a "level playing field" should be ensured for them, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today said. "We need to create many more jobs and that is one of the most important things in the country in the coming years. MSMEs are very important source of job creation," he said at a India MSME Summit here. Job creation really takes off not when they are small, but when they grow, he said, adding that it is important to create conditions for the growth of MSMEs, not just for start-ups, but also to grow in effective ways. Kerala is well placed for a revolution in MSME sector, he said, adding that the state should leverage its high level of education and capabilities. Quoting a Chinese professor, he said differences in the vigour of MSMEs in China and India have to do with the level of educational differences between the two countries. "Kerala, anywhere in India is well positioned with the educational level to go forward. Kerala is a great place for furthering revolutionising MSMEs," he said. More entities will create more competition. Giving the example of banana chips, he said a new way of making them would be tremendously useful for the country, both in terms of spreading it and improving productivity. He was referring to Manoj Joshi, joint secretary, MSME, who pointed out the reluctance of some in the chip industry to go in for modernisation. While banana chips makers in Kochi use machines, some in the state capital prefer to stick on to the old practise. Stressing upon the need for competition from MSMEs, he said that it was the way to progress. The sector should be encouraged as it not only benefits the economy, but also helped in socially empowering women and those in the weaker sections. "So from the perspective of the economy, from the perspective of spreading opportunities across the country and perspective of spreading social equality, MSME is a critical sector in the economy," he said. Government and regulators should give the sector a "level playing field", he said. A regulatory structure that creates a lot of bureaucratic obstacles that distorts the level playing field will have the opposite effect, he said, citing the example of Italy, where too many regulations have held back the growth of MSMEs. "We need to figure out a regulatory environment both at the RBI, centre and state government level that facilitates right regulations. I do not mean no regulation. De-regulation is necessary," he said. In the banking sector, 23 new banks had been cleared to enter the field and two had already started, he said, adding that "some small financial banks have precisely targeted to loan MSMEs". "There is need for entities to help MSMEs and some of it can be done by banks. There is lot of handholding banks cannot do. We have to think if NGOs can do it," he said. Mumbai Police today lauded Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for going out of the way to monitor post-fire operation at Girgaum Chowpatty here last night. "As per security drill, Joint CP Law and Order requested CM to leave Chowpaty, the fire incident venue. "CM sir declined and said 'would like to stay till everyone is evacuated'", a tweet by Mumbai Police said. "Mumbai Police salutes Hon'ble CM," the police tweeted. Incidentally, Fadnavis also handles the Home portfolio. Actor Aamir Khan also appreciated Fadnavis for staying at the venue to supervise operations. "The CM stayed till the end to oversee the evacuation. Excellent disaster management," the 50-year-old actor tweeted. Meanwhile, BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta today visited Chowpatty and inspected the site of the fire. Last night, a massive fire engulfed the stage at a cultural event held at Girgaum Chowpatty sea front here where a string of film celebrities and political leaders were present as part of the high-profile 'Make in India' investment meet but there were no casualties. A Muslim man from Chennai has donated a refrigerator truck to famous Tirupati temple for transporting vegetables. The vehicle, worth Rs 35 lakh, was today flagged off by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here. The truck, with eight tonne capacity, was donated by one Abdul Gani, and will be used for transporting vegetables to the shrine for its "Nitya Annadan (food donation)" scheme. The vegetables for the scheme have been donated by one Mandava Kutumba Rao and his family members since 2007. Mustard gas was used in two attacks in Iraq near the Kurdish capital of Arbil in August last year, sources close to the world's chemical watchdog said today. "The results of some sampling have confirmed the use of mustard gas," one source said, asking to remain anonymous. The comes amid an investigation by the Iraqi government into the 2015 attacks aided by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague. It is also only days after US officials said IS jihadist fighters had the capability to make small quantities of chlorine and mustard gas and had used it in war-torn Syria and Iraq. Iraqi Kurd authorities last year said two attacks were carried out by Islamic State group fighters on August 11 on the frontline towns of Gweyr and Makhmur southwest of Arbil, during which around 50 mortar rounds were launched. The peshmerga ministry said "37 of the rounds released a white dust and black liquid when they exploded. Thirty-five peshmerga fighters were exposed and some were taken for treatment". "The results of the tests on blood samples... Reveal traces of mustard gas," the ministry said at the time, but the origin of the suspected gas was unclear. OPCW spokesman Malik Ellahi confirmed the watchdog had sent a team of experts to help Iraq in its investigation into possible chemical weapons. "The team completed its mission and the OPCW has shared the results of its technical work with the government of Iraq," Ellahi said in a statement. "The complete findings and conclusions can be expected to be issued by the government of Iraq together with the OPCW inputs," he said, declining to give further details. Diplomatic sources told AFP the report was a survey conducted by Baghdad with the OPCW's help. "The report is still a work in progress," the source told AFP, stressing it would be "logical" for the OPCW to publish it -- but it may well also be released by Baghdad. "It is not the OPCW's role" to point fingers as to which side used the weapon, the source stressed. US national intelligence director James Clapper last week told a congressional committee that the IS group have used toxic chemicals in Iraq and Syria, including sulphur mustard. Clapper said it was the first time an extremist group had produced and used a chemical warfare agent in an attack since Japan's Aum Supreme Truth cult carried out a deadly sarin attack during rush hour in the Tokyo subway in 1995. Mustard gas was used in two attacks in Iraq near the Kurdish capital of Arbil in August last year, sources close to the world's chemical watchdog said today. "The results of some sampling have confirmed the use of mustard gas," one source said, referring to an investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Iraqi Kurdish authorities at the time said the attacks were carried out by Islamic State group fighters. A police jawan was today killed allegedly by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said. Assistant constable Ramlal Watti, posted at Bhairamgarh police station, was murdered at Dhusawad village, his native place, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela said. The victim was on leave and had gone to his village, around 450 km away from Raipur. A group of Naxals stormed into the village at around 7pm and killed Watti with sharp edged weapons, he said. After getting information about the incident, security forces were rushed to the spot and a combing operation is underway, the ASP added. Energy-starved Nepal has signed an agreement with India to import additional 80MW of electricity to ease its energy crisis, days ahead of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's maiden visit to India. An agreement to this effect was signed between Energy Ministry of Nepal and government of Indian Nodal Agency NVNV, according to a press release issued by the ministry here today. India will supply additional 80MW energy from tomorrow through the newly-built 400KV Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line. As per the agreement, India will sell power at Nepali Rs 5.5 equivalent to Indian Rs 3.45 per unit to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Nepal is currently importing 230 MW of electricity from India. However, the country is still facing 14 hour-long power outage daily at the present. During Oli's forthcoming visit to India, Nepal is likely to ask for more power supply from India to ease the current power shortage facing the country. In a bid to reduce shark attacks, a new shark detection system, described as "facial recognition technology for marine life" is being trialled at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach. The system called 'Clever Buoy' picks up on any animal two metres or longer within a 300-metre radius, sending a signal to lifeguards via an app on their phones. "We have aerial surveillance which has been expanded. We have our shark meshing programme between Newcastle and Wollongong," said New South Wales (NSW) Primary Industries Minister, Niall Blair. "We have our 4G system on the north coast which is detecting tagged sharks and now we've got our Clever Buoy in Bondi which we hope has a big future in NSW," Blair said. Clever Buoy, designed by the company Shark Mitigation Systems, has the ability to detect sharks at a success rate of at least 90 per cent, 'ABC News' reported. It uses a multi-beam sonar which is a relatively new sonar technology, coupled with a software which is very much like facial recognition technology for marine life, said Craig Anderson, one of the company's founders. "Anything that is greater than two metres and is self-propelled will be detected," Anderson added. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today criticised the Centre for "stopping" excavation of a few historical sites in Bihar including Telhara. "First they did not carry excavation at Telhara or Balirajgarh in Madhubani, despite being told that it could bring wealth of information about country's history. And when the state government undertook excavation work on its own, they intervened and stopped it," Kumar told reporters. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) ordered stopping of excavation work last year at Telhara in Nalanda district, which could have "added a new page in the ancient history of the country," he said. On the Centre's argument that the excavation was stopped at Telhara as a report was not submitted, he said "report can be submitted only after full and final work of digging." Kumar who had himself visited the Telhara site in his native Nalanda district on many occasions out of interest, said the study indicated that the Buddhist site belonged to the first century and not of the fifth century AD as known presently. Asked why the Centre was doing so, Kumar said "...Probably they do not want the world to know the rich history of Bihar. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today attacked the Centre on the arrest of JNU Students' Union president on sedition charge saying it was "too much of a design" to impose the ideology of ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, on the nation. He claimed it was "like imposing Emergency" in the country. "It's too much of a design to impose ideology of ABVP, which is the student wing of RSS in educational institutions," Kumar told reporters after 'Janata Ke Darbar Mein Mukhya Mantri' programme. The senior JD(U) leader joined the Left parties and Congress in asking Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to show evidence of JNUSU president raising anti-India slogans to justify booking him on sedition charges and that Lashkar-e- Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed supported the JNU stir. Kumar said JNU has its own distinct culture where students practise varied ideologies. "The BJP-led NDA government is unnecessarily trying to change the identity of JNU by imposing its own brand of thinking," he said. "For them the ideology of RSS is nationalism and those who do not believe in that, are anti-nationals," he said. The Chief Minister said he had met JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who hails from Bihar's Begusarai district, in the past and that he has a strong belief in the Left ideology, "but can't be an anti-national." Attacking the BJP, Kumar said "The saffron party should explain if attending ceremony on Nathuram Godse, killer of Mahatma Gandhi, by BJP leaders is example of nationalism?" "Or BJP general secretary Ram Madhav meeting an Independent MLA in Jammu and Kashmir (Engineer Rashid) who organised many events in memory of Afzal Guru, is a display of nationalism?" he asked. Kumar alleged the BJP was trying to impose its own ideology on the nation by "gagging ideological freedom of others" as the Union Government has failed on the economic front and has nothing to show to the country. "People who voted for BJP have seen their performance and will pack them out of power in the 2019 elections," Kumar added. India and Pakistan are in constant touch, High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale here said today, but maintained that no dates have been set for the Foreign Secretary-level talks. Talking to the media here, Bambawale said that the two sides were in touch over the issues of talks and Pathankot probe. "I cannot give any particular date for the Secretary- level talks, but Foreign Secretaries from both countries are in constant contact," he said. The scheduled meeting between Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India was postponed after the January 2 Pathankot attack for which India blames Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Bambawale, who arrived in Pakistan last month to assume the charge of the High Commission, said that the National Security Advisers of the two countries were in touch over the Pathankot attack. Two months after the arrest of two alleged Al Qaeda activists hailing from Sambhal district, the Uttar Pradesh government today said there is "no input" of the terror group's activities in any other part of the state but a close watch is being maintained. "There is no input of its (Al Qaeda's) activities in other districts," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan told the Assembly in a written reply to a question by Shyamdev Roychaudhari (BJP) and Akhilesh Pratap Singh (Cong) about any input of Al Qaeda's presence in the state after the arrest of its module in Sambhal in December last year. "But the state government is maintaining a close watch on all suspicious elements in order to check terror groups like it," Khan added in the written reply. The minister said, "Things are under control... Whevever we have any information swift action is taken." In December last, Delhi Police had arrested Zafar Masood and Mohammed Asif of Sambhal in UP for allegedly being part of Al Qaeda's Indian sub-continent (AQIS) module. In the supplementaries, Roychaudhari asked about UP being a soft target and Swami Prasad Maurya (BSP) asked whether the state government has held any meeting with the central government over the issue. Khan replied that whenever there is any input, the state cooperates with the Centre. "The state government is fully vigilant and extends help and cooperates with the NIA and the central government," the minister said. Khan said no religion or humanity permits the killing of innocent and Saudi Arabia, from from where Islam emanated, has also condemned it. He stressed on harmony among the various communities, saying "it is not in our interest that riots take place or the country is weakened. Odisha government today said it has received investment proposals to the tune of Rs 70,959 crore in various sectors including manufacturing and renewable energy. "We have received commitment of over Rs 70,000 crore from sectors like manufacturing to food processing and renewable energy. Odisha has become a choice for investors due to availability of skilled labour, political stability and resources," Odisha Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra told reporters here. Engineering major Larsen & Toubro is planning to invest Rs 12,000 crore for an aluminium refinery, while ITC is planning an investment of Rs 800 crore in food processing and hospitality. NALCO is looking to invest Rs 20,500, while Tata Steel SEZ plans to invest about Rs 2,000-2,500 crore in the state. Besides, GMR is looking to expand its power plant, US-based global electronics manufacturing services provider Sanmina is planning to set-up a facility and mining conglomerate Vedanta is planning to commission a downstream industrial park in the state. The minister said three companies have evinced interest in the renewable energy sector for solar and tidal projects. "We are especially focused on those sectors that can generate employment," he said. For the ease of doing business, Odisha government has launched a portal for central inspection framework and E-Biz aimed at making investment process transparent and reducing any scope of exploitation. Mishra further said ambassadors of Japan, Korea and an official delegation from China had met the state's Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and have shown interest in partnering with the state. "The Chinese delegation led by China Council for Promotion of International Trade has expressed interest in setting up an exclusive industrial park for Chinese companies," he said. Korean steel giant Posco had put its plans on hold for the USD 12-billion proposed steel plant in Odisha, but Mishra said he is hopeful of the project going through. (REOPENS BOM 33) Mishra said, the Korean ambassador has assured the Chief Minister that the Posco project in Odisha is not closed yet. "Due to global economic conditions, no company in the sector is making any investment. We are still hopeful of the Posco project in the state," he said. The steel maker's proposed USD 12 billion project at Jagatsinghpur district in Odisha for producing 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel is yet to take off even after a decade. Posco had entered into a pact with Odisha government on June 22, 2005 for the plant, which also included iron ore mine development. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli today said his maiden visit to India this week is aimed at bringing bilateral ties back on track by clearing "misunderstandings" even as he defended the new Constitution, opposed by Madhesis, as "inclusive and democratic". "There were some misunderstanding in the relations with our neighbour (India) and we have to correct the misunderstanding and bring back the relations on track. For that I am visiting India soon," Oli said ahead of his eight-day visit to India starting on February 19. Oli's much-anticipated visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes days after agitating Madhesis, largely of Indian-origin, ended their crippling protests and blockade that had soured the bilateral ties. "My visit to India is aimed at normalising the past uneasy situation and also to further promote our age-old ties," Oli said in his address at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties special workshop on "Democratic Transition in Nepal". "The year 2015 remained a landmark in our history as we were able to promulgate the new Constitution despite the hardship facing the people due to the five-month-long blockade in the country's southern border, even after suffering from the devastating earthquake that hit the country ten months ago," Oli said. "The new Constitution promulgated on September 20, 2015 was inclusive and democratic as it has all the features of a democratic Constitution including guarantee of human rights, independent judiciary, social justice and equality," he asserted. The Constitution was endorsed by overwhelming 85% members of the Constituent Assembly, he added. Madhesis say the new Constitution leaves them politically marginalised by dividing the country into seven provinces. Oli said that his government is pursuing the policy of dialogue, unity and consensus among all political parties in case of certain demands and grievances by some groups. "Now the government will concentrate on pushing ahead rapid social and economic transformation in the country in consonance with the rising aspirations of the people." Nepalese people are still undergoing hardships in their daily life and it might take some time to withstand the after-effects of recent disruption of supplies along the southern border, said Oli. As the supply system has already been resumed, normal situation will prevail soon so that the government can focus more on development and reconstruction works, he pointed out. In the near future, Oli said he will visit China to further deepen bilateral relations and enhance fruitful economic cooperation with our friends so that we can utilise our natural and human resources for our benefit, he said. "Nepal pursues the policy of seeking best of friendship and cooperation with all friendly countries with particular focus on her immediate neighbours," he said. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli today said his maiden visit to India this week is aimed at bringing bilateral ties back on track by clearing "misunderstandings" even as he defended the new Constitution, opposed by Madhesis, as "inclusive and democratic". "There were some misunderstanding in the relations with our neighbour (India) and we have to correct the misunderstanding and bring back the relations on track. For that I am visiting India soon," Oli said ahead of his eight-day visit to India starting on February 19. Oli's much-anticipated visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes days after agitating Madhesis, largely of Indian-origin, ended their crippling protests and blockade that had soured the bilateral ties. "My visit to India is aimed at normalising the past uneasy situation and also to further promote our age-old ties," Oli said in his address at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) special workshop on "Democratic Transition in Nepal". "The year 2015 remained a landmark in our history as we were able to promulgate the new Constitution despite the hardship facing the people due to the five-month-long blockade in the country's southern border, even after suffering from the devastating earthquake that hit the country ten months ago," Oli said. "The new Constitution promulgated on September 20, 2015 was inclusive and democratic as it has all the features of a democratic Constitution including guarantee of human rights, independent judiciary, social justice and equality," he asserted. The Constitution was endorsed by overwhelming 85 per cent members of the Constituent Assembly, he added. Madhesis say the new Constitution leaves them politically marginalised by dividing the country into seven provinces. Oli said that his government is pursuing the policy of dialogue, unity and consensus among all political parties in case of certain demands and grievances by some groups. "Now the government will concentrate on pushing ahead rapid social and economic transformation in the country in consonance with the rising aspirations of the people." Nepalese people are still undergoing hardships in their daily life and it might take some time to withstand the after-effects of recent disruption of supplies along the southern border, said Oli. As the supply system has already been resumed, normal situation will prevail soon so that the government can focus more on development and reconstruction works, he pointed out. In the near future, Oli said he will visit China "to further deepen bilateral relations and enhance fruitful economic cooperation with our friends so that we can utilise our natural and human resources for our benefit". "Nepal pursues the policy of seeking best of friendship and cooperation with all friendly countries with particular focus on her immediate neighbours," he said. A person was arrested today and gutkha worth Rs 72 lakh seized from a tempo on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in adjoining Palghar district, police said. The tempo was intercepted at around 5 pm and gutkha worth Rs 72 lakh, which was being transported to Mumbai from Gujarat was seized, Inspector Ravindra Magar of Kasa Police Station said. Production, sale and consumption of gutkha is banned in Maharashtra, he said. One person was arrested and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials were informed about the seizure, Magar said. A dentist with close links with the al-Qaeda has been arrested in Pakistan for his alleged involvement in the brazen terrorist attack on the minority Ismaili community last year that killed 45 people. Usman Ali Khan was arrested after a shootout near a bus stop here yesterday. A Kalashnikov rifle was seized from him. Khan's arrest is the third incident when a highly-educated professional has been arrested in connection with the case. Earlier, Adil Masood Butt, vice-chancellor of a private college and university, and Khalid Yousuf Bari, a former engineer at the national airline were arrested, The Express Tribune reported. While Bari is imprisoned, Butt is still on his 90-day preventive custody with the police unable to bring concrete evidence against both. The arrests highlights a worrying-trend in Pakistan, where more and more highly-educated people are linked to extremist groups. Station House Officer of Preedy Police Kamal Naseem said that Khan, who runs a clinic in the city, has been working for al-Qaeda since 2008 and was also friends with Saad Aziz, the alleged mastermind of the attack on Ismaili Muslim community. In May last year, armed men stormed a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community here and opened fire on them. 45 people had died in the brazen attack and all the victims were shot from a close-range. Naseem said the dentist used to generate funds for al-Qaeda and also gave shelter to militants of the globally proscribed organisation. Adopting a reconciliatory tone after weeks of tough-talk, PDP today said it has not demanded any confidence-building measures (CBMs) from its ally BJP as a pre-condition for government formation which will take "some time". BJP, in turn, also sounded hopeful of moving ahead with formation of coalition government in the state which has been under the Governor's Rule since January 8, a day after the sudden death of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh asserted that the alliance with BJP is in tact and there was no question of making any fresh demands to the coalition partner. "It (formation of the government) is being looked into. We don't want alliance primarily for gaining the power. We want the alliance (government) to work for the people of the state. So it (government formation) will take some time," he told reporters in Jammu in response to questions over government formation. He, however, did not reveal why the government formation will be delayed. "Some things are confidential. If something is revealed before time, things get derailed," PDP MP and former state minister said while insisting that the issue of people wanting the government "is in our mind". When attention was drawn to the demand by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti that the central BJP government should announce CBMs before any initiative could be taken to form the government, he claimed, "She (Mehbooba) has never said anything like CBMs. I don't know where from the newspapers have carried such a about CBMs." He went on to add, "CBMs actually take place between two hostile countries. It (PDP-BJP) is one alliance which has not disintegrated here. We are not talking to any enemy that we should demand CBMs." Mehbooba, seen as a successor to her father Mufti Sayeed as Chief Minister, has earlier talked tough, asserting that PDP "cannot move forward" in forming government with BJP unless the Centre takes "tangible confidence-building measures" to address the causes of alienation and works towards a lasting solution to the state's problems. She had also made it clear that she will not form the government with BJP if the Modi dispensation does not create a "conducive atmosphere" by committing CBMs for the state. Seeking to interpret these statements of Mehbooba, Beigh said, "she has said that there should be a timeframe on our 'Agenda of Alliance' -- that in the first year, we can do this thing and in the second year, next thing, and so on." Claiming that the PDP chief had "not used the word CBMs for any fresh demand", the party leader remarked, "But the thing is that Mehbooba Mufti said that whatever has been decided (in the Agenda of Alliance), a time-frame should be added to it. What we have agreed for six years has even been accepted by BJP people". In Delhi, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who had played a key role in forging the alliance, said, "We are communicating with each other. It is not that communication between us has broken down." BJP sources sounded hopeful of forming the alliance government that ruled the state for 10 months under Sayeed but the two parties have been unable to come together after Mehbooba Mufti took over PDP following her father's death. Asked about new conditions put forth by PDP for the resumption of alliance, BJP sources said the saffron party had shared its views too with the regional party and talks were continuing. Meanwhile, on the 40th day of Sayeed's death today, BJP leaders Sat Pal Sharma, Nirmal Singh, Bali Bhagat and C P Ganga visited Mehbooba's residence. "It was a courtesy call on the 40th day," Sharma told A Virgin Atlantic flight to New York with 267 people on board had to return to London's Heathrow airport following a laser light scare. The incident took place late last night (2013 GMT) shortly after take-off, before flight VS025 returned as a precaution, the airline said. There were 252 passengers and 15 crew on board the aircraft. A Virgin Atlantic crew member was recorded saying to Irish air traffic control that they had a "medical issue with one of the pilots after a laser incident after take-off". Scotland Yard tweeted: "Aircraft forced to return to Heathrow after being hit by a laser strike". Virgin Atlantic said it was working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser. A total of 414 "laser incidents" in the UK were reported to the UK Civil Aviation Authority between January and June 2015. The highest number of them - 48 - was at London's Heathrow Airport. Police today issued an order banning playing of loud music after 10 PM here in the view of approaching school exams. Parents of several students had approached the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Kanpur, and complained about the loud music being played at wedding ceremonies late into the night, police said. According to the complaint, students were finding it difficult to concentrate on their studies because of the loud music being played by the DJs at wedding halls and guest houses almost everyday. Strict orders have been issued to all the police stations to take immediate action against those found guilty of playing loud music after 10 PM, SSP Kanpur, Shulabh Mathur said. "Court has already banned playing of loud music after 10 PM but still police frequently receive complaints regarding this," Mathur said. The breach of the order would result into disciplinary action against the incharge of respective police stations, he added. A plea was today filed in the Delhi High Court seeking NIA probe in the sedition case in which JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar has been arrested, adding to the row over the issue. The plea, which was mentioned before a bench of Justices B D Ahmed and R K Gauba, also sought a judicial inquiry in the entire case, soon after a group of men in lawyers' robes thrashed students and mediapersons in the nearby Patiala House court complex. The petition, filed by one Ranjana Agnihotri, alleged that Delhi Police was not investigating the case properly and the matter should be transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The bench, however, posted the matter for hearing tomorrow observing that the Delhi Police was already conducting a probe and would take the case to its logical conclusion. "The police is probing it. What is the urgency? List it for tomorrow," the bench said. The petitioner's counsel, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, told the bench that media houses should be directed to place on record the video footage of the programme held in JNU on February 9 in which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. Kanhaiya was arrested on February 12 in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy over an event at the prestigious university against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The same day, he was remanded to three-day police custody by a court here after the police said his and five other absconding accused's alleged links with terrorist groups were being probed. A case was registered under Sections of 124 A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC against unknown persons at Vasant Kunj (North) Police station following complaints by BJP MP Maheish Girri and the ABVP. The event was held despite the varsity administration having cancelled the permission following a complaint by ABVP members, who had termed the activity as "anti-national". With Poland and India facing similar challenges in the field of power and coal, both the countries have scope to collaborate and solve the problems jointly, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Piotr Glinski said today. Speaking at the ongoing Make in India Week, Glinski, who has come with a delegation of Polish companies, said the country is keen to assist India in solving the issues related to coal and power. "India has now emerged as the biggest developing economy and it is the right time for us to collaborate with the country and continue our friendly relationship," he said. He said Polish companies have the technology which can help Indian companies solve the problems jointly. "Both the countries could sign technology cooperation agreement. Polish companies can also look to partner with Indian companies. We have also invited Indian students to enrol for power and coal courses in Poland to deepen their knowledge. Also India can derive from Poland's competitive advantage in technological aspect of waste management," he added. President Pranab Mukherjee has approved the dismissal of Viswa Bharati Vice Chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta, the first instance of sacking of the VC of a Central University, HRD ministry officials said. "The President, who is the Visitor of Central Universities, has approved the dismissal of Viswa Bharati VC Dattagupta, as proposed by the ministry," Ghanshyam Goel, the spokesperson for the HRD ministry said. Earlier this month, the HRD ministry had sent the file to the President recommending dismissal of Dattagupta, who was facing allegations of financial and administrative irregularities, after the Law Ministry and the Attorney General approved the procedures followed by it in the matter. The President's office, had earlier raised certain queries after which the ministry had sought the opinion of the Law Ministry. Mukherjee had twice earlier returned the file relating to Dattagupta to the HRD Ministry, the latest in November last year, asking whether denying the VC a "hearing in person" on allegations levelled against him was legally tenable, triggering speculation that both were not on the same page on the matter. However, after the Law ministry backed the HRD's view, the file was again sent to the President paving the way for the VC's dismissal. Amidst reports that Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Ministry had divergent views on the issue, HRD Minister Smriti Irani had met the President recently. Charges against Duttagupta included drawing salary from Visva Bharati and pension from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) simultaneously in alleged violation of the law. Under the law, he was required to have got his pension amount deducted from the pay he received from Visva Bharati. Besides this, Duttagupta was charged with making irregular appointments, including that of the Controller of Examinations, despite having no powers, and sanctioning key posts in violation of the Visva Bharati Act. Dattagupta, who was appointed in 2011, had over six months of his tenure left. Earlier he had challenged the legality of the Ministry's fact-finding committee but his petition was dismissed by the Calcutta High Court. Dattagupta had reportedly emailed his resignation to the President, which the HRD ministry was unwilling to accept. A property dealer escaped with minor injuries after he was hit by a speeding car allegedly driven by his former business partner in Sector-11 area here, police said today. Devendra Kumar Mangla had gone for morning walk on February 9 when he was hit by Sunil Mittal's car. The incident was captured on CCTV, they said. According to the Investigation officer Kartar Singh, Mangla and Mittal were business partners but developed dispute over share of a flat which they had jointly owned. Mittal and Mangla got into a verbal duel on February 7, after which Mangla approached police. On February 9, Mittal ran his car over Mangla, leaving him with minor injuries, Singh said. A complaint has been registered against Mittal following a threat call to Mangla yesterday, he said. The police has registered a case of attempt to murder against Mittal and a manhunt launched to nab him, Singh said. A magisterial inquiry was today ordered into the deaths of two civilians, including a girl, allegedly in firing by security forces yesterday, on a crowd that was holding a protest over an encounter in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. District Magistrate Pulwama, Niraj Kumar, ordered a time-bound probe to ascertain the cause of the deaths and injuries to the civilians after an encounter between security forces and militants in Kakapora area of the district, officials said. They said the inquiry officer Additional District Magistrate, Pulwama, Shahbaz Ahmad Mirza, has been asked to submit the inquiry report within 15 days. The two youths have been identified as Danish and Shahista, a police official said. A crowd of protesters yesterday started pelting stones at security forces at Lillhar in the Kakapora area near the encounter site, he said. The inquiry officer has said that members of the public who have any information on the incident, may appear before him in his office at the District Administrative Complex Pulwama to record the statement on any working day within a period of six days. "In case any person desires, he can also file a detailed affidavit duly attested during this period," the officer said. Meanwhile, the National Conference demanded a time-bound judicial probe into the killing of the two civilians, saying "a mere magisterial inquiry into the incident is not enough". "A mere magisterial inquiry cannot suffice given the nature and enormity of the tragedy. The party demands a high-level judicial probe into the incident that resulted in the death of two young civilians and injuries to many others," NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said in a statement here. He said the findings of the proposed judicial probe be made public in a time-bound manner. "Any attempt to subvert the truth would be highly regrettable. Responsibility should be fixed and the guilty should be punished," Sagar said. National Conference has said that "disproportionate and wanton use of lethal force" on unarmed civilians and incidents like these discredit the principles of democracy and peace. The Punjab government will bear the entire expenditure for installation of a life size statue of legendary Sikh warrior Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Delhi, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said, assuring full support to DSGMC for commemoration of his 300th birth centenary. A decision to this effect was taken by the chief minister during a meeting with President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Manjit Singh GK, who called on him at his residence here last night. Badal said the state government has already agreed to bear the entire expenditure for installation of a life size statue of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Delhi and every effort would be made to commemorate this event in a befitting manner, an official release said here today. Assuring full cooperation to DSGMC for this event, Badal said the state government would leave no stone unturned to ensure that it is observed with religious fervor and gaiety. The chief minister said support would also be solicited from Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to make this event a grand success. He said the entire Sikh community was indebted to the Sikh warrior, who fought the Mughals to after the death of 'sahibzadas' (sons) of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and in doing so laid down the foundation of 'Khalsa Raj' in India. Badal said Baba Banda was a true socialist who abolished the zamindari system and made tillers and cultivators the actual owners of the land and issued coins and seals in the name of Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh. Congress today hit out at Home Minister Rajnath Singh over his claim that Hafiz Saeed backed the JNU protest, accusing him of "communalising" the issue and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask his Pakistani counterpart to arrest the Lashkar chief for terror attacks in India. "Rajnath communalising#JNUATROCITY at PULPIT of Pulp Patriotism. Tell PM's Biryani friend Nawaz Sharief Arrest Hafiz Saeed for terror attacks," senior Congress Leader Manish Tewari said in a tweet today. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had yesterday claimed that the event on JNU campus in Delhi against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from Saeed, a statement that sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. On Saturday, a post on an alleged "fake" account @Hafeez SaeedJUD - along with the name Hafeez Muhamad Saeed - invited JNU students to Pakistan, "to continue their Pro-Kashmiri, Anti-India Propaganda in our Universities". "The incident (Afzal event) at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand," Singh had said, adding, "what has happened is very unfortunate." Later, a Home Ministry spokesperson said that Singh's statement was "based on the inputs available from different agencies." Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh sought to know from the government which agency had given inputs to the government on the issue. "Would Home Minister pl clarify on which Agency's input did he make a statement of JNU's connection with Hafiz Saeed ?," Singh said in a tweet. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today faced renewed calls from opposition parties to give proof for his claim that a flashpoint event at JNU campus received support from LeT founder Hafiz Saeed even as Delhi police said it has so far found "no evidence" in this regard. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged Rajnath Singh to show evidence to back up his claim yesterday that Saeed, the founder of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e- Taiba(LeT), supported the event at the campus in Delhi to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on his third death anniversary on February 9. Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi told reporters in Delhi that they have found "no evidence linking" the LeT to the incident at the Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU)so far. "As and when it comes, it will be shared with the Home Ministry," he said. Congress again hit out at Rajnath Singh over his claim, accusing him of "communalising" the issue and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask his Pakistani counterpart to arrest the Lashkar chief for terror attacks in India. "Rajnath communalising#JNUATROCITY at PULPIT of Pulp Patriotism. Tell PM's Biryani friend Nawaz Sharief Arrest Hafiz Seed for terror attacks," senior Congress Leader Manish Tewari said in a tweet. A Home Ministry spokesperson yesterday said that Singh's statement was "based on the inputs available from different agencies." RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale, meanwhile, alleged that the Afzal Guru event was a result of a "conspiracy" and those who allegedly raised slogans in support of Pakistan and the Parliament attack convict are "traitors" and should be charged with treason. Speaking at the Mahanagar Swayamsewak Sangam in Meerut, the RSS Joint General Secretary wondered how a generation of students indulging in anti-national sloganeering came up in an institution, which is known as a temple of learning. Textile major Raymond has reached an agreement with Maharashtra government for setting up textile manufacturing plant at an investment of Rs 1,400 crore in state's Amravati district, its chairman and managing director Gautam Hari Singhania said today. "We have reached an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government for setting up our integrated textile plant in the Amravati district of the state. The state government wants to develop a very large textile park in the district," Singhania told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing Make in India Week here today. He also said that his company has been manufacturing in India and Maharashtra in particular since 1925 as one of our factories is located in the Thane district of the state since that year. "I am very happy that the state government has moved in approving the project," he added. Raymond has taken 500 acres of land in Amravati, Maharashtra to set up textile manufacturing facilities with an investment of Rs 1,400 crore. "We are investing Rs 1,400 crore and I am told that after our investment is announced, four more textile parks are likely to come up within the state. When I spoke with the state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he said that he wants to develop the textile parks in Amravati as his dream project," Singhania said. Noting that the state government is doing its best to promote industry within Maharashtra, Singhania said that he believes that the bureaucracy has been reduced to a bit here which is a welcome move. Rich tributes were paid to Siachen martyr Sepoy Mustaq Ahmed, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, when his mortal remains arrived at the Begumpet airport here from New Delhi. Senior Army and other officials laid wreaths at the casket when the body of Ahmed was brought here in a transport aircraft from the national capital, a Defence spokesperson said. The body was later taken to his native village Parnapalle in Kurnool district, around 200 km from here, by road in an ambulance, he said. The burial will be conducted tomorrow with full military honours, the spokesperson said. Ahmed and nine other soldiers died after getting buried under a mass of snow when their high-altitude post on Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir was hit by an avalanche on February 3. Unfazed by public outcry, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today defended his senior in the Home Ministry, Rajnath Singh, saying there were enough indications that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed was backing the incident in Jawaharlal Nehru University. "Intelligence inputs indicated that Hafiz Saeed and some related organisations were backing the JNU incident. That is what the Home Minister had said," he told reporters here. Rijiju's comments came a day after Singh said that the JNU event in Delhi in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from terror outfit LeT founder Hafiz Saeed. The statement sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. "Intelligence inputs can't be shared or analysed in public. Political parties supporting the anti-nationals should learn what is patriotism," Rijiju said. Coming down heavily against political parties and others who were extending support to the protesting students of JNU, Rijiju said some of the students of the university were trying to immortalise terrorist Afzal Guru, who was convicted and hanged for Parliament attack, and they even talked about "breaking India". "There is a support group for a convicted terrorist who was hanged. The event was organised where people spoke about breaking India into pieces. And then they are getting support from political parties. This is very, very unfortunate," he said. The Union minister of state for home affairs said today, at a time, when the whole country was paying tribute to those martyrs who laid down their lives in Siachen, one section of the people was paying tribute to terrorists and their organisations. "We are clear in our stand. Anything anti- will be dealt firmly. Whether they are extreme Left or anyone. But no innocent will be harassed," he said. Rijiju said raising slogans in favour of a convicted terrorists like Afzal Guru was akin to endorsement of their anti-India designs. He charged people belonging to extreme Left ideology with playing with the image of the country. Seeking to portray police action against some JNU students similar to action against terrorists hiding in Golden Temple in 1984, Rijiju said (the then Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi had acted against militants hiding in Golden temple but that was not an action against the shrine but against terrorists. "Police acted against some students of JNU. It was not an action against the institution," he said. A worker of Republican Party of India was murdered by a group of 20-25 men in Kalyan town in the district last evening, police said. Police PRO Gajanan Kabdule identified the victim as Vishal Pagare. Ravi Kushawat, his rival, had allegedly asked Pagare to come to a place near the Kalyan railway station to discuss their dispute. When Pagare and a couple of his friend went there at around 7 pm, they were attacked by a mob of around 25 men, led by Kushawat, with swords and knives. Pagare and his friends ran and the assailants chased them to Pagare's office. A badly injured Pagare died at a local hospital this morning. The dispute was about mava selling, police said. Jaideep Sanap, Ravindra Singh and Lakhan Ram Singh were arrested today while search is on for others. A case has been registered at MFC police station. Police had tightened the security in the town today as tension prevailed. Russia's health minister said today that an Ebola vaccine developed by the country over the last 15 months had shown encouraging results and would undergo further testing in West Africa. "Phases one and two of testing were managed in Russia with volunteers and showed that the vaccine was very effective," health minister Veronika Skovortsova told reporters in Geneva. Skovortsova said the vaccine GamEvac-Combi, developed at a government vaccine research institute, would now be put to additional tests in Guinea. The West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been hardest-hit by the worst-ever Ebola outbreak which has killed more than 11,300 people since December 2013. The Russian minister made the comments ahead of a meeting Tuesday with the UN's World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan. The WHO is hoping to study the Russian findings before giving an opinion on the new vaccine. WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told AFP in an email that the UN agency was aware that "Russian regulatory authorities had approved an anti-Ebola vaccine. "The WHO secretariat is actively hoping for the possibility to study the data," regarding the performance of the vaccine, she added. According to the Russian official, the preliminary testing showed limited side effects in isolated cases, including headaches and slight body temperature rises. Russian officials at the briefing who led the testing said the sequential injections led to surge in antibody production among the trial subjects. So far no approved vaccine or treatment for Ebola exists and the WHO has authorised the fast-track development of drugs. JuD chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed today rejected claims by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that he had supported the event in JNU in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. "The India home minister has alleged that I am behind the protest of Kashmiri students in Jawaharlal Nehru University where they chanted slogans in favour of Pakistan. He also talked my tweet in this regard. I felt strange after learning the Indian home minister had given a reference of a tweet with my name," Saeed said in a video message posted on YouTube. "Neither I am behind the students protest nor I did any tweet to incite them (students). It is a fake tweet. India has made an issue out of this as if I am behind this protest campaign," said Saeed. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba said he wondered as how India is looking at the Kashmir freedom movement. "The Indian minister is misleading his own people and the world by levelling allegation on me that I am behind this protest campaign," he said. He asked Rajnath and other officials concerned to listen to the Kashmiri people. "Do not make Kashmiri freedom struggle a joke," he said. "I again say I did not incite the Kashmiri students. Don't you know how Afzal Guru was hanged? How Kashmiris are being brutally murdered in their homeland?...," he said. The Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief said India continues to neglect the Kashmir issue. "Kashmir Movement has been launched by the local people. Can't people of Kashmir raise their own voice?" he asked. He alleged that Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir to "oppress" the Kashmiris. Saeed, who is carrying a US bounty of $10 million, said India had also baselessly involved him in the 2008 Mumbai attack case. Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan says her husband Saif Ali Khan is not a good cook in the real life. In her coming film "Ki and Ka", Kareena will be seen as a career-oriented woman and Arjun Kapoor as her supportive house-husband who cooks. "Saif is not a great cook. He cooked pasta for me once and he took 12 hours for it," Kareena told reporters here at the trailer launch of the film. "Arjun has to give tips to Saif as he has become a masterchef now," she said. The 35-year-old actress also revealed that Saif is proud of her as she chose to do an unusual film like "Ki and Ka". "We usually don't discuss scripts. When Balki sir messaged me I was very excited about it ...I respect him as filmmaker. I told Saif that Balki is going to narrate a script to me. That time the conversation ended there," she said. "Last night Saif saw the promo. I wanted him to see the promo before anyone else does. He felt it was the best promo and was proud that I did this film as it's different. Arjun said he got a call from Saif praising him. "Generally he is not very vocal about things. When "Ishaqzaade" had released he had messaged me then. Yesterday night he said he was proud of us to do the film," Arjun said. "It meant a lot to me as this genre (romantic-comedy) he has done well. If an actor like him gives you that respect you feel you are in the right direction," said Arjun. The sanitation workers of the three municipal corporations here, who called off their strike last week, today told Delhi High Court that they have received their wages till January. The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath, which on February 10 had said that they were not concerned as to who will pay the wages and had directed the Delhi government and the municipalities to make the payments. During the hearing, the parties informed the bench that the salaries to all safai karamchaaris in the national capital have been paid. Taking note of the safai karamchaaris and workers unions' submission, the court listed the matter for February 23, saying it will "monitor the matter". The South Delhi Municipal Corporation informed the court that that they have also paid salaries to teachers and doctors till January this year. However, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation's engineer claimed in the court that they have not received their salary till date and sought the court's direction. The bench then said the issue required consideration and has not yet closed the hearing into the petition. The court is hearing three pleas filed by three different individuals. A PIL by Birender Sangwan has sought lifting of garbage littered on streets due to the safai karamchaaris strike and that the stir be called off as it was causing hardship to the general public. Another petition filed by D P Chandel, President of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), has sought directions to the Delhi government and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) to release arrears as per the sixth pay commission to employees of the civic body. The plea, also by Rakesh Vaid, its General Secretary, has prayed for release of salaries within the first week of each month. In January end, Rahul Birla moved the court when the safai karamchaaris decided to go on strike, claiming that the concerned authorities were not paying salaries and arrears since 2003 to the workers of the MCD. He had said the workers of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation -- had gone on strike last year too, which had led to "accumulation of garbage for number of days at different places, which made the lives of people pathetic and miserable". It said if the court does not intervene, it will spark a major health crisis in the capital. The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking a CBI probe into the 2002 hit-and-run case on the ground that corrupt means have been adopted in securing the acquittal of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. "These are all wild allegations. He must have spent Rs 25 crore on lawyers," a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi observed when the lawyer said there were reports quoting Salim Khan that they had to spend Rs 25 crore in securing acquittal for his actor son. "What are the materials to substantiate this? They must have hired lawyers. How can you say that they did something wrong," it said and dismissed the PIL filed by advocate M L Sharma. The PIL had alleged that Salman and others had "succeeded" in manipulating "police and judicial system" in the case. The same bench is hearing appeals filed by Maharashtra government and the family of the victim, who were killed in the incident, against the acquittal of Salman in the case. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represents the state government in the case, had argued that Salman was driving his SUV in a drunken state when it ran over the victims sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai in 2002. He had also debunked the theory that instead of Salman, his driver Ashok Brahmadev Singh was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser on the night of September 28, 2002 when it crashed into a Bandra pavement, killing one and injuring four others. The high court, in its verdict passed on December 10 last year, had held that prosecution had failed to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that the actor was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and was drunk. The judgement by the high court had come on an appeal by Khan, seven months after he was pronounced guilty by the trial court. The magistrate's court had conducted the trial for a much lesser offence of causing death by rash and negligent driving. On May 6 last year, a sessions court had convicted Salman in the case. China confirmed its second imported Zika case today, a day after the first victim was discharged from hospital, state media reported. Few cases of the mosquito-borne illness have been reported in Asia, but the World Health Organisation has declared a global health emergency to combat Zika as cases spread elsewhere. Beijing confirmed its first imported case of Zika on February 9. Officials said the 34-year-old man was diagnosed with the virus after he returned from Venezuela on January 28 and reported a fever, headache and dizziness, Xinhua agency reported. He was treated in hospital in Jiangxi province and had fully recovered, it said yesterday. The agency today quoted health officials as confirming a second imported case but gave no immediate details. While it causes only mild flu-like symptoms in most people, Zika is strongly suspected of causing a rapid rise in the number of children born with microcephaly -- abnormally small heads and brains -- to mothers infected during pregnancy. Brazil has been most affected by the outbreak that has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.5 million people in the country infected since early 2015. Authorities today imposed restrictions in parts of the city following a strike call by separatists against the killing of two civilians allegedly in firing by security forces during a violent protest yesterday. Shops and other business establishments remained closed due to the call given by separatists groups including both factions of Hurriyat Conference. The two youths, including a girl, were killed and several others injured as protesters clashed with police in Pulwama yesterday. They were protesting against an encounter in Kakapora area of the district in which a militant was killed. Authorities have deployed police and paramilitary personnel in strength in the south Kashmir town to maintain law and order, a police official said today. He said there was no report of any untoward incident in the area since this morning. Authorities also imposed restrictions in six police station areas of the city following violent protests last evening, the official said. He said the police station areas where restrictions have been imposed are Khanyar, Nowhatta, Rainawari, Maharajgunj, Safakadal and Maisuma. (Reopens DES1) The CRPF gave an account of the damage suffered by it in the Valley since yesterday. "18 CRPF personnel injured & 2 CRPF vehicles damaged in 34 incidents of stone pelting involving the Force in Kashmir Valley in past 24 hrs," it said in a tweet. A Chennai resident has donated bedding items worth Rs 58 lakh to Shirdi's Shri Sai Ashram, run by the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST), an official of the Trust said today. "K V Ramani, a devout Chennai resident, donated 6,000 pieces of blankets, bedsheets, pillows and pillow covers worth Rs 58 lakh to Shri Sai Ashram," SSST officer Bajirao Shinde said. "In 2013, Ramani had, at a cost of Rs 110 crore, got the "Bhakta Nivas" constructed for Saibaba devotees. The 1536-room building includes 384 air-conditioned rooms, canteen and other facilities for the pilgrims' stay," he said. Maharashtra Co-operative department has issued showcause notices to some former as well present directors of various co-operative banks, including the Mumbai Co-operative Bank, for alleged irregularities. The state government has recently issued an ordinance that makes provisions for disallowing co-operative bank directors, responsible for loss and irregularities in banks, from contesting co-operative elections for the next ten years. Although the amendment bill in co-operative law was not passed in Winter Session of the state Legislature held in Nagpur last December, the BJP government ruled out objections of the Opposition and brought the ordinance last month. A total of 44 former and present directors were responsible for losses in various district co-operative banks in the state, said Additional Commissioner and Special Registrar, Maharashtra Co-operative Department, Sunil Pawar. "The Reserve Bank of India took action against district co-operative banks, including those in Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Nashik, Dhule-Nandurbar, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Latur, Parbhani, Aurangabad, Akola, Amravati and Yavatmal in 2012," he said. "The then board of directors had taken decisions that affected the banks immensely, and the RBI suspended the licences of these banks and disallowed them to continue with their banking business," Pawar said. He further said that due to lacunae in the present co-operative law, the department has not been able to take stringent action against these directors. Hence, the state has brought an ordinance so that such directors can be kept away (from the bank activities) for next ten years, he said. State Co-operative Minister Chandrakant Patil said:"There were no provisions to stop corrupt directors from contesting elections of co-operative banks, cotton mills or sugar factories." Though the department tried to take action against them, the directors pressurised the (then) state government for stay orders, he said. "Now, all these directors will not be able to contest elections," he said. Pawar said that notices have been issued on January 29, 30 and February 1 this year to the directors and they have been given 15 days time to submit their replies. Meanwhile, former NCP minister and Kolhapur bank's ex-director Hasan Mushrif said that the department has accepted his plea to extend deadline for submitting reply to the showcause till March 2. Dilip Sopal, also a former NCP minister and Kolhapur bank's ex-director, alleged political vendetta. "This is a political vendetta against the directors as the BJP could not win the co-operative sector," he said. Dhule-Nandurbar co-operative bank's former director Shyam Saner alleged that the state does not want them to continue as directors of the bank. "The BJP government has decided to keep Congress-NCP leaders out from the co-operative sector, and so we know that our reply will not be accepted and we will have to eventually resign from the post of directors," Saner said. Pakistan's Sindh Assembly today passed the Hindu Marriage Bill making the province the first in the country to allow the minority community to register their marriages, amid calls from a leading Hindu group to remove a controversial clause in the landmark bill. The bill, moved in the assembly by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Khuhro, will apply to entire Sindh province, which has a sizeable population of Hindus. "Since the creation of Pakistan, it is the first time that such a law is being passed. The decision has been taken to provide mechanism for formally registering Hindu marriages in Sindh," Khuhro said. It was passed after a national parliamentary panel last week cleared its draft, paving way for registration of marriage and divorce for the Hindu community in Pakistan. The bill fixes the minimum age of marriage at 18. According to the bill, it is necessary that a marriage is solemnised after consent of both male and female and at least two witnesses must be present at the time of the solemnisation and registration of the marriage. According to the bill, every marriage being solemnised under this act will be registered with the union council/ward within 45 days of the solemnisation. The bill should have retrospective effect for the purpose of validation and registration of the marriage prior to this law. Any person who fails to get his marriage registered will be liable to pay a fine of 1,000 rupees. Other provinces and the federal government need to adopt separate bills to enable Hindu get marriages registered. The absence of a Hindu Marriage law was a huge hindrance to get marriage certificates, national identity cards and share in property. Hindus in Pakistan have long demanded a separate personal law to regulate their marriages. But the bill has generated controversy in equal measures over a clause that calls for annulment of marriage if any of the spouses converts their religion. Ramesh Vankwani, patron in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said the Hindu community in the country was concerned about the clause. "The objectionable clause 12(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Bill can be used for forced conversions of Hindu girls and women. It states that a marriage could be terminated if either spouse converts to another religion," he said. "Already we have brought up the issue of forced conversion of Hindu women and girls particularly in rural areas of Sindh with the government and this clause can lead to its misuse," said Vankwani, also a lawmaker of the ruling PML-N party. There were many instances when Hindu girls were abducted and later presented before court with certificates confirming their conversion and marriage to a Muslim man, he said. Seeking to put an end to the controversy, chairperson of standing committee on law and justice Nasreen Jalil said she has calleda meeting of the committee this week to discuss the concerns expressed by the Hindu community. The Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team on black money has asked the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to verify whether USD 505 billion had flown out of the country during 2004-13, when Congress-led UPA was in power. The instruction to DRI comes on the heels of US-based think-tank Global Finance Integrity stating in a report that India had fourth largest outflow of black money in the world with a whopping USD 51 billion being siphoned out every year between 2004 and 2013. "The SIT obtained detailed calculations of country-wise illicit financial flows for each of these years from Global Financial Integrity," a finance ministry statement said. The details, it said, have been sent to DRI on February 8, which has been asked to "verify the extent to which the calculations are correct". The SIT was of the opinion that since reports like those of Global Financial Integrity were widely used in academic circles and for debates, it is "very crucial to ascertain the veracity of such reports". Further necessary action shall be taken by SIT after receipt of report from DRI, it added. "The Global Financial Integrity, in its report, 'Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries 2004-2013' has estimated that illicit financial flows out of India for the period 2004-2013 to be the tune of USD 505 billion," it said. The statement said that SIT in its various reports has highlighted the menace of trade based money laundering, a major source of illicit money flow out of the country. In its second report, SIT had recommended that there should be institutional mechanism through a dedicated set up which examines mismatch between export-import data with corresponding data of other countries on a regular basis. The SIT has also recommended that wherever possible, especially in case of commodities, a system for cross checking of prices of imports-exports with international prices may be done. "Various reports including those by Global Financial Integrity have emphasised that Trade Based Money Laundering is the main medium or process through which funds are illegally taken out of countries," it added. The government had also extended the deadline for payment of tax and penalty under IDS and allowed declarants to pay the amount in three instalments by September 30 next year. The first instalment of 25 per cent under the IDS 2016 will have to be paid by November 2016, followed by another 25 per cent by March 31, 2017. The remaining amount will have to be paid to the exchequer by September 30, 2017. Earlier the tax, surcharge and penalty under the black money disclosure window were required to be paid by November 30. The scheme was announced by the government with an aim to bring out black money from the domestic economy. The government had come out with a similar scheme for Indians holding undisclosed income abroad. The scheme will apply to undisclosed income whether in the form of investment in assets or otherwise, pertaining to financial year 2015-16 or earlier. Six soldiers of Madras Regiment Centre were today injured in a road accident when they were going to Bengaluru to attend the funeral service of two soldiers of their unit who died in the recent avalanche in Siachen. The mishap occurred when the driver of their van lost control of the vehicle on a turn at Kallahatti, 30 kms from here, and overturned, leaving six soldiers injured, police said. The soldiers were on their way to take part in the funeral service in Bengaluru, where the mortal remains of Nagesh and Mahesh are expected to arrive this evening. The injured soldiers were admitted to the government hospital here, while the others continued their journey to Bengaluru, police said. Online market place Snapdeal has raised USD 200 million from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and other investors as it looks to add more muscle to compete with likes of Amazon and Flipkart. The latest fund-raising follows USD 500 million raised last August from Alibaba Group, SoftBank and Foxconn. Founded in 2010, the Softbank-backed firm has Snapdeal has over 2.75 lakh sellers on board. "We see these investments as a continuing endorsement of Snapdeal's strategy to build India's most reliable and frictionless commerce ecosystem," Snapdeal Chief Financial Officer Anup Vikal said in a statement. The company continues to make targeted investments in building internal and external capabilities to consistently deliver optimal experience, he added. Ontario Teachers' is Canada's largest single-profession pension plan with USD 154.5 billion in net assets. Since its establishment as an independent organisation in 1990, it has built an international reputation for innovation and leadership in investment management and member services. Iron Pillar is a venture capital fund focused on filling the gap for mid stage technology investments in India. In August, Snapdeal had raised USD 500 million (about Rs 3,269 crore) from Chinese firm Alibaba Group, Taiwan's Foxconn and Japan's SoftBank. Existing investors, including Temasek, BlackRock, Myriad and Premji Invest, also participated in this round. The company has raised over USD 1.5 billion so far including funding from Softbank (USD 627 million) and Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata (personal investment). PE firms and angel investors are aggressively funding startups and internet-led businesses in India, targeting higher returns in the years to come. Rivals Flipkart and Amazon have also committed to invest about USD 8 billion over the next few years in India, where e-commerce is growing at a blazing pace, driven by affordable smartphones and increasing internet penetration. The investments are being made in areas like logistics and infrastructure as well as new technologies to enhance customer experience. Somalia's former defence minister was killed in a car bomb today, the latest in a string of attacks in the capital Mogadishu, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion in the central K4 district of the city, but Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have carried out similar bombings in the past. Muhidin Mohamed, who was defence minister in 2008, "died after the violent elements attached an explosive device beneath the driver's seat of his car," said police officer Ibrahim Mohamed. "Another person was wounded in the attack." The Shebab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, which is protected by 22,000 African Union troops. "I heard the explosion near the K4 area and I saw a dead body - he was horribly wounded with blood all over his body," said Samiro Muktar, a witness. Meanwhile a military drone reportedly crashed in southern Somalia on Monday in a remote area held by Shebab fighters, residents said. "We saw what looked like a small aircraft crashing in the mountains," said Abudlahi Muhidin, a resident in a nearby village. "Shebab fighters carried away the wreckage on a vehicle." Several Shebab commanders have been reportedly killed by US drone strikes. Shebab insurgents said they had seized the wreckage of an unmanned aircraft, which landed in a hilly region south of Bardhere in the far southern Gedo district, close to the border of Kenya and Ethiopia. "Mujahedeen fighters secured control of the wreckage of the plane and the equipment it carried," a pro-Shebab website claimed. The Islamists are on a mission to disprove claims they are close to defeat since being routed from Mogadishu in mid-2011. Last week the Shebab claimed responsibility for a bomb attack which ripped a hole in a passenger plane shortly after takeoff from the capital Mogadishu earlier this month. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said his party favoured "giving" equal rights to women. "Society can progress only when half of its population gets equal rights and justice...Samajwadi Party is in favour of giving equal rights to women...Constitution has given them equal rights and the society also needs to give them their rightful place," he said. He was speaking at a function organised by an NGO to provide means of livelihood to victims of domestic violence and oppression. "The right socialism will come only when women become financially capable and prosperous," he said adding that half the population is making advancement through its hard work. Since women often do not come out open on the problems faced by them, voluntary organisations need to work along with the government to improve their lot, Akhilesh said. The State Vigilance Commission (SVC) in Jammu and Kashmir today sought status report on probe into the alleged embezzlements in Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department (CA&PDD) from the State Vigilance Organization (SVO). The SVC exposed large scale embezzlements and other gross irregularities allegedly committed by an official of CA&PD Department, Udhampur, an SVC spokesman said in a statement here. SVC started probing the matter after receiving a complaint by the Chairman Udhampur Transport Cooperative Ltd against the official of CA&PD Department Udhampur in connection with misappropriation of government ration, huge bung-lings in distribution and trans-shipment of ration to different areas in connivance with private mill owners, dealers and truck drivers. Earlier, a report submitted by the Director CA&PD Department, Jammu prima-facie showed that the former director of the department had tried to suppress the issue by acting as a mere negotiator rather than to play a responsible role to expose the truth on the basis of available immediate evidence. The SVC observed that a case stood already registered in the SVO against the accused official in connection with syphoning off essential commodities as well as criminal breach of trust. Odisha capital city of Bhubaneswar was today felicitated for being one of the cleanest cities in the country under the 'Swachh Sarvekshan' award category. Mayor of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation A N Jena and BMC Commissioner Krishan Kumar received the award from Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu at New Delhi, an official release said. As per the list of cleanest cities announced by the Union Urban Development Ministry as part of its 'Swachh Sarvekshan' (Cleanliness Survey), 'top mover' award has been conferred on Bhubaneswar. The survey, which was carried across 75 cities between January 1 and 20, has ranked Bhubaneswar at 24th place. In the previous survey, Bhubaneswar was ranked 331. Cuttack, the second city from Odisha in the survey, has been ranked 59th. "We have been identified as the top city in the Eastern Zone and overall we have been ranked 24th," said Bhubaneswar Mayor Jena adding, the survey was conducted The recognition for Bhubaneswar came close on the heels of it being declared as the best among 100 smart cities in the country. Swedish companies which are into manufacturing are bullish on India and see the country as a major investment destination as well as an important hub for exports, says a survey. According to the business climate survey conducted by Swedish Chamber of Commerce India, about 70 per cent of the Swedish companies see India as a major hub for exports. "This is against only 30 per cent of the companies expressing such sentiment last year," it said. Swedish companies have been present in India for decades and have helped generate 1.60 lakh direct jobs in the country. Companies like ABB, Atlas Copco, Camfil, Ericsson, IKEA, SAAB, Sandvik, Scania, SKF, Tetra Pak, Volvo have substantial presence in the country. "The companies also feel that for India to truly take its place in the global value chain, there are key reforms that need to materialise," it added. The survey is based on the experience of 141 Swedish companies doing business in India from sectors like engineering products, IT/telecom, fashion and lifestyle, healthcare, automotive, services and defence. As per the survey, the National Capital Region (NCR), Maharashtra and Karnataka form the major hub for Swedish companies. "About 90 per cent indicate that they will focus their investments in states they are already present in while 30 per cent are looking to expand into 3 new states - Tamil Nadu (10 companies), Rajasthan (8) and Gujarat (6)," it added. "Last year, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and AP/Telangana were the top states," the survey said. Maharashtra continued to be a very important hub for Swedish businesses, with one out of 3 companies having their head office in the state, while most manufacturing companies have some presence. Companies have chosen Maharashtra mainly because of the strategic location for imports and exports and proximity to strategic business partners, it reasoned. "Swedish companies in India have a positive business sentiment in doing business here despite a slightly lower figure compared to last year. They continue to invest and expand their manufacturing and operations," Fredrika Ornbrant, Consul General of Sweden, Mumbai, said. The survey has been conducted by Swedish Chamber of Commerce India, in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden, Consulate General in Mumbai, and Business Sweden. A Maharashtra government-appointed taskforce on tackling the agrarian crisis has mooted a two-pronged strategy of having a distress management relief plan and restoration of agriculture extension services. Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM) headed by Kishor Tiwari was constituted by the state government for redressal of farmers' grievances and was asked to submit a report on measures needed to tackle agrarian crisis in the 14 drought-prone districts of Maharashtra. In the report submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently, Tiwari has proposed laying out a distress management relief plan that covers food security, health services improvement, providing 100 per cent fresh farm credit and crop insurance cover to every farmer. It also includes improving educational facilities in distress farm suicide area, zero pendency and corruption free local governance, livelihood management as well as job creation under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Mudra scheme. The second of suggestions includes restoration of agriculture extension services, participation of Krishi Vikas Kendras (KVKs) in agro-counselling, reintroduction of food, edible oil and pulses crop, soil moisture management, long term farm credit policy and income based resource mobilisation in rural economy. The activist also proposed that farmers of the 14 districts be made to shift from rain sensitive crops to cultivating edible oil seeds abd pulses while nalas, rivers that were dead be revived under the Jalyukt Shivar project. He also suggested that the government create post- harvest processing facilities, health care and educational facilities for farmers and their children and ensure hundred per cent fresh farm credit and crop insurance cover to every farmer. The other suggestions include covering seven million families, farm labourers and landless farmers in the 14 districts under the National Food Security Act, which will give average annual relief of Rs 6,000 to every family. "There is urgent need to improve the public education system that shall reduce the dependence of farmers on costly private educational facilities," Tiwari, who has been accorded the status of MoS by state government, told India's Tata Consultancy Services, a leading global IT, consulting and business solutions firm, today said it has been recognised as the UK's top employer by a certification body for the second time in a row. TCS is one of just 70 employers to receive a Top Employers accreditation by the Top Employers Institute based on in-depth research into nine core HR criteria: talent strategy, workforce planning, on-boarding, learning and development, performance management, leadership development, career and succession management, compensation and benefits and company culture, it said in a release here. Established in 1991, the 'Top Employers' certification is designed to identify and recognise the world's leading organisations in the field of HR management and employee conditions. The award of the certification is based on an industry- leading research methodology, conducted by the Top Employers Institute and audited by Grant Thornton. Nupur Singh Mallick, HR Director, Tata Consultancy Services UK and Ireland, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded the UK's number one Top Employer for the second year running and are looking forward to building on this progress as we continue to invest in training and development for our staff. "As one of the UK's biggest IT and digital employers, TCS' priority has always been to create a positive, inspiring environment for its employees, giving them a platform to help them realise their potential and our clients access to a world-class talent pool. Eleanor Nickerson, Director of UK Operations for the Top Employers Institute, said: "Our in-depth examination concluded that Tata Consultancy Services provides an outstanding employee experience, with high quality initiatives that engage, reward and motivate employees, ensuring that people can develop themselves personally and professionally, and build a rewarding career." TCS has a UK workforce of over 11,000 employees based across 30 locations, including London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Ipswich, Norwich, Peterborough and Liverpool. The company delivers digital projects in the UK for more than 150 customers, including Boots, BT, Diageo, National Grid, Nationwide, NEST, Marks & Spencer, Thames Water and Virgin Atlantic. This is sixth consecutive year that TCS has been certified as one of the UK's top employers, and builds on a number of recent awards in recognition of the company's employee engagement and development activities, the release said. A 17-year-old girl in Pakistan's southwest, who led a protest against suspension of classes at her college owing to a shortage of female teachers, has committed suicide alleging that the college principal refused to send her examination form to the board. Saqiba Kakar, a second year Intermediate student of Government Girls College in Muslim Bagh ingested poisonous pills on Friday after the principal of her college refused to send her examination form to the intermediate education board. Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri of the Balochistan province has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Kakar and 12 other girls were suspended from sitting in their Intermediate final exams by Principal Abida Ghous of Government Girls Degree College, Muslim Bagh for staging a demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club in June 2015 demanding resumption of classes at their institution, her family said. The girls, who had travelled all the way to Quetta last year to stage a protest, said the principal, had cancelled classes because there were "no female teachers at the school". The girls also claimed that around a 100 girls were not receiving education just because the principal had removed all the male teachers from the college who were teaching there for last many years. Azizullah, the brother of Saqiba said despite the girls submitting apologies to the college principal for the protest they were not allowed to sit in their final exams and his sister was extremely depressed. The Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education exams are scheduled to start from April 1. Baluchistan Education Minister Rahim Ziaratwal said a three-member committee had been formed to investigate the tragic incident. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as a revenge-seeking fur trapper in The Revenant won him best actor at Bafta where the film dominated by bagging the best picture and director trophies. Indo-British director Asif Kapadia's critically acclaimed documentary Amy on the late British songstress Amy Winehouse won the best documentary award at the British awards ceremony, hosted by Stephen Fry. DiCaprio, who is the front-runner to win the best actor trophy at Oscars this year for his physically-gruelling performance in the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's film, was previously nominated for The Aviator, The Departed and most recently The Wolf of Wall Street. The Revenant, based on the true-story of a 19th century fur trapper, who survived despite being mauled by a bear and abandoned for dead by his friends, won five major awards at the ceremony, while Carol had to return empty handed despite maximum nominations. In his acceptance speech, DiCaprio paid tribute to British actors like Gary Oldman, Peter O'Toole and Daniel Day Lewis for influencing him as a performer. He also thanked his mother for helping him. Inarritu, who swept the Oscars last year with The Birdman and a favourite this year as well, said the film's success at the Bafta awards was overwhelming. Brie Larson won the best actress Bafta for her poignant portrayal of a woman kidnapped and kept in a small room with her child in Room. Her trophy was accepted by the film's director. George Miller's apocalyptic action movie Mad Max: Fury Road won four Baftas for hair and make up, editing, costume design and production design. Both supporting acting prizes went to British winners. DiCaprio's Titanic co-star Kate Winslet won her third Bafta trophy for her role as an Apple marketing executive Joanna Hoffman in Steve Jobs. Her previous wins were for Sense and Sensibility and The Reader. Mark Rylance won in the best supporting actor category for his role of a Russian spy in Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies. Journalism drama Spotlight won one in the best original screenplay category, and co-writer and director Tom McCarthy dedicated the award to the reporters of the Boston Globe, who broke the story of the Catholic Church paedophile priest cover-up. The Big Short won the best adapted screenplay award. Nick Hornby's Brooklyn was adjudged the outstanding British film. Emmanuel Lubezki's win for cinematography for his work on The Revenant was his fourth Bafta. The Mexican has won for the past three years, having previously picked up statuettes for Birdman and Gravity. Best animation went to Disney/Pixar toon Inside Out and helmer Pete Docter accepted the award and called on young people in secondary school who were struggling and trying to figure things out to "express themselves." Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer went to Jordanian pic Theeb, directed by Naji Abu Nowar, beating out the more well-known Ex Machina, helmed by Alex Garland. Theeb is up for an Oscar for best foreign language film. Star Wars: The Force Awakens snapped up best special visual effects for Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh and Neal Scanlan. The EE Rising star Bafta award, the only award voted for by the public, went to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Attack the Block British star John Boyega. The Revenant also won for best sound, while the original music trophy went to Ennio Morricone for The Hateful Eight. The best British short film honour went to Operator, a movie funded by Kickstarter and helmed by Caroline Bartleet while best short animation went to Edmond. The obituary section included tributes to Alan Rickman, Maureen O'Hara, Omar Sharif, David Bowie, Ron Moody, Frank Finlay, Saeed Jaffrey and Christopher Lee. Sidney Poitier, the first African-American to receive a best actor Oscar for his role in 1963 movie Lilies of the Field, was honoured with a Bafta Fellowship, the highest accolade, for his outstanding and exceptional contribution to the business. He was unable to attend the ceremony in person due to health reasons. Angels Costumes, the world's longest-established costume house, now in its 175th year, received the outstanding British contribution to cinema award. Thousands of European steelmakers descended on the EU capital Brussels today demanding that officials do more to stop the flood of cheap imports from China. Police said about 5,200 representatives from Europe's struggling steel industry circled the EU's Berlaymont headquarters demanding that China be denied market-economy status, an official designation that would make it harder to raise barriers against cheap Chinese steel products. "Say 'no' to MES for China," said a banner carried by steelworkers dressed in hardhats and fluorescent uniforms, referring to the market economy status long denied Beijing. China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 as a developing country economy run largely by the state but was promised a review within 15 years to win a change in status to put it on a par with its major trading partners. Without the market economy status, the WTO's 162 member countries are much freer to slap anti-dumping measures on cheap Chinese products. The US and Canada are determined to continue denying China the designation, but fears are that Europe may forge ahead in an effort to avoid angering Chinese authorities. Though declining for years, the European steel sector counts for 11 per cent of the world's total output and employs about one million people in some of Europe's most economically fragile regions. "If surrendered, China MES could cost the EU millions of jobs and hundreds of billions of euros in lost growth," said a statement by AEGIS, a lobby grouping several industries that would be affected by the change in status. "We are calling on EU leaders to deny Market Economy Status to China, as it simply is not yet a market economy," it added. The European Commission, which handles trade matters for the EU's 28 member states, has until the end of the year to make a decision. At a briefing, Commission spokesman Daniel Rosario insisted that the decision would be strictly based on technical grounds. "We are not engaging in a broader philosophical discussion on whether China is a market economy or not," he said. "This is a specific discussion in the very specific and strict framework of the anti-dumping legislation of the EU," he said. Last week, it tried to pre-empt industry anger by announcing three new probes into China steel imports. Of 37 EU trade defence measures currently in force, 16 involve Chinese products. Three school children were crushed to death and two others injured by a speeding truck at Mathcolony in North 24 Parganas district this morning, the police said. A group of school children were waiting for bus by the side of Belgharia Expressway when the truck ran into them at around 9 AM. Three children died on the spot while two others injured were taken to the hospital, police said. The victims were in the age group of 5-8 years. Angry locals have put up a road blockade and the police were trying to pacify them. The truck driver managed to flee, they added. 10 Indian fishermen suffered "internal" injuries when Sri Lankan navy personnel allegedly attacked them in the sea near Katchatheevu today. Police said the fishermen from Rameswaram were attacked with iron rods and ropes while fishing near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in the 1970s. One of the fishermen, Anthony, who was injured in his fingers, had been admitted to a hospital at Ramanathapuram. President of the Rameswaram Fishermen's association, Sagayam alleged thatfishermen onboard nearly 50 boats were driven away by the Lankan personnel. "Toothless" law and lack of effective prosecution has led to the mushrooming of quacks rather than stopping such "unscrupulous people", a Delhi court observed while acquitting a man accused of wrongfully practising medicine. The court acquitted the man, who is also facing trial in a separate case where a child died after the accused allegedly administered him an injection, saying there was lack of evidence against him owing to investigative lapses which have entirely dented the prosecution case. "Quackery in the society is on a rise where unscrupulous people start practising Allopathy and Ayurvedic medicines which may at times take lives of the innocent persons. ... The toothless law would help and encourage these people more rather than to stop quackery," Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma observed. The magistrate, while freeing the accused who has served as a medical assistant in Army Corps, noted that the Delhi Bhartiya Chikitsa Parishad (DBCP) Act 1998, under which the accused was charged, does not provide for seizure of articles during raid which shows that it "lacks teeth for effective prosecution of persons involved in quackery." "The prosecution has to produce the evidence which is supportive of their case and which requires seizure of things, articles, medicines, prescription slips, records, video footage and other evidence related to, facts and circumstances which are totally ignored in this case," the court said. It further said, "it is apparent that the accused served in Army Corps as medical assistant and did not have any requisite qualification to act like a doctor and administer medicines to patients but due to lack of any evidence against him owing to investigative lapses, it dented prosecution case in entirety." Expressing concern over rising number of quacks, the court said that medical profession requires specialised education and authorisation and in its absence, such offenders will grow and destroy people's faith in the field of medicine. According to the prosecution, on July 8, 2010, the DBCP, through its Anti-Quackery team held an inspection in Palam area in South West Delhi to check any unqualified person practising Indian system of Medicine. During a raid conducted at the premises of the accused at Palam Colony, he was allegedly found practising medicine without licence and authorisation. The prosecution said theaccused, who claimed to be a retiredNursing Assistant andBTA (BloodTransfusion Assistant) fromArmyMedicalCollege,failed to producehis registration certificate with Delhi Bhartiya Chikitsa Parishad andalso hismedical qualificationto practice medicine. The court said, "Thesequacksposeagreatthreatto societyandif these unscrupulous peoplewouldbeallowedto gofreeduetotoothlessprosecution,it wouldbedetrimental tointerestofgeneralpublicandbeneficialtooffenders." "Themedicalprofessionrequiresspecializededucation and authorisation to practice from competent authority and in absenceofboth,thequacksinthesocietywillgrowandwould destroy faithofthegeneralpublicinthefieldofmedicine asthey areboundto commitseriousmistakesduetolackof competencewhichwouldresult indeathsandotherrelated problemstotheinnocentpeople," it observed. In his defence, the accused said he was innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case. A top ruling party official called today for South Korea to develop its own nuclear deterrent to combat the growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea. Support for a nuclear-armed South Korea is a minority voice in the country, but one that grows louder after every nuclear test by the North. US tactical nuclear weapons were withdrawn from South Korea in late 1991, though the country remains under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella. In the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test last month, Won Yoo-Cheol, the ruling Saenuri Party's floor leader, said it was time for the weapons to be re-deployed or for South Korea to get its own. "We cannot borrow an umbrella from a neighbour every time it rains. We need to have a raincoat and wear it ourselves," Won was quoted as saying by the Yonhap agency in a speech to the National Assembly. South Korea is one of 190 signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- a pact that North Korea walked out on in 2003. There are few takers in Washington for the idea of a nuclear-armed South Korea which would set back a longstanding, if repeatedly violated, principle of not allowing new nations into the nuclear club. In an effort to reassure one of its key Asian allies, the US Air Force sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber on a sortie over South Korea shortly after the North's nuclear test on January 6. South Korea's late military strongman Park Chung Hee -- the father of current President Park Geun Hye -- had flirted with nuclear weapons in the 1970s when then US president Jimmy Carter planned to remove American troops from the peninsula. An Arizona man set for trial this week is believed to be the first person the US government has tried on terror charges linked to the Islamic State group. Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem is accused of providing the guns used in an attack at a controversial cartoon contest deemed blasphemous to Islam in Texas last year. Investigators say he and the two shooters watched videos depicting violence by jihadists, tried to get pipe bombs, planned the May attack in suburban Dallas and researched travel to the Middle East so they could join Islamic State fighters. Kareem denies the allegations. The other two men brought semiautomatic rifles and an Islamic State flag to the contest featuring cartoons deemed offensive to Muslims. They died in a shootout with police before hurting anyone attending the event. Three persons had a 45-year-old woman to thank for giving them a new lease of life as they received organs from her after she was declared brain dead following a brain haemorrhage. According to AIIMS authorities, Babita, a resident of Ghaziabad, was declared brain dead on February 12 at the Gurgaon-based Paras Hospital following brain haemorrhage. The same day, Rajeev Maikhuri, Transplant Coordinator at AIIMS Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation (ORBO) received a call from the relatives of the deceased who wanted to discuss the possibility of organ donation. He in turn took up the matter with AIIMS Director Dr MC Mishra. "The message was circulated to other hospitals also to find out if there was anyone who immediately needed organs," said Mishra. A trauma team, including an intensivist, technician, nurse and transplant coordinator reached Paras Hospital and the donor was shifted to Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS at 7 PM the same day where the liver and both kidneys were harvested from her body. The liver was transplanted into a 53-year-old male patient at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, while the kidneys went to two patients who were undergoing treatment at AIIMS. "Over 300 medicos and para-medicos were involved in the whole process. There were several challenges involved such as continuous counselling and follow-up of the patient's family members," Misra said. Turkey's air force today began five days of air defence exercises with Saudi Arabia, the Turkish military said, as the two countries forge an increasingly tight alliance on Syria. Six Saudi F-15 fighter jets will take part in the air defence training in the central Turkish region of Konya, the military said in a statement. The exercises are within the framework of cooperation and military training between the two countries and had been scheduled in advance, it added. They will last until Friday. But the start of the exercises comes just two days after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Saudi jets would be based at Turkey's air base of Incirlik in Adana province to fight Islamic State (IS) militants. He also said that Turkey and Saudi could even launch a ground operation in Syria against IS, while emphasising no decision had been taken. Saudi Arabia and Turkey both see the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as essential for ending Syria's five-year civil war and are bitterly critical of Iran and Russia's support of the Syrian regime. The two overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim powers have in recent months moved to considerably tighten relations that had been damaged by Riyadh's role in the 2013 ousting of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, a close ally of Ankara. Turkey and Saudi back rebels who are seeking to oust Assad and both fear the West is losing its appetite to topple Assad on the assumption he is "the lesser of two evils" compared to the IS jihadists. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu today accused Russia of acting as a "terrorist organisation" in Syria and vowed to deliver a robust response. "If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response," Davutoglu said through an official translator during a visit to Kiev. Tensions between Russia and Turkey have soared over Moscow's backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia's intense air campaign against what it claims are "terrorist" targets in its allied Middle Eastern state. Turkey has long backed Assad's ouster and like other Western nations accuses Russia of predominantly bombing Syrian rebel groups backed by Washington and its allies instead of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Assad's forces have most recently used Russian air support to move ever closer to the rebel stronghold of Aleppo in northern Syria. The resulting refugeee flood toward Turkey has put renewed pressure on Ankara to open its border with Syria temporarily -- a move Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has until now been unwilling to take. Davutoglu further slammed the Syrian peace talks that were halted after only a few days this month in Geneva as "diplomatic theatre" for which "the international community will ultimately bear responsibility". Turkey will not allow the Syrian border town of Azaz to fall to Syrian Kurdish fighters, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today, warning of a "severe response" if they advance. "We will not let Azaz fall," Davutoglu was quoted as saying by private NTV television on his plane en route to Ukraine. "The YPG (the People's Protection Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates (river) and east of Afrin," he added. Turkish artillery has struck at Kurdish militia targets in Syria since the weekend, with Ankara insisting it was returning fire. Ankara accuses the YPG of being the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, and it fears Syrian Kurds are seeking to carve out an autonomous Kurdish region on Turkey's border. Turkey confirmed today that it shelled advancing Kurdish fighters in northern Syria for a third day. Foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said Ankara "retaliated in kind" when an attack from an area under YPG control targeted a border post in Turkey. The Damascus regime has condemned Ankara over the shelling while urging the United Nations to act. "Currently YPG elements were forced out of the Azaz neighbourhood. If they come closer to Azaz, they will receive the most severe response," Davutoglu said. "The necessary intervention will be made (by Turkey) against the YPG when it is required." Turkey has been gravely concerned by the moves of the Kurdish fighters on Azaz and has so far defied calls from its Western partners to stop artillery bombardments of YPG positions The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Kurdish-Arab militia alliance in which the YPG plays a key role, has also seized the Minnigh air base in northern Syria. Davutoglu warned the SDF to withdraw from the airport, issuing a veiled threat of possible Turkish military action if they failed to do so. "They will withdraw from the airport... "If not, the airport will be rendered unusable," he said, without elaborating. Davutoglu said the "the YPG is clearly Russia's instrument in Syria right now," the state-run Anatolia agency reported. "Russia is using those tools to be able to corner Turkey. Therefore, our stance has a legitimate basis. Turkish warplanes have repeatedly entered Greek airspace, the state Athens News Agency said, as NATO prepared to deploy ships to the Aegean Sea against migrant smugglers. The Athens News Agency said yesterday six warplanes and a navy transport plane had carried out over 20 violations of Greek national airspace near eastern and central Aegean islands. Two of the planes were armed and mock dogfights occurred on two occasions when Greek fighters moved to intercept, the agency said. No live rounds were exchanged. The incident occurred as a NATO naval group was to launch patrols in the waters between the two countries to deter people-smugglers facilitating the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants into Europe. Albeit NATO allies, Greece and Turkey have a fraught history going back centuries and remain at loggerheads over territorial and airspace rights in the Aegean. Athens fears that Ankara could exploit the refugee crisis to strengthen its presence in the Aegean, where it claims the waters and airspace surrounding many Greek islands near its coastline. Greece and Turkey nearly went to war over a cluster of uninhabited Aegean Sea islets in 1996. Athens has said it is keen to work with Turkey on stamping out people-smuggling networks, but it wants Ankara to apply a bilateral agreement on migrant re-admission which is currently all but inactive. Thousands of migrants are still crossing the Aegean daily from Turkey -- with many dying in the attempt -- after over a million made the perilous journey last year. Three persons, including two foreign nationals, were injured when an auto-rickshaw they were travelling in collided with a car in Pushkar town of Ajmer district in Rajasthan today. Two Argentines - Nicolas Munichor (33) and Antonflla Venini (30), a woman - were going to a nearby place when the incident occurred near a resort, police said. The driver of the vehicle was also injured, they said. Police said the three have been taken to a private hospital in Ajmer. English town halls and publicly funded universities face "severe penalties" if they institute boycotts of "unethical" companies or Israeli goods under controversial new rules to be outlined by the government this week. "Locally imposed boycotts can roll back integration as well as hinder Britain's export trade and harm international relationship," the Cabinet Office said in a statement today. "Town hall boycotts undermine good community relations, poisoning and polarising debate, weakening integration and fuelling anti-Semitism," it added. The proposed rules are due to be announced later this week by Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock during a visit to Israel, the government statement said, without saying what penalties may be imposed. "We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts," Hancock was expected to say. The ruling will only affect England as the decision in other parts of the United Kingdom comes under the authority of the devolved governments. The Israeli government praised the ruling. "We welcome the decision taken by the British authorities not to allow anti-Israeli initiatives at local level," foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told AFP. "This is a measure adopted following a few cases in which anti-Israeli elements tried to initiate local initiatives against Israel," he added. The measure would apply to the public sector in England as a whole, including the National Health Service. The only exception to the boycott ban, which also covers action against companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuel and tobacco, would be official sanctions agreed by the central government. The move follows a series of local boycotts in recent years that have angered Israeli authorities. In 2014, Leicester City Council instituted a boycott on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The European Union last year backed the labelling of products from Israeli settlements, in a move that Israel condemned as discriminatory and warned could harm the peace process with the Palestinians. The Cabinet Office said it continued to support labelling "to ensure that individual consumers are able to make informed choices before they buy". But an opposition Labour Party spokesman said the boycott ban was "an attack on local democracy". "This government's ban would have outlawed council action against apartheid South Africa," he said. Amnesty International's UK economic relations programme director Peter Frankental also condemned the plan. "Where's the incentive for companies to ensure there are no human rights violations such as slavery in their supply chains when public bodies cannot hold them to account," he told the Independent newspaper. A website created in the UK to chronicle the final days of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose today released details of what it claims is proof that the last remains of the freedom fighter travelled to and remain preserved at a temple in Tokyo. The website posted details of the journey of the ashes from Taipei - where it has previously documented that Netaji died on August 18, 1945, as a result of a plane crash - to Renkoji Temple in the Japanese capital. It claims that on August 23, 1945 - the day after the cremation of Netaji at Taipei - hisaide de camp Colonel Habibur Rehman, Major Nagatomo of the Japanese army and Juichi Nakamura, a Japanese interpreter who assisted Bose at the hospital before he died - took the mortal remains to the biggest temple in Taiwan - Nishi Honganji - to be kept there. The Shah Nawaz Khan-led Netaji Inquiry Committee of 1956 noted a funeral ceremony was held at this Taiwanese site. The Committee further recorded first-hand accounts that on September 5, 1945 Col. Rehman and Lt Colonel T. Sakai - both survivors of the crash - a Major Nakamiya and Sub Lt T Hayshida boarded a plane in Taipei with the remains - wrapped in cloth, which was placed in a wooden box. Sub Lt Hayshida then slung this package around his neck as per Japanese custom, to fly to Fukuoka in southern Japan. Thereafter, while Col. Rehman and Maj. Nakamiya continued by air to Tokyo, Lt Hayashida with the remains took a train to Tokyo, guarded by three soldiers. The remains were immediately taken to the Japanese Army Imperial General Headquarters. The next morning, Lt Colonel Takakura, Chief of the Military Affairs Section, phoned Rama Murti, President of the Indian Independence League in Japan, to take charge of the remains. He came accompanied by S A Ayer, a minister in Bose's Provisional Government of Free India, who had arrived in Tokyo from South-East Asia after hearing of the tragedy. According to the website, Murti stated: "The urn was wrapped in white cloth and was taken out from a safety locker. It had straps of long cloth with which to sling around the neck of the bearer. "It was a cubical box of about 1 foot dimension. It was received by Ayer. He was visibly moved by an overwhelming emotion. An army sedan car was arranged for our conveyance. Mr Ayer and myself took the urn directly to my house." At the time, Murti's residence was also the headquarters of the Indian Independence League. (Reopens FGN 22) Bose's Indian National Army's Tokyo Cadets kept vigil over the remains. The same night, according to Murti, Ayer questioned Col. Rehman about the crash: "Mr Ayer lost no time in confronting him with a barrage of questions to all of which Col Rehman very calmly, seriously and solemnly gave adequate replies. "This conversation definitely cleared all doubts which My Ayer had, and Mr Ayer was resolved that the crash was an indisputable reality, and Netaji was a victim of it." A few days later - possibly September 18, 1945 - the remains were carried in a procession to the Renkoji temple for a funeral ceremony, which was attended by about 100 people. After the funeral, the head priest of the temple, Reverand Mochizuki, was requested by Bose's associates and a staff officer of the Japanese Army to preserve the remains in a befitting manner until such time they are transferred to the proper authorities. More than 70 years have passed, but that day is yet to come, according to the website www.Bosefiles.Info. A 32-year-old businessman from Ukraine allegedly committed suicide at the city airport here, police said today. Mykhaylo Chekrygin allegedly jumped from the edge of the T2 terminal's parking lot level-2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in suburban Andheri yesterday, a senior police official said. Police said that the Ukrainian national had come to Mumbai for some business purpose. The CCTV footage at the T2 terminal's parking lot showed the man jumping from the premises, they said. He was later rushed to the nearby Cooper hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, police said. A case under relevant sections of IPC has been registered at the Sahar police station and investigation is underway, they added. A United Nations official has called on Mexico's government to conduct an exhaustive investigation of a prison riot that killed 49 last week. Special rapporteur for torture Juan Mendez said in statement today that the government must guarantee that the victims' families know what happened during the Thursday riot at the Topo Chico prison in the northern city of Monterrey. Mendez says the investigation should identify those responsible and include reparations for the victims' relatives. The UN official toured the prison in 2014. He says he witnessed horrible conditions and lax rules that allowed prisoners to govern themselves and led to violence. Authorities say two factions of the Zetas drug cartel battled for control during the riot. The prison's director, superintendent and a guard have been arrested on murder charges. United Nations says two UN peacekeepers injured in an attack last week on a UN base in northern Mali have died, bringing the death toll to seven. Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said today that all seven killed in the shelling of the camp in Kidal early Friday were from Guinea. About 30 peacekeepers were wounded in the attack, which the Mali-based Islamic extremist group Ansar Dine claimed responsibility for on Saturday. Haq said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Guinea's president to offer condolences, and the UN envoy for Mali will accompany the bodies to Guinea on Wednesday. The United Nations Staff Union said the greatest loss of life of UN personnel in 2015 occurred in Mali, for the second year in a row. The United Nations and United States today condemned suspected Russian air strikes on medical facilities and schools in northern Syria that the world body said killed almost 50 civilians. Also ahead of a hoped-for ceasefire, Turkey shelled advancing Kurdish fighters in Syria for a third day, as Ankara and Moscow traded accusations over their military entanglement in the conflict. The United Nations said air strikes on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria's Aleppo and Idlib provinces killed nearly 50 civilians including children. UN chief Ban Ki-moon considers that "such attacks are blatant violations of international law", added the organisation's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. The United States said air strikes hit two civilian hospitals in and around northern Syria's Aleppo, identifying them as one run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and another in the city of Azaz. "That the (President Bashar al-) Assad regime and its supporters would continue these attacks, without cause and without sufficient regard for international obligations to safeguard innocent lives, flies in the face of the unanimous calls by the ISSG (International Syria Support Group)... To avoid attacks on civilians," the State Department said. It said such action "casts doubt on Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people". The increasing violence on the ground in Syria and war of words between Ankara and Moscow have dampened hopes that a proposed cessation of hostilities will take hold this week. The UN's peace envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura was making a surprise visit to Damascus today, a government source there said, as world powers push for a ceasefire. Without assigning blame, MSF confirmed a hospital supported by the charity was hit in Idlib, northwest Syria, and said seven people were killed and at least eight were missing, presumed dead. The air strike devastated the hospital, blasting twisted metal, cinderblocks and other debris into the surrounding area. Turkey, meanwhile, resumed shelling Kurdish-led forces in several parts of Aleppo, alarmed by their recent advances against mostly Islamist rebels. Ankara accuses the Kurdish forces of ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed movement that has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said at least two children were killed in today's shelling, and an AFP journalist on Turkey's border said Turkish howitzers fired for around 20 minutes from the Akcabaglar region. Despite the shelling, the coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was advancing inside the key rebel-held town of Tal Rifaat, the Observatory said. The town, barely 20 kilometres from the border, is held by an alliance of mostly Islamist rebels. The SDF has already seized the nearby Minnigh airbase from rebel forces and severed the road between Tal Rifaat and the key rebel-held town of Azaz on the border. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said Turkish artillery today fired on Tal Rifaat itself for the first time. Turkey fears the Kurds will be able to create a contiguous Kurdish territory just across the border in northern Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned today that Ankara "will not let Azaz fall" to the SDF, adding "the necessary intervention will be made". The situation is a major headache for Washington, which has backed the Kurds in their battles against the Islamic State group despite the discomfort of Turkey, a key member of the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria. Moscow says its military intervention has targeted IS and other "terrorists", but rights groups say Russia's air raids have caused disproportionately high civilian casualties. The MSF-supported hospital in Idlib is one of several health facilities Russia is accused of hitting since its aerial campaign began September 30. MSF said those confirmed killed in the strikes were five patients, a caretaker and a guard. "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said its Syria operations chief, Massimiliano Rebaudengo. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini branded the attack as "unacceptable" and urged "all parties (to respect) basic principles of humanitarian law". The Observatory also reported 10 civilians, including three children, killed in suspected Russian strikes in Azaz and an area nearby. The strikes in Azaz hit near a hospital, it said. Russia's air strikes have allowed government troops to press a major operation that has virtually encircled rebels in eastern Aleppo city, as well as pushing them from much of the region to the north. They have angered Turkey, with Davutoglu on Monday issuing Russia a stark warning. "If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response," he said. Moscow called Turkey's shelling in Syria "provocative" and said it supported raising the issue at the UN Security Council. More than 260,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Unfazed by continuing militant threats to polio vaccination teams, thousands of Pakistani health workers are participating in three-day anti-polio campaign that began today in restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As many as 3.44 million children under the age of five would be vaccinated against polio during the anti-polio campaign launched in 13 districts of the province, including Peshawar, Swat, Hangu and Kohat. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Pakistan's polio cases are declining, with just 54 cases of wild polio virus reported last year, down more than 80 per cent from 2014. "Successful efforts are being made to eradicate polio and it has resulted in marked decrease in polio cases in the province as compared to previous years," said Emergency Operation Centre coordinator Akbar Khan. A total of 10029 teams have been constituted comprising 19,256 vaccinators and 2,101 Area Incharges to reach out to the target population, he added. He said that teams have been given special training to cope with the programmatic challenges and to successfully achieve the target. Moreover, he said that special security measures have been taken to ensure security cover to the teams and smooth running of the campaign. Polio workers have long been targeted in the country by Islamist groups including the Taliban militants which claim that the polio immunisation drive is a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims. The attacks on polio health workers intensified after a Pakistani doctor was arrested on charges of running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad as a cover for a CIA-backed effort to obtain DNA samples from Osama bin Laden ahead of the 2011 US raid that killed him. The most recent deadly attack came in January when at least 15 people, mostly security officials, were killed and over 20 others injured when a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up outside a polio vaccination centre in restive Balochistan's capital Quetta. Uttar Pradesh Jail Minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia has said the government will soon abolish the 122-year-old practice of using a mesh to separate inmates and their family members during prison visits. The prisoners will now be able to sit and meet with their families, Ramoowalia told reporters yesterday during a visit to District Jail, Dasna. On the ongoing JNU row, he said several questions need to be answered. Addressing the inmates there, Ramoowalia said the government is going to increase the number of prison visits which are at present restricted to only twice a week. This step would reduce corruption in prison visits. Doctors will also be able to conduct more health check ups, he said. The Cabinet Minister said by May 10, phone booths would be set up in all district jails to enable the inmates to talk to their families. "The prisoners will be only allowed to talk to their families using the phones. Strict action would be taken against inmate found talking to anyone else," he said. The state government is also going to set up water purifiers in the 29 district jails in the state. His priorities are to improve health checks and strengthen the food-beverages system in the jails, he said. DIG Meerut Zone Vijay Shekhar, Jail Superintendent S P Yadav were among the other officials present during the minister's visit. The US military denies reports from residents and rebels in southwestern Somalia that a suspected US drone with six missiles crashed today in a rebel-held village in the Gedo region. Spokesman for the US Africa Command, Chuck Prichard, said all their "assets in this area are accounted for and we have no indication that any were involved in this reported incident." Al-Shabab, Somalia's Islamic extremists, claimed on their radio station that their fighters have seized the crashed drone with the missiles. This has not been independently verified. US drones have killed several al-Shabab leaders in airstrikes in Somalia over the past year. In a separate development U, a Somali police officer says a bomb killed a former Somali defense minister in Mogadishu today. Capt Mohamed Hussein says that a bomb hidden in a vehicle carrying Muhyadin Mohamed Haji was detonated in the heart of the capital, killing him and wounding another person. Haji was the defense minister in Somalia's transitional government in 2008. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, however al-Shabab often carries out such attacks. The Obama administration has approved the first US factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a two-man company from Alabama to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year for sale to private farmers in Cuba. The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017. "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do. We're looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve," Clemmons said. "It's our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries." The USD 5 million to USD 10 million plant would be the first significant US business investment on Cuban soil since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalised billions of dollars of US corporate and private property. That confiscation provoked a US embargo on Cuba that prohibited virtually all forms of commerce and fined non-US companies millions of dollars for doing business with the island. Letting an American tractor company operate inside a Cuban government facility would have been unimaginable before Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared on December 17, 2014, that they would restore diplomatic relations and move to normalise trade, travel and other aspects of the long- broken bilateral relationship. Since then, Obama has been carving exceptions into the embargo through a series of executive actions, and his administration now says they allow US manufacturing at the Mariel port and special economic zone about 30 miles west of Havana. One exception allows US companies to export products that benefit private and cooperative farmers in Cuba. Berenthal and Clemmons say they will sell only to the private sector. The Obama administration says it is eager to make the opening with Cuba irreversible by any future administration. Since the start of the year, US and Cuba have made a series of announcements that appear designed partly to create a sense of unstoppable momentum in their new relationship. The United States today urged Turkey and Russia to avoid any further escalation after the two traded verbal blows over their respective military actions in war-torn Syria. "It is important that the Russians and Turks speak directly, and take measures to prevent escalation," a State Department spokesperson told AFP. Tensions with Turkey have soared over Moscow's backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia's air campaign against what it claims are "terrorist" targets in the country. The intensifying war of words has dampened hopes that a proposed cessation of hostilities will take hold this week. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu earlier accused Russia of acting as a "terrorist organisation" in Syria, and worsening the refugee crisis on Turkey's doorstep through its "barbaric attacks on civilians." Turkey has long backed Assad's ouster and like other Western nations accuses Russia of predominantly bombing Syrian rebel groups backed by Washington and its allies instead of the Islamic State group. Russia meanwhile described Turkey's shelling of Kurdish and Syrian regime positions in the north of the country as a "provocative" action. Ankara has vowed to continue the strikes on Kurdish fighters, who it accuses of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey. Washington has found itself in a highly uncomfortable position on the issue: it is allied with Turkey as part of the US-led coalition against IS and in NATO, but also supports the Syrian Kurds. Likewise, the United States is Russia's partner on the Syria peace process, but has spent the past 10 days demanding an end to its strikes in northern Syria. Mining and metals major Vedanta Ltd today said it will sign a pact with Odisha government to set up in the state an Aluminium park, which is likely to create 17,000 jobs and attract over Rs 1,000 crore investment. The plug-and-produce park will be set up across 240 acres of land, near Vedanta Aluminium's Jharsuguda plant, providing an ecosystem for industries dependent on and manufacturing aluminium conductors, extrusions, castings, foils, powder and paste. Besides, the park will facilitate easy transport of the metal in liquid form, resulting in cost savings that will act as a game-changer for downstream industries. With a holistic ecosystem in place, the aluminium park will attract large number of aluminium and related industries generating huge revenues and employment in the region, Vedanta Aluminium CEO Abhijit Pati told reporters in a con call. "This will create a win-win situation for all. The park has potential to attract over Rs 1,000 crore of investment, which can be operationalised within a relatively short timeframe," he added. In full capacity, the park can generate direct and indirect employment for around 17,000 people. With this kind of infrastructure, Odisha can become the aluminium hub of the world, Pati said. The park will take around 12-18 months, once the MoU is signed, including all the requisite approvals. On the linkages for bauxite, used in manufacturing of Alumina, Pati said Odisha government will provide two mines to the state government-run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), which will provide the mineral to the park through a long term supply pact. When asked about the reasons behind entering such a pact even as domestic primary producers are battling cheap imports and weak prices, Pati said the medium to long term outlook for aluminium demand in India is very strong. The proposed park will be adjacent to Vedanta's 1.6 MTPA smelter along with 3,600 MW of power generation facilities. Odisha government will provide necessary infrastructure for setting up the industries with incentives in the form of land, electricity and others. The cost of this investment will be recovered from investors who shall establish their units. Odisha and Vedanta will organise road shows to attract investors in setting up facilities at the park. Mining conglomerate Vedanta is planning to commission an aluminium park in Odisha, a move that will help the state become the aluminium hub of the world. Vedanta today said it will ink a memorandum of understanding with the Odisha government to set up the aluminium park across 240 acres of land in Jharsuguda. "The park has the potential to attract over Rs 1,000 crore of investment which can be operationalised within a relatively short time-frame," Vedanta CEO (Aluminium) Abhijit Pati said. He also said that the park can generate direct and indirect employment to about 17,000 people. "With this kind of infrastructure, Odisha can become the aluminium hub of the world," he noted. The park will facilitate easy transport of aluminium in liquid form, which would provide substantial cost savings for the downstream industries. Besides, the move could attract a large number of aluminium-based industries generating huge revenues and employment in the region, the company said. According to the company, Odisha has abundant reserves of bauxite and accounts for 55% of India's deposits. Coal, another important raw material for the smelters, is also available in abundance in the state. "Easy proximity to the domestic markets and the geographical advantage of a large coastline which gives quick access to ports and the export market make Odisha a favourable destination for downstream industries," Pati said. The proposed aluminium park will be adjacent to Vedanta's 1.6 million tonnes per annum smelter along with 3,600 Mw of power generation facilities. The Odisha government would provide necessary infrastructure for setting up the industries with incentives as per the IPR, in the form of land, electricity and others, the cost of which will be recovered from the investors who shall establish their units. The sessions court in Mehsana district today rejected OBC quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's bail plea in a case of rioting and assault registered against him last year. Additional sessions judge K M Dave upheld government's argument that Hardik may not cooperate with the investigation if released on bail and may tamper with the evidence. The prosecution contended that Hardik was facing separate sedition cases at Ahmedabad and Surat too, and he may try to influence the witnesses if released. Visnagar police took Hardik's custody on January 11 from Lajpore jail in Surat. Hardik was lodged in Lajpore jail for the last four months. He is one of the accused in an FIR registered at Visnagar on July 23 when a rally of the Patel community seeking reservation turned violent, resulting in damage to property and assault on some media persons. Police registered a case of rioting, damaging property and assault against Hardik and 15 other leaders who were present during the rally. Elsewhere, Ahmedabad sessions court has adjourned the hearing on Hardik's bail plea in the sedition case there till February 20, as the police were yet to file their reply. The Surat sessions court too adjourned the hearing of his bail plea till February 20 as his lawyers sought time to study the affidavit filed by Surat police opposing the application. Wadi.Com, a Middle-East focussed e-commerce platform, has raised USD 67 million (about Rs 456 crore) in funding led by Al Tayyar Travel Group. Founded by Ankit Wadhwa, Pratik Gupta and Kanwal Sarfaraz, the Dubai-based firm will use the series A funding to expand operations in the region, ramp up headcount in India and Middle East as well as strengthening technology platform. "This is the largest series A funding in the tech history of Middle East and will further accelerate our growth. Wadi.Com is currently active in UAE and Saudi Arabia and is expanding soon to other countries like Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain," Wadhwa told PTI. Wadi.Com was set up last year by the Middle East Internet Group (MEIG) as a joint venture between German firm Rocket Internet and MTN, a South African telecommunications provider. A general merchandise marketplace, Wadi.Com has strong growth and has already reached the number three spot in the category by revenue in the GCC region in 10 months of operations, Wadhwa said. The company offers more than 1.5 lakh products from over 2,000 international brands including Apple, Samsung, Lacoste and Hugo Boss. Citing third party data, he said the eCommerce market in the Middle East is expected to grow from USD 15 billion in 2015 to USD 40 billion in 2020. "Middle East has a huge potential. The average cart sizes are larger and discounting is limited. One can reach profitability sooner. We are very bullish on the market here," he said. Wadhwa added that India is playing an important role in the company's growth. "Of the 180 people we have, 100 are in India. These people bring in industry experience from other eCommerce firms like Snaodeal, Jabong and Myntra across areas like marketing, technology and business analytics," he said. The company is looking at ramping up its headcount to about 360 people within a year as it expands its operations. "India also plays an important sourcing destination for us. Over 50 Indian sellers are already shipping directly to the Gulf countries through us and we are looking at expanding that as well," he said. He added that the company is not looking at foraying into the Indian market currently. Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Dawood, Managing Director and CEO of Al Tayyar Travel Group, said Wadi.Com has become one of the most important e-commerce players in the Middle East within a very short period of time. "We are confident to see Wadi.Com growing further, especially with the cargo and logistics support our group will be offering. With this investment, the Al Tayyar Travel Group covers the three largest and most promising areas in the online space: Travel, General Merchandise Marketplace and the shared economy," he added. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli today said that he will visit China, within a month after his upcoming trip to India, as part of his government's policy to enhance cooperation with immediate neighbours. "I will visit China within a month," Oli said during his address at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Kathmandu without specifying the time of visit. Oli said he will visit China to "further deepen bilateral relations and enhance fruitful economic cooperation with our friends so that we can utilise our natural and human resources for our benefit". "Nepal pursues the policy of seeking best of friendship and cooperation with all friendly countries with particular focus on immediate neighbours," he said. "Hydro-power, tourism and agricultures are some of the potential sectors that can be harnessed for mutual benefit while promoting Nepal's economic development," he said. Earlier some reports had said that Oli would visit China before India due to hiccups in India-Nepal ties over the Madhesi issue. Newly appointed Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Professor Yogesh Kumar Tyagi today said he will try to ensure that best quality education is available to all sections at the premier institution. Speaking to PTI, Tyagi said that he wants to work collectively with all stakeholders so that "everyone is on board" and best education can be provided and opportunities created even for those who don't have them. The newly appointed DU VC said he is seeking ideas and suggestions from a wide section of people including those who know about things "better" than him. The aim is to deliver the best for the society and create a platform that is open to all, he said. When asked about the controversies that happened during the tenure of his predecessor Dinesh Singh, he said "we should look forward and focus our energies on tomorrow." Tyagi said he had received the order appointing him as the new Delhi University VC and would take over after the process to relieve him from his present place of work, the South Asian University where he is currently Dean of Faculty of Legal Studies. Tyagi was appointed by the HRD ministry for a term of five year after his name was chosen from a panel of four persons by President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the Visitor of all Central universities. Two witnesses say four American journalists have been arrested in Bahrain while covering unrest on the anniversary of the tiny island nation's 2011 uprising. Bahraini officials declined to immediately comment. The US Embassy in Manama says it's "aware of the arrest of four US citizens in Bahrain" yesterday but that it cannot discuss the case due to privacy concerns. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest. They say one of the four was arrested in the largely Shiite community of Sitra, south of the capital. They say the other three were arrested later last night. It wasn't immediately clear if the journalists worked for a specific media outlet. The 2011 uprising saw Bahrain's Shiite majority demand greater political rights from the Sunni-led monarchy. The special court for women's cases here today ruled that it would conduct the trial of Jiah Khan suicide case and not the CBI court. The CBI had contended that the case should be heard in the special CBI court. But the special public prosecutor Dinesh Tiwari argued that the High Court had earlier asked CBI to investigate whether it was a case of homicide, and find out the culprit if it was so. As the CBI's conclusion was that it was a suicide, the Central agency's role was over and he should be allowed to conduct the trial, Tiwari said. The judge A S Shende upheld Tiwari's argument. The judge also asked the CBI to hand over all the documents of the case to the special public prosecutor. The next hearing will be on February 22. Jiah, the 25-year-old British-American actress, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her house in Juhu here on June 3, 2013. Her relationship with actor Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zareena Wahab, was said to be under strain and it was suspected that it drove her to end her life. Jiah's mother Rabia Khan alleged that Sooraj was responsible for her daughter's death. The case was taken over by CBI last year on the High Court's order. The police had arrested Sooraj for abetment of suicide on the basis of a six-page letter purportedly written by Jiah, but the HC granted him bail. Sooraj's lawyers argued that the two were in a consensual relationship. A youth has been arrested from Bharavli village near suburban Malad for allegedly raping his landowner's ten-year-old daughter, police said. The accused, Akash Vilat (19), was arrested on February 12 by Crime Branch sleuths for the alleged crime that had taken place on February 9 at a slum in Malvani area in Malad. The accused was staying in a rented room located adjacent to the house owned by the victim's father. "Akash was trying to escape to Hyderabad, for which he had sought money and clothes from his friends," an officer attached to Malvani police station said. The minor's father is a driver and is generally away from home for his driving assignments. Her mother works as a nurse in a hospital here, police said. "On the day of alleged crime, the victim had just returned home from school when Akash came there. On finding her alone at home, he raped the girl. However, Akash fled from the spot when the victim's father returned home immediately afterwards," the officer added. A complaint was filed against Akash with Malvani police by the victim's father. The accused was produced in a local court, which sent him in police remand. By A. Ananthalakshmi SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Chinese investors sold into gold's rally after returning from a week-long holiday, a sign they do not expect prices to go much higher and cannot be counted on to support the market with post-Lunar New Year demand set to falter. A lack of buying interest going forward from top consumer China could cut short this year's rally in gold, one of the biggest in years, with the metal up nearly 14 percent since the beginning of 2016. Chinese selling helped push gold down more than 2 percent on Monday. "In China, people think that the rise of the gold price is driven by a safe-haven effect," said Shu Jiang, chief analyst at Shandong Gold Group in Shanghai, noting that usually such rallies are not long-lived. "People have reservations about such a rise." Consumers in China, along with those in No.2 buyer India, typically purchase gold in jewellery form, hunting for bargains when prices dip or if they are confident of a sustained rally. Bullion dealers across Asia said the Chinese were offering gold on Monday, looking to book profits with prices about $60 an ounce higher than they were before their week-long holiday. "They bought a lot of gold when prices were in $1,000s and $1,100s, so now they are selling," said a dealer in Hong Kong. "Below $1,200, they will be buyers again." Chinese imports rose late last year, with December imports reaching their highest since March 2013, as demand climbed amid slumping stock markets and a weakening currency. Late 2015 imports were also supported by anticipation of buying during the Lunar New Year holiday - also known as the Spring Festival - when gold is popular as a gift. During the Spring Festival break, gold and silver jewellery sales rose 22 percent from year-ago levels, China's ministry of commerce said over the weekend. Demand typically slows after the holiday. "The real challenge is now ... after the Spring Festival, how much the market could dry up," said Samson Li, senior analyst with GFMS, a metals consultancy owned by Thomson . Consumers who bought gold over the last few years had their fingers burnt as prices fell by more than a third between 2013 and 2015. Chinese gold demand could increase this year from 2015 only if the price rally continues or as long as prices don't make lower lows than those seen in 2015, Li said. In December, gold prices hit their lowest in nearly six years at $1,045.85 an ounce. (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Tom Hogue) By Winni Zhou and Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China's January trade performance was worse than expected as tepid demand persisted both at home and abroad, raising expectations of further government measures to arrest the slowdown and to quell market jitters. January exports fell 11.2 percent from a year earlier - the seventh straight month of decline, while imports tumbled 18.8 percent - the 15th month of decline, both far worse than expected, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday. Exports declined even though China has allowed the yuan to weaken nearly 6 percent against the U.S. dollar since last August, underlining the extent to which global demand has weakened. China posted a record trade surplus of $63.3 billion in January - partly due to soft demand and falling commodities prices, versus $60.09 billion in December. "Overall, we believe the sharp drop of trade in January was a reflection of weak external demand, especially given the weak exports of neighbouring economies such as Korea and Taiwan," ANZ economists Li-Gang Liu and Louis Lam wrote in a research note. "The record level trade surplus indicates that China continued to run a large current account surplus, and this should help offset some of the capital outflow and alleviate some depreciation pressure on the renminbi (yuan)." Analysts polled by had expected exports to fall 1.9 percent, after slipping 1.4 percent in December, while imports had been expected to drop only 0.8 percent, following a 7.6 percent slide in December. The poll forecast a trade surplus of $58.85 billion. China will keep the yuan basically stable against a basket of currencies and it will not allow speculators to dominate market sentiment regarding China's foreign exchange reserves, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan was quoted as saying on Saturday. Premier Li Keqiang has said Beijing will not promote exports through currency depreciation, although some policy advisers have been calling for sharper yuan falls. "Today's numbers hint that Chinese currency is still under pressure to weaken. That said, recent strength in onshore and offshore yuan is largely due to the central bank's effort to dampen speculative positions," said Zhou Hao, Commerzbank Asia senior emerging markets economist in Singapore. UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK China's exports to the United States, the country's biggest market, fell 9.9 percent in dollar terms in January from a year earlier, while exports to the European Union - the second biggest market, fell 12 percent, the customs data showed. The customs office said it expected downward pressure on China's exports will ease, starting in the second quarter of this year. A source at the Commerce Ministry also said the government would not set an annual target for foreign trade this year. Some economists, such as those at ANZ suspected false trade invoicing, often used to hide speculation in the yuan, may have distorted the January numbers even further, pointing to big swings in trade with Hong Kong. Fake transactions were widely suspected to be one reason behind a much milder drop in December trade than markets had expected. The customs data showed Hong Kong's exports to mainland China fell 2.6 percent year-on-year in dollar terms while its imports from the mainland jumped 108.1 percent. For 2015, China's total trade tumbled 8 percent from 2014, well below the government's target of 6 percent growth and the worst performance since the global financial crisis. Trends in January and February can also be distorted by the long Lunar New Year holidays, with business slowing down weeks ahead of time and many firms scaling back operations or closing. China's commerce ministry has warned that the country's external trade is facing relatively severe pressure in 2016, and few analysts expect a sudden improvement in global demand. China is expected to target economic growth in a range of 6.5 percent to 7 percent this year, sources have said, setting a range for the first time because policymakers are uncertain on the economy's prospects. The world's second-largest economy grew an annual 6.9 percent in 2015, the poorest showing in a quarter of a century. (Reporting by China Monitoring desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Sam Holmes) By A. Ananthalakshmi SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold tumbled more than 2 percent on Monday, pulling further away from its highest in a year, as a rebound in stocks and profit-taking from China after the Lunar New Year weighed on the market. Bullion had climbed to a one-year high of $1,260.60 on Thursday as turmoil in global equities stoked safe-haven demand for the metal, along with the Japanese yen and U.S. Treasuries. But Asian shares snapped a five-session losing streak on Monday following a rebound in U.S. and European stocks in the previous session, with Shanghai stocks posting only modest losses after a week-long holiday. Spot gold fell to a session low of $1,211.05, before paring some losses to trade down 1.9 percent at $1,213.60 by 0753 GMT. It dropped 0.7 percent on Friday. U.S. gold futures dropped as much as 2.2 percent to $1,212.20. Spot silver and U.S. silver futures fell 3 percent, tracking the yellow metal. "Gold is lower because of the good bounce in equities and the Chinese selling," said a Sydney-based trader. "There is some profit-taking around but volumes haven't been huge." Gold was about $60 an ounce higher than February 5, when Chinese markets were last open, prompting them to take profits. Other Asian markets have also shown little interest in the yellow metal as a sharp rise in prices over a short period of time has put off buyers. Assets of SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.71 percent to 710.95 tonnes on Friday, following the sharp rise in prices. "If financial markets continue to stabilize gold is likely to correct further," HSBC analysts said in a note. European shares were set to follow Asia higher. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent, though markets in the U.S. are closed on Monday for a holiday. Western investors have been more bullish about gold. Last week's rally spurred a buying frenzy for U.S. bullion coins as small and large investors bet that volatile currencies and global economic concerns would lift its value even higher. Hedge funds and money managers boosted bullish bets in COMEX gold futures and options in the week to Feb. 9 ahead of the bullion market's biggest daily rally in years, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday. PRICES AT 0753 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg Spot gold 1213.6 -24.06 -1.94 Spot silver 15.25 -0.46 -2.93 Spot platinum 935.49 -15.75 -1.66 Spot palladium 517.5 -1.97 -0.38 Comex gold 1213.9 -25.5 -2.06 Comex silver 15.31 -0.48 -3.04 COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Joseph Radford and Tom Hogue) By Manoj Kumar NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's exports shrank in January for the 14th straight month on continued weak demand from Europe, but the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would not follow countries such as China and Japan in pushing down the currency to help. Exports fell 13.6 percent from January a year ago, while imports contracted 11.01 percent, data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Monday. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who will present his annual budget on Feb. 29, could announce incentives to boost exports, as India's textile sector faces competition from Bangladesh and Vietnam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has backed an export-focused 'Make in India' drive as the path to prosperity. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has resisted pressure from exporters and policy makers to devalue the currency to support exports. "I personally feel sustained devaluation is neither feasible nor a good strategy," Rajan told industrialists in the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram. Aditi Nayar, an economist at ICRA, the Indian arm of rating agency Moody's, said: "India's performance is weaker than several emerging markets, because of the adverse impact of currency movements." The trade deficit for January narrowed to $7.64 billion, mainly due to soft demand for imported crude oil and falling prices of imported commodities, versus $11.66 billon a month ago. India's passenger car exports declined 18.95 percent to 33,909 units in January, with lower sales in Europe and neighbouring countries, an official at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said. Asia's third largest economy is expected to grow 7.6 percent in the 2015/16 financial year that ends in March, overtaking a slowing China to be world's fastest growing major economy. India is targeting economic growth of between 7.5 percent and 8 percent next financial year, economists said, although they said goods and service exports were unlikely to improve in near future. "We expect overall merchandise exports may continue to record single-digit contraction over April-June 2016," ICRA economist Nayar said. (Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) By Promit Mukherjee MUMBAI (Reuters) - JSW Group, whose businesses range from power to steel and cement, is looking to buy distressed port assets in the country as part of a strategy for a massive expansion of its ports capacity, its chief financial officer said. "We are going for inorganic growth as there are assets that is available and that makes more sense today, and at the same rates or rates much lower than that of organic growth," CFO Seshagiri Rao told in a recent interview. The acquisition push comes as many of JSW's domestic peers in a heavily leveraged industry look to sell assets to pay off debt racked up in recent years, before India's economy began to cool. Rao said JSW itself plans to cut borrowing at its debt-laden steel unit by expanding capacity and production. Having borrowed heavily to expand its steel and power arms, JSW was named by Credit Suisse last year as one of India's 10 most indebted groups, with debt pile equal to $8.6 billion in the fiscal year ended last March. JSW Infrastructure, the group's unlisted ports unit, currently has a port capacity of 33 million tonnes spread across three ports on the western coast of India. The company plans to increase that more than six-fold to 200 million tonnes by 2020, Rao said. Rao said the group's flagship firm, JSW Steel, is expanding production capacity by 4 million tonnes by end of this month to take it to 18 million tonnes per year. That will help lower the steel unit's debt ratios. Debt-to-equity and debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) ratios will drop to 1.75 and 3.75 respectively by the end of March 2018, from 1.83 and 6.66 at the end of December 2015, he said. JSW Steel, in which Japan's No. 2 steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc owns a 15 percent stake, and JSW Energy currently have a combined debt of 550 billion rupees ($8.08 billion). Rao said the businesses were able to service their loans. Rao said JSW's port and cement units both make money, and JSW can raise debt or equity to fund acquisitions. The CFO also confirmed domestic media reports that JSW is actively considering expanding cement operations, including by acquiring 11 million tonnes per year of India cement-making capacity from Franco-Swiss giant LafargeHolcim Ltd. Also on the group's radar is local rival Jaiprakash Associates' 20 million tonnes per year cement business. ($1 = 68.0925 Indian rupees) (Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) MUMBAI (Reuters) - The NSE Nifty jumped more than 2.6 percent on Monday, its biggest daily percentage gain in more than a year, encouraged by strong trading in shares of banks and miners after a selloff last week. The broader Nifty ended at 7,162.95, while the benchmark BSE Sensex gained 2.47 percent to close at 23,554.12. Among gainers, State Bank of India soared 9 percent on value-buying after the stock fell as much last week. India's biggest lender on Friday reported the biggest fall in its quarterly profit in nearly five years as bad loan provisions jumped. Construction and engineering stocks also surged. Industrial group Larsen & Toubro jumped 9.1 percent. (Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi) By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose on Monday, extending a rally triggered last week by speculation that OPEC might agree to cut production to reduce a supply glut that has pushed prices to the lowest in over a decade. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were up 21 cents at $33.57 a barrel at 1428 GMT. U.S. futures traded at $29.68 a barrel, up 24 cents on Friday's close. Trade is likely to be thinner than usual on Monday due to the U.S. Presidents Day holiday. "Some traders still think about the chances of an OPEC plus Russia (production) cut and close their short positions," said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at Stuttgart-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg. The United Arab Emirates' energy minister said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was willing to cooperate on an output cut, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. And Nigeria's oil minister told the mood inside OPEC was shifting to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to prop up prices. Non-OPEC member Russia said on Monday it was in talks on coordinated output cuts with individual OPEC members, mainly Venezuela, but not with the organisation itself, agency Interfax quoted Russia's representative to OPEC as saying. "The fact that the market has reacted so strongly certainly indicates that these comments are being taken seriously," analysts at Frankfurt-based Commerzbank wrote. However, many analysts, including the International Energy Agency, are still sceptical OPEC will cut a deal with other producers to reign in ballooning output. "We continue to believe that if prices were to be artificially supported with production cuts it would only give more expensive forms of production more room to breathe and would only solve the problem in the short term," Phillip Futures said in a note. Iran is exporting 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, and will be pumping 1.5 million bpd by the start of the next Iranian year on March 20, a vice-president was quoted as saying on Saturday. Iran would load 4 million barrels of crude on tankers destined for Europe in the coming 24 hours, a senior official was quoted as saying. Ben van Beurden, chief executive of oil company Shell, said on Monday that volatility in oil prices may stabilise later this year and that prices could rebound after that. (Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; Editing by Susan Thomas and Dale Hudson) LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Monday on that ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela would hold a previously unpublicised meeting in Doha this week, adding to speculation of a global output deal. Benchmark Brent crude gained more than 60 cents in after-hours trading. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak will attend the meeting on Tuesday in what would be the largest producer gathering since OPEC's last formal session in early December, sources familiar with the matter told on Monday. After settling at $33.39 a barrel earlier in the day, barely changed from Friday, Brent rose to more than $34 a barrel by 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT). That adds to Friday's 11 percent surge, the biggest one-day jump in over seven years. U.S. futures gained about 30 cents prior to the close of trade at 1 p.m. EST, hours early due to the Presidents Day holiday. Trading was thin across the board, potentially limiting the impact of the . Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino made no comment on his arrival to the Gulf state of Qatar on Monday, a witness said. Del Pino has been visiting major oil producers to rally support for the idea of "freezing" production at current levels to stem spiralling prices, sources have said. The meeting is the latest sign of renewed efforts by OPEC members to try to tackle - possibly together with non-OPEC producers - one of the worst oil gluts in history, which has pushed prices to the lowest in more than a decade. Nigeria's oil minister told the mood inside OPEC was shifting to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on propping up prices. Russia has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries despite the falling price of oil, but in the last few weeks Moscow has sent mixed signals about the possibility of cooperation. On Monday, Russia's representative to OPEC said it was in talks on coordinated output cuts with individual OPEC members, mainly Venezuela, but not with the organisation itself, agency Interfax quoted him as saying. "The fact that the market has reacted so strongly certainly indicates that these comments are being taken seriously," analysts at Frankfurt-based Commerzbank wrote. However, many analysts, including the International Energy Agency, are still sceptical OPEC will cut a deal with other producers to reign in ballooning output. "We continue to believe that if prices were to be artificially supported with production cuts it would only give more expensive forms of production more room to breathe and would only solve the problem in the short term," Phillip Futures said in a note. Iran is exporting 1.3 million barrels per day of crude, and will be pumping 1.5 million bpd by the start of the next Iranian year on March 20, a vice president was quoted as saying on Saturday. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Leff in New York; Karolin Schaps in London; Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; editing by Dale Hudson, Susan Fenton and Dan Grebler) MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's stock markets jumped more than 2 percent on Monday, heading for their biggest daily gain in more than a year as rallies in global markets boosted risk appetite and sent stocks of recently battered lenders such as State Bank of India (SBI) sharply higher. Asian stocks rebounded from recent weakness as fears over global economic slowdown eased and as U.S. crude prices rallied from more than 12-year lows. China's central bank also fixed the yuan higher as markets in Asia's largest economy returned from a week-long holiday. The gains, which follow rallies in Europe and the Wall Street on Friday, were sparked after Indian indexes last week posted their biggest weekly losses since July 2009 due to disappointing corporate earnings and weak global markets. "Markets were in a bit of an oversold territory so it's a pullback that we are seeing today," said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas. Mathews added that markets will largely be driven by global cues and the upcoming Budget on February 29. The broader NSE Nifty was up 2.15 percent as of 12:12 p.m., and the benchmark BSE Sensex was 1.91 percent higher, both heading for their biggest daily gains since January 15, 2015. SBI shares surged 7 percent after falling almost 9 percent last week. India's biggest lender on Friday reported the biggest fall in its quarterly profit in nearly five years as bad loan provisions jumped. Stocks of other state-owned lenders that fell heavily last week also rebounded sharply. Bank of Baroda jumped as much as 15 percent on Monday after Chief Executive P.S. Jayakumar said the bank expected a "fair bit of stability" in its asset quality in the quarters ahead. Coal India rose about 4 percent on hopes it would also announce a dividend after state-owned miner NMDC Ltd declared its first interim dividend on Friday. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rose as much as 5.93 percent after Macquarie upgraded it to 'outperform' from 'neutral', saying the stock amply prices in risks on volume growth after a 50 percent correction in last six months. Exchanges operator Financial Technologies declined 16.5 pct to record low of 75.10 rupees on reports that the Indian government had ordered a merger with National Spot Exchange. (Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi) By Philip Blenkinsop and Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Thousands of steel workers marched through Brussels on Monday to demand the European Union maintain its defences against cheap Chinese imports, which industry chiefs said were destroying jobs and the environment. Some 5,000 protesters packed the European district of the Belgian capital and their leaders handed an engraved metal plaque with their demands to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The Commission is scheduled to propose later this year whether to grant China market economy status, which Beijing says is its right 15 years after joining the World Trade Organization. Critics say it would China a licence to dump products at unfairly low prices in Europe. They also say up to 3.5 million jobs would be at risk, while the Commission puts the maximum at 211,000. Steel chiefs said surging Chinese imports would undermine global efforts to reduce carbon emissions because much of China's steel is produced using coal-fired power. "We export in the long term our jobs and we import our CO2," said Karl Koehler, chief executive of Tata Steel Europe, Britain's largest steelmaker. Tata said last month it would cut 1,050 UK jobs, adding to some 4,000 British steel jobs lost in October alone. Koehler told an audience of industry leaders, EU officials and ministers that it was impossible to compete with China when Beijing intervened to prop up loss-making plants. Geert van Poelvoorde, president of EU steel association Eurofer and a senior executive of ArcelorMittal, told reporters Chinese steelmakers produced on average 43 percent more carbon emissions per tonne than European counterparts. The 7 million tonnes of Chinese steel imported into Europe last year had produced 4.2 million tonnes, or 2 million cars worth, of extra carbon emissions, he said. Koehler said that by 2030, using a carbon price assumption of 30 euros per tonne, Tata would face an additional cost of 50 euros per tonne of steel in Europe. The carbon price assumption Koehler quoted is far higher than current levels of around 5 euros per tonne, although analysts expect the price will rise as the EU implements reforms to remove surplus carbon permits that have weighed on the Emissions Trading System (ETS). The Commission is reassessing how free allowances are allocated and energy-intensive industries are nervous about the impact of stricter rules. At the same time China is setting up its own emissions market. Environmental campaigners say the Paris Agreement on climate change agreed in December will eventually create a level playing field. The Commission last week also opened three anti-dumping investigations into Chinese steel products and imposed new duties for another grade of steel. Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said the Commission had a record number of trade defence measures against Chinese steel in place and would impose more if appropriate. But she said it was up to industry "to be the master of its own destiny by adapting, innovating and modernising". Anna Soubry, British business minister, told the very fact the Commission organised Monday's high-level debate was progress towards protecting industry. "We want there to be a greener, cleaner planet, but we also need to have jobs," she said. (Additional reporting by Alissa De Carbonnel and Maytaal Angel in London, editing by David Evans and Alexander Smith) Bharat Forge forms JV with Sweden's Saab for air defence The joint venture will handle the main part of production and delivery of these air defence systems to the Indian customer The joint venture will handle the main part of production and delivery of these air defence systems to the Indian customer Bharat Forge Ltds wholly-owned subsidiary Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd (KSSL), the defence arm of Kalyani Group, has signed an agreement to form a joint venture with Saab, the Swedish defence and security company, for the SRSAM and VSHORAD air defence programmes. The joint venture, which will be set up by Saab and KSSL, will handle the main part of production and delivery of these air defence systems to the Indian customer. The production in India will comprise of subsystems and systems for SRSAM and VSHORAD with the aim to transfer production as well as development knowledge to India. The joint venture company will combine Saab's knowledge and experience as a developer and supplier of high-technology radar and missile systems, with the engineering excellence and manufacturing capabilities of the Kalyani Group. The joint venture will create a global supplier in the area of ground based air defence systems based in India, said Amit Kalyani, executive director at Kalyani Group. To secure production quality, orders of missile parts have already been issued to KSSL and production-readiness reviews are ongoing. Saab and KSSL are already planning for the technology transfer for different packages within the programmes. I am glad to announce our contribution to Make in India through our agreement with KSSL and the Kalyani Group to establish a joint venture company in India for the air defence programmes. The JV is already under preparation within both companies, and will be ready to launch soon, said Gorgen Johansson, head of Saab business area Dynamics. KSSL is a part of the Kalyani Group, a conglomerate engaged in forging for automotive and non-automotive sector, speciality steels and infrastructure. KSSL is the principal company of the Kalyani Group formed for undertaking defence & aerospace business initiatives by leveraging the Groups renowned and distinguished design, engineering and manufacturing expertise. BS B2B Bureau Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted global investors to join the 'India unfolding growth story' by investing in the country to be part of this century's growth story, which will belong to Asia, while inaugurating the 'Make in India week in Mumbai, on Saturday. "Don't wait and relax, there is an immense opportunity waiting for you in India. You take one step and we will take two steps", he said in a glittering function that showcased India's cultural and scientific achievements, besides Indian art forms. Addressing a large audience including the captains of Indian industry like Ratan Tata Adi Godrej and Kumar Mangalam Birla and a host of other business leaders from India and abroad, Prime Ministers from Sweden, Finland, Modi strived to elaborate his achievements in the last one year from the Make in India' campaign. The new government has attracted the largest ever FDI inflow into the country in the one year period upto December 2015, a growth of 48 percent, at a time when FDI inflows were slowing down in most countries. India has jumped 12 ranks in ease of doing business as per World Bank estimates. Investment effectiveness ranking improved from 15 to 9. For this the Government effected a string of measures including a much friendlier tax regime that was transparent, stable and predictable, and major policy corrections, besides improving efficiencies. Noting that 'Making India' has become a big brand, he elaborated sector wise achievements - like largest coal production, electricity, software production etc. Overall, in 2015 India contributed 2.5 per cent to the global growth. "As much as 60 per cent of Indians are of age below 35, and this is the biggest strength for the country," he said, while elaborating plans to have a new IPR policy, fast tracking of arbitration procedures and a new bankruptcy law. "India, as a country, is known for its 3 Ds - democracy, demography and demand. We have added a fourth D- deregulation. Now India has become four dimensional, he said. Earlier, addressing the event, Prime Minister of Sweden Kjell Stefan Lovfen said his country is keen on partnering Indian companies in the field of energy, environment, health and defence. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the week long event venue of the Make in India centre in Mumbai would be converted to an International Business Finance Centre. Maharashtra has eased business permissions by 60 percent and a new building plan approval process in Mumbai has come down from 360 days to 60 days. Three major MoUs were signed already for investment in Maharashtra (with Sterlite, Raymond and Coca cola) and many more are likely. It was announced today that Dalata Hotel Group have acquired DS Charlemont Limited, which owns the former Charlemont Clinic Site, in Dublin 2, from UK and Ireland regeneration developer, U+I plc, for a consideration of 11.9 million. The Company plans to complete the planning process, enabling the construction of a new Clayton Hotel expected to be completed in the first half of 2018. The overall investment in the project, including the site purchase, will be in excess of 40 million, creating circa 100 new employee positions when the hotel is operational. The site is superbly located in Dublin 2, fronting on to Charlemont Street and Charlemont Mall on the Grand Canal. On the 19th January 2016, Dublin City Council granted permission, subject to conditions, for a four star 181 bedroom hotel with restaurant, cafe/bar and business facilities. The permission also includes three residential apartments and basement car parking. Furthermore, the planning conditions include revisions to the scale of the building which are subject to the agreement of the planning authority. The total size of the site is 0.95 acres. JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group exclusively advised on the off-market sale of the Former Charlemont Clinic development site. Speaking today, Senior Vice President at JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Dan OConnor said, "The sale of Charlemont Clinic is the largest Dublin hotel development site sale to occur this decade and it represents a rare opportunity to deliver much needed high quality hotel accommodation, within the prime corporate and leisure hub of Dublin 2. "The price paid reflects the continued strong demand from hoteliers to gain a foothold in the buoyant Dublin hotel market." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us It was announced today that global healthcare company, MSD, will create 200 new jobs across three of its Irish manufacturing sites by the end of 2016. The company provides healthcare solutions and innovative medicines in areas such as diabetes, heart disease, immunology, oncology, infectious diseases, womens health and anaesthesia. MSD is recruiting experienced professionals for positions based at MSDs locations in Carlow, Cork and Tipperary. The new roles span Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain and Commercial Operations. The company already employs over 2,000 people across five sites in Ireland in Dublin, Carlow, Cork, Tipperary and Wicklow. Its extensive Irish operations, encompassing manufacturing, commercial, global financial services and marketing facilities, had a turnover of 3 billion in 2014. MSD was recognised as Irelands Pharma Company and Biopharma Company of the Year in 2015. Associate Vice President and Site Lead at MSD in Ballydine, Tipperary, Ger Carmody commented, "Todays announcement reflects the critical role MSDs Irish sites play in our wider global manufacturing network. Those taking up these new roles will be at the cutting edge of healthcare innovation and will play a key role in delivering MSDs overall ambition to preserve and improve human life." He added, "Our state-of-the-art facilities in Carlow, Cork and Tipperary are leading the way in the development of new medicines, including MSDs new treatments for cancer and hepatitis C, which are being manufactured in Ireland for the world market. Today, our Irish sites are involved in the production of over 60% of MSDs global top 20 products." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us Perigord Premedia have today announced they have secured a significant development capital investment from the BDO Development Capital Fund to accelerate the companys global expansion. The company is involved in the European life science packaging artwork management sector. From their base in Dublin, which services the European market, Perigord plans to upgrade and open new hubs in America, Asia and Latin America. This world-wide footprint will facilitate the creation of a Global platform to service the life sciences sector. The funding for Perigord was secured from the BDO Development Capital Fund, a 75 million fund supported by Enterprise Ireland, Bank of Ireland and Irish Corporates CRH, Glanbia and Glen Dimplex. The Fund invests development and growth capital in ambitious companies to support their export growth plans. The funding will be used to build out Perigords global network and respond to existing demand to provide artwork solutions under global supply agreements. Perigord CEO, Alan Leamy says, "This investment from the BDO Development Capital Fund will enable us to build on the success achieved to date which is thanks to both our team of highly talented & committed people in Perigord and also the external support of Enterprise Ireland. "We look forward to working with our new partners in Development Capital to increase our global scale and service the global life sciences sector as it goes through significant changes in the coming five year period." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us Figures released today from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show significant growth in both Ireland's import and export markets. Irish exports totalled 111,038 million for the 12 months to December 2015. This figure represents an increase of 18,415 million (+20%) over 2014s total of 92,623m. The preliminary trade surplus for 2015 was 44,015 million, which is the largest surplus on record and was 38.5% higher than the 2014 trade surplus which reached 31,778m. The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for 1,991 million (23%) of total exports in December 2015. The EU accounted for 4,331 million (50%) of total goods exports in December 2015 of which 1,176 million went to Great Britain. Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products accounted for 30,174 million (27%) of total exports in 2015, an increase of 7,945 million (+36%) over 2014. Exports of food, live animal, beverages and tobacco to the USA totalled 758 million in 2015, an increase of 255 million (+51%) compared with 2014. The Irish economy has witnessed imports grow to reach 67,023 million across 2015, an increase of 6,177 million (+10%) over 2014. The EU accounted for 64% of the value of goods imports in December 2015, with 1,587 million (26%) of total imports coming from Great Britain. The USA with 625 million (10%) and China with 383 million (6%) were the main non-EU sources of imports. Imports of Chemicals and related products accounted for 13,925 million (21%) of total imports in 2015, an increase of 2,482 million (+22%) compared with 2014. Imports of Road vehicles increased by 97 million (+28%) to 441 million in December 2015 compared with December 2014. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr Richard Bruton today commented, Todays figures show a continued positive trend in export figures and this is very welcome. "With strong implementation of our plan. I am convinced we can continue to see progress until we achieve sustainable full employment in the coming years. Source: www.businessworld.ie About us The Department of Defences former Magee Barracks in Kildare Town was sold last week at public auction for 8.2 million. The barracks were sold to BBF Capital Partners, acting on behalf of an Irish client with extensive property development experience. The auction, in the Keadeen Hotel, included competitive bidding from several major national developers and overseas funds. The bidding, under the control of John Conway of Conway Auctioneers, moved rapidly from 2.5million and finally sold at 8.2million. BBF Capital Partners will now lead the process of creating a development plan for the 51.4 acre strategic site in conjunction with Kildare County Councils objectives to generate a welcome addition to the towns built environment. Source: www.businessworld.ie HSBC Holdings could move around 1,000 employees from London to Paris in the event that Britain votes to leave the European Union, the bank's Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver was quoted saying by Sky News on Monday. The staff would be moved from HSBC's trading, corporate banking and investment banking units, Gulliver was quoted saying, with the total number of jobs moving dependent on the terms of the so-called Brexit. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the comments. The plan to possibly move jobs away from London in the event of a British exit from the EU comes the day after Europe's biggest lender decided to keep its headquarters in London after a 10-month review. Gulliver's comments represent the most direct statement yet by a chief executive of a major UK-based company on the possible impact on jobs if the British public vote to leave the EU in a referendum. Most major British firms are seriously considering the risk of Britain leaving the EU and many are making contingency plans, according to the head of the Confederation of British Industry lobby group. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Most major British firms are seriously considering the risk of Britain leaving the European Union and many are making contingency plans, according to the head of the Confederation of British Industry. Speaking to reporters at a briefing, CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn said the prospect of a British referendum around the middle of the year on whether to leave the EU was a growing concern for business. Prime Minister David Cameron hopes to reach a deal to reform the European Union at a summit of EU leaders this weekend, which he can put to voters in a referendum that many analysts expect to be held in late June. Recent opinion polls have shown a narrow but growing lead for campaigners who want to leave the EU. "You are now seeing a number of companies recently that have had contingency plans (and) are debating important questions of what it means for their suppliers and their exports and so on," Fairbairn said. "I would say it is most, now, that have given the issue serious thought," she added, based on having met almost 100 businesses since she took the CBI's helm in November. A survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit for the Bertelsmann Foundation found that four out of five business leaders in Britain and Germany oppose Britain leaving the EU. The survey of 782 business leaders at German and British companies showed that they feared a British exit would hurt revenues and investment in their sectors and corporations. The poll was conducted in November and December last year. No firms have spoken publicly in any detail about how they would react if Britain decided to leave the 28-member bloc and had to renegotiate a raft of global trade deals. But behind closed doors, some companies, including major international banks based in London's financial district, have spent tens of millions of dollars considering their options, according to firms advising them. Fairbairn's comments show contingency planning is now common, and she said it was not concentrated in any one sector. The Bank of England has confirmed that it has looked at what might happen if Britain voted to leave the EU, although finance minister George Osborne has said the government is wholly focused on ensuring reform of the bloc. The CBI said most of its members wanted to stay in a reformed EU, and it has generally pointed to the benefits of staying in, drawing criticism from 'leave' campaigners. Last week the CBI said firms' investment intentions had not been affected by the prospect of the vote. But at the briefing Fairbairn said this could change, given Scotland's experience of a referendum on independence in 2014. "We are not surprised not to see an impact now," she said. "One of the things we saw from the Scottish referendum is that those decisions around investment tended to be quite late, at the point at which a date was actually announced." (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie A two-vehicle accident Saturday afternoon killed a Logan man and sent a Lewiston woman to the hospital. Idaho State Police report the accident occurred south of Preston at the intersection of 2000 South and State St. Investigators said 36-year-old Brock Bitton died at the scene and 32-year-old Marie Mitchell was transported by ambulance to Logan Regional Hospital. Bitton was reportedly driving a Mitsubishi Galant southbound on State St. when he crossed over the median, into the northbound lane, striking Mitchells Ford Fusion, travelling northbound. Investigators said both drivers were wearing seatbelts. The accident occurred around 1:30 p.m. State St. was blocked for four hours while crews investigated and cleared the area. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Idaho State Police and the Franklin County Sheriffs Office.

will@cvradio.com When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas SHARE Photos by Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times ABOVE: Phil Smith has left a legacy of Eagle Scouts. He earned the title and since then his sons and their sons have also earned Eagle Scout designations. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Photographs of Phil Smith and some of his sons and grandsons in their Boy Scouts of America uniforms reside in a small plastic photo album. Three generations of Smiths have earned Eagle Scout status. LEFT: Phil Smith has left a legacy of Eagle Scouts. Troop 87, the Corpus Christi troop he founded, has produced 47 Eagle Scouts. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Phil Smith earned several awards throughout his years of involvement with the Boy Scouts of America. By Rob Boscamp of the Caller-Times Like most Eagle Scouts, Phil Smith made some exciting memories in the Scouts canoeing in Canada and hiking in the Rocky Mountains. But his most unusual memory, the first date with his wife Marilyn at an Eagle Scout ceremony, led to his legacy of a family full of Eagle Scouts. All three of his sons and all of his five grandsons achieved the rank, which is the highest in the Boy Scout. The men are members of an elite group. "Only 3 percent of Boy Scouts make Eagle Scouts," Smith said. "It takes 6-7-8 years for them to progress slowly and stick with it. It takes quite a bit of stamina and drive and initiative to be an Eagle Scout." Smith, 85, has spent 70 years as a Scout and an adult leader and has helped out with Boy Scout troops in five states and Bermuda most of those roles came while stationed as a naval aviator. "Everywhere we went, I worked with a Scout Troop," he said As his children grew up and the family moved around because of Smith's military duties, he and his wife of 60 years made sure the children participated in the scouts. "It was all new to me," Marilyn Smith said. "I had never been around it." "Everywhere we went," Phil Smith said, "my wife made sure the (children) got to their scout meetings. I think she did more for the scouts than I did," he joked. Steve Smith, Phil's oldest son, said whatever coast he and his family moved to, the local Boy Scouts troop was something he could jump right into. "That was something I knew I could join in when I got into town. There was a comfort zone," said Steve Smith, whose experience includes 4 years in the Cub Scouts, 7 years in Boy Scouts and 30 years as an adult leader. Phil Smith got his first taste of the Boy Scouts at age 7 near his hometown outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His uncle brought him along on a trip to attend the lighting ceremony of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. He sat several feet away as President Franklin D. Roosevelt lit the memorial, and got to meet veterans from the Battle of Gettysburg. "The only thing I could remember was that (President Roosevelt) had a cigarette that long," Phil Smith said, gesturing the size with his hands. At age 10, Phil Smith visited the celebration of 30 years of Boy Scouts in the United States. Those experiences, along with camaraderie and survival skills he saw the troops learn, inspired him to join the Boy Scouts at age 12 in 1942. "When we got (to South Pennsylvania on our first camping trip), the first thing I saw was a full-sized buffalo on a barbecue spit," he said. "And I camped with an Indian who claimed to have rode with Crazy Horse at Little Bighorn." His pursuit of merit badges and learning survival skills led him to earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Along the way he earned some of the highest awards a Boy Scout can earn: the St. George Emblem, the NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Bronze Pelican, and was inspired to pursue a career in the Navy as an aviator. After settling in Corpus Christi, Phil Smith founded Troop 87 in 1999, which meets at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church. Mike Hess, a Boy Scout leader with Troop 87, said 47 Eagle Scouts have come out of the troop. "(That) is astronomical," Hess said. The boys also learn other values such as public speaking leadership, self-confidence and patriotism, and then pass it on to Cub Scouts that grow into Boy Scouts. "We wrap the camping stuff around getting the boys interested in it," Hess said, "but what we really teach is leadership." SHARE CALLER-TIMES FILE Jose Longoria Judge Jose Longoria has presided over the 214th District Court since 2001 long enough for us to have found out some negatives. While they should be addressed, they don't meet the threshold for recommending his less-experienced primary opponent, solo practitioner Deborah Rios. Longoria has been elected four times, has served on the bench for 15 years and has served as the presiding judge among his local peers. He told us something we have wanted to hear from the local judiciary that he is in favor of a specialty court for domestic violence cases to address that major societal issue. Rios, who has practiced law for 13 years after working as a paralegal, has a compelling self-made-from-humble-beginnings story. But to justify our recommendation would take a more powerful resume and an impressive collection of endorsements. One of Longoria's negatives cited by Rios is that he is a bully on the bench. His general-election opponent in 2012 made the same complaint, and we anticipate hearing it from unopposed Republican Inna Klein in this year's Nov. 8 general election. That's too much smoke for there to be no fire. Longoria admits he's rough on lawyers but insists that he treats everyone else in court with dignity and courtesy. Lawyers don't make compelling victims. But don't construe our endorsement as condoning this behavior, which he can and should correct in the interest of justice. A judge's behavior sends signals to jurors. Longoria also was removed post-conviction from the Hannah Overton capital murder case, which was reversed on appeal. The reversal was for her defense's shortcomings, not Longoria's stewardship. Longoria erred by actively disputing Overton's bid to recuse him on grounds that he was distantly related to Overton's husband and was a customer of a business that employed and later was owned by him. Longoria also was reversed last year in a murder conviction in which the appeals court found fault with the jury instructions. Our verdict is that these are not reasons to vote him out on March 1. CAMEROUN :: Cameroon,EKWE ERIC ASOH : OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT PAUL BIYA Our dear President, I write this litter to you with great passion and in a state of curiosity and concern.IUnderstand your zeal as the President of the Republic Cameroon to invest in the next generation of the countrys youths by presenting a budget that contains reason projects that are aimed at tackling the far-reaching malady of UNEMPLOYMENT in our beloved country Cameroon. Sir, I am particularly worried with the level of despair among the youths in Cameroon. You are all playing with our future if you cannot create conducive avenues for the youths to positively deploy their creativity, passion, and energies. Parents are struggling to raise their children with no apparent support from those in charge of our resources, and the community and the state offer no help to ensure the youths are provided, for thousands of youth roam about with no hope. Mr. President, the only common element which costs less, and can solve the myriad of problems faced by most Cameroonians is employment. Unemployment is a big challenge in Cameroon, which over the years has represented a lost opportunity for national economic development. The rising unemployment rate in Cameroon has contributed to the continuous rise in social vices like terrorism, political thuggery, violence and even teenage pregnancies among youths in many parts of the country. I am happy you know, according to statements credited to you, that Cameroonians are already talking about their national challenges through the print, electronic and social media and this is how we intend to make our voices heard. The politicians will give the same answers and report only what they feel you would be comfortable hearing. The truth, Mr. President, is far from comfortable. What affects us is UNEMPLOYMENT, and we want you to take a critical look at the following issues: 1. Contract Staffing-This is in fact one of the biggest problems hindering graduates from getting jobs. Most of those assumed to be workers in most industries, firms and companies are in fact, not permanent staff. They are all under-employed and are also competing with fresh graduates for any available vacancy. 2. Age limit as a prerequisite for employment opportunities. 3. The issue of years of experience by several government ministries and parastatals. 4. Employment not being on merit. 5. Provision of social welfare for all unemployed graduates and more for the physically challenged persons and graduates. (Implement a quota for each firm to employ, as a percentage of their total workforce, a specific percentage of Physically Challenged people and graduate). 6. Sir, democracy is not only multi-partism and vote during electoral periods it is also our freedom of speech and our freedom to strike. So, let the military stop killing and brutalizing youths who are exercising their constitutional rights. The same constitution which brought you to power. 7. For this fiftieth anniversary of the youths we need a round table talk with you Mr. President. Your Excellency, Job creation must be a priority of your administration for a number of reasons. When the citizenry are gainfully employed, your administrating would have enough revenue to work. Under the current economic conditions, people are forced to evade taxes against their will. Also, the menace of corruption in the public service would become history if people are employed and can earn decent salaries. Importantly unemployment remains a security threat for Cameroon. The potential of Boko haram to get followers in Cameroon cannot be ignored. Mr. President, we live in a country where people now sell jobs. Everyone had hitherto been quiet about this completely unacceptable and despicable act and it must be looked into. We are human capital, and this is by far, the greatest asset any country can have. We worth more than the sea port in Douala, the banana, rubber and palm oil plantations in the south west region, the forest in the Eastern region and many more. We cannot afford to sit Down and watch ourselves waste anymore. Our dear president, it is wrong to have created the National youth council as a resolution of the February 2008 strike. This council is a mockery to the memories of these periodic youths who were murdered for their constitutional rights. Also, this council does not solve the problem of poverty and unemployment among youths. Mr. president dont make a mockery out of our situation by announcing the creation of fictitious jobs as you did during your traditional end of year recycled speech. Sir, we are youths of this notion and we merit RESPECT. Mr. President we are tired of running out of our fatherland to foreign countries and yet treated and addressed as third class citizens through Visa bonding and the rest, when our country is blessed. Mr. President, Cameroonians are naturally patriotic people. They are not patriotic because of you, because you have never been patriotic to Cameroon. A patriotic President would visit his regions, commune and understand how his people are living. A Patriotic president will commune with his wounded soldiers, visit them and provide adequate care for them. A patriotic President will listen to the voices of marginalized people in Cameroon. A patriotic President will set in place an independent electoral body and ensures independence in state institutions. A patriotic President will have time to talk with his youths. A patriotic President will not leave the country for months and spend huge tax payers money at ease and allow his people go hungry. However, it should not be forgotten that the problems of these Home Terror groups in the North started when their needs were not met, and with lots of anomalies in their society. Now its spiraling and all nations are called to join in securing the region. All we are saying is listen to our cries now and not when things go bad. I am accessible and open for discussions on how to forge ahead in addressing the problems of unemployment with your support. Mr. President Sir, ignoring the points raised here can have unpleasant consequences. I implore you to urgently address these points to halt the steadily growing number of angry and frustrated unemployed graduates who may be tempted to channel their knowledge and energy into negativities. God bless you, Sir, as I await your response and God bless Cameroon. CAMEROUN :: Cameroon: The Leader of the Cameroon Reformation Party (CRP), Mr Foligar Lang replies to President Paul Biyas National Youth Day celebration speech. He calls Biya unpatriotic. Finds Biya disrespectful and incompetent.Mr Lang defends Cameroonian Youths.Says Cameroonian youths deserve better treatment from the President.Fellow Young Cameroonians. Permit me to begin by informing President Paul Biya that Cameroonian youths are more patriotic than the President of Cameroon. It is my understanding from the Presidents Youth Day Celebration speech that President Biya acknowledged being a failure. As someone who has acknowledged failing the youths, President Paul Biya should have refrained from insulting Cameroonian youths, whose precarious situations have been as a result of Biyas negligence, mismanagement of the country, recklessness and unpatriotic behaviour. For over 33 years as President of Cameroon, Cameroonian youths cannot be proud of President Paul Biya and cannot identify any of the Presidents achievement. The President himself timidly acknowledges how shameful he has been as a good example of a bad President. It is true when Biya says that our youths constitute a major asset for the nations future and that the youths are numerous and full of potential, dynamic and ambitious, conquering and creative. While President Biya says Cameroonian youths were not afraid to achieve good things, Biya fails to give a tangible reason why these youths have never been encouraged by his regime to achieve success. Cameroonian youths according to Biya, were equal to weather the deficiencies in our country, deficiencies caused by his poor governance which he claims is still in the building process . How can a President who has been in power for 34 years be so shameless to define his country as one still in the building process? As President Biya points out, some Cameroonian youths were able to achieved the excellent results which we can all be proud of. What Biya fails to note is that he should be the only Cameroonian who should not be proud of this achievement because he did nothing as President to contribute to the success of these super hard working and creative young Cameroonians. No credit should be given to President Biya. By saying that some youths are still hesitating and dragging their feet is an insult to our patriotic youths. If the Biya regime had provided structures and infrastructures, many young Cameroonians would have equally excelled in different domains. Mr President, please stop blaming and insulting the youths. You should assume the responsibility of your failure and their failure. The President claims that patriotism should not be considered outdated, but remains a mark of responsible and nobly asserted citizenship for the nation. However, President Biya fails to understand that he is the most unpatriotic Cameroonian, who should not dare to lecture the youths on patriotism. While it is true that regardless of our role in society, the youths should be patriotic, Biya fails to understand the fact that the youths have not been able to do more as a result of lack of support and encouragement from his administration which has no sense of direction not as a result of unpatriotic youths. Patriotism come from inspiration. The CRP finds it insulting to the youths and to their parents when the President thinks that the farmer on his farm, the pupil or student in their studies, the workman on his work site, the teacher in the classroom, the doctor or nurse at the hospital, the researcher in his laboratory, the civil servant in his office, the trader in his shop, the mechanic in his garage, the sweeper at his workplace, the transporter driving his vehicle are all unpatriotic. President Paul Biya advises that we should each comply our trades with patriotism for us to become forces of progress for the Nation. How does President Biya know that Cameroonians are not plying their trade with patriotic love? Cameroonian youths ply their trade with love for their country but they cannot progress because the President does nothing to support them. How patriotic are his own children to this country? The President thinks that only the soldiers fighting Boko Haram are patriotic; take the example of our youths who are engaged at the war front who have been protecting our country from the terrorist threat. Biya, claims the young soldiers are sustained and driven by patriotic love, often to the point of sacrificing their lives. Now the President wants everyone to be a soldier. While CRP applauds the efforts of our soldiers who are often prepared to sacrifice their lives, CRP condemn the Presidents unwillingness to make sacrifices himself to improve the lives of the youths. The President goes further to insult most Cameroonian youths when he says the behaviour of some soldiers is unlike that of some other youths who do everything possible to get recruited into the public service and then desert their duty stations while continuing to receive their salaries. And the President continues, some youths join the public service just to obtain a service number, as they are fond of saying. Mr President, if these bad practices have been taking place under your leadership for 34 straight years, then you are a no-fit-for-purpose President. You should hold yourself responsible for being incompetence. You desert your country all the time and stay at Continental hotel in Geneva when you are supposed to be in the country working. Mr President, not all youths are dishonest. CRP agrees with the President that the unbridled quest for easy profit and wealth is a road to perdition that should be shunned by the youths. So, on behalf of Cameroonian youths and on behalf of CRP, I would like to shun you, Mr President and members of your administration, including those who had worked for you. You are a disgrace to Cameroon and a good example of bad leader. Some youths were wondering if the President actually understands their problems, considering the facts that the President spends most of his time abroad and nothing is being done to improve the livelihood of the youths. However, CRP now finds out that the President is aware of whats going on when he tells the youths, I am fully aware of the difficulties you are facing. I know your doubts and worries. I know especially that you have difficulty getting a job. Mr President, what have you done about it? 34 years in power is more than enough time to resolve economic crisis and to achieve economic boom/growth for any President of a country rich in natural resources. What are you doing with the proceeds generated from the exploitation of our natural resources? CRP now understands why in 2009, you were able to shamelessly spend over 23 million fcfa a day for 43 bedrooms in Hermitage and the Royal, two luxury hotels in La Baule for three weeks. The 23 million fcfa per day excluded food and beverage, leisure; casino, spa sessions, shopping etc. CRP would like to tell President Biya that he owes the Cameroonian youths an apology. Mr President, I can guarantee you that, your apology will not be accepted by the youths. The President claims that, our capacity to create decent jobs is constrained by external factors related to the global economic environment. What the President fails to understand is that the CPDM government officially declared economic crisis in 1985. Since 1985, we are still in the same situation if not worst. If external factors are responsible for lack of job creation, how then since 1985, Cameroon is still not progressing and other countries like Rwanda, Botswana, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (which were worse off than Cameroon when Biya took over office as President) are progressing? If the President does not know the answer, CRP will provide him with the answer. The reason for this is due to Biyas poor governance, resulting from Biyas incompetence leadership. The President lacks good management skills. State budget is under mass embezzlement. The state is run in a ghost manner. Biya also claims that the youths are unable to get jobs because of some domestic red tape and he promises, we are not giving up. The domestic red tape has been created by you Mr President! If you have not been able to resolve the problem for 34 years, there is no guarantee that you will ever do it. In fact, there is all indication that Cameroon is going backward and will continue to regress under your dictatorial and incompetent leadership. The President claims that their efforts over the past few years are starting to pay off. What efforts are you referring to? Why didnt you give the youths a few examples of the results? The President did not do that because he has nothing to show to the youths. Mr President. You talk of an inexistent Three-Year Emergency Plan and the fake launching of the extensive industrialization programme to create many job opportunities. You are addressing the youths but what you fail to understand is that the youths are mature enough to understand that you are not good even at inventing stories. By saying that the development of our agricultural sector will be accorded a prime place, you have finally confirmed that you killed the agricultural sector which used to be the backbone of our economy and the top on the agenda of your predecessor President Amadou Ahidjo. Mr President, how can you ask the youths not be afraid to take the plunge and become the agricultural entrepreneurs that Cameroon needs, when you have completely destroyed the agricultural sector? Where are the subsidies and incentives? Structures, institutions and activities such as Green Revolution, Agric Show, Marketing Board and FONADER (the farmers bank that used to offer loans and agricultural tools to farmers) to encourage agriculture that were put in place by President Ahidjo have all disappeared under your poor and shameless leadership. Are you not aware of this or its that you are in total denial of these facts? I f you are convinced that agriculture is a noble and rewarding trade in the so-called real economy, what have you done as the President with huge power to improve on the agricultural sector of this one-time lovely country? Why did you stop Green Revolution and the Agric Show? Why did you shut down Marketing Board and FONADER? Why have you failed to construct accessible farm to market roads? Mr President, why are you shifting your responsibilities to others? Are you not ashamed to say you urge the elders to shoulder their responsibility? While it is proper to urge the youths to work the land and it is unwise to dissuade them from doing so CRP would like to know how this is possible when you have not provided the means to do so. Mr President, as you know, the youths and the elders do not have the means to carry this forward without your support? Mr President, are you actually aware that you are the President of a country? Your advice seems to be coming from a man with no powers or a man with powers who does not know what his responsibilities are. Mr President, you are asking elders to set a good example for the youths and you claim urban workers should also undertake activities in rural areas. You failed to tell the youths and the so-called elders how they are going to do this. Through their actions and those of the Government, (what actions are you referring to?) . we should make our villages more youth-friendly. It is true that the villages are less youth-friendly. It is as a result of your poor policies and leadership. You should be in a position to understand that, accept your mistakes rather than apportioning blames on the elders. Mr President, I disagree with you when you say, it is not a matter of waiting to amass substantial resources and that it is, first and foremost, a matter of determination and commitment. Mr President, you are living in your own world. The youths and the elders are determined and committed. They lack the substantial resources to add to their determination and commitment. Mr President, if you provide the resources that are needed, Cameroonian youths with their determination and commitment will work so hard and would be able to afford money for the basic things they cannot afford for now. They could even have more money to travel for holidays. Some may even go to Beverly Hills on holidays (not to live as others who do not work do), They will not spend $400 dollars for a single taxi journey because they know the value of hard earned money. Mr President, you claim there are many Government programmes designed to support rural development and that the youths should obtain information on such programmes. If there were such programmes, the youths would have been the first to know. Why did you not name the programmes and tell the youths where to get information about the programmes if you are sure of what you are saying? Mr President, I can see that unlike others at your age, you are aware of Information Technology to the extent that you call it Android generation and the digital economy. Congrats. Now you are giving the youths lectures on how to be technologically smart. That smartness of yours was seen on your official website when you shamelessly photo shopped a picture of yourself honouring our (not your) fallen soldiers while you were on your usual holiday trips in Europe. Why cant you improve the internet sector of the economy? We have no broadband or fast broadband in Cameroon. Your expertise in digital economy seems to be limited to Photoshop. Mr President, you are right when you say that one of the major challenges for our youths is to manage to keep abreast of the astounding phenomenon of the digital economy. However, Cameroonian youths were excited, some were angry and others surprised to learn that their fellow compatriot (who has never worked in a farm, whose parents are not farmers) is using android and digital technology to vert her frustration for being poorly treated by a taxi driver in Beverly Hill. Are you aware of how fortunate your daughter is and how unfortunate her fellow peers are under your poor leadership and management? CRP finds your description of the Cameroonian youths and their parents for not being patriotic, committed and determined as insulting. Mr President, you seem to be the only Cameroonian who is aware that the Government has opened three Pilot Centres of Excellence in Douala, Limbe and Sangmelima, at the cost of about 21 billion CFA Frs. to provide retraining and skills upgrading for senior technicians and other skilled workers. Can we know exactly where these Pilot Centres are and how come cfa 21 billion has been paid out for what is apparently inexistent? Is this how you spend our money? On ghost projects! Mr President, CRP has not seen any proof of the economic integration of youths that you are claiming. Where is the greater momentum to enable our youths to make the most of the numerous programmes and projects that you claim are underway or in the pipeline? Mr President, how can you shamelessly claim you have just given instructions for the launch of a three-year Special Youth plan worth CFAF 102 billion in total? Giving instruction is one thing and actually launching the plan is another thing. The truth is, you have given no instruction and you think by saying you have given instruction, you will make the youths jump and applaud you as the North West Chiefs jumped up and clapped when you said you have ordered for a feasibility study on the Menchum Dam Project. Feasibility study is different from the actual construction. By the way, why try to spend cfa 102 billion frs for the fake launch of a three-year Special Youth Plan when you can open close to100 new and large industries with that amount of money? With 102 billion fcfa, my economic advisers tell me CRP can create at least 90 industries and provide at least 500 permanent new jobs for each of the 90 industries? My dear youths The President goes further to claim that his plan would facilitate and accelerate the economic integration of our youths thereby letting the youths to demonstrate their economic patriotism. Mr President, who tells you that Cameroonians are not economically patriotic? Mr President, CRP finds your address to the youths as extremely disrespectful and insulting. You show no remorse for what our youths are going through and you actually try to shift the blame on the youths and their parents. CRP sympathises with the youths. On behalf of CRP, I would like to condemn in the strongest possible terms, the way you have treated the youths since you came to power some 34 years ago. Mr President, you ask the youths to attend and reap the benefit from the good citizenship education programmes offered by the Civic Service Agency for Participation in Development. If there is anyone in Cameroon who needs to attend good citizenship education programme, that person should be President Paul Barthelemy Biya Bi Mvondo. Mr President, you claim the sky is gradually clearing up and that the clouds are dispersing progressively. That is not true to any Cameroonian except to you. Mr President, while you claim you are aware that the youth, more than the other population segments, are affected by unemployment, CRP would like to remind you that you are the sole cause of these problems. Unfortunately, you are unwilling and incapable to resolve them. Mr President, you urge the youths to look to the future with more confidence. How can they look to the future with confidence when you have killed their hopes by refusing to provide them with jobs? The President tries to be humble by saying that of course, we have not yet reached our goal, but we are making progress against all the odds. CRP economic experts have told me that the goal of the youths can never be reached with you in power and that despite all the opportunities and resources available at your disposal, you are not making any progress and you will never improve the situation. Mr President, Cameroonian youths deserve better treatment. They have been patient with you. You have taken their patience for a weakness. CRP is with the youths and we shall do all what it takes as a young party, a party of committed and determined Cameroonians who are not ready to betray the cause of their very foundations. You have succeeded in the past 34 years to divide and rule the opposition parties and to successfully bring most of them under your control. This time, the drummers are playing a different music. A music you are unfamiliar with. The dancers are now leaving the old dancing floors as they are now listening to a good and different brand of music. Luckily enough, the dancers have the right skills to dance to the rhythm of their new DJ. This is our time. We shall get back our country from you and put it under our control. CRP is determined. There is no turning back. Long Live Cameroonian Youths Long Live CRP Long Live Cameroon. The decision to consolidate was called in an effort to create efficiencies and embark on longer-term partnerships with its agencies, with a total of 29 brands across Personal Care and Home, Food and Ice Cream categories up for pitch. In a statement this morning, the FMCG giant said O&M was awarded 17 brands for creative, and seven brands for digital leadership after showcasing a strong point of view on how to operationalise A.R.T. (Authenticity, Relevance and Talkability), along with a long history of consistent expertise in beauty, intimate knowledge of moms and passion for the Unilever business. The brands for creative are: Total Foods (Knorr, Ladys Choice, Best Foods) Total Skin (Ponds; Dove Masterbrand including Deos and Skin; Eskinol, Master, Skin Matters, Block & White, Lux, Manifesto) Total Hair (Dove Hair, Sunsilk, Clear, Toni & Guy) except Creamsilk While the brands for creative and digital are: Vaseline Ponds Men Tresemme All Things Hair The Total Foods for both creative and digital now sit under the O&M roof, Unilever added. The announcement follows Unilevers appointment of Dentsu JaymeSyfu as creative agency for seven of its brands and digital agency for an additional six brands, earlier this month. Gina Lorenzana, vice president for personal care at Unilever Philippines, described Ogilvy as an outstanding partner in enabling brand growth and strong advertising work on brands such as Dove, Eskinol and Ponds. With their appointment as the lead agency in some of our biggest and most important Unilever brands, I look forward to even more progressive and innovative marketing programmes, she added. This will be much more integrated to further strengthen our brand equities, and make a real impact on the people we serve. Benjie Yap, vice president for foods and home care said today's environment requires Unilever to collaborate with the best agencies and engage with consumers 24/7 through all relevant touch points. "With O&M we believe our brands are best positioned to build a strong relationship with the people that we serve and continue to win in the market, he added. Dennis Perez, Unilever Philippines head of media said that the partnership with O&M has resulted in a number of award winning campaigns. As we push the boundaries of creativity further, we look forward to this renewed collaboration, especially in crafting ground-breaking and pioneering ideas that put people first and build brand love, he added. | BY Ricki Green | Presto has today announced the appointment of Match Media to handle all of its media activity following a quiet review of the market. Says Sally Kiernan, marketing director: Prestos first year has seen huge growth and success, with thanks to the incredible support throughout this critical launch phase from our shareholders in-house media team and supporting media agency, Mindshare. We are thrilled to welcome Match Media as our dedicated media partner as we enter our second year, and look forward to working closely together. Says John Preston, CEO, Match Media: Presto is now one of Matchs biggest clients, and we are hugely excited about working with the Presto team. The category is challenging, highly competitive and continually evolving. Bringing all the media services under one roof gives Presto the ability to move swiftly to deliver Presto its rightful share of the streaming category. | BY Ricki Green | With the passing of Valentines Day and romance in the air, Showtime Marketing sought to give a little love back to Sydney with an exciting outdoor campaign. In a study conducted by Mens Health magazine, almost 30% of men and 25% of women forget Valentines Day. Showtime Marketing saw this as a problem, and knew that the engagement potential of guerilla and ambient marketing over most other forms of Out-Of-Home media would be a perfect platform to bring a new spin to resolving this festive dilemma. As a gesture of Valentines-inspired love for a community on the go, they took to the streets of Sydney on Sunday, the 14th of February to save aspiring lovers with a targeted street poster campaign that brought a fun twist to the Valentines tradition. The idea was simple as a community-oriented guerilla marketing agency with a passion for ambient marketing approaches, Showtime was going to give back to the community by providing free roses to passersby through the convivial power of Guerilla Marketing. These roses were distributed as custom adornments for emblazoned street posters across a range of high traffic sites on their diverse Sydney network. The goal of the Valentines Day street campaign was twofold Showtime would establish their brand image as a pillar of the local community, while also bringing festive fun and romance to the streets of Sydney. Says Chris Campbell, director, Showtime Marketing: At Showtime Marketing we live and breathe Ambient and Guerilla Marketing strategies, and we saw this as a perfect opportunity to give some love back to the streets with our high-traffic sites in the heart of the city. Street Marketing is a fantastic strategy for building engagement to promote fun, fresh and engaging brands with bold and brilliant marketing strategies. Lewis was successful on only one administrative point. The court found the board did not afford him the proper opportunity to be present at the hearing at which his weekend detention was cancelled, despite it being a serious decision that would have major ramifications. An investigation by Worksafe ACT and union officials is underway into how the man, who had been working on the upgrade to the Gungahlin Marketplace shopping centre for three weeks, was injured. There was a further clash over another appraisal the following year and when Ms Gilmour missed out on the chance of higher duties and again felt she had been hard done by, she began to take time off work, consulted a psychologist and lodged her Comcare claim. [Your Business Name] Contact Info Phone: Fax: Email: Web: CAPITOLHILLCUBANS.COM Business Overview Geographic Area Line of Business Brands We Carry Products and Services Discounts Offered Additional Information Business Hours Timezone We Accept Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. Fueled by the success of Mercedes compact family, the Kecskemet plant in Hungary has celebrated the production of the 250,000th vehicle since it opened two and a half years ago. The youngest Mercedes-Benz plant in the world today built its 250,000th vehicle, a right-hand drive, polar silver CLA 45 AMG which will be shipped to a customer in Japan. 250,000 vehicles made at the Kecskemet plant with the typical Mercedes top quality- that is something that our entire team can rightly be proud of. All of our employees have made a personal contribution to this achievement, which marks another important milestone for us as the youngest Mercedes-Benz plant, said Thomas Geier, Director of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Kecskemet. The Hungarian plant plays an important role in the success of Mercedes compact car family as it is the only plant in the world that builds the CLA four-door. The B-Class MPV has also been produced in Kecskemet since March 2012, as well as in Mercedes main plant for compact vehicles in Rastatt, Germany. In the first eight months of this year, almost 290,000 customers opted for a compact Mercedes-Benz, be it A-Class, B-Class, CLA-Class or GLA-Class. Since its market launch in Europe in April 2013, Mercedes-Benz has delivered more than 100,000 CLAs to customers all over the world, with the four-door coupe being a big success in its single most important market, the USA. Every fourth vehicle of the model series is driven by an American customer. Since may 2014, the Kecskemet plant has been operating in three shifts, just like the Rastatt plant. The Hungarian plant will also produce Mercedes fifth compact model, the CLA Shooting Brake, scheduled to arrive on the market in 2015. PHOTOS Stuttgart is performing the last tweaks on the newest addition to its new C-Class range, the Convertible, before the car celebrates its global debut in Geneva, on March 1. While the three-pointed star has started the teasing game for its new drop-top, by releasing a sketch over the weekend, testing continues with this prototype ditching the black soft-top for a red one. The C-Class Cabrios design will mirror the one of its two brothers, the sedan and estate versions of the C-Class and, since it shares the same architecture and tech, it will also benefit from the same engine lineup, which will use a mix of four-, six- and eight-cylinder gasoline and diesel units. In North America, the 2017 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Convertible is rumored to come in four versions, the 242hp C300, 362hp C450, 476hp C63 AMG and 503hp C63 AMG S. The first examples of the vehicle are expected to arrive this summer. VIDEO Photo: Contributed A company that sells party supplies says it is investigating after an employee at one of its Edmonton stores posted a photo of a Valentine for him that was defaced with a homophobic slur. Degas Sikorski, 20, posted the photo to Facebook late Saturday night, but it was his mother's sharing of the post along with an explanation that caused a storm online. Shelley Bramhoff Sikorski stated on Facebook that a supervisor at the Party City store made Valentines for all the staff, but when her son picked his up, it had a hate message on it. The photo shows a homemade Valentine that has been marked with a homophobic name and as well as the statement, "You are not getting any shifts for a reason." The company says in an emailed statement that it "is committed to creating a fair and inclusive working environment" and is looking into the matter. A supervisor at the store who identified herself as Karlina says staff at the store are awaiting guidance from head office about how to proceed with the investigation and any other steps. "As a company and a store, this kind of behaviour isn't tolerated," the supervisor said. However Sikorski posted on Facebook on Sunday that he is enthralled with the love and support people have shown, but wanted to be clear that the incident does not reflect Party City. "This was one person of many. And all the other people I work with are wonderful people," he said in the post. Reached on Sunday evening, Shelley Bramhoff Sikorski said her son, who told her he was gay at 14, has been a loyal employee at the store while putting himself through university. She said she and her son tried contacting the store manager Saturday night and even emailed him the photo, but didn't get a reply until Sunday. "He's always felt safe there. Yes, people knew he was gay. He's not flamboyant, he doesn't throw it in people's faces," Bramhoff Sikorski said. The company said in its statement that it would provide more information when it becomes available. Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson reacted strongly to the picture of the defaced Valentine, tweeting that it was offside with the city's Pride spirit. "Discrimination based on sexual orientation is unacceptable," Iveson said in the tweet. Photo: CTV Thieves in Calgary used a front-end loader to smash their way into a bank. The Royal Bank at Beacon Hill was heavily damaged when the thieves rammed the building at 3:45 a.m. on Feb. 14. The thieves stole the ATM and left the loader behind. The owner of the loader, Serge Arsenault, uses it for snow removal and is worried the thieves might come back. My problem now, how is the security here, because they opened the loader, it was locked, the safety lock was removed from the machine, the guy knew what he was doing," said Arsenault. The bank plans to clean up the mess and get back to business as quickly as possible. On Feb. 11, a pickup truck was used to smash into an electronics store and steal several TVs, and a tractor was used in two attempts to steal ATMs in the town of Magrath on Feb. 12. - with files from CTV Photo: Contributed - Flickr/BC Gov't British Columbia's Liberal government is set to deliver a fourth consecutive balanced budget Tuesday with sprinkles of relief expected for first-time home buyers trying to get into a red hot real estate market. Tweaks were also signalled on medical services premiums and more cash promised for social service programs in a throne speech last week that said the government will "resist the temptation to spend our way into trouble." Premier Christy Clark said the budget targets affordability on several fronts, but the measures will be incremental. "The budget, what you'll see, is relief across the board for people in all different sectors," she told reporters last week in Vancouver. Clark said the government has already moved to help single-parent families with cuts to their medical premiums, but a massive overhaul or elimination of the program called for by the Opposition New Democrats and the Green party is not in the cards, yet. "It's antiquated, it's old, and the way people pay for it generally doesn't make a whole ton of sense," Clark said. "I think in terms of wholesale change though, it's going to take a little longer for us to work through some of that, but you will see some things in this budget." B.C.'s next provincial election is set for May 2017. NDP finance critic Carole James said the medical premiums are an unfair tax that results in people earning $30,000 annually or more paying the same rates as those who earn $1 million. "We have to get rid of this unfair tax," she said. James said B.C. families are being squeezed with fee and rate increases, including hydro, insurance, tuition and medical premium rates. "The piece I'll be looking for in the budget is the issue of affordability for families," she said. "If you take a look at how difficult it is for people right now, and the fees and services and increased taxes this government has put on families, it is getting tougher and tougher." B.C. Hydro rates jumped four per cent last month and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says B.C.'s medical premium rates have increased 39 per cent since 2009, from $108 a month for a family with children to $150 per month now. Finance Minister Mike de Jong said the medical premium payments, which collect more than $2 billion annually, account for about 14 per cent of B.C.'s health budget of almost $19 billion. He said the government is looking at being more flexible with medical premiums but he rejects calls to make the payments part of the income tax system. "I disagree with that," he said. "All you are doing is creating the illusion health care is free, and it's not." De Jong said the major achievement of his latest budget remains the fact it will be balanced, an accomplishment most provinces and the federal government won't realize this year. The Royal Bank forecasts B.C.'s economy to lead Canada's growth rate this year at 3.1 per cent and 2.9 per cent in 2017. The B.C. government has forecast growth at 2.4 per cent this year. Last fall, de Jong forecast the budget to include a surplus of $265 million, down about $20 million from the original estimate due largely to falling resource revenues, particularly natural gas. Photo: Contributed Pete was set free on Sunday to soar over the Okanagan. The red tailed hawk was released after being in the care of the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls since November. SORCO manager Dale Belvedere says the injured bird was brought to the centre unable to use its talons or stand upright. The X-rays revealed it had no broken bones, and was either suffering from an infection or possible electric shock, said Belvedere. The bird was treated with antibiotics and hand fed. Within a few weeks, the bird started to show improvement, but suffered a setback when it developed a severe respiratory infection. Belvedere says Pete finally managed to regain his health and the decision was made to release him back to the wild. The hawk was set free on Valentines Day in Penticton. The release went extremely well, said Belvedere. He flew off into the forest as soon as I opened his carrier. I am disappointed that city staff has made two crucial errors in two sentences on their home page for dog parks and then created a huge mess and wasted taxpayers money and time by trying to correct the problem those errors. The problem is in these sentences regarding the survey. Please note, Q.6: "The best management practice minimum size for an off-leash dog park is 0.4ha (as per the American Kennel Association). This is the approximate size of the Mission Recreation Off-leash Dog Park." That is not the approximate size of Mission Recreation Dog Park, Mission Recreation Dog Park is 0.72ha. Knox Mountain Off-leash Dog Park is closer at 0.38. We apologize for the error. The question will not be included in the final report and the open ended responses will be used anecdotally. Three mistakes in five sentences does not give me confidence the city knows what they are doing about off-leash parks. The first error is "The best management practice minimum size for an off-leash dog park is 0.4ha (as per the American Kennel Association). I have downloaded and read the document: Establishing a Dog Park in Your Community, by the American Kennel Club. I have searched the document for the words: best management practice minimum size. Those words do not exist in that document. In fact the words, best management practice do not appear in that document. The actual words in the document, from page 17 are: The ideal dog park should include one acre or more of land. There is a huge difference between ideal and best management practices. Ideal leaves room for options. Best management practices leaves no room for change or options because any change would be going against best management practices. The second error relates to This is the approximate size of the Mission Recreation Off-leash Dog Park." This blatantly untrue as another letter to the editor writer pointed out. To correct this second error, the city staff has apologized for the error and made the correction to the page. What they did not do is change question #6 inside the survey, which still reads: 0.4 ha (approximate size of the Mission Recreation Off-leash Dog Park). By correcting the second error on the front page and not in the survey, the staff has created the third problem: there are only 4 choices for the size of the off-leash park with .04ha being the largest size. For respondents who chose other and used the open response area and asked for larger off-leash parks especially for larger dogs, the city staff have decided, The question will not be included in the final report and the open ended responses will be used anecdotally. So what was the point of asking citizens to give their thoughtful opinion and ideas about the size of the parks, off leash areas and new water park areas of dogs when the city staff has already decided that the off-leash parks wont be larger than 0.4 ha which they have unilaterally and incorrectly decided is best management practice? Guardians of golden retriever, Labs, Bernese, Aussie shepherds, border collies and mixed breed dogs who use the large dog off-leash parks, already know 0.4 ha park is not large enough to include both large breeds and small breeds, nor is it large enough for large breeds to exercise when there are 10 or more large dogs present. If the city council decides our off-leash dog park size based on this survey it has not solved the problem. Even worse, if there is even the slightest chance that the words 0.4 ha (approximate size of the Mission Recreation Off-leash Dog Park) were used in the statistically valid telephone survey which taxpayers are paying money to conduct, then all that money has gone to waste too. I would hope the city council will verify the questions in the survey theyre paying for and ensure only correct information is contained in that survey. I encourage the city councillors and staff responsible for off-leash parks to come to Central Green (Richter/Rowcliffe) and Mission Creek Park off-leash parks. Come when its busy with dogs and guardians: 7:00 9:00 am and 3:30 5:30 pm. Talk to the dog guardians about what is needed for large dogs off-leash areas. Bring your open mind and a note book and learn about the anecdotal ideas we have to create better off-leash dog areas, not just parks, for both small and large dogs. Make our anecdotal stories part of your decision making process. Oh, and if youre coming to the Central Green off-leash area, you may have trouble parking. The Christmas trees are still blocking part of the parking area. Marilyn Strong Photo: Contributed - Flickr/BC gov't By Dermod Travis One of the last things anyone would ever imagine the B.C. government doing is adopting an old NDP program, but that's exactly what Energy and Mines minister Bill Bennett did this month when he announced a five-year, $300 million hydro bill deferment plan for 13 mines owned by six companies. There's a price to pay when B.C. Hydro becomes a political tool: the interests of ratepayers can take a backseat to political interests. Three of the six companies in Bennett's deal were highlighted in a December Financial Post article, Debt risks mount as Canadas base metal miners sink deep in the hole. One could argue that the headline alone justifies Bennett's move, except there's no guarantee that B.C. Hydro will ever be repaid. Last year, Deutsche Bank analyst Jorge Beristain said one of the six companies Colorado-based Thompson Creek Metals is quickly approaching an end-game with debts of $832 million US. According to the Financial Post, Teck Resources has more than US$3.5 billion of debt coming due between 2017 and 2023 and lost its investment-grade credit rating last year. Taseko Mines, has more than $260 million of senior notes coming due in 2019, while a US$30-million secured loan matures this May. Imperial Metals owns three of the 13 mines, including Mount Polley. Its controlling shareholder Murray Edwards has a net worth of $2.69 billion. The B.C. Liberal party has done well from them. From 2005 to 2014, the six companies donated $2.8 million to the party. B.C. Hydro's contractual obligations with private power producers have ballooned to $56.2 billion. It's the gift that keeps on giving for everyone involved, except ratepayers. In a 2008 call for independent power projects, 75 proponents registered with B.C. Hydro. They signed agreements with 18 of the proponents in 2010. From July 1, 2008 to September 30, 2010 when B.C. Hydro was making its decisions 14 proponents donated $268,461 to the Liberals. One donated $1,000 to the NDP. Ten of the 14 were successful. Their before and after donations are interesting. For the 10 successful proponents, their donations doubled from $112,801 (January 2005 to June 2008) to $229,471. After the deals were done, they settled back again. Seven donated $112,345 to the Liberals (2010 to 2014). In 2008, the B.C. Mining Association received a $295,188 grant from the Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT) to start making the business case for the Northwest Transmission Line. NDIT's Highway 37 Power Line Coalition has 22 private sector partners. Excluding companies in Bennett's deferral program, independent power producers and those identified by B.C. Hydro as potential future mines, 13 of the 22 donated $962,220 to the Liberals. There are the nine potential future mines that one day may connect to the line. Excluding donations from Imperial Metals and Teck who have interests in three of them, the most generous companies were Goldcorp at $795,700, the Lundin Group ($112,145) and Copper Fox Metals ($93,130). One of the founding directors of Copper Fox Metals is Hector Mackay-Dunn, who co-chaired the B.C. Liberal's 2009 election preparation efforts. MacKay-Dunn is affectionately known in some party circles as Hector the Collector for his prowess at political fundraising. In all, nine of the companies have donated $1 million to the Liberals and $18,050 to the NDP. And at the same time the government was imposing hydro rate increases on schools and hospitals in 2014, Bennett announced a $100 million B.C. Hydro initiative for pulp and paper producers to support investments in more energy efficient equipment. The forest industry has donated more than $4.2 million to the Liberals. Add all the donations of the interested parties up and it totals more than $9.8 million for the Liberals ($417,185 for the NDP). Guess who gets saddled with the bill? B.C. Hydro's contractual obligations stand at $59.7 billion, not including their debt which has grown from $6.8 billion in 2004 to $16.7 billion last year. They've had to borrow $3.2 billion just to turn around and give it to the B.C. government as dividends. In 2014, Hydro-Quebec cut a dividend cheque of $2.5 billion for the Quebec government. They didn't have to borrow money to cover the cheque. Hydro-Quebec's rates are the second lowest in Canada. From 2007 to 2015, its cumulative rate increase was 17.1. In B.C., it was 63.2 per cent. Dermod Travis is the executive director of IntegrityBC. Photo: Contributed - Enderby Chamber of Commerce Boating season will likely have started before a plan on how motorized vessels can operate on the Shuswap River is unveiled by the North Okanagan Regional District. We have had a couple of thousand responses and we're evaluating all of them, said Rick Fairbairn, NORD's board chair. Pollution, noise, safety concerns, bank erosion and critical salmon spawning grounds are some of the big issues being looked at when considering new rules. Proposed regulations include: Zone 1 Lower Shuswap River from Mara Lake upstream to Baxter Bridge (Trinity Valley Road) vessel engine size limit of 10 horsepower. Zone 2 Lower Shuswap River from the Baxter Bridge upstream to the eastern (upstream) end of Skookumchuck Rapids Park no motorized vessels. Zone 3 Mid-Shuswap River from South Mabel Lake upstream to the Shuswap Falls no motorized vessels. Fairbairn said any new regulations would actually have to be approved by Transport Canada, local government can only make recommendations. Meanwhile, the upper part of the Shuswap and Sugar Lake will be part of the discussion at a water plan stakeholder advisory committee meeting on Thursday. Lumby resident Russ Collins started an online petition in January asking the NORD board to ban motorized boats from the lake near Cherryville. European cement industry carbon costs cannot be passed onto customers ICR Newsroom By 15 February 2016 One of the issues during the debate on the future of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), is the ability (or not) of a sector to pass on to their customers costs arising from to the purchasing of CO2 allowances. Based on a recent study commissioned to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), it is clear that the European cement industry cannot pass through these additional carbon costs onto its customers, according to European cement association, CEMBUREAU. This is demonstrated by both economic theory and market data. Firstly, the ability to pass on such costs is affected by changes in supply and demand. Over the last seven years, the construction industry across the EU has been in a recession. This has had a negative impact on cement demand, which is further compounded by the long business cycle of the sector (due primarily to high initial investment costs). As a result, this high supply, low demand environment restricts the carbon cost pass-through possibility of the sector. Moreover, while cement producers can deal with overcapacity in view of low domestic market demand by increasing exports, they face a much greater price pressure in export markets due to the lack of a comparable climate change policy implemented. EU28 export prices are decreasing even more so than local prices (76 per cent of the 2008 level). In addition, as a homogenous product, cement faces commodity pricing and can easily be substituted by a competing product either from within a local market (competing producers) or from different geographical markets. Published under Specialty chemicals company LANXESS combined all its additive-related business segments in the new Rhein Chemie Additives business unit (ADD) in early 2015, and the move is bearing fruit. One synergy effect is the more efficient utilization of phosphorus plants operated by the company at various sites worldwide. Following a comprehensive efficiency analysis, the phosphoric acid partial ester Additin RC 3760, previously shipped only from Mannheim, will now also be produced at the LANXESS site in Epierre, France, effectively doubling manufacturing capacity for this product. We use an identical manufacturing process in France, explains Martin Sawe, head of the Lubricant Additives business line in LANXESS' ADD business unit. The product fulfills the same specifications and quality requirements as the Additin RC 3760 shipped from Mannheim. However there is one difference: while we have to buy-in phosphorus pentoxide in Mannheim, we are backwards integrated in France even as far as processing elementary phosphorus, meaning we have a more secure position. And that benefits customers: the added production site significantly increases supply security and, ideally, delivery times can now be considerably shorter. The expanded capacities give LANXESS new opportunities: the company can utilize its phosphorus chemistry plants at both sites more efficiently, and adapt Additin RC 3760 for use in even more additive packages. In addition, we now have new options for manufacturing phosphoric acid partial esters, which have not been produced on an industrial scale at LANXESS to date, explains Sawe. It makes us much more flexible in developing new products based on phosphoric acid esters. Additin RC 3760 from France is just the first step. We already have plans for additional products. Physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a nanolaser, a thousand times thinner than a human hair. Thanks to an ingenious process, the nanowire lasers grow right on a silicon chip, making it possible to produce high-performance photonic components cost-effectively. This will pave the way for fast and efficient data processing with light in the future. Ever smaller, ever faster, ever cheaper since the start of the computer age the performance of processors has doubled on average every 18 months. 50 years ago already, Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore prognosticated this astonishing growth in performance. And Moores law seems to hold true to this day. But the miniaturization of electronics is now reaching its physical limits. Today already, transistors are merely a few nanometers in size. Further reductions are horrendously expensive, says Professor Jonathan Finley, Director of the Walter Schottky Institute at TUM. Improving performance is achievable only by replacing electrons with photons, i.e. particles of light. Photonics the silver bullet of miniaturization Data transmission and processing with light has the potential of breaking the barriers of current electronics. In fact, the first silicon-based photonics chips already exist. However, the sources of light for the transmission of data must be attached to the silicon in complicated and elaborate manufacturing processes. Researchers around the world are thus searching for alternative approaches. Scientists at the TU Munich have now succeeded in this endeavor: Dr. Gregor Koblmuller at the Department of Semiconductor Quantum-Nanosystems has, in collaboration with Jonathan Finley, developed a process to deposit nanolasers directly onto silicon chips. A patent for the technology is pending. Growing a III-V semiconductor onto silicon requires tenacious experimentation. The two materials have different lattice parameters and different coefficients of thermal expansion. This leads to strain, explains Koblmuller. For example, conventional planar growth of gallium arsenide onto a silicon surface results therefore in a large number of defects. The TUM team solved this problem in an ingenious way: By depositing nanowires that are freestanding on silicon their footprints are merely a few square nanometers. The scientists could thus preclude the emerging of defects in the GaAs material. Atom by atom to a nanowire But how do you turn a nanowire into a vertical-cavity laser? To generate coherent light, photons must be reflected at the top and bottom ends of the wire, thereby amplifying the light until it reaches the desired threshold for lasing. To fulfil these conditions, the researchers had to develop a simple, yet sophisticated solution: The interface between gallium arsenide and silicon does not reflect light sufficiently. We thus built in an additional mirror a 200 nanometer thick silicon oxide layer that we evaporated onto the silicon, explains Benedikt Mayer, doctoral candidate in the team led by Koblmuller and Finley. Tiny holes can then be etched into the mirror layer. Using epitaxy, the semiconductor nanowires can then be grown atom for atom out of these holes. Only once the wires protrude beyond the mirror surface they may grow laterally until the semiconductor is thick enough to allow photons to jet back and forth to allow stimulated emission and lasing. This process is very elegant because it allows us to position the nanowire lasers directly also onto waveguides in the silicon chip, says Koblmuller. Basic research on the path to applications Currently, the new gallium arsenide nanowire lasers produce infrared light at a predefined wavelength and under pulsed excitation. In the future we want to modify the emission wavelength and other laser parameters to better control temperature stability and light propagation under continuous excitation within the silicon chips, adds Finley. The team has just published its first successes in this direction. And they have set their sights firmly on their next goal: We want to create an electric interface so that we can operate the nanowires under electrical injection instead of relying on external lasers, explains Koblmuller. The work is an important prerequisite for the development of high-performance optical components in future computers, sums up Finley. We were able to demonstrate that manufacturing silicon chips with integrated nanowire lasers is possible. A Joe Caputo & Sons store in Arlington Heights abruptly closed in 2015. The grocery store chain is dealing with financial troubles and a lawsuit. (Karen Ann Cullotta / Chicago Tribune) Joe Caputo & Sons closed a third grocery store Sunday, citing in a Facebook post "a large and unexpected financial burden" related to its expansion into former Dominick's stores. The Elk Grove Village store's weekend closing followed the shutdown of locations in Northbrook and Arlington Heights last year. Meanwhile, a federal judge last week issued a temporary restraining order that froze the assets of Caputo & Sons and could mean the liquidation of company assets if a $3.6 million debt isn't paid to a produce wholesaler. Advertisement A woman who wouldn't identify herself answered the phone at the Caputo & Sons office in Palatine on Monday morning and said the company had no comment. But a Facebook post on the company's official page expressed regret at the failed expansion. "As you may imagine, with the enormous investments involved in expansion, the process has been a quite a challenge. We regret our plans for expansion didn't work out as we had hoped, and we continue to cooperate with all parties involved in working toward a speedy resolution," the post said. Advertisement Caputo & Sons' stores in Des Plaines, Algonquin and Palatine "remain strong" and are still open for business, according to the post. Last week, Anthony Marano Co., a Chicago-based produce wholesaler, sued Joe Caputo & Sons stores in Des Plaines, Palatine, Algonquin, Northbrook, Arlington Heights and Elk Grove Village, as well as Natale Caputo and Vito Caputo, for failing to pay for $3.6 million worth of produce sold and delivered since June 5, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Chicago. The Caputo & Sons defendants "failed and refused to pay (Marano) for the wholesale quantities of produce supplied by (Marano), and have advised (Marano) they are unable to do so due to cash flow problems," the complaint said. The lawsuit also said there were other unpaid vendors in addition to Marano. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan ordered Joe Caputo & Sons to turn over a full accounting of the company's liabilities and assets to Marano's attorney if the debt isn't paid within seven days. The judge's order also gave Marano the power to manage the "continued operation and/or liquidation" of Caputo & Sons stores in Des Plaines, Palatine, Algonquin, Northbrook, Arlington Heights and Elk Grove until the debt is paid in full. Damon Marano, Marano's vice president of business development, declined to comment. gtrotter@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @GregTrotterTrib Some might have thought twice about trying to reach out to the founder of one social media platform through a rival social media platform. But West described himself in his tweets as "the greatest living artist and greatest artist of all time," and that's just how he rolls. In the wake of the controversy over the children's books "A Birthday Cake for George Washington" and "A Fine Dessert," experts weigh in on pitfalls, solutions and books that work. (Robert Neubecker illustration / Tribune) In a striking two-panel spread in the picture book "Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass," we see our 8-year-old hero, gazing at a soft blue sky from the deck of a sturdy wooden boat. Frederick is leaving the plantation where he was fed from a trough like an animal, and he isn't sad to go. You can feel the world opening up for him as he gazes out over green hills, brick homes and tall ships: "We arrived at Smith's wharf on Sunday morning," he tells us. "Old Tom never told me that Baltimore looked as if it floated on a sea of waves." Advertisement But then your eyes fall to the bottom of the page, and with a little shock, you realize that even at this most tender and childlike of moments, Frederick is a captive. His hands are secured with a thick yellow rope wound multiple times around each narrow wrist. Advertisement The best children's books about slavery can do this: telegraph injustice in a phrase or a glance, without unduly scaring kids or unwisely letting them off the hook. And then there are books that don't succeed nearly as well. We've had two of them recently, both well-meaning and high-profile, both featuring what many found to be a strangely sunny view of slavery. Last month, Scholastic Publishing halted distribution of "A Birthday Cake for George Washington," the story of an accomplished African-American chef, after readers complained about its depiction of smiling, well-dressed kitchen slaves proud to do the President's bidding. And this past fall, the acclaimed picture book, "A Fine Dessert," came under fire for depicting an enslaved mother and daughter who seemed content to cook for their white owners and then lick the bowl clean themselves. "Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mmmmm," the book reads. "What a fine dessert!". The distinction between what works and what doesn't is important, because it would be sad if an open and generally constructive debate about these two books had a chilling effect on other authors who want to tackle difficult topics in black history. If there's one thing nearly everyone in the conversation agrees on, it's that we need more good children's book on black history in general, and slavery in particular. "The reason we keep needing new slavery books is because slavery historians keep unearthing new information about what U.S. slavery was actually like," says Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies how children respond to books on the civil rights movement and slavery. "And also, slavery continues to have lasting repercussions in the American landscape." Experts in children's literature say that while kids under the age of 10 need age-appropriate material, it's important not to sugar-coat slavery. Advertisement "I have always been concerned about what's now called 'the happy slave,'" says Pauletta Brown Bracy, chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee. A fixture of racist propaganda for centuries, the "happy slave" is content to work with no pay and enjoys the protection of a kindly master. "There's nothing good about slavery. There's nothing but tragedy," says Bracy. "How can anybody really be happy in slavery?" That doesn't mean you don't celebrate the courage to live through slavery, to cope, maybe even to escape, Brown says; you do. But kids need context: What was happening to enslaved people? Why was it happening? Lack of that kind of context, she says, was the problem with "A Fine Dessert." "We do have authors and publishers who want to make it easier for children" by leaving out difficult truths, she says. "But it's not making it easier for them, because it's misleading them." Thomas says that a book such as "A Birthday Cake for George Washington" highlights broader problems in the publishing industry, where African-Americans are underrepresented, both as authors and editors. "Fewer than 40 books by African-American authors for adolescents were published in 2015. We don't yet have the picture book numbers," Thomas says. "Every year thousands of books for kids and teens are published, and every year we don't seem to be able to get that number much over 100." Advertisement She sees a book such as "A Birthday Cake for George Washington" as more of a systemic failure than an individual one: "The creators of 'A Birthday Cake for George Washington' were all women of color, however one of the things I was hoping the earlier conversation would focus on was not those individual authors, and illustrators and editors. There's an entire team at big publishing houses that's responsible for developing and creating and marketing a book." Attacking individuals is attacking the symptom, but not the cause, she says: "The cause is that no one during the development of this book said 'Wait! What?'" A spokesperson for Scholastic declined a request to interview "A Birthday Cake for George Washington" author Ramin Ganeshram, illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton, or editor Andrea Davis Pinkney. In an email exchange, librarian Edi Campbell, who wrote an influential negative review of "A Birthday Cake for George Washington" at her blog Crazy QuiltEdi, said that it's important for writers and publishers to ask themselves what they want children to get out of a book. She also wants authors to ask themselves how well they know the information, which has to be "over-learned" and then distilled for young readers. "If you don't really know the history, why would you write it, or even teach it?" she says. Advertisement As for what does work, Bracy points to books such as "Love Twelve Miles Long" by Glenda Armand and illustrated by Colin Bootman, in which a mother is determined to educate her son. "She walks 12 miles to teach her son to read, and she does it in the nighttime, so it's dark, it's foreboding, it's scary," says Bracy, a professor of library science at North Carolina Central University. "But she perseveres. I believe with that as an example that you can share slavery without it being too scary or horrific for a child." In "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt," a quilt encoded with an escape map is a symbol of hope. In "Almost to Freedom," a doll tells a story of escape from slavery. In "Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom," the juxtaposition of night and day helps tell the story. "It's kind of scary in the beginning, because they're creeping through the dark, but at the end, there's the sun," Brown says. Nara Schoenberg is a Tribune Lifestyles reporter. @nschoenberg Children's books on slavery Advertisement Books recommended to the Tribune by Pauletta Brown Bracy These five children's books handle slavery in an appropriate way. (Chicago Tribune) "Love Twelve Miles Long" (2011) by Glenda Armand, illustrated by Colin Bootman "Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet" (2013) by Andrea Cheng "Light in the Darkness: A Story About How Slaves Learned in Secret" (2013) by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James Ransome "Words Set Me Free: the Story of Young Frederick Douglass" (2012) by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James Ransome "Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom" (2011) by Shane W. Evans Advertisement "The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery" (2013) by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin; illustrated by Eric Velasquez "The People Could Fly: The Picture Book" (2004) by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon "Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave" (2010) by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt" (1995) by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by James Ransome "All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom" (2014) by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis "Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad" (2007) by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson Advertisement "Hope's Gift" (2012) by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Don Tate "Juneteenth" (2006) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and Drew Nelson, illustrated by Mark Schroder "Almost to Freedom" (2003) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Colin Bootman "Freedom Song: The Story of Henry 'Box' Brown" (2012) by Sally M. Walker, illustrated by Sean Qualls "Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom" (2006) by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Kadir Nelson "Show Way" (2005) by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott More than one-third of Americans are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Matt Cardy / Getty Images) A new type of weight-loss procedure offers an alternative to traditional bariatric surgery for people who are mildly to moderately obese, researchers report. The procedure is called endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, and it involves using an endoscope a flexible tube inserted through the mouth rather than making an incision in the body. When the endoscope reaches the stomach, the surgeon places sutures in the stomach, making it smaller and changing its shape. Advertisement A small study found that the procedure resulted in a loss of about 50 percent of excess weight when measured six, nine and 12 months after the procedure. "We're able to go inside the stomach to its connection to the esophagus," said study author Dr. Barham Abu Dayyeh, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. From there, the surgeons use suturing equipment to create a banana-sized sleeve that serves as a mini-stomach. Advertisement "It delays the emptying of the stomach, and food sits in it for longer periods of time. Patients will be able to follow a low-calorie diet, fewer than 1,000 calories a day, without being hungry all the time," he said. "We're not cutting or removing any part of the stomach or digestive tract," Abu Dayyeh explained. "There's a low risk of having any nutrition deficiencies, because you're leaving the gastrointestinal tract and stomach alone," he added. Although the procedure still needs to undergo further research, Abu Dayyeh believes it has potential. "It's a whole paradigm shift," he said. "This technique offers more effective weight loss at lower risk and cost." Not everyone is convinced, however. Dr. Subhash Kini, a weight-loss surgeon and associate professor at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, is skeptical. He said surgeons have tried similar approaches using incisions, and they haven't worked well. In addition, he said, the length of the new study was short, and it didn't take into account the fact that weight-loss surgeries tend to fail at two years and beyond. The findings were published recently in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Two of the study authors disclosed potential conflicts of interest. Abu Dayyeh is a consultant for a company called Apollo Endosurgery, which provided partial funding for the study and has supported his research. Study co-author Dr. Christopher Gostout is Apollo Endosurgery's chief medical officer and holds a stake in the firm. Currently, more than a third of people in the United States are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Beyond just being a cosmetic problem, obesity can lead to serious health risks including Type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and stroke, the CDC says. Weight-loss surgery (also called bariatric surgery), which limits the amount of food a person can eat, is one option for people with a body mass index above 40, according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Body mass index is a rough estimate of a person's fat based on height and weight measurements. Advertisement Weight-loss surgery may also be recommended for people with a BMI of 35 or above if they have other health risks, such as Type 2 diabetes, the society says. But many people with a BMI under 40 don't qualify for weight-loss surgery under current guidelines, Abu Dayyeh said. "The only thing that's left for them is medications or lifestyle modifications," he said. Even people who do qualify for weight-loss surgery may choose against it because of the costs and risks, Abu Dayyeh said. For the new study, researchers tested the new technique on 25 obese people with an average body mass index of 36. The average age of the study volunteers was 48. Only three of the subjects were men. After the procedure, the study volunteers lost 45 percent to 53 percent of their excess weight. Weight information was only available for eight patients at the 20-month mark. At that time, five had maintained their weight loss, but three of the patients had regained all of the lost weight, the study reported. Advertisement Three patients had serious side effects after the procedure, including a collapsed lung and a blood clot in the lung. But all recovered, according to the study. The researchers said they adjusted the technique after these cases and didn't encounter any more serious side effects. The cost of the procedure is about $10,000 to $15,000, roughly a third of the cost of other weight-control procedures, Abu Dayyeh said. What about availability of the procedure? Abu Dayyeh said it's being offered at centers in the United States and worldwide. More study is needed, he said, and the researchers have just submitted a new analysis of the technique in about 270 patients. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 The citys Juicebox series for little ones (big siblings welcome) hosts a local threesome known for its jazz twists on African dance music this weekend. Get ready to groove with guitarist Nathaniel Braddock, bassist Jeremiah Hunt and drummer Makaya McCraven. As with all Juicebox concerts, it happens twice: 11 a.m. Friday at the Chicago Cultural Center (Preston Bradley Hall), 78 E. Washington St.; 11 a.m. Saturday at Garfield Park Conservatory (Horticulture Hall), 300 N. Central Park Ave. Free. www.cityofchicago.org (Kate Joyce) Plan and discuss ahead of time to get on the same mental page to head off headaches. (Florin Prunoiu via Getty) Two times, Dena Roche realized boyfriends were going to become breakups while traveling. The first time, her plus-one got jealous when someone pulled her onto the dance floor in Belize, revealing an insecure side "I hadn't seen before," she said. Advertisement Next, during a Hawaii vacation, a man took advantage of an all-you-can-eat situation to a repulsive degree. "I actually faked being sick on this trip to avoid him touching me," said Roche, who lives in Phoenix and writes The Travel Diet. Advertisement Whether it's a best friend or a romantic getaway, travel for two can bring obstacles more unique than solo or groups. We talked to experts to find out potential plane, train or automobile pitfalls and what to tackle before you go. Money Talk about cash. And not just an overall budget. Do you prefer a $2 lunch of street food, or an expensive three-course dinner with a skyline view? The answer matters, because money is where you decide how you want to spend the trip. When traveling with her partner, "Approach Guides" co-author Jennifer Raezer makes sure to discuss meals, excursions and transportation. "These are critical items to get out of the way before taking off, so you don't spend your vacation discussing money issues or missing an experience because you're worried about cash," she said. Sure, at home, you may decide easily enough whether to order Thai or pizza. But those decisions amplify when it's the one night you'll spend in a locale, or debating different price points. Advertisement For example, said Stacie Krajchir, author of "The Itty Bitty Guide to Business Travel," "Do you want to alternate paying for meals as we go rather than split the check at every meal?" Having different budgets isn't a deal-breaker. Consider getting groceries at a local store so you can splurge on meals when you want to, suggests Jetta Bates, who runs Jettasetting.com and is on Bravo's "Tour Group" show following travelers. Without chatting before, "the person that is in a place to really spend on vacation will feel stifled and perhaps a bit obligated to pick up the check," she said. Style of travel Make sure to compare organization and research styles. Do you want to sleep in, or get up early and attack the day? Liz Dahl, a former travel agent who founded Boomer Travel Patrol, advises people to compare sleeping and eating expectations. Three meals a day or snacks? Chat about whether you want to sit on the beach or visit museums. Advertisement "All of these activities are great, but know this before you go so you can compromise and make sure each person has a good time," she said. Whether planning with a romantic partner or friend, talking about it before embarking on your fifth museum is key, said Colin Matthes, who runs One Year Around The World at www.oneyeararoundtheworld.com with his wife, Jenoa Esplin. "Some people are very good at improvising and making plans as they go," he said, "Other people love having an entire day planned out." One option is for each person to pick a No. 1 thing they want to do during the trip. Prioritize those. And think through stressful triggers that will put you in a tense spot waiting for baggage, standing in lines. For example, John and Luisa Rasiej, who have been married for more than 25 years and help couples travel together, suggest that one person get the luggage, letting the other relax with an airport cappuccino. Advertisement Thought process What are you both expecting from the trip? For example, said Mark Jackson, travel editor for Brad's Deals, if one person's plotting a romantic getaway, it never hurts to compare notes. "I have heard many a tale of potential lovers not being on the same page before departing," he said. Traveling together can boost, or crumble, a relationship. Either way, you'll probably see each other at your worst. Krista Canfield, at travel website Gogobot, and her fiance took a trip three months into dating. They planned to hike in Kauai, Hawaii, and summit Mount Fuji in Japan. "We knew an epic excursion together would either break or cement our relationship," Canfield said. Sitting next to each other on long-haul flights helped them bond, she said. Advertisement Finally, embrace the unexpected. Beth Santos, founder of Wanderful, was in Istanbul with her husband for just 24 hours and her husband decided to use precious moments for a haircut. "At first I was fuming," she recalled. "But then it turned out to be one of the best experiences ever to watch him get his hair cut by a tiny barber in the streets of Istanbul." Plan and discuss ahead of time to get on the same mental page to ensure a great trip and head off headaches. As Roche learned, "It's really hard to ask someone to find their way to an airport three hours away." abowen@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @byalisonbowen Until now, most African-Americans particularly the older, more loyal Democrats haven't paid a lot of attention to the elderly, white-haired "democratic socialist" who speaks with a funny New England accent. It's safe to say they aren't feeling the Bern. Many African-Americans in the South, though not necessarily all that excited about a Hillary Clinton presidency, have been willing to rekindle their love affair with her and Bill for the good of the Democratic Party. Robert Owens sat in a diner near 88th Street and Stony Island Avenue, lamenting the gray stubble on his chin a consequence, he joked, of the stress he endures as an African-American father living apart from his children. Owens, 41, of Chicago, has two sons, ages 6 and 11, from two women. He also is a Chicago firefighter with a master's degree in health-care administration who plays classical piano and creates oil paint portraits. And he's part of a population in crisis: black fathers and their sons. Advertisement Chicago, where African-American males represent the greatest number of homicide victims and nearly half of young black men are out of work and out of school, soon will become a laboratory for a particularly complicated brand of fatherhood African-American dads who don't live with their young sons. Recruitment is scheduled to begin in late February for a five-year, one-of-a-kind, federally funded effort to strengthen the bond between nonresidential black fathers and their sons ages 8 to 12, with the aim of decreasing the sons' risky behavior and enhancing the men's parenting. Advertisement Called the Fathers and Sons Program, it has shown promise in a small trial in Michigan. The $3 million Chicago project will expand the program to 400 families in the Washington Park neighborhood with the hope of developing a national model. "We believe one of our greatest advantages is that we bring both the fathers and sons into the program together," said Cleopatra Caldwell, a professor at University of Michigan's School of Public Health and the coordinator of the project, funded by the National Institutes of Health. "We developed this program with the goal of determining the potential role of parenting for improving African-American boys' and men's health," Caldwell said. The need is clear. The U.S. Census Bureau last year reported that 57 percent of African-American children lived without a biological father in their home. The figure for white children is 18 percent, 32 percent for Hispanic children and 11 percent for Asian kids. And in Chicago, African-American males face a grim landscape. A Tribune analysis of 2015 homicides shows that African-American males accounted for 291 of the 354 homicides where race was recorded, or 82 percent. A report from University of Illinois at Chicago last month showed that 47 percent of 20- to 24-year-old black men in the city were unemployed and out of school, a trend that is part of a decline in youth employment across all races and ethnicities. And, as of this month, the Cook County sheriff's office reported that nearly 6,000 of the estimated 8,200 detainees in the county jail 73 percent are black. Hispanic detainees make up about 16 percent and whites 10 percent. Those numbers underscore a national trend: the probability of incarceration among black men ages 18 to 34 is three times greater than the probability for white men, experts say. Against that backdrop, black fathers often suffer from the misconception that they don't care about their children, researchers say. But the truth is that many of them want to be involved in their kids' lives. Advertisement "They really do love their children," said Wrenetha Julion, a professor in Rush University's College of Nursing who has been researching African-American nonresident fathers since 2002. "What gets really complex is the host of factors that can get in the way." The most significant of those is the volatile relationships the men may have with their children's mothers, Julion said. African-American fathers also tend to be hampered by economic struggles and lower levels of formal education, experts say.Add to that higher incarceration rates, and their children often are lost to them, Julion said. "I think the value of these men and their importance to their children's lives goes against what's in the popular press," Julion added. "It's easier to say, 'Oh, they're just deadbeat dads.'" Caldwell and other coordinators of the project say they are optimistic the Fathers and Sons Program will start to change that narrative. Their analysis of the earlier version conducted in Flint, Mich., in which 158 families with sons ages 8 to 12 participated, indicated that it reduced sons' aggressive behaviors, helped fathers spend more time monitoring their sons and improved communication about sex, violence and racial issues. Like the Flint project, the Chicago version will require the men and boys to attend 15 sessions twice a week for two months. The sessions, which will last about three hours, will provide information, discussion and role-reversal exercises. Fathers will practice effective parenting skills and sons will practice skills such as refusing drugs from peers. Dads and sons will collaborate on school homework and attend community events. Unlike the Flint version, Chicago's project will include information on drug and alcohol use and depression among fathers, as well as social services available to them. Once the sessions conclude, researchers will track the fathers and sons for five years. Advertisement What makes the Fathers and Sons Program unique, Caldwell said, is that "it is actually a research study designed to test the effectiveness of the fatherhood program we will introduce." To help coordinate the project, she has lined up heavyweights in the study of low-income, urban minority families. They include Waldo E. Johnson Jr., an associate professor at University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, and editor of the 2010 book, "Social Work with African American Males;" and Ronald B. Mincy, professor of social work at Columbia University and author the 2015 book, "Failing Our Fathers," a study of nonresident fathers. Family instability among African-Americans has been a historical problem that began centuries ago with slavery, Mincy said. Since then, nonresidential fathers have been far more prevalent and accepted among African Americans than among whites. Unsteady and poor job prospects, disproportionate rates of incarceration for black men and the expansion of welfare rights into the black community in the 1960s exacerbated the problem, he added. "If you're going to get to changing this norm, we need to start really, really early" in African-American males' lives, Mincy said. Owens, the single father of two boys, said he has made his complicated arrangement work in part through functional parenting relationships with the women who bore his sons and have primary custody. Owens' mother also plays a crucial caregiving role. He said he typically accommodates the mothers' schedules and spends hours driving to pick up and drop off his sons. Owens gets the boys every other weekend and said he'd consider participating in the Fathers and Sons Program, if he could find the time. "I'm obligated to love my children," he said while sitting in the diner after lunch. "It's in me. So I'll go through hell to make sure they get the necessities. They need a father in their life and I love doing it. Although I did not ever see myself being a father out of wedlock, they are the light of my life." Advertisement Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The relationships black, nonresidential fathers have with their sons are nuanced, according to a 2013 report from the National Center for Health Statistics. Although African-American men are more likely to live apart from their sons, the report concluded, they also are more likely than their white or Hispanic counterparts to take their children to activities, help them with homework and play with them. When the Fathers and Sons Program launches in Chicago, it will join other local parenting programs aimed at African-American fathers. Julion, at Rush University, is running the Dedicated African-American Dad Study, which focuses on persuading fathers who don't live with their children that they are important to their kids' lives, and gives them skills to become more involved in positive ways. The Dovetail Project, based in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood and run by community organizer Sheldon Smith, teaches young African-American fathers parenting and life skills, and lines them up with a job or helps them obtain a GED after completing the program. Fathers, Families & Healthy Communities connects noncustodial black fathers with social services. But none combine all the elements of the Fathers and Sons Program particularly its focus on bringing together the young sons and fathers for constructive time and the project's rigorous, long-term scientific analysis. That design appealed to Torrey Barrett, executive director of KLEO Community Family Life Center in Washington Park, which will recruit fathers and sons and be the venue for their activities. "We are not only teaching the young boys how to become young men," Barrett said. "We're teaching the men how to become better men and better fathers. When you do that, you're saving young boys." tgregory@tribpub.com Advertisement @tgregoryreports Last spring, an ex-con turned motivational speaker got just enough votes to become a city alderman in a south suburb known for corruption and bruising politics. Ald. Lamont Brown became the swing vote urging reforms in Harvey. But his place on the City Council is tenuous as his opponents and the longtime mayor push to remove Brown, citing his criminal background and secret recordings of conversations with city officials. Advertisement It's an unusual case that illustrates the complexities and politics of removing a felon from office, and also highlights Illinois' controversial and evolving law on recording private conversations. It takes place in a suburb already under FBI scrutiny for an insider deal that drained the town of millions. And it comes as the town veers toward a potential financial crisis from actions that in part can be traced to Brown's emergence in the 2015 municipal elections. Advertisement That's when the 42-year-old barber asked residents to help him restore public safety, development and "real accountability" to Harvey. Criminal record According to his critics, Brown should have never even been on the ballot. Records show he'd been convicted in the 1990s of felony possession of drugs and a stolen vehicle. It's a fact that Brown, far from hiding, has highlighted in his second career as a motivational speaker preaching about overcoming mistakes. But Illinois law is unforgiving about past felonies; courts have banned anyone with one from running for municipal office. There is a catch, however. No agency or official in Illinois checks candidates. In order to be removed, a political opponent has to formally challenge a candidate. And nobody challenged Brown's past. So Brown stayed on the ballot, and then beat the incumbent by just 12 votes out of 544 ballots cast. After he was sworn in, Brown sided with three council members who opposed the mayor. Since then, the bloc has repeatedly halted payments for city bills as part of a dispute with the mayor over the formation of committees to review financial dealings. Additionally, they have pleaded with outside authorities including the Department of Justice and state prosecutors to investigate what they claim is the misuse or mismanagement of tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues and bonds. Advertisement In June, a lawsuit was filed by a Harvey resident to remove Brown from office for his felony past. Eight months later, the case is still pending. The mayor's allies complain that neither the state attorney general's office nor Cook County prosecutors have joined the case to push it forward. Officials with both agencies told the Tribune they are monitoring the lawsuit. Either way, court records show such cases even with a prosecutor's intervention can take a while. The last one Cook County prosecutors fought took nine months before a felon was removed from a school board. Brown's seat on the six-member City Council is viewed as crucial by both Mayor Eric Kellogg and his opponents. If Brown is removed and Kellogg appoints an ally as a replacement, the board more likely would be split 3-3 on future votes, leaving the mayor holding the deciding vote if necessary. In the meantime, Kellogg has turned up the heat. In recent City Council meetings, he not only brought up the 1990s convictions, but he also questioned Brown's fitness to serve because he alleged Brown lived in nearby Hammond. Brown said he lives in Harvey but has family in Hammond. Advertisement The mayor also publicized a rape allegation made against Brown in Hammond a year ago, a case that records show was closed with no charges when a police detective said the woman who made the allegation admitted lying about a key aspect of her interactions with Brown. Brown said he did nothing wrong and the mayor's public comments are part of an effort to punish him for demanding transparency regarding the city's finances including a failed hotel redevelopment in which millions of dollars of city money went missing. "I believe it's a combination of their retaliation against me for not going along with the status quo, and an attempt to use these things as a diversion from the real issues that plague our city," Brown said. City spokesman Sean Howard countered that "all of (Brown's) allegations are in alignment with his personality baseless and without merit." Last week's meeting ended abruptly when Kellogg and Brown stood toe-to-toe shouting over each other, Kellogg questioning where Brown lived as Brown shot back with his own question: "Where are the millions?" Last month, the mayor and Brown supporters engaged in a shouting match that hijacked another meeting shortly after it began. As Brown's supporters voted to end the meeting, a Brown opponent Ald. Keith Price announced another allegation of wrongdoing against Brown that his critics claim could land Brown back in court. Advertisement Audio recordings Price filed a federal lawsuit last month alleging Brown violated his civil rights by making "illegal recordings without permission of an elected official," according to a copy of the complaint. The lawsuit alleged Brown recorded Price in May at a south suburban Starbucks when they met prior to Brown's swearing in. Less than a week after Price filed his lawsuit, the court dismissed it, in part because his allegations appeared to be premised on Illinois law rather than federal statutes. Price told the Tribune that he received a strange delivery on his doorstep last month. Inside the package was a stack of CDs containing what appeared to be conversations Brown had with Price, other aldermen, a developer, a political operative and a former mayor. Brown told the Tribune that, since running for office, he'd used his smart phone to secretly record conversations in order to protect himself and safeguard the truth as he entered a political arena that had a reputation for shady deals. Brown told the Tribune he'd even recorded two people in the past year offering him a lucrative job if he'd vote the mayor's way. The mayor denied any such offers, and Price gave the Tribune seven CDs, none of which contained recordings of such conversations. On the recordings provided to the Tribune, anti-Kellogg aldermen lament corruption in the town and bemoan why the FBI is taking so long to uncover it. Brown said he can't substantiate his claims of alleged bribery and blackmail because he lost the recordings during a heated encounter with a political operative who supports the mayor. Advertisement In December, Brown and three other aldermen refused to support passage of the town's property tax levy the financial lifeblood of most towns because they said the mayor was refusing to let them oversee how city money is spent. The mayor countered that his opponents' actions could lead to massive city layoffs. City workers' supporters soon afterward rallied outside Brown's house, and during that protest, according to court records and a YouTube video, Kellogg supporter David Muhammad assaulted Brown, breaking Brown's phone. Muhammad has been charged with battery and criminal damage to property, both misdemeanors. He declined to comment. Brown said he lost his phone's memory card in the scuffle. Later, the information on his phone was made public. Legal gray area No charges have been filed in the unauthorized recordings, but they could offer a test of Illinois' evolving eavesdropping statute. Illinois used to have a strict prohibition on recording conversations without everyone's consent to the point that Cook County prosecutors, in widely criticized moves, sought charges against people trying to document police misconduct. The courts eventually ruled the statute unconstitutional, and a more narrow law was enacted that still required everyone's consent to be recorded, but only if the people being recorded had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Those making recordings also could do so if they had a reasonable belief they were recording evidence of a crime against themselves or their immediate family members. Advertisement In one recording provided to the Tribune, Brown gave notice that he was recording the discussion. In another, held in a council member's home, he did not. Two other conversations, including the recording of Price, took place in a cafe or restaurant, but even then those recorded could have had an expectation of privacy even though they were meeting in a public setting, said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "Even in these public spaces, there are conditions and circumstances where you and I do have an expectation that the conversation is private," Yohnka said. Brown acknowledged his recordings were in a legal gray area, but he insisted he made them with the best of intentions and vowed to fight for greater transparency for as long as he remains on the council. "I believe that the people elected me because they know my heart, and I chose to continue fighting for the people as long as I'm in office," Brown said. "I believe that God has called me to serve, and that's the main reason why I have not given up this fight." mwalberg@tribpub.com Twitter @mattwalberg1 Advertisement jmahr@tribpub.com Twitter @JoeMahr1 Bishop Alberto Rojas blesses the coffins with holy water at the conclusion of the funeral for six members of the Martinez family at St. Gall Catholic Church in Chicago on Feb. 14, 2016. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune) A little more than a week since police discovered six family members slain in their home in Gage Park, the outpouring of grief shifted Sunday from a makeshift memorial outside the house to a somber funeral at a neighborhood church. Six black hearses parked outside St. Gall Catholic Church and pallbearers carried caskets, one by one, with the remains of Rosaura Martinez, 58; her husband, Noe Martinez Sr., 62; their son, Noe Martinez Jr., 38; their daughter, Maria Herminia Martinez, 32; and her two sons, Leonardo Cruz, 13, and Alexis Cruz, 10. Advertisement Family members wore shirts with a photo of the two boys with the caption "In Loving Memory." Relatives carried another T-shirt with a photo of the children and their mother that read "Mas Angeles," or More Angels. The children's father, Armando Cruz, fought back tears as he spoke through a translator about losing his sons. Advertisement "He said Chicago has been his hometown," a member of Chicago Survivors translated for Cruz, who currently lives in Mexico. "Chicago has given him his family, and Chicago has taken away his family. Now, he is taking them back to Mexico." About 500 mourners filled the pews of the church, where arrangements of flowers sat atop the caskets, which spanned the entire altar and were flanked by family photos. Two pink soccer jerseys with the boys' names also laid on their white caskets. A female ensemble sang and played guitar renditions of hymns as a procession of people walked past the closed coffins, some putting their hands on them and some donating money in a basket on the side. Violeta Martinez Hernandez, another daughter of the slain couple, thanked government agencies for allowing her to come to the United States for the first time to grieve for her parents. "She said her parents were wonderful and that they were a very loving family," a translator said for Martinez Hernandez. "They will forever be in her heart. She will never, ever forget them." In the following Mass, priests and children wearing white robes rearranged the caskets to form a cross. One clergyman sprinkled the caskets with holy water and family members covered the caskets in white sheets. "We gather here as human beings touched by the loss by six people of one family a parish family," the Rev. Gary Graf said. "We grieve their loss, but we gather together at the same time in tremendous faith and hope of everlasting life." Outside the family's squat, two-story brick home, candles, stuffed animals and six crosses with the victims' names sat in the snow. Advertisement Chicago police continued their investigation Sunday, including reviewing video from the surrounding area. They also hope to interview Cruz while he is in town, though he isn't considered a suspect or person of interest. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "We still believe that this was an incident related directly to the family and not a random act of violence," Chicago police spokesman Frank Giancamilli said in an email. "We continue to keep patrols in the area and continue to have detectives at the crime scene on a regular basis, so residents should not feel they are in any danger." Three "bladed weapons" appear to have been used to kill most of the six family members found dead Feb. 4 in their home, according to a Chicago Police Department spokesman. None of those weapons was recovered. Police were called to the Southwest Side home in the 5700 block of South California Avenue because a man who lived there had not shown up for work. Autopsies found that Maria Martinez died of multiple gunshot wounds, and the rest died of either multiple sharp-force injuries or multiple blunt- and sharp-force injuries. All of the deaths were ruled homicides. The Mexican Consulate in Chicago has said the four adults will be taken to Guanajuato in central Mexico for burial, and the children to Morelos, Mexico. The victims' relatives said they have raised more than $26,000 through GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses. Advertisement tbriscoe@tribpub.com Twitter @_tonybriscoe Jamie Kalven won a George Polk Award for Local Reporting on Feb. 14, 2016, for his coverage of the fatal shooting of Chicago teen Laquan McDonald. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) In October 2014, local journalist Jamie Kalven received a tip from a city official about an incident that would trigger national outrage about police violence. The source told Kalven, founder and executive director of the Invisible Institute, that the official police narrative of the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting of Laquan McDonald did not begin to describe what actually happened that night, and the official was not confident that the city would thoroughly investigate the case. The official also told him that there was dash-cam video of the shooting. Advertisement Kalven's reporting led him to an eyewitness who contradicted the official Chicago police account, which stated that McDonald had lunged at officers before he was shot, and later, a startling autopsy report that showed police shot McDonald 16 times. The Slate article that detailed his findings, "Sixteen Shots," has been named winner of the 2015 George Polk Award for Local Reporting. The awards, announced Sunday by Long Island University, recognize some of the best journalism each year. Advertisement "Jamie Kalven's investigative persistence was essential in getting at the truth in the death of Laquan McDonald," George Polk Award Curator John Darnton was quoted as saying in a statement from the Invisible Institute. "He worked his sources, obtained the autopsy and pressed for the release of the all-important video." The story of the death of McDonald, like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd and Walter Scott, all black people shot and killed by police, exploded in the national media, with many citing the fatal shooting as a reason for the need for major police reform across the country. Hours before the November 2015 release of the dash-cam video of McDonald's death, Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with murder in the shooting. The city's timing put intense public pressure on Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, who is running for re-election. For months, demonstrators marched down Michigan Avenue and elsewhere calling for their resignations. Kalven said his story played just one small part in the public outcry. "I'm personally honored," he said. "But it's complicated for me because as gratifying and humbling as the honor is, this is something I wish wasn't on my resume. The incident is regrettable and tragic and I wish I had never had occasion to investigate. But part of what is striking about this moment for me is that this story now has become this really profoundly significant public narrative. People have made the comparison to Emmett Till." Till was a black 14-year-old from Chicago murdered in 1955 for reportedly whistling at a white woman while visiting family in Mississippi. Simeon Booker, the journalist who covered his death and funeral for JET magazine, persuaded Till's mother to allow the open-casket funeral to be photographed, and photos of the boy's badly mutilated body sent ripples throughout the country, inspiring many to join the fight for civil rights. Booker was given a Polk career award this year. Kalven said he feels the McDonald story also has captured the public's imagination. "I feel like this story has become this kind of precious public resource," he said. "And moving forward, I think we need to learn everything we possibly can from that narrative. It allows us to engage with a larger set of themes and systemic institutional issues." Kalven said that without the tip, he wouldn't have thought to pursue the story. Advertisement Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "I can't tell you how many times I've read a Laquan McDonald-type story and had that uneasy feeling of, 'This doesn't compute,' " he said. He remembers that on the day he got the tip, he stood at the intersection where McDonald was shot and wondered: "What happened here?" He soon hit the streets. An eyewitness, initially horrified to see Kalven standing at his door, became a trusted source who countered the police narrative. On Dec. 8, 2014, he and Craig Futterman, a law professor at University of Chicago who works with the Invisible Institute, released a statement of their findings in case and called upon the city to release the video. Later, Kalven secured the autopsy report that protesters would eventually echo in their chants of "16 shots." Kalven said what the public knew in February 2015, when Slate published his article, is essentially what is known now, aside from the dash-cam video. Yet it wasn't immediately picked up by the media or discussed during the mayoral race by any candidate, he said. "There's a larger question for the culture and all of us about how we responded to this incident and the knowledge that was available," he said. "It was not just the mayor, it was everyone." mmccall@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @MatthewMcCall_ People gather around the rubble of a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders near Maaret al-Numan, in Syria's northern province of Idlib, on Feb. 15, 2016, after the building was hit by suspected Russian airstrikes. (Ghaith Omran, AFP/Getty Images) BEIRUT Airstrikes blamed on Russia hit at least two hospitals and a school in northern Syria on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of civilians and further dimming hopes for a temporary truce, as government troops backed by Russian warplanes pressed a major offensive north of Aleppo. The raids came days after Russia and other world powers agreed to bring about a pause in fighting that would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the revival of peace talks. Advertisement The projected truce agreed on Friday in Munich was to begin in a week, but there was no sign that would happen. On Monday, Syrian state TV reported that pro-government forces have entered the northern town of Tel Rifaat, where they were fighting "fierce battles" against insurgents. Tel Rifaat is a major stronghold of militants fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad. Advertisement Capturing Tel Rifaat would bring government forces closer to their target of Azaz, near the Turkish border. In Idlib province, an airstrike destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in attacks that were minutes apart. It said seven people were killed and eight others were "missing, presumed dead." "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said MSF mission chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The opposition group, which tracks both sides of the conflict through sources on the ground, said dozens were wounded in the attack. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by phone from Maaret al-Numan. He said five people were killed near the MSF clinic and "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead." The Observatory and other opposition activists said another hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also hit Monday, most likely by a Syrian government airstrike. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing five people, including three children and a pregnant woman, according to the Observatory. A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said close to 50 civilians were killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria. Advertisement Ban called the attacks "blatant violations of international laws" that "are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria," according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. Activists posted amateur video that showed civil defense workers pulling bodies from the rubble of the MSF-supported structure in Idlib, which collapsed into a heap of rubble and was tilting to one side. Others showed a huge crater next to a building that purportedly housed the child and maternal hospital in Azaz. Incubators could be seen in a ward littered with broken glass and toppled medical equipment. Russia says its airstrikes are targeting militants and denies hitting hospitals or civilians. But rights groups and activists have repeatedly accused Moscow of killing civilians. Those accusations have increased recently as Russia intensified its airstrikes to provide cover to Syrian troops advancing in the north. Troops are trying to cut rebel supply lines to Turkey and surround rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, once Syria's largest. Daragh McDowell, the head Russia analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a British risk analysis firm, said Russian and Syrian tactics "strongly suggest a deliberate effort to further exacerbate the refugee crisis, as a means of destabilizing Europe and pressuring the West to agree to a settlement in Syria on Moscow and Damascus' terms." Advertisement Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defense, a group of first responders known as the "White Helmets," said the women's hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles. He said some 10 people were killed and many were wounded. "We think it is Russia because the photos of the missiles have Russian language (and) because we haven't seen this kind (of missile) before the Russian intervention," he said. Russia has been a key ally of Assad throughout the five-year uprising and civil war, and began launching airstrikes on Sept. 30. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving and medics unloading children on stretchers. "They hit the school, they hit the school," wailed a Syrian woman who was unloaded from an ambulance onto a wheelchair. The U.S. State Department condemned the airstrikes, saying they cast doubt on "Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people." Advertisement In Brussels, European Union officials had earlier called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table, decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities." Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said "we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that." The U.N.'s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with Syrian officials. Associated Press The damaged stern of the sunken freighter El Faro is seen on the seafloor. (NTSB via AFP/Getty Images) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. A series of U.S. Coast Guard hearings starting Tuesday will seek answers about why the 790-foot freighter El Faro sank near the Bahamas last fall, killing all 33 crew members in the worst U.S. commercial maritime disaster in decades. The hearings in Jacksonville are expected to probe many questions, chief among them whether misconduct, negligence or shoddy safety inspections contributed to the El Faro's demise. Advertisement The El Faro set sail from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico on Sept. 29 as a powerful storm that would become Hurricane Joaquin churned offshore. The ship's captain, Michael Davidson, attempted to outrun the storm, but lost engine power and control of the ship. Advertisement The storm overtook the aged vessel; its remains were later discovered 15,000 feet deep in Atlantic waters. The ship's navigation tower had detached, and there was a breach in its hull. A number of the crew member families have filed lawsuits against TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, the ship's owner. The suits charge the company with negligence and say officials knew the 41-year-old ship was due to be taken out of service and should never have been allowed to sail into the path of a hurricane. The company has refused to comment on the allegations, citing the ongoing legal cases. A number of questions remain unanswered about the ill-fated voyage. The National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard are looking into why the captain decided to set sail even with a strong storm looming offshore. Investigators also want to know if a crew of five Polish engineers that were onboard to prepare the engines for the El Faro's upcoming retrofitting had any role in the ship's loss of power. NTSB officials believe some unanswered questions could be answered by finding the ship's voyage data recorder, or "black box." So far, efforts to retrieve it have been unsuccessful. The NTSB is planning a second search for the recorder. The Coast Guard can only bring civil charges as a result of its investigations. Still, testimony at its hearings can lead to criminal prosecution if laws were broken. "If criminal actions are found those findings will be turned over to the Department of Justice," Coast Guard spokeswoman Alana Ingram said. Advertisement Top officials for TOTE are scheduled to testify first about the ship's history, upkeep and role in its fleet. Former El Faro crew members are also expected to take the stand, as well as Coast Guard personnel. At least two of the deceased crew members were from Maine. A second session of hearings scheduled later this year will address the ship's final voyage and the decisions made by the company and captain to set sail despite the storm. After all of the hearings are finished, the Coast Guard will release a report of its findings. Associated Press This undated law enforcement booking photo from the Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff's Department shows Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem. Also known as Decarus Thomas, Kareem was charged with helping plan an attack on a provocative Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas that ended with two men being killed in a shootout with police. (AP) PHOENIX Halfway through 2014, three Arizona men were falling under the sway of the Islamic State group, authorities say. The trio watched videos depicting violence by jihadists, tried to get pipe bombs, planned an attack at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas last year and researched travel to the Middle East so they could join Islamic State fighters, investigators say. Advertisement Two of the men brought semiautomatic rifles and an Islamic State flag to the May 3 contest featuring cartoons deemed offensive to Muslims and died in a shootout with police before hurting anyone attending the event in suburban Dallas. The third man goes on trial Tuesday in Phoenix in what is believed to be the first time the U.S. government has put a person on trial on terror charges related to the militant group. Advertisement Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, a 44-year-old moving company owner, is accused of hosting the two gunmen at his home to discuss plans for the attack, going target shooting in the remote Arizona desert with the pair and providing the guns used at the contest. Prosecutors say Kareem also encouraged Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi to carry out violence in the United States in support of the Islamic State group and inquired about explosives to blow up a stadium in metro Phoenix during the 2015 Super Bowl. Kareem denies the allegations. It's unknown whether the thwarted Texas attack was inspired by the Islamic State or carried out in response to an order from the group. Prosecutors paint a picture of three men being influenced by the group, which has amassed thousands of fighters around the globe and taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq while carrying out beheadings, mass shootings and other violence. Six weeks before the cartoon contest, Simpson accessed an Islamic State list of residential addresses of U.S. military service members whom the group wanted attacked. Simpson and Soofi also drove to Yuma and elsewhere in Arizona near military installations after having discussed plans to attack a base. FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers in December that one of the attackers exchanged more than 100 messages with an overseas terrorist in the days before the attack in Garland, Texas. Kareem's indictment says Simpson used social media to communicate with Islamic State extremists and other violent jihadists. The U.S. Justice Department didn't respond to questions about the case. Advertisement "I believe the shooters were motivated by what they thought was the Islamic State, but I'm not sure they were directed by the Islamic State," said Scott Stewart, a vice president for the Texas-based global intelligence company Stratfor and a former U.S. State Department investigator who examined the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The U.S. government has charged 78 people with crimes related to the Islamic State group since March 2014, said Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Fordham Law School's Center on National Security, which tracks terrorism cases. While 24 people charged with crimes related to the radical group have pleaded guilty, no one has yet gone to trial on such charges. Kareem and his lawyer, Daniel Maynard, declined requests for an interview. Maynard has previously said the case was trumped up and based largely on the work on an unreliable confidential informant. Two days after the Texas attack, Kareem went to the FBI's office in Phoenix for an interview with investigators in which he denied any involvement. He was arrested five weeks later. James Newman, Kareem's younger brother, told The Associated Press that his brother never expressed a radical political or religious view to him and is a victim of guilt by association with the two Muslims who carried out the attack. He vehemently rejects the government's portrayal of his brother as a supporter of terrorists. Newman said Kareem was a Muslim throughout his adulthood, but his faith deepened over the last five years after he was jailed on a drunken driving conviction. He used his religion as a way to cope with his longtime struggle with alcohol. He abandoned his birth name of Decarus Lowell Thomas and legally became Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem in 2013. Advertisement "It probably wasn't the smartest decision to hang with these guys, but he was probably just building his faith," Newman said of Simpson and Soofi. Kareem, sporting a shaggy salt-and-pepper beard and bound by handcuffs and a belly chain, has remained silent through his latest court hearings. Six deputy U.S. marshals stood watch in the courtroom during a late December hearing. He faces charges including conspiracy and conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Authorities say they first interviewed Kareem in a terrorism investigation in late 2011 and later searched his apartment when one of his roommates tried to get a fraudulent Arizona State University degree as part a plan for the roommate to gain admission into an Islamic university in Saudi Arabia. During the apartment search, authorities say they found al-Qaida promotional materials on Kareem's laptop and an attached flash drive. Kareem has denied the flash drive was his. His lawyer unsuccessfully tried to bar prosecutors from using the promotional materials as evidence at trial. Associated Press BEIRUT Turkey shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the Syrian government, whose forces are advancing against insurgents in the same area under the cover of Russian airstrikes. Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said Turkish artillery units fired at Kurdish fighters in the Syrian town of Azaz in Aleppo province, saying it was in response to incoming Kurdish fire. Advertisement Turkish troops have shelled areas under the control of Syria's main Kurdish faction, the People's Protection Units, known as YPG, in the past. The group has been most effective in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, but Ankara appears increasingly uneasy over the group's recent gains in the country's north. "Turkey has responded in this manner in the past," said Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan. "What is different is not that Turkey has responded in such a way but the fact that there are different movements in the region. The YPG crossing west of the Euphrates is Turkey's red line." Advertisement The YPG is the main fighting force of Syrian Kurds and a key ally of the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group. Turkey, which is also in the alliance, considers it an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara. A coalition of Kurdish-led Syrian fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces recently seized a number of villages near Turkey's border. Ankara appears concerned they could reach the opposition stronghold of Azaz, which is home to a major border crossing that has been controlled by militants since 2012. Diplomats from a group of countries that have interests in Syria's five-year civil war, including the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, agreed on Friday to seek a temporary "cessation of hostilities" within a week. But the fighting on the ground, which has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing toward the Turkish border where they continue to sleep in the open air, has accelerated. A top Syrian opposition figure, former Prime Minister Riad Hijab, criticized Russia on Sunday for continuing with its bombing in Syria, and also stopped short of declaring a clear commitment to implement a planned temporary truce. "You ask me if I accept a cease-fire or a cessation of hostilities. I ask you: Why is the onus on the opposition and whether it has preconditions for negotiations?" Hijab said. "I would like to see a single day of a cessation of hostilities in order to give a chance for real political movement." He was addressing the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of foreign and security policy leaders. Akdogan says Kurdish gains in northern Syria facilitated by a Russian-backed government offensive in the same area are also putting "unacceptable" pressure on opposition-held areas in Aleppo and the nearby town of Tel Rifaat. The private Dogan news agency broadcast footage of Turkish howitzers opening fire and shells raising plumes of smoke in Syria. It said the army hit targets in the Mannagh air base and two villages, all controlled by Syrian Kurdish fighters. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group that monitors the conflict, said two fighters from the SDF a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters have been killed and seven others wounded in the shelling. A Turkmen rebel commander, Zakariyya Karsli, told Anadolu Agency Turkish shelling killed at least 29 Kurdish fighters. Advertisement Opposition groups said Saturday that Turkish troops fired artillery shells that targeted the Mannagh air base in Aleppo province, which was captured by Kurdish fighters and their allies earlier this week. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said late Saturday that his country's military fired at Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in response to a provocation along the border. The Syrian government condemned Turkey's shelling of Syrian territory, describing it as an attempt to raise the morale of "terrorist" groups it supports. France meanwhile called on Syria and Russia to halt their airstrikes and for Turkey to stop shelling Kurdish areas. In a statement, it expressed concern about the "deteriorating situation in Aleppo and northern Syria." Both the Kurds and Syrian troops have advanced toward Azaz in separate offensives in the area. In addition to sealing the Turkish border, Syrian troops are trying to encircle rebel-held parts of Aleppo, Syria's largest city. If they are able to do so, it will be the biggest defeat for insurgents since the conflict began in March 2011. The Observatory and the Lebanon-based A-Mayadeen TV said at least 350 Turkey-backed armed rebels crossed into Syria from Turkey Sunday to shore up rebels fighting Kurds near Tel Rifaat. Advertisement Also on Sunday, Iran's air defense chief said his country is ready to help defend Syria's airspace, marking the first time Iran has offered to assist with Syrian air defenses. The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Gen. Farzad Esmaili as saying "we will help Syria in a full-fledged manner if the Syrian government requests help." He said any such aid would be provided in an "advisory" capacity. Iran is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has sent weapons, money and military advisers to Syria to help bolster his forces. Esmaili's remarks came after Turkey and Saudi Arabia -- leading supporters of the rebels battling to topple Assad -- said they were open to sending ground troops into Syria to battle the Islamic State group. Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also said Saturday that Saudi Arabia is "ready to send both jets and troops" to Turkey's Incirlik air base. Fighting and airstrikes continued elsewhere in the country Sunday, including in rebel-held suburbs of the capital Damascus. Opposition activists reported Syrian army helicopters dropped around 10 barrel bombs on the town of Daraya. There was no immediate word on casualties. Associated Press GREENVILLE, S.C. In an election that Republicans have long seen as a chance to put forward new stars with a fresh and broadly appealing conservative vision, the GOP is instead at risk of tearing itself apart over its past as it heads into the thick of the primary season. A day after a debate marked by a series of personal, petty exchanges - and a day before former President George W. Bush was set to make a high-profile return to the national scene - Republicans were grappling with their core beliefs on a host of issues, as well as the image they were broadcasting to the country. Advertisement The infighting was ignited at the debate on Saturday night by front-runner Donald Trump, who was unrelenting in his criticism of both how well the 43rd president kept America safe before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and of hawkish Republican worldview in general. The foreign policy fracas is only the latest row among 2016 candidates over many of the basic tenets that have guided Republican and conservative thinking since the Reagan years, from free trade to the extent to which the federal government should be involved in providing health care for its poorest citizens. Advertisement Trump reiterated threats to use tariffs on imported goods to punish corporations that leave the United States, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich defended his decision to accept an expansion of Medicaid in his state as a humane step in line with conservative goals. The increasingly harsh discussions of these and other issues amount to an existential crisis within the Republican Party and reflect the growing influence of non-ideological, populist voters who have flocked in particular to Trump's nationalist "Make America Great Again" message. Trump was defiant and unapologetic on Sunday, saying that he is a truth-teller and that the majority of Americans - weary of war, alienated by the political class and thirsting for a populist revival - would heed his call. "The war in Iraq has been a disaster," Trump said on Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It started the chain of events that leads now to the migration, maybe the destruction of Europe. (Bush) started the war in Iraq. Am I supposed to be a big fan?" Todd Harris, a senior adviser to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, echoed the sentiment of many in the GOP when he said after the debate that Trump "was at war with the Republican Party." So far, at least, it is a war that many Republicans are willing to wage alongside Trump. Fresh off his commanding win in the New Hampshire primary, a new poll released on Sunday by CBS News showed Trump surging here ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary. The survey showed Trump with the backing of 42 percent of Republican voters, more than double the support of his closest rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. The poll was taken before the debate and the ensuing fallout, which many Republicans predicted would limit Trump's appeal going forward. Nevertheless, the coming weeks will test not only who is most popular in South Carolina but whether the ties that have bound the GOP for a generation will unravel entirely. Advertisement Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., a supporter of Bush, said of Trump: "This man accused George W. Bush of being a liar and suggested he should be impeached. This man embraces (Russian President Vladimir) Putin as a friend. The market in the Republican primary for people who believe that Putin's a good guy and W. is a liar is pretty damn small." As confident as the Republican establishment is that voters will eventually turn against Trump for his apostasies and controversies, there is little evidence that they will. Still, other contenders are making their most concerted effort yet to stop him here, even as top party officials and financiers remain on the sidelines, and previous attempts to take down Trump have yielded little for his opponents. If the real estate magnate is able to win convincingly in South Carolina, he would enter the Super Tuesday states on March 1 with considerable strength and having endured a sustained assault. Despite the polls, Trump's competitors and their allies view South Carolina as perhaps their best opportunity to slow or stop Trump's march to the nomination. Bush, the former Florida governor, hopes to capitalize on the argument over his brother's legacy here, where polling suggests George W. Bush's popularity is extremely high among Republicans. The Bush brothers will appear together at a rally on Monday night in North Charleston, where Graham predicted the crowd would cheer so wildly that the Richter scale would break. The escalating quarreling may increase the likelihood of a long, expensive and potentially futile effort to unite Republicans around the eventual nominee. The barbs at Saturday's debate were ferocious and personal: Trump made fun of Bush's mother and bickered with him over whether Bush had threatened to drop his pants and moon people, which he had; Rubio jabbed Cruz for not being fluent in Spanish; and they all seemed to call one another liars. Pollster Frank Luntz, who for years has helped Republicans carefully calibrate their language to appeal to a broad range of voters, was aghast. Advertisement "If 10-year-old kids spoke to their teachers the way those candidates spoke to each other, those kids would be suspended," he said. "There is no way that any independent observer can say the Republicans gained a single vote against the Democrats because of last night. If you're honest and unbiased, the GOP lost votes last night." Kasich, who largely avoided the vitriol, warned during the debate and again on Sunday morning that the nominee could emerge so bloodied that he might lose in the general election. "It was like a demolition derby. . . . I think these debates are ridiculous. This is not a way to pick a president," Kasich said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." Ben Carson sounded a similar note. The retired neurosurgeon wrote in a fundraising email to supporters on Sunday: "Last night's debate was ugly, vicious, and not worthy of the American people. There's a reason that the first word in my campaign slogan is 'heal,' and last night it was there for everyone to see. The cancer of divisiveness is corroding our politics and the soul of our nation and if we don't fix it, nothing else matters." On the debate stage, Trump blamed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in part on George W. Bush, and he accused Bush of lying to the American people by directing the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite knowing, according to Trump, that there were no weapons of mass destruction there. Trump's strident criticism reopened a wound that party leaders had hoped was in the past. Jeb Bush's advisers and supporters scoffed and argued that - finally - Trump had done himself in. Advertisement "Bush Lied, People Died - that's the Democrats' refrain," said former senator Norm Coleman, R-Minn., a Bush backer. "It's a bridge too far. What do they say? Jump the shark? 9/11, blaming Bush - that's a kooky thing, that's a conspiracy thing, that's way out there." Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Cruz, said Trump's comments about the Sept. 11 attacks were "completely out of step with the Republican base and most Americans overall. I think it will reverberate not just here in South Carolina but across the field for as long as this contest continues." The possible danger for Bush's defenders is that though the family may be generally revered in some quarters of the party, its political standing is complicated. Embracing the Bush mantle, with its elite pedigree and associations with war, could prove problematic. Trump and his team were confident that the hawkish mind-set that has defined Republican orthodoxy since the Cold War is now viewed suspiciously by grass-roots conservatives. "He has been very clear on the foreign policy side that the Iraq War was a disaster. I think a lot of people agree with that," said Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager. "We lost thousands of lives and $5 trillion for what?" As the candidates returned to the campaign trail, the mess they left behind on the stage of Greenville's Peace Center had some party strategists wondering whether the damage may be politically irreparable. Advertisement "I saw assaults going on across the stage: Mr. Trump to Jeb, Jeb to Mr. Trump, Cruz to a lot of people, and on and on," said John Weaver, Kasich's chief adviser. "It was shameful all around, actually, and it'll put us in a bind as a party." After Justice Antonin Scalia's death Saturday at 79, the Supreme Court is now evenly divided between four liberal justices and four conservatives, even with Anthony Kennedy's occasional swings. What a moment for Scalia to depart: The court faces a wild array of closely divided decisions. It is an election year. And President Barack Obama has stacked the lower circuit courts with Democrats. Obama has been chewing on his legacy for months. Fate has handed him the opportunity of any presidency to swing the balance of the Supreme Court from conservative to liberal. Scalia weighed heavily on the conservative tilt of the current court, registering as more conservative even than other Republican justices in every field except on international and defense issues. There is no other justice whose replacement would more profoundly affect the court's orientation. The court's docket this term shows a clear intent to rule on some of the most contentious issues in the society: abortion, unionization, presidential power, affirmative action, political representation. Nothing in the presidential election in the fall matters more than the ability to shape the court. Now everyone should know that, including an incumbent who once taught constitutional law. Advertisement Any nominee, of course, would have to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. Leaders there, and also most GOP presidential candidates, are already making clear that they intend to block Obama. But they may not realize that leaving Scalia's seat vacant plays right into his hands. A divided court leaves lower court rulings in place. And the lower courts are blue. The court is not yet halfway through the 80 or 90 cases it deals with each term, but many of the most contentious have already been heard. Normally, justices meet the week a case is argued, and vote on the outcome. So they have most likely already voted on pending cases on apportionment and affirmative action, for example. But weeks or months can go by while the justice assigned the opinion circulates drafts. Any justice can change his or her vote at any point during that process, and often does. It's all very hush-hush, so there is no way to tell how far along the cases Scalia heard are in the pipeline. Advertisement There is no constitutional provision, no case law and no official policy about what the court should do with cases that have been argued and voted on when a justice dies. If the vote in a case that hasn't yet been handed down was 5-4, as one might expect with these controversial rulings, can Scalia cast the deciding vote from beyond the grave to change the way America chooses every legislature in the land or integrates its public universities? A court that cares about its image and constitutional role will not rule in the name of a majority that counts on a dead justice, especially on the core issues of American social life. Such posthumous decisions are so unprecedented they would make Bush vs. Gore look like responsible judicial behavior. Chief Justice John Roberts, who in matters entirely internal to the court like this wields some extra power, is known for his concern for institutional prestige, and he would be right to weigh in against issuing opinions based on what Scalia did in past conferences. So in the cases that Scalia was already a part of, what's most likely is that the court will do what it has done in the rare, similar circumstances in the past, when important cases like abortion were argued and the personnel on the court changed or where a predictable swing justice was out sick: They will order the cases argued again and voted on again. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 Antonin Scalia, left, with wife Maureen, takes his Supreme Court oath from retiring Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in September 1986. (Charles Tasnadi / Associated Press) Of course, the justices will also continue to hear future arguments, but upcoming closely decided cases such as the abortion case out of Texas also widely predicted to lead to a 5-4 vote will now be tied, 4-4. In this term's contentious, controversial docket, split decisions are inevitable. The court can reargue the pending cases and hear the upcoming ones, but they will be too divided to decide anything truly sweeping. Unresolved cases will stack up. That means only Congress and the White House can resolve the deadlock. And Obama has the power there, even though Republicans control the Senate. By Saturday evening, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, had already said the vacancy shouldn't be filled until the next president is in office, 11 months from now. "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice," he said. "Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president." But the GOP might soon reconsider if they see the implications of refusing to allow Obama to replace Scalia: A divided court leaves lower court rulings in place. And the lower courts are blue. Nine of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals have a majority of Democratic appointees. That means liberal rulings conservatives were hoping the Supreme Court would overturn remain law. So if Scalia had cast the deciding vote on a case before he died, but the court rehears it and divides 4-4, that would leave the lower court decision in place. That's what would happen with a proposal to apportion Congress in an entirely new way that would heavily favor Republican districts, which was argued recently. The lower court (in this case a district court which went directly to the Supreme Court for technical reasons) tossed the plan out; conservatives had been hoping the justices would restore it. The situation is not always good for liberals. Abortion, in a case that has not yet been argued, was subjected to the most onerous restrictions by the normally conservative Fifth Circuit. If the court deadlocks, most of the abortion clinics in Texas would close. On immigration, the court had announced it would take up another case from the conservative Fifth Circuit over whether Obama has the power to stop breaking up families by ordering the government not to deport millions of undocumented immigrants; the lower court ruling blocked Obama's executive order, so a tie wouldn't change that. Most of the country, though, is governed by appeals courts dominated by Democrats. The suit against Obama's environmental initiative, which the Supreme Court just stayed, came from the liberal District of Columbia Circuit, which had unanimously refused to grant the stay. Now the Obama administration can simply have the Environmental Protection Agency come up with a slightly different new plan and run to the liberal D.C. courts to bless it and refuse to stay it. It's unlikely the now-divided Supreme Court would come up with a majority to stay the new rules: The vote to stay the old ones was (naturally) 5-4. That's why the effect of an equally divided court has enormous potential to strengthen Obama's hand in dealing with the Republican Senate in picking a replacement: Even if the GOP blocks his nominee, the policy outcomes would be very similar to what they'd be if the court had a liberal majority. The institutional cues for Obama are completely different than for the court. The Constitution clearly assigns the task of nominating judges to the president with the Senate's advice and consent, to be sure, but for most of American history, presidents got a fair amount of deference. Acting politically is consistent with occupying elected office, so that's what Obama should do. Political considerations, after all, are what motivate Republicans to pledge to block nominees before any have been announced. This is the moment for Obama to assert his political prerogatives as firmly as his opponents always seem to do. Advertisement Right now, McConnell sounds like he doesn't recognize the peril his party is in. If Obama signals that he's willing to take advantage of the situation by taking actions like passing new environmental rules or moving for rehearing in the pending cases, he'll put pressure on the Senate by getting what he wants without his court pick. Two-thirds of the people in the country live in blue-court America. So maybe someone like D.C. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan confirmed 97-0 just three years ago will look better to the Senate than nearly a year of living with the appellate courts going wild while the cat's away. Imagine the glee in the most-reversed circuit court in the nation, the liberal Ninth, which will now be able to tell Arizona and Alaska what to do without fear of contradiction. If Obama really cares about that legacy, nothing would establish it more firmly than using his unexpected advantage to appoint someone who will one day be as much of a hero to liberals as Scalia was to conservatives. Washington Post Linda Hirshman is the author of "Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World." There will probably never be another justice like Antonin Scalia. He was utterly brilliant, but unlike most judges, he was also a gifted showman. Scalia was the first U.S. Supreme Court justice since the beginning of the republic, perhaps, who combined a comic wit with deep conservatism, deep piety, and a love for opera and operatic oratory and he was the most acerbic critic of Supreme Court bloviation by his colleagues. His will be, literally, a tough act to follow. Scalia was one of only two justices who have been the subject of a well-received one-act opera, "Scalia/Ginsburg," and perhaps was the only one to have been a godfather to a new legal movement, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, an organization of libertarians and social conservatives now involving thousands of lawyers and law students. He is clearly irreplaceable. Advertisement And, as we now know, replacing him will be difficult, if not impossible for the foreseeable future, but not because of his unique personal characteristics. We are at an odd moment in our constitutional jurisprudence, when the court is tenuously evenly divided between two ways of looking at the Constitution. One way, Scalia's, was to regard that fundamental document as a link with the past, as a statement of the great principles of the framers' time, and, in particular, as a means of preserving federalism and separation of powers. For Scalia, the 10th Amendment, the one reserving to the states and the people thereof all the powers not expressly granted to the federal government, was a vital means of ensuring that there were limits on the power of government over our lives. Crucial for him also was the idea that the framers borrowed from the Baron de Montesquieu, that only the representatives of the people, not the judges, could alter the law. This way of looking at the law and Constitution is shared, generally, by Justices Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and, with a bit less consistency, by Anthony Kennedy. Advertisement The other way of looking at the Constitution, the one employed by the Warren Court, the one now embraced strongly in most quarters of the legal academy and the Democratic Party, is to see it as a "living document," one whose provisions ought to be read as malleable, to provide continuously for the needs of the American public, as creatively interpreted by American judges. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan have consistently adhered to this set of notions. It is very likely that President Barack Obama, who is also quite comfortable with this "living Constitution" notion when he was running for the presidency he made clear that he wanted to appoint justices who understood what it was like to be a single mother or a member of a minority, to be, in short, in need of a sympathetic and benevolent government that might make life easier would nominate a justice similar to the two, Sotomayor and Kagan, he has already placed on the court. Were he to succeed, Scalia's view of the Constitution might essentially vanish. President Obama gave a televised address regarding death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying he will nominate a new justice "in due time." Feb. 13, 2016. (AP) (Associated Press) It is no surprise, then, that the Republicans running for president have uniformly declared their belief that the next president, rather than this one, should be able to choose Scalia's replacement. Chances are they believe that if any of them wins the election, a conservative will be chosen to carry forward Scalia's legacy. They also raise the very interesting argument that since the lives of all Americans will be profoundly affected by the choice of the next justice, the American people themselves, when they select the next president, ought to have the responsibility to make that choice. Republicans argue that tradition dictates no Supreme Court nominations should be made with less than a year before a presidential election and thus their position (refusing to confirm an Obama nominee) is the correct one. The Democrats, however, also have a powerful argument that the president is given the appointment power in Article II, and swears an oath that he or she will "take care" faithfully to execute the Constitution and the laws of the land, including, presumably, filling vacancies on the court. There is, of course, much irony in this argument, as there is, this term, before the Supreme Court, a case actually raising the question whether Obama did adequately take care to enforce the immigration laws of the nation. US President Barack Obama speaks on the death of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia in Rancho Mirage, California on Feb. 13, 2016. Scalia, 79, died Saturday, in Texas. (Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images) On that issue, and several others, including affirmative action, abortion and the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the court faces issues where Scalia's absence, and a possibly evenly divided high court, makes the outcome completely unpredictable. This is not exactly a constitutional crisis, but given that the court is now too often perceived as just another politically influenced body, it would probably be best to postpone any consideration of a new nominee lest the notion that ours is a government of laws, not men, be further eroded. For the time being, a deadlock on some of these cases (which would simply have the effect of affirming the lower-court rulings) might be preferable to a partisan bloodletting, which would further erode respect for the rule of law. Stephen B. Presser is the Raoul Berger Professor of Law emeritus at Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law and the legal affairs editor for Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. President Obama gave a televised address regarding death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying he will nominate a new justice "in due time." Feb. 13, 2016. (AP) (Associated Press) Like most patriotic Americans, I spent the weekend celebrating the fact that Barack Obama is no longer president of the United States. Having served out all seven years of his two terms (2 x 4 = 7), he has left the White House, making it available as an Airbnb rental property until a new president is inaugurated in 2017. (Call ahead for special spring break rates!) Advertisement Obama's second term ended Saturday after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Almost immediately after news of the conservative justice's passing hit the Internet, Republican lawmakers declared Obama a lame duck who could not possibly nominate a replacement. After all, nothing would dishonor Scalia, who embraced constitutional originalism, more than the president doing what the Constitution originally says he's supposed to do. Advertisement Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 Antonin Scalia, left, with wife Maureen, takes his Supreme Court oath from retiring Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in September 1986. (Charles Tasnadi / Associated Press) About an hour after Scalia's death was announced, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the vacancy should not be filled until a new president is in office: "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice." Granted, 65,915,795 American people voted for Obama to be president for a second term, but that was way back in 2012. Clearly we need some fresh voices. And can we really trust people who voted for Obama? The other point raised by "libs" and "people who have taken at least a high-school level civics class" is that filling vacancies on the Supreme Court is part of the president's job description. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, responding to the kerfuffle over Scalia's death, wrote: "Article II Section 2 of the Constitution says the President of the United States nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. I can't find a clause that says '... except when there's a year left in the term of a Democratic President.'" Well, Sen. Warren, maybe you're just not looking hard enough. I'm pretty sure it's in there. Besides, there is historical precedent that shows you do not nominate and confirm a Supreme Court justice during an election year. Or as the Supreme Court-monitoring SCOTUSblog reported: "The historical record does not reveal any instances since at least 1900 of the president failing to nominate and/or the Senate failing to confirm a nominee in a presidential election year because of the impending election. In that period, there were several nominations and confirmations of Justices during presidential election years." OK, maybe that's not the best example, but clearly it would be improper for Obama to nominate a replacement because of his lame-duck status. The term "lame duck" generally applies to a president serving out his term after his successor has been elected. But in Obama's case, the Republican-led Congress that doesn't like him decides when he becomes a lame duck. (I think that rule is probably in that same part of the Constitution that Elizabeth Warren hasn't found yet.) Advertisement The day Scalia died, Obama had 341 days left in office. So a lame-duck president is someone who has at least 341 days left in office. Had Scalia died 50 days earlier, a lame-duck president would be someone who has 391 days left in office. And if the justice had passed away any time prior to Obama's first inauguration in 2009, Obama would have become the first president to enter office as a lame duck. Make sense? Of course it doesn't. And it doesn't matter because nothing that has ever happened matters in this case. Dan Abrams, chief legal affairs anchor for ABC News, said on Sunday: "Justice Scalia's memory for conservatives is so important that this time anything that happened in the past is not particularly relevant to what's happening now." See? What matters is that Obama cannot be allowed to choose the next Supreme Court justice, because he'll undoubtedly destroy the country by picking a Muslim-Mexican lesbian Wiccan-priestess marijuana farmer. Advertisement I contacted Princeton University historian Kevin M. Kruse via email and asked him to sum up what we're currently seeing. He wrote: "Basically: The history isn't as cut and dry as Democrats suggest, but it's certainly on Obama's side on balance. The general rule, informal at that, is that a president shouldn't make nominations in last six months of his term but we're well outside that window. Republicans have every right to block specific nominees, but we've never seen a blanket claim that they just wouldn't consider anyone for nearly a year before." I only paid attention to the part where he said "the president shouldn't make nominations," so that pretty much confirms the opinions of GOP lawmakers, GOP presidential candidates and probably Ted Nugent. The evidence is clear: A real president is supposed to nominate people to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court; Obama can't do that because Republicans don't want him to; therefore, Obama is no longer president and the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House is available for only $250/night. The people (who don't like Obama) have spoken. And what they say matters more than the 65,915,795 who voted the president into office. Advertisement I'm pretty sure that's in the Constitution somewhere too. Keep looking, Sen. Warren. rhuppke@tribpub.com As you make plans to celebrate life's special moments in the coming year, be sure to consider Carlucci Rosemont. It is the perfect place for family to gather for milestone birthdays from your daughter's sweet sixteen to your dad's 75th. Up to 36 people can sit together to raise a toast to the honored guest in the Tamarack Room, a private European inspired room with exposed beams and gentle lighting from wall sconces. There are several other spaces available for intimate family gatherings at Carlucci. When you let Carlucci's chefs do all of the cooking, you are free to spend time in fellowship with your guests. For those occasions where there will be a larger crowd like your long-awaited retirement dinner or your daughter's wedding reception, Carlucci is also the answer. Their team of professionals can help plan a memorable reception that honors family traditions or introduces a few Italian traditions like releasing a pair of doves to symbolize wishes for a peaceful life or shattering a glass in hopes that each chard represents a year of wedded bliss. Tastefully decorated private rooms, like the Palio with a vibrant ceiling painting and rich wood trim, provide a perfect setting for these special events. Advertisement Although Carlucci Rosemont is ideal for group celebrations, it is also the perfect place for an intimate dinner for two to celebrate an anniversary, the promise of a new baby or a well-deserved evening away. Start the evening in the comfortable bar where there is live music on the weekends and then be whisked away to a quiet table for two to enjoy an award-wining meal. No matter what the occasion or the size of the group, rest assured that Carlucci's talented chefs will deliver a meal that will make you feel as if you are in a Tuscan village. The cuisine is authentic and filled with robust flavors. Soups are simmered, meats are spit-roasted, grilled or baked in wood-burning ovens and everything is lightly seasoned to compliment the natural splendor of fresh, natural ingredients. The homemade pasta selections provide diners with a unique array of authentic choices including Fagottini Ripieni con Formaggi e Pere, which is homemade purse shaped pasta filled with gorgonzola dolce, grana padano and taleggio cheeses served with garlic cream sauce and a poached pear. Advertisement To complement the meal, Carlucci offers an impressive selection of the finest wines made from grapes harvested from sun-drenched fields around the world. The bartender is always ready to mix one of their signature cocktails or pour a satisfyingly simple Johnny Walker Blue Label or other premium whiskey for guests. Meals are served by an attentive staff who do their best to assure that every guest is able to savor their meals and moments to make it a day that is remembered for years to come. Carlucci Rosemont is located at 6111 North River Road, near O'Hare airport and several major expressways making it convenient destination for all your guests. Out of town guests who stay at a nearby Rosemont hotel can arrange a complimentary shuttle to Carlucci. Whether it's an evening for two or 300, schedule your next celebration at Carlucci Rosemont. For reservations and additional information about private parties, call 847-518-0990 or visit carluccirosemont.com. Voters had a chance to hear from the candidates running for Kendall County Board in District 1 recently. The primary election is March 15. Three Republican candidates are running for two seats open for the Kendall County Board in District 1. One Democrat is running unopposed in the primary. Advertisement The Oswego Chamber of Commerce held a Candidates Meet and Greet to introduce the candidates and allow them to speak out on the issues. The GOP candidates in District 1 are incumbent John Purcell, Todd Milliron and Jerry Bannister. Advertisement Purcell, of Yorkville, is a local businessman who has served on the County Board since 2002 and currently serves as chairman of the Finance Committee. "The County Board will be losing a couple of veteran board members," Purcell said, referencing the departure of two longtime leaders. Kendall County Board Chairman John Shaw, of Yorkville, who has served on the board since 2010, is not running for another term. Forest Preserve District President Jeff Wehrli, of Oswego, who has served on the County Board since 2003, also decided against running for another term "I would hope you would consider my experience as a person who best understands the finances of the county," Purcell said. Purcell, who previously served as Kendall County Board chairman, owns the Oswego Ace Hardware store on Route 71 and Yorkville Ace Hardware store on Route 34, where there has been major road construction in the last year. "I can relate to how the state or in certain cases the county can really affect your business negatively when they are not doing their projects properly," he said. Purcell said he has concerns about a "lack of communication" from the Illinois Department of Transportation, particularly on the Route 71 project in Oswego. "I have been impacted by the road construction in Oswego," he said. Purcell said he would like to see an Orchard Road connection around Oswego and a bridge over the Fox River for Eldamain Road. Advertisement "Those are two projects that will help alleviate traffic congestion in the future," Purcell said. Milliron, a self-proclaimed citizen activist and Kendall County Republican precinct committeeman, of rural Yorkville, is another candidate vying for a seat on the County Board in District 1. Milliron said he has "continued to fight" and "lobby" for changes in county government. "...I have been called the watchdog of Kendall County," he said. "I want to see the county's checkbook made public online...let's create a database so voters can monitor the county's spending from their computers at home," he said. Bannister, of Oswego, is another candidate vying in the three-way race. He currently serves on the Oswego Plan Commission. His wife, Jessica Bannister, is the Kendall County Republican chairman. "There is much to love in Kendall County - we have recreational opportunities and a diverse business base, as well as small town festivals and good, generous people. What we don't love is our bleeding high taxes," Bannister said. Advertisement Bannister said he would "never vote for a tax increase." He said the county needs to look for ways to "dig deep" and work with what it already has. He also suggested county projects and purchases undergo a "fair and competitive bidding process." "We need to make sure there are no redundancies and use governmental agencies when appropriate or the private sector when it is more beneficial and cheaper to do so," he said. "We need to be smart just like we do at home and in our businesses," he added. Bannister said government should do things to "grow the economy" and not compete against its own taxpayers. "This stifles commerce and creates an atmosphere of mistrust," he said. Bannister said "transparency and accountability" are important. Advertisement "We do need to put the (county) checkbook online, but I would take it one step further and put the bills online," he said. Audra Hendrix of Yorkville is unopposed on the Democratic ballot in District 1. "Too often we sit back to observe politics and complain about what goes on...we need to come together regardless of what party," Hendrix said. Linda Girardi is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News An artist's rendering gives an idea of what the proposed Kendall County memorial to police officers who fall in the line of duty would look like. (Steve Lord / The Beacon-News) A memorial for police officers killed in the line of duty may be built in Yorkville. Kendall County Board members will look at lending money to an effort to build the memorial to fallen police officers. Advertisement Board members will seek to find $50,000 to loan to the Kendall County Association of Chiefs of Police, which is looking for up to $70,000 to build the memorial outside the Kendall County Courthouse. "Being on county property, it makes sense to borrow from the county," said Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner, who chairs the Chiefs Association Memorial Committee. Advertisement Burgner spoke recently to board members at their Committee of the Whole meeting. Members there said they support the chief's effort, and would see what they could do. "I think this is a great project, something I'm going to stand behind," said County Board member Jeff Wehrli. County Board member John Purcell, who chairs the Finance Committee, said loaning $50,000 for seven years which is what Burgner said the organization is seeking might be possible. "I think if we have time to think about it, we could help them out," he said. The Chiefs Association has been looking at building a memorial since 2013. In addition to honoring those who have lost their lives in the line of duty in Kendall County police agencies, the memorial would be a general memorial to all officers who die while on duty. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page website, that numbered 129 officers in 2015, three of whom were in Illinois. Kendall County has had only one officer lost in the line of duty in its history. That was Patrolman William Burgholzer, of the Oswego Police Department, who had a heart attack while searching for several suspects who had just robbed a grocery store. It happened Jan. 18, 1972. In addition, the memorial also would honor retirees by giving them an option to purchase a brick that would be embedded in the paver section of the memorial. The association has had discussions with Chief Judge Tim McCann, of the 23rd Circuit, and they found a place to the west of the main entrance to the courthouse for the memorial. Advertisement Since 2013, the association has raised $20,000 to put toward the memorial. Burgner said with the memorial estimated to cost between $60,000 and $70,000, the association would have trouble raising the money to get the memorial built "in a timely manner." The association is in the midst of getting its not-for-profit status, which also is costly. But Burgner said eventually, it will give the organization more ways to raise money. The group is developing other fund-raising ideas right now, he added. Wehrli said he believed with all the Kendall County residents who are in the building trades, the Chiefs Association could get construction help. "I think you can get it done cheaper," he said. slord@tribpub.com A vacant building on the corner of Barrington Avenue and Fourth Street in East Dundee was demolished Monday to create space for a multi-use building planned for the site. (Erin Sauder / The Courier-News) It was another historic day for East Dundee as a more than 100-year-old vacant building on the corner of Barrington Avenue and Fourth Street came down. Investors plan to create a two-story building on the property at 311 Barrington Ave., the site of a former lumberyard, with first floor space for a nanobrewery and two restaurants, one called Joe's Cantina, and residential space above for 10 apartment units. The development will also include one parking space for each residential apartment. Advertisement The village is creating a public parking lot on the site which will provide space for 61 vehicles, East Dundee Village Administrator Bob Skurla said. "There was every effort made to try and incorporate that building into the new development but the numbers just didn't work," Skurla said Monday. Advertisement Built in 1900, the building itself had most recently been a machine shop called J&S Engineering, Skurla said. Prior to that, until 1995 it was home to Nehl's Transfer, and before that a grocery store owned by the Rakow family. But for at least the past decade the building has been vacant. "Nothing has been there since I've been working here," said Skurla, who has been with the village almost nine years. East Dundee is allotting financial assistance of 28 percent of the project costs, capped at $1.1 million, through the Business District Development and the tax increment financing district. A TIF freezes property taxes at the level paid before development. The monies generated by the difference between the property tax bill before development and after development the increment can then be used for improvements to the land. East Dundee officials said the project, which has a price tag of more than $4 million, puts the site back on the village's tax rolls. In 2007, a fire ripped through the closed Dundee Lumber Company site at 311 Barrington Ave. When Charles J Motl, CPA & Associates opened up at the corner of River Street and Barrington Avenue, across from the parcel, the window on the north side of the Motl building had been cracked from the heat of the fire. Employee Blair Motl said the building that was demolished Monday "sat uninhabitable for a while before it was renovated so it's been sitting or vacant for almost nine years." Advertisement "We're ready to see the next step and become regulars at the new Mexican restaurant coming in," he said. His brother and co-worker, Blake Motl, agreed. "I think it's unfortunate that the building sat vacant for so long after being completely renovated, but am excited for the next stage of growth on that lot and what that means for downtown," he said. Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter. Fox River Water Reclamation District Executive Director Bob Trueblood stands next to treatment tanks at FRWDs facility off Route 31 in South Elgin. Trueblood also serves as the vice chairman of the Fox River Study Group. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News) Why did the Elgin City Council Wednesday unanimously move along funding the Fox River Study Group in the amount of $25,000? The support for the group is a way to make sure Elgin has a voice not only in addressing the quality of the river and its watershed, but in addressing unfunded mandates from the Illinois and United States Environmental Protection Agency related to water put back into the river, Elgin's Water Director Kyla Jacobsen said. Advertisement "By being involved in the study group, we're making sure Elgin is at the table," Jacobsen said. "I'm there to stand up for Elgin." Jacobsen serves as the study group's secretary and has been part of the effort since it started 15 years ago. She noted the group has nine board member and meets once a month. Advertisement Elgin also participates by donating the services of the water department's laboratory for testing of monthly samples collected at more than 16 sites. Mayor Dave Kaptain worked as a chemist for the Fox River Water Reclamation District (FRWRD) when the group began and was part of its formation. FRWRD provides wastewater treatment to Elgin, South Elgin, West Dundee and portions of Sleepy Hollow, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates and unincorporated St. Charles Township. "The study group started as a coalition that included sanitary districts, businesses, towns and environmental groups," Kaptain said. "It was formed to gather data to find the real issues with the river. By creating true numbers to show the EPA, when money had to be spent to fix a problem we could do it more efficiently and meet changing standards in a cost-effective way." FRWRD Executive Director Robert Trueblood, who serves as the study group's vice chairman, said the group also provides an opportunity for those involved to meet on a regular basis, keeping lines of communication open. Material for the Wednesday council meeting stated the study group "is a diverse coalition of stakeholders, including municipal, sanitary district, engineering and environmental representatives, all working together to preserve and/or enhance water quality in the Fox River watershed." The group has asked Fox River Valley communities to budget 25 cents per capita (resident) into their yearly budgets to support the study. Those who have contributed to the study in the past include Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, Plano, St. Charles, Yorkville, Algonquin, Lakemoor, Port Barrington, Wayne and Elgin, as well as businesses, county agencies and the EnvironmentalProtection Agencies, and both the federal and state EPAs, the meeting material states. The towns of Aurora and Elgin, which get their drinking water from the Fox River, are being asked to contribute 50 cents per resident. Elgin and FRWRD previously have agreed to split the contribution, meaning each contributing $25,0000. The study group also has received federal and state grant money and money from the Grand Victoria Casino for its work, Jacobsen said, and it has served as a model organization for looking at rivers. As part of its research, the group also is looking at what removing dams along with river might mean environmentally as well as financially. Advertisement The council meeting material stated the group "began meeting in 2001 to plan how to prepare for an upcoming study on the river, because three segments of the Fox River appeared on the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's list of impaired waters. That listing was updated in 2002 and now includes the entire length of the Fox River from the Wisconsin state line to the river's mouth at Ottawa." Jacobsen said an impaired waterway is one "that is not favorable for nature." So the group formed "to make reasonable efforts to improve the river's quality ... It's a way to make the water better but not just throw money at a problem." To that end, Jacobsen mentioned the EPA has tightened standards for phosphorus put into the river. Phosphorus is found naturally and in agricultural and lawn care products and the wastewater stream, Jacobsen said. According to information provided by FRWRD, phosphorus is an essential nutrient for aquatic plants. FRWD's Trueblood explained, though, that too much phosphorus contributes to the formation of algae blooms, which take oxygen out of the water, potentially impairing habitat. Like other material put into a body of water it can come from a point source, such as a wastewater treatment plant, or from a non-point source such as a farm field or parking lot with runoff making its way into creeks, streams and then the river, Trueblood said. Elgin has EPA permits related to what it puts back into the river from sewers after big storms, while FRWRD, which treats wastewater for Elgin and other towns, also has EPA permits. Advertisement According to the meeting material, the study group has been working with the IEPA to use the scientific data collected to help set allowable discharge limits related to permits for such along the river. The study group worked with an engineering firm to take the data collected and used the models to put together a plan that was submitted to the IEPA in December. The group currently is preparing a presentation about the plan for the federal EPA. "FRWRD will have lower discharge requirements for total phosphorus. As the limit is lowered, FRWRD will have to make changes to their treatment process which will require capital expenditures on their part," the material states. "Ultimately, anyone using FRWRD's services will bear the burden of the capital costs associated with compliance." Trueblood said having the models and what they show about improving the river should help keep those capital costs significantly lower than they might have been. As is, the improvements necessary to remove phosphorus to what the EPA is requiring will run about $40 million over the next four years, Trueblood said. Had a substantially lower level of phosphorus under consideration been the standard, the improvements could have run $140 million, he noted. So, come May 1, sewer rates for most local homes that use FRWRD's wastewater treatment services will go up 12.9 percent, Trueblood said, and will be the first increase since 2004. Advertisement For a typical home using 5,000 gallons a water a month, that will mean paying $8.75 per month or $1 more than the current rate, he said. For those in the the district's Skyline and Valley View service area meter rates will go from $4 to $5 per month, and from $1.55 to $1.75 per 1,000 gallons of water used. With long term debt service on bonds issued to pay for the work, Trueblood anticipated the rates will go up 10 - 12 percent a year for 3 - 4 years past the initial hike. "With the rate increases, people might not (physically) see the benefit. They won't see any difference in the color or the clarity of the water. But on warm summer days there will be less algae, less stress on the ecosystem and on the fish." There is another benefit of having the phosphorus standards here and in other rivers that lead to the Mississippi River then the Gulf of Mexico, Trueblood said. It will lessen the amount of nutrients making their way into the northern Gulf, which contribute to its water's becoming hypoxic, creating a dead zone lacking oxygen that stresses that ecosystem. MDanahey@tribpub.com Paintballers like Carl Balderas, 17, of Oak Lawn, drove hours to compete against Gurnee police officers Saturday in a fundraiser for teen court and the FOP. (Denys Bucksten / Lake County News-Sun) Paintball enthusiasts battled Gurnee police officers Saturday during a benefit for Lake County Teen Court and the Fraternal Order of Police. The fundraiser netted about $1,100 for the two charities, said Mike LaLond, owner of Paintball City, a 36,000-square-foot venue that opened nearly four months ago on Morrison Drive in an industrial area of Gurnee. The funds will be divided equally between the teen court and the Gurnee FOP. Advertisement The first-time paintball benefit drew a turn-away crowd, with the scheduled benefit running an extra two hours. LaLond said more than 200 paintball enthusiasts showed up, eager to test themselves against the 16 police officers. Advertisement "The cops never left," LaLond said. "They were here competing for nearly six or seven hours." Gurnee police Sgt. Jeremy Gaughan, who is also the FOP president, said teen court is important for judging misdemeanors by teens arrested for the first-time. "It's a great program and it's helping (law enforcement) out tremendously," Gaughan said. "Especially if you have a youth who makes a one-time mistake. Teen court gives them a second chance to get back on their feet without serious consequences. It's a jury of their peers; they're not getting off Scott free. Either they get community service, or essays for them to write. They are held accountable, and if they don't (fulfill the teen court punishments) they will be charged, so the majority of them take that opportunity to right the wrong." Typical offenses that go before teen court include minor criminal damage to property or minor retail theft, Gaughan said. No official won-lost tallies were kept on Saturday, but young paintballers some calling themselves "professionals" carried paintball rifles costing $1,600 that are capable of firing 14 to 15 .68-caliber paint pellets a second. The officers' rented equipment, which fired the hard pellets at eight rounds per second. The velocity of each shot is the same for both weapons, about 285 feet per second, LaLond said. Officer Brian Carey said the officers may have been out-gunned by their opponents, but the cops used their police training to work in pairs to enjoy some success. "We won some, we lost some," Carey said. The competitions featured two teams of five to 10 players starting on opposite sides of a high-ceilinged space. The field had synthetic turf with inflatable barriers to hide behind or advance on the enemy. Advertisement With referees on the field in specially marked vests, the battles ensued and were often over in a matter of minutes. LaLond said he and his staff use chronographs, including hand-held units usable on the field by referees, to ensure that competitors aren't "ramping up" their weapons to fire more rapidly than is allowed at the indoor venue. Denys Bucksten is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun Sap drips from a tap into a bucket at Ryerson Woods in Deerfield. (Lake County Forest Preserves / Handout) Sap is flowing: Time for maple syrup hikes, festivals in Northern Illinois. A popular rite of spring in northern Illinois involves tasting the sweetness of tree sap as it begins to flow, signaling a new season. Advertisement Squirrels get into the act, sipping the sap as it drips from trees, while humans attend maple syrup hikes and festivals at local nature centers and forest preserves to get their own taste and learn how maple syrup is made. At Ryerson Woods in Deerfield, "hikes fill fast, and registration is required," said Jennifer Berlinghof, the environmental educator for the Lake County Forest Preserves. The same is true at Heller Nature Center in Highland Park. Advertisement At the events, participants can practice tapping sugar maples, learn how the sap becomes syrup and get a taste of the final product. Some local festivals also offer the syrup for sale. All trees contain sap, but sugar maples (Acer saccharum) have the sweetest tasting sugar water that can be boiled or evaporated into maple syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, Berlinghof said. Sap flow depends on the weather, which determines how much syrup can be produced each year. "Ideal conditions are sunny warm days above freezing and cold nights below freezing," Berlinghof said. Trees store sap in their roots in winter; when the conditions are right, the sap begins to defy gravity and flow upward. "Once the temperatures hold steady above freezing, sap flow slows and the chemistry of sap changes and is no longer suitable for making syrup," she said. The production season lasts from two to five weeks in the northern Illinois area. Berlinghoff expects the forest preserve district to tap 25 to 30 trees this year, and produce five to 10 gallons of syrup at Ryerson Woods. Though the forest preserve has embarked on a project to remove sugar maple trees from Ryerson Woods and other areas to allow more room for oaks to grow, that won't change the amount of syrup made at the preserve, Berlinghoff said. Advertisement Here's information on local spots to celebrate spring by enjoying nature's sweetness: Maple Syrup Hikes When: Noon to 2 p.m., every half hour, Saturdays and Sundays March 5-20 Where: Ryerson Woods, 21850 Riverwoods Road, Deerfield Tickets: $6 per person; registration required Information: 847-968-3321; www.lcfpd.org Advertisement Hour-long hikes run every half hour and are open to all ages. Participants taste maple syrup, learn how it's made and learn to tap trees for sap. Maple Syrup Harvest When: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., March 12 Where: Sunset Woods Park, 1801 Sunset Road, Highland Park Tickets: $8; Online registration required Information: Email or call 847-579-3128 847- or 433-6901 Advertisement Participants learn how syrup is made by tapping trees. Appropriate for children older than age 6. Children must be accompanied by a paid, registered adult. Registration deadline is March 11. Sugar Bush Fair When: 9 a.m. to noon, March 12-13 Where: Spring Valley Nature Center, 1111 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg Tickets: Free for event; $4-$6 for pancake breakfast. Information: 847-985-2100 Advertisement The nature center celebrates maple sugar each year with demonstrations of maple syrup production, hay rides and a children's puppet show. Syrup and other items will be available for purchase. A pancake breakfast with real maple syrup is also available for a fee. Parking is available at the District 54 Rafferty Administration Center, 524 E. Schaumburg Road, with shuttle service provided to Spring Valley. Hayrides will provide transportation between the Nature Center and Merkle Cabin where breakfast will be served for those with tickets. Annual Maple Syrup Festival When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., March 20 Where: River Trail Nature Center, 3120 Milwaukee Ave., Northbrook Tickets: Free Information: 847-824-8360; http://fpdcc.com/venue/river-trail-nature-center Advertisement Participants will walk through the sugar maple forest to learn about the history of making maple syrup. They can watch tree tapping demonstrations and engage in crafts and games for families including the bucket bug toss. Other activities are being planned. Call or visit the website for more information. Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer. Rev. James Olson of St. John's United Church of Christ in Waukgan, will narrate "The Composer is Dead." (Waukegan Symphony Orchestra / Handout) Waukegan Symphony Orchestra Young People's Concert When: 11 a.m., Feb. 27 Advertisement Where: Waukegan High School Trapp Auditorium, 2325 Brookside Ave., Waukegan Tickets: Free for students: $5 for adults accompanied by a child Advertisement Information: 847-360-4740 The composer might be dead, but music is still alive and the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra aims to show that to young people as well as adults at the annual Young People's Concert Feb. 27 in Waukegan. They'll perform "The Composer is Dead," a quirky 21st century way to introduce kids to the instruments of an orchestra, said music director Stephen Blackwelder, who's been at the helm of the symphony for 14 years. "It's a musical whodunit for orchestra and narrator." The music was written by Nathaniel Stookey, and the story was written by Lemony Snicket, a well-known children's author who "tells it like it is," Blackwelder said. "It even includes a bit of psychological profiling of the members of the orchestra." The concert will also include a guest performance by award-winning 16-year-old violinist Joshua Brown of Gurnee and an overture by W.A. Mozart. Blackwelder started the young people's concerts in 2011 because he and Claudia Freeman, Waukegan Park district superintendent of cultural arts, remember enjoying watching Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts on TV. "But we also do them because it's the best way to let kids know that live orchestral music can be both fun and fascinating," Blackwelder said. He added he hopes the adults will find the youth concerts fun and fascinating as well. Advertisement The Rev. James Olson, a minister at St. John's United Church of Christ in Waukegan, will narrate "The Composer is Dead." When Olson joined the DePaul Community Chorus, which Blackwelder directs in Chicago, he said he discovered the pastor was a fan of Lemony Snicket books. Learning that, Blackwelder said, "He simply had to be our narrator for 'The Composer is Dead.'" The piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony and premiered in 2006. At the beginning, the narrator announces a composer has been killed. The local inspector decides to interview the woodwinds, strings, brass and other instrument families to solve the mystery. The first violinists say they were performing a waltz when the nasty deed was done. The inspector suggests the violinists killed the composer because they had too many notes to play, to which the violinists reply if there were no composer, they'd have to play for square dances instead. Meanwhile the violists complain that no one notices them and they get stuck having to stack up the chairs after the concert. Will the perpetrator of the deed be discovered among the orchestra members? Advertisement To inspire the young audience, Blackwelder also has asked young violinist Joshua Brown to perform a short and dazzling piece accompanied by orchestra and written by Tchaikovsky, who also composed the famous "Nutcracker Suite." "Joshua just returned from winning a raft of prizes at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Russia," Blackwelder said. "We wanted to invite him to play a concert in his own neighborhood." Blackwelder said he hopes the concert will prove that "classical music doesn't always deserve its smug and stuffy reputation," adding Mark Twain once said the music written by composer Richard Wagner, "is better than it sounds." Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer. Gary Weiner, 46, of Montgomery, uses his fat tire bike to head out onto Channel Lake for the ice fishing derby. He said peddling keeps you warm. (By Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun) Despite single-digit temperatures not counting the wind chill some fisherman braved the cold to fish the frozen waters of Channel Lake as part of the Northern Illinois Conservation Club's 56th annual Ice Fishing Derby and Winter Festival. The air temperature in Antioch dropped to just 2 degrees on Saturday, when wind gusts reached 26 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The temperature rose into the mid-teens Sunday, but snow flurries filled the air. Advertisement "It was slow because of the weather, it was cold, so that's to be expected," said derby spokesman Ken Golonka. While there may have been fewer fishermen, those who attended said the fish were biting. Advertisement "We had a lot of fish coming in (Sunday) morning," Golonka said. The leader board featured a 34-inch northern pike, a 32-inch catfish, a 20-inch bass and an 11-inch crappie. Gary Weiner, 46, of Montgomery, turned heads when he used a fat tire bike to haul a sled full of ice fishing gear onto the lake. As for the cold, Weiner said he had an advantage. "The bike ride keeps you warm," he said. "You just have to keep moving and make sure you cover your skin. I'll be all over the lake today." Some fishermen said they have fished at the derby for years. "It's a tradition. We've been coming here forever," said Jacob Seibert, of Waterford, Wis. Seibert, 26, brought his 8-year-old son Parker, who was celebrating a recent birthday. Advertisement "It's fun to bring in the fish," Parker said. The boy, who caught multiple fish, said the cold wasn't a problem. "Because it's just fun to fish, even if you don't catch any fish," he said. Parker and his father plan to eat their catches for dinner. "We always eat our fish," he said. Many anglers said the fish taste better in the winter because the water isn't being constantly churned up by boats. Advertisement This year's top winner for biggest fish was Billy Learsch, of Antioch, who caught a 34-inch northern pike that won him $200. Other big fish winners were Shaun Acbeck, of Round Lake, for a 20-inch bass; Kyle Dunn, of Zion, for a 32-inch catfish; Rich Cheterbock, of Spring Grove, with a 12-inch crappie; Pat Seibert, of Waterford, Wis., with a 10-inch perch; Jeff Parsons, of Oregon, with a 9-inch blue gill; Parker Seibert with a 16-inch sheepshead; and Dave Wittmer with a stripper that was almost 13-inches. fabderholden@tribpub.com Twitter @abderholden Stay on top of the news all day with the Tribunes web notifications. Well let you know right in your web browser when theres big breaking news happening, and also share our editors top picks so you see the best of what the Tribune has to offer. In 2014, more than 377,000 students from 203 countries studied in China, according to the Ministry of Education. The Institute of International Education calculated the number of foreign students as 356,499, and ranked the country as the third-largest host of international students after the United States and the United Kingdom. Students from Malaysia and China watch a performance during a Malaysian cultural festival organized by the Beijing Foreign Studies University in November. WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY Whatever the true number, in the eyes of Fang Jun, deputy director of the Ministry of Education's Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, the statistics don't tell the whole picture. Although the numbers proclaim China as the world's third most-popular location for students from overseas, factors such as the middling quality of the education provided and the sources and structure of the international student group need urgent review and updating, he said. Judging by the numbers alone, China has made great progress in the provision of education for international students in the past four decades. In 1978, about 1,900 international students studied in China, but by 2014 that number had risen more than 200 times. Currently, about 2,500 universities offer places to international students, while in 1990 only about 100 universities were allowed to recruit students from overseas. Fang said the sector is unbalanced because most international students study arts-based subjects, especially Chinese language, and those studying sciences, engineering and business account for a small proportion of the total. Another imbalance is the low number of students studying at degree level or higher. Only 44 percent of international students come to China to study for a degree. The others are on short-term study programs, many as exchange students who stay for a semester or two before returning to their countries to study for a degree. The situation is the reverse of those in the US and UK, where degree students account for the majority of the international group. In addition, rather than coming from a wide range of countries, most of the overseas students pursuing degrees in China are from concentrated regions, with more than 70 percent hailing from neighboring countries in Asia or from the African continent. "Efforts need to be made to diversify the sources and types of international students coming to study in China," Fang said. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. Ten chemical plants in north China's Tianjin Municipality will be relocated following the report on last year's explosions at a chemical warehouse that killed more than 160 people. Shan Yuhou, head of the Work Safety Bureau of Binhai New Area in Tianjin, said on Sunday that his bureau had checked 583 chemical firms and safety issues were found at 85 of them. Nine have since rectified the problems and 10 have opted to relocate, said Shan. The official added that no chemical projects will be approved in Tianjin outside the Nangang Industrial Zone. Following the explosions, some chemical plants were ordered to move to Nangang, about 30 kilometers from the explosion site, and 10 kilometers from the nearest residential area. Covering 200 square kilometers, Nangang aims to become a world-class multi-functional zone featuring a heavy chemical industrial base and port. The State Council, China's Cabinet, has released a guideline on the protection of left-behind children -- those under the age of 16 and whose parents work away from home -- delineating the various responsibilities of parents, government and society at large. The guideline, signed by Premier Li Keqiang, states that local governments and village committees should keep themselves well-informed of left-behind children within their jurisdiction and ensure they are properly cared for, while the parents' primary responsibilities are stressed. Aside from helping left-behind children talk with their parents by video-chat or phone, government at township level must set up a file for each child. Village officials and Party members must visit the children on a regular basis. Migrant workers who can take their children with them should do so, or one parent should stay home. Parents who cannot meet this requirement must appoint a responsible guardian. While away from home, parents must keep in touch with their children regularly and see them often, keeping track of their lives, studies and mental health. Village committees and police should talk to those who do not fulfill their parental duties. Serious violators may be held accountable. Education authorities and schools have an obligation to help the children study and live safely. Governments can contract charities and voluntary bodies to provide professional services, and a system of compulsory reporting, intervention, assessment and help will be established. These organizations must report cases that involve injury, abuse or other harm to the appropriate authority and intervene as soon as possible. The guideline comes as China reforms household registration, with some 100 million people expected to permanently relocate to towns and cities. Migrant workers leave their children at home in the countryside principally because they cannot become permanent urban residents under the current system, and their children may be denied education and health care. The guideline lays out measures to gradually decrease the number of left-behind children, by helping migrant workers find affordable housing and allowing their children to go to city schools. Tong Lihua, director of a Beijing child-advocacy group, said that the guideline's strong measures may prevent many of those tragedies which come to light only after children are hurt. More than 60 million children are considered left-behind, and lack of proper arrangements for many has led to a number of heartbreaking situations, such as the suicide last year of four children in southwest China's Guizhou Province. You are here: Home Flash An Israeli settlement watchdog said Sunday that Israel began constructing 1,800 buildings as Jewish settlements in the West Bank in 2015, mainly in the most controversial areas of the so-called "isolated settlements." According to a report released by Peace Now, a dovish organization, 69 percent of the building took place in isolated settlements in areas which Israel would most likely evacuate in the event of a future peace deal with Palestinians. Furthermore, preparations for at least another 734 housing units were completed and construction is to begin soon. Some 265 housing units were built in "illegal outposts," which is an Israeli term used to describe unauthorized settlement construction by Israel. However, under international law, all settlements are illegal. "Despite government declarations of a 'freeze' on construction, building on the ground continues full force," said Peace Now. Since 2009, Israel's government has "built apartments for about 40,000 new settlers who may need to be evacuated in case of a permanent status agreement," read the report. The report also warned that Israel is creating "ground obstacles" rendering "future peace agreements much more difficult to achieve." The report comes as Israel struggles to curb a five-month-long surge of violent Palestinian unrest, so far claiming the lives of at least 165 Palestinians and 26 Israelis. Israel accuses the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of "inciting" the violence, whereas Palestinians declare it is the outcome of 49 years of Israeli control over their lands. Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Mideast War, and later annexed East Jerusalem, in a move unacknowledged by the international community. The West Bank settlements are illegal under international law and are opposed by the international community that considers the construction undermines prospects of establishing a two-state solution. Flash Syrian Foreign Ministry slammed on Sunday the Turkish artillery shelling against areas in northern Syria, branding it as giving a "direct support" the "defeated rebels," according to the state news agency SANA. "The Turkish heavy artillery shelling against Syrian territories is a direct Turkish support to the armed terrorist groups and an attempt to lift the morale of those defeated groups," the ministry said, in condemnation letters sent to the United Nations. In a jab at the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the ministry said his remarks about the military intervention in Syria constitutes an outright violation to the resolutions of the UN Security Council regarding fighting terrorism. "The Syrian government vehemently condemns the repetitive Turkish crime and aggression against the Syrian people and the Syrian territories," said the statement, urging the international community to shoulder its responsibility in "putting an end to the crimes of the Turkish regime." The government's condemnation came as the Turkish artillery continued to shell Kurdish areas in northern Syria for the second straight day on Sunday, killing and wounding nine fighters of a Kurdish group, a monitor group reported. Turkish officials said their shelling comes in retaliation to fire from the Kurdish fighters' positions against Turkey, a claim totally denied by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which pledged to confront Turkish military intervention in Syria. A day earlier, the Turkish artillery started pounding the Kurdish position in northern Syria, just hours after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on that Turkey, "if necessary," will take military actions against the Kurds in Syria. Turkish officials have repeatedly said that they will not allow the Kurds in Syria to expand more near the Turkish border. The recent escalation also came as the talks about a ground intervention by Saudi and Turkey troops in Syria have made headlines in recent days. Such an intervention will spark extra chaos in the already war-torn country, particularly after Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said any foreign troops entering Syria without the consent of the Syrian government "will be sent home in wooden coffins." Flash Pakistan on Sunday rejected Indian criticism at the U.S. decision to sell eight F-16 fighter planes to the country. India summoned U.S. Ambassador Richard Verma in New Delhi on Saturday to express the country's 'displeasure' over the possible sale of the planes to Pakistan. On Friday the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama notified the Congress that it planned to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, valued at 699 million U.S. dollars. In addition to eight F-16s, the deal also includes the sale of radars and other military equipment, reports said. "We are surprised and disappointed at the Indian Government's reaction. Their army and arsenal stock is much larger and they are the largest importer of defence equipment," the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said. "As regards F-16 sale, Pakistan and the United States closely cooperate in countering terrorism," the Foreign Ministry spokesman said in response to media queries over Indian reaction to U.S. decision on F-16 sale. He said the U.S. spokesperson has clearly announced that the sale is to enhance precision strike capability. Earlier the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that India was "disappointed at the decision of the Obama administration to notify the sale of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan." Rejecting the U.S. State Department's contention that the sale of fighter jets was in the U.S.' "vital national security interests" as it helped Pakistan fight terror groups, the Indian Foreign Ministry said, "We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism. The record of the last many years in this regard speaks for itself." Flash Three terrorist suspects of Iraqi origin, holders of British passports, have been arrested in northern Greece near the border crossing with Turkey. They were arrested for illegal possession of a large number of firearms and ammunition as suspects for participating in a criminal organization and terrorism acts, Greek authorities announced on Sunday. Earlier local media, citing police sources, had reported that the discovery of the two dozens firearms and more than 240,000 bullets had raised the alarm whether the detained are members of a jihadist group. Following exchange of information with other European authorities on their identities, Greek authorities believe that they are Iraqi Kurds who intended to sell the guns and ammunition in northern Iraq, Greek national news agency AMNA reported, citing Greek national intelligence sources. The first two suspects, aged 35 and 36, were detained on Saturday after Coast Guard officers discovered 18 firearms and about 40,000 bullets in their car at the port of Alexandroupolis, according to a Greek Coast Guard press release. The third suspect, 40, was arrested near the customs office at the borderline with Turkey when police found four firearms and about 200,000 bullets in his trailer, according to press statement. The three suspects have no previous criminal records, stayed in a hotel in Alexandroupolis for eight days and were delivering the load from Germany or Austria to the Turkish-Iraqi borders, according to Greek police sources. Within the week they will be brought before a local prosecutor to be formally charged with participation in a criminal organization, terrorist activities, illegal possession and transferring of guns, the official announcement said. Three weeks ago in the same region Greek police arrested two suspected jihadists holding Swedish passports. The two men, a 30-year-old Bosnian and a 20-year-old Yemeni, were apprehended at the central bus station of Alexandroupolis when policemen discovered knives in their luggage. After exchange of information with other European authorities it was revealed that the Bosnian suspect had been sentenced in 2005 in Bosnia to 15 years of imprisonment for planning to attack the U.S. embassy in the country on behalf of an al Qaeda-linked group. He was released in 2011 and sought political asylum in Sweden. Flash Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Sunday discussed the Syrian crisis over the phone, according to a Kremlin statement. During the "frank and businesslike" conversation, Putin and Obama positively assessed the results of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting in Munich on Feb. 11-12. "The meeting confirmed the approaches and provisions of Resolution 2254 of the UN Security Council, both in the part of humanitarian aspects and in the modality of ceasefire regime, as well as in preparations for a realistic political process," the statement said. Both leaders supported the tasks of achieving ceasefire and delivering humanitarian aid, while agreeing to intensify cooperation through diplomatic and other channels to implement the agreement reached at the ISSG meeting. Putin noted the need to establish regular working contacts between the defense ministries of the two countries in order to ensure a "systematic and successful" fight against terrorism. Both countries have carried out military campaigns in Syria. The ISSG meeting, sponsored by the the United States and Russia, agreed on a nationwide cessation of hostilities to be implemented soon in Syria, and on humanitarian aid delivery to besieged areas in the country. The two leaders also touched on the situation in Ukraine, especially the implementation of the Minsk accords. Putin expressed the hope that Kiev would take practical steps to meet its obligations under the Minsk deal as soon as possible, including constitutional reform, establishing direct dialogue with the two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine, and amendments to the law on special status of the Donbass region. Relations between Russia and the Western countries have been undermined by disputes over the Syria and Ukraine issues, with both sides waging a sanctions war and cutting dialogues. Flash U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Albania on Sunday to stimulate the country's leaders to accomplish reforms. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama hold a joint press conference in Tirana, Albania, Feb. 14, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Kerry gave the message that Albania is on the right track with the reforms, especially as regards the fight against crime, corruption and the reinforcing of the rule of law. On his four-hour visit, Kerry met Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and opposition Democratic leader Lulzim Basha. Kerry conveyed his message at the press conference held after the meeting with Rama, where he declared that "Albania is moving towards the right track, and I trust that the awareness about the laws need for the fight against corruption has been embraced by all." "I was impressed by the drafting of the decriminalization law. I was encouraged by the justice reform and I would like to underline that this is something that politics is working hard to realize. This requires the support of every Albanian citizen. The USA is on your side, but only the Albanian citizens can pass the necessary laws and insist for their implementation," said Kerry. Rama confirmed that the justice reform was part of the talks. "We discussed the justice reform. We are grateful to the USA for the help given to our country and for the work offered by the U.S. experts in the technical team of the justice reform. Our joint objective is to have the constitutional amends passed by March," stated Rama. Moreover, Rama said that he was convinced that the Parliament would pass it within March. He based this conviction also on the encouragement received by the U.S. diplomat, wrote the local media Top Channel. In December 2015, Albanian MPs voted to remove from politics and from the state administration anyone with criminal record. Furthermore, the Albanian parliament is discussing a major package of reforms, supported by the West, that includes a new anti-corruption unit, modeled after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The visit of a U.S Secretary of State to Albania is the first visit since November 2012, when Hillary Clinton addressed the Albanian parliament. Flash Senior Chinese diplomats have warned against any actions that damage China's interests by using the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue as an excuse. "The deployment of the THAAD system by the US goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. [Photo/China Daily] The warning comes as the United States is being allowed by the Republic of Korea to deploy a powerful missile system that will technically cover China and Russia. Hours after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched a rocket on Feb 7, the US and ROK angered China and Russia by deciding to start talks on deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to the US military base in the ROK. In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said "safeguarding China's national security interests" was a key principle for tackling the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. China "resolutely objects to any attempt by any country to infringe China's lawful rights and interests in the name of the peninsula nuclear issue", Wang said on Friday, according to a news release issued by the Foreign Ministry. "The deployment of the THAAD system by the US ... goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent," Wang said. "It directly affects the strategic security interests of China and other Asian countries." When meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Munich on Friday, Wang said the US must be cautious about undermining China's security interests or "adding new complications to regional peace and stability". Fu Ying, the National People's Congress' foreign affairs chief, said on Saturday at the Munich conference that China is puzzled and angered by the US actions, People Daily's website reported. Fu added that the US had told China to cooperate on the peninsula nuclear issue while Washington had been involved in discussions with its allies about deploying the THAAD system. As one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world, THAAD can intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the Earth's atmosphere during their final phase of flight. Early on Feb 2, Russia's Ambassador to the ROK Alexander Timonin opposed the possible deployment of the THAAD system. Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the Center on China-America Defense Relations at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said the THAAD system mainly targets long-range missiles and has nothing to do with intercepting short-range ones launched by the DPRK. The US system can launch and intercept missiles, which will sabotage strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Such a deployment will damage "the already fragile strategic stability" of the US with China and Russia, Zhao added. Liang Fang, a professor of naval studies at the PLA National Defense University, said the foreign minister was sending a message that China was not letting the situation rest and "may resort to any available means". Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse cited US Forces Korea as saying in a media statement on Saturday that Washington had temporarily deployed an additional Patriot missile battery in the ROK. Flash Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that the unwavering policy of the Islamic republic is "supporting peace" for the Syrian people. "None of the outsiders could prescribe remedies for the nation," Khamenei said in a meeting with visiting Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama. "Neither the Americans nor the Europeans could decide for the Syrian people ... The Syrians themselves should decide on their future," Khamenei added. The Iranian leader also urged for further cooperation between Iran and Ghana. "Iran and Ghana enjoy good and abundant capacities and we hope that this trip (of the Ghanaian president to Iran) will lead to the expansion of ties." Leading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, Mahama began his official visit to Iran on Sunday at the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Flash France on Sunday urged Turkey to immediately halt shelling Kurdish militia in Syria, an offensive that could cast doubts to implement an already fragile ceasefire deal in the war-torn country, French presidential office the Elysee has announced. Turkish artillery continued to bomb Kurdish areas in northern Syria for the second consecutive day on Sunday, after world powers agreed on Friday in Munich to "a limited cessation of hostilities" in Syria. France "expresses concern at the continued deterioration of the situation in the region of Aleppo and northern Syria", the Elysee said in a press release. France also asked Russia to stop air strikes supporting Syrian regime in Aleppo and stressed "the absolute priority" to implement Munich ceasefire accord, which is expected to take effect the end of this week. Flash A U.S. judge said on Sunday that U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died of a heart attack and no autopsy was necessary. The death certificate for Justice Scalia will say the cause of death was natural, and that he died of a heart attack, said Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara, who pronounced the death of Scalia, who was found dead on Saturday in a resort in the U.S. state of Texas, according to local TV station ABC13. Scalia, 79, arrived on Friday at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa, and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast on Saturday, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found he was already dead. Guevara said she talked to Scalia's doctor in Washington, D.C., who told her that Scalia had been sick and had been at his office on Wednesday and Thursday before going on the hunting trip in west Texas on Friday. Scalia told his group on Friday at dinner that he was not feeling well and went to his room early. He then missed breakfast and lunch on Saturday and was found unresponsive in his bed. The body of the late Justice Scalia arrived early Sunday at a funeral home in El Paso, a city in the far west Texas. Chris Lujan of the Sunset Funeral Homes said if an autopsy is requested by Scalia's family or ordered by a justice of the peace, then an El Paso County medical examiner would likely perform it at the funeral home, but judge Guevara said no autopsy was necessary. Tentative plans call for Scalia's body to be flown on Tuesday back home to his family in a northern Virginia suburb. U.S. President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the high court, where Scalia had served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation as well as U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world. Scalia, who was born in 1936 in Trenton, New Jersey, was appointed to the high court by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1986 until his death. He was the longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court and was well-known for passionately opposing abortion and strongly supporting the death penalty. Flash The Africa Union team is in Somalia to assess its troops are prepared to ward off terror threats from Islmist militant group Al-Shabaab. Major General Francis Okello, who led the delegation from the AU's Peace Support Operations Division, said the team is carrying out an assessment on the state of its forces serving under the AU mandate to identify areas that need urgent support from the pan-African body. "Our visit here is to find out the preparedness of troops to support this political process," Okello said in a statement released on Sunday in Mogadishu. "The second key aspect of the visit is: as you are aware last year in August, AMISOM and the African Union headquarters produced a new Concepts of Operations (CONOPs) and this visit is to find out how that CONOPs, in support with the political process in Somalia is unfolding," he added. The AU team wanted to find out how AMISOM planned to implement the revised CONOPS that was endorsed by the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting in September last year. The revised CONOPS for AMISOM aims to create and preserve an enabling environment for the unfolding political, peace and reconciliation processes in Somalia. According to Okello, the team also reviewed ways of assisting Somali security institutions alongside AMISOM troops in order to execute their mandate of keeping the country safe and warding off threats posed by Al-Shabaab and other armed militant groups. The visit further evaluated the pan African body's readiness for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled later this year. "At the end of this visit, we are going to give a feedback to people who make the decisions and actions that we need to take at our level as managers of the Mission, to support the Mission, to support Somalia to help realise lasting peace and stability in Somalia," said the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Crowd Chirenje, a member of the visiting AU delegation. AMISOM which crossed into the Horn of the African nation in 2007 comprise troops from countries including Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. Its troops recently registered a string of successes against Al-Shabaab militia who had seized much of the central and southern Somalia. Flash Turkey has allowed 350 armed rebels to enter, through its borders, into the northern province of Aleppo to take part in defending a key Syrian border town from the Syrian military offensive, a monitor group reported on Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Turkish authorities allowed 350 Syria rebels with light and heavy arms to move from Syria's northwestern province of Idlib through the Turkish borders, namely the Atamah military crossing, into Syria's northern province of Aleppo to take part in defending the strategic border town of Tal Rifat from the approaching Syrian military forces. The UK-based watchdog group said Turkey allowed the rebels to move through its territories and further supervised their movement from the countryside of Idlib to the northern countryside of Aleppo. It said that 15 militant groups were killed Sunday in the battles around Tal Rifat, adding that the Russian warplanes carried out 18 airstrikes against rebel-held in Tal Rifat. The Syrian army and the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were approaching the strategic town after dislodging the rebels from key areas in northern Aleppo, as part of the crushing offensive it carried out in Aleppo and the northwestern province of Latakia to close the borders with Turkey, from which much of the militants and their arms come into the war-torn country. The Syrian government has always accused Turkey of facilitating the flow of jihadists into Syria. It's latest accusation was made on Sunday, when it condemned the Turkish shelling of Kurdish areas in northern Syria. Turkish latest move aims apparently to bring to a halt the Kurdish progress toward Tal Rifat and to prop up the militants it backs in northern Syria. Flash Troubled with recent developments in Syria's north near its border, Turkish government pushes hard for a military action with its allies and partners to stem refugee wave and protect rebel holdouts against Syrian regime. Members of leftist groups rally to call for an end to the violence between security forces and Kurdish militants in the southeast of Turkey, in Ankara, on February 13, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Turkish military pounded Kurdish militia targets with artillery fire on Saturday to halt and possibly reverse gains by the Kurdish People's Protections Units (YPG), the armed faction of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). The shelling targeted YPG positions in and around Menagh Air Base, near the village of Manaq in the south of the town of Azaz. Turkish action, signaled earlier by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who leads the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in Turkey, came before the expiration of the deadline for the deal by major powers for halting the fighting in Syria that will take effect next Friday. Confirming on the shelling on late Saturday night, Turkish Prime Minister vowed his government would not allow a demographic change in areas close to its border by the YPG, described as terrorist group by Turkey. Davutoglu accused the PYD of acting as "pawn" at the hands of major powers and Syrian regime to change the make-up of Aleppo by forcing "hundreds of thousands of refugees" toward Turkey. "There is no single shred of doubt on this," he emphasized. Ankara has been lobbying for some time with the NATO military allies for an intervention into Syria to establish a safe zone for refugees, a no-fly zone to deter aerial assaults, halt Russian bombardments and push back advancing Syrian government forces. NATO has been cold to such demands by Turkey so far with the U.S. calling on Turkey to halt shelling of PYD targets in Syria. U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement that the U.S. is aware of shelling by Turkey and that the U.S. "urged Turkey to cease such fires." However, the Turkish army resumed shelling positions held by YPG for a second day on Sunday, the local media reported. Turkey, suffering from its own Kurdish insurgency in a conflict with the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) for three decades, is concerned about gains by Kurds in northern Syria. Ankara says the PYD is an affiliate of the PKK that is listed as terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. TURKEY- SAUDI OFFENSIVE Ankara also said it is willing to commit ground troops to combat Islamic State (IS) and is working together with Saudi Arabia to accomplish that. "If there will be a comprehensive strategy within the scope of fight against IS, we all said that Turkey and Saudi Arabia could launch a ground operation," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in a published remarks in a Turkish daily Haberturk on Saturday. He also added that Riyadh will send fighter jets to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey's southern province of Adana where the U.S.-led coalition forces already deployed air force assets to combat the IS. The advance inspection team by Saudi Arabia has already arrived to Incirlik Air Base. However, the Turkish political opposition parties are up in arms against Turkey's possible intervention into Syria with ground troops, saying that such an action will put Turkish lives at risk. Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the third largest political party in terms of popularity, said on Saturday that it would be a grave mistake for Turkey and Saudi Arabia to enter into a war with Syria. Devle Bahceli, the leader of the MHP, said "the result could be terrible" for Turkey, calling on the government to urgently brief the nature and scope of Turkey's reported agreement with Saudi Arabia. Aytun Ciray, the lawmaker from the main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP), said on Sunday that a Turkey-Saudi military intervention into Syria will throw the region into a further chaos. Underscoring that the Saudi military is not capable enough to launch such a ground offensive in Syria, Ciray said, adding the whole burden will be on Turkish army. "This would damage Turkey's ties with Arab world beyond repair for generations," he warned. Turkey's former Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis, who had served as an ambassador in major Arab countries, said the Arab world would very much oppose a Turkish incursion into an Arab country. He also cautioned that the Turkish military will have to face Russian forces if it intervenes in Syria. He said that Russia has been waiting for a reason to unleash severe punishment on Turkey since the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber in 2015. Flash Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday Israel has resolved its differences with the European Union after three-month diplomatic tensions over the bloc's decision to label West Bank settlement exports. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the PM's office in Jerusalem on February 14, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Netanyahu told the cabinet that he and the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini talked on the phone during the weekend. "Israel and the European Union have agreed to put relations between us back on track," he said. Netanyahu noted the decision was made after Mogherini assured him the EU objects boycotts on Israel and that the labeling of settlement products will not be mandatory. In a statement released on Mogherini's behalf on Friday, she reiterated the EU's commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that the final borders of Israel and the future Palestinian state should "be settled in direct negotiations between the parties." On November 29, Israel suspended contacts with the EU on diplomatic relations regarding the peace process with the Palestinians, following the 28-country bloc's decision to label products from Jewish settlements in territories occupied by Israel as such. Israel seized these territories during the 1967 Mideast War, and later annexed the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, in a move never recognized by the international community. The West Bank settlements are illegal under international law and the international community opposes them, saying their construction undermine prospects of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Flash South Korea has been divided over whether to deploy a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system in its territory on worries about the expected escalation of regional tensions and an unproven plausibility of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), both militarily and environmentally. The official announcement of South Korea and the United States to begin talks about the THAAD deployment came just hours after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s launch of a long-range rocket on Feb. 7. The rocket launch, which Pyongyang claimed was part of a peaceful space program, but which Seoul and Washington denounced as a test of banned ballistic missile technology, followed the DPRK's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, the first of its disputed H-bomb test. Calling Pyongyang's repeated rocket launches and nuclear tests as a serious threat of weapons of mass destruction in the region, Seoul's defense ministry said the THAAD deployment would be focused solely on defending South Korea against mounting nuclear and missile threats from the DPRK. Opponents, especially opposition lawmakers in South Korea, said the deployment to escalate regional tensions as China and Russia expressed oppositions to the THAAD since its radar can help U.S. forces locate missiles in a broader range of the Asian continent beyond the DPRK. Experts opposing the THAAD were skeptical about its operational effectiveness in South Korea as it is one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world but falls short of shielding the country from hundreds of shorter-range DPRK missiles that can fall on the entire South Korea in several minutes. Controversy over an environmental effect remained as the THAAD's radar emits super-strong microwaves doing harm to human bodies and paralyzing electronic devices. Coverage beyond DPRK Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke out against possible THAAD deployment in South Korea at a meeting with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday. He said it would complicate the regional stability situation. "The deployment of the THAAD system by the United States...goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent," Wang said on the sidelines of the Munich meeting. Seoul's defense ministry has claimed that the THAAD is not targeting China or any other country except the DPRK, but its radar will help U.S. troops in South Korea naturally spot missiles in some regions of China and Russia bordering the DPRK. The THAAD's X-band radar, or the AN/TPY-2 radar, reportedly has two versions: forward-based mode (FBM) and terminal mode (TM) that are the same in hardware and different in software and communications system. The terminal mode, which Seoul is seeking to adopt, has a maximum detecting range of 600 km, while the forward mode can track missiles as far as 1,800 km. As the two have the same hardware, the terminal mode can be converted into the forward mode when necessary. Seeing a rise in demand for the U.S. anti-missile system among South Korea's ruling party lawmakers as a sign of imminent deployment, Russian Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Timonin expressed opposition to the U.S. air defense system in early February. Timonin called for all relevant parties to exercise restraint, saying that the THAAD deployment in South Korea will not give any help or benefit to regional peace and stability and in resolving a nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula. The THAAD issue caused mixed reactions among South Korean politicians. Lee Jong-Geol, floor leader of the main opposition Minju Party, appeared in a program of local broadcaster MBC on Sunday, saying that his party hasn't opposed to discussions on the THAAD deployment "unconditionally." "What's important is that China and Russia is thinking of the THAAD as a strategy toward them, not toward North Korea (DPRK)," said Lee. He noted that if such situations continue, the THAAD deployment will escalate regional tensions and endanger the peninsula's peace. Refuting Lee's comments, ruling Saenuri Party floor leader Won Yoo-chul told the same TV program that the THAAD is the only available tool to effectively deter the DPRK's nuclear and missile threats. Suspicious effectiveness Operational effectiveness of the THAAD has long fallen under suspicion as the U.S. air defense system aims to track and destroy missiles at an altitude of 40-150 km during the terminal phase of flight. It means an interception of missiles just inside or outside of the stratosphere after the missiles begin falling closer to the ground. Most of DPRK missiles directly targeting South Korea fly at a much lower altitude, propping up suspicion about the THAAD's effectiveness in the South Korean territory. Pyongyang is known to have about 400 Scud missiles with a 300-700 km range and around 300 Rodong missiles that can hit targets as far as 1,200 km. The 700 attack missiles and other shorter-range arsenal, including multiple rocket launchers deployed in border areas, fly at an altitude of less than 20 km, being capable of striking Seoul within a minute and the entire South Korea in 10 minutes. The number of the DPRK's longer-range Musudan missiles, capable of reaching at least 3,000 km, was estimated at 30-50, while the Pentagon estimated that Pyongyang had six KN-08 missiles, believed to be a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can fly as far as 10,000 km to reach part of the U.S. mainland. One of prominent missile defense experts opposing the THAAD deployment in South Korea worried that the U.S. missile defense system may prove useless as the DPRK showed capability to self-destruct a propellant into hundreds of pieces. After Pyongyang's rocket launch on Feb.7, Seoul's defense ministry said that its Aegis radar detected the first-stage propellant of the DPRK rocket that had been self-destructed into about 270 fragments to prevent South Korea from collecting and analyzing the propellant. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) emeritus professor Theodore Postol said in an interview with local newspaper Hankyoreh that the DPRK could explode its warhead-carrying missile into multiple pieces to block the THAAD radar from identifying an actual warhead. As there is no air-drag to slow up light objects relative to heavy objects at a very high altitude, the exploded fragments will serve as false targets, flying along with a real warhead on the same general trajectory, according to Postol. He said the self-destruction technology can be applied to the DPRK's Rodong missiles. Two-thirds in favor A recent survey showed that about two-thirds of South Koreans favored the THAAD deployment, but it could change as controversies remained over safety and possible negative effect on the economy from soured diplomatic ties with neighboring countries. According to a poll of 1,013 South Korean adults, 67.1 percent expressed support for the THAAD deployment in preparation for the DPRK's nuclear and missile threats. Only 26.2 percent opposed to it in consideration of oppositions from neighboring countries, including China and Russia. The survey was conducted for two days through Friday by Yonhap news agency and broadcaster KBS. More than half of respondents even supported South Korea's homegrown development of nuclear weapons or the deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear devices, indicating vague fears seemed to have spread following the DPRK's recent nuclear test and rocket launch. Favoring the denuclearized Korean peninsula accounted for 41.1 percent of the total. Those vague fears may change into fury at the government if Seoul and Washington begin talks about where and when to deploy the THAAD, of which radar emits super-strong radio waves being harmful to human bodies and paralyzing airplanes and electronic devices within 5.5 km. Seoul's defense ministry set its estimated safety zone at locations more than 100 meters away from the THAAD radar, saying the radar will do little damage to people standing 100 meters away from it. U.S. Army's technical report, however, set land within 100 meters of the X-band radar as an absolute hazard zone, banning unauthorized personnel from entering areas within 3.6 km of it due to potential damage to human bodies. Some of local media reports criticized the ministry for possible underestimation of hazard. Potential harms led the U.S. Army to deploy a THAAD battery in Guam, surrounded by sea, and four batteries in the middle of deserts in Texas. If a THAAD battery is deployed in South Korea, its radar will stand northward and face a densely populated region. Public rage may arise in candidate cities for the THAAD deployment as the mentioning itself can drag down housing prices, a sensitive issue to ordinary South Koreans. The forced deployment without social consensus would raise anti-American sentiment among residents in candidate regions. Worrying voice about possible negative effect on the economy was also heard as China is South Korea's biggest trading partner. Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior researcher at the private Sejong Institute, said on the phone that possibility got higher for South Korea's economy to be hit hard if trade with China is affected by regional tension. Cheong said it became difficult to introduce effective sanctions toward the DPRK as South Korea worsened relations with China and Russia. Seoul's good ties with Beijing and Moscow are crucial to adopting effective anti-DPRK restrictions in cooperation with the international community, he noted. Calling South Korea's response to recent DPRK provocations as "emotional," the researcher said that Seoul's decision to deploy the THAAD, to which China and Russia showed strong oppositions, would inevitably aggravate relations with China and Russia. Radio Free Asia 2016-02-12 Taiwanese authorities have prevented the executive chairman of an international Uyghur organization from participating in a human rights conference to be held in Taiwan later this month, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) said Friday. Dolkun Isa, WUCs executive chairman, will not be able to attend the Asia Pacific Religious Freedom Forum on Feb. 18-21 because of likely pressure from Chinese authorities, the Munich, Germany-based organization of exiled Uyghur groups said in a statement. It is a true shame that a democratic country such as Taiwan should be so influenced by the will of the Chinese government, the statement said. China has consistently maintained that human rights defendersand those supporting the Uyghur community in particularshould be treated like criminals. The conference, which is by invitation only, will be a meeting of religious freedom advocates, including lawmakers, government representatives, nongovernmental organization officials, and religious leaders who are committed to advancing religion freedom in the Asia Pacific region. World Uyghur Congrees official Dolkun Isa speaks to RFA in Washington on Nov. 11, 2012. RFA Isa, who received an invitation from conference organizers three or four months ago, told RFAs Uyghur Service that Taiwanese authorities informed him that they would not allow him to enter the self-governing island over which China claims sovereignty. No matter what, Taiwan is a democratic country, Isa said. Their blocking me from entering will stain Taiwanese democracy. I do believe that there is a Chinese hand in it, he said. I am sure that this blockage will be lifted after the Democratic Progressive Party takes charge in Taiwan again. Opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of Taiwans independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won a landslide victory in presidential elections on the island in January. The DPP will officially assume power as Taiwans ruling party on May 20, controlling both the presidency and parliament. A security threat When Isa visited Taiwan 10 years ago to take part in an event held by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for the protection and promotion of the human and cultural rights of indigenous people and minorities, he said he encountered no obstacles. The DPP was in power at the time. The Uyghurs are a mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking minority group that lives in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang region where it has complained about pervasive ethnic discrimination, religious repression, and cultural suppression by Beijing. But in 2009, after the nationalist Kuomintang Party regained control of the government, false reports circulated that Isa had entered Taiwan with 11 other Uyghurs ahead of the World Games, which took place in Kaohsiung in July that year, and would pose a security threat, the WUCs statement said. In response, Taiwans National Immigration Authority has issued a ban on Isas travel to the country, it said. I was told that they [Taiwanese lawmakers] debated in parliament about my possible entry and whether or not to forbid me [from entering], Isa said. Now the problem has resurfaced again, he said. Even though the Democratic Progressive Party has won the elections, the Kuomintang party is still in charge, so I have not been allowed to enter Taiwan, and that is very unfortunate and regrettable, he said. Reported by Mamatjan Juma for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. China Aid Contacts Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985 Email: [email protected] Website: www.chinaaid.org The Washington Post By Emily Rauhala February 12 Last Words. Thats the name of the art exhibit that Beijing does not want you to see. The piece consists of five small frames containing copies of handwritten letters the final writings of five of the more than 140 Tibetans whove died by burning themselves alive in the last six years. Last Words, an exhibit by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, features the final letters of five Tibetans who burned themselves alive. (Wasfia Nazreen) We, the six million Tibetans led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, want independence for Tibet, starts one. I am setting myself on fire to protest against the Chinese government, reads another. Copies of the notes were on display for two days at the Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh before the Chinese ambassador stopped by this week and askedthe organizers to shut it down. A rep told Agence France-Presse that they felt intimidated and frightened by the request, which they then took to the artists, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam. Sarin and Sonam were outraged, they said, but also did not want to see the entire summit shuttered, so they decided to cover the letters in sheets of white paper an act they hoped would call attention to the suppression of Tibetan stories. Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama! Long live all the lamas and tulkus (reincarnations) of the Land of Snow. May Tibetans be free from Chinas oppressive rule. There is immense suffering under Chinas rule, and this suffering is unbearable. There is no way to further this Chinese occupations, its terrible rule, this torture without trace. In the end, the merciless Chinese will kill the Tibetans. Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Nangdrol, 18, self- immolated on 19 Feb, 2012, in Zamthang, Ngaba County, Sichuan Province, (Wasfia Nazreen) We felt that this would make a stronger statement on the nature of censorship and coercion that was taking place, particularly as Last Words comments on exactly the same issues, they said in an email to The Washington Post. The censoring did have an impact. Supporters posted pictures of the censored and uncensored frames online, generating interest well beyond the world of art summit attendees. Wasfia Nazreen, a Bangladesh native who is a friend and colleague of the artists, posted the photographs to her Facebook page, and the images quickly spread. Institutions should not be fearfully bowing down to any foreign governments threats, she said. But sometimes they do. Though China maintains that its foreign policy is guided by the principle of non-interference that is, non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries it seems increasingly willing to assert itself across borders. In 2009, Bangladesh police shut down a Tibet-related show at the request of the Chinese. In other cases, people have stood up to Chinese pressure and paid a price. In 2010, when Sarin and Sonam were scheduled to screen a Tibetan documentary at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Chinese officials asked organizers to pull the film. They did not; two Chinese film entries were subsequently pulled. The requests can border on ridiculous: This year, Chinese officials reportedly tried three times in three countries to ground a hot air balloon painted to look like the Tibetan flag. Sarin and Sonam said the problem with any type of interference is that event organizers may think twice before including Tibetan artists or Tibet-themed work, just to avoid the hassle. The danger with this kind of action is that it creates a climate of uncertainty. Self-censorship begins to creep in. Diplomats and rights groups also worry that Beijings tactics are escalating, that what starts as a strongly worded letter may end somewhere far worse. Last Words, Censored. (Wasfia Nazreen 2016) Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, drew a line between what happened in Bangladesh this week and the apparent abductions, from Thailand and Hong Kong, of booksellers affiliated with a publishing house that specializes in gossipy books about Chinas elite. Beijings growing desire to control expression inside China is rapidly mutating into a desire to control expression outside China, she wrote. Threatening to shut down an art show over five letters speaks to this. The question now: Will Bangladesh give Beijing final say? China Aid Contacts Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985 Email: [email protected] Website: www.chinaaid.org Red lanterns are covered with snow in Raohe county of Shuangyashan city, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, Feb 9, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] For long, Chinese consumers have been enjoying the annual ritual of shopping in the run-up to Spring Festival in February. Now, thanks to e-commerce, the world is partaking of the fun. Elena Zhang, sales manager of Xi'an Silk Road Crafts Co Ltd, said the company started receiving overseas orders for the Spring Festival in July last year. The most recent order came in from Spain on Jan 20, for more than 1,000 red anterns made of Chinese fabric. Orders for various products related to Chinese New Year came in from Russia, Canada, France and Germany as well. AliExpress, a website that sells made-in-China products to overseas customers, is by far the most used online shop. It belongs to Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce player. "Fabric lanterns priced between $1.5 and $4.3 each are the most popular items this year. Usually, overseas buyers place their Spring Festival orders in summer every year. But we have seen additional orders around the year-end, too. We infer enthusiasm among overseas consumers for Chinese New Year has been increasing. Also, the convenience of e-commerce appears to increase sales this year," said Zhang. The city of Yiwu, crowned as the international hub for small commodities, has been witnessing rise in sales to overseas consumers ever since its international shipping operations started on Dec 31 last year. The division shipped more than 1 million parcels out of China till mid-January. One of the companies making full use of this new service is Yiwu Wonderful Lantern Co Ltd. Xia Rongwang, manager of the company, said a large number of orders materialized since mid-January, especially from overseas Chinese in countries like Malaysia. "Our China Dream series of lanterns were the bestsellers among overseas Chinese this year. Some of them told me the lanterns make them feel as if they were celebrating the New Year on the Chinese mainland," he said. Besides Spring Festival-related items like lanterns, overseas consumers splurged on other China-made products to make the most of low prices that were on offer in the run-up to, and during, the holiday period. According to DHgate, a leading Chinese online wholesale marketplace, Canadian buyers buy a lot of sofa throws and bed throws that are useful during winter. Orders started in October last year, and have been increasing ever since. Russians lead overseas buyers of Chinese products. Russia has more than 30 million online shoppers. And more than half of them are said to have bought stuff on Chinese online retailers. According to AliExpress, Russian consumers love buying made-in-China clothes. Owing to the deprecation of the rouble, Russian consumers are cost-conscious, and prefer to buy on Chinese e-commerce destinations where prices are lower. Consumers in countries where winters tend to be very cold buy made-in-China down jackets and other winter-wear. Felix Zhang, sales manager of Shaoxing Goldson Dress Co Ltd of Zhejiang province, said Chinese down jackets in the $40.5-$46.7 price range are popular among buyers in Kazakhstan, Estonia and Latvia. "We offer discounts of up to $500 for buyers who order more than 10,000 down jackets. The reason is simple. We run our business directly online. So, we save on costs related to intermediate channels," he said. Tang Qiaoqing, a worker at the Wangjiazhen township e-commerce service station, puts some local agriculture products up for online sales in Wuyi, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to China Daily] Until 2014, farmer Yang Kuanmin of Luochuan county, Shaanxi province, West China, used to earn around 80,000 yuan ($12,168) per annum growing and selling apples. But, last year, his story of 10 years changed, and his annual income surged by a staggering 50 percent to 120,000 yuan, when he jumped on the e-commerce bandwagon. "Getting online is so good for sales. You can sell your fruit to customers around China," he said. This year, farmers such as Yang were swept off their feet by e-commerce when Alibaba Group Holding Ltd held the Ali Spring Festival Shopping event from Jan 17 to Jan 21. In Yang's hometown, about 90,000 kilograms of apples were sold online in just 11 hours during the five-day event, the third such shopping festival held by Alibaba in less than three months, the other two being the events on Nov 11 (or 11-11, Singles' Day) and Dec 12 (or 12-12). The event helps hardworking farmers to earn some extra income. It also offers city dwellers genuine farm produce from their hometowns. Alibaba hopes the event will attract more farmers in coming years. Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba, said the event could "enlighten" farmers about rural e-commerce and the new model of modernization in rural China. "It (e-commerce) is an opportunity for the new generation of farmers in China. Many farmers had to leave home and work in cities to make a living. Now they can set up their own businesses without leaving their farmland," he said at an event. He further said farmers can use big data technology and Internet to predict demand for certain commodities and decide not only what they would grow next year but their buyers. He predicted at least 1 million farmers will return to their hometowns from cities and set up their own online businesses. "As a matter of fact, many of them have already sold various kinds of farm produce online." Extremely fruitful sales of Luochuan apples during the Ali Spring Festival Shopping are part of a larger pattern. The top three sales items were the gift pack consisting of agricultural produce from Guizhou province, the Spring Festival dinner pack containing sausages and preserved meat from Guizhou, and oranges from Gannan. Zhu Jun, a manager at Rural Taobao, said strict quality control contributed to the popularity of online sales of farm produce. "Some of the local governments have set up funds worth 5 million yuan each as a way to endorse their farm produce. If online shoppers receive poor-quality commodities, the fund will compensate them." Wang Xiaoxing, an analyst with the Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International, said urban residents are concerned about food safety, so they prefer to buy good-quality farm products directly from farmers. "But ensuring food, after the long transportation, retains its good quality at the time of delivery to the consumer is still a challenge," he said. "Farm produce are not like standardized industrial products. But it is important to set up a national standard to rate the quality of farm produce sold online so that the business can truly take off." Jushi Egypt, set up by a Chinese fiberglass manufacturer, paid $17.1 million in taxes to the local authorities last year. [Photo provided to China Daily] Preferential policies and opportunities generated by the Belt and Road Initiative proving a major draw More Chinese companies are setting up shop in Egypt or expanding existing operations there to take advantage of opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the nation's prime location and rich resources, executives said. While such a move helps Chinese firms cut costs, due in part to preferential trade policies offered to Egypt in Europe, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, it also contributes to Egypt's industrialization and creates jobs. Jushi Group, a Chinese fiberglass manufacturer, set up a local subsidiary, Jushi Egypt, in January 2012. Located in the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, the company has an annual output capacity of 80,000 metric tons. The plant cost $223 million. According to Yang Jixiang, deputy general manager, the subsidiary exported 95 percent of its productsvalued at about $84 millionin 2015 and paid about 135 million Egyptian pounds ($17.1 million) in local taxes. He said the operation has driven the development of downstream and upstream industries in Egyptian fiberglass. "Two Chinese companies have started businesses in the economic zone to supply us with materials, while an Egyptian factory has upgraded its technology and increased the number of mills it operates from one to four to meet our need for kaolin powder, a raw material in fiberglass." The company is building a new assembly line, also with an output capacity of 80,000 tons, which will go into service in June. Jushi Egypt employs about 1,100 Egyptians, who make up 40 percent of its mid-level executives, and 60 Chinese. Yang said the Chinese contingent will not be increased to handle the extra capacity. He explained that the company chose to set up a base in Egypt because of the country's location and the preferential trade policies it enjoys in other markets. "If you export fiberglass to Europe from China, you have to pay anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of 24.8 percent, not to mention the tariff. There is no tariff if you export to Europe or the Middle East from Egypt, nor any anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties." Also, it takes at least a month to ship goods from China to Europe, but from Egypt it takes only a week, and a container could arrive in Turkey in just two days, he said. Egypt is rich in human and natural resources, too. "Engineers in Egypt are well-educated," he added. In early 2013, Muyang Co Ltd, China's largest feed machinery manufacturer in terms of revenue, also teamed up with the China-Africa Development Fund to establish Muyang Egypt in the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. Together, they made an investment of $74 million. The first phase of the project went into operation in December. Annually, Muyang Egypt aims to produce 5 million tons of silo storage units, 6,000 tons of steel structures and 50 units of feed machines, a combined sales value of $150 million. Li Xiangdong, manager of Muyang Egypt, said the factory is in answer to the Belt and Road Initiative, which is an ambitious strategy aimed at better connecting Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa through infrastructure projects. "The Chinese government's preferential policies have provided us with a very good investment environment," he said, adding that the Egyptian subsidiary's products can easily be shipped to markets in the Middle East and Africa via the Gulf of Suez, while cheap labor costs had reduced overheads. Muyang Egypt will initially concentrate on making silos that reduce the risk of food wastage during storage and transportation, a common problem in Africa, Li said. In addition to producing storage units for African governments, the company will also make silos that can hold up to 100 tons for African farmers to securely store their harvests. Brilliance Auto Group, a Chinese carmaker, has announced plans to restart its assembly line in Egypt this year. The facility ran from 2006 until it was suspended in 2009. Two Chinese students buy French-made Guerlain cosmetic products at the duty-free shop in Beijing Capital International Airport. The global luxury goods market is eyeing the spending power of Chinese shoppers. [Photo provided to China Daily] Potentially lucrative niche market is focus of attention for top-name firms Sellers of Western luxury brands eager to capitalize on the new wealth of Chinese consumers are showering attention on students in the United States, even as sales in China falter. The strategy is paying off for some, such as the Los Angeles Beverly Center mall, which sends buses to pick up Chinese families at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California at the beginning of the year, when parents drop off their children, and at graduation. "We aren't just dabbling here," said Susan Vance, the Beverly Center marketing and sponsorship director. The mall sponsors Chinese student groups with roughly 45,000 members in what she called one of its most successful marketing plans. Chinese shoppers account for 31 percent of the $273 billion global personal luxury goods market, according to Bain and Co, and the United States is the biggest market outside of Asia. As economic growth in China has slowed and as Beijing's anti-corruption drive cuts into sales of high-end goods there, makers of luxury brands are trying to tap this key Chinese customer base when they reach US shores. Students are snapping up Louis Vuitton and Gucci handbags, Tory Burch shoes, as well as fashions from Fendi, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent, among others, according to recent interviews with student shoppers in New York. It is not clear how much of overall luxury sales can be attributed to purchases by students, but some top brand makers clearly see the group as a financial force in its own right and as providing access to a much larger group of well-heeled shoppersparents and familymaking it an important new marketing channel. Some 29 percent of high net-worth parents in China who send their children abroad for primary school and college choose US institutions, according to the Hurun Report, which publishes an annual list of China's richest people. California's tourism bureau found that a majority of visits from China corresponded with back-to-school and graduation and that friends and family visited them often. Australia's tourism agency found Chinese students in university are able to influence up to 14 trips from China during their years in school. Chinese tourists and visitors have a long tradition of buying for friends and family to avoid taxes and fake goods. In Beijing, Fang Wen, whose daughter studies at Rice University in Houston, said she relies on her to bring back small goods, such as cosmetics, apparel and jewelry. Companies selling top brands are recognizing that influence and reaching out to students. In New York, Prada lured students into stores by offering vouchers for leather luggage tags worth about $200, said Yun Chen, the president of the Chinese Artist Alliance of New York City, an umbrella for Chinese student groups at four of the city's top art schools. A representative for Prada did not respond to requests for comment. Mulberry Group, a British handbag maker, set up a private sale with cocktails and desserts for students in the Chinese Artist Alliance at a store in Manhattan's SoHo district, inviting the first 100 buyers to a launch party for designer and model Cara Delevingne's handbag collaboration with the brand, Chen said. A representative for Mulberry declined to comment. "Smart" US brands have been and should be tapping this group, which comprises about one-third of all international students in the United States, Angelito Tan, chief executive of RTG Consulting in China, said in an e-mail, adding that students are "unofficial opinion leaders" for friends and family back home. "This is a very hermitic group, which means it's hard to access, but once you do, you are inside and can do great marketing actions from within," added Anna Szubrycht, founder of luxury consulting group Chic Being. To be sure, connecting with students directly and consistently is difficultstudents focus on their education and group leaders change yearly. Retailer Bergdorf Goodman in New York put on Chinese New Year events for students at Columbia University and New York University, but attempts to connect "did not do well" for them, according to Julia Chien, the retailer's director of strategic initiatives. It is also difficult to track Chinese students' influence on spending, because many use US-issued credit cards and blend in with their American classmates, so sales staff do not always know where shoppers are from, according to Avery Booker, a partner at China Luxury Advisors. Still, Beverly Center's Vance said there was a good return on investment, or ROI, to build customer loyalty over the long term. "These students eventually could be buying real estate or building businesses in the long term, so it makes sense," she said. "We wouldn't be still pursuing this if the ROI wasn't there." Javier Gimeno, CEO for the Asia-Pacific operations of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA, said his company is implementing its concept of a "multi-comfort house" in China. [Photo/provided to China Daily] Construction giant Saint-Gobain establishes a market-leading strategy with focus on quality Javier Gimeno, 51, sleeps for just five hours every day, but is a bundle of energy for his tightly scheduled mornings that are usually marked by meetings with colleagues, clients or the media. The chief executive officer for the Asia-Pacific operations of the 350-year-old Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA, a French habitat-and-construction giant, said the fast-changing market keeps him focused like a thorough-bred horse, his Chinese zodiac sign. And like a horse, his review of the company's operations gallops across various industrial segments that Saint-Gobain caters to. For the uninitiated, the business-to-business or B2B company's mind-boggling range of high-tech products and solutions are used in the construction or renovation of residential and industrial structures. Saint-Gobain is known for its versatile glass products, premixed mortars and high-performance tiles. Plumbing, heating, sanitaryware, plasterboard, roofing, fencing, abrasives, tools, you name it, Saint-Gobain has a product or a solution for that niche. Its philosophy is that moden habitats' thermal, air, acoustic, visual, modular and security aspects should be sustainable, in harmony, not only providing comfort to residents but safety to construction workers. Gimeno said it's a philosophy known to the automotive, aeronautical, health, defense, security, food and beverage industries and millions of residences across the world. He has been working in China for six years. In his towering office overlooking the Bund in the heart of Shanghai, he looks like a captain of a fleet, giving directions and sharing a bottle of Cava with his crew. Despite the ups and downs in the volatile China market, the Fortune 500 company may have posted double-digit growth last year, with its sales forecast at 1.4 billion euros ($1.50 billion), accounting for some 50 percent of Asia-Pacific's total. "It was a good year, and we feel comfortable despite the changing market conditions in China," said Gimeno. Saint-Gobain's 350th anniversary celebrations started with an event in Shanghai. That's because it has been striving to get closer to its consumers in China through a series of campaigns and events. "In the past, we were a little bit shy, but now, we are happy Saint-Gobain is more widely known in China," said Gimeno. He exudes confidence as the market for its products and solutions is expanding on the back of three factors: the Chinese middle class' growing aspirations for a better life style following the rise in their disposable income, the accelerating urbanization process, and the government's commitment to reform economic growth patterns. He said Saint-Gobain is well placed to contribute to efforts to improve air quality, climate change and the environment. To implement its concept of a "multi-comfort house", the company chose Changzhou. Using rooftop solar panels, the house produces more energy than it consumes. Using its other products and technologies, it protects the interiors from heat during the summer, and captures heat for use during the winter, at the same time improving interior air quality. The going was not always smooth in the price-sensitive China market though. "Saint-Gobain faced pressure initially. Lower priced, inferior products were in demand. Now, however, consumers realize the importance of quality. Middle-class consumers would like to afford the best they can," said Gimeno. Automobile glass and construction materials are among Saint-Gobain China's fastest growing businesses. This shows Chinese consumers, manufacturers and property developers attach importance to product performance, said Gimeno. For instance, the company's ClimatCoat glass is popular in China. It helps reduce heat from sunlight during summer and blocks heat in the car during winter, reducing not only the load on the air conditioner but fuel consumption and hazardous gas emission. Similarly, Saint-Gobain's innovative window frame helps maintain room temperature, reducing energy consumption of homes and office/commercial buildings. Its tile adhesive reduces dust by 80 percent, which protects construction workers' health. Experts, locals question the city's proposal to restrict cars, Li Fusheng reports. Beijing is eyeing legislation to limit the number of vehicles on streets to ease traffic jams and curb air pollution. The city government has limited the use of cars on streets and highways six times since 2008 as an emergency measure, but it has never written the limitations into law. There has been recent public criticism that enactment of legislation this year could pave the way for permanent restrictions. The legislation proposal was among 10 presented to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress in late January. Li Xiaojuan, a city official, said the proposal would ban the use of cars based on the last digit of license plates on alternate days. Li said legislation will be formally announced this year if the proposal is passed at the people's congress. Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun likened the proposal to choosing between the lesser of two evils. "When there is severe air pollution, what is more important, the right to drive a car or our health?" said Wang during a January session of the municipal people's congress. He called on experts to explore a method to achieve balance between the amount of cars in the city and heavy air pollution in the area. "The concentration of PM2.5 fell 37 percent in January year-on-year but that didn't cheer me up. Why? I don't know what might come later," Wang said. He said cars are the top source of pollutants in Beijing, with the burning of coal the second biggest reason for the region's pollution. The proposal has elicited an array of opinions from experts and Beijing residents. Chang Jiwen, an environmental protection official at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that although the city's legislature has the right to issue laws to protect the environment, the proposal involves limiting property ownership. He said legislation with major ramifications should be proposed at the national level. Liu Taigang, a professor of public administration and policy at Renmin University, suggested holding a full debate before a ban on the use of cars is made into law. He added that if legislation is passes, families might purchase another car to circumvent the regulation. Cui Na, who bought a car in January in Beijing, is not satisfied with the government's proposal. "If it becomes law, would the transport authority give me a refund for the car-use taxes that I have paid?" Vehicles on sale at an auto fair in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, in 2015. [Photo/China Daily] The auto industry is being urged to pay more attention to social media as it may provide insight on potential customers. One trend seen on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, is that women are making up a larger share of car buyers, said Zhao Xinzhi, a senior auto analyst at Nielson China, at an annual forum organized by news portal Sina.com on Jan 20. A group of models present a car at a three-day auto fair in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, in 2015. [Photo/China Daily] Sina Weibo is part of the Sina.com group. Zhao said a 2015 Nielson auto report on Weibo users shows that although 74 percent of those who expressed interest in cars were men, women accounted for 41 percent of those planning to buy cars and 50 percent of those planning to upgrade their cars. Another interesting finding is that women were the decision-makers on 65 percent of car purchases during the year and 80 percent of women believed they were in charge of the family finances, said Zhao, advising those in the car industry that "what matters most is to study how females think about car brands." Sina Weibo is one of the most popular social media platforms in China. Sina Data Center's statistics show that its monthly active users reached 222 million by the end of September 2015, a 33 percent surge year-on-year. Of those users, 83 percent were aged between 17 and 33 and 76 percent had college education or above, the statistics indicated. Some auto brands, including premium marques, have confirmed an increase in women in their buyer breakdown. About 32 percent of FAW-Volkswagen Audi's consumers were born in or after the 1980s and 37 percent are women, said Ge Shuwen, executive deputy director of the unit. Audi said it has taken heed of the trend and is enhancing its communications with young and female consumers. Another trend Nielson's report shows is that those born in the 1990s are becoming the mainstay of potential car buyers and the process of their decision-making is different from those in previous generations. "About half of first-time car buyers are the post-90s generation," Zhao said. "Our statistics show that 80 percent of them browse reviews of the cars they are considering. "However, they might not necessarily buy cars designed with them in mind. What matters more is if the cars' image matches their self-image." Tencent WeChat, another popular social media platform, is becoming another major tool for people to learn more about cars. A survey by gsdata.com shows that more than 14,000 accounts offered automotive-related articles in 2015, and they received about 7 billion page views in the year. Media outlets operated about 60 percent of those accounts while the rest were run by individuals. Dongfeng Renault's first product Kadjar sport utility vehicle is pictured at the plant opening ceremony in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Feb 1, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Renault began production on its compact Kadjar sport utility vehicle this month in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, after more than a decade of selling its imported cars in China. The facility in Central China also produces engine parts for the Kadjar and is the Renault Group's first engine parts plant outside Europe. The automaker's joint venture with the Dongfeng Motor Corp, called Dongfeng Renault Automotive Co, began construction on the 95-square-kilometer plant at the Wuhan Economic Development Zone in January 2014. Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the Renault Group, said the opening of the new plant is "a milestone in our long-term partnership with Dongfeng Group and a major step for the Renault Group's global growth". At a snowy ceremony on Feb 1 to celebrate the opening of the plant, he said, "China is a core part of Renault's strategy. The plant was built in record time and meets all quality standards. We are very confident in the development of Dongfeng Renault". The facility includes a vehicle assembly plant, a powertrain plant and a research and development center "to adapt our products to our customers' requirements", the company said. The plant, backed by 7.76 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in investment, will produce 150,000 vehicles annually, though the company said the manufacturing base could double that to 300,000 units annually in the future. Dongfeng Renault Executive Vice-President Hu Xindong hinted that the plant could also produce a full-size SUV, though he didn't elaborate. In his speech at the ceremony, Dongfeng Motor Corp Chairman Zhu Yanfeng said the joint venture "will be the new engine of the group's growth over the next five years". Dongfeng and Renault established their 50-50 joint venture in February 2014. By the end of the last year, the joint venture's number of employees totaled 2,000. The locally manufactured Kadjar will hit the market in March. Chinese actress Fan Bingbing unveiled the model at the 13th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition in November 2015. The amenities in the Chinese version of the Kadjar are slightly different from the European version, released on the continent last year. The Chinese version includes a panoramic sunroof, 4Control and independent rear suspension. Renault sold 15,850 vehicles last year on the Chinese mainland, down 50 percent from 2014. Current sales come largely from the imported SUV Koleos. But SUVs continued to be the mainstay of the auto industry, accounting for 25.2 percent of total auto sales last year. Sales of SUVs reached 6.2 million units in 2015, a 52.4 percent growth over 2014. Ambitious target Ghosn said he is aiming for a 3 percent share of the Chinese market, similar to Renault's global market share, and expects the Chinese market to grow by 5 percent this year. An injured TV journalist, center, is helped by his colleague and a riot policeman after being hit by a stone thrown by a protester onto his face during a clash at Mong Kok district in Hong Kong, China, Feb 9, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Violence had nothing to do with govt policy on hawkers, chief executive says A senior central government official in Hong Kong has strongly condemned last week's Chinese New Year riot in Mong Kok. The riot, which began on the night of Feb 8 and lasted until the following morning, was hatched by "extreme separatist forces" that had become more emboldened and better organized, with increasingly violent acts that showed terrorist tendencies, Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Central People's Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong, said on Sunday. The whole city was shocked at the events that unfolded, Zhang said, noting that it conflicted with the public's shared aspirations of harmony, stability and the pursuit of happiness. He said Hong Kong as a whole abhorred the prospect of the city descending into chaos, adding that he believed the Special Administrative Region government and police would respond within the confines of the law to prevent a small minority of separatists from committing irrevocable damage to the rule of law. Zhang also lashed out at the opposition camp's attempts to justify the violence, arson and destruction of private and public property, condemning efforts to categorize the incident as anything less than a riot. In a rebuttal to opposition claims and widespread media assertions that protesters were responding to a crackdown on unlicensed fish ball vendors, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the violence wrought last week had nothing to do with government policy on hawkers. Food and Environmental Hygiene Department workers were merely patrolling the area and had not taken any action to remove hawkers, yet were surrounded by protesters and requested police assistance, he said. The protesters hurled bricks at police and set fire to rubbish bins in Mong Kok, where more than 100 people were injured. Leung said the characterization of events as a crackdown on small-scale merchants was unfair, pointing out the government's strong efforts and investment in poverty alleviation over the past four years. Those efforts, pending passage over opposition filibusters, will continue - with much work remaining on housing, employment and livelihoods to help disaffected members of society, Leung said. Sixty-five people have been arrested in connection with the incident, with 40 facing charges including rioting, which carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence. An employee of Huafu Top Dyed Melange Yarn works at the company's plant in Aksu, the Xinjiang autonomous region. Jin Liangkuai / Xinhua 1 million textile jobs to be created by 2023 in the autonomous region The Youngor cotton spinning factory is one of the biggest employers in Aksu, an agricultural town on the edge of the Taklamakan desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Youngor, one of China's largest shirtmakers, opened the plant in 2011 to be closer to the main cotton-growing region in the Xinjiang region. Soon it will be joined by others: China wants to create 1 million textile jobs in Xinjiang by 2023. According to the regional government's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), Xinjiang will become a key hub for textile production. It will also extend the industry chain from cotton spinning to making garments. By 2020, Xinjiang is expected to produce about 500 million garments annually and create more than 600,000 jobs. Aksu, in southern Xinjiang, will become one of three textile cities in the region, the plan for 2016-2010 said. It also will encourage residents to start their own textile workshops to make traditional ethnic clothing and carpets. Xinjiang fits into Beijing's larger vision of shifting labor-intensive industries such as textiles out of the Pearl River Delta and into the interior. China is putting less value on being "the world's workshop" amid labor shortages and competitive pressures from Southeast Asia. The textile hub is also a key initiative in President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to link development from western China to Central Asia and onward to Europe. "We must promote employment as a permanent cure to maintain social stability and achieve long-lasting peace, and particularly solve the unemployment problem for people in southern Xinjiang," a 2014 official document stated, outlining a massive expansion of Xinjiang's textile industry. Xinjiang, which is home to more than half of China's Muslims, has always been China's front line on religious extremism that is blamed for terrorist attacks in the region in recent years. The regional government believes employment and better education can help young people stay away from such extremism. Migrating to cities Almost all of the 520 employees at the Youngor factory are from the Uygur ethnic group. The average factory floor salary is around 3,000 yuan ($456) a month, and comes with food and lodging. That compares to roughly 4,000 yuan for textile workers in the southern China factory belt. "There are still a lot of people to come out of (Xinjiang's) countryside," said Xu Zhiwu, general manager at Youngor's Aksu factory, referring to government data that show 2.6 million rural residents sought work in Xinjiang's cities in 2014. Xinjiang Youngor Cotton Spinning, a unit of Youngor Group, is planning to expand its factory, built among apple orchards on Aksu's outskirts, Xu said. Yarn maker Huafu Top Dyed Melange Yarn is already at work on a 5 billion yuan plant outside Aksu. And Texhong Textile Group, one of China's top spinners, is targeting a 1-million spindle project in the region. "The scale of the project has to be big to ask for more favorable policy support from municipal governments," Texhong reported in a stock exchange statement, referring to subsidies Beijing offers to lure firms to the region. The Spring Festival holiday was a much quieter affair in Shanghai this year with the enforcement of a new citywide fireworks ban. Introduced in response to concerns over air pollution, the ban came into effect at the beginning of this year, prohibiting the use of pyrotechnics at any time within the city's outer ring road. As a result the use of fireworks and firecrackers in this area dropped to zero, according to Shanghai police, despite it being a centuries-old tradition for Chinese to usher in the Lunar New Year with pyrotechnics. An 80 percent decrease in their use was also recorded outside the ring road, with just 62 metric tons of debris cleared away on the morning of Feb 12 - the peak time for firecrackers to be set off as it is the fifth day of the Chinese lunar calendar and believed to be the birthday of the God of Wealth. A total of 50,000 police officers and volunteers patrolled areas within the outer ring road to detect violations, and notices about the ban were posted every 50 meters on some main streets. In Beijing, where lighting firecrackers and fireworks is allowed from 7 am to midnight on the fifth day of the lunar calendar, roughly 140 tons of debris of pyrotechnics were cleared away that day, which was a decline of more than 50 percent from the previous year. Wu Xiaoyue, a 28-year-old resident of Shanghai's downtown Xuhui district, said she had enjoyed lighting firecrackers with her father on New Year's Eve for as long as she could remember, but had to resort to an electric noisemaker substitute this year. "We played with it at home. It seemed a little weird, but it's understandable that we must all contribute to reducing air pollution, which I believe is the main reason why residents abided by the ban," she said. Setting off firecrackers and fireworks is known to produce PM2.5, which refers to particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, identified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Wu said in the past, the streets of Shanghai were like a red carpet overflowing with the debris from firecrackers on the morning of the New Year's Day, but this year she did not hear any. "It has become a joke in Shanghai these days. If you can hear the sound of firecrackers, then clearly your apartment is only worth between 20,000 yuan ($3,044) and 30,000 yuan per square meter," Wu said. "If you hear nothing, your home must be worth at least 80,000 yuan per square meter." Anyone found violating the ban faced a fine of up to 500 yuan and having their names put on a credit blacklist, which would create an obstacle when applying for loans, jobs, or public welfare. Wu said the threat of such punishments had worked as an effective deterrent. But some people think that the ban should be extended to all the city's suburbs. Among them is Xiao Jie, who lives in Songjiang district in Shanghai's southwestern suburbs and is the mother to an 11-month-old baby girl. "I held my daughter in my arms throughout the night of the countdown as she couldn't sleep because of the earsplitting firecrackers and was scared to tears over and over again," Xiao said. Migrant workers attend a job fair in Xuyi county, Jiangsu province, on Sunday. The county offers many opportunities, hoping to attract migrant workers who would usually go to big cities to seek jobs after Spring Festival. Zhou Haijun / Xinhua In Anhui province, local governments are encouraging returnees to start companies As the birthplace of more than 2.8 million migrant workers, Fuyang city in East China's Anhui province is hoping to woo its sons home so they can help develop the local economy. The model for this planned up-by-the-bootstraps rejuvenation might very well be Wang Zili, 46, owner of a workshop that employs 150 in Fuyang's Linquan county. Wang started the firm in 2012 in the village where he was born. While it's called an electronics company, wicker furniture is also in its product catalog. Wang, who frequently smiles, says he's still not used to being called boss. "I prefer that people use my name instead of a title, because I think I am still a migrant worker," he said. In the early 1990s, Wang left his hometown and became a migrant worker. In his first decade away, he took temporary jobs - mostly painting - in Beijing and Shandong and Shaanxi provinces, he said. At first, Wang just earned 5 yuan ($0.76) a day. Still, "the income was much higher than what I could earn from farming in the countryside", said the father of four. The Wangs and their children jointly owned 2,000 square meters of agricultural fields in the countryside. Wang said that made it "impossible to feed the family", adding that it was a common dilemma in Linquan, which has suffered from dire poverty for decades. The county has just 1,800 square kilometers of land to support more than 2.3 million. "For more than 10 years starting in the 1990s, the Fuyang government encouraged local rural residents to find jobs in cities, for poverty relief purposes," said Ye Luzhong, deputy Party chief of the city. "In the past, more people meant more poverty." During that time, the government collected information on the companies that were recruiting workers and provided it to rural residents. A free bus carried those who decided to leave Fuyang city, where they could catch trains and long-distance buses. Ye said the migrant workers have played a very important role - not only in the development of the places where they have worked, but also of their hometown, "since they bring back money". "Nowadays, more people means more opportunities," said Ye. In 2004, Wang walked into an electronics company in Taizhou city in Zhejiang province. The firm's main product was a small light often used in children's shoes. Wang discovered that while the lights were very easy to assemble, the company often was short of workers. He made a proposal to the boss, saying he could bring the materials back to his hometown and return the finished products to the company. With that, Wang returned to Linquan in 2005 and hired villagers, many of whom were women, seniors and the disabled left behind by men working in the cities. Wang said that after Spring Festival, he would move his company's operations from his own home to an industrial zone built nearby last year specifically for the businesses of returned migrant workers. The factory will be provided to Wang free of charge for the first three years. More than 10 other firms also would move there. Ye, the Party official, said people such as Wang constitute hope for the future development of the city's far-flung rural areas. "The next five years will be key to the city's urbanization process," Ye said. "We have no choice but to rely on returning migrant workers." The returnees "are hardworking and they will not likely leave the place again once they have their own careers in their hometown", Ye said. The story of a young woman from a well-off Shanghai background and her boyfriend from a poor rural family created a huge online discussion about love during the Lunar New Year. But unlike in many such romantic stories, love, in this case, did not triumph. The anonymous woman recently agreed to follow her boyfriend to spend Spring Festival in his hometown - a small village in Jiangxi province. But after one meal at the family's home, the 28-year-old insisted on ending the relationship and returning to her home that same night. She said in her online posts she could stand neither the humble food that the family offered, nor their lowly home. The couple had dated for a year, with the woman's parents firmly in opposition because the man was a poor outsider in Shanghai who had not been able to purchase an apartment in the city. The posts caught netizens' attention and received a large number of comments, sparking heated discussions on the common conflicts that arise in relationships between poor men from the countryside and stylish urban women used to the good life. Some netizens were sympathetic to the woman. A netizen called Sunshine-after-rain said: "It's normal for the woman to flee. She had no obligation to force herself to tolerate or accept the poor situation." Netizen Daring 90 said: "The dishes are OK compared with what I saw among other similar incidents. Take care." But some criticized the woman for being impolite and snobbish, with netizen MissTumbler saying the man's family "must have offered you the best" they had, and netizen FinanceQiuer saying that she "should have had better manners and showed basic respect to the man's family". An Internet user from Jiangxi, where the man is from, posted a long letter to the fleeing Shanghai woman on Saturday, expressing her affection for the province where she was born, brought up and is now living. "I can understand your fear and anxiety of facing rural life for the first time," the woman said in the letter. "But in recent years, people in the countryside of Jiangxi have been working hard to change their own fate, as well as the fate of their hometown," the woman wrote, garnering applause from many netizens. Zhusunya, a wild elephant, damaged 15 parked cars on Friday on a national highway in Yunnan province. Provided to China Daily A wild elephant strayed onto a national highway in Yunnan province during the Spring Festival holiday and damaged 15 parked cars. The animal, named Zhusunya, left the Wild Elephant Valley Scenic Area in the province's Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture on Friday afternoon and walked onto a section of the G213 National Highway, according to local police. Pictures and video of the elephant walking down the road, swinging its trunk and legs at the cars it passed, were published online and went viral over the holiday. In his 20 minutes on the loose, Zhusunya dented door panels and broke several car windows before disappearing back into the scenic area. A member of staff with the scenic area said the elephant had been acting erratically in recent days. Nearby roads were closed by police during the incident, and scenic area workers warned people away from the elephant to ensure their safety. The scenic area authority said its insurance company had carried out an investigation and would compensate for all damages caused. It said wild elephants had been increasingly active since the prefecture entered its dry season, with tourists able to spot the animals almost every day during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday. Specific passageways have been set aside in the scenic area for elephants to traverse roads. Park workers said it was rare for an elephant to deviate from these trails and walk onto the main road. The Wild Elephant Valley is a tropical rain forest park that opened in 1996, with a total area of 370 hectares. It is a popular draw for tourists with its populations of buffaloes, green peafowls and macaques. Home to around 300 wild Asian elephants, which are a protected species in China, the area is the only place in the prefecture that tourists can observe the animals in large herds. BEIJING - Zhang Zhijun, the Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief, on Monday conveyed condolences from leaders of the mainland to the victims of the strong earthquake that struck southern Taiwan more than a week ago. The 6.7-magnitude quake hit Kaohsiung on Feb. 6, just two days ahead of the traditional Lunar New Year, leaving 116 dead, over 550 injured and huge property losses. "The sudden loss of so many compatriots and the damage to so many homes grieve us greatly," Zhang said during a phone conversation with Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Andrew Hsia on Monday morning. Following the powerful earthquake, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Premier Li Keqiang expressed their deepest sympathies to affected Taiwan compatriots and conveyed condolences to the victims while vowing aid. The State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office and the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) contacted Taiwan authorities immediately after the quake to offer help. Many mainland-based institutions, enterprises, social groups and citizens have been closely following the situation and expressed their sympathies, including those affected by a deadly earthquake in Sichuan Province in 2008 who once received help from Taiwan. The mainland's Buddhist and Taoist associations held prayer rituals in Beijing for the quake victims. ARATS donated 5 million yuan (769,000 U.S. dollars) to Taiwan, according to Zhang. Zhang said compatriots across the Taiwan Strait are "a community of shared destiny who are attached by blood," and their support for each other has proved their close relationship as one family. During the conversation, Hsia expressed his gratitude to concerns shown by leaders and people from various circles from the mainland. Lanterns featuring three faces of the Monkey King greet visitors at an entrance to the lantern fair in Zigong, Sichuan province. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn] It is the time of year when people from around the country flock to the lantern fair in Zigong, Sichuan province. Lantern fairs are usually held during the Lantern Festival which is the end of the Spring Festival. As so many visitors want to see lanterns in Zigong, the city's fair will not end until the middle of next month, said Li Jian, deputy chief of the city's tourism administration. On February 10, the fourth day of this year's Spring Festival, organizers had to ask visitors not to rush to Zigong. It was only five kilometers from Zigong on the expressway but it was taking vehicles more than two hours to reach the city because so many wanted to see the lanterns. Organizers had to delay the sale of tickets to discourage visitors from thronging to the city. "The influx of people from across the country offers testimony to how popular Zigong's lanterns are. Its organizers have held the lantern fair in some 40 countries in Asia, Europe and America and it has drawn nearly 300 million viewers," said Xu Huanying, a visitor from Pixian, Sichuan who has visited the lantern fair in Zigong twice. The fair this year is unique because it features the ancient Silk Road with lanterns displaying sites along the route such as Chang'an, capital of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), the Jiayu Pass and the Loulan Kingdom in China. It also depicts scenes in Nagoya, Japan and landmark buildings in France such as the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower because the Silk Road started in China and radiated its influence on Asia and Europe culturally and economically. HARBIN -- The third China-Russia Expo is scheduled to be held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg from July 11 to 15, the organizing committee said on Monday. It will be the first time that Russia has held the event. The first two China-Russia expositions were held in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The five-day event will help to showcase products, technology and projects in sectors and fields including equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, resource development, agriculture, forestry, finance, education, tourism and regional development, the committee said in a statement. The expo, an important platform for bilateral economic and trade cooperation, will be jointly hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Heilongjiang provincial government and Russia's Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Industry and Trade. CHANGCHUN -- China's State Council has approved a plan to establish Changchun New Area in the northeastern province of Jilin. The planned 499-square-kilometer new area, covering several districts in the city of Changchun, is expected to promote the Belt and Road Initiative and economic growth in northeast China. Changchun New Area has strong advantages in equipment manufacturing, agricultural products processing, education and research, experts said. Song Donglin, president of Jilin University of Finance and Economics, said Changchun New Area can be effectively linked with the Belt and Road Initiative. The new area will promote structural transformation of the regional economy and help the future growth in northeast China, he said. Editor's note: As intensive preparations get underway for the 11th G20 Summit, which will be held in Hangzhou on September 4 and 5, attention and expectations about the summit are running high among the international community and Chinese in particular. Our correspondent talked to State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who is in charge of preparations, in a special interview. The following is the comprehensive overview of the preparatory work as given by Yang. State Councilor Yang Jiechi (front, third from left) joins other officials from G20 economies at the First G20 Sherpa Meeting in Beijing on Thursday. The three-day gathering forms part of the runup to the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY China will host the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016. President Xi Jinping has laid out China's vision for the summit. What are the objectives that China hopes to achieve at the summit? How are the preparations going? China will hold the 11th G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on September 4 and 5. This summit will be the culmination of China's diplomatic agenda this year. It will be a milestone not only in the political and diplomatic sense, but will also have far-reaching impact economically and socially. At the Antalya (Turkey) Summit in November, President Xi Jinping laid out the theme, priorities and the general idea of China's presidency. President Xi emphasized that the theme of the Hangzhou Summit, "Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy", is designed in light of the development needs of all countries amid the current economic situation to promote stable growth in the short term by addressing the symptom and to drive growth in the long term through tackling the root cause. To be specific, "innovative" refers to innovation-driven development, including innovation in science and technology, as well as innovation in development concepts, systems and institutions, business models and structural reform, which will help find new sources of growth for the world economy. "Invigorated" means to lend impetus to the sluggish world economy by exploring new paths, tapping new forces and stimulating new vitality. "Interconnected" indicates a sense of community with shared interests and common future, calling for closer international economic cooperation, sharing of opportunities through connectivity and creation of synergy through sound interactions. "Inclusive" aims to narrow development gaps among countries, focus more on developing countries and all groups of people, and allow all people to benefit from the growth of the world economy. On December 1 last year, the very day of China's assumption of the G20 presidency, President Xi delivered a message, further explaining China's vision and consideration for the summit. These messages from President Xi have shown the direction for the preparations for the Hangzhou Summit and have been warmly received by various parties. As a premier forum for international economic cooperation, the G20 has played an important role in tackling the international financial crisis. In November 2008, the first G20 Summit was held in Washington. At that time, the world economy was on the brink due to the impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis emanating from Wall Street . The G20 came to the fore at the critical juncture and, in the spirit of partnership and win-win cooperation at times of difficulty, took resolute and timely actions and steered the world economy away from the brink of precipice to a path of stability and recovery. Today, as the world economy and international economic cooperation have come to yet another turning point, expectations are high for the Hangzhou Summit among various parties. China hopes that the G20 Hangzhou Summit this year will achieve the following objectives: First, to play a leading role, demonstrate ambition and chart the course for world economic growth. Second, to strengthen international economic cooperation and highlight the spirit of partnership and joint efforts in response to risks and challenges. Third, to innovate institutional building and create cooperation platforms to shift the G20 from a mechanism for crisis response to one of long-term governance. China will work with all parties for positive outcomes of the G20 Hangzhou Summit for the benefit of the whole world and future generations. China attaches great importance to the preparations for the summit. We have set up a committee to coordinate the preparatory work. Thanks to the concerted efforts of relevant departments and provincial and municipal authorities, the preparations are going smoothly. Not long ago, the first Sherpa Meeting and the Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting were held successfully. Basic consensus was reached on the framework, priorities, key areas and roadmap of the work for this year, marking a major step forward. Programs of events and arrangements for venues, facilities, logistics and security are being fleshed out. These efforts have received full recognition from G20 members, guest countries and relevant international organizations. We have every reason to be confident about the success of the summit. Although men are still the biggest online consumers of sex products, an increasing number of women in China bought such products in the past year, according to a report released on Monday by online medical and health provider AliHealth. The report was based on data from last year acquired from retail platforms owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, said Hu Nan, a public relations manager for AliHealth, of which Alibaba holds a majority share. The retail platforms included popular shopping websites Taobao and Tmall, which altogether have more than 400 million registered users. Last year, consumers used more than 10 million different key words when searching for sex products online, such as sex underwear and inflatable doll, according to the report. The report, which covered consumers between ages 18 and 59, said that males accounted for 64 percent of all sex product consumption last year on the platforms, although different age groups tended to buy different types of products. For example, those born after 1985 mostly bought condoms, while purchase of other sex products, such as sex perfumes and toys, increased among older age groups, the report said. This is because older people have sex less frequently but have higher demand for products that can improve the quality of sex, it added. The report also said that women were generally more likely than men to prefer buying sex products for their partners. The report said the number of women buying sex products online continued to increase last year, and in Henan, Qinghai and the Tibet autonomous region, the number of women buying sex products in the second half of 2015 increased by more than 14 percent from the first half of the year. That was the fastest increase of all regions in China, it said. Festivals related to romance also had a remarkable boost on the public's interest in and sales of sex products. For example, sales of condoms increased significantly for festivals such as qixi, or Chinese Valentine's Day, which falls on the seventh day of July on the lunar calendar. "It is reasonable that more women are turning to sex products in China with the development of society," said Zhang Zhichao, a doctor of andrology at Peking University First Hospital. "Traditionally, Chinese women play a passive part in the two-sex relations, but ... more are turning to sex products for a more satisfied sex life," he said. "It is also a sign of social progress." Yang Wanli contributed to this story. wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn Leonardo DiCaprio holds his award for best leading actor at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards at the Royal Opera House in London, February 14, 2016.[Photo/Agencies] Survival drama "The Revenant" was the top winner at Britain's biggest movie awards on Sunday, taking the best film prize and honours for leading actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Alejandro G. Inarritu. The movie earned five British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards, including for cinematography and sound, at a ceremony in London, two weeks before it vies for Hollywood's top honours, the Oscars. In the film, which has already picked up several trophies in this awards season and leads Oscar nominations, DiCaprio portrays fur-trapper Hugh Glass, who after being attacked by a bear, is left for dead by his companions during an 1820s expedition. He survives in harsh winter conditions and sets out for revenge. DiCaprio is heavily favoured to win the best actor Academy Award on Feb 28, which would be his first in five Oscar acting nominations. In collecting his first BAFTA, he paid tribute to his mother and listed actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Peter O'Toole among his inspirations. "All of this was not expected tonight ... Often we have talked about how difficult this movie was to make, and it was, but we are so proud," he told reporters. Inarritu, the Mexican director whose film "Birdman" won last year's best picture Oscar, said the prizes were "overwhelming". Continuing a winning streak for the portrayal of a young mother held captive with her son in "Room", Brie Larson prevailed in the leading actress category and is also favoured to win the Oscar. [Photo by Wang Xiaoying/China Daily] With more recognition than Halloween and less than Christmas, Valentine's Day as a somewhat recently imported festival faces a precarious situation in China, where it's caught between shifting forces of tradition and fashion. Valentine's Day has a natural foe in China. And it is not the Chinese equivalent, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar, usually around half a year away from Feb 14. It is Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year, that will keep the Feast of Saint Valentine at bay. Because of the differences between the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year shifts each year but generally falls in early February. The secret is not just the specific date, but the length of the celebration. While the legal holiday lasts seven days, the festive mood lasts for at least twice as long. As custom has it, the 15th day of the first lunar month marks the official end of festivities. And add to it the run-up to New Year's Eve and it could be 20 days in total. No wonder expatriates who first arrive in China are flabbergasted that the country can grind to a halt and for so long. However, many Chinese still complain about inadequate time off. Compared with some Western countries, they maintain, we seem to have far less time off. Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket launched into the air in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] It is a shame that, despite their repeated, constant claims of commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the key stakeholding countries are once again in danger of looking on with folded arms as Pyongyang pushes the envelope. Now that the People's Democratic Republic of Korea has conducted its fourth nuclear test and launched another carrier rocket, nuclearization of the peninsula has crossed a dangerous threshold. The threat of a nuclear-armed DPRK is more real than ever. The stakeholders' conflicting geopolitical agendas and calculations have prevented them from forming a meaningful united front to contain Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. Further foot-dragging may allow the latter's nuclear program and the security landscape of Northeast Asia to cross a hazardous Rubicon. The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea have vowed to work together and strive for a new, harsher United Nations resolution. China has also agreed the UN Security Council may pass a new resolution and take "further measures" to make the DPRK pay the necessary price for its behavior. It sounds like the main stakeholders have finally agreed that the DPRK should not be allowed to go any further without paying a price that prohibits it from continuing along its nuclear path. And that is far from enough. Especially as Beijing and Washington are yet to agree on exactly how harsh that price should be. But they do not have the luxury of time to figure it out. Pyongyang has taken full advantage of their divergences to pursue its nuclear ambitions. It will continue to do so with a quickened pace. The tension on the peninsula has also provided a precious excuse for Washington to bring in its Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system. Because the ROK, feeling threatened, wants it. To China, and Russia, however, deploying THAAD in the ROK would be a substantial security threat in itself. As the system's capabilities far exceed the protection necessary for neutralizing any threat from the DPRK. So, in spite of all the rhetoric, disagreements surrounding THAAD have the potential to prevent any effective curbs on Pyongyang's nuclear program, something that threatens all the stakeholders. THAAD should not get in the way of harsher UN sanctions, because the parties can actually negotiate an option without it being deployed. There will be no ground for its introduction should the parties agree to a sanctions package that is sufficient for Pyongyang to reevaluate its nuclear program. For that to happen, the new UN resolution must truly bite. Bricks dug out from pavements are seen left on a chair after protesters clashed with riot police at Mong Kok district in Hong Kong, China, Feb 9, 2016.[Photo/Agencies] One week after the riot in Hong Kong, the special administrative region is still trying to come to grips with what happened in the Mongkok streets. Many residents are wondering why their home city, which used to be ranked the safest in the country, has turned into something they no longer recognize, after some 90 law enforcement officers were injured by a brick-hurling and fire-setting mob. The riot has dealt a blow to the city's law and order and presented a grave challenge to the authority of the government and police. It has also rubbed salt on the wound of an already declining tourism industry and tarnished the reputation of Hong Kong. The SAR government will certainly launch a thorough investigation into the cause of this ugly event and determine what should be done to prevent any recurrence. The main culprits are the lawless rioters who gathered to resist the rightful eviction of illegal hawkers in Mongkok on Monday night. But that violence was only the latest in a string of events that send a clear signal that more escalated violence can be expected. Behind the violence are forces determined to work against the SAR and central governments. The pawns of these forces are young people frustrated by the city's faltering economy and brainwashed by anti-mainland and anti-establishment ideas. To address the root cause of the riot, therefore, the SAR government must review the existing policies in the realms of education, employment and housing. The school curriculum, for instance, should be revamped, with national education introduced and civic education strengthened. The opposition camp, which excused the riot by insisting it was provoked by the government, has lost its self-assumed "moral high ground". Any candidates in the upcoming elections supporting such violence will pay a heavy price as voters will tell them HK people do not condone it, whatever the justification. Residents have a buffet at Hongheyuan, a high-end nursing home in Haikou, Hainan province, Jan 22, 2013. The nursing home has hired nutritionists and chefs to make healthy food. [Photo/IC] The managers of nursing home in Tancheng in East China's Shandong province reportedly refused to allow the elderly residents to use the air conditioners as heaters despite the severe cold. The State needs to provide more help to elderly residents in rural areas, says a Beijing News editorial: Many online comments are blaming the nursing home and its managers for failing in their duty of care. However they do not know how difficult it is for grassroots nursing homes to provide the comforts and support aged people need. In rural regions that are not so prosperous, local governments only cover part of the financial cost of nursing homes, which have to earn money to make up the deficit. In addition, only those seniors from less well-off families choose to enter nursing homes; as a result, it is quite common for the majority of rural nursing homes to struggle with financial difficulties. Even though the aged care industry is said to be flourishing, poor, disabled or other vulnerable senior citizens are living without ample welfare. What happened in Tancheng is only the tip of the iceberg and similar incidents are happening every day in the rural regions of China. It is, first of all, necessary for the State to shoulder its responsibility. The elderly rural residents contributed to the nation's development when they were young, and they deserve proper welfare paid for with money from the State coffers to support their basic life. Besides, local governments also need to be smart in providing funds for the care of the aged in rural areas. For example, instead of simply paying nursing homes, they can introduce competition into the industry and purchase the best services. The industry should also be open so that more charities can enter it. China is an aging society and how to take care of its seniors is becoming a serious challenge. It is time the government and social organizations joined hands to prevent similar tragedies from happening. US President Barack Obama leaves a meeting to launch the 'Mission Innovation: Accelerating the Clean Energy Revolution' at the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, November 30, 2015. [Photo/Agencies] On Friday, the US Senate reportedly approved a bill to rename the square in front of China's embassy as "Liu Xiaobo Square". The White House spokesperson is quoted as saying some senior political advisors suggested US President Barack Obama veto the bill. Liu is a criminal that is being used as a tool by some in the West, China has no need to overreact, says an editorial in the Global Times Chinese edition: Obviously, by trying to rename the square after a criminal that violated China's security, the US politicians hope to humiliate China. They are playing such tricks to smear mud on China. The United States can neither resort to military confrontation nor economic sanctions, so it has to resort to such silly tricks to try and belittle China. As it rises, China will meet more ploys like this one. There is no need for China to be too sensitive to them. Instead, they should help China gain more confidence and tolerance. It should be noted that whatever US senators do, they can't change the fact that Liu is a criminal who jeopardized China's national security, and was legally sentenced to imprisonment by a Chinese court. His "popularity" in the West makes him a tool that some Western politicians try to use to point fingers at China. Some US politicians have actually formed an alliance with the "Chinese dissidents" they support. They think they can fool the Chinese public, but they forget we live in the Internet Age and everybody knows what they are trying to do. China needs to be more tolerant and confident in the face of such petty tricks. We are making progress in market reform and society building. We have passed several challenges, which proves our difference from the former Soviet Union, namely we are energetic and robust. It is time for certain US politicians to change their mentality. We now live in a multipolar world and they need to learn to respect different political systems and cultures. President Xi Jinping helps make the dough for ciba, a glutinous rice delicacy that is a local Spring Festival favorite, during a visit to the village of Shenshan, Jiangxi province, on Tuesday. [Photo/Xinhua] A Shanghai woman posted a breakup letter online after she was invited to visit her boyfriend's rural hometown in Central China's Jiangxi province on Chinese New Year's Eve, in which she said she was utterly "shocked" by how poor his family is. Bridging the urban-rural income gap requires more concerted efforts to serve rural residents and modernize their community, says Qianjiang Evening News: Apparently, so-called urban-rural differences have a lot to do with the Shanghai woman breaking up with her boyfriend over a meal. The truth is she is not alone in turning a deaf ear to what is needed in the country's rural governance, judging by many online comments in her favor. For example, many rural residents can afford a motorcycle now, but still, few of them wear a helmet, and there are no signs on the country roads reminding them to do so. They should be informed of the importance of safe driving by local officials, who are clearly failing to fulfill their obligation to serve them. Suburban dwellers should be encouraged to embrace modern life as well as the rules, because their old way of living, such as their ignorance of traffic rules, is obsolete. China's ongoing modernization is pretty much about the rural areas and the people who live there. The key to modernizing the local management lies in relevant officials' willingness to serve the rural residents and help them live efficiently and affluently. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at Quba Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Jan 21, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Editor's note: The article is an excerpt of the Evaluation Report on the Security Situation in Surrounding Areas of China (2016), issued by the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In all likelihood, the geopolitical competition in China's neighborhood will intensify in the near future, constraining the country's ambition to press ahead with its Belt and Road Initiative, as many major regional players have carried out fresh strategies in response to the changing international situation and economic realities. That includes the United States' rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, India's Act East Policy, and Indonesia's Global Maritime Axis; which could either be boons to China's grand transnational project the Belt and Road Initiative, or a latent strategic threat. Among all, the joint efforts by Washington and Tokyo to contain China's robust rise, are particularly noteworthy, as well as the fact that influential regional powers tend to stay relatively cautious and conservative in participating in the implementation of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. In general, the China-US relationship in 2015 features the coexistence of cooperation and competition, while both sides are poised to endure tougher strategic competition in the Asia-Pacific region. On the security and economic front, Washington has doubled its efforts to implement its rebalancing and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, and refused to join the Beijing-launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. It also shows little interest in the Belt and Road Initiative: politicians rarely speak of it in public, while many China observers remain suspicious of its strategic implications, fearing that a rising China may threaten the US' global leadership. Likewise, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also refrained from endorsing it; instead he has proposed expanding Japan's exports of infrastructure equipment, and Japan is investing $110 billion over the next five years to aid infrastructure building in Asia. The intensifying battle to sell high-speed rail to some Asian neighbors such as Thailand, for example, has become a proxy for the broader competition between Japan and China. The US' security advantages and Japan's economic might, to some extent, have not only enhanced their cooperation and their hampering of China's Belt and Road projects, but also emboldened some of the US' military allies in the region to exacerbate territorial disputes with China, such as the Philippines' baseless South China Sea arbitration. The fierce competition between China and Japan over a currently halted $5.5 billion deal (won by China), which involves a high-speed railway linking Jakarta and Bandung in Indonesia, was partly politicized and a reminder of the complicated situation Chinese investors have to deal with in overseas markets. India, a populous neighbor and a global software front-runner, is hardly better. It recently approved a Japanese bid to build a high-speed line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, and has done little to fulfill its promise to facilitate the construction of the Bangladesh-China-Myanmar-India economic corridor. The good news is, Moscow and Beijing have reached a consensus on linking up their respective strategies - the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative - under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Like most non-regional leaders, Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are inclined to maximize their interests with an eye on the relationships between major powers. They basically welcome China's trans-Eurasian project and seek to expand their presence after China and Russia agreed to cooperate. That being the case, China needs to keep pursuing their support and stay alert to the meddling of major powers, especially the US-Japan alliance, to protect its national interests. Of course, it should keep an open mind to cross-border cooperation, take into consideration all potential risks in its overseas investments, and avoid overly politicizing them. Chinese President Xi Jinping, his wife Peng Liyuan, Indonesian Joko Widodo and his wife Iriana take part in a highly symbolic stroll with other Asian and African leaders to commemorate the historic 1955 Bandung Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, April 24, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua] China's diplomacy displayed more global vision in 2015 than ever before. President Xi Jinping spent 42 days visiting 14 countries during the past year, and he also attended nine summits in various fields. Xi's state visit to the United Kingdom greatly improved bilateral ties, and secured China a "global strategic partner". Shortly afterwards, the state leaders of Germany and France paid visits to Beijing. Xi's visit to Russia and President Vladimir Putin's visit to China consolidated the two countries' strategic coordination in global affairs. While his visit to the United States deepened understanding of both him and China's rise in the US. China pays special attention to its friendship with its old friends in Asia and Africa, and Xi also visited countries in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Africa. China commemorated the 70th anniversary of victory in the world's anti-fascist war as well as the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. China is also demonstrating greater awareness and ability in its global strategic deployment and operations. It provides more solutions and undertakes more responsibilities than before, especially in the financial, information security and climate fields. China took the lead in founding the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS Development Bank, providing more financing options for developing countries. The Chinese currency has also been included in the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights currencies and China joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which have transformed its economic muscle into international influence. China's Belt and Road Initiative serves not only China's neighbors but also the interests of African countries and developed economies in the West. The Initiative is popular among many East European countries. If implemented well, the Belt and Road Initiative can become bridges between the developing countries and developed countries. China is also attaching more and more importance to new diplomatic thoughts and concepts, such as communities of common interests and communities of shared destiny, emphasizing countries need to strengthen coordination and deepen their mutual understanding on equal footings. Chinese diplomacy stresses that big countries should avoid confrontation and seek win-win cooperation, and big countries should focus more on acting responsibly than their interests in their relations with smaller countries. China's selfless assistance to African countries in infrastructure construction, peacekeeping, development and public welfare shows its commitment to helping less-developed countries. Xi's foreign visits are pragmatic and efficient. During his three-day stay in Russia in July, he took part in 25 activities and had seven conferences with Russian state leaders. To boost global security efforts, Xi pledged to set up a $1 billion peace and development fund, found an 8,000-troop peacekeeping force, and provide $100 million in military aid to the African Union when he spoke at the United Nations summit. At the China-Africa summit, he pledged to provide another $60 million in free assistance to the African Union for peacekeeping endeavors. China's diplomacy is increasingly relevant to its needs at home in restructuring its economy, upgrading its industry, boosting innovation and modern agriculture, and pursuing sustainable development and quality urbanization. Moreover, more Chinese cities, such as Zhengzhou in Henan province, Hefei in Anhui province, Suzhou in Jiangsu province and Wuzhen in Zhejiang province, hosted important diplomatic events in 2015. In 2016, the G20 summit will be held in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. That an increasing number of Chinese cities are appearing on the diplomatic stage shows China's confidence and the fast tempo of its internationalization. In the future, China needs to cultivate more professional talents in technology, law, finance, economics, communication and information to support the fast development of its global diplomacy. The author is a researcher at the French Studies Center of Fudan University. A young Chinese couple ties the knot in Bali, a hot destination for Chinese tourists, especially newlyweds.[Photo by Li Jin/China Daily] Indonesia expects Chinese arrivals to jump this year, since it has developed special historical destinations, boosted supportive policies and stepped up promotions, a senior tourism official says. China and Indonesia have strong historical backgrounds. This has become one of the main engines for both countries' tourism industries, says the Indonesian Tourism Ministry's deputy for overseas promotion, I Gde Pitana. "China is the main market for us. In 2016, it will be the biggest market, (overtaking) Singapore, Australia and Malaysia," Pitana says. The archipelago expects 2.1 million Chinese, compared with last year's target of 1.3 million, he says. That's over a sixth of the 2016 goal of 12 million total inbound travelers. The country received 10 million last year, the ministry says. The reasons for the much higher expectations for Chinese visitors are promotional campaigns, and culturaland historical-destination development, in addition to a new visa-on-arrival policy adopted last June. A total solar eclipse will also be visible from parts of Indonesia this spring. Nearly 120 million Chinese traveled overseas last year, but Southeast Asia only claims a small slice, Pitana says. About 6 million visited Thailand, and 2 million headed to Singapore, Pitana says. The global tourism industry has bestowed many accolades on Indonesia. The country won three awards out of four at the 12th United Nations World Tourism Organization Awards Forum and three out of six at the ASEAN Travel Association Forum. "This indicates what we have done is in line with international standards," Pitana says. People walk through downtown Manhattan in New Yor, Feb 14, 2016. Temperatures dipped to well below freezing on Sunday with meteorologists dubbing the weather phenomenon as being a polar vortex. [Photo/CFP] BOSTON - Residents of much of the northeastern United States woke up on Sunday to bone-chilling cold conditions that shattered Valentine's Day records in Boston, Hartford and Providence. Officials warned residents to stay indoors in the face of the -9 degree Fahrenheit (-22.8 Celsius) temperatures, which felt as cold as -40 degrees Fahrenheit with the wind chill. "It's fair to say that this is a historic Arctic outbreak for the modern era," the National Weather Service said in a morning forecast update. Forecasters warned that frostbite could set in on exposed skin within minutes, and urged residents to check on elderly neighbors. While the system brought intense cold to the region, little snow has fallen so far this winter, placing less stress on roads and rails than last winter's record-setting 9 feet (2.75 meters) of snowfall in Boston. New York was also feeling the coldest weather it had experienced in a year, and Governor Andrew Cuomo urged people to stay inside. "With bitterly cold temperatures expected to continue through the long weekend, New Yorkers should remain alert and avoid all unnecessary travel," Cuomo said. The cold put a damper on some couples' Valentine's Day celebration plans, with walks and other outdoor activities curtailed. NEW DELHI - At least 10 people were killed and 15 others injured in a road mishap in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand late Sunday night, a police official said Monday. "The mishap happened when a truck ran over a group of people who were part of an idol immersion procession in the state's Giridih district," he said, on condition of anonymity. While 10 people, mostly teenagers and children, were killed on the spot, those injured have been admitted to a local hospital where the condition of some are said to be serious, the official said. Though eye-witnesses told the police that the driver of the speeding vehicle caused the accident after losing control, a probe has been ordered into the incident. The state government has announced a compensation of one lakh rupees ($1,800) for the families of each of those killed. BEIJING -- Officials from China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) will discuss the current situation on the Korean Peninsula in Seoul on Tuesday, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei Monday. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and ROK's First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will co-chair the seventh high-level strategic dialogue scheduled on Feb. 16 in Seoul, said Hong. The two sides are expected to exchange views on bilateral relations, the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual concern, said Hong. Children join a parade to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year in central London, Feb 14, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] Londoners enjoyed a massive Chinese New Year party on Sunday, as the city center filled with music, acrobatics, martial arts and Chinese traditional craft stalls. The celebration kicked off at 10am with a grand parade through the West End, featuring dancing lions and dragons, colorful floats and various Chinese cultural demonstrations. The event, attended by some 700,000 people, is the largest celebration outside Asia for Chinese New Year, which fell on Feb 8 this year. As 2016 is the Year of the Monkey, the parade was presided over by the Monkey King and Chinese God of Wealth. The spectacle, starting from Trafalgar Square and ending in the heart of Chinatown, drew thousands of people lining the route. Celebrations at the square continued with firecrackers at midday, which were followed by a flying lion and dragon dance to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. Chinese lion dancers perform during an event to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year in central London, Feb 14, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] A variety show was staged in the square, featuring music, dances, martial arts and traditional opera from Southwest China's Sichuan region. The celebration ended with fireworks at 6pm. Janette, who comes from Peru and is now a volunteer in London, said she often goes to Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatowns in both her country and London. "The celebration in London is lovely. I love the dragon dance and parade," she said. "The celebration has become widely known by people in London, "said Rana Carlit, a local resident. "There has been a lot of publicity for the event this year by radio, TV, newspaper and underground ads." Monkey King and the God of Wealth join the parade to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year in central London, Feb 14, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] Besides the main celebration in Trafalgar Square, there were also activities at surrounding locations including Shaftesbury Avenue, Leicester Square, Chinatown and Charing Cross Road. Chu Ting Tang, president of the London Chinatown Chinese Association, organizer of the celebration, said that celebration has become part of social life in London. He noted that besides more and more landmarks in London becoming celebration sites, many mainstream organizations have also joined Chinese people in marking the occasion. Children join a parade to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year in central London, Feb 14, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] "The Spring Festival in London is a wonderful harmony of the east meeting the west," said Liu Xiaoming, Chinese Ambassador to UK. Liu wished that the "Golden Era" of China-UK relations bring more splendid chapters, the world enjoys peace and harmony and everyone lives in good health and happiness. Audit and financial advisory firm Deloitte is to release its fourth Africa Construction Trends report on Wednesday. Prepared by the international firm's Southern Africa office, the report monitors progress on capital intensive infrastructure projects in the continent. Transport and energy projects have dominated previous reports but last year saw an increased focus on the former, which governments view as key catalyst for economic growth. In the third report released in early March last year, Chinese firms came out as the darlings of East African countries by building 31 percent of the 51 projects under review in the region. This translated to about 16 projects while European and Americans companies build only nine. China surpassed Western firms who previously clinched top position in 2013. This translated to about $19 billion worth of projects. Deloitte Director for Infrastructure and Capital Projects (Kenya) Gabriel Ouko termed China's jump from 19 percent in 2013 a big increase. "The Chinese government and companies have increasingly looked at the African market as an attractive and fast growing market with good returns for their investment and large surpluses. Africa has some of the fastest growing economies in the world and will remain attractive for anyone looking for a good return," he said. While noting a decline in the number of total projects from 322 in 2013 to 257 in the year under review, the total value of projects under construction had increased by 32 percent to $326 billion from $223 billion in 2013. For projects to qualify, they must be valued at more than $50 million and have broken ground, but not been commissioned as at 1 June 2014. Overall, European and Americans continued to dominate the African construction sector. The 2014 report showed that Western countries dominated in funding, ownership and were responsible for building projects worth more than $50 billion. International development finance institutions accounted for 26 percent of funding, the United States 10 percent, China 7 percent and Europe 3 percent. In ownership of such projects, African governments accounted for 52 percent, Western countries 13 percent and domestic private companies 24 percent, double the figure in 2013, suggesting indigenous firms are coming of age. Chinese concerns had a total stake of 1 percent in the 257 projects reviewed. Analysts predict China's visibility in the construction sector to grow. According to Kwame Owino, chief executive of the Institute of Economic Affairs, an economic think tank in Kenya, China is a late comer that has smartly capitalized on Africa's infrastructure deficit. "It was not until the 1990s that its companies ventured out of their country. They immediately identified Africa's construction sector as an easy target or low-hanging fruit, said Owino. Mary Kipkemoi, an economic lecturer at Strathmore Business School, said looking east has been more lucrative to the region. "China offers man power, funds and even builds and operates the assets," she said. Chongqing Sichuan Opera House stages a performance as part of Chinese New Year celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London, Feb 14, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Touring players from Chongqing Sichuan Opera House staged two performances over the weekend in London, astounding audiences with lavish costumes, elaborate makeup, high-speed acrobatics and high-pitched singing in addition to the famous secret "face-changing" routine. "When some people think of Sichuan opera, they only think of face-changing, and others even regard it a stunt show, which is not correct," Shen Tiemei, director of the Chongqing Sichuan Opera House, and an award winning actress told China Daily. "It actually combines singing, dancing, and acting," explained Shen while pointing out the difference from western opera which focuses on singing. Sichuan opera, known as Chuanju in Chinese, is an exquisite theatre form that dates back 300 years, and is one of the renowned opera schools of Chinese opera. Face-changing and fire spitting are the most eye-catching artistic techniques that shape a character's personality in Sichuan opera. In the opera house's Sunday show in London's Trafalgar Square, where the annual celebration of Chinese New Year was held, face-changing was not performed as a solo show but was part of a play. An evil spirit in The Legend of the White Snake performs face-changing in Trafalgar Square, London, Feb 14, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Jin-shan Temple, an excerpt from The Legend of the White Snake, tells of a woman who is reincarnated from a white snake and goes to the temple to meet her lover who is in dispute with a monk. The white snake gets furious and they fight with tricks. Face-changing was demonstrated by an evil-spirit male character, while dancing, singing, kung fu and acrobatics were also used. Face-changing is a closely-kept secret movement where a character, by quick manipulation of a mask, literally changes the face they show to the audience in a split-second. Shen Tiemei (right) introduces a male character in Sichuan opera to the audiences at the Museum of London Docklands in London, Feb 13, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] On Saturday, the troupe dropped in to the Museum of London Docklands, offering visitors, most of whom were children, a close-up look at the opera and first-hand experience on how to be a star on a stage through a workshop. From simple steps and gestures, to how to tell different characters apart by costume and makeup, director Shen gave the audience a clear walkthrough, demonstrating by herself and with her troupe. Sichuan opera comic A Roller with Oil Lamp on Head is performed at the Museum of London Docklands in London, Feb 13, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] The museum audience was then treated to a comic turn entitle A Roller with Oil Lamp on Head, a highly skilled performance played by a clown, who has a lighted oil-lamp on his head and rolls like an acrobat. The story tells of a gambling-addict being punished by his wife after coming home late one day. She makes him carry out various moves whilst balancing a lamp on his head. A performer shows his acrobatic skills by squeezing beneath two stools with an oil lamp on his head at the Museum of London Docklands in London, Feb 13, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] Juliet Masterson, who took her three children to watch the opera said even though they couldn't understand every bit of the story, they still got the gist of it. "Thomas (the eldest child aged 9) especially loves the clown guy, and we were all wowed by the costumes and makeup," said Masterson. "It is a really amazing experience and we are really happy we came." Children learn steps and gestures from a Sichuan opera performer while his two sisters look on at the Museum of London Docklands in London, Feb 13, 2016. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn] Alex Werner, head of history collections of the Museum of London Docklands, told China Daily that Londoners are excited to discover more about the rich tradition of Chinese opera in its many forms. "I am sure that the spectacle of the performance will make up for any lack of understanding of the content of the opera," said Werner. The 31-member troupe started a 16-day visit to Britain on February 10, with only a 48-hour stay in London over the weekend after making its debut in Preston. The team next heads to Belfast and Scotland. To contact the reporter: songwei@chinadaily.com.cn Yang Yanyi, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU is seen in this file photo taken in October of 2014. [Photo by Fu Jing/chinadaily.com.cn] The recent weeks have seen further worrying moves in Brussels. The European Commission opened new anti-dumping investigations on steel products originating from China, and the European steel industry organized a demonstration against so-called Chinese dumping on the EU market and the granting of Market Economy Status for China. The message carried the protectionist sentiment is worrying and the confrontational approach is regrettableand misleading. No body should be under any illusion: overcapacity, including excessive capacity of the global steel sector is one of the many challenges we are all faced with. Not only European steel industry sector has been hard hit, iron and steel industries in China and many other emerging economies are bearing the brunt, suffering badly from excessive production and flagging demand. According to some estimates, a reduction of overcapacity cut back by 30% in those industries with most excess capacityiron and steel, coal, cement, ship building, aluminum and flat glass is expected to affect employment of three million workers. Not to mention that China is also confronted with many other daunting tasks: lifting out of poverty the remaining 70 million people, advancing industrialization to transform China into a post-industrial society, rebalancing the economy from investment and net exports to consumption and innovation. The situation is serious and requires a response. But what kind of response? Grumble, curse, cut the ground from under other's feet, retreat into protectionism and to be at each other's throats? If history serves as a guide, these are unwelcome if not irresponsible responses. They may help to give vent to one's anger and frustration and obtain short-term gains, but fail to serve one's long-term self-interest and common interest of all. Obviously how to respond to challenges belongs to the competence of each and every country. I only wish to share what we believe to be the best possible approachand option and what China has been doing and will continue to do with regard to the issue on hand. First, digest the problem and not dump it onto other'sdoorsteps. Development of the steel industry in China is mainly to meet its domestic demand, rather than to export to other countries. To effectively deal with the overcapacity problems, China has taken tough measures to control new capacity.Painful as it is, China has cut its steel industry capacity by more than 90 million tons over the past few years and investment in iron and steel assets by 13% last year andthe growth of Chinese steel production has basically come to a halt. China Product Development Agreements. Important. And yet, our international manufacturing lawyers often see them not used when they should be used, and also used when they are not needed. Foreign companies that outsource their product manufacturing to China often co-develop their products with Chinese manufacturers. In some cases, the foreign company has completed its product development and the Chinese manufacturers only involvement is in setting up to manufacture the product in high volumes. In other cases, the foreign company side has only a general product idea and the Chinese manufacturer is tasked with turning the foreign companys napkin scribblings into a viable commercial product. Sometimes both the Chinese manufacturer and the foreign company contribute technology and know-how so the final product is a blending of both parties contributions. The product development stage is the highest risk stage for foreign companies manufacturing in China, yet it is also the stage most neglected by foreign companies. Foreign companies will use NNN agreements in the factory search stage and they will use OEM agreements for the production stage, but they rarely use product development agreements. This is a big mistake that often leads to one of two disasters for the foreign company. The first disaster usually occurs when the Chinese manufacturer does not charge the foreign company anything for the product development work. In these situations, the Chinese manufacturer often will claim that any intellectual property in the developed product is its own and will generously offer to make the product on behalf of the foreign company at price, payment, quantity, quality and delivery terms chosen by the Chinese manufacturer. Our China lawyers see this all the time, especially with start-up companies involved in making products for the Internet of Things ecosystem. No matter how outrageous the pricing or other demands from the Chinese manufacturer, there is little the foreign company can do because it waited until development was finished before even considering who would end up with its IP. The second disaster stems from foreign companies not considering the procedural issues necessary for successfully developing a product. Foreign companies far too often mistakenly assume that Chinese manufacturers can develop any product within the tight timeframes and close tolerances required by modern business. This often leads to the following: The product is never completed or never works properly. The product is not completed until after the market opportunity has passed. The product cost ends up being far higher than projected. And again, Internet of Things companies seem particularly prone to this. The only good way to address the above product development risks is with a product development agreement enforceable in China. A good product development agreement covers the period between the NNN agreement stage when you are figuring out which Chinese manufacturer to use and the OEM agreement stage when you have already selected your Chinese manufacturer and know exactly what you will have manufactured. A good product development agreement generally includes provisions addressing the following: 1. The product to be developed. 2. The technology the foreign company and the Chinese manufacturer will contribute. 3. Who will provide the product specifications and in what form. 4. Who will own the IP rights to the resulting product. Our China attorneys often review product development projects in China where the Chinese manufacturer was asserting it owned all of the IP rights to the developed product. Typically, these Chinese manufacturers were agreeing to make their product available to the foreign companies, but they were demanding to be able to manufacture the product for their own sales under their own trademark and to make the product to sell to competitors of the foreign company. Foreign companies are usually stunned when we tell them that because they had no written agreement making clear that they (the foreign company) owned the resulting product, their Chinese manufacturers had legal justification in claiming ownership, since they both contributed technology and incurred all of the product development costs. 5. Who will pay for product development costs? 6. Who will pay for the molds and tooling? This becomes a major issue when the foreign company seeks to use a different Chinese manufacturer after development of the product is complete. In this situation, the Chinese manufacturer that co-developed the product will likely do one of the following: a. Refuse to release the molds, tooling, CAD drawings and other items required to manufacture the product. b. Require the foreign company pay a substantial fee to secure a release of the molds, tooling, CAD drawings and other items related to the product. c. Claim ownership in the IP related to the product and threaten to sue the foreign company in a Chinese court if anyone else manufactures the product. The foreign company is particularly badly positioned if its Chinese manufacturer did the development work and produced the molds and tooling at its own cost though it is not at all uncommon for Chinese manufacturers to engage in the above tactics even when the foreign company paid for the molds and tooling. You are not going to be protected from this unless you have a written agreement (enforceable in China) making clear that you own the molds and tooling and penalizing the Chinese manufacturer for not immediately returning those to you. See Manufacturing in China: Control Your Molds. 7. Setting of milestones. Chinese manufacturers often agree to do the development work, but fail to do so in a timely manner. Your product development agreement should provide incentives for your Chinese manufacturer to meet milestones and a penalty if it does not. The following is a typical arrangement: a. The Chinese manufacturer does product development at its own cost, but the foreign company pays all hard costs for molds and similar items. b. Milestones for development are set. c. Clear specifications are set. d. The parties agree on a target price and quantity for when the product is developed. e. If the Chinese manufacturer meets the milestones and specs and agrees to sell at the target price and quantity, then the foreign company will enter into an OEM agreement with the Chinese manufacturer. Chinese manufacturers usually prefer to cover all of the costs of product development because they want to own the resulting product and foreign companies far too often go along with this, without realizing this likely means the Chinese manufacturer will end up with the product and its related IP. A Chinese man identifies a new issued 100 yuan note with an old one issued in 1999, at a bank on August 31, 2005 in Shanghai, China. Authorities issued new yuan notes today that largely resemble bills in circulation but with new marks meant to foil currency counterfeiters. New 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 yuan notes, as well as a 1 jiao coin (10 Chinese cents), were available from the People's Bank of China. The design of the new bills, bearing a portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, remains the same as the last-issued 1999 series but incorporate new watermarks and other minor changes that will make it harder to duplicate, according to state media. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images) Advertisement Chinese authorities have arrested 21 people who were allegedly involved in one of the biggest online investment scams in the country, which has duped nearly a million investors. According to the official Xinhua news agency, the US$7.6-billion online investment scheme operated by peer-to-peer lender Ezubao was a Ponzi scheme and that more than 95 percent of the projects posted on the site were fake. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Ezubao was classified as China's biggest peer-to-peer online platform based on lending amount. Authorities said those behind the platform managed to rake in US$7.6 billion from unsuspecting investors in just 18 months. The police arrested 21 people for their alleged involvement in the operation, including Ding Ning, chairman of Yucheng Group, which launched Ezubao in July 2014. Authorities did not disclose why they classified the site as operating a Ponzi scheme but the scheme usually involves investments that promise huge returns but require investors to recruit other investors. Police opened investigations into Ezubao in December after it became clear that the scheme was unsustainable. According to the Xinhua report, Ezubao's executives allegedly tried to conceal evidence by putting more than 1,200 account books into 80 plastic bags and buried them some six metres under ground in a suburb in Anhui, Xinhua reported. Police spent more than 20 hours digging up the evidence using two excavators. With the arrest, Chinese authorities also froze, sealed, and seized all assets of Ezubao. Assets of companies linked to the peer-to-peer lender had also been frozen and sealed for further investigation. The latest development further highlights the risks involved in China's fast-growing US$2.6 trillion wealth management industry. According to a Reuters report, several investment products are sold through channels that are loosely regulated, including online financial investment platforms. Advertisement TagsChina Investment Scam, Ezubao, Ponzi Scheme, China Online Investment Scam (Photo : Getty Images/Feng Li) People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan (above) has said there is no basis for continued yuan depreciation, and blames international speculative forces for causing the decline in the currency's value. Advertisement The People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan has broken his long silence amid vigorous efforts to restore stability to the country's economy and currency, saying there is no basis for continued yuan depreciation. Zhou made the statement in an interview published on Saturday by Caixin -- just as markets were bracing for another week of volatility following rumors suggesting the yuan is about to take another plunge in value. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The nation's balance of payments is good, capital outflows are normal and the exchange rate is basically stable against a basket of currencies, Zhou said. "Speculative Forces" "International speculative forces have recently focused on shorting China," the central bank governor insisted, blaming uncertainty on a "herd effect." He said China would not let international speculators dominate market sentiment. China has no incentive to depreciate the currency to boost net exports, and there is no direct link between the nation's gross domestic product and its exchange rate, Zhou pointed out. "The country's trade surplus in 2015 was close to $600 billion and net export's contribution to GDP was not so low so there's not motive to depreciate the renminbi for the sake of net export expansion," he said. China has attempted to buttress its economy by dipping into its foreign currency reserves and flooding the markets with US dollars in a bid to maintain the yuan's value. The country still retains a massive reserve of foreign currency holdings at $3.23 trillion, but that is China's lowest level in four years and it comes after a decline of $420 billion in as little as six months. In January, the country's reserves fell by some $99.5 billion as the PBOC sold dollars in an effort to prop up the value of the yuan, according to the BBC. "No Foundation" But Zhou dismisses rumors that China plans to tighten capital controls, and said there is no need to worry about a short-term decline in the nation's foreign currency reserves. "It is normal for foreign reserves to rise and fall as long as the fundamentals face no problems," he said, adding: "We need to differentiate between capital outflow and capital flight." China's economic slowdown, falling oil prices and financial turmoil have fueled a cycle of decline and panic throughout much of the world, as countries in nearly every continent have reported increasing risks of extended economic slump, political upheaval and financial losses. World markets went into a freefall last week when investors pulled their cash from risky assets, wiping off more than $1 trillion from global stocks. The Shanghai composite was meanwhile closed for the Chinese New Year holiday. China has stepped up efforts to calm the market and ensure a stable currency, and Caixin's interview of Zhou -- who usually leaves press interviews on China's currency exchange policy to other officials -- has been seen by many as a clear indication that Beijing is fighting to impose some measure of order into the chaos. "China has the world's largest foreign exchange reserves," Zhou said. "There is no foundation for continued depreciation." Advertisement Tagspeople's bank of china, Yuan Depreciation, chinese economic slowdown (Photo : Getty Image) China ranks third as the biggest host of international students after the United States and United Kingdom, recording nearly 380,000 students from over 200 countries in 2014. Advertisement Nearly 380,000 foreign students from over 200 countries came to China to study in 2014, according to the Ministry of Education. The Institute of International Education has revealed that there are about 356,499 international students in the country, making China the third biggest host of foreign students next to the United States and the United Kingdom. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Fang Jun, the deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange at the Ministry of Education, said the statistics does not paint a clear picture of what the true number is. He said that even though the country has been declared third, criteria including mediocre educational quality and international student group structure need immediate reviewing and updating. The figure shows China's improvements in providing education for foreign students in the past 40 years. The numbers are trending upwards; in fact, in 1978, China has recorded only about 1,900 foreign students, but this number skyrocketed 200-fold by 2014. While there were approximately only 100 universities catering for international students in 1990, the number has significantly to 2,500 today. However, Fang pointed out some imbalance in the sector. For example, first, international students are mostly arts-based, particularly Chinese language. Other courses such as science, business and engineering comprise only a small percentage of the total population. Second, the number of foreign students studying for a degree or higher is relatively low, accounting for only 44 percent. Most students only come to the country for short-term courses or as exchange students who are only enrolled for a semester or two. This situation, however, is opposite to that of in UK and US, where most foreign students study to obtain a degree. Third, instead of having a diverse range of students, most of them usually come from concentrated regions, with over 70 percent from Asia and Africa. Fang emphasized efforts needed to diversify international students. According to Fang, affordability is the most important factor for the choice of country among students. He claims that over one-fifth of the long-term foreign academic body in China are medical students and are mostly from Laos, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Fang explained that, for these students, it is way cheaper and convenient to study in China than in Western countries, as undergraduate levels are charged with an annual tuition fee between 14,000 yuan and 26,000 yuan ($2,100 to $3,600), which is four to seven times lesser compared with UK's 10,000 pounds ($14,500) per year. While the country is currently focusing on its cultural, geographic advantages and cost-performance, Fang emphasized the need to shift that focus to improving education quality and establishing good reputation. Advertisement Tagschina, international students, foreign students, exchange students (Photo : Getty Images) China has called on the United States to stop passing the blame for North Korea's nuclear issues to Beijing and start taking its share of responsibility in solving the problem. Advertisement A senior Chinese diplomat, tired of the United States' passing the buck on North Korea's issues to Beijing, has called on President Barack Obama to take his share of responsibility and not leave it all to China. "China will fulfill its own responsibility but cannot replace the share of the US. The US should not always think about passing the problem to China," said Fu Ying, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the National People's Congress and former Deputy Foreign Minister, during a forum at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Fu said China is reaffirming its position to resolve the North Korea nuclear issues through peaceful means and opposes the use of violence or any other methods that would jeopardize China's national security. Confused and furious The Chinese diplomat questioned the recent US' actions of saying one thing but doing a different thing. "On the North Korea nuclear issue, the US, has, on one hand, asked for cooperation from China, but on the other hand, is discussing with its allies the deployment of THAAD ( Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) in South Korea," she emphasized. "This makes the Chinese confused and furious," she lamented. THAAD deployment Fu's comments comes following talks between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State John Kerry where Wang relayed Beijing's opposition to the planned US deployment of THAAD in South Korea to counter North Korea's missile tests. Wang said the US missile system could be used against China and will put China's national security interests at risk. China is backing a new UN Security Council resolution which would make Pyongyang 'pay the necessary price' for its missile test in January and rocket launch early this month. Sovereign state Talks are reported to be already underway between the US and South Korea for the deployment of the THAAD this week in response to North Korea's belligerent actions. Reacting to the ongoing disagreement between Beijing and Washington over the North Korea issues, Sun Xingjie, an international relations professor at the Jilin University, reiterated that North Korea exercises sovereignty over its land and people and thus, cannot be controlled by another country. He said that this simple fact has been repeatedly misunderstood by even the most powerful of countries. "Every relevant country should take its own responsibility. If China's policy over North Korea is called a failure, the policies of all relevant countries, including the US, are failures because all these efforts failed to curb its nuclear development," he pointed out. Advertisement TagsFu Ying, THAAD, china, North Korea, sovereign state (Photo : Getty Images) The bad weather in China resulted in the cancellation of flights and closure of highways, leaving millions of passengers stranded and disrupting the Spring Festival holiday travel rush. Advertisement Persistent rain and snow fall forced flight cancellations and highway closures in the northeastern and southern parts of China this past weekend, leaving millions of passengers set to go home after the Spring Festival holiday stranded. On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Dalian International Airport in Dalian, Liaoning province, was forced to cancel or delay over 300 flights, leaving approximately 20,000 passengers stranded. On Sunday, Feb. 14, the airport management reported that operations have resumed and more than 70 flights took off and landed. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Meanwhile, the provinces of Jilin, Shandong and Hebei also had to bar highways on Saturday because of the snow, while Zhejiang and Fujian struggled with heavy rain. With the number of flights cancelled and roads blocked, many passengers in northeast China flocked to demand for refunds and opted to travel by train. One passenger identified only by her surname Yang, said "I had no other option but to choose the railway, as I need to rush back to work." Yang was supposed to board her 11 PM flight on Saturday, but the flight was cancelled because of the blizzard. China Railway Corp. was expecting to make over 10 million trips on railways on Sunday, a number slightly lower than Saturday's 10.3 million. According to the company, over 60 percent of the trains catering to the Spring Rush are of high-speed services, with a capacity to run at 300 kilometres per hour. The country has the biggest high-speed railway network in the world, covering 19,000 kilometres. Nangchang Railway Station deputy director Zhou Yuan said that together with the establishment of high-speed railways, stations have also significantly improved. Riding a train is way more convenient now than it was a decade ago, as online booking systems and self-service ticketing machines have been launched so people can ditch the long lines, waiting areas have also been enlarged. Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 12, the Ministry of Transportation reported that nearly 140 million trips were made via the railway, road, water and air. The yearly Spring Festival is a period of mass migration with millions of people coming home to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their loved ones. Advertisement Tagschina, Holiday rush, Spring festival (Photo : Getty Image) China has officially launched a website to help in the investigation of the allegedly $7.6 billion Ezubao scam. Advertisement The Ministry of Public Security of China has created a website to aid the investigation of Ezubao, which is being charged of swindling over 50 billion yuan ($7.61 billion) from over 900,000 investors. On Saturday, the website was officially launched to the public with the aim of helping the police gather evidence and establish facts about the largest peer-to-peer lender in the country. As posted on its homepage (ecidcwc.mps.gov.cn), the Ezubao case "involves a large number of investors dispersed across the country, with huge amounts of electronic information." Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Earlier this month, officials of Ezubao's parent company admitted in comments carried by state news agency Xinhua that the firm's operations was a "complete Ponzi scheme." In this type of deceitful investment operation, instead of paying investors the profit earned by the operator (an individual or corporation), the operator pays returns from the capital of new investors. Over 95 percent of Ezubao's online financing services are reported to be bogus. The scam calls attention to the fast emerging yet liberally controlled wealth management product industry, with a handful of products sold online. According to China's Banking Regulatory Commission, over 3,600 peer-to-peer platforms raised over 400 billion yuan by the end of November. It further reported that of the firms, more than 1,000 were questionable. Earlier this month, authorities nabbed 21 people possibly affiliated with Ezubao's operation. Chairman Ding Ning of Yucheng Group, which launched Ezubao in July 2014, was among those arrested. Police officers claim they have already seized and froze all of Ezubao's assets as well as its affiliated companies as part of the ongoing investigation. Advertisement TagsEzubao, china, scammers, peer to peer lending (Photo : YouTube) Since Gionee W909 has been listed on TENAA, it is expected that the device will debut in the next few weeks. Advertisement Chinese smartphone manufacturer Gionee has announced that its latest smartphone called Gionee W909 has gotten the approval of China's telecommunication equipment certification authority, TENAA. Last week, the Chinese company announced that the Elife S8 smartphone will be making its debut at the Mobile World Congress 2016 in Spain later this month. After this announcement, Gionee again introduced a brand new smartphone, but the company has not yet mentioned any information regarding the device. However, GeekBench list managed to gather some information about the specifications of the device. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Gionee's upcoming device called Gionee W909 will feature a bar shaped structure and is considered as a high-end device. The TENAA listing confirmed that the device will come in a Clamshell design. Earlier this year, the company disclosed that the Gionee W900s will feature dual 1080p displays and a metallic body, giving the device a premium look. According to the GeekBench listings, Gionee W909 smartphone will feature a clamshell shape and come with a metallic body with dual 4.2-inch TFT displays, but are limited to just 720p resolution. The device is powered by 64-bit MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz. GeekBench listing posted that the handset comes with 4GB of RAM, but based on the TENAA listing, the device comes with only 2GB of RAM. The Gionee W909 runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system with a customized interface called UI laid. The handset comes with a built-in 32GB internal storage that can be expanded up to 128GB via microSD card slot. In terms of its camera, the smartphone comes with 16MP rear camera with LED flash support and a 5MP front shooter for video calls and selfies. On its design, the left edge of the device is where the volume rocker is located, while on the right edge is where the MicroSD card slot and power button are placed. Interestingly, the smartphone also features a fingerprint sensor just below the rear camera. In addition, the device supports 4G LTE, 3G HSPA, GPS, Wi-Fi, and a MicroUSB port. The smartphone is handy also as it only measures 124.6 x 62.5 x 16.4 mm and weighs around 210 grams. Since Gionee W909 has been listed on TENAA, it is expected that the device will debut in the next few weeks. Advertisement TagsGionee, gionee smartphone, gionee news, TENAA certification, china The Chocolate Math of it All - v. 9/30/2022 Number of Days Since This Chocolate Bet Started: 5,860 Number of Chocolate Items Eaten: 5,860+ Number of different items combined with chocolate: 371 - from Absinthe to Zucchini) Weight of Chocolate Eaten: ~ 5,860 oz. (366.25 lbs. or 166.12 kg) Total Number of Chocolate Calories Consumed to date: ~ 879,000 (There are, on average, 150 calories in 1 oz. or 28.3 grams of chocolate.) Number of Companies producing chocolate items I've eaten: Approx. 1,592; Number of bean-to-bar makers: 194 Number of Countries where chocolates were made: 66 Number of Pounds of Chocolate Americans Eat: Approx. 11-12 pounds per year; I eat 27 lbs. (more than 12 kg.)/year. Per capita chocolate consumption in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Ireland: 8-9 kilograms (17-22 pounds)/year. Global demand has stayed high, despite economic fluctuations. Cost of all these Chocolates: A lot of money, but worth every penny. Chocolates range from $1 to $20 each. Occasionally I receive gifts or samples. Copyright Information All other product names, logos, trademarks, and product packaging designs belong to their respective owners. Content and photos are by Corinne C. DeBra unless otherwise noted; all photos are posted in low resolution. Copyright (c) 2006-2021 Corinne C. DeBra, Chocolate Banquet Temple Israel of Hollywood had some unusual guests during its Friday night Shabbat: a group of some 20 Korean American teenagers, a youth pastor, a Korean parent, and a few church youth group leaders. The visit was the second in an exchange that Temple Israel participated in with Los Angeles Christian Presbyterian Church (LACPC), the first of which involved Temple Israel's youth visiting LACPC's Sunday youth worship service in December. (Photo : Christianity Daily) Rabbi Jocee Hudson (center, standing) answered some questions about the Jewish faith on Friday when youth students from LACPC visited Temple Israel of Hollywood. For some, it may be easy to draw the connection as to why the two groups have decided to come together. After all, Jews and Christians share at least one thing in common: the Old Testament of the Bible. Pastor Joseph Kim, the youth pastor of LACPC, shared that one of the primary reasons he decided to say yes to such an endeavor with Temple Israel was out of his hopes that the experience would deepen the youths' understanding of the Old Testament and of the Jewish customs the youth read about in the Bible. "I don't know much about Jewish culture except for what I read in the Old Testament of the Bible, and I've never had the opportunity to interact with Jewish people or see how Jewish worship is done in their synagogues, modern day," Kim explained in an interview in December. "And for our kids, having this kind of exposure really opens their eyes and would inform them as they grow into adults." "Right now, our kids have been going through Old Testament books for the past few months in their personal devotionals, and I thought it would be a cool experience for them to actually interact with the descendants of the people they're reading about," Kim added. Rabbi Jocee Hudson, the religious school director at Temple Israel, initiated the exchange for a slightly different reason. Hudson had had a growing desire to change the youth students' curriculum and provide a space for them to engage with groups of other races and faiths, she explained, and ultimately collaborate on justice efforts together. In fact, Temple Israel has pursued interfaith justice and community service efforts with other local religious groups on numerous occasions in the past. It collaborated with Islah Muslim Social Services to give food to some 200 homeless individuals, and hosted an interfaith service on Martin Luther King's Day. "Interfaith connections are really important to change the city and the world for the better," Hudson explained. "Forging these kinds of partnerships, and having these kinds of dialogues together, could ultimately lead to bigger things." (Photo : Christianity Daily) About 30 youth from LACPC and Temple Israel, along with parents, leaders, and staff from both congregations, talked over dinner after Temple Israel's Friday night Shabbat. For many of the teens, it seems that they took the experience rather simply. The taste of a different religious service, and interacting with peers of a different religious community, was simply interesting and "cool," as many of the teens said. It was the first time many of the Jewish youth sang along to contemporary Christian songs or listened to a Christian pastor's sermon. And likewise, most of the Christian youth had sat in on a Jewish Shabbat for the first time, listening to the Psalms they might have read in church being sung in Hebrew and to a sermon (called a d'var Torah) about the Jewish faith. "It was really cool for me to branch out and learn about other religions," said Lauren Freedman, a 13-year-old who attends Temple Israel and had grown up in a Jewish school. "I would like to go back some time," she added, saying that she hopes more exchanges like this would happen again. "I've never been in a synagogue before or a Jewish worship," said Daniel Kang, who was invited by a friend who attends LACPC. "It was a cool experience." Eric Choi, a 12-year-old from LACPC, said that the exchange challenged him to become more devout in his own faith. "The experience opened up my mind and showed me that others are working just as hard to have a good relationship with God," Choi said. "And that reminded me that I shouldn't give up either." press@cdaily.co.kr - Copyright , #JewishandKoreanAmerican Hillary Clinton touts 'family' but not faith in 2016 presidential announcement 13 April, 2015 by Will Hall , | WASHINGTON (Christian Examiner) In a video April 12 showing Americans "getting ready for a lot of things" in 2015, including a gay couple getting ready to get married, Hillary Clinton announced she is "getting ready to do something, too -- I'm running for president." This is her second White House run. In 2007, national polls had her leading fellow Democrats by wide margins but she came in third in the January 2008 Iowa caucuses. Although she fought back to win some large states in the primaries and caucuses that followedincluding New York, California and TexasBarack Obama amassed enough delegates by June to secure his party's nomination and she suspended her campaign and endorsed him. "Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times. But the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top," she offered in her latest pitch, adding that she wanted to be the champion for "everyday Americans" so they "can do more than just get by" but also "get ahead and stay ahead." "Because when families are strong, America is strong," she said. The Clinton ad offered diversity of many stripes, including an apparent lesbian couple to complement the soon-to-be-wed gay couple, but there was no mention of God or any representation of faith. However, she has shared at multiple forums that she was raised in the Methodist Church and has praised its teachings on "personal salvation but also the great obligation of social gospel." Paul Kengor, a professor at Grove City College who has written spiritual biographies about Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, describes Clinton as having "a very liberal Christianity" that reflects a liberal Methodism. "Whereas a lot of conservative Methodists have left the church because of that liberal drift," he told Christianity Today in 2007, "Hillary says, 'I am so comfortable in this church.' That drift has been perfectly suitable for her." "Closing out the video announcement about her presidential bid, Clinton said, "I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time." "And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Clinton left her home in Chappaqua, New York, Sunday to travel by van to Iowa to begin her campaign. Her team released information that she will hold her first event on Tuesday in Monticello, Iowa. Abortion will remain illegal in Northern Ireland after members of the Northern Irish Assembly voted against a proposal that would legalize abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality and sex crimes. The regions Stormont assembly voted against the proposal 59-40, which was originally proposed by two Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the Alliance Party, Stewart Dickson and Trevor Lunn. The 1967 Abortion Act permits abortion in the rest of the UK, unlike in Northern Ireland where termination of the pregnancy is allowed only in cases in which the mothers life or mental health is endangered. Fatal fetal abnormality is a diagnosis in which doctors believe the unborn child will either die in the womb or shortly after birth. CARE, a Christian charity, campaigned against the possible legalization of abortion in Northern Ireland. CARE chief executive Nola Leach told the Gospel Herald they wanted "to make sure our unborn children will have a voice who will speak for them." When Alexander Hamilton was born back in 1755, he was already behind the eight ball. Whispers of illegitimacy plagued him from birth as the product of a common law marriage between James Hamilton and the notorious Rachel Faucette (the only woman imprisoned at St. Croixs Fort Christiansvaern for committing adultery). His father was no better. Known as the black sheep of the family, James Hamilton deserted his wife and children when Alexander was 10. Several years later, Alexander transitioned from bastard to orphan when his mother died. In a true rags-to-riches story, Hamiltons ascent out of poverty and into the political limelight reveals that miracles do happen. Recently, his incredible life has been recounted in the hit musical Hamilton. Inspired by Ron Chernows biography on the first treasury secretary, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda brilliantly captures the highs and lows of this orphan boy who became a war hero, architect of Americas financial system, and George Washingtons confidante and indispensable aide. Chernows storytelling powers are formidable, and point, perhaps unbeknownst, to the greatest Storyteller of all. In the hundreds of pages that inspired the musical, a reverberant theme resounds throughout: that God loved this destitute orphan and opened doors for him. His rise parallels the story of a shepherd boy who became king. And like King David, General Alexander Hamilton had his own adulterous affair, political coup, and preventable tragedies. Yet Gods tender heart and longsuffering kindness were woven throughout Hamiltons 49 years on this earth. That God loved Alexander Hamilton is undeniable. But did Hamilton love God? Historians of the Revolutionary period ... 1 The film Risenwhich will hit theaters on February 19, 2016is not quite like any film based on the Bible that Ive seen before. Directed by Kevin Reynolds, the film stars Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) as Clavius, a Roman centurion who is assigned to figure out where the body of Jesus of Nazareth has gone after it disappears from the tomb. Clavius is a world-weary, ambitious man of Rome, but as he interviews various people from Jesus life, he starts to realize that more is going on here than meets the eye. I spoke with Fiennes by phone last November about playing Clavius, the nature of belief, going to gladiator school, and his upcoming role as Eric Liddell in The Last Race (which covers the period of Liddells life as a missionary in China, following the events of Chariots of Fire). The following transcript of our conversation was edited for clarity. Christianity Today: What attracted you to this project? Joseph Fiennes: I met with our director, Kevin [Reynolds]. He is extremely intelligentI loved his films and identify a lot with them. He had established a pretty brilliant pitch, which was really getting into the story of Christ through the eyes of an agnostic. I thought that was a brilliant, original approach. It also appealed to me that it was like a detective story as well. There's this ticking clock to prove that the resurrection is a hoax and designed to bring about the uprising. Clavius is against it, and I love that sense of pressure. It felt a little bit like Chinatown, where the man is sucked into a mysterya murder-mysterybut also a theological mystery. I loved it for those terms. I thought it was highly original. In the film, familiar figures keep walking ... 1 Several faith leaders were asked to write brief comments about the future of Roe. I was glad to see that I was not the only person asked who sees life as beginning at conception and who is ready to see Roe overturned. News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. The surprising reason it falls during Lent, and why it has been important for fighting heresy and abortion. Over at Christianity Today I've just published an article on a subject that has long puzzled me: Why don't pro-life evangelical Protestants talk much about the Annunciation? And if we believe that life starts at conception, then why are we more likely to associate the Incarnation with Christ's birth (Christmas) than with the Annunciation (conception)? Some familiar names for Christian History readersN.T. Wright, Darrell Bock, Scot McKnight, and otherswere kind enough to reply, and I'm grateful for their insights. In fact, I received more response than I had expected, and as a result wasn't able to include some of the more interesting church history aspects of the discussion. Among them: Why March 25? The answer at first seems obvious: It's nine months before Christmas. So many writeups on Annunciation assume (as I had) that once the church placed Christmas on December 25, it was a simple matter of counting backwards to mark Annunciation and Jesus' conception. But Muhlenberg College historian William J. Tighe argues that such a history gets things backwards. Before trying to determine either the dates of Jesus' birth or conception, they tried to determine the date of his death. Tighe's brief overview, which was published in Touchstone, is worth reading, as is his sequel of sorts in Touchstone's current issue. But for our purposes here, what you need to know is that Greek Christians in the East said Jesus died April 6 and Latin Christians in the West said March 25. Tighe continues: At this point, we have to introduce a belief that seems to have been widespread in Judaism at the time of Christ, but which, as it is nowhere taught in the Bible, has completely fallen from the awareness ... Alveda King: 'Black Leaders Say Justice Scalia will be Missed as Anti-Life Movement Expands Black Abortion Death-Sentencing Efforts' Contact: Leslie Palma, 347-286-7277 ATLANTA, Feb. 15, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- On the occasion of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Black Prolife Leaders mourn his death and decry current anti-life decisions which seek to impose abortion death sentences on hundreds of babies and mothers in New York and other communities. "My heart breaks that America cannot take time to mourn with the Scalia family," said Catherine Davis, President of the Restoration Project. "Instead, we must turn, immediately, to the political -- assessing the ramifications of the death of this great jurist. We do pray with them, however, for strength and peace as they navigate this new normal of life without their husband, dad, and grandfather." Citing statistics from Too Many Aborted the leaders considered Justice Scalia to be "a champion civil rights voice for life." "Justice Scalia understood what happens when being human is not enough to ensure protection from racial discrimination as a human. I thank God for the Fourteenth (14th) Amendment to the United States Constitution and for the legacy of Justice Scalia," said Walter Hoye, Founder of Issues4Life Foundation. Evangelist Alveda King, director of African American Outreach and a party to a Priests for Life HHS Mandate case before SCOTUS said, "Justice Scalia was a prophet in many ways. The loss of his opinions regarding the sanctity of life will create a terrible void." Pastor Stephen Broden of Dallas based Protect Life and Marriage Texas said, "The death of Justice Scalia has once again heightened the fact that the anti-life forces are working overtime to enforce killing babies as normative in our culture. SCOTUS is now considering major abortion cases that will impact how we as a nation will view abortion for a long time. The agenda on the left is apparent when in 2015 the Empire State legislators put forth legislation to shoot poison into the heart of babies well into the third trimester if a mother feels she is not "emotionally stable" to raise the baby. America needs to take notice of the anti-life agenda and vote to ensure and secure a pro-life presence on the Supreme Court." At the turn of the century, The Black Prolife Movement experienced a "resurgence" combining prominent 20th century civil rights voices and newly emerging Prolife voices. Adding to the "we shall overcome abortion" and "no more womb lynching" themes of L.E.A.R.N. and Black Genocide.org , many more Black Prolife organizations have emerged. Joined by partners across the Prolife Movement, Blacks are participating in films and other documentaries such as MAAFA21, BLOOD MONEY, and popular videos by The Radiance Foundation. Many of the 21st century leaders also represent their own organizations while coalescing at National Black ProLife Coalition and are published in their benchmark book LIFE AT ALL COSTS. Day Gardner, founder of National Black Pro-Life Union , points out, "The perspective of the deceptive messaging of The Reproductive Justice movement, created in 1994; the Trust Black Women Partnership, created in 2010; and the Black Lives Matter movement, created in 2012; all which allegedly were created because according to them, 'the lives of Black people were in peril.' If they really care, they should support the Defund Planned effort, to end the destruction of the fruit and wombs of women." Gardner further explained, "Hiding behind the pretense that these deceptive entities were born out of a demand for the self-determination and liberation of Black people in this country, and that all these organizations were 'born' because of the leadership of Black women, their 'Trust Black Women' mantra is highly offensive; because they want to birth lies rather than babies." King also asks, "How can the dream survive if we murder our children? Life is a civil right. If you force the mother to take harmful chemicals or to abort the baby, you violate the rights of the baby and the health of the mother." Click to view video Today, while mourning the departed SCOTUS champion, Justice Antonin Scalia, the National Black Prolife Coalition continues to "inform, educate and activate" the communities of America and the world regarding the urgency of ending the eugenics and genocide of abortion. Share Tweet Southern Baptist Convention Minister, Dr. James F. Linzey Endorses Donald J. Trump WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- Southern Baptist Convention Minister, Dr. James F. Linzey (photo) endorsed Donald J. Trump for president of the United States when speaking to a group of Evangelicals on Sunday, February 13, 2016 in Escondido, California, to make America great again. Linzey said, "Republican Candidate Donald Trump is an intrepid Conservative who unapologetically articulates and accentuates the pulse of most Americans. His campaign is not funded by special interest groups. This means he is not beholden to them, and will have the freedom to build congressional support on both sides of the aisle and promote the values that millions embrace by implementing policies to make America great again. I endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States." Linzey is an Evangelist, US Army chaplain and veteran of nearly 24 years, chief editor of several Bible translations, and founder of the Military Bible Association. Linzey believes that when Mr. Trump speaks, he hits all the major issues forthrightly and honestly. Being a Conservative means being honest with everyone about everyone. Honesty cuts across all party lines, offending those in any camp who are dishonest on the issues at hand. But when Mr. Trump said at the South Carolina GOP Debate that former president George W. Bush lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, he said this because honesty is no respecter of persons and former President Bush did not admit there were no weapons of mass destruction until asked at a press conference. George W. Bush explained at the White House press conference on August 21, 2006 why we went to Iraq. He said, "The main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn't." "This means," said Linzey, "Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 911 and we violated the US Constitution by invading a sovereign nation which was no threat to the United States." A Conservative is honest and impartial. An honest candidate is honest even when it is not politically expedient to be honest. Honesty is the mark of a Conservative. Linzey went on to say, "Donald Trump is ruthlessly honest. That means America can trust him to do what he says he will do. The alternative is to have a president who must do what his special interest groups tell him to do during his entire term as president. This means that the president's relationship with Jesus Christ would take back seat to his relationship with his special interest groups. And when you disappointment them, terrible things can happen to the president and his legacy. The hype among some candidates about how 'Jesus is Lord' and quoting Scripture to win the Evangelical vote is a charade." Mr. Trump has such wide appeal because the majority of Evangelicals are too wise to believe the politically expedient "Jesus talk" by some of the other candidates. They along with the mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and other religionists and secularists support Mr. Trump because he is honest and down to business and does not use Jesus to get out the vote, which is how other candidates insult every Evangelical. America is in trouble and Donald Trump is in the race to rescue her and make her great again. This is not a Republican, Democratic, or an Evangelical problem. This is an American problem. "We have to shut the border, bring the jobs back, get off the backs of Americans, get out of sovereign nations, get government out of private industry to truly have a free market place again, and let military chaplains freely practice their religions again in the military," said Linzey. Friends, America needs Donald J. Trump. Let's make a difference these next four years. Let's make America great again. 300,000 hear Pope Francis slam Mexico's rich and corrupt elite Celebrating Mass for more than 300,000 people in one of Mexicos poorest and most dangerous cities, Pope Francis on Sunday took a swipe at the country's rich and corrupt elite . Decrying "a society of the few and for the few", he denounced deep inequality and the vanity and pride of those who consider themselves a cut above the rest. "That wealth which tastes of pain, bitterness and suffering. This is the bread that a corrupt family or society gives its own children," the Pope said at the Mass in the city of Ecatepec. Francis urged his listeners to struggle to make Mexico "a land of opportunities where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream" and where drug traffickers, whom he called "dealers of death", would not ensnare their children. Mexico is home to one of the worlds richest men, billionaire Carlos Slim, and a wealthy political class stained by corruption even as much of the country is steeped in poverty and violence. A gritty expanse of cinder block homes north of Mexico City, Ecatepec has seen a surge in crime in recent years as it became infested with warring drug cartels. Fueled by a weak economy and youth unemployment, gang violence has driven the city's murder rate to one of Mexico's highest. It is notorious for the unsolved murders of scores of women, the bodies of many found abandoned in garbage dumps or tossed in a canal only miles from where Francis spoke on Sunday. 'No dialogue with the devil' The Pope warned Mexicans not to succumb to evil: "You cannot dialogue with the devil because he will always win," he told them. Ecatepec is home to a giant statue of "Santa Muerte", or Saint Death, a cult figure followed by millions across the Americas. The saint is often depicted as a skeletal "grim reaper" draped in white satin robes, beaded necklaces and carrying a scythe, and is believed to grant requests without judging people. Although he did not address Santa Muerte in his Mass, the Roman Catholic Church has been dismayed by the cult's rise at a time it is battling competition from other religions. "The Mexican Church already was very concerned by expanding Protestantism and now it must contend with a folk saint venerated mostly by Mexicans who still consider themselves Catholic," said Andrew Chesnut, the author of a book about the cult. A sea of Catholic faithful greeted the Pope as he flew into Ecatepec aboard a white helicopter, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his image, chanting, cheering and waving flags. Tens of thousands of others lined the streets. "We are living through a period of great violence ... May [the Pope] give us strength to continue to bear this, to keep struggling against it," said Maria Dolores Angeles Martinez, a 26-year-old housewife from Ecatepec. Across the country, more than 100,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the last decade and some 26,000 are missing. President Enrique Pena Nieto has failed to significantly curb the bloodshed, with murders rising last year after falling early in his term. Before becoming president, Pena Nieto was governor of the State of Mexico that is the home to Ecatepec. In the second half of his 2005-2011 term as governor, the murders of women doubled. Corruption and incompetence are rampant in under-funded police forces across Mexico. The vast majority of murders are never solved and family members complain authorities show little interest in the cases of the missing. Francis condemned corruption in a hard-hitting speech at the presidential palace on Saturday. Unlike his predecessor Pope Benedict, who visited Mexico's conservative heartland in 2012, Francis is stopping in some of the country's most troubled corners on his first trip as pontiff. He will travel on Monday to Mexico's poorest state Chiapas, where he will say Mass with indigenous communities. Evangelical Christian groups have made huge advances in Chiapas, weakening the Catholic Church's influence. The pope will also meet with young people in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state where drug gangs and armed vigilante groups have waged a bloody conflict. He then concludes his trip in the notorious northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, where he will address the tide of illegal immigration into the United States, meet relatives of victims of violence, and visit a prison. African churches could face 'consequences' for supporting criminalisation of homosexuality Churches in countries such as Uganda and Nigeria who support the criminalisation of homosexuality could face "consequences" of their own, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned today. Justin Welby, speaking at the General Synod of the Church of England meeting in Westminster, acknowledged the 38 Anglican world leaders who form the Primates body, could put pressure on churches in provinces who support their country's view on homosexuality as illegal. Following the meeting of Anglican Primates in January, The Episcopal Church (TEC) faced "consequences" for its "fundamental departure" from Church teaching on sexuality. "The traditional doctrine of the church in view of the teaching of scripture, upholds marriage as between a man and a woman in faithful, lifelong union" a statement from the Primates' gathering affirmed. "The majority of those gathered reaffirm this teaching." However the statement also "reaffirmed their rejection of criminal sanctions against same-sex attracted people". Uganda, Burundi, Nigeria and Rwanda all punish homosexual practice and leaders from those countries were all represented at the meeting. However Anglican leaders in Uganda and Nigeria have openly expressed support for their country's legislation against homosexuality, in contradiction to the Primates' statement. "The prevailing ideology of gay activists not only undermines the Bible's message, which is deliberate on their part, but it is also an attack on the foundations of our society," the Church of Uganda said when it announced its support for the country's Anti-Homosexuality Act. The "consequences" faced by the liberal wing of the Anglican communion were a two-way street, Welby told General Synod. Although opposed to the criminalisation of homosexuality, Welby said he represented just one vote and a move to force provinces to face "consequences" would require support from other areas. Welby insisted that "sanctions" or "punishment" were not applied to the Episcopal Church but they faced "consequences" for their actions. However to bring the same consequences to the African churches who are part of the influential conservative Anglican group, Gafcon, risks splintering the Anglican Communion which Welby described earlier today as "fragile". Gafcon emerged in opposition to a perceived "false gospel" that had emerged within the Anglican Communion. They held a rival meeting to the last Lambeth Conference in 2008 and claimed the Anglican Church "promotes a variety of sexual preferences and immoral behaviour as a universal human right". Attacks on churches are increasing, says French interior minister Religion is under attack in France, according to Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. In an interview with La Croix, Cazeneuve said that attacks on Christian places of worship and cemeteries had gone up by 20 per cent in 2015, with 810 recorded. Anti-Muslim attacks had tripled since the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Jewish kosher supermarket, he said, and while there was a five per cent decrease in anti-Semitic attacks they remained at a high level. Cazeneuve said the "cardinal notion" in dealing with social divisions was "respect". "In the trial that we experience, the Republic must embody this notion with calmness and strength," he said. "Respect is expressed by secularism [laicite], which guarantees the freedom to believe or not to believe, and therefore when the free choice of religion is made, also ensures that it can be practised freely." He said the state must be "uncompromising" with this principle and that he had instructed the courts to prosecute offenders in the case of an "act of hatred against believers or desecration of places of worship or burial. This applies to all religions." Asked how he would counter imams who used violent language, he said he had deported 40 "hate preachers" and self-appointed imams and that 45 mosques and other places of worship had been searched under emergency powers, with 10 of them being closed. He paid tribute to the "remarkable work" of the president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, Anwar Kbibech. Himself an agnostic, Cazeneuve said secularism "must be applied, calmly, quietly, without seeking to discriminate against a particular religion" and that "to launch a declaration of war against religions would be a fatal mistake". France's principle of secularism has been keenly debated in recent months. The country's Minister of Education has said it needs to be "reappropriated" following fatal terrorist attacks in Paris. In an interview with the Guardian last month, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem defended France's secularist ethos as a positive influence but said it had been twisted by right-wing politicians and used to attack Islam. Far from rescinding on the country's secular philosophy, she said it was essential to the struggle against radicalisation in France. "We have to reappropriate the concept of laicite so we can explain to our young pupils that whatever their faith, they belong to this idea and they're not excluded," she said "Secularism is not something against them; it protects them," she insisted. Catholic priest wins reprieve - chapel will not be converted into Muslim prayer room A Catholic priest has won a reprieve for a Catholic hospital chapel after he successfully fought a proposal to convert it into a Muslim prayer room. Hundreds of people signed a petition against the plan, one of several options up for consideration at North Manchester General Hospital. Father Ged Murphy, of St Patrick's and St Malachy's parish in Collyhurst, started a petition against the plan to move one of the hospital's two Muslim prayer rooms into the chaplaincy space. The plan was for Catholics then to share another space with the existing Protestant chapel. The Roman Catholic Chapel of St Raphael, which is well used during the week, will now stay as it is. Father Murphy told the Manchester Evening News: "I am delighted that it is not being closed. What was pleasing was that members of the Muslim community signed our petition. "A member of the Catholic chaplaincy had been instrumental in getting Muslim prayer rooms established at the hospital. "I hope that a space can be found at the hospital which is more suitable to the needs of the Muslim community." Rev John Hall, chaplaincy co-ordinator at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "As a trust we recognise how important the provision of dedicated faith and prayer rooms are at our hospitals for our staff, patients, carers and visitors of all faiths. "As such - despite some media reports and comments and concerns posted on social media - we can confirm the trust has no plans to close any facilities, including the Catholic Chapel here, and we will not be changing or converting this important and well-used chapel into any other prayer room. "We provide a number of chapels and dedicated faith and prayer rooms across our trust, including at the North Manchester General Hospital. "As part of our efforts to improve our faith and spiritual care services across our hospitals, we are currently looking at how we can improve the access, availability and standard of our facilities for those of all faiths and for all that wish to use them for prayer and reflection. "We continue to listen and engage with all parties of all faiths to ensure we are meeting the needs of everyone who wishes to use our chaplaincy and spiritual care services and facilities. "More information about our spiritual care and faith services are available on our website at www.pat.nhs.uk. I would welcome any comments and feedback on how we can improve access to our faith facilities across our hospitals." Church forms human shield around St Valentine's bones to stop bishop taking them 'Valentine's day is all about love and affection, in theory at least. But an attempt by an Italian bishop to remove his remains from the cathedral where they rest has provoked an unholy row. Monsignor Giuseppe Piemontese, who has been the Bishop of Terni-Narni-Amelia since 2014, wanted to transfer the remains of the saint from the San Valentino Basilica in Terni, Umbria, to another cathedral three miles away. The occasion was a special Valentine's Day celebration as part of the Catholic Church's Holy Year of Mercy. However, according to the Telegraph, dozens of local people joined hands to prevent the bishop removing the relics and put chairs around the glass receptacle in which they are housed. Monsignor Piemontese's calls for calm were ignored, according to Italian media. "We are staying here together with our patron saint," said one protester. "No-one is going to take him away. "If they really want to do it, they're going to have to get past us, because we're not moving even one step backwards." The town has fallen into decay in recent years. Another protester said they had "had lost everything" and would not allow a piece of their history which is also an important tourist attraction to be taken from them. Yesterday the parishioners appeared to have defeated the bishop and retained the bones of the saint. In his sermon on Sunday morning Monsignor Piemontese accused them of behaving in an "intolerant, arrogant and disrespectful manner" and said the decision to move the remains had been taken "after many consultations and general consensus". The cathedral in Terni is one of three which claims to hold the bones of Valentine, martyred in Rome in the 3rd century. The relics were moved there in 1618, not long after it was built. Is the Vicar of Dibley set to come back as a bishop? Could the Vicar of Dibley be about to return to the nation's TV screens as a bishop? A return of one of the most popular series in sitcom history has been hinted at, with Dawn French, who played Rev Geraldine Granger, hinting that she might come back as a bishop. She told the Daily Mirror: "You know we now have Church law in the UK that women could be Bishops, so who knows? Watch this space she might get a promotion!" The series, which ran from 1994 to 2007, was set in the fictional Oxfordshire village of Dibley and played on what was then the novelty of women Church of England clergy. A return has been hinted at before, but the increasing age of some of the participants and the death of key cast member Roger Lloyd Pack, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2014, have meant a new series would have to look different. "Our old guys are really old now, so I don't think we could revisit it, because it's just too different," said French. The programme has returned for one-off sketches in support of Comic Relief, but Dibley fans will be eagerly watching to see whether Rev Geraldine gets her promotion at last. ISIS militants take over civilian homes in Raqqa, shave beards to avoid being targeted by enemy aircraft Islamic State (ISIS) fighters are feeling the heat from intensified coalition airstrikes to such an extent that they have resorted to shaving their beards and seizing civilian homes in their Syrian stronghold of Raqqa for fear of being targeted by armed drones and other coalition aircraft. The information came from residents who managed to flee Raqqa and fled to the Turkish city of Urfa, NBC News reported. "If your family is in a house, they take your house and they put their family in there," said Abu Baraa, 19, who fled last month from Raqqa to Turkey. "They've started taking people's homes and living there. It's hard for civilians to separate themselves. It means that the airstrikes are harming ISIS, but they're harming us, too." Baraa said ISIS militants simply barge into private homes and tell residents to get out or to allow them to live with them. Refusal means death, he said. "Recently they have been changing their appearance wearing civilian clothes, shaving their beards," he said. Instead of military vehicles, "they are using taxis more often" to move around. They also "cover their cars with mud so the aircraft can't see them," he said. The teen said when he was still living with his family in Raqqa, he was forced to watch public executions, including one carried out by Mohammed Emwazi the British militant known as "Jihadi John." "The situation became very dark you could see it in people's faces," he said. "There were bodies everywhere. Half of my friends have joined ISIS, half of my friends have been killed by ISIS." He said his parents feared for his safety and urged him to leave. He said smugglers helped him find a route across the Turkish border. He said ISIS is finding ways to cope with coalition attacks on economic targets like oil refineries. "They have introduced new taxation for cars," Baraa said. "There are now fines for crossing red lights. All the motorbikes now have new plates with the ISIS title on. Most of these new charges have come in the last three months." U.S. missionary recalls story on how Jesus Christ appeared before Muslim family in Mideast refugee camp Jesus Christ is in the war-torn places in the Middle East, "in the middle of the desert, in the dirt" and touching the lives of "the poor in spirit, the broken-hearted, the contrite, the desperate." Young American Christian missionary Tyler Connell has been spreading this message in his tour of college campuses around the U.S., sharing with fellow young Americans the stories from his most recent trip to Middle East, where he visually recorded a dramatic move of God among Muslims, particularly with refugees, Charisma News reported. Connell and his team from a group called the Ekballo Project have visited several campuses including Harvard, MIT, Iowa State, Clemson, and the University of Georgia. "In every stop we saw the presence of Jesus break in to these college campuses and touch students, with bodies healed, people saved, and people giving their lives to serve in the mission field," Connell said. He said college students are amazed to learn what God is doing in Iraq and Syria. "Jesus is moving in these Middle East nations," he told Mark Ellis of God Reports/Assist. In May 2015 Connell said he and his team spent eight days in the Middle East, going house to house among the refugees. "They were all Muslims but they all said they were disillusioned with Islam and they didn't know what they believed anymore," he said. "They asked, 'What is the truth?' There was a perfect cocktail of circumstances that caused them to be open to the preaching of the Gospel," he added. He admitted that he and his team had to confront their fears in going to dangerous places in the Middle East. "We realised that intimidation and fear was only a smokescreen. On the other side of that fear was our greatest breakthrough of joy and laying down our lives and seeing Jesus move like we never imagined," he said. Connell narrated one moving story about a fellow young missionary named Daniel who works with Syrian refugees. Like him, Daniel and his team also go house to house to visit Muslim families and sit and talk with them about the Gospel. One afternoon Daniel walked into a white tent with a family of eight people inside. "Hi I'm Daniel and I'm here to tell you about Jesus," he announced. The reaction from the family stunned him. "The family freaked out, they looked at each other, almost turned white. The father was excited, yelling," Connell recalled Daniel's words. "What's going on?" Daniel asked. The interpreter then explained to him that the night before his visit the whole family was sitting in their tent having tea together when a man in white opened the door to their tent and stood at the entrance. They said the man was glowing. "Hello, My name is Jesus and I am sending a man tomorrow named Daniel to tell you more about me," the man told them before disappearing. So when Daniel arrived at their doorway and told them his name, they were shocked beyond belief. "They asked him to tell them more about Jesus and he gave then the Gospel and the whole family gave their lives to Jesus," Connell said. Connell recalled a visit they made to a large Syrian refugee family. "The joy that broke out among these people was incredible," he said. "Jesus' presence was stronger than I have ever felt, in that little dirty room, with cat pee everywhere." "There were about 25 people in there and Jesus' presence was stronger than any conference, any prayer room, any camp-high moment. Jesus was there in the middle of the desert, in the dirt, with Muslims. He is attracted to the broken hearted, the contrite, the desperate. The King of Heaven was right there with the poor in spirit," he said. #Muslims4Lent: Solidarity or syncretism? The Muslims4Lent Twitter hashtag is getting quite a bit of traction. It was started last year by two Muslims, Bassel Riche and Salmaa Elshanshory of Eid.Pray.Love, wanting to reach out to Christians and show solidarity with us by giving up things they liked doing or eating during Lent, just as we do. That initiative inspired the #Christians4Ramadan movement, promoted among others by Julian Bond of the Christian Muslim Forum. And let's be honest: Ramadan is a good deal tougher than Lent. In the spiritual disciplines league, for nothing at all to pass your lips between sunrise and sunset is hardcore. Comparing that to giving up sugar, or chocolate, is like comparing a gentle park run to an Ironman challenge. So respect to Christians4Ramadan, but respect to Muslims4Lent, too. Giving up something you like is never easy, even if you know the good times are coming back. After Lent comes Easter. After Ramadan comes Eid. But there's more to it than that, of course, as anyone who has followed the excruciating saga of Larycia Hawkins and Wheaton College will realise. She was the professor who said she was going to wear a hijab in solidarity with Muslims during Advent and that, after all, we worship the same God. The firestorm that followed resulted in her losing her job. In the evangelical world, expressions of solidarity and mutual good will across the Christian-Muslim divide are transgressive. They seem to imply that there's no difference between us, that every way to God is equally valid. They raise the spectre of syncretism, in which odd bits and pieces of two different religions are cobbled together to form something that isn't really either. If a Muslim can observe Lent or a Christian Ramadan, isn't the fundamental distinction between them being eroded? Full disclosure: I think the whole Muslims4Lent thing is admirable, though I'm unlikely to reciprocate in Ramadan as I am just not spiritually tough enough. At its best, this is not about one religion trying to colonise another, or denying its own uniqueness; it's a statement of our shared humanity and an acknowledgment that we are children of one God. Dreading this already. That should not be a controversial thing to say: Malachi 2:10 says, "Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us?" and in Ephesians 3:14 Paul says, "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name." Interestingly, this sort of practice, which is far more about mutual respect and an acknowledgment of a common tradition than it is about blurring the boundaries between faiths, used to be far more common, particularly where Christians and Muslims were used to living alongside each other. It's the transformation of religion into politics and ideology begun by Islamists but enthusiastically embraced by Western culture warriors that has made it rare. In his wonderful 1997 book From the Holy Mountain, the record of a journey through the lands of Eastern Christianity made in the footsteps of the 6th-century monk John Moschos, William Dalrymple records other examples. He visits the shrine of a Muslim Sufi saint in Syria, for instance, and talks to the sheikh who looks after it. Many Christians went there for healing. The sheikh tells him of a Christian girl who spent the night at the tomb and was healed. "There is no difference between the Christians and ourselves on this matter," he says, "except that sometimes the Christians make the sign of the cross over the forehead of the person whom they want Nebi Uri to cure." In Lebanon he meets a priest who tells him that Muslim Druze come to his church. "When they need babies or are ill or in difficulties they come here. They give oil and incense and are healed." He tells Dalrymple: "In this part of the the world, for all our difficulties, religion has not just torn people apart. It has often brought them together. It is important to remember that." Even the characteristic Muslim posture of prayer, kneeling with the forehead to the ground, was borrowed from Eastern Christians. More full disclosure: I'm a Christian. I think syncretism is stupid and patronising. So when I say, "I believe in God", I'm saying I believe in the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ and incarnate in him alone. Does that mean that we can't respect and honour others' beliefs? For the life of me I can't see why. Of course there are limits on inter-faith observance. I wouldn't, for instance, think it appropriate for a Muslim to preach in a Christian church, or for a Christian to lead Muslim prayers. I would never do or say anything that implied Jesus was not Lord, and I wouldn't expect a Muslim to pray 'in Jesus' name' as an expression of solidarity. Our faiths are different. No one gains by pretending they're the same. But no one gains, either, by pretending they're so different there's no common ground, or that we need to be resolutely hostile toward each other. And if we are defining ourselves in opposition to each other by our Christian and Muslim faiths, there's something very right about using the practices of those faiths as bridges of understanding and commitment to each other. Muslims4Lent? Absolutely. Christians4Ramadan? I think I need to toughen up. Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods New Guidance Published on Christian-Muslim Etiquette The Christian and Muslim Forum has published the Christian-Muslim Etiquette Guide in an effort to clear up the confusion over what Christians and Muslims should and should not do upon meeting one another. The guidelines will attempt to provide 'ecumenical' answers to 10 common questions on the practices of Muslims and Christians and particularly sensitive areas, including the prayer habits of both faiths, dress and fasting traditions, with an eye to fostering closer encounters between the two faith groups. Members of the Christian Muslim Forum come from among the Sunni, Anglican, Shi'a, Catholic, Methodist and Orthodox traditions. The six-page document is intended to be a helpful guide to both the Muslim and Christian communities and anyone involved in inter-faith activities. Julian Bond at the Christian Muslim Forum said he hoped the guide would be "useful for those beginning to encounter each other and a springboard for learning more". The Christian Muslim Forum said in the guidance, meanwhile, that it hoped the advice would "ease some of the obstacles in the path to forming sincere relationships between Christians and Muslims". "Each faith has values, customs and practices which need to be understood by members of the other faith tradition if one wants to build sincere and sustainable relationships," it read. "This is particularly so with regard to Christians and Muslims who, although they share much in terms of faith, have very different ways of giving expression to this faith." The guidance advises Muslims and Christians to avoid "polemic, propaganda and proselytisation", calling on Christians in particular to recognise the respect that other faiths, particularly Muslims, give to Jesus Christ. "Dialogue is an opportunity for witness and for talking about Jesus," the guidance said. The guidance also sheds light on the different prayer traditions between Christians and Muslims, appealing to Muslims in particular to be aware that Christians often feel the need to pray "in the name of Jesus Christ". "We ask that they recognise that this is not done to cause offence or highlight theological disagreement but is a natural part of Christian prayer," the guidance read. The Christian Muslim Forum called for tolerance and compromise from both faith groups in order to build closer relationships. "We hope that mutual compromise and tolerance will underpin all relationships which, we anticipate, will overcome any offence given inadvertently." The Christian-Muslim Etiquette Guide can be accessed online at www.christianmuslimforum.org Pennsylvania pastor offers free prayer at coffee shops, says he's humbled at how the Spirit works Associate Pastor Thomas Rusert is not really a coffee drinker. "I drink coffee only on Thursdays. This is partly because I am a weirdly patterned person. It's also because I feel insecure ordering my preferred tea at a coffee shop; it's like ordering a salad at a steakhouse," he writes on the Faith and Leadership website. Rusert of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Doylestown, Pennsylvania says the reason he drinks coffee on Thursdays "is because that's the day I take a little sign that says 'Free Prayer' and sit at a local coffee shop for a few hours." In his first year of ministry, he spent time visiting people's homes, applauding their children's artwork and praying with them at dinner tables. He says the "administrative demands of parish ministry otherwise keep many of us shackled to our swivel chairs" and come Thursday morning, "I become cantankerous." "So for everyone's sake, I heed that good advice and break out of my sacred confines, fleeing to a local coffee shop for reading and sermon writing," he says. Each Thursday, he wears a clergy collar and set up at coffee shops with the sign "Free Prayer" that says "Pray, and let God worry." "And people stop to pray with me every time," he says. Rusert also spoke to Fox News, saying, "I'm humbled all the time by the way that the Spirit works. God is working to give people the courage to say, 'All right I'm going to take this pastor up on this offer.'" He remembers Amari, a man he met at a local Starbucks. The man asked him "'Free prayer'? What's that?" and he explained it to him. The man walked outside and Rusert followed him and invited him for a walk. "As we strolled together over the next hour, I heard all the unuttered prayers and pains he had held inside for two years," said Rusert, citing the man's problems including his wife who left him because of identity crisis, a friend who died from blood clot and an aunt who died from medical malpractice. "Then I read those words, 'Free Prayer,'" the man said, "and I couldn't keep it in anymore." "It seemed that God had enacted a little apocalypse, an awakening, in Amari's soul. And all I'd had to do at first was sit there," Rusert said. He said the bulk of his ministry is still among people in his congregation but he's grateful for the free prayers at coffee shops each week. "I think of the schizophrenic woman who stopped and asked for prayer because she sees witches. We prayed for courage and strength and protection. An owner of a Dunkin' Donuts asked me to pray for her shop," he said. For Rusert, "God has been up to a lot in my life through this Free Prayer ministry." "While it has done admittedly little to expand the ranks of my congregation, it has done much to expand my vocation to include the ranks upon ranks of God's people I have never met who are searching for answers, waiting for comfort and willing to pray," he says. He adds: "Sometimes, we have to move beyond the shadows of a steeple to take care of our people. And in so doing, we may just find that God takes care of us, too." Play depicting Jesus as transgender woman shown in Manchester church Jesus was portrayed as a transgender woman in a performance in an Anglican church yesterday. The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, has not blocked the play entitled 'The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven'. Award-winning playwright Jo Clifford, a Christian who is herself transgender, depicts Jesus retelling biblical stories with a "different slant". "The play imagines a transgender Jesus coming back to the world today," Clifford said. "She pitches a sermon and tells a few very familiar gospel stories." "She has a communion, shares bread and wine with the audience, which is really a gesture of solidarity in the face of death and she gives a blessing." When the play was first shown in Glasgow in 2009, 300 protestors held a demonstration outside the theatre in opposition. One protestor said she had not seen the play but said "you don't need to go near a sewer to know it stinks". At the time the Archbishop of Glasgow condemned the play and said it was "hard to imagine a greater affront to the Christian faith". At one point in the play Jesus, played by Clifford, says, "I love my mum" in reference to God. At another, she says: "Our Mother who art on Earth, blessed is your name." Against images of gay couples kissing, she continues: "Give us this day our daily kisses, for yours is the Queendom..." The play, which was performed at St Chrysostom's Church in Manchester's Victoria Park, includes a reinterpretation of the story of prodigal son in which he is thrown out by his father for wanting a sex change. The show has met with considerable controversy and numerous critics have labelled it offensive and "wholly inappropriate". However its staging in a church has raised particular concerns. Michael Nazir-Ali, a traditionalist and former Bishop of Rochester, said: "It is quite clear from the Gospels that the identity of Jesus is male, his "mum" is Mary and he always refers to God as "Father", so to suggest otherwise is contrary to Christian teaching. "In cases in which a play is to be staged in a church building, the bishop is perfectly entitled under Church law to direct the cleric in charge to ensure the content will be consistent with Christian teaching and not offensive to the public. "If the bishop's directions are not followed, the matter becomes one of discipline." Another senior cleric and expert in Church law described the play as "wholly inappropriate for performance in a consecrated building" and looked to the bishop to take action "as he is required to do". Clergy are required under church law to "take care" plays performed in churches are in line with "sound doctrine" and those in doubt should refer the matter to the bishop. The Bishop of Worcester, John Inge, a member of the Church's doctrine committee, said he was "surprised" the play was performed in a church and added the production sounded "irreverent". However Clifford has previously dismissed claims the play was blasphemous. "People did that when they didn't know anything about the play," she said. "They assumed that it would be very offensive to the church. "As a practising Christian myself, I have no interest in attacking the church or mocking the church or making fun of the church or in any way being blasphemous or offensive. "I simply want to assert very strongly, as strongly as I can, that Jesus of the Gospels would not in any way wish to attack or denigrate people like myself. "I think it's very important to get across the message that Jesus of the Gospels would not condone or want to promote prejudice and discrimination against anybody and to try to convey a message of compassion and love and understanding of everybody," she said. "No matter what their belief, no matter what their gender, orientation or sexuality." Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, said in a statement that depictions of Jesus as one of a marginalised group was an honourable tradition. "That [they] are often controversial should neither surprise us nor be a reason for rejecting them," he said. "...Whilst the performance of a drama which imagines how Christ might look as a member of the Transgender community is both challenging and well away from the historical person of Jesus, it can still represent an important truth that he who took on human flesh is their Lord and Saviour as much as anyone else's. Nevertheless, there are aspects of the play Jesus, Queen of Heaven which to my mind stray beyond the challenging into territory that many reasonable Christians will find offensive." The bishop added that while offence in itself is not grounds for preventing the play to take place, he could not support it being shown in a church venue. However, this decision, he said, lies with the local minister. Police issue citation to preacher for publicly speaking out against STDs which 'offended' Texas university students An evangelical preacher who publicly spoke out against sexually transmitted diseases and unsafe sexual practices off campus in Texas was issued a ticket by a police officer for disorderly conduct that offended students. The preacher, identified only as Joshua who is an intern at Campus Ministry USA, was confronted by police officers on Tuesday off campus at the University of Texas in Austin and was told he would be cited after students complained. A video of the incident was uploaded online showing a police officer telling the preacher, "We had somebody that was offended by the gestures you were making." "And that's our job to make sure that doesn't happen, because these are students just walking in this mall right here. So the job here is to write you up as a citation, disorderly conduct, for offending someone," he added. Joshua protested and asked how it was against the law to use the term for the male sex organ, according to WND. "It doesn't matter, freedom of speech. Someone was offended that's against the law. I don't want to argue with you. That's against the law," the police officer said. Brother Jed Smock, leader of Campus Ministry USA, told The Daily Caller that Joshua "was speaking out against STDs, warning against anal sex." "After a lawyer representing Joshua called the chief of police, the chief called Joshua and apologised. The citation was withdrawn." Smock added. The university later issued a statement to say that the citation had been voided. "The University of Texas at Austin Police Department (UTPD) 'chain of command' has fully reviewed the incident brought to our attention this morning, and has determined that the disorderly conduct citation issued did not meet the intent and requirements of the law, and as such, the citation has been voided," said public information officer Cynthai Posey, according to The Blaze. She said a review by the university "showed that the officers in training responded to a call for service in good faith and with respect for all parties involved, including the person(s) wishing to file charges as well those being accused." "The department will use this opportunity to remind us all of the importance of safe-guarding all people's constitutional rights, of which UTPD is fully committed and obligated to defend," she said. Ari Cohn of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education said, "The implications for campus expression are dire." "If offending someone on campus is now grounds for criminal citations, students wishing to express themselves will much more likely censor themselves, or simply refrain from speaking at all," he said. Princeton University heeds request of Hindus, opens their own prayer room Princeton University in New Jersey is trying to accommodate students and staff of all faiths, recently opening up a prayer area for Hindus. According to Christian News, the Universal Society of Hinduism had long been asking university officials for a space for those who practice Hinduism. The editorial board of the Princeton student newspaper "The Daily Princetonian" even wrote back in April that the concept "has wide support from both Hindu and non-Hindu, religious and non-religious students across the university." School officials listened to the plea, and now they have a prayer area for Hindus replete with a temple for the Hindu goddess Saraswati, who is known as "the goddess of knowledge and arts." The prayer area is reportedly located in Green Hall. It also contains Hindu books, musical instruments and space for private meditation. They plan to offer guided meditation in the future. Now, Princeton University boasts of a chapel that is used for Christian services, a Muslim prayer room, a centre for Jews and an interfaith prayer room, aside from the recently installed Hindu prayer room. After its success with Princeton University, the Universal Society of Hinduism is now trying to get airports worldwide such as the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Frankfurt Airport in Germany to also put up designated Hindu prayer rooms. "Prayer/worship to god was highly important in Hinduismthe oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherentsand it would be great to have a Hindu prayer service or 'Hindu Prayer Room' at airports so that Hindu passengers did not miss their daily worship rituals/rites while travelling through, which might include recitation of texts, repetition of mantras and dhayan (meditation)," said its President Rajan Zed. "Hindus would appreciate if this 'Hindu Prayer Room' had murtis (statues) of popular deities, copies of sacred scriptures, a traditional bell and recorded devotional music; and once-a-week kirtan and arti session was held in it," he added. Steve Chalke: Some Muslim teaching is closer to Christ than some churches' Steve Chalke, pastor and founder of the Oasis charity, has told Christian Today he believes parts of Islamic theology better reflect God's character than some Christian teaching. In an interview to coincide with the release of his new book Radical, Chalke explained how he had come to the conclusion "Muslims and Christians worship the same God". Within Christianity there are vastly different interpretations of God, Chalke said, citing issues such as human sexuality, women bishops and speaking in tongues on which he disagrees with some other Christians. "As individuals we all worship different shades of the same God," he told Christian Today. "There are Christians who worship a militant, violent God. There are Christians who worship a God who doesn't want women in leadership. There are Christians who worship a God who says if you are gay you will burn in hell. There are Christians who worship a God who does not believe in global warming." He added: "I don't separate from them even though they have a very different take on God's character from me." He cited the theologian Miroslav Volf, who took a similar line in his book Allah: A Christian Response. Chalke went on to describe certain elements of Islamic belief such as the theology of ummah or community, which he found "very attractive". "I know some emphases in Islamic teaching come closer to the teaching of Christ and the Bible than some teaching in Western churches," he said. He made it clear he did not believe Christianity and Islam were the same but said they worship different interpretations of one God, or Allah (the Arabic term for God). "Ultimately the full interpretation of who Allah/God is can be seen through Jesus," he told Christian Today. "Islam and Christianity are two very different faiths and there are huge differences between the two." But Chalke insisted there was significant common ground that must be explored. "If we say Islam is an evil religion and they worship a different God and Christianity is the only way to heaven then we are heading for World War Three," he said. He said "tabloid" representations of Islam were permeating the Church. "If we went into a pub tonight and asked people what Christians believe they would say six-day creationists, anti-gay, anti-abortion, boring, if you die before you're baptised you will go to hell. The tabloid media have led people to misunderstand Christianity and pastors now have to spend half their time de-mythologising Christianity. "What we don't realise is the media are selling us the same lie about Muslims," he said. He added: "The problem is we don't know any Muslims. Everyone is scared of Muslims except the one who sits next to them at work". Chalke's new book explores how people are radicalised and defends Islam, arguing "negative radicalisation is not an Islamic problem but a human one". He calls for a different approach where young people are given a story "as radical as that of the extremists' story". "The answer to radicalisation is radicalisation," Chalke said, explaining he wanted to "radicalise every young person" with a positive story of "belonging, identity, self-worth, and purpose". Sudden death of conservative Justice Scalia plunges U.S. Supreme Court, politics into turmoil The Obama administration was plunged into turmoil following the sudden and unexplained death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the outspoken leader of the Supreme Court's conservative bloc. Right after the announcement of his death was made on Saturday by Chief Justice Johh G. Roberts, Jr., partisan political battle erupted in Washington with President Barack Obama pledging to nominate a successor to Scalia "in due time," according to USA TODAY. Democratic leaders also called for Scalia's immediate replacement, a plan strongly opposed by their Republican counterparts, The Washington Post reported. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said in a statement that the Senate controlled by his party should not confirm a replacement for Scalia until after the November election. "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," McConnell said. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nevada) held a different view. "It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat," he said. "Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate's most essential Constitutional responsibilities." Scalia's shocking death also cast a pall of uncertainty on how the Supreme Court would deal with the most controversial issues facing America: abortion, affirmative action, the rights of religious objectors to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and the president's powers on immigration and deportation. With only eight members left, the Court could evenly split its votes on those issues. If a Supreme Court vote on an issue ends in a 4-4 deadlock, the decision of the appeals court remains in place, the Washington Post said. Scalia, 79, was the Supreme Court's second-oldest and longest-serving justice, having joined in 1986. He died while on a hunting trip in Texas. The Supreme Court did not reveal the cause of death. "I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away," Chief Justice Roberts said in a statement. "He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. His passing is a great loss to the court and the country he so loyally served." Scalia's death was first reported on the website of the San Antonio Express News, which quoted an unnamed federal official as saying the justice apparently died of natural causes. Scalia had spent Friday quail hunting at Cibolo Creek Ranch, then went to bed. When he didn't appear for breakfast Saturday morning, a person went to his room and found him dead. With his sharp intellect, Scalia was the champion among Republican conservatives and a villain for liberal Democrats. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential hopeful, posted a statement on Facebook mourning the death of "one of the greatest justices in history." Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the justice "the solid rock who turned away so many attempts to depart from and distort the Constitution." Vatican: Yes, Catholic bishops do have to report child abuse The Vatican has not changed its guidelines on reporting abuse against children, a spokesman has said. It was widely reported last week that new bishops undertaking a Vatican course were told that they were not obliged to report abuse when it was discovered. The policy was first reported by a Vatican journalist at Catholic news website Crux, who cited a presentation given by Monsignor Tony Anatrella. Anatrella, a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, also wrote a training document for new bishops in which similar guidelines are laid out. This document states: "According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds." However, a Vatican spokesman has said Anatrella's document was "not in any way...a new Vatican document or a new instruction or new guidelines for bishops". Father Federico Lombardi said Anatrella "does not say anything new or different from what has been said up until now by relevant church institutions". Pope Francis approved new procedures last June for the Vatican to investigate claims of "abuse of office" by bishops who failed to protect children against abuse. Anatrella said that in countries where reporting was mandatory, it was "not necessarily up to" the bishop to report to civil authorities as soon as he has learned of an accusation, but up to the alleged victim and/or the family. However, in an interview with the French news agency iMedia, he said: "For the church, it is obvious that there must be cooperation between church tribunals and police and judicial authorities" concerning the crime of abuse. Clarifying his remarks about reporting abuse, he said: "I said in this paragraph that the bishop or his representative will first encourage the minor-victim and his or her family to file a complaint with the police. If they do not, then it is up to the church authority to make a report." Lombardi's statement was backed by a similar commitment from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which was created by Pope Francis in 2014 and is chaired by Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston. It said in a statement: "As Pope Francis has so clearly stated, 'The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must not be kept secret for any longer. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all'. "We, the president and the members of the commission, wish to affirm that our obligations under civil law must certainly be followed, but even beyond these civil requirements, we all have a moral and ethical responsibility to report suspected abuse to the civil authorities who are charged with protecting our society." Welby at Synod: Primates meeting was 'spun more than Donald Trump' The Archbishop of Canterbury today called on Christian commentators to stop doing a "Donald Trump" on the leaders of the Anglican Communion. He criticised the "misrepresentation" that emerged from the recent Primates meeting of worldwide Anglican leaders in Canterbury. "It has been spun more than Donald Trump," he joked. "The spin included such elements as saying that the Primates had had their phones removed, and that they were being treated as children. Even some seasoned journalists believed this and printed it as fact." In his presidential address opening the three-day meeting of General Synod in London, Justin Welby reported on the recent gathering of Primates where the Episcopal Church was removed from full participation in the Anglican Communion for its support of same-sex marriage. Welby reminded Synod representatives "divisions were profound" and they "should not have any illusions of the fragility of communion". Over the next two days members of Synod will discuss matters including human sexuality both on the Synod floor and behind the scenes. However Welby opened the assembly by urging different groups not to "strive to grab the wheel" of power. He spoke of the importance of "freedom, order and human flourishing" and said "as a communion where authority is found in discernment, an expressed in relationship, this trio is hugely important". "Disaster comes whenever one element has overcome the others to an excessive degree," Welby told Synod. He lamented how in Church history, "a hunger for power, masquerading as order, has very often overcome freedom, and neglected human flourishing. "Order is essential, but it exists to assure foot washing and love, not domination," he said in a speech where he praised the "graciousness" of bishops in America and Canada who faced "consequences" for their position on homosexuality. "The reality is that none of them [different conservative and liberal groups] do know fully, and disaster is only avoided by unity which relishes and celebrates the diversity of freedom and flourishing within broad limits of order." The Archbishop's comments will be taken as a plea for unity as the Church looks to tackle this divisive issue. In addition to discussions on sexuality, Synod will debate Welby's Reform and Renewal programme and ecumenical relations with the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Woman sues Florida megachurch after failing to get hush money to keep affair with pastor a secret A woman has filed a lawsuit against a Florida megachurch after it reportedly did not pay her the promised hush money to keep her alleged affair with a pastor a secret. Church member Arlene Miranda filed the suit against Orlando Baptist Church based in Orange County, saying the church failed to pay the agreed $3,000 so she would keep quiet about her alleged affair with Pastor David Janney, 61, married, and the church's president. "They threatened me. If I didn't sign it, they threatened me," Miranda told WFTV. Miranda denied she filed the lawsuit for the money, saying "I committed a sin. The Holy Spirit really, really convicted me and I wanted to come clean." Her lawsuit is being shouldered by businessman Craig Mateer, who sued Janney's charity in 2012, accusing it of misusing funds. The case was eventually settled out of court. Mateer allegedly gave $117,000 to Janney's World Hope, but based on investigation, the money appeared to have enriched Janney, according to the Orlando Sentinel and Raw Story. In her lawsuit, Miranda said she's been a member of the church since 2008. Last September, she claimed that Janney "started making sexual advances towards" her. "David Janney texted Plaintiff about his sexual fantasies about her," the lawsuit said, adding that on the following Labor Day weekend, they had an affair at the World Hope office. After the affair, Janney continued to text her about the incident and its effect on him. "You're beautiful, you're very sexy, your body is amazing and you're very passionate," he allegedly told her. "I wish we had a better place and a better time for today. You're more than I fantasised. Be proud of yourself. [A]nd now please give me a few days to work through my mind my heart and talk to my Lord. More than anything I want to be the man of God and your pastor," Janney allegedly wrote her. But when Janney learned that Miranda had disclosed the affair to Pastor Don Norman, "he sent her threatening text messages regarding her and her children, and demanded she keep quiet about the affair," the lawsuit read. On Dec. 2, Janney and other church officers presented Miranda with a non-disclosure agreement that promised to pay her $375 a week starting Dec. 4. "In return, Plaintiff would not disparage David Janney, OBC, Inc., or otherwise disclose her affair with David Janney," the lawsuit read. Miranda signed the agreement. She later said she didn't receive any payment up to the time she filed the lawsuit. Because of the scandal, Janney resigned from the church. "Pastor Dave Janney resigned as the Senior Pastor effective Sunday, February 7, 2016, not because the allegations against him are true, but because he felt his resignation was in the best interest of the Church," the church said in a statement. It added, "Orlando Baptist Church is saddened by the resignation of Pastor Dave Janney. He leaves with our love and support. As a church we desire to extend grace and love to all, in all that we do. The church will be forming a pulpit committee that will lead in the process of selecting a new pastor. Ultimately our church members will be able to ask questions of, and vote for, any new pastor." So you bought your special someone a dozen roses and a box of truffles? That's cute, but you could have done better, according to NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration says instead of going with the generic flowers, lovers of the world should go for an out-of-this-world "rose made of galaxies" in a Facebook post on Sunday. A man is on the run after he was accused in the strangulation death of a 22-year-old woman almost two years ago in southeast Houston. Carlos Torres, 27, is charged with murder in the death of Eleivia Vigil whose body was found about 4 p.m. June 22, 2014, in her apartment at 5100 Chennault, according to the Houston Police Department. Police said Vigil had been been out at various bars the night before and returned to her home about 2 a.m. He family tried to wake her up later in the morning but her bedroom door was locked. When they knocked on her door later and she still did not respond, they looked through her bedroom window and saw her inside the room on her bed. She was dead. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences determined she had been strangled. Police later identified Torres as the suspect in this case. He was arrested on Dec. 10, 2014. While out on bond, Torres removed his court-ordered ankle monitor and his whereabouts are now unknown.He was last heard from on Feb. 14. Torres, who is considered armed and dangerous, is believed to have fled in his 2003 gold Nissan Xterra with Texas license plates BT8J480. Police did not release information about what investigators to Torres in the case. Anyone with information on Torres' whereabouts is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713 308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713 222-TIPS. Sequoia DiAngelo upped the ante on the second annual Denali Foundation Gala, and it paid off. Through the combined efforts of DiAngelo and chair Leslie Wall Hassen, the evening's initial goal of $30,000 was doubled, bringing in $60,000 through pledges and a successful silent auction. The organization, named after DiAngelo's late brother, Denali Schmidt, will use the funds to build the Denali School in Nepal. Denali Schmidt and his father, Marty Schmidt, both died trying to summit K2 in 2013. Two years later, an earthquake devastated the area, destroying many schools. Officials with Montgomery County, the Texas Department of Transportation and the Harris County Toll Road Authority are starting to see the key segments of Texas 249 between Harris and Montgomery counties beginning to taking shape. James Baker, director of transportation Houston region, for Halff Engineers, met with members of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce to talk about the progress of the second phase in Montgomery County, between Spring Creek and FM 1774 in Pinehurst. "This is their starter toll road," Baker said. "It's probably an ideal project because Harris County is building all that infrastructure up to Spring Creek, and then the Texas Department of Transportation is carrying it north of us, so this was the perfect project for them to get into the business of project development for toll roads." In April 2015, Harris County opened the first phase of the Tomball Tollway, between Spring-Cypress Road and FM 2920. The 6.7 mile segment cost $73 million to build, and tallied 7.9 million transactions in all of 2015. It's believed that the second phase will attract just as much traffic when it is finally completed within the next two years. Currently, HCTRA is designing the second phase of the project - a 1.6 mile route that begins at FM 2920 and entends to Spring Creek - which is estimated to cost $120 million. The design phase for that project is about 60 percent complete, but officials said this will not affect the start date, scheduled for September, said John Tyler, HCTRA's deputy director of engineering. The designs will be reviewed internally in March. Once those plans are finalized, they will be submitted to the Harris County Commissioners Court in August which will allow HCTRA to advertise and receive bids in September. "We are communicating with utility companies, private and public, to work with them to start their relocation. We have the last property acquisition, with the Lone Star College-Tomball campus. We are having meeting with them and we are working through that process," Tyler said. Meanwhile, the design work for Montgomery County's section is about 30 percent completed, and officials expect to begin seeing bids in June 2017. Although the projects are staggered, both are expected to be completed by early 2018. If medical marijuana arguably is the puff that comforts, ailing Jewish New Yorkers with prescriptions for the drug now may indulge without worrying about succumbing to "pot culture," the world's first marketer of Orthodox Union kosher-certified weed is telling potential customers. Pot purveyor Ari Hoffnung recently introduced the certified weed at his Queens dispensary, saying the certification "sends an important message to New Yorkers of all faiths and backgrounds that using medical cannabis to alleviate pain and suffering does not in any way represent an embrace of 'pot culture.'" 19-year-old dies in collapse of sewer trench CYPRESS - A 19-year-old man was killed Saturday afternoon when a trench he was digging collapsed and buried him. The CyFair Volunteer Fire Department got a call at 2:20 p.m. Saturday for a trench rescue, according to the department's spokesman, Brian Shirley. "A 19-year-old male was working on a trench for sewer lines and manholes for a new subdivision out there, and it collapsed on him," Shirley said. The victim, whose identity has not yet been released, was about 16 feet down when the sides of the trench came down on him, burying him in the dirt. No one else was injured in the incident. The volunteer fire department dispatched three fire trucks, two rescue trucks, a ladder truck, and ambulance among other vehicles to respond to the call near Mueschke Road and Towering Cypress Drive. While originally showing up for a rescue, the department switched into recovery mode after 20 minutes. It took the department hours of digging to reach the victim, according to Shirley. In addition to the fire department, OSHA also responded, as well as the medical examiner. Shirley said the victim worked for Principal Services, LTD., a Humble-based water- and sewer-line construction company with roughly 20 employees. Three injured in two-car wreck in Midtown Three people were injured - one critically - when a driver headed the wrong direction on Spur 527 in Midtown slammed into an oncoming SUV early Sunday morning. The crash happened around 4 a.m., when a man driving a BMV with a female passenger entered the northbound lanes of the freeway connection, headed south. Shortly before the exit to Louisiana, the driver slammed head-on into a Kia SUV by a woman. All three were taken to area hospitals, with one of the women, age 23, in critical condition, according to emergency officials at the scene. Firefighters had to extract at least one of the people involved in the crash from one of the mangled vehicles. One dead, three injured in night club shooting Three people were injured and one was killed at a shooting outside a Houston night club early Sunday. According to initial reports, a fight broke out in the parking lot of a night club formerly known as Club Fiesta on Winkler Drive, adjacent to the Gulf Freeway. A person reportedly pulled a gun and began shooting into the crowd, hitting four people. All four victims were transported to area hospitals. One man died at East Houston Regional Medical Center. From staff reports Community activists called Sunday for the Texas Rangers to investigate the killing of Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth, as a ballooning scandal over the relationship between deputies and a witness to the shooting raise additional questions about case. "We want the Texas Rangers to get involved to investigate the facts of the murder and also investigate the sheriff's department's involvement with this key witness," Quanell X said Sunday. He also called for the trial of Shannon Miles, who is charged in the murder, to be moved outside of Harris County. Court papers revealed last year that Goforth, 47, was having an affair with a woman present at the gas station where he was gunned down in August 2015. The sheriff's office has since fired an investigator and a deputy for having sexual relationships with the same witness. Another deputy was fired last week for engaging in inappropriate communications with the witness. Sheriff Ron Hickman said last week he's embarrassed by the scandal and also that he regretted saying on the day Miles was arrested and charged with capital murder that anti-police rhetoric nationwide had gotten out of control and that Goforth had been targeted simply for wearing a uniform. Though no evidence has specifically emerged as to Miles' motive, Hickman reiterated his belief that Goforth was killed solely because he was in uniform. "At the press conference, I drew a conclusion based on the absence of any other information," he said. "I stand by that." HCSO spokesman Thomas Gilliland said Sunday that a Texas Rangers investigation would be unnecessary. "The Harris County Sheriff's Office internal affairs division are more than capable of investigating our employees," Gilliland said. He said there aren't any more deputies currently being investigated for relationships with the witness. Anthony Osso, Miles's attorney, said he would be against the Texas Rangers taking over the investigation, stating that the sheriff's office and county district attorney's office are already involved. "The last thing that we need is to have a third law enforcement agency involved in this investigation," Osso said. "I'm fine with the fact that the sheriff's office has problems with their investigation." Osso has previously said that since Goforth was meeting his mistress at the gas station the night he was killed, he was not technically on duty and therefore Miles is ineligible for the death penalty. Last week, Miles was declared incompetent to stand trial, meaning he will be committed to a state mental hospital until he can understand the charges against him. Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, lobbied to put Miles on a fast track for a transfer out of the Harris County Jail. Osso opposes expediting the transfer, noting that the judge gave his team at least 10 days to gather medical records and complete additional testing in hopes of identifying the exact cause of his mental illness before his transfer. Miles is scheduled to appear in court at noon Monday for a hearing on the expedited transfer. AUSTIN - Texas Democrats don't have a lot of easy choices in the Republican-dominated Legislature. They can make a pragmatic effort to work with GOP leaders, pass measures for which they can get Republican support and focus on bringing home at least some bacon for their districts. Or they can fight, castigating the Republicans' limited-government agenda as harmful to the state's future and finding parliamentary maneuvers to destroy - or at least hold hostage - GOP legislation with which they disagree. Conventional wisdom and experience tell us that in the widely watched San Antonio race between Sen. Jose Menendez and Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, Menendez is the pragmatist and his challenger is the warrior. But Martinez Fischer, despite a reputation as a skilled fighter in the art of parliamentary battle, isn't embracing that description. "No one is taking a warrior approach. I think that the style that I have is versatile to apply in different settings and my track record is very is proof-positive that I can be the fixer - work with Republicans to put $4 billion back in public schools - or I can be the principled leader who stands up and says, 'This is wrong,'" Martinez Fischer told me. 'Warm, fuzzy' Menendez scoffed. "TMF 2.0 huh?" he asked, citing Martinez Fischer's hard-edged rhetoric in last year's special-election battle when they first faced off for the seat vacated by Leticia Van de Putte, who this time around has endorsed Menendez. "It was all, 'I'm going to go show those Republicans' And so I find it almost humorous that now he's tried to make himself the new warm and fuzzy version." Warm and fuzzy or not, Martinez Fischer has long touted his ability to work with Republicans on key issues, usually after finding a way to leverage their support because his knowledge of rules has made him a bill-killing machine in the House. He was recognized for his leadership role by Texas Monthly. But Martinez Fischer's dismissal of the "warrior" description is at odds with his often fierce approach and an ad last year in which he targeted Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who beat Van de Putte in the race to become the Senate's presiding officer. "Some fights you can't back down from. Dan Patrick's going to learn that," he said then. Martinez Fischer is focusing on his ability to strategize and help forge big deals. He said in a KLRN debate that his skills would allow him to "set hooks" in bills as they leave the Senate that will allow them to be torpedoed in the House. But just because he doesn't call himself a warrior doesn't mean he has gone soft. "I have spent a lot of time cleaning up Jose's mess in the House," Martinez Fischer said at a forum with Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith. For his part, Menendez pushes back on the idea that his work-within-the-system approach means he's not also a fighter. He said he battled measures including a bill to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities, which prevent local officers from asking people about immigration status during routine stops. "Fighting for something and passing bills aren't mutually exclusive," Menendez told Smith at a Texas Tribune forum. 'Dead certain' Menendez told me he thought Martinez Fischer's statements would impede his ability to be effective. "On the left, he's saying that he knows how to use the rulebook better than the senators that are there, and so he's telling us all, 'Ya'll aren't as bright as I am.... On the right, he's telling them, 'You people are just wrong. You're GOP. You're 'Gringos or other pendejos,'" Menendez said, referring to a slur by Martinez Fischer at Democrats' state convention in 2014. "I don't see how you can be effective that way." Martinez Fischer said, "How things play out for me in the Senate, I will approach that milestone when I get there, but I think one thing is dead certain - that I will work hard, and I will never give up, and I have a level of determination and tenacity that will do what I think is best for the people who elected me to the office." The election's importance stretches far beyond San Antonio, with some casting it as a bellwether for Texas Democrats. Do Democrats want a fighter, albeit one who downplays his warrior reputation? Or do they want a pragmatist who says he can fight when he needs to do so? Which will help Democrats most as they seek to affect issues including education and health care? Voters will start answering that Tuesday, when early balloting begins for the March 1 primary election. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man who offered various explanations for why up to 30 patrol cars were pursuing him remained in jail Monday after leading police on a high-speed chase through five counties. Jonathan Davis, 26, reportedly from Hendersonville, Tenn., was arrested Thursday just north of Waco after police used spike strips to flatten two tires on his silver Mazda sedan, according to KWTX-TV. The southbound chase started in Rockwall County with a traffic stop for a license plate light that was out, KRHD-TV reported. "I'm done with people trying to take my freedom because I smoke weed," Davis told a reporter from KCEN-TV. "You drink. It's 10 times worse." Davis, interviewed in a patrol car, acknowledged that he was arrested with marijuana but also said, "I'm thinking (the chase was because) I was on my iPad, to change music. They didn't tell me." During the interview, Davis laughed about being on Snapchat and Instagram during the pursuit. ICYMI: Raw Interview of suspect from Thursday night's high-speed chase that started in Rockwall county east of Dallas and ended just north of Waco. FULL STORY===>http://bit.ly/1PrjA1m Posted by KCEN TV on Friday, February 12, 2016 According to KCEN, the crash ended when Davis crashed his car into a median near Exit 339 of Interstate 35E. WFAA-TV reported that it also took some gunshots to stop Davis' speeding car at about 10:10 p.m. Thursday, after spike strips blew out two tires and he continued driving until officers shot out the other two. That brought a halt to the 90-minute pursuit through Rockwall, Dallas, Ellis, Hill and McLennan Counties, the station said. WFAA reported that Davis threw drugs out of the car and "repeatedly drove the wrong way" on the Interstate and frontage roads. McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara told reporters that Davis' reckless driving put a lot of people in danger. According to online McLennan County records, Davis is charged with evading arrested with a vehicle, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated (second offense) and possessing a prohibited substance in a correctional facility. His bail totals $42,000. A North Texas man with a long arrest record got away from Lewisville police during a visit to a hospital emergency room. Thomas Isaac Cano, 27, of the north Dallas suburb of Little Elm, was in the Lewisville city jail Sunday when he complained of heroine withdrawal symptoms, said Capt. Dan Rochelle of the Lewisville Police Department. The Ted Cruz campaign released an ad Monday questioning the trustworthiness of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. The 30-second spot takes a clip from a 1999 interview with Trump where he tells Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert that he would not ban abortion. "I am pro-choice in every respect," Trump tells Russert. This comes on the heels of Justice Antonin Scalia's death on Saturday which leaves a vacant seat on the Supreme Court that some Republicans want filled by the next president. "The purpose of the ad is to get people to understand that the Supreme Court hangs in the balance with the death of Scalia," Cruz campaign director of communications Rick Tyler said. CRUZ vs. GETO BOYS: Hip-hop legends not happy with Ted Cruz attack ad If a candidate with a liberal history is elected, there is a risk of further eroding constitutional liberties, according to the news release. Trump fired back Monday with his strongest rhetoric so far against the junior senator from Texas and one of his main competitors for the Republican presidential nomination. In a statement, Trump said he was "staunchly pro-life" but says like Ronald Reagan, on many issues, he has evolved. "Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual," Trump said. "He is the single biggest liar I've ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them. His statements are totally untrue and completely outrageous. It is hard to believe a person who proclaims to be a Christian could be so dishonest and lie so much." AD OOPS: Porn actress in Cruz commercial was supposed to be in five more ads The spot is airing in South Carolina, where 50 delegate votes are up for grabs in its Feb. 20 primary. As of Feb. 12, Trump has a 22-point lead over Cruz in South Carolina, according to a YouGov and CBS News 2016 Battleground Tracker poll. Trump on Monday threatened to sue Cruz, challenging his ability to run for president since he was born in Canada. An extended clip on Cruz's YouTube channel was released Jan. 16, and a full clip of the interview is found on NBC News' website. "I hate the concept of abortion," Trump said in the full clip. "I hate everything it stands for. I cringe when I hear people debating the subject, but I just believe in choice." ACTRESS SPEAKS OUT: "I have no ill will towards Ted Cruz right now. He's got a job to do" President Barack Obama could still name a new justice before the court begins its session Feb. 22. Obama's nominee would have to be confirmed by the Senate with a majority of 51 votes. Scalia was one of five justices appointed by Republican presidents; without him the court might may split on many critical issues such as abortion, voting rights and immigration. "Having someone who is not a conservative replace that judge will throw the court out of balance to the left for generation," Tyler said. A Kentucky Democrat has proposed a bill that would make it harder to get harder, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, has sponsored HB 396 which would require Kentucky men to seek permission from their wives before purchasing the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. Marzian claims she wants to protect men's health and family values. Ted Cruz released his first Hillary Clinton attack ad last week, but the renowned Houston hip-hop group whose music is parodied in the minute-long spot isnt amused. The Damn It Feels Good to Be a Clinton video is a solid spoof of a famous scene in the 1999 cult movie classic Office Space. In the video, a Clinton lookalike and two associates use a baseball bat to destroy a computer in a reference to her private email server controversy. READ THIS: Cruz campaign pulls ad featuring Houston porn actress In Office Space, the main characters destroy a fax machine while the Geto Boys Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta plays over the annihilation. In Cruzs ad, the hit from the Houston group also plays except with new anti-Clinton lyrics, like Damn it feels good to be a Clinton / A shameless politician plays her cards right / Got a crew for the fights on the airwaves / Lap dogs in the press keep their mouths tight." The celebrated rappers did not appreciate the reference: Musicians fighting conservative politicians over the use of their music is a longtime election year ritual. There are no copyright issues in this case since Team Cruz would be protected under parody law. However, the Geto Boys Willie D didnt like it when the Texas senators supporters told him he should be happy that the ad gets people talking about the group. He wrote on Facebook that the groups acclaimed catalog will outlast Ted Cruz and whatever attention he gains during his presidential run. SEE MORE: Meet Amy Lindsay, the porn actress who starred in a Ted Cruz ad We don't need Ted Cruz or his supporters to be relevant. If you think we should be grateful because dude used our music or you've never heard of us, that says more about your inadequacy than it does about our importance. This is the second controversial Cruz ad to debut in the past week. Team Cruz pulled an ad last week after it was revealed that a Houston actress in the spot previously had done softcore porn. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate By Jason Whitely, WFAA, The Texas Tribune MARFA, Texas The Texas death certificate for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will list myocardial infarction a heart attack as the official cause of death, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told WFAA on Sunday. She was shopping yesterday afternoon in the neighboring town of Alpine when Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez called her on her mobile phone after lunch. He says, 'Judge, Im at Cibolo Creek Ranch, and a Supreme Court justice has just passed away, and I need someone here immediately. Both justices of the peace are out of town at this time,' Guevara recounted to WFAA. I said, 'Sheriff, what did you say? Which Supreme Court Justice died at Cibolo Creek Ranch? And the phone went dead, because our connection was very bad, she explained. Cell phone service is spotty in far West Texas. Theres no service at the ranch where Scalia passed away. He called me back and he gave me a few more sentences until it broke up again. And thats how the conversation went for 20 minutes, the county judge recalled. Guevara said she immediately recognized Scalias name as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and pronounced him dead over the phone at 1:52 p.m. on Saturday. She planned to drive to the ranch about 30 minutes south of Marfa but returned when a U.S. Marshal told her by phone: Its not necessary for you to come, judge. If youre asking for an autopsy, thats what we need to clarify. Judge Guevara said she wanted to clarify details of Scalias death before deciding whether to order an autopsy. As part of my investigation, one of the things I did ask the sheriff and the U.S. Marshal: 'Were there any signs of foul play?' And they said, Absolutely not. At that time I still wanted to be careful, and asked them if [Scalias] physician would call me. The justices personal doctor called her at 8 p.m. Saturday night When [the physician] explained [Scalia] had just visited on Wednesday and Thursday and [the doctor] had done an MRI, then I felt comfortable what I knew was going on with him physically, Guevara said. The judge said Scalia went to his doctor for a shoulder injury last week, but also suffered from several chronic ailments. On Saturday night, at his familys request, Justice Scalias remains were moved from the ranch to El Paso. Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes, said a procession that included about 20 law enforcement officers arrived early Sunday. The mortuary will embalm Scalia's body and prepare it to be flown to back to the East Coast. Lujan said tentative plans were for the transfer to Virginia to take place on Tuesday. When the funeral home contacts Judge Guevara, she said she will then fill out the official death certificate to be permanently filed in Presidio County. After I did my job, yes, I kept playing it over and over in my mind and thought, Oh my God. History is being made in Presidio County, Guevara told WFAA. Its something Ill never forget. Scalia was visiting the ranch with friends on a hunting trip. Guevara said she did not know he was here. I just feel that we have lost a great defender of the Constitution, and its a big loss for the United States of America, she said. Scalia was 79. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/14/scalias-death-be-ruled-heart-attack/. Emmy-award winning talk show Last Week Tonight returned to HBO on Sunday night with a focus on voter ID laws. Naturally, host John Oliver took aim at Texas a state with some of the strictest voter ID laws in the country and specifically Houston area lawmaker Debbie Riddle. In the segment, Oliver touched on all the talking points against strict voter ID laws (or requiring any law at all): Theres no proof that voter fraud is an actual issue in elections (the cases of deceased voters are primarily due to clerical errors, not fraud). Obtaining an ID can be complicated and overly bureaucratic. And voter ID laws disproportionately affect the elderly, minorities and the poor. CONTROVERSY: Texas voter ID law kept registered voters with proper ID from voting Nevertheless, conservative legislators tend to push strict voter ID laws. And they do so while at the same time having committed a form of voter fraud themselves. Lawmakers have been caught ghost voting or casting ballots for absent members. In the Texas legislature, the dead have voted. In 2005, the Houston Chronicle wrote about the issue*: One of the more notorious instances of ghost voting in the House was in 1991 when Rep. Larry Evans, D-Houston, was repeatedly recorded as voting on amendments to a congressional redistricting bill. Evans, however, had died in his apartment several hours before the voting began. One of the talk shows biggest targets of voter fraud was State Rep. Reynolds (R-Tomball). The native Houstonian has pushed hard for strict voter ID laws, saying the very freedom of our nation is based on the integrity of our ballot box. But Riddle has been captured on tape ghost voting for her missing colleagues. Riddle denied any wrongdoing back in 2007, saying its out of necessity: We have a lot of votes, we have a lot of amendments and theres times when we dont break for lunch, we dont break for dinner, we dont have bathroom breaks. READ THIS: Homeland security secretary dismisses terror baby theory Since assuming office in 2003, Riddles name has been tied to several controversies. After her first legislative session, the Texas Monthly named her the states worst legislator after referring to free education, free medical care as concepts that come straight from the pits of Hell in Moscow, Russia. She has alleged that foreign women come to the U.S. to give birth to terror babies who gain automatic U.S. citizenship. Riddle upset women by calling breast-feeding in public not modest. She recently has perpetuated the myth of encroaching Sharia law in Texas. See voter turnout by county in 2010 vs. 2014 in the gallery above. *Another example: In 2005, ghost voting almost killed a statewide tax cut bill in the state. The bill survived only after a roll call determined that two House members who voted on the legislation were not even in Austin that day. Early voting begins Tuesday in Texas' March 1 Democratic and Republican primaries, when voters have the opportunity to weigh in on the presidential nominating contest, as well as cast a ballot in several state, judicial and local races. Early voting runs through Feb. 26, and Harris County residents may cast a ballot at any of 42 county polling sites during the following times: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 RUTH FREMSON/STF Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Andrew Harnik/STF Show More Show Less 3 of 3 AUSTIN -- Former President Bill Clinton will travel to Texas next week to campaign in Laredo and Dallas for his wife, Hillary Clinton, campaign officials announced on Monday. The visit is timed to encourage Democratic Party turnout in South Texas and in the DFW Metroplex, where early voting starts Tuesday in preparation for the March 1 primary across Texas. We know that good sleep is important for a healthy lifestyle and that a night spent tossing and turning can lead to a terrible day. However, we often overlook a crucial factor when considering sleep quality, one that comes so naturally to us we can't always control it: sleep position. Sleep position has actually been linked to a host of health problems, which include snoring, acid reflux, lower back pain and even wrinkles. Understandably, people naturally gravitate toward positions that make them feel best when sleeping and allow for easier breathing. According to WebMD, side sleeping is the most popular position for Americans. Although it may be difficult to record your sleep posture each night, paying attention to your body's resting position before you fall asleep and when you wake will help pinpoint specific health implications associated with your nighttime posture. Find your preferred position listed below to read more about how specific sleep postures can affect your health: Sleeping on Your Back According to Medical Daily, sleeping on the back makes it easier for your head, neck and spine to align in a neutral position. In fact, sleeping on your back with your arms at your sides is considered the best position for spine and neck health as long as you don't use too many pillows. The "starfish" position sleeping on your back with your arms up and out is also good for your back and has been linked to prevention of facial wrinkles and skin breakouts. Daily Health Post, however, points out that back sleepers often suffer from sleep apnea and report snoring more than those who sleep in any other position. Sleeping Face Down Sleeping on your stomach is widely considered the worst sleep position by physicians, according to the Cleveland Clinic, as it does not support the natural curve of your spine. Though stomach-sleeping can be beneficial for those who snore, it may also lead to chronic aches as your head is kept to one side for long periods of time. Sleeping on Your Side With both arms down and your spine in its natural curve, sleeping on your spine can reduce back and neck pain while also alleviating sleep apnea, according to Medical Daily's breakdown of healthy sleep positions. When sleeping with your arms out in this position, however, sleeping on your side can restrict blood flow and put pressure on nerves which can cause arm or shoulder pain. Although side-sleeping is common, the side you sleep on makes a difference. Research indicates that sleeping on the right side of your body can worsen heartburn, while sleeping on the left side can put strain on internal organs such as your liver, lungs and stomach. Fetal Position Sleeping in the fetal position, with your knees drawn up and chin tilted downward, may be comfortable while you sleep, but often results in chronic back and neck pain. The extreme curl of this position is known to restrict breathing and should be avoided ideally you want your shoulders and neck to be aligned when sleeping, rather than curled up. Keep in mind that your mattress plays a key role in sleep posture and how well you sleep each night. For example, if you prefer sleeping on your stomach, having an old, worn-out bed that sags in the middle may restrict your sleep posture and hurt your back. Research shows that people sleep better in positions that allow their bodies to rest without constricting limbs or causing them to twist into unnatural positions. With nearly one third of our lives spent asleep, it should come as no surprise that getting a good night's rest is essential for our health, mind and mood. - See more at: http://www.mattressfirm.com/blog/sleep-health/is-your-sleep-position-impacting-your-quality-of-sleep#sthash.qGMBwy0C.dpuf. I recently took a business trip to Chicago and had an experience where I woke up in the middle of the night wondering where I was. Maybe that has happened to you. You enter a state of panic, unable to connect your thoughts, until finally, you remember that you are not in your own bed. While this example may seem like more of a psychological adjustment than a physical one, there's a lot to be said about the impact your surroundings can have on your psychological state. Creating a space that enables productive, restful sleep is an easy way to improve your sleep quality so you won't feel groggy in the morning. In addition to feeling tired, lack of sleep brings a whole host of negative health effects, including a weakened immune system, increased risk of obesity, and in my case (according to my family), an overall crabby personality. Here are some tips for making your bedroom a better place to both fall asleep and stay asleep: Unplug and tune out. Screen time too close to your bedtime can prevent you from falling asleep for several reasons. For one, technology affects cognitive stimulation responding to an email, checking social media or sending a text message increases brain activity, making it more difficult for your mind and body to wind down before bed. Physiologically, reacting with words or actions can cause the body to tense up, resulting in the release of hormones that prevent sleepiness. Plus, the light from your gadgets interferes with quality sleep. As light passes from these devices to your retina, it delays the release of sleep-inducing hormones, namely melatonin. It's best to avoid all electronics at least 15 to 30 minutes before bedtime, allowing your body to get away from the "gadget glow" and start slowing down. I know, I know easier said than done. Create a pitch black environment. When we moved into our house, we were surprised that there were no windows in the master bedroom. At first it seemed odd, but it makes a big difference when it comes to keeping light out. The fact is light creeping in during the middle of the night and early morning hours can disrupt sleeping patterns. From an evolutionary standpoint, this makes perfect sense. Before electricity, our internal clocks were set by the sun, the moon and the stars. But the introduction of artificial light and modern technology has allowed for lifestyles changes (not always good ones) that involve staying up later and sleeping past sunrise. Artificial lighting (and sunlight in the morning) elevates cortisol levels, causing disrupted sleep patterns, and suppresses the release of melatonin, which makes it difficult to fall asleep. Even low levels of light induces frequent micro-arousals during sleep, according to a study by Sleep Medicine. Be sure to turn off all lights (including the TV) before falling asleep, and consider installing blackout curtains to keep the early morning light from creeping in while you're catching Zzzz. You will notice a difference. Keep your feet outside of the blanket. A lot of you may already do this for personal comfort reasons. If you're tall, you may not have much of a choice. But for those of us who have been keeping our toes undercover, (see what I did there?), we may be disrupting our own sleep. According to a report from New York Magazine, keeping your feet outside of your blankets could help you sleep better and fall asleep faster. The skin surfaces of our feet help with heat loss, allowing our bodies to cool down to optimum sleeping temperature, triggering us to fall asleep and stay asleep longer. Consider the thermostat. Keeping your feet outside of the blanket helps release heat from your body when it's too warm. Equally important is achieving external temperatures conducive to restful sleep ideally between 65 and 72 degrees, according to sleep experts. Right before we fall asleep, our body temperature starts to drop, and when we're sleeping soundly, our bodies are at their coolest. Because of this sleep-temperature connection, cooler temperatures cause sleepiness and help us sleep better. To take it one step further, you might consider warming your body just before bed, and then switching to a cooler environment, inducing a negative temperature change that will activate your body's sleep-inducing hormones. For example, stepping out of a warm bath or drinking a warm beverage prompts your body to start the cool down process, which will continue once you're in bed. Find the right bedding. Egyptian cotton? 800-thread count? Linen? Down? Which one is best? The right sheets, blankets pillows and mattress may be the most important factors of all when determining how you can achieve a better night's sleep. While the various options span a number of personal comfort preferences (inclines, firmness, fluffiness, etc.), they also play a role in other factors. The type of bedding you use affects your body's temperature throughout the night. Higher thread counts often lead to warmer temperatures. Linen materials are considered best for people who get hot easily. Down comforters retain heat and may be better for those who find themselves shivering at night. There are a variety of pillows and mattresses that affect temperature as well. For personal comfort, it's important to identify pillows and mattresses that are ideal for your body type. Find the right mattress. Just as time takes a toll on us, it also wears on our pillows and mattresses. Not only do they begin to lose their supportive capabilities, but over time dust mites, sweat, dead skin and other allergens collect in our beds, which can contribute to allergies and asthma. Replacing your pillow every two years and your mattress every eight years helps ensure that both remain supportive and allergen-free. We are often asked by our guests how to sleep better and while we'll be the first to tell you that a good mattress is important, we also remind customers that healthy sleep starts with a healthy habitats. The environment you sleep in is just as important as your waking environment, especially if you want to feel better and stay alert throughout the day. Following these tips can help you fall asleep faster, sleep deeper and stay asleep longer. Which one do you believe is most important for a sleep-happy habitat? - See more at: http://www.mattressfirm.com/blog/sleep-health/making-sound-sleep-a-part-of-your-natural-habitat#sthash.IyLyLfKs.dpuf. The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. Braves advance to semis at Unity CHEROKEE - Cherokee's volleyball girls took down Harlan 3-0 on Monday and headed to Orange City this past Wednesday to... Wolverines end season at West Bend-Mallard WEST BEND - The South OBrien volleyball team traveled to face West Bend-Mallard in the first round of the regional... Warriors suffer 44-14 loss to Gehlen Catholic ALTA - The Alta-Aurelia football team hosted Gehlen Catholic on Friday evening, but lost the game 44-14. The Warriors struck... Warriors take down Raiders to finish regular season ALTA - The Alta-Aurelia volleyball team hosted East Sac County on Thursday evening and took down the Raiders 3-1 to... Braves go 3-6 at Heelan Invite SIOUX CITY - Cherokee's volleyball team, 23-9, worked on fine tuning its skills here Saturday in a 12-team Sioux City... Un microbuz special a fost transmis de Uniunea Europeana si Fundatia Soros Moldova Centrului de zi pentru copiii cu dizabilitati din Cahul In some ways, its surprising Donald Trump took so long to call one of his political opponents a pussy. He was repeating the words of a supporter, to be fair. But in a campaign whose success in attracting media attention relies on shock and awe, it was a logical step forward. Familiar players took familiar battle stations after Trumps profane tactical flourish. Journalists from myriad organizations tut-tutted his vulgarity while repeating his sentiment, if not his exact words. Talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh lauded Trumps performers instinct. The mogul and his surrogates, asked to explain themselves on cable shows, deftly pivoted to a position of strength: Trump is battling the cultural rot of political correctness, and hes having fun doing it. It was like a retweet. @realDonaldTrump on repeating a supporters colorful comment about Ted Cruzhttps://t.co/jvGyit3Bau FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) February 9, 2016 No other candidate could cut that caper while making their final pitches to primary voters. But so goes the basic formula for Trumps campaignwash, rinse, repeat. After a disappointing second-place finish in Iowa drew questions about his saturation media strategy, Trumps 20-point victory in New Hampshire breathed new life into it. Regardless of how the upcoming primaries shake out, Trump may well be enshrining a media strategy that future campaigns envy and, if they can figure out how, replicate. The billionaire reality star has so far bet that wall-to-wall press coverage around large events, outlandish statements, and conflicts with the media can replace targeted ad buys and the multistate organizations typically built to engage potential voters. This spray-and-pray media strategy assumes that Trumps message will find a receptive audience so long as it reaches enough people, even if it alienates millions more in the process. Sign up for CJR 's daily email If you have a candidate who is as mediagenic as Trump is, says Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, maybe you never need to spend another dime on commercials promoting yourself. Trump-style media managing is a unique model for pursuing the highest office, and best of all its cheap. It also holds the potential to open a new chapter in the decades-long story of politicians leveraging celebrity to captivate the media. The question now: Can it be duplicated? I do think that Trumps success in this arena, and with these unorthodox tactics, will inspire other candidates in the future who may be coming from non-political backgrounds, says Alan Schroeder, a Northeastern University professor whos authored books on presidential debates and celebrity in politics. If he can play the media so effectively, I can too He may be one of a kind. But as Reagan opened the door for candidates with non-traditional political profiles, Trump may also be opening the door for something we cant foresee yet. Enticing as Trumps strategy may be, his genius would be hard to replicate. No current politician oozes his made-for-TV conflict and social media crudeness. Whats more, Trumps arrival comes as changes to the media environment play to his advantage: its easier technically to cover him and harder financially to ignore him. The political dynamics of this particular cycle have also aligned to Trumps advantage. The Republican field remains sprawling and disjointed, for one, forcing news organizations to make difficult decisions each day on who deserves attention and resources. Amid that chaotic environment, Trump is a sure thing. And since his announcement in June, the frontrunner has drawn nearly half of all cable channel mentions of the originally 17-person Republican field, according to the GDELT Project. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has garnered almost two-thirds of TV mentions among Democratic candidatesthe difference obviously is that she has just one real opponent. This dominance extends across all media, and its inherently more effective than cliche political advertisements that flood primary state airwaves, says GOP media consultant Jim Innocenzi. Anytime there is a newsworthy article, that article trumps paid advertising, he adds. If the candidate is saying something the electorate wants to hear, it doesnt matter [if its inflammatory]. Indeed, many of Trumps more eyebrow-raising antics tap into an anti-establishment worldview cemented by talk radio and newly invigorated by social and digital media. When popular radio host Michael Savage sat down with Trump last week, for example, the former heralded Trumps building prowess, called Marco Rubio a lightweight, and said that Jeb Bush looks like he doesnt have the heart for it anymore. Even if radio hosts dont openly endorse candidates, the formats language and culture have laid fertile ground for Trumps message. Theres a natural inclination for listeners to gravitate toward [Ted] Cruz or Trump, who are blunt and dont care how the insiders think, says Brian Rosenwald, a University of Pennsylvania fellow whos working on a book about talk radio. Theres a natural resonance there. And talk radio has been feeding it for three decades. That ethos has more recently been passed down to the likes of Breitbart.com, a digital empire that spouts the same economic nationalism Trump conveys on the trail. Such ideological fragmentation among digital outlets, coupled with the hypercompetitiveness in the mainstream media market, ensures that Trumps message will always find a platform, even when journalists try to push back. Take his on-again, off-again war with Fox News. Trump manufactured a scandal in the days before Foxs GOP debate in late January, targeting anchor Megyn Kelly with ad hominem attacks for her allegedly biased questioning in a previous debate. Fox didnt bow to Trumps demand that Kelly be replaced, so he skipped the debate and held his own event. MSNBC and CNN went on to temporarily carry Trumps event live, drawing significantly higher viewership than their usual primetime programs (Foxs audience still dwarfed them both). On Twitter, meanwhile, the mogul dominated candidate mentions tagged with #GOPDebate, despite not being on stage. One Breitbart article in defense of Trumps decision argued that the press as we know it is the most corrupt institution allowed to operate legally in America. Trumps strategy does carry risks. He himself conceded that skipping Foxs debate may have cost him votes in the Iowa Caucus. Whats more, rightwing media may not take well to being dissed by one of their own. For Trump and any of his potential replicators, the most pressing question is whether saturation media coverage translates into votes. The moguls quantitative advantage over individual rivals will likely narrow as the GOP field shrinks. And early research suggests that his competitorsnamely Cruz, who outmaneuvered Trump in Iowautilize social media more efficiently to engage potential supporters. Between March and January, Trump was mentioned on social media almost five times more than Cruz, according to an analysis by George Washington Universitys PEORIA Project. But roughly 5 percent of Cruzs social media mentions included a link to his campaigns website, compared to .1 percent for Trump. The metric may provide a rough gauge for how campaigns are converting social media volume into something more tangible. What every campaign really wants is not just people talking about them, says Lara Brown, a George Washington professor who helps lead the project. They want everyone on social media going to the campaign website. Once someone goes there, they get to a splash page where that person gives over their email address. And once a campaign has an email address, they essentially have an unlimited opportunity for engagement. On the one hand, this could help explain Trumps disappointing performance in Iowa. But then what explains New Hampshire? Well, perhaps the magnitude of his media dominance can overcome any shortcomings in what he does with it. You could make the argument that, when you head to Super Tuesday, you really cant do well with retail politics, says Matthew Dickinson, a presidential historian and political scientist at Middlebury College. So Im not willing to write off his big picture, fly in, fly out saturation media coverage strategy. For now, Trump will continue relying on his cult of personality. And the media, while engaging in the occasional accountability piece, will usually come back with another where Trump is controlling the message. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti. The town of Cizre, in Southeastern Turkey, has been under 24-hour curfew for two months. As conflict rages between Turkish security forces and militants of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, news emerges in fragments, captured by local journalists operating in extraordinary risk. Rohat Aktas, a reporter for a regional Kurdish newspaper, was shot in the arm last month and has been pinned down in Cizre for weeks, unable to get medical help. Another reporter, Refik Tekin, was shot in the leg while filming the gruesome massacre of civilians evacuating the dead and wounded. The incident prompted U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein to declare, Filming an atrocity is not a crime, but shooting unarmed civilians most certainly is. Through curfews, detentions, restrictions on movement, and violent attacks, the Turkish government has imposed effective censorship on coverage of an escalating conflict with national, regional, and global implications. But this is only one aspect of Turkish media crackdown that has reached unprecedented proportions. Government pressure has led to the dismissal of the countrys most critical editors and reporters from major news outlets. Many of these leading media organizations are controlled by business groups with ties to the government; others are intimidated into submission. Online speech is increasingly restricted; leading editors have been jailed; criticism of the president is outlawed; international correspondents are subjected to harassment, vilification, and expulsion. Take, for example, Dutch freelancer Frederike Geerdink, who was deported last September after being detained on terrorism-related charges in retaliation for her coverage of the Kurdish conflict. These attacks on the press are directly correlated to the evisceration of Turkeys once vital civil society. Not long ago, the Turkish economy was booming and the country was on the verge of consolidating its democracy. Today, it is struggling to maintain stability and keep its economy from imploding. Sign up for CJR 's daily email The escalating media repression in Turkey also shows the name and shame strategies that are the mainstay of human rights advocacy are no longer effective. This approach requires systematic documentation of the abuses being committed, then relentless and sustained pressure on the local government to address them. Its a strategy that works well when officials care about what the rest of the world thinks. In Turkey, that no longer appears to be the case. The endless press conferences, international delegations, solidarity visits to newsrooms, and meetings with Turkish government officials may have tempered some of the worst abuses, but they have failed to shift the balance. As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has transformed Turkey into a neo-authoritarian state, the time has come for a radical new approach. Ive reached this conclusion reluctantly after years of advocating for press freedom in Turkey. I became involved there in 2011, when a wave of media repression hit. At that time Turkey was being touted by the Obama administration as a model for the Middle East, an example of how to reconcile Islam with democracy. But beneath the veneer, cracks were appearing. A sweeping crackdown on the media led to the arrests of dozens of journalistsmost working for leftist and Kurdish outlets. In October 2012, the Committee to Protect Journalists detailed in a report, Turkeys Press Freedom Crisis that the country was the worlds worst jailer of journalists, with at least 61 behind bars in direct retaliation for their work. The report garnered significant international attention, and prompted a furious reaction from the Turkish government. Turkish diplomats around the world were given specific instructions to challenge the findings and attack CPJs credibility. Even while seeking to discredit the reports findings, Turkey started releasing journalists, many of whom had never been convicted of a crime. By the time President Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu agreed to meet with a CPJ delegation in October 2014, only seven journalists remained in jail. The meetings were contentiousErdogan claimed to be against Internet and lashed out at The New York Times and CNN. But the government also made some meaningful commitments. The Justice Ministry pledged to facilitate access to the case files of the seven journalists, all of them Turkish, who remained behind bars. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu promised to intervene in the cases of threatened reporters. But when Turkeys political environment began to shift, the dialogue ended. The factions that made up the governing coalition were feuding openly; the once promising peace talks with Kurdish militant groups were collapsing; the conflict in neighboring Syria was escalating, with arms flowing through Turkey and refugees fleeing the violence. After voters punished the governing party in Parliamentary elections last summer, Erdogan adopted a strategy of escalation and polarization in an effort to retain power. Once again, journalists were caught in the crossfire. In September 2015, a team of reporters from Vice News operating in the Kurdish areas of Southeastern Turkey were detained on anti-terror charges. While two British journalists were eventually released, their stringer, Mohammed Rasool, was held more than four months. Today, he is out jail but still facing charges. A letter from CPJ to Davutoglu reminding him of the commitments he made was never answered. Meanwhile, CPJ contracted a Turkish lawyer to follow up the offer made by the Justice Minister to open up the case files of imprisoned journalists. She was never given access. In November 2015, Turkish authorities jailed two leading journalists, Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, and later charged them with exposing state secrets and aiding a terrorist group, which carries a life sentence. What the newspaper actually exposedusing video evidencewas that the Turkish government was clandestinely shipping weapons to Syrian rebels, weapons which presumably ended up in the hands of the Islamic State. When it comes to fighting for press freedom in Turkey, there is no longer much point in engaging directly with the government. A more effective strategy is to apply pressure externally and to orient the United States and Europe to take a more confrontational approach. Turkey will respond to the heightened pressure by continuing to utilize its strategic leverage, as it did recently with Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel has felt compelled to pledge support for Turkeys stalled EU bid in order to secure Ankaras commitment to stem the flow of Syrian refugees into Europe. But Turkeys loses that leverage when its EU bid is off the table, as it should be when a country is gunning people down and brutally suppressing the media. Meanwhile, the US needs to link military cooperation with Turkeys compliance with international human rights standards. Press freedom should be high on the list. If the crisis continues to escalate, economic sanctions and travel bans to the US for high officials should be considered. At the moment, Turkey is not acting like a democratic ally that has lost its way. Its acting like a threat to regional and global stability. Changing that will require the countrys leadership to create a more inclusive and tolerant society that can be a beacon for the region. But so long Turkey continues its relentless press freedom crackdown, that potential will never be realized. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Joel Simon is a fellow at Tow Center for Digital Journalism. His next book is The Infodemic: How Censorship Made the World Sicker and Less Free co-authored with Robert Mahoney. AKRON, Ohio -- Have you fallen in love with Akron yet? If not, the Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau has a few words for you. "We're trying to get people to go out and fall in love with Akron and each other," Kyle Kutuchief, Akron program director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, told the Akron Beacon Journal. The foundation paid for the $28,500 campaign. The campaign website is www.youhadmeatakron.com. The marriage bells were ringing this weekend, at the Akron-Summit County Library? Maybe there weren't bells, but 15 couples got married at the library as part of an annual Valentines Day wedding ceremony, the Beacon Journal reports, including a mother and daughter duo who both tied the knot on the same day. The weddings, conducted by Judge Annalisa Williams, happened on a 20-minute rotation inside meeting room one. Akron General first to adopt fingerprint registration: Checking in to an Akron General medical center is now as easy as unlocking your iPhone: just touch. Akron General, now a part of Cleveland Clinic, claims to be the first healthcare provider in Summit County to adopt fingerprint scanners, the Beacon Journal reports. The hospital system is using CrossChx, a biometric security startup founded in Columbus four years ago. Four Summit County offices relocate to former Bridgestone complex: Summit County's Department of Job and Family Services, Human Resources, Land Bank and Office of Soil & Water Conservation are all leaving their current, scattered office buildings in favor of a former Bridgestone Technical Center in Akron's Firestone Park neighborhood, the Hub Times reports. The 160,000-square-foot office building, formerly home to Firestone Tires, was renovated over the past year. Aero Industries leaves Streetsboro for new Kent facility: Aero Industries, which makes tarps and other trailer accessories, is moving its service and installation operation from Streetsboro to Kent, just off I-76. The new Kent facility brings a substantial increase to Aero's overall capacity. "The new space will create more throughputs, improving customer lead-times, and making installation and servicing of Aero products more efficient," Owner James Tuerk said in a news release. The company did not provide details about how many jobs would be relocated. Akron homicide Howard Street An Akron woman was fatally shot at this house in the 500 block of North Howard Street. (Adam Ferrise, cleveland.com) AKRON, Ohio -- A Cleveland man released from prison less than five months ago is charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a man at a house party in North Hill. Antoine Bennett, 31, is charged with murder. He is not in police custody and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Bennett about 2:15 a.m. Sunday was at a birthday party at a home in the 500 block of North Howard Street. A large fight broke out at the home. Bennett pulled out a gun and fatally shot Gabriel Rios, 25, in the chest, according to court records. A second person was shot in the foot. He was taken to Akron City Hospital. Several people witnessed the shooting, including at least two who identified Bennett as the shooter, according to court records. He left the home before police arrived. Akron police are searching for Bennett. Bennett was released from prison on Sept. 16 after serving a nine-month prison sentence for shooting and wounding a man at Biggie's Food Mart in the 2100 block of East 55th Street in Cleveland. He pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault in that case. He was sentenced in 2011 to three years in prison for shooting a gun into a Cleveland home. Bennett also has previous convictions for carrying a concealed weapon, possessing a weapon as a felon, drug possession and breaking and entering. Correction: The post is updated to reflect that the person who died in the shooting is a man. best margarita Cleveland.com wants to know: who serves the best margarita in Northeast Ohio? CLEVELAND, Ohio - Here's a recipe to beat the winter blues: grab a couple ounces of tequila, add a little orange liqueur and lime juice, salt the rims and bottoms up! Astute drinkers will recognize the makings of a margarita. If you can't enjoy one on the beach in Mexico, you might as well warm up to one in chilly Northeast Ohio by commemorating National Margarita Day on Monday, Feb. 22. But you can't just celebrate such a special holiday with any old margarita. Cleveland.com is on the hunt for the best margarita in Northeast Ohio to ring in National Margarita Day. Nominate your favorite margaritas in town in the comments section below, or send an email to best@cleveland.com. National chains are not eligible. Frozen, on the rocks, flavored, skinny -- we want to know about all the best ones. We'll accept nominations until Wednesday morning. Check back Wednesday to vote for your favorite margarita! A brief history of the margarita Much like the day after drinking one too many of these tasty concoctions, the origins of the margarita are a bit hazy. Several Mexican bars and bartenders lay claim to its invention dating back to the 1930s or 1940s. One of the most popular origin stories credits Carlos "Danny" Herrera, who supposedly made up the drink at his Tijuana restaurant in the late 1930s. According to the tale, his inspiration was actress Marjorie King, who was allergic to hard liquors with the exception of tequila. Dallas socialite Margarita Sames also lays claim to the drink's invention during a Christmas party at her Acapulco vacation house in 1948. Tommy Hilton was one of her guests, and he liked the refreshing drink so much he put it on the menu at his hotels. (One little hiccup in this theory: Jose Cuervo was running ads with the tagline "Margarita, more than just a girl's name" three years prior to this supposed holiday shindig.) Yet another version claims bartender Don Carlos Oroxco whipped up the drink for the daughter of a German ambassador, Margarita Henkel, at a bar in Ensenada, Mexico. Or maybe it was Danny Negrete, who may have created the cocktail as a wedding present for his sister-in-law, Margarita. What is known is frozen margaritas gained popularity in the 1970s after Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez converted a soft-serve ice cream machine into the first frozen margarita machine. Whether you like them frozen or on the rocks, flavored or more traditional, they've become one of the most popular cocktails. According to one estimate, Americans drink 185,000 margaritas per hour. Salud! Comcast In this Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, photo, a Comcast cable truck works in front of a home in Mount Lebanon, Pa. Comcast says it has mostly restored service after the cable provider experienced an outage today in many major cities across the U.S. (Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press) Stock market news: American equity markets were closed in observance of the President's Day holiday today, but a speech from the European Central Bank president could set up Wall Street for a rally on Tuesday. (Fox Business Network) World stocks rallied today, led by a jump in Japan's main index, amid hopes for more stimulus from central banks in Europe and Japan. (Associated Press) Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent today on news ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela would hold a previously unpublicized meeting in Doha this week, adding to speculation of a global output deal. (Reuters) Business news: Comcast says it has mostly restored service after the cable provider experienced an outage today in many major cities across the U.S. (CBS News) U.S. auto safety regulators have closed an investigation into air bag problems in some Kia small cars without seeking a recall. (Associated Press) The number of commercial airline fatalities and accidents in 2015 were well below the average for the last five years, according to a report. (Fortune) The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a two-man company from Alabama to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year for sale to private farmers in Cuba. (Associated Press) Luxembourg, the Netherlands and a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles unit want a European Union court to quash decisions by the bloc's executive body that the Italian carmaker and Starbucks benefited from their tax deals, saying the European Commission was wrong to find the agreements were illegal state aid. (Bloomberg News) Choosing a tax preparer can be as complicated as doing the return yourself. There are myriad options, and they are not created equal. (USA Today) Greece needs to tackle the high stock of bad loans at its banks, and make changes to its pension system and income tax if it is to pass the first review of its latest bailout, the president of the European Central Bank said today. (Reuters) Technology news: Apple will introduce a new iPhone next month - a 4-inch iPhone dubbed the "iPhone 5se" and a new iPad Air. (cleveland.com)(9to5Mac) At New York's Toy Fair trade show over the weekend, Mattel unveiled its new, $300 3D Printer, the "ThingMaker," which will allow children to print their own toys at home. (TechCrunch) In just under a week, Samsung is expected to unveil two new smartphones: the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. (The Verge) Hulu today launched a universal Windows 10 app for smartphones, tablets, and PCs, with support for Cortana and Live Tiles. (VentureBeat) LORAIN, Ohio -- A 30-year-old Elyria man is in jail after he opened fire inside an East Side Lorain home and shot a dog several times, police said. Ricardo M. Johnson, 30, also led police on a chase through the city's West and East sides Sunday morning before surrendering, police said. Johnson is expected to be arraigned in Lorain Municipal Court on Monday afternoon. He faces charges of aggravated menacing, endangering children, having weapons under disability, discharge of a firearm on prohibited premises, prohibitions concerning companion animals, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, willful or wanton disregard for safety on streets, and fleeing. Officers responded to a 911 call from a woman who was screaming "don't kill me." The woman said that a man had a gun, and was shooting in her home in the 1300 block of Madison Avenue. The woman told police that Johnson fired a handgun inside her home, shooting her dog "Diablo" several times, according to a police report. The dog was locked inside a cage when he was shot. Officers found the dog lying responsive on the kitchen floor, along with a bullet casing on the dining room table, and three others on the floor. Police took the dog to an emergency veterinary hospital, where he was euthanized. A veterinarian removed a 9mm bullet from the dog's abdomen. The chase First responders saw Johnson leaving the Madison Avenue home, and turn eastbound onto West Erie Avenue in a 2003 Chevy Impala. Police cruisers followed the Impala southbound on Leavitt Road. Johnson refused to stop as the cars continued to the area of Pole Avenue and westbound on West 21st Street. The pursuit turned onto Oakdale Avenue, and turned eastbound onto West 22nd Street. An officer tried to use a police cruiser to block the Impala in a vacant parking lot at the corner of West 22nd Street and Broadway Avenue. The patrol car slid on the ice, and ran into the Impala, police said. Johnson continued driving to Ohio and Colorado avenues, where he surrendered to police without incident. He ran two red lights, during the eight-minute chase that reached speeds of 65 mph on the 25 and 35 mph streets, police said. Johnson smelled of alcohol, his eyes were red and watery, and he had difficulty keeping his balance, police said. His blood alcohol level was .159, nearly twice the .08 legal limit to operate a vehicle in Ohio. What happened? The shooting stemmed from an argument with Johnon's cousin after Johnson lost a card game. Johnson went to his car and got a gun. He returned to the card game and pointed the gun at his cousin and the woman, police said. He fired shots into the dog's cage, police said. The woman ran out of the house and begged Johnson not to shoot her, police said. He got in the car and left. Like Chanda Neely on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter: The penultimate episode of Fox's 'The X-Files' revival airs at 8 tonight (WJW Channel 8). Wee've put together a quick refresher for anyone who wants to watch but hasn't had the chance to see the last four episodes -- or anyone who did watch and just needs to be brought up to speed. Critics generally haven't been kind to the show's (supposedly) final run. While the chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson -- who star as main characters Fox Mulder and Dana Scully -- remains solid, most reviews say the show has lost the uniqueness that made it such a sensation in the early '90s. Indeed, it does lack some of the creativity and quirkiness that helped define the show in its early seasons, and the social and political commentary isn't inserted into plots as naturally as it was in past years. The stock characters and wooden acting in the most recent episodes didn't help. But the critical reception hasn't stopped millions of people from watching each episode so far. Only two chapters remain in the six-episode miniseries. Here's what happened in the first four (spoiler alert, obviously): Episode 1: My struggle This so-called 'mythology' episode introduces us to three key characters, a unnamed doctor who witnessed the aftermath of a UFO crash in the New Mexico desert in 1947; Sveta, who claims aliens abducted and impregnated her and then took the unborn fetuses from her womb; and Tad O'Malley, a ultra-conservative online pundit who believes in alien conspiracies and is familiar with Mulder's work on the X-Files. The episode begins with Mulder receiving a phone call from Scully, who explains O'Malley wants to meet with him. After a brief rendezvous, O'Mally arranges for Mulder to meet with Sveta, and then takes him to a warehouse containing an "ARV," or "alien replica vehicle." Mulder then meets an old man on the National Mall (the show seems to insinuate it was the unnamed doctor) who tells him he's getting close to the truth and that Roswell was just a smokescreen. Despite all of the evidence he collected and everything he witnessed in the first nine seasons, Mulder becomes convinced that the alien conspiracy is simply intended to hide the government's true agenda, using alien technology to take over the world and install a fascist regime. After Scully reveals that Sveta's blood contains alien DNA, he becomes convinced that she's the key to unraveling the mystery. In the end, jack-booted government thugs destroy the ARV, a UFO seemingly kills Sveta, and O'Malley's website is taken offline without explanation. The show concludes with the cigarette-smoking man (seriously? They've killed him off at least twice. When are we going to learn how he keeps getting brought back to life?) receiving a phone call informing him the X-Files has been reopened. Episode 2: Founder's Mutation Dr. Sanjay, a researcher at 'Nugenics Technology' -- which is later revealed to have ties to the Department of Defense -- kills himself by stabbing a letter opener into his ear after a high-pitched noise only he can hear becomes overwhelming. Mulder steals Sanjay's cellphone and uses it to contact his secret lover, who says that Sanjay recently became concerned that his "kids" were dying, but can't explain the cryptic concerns. Scully finds the episode title written on Sanjay's hand when she conducts an autopsy. After finding pictures of deformed children in Sanjay's apartment, Mulder starts hearing the same high-pitched sound that drove the researcher to suicide. Mulder interprets the noises as a message that simply says "find her." The "Founder" turns out to be the reclusive Dr. Augustus Goldman, who also happens to be the largest financial donor to a hospital Scully worked for. The agents arrange a meeting with Goldman, who claims his research is intended to find cures for debilitating illnesses affecting children. During the interview, the agents witness a child fight with a Nugenics worker and appear to move objects without touching them. Mulder becomes convinced that Goldberg is experimenting on children. Mulder and Scully track down Goldman's wife, Jackie, who is being held against her will at a mental institution and says that she also heard the strange high-pitched noises. Jackie said she discovered the sounds were actually her unborn child trying to communicate with her after her husband experimented on the fetus. She tells them she cut the fetus from her stomach after an accident and the child escaped. The agents later determine the Jackie's escaped son, Kyle, is now a teenage janitor working at Nugenics. After a confrontation at the home of Kyle's adoptive mother, he tells the agents he wants to meet his sister, who is being held in the Nugenics compound. Goldman arranges the meeting, but Kyle determines the girl Goldman introduces to him is just a decoy. He searches the facility and finds his real sister. Together, the pair kill Goldman by overwhelming him with the high-pitched sound, and then they escape. Episode 3: Mulder and Scully meet the Were-Monster The most critically well-received episode of the revival so far, this one follows the agents as they try to track down a supposed were-lizard. The episode is played for laughs rather than chills. Mulder opens the show by complaining that everything has been explained and no mysteries are left. In the next scene the agents arrive at the spot of several grizzly murders and find several bodies with their necks chewed open. Mulder notes that the clothes have been removed from one of the victims. The only living witness, an animal control officer, describes a strange lizard-like creature, but conveniently lacks any photographic or video evidence. Mulder and Scully later follow reports of a similar strange creature to a truck stop, where a man-shaped lizard accosts Mulder and the animal control officer. The creature flees into a portable toilet, but when Mulder opens the door, he finds a human being. A hotel manager later tells Mulder that he saw a patron named "Guy Mann" transform into the lizard creature. Mulder eventually tracks Guy to a cemetery, where he 'attacks' Mulder. Mulder fends off the assault and the defeated Guy reveals he's isn't a man who turns into a lizard creature, but rather a lizard creature that turns into a man. He explains that he became a "were-lizard" when a human bit him on the neck. His initial transformation made him self-aware for the first time, and he was overcome with shame at his nakedness, hence the body with missing clothes. Guy says his newfound humanity instilled in him the desire to get a job, find a place to live and pay his bills. He confesses that he longs for the simpler life he lived as a lizard creature and attacked Mulder because he hoped the agent would kill him. Guy professes his innocence when Mulder accuses him of involvement in the murders. DNA from the crime scene leads Scully to the animal control officer, who tries to kill her, revealing himself to be the true murderer. Mulder rushes to her rescue, only to find that she already has her suspect in handcuffs. The episode concludes with Mulder saying farewell to Guy before he goes into hibernation for 10,000 years. Mulder witnesses Guy transform into the lizard creature, renewing his belief that mysteries still abound. Episode 4: Home Again The episode opens with a shockingly out-of-touch housing official in Philadelphia warning the denizens of a skid row homeless encampment that they are to be relocated to a suburban hospital. An abnormally large man covered with trash follows the official to his office and then rips him apart before climbing into the back of a garbage truck. Mulder and Scully are called to investigate because of their experience with 'spooky' cases and Mulder finds a Band-Aid at the crime scene. He later finds that a Banksy-esque image of man with a Band-Aid covering his nose painted on a nearby billboard was removed shortly after grizzly murder. Mulder discovers similar images have been spotted nearly homeless encampments throughout the city and a homeless man tells him the picture portrays their protector. Meanwhile, Scully receives a call informing her that her mother suffered a heart attack. As Scully cares for her mother in the hospital, she thinks about the child she had with Mulder. They gave the boy up for adoption hoping to protect him. Scully's mother, who dies later in the show, called out to her estranged son "Charlie" before she lost consciousness. As city officials involved with the homeless encampment's relocation are continue to turn up dead and dismembered, Mulder and Scully track down "Trashman," the artist behind the mysterious images. Trashman tells them he created a sculpture of a man he envisioned as a defender of those who couldn't defend themselves, namely the homeless. He covered the man with garbage and put a Band-Aid over his nose as a statement about how we sometimes treat other people like trash. The sculpture came to life and started committing murders, Trashman tells the agents. The episode's climax sees Mulder and Scully arrive minutes too late to prevent the large man from committing his final murder. In the final scene, Scully scatters her mother's ashes and tells Mulder that she understands why her mother called for her estranged brother before she died. Her mother felt guilty that she'd lost contact with Charlie and wanted to know he was okay. Scully confesses that she feels the same way about their son. She believes she did the right thing putting him up for adoption, but still needs to know that they didn't treat him like garbage. Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, and Patti Scialfa Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will rock Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 23. From left are Steven Van Zandt, Springsteen and Patti Scialfa in a photo taken at the band's show in Philadelphia on Feb. 12. (Charles Fox, The Philadelphia Inquirer) PREVIEW Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band What: The River Tour. When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. Where: Quicken Loans Arena. Tickets: $55.50 to $150, plus fees, at the box office, at Discount Drug Mart locations, online at and by phone at 1-888-894-9424. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland and Northeast Ohio have a lot of native-son musicians who've gone on to stardom. Glass Harp, Devo, the Raspberries, the Black Keys, the James Gang, Bobby Womack, Gerald Levert, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Machine Gun Kelly, Wild Cherry, Nine Inch Nails, Pere Ubu, Filter, Marc Cohn, Jim Brickman: The list could go on and on. They're ours and we love them, but the guy who may "feel'' most like Cleveland isn't FROM Cleveland: the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who brings his E Street Band to Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 23: Bruce Springsteen. Or more accurately, Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce! It's funny how a guy whose nickname is "The Boss'' resonates with blue-collar Cleveland. Make no mistake, Springsteen IS "The Boss'' onstage. I talked via email with E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg a couple of years ago to profile the group for its induction as part of the Class of 2014 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He said it pretty well: "The very first time I played with Bruce and The E Street Band was in August of 1974 at S.I.R. Studios on 54th in New York City,'' Weinberg wrote. "From the downbeat it was instantly obvious that I had stumbled upon a very special situation, not only because it was clear that Bruce was a great bandleader during the 'audition,' but the way Clarence, Garry, and Danny responded to him (Roy was not yet in the band) was evident in a degree of intensity and concentration of where Bruce was going with the music. "I'd never experienced that kind of instant cohesiveness. It was actually pretty easy because Bruce and everyone were so definite in their approach,'' he said. But for those of us in the seats, it just feels like A) he gets us; B) he's one of us; and, though it's not too bloody likely, C) we could be up there, too! Springsteen's delivery, his lyrics and charisma have been apparent to Clevelanders since his debut here in 1974, and it was especially true on his live album, "The Agora, Cleveland 1978.'' If that initial gig was a first date, this was the one that cemented the marriage. How fitting, then, that he and the band were among those who probably were the biggest acts of the 1995 concert at Cleveland Municipal Stadium to open the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Bruce and his pals never headlined a World Series of Rock show, but really, that gig would have fit right there in the rock 'n' roll stratosphere among those headlined by Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Electric Light Orchestra or any of the rest. Cleveland is changing. Factories have given way to tech and other kinds of white-collar jobs, and downtown is becoming home to young professionals, while the burbs are aging and losing people. That's precipitating a kind of curious change in the music scene as well. There are 14 major country shows at Blossom Music Center, with at least one more likely. Mainstream country just seems to appeal to the yuppies who have the expendable income, and older music fans - the ones who would go to the classic rock shows that seem to be bypassing the city, like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, etc. - are less likely to part with the bucks. Doesn't matter. The Q will be packed. "Our'' boy is coming home. Willard school.JPG The old Willard School at W. 93rd Street and Marginal Road in the Cudell neighborhood will be home to new E-Prep and Village Prep charter schools over the next two years. (Patrick O'Donnell/The Plain Dealer) CLEVELAND, Ohio - The highly successful Breakthrough charter school partnership plans to open new versions of its Village Prep and E-Prep schools on the West Side over the next two years. The Cleveland school board gave initial approval last week for a new Village Prep to start in the fall at the old Willard school at W. 93rd Street and Marginal Road that will eventually serve kindergarten through fourth grade. A new E-Prep for grades five through eight would start at the same building in 2017. The Head Start preschool program that already uses part of the building will remain in the building that was once part of the school district. "The building and the school have deep roots in that community," said Breakthrough spokesman Lyman Millard. "We're just looking at revising at as an educational asset for the neighborhood." These schools in the Cudell and West Boulevard area will be Breakthrough's furthest expansion on the West Side. Out of 11 schools in the network, 10 are on the east side. The Near West Intergenerational School in Ohio City is the only school Breakthrough has on the West Side now. Anita Brindza, executive director of Cudell Improvement Inc., the community development agency for the neighborhood, said she is excited that the schools will offer a choice to families north of Interstate 90. Though the school is so close to the highway that you can watch traffic from it, Brindza said it will be popular with families that don't want their kids walking to the limited spots to cross over or under 90. "I think their reputation for excellence and the fact that a school is in their community that they could walk to would be ideal," she said. Breakthrough, by many measures, is the strongest operator of charter schools in Ohio. Charter schools - public schools that are open tuition-free to any student, but which are privately-run - typically have lower academic results than districts across the state. But charters in Cleveland, led by Breakthrough, outperform the Cleveland school district, according to a 2014 study by Stanford University researchers. The "Prep" model is the most rigid and structured of three school styles in the Breakthrough network. While some schools let kids explore and progress at their own pace, both Village Prep and E-Prep are more directed and share some aspects of military schools - walking in tight lines, not wasting any time in between classes, following orders quickly. The schools have a "no excuses" philosophy of demanding that students learn material and the schools also ask parents to volunteer time. While the model does not work for all kids, Breakthrough has also found that many thrive within that structure. Millard said Breakthrough has always tried to locate schools in neighborhoods with socioeconomic challenges so that it can offer quality solutions to families there. As a result, it has stayed on the East Side, other than its one school Ohio City, where a group of parents campaigned to bring Near West Intergenerational there. Millard said that in seeking to move west, Breakthrough found a few possible locations in the West Park neighborhood. But it saw a greater need in Cudell and searched for buildings there for the school. He noted that there will be a much more diverse mix of students in Cudell - more Hispanic and Middle Eastern backgrounds - than in other Breakthrough schools. Breakthrough is finishing negotiations to buy the school, Millard said, and plans to spend about $4 million to improve the building. The Head Start program there run by the Council for Economic Opportunities of Greater Cleveland will remain as a tenant. That preschool has a five-star rating, the highest possible, from the state's Step Up To Quality preschool evaluation system. Village Prep will start in the fall with 120 students in kindergarten and first grade, then add a grade each year until it has 345 students through fourth grade in 2020. E-Prep will start with 80 students in fifth and sixth grade in 2017, then add seventh and eighth grade over the next two years until it has 290 students. TOLEDO, Ohio - An Ohio State Highway Patrol officer was hospitalized after the man he was arresting assaulted him Saturday morning. Just before 2 a.m. Saturday, the trooper, whose name has not been released, stopped James Lloyd Jr., of Toledo for failure to yield on Reynolds Road in Toledo. Lloyd attempted to run from the trooper as he was being placed under arrest for operating a vehicle under the influence, WTOL-TV in Toledo reported. During an ensuing struggle, Lloyd began to choke and assault the trooper, who was able to regain control and take Lloyd into custody, WNWO-TV in Toledo reported. After the arrest, illegal narcotics were found that appeared to belong to Lloyd, WTOL reported. Both the trooper and Lloyd were taken to area hospitals to be treated for their injuries. The trooper was released from the hospital and is expected to be okay, WTOL reported. Lloyd has since been booked in the Lucas County Jail on charges of felonious assault and resisting arrest, WNWO reported. Here are other stories today from Toledo and Northwest Ohio: nazareth-deli.jpg The Nazareth Restaurant and Deli in Columbus reopened Monday morning after a man wielding a machete injured four patrons in a Thursday night incident. (Courtesy of WBNS-TV Columbus) COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Columbus restaurant reopened today, four days after several patrons were injured in a violent machete attack. The doors reopened at Nazareth Restaurant and Deli at 11 a.m., four days after 30-year-old Mohamed Barry walked into the restaurant last Thursday and attacked four diners with a machete before fleeing and leading police on a brief chase. Officers later located Barry a couple of miles away and an officer shot and killed Barry after Barry lunged at them with a machete and knife in his hands, WCMH-TV in Columbus reported. The four wounded patrons were hospitalized, but are expected to recover from their injuries, WBNS-TV in Columbus reported. Restaurant staff and close friends came together for a short prayer and dinner Sunday to begin the healing process. "It's not going to be a mourning place," owner Hany Baransi told WCMH. "There were a lot of emotions and stuff. I wanted to feel that, but at the same time I wanted to get over it, move on and stuff like that." Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs told WBNS the FBI is involved in the investigation to help determine motive and possible links to terrorism. Baransi, a self-described Israeli Christian Arab, told WBNS he has no doubt the attack was an act of terrorism. "I come from the Middle East," he said. "I come from Israel and this has been a big thing here. People ask me 'where are you from?' [I respond] I'm from Israel. Sometimes it offends people. I don't know, but I still am. I'm not going to change. I am what I am." Here are other top stories from the Columbus area today: Wellsville-church-vandalism.jpg A tarp has been placed over a Virgin Mary statue defaced by vandals at the former Immaculate Conception Church in Wellsville, Ohio, in Columbiana County. (Courtesy of WKBN-TV Youngstown) YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Vandals spray-painted satanic symbols on three churches in one Columbiana County community, south of Youngstown. Vandals hit the Immaculate Conception, United Methodist and Covenant Presbyterian churches in Wellsville. The Immaculate Conception Church closed its doors five years ago, but vandals defaced a statue of the Virgin Mary outside, covering the face in black paint and painting an upside down cross on the body, WKBN-TV in Youngstown reported. "Well, it's disgusting. I mean, that's the Virgin Mary there, it's a very nice statue," former church member Carl Payne told WKBN. A tarp has been placed over the Virgin Mary statue to cover up the vandalism. Covenant Presbyterian had a door spray-painted and Wellsville United Methodist also had vandalism, WFMJ-TV in Youngstown reported. The sign for Wellsville United Methodist is covered in upside down crosses while a door to Covenant Presbyterian church had the word "Satan" painted on it. The church already worked to cover it up, but remnants of the marks can still be seen, WKBN reported. Here are other top stories today from Youngstown and eastern Ohio: Green-Township-car-chase.jpg Firefighters in Green township in suburban Cincinnati put out a car fire early today after two teens allegedly stole the car from a nearby auto dealership and crashed it. (Green Township Fire & EMS via Facebook and WXIX-TV Cincinnati) CINCINNATI, Ohio - Mother Nature helped bring a quick end to a car chase this morning in Hamilton County. Two teens stole a brand-new car from an auto dealership in Green Township in Hamilton County this morning, but lost control in the snow, crashing into a power pole and knocking down lines. According to police, two teens stole a vehicle from Walt Sweeney Ford around 3 a.m. Police followed the vehicle a short distance to Sidney Road, where it hit a utility pole, caught fire and brought down electric wires, WXIX-TV in Cincinnati reported. "The live electric wires were arcing in the street, on the car, in the yard of a nearby house," Green Township officials said in a Facebook post. "The car had also caught fire, and the occupants had fled." The two teens did not get far. One teen was caught at a dead end on a nearby street, police said. K-9 units caught the second suspect shortly after, WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported. According to Green Township police, the first teen taken into custody, a 15-year-old, was found with additional sets of stolen car keys in his possession. The other suspect is 17. Here are other top stories from the Cincinnati area today: Elliot Spitzer, Silda Spitzer Eliot Spitzer announces his resignation as governor of New York in 2008 as his then-wife, Silda, looks on. A woman has accused Spitzer of assaulting her at a hotel in Manhattan on Saturday night. (Stephen Chernin, Associated Press file photo) NEW YORK -- Eliot Spitzer, the former Democratic New York governor who resigned in 2008 because of a prostitution scandal, has been accused of assaulting a woman at a hotel in Manhattan, reports say. The New York City Police Department is investigating the incident, which reportedly occurred sometime Saturday night, according to the New York Daily News. Spitzer, 56, is accused of choking the woman, who is in her mid-20s, at the Plaza Hotel, NBC News reports. A spokesperson for Spitzer says the accusations are untrue, but sources tell NBC there may be video showing him entering the hotel with the woman. CNN reports Spitzer has not been charged. The woman told police that Spitzer is her boyfriend, according to CNN, and that she and the former governor got into an argument that turned physical. Spitzer later went to see the woman at a hospital after she was taken there with self-inflicted cuts on her wrists, CNN reports. The Daily News says it's unclear if the woman will pursue charges. CNN reports she has left the United States and returned home to Russia. Orrin Hatch In this April 26, 2014, file photo, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah speaks in Sandy, Utah. Hatch is a possible pick by President Obama as a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) WASHINGTON -- Republicans are near-unanimous in demanding that President Barack Obama leave it to his successor to nominate a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But the president insists he plans to come forward with a nominee -- and that there's plenty of time for the Senate to weigh in. That sets up what could be an epic election-year clash between Obama and Republicans who say they'll refuse to vote for his nominee, who could reshape the court for decades to come. So who will Obama pick? The White House had prepared for the possibility of liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Stephen Breyer retiring -- but less so for a sudden vacancy of one of the court's staunch conservatives like Scalia, said a former administration lawyer with knowledge of current White House planning. Now the White House is scrambling to put together a "short list" of candidates to be fully vetted, said the former official, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. The biggest question facing Obama: whether he and his team feel there's any realistic chance they can persuade Republicans to allow a vote. If the answer is yes, Obama would have to try to find a perfect candidate with enough appeal to Republicans to change their minds. A sitting senator or someone recently confirmed might do the trick. If the answer is no, Obama could try to use his selection to political advantage in this year's elections by nominating someone who would spark backlash if Republicans oppose him or her. Picking a minority or someone from a battleground state in the election could rile up the Democratic base. The White House said Sunday that Obama will nominate someone "in due time" once the Senate returns next week from recess. Obama took roughly a month to nominate Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, but this time the clock is ticking like never before. Obama hasn't said who he's considering, but some Cabinet members, politicians and current judges are being prominently floated as possible picks: THE CABINET MEMBERS -- Attorney General Loretta Lynch: Though Lynch's nomination was fraught with politics, she's been recently confirmed and has been received relatively well by both parties since taking over the Justice Department less than a year ago. Before Obama promoted her, Lynch was a U.S. attorney for a key district based in Brooklyn. An African-American woman has never served on the Supreme Court. But her role in the Obama administration could prove divisive. -- Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson: Johnson has serious credentials in many critical areas of the law, having served as the Pentagon's general counsel and as a federal prosecutor. He has the benefit of having been Senate-confirmed multiple times -- most recently in 2013 by an overwhelming majority. But Republicans loathe Obama's executive actions on immigration that Johnson's department put forward and are currently before the Supreme Court. THE POLITICIANS -- California Attorney General Kamala Harris: Elected statewide in California in 2010, Harris is a longtime prosecutor and rising Democratic star who has drawn occasional comparisons with Obama. She's currently running to replace California Sen. Barbara Boxer. Obama has made no secret of his affection for Harris; He once had to apologize after making an offhand joke that Harris was the country's best-looking attorney general. -- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar: Picking a current colleague of the senators who will be voting on Obama's nominee could be one strategy to increase prospects for a vote. Klobuchar, in her second Senate term, is a former prosecutor and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. -- Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch: The Republican senator would be nominated only if Obama decided it would be better to pick a candidate Democrats didn't love than risk a Republican successor making the choice for him. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has suggested Obama go with a "consensus pick" like Hatch. He's also a key holdout in getting Senate approval for Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. THE JUDGES -- Sri Srinivasan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: With a compelling personal story, Srinivasan has long been eyed for the high court. Born in India, Srinivasan clerked for former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor -- a Republican. He has the added appeal of having been confirmed unanimously less than three years ago. -- Merrick Garland, chief judge, U.S. Court for Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit: Garland is a Harvard Law School graduate whose name has long been in the mix. He's considered a moderate judge and has experience on the D.C. circuit, which handles many cases involving administration actions. -- Paul Watford, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Watford once served as a law clerk to Ginsburg, and worked as a federal prosecutor before Obama appointed him to the San Francisco-based court. An African-American, Watford was confirmed 61-34 in 2012. -- Jacqueline Nguyen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Nguyen would be the first Asian-American on the Supreme Court. She emigrated as a child from Vietnam and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and a judge in California before Obama nominated her to federal courts. -- Patricia Millett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: Obama nominated Millett in 2013 after John Roberts joined the Supreme Court as chief justice. Her nomination lingered for months amid a fight about the filibuster. Millett had experience in the U.S. Solicitor General's office, arguing dozens of cases before the Supreme Court. -- Robert Wilkins, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: A chemical engineer by training, Wilkins was a public defender before being appointed by Obama to federal positions. Wilkins, an African-American, was raised by a single mother and is known for his involvement in civil rights issues. -- Jane Kelly, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit: Kelly, a former public defender, was unanimously confirmed to the St. Louis-based court. She's earned praise from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Grassley has joined Republicans in urging delay until after the election. watch now Success for an e-commerce businesses come in many shapes, from building a multi-billion business empire to carving out a small but lucrative niche. In the case of Singapore-based Alexis Horowitz-Burdick, 34, the niche she carved was so successful that it attracted the eye of French luxury goods giant LVMH, which then bought her beauty and cosmetics retail site Luxola.com for an undisclosed sum. Horowitz-Burdick started Luxola in the city-state in 2011, and by 2015, expanded into 12 markets in the Asia Pacific region, offering a 4,000-strong product range from 250 high-end brands. "The first year was very tough," she told CNBC's "Managing Asia". "We started in an environment in 2011 when I don't think e-commerce was of course nearly as popular as it is today." Horowitz-Burdick said that her small team doubled up on roles and quickly learned the tricks of the trade. "We had no idea how to do [product delivery]," she said. "When we first started getting orders, we hired one person to be our full-time delivery driver in Singapore." Alexis Horowitz-Burdick But with not enough money to provide the various delivery options expected by of e-tailers today, the team at Luxola didn't initially have a backup plan to ensure that deliveries remained speedy during periods of high demand. "So we would all just get into taxis, and run around, and deliver goods to our customers," Horowitz-Burdick recalled. After its takeover by LVMH in 2015, Luxola.com was rebranded Sephora Digital, becoming the e-commerce arm of the French cosmetics brand in Southeast Asia, with Horowitz-Burdick as managing director. Some of LVMH's famous luxury brands include Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon, De Beers Diamond Jewellers, Dior, and Sephora. "I couldn't think of a better partner for us," she said. "We have been able to shift our site to the Sephora site in less than five months after acquisition and bring on all of the brands everybody loves from Sephora." While she lost the brand name Luxola, the founder says she gained in terms of Sephora's significant international brand recognition. But Horowitz-Burdick did not hit start-up paydirt without first paying her dues. Her previous online business, The SweetSpot, a high-end group buying site, failed to take off, so she sold the platform to a multinational corporation. "But it did introduce me to e-commerce in Singapore, with a view to the broader Southeast Asia region," she said. "What I learnt most was that I was in love with e-commerce." The leaders of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are meeting Monday to discuss a controversial plan to build a fence in order to stop migrants from entering southern Europe and traveling on through the rest of the region. Also known as the Visegard (V4) group, representatives of the four countries are holding an informal meeting - ahead of an important European Union (EU) summit Thursday and Friday - to discuss a plan to build a razor-wire fence and close Macedonia and Bulgaria's borders with Greece, effectively blocking the country from the rest of Europe and signaling the end of the Schengen zone, Europe's 26-nation passport-free travel region. In 2015, over a million people reached Europe's shores -- nearly half of them Syrians fleeing a civil war that is entering its fifth year. However, anti-migrant and anti-refugee sentiment has grown in the past few months, mainly in Central and Southern Europe. Immigrant minors peer out through the fence of an immigrant detention center in the village of Filakio, on the Greek-Turkish border. Sakis Mitrolidis | AFP | Getty Images With the exception of Hungary, Central European countries have not accepted any significant number of migrants. The Poles, Czechs and Slovaks have only accepted a small number of mostly Christians from Syria. Macedonia first put up a fence to block migrants in November, and is in the process of building a second one. Germany has been the main destination for most of the migrants once they land in Greece, but the Central European countries fear they could be swamped if Germany were to close its own borders. The Visegrad nations say it is impossible to integrate Muslims into their societies, frustrating many Western officials given the huge numbers of Eastern Europeans who have received refuge and economic opportunity in the West for decades, reports the Associated Press. The anti-Islam PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West ) movement staged protests across Europe last week, with a refugee center in Prague torched by Molotov cocktails, injuring one. And this past weekend, after the EU requested that Greece build 'hotspots' or refugees centers, to process the surge of migrants arriving on the chain of islands facing the Turkish coast, Greek police clashed violently with protesters on the island of Kos outside one of the construction sites for these hotspots, reported The Telegraph. Slovenia announced Sunday that it is clamping down on the number of migrants it will allow to enter the country. Austria, also hardening its stance in recent weeks, is expected to announce a daily cap on the number of migrants allowed to enter the country via its main border crossing with Slovenia, according to the AFP. The EU meetings in Brussels this week promise to be strained - with both migration and the Brexit, the possibility of Britain exiting the EU on the agenda. watch now watch now watch now watch now European markets traded sharply higher on Monday, on remarks made by the European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi and a recovery in banks and commodities. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended the day closing provisionally up 3.1 percent, with London's FTSE 100 was up 2.1 percent, France's CAC 40 up around 3 percent, while Germany's DAX was around 2.7 percent up. European markets Investors were keeping a close eye on ECB president Mario Draghi on Monday, where he is speaking before the European Parliament. In his speech, Draghi said that the central bank is ready to ease policy in March, if market volatility or the effect of low energy prices impacts inflation expectations. With U.S. markets closed Monday, all eyes are on markets in Europe and Asia. While most of Asia's stocks rallied Monday, China's Shenzhen Composite and Shanghai Composite closed slightly lower. People's Bank of China (PBOC) governor Zhou Xiaochuan told Caixin financial magazine over the weekend, that he saw no basis for a continuing the depreciation of the yuan . He also dismissed speculation that Beijing would tighten capital controls to stem the surging capital outflows from the mainland. In the commodities space, oil prices ticked higher on speculation that OPEC could agree to cut production, to reduce supply glut. Brent was hovering around $33.60, while U.S. crude was up over 1 percent, just below $30. The basic resources sector was in focus on Monday as copper and nickel surged higher on hopes that China's monetary authorities could enact further easing policies. ArcelorMittal and Glencore posted strong gains. Anglo American was also trading sharply higher, despite analysts expecting a disappointing full-year earnings report on Tuesday, amid weak metal prices. HSBC to stay in UK In business news, global banking giant HSBC decided to keep its headquarters in the U.K., after considering Hong Kong as its new base, in the face of a referendum that could see Britain leave the European Union. Shares were in the green. Elsewhere, French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche reported that telecoms group Orange could present a takeover of rival Bouygues as early as Tuesday, sending shares in the firms up over 4 and 6 percent respectively. This boosted France's Numericable-SFR shares by over 8 percent. And British defense firm BAE Systems was up over 3 percent after appointing Charles Woodburn to the newly-created role of chief operating officer. Banks surge Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg | Getty Images Policymakers and industry experts are busy swapping ideas at this year's annual aviation trade show in Singapore, with some telling CNBC that cooperation and partnerships could lead to further growth in the sector. Violeta Bulc, the transport commissioner for the European Union, told CNBC on the fringes of the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit, that a lot of "time and effort" had been dedicated to coming up with a "very comprehensive aviation strategy." She said the two core motivations behind the Union's approach are to boost efficiency in European skies and for the bloc to tie up with different regions around the world, particularly growing markets. Meanwhile, IATA's (International Air Transport Association) Director General and CEO, Tony Tyler, echoed the importance of partnerships within the aviation industry. "By 2034, global demand will reach 7 billion passengers, but that demand can only be accommodated through a working together approach by all aviation stakeholders including governments," he said at the event. Building bridges in the Gulf watch now Economic and political motivations often stand in the way of widespread, global partnerships. One example reportedly being Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways. Last year, reports stated, they were accused of receiving heavy subsidies from their governments, which allowed them to undercut their U.S. competitors by providing cheaper air tickets. The carriers denied the allegations at the time. However, Bulc was optimistic about future partnerships between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council, the regional political and economic union for Gulf states except Iraq. "First of all, we have to respect the growth they were able to generate in Gulf countries," she said. "Of course, we are very much interested in open negotiation for comprehensive bilateral agreements [with the GCC], within which we will settle all possible disagreements." She believes that there is a "mutual agreement" that could allow the two regions to grow together, adding that she was very positive about prosperity of future negotiations. A lucrative prospect in the Middle East will certainly be Iran, which returned to the international market earlier this year when U.S.-led sanctions on the country were lifted. Iran is reportedly investing $27 billion in an airline fleet capable of taking on the likes of Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar. A Reuters report last month stated that Iran ordered dozens of long-distance European jets in January. But, European negotiations with Iran have yet to begin, said Bulc. "At this stage, we submitted to the European Council the proposal for negotiations and we are hoping to get a very dynamic open mandate and we hope this year, all the negotiations will start." Looking East watch now Boeing is expecting strong aircraft orders from Asia over the next 20 years, with few order deferrals on the horizon, according to the aircraft manufacturer's Asian chief. However, rather than place large orders of a 100 or more planes at a time, most carriers in the region have been requesting 40 or fewer or seeking out leasing deals. "Airlines are getting smarter" at setting their orders, Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president of Asia Pacific and India sales at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told a press conference at the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow Monday. "People have figured out, at least in our case, if you want order big orders, you'll have to pay deposits on those orders. Why would you put a deposit on an airplane that is delivering in 2030," Keskar noted. Now, carriers in the region are using SLB, or sale and leaseback more often, he noted. "You don't have a plan for that years in advance. If today you want a (737 MAX) in 2018, I can get you a Max, because there several leasing companies that have bought these planes on spec," he noted. Keskar said that customers in the region have not asked Boeing for deferrals. "In terms of the low-cost-carrier market, our big customer here is Lion Air and we have delivered 165 airplanes for them and they continue to take deliveries on time. They are not asking for deferrals," he said, noting that the Indonesian low-cost carrier has ordered more than 200 planes. "Nobody has come to us and asked for any deferrals. When we look at airlines like Virgin Australia , or Jet Airways or Spicejet in India, all of them are doing fine. In fact, some of them want their airplanes early," Keskar said. "Our backlog is over 5,000 airplanes now so it's difficult to accelerate anybody's airplanes." Russia is deliberately attacking civilians in northern Syria in an attempt to intensify the refugee crisis, western diplomats and politicians have warned, in a sign that a fragile ceasefire agreement for the war-ravaged country is crumbling before it begins. A pivotal part of Russia's strategy was "to exacerbate the refugee crisis and use it as a weapon to divide the transatlantic alliance and undermine the European project", US Senator John McCain said in a speech at an annual security conference in Munich on Sunday. Two senior politicians from close US allies and a senior European intelligence official echoed Mr McCain's remarks, reflecting the bleak mood among western defence chiefs, diplomats and political leaders gathered for the conference. Moscow was "weaponizing" the refugee crisis for leverage, one of the politicians warned. According to a European official, facilities such as bakeries and hospitals were being hit in an attempt to force the local population into capitulation and increase the flow of refugees towards Turkey and Europe. watch now The Syrian ceasefire deal, which is set to begin on Friday, was agreed by the International Syria Support Group the collection of regional and world powers whose influence is critical in determining the outcome of the Syrian conflict on the eve of the conference last Friday. Moscow's air operations have shifted the balance of power in favour of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, leaving many Washington-backed moderate opposition groups in northern Syria close to surrendering. "This is diplomacy in service of military aggression, and it's working because we are letting it," said Mr McCain. "It is no accident that Mr Putin has agreed on a cessation of activities when he did. We have seen this movie before in Ukraine," he added. More from the Financial Times: US asks Turkey to stop shelling Kurds Saudi jets to deploy to Turkish air base Syria plan could be an echo of Ukraine Mr McCain, chairman of the US Senate armed services committee, gave public voice to widespread concerns over the ISSG deal that have been simmering among some of Washington's closest allies. Though the agreement has been cautiously welcomed in public, in private most do not think it will succeed. The Russian bombing of Aleppo Syria's largest city, which is now almost completely encircled by Mr Assad's ground forces has continued over the course of the weekend, in spite of the ISSG pledge to begin an immediate rollback of military activities. The attacks are rapidly worsening the plight of civilians in the city, according to local observers and humanitarian agencies. Sen. John McCain Getty Images Memphian reaches NBA milestone As the NBA tipped off this month, Michael Smith donned his striped shirt, and placed a whistle around his neck for a 30th consecutive season.

Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, left, and Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, watch while Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons speaks to the House Finance Subcommittee in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, April 14, 2014. The panel later voted 10-1 against Van Huss' bill seeking to remove permit requirements to openly carry guns in public. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)

SHARE By Tom Humphrey, Knoxville News Sentinel NASHVILLE Tennessee soon will apparently have an official state rifle with the door open for an official state pistol or shotgun as well at some point in the future. A resolution designating the Barrett Model M82/M107 as Tennessee's official state rifle was approved in the House last year 74-9 with a smattering of vocal bipartisan opposition under sponsorship of Rep. Micah Van Huss (R-Jonesborough) a Marine veteran who carried the weapon during a tour of duty in Iraq. It was unanimously approved in the Senate State and Local Government Committee last week with Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) hailing the gun as one that has saved lives of both American soldiers and innocent civilians even though it's widely known as a "sniper rifle." The resolution is now on Monday's Senate "consent calendar" a list of noncontroversial measures approved without discussion. Barring a senator's objection, it is thus assured of approval. Van Huss initially last year proposed that the Barrett .50 caliber rifle be designated as Tennessee's official "state firearm." But he dropped that notion and instead came up with having it designated as the official rifle. One objection raised in the House was that the proposal HJR231 amounts to a state-sanctioned endorsement of one manufacturer's product over others. It was noted that Beretta Inc. recently invested millions of dollars in a gun manufacturing plant at Clarksville. Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, said Beretta is a "fine company" making fine firearms, but is better known for its pistols and shotguns. She suggested a future resolution could designate a Beretta-manufactured handgun as Tennessee's official state pistol. The Barrett rifle designation, she said, "honors Tennessee's ingenuity in manufacturing." The weapon was developed by Ronnie Barrett, founder and owner of Murfreesboro-based Barrett Firearms, whose wife, Donna, is a former state representative. Briggs, who served as an Army physician in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he had received emails objecting that the state would pay homage to a "sniper rifle" primarily used to kill people. But the senator said he personally witnessed situations in which the Barrett M82 was used to "detonate ordnance" and thus avoid casualties. "It can be used to disable vehicles without killing the occupants of that vehicle. It not only saves American lives, it may even save innocent civilian lives," Briggs said. The Commercial Appeal files Under the guidance of Buddy Ross, physical director of the Boys Athletic Club in the old Barksdale Police Station, Leon Curtis, 12, tests his weight lifting strength while Raymond Vega and Don Brasfield (right), both Golden Gloves champs, look on. SHARE Feb. 15 25 years ago: 1991 Nine couples were married and 23 pairs renewed their vows Thursday at Billy Hardwick's All Star Lanes on White Station. Donna and Taylor Wilkinson renewed vows after 12 years of marriage. Anne and Andy Duty have been married 11 years. Newlyweds Mark Thomas and Brenda Hamlett were married Thursday and their best man was wrestler Steve Keirn. Bowling alley attendants served as maids of honor. Judge Jim White officiated over the ceremony, which included a hula dancer and a harmonica player. 50 years ago: 1966 The Otis Elevator Co. has abandoned its plan for a combination office-storage facility adjacent to Old Fort Subdivision after protests by subdivision residents and developers. Harry Fulton, Otis branch manager, said, "We have asked the Memphis Housing Authority to find us another suitable piece of land, one where no one will have any objections. We don't want a hassle. We're not that kind of company." 75 years ago: 1941 One of the big threats in the Southern Bowling Congress at Knoxville this week end, in which 106 Memphians, will compete, is Otto Dick, winner of the 1938 Memphis Bowling Association title. He rolled a 727 series in an exhibition match recently at the Newman lanes. 100 years ago: 1916 WASHINGTON President Wilson yesterday formally gave his consent that his name could be used as a candidate for re-election to the White House. Political advisers and friends of the President have taken for granted for months that he would be the nominee. 125 years ago: 1891 The Legislative Council, on the motion of Mr. Herbers, has ordered property owners on Third, between Concord and the L&N tracks, to lay plank sidewalks for the benefit of pedestrians. SHARE By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal CCL Label, which makes the stickers for products like Roundup herbicide, plans to add 100 new jobs in an expansion of its Collierville factory, company officials said. The company, with 168 employees, is seeking tax breaks through the Payment In Lieu of Taxes program, or PILOT. A public discussion on the company's request is scheduled for next week. The CCL Label plant at 670 Progress Road makes labels not just for Roundup but other items such as Purell hand sanitizer, Brian Evans, general manager of CCL's Collierville facility, said. The company plans to expand its existing building and create a new one next to it to accommodate equipment for in-mold labeling, in which the label is produced as part of the container. "As opposed to the labels that we produce now, that are more like stickers." Construction of the new plant in Collierville is in cooperation with a Turkish company, Korsini-SAF, and the joint partnership will be called CCL-Korsini. "We're looking to be in the new building by the end of 2016," he said. Asked the reasons for seeking tax breaks, Evans said, "The financial incentives of the program are attractive." Expansion plans were announced in July and covered by trade publications, though it captured little attention locally. The companies said they planned to invest a combined $20 million at the site. Though the announcement statement sounded definite, Evans suggested Monday that it was less so. "We're still considering all options." Some details about the tax break request were unavailable Monday. Mark Moody, chairman of the Collierville Industrial Development Board, said he hadn't seen a tax break request application from CCL Label. CCL Label is part of a global company called CCL Industries with headquarters in Toronto. The Memphis-area operation was once based at 285 Union, but broke ground on its current facility in Collierville in 2006. The company cited traffic congestion from Grizzlies and Redbirds games as a major reason for the move. The public meeting on the CCL Label tax break request is scheduled for noon on Feb. 25 in the Administrative Conference Room at Collierville Town Hall, 500 Poplar View Parkway. SHARE Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's 2016-2018 Public Safety Action Plan hits hard at circumstances that contribute to the state's crime issues, including tougher penalties against serial domestic-violence offenders and a common-sense, proportionate approach to dealing with probation and parole violators an idea that would free up more prison beds for violent offenders. While we wish the plan contained more recommendations to turn off the spigot of social maladies that increase the possibility of at-risk children growing up to become teen and adult criminals, we think the governor's latest action is on target when it comes to reducing crime in the present. Commissioner of Public Safety and Homeland Security Bill Gibbons, Department of Corrections Commissioner Derrick Schofield and David Purkey, assistant commissioner and homeland security adviser, visited The Commercial Appeal's editorial board last week to talk about the plan, which they hope the General Assembly will approve. The highlights include making it easier for law enforcement officers to obtain ex parte (Latin "for one party," a reference to motions, hearings or orders granted on the request of and for the benefit of one party only) orders of protection on behalf of domestic-violence victims. There also are enhanced penalties for repeat domestic-violence offenders, including making third and subsequent convictions for domestic-violence offenders, involving intimate partners, a felony. Repeat drug traffickers and burglars also would face enhanced penalties. Another bill recommended in the plan would prevent the Prescription Drug Safety Act of 2012, which established a real-time Control Substance Monitoring Database, from sunsetting. The law has helped reduce the number of prescription drug abusers and those who over-prescribe potentially dangerous drugs. The graduated, proportionate sanctions for parole and probation violators, and recommendations to help inmates succeed when they are released, should help reduce the state's 48 percent recidivism rate. The group also detailed steps in the plan to meet homeland security challenges. Haslam introduced his initial action plan in 2012, and Gibbons said the state has and will use performance indicators to measure the effectiveness of both initiatives. For example, the state's overall crime rate dropped nearly 15 percent between 2010 and 2015. Major violent crimes saw a small dip during the same period. Using the Memphis Police Department's "Blue Crush" data-driven policing model, Tennessee severely cut the number of traffic fatalities. Property crimes are down significantly. So are reported domestic-violence offenses. Gibbons said the bad news on the domestic-violence front, though, is that domestic violence still makes up 50 percent of the crimes reported to law enforcement. That percentage also applies to Memphis and Shelby County. Reported drug overdose deaths rose between 2010 and 2014, the latest figures available. And, there has been an "alarming" increase in heroin arrests between 2010 and 2015, while arrests for opioids have been trending downward for same period after spiking in 2012. Legislators should give serious consideration to approving proposed bills in the action plan. The recommendations are proactive and deal with current problems that affect the safety of Tennesseans. SHARE Dr. Keith G. Anderson, president-elect Tennessee Medical Association Your editorial on Feb. 5, Existing rules to hold doctors accountable in malpractice cases are working well, contained valid points, but failed to consider other aspects of the proposed constitutional amendment. These reforms affect not only medical liability, but also business liability, resulting in a more favorable business climate for Tennessee. Most doctors and businesses would agree the current system is a vast improvement over previous laws. Noneconomic damage caps do not apply to economic damages from injury resulting from product liability or malpractice. These damages are still fully recoverable. Also, the caps are removed if the injury is intentional. Most important, the current laws provide a fair, transparent way to keep doctors accountable for patient safety and quality of care. As mentioned, the reforms help us recruit good doctors to increase the quality of and access to health care across the state. Needless to say, business recruitment helps the overall economy. Unfortunately, caps on noneconomic damages will continue to be challenged in the courts, where a single decision could erode all the progress made in the past several years to the detriment of businesses, patients and providers alike. The whole point of the constitutional amendment is to provide additional support to prevent this from happening. What we have in place serves Tennesseans well. Lets keep it. And lets give voters the chance to decide if our current laws are worth protecting. SHARE By E.J. Dionne WASHINGTON In most presidential elections, Supreme Court nominations are a major issue for elites and a substantial concern for significant parts of the conservative movement. Other voters usually see the future makeup of the court as a side matter, or not essential to their decisions at all. Justice Antonin Scalia's death Saturday will change this. The issue of conservative judicial activism had already begun to take hold among liberals because of a series of fiercely ideological and precedent-shattering 5-to-4 decisions. You read that right: After decades during which conservatives complained about "liberal judicial activism," it is now conservatives who are unabashed in undermining progressive legislation enacted by the nation's elected branches. Scalia will be remembered fondly on the right as the brilliant exponent of the theory of "originalism" that provided a rationale or, in many cases, a rationalization for decisions that usually fit conservative ideological preferences. In 2010, Citizens United rewrote decades of precedent on Congress' power to regulate how campaigns are financed, facilitating a flood of money into elections from a small number of very wealthy Americans. Three years later, Shelby County v. Holder ripped the heart out of the federal government's enforcement power in the Voting Rights Act. Last week, conservatives on the court halted the implementation of President Obama's Clean Power Plan, his central initiative on climate change. This is merely a partial list. The court's conservatives have also regularly undercut the power of unions and the ability of citizens to wage legal battles against corporations. Such decisions already had the potential of broadening the range of progressive constituencies invested in making the court a major election issue, including political reformers, African-Americans, environmentalists and organized labor. But Scalia's death means Obama or his successor if that person is a Democrat could overturn the current conservative majority on the court, which could lead it to revisit many of the most troubling decisions of recent years. Republicans did themselves no favors in the coming argument by moving in a hard political direction even before most of the tributes to Scalia had been published and even before the president had actually picked someone: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proclaimed no Obama nominee would be considered, period. Republicans claimed precedent for ignoring court appointees from presidents on their way out the door. In Saturday night's debate in South Carolina, Marco Rubio said "it has been over 80 years since a lame-duck president has appointed a Supreme Court justice." Ted Cruz made a similar point. Well. A Senate controlled by Democrats confirmed President Reagan's nomination of Anthony Kennedy on a 97-0 vote in February 1988, which happened to be an election year. By what definition was Reagan not a lame duck when he put Kennedy forward on Nov. 11, 1987? Obama rejected the rejectionists, and said Saturday he would name a new justice. My hunch is Obama will try to put the Republicans' obstructionism in sharp relief by offering a nominee who has won support and praise from GOP senators in the past. Three potential candidates who fit these criteria and won immediate and widespread mention were Merrick Garland and Sri Srinivasan, both judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and Jane Kelly, a judge on the Eighth Circuit. (I should note Garland is a dear friend of long standing.) Whatever choice Obama makes, he will try to make it as hard as possible for Republican senators, especially those struggling for re-election this year in blue or purple states, to claim that he had picked an ideologue. Obama could also argue he had deferred to the Republicans' Senate majority by offering a candidate whom many of them had supported in the past. An extended court fight would allow progressives, once and for all, to make clear it is their conservative foes now using judicial power most aggressively. The partisan outcome of this year's election just became far more important. This fall, Americans will not just be picking a new chief executive. They will be setting the course of the court of last resort for a generation. Contact E.J. Dionne at ejdionne@washpost.com. SHARE By Leonid Bershidsky After three weeks of chasing presidential candidates down the roads of Iowa and New Hampshire, I cannot help but wonder if they notice the quality of the roads their buses and cars drive on. One doesn't even have to listen to voters to see that neither the small- government, tax-cutting messages nor the lavish promises of infrastructure spending from either side's candidates mesh with reality. I had a flight to Manchester, New Hampshire, canceled by a snowstorm, so I rented a car in New York and drove. The 250-mile drive is supposed to take 4 hours, not the 3 it would have taken in Germany, where I live the U.S. has significantly lower speed limits than do European countries; Germany has none on stretches of its autobahn system. I ended up driving for almost six hours because of the snowfall. I saw dozens of cars that had careened into snowdrifts by the roadside. Two jack-knifed tractor-trailers narrowed the interstate to one lane. I dragged along in my Toyota, equipped with ordinary summer tires: Unlike in Germany, there is no legal requirement to use winter ones in the U.S. I learned to drive in Russia, on awful roads and in unimaginable clunkers with bald tires, and going slowly on ice and snow is automatic. Evidently, it's not for American drivers, and snow is a calamity here. That's not just because roads aren't cleared quickly enough. The cracks and potholes in them fill with water because of imperfect drainage, and the water quickly turns into treacherous ice. Driving safely under such conditions is a matter of luck rather than skill. It's somehow uncomfortable to rank the U.S. with much poorer nations. In the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness rankings, based on surveys rather than objective assessments, the U.S. is number 16 in road quality behind some Western European, Gulf and rich Asian nations, but ahead of, say, Denmark and Sweden. That has little to do with reality. The U.S. traffic fatality rate is much closer to Ukraine's than to Germany's, and it's higher than in Bulgaria. That, of course, is in part a consequence of underinvestment. The U.S. spends a smaller share of its economic output on its road network than most European nations. That translates into washboard roads that can be called highways only because they're wide. The U.S. has long invested about 0.6 percent of its economic output in its inland transport infrastructure, mainly highways less than countries with visibly better road networks, and even less than Russia (where a lot of the investment is simply stolen, however). Alone among major European nations, Germany invests at about the same low level, and Germans are complaining about deteriorating road quality. They don't know how lucky they are. On a good summer day, you can see the sky reflected in an autobahn surface (and, unlike in the U.S., there are no tolls to spoil the pleasure). German roads aren't better than U.S. ones because more money is plowed into them they're just better designed and built. U.S. transportation authorities have experimented with European-style roads. In 1993, the Michigan Department of Transportation sent its experts to Germany and Austria to study European road-building techniques, then built an experimental stretch of "Euro-pavement," which cost about 20 percent more to lay than a standard Michigan road. Twenty years later, it found that the "European" pavement was in a slightly worse condition than the homegrown variety and expressed doubt that switching to the German standard would make sense. Even accounting for more extreme weather, they must have done something wrong in Detroit. In 2006, the Federal Highway Administration's Office of International Programs sent a team to six countries, five of them European, and found that where commonly used U.S. road-building technology provided for a design life of 20 years, those countries built concrete pavements with a life of 40 years or more. The group found, among other things, that European countries generally used higher-quality materials than the U.S. to build a road's base and ensure proper drainage. Of the presidential candidates I heard in Iowa and New Hampshire, only the Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, talked about investing in infrastructure projects, not just to fix the roads and bridges, but also to create jobs. Throwing money at the problem will probably achieve the latter goal, but not necessarily the former. U.S. roads don't just need investment: Their builders need a transfer of European knowledge and an incentive possibly in the form of enhanced regulation to use that knowledge. As for the Republican candidates, it was as if they had flown between campaign stops, not bounced around on roads of which a country as rich as the U.S. should be ashamed. If they talk about infrastructure at all, it's as if nothing were seriously wrong with it. Here's Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who practically lived in New Hampshire during the primary campaign, crisscrossing the state in a bus: "The interstate system is long finished, and states already oversee their own highway design and construction. Americans don't need a costly federal highway bureaucracy. I will return the federal gas taxes to the states, leaving only a sliver with the federal government for truly national needs." Perhaps the Republicans' failure to acknowledge the quality of the roads can be interpreted as stoicism, but certainly "making America great again," as Donald Trump promises, should include great roads or at least decent ones. Leonid Bershidsky, a Bloomberg View contributor, is a Berlin-based writer. Select Commodity All Ajwan Alasande Gram Almond(Badam) Alsandikai Amaranthus Ambada Seed Amla(Nelli Kai) Amphophalus Antawala Anthorium Apple Apricot(Jardalu/Khumani) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar Dal(Tur Dal) Ashgourd Astera Avare Dal Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Balekai Bamboo Banana Banana - Green Barley (Jau) Bay leaf (Tejpatta) Beans Beaten Rice Beetroot Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal) Bengal Gram(Gram)(Whole) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Betal Leaves Bhindi(Ladies Finger) Bitter gourd Black Gram (Urd Beans)(Whole) Black Gram Dal (Urd Dal) Black pepper BOP Bottle gourd Bran Brinjal Broken Rice Broomstick(Flower Broom) Bull Bunch Beans Cabbage Calf Capsicum Cardamoms Carnation Carrot Cashewnuts Castor Seed Cauliflower Chapparad Avare Chennangi Dal Cherry Chikoos(Sapota) Chili Red Chilly Capsicum Chow Chow Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum(Loose) Cinamon(Dalchini) Cloves Cluster beans Cock Cocoa Coconut Coconut Oil Coconut Seed Coffee Colacasia Copra Coriander(Leaves) Corriander seed Cotton Cotton Seed Cow Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea(Veg) Cucumbar(Kheera) Cummin Seed(Jeera) Custard Apple (Sharifa) Dalda Dhaincha Drumstick Dry Chillies Dry Fodder Dry Grapes Duck Duster Beans Egg Elephant Yam (Suran) Field Pea Firewood Fish Foxtail Millet(Navane) French Beans (Frasbean) Galgal(Lemon) Garlic Ghee Gingelly Oil Ginger(Dry) Ginger(Green) Gladiolus Cut Flower Goat Gram Raw(Chholia) Gramflour Grapes Green Avare (W) Green Chilli Green Fodder Green Gram (Moong)(Whole) Green Gram Dal (Moong Dal) Green Peas Ground Nut Oil Ground Nut Seed Groundnut Groundnut (Split) Groundnut pods (raw) Guar Guar Seed(Cluster Beans Seed) Guava Gur(Jaggery) He Buffalo Hen Hippe Seed Honge seed Hybrid Cumbu Indian Beans (Seam) Indian Colza(Sarson) Isabgul (Psyllium) Jack Fruit Jaffri Jamun(Narale Hannu) Jarbara Jasmine Jowar(Sorghum) Jute Kabuli Chana(Chickpeas-White) Kacholam Kakada Kankambra Karamani Karbuja(Musk Melon) Kartali (Kantola) Khoya Kinnow Knool Khol Kodo Millet(Varagu) Kulthi(Horse Gram) Lak(Teora) Leafy Vegetable Lemon Lentil (Masur)(Whole) Lilly Lime Linseed Lint Litchi Little gourd (Kundru) Long Melon(Kakri) Lotus Lotus Sticks Lukad Mahedi Mahua Mahua Seed(Hippe seed) Maida Atta Maize Mango Mango (Raw-Ripe) Marasebu Marget Marigold(Calcutta) Marigold(loose) Mashrooms Masur Dal Mataki Methi Seeds Methi(Leaves) Millets Mint(Pudina) Moath Dal Mousambi(Sweet Lime) Mustard Mustard Oil Myrobolan(Harad) Neem Seed Niger Seed (Ramtil) Nutmeg Onion Onion Green Orange Orchid Ox Paddy(Dhan)(Basmati) Paddy(Dhan)(Common) Papaya Papaya (Raw) Patti Calcutta Peach Pear(Marasebu) Peas cod Peas Wet Peas(Dry) Pegeon Pea (Arhar Fali) Pepper garbled Pepper ungarbled Persimon(Japani Fal) Pigs Pineapple Plum Pointed gourd (Parval) Pomegranate Potato Pumpkin Raddish Ragi (Finger Millet) Raibel Rajgir Ram Rat Tail Radish (Mogari) Raya Resinwood Rice Ridge gourd(Tori) Ridgeguard(Tori) Rose(Local) Rose(Loose) Rose(Loose)) Round gourd Rubber Sabu Dan Sabu Dana Safflower Sajje Same/Savi Season Leaves Seemebadnekai Seetafal Seetapal Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) She Buffalo She Goat Sheep Snake gourd Snakeguard Soanf Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soji Soyabean Spinach Sponge gourd Squash(Chappal Kadoo) Sugar Sugarcane Sunflower Sunhemp Suram Surat Beans (Papadi) Suva (Dill Seed) Suvarna Gadde Sweet Potato Sweet Pumpkin T.V. Cumbu T.V. Cumbu Tamarind Fruit Tamarind Seed Tapioca Taramira Tender Coconut Thinai (Italian Millet) Thogrikai Thondekai Tinda Tobacco Tomato Toria Tube Rose(Double) Tube Rose(Loose) Tube Rose(Single) Turmeric Turmeric (raw) Turnip Walnut Water Melon Wheat Wheat Atta White Peas White Pumpkin Wood Yam Yam (Ratalu) Select State Select Market No matter where you work, you dont want to be told there is an internal emergency and you cant use the computers, but that is precisely the situation at a Hollywood hospital which is a ransomware victim. The attacker demanded an exorbitant 9,000 bitcoin, which is roughly 3.6 million dollars, to unlock the computers. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center President and CEO Allen Stefanek admitted the hospital is suffering from significant IT issues and declared an internal emergency. He declined to confirm the 9,000 BTC ransom to NBC4, calling the attack clearly not malicious but random. A doctor who wished to remain anonymous told NBC Los Angeles the computer system has been locked up for over a week and the staff was unable to pull up any patient records. 911 patients who were not were diverted to other emergency rooms had to register the old-school way on paper the same goes for charting patients medical records. Hospital departments have been forced to communicate via jammed fax lines and over the phone, added the unnamed staff doctor. I was told that the hackers demanded 9,000 bitcoin be electronically sent to them, and in exchange, the hackers would send back the key codes to restore the system. Although Stefanek claimed the hospital has been sporadically impacted for over a week, one hospital tech said Radiation Oncology has been forbidden to turn on its computers and cannot treat patients. A full computer shutdown means the staff can forget about using email and patients can forget about picking up x-rays, CT scans, lab work or other digital records on site; one frustrated woman told NBC the hospital told her it was hacked, while other patients are given no explanation as to the long delays in receiving care. The inability to access patient records was dubbed a very dangerous situation. Patient privacy has not been compromised, added Stefanek. At this time we have no evidence that any patient or employee information was subject to unauthorized access or extraction by the attacker. The type of ransomware has not been reported as law enforcement works to trace the attacker. Besides the FBI, the LAPD and a cyber forensic team are also investigating the ransomware attack. Computer forensic expert Eric Robi told Fox 11 that he didnt know why a hospital was targeted, but the attackers might think its a greater sense of urgency because its a hospital and theyll get payed. After analyzing cybersecurity and online privacy trends, the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) reported that cybercriminals are cherry-picking ransomware victims such as businesses with valuable data. Ransom demands are changing from opportunistic extortion to being market-based; OTA Executive Director Craig Spiezle explained, Much like surge pricing for taxis, cybercriminals now target and calculate their ransomware pricing based on company size, market value and much more. Most security professionals predict ransomware attacks will only continue to increase. While you frequently hear not to pay extortion, Robi suggested most of the time its cheaper to pay the ransom than to pay to fix the problem. 23 May 2022 - Understand the French healthcare system, how you access it and how you are reimbursed - Useful if you are new to the French healthcare system or want a more in-depth understanding - Reader question and answer section Aimed at non-French nationals living here, the guide gives an overview of what you are (and are not) covered for. There is also information for second-home owners and regular visitors. How many times do we have to hear the phrase lessons will be learnt before anyone actually does learn those lessons? Already in Special Measures, the Norfolk and Suffolk Mental Health Trust has announced that it has launched an independent investigation into the large number of unexpected deaths and suicides among patients, reportedly the highest in England, with 139 in 2014/15 and 112 so far in the first nine months of the 2015/16 financial year. Families and staff have been calling for an investigation for the last three years, and have now been told that the results will be available in three months, although the terms of the investigation, and who will lead it, have yet to be agreed. If other such reports are anything to go by, I doubt that it will be published in full; a sanitised press release will be issued instead, so I can only hope that the media will get their FOIs in early and that the authors and relevant Trust leaders will be called to Parliaments Health Committee for a grilling. Meanwhile, during a local television interview in response to publication of the latest figures, the day before the investigation was announced, the CEO refused to take any responsibility, effectively saying problems were down to a lack of funding. He subsequently stated that every death is already investigated to assure ourselves that it was not due to our service or careand to ensure lessons are learnt. Given the shameful death rate, lessons certainly dont appear to have been learnt. For example, several years ago, a young neighbour of mine was in the care of this Trusts predecessor at St. Clements Hospital in Ipswich. He was a delightful young man, well educated and interesting; he also had a job. However, periodic mental health episodes began to escalate when his medication was altered; his parents retired lecturers raised concerns with the hospital, but were ignored over many months. Eventually their son had to be sectioned and became an in-patient because of self-harm. Within days he had taken his own life in hospital. His parents were again ignored when they asked how this could have happened, given his history of self-harm, and turned to me for help. I contacted the then CEO, who arrogantly dismissed my enquiry, telling me to mind my own business. When I reported back to the parents, they were too distressed to pursue the matter, so the truth was never made clear. Their son was merely another statistic. Given the pressure for this new enquiry, I suspect that campaigning families and staff are only too well aware that these deaths can no longer be allowed to be brushed under the carpet; they know something is seriously wrong with the Trusts culture, and they should be congratulated for their persistence. Surprisingly, the scale of the problem doesnt appear to be a priority on the Health and Wellbeing Boards radar. It published a mental health strategy for consultation last year; one of the key points was removing the barriers to communication. Aha, I thought, that makes sense until I read that it was all about communicating with the various public sector authorities, which have different IT infrastructures which dont talk to each other. As usual, the people at the core of the strategy the patients are hardly mentioned. It is all top down theory, instead of bottom up. Yet it is patients who are the most vulnerable, who suffer because they dont know what to do, how to complain, or seek advice; they are scared of authority. Those with mental health problems are amongst the most vulnerable and their choices can be irrational; death may be accidental, or appear to be the best option, because they think no-one cares about them. We must be grateful that guns are not readily available in Britain, otherwise the death rate would surely be a great deal higher. Consequently, one can only hope that the Norfolk and Suffolk Mental Health Trusts investigation is truly independent, held in public, challenges a complacent leadership, and ensures that those who have failed will be held to account. But will that really happen? Regrettably, it is doubtful if previous such investigations are anything to go by. Its too easy for people at the top of so many public sector organisations to hide behind the impenetrable bureaucracies which are such a feature of their management, especially in the health service. So, the Health and Wellbeing Board should closely observe the process, ensuring its genuine independence by insisting on being consulted about who will lead (one of the recently retired Crown Court judges in Suffolk would do an excellent, wholly impartial, job) and review the investigation rigorously, demanding full accountability, and real change without delay so that more people dont lose their lives. And, instead of the usual response to serious reviews: full of promises to address the issues identified in the investigations recommendations, but without any idea how to actually deliver the required improvements, so nothing happens; we need a costed programme, incorporating a revised management structure, and timelines, with regular monitoring. That is the only way to achieve real change, and quickly. This is not about funding, (although the Government recognises that mental health does need more resources). It is about radically changing the culture with a strong leadership team, people who arent divorced from those staff members (and relatives) who know what needs to be done, but who no-one has so far listened to. So, should anyone move on, their replacement must not be a carbon copy, because public appointments tend to be largely a closed shop. What is needed are inspirational leaders from outside the loop, with strong business/financial experience and an understanding of what customer care means; a fresh pair of eyes which are objective and sympathetic, people who actually listen. There is evidence across the public sector, as well as business, that such people can revolutionise an organisation, making it more responsive, efficient and focused; this is what the Norfolk and Suffolk Mental Health Trust so desperately needs. Writing in todays Times (), former Labour advisor John McTernan argues that the British Supreme Court set up in 2009 in a fit of self-consciousness about how unique our prior arrangements were should be more like its American counterpart. Members, he argues, should be household names. A writer in the Daily Telegraph takes the opposite view, arguing that our anonymous, non-political judiciary is a model of how things should be done. The spur for these pieces was the recent death of Antonin Scalia, the pre-eminent conservative member of the US Supreme Court, which has added a dramatic twist to the already-dramatic election. Speculation is rife as to whether and how President Obama might try to reverse the previous 5-4 conservative majority on the Court, a victory much more long-term than any general election win. Given that the Republicans control the Senate, he may instead simply try to nominate somebody the blocking of whom would do the opposition maximum harm in the upcoming election. Such stories should remind us how lucky we are to have a Parliament, and not a document, as the supreme constitutional authority in this country. By any democratic standard, the American constitutional model is ridiculous. The programmes and mandates of elected politicians, whether in Congress or the White House, are entirely subject to the will of a nine-person committee appointed by previous administrations. The genius of Parliamentary sovereignty and an uncodified constitution is that it keeps the elected, democratic aspects of the government supreme. It does not need a small group of learned, privileged people to pore like haruspexes over a collection of broadly-worded statements of principle, forming a huge number of opinions on an ever-broadening range of issues which supersede our elected representatives. It makes sure that the best way to effect change is at the ballot box, rather than passing power to lawsuits and those paid to conduct them. In the US, on the other hand, landmark moments of government are decided in court and imposed on the country according to how the Court interprets the Constitution and a judges interpretation is almost always predictable by the President who appointed them. The openly partisan nature of the justices, and their status as high-profile public figures, is a product of that system. It is necessary if American citizens are to understand how theyre actually governed. Inside that flawed arrangement, it is desirable. Indeed, it is the only way to do things there is no such thing as a neutral constitutional ruling. Alas, since 1997 we have been moving in an American direction. We now have a Supreme Court of our own, and the Human Rights Act effected a huge transfer of power from the Commons to the courtroom as it sought, fatuously, to protect our rights from democracy. If we end up adopting wholesale the American arrangement in this country as McTernan alludes to when he writes that a British bill of rights is on the horizon with a new role for the Supreme Court as the key defender of citizens against arbitrary excesses of government then political scrutiny of judges is a necessary element of it. But it would be far better if we could move away from our attempts to mimic the American arrangement altogether. Power has to be exercised by somebody: documents and institutions can no more govern a country than a pile of bricks and a box of tools could build a house. It should be exercised by those we elect today, not by judges we didnt choose interpreting those we elected in the distant past. Zac Goldsmith is like Judi Dench. This similarity would never have occurred to me, but was pointed out by Tania Mathias, who last May achieved one of the most dramatic results of election night, turning Vince Cable out of Twickenham and converting his Lib Dem majority of 12,140 into a Conservative majority of 2,017. Goldsmith, who captured the neighbouring constituency of Richmond Park from the Lib Dems in 2010, increased his own majority by an even larger amount, so it now stands at 23,015. Mathias is in no doubt why this happened: As soon as Zac meets people theyre on board. Its like Judi Dench good on film, breathtaking on stage. This was amazingly good advance billing for Goldsmith, and I wondered whether he would live up to it. Some Conservatives are worried that their London mayoral candidate is too laid back, too languid, too softly spoken and polite, too lacking in hunger and aggression to take on the Labour candidate, Sadiq Khan, whom the bookies and pollsters put ahead. Iain Dale, in his latest ConHome column, went so far as to write of Goldsmith: He looks as if hed rather be anywhere else but doing what hes doingCameron needs to give Zac a lesson on how to appear being pumped up. On a wet Saturday morning with a bitter wind blowing the rain in ones face, not everyone would have wanted to be in Whitton High Street, a 1930s parade of shops one stop west of Twickenham on the railway. But Mathias, as the local MP, had turned out with at least two dozen Conservative activists, waiting for Goldsmith to arrive. We took shelter in the local campaign headquarters, housed in Ultralux, a business selling windows. Mathias related in a steely tone how she vanquished Vince: He was someone whod been here for a very long time and didnt realise his policies were no longer relevant. He was out of touch with peoples needs. Goldsmith arrived looking as if this was just where he wanted to be: he reminded me of a sportsman so caught up in the joys of the chase that he thinks nothing of its hardships. In a short speech he thanked his followers for turning out on such a filthy day, and announced the latest news: Sadiq Khan is on the run. Hes just pulled out of the Andrew Marr programme. Mathias made a clucking noise. Laughter. Goldsmith declared that Khan is sick of having to defend the indefensible, namely his promise to freeze transport fares for four years, which leaves a 2 billion black hole in Transport for Londons accounts, which Khan is unable to explain how he will fill. We are up against someone who is on the slide, Goldsmith went on. And weve won on Heathrow. Just for the record, weve won on Heathrow. Better, not bigger, Mathias interjected. As the Prime Minister said six years ago, Goldsmith remarked in an ebullient tone. He has long been a prominent opponent of Heathrow expansion, and hopes this will demonstrate to voters that he does not bend to every passing breeze. Khan was first in favour of expanding Heathrow, then turned against it. We went out into the rain. Goldsmith explained as he strode along that transport is a housing issue, because only by improving transport links can one develop various areas where tens of thousands of houses need to be built. At the first house in a road where the team were distributing leaflets, Goldsmith rang the bell, and as we waited, recalled with amusement the reaction he got from the very first householder he ever canvassed: Id rather eat my own shit than vote for a Tory. But the woman who answered the door was desperate to talk about parking. Her street has become a nightmare because commuters fill it with their cars before catching the train to central London. Goldsmith explained that if she gets 50 per cent of the residents to agree to a change in the parking rules, something can be done. Later, over a cup of coffee, Goldsmith enlarged on his attack on Khans pledge to freeze fares: Hes made a very stupid promise. Either he has no intention of delivering on it, or it would be catastrophic for London. Goldsmith believes voters will realise Khans promise is just not credible. He said that if Tessa Jowell had become the Labour candidate, things would have been different: Shes a very decent person. I dont think you could say it would be a catastrophe if Tessa Jowell was elected. But Khan flip-flops on everything: On every issue of substance his position has changed for the sake of expediency. The mansion tax, and Jeremy Corbyn, are recent conspicuous examples: both of these Khan favoured and then denounced. In a piece about the Labour candidate for ConHome, I began: Sadiq Khan is a more formidable politician than I realised before writing this profile. He possesses a remarkable ability to understand what an audience wants to hear, and an almost unbounded willingness to say it. Goldsmith intends to turn this willingness to say what people want to hear into Khans fatal weakness: a sure sign that he cannot be trusted. But, I objected, some Londoners might like the idea of electing a Moslem mayor, as a demonstration of how tolerant the city is. This suggestion pained Goldsmith. He pointed out that no mayor can, as an individual, represent all Londoners, or even all members of a particular faith: It is the job of the mayor to hold London together. Unlike Paris, we are on the whole a harmonious city. I was struck during this conversation by Goldsmiths intense competitiveness. This quality is obscured from some observers by his good manners. The same mistake is often made about David Cameron. People do not realise how ambitious these Etonians are, and how determined to do whatever is needed to win. Khan has a fight on his hands, for Goldsmith too is a more formidable politician than even some Conservatives have realised. Mathias is right that this quality comes across more strongly when one meets Goldsmith in the flesh, than when one sees him on television. But there are 80 days still to go in this campaign, which is a long time for Khan to defend himself against the charge of untrustworthiness. It is possible that the Labour man will show, by the staunchness with which he rebuts criticism, that he is actually a dependable figure. But his record, in his constituency of Tooting as well as more widely, suggests that he tends to react badly to attempts to subject him to scrutiny. Whitton is close to Goldsmiths own constituency, so one would expect people there to be well-disposed towards him, and to see him as a winner. But a local Tory explained why he expects Goldsmith to beat Khan: People in the suburbs are probably really quite frightened of a Khan mayoralty, what it will do to them personally, and whether if he were to put through his extraordinary policy of freezing fares, it would mean they had to pay higher taxes. Close The Colombian constitutional court has ordered the revocation of the mining licenses in its paramo areas, the moorlands of the Andes Mountains above the tree line, but below the permanent snow line. Hence, the government's National Development Plan, that in 2014 banned new mining licenses but not the existing 347 contracts has been expanded, said Colombia Reports. The Colombian paramos are situated between 9,850ft and 16,500ft, points out the BBC. All mining activity seems to have been nullified here, with Article 173 of the National Development Plan, which challenged the earlier mining operations. They have been halted by environmental activists and the left-leaning opposition party, the Polo Democratico. "First life, and then business," Polo Democratico member Alirio Uribe Munoz said on Monday, after the announcement. The court has ruled that mining for gold and oil in the mountain ecosystems might also damage the mountains. With the nation's cities relying on the paramos as a major water supply, the ruling is a fresh breath of air for the biodiversity and ecosystems of the nation, according to Latin Correspondent. By collecting water from rain and mists and creating a filtration system as well as storing water, the nation's delicate environmental balance is slated to get a fillip. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close An interesting study on butts from the University of Oxford and Churchill Hospital in the United Kingdom has kicked quite a number of beliefs in the butt. Study authors say that "increased gluteofemoral fat mass is independently associated with a protective lipid and glucose profile, as well as a decrease in cardiovascular and metabolic risk." Hence, women with bigger butts, are more protected from chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. They also show lower levels of cholesterol and increased production of hormones metabolising sugar. Their children too enjoy good health. "If you're going to have fat, you're definitely better off if you've got some fat in the lower body," Dr. Michael Jensen, director of endocrine research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. told ABC. "If you look at people who have primarily the pear shape, they're healthy in all the ways that this fat behaves. It's not just fewer heart attacks or less diabetes, it's all these ways we think about fat as an important organ for our health." Being fat in the thigh and buttocks increases the deposits of Omega-3 fatty acids and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which help in the fetal brain development. "The fat in these areas is a depot for building a baby's brain," Will Lassek, a professor at the University of Pittsburg, told News Corp Australia. "You need lots of fat to make a nervous system and the fats in these areas are also enriched in DHA, which is a particularly important component in the human brain. It looks as if women have evolved to accumulate these fats and hold on to them - until a baby arrives." Even fat for breastmilk is drawn from the thighs, according to Science Times. It helps to reduce the weight in these areas too. A comment by the Chicago Tribune is illuminating. "Your typical runway model, with a 24-inch waist and 34-inch hips, has a waist-hip ratio of .71. Your average size 10, with a 28-inch waist and 39-inch hips, is a .72. Jennifer Lopez, at 26 and 39, is a .67." See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close Laboratory tests done recently identified Zika virus infection that affected three people who later died in Brazil last year, said the Health ministry on Thursday. However, the authorities did not specify if it was Zika alone that was responsible for the death of these people. Health Minister of Brazil, Marcelo Castro, issued an official statement in a press conference that they are in partnership with University of Texas that could lead to the development of the vaccine by the end of this year. However, he added, that a complete cure for this mosquito-borne disease may take longer, reported Reuters. The latest developments are an extension of Brazil's ongoing battle with Zika which has spread to more than 30 countries. The ministry revealed that the Brazilian researchers discovered the virus in a woman's body aged 20-years who belonged to Rio Grande do Norte in the Northeastern state of the country. Last year she died due to respiratory problems. Other two patients also succumbed to complications that arose because of the virus infection, says The Wenatchee World Alarms have been raised due to possible link between the virus and the birth defect that causes the babies to take birth with unusually small head and in many cases even brain damage. The Brazilian authorities are already investigating 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, reported Daily Mail According to the experts, three deaths reportedly caused by the virus in Brazil need further research and investigation. "We have not seen reports of deaths of adults directly linked to the viral infection," said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, the WHO assistant director-general for health systems and innovation. "The direct causality is still to be demonstrated but the association in time and location seems to be clear. We have a few more weeks to be sure to demonstrate the causality, but the link between Zika and Guillain-Barre is highly probable," Kieny said, reported CNN See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close Facebook India finally pulled the plug on Free Basics, the controversial platform, after the telecom regulator TRAI prohibited RCom, its mobile partner, from applying differential pricing to make the service paid. "Free Basics is no longer available to people in India," a statement issued by the company's spokesperson said. It is good to note that the statement of withdrawing 'Free Basics' comes exactly after a year of launching 'internet.org' by Facebook and RCom. The project has been withdrawn after the company's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, campaigned aggressively in support of the service but did not gain the traction it hoped for. To make matters worse, the social media giant was reproached for being against net neutrality by protesters in various countries, while TRAI accusing the differential tariffs as discriminatory. "The final straw was the stand taken by RCom to make the service pay. There was no other option left, especially as the company had to follow the law of the land," a source told Times of India. Facebook introduced the service in 38 countries as Facebook's plan to offer free internet connectivity to millions of people who do not have the access to the facility. "Connectivity can't just be a privilege for some of the rich and powerful," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in 2014 at the first meeting of Internet.org. "It needs to be something that everyone shares, and an opportunity for everyone." As many as 10 Lakh people signed up for Free Basics platform on the RCom network, as reported by Computer World However, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India barred free data services for a selection of content, known as zero-rating. TRAI said that they took the suggestions of people into account that differential pricing should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. But this kind of validation would incur high regulatory cost and will only benefit those companies that are financially well-off to track legal and regulatory options, says PC World See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close The laws that allow euthanasia or assisted suicide even justify the psychiatric patient's decision to end their lives, theoretically. However, in execution, this practice can be very messy, said a Netherlands study. It was common to see disagreements among doctors and complicated medical histories within Dutch psychiatric patients who chose euthanasia, said the researchers who examined these cases. "When you actually try to implement it even in a setting where there is excellent healthcare, there are a lot of red flags that need to be investigated further," said lead study author Dr. Scott Kim, a psychiatrist and bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. In some form, assisted death is legalized in Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Canada and a few U.S. states, Kim and his colleagues write in JAMA Psychiatry. "In Belgium and The Netherlands they have a much more expansive law that doesn't regard diagnosis as important," Kim told Reuters Health. Due to ambiguity in law, the rule also becomes applicable to patients that have psychiatric disorders. For the purpose of the study, the researchers analyzed cases of assisted suicides. There were 66 summaries of legalized assisted suicide of psychiatric patients between 2011 and 2014. 1/3rd of these people that ended their lives were 70 years and older, 44% were between 50 and 70 years and 1/4th were between 30 and 50 years. 70% of these cases were women. 55% of these patients suffered from depression and the others constituted other forms of diseases such as PSTD, eating disorders, autism, psychosis, pain without any physical reason etc. As per the findings of the research, one in 10 patients did not get any input from psychiatrists outside and quarter cases showed differences in doctors that were treating the patients. As per Dr. Applebaum, he wrote in his editorial that the findings "raise serious concerns about the implementation of physician-assisted dying for psychiatric patients," reports Reuters See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close According to a new study by Chinese Academy of Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, huge, flightless birds prowled the Arctic over 50 million years ago. The study published in Journal Scientific Reports on Friday reports that the paleontologists discovered two kinds of ancient birds, Gastornis and Presbyornis. Of the two, former is a significant discovery. Even though the scientists could only find a toe bone only, it is enough to prove that Gastornis once walked the Ellesmere Island. This bone is strikingly similar to the fossil skeleton found in Wyoming. Researchers were surprised at the resemblances between the two fossils. "I couldn't tell the Wyoming specimens from the Ellesmere specimen," said Professor Thomas Stidham, one of the study's authors, in a press release, "even though it was found roughly 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) to the north." Based on this evidence, the scientists know that Gastornis was at least 6-feet tall and weighed several hundred pounds. This study is the new proof that ascertains the existence of these birds on Ellesmere. "We knew there were a few bird fossils from up there, but we also knew they were extremely rare," said Jaelyn Eberle, one of the study's authors, as reported by The Christian Science Monitor Since Ellesmere is one of the coldest places on Earth, it is rare to find bird fossils in Arctic. However, regardless of that, this island is a fossil hub for paleontologists. Over the years, scientists have found varied kinds of fauna in this island. They say, millions of years ago, Ellesmere was more like Southeastern United States than Alaska, says The Christian Science Monitor. "I'm not suggesting there will be a return of alligators and giant tortoises to Ellesmere Island any time soon, said Eberle, "But what we know about past warm intervals in the Arctic can give us a much better idea about what to expect in terms of changing plant and animal populations there in the future." See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Condemn The False Case Filed Against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar By Democratic Teachers' Network 15 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org We condemn in the strongest terms the police raid upon student hostels in Jawaharlal Nehru University. JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar, a charismatic voice of the democratic aspirations of students, was lifted by plain clothes police in what appeared to bystanders to be a vigilante attack rather than a police action. Male police have been breaking into and entering hostels including womens hostels, in a blatant violation of the rule of law. The fact that a student leader was arrested on charges of sedition, a draconian colonial law intended to break the Indian National freedom struggle, demonstrates the anti-national character of the police and the fascist government directing them. The case was filed directly by BJP MP Maheish Girri, who is proudly taking forward the deadly persecution of marginalised people that has come to characterize BJP MPs and MLAs - other examples include Sangeet Som who incited the Muzaffarnagar riots and the lynch mob against Aqlakh Ahmad (despite himself being a beef exporter), and Ramchander Rao and Bandaru Dattatreya who hounded dalit student Rohith Vemula to death. Further, Kanhaiya has been at the forefront of protests before the MHRD against their shutting down non-NET fellowships for University students, and against their role in the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula. Is the education of students, the democratization of universities, an anti-national cause? Is it anti-national to oppose the death penalty - which has been abolished by 140 other countries - the majority of countries in the world? Are those countries acting against their own national interests when they abolished death penalty? What kind of nation believes the death of a human being is necessary for national integrity? The particular islamophobic blood-thirsty campaign that the ABVP-RSS and their paid media outlets such as Zee News, etc. are running against Umar Khalid, one of the organisers of the protest meeting at JNU, demonising his Muslim identity, yet again displays their blatant hatred towards anyone who is not a caste Hindu. This hatred is extended to all those who have been in the forefront of the struggle against Fascism. This falls right in line with the killings of Prof. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabolkar, Ujjain University professor Dr. Sabharwal, and many others, by the Sangh Parivar. This is in addition to other acts of vandalism such as the attack on a meeting regarding Justice for Rohith Vemula at Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda, and similar other attacks on protest gatherings at Lucknow University, Ambedkar University, brutal beatings assisted by the police on protesting students at Delhi, etc. The unfolding fascist face of the BJP is also evident when we consider that the last time a JNUSU president was arrested was during the Emergency period from 1975-77. If student leaders can be arbitrarily picked up under colonial laws, another Emergency under these communal fascists is not far away. The general public should realise the growing spread of undemocratic RSS control over every supposedly independent and autonomous space. The JNU Vice-Chancellor is an example of this trend, being a person who is comfortable attending science events organised by RSS-related organization, Vijnana Bharati, despite the profoundly unscientific statements made by RSS members including the current Prime Minister. The VCs statement about this event reveals both his bias and his ignorance of constitutional law; he seems to not be aware of Article 19 of the Constitution which upholds freedom of speech and association. A constitutional bench of 5 Supreme Court judges has examined the Sedition Act in Kedar Nath Singh vs. State of Bihar (AIR 1962 SC 955), and concluded that comments, however strongly worded, expressing disapprobation of the actions of Government, under which Kanhaiya has been charged, without exciting those feelings which generate the inclination to cause public disorder by acts of violence, would not be penal. Several other judgments have upheld this distinction between criticism, however strongly worded, and an incitement to imminent lawless action. It is notable that Mr. Sangeet Som is more guilty of inciting imminent lawless action than anyone else mentioned in this statement. Over the last one and half years, we have seen planned takeover of Central Institutions by the RSS through either coercion and cooption of the administrative bodies supposed to govern these institutions, or through blatant use of crude force by using the police and their own vigilante groups. Since the current BJP government has come to power, it has been in the news either for the unsuitable appointments to head institutions such as ICHR, FTII; packing positions in the CBI with Gujarat cadre who have protected Modi from being charged for his murderous riot-mongering in Gujarat; or for their unapologetic interference in the functioning of the top institutions in this country to shut down the progressive voices of this country's institutions. This includes banning the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC) in IIT-Madras, targeting the ASA students in UoH, abruptly terminating the appointment of Gandhian activist and professor Sandeep Pandey at IIT-BHU, accusing him of absurd charges of being anti-national and naxalite at the behest of the VC of Banaras Hindu University (known to be an RSS pracharak from Allahabad university), clamping down upon the campus community at Pondicherry University accusing the entire community of Islamization, ABVP preventing Siddharth Varadarajan from speaking at Allahabad University etc. All of these instances show a clear disregard for universities as spaces of debate, dialogue and critical thinking spaces. It also demonstrates the policy of intimidation to frighten and silence the voices of students and teachers in the universities who question the status quo. It is time that all the citizens of this country who believe in democracy make their voices heard against this muffling of dissent that is highly detrimental to the democratic functioning of this country. We demand that the Union Government must take immediate steps to prevent the intimidation of students and to immediately withdraw this patently false case that tramples on Kanhaiya and others Constitutional rights. We demand that the police should immediately leave JNU campus, and that all other campuses across the country should be demilitarized, which includes the revoking of all anti-democratic circulars and bans on student activities in educational institutions. The Sedition Act, and other such colonially imposed draconian laws, must be immediately revoked by anyone who claims to have national interests in mind. DEMOCRATIC TEACHERS' NETWORK Since the Dean of Central University of Haryana clarified that no action was taken against students, we are removing that part from the statement by DEMOCRATIC TEACHERS' NETWORK. Here is the letter from the Dean Dr. Sanjiv Kumar in full Dear Editor, I regret to express my displeasure over the misreported and misguiding facts about Central University of Haryana in the article titled "Condemn The False Case Filed Against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar" as there is no truth in the statement: "The Haryana Central University in fact even filed FIRs against its own students who had only taken out a candle march in the memory of Rohith, accusing them of anti-national activities and has banned all protests in future." Neither did the University file any FIR against any student nor did we accuse anybody of 'anti-national activities'. I hope you will respect the fair practices in journalism and shall publish a corrigendum highlighting the grave mistake. Regards! Dr. Sanjiv Kumar, Dean Students Welfare, Central University of Haryana. Tel:-01285-249412, 07027132765 Arrest Of JNUSU President: Unite And Fight In Defence Of The Right To Conscience! Statement of the Central Committee of Communist Ghadar Party of India 15 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org The Communist Ghadar Party of India strongly condemns the arrest of the President of the Students Union of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kanhaiya Kumar, in the evening of 12th February, 2016, on the charge of sedition. It is a blatant attack on the right to conscience of an elected student leader and against the right of all students to express their views freely on campus. Acting under the instructions of the Home Ministry, the JNU authorities have debarred 8 students, including Kanhaiya Kumar, from attending classes. The Delhi Police has issued arrest warrants against 20 students, for allegedly participating in "anti-national activities". The police have issued alerts to railway stations and airports all across the country to catch these students, as if they are some terrible criminals who might run away from the country! What is the crime for which these students are being hounded by the Government of India? On 9th February, 2016, the 3rd anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru, a students group had planned a cultural event in JNU. At the last moment, the authorities cancelled permission for the event. The students held a protest meeting against the cancellation of this meeting. Kanhaiya Kumar and other leaders of the JNU Students Association participated in this protest in defence of the right to dissent. An MP of the ruling Party from Delhi organised a video of this protest, and then complained to the JNU authorities and the Home Minister about "anti-national" activities in the University Campus. As if on cue, the Home Minister issued sermons how his government would not tolerate "anti-national" activities, and then unleashed the Delhi police on the students. In other words, all those dissenting with the government, or upholding the right to dissent, are being accused of being enemies of the country. The attack on the rights of students of JNU is part of a trend observed all across the country. Earlier, a student organisation in IIT Chennai called the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle was banned for opposing the economic policies of the government. Just last week, IIT Chennai issued an order that no political organisations or political activities would be permitted on campus. In Hyderabad University, the Ambedkar Students Association was targeted as "anti-national" because it questioned the hanging of Yakub Memon and the role of the state in the communal massacres in Muzzafarnagar in 2013. The law of Sedition, under which Kanhaiya Kumar has been arrested, is a fascist law that has been inherited since colonial times. It permits those in power to arrest anyone who expresses a view that is not to their liking in the name of being a threat to the State. It is an anti-democratic law that criminalizes all dissent. This is the law which the British colonialists used against patriots like Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak. Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his comrades were charged under this very same law. It is a law which Indian people have been opposing from the time of the anti-colonial struggle. The ruling class has preserved this law despite the demand of the people for its repeal. The students, faculty, and karamcharis of JNU have shown their resolve to unite and fight for the release of Kanhaiya Kumar, and for an immediate end to police persecution of students. On the evening of 14th February, over 5,000 students, teachers and karamcharis formed a human chain of solidarity in the JNU Campus. The students union has announced a strike, and the JNU Teachers Association has announced suspension of classes. The students, teachers and karamcharis of JNU have united in defence of the right to dissent and against fascist terror on campus, cutting across ideological differences and party affiliation. Communist Ghadar Party extends its full support to this entirely just struggle in defence of the right to conscience. Release the arrested students of JNU! Repeal the Sedition Law! Printer Friendly Version 10 Facts Exposing David Coleman Headley And His Role In The Mumbai 26/11 Terror Attacks By Feroze Mithiborwala & Kishor Jagtap 15 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org The speculation gaining respectability in Delhi is that Washington knew in advance about the Mumbai attack & deliberately chose not to pass the details to Delhi . That would he said, Reveal the links between the CIA-ISI & LeT. - MK Bhadrakumar (ex-Ambassador, GOI). Headley was a deep penetration agent of US Intelligence - Bahukutumbi Raman (Former Counter-Terrorism Chief (RAW). The recent Headley confessions, with helpful scripted promptings by Public Prosecutor Ujval Nikam, are no more than a national tamasha at best, with all of this so called invaluable information having been stated by Headley earlier as well. The fact that he has chosen to once again target Ishrat Jahan and thus help the accused in her encounter killing is part of the quid pro quo with the Indian Ruling Elite and Intelligence establishment. The key agenda is to keep the tensions between India and Pakistan on the boil and sabotage all hopes of a dialogue and peace between the two neighbours. We must certainly question the Headley narrative on many of the facts that have been brought to light since the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks and his role. The terror attack Mumbai 26/11, was directed at India, all of South Asia & this point must be understood by all those who are committed to the cause of South Asian peace and solidarity. Therefore lets consider the facts as below. Fact I ~ The US ambassador Timothy Roemer maintains that they did warn ' India ' about the coming 26/11 attack. (http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=10875) So the questions that arise are the following: The central & simple question is that, why did the CIA & FBI not warn their counterparts in Pakistan within the government, the Military or the ISI. As we can discern from above, they have a very deep operational & material relationship, stretching across 6 decades. It was always clear that an attack of the magnitude of 26/11 could even lead to a nuclear war in the region. Yet they refrained from informing & warning any of their counterparts in Pakistan . Why? And moreover, why isn't anyone asking this obvious question? Who did they inform in India ? We still do not have the specific name or names. It surely could not have been the Indian security guard standing outside the gates of the US fortress of an embassy in New Delhi . Did they inform MK Narayanan (the then NSA Chief) or the Mr. Shivraj Patil (ex-Home Minister) ? Who was complicit in the cover up? Why no names of the key people who were supposedly provided information by mid-September of the coming terror attack by Sea, where the Taj, Marriott & the Trident were mentioned as potential targets. ( http://www.countercurrents.org/mithiborwala140510.htm ). Who will stand up & take the responsibility? None, only an eerie silence, a cover up . The 26/11 attack could have been averted if the necessary information would have been provided on time & precautions taken. Fact 2 ~ Headley is being used to cover up False Flag Terror Attacks and Encounter Killings Headley is being used to protect & mislead the investigations into the Ishrat Jehan encounter killing to protect Modi & his ilk. Similarly the investigations into the Samjhauta Express as laid out by the charge-sheet filed by Hemant Karkare which clearly implicate Col. Purohit , are also being targeted by the NIA & the IB, to protect the Abhinav Bharat. The investigation into the ghastly Chittisinghpora massacre is again being misled under the guise of Headley's statements. Fact 3 ~ It is a known fact that the US funds more than a third of the Pakistan military & ISI-Intelligence budget. The Lashkar-i-Tayyaba is the sword arm of the ISI. The US has never attacked any Lashkar bases in Pakistan & the LeT does not attack US troops. The CIA has worked together with the LeT in Kosovo , Chechnya & Bosnia . Thus the US uses the ISI-LeT for furthering its strategic objectives in the region. The US has also declared Hafeez Saeed as a dreaded terrorist with a $10 Million bounty on his head & yet has never tried to either arrest or have him taken out. (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/ramps-cia-infiltration-pakistan-report/ ) Fact 4 ~ Cover up at the Pushkar Hotel In the news report that appeared in the Indian Express (pg 5, 10/12/09), the hotel owner is openly blaming the police for having 'misplaced' Headley's 'C-form' & has filed a complaint on the matter. The hotel owner in his complaint to the Ajmer Superintendent of Police, has stated that he had also submitted the C-forms of two other Israelis along with that of Headley. Fact 5 ~ So why was Headley arrested by the FBI? The answer to that is that Indian Intel was hard on the heels of Headley & were about to arrest him. It was then that the FBI whisked away Headley to protect him. Now that he has been subjected to the laws of the US judicial system, he is beyond our reach. Leave alone a trial for Headley's central role in the 26/11 attacks, we do not even have the right to interrogate him on Indian soil. Fact 6 ~ The US did not pass on the 26/11 Intel to Pakistan Why? In fact it is suspected that, it was Headley who was the CIA mole in the LeT, who was passing out information on the coming 26/11 terror attack. This was partly shared by the CIA with the Indian authorities & had specifically mentioned the Taj & that the attack would come by sea. There are two significant points to note: How much information did the CIA actually divulge to India - very meagre. More intriguingly with the Pakistani authorities & it's friends in the ISI & the Military with which the CIA/FBI have a very deep & intimate relationship, stretching over 6 decades - it supposedly shared none ! Fact 7 ~ Headleys trail between 2006-08 Also do note that during the phase of the worst series of terror attacks between 2006-08, Headley was present in that period & was flying into India mainly from Pakistan. Yet our authorities did not once suspect or interrogate him? Unfortunately the Indian People are not that naive. This means that there possibly are certain forces within the country that are allied to the US & Israel & working in tandem to foment terror attacks. Do especially note the period between August 2007 & September 2008 as this was during which we passed through the worst national crisis over the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. The attacks coincide with Headleys' presence in India (Josy Joseph, 17/11/09, DNA ). The terror attacks in Hyderabad II (25/8/07), Bangalore (25/7/08), Ahmedabad & Surat (26/7/08) & Delhi (13/9/08). All these blasts made it easier for the pro-US elements to take the country into the American-Israeli strategic orbit in the name of fighting the global war on terror. Again even the blasts that Shri Hemant Karkare has traced to the Abhinav Bharat, find a relation to Headley's footprints. Thus he is present during Malegaon (8/9/06), Samjhauta Express (19/2/07), Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad I (18/5/07). Headley was possibly co-ordinating his attacks with the Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha as well as with the Indian Mujahedeen (which is probably a creation of Intel services comprising criminals & informers from within the Muslim community). We thus can infer the following: David Headley's trail as he traveled across the country to identify the sites for terror attacks was & is being covered up by the police on the instructions of the pro-CIA/Mossad sections of the Intelligence Bureau. This was the similar case in the city of Mumbai, where Headley's membership form at the 'Moksh Gymnasium' (right opposite the US Embassy) had both his photograph & signature 'missing'. The flat which he rented on Bridge Candy, (again close to the US Embassy) has no agreement papers & so is the case with his office in Tardeo. The fact that the Pushkar hotel owner also submitted two forms of Israeli's on that day, also could mean that Headley was also being guided by Mossad agents to identify Jewish targets for a false flag terror attack, which they finally did & thus Nariman House. Headleys Visa from the Indian Embassy in Chicago: Headley's very entry into the country has been managed with the connivance of the authorities at the highest levels. And thus even though Headley was a drug dealer having faced a jail sentence, Pakistani born, could still manage to get a clearance. Also do note that he was travelling directly via Pakistan into India. The clearance of his Visa from the Indian Consulate in Chicago actually requires criminal proceedings against the Indian Consul general, the Indian Ambassador & the Minister & the concerned officers in the Home Ministry in Delhi. That was the reason that the authorities panicked & said that Headley's papers at the Chicago Consulate had gone missing. They later found them. With changed signatures, we guess! It is possible that after working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Headley was later was recruited & trained by the CIA-FBI. The CIA-FBI then used Headley in their plan to execute the 26/11 attack in Mumbai. Headley's task was to travel across the country, identify the targets & provide information to his CIA-FBI-ISIS handlers. Headley's role was also to draw in his LeT contacts to plan the 26/11 terror attacks. The IB, that has been colluding with the CIA-FBI, instructed it's plants within the police force to cover Headley's trail, which they dutifully performed as is the case both in Mumbai & in Pushkar. Fact 8 ~ Headleys Wives & his confessions to the FBI It has been apparent ever since the time that the Headley story began to appear in the Indian & global media that David Coleman Headley was basically a CIA-FBI agent. The revelations that have been brought forth by Sebastian Rotella in the ProPublica, who brought out the crucial role of Headleys wives in exposing and warning the FBI about Headleys terror links, but to no avail. It was way back in 2005 when one of Headley's wives in New York , warned the FBI of Headley's links with terrorists. Due to a domestic squabble, Headley was even arrested by the police. The wife stated that Headley "was an active militant in the LeT terrorist group & had trained extensively in Pakistani camps, shopped for night-vision goggles & other equipment". She also said that Headley used to brag about his working as a paid informant of the US , while he trained with terrorists in Pakistan . Significantly, after 9/11, Headley told his associates that he planned to train with Lashkar as part of a secret mission for the US government. He also stated that the FBI & DEA have joined forces & I am going to work with them. I want to do something for my country. The point is which country, the USA or Israel? In 2008 April , Headley went to Chicago & told his accomplice of an evolving plan for a seaborne terror attack by gunmen who would land in front of the Ta j Mahal Hotel which he had scouted extensively. These are the official statements as recorded by the FBI officials. Though Headley was jailed for domestic violence, he was not prosecuted & the matter of his terror links not investigated. Later again in 2007, only a year prior to the attack, his wife in Pakistan went to the US embassy in Islamabad & gave specific information of his terrorist links but she was driven away both the times & basically told to Get Lost, by the FBI-CIA officials. The wives gave information & a detailed account of training with the LeT, provided audio tapes of conversations & emails as well as records of calls from Pakistan. And yet the CIA & FBI claim that the information provided by the wives "was not specific". Fact 9 ~ Intel not specific said the FBI Really? Firstly Headley was already known to the DEA-FBI & CIA since 1998, due to his drug smuggling activities, for which he was prosecuted & jailed & he later became an agent of the DEA to infiltrate drug rings in the US & Pakistan. After 9/11 he was taken in by the CIA & FBI as an asset & became their agent. They should have taken the precautions after his wives gave specific information about his terror links & should have put him under surveillance. But then they did. All of Headley's & Rana's mobile conversations were being tapped & their whereabouts monitored. They had to further monitor his Bank transactions, credit cards & have him followed. These are all standard procedures & nothing beyond their scope of operations either in Pakistan or India, where we have an ever increasing presence of the US & Israeli Intel. They should have again immediately checked with their counterparts in the ISI & their handlers in the LeT. But the CIA-FBI undertook none of these basic precautions, simply because Headley was pursuing the mission of terror in exactly the way they had planned it. Though he was on probation till 2004, he was discharged in 2001 & was allowed to go to Pakistan . Within 2 months he was training with the LeT, with the full knowledge of the US authorities. Thus the intentions were very clear. In our assessment, the CIA & FBI were clearly aware and complicit in the detailed plans for the attack on Mumbai. Fact 10 ~ Headleys family background, a strategic & an invaluable undercover asset Undoubtedly the CIA-FBI have gone to preposterous levels to protect Headley & have repeatedly refused his extradition to India . Thus his limited & controlled access by Indian Intel is clearly a farce & of no consequence whatsoever, apart from the fact that is now being used to cover-up the crimes of the Intelligence Bureau, as well as that of the ATS and the Police that indulge in encounter killings & the cover-up of the terror attack by the Hindutva terrorists, within the Abhinav Bharat & the Sanatan Sanstha. But then Headley is a unique asset. He is White, yet of a mixed Muslim-Jewish parentage. He knew English, Urdu, Farsi, Pashto & a smattering of Arabic. He had very deep connections with the drug-underworld & the narco-terror networks. Headley's father & his religion are often discussed, but when it comes to his mother, there is a studied silence & it is only fair that this angle be delved into as well. In fact the Wikipedia insists that he acquired a Christian sounding name, even though his mother was Jewish. David Coleman Headley was a child of a broken family & around the age of sixteen Serrill Headley (Jewish by faith), took him away to the US. It was after 9/11, when Headley began to work for the CIA, that he changed his name from Daoud Gilani, to David Coleman Headley, which the Wikipedia wrongly refers to a Christian name. Clearly the Wikipedia is trying to mislead for a purpose. The point is that clearly Gilani wanted a new identity after 9/11 & since he was now working for the CIA-FBI as an undercover agent, he could have taken on any identity, but yet he chose to take his mother's Jewish identity & the Coleman surname. All the reports state that Headley traveled with a Jewish prayer book with him. Was it because he had abandoned the faith of his father & had taken the faith of his mother which is normally the case of children of divorced families? I believe that was precisely the case. Again, Headley operated out of the key Zionist strongholds in the US, namely Chicago & New York & in India from Goa , Mumbai, Pushkar (Rajasthan) & Himachal Pradesh. In Goa he was in regular touch with an American agent who was living there for nine years but has disappeared after 26/11 & our police could not locate him. Though, when it comes to arresting innocent Muslim youth they have proved to be efficient & ruthless as well. In Pushkar, whilst Headley was staking out the targets, he stayed in a hotel where two other Israeli's were also present at that very time. So the role of Mossad agents in the 26/11 attack needs to be investigated. ( http://criminalstate.com/2009/08/how-israel-wages-game-theory-warfare/ ) Nariman House and the Jewish extremist Chabad Lubavitch Sect. Also another question is as to whether Headley was a Chabad Lubavitcher by sect. The Chabad Lubavitch is one of the most powerful of the Jewish sects & has interests across the world ( http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/07/chabad-at-hubs-of-power-around-world.html ) . The Chabad Houses are known to be used by Mossad operatives as safe houses to conduct their nefarious activities, ranging from drug & weapon smuggling, to espionage, fomenting terror & assassinations. The Plea bargain deal provided by the US to Headley in the words of MK Bhadrakumar (ex-Ambassador, GOI) was a deal that enables the US government to hold back from formally producing any evidence against Headley in a Court of Law that might have included details of his links with US intelligence , which will now remain classified. He also said that the Obama administration was behaving very strangely & had something explosive to hide. The former counter-terrorism chief (RAW) & security analyst, Bahukutumbi Raman was of the opinion that, the mishandling by the US is due to it's anxiety to prevent public admission of the links of the US Intelligence community with Headley & protect Pakistan from the legal consequences of its role in the 26/11 terror attack. He further stated that the FBI wants to avoid a formal trial & that the feeling in India is that the US has not been transparent as it is almost certain that the CIA was aware of Headley & his movements across the sub-continent. The simple point is that all terrorists & suspects are listed on the main database of the US National Counter-Terrorism Centre , which is a facility used by the CIA & the myriad other agencies to track terror suspects as a matter of standard procedure. When even the likes of our late President APJ Abdul Kalam, Sharukh Khan (Bollywood Star) to Praful Patel (Aviation minister) are not safe, surely David Headley's name would have cropped up at every computer monitor across every airport in the world if he had been marked & red-flagged as a highly dangerous terror suspect. Evidently he never was. Thus there are far too many questions & far too many facts that challenge the official version of the reality of the 26/11 terror attacks. There is clearly an attempt even within our very own political elite, security agencies to collude & cover up the truth. We thus we demand that a National Commission of Inquiry be created to investigate the truth about the 26/11 Terror attack. Feroze Mithiborwala is a peace activist in Mumbai. He led the Asia to Gaza peace flotilla. He can be reached at feroze.moses777@gmail.com Kishore Jagtap is a Mumbai-based human rights and social activist Tweet WhatsApp Share Share on Tumblr Comments are moderated Role Of Literature To Stir People's Conscience By KR Rao 15 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org From a culture of passivity and inaction To A Culture of Concern, and Becoming Part of Agents of Change for a Better Tomorrow. Literature should stir peoples conscience and herald a Cultural Revolution A speech delivered By KR Rao at UGC- Human Resource Development Centre , Karnatak University, Dharwad during Inter-disciplinary Refresher Course in Languages Thanking Prof Harish Ramaswamy and his colleagues of the renowned Karnatak University, Dharwad, for the kind invitation, and all of you, the learned language teachers of various colleges, I take this opportunity to share my views with you. I shall try to utilize one hour for my talk, and 30 minutes for interaction, as suggested. By way of preface let me state at the outset : Sweet is bad, we are told, in these days of diabetes. They also tell us: Karela is good, Bitter Guard is healthy. So, I would leave sweet things to others, many of them would speak to you in the coming days. I would confine to a few bitter things. For, TRUTH is bitter. [I] The Focal Theme assumes : Firstly, that literature and culture have a relationship with social concerns, i.e., art for arts sake is not the way. Secondly, that social concerns need to cater to 21st century, i.e., to changing times. It assumes 21st century is a new, changed time. Yes, the first assumption is widely accepted in modern times, but quite a few dont really practise it. They are often too philosophical, too subjective, too nature-loving or too aesthetic as to have any social concerns. Obviously they have no concern for social concerns. Lot of poetry and poets have such a tendency, perhaps prose has less scope for it. A little allowance to such a tendency may be ok, but beyond that, it is an escapist way. Unsocial is their social concern, perhaps. Not acceptable, but, after all, they have a right! Second assumption: 21st Century is a new, changed one, or changing. Is it correct? India is vast and varied, so is Karnataka which equals the size and population of many European countries. So vast and varied, that there are too many areas, too many people who are living not even in 20th century, the modern era, but in pre-modern times, in medieval times, steeped in orthodoxy, superstition, ignorance, narrow mindedness, religious dogmas, clan and casteist outlook and mindset, male chauvinism, feudal loyalties, nepotism, communal outlook (in terms of not only religion(s) but also its sub-sects, and of caste(s) and its sub-castes. Thus, though we physically entered 21st century, our literature and culture still need to address , in fact need to FOCUS, on problems plaguing us since the last century. We need to identify certain concrete features of our society so as to mirror them well in our literature and art : In the rural backward pockets, it is too evident, thankfully too transparent, perhaps abhorrently so, like the half-dressed ruralite. But in the urban, modern, developed pockets, it is basically no different in content, but neatly couched and tucked in modern dress of suit. It is concealed but in a revealing manner. Our elite, our academics and academies, our Mathas and Swamis, our polity is stinking with both the above. (naked variety as well as the dressed up). Let me share : Recently, I heard a popular Swamy telling in private how he was stunned to see so rampant casteism among swamis and Mathas. Thus both sections are mostly living in medieval times, not even in 20th Century. Development, industrialization, capitalism, democracy, Constitution and laws, we believed, would reduce if not eliminate casteism within a few decades after independence. But it is more rampant than ever in the past. Our offices, campuses, legislatures, Mathas, literature and sahitya academies etc are reeking with both the varieties. It is such a divisive and diversionary phenomenon that no impersonal and objective discussion is possible on the subject. The literary and cultural world itself is riven with that. The Sahitya Parishad elections are now driven more by caste and money than any other factor. The rot of both these variants has NOT stopped with casteism, but is wallowing in sub-casteism too. We swear by or mouth Basava, but swim in the polluted Koodala Sangama of casteism and sub-casteism. We swear by or mouth Ambedkar, but are lost in ghettoes of casteism and sub-casteism. We now have a nationalist leader who campaigned in Bihar polls mentioning his caste, the first time a Prime Minister of India did so. Literature should play a unifying role.unity for struggle against this unjust system This is also a social concern yes, caste and casteism are social, even if unsocial, sometimes crossing into the realm of anti-social too. We have entered 21st century, but very much with this baggage we have been carrying since medieval times, not merely 20th. It is a social concern, divisive but not unifying; it is diversionary diverting from basic issues of poverty, inequality, oppression and exploitation. Can there be literature and culture of human equity and dignity in such a climate? Our concern in literature should be to criticize, expose and fight the medieval mindset, not only its naked-transparent variety, which is not shy of its communal, casteist, orthodox etc outlook; but more so, its sophisticated, dressed up variety, masquerading in its secular, cosmopolitan get-up and posture; you scratch a little, you will find it is equally, if not more, stinking. Revealing itself not only in computerized vaastu and astrology, in dowry- and caste-based, nay sub-caste based, matrimonials, in English dailies too, but also in so many other ways as follows. Thought-provoking prose, stirring poetry, preferably in the form of songs that can go into lakhs of people, insightful essays through media, dynamic speeches that stir people into action, on the above aspects, with unity for struggle as its chief message, is the need of the hour. Peoples life, their suffering, their struggles, more so of the rural poor and other toiling classes, are a great mine for endless supply of raw material for any writer. If one spends a month with them, and closely observes them, perhaps one will get enough material for ten short stories. Better, I feel, prefer prose to communicate more effectively to your audience. Poetry , free verse in particular, often is ending up with other poets. If you want to write poetry, try writing songs -- folk songs and bhakti songs and bhajans are so catchy, so effective in form, we can learn from them but write with current themes, reflecting current contradictions in a thought-provoking manner. . The written literature is having less and less readers in this century, more so among youth who mostly are reading only books of their career or so-called personality-development books. After the arrival of cable TV, with dhaaraavaahis, cinema, sports, game-shows etc., readership has been less. So see how we can consciously use TV, somehow penetrate it with stimulating and critical writing. There are so many channels , and they need content to fill 24X7. Utilizing the various slots, progressive writers and their literature should systematically penetrate various forms and formats in the electronic media, the most powerful in the 21st century, that goes into people who are illiterate as also the majority of literates who have no time for the printed word, whose access is increasingly limited. But we must also use the print-media ,still read by serious sections, make a systematic and concerted effort. As to content : We have communalism for example, but note it is political communalism, that is promoting religious divide to cultivate and serve vote-bank politics. It is not enough to write against it as many progressive writers are indeed doing.In the name of secularism, political casteism is promoted towards the same end. Casteism is also one kind of communalism, no less dangerous. Both are equally divisive and diversionary, and our literature should bring it out. It should play a unifying role, unity for struggle against this unjust system. Politics of 21 st century India made it much more complex, confusing, divisive. The writer should be able to capture this complexity, put it in a creative manner, to touch the conscience of his audience, so as to mould it. How do we translate the word secularism? Language teachers should be able to answer it . Is it dharm nirapekshata or sarva dharma sama-bhava? It is the latter that is being pushed. Catering to all religions as part of vote-bank politics has been secularism in practice, not separation of state from politics, as it should be. Can there be sama-bhava between majority and minority when vote-bank politics drive our discourse? It is political communalism, not merely religious. Things are not simple and straight-forward in these times, more so of of 21st century. Modern in form, reactionary in content is there for us to unravel. Indian , national and traditional Vs. foreign, western, modern -- which is to be chosen? Neither is wholly wholesome. There is some good in tradition, even some science like traditional medicine or architecture. But lot is orthodox, outdated, undemocratic, unscientific etc. Likewise Western is not all modern and scientific -- orthodoxy and reaction are concealed but often glaring behind the suit -- but also has many degenerate features, vulgar profit-motive driving the West. Take the healthcare system for example : The science of modern medicine increasingly has been reduced into unabashed, hitech commerce. Dr. BM Hegde, Padma Bhushan Awardee, London-trained cardiologist wrote an article published with the titlt : 10 ways doctors LOOT their patients. We at Vishwa Shrama Chetana, took up the problem of fluorosis threatening 10 crore Indians, including those of 6000 plus villages of Karnatka, when we found the modern healthcare system utterly neglected the whole problem. ( We request your cooperation in our endeavours by motivating your students.) Therefore, shun negative and decadent features in both, take what is relevant and useful today, from both tradition and modernity, Indian and Western. Our writers have been writing against the chatur varna system, which however, simply failed to encompass the thousands of castes and sub-castes, engendered, revived, and consolidated by our vote-bank politics. So much so, the Centre withheld caste and sub-caste details of the recent Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011(SECC), released in 2015. The Registrar General of SECC was bewildered and has come out with 46.73 lakh (yes, no mistake) categories of caste, sub-caste, synonyms, different surnames, gotras in the caste and clan names. Rabid casteism and sub-casteism is displayed, (ABCD within each Group, and maha dalit and MRPS (sub-reservation for madiga etc) within SCs are a phenomenon now; STs are also asking for sub-categories now), more so among the educated and employed in Govt. sector, more so in our Universities, not to speak of electoral politics where it is the first criterion. Now there is a proposal to extend it to private sector too. Reservations is indeed a very sensitive subject, the related contradictions are displayed often in an unashamed, aggressive and brazen manner, either by way of pressing for or opposing reservations.With all the development claimed, unemployment, or under-employment even of the educated, even of B Techs MBAs and MCAs is rampant ( Lakhs of them are applying for Class iv jobs, for constable posts, even in developed Punjab, not to speak of Karnataka ), not to speak of rural unemployment. Stagnation and jobless growth has been our bane. So it becomes a sensitive subject, born out of heart-burn. With all the reservations , there are lakhs of dalit graduates and PGs who remain unemployed. There are elite classes of elite communities seething with anger about their feudal-dominant paradise lost with reservations. Now they too want the reservations. The Jats of North and Patels of Gujarat, and now Kaapus of AP, all so-called dominant communities, are out on the streets and ruling parties promised them reservations as part of vote-bank politics. To be listed as backward is now in the premium. And the newly emerged elite of so-called lower castes, are craving for, or zealously guarding, the paradise gained for some of them it is for the 3rd or 4th generation but they would not accept the creamy-layer concept suggested by the Supreme Court. There was some sense of shame among the educated in the modern decades of 20th century, perhaps the Indian identity of Mera Bharat Mahan variety, even if shallow and showy, was clouding the primordial instincts. But as we advanced and entered the 21st, it is in all its naked, fashion-parade, dressed up in revealing post-modernist identity garb, applauded promoted and patronized by the State and polity, the academics and media. The shallow, ephemeral, too-transient Indian identity of 1947 Mera Bharat Mahan variety -- gave way to our original, true, feudal, even pre-feudal, primordial divisiveness, made honourable and rationalized by post-modernist identity theories that flowed from the West via the academics and the media. As Marx said so aptly : The ruling ideas of a period are the ideas of ruling classes of the day. Sarve Janaa Sukhino Bhavantu and such like have become platitudes, worn-out cliches, subhaashitaas. Our forums, our media, our mathas, our literature and lectures reverberate with this and similar slogans. It is claimed as part of our cultural heritage, our legacy. But what is the reality? In the absence of empathy in practice, is it NOT mere platitudes? Mere Sushka Bhashana empty talk? Is it not a culture of hypocrisy to mouth it, to hear it , to write it, without an iota of practice? Are we ready to break this hypocrisy? The same applies to egalitariansounding phrases liberally used in the Constitution, like liberty, equality, fraternity, socialism, Right to livelihood, secularism etc. etc., while ground realities are bitter. Dr.Ambedkar on 25th November 1949, while addressing the Constituent Assembly on the occasion of moving the Draft Constitution said : "On 26lh January 1950, we are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life, we will have inequality. In politics, we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote, and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man and one value.. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure and political democracy which this Assembly has so laboriously built up". Can we say today the situation of social and economic inequality has been removed? Are we, the educated elite, bothered IN PRACTICE about the suffering, backwardness, ignorance, superstition etc of the rural India? Though many of us have our roots in such rural life, how many of us go and ENGAGE in an effort to CHANGE the rural scenario? Do we not run away from our villages, to the small comforts of the town or city? In a country of highest illiteracy, we are not in a position to assert mother tongue as medium of instruction. And the Supreme Court comes to the rescue of English medium . What an irony of democracy ? In a situation when our young graduates, and even teachers, are unable to write one page in mother-tongue, absolutely free from mistakes, we are so servile as to demand or accept English as medium of instruction, ostensibly in the name of unemployment. Ground reality ? With all our English medium, millions of educated are unemployed and under-employed. What is the duty and role of teachers, writers and literature on these questions? Further, how many of us and our kin strive to improve the Govt. school in the village, in our neighbourhood, improve the quality of education there? Three lakh farmers committed suicide in the last decade or more in India, as per Govt. statistics. Thousands of them were from Karnataka. If one farmer committed suicide, we can take it, it would mean there were a hundred who faced similar distress and dilemma. Only they were not timid, not overly down cast, as to commit the worst of the weak moment. Was this tragedy ever highlighted and headlined, analysed deeply and in a soul-stirring manner, in the media, in our writings? Beyond time-serving, tinkering, headline-grabbing palliatives, did the authorities go to unravel the stubborn semi-feudal foundations of our agrarian structure, evident even from Govt.s latest data, topped by an imperialist-driven market anarchy with all its vagaries? Did we sensitize our classrooms, our students, our laboratory, our NSS, our elocution on this so as to stimulate thinking, and more, promote action to stem this rot ? We know of Nero who was fiddling while Rome was burning. Nero was not a person, but an Institution. Is not our University, our academic world, an institution created at great cost to address the concerns of our society, of our people? Are we any different from Nero? Our classrooms , our lectures there, more so of languages and social sciences, are a potential forum of literature we should utilize in the cause of a better society and a better world. Day in and day out, we hear Basava quoted : Kaayakave kailaasa. It is chanted by one and all. But what is the value most of us attach to Kayaka in the sense of physical, manual work? Do we practise it in our daily life? Do we have any respect for dignity of labour? Do we value it? Do we respect the labourer, the toiler? Do we care if he is paid even prescribed minimum wages, if the labor laws are implemented favorably? Do we cultivate, promote, nurture dignity of labour in our children? Even if it comes to mental labor, how many teachers toil to update, to relate themselves to the present and present day problems? Do we realize, we are living with a two worlds theory? Kayaka for one and Kailasa for the other? Kayaka for most, and Kailasa for few? Kayaka for you and Kailasa for me? Apart from rural-urban dichotomy, even within our villages, is there concern from the elite towards the poorer, the more deprived brothers? Or within our towns too is such a culture of empathy surviving, prevailing, let alone thriving? Beyond the Facebook, do we care to see even their faces? Mind you, 93 percent of our workforce is unorganized, have nothing to fall back upon.may I mention, we of Vishwa Shrama Chetana, led by our senior Prof KS Sharmaji, are also working for them, through Unions and Krantikari Janandolana focusing on rural poor. Social concerns and attitudes vary from the class point of view also, those of the exploited vary from those of exploters. Is not vasudhaiva Kutumbam a slogan merely meant to benumb and befool the toiling masses ? How does literature treat all these questions? It should tear into this hypocrisy. Literature should fight against fate, superstition, strengthen conviction to fight injustice Everyday we see, hear, read about, participate in Jyothi Prajwalana somewhere. But almost after 70 years of independence, darkness of ignorance, orthodoxy, superstition, casteism, religious bigotry is spreading, gaining new and renewed life, no less among the educated or better call them literateelite? Is there Jyothi Prajwalana in our heart of hearts? Way back Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) said in his essay titled Man is the maker of his destiny : I have seen some astrologers who predicted wonderful things; but I have no reason to believe they predicted them only from the stars, or anything of the sort. In many cases it is simply mind-reading. Sometimes wonderful predictions are made, but in many cases it is arrant trash.It is the coward and the fool who says, 'This is fate'" so says the Sanskrit proverb. But it is the strong man who stands up and says, "I will make my fate." It is people who are getting old who talk of fate. Young men generally do not come to astrology. But even today the educated are more taken in by Jyothishya, Muhurat, Horoscope, Jathaka Chakra, Divine Ring or Stone. The most frequent outing, picnic, or tour with family is to a neighbourhood temple, Matha, Shirdi, Savadatti, Mantralaya, Sreesailam, TirupatiMany are in search of moksha, of course not now, a concept strictly individual by its very nature . We are lost in rituals, we have little time or interest for history, art, architecture. Any dance, drama or music programme is attended by not more than 500 people in population of 5 to 10 lakhs. Beyond cinema-based TV programs and escapist Dhaaravaahis (portraying mostly only the upper and upper middle class with their gaudy life, often making many villains out of family women), we have less and less of variety of art and culture. Even when we have some stage program we have music, dance, drama, Yakshagana etc. rooted in mythology, in the past , but with little contemporary social thinking, little of present problems and contradictions. Even where it is dealt, it is by way of allegory, often too obscure. Literature should not shy to become more political, to champion struggles of the oppressed and exploited The hottest place in the hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality at times of crises(Dante). Yes, we are living in such times, with a culture that is hypocritic. A few aspects of this we shall see: [a] A culture of silence:- With harmful orthodoxy, inhuman economic inequality, shameful social discrimination, brazen autocracy dancing around us, we are stoic, we are unperturbed with a culture of silence. We displayed Sthitha prajnya of abhorrent variety. we have the freedom of expression, safe in the statute book, very sparingly used. It is like the new book in the shelf never opened. [b] Even when we dislike and detest something like these, we are steeped in a culture of passivity, of inaction, of unresponsiveness bordering on irresponsibility. We have the freedom of association, right to organization, all kept in blissful disuse most of the time. [c] We have the biggest democracy, remembered every January 26. We exercise it only once in 5 years. The educated middle class avoid even this most of the times, more out of lazy relaxation than conscious decision (NOTAlike). But we remain inactive, we are mostly part of the silent majority, while some small groups of lumpens, hordes of hirelings hired by vested interests, money bags, or wily unscrupulous politicians -- take over the streets, play havoc, tear up our social fabric with venomous propaganda. Be it ragging in the campus, rigging the polls, or eve-teasing in the street, rowdyism in the society -- very few indulge in them we of silent majority bear with the minoritys havoc, mayhem and massacre. Literature should expose Culture of Falsehood spread through media, the idiot box in particular: News media , more so news channels , are a powerful tool in the hands of ruling classes meant to mould, cripple, the mind of the people. They are the new opium to the men-folk, more intoxicating , as different from dharaavaahis. This is particularly so in the 21st century. Besides DD there was not much of TV in the previous century. As Noam Chomsky , rated as one of the greatest living thinker-activists of our times even at the age of 87, put it : They are engaged in manufacturing consent to this system of exploitation organized on a global scale. It is a battle of ideas where every minute, they are fooling, benumbing, dividing and diverting, and crippling people through the idiot box as TV is aptly called. Literature should incessantly expose the true colors of the ruling classes war through the media, and become part of a cultural revolution to be developed and waged. Please note that today there are less space and time, and less readers, for classics and classical ways of literature. Media has become a major vehicle for literature, of course in small instalments to suit the fast-moving (but often direction-less) generation. Many of us resent, dislike and even hate certain bad phenomena may be in our family, society, politics, literature, cinema, etc. It may be a false, distorted and harmful Ad. But we do not oppose and resist so as to check and reverse the same. As a result, small groups, often with a vested interest, and frequently promoted by some political groups have their ways. A Bandh or Hartal today does not require or enjoy sympathy and support of large section of people, but a handful of people wielding lathis are more than enough enforce it, often in connivance of an active, mercenary media and of passive if not conniving police. Agitations centered around, oriented to, promoted and sustained by media are quite common, while genuine public opinion and mass movement are ignored, find little space in the media. Our democracy, our media , over the decades, perfected the art , the knack, of highlighting the small vocal groups while ignoring and stifling the silent majority. And now they speak of empowerment of this or that section, revealing the disempowerment by the very sterile democracy we have had all the time. Our teachers should actively use the media and the mike Thus the media, as Noam Chomsky tells us, is busy manufacturing consent towards a system of reckless exploitation and plunder, not only of people and nations but also of nature and environs, as the only way. Globalization could have become one of a humane world, but it is designed by, dictated by, and oriented to serve imperialism. Our writers do speak against globalization and MNCs but often miss the main point: They are not here as East India company once did by invasion. They are here by invitation by our servile and comprador rulers. Irrespective of the party or coalition in power, our so called national governments have been facilitating this by inviting a flood of foreign capital, hundreds of MNCs, virtually outsourcing our Govt., our economy, our polity, our environs, our culture. This is neo-colonialism, subtle, at the same time more rampant and brazen in 21st century. With all the developments we had eversince Independence, today the number of illiterate people is more than the population of 1947. With all the GDP and its growth rate of one of the biggest economies of the world, 75% of people earned less than Rs. 35 per head per day as per the all India Socio Economic Census released few months ago. If one earns above that he is APL (Above Poverty Line). If Rs.100 is taken as the norm, more than 90% population come under the category of poor. India, the country of an Atom Bomb and Rocket and Satellites, ranks as low as around 135 in HDI (Human Development Index). And without hesitation we beautifully chant Sare Jahan Se Accha, Hindustan Hamara! Conclusion You are all in the noble profession of teaching, at higher levels of education. By virtue of that, we are supposed to be a part of a civil society, of opinion-makers and thought-leaders. More than all, we are training new generations of this country which is crying for a basic change towards a just order. But to be good teachers, we must become good students not only of books, but of society, of reality on the ground. Instead of producing servile minds, voting cattle and cannon fodder for this system, we should try to grasp the inner dynamics of Inertia versus Change. We shall relate theory with practice, grasp and implement theory for practice. This society is our lab, the struggle for correct ideas is our battle. All our writings, all our class-room lectures, shall and can serve this purpose. There is no greater meaning or goal to our literature, to our art, to our profession. Literature and art cannot make revolution by themselves , true, as some people tend to believe. But they do help to usher in a Revolution of Ideas, bhaava kraanti, that supplements, facilitates, and helps the task of revolution, i.e., basic change in the socio-economic foundations, and in political-cultural realms too. A cultural revolution is needed not only for and before revolution, but also AFTER the revolution, to make it real, meaningful, comprehensive, sustainable. Therefore, let us conclude: Literature should stir peoples conscience and herald a Cultural Revolution. KR Rao is a social activist Lawyers Manhandle JNU Students And Teachers In Court Premises, Time For Media To Speak UP By Vidya Bhushan Rawat 15 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org What happened today at the Patiala House court where Jawaharlal Nehru Univerisity Students Union President (JNUSU) Kanhaiya Kumar who was arrested on sedition charges, was being produced is unprecedented. The lawyers who are supposed to uphold the constitutional values and people manhandled not just students of JNU but also media persons and teachers of the University. There is not a single word from the ruling party to condemn it. Instead, its loudspeakers are shouting down others on their paid media. Mercenary Arnab Goswami is shouting and shouting out with other mercenaries on his channel to shut down the university. Well, India is already shut down. Where are the things happening. You have shut everything. It is time to save India, protect our constitution. The big looters of the country have defaulted with the banks. Over one lakh fifty thousand crore have defaulted by the big companies and I can bet the amount is much bigger but corporate agent and sole 'conscious keeper' of the 'nation', will have no time to discuss it. If the students have done anything, let the courts decide it and let people have the right to defend them in the court. At least they have that constitutional right. Do we want that too not given to the students or accused. The Sangh must inform whether they would like the same sedition charges be invoked against the Hindu Mahasabha people who observed Republic day as black day and do not believe in Indian constitution. I dont believe in sedition and have written earlier that this law must be repealed. Indian state is powerful enough to deal with all this. There are many issues which are political and need to be dealt with politically. There are issues in institutions which can be handled by the administration inside those institution and not by criminalising them. If there is anything which need strong measures, let the administration warn them and if they dont change, file cases against them. Do not let the street goons decide what is good and what is bad. If we allow people to take law on their hands things would be out of control very much detrimental to our national unity and integrity. Why should we allow things to worsen. It is shameful and disgraceful that lawyers and goons masquerading as political activists, abused and manhandled women and men inside the court premises, just because they differ with them ideologically. The most shocking thing is the fall of media. Well, I can still compliment many of the print journalists who have been doing great work despite all the pressure but the biggest failure and shameful behaviour is the Television channels. India is at the cross roads and we have to unite ourself against all fundamentalist forces. Let us not fall in this brahmanical nationalism trap. It is a well laid trap keeping in mind the Assam elections where they want to experiment things for Bengal and later for UP. It is time to ignore smaller difference and fight this battle politically. The idea of India is a secular idea. India for all. An inclusive India which give fair chance to all the people including those who we disagree to express their views and if they violate our constitution let the law of the land take its course. Let us not learn patriotism and nationalism from those who sided with British and apologised from not just British but from Indira Gandhi in emergency. There is an attempt to discredit our institutions and then privatise the education which they have already done. It is a much bigger game. Times of India has already got huge space by UP government to build Bennet University and it will be very much interested in discrediting JNU and that is why Arnab and his gangs are up in arm against the institution. Shameful and pathetically low piece of journalism. Absolutely yellow journalism. It is time for media bodies to draw a clear guidelines for the electronic media. We know it does not have any control as most of the anchors are not really journalists but future netas and middlemen. They are looking beyond their retirement and hence clearly taking a political line which is deeply distressing. The way things are being distorted and media trial are being conducted is highly unethical and our courts too need to see it. It is time for people's body to do media trial and expose these loudspeakers. We hope alternative voices in the media will do it. We hope the friends in print and those who have access to bigger space will write about this yellow journalism which Arnab Gowsami has unleashed on this nation. It is time for media to come clean and expose the Times of India brand and its attempt to discredit institutions. There is no media unity. When Times now can ignore the attack on media it means clear that they dont have any value for any one except their masters. In any media debate the fair thing would be to invite leaders from all the political parties but what is happening today is three people in different shade from one political organisations in most of the channels. There will be an RSS vicharak, a BJP spokes person, some time another one from VHP and ABVP. It is clear that all these channels are heavily paid to twist and distort news but they remain absolutely biased and prejudiced. Media is owned by different business houses. We dont mind people owning different business but let them allow free flowing ideas inside their spaces. We know that despite all those factors we had wonderful editors who stood for people and challenged emergency. The beauty of 1977 was that media stood against emergency and they were almost united. But sadly today those who claim to uphold free speech have been exposed. Yes, Times of india want its freedom to print personal nude photographs of film stars in the name of free speech and freedom but not allow students to disagree on political issues. How has the Times Management allowed Times Now to spread lies in the name of nationalism. When goons are beating people in the street, taking law on their hand, beating media people inside the courts, country's top channel remain quiet and indulge in sansationalism and distortion. Will our friends in media speak up now ? Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social and human rights activist. He blogs at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter @freetohumanity Email: vbrawat@gmail.com Make In India Campaign: A PR Exercise By Qazi Shibli 15 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org The negative or positive is just a notion; it is the stakeholders who choose what is suitably worthy for them and what not. They are the vital decision makers in a state,at least in theory and the constitutional bibles of modern Democratic Halls. The state uses its suspiciously manufactured or funded or defenceless enterprises to influence the public opinion. The media is an enterprise with a few men to rule it and influence the public opinion and notion it in a harmless productive conduct. The rape of a doctor makes a hue and cry, an entire nation roars on the streets, the same people dastardly rest in their bedrooms expressing anguish and anger watching the news of the same happening with a girl from a remote area who comes from a different class of people, on the elite media. Save Tigers campaign garnered a colossal support, farmers committing suicide is often concealed. Sometimes substantial truth which may lead to critics against fanatic traditionalism are concealed, the facts may also evoke anger and lead to an outstretched public outrage or an enlightened public opinion. The people in power however are the master funders to the media enterprisesin the form of advertisements. The elite capitalist hierarchy tries to maintain its hegemony over the other middle class and the poor class of the society to shape the progressive society or the society towards progress. The progress though exaggerates the fissures between classes of rich and poor. One of the reasons for the proliferation of Business lobbyists is all too clear: it pays to invest in influence. British Petroleum helped liberal democrat MEP Chris Davies draft climate-change legislation that secured a nine billion euro subsidy from European taxpayers, covering the entire cost of new technology to convert from dirty coal-fired power stations, saving energy firms from having to pay for it themselves. The Industry later gave Davies an award. Davies was at least candid about the process he conducted to prepare the new European laws, justifying his actions by using a famous quotation often miss-attributed to Otto von Bismarck. The Public should never be allowed to see new things: how sausages are made and how laws are made An Insight into Make in India Around 500 of Indias industrial elites gathered in Delhi to hear the countrys Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, formally launch a new national campaign called Make in India with a lion as the logo. The campaign is designed to both attract foreign investment and to help spur the countrys local manufacturing sector to become a key engine for economic growth and future employment. Twenty-five priority industrial sectors have been identified as ripe for expansion - from automobiles to thermal power, and from construction to biotechnology. With 800 million of Indias population aged under 35, theres lots of reasons for Indias politicians and industrialists to hope this focused new approach will indeed unleash young peoples energy, enthusiasm and enterprise as alleged by the popular Government. Big Picture, Small Deeds The link between public relations and the political sphere is very diverse but the term political public relations is rarely used. The two have been two firmly entangled concepts since the beginning of recorded history. For evidence from the times prehistoric, the relationship is discovered at Aristotle and his schools of rhetoric thoughts that taught the art of persuasive communication. The two words have a lot in common. Not least is the fact that both PR practitioners and politicians are frequently criticised by people and neither the fact both start with the alphabet P. But on a note serious, public relations plays a key role in politics and government policy by influencing public opinion to support a certain candidate by spreading a propaganda or an alleged social campaign Foxconn was one of the first companies from China to have announced that they would become a part of Make in India Mr Modis dream of transforming India into an industrial hub akin to China. One of the core companies that Foxconn is in touch with is the Adani Group owned by Gautam Adani, Mr Modis prime election sponsor. Is Foxconns business model in China is to exploit workers till they get suicidal, what would be their business model in India? Especially, if they wish to make more profit than they already do in China? Foxconn according to a survey in china has 1,736 employees at 12 plants in nine cities and found they worked an average of 83.2 hours of overtime a month - more than twice the maximum of 36 hours allowed under Chinese law, the Shanghai-based China Business News reported on Friday The Vision of our visionary leader, Mr. Modi happens to be a copied idea from the neighbouring China. The answer to the above posed questionis obvious of which companies from all over the world come to India and are given Indian labour on a platter. Here take them and suck the blood out of them Onthe 2nd day of September in 2015, 150 million workers participated in an all India strike. In a country, where unions are still wide-spread, even if not as effective as they used to be about 2 decades back, how does one create labour conditions as exploitative as that of China? The Rajasthan Lab of Dilution of Labour In Nov, 2014, got a nod from President Mukherjee to multiple amendments in labour laws passed by the Rajasthan assembly. Im enlisting the twoof them here. No Government green signal is obligatory for companies engaging upto 300, for laying off or closing down units, before the number was 100. 30% of fullworker membership is required to form workers union, previous number was 15%. The first one makes hire-and-fire easy, the second one makes formation of unions extremely tougher thus weakening labour laws greatly. Rajasthan Model was step one. Now the plan is to propagate this model to other states, starting with BJP states. However, the going hasnt been easy. TheCentral Govt is trying to pass its own sleuth of amendments in labour law. The government's 'Make in India' bogey expected to boost production and export appears to be a deceptive , visibly their real agenda is to allow multinationals in small and medium industries with a call to come and make profit in India, resulting in de-industrialisation of India. The Indian economy has been facing crisis in the past two decades due to implementation of neo liberal policies at the dictates of IMF and World Bank. These financial strategies have shown hostile sway on unemployment problem, it and result in a capitalist structure with the accumulation of treasure in the hands of a limited at the cost of the denial and dilapidation of the poor. The campaign allegedly aims to boost Indias manufacturing sector is calling for foreign investors and companies to manufacture in India. In a similar PR campaign, The Government of India has spent Rs 94 crore only on radio, Print and Television ads to promote the CLEAN-INDIA campaign. These activities may glitter beneficial, but they all share one common characteristic throughout the globe, No accountability to the stakeholders. Worrisome Truth Its worth placing the progress of the Indian economy in a global context. Using International Monetary Fund data, India is now growing at 7.46 percent. In 2014, the World Bank assessed that the Indian economy had become the worlds third largest in purchasing power parity terms. This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that in real terms, the Indian economytoday the eighth largest by this measurewould become the worlds third largest by 2030. In a democratic setup, the accord between the citizen and the Government is never clear. You can never spend an entire life obeying orders and laws, paying taxes, without once being asked whether you wish to sign the accord or stay out of it. The Elected Government insists to be informed on your birth and intimated about your death. And at no point does it seek your consent or a continual feedback about its working or your life which democratic setup provides space for, at least in theory. The ground situation remains alien to this development, so does the vast chunk of populace, others love to go with the notions. One in 3 of the worlds poor live in India where 80% of the population reside in rural villages, far from the new found wealth, alien to campaigns, alien to the inoculated module of education, struggling to make bread, that remains in the hands of the high caste minority. In fact it was found in a recent survey that one Indian state is actually poorer than it was in 2006. India has a higher rate of malnutrition than the whole of Sub Saharan Africa and 42% of Indias children suffer restricted mental and physical development through poor nutrition. Almost 43% of Indias geographical area is agricultural land, About 600 milion Indians, or roughly half the population, depend upon growing crops or rearing animals to survive. However, the sector is being least attended to and is fading at a drastic level. India launched its first big liberalising reforms in 1991, setting off a new spurt of growth, one area of the countrys economy remains hardly touched: Agriculture. The Prime minister, Narendra Modi, launched a 24-hour state-run TV channel for farmers in May, but has fostered no public debate about how to improve Indias dreadfully backward agriculture. This does matter. Many farming practices, along with Indias agricultural markets, infrastructure, insurance and rules on leasing land, have barely changed in decades. Reform is long overdue. Contributing just 13.7% to Indian GDP, agriculture has grown by around 3% a year in recent years, far slower than the rest of the economy. National Crime Records Bureau, NCRB claims 46 farmers commit suicide every day in India The Industrialists admit that their instant objectives are purely to raise the profits manifold and manufacturing too. Numerous constructors build extravagant villas and million-dollar holiday households. Does it sound nous in a nation with a deficit of over six million urban homes in the low and mid-level housing sector? Though cars like BMW and Audi begin manufacturing operations in India, Indian car manufacturers themselves only endorse luxurious models. Shouldn't a zero-carbon car or solar bus be part of the Make in India campaign in cities with dangerous pollution levels? The campaign's promotion of the tourism industry similarly overlooks the structure of Indian domestic travel and seeks large scale high-end hospitality. When 60 million Indians are on the move annually, wouldn't a restructuring of domestic hotel and travel facilities make more sense? An official statement reads: "The initiative has already touched over 2.1 billion global impressions on social media and reached an overall fan base of over 3 million on its Facebook page." I seeked the internet aid locating some experts view backdrops of the program, however there seem be none, none of the stake holders looking into the crystallised negligence of the things that might need more attention, but are given less importance as they are not a tool to PR, anymore and the rural population has been hammered to notions and prejudices. The elite public opinion, wealthy philanthropists, the wealthy media men, the predisposed intelligentsia comments not that campaigns like such have done nothing in the past but transferred the power into the hands of a few capitalists and their grasp in matters of Public importance. There is a negative consequence to this state dominated mode of thinking. The chess game requires two sides, white and Black. The process of simplifying and overstating our own needs known as calculating our interests, requires a reciprocal technique to be applied to those on the other side of the chess board. If there is to be an Us, there must be a them also. Qazi Shibli is Founder Member of Rights Group Sedition Law And The Patriotism Of Those Who Have Never Been Patriotic By Sukumaran C. V. 15 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org Under the British rule, Mahatma Gandhi was charged with section 124-A and sent to prison. Section 124-A in Indian Penal Code is titled as Sedition and the British created the Indian Penal Code to retain their undemocratic control over the country, and the Sedition clause says: Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in [India], shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine. Explanation 1.- The expression disaffection includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. Explanation 2.- Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section. Explanation 3. - Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section. When the Father of the Nation, the Mahatma, was being trialled under this notorious section of the colonial law in 1922, he said: Section 124-A under which I am happily charged is perhaps the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen. Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law. What in law is a deliberate crime appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen. To preach disaffection towards the existing system of Governement has become almost a passion with me. The British used this law to crush the patriotism of the people before independence. And after independence the law has been used for the same purpose! And the UPA government used this colonial law to send Dr. Binayak Sen, the renowned human-rights activist, to prison. Dr. Saibaba, another human-rights activist is also charged with this draconian law. Now the patriotic government that rules the country uses the same law against the JNU. I am a former JNU student and I know that JNU inspires the students to go beyond the theoretical dogmas that bind us to the political, religious and social oppression in the name of democracy. A university like the JNU is the oxygen of democracy, especially when democracy metamorphoses into fascism as is happening today in India. In a speech delivered at the Special Convocation of Allahabad University on December 13, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru said: A university stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for progress, for the adventures of ideas and for the search for truth. It stands for the onward march of the human race towards even higher objectives. JNU is a university that stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for progress, for the adventures of ideas and for the search for truth. And those who have proved by their actions that they are against humanism, against tolerance, against reason, against progress, against the adventures of ideas and against the search for truth wont like it. That is the reason behind accusing JNU of sedition. If a person is charged with section 124-A, we can be sure that the person is a real patriot. The best way to smother dissent, the salient feature of democracy, is to dub it antinational. The right wing organisations have always tried to eliminate dissent and plurality in this fashion. But the irony as far as India is concerned is that it is the RSS, that was never patriotic when the British ruled and crushed India, leads this war of patriots versus anti-nationals! See the patriotism of the RSS (the mentors of the ABVP) at a time when India needed it direlyduring the tumultuous period of Quit India Revolt. Three months after the historic Quit India agitation was launched by the Mahatma, a British police commissioner reported (D. O. No 174-S dated Buldana, the 28th Nov. 1942): The Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh has however no plan to either fight Government or even to oppose it. In regards to the objects of the organization, the information so far received by me leads me to the conclusion that the Sangh does not want to come into conflict with Government. And today they claim to be the patriots! Independent India has never witnessed such an onslaught against dissent as it is witnessing now. It seems that we are in a position Ambedkar referred to in his 'Annihilation of Caste': The assertion by the individual of his own opinions and beliefs, his own independence and interest as over against group standards, group authority and group interests is the beginning of all reform. But whether the reform will continue depends upon what scope the group affords for such individual assertion. If the group is tolerant and fair-minded in dealing with such individuals they will continue to assert and in the end succeed in converting their fellows. On the other hand if the group is intolerant and does not bother about the means it adopts to stifle such individuals they will perish and the reform will die out. Sukumaran C. V. is a former student of JNU End NATO Now By Eric Zuesse 15 February, 2016 Strategic-culture.org The continuation of NATO, after its counterpart the Warsaw Pact ended in 1991, is an insanity thats driving the world inexorably toward World War III. The trigger for that war is now being set by NATO member Turkey, which wants to invade neighboring Syria, and which has the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council (including the worlds biggest buyer of U.S. weapons, Saudi Arabia) who are massing troops and weapons on Syrias northern border, in preparation for an invasion southward into Syria. Once they invade Syria from Turkish territory, it wont be enough for the Syrian army and its Russian ally to wage war against them inside Syrian territory, because the invaders will then need to be counter-attacked in order to be defeated, and so there will be an invasion of NATO-member Turkey a counter-invasion, in defence against Syrias invaders a counter-invasion which, however morally necessary it will be, will trigger nuclear war, for this reason: The NATO Treaty in its Article Five, Collective Defence, asserts (as summarized by NATO): "Collective defence means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies. In other words, when Syria and Russia respond to Turkeys aggression by counter-invading Turkey, the entire NATO alliance are automatically Treaty-obligated to defend Turkey from that justified invasion of Turkey by Syria and by Syrias Russian ally. Either Russia would instead abandon its ally there, which would mean for Russia to capitulate to NATOs invasion of its ally, or else Russia would do its moral duty to its ally, and there would then be World War III, between Russia and all NATO nations, which would be an all-out nuclear war, which will end civilization and make all continued life on this planet intolerable. This is the after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991 entirely unnecessary danger, and the blatant evil (to be quite frank about it), of NATOs having been continued beyond the time when it should have terminated (when and as the Warsaw Pact did in 1991). Americas President at that time in 1990, George Herbert Walker Bush, said privately to other NATO members, contradicting the message and assurances that he and his agents had verbally given to Mikhail Gorbachev saying that the Cold War was now at an end, To hell with that! We prevailed, they didnt. Bush was secretly committed to a military victory over Russia, even though communism, which was the alleged cause of the Cold War, had ended. Bush wanted conquest; all subsequent U.S. Presidents have followed along with that evil intent. Every moment of NATOs continued existence after that moment has been a continuation of Bushs lie. It has become a fatal lie now, because every subsequent U.S. President has not only continued NATO, but increased its membership, has expanded NATO all the way to Russias borders, and President Obama wants the next U.S. President to culminate this, when he made clear (via his Defense Secretary Ash Carter) recently, that the U.S. will quadruple American weaponry and troops on Russias border in a process thats to be completed by 2017. Turkey cant wait. The insanity and evil that have reigned in the West since 1991 are now set on a Turkish hair-trigger. That gun NATO is pointed actually against everyone on this planet, even if a Turkish madman doesnt pull its trigger immediately. End NATO Now. Before its too late. Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of Theyre Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRISTS VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity. MIKE LAWRENCE / COURIER & PRESS Flanders Corporate Offices at 8101 Baumgart Road in Evansville, February 15, 2016. SHARE MIKE LAWRENCE / COURIER & PRESS Flanders Corporate Offices at 8101 Baumgart Road in Evansville, February 15, 2016. By Susan Orr of the Courier and Press Evansville-based Flanders is eliminating 80 positions nearly 10 percent of the company's total workforce with most of those cuts coming from the Evansville area. Flanders designs, builds and services electric motors, generators, controls, drives and automation systems. It specializes in heavy industry including mining, metals, energy and others. The company announced the layoffs via a news release issued Monday morning. Allen Patterson, Flanders' chief operating officer, said the layoffs are linked to the adverse market conditions that coal miners and oil/gas producers are currently facing. Over the past year coal, oil and natural gas prices have all dropped significantly. Several coal companies have announced recent layoffs or mine shutdowns and many of those companies are Flanders customers, Patterson said. "The majority of our business is in mining," he said. "When those markets suffer, we're right along with them." Flanders has operations in the U.S., Africa, Australia, Canada and South America. It currently has about 850 employees, and the cuts will take that number to 730. Patterson said the layoffs are spread throughout the company, and all will take effect by the end of the week. The company is offering severance packages and outplacement assistance to affected employees. Going forward, Patterson said Flanders will be looking to diversify its business, both within the mining industry and in other industries. Diversification can offer protection because if one part of the business goes soft, a company can lean on other parts that are performing more strongly. Flanders is a privately-held company in its third generation of family ownership. The company had been in growth mode in recent years, going from about 650 employees in November 2011 to about 850 in September 2012. Patterson said the company hasn't had such a large-scale layoff since the 1980s. SHARE In this Feb. 12, 2016 photo, a logo on a T-shirt which reads in Spanish "Cultivating prosperity" hangs on display at the office of tractor maker Saul Berenthal in Raleigh, N.C. The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a pair of former software engineers to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year. The partners were notified by Treasury Department officials last week that it was legal for them to open their Oggun tractor assembly plant in a special economic zone created by the Cuban government to draw foreign investment. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) Berenthal In this Feb. 22, 2011 file photo, a farmer drives his tractor in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, a plant assembling small tractors a year. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano) By Michael Weissenstein HAVANA The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a two-man company from Alabama to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year for sale to private farmers in Cuba. The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017. "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do. We're looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve," Clemmons said. "It's our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries." The $5 million to $10 million plant would be the first significant U.S. business investment on Cuban soil since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalized billions of dollars of U.S. corporate and private property. That confiscation provoked a U.S. embargo on Cuba that prohibited virtually all forms of commerce and fined non-U.S. companies millions of dollars for doing business with the island. Letting an American tractor company operate inside a Cuban government facility would have been unimaginable before Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared on Dec. 17, 2014, that they would restore diplomatic relations and move to normalize trade, travel and other aspects of the long-broken bilateral relationship. Since then, Obama has been carving exceptions into the embargo through a series of executive actions, and his administration now says they allow U.S. manufacturing at the Mariel port and special economic zone about 30 miles west of Havana. One exception allows U.S. companies to export products that benefit private and cooperative farmers in Cuba. Berenthal and Clemmons say they will sell only to the private sector. The Obama administration says it is eager to make the opening with Cuba irreversible by any future administration. Since the start of the year, U.S. and Cuba have made a series of announcements that appear designed partly to create a sense of unstoppable momentum in their new relationship. Cuba announced late last month that it would more than double the number of public Wi-Fi access spots to more than 100 across the country this year and bring broadband Internet to a small number of Cuban homes, where it is currently illegal. Obama said in 2014 that Castro had promised to increase Cubans' access to the Internet as part of detente. On Saturday, Cuba announced that it had returned a U.S. Hellfire missile that it said was mistakenly shipped to Havana from Paris in 2014. On Tuesday, Cuba's Transport Minister and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation will sign a deal authorizing the first regularly scheduled commercial flights between the U.S. and Cuba since shortly after the 1959 revolution. The Oggun tractor plant, named after a god in Cuba's syncretic Santeria religion, will assemble commercially available components into a durable and easy-to-maintain 25-horsepower tractor selling for less than $10,000, Clemmons and Berenthal said. The men believe they can sell hundreds of the tractors a year to Cuban farmers with financing from relatives outside the country and to non-government organizations seeking to help improve Cuban agriculture, which suffers from low productivity due mostly to excessive control of both basic supplies and prices by an inefficient, centrally planned state bureaucracy. "I have two countries that for 60 years have been in the worst of terms, anything I can do to bring to the two countries and the two people together is tremendously satisfying," said Berenthal, a Cuban-born semi-retired software engineer who left the country at age 16. SHARE Students in a philosophy class were anxiously awaiting the start of their final exam. The professor had warned them that it would be one of the most challenging tests they would ever take. The teacher wrote one question on the board and said, "This is your exam. You have one hour to complete it." One student scribbled something quickly and turned in his exam, casually walking out of the room. The other students continued to write furiously as they looked on in disbelief. The professor chuckled when he looked at the exam and wrote on it "Great job! 100%." The question: "What is courage?" The student's answer: "This is." Every day, examples of courage are all around us. These folks aren't winning awards, getting their names in the news or resting on their laurels. They are running businesses and nonprofit organizations, working in the trenches to go the extra mile for customers, and volunteering for causes in their communities. They face challenges and discouragements that threaten their financial and emotional futures. Yet they persevere. Maxwell Maltz, author of "Psycho-Cybernetics," offers this explanation: "We must have courage to bet on our ideas, to take calculated risks, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness." Courage is one of the themes of the recently released movie, "Joy," the story of Joy Mangano, who invented the Miracle Mop and Huggable Hangers. She holds more than 100 patents for her inventions. She used her life savings and borrowed from family and friends to create the Miracle Mop. It took two long years of working in supermarkets, talking to shoppers one at a time and working out of her bedroom. Her kids filled the orders. "Whenever you start something new, in business or life, doubt comes easy but courage takes work," Joy said. "You must be brave and you must be strong to have the courage to keep going when you do experience the struggles of being an entrepreneur," she added. "Even when I was able to move into a real office and have a warehouse, my support team stayed the same. I think a large part of my success came from my drive to bring something bigger into the world and to show my children that they could also accomplish their dreams, no matter the obstacles." More than 25 years ago, I wrote my first book, "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive." The book stayed on The New York Times best-seller list for over a year. Why? Because it inspired people to have the courage to take risks and trust their instincts. The advice I offered then is just as relevant today. Was I ever afraid that I would fail? Yes and no. Yes, because I didn't want to be embarrassed or disappoint others at whatever I tried. No, because I had the courage to be confident in my ability to survive failure and celebrate success. Dr. Charles Garfield, author of "Peak Performance," tells the story of a very wealthy man who bought a ranch in Arizona and invited some of his closest associates to see it. After touring some of the 1,500 acres of mountains and rivers and grasslands, he took everyone to the house. The swimming pool was huge and full of alligators. The rich owner said: "I value courage more than anything else. Courage is what made me a billionaire. In fact, I think that courage is such a powerful virtue that if anybody is courageous enough to jump into that pool, swim through those alligators and make it to the other side, I'll give them anything they want my house, my land, my money." Of course, everybody laughed at the absurd challenge and proceeded to follow the owner into the house for lunch when they suddenly heard a splash. Turning around they saw a man swimming for his life across the pool, as the alligators swarmed after him. After several death-defying seconds, the man made it to the other side, unharmed. The rich host was absolutely amazed, but he stuck to his promise. He said, "You are indeed a man of courage. What do you want? You can have anything." The swimmer, breathing heavily, looked up at the host and said, "I just want to know one thing who pushed me into that pool?" Mackay's Moral: It's advantageous to be courageous. At 70 miles per hour on I-465 around Indianapolis, my car was 15 miles over the speed limit. Yet I was being passed on the left and the right. A truck close behind me was moving up with evil intent. That's when I realized there is a way to increase state revenues, celebrate Indiana's Bicentennial, and make happier the Hoosier legislators I so often decry. I-465 is almost 53 miles of limited access highway making a square around the city. Speed limits are not enforced except when there is a front page fatality, and then only for a day or two afterward. Within I-465 lies the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500 and other events of vehicular madness. Lots of speed-freaks show up for these events. Thousands of men and women long to drive without speed limits in their own cars as crowds cheer and TV cameras record every eye movement, while helicopters and blimps follow the action. Transponders in every car could monitor the laps, position and speed of each car while excited announcers feed information to the drivers and fans. Ten times around I-465 covers the required 500 miles. Cars might be altered as long as they meet all safety standards. Licensed drivers from any state would be registered, insured, and pay a hefty entry fee. Those fees, plus rentals of spectator space along the route, and the TV/radio rights provide the revenue, less whatever prizes are awarded and expenses incurred. Our dependable legislators would decide how to spend the money independent of our preferences. By daybreak of race day, the first Saturday in May, the road is cleared of traffic and debris. High school bands play old favorites as cars, SUVs and light trucks enter at specified interchanges. Drivers are not allowed to carry weapons of any sort lest road rage become fatal. In the clockwise (inside) lanes are the 17 to 29 year old drivers; counterclockwise (outside) lanes will host drivers 30 to 64. On Sunday, drivers 65 years and older contest the clockwise lanes, while eighteen wheelers show their stuff going counterclockwise. The top ten finishers in each group, that's 40 drivers, are eligible to return the following week for the statewide runoff. Yes, statewide. This is not just an Indianapolis race. Around Fort Wayne on I-69 and I-469 is 50 miles. A NW Indiana contest could use portions of I-90 and I-94, particularly after the Cline Avenue bridge is rebuilt. South Bend-Elkhart, with some minor imaginative effort, could do the same. Evansville and Jeffersonville-New Albany (with or without involving folks south of the Ohio River), even Terre Haute, could partake as well. You can bet Purdue will find a way of being represented. All winners come to Indianapolis the next weekend for the runoff of the four divisions. Ordinary folks finally get the dream rides of a (perhaps limited) lifetime and Indiana gets money. Let Indiana in May truly be the speed center of the nation, the envy of every state. Could we ask for anything better? Morton Marcus is an economist, writer, and speaker who may be reached at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com. SHARE Alzheimer's Association Workshop: "Healthy Living for Your Brain & Body," 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Dunigan YMCA, 6846 Oak Grove Road. Guest speakers will include Susan A. Hall, natural health practitioner, and Zach Oxford, YMCA Wellness manager ($5 donation suggested). Registration required by calling 800-272-3900. NAMI Evansville Family-to-Family classes on mental illness: 12-week session on Mondays, beginning March 7 from 6:45-9 p.m. at Old North United Methodist Church, 4201 Stringtown Road. Classes are free, but registration is required). To enroll or for more information, call 812-423-4333. SongShine Evansville: will present a music-based voice therapy program that helps strengthen the speaking voices of those who suffer from Parkinson's, stroke and other neurological disorders or simply aging. Starting March 8, the classes will meet on Tuesdays from 1:30-2:30 p.m. through May 17 at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 5130 Lincoln Ave. The classes use classical singing exercises, relaxation, physical awareness and breath, diction and articulation, creative imagination, emotional engagement, rhythmic movement and group singing to enhance speech. Registration will be at 1 p.m. the first week. Classes are free, but a $10 registration fee is required. A kit containing a textbook, CDs, a bookstand and a bag is $45. Call 812-457-5137 or register online at SongShineforParkinsons.org. Classes are taught by Certified SongShine instructors. Scholarships are available if needed. Sjogren's Syndrome Support Group: Meeting 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Newburgh Senior Center, 529 Jefferson St. Information: Sally Dekarske at 812-490-6580. Bereavement support group: Meeting 5:30-7 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month in the large group meeting room, second floor of Central Library, 200 SE MLK Blvd. Men's bereavement support group: Meeting 9-10:30 a.m. the second Monday of each month in Room 204 at Deaconess VNA Plus, 610 E. Walnut St. Support group for bipolar/manic-depressive disorder: Meeting 7 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of each month, Kempf Bipolar Wellness Center, third floor of St. Mary's Rehabilitation Institute, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4934. Survivors of suicide support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first and third Monday of each month, Methodist Temple, 2109 Lincoln Ave. Information: Mental Health America at 812-426-2640. Pulmonary fibrosis support group: Meeting 3 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com. COPD/asthma support group: Meeting 3 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com. Mending Hearts pregnancy loss support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month, Gift Conference Room, off the lobby of St. Mary's Hospital for Women & Children, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4204. Men's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room, 100 St. Mary's Epworth Crossing, Newburgh. Information: 812-485-5725. Stroke support group: Meeting 10 a.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month, St. Mary's Community Education Room at Washington Square Mall, 5011 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-5607. ALS support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Meeting Room E, Deaconess Gateway Hospital. The support group is for patients, caregivers and survivors who have lost someone to Lou Gehrig's disease. Women's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second and fourth Monday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room. Information: 812-485-5725. Compiled by Leah Ward, leah.ward@courierpress.com By Zach Evans of the Courier and Press Evansville police provided no updates Sunday on the investigation into a weekend shooting on North Main Street that left one man dead. According to police, Maurice U. Heyward, 38, died at Deaconess Hospital after he was shot once in the torso outside the Lucky Lady Lounge night club, 523 N. Main St. about 3 a.m. Saturday. According to reports, surveillance footage show a man approaching Heyward and shooting him. Police are still searching for the gunman in the fatal shooting. Investigators described the suspect as a light-skinned black male in his 30s or 40s who is believed to be around 6 feet tall and 220 to 240 pounds. At the time of the shooting, he was wearing an orange hooded sweatshirt and a black coat, police said. Police believe the suspect was driving a blue Chevrolet Tahoe. According to police, a white sedan seen at the club could also be associated with the suspect. Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call 911. Tips can also be called into WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME or directly to Evansville police investigators at 812-436-7979. The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office announced later Saturday that a $1,000 reward is being offered through WeTip for information that leads to the conviction of the suspect. SHARE Darius M. Bushrod By Mark Wilson of the Courier and Press A jury on Friday found an Evansville man not guilty of multiple criminal charges, including criminal gang activity, stemming from an August shooting incident. Darius M. Bushrod, 19, was one of five men who were together inside a vehicle stopped by Evansville police officers in the 1100 block of East Powell Avenue on the South Side near where a shooting had just been reported, according to police records. Police said there were no reported injuries from the shooting, but a house and several vehicles were damaged. Residents of one home said bullets came through the room they were in, and an officer observed bullet holes in the house, police said. Two handguns and a bottle with five Xanax, a prescription anti-anxiety drug, were found in the vehicle with the men, according to an affidavit of probable cause. A third handgun was found in the street across from where officers found several shell casings. After a two-day trial in Vanderburgh Circuit Court, a jury found Bushrod not guilty of criminal recklessness by shooting a firearm into a building and criminal gang activity, as well as misdemeanors of carrying a handgun without a license and possession of a controlled substance. "It's my belief that the jury didn't think there was enough evidence that he was the shooter because there were five people in the vehicle," said deputy prosecutor Dennis Vowels. Also facing identical charges in the incident are: Antonio Bushrod Jr., 21; Devontae Waddell, 22; Romanno Wright, 19; and Kiel Banks, 19. Vowels who twice sought to join all five cases together for one trial said the outcome of those cases is not tied to the Darius Bushrod verdict and that he intends to move forward with prosecuting those cases. A Feb. 17 trial date for Antonio Bushrod Jr. has been cancelled and replaced with a 9 a.m. hearing in Circuit Court. Banks' trial is still scheduled for Feb. 22. Banks and Antonio Bushrod Jr. are being held in the Vanderburgh County jail. Wright and Waddell, both free on bond, have trials scheduled in May. Debris is seen around the home at 508 East Illinois Street, where one person died in a fire Sunday night. SHARE By Max Roll of the Courier and Press UPDATE (10:30 a.m.) The man killed in a Sunday night house fire in Evansville has been identified. Brian L. Stoops, 37, died after suffering from smoke inhalation, according to the Vanderburgh County Coroners Office The fire, which happened at a home at 1508 E. Illinois St., was reported to 911 dispatchers at 8:39 p.m. Stoops was a resident of the address. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the Evansville Fire Department. PREVIOUSLY: At least one person is dead following a house fire in Evansville Sunday night, according to the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office. Deputy Coroner Steve Lockyear said the fatal fire started around 8:39 p.m. at 1508 East Illinois Street. Another fire was reported around the same time at 1005 Richland Avenue, according to Evansville-Vanderburgh Central Dispatch. There was no word of any injuries at the fire. Evansville firefighters were still battling the fires at 10:45 p.m. SHARE By James Vaughn of the Courier and Press Legal professionals, government officials and educators will gather Wednesday in Indianapolis to discuss the "school to prison pipeline." The Indiana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights arranged five panels to discuss school disciplinary and juvenile justice policies in the state. The goal is to highlight any discrimination against Indiana's children on the basis of race, color and/or sex, according to a news release. Commission Chairman Martin Castro said the school to prison pipeline is not a myth. Schools are "disproportionately targeting children of color for punishment and criminalizing their conduct," Castro said in the news release. The Indiana committee will also hear public testimony and include it in a report it will present to the commission. Anyone who would like to submit written testimony can email it to mwojnaroski@usccr.gov by March 18. The event, which is open to the public, will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ivy Tech Community College Event Center in Indianapolis. Bosse High School Principal Sheila Huff will participate. Panelists includes Russell Skiba, director of the Equity Project at Indiana University; Diana Daniels, executive director of the National Council on Educating Black Children; Susan Lockwood, director of juvenile education at the Indiana Department of Corrections and teachers and administrators from around the state. SHARE Clarence Leatherbury Evansville Justice Antonin Scalia rightfully believed that when interpreting the Constitution the Supreme Court had a duty to uphold the original intent of the document established during its ratification. Though today, strictly adhering to the Constitution is looked upon by large divisions of society as primitive. So out of respect to Justice Scalia, I wanted to resolve the common misinterpretations of our Constitution which have helped lead to the ill-fated state of our republic. First, it's Congress' constitutional responsibility to declare war before initiating military action. James Madison explained, "The constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war to the Legislature." Secondly, the tenth amendment assured that the powers states delegated to the federal government could not be expanded upon. The states delegated specific enumerated powers to the federal government under Article 1 Section 8, but the lion share of powers were reserved to the states. But one can easily see just how far the government has abused its powers when reading Federalist #41 by James Madison and comparing Madison's views about the role the federal government would play in society to present realities. Thirdly, the Supremacy Clause is not an unlimited grant of power. At the New York ratifying convention Alexander Hamilton explained, "acts of the united states will be absolutely obligatory as to all the proper objects and powers of the general government But the laws of Congress are restricted to a certain sphere, and when they depart from this sphere they are no longer supreme or binding." Fourth, the founder's understood that times change and as a result they created the amendment process so the Constitution could be altered when needed. The Constitution was not to live and breathe through judicial activist but was to live and breathe only through the amendment process. Fifth, the first amendment limited Congresses lawmaking authorities but not the states'. For example, many state constitutions endorsed Christianity and the state governments provided financial assistance to their respective religious institutions. And sixth, the general welfare clause did not expand the government's ability to spend money but constrained it. In the book, 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask, historian Tom Woods described how "the word 'general' restricted federal spending only to those purposes whose benefits were national in scope rather than purely local or confined to a single interest group." Thomas Jefferson understood that our liberties and wealth are more likely to be preserved by imposing strict limitations on the government. Jefferson duly stated, "On every question of construction, let us, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." Suter's new 500GP inspired two-stroke racer has been given special permission to compete in this year's Isle of Man TT! The MMX 500 was unveiled in September as a solution to the dwindling supply of parts for the original 500GP machines competing in events such as last year's inaugural 'World GP Bike Legends', attended by the likes of Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner and Freddie Spencer. However Eskil Suter's ambitions extend well beyond 'classic' racing and the bike will now go head-to-head with modern Superbike machinery in June's Superbike and Senior TT races, where rules allow four-strokes of up to 1200cc. Suter is believed to be negotiating with two high-profile British riders and the first confirmed signing is expected shortly. "We are currently negotiating with two former TT winners who know the track off by heart," confirmed Suter's marketing director Philippe Soutter. "We want an experienced rider, best would be an old TT-warhorse." Announced last September under the tagline 'The Beast Is Back', 99 of the limited edition Suters are planned for production, each with a price tag of 120,000 euros. The machines are powered by a 576cc V4 engine ("We were so anxious that we ended up having a displacement of 576ccm... Who could blame us?") producing 195hp for a weight of 127kg and estimated top speed of 310km/h (193mph). The bike also boasts electronic fuel injection and a counter-rotating crankshaft. "We have a phenomenal power-to-weight ratio. It's like a bicycle with rocket propulsion," said Eskil Suter, who is also planning a road version of the MMX 500 in the near future. "And that's why we what the MMX 500 to enter the toughest road race in the world. For us this is the perfect testing ground." Whether Suter will run the MMX 500 TT project in-house or join with an existing race team is still under discussion, Crash.net was told. Suter Racing Technology began its association with grand prix two-strokes in the late 1990s, being 'deeply involved' in the Swissauto 500/MuZ that took two pole positions for Jurgen van den Goorbergh. The company then went on to work with the likes of Foggy Petronas (WSBK), Kawasaki (MotoGP) and Ilmor (MotoGP) before winning three constructors' titles under its own name in the Moto2 category. Suter is rumoured to be working with Ducati on its 2016 MotoGP machine. The fearsome 37.73-mile Isle of Man TT circuit formed part of the motorcycle grand prix calendar until 1976, with the 500cc two-stroke class replaced by four-stroke 'MotoGP' rules in 2002. Suter also plans to enter the 2017 Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the USA - using a turbocharged engine! "We are pleased to introduce our little beast to fans around the world on some very special race tracks," Suter said. Australian online retailer Kogan Mobile has heavily discounted its unlimited plans, revealing $8.95 and $10.95 monthly deals. Kogans 3XL plan now offers 30 days of unlimited standard calls and texts across Australia plus 3GB of data for $8.95. The same plan was previously offered at $29.90 per month. The 5XL plan comes with 30 days of unlimited standard national calls and texts and 5GB of data for $10.95. In October, 5XL was launched offered at $36.90 per month. Both deals equate to a 70 percent discount and will be on until 31 March. Kogan re-entered the mobile network resale market in October, reselling the Vodafone 3G network. "We have seen thousands of people switch to Kogan Mobile since launching last year, said Kogan founder and chief executive Ruslan Kogan. Vodafone has invested billions into their network in recent years, and todays offer is a part of Kogan Mobiles push for affordability and accessibility in the mobile market. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has overhauled its distribution roster, trimming nine disties down to six, with Sydney-headquartered Distribution Central perhaps the biggest winner out of the review. DC, which already had the Aruba account, now adds the full HPE suite of server, storage and networking technology. Managing director Nick Verykios said the win could transform the company. "What we are getting told is that it will add another $200 million onto our books. It'll take us from $400 million to $600 million." Verykios said he was less interested in a market share battle over the business left by Synnex and Avnet, and more interested in fresh opportunities around hyper-converged systems an HPE market opportunity that he said was currently underserviced. He revealed that "my competitors are ringing and congratulating me and saying, 'You have $200 million of revenue there'. There will be some share grab, of course, but everyone will be going for the Avnet and Synnex share. Let them do that, I am focusing on a bunch of resellers who have been underserviced." Verykioswas added he was excited about some of HPE's lesser-known solutions, especially "some real gems" in the server range. "Our reverse due diligence on this is that the partner base doesn't know about [all of] HPE's technologies but they should because they are unbelievable," he said. "We have a bunch of other vendors' technology that is associated with HPE a whole bunch of reference architectures identified with about seven of our vendors, and that is not even including Aruba." Distribution Central is a major NetApp distributor, and Verykios expected the distie's ability to combine HPE and NetApp would offer an alternative to the leading FlexPod converged stack, which integrates NetApp with Cisco. "You have storage vendors like NetApp and EMC that have a partnership with Cisco, but what if you don't want that? What if you are a HP reseller? "The point is we will have a great time looking at an [HPE] installed base that is already there," said Verykios. Some of HPE's most highly credentialed partners gave their judgement on Distribution Central's win. Craig Somerville, managing director of Sydney-headquartered Somerville Group, said there were "no real surprises" at the outcome of the review, "with the only comment being that Distribution Central is better known for challenger brands than it is for the mainstream vendors, but as a very successful distie, it's not surprising HPE saw value in that". David Abouhaidar, director strategic alliances and commercial sales at AC3, formerly Klikon, was happy for Distribution Central "a fantastic value-added distie" but cautioned, "they must understand that they are playing in the big league". "Dicker and Ingram have been doing this for a very long time and I believe they have 70-80 percent share of HPE between them," said Abouhaidar. The New York Post is reporting that Dell is finding it more difficult than it expected to raise the initial round of funding for its US$67 billion (AU$94 billion) acquisition of storage giant EMC. The Post reported Thursday US time that Dell, which needs to raise US$45 billion to finance the acquisition of EMC, had expected to price the first US$10 billion of debt on Wednesday US time. However, the group of banks working on the deal, which is being led by JPMorgan, needs another 10 days to arrange the loan, The Post said. The New York Post, citing an unnamed source, said the loans have proved harder to sell than expected because of tightening credit markets. Furthermore, Dell has run into a possible delay in its plans to sell its Perot Systems professional services business as one of the leading suitors for France-based Atos, has dropped out of the bidding, the Post reported, again citing an unnamed source. That leaves India-based Tata and Japan-based NTT Data as the two remaining suitors. The EMC transaction is on schedule under the original timetable and the original terms, said a Dell spokesperson in an email to CRN USA. Dell in October said it plans to purchase EMC in a deal worth US$67 billion. The deal is expected to close sometime this year. Part of the deal includes paying EMC shareholders US$24.05 per share in cash along with an as-yet unspecified amount of tracking stock in VMware, 80-plus percent of which is currently owned by EMC. However, EMC share prices have lost well over a quarter of their value since the planned acquisition was announced. Even so, Dell and EMC are continuing forward as if the acquisition is a done deal. Michael Dell will be a keynote speaker at this year's EMC World in May. And David Goulden, CEO of EMC's Information Infrastructure business, this week told EMC employees the acquisition will give EMC the opportunity to take a long view of the storage market. Steven Burke contributed to this story. This article originally appeared at crn.com Hewlett Packard Enterprise's top Australian partners have mixed feelings about the outcome of the vendor's distribution review, with some welcoming the downsized roster, and others concerned about the departure of Synnex and Avnet. Yesterday, HPE announced an overhauled distribution roster in Australia after a tender process, with Synnex and Avnet losing HPE, Westcon losing Aruba and Dicker Data, Distribution Central, Ingram Micro and Lynx Technologies all gaining access to the combined HPE and Aruba portfolio. Craig Somerville, managing director of Sydney-headquartered Somerville Group, was not particularly surprised at the outcome. "I think it's a pretty good mix of disties for HPE, and to some extent I think it's the logical choice for them." The biggest uplift for any distributor will be Distribution Central, which already had the Aruba account and will be able to sell the full HPE suite of server, storage and networking technology from 1 May 2016. Managing director Nick Verykios expects the win to add at least $200 million to the company's turnover. Commenting on DC's appointment, Somerville said: "Distribution Central is better known for challenger brands than it is for the mainstream vendors, but as a very successful distie, it's not surprising HPE saw value in that." Abbas Aly, managing director of Triforce, a Platinum HPE partner, was less enamoured by the shake-out. He said he was concerned about the loss of credit flexibility offered by Synnex and Avnet, as well as what seemed to be a preference for volume distributors over the kind of complex enterprise solutions credentials offered by Avnet. Julie Barbieri, director national sales & general manager infrastructure for NTT Communications ICT Solutions, was "interested to see what impact it will have on the HPE distribution channel moving forward", but "given that NTT ICT is a tier one partner and can procure directly from HPE, we are not greatly affected by the decision". David Abouhaidar, director strategic alliances and commercial sales at AC3, formerly Klikon, welcomed the distribution shake-up. "I am fairly confident that HPE have made the right decision for the channel. This was a very, very big step for HPE, to part ways with two disties Synnex and Avnet have some very strong overseas bonds and ties with HPE." Overall, Abouhaidar hoped the outcome of the review would bring some consistency to the market and see less instability around distie pricing. For Nathan Lowe, managing director of gold Aruba partner ASI Solutions, it will be business as usual. "Dont really see an impact for our business as we have strong relationships across chosen distributors." Ahmmad Issa, national commercial sales manager at Synnex Australia, congratulated his rival disties in a blog post on LinkedIn. "I would like to congratulate Dicker Data, Distribution Central, Ingram Micro, Lynx and Sector for their success in the recent Hewlett Packard Enterprise (RFI) tender process. "Synnex Australia will remain committed to Hewlett Packard Enterprise in closing out the relationship in the period up to 29 April 2016 when distribution representation of the brand will cease. "I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our partners who have contributed to our business during the period of representation, your custom is most appreciated," wrote Issa. Google is retreating from a small segment of its booming education business by ending the life of a product that was developed to encourage adoption of Android tablets in schools, Google partners told CRN USA on Friday. Google Play for Education, an extension of the Play software distribution platform, was rolled out around two years ago with the intent of putting more tablets into the hands of students. The app store, curated in close collaboration with educators, enabled solution providers to manage both devices and their specialized content. But the internet giant confirmed to CRN USA on Friday it will cease selling Play for Education licenses to partner tablet vendors on 14 March. Google said it will continue supporting all existing accounts, allowing current customers to access the education-focused app store for as long as their devices are in service. Play for Education was available to educators, and partners that serve that market, through a select number of Android tablets. The product is in the Google for Education family that also sells Chromebook laptops, the best-selling brand in the educational market. While Play for Education will be withdrawn from the market, Android tablets will still be able to run all the educational apps that were available through Play. And some of Google's Enterprise Mobility Management partners will continue offering their own Android marketplaces for discovering and pushing content to students. One Google partner executive who asked not to be named told CRN USA he learned of the product's termination after attempting to procure tablets for a customer. "We noticed something funny a couple weeks ago" when a client requested a quote for a number of Play for Work tablets, the Google partner told CRN USA. "Basically all manufacturers told us all those devices were end-of-lifed." Asus, then Samsung, said they didn't have replacement devices that were Play-integrated, the reseller said. They told him to look at Chromebook laptops as an alternative. Google later informed the partner that Play for Education was on its way out, and the company should focus on its Chromebooks practice for serving the educational market. That partner exec said he believes some capability issues, like a limited number of student profiles that could be loaded onto a single device, coupled with competition from Apple's iPads, kept the Android tablets from deeply penetrating the education market, and convinced Google to step back from the program. Google made a big marketing push last year for the educational tablets, the partner exec said, but "I'm not sure it ever clicked." Chromebooks, however, compete really well with iPads as well as traditional desktops and laptops, the partner exec told CRN. And a new generation of touch-screen Chromebooks entering the market can be flipped into form factors that essentially create functional tablets, sometimes at lower prices than actual tablets, he noted. The subset of Android tablets that supported the Play for Education app, and were geared for school environments, were models from Google's own Nexus brand, as well as from Dell, HP and Samsung Galaxy. Google, in a written statement, told CRN: "We're committed to providing schools with the best-in-class tools for the classroom, including Chromebooks, which are the #1 selling device in US K-12 education, and a strong and growing ecosystem of educational apps. We'll continue to support our Google Play for Education customers and the devices that they have purchased." This article originally appeared at crn.com CSG has clocked in an eight percent rise in revenue to hit $116.9 million for the half year. The company also posted a 12 percent rise in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $17.3 million. Net profit after tax (NPAT) rose 10 percent to reach $11.1 million. The company said the growth was helped by contract wins in its 'communication-as-a-service' business, including a $2.5 million deal with an unnamed customer. The service is run in partnership with US-based unified communications company 8X8. CSG also scored a 'boardroom as a service' contract with a New Zealand retail bank. CSG chief executive Julie-Ann Kerin said: We are pleased with the continued success of our new technology as a service offering. We are excited to be working with some of the worlds leading technology brands in delivering innovative cloud solutions to our SMEs and enterprise customers. With the release of CSGs total office bundle in 2H FY16, we have now a complete product suite capable of delivering a single source technology solution to our customers. CSG customers can now source multiple products from one partner with one simple monthly bill and get access to state of the art technologies for minimal capital outlay. CSG said in a statement that it was poised to achieve a full-year revenue of greater than $255 million, a rise of 14 percent from last years results. The company has also announced Stephen Anstice as its new chairman. Anstice, who has been non-executive director of CSG since August 2014, brings over 20 years of experience in the print and communications industry. Anstice replaces the current chairman Tom Cowan who becomes a non-executive director and chairman of the remuneration and nominations committee. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After being named the worst in Connecticut, one southwest Connecticut city was given another dubious honor by infotainment website RoadSnacks. The website recently looked at school completion rates throughout the state to discover the dumbest cities in Connecticut. Much to the dismay of many residents, five local cities made the top 15. Bridgeport was named the dumbest city in the state based on the percentage of residents without a high school education and the local high school dropout rate, which was 10.8 percent and 25.6 percent respectively. The next closest southwestern Connecticut city was Danbury at number 10, followed by Derby (11), Norwalk (12), and Stamford (15). Cities that ranked out of the top 20 had less than a three percent dropout rate and held a less than 10 percent rate of adults without a high school education. The rankings were based off cities with a population above 5,000 residents and dropout and education rates among each city's entire population, not the current rates among high schoolers. "More than a quarter of the population over the age of 25 in Bridgeport is walking around without even a high school education. That's the 2nd highest number of adults without even a basic education in the state of Connecticut," the website said. "Nearly 11% of kids ages 16-19 are current high school dropouts. That's the 4th highest number in the state." However, the rankings weren't a total slam on the region. Neighboring cities Milford, Shelton, and Ansonia were named among the smartest cities in the state with a population above 2,000, mainly due to their low high school dropout rate. The rankings were inspired off a Washington Post study that looked at the smartest state in the country based off IQ scores, SAT scores, and graduation rates. Connecticut came in as the fourth smartest state in America behind Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. To see the entire list, check out the full RoadSnacks breakdown. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The toxic blue-green algae blooms that plagued Connecticut lakes last summer, closing some beaches for weeks, could be a sign that climate change is already raising the temperature of the regions waters. Data for most Connecticut lakes is scattered, but summertime measurements at Candlewood Lake show a clear warming trend, with average surface temperatures increasing about 1.2 degrees Celsius, or near 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit, since the Candlewood Lake Authority began monitoring in 1985. We do see a very, very gradual increase in surface temperatures, said Larry Marsicano, the authoritys executive director. While it doesnt seem significant to us, its significant to the environment. The rate of warming at Candlewood Lake is even faster than that reported in a recent global study funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, which found that lakes worldwide are warming at an average rate of 0.34 degrees Celsius, or 0.61 degrees Fahrenheit, per decade. That rate is faster than that of the worlds oceans. Scientists warn that lake warming will not only damage ecosystems increasing algae blooms and killing off certain species of fish, for example but could also create spinoff economic effects, eventually including devaluation of lakeside properties. All of these things can really affect how we use and enjoy the lake(s) for these goods and services, said David Richardson, a biology professor at SUNY-New Paltz who is one of the lead scientists on a study of nearly 400 lakes in the northeastern U.S. and Canada, including Lake Lillinonah. Connecticut environmental officials collect temperature data for dozens of lakes, but the measurements in most cases are for a year or two at most, and cannot be used to detect trends over time. Candlewood Lake, where the lake authority conducts its own tests, is an exception. But scientists agree that lake warming is already detectable in the Northeast. Richardson, whose study is being done for the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network, said the health of lakes is an important indicator of the health of the surrounding ecosystems. Theyre really our canary in the coal mine, he said. The effects of climate change on lakes in the Northeast are most noticeable in the summer and winter months. During the winter, the warming trend means that ice forms later and melts earlier, reducing the insulating effect of the ice cover and leaving more time for the water to absorb heat, said Bob Kortmann, a scientist who has been studying Connecticut lakes since 1975. During the summer, the natural stratification of warm and cold layers in the water intensifies as surface temperatures rise, creating ideal conditions for the growth of blue-green algae. These organisms produce a toxin that causes digestive problems and other ailments in humans, and is particularly dangerous to dogs. Its hard to ignore when you see the amount of literature out there that connects the frequency of blue-green algae blooms with climate, Marsicano said. Last summer, algae blooms forced beach closures at many Connecticut lakes, including Candlewood, Lake Zoar and Squantz Pond. As such closures become more frequent, the lakes would offer fewer opportunities for swimming, fishing and boating, which could affect the health of lake-dependent businesses like marinas and bait shops, and eventually lessen the value of lakeside property. Although no study on the local economic effects of climate change has been done, Marsicano suspects home values could fall by 30 percent in lakeside communities. But if long-term effects of warming waters on humans are hard to pin down, theyre easier to outline for organisms, such as fish. Jennifer Klug, a Fairfield University biology professor who has been studying Lake Lillinonah since 2003, said changing water temperatures and the resulting change in oxygen levels could eventually be fatal to fish and the organisms they feed on. Many species of fish can live only in a certain range of water temperatures and oxygen content. You may be in a situation where youre decreasing the oxygen at the bottom and increasing the temperature stress on top, so the fish are squeezed and have no place to go, Klug said. One of her students has launched a study of the stresses water temperatures put on fish in Lillinonah, especially the northern pike. Klug said her own observations since 2003, however, have detected no major decline in pike populations. Candlewood, which is considered a cold lake, has been a premier trout fishing destination for years. But Marsicano worries trout wont survive if the water gets much warmer, and that the lake authority might have to begin stocking other fish species that do better in warm water. Warming water also means a better environment for invasive species, especially those from southern climates. Hydrilla, a common invasive aquatic plant native to Asia, already has appeared in Squantz Pond and other Connecticut lakes. You can see shifts in the populations of the organisms living in the lakes, Marsicano said. Klug said its not too late to help reverse the effects of climate change. She and Richardson encourage people write to their representatives so the necessary legislation can be enacted. You dont just have to sit there and watch it happen, Klug said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Al DiGuido may be one of the sweetest guys on earth. Not only is the Westport man opening a Fairfield store in addition to his first Saugtauck Sweets shop in Westport, but for years he has dedicated much of his time to raising money for children with cancer and rare blood diseases, and those whose families suffer financial hardships. His philanthropic group has been dubbed Als Angels. DiGuidos shops are called Saugatuck Sweets, and designed to be community gathering places where ice cream, baked goods and friendliness are offered, DiGuido said outside his new outlet at 28 Reef Road in Fairfield. The new shop, across from the Sherman Green gazebo in downtown Fairfield, is slated to open before Valentines Day, he said. His original sweet shop at 575 Riverside Ave. has been open nearly two years. Its much more than an ice cream shop, he said of the enterprise. Were trying to be a throwback to how life used to be. His Westport shop hosted Girl Scouts selling cookies on a recent weekend, for example, and before last weekends storm, had lined up a blank-athon at the Fairfield shop for women to knit blankets for hospitalized babies, which had to be canceled because of the weather. An upstairs room to host parties and charity events is a feature of the new location. We pride ourselves that we give back to the community, DiGuido said. DiGuido, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and the son of a New York City police officer, worked 15 years in the marketing and advertising business, specializing in digital advertising. He was the publisher of PC magazine and Computer Shopper before that. But for the past 16 years, he has been focused on Als Angels, a charity that started in his garage helping 30 families the first year. This past holiday season, Als Angels provided Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas gifts and food for 3,200 families and 9,000 children, he said. Sixty percent of the fundraising helps families in Fairfield County and 40 percent goes to families in Bronx, N.Y.; New Jersey and Long Island, according to DiGuido. DiGuidos charity work has its roots at a New York Giants game where a plea was made to help a 10-year-old girl dying from cancer whose family was in dire financial straits. I said to myself, how is it possible that in the United State of America, parents have to run fundraisers in order to provide food and gifts for their sick children? he recalled. He went home and, haunted by the plea, was inspired to organize charitable fundraising guided by this question: What if that was you, what would you do to help your children? DiGuido, the father of three children and grandfather of six, said the plight of children facing such challenges really hit home. It is that family and community connection that he hopes to re-create at his two sweets shops, he added, as well as in his fundraising efforts. Judging from comments by patrons at the Westport shop, next to the Saugatuck River, on a Sunday afternoon, he has succeeded. I love it, its such a sweet place to come to its old-fashioned Tracey Stidolph, of the Rowayton section of Norwalk, said as she enjoyed ice cream with her daughter, Stella, 4, and her parents, who were visiting from Pennsylvania. The family had come to Saugatuck Sweets after a performance at the Westport Country Playhouse. Stella was thoroughly enjoying her Oreo ice cream. This definitely works for us, her mother said. Its awesome, agreed Chris Drummond, 13, finishing a waffle cone adorned with chocolate and caramel, with his friend Jerrad Beaver, 12, who polished off a giant sundae called the Great Gatsby. We have a lot of fun here, said Chris Di Guido, Als wife, as she served the frozen treat. In addition to ice cream, Saugatuck Sweets serves what Al DiGuido calls scooped yogurt (not frozen), and 100 different kinds of candy. Baked goods including brownies, fruit bars and cakes are on the menu, along with milkshakes, root beer floats and egg creams. The businessman sees his sweets shop ventures also is a way to promote small businesses, and a device to bring people so tied to iPhones, iPads and social media together in a different setting. The shops are simply an old-fashioned place to hang out no one walks away grumpy, he said. For information about Als Angels, visit www.alsangels.org , and to learn more about Saugatuck Sweets, go to http://on.fb.me/20ApHZC . This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Stamfords Avon Theatre Film Center had barely opened its doors in February 2004 when two legendary directors Sidney Lumet and Robert Altman showed up to share inside stories of the making of their classics Network and Nashville. Since then, an impressive array of Hollywood greats, from Arthur Penn and Eli Wallach to Stamfords own Gene Wilder, have turned the historic theater into Fairfield Countys ongoing film salon. The two-screen complex shows independent and foreign films 365 days a year, but its the regular personal appearances by filmmakers and performers that have made the venue our equivalent of New York Citys Film Forum or the IFC Center. (The 1939 movie palace had been closed for many years when it was restored and reopened 12 years ago.) Over the years, the theater has invited yours truly to lead more events than I can count, with the highlights including two great audience schmooze-fests with Frank Langella, an up-close-and-personal look at Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator John Cameron Mitchell and a stirring evening in which a packed house shared Ken Burns outrage over the unfair arrest and conviction of The Central Park Five. It has been fun to learn new things, along with the audience, like writer-director Paul Schraders rarely discussed introduction of Giorgio Armani to the U.S. market when he tapped the Italian designer to dress Richard Gere for the title role in American Gigolo. Months before the Ron Howard film Frost/Nixon was released in 2008, Langella admitted to an SRO crowd his concern that the screen adaptation might not repeat the success of the London and Broadway stage hit. The actor was also honest enough to confide that he was only approached to repeat his Tony Award-winning performance after a number of bankable Hollywood stars turned down the movie role. (A few years later, at an another Avon evening, Langella basked in congratulations for the Oscar nomination he earned as President Richard Nixon.) The Avon celebrated its 12th anniversary a few weeks ago with a Bollywood benefit gala where Indian film dancers entertained the partygoers and the venue will end the month with a Sunday, Feb. 28, red-carpet Oscar evening, where moviegoers are asked to dress up like they are going to the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles to watch a live feed of the Academy Awards ceremony. Adam Birnbaum, of Stamford, has been the director of programming and business development since the Avon opened and Louisa Greene, of Greenwich, came on board as director of development and marketing a few months later. Altman was full of piss and vinegar and told it like it was about trying to operate within the studio system, Birnbaum says of that memorable early celebrity evening at the Avon. He talked a lot about how much movies had changed since (his peak years in the) 1970s. He knew he would not have had the same career if he had come along now. Wilder has been a member and supporter of the Avon since it opened. It was a thrill for me to do an onstage interview with the star in conjunction with the release of a restored print of The Producers in 2005. He adopted us in a way, Birnbaum says of the many events Wilder has done over the years, from screenings of virtually all of his major films as an actor and director, to mini-festivals of his favorite classic movies. Its amazing watching him interact with other people and the extent to which he has made himself available, the programmer adds, citing Wilders conversations with child fans of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as being especially memorable. He believes in keeping a thing in its time and place, Birnbaum says of Wilders resistance to nostalgia. But he has been so understanding of how that movie resonates with children and families. Greene says the Avon is stronger than ever, with a record 3,200 movie buffs as supporting members of the nonprofit theater. Members get discounted tickets and invitations to free private screenings. Running a movie theater is one of the toughest businesses you can be in, Greene stresses, and were in a very competitive market, with 12 or 13 screens between the Majestic and Landmark theaters (in downtown Stamford). But our members are all about keeping independent cinema alive. Like Birnbaum, Greene treasures many evenings during which celebrated performers have come to Stamford to talk after their films. A high point for her was the late Eli Wallachs arrival just as a sold-out showing of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was ending. He must have been 89 or 90 at the time, but my God, he was so excited to be at the Avon with a full house of people who loved him and his movie, Greene says. And Steve Guttenberg was so down to earth when he came to talk about his memoir and Diner. That night really wasnt about a star, but about the affection between an audience and a star. jmeyers@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @joesview We use a range of cookies to give you the best possible browsing experience. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our use of cookies. You can learn more about our cookie policy here, or by following the link at the bottom of any page on our site. See our updated Privacy Policy here. What's going on in and around Somerset County? Ian relief: Deadline extended for property tax payments Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order delaying the payment of property taxes across 26 Florida counties struggling from impact of Hurricane Ian. The Black Lives Matter movement today is the same as the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s. That is what Peniel E. Joseph, author of Stokely: A Life said to a packed University Center room of more than 160 people on Thursday after receiving the Benjamin Hooks Institute National book award. Stokely Carmichael was the civil rights leader credited with coining the term Black Power, which Joseph said is still relevant in 2016. We really are in a Stokely Carmichael Black Power movement right now, and its a moment that impacts us at the local, regional, national and global level, Joseph said. Joseph, the founder of Black Power Studies, a subfield of civil rights history, began the lecture with 10 years worth of black history, reflecting on the works of Martin Luther King Jr., the Freedom Riders and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He then moved onto how Carmichael fits into the history of the civil rights movement. Carmichael was born on June 29, 1941, in Trinidad, and moved to America to become one of the most prominent leaders during the Civil Rights Movement. He promoted the Black Power Movement, became a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and allied himself with the Black Panther Party. Ive made it my life mission to talk about Black Power unapologetically, to talk about Stokely Carmichael and link (him) to the public policy and racial and class and economic crisis that we face in the United States today, Joseph said. Joseph, who is a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas, spent 25 years studying Carmichaels life before writing the book that came out in 2014. He said Carmichael is significant in history, but because Carmichael was a revolutionary, he will never get his picture on a postage stamp or have a holiday named after him. Joseph said Black Power and the Black Lives Matter movement, which was launched after the 2014 shooting of an African- American man in Ferguson, Missouri, are one in the same. Someone says Black Lives Matter, and people say all lives matter, Joseph said. Its deeply problematic that in 2016 many Americans dont understand that Black Lives is a universal term. Military veteran, Michael Sasseen , has overcome many obstacles to reach his goals. However, despite these obstacles the 62-year-old hopes to complete his master's degree in May. Austin Anderson Military veteran, Michael Sasseen , has overcome many obstacles to reach his goals. However, despite these obstacles the 62-year-old hopes to complete his master's degree in May. Michael Sasseen slides into a chair in the Pan-Hellenic building, his eyes weary but focused. Itas the early afternoon, and the graduate assistant is prepping for tutoring. In May, the 62-year old will graduate with a masteras degree in business administration and a 3.76 GPA. The completion of his college career is close, but for Sasseen, itas only the middle of his journey. The veteran leans from his chair, gingerly sliding up the left side of his jeans towards his knee. On his leg are 200 scars caused by cigar burns. In 1975, a supervisor repeatedly pressed the hot tip of his cigar against Sasseenas calf. The 19-year old had enlisted in the U.S. Navy. They sent him to the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape school, a military program designed to help pilots survive being captured in war with the possibility of being tortured. aWe were doing exercises,a he said. aIt just got out of hand. They burned us with cigarettes and cigars. They would bury you in sand up to neck level. It was not normal protocol.a But when Sasseen tried to report his supervisors, he was forced to spend two extra weeks in the threemonth program. The veteran completed the program and went into active duty as an in-flight trouble shooter, but his experiences in the SERE program were forever engraved in his memories. aIt was degrading,a he said. aI didnat understand what was going on.a The combination of traumatic experiences in the SERE camp and 12 years in the military left Sasseen with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which the veteran struggled to cope with. aI didnat know how to deal with it,a he said. aSo I went to work.a After the Navy, Sasseen returned to school, receiving a bachelors in special education in 1985, which he used to teach for the next 13 years. On the side he began designing and building furniture. He even created a library table for the Oval Office at the request of President Ronald Reagan. aI was keeping myself busy,a he said. aThat was how I would deal with it [PTSD], I didnat have time to think about anything but work and family.a Sasseen was slowly but surely recovering from his time in SERE and the military. But physical damage would soon take its toll. aFrom 1999 to 2003 I had a stroke, two heart attacks, colon cancer, half of my colon removed and a torn esophagus twice,a he said. These injures prevented him from teaching and making furniture. The physical and emotional effects took a toll on Sasseen. aIt destroyed me,a he said. aBecause building my furniture and my teaching was my passion. When I lost that, I lost everything.a These injuries were followed by the death of his father in 2004, and Sasseen lost control. aIt [the PTSD] went full-blown,a he said. aI was having flashbacks, nightmares, anger, isolation, insomnia and avoidance. It literally put me in a wheelchair.a But Sasseen turned a corner. He was accepted into the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, California, which would forever change his life. In therapy he was grouped with ten younger veterans, and witnessed them cry over each others stories. aIt really resonated with me,a he said. aSo I made a commitment to God that I would go back to school, study psychology, get a masteras in business administration and start a homeless veteranas facility and crisis center.a Sasseen published a PTSD self-help book in 2008, and in 2010, enrolled in the University of Memphis. There he found an instant rapport with his professors and advisor. aHeas the type of advisee who enriches an advisoras life,a said Mary Brignole, his advisor through University College. But after four semesters Sasseen hit another roadblock, with his kidneys shutting down due to lithium prescribed by the Veterans hospital. aI almost died,a he said. aBut I had a commitment to God that I couldnat fail.a Sasseen made an inconceivable recovery and returned to his degree, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the deanas award for special achievement. Now, heas only four months from completing his masteras degree. But his job is far from done. After graduation, heall begin raising money for his homeless veteranas facility, with a $1.5 million dollar goal. Itas a daunting task, but after everything Sasseenas been through, heas not too concerned. aIave got a commitment to God,a he said. aAnd I canat fail.a University of Memphis will likely break away from the Tennessee Board of Regents and David Rudd, president of the U of M, will take questions from the campus community at meetings scheduled next week. This news comes from an e-mail Rudd sent to the university students, faculty members and staff Thursday. I attended a meeting with Governor Haslam and the steering committee to discuss the Focus Act, the legislation proposing independent governing boards, Rudd said. I have every expectation the act will pass. The first two meetings will be on Tuesday. Rudd will meet with the University deans, chairs and program directors at 11 a.m. at the University Center. He will then meet with the Faculty Senate at 3:45 p.m. Finally, the university president will take questions from faculty members and students on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in the Michael D. Rose Theatre. This last meeting will be simulated on the Lambuth, Collierville and Millington campuses. Rudd said becoming independent from the TBR would allow the University to make independent choices and control tuition rate. It will also allow the U of M to control its overall financial model and manage building contracts and renovations. We believe it will be helpful to our efforts to establish the U of M as a national research university and expand our reach and visibility nationally, Rudd said in an email to The Daily Helmsman. In short, we believe it critical for future growth at the University of Memphis. The issues Rudd will address during these meetings will be an overview of the legislation. He will also take questions from the audience. We simply want to provide as much opportunity for dialogue and discussion as possible, said Rudd. An independent governing board at the U of M has been discussed for decades. The separation of TBR and Memphis will allow the school to work with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and lobby the state legislatures with out interference from smaller colleges across the state. Rudd explained that given the significance of the change, its critical we have our campus actively involved and engaged. However, some Tennessee officials said dismantling theboard of regents could be a poor choice. The former chancer of the board of regents, John Morgan, was critical of the play to break up TBR. In an article written by The Tennessean, Morgan said cooperation between the states institutions of higher learning wont happen if you really have universities that are focused solely on their own aspirations. Lifestyle | Daily Life | News | The Sydney Morning Herald Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss Hedge fund kings, bankers, dodgy businessmen, a former beauty queen and the odd pornographer assembled for the Tories' Black and White Ball in London last week. Over at the true blue Carlton Club in St James's, the bastion of the Conservative establishment, there was much amusement at the motley crew of guests who paid up to 1,500 for a chance to sit on a Cabinet minister's table. 'We wouldn't be seen dead at such a garish gathering,' said one member of the club, which admitted its first woman member, Ann Widdecombe, in 2008. (Mrs Thatcher had to be content with mere honorary membership when she was prime minister.) One of Carlton Club's leading members has been given a criminal conviction for VAT fraud Hedge-fund kings and business tycoons mingled with David Cameron (right) and his wife at the Tories' Black and White Ball in London last week But the Carlton Club is hardly in a position to mock, as one of its leading members has been given a criminal conviction for VAT fraud. Accountant Gerald Hyam, 72, has resigned as deputy chairman of the influential Carlton Club political committee after being found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of 'cheating the public revenue'. He scammed 86,000 worth of VAT from two bogus invoices for a service he never provided. Hyam, who operated in upmarket Mayfair, was found guilty of using fake invoices, and given a 15-month suspended prison sentence. Jo Tyler, assistant director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: 'As a chartered accountant, Hyam [should have known] better than to attempt this type of fraud. 'When we interviewed him, he claimed that he had no income and was living off loans and family hand-outs, but in reality he was trying to line his pockets with money destined for public services.' One leading Carlton Club member later sniffed: 'We don't expect to see him showing his face here again. Perhaps he'll go to the Black and White party next year instead. They're not so fussy.' News that MPs are to receive an extra 962 pay rise, on top of the 11 per cent hike last year to 74,000, will not go down well with their Commons staff. The average staff salaries at the House are 36,784. Flaming cheek The revelation that pint-sized Speaker John Bercow lavished 2,000 of public money on hand-made beeswax candles surprised few Tory MPs. 'He's always had a knack for getting on our wick,' said one. John Bercow has spent tens of thousands of pounds wining and dining fellow MPs - including more than 2,000 on a 'standing down' party for his former deputy Hackney constituents of Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn's former amour, will no doubt be delighted the MP asked what the Government was doing to help 'tackle the destruction by lethal yellowing of coconut palms in Antigua'. Many shadow cabinet colleagues wish the International Development spokeswoman, who had a 5,380 paid trip to an Antigua trades union summit in 2014, would spend more time in the Caribbean, far away from Westminster. Comrade Corbyn went to Nottingham last week to launch the Labour Party's local election campaign. 'People are better off with Labour,' he said. Just one problem: there are no local elections in Nottingham in May. Corbyn went to Nottingham last week to launch the Labour Party's local election campaign Labour's shadow education minister Lord Watson of Invergowrie said of the Government's plans to limit union power that the trades unions were 'under fire'. This was the same peer jailed in 2005 for drunkenly setting fire to curtains in an Edinburgh hotel. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron boasted in an article to mark lesbian and gay history month of his party's great contribution to changing equality laws. 'The Liberal Democrats have been steadfast in campaigning for LGBT equality and inclusion . . .' But Farron himself not only abstained on the same-sex marriage vote, he also tried to weaken the legislation. When Margaret Hodge condemned Google's tax affairs, Sky News presenter Kay Burley tweeted: 'Does Margaret Hodge have her fingers crossed when she talks about taxation!?' The Labour MP has received shares in a family company from a foundation based in tax haven Lichtenstein. Fat Pat's appetite for power 'Despite growing up on an estate in Grimsby, corpulent Cormack is always draped in yards of pinstripe, complete with a gold watch chain' Lord Cormack is jovially known as 'Fat Pat' by his friends and 'Pat the Ponce' by his enemies. Despite growing up on an estate in Grimsby, corpulent Cormack is always draped in yards of pinstripe, complete with a gold watch chain. Now, Cormack has pounced on the fact Lords Speaker Baroness D'Souza will not seek re-election after a controversy over her expenses. Even before the formal announcement, former Tory MP Cormack was chatting up Lib Dem peers they have more than 100. Finding a supportive, well-fitting bra can be a struggle for women of any age and we've long been told that getting measured every time you buy new underwear is crucial. However, according to lingerie firm Third Love, based in San Francisco, it's not just a case of wearing the correct size - the shape of your breasts also dictates what type of bra you should buy. The company's designers say they have identified seven different breast shapes and outlined what kind of bra suits each one the best. Scroll down for video Experts from San Francisco lingerie brand Third Love have identified seven different breast shapes: Round, East West, Side Set, Teardrop, Slender, Asymmetric and Bell Shape. They say the type of bra women should buy is dependent on factors such as the width and length of breasts and where they sit on the chest While size plays a part, the width and length of your breasts and the direction they point is, as well as where they're placed on your chest, is also important. According to Glamour magazine, Third Love has divided breasts into seven categories: Round, East West, Side Set, Teardrop, Slender, Asymmetric and Bell Shape. And there is a different type of bra that will offer the best fit and support in each category. For example, East West breasts that are splayed and point outwards are best suited to a t-shirt bra. Here FEMAIL reveals the seven breast types and the bra that is the best fit for each one. 1. Round If your breasts are a round shape and are equally full on top and bottom, then you're lucky enough not to need too much support. You can probably get away with a thin bra without underwire as you don't need to change the position of your breasts. If your breasts are a round shape and are equally full on top and bottom, then you're lucky enough not to need too much support. You can probably get away with a thin bra without underwire as you don't need to change the position of your breasts 2. East West If you have smaller breasts that gravitate to the outside of the chest then you're an East West. Another sign is nipples that point outwards and a gap between your cleavage. A t-shirt bra will help to create a smooth silhouette and pull the breasts in, giving you a more streamlined shape. If you have smaller breasts that gravitate to the outside of the chest then you're an East West and a t-shirt bra will help to create a smooth silhouette and pull the breasts in 3. Side Set Side set breasts are fuller than East Wests but still fall outwards, and there's also a wide space between breasts. The best bra for you is a plunge bra, which will pull the breasts up and in. You may be particularly prone to your breasts spilling out of the side because of their position if the cup is too small. So you may need a cup size bigger than you normally go for if you find this happening. If you have Side Set breasts that fall outwards or Slender breasts that are smaller at the top than they are at the bottom a plunge is the right bra for you 4. Slender Breasts that are smaller at the top than they are at the bottom and are longer than they are wide are considered slender, especially if they're on the small side. A plunge bra will help to lift the breasts and you might want to consider padding for extra oomph. 5. Bell Shape If your breasts are slimmer at the top and fuller at the bottom, then you're a Bell Shape. You should avoid skimpy balconette-style bras and choose something with plenty of material that offers good coverage. And because women with Bell shaped breasts tend to have fuller busts, it will also offer more support and lift the breasts. If your breasts are slimmer at the top and fuller at the bottom, then you're a Bell Shape. You should avoid skimpy balconette style bras and choose something with plenty of material that offers good coverage WILL WEARING A BRA IN BED REALLY STOP YOUR BREASTS SAGGING? Research shows that wearing a bra 24/7 has 'no negative factors' Film star Marilyn Monroe wore a bra in bed, saying it stopped her breasts from sagging. But although her approach has been dismissed over the years, it seems there is some truth in the belief that women with larger breasts can benefit from wearing one while they sleep. Bigger breasts can drag and pull sideways when a woman lies down, contributing to stretch marks as well as crease marks between the breasts over time. Indeed 24-hour bras, which come with less rigid boning, are now on sale for women who prefer more support at night. Professor Joanna Scurr, a world expert in breast bio-mechanics says: 'The research suggests that the region of the breast which experiences most pain is on the outside. So for some women, that sideways pull when they lie horizontal can be more uncomfortable than the up-and-down pull when they are standing up. 'There are no negative factors associated with wearing a bra all of the time. So if women find they get relief by wearing a bra at night, there's no reason why they shouldn't.' Advertisement 6. Asymmetric Almost all women have one breast that is larger than the other to some degree, and even Jennifer Lawrence has spoken out about the perils of having lopsided boobs. Often it's barely noticeable, but some people do struggle to find a bra that fits and others feel self conscious. If your asymmetry is significant enough to cause a problem, then a bra with removable padding is your friend as you can remove it on the side of your larger breast. A bra with removable padding is ideal for the asymmetric shape, allowing you to add extra padding to one side if needs be 7. Teardrop If your breasts are rounded but slightly less full at the top then you're lucky enough to be teardrop shaped. These kind of breasts are easy to accommodate in any style of bra, say the experts, making shopping a lot easier when all you have to worry about is size. You can probably get away with anything from a balconette to a plunge, and even the notoriously tricky strapless bra. Advertisement The miracle of childbirth has been captured for a series of moving photographs - from the agony of contractions to hospital C-sections and mothers in a hypnotic trance during water births. The intense images, which document every stage of delivery, were entered into the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers (IAPBP) 2016 competition. The award celebrates 'the beauty of birth' and the skill of the photographers in three categories: labour, delivery and postpartum. Scroll down for video Images of women giving birth were entered into the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers (IAPBP) 2016 competition. First place went to Belgian photographer Marijke Thoen for her black and white image 'underwater birth' showing a baby with curly hair being delivered Best in category for labour went to 'The Surge,' by Morag Hastings from Vancouver, showing a woman in the later stages of labour clutching onto a chair and screaming while bent over in agony The competition, which is in its fifth year, took place in Austin, Texas and included photographers from around the world. First place went to Belgian photographer Marijke Thoen for her serene black and white image titled 'underwater birth' showing a baby with curly hair being delivered. Best in the category for labour went to 'The Surge,' by Morag Hastings from Vancouver, which captured a woman in the later stages of contractions - clutching onto a chair while bent over and screaming in agony. Another candid image was awarded best in the category for delivery, shot by Robin Baker from San Diego, when a father helped to deliver twins in a water birth. The mother is shown clutching one newborn in her arms while the second is still beneath the surface of the water. A relieved and exhausted mother cradles her newborn in a black and white shot by Nathalia Walth, from Los Angeles. Called 'Where peace begins,' it captures a serene moment after the child's arrival and was given best in the category for postpartum. Other commended images included a black and white shot called 'Maternal grace' by Angela Gallo, from Australia, showing a mother floating in a water tank while the baby's head is crowning. Angela, who works as a doula to support women through childhood, explained on her website that she wanted women to see beyond the agony and pain to something more positive. Other entries which were sent in to the competition show a range of emotions, like the unbridled joy of a tattooed mother shown holding her baby for the first time, taken by Jennifer Martin from Florida A moving moment was awarded best in category for delivery, taken by Robin Baker from San Diego, when a partner helped to deliver twins - with the second newborn visible under the surface of the water A relieved mother cradles her newborn in a black and white shot showing the serenity after birth. Photographer Nathalia Walth, from Los Angeles, called it 'Where peace begins' and was awarded first prize in the category for postpartum Another image titled 'In between two worlds,' by Alexandra Kayy from Los Angeles captures a mother staring intently at her new baby, who is seen covered in blood and taking its first breaths. A mother sipping water while holding herself up against the shower while in labour titled 'Love', by Krista Evans from Kelowna, British Columbia, was also given an honourable mention. Other entries which were sent in to the competition show a range of emotions, like the unbridled joy a tattooed mother pictured holding her baby for the first time, taken by Jennifer Martin from Florida - while a poignant black and white image sees a couple going through the early stages of labour. The woman pushes against a wall while her partner tenderly puts his hands around her back in a moment captured by Shea, from Canada. In an intense picture, a baby is seen in tears, covered in fluid and still attached to the placenta. The mother remains largely unseen in the image which captures the newborn coming into the world, taken by Bridget Clarke, from New Zealand. A mother watches her baby take its first breaths in a picture titled 'In between two worlds,' by Alexandra Kayy from Los Angeles A mother sipping water while holding herself up against the shower while in labour titled 'Love', by Krista Evans from British Columbia, was also given an honourable mention But it wasn't just natural births, caesareans were also celebrated with surgeons captured removing the newborn in the amniotic sac, taken by Daniela Justus from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, left, and a mother kisses her partner while their baby breastfeeds in a tender family portrait despite the hospital caps and gowns, taken by Monet Nicole from Denver, Colorado In a surreal shot, a baby's foot is seen coming out of the mother. The image by Line Sena, from Brazil, depicts what may have been a complicated birth as the baby was in breech position. As well as natural births, caesareans were also celebrated with a photograph of surgeons removing the newborn in the amniotic sac, taken by Daniela Justus from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And a mother kisses her partner while their baby breastfeeds in a tender family portrait despite the hospital caps and gowns, taken by Monet Nicole from Denver, Colorado. Founder of IAPBP Lyndsay Stradtner said: 'I am so thrilled to be able to feature the tremendous talent of our members in the image competition this year. 'I want to thank each and every IAPBP member who entered this year and, of course, the families who agreed to share their beautiful birth moments with the world.' The judging panel included former chatshow host Ricki Lake, and documentary filmmaker Abby Epstein who directed the film The Business Of Being Born. A poignant black and white image sees a couple going through the early stages of labour, by Shea, from Canada, left, in an intense picture a baby is seen in tears, covered in fluid and still attached to the placenta, taken by Bridget Clarke, from New Zealand, right Advertisement When Hanna Wain, 29, was just six-years-old she was given a toy sewing machine - a gift that soon saw her designing and creating her own Forties and Fifties inspired pinup style dresses. Now, the Auckland-based beauty has taken out the title of pinup competition, Miss Vintage Hibiscus Coast, and will soon compete for the title of Miss Pinup New Zealand. 'I can't remember a time where I didn't love those eras - it's just so fun and the outfits brighten up the room wherever I go,' Ms Wain, who also goes by the name Dariel Dearlove, told Daily Mail Australia. Modern pinup: Auckland-based Hanna Wain, 29, has taken out the title of pinup competition, Miss Vintage Hibiscus Coast, and will soon compete for the title of Miss Pinup New Zealand 'I'm a real farm girl': The self-confessed tomboy works at a quarry as a weighbridge operator and can also operate the machinery But despite Ms Wain's very feminine and eye-popping colourful fashion, her hobbies are quite the opposite. 'I'm a real farm girl... I grew up on my family's farm and was really involved with horses and everything that goes with farming life - from pigs and hay bailing to quad bikes, machinery and motorbikes,' she said. 'As a child I was always riding on the go-karts and building treehouses.' 'I can't remember a time where I didn't love those eras': Ms Wain says she loves being able to brighten up a room Ms Wain is also one of the few women in New Zealand who work in a quarry - one of the most male-dominated professions in the country. 'I'm a weighbridge operator so I run the bridge and weigh trucks that go in and out of the quarry everyday,' Ms Wain said. 'I also operate the machines - mostly the loader - which is like a digger.' But regardless of her very hands-on job, Ms Wain arrives at work every day in her pinup-inspired outfits. Mastered the art: Ms Wain takes just 30 minutes to get ready in the morning 'It's just fun': 'I turn up everyday dressed as I normally am and if I am required to operate machinery I will trade it in for a hard hat, a Hi Vis vest, pants and steel-capped boots,' Ms Wain said 'Life's too short to wear boring clothes and when I wear my dresses to work it brightens the atmosphere and the workers get a chuckle out of it when I turn up in my big fluffy dress and fancy hair...it's a fun thing,' Ms Wain said. 'It's not meant to offend anyone, it's just fun... I turn up everyday dressed as I normally am and if I am required to operate machinery I will trade it in for a hard hat, a Hi Vis vest, pants and steel-capped boots.' The stylish self-confessed 'tomboy' has also mastered the art of preparing her look in the morning and says she has managed to get her morning routine down to just 30 minutes. 'Life's too short to wear boring clothes': Ms Wain says her fluffy dresses and fancy hair brings a smile to the faces of her colleagues Conversation starter: Ms Wain says she rarely gets any negative attention and is often approached by those wanting to know where she finds her clothing - all of which she makes herself Farm girl: Ms Wain often works at her family farm and grew up riding horses and building tree houses Ms Wain says she rarely gets any negative attention and is often approached by those wanting to know where she finds her clothing - all of which she makes herself. 'It's a great conversation starter and I haven't encountered any negative comments...I don't feel I need to conform to dressing in a certain way because of environments,' Ms Wain said. 'If I die tomorrow I want to be happy with what I'm wearing and if I don't like wearing clothes suited to a farming lifestyle then I won't.' Ms Wain will compete for the title of Miss Pinup New Zealand on April 9th at Alexandra Park in Auckland. Individual: 'I don't feel I need to conform to dressing in a certain way because of environments,' Ms Wain said Next step: Ms Wain will compete for the title of Miss Pinup New Zealand on April 9th at Alexandra Park in Auckland She will compete in different stages - from evening wear and vintage clothes to jewellery and a talent section. 'My talents aren't really suitable for a stage as you can't really ride horses on a stage so I have had to learn a brand new skill for the competition which is a surprise,' Ms Wain said. 'I'm making everything myself for the competition as well - if I didn't I'd feel like a fraud.' 'My talents aren't really suitable for a stage': Ms Wain has learnt a brand new skill for the competition Non-conformist: 'Ultimately at the end of the day I will always see what suits me and wear what I like regardless of opinions,' Ms Wain said Ms Wain is excited for the coming competition and says the outcome is irrelevant. 'I'm not doing it for the prize it's a challenge and the idea of getting up on stage in front of that many people is a big thing for me,' Ms Wain said. 'My husband will come and watch as well - he's so supportive and enjoys all the attention even though he certainly isn't into this style himself.' An increasing number of women are delaying motherhood until their mid-30s - and beyond - only to find themselves caught between the needs of very young children and ailing parents. What I call the 'sandwich' years don't come with a preparation pack. There is no go-to YouTube video. It is something you have to figure out as it happens. Perhaps it starts with a fall. Your mum or dad trips and breaks a hip. Or it could be a hospital appointment with a diagnosis that changes everything. Or an awful, heartbreaking, slow mental deterioration that leaves you caring for a person who no longer knows who you are. Alana Kirk, centre, with her daughters Poppy, left, Ruby, centre and Daisy, right. Alana was pulled away from her daughters when they needed her most by caring for her mother who had a serious stroke For me, the care years arrived in 2010, four days after my third daughter, Ruby, was born. My lovely Mum, who did aqua aerobics and loved rose-coloured lipsticks, had suffered a catastrophic stroke out of the blue. She was 71 and left paralysed, unable to care for herself. When the two bookends of our lives need us at the same time, we have little choice but to slot in between. But as I know only too well from my own experience of juggling the needs of young children with caring for Mum and Dad - not to mention the demands of my career as a charity worker in Dublin - it tears you apart being stuck in the middle. As the trend towards later parenting and longer life expectancy continues, we are seeing a generation of women caught in a vortex of responsibility that can have a hugely negative impact on their physical, emotional and mental health. So here is my heartfelt survival guide for the Sandwich Generation. It's a journey that is at times brutal, overwhelming and threatens to suck away your very identity. But hopefully, one that can also be filled with humour, self-growth and, above all, love. MAKE TOUGH CHOICES Caring for parents and children at the same time is a gut-wrenching, heart-squeezing, life-sucking situation you cannot escape from. Be prepared for tough choices at every turn. My first came within hours of Mum's stroke. I was at her bedside, wheelchair-bound after a Caesarean, willing her to wake up and stop this nonsense. But I was also cradling my newborn daughter, who needed breastfeeding, and when she started to cry, the nurse suggested I go into a side room to feed her, which I did. Alana with her mother. Alana found that certain things made it easier to get through the difficult time of caring for her mother, such as concentrating on the small things such as sharing a cup of tea together But as soon as Ruby was fed, I gave her to my husband so that I could return to Mum's side. Five days of never leaving my baby's side were broken, as I went to the person who had never left mine. The sudden brutality of having to choose between them pulled at my very skin. I wasn't to know these constant choices would rip the skin from my flesh over the coming years. ENJOY SMALL THINGS The smallest things matter. When Mum was still in hospital, I was allowed to give her a first sip of Earl Grey tea. The smallest things matter. When Mum was still in hospital, I was allowed to give her a first sip of Earl Grey tea. Her eyes told me nothing would be a treat again. But it was still a little bit of something nice In actual fact, it was 'thickened tea', which is made from tea and granules to make it viscous enough for stroke patients to sip without choking them. I tried to ignore that I was making her sip tea soup, but she took it to her mouth and swallowed. She didn't say what she had always said - that we'd have our Earl Grey with 'a little bit of something nice' and all would be well. Her eyes told me nothing would be a treat again. But it was still a little bit of something nice, and in a world of horror, it was a moment of happiness. LEARN TO MOVE ON You have to learn to let go of the person you knew. Mum recovered enough to avert death, but not enough to regain her life. As this became clear, Dad, quite rightly, wanted to care for her at home. Thankfully, he's highly practical, converting the downstairs dining room into a bedroom lounge. But for me this was the start of regular 250-mile round trips to help care for Mum, which were a torrent of pain and grief. Yes, Mum was alive but she wasn't the mother I knew. We would never again share intimate chats about nothing and everything or hold hands walking down the street. I was desperately torn between my responsibilities as a mother and daughter. I would cry all the way up that motorway at leaving behind my girls and husband, and then cry all the way down that motorway at leaving Mum behind. Alana found it tricky to balance the needs of her daughters with the needs of her elderly mother To begin with, you hold on to what was and the pain is unbearable. But I had to let go because my children needed a mum who could function and Mum needed a daughter who could care for her. It's incredibly hard, but for your own sanity, you have to let go of Plan A and get to grips with Plan B. FORGET DIGNITY If childbirth takes away some dignity, then old age takes away all of it. To see the glamorous, living, loving woman who brought me up now dependent on others for even the most intimate of tasks is a feeling I can't describe. So I won't try. I've had to clean Mum's teeth and pick out dirt from her nails. At times it took every fibre of my being not to gag or scrunch my face. Mum's anguished eyes told me she was embarrassed and ashamed, and hated being this way. But there is a silver lining. You get to care for the person who has cared so much for you. You get to help them through indignity and loss. You get to keep that connection. TAKE TIME TO LISTEN Alana worries that she won't be able to have time to pass down all her knowledge to her own daughters When the person you love is snatched away from you, you suddenly realise all the things you've been meaning to ask, but haven't. Like, for instance, Mum's technique for loading a dishwasher. When I left home, I had just assumed you put the dishes in and closed the door. But apparently not. Mum insisted there was a technique, but I was always too busy to listen. It was only when I had my first daughter, Daisy, that I realised I still needed to be mothered myself. And then disaster struck, robbing me of the one person I needed to help me through. Is one of the legacies of feminism a generation of women facing their most challenging years alone? Now I worry for my girls. Even if my youngest daughter waits until she is 30 (which is early by modern standards) to start a family, I will be 70. If she waits until she is 40, like I did, I will be 80. I thought I had to live my life before I had children, that a family somehow represented the end of something. I never realised, of course, that they were the beginning. So don't leave it too late to have children. Mum nagged me during my 20s and early 30s. 'If you don't hurry up, I'll end up as a Zimmer frame granny!' she would say. How I wish I'd listened. My oldest child had just started school. She needed her mum. My middle child was bursting with new knowledge from nursery and stories for me to hear. She needed her mum. My newest child had just started life. She really needed her mum EMBRACE ANGER Sometimes hurling a shoe across the floor is the only way to step into the next minute. When you become a mother, there is no pause button. Even when you are grieving or strung out, you have to do the dishes and feed your children. There were days when I lost the plot and threw a tantrum. I am not proud of those moments, but the choice was between hurling a shoe across the room or hurling myself on the floor and crying. I was sandwiched in a vortex of dependence. My oldest child had just started school. She needed her mum. My middle child was bursting with new knowledge from nursery and stories for me to hear. She needed her mum. My newest child had just started life. She really needed her mum. But I needed my mum, too. And she needed me. ASK FOR HELP Don't be ashamed of saying: 'I need help'. I did have life rafts. I had amazing friends who were (and are) my wing-women. When my mother was first in hospital, not a day went by when there wasn't a pot of something to eat left on our doorstep. I also had my supportive husband, who picked up more of the burden of caring for our children so I could mother my parents, which put a huge strain on our relationship. But no one could fix me or take away the pain. When I finally admitted to a community nurse I needed help, a weight lifted. It didn't take away my grief. It didn't bring back Mum or stock the freezer with food. But it helped me to realise I was operating as a shadow of myself and I needed professional help. Women can lose themselves in the chaos of care: it's important to seek help if you need it. FACE THE FUTURE It's hard when all those 'firsts' start flooding in. The first Christmas, three months after Mum's stroke, was particularly agonising. Mum and Dad had been due to come down to us. Instead, their car did not arrive, bringing bags and bottles of goodies. On Christmas Day, as Mum lay paralysed in respite care and we pretended to be merry, it dawned on me that this was how it would be from now on. Unable to swallow the food, I ran from the table, sat in the other room and howled. But I still had to make this the happiest day for the girls, so I got up, composed my face and returned to the table, where we laughed and squealed with delight and tried to bring Christmas to this awful farce. CHERISH FRIENDS When everything else is gone, love remains. Mum has a group of friend known affectionately as The Girls. They did everything together when I was growing up and they have been a constant presence in our lives since Mum's stroke, going over to her house every other Monday night to allow my dad to go out - with The Boys, average age: 83. They sit with Mum, they do her hair and paint her nails. They bring her presents and love. She has no memories to draw on to go with their faces, but she has all that matters: their love. Her face lights up when she sees them. She may not remember their names, but she remembers that she loves them. Frankly, I would not have survived the Sandwich Years, or my life, without them. I am also so grateful to my own group of friends, who have cared for me like family. The family I came from needed me, but I needed the family of friends I've created. LIFE GOES ON There is a certain comfort that comes with knowing that payback is due. For years, Mum wiped my bottom, soothed my tears and sat up worrying, and I'm happy to pay it all back. A part of letting go has been to take the treasures of our life together and our love and bring them into the future. I love her as ferociously as before, but in her own right. I love her for who she is now, not for who I want her to be. There have been many events, such as Ruby's first day at school, when I have longed for her to be there. But I realise she is always with us, in our thoughts, in our conversation. Her love keeps me going still. For I am her daughter and always will be. They are one of Hollywood's most fiercely private couples and it seems they're not willing to showcase their relationship to the world just yet. Michael Fassbender, 38, and Alicia Vikander, 27, refused to take part in the hilarious kiss cam segment during last night's EE BAFTA British Academy Film Awards - and the moment was so awkward it was cut from the BBC broadcast. Fortunately, other A-list faces at the Royal Opera House in London were willing to take part in the comical skit - much to the relief of presenter Stephen Fry. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander refused to take part in the hilarious kiss cam segment during last night's EE BAFTA Awards - and the moment was so awkward it was cut from the BBC broadcast Alicia Vikander and her boyfriend Michael Fassbender were pictured leaving the BAFTAs: Louis Vuitton dinner on Saturday evening Fry kick-started the glitzy ceremony - coincidentally taking part on Valentine's Day - describing one of America's most light-hearted traditions: the kiss cam. Selecting various unsuspecting actors from the star-studded audience, the host randomly encouraged couples to lock lips and shower one another with affection. Each reacted with various degrees of enthusiasm: some went in for a full-on snog, others responded with a polite peck on the check and one pair flat-out refused. When the lens spun round to nominees Fassbender and Vikander, who are believed to have been an item since May, the notoriously under-the-radar couple didn't play ball. The tense moment was so embarrassing that the BBC decided to cut it from the television broadcast. What an entrance: Alicia Vikander looked incredible in a silver embellished leather gown at the EE BAFTA British Academy Film Awards on Sunday night, held at the Royal Opera House in London Man of the hour: Michael Fassbender - who is nominated for Best Actor thanks to his performance in Steve Jobs - arrived separately from his partner Glamour with an edge: The Swedish born beauty added a rock 'n' roll touch to her gown thanks to the leather material and silver embroidery Subtle split: A side-split running up her left thigh showed off just a hint of skin and showed off her black peep-toe heels Dapper: Michael was dressed to impress in a dark suit, white shirt and a bow tie In demand: The actor was happy to sign autographs for eager fans lining the red carpet Debbie O'Donnell shared a picture of the actors - who failed to even look at one another - on Twitter with the caption, 'Loving the #EEBAFTAs Kiss Cam. Michael Fassbender having none of it @LancomeUK.' Another user with the name 'crazy book lady' commented: 'Michael and Alicia are both way too shy for kiss cam, I could see Michael's blush from here #BAFTAs.' 'BAFTA host Stephen Fry does Kiss Cam at ceremony - Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander won't do it.... #EEBAFTAs,' wrote a contributor called Diana Lodderhose. A Twitter user called 'Amanda' added: 'I'd pay money to see that failed kiss-cam with Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.' While Anne Richardson wrote: 'Michael Fassbender refusing to play along with the BAFTA kiss cam - poor Alicia. Leonardo DiCaprio kissed Maggie Smith though. #EEBAFTAs.' A user with the name 'crazy book lady' commented: 'Michael and Alicia are both way too shy for kiss cam, I could see Michael's blush from here #BAFTAs.' 'BAFTA host Stephen Fry does Kiss Cam at ceremony - Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander won't do it.... #EEBAFTAs,' wrote a contributor called Diana Lodderhose A Twitter user called 'Amanda' added: 'I'd pay money to see that failed kiss-cam with Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander' While Anne Richardson wrote: 'Michael Fassbender refusing to play along with the BAFTA kiss cam - poor Alicia. Leonardo DiCaprio kissed Maggie Smith though. #EEBAFTAs' Leo with Maggie Smith on the kiss cam at the BAFTAs pic.twitter.com/TfAU9Ov9Do Daily Leo (@dailyleopics) February 14, 2016 Fortunately, other screen icons were willing to take part in the heart-warming section. Stanley Tucci leapt from his seat to plant a sloppy kiss on Cuba Gooding Jr., while Leonardo DiCaprio kept things much more sweet by gently kissing Dame Maggie Smith on the cheek. Julianne Moore and Bryan Cranston took things up a notch by embracing one another in a passionate stage snog while Rebel Wilson and Eddie Izzard went full throttle with their over-the-top kiss. Clearly keen to keep their romance out of the spotlight, Vikander and Fassbender made separate arrivals at the bash on Sunday night, where they were both nominated for awards. The Danish Girl actress, who was up for Best Actress as well as Best Supporting Actress, was the first to arrive at the Royal Opera House, stealing the show in a glittering silver gown. Fassbender opted to arrive shortly after his girlfriend, flashing a big grin as he elicited a loud cheer from the crowd. In May last year, at the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Energy Station at Monte Carlo, the lovebirds posed side by side, but failed to show any signs of affection The Steve Jobs star, who is in the running for Best Actor, happily signed autographs for fans as he made his way down the red carpet. The 38-year-old actor looked handsome as ever in a dapper black suit and bow tie. However, it was Vikander who stole the show in her dramatic leather gown, which boasted beautiful silver embroidery running down the front in glitzy columns. The edgy dress also featured tinsel style detailing on the hemline and featured a subtle split running up one leg. Despite their solo arrivals, the lovebirds attended various parties in London together on Saturday evening. Although the pair have not confirmed their relationship status, the two have been seen out in public together for months, sparking romance rumours. In May last year, at the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Energy Station at Monte Carlo, the lovebirds posed side by side, but failed to show any signs of affection. THE EE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS 2016 WINNERS LEADING ACTOR Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant LEADING ACTRESS Brie Larson, Room BEST FILM The Revenant DIRECTOR Alejandro G Inarritu, The Revenant SUPPORTING ACTOR Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies SUPPORTING ACTRESS Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM Brooklyn ADAPTED SCREENPLAY The Big Short ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Spotlight EE BAFTA RISING STAR John Boyega DOCUMENTARY Amy CINEMATOGRAPHY Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Wild Tales ANIMATED FILM Inside Out OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER Najil Abu Nowar (Writer/Director) Rupert Lloyd (Producer) Theeb EDITING Mad Max: Fury Road, Margaret Sixel PRODUCTION DESIGN Mad Max: Fury Road, Colin Gibson, Lisa Thompson COSTUME DESIGN Mad Max: Fury Road, Jenny Beavan MAKE UP AND HAIR Mad Max: Fury Road, Lesley Vanderwalt, Damian Martin SOUND The Revenant, Lon Bender, Chris Duesterdiek, Martin Hernandez, Frank A Montano, Jon Taylor, Randy Thom SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Neal Scanlan BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION Edmond, Nina Gantz, Emilie Jouffroy BRITISH SHORT FILM Operator , Caroline Bartleet, Rebecca Morgan BAFTA Fellowship Sidney Poitier Advertisement Crowd of onlookers cheer but delight soon turns to shock as she declines Actor dressed as policeman gets down on one knee in front of woman Shoppers were left gobsmacked when a fake policeman handcuffed a woman after she turned down his offer of engagement in a Valentine's Day stunt. Pranksters Trollstation filmed the sketch at a shopping mall in Wood Green, north London, with the group of onlookers cheering and smiling at what appeared to start out as a wildly romantic gesture. But their delight soon turned to disbelief when the actress declined the proposal and the pretend policeman handcuffed her for publicly humiliating him. Scroll down for video The prankster, dressed as a policeman, goes running over to his fellow actor waiting beside a flower stall In a very public display of affection, he picks her up and spins her around before declaring his love for her In the video, which has now been viewed nearly 300,000 times on Facebook and YouTube, the fake policeman goes rushing over to his fellow actor, who is waiting beside a flower stall dressed in a red tartan dress and heels. The actor, called Nathan Brown, picks her up and spins her round, saying: 'Baby, I'm so happy to see you today.' Trying to get the attention of shoppers, he shouts: 'Look, sorry to bother everyone. I just want to make an announcement.' He turns to his fellow actress, called Amina Maz, and says: 'I've loved you for so long.' Attempting to interject, the woman says: 'But we're supposed to be working things out.' Beaming, the pretend police officer says how pleased he is to see the girl - in what starts out as a romantic gesture but soon turns sour As the man tells her how he feels, she tries to interject - but he's adamant that they're right for each other The man replies: 'We are, we're perfect for each other. I want to have babies with you. You're the only one I love, I want to be with you.' As he then goes down on one knee and presents her with an engagement ring, the crowd starts cheering - but soon fall awkwardly silent when it becomes clear the man's feelings aren't reciprocated. The woman says: 'We've been on five dates, I can't marry you. It's too much.' Seemingly heartbroken, the man gets back up onto both feet and says: 'So now I look like an idiot in front of everyone. To her apparent disbelief, he gets down on one knee for the marriage proposal in front of stunned shoppers - who applaud with delight But she immediately tells him she can't marry him, as they've only 'been on five dates' together As she appears to try to smooth things over, the man angrily replies: 'No, don't baby me. I thought you loved me' A woman onlooker tells him to 'calm down', but the man's tirade continues. 'You've embarrassed me in front of every one. Listen yeah, I loved you,' he says. He then demands that the woman turns around, and clamps handcuffs over her wrists as the shoppers look on in astonishment. 'Turn around, you've embarrassed me in front of everyone. That's it. You're going. You're under arrest.' A heated exchange ensues when the fake policeman accuses her of publicly humiliating him - before he handcuffs his 'girlfriend' He tells the crowd of shocked onlookers: 'If she loved me, she wouldn't have done this to me' This woman replies to him, saying: 'If you love someone, you can't do this to her'. Witnesses were later told the whole thing was a prank Addressing the ever-growing crowd around him, he shouts: 'If she loved me she wouldn't have done this to me.' But a concerned onlooker says: 'But if you love someone, you can't do this to her.' He then leads her past the crowd of people while shouting at her, before the unwitting shoppers are later told they've been part of a prank. It was the latest in a long line of stunts and 'social experiments' by Trollstation, which has garnered some 170,000,000 views of their antics in total. Earlier this month, the group vowed to tone down some of their antics after a top police chief warned they were at risk of being mistakenly shot by officers if they took things too far. Savannah Guthrie showed off a new addition to her wardrobe during Monday's Today show: a large grey medical boot. The 44-year-old mother-of-one revealed that she has to wear the rather unsightly accessory for the next three to four weeks, after tripping over and spraining her ankle during Friday's broadcast. 'Well I tripped on Friday [as] we were just going to Al's weather at 8.30,' she explained to her co-hosts, after Carson Daly drew attention to her unusual footwear live on air. 'I was rushing back in to the inside, and I tripped. As Matt would say, I could trip on a cordless phone, but I did just trip and I really sprained my ankle.' Scroll down for video Styling it out: Savannah Guthrie appeared on the Today show on Monday morning wearing a large boot on her left leg, after falling and spraining her ankle on Friday Ouch! The 44-year-old revealed that she will have to wear the unsightly accessory for three to four weeks When asked about the severity of her injuries, Savannah explained that her ankle is not broken, but that she has sprained it 'very badly', 'It's probably as close to being broken without being broken as it could be,' she said. 'It's a very bad sprain. [I'll be in the boot] for three or four weeks, something like that.' Savannah, who has an 18-month-old daughter, Vale, with her husband Michael Feldman, also admitted that, under the boot, her foot, ankle and leg are very badly bruised, adding that she had been sending some 'ghastly' pictures of her injuries to her Today co-hosts over the weekend, while indulging in plenty of 'wine therapy' to help her through the pain. And in order to ensure that nobody else is struck down by a similar accident, Savannah offered a warning to her fellow high heel fans about the dangers of running in heeled shoes. 'This is the offending boot,' she said, holding up a heeled black, knee-high boot. 'See what happens when you wear three-inch heels? They kill. I was running and it really twisted it. 'Anyway, that's why I'll be wearing this attractive boot.' 'The offending boot': Savannah offered a warning to other high heel lovers, urging them not to make her mistake and try to run in three-inch heels Danger: She joked that 'three-inch heels kill' as she held up the black, knee-high boots she was wearing when the accident happened Clumsy moment: The Today host took to Instagram after the accident to share this photo of her swollen ankle wrapped in an ice pack Warning message: Savannah also took to Twitter to say, 'In related news, three inch heels kill' Clearly happy to poke fun at her predicament, the Today star also joked that, despite her love of designer fashions, the medical boot is 'not a Louboutin', as her co-host Al Roker suggested, and she seemed less impressed when Carson suggested that she 'bedazzle' her footwear as a means of 'razzing it up'. However Savannah did suggest asking Martha Stewart to appear on the show and 'do a little DIY boot project' in order to make the unsightly footwear a bit more attractive. Although the Today star seems more than happy to laugh about her injuries now, Friday's accident topped off what had been a less-than-stellar week for the TV host,occurring just two days after she awkwardly asked a mortified Penelope Cruz about her 'ugly feet' during an on-air interview. Savannah took to Instagram on Friday afternoon to first reveal that she had fallen and hurt her ankle while taping the morning show, writing: 'Update on my plaza fall today: ankle isn't broken. Just a "nasty" sprain says doc. Boot + crutches for a little while. Thanks for nice wishes. #anklegate [sic].' She later added on Twitter: 'In related news, three inch heels kill.' While her fall wasn't captured on-air, it appeared to have happened after she stepped outside into the frigid New York City weather with her co-stars Tamron Hall, Al Roker, Matt Lauer, and Willie Geist. Chilled to the bone: Savannah is thought to have fallen after she and her co-stars (from left to right) Tamron Hall, Al, Matt Lauer, and Willie Geist headed outside to brave the chilly New York City weather Man down: When they returned inside the Today show studio, Savannah was nowhere to be seen Back up: Two days before, Savannah struggled with an uncomfortable exchange with actress Penelope Cruz after she insinuated that the actress thinks she has 'ugly feet' Savannah happily donned a red winter coat and a knit hat topped with a pom pom as she braved the 16 degree weather. The temperature was so bitter that Savannah and Tarmon cuddled up to Al to keep warm as they sat on an outdoor couch on the Today show plaza in Rockefeller Center. However, Savannah was nowhere to be seen when her colleagues returned to the studio to tape the rest of the show, and it was only after she posted an image of her swollen ankle that viewers were made aware of what had happened in between the segments. Two days before, Savannah struggled with an uncomfortable exchange with actress Penelope Cruz during an on-air interview about her new film Zoolander 2. 'I don't even know how I feel about this, I think you said it, that you, despite what you look like, that you - you've said you have ugly feet,' Savannah told Penelope. However, the Oscar winner immediately shut down the suggestion down. 'No, no, no, I haven't said that,' Penelope insisted while giving Savannah a fierce side-eye stare. 'I'm OK with my feet.' Fun times: Savannah joined her colleagues Natalie Morales (center) and Jenna Bush Hager (second from left) to celebrate Megan Stackhouse's (second from right) impending arrival with a baby shower Baby love: Last month, Savannah and her one-year-old daughter Vale joined Jenna Bush Hager and her infant daughter Poppy at a mommy-and-me workout class for a Today show segment geared towards busy moms Savannah tried to take her foot out of her mouth by explaining that she thought Penelope had issues with her feet because she was a dancer. 'Yeah, because, you know, when youre a ballet dancer, you lose your toenails,' Penelope agreed. 'You get used to, you know, throwing them away. You don't even feel it anymore. That's what I meant.' And while Savannah's week may not have been great, she did get to celebrate her pregnant colleague Megan Stackhouse's impending arrival on Thursday with a baby shower held at Tribeca restaurant Locanda Verde. Savannah, who has a one-year-old daughter named Vale, took to Instagram yesterday to share a photo of herself alongside the expecting vice president of public relations for the Today show. Jenna Bush Hager and Natalie Morales were also posed in the heartwarming group shot. Every second is precious Im a great believer in living for the moment, for two reasons. Living in Northern Ireland through the Troubles taught me how fragile life is: how easily it could be snatched away if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Second, as soon as I realised my TV presenter daughter Caron [Keating], was battling breast cancer she died in 2004, aged 41 every second she had left became incredibly precious. Gloria Hunniford says that the knock backs she has had in her life have taught her to appreciate every second Like a lot of people, I was touched personally by the Troubles and was even the subject of a death threat. An Army officer told a colleague wed been put on an IRA death list. The Special Forces subsequently taught us how to look under our cars for bombs. This added to my concern about where my teenage children were, because if theyd taken a wrong turning . . . I covered the Abercorn restaurant bombing in Belfast [1972], which left two women dead and more than 100 people injured. Ill never forget seeing the handbags, and the charred driving licence of one of the victims. Those sort of images stay with you for ever and have a profound effect on you. Gloria's daughter Caron Keating (pictured here with her mother) died in 2004 after battling breast cancer Another time, a massive car bomb was left outside the BBC offices in Belfast. I was about to go on air, so I remained inside with the transmission controller. The bomb blew out all the windows. You had to live with daily bomb scares, but you just had to carry on. You have no choice and cant give in to terrorism. When Caron died, initially my life stopped and I didnt know how I was going to get out of that black hole. I remember telling my sons I didnt think I would ever laugh or smile again, prompting my son, Michael, to point out how sad he was to hear me say that because he and his brother were my children, too. He was right. I had to carry on living: for my family and myself. But for that wake-up call, Carons death could have taken me out as well. The other day someone asked me: Do you still think of Caron? I thought: Are you crazy? I think of her hundreds of times every single day. You cant carry a child, bear a child and know a child inside out for 41 years and just get over it. You just become different and learn to cope better. You have to live your life, live it to the fullest and try to live for the moment. Gloria Hunniford, 75, the TV and radio presenter, lives in Sevenoaks, Kent, with her husband Stephen Way, a hairdresser. Stephen Fry has given an honest insight into his ongoing mental health battle in a documentary for the BBC to be shown this evening. In the film, the QI presenter allows cameras to film him as he meets with his psychiatrist, Dr William Shanahan, who has been treating him after he attempted suicide in 2012. The 58-year-old reveals how his treatment with Dr Shanahan has made him realise that his mental health condition can never be cured and instead he must learn how to manage his moods. Scroll down for video Stephen Fry pictured talking to his psychiatrist, Dr William Shanahan, allowed cameras to film his session He tells his doctor: 'This is not a condition which is going to go away, you are not talking about curing me, you talking about how best I can cope with something that will live with me.' Stephen was was diagnosed with psychothermia - which causes mood swings leading to disturbed behaviour - when he first started seeing the psychiatrist following his suicide attempt in Uganda four years ago. More recently, he has also been diagnosed with bipolar one which can cause manic episodes of elevated high energy as well as periods of depression. Dr Shanahan warns Stephen that there are a number of triggers can that cause the symptoms of his condition to worsen - including frequent long haul travel and drinking alcohol. The psychiatrist told him: 'Do remember for people with bipolar especially, crossing time zones, having jet lag, it is all pressures that can cause a disruption, not necessarily a breakdown, but they are stresses and you need to be careful that you manage them properly.' Stephen admits he has been guilty of both recently as he has crossed the globe working long hours, spending a matter of hours in San Francisco and then India for meetings and filming before travelling back to London again. The presenter admitted he has realised his mental health condition can never be cured but he must learn to live with it He also confessed that he often self-medicates by taking sleeping tablets and drinking vodka to help him get a good night's sleep. Dr Shanahan warned him against doing this as alcohol can make the symptoms of depression worse. He told Stephen that making changes in his lifestyle will reduce the risk of manic episodes but agreed with him, 'you are right, you will have this for the rest of your life.' The programme will air amid the BAFTA host's decision to leave Twitter over his joke that his friend, award-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan was a 'bag lady'. Viewers hit out on the social network demanding he apologise and saying he was 'stifling diversity'. It's been ten years since Stephen investigated mental health for the BBC, pictured in the first documentary in 2006, and since then he has had to battle his own demons The veteran actor and author fought back by tweeting: 'So just a word to the tragic figures who think calling Jenny Beavan a bag lady was an insult. She's a dear friend and she got it. Derrr.' 'Will all you sanctimonious f***ers f*** the f*** off Jenny Beavan is a friend and joshing is legitimate. Christ I want to leave the planet.' He followed this by quitting Twitter and writing an essay on his website saying that Twitter had become a 'stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous who love to second-guess, to leap to conclusions and be offended.' He added: 'It doesnt matter whether they think theyre defending women, men, transgender people, Muslims, humanists the ghastliness is absolutely the same.' Stephen Fry, pictured, has been warned frequently flying and over indulging on alcohol could make his symptoms worse Stephen hosted the Baftas last night, pictured on the red carpet, and subsequently got into a row on Twitter In the BBC documentary airing this evening, Fry reveals he has realised he has to be 'more alert now than ever in my life to my own moods' as his condition is a monkey he will never get off his back. He said: 'No matter how well things are going one day, there is always the possibility of me getting it wrong.' He added that the death of his friend Robin Williams, who also suffered from depression, has made him realise how serious his own illness is. The BBC documentary, The Not So Secret Life of the Manic Depressive: 10 Years On, is a follow up to a series shown in 2006 where Stephen explored mental illness and met those living with it. As the president of the charity Mind, he said he is pleased to see that ten years on, progress has made to help those with mental health disorders but there is still more to be done to support this 'submerged minority'. Dr Shanahan reveals how the presenter has come a long way since he first met him in 2012 when he was 'very sorry to be alive' after trying to commit suicide. Stephen said there was no malice in his tweet about the award winning costume designer who is his friend The presenter defended his comments on Twitter before deleting his account Stephen said he had tried to take his own life in Uganda after an unpleasant interview with a Ugandan minister. Stephen recalled: 'He was a foaming, frothing homophobe of the worst kind behind a bill in Uganda that was supposed make homosexuality in Uganda a capital offence. 'It was a passionate interview and he was strong in his opinions and I was in mine.' Stephen said alone in his hotel room later that day, he felt 'as if the whole essence of my disappeared. Some feeling came over me that this was the end.' After overdosing on pills and vodka, he was found by hotel staff and taken to hospital. Stephen tweeted 'I want to leave the planet' in light of the row over his bag lady joke The prolific tweeter then deleted his account leaving his 12 million followers behind Back in the UK, he started being treated by Dr Shanahan who said his condition at that time was so bad, if Stephen had not been willingly seeking help, he would have had him sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Dr Shanahan said he knew Stephen's case had to be taken very seriously to avoid another suicide attempt. He said: 'It is easy to think his slightly manic presentation is part of his personality and therefore when he says he is down it is fake, that somehow it is an act, but that Ugandan depression was clearly very deep.' Stephen hopes by sharing his story with the BBC, he can help raise awareness of mental health issues. He said: 'You have to find a way for us as a society to value everyone including the mentally ill... their difficulties make life harder for them to deal with.' The Not So Secret Life of the Manic Depressive: 10 Years On is on BBC One Monday at 9pm The new menu features items like Nutella lasange, sweet souvlaki and a brand new dessert called Gela-dough The pair have imported several authentic Italian crepe and gelato specialists to create an authentic European menu Tella Ball Cafe, in Dulwich Hill, in Sydney's west will open its doors to drooling customers on February 29 Advertisement The two innovators responsible for the world-wide 'Tella Ball' craze say they identified a Nutella shaped gap in the dessert bar market and have spent months creating an inspired new menu for their flagship Tella Ball Cafe. Aki Daikos and Simon Kappatos, from Foodcraft Espresso and Bakery in Erskineville, made their way into the Instagram feeds of hipsters all over Sydney after launching their calorie-laden Tella Ball Shake which boasted a sugar dusted, Nutella injected doughnut sphere atop a creamy milkshake. Six months later and the culinary artists are preparing to open the doors of their newest venture - a Nutella inspired dessert spot dubbed Tella Ball Cafe, in Dulwich Hill, located in Sydney's Inner West. Scroll down for video The two innovators responsible for the world-wide 'Tella Ball' craze say they identified a Nutella shaped gap in the dessert bar market and have spent months creating an inspired new menu for their flagship Tella Ball Cafe The bar was set unusually high after their choc-hazelnut 'freak shake' took off so the owners imported several authentic Italian crepe and gelato specialists(pictured) to ensure their new menu lives up to their already stellar reputation The worldly pair, who have worked together for around 14 years, knew they had set the bar high with their choc-hazelnut 'freak shake' and have since imported several authentic Italian crepe and gelato specialists to ensure their new menu lives up to their already stellar reputation. 'We have travelled quite a lot and what we wanted to do here is to create a European inspired dessert bar where you can watch everything be made in front of you, from the crepes and waffles, to the fresh gelato out the back,' Mr Daikos told Daily Mail Australia. 'This has been our dream. We really have a vision to create an authentic experience and can not wait to open our doors,' he added. Their talented and passionate staff will work behind a glass window so that customers will be able to watch the magic unfold - allowing them employ their sense of smell, sight and sound to heighten the experience before the sweetness even touches their lips. Tiramisu pancakes with espresso, mascarpone and chocolate gelato made the menu for those looking for a coffee and chocolate fix Pictured: Crepe with marmalade jam, cinnamon and vanilla gelato and chocolate Each dish is meticulously presented - using melted chocolate, strawberry, banana and a healthy dusting of icing sugar 'We have travelled quite a lot and what we wanted to do here is to create a European inspired dessert bar where you can watch everything be made in front of you, from the crepes and waffles, to the fresh gelato out the back,' Mr Daikos said The cafe not only stocks the classic Tella Ball and its caramel or jam counterparts, but also Cronuts, Ferrero cups, rich mousse, panacotta and ganache The ganache is topped with rich chocolate mouse, Ferrero Rocher, nuts and an injection of the Tella Cafe staple - Nutella 'We have thought about enticing all of the five senses - when you walk in the door you are going to say 'Wow! What is that? I want it!' Mr Kappatos said 'We have thought about enticing all of the five senses - when you walk in the door you are going to say 'Wow! What is that? I want it!' Mr Kappatos said. Tella Ball Cafe's gelato lab will house ten different flavours and is capable of pumping out around ten kilograms of gelato every ten minutes, while it is expected the cafe will go through more than a tonne of Nutella per week. Using only fresh ingredients - no artificial sweeteners or powders - the crew have been able to develop some truly original delicacies to surprise even the most well-travelled sweet tooth. Their newest import is the Gela-dough - a serving of gelato on a stick that has been flavoured, coloured and strategically shaped to resemble a doughnut. Their newest import is the Gela-dough - a serving of gelato on a stick that has been flavoured, coloured and strategically shaped to resemble a doughnut A stand of brightly coloured Gela-dough sticks, which have never been seen in Australia before, sat among the freshly made gelato and appeared almost like a lolly pop until bitten into, when the creamy coloured gelato breaks through the hardened chocolate exterior Using only fresh ingredients - no artificial sweeteners or powders - the crew have been able to develop some truly original delicacies to surprise even the most well-travelled sweet tooth While Nutella is the clear favourite, the signature Tella balls are available in a range of delicious flavours including vanilla bean, salted caramel and ricotta and strawberry jam Italian pastry chef Gian Paolo Rodriguez skillfully spread the batter across the hot pan before a perfect crepe appeared The Fruitella crepes are topped with fresh strawberries and bannana before they are drizzled in melted milk chocolate The Nutella flavoured pancakes are also expected to be a favourite with the hazelnut spread mixed into the batter A stand of brightly coloured Gela-dough sticks, which have never been seen in Australia before, sat among the freshly made gelato and appeared almost like a lolly pop until bitten into, when the creamy coloured gelato breaks through the hardened chocolate exterior. Drawing inspiration from their new Italian staff, the cafe's signature cake will be a Nutella lasagne. Starting with a chocolate biscuit base, layers of cream and rich chocolate mouse cake are added until the lasagne is formed and then topped with a smooth vanilla bean gelato that was made lovingly in house. Calling on their Greek heritage, the unique menu also boasts a choc-hazelnut inspired souvlaki. Instead of lamb, four mini Tella Balls will be placed on a stick and drizzled in milk, white and dark chocolate then topped with a generous scoop of Nutella and vanilla bean gelato. All crepes, waffles and pancakes are made on site, but if that does not impress you - the talented cooks will layer melted milk and white chocolate over the fluffy desserts until you are left with a work of 'Choc-art'. Each month the cafe will feature a new and exotic menu item, created and tasted by Mr Daikos and Mr Kappatos - both self-confessed sweet tooths. Tella Ball Cafe boasts a range of Cronuts including those topped with Kit Kat or peanut butter, while Ferrero cups are thin chocolate filled with mousse All cronuts - including the Oreo, Malteasers and Kit Kat flavours - will also be available on top of a rich, creamy milkshake Drawing inspiration from their new Italian staff, the cafe's signature cake will be a Nutella lasagne(left) while Malteasers Pancakes(right) are also expected to be a favourite Also featuring on the menu is a decadent waffle burger, choc-covered Malteaser pancakes and Oreo loaded crepes. For those not chocolate inclined, there is a range of non-Nutella menu items that call on classic European flavours like lemon and sugar crepes or delicious panacotta that will satisfy your sweet tooth. Cronuts, shakes and balls are all also available in a range of delicious flavours including vanilla bean, salted caramel and ricotta and strawberry jam. While indulging at Tella Ball Cafe every day may mean you need to spend an extra couple of hours at day at the gym, Mr Kappatos said a sweet treat every now and then can be good for you. 'It is not a meal replacement by any means but we all love work hard and deserve a cheat day every now and then,' he said. 'Who counts calories when youre having dessert anyway? Where's the fun in that?' For those not chocolate inclined, there is a range of other sweets on offer such as Knafeh or rice pudding There is also range of non-Nutella menu items that call on classic European flavours like lemon and sugar crepes Given the popularity of their Erskineville Cafe, which they have now sold to focus on their Tella Ball 'vision', Mr Kappatos and Mr Daikos expect they will be franchising the company in no time Femail reporter Belinda Grant-Geary promptly went into a food coma after getting an exclusive chance to taste the new menu Given the popularity of their Erskineville Cafe, which they have now sold to focus on their Tella Ball 'vision', Mr Kappatos and Mr Daikos expect they will be franchising the company in no time. 'We have had interest from all over the world - the United Arab Emirates, Iran and even New York,' Mr Daikos said. 'We really want to take our vision for an authentic Nutella cafe across the globe.' Tella Ball Cafe will open its doors on February 29 and is located at 362-372 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill. Experts warn it could make Zika harder to fight and possibly lengthen the time frame within which the disease can be transmitted The Zika virus is adept at entrenching itself in parts of the body that are shielded from the immune system, experts fear. The virus's apparent ability to 'hide', could make it harder to fight and possibly lengthen the time frame within which it can be transmitted. Researchers reported that Zika virus can be detected in semen for 62 days after a person is infected, adding to evidence of the virus's presence in fetal brain tissue, placenta and amniotic fluid. Their work is part of an international race to understand the risks associated with Zika, a rapidly spreading mosquito-borne virus thought to be linked to thousands of cases of birth defects in Brazil. The Zika virus could entrench itself in organs in the body, such as the eyes, testes, placenta and brain, where it can shield itself from the immune system, Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health warned Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: 'Right now, we know it's in the blood for a very limited period of time, measured in a week to at most 10 days. 'We know now, as we accumulate experience, it can be seen in the seminal fluid. We're not exactly sure after the infection clears, where else it would be. 'These are all things that need to be carefully examined in natural history and case-control studies,' he said. Dr Fauci said that Zika's persistence in the body recalled findings during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the worst on record. In individual patients, the highly deadly virus remained in semen and eye fluid for months. Zika causes only mild symptoms, and in most cases may not result in illness at all. Its suspected link to the birth defect microcephaly and to neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome has generated alarm among public health officials, though an association has not been proven. The World Health Organization declared Zika a global health emergency on February 1. Several organs in the body, including the testes, the eyes, the placenta and the brain, are 'immune privileged' - protected from attacks launched by the immune system to neutralize foreign invaders. The Zika outbreak sweeping through the Americas was declared an international emergency over 'strong links' between the virus and the birth defect microcephaly, where babies are born with smaller than usual heads and often severe brain damage These sites are safeguarded from antibodies to prevent the immune system from attacking vital tissues. But if a virus enters these protected sites, it is much harder to fight them off. 'The virus can continue to persist and or multiply,' said Dr William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. 'The virus is in a bubble of sorts.' Dr Fauci said it is not entirely surprising that Zika persists in semen. There have already been at least two reports in which the virus was likely transmitted sexually. What has not been clear is for how long. British researchers offered some clues on Friday. In a letter to the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, scientists reported the case of a 68-year-old man who was infected with Zika in 2014. They detected Zika virus 62 days after the initial infection, but they were not able to confirm whether it could still infect another person. Last week, researchers in Slovenia published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine describing a severely brain damaged fetus from a mother who was infected with Zika in Brazil and later terminated the pregnancy. In an autopsy, the authors found high levels of Zika in the brain and some evidence that the virus had been replicating. They suggested that Zika may persist in the fetal brain because it is an immunologically privileged site. That is true of many other viruses, such as toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus or herpes, which can also cross the placenta and cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size and underdeveloped brains. The typical route of Zika transmission is after being bitten by an Aedes mosquito, pictured, which carry the virus. However, during the current outbreak there has been on report of the virus being transmitted sexually Doctors commonly screen pregnant women for these infections, said Dr Ian Lipkin of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University in New York. Dr Lipkin said the key concern about Zika harboring in immune protected sites is that it could be transmitted sexually through semen. So far, there is little to suggest sexual transmission is common, said Dr Eric Rubin, an infectious disease expert at the Harvard School of Public Health, 'but it will bear looking at so that we can counsel individuals about the risk that they pose to others'. U.S. health officials advise that men who come to the country from Zika outbreak areas should consider using condoms even with non-pregnant sex partners because the virus may persist in semen even after it clears the bloodstream. 'They don't say for how long,' Dr Schaffner said. 'That's because they don't know. As it was with Ebola, we're learning as we go.' He wants better care for mothers who suffer with post-natal Women suffering from post-natal depression and teenagers with eating disorders are to be targeted under the biggest shake-up of NHS mental health care in a generation. NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens will today warn that a lack of care has led to hundreds of thousands of lives being put on hold or ruined. Although one in four adults a year suffer from a mental health condition, three quarters never receive help, according to charity Mind. Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, will today warn that a lack of care has led to 'hundreds of thousands of lives' being put on hold or ruined This often leaves them feeling stigmatised and marginalised, Mr Stevens will say. His report calls for better care for the one in five mothers who suffer from post-natal depression including training GPs to spot the condition and offering dedicated centres to treat the most severely ill. Currently, 85 per cent of NHS trusts do not have specialist care for post-natal depression. Following a major review, Mr Stevens will publish the blueprint for how care will be overhauled over the next five years, including installing therapists and counsellors in GP surgeries, and improving care for youngsters with eating disorders. Patients with back pain, diabetes and other long-term conditions will be offered therapy to improve overall health. There are also plans for A&E units to provide mental health specialists 24 hours a day. Mr Stevens has promised to invest an extra 1billion in services by 2020/21, enabling one million more adults to be helped. He will also pledge to cut suicides currently at just under 5,000 a year by 10 per cent by 2020/21. MUM LEFT TO COPE ALONE Mother Jessica Warne had post-natal depression A lack of local services when mother-of-two Jessica Warne had post-natal depression drove her to consider suicide. After the birth of her second daughter Lily in 2011, she was overcome by feelings that the baby hated her. Mrs Warne, 30, who now runs Cocoon Family Support, a charity to help other sufferers, said that at first she wasnt quite ill enough to receive any clinical support. Her GP offered to see her weekly but had no specific training. The mother, from north London, resorted to searching online for advice. I was quite ill for a while before I got a diagnosis until I had a complete breakdown and contemplated suicide, she said. If there had been a midwife with specialist knowledge who might have spotted telltale signs then I probably wouldnt have got to the point where I had a breakdown. Advertisement His report states: For far too long, people of all ages with mental health problems have been stigmatised and marginalised, all too often experiencing an NHS that treats their minds and bodies separately. 'Mental health services have been underfunded for decades, and too many people have received no help at all, leading to hundreds of thousands of lives put on hold or ruined, and thousands of tragic and unnecessary deaths. Yesterday a leaked report, carried out by Mind, revealed existing services are in crisis, with three-quarters of patients not receiving any help. Seriously ill children are sent almost anywhere in the country for treatment and the average waiting time for youngsters is five months. Mr Stevens added: Putting mental and physical health on an equal footing will require major improvements in seven-day mental health crisis care, a large increase in psychological treatments and a more integrated approach. Officials want psychotherapists and other specialists in GP surgeries. They are far more effective than antidepressants and the NHS wants 600,000 more adults to benefit by 2020/21. The report also calls for talking therapy to be offered to patients with long-term physical conditions such as back pain and diabetes many of whom also suffer from depression. The report estimates mental health conditions cost the economy 105billion a year, almost equal to the entire NHS budget. Funding for NHS mental health care fell by 2 per cent from 2013/14 to 2014/15, the BBC reported last night. This compared with a 2.6 per cent rise in hospital trusts operating budgets, a Freedom of Information request revealed. Among 53 mental health trusts, out of 59, that responded, 29 said their budget would be lower this year than last. The Department of Health said mental health funding overall was rising. Minds Paul Farmer, who led the review, said it was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform services mental health must be a priority for everyone. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: We have made monumental strides in the way we think about and treat mental illness But we must accelerate progress even further. David Cameron added: The task force has set out how we can work towards putting mental and physical health care on an equal footing and I am committed to making sure that happens. New study is evaluating treatment to electrically A mysterious brain disorder that robs sufferers of the ability to recall words can be mistaken for Alzheimer's diseases, experts have warned. While dementia robs people of their memories, primary progressive aphasia instead steals the words to talk about them. Experts revealed they are finding better ways to diagnose the rare syndrome - a huge step forward for those people whose thoughts are lucid, but who are verbally locked in. The move would see more sufferers get the correct treatment and care, researchers said. Primary progressive aphasia is a rare brain disorder that robs sufferers of the ability to recall words. Experts warn the condition can often be mistaken for dementia, where people struggle to recall memories Robert Voogt, cannot speak because he suffers from primary progressive aphasia. The now 66-year-old was diagnosed with the condition 10 years ago and now relies on a speech device to communicate One sufferer, Robert Voogt, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, told delegates at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: 'I'm using a speech device to talk to you. 'I have trouble speaking, but I can understand you.' A vast number of doctors know little about this rare kind of aphasia, abbreviated PPA. But raising awareness is keep to improving care. As a result, a new study is currently underway to try and slow the disease by electrically stimulating the affected brain region. PPA wasn't identified as a separate disorder until the 1980s, and while specialists estimate thousands of Americans may have it, there's no good data to suggest exact numbers. Families may not even seek care because they assume a loved one's increasingly garbled attempts to communicate are because of age-related dementia, said Dr Argye Elizabeth Hillis of Johns Hopkins University. Often, it's when those people reach neurologists who realize they aren't repeating questions or forgetting instructions that the diagnosis emerges. 'Nobody's talking to them, nobody's involving them. It's very sad,' said Dr Margaret Rogers of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Yet for many, 'they can handle their own finances, they can drive, they can appreciate music. There's a lot that still works for them'. Mr Voogt uses the communication device MiniTalk to answer questions at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Speech and language are hugely complex. Just to speak requires activating 100 muscles between the lungs and lips to produce at least 14 distinct sounds per second, said Dr Joseph Duffy of the Mayo Clinic. Stroke or brain injury patients often have trouble making sounds or retrieving words. PPA occurs for a different reason, because the brain regions that control language become diseased and degenerate, resulting in communication difficulties that may mimic broader dementia. Special MRI scans can tell the difference, Dr Hillis said. They also can help identify whose aphasia will worsen faster, and who has a subtype that can morph to become Alzheimer's-like, where they eventually do lose memory and the ability to understand language. Standard language therapy has patients match pictures to the correct word, to keep the wiring involved as active as possible. Now, Dr Hillis' team is testing if a kind of brain stimulation that sends electrical signals through the skull can rev up the effects of that treatment. In the first 19 patients tested, people did better retrieving the right words for about two months after receiving the electrical stimulation than when they received sham zaps with their regular therapy, Dr Hillis said on Sunday. They were more able to name objects they hadn't practiced, and brain scans showed better connectivity in the affected region. But it will take far more study to prove if the treatment produces lasting effects, she cautioned. Until there's better medical treatment, Mr Voogt, the Virginia patient, illustrates how assistive communication devices can help patients' quality of life. Now 66, Mr Voogt was diagnosed 10 years ago, with a form of PPA that makes him unable to say words even though he can understand and type them via email, text or his assistive device. Dr Argye Elizabeth Hillis of John Hopkins Hospital, talks to her patient Robert Voogt, left. Families may not even seek care because they assume a loved one's increasingly garbled attempts to communicate are because of age-related dementia, said Dr Hillis He owns a brain-injury rehabilitation center, and knew how to track down a specialist for diagnosis when he first had trouble retrieving words. On Sunday, Mr Voogt patiently answered Dr Hillis' questions by typing into a device called the MiniTalk, or calling up verbal phrases he'd pre-programmed into it. Asked to say 'dog,' Mr Voogt forced out only a garble. But asked what cowboys ride, he typed horses and the device 'said' the word. His form of PPA also impacts grammar so that he has difficulty forming full sentences, Dr Hillis said. Asked to write that's 'it's a cold day in Washington', Mr Voogt typed a minute or two and the device's recorder emitted 'cold Washington D.C'. Mr Voogt typed that he started relying on the device in 2012, but lives independently and travels internationally. Indigestion pills taken daily by millions of people may increase the risk of dementia, research suggests. A major study showed that elderly people who take proton pump inhibitor drugs, or PPIs, are 44 per cent more likely to suffer from dementia than those who do not take the drugs. Millions of bottles and packets are prescribed each year to treat gastroesophageal reflux and peptic ulcers. It is not possible to say exactly how many people this equates to, because some will take the pills long-term and others will be one-off users. But the drugs, which include omeprazole and lansoprazole, do not require a prescription, so many more Britons buy PPIs over the counter of pharmacies. The drugs work by restricting the amount of acid produced in the stomach. Elderly people who take proton pump inhibitor drugs, or PPIs - such as omeprazole and lansoprazole - are 44 per cent more likely to suffer from dementia than those who do not take the drugs German researchers established the link using insurance data from 74,000 people over the age of 75, gathered between 2004 and 2011. According to their results, published in the journal JAMA Neurology, people who used PPIs at least once every three months had a 44 per cent increased risk of dementia compared with those who did not take the drugs. The authors of the study admitted their study had limitations, because they were not able to separate out different risk factors for dementia from their data. The team said they could not say why people who took PPIs were more likely to have dementia, but said there was a possible hint in previous research that people who took the drugs may be vitamin B12 deficient, a known risk factor for neurological damage. The authors also pointed to Spanish research conducted in 2013, when scientists found that mice treated with PPIs developed high levels of amyloid plaques the protein clumps thought to be instrumental in Alzheimers disease. The scientists, led by the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Bonn, wrote: The present study can only provide a statistical association between PPI use and risk of dementia. The possible underlying causal biological mechanism has to be explored in future studies. But they added: The avoidance of PPI medication may contribute to the prevention of dementia. The study only looked at PPIs, and the possible risk does not extend to other indigestion treatments such as antacid treatments which neutralise excess stomach acid. Separate research by Stanford University last year found a possible link between PPIs and heart at-tacks. Dr Elizabeth Coulthard, a dementia expert at the University of Bristol, said: It is important to identify risks for dementia in order to try and eliminate them. However, this paper does not tell us that using a proton pump inhibitor causes dementia. One important factor that is associated with both proton pump inhibitor use and dementia is body weight and body weight is not recorded in this study. Gastroesophageal reflux disease causes stomach acid to spill up into the oesophagus or gullet. Proton pump inhibitors work by restricting the amount of acid produced in the stomach Dr Laura Phipps of Alzheimers Research UK, said: This study suggests an association between regular use of a class of drugs given to treat gastrointestinal problems and an increased risk of dementia in over 75s, but it doesnt tell us definitively that the drugs directly cause the condition. There can be many reasons why two factors associate with each other and the next step will be to investigate the possible reasons for this link. Studies like this, which harness large amounts of medical data to highlight trends in health and dis-ease, are incredibly useful to inform future, detailed, follow-up studies into risk factors for conditions like dementia. When any drug is taken, doctors, pharmacists and patients have to weigh up the benefits against the potential side effects and further studies into this area will help to better inform these decisions. Dr James Pickett of the Alzheimer's Society added: A growing body of evidence now suggests that some medications may be linked to slightly increased risk of dementia. However, heavy users of this medication tend to be in poorer health anyway, with a higher risk of having diabetes and heart disease both of which are risk factors for dementia. It is, therefore, very difficult to look at these risk factors based on health records alone and determine how they influence the risk of dementia. John Smith, chief executive of the Proprietary Association of Great Britain which represents firms which make over-the-counter medicines, said: All over-the-counter medicines in the UK have been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and are rigorously assessed for safety and efficacy. Once on the market, their safety is continually monitored in light of any emerging evidence. , was the last stage for the sisters Operation, which doctors say was one of the 'most complicated' they had seen The surgery on female twins, Tuqa and Yakeen Al Khadar, took 10 hours instead of 12, which was first Advertisement Conjoined twins joined at the head have been successfully separated in an operation involving 22 doctors and nurses that was carried out this weekend. The surgery on female twins, Tuqa and Yakeen Al Khadar, who were conjoined since birth was carried out at the Specialist Children's Hospital in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. According to a hospital spokesman, the surgery was actually the fourth and final stage to be performed on the Syrian twins. Dr Ahmad Al-Furrayan, who was in charge of the operation, said it took 10 hours instead of the 12 hours that had been planned and was carried out in stages The sisters had been conjoined since their birth four years ago, sharing a skull but not a brain. This means they were craniopagus twins, a phenomenon occurring only once in every 2.5 million births. Dr Al-Furrayan said the operation on the conjoined twins was one of the most complicated and difficult Siamese cases he had seen The spokesman said: 'The hospital has performed preparatory surgeries since April 2014 on the twins', adding that there was a remarkable progress in all the efforts. Dr Ahmad Al-Furrayan, who was in charge of the operation, said it took 10 hours instead of the 12 hours that had been planned and was carried out in stages. He said: 'The twins were conjoined at the head and that meant this was one of the most complicated and difficult Siamese cases.' The sisters had been conjoined since their birth four years ago, sharing a skull but not a brain. This means they were craniopagus twins, a phenomenon occurring only once in every 2.5 million births. Syrian sisters Tuqa and Yakeen had been conjoined since birth, sharing a skull but not a brain. They were operated on at the Specialist Children's Hospital in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh This weekend, they were separated at the Specialist Children's Hospital in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. The success rate for the operation is 60 per cent The girls' plight first came to light in 2013 when their father appealed for King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to help with treatment. The operation was paid for by the Saudi government as a humanitarian gesture The kind of separation surgery the girls needed was the most difficult and complicated, doctors had warned ahead of the 10 hour surgery The girls' plight first came to light in 2013 when their father appealed for King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to help with treatment. Despite needing urgent surgery Hussein Al Khadr said he could not afford it due to supporting a family of 11 in war-ravaged Syria, Emirates247.com reported. At the time, the twins were 16 months old. The success rate for this type of operation is 60 per cent, and Dr Al-Furrayan had been positive it would deliver the expected results. Saudi Arabia has performed 37 surgeries on Siamese twins since 1990 with cases coming from 18 different countries including Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Morocco and Iraq. Almost 30 other cases were examined, but doctors decided it was impossible to separate. LAID low with a fever, chills, dizziness and muffled hearing, 36-year-old Stewart Armstrong assumed he was suffering from a bad bout of flu. Two weeks later, with no sign of improvement and under pressure from his partner, Janine the businessman went to see his GP. The doctor could find nothing obviously wrong and prescribed pills to combat the dizziness. Blood test results also offered no answers. But the day after seeing his GP, Stewart started coughing up clots of blood. In fact, Stewart had aspergillosis, a fungal infection in his lung, although it would take many months before he would finally get the treatment he needed. Aspergillosis is the umbrella name for conditions caused by the common mould aspergillus fumigatus. Hidden danger: Aspergillosis is the umbrella name for conditions caused by the mould aspergillus fumigatus The mould gives off microscopic particles spores that are extremely light and float easily in the air. This is how the mould proliferates (when the spores germinate, they develop into full-grown green and white fungus) and, if inhaled, can cause infection. Aspergillus spores are found all around us, indoors and outside. The mould is common in rotting leaves and compost, as well as in air-conditioning units and heating systems, and in insulation material in walls and lofts. Like other moulds, it thrives in warm, damp environments. For this reason it can be found in bathrooms and kitchens (although its not what causes the black spots of mould often visible in these rooms). A small 2005 study by the University of Manchester, published in the journal Allergy, suggested that most normal household pillows will have aspergillus growing in them possibly because it feeds off dust mite faeces. The mould most commonly causes allergic reactions, triggering symptoms such as wheezing and coughing. This is a particular problem in people with asthma, exacerbating symptoms in one in 40 people. But it can also cause a long-term, incurable infection in the lungs known as chronic pulmonary aspergillosis, which not only causes symptoms such as a severe cough and shortness of breath, but also fatigue and weight-loss. If left untreated, it can cause serious and potentially fatal damage to the lungs as Stewart would discover. Stewart believes he may have been exposed to an especially heavy concentration of aspergillus when he pulled down a ceiling during home refurbishments several years ago though specialists say it is impossible to say for sure. Spores: The mould gives off microscopic particles that are extremely light and, if inhaled, can cause infection Most peoples immune systems will be able to destroy the spores they inhale, but those with existing lung problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma or who have had previous lung surgery or a collapsed lung, are more vulnerable. Several years before, Stewart had been diagnosed with sarcoidosis an auto-immune disease that causes patches of raw and inflamed tissue, usually on the lungs and skin and this put him at risk. The problem is, aspergillosis infection is not necessarily on the radar of many health professionals so may not be spotted. Officially, chronic pulmonary aspergillosis affects up to just 700 people a year, though some experts believe the actual number affected is ten times higher. After Stewart started coughing up blood, he called his sister, Claire, a nurse, and on her advice took himself off to A&E near his home in Ramsgate, Kent. The hospital referred him to the specialist hed seen for his sarcoidosis, who in turn referred him for a CT scan at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. While he waited for the results which would take several weeks Stewart became steadily more poorly, with ongoing flu-like symptoms, weight loss and a severe cough. He was housebound and unable to work. The scan results revealed a fungal ball about the size of a 10p in his left lung which Stewart now knows was an aspergilloma, a ball of aspergillus fungus, though he says no one mentioned aspergillosis at this stage, only that it could be some kind of fungal infection. He was prescribed anti-fungal itraconazole tablets (sometimes used to treat thrush) and returned home. But he then suffered an allergic reaction to the drug, had a seizure and was taken to hospital in an ambulance. He was advised to come off the itraconazole, which he did. Unpleasant! A 2005 study by the University of Manchester suggested that most normal household pillows will have aspergillus growing in them possibly because it feeds off dust mite faeces Anxious for an alternative and, he says, not offered one by his new specialist in London he did his own research online and came across the National Aspergillosis Centre (NAC), the only one of its kind in the world, attached to the University Hospital of South Manchester. Two weeks later, Stewart saw a consultant at the centre and was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis. As well as the fungal ball in one lung, there was aspergillus fungus living in cavities (holes) in his lungs, which his doctors believe were, in all likelihood, previous injuries caused by his sarcoidosis. An aspergillosis infection in the lungs can only be managed, not cured, usually with long-term antifungal medication, and a growing fungal ball can cause inflammation and tissue damage, which requires surgery either to remove the ball itself or to remove lung tissue. Stewarts infection was eating into his lungs and stimulating new blood vessels to form, which was causing the lungs to bleed. But there was more bad news. The consultant said that if treatment with alternative anti-fungal medication didnt work, Stewart could have 12 to 18 months to live. I had a seven-hour train ride home to digest the news, says Stewart. I just couldnt believe it. I was 35 and they were telling me Im going to be killed by an incurable fungus, a condition you never hear about anywhere. I just felt extremely isolated. Unfortunately, Stewart suffered a severe allergic reaction to his new medication, so he came off it and returned to the NAC a couple of months later to meet Professor David Denning, a world expert on fungal diseases and the driving force behind the centres establishment. Professor Denning prescribed a dual approach. To stop the bleeding, Stewart would need an embolisation, where small plastic beads are injected into the new blood vessels, blocking them. The procedure would deprive the fungus of a food supply, as it feeds off the blood leaking from these arteries. Professor Denning also prescribed posaconazole, a relatively new antifungal treatment. Its expensive 26,000 a year and the NAC is the only centre that can prescribe the drug for chronic pulmonary aspergillosis. It works by slowing the growth of fungi. Stewart began the treatment last June, six months after his first symptoms. Thankfully, he suffered no adverse reaction to the drugs and the embolisation seems to have stopped the bleeding. Signs: The mould most commonly causes allergic reactions, triggering symptoms such as wheezing Scans show that the infected areas have shrunk, although the fungal ball remains unchanged, and its size and location means it cannot be removed by surgery. Stewart will have to stay on the posaconazole or some variant of it for the rest of his life. He says he feels noticeably better, has put on weight and is much less tired. Yet the impact on his life cannot be underestimated, as he cannot afford to get ill. He has had air filters and dehumidifiers installed in his home to clean the air of fungal spores and remove the moisture that they require to survive. He no longer travels by plane because of the risk of air contaminants, and he has his house cleaned three times a week. Exactly why some people are vulnerable to CPA is not clear, but Professor Denning says the current thinking is that its down to a combination of an existing lung complaint, genetics and exposure to the aspergillus fungus. He is concerned that not enough GPs, or even respiratory nurses, are thinking enough about the fungal complications that can arise as a result of chronic respiratory disease or lung injuries. There is a blood test, the precipitin blood test, that can detect the presence of aspergillosis antibodies, which is available to all GPs and hospitals. Chronic condition: An aspergillosis infection in the lungs can only be managed, not cured, usually with long-term antifungal medication But because it is generally considered a rare disease, says Professor Denning, too often such tests are simply not requested. Instead, patients are offered a standard blood test to check for things like anaemia or liver or thyroid abnormalities but this wont spot aspergillosis. No one can give Stewart an exact prognosis. For now, he and Janine, 28, are planning their wedding and he is throwing himself into work with his new company, Pure Elite, which runs fitness modelling contests. But as Janine says: In some ways, a cancer diagnosis would have been easier, as thered be a clearer outcome one way or the other. With chronic pulmonary aspergillosis, were in this limbo waiting for something bad to happen but not knowing if it will or not. nationalaspergillosis centre.org.uk Can an elastic band around your head stop you snoring? Can any products stop snoring? We asked consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon Julian Hamann, from Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, to look at four of the latest. Damart anti-snore pillow 17, damart.co.uk Its edges are designed to support the back of your neck while you sleep. This stops your chin flopping forward, which helps keep airways open. EXPERT OPINION: This pillow may help you get a better nights sleep if you sleep on your back (the position that most commonly encourages snoring), but is unlikely to provide sufficiently robust support to keep most people who tend to move around during the night in an optimal position. In fact, sleeping on these types of oddly-shaped anti-snoring pillows can cause stiff necks and headaches for some. Rhynil Spray for Nose and Mouth 12.99, from healthandcare.co.uk THIS herbal spray contains an extract of the eyebright plant, said to have anti-inflammatory and phlegm-reducing effects (these can obstruct airways and contribute to snoring). Its also claimed to stiffen tissue at the back of the mouth to stop it vibrating and causing sound. Helping hand: Mandibular advancement devices (the jaw is known as the mandible) are one of the most effective treatments for tongue-based snoring EXPERT OPINION: There is little scientific evidence to support its use, but there have been anecdotal reports of people finding the spray effective. Given that side-effects or reactions to the spray are rare, its probably worth a try. Sleep Pro Chin Support Strap 19.99, from sleeppro.com DESIGNED for open-mouthed snorers, this stretchy strap (left) is worn around the head and chin at night to close the mouth and force the wearer to breathe through their nose. EXPERT OPINION: This may help people who naturally sleep with their mouths open because it holds the mouth shut and stops the tissue vibrating. But it would be unpleasant for people with a blocked nose. It can also be uncomfortable as it must be worn tightly to work. If not fitted properly, it may pull the jaw back and this can increase blockages of the airway, making snoring worse. Tomed SomnoGuard 3 34.99, from britishsnoring.co.uk THIS soft plastic mouthguard is thought to bring the chin forward which helps lift the tongue away from the back of the throat. EXPERT OPINION: Mandibular advancement devices (the jaw is known as the mandible) are one of the most effective treatments for tongue-based snoring. Snorers with a receding chin are likely to benefit, as they are more prone to partial airway obstruction. At least when the police hit JNU on that hot summer night in July 1975, following the imposition of the Emergency, they came surreptitiously in the night. This time around their raids have been in broad daylight. Then, as now, they came invoking the law of the country. But where the Emergency, howsoever wrong, came through a Presidential proclamation under Article 352(1) of the constitution adopted by free India in 1950, the raid on February 12 to arrest JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was on the basis of a sedition law passed by our colonial masters in 1870. Disloyalty This was a law drafted by Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1833, so there is great irony that a political tendency in this country which constantly inveighs against Macaulay ki aulad (children of Macaulay) is today invoking laws that originated with him. Sedition cannot be applied to mere words and statements, but only to actually waging war against the state Not to forget, of course, that disloyalty in that law was to the Empress of India who sat in London. More than anything else, the incident reveals the immaturity of the ministerial team of the Modi government. Where Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has taken the seemingly high road by calling for action against anti-national elements, his HRD counterpart Smriti Irani has taken the low one, claiming an insult to an abstract non-legal concept called Bharat Mata. Both missed the point that, as it exists in the Indian law, sedition cannot be applied to mere words and statements, but to actually waging war against the state or abetting it. In no way did slogans in favour of Afzal Guru, or even those allegedly calling for the destruction of India, meet that test. Indeed, given the very limited nature of the protest, there are no indications that the group of students were inciting the group to attack anyone. As for the barbad (destroy), it is used in public protests as a catch-all word like zindabad. So a slogan x ho barbad, where x can be the management of a factory, a vice-chancellor, America, Pakistan or whatever, means little. The two ministers have no understanding that young students will be volatile, excitable, rebellious, often irresponsible, and always ready to take up a cause. It is up to the government to channel their energies, not use the sledgehammer to swat them out. Neither do these ministers have the slightest inkling that dissent is central to democracy, not a peripheral issue. Authority The Sangh Parivar members, who have been thrust into important positions of authority in the country, are all afflicted with a great desire to exercise their power, never mind the spirit of the constitution and the law. You cannot get a better example of this from the Maharashtra BJP governments September 2015 order that virtually conflates sedition with any attack on the government itself. In Gujarat, the BJP government has invoked the sedition law against Hardik Patel, who is leading an agitation favouring reservations for the Patel community for sending messages that use offensive language against the Prime Minister, the state chief minister and BJP president Amit Shah. This is the same tendency of using power that lead to the suicide of Rohith Vemula after being expelled by the University of Hyderabad. In that case, too, the ABVP which is leading the charge in JNU, was involved, claiming that Rohith had participated in the protest against the death penalty to Yakub Memon. Constitution What is really under threat is the right of the freedom of speech guaranteed by our constitution. By declaring people anti-national or seditious, efforts are being made to abridge these rights. Where in the Emergency, the government invoked a provision of the Constitution to deny the right, albeit temporarily, here the effort is to shape the discourse in such a way that any view contrary to that of the Sangh Parivar becomes seditious. So you cannot oppose Afzal Guru or Yakub Memons hanging, and nor can you express contempt for BJP notables. Amazingly, this great defence of nationalism and nationalist values comes from a political ideology which had little role in the national movement that brought freedom to the country. At that time nationalism actually meant something, including the hardship of long terms in prison. Today all that it seems to be is a cudgel to belabour your adversaries. In the 69 years since India gained Independence, we have been through a lot - separatist movements in the North-east, Kashmir, Punjab and even for a while Tamil Nadu. There were wars, covert and overt, famine, economic distress and so on. Today in 2016 we have largely defeated all these challenges and stand tall as a nation. Our real task is the economic transformation of the country at the earliest. We need to get down to dealing with that, rather than get caught in hysterical protests against imaginary enemies. Katy Perry has been at war with fellow singer Taylor Swift since 2014 It's one of the most famous examples of bad blood in showbusiness, but Katy Perry and Taylor Swift may have the opportunity to end their feud at a pre-Grammys party on Saturday. Perry and Swift have been rumoured to be at war with each other since 2014, and their feud only escalated after the release of Swifts single Bad Blood, which many thought was aimed at Perry. But in an interview with the New York Times Perry, who will not be attending this years Grammys, revealed shell be hosting an artists-only party on Saturday evening, two days before the awards. Named An Evening to Celebrate the Creators, the party is in association with Spotify and even those who have shunned the streaming service are invited. Artists are always looking for a way to connect with each other, but we dont get that authentic connection because were either being pulled or pushed, Perry said. It will be interesting to see if Swift, who received seven Grammy nominations this year, will turn up for the party. Swift not only has tension with Perry, but has rallied against Spotify during the release of 1989. contactmusic.com Ryan wants a TV role again He may be all about Deadpool right now, but Ryan Reynolds has still got one eye on his past. The actor said that he would love to return to one of his early roles in the ABC sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place - or just Two Guys and a Girl as it would later be known. Appearing on Bravos Watch What Happens Live, Reynolds was asked if hed be open to a Two Guys reunion, and his answer will delight fans. He said: Im not one of those guys thats real precious and sensitive about that. I would totally do that in a heartbeat Itd be so much fun. That job was so much fun for me. digitalspy.co.uk Ben and Jen's V-Day reunion With Valentines Day right around the corner, E! News has learned that Hollywood exes Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner recently flew out of Southern California for a family getaway to Montana. In addition to their kids tagging along for the trip, a source tells E! News that they are with family friends as everyone enjoys a few days near the snow. Its further proof that the famous exes are trying to put their children first even if their marital relationship has changed. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was coughing continuously during the celebrations for his government's first anniversary Even on his most memorable day, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal could not get a break from his nagging cough. While sharing the achievements and announcing new initiatives on first anniversary of his government, he was coughing continuously despite taking the treatment of naturopathy at Bengaluru. Kejriwal was at Bengaluru for over a week for his treatment before holding the celebrations of the completion of one year in power. India, Seychelles joint military drill Special Forces of the Indian Army and Seychelles Peoples Defence Forces (SPDF) will begin the 7th joint military exercise Lamitye 2016 on Monday at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Victoria, till February 28. India and the Seychelles have been conducting joint drills since 2001, and Exercise Lamitye, which means friendship in Creole (local dialect), is conducted biennially with the aim of enhancing military cooperation between the two countries. Modis dinner date with Aamir Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, who was at the centre of a controversy over his comments on intolerance, attended a dinner hosted by PM Narendra Modi on Saturday in Mumbai. Actress Kangana Ranaut was also invited along with top politicians, diplomats from several countries and industry leaders. The high-profile event, which was a strict no-media affair, was organised after Modi launched the mega Make in India (MII) week. BJP gets working on Kerala, Bengal The BJP is working to woo the large following of numerous Hindu groups in West Bengal and Kerala to emerge as a political force in the two states, which are likely to go to the polls in April- May. PM Narendra Modis visit to Gaudiya Math in Kolkata on February 21, the party believes that it can tap huge followings of various religious bodies by projecting its Hindutva credentials and targeting the TMC government for its alleged pro-Muslims bias. Gadkari goes big on infra Union minister Nitin Gadkari has big infra plans for the country in store. He said the government has identified as many as 150 critical projects to augment infrastructure in coastal areas under its ambitious Sagarmala project. Controversial: Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the protest at JNU was fully supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed The JNU controversy is showing no signs of dying down. On Sunday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh ruffled some feathers after he said the protest in the varsity had the backing of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is the truth that the nation needs to understand. I would also appeal to all political parties not to view such episodes through the prism of political gains and losses, Singh said. As Opposition parties began lashing out at the home minister, the Ministry of Home Affairs went into damage control mode and said Singhs statement was based on intelligence inputs. The home ministers statement is based on inputs available from different agencies, a ministry spokesperson said without divulging more details. Earlier in the evening, top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, held a meeting at the PMs residence to take stock of the situation. According to party sources, a host of other issues, including the upcoming Assembly elections and the Budget Session of Parliament were also discussed in the meeting. JNU must have come up for discussion as the government is under attack from the Congress and the Left over the issue, a party leader said, requesting anonymity. He added that Modi took note of every development related to the controversy. Reactions Meanwhile, the home ministers statement drew a host of reactions from across the political spectrum. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said it was a serious charge that was levelled against the students and the allegation must be backed with evidence. In a series of tweets, Omar urged the home minister to go public with the evidence that prompted him to level such allegations against students of JNU. That #HafizSaeed supported the #JNU protests is a very serious charge to level against the students. The evidence must be shared with all. Cracking down on students & using #HafizSaeed to justify the crackdown is a new low, even for this NDA government, he tweeted. Echoing similar views, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja also urged the home minister to share the evidence with the country to back his allegations. Students and teachers at Jawaharlal Nehru University hold a meeting in the varsity campus against the police crackdown on students Singhs comments come two days after a series of tweets, purportedly posed by Saeed, asked Pakistanis to support the agitation in JNU. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on the other hand, also the joined the ongoing debate and made a veiled attack on the Congress and the Left over the issue. The ideological mentor of the BJP said some political leaders were condoning the anti-national acts instead of demanding action against the guilty. RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said: Instead of studying, the students are involving in anti-India activities on the tax payers money. Some teachers are also supporting them. This is serious. The BJP also lashed out at the Congress, saying that the Grand Old Party was siding with anti-India forces. Rahul Gandhi is confused and the Congress is frustrated. They are unable to digest the popularity of the Modi government. It is the height of negative politics that the Congress has sided with anti-national forces to target the Centre, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. The home minister, on Friday, had warned of strongest possible action against those allegedly involved in raising anti-India slogans during the event at JNU. If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on the countrys unity and integrity, they will not be spared, he had said. Singh had also asked the Delhi police to take strict action against those involved in anti-national acts. Students hold a protest at JNU campus demanding the release of JNUSU chief Kanhaiya Kumar Police hunt for electronic proof By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi Delhi police are now gathering electronic evidence to identify the people who were allegedly involved in raising anti-India slogans in JNU. Police are also closely monitoring social media, which was used as a platform to spark a debate. They fear it could also be used as a tool to trigger communal tension in the Capital. The police claimed to have found profiles which are being used to circulate provocative messages. An alert has been issued asking social media users to stay cautious of anti-national rhetoric. Police did not confirm if the Twitter handle @HafeezSaeedJUD was being operated by LeT chief Hafiz Saeed or by any other terror organisation In a message posted on micro-blogging website Twitter, Delhi police embedded a tweet which was posted from handle @HafeezSaeedJUD and carried a profile picture of 26/11 mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. The message read: We request our Pakistani Brothers to trend #SupportJNU for our pro-Pakistani JNUites brothers. However, the police did not confirm if the account was being operated by Saeed or a terror organisation, but claimed that the alert was issued to educate youth about anti-India forces. Police are now working to the track the location and user of the handle. The police have also found various new Twitter handles carrying the name and picture of Saeed. Though no terror link has been established with these accounts, cops are monitoring them. We are closely monitoring online movement related to the JNU event and content related to Afzal Guru hanging. It is found that some of the profiles are being used to send out provocative and anti-national messages. Such profiles and content are blocked, a senior police officer said. As soon as the police issued the alert, the handle (@HafeezSaeedJUD) was taken down. Meanwhile, as the controversy rages on, numerous related videos and pictures are popping up on social media sites. One such is a video allegedly shows ABVP members shouting pro-Pakistan slogans. Rubbishing the allegations, ABVP said the video was morphed and is circulated by anti-national elements to tarnish their image. The 1.3-minute video, The Conspiracy, uploaded on social media, shows four students who allegedly belong to ABVP, shouting Pakistan Zindabad. The student body has lodged a police complaint. The complaint has been transferred to the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing. We have received the complaint, a police officer said, adding that no FIR has been registered. Police have also identified a few other students who were with the JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. We have identified a few more students and are questioning them. We are examining all the videos being circulated on the web and trying to check their authenticity, the officer said. The police, however, remained tight-lipped on whether more arrests are likely. Advertisement Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal celebrated his governments completion of a year in office on Sunday along with his Cabinet colleagues, announcing new schemes for Delhiites as well as addressing issues over the phone. Thanking citizens for their support for the odd-even plan that was implemented in Delhi from January 1 to 15, Kejriwal said: I had read a lot on the odd-even scheme. Several cities in the world tried it but failed to achieve success. But Delhi is one city that successfully implemented the scheme and agreed to participate in the second phase. When we started campaigning for the first phase of the scheme, we began with an open mind. We had decided to withdraw the plan within the first two-three days of its implementation if it created a hurdle for the citizens. But the response was worth appreciation. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (right) and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia during a public interaction session Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues celebrated one year of their government in Delhi on 14 February Talking about the second phase of the odd-even scheme that would come into effect in April for a period of 15 days, Delhi Transport and Rural Development Minister Gopal Rai said that the government had hired 500 state marshals to enforce the second phase with further efficiency. Despite unavailability of public transport, the first phase of the plan was remarkably implemented. It not only reduced the pollution levels by 20-24 per cent but also presented a picture of congestion-free Delhi for the citizens. People were surprised to find roads free of traffic which they had never thought of, Rai said. During an interactive session, the AAP leaders were flooded with questions on AAP canteen, poor attention given to senior citizens in government hospitals, poor health infrastructure, corruption, unauthorised constructions, adulteration in food items, turning the Yamuna's shores into spots for tourist attraction, participation of public in decision-making process, and other issues. The Delhi chief minister used the opportunity to take a dig at the Modi government and simultaneously campaign for the upcoming MCD polls. Responding to a query from one Abhishek on Twitter, who had asked why the Delhi government wasnt resolving the tussle with the Centre over the Delhi Police, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said: Modiji is trying to protect the corrupt in Delhi. The Delhi Assembly had passed the Jan Lokpal Bill which has been sent to the Centre for its approval. Once it is approved, Lokpal will nab these (corrupt) people. Responding to another question on similar lines from a caller, Sisodia said: "When the AAP formed its government, Delhi governments Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) was doing well to apprehend corrupt persons. On inviting RWAs before finalising next years budget, Kejriwal said: RWAs would be approached in the month of March for their suggestions while drafting the budget. 300 mohalla sabhas accross the Capital would be held for them to give their inputs on how the expenditure should be made in their area by the government. Canteens Ashish Khetan, vice-chairman of Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body of the AAP government, said that by the end of this year around 80 Aam Aadmi Canteens will come up in the city. Tenders will soon be floated to execute the same. Sisodia asked him to start such canteens inside Delhi University as well so that it helps outstation students. Kejriwal said the government also planned to rehabilitate people living in JJ clusters and they will be shifted to multi-storied apartments, adding that the government has identified five JJ clusters to execute the project in the first phase. Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government would soon launch a drive to curb food adulteration in the city, which is aimed at creating awareness among people of Delhi. BJP observes 'black day' with anti-AAP protest By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi Terming the completion of one year of the Delhi government as a Black Day, the state BJP on Sunday staged a protest against the AAP dispensation. It said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has failed to deliver on his poll promises. The protest was held about 50 metres away from the NDMC Convention Centre where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues were celebrating their one year in office. Holding placards - Har Roz Naya Bawal, Ek Saal Kejriwal - BJP activists shouted slogans against the AAP government. BJP supporters sloganeering against the AAP government. The protest took place about 50 metres away from the NDMC Convention Centre were AAP were celebrating. BJP leaders including Satish Upadhayay, RP Singh, Tarun Chugh, Udit Raj and Maheish Girri released black balloons as a mark of protest. Addressing the gathering, Chugh said the AAP government has not fulfilled even a single poll promise it made to the people before the Delhi Assembly elections. Listing the failures of the Kejriwal government, he said the party had assured it would install CCTV cameras across the city, but nothing has happened. Even the promise made to women about deployment of marshals has not been fulfilled, he added. Referring to the raging JNU row, he said: This is not a political issue but related to the nation, and Kejriwal should stop playing politics on this. You (Kejriwal) should be ashamed for terming the death sentence given to Afzal Guru as killing. Not only that, you are calling JNUSU president and his supporters, who shouted slogans against India on JNU premises, 'innocent', he said. Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta alleged that people were being deprived of development. Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhayay criticised the AAP government for wasting public money on advertisements extolling its won achievements. AAP's anniversary gift to Delhiites By Sneha Agrawal in New Delhi Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia Celebrating the success of its first year in power on Sunday, the Aam Aadmi Party government came out with its report card and announced new initiatives to give the Capital an infrastructural facelift. As a one-year gift, the Kejriwal government waived off water bills pending till November 31, 2015. Explaining the move, the chief minister said the exemptions will be given on the basis of property tax. He said people living in A and B category areas will be given exemption of up to 25 per cent on their water bills, while C category areas will receive 50 per cent exemption. The D category areas will be given an exemption of 75 per cent, whereas E, F, G and H category areas will be completely exempted from paying pending bills. Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) will be totally waived in all categories. However, Kejriwal said the exemptions will be valid only on water meters that are functional and added that the practice of using water tanks will be eliminated from the city by the end of 2017, except in the areas where the government officially cannot distribute water. The chief minister talked about new initiatives that will be implemented in the coming year, ranging from water, health, and power to road and transport infrastructure, and its successful odd-even plan, mid-day meal and elevated BRT roads. The government also came with a promise of widening public participation for better governance. Taking a dig at the discoms, Kejriwal expressed regret at not being able to get a CAG audit of the power distributors but promised to move the apex court for this. He said the state power minister was working on ways to end contracts with power discoms that were signed to purchase power for a period of three decades or more at expensive rates. We are also getting a new order that states if a power distributor fails to immediately act upon a technical default in an area causing blackout for hours, it would have to compensate the residents of that area. We have already passed a proposal with a provision of carrying audit of school fees in case the government comes across complaints against the school charging exorbitant amount in the name of fees, Kejriwal said. Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance and education portfolios, said that 25 per cent of the state budget would now be spent on education. On enhancing infrastructure in the education sector, he said: PWD is constructing 8,000 new classrooms that would be handed over to the education ministry by July. We have also identified 100 plots where new school buildings would be constructed. On the health sector, Chief Minister Kejriwal said that new mohalla clinics and poly clinics were being constructed that would have good doctors and efforts were being made to end deficiency of medicines in government hospitals. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had done "a great job" as a reforming FM Union finance minister Arun Jaitley took another dig at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday saying he did a great job as finance minister, but the reforms process stopped after he became the Prime Minister. To be fair to him, he did a great job as an FM in initiating reforms. That process stalled when he became the PM, Jaitley said at CNN Asia Business Forum 2016 at the Make In India Week, which kicked off here on Saturday. In a rare interview with the India Today magazine, Singh stated had that the Narendra Modi government has failed to take advantage of lower crude oil and commodity prices to propel growth. In the hands of a purposeful government, this could be an opportunity to step up investment in the economy in a big way, he had said. Singh, regarded as the architect of economic reforms in the early nineties, had also said in the interview that the Modi government is not been reaching out to the Opposition to push the reforms process. Jaitley also said that the government is committed to zero interference, and keeping an arms-length from public sector banks (PSBs) and letting the institutions run professionally. We have erred in the past on this, he remarked in an oblique reference to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. Jaitley had said on Saturday that PSBs under the Congress-led UPA rule were run not by their Boards or from the finance ministry at North Block, but from the Congress Partys headquarters at 24, Akbar Road. Former Presidents and Prime Ministers rarely speak, but when they do, the nation should listen to them with rapt attention. They represent the wisdom of the nation. They are expected to be nonpartisan, render constructive advice and at times send a powerful message even to their own political party to act in a broader national interest, the FM had said. Jaitley indicated that major banking sector reforms are in the offing. There are a series of banking reforms which I am likely to announce ... in the days to come you may find something on that. He pointed out that the country is not at a stage where the government can completely exit its holding in the 27 PSBs. I dont think India has reached a state where the state can pull out of banking altogether, he said. Hundreds of UK steelworkers will travel to Brussels today to protest outside the EU Commission, writes Rupert Steiner. They will be joined by 5,000 steelworkers from 15 European countries demanding urgent action to stop the flood of cheap imports into the European Union from China and other countries. The march, organised by the European steel association, Eurofer, follows a brutal few months for the UK steel industry which has seen thousands of jobs lost in the wake of cheap imports and high energy costs. Jobs threat: Steelworkers from across Europe will descend on Brussels today demanding urgent action to stop the flood of cheap imports into the European Union from China and other countries The industry has been devastated by a deluge of cheap steel which has mainly come from China. Lower growth from the Asian powerhouse left it with an excess of steel and it has been exporting this to Europe. Chinese steel shipments have leapt more than 50 per cent last year, while imports from Russia and South Korea jumped 25 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. Eurofer has identified that Chinese steel is being exported at prices below the cost of production, a practice known as dumping. Unions have accused the Government of betraying steelworkers, claiming business minister Sajid Javid had blocked the EU from putting higher trade tariffs on cheap Chinese steel. But the European Commission has since announced a new set of tariffs on Chinese imports to prevent the worlds second-biggest economy from distorting the steel market. UK business minister Anna Soubry said: We are taking action on energy costs, public procurement and industrial emissions at home to help the steel sector but this is a global problem requiring a global solution. Budget supermarket Aldi announced today it is opening 80 new stores across the country this year as its rising appeal to savvy shoppers shows no signs of slowing down. The German-owned supermarket also said it plans to create 5,000 jobs this year, including managers, store staff and stock assistants. The supermarket told This is Money it will not be releasing a full list of all the new stores opening this year, but said new stores will be opening in Eastbourne on the south coast and Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds, the plush area home to David and Samantha Cameron. Other than the two disclosed locations, Aldi said it plans to open stores 'throughout the UK'. New stores: German-owned supermarket Aldi is opening 80 new stores this year as it seeks to increase its slice of the market Aldi and Lidl have doubled their market share in three years. Earlier this month, Kantar Worldpanel data revealed Aldi's sales increased by 13.7 per cent in the three months to 31 January. Ruth Doyle, Aldi's regional managing director, said: 'To support our continued expansion and the ongoing performance of our existing stores, it's important that we attract the right candidates across all of our roles. 'We're looking for individuals with a real passion for retail who are seeking a long-term career with a growing and ambitious business. Poll Aldi's expansion across the UK is good news for consumers Agree Disagree Aldi's expansion across the UK is good news for consumers Agree 1189 votes Disagree 80 votes Now share your opinion 'Aldi provides all staff with extensive training and development opportunities to ensure they have the necessary skills to make a real success of their career.' Aldi and Lidl became the darling of cash-strapped shoppers through the economic downturn, with their winning formula of cheap basics and affordable luxuries. However, while household incomes have finally started to rise, shoppers show no signs of shrugging off their old habits and the discount retailers continue to draw appeal. Despite their rapid rise, many believe they still have far to go, as they move into new areas through expansion plans and increasingly appeal to middle class shoppers. Taking into account the 80 stores opening this year, Aldi will have 700 outlets across the country by the end of the year. Lidl has also outlined plans to open 280 stores in London and the M25 area. This includes upmarket areas such as Chiswick, Fulham and Kensington, as it looks to further attract 'middle-class' shoppers. Call me Dave: Aldi told This is Money it will not be releasing a full list of all the new stores opening this year, but said new stores will be opening in Eastbourne and Chipping Norton, the plush area home to David and Samantha Cameron Openings: Other than the two disclosed locations, Aldi said it plans to open stores 'throughout the UK'. Pictured are the Bliss Mills in Chipping Norton This is Money asked Aldi how many of the new jobs being created are full-time roles. A spokesman for Aldi said: 'Aldis Store Manager and Assistant Store Manager positions are full time roles, whilst Deputy Store Manager roles are from 20 hours per week and Store & Stock Assistant roles are usually around 25 hours per week, but can vary between 15 and 25 hours a week.' At present, Aldi's employees are paid at least 8.40 an hour or 9.45 in London. This is above the Governments's 7.20 an hour National Living Wage launching in April. Staff pay: At present, Aldi's employees are paid at least 8.40 an hour or 9.45 in London. This is above the Governments's 7.20 an hour National Living Wage launching in April Retail experts and savvy consumers are keeping a keen eye on the expansion of both Lidl and Aldi across the UK. With a 28.5 per cent share of the market, Tesco remains Britain's biggest supermarket, despite recent scandals and sizeable losses. Sainsbury's enjoys a 16.8 share of the market, while Asda has a 16.2 per cent share. Aldi and Lidl has a 5.6 per cent and 4.2 per cent share of the market respectively, Kantar's data shows. Last month, it was revealed that Lidl filed 48 planning applications in the last three months of 2015, compared to Aldi's 17. A group of first graders in Bosnia have reached out to a deaf classmate by mastering the basics of sign language in order to communicate with their new colleague. In impoverished Bosnia, schoolchildren with special needs are supposed to have assistants, but schools have so little money they are often left at the mercy of the goodwill of staff. So when Mirzana Coralic asked the primary school in her Sarajevo neighborhood whether they would enroll her deaf son, teacher Sanela Ljumanovic volunteered without thinking much about it. Scroll down for video Deaf Zejd Coralic (pictured) learns sign language along with the other children in his class in Sarajevo, Bosnia Zejd is able to communicate with his teachers and colleagues after the class decided three months ago to learn sign language Six-year-old Zejd's mother says he now looks forward to going to school and is 'happy and motivated' since he was able to communicate with other youngsters Then September came and 6-year-old Zejd was there, silently sitting on one of the school's benches, his eyes wide open. At the time, no one at the school, not even Zejd, knew sign language. His teacher Ljumanovic remembers thinking: 'We have to come up with something here.' She tried to develop her own tricks and signs to communicate with Zejd but a parent had another idea, proposing that the whole class learn sign language with him. Three months later, the first-graders of class 1-2 at Osman Nakas primary school in Sarajevo have mastered the basics of sign language to communicate with their classmate. 'Zejd,' said Uma Nadarevic, 6, crossing her arms to sign his name. 'Please,' she then put her palms together as if she would be praying. 'Can ... you ...show ...me ...our ...homework ...in ... math?' Uma waved the signs with her little arms as she slowly pronounced each word. Zejd grabbed his notebook out of a bag and showed her the circles and squares he drew at home. Uma signed 'thank you' and Zejd bowed a 'you are welcome'. In 2003, Bosnia adopted laws that allow children with disabilities to be fully integrated into society, including schools. Children with special needs are supposed to have professional assistants who sit with them in class, translating or otherwise helping them participate. But in practice, Bosnia barely has enough money to keep normal schools functioning and children with disabilities are left to the care and imagination of their parents and the good will of school staff. Zejd was lucky - and his teachers say the effort being put in by all is boosting his self-esteem. 'He looks forward to going to school,' said his mother, who tried to learn the sign language with him before school started but says he was not very interested in it. 'Now he is happy and motivated.' Anisa Setkic-Sendic, a sign language teacher, explains signs to children in Zejd's class, where students have all learned the language in order to help the six-year-old integrate and learn in the poorly funded school Children with special needs are supposed to have professional assistants who sit with them in class to help them participate. But impoverished Bosnia barely has enough money to keep normal schools functioning The entire class, including Zejd, took up sign language three months ago and can now communicate the basics with him Still, Zejd is an exception in Bosnian society, said Anisa Setkic-Sendic, the sign language teacher who teaches the class. 'When he sees how much others insist on communicating with him, it is motivating,' she added. 'This should be normal.' His classmates are also embracing the challenge of a new language. 'I like to learn Zejd's language so I can talk to him and to other deaf people,' said Tarik Sijaric, one of Zejd's best friends. 'It is fun.' 'I like this language and I also think it will be useful when I grow up,' added student Anesa Susic. Zejd is fitting in now and the new language is spreading beyond the classroom, said Ljumanovic. Children are teaching their parents at home. 'We are all happy as we are learning a new language,' she said. 'The goal, however, is also to teach Zejd to read lips. He is a good kid, a smart kid.' Ljumanovic said she would introduce sign language into the curriculum not only to enable communication but because it helps children become more sensitive toward those with disabilities. Setkic-Sendic said she should be paid for her work by the Ministry of Education but there are simply no funds right now. Instead, she is being paid by contributions from the parents of children in the class. Not all can financially participate. Only Ljumanovic knows who can't pay, who does and how much. And she won't tell anyone - that's the deal. 'We are finding ways,' said Setkic-Sendic. 'The children are growing, we can't wait for better times to come.' Therefore, children such as Zejd Coralic (pictured) are usually left to the care and imagination of their parents and the good will of school staff Zejd and a fellow student laugh while speaking to their teacher in their classroom in Sarajevo, Bosnia Cpl. Derrick Couch is in critical condition and on a ventilator after he was shot point-blank in the face after an armed robbery in Clarksdale, Mississippi A Mississippi police officer has lost an eye and has a bullet lodged in his brain after he was shot point-blank in the face while responding to an armed robbery. Cpl. Derrick Couch is in critical condition and on a ventilator after he got out of his patrol car Saturday night to question a man suspected to have robbed a local convenience store. Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett said video from a nearby law office captured the 'harrowing' shooting. 'As soon as the officer approached him, he just swung around and, bam!', Luckett said of the moment the suspect shot Couch. Before the shooting, which occurred four blocks from the convenience store, the video shows Couch's patrol car approaching two men, one of whom runs, according to Luckett. 'I'm not sure if Officer Crouch saw him run or not,' Luckett said. 'Then you see the officer's lights turn and illuminate the second guy, who's walking...with a noticeable limp.' Another surveillance video from Saturday shows both suspects walking together into the store, Corner Grocery. Less than two minutes later they are seen leaving separately but within seconds of each other. Luckett said a video of a robbery that took place at Corner Grocery last month at the same store also shows a man with a limp. Both suspects were in the custody of the Clarksdale Police Department by Sunday afternoon. The first suspect, a 19-year-old who is believed to have shot Couch, was turned in and brought to the station by his father. Couch was on his way to investigate an armed robbery that occurred at Corner Grocery. Moments before the shooting, surveillance video captured the two suspects walking into the convenience store (pictured) Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett said one of the suspects had a noticeable limp, matching that of a suspect captured on surveillance video that was taken before a robbery at the same store just last month Officers with a search warrant found 'telling evidence' at the family's home earlier Sunday, Luckett said. The second suspect was taken into custody around 4pm, according to The Clarion-Ledger. Their names have not been released. Margaret Terney, an employee of the Corner Grocery, said a gun was put to her head during the robbery. 'Two men...came in with masks on with guns and threatened our lives,' she told WTVM. 'I'm just really nervous and terrified. I can't hardly breathe right now.' Saturday's video shows the two men leaving separately less than two minutes after going into the store Although the men do not leave together, Luckett said another video later captured the two men walking together - and one running off - just as Couch's patrol car pulled up to them Couch is a veteran officer who worked in the narcotics unit until recently. Luckett said his shooting has rocked the Clarksdale community 'to the core'. 'I don't know of any recent assaults that we've had more than just a scuffle with a police officer,' he told The Clarion-Ledger. 'Especially a shooting. It's very traumatic.' 'This just points out to me how dangerous it is to be a police officer, even armed and wearing a vest. 'He was just responding to the call and just pulls over like it's a routine investigation, and he got shot in the face in like two seconds.' Photographs have emerged of the Duchess of Cambridge preparing to board a helicopter for a short flight that cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds. Kate was pictured ahead of her return from Londons Kensington Palace to Anmer Hall, the mansion she shares with Prince William on the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Her 3,000 return trip on February 7, which was 110 miles and lasted 45 minutes each way, came a day before the Queen made the same journey from Norfolk to London by train for just 54.90. On her way: Kate was pictured on February 7 ahead of her return from Londons Kensington Palace to Anmer Hall, the mansion she shares with Prince William on the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk Expensive travel option: Her 3,000 return trip, which was 110 miles and lasted 45 minutes each way, came a day before the Queen made the same journey from Norfolk to London by train for just 54.90 Kate took the Queen's Flight - used by Royal Family members on official engagements, and paid for from money given to the Queen by the Government to fund her official duties as head of state. It landed at Kensington Palace, Kate and William's London residence, allowing Kate time to change into an Alexander McQueen suit and Lock & Co hat before heading to the engagement for 11am. The distinctive burgundy helicopter was then seen taking off again in the pictures after the event had ended at 1pm, with 34-year-old Kate having changed into a more casual outfit for travelling. The Duchess had been attending a service in London to mark the 75th anniversary of the Air Training Corps, her first engagement as its Honorary Air Commandant. Lift off: Kate took the Queen's Flight - used by Royal Family members on official engagements, and paid for from money given to the Queen by the Government to fund her official duties as head of state Off she goes: The distinctive burgundy helicopter was seen taking off from Perks Field, an area behind the palace, after her event had ended, with 34-year-old Kate having changed into a more casual outfit for travelling She took over the position - the first woman to do so - from Prince Philip who retired from the post after more than 60 years last month. The decision to fly into Kensington Palace is not unusual as most royal flights use an area behind the palace, known as Perks Field, as a landing pad. Royals are permitted to take flights between residences according to Buckingham Palaces visits committee, although the Queen regularly chooses to travel to and from Sandringham by train. While the two trips were not entirely comparable not least because Kate made the journey to and from Anmer Hall the difference between their modes of transport was certainly notable. Compared: The Duchess (left) had been attending a service in London to mark the 75th anniversary of the Air Training Corps, while the Queen (right) made a trip the next day from King's Lynn train station to London Monarch: The Queen boarded the 10.54am train on February 8 from King's Lynn station (above) the nearest to Sandringham to King's Cross, taking her seat in the first class carriage five minutes before departure The 89-year-old Queen boarded the 10.54am train from King's Lynn station the nearest to Sandringham on February 8 to King's Cross, taking her seat in the first class carriage five minutes before departure. Station manager Graeme Pratt said: 'It's an honour to have her use the train service. I asked her if she enjoyed her stay in Norfolk, to which she said she did.' The Queen had been staying at Sandringham since late December. She returned to her official residence with a busy schedule ahead of her, before her 90th birthday on April 21. Father-of-four Akhtar Javeed, 56, was fatally shot in the neck after thugs burst into his warehouse Two men have been charged with the murder of a businessman who was gunned down as he fought off raiders trying to rob his business. Father-of-four Akhtar Javeed, 56, was fatally shot in the neck after the thugs burst into his distribution warehouse, in Digbeth, near Birmingham city centre, just before 6.40pm on February 3. The crooks fired at Mr Javeed because he refused to hand over cash, they then made their getaway from the catering supplies firm empty-handed. Armed police rushed to the scene and found Mr Javeed lying in a pool of blood on the pavement outside. The grandfather of one, from Upton Park, east London, was taken to hospital but died a short time later. Yesterday , police revealed businessman Surjat Mistry, 26, of Leicester, and 18-year-old student Lemar Wali, of Derby, had been charged with murder, possession of a firearm and conspiracy to commit robbery. The men were due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court this morning. A 19-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been bailed pending further enquiries. Detective Chief Inspector Martin Slevin, of West Midlands Police, said: 'I continue to appeal to people to come forward. 'I firmly believe that someone out there may still have information that could help our investigation and I am urging them to call me or one of my team.' Five staff members were inside the unit at the time of the raid and were tied up by the robbers before the fatal shooting. CCTV footage released on Tuesday shows a silver Renault Megane which detectives believe may have been used in the offence CCTV footage released on Tuesday showed a silver Renault Megane which detectives believe may have been used in the offence. Learning a second language boosts the brain and its never too late to begin, experts believe. Elderly men and women who studied Gaelic did better on tests of attention and other forms of mental sharpness after only a week, research by Edinburgh University has found. The study also discovered that the process of juggling different tongues helps the brain to stay fit and sharp. Professor Antonella Sorace, founder of the Bilingualism Matters Centre at the University of Edinburgh, is investigating the potential benefits of studying minority languages such as Sardinian and Gaelic. Elderly men and women who studied Scottish Gaelic did better on tests of attention after just a week During the study, she compared complete beginners in the tongue, aged in their 60s and 70s, with people doing other courses. She said: They didnt know a word of Gaelic, so we tested them beforehand and after a week of a very intensive course, five hours a day. Sure enough, when we compared them with other active retired people who were doing a course on something else, not just couch potatoes, we found in those who were doing a language course, the brain responds. Even when you are in your 60s or 70s, your brain responds. Its a significant improvement. We think its about effort and novelty of the task. 'Its not proficiency as such, because after a year these people are not fluent in Gaelic, but the task was novel and they applied effort and their brain responded well. Other research has suggested that bilingualism can stave off the onset of dementia by up to five years. It is thought that the effort of compartmentalising different languages and switching between them keeps the mind healthy for longer. Researchers found that the benefits do not end there. Bilingual children were better at understanding other people generally, not just via the language they speak. In addition, bilingual youngsters and adults were found to be better at focusing their attention and were less easily distracted. Professor Sorace told the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences annual conference in Washington DC that having to choose the correct language to speak in the right company likely sharpens a persons perception. The academic said that keeping alive native languages such as Gaelic and Cornish could help more children to reap the benefits of bilingualism. Professor Antonella Sorace, of Edinburgh University, compared complete beginners in the tongue in their 60s and 70s with men and women doing other courses She told the conference: Many of these languages are not valued and so they are not supported. People think they are useless, so people dont speak them to their children, for example. So many of these languages will die, sooner rather than later, because if a language is not learnt by children, that language is dead. If we can find a way of persuading people that these languages are actually a resource, rather than a problem, or folklore or something that belongs to the past, then we can help these languages to survive a little bit longer and children can have the benefits of bilingualism. If policymakers could be encouraged to retain dying languages, it could have a beneficial impact on health, the professor said. That applies to other kinds of bilingualism as well, for example bilingualism due to immigration. All these migrants who come very often think that their language is a problem so they try to stop speaking their language. We are trying to persuade them to keep their language. Of course, a child who moves to Britain has to learn enough English to function well in school, but not from the parents. Professor Sorace also said learning a second language from the outset of primary school education to the final days at university could bring benefits right across an individuals life. Bilingualism results in the brain being wired differently in those who have two languages, it has been claimed. Professor Judith Kroll, from Pennsylvania State University, who also attended the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, explained: Recent studies reveal the remarkable ways in which bilingualism changes the brain networks that enable skilled cognition, support fluent language performance and facilitate new learning. He is held in Arizona on a $750,000 bond and is fighting extradition to Texas to raise $50,000 to buy a home for a couple, who had taken in their 12 grandchildren John Feit, the former Catholic priest accused of murdering a 25-year-old beauty queen 56 years ago, has been described as 'the last person you would suspect' of a crime by his colleagues. For nearly 20 years, Feit was known around the St. Vincent de Paul nonprofit agency as one of its most compassionate employees. Feit worked in an Arizona food-pantry and raised money to buy a house for a needy family. Scroll down for video Irene Garza, a teacher once crowned Miss South Texas, was last seen alive heading to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, Texas, to see John Feit in 1960. Her body was found five days later His desire to help others was apparent at his church and whenever he showed up on the doorsteps of the poor with donated food or furniture, according to fellow church members. He also mediated disagreements when local agencies were first planning a campus to house multiple services for the homeless. However, Feit had long been a suspect in the 1960 rape and killing of a Texas schoolteacher and beauty queen. Irene Garza, a second grade teacher once crowned Miss South Texas, was last seen alive heading to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, Texas, to see Feit, then 27, the day before Easter. Five days later her lifeless body was found wrapped in burlap, face down in a nearby canal. An autopsy found she had been raped while unconscious, then suffocated. Feit, then 23 (left), was considered the prime suspect for more than half a century, but was finally arrested on February 9 in Scottsdale, Arizona. He's now a married 87-year-old grandfather (mugshot right) Feit was the prime suspect for more than half a century and was finally arrested on February 9 in Scottsdale, Arizona. He could be extradited back to Texas to face a trial. A grand jury brought the charge based on yet-to-be-disclosed evidence. Feit, who uses a walker, is now in jail on a $750,000 bond. For many acquaintances in Phoenix, the heinous allegations are a stark contrast to the man they worked with and saw at church. 'He'd be the last person you would suspect of anything like this,' said Stephen Zabilski, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul. 'I can't imagine you can't talk to anyone who doesn't say wonderful things about his humility and compassion.' Feit, who left the priesthood to marry, joined St. Vincent de Paul's administrative office in 1983. Zabilski, who joined the organization in 1997, remembers him as a 'regular, humble' guy who was either in the office or working with volunteers. During his first year as executive director, Zabilski saw Feit go out of his way to raise money for a couple who had taken in their 12 grandchildren. Feit, who had been living in a retirement community prior to his arrest, appeared frail in the courtroom - using a walker to get around - and complained several time that he didn't understand why he had been arrested John Feit, 83, a former Catholic priest charged with killing Texas beauty queen Irene Garza in 1960, made his first court appearance on Wednesday when he was asked if he wants to fight deportation to Texas Feit and another person spearheaded an effort to raise at least $50,000 so the family could get a house. Despite disbelief from volunteers about such a daunting goal, Feit wouldn't give up. 'John said "We help people. That's what we're here to do,"' Zabilski said. 'It wasn't easy for John, but he wanted to ensure it was done. 'I was just touched by that. Wow, this person really does care about people.' But in the early 2000s, local media became interested in Feit's connection to the murder investigation. Authorities had zeroed in on Feit soon after the killing. Feit told police that he heard Garza's confession on the night she died in the church rectory, not in the confessional. But he denied killing her. He opted not to hide his past from co-workers and fellow churchgoers at St. Theresa Parish in Phoenix. 'When media were researching those particular stories, John felt it was good to give me a heads-up because they would probably be contacting me,' said the Rev. Charles Kieffer, a pastor at St. Theresa. Zabilski said law enforcement never contacted anyone at St. Vincent de Paul. So there was no reason not to allow Feit, who retired in 2004, from continuing his work. A previous grand jury had found insufficient evidence to issue an indictment. 'My understanding was that this had been presented to a grand jury and no one moved forward with it,' Zabilski said. 'He said he hadn't done it and the fact that it was so long ago.' Garza's family said the church and police orchestrated a 'cover-up' as he was a member of the clergy and had him moved to a monastery just after the slaying. Garza's family accused the church and police of orchestrating a 'cover-up' as he was a member of the clergy, and had him moved to a monastery just after the slaying Deputy Sheriffs and volunteer workers remove the burlap wrapped body of 25-year-old Garza from an irrigation canal near the heart of McAllen Since the 1970s he has enjoyed family life. He got married, had children and grandchildren and regularly volunteered at his church. He'll face spending the rest of his life in jail if he is convicted. He said the last time he saw Garza was in the church's rectory after he heard her confession. District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez told The Monitor he presented his case to a grand jury and they voted to indict him. 'We had kept it quiet as much as we could - we sealed the indictment,' he said. He would not say what, if any, new evidence he had. It comes 12 years after the case was reopened, but a grand jury failed to indict in 2004. Just 24 days before the 1960 slaying, Feit had been arrested for attacking Maria America Guerra at a church in a town about 10 miles from McAllen. Just 24 days before the 1960 slaying, Feit (left) had been arrested for attacking Maria America Guerra, 20, (right) at a church in a town about 10 miles from McAllen Family photos of Irene Garza as a teen and beauty queen are displayed at the home of her aunt Herlynda De La Vina in Edinburg, Texas Feit pleaded no contest to misdemeanor aggravated assault. A judge found him guilty and fined him $500 with no prison time. He was interviewed by police after Garza's disappearance, but told them he didn't do it. However he is believed to have failed a series of lie detector tests. At the time it was unthinkable for a priest to commit such a horrible act. Lynda de la Vina, Garza's cousin, was eight years old at the time of Garza's death. Now an economics professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she believes the right person is in custody. She said of his arrest for the earlier attack: 'It's an indication of who the man was.' She said Feit's time spent giving to others doesn't erase what happened. 'You just don't escape something in your past if you've done something heinous,' she said. Feit's brother, 92-year-old Matthias Feit, said it's not surprising that people who know him are in shock. A portrait of Irene Garza displayed at the home of her aunt Herlynda De La Vina 'You can find several hundred people in Phoenix who would say the same thing - a very kind man who helped others,' Matthias Feit said. Another of Garza's cousins, Noemi Sigler, who was only ten when Garza was murdered, said: 'It was impossible for a priest to do such a deed. I mean, if you thought of it, that would be sacrilegious.' She also believed that authorities and the church were protecting Feit. 'I don't know whether it was out of respect for the church or anger or fear, I have no idea. 'Shortly after the killing, the church transferred Feit far away to a monastery. He would be moved to other locations over time, and about three years after the killing, the church transferred Feit to Our Lady of Assumption monastery in Ava, Missouri.' She even recorded a conversation with a former priest at Sacred Heart, Joseph O'Brien, who claimed Feit confessed to him and was sent away from the area because he was 'dangerous'. Dale Tacheny, a Missouri monk at the monastery Feit attended, also came forward after 40 years because the burden of guilt had become too much, according to CNN. He claimed Feit had told him he had sexually assaulted a woman and bound and gagged her, which led to her death. Eventually, in 2004, a grand jury did hear the case. But Feit wasn't called to testify. Neither were the new witnesses, Tacheny and O'Brien. However, jurors did receive transcripts of Tacheny and O'Brien's version of events. A year later, O'Brien died. The grand jury voted not to indict Feit. A river with mysterious bubbles exploding from the surface has been photographed being set on fire and is said to smell like 'dead fish.' Pictures of the Condamine River near Chinchilla in Queensland's Darling Downs region by local landowner John Jenkyn show bubbles bursting from beneath the water. Mr Jenkyn said the bubbling has gotten far worse since the coal seam gas mining started in the area and he blames mining processes for sending the flammable gas methane bubbling into the river, the ABC reported. A river near Chinchilla in Queensland has mysterious bubbles exploding from the surface (pictured) The river has been photographed being set on fire by local landowners and is said to smell like 'dead fish' To try to prove his point, Mr Jenkyn waded into the river and snapped photos of flames after he lit a match just above the surface. He uploaded the pictures to his Facebook page on Sunday, claiming the bubbling water smelt of 'fish' and many commented on the photos saying they had witnessed animals dying in this particular area in the past few months. The methane seeps in the Condamine River were first reported back in 2012 and although an investigation was attempted, ABC reported the government said there was not enough information to establish the cause of the leak. Professor Damian Barrett, CSIRO's lead researcher into unconventional gas, said the bubbling had worsened in the past 12 months. Local John Jenkyn said the bubbling has gotten far worse since the Coal Seam Gas industry arrived and believes the 'de-watering' of the wells is to blame Mr Jenkyn kayaked out onto the river and snapped photos of flames after he lit a match just above the surface He uploaded the pictures to his Facebook page on Sunday, claiming the bubbling water smelt of 'fish' He said the CSIRO were aware the methane is coming to the surface of the river through 'a very small fault line.' Daily Mail Australia have contacted Mr Barrett for comment. National environmental group Lock The Gate Alliance, who have more than 45,000 Facebook followers, weighed in on the issue, with president Drew Hutton describing the CSG industry and CSIRO's lack of knowledge of the origin of the leak as 'outrageous.' In a media release on its website, Mr Hutton said the cause of the bubbling is 'undoubtedly the depressurisation of the coal seam by CSG mining, allowing large quantities of gas to be mobilised.' National environmental group Lock The Gate Alliance, weighed in on the issue, with president Drew Hutton describing the CSG industry and CSIRO's lack of knowledge of the origin of the leak as 'outrageous' Mr Hutton said the cause of the bubbling is 'undoubtedly the depressurisation of the coal seam by CSG mining In December 2015, a feature-length documentary called Frackman was released to shed light on the Coal Seam Gas industry Queensland following activist, Dayne Pratzky (pictured) Professor Damian Barrett, CSIRO's lead researcher into unconventional gas, admitted the bubbling had gotten worse in the past 12 months due to changes 'in the flux of methane' 'The bubbling could mean big trouble for the residents and landholders of the Western Downs but neither the State Government, the CSG industry nor apparently anyone in the CSIRO is any hurry to properly investigate what is actually occurring in the Condamine River. 'The government should have demanded independent air quality monitoring on the Western Downs five years ago so we could really discover whether or not local people's health is at risk.' In December 2015, a feature-length documentary called Frackman was released to shed light on the Coal Seam Gas industry in Tara, Queensland. It followed anti-fracking activist, Dayne Pratzky, as he responds to his property and hometown being forced to yield to the industry. Fracking is the controversial process of drilling down into the earth and shooting a water mixture at high pressure to extract oil or gas from underground rock. Mr Jenkyn said the bubbling has gotten far worse since the Coal Seam Gas industry arrived and believes the 'de-watering' of the wells (pictured) is to blame for the gas rising to the water surface Since the gas was reported in 2012, an alarming number of animals including fish, crows and lobsters have been dying The 2015 documentary Frackman followed anti-fracking activist, Dayne Pratzky (pictured), as he responds to his property and hometown being forced to yield to the industry continental U.S. will be 15 degrees in the northernmost point of Maine By Tuesday New York will see temperatures bounce back into the 50s and the lowest temperature in the Advertisement If anyone needed proof the northeast is experiencing extremely cold temperatures, this is it. A six-alarm fire at an auto-repair shop in Philadelphia was quickly turned into ice over the weekend, as water from the fire crew's hoses froze over. Record-breaking freezing temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeast U.S. bundling up on Saturday and Sunday. Scroll down for video A fire was no match for the polar vortex after a six-alarm inferno broke out at a Philadelphia auto repair shop over the freezing weekend The fire broke out around 9.30am on Saturday and approximately 150 firefighters spent most of the day working to control the blaze Three people, including one firefighter, were taken to the hospital and one dog died in the blaze, which was spread by 30mph winds The coldest temperatures of the season blew into the region on Saturday with gusts that created dangerous wind chills, well below zero. Cities that saw record low temperatures on Sunday included New York, Boston, Providence, Rhode Island; and Hartford, Connecticut. New York City had its coldest Valentine's Day since 1916, with a record-breaking minus 1 degree in Central Park on Sunday. A record was also broken at John F Kennedy International Airport with 1 degree. In Newark, New Jersey, and at LaGuardia International Airport, temperatures tied records at zero and 1 degrees, respectively. In one part of New York state, Whiteface Mountain, near Lake Placid, temperatures dipped as low as -114 degrees with wind chill at its summit on Saturday night heading into Sunday morning. The insane Arctic blast caused trees to turn into abstract wind-blown sculpture. At -114 degrees wind chill, the mountains summit was colder than Antarcticas temperatures on Sunday. In Philadelphia, the massive fire began on Saturday morning and raged throughout the day. The air temperature was in the mid-20s when the fire started before it plunged, causing the water being used to fight the fire to freeze over. 'Once you have water flowing and this type of temperature, it freezes up quickly, you have slippery conditions for the members,' Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer told Philly.com. With the water freezing fast, salt trucks were brought in to give firefighters more traction. One firefighter was taken to Temple University Hospital and was in stable condition, according to Philly.com. The nature of the injury is not known. A mother and infant who live nearby were taken to a hospital as a precaution, according to the American Red Cross. In New Hampshire, nearly 50 people were rescued from a ski resort tram after it became stuck 40 feet off the ground in sub-zero temperatures. The tram riders were stuck for approximately three hours in the record-breaking cold before being rescued. It has yet to be confirmed if the weather played a roll in the incident. The weather will warm across the country on Monday, with temperatures in New York climbing into the 30s with snow expected. About 50 people were trapped on a tram in sub-zero temperatures for three hours at a New Hampshire ski resort on Sunday All 48 people were lowered out of the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway (pictured, left) as it hung high in the air over the ski resort A lake in Central Park froze over as temperatures in the park reached minus-1 degrees on Sunday morning A fountain froze over in Bryant Park as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told city residents to stay indoors and to be careful of the cold At Boston's Pine Street Inn 485-bed homeless shelter on Saturday night, workers were finding cots, mats and even chairs to accommodate roughly 600 people, said spokeswoman Barbara Trevisan. 'No one will be turned out for lack of space,' Trevisan said. In Boston, some hurried through their mornings to get outdoor chores done before the worst cold set in. 'Right now I'm going to drink a coffee' to stay warm, Carmen Pichente, 40, said en route to her job at a Boston restaurant. 'Tomorrow, I'm going to stay at home all day.' However, others brushed it off. New York won't be the only state hit with a chilly Valentine's Day. A cold blast was felt over much of the East Coast during the weekend 'It's nothing. I lived in Boston all my life,' said Eddie Brown, 51, a delivery truck driver out on his rounds. Asked why he wasn't wearing a coat, Brown replied, 'I got long underwear on.' Kevin Taylor, a 49-year-old native of Massachusetts living on the street in Harvard Square, outside Boston, said he had coped with the cold on his own. 'I got a sleeping bag sized tent that protects me from wind and snow. I got a zero degree sleeping bag and fleece blankets,' Taylor said. 'I was born and raised in New England. I'm used to this. It'll start breaking tomorrow.' In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kristen Carlson, 25 and her boyfriend Ross Crory, also 25, were adapting their Valentine's Day plans. 'We're going to brunch,' Carlson said. 'We're going rock climbing later. Indoor activities. Tonight we're staying in and cooking dinner.' In parts of New England, shelters were opened to residents who lost power and were left without heat. About 8,000 customers were without power Sunday in Lynn, Massachusetts and about 1,400 people lost power in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, where temperatures dropped to 20 below on Sunday. Officials opened municipal buildings to help chilled residents. People walk down 8th avenue in New York on Saturday. Temperatures in the city broke Valentine's Day records on Sunday, reaching minus-one in Central Park Some people opted for large scarves and hoods to brace themselves from the cold in New York City on Sunday Street photographers brave the cold to photograph guests arriving to the Alexander Wang Fall 2016 show during New York Fashion Week on Saturday Bridgeport, Connecticut saw temperatures as low as minus 6 on Sunday, breaking last year's record of 3 degrees. Elsewhere in Connecticut, bitter cold temperatures have caused natural gas outages affecting about 400 residents. Connecticut Natural Gas said customers in Berlin started reporting outages around 4am on Sunday. Officials told WFSB-TV the outage was caused by a frozen regulator. Crews were hoping to have service restored by the evening. The Berlin Police Department says town officials have opened a warming shelter at a middle school to help affected residents. Officials believe extreme cold in Vermont broke a utility pole, knocking out service to about 1,500 homes. An emergency generator didn't kick in for Sheffield Selectboard chairman Walter Smith, who said he lost a greenhouse full of about 500 orchids. People walking the streets of Manhattan on Sunday made sure they were wrapped up warm as temperatures dipped well below freezing The freezing temperatures did not stop tourists from exploring the streets of Manhattan, although they made sure they were wearing warm coats Temperatures were so cold that one woman wore a mask over her face while out in Queens, New York to protect her mouth from the freezing weather Despite the freezing weather, the fashion pack were still out in force near Bryant Park for New York Fashion Week which is taking place this week One woman attending New York Fashion Week went without a scarf or gloves and braved the cold temperatures while walking to one fashion show 'I've got it working now but it's too late,' he said. Police said weather was a factor in the pile-up Saturday in Pennsylvania that saw dozens of vehicles - tractor-trailers, box trucks, cars and SUVs - tangled together across three lanes and the snow-covered median of Interstate 78. A snow squall appears to have moved through at the time of the crash. Three people were killed and dozens sent to hospitals. The bone-chilling cold canceled horse racing at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia and at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack. The Central Park Ice Festival, which was to feature ice-carving artists and music, was shelved, becoming the second event this year in Central Park to be dampened by the weather. Last month a free winter sports day called Winter Jam was canceled because of Storm Jonas. People still, however, enjoyed walks and runs in the park on Sunday, despite the freezing temperatures. 'I'm dumb enough to do this,' exclaimed John Male before starting a 12-mile park run on Sunday morning. 'I just always come out and I just decided not to do anything differently' except to wear a furry tiger hat over a winter hat, in addition to four layers of clothing. Goodbye Arctic blast: The weather across the country will go up with New York breaking into the 30s with snow By Tuesday the country will be even warmer with the northernmost part of Maine hitting 43 degrees and New York in the mid-50s The weather continues to be consistent again on Wednesday the the north east sitting in the 30s and 40s again Temperatures won't be at their highest on Thursday but it will be no where near as could as Valentine's Day weekend By Friday northerners will be able to enjoy the weekend with New York's highs in the 50s on Saturday and Sunday And even with the freezing temperatures, tourists cloaked in heavy layers wandered over the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan, snapping photos. Deliverymen cycled through the windy streets, their hands covered with plastic bags, and garage employees changed tires. Some people embraced the extremes, with more than 2,000 taking part in the Sea Isle, New Jersey, annual 'Polar Bear Plunge', dipping into the icy Atlantic to raise funds for the city's revitalization. But elsewhere in New Jersey, the cold kept people inside. In a bagel shop that's usually brimming with customers on Sunday mornings, Joe Weir was among a small handful of people who sat drinking coffee. 'I just came from a church service, and it definitely wasn't as packed as it usually is,' the 60-year-old Toms River man said. 'We have a lot of elderly parishioners, and when the weather gets bad or real cold like this, a lot them choose to stay in and watch a Mass on TV instead of going to church. Can't say I blame them.' In Washington, DC, where temperatures hit a milder 14 degrees on Sunday, people gathered for the city's annual Cupid's Undie Run to raise money for charity on Saturday, when temperatures hit 20 degrees. About 1,200 people made the undie run in DC with the help of some alcohol and a dance party warm-up. Runners braved the frigid weather to combat neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder of the nervous system that affects how nerve cells form and grow, causing tumors to form along nerves throughout the body. Some people decided to bundle up a little during the run, in which people don their Valentine's-themed underwear and raise funds for the Children's Tumor Foundation. Despite the cold temperatures, many Cupid's Undie Run participants appeared to be enjoying the run through Washington, DC on Saturday People wait to run in Cupid's Undie Run to raise money for charity on Saturday in Washington, DC, where the high was just 20 degrees Valentine's Day plans also didn't seem to be stalled, either. Nic Faitos, owner of Starbright Floral Design, in New York, was anticipating about 2,000 deliveries this weekend. He said his business double-wraps all the flowers to protect them. 'If they fall below about 25 degrees they will start to freeze. The petals will become completely wilted,' he said. Temperatures were expected to climb before a winter storm already bringing snow to the Midwest moves into the region for the start of the work week. That storm was expected to bring at least a couple inches of snow in some areas, plus possible icy conditions to the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast on Monday. The storm was expected to bring five inches of snow to parts of Kentucky and up to six inches to parts of Tennessee before turning to rain. Weather service meteorologist Jay Engel said New York City will emerge from the record-breaking cold by Sunday afternoon. The CBI criticised failure to reform unpopular business rates - taxes on commercial property such as shops and offices British firms face a 9billion annual bill from the National Living Wage and the Governments failure to slash business rates, the CBI has warned. In an appeal to the Chancellor ahead of next months Budget, the business organisation warned spiralling costs could threaten jobs and investment. The CBI criticised the failure to reform unpopular business rates taxes on commercial property such as shops and offices. It also claimed policies such as the Living Wage and the Apprenticeship Levy combined with inaction on business rates would cost firms an extra 29billion over this Parliament, running at around 9billion a year by 2020-21. The CBI urged George Osborne not to increase this cumulative burden and called for reforms including scrapping the business rates tax for more than 1million small firms. CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn warned that the extra costs could weigh on businesss ability to deliver jobs and investment, making it more difficult to plug the countrys 94.7billion annual deficit. She said: The UK needs to be able to grow its way out of the deficit, but the danger of this rising policy burden is that it holds back businesses, particularly smaller firms. This cost burden has now crept up far enough, if the Government is serious about supporting the UKs companies to drive growth in the economy. From April 1, workers over 25 who earn the minimum rate of 6.70 an hour will receive a 50p increase under the Living Wage. The Government has committed to increasing this to hit 9 by 2020. The move has been welcomed by trade unions and campaigners. But the Treasurys budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, has estimated it will cost the economy 4billion by 2020/21. The CBI has previously warned enforced pay hikes would simply speed up the replacement of workers in menial jobs with machines. Businesses have also complained bitterly about an apprenticeship levy to ensure big firms shoulder the cost of training. From April next year a 0.5 per cent charge will be levied on payrolls, to raise 3billion a year and funding 3million apprenticeships. A spokesman for the Treasury said: This Government has backed business every step of the way, reducing national insurance contributions for small firms and is cutting corporation tax to 18 per cent for all companies. Police investigating claims of a Westminster child sex ring continue to believe their main witness is credible even though they have found no evidence to back up his claims of murder and abuse, it was revealed last night. Detectives on Operation Midland are standing by the man, known only as Nick, despite failing to find evidence to support criminal charges against any suspects. They now accept that former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, who has faced lurid allegations of triple murder, will not be charged as there is no evidence against him. Operation Midland: Tory MP Harvey Proctor, pictured, who has faced lurid allegations of triple murder, will not be charged by detectives as there is no evidence against him He is the only living suspect in the inquiry but a file will not be submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service. Incredibly, one of the detectives main objectives is now simply to ensure that their operation can withstand scrutiny from the Goddard Inquiry, set up by ministers to look into whether British institutions covered up child abuse. This means the 2million investigation will continue even though police are said to be unlikely to ask the CPS to consider any charges unless new evidence emerges. Nick is the single witness behind the notorious inquiry into whether members of a VIP paedophile ring abused, raped and even murdered children. Several high-profile figures, including former army chief Lord Bramall, have come under scrutiny as a result of his claims. But Nick has been accused of being a serial fantasist and last week his half-brother openly doubted his claims. Last night The Guardian revealed that Scotland Yard concedes witnesses who could help prove or rule out the accusations have yet to come forward. It claimed an informal review, conducted six months after the operation began in 2014, concluded there was enough material to continue the investigation. And it added that most of the detectives drawn from sexual abuse and murder units believe Nick is credible. This is despite the fact that no specific dates of alleged attacks have been established, nor has any direct evidence of murder been uncovered or the names of any victims. The outcry caused by Operation Midland, including the treatment of Lord Bramall, has led to questions over the leadership of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, pictured Sources said that Nick correctly described details of a military building in southern England, where he claimed abuse had taken place, that were not publicly available. The claims made by Nick relate to the period between 1975 and 1984, when he was aged between seven and 16. Senior sources close to the inquiry have insisted it will continue for some time yet as there are active lines of inquiry to pursue. Mr Proctor last night described the Mets continued faith in their witness as the defence of the indefensible by the inadequate. The Met spin machine seeks to protect officers who have been involved in a shoddy investigation, he said. The Metropolitan Police announced last month it had dropped the investigation into Lord Bramall, pictured The best detectives the Met has available take over a year to discover there is no evidence and then... try to proclaim Nicks credibility not because he is credible but to protect the careers of those senior officers who initially believed he was and are now appalled at the consequences for them that he is not. The row over the inquiry, including the treatment of Lord Bramall, led to questions over the leadership of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe. Asked if he would shut it down last week to save further embarrassment, he replied: What, and be accused of a cover up? n The inquiry into child sex claims against former prime minister Edward Heath could last another two years. Wiltshire Police are advertising for detectives to join their inquiry on 12-month contracts with possible extension to two years. First he was forced to quit his job as New York governor after spending a rumored $15,000 on hookers, then he lost his marriage after an affair with a spin doctor 23 years his junior was exposed. Now disgraced Democrat Eliot Spitzer, 56, is being investigated by police over claims that he choked a woman in a $1,000-a-night suite at the Plaza Hotel near New York's Central Park. According to police sources who spoke to the New York Post, Svetlana Travis called cops at 8pm on Saturday to say she was having a breakdown and had slashed her wrists. Scroll down for video Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor who resigned over a prostitution scandal in 2008, is now being investigated over claims he choked Svetlana Travis at an upmarket New York hotel Sources told the paper that Travis, a Russian national, had told Spitzer that she was going back to her home country, at which point he became angry. Spitzer began throwing her around, choked her, pushed her to the ground and threatened her, the Post reports. She then smashed a glass, slashed her wrists and called 911 to ask for medical help, it is reported. When cops arrived they searched Spitzer's room before seeing the broken glass and blood, at which point Travis was taken to hospital. According to reports police were called to the Plaza Hotel on Saturday at 8pm to reports of Travis having slit her wrists, before she told medics that Spitzer had choked her While there she told doctors about the attack, but when questioned by police she changed her story several times before refusing to cooperate any further. The NYPD confirmed tonight that the incident was under investigation, but Spitzers spokeswoman, Lisa Linden, said: 'There is no truth to the allegation.' Sources told NBC News that there may be video of Spitzer going up to the hotel room with the woman. The politician's relationship to Travis unclear, but she allegedly claimed to be his girlfriend. After her second interview at the hospital, Travis reportedly stopped cooperating with investigators and may have even left the country already. 'Shes totally uncooperative and said that she was leaving and did not want to press any charges,' a source told the Post. The NYPD continues to investigate the incident nonetheless. Spitzer, the multi-millionaire son of real estate tycoon Bernard Spitzer, studied at Princeton before graduating Harvard Law school and going on to become a lawyer. While at Harvard he met his former wife, Silda, who he has three children with. After graduating Spitzer then went on to make a name for himself as the 'Sheriff of Wall Street' by chasing down corrupt financiers, and was even considered as presidential material. In 2007 he became the 54th governor of New York, but was forced to quit the following year amid a prostitution scandal. He reportedly had at least seven meetings with high-end prostitutes over a six-month period, and is believed to have spent up to $80,000 on hookers over many years. Infamous as Client 9 of the Emperors Club VIP call-girl ring, he resigned at a public press conference along with Silda, who elected to stand by him. Spitzer also split from wife Silda in 2014 after a 25-year marriage when he was exposed for having an affair with a spin doctor 23 years his junior Lis Smith, 33 (right), and Spitzer, 56, were pictured cuddling up at a Knicks game shortly after he split from his wife, but their relationship also fell apart in December last year After his resignation, Spitzer attempted to rehabilitate his public image with a stint presenting a CNN news show which failed and then eventually made his way back to work for his father who passed away last year, leaving Spitzer $16million. However, his marriage finally fell apart after he was pictured sneaking into the Soho apartment of political spin doctor Lis Smith in December 2013. The affair is widely believed to have been behind Spitzer's split from Silda, which was eventually agreed in February 2014. As part of the settlement, she was granted $7.5million, $240,000-a-year for life, and the couple's luxury Fifth Avenue apartment. Meanwhile Smith, who had just become part of Mayor Bill de Balsio's team and was widely tipped to become his press secretary, was dropped from his office. After the affair was made public, Spitzer appeared to have no qualms about hiding his new relationship with a much younger woman. Spitzer, once considered presidential material after a legal career hunting down corrupt Wall Street financiers, has now taken over his father's real estate business following his fall from grace Spitzer and Smith were said to have split because of their 'hectic schedules' while he worked in real estate and she managed Martin O'Malley's disastrous presidential bid Spitzer was spotted getting close with Smith at a Knicks game just weeks after his divorce was finalized, and Spitzer was also pictured as he was introduced to his new girlfriend's family in Christmas 2013. Shortly after the couple took a romantic trip to Jamaica where they engaged in an amorous hot tub session during which he was seen sucking her toes, it was claimed. The pair spent two years together, but broke up in December last year, during which Smith apparently took custody of a gray grimalkin cat the pair had adopted together. Spitzer met Smith, 33, while she was his campaign manager during his failed political 'comeback' to become New York City's new comptroller in 2013. After the failed bid she went to work for then New York Mayor- elect Bill de Blasio but within a week of her relationship with Spitzer becoming public, she was out. Liquid could be used to make more than 3.6 million individual hits of ice Police have seized more than $1.25 billion dollars ($900million U.S. dollars) worth of the drug ice in the 'largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine in Australia's history'. Four people have been arrested as part of the operation that saw 720 litres of the liquid confiscated by Australian Federal Police (AFP), NSW Police, Australian Border Force, Australian Crime Commission and NSW Crime Commission officers. More than 3.6 million 'hits' of ice could have been made from the liquid, which would have a street value of $1.26 billion. Scroll down for video Police have seized more than $1.25 billion dollars worth of the drug ice in the 'largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine in Australia's history' The liquid was smuggled into Australia hidden inside other products, such as these silicon bra inserts 'This has been a very good day for Australian law enforcement and a very bad day for the organised criminals that have targeting the Australian drug market,' Justice Minister Michael Keenan told reporters in Sydney. The operation began on December 26 last year, when drugs were found hidden inside thousands of silicon bra inserts shipped to Australia from Hong Kong. 'That shipping container was found to contain gel bra inserts and hidden inside those gel bra inserts was 190 litres of liquid methamphetamine,' Australian Federal Police State Manager NSW Commander Sheehan said on Monday. Four people were arrested during the operation in January - a 33-year-old Hong Kong national in Burwood, a 59-year-old Chinese national in Hurtsville, and a 37-year-old Hong Kong man and 52-year-old Hong Kong woman in Campsie. Police showed off the massive haul of drugs at a press conference in Sydney on Monday Police officers stand next to a haul of crystal methamphetamine concealed in packaging uncovered as part of a billion-dollar bust Australian Federal Police State Manager NSW Commander Chris Sheehan addresses the media as part of a $1 billion Ice haul is displayed at Australian Federal Police headquarters Boxes of silicon bra inserts shipped from Hong Kong were found to have liquid methamphetamine hidden inside All three were charged with knowingly taking part in the manufacture of a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug. An additional 530 litres of liquid methamphetamine were found as part of Operation Ovcharka. Dramatic video footage recorded during the raid in Hurtsville shows officers storming into an apartment to arrest the 59-year-old Chinese man. The man is seen sitting shirtless on a couch with his hands behind his back, before police marched him out of the house. Police officers filmed a number of the dramatic raids they carried out to arrest the four people involved with the bust A 59-year-old Chinese national allegedly linked to the shipments is pictured during his arrest in Hurtsville The Chinese man charged by police was marched shirtless from his apartment after being arrested in January A 59-year-old arrested by police is loaded into a car before he was taken to the nearby Hurstville stations The video also shows some of the containers where the drugs were hidden, including children's painting sets and glue containers. 'The particular value of this shipment has been calculated on the basis of its value sold at a street level, which at that level, a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine could be broken to 00.1 gram deals or points and sold at that value,' AFP Commander Sheehan said. 'Calculating it from there brings us to the $1.26 billion.' Another man, a Hong Kong national, was arrested during a series of raids in January by NSW Police officers Four people have been arrested as part of the operation that saw 720 litres of liquid methamphetamine confiscated 86 boxes were found in one shipment from Hong Kong containing about 190 litres of liquid methamphetamine 'The scourge of ice is just that,' NSW Police Chief Superintendent Ken Finch said. 'Our squad works 365 days a year to combat transnational organised crime, which could impact NSW. 'The dedication of our detectives and the members of our partner agencies has seen four people being placed before the courts and ensured these dangerous drugs did not reach the streets of Sydney.' 'Our squad works 365 days a year to combat transnational organised crime, which could impact NSW,' NSW Police Chief Superintendent Ken Finch said 'This has been a very good day for Australia law enforcement and a very bad day for the organised criminals that have targeting the Australian drug market,' Justice Minister Michael Keenan said More than 3.6 million hits of ice could have been made from the liquid, which would have a street value of $1.26 billion Australian Crime Commission NSW State Manager Warren Gray said that joint operations such as this one have a pivotal role to play in the fight against meth. 'The ACC has assessed that methamphetamine posesby farthe greatest threat to the Australian public of all illicit drug types, and by a significant margin.' The man arrested in Burwood will face Central Local Court on March 11, while the remaining three will appear on March 23. The massive joint operation began on December 26 last year when boxes of drugs were found on a shipment from Hong Kong Sean 'Diddy' Combs was left feeling 'conflicted' after being told his third great grandfather was born a free man in 1850 - despite living in slave state Maryland. In an emotional episode of Finding Your Roots: Family Reunions that airs on Tuesday, Combs was told that while it's extremely rare for African-Americans to have had free ancestors during the mid-1800s, his relation Robert Allsop was one such individual. Show host Henry Louis Gates told Combs: 'Make no mistake about it man, this is not typical of the black experience. Scroll down for video Sean 'Diddy' Combs (pictured on Finding Your Roots) was left feeling 'conflicted' after being told his third great grandfather was born a free man in 1850 - despite living in slave state Maryland Combs was told that while it is extremely rare for African-Americans to have free ancestors during the mid-1800s, relation Robert Allsop was one such individual. Pictured: Free African Americans living in Maryland at the time This rare status of freedom was likely down to where his family lived, said Gates, who explained that in Maryland lots of slave owners had decided to start freeing their slaves. Pictured: Free African Americans living in Maryland at the time 'For 90 per cent of the African-American people who sat where you've sat when I've done their family tree, no free ancestors.' The information clearly has a big impact on Combs, who looked pensive before saying: 'It makes me feel kind of conflicted that my family was free when so many families weren't.' And Robert Allsop was't even his first free ancestor. Gates then revealed to Combs that his family were free from as far back as Allsop's parents, Thomas and Nancy, four generations ago. This rare status of freedom was likely down to where his family lived, said Gates, who explained that in Maryland lots of slave owners had decided to start freeing their slaves, either for moral reasons or because it was no longer profitable. But Combs was to receive another shock. Because so many African Americans were being freed at that time - 75,000 in Maryland alone by 1850 - white people were scared of a free 'black majority', said Gates, and so passed a series of harsh laws to restrict their new found rights. Gates also showed Combs a newspaper clipping from October 1856 (above), which reported that Robert Allsop - a free man - had been thrown into jail for being a 'runaway' Show host Henry Louis Gates told Combs: 'Make no mistake about it man, this is not typical of the black experience'. Pictured right: Maryland and surrounding regions were beginning to see a significant number of slave owners freeing their slaves Gates then showed Combs a newspaper clipping from October 1856, which reported that Robert Allsop - a free man - had been thrown into jail for being a 'runaway'. This was a common occurrence at that time. Slavery was officially abolished in the state of Maryland in 1864 with the passing of the new Maryland Constitution. Mississippi was the last state to make slavery illegal - as late as 2013, when it officially ratified the Thirteenth Amendment. Combs told Gates: 'I can't imagine what it must have felt like for him, being locked up and to be innocent.' Allsop was later freed from jail and just a few years later fought slavery itself, in the American Civil War. Comb's father, Melvin Combs (right) was a drug dealer and was shot dead aged 33 while sitting in his car in Central Park West, when Combs was a child (left) Combs (pictured left and right as a child) - also known by stage names Puff Daddy and P Diddy - was born in a public housing project in Harlem, New York and brought up in Mount Vernon But for other African American celebrities, their ancestors weren't so fortunate. Actress Wanda Sykes discovered that back in 1683 her paternal ninth-grandmother, Elizabeth Banks, was lashed for 'fornication and b*stardy with a negroe slave'. But on the African American Lives program, also hosted by Gates, Oprah learned that an ancestor had started a school for black children after the Civil War. Another celebrity to have benefited from Gates research is Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg discovered that her great-great grandparents, William and Elsie Washington, were among a very small number of African Americans who became landowners through homesteading in the years following the Civil War. Two generations later, her grandparents were living in Harlem, her grandfather working as a Pullman porter. POST- AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SOUTH President Abraham Lincoln at his headquarters on the battlefield of Antietam in Maryland 'After Emancipation, formerly enslaved African Americans sought to forge lives for themselves and their families, to determine the meanings of freedom on their own terms. 'One of the first orders of business was to reunite family members who had been sold or lost during slavery. Another primary goal was to become self-sufficient. 'Without compensation from the people who previously owned them, the 4 million newly emancipated African American men, women, and children faced immediate challenges to their liberty and autonomy. 'In the face of increased hostility, violence, and terrorism and with few or no material resources, African Americans demonstrated courage, creativity, and resilience as they eked out a living subsisting on the land, often "sharecropping," or subcontracting their labor to their former masters. 'Some set out to find family, or to relocate away from the places where they had been enslaved, while others sought to maintain the communities they established on plantations and estates. Many of those who stayed behind remained tied to the agrarian economy. 'Landownership represented economic freedom from slavery's bondage and the servitude of sharecropping or tenant farming. 'As landowners, these families hoped to ensure that their financial success depended only on their personal skills and tenacity; they were willing to contend with the vagaries of farming conditions in order to realize their own independence. An African American Union soldier of the American Civil War 'This took a great deal of effort: many families found it too onerous and expensive to obtain the farm tools, implements, seeds, and rations to cultivate and maintain the land successfully. 'While the federal government never fulfilled General Sherman's promise of "forty acres and a mule," some newly freed people acquired land through congressional acts like the Southern Homestead Act of 1866. 'In a major land redistribution scheme, the government opened 46 million acres in Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana to settlement and specified that the applicants could not be discriminated against on the basis of color. 'Freedpeople saw this as an opportunity to claim property and their rights; in so doing, they hoped that they could control their own land and their own labor. 'Through its ten year history, under the Southern Homestead Act, 67,600 entries were made for land; of these 28,000 were patented. Scholars estimate that 20-25% of those homesteaders who were successful in obtaining title to their property were freedpeople.' Source: African American Lives Advertisement Chris Tucker (left) also appeared on Gates African American Lives Program and discovered that his great-grandfather T.A Bryant was living in the community of Flat Rock, Georgia amid so-called 'Jim Crow' segregation. Another celebrity to have benefited from Gates research is Whoopi Goldberg (right) Also on the program Chris Tucker was told that his pre-Civil War slave ancestors were part of a group divided up in a state lottery when their owner died intestate. Tucker also discovered that his great-grandfather T.A. Bryant was living in the community of Flat Rock, Georgia amid so-called 'Jim Crow' segregation, where he played a central role in keeping the black community together, according to the show. Also airing on Comb's episode of Family Reunions, LL Cool J is told the life-changing news that his mother Ondrea Griffith, was adopted in 1947 by his grandparents, Eugene Griffith and Ellen Hightower. He is also shown a 19th-century record of his family's freedom from slavery in the episode. The rapper was brought up by his maternal grandparents who took him away from his parents' violent separation. Also airing on Comb's episode of Family Reunions, LL Cool J (above) is told the life-changing news that his mother Ondrea Griffith, was adopted in 1947 by his grandparents, Eugene Griffith and Ellen Hightower His maternal grandparents stepped in to give him a loving home and appreciation of music. Cool J says in the show: 'This doesn't change how I feel about the people that raised me. 'I have more love and respect for them than I ever did.' Combs - also known by stage names Puff Daddy and P Diddy - was born in a public housing project in Harlem, New York and brought up in Mount Vernon. He faces charges of assault and unlawful use of a motor vehicle He will face Southport Magistrates Court later this month He then 'stole the driver's car', found damaged nearby on the Gold Coast Passenger allegedly kicked the doors, punched driver and chased him An Uber customer has been accused of punching his driver in the face and stealing his car after a fare dispute on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Police say the 26-year-old man assaulted the driver, 23, at about 3am (AEST) on Sunday at Surfers Paradise. It's alleged the passenger kicked the doors of the stationary car, punched the driver in the face and chased him down the street before stealing the car, which was found damaged nearby. An Uber driver has allegedly been punched in the face and his vehicle stolen, police say The incident occured at Surfers Paradise, a beach-side suburb in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia He will face the Southport Magistrates Court later this month, charged with assault and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. A police spokesperson said the matter is currently under investigation. The latest alleged incident follows a string of incidents involving Uber drivers and passengers, as tensions rise between the ride-sharing service and the traditional taxi industry. Two Uber drivers were bashed and robbed in Brisbane late last year, and a taxi driver verbally abused and spat on a female Uber passenger in Melbourne. New South Wales legalised UberX and other ride-sharing services in December last year, making it the second state in the country after the Australian Capital Territory to do so. The American ride-sharing company officially launched in Australia in late 2012 and is now available in 58 countries and 300 cities worldwide. A 26-year-old man allegedly assaulted his Uber driver at 3am (AEST) on Sunday It's alleged the passenger kicked the doors of the stationary car, punched the driver in the face and chased him down the street before stealing the car, which was found damaged nearby A man sentenced to at least 30 years in jail for murdering a woman and released after his conviction was quashed on appeal smiled broadly as he walked out of prison on Monday. Mustapha Dib successfully fought against the sentence handed to him in July 2012 when he was found guilty of murdering the 20-year-old woman and wounding her partner with intent to murder in a shooting at Punchbowl in Sydney's southwest in November 2000. However, his cheer may not last long when he realises that his former girlfriend Bethany Wikeepa - who professed her love for him when he was convicted and jailed - married another man soon after and has since welcomed a baby boy with her husband. Scroll down for video Mustapha Dib (pictured), who was sentenced to at least 30 years for murdering a 20-year-old woman, was smiling when he was released from jail on Monday Mustapha Dib (pictured left) successfully appealed his sentence, handed to him in July 2012 after he was found guilty of murdering a 20-year-old woman, and wounding her partner in a shooting in Sydney in 2000 Dib (pictured in blue) smiling as he walked toward the prison gates on Monday and saw a group of friends and family waiting for him just outside the thick black bars Dib (in blue) immediately hugged a male friend as he walked out from behind the prison gates His grin broadened as he wrapped his arms around his friends and family He was greeted at the prison gates by friends and family, with Dib immediately hugged by a male friend. His grin broadened as he wrapped his arms around the man. Dib continued to embrace more friends and family members as he made his way to the prison parking lot, holding a plastic bag filled with items in one hand. He then jumped into the back of a friend's bright orange car and drove away. Dib (pictured center) waited as the black bars were opened and he could see friends and family waiting just outside 'The applicant is to be released from jail forthwith,' Justice Clifton Hoeben told the Court of Criminal Appeal after the announcement of the unanimous decision Dib continued to embrace more friends and family members as he made his way to the parking lot Dib's release came after an appeal panel ruled that there was room to doubt the identity of the person who shot the man and woman in Punchbowl. 'My analysis of the evidence has led me to conclude that it was not open for the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the applicant was the person who shot [AB] and the deceased,' Chief Judge at Common Law, Justice Clifton Hoeben, said in court. HOW DIB WAS RELEASED EARLY FROM PRISON Mustapha Dib was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison in 2012 for murdering a 20-year-old woman. The 20-year-old woman and her male partner were shot while sitting in their car on a Sydney street in 2000. The deceased woman's partner told police he was shot by Dib and identified him by his nickname 'Fairy'. He recanted his story once he had recovered and fled to Syria The man was later tracked down and extradited back to Australia and testified during Dib's 2012 trial where he repeatedly told the jury that the gunman was wearing a balaclava. Acting Justice Graham Barr said he was satisfied Dib had sought to silence the male victim, believing he was a police informer and potential witness against him in the fatal stabbing of Sydney schoolboy Edward Lee in 1998. On Monday, a three-judge panel ruled unanimously that evidence given by the man during the trial, identifying Dib as the shooter, was unreliable. The fast speed of the events during the 2000 shooting and the lack of light would have made it difficult for the witness to identify Dib as the shooter, the judges concluded. Because of the panel's findings, Dib's sentence was 'quashed' and he was ordered to be immediately released from custody. Advertisement 'The evidence has left me with a reasonable doubt on that issue and that is a doubt which the jury should also have had.' 'The applicant is to be released from jail forthwith,' Justice Clifton Hoeben told the Court of Criminal Appeal after the announcement of the unanimous decision. Dib (pictured) walked out of the prison while holding a plastic bag filled with items in one hand Family and friends looked overjoyed as Dib was released early from prison Dib (pictured) made his way through waves of reporters and into the parking lot He then got into the back seat of a friend's bright orange ute (pictured) Dib, who was previously known only as 'Z' as he was 17 at the time of the shooting, was accused of firing four shots into the car of the man and woman outside their home. The pair's two-year-old child was also in the vehicle at the time, but was not injured. The woman was hit once in the stomach and again through her upper back, killing her. Her partner, known as AB, was shot in the neck. In sentencing in 2012, Acting Justice Graham Barr said he was satisfied Dib had sought to silence the male victim, believing he was a police informer in the fatal stabbing of Sydney schoolboy Edward Lee in 1998 Previously known only as 'Z' as he was 17 at the time of the incident - it was alleged Dib had fired four shots into the couple's car after waiting outside their home While recovering in hospital, the deceased woman's partner had initially told police he was shot by the then 29-year-old, identifying him by his nickname 'Fairy'. But he later retracted this identification and fled to Syria. The man was tracked down and extradited back to Australia and testified during Dib's trial, when he repeatedly told the jury that the gunman was wearing a balaclava. Bethany Wikeepa, who was Dib's former girlfriend and professed her love for him when he was convicted and jailed in July 2012, married another man soon after and has since welcomed a baby boy Bethany Wikeepa got engaged to another man - Jason Wikeepa - several months after Dib was jailed Dib pleaded guilty to 14-year-old Edward Lee's manslaughter and was sentenced to a minimum of five years At Dib's 2012 sentencing, Acting Justice Graham Barr said he was satisfied Dib had sought to silence the male victim, believing he was a police informer and potential witness against him in the fatal stabbing of Sydney schoolboy Edward Lee in 1998. Dib pleaded guilty to the 14-year-old's manslaughter and was sentenced to a minimum of five years. Several months after Dib was jailed for the woman's murder, his now 30-year-old former partner became engaged to New Zealand man Jason Wikeepa. The couple married in late 2013 and welcomed their son in April this year. Mrs Wikeepa, a devout Mormon, has two young daughters from before she started dating Dib. 'The evidence has left me with a reasonable doubt on that issue and that is a doubt which the jury should also have had,' Chief Judge at Common Law, Justice Clifton Hoeben, said in court on Momday. Mrs Wikeepa, a devout Mormon, has two young daughters from before she started dating Dib Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are to warn of the dangers of leaving the EU to help David Cameron win his fight to keep Britain in the union. Labour sources said the former prime ministers were being lined up to intervene despite warnings it could backfire. You will see Tony and Gordon during the campaign, a source said. Exactly how that works and what they do is being finalised. But they are both unequivocal about the case for Britain remaining in the EU and they are both brilliant campaigners. Why wouldnt we want to use them? Tony Blair (centre) and Gordon Brown (right) are to warn of the dangers of leaving the EU to help David Cameron win his fight to keep Britain in the union It is the latest sign that the Establishment is preparing to close ranks behind Mr Cameron when he concludes his negotiations with Brussels on a new deal for Britain, probably at the end of this week. The Prime Minister has already invited US President Barack Obama to the UK to bolster the campaign for EU membership in the coming months, when he is expected to make a big, public reach-out to British voters. And former Tory prime minister Sir John Major will also back Mr Cameron. It will mean all living British prime ministers past and present will be supporting EU membership. Eurosceptic Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg predicted the intervention of Mr Blair and Mr Brown would end up strengthening the leave campaign. I cannot think of anyone more likely to remind people of what is wrong with the Establishment view of the world than Tony Blair, he said. I am delighted. Mr Blair is perhaps the least trusted politician in Britain. He added: Gordon Brown is the man who boasted he had abolished boom and bust before leading us into the worst recession for decades. Between them, they are untrusted and incompetent. When you also have foreign potentates being lined up to tell us we would be better off in the EU, it just looks like the patronising Establishment telling people what is best for them. Campaigners acknowledge the deployment of Mr Blair, in particular, is not risk-free. The former prime minister, still said to harbour ambitions of becoming EU president, tried to take the UK into the euro, saying it was Britains destiny to ditch the pound. Labour sources said the former prime ministers were being lined up to intervene despite warnings it could backfire He also presided over the open-borders policy that allowed hundreds of thousands of eastern European migrants to travel to Britain a decade ago. And he was responsible for giving away a large chunk of Britains annual budget rebate, costing the country billions. He is expected to join forces with the cross-party Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, of which Lord Mandelson is a board member. Mr Brown is set to team up with the separate Labour In for Britain campaign led by former home secretary Alan Johnson, where he will try to repeat the role he played in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In the closing stages of the campaign he made a series of tub-thumping speeches at rallies that were credited with swinging the debate back in favour of the Union. Dual-headed reptile is named after two Japanese samurai swords A reptile breeder got more than he bargained for when one of his snake's eggs hatched two weekends ago, revealing a baby coastal carpet python with two-heads. The Siamese snake was born from a clutch of 10 eggs, after John McNamara bred his five-year-old female 'Mum' with a male snake owned by a fellow breeder, according to The Border Mail. From the tail upwards, the snake appears to be normal but when it reaches the neck, the scaly body splits in half, with two separate and completely formed heads. Scroll down for video The two-headed snake Katana and Wakizashi, born in captivity in Wodonga, near the Victoria and New South Wales border Mr McNamara, who initially thought the egg had hatched twins, said the snake's birth was similar to a human case of anomaly. 'There would have been two yolks and they just haven't split properly... and I ended up with this,' he said. 'I've got lots of mates that breed reptiles, and I have rung around and it's pretty rare in the trade. 'To be alive still is even rarer.' Reptile breeder John McNamara's daughter has nicknamed the dual-headed reptile (pictured above) 'The Twin Destroyers' The dual-headed reptile, born in captivity in Wodonga, north east of Victoria near the New South Wales border, has been named Katana and Wakizashi. The names refer to two types of Japanese swords which, when they worked together, formed the official sign that a wearer was a samurai or swordsman of feudal Japan. The pair of swords were called daisho, which translates as 'big-little'. Although the snake's gender is not known, Mr McNamara's daughter has been referring to it as 'The Twin Destroyer'. University of Melbourne senior lecturer Ben Phillips, who works in the School of BioSciences, said depending on how well everything was integrated in the snake, it could live in captivity for years. However, he said the first time the snake is fed would be crucial. Bugmy was in jail for minor property offences - it was his second jail stint will be launching an internal review A man has escaped from prison after officers failed to catch him when he was spotted outside the perimeter fence and ran off on foot. Nicholas Myles Bugmy was reported missing by prison staff at the New South Wales Broken Hill Correctional Centre on Sunday afternoon. The 27-year-old served just 10 days of his sentence for minor property offences , which was his second stint in jail. Nicholas Myles Bugmy was reported missing by prison staff at the New South Wales Broken Hill Correctional Centre on Sunday afternoon Bugmy is described as being of Aboriginal appearance, between 165 and 170 centimetres tall, with a medium build and a tattoo on his neck that says 'superman' Bugmy is described as being of Aboriginal appearance, between 165 and 170 centimetres tall, with a medium build and a tattoo on his neck that says 'superman'. A Corrective Services NSW spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that the department will be launching an internal review. 'After every escape the department looks into it and reviews the prison's policy.' Barrier Local Area Command crime manager Mick Stoltenberg said the escapee was last seen wearing prison greens needed to be caught 'as soon as possible' Mugshot: Bugmy was last seen wearing prison greens and running shoes Bugmy is not considered dangerous, but police urged the public not to approach 'Also, it's a perfect opportunity to give a reminder that anyone who is found to assist Bugmy or any other escapee whilst at large will be committing a criminal offence,' Stolenberg told ABC News. Bugmy is not considered dangerous, but police urged the public not to approach. Detective Inspector Stoltenberg said a police operation was underway to return Bugmy to prison. Children who text naked photos of themselves to friends will no longer face prosecution and a possible criminal record under proposed new guidance. Currently a teenager's name can be stored for up to 100 years on the national police database if an officer is told the child sent an explicit image. Any child aged under 18 caught 'sexting' can be hauled to court and placed on the sex offenders' register. Scroll down for video Children in Britain who text naked photos of themselves to friends will no longer face prosecution and a possible criminal record under proposed new guidance on 'sexting', it has emerged (file picture, posed) This could hamper their chances of getting a job because potential employers could learn of the incident if they conducted a criminal record check. But following concerns that the system is too draconian and risks criminalising millions of teenagers who consensually share racy photos with their partners or friends, the rules are being relaxed. Guidance to be sent to police forces within weeks will reflect the fact that the authorities could be overwhelmed investigating 'sexting' even though it has become a normal part of growing up. It will tell officers to take into account the ages of the children involved, whether a school pupil has been coerced into sending or receiving an image and if the pictures show full frontal nudity. Serious cases would include using graphic image to bully a child or the distribution of intimate photographs to lots of people as an act of revenge. Minor incidents would be passed to counsellors or social workers, but would not result in the youngster being prosecuted. Police officers will be given the option of recording cases in a new crime-related behaviour category that says 'further investigation is not in the public interest'. Guidelines will also make clear that a child's police record for sexting should not be passed to the Disclosure and Barring Service, which vets candidates for jobs such as teaching and working with elderly people. Last year, a 14-year-old boy was logged on the police database for sending a naked selfie to a girl he had been flirting with on Snapchat (pictured) It follows a furious row last year over a 14-year-old boy who was logged on the police database for sending a naked selfie to a girl of the same age he had been flirting with on Snapchat. The incident was recorded as a crime of making and distributing an indecent image of a child by Greater Manchester Police - even though the boy sent it himself. The teenager was warned that if he applied for a job that required a criminal records check in the future it could be highlighted potentially harming his job prospects. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that more than 1,000 under-18s have been investigated by police for alleged sexting since 2012. Rob Campbell, a member of the executive of the National Association of Head Teachers, said it was often hard for teachers to balance the effects of sexting with the ramifications of reporting it to police. He said: 'It's a very difficult decision to make when has the line been crossed? If a 14-year-old is in a relationship and sends a scantily clad picture of herself to a boy, is that OK? 'If they then break up and he distributes it, it becomes revenge porn. If I don' t report it, I might be enabling someone who then goes on to exploit girls.' Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney, the lead for children and young people on the National Police Chiefs' Council, said officers wanted to avoid the 'unnecessary criminalisation of young people'. But she added: 'Sexting may seem like a harmless or normal activity but there are many risks. Once circulated, the sender loses all control of that image and can cause significant distress when it gets into wider hands.' Officers are aware that 'sexts' involving children can end up in the hands of paedophiles. A spokesman for the NSPCC children's charity said: 'Our stance has always been that we do not want children to be criminalised for sexting.' Home Office minister Karen Bradley said: 'We have been clear that the police must accurately record the crimes that members of the public report to them it is essential victims have confidence they will be taken seriously and their crime will be dealt with properly. 'Even seemingly minor offences can involve significant harm to the victim, or be part of a long-running pattern of victimisation. If a member of the public reports an incident that amounts to a crime, the police must record it as such.' Kate McCann believes her missing daughter Madeleine is still alive and is not a 'million miles' from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz where she was snatched nine years ago. The 47-year-old mother-of-three said the Portuguese resort is where she 'feels closest' to Maddie, who disappeared from the bed of her holiday apartment on May 3, 2007 at the age of three. Speaking ahead of Maddie's 13th birthday, Ms McCann said: 'Praia da Luz is where I feel closest to her. That's where she last was and I don't think she's been taken a million miles from there.' Kate McCann, 47 (pictured left with her husband Gerry), believes her missing daughter Madeleine is still alive and is not a 'million miles' from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal where she disappeared in 2007 Ms McCann said the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz is where she 'feels closest' to her daughter Maddie, who disappeared from the bed of her holiday apartment (pictured above) on May 3, 2007 at the age of three The youngster disappeared from her holiday apartment as her parents Kate and Gerry, from Rothley, Leicestershire, dined with friends just yards away. Since Maddie vanished, every possible theory has been explored, including that she was kidnapped by a paedophile, killed during a botched burglary and her body dumped, snatched by traffickers and sold to a childless couple and that she wandered out of the apartment and died in a tragic accident. Despite almost 9,000 potential 'sightings', the youngster has never been found and last year Scotland Yard announced it would be winding down the 10million investigation to find her. The Met has cut the number of officers working on the case from 29 to four, after running out of leads to follow having probed 60 suspects and investigated more than 650 paedophiles. Despite the cutbacks to the investigation, Ms McCann said she and her husband believe their daughter is still very much and alive and 'probably never left the country'. She said her years of research into missing people cases had taught her that kidnapped children are usually not taken very far away. 'It's all only speculation, but we've learned that's usually the case,' she said. Gerry McCann is pictured with daughter Madeleine (far right) splashing in the pool with their feet on the day she vanished. This is the last photo taken of the three-year-old Last year, British detectives returned to Portugal with sniffer dogs and sifted through scrubland on their hands and knees - 1,000ft from where young Maddie vanished nine years ago. However, they found no trace of her Her comments came as she launched a campaign to get a million people in Britain to sign up for missing child alerts The Royal Mail-funded scheme sends appeals to phones, computers and tablets when a child goes missing. Ms McCann believes her daughter may have been found within hours had the Child Rescue Alerts been around when she disappeared in 2007. She said: 'It's nearly nine years and that's so ridiculous and so unbelievable. You think, 'Gosh that could have been hours, or a day'. THE HUNT FOR MADDIE IN NUMBERS 40,000 documents from United Kingdom and foreign law enforcement agencies looked 1,338 statements taken and 1,027 exhibits. 7,154 actions were raised and 560 lines of inquiry identified. 60 persons of interest. 650 sex offenders have also been considered 8,685 potential sightings of Madeleine around the world. 200 emails a week and around 7,000 responses to appeals Advertisement 'If enough people had been mobilised and galvanised early then who knows what the outcome would have been.' Despite Scotland Yard's investigation into her missing daughter being scaled back, Ms McCann said she and her husband who also have twins will 'never give up'. She said: 'Nine years. Time just goes too quickly. It's the quiet times that are tough. Times when you are thinking about her or something related to her. 'The urge to look for Madeleine absolutely hasn't changed at all. You hear all the time about people who have been missing for years being found. There have been so many cases like that. 'We will never give up. You couldn't settle if you thought about giving up. I want an end, an answer. Whatever that it is.' Last year, British detectives returned to Portugal with sniffer dogs and sifted through scrubland on their hands and knees - 1,000ft from where Maddie vanished nine years ago. They also used radar scanners that could penetrate to depths of up to 13ft (four metres) at several but found no trace of her. A string of public appeals have been made over the last nine years in a bid to help find Maddie (pictured left), including several computer-generated impressions predicting what she would look like now (shown right) Despite almost 9,000 potential 'sightings', the youngster has never been found and last year Scotland Yard announced it would be winding down the 10million investigation to find her. Pictured: Met Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who was in charge of the hunt leading a team of 29 officers until it was cut to four Since joining Portuguese detectives in the hunt for Maddie, the Met's investigation team has taken more than 1,338 statements and collected 1,027 exhibits raising 560 lines of inquiry. There have also been more than 30 international requests to countries asking for work to be undertaken on behalf of the Met. To register for Child Rescue Alerts, text HERO and your postcode to 85080. It is estimated that about six alerts per year are likely to be sent when police believe the life of a missing child is in imminent danger. Registration costs a standard network text message rate. It is free to sign up at: www.childrescuealert.org.uk A Pakistani student employed at 7-Eleven claims he was paid just 47 cents an hour to work at the convenience store chain. Lawyers for the man, identified only as Sohail, said he was paid $325 for 695 hours of work at a store in Sydney. He was in Australia on a student visa completing a diploma in accounting, and was working an average of 55 hours a week while studying. A Pakistani student employed at 7-Eleven was paid just 47 cents an hour at a Sydney store Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, who are representing at least 60 former 7-Eleven employees who believe they were underpaid, said many overseas workers were not aware of their rights. 'Without exception every one of our 7-Eleven clients have said they were unaware of their rights, how much they should be paid or how many hours they should work,' Maurice Blackburn Employment Principal Giri Sivaraman said. 'They also didnt know who to turn to when they wanted to make a complaint. An education program could be a good start to preventing another national wage scandal the size of 7-Eleven,' he added. This week the first of around 60 former 7-Eleven employees have received over $90,000 in back pay, with some expected to claim as much as $270,000 in the coming months. Pranay Alawala worked in three 7-Eleven stores in Brisbane and was paid between $12-$15 an hour depending on the franchise. He also undertook a week of 'training' for which he received no payment. However when he complained his employer threatened to tell immigration he had been working too many hours, in breach of his student visa. Another former employee, Pranay Alawala (second from right), was paid between $12 and $15 at a number of Brisbane franchises 7-Eleven told Daily Mail Australia they did not have a 'legal responsibility' to pay back the workers This week he was awarded $33,000 in back pay. 'An entire day's work would only buy some 7-Eleven staff a single cup of coffee,' Mr Sivaraman said of the case. 'This indicates the scale of this horrific employee exploitation. It should not be happening in Australia, we are not a third world country.' A spokesman for 7-Eleven told Daily Mail Australia the lawyers at Maurice Blackburn are dealing with an independent board in regards to the complaints and they did not know specifics of the cases. '7-Eleven does not condone the underpayment of works and does not condone the breaching of any workplace obligations. 'An entire day's work would only buy some 7-Eleven staff a single cup of coffee,' Maurice Blackman lawyer Giri Sivaraman said 'The company has committed to ensuring that people that have been underpaid by their franchisees will be re-payed,' the spokesman said. 'While we don't have any legal responsibility to meet those payments we believe that it is the right and appropriate thing to do to make sure those who have been underpaid, get paid.' All stores in question were owned by franchisees and therefore responsible for their own employees, however 7-Eleven said they had implemented a range of measures to prevent any similar events. The gesture is a demonstration of the Pope's belief that Indians have an important role to play in modern-day Mexico He will go further by celebrating Mexico's Indians in ways the local church hierarchy has often sought to play down The first Latin American Pope has already issued a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes Pope's visit to San Cristobal de las Casasis also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in the country Advertisement Pope Francis has used a Mexican Mass to warn the world of the dangers of 'one of the greatest environmental crises; in its history'. The first Latin American pontiff used an open-air service in San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas State, to address the issues. He also asked Mexico's Indians for forgiveness after issuing a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes. Scroll down for video Celebration: Pope Francis will deliver Mass in three native languages thanks to a new Vatican decree approving their use in liturgy The first Latin American pontiff used an open-air service in San Cristobal de las Casas to address the issues. Pictured is the Pope arriving for Mass People look on at San Cristobal de las Casas, where Pope Francis took Mass. He is the first Latin American Pope in history Pope Francis kisses a child from the Popemobile upon arrival in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas State for his second open-air mass Pope Francis waves from the window of his helicopter as he arrives in San Cristobal de las Casas, in the Chiapas State, Mexico Francis has already issued a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against indigenous people in Latin America Faithful wave at Pope Francis's arriving helicopter at the Victor Manuel Reyna stadium in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas State, Mexico Pope Francis waves to faithful as he flies aboard of an helicopter over the Viktor Manuel Reyna stadium in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico He said: 'The environmental challenge that we are experiencing and its human causes, affects us all and demands our response. 'We can no longer remain silent before one of the greatest environmental crises in world history,' he told the indigenous congregants. 'In this regard, you have much to teach us. Your peoples... know how to interact harmoniously with nature,' he added. 'And yet, on many occasions, in a systematic and organized way, your people have been misunderstood and excluded from society,' he said. 'How sad this is! How worthwhile it would be for each of us to examine our conscience and learn to say, 'Forgive me!' Today's world, ravaged as it is by a throwaway culture, needs you!' 'In this regard, you have much to teach us,' he added, speaking under clear blue skies at a sports complex in the mountain city of San Cristobal de las Casas. The soft sounds of marimbas accompanied the opening the Mass in front of a replica of the brilliant yellow and red facade of the Sans Cristobal de las Casas cathedral, which Francis was scheduled to visit later in the day. Crowds chanted 'Francis friend, San Cristobal is with you' as he arrived. Some 500,000 faithful were expected to see the pope in the city, including about 100,000 who gathered on the dirt field for the Mass. The visit, at the midway mark of Francis' five-day trip to Mexico, is also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in Mexico. Francis has already issued a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against indigenous people in Latin America. Children greet the first Latin American Pope in history as he arrives at the Victor Manuel Reyna stadium in Tuxtla Gutierrez The soft sounds of marimbas accompanied the opening the Mass in front of a replica of the brilliant yellow and red facade of the Sans Cristobal de las Casas cathedral, which Francis was scheduled to visit later in the day Thousands of indigenous Mexicans flocked to a field in the impoverished southern state of Chiapas to attend Pope Francis' mass in three native languages Blessing: Pope Francis leans out from his Popemobile and kisses a newborn baby after arriving in San Cristobal de las Casas Faith: The Pope's visit to San Cristobal de las Casas is also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in the country Pope Francis is welcomed as he arrives for a meeting with families in the VIctor Manuel Reyna stadium in Tuxtla Gutierrez Today he was celebrating their culture in ways the local church hierarchy has often sought to play down, in a clear demonstration of his belief that Indians have an important role to play in Mexico today. 'I ask you to show singular tenderness in the way you regard indigenous peoples and their fascinating but not infrequently decimated cultures,' Francis told Mexico's bishops Saturday in a speech outlining their marching orders. 'The indigenous people of Mexico still await true recognition of the richness of their contribution and the fruitfulness of their presence.' The Mexican hierarchy has long bristled at the region's 'Indian church,' a mixture of Catholicism and indigenous culture that can include pine boughs, eggs and references to 'God the Father and Mother' in services. It was a tradition that was embraced by the late bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, Samuel Ruiz, who ran afoul of both the Mexican church and the Vatican at times for his use of the local ways. Pope Francis reached out to Mexico's long-marginalized indigenous population, asking for forgiveness over their exclusion as he celebrated an open-air mass in native languages in impoverished Chiapas state The Mexican hierarchy has long bristled at the region's 'Indian church,' a mixture of Catholicism and indigenous culture that can include pine boughs, eggs and references to 'God the Father and Mother' in services Pope Francis looks on a child while arriving to celebrate Mass in San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas State, Mexico Worshippers began filing shortly after midnight into the site of the Mass, which included readings, prayers and hymns in the three main indigenous languages of Chiapas: Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol, which are spoken by just over one million people, according to Mexico's latest census The Pope was presenting an official decree authorizing the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin Pope Francis adjusts his zucchetto as he arrives on the Popemobile in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico Despite the Pope's overture, residents of Chiapas said they believe Francis is coming mostly to confirm their faith, not their status as indigenous Pope Francis peers from the window of his helicopter as he arrives in San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas State, Mexico Worshippers began filing shortly after midnight into the site of the Mass, which included readings, prayers and hymns in the three main indigenous languages of Chiapas: Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol, which are spoken by just over one million people, according to Mexico's latest census. The Pope was presenting an official decree authorizing the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin. Despite the Pope's overture, residents of Chiapas said they believe Francis is coming mostly to confirm their faith, not their status as indigenous. 'It doesn't matter that I'm indigenous; I think it's more that I'm Catholic,' said Emanuel Gomez, a 22-year-old Tzotzil who planned to attend the Mass. 'The pope comes to encourage our hearts and faith as Catholics.' He added, though, that the visit would 'lift us up so we don't feel scorned by the powerful and rich.' According to government statistics about 46 percent of Mexicans were living in poverty in 2014. That number surges in Chiapas, where some 76 percent were living in poverty, 32 percent in extreme poverty. The Pope was presenting an official decree authorising the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin The Pope was presenting an official decree authorizing the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin Welcoming: Pope Francis wears a crown of flowers, gifted to him by indigenous Mexicans, as he arrives to the airport in Tuxtla Gutierrez Pope Francis is celebrating Mexico's Indians on Monday with a visit to Chiapas state, a centre of indigenous culture After the Mass, Francis was scheduled to hear testimony from a handful of Chiapas families about the hardships they face Francis has insisted that his is a 'poor church, for the poor.' After the Mass, Francis was scheduled to hear testimony from a handful of Chiapas families about the hardships they face. 'He comes to redeem an entire struggle by the people,' said the Rev. Marcelino Perez, an indigenous priest who was charged with translating the homily into Tzotzil. The Pope has frequently expressed admiration for indigenous peoples, particularly their sense of custodianship of the environment. As archbishop in Argentina, he was heavily responsible for a major document of the entire Latin American church hierarchy in which bishops praised the harmonious way indigenous people live with nature. Indigenous communities have legal rights to much of Mexico's forest and desert lands, and have long battled with outsiders to protect them - and to share in the revenues they produce. Mining and commercial logging interests that were granted concessions by national or state governments long denuded or polluted indigenous lands. People wait for the arrival of Pope Francis for an open-air mass in San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas State Forgiveness: The Pope has already issued an apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against the continent's indigenous San Cristobal is home to two of the most famed religious defenders of indigenous people in Mexican history: Bishops Bartolome de las Casas in the 16th century and Samuel Ruiz, who died in 2011. Both were beloved by indigenous people and widely reviled among the wealthy classes and much of the church hierarchy. Many officials accused Ruiz of acting on behalf of the Zapatista rebels in their 1994 uprising for greater indigenous rights. Part of the liberation theology movement that swept Latin America after Vatican II, Ruiz tried to fend off the rapid growth of Protestant denominations by adapting to indigenous customs. Francis is celebrating Mexico's Indians today with a visit to Chiapas state, a center of indigenous culture, where he presided over a Mass in three native languages thanks to a new Vatican decree approving their use in liturgy An indigenous woman holds a flag decorated with the face of Pope Francis during Mass with the pontiff in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico One of his controversial measures was to rely heavily on married male lay workers because local culture granted more respect to men with children than to childless, celibate men such as priests. Some in the church worried the married deacons were taking on priestly functions. In 2002, under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican asked the Chiapas diocese to halt deacon ordinations. But under Francis, the ordinations were renewed in 2014. In a sign that Ruiz remains a controversial figure, the Vatican declined to say whether Francis would pray at his tomb during his visit to the cathedral. 'There are many who feel he was more of a political figure than a religious one, often disregarding that the motivation for all that he did was Jesus Christ,' Dorantes said. Francis's visit to the largely indigenous and least Catholic state in Mexico comes in the middle of a five-day trip that he has already used to speak out against crime and corruption. Faithful: Crowds of excited people wave flags and their hairs while waiting for the arrival of the Pope in San Cristobal de las Casas Joy: People share a laugh with each other while waiting in a big crowd for Pope Francis to celebrate Mass with them in Mexico The Pope's visit comes amid strong challenges to the church in the southern state. Huge inroads have been made by evangelical Protestants who have helped turn Chiapas into the least Catholic and one of the most Protestant and evangelical in Mexico. According to the 2010 census, Chiapas was 58 per cent Catholic, compared to a national average of 83 per cent. Relations between the two groups haven't always been smooth. In some communities, residents have expelled or ostracized any inhabitant who converts to Protestantism, often taking their lands or possessions, or denying them access to basic services like water or electricity. The Mass will include readings, prayers and hymns in the three main indigenous languages of Chiapas: Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol Despite the Pope's overture, residents of Chiapas said they believe Francis is coming to confirm their faith, not their status as indigenous Indigenous women wait at the site where Pope Francis will celebrate Mass during his one-day visit in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico Pope Francis has close personal friendships in the evangelical and Protestant communities, but it is unclear how he might tackle the Protestant-Catholic divide in Chiapas State Francis has close personal friendships in the evangelical and Protestant communities, but it is unclear how he might tackle the Protestant-Catholic divide in Chiapas. San Cristobal is home to two of the most famed religious defenders of indigenous people in Mexican history: Bishops Bartolome de las Casas in the 16th century and Samuel Ruiz, who died in 2011. Both were beloved by indigenous people and widely reviled among the wealthy classes and much of the church hierarchy. Many officials accused Ruiz of acting on behalf of the Zapatista rebels in their 1994 uprising for greater indigenous rights. Part of the liberation theology movement that swept Latin America after Vatican II, Ruiz tried to fend off the rapid growth of Protestant denominations by adapting to indigenous customs. PHOTOGRAPHER PLUCKS UP THE COURAGE TO ASK POPE FRANCIS FOR A SELFIE WHILE FLYING OVER THE ATLANTIC Reuters photographer Max Rossi managed to get a selfie with Pope Francis while flying over the Atlantic Ocean. The snapper said he plucked up the courage to ask the pontiff to please his family. It went down well with the Pope and also Mr Rossi's colleagues, who were quite jealous that they had not thought to do the same thing. Mr Rossi said: 'It's not every day you get a selfie with the pope. I took this photo high above the Atlantic en route to Mexico. 'I asked Pope Francis to have a selfie with me for my family. My argument was simple: it's common to see people asking for a selfie with him. To my delight, he said yes. 'People around me congratulated me. Comments from my colleagues about this selfie were all pleasant although some regretted not having asked the same question. The contact between Francis and the press is very gracious. Reuters photographer Max Rossi takes a selfie photograph with Pope Francis while flying over the Atlantic Ocean 'I have also travelled with Pope Benedict and John Paul II: three Popes with very different attitudes and personalities but each one an incredible person. This trip has been particularly demanding. 'We usually wake up around 4am and get back to our hotel about 9pm. An assignment like this is really hard, not least as we carry a lot of gear all day. 'Even so it's very exciting and the effort is worth it. The pictures you take are important. A sense of occasion is everywhere too, that gives you energy. 'People in Mexico are very excited, you can feel their devotion. Everyone tries to get a selfie or at least a photo to commemorate his visit. 'Mexican clergy have got in on the act, taking pictures as the Pope prayed in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.' Advertisement The Pope has friendships in the evangelical and Protestant communities, but it is unclear how he may tackle the Protestant-Catholic divide Challenging: The Pope's visit comes amid strong challenges to the church in the southern state, including huge inroads by evangelical Protestants who have helped turn Chiapas into the least Catholic and one of the most Protestant and evangelical in Mexico In a sign that Ruiz remains a controversial figure, the Vatican declined to say whether Francis would pray at his tomb during his visit to the cathedral today One of his controversial measures was to rely heavily on married male lay workers because local culture granted more respect to men with children than to childless, celibate men such as priests. Some in the church worried the married deacons were taking on priestly functions. In 2002, under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican asked the Chiapas diocese to halt deacon ordinations. But under Francis, the ordinations were renewed in 2014. In a sign that Ruiz remains a controversial figure, the Vatican declined to say whether Francis would pray at his tomb during his visit to the cathedral today. 'There are many who feel he was more of a political figure than a religious one, often disregarding that the motivation for all that he did was Jesus Christ,' Dorantes said. The pontiff is flying back to Mexico City to spend the night. Tomorrow he is due in the city of Morelia in the gang-plagued state of Michoacan. He will visit the cathedral and celebrate Mass with priests, seminarians and other religious men and women. According to the 2010 census, the state of Chiapas was only 58 per cent Catholic, compared to a national average of 83 per cent Pope Francis is welcomed by indigenous communities in Chiapas at the Airport Angel Albino Corzo in Tuxla Gutierrez, Mexico, An indigenous woman prays as Pope Francis celebrates a mass with representatives of the indigenous communities of Chiapas in San Cristobal de Las Casas There were scenes of jubilation in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas State, as Pope Francis arrived in the Popemobile Indigenous Mexicans dress up and wait for the arrival of Pope Francis in the Chiapas State. He is the first Latin American pontiff in history A South Korean lawmaker has called for Kim Jong-un to be assassinated, saying it was the only way to stop the North's controversial nuclear programme. Ha Tae-keung, a member of the National Assembly, said 'everybody will be happy' if the dictator is 'removed'. He told South Korea's YTN radio station: 'Kim Jong-un is a criminal. Getting rid of a criminal is appropriate and does not violate international laws.' Mr Ha said Kim should face justice like Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who was sentenced to death after being ousted from power by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Scroll down for video 'Getting rid of a criminal does not violate international laws': A South Korean lawmaker has called for Kim Jong-un to be assassinated, saying it was the only way to stop the North's controversial nuclear programme His comments came as Kim vowed to put more satellites in space, further defying the international community which is preparing additional sanctions over its long-range rocket launch earlier this month. He was speaking at a banquet to congratulate the scientists, technicians and officials who contributed to the February 7 launch. Kim noted that the mission had come at 'a complex time when hostile forces are more bloody-eyed than ever to strangle' the North, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday. North Korea sparked international anger with the launch of the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite, which came just a month after its fourth nuclear test. Warpath: Kim vowed to put more satellites in space, further defying the international community which is preparing additional sanctions over its long-range rocket launch, the latest phase of its nuclear prgramme The launch, which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test, violated multiple UN resolutions banning the nuclear-armed country from the use of ballistic technology. Kim said the success of the launch was made possible by the team's 'blood-sealed trust' in the ruling party and added that the scientists' sweat had provided the rocket's main fuel. He urged the gathering to use the success as a springboard 'to achieve higher targets and thus launch more working satellites,' KCNA said. Damon Kelly, 54, from Corby, Northamptonshire, who was banned from leafleting after distributing more than 40,000 hate pamphlets across the UK has had the order overturned at Leicester Crown Court A 'monk' banned from handing out homophobic leaflets after harassing a lesbian couple has had the order overturned by a judge. who ruled that he had the 'right' to express his views. Damon Kelly, 54, distributed more than 40,000 hate pamphlets across the UK which described homosexuality and gay marriage as 'sinful' and 'the work of the devil'. But after magistrates handed the self-styled monk a criminal behaviour order, banning him from leafleting, Kelly, who lives in Corby, Northamptonshire, appealed his sentence. A crown court judge has now overturned the order, allowing him back on the streets after claiming that he has a 'right to express the views'. During a hearing at Leicester Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Dean QC, lifted the ban, describing it as 'almost a hammer to crack a nut'. Kelly, who is part of a Catholic group who call themselves the Black Hermits, had repeatedly targeted a pagan lesbian couple living in Leicester branding them 'witches', magistrates had heard. When they confronted him about his views, he told them: 'We used to burn people like you. I'm doing God's work', the court heard Dressed in black robes, he also delivered a handwritten letter to their home in Leicester addressed: 'To the witches from the monk'. In it, he wrote that 'witches gays, lesbians and sex-changers' are 'part of the devil's madness'. Passing sentence at Leicester Magistrates Court last October, magistrates ruled that Kelly should carry out 170 hours of unpaid work. They also banned him from leafleting or visiting homes to distribute the pamphlets without prior permission after he pleaded guilty to harassment charges. Leaving court, Kelly said: 'You will not stop the word of God.' Speaking at the time, Lisa Morris, from the Crown Prosecution Service, told the BBC: 'The right of free speech is extremely important in our society, but when this crosses the line into harassment, it is important that the public is protected.' Under the initial order, Kelly was prohibited from distributing unsolicited material about religious, sexual or reproductive topics to any residential, commercial or academic address in England and Wales for five years. But concluding an appeal hearing on Thursday, Judge Dean ruled that the magistrates' order was 'not appropriate'. He added: 'No one in this country has a right to be protected from offensive material or from material that causes anger. 'This defendant, as any individual in this jurisdiction, has a right to believe in the views in the leaflet and the right to express the views, so long as it doesn't stray beyond the law. Kelly, 54, was given a criminal behaviour order after distributing pamphlets across the UK which described homosexuality and gay marriage as 'sinful' and 'the work of the devil' but has now had the order overturned 'If he causes harassment, alarm or distress in the future, it would be a criminal offence and he would be punished.' Ben Isaacs, representing Kelly, said his client was entitled to hold and express his views and that was 'one of the cornerstones of democratic society'. As he told the court that his client was 'not hostile to these women', Kelly shouted: 'I don't hate them, I want the salvation of their souls'. Mr Isaacs said: 'He wants to get them to repent so their souls are saved, that's the motivation behind his conduct. He would say he was distributing God's message.' Amending the magistrates' sentence, Judge Dean imposed a six-month curfew between the hours of 3pm and midnight. Speaking outside court on Thursday, Kelly welcomed the amended sentence and vowed to continue leafleting. 'Leicester hasn't seen the last of me,' he said. Police investigating the death of Queensland schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer are offering a $250,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction over her murder. Authorities are confident there are people who know what happened to the 12-year-old Marsden State High School student - whose body was found on a northern Gold Coast riverbank in November. Police hope the incentive of a reward to the first person to contact them with information will bring some answers to the puzzle of how the young girl died. Tiahleigh Palmer (pictured), 12, went missing from her Logan school on October 30 and her body was found on the banks of a Gold Coast river six days later The reward offer also includes the offer of an appropriate indemnity from prosecution for any accomplices who provide the information. It has also been revealed that Tiahleigh was planning to meet someone on the morning on October 30 when she was last seen. In November friends and family of Tiahleigh said goodbye to the murdered schoolgirl during a solemn funeral service under leaden skies. There was standing room only as almost 600 mourners were on hand at the emotion-charged service held at the Te Rau Oriwa Brisbane Anglican Maori Mission, in Cornubia, 30 kilometres south-east of the Queensland capital. Hundreds of mourners were dressed in t-shirts in her favourite colour of purple, emblazoned with a heart and her name. Family members of Tiahleigh Palmer carry her white coffin during her funeral in November Her mother, Cyndi Palmer (pictured third from the left) walked behind her daughter's coffin with other family members gathered at the Anglican Maori Mission at Cornubia, 30 kilometres south-east of Brisbane She loved to dress up, go clothes shopping and to the movies always doing handstands, checking herself in the mirror and could change her clothes 10 times in 10 minutes, said Cyndi (pictured, centre) of her daughter Her mother Cyndi stands with Tiahleigh's stepdad, Steve, and her little sister during the funeral procession Two vociferous Maori hakas farewelled the schoolgirl as her white coffin was moved to the hearse and her dance troop from the Fitness and Dance Logan West performed in her honour. Her mother, Cyndi Palmer, and stepfather, Steve, walked hand-in-hand with Tialeigh's infant sister and numerous other family members behind her coffin which was decorated with purple, pink and white flowers. Too heartbroken to speak, Cyndi provided celebrant Rodney Schafferius with her words. Tia loved her music and to dance, she told him. Mourners released balloons at the end of the funeral service and performed a haka in her honour Mourners dressed in t-shirts in her favourite colour of purple, emblazoned with her name including a purple Pontiac car which led the cortege Her coffin was decorated with purple, pink and white flowers during the funeral Hundreds of mourners farewelled the young school girl Two vociferous Maori hakas (pictured) farewelled the schoolgirl and her dance troop from the Fitness and Dance Logan West performed in her honour She loved to dress up, go clothes shopping and to the movies always doing handstands, checking herself in the mirror and could change her clothes 10 times in 10 minutes. Stepdad Steve fought back tears as he thanked the fishermen and divers who located her body. If it wasnt for you wed still be looking, he said. Detectives have admitted they may never know who killed the 12-year-old. Cyndi, Steve and their infant daughter were surrounded by family and friends at the end of the service Close to 600 people attended the emotional funeral service Ms Palmer holds hands with her family members as she walked behind the procession There are no suspects in the murder of Tiahleigh. Police are appealing to anyone with information to come forward Tiahleigh's family, including her mother and stepfather (pictured) try to deal with their grief at the funeral They suspect she had planned to skip school on the day she disappeared and suggested she probably had a plan to meet somebody. Some of her classmates do know what happened on the day she disappeared, but aren't speaking up because they fear they'll get in trouble, officers said. The 12-year-old was last seen alive, when her foster carer dropped her at Marsden State High School at Logan, south of Brisbane, on October 30 and her body was found on the banks of a Gold Coast river six days later. 'The chances of her on the very day that she decides to wag it that she's picked up by a random person is statistically low, but we don't discount that,' Supt Hutchinson said. 'She was a gorgeous girl, she really was. A wild horse you might have been able to tame her but could never have broke her. She had a lovely spirit that kid,' her former carer said She was last seen in Marsden, south of Brisbane, on the morning of Friday, October 30 at around 8am. She was wearing her school uniform and purple Mambo backpack (left) A team of 60 officers were assigned to investigate her disappearance and were sorting through 327 tip-offs made to Crime Stoppers. Marsden High School captain Ian Pratt spoke at the funeral on behalf of her schoolmates. We have lost a bright and bully young lady who would lift a room, we have lost a smiling face we knew as Tia, he told the congregation. She was not always perfect but she was one of us, our school will never be the same place. We shall live each day in honour of Tia, weve lost one of our own. Tiahleigh with her 30-year-old mother (right) Celebrant Rodney Schafferius said all of Tiahleigh's family members described the young girl as beautiful. Was she a saint? No, she wasnt, shes a good girl with lots of good qualities and a couple of short-comings, no different to the rest of us, slightly imperfect, Mr Schafferius said. A group of fishermen found her decomposing body, without her school uniform or the distinctive purple backpack she was last seen with, on the banks of the Pimpama River on November 5. Police divers searched the Pimpama River for more evidence Tiahleigh's body was found near the bridge on November 5 but she was not wearing her school uniform or backpack Police believed her backpack and uniform were vital clues Officers believe she left school and met up with someone but said they are recieving conflicting stories from her school mates Her purple floral Mambo backpack, which had 'Mambo' printed the front in white font (similar pictured above) 'It should never have ended like this,' former carer Ms Pemberton told Daily Mail Australia. 'We need answers. She at least deserves that,' Supt Hutchinson said Tiahleigh with her mother Cyndi Palmer (centre) who hoped to regain custody of her daughter this month Tiahleigh and her mother shared a close bond and maintained contact while the little girl was in foster care One of Lee Rigby's killers has sparked outrage after being allowed to write letters to a pen pal urging him to convert to Islam and advising him on jihad while moaning about prison food, it is claimed. Michael Adebowale, 24, who is currently at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, after being jailed for life for the killing of Mr Rigby, told his pen pal to embrace Islam, adding: 'Allah has blessed me a lot.' Adebowale, a former Christian, also urged his friend to read a chapter in the Koran that tells the faithful to fight 'disbelievers' and 'kill them wherever you find them', while telling him that prison food 'ain't so good'. Michael Adebowale, 24 (left), who is currently at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, after being jailed for life for the killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby (right), has been writing letters to his pen pal urging him to convert to Islam Adebowale was jailed alongside Michael Adebolajo, 32, for murdering Mr Rigby with a meat cleaver and knives near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, south east London, in May 2013. They knocked Mr Rigby down in a car as he walked towards the barracks and then hacked him to death. Mr Rigby's father, Phil McClure, has now hit out at the prison service claiming the letter by Adebowale should never have been allowed to be sent. The 55-year-old told The Sun: 'How can he be preaching about Islam to a pen pal? He should have lost all his rights. 'It makes me sick. I thought his letters were supposed to be read before they were sent? Someone must take the blame for this. 'He's lucky to be alive never mind moaning about his prison food.' Both of Mr Rigby's attackers were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Adebolajo was given a whole life order and Adebowale was ordered to serve at least 45 years. Adebolajo has previously complained about being segregated from other Muslim prisoners. He was moved from HMP Belmarsh in Thamesmead, south east London, to Frankland in County Durham after fears that he was trying to radicalise other inmates. Lee Rigby's father, Phil McClure (left), has hit out at the prison service claiming the letter by Adebowale should never have been allowed to be sent. Right: Michael Adebolajo who was also jailed over the killing of Mr Rigby Adebowale is currently at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, after being jailed for life for the killing of Mr Rigby He wrote to support group Muslim Prisoners who said: 'The guards at Frankland are worse than Belmarsh for treatment of Muslims. This move is deliberate.' He is now trying to seek compensation from the taxpayer after his teeth were knocked out in prison. He lashed out at officers who were trying to escort him to his cell in July 2013 and, during the scuffle, his head reportedly hit a window. He refused medical attention afterwards but is now trying to sue the Prison Service. Adebolajo and Adebowale were raised as Christians but described as British Muslim converts at their trial. Adebowale had openly discussed murdering a soldier on Facebook, but that information had not been passed to the intelligence services. Adebolajo issued a series of threats to the West after the bloody murder took place. A shocking video of him was taken on a mobile home while he ranted with a bloody machete in his hand. The Ministry of Justice said letters featuring inappropriate content would be investigated. A spokesman said: 'If anyone is in possession of inappropriate correspondence, we encourage them to pass it on to us so we can investigate fully.' A Sudanese migrant who walked through the Channel Tunnel before being granted asylum has claimed he would 'not have come to Britain' if he had known he was going to be locked up. Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40, said he felt he had 'done nothing wrong' by fleeing his war-torn homeland in the Darfur region of Sudan and walking 31 miles through the Tunnel to the UK. He was arrested after arriving in Folkestone, Kent, last August and held on remand for four months after being charged with obstructing a railway. Scroll down for video Sudanese migrant Abdul Rahman Haroun (pictured centre leaving Elmley Prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent) said he would 'not have come to Britain' had he known he would have been arrested and held in prison Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40 (pictured leaving Elmley Prison in Kent), said he felt he had 'done nothing wrong' by fleeing his war-torn homeland in the Darfur region of Sudan and walking 31 miles through the Tunnel to the UK He was later released on bail in January, after successfully applying for the right to stay in Britain and being granted asylum. Prosecutors considered dropping the charges against Mr Haroun but revealed last month that they still intend to prosecute him and he will now face a trial later this year. Speaking publicly for the first time about his case, Mr Haroun told the Daily Telegraph: 'I came because my life was in danger. I did not know I was going to be held in a police cell. If I had known I would not have come.' He added that he felt as though 'no one liked me' when he arrived in the UK, but said he had changed his mind after receiving dozens of cards and letters of support during his time in prison. Peter Bone, the Conservative MP for Wellingborough, said that Mr Haroun's comments proved that deterrence could work to stop migrants crossing through the Channel Tunnel into Britain. He told the newspaper: 'That's the sort of message we want to get out. You can't break the law, and if you do you are going to face consequences. Perhaps his statement should be plastered up at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel.' The decision to continue with the prosecution of Mr Haroun came after a judge told him last month that the case against him could be dropped following a decision to grant him the right to stay in Britain. The prosecutors' announcement that he will in fact be pursued through the courts was praised by both Eurotunnel and Damian Collins, the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe. The Crown Prosecution Service's earlier consideration of whether to proceed with the case against the migrant had sparked heated criticism. 'OBSTRUCTING A RAILWAY': THE 1861 RAIL LAW THE MIGRANT BROKE Sudanese migrant Abdul Rahman Haroun was charged with 'obstructing engines or carriages on a railway' under Section 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861. The precise wording of the offence is: 'Whosoever, by any unlawful act, or by any wilful omission or neglect, shall obstruct or cause to be obstructed any engine or carriage using any railway, or shall aid or assist therein, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years.' Advertisement At the time, Mr Collins said: 'If we are going to defend the border and also we are going to stop people doing what he did we need to send a strong message. 'We are now doing that and if you are going to break into our country through the Channel Tunnel and endanger not only your life but the lives of others - either travelling through or working in the tunnel - then you will face prosecution and face the full weight of the law. 'I still also believe that this man should not have been granted asylum after clearly breaking into the country in the way he did.' Mr Haroun walked the 31 miles through the tunnel on August 4 last year, dodging passing trains travelling at 100mph. However, once in Folkestone and after being arrested, he successfully applied for the right to stay in Britain and was granted asylum on December 24 last year. When he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court last month it emerged that the CPS had asked for the case to be listed on March 3 for further legal argument. Judge Adele Williams then set a provisional trial date for June 20 before releasing Mr Haroun who denies the charge - on bail at the end of the five-minute hearing. Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40, said he fled Sudan and walked 31 miles through the Tunnel because 'my life was in danger'. He added: 'I did not know I was going to be held in a police cell. If I had known I would not have come' Mr Haroun was greeted at the court by several members of the Kent Refugee Help group, who chanted his name and those of two Iranian men who followed him through the tunnel in October last year. Having been granted asylum, Mr Haroun is now living in state-subsidised accommodation in east Kent and is able to collect 36.95 from his local post office each week. Eurotunnel previously welcomed the news that the Sudanese migrant will face a trial. A spokesman said: 'We believe that where a criminal act has been committed that the law should be adhered to following such an act. 'The decision to continue with a prosecution also sends a strong message being sent by the justice system that it is not alright to break into the UK by any means. A campaign is growing to find the scores of bodies of Maryland soldiers who died in a bloody battle during the Revolutionary War so a monument can be erected in their honor. It is believed that hundreds of bodies of men killed during the Battle of Brooklyn are buried in what is now the borough's Park Slope neighbourhood. They died, along with hundreds of others during the battle in August 1776, in what is also know as the Battle of Long Island. An American Legion Post in Brooklyn, where it is believed that 250 Maryland soldiers are buried after their death during the Battle of Brooklyn during the Revolutionary War in 1776 According to some accounts, more than 250 out of what became known as the 'Maryland 400' died in the fight at a farmhouse, although the exact number killed remains murky. Their burial place has never been found. And now military author, Patrick K. O'Donnell, believes their final resting place needs to be uncovered so they can have a fitting tribute built in their honor. His book 'Washington's Immortals' portrays the Maryland troops as some of General George Washington's most dependable fighters during the eight-year war. He said: 'My goal is to make people aware of the story, and hopefully someone will put the resources together to find out where they're buried. Hundreds of Maryland soldiers made several assaults against a larger British force centered around a stone farmhouse. Hundreds of Maryland soldiers made several assaults against a larger British force centered around a stone farmhouse The British took control of New York the next month, but Washington's forces escaped to continue the fight for independence According to some accounts, more than 250 out of what became known as the 'Maryland 400' died in the fight at a farmhouse, although the exact number killed remains murky The ferocious bayonet charges prevented two wings of the advancing redcoats from attacking the 10,000 Americans outnumbered about two to one who had retreated to Brooklyn Heights. The British commander decided to put off resuming the attack until the next day. The delay gave Washington time to ferry his entire army across the East River to Manhattan in the dead of night. The British took control of New York the next month, but Washington's forces escaped to continue the fight for independence. Mr O'Donnell added: 'They saved the army there, but they saved the army several times, especially in the South. They're Washington's shock troops.' Some historians believe they were buried in unmarked trenches next to the farmhouse, while others say the more likely burial spot is nearby, under what is now a vacant private lot. The last official archaeological excavations, conducted in the 1950s, failed to turn up any evidence of military burials from the battle. The Old Stone House, a museum reconstructed in Brooklyn in 1933 from material from the original battlefield structure that was torn down nearly 120 years ago The burial location remains 'one of the great questions of the battle, one of great mysteries of history in Brooklyn,' said Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House, a museum reconstructed nearby in 1933 from material from the original battlefield structure that was torn down nearly 120 years ago. 'Washington's Immortals' is a bit of a departure for Mr O'Donnell, author of nine previous books, most of them about World War II spies and elite American units such as the U.S. Army Rangers. He said he became obsessed with the Marylanders' story after touring the Brooklyn battle's sites in 2010. Mr O'Donnell, who lives outside Washington, D.C., spent the next five years researching the Marylanders' exploits, visiting every battlefield where they fought from New York to South Carolina and combing through archives in the U.S. and Britain. What he learned prompted him to dub those patriots America's original band of brothers, men who continued the fight despite overwhelming odds and constant lack of food, clothing and equipment. 'These volunteers marched often barefoot, starving and unpaid thousands of miles and battled the one of the finest armies in the world at the time,' he said. When Mark Zuckerberg got his first bodyguard in 2011, it made headlines. But those days must seem quaint to the Facebook founder, who is now reported to have no less than 16 people protecting him at his $7million home in Palo Alto, California. Zuckerberg is now so concerned about security that he has the bodyguards working in shifts day and night, a Page Six report says. Though no reasons have been given for Zuckerberg's security concerns, the article does say that a number of Silicon Valley's leading lights are bumping up their security details due to threats from unstable website users. Guarded: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is often seen surrounded by security when out and about, but now he's protected by 16 bodyguards in his own home in Palo Alto, according to a Page Six report An unnamed source is quoted as saying, 'Youre touching hundreds of millions of people. All the CEOs get threats, and they take them very seriously.' If that's the case, then Facebook - which announced that it had 1.56billion users last month - may get more than most. But it's not just web users who get angry - residents living near Zuckerberg's $10million house in Liberty Hill, San Francisco, around 30 miles from Palo Alto, have been complaining about his security detail in recent weeks. In a letter written by one of his neighbors, Zuckerberg was accused of allowing his security detail to 'permanently' and 'illegally' occupy two prime parking spots in the area. A spokesperson for Zuckerberg denied that the parking was illegal. Secure: Zuckerberg's Palo Alto house cost $7million, but he spent a further $30million buying up neighbouring houses in 2012 and 2013 to ensure his privacy. Now a roster of bodyguards has been added to the mix Since he became internationally known, Zuckerberg has taken expensive steps to ensure his privacy. In 2013, it was announced that he had bought four houses surrounding his own Palo Alto mansion for a total of $30million after he discovered that a real estate developer was planning on buying one of the properties and and advertising it as being next to Zuckerberg's house. Clinton quizzed her aides after she was sent a news story during Obama's reelection campaign about husband Bill going off-message An exasperated Hillary Clinton quizzed aides on how to keep her husband in check during the 2012 election, in new emails released by the State Department. In one message, State Department counselor Cheryl Mills sent Clinton a Washington Post article during Obama's 2012 reelection bid entitled 'Bill Clinton's ego could cost Obama in November'. In the story, analysts questioned whether Bill's inability to stay on message could harm Obama's campaign. A short while later Clinton responded 'What can be done?', the New York Post reports. The message was revealed in a trove of more than 550 that were released on Saturday, three of which were deemed to be 'secret', while another 84 were labelled classified. One of the messages is a long note from David Satterfield, a top US diplomat to Egypt, who told White House and State Department officials about negotiations in the Sinai. The message's contents have been deemed 'secret', though there is no sign they were labeled such at the time in which the email was sent, according to the Washington Times. Clinton was forwarded the message by top aide Jacob Sullivan who asked Clinton to calm down the 'hysterical' US Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, following the assassination of Osama bin Laden at a compound in Abottabad. 'Can you get me the facts (such as they are) before I talk with Kerry?' Clinton replied. The remainder of the email is highly redacted. The department has now released more than 45,000 pages of emails from the private account Clinton used as secretary of state. It plans to finish making her emails public on February 29, a day before the critical Super Tuesday primaries. The news story questioned whether Bill could keep his ego in check for long enough to deliver Obama's message without going off on his own tangent. A despairing Hillary asked: 'What can be done?' But ahead of the deadline previous deadline - January 29 - the State Department told the judge that they had discovered 4,000 additional emails that had not been checked for classified or private material. The a top State Department open-records official took blame for not hitting the January deadline. Clinton has struggled to put the email controversy to rest as she seeks the Democratic presidential nomination. Projects were introduced following seven suicides in two years at college Another is handing out wristbands to get people talking about problems One group has launched a texting service for students to use anonymously After a staggering seven suicides in two years, students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are looking for their own life-saving solutions to prevent more deaths. The school in Cambridge unveiled a plan to bolster mental health last fall, adding staff psychologists and expanding counseling hours, among other measures. But concerned students have also added their own ingenuity in recent months, starting a wave of grassroots projects intended to defuse the stress of campus life before it leads to a crisis. Support: One pro-active sophomore has handed out more than 4,000 specially made wristbands with the letters TMAYD stamped to the side of them to get people talking about their problems One student group launched a texting hotline called Lean On Me, which enables pupils to chat anonymously with trained volunteers about anything that's troubling them. Other students plan to install artificial light boxes on campus, in the hope that they can treat depression that can take hold during the winter months. One pro-active sophomore, Izzy Lloyd, has handed out more than 4,000 specially made wristbands with the letters TMAYD stamped to the side of them. The acronym stands for 'tell me about your day,' and Lloyd hopes that the message will get more students talking with one another. The 19-year-old student started the project last year after two of her freshman classmates took their own lives in the same week. 'It's suicide prevention by community building,' said Lloyd. 'We're showing people who may feel like they have nothing left that they have a world of people who do care about them.' Other projects are taking a lighter tone, like the new MIT Puppy Lab that will bring therapy dogs to campus this semester. Help: One student group launched a texting hotline called Lean On Me, which enables pupils to chat anonymously with trained volunteers Campus officials recently awarded almost $50,000 (35,000) in grants to support campus projects designed to improve mental health. They say the new work is a reflection of MIT's culture, marked by a drive to solve problems. But students said they're also meeting a demand for services that were missing on the campus of 11,000 students. Nikhil Buduma, who graduated last year, founded Lean On Me with two current students. He said: 'If we really solved the problem, we wouldn't be running into this same cycle of mental illness that we've been seeing,' He added that the hotline lets students avoid stigmas tied to mental illness and get help anonymously. Experts say that across the country college students are playing a bigger role in suicide prevention, which in turn is being welcomed by schools. Nance Roy, clinical director at the Jed Foundation, a non-profit group based in New York that works to prevent suicide among college students, said: 'We have found time and again that students listen to students before they listen to anyone else.' 'These issues can no longer just fall to the counseling center.' Proactive: Nikhil Buduma, centre, who founded the Lean On Me with Linda Jing, left, and Andy Trattner, right, said the hotline lets students avoid stigmas tied to mental illness and get help anonymously Roy said there's no evidence that elite schools have disproportionately high suicide rates. But a national study suggests that MIT's rate was above average last year. The average suicide rate among college students was seven for every 100,000 students between 2004 and 2009, according to research from the University of Rochester. Three MIT students took their lives last year, translating to almost 27 for every 100,000. There have been at least seven student suicides since 2014, according to reports from the school's student newspaper. Some students and alumni say that MIT's culture pushes students to extremes, sometimes at the expense of a social life or emotional health. 'It's heroic and glorified to push oneself to the point of our boundaries, of our physical or bodily needs,' said Sahar Hakim-Hashemi, a 2013 graduate who's currently filming a documentary. Entitled: 'Sleep is for the Strong,' the documentary explores mental health at MIT and ways to improve it. Worrying: The average suicide rate among college students was seven for every 100,000 students between 2004 and 2009, according to research from the University of Rochester But while students come with big ambitions to tackle the problems, they don't always have the skills to cope with the pressure, MIT officials said. Rosalind Picard, a professor of media arts and sciences who leads the school's campaign to support mental-health projects, said: 'We recognize that a lot of kids coming in today are not as well-prepared for these challenges.' Picard says the new work on campus is a turning point. Beyond treating mental illness, she said, there's a new focus on preventing problems. Meanwhile, some of the new student projects have garnered interest elsewhere. Six other schools have bought Lloyd's TMAYD wristbands for their students, and dozens more have declared an interest in them. The team behind Lean On Me has also received inquiries about the texting hotline from outside MIT, and the group hope to bring it to other schools. An ISIS sex slave survivor who was forced to watch her family be brutally murdered by jihadists before being taken into captivity has called for humanity to 'unite' against the terrorists. Nadia Murad Basee Taha, 21, was orphaned when ISIS extremists slaughtered six of her brothers as well as her mother in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar in August 2014. She was among more than 5,000 Yazidi women taken captive when extremists swept through the town and was held in a building in the ISIS stronghold of Mosul where she was raped and tortured. She managed to escape the clutches of the jihadists three months later and now lives in Germany, where she works closed with the United Nations (UN) to tell of her experiences. Scroll down for video Nadia Murad Basee Taha, 21, who was orphaned when ISIS extremists slaughtered six of her brothers as well as her mother in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar in 2014, is calling for humanity to be 'united in facing ISIS' Ms Murad was among more than 5,000 Yazidi women taken captive when extremists swept through the town and was held in a building in the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, northern Iraq, where she was raped and tortured During a talk before the United Nations Security Council at Trade Union Congress House in central London this week, she called for 'humanity to be united in facing ISIS'. She said: 'It is a threat to all the communities in the region. I would like everyone to help, maybe just by speaking, to help the people affected by this war. 'A year and a half has passed and the genocide against the Yazidis is continuous. We die every day because we see the world silent in the face of our plight. 'My mother saw them killing my brothers and then they took my mother and killed her. 'I was already orphaned as I didn't have a father, all I had in the war was my mother. 'But when they took me to Mosul and raped me, I forgot my mother and brothers. Because what they were doing to the women was more difficult than death. 'Imagine until now, for more than a year and a half, girls as young as nine are being rented and sold out [for sex].' Ms Murad is from the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, which is heavily populated by the Yazidi community. Considered infidels by ISIS militants, many from the Yazidi community are stolen from their homes and sold into the sex trade. She was among more than 5,000 Yazidi women taken captive and more than 3,400 women and children are still being held hostage by ISIS. Ms Murad managed to escape the clutches of the jihadists three months after being taken into captivity in 2014 and now lives in Germany, where she works closed with the United Nations (UN) to tell of her experiences Through tears, she said: 'When I speak I don't speak just on my behalf, but on behalf of all the women and children affected in the war zone. 'Two months have passed since I have been campaigning and people have been happy, not just Yazidis, about this message. 'About 5,800 Yazidi women and children were captured by the so-called Islamic State. They have killed many people in Iraq and Syria and displaced millions. 'For us, the Yazidis, they killed the men and took the women and children. 'They were committing all kinds; murder, rape and displacing people by force in the name of Islam. 'Many people may think my story is difficult, but many more had more difficult than mine. 'They killed six of my brothers, but there are families that have lost 10 brothers. 'At this moment, there are still 3,400 women in the hands of ISIS. All we are asking is that our women are freed. 'Some of Sinjar has been captured, but 40 per cent is still under ISIS control.' Shocking footage appears to show ISIS gunmen dragging terrified Yazidi wives and daughters from their families to make them sex slaves, in what is believed to be Iraq She said 27 mass graves have been discovered in the region so far. 'What we are asking for is humanity to be united in facing ISIS.' Ms Murad added that the community had lost trust in the government as the Yazidis can't return to Sinjar without protection. She branded ISIS 'criminals' who needed to be tackled by the world community and asked for everyone to 'come on board.' in the fight, all from the same country One man killed and three injured in fight at asylum One man has been stabbed to death and three people injured after a mass brawl at an asylum centre in Sweden this weekend. Police have arrested a man in his 20s on suspicion of murder after the incident in Ljusne, near Soderhamn, central Sweden, on Saturday. More than a dozen male asylum seekers were involved in the knife fight, which is believed to have started when one group from a nearby centre visited the other to resolve a previous argument. Scroll down for video Police cordon off an asylum center in Ljusne, central Sweden, after a mass brawl between two gangs of migrant men saw one man stabbed to death and three injured The fight between the two groups had reportedly started in central Soderhamn a few weeks earlier, and the intention was to meet and 'make peace'. The men reportedly hail from Afghanistan, with one group living at an asylum centre in Soderhamn, and the other in Ljusne, less than ten miles apart. 'It's not a good thing to fight out on the town. We are all from the same country. So we wondered, "why should we fight?",' one of the injured men told HelaHalsingland. He says around ten people living in Soderhamn went down to the Ljusne asylum housing on Saturday afternoon to meet with 'five or six' men who lived there to resolve the issue. 'We did not want to fight, and I thought they would listen to us. But they were prepared with knives - in the end they had eight or nine knives,' the unnamed victim told the paper. 'I was stabbed in the back when I was helping one of my friends who grabbed the arm of one of the guys who had a knife. Then I was stabbed several times in the back, but my jacket protected me.' Police were called to the scene and arrested one man after carrying out a raid on one of the flats in the asylum centre, and three more were brought in for questioning and later released. According to Soderhamn Police, up to 15 people were involved in the brawl, all men believed to be in their 20s. This is the latest in a number of violent incidents to take place at asylum seeker centres in Sweden this year. One incident last month saw police run for their lives after being attacked by a mob of asylum seekers at a refugee centre in Vasteras, central Sweden. More than a dozen male asylum seekers, all from the same country, were involved in the fight, which is believed to have started when one group from a nearby centre visited the other to resolve an argument Police had been called in to help with the relocation of a ten-year-old boy who had reportedly been 'raped repeatedly'by other asylum seekers at the centre. It came just days after followed the murder of social worker Alexandra Mezher, 22, who was stabbed to death at a refugee centre in Molndal, near Gothenburg when she stepped in to stop a fight. Swedish police have demanded more resources to stem rising violence linked to the migrant crisis. Police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg said last month: These kinds of calls are becoming more and more common. Were dealing with more incidents like these since the arrival of so many more refugees from abroad. Sweden took in more than 160,000 refugees and migrants in 2015, more than any other EU country per capita. A SAS sniper has beheaded an ISIS executioner with a single shot while the militant was teaching jihadis how to decapitate prisoners, it has been reported. Some 20 Islamic fighters were taking part in the executioner's outdoor lesson when he was killed by the elite British soldier - hiding 4,000ft away and using specially-designed 'wounding' bullets. A witness said the entire group of student jihadis then fled, deserting their cause after the ill fated training session at a small village in northern Syria. The SAS sniper reportedly killed the ISIS commander while he was training 20 other jihadis (file photo) A witness told The Daily Express the SAS sniper was using a Dan.338 rifle with a suppressor to prevent any noise and flash giving away his position. Aiming a foot to the side of his target in order to adjust for wind, it was expected the cruel commander - known as the local executioner - would require two shots to kill. Instead, the first bullet - designed to tumble when it strikes a target, in order to maim - struck him in the back of the head. The source said: 'One minute he was standing there and the next his head had exploded. 'The commander remained standing upright for a couple of seconds before collapsing and thats when panic set in. 'He was an extremely sadistic and ruthless individual, feared by the locals and the jihadis alike.' British Prime Minister David Cameron has refused to engage in a ground war with ISIS troops in Iraq and Syria, but small SAS teams are carrying out commando raids against the jihadis. Earlier this month it emerged three British Special Forces soldiers were wounded in a firefight with 30 ISIS militants in Iraq. The SAS and SBS were said to have been on a secret mission deep inside enemy territory when the terrorists opened fire on them with machine guns mounted on American-built Humvees. The men's bravery has not been acknowledged because defence chiefs refuse to confirm the ground war being fought by elite British troops in war ravaged Iraq and Syria, it is claimed. The ISIS commander was teaching 20 men how to decapitate when his own head 'exploded' from the specially-designed wounding bullet used in the SAS shot It is thought the men injured by bomb blasts during a 25 man patrol in northern Iraq were the first British casualties in the conflict, the Mirror reported. German, American and British soldiers were said to be hunting down ISIS fighters outside the terror group's stronghold of Mosul when the terrorists opened fire with 50 calibre guns and rockets. The elite troops dove from their vehicles and returned fire with their high powered assault rifles. A unit of German commandos is said to have destroyed one ISIS location with an armour piercing missile - killing every extremist inside. All of the fanatics were said to be killed in the 15 minute battle and an airstrike that followed. Some of Radiohead's most famous lyrics could have been inspired by William Blake - after charity shop workers found lyrics scribbled in a poetry book donated by the band's frontman. Volunteers at an Oxfam bookshop were stunned when they found the lyrics from bestselling album OK Computer scrawled in the margin of a 50p copy of Blake's Songs Of Innocence And Experience. Lines from the song 'Airbag', that features on the album, were found by workers at the shop in Oxford, and they then realised it must have been part of a recent donation from Thom Yorke. Volunteers at an Oxfam bookshop found lyrics from album OK Computer scrawled in the margin of a 50p copy of Blake's Songs Of Innocence And Experience (right) and realised it was donated by Thom Yorke (left) Lines from the song 'Airbag', that features on the album, were found by workers at the shop in Oxford, suggesting that the song was inspired by William Blake, the 18th century poet The book, which was found at the St Giles branch of Oxfam in Oxford (pictured), could now fetch up to 10,000 when it goes up for auction in London in March After rare book specialist Andrew Chapman, 48, looked over the book however, it was taken off the shelves for 50p and now could fetch thousands at auction. The Radiohead singer's penned lyrics on the inside cover and notes scattered throughout the poems for songs on the album, regularly voted as one of the best of all time LYRICS TO RADIOHEAD'S AIRBAG In the next world war In a jack knifed juggernaut I am born again In the neon sign Scrolling up and down I am born again In an interstellar burst I am back to save the universe In a deep, deep sleep Of the innocent I am born again In a fast German car I'm amazed that I survived An airbag saved my life In an interstellar burst I am back to save the universe In an interstellar burst I am back to save the universe In an interstellar burst I am back to save the universe Advertisement Mr Chapman said: 'I'm a big Radiohead fan, so when another volunteer, Alex Barker, showed me the book, I immediately realised that it shouldn't have been on sale for 50p and took it off the shelf. 'We realised that the book was of considerable interest as it showed the influence for the song and a direct link between Blake's verses and Thom's inspiration. 'Alex had been flicking through the poetry books on sale while he was stood at the till and told me to take a look. We knew it must have been one of Thom's books as we had been talking about another one that he had donated only the week before. 'The book is a tatty Penguin 1960s paperback of Songs of Innocence and Experience, but Yorke's lyrics and the annotations make it very special. 'It's amazing to think this song on OK Computer was inspired by the poetry of William Blake - this could well be the first draft of Airbag. 'I wrote to Thom Yorke, to let him know the book could be sold at auction and he contacted head office to say that would be fine for us to sell it as we saw fit. 'Thom came into the store about eight months ago with a few books to donate and this was one of them. 'One of the volunteers priced it at 50p and put it out but fortunately the mistake was spotted and it is due to be sold at auction in London - it could raise at least 1,200 for Oxfam. 'The Syria refugee crisis is one of our main priorities at the moment and this money could help provide tents, water and clothing for families who desperately need it. Inside the book, which was on sale for 50p, are also a number of notes written throughout, suggesting that his work inspired the seminal album Yorke writes on the inside of the book, adding ideas he gets from the work. Here he writes 'where there is no noise', which could have been the seed of an idea for OK Computer song Paranoid Android, which starts with the lyrics 'Please could you stop the noise' The 1997 Radiohead album OK Computer (pictured) is regularly voted as one of the best of all time and is widely regarded as their best work 'OK Computer is a great album. I remember seeing the band at Glastonbury in 1997 when they headlined and the heavens opened. 'We have been told the estimate for the book is over 1,000 but there had already been interest in it. I wouldn't have thought it was a wild idea to hope for 10,000 at auction.' It's not the first time the books expert has stepped in to earn Oxfam a small fortune. In 2008 he picked out a scruffy copy of Rumour at Nightfall, Graham Greene's third novel, which raised 15,000. The Blake book is due to be auctioned in London on 18 March, but no guide price has yet been confirmed. A hospital nurse has been struck off for life after being convicted of downloading 5,000 child abuse images. Paul Richards, 37, was jailed after being caught with abuse images on his computer while working as an A&E nurse in north Wales. After his release he has been banned from returning to nursing after a disciplinary hearing was told Richards' crimes were 'incompatible with the healthcare profession'. Struck off: A&E nurse Paul Richards, 37, (left and right) will never work in a hospital again after his conviction for downloading child abuse images Richards, a former employee at Wrexham Maelor Hospital in North Wales, pleaded guilty to making and possessing indecent images of a child and jailed for 10 months last May. Appeal: Richards told a disciplinary panel of the Nursing and Midwifery Council he wanted to return to nursing - but this was rejected A judge also banned him from working with children until at least 2025, but Richards told a disciplinary panel of the Nursing and Midwifery Council he wanted to return to nursing. Case Presenter Louise Hartley said Richards' computer contained 'some of the highest category' of indecent images, with many showing young children being sexually abused. Miss Hartley said: 'The public would be outraged to hear that a person with such a serious conviction, and who has served 10 months in prison for sexual offences, could continue to practise as a nurse. 'It is up to the panel to decide if he still poses a risk as a nurse.' Police tracked him down after a link to an internet chat room used by paedophiles was traced to his home in Mold. When he was arrested Richards first told police he'd been putting together a report about child abuse after reading a newspaper article, but later pleaded guilty to the online sex crimes. In court the images were described as 'distressing', and Judge Rhys Rowlands said many of the children featured would not have been abused if it weren't for the likes of Richards downloading them. Richards told the NMC panel he knew what he had done was wrong, but hoped to return to nursing once his 10-year sexual harm prevention order finished, which stopped him working with children. Richards said: 'I know what I did was wrong, and I'm quite accepting that conviction was a serious matter which has brought my profession into disrepute. 'I hope in the future at some point I can return to nursing.' Panel chair member Helen Potts told Richards his sex crimes were 'incompatible' with him returning to any kind of role in healthcare. Workplace: Richards, a former employee at Wrexham Maelor Hospital in North Wales, pleaded guilty to making and possessing indecent images of a child and jailed for 10 months last May She noted Richards had been downloading the horrific images for two-and-a-half years, and had only stopped doing so after he was arrested. Ms Potts said: 'Your sexual harm prevention order does not expire until 2025. It effectively stops you from working as a nurse throughout the duration of that time. 'You indicated you would like to return to nursing after that time. 'But the panel bear in mind you have been convicted of very serious crimes which the general public would find abhorrent. 'The panel determined that public confidence in the profession would be undermined if you were allowed to remain on the nursing register.' Richards was told he would be given a striking off order and removed from the register 'indefinitely'. Russia is deliberately targeting civilians with air strikes in order to fuel the migrant crisis and further destabilize Europe, it has been claimed. By hitting facilities such as bakeries and hospitals in air strikes, Russia is increasing the flow of migrants towards Turkey and ultimately Europe. This, it was claimed, was undermining the EU as it grapples with a refugee crisis not seen in Europe since the Second World War. Russian bombs detonate in a mountainous area of northern Syria, which the Russian military claimed were targeting ISIS jihadis. Moscow has been accused of deliberately fuelling the country's migrant crisis A Russian fighter jet armed with laser guided bombs takes off from the Russian airbase in western Syria Some 40,000 people have fled to the border with Turkey in recent days after Russian-backed regime advances in Aleppo intensified the conflict in the large city Most recently, some 40,000 people have amassed on Turkey's border with northern Syria following a new Russian-backed regime advance to retake the city of Aleppo. And new figures show the number of migrants to enter Europe so far this year is four times that of the same period last year. Western officials and politicians told the FT this was triggered by Russia apparently deliberately targeting civilian facilities. U.S. Senator John McCain, who is also the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, derided President Vladimir Putin's 'diplomacy in the service of military aggression'. He told an annual security conference in Munich yesterday: 'He wants to exacerbate the refugee crisis and use it as a weapon to divide the transatlantic alliance and undermine the European project,' the paper reported. McCain was speaking after a temporary ceasefire agreement was shored up between regime and moderate rebel forces. However, the senior Republican senator lashed out at the deal, saying it would only empower Russian 'military aggression'. 'Let's be clear about what this agreement does: it permits the assault on Aleppo to continue for another week,' he said. 'It requires opposition groups to stop fighting, but it allows Russia to continue bombing terrorists - which it insists is everyone, even civilians. 'If Russia or the Assad regime violates this agreement, what are the consequences? I don't see any. 'Mr Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime, he wants to establish Russia as a major power in the Middle East, he wants to use Syria as a live fire exercise for Russia's modernizing military.' McCain added it was 'no accident' that Putin had chosen this moment for a deal. U.S. Senator John McCain told the conference in Munich (pictured) that Russia is carrying out 'diplomacy in the service of military aggression' 'Weve seen this movie before in Ukraine. Russia presses its advantage militarily, creates new facts on the ground, uses the denial and delivery of humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip, negotiates an agreement to lock in the spoils of war and then chooses when to resume fighting. 'This is diplomacy in the service of military aggression and it is working because we are letting it.' Diplomats from a group of countries that have interests in Syria's five-year civil war, including the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, agreed on Friday to seek a temporary 'cessation of hostilities' within a week. They also agreed to 'accelerate and expand' deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged Syrian communities beginning this week. It remains unclear whether those commitments can be made to stick on the ground and whether deep differences regarding the truce and which groups would be eligible for it - between the U.S. and Russia among others - can be overcome. Boycotts of Israeli goods because of settlement building, pictured, will be banned under new rules Universities and councils have been told boycotting Israeli goods 'undermines national security'. Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock is due to formally announce the new government policy on a visit to Israel, insisting product bans fuel anti-Semitism. But the move was immediately criticised by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as an 'attack on local democracy'. Under the plans, all publicly-funded organisations would lose the freedom to refuse to purchase from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products or Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. In 2014 Leicester City Council agreed a ban on goods produced in Israeli West Bank settlements. The Scottish Government 'strongly discourages' local authorities from trading with companies operating 'illegal settlements'. It is unclear whether the new rules will be imposed on student unions as government sources told The Independent, which revealed the policy today, this was a 'grey area'. But Mr Hancock said: 'We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town-hall boycotts. 'The new guidance on procurement combined with changes we are making to how pension pots can be invested will help prevent damaging and counter-productive local foreign policies undermining our national security.' 'Severe penalties' such as large fines will be imposed if the new rules are breached but it will not be a criminal law matter. Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock said 'divisive' boycotts of Israeli goods had to be challenged A spokesman for the Labour leader Mr Corbyn said: 'The Government's decision to ban councils and other public bodies from divesting from trade or investments they regard as unethical is an attack on local democracy. 'People have the right to elect local representatives able to make decisions free of central government political control. 'That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds. 'This Government's ban would have outlawed council action against apartheid South Africa. 'Ministers talk about devolution, but in practice they're imposing Conservative Party policies on elected local councils across the board.' Hugh Lanning, chairman of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told The Independent: 'As if it is not enough that the UK Government has failed to act when the Israeli government has bombed and killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and stolen their homes and land, the Government is now trying to impose its inaction on all other public bodies.' A young traveller in Australia has warned other women to be cautious after an older man offered her a lift and demanded to see photographs of her online in the same week two backpackers were allegedly violently raped on a beach. Luciel, 23, had been hoping to hitch-hike from Adelaide to Melbourne last week when a man twice her age contacted her and offered her a ride, the French tourist told 7 News. He told her he had his own car with camping gear and that he 'loved fishing', and she would be able to fish with him, Luciel said. But when he repeatedly demanded to see photographs of the 23-year-old, Luciel said she turned the lift down and is cautioning other backpackers about how vulnerable they are. French tourist Luciel, 23, had been hoping to hitch-hike from Adelaide to Melbourne last week when a man twice her age contacted her and offered her a ride, before demanding to see photographs of her, she said She said the man had contacted her online, and has warned other young travellers of the dangers of accepting lifts after he demanded to see images of her Im a girl, Im travelling alone, what happens to me if I take the lift with that kind of guy? she told 7 News. 'If you don't feel it, don't go. You can disappear without a trace and if someone wants to rape you he can.' It comes as South Australian detectives are continuing to scour Coorong National Park at Salt Creek, two-and-a-half hours south-east of Adelaide, after a 59-year-old man was charged for the rape and attempted murder of two backpackers aged in their 20s. The women, who cannot be named, had joined the Adelaide local on a road trip to Melbourne. On Tuesday, one of the women ran from a campsite between sand dunes naked and bleeding in an attempt to escape the mans alleged attack. On Tuesday, two women aged in their 20s, were allegedly raped in a violent attack near Salt Creek in South Australia, after joining a 59-year-old man on a road trip from Adelaide to Melbourne One of the women ran from a campsite between sand dunes naked and bleeding in an attempt to escape the mans alleged attack She raised the alarm to fisherman, who phoned authorities - who then recovered the second woman. One had sustained serious head injuries. On Friday, one of the women was released from Flinders Medical Centre in south Adelaide, while the second will be discharged in the coming days. Police on Friday confirmed they are investigating the past of the 59-year-old accused, given the disturbing nature of the alleged crime. Acting Assistant Commissioner Douglas Barr said South Australian Police would be trawling through the mans history and checking to see whether he was linked to any outstanding missing persons. The woman raised the alarm to fisherman, who phoned authorities - who then recovered the second woman at the deserted beach The site where two young tourists were allegedly raped in a violent attack on Tuesday He revealed police found things which caused us some concern during a search of the mans house. They seized items to be analysed, along with his car and DNA. Since a callout on Thursday, Crime Stoppers have so far received 26 tip-offs from the public regarding the incident, SA Police said on Monday. The 59-year-old Adelaide man is charged with kidnap, rape and attempted murder. He has not been charged with any other crimes. He will return to court in April. Police have reiterated that anyone who may have information that could assist their inquiries should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. South Australian detectives are continuing to scour Coorong National Park at Salt Creek, two-and-a-half hours south-east of Adelaide Advertisement It's a game that has been all too familiar among house hunters - can you spot the difference? A real estate agency has been accused of using digitally-altered photographs to advertise a three-bedroom property - currently listed on the market - in an attempt to lure potential buyers. Molly Smith and her husband made the shocking discovery of a massive water tower overshadowing the home in southern Sydney when they attended an open house inspection over the weekend. The Photoshop version shows the dramatic results of an imaginary, beautiful clear blue sky disguising the - obvious and completely invisible - eyesore in the distance. Scroll down for video A real estate agency has come under fire for using digitally-altered photographs to advertise a Sydney property for sale - where a massive water tower has been removed completely from the image Can you spot the difference? A Sydney couple were dumbfounded after they discovered a huge water tower at the open house inspection at the weekend The Sydney couple were left speechless and outraged by the depiction of the view outside the newly-renovated estate, at 31A Penshurst Avenue in Penshurst. 'I feel like this is really underhanded deceptive behaviour and I don't think it reflects well on the business,' Mrs Smith told Australian Women's Weekly. 'They may not have taken the photos but it's pretty easy to see that it absolutely does not reflect the state of the property. Overall, I felt swindled.' And it seems the seller has gone to great lengths to subtly hide the large object, with a patio shot showing the water tower nowhere in sight. It's unknown what the motives were behind the photo editing or whether the water tank may have been major problem for previous owners in the past. Other changes include several shrubs being removed from the front yard, the lawn looking greener than ever and the exposure of the image, which has been brightened to add lighting over the gloomy surroundings. The Sydney couple were left speechless and outraged by the depiction of the view outside the three-bedroom property It seems the seller has gone to great lengths to subtly hide the large object, with a patio shot showing the water tower nowhere in sight Ray White Rockdale estate agent Jackie Li told AWW the photos were from a previous agency and then 'given to us by the owner, who didn't want to pay for new images to be taken'. 'We are not trying to trick anyone or hide anything. Anyone who rings up, I tell them about it straight away,' he said. But NSW Fair Trading said that Under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002, real estate agencies could face a hefty fine of up to $22,000 for advertising false, misleading or deceptive material. 'Agents must ensure that any claims made about any property or land characteristics in any photographic representations and advertising are accurate and could not give prospective buyers the wrong impression,' the NSW Fair Trading website reads. Molly Smith and her husband made the shocking discovery of a huge water tower overshadowing a property over the weekend Real estate agencies could face a hefty fine of up to $22,000 for advertising misleading or deceptive material 'Photographs of properties which have been touched up to hide undesirable characteristics or enhance other features could mislead consumers. 'Accordingly, agents must ensure that photographs are not used in a manner that may lead to implied representations that are false or involve misleading or deceptive conduct.' The Real Estate Institiute of NSW states that real estate agents 'must not alter or permit to be altered photographic images of properties, digitally or by other means, such that the images no longer truthfully and fairly represent that property. '...Removing television aerials or power poles adjacent to the property; brightening up paint work on a house or over-stating the views that might be achieved from the property may well amount to misleading or deceptive conduct.' Mental health represents the largest single cause of disability in the UK Pledge comes after shocking report puts cost of mental illness at 105bn The NHS will invest an extra 1billion to treat one million more mental health patients a year by 2021, it was announced today. The pledge comes after a shocking report found that only 15 per cent of people who need psychological therapy in England get access to care - despite mental health problems representing the largest single cause of disability in the UK. It also estimated the cost of mental illness to the economy, NHS and society at more than 100billion a year. Scroll down for video David Cameron, pictured today chairing a meeting of business leaders to discuss mental health issues in the work place, said the extra 1billion to fund mental health problems in the NHS was part of the Government's pledge to put mental and physical health on an equal footing The report by mental health charity Mind found that one in four adults a year suffer from a mental health condition, three quarters never receive help. The extra 1bn a year fund will help close this gap The biggest shake-up of NHS mental health care in a generation will target thousands of women suffering from post-natal depression and teenagers with eating disorders. The investment will also aim to halt the rising rates of suicides in England, that has come after years of decline. NHS England backed the proposals set out in the Mental Health Five Year Forward View, an independent task force led by mental health charity Mind. Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said the plans set out a 'practical, feasible and affordable blueprint' for improved care. 'Thats what they have done and the NHS is going to back this,' Mr Stevens said. He warned today that a lack of care for mental health problems had led to 'hundreds of thousands of lives being put on hold or ruined'. David Cameron said the extra money will help the Government's ambition to put mental and physical health on an equal footing. Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, today warned that a lack of care has led to 'hundreds of thousands of lives' being put on hold or ruined Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, pictured today at a meeting of business leaders to discuss mental health in the work place, has committed an extra 1billion to funding mental health issues over the next five years 'The task force has set out how we can work towards putting mental and physical health care on an equal footing and I am committed to making sure that happens,' he said this morning. 'This means that if you are struggling with a mental health condition you will get the help and support you need.' The plans will tackle the problem of children and youngsters having to travel 'anywhere in the country' for in-patient treatment, which forces families to travel long distances, and in some areas and one in ten children appointments are cancelled because of staff shortages. One in ten under-18s are diagnosed with a mental health condition, the study found. As well as a rising suicide rate that peaked in 2014 at 4,882 deaths, the number of people being detained under the Mental Health Act is rising year on year. The leading cause of death for men aged 15-49 is suicide and a quarter of people who took their own life had been in contact with a health professional, usually their GP, in the last week before they died. One in ten children are diagnosed with a mental health condition, the study found, while a recent poll found that nearly half of parents are in denial about their child's mental health Suicide is also the second leading cause of maternal death, after cardiovascular disease, but only 15 per cent of areas have the right perinatal mental health services and 40% have none at all. MUM LEFT TO COPE ALONE Mother Jessica Warne had post-natal depression A lack of local services when mother-of-two Jessica Warne had post-natal depression drove her to consider suicide. After the birth of her second daughter Lily in 2011, she was overcome by feelings that the baby hated her. Mrs Warne, 30, who now runs Cocoon Family Support, a charity to help other sufferers, said that at first she wasnt quite ill enough to receive any clinical support. Her GP offered to see her weekly but had no specific training. The mother, from north London, resorted to searching online for advice. I was quite ill for a while before I got a diagnosis until I had a complete breakdown and contemplated suicide, she said. If there had been a midwife with specialist knowledge who might have spotted telltale signs then I probably wouldnt have got to the point where I had a breakdown. Advertisement A focus on care for new mothers also aims to see at least 30,000 more women a year receive access to specialist perinatal mental health services which are currently only available in 15 per cent of areas. The Mind report found that although one in four adults a year suffer from a mental health condition, three quarters never receive help. Women suffering from post-natal depression and teenagers with eating disorders are to be targeted under the biggest shake-up of NHS mental health care in a generation. NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens will today warn that a lack of care has led to 'hundreds of thousands of lives being put on hold or ruined'. Although one in four adults a year suffer from a mental health condition, three quarters never receive help, according to charity Mind. This often leaves them feeling stigmatised and marginalised, Mr Stevens said today. His report calls for better care for the one in five mothers who suffer from post-natal depression including training GPs to spot the condition and offering dedicated centres to treat the most severely ill. Currently, 85 per cent of NHS trusts do not have specialist care for post-natal depression. Following a major review, Mr Stevens will publish the blueprint for how care will be overhauled over the next five years, including installing therapists and counsellors in GP surgeries, and improving care for youngsters with eating disorders. Patients with back pain, diabetes and other long-term conditions will be offered therapy to improve overall health. Luciana Berger, the Shadow Cabinet minister for mental health, welcomed the move. 'If implemented in full, these changes could make a significant difference to a system which has had to contend with funding cuts and staffing shortages at a time of rising demand, leaving too many vulnerable people without the care they need. 'The real challenge will come in ensuring these recommendations are actually delivered. 'For too long this Tory Government's rhetoric on mental health has not matched the reality on the ground. She married her partner after her diagnosis, before their son was born She had to deliver her baby two months early so she could get treatment A young mother has lost her battle with skin cancer less than three months after giving birth to her first child prematurely so she could get treatment. Charlie Nicholson, 38, from Gisborne, New Zealand found out she had cancer in November, 2015, when she was 31 weeks pregnant. On November 26, less than week later she had found out the cancer metastatic melanoma had spread to multiple organs, and she would have to deliver her son early so she could travel to Australia for treatment. But the family say the treatment she received at Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre was unable to slow down the aggressive cancer - and she returned to New Zealand's Bay Of Plenty Hospice where she died in her sleep on Sunday night. Charlie Nicholson, 38, from Gisborne, New Zealand has passed away after a three-month battle with cancer The young woman was forced to deliver her son, Ryder, two months early so she could travel to Australia for treatment That night her partner, Shawn Elsmore, proposed to her and the couple married three days later in the chapel at Auckland Hospital. Three days after that she delivered her baby, Ryder Elsmore, who was born two months premature to give his mum the best chance at survival. Charlie documented her final months and admitted the decision to leave her baby behind was a 'difficult and heart breaking decision to make. In a heartbreaking update on the womans fundraising page on Sunday her family members revealed she had lost her brief battle with the aggressive form of cancer. It is with a heavy heart and bruised soul that I write to inform you all of Charlie's passing. She slipped quietly to the other side late last night. The day she received the heart-breaking news about how severe her cancer was her partner Shawn Elsmore proposed, they married three days later Three more days after the wedding their son, Ryder Elsmore was born Thank you so much to all of you, for your kind words, prayers and generous donations to Charlie and her family. This money helped hugely, to find a path for Charlie's treatment, to ease the financial burden, and ultimately help them set up for the gorgeous wee Ryder's arrival. The family wish to thank you for everything, the generosity of your all is truly astounding and very much appreciated. Our thoughts and hearts are now with Shawn and Ryder as they face their future without their beloved. His mother revealed the decision to leave him behind to receive treatment in Australia was 'heart breaking' Ms Nicholson had set up a Charlies Angels Facebook account to allow all of her friends and families follow her journey. A loved one posted on this page on Monday morning to let people know of her passing. Kia Ora whanau and friends. Charlie Richelle Loise Nicholson passed away peacefully late last night surrounded by her husband, family and friends, the message read. On behalf of Charlie, Shawn and our family we would like to thank everyone for their love, support and help through these past few months. The page has attracted hundreds of condolences in the hours after her death, with many remembering her as a true treasure with an ability to light up the room with a smile. Swedish furniture maker IKEA has been accused of structuring itself to avoid 1 billion euros in tax The European Commission has pledged to study a report claiming that Swedish furniture giant IKEA may have underpaid taxes by one billion euros between 2009 and 2014. Research commissioned by the Green/EFA group in the European Parliament claims to show that IKEA 'structured itself to dodge 1 billion euros in taxes over the last six years using onshore European tax havens', the group said in a statement. Responding to the report on Saturday, the European Commission said it would examine the claims. Vanessa Mock, its spokesperson on financial services and tax affairs, said: 'The commission has taken note of the report and its findings and will study it in detail.' According to the Greens' statement, IKEA uses 'a series of tax loopholes in different European countries, namely the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to avoid paying taxes'. 'One of the techniques is shifting royalties from each IKEA store to a subsidiary in the Netherlands, which acts as a conduit. 'The royalties go in and out of the Netherlands untaxed and end up in Liechtenstein, or at least partly.' IKEA on Saturday defended its management of its tax affairs. 'IKEA Group is fully committed to manage its operations in a responsible and sustainable way and we pay our taxes in full compliance with national and international tax rules and regulations,' it said in a statement. 'We are committed to further develop our business in Europe and look forward to the continued dialogue on how to develop a harmonized and clear international tax system.' The report, published on Friday, also calls for tougher tax measures from the commission, saying that a recent anti-tax avoidance package did not go far enough. The claims come amid growing public outrage about tax avoidance by multi-national corporations. Last month Google agreed to pay 130 million in back taxes to Britain after a scathing government inquiry into the search giant's tax arrangements. Advertisement This is the moment an underwater photographer got up front and personal with a 23 foot wide Manta ray patterned like an eerie human skull. Eduardo Barreto Pinheiro, 41, travelled to the Revillagigedo Islands in Mexico from Brazil and dived down more than 130 feet to capture the incredible images of the graceful creatures. And some of the pictures show the sheer scale of the rare black-and-white patterned monster, when compared to the nearby diver. They also show how completely at ease it is with its human companion, while it elegantly glides through the clear water. The series of pictures also show a predominantly white Manta ray, which has also grown to a huge size. But despite their large wingspan, these giants of the sea are listed as vulnerable and their numbers have suffered due to direct harvesting, entanglement in nets and pollution. The Manta ray with a skull like pattern on its underside that was spotted by underwater photographer Carlos Eduardo Pinherio off the coast of Mexico The black and white pattern on the ray's underside is very rare and the creature's wingspan measures in at around 23-feet wide Pinheiro, 41, travelled to the Revillagigedo Islands in Mexico from Brazil and dived down more than 130 feet to capture the incredible images of the graceful creatures Another predominantly white Manta ray can also be seen in other shots and despite their size these giants of the sea are listed as vulnerable The parents of the school captain whose scathing farewell speech went viral last year have fronted the Supreme Court to seek damages from the elite school over disciplinary action taken against their younger daughter following an alleged bullying incident. Sarah Haynes, 18, made headlines in December after the outgoing school captain of Ravenswood School for Girls in Sydney's north shore said she felt 'let down' by the school in her end-of-year speech. Video of the speech went viral for its criticisms of the private school she said was run like a business. It later emerged her parents Christopher and Robyn Haynes had lodged court documents in the NSW Supreme Court to sue the school over disciplinary action taken against their younger daughter, who cannot be named, over an alleged bullying incident. Scroll down for video The parents of Sarah Haynes (pictured) the school captain whose scathing farewell speech went viral last year, have fronted the NSW Supreme Court to seek damages from her elite school over disciplinary action taken against their younger daughter following an alleged bullying incident A fellow student had last year allegedly been stripped naked and stuffed into a cupboard, Nine News reported, resulting in the expulsion of two students and the suspension of two others. It is not clear whether the daughter was expelled or suspended, or whether she had faced different disciplinary action. She had left the school midway through last year, according to Ms Haynes farewell speech. The parents claim the discipline taken against her was inappropriate. All 14 members of the School Council could be forced to front the Supreme Court to defend the disciplinary action against the girl. Ravenswood is run by the Uniting Church. Late last year, the schools chairman Mark Webb confirmed the legal action in a statement following Ms Haynes farewell speech. Her parents are seeking damages following disciplinary action against their younger daughter (pictured), who cannot be identified, following an alleged bullying incident Robyn Haynes is pictured leaving the NSW Supreme Court on Monday to seek damages from the school, run by the Uniting Church. All 14 members of the School Council may have to front the court to defend the disciplinary action against their younger daughter This relates to a family taking the school to court about a disagreement over disciplinary action taken against a number of students following an incident. In her speech, Sarah Haynes unleashed a torrent of criticism on the school. While a section of her speech focused on her sister leaving, Ms Haynes said she wasn't bringing up Ravenswood's flaws as a 'personal vendetta'. 'About half way through this year at a time when my family and I needed Ravo the most, it let us down,' she told the students, parents, teachers and staff in attendance. 'I know there have been rumours and gossip about my sister leaving the school and I'd rather not add fuel to the fire but would prefer to say the people I trusted and respected made an unjustified, cruel and incorrect decision. 'There are a lot of flaws in the whole procedure but my aim today isn't to point out all of those in a personal vendetta,' she said. 'For a large part of this year I was hurt, betrayed and very much began to hate certain things and people in this school.' Chair of Ravenswood School Council, Mark Webb, later wrote a letter to parents saying the school could not comment about Ms Haynes' speech. 'As this relates to a matter before the courts, it is not possible for us to comment on the specifics other than to say this relates to a disagreement about disciplinary action taken against a number of students following an incident. Sarah Haynes, 18, made headlines in December after the outgoing school captain of Ravenswood School for Girls said she felt 'let down' by the school in her end-of-year speech (pictured) 'I wish to share with you the response I made, at the time, to those present at the Secondary School Speech Day. 'Ravenswood has an over-riding obligation to provide a safe and respectful leaving environment for every student - and all our girls have the right to feel valued. This applies not only to the way girls behave towards one another but also to allowing their freedom to express individual opinions in speeches or otherwise.' Ms Haynes' 13-minute speech was filmed by a fellow student and went viral when it was posted to YouTube. 'Some people work hard and get noticed and good on them. Some people work hard, struggle and get overlooked,' Ms Haynes said. 'I don't know how to run a school but it seems to me that today's schools are being run more and more like businesses where everything becomes financially motivated, where more value is placed on those who provide good publicity or financial benefits. Ms Haynes had been widely praised on social media for questioning her school's values. She said staff members would change her speeches to bring them in line with the elite image of the school. 'Everything I wrote had to be censored by those higher up than me. I was never trusted to say the right thing,' she said. While a section of her speech focused on her sister leaving, Ms Haynes said she wasn't bringing up Ravenswood's flaws as a 'personal vendetta' (school pictured) Families reportedly spend up to $28,000 in annual tuition fees at the school (pictured) in Sydney's north shore She said she wrote a speech for an open day at the beginning of 2015 and was told to take out a line saying the school wasn't perfect. 'I sent this to those in charge of me and received a reply: "Great speech but change the ending. No parent wants to hear that the school isn't perfect",' Ms Haynes said. 'If the school can't admit it isn't perfect how can they expect adolescent girls to realise perfection is unattainable? 'I am far from the model student. I have been kicked out of geography class, I've had a detention and I've said things that have hurt people. 'The person who doesn't make mistakes is unlikely to make anything.' Previous school captains later came out to criticise Ms Haynes' speech. 2010 school captain Sam Writing said it was 'insulting and indulgent', Sydney Morning Herald reported. Families reportedly spend up to $28,000 in annual tuition fees at the school. She is now being housed in a notorious Soviet-era psychiatric hospital But she refused to cooperate with police on the other suspected killings Confessed to killing friend and dismembering her body in St Petersburg The Russian pensioner dubbed the 'Granny Ripper' has been sent to a notorious Soviet-era psychiatric hospital after refusing to tell police how she killed her victims. Tamara Samsonova, 68, was charged with murder after she was filmed carrying a saucepan containing the boiled head and hands of her friend Valentina Ulanova, 79, out of her flat. She dismembered the corpse with a handsaw and removed other body parts in bags, shocking CCTV footage revealed. She confessed to murdering Ulanova in her St Petersburg apartment block by poisoning her salad to make her drowsy, but refused to cooperate with investigators on up to 11 more suspected killings. Sinister: Tamara Samsonova (pictured), 68, dubbed the 'Granny Ripper', has been sent to a notorious Soviet-era psychiatric 'prison hospital' after refusing to tell police how she killed her victims Locked up: A judge ordered for her to be sent to Kazan Psychiatric Hospital (pictured) which was once used by Josef Stalin's vicious secret police to shut away political prisoners Police have not ruled out further charges but it will be difficult to connect her to the other suspected murders because they cannot find the human remains, sources have said. 'We may never know the extent of this granny's killings,' one source close to the investigation said. Among others, she is suspected of butchering several of her lodgers, her husband and her mother in law, who all vanished suddenly. It has now emerged that former hotel worker Samsonova has been sent 950 miles east on board a specially guarded train to a high security Kazan psychiatric 'prison hospital' for detailed assessment prior to her trial for Mrs Ulanova's murder. The institution, known for its severe regime, was used by Josef Stalin's vicious secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria to shut away political prisoners during the Soviet era. It is now called the Kazan Psychiatric Hospital of Special Purpose and with Intensive Guarding. Horrific: Samsonova reenacts how she beheaded one of her victims before boiling her head in a saucepan Gruesome: CCTV footage caught Samsonova (pictured), 68, carrying the head of her victim in a saucepan Home: Police arrested Samsonova in July after sniffer dogs found the remains of a body near her St Petersburg flat (pictured) - where they found bizarre diaries written in German, English and Russian Among its prominent inmates were: Viktor Ilyin who attempted to assassinate Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev when his motorcade entered the Kremlin in 1969; Konstantin Pats, the president of independent Estonia when the USSR swallowed up his country in 1940; Prominent dissident Valeria Novodvorskaya who was falsely diagnosed with 'sluggish schizophrenia' for criticising the the USSR's 1968 crushing of the Prague Spring. Samsonova was dispatched to Kazan after an assessment in St Petersburg found evidence she was 'insane', according to reports. The Samsonova investigation remains 'active' but there are now fears it may be impossible to find traces of her suspected victims. A police source told MailOnline: 'Mental health experts consider her to have mental problems and she will stay in the Kazan clinic until the end of investigation. 'When it is over, her trial will follow. She is likely to be brought back to St Petersburg to take part in it. So far she is charged with just one murder - of Valentina Ulanova - but the investigation goes on.' Severe: Samsonova, who is now being held in Kazan Psychiatric Hospital (pictured), confessed to murdering her friend Valentina Ulanova, 79, and dismembering her body Prisoners: Among the prison's best known inmates were Viktor Ilyin (left), who attempted to assassinate Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, and Konstantin Pats (right), president of independent Estonia when the USSR swallowed up his country in 1940 Political prisoner: Prominent dissident Valeria Novodvorskaya (pictured), who was falsely diagnosed with 'sluggish schizophrenia' for criticising the USSR, was also imprisoned there Samsonova was dispatched to Kazan (pictured) after an assessment in St Petersburg found evidence she was 'insane' The police declined to give an update on the probe but there are fears that apartment blocks have been built on ground where she buried earlier victims. Police are investigating people who were known to her and disappeared dating back at least 20 years. It is also known that her bizarre diary - in which she alluded to killings in a garbled mix of Russian, German and English - has not provided clues as to the whereabouts of bodies. One extract of her diary is reported to read: 'I killed my tenant Volodya, cut him to pieces in the bathroom with a knife, put the pieces of his body in plastic bags and threw them away in the different parts of Frunzensky district.' Blood believed to be from another lodger named Sergei Potyavin, 44, was reported to have been found in her bathroom, but so far she has not been charged with his murder. Samsonova also admitted to an old school friend Anna Batalina, 67, that she had been under suspicion of killing her mother in law. Her husband vanished over a decade ago, and she told police at the time that he had met another woman. Confession: In her diaries (pictured), Samsonova told of how she ate the body parts of her victims who she hacked up Deceased: Samsonova told police how she drugged her final victim Valentina Ulanova (pictured), 79, after she told her she no longer wanted to share her flat Mrs Batalina also claimed she could have ended up as a victim after Samsonova flew into a rage with her, screaming: 'I'll kill you. I'll cut you to pieces. I will throw the pieces out for the dogs. Don't make me angry.' For years before her arrest last year she had boasted to friends: 'I will be popular and famous.' She told them she would one day cause a 'sensation' without explaining why she believed so. In court after she was remanded in custody, Samsonova told assembled journalists: 'I knew you would come. It's such a disgrace for me, all the city will know.' Samsonova was arrested after local dogs sniffed the remains of Mrs Ulanova's limbs which had been dumped in foliage near her block of flats. In all, Samsonova was caught on camera going in and out of her friend's flat seven times carrying body parts in bags and a saucepan. Sources say she had deliberately boiled the severed head and hands in an attempt to prevent identification of her victim. Marina Krivenko, 53, who lived next door to Samsonova, said the 'Granny Ripper' was interested in Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, who was executed in 1994. Hidden: Samsonova was taken back to the grounds of the St Petersburg apartment block (pictured) to help search for her severed head in August Haunting: Flowers were laid outside the flat where Ms Ulanova lived (left) and the police have been searching for clues inside Samsonova's apartment He was the Soviet Union's worst-ever 'maniac' - a bloodthirsty 'vampire' who murdered, sexually assaulted and cannibalised at least 55 in a reign of terror stretching over a dozen years. This psychopath violated the bodies of his victims, chopping off their tongues, bursting their eardrums, and gouging out their eyes which, he feared, had logged his image. The neighbour said: 'She gathered information about him and how he committed his murders.' Four American journalists have been arrested in Bahrain while covering the fifth anniversary of the country's Arab Spring uprising. The four reporters - said to be three men and a woman - were detained on Sunday by police in Bahrain, who claimed they were providing 'false information that they were tourists'. Bahraini police also claimed that one of the journalists had attacked officers, while the interior ministry said one 'was wearing a mask and participating in attacks on police'. Four American journalists have been arrested in Bahrain while covering the fifth anniversary of the country's Arab Spring uprising. Pictured, an anti-government protester in Bahrain on Sunday The U.S. Embassy in Manama said on Monday that it was 'aware of the arrest of four U.S. citizens in Bahrain' on Sunday but that it could not discuss the case due to privacy concerns. A Bahraini news website reported that the journalists were working for the Huffington Post and that the woman arrested was a freelancer. But the identities of the journalists is not known and who they work for has not been confirmed. However, a spokeswoman for the Huffington Post told Daily Mail Online they did not have any journalists on assignment in Bahrain and that the freelancer in question was not contracted by them. Two witnesses, who spoke anonymously for fear of being arrested, said a photographer working with the group was arrested first. They said the other three were detained later on Sunday night, with all of the arrests taking place in the eastern town of Sitra. Bahraini protesters take part in a demonstration to mark the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring-inspired uprising A spokesman for Bahrain's interior ministry said one of the reporters was 'wearing a mask and participating in attacks on police alongside other rioters in Sitra'. Authorities also claimed they entered Bahrain, an island nation situated off the coasts of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, on tourist visas rather than media visas. 'At least some of the arrestees were in the country as members of the international media but had not registered with the concerned authority and were involved in illegal activities,' the statement from the interior ministry said. Bahrain, like many other countries, requires foreign journalists coming to the country for work to obtain an international media visa. But critics say these are often turned down. The journalists were in Bahrain to report on the fifth anniversary of those very protests. While protests in other countries in the region led to regime change and greater political rights for citizens, Bahrain cracked down on demonstrators with the help of reinforcements from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Bahraini anti-government protesters, holding a gas mask and a paint bomb, take a break between clashes with riot police, in Sitra, Bahrain, Sunday The 2011 protests were the largest of the Arab Spring wave of demonstrations to rock the Gulf Arab states. They were driven by the country's Shiite majority, who demanded greater political rights from the Sunni-led monarchy. Bahrain blamed regional Shiite power Iran for stirring up the demonstrations, though a government-sponsored investigation into the unrest said there wasn't 'a discernible link' between the protests and the Islamic Republic based on the information the government gave them. Bahrain's government committed to a number of reforms in the wake of the 2011 demonstrations, but low-level unrest continues, particularly in Shiite communities. A body discovered by horrified ground staff who noticed blood dripping from a US plane which was carrying suitcases of cash may have been a stowaway from a previous flight, it has been claimed. The Western Global Airlines charter flight had been hired by the South African government, and was flying from Munich to Durban with millions of Rand onboard when it stopped in Harare, Zimbabwe. But as ground staff inspected the plane, they noticed blood dripping onto the runway - something the crew originally dismissed as the result of hitting a bird, one source said. It fell to the American captain to put on latex gloves and open the hatch, at which point a body fell half-way out, witnesses revealed. Soldiers patrol around a United States registered cargo plane at Harare International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Monday. The Western Global Airlines charter flight had begun its journey in Germany Armed soldiers are seen patrolling around the plane following the grim discovery of a man's body The man, who a source told MailOnline was of 'African' appearance, had burns on his head. Western Global Airlines has now said the man is thought to have been a stowaway who boarded the Boeing MD-11 freighter aircraft, which is leased to Network Airline Management, before a previous flight. It had previously been in Uganda, Nigeria and Belgium. The spokesman said: 'Western Globals aircraft fly for Network Airline Management from Europe to Africa several times a week on a regular basis. Western Global provides the aircraft and crew and Network Airline Management provides the cargo, loading and unloading, and ground security as required. 'This particular flight was from Germany to South Africa, we are told for the South African Government. During a routine fuel stop in Zimbabwe, a body was found in the lower compartment. 'The body is presumed to be a stowaway who may have entered the airplane during a previous stop. The situation is currently under review.' Police in the Zimbabwean capital have now impounded the plane, which was said to carrying cargo for South African Reserve Bank, based in Pretoria, while they investigate the matter. According to the airport, the plane was carrying a 'diplomatic consignment', with the South African ambassador spending most of Sunday at the airport. The current whereabouts of the crew - said to be two Americans, a South African and a Pakistani - is not known, but some reports suggest they have been arrested. Zimbabwean aviation authorities impounded the jet after a dead body later believed to be a stowaway and millions of South African rand were found on board, a senior official said According to Zimbabwe's Herald, the captain had originally requested to stop in Mozambique, but was turned down - so turned to the neighboring country. A source told the newspaper: 'Upon refueling, the airport attendant discovered that there was blood dripping from the plane. 'When they checked to try and ascertain where the blood was coming from that is when they discovered a suspended dead body in the plane.' Another source revealed to the African News Agency that they were first told by the crew they had 'hit a bird in the air'. 'But then a search was made and the body of an adult male fell out,' the source said. Discovery: The charter flight landed in Harare on Sunday, where ground staff found blood dripping from the cargo hold - and then discovered the body of a man 'suspended' inside. the airport is pictured above David Chawota, chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, confirmed it had decided to hold the plane. 'The police are now handling the issue and the plane, which is owned by Western Global Airlines, has been grounded at Harare International Airport since Sunday,' he told BDLive. Western Global Airlines is based in Florida, but boasts of its 'vast operating reach' across 44 countries as one of 'largest worldwide commercial cargo transportation services'. It is privately owned by founder James K Neff and Sunny Neff, and has a freighter fleet of 16 wide-body aircraft used by the likes of UPS and FedEx. Advertisement This is the heartbreaking moment a starving two-year-old Nigerian boy is given water by a charity worker after being left for dead by his family because they thought he was a witch. The boy, now named Hope, was found emaciated and riddled with worms after being forced to live off scraps thrown to him by passersby for eight months. He was finally rescued after being discovered naked and wandering the streets on January 31 by Anja Ringgren Loven, a Danish woman living in Africa. Scroll down for video Nigerian boy, now named Hope (pictured), was emaciated and riddled with worms when he was discovered naked and wandering the streets on January 31 by Anja Ringgren Loven, a Danish woman (pictured right) Ms Loven fed Hope and gave him water before wrapping him up in a blanket (pictured) Ms Loven said Hope was accused of being a witch and was shunned from his Nigerian community Horrified by Hope's condition, Ms Loven bent down and began feeding him and giving him water from her bottle. She then wrapped the disorientated and sick toddler up in a blanket, holding him in her arms, before taking him to the nearest hospital for treatment. Ms Loven is the founder of African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation, which she created three years ago to help children that have been labelled as a witch and therefore neglected and even killed by the members of their community. 'Thousands of children are being accused of being witches and we've both seen torture of children, dead children and frightened children,' she wrote on Facebook, accompanying images of her feeding the young boy and appealing for donations to help pay for his medical bills. Ms Loven held him in her arms before taking him to the nearest hospital for treatment (pictured) 'Thousands of children are being accused of being witches and we've both seen torture of children, dead children and frightened children,' Ms Loven wrote When Hope reached the hospital he was given medication to remove the worms from his belly and daily blood transfusions to incorporate more red blood cells into his body, Ms Loven said. 'Hope's condition is stable now. He's taking food for himself and he responds to the medicine he gets. 'Today, he has had powers to sit up and smiling at us. He's a strong little boy.' Ms Loven said Hope even plays with her own son. 'I just don't know how to describe it in words. This is what makes life so beautiful and valuable and therefore I will let the pictures speak for themselves,' she said. Ms Loven is the founder of African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation, which she created to help children that have been labelled as a witch and therefore neglected by the members of their community When Hope reached the hospital he was given medication to remove the worms from his belly and daily blood transfusions to incorporate more red blood cells into his body Two days after Ms Loven asked for the community's help with Hope's costly medical bills, she received $1million in donations from around the world. 'With all the money, we can, besides giving Hope the very best treatment, now also build a doctor clinic on the new land and save many more children out of torture!' she said. Ms Loven runs an children's center where the children she saves live and received medical care, food and schooling. She and her husband, David Emmanuel Umem, began building their own orphanage in late January. Ms Loven said Hope (right) even plays with her own son, David Jr (pictured left) when they visit him 'Hope's condition is stable now. He's taking food for himself, and he responds to the medicine he gets. Today, he has had powers to sit up and smiling at us. He's a strong little boy,' Ms Loven said A couple of weeks later, Hope is still in the hospital and is now eating properly and gaining strength AFL Footy Show co-presenter Billy Brownless has reportedly suspected the affair between his former wife and Garry Lyon had been going on for several years. The shocking rift comes after it emerged last week Brownless' friendship with his longstanding mate of nearly 20 years ended by a 'deeply private and personal' incident. According to The Age, a heartbroken Brownless had told friends he believed the former Melbourne Demons star's affair with his ex-wife Nicky, had lasted up to four years. Scroll down for video Garry Lyon (right, with ex-partner Melissa) and Footy Show co-host Billy Brownless (left, with ex-wife Nicky) This comes as friends and family are reportedly furious at Lyon's affair. Lyon has shut himself away in his home in Hawthorn, Victoria, and is in a miserable state as he battles with depression, the Herald Sun reports. People close to the Channel Nine Network and Triple M radio host are torn between wanting to help him and being upset with him, the report said. 'Everyone is furious with him,' someone close to Lyon told the newspaper. 'They think he's an idiot for having a relationship with Nicky and putting his whole career and friends at risk.' Lyon is believed to have shut himself away in his Hawthorn home and is in a very depressed state Lyon (right) and Brownless (left) had been friends and worked together for more than 15, and are co-hosts of the AFL Footy Show along with James Brayshaw (middle) People close to the former Melbourne Demons player and current Channel Nine host are reportedly torn between wanting to help him and being upset at him It has been reported the two fell out when Brownless discovered that his ex-wife Nicky had entered into a relationship with Lyon, and confronted his friend about it. Lyon is no longer in a relationship with his ex-partner Melissa, who is said to be very close friends with Nicky. The two former couples have enjoyed overseas holidays with each other over the years. AFL Footy Show host Garry Lyon has been stood down from media duties by the Nine Network as he battles a 'serious mental health condition' Billy Brownless arrives at a function with ex-wife Nicky in 2013. The 49-year-old reportedly suffered a 'deeply private and personal' break in his friendship with Lyon after learning of the relationship Lyon played 226 games for the Melbourne Demons and kicked 426 goals in an illustrious career that saw him named as a half-forward flanker in their Team of the Century Channel Nine announced on Saturday Lyon would not be appearing on television or making media appearances and because of a 'mental health condition' he was suffering. 'For several months The Footy Show and Footy Classified co-host has been suffering from a serious mental health condition and he will take time out from all media roles to recover,' the statement said. 'There is no set time frame as to when he will return to television.' Lyon was offered the support of Nine management. Lyon (middle) and Brownless (left) were both due to be part of the AFL Footy Show for 2016 - along with Sam Newman (right) Billy Brownless, Garry Lyon, and James Brayshaw pose with the Most Popular Sports Program Award for The AFL Footy Show in 2008 Billy Brownless and daughter Lucy Brownless arrive for Crown's IMG23 Tennis Players' Party at Crown Entertainment Complex on January 18, 2015 'We are all supporting Garry and hope he will be back to good health very soon. Our priority is his wellbeing,' Nine Melbourne managing director Ian Paterson said. 'Garry has our full support. From here on, it's a private and personal matter and we ask that be respected.' Lyon, 48, played 226 games for the Demons and kicked 426 goals in an illustrious career that saw him named as a half-forward flanker in their Team of the Century. The show is scheduled to return on March 23, a day before the 2016 AFL season gets underway. Lyon suffered a 'deeply private and personal' break in his friendship with longtime Footy Show co-host Billy Brownless (pictured) Billy Brownless and daughters Lucy Brownless and Ruby Brownless pose at the Emirates Marquee on Stakes Day at Flemington Racecourse in 2015 A Disney cruise ship stopped en route to the Cayman Islands so it could rescue 12 men suspected of being migrants, who were stranded on a rickety makeshift vessel near Cuba. The Disney Wonder boat had set off from Miami and was headed for Grand Cayman, when it came across the men on Saturday evening. They were struggling to stay afloat in the water on their 'rustic' vessel and were taken aboard the Disney liner, which has 11 decks boasting restaurants, pools and other activities. The Disney Wonder cruise liner, which picked up 12 Cuban migrants who were stranded in a makeshift vessel off the coast of the Cayman Islands When the ship reached Grand Cayman, the 12 men were then handed over to the authorities there. U.S. Coast Guard 7th District spokesman Jon-Paul Rios told CNN that the migrants were all Cuban and were using a 'rustic' vessel. He noted that rustic is the term authorities use to describe dangerous or unseaworthy boats. However, he added it is unclear whether the migrants were trying to make their way to the United States. The incident comes as cruise ships have agreed to contact the U.S. Coast Guard if they come into contact with migrants. Often the cruise liners will pick up the migrants and take them to the ship's next port of call and hand them over to authorities. However, it is not the first time a Disney cruise has rescued migrants as in 2013, a group of eight were picked up off the coast of Key West. The 12 men were struggling to stay afloat in the water on their 'rustic' vessel and were taken aboard the Disney liner, which has 11 decks boasting restaurants, pools and other activities (file picture) Immigration from Cuba to the U.S. has spike dramatically in the past year since Havana and Washington announced they would restore diplomatic relations. Many Cuban migrants say they are keen to make the journey now for fear if the relations do not continue, it could bring an end to the U.S. policies that given them privileged treatment. Backers of the United States' Cuban Adjustment Act say it offers refuge to islanders fleeing Cuba's communist system. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland are to meet today to discuss creating a blockade to stop the influx of migrants arriving from Greece. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the countries known collectively as the Visegrad group were ready to help Balkan countries seal their borders. The leaders of Bulgaria and Macedonia will also attend the meeting in Prague. Migrants cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the town of Gevgelija on Sunday. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland are to meet today to discuss creating a blockade to stop migrants arriving from Greece Mr Sobotka said he would also discuss the plans with the Greek foreign minister tomorrow, ahead of a summit of European leaders at the end of the week. Apart from Hungary, central European countries have so far not seen significant numbers of migrants. But they fear that could change if Europe's external borders stay porous, or if Germany the main destination were to close its own borders. Germany has raised objections to the plan, saying that sealing Balkan borders with Greece could undermine its own approach to the crisis. Fury: Protesters hold banners and Greek flags during a demonstration on the island of Kos against the creation of an identification and registration centre for migrants who are entering the EU through Greece GREECE OPENS 'HOTSPOT' MIGRANT CENTRES AFTER EU PRESSURE TO CONTROL THE INFLUX Greece will open four migrant registration centres in time for an EU summit this week as Athens comes under heavy pressure to control the massive influx to Europe. Four of Greece's five 'hotspot' centres will formally open by Wednesday on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Leros and Samos, which have been struggling to cope with hundreds of thousands of migrants landing from Turkey in flimsy boats, a government source said. Each will have enough prefab housing to accommodate 1,000 arrivals for three days, during which they will be registered, have their fingerprints taken and be sorted between those eligible for asylum in the EU and those who face eventual deportation. Security checks will attempt to prevent the entry of jihadists, a pressing concern after two of the men who carried out November's terror attacks in Paris sneaked into Europe via Greece, posing as refugees. The fifth centre, on the island of Kos, will be set up slightly later, the source said. Opposition from local authorities and residents, complaining that the influx has damaged their vital tourism industry, has caused delays to the construction work. Riot police fired tear gas Sunday at protesters on the resort island who are angry over plans to open the centre. While Greece has acknowledged delays in the opening of the centres calling in the army to help complete them the government insists it is already registering migrants with the help of 400 staff from EU border agency Frontex. Advertisement Berlin has focused on working with Turkey to control the migrant flow and fears the Visegrad plan would lead to an accumulation of refugees in Greece, a country already under huge strain. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who will attend the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, is under heavy pressure from EU neighbours to do more to stem the influx of migrants. EU member states on Friday gave Athens a three-month ultimatum to remedy 'deficiencies' in controlling the influx, or effectively face suspension from the Schengen passport-free zone. Greece has responded by planning to open four 'hotspot' registration centres ahead of the summit. It comes as an opinion poll published today reveals that around two-thirds of Czechs oppose taking in refugees from war zones, reflecting growing anti-migrant sentiment in a country that has taken a tough stance on the issue. Central European nations have opposed quotas for sharing asylum-seekers among EU members, and Czech President Milos Zeman is one of many leaders to have used anti-migrant rhetoric. The latest monthly survey by the Czech Public Opinion Research Centre found 65 per cent of Czechs were against taking in war refugees, up from 50 per cent in September. Another 28 per cent said refugees should only be accepted until they can return home. More than one million refugees crossed into Europe last year, most of them fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr Zeman has limited policymaking power, but has said integration of Muslim communities in the country of 10.5 million is 'practically impossible' and called the influx an 'organised invasion'. He has also said that migrants would impose sharia law, stoning women to death for adultery and chopping thieves' hands off. A 19-year-old swimmer had to be rescued by crane after a wave swept him into a cove in San Diego, California, on Sunday. Teen Christian Romo says he was surveying the water in Sunset Cliffs for snorkeling in the afternoon when a wave suddenly hit and washed him into a cove where he became stuck against the rocks. 'I thought I was going to drown. There was a point where I was hanging on the rock over there and I thought I was going to drown. Definitely a very scary experience,' Romo told KFMB. Scroll down for video Emergency: A 19-year-old swimmer was swept into a cove in San Diego, California on Sunday and had to be rescued by a lifeguard crane Trapped: Christian Romo was surveying the beach for snorkeling when the wave suddenly struck and swept him into the cove Dangerous waters: This was the third crane rescue in three days in the San Diego area A passerby saw the young man and called 911. Emergency responders arrived at the scene and used a crane to lower a lifeguard into the cove to lift Romo out. Officials say this was the third such rescue in three days. Luckily Romo escaped the incident and suffered only minor bruising. A controversial new law forcing migrants in Denmark to hand over cash and valuables to fund their benefits didn't raise a single penny in its first week. Danish police have had the power to confiscate money and other belongings above 10,000 kroner (1,025) since February 5. But not a single item or even one kroner has been seized since the bill dubbed the 'jewellery law' came into effect, police have admitted. In a statement to Metroxpress, the Danish National Police said: 'The so-called jewellery law at the current time has not given rise to the confiscation of cash or valuables.' Danish police escort a family from Syria seeking asylum in Denmark after finding them while checking the identity papers of passengers on a train arriving from Germany in Padborg last month. A new law forcing migrants in Denmark to hand over valuables to fund their benefits didn't raise a single penny in its first week The law has been condemned by the UN and international media because of its comparisons to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany who had gold and valuables seized by Hitler's regime. The bill was passed by an overwhelming majority last month, with the main centre-left opposition Social Democrats voting in favour as Denmark's political landscape shifts to the right thanks to the popularity of anti-immigrant Danish People's Party. Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen from the left-wing Red-Green Alliance said: 'I think it is obvious that this law is a signal more than anything else. 'But I think that (the Integration Minister) and the government are quite satisfied with this because wasn't the primary goal to tell the world that Denmark is not a nice place to be as a refugee?' Marketing expert Michael Ulveman said the lack of confiscations could be seen as an attempt to deflect international criticism, it was reported by The Local. He told Metroxpress: 'It's obvious that the most damaging thing would be if the international media reported that the Danish state was shovelling in money by selling refugees' valuables. 'That would be the worst nightmare from a communications standpoint.' Lawmakers in Copenhagen hope the bill will reduce the influx of migrants. Police organise a line of refugees on the stairway leading up from the trains arriving from Denmark at the Hyllie train station outside Malmo, Sweden. Denmark had previously been seen as more of a thoroughfare until Sweden introduced a cap on migrants, meaning more asylum seekers are now staying Denmark Denmark had previously been seen as more of a thoroughfare, with many refugees passing through on their way to Sweden. However, in December, the Swedish government introduced a cap on migrants and mandatory ID-checks on its borders, meaning more people have stayed in Denmark. Under the new bill, Danish police can search luggage of asylum seekers and seize cash exceeding 10,000 kroner (1,025) as well as any individual items valued at more than that amount. Wedding rings and other items of sentimental value will be exempt. Others measures include making it harder to bring family members to Denmark once they have a right to remain. Being a refugee fleeing war but not individual persecution will not longer qualify for the highest form of protection status under Danish law and they will have to wait three years instead of one year before applying for family reunification. Once the application has been filed, the process can take years and refugees would have to pay the transportation costs of family members they bring to the country. The waiting time has prompted allegations that Denmark will violate the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Refugee Convention. Several organisations, including the UN High Commission for Refugees also censured the Nordic country for the proposals. The Danish government has defended the move to seize valuables, saying the same rules apply for all Danish citizens who wish to qualify for social benefits. Two hospitals and school also destroyed by missiles in Azaz, north Syria U.N. chiefs said the strikes were 'blatant violations of international laws' After the bombings the death toll, which includes children, has risen to 50 Air strikes hit long lines of buildings in both instances, illuminating the sky A shocking video shows an entire district destroyed by Russian cluster bombs in Aleppo as air strikes hit five hospitals and two schools. The death toll after the attacks in Syria today has risen to 50 with many more expected to be wounded. It is believed that among the dead are children with the bombings condemned by U.N. chiefs. U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haqsaid said the attacks were 'blatant violations of international laws' that 'are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria.' Devastation: This is the moment Russian cluster bombs destroy buildings in the Syrian city of Aleppo Impact: The first bomb dropped by the Russian fighter jet hits buildings in Aleppo - causing a flash of light In the clip, which appears to have been filmed on a mobile phone, a fighter jet is seen flying above the city before the camera turns to Aleppo's skyline which is swiftly illuminated in the distance by a great flash. A thunderous boom then follows as the bombs destroy the area, with grey smoke emerging after. Mere seconds later the same sequence happens again, but closer to the camera, as a series of blocks are lit up by the cluster bombs, just behind a treeline. Destruction: The missile illuminates the city's skyline with a large amount of buildings left destroyed or burning Two sequences are captured in the film, with buildings being targeted in the distance and the foreground of the filmmaker's view. Pictured, the second sequence where a series of buildings behind a treeline are destroyed Smoke emerges from the destruction of the second bomb which followed a thunderous boom created by its impact The video emerges after activists say ballistic missiles, thought to be Russian, hit a children's hospital and school in Azaz, near the Turkish border, with three children and a pregnant woman among the dead. They said at least five missiles hit the rebel-held town where refugees fleeing a major Syrian army offensive in the Aleppo area were sheltering. A resident said another refugee shelter south of the town was also hit by bombs dropped by jets believed to be Russian. Tens of thousands of people have fled to the town - the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey - from towns and villages where there is heavy fighting between the Syrian army and militias. Juma Rahal, a medic, told Reuters: 'We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital.' Three children and a pregnant woman were among those killed in the hospital airstrike in Azaz today A man covers the bodies of some of those killed in the bombing just a few miles from the Turkish border A man wounded in the airstrikes in northern Syria is brought for medical treatment at Kilis Hospital in Turkey A young boy with a broken leg lies in a hospital following the attack on a medical centre in Azaz Another child, pictured with blood still staining his jumper, required treatment to his hand The hospital in Azaz (pictured) was hit by missiles that killed at least 11 people, including three children A second hospital, run by Doctors Without Borders, was destroyed (pictured) further south in Idlib province Pictured, a sea launched ballistic missile which fell unexploded in an olive grove outside of Aleppo. The missile was launched by Russian warships as part of an offensive on the Azaz district of the city. Several children were killed and ambulances ferried scores of injured people to Turkey for treatment, he said. And French charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) claims that at least eight staff are missing after rockets hit a hospital that it supported in the province of Idlib in north western Syria. In a statement, MSF said the hospital was hit with four times in at least two attacks. It said the attacks were minutes apart, adding that at least eight members of staff are currently missing. 'This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms,' said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF's mission chief. 'The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict.' The aid group said the hospital had 30 beds, 54 staff members, two operating theatres, an outpatients department and an emergency room. The statement added that MSF has been supporting the hospital since September and covered all its needs, including providing medical supplies and running costs. Opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih said: 'The entire building has collapsed on the ground. All members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead.' Paramedics and volunteers were now working on removing the rubble, he added. Pictured, the missile, which was one of eight launched by the Russian ships anchored near near Latakia Port, sits smoking among the olive trees A teenager is given medical treatment in Kilis State Hospital after being taken across the Turkish border to receive treatment following the airstrikes Turkish medics carry a man still covered in bloodstains after the hospital in Azaz was hit by missiles A man is stretchered into a hospital on the Turkish side of the border, where only the injured are allowed to cross to flee the bloodshed People gather near a crater caused by the airstrikes in Azaz, believed to be the work of Russia Syrian men carry a body on a stretcher from the ruins of hospital after it was bombed today, killing at least 11 people - including three children and a pregnant woman The four-story building once was a cement company but had served as a makeshift clinic during the war, said al-Sobeih. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed Russian warplanes targeted the MSF hospital. Syrian troops have been on the offensive in northern Syria under the cover of Russian airstrikes since February 1. Although Moscow denies causing civilian casualties in its bombing campaign in Syria, Putin is coming under increasing criticism for the killings. Yesterday US Senator John McCain accused him of deliberately targeting civilian facilities in a bid to fuel the migration crisis and destablise Europe. Other Western officials have expressed doubt that a temporary ceasefire, agreed by most interested parties and due to come into effect on Friday, will work in the face of the Russian aggression. Today Turkey accused Russia of acting as a 'terrorist organisation' in Syria and vowed to deliver a 'decisive response' to its bombing campaign in support of Bashar al-Assad. Turkey has long backed Assad's ouster and like other Western nations accuses Russia of predominantly bombing Syrian rebel groups backed by Washington and its allies instead of ISIS. A man carries a child from a damaged building in Azaz, where a school was also struck by the missiles Smoke billows from a fire at the southeastern Turkey town of Nusaybin where Turkish forces are battling militants linked to the PKK, which they claim are taking advantage of the conflict in the area Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Russia is acting like a 'terrorist organisation' in its actions across the Middle East It also warned it would not allows the town of Azaz to fall into the hands of a Kurdish militia and its fighters will face the 'harshest reaction' if they approach it. A major offensive supported by Russian bombing and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias has brought the Syrian army to within 15 miles of the Turkish border. The Kurdish YPG militia has exploited the situation, seizing ground from Syrian rebels to extend its presence along the Turkish border. Turkey is infuriated by the expansion of Kurdish influence in northern Syria, fearing it will encourage separatist ambitions among its own Kurds. The YPG, which Ankara considers to be a terrorist group, controls nearly all of Syria's frontier with Turkey. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said YPG fighters would have taken control of Azaz and the town of Tal Rifaat further south had it not been for Turkish artillery firing at them over the weekend. 'YPG elements were forced away from around Azaz. If they approach again they will see the harshest reaction. We will not allow Azaz to fall.' He said Turkey would make the Menagh air base north of the city of Aleppo 'unusable' if the YPG, which seized it over the weekend from Syrian insurgents, did not withdraw. Theft: Ayesha Pudden, 22, burgled her neighbour's room in this Spitalfields tower (pictured) in late December 2013 and bought herself a nose job A student who burgled her flatmates room and took her credit card details so she could pay for a nose job has been jailed for two years. Ayesha Pudden, 22, who wanted cosmetic surgery to boost her self esteem, hosted a party at her student accommodation in Spitalfields, east London, in late December 2013. During the party she got hold of the key card to flatmate Yuan Guos room while she was away and allowed guests to go inside where expensive clothing, cosmetics and jewellery totalling 16,115 was stolen. When Ms Guo returned she confronted Pudden and gave her two weeks to return the items or she would report the matter to police. But Pudden had also memorised Ms Guos bank details and splashed out 4,860.27 on cosmetic surgery from The Harley Medical Centre. She since made efforts to return as much of the loot as possible and Snaresbrook Crown Court heard 7,000 worth had been handed back. Pudden admitted burglary, fraud and possession of stolen driving licences belonging to three strangers found by officers during a search of her room on 5 February 2014. Ms Guo moved out of the apartments as she was so upset by the burglary and the fact that she was not automatically insured. The court heard that Pudden suffers low self-esteem and carried out the fraud in order to boost her confidence through cosmetic surgery and expensive clothes. Nathan Palmer, defending Pudden, explained that his client accepts responsibility for what she has done and the culpability is hers. Snaresbrook Crown Court (pictured) heard that Pudden suffers low self-esteem and carried out the fraud in order to boost her confidence through cosmetic surgery and expensive clothes Jailing Pudden for two years Judge Alastair Hammerton, said: This is a case where your offending falls clearly past the custody threshold. Were I sentencing you for this one matter of burglary I would seriously think about a suspended sentence. However I have to sentence you for this and for the possession of the stolen driving licences and for fraud. It is my clear view that the scale of your offending is so substantial - burglary, fraud and stolen driving licences - that the only appropriate sentence is one of immediate imprisonment. A man who allegedly launched a mid-air attack on the crew of a flight from Dubai to London was restrained when a travelling police officer put him in a headlock. The passenger is said to have become violent during the flight, attacking three members of staff on the Emirates plane before headbutting another. He was detained on the cabin floor and was arrested by police officers at Heathrow once the flight landed. Scroll down for video Pictured: A man is detained on the floor of the plane, pictured, after allegedly attacking the Emirates crew It happened on flight EK005, which landed at the airport last night at around 8pm and the alleged attacker is still being questioned by officers at Heathrow Police Station. Dr Farah Jameel, a passenger on the flight, told the Evening Standard the man was bound with black rope after a huge ruckus. She said: The guy was pinned down and they had tied him up. His hands, legs, and even someone holding his head. The attack took place on an Emirates flight from Dubai to London Heathrow yesterday (file picture) They even at one point put a surgical face mask on him, I guess to try to stop him biting them. They were wearing gloves as well. It was the second time he had kicked off. There was a police officer on the flight and he put him in a headlock. Dr Jameel added the rest of the passengers were freaked out by what happened. The Metropolitan Police confirmed they were called to an incident involving a violent passenger and arrested a 30-year-old Dutch male. The force also confirmed it was not being linked to terrorism. Metropolitan Police officers arrested a 30-year-old Dutch national at Heathrow Airport, pictured (file picture) A Scotland Yard spokesman said: Shortly after 5.30pm on Sunday, February 14, police at Heathrow Airport were informed of a violent passenger onboard a flight from Dubai expected to arrive Terminal 3 at around 8pm. On landing officers boarded the plane and arrested a 30-year-old male Dutch national on suspicion of common assault. He was taken off the plane and into custody at Heathrow police station where he remains at this time. The investigation of the incident by Heathrow police is ongoing. Diabetic student nurse Lisa Day (pictured) had a heart attack and died after waiting almost five hours for an ambulance, an inquest has heard A diabetic student nurse who had a heart attack after waiting almost five hours for an ambulance when she called 111 could have survived if she had arrived at hospital sooner, an inquest has heard. Lisa Day, 27, a Type 1 diabetic, had been staying at a friend's house when she fell and started vomiting blood, prompting the friend to call 111. But, despite Ms Day being given a 30-minute response time, the ambulance did not turn up for five hours because there were not enough available. The service was so delayed that it had a backlog of 200 cases and ambulances were struggling to reach life-threatened patients. Even those who were meant to be phoning back patients to warn of the delay were unable to keep up with demand because the service was receiving 300 phone calls per hour, the inquest was told. During the delay, Ms Day's condition deteriorated and she suffered a cardiac arrest. When paramedics arrived, they found her unconscious on a bed. She died five days later at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, north London, from lack of oxygen to the brain caused by diabetic ketoacidosis - a complication, caused by a lack of insulin, arising from her type 1 diabetes. Miss Day had been due to start training as a nurse at City University in London days after the incident. Today, recording a narrative verdict, coroner Mary Hassell said: 'The reason for the approximate four and a half hour delay in an ambulance attending was because demand outstripped capacity. 'If Lisa had received definitive hospital care before she suffered a cardiac arrest in the evening of September 7, the likelihood is she would have survived.' Speaking after the inquest through tears, Miss Day's mother Doreen Proud said: 'She should still be here. What can I say? It's every mother's nightmare.' Asked if she thought she had justice now, she said: 'It is helping everyone else but it can't bring my daughter back.' Speaking after the inquest, Miss Day's brother-in-law Matthew Edwards blamed her death on the under-resourcing of London Ambulance Service. He said: 'We are extremely saddened by Lisa's death, and the sadness will last with us now until the rest of our lives. 'We believe the death was completely avoidable and ultimately resulted from the under-resourcing of the ambulance service in London. I hope these lessons will be learnt and this case will not happen again.' Miss Day's sister Katie Edwards said: 'She was completely let down.' During the inquest, St Pancras Coroner's Court was told how Ms Day's friend Luke Halliburton had called the non-emergency lines shortly after 5pm. They had been at his house the night before but Ms Day woke up the following morning feeling unwell and said she had been sick overnight. Mr Halliburton, an acting police sergeant, said: 'On the 6th September I had an evening at home with Lisa and a friend Rob. We had a few drinks at a pub and went home for something to eat and ordered an Indian. 'When I woke, Rob told me Lisa was feeling unwell and had been sick overnight. I went to check on her where she was on the bed and on the floor was a Tupperware container with vomit in it.' The inquest heard Mr Halliburton left Ms Day to sleep and periodically checked up on her throughout the day, during which she was frequently sick. The 27-year-old (left and right), a Type 1 diabetic, fell severely ill and was vomiting blood while when her case was referred to paramedics by the NHS 111 service. But, the ambulance did not turn up for five hours Ms Day (pictured), a student living in West Hampstead, was first diagnosed with type-one diabetes when she was 14. Her diabetes was 'poorly managed' over a number of years Then, at around 5pm, Ms Day said she had a sore throat and her voice was hoarse and asked her friend to call an ambulance. Mr Halliburton phoned 111, which assessed Ms Day as DX012, meaning an ambulance should have been with her within 30 minutes. But the London Ambulance Service was 'remarkably busy' that day - a fact the 111 call handlers were aware of - and failed to arrive within that time frame. More than four hours later, the London Ambulance Service phoned back, apologising for the delay and asking for an update on Ms Day's condition. When Mr Halliburton went to check on her again, he said he could not rouse her. Giving evidence at the inquest, he said: 'I could not hear her breathing, I couldn't get any reaction. I immediately dialled 999 and informed LAS Lisa was unresponsive and not breathing.' Mr Halliburton commenced CPR until the ambulance arrived and took Ms Day to hospital. Speaking after the inquest through tears, Miss Day's mother Doreen Proud (left) said it was 'every mother's nightmare'. She is pictured with sister Katie Edwards and Ms Day's father Brian Proud Susan Watkins, the head of quality assurance at the London Ambulance Service who reviewed the case, said the service was struggling with 'extreme demand'. She told the inquest: 'On the day in question we faced increased levels of demand for the service. Incoming calls exceeded the amount of resources we had available - operational resourcing was low. 'We were receiving over 300 calls an hour in the hour we got the call from Lisa.' More than 200 patients were waiting for an ambulance along with Miss Day, the inquest a heard. The ambulance service was under such strain it upgraded its operations to 'purple-enhanced' - the third most serious category behind 'black' which denotes 'catastrophic' conditions. This meant that calls were redirected to other agencies such as 111, and saw staff who usually ring back patients waiting for an ambulance are redeployed to take emergency 999 calls. Miss Watkins said: 'Significant pressures were on the service we couldn't reach our immediately life-threatened patients. 'Obviously there was a delay to an ambulance being sent to Lisa. While we are handling calls that are being held there should be further ring backs made to the patient. She was found unconscious on a bed and died five days later at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, north London (pictured) 'On the day in question there were two staff allocated to ring backs for all the calls waiting and sadly there was a delay in the ring backs. 'There just weren't the people to ring back patients, they should be done but in those circumstances of extreme capacity we redeploy handlers.' She said the service was so overstretched that just 30 per cent of category A patients received their ambulance within the target time of eight minutes. She said: 'Significant pressures were on the service, we couldn't reach our immediately life-threatened patients. 'Obviously there was a delay to an ambulance being sent to Lisa. While we are handling calls that are being held there should be further ring-backs made to the patient. 'On the day in question there were two staff allocated to ring-backs for all the calls waiting and sadly there was a delay in the ring backs. 'There just weren't the people to ring back patients; they should be done but in those circumstances of extreme capacity we redeploy handlers.' Coroner Ms Hassell said she was very 'worried' at what happens to very sick patients when there are not the ambulances to get to them. She asked: 'What really worries me about all of these is I can see there is a great demand in the ambulance service. I can see that Lisa wasn't in a position where she was having a heart attack or bleeding to death. But she was poorly and at risk. 'What really worries me is that there was nobody saying to those with her 'You know what, she is really poorly, is there any way you can get her to the hospital?' 'Most families, most friends in that situation will have access to something. Why did nobody have that conversation for her?' Miss Watkins said staff were so stretched the earliest possible time the ambulance service could call back and potentially have this conversation was at 10.15pm. Ms Hassell added: 'I think you are saying to me it was all about resources, that there was no way without additional resources she would have got the help she needed.' Miss Watkins replied: 'Yes, that's regrettable. I sincerely regret that we couldn't ring back sooner for support for Lisa and obviously we couldn't get an ambulance.' Earlier, the inquest heard from Aicha Daidai, the 111 handler who took the first call. Speaking about the call, she said: 'He said straight away she was vomiting, there is blood in her vomit, she has a headache, abdominal pain and throat pain.' Having established that Ms Day presented no life-threatening conditions, she put the case in a clinician's box for a call back 20 minutes later. Asked if she would have done anything differently, Ms Daidai responded: 'There is always room for improvement but I do feel there could have been more emphasis on speaking to the patient herself if I could have. 'I do feel I handled it well by recognising the symptoms at the beginning.' The inquest heard that the London Ambulance Service was so overstretched that just 30 per cent of category A patients received their ambulance within the target time of eight minutes (file picture) Laura Holland, representing 111, told the inquest Ms Daidai's role was to assess how quickly a patient needs to be spoken to by a clinician, and not what treatment they require. Cindy Wallace, a clinical supervisor at 111, called back at 5.42pm, and managed to speak to Lisa who was described as a 'waxy colour' by Mr Halliburton. The inquest heard that she did not ask if the patient had any pre-existing health conditions, but Mr Halliburton told them she had Type-1 diabetes. She said: 'My response was 'Oh my gosh, she will need to be seen'.' 'I asked again if Lisa could speak to me directly because I recognised she had a quite a few symptoms and wanted to be sure I could assert how her breathing was and if there was an element of confusion,' Ms Wallace said. But when Ms Day told her she had not eaten anything that day or measured her blood sugar level, Ms Wallace said she wanted to get an ambulance to her. It was all about resources... there was no way without additional resources she would have got the help she needed Coroner Mary Hassell Ms Wallace suggested it would be quicker she was driven to hospital by her friends, as she knew the ambulance service was under great strain, but Ms Day declined, saying she wanted an ambulance. She told the inquest: 'Her response was 'I want to go by ambulance'. 'I told her that the ambulance was busy because I had spoken to them earlier. But obviously I knew she had quite a few symptoms that needed urgent assessment and proceeded to call an ambulance.' The coroner Mary Hassell pressed the nurse on whether it would have been better to have talked to Mr Halliburton about the possibility of getting Miss Day to the hospital more quickly by car. After asking the question five times, the nurse eventually conceded this would have been a good idea. She answered: 'Looking back on it possibly yes. 'Because of how she seemed and how unwell she seemed to me, I felt the ambulance was the best means of transport.' Ms Wallace then called an ambulance but they couldn't give any estimated time of arrival, which she relayed to Mr Halliburton. Asked if she would have done anything differently, she answered: 'No, because I feel that from my clinical knowledge and experience of diabetes and what was presented to me at the time, the ambulance was the appropriate option.' She added that she stood by her decision to issue a 30-minute call out response to LAS. Ms Day, a student living in West Hampstead, was first diagnosed with type-one diabetes when she was 14. Her diabetes was 'poorly managed' over a number of years, resulting in her being admitted to hospital on a number of occasions in emergency situations. The illness also caused her to suffer from foot ulcers, severe eye disease, kidney damage, bilateral cataracts, while she also battled bulimia. A young boy was sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray during a violent confrontation with at least eight police officers and a group of people. Police were called to an alleged stabbing on Monday in South Auckland, New Zealand, when they were met with a crowd of people from the neighbourhood, according to the New Zealand Herald. Footage shows the young boy sitting on a red and yellow bicycle as the crowd becomes more aggressive toward the eight police officers, before one of the officers tries to grab a woman in the crowd. Scroll down for video Shocking video shows a young boy after he was sprayed with pepper spray in Auckland, New Zealand Footage shows the young boy sitting on a red and yellow bicycle as a crowd becomes aggressive toward eight police officers at the scene of an alleged stabbing Several people push off the approach of the officers, who begins to spray the crowd with pepper spray, and one woman is seen being thrown to the ground. Soon after the little boys bike is laying on the ground and he walks over to the crowd rubbing his eyes and crying. It angers the group even more and they begin to scream and swear as they swing their arms toward the officers. The boy is rushed off by people out of the commotion. Counties Manukau Inspector Wati Chaplow said the crowds behaviour was appalling and members of the crowd spat at officers. 'This type of behaviour falls back on us, the community, and it is just unacceptable that our Police should be treated like this in their line of duty, he said. A 22-year-old female, a 22-year-old male and a 34-year-old female, were arrested and charged with assaulting police, obstructing police and resisting. German prosecutors have rubbished as 'total nonsense' reports that only three of the 73 suspects in the Cologne New Year's Eve mass attacks were migrants. Cologne prosecutor Ulrich Bremer said most of those accused in a series of robberies and sexual assaults were in fact refugees. Mr Bremer said 'the overwhelming majority of persons fall into the general category of refugees.' He said 73 suspects have so far been identified, of whom 12 are linked to sex attacks. Hostile: Crowds of people outside Cologne train station on New Year's Eve when women were subjected to mass sex attacks and robberies by gangs of migrants. The city's prosecutor said the 'overwhelming majority' of the 73 suspects identified were refugees, rubbishing reports that only three were migrants Some entered Germany saying they wanted to apply for asylum, while others have formally filed an application. Among the 15 suspects who are in custody is a Moroccan asylum-seeker who entered Germany in November. A total of 1,075 criminal complaints have been filed, including 467 alleging crimes of a sexual nature ranging from insults to rape. Police are also dealing with nearly 700 reported crimes during the week-long carnival in Cologne earlier this month, with more than 400 people taken into custody. There were around 45 reports of sexual assaults, including one which sparked a fight after a migrant was accused of groping a 19-year-old woman. More than a dozen people became involved in the brawl after the 36-year-old North African man allegedly grabbed the woman's bottom. Cologne prosecutor Ulrich Bremer said 73 suspects have so far been identified, with 12 linked to sex attacks Three people were treated in hospital and the migrant was arrested and charged with bodily harm. One witness said one of those involved drew a knife. Police said the number of sexual offence complaints almost quadrupled at this year's carnival despite heightened security. A total of 66 complaints for sexual insults or aggression have been lodged compared to 18 such reports the previous year. More than 2,000 officers had been deployed for the event, which attracted a million visitors. The migrant crisis was reflected in the carnival floats with one featuring a caricature of Chancellor Angela Merkel in front of her signature quote 'We will manage it' and the words 'tough nuts'. At her side was a basket of nuts labelled 'refugees'. Mrs Merkel's popularity has slumped after being accused of mishandling the crisis. He was just a teenager with blonde hair when he was sentenced to life in prison for committing one of Australia's most shocking crimes. But convicted murderer Bronson Blessington - now 42-years-old - has lodged an appeal for mercy in a desperate bid to be released from jail as he claims he has found God and enjoys preaching to fellow inmates. Blessington was just 14 when he and four other homeless youths abducted, raped and murdered Janine Balding, who was 20-years-old at the time, at knifepoint in 1988. And three decades on, her distraught brother David Balding has spoken out about his grief over the death of his sister, who was killed when he was just 10. Scroll down for video Bronson Blessington was just 14-years-old when he committed one of Australia's most shocking crimes Janine Balding (pictured) was 20 at the time when she was raped and murdered at knifepoint in 1988 'He's been in jail that long, he's got to get himself in a routine to do something, doesn't he? And that routine is with 'God',' Mr Balding told Channel Nine's A Current Affair as he held back tears. 'And if he thinks that he is going to the same heaven that Janine is in, he's mistaken. There's no way, there's no way. Blessington has been speaking and writing to Anglican Minister Simon Manchester every week for the past 12 years. And Rev Manchester believes Blessington is now rehabilitated and deeply remorseful for his part in one of Sydney's most horrific crimes. Distraught brother David Balding has spoken out about his grief over the death of his sister, who was killed Ms Balding was approached by five homesless youths, who repeatedly raped her as her car was being driven 'I think what he did was horrendous and if I was the Balding family, and I have daughters of my own, I don't know how I would cope,' Reverend Manchester told the Nine Network program. 'But I have observed him over 12 years to be a genuine believer and that's my question, is there a place for a changed man?' Despite Blessington claiming he has turned his life around from behind bars, the Balding family have never received an apology from the notorious killer. 'Show them the same mercy like they showed my sister? No. People might say we're doing this for Janine or ourselves or whatever they want to say... No,' Mr Balding said. 'Do you think I'd be doing this? We're doing this for the next family... Because it's hard.' Blessington - now 42-years-old - has lodged an appeal for mercy in a desperate bid to be released from jail Ms Balding was repeatedly raped before she was dragged from her vehicle to a dam, where she drowned He was just a teenager when he was sentenced to life in prison for committing one of countrys's worst crimes A memorial service was held in her hometown of Wagga Wagga in NSW, surrounded by hundreds of mourners The appeal for clemency will be examined by the NSW Attorney General. This comes after 28 years when Ms Balding was walking to her car, which was parked along Sutherland train station after finishing work as a bank teller on George Street in Sydney's CBD. She was then approached by a homeless gang of five armed with a knife, who repeatedly raped her as her car was being driven. She was then dragged from her vehicle to a dam, where she drowned. The Kessler Family says Williams wanted husband's money to finance her movie career and that she neglected him while on his death bed Another judge also ruled Williams marriage to Kessler was legal despite claims from Kessler's family she was a bigamist Judge has now thrown out his family's attempt to overturn his 'final wishes' after they claim Williams manipulated him into changing his will Meadow Williams, 49, was left $800 million by vitamin tycoon husband Gerald Kessler after his death last March A D-list actress branded a gold digger by her late husband's family has won a key battle in her fight to keep the $800 million fortune he left to her in his will. Daily Mail Online can exclusively reveal a judge has thrown out an attempt by the family of vitamin tycoon Gerald Kessler, who died last year aged 80, to overturn his final wishes by leaving all his money to his actress wife Meadow Williams. Another judge ruled Williams's marriage to Kessler was legal - even though her divorce from her first husband had not been finalized when they wed five years ago. The joint ruling from courts in Los Angeles and Nevada come as a huge blow to the family of Kessler who have portrayed Williams as a gold digger who used her charm to influence her ailing husband. Williams, 49, and eight members of the Kessler family have been locked in a bitter legal dispute over the $800 million left by the businessman since his death almost a year ago. Legal victory: Judge has thrown out attempt by the family of vitamin tycoon Gerald Kessler to overturn his final wishes by leaving all his money to his actress wife Meadow Williams. Another judge also ruled marriage was legal 'Gold Digger': Kessler Family claims Williams used her charm to manipulate their father and grandfather into changing his will to leave $800 million solely to her Marriage: Williams and businessman Gerald Kessler tied the knot in 2010 in Las Vegas. He was 31 years her senior and her divorce from prior marriage was not finalized Lawyers for Williams believe the double ruling 'decimates' the claims by Kessler's relatives for a slice of the fortune. They also reveal, for the first time to Daily Mail Online, that two sons and six grandchildren fighting for a bigger share of the estate were left $60 million. Kessler built up his fortune with the Nature's Plus vitamin and supplement brand and was acknowledged as one of the pioneers of the multi-billion dollar industry. He died in March 2015 from liver failure after a long illness. The Kessler family claims Williams used her influence to persuade Kessler to alter his estate two years before his death so that his family was cut out. They also maintain she neglected her husband and the marriage was a 'sham'. Lawyers for Williams tell Daily Mail Online the court rulings mean the Kessler family have all but lost their case as a judge has refused to overturn the will. Williams's lawyer Adam Streisand says: 'When vitamin and supplement pioneer Gerald Kessler died in March 2015, his estranged family members pounced, suing in Nevada district court to overturn his estate plan. 'They claimed Mr. Kessler's widow Meadow Williams, was a gold digging bigamist who married Mr. Kessler knowing that the divorce from her first husband had never been finalized. 'I am delighted to announce that courts in two different states have recently issued rulings that decimate these claims and all but ended the family's attempt to extort money from the estate based upon these sickening attacks on Ms. Williams.' Kessler was married when she met Williams in 2002, an attractive blonde over half his age, and within weeks she had moved into his California home. Williams had bit parts in 'Beverley Hills Cop' alongside Eddie Murphy and a shower scene in 'Apollo 13' opposite Kevin Bacon. Her late husband used his fortune to finance many of her other films, which included several horror flicks. While Kessler shunned the limelight Williams was very active on social media posting selfies, often while posing in bikinis at her Malibu home. In their lawsuit the Kessler family claims Williams manipulated her husband into changing the will he originally wrote in 1996 so that she became the sole beneficiary. Kessler's grandson Marshall also claims that Williams had little time for her husband as he lay dying in a Los Angeles hospital from liver failure. Family members say on one occasion she was more interested in getting $3 million in financing for one of her films than the condition her husband. They also say she isolated him from his friends and neglected him in his final years of his life as she concentrated on her acting career. Legacy: Meadow Williams lawyers reveal for first time that Gerald Kessler's two sons and six grandchildren fighting for a bigger share of his estate were left $60 million Bigamy: The first marriage certificate for Meadow Williams, whose real name is Melanie. It also discloses the 10-year discrepancy between her real age and her claim on IMDB to be have been born in 1976 Their central claim for having the new will in Williams' favor ripped up was based on the actress being a bigamist. They claim her divorce had not been finalized when she wed Kessler in Las Vegas in 2010. Lawyers for the Kessler family said this made her marriage to Kessler illegal - with the result that the new will could not be binding. But a judge at Los Angeles Superior Court has now thrown out the Kessler's claim over the bigamist marriage. In granting Williams a request to enter a 'nunc pro tunc' order it validated her marriage to Kessler. The court found that there was a excusable mistake the divorce was not finalized. Williams had maintained all along she thought she was legally divorced and that Kessler was happy to go through with the wedding knowing she might not have had it rubber stamped by a court. With this ruling a judge in Nevada has thrown out the lawsuit from the Kessler family claiming the last will of Kessler was invalid because the marriage was not legal. Lawyer Streisand says:' Over opposition by the Kessler family, a California court granted Ms. Williams' request to enter a nunc pro tunc order, terminating her prior marriage as of September 19 1994, when a final divorce decree should have been entered except for a completely excusable mistake. 'On February 9th, the Nevada district court presiding over the lawsuit to overturn Kessler's estate plan, granted Williams' motion to dismiss the family's bogus claims that her marriage to Kessler was illegal and that his Trust was therefore invalid. Straight-to-DVD: One of the movies which Meadow Williams featured in was Mysteria in 2011 Small role: Meadow Williams was also in First Dog, a movie about the president's dog, with Eric Roberts, the brother of Julia Roberts 'It should be noted that Kessler left more than $60 million for his family members, most of whom he had no relationship with for decades, yet it just wasn't enough for them. 'When Mr. Kessler died, they banded together to file suit and launched a media smear campaign to shake out even more money from the estate. 'We are grateful that the courts have so quickly disposed of this false, absurd and demeaning ploy and fully expect to prevail against any and all attacks on the legacy of Gerald Kessler, a great American entrepreneur and lion of industry until the very end.' Kessler's two sons and six grandchildren are still pursuing Williams having filed a lawsuit claiming elder abuse and undue influence. Unless an agreement is reached the family and Williams will go to trial in April 2017. A legal source tells Daily Mail Online: 'The Kessler's will still seek to invalidate 10 years of trust documents that ended with the instrument executed two years before his death. 'They still will claim that Gerald Kessler didn't have testamentary capacity and was a poor scared little man who had no free will next to the big powerful Meadow Williams. 'It's the biggest joke on Earth. He was one of the most powerful men to walk upright all the way to the end.' David Callahan, a lawyer for the Kessler family, tells Daily Mail Online: 'The Kessler family certainly respects the decision of the court's ruling with regard to their standing to challenge the validity of the marriage. 'As with any ruling that does not parallel our expectations we are actively considering all available options for reconsideration of this issue. 'It is also important to remember that the court's ruling does not address any of the factual disputes that exist between the parties but rather the ruling was strictly a determination that the Kessler family lacked legal standing to challenge the marriage as bigamous. 'The court, through this ruling, has not made any factual determinations about the validity of the marriage or the validity of the disputed trust instruments. See more news on the migrant crisis at www.dailymail.co.uk/migrantcrisis Soldiers of Odin were met with protests from locals in the town The extreme right-wing vigilante group Soldiers of Odin have spread across Scandinavia from Finland to Norway, according to reports. The anti-immigrant group was formed last autumn and have been patrolling streets in several Finnish towns 'to protect the Finns from the threat of asylum seekers'. This week, a group of Soldiers of Odin have been seen on a vigilante walk through the town of Tnsberg in southern Norway. Scroll down for video Expanding: A group of extreme right-wing Soldiers of Odin have been seen on a vigilante walk through the town of Tnsberg in southern Norway, believed to be the group's first appearance outside Finland During what is believed to be the first appearance of Soldiers of Odin groups outside of Finland, some 14 'soldiers' walked around the town on Saturday night. However, the group, dressed in black coats wearing the insignia of the Soldiers of Odin met heavy resistance from the local population, who rejected their protection and protested their presence. 'In Tnsberg, we don't have a big problem with violent rapes and drug crimes in the city centres on the weekends,' local politician Olav Sannes Vika told the group according to The Local. 'We don't want patrols here. We don't want you here in our city.' According to a local newspaper, the 14 'soldiers' who patrolled Tnsberg, are 'well-known members of the extreme far-right including some who have criminal records'. Soldiers of Odin was formed in the northern town of Kemi in October last year when the influx of migrants peaked in Finland. Anti-immigrant: Soldiers of Odin was formed in the northern town of Kemi in October last year when the influx of migrants peaked in Finland The Soldiers of Odin in Norway met heavy resistance from the local population, who rejected their protection and protested their presence The group insist their patrols are needed to protect the peace in the sparsely populated nation of 5.5 million, to keep Finnish people safe from 'the increasing numbers of asylum-seekers'. Finland was not a major destination for migrants until 32,500 people applied for asylum last year. Most came from Iraq but also from Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria. 'It's chaotic and getting out of hand,' Mika Ranta, a 29-year-old truck driver who founded the group, said last month. 'We should be more careful about who we let into the country.' Ranta claims the group is not racist, but considers the newcomers a threat because 'they are Muslims.' 'Islam has never adapted anywhere and only brings problems with it. They don't tolerate anyone else apart from believers in Islam,' Ranta said. He said police are overworked and need help to deal with the migration situation a claim rejected by Finland's National Police Commissioner last month. Soldiers of Odin raised their profile on social media following reports that Finnish women were harassed on New Year's Eve in incidents that resembled a string of attacks in Cologne, Germany, that were blamed largely on foreigners. A British extremist who escaped the country more than four years ago and has since played a key role recruiting for ISIS has been tracked to Turkey after setting up an account on LinkedIn. According to the Home Office, Rabah Tahari, from Birmingham, is said to have formed a militia group linked to al-Qaeda. He is also believed to have helped ISIS executioner Jihadi John establish himself in Syria. However, he has now alerted MI6 to his whereabouts after creating a profile on the business oriented social network, used by professionals to recommend individuals and clients for jobs. According to the Home Office, Rabah Tahari, from Birmingham, is said to have formed a militia group linked to al-Qaeda. He is also believed to have helped ISIS executioner Jihadi John establish himself in Syria Tahari, 46, signed up to the website from a computer in Turkey, Breitbart have reported. In doing so, he alerted both Turkish and British security services to where he is currently based. It was previously thought Tahari was in residence within the Islamic State. The fact that he is not will spark fresh concerns that he may be making his way back to mainland Europe to carry out terrorist attacks or recruit more IS fighters. It is claimed Jihadi John (pictured) - whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi - was drawn to Islamic State by Tahari It also means he will successfully evade bombing campaigns by the west. Tahari was allegedly trained to use a range of weaponry while in Syria. He is considered a highly charismatic figure most famous for extremist propaganda videos posted on YouTube. According to his LinkedIn page, he is connected with only two people. One of those appears to be the former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg, also from Birmingham. Begg was cleared of terrorism charges two years ago - one of which included supporting Tahari in Syria. His co-accused was Taharis wife, who also had her charge dropped. It is claimed Jihadi John - whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi - was drawn to Islamic State by Tahari. The former London schoolboy would go on to become ISIS masked executioner, responsible for the deaths of at least five British and American hostages. A Houston man who was caught having sex on a Ferris wheel with a woman he had just met was supposed to get married to another woman that same day, he told a local television station. Philip Panzica, 27, and his 36-year-old fiancee Mistie Bozant - who he'd met two months earlier - traveled to Las Vegas on February 5 to get married. But when Panzica found out Bozant, who is a mom to young kids, was potentially pregnant with another man's baby, he went gambling and downed 'four or five' margaritas instead of tying the knot. It was then that he met 21-year-old Chloe Scordianos, and 'one thing led to another' and the pair were soon arrested for engaging in sex acts after authorities said they were recorded having sex during a 30-minute ride in the glass-enclosed cabin, 550 feet above the Las Vegas Strip. Scroll down for video Phillip Panzica (right) and his fiancee Mistie Bozant (left) traveled to Las Vegas on February 5 to get married, but when Panzica found out Bozant was potentially pregnant with another man's baby, he went gambling and downed 'four or five' margaritas instead of tying the knot Panzica (left) then met 21-year-old Chloe Scordianos (right) , and 'one thing led to another' and the couple were soon arrested for engaging in sex acts during a 30-minute ride in the glass-enclosed cabin, 550 feet above the Las Vegas Strip After bailing Panzica out of jail for $3,000, Bozant sat by her fiance's side as he spoke to reporters about the incident Two nights later, Bozant paid $3,000 to bail Panzica out of jail. 'It wasn't planned, it was just, I felt it,' Panzica, with Bozant by his side, told KTNV. 'We get up to the highest point, and we were like, 'We're golden!' Police say surveillance cameras captured the act, security warned the couple to stop, and people in another car shot cellphone video. A security officer first noticed them smoking and undressing, according to KTLA. The officer told the pair to stop over an intercom system, but after a pause, they continued. 'I clearly saw Scordianos laying on her back in the center of the cabin. Panzica was on his knees over Scordianos and removed her dress,' the security officer said in police documents. Panzica said he didn't know people could see into the glass-enclosed cabin, and he thought the intercom message was a recording that kept playing over and over again. When the ride was over Panzica and Scordianos, of Hicksville, New York, were arrested and charged with Commission of Certain Sex Acts in Public. 'I was drunk as f***. I was running around naked acting like a little kid again,' Panzica told KNTV. Bozant and Panzica were set to be married about two months after they began dating. Since the incident, the couple have stayed together, though Bozant said she was 'extremely hurt' Bozant paid $3,000 to bail Panzica out of jail. two nights after he was arrested. Since then, she has posted several pics of them together A police report from the arresting officers, according to The Mirror, said: 'They both said they were just having a good time and didn't think anyone would notice.' They added: '[CCTV footage] clearly showed Scordianos laying on her back in the center of the cabin. Panzica was on his knees over Scordianos and removed her dress. 'He also removed his clothes while standing up, exposing his penis and bare buttocks, allowing anyone in public to see.' Panzica said that he 'appreciates' that Bozant bailed him out of jail and that he feels 'bad about everything'. 'The thing that hurts me the most is her kids. I love her babies,' he added. 'Doesn't that show what a good heart I have?' Bozant said of rescuing her fiance from jail. She did say, however, that she was 'extremely hurt' by Panzica's actions. Additionally, it turned out that Bozant wasn't actually pregnant. A Las Vegas judge on Tuesday set a March 9 date to see if the charges against Panzica and Scordianos can be resolved without trial. Police say surveillance cameras captured Panzica and Scordianos in the act and security warned the couple to stop - and people in another car shot cellphone video The king of the skies can carry off prey weighing up to 13lbs, A huge hunting eagle capable of carrying off an adult dog in its massive talons is on the loose in Kent. Rex the Steller's Sea Eagle, who went missing after a birds of prey demonstration, has a wingspan of 9ft and is considered the most aggressive of its kind. Experts warn it is easily capable of killing a Jack Russell. The king of the skies can carry off prey weighing up to 13 lbs, the weight of an adult Shih Tzu, a miniature poodle, or an Italian Greyhound and should not be approached. Rex the Steller's Sea Eagle, who went missing after a birds of prey demonstration, has a wingspan of 9ft and is considered the most aggressive of its kind - and is easily capable of killing a Jack Russell Any concern for the eagle snatching a newborn baby - which is theoretically possible - should probably be restrained. There were reports of eagles snatching babies in the 19th and early 20th centuries as well as in more recent time. But most cases are inaccurate - with experts saying that a bird of prey wouldn't naturally attack an infant. Its native home is eastern Russia where the eagle usually feasts on wild salmon, but is more than partial to pets and wild birds, which it dives down upon and clutches with its powerful talons. In the wild some Steller's have been recorded preying on young seals weighing more than 18 lbs. The huge bird, which makes a deep barking cry when aggressive, is believed to be flying around Kent after it escaped from a midday show in Dartford on Sunday. Rex was last seen on Monday afternoon perched in a tree in Lullingstone, Kent. The park is now appealing to the public for help to trace the bird Since Rex's disappearance, the Eagle Heights Wildlife Park have been attempting to find him but the transmitter they had hoped to use to find him has failed. Rex was last seen on Monday afternoon perched in a tree in Lullingstone, Kent. The park is now appealing to the public for help to trace the bird. A spokesperson for the park said: 'Rex our Steller's Sea Eagle has gone missing and we need your help to find him. 'We believe the transmitter used to trace him has failed and is not working. 'Rex is not dangerous but should not be approached or touched. If you see him just watch him from a distance and please call us immediately.' A Kent resident, who has a number of Jack Russell terriers, is making sure to keep his pack of small dogs inside, just in case. A Texas prisoner was executed Tuesday for the shotgun slaying of a Dallas-area liquor store clerk during a robbery more than 25 years ago. Gustavo Garcia, 43, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m, - 16 minutes after the lethal drug began to flow into his arms. He became the third convicted killer put to death this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other state. 'God bless you. Stay strong. I'm done,' Garcia said in his final statement, adding that he loved his mother and other family. None of his relatives attended the execution, which took place at Huntsville Death House. Gustavo Garcia, 43, seen left in an early mugshot and right in a more recent prison photo, has been executed by lethal injection. He was convicted of killing a man when he was just a teenager Gustavo Garcia was given the lethal injection in Huntsville Death House - the death chamber is pictured above As the pentobarbital began taking effect, he yawned, gurgled, exhaled and started to snore quietly. Within 30 seconds, all movement stopped. A federal judge said on Friday he wouldn't stop the execution, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused a clemency petition. In the federal court appeal, Garcia's attorneys had argued that lawyers at his trial and in earlier appeals failed to uncover details of an abusive and alcohol- and drug-influenced youth - disclosures that could have convinced jurors to spare him from a death sentence. They also said they needed additional time to investigate those claims. 'Garcia's guilt is clear,' responded Fredericka Sargent, an assistant Texas attorney general. The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to review an appeal that raised questions about deficient legal help, and last week turned down a request for a rehearing. At least nine other Texas inmates have execution dates set for the coming months, including three in March. Garcia was one of seven inmates involved in at attempted escape from death row in 1998. Court documents show Garcia, who has spent more than half of his life on death row, shot convenience store clerk Craig Turski in the abdomen on December 9, 1990, then reloaded and shot the 43-year-old cashier in the back of the head. A month later, another employee, Gregory Martin, 18, was shot in the head after he was taken to a back room. Scene: Garcia has served his sentence at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. He was one of seven involved in an attempted prison escape in 1998 In a statement to police following his arrest for Martin's killing, Garcia said he'd ordered Turski to his knees when a customer entered the store. 'I then panicked,' he said. 'I shot the clerk with the shotgun.' On Thanksgiving in 1998, Garcia and five other inmates were scaling a pair of 10-foot-high prison fences when corrections officers opened fire on them and they surrendered. A seventh convict, Martin Gurule, was shot but managed to flee, making him the first inmate to escape Texas death row since a Bonnie and Clyde gang member broke out in 1934. Gurule's body was found about a week later in a creek a few miles from the prison, and an autopsy showed he drowned. 'At least I can say I tried,' Garcia said of the escape attempt in a 1999 interview with The Associated Press. 'Facing execution is scarier.' He declined an interview request as his execution date neared. Vargas, Garcia's partner in both fatal robberies, was tried and as an adult, convicted and is serving life in prison. His age made him ineligible for the death penalty. At least nine other Texas inmates have execution dates set for the coming months, including three in March. A source at the global chemical arms watchdog has confirmed that the Islamic State used mustard gas to attack Kurdish forces in Iraq, in the first known use of chemical weapons in the country since the removal of Saddam Hussein. Lab tests had come back positive for the sulphur mustard after around 35 Kurdish troops were poisoned on the battlefield southwest of Erbil last August, a source at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said. The results allegedly confirmed that mustard gas was used by ISIS fighters against the Kurds. Lab tests had come back positive for the sulphur mustard after around 35 Kurdish troops were poisoned on the battlefield southwest of Erbil It is the first known use of chemical weapons in the country since the removal of Saddam Hussein Speculations that mustard gas either came from old Iraqi stockpiles produced under Saddam Hussein's rule or was manufactured by ISIS after it took over Mosul University Last September, Germany's foreign intelligence BND was the first to report a possible of use of chemical weapons by the extremist group. BND chief Gerhard Schindler said the agency has 'information that ISIS used mustard gas in northern Iraq'. The spies collected blood samples from Kurds who were injured in clashes with Daesh. Schindler speculated that the mustard gas either came from old Iraqi stockpiles produced under Saddam Hussein's rule or was manufactured by ISIS after it took over Mosul University. However, another diplomat said Syria's stockpile was a possible source of the sulphur mustard used in Iraq. That would mean Damascus had failed to fully disclose its chemical weapons programme, which was dismantled under international supervision in 2013-2014, the diplomat said. 'If Syria has indeed given up its chemical weapons to the international community, it is only the part that has been declared to the OPCW and the declaration was obviously incomplete,' the diplomat told Reuters. Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons stockpile after hundreds of people died in an attack with sarin nerve gas in a Damascus suburb in 2013. Western countries blame that attack on the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which denies it. Iraq's chemical arsenal, part of a 'weapons of mass destruction' programme used to justify the U.S.-British invasion of 2003, proved to have been destroyed and dismantled in the Saddam era, although U.S. troops occasionally encountered old Saddam-era chemical munitions during the 2003-2011 occupation. Iraq's chemical arsenal, part of a 'weapons of mass destruction' programme used to justify the U.S.-British invasion of 2003, proved to have been destroyed and dismantled in the Saddam era A canon capsule is seen following ISIS terrorists' mustard gas attack in the rebel-controlled Marea District of Aleppo Specialists in biological and chemical warfare say ISIS may have developed their own chemical weapons capability The OPCW already concluded in October that mustard gas was used last year in neighbouring Syria. The matter is expected to be raised at the next meeting of the OPCW's 41-member Executive Council in a month, an official said. Last August, activists said ISIS attacked the northern Syrian town of Marea, although it was not clear if chemical weapons were used. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a specialist in biological and chemical warfare, said Islamic State fighters may have developed their own chemical weapons capability, and could be preparing to use it again. 'I'm pretty convinced that the mustard IS are using in Iraq is made by them in Mosul,' he said, referring to the main city in northern Iraq, which Islamic State fighters have occupied since 2014. 'They have all the precursors at hand from the oil industry and all the experts at hand to do it.' The suspected drug dealer filmed being tortured to death by pro-Russian rebels to teach him a lesson is a Ukrainian who was 'disappeared'. In footage posted online, Aleksey Frumkin, 42, had his wrists tied to a wooden post with masking tape and was beaten mercilessly with electric cables until the skin on his back begins to bleed. In the shocking video, Frumkin begs for his life, saying: 'Stop please! I'll say what you need. I will call another drug dealer and he will arrive with drugs. Scroll down for video Agony: The suspected drug dealer who was filmed being tortured to death by pro-Russian rebels has been identified Aleksey Frumkin, 42, from south east Ukraine Supporter: Frumkin (pictured) is thought to have welcomed the pro-Russian rebels into Ukraine, and supported them in the bloody civil war against his government Torture: In the deeply distressing video, Frumkin (pictured) is seen begging for his life as he is beaten mercilessly with electric cables 'I swear I told everything. God I can't stand it anymore, I want to live. Please, please.' The torturer replies: 'Drug dealers and junkies please come here to us, we have a way to deal with people like you. Come to us and we will cure all of you. 'But this fellow will be slaughtered as a dog. He will live until he has stopped talking about his fellow drug dealers and has given us information, and then he will be dead. 'See how he has p***** and s*** himself. He thinks we will have some mercy on him, but we will kill him. 'Don't scream so much you will scare all the people around. I even broke my lash on your useless back,' he adds. Meanwhile, a man holding the camera is heard saying: 'The f****** film shooting has started. This is the punishment of a drug dealer.' Frumkin, believed to be a drug dealer, was allegedly tortured by the pro-Russian rebels he supported against Ukraine's government. The 'punishment' happened in the town of Communar, Donetsk Oblast, in southern Ukraine, which is currently occupied by pro-Russian rebels It shows the man begging for his life and tied with red tape to a wooden post as he is repeatedly whipped with electrical cables Better times: The video which shows Frumkin (pictured) being mercilessly tortured is thought to have been shot in his home city Kommunar, in the south east Donetsk region of Ukraine Doomed: Frumkin's (pictured) friends have said he delighted when Ukraine split at the start of 2014 but by the end of the year, he was accused of being a drug dealer He claimed to be a member of the Moscow-backed Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) rebels that fought Ukraine's soldiers in the country's bloody civil war. The video is thought to have been shot in Frumkin's home city Kommunar, in the south east Donetsk region of Ukraine in October 2014 - around the time his family reported him missing. In May his relatives launched an appeal for information on his whereabouts. Claiming he and others had been arrested by 'Cossaks' in Donetsk, the family said: 'A few days later all of them were released, except for Aleksey.' They added that the other prisoners who had been held along with Frumkin told them he had been beaten up but was still alive when they were released, although he was held. They said that when they went to the prosecutor's office, where he was supposedly being held, Frumkin was not there. His friends say he was a supporter of the very rebels who reportedly tortured him. Merciless: 'See how he has p***** and s*** himself. He thinks we will have some mercy on him, but we will kill him,' the torturer told Frumkin in the video Confession: Frumkin denied being a drug dealer in the video and told his torturer he would say anything he wanted They claim he was delighted when Ukraine split at the start of 2014 but by the end of the year, he was accused of being a drug dealer. On one of his social media profiles, he praised the rebel groups in Ukraine and welcomed the arrival of the Russians. Islamic studies teacher Ayman Shaukat, 27, is accused of helping two extremists flee to Syria An Islamic studies teacher accused of helping two extremists flee to Syria is a prankster who once locked a friend in a McDonalds toilet, a court heard. Ayman Shaukat, 27, a key member of Islam Walsall in the west Midlands, is accused of driving two friends to the airport so they could join Islamic State. Shaukat allegedly sympathised with IS and a picture of him posing in front of an ISIS-style flag in his bedroom was recovered from his mobile phone. But Shaukats best friend Muhammed Jan today insisted he was a joker who used to mock the posturing of IS fighters. He said he once had to be rescued from the toilets of a McDonalds in Slough, Berks, by the Fire Brigade after Shaukat locked him in. Mr Jan said he met Shaukat on the first day of secondary school and attended Coventry University with him to study law. I saw him two or three times a week in a social capacity, we usually went out to eat somewhere, he was always the designated driver. Laughing as he recalled the incident in McDonalds, he said his mate had locked him in the disabled toilet after he had specifically told him not to use it. He continued: I always used to take the mick out of him because he supports Chelsea and I support Man United. Asked if Shaukat had ever said or done anything that made him believe he sympathised with IS, he said: He would talk about it when it was on TV, hed discuss it but he wasnt supportive. He added: He had friends that were Sikh, Hindu, atheist, Christian - he never made decisions about his friends based on what their religion was. Pranked: Shaukats best friend Muhammed Jan today insisted he was a joker who used to mock the posturing of IS fighters and told the court that he once had to be rescued from the toilets of a McDonalds in Slough, Berks, by the Fire Brigade after Shaukat locked him in He added that Shaukat would laugh at IS, saying: He used to joke about it.. These made up people thinking theyve got a caliphate and he would just laugh about it. Shaukat previously told the court that Islam Walsall was set up to bring together the 20,000 Muslims in the town. He said the organisation was also set up for non-Muslims. The Coventry University law graduate told the Old Bailey he was asked to help spread the message of the danger of travelling to Syria. Shaukat is accused of assisting supply teacher Sajid Aslam, 34, and former C of E schoolboy Alex Nash, 22, to travel to the civil war-ravaged country to fight for ISIS between July and December 2014. He is alleged to have driven Aslam to Stansted airport on 23 August 2014, from where he flew to Istanbul and claimed to be teaching English in Turkey. Today, his sister Sarwat Aslam told the court she had no idea of her brothers plans until her mother said she had received a visit from the police in November 2014. She towards the end of 2014 and in January and February 2015 she had received about half a dozen phone calls and WhatsApp messages from her brother, who maintained he was in Turkey. She said: Several times he said he was in Turkey and he was teaching refugee children - he told us it was cold and miserable. Ms Aslam added that the calls were always out of the blue and she had no way of initiating contact with her brother. Aslam is said to have left his Northern Ireland-born wife Lorna Moore, 33, and their three children to join the terror group in August 2014. Lorna Moore, 33, is accused of failing to tell authorities about her husband Sajid Aslam's plans to join the terror group Moore, who was raised as a Protestant, is standing trial alongside Shaukat accused of failing to alert police to her husbands departure. Shaukat is also accused of driving Nash and wife Yousma Jan, 20, to Birmingham airport on 4 November 2014 so they could fly to Turkey, from where they allegedly intended to cross the border into Syria. The pair were deported back to the UK by the Turkish authorities and arrested off the plane at Heathrow airport. Nash has since pleaded guilty to preparation of terrorist acts. They are said to have been part of a group of young Walsall Muslims who wanted to join ISIS between July and November 2014. Jurors heard the group included Jacob Petty, whose mother is a C of E minister, who is believed to have been killed in Syria, aged 25, while using the name Abu Yaqoob Britany. His schoolfriend, Isaiah Siadatan, left his wife, by Islamic ceremony, Kerry Thomason, 24, and their two children to join his pal. It is not known whether he is still alive, but Thomason has pleaded guilty to assisting him in preparation for his acts of terrorism. Shaukat, of Pargeter Street, Walsall, denies two counts of preparation of terrorist acts. He was acquitted of one charge of possession of information contrary to the Terrorism Act after the judge directed the jury to find him not guilty. Moore, of (56) Glebe Street, Walsall, denies concealing information about acts of terrorism. Thomason has pleaded guilty to assisting her husband in preparation of acts of terrorism, while Nash, of Bentley Lane, Walsall has admitted preparation of terrorist acts. Donald Trump said today he'll sue 'totally unstable' Ted Cruz over the senator's Canadian birth unless he receives an apology from the Texan for spreading lies about the billionaire's record. Trump also pointed fingers at the Republican National Committee, saying that if the party's governing body doesn't intervene, that pledge he signed to support the GOP nominee is null and void, which could open the door for a Trump third-party run. 'One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and therefore cannot be President,' Trump said of Cruz in a statement today, after spending his afternoon in South Carolina labeling the senator a liar more than a dozen times. 'Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they dont they are in default of their pledge to me,' Trump added. Scroll down for video Donald Trump (left) campaigned through South Carolina today and called Ted Cruz (right) a 'liar' time and time again. He sent out a statement saying he would sue over Cruz's birth in Canada if the senator doesn't stop lying about Trump's record In Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Donald Trump called Ted Cruz 'the most dishonest guy I think I've ever met in politics' Donald Trump called into CNN to reiterate his comments on Ted Cruz and respond to Cruz saying that Trump sounded 'rattled' Ted Cruz was also in South Carolina today and used Twitter as a way to respond to Trump's allegations Trump was angry over a number of attacks Cruz has made in recent days, from a new ad the Texas senator put out today, which uses footage from 1999 to show voters Trump's pro-choice past, to remarks Cruz made on the Sunday shows yesterday, remarking that Trump would tarnish the Second Amendment. DONALD TRUMP'S 'RESPONSE TO THE LIES OF SENATOR CRUZ' Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual. He is the single biggest liar Ive ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them. His statements are totally untrue and completely outrageous. It is hard to believe a person who proclaims to be a Christian could be so dishonest and lie so much. Cruz said I would be appointing a liberal judge when in fact I will appoint a great conservative and I am the only candidate who has gone so far, at the debate, as to suggest two individuals I feel would best represent the conservative values we need to protect: William Bill Pryor Jr. and Diane Sykes. Cruz says I am pro-choice, when in fact I am staunchly pro-life and have been for a long time. Like Ronald Reagan, on many issues, I have evolved. Cruz says I am in favor of ObamaCare, when in fact I have spoken about repealing and replacing this disaster of a system at every speech throughout my campaign and since its inception. Meanwhile, Cruz was responsible for getting Bush to put in the judge that failed to vote against ObamaCare twice. Cruz says I will try to take away your second amendment rights, when I am one of the strongest proponents of the right to bear arms and I say so in every speech that I have made for years. I am a proud member of the NRA and so are my sons. Cruz has become unhinged and is lying with the hopes that his statements will go unchecked until after the election and he will save his failing campaign. In Iowa, Cruz told thousands of Ben Carson voters that Dr. Carson had left the race and to instead vote for Ted Cruz. He apologized when the race was over. Likewise, his fraudulent voter violation form sent to Iowa voters. If Ted is going to continue to lie with such desperation, I have no choice but to fight back. One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and therefore cannot be President. If he doesnt take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they dont they are in default of their pledge to me. I am the strongest on the borders and I will build a wall, and it will be a real wall. I am strongest on illegal immigration, strongest on ISIS, strongest on the military and I will take care of our Vets. I will end common core and preserve the second amendment. I will renegotiate our trade deals and bring our jobs back to our country. I am the only person who will Make America Great Again. Advertisement 'And if Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative,' Cruz said, adding that Justice Antonin Scalia's death and the Supreme Court vacancy if caused changed 'the entire contours of this race.' 'The time for the circus and reality show is over,' Cruz said. The new ad, called 'Supreme Trust,' reminds voters that in 1999 Trump said he was pro-choice in an interview with the late Tim Russert. The Cruz spot doesn't show the part of the interview when Trump says, 'I hate it,' talking about abortion, which showed movement on the issue to where Trump is running as a pro-life politician today. Trump spent a large chunk of time on the stump today in South Carolina putting Cruz through the ringer. 'I've never met people like politicians, they are the most dishonest people I've ever met,' Trump remarked to supporters in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, earlier this afternoon. 'Jeb is just Jeb,' Trump said, holding off his complaints about the Bush for the time being. 'But this guy, Ted Cruz, is the most dishonest guy I think I've ever met in politics.' Trump doubled down on his positions on abortion and the Second Amendment. 'I just want to tell you I'm pro-life,' Trump said, jokingly telling his audience that whatever they hear about the billionaire from Cruz, it's actually the opposite. 'The Second Amendment is my thing,' Trump huffed at another point. Besides abortion and guns, Trump called attention to some of the shenanigans that happened in Iowa with Cruz's staffers telling handfuls of caucus goers that Ben Carson, another popular choice among evangelical voters, was on the verge of dropping out. Cruz later apologized to Carson over the phone and again on the New Hampshire debate stage. 'What he did to Ben Carson in Iowa was a disgrace,' Trump said, adding that he was impacted too because Cruz was able to scoot ahead of him and win the Iowa caucuses. Trump came back a week later with a victory in New Hampshire, but he was still bitter about what happened in Iowa. 'If Iowa had any guts, the people from the Republican party, which they don't, they should disqualify him from winning Iowa,' Trump suggested. Trump encouraged his supporters to set the record straight, so that the billionaire wouldn't have to pay for advertising to counter Cruz's lies with just five days to go before South Carolina Republicans vote. He also hinted that he might be considering backing out of the loyalty pledge that he signed and gave to the RNC. He articulated a different reason to supporters not because of Cruz, like he said in his statement, but because the candidates weren't getting their share of the tickets for the debates, which, in Trump's opinion, is what led to him being booed at the last two gatherings. 'The whole room is filled with special interests and donors, which is a disgrace for the RNC,' Trump alleged. The debate's sponsoring parties divvy up the tickets and then the candidates take the rest, with the candidates getting the most they've seen on cycle for Saturday night's debate since only six Republicans are left. Ted Cruz defended himself via Twitter suggesting that all he did was articulate Donald Trump's actual policy prescriptions 'The RNC better get its act together, because I signed a pledge and the pledge isn't being honored by the RNC,' Trump complained. Moving on from his first event, Trump's campaign sent out the statement promising to sue Cruz over the senator's lies. 'Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual,' it said. 'He is the biggest liar I've ever come across, in politics or otherwise and I have seen some of the best of them.' Trump then held a press conference for reporters and said the same thing. 'He's an absolutely disgusting liar,' Trump said of Cruz. 'And he goes around saying he's a Christian? I don't know, you're going to have to really study that,' Trump said to reporters this afternoon. Cruz took to Twitter to respond. 'You cannot simply scream "liar" when someone points out your actual positions,' he wrote, calling the trend 'curious' in a longer video message about the spat. The Texas senator also said today at an event in South Carolina that he had never seen Trump so rattled. Soon after, Trump called into CNN and said that was just not so. 'He doesn't mean that,' Trump said. 'He's says that just for effects. He's the one. He's an unstable guy ... he's just using that expression because he likes it and it's just ridiculous.' A 27-year-old who stands accused of murdering a German exchange student has claimed he did not know her body was in the boot of the car he torched. Christopher Jeffrey-Shaw, of Lakeside, Beckenham, south-east London, is on trial for the murder of Janet Muller, 21, who had been studying at the University of Brighton. Her charred body was found in the burnt-out Volkswagen Jetta which had been dumped in a road by Ifield Golf Club near Horsham, West Sussex on 13 March last year. Christopher Jeffrey-Shaw, of Lakeside, Beckenham, south-east London (right), is on trial for the murder of Janet Muller, 21 (left) who had been studying at the University of Brighton Miss Muller's charred body was found in the burnt-out Volkswagen Jetta which had been dumped in a road by Ifield Golf Club near Horsham, West Sussex CCTV footage shows the last moments of Miss Muller. She was last seen approaching an unidentified car in Kingsway, Hove, East Sussex, at 1.15am on March 13 The defendant denied the murder, saying that drug dealers that he knew threatened to kill him if he did not set fire to the car and he had not idea Miss Muller was in the boot at the time. The car had been hired by the defendant's girlfriend while Jeffrey-Shaw and his son were present, Philip Bennetts QC, prosecuting, said. 'The defendant said 'I'm not getting done for something I've not done' when questioned.' Bennetts said. Mr Bennetts said: 'Christopher Jeffrey-Shaw set fire to a car, in the boot of that car was Janet Muller. She had been beaten and put in the boot. She died in the fire. 'The defendant, having done that, ordered a taxi from a nearby hotel using a false name and returned to London where he lived.' Mr Bennetts continued: 'Janet Muller was a 21-year-old student who a few months before this incident had been experiencing mental health problems. 'She had been admitted to Mill View Hospital in Hove on March 3 but she went missing on two occasions on March 12 and the last occasion was 10.15pm that evening.' He said that she was last seen approaching an unidentified car in Kingsway, Hove, East Sussex, at 1.15am on March 13. Mr Bennetts added: 'There is no evidence the defendant and Janet Muller knew or associated with each other prior to the date of her death.' He told the jury of six men and six women that phone records and CCTV footage showed that the defendant's phone and his car were in the Brighton area on the evening that Miss Muller disappeared. Mr Bennetts said: 'He said that he didn't kill Janet Muller in that he didn't know that she was in the boot of the vehicle but he said that drug dealers that he knew had borrowed the car from him and when they returned the car to him he was told to burn the car otherwise he would be shot.' Mr Bennetts said he did tell officers: 'I am not getting done for something I haven't done. The whole thing is a nightmare I haven't woken up from.' The 25-year-old woman who called 911 and claimed she had been choked by disgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has left the country. Law enforcement sources revealed on Monday that Svetlana Travis had boarded a flight for her native Russia Sunday night, following the alleged incident at the Plaza Hotel on Saturday. Travis at first told authorities that Spitzer had gotten physically abusive with her after she said she planned to return to Moscow, but after she was hospitalized for her wounds, she changed her story and became 'totally uncooperative' with police. Spitzer has not been charged in connection to the incident, but police continue to investigate. The 56 year old was forced to resign as governor in 2008, after it was revealed he was a client in a high-end prostitution ring. Scroll down for video Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor who resigned over a prostitution scandal in 2008, is now being investigated over claims he choked Svetlana Travis at an upmarket New York hotel The woman called 911 from a hotel room rented in Spitzer's name on Saturday evening, saying she had cut herself and was distraught and having a breakdown, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case. They were not authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Police responded, and the woman, who is in her 20s, said she was fine, but they noticed the cut on her arm and took her to a hospital. At the hospital, she told doctors she had a relationship with the 56-year-old Spitzer, and he choked her and shoved her after an argument, the officials said. She said the two had been together at a bar at the hotel earlier Saturday evening, the officials said. Hospital staff contacted police, who spoke to the woman and she told them she was leaving shortly for Moscow and did not want to press charges, the officials said. She said they had argued over her leaving for Russia and he assaulted her, and then she broke a glass and cut her arm, the officials said. The woman's arm was bandaged, and she was released. She left on a flight to Russia on Sunday evening, one official said. The police department issued a statement confirming that detectives were 'investigating allegations of an assault which occurred at a midtown hotel.' 'The victim has indicated that the subject is Elliot Spitzer (sic). Through an ongoing investigation, we are attempting to further establish the identity of the subject and the nature of the incident,' the statement said. No other details were given. According to reports police were called to the Plaza Hotel on Saturday at 8pm to reports of Travis having slit her wrists, before she told medics that Spitzer had choked her Spitzer's spokeswoman Lisa Linden has denied the incident, saying 'There is no truth to the allegation'. Sources told NBC News that there may be video of Spitzer going up to the hotel room with the woman. After her second interview at the hospital, Travis reportedly changed her story and stopped cooperating with investigators. 'She's totally uncooperative and said that she was leaving and did not want to press any charges,' a source told the New York Post. One of his former call girls, Rebecca Woodard, claimed in a 2013 memoir that Spitzer once pinned her to a bed and choked her in a role-playing sexcapade in her Manhattan apartment. Spitzer, the multi-millionaire son of real estate tycoon Bernard Spitzer, studied at Princeton before graduating Harvard Law school and going on to become a lawyer. While at Harvard he met his former wife, Silda, who he has three children with. After graduating Spitzer then went on to make a name for himself as the 'Sheriff of Wall Street' by chasing down corrupt financiers, and was even considered as presidential material. In 2007 he became the 54th governor of New York, but was forced to quit the following year amid a prostitution scandal. He reportedly had at least seven meetings with high-end prostitutes over a six-month period, and is believed to have spent up to $80,000 on hookers over many years. Infamous as Client 9 of the Emperors Club VIP call-girl ring, he resigned at a public press conference along with Silda, who elected to stand by him. Spitzer also split from wife Silda in 2014 after a 25-year marriage when he was exposed for having an affair with a spin doctor 23 years his junior Lis Smith, 33 (right), and Spitzer, 56, were pictured cuddling up at a Knicks game shortly after he split from his wife, but their relationship also fell apart in December last year After his resignation, Spitzer attempted to rehabilitate his public image with a stint presenting a CNN news show which failed and then eventually made his way back to work for his father who passed away last year, leaving Spitzer $16million. However, his marriage finally fell apart after he was pictured sneaking into the Soho apartment of political spin doctor Lis Smith in December 2013. The affair is widely believed to have been behind Spitzer's split from Silda, which was eventually agreed in February 2014. As part of the settlement, she was granted $7.5million, $240,000-a-year for life, and the couple's luxury Fifth Avenue apartment. Meanwhile Smith, who had just become part of Mayor Bill de Balsio's team and was widely tipped to become his press secretary, was dropped from his office. After the affair was made public, Spitzer appeared to have no qualms about hiding his new relationship with a much younger woman. Spitzer, once considered presidential material after a legal career hunting down corrupt Wall Street financiers, has now taken over his father's real estate business following his fall from grace Spitzer and Smith were said to have split because of their 'hectic schedules' while he worked in real estate and she managed Martin O'Malley's disastrous presidential bid Spitzer was spotted getting close with Smith at a Knicks game just weeks after his divorce was finalized, and Spitzer was also pictured as he was introduced to his new girlfriend's family in Christmas 2013. Shortly after the couple took a romantic trip to Jamaica where they engaged in an amorous hot tub session during which he was seen sucking her toes, it was claimed. The pair spent two years together, but broke up in December last year, during which Smith apparently took custody of a gray grimalkin cat the pair had adopted together. Spitzer met Smith, 33, while she was his campaign manager during his failed political 'comeback' to become New York City's new comptroller in 2013. After the failed bid she went to work for then New York Mayor- elect Bill de Blasio but within a week of her relationship with Spitzer becoming public, she was out. Two of the three Metropolitan Police water cannon that cannot be used on the public in London were today spotted at a force training facility. The vehicles, which arrived from Germany in a trio at a cost of 200,000 to the taxpayer following the 2011 riots, were seen parked at the Mets specialist training centre in Gravesend, Kent. Much to the angst of London Mayor Boris Johnson, Home Secretary Theresa May last year decided not to lift the ban on using them because she felt it would be dangerous and damage public trust. Water cannon: The vehicles have been seen parked at the Mets specialist training centre in Gravesend, Kent Blaster: The water cannon arrived from Germany in a trio at a cost of 200,000 following the 2011 London riots Weaponry: The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is still using the water cannon for training its officers Seen in Kent: Police have long been allowed to use water cannon in Northern Ireland, but not on the mainland But the Met has confirmed it is still using the vehicles for training because its officers sometimes travel to Northern Ireland to work with other police there, where they are permitted for use. Mr Johnson bought the second-hand water cannon from Germany in the wake of the 2011 London riots, even though they cannot be deployed without authorisation from the Home Office. And the Mayor was humiliated in the House of Commons last July when Mrs May slapped down his bid to use water cannon in the capital after months of deliberation. She said at the time that medical evidence showed there were serious medical risks from using water cannon and that they could worsen a riot by attracting crowds to the police's weak spot. Former shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said at the time that the decision was 'exactly right'. Police have long been allowed to use water cannon in Northern Ireland, but not on the mainland. Detail: Mr Johnson bought the second-hand water cannon from Germany in the wake of the riots five years ago Concerns: The Home Secretary has said that medical evidence showed there were serious medical risks from using water cannon and that they could worsen a riot by attracting crowds to the police's weak spot Rivals: Much to the angst of London Mayor Boris Johnson (left), Home Secretary Theresa May (right) decided not to lift the ban on using them last summer because she felt it would be dangerous and damage public trust Getting ready: A file picture of police officers training with a water cannon almost three years ago in July 2013 Use abroad: Turkish riot police use a water cannon to disperse protesters at a rally in Ankara in June 2013 Following the decision announced last year, Mr Johnson accused Mrs May of talking absolute nonsense, pointing out that police could already use other weapons including Tasers and clubs. We will be retaining our devices to ensure our officers are properly trained Metropolitan Police spokesman Mr Johnson argued that the madness of rioting and looting during the 2011 summer riots in the capital could have been better contained if water cannon had been in place. A Met spokesman told MailOnline: The Met has three water cannon which have undergone stringent testing to meet our operational standards. Our officers occasionally travel to Northern Ireland to support their colleagues. 'This can require them to deploy alongside water cannon. As previously stated we will be retaining our devices to ensure our officers are properly trained for this eventuality. The model girlfriend of an alleged bikie associate who was in bed with her boyfriend at the time of a drug raid claims she was severely injured by police. Felicia Djamirze, 28, was sleeping inside a Susan River home, north of Brisbane, with Dean O'Donnell, 35, when she says officers threw 'flash' grenades into the bedroom last week. The former Miss Australia International and Miss Tourism Queen Australia was left with third-degree burns after a grenade blew up in her face. Felicia Djamirze, 28, was sleeping inside a home with her alleged bikie associate boyfriend at the time of a drug raid. She claims she was severely injured by police Djamirze, who was still in hospital on Monday night, claimed she was also at risk of losing sight in her right eye and she had two surgeries to repair her 'melted' hand. During the early morning raids last week on a handful of homes, which included the house the couple were sleeping in, police found 2kg of the drug ice, meth oil and steroids, according to a Queensland Police statement. Police also uncovered seven high-powered illegal weapons and two silencers. The model and first-year law student was charged with drug trafficking and her boyfriend, who is allegedly linked to the Rebels bikie club, was charged with both drug and weapons offences. The grenade left her at risk of losing sight in her right eye. Above is a picture of Djamirze's injury Djamirze (left with boyfriend Dean O'Donnell) said officers threw 'flash' grenades into the bedroom last Tuesday morning Djamirze, who was still in hospital on Monday night, claimed she was at risk of losing sight in her right eye and she had two surgeries to repair her 'melted' hand Djamirze denied the charges laid against her, with her lawyer Chris Ford adding police had not allowed her to see to her injuries and paramedics did not show up at the scene for 40 minutes. Mr Ford said Djamirze was sleeping inside the home during the raid when she was hit with the force of the grenade. WHAT IS A FLASH GRENADE? Also known as a stun grenade, a flash grenade is used by police as a non-lethal weapon to take alleged offenders by surprise. When launched, the device releases a flash of light and a loud bang to disorientate its intended target. Advertisement 'The police treated this like a military operation which was entirely unnecessary,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'There was a high level of both physical and electronic surveillance. The police must have known my client was sleeping in a confined area when they tossed the stun grenade into her bedroom.' Mr Ford also told The Courier Mail 'police rode in like cowboys [and] nearly killed my client'. Along with her injuries, he added Djamirze was suffering from post-traumatic stress. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Police for comment on the matter, but a spokeswoman for the service told The Courier Mail she could not speak about 'operational tactics'. The model remains in hospital a week after the incident and has had two surgeries on her 'melted' hand The model and first-year law student was charged with drug trafficking and her boyfriend (above), who is allegedly linked to the Rebels bikie club, was charged with both drug and weapons offences Djamirze is a motivational speaker for an organisation she founded called Dream Formal that promotes 'confidence and self-esteem' by giving under-privileged women the chance to have a full formal experience. She was crowned Miss International Australia in 2013 and Miss Tourism Queen Australia in 2011. Since the incident, the model has started a gofundme page to raise money for burns and trauma patients. Djamirze's boyfriend was charged with trafficking of a dangerous drug and possession of illegal weapons. Police also seized property to the value of $600,000, which included a residence and motor vehicles, during the raid on the Susan River home. At the time of the raids, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Briese said the seizure of 2kg of ice meant 'a great deal to the community'. A month-long state-sanctioned hunt on public lands for invasive Burmese Pythons has caught 102 snakes since the competition began on January 16. The Python Challenge, in which people receive prizes for catching the pythons, ends on Sunday at 7pm. Researchers believe tens of thousands of pythons may be slithering through the Everglades, decimating native mammal populations Scroll down for video Men pose with a Burmese Python caught during Florida's month-long state-sanctioned Python Challenge 2016 A gropu of people pose with a Burmese Python during the Python Challenge in Florida. This year's challenge, which ends on Sunday, has brought in 102 pythons The snakes are known to grow up to 18 feet in length in Florida, and experts believe that pet owners have released their giant pythons into the wild when theyve grown too big, according to CBS. The first public hunt for pythons in Florida took place in 2013 and 1,600 hunters brought in 68 snakes, according to CBS. In the Florida Everglades, its basking season for the Burmese Pythons, where cool temperatures bring more cold-blooded snakes out into the open, seeking the warmth of the sun. This years hunters are competing for cash prizes worth up to $5,000 awarded for the longest python and the most snakes captured. The hunt's final tally will be announced at an awards ceremony February 27. All the snakes captured were killed and turned over to researchers trying to find clues to help control the python population. Jeffrey Fobb, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), shows how to capture a live Burmese python during the Invasive Species Awareness Festival on January 16 Researchers believe tens of thousands of pythons may be slithering through the Everglades, decimating native mammal populations. Pictured above, people pose with a captured python All the snakes captured were killed and turned over to researchers trying to find clues to help control the python population Some animal rights groups have blasted the event for the unethical way the snakes are killed. While they are not opposed to the hunt itself, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said: 'Pythons who have had their heads hacked off remain alive and will writhe in agony for hours if their brains are not immediately destroyed. 'PETA is calling on Florida officials to stop authorizing snake decapitation and make it clear that this egregiously inhumane killing method is unacceptable.' It has suggested the hunters use bolt guns and fire arms to 'instantly kill the animals'. It has also condemned the 'bounty like' system to reward the killing of snakes. The Burmese python, a native of south east Asia, is 'wreaking havoc on one of America's most beautiful, treasured and naturally bountiful ecosystems', US Geological Survey (USGS) Director Marcia McNutt said in a 2012 report. Bill Booth of Bradenton, Florida, prepares to turn in a dead python at a Python Challenge checkpoint on January 24 A homeless woman who abandoned her newborn after giving birth in a Subway toilet in West Covina, California, has been charged with attempted murder. Mary Grace Trinidad, whom authorities called 'a local transient', was found just a two minute walk away at a local Pep Boys car repair when police followed the trail of blood she left behind. The baby boy was found partially submerged in toilet water, with the umbilical cord hanging from the toilet, police spokesperson Rudy Lopez said. They also found placenta in the trash. Scroll down for video Mary Grace Trinidad, a local transient, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and child abandonment. She left her baby after giving birth in the Subway bathroom in West Covina, California (pictured) Trinidad, who is also charged with child abandonment, left the sandwich chain from the back exit, authorities say. A customer heard the newborn crying this morning and alerted an employee who found the baby in the bathroom. He was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at Queen of the Valley Medical Center after an employee found him at 8.30am today. When authorities arrived on the scene, located about 20 miles outside Los Angeles, they followed the trail of blood. Twenty minutes later, they found the 38-year-old woman at Pep Boys, about 500 yards away. She was arrested and taken to the same hospital as her baby for pregnancy-related issues. Trinidad was wanted for a previous narcotics charge, according to police. According to police, bail will be set at $2million. The baby was in critical condition. It is unclear what condition Trinidad is in, and whether the baby was premature. California passed the Safely Surrendered Baby Law to prevent newborns from being abandoned. The law allows parents to give up their infants within 72 hours of birth with no questions asked. Authorities found her about 500 yards away at the Pep Boys car repair after they followed the trail of blood she left behind The Royal Australian Navy is facing legal action from more than 200 sailors who say they were tricked into signing up on the promise of leaving with a trade but instead sat around doing nothing. The sailors, including some who are still serving, say the navy failed to deliver and claims they did not receive any training despite being promised a certificate IV engineering trade qualification. Lawyer Stewart Levitt said 320 men and a few women joined the navy to receive on the job education and practical training for the engineering trade qualification, with 200 now joining the class action. They are now suing the navy for breach of contract and negligence. Scroll down for video Clayton Searle, a former sailor, is among 200 sailors who are suing the Royal Australian Navy following claims they did not receive any training despite being promised a certificate IV engineering trade qualification Clayton Searle, a former sailor, signed up for the navy when he was 18 having struggled to find work in Rockhampton after leaving school, the ABC reports. 'I like getting out on the water and I thought it would be a pretty interesting career and it definitely seemed it from the website,' he said. He signed up for the MT2010 program, which promised him training that would lead to a trade certificate IV in engineering. But after his four years of enlistment, Mr Searle said he did not receive any qualifications and accused the navy of stringing him along. Another former sailor, Jon Henderson, said most of his time in the navy was spent sitting around doing nothing. 'I was basically warehoused in a site called PSU or Personnel Support Unit where numerous sailors basically sit around, read the paper, go online,' he said. The Royal Australian Navy is facing legal action from more than 200 sailors who say they were tricked into signing up on the promise of leaving with a trade but instead sat around doing nothing Their lawyer Mr Levitt said the entire intake from 2010 to 2012 were 'conned into enlistment' and received very little engineering training 'Kids are going in there at 17, 18 and leaving with nothing. There are guys who've been in there 10 years and are coming out and having to do excess training just to get a qualification to get a civilian job.' Their lawyer Mr Levitt said the entire intake from 2010 to 2012 were 'conned into enlistment' and received very little engineering training. They were paid on average between $40,000 to $55,000 over the four years. 'They were effectively misled and strung along and left in a position where they were asked to do either other duties or no duties at all,' he said. Some spent their days sitting around reading newspapers and playing cards. With no training in sight, others chose to deploy aboard warships. Mr Levitt said one group was placed in a room and told they couldn't leave until they signed a waiver of their initial agreement to be provided the engineering training. After three years, they were told they could receive the lesser Certificate III if they enlisted for another term in the navy. Lawyer Stewart Levitt said 320 men and a few women joined the navy to receive on the job education and practical training for the engineering trade qualification, with 200 now joining the class action 'Overwhelmingly they don't want to remain in the navy because the navy has done the wrong thing by them,' he said. The navy program to train its own engineers followed long-running shortages of skilled personnel. Mr Levitt said the navy had the ability to deliver the training but never allocated the resources, a conclusion backed by a 2014 report by the Australian National Audit Office. 'We had this mining boom going on and the navy perceived they might be short of engineers. So they signed them all up and then they saw the boom starting to recede and they thought `We don't want all these engineers',' he said. Mr Levitt said the plaintiffs were seeking unspecified financial compensation, based on individual circumstances. It's expected the case will be settled by negotiation without going to trial. A machete-wielding man who stormed an Ohio restaurant and slashed diners at their tables had previously been investigated by the FBI over his radical Islamist views. Mohamed Barry, 30, from the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, was shot dead by police during the rampage at Nazareth Restaurant and Deli, a Mediterranean restaurant owned by an Israeli man in Columbus, on Thursday. Four people were injured in the attack and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital where they are expected to recover. The FBI have joined the investigation as law enforcement officials warn that 'this incident has the hallmarks of the type of so-called 'lone wolf' terrorist attack that they have been working to stop,' CBS News reported. Scroll down for video Mohamed Barry (pictured left, and right with his fiancee) from the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, was shot dead by police during the rampage at Nazareth Restaurant and Deli on Thursday Now it has been revealed Barry was investigated by the FBI four years ago over concerns about his radical Islamist views, NBC 4 reports. The 30-year-old had moved from Guinea to the United States in 2000. Originally living in Philadelphia, he moved to Ohio two years ago to look for work, his uncle Mamadou told the channel. He was just three weeks away from getting married when he carried out the horrific attack. His family was left stunned by the attack. 'Everybody's surprised,' his uncle told NBC 4. 'The whole family's surprised.' Mamadou, who declined to give his last name, described his nephew as a quiet, softly spoken man whom he had never seen get into a fight. He added that he had never seen a glimpse of the side of a man who would storm into a restaurant and attack innocent diners. But Hany Baransi , owner of Nazareth Restaurant and Deli, branded Barry 'a thug.' Four people were injured in the attack at Nazareth Restaurant and Deli, a Mediterranean restaurant in Columbus, on Thursday Men stand outside as officers inspect the scene inside the Columbus, Ohio, restaurant where a man attacked several people with a machete on Thursday 'This guy [Barry] is a thug,' he told NBC 4. 'We've been working hard. We have great people, a great team over here. We're not going to let some thug like that ruin our day.' According to CBS News, investigators are still running down leads trying to determine if the attack was somehow tied to terrorist organizations. Columbus police Sgt. Rich Weiner said of the attacker: 'There was no rhyme or reason as to who he was going after.' On the day of the attack, police say Barry walked into the restaurant, had a conversation with an employee and then left. He returned about a half hour later and approached a man and a woman who were sitting just inside the door at a booth and started the attack. Officers said employees and patrons tried to get the man to stop. 'Some of the patrons there started throwing chairs at him just trying to get him out of there,' Weiner said. The restaurant owner is Hany Baransi (above) and is an Arab Christian from Israel. He explained that the only reason he was not in the restaurant is because he went home that evening with a migraine Barry eventually fled the scene in a white car and led police on a short chase. Officers forced the man off the road a few miles away and when he got out of his car, police said they tried unsuccessfully to use a stun gun on him. Weiner said: 'At that point he had a machete and another knife in his hand and he lunged across the hood at the officers.' An officer then shot and killed the attacker. Authorities say no officers were hurt during the shooting, according to WBNS 10TV. According to WBNS, the four victims injured in the attack have been identified as William Foley 54; Neil McMeekin, 43; Gerald Russell, 43 and Debbie Russell, 43. 'Obviously we were targeted because there's a whole bunch of businesses around here,' Baransi , Arab Christian from Israel, told the Columbus Dispatch. 'I'm the only foreigner. I am the minor, minor, minor of the minority. So nobody likes me.' He explained that the only reason he was not in the restaurant is because he went home that evening with a migraine. A Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs has reopened nearly three months after a gunman killed three people and injured nine. The clinic will offer all of its services - including contraceptives, cancer screenings and abortions - but during fewer appointments, and in only part of the building while construction crews continue repairs. The exterior is scarred from bullets, and the main entrance is sheathed in plywood, according to The Colorado Springs Gazette. Scroll down for video The Colorado Springs' Planned Parenthood clinic reopened Monday, nearly three months after a gunman killed three people and injured nine others The media sets up for a press conference on Monday were Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains addressed the crowd at the reopening of the Colorado Springs clinic Coward said the Planned Parent Hood clinic opened on Monday with 'eyes to the future', three months after the deadly shooting The entrance was damaged by a police armored vehicle during the response to the November 27 shooting that killed Ke'Arre Stewart, 29, Jennifer Markovsky, 35, and University of Colorado at Colorado Springs police officer Garrett Swasey, 44. Robert Lewis Dear has been charged with murder, attempted murder and other counts. He has acknowledged carrying out the shooting, citing abortions done at the clinic. The clinic has several appointments this week, including abortion services, which Dear cited as the motivation behind his rampage. 'We are opening today with our eyes to the future,' Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, told the Gazette. Cowart said that the organization is discussing ways to honor those killed and that the shooting 'has been hard' on her her 15-member staff. 'They were strong and they were brave on the day of the shooting, they have been resilient and hardworking since,' she said. Seemingly as a test of the braveness of the clinic's staff, abortion protesters gathered outside the clinic on Monday for the opening. 'The no-good place opened today,' said 54-year-old Joseph Martone. The clinic will offer all of its services - including contraceptives, cancer screenings and abortions - but during fewer appointments, and in only part of the building while construction crews continue repairs Robert Lewis Dear, pictured here during a December court appearance, has been charged with murder, attempted murder and other counts. He has acknowledged carrying out the shooting Father Bill Carmody, left, and Joseph Martone, took up their usual spots of protest on a corner near the Planned Parenthood when the clinic reopened on Monday. They said, however, that they did not want to be associated with Dear He stood at a nearby corner with cards condemning abortion with Catholic priest, Rev Bill Carmondy, who has been a longtime opponent of abortion. Martone said, however, that he didn't want to be associated with Dear's violence. 'No one deserves to go through what they went through,' he said of the patients and workers at the clinic. 'We respect life. All life.' Meanwhile, a judge has ordered Dear to undergo a mental competency exam. Court records show 57-year-old Dear is awaiting the exam after a judge refused to delay it at defense attorneys' request. The judge ordered the exam in December after Dear said he wanted to fire his public defenders and represent himself. The exam will show whether he's mentally capable of making that decision. Dear is charged with 179 counts, including murder, attempted murder and assault, in the attack that also left nine injured. During courtroom outbursts, he declared himself a 'warrior for the babies' and said he was guilty. Prosecutors said he's competent because his outbursts show an understanding of the charges. Ke'Arre Stewart, 29, Jennifer Markovsky, 35, and University of Colorado at Colorado Springs police officer Garrett Swasey, 44 were all killed in the November 27 shooting A huge explosion has destroyed a strip club after reports of suspicious activity outside the establishment in the early hours of Tuesday morning. People were seen outside the Kittens strip Club in Caulfield, south-east of Melbourne CBD, at about 3am. A local resident told 3AW Radio that he saw smoke pouring out from the club for hours. Scroll down for video People were seen outside the Kittens strip Club, in south-east of Melbourne CBD, before the fire (stock photo) The anti-bikie Echo taskforce is investigating two other recent attacks on Kittens nightclub in South Melbourne, including a drive-by shooting Fire fighters hose themselves off after extinguishing the fire at Kittens strip club in Melbourne 'There was lots and lots of smoke billowing and people were being evacuated from the next-door flats and the road was blocked off until they could get it under control,' Robert said. Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Paul Illman said luckily the strip club was closed at the time but people were seen outside. 'But that's for criminal investigators to sort out,' he told radio station 3AW. The anti-bikie Echo taskforce is investigating two other recent attacks on Kittens nightclub in South Melbourne, including a drive-by shooting. The attack on Kittens' security guard Clay Auimatagi is believed to be linked to a feud between a bikie club and either Kittens, or the security company connected to Mr Auimatagi. Police are not yet clear if this morning's explosion is linked. Fire: A local resident said that he saw smoke pouring out from the club for hours A 'severe' 6.0 magnitude earthquake has hit off the south coast of New Zealand just two days after Christchurch was rocked by a powerful quake. The 10km-deep earthquake struck 160km south-west of Snares Islands at 8.28am on Tuesday, with shaking felt near Roxburgh, Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch. Residents have expressed concern at the tremors which rattled the South Island days after Christchurch was struck by a magnitude 5.7 quake - sending a huge dust cloud over city. Candice Edgarton wrote on the GeoNet Facebook page: 'I don't think the shaking will ever stop here not for a long time.' Scroll down for video A 'severe' 6.0 magnitude earthquake has hit off the south coast of New Zealand just two days after Christchurch was rocked by a powerful quake, pictured is debris above Scarborough Beach on Sunday The 10km-deep earthquake struck 160km southwest of Snares Islands at 8.28am on Tuesday, with shaking felt near Roxburgh, Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch Residents have expressed concern at the quake which rattled the South Island days after Christchurch was struck by a magnitude 5.7 quake Irene-Siomhaith West, who lives in Dunedin, wrote on Facebook saying the earthquake 'jolted' her awake when it hit. Emma McClay said: 'I'm in Parklands & hear all of these smaller ones!' Shirley Knapp said: 'Okay Nature You can stop now !!! Or go play in another country.' GeoNet seismologists originally measured the quake at a magnitude of 4.4, but it was revised to 5.3 and then 6.0. The epicentre of the earthquake was around 360km south-west of New Zealand's South Island. At least 23 people from the bottom of the South Island reported feeling the quake to GNS and there were no reports of any injuries. GNS seismologist John Ristau said: 'It was quite far south of the South Island so it's expected that there wouldn't be too many people who felt it.' A store attendant at Stewart Island Gift Shop told the New Zealand Herald that he only felt a 'tiny shake'. The 5.9 magnitude earthquake on Sunday was strong enough to force items off shop shelves A severe 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Christchurch, New Zealand, shortly after 11am on Sunday Photographs posted on social media pictures showed large dust clouds over the Christchurch suburb of Sumner on Sunday It caused tremors in the South Island with a 2.7 magnitude quake shaking buildings in Christchurch on Tuesday morning. The quake was unrelated to Sunday's earthquake in Christchurch. The earthquake hit one-week before the five-year anniversary of a deadly 6.3 earthquake which claimed that lives of 185 people when it hit Christchurch in 2011. Shoppers were forced to flee malls during the quake on Sunday which also saw five young lifesavers narrowly avoid injury when a cliff collapsed into the sea near Taylors Mistake. Photographs posted on social media pictures showed large dust clouds over the Christchurch suburb of Sumner, where a number of buildings and shops were evacuated on Valentine's Day. Zac Thomson was working on the roof of a supermarket in Christchurch's CBD when the earthquake hit on Sunday. The 27-year-old told Daily Mail Australia that it was the first major shake he has felt since moving to the city in January. Earthquake damage: 'Everyone got a big fright, we had everyone running out' Dust clouds evaporated over Sumner, a coastal seaside suburb of Christchurch on Sunday There was no major damage to the city but the Summer suburb picturesque cliff did crumble into the water Large dust clouds were seen above houses in the suburb following the 5.9 magnitude quake 'The whole building started shaking and we all looked at each other and ran for the scaffold so we could get down,' Mr Thomson said. He said the earthquake lasted for about five to ten seconds. 'The street lamp posts were still wobbling for another five minutes after the shake,' he said. After the quake, the supermarket was evacuated and Thomson said he saw customers hugging each other. 'You definitely get a bit of a fright because you don't know how long it's going to last or whether it will get worse,' he said. A sizemogram displays the moment the earthquake struck in Christchurch People posted pictures on social media of the damage done inside their homes by the earthquake 2011 CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit about 10 kilometres from Christchurch on February 22, 2011 185 people killed in the disaster and up to 2000 more injured Five year anniversary of the quake to be held one week after Buildings collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake on February 22, 2011 Advertisement Jenny Krex, manager of Sumner Coffee Culture said things in her shop were broken by the shake, according to the NZ Herald. 'Everyone got a big fright, we had everyone running out,' Ms Krex told the newspaper. 'I made sure everyone was okay, it was quite a big shock. It's crazy out here at the moment.' It is currently unknown whether any buildings collapsed due to the earthquake. A St John's Ambulance spokesman said a number of people had called reporting falls after the quake. 'At this stage, we have no reports of serious injuries or serious damage,' the statement read. New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management warned people to be aware of potential aftershocks. Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee confirmed that there were no reports of serious injuries as a result of the earthquake this afternoon. He said there appeared to be some damage to cliffs in the Port Hills, and Land Information New Zealand engineers were now surveying that area. There were also early reports of liquefaction in the east of Christchurch, but it was not extensive. However, a spokesman also said the threat of tsunami was low. 'Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused an earthquake that will pose a threat to New Zealand,' a statement read. There were also reports a cliff in Sumner collapsed after quake, and that aftershocks are continuing. Sunday's earthquake hit a week before the five year anniversary of the deadly disaster that rocked Christchurch in 2011 People were without phone service in the impacted area, with Spark saying a number of its sites had gone down. 'We have about 10 cell sites out in the Christchurch area after 5.9. Working on restoring service; more info soon. Hope everyone is OK!' the telecommunications company tweeted. The incident comes a week before the five year anniversary of the deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Christchurch on February 22, 2011. Some 185 people died in the disaster and as many as 2,000 people were injured. A Canberra man has been charged with murdering his eight-year-old son and assaulting his ten-year-old daughter. Graham Stuart Dillon, 37, from Jacka - a suburb in Canberra's north, is accused of murdering Bradyn Dillon, 8, on Monday. As well as one count of murder, Dillon was charged with three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against his 10-year-old daughter. Scroll down for video Graham Stuart Dillon (pictured), 37, is accused of murdering his eight-year-old son Bradyn Dillon Dillon, dressed in shorts and thongs, did not apply for bail when he appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker remanded him in custody to reappear in court on March 1. His son died of his injuries after he was taken to hospital after police and ambulance officers were called to a home in the Jacka suburb on Monday night. When police arrived on the scene they were met by a little girl outside the suburban home who took them inside, and they found an eight-year- old boy with serious injuries, 9News reported. The home (pictured) in Jacka, Canberra, where the alleged assault took place A number of tributes have been left outside the home. 'Rest in peace little man, no-one can hurt you now', was written on the wrapping paper of a single white rose that was left outside the home. 'On the way to school I saw the police car and I sort of wondered, what's that there for, and it was on the news on the way back from the school run and I just, heart just broke,' one neighbour Rachel Bowman told 9 News. The Canberra Times reported that there were no screams or violent exchanges on the night of the incident and that locals only became aware something was wrong when they saw police cars approaching and heard sirens. One mum and neighbour said all the children in the area played together and that the local community was shocked at what happened. Police and ACT Ambulance Service officers attended a residence in Jacka last night [Monday] and a male child was transported to hospital where he later died,' police said after the incident. Floral tributes were left out side the house where the murder took place during Tuesday A neighbour leaves a tribute to show her respect for the deceased eight-year-old boy The man has also been charged with a number of assault offences. The police investigation into the Jacka homicide is ongoing. The house involved will be examined by forensic services teams and detectives are investigating an incident here, the police said. Bittermann Street in Jacka was closed on Monday night. The area is normally a quiet residential area where many families live. Detectives took witness statements from neighbours, while forensic teams investigated the scene of the crime on Tuesday. Anyone who may be able to provide any information on the incident should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or at via act.crimestoppers.com.au. An elderly man in China has given his wheel chair-bound wife the sweetest Valentine's Day gift one can think of: a giant 'I love you' sign on a skyscraper. The 84-year-old pensioner, named as Qiao Weiwei from Hangzhou city, showed his everlasting love for his 83-year-old wife yesterday by hiring hotel rooms inside the building and having the message projected onto it. The modern day Romeo had the words of 'I [heart] U' spelled out to celebrate the couple's 67th anniversary, the People's Daily Online reports. True love: The New Century Hotel in Hangzhou, China was lit up with lights displaying the loving message Love:Qiao Dewei and his wife Liu Shixiu have been married for 67 years and did not have a wedding ceremony Celebration:The hotel room is decorated to commemorate the couple's diamond marriage in Hangzhou Qiao Dewei and his wife Liu Shixiu dressed up in wedding attire to celebrate the memorable anniversary together. According to the couple, they have never done anything romantic or said 'I love you' to each other. They also said that when they were married, they did not dress up or have a wedding ceremony. Speaking to Chinese media, Qiao Dewei said: 'We have been married for 67 years and have experienced numerous ups and downs and countless difficulties. Life is hard but we've never even thought about divorce'. Liu Shixiu is now bound to a wheelchair and with her health deteriorating, her husband decided that now was the time to give her a thoughtful surprise. The man was helped by his grandson who worked together with the building's owners, a hotel, to make the surprise happen. The hotel kept 220 of its rooms vacant to allow the man's message to be screened. It's unknown how much the romantic gesture cost. Everlasting love:The man said 'I love you' for the first time to his wife of 67 years by having it written on a hotel A student at the University of Iowa has reportedly been expelled and deported back to China after posting a threatening message on social media. The man has been identified as 22-year old Hanxiang Ni from Hangzhou, China, according to the Daily Iowan. His university is said to have withdrawn his student visa after he suggested he would shoot his professors if he fails exams. Ni's father yesterday confirmed his son has returned home, but he denied all allegations that Ni had been expelled or deported. The Daily Iowan released this image which is allegedly student Hanxiang Ni who was deported from the US The Daily Iowan said Ni had recently posted a message on social media, indicating he would shoot his professors if he failed to pass the exams. The message, which has been taken down, reportedly read: 'Ive been working so hard this semester, if the school still doesnt let me pass, I will let the professor feel the fear like Lu Gang.' Ni's social media post referenced a previous University of Iowa student, Lu Gang, also from China. Lu shot and killed five people before turning the gun on himself in 1991 after failing to win an academic award. A spokesman from the University of Iowa told MailOnline: 'A member of the university community contacted the University of Iowas Threat Assessment Team regarding a concerning comment on social media. 'The team investigated, evaluated the risk, determined there was no imminent risk, and took the necessary precautions to ensure the campus community was safe.' Iowa 1991 shooting: Lu Gang shot dead five people enraged that he had not won an academic award The University of Iowa where Hanxiang Ni attended school during 2013-2014 and during spring 2016 The post was deemed threatening as the student had recently obtained a licence to own a firearm. Multiple news sites have reported Hanxiang Ni to be a pre-business major. Ni had been studying at the university during 2013-2014 and during the spring semester of 2016. Lu Gang killed five people at the university in 1991 According to the county Sheriff's department, Ni owned two firearms and upon learning of his message, the guns along with his permits were taken away from him. Ni later posted a message on Chinese social media site Weibo apparently from the airport. He says in the message that he had been questioned by police about a post on Instagram. He said: 'I posted a picture of the library on ins and I posted that I have been studying so hard this semester. If I fail the courses, I will let the professors know the fear of Lugang. In fact I have no idea what this was about.' At the end of the post he says that he was waiting to board a flight to Shanghai. He wrote that he was expelled on February 2. Ni's father yesterday confirmed that his son had returned to China but denied the allegations of a deportation, according to People's Daily Online. He said Ni was seeking legal advice. His father also said: 'My son has done an inappropriate thing. I believe that the confiscation of his firearms would have been a more reasonable punishment. Is deportation a bit too much? 'After all, he is in another country and needs to adapt to the local culture and should be given the opportunity to right his wrongs.' He told the paper that his son had received a scholarship to attend the school. Human teeth could eventually be made to regrow just like those of sharks as we still possess the same genes that allow regrowth, scientists have found. Sharks and other fish regrow their teeth repeatedly through their lives while humans have the capacity to regrow their teeth just once. But now scientists at the University of Sheffield have discovered that the same network of genes that allow sharks to regrow teeth is present in humans. Scroll down for video Sharks (Great White pictured) constantly regrow their teeth through out their lives and now scientists have discovered that humans have the same network of genes the fish to do this. It has raised the prospect that humans may one day be able to regrow their own teeth by switching these genes back on The same genes have been retained over 450 million years of evolution when humans and sharks had a common ancestor - and mean we have the capability to regrow our teeth if a way can be found to switch these genes on. These genes contained in specialised cells that create teeth mostly die off or lie dormant after our milk teeth and our adult teeth grow. GROWING TEETH IN THE LAB False teeth could be a thing of the past after scientists discovered a way to grow them in the laboratory. Dental experts have found a new way to split a tooth into two fully functional teeth and then successfully implant them into the jaws of mice - a breakthrough which could help human patients in the future. Researchers from the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology in Japan used a new technique of extracting teeth germs - the groups of cells formed early in life that will later develop into teeth. Mice that received the teeth were able to chew and feel stimulus. However, the implanted teeth were just half the size of normal teeth. Advertisement Dr Gareth Fraser and colleagues analysed the teeth of catshark embryos, and identified the genes involved during stages of early shark tooth formation. These genes continue to be used to grow further teeth and are found in cells called the dental lamina, which are responsible for the lifelong continuation of tooth development and regeneration in sharks. The same genes are still present in humans - deriving from the time when humans and sharks had a common ancestor. Dr Fraser, whose research has been published in Developmental Biology, said: 'Sharks can regenerate their teeth throughout their lives. 'The good news for us as humans is the genes that make these teeth regrow are shared by all vertebrates [creatures with skeletons] including humans. 'What it means is because we have the same genes to make teeth, we also have a regenerative program. 'We make two sets of teeth, but humans need more teeth, whether through loss or damage, so our second set are really quite valuable. Sharks continuously regenerate their teeth through out their life with new teeth rotating forward in rows (illustrated in A). Bony fish replace teeth one by one (B) while reptiles continuously grow new teeth (C). Most mammals, however are diphyodontal, with two tooth generations (D) 'Sharks never have tooth decay, if they lose teeth they regenerate them even more rapidly. 'The point is at some level it's not so far-fetched we can use and re-utilise what nature has provided. 'At some point during adolescence, we lose the cells, they break down. There is a possibility we can re-invigorate them with future dental therapies.' Dr Fraser said he believes that once 'a set of tweaks' is found, we will be able to regrow teeth 'when and if we need them.' In all there are 400 genes which interact to grow a tooth. The researchers studied the developmental stages of shark's teeth (pictured). Researchers found there are 400 genes which interact to grow a tooth, but with a 'set of tweaks' it may be possible for humans to regrow teeth when we need them Dr Fraser said many further breakthroughs are needed to understand how to switch the network on and the work will take many years. But he said: 'Regenerating teeth will happen.' Rarely, humans grow additional or 'supernumerary' teeth. In one case an 11-year-old girl was reported to have 81 teeth. In such cases, the extra teeth are a problem and must be removed. The capacity for sharks to regrow their teeth in a conveyor-belt like fashion was first scientifically recorded in 1845 by Sir Richard Owen, the British biologist who coined the word 'dinosaur'. While Blue Origin continues to test its reusable New Shepard rockets , XCOR has developed 'Lynx', a capsule that could make multiple flights each day with a pilot and one passenger aboard From Virgin Galactic's winged SpaceShipTwo, to Jeff Bezos' reusable rockets and even helium balloons that could carry us to orbit, the space tourism race is heating up. More than 700 people - including Hollywood A-listers Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio - have already bought tickets for Virgin Galactic space flights, which sell for $250,000 (172,000) each. World View charges $75,000 (51,750) per ticket for its six-hour flight suspended by a balloon and XCOR Aerospace is charging $150,000 (103,000) a ticket for a trip on its Lynx capsule. But while it may seem like a dream currently reserved for the mega wealthy, there are a number of firms hoping to make holidaying among the stars not only a reality, but an affordable one at that. MailOnline takes a look at the projects that could take us to the edge of space and beyond in the coming years. Scroll down for video One of the most prominent space tourism programs, Virgin Galactic, was founded by Sir Richard Branson. It will use a winged rocket plane dubbed SpaceShipTwo (illustrated), successor to SpaceShipOne. SpaceShipTwo is designed to be flown by two pilots and carry up to six passengers to altitudes above 62 miles (100km) VIRGIN GALACTIC One of the most prominent space tourism programs, Virgin Galactic, was founded by Sir Richard Branson. Later this month, Virgin Galactic will roll out its new SpaceShipTwo, a vehicle the company hopes will one day take tourists to the edge of space. It comes more than a year since its predecessor SpaceShipOne - which in 2004 won the $10 million (6.9 million) Ansari X Prize intended to spur the industry's development - was destroyed in a test flight, killing one of the pilots. THE CELEBRITY SPACE TOURISTS More than 700 people are said to have signed up for a ticket for Virgin Galactic's space flights. These include Justin Bieber, actor Ashton Kutcher, physicist Stephen Hawking, actor Russell Brand, singer Katy Perry, actors and married couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, actress Kate Winslet, Winslet's Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and singer Lance Bass. Prices start at $250,000 (173,000) each. However, the crash of SpaceShipTwo last year led to Princess Beatrice to pull out of the scheme, alongsider an asset manager called Peter Ulrich von May from Switzerland. World View charges $75,000 (51,750) per ticket for its six-hour flight suspended by a balloon but has not revealed how many people have signed up for the trip. Blue Origin has created a website where people can register their interest, but hasn't revealed prices or dates. Advertisement The winged SpaceShipTwo is designed to be flown by two pilots and carry up to six passengers on a suborbital trajectory to altitudes above 62 miles (100km). This is the internationally recognised boundary of space. Like early US X-planes, Virgin Galactic's craft will be carried aloft by another aircraft, called WhiteKnightTwo. It will be released at about 50,000ft (15,200 metres) before its rocket engine is ignited for a supersonic ride to the fringes of space. The space firm claims SpaceShipTwo's cabin is 'roomy enough for passengers to float during a few minutes of weightlessness' before beginning an unpowered glide to a runway landing. A key feature of the design is the so-called feathering system - a term derived from the feathers of a badminton projectile. Twin tails extending from the tips of each wing rotate upward as a means to slow and stabilise SpaceShipTwo as it re-enters the atmosphere. The 'feathers' then rotate back to their normal position for the rest of the glide and landing. Virgin Galactic's first SpaceShipTwo was destroyed on 31 October 2014, when a co-pilot prematurely unlocked the feathers during a powered test flight and aerodynamic forces broke the craft apart. A key feature of the design is the so-called feathering system - a term derived from the feathers of a badminton projectile. Twin tails extending from the tips of each wing rotate upward as a means to slow and stabilise SpaceShipTwo (method illustrated) as it re-enters the atmosphere More than 700 people are said to have signed up for a ticket for Virgin Galactic's space flights, including Leonardo DiCaprio (left) and physicist Stephen Hawking (right) Other wannabe celebrity space tourists include Ashton Kutcher (left) and singer Katy Perry (right), Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Tickets cost $250,000 (173,000) each The co-pilot was killed but the pilot parachuted to safety. The company will roll out its new SpaceShipTwo later this month in Mojave, California, but the timeline for testing and commercial operation has not been released. Hundreds of people have put down deposits of $250,000 (173,000) for a chance to fly into space with Virgin Galactic, which plans to operate from Spaceport America in New Mexico. BLUE ORIGIN Blue Origin successfully launched the New Shepard rocket in November, and repeated the take-off just two months later. Last week it released footage that shows the flight from cameras on the rocket's body (pictured). It has created a website where people can register their interest, but hasn't revealed prices This image shows an illustration of a Blue Origin rocket taking off from a launch pad. Blue Origin claims that during flights passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness after the capsule separates from the booster. Passengers will be able to leave their seats and float about the capsule THE RACE FOR SPACE TOURISM In 1995, the St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation conceived the idea of a $10 million reward for development of a privately financed, reusable spaceship capable of carrying three people to an altitude of 62 miles twice within two weeks. The X Prize announcement the following year was timed to an anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's nonstop flight from New York to Paris aboard the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927. He won the aviator the $25,000 Orteig Prize offered in 1919 for the trans-Atlantic flight. On 21 June, 2004 SpaceShipOne - designed by Rutan and funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen - soared more than 62 miles above the California desert and then glided to a landing at Mojave Airport as crowds cheered. It launched again on 29 September, reaching the required altitude and after launching on 4 October, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis announced the altitude was official and the SpaceShipOne team clinched the prize. Advertisement Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin project is testing a vertical-takeoff rocket topped by a six-passenger capsule for suborbital hops. Like Astronaut Alan Shepard's pioneering 1961 flight during Project Mercury, the capsule separates from the booster rocket and descends beneath parachutes without going into orbit around the Earth. The unconventional twist is reusability. Blue Origin recently conducted a test launch from Texas in which the rocket dubbed New Shepard performed a vertical landing, slowing its descent by relighting its engine as it fell back to Earth. In January, the company launched the same rocket and it again landed intact. Blue Origin claims that during flights passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness after the capsule separates from the booster. Passengers will be able to leave their seats and float about the capsule before a signal tells them to be reseated for landing. The company has chosen Florida for its base of operations. Details of space tourism operations have not been released. Blue Origin (capsule illustrated) recently conducted a test launch from Texas in which the rocket dubbed New Shepard performed a vertical landing, slowing its descent by relighting its engine as it fell back to Earth. In January, the company launched the same rocket and it again landed intact Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin project is testing a vertical-takeoff rocket topped by a six-passenger capsule (illustrated) for suborbital hops. Like Astronaut Alan Shepard's 1961 flight during Project Mercury, the capsule separates from the booster and descends beneath parachutes without going into orbit around Earth XCOR AEROSPACE The company has spent years developing a rocket plane named Lynx intended to be capable of making multiple flights each day with a pilot and one passenger aboard. Unlike Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, the Lynx will take off under its own power from a runway, climb toward space and then glide back to a runway landing. XCOR also plans flights surpassing an altitude of 62 miles. In December, the company said it reached a milestone in development of the Lynx propulsion system by successfully using waste heat to drive essential engine parts, eliminating the need for large and heavy tanks of compressed gas. XCOR, now headquartered in Midland, Texas, also reported progress late last year in completing structural components of its first Lynx as well as a flight simulator system for pilot training. The company said it has more than 350 clients. The price of booking a seat rose from $100,000 (69,000) to $150,000 (104,000) on 1 January, but the company has not said when flights will begin. 'The fact is that we are in a process in which you just can't rush things,' Lynx test pilot Harry van Hulten said in press release last fall XCOR Aerospace has spent years developing a rocket plane named Lynx (illustrated) that is intended to be capable of making multiple flights each day with a pilot and one passenger aboard. Unlike Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, the Lynx will take off under its own power from a runway and glide back to a runway landing WORLD VIEW The Arizona company plans to take passengers to altitudes above 100,000ft (30,480 metres) in a capsule suspended below a 'parawing' and a helium balloon. THE KARMAN LINE The altitude of 62 miles (100km) is accepted as a boundary line by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. Known as the Karman line, it is used to distinguish between aeronautics and astronautics. The first American in space, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, rocketed to an altitude of 116 miles on 5 May 1961. Advertisement The trip some 19 miles (30km) high would be to 'near space' but would give a substantial view of the Earth far below while avoiding the stress of G forces endured during rocket flight. Compared to flights on rocket-powered space tourism vehicles offering a few minutes at the top of a suborbital trajectory, World View envisions spending two hours at the maximum altitude, with amenities such as a lavatory. The two-member crew would then begin the landing process by venting helium until the capsule descends to 50,000ft (15,240 metres). The balloon would then be released and the parawing would allow the capsule to glide to a landing spot. The company announced last month that it plans to conduct launches from Spaceport Tucson. Compared to flights on rocket-powered space vehicles offering a few minutes at the top of a suborbital trajectory, World View envisions spending two hours at the maximum altitude, with amenities such as a toilet. The crew would begin the landing process using helium until the capsule descends to 50,000ft (15,200 metres) The World View balloon (illustrated) would then be released and the parawing would allow the capsule to glide to a landing spot. The company announced last month that it plans to conduct launches from Spaceport Tucson Their bright colours and delicate facial features painted onto wood to cover the faces of ancient Egyptian mummies are thought to have influenced later styles of religious paintings in Europe. But it seems the ancient artists who created these lifelike portraits of the dead in Egypt 2,000 years ago were reliant upon materials from distant parts of Europe to create their masterpieces. Analysis of a series of so-called 'mummy portraits', discovered at the ancient Egyptian settlement of Tebturnis, in modern day Umm el-Baragat in Al Fayyumm, is finally revealing their secrets. Scroll down for video A group of 2,000-year-old portraits (pictured three by the same artist) found covering the faces of ancient Egyptian mummies have been found to have been painted using a sophisticated pallet of pigments, many of which were imported form Spain and Greece. The wood they were painted on also comes from central Europe Largely overlooked for the past 100 years in favour of papyri unearthed alongside them, the 15 Roman-era Egyptian wood panel paintings were first unearthed by archaeologists in 1899. Now scientists have used a series of sophisticated imaging techniques to study the pigments, brush strokes and wood used to create the rare portraits. THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMIES Largely overlooked for the past 100 years in favour of papyri unearthed alongside them, the 15 Roman-era Egyptian wood panel paintings were unearthed by archaeologists in 1899. Hidden beneath the layers of red and yellow paint, the researchers discovered the artists had sketched their work with a pigment called Egyptian Blue highly valuable at the time. The discovery baffled them because the first pigment to be artificially manufactured and with its vivid colour, it was highly regarded by artists and often used as the final top layer of paint. However, in these portraits it was hidden beneath other colours. It was only when the researchers analysed the other pigments that it began to become clear why they might have used this expensive pigment as a base coat. Their research found the red lead pigment had come from as far away as Spain. Other pigments appear to have been imported from Keos in Greece while the wood used for the portraits came from Central Europe. Advertisement Hidden beneath the layers of red and yellow paint, the researchers discovered the artists had sketched out their work with a pigment called Egyptian Blue highly valuable at the time. The discovery baffled them because the first pigment to be artificially manufactured and with its vivid colour, it was highly regarded by artists and often used as the final top layer of paint. However, in these portraits it was hidden beneath other colours. It was only when the researchers analysed the other pigments that it began to become clear why they might have used this expensive pigment as a base coat. Their research found that the red lead pigment used in the paintings had come from as far away as Spain. Other pigments appear to have been imported from Keos in Greece while the wood on which the portraits were painted on came from Central Europe. The findings, made by researchers at Northwestern University and University of California Berkeley's Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, suggest the Egyptian artists had relied upon vast trade networks to obtain their materials. Dr Marc Walton, a materials scientist at Northwestern University who led the research, it could help to shed light on where techniques used artists in the Byzantine Empire came from. 'Roman-Egyptian portraits were created in Egypt from the 1st-3rd centuries AD,' he said. 'Painted on wooden panels, often using wax and originally attached to mummies, these visages of the dead are considered to be antecedents of Western portraiture. 'Our materials analysis provides a fresh and rich archaeological context for the Tebtunis portraits, reflecting the international perspective of these ancient Egyptians. The mummy portraits were discovered at the site of Tebturnis, in modern day Umm el-Baragat in Al Fayyumm The researchers took microscopic samples of paint from the portraits and examined the pigments (pictured). They found the red lead pigment appears to match those produced in Spain at the time while the iron-earth pigments, like the yellow ochre jarosite, came from Keos in Greece There were 15 exquisitely preserved portraits (pictured) discovered at the site of Tebtunis by archaeologists in 1899. However, they were largely overlooked as experts concentrated on papyri found with them UNRAVELLING THE SECRETS OF THE PYRAMIDS WITH COSMIC RAYS A group of Egyptian and foreign experts is attempting to unravel the secrets of the ancient Egyptian pyramids using new imaging techniques to search for hidden chambers. Scientists are mapping two pyramids at Giza and two Dahshur pryamids south of Cairo using thermal imaging, 3D scanning and cosmic ray detectors. Similar techniques area also being used to search the tomb of Tutankhamun to look for a suspected hidden chamber that may belong to Queen Nefertiti. Infrared thermography will detect infrared energy emitted from object, converts it to temperature, and displays an image of its temperature distribution to reveal objects that may be hidden. 3D scans bounce lasers off the the interiors of a structure to map it in detail. Once the scanning is complete, the data can be combined into a highly detailed 3-D model. Cosmic-ray detectors look for muons that are created when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere. Muons pass harmlessly through people and buildings. Muons traveling through rock or other dense material will slow and eventually stop. The idea is to catch the muons after theyve passed through an pyramid and measure their energies and trajectories. Researchers can then compile a 3D image that reveals hidden chambers. Advertisement 'For example, we found that the iron-earth pigments most likely came from Keos in Greece, the red lead from Spain and the wood substrate on which the portraits are painted came from central Europe. 'We also know the painters used Egyptian blue in an unusual way to broaden their spectrum of hues.' Roman-era mummy portraits from Egypt are widely thought to have adapted some of the styles used by Greek artists to create striking head-on images. These techniques were later adopted in icon images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and angels in the orthodox Christian and Catholic Church. The portraits found at Tebtunis are considered to be some of the best preserved paintings from the period and are among the most important collections in the world. Researchers used a combination of non-destructive imaging techniques and took tiny samples of paint to study how the portraits were made. They were also able to work out the order in which various parts of the painting were built up and could examine the brush strokes and tool marks on the portraits. Dr Walton said: 'The specific information obtained about painting methods and overall distribution of pigments produces groupings of portraits of similar materials and has led to the identification of ancient workshops and the hand of specific artists. 'Our goal is to use objects themselves as evidence for their production. 'In our interrogation, we have used a number of cutting-edge analytical tools developed here at Northwestern to uncover new and intriguing clues about how to identify the hand of an individual artist.' The researchers also used a series of imaging techniques to analyse the pigments that were used on the paintings (pictured) to help them assess the types of pigments and techniques the artists used Ancient flowers preserved in amber have been identified as a completely new species, 30 years after being discovered. Ancient flowers preserved in amber have been identified as a completely new species, 30 years after being discovered. What's more, the beautiful looking plants likely contained deadly poison when they bloomed between 20 and 45 million years ago. The rare fossils were found in an amber mine in the Dominican Republic in the 1980s. But they remained overlooked while scientists concentrated on the prehistoric insects found at the same time. It was only when a specimen was handed over to botany professor Lena Struwe that their importance was recognised. After comparing the fossil flowers to more than 200 different species of the genus Strychnos - which includes many modern trees and lianas - Professor Struwe concluded this must be a new species. Now confirmed, these are the first-ever fossil specimens of an asterid, a family of flowering plants including potatoes, tomatoes, petunias, and coffee. Professor Struwe has named the species Strychnos electri, after the Greek word for amber, elektron. She concluded that, as it seems closely related to modern plants producing the deadly poisons strychnine and curare, an arrow poison once used in South and Central America, this plant probably also contained poison. Although fragments of plants are regularly found encased in amber, complete flowers are very rare. These specimens were collected in 1986 by entomologist George Poinar of Oregon State University, among a number of samples containing insects in amber from a mine in the Dominican Republic. Researchers said the plants likely contained deadly poison when they bloomed between 20 and 45 million years ago because they are so closely related to modern plants producing strychnine and curare. These toxins were once used for arrow poison in South and Central America The specimens (pictured) were collected in 1986 by entomologist George Poinar of Oregon State University, among a number of samples containing insects in amber from a mine in the Dominican Republic. The species has been called Strychnos electri, after the Greek word for amber, elektron After comparing the fossil flowers to over 200 different species of the genus Strychnos - which includes many modern trees and lianas - the researchers concluded it must be a new species. The samples are the first-ever fossil specimens of an asterid, flowering plants including potatoes, tomatoes (left), petunias (right), and coffee THE STRYCHNINE POISON Strychnine is a white, bitter powder classed as a strong poison. This means only a small amount is needed to produce severe effects in people. Strychnine poisoning can cause extremely serious adverse health effects, including death. The primary natural source of strychnine is the plant Strychnos nux-vomica found in India, Sri Lanka, and East Indies and Australia. Today, strychnine is used primarily as a pesticide, particularly to kill rats. Advertisement Those insects kept Professor Poinar busy for years, but eventually the beautifully-preserved flowers caught his eye. 'They looked like they had just fallen from a tree,' he said. He sent high resolution photographs of the finds to Lena Struwe, professor of botany at Rutgers University, setting her off on a quest to identify the mystery blooms. The detective work involved comparing tiny details of the plants with hundreds of samples of living species from some of the biggest plant collections ion the world. 'I looked at each specimen, photographed and measured it, and compared it to the photo George sent me. 'I asked myself, "How do the hairs on the petals look?", "Where are the hairs situated?" and so on', explained Professor Struwe. Strychnine is a white, bitter powder classed as a strong poison. This means only a small amount is needed to produce severe effects in people. The sample fossil flower is pictured 'This fossil turned out to have particular significance for our understanding of the evolution of plants in the Caribbean and the New World tropics,' she added. 'The discovery of this new species in a 30-year-old amber collection highlights that we still have many undiscovered species hidden away in natural history collections worldwide and not enough taxonomic experts to work through them.' Advertisement Missions to Mars may be fraught with challenges, making sure you have enough oxygen, water, fuel, and potatoes - in the case of The Martian's Mark Watney - but a map of where you're going needn't be one of them. A new detailed map of the red planet has been produced by Ordnance Survey, giving would-be astronauts one less excuse to get lost if they ever reach the red planet. The one-off map is based on open data of the Martian surface captured by Nasa and has been produced both as a digital map and a paper map. Explore the high-resolution image on Ordnance Survey's Flickr page A new map of the red planet has been produced by Ordnance Survey. The one-off map (pictured) is based on open data of the Martian surface captured by Nasa and has been produced both as a digital map and a paper map. According to OS, it was produced to see if mapping has potential use for future Mars missions It is similar to those used by hikers all over the British Isles to get their bearings, although users will struggle to find the typical church steeples, roads or streams - of liquid water anyway. The map is at a scale of 1:4,000,000 so each centimetre is equivalent to 2,485 miles (4,000km) and covers an area of 2,282 by 1,690 miles (3,672 by 2,721km) of the planet's cratered surface - the Western Arabia Terra to be precise. According to OS, it was produced to see if mapping has potential use for future Mars missions. 'The private sector and space agencies are currently in competition to land the first person on Mars,' explained David Henderson, OS director of products. Along with detailed topography, the map shows the landing sites of both Nasa's Mars Pathfinder (pictured) and MER Opportunity missions The map is at a scale of 1:4,000,000 so each centimetre is equivalent to 2,485 miles (4,000km) and covers an area of 2,282 by 1,690 miles (3,672 by 2,721km) of the planet's cratered surface - the Western Arabia Terra to be precise One of the largest visible features on the map is Schiaperelli crater (pictured, labelled bottom right), but it also highlights the landing sites of both the Mars Pathfinder and MER Opportunity missions MAKING THE MARTIAN MAP The one-off digital and paper map map was produced by Ordnance Survey. It is based on open data of the Martian surface captured by Nasa. The map is similar to those used by hikers all over the British Isles to get their bearings. Its scale is 1:4,000,000 so every centimetre is four kilometres (2,485 miles) and covers an area of 3,672 by 2,721 kilometres (2282 by 1690 miles) of the planet's surface. Advertisement He added: 'Becoming more familiar with space is something that interests us all and the opportunity to apply our innovative cartography and mapping tradecraft to a different planet was something we couldn't resist.' 'We were asked to map an area of Mars in an OS style because our maps are easy to understand and present a compelling visualisation, and because of this we can envisage their usefulness in planning missions and for presenting information about missions to the public.' One of the largest visible features on the map is Schiaperelli crater, the infamous lift-off site for fictional stranded astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon in the film The Martian. It also highlights the landing sites of both the Mars Pathfinder and MER Opportunity missions. However, those looking for other landers and rovers, such as Curiosity, won't be able to find them - with Curiosity located closer to Gale Crater, far off to the North East of the map. OS cartographic design consultant, Chris Wesson, who designed the map, said: 'We have set out from the start to treat the Mars data no different to how we would treat OS GB data or any other Earth-based geography. Even though the principles are the same, the design and the aesthetics of an Earth map differ considerably.' Wesson explained: 'The cartographic style is something that is very different to your typical planetary map and is identifiable as an OS map. The key ingredients to this style are the soft colour palette of the base combined with the traditional map features such as contours and grid lines, and the map sheet layout complete with legend.' One of the largest visible features on the map is Schiaperelli crater (labelled bottom right), the infamous lift-off site for fictional stranded astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon in the film The Martian. Pictured is section the new OS map covers. Warmer colours indicate higher elevation, while cooler colours indicate depths In the film The Martian, stranded astronaut Mark Watney drives 3,200km (2,000 miles) to Schiaparelli crater. Last year, to coincide with the release of the movie, Nasa released an interactive map of the red planet that charts Watney's journey across the surface OS maps are used by governments, companies and individuals around the world. The firm's huge database is kept up to date by input from 270 surveyors, as well as aircraft, which produce more than 10,000 updates to the system each day. According to the firm, 2016 marks 225 years of OS delivering accurate maps of Great Britain. Last year, to coincide with the release of The Martian - the Hollywood film based on the book of the same name, written by Andy Weir - Nasa released an interactive map of the red planet that charts Watney's epic journey across the surface after he becomes stranded. The map, dubbed Mars Trek 2.0, provides an explanation for key points in the heroes 2,000 mile (3,200km) trek towards the Schiaparelli crater. It can be viewed in both 2D and 3D and aims to provide a Google Earth-like experience so that users can explore the red planet's terrain. Connecting the earbuds with audio jack is scientifically proven to work One model can be worn as a stylish necklace made from Headphones use magnets to connect the ear pieces with the audio jack Loopit wanted $15,000 on Kickstarter, but has now The average person spends three and a half days of their life untangling headphones. Now, an entrepreneur has designed a pair of headphones that she claims will never stay tangled for more than three seconds. Loopit headphones can be worn as a necklace or placed in a pocket - and they quickly untangle because the earbuds are connected to the audio jack. Scroll down for video A firm understands this struggle and has designed a pair of headphones that they claim, will never stay tangled for more than three seconds. Loopit is pair of earbuds that can be worn as a necklace or shoved in your pocket that's quickly untangled because the earbuds clasp to the audio jack Vanessa Chan, who recently left her 14 year career at Mckinsey & company, started Re.design -- the firm that is marketing the invention. Re,design, is currently seeking $15,000 on Kickstarter and they have already surpassed their goal by $5,000 with nine days still left in the campaign. Loopit uses magnets to connect the ear pieces with the audio jack, and vise-versa. If users place the set in their pocket or bag, a simple shake is all that is needed to untangle them, 'When I was a management consultant, I was constantly on the phone,' Chan told TheDaily Pennsylvania. DETAILS OF THE HEADPHONES THAT WILL NEVER TANGLE Re.design is currently seeking $15,000 on Kickstart , which they have already surpassed their goal by $5,000 with nine days still left in the campaign. The firm used magnets to connect the ear pieces with the audio jack, which they have two patents pending 1. Magnetic clasps: The magnets at the earpieces only connect to the audio jack magnets, which and stops headphones from being tangled. 2. Earbuds: The firm has designed these to fit snugly in ears and minimize background noise. 3. Microphone: Built in to allow you to be heard clearly 4. Necklace chain:The chain is made of hollow metal, making it lightweight when hanging around the neck of in a pocket. 5. Product tag: Allows users to tell their friends where they got their headphones from Advertisement 'Usually my headphones were stuffed in the black hole of my handbag and I spent way too much time fishing them out, only to find them tangled in tons of knots'. 'It drove me crazy several times a day and I thought, "There has to be a better solution for this." With loopit, we can eliminate a daily frustration felt by millions.' The light bulb went off for Chan after she decorated a pair of her Apple earbuds so that they looked like a necklace by adding magnetic clasps. A lightweight chain (right) was then added to make them look stylish. If metallic jewelry isn't your thing, re.design offers a second variation with a stitched leather-like cord in black (left) The light bulb went off for Chan after she decorated a pair of her Apple earbuds, this inspired her to use magnetic clasps to turn the headphones into a necklace. A lightweight chain was then added to make them look even more stylish. It is offered in black (left) and sliver, black and gold or white and silver THE HEADPHONE 'STRING THEORY' Robert Matthews of Aston University says that if string can get into knots, it will do. Building on earlier mathematical research, he concluded that string really does have a perverse tendency to knot spontaneously. He also found the longer the string is, the more likely it is to spontaneously knot. Joining the ends together dramatically reduces the probability of the string performing the manoeuvres needed to form knots, making tangling less likely, something he calls the Loop Conjecture. Advertisement Users will receive their own pair by pledging $35.00, but re.design plans to increase the market price to $50.00. Estimated delivery is March of this year and that is also when the price will increase. 'I launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign Jan. 26 with a fund-raising goal of $15,000, which will allow me to pre-buy inventory,' Chan told Philly.com. 'Early backers of loopit on Kickstarter are pre-ordering and get it at a discount.' 'If Kickstarter succeeds, I want to bring loopit to market by May. Last November, I pitched to QVC at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. 'Post-Kickstarter, I plan to sell loopit for $50 via my website and, if it works out, through QVC.' If users choose to place them in their pocket or bag, a simple shake is all that is needed to untangle them.Each pair comes with three different sized earbud tips, so users are able to find on that fits their ears. Users will receive their own pair of for pledging $35.00, but plans to increase the market price to $50.00 'I launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign Jan. 26 with a fund-raising goal of $15,000, which will allow me to pre-buy inventory,' Chan told Philly.com 'Early backers of loopit on Kickstarter are pre-ordering and get it at a discount' Physicist Robert Matthews from Aston University in Birmingham conducted a study in 2014 that shows Chan's technique is proven to work. Matthews suggests an idea called 'Murphy's Law of String', which suggest any string that can get into knots will do so. To test his theory that string will always form loops he asked schools to conduct experiments, jumbling up regular parcel string to varying lengths and then repeating this process with each string having its ends joined, forming a loop. Children at Coundon Court School near Coventry performed 12,000 individual knotting tests with string ranging in size from 55 to 183 centimetres (21.6 to 72 inches). They found that the results of the experiments confirmed the 'Loop Conjecture', proving that simply joining the ends of your headphone cable together can dramatically cut the chance of it knotting. UFO hunters have dug up a year-old image to point out what they claim is a massive UFO orbiting a near-Earth asteroid not a small moon, as Nasa has explained. In a Gif released by the space agency on January 26, 2015, a spinning object can be seen at the centre of the black and white image, as a small, illuminated object descends toward it. A year later, alien investigators are now saying this asteroid passed Earth late last month, and claim the image reveals a UFO with a long metallic cylinder hull, and two smaller ones at the side. Scroll down for video This GIF from Nasa, posted in 2015, shows an asteroid and its small moon, according to the space agency. But, alien hunters have recently dug it back up, claiming that the object is actually a 70 meter metallic UFO with metal cylinders orbiting the asteroid WHAT NASA SAYS ABOUT THE 'UFO' Nasa first posted the GIF on January 26, 2015. In a post explaining the image, the space agency write that the large object is an asteroid called 2004 BL86, which is roughly 1,100 feet wide. Orbiting it, Nasa writes, is a small moon roughly 230 meters across. Roughly 16 percent of near-Earth asteroids have an asteroid-moon, and some even have two. This asteroid won't pass by Earth so closely again for an estimated 200 years. Advertisement In the post on UFO Sightings Daily, Scott C. Waring discusses the alleged UFO that he claims is orbiting asteroid 2004 BL86. The asteroid is more than 1,000 feet wide and came within 745,000 miles of Earth. Despite Nasas explanations, Waring writes that the object is not a moon but a metallic UFO more than 200 feet long. Below, you see the close up view of the UFO that is orbiting asteroid 2004 BL86 right now. The UFO is 70 meters long, writes Waring. They call the UFO a small moon, but its [sic] not. As you see from the focused photos below, The [sic] UFO has a long metallic cylinder hull and two more smaller cylinder sections on opposite sides. The UFO is spinning, which gives us a great view of it from different angles as you see below. It came 750,000 miles from Earth. In a set of zoomed-in photos, Waring compares the focused, altered pictures, and the original untouched pictures, which he claims show the multi-cylinder UFO. The revival of this Gif from last year argues against the explanation that Nasa has already provided, which states with a degree of certainty that the image shows an asteroid and its moon. And, such pairings arent all that uncommon. In a set of zoomed-in photos, Waring compares the focused, altered pictures (left), and the original untouched pictures (right), which he claims show the multi-cylinder UFO. Waring writes that the 'UFO has a long metallic cylinder hull and two more smaller cylinder sections on opposite sides' While UFO hunters might not be satisfied with Nasas explanation of this sighting, they arent likely to get another close look at the phenomenon anytime soon; the near-Earth asteroid wont be passing this closely to the home planet again for another 200 years [The images] show the primary body is approximately 1,100 feet (325 meters) across and has a small moon approximately 230 feet (70 meters) across, Nasa writes. In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters) or larger are a binary (the primary asteroid with a smaller asteroid moon orbiting it) or even triple systems (two moons). 'The resolution on the radar images is 13 feet (4 meters) per pixel. The trajectory of asteroid 2004 BL86 is well understood, Nasa writes. The space agency says this object is the closest asteroid of its size to pass by Earth, and will likely remain so until asteroid 1999 AN10 makes its approach in 2027. I just got back to London after a Valentines Day mini-break holiday to Zagreb, Croatia. But no, I did not go with a long-term boyfriend or group of close pals. I went as a first date with a complete and total stranger courtesy of travel dating site, Miss Travel. For the purposes of this account, I will call Adam Jesus as he currently stars as the religious leader on a popular television network in the United States. Valentine's getaway: Katie and Adam take in St Marks in Zagreb on their first date courtesy of Miss Travel Finding Jesus: Katie was set up with an actor, Adam who is currently starring as the religious leader on a popular television network in the United States. Pictured is his billboard in Times Square, New York Miss Travel describes itself as the ultimate place to connect travel-seeking singles with a goal to match all travel lovers who wish to share the sites of the world with someone special. My date choices were presented to me by email from the sites PR but ordinarily everyone who registers can choose to either a) be a companion on a free trip; b) pay for a holiday for two with a companion from the website; or c) decide to split the cost of travel 50/50. Its also worth noting that the website is quick to point out that is it strictly a travel dating site. It would be an understatement to say that I was sceptical of the entire situation. Nevertheless, in January, I received an email with bios and photos of five men. After a good deal of deliberation in the office my MailOnline Travel colleagues were arguably more excited about this than I was I narrowed my choice down to Jesus. I was given his phone number from the PR and we began to chat on WhatsApp. Day 1 A city for lovers: Sweethearts declare their union with the love padlocks of Zagreb in Upper Town Romantic setting: The couple took a stroll around the old city following an informative tour I wanted to make the entire experience as authentic as possible, so although he did invite me out in London the weekend prior, I declined. Our first meeting was to be at Heathrow Terminal 2 on Friday, February 12. Why did I select Valentines Day weekend, you might ask? Well, it was the only weekend that the both of us had free during the entire month of February. And besides, I didnt think I could make an already-awkward situation any worse. I may have been wrong. The pair selected Valentine's weekend to travel as they thought they couldn't make an awkward situation any more awkward The magnificent five-star hotel Esplanade Zagreb Hotel pulled out all the stops for their arrival, including sparkling wine, fruit platters and plenty of artisanal chocolates My first impression of him was that he did indeed look like the Son of God appropriate given his vocation and while objectively good looking, I didnt feel any sort of instant attraction. It would be an understatement to say that he is extremely high-energy. He was quick to fill any awkward silence with stories of acting, Los Angeles, filming in Morocco, his Hydroxycut commercial and his love of all things air travel. Trust me when I say, although I may be a travel writer, his knowledge of airline rewards systems and tier points far outweighs my own. So while he was an undeniable bundle of energy, I, on the other hand, am a jaded former New Yorker. Ive been told by friends and former boyfriends that I come across as quite cold upon first meeting. Needless to say, my enthusiasm for the experience wasnt quite at the same level, however, I wanted to maintain an open mind. Things didnt start off that well in the airport. We took our first flight from London to Frankfurt, where we were meant to have a 30-minute layover. Unfortunately, due to a late departure, we missed our connection to Zagreb and were stranded in the Frankfurt airport for six hours. No, I couldn't make this up if I tried. Needless to say, we had to get comfortable chatting and fast. Since we were in Germany, we opted for a few beers at the airport bar. That helped. As per the guidelines on the Miss Travel website, the couple had booked two rooms Everyone who registers to use the service can choose to either a) be a companion on a free trip; b) pay for a holiday and find a companion on the website; or c) decide to split the cost of travel 50/50 During this time, as we were seated next to a window overlooking the tarmac, I learned a bit more about his obsession with all things air travel. It turns out that both he and his father used to work in aviation. It was a bit less weird now. We finally arrived in Zagreb that evening, where a car took us to the gorgeous Hotel Esplanade to check in. As per my request and the guidelines on the Miss Travel website we had booked two rooms. The magnificent five-star hotel pulled out all the stops for our arrival, including sparkling wine, fruit platters and plenty of artisanal chocolates. (It was Valentines weekend, after all.) Given that the last seven hours of travel had been rather trying, I wanted a bit of time alone before we went to have a traditional Croatian meal at a nearby restaurant recommended highly by the hotel. Day 2 Katie was glad that the couple had a chatty guide from Zagreb tourism board to entertain them in the morning The next morning, the Zagreb tourism board had arranged a private city tour for the two of us. Again, not one to be particularly chatty before my morning coffee, I was very glad that our hilarious guide Yuri did the bulk of the talking. The city is absolutely beautiful. Notable stops included the sprawling farmers market, the stunning Zagreb Cathedral and the idyllic St. Marks Church. But the most memorable experience of the tour? A visit to Zagrebs famed Museum of Broken Relationships Notable stops for the duo included the sprawling farmers market, the stunning Zagreb Cathedral and the idyllic St. Marks Church At the Museum of Broken relationships (right) the entire installation is dedicated to failed relationships and includes personal objects and anecdotes donated by jilted lovers The entire installation is dedicated to failed relationships and includes personal objects and anecdotes donated by jilted lovers. At this point, I had found myself running out of things to talk about, so at the very least, this offered a great source of material. Hotel Esplanade had organised a special dinner for us that evening, so once we got back to the hotel that afternoon, we went our separate ways for a few hours. By this point on Saturday, I had learned how important it is to take time to do things separately when travelling with someone especially when you had never met that someone before. Dinner was a five-course tasting menu with wine pairings in a dimly lit dining room. Katie was relieved to have a few hours to relax and be by herself in the hotel before dinner. Pictured is the lobby area Valentine's dinner was a five-course tasting menu with wine pairings in a dimly lit dining room The food and service was impeccable, but at this point, I had all but come to the conclusion that I simply wasnt feeling the spark. (Or as my friends in our WhatsApp group joked: it would not be the passion of the Christ.) This is all not to say that Jesus wasnt a very nice person. He clearly had a close relationship with his family, was gainfully employed and even had a masters degree from the University of St. Andrews. But he just wasnt the right person for me. Setting the mood: Hotel Esplanade had organised a special dinner for the pair that evening The food and service was impeccable said Katie but she wasn't feeling a spark By the time we were meant to depart on separate flights from Zagreb, I was ready for some time alone. Why separate flights? Well, as a self-proclaimed aviation geek, he had decided to pay for a different flight back to London so as to claim more British Airways tier points. Yes, of course, I found this strange. (Our flights were otherwise paid for courtesy of Miss Travel.) I should say, however, that Jesus was very polite and courteous and at no point did I fear for my safety, but the weekend was far from relaxing. Tantalising the taste buds: The food and wine kept any ebbing conversation flowing The experience was unexpectedly pleasant for Katie and Adam, despite its awkward origins Given that I was initially worried that I may be heading out of the country where I would disappear forever hence the WhatsApp group, where I was meant to provide hourly Im still alive updates to my friends and colleagues in London I was pleasantly surprised. While, on the whole, I would say that the experience went as well as could be expected given its extremely awkward origins, I dont foresee a second date in London in the future. I am happy to pass along his number, however, if anyone else should want to get to know him (in the biblical sense). Sorry, couldnt resist. British Airways passengers will be asked in-flight not to open bags of nuts if they are sitting next to someone who has an allergy to them. The Heathrow-based carrier will reportedly become the worlds first major international airline to make this request. It already has a policy of not serving or selling peanuts as snacks and asks passengers who have a nut allergy to inform staff of their condition and whether they are carrying emergency medication. British Airways passengers will hear the new in-flight announcement about nuts before the plane takes off In the new announcement, flight attendants will ask passengers not to consume nut products if someone around them has been identified as a nut allergy sufferer. Passengers are not banned from bringing nut products on board British Airways flights, but this new measure will encourage them to keep bags of peanuts or other products sealed Allergic Living, a magazine for people who have food allergies, said the airline will become the first in its class to have such a policy. It said the policy change will take effect on Thursday. Gwen Smith, the magazines editor, said: The British Airways PA announcements are a big win for the food allergy community. Lianne Mandelbaum, founder of the New Jersey-based website NoNutTraveler.com, said the policy change is a huge leap forward for those who for years have asked airlines to implement fleet-wide announcements. She hopes other airlines, especially the largest carriers in the US, will follow suit. British Airways already doesn't serve or sell peanuts as snacks or include them in its on-board meals Mandelbaum, whose son has a peanut allergy, told MailOnline Travel: 'I was overwhelmed with joy when I received confirmation of the change in the British Airways policy, not just for our family, but for the millions of food allergic families that travel every day. I see this as a game-changer because of the carriers global status. 'This response to this growing public health concern should reduce the risk of an in-flight reaction and the emergency situations that would follow.' Mandelbaum has more than 78,000 signatures on an online petition calling for a law that would require airlines to institute a bill of rights for child and adult passengers with food allergies. She added: 'What all airlines need to understand is that the failure to treat food-induced anaphylaxis quickly increases the risk of death. 'Airlines also need to understand that nut allergic passengers do not expect a guarantee of a nut-free environment, but rather seek simple steps that will help them mitigate their risk of exposure to nuts while in the air. 'Given the growing nature of the food allergy epidemic, food allergic passengers will choose to fly an airline like British Airways that treat their food allergy with dignity and respect.' There have been a handful of cases in recent years where passengers who have nut allergies have gone into anaphylactic shock, forcing an emergency landing, or even been denied boarding. In response to the policy change, a British Airways spokesperson told MailOnline Travel: We do our best to accommodate the needs of all our customers, including those with food allergies. We do not serve peanuts as snacks or include them in our meals and we do not sell peanuts on board our aircraft. We advise customers with peanut allergies to inform our cabin crew of their condition, and let them know if they are carrying emergency medication. We have now updated our policy and as an additional measure, our crew will also make an announcement on board to inform customers and to ask those in the vicinity to refrain from eating nut products. Countries in the Americas, Oceania and Africa could stand to lose billions in tourism income due to Zika, the virus that causes deformities in newborns. There are currently 30 countries in the world with active transmission of the disease, which is spread through Aedes mosquitoes. However, with pregnant women and those looking to conceive warned against travelling to the affected regions, popular destinations including Mexico and Brazil could lose billions of dollars worth of revenue from tourism income. There are currently 30 countries affected by Zika with those in the Americas (above) being most heavily affected. The infographic shows the amount in tourism income that the countries currently receives from international visitors - the amount they could also lose if there is a travel ban as a result of the virus Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in the USA has listed 30 countries that currently have active transmissions of the disease. Among them are Mexico and Brazil as well as other popular destinations such as Panama and the Dominican Republic. In the latest figures from the World Bank, Mexico has the highest income, of Zika affected countries, from international tourists with more than $14billion in 2013. Zika is spread from person to person through the Aedes mosquito (pictured). There is currently no cure or vaccination against the virus Brazil, which is due to host the Olympics this summer, had the second highest income from tourism, with more than $7billion in the same year. ZIKA FACTS Zika is a bloodborne virus that can be spread through Aedes mosquitoes The symptoms are similar to that of dengue fever Women affected can give birth to babies with microcephaly, where newborns have smaller heads compared to the average There is no vaccination or treatment for the virus Those travelling to affected areas should use mosquito repellent and wear long-sleeved clothing Sources: CDC Advertisement Altogether, the 30 countries receive more than $53.2billion in tourism income from international travellers. Although there is currently no official statistics about how Zika is affecting travel numbers, widespread fears about the virus could drastically reduce visitor numbers. Brazil in particular, has been the focus of how the virus might affect tourism although its officials claim that there hasn't been a major impact according to the Wall Street Journal. Similarly, Mexico's Health Ministers have promised that the virus is under control according to Reuters. At present, there is no recommendation from the World Health Organisation as to travel bans to the affected countries. A passenger plane was forced to divert when a 60-year-old passenger fell ill after being 'struck on the head by luggage.' The Emirates flight was en route to Dubai from Los Angeles, when the pilot took the decision to land at Toronto Pearson International. There, the man was taken off the aircraft and treated by an ambulance crew. The Emirates Airbus A380 diverted to Toronto en route to Dubai after a passenger was allegedly injured by luggage in the cabin CTV News reported how the plane was forced into the unscheduled stopover CTV News reporter Tom Podolec wrote on Twitter that Peel Paramedics were treating 'a man in his 60s' for injuries after he was 'struck by luggage.' He later posted a follow-up to say that the passenger was hit in the head on the Airbus A380. However, Emirates have refused to confirm the nature of the injury or how it happened mid-flight on Saturday. A spokesperson for the airline told MailOnline Travel: 'On February 14, flight EK216 from Los Angeles to Dubai was diverted to Toronto due to a sick passenger onboard. 'Upon arrival in Toronto the passenger was met by local medical staff. 'The flight then departed Toronto at 2:45am local time and continued on its journey to Dubai with an approximate four-hour delay. 'Emirates apologises for the inconvenience. The health and safety of our crew and passengers is of paramount importance.' It is not known whether the man was permitted back on the aircraft, or the nature of his injuries. Tom Podolec, a reporter with CTV News, later tweeted that the passenger was 'struck in the head' Passengers were delayed for four hours on the Emirates flight at Toronto Pearson Airport Last month MailOnline reported how a British Airways passenger is suing the airline after he was hit on the head by a rucksack that fell out of the overhead compartment. Wayne Herbert, 45, from north London, was injured after passengers in the row behind him tried to pack too much hand luggage into the overhead storage above his seat. The force of the sudden impact left Mr Herbert suffering a 'whiplash injury' and he was later forced to disembark the aircraft and fly the following day. From being asked to cover up with a blanket to having their breast milk thrown out at security checkpoints, nursing mothers have plenty of horror stories about air travel. But a mother who recently gave birth to triplets is praising Delta Air Lines flight attendants and gate staff who she says went out of their way to make her feel comfortable while she pumped breast milk. Jenna Mde, 31, was upgraded to an empty first class seat on both legs of her return journey from Atlanta to Dallas to provide more space and privacy. Jenna Mde (pictured) was upgraded on both legs of her journey on her return flight from Atlanta to Dallas Jenna, who travelled without her babies on a last-minute trip to visit her grandfather, wrote about her positive experience in a Facebook post that included a photo of herself as she pumped milk on one of her weekend flights. During the flight to Dallas two flight attendants allowed her to sit in an empty seat in first class and offered plenty of snacks and water. On the way back to Atlanta a gate agent made sure she had a seat in first class. She told MailOnline Travel: 'Before I got on the flight, I told the gate attendant that I had my pump and ice chest which is why I had additional baggage and she, along with the flight attendants, made room on the plane for my belongings even though there wasn't room in the back of the flight for my bags.' She said she was grateful for their acts of kindness, which made being away from her family a bit more bearable. She wrote on Facebook: As a breastfeeding mother to triplets, its important that I not miss a breast-pumping session, especially when travelling. In a response on the social-networking website, Delta wrote: We are very happy to hear that [flight attendants] Kaitlin and Loretta were able to be there for you when needed. We would love to recognize them and pass your kind words along as we know they would be very touched and happy to know this. Jenna Mde, who recently gave birth to triplets, received a free upgrade from economy class (file photo) Mde said her husband, Austin, stayed home to watch their five-month-old triplets Anderson, Clifford and Ophelia and their two-year-old daughter Audra. She said: I was making a last-minute, 24 hour trip all my frozen milk supply at home would allow to visit my grandfather. My husband stayed home with the children. He is a fantastic father and had no problem taking care of our four children, two years and under, while I was away. Nursing mothers have had run-ins with many airlines, including Delta, or security officers over breastfeeding, containers filled with milk or pumping equipment. In December, mother Valarie Kaur said she was left angry and shaken after she was forced to get out her breast pump 'to prove she was not a terrorist' on a Delta flight home to LA. Earlier this month, Juliet Thomson, 28, said she was nursing her four-month-old daughter, Charlie, on a United Airlines flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles when she was told to cover up after a passenger complained to cabin crew. She said she was left in tears after a passenger told flight attendants to tell her to put some clothes on. In December, Vanessa Kasten Urango criticised Delta after it refused to allow her to transport her breast milk in a cooler packed with dry ice. Urango had to leave her four-month-old daughter for two-and-a-half weeks for work, but expressed her milk regularly while she was away. Before flying back to her young family in Houston she contacted Delta to find out how she should transport the frozen breast milk and was told to pack it into a cooler with dry ice. On their advice, Urango spent upwards of $100 (67) on a cooler and dry ice, as well as labels to mark the contents of the box. But on arrival at Newark Airport in New York, she was told that she wouldn't be allowed to take the dry ice onto the plane. I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star Dean Geyer has caused a Twitter storm after expressing his pro-gun views on the reality show. He also angered fans - not to mention his fellow contestants - by appearing to support US Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. The South African-born actor, 29, caused a stir on Sunday night's episode when he broke ranks among the camp to support gun ownership in the States - as many campaigners are calling for tighter controls. Scroll down for video Courting controversy: Glee actor Dean Geyer, 29, broke ranks from the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! camp on Sunday night by admitting he supported gun ownership in the United States Dean, who is based in Los Angeles, also claimed he 'likes' Trump on the basis he supports Americans' right to bear arms. His remarks caught the other celebrities off-guard - especially cricketer Shane Warne, 46, who claimed that no-one should be allowed to own guns in the States. As the conversation strayed into political territory - and Trump's campaign in particular - Dean said decisively: 'I like him'. Heated debate: Ex-cricketer Shane Warne, 46, suggested that America would be safer if guns were banned Egyptian-born comedian Akmal Saleh, 51, pointed out that Trump was attracting voters with a pledge to 'build a wall' to stop immigration - but Dean appeared to support the proposal. 'To stop immigration temporarily, until they sort shit out. The background checks are not accurate enough,' he said. Meanwhile, Australian Idol star Anthony Callea expressed very anti-Trump views during the debate. After a contestant praised him for speaking his mind, the 33-year-old replied: '(His) mind should be shut up, not spoken'. Anti-Trump: Ex-Australian Idol star Anthony Callea, 33, (left) didn't agree with the suggestion Trump should be allowed to 'speak his mind' Glee hunk Dean also said he believes Americans have the right to defend themselves - drawing upon his background in South Africa. 'If you're defending your family, if your family is put in a situation where they're held at gunpoint... in South Africa, it happens all the time. 'What are you going to do about it? You know, throw a kitchen knife at them? I mean, come on.' Controversial: During his campaign to become the US Republican Party presidential candidate, Donald Trump has made headlines for his anti-immigration policies He then explained that his pro-gun views have been influenced by being an expatriate to the United States. He continued: 'I'm an open-minded person but I do have my beliefs and I'll stand by them whatever they are. 'Living in the States, it definitely gives you another side. You've just got to listen to everyone's opinions and sometimes you come away learning something from it.' Ambition: The 69-year-old billionaire has the White House in his sights, having recently won the Republican New Hampshire primary However, Shane argued hat if guns were outlawed or their sales restricted, then America would have less mass shootings. He replied: 'I get your point of view but I would just assume that if you had a no guns law, there has to be less shootings. 'I dont know if it is as black and white as that but if you had no guns, you policed it better, there has to be less shootings.' Dean's controversial opinions drew a mixed response on social media on Sunday night. Some fans criticised him over his support of Trump and pro-gun views at a time when the US is reeling from a spate of deadly shootings. Backlash: Many Twitter users, including @louiseingram, were angered by Dean's right wing views 'Shame': This I'm A Celebrity viewer expressed disappointment in Dean Twitter user @louiseingram wrote: 'Dean Geyer is making me so annoyed right now with his pro gun stance #ImACelebrityAU'. And @briannatavers tweeted her disappointment: 'First time Dean Geyer has opened his mouth in two weeks and he's pro-guns. Shame.' Others praised him for standing up for his beliefs, despite being outnumbered by his overwhelmingly anti-gun camp mates. 'Kudos for standing up for his beliefs': Despite not sharing Dean's views, @ScottyTonJOY supported his right to express them Context: Twitter user @susanaaxD reiterated what Dean previously expressed on the show - that his views are influenced by his upbringing in South Africa, which has more violent crime than Australia Social media user @ScottyTonJOY wrote: 'So don't agree with @geyerdean re gun control but kudo for standing up for his beliefs.' And @susanaaxD said that Dean's views are likely influenced by his background in South Africa. She remarked: 'I don't agree with @geyerdean but we have to understand he grew up in a country with self defence needs different to Australia'. Either this nation needs its ears cleaned out, or its actors have to stop mumbling. The most common complaint about television dramas is that dialogue is so often inaudible. The brilliant War And Peace was marred by muffled sound, not least the crucial scene when Pierre (Paul Dano) announced to a startled Natasha that he was going to mmfmf somethingmmfmf. Turned out he wanted to kill Napoleon. But he might as well have been saying that he intended to cook ratatouille. The most common complaint about television dramas is that dialogue is so often inaudible and even the brilliant War And Peace, pictured, was marred by muffled sound And the return of Happy Valley last Tuesday was spoiled for lots of viewers who struggled to make out the lines, especially when Sarah Lancashire, as the dauntless Sarge, was gossiping with her sister. The trouble is that, if you turn up the sound to hear the mutters and whispers, you get blown six feet off the sofa when a gun goes off in the next scene. We dont have that problem with foreign dramas. Its nothing to do with the sound quality, just that they are subtitled. Slabs of type at the bottom of the screen might detract from the visuals, but at least we dont miss a word of the script. Its all spelled out, literally. Trapped Rating: Fans of Euro-thrillers got a double treat this weekend, starting with Trapped (BBC4). If you like crime stories set in tightknit communities, from Broadchurch to Fargo, you wont want to miss this. A fishing village on Icelands remote east coast is thrown into panic when a headless torso is pulled from the harbour. Police suspect it was dumped from a Danish passenger ferry but, before the inquiry can progress, the weather closes in. The Icelanders are an understated lot: when its minus 30C and their beards have frostbite, they might concede theres a nip in the air today. So when they say the weather is closing in, they mean howling blizzards are shovelling tsunamis of snow up the High Street. If you like crime stories set in tightknit communities, from Broadchurch to Fargo, you wont want to miss Trapped, pictured Reinforcements from Reykjavik cant get through. The local police chiefs ex-wife and her gormless boyfriend cant leave. Neither can the ferry passengers, including a Lithuanian mafia weasel who was trafficking immigrants in a camper van. Theyre all trapped. For a ten-part series, the first two episodes shown back to back were a little pell-mell. Scandinavian mysteries usually unfold gradually, but within an hour wed had a fatal arson, political corruption, marital misery and, from a fatherless little boy who insisted he was receiving messages from his dad, a hint of the supernatural. Bad weld job of the weekend: Vera (ITV) felt like two unrelated programmes had been clamped together with superglue. The first half was a spooky Gothic chiller, all moonlight and fluttering moths. The second was a morose investigation into borstal bullying. It didnt work at all. The show seemed determined to prove it could match everything other Scandi-noirs could do, so when the camper van was involved in a police chase that ended in a snowdrift, it was almost predictable. After the full-tilt opener, you can expect it to settle down into an ominous and complex tale. Olafur Darri Olafson is especially good, as the bear-like detective with an awkward streak. When he examined the torso by sniffing the stab-wounds, it was clear we were in the presence of a genuine Nordic oddball. In trappped Olafur Darri Olafson, pictured, is especially good, as the bear-like detective with an awkward streak The language is a pleasure to hear, too. Little changed in a thousand years from its Viking origins, Icelandic sounds like a mixture of Danish and someone blowing bubbles underwater. Thank goodness for subtitles. In another double episode, the most successful foreign language drama ever shown on British TV, with audiences well above two million, stormed to its finale. Deutschland 83 Rating: Deutschland 83 (C4) has been simultaneously gripping and daft, as the fate of the world on both sides of the Iron Curtain was thrust into the hands of novice spy Martin, played by Jonas Nay. East German spymasters must have trained their agents according to the works of Ian Fleming, because Martin was like a junior James Bond stealing military secrets, seducing secretaries and generals daughters, and even fighting to the death with a terrorist in an underground railway tunnel. Cold War spy drama Deutschland 83 has been simultaneously gripping and daft. Pictured, a still from episode seven where lead character Martin is called to stand on duty at a political protest Thanks to meticulous costumes and props, and a glorious Eighties pop soundtrack and despite occasional silliness Deutschland 83 never felt improbable. There was no telling where they were off to but it seems the young couple wanted to spend Valentine's Day in some place other than Los Angeles. Zac Efron and his girlfriend Sami Miro were seen catching a flight out of the city on Saturday The pair, who were casually dressed for their flight, turned up together in a black SUV. Jetting out: Zac Efron and Sami Miro turned up at LAX in a black SUV ready to catch a flight on Saturday Zac opted for a black hoodie over a black T-shirt with a white graphic image, grey sweat pants and white high-rise sneakers as he jumped out of the car. The 28-year-old pulled a black cap over his dark hair backwards and covered his eyes with metal-rimmed shades. The High School Musical star carried a large black Voyager bag and slung another over his shoulder. Flight path: The 28-year-olds, who have been an item for over a year now, were casually dressed for their trip Leading the way: The Dirty Grandpa actor wore a black hoodie over a black graphic T-shirt and grey sweat pants Meanwhile, Sami showed off her long, slender legs in red tights that she teamed with a grey bomber jacket, over a black hoodie and white sneakers. Also 28, she carried a holdall and a handbag and she donned a pair of Aviator-style sunglasses. Zac and Sami have been dating for more than a year now, first stepping out as a couple in September 2014. She red-dy to go: The beautiful brunette model showed off her slender pins in bright scarlet leggings Meanwhile, the actor is presently on the big screen starring opposite Robert DeNiro in Bad Grandpa. And he has been building up his body ready to star opposite Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in the comedy reboot of the iconic TV series Baywatch, which aired from 1989 to 2001. It famously starred David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson as two lifeguards who watched over a beach in Santa Monica. Heading off: Sami followed Zac across the concourse toward the escalator 'I have vague memories of it being on TV,' Zac said on Late Night With Seth Meyers last summer. 'I remember Pamela Anderson, I can sort of see David Hasselhoff. 'We want to make it bada**. That's what Dwayne wants, and he's so cool, he's like the coolest dude in the world, so I'm going to have to keep up with that guy!' Directed by Seth Gordon, it is scheduled for release on May 19, 2017. A veteran television journalist has slammed Sunrise and its hosts after the breakfast television program invited actress Kristin Davis to do a cringe-worthy Sex And The City skit instead of letting her talk about her work with refugees. ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger penned a scathing critique of Sunrise's Sex And The City stunt and accused host Samantha Armytage and her 'bimbo brigade' of doing a major disservice to feminism. 'What on earth is going on in Samantha Armytage's head? Not much it would seem, given the pitiful episode she and her gal pals put actress Kristin Davis through on Thursday. It was gender-cringe TV at its worst,' she wrote in an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald. Scroll down for video Actress Kristin Davis (far right) complained about taking part in a Sex And The City skit on Seven's Sunrise last week because she had not been given enough time to discuss her work with refugees ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger penned a scathing critique of Sunrise's Sex And The City stunt and accused host Samantha Armytage and her 'bimbo brigade' of doing a major disservice to feminism Armytage's colleague, Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew, has since defended her following the comments. Bartholomew accused Haussegger of going against the sisterhood. 'The sisterhood in action @virginia_hauss. You might be surprised to know even 'mindless bimbos' can be feminists,' she wrote. It comes after Sunrise was slammed by Davis after last week's re-enactment because she had not been given enough time to discuss her work with refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It resulted in Armytage being dropped as host of a Australia for UNHCR fundraising event the following day. Armytage and her co-star David Koch delivered a stony-faced apology on Friday insisting they had devoted significant airtime to the UNHCR and Davis's efforts. But Haussegger, who is a board member of the UN Women National Committee Australia, labelled their apology as 'utterly shameful'. Sunrise was slammed by Davis after the re-enactment last week because she had not been given enough time to discuss her work with refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo Haussegger, who is a board member of the UN Women National Committee Australia, labelled Sunrise's apology over the skit as 'utterly shameful' Dropped: Samantha Armytage was dropped as the host of a UN High Commissioner for Refugees lunch a day after a disastrous skit on Sunrise with ambassador Kristin Davis (above together on Thursday) 'It was their blithe dismissal of Davis' message, and the purpose of her visit, that obviously left the celebrity activist so offended,' she wrote. Haussegger, who had interviewed Davis for the ABC prior to the Sunrise segment, said the actress desperately wanted people to know about the 'daily threat of sexual violence facing millions of women and children refugees'. But she claims Sunrise saw Davis on as a 'sexy drawcard and great TV fodder' by getting to reprise her role as Charlotte on Sex And The City. Donning a blonde curly wig to portray Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie, Armytage giggled her way through the skit while Davis awkwardly played along. No laughing matter: Amytage and her co-hosts used the end of the segment to reenact a scene from the show Unimpressed: Davis reluctantly took part in the skit but later complained that she would rather have focused on the issue Apologetic: Appearing on Sunrise on Friday, the presenter said she had in no way intended to offend the star 'The waste of time was one thing. But the mindless treatment of Davis as little more than a girly play-thing is what the women on this show ought to be ashamed of,' Haussegger said. 'Their nonsense nattering does a major disservice to feminism. If Armytage and Co. don't give a hoot about feminism fine. But perhaps they should think about women like themselves glamorous, privileged women who are in positions of power and influence and how hard others have fought for such women to be taken seriously. To be heard. And to have their views considered worthy of prime time, serious discussion. Australian comedian Lawrence Mooney has launched a Twitter tirade against writer Isabella Fowler after she gave his recent Adelaide Fringe Comedy Festival show three stars in a review. Taking to the social media platform on Sunday, Lawrence wrote: 'Are you deaf or an idiot? You did hear people laughing hard for an hour didn't you @BellaFowler93 Best you stick to real estate and food'. The outspoken comedian and Dirty Laundy Live host was making reference to a review penned by Isabella, published in The Advertiser on Sunday in which she referred to Mooney as 'just a funny guy under a spotlight'. Lashing out: Australian comedian Lawrence Mooney has launched a Twitter tirade against writer Isabella Fowler after she gave his recent Adelaide Fringe Comedy Festival show three stars in a review Mooney didn't leave it at one scathing tweet, posting moments later: 'This "perpetually hungry scatterbrain" @registradus @BellaFowler93 decided to crack out a hundred word thesis on me'. When a fellow Twitter user mentioned Fowler is 'young', the reviewer was quick to hit back, tweeting: 'not that young'. Regardless, age wasn't a factor Mooney was willing to consider when reading Fowler's review, and he tweeted: 'I don't give a s*** about her age, what she posited is wrong and worse so dumb (sic)'. Trying to maintain some level of professionalism, Fowler responded: 'my job is to review, it wasn't to my taste. Get over it'. Twitter tirade: Taking to the social media platform on Sunday, Lawrence wrote: 'Are you deaf or an idiot? You did hear people laughing hard for an hour didn't you @BellaFowler93 Best you stick to real estate and food' But getting over it was not an option for Mooney who has been a comedian for over two decades. 'Yeah I'm not a comedian. Well what the f*** was I doing for the past 22 years Fowler?' he lashed out, to which Fowler responded, 'this is starting to get quite pathetic. Look, I'm sorry, I just didn't enjoy it'. She later added: 'Hope attacking me over twitter makes you feel like a big man. Soz I didn't like your show. Now let's all calm the f*** down (sic)'. 'What adult actually decided to write Soz? (sic)' Mooney responded, taking a dig at an abbreviation she used for the word 'sorry' in her earlier tweet. Writer: Isabella Fowler wrote the review published in Adelaide's The Advertiser on Sunday in which she referred to Mooney as 'just a funny guy under a spotlight' But Fowler attempted to reason with the comedian and point out the ridiculousness of making a mountain out of a molehill. She wrote back: 'what adult decided to go on a Twitter rampage over one bad review (sic)'. Needless to say, the Twitter backlash is not what Fowler had expected after her review was published. 'He's entitled to his opinion of my review, too, but this hasn't been my fav way to spend a Sunday night,' she tweeted to a fan. Media personality: The Dirty Laundry Live host has also made appearances on programs Spicks And Specks and Can Of Worms Long career: Mooney has been a comedian for over two decades and didn't make a secret of it Meanwhile Mooney continued expressing himself online, also tweeting: 'Your review is a piece of s***, your journalism is worse & your hundred word thesis on the difference between..sweet Jesus. @BellaFowler93 (sic)'. The Twitter exchange has attracted mixed reactions. In support of Fowler, one Twitter user penned: 'I feel like he's just kind of lost the plot. It's sad he felt he had to take it out on you'. Scathing: Mooney didn't hold back at all during his online exchange with the Adelaide-based journalist Diplomatic: Fowler tried to be diplomatic and suggested the Twitter feud should come to a close Meanwhile others were in support of Mooney, with one Twitter user writing to Fowler: 'you know who's not funny? Adam Hills. Lawrence is really funny. Hate to see your review on Hills (sic)'. Fellow comedian and KIIS FM radio star Kate Langbroek seemed to throw her support behind Mooney. She tweeted to Fowler: 'By the way, Lawrence is one of the funniest people ever... and also one of the quickest to ignite. That's what makes him dangerous. And beloved of comedy lovers'. In her review Fowler gave Mooney's stand-up performance three stars. She wrote: 'Sure, we can all laugh at his crooked moral compass and chuckle sympathetically at him navigating the choppy waters of a recently disqualified drivers licence, but the bottom line is Lawrence Mooney is just a funny guy under a spotlight'. Explanation: The 2011 Melbourne Fringe Best Comedy Award winner told Buzzfeed: 'What made me angry was her contention that Im not a comedian just a funny guy under a spotlight' Reactions: The Twitter exchange has attracted mixed reactions, these users throwing their support behind Fowler Team Mooney: Fellow comedian and KIIS FM radio star Kate Langbroek seemed to throw her support behind Mooney Mooney, who has made appearances on the ABC's Spicks and Specks and Channel Ten's Can Of Worms programs, later went on to explain to Buzzfeed exactly why he launched the Twitter tirade. The 2011 Melbourne Fringe Best Comedy Award winner told Buzzfeed: 'What made me angry was her contention that Im not a comedian just a funny guy under a spotlight'. 'Ive had much more brutal reviews. The quaint difference between a comedian and a funny guy. Ill leave it there.' Mooney was also faced with criticism on New Year's Eve last year when he hosted what some argued was a cringeworthy pub quiz during the ABC's New Year's Eve coverage. Daniel Craig has reportedly stepped down as James Bond, as a new US television series has meant he will be too busy to reprise the role. According to The Sun, the 47-year-old will star in Purity, which will run for several series of 20 episodes apiece after playing the secret agent for a decade. MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Daniel Craig for comment. Scroll down for video All over? Daniel Craig has reportedly stepped down as James Bond, as a new US television series has meant he will be too busy to reprise the role No doubt the decision will come as little surprise to Bond fans as Daniel claimed he'd rather slash his wrists than play James Bond again. At the time, he was reportedly told to 'shut up' and to stop bashing the popular movie franchise. Insiders told New York Post newspaper's PageSix that Craig's animosity towards the popular franchise was brought on by the difficulties involved in the last film, Spectre. Done? The British actor previously said he'd rather 'slash his wrists' than return for a fifth time as James Bond A source claimed just before the movie was released: 'They had problems initially with the script, Craig was injured on the set and needed knee surgery, and they were still doing re-shoots last month, even though the movie is out in weeks. It was a very difficult shoot, to say the least.' However, it's not just Spectre bosses that were unimpressed with Craig's attitude as 'Grey's Anatomy' actress Ellen Pompeo wrote on Twitter that, this dude needs a reality check, after hearing about his remark. Craig is pretentious and thinks he's better than Bond, that it doesn't give him the creative range he needs, a Hollywood insider told PageSix. Plus he hasn't had a big hit movie outside of the franchise, and he blames that on Bond. Latest venture: The 47-year-old reprised his role as the British secret service agent in Bond film Spectre The British actor made the claim when he was asked whether he would be back for a fifth movie. 'Id rather break this glass and slash my wrists,' he said during an interview with London's Time Out magazine. 'Were done. All I want to do is move on,' the 47-year-old actor added. He added that if he were to do another Bond movie, 'it would only be for the money. He was paid 7.38million for Skyfall, making him the highest-paid Bond actor ever, and the film was the first Bond movie to break the one billion dollar mark. After the success of Skyfall it was reported he brokered a deal to be paid 31million for his next two 007 films, including Spectre, the 24th film in the franchise. Hugely successful: Craig, 47, was paid 7.38million to star in Skyfall (pictured) and the movie, directed by Sam Mendes, became the first Bond film to gross more than one billion dollars worldwide He told Mail On Sunday's Event magazine in September last year that there's a deal in place that might require him to keep going. 'Im contracted for one more but Im not going to make predictions,' he told Event at the time. Craig's comments in the Time Out interview weren't the first time he dissed the role that catapulted him to international stardom and helped him bank millions of dollars. When asked if he would continue as 007 by Esquire magazine in August, he said: 'At this moment, no. I have a life and I've got to get on with it a bit. But we'll see.' Lucrative role: Craig banked millions of dollars thanks to Bond. The 007 star, pictured at a photocall for Spectre with co-star Lea Seydoux in January, said he would only go back to the role for the money The name's Elba... Luther and The Wire star Idris Elba has long been a fan favorite to take over the 007 mantle from Craig Hot bet: In June, bookmakers reported a flurry of bets being placed on Homeland and Wolf Hall star Damian Lewis to be cast in the iconic spy role. The actor's pictured as Henry the Eighth in the PBS costume drama Possibility: Tom Hardy is also in the frame as a potential successor 'I'm incredibly fortunate. But the day I can walk into a pub and someone goes, "Oh, there's Daniel Craig" and then just leaves me alone, that'll be great,' he said. In the last year, there has been a flurry of speculation on who will be the next Bond. Luther star Idris Elba is a firm fan favorite, as well as sparking heated debate about whether there could ever be a black James Bond. In June last year, bookies reported heavy betting on Wolf Hall and Homeland star Damian Lewis as the next 007. Others considered possible replacements for Craig include Richard Madden, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill, Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy. But whoever it is, Craig professed last year to not 'give a f***.' 'Good luck to them,' he said. 'All I care about is that if I stop doing these things weve left it in a good place and people pick it up and make it better.' As for his advice for whoever next gets to drive the Aston Martin: 'Don't be s***.' Lauren Lapkus has split from her husband of nearly two years, Chris Alvarado. The 30-year-old Orange Is The New Black actress broke the news in the caption of a throwback Instagram photo of herself with her husband Chris inside a car. 'Happy Valentine's Day,' Lauren wrote. 'Today feels like the right time to post that Chris and I have decided to part ways. This has been a tough time but we are still friends and wish the best for each other.' Scroll down for video 'Today feels like the right time to post': Lauren Lapkus announced on Valentine's Day on Instagram that she had split from her husband Chris Alvarado Lauren and Chris were just three months shy from celebrating their two year wedding anniversary, having tied the knot in May 2014. The former couple are both actors, with Chris recently appearing in the 2015 film Spare Change. Lauren for two seasons starred on Netflix's Orange Is The New Black as correctional officer Susan Fischer. The way they were: The former couple appeared in good spirits at the screening of Hairpin Bender in Los Angeles in September 2015 The award-winning program recently nabbed the gong for Best Ensemble In A Comedy Series at the SAG Awards. Lauren has also appeared on the big screen, having starred in Jurassic World opposite Chris Pratt. In June the comedian revealed to Glamour how a teacher's suggestion ultimately opened her to the world of acting. Split: Lauren captioned a snap of herself posing with Chris in September, 'Children of the corn #natalieandelliott' Sealed with a kiss! The actress shared a snap of herself and Chris in 2013 celebrating the New Year with a kiss 'I think I was always a class clown growing up and a funny kid. I never really knew how to channel that until I got into high school, ' she told the magazine. 'I had a teacher who recommended I take improv classes in ChicagoI'm from Evanston, Illinoisso I did improv classes at Improv Olympic and that kind of opened me up. 'I was in adult classes when I was 18, so being around 25 years old when you're 18 is like really, "Whoa! Totally crazy!" 'That's where I started to find my voice and figure out where I fit into the world. Doing improv really got me started in my whole career. Their coming together for the 1997 film Titanic gave birth to one of the greatest friendships the industry has ever seen. So as Leonardo DiCaprio picked up his first ever BAFTA on Sunday evening it was almost like something out of a movie to have one of his bestfriends and co-stars Kate Winslet in tow. Reuniting on an evening which saw them both win big, DiCaprio, 41, and Winslet, 40, became Jack and Rose all over again. Scroll Down For Video A night of Titanic proportions: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunited at the 2016 BAFTAs on Sunday Good times with good people: Both Leo and Kate won big at the ceremony held at London's Royal Opera House Keeping close to one another ahead of the official winners' picture, Kate and Leo were seen clutching onto their trophies. In good spirits, the critically acclaimed duo appeared to be having great fun as they geared up for a night of celebrations. No doubt congratulating each other on the momentous evening, which saw DiCaprio scoop the Best Actor award while Winslet bagged Best Supporting Actress, the two stars happily chatted away. See Leonardo DiCaprio news as he reunites with Titanic co-star Kate Winslet at the BAFTAs Man of the night: DiCaprio is now one step closer to an Oscar win after picking up the Best Actor trophy Keeping close: The friendly co-stars were seen chatting as they headed through the star-studded event Time to crack open that bubbly! Kate was extremely animated as she clutched her latest trophy Moment of triumph: While this is Leo's very first BAFTA, Winslet now boasts three of the trophies to her name The birth of something special: The actors first starred alongside each other in the 1997 film, Titanic The Revenant was the big winner at The EE British Academy Film Awards with a total of five gongs. The gritty revenge drama took home the major awards including Best Film, Best Director for Alejandro G. Inarritu as well as Leo's Leading Actor. The film also won the Cinematography and Sound accolade, bringing its total wins to five - narrowly beating Mad Max: Fury Road, which took home four trophies. Leading lady: In Kate's acceptance speech she asserted it has been a 'great year for women' Winning! The duo looked dapper as they posed in front of the winners' board as the ceremony came to a close Best of friends: Eighteen years after they first graced the silver screen together, Leo and Kate are still close DiCaprio beat Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) to the Leading Actor crown. The Revenant centres on 1820s frontiersman Hugh Glass, who is left for dead by members of his own hunting team. He treks across the wilderness, hellbent on tracking down John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the former confidant who betrayed and abandoned him. Full line-up: Kate couldn't contain her glee as she posed alongside her fellow award-winners at the awards The class of 2016: Leonardo was central focus in the official winners' photograph with Kate close by Meanwhile Leo and Kate's reunion comes just a few weeks after she admitted Rose did have the chance to save Jack at the end of Titanic. Stating that if Rose had just scooched over a little on their makeshift raft, Jack would've survived and they could have lived happily ever after. Chatting with Jimmy Kimmel, the host insisted: 'There was plenty of room on the raft.' To which the actress finally succumbed with a laugh: 'I know, I know. I agree, I think he could have actually fitted on that bit of door.' However while at the 2016 BAFTAs, Winslet revealed that DiCaprio isn't too fussed about the film's enduring conspiracy theories. When asked on Leo's thoughts, she said: 'Funnily enough he doesn't [bring it up], he really doesn't care about the door.' Australian actress Rebel Wilson certainly knows how to garner attention. When taking to the stage at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday, the 35-year-old comedian poked fun at the diversity issues at this year's Oscars. Stepping onto the stage to present the best supporting actor award, the Pitch Perfect star stunned the crowd as she said: 'It's so great to be here at this really serious event. I have never been invited to the Oscars because as you know they are racist. Scroll down for video She went there: When taking to the stage at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday, Rebel Wilson had the star-studded audience in stitches of laughter as she poked fun at the diversity issues at this year's Oscars 'But the BAFTAs have diverse members and that's what we call want to see in life isn't it, diverse members,' she continued. Hollywood hunk Idris Elba was also the subject of her speech as she made an advance for the newly-single star and revealed she desired 'chocolate' on Valentine's Day - to which The Wire actor giggled. She said: 'Sorry Idris Elba you're making me a bit nervous, I'm just psychologically programmed to want chocolate on Valentine's Day.' But it looks like her comment wasn't received well by many, with one Twitter user writing: '#bafta Rebel Wilson gets 1st laugh at 'Oscar racist' joke, then makes an unfunny racist joke about needing "chocolate" #Doublestandards'. See more from the 2016 BAFTAs as Rebel Wilson pokes fun at the Oscars diversity row Strong comment: She stunned the crowd as she said 'It's so great to be here at this really serious event. I have never been invited to the Oscars because as you know they are racist She also continued in her speech: 'One day I hope to return here to win a BAFTA myself. I have already been practicing my Transgendered face. 'Five really attractive men have been nominated and I really look forward to congratulating the winner, although I'm looking forward even more to consoling the four losers.' The prestigious Academy Awards were slammed for lacking diversity, and Rebel attempted to make light of the situation. Celebrities like Spike Lee, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have decided to boycott the Oscar's due to its lack of diversity with Spike Lee saying he'll be watching the Knicks game instead. Subject of the joke: Hollywood hunk Idris Elba was also the subject of her speech as she made an advance for the newly-single star and revealed she desired 'chocolate' on Valentine's Day - to which The Wire actor giggled Meanwhile last month Idris Elba himself - who didn't receive a nomination for his role in Beasts of No Nation - addressed the issue in a speech to politicians in London last month. 'We need to counter what everybody has, see the lay of the land and see who has which careers in TVwho makes TV, and who is allowed on TV and when they get the opportunity which roles do they play, on and off screen,' he said. 'You have to ask the question: are black people normally playing petty criminals? Are women always the love interest or talking about men? Are gay people always stereotyped? Are disabled people ever seen at all?' Acting veteran Sir Michael Caine also weighed in on the debate last month. He told Radio 4's Today programme: You cant vote for an actor because hes black and you cant just say Im going to vote for him, hes not very good, but hes black, Ill vote for him. 'You have to give a good performance and I'm sure people have. I saw Idris Elba (in Beasts Of No Nation)... I thought he was wonderful.' She might have had two children but Carrie Bickmore is anything but mumsy. The stylish TV presenter was seen picking up her son Olivier from school sporting a simple but chic outfit. The 35-year-old was seen showing off her trim pins in a pair of faded denim shorts as she strolled along the street with her daughter Evie. Scroll down for video The pick-up project: Carrie Bickmore was seen picking up her son Oliver, with her daughter Evie, on Friday Carrie teamed the shorts with a simple black T-shirt that boasted a high neckline. The Project TV presenter wore a wide-brimmed straw hat along with a pair of oversized sunglasses for the walk shielding her face from the sun. And while she cuddled her little girl in one arm in the other she was seen toting a large white handbag. Simple but chic style: The 35-year-old rocked the faded denim shorts which she teamed with a plain black top So that's how she keeps so trim: Carrie was seen carrying her daughter as she and her son walked home Hat's nice: The Project star was seen with a wide-brimmed black hat on while her little girl wore a pretty pale bonnet for some of the stroll home Dressing for comfort for the stroll, Carrie wore a pair of black flip flops on her feet as she walked along the streets. Little Evie, who is her daughter with partner Chris Walker, looked adorable in a bright yellow dress and she sported a pair of bold red shoes on her tiny feet. Olivier, who is Carrie's son with her late husband Greg Lange, was seen in a blue top and black shorts before getting changed into sportswear. In need of sustenance: Oliver was seen carrying snacks as the family walked home Dressing for comfort: The TV personality wore a pair of black flip flops for the outing It's perhaps no surprise that Carrie was so stylish off-duty given that she's always so well put together on the show The Project. But last week Carrie and her co-stars were left in hysterics after the presenter mispronounced bash. Bickmore was live on-air when she bid farewell to viewers in Adelaide before Channel Ten switched to air the Big Bash League. Adelaide we will leave you here going off to watch the big breast she said before realising her gaffe and bursting into laughter and covering her face with her hand. Happy family: The trio appeared in good spirits as they walked their home After Italian twosome Luciano and Martino wowed the My Kitchen Rules judges with their traditional European cooking, Indonesian sisters Tasia and Gracia had a tough act to follow. On Monday night's episode, the duo attempted to bring some authentic Bali flavour to the culinary competition. 'We want them to feel like they're at a romantic dinner in Bali,' the siblings said as they set up their instant restaurant, Mortar and Pestle. The bubbly sisters were keen to impress so they could win the reality series and open their very own Indonesian restaurant in Melbourne. Scroll down for video Spicing it up: Monday saw Indonesian sisters Tasia and Gracia attempt to bring some authentic Bali flavour to the culinary competition Bringing the heat: The bubbly sisters were keen to impress so they could win the reality series and open their very own Indonesian restaurant in Melbourne The pair quickly got into making their entree, Grilled Fish Cakes in Banana Leaves with Peanut Sauce. 'Key ingredients in Indonesian food are chilli, garlic, and shallots,' explained Gracia. 'And from these three you can make everything.' Tasia also started working on their coconut ice cream for dessert, which set quite quickly and turned out perfectly - unlike Jordan's the week before, which was almost ruined when he forgot to secure the lid on the churner properly. Time conscious: The pair quickly got into making their entree, Grilled Fish Cakes in Banana Leaves with Peanut Sauce Confident: 'Key ingredients in Indonesian food are chilli, garlic, and shallots,' explained Gracia. 'And from these three you can make everything' Unlike during the previous two instant restaurants, this time health conscious Jessica was looking forward to digging in to whatever the sisters were ready to serve up - regardless of the carbs. 'Tonight's menu has to be Indonesian food!' she exclaimed excitedly. 'I don't expect healthy, I'm thinking coconut cream, I'm thinking oil, all carbs.' While Jessica came to the dinner party in a good mood, miners Alex and Gareth still seemed stuck on their fight with the Melbourne beauty the night before. A change of attitude? Unlike during the previous two instant restaurants, this time health conscious Jessica was looking forward to digging in to whatever the sisters were ready to serve up - regardless of the carbs Can't shake it: While Jessica came to the dinner party in a good mood, miners Alex and Gareth still seemed stuck on their minor fight with the Melbourne beauty the night before A new personality: Health conscious Jessica was in good spirits as she sat down at the table, laughing and making friendly conversation with everybody - arousing her fellow diners' suspicions 'At last night's instant restaurant we had a bit of a run in with Jess and Marcos. I'm so sick of hearing about carbs,' the two friends complained. The health conscious star was in good spirits as she sat down at the table, laughing and making friendly conversation with everybody - arousing her fellow diners' suspicions. 'I think Jessica's definitely on her best behaviour tonight,' said Nev. Alex adds: 'There's been a sudden change in Jessica's attitude. She seems awfully friendly.' 'I think she's trying to redeem herself,' remarked JP as his lovestruck girlfriend stared at him adoringly. Looking forward to it: After going through the menu, Jessica seemed quite impressed at the potentially healthy dishes Missed the mark: Despite the initial optimism, Tasia and Gracia's entree failed to win everybody After going through the menu, Jessica seemed quite impressed at the potentially healthy dishes. 'I'm really pleased to see that it says grilled fishcakes. Grilled, right? Healthy,' she says. 'I'm all about chilli!' she adds excitedly. 'It's going to speed up our metabolism, so we're going to be healthy.' An unimpressed JP then says: 'This isn't a competition about being healthy. It shouldn't even be brought up at the table.' Despite the initial optimism, Tasia and Gracia's entree failed to impress everybody. Voicing his opinion: Marcos, who generally remained quiet for the first two episodes, was quick to express his dissatisfaction and said 'It misses the mark for me' and added 'I barely ate' While their spicy sauce received praise despite complaints of it not containing enough chilli, their fish dish lacked flavour due to their decision to mix snapper with mackerel fish instead of just using all mackerel. Marcos, who generally remained quiet for the first two episodes, was quick to express his dissatisfaction. 'It misses the mark for me. I'm not sad for them at all, what's there to be sad about? That's what we're doing here isn't it? Judging food. I barely ate,' he said. Unimpressed: Unfortunately for the sisters, their main dish of Ribs and Rice Chips received an even worse reception One fan: While judge Pete Evans loved his ribs, calling them 'sensational,' everybody else at the table felt that theirs wasn't cooked properly Unfortunately for the sisters, their main dish of Ribs and Rice Chips received an even worse reception. 'Obviously the chips look very fried. I'll give it a go, but I'll eat a Jessica portion,' said Jessica as the meal came out. While judge Pete Evans loved his ribs, calling them 'sensational,' everybody else at the table felt that theirs wasn't cooked properly, contained too much fat, and was difficult to cut. Main meal disappointment: 'A huge slab of unrendered fat is inedible,' remarked Marcus. 'If we plated something like this I'm sure we'd expect to get pretty low scores for it' 'A huge slab of unrendered fat is inedible,' remarked Marcus. 'If we plated something like this I'm sure we'd expect to get pretty low scores for it.' 'The chips are not worth eating fried food for,' said Jessica. Meanwhile Nelly found hers impossible to cut, so she opted to eat the cucumber garnish instead. The girls hoped to redeem themselves with their dessert of sticky black rice pudding with coconut ice cream. Saviour: The girls hoped to redeem themselves with their dessert of sticky black rice pudding with coconut ice cream Impressive dish: When the dessert came out, it received praise from the judges due to its unique sweet and salty flavours 'I couldn't eat much of my main, so rice for a dessert sounds like a treat,' said Marcos. Jessica was pleased that the rice was black rice, because it's a 'healthier option' with lower GI. Despite her enthusiasm, the rest of the table decided to pick her comments apart. 'All of a sudden she loves carbs just because it's a healthier carb,' says Alex to Gareth. 'Massive contradiction,' said JP, before his girlfriend adds: 'She's a walking contradiction.' When the dessert came out, it received praise from the judges due to its unique sweet and salty flavours. Relieved: The sisters appeared relieved as the judges praised their final meal of the night 'I'm struggling to taste anything. The flavours weren't there for me,' said an unhappy Marcus Unfortunately, the rest of the table didn't appreciate it - all except for Nev, who said it tasted like a Bounty chocolate bar. 'I'm struggling to taste anything. The flavours weren't there for me,' said an unhappy Marcus. 'I didn't understand the dessert. I've barely eaten tonight because majority of the food that was put in front of me was inedible.' At the end of the night the sisters came dangerously close to ending up on the bottom of the leaderboard, but thanks to a strong score from Pete and Manu for their polarising dessert, they were able to inch ahead of Alex and Gareth by just one point with a score of 61. Aquired taste: The rest of the table didn't appreciate the dessert - all except for Nev, who said it tasted like a Bounty chocolate bar Things certainly got steamy during Monday night's episode of The Farmer Wants A Wife, with not one, but two farmers enjoying passionate kisses with some lucky contestants. First to seal the deal with a sweet smooch was farmer Matt, who took a particular liking to blonde beauty Gabrielle after she took him aside for an intimate chat. During their alone-time, Gabrielle decided to air some concerns she had about feeling left out from the group and not showing the eligible bachelor her true colours. Scroll down for video Heating things up! Matt shared a kiss with blonde beauty Gabrielle after she took him aside for an intimate chat Getting some alone time: Gabrielle aired some concerns she had about feeling left out from the group 'I really want to show him that I am a lot more deeper than I have portrayed,' Gabrielle initially said in a piece-to-camera. Then speaking to Matt directly, she said: 'I know that I am the giggly, easily excitable, probably childish in some ways (type)'. 'I want to see both sides of you,' Matt then prompted, encouraging her to open up. Keen for that to happen as well, Gabrielle responded: 'I want to show you both sides. I want to show you that I'm more than that'. Showing her true self: She added: 'I want to show you both sides. I want to show you that I'm more than that' Water works: Understandably the emotions got the better of her, and she began crying In his arms: The blonde said she instantly felt better as he moved in to wrap his arms around her Understandably, the emotions got the better of her, and she began crying. 'He makes it so easy to just fall out of your comfort zone and help bring you out,' Gabrielle reflected. And of course Matt was there with just the right words to comfort her. 'Put yourself first in the situation and ask yourself too is this right for you? Am I right for you?' he said. 'This is all perfect... You actually bring out a lot,' she responded. The pair cuddled before leaning in for a prolonged kiss, which took Gabrielle by surprise, and also left Matt feeling over the moon. 'Having just had a kiss with Gabi I'm sort of a bit lost for words,' he laughed. Loving: Earlier in the night Jedd also found himself locking lips with Sam following a one on one date Could they be? Following the intimate moment Sam said she felt 'amazing' after sharing a kiss with the farmer Earlier in the night Jedd also found himself locking lips with Sam following a one on one date. The farmer admitted he felt 'pretty comfortable' with Sam as the pair sat and talked for a long period before he lent in for the big moment. Following the intimate moment, Sam said in her piece to camera: 'I felt the way anyone feels when they're kissed by someone they like...amazing'. But as she gushed about their kiss Jedd was left red faced as he hinted he may be falling head over heels for the blonde. 'I'm going to just simply say, who couldn't fall in love with Sam?' Earth, Wind & Fire stepped out publicly for the first time since founding member Maurice White's death earlier this month. The iconic R&B group put on a united display at the 40th Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday night. Maurice's brother Verdine, 64, Philip Bailey, 64, and Ralph Johnson, 64, managed to raise smiles at the prestigious bash, which was attended by the great and the good of the music industry. Scroll down for video Putting on a brave face: Earth, Wind & Fire stepped out publicly for the first time since founding member Maurice White's death earlier this month, attending the 40th Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala The band's three surviving members looked incredibly dapper on the night, with Verdine sporting a suave black suit with a leather lapel, which he complemented with a patterned grey tie and matching pocket square. Boasting an impressive head of hair for a man in his sixtieth decade, the bassist wore his long, black tresses loose. Vocalist Bailey opted for a brown silk jacket decorated with intricate patterns. He forwent a tie but ensured his stylish black shirt was fully buttoned for a smart finish. Meanwhile, percussionist Johnson chose a more traditional ensemble, adding a splash of colour with a red, silky bow tie. Stood posing for a photograph, Johnson placed his hand on Bailey's shoulder and flashed a big pearly smile. Maurice passed away in his sleep on February 3, aged 74, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Verdine described his older brother as his 'hero and best friend' and asked for privacy for the family 'as we start what will be a very difficult and life changing transition in our lives' after breaking the news. A sad day: Verdine White, 64, (right) described his older brother (left) as his 'hero and best friend' In a statement on the band's Facebook page the following day he wrote: 'My brother, hero and best friend Maurice White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep. 'While the world has lost another great musician and legend, our family asks that our privacy is respected as we start what will be a very difficult and life changing transition in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.' Earth, Wind & Fire burst onto the music scene in 1975 with the number one single Shining Star and went on to have a string of hits through the late 70s and early 80s including Got To Get You Into My Life, September, Boogie Wonderland and After the Love has Gone. The group is due to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Grammys in Los Angeles on Monday. And Billboard reports that the band will also present the Record of the Year gong on the night. Following Maurice's death, The Recording Academy put out a statement expressing sorrow at his passing. 'Maurice was the guiding force behind the group's success,' said President and CEO Neil Portnow. 'While he will be greatly missed, Maurice's contributions to music will live on.' Hitmakers: Verdine, Maurice and Philip in New York last year Clive Davis' glittering party is attended by around 1,000 of the biggest names in the industry. Record producer Davis, 83, founder of Arista and J Records and currently chief creative officer at Sony Music, held his first gala in 1976 to celebrate the Barry Manilow's hit Mandy being nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys. Boosted by the attendance of Elton John and Stevie Wonder, it turned into an annual event often incorporating exclusive performances from some of the industry's biggest names. Diane Von Furstenberg is best known for creating the iconic wrap dress. And Nicky Hilton ensured she was the perfect poster girl for the designer's classic look, donning one of the fashion house's timeless numbers to attend the DVF Autumn/Winter 2016 show during New York Fashion Week on Sunday. The 32-year-old socialite, who is expecting her first child with banking scion James Rothschild, looked lovely in the black and white printed dress, which showed no sign of a baby bump. Scroll down for video Timeless look: Nicky Hilton sported a vintage Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress to attend the DVF Autumn/Winter 2016 show during New York Fashion Week on Sunday Nicky wrapped up warm with a leopard print coat, cutting a fashionable figure by clashing her patterns like a pro. She set off the ensemble with a pair of lace-up red heels and a pretty clutch bag in a similar shade. The Hilton hotel heiress styled her blonde tresses in soft waves and completed her look with natural make-up. Clashing with confidence: The 32-year-old hotel heiress layered up her dress with a leopard print coat Red hot: Nicky, who is expecting her first child with banking scion James Rothschild, set off the lovely look with red heels and a matching clutch bag After joining forces with her older sister Paris during NYFW, most recently attending the Pamella Roland show together, Nicky put in a solo appearance at catwalk event. Nicky revealed on social media that her dress was in fact 15 years old, sharing a flashback photo of her and Paris in matching wrap dresses. 'Tonight I wore my @DVF wrap dress from high school to her presentation. I love how timeless her designs are! #NYFW', she enthused. Still got it! Nicky revealed on social media that her dress was in fact 15 years old, sharing a flashback photo of her and Paris in matching wrap dresses Blast from the past: The blonde beauty and her sister Pairs haven't changed much since 2001 Nicky married British banking heir James Rothschild six months ago in a lavish ceremony at the Orangery at Kensington Palace in London. It was first rumoured that Nicky was expecting earlier this month, before The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards confirmed her niece was pregnant last Wednesday. 'Nicky's pregnant and she's the first of the cousins to have a baby, so we're all really excited!' the 47-year-old RHOBH star told E! Online on January 20. 'I can't wait to see what that baby is going to look like. It's going to be gorgeous.' They're about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary after tying the knot in a romantic ceremony in April 2015. And loved-up Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder still looked as though they were in the honeymoon period as they spent their first Valentine's Day as a married couple at the annual Mardi Paws animal charity event in Mandeville, Louisiana, on Sunday. The actress, 27, and her The Vampire Diaries star husband, 37, appeared in good spirits as they enjoyed a day out at the event, with both Nikki and Ian patrons of the animal charity. Scroll down for video Happy Valentine's Day! Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder looked as though they were in the honeymoon period as they spent Valentine's Day at the Mardi Paws animal charity event in Mandeville, Louisiana, on Sunday Twilight star Nikki was full of cheer for her day of fun with her handsome husband and made sure she dressed to impress for the occasion. The pretty brunette looked lovely in a black and tan printed shirt dress, which she teamed with a pair of rock-chick inspired leather shoe boots. Nikki wore her tumbling brunette tresses in a half-up do and opted for natural make-up to showcase her striking features. In keeping with his wife's casual look, Ian also dressed down for the occasion in jeans, a motif tee and a moss green felt trilby. Plenty to smile about: The actress, 27, and her The Vampire Diaries star husband, 37, appeared in good spirits as they enjoyed a day out at the event, with both Nikki and Ian patrons of the animal charity Cuddling up to one another as they posed for snaps, Nikki and Ian handed out beads to fans, posed for pictures with babies, and even lavished some pet pooches with affection. The laidback couple led the parade, which benefits nonprofit animal welfare organisations, and looked every inch thepicture of happiness. The pair have been enjoying some quality time together since tying the knot almost a year ago. Nikki and Ian tied the knot in Malibu, California, in April 2015 after a whirlwind nine-month romance. Puppy love: Twilight star Nikki was full of cheer for her day of fun with her handsome husband and made sure she dressed to impress for the occasion Wild thing: The pretty brunette looked lovely in a black and tan printed shirt dress, which she teamed with a pair of rock-chick inspired leather shoe boots The pair revealed that they invited their guests to what they thought would be a housewarming party. Upon arrival at the shuttle spot, the group was then transported to Topanga Canyon, where the couple held their wedding. Speaking to Brides magazine about their intimate day, Nikki said: 'We wanted a Louisiana backyard-barbecue feel, with food stations and a dance floor for our closest friends and family. 'It really was all about the food, the dancing, and the love.' Nikki was previously married to American Idol Season 10 finalist Paul McDonald, who she split from after two years of marriage, in 2014. He's known for his impressive streak of pulling various well-known ladies. And Ex On The Beach hunk Jordan Davies has done it again, this time taking beautiful Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson out for a spectacularly steamy date night. The new couple looked to be fully in the throes of a heady romance as they went for a Valentine's Day evening dinner at the Silk Room restaurant in Newcastle before heading for a game of pool at Lane7. Scroll down for video Valentine's Wahey! Marnie Simpson showed off a lot of leg as she went out on a Valentine's Day date night with Ex On The Beach star Jordan Davies in Newcastle And it's no wonder the 23-year-old ex-boyfriend of CBB star Megan McKenna couldn't keep his wandering hands - or lips - off the brunette beauty. The 24-year-old reality TV star might have been clad in a pretty floral playsuit, but she made sure it oozed sex appeal as it was cut to the highest point feasible on her toned thighs. Revealing almost every inch of her tanned, lithe pins, she also showed off much of her pert, shapely derriere while strutting through the darkness. Can't keep off: The new couple were barely able to keep their hands - or lips - off each other as they walked through the streets Cheeky! The 23-year-old hunk was completely enamoured with the pretty Geordie Shore star, kissing her openly in the street and lifting her tiny playsuit up tp feel her bottom Not feeling the chill? Hardy Newcastle lass Marnie showed off her tough edge as she braved the freezing cold weather in a thigh-skimming floral playsuit and barely-there heels It might have seemed like a dainty aesthetic while walking through the streets of her native Newcastle, but as Marnie leaned forward to have a go at shooting some pool later on, she really did expose her full backside. Despite the frosty mid-February evening weather, she happily threw caution to the wind as she finished her summery ensemble with a pair of barely-there strappy heeled sandals. Marnie covered up in nothing but a black leather jacket, showing off her hardy north-east demeanour while enjoying a night out on the Toon. New romance: The brunette, 24, tottered alongside the cheeky Ex On The Beach star, who once claimed he has slept with 750 women Dinner date: Their night kicked off with a romantic meal at Silk Room restaurant, the two clearly into each other as they chatted during their meal Jordan, meanwhile, rocked a more casual look, teaming simple skinny black jeans with an ostentatious rip in the knee, with a plain t-shirt, boyband-friendly ankle boots and a matching leather jacket. The D-lister - who has recently been romantically linked to the likes of Nancy Dell'Olio, Ex On The Beach star Ashleigh Deftly and was also in a relationship with his Ex On The Beach co-star Megan McKenna - was clearly enamoured with Marnie as he smooched her right in the middle of the street. While packing on the PDA, his hands wandered up to her behind, feeling her derriere in full view of onlookers, not a touch of shame. She shoots, she scores! Marnie and Jordan then went along to the nearby Lane7 venue to play some pool Oo-er: Marnie showed off almost her entire shapely derriere as she leaned forward to play pool, her miniature playsuit rising up Following their stomach-turning display on the street, they looked to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as they played pool. However, lothario Jordan appeared distracted by his pretty female companion, coming up behind her to improve her form with the pool cue, his motives perhaps not completely to do with the indoor sport. He also seemed to try to distract her as he put a hand on her bare bottom, the chemistry between the two of them visible from afar. Having some fun: Jordan did his best to compete with Marnie, the latest lady in his busy life Pat's a bit cheeky! Jordan put a hand on her bare bottom, the chemistry between the two of them visible from afar A helping hand? lothario Jordan appeared distracted by his pretty female companion, coming up behind her to improve her form with the pool cue The cheekiest moment of the night came when Marnie leaned forward to make a tricky shot, her full posterior showing to the rest of the establishment. Before heading back to the nearby Malmaison hotel, the newly-smitten twosome stopped off for a carby snack as they went into a branch of Subway. Somewhat bizarrely, Marnie's ex-fiance Ricky Rayment was in the pool bar and Jordan happily posed for a snap with him, a strange twist in the reality stars' tale. Having some fun: Following their stomach-turning display on the street, they looked to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as they played pool Flirty florals: She showed off her lovely figure in a daring and unseasonal floral playsuit Jordan is seemingly single and loving his bachelor lifestyle since splitting acrimoniously from Megan recently, after her amorous display with Geordie Shore star Scotty T in the Celebrity Big Brother house. The pair - who met on MTV's Ex On The Beach - called things off just before Megan went into the CBB house, according to Jordan - and it seems their romance didn't end on good terms. Jordan told The Sun recently: 'I slept with her three weeks before Big Brother. We were together then. 'Now I've blocked her from everything. I've told her family I want nothing to do with her.' Legs for days: The Geordie Shore stunner elongated her lovely legs with a pair of strappy towering heels Mwah: The PDA session wasn't restricted to the streets of Newcastle The lothario - who claims to have bedded around 750 women - described fiery-tempered Megan as a 'nasty piece of work', alleging the reality star would stab anyone in the back to further her career. Meanwhile, Geordie Shore hottie Marnie recently admitted she wishes she never agreed to marry her former fiance Ricky. She had been dating the ex-TOWIE star for five months when they became engaged in June last year, and she has now said it was the worst decision she's ever made. What? Somewhat bizarrely, Marnie's ex-fiance Ricky Rayment was in the pool bar and Jordan happily posed for a snap with him, a strange twist in the reality stars' tale She explained in a chat with MTV: 'I would go as far as saying it's [the engagement] probably the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life, only because he's full of s*** and he's just done it for one reason only and that was to get us off Geordie Shore. Ricky popped the question to Marnie eight months ago on camera while she was shooting the show special in Greece. But their romance was short-lived as it came crashing down four months later when they split following a series of rows. She's been hard at work filming her new flick Barely Famous. And Jessica Alba looked delighted to be spending some quality time with her nearest and dearest, enjoying a low-key day out with her family in Beverly Hills on Sunday. Keeping things casual for her Valentine's Day celebrations, the actress, 34, covered up her incredible figure in a loose-fitting maxi dress and baggy cardigan as she headed out with her producer husband Cash Warren, 37, mother-in-law Sue and youngest daughter Haven, four. Scroll down for video Keeping things casual: Jessica Alba looked delighted to be spending some quality time with her nearest and dearest, enjoying a low-key day out with her family in Beverly Hills on Sunday The screen star looked happy and relaxed as she enjoyed her day out, trading in red carpet glamour in favour of something a little more comfortable. Jessica - who is also a mother to daughter Honor, seven - hid her svelte figure under her floaty grey maxi dress, and threw a green cardigan over it. The Fantastic Four actress added a touch of glam with layered gold chains, and went casual in suede heeled boots. Jessica let her natural beauty shine through and opted for simple make-up and left her brunette locks falling around her shoulders in tousled waves. All together now: The actress, 34, covered up her figure in a loose-fitting maxi dress and cardigan as she headed out with her producer husband Cash Warren, 37, mother-in-law Sue and youngest daughter Haven, four But the Sin City star had some stiff competition in the fashion stakes from her adorable daughter Haven. The tot, four, put on quite a show riding her pink scooter like a pro, while her grandmother Sue kept a watchful eye over her. Jessica's husband Cash clearly did not want to miss out on the fun, and gallantly hopped alongside them on his crutches. The film producer is believed to have torn his Achilles tendon while on vacation in Mexico for New Year's. Family fun: The screen star looked happy and relaxed as she enjoyed her day out, trading in red carpet glamour in favour of something a little more comfortable Jessica has certainly been keeping busy outside of her filming commitments for Barely Famous. The savvy entrepreneur co-founded The Honest Company in 2012, which features eco-friendly lifestyle and beauty products. Forbes Magazine estimated her net worth at approximately $340 million, adding her to their list of Americas richest self-made women. The Fantastic Four actress originally made a $6 million investment in the company and if it goes public as expected, she could be well on her way to being a billion dollar babe, according to Forbes. Next up for Jessica, the actress can be seen in Mechanic: Resurrection, which is now in post-production and scheduled for release in 2016. He was a surprise presenter at the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday when he announced the winners of Best Film. But it appears it was Tom Cruise's appearance, rather than the acceptance speech by the team behind The Revenant, which was the talking point. Viewers took to Twitter as they watched the action on BBC1 to discuss the actor's face, with some accusing the 53-year-old of having surgery. Scroll down for video Raising questions: Tom Cruise's appearance at Sunday's BAFTA Film Awards had many speculating about whether or not he'd had surgery Ageing gracefully? Tom in London last night (left) and a 35-year-old Tom back in 1998 Many on Twitter thought the A-lister's face looked 'frozen' and 'inflated', with many speculating if he had Botox in his remarkably smooth forehead. Leading the queries were Ruth Davidson, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, who tweeted: 'Tom Cruise's face. I don't know what he's doing to it, but he's beginning to look like a late-90s era Sandi Toksvig. #EEBAFTAs.' Scottish broadcaster Muriel Gray weighed in: 'Tragedy of Tom Cruise having ruined his lovely face, that was ageing beautifully, is that it's gone for ever now like the Bamiyan Buddahs.' See full coverage of the BAFTAs 2016 with more red carpet news and pictures Questions? Many viewers of the BAFTAs took to Twitter to speculate about Tom's appearance Dapper: The 53-year-old looked smart in a black Dolce & Gabbana suit as he made a surprise guest appearance at the glamorous London ceremony Man of the hour: Tom points to the big winner Alejandro G Inarritu, whose film The Revenant picked up five major accolades One Twitter user @hwallop wrote: 'What has Tom Cruise done to his face? Scarier than the bear in Revenant.' Another @lisab7us tweeted: 'I see Tom Cruise has gone and bought himself a new face. #BAFTA.' The furore on the micro-blogging site came as Tom was presenting the Best Film Award to the cast and crew behind The Revenant. Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu were among those on stage accepting the BAFTA for Best Film following the duo's win for Best Actor and Best Director respectively. Furore: Fans were quick to tweet about what they thought the actor had done Under the microsope: Many on Twitter thought the A-lister's face looked 'frozen' and 'inflated' as he posed with Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro Introducing Tom, host Stephen Fry joked that he had found him sleeping backstage, having never left the building since attending the 2015 BAFTAs. Tom was previously asked about surgery rumours back in a 2012 interview with Playboy magazine and he denied having gone under the knife. He said: 'I havent, and I never would.' Congratulations: Tom and Leonardo chat backstage following the award presentation Cosmetic surgeon Mr Sultan Hassan FRCS(Plast) of Elite Surgical - who has not treated the actor - told the MailOnline: 'I suspect he has had botulinum toxin injections to his glabellar, forehead and crows feet areas within the last few weeks. I personally feel his injector has used far too much toxin resulting in a rather unnatural shiny look. 'If you look carefully at his eyebrow positions they look heavy and rather flat, low and wider apart. You could argue that this is a rather poor result. In addition his cheek bone, cheeks and jawline looks filled out, which in the absence of general weight gain is likely due to the use of a collagen filler to plump these areas out - just look carefully at his tear troughs and you can see they are filled out.' Miles Berry MS, FRCS consultant plastic surgeon of Cosmeticsurgery-partners.co.uk, remarked: 'I would agree that Botox is likely to produce the smooth, unlined forehead. The cheeks are looking a tad more full too so dermal fillers would be high on the list too. 'As to the "sheen", the most likely culprit would be some form of resurfacing, probably a chemical peel.' MailOnline has contacted Tom's rep for comment. Waiting game: Tom waiting backstage with the BAFTA before Best Film before going on stage to announce the winner Since debuting on My Kitchen Rules last week, Jessica has made her hatred of carbohydrates, chocolate and deep fried foods well known. But during Monday's instant restaurant round on the show, the 30-year-old left her fellow contestants and fans confused after she revealed her love of pizza. 'Pizza's my weakness. I love it. That's why it's my weakness,' Jessica said in the episode, shocking the show's competitors. Scroll down for video She said what? My Kitchen Rules star Jessica revealed her love of pizza on Monday's episode despite her strict healthy eating lifestyle and hatred of carbs Queensland's Nelly was quick to comment, calling the health fanatic 'a walking contradiction'. Alex, who previously told Jess he hoped her cooking would be better than her attitude, went on to describe her as Disney character 'Pinocchio'. 'I'm not too sure what to believe when Jessica says something... She's beginning to look a little bit like Pinocchio,' the 25-year-old said. See more of the latest My Kitchen Rules updates as Jessica reveals her love for pizza Contradiction: While leaving her fellow competitors speechless, the 30-year-old admitted 'pizza's my weakness. I love it. That's why it's my weakness' Hitting out: Alex (L) went on to describe her as Disney character 'Pinocchio' following her comment Fans of the top rated show were quick to send social media into a frenzy over Jessica's confession, with one Twitter user suggesting her constant references to healthy eating could be made into a 'drinking game'. 'Drinking game: take a shot every time Jessica says "carbs" or "healthy",' one tweeted. Another posted: 'If Jessica says the word "healthy" one more time...#MKR'. Jessica was also ridiculed by her fellow contestants and viewers after claiming she had no problem with eating black rice after vilifying all carbohydrates. 'It's just another grain,' she said, adding: 'A healthier version which is pretty awesome in in my eyes.' Having their say: Fans of the show were quick to send social media into a frenzy over Jessica's confession Funny side: Another wrote: 'Jess: "I don't sing"...because most songs have carbs in them now or the word sugar #MKR It comes after Jessica came under fire for consuming numerous glasses of wine while enjoying Italian's Luciano and Martino's instant restaurant in Sunday night's episode. One viewer of the show was quick to tweet: '"I eat incredibly healthy" says Jessica as she throws back probably a third wine.' 'Does Jess know there's carbs [sic] in wine?' mused another. During the evening found herself again going head to head with Alex as she reassured him of her thoughts towards deep fried foods. 'I might be eating deep fried food deep fried food scares me,' said Jessica, before adding: 'I'm not joking. It makes me feel nervous.' Firing line: The night earlier she again came under fire after consuming numerous glasses of white wine while enjoying Italian's Luciano and Martino's instant restaurant Not a fan favourite! On social media user posted: 'Does Jess know there's carbs [sic] in wine?' Making light of it: Another wrote: 'How many glasses of wine are 'healthy' BTW? Asking for a friend. I don't drink because I'm healthy AF obvs' Her fellow contestant Jordan later confessed to New Idea magazine that Jessica's a 'fat girl in the closet'. He explained to the publication that the fitness lover eats 'unhealthily behind the scenes' of the reality TV series. The show's judge Manu Feildel also timely told AAP he didn't know why the controversial individual was cast on the show due to her extreme healthy living lifestyle. 'She seemed very confused, well she confused everyone anyway with what she eats and doesn't eat,' the French star said. 'The conversation changed on a nightly basis.' Bizarre choice: During the evening she explained to Alex she doesn't like eating deep fried foods because 'deep fried food scared me...I;m not joking. It makes me feel nervous' Awkward: Fellow contestant Jordan, (R), revealed to New Idea magazine that Jessica does indeed eat 'unhealthily behind the scenes' and is a 'fat girl in the closet' How could it be? The show's judge Manu Feildel (L) has also admitted he didn't know why the controversial individual was cast on the show due to her extreme healthy living lifestyle He added: 'Peter and I regularly looked at each other (asking why is she on?).' But despite her shocking statements during Monday's episode, sisters Tasia and Gracia made sure all the attention was on them with their Balinese themed menu which scored them 61 out of 100. The Indonesian-raised siblings opened the evening with grilled fish cakes in banana leaves with peanut sauce, before serving a main of ribs and chips. For their final course they dished black rice pudding. Their three course meal was very much disliked by their rivals teams who gave them a low score of 20 out of a possible 50. My Kitchen Rules' continues on Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel Seven. Prince quietly jetted into Melbourne on Monday ahead of his first Australian Piano & Microphone concert. Arriving in lavish style on a private jet, the singer sported an oversize pair of dark sunglasses as he made his way through Tullamarine Airport. He is set to kick off this leg of the tour on Tuesday with an intimate performance at Melbourne's Art Centre after tickets sold out within ten minutes. Scroll down for video Making a subtle entrance: Prince quietly jetted into Melbourne on Monday ahead of his first Australian Piano & Microphone concert in the state to kick off his tour Prince stepped off the luxurious private jet in an all-black ensemble, sporting what appears to be a leather jacket with detailing on the shoulders. He wore a pair of figure hugging black trousers, matched with a black shirt layered under his jacket. His signature dark curled locks were brushed and teased to perfection and he added to his look with a pair of leather gloves. The musician held onto the thin handrail as he descended the stairs and onto the tarmac where a vehicle was waiting to whisk him away. Chic style: Prince stepped off the luxurious private jet in an all black ensemble, sporting what appears to be a leather jacket with detailing on the shoulders Lavish: He arrived by private jet to Tullamarine Airport Thousands of Australian Prince fans were furious after a 'system glitch' caused them to miss out on tickets to his upcoming Piano & Microphone tour when tickets went on sale earlier this year. Melbourne and Sydney concerts sold out in ten minutes and ticketing sites Ticketmaster and Ticketek faced the wrath of social media when hopefuls waited in online queues for up to an hour to no avail. Going on sale at midday, both sites advised fans that high traffic would cause extra wait time to get through to the purchasing stage, but despite getting in early, many were unsuccessful. 'Hopeless': Australian Prince fans were left fuming on Tuesday after a 'system glitch' causes thousands to miss out on tickets to his upcoming Piano & Microphone '@Ticketmaster_AU your hopeless online ticketing system left me high and dry for #Prince tickets. Utterly disappointed,' wrote one user on Twitter. 'Been waiting an hour! I hope I haven't missed out on getting my mum tickets #prince #crushed,' wrote another, shared a screenshot of the waiting page. Those who did manage to get through were angered further when the most expensive seats were all that were left, costing just shy of $400. ''FU @Prince3EG $398 for 90% of your tickets is ridic, you short on $$, boo? #prince #letsgocrazyNOT,' (sic) tweeted one user. Feeling the wrath: Both ticketing sites felt the wrath of social media users after they failed to get tickets Surprise announcement: Australian and New Zealand fans were caught by surprise on Friday when the Purple Rain superstar made the announcement he would be touring Another complained to Ticketek's official Facebook page: 'Sat in queue for 1hr 28min from 11.42am ... just kept getting refreshed... Finally only tickets available @ $400.' Speaking with Daily Mail Australia, a Ticketmaster spokesperson said there were 'no glitches' with their system. 'Our website did receive a lot of traffic but it did not experience any technical issues throughout the sale period,' they said. In an attempt to safeguard against scalpers, two tickets were limited per customer only available for collection at the venue, but seats have already begun to pop up on eBay for an inflated price. The tour is the Purple Rain superstar's first trip Down Under in four years. Disgruntled: Many fans were left disappointed when they waited for hours to no avail Frustrated: Tickets to the eight-show tour sold out in 10 minutes It will also be the first time the 57-year-old has played to a crowd in New Zealand. The eight-date tour, which was announced completely out of the blue on Friday, promises songs from his 39-album catalogue, and each show with an exclusive set list. In contrast to Prince's previous stage shows, his new tour is a far more intimate affair, in which he will perform alone while accompanying himself on piano. Prince's Piano & Microphone tour takes place at Melbourne's Art Centre from February 16 to 17, and in Sydney from February 20 to 21. Just hours beforehand, they had been partying the night away with their Hollywood peers. But Rebel Wilson and Dakota Johnson didn't let on that they might be feeling a touch fatigued as they stepped out in London the morning after the EE BAFTA Film Awards. The How To Be Single co-stars both stepped out separately in the British capital, but each of them put on a stylish display in their own way after wowing on the red carpet at the ceremony. Scroll down for video The morning after! Rebel Wilson (left) and Dakota Johnson (right) looked perfectly attired and raring to go as they stepped out in London the morning after the BAFTAs on Monday Dakota, 26, looked super cool in her casual attire as she arrived at Heathrow airport to leave the country. The slender star - who missed out on the EE Rising Star award on the night - covered her enviable legs in a pair of charcoal grey skinny Courtshop jeans, while rocking a cool Breton striped t-shirt under a fluffy black jacket. Keeping it comfortable, she donned a pair of sporty black trainers and carried an even heftier black furry coat over her arm, clearly not feeling the need against the chilly London weather. See full coverage of the BAFTAs 2016 with the latest red carpet news and pictures On her way! Dakota, 26, flashed a big smile at onlookers as she emerged from Claridge's after presumably having a night of little sleep after the awards ceremony Cosy cool and casual: The star clad her slender frame in charcoal skinny jeans, trainers and a Breton-striped tee for her onward journey The brunette beauty flashed a smile at onlookers as she left her hotel - Claridge's - and headed to the airport, her locks in very much the same loose style as she had worn the previous evening, her fringe pleasantly unruly. Adding a touch of interest to her otherwise low-key look, Dakota toted with her a vintage-style orange case as part of her luggage. The only hint that the Fifty Shades Of Grey actress might be experiencing tiredness after the late night of partying with her peers was the pair of shades firmly fixed on her face. She may have missed out on the award she was nominated for, but Dakota was one of the best-dressed stars of the night, looking absolutely stunning in a simple ruffled crimson dress with a low plunging neckline. All's well: She couldn't hide her smile as she left the hotel to head towards London Heathrow Selfie time! The popular Fifty Shades Of Grey star was asked for pictures from fans who had waited outside for her Meanwhile, across town, her co-star Rebel, 35, stepped out looking slightly more fresh-faced. The Australian actress beamed with joy as she left Claridge's in the heart of the city, having covered her curves in a black leather pencil dress for the day. Going for a glamorous daytime look, the blonde comedy icon added a pair of red heels to her look as well as the celebrity staple of oversized shades. Rebel could barely take the smile off her face as she walked through London to her next destination, no doubt still feeling on a high from her turn at the BAFTAs the night before. Mixing it up: Walking through Heathrow towards her flight, Dakota showed off her funky bright orange box-shaped suitcase Tired? The only hint that the Fifty Shades Of Grey actress might be experiencing tiredness after the late night of partying with her peers was the pair of shades firmly fixed on her face She had made quite the impression at the annual awards ceremony while up on stage, cheekily admitting that she has a major crush on Brit actor Idris Elba in a candid and shocking speech. The star had also spoken about the issue of diversity in the movie industry as she arrived on stage to present the Best Supporting Actor gong to Mark Rylance for Bridge Of Spies. She said: 'Sorry Idris Elba you're making me a bit nervous, I'm just psychologically programmed to want chocolate on Valentine's Day.' The sensitive subject of the Oscars arose, where many have slammed the prestigious awards for lacking diversity, and Rebel managed to make light of the situation. Looking good! Rebel beamed with joy as she left Claridge's in the heart of the city, having covered her curves in a black leather pencil dress for the day Striking style: Going for a glamorous daytime look, the blonde comedy icon added a pair of red heels to her look as well as the celebrity staple of oversized shades She stunned the crowd as she added: 'It's so great to be here at this really serious event. I have never been invited to the Oscars because as you know they are racist. 'But the BAFTAs have diverse members and that's what we call want to see in life isn't it, diverse members. One day I hope to return here to win a BAFTA myself. I have already been practising my Transgendered face. 'Five really attractive men have been nominated and I really look forward to congratulating the winner, although I'm looking forward even more to consoling the four losers.' Red carpet stunners: On Sunday night, Rebel and Dakota had put on stylish displays on the red carpet at the BAFTAs, although Rebel's choice was rather divisive Better luck neck time: Dakota sadly missed out on the EE Rising Star BAFTA award to Star Wars actor John Boyega Hilarious: Rebel had the audience in stitches with her speech while presenting an award, joking about her crush on Idris Elba and diversity in Hollywood Rebel and Dakota have been in the UK in the past week to promote their new comedy flick How To Be Single along with their co-stars Leslie Mann and Alison Brie. Last week saw them wow on the red carpet at the movie's official London premiere, and they've had jam-packed schedules ever since while getting the word out there about the rom-com. How To Be Single follows the story of four friends in New York who attempt to navigate the dating world, and it's released in cinemas on February 19. Fancy seeing you here! Actress Noomi Rapace was also seen leaving Claridge's on Monday morning A Sunrise presenter has defended her colleague after an embarrassing Sex And The City skit with Kristin Davis prompted a fellow journalist to write a scathing opinion article about the bimbo. ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger accused Sunrise presenter Samantha Armytage and her bimbo brigade of doing feminism a disservice after involving the celebrity advocate in a cringeworthy stunt instead of discussing Davis' work with refugees. But fellow presenter Edwina Bartholomew has hit back at the criticism and accused Haussegger of going against the sisterhood. Scroll down for video A cohost of Samantha Armytage (pictured) has defended the Sunrise presenter following a Sex And The City skit on the breakfast program last Thursday 'You might be surprised to know even "mindless bimbos" can be feminists,' Bartholomew wrote on Twitter The sisterhood in action @virginia_hauss. You might be surprised to know even mindless bimbos can be feminists, Bartholomew wrote to Twitter Monday morning. After publishing her opinion piece to Sydney Morning Herald, Haussegger wrote to Twitter that she wished she never had cause to write this column. I take no joy in calling any woman a mindless bimbo, she wrote in the tweet. What on earth is going on in Samantha Armytages head? Not much it would seem, given the pitiful episode she and her gal pals put actress Kristin Davis through on Thursday. It was gender-cringe TV at its worst, Haussegger wrote in her opinion piece. Bartholomew (pictured) hit back at ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger, who wrote a scathing opinion piece about Armytage Actress Kristin Davis (far right) complained about taking part in a Sex And The City skit on Seven's Sunrise last week because she had not been given enough time to discuss her work with refugees It was the blithe dismissal of Davis message, and the purpose of her visit, that obviously left the celebrity activist so offendeded. Haussegger, who had interviewed Davis for the ABC prior to the Sunrise segment, said the actress desperately wanted people to know about the daily threat of sexual violence facing millions of women and children refugees, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Donning a blonde curly wig to portray Sarah Jessica Parkers character Carrie, Armytage giggled her way through the skit while Davis awkwardly played along. 'The waste of time was one thing. But the mindless treatment of Davis as little more than a girly play-thing is what the women on this show ought to be ashamed of,' Haussegger wrote. 'Their nonsense nattering does a major disservice to feminism. If Armytage and Co. don't give a hoot about feminism fine. But perhaps they should think about women like themselves glamorous, privileged women who are in positions of power and influence and how hard others have fought for such women to be taken seriously. To be heard. And to have their views considered worthy of prime time, serious discussion. Davis later thanked Haussegger on Twitter. Im trying to tell these womens story, the actress said of refugee women. Sunrise had been slammed by Davis after the Thursday program, and Armytage was consequentially dropped as a host of an Australia for UNHCR fundraising event the following day. Davis played Charlotte in the hit show Sex And The City. Armytage and co-star David Koch delivered a stony-faced apology on Friday insisting they had devoted significant airtime to the UNHCR and Davis efforts. But Haussegger, who is a board member of the UN Women National Committee Australia, labelled their apology as 'utterly shameful'. ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger penned a scathing critique of Sunrise's Sex And The City stunt and accused host Samantha Armytage and her 'bimbo brigade' of doing a major disservice to feminism Armytage was consequentially dropped as a host of an Australia for UNHCR fundraising event the following day which featured Davis (pictured) Haussegger, who is a board member of the UN Women National Committee Australia, labelled Sunrise's apology over the skit as 'utterly shameful' Armytage later hit back in her own opinion piece at the vile criticism she received. She said her only crime was to take part in a three-minute television skit that was admittedly, appallingly acted, but obviously meant as a bit of fun, she wrote in her opinion piece for News Corp. 'The journalist who wrote this vitriolic piece took up valuable column space (which could have focused on the important issues of the day such as, maybe refugees?) and used the most base, vile and derogatory terms to describe not only a fellow woman, but a woman in her own profession,' Armytage said. 'Why is it that some of those who shout the loudest about feminism are the most unkind to other women? 'Feminism means different things to different people... Not all wear it like a badge of honour. To use petty barbs such as "bimbo", "dumb", "ditzy", and "daft" to prove a point, does not make you a feminist. It makes you a bully, she said. Dropped: Samantha Armytage was dropped as the host of a UN High Commissioner for Refugees lunch a day after a disastrous skit on Sunrise with ambassador Kristin Davis (above together on Thursday) Armytage hit back at the criticism and attacked Haussegger for her name calling in her own opinion piece No laughing matter: Amytage and her co-hosts used the end of the segment to reenact a scene from the show Unimpressed: Davis reluctantly took part in the skit but later complained that she would rather have focused on the issue She's always been known for her unique vocals, energetic performances, incredible abs and natural good looks. But fans of Ellie Goulding have raised alarm at her most recent couple of public outings based on her seemingly altered appearance, especially in comparison from how she looked a few months ago. The 29-year-old star certainly made an impression on Sunday evening as she arrived at the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy gala, held at the grand Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, but perhaps not for the right reasons. Scroll down for video Spot the difference: Ellie Goulding stepped out at the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy gala in Los Angeles on Sunday night (left), with noticeably plumper lips and a generally smoother, streamlined appearance, as compared to her usual look (right) Although she has always been the owner of plump, pouty lips, they appeared fuller than usual, with the slick of pale pink gloss only adding to their volume. The Burn hitmaker also seemed to be more preened than usual, although that was a conscious choice based on her elegant ensemble, a cobalt blue figure-hugging dress that signalled a more grown-up style for the youthful star. It wasn't long until people began to comment on Ellie's appearance on Twitter and other social media sites, with many questioning whether she had undergone surgery or had lip fillers. Eye-catching: The 29-year-old certainly caught the eye at the prestigious music event, as she beamed widely on the red carpet in a figure-hugging and rather racy blue dress Twitter user @VIVAPRIMADONNA demanded: 'Did Ellie Goulding get plastic surgery', while @crummymummywd added: 'Ellie Goulding you are a beautiful woman - step away from the lip fillers. Seriously.' One concerned onlooker - @juliaAlderman - asked: 'Why do girls do this to themselves - gross!' @joannalopez16 simply wrote, directly ot the star: '@elliegoulding those lips. I'm disappointed.' 'WHAT U DOING WITH UR LIPS?' one of the star's fans, @janegouIding fumed, seemingly enraged at her latest aesthetic. Concern: Fans took to Twitter to remark on her appearance on Sunday night, with some asking if she had undergone surgery or had lip fillers Others across the internet commented in their droves, with one eagle-eyed user remarked: 'Another one with lip fillers! oh the shame! One person opined: 'First her chest and now her lips , she's starting to look a bit too artificial .... silly girl as she has beauty without the need to ruin herself.' 'Unfortunately, the only plastic surgery she truly needed is the one thing she hasn't had done...a personality implant,' said another. 'Lets play a game, what has ellie goulding done to her face,' @CallumDVS quipped. However, @ellieandbank, leapt to Ellie's defence, writing - while also addressing criticism over her very busty display: 'Let @elliegoulding wear her lips as she wants to. Let her show her boobs as she wants to. Let her do what ever she wants to.Not your business.' 'What are you doing with your lips?' Some of her admirers seemed outraged, while other leapt to her defense online Ellie also stepped out on Saturday at a US event, the 2016 MusiCares Person Of The Year Honoring Lionel Richie in Los Angeles, her pout appearing plumper than normal, more so than when she first rose to fame in 2009, and even at the end of last year. There is no indication that Ellie has had any work done on her face, but in a world of girls using clever methods of altering their appearance, it's no surprise that questions have been asked. Ellie has previously spoken out about her feelings about her appearance, admitting that she actually used to hide her face because she felt so self-conscious of her looks. Back in the day: The difference between Ellie now and Ellie back in 2009 is clearly visible Not long ago: In November, Ellie stepped out at the H&M x Balmain event with smaller lips Plump: On Saturday, Ellie stepped out at the 2016 MusiCares Person Of The Year Honoring Lionel Richie in Los Angeles, but all eyes were on her pout rather than her sideboob 'At one time, I was getting all this musical success, but I wasn't getting all the things that went with it, like magazine covers,' she told ES Magazine in 2014. 'I was convinced for a long time I wasn't aesthetically pleasing enough. I would have to angle my face to hide the side of my nose, or my chin.' She then went on to say that she finally overcame her self-image issues, which turned her world around, and her opinion about herself. 'Then I stopped caring,' she added. 'I let go. Put a different energy out there then [the magazine covers] all started to happen.' MailOnline has contacted a representative for Ellie and is awaiting comment. In fine form: Her striking number, complete with a low-neckline and structured waistline, highlighted her flawless curves and athletic frame perfectly Meanwhile, she certainly cut an eye-catching figure as she walked the red carpet at the Squeezing her ample assets into a plunging cobalt blue gown, the star looked sensational as she mingled with fellow stars. Her striking number, complete with a low-neckline and structured waistline, highlighted her flawless curves and statuesque frame perfectly. Putting the finishing touches on her outfit, Ellie added some glitz with bold diamond stud earrings and various encrusted rings. Not alone: The blonde beauty bumped into fellow British singer Natasha Bedingfield on the night With her peroxide locks styled into a side-parting, the songstress kept her make-up simple with plush pink lip gloss, a touch of blusher and lashings of mascara. She painted her talons a shade of black that added a splash of edge to her otherwise demure ensemble. The night before, Ellie turned heads in a bold, two-tone outfit with a mesh bodice at the 2016 MusiCares bash. The British beauty later slipped into a tailored two-piece suit, which accentuated her toned curves, when she hit the stage for a stellar performance. Ladies night: The stars were also spotted with some safer necklines belonging to Jordin Sparks, actress Suzanne Somers and Brandy at the glitzy bash Her sighting comes soon after a series of concerts around the world, her latest being the Sanremo Italian Song Festival. Ellie recently revealed that relentless touring is starting to take its toll, one month into her six-month stage stint. She told Red magazine: 'The last month has been really testing, on everything, on my sanity. The music industry isn't like other industries, there are no rules about working hours, or taking breaks. 'A working day will start with a 4am flight and finish at 3am the next day. Sometimes I don't have time to eat in the day.' Party hopper: The night before, Ellie turned heads in a bold, two-tone outfit with a mesh bodice at the 2016 MusiCares bash Daring to bare: The talented songstress flaunted her toned curves and flashed a cheeky hint of sideboob in a semi-sheer blouse, which was teamed with a tight white A-line skirt She's loved up with boyfriend James Dunmore. And Lucy Watson had a steamy surprise in store for her Made In Chelsea co-star for Valentine's Day, stripping off for a sexy lingerie shoot to mark the romantic occasion. The 24-year-old beauty displayed her svelte figure and tiny waist as she modelled an array of seductive Boux Avenue designs, sure to set to send heart rates soaring. Scroll down for video Red hot: Lucy Watson showcased her trim and toned figure in a an array of seductive lingerie designs from Boux Avenue Lucy displays her lean physique in a racy red satin set, boasting a plunging bra and kinky suspender belt. The star showed off her long legs to their best advantage thanks to the lace-trimmed undies and thigh-high stockings. Another seductive shot sees Lucy posing up against a wall, holding a heart-shaped balloon as she displays her enviable figure in a grey dotted set. Joking about the perks involved in the shoot, the brunette stunner said: 'James was really pleased that I was doing a lingerie shoot, he asked if I could come away with some nice new lingerie sets I think hes sick of my old grey ones!' Be my Valentine? The star showed off her long legs to their best advantage thanks to the lace-trimmed undies and thigh-high stockings He's a fan! Lucy joked that her boyfriend and MIC co-star James Dunmore was thrilled with the shoot The new images come shortly after it was revealed Lucy had become the new face of Boux Avenue. She worked her magic in front of the camera, looking absolutely incredible in a lilac satin two-piece with delicate lace detail. Another image saw the London socialite flaunt her fabulous curves in a feminine plush pink design, which featured cute ivory coloured bows and intricate stitching.. Daring to bare: Lucy looked absolutely incredible in a lilac satin two-piece with delicate lace detail With her dark tresses left loose in tousled waves, her striking facial features were clearly visible, made-up with smoky eye shadow, rosy cheeks and glossy pink lips. The TV beauty also slipped into a skimpy blue ensemble as she perched on top of a fluffy white chair, while putting on a sultry display. The Boux Avenue range is available to buy from 28 stores in the UK, plus selected stores internationally as well as online. See more of the latest pictures and updates on Made In Chelsea star Lucy Watson Leggy lady: The Made In Chelsea star, 24, showed off her enviably slim physique as worked her magic in front of the camera, looking absolutely incredible in a blue two-piece Meanwhile, in a new interview with OK! Magazine, Lucy discussed her role as the power player in her romance with hunky co-star James Dunmore. Revealing she did all the chasing at the beginning of their relationship, she explained: 'He was a bit mysterious to me. I just felt like he was a really nice person and I kind of pursued him really. Lucy and James first confirmed they were dating back in June, after they got close filming the Los Angeles-based Made In Chelsea spin-off show. Stunning: One image saw the London socialite flaunt her fabulous curves in a feminine plush pink design, which featured cute ivory coloured bows and intricate stitching The pretty brunette added: Every now and then hell pipe up and shut me down. I think thats necessary, though, otherwise Id just walk all over him. One could say that hes maybe the secret boss, because he can just put me in my place if he wants to. She also opened up about the first time he said the 'L word' - and it was in a suitably romantic setting: The first time he told me he loved me was on the beach at sunset in Los Angeles, so that was quite romantic... Hed die if he knew that Id said that, but anyway.' The reality TV star previously dated MIC co-stars Spencer Matthews, Jamie Laing and Andy Jordan during her time on the show. Puppy love: Lucy recently revealed that she pursued Made In Chelsea co-star James Dunmore and that she 'wears the trousers 90 per cent of the time' in their relationship She's never been one to shy away from a raunchy Instagram post. But Emily Ratajkowski was feeling so at ease on Monday that she treated her fan to not one, but two nude snaps as she found a novel way to deal with the adverse weather conditions outside. Posting a picture of herself in the bath, the 24-year-old hinted at her enviable figure, protecting her modesty with her arm. Scroll down for video Snowed in: Emily Ratajkowski was feeling so at ease on Monday that she treated her fan to not one, but two nude snaps as she found a novel way to deal with the adverse weather conditions outside Clutching a glass of red wine, she donned a pair of circular rimmed glasses and pouted seductively down the lens. With her chestnut tresses scraped up into a chic messy bun, the model dazzled in the sultry shot. 'Snowed in,' she captioned the cheeky snaps. Body confident: She's never been shy of flaunting her famous figure, but the 24-year-old, was testing the limits of Instagram's strict nudity policy as she posed fully naked in another raunchy snap earlier that day And Emily was really testing the limits of Instagram's strict nudity policy earlier that day as she posed fully naked to announce her new partnership with Lena Dunham. Protecting her modesty with her hands and careful angling, the star looked breathtaking in the risque shot as she announced she had written an essay for Lena's weekly newsletter, Lenny. With her eyes closed and mouth fashioned in her trademark pout, the actress wore her chestnut coloured tresses in a loose ponytail, exposing her pretty face. Looking calm and content in the stunning shot, she popped her hip to the side whilst her hand covered her chest. Peas in a pod: Emily's involvement in Lena Dunham's Lenny newsletter comes as no surprise as the pair don't just have their body confidence in common, but the fact that they are both vocal about politics Breathtaking: Emily has never been shy of flaunting her figure, so her decision to strip off to announce her essay in the Lenny newsletter came as no surprise, but she kept the contents of the letter under wraps Covering up: Emily later cut a demure figure in a slinky silver dress, which she wore with an oatmeal knitted jumper and a suede gilet as she attended the Maiyet New York Fashion Week show on Monday night 'Tomorrow my @lennyletter essay entitled "Baby Woman" is released! This piece of writing is near and dear to me,' she wrote. 'Many thanks to @lenadunham.' Emily's involvement in the Lenny newsletter comes as no surprise as the pair have more in common than their applaudable body confidence. Lena has used her newsletter as a platform to discuss wider political issues, whilst Emily recently hit the streets of New Hampshire to campaign for Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. Donning a customised Bernie jumper, she took to the podium to explain 'I am a young woman and um, well, just to make one thing clear: I'm here because I support Bernie Sanders... I'm not here for the boys,' Stylish twosome: The Gone Girl beauty joined model Olivia Culpo at the fashion presentation Looking all-white: Olivia looked lovely in an all-white ensemble, which she teamed with a chocolate brown suede coat and a vibrant red scarf Political powerhouse: Emily recently hit the streets of New Hampshire to campaign for Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, going as far as to don a customised jumper for the outing The Gone Girl star made her statement referring to feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who previously said young females who supported Sanders were just 'boy crazy'. Giving a more detailed explanation behind her reasons for supporting Bernie over Hilary Clinton, she said: 'I want a female president so that I can say to my daughter one day, you too can become president of the United States. 'I believe in that symbolic importance. But I have seen symbolism in election, symbolism that FAILS the people that so desperately need the ACTION to make change. 'I want my first female president to be more than a symbol, I want her to have politics that can revolutionize.' She is one of Hollywood's most esteemed actresses. And Emma Thompson proved she is as sartorially skilled as she is accomplished on-screen as she arrived with her daughter Gaia at the Alone In Berlin premiere at the 66th Berlinale Film Festival on Monday. The 56-year-old actress oozed sophisticated glamour in her black jumpsuit with a glamorous white fur stole and teetering heels while the 16-year-old sported a funky, youthful horse print one piece. Scroll down for video Chic through the ages: Emma Thompson proved she is as sartorially skilled as she is accomplished on-screen as she arrived with her daughter Gaia at the Alone In Berlin premiere at the 66th Berlinale Film Festival on Monday Emma, who plays Anna Quangel in the war drama, looked absolutely sensational in the stunning ensemble which defied her quinquagenarian status. Her jumpsuit nipped in at her trim waist before extending into lengthy, leg-enhancing trousers with a crew-necked long-sleeved top. Although simple in design, the Love Actually star ensured the clues were in the details as her white faux fur stole injected a touch of retro allure to the look. Simple yet stunning: The 56-year-old actress oozed sophisticated glamour in her black jumpsuit with a glamorous white fur stole and teetering heels while the 16-year-old sported a funky, youthful horse print one piece Crowd-pleaser: Emma, who plays Anna Quangel in the war drama, looked absolutely sensational in the stunning ensemble which defied her quinquagenarian status Her dangling diamond earrings were the perfect addition to her simple yet effective glamorous look. Emma's blonde crop was styled into an exaggerated blonde quiff which slicked upwards in a gravity-defying style. Her make-up was kept simple yet glamorous, with a delicate cat-eye line of liquid eyeliner emphasising her glimmering eyes and a slick of red lipstick. Larking around: Far from insisting on a sultry pout, Emma knew how to play around on the red carpet Two generations: The teen and her mum managed to mesh perfectly in their monochrome outfits Proud daughter: Following suit in the trouser-clad stakes was Emma's date for the evening - her daughter Gaia Romilly Wise, who she shares with her husband Greg Wise Expert: Emma certainly knows how to work it on the red carpet, after decades in the acting game Stunner: Emma looked sensational from all angles in the elegant look Following suit in the trouser-clad stakes was Emma's date for the evening - her daughter Gaia Romilly Wise, who she shares with her husband Greg Wise. The 16-year-old looked fabulously trendy in a jumpsuit adorned with a horse print as well as a large black origami-style detailing on the front. Her slick bob was styled into a centre parting while she added a slick of deep crimson lipstick to her pout to give the monochrome ensemble a splash of colour. Expertly applied: Her make-up was kept simple yet glamorous, with a delicate cat-eye line of liquid eyeliner emphasising her glimmering eyes and a slick of red lipstick Horsing around: The 16-year-old looked fabulously trendy in a jumpsuit adorned with a horse print as well as a large black origami-style detailing on the front Stars of the show: The mother-of-two was joined her co-stars Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Bruehl on the red carpet Husband and wife: Brendan and Emma play a couple in the film The whole gang: Emma proudly posed alongside her co-stars as they prepared to premiere the movie The mother-of-two was joined her co-stars Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Bruehl on the red carpet. The men opted for classic grey and black suit looks yet kept things casual by foregoing ties with their outfits. The new film is set in 1940 and sees Emma and Brendan as a working class German couple Anna and Otto Quangel, who start a campaign to resist Adolf Hitler and the Nazis by writing postcards following the death of their only child. German actor Daniel plays the Gestapo officer hunting down the writers of the mysterious postcards. Cheering along: The ladies put on an animated display from within the event Monochrome madness: Emma looked incredibly sophisticated at the plush event She recently showed off her toned abs and slim waistline in a Pepe Jeans campaign. But on Saturday model Georgia May Jagger bundled up in a green bomber jacket as she exited London's Heathrow Airport after a trip to the United States, after being picked up by a friend. The 24-year-old stunner balanced comfort and style by pairing the jacket with loose-fitting black trousers and dark brown boots with mustard-coloured shoes laces. Scroll down for video Touchdown: Georgia May Jagger landed at London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday wearing an army green bomber jacket and flowing, loose-fitting trousers Secure in her natural beauty, she went make-up free, showing off her smooth complexion and even skin tone. Owing to her healthy diet and the chilly temperature, her cheeks had a naturally rosy glow. Following her long-haul flight, Georgia was in need of a pick-me-up and headed to a Costa Coffee shop, where she sat for thirty minutes. Mix 'n match: Georgia traveled with a large Longchamp travel bag and a bright pink Hello Kitty suitcase Hunger games: Georgia sat inside a Costa coffee shop for half an hour, enjoying a warm beverage and a toasted sandwich The daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall enjoyed a warm beverage and a hot sandwich while sending messages on her mobile. Georgia, who is known to go high-glam one day and rocker chic the next, displayed a similar versatility in her choice of luggage. As she made her way out of the airport, she pushed a trolley that included an elegant green handbag, a Longchamp Le Pillage travel bag and a bright pink Hello Kitty suitcase. The Vogue cover star likely enjoyed her casual airplane look after getting all dolled up for her recent Pepe Jeans campaign. Shaking the tassles on her barely-there swimsuit, she stole the spotlight from fellow model Simon Nessman, who couldn't keep his eyes off of her. In another image she slipped into a pair of hotpants and rocked double denim in an unbuttoned jacket. Moves Like Swagger! Georgia May Jagger showed off some of her best dance moves for Pepe Jeans' latest carnival-inspired campaign, shaking the tassels on her skimpy black bikini as she threw her arms in the air She is currently trying to carve out a career as a television presenter. So as Ferne McCann made an appearance on ITV's This Morning on Monday she opted to keep it very chic in a colour coordinated ensemble. Giving a round-up of the latest happenings in the world of showbusiness, the 25-year-old looked great in muted tones. Scroll Down For Video Keeping it chic: Ferne McCann looked great in some muted tones on Monday on ITV's This Morning New line of work: The 25-year-old cut a tailored figure as she gave a showbiz round up on the morning show McCann's stylish ensemble was made up of a cropped short-sleeved jumper teamed with a white shirt and grey trousers. Wearing her hair back in one, Ferne added pops of colour with pointed scarlet stilettos which matched perfectly with her lipstick. Following her appearance, Ferne switched up her look a little as she traded her bottoms for houndstooth leggings and denim ankle boots. Donning a pair of chic glasses, the reality TV star wrapped up warm in black quilted jacket as she threw a brown suede bag over her arm while clutching her smartphone and a bowl of food. Taking it serious: McCann wore a cropped jumper with a white shirt, trousers and red pointed stilettos In good company: Ferne joined Rylan Clark and Ruth Langsford on the set of the popular breakfast show Switching it up: Leaving the studios, the ex TOWIE star donned patterned leggings with ankle boots and a coat Looking forward to her appearance on the breakfast show, Ferne took to Twitter to fill her fans in. She tweeted: 'Good Morning tweeps. Enroute to @itvthismorning I am looking forward to sitting on the sofa with @Rylan & @RuthieeL'. Loving life at present, McCann also had a few words of inspiration for her social media followers. The former TOWIE star wrote: 'Life is a gift so let's all enjoy it! Face #Monday with a smile. 'Feel that Monday fear & do it anyway love to you all. #bekind'. On the go: McCann carefully navigated her steps as she throw a bag over her arm and clutched a bowl of food McCann's positive outlook follows the announcement about her hiatus from The Only Way Is Essex. Earlier this month, Ferne confirmed she is joining the likes of Sam Faiers and Lucy Mecklenburgh by taking a break - albeit temporarily - from filming the ITVBe show. The reality star turned TV presenter made the announcement in a video posted on the show's official Twitter page, attributing her decision to the fact she's tied up with other television projects. In the short clip, she said: 'Many of you have been wondering if I'll be returning back to Essex after my adventure Down Under [2015 appearance on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!]. 'I've been super busy since returning from Australia which means you won't be seeing as much of this (circles her face) on The Only Way Is Essex.' Valentine's Day may be over, but Kylie Jenner is still feeling the love. The 18-year-old carried a handful of red roses while stepping out onto the snowy streets of New York City on Monday. The pink haired reality star stopped to take selfies with her fans while wearing a thick olive and black hued jacket and leather leggings. See Kylie Jenner updates as she holds red roses while posing with fans in snowy New York On the go: Kylie Jenner carried red roses while stepping out onto the streets of New York City on Monday The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star clutched her four red roses while staying close to her friends, Jordyn Woods and Harry Hudson. Kylie sported a thick black jacket with olive sleeves and zipper detailing, layered on top of a forest green hoodie. The teenager paired the heavy coat with skintight leather leggings and black and white converse sneakers. The E! star wore a knitted black beanie on top of her pink locks, which she debuted on her social media Sunday. Posing pretty: The pink haired reality star stopped to take selfies with her fans while wearing a thick olive and black hued jacket and leather leggings Looking good: Kylie sported a thick black jacket with olive sleeves and zipper detailing layered on top of a forest green hoodie The teen wore a sparkling light hued chain link purse, which perfectly matched her brightly colored hair. Kylie wore her pink locks loose with a slight wave, opting for a side swept fringe. The starlet wore subtle smokey eye shadow with taupe and gold eye colors, pairing it with matte pink lipstick, rosy blush and shimmery highlighter. Fun with friends: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star held onto four red roses while staying close to her friends, Harry Hudson (L) and Jordyn Woods (C) Kylie took selfies with fans while carrying her roses as well as pausing to pose with a peace sign with her friend Harry. The California-born star celebrated her Valentine's Day with her boyfriend, Tyga. The duo celebrated their love by taking a helicopter tour of the Big Apple, as seen on her Instagram Sunday. The entrepreneur arrived to the city last week to support Kanye West, who is the husband of her older sister, Kim Kardashian. Kanye debuted his Yeezy Season 3 collection during Fashion Week on Thursday. Pretty in pink: Kylie wore her locks loose with a slight wave, opting for a side swept fringe Bright: The teen wore a sparkling light hued chain link purse, which perfectly matched her brightly colored hair Love is in the air: The California-born star celebrated her Valentine's Day with her on-again off-again and now on-again boyfriend, Tyga France calls for halt to Turkish bombing of Kurdish forces in Syria France called Sunday for Turkey to immediately halt the bombing of Kurdish forces in Syria and said it was concerned at the "worsening" situation in northern Syria. Echoing an appeal made by the United States on Saturday, France called for "an immediate halt to the bombing, both that of the regime and its allies throughout the country and that of Turkey in the Kurdish zones". On Sunday, the Turkish army struck positions held by Kurdish fighters inside Syria for a second day, with Turkish state media reporting that it was in response to incoming fire. Members of the Kurdish internal security forces check vehicles in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, in December 2015 Delil Souleiman (AFP) The army hit Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets around the Syrian town of Azaz using howitzers stationed on the Turkish side of the border, Anatolia news agency reported. 'Sex and the City' star unveils Emily Dickinson biopic at Berlin fest Seminal 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson would have been a big fan of Twitter, "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon said Sunday after premiering her biopic of the reclusive writer at the Berlin film festival. Nixon plays the mysterious Dickinson, who only published a handful of poems in her lifetime but in death became one of the United States' most acclaimed writers, in the lush period drama "A Quiet Passion" by British director Terence Davies. The 49-year-old actress said Dickinson, who never married and spent her life in increasing isolation in her parents' Massachusetts home, would have loved 21st century social media. US actress Cynthia Nixon poses during a press conference for the film "A Quiet Passion" during the 66th Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin on February 14, 2016 John MacDougall (AFP) "Even though Emily was so secluded, she was really all about connecting to other people, not necessarily in person, sometimes through letters and sometimes through poems," Nixon said. "It's quintessentially 'today' in a certain way -- she's so longing for communion with people who she loves and are not there. I can imagine her just emailing and tweeting all day long." But Nixon said Dickinson might have been savvier about online addiction than many. "I think the thing about Emily that we should learn from... is she knows how to 'unplug', right? So she can do all this stuff, she can communicate, communicate, communicate and then she's selfish in the best way, she then takes time for herself." The film seeks to correct the image of Dickinson as an eccentric recluse, portraying her instead as a witty if exacting free spirit who bridled at the Puritanical strictures of her time in New England. - 'Lot to identify with' - Nixon became a global star in the hit television and movie series "Sex and the City" playing Miranda, an ambitious New York lawyer juggling love and a career. She has since played in several television dramas including a turn as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in "Warm Springs" and numerous roles on Broadway. She called it "intimidating" to play "such a great thinker and artist" whose work she fell in love with as an adolescent. "As kind of a shy young person, I found a lot to identify with her and I think that's not unusual, I think a lot of people see themselves in Emily Dickinson. So that made me a little more bold." Davies, 70, is best known for the 2011 drama "The Deep Blue Sea" starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston, and his 2000 adaptation of Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" featuring Gillian Anderson. He said he was drawn to Dickinson's story due to the power of her poetry but also because she was so unsung during her lifetime. "When someone is as great as that and they don't get recognition, that really upsets me," he said. The 11-day festival is featuring several much-anticipated biopics this year including "Genius" starring Colin Firth as influential literary editor Max Perkins, who published some of the 20th century's greatest American writers. Jude Law plays Thomas Wolfe, Nicole Kidman his lover and muse Aline Bernstein, with Dominic West portraying Ernest Hemingway and Guy Pearce as F. Scott Fitzgerald in the picture premiering Tuesday. And Don Cheadle of "Hotel Rwanda" is due in the German capital Thursday to present "Miles Ahead" in which he directs and stars as jazz great Miles Davis. The festival runs until February 21. Construction began on 1,800 W.Bank settler homes in 2015: NGO Construction started on 1,800 homes for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank last year, 265 of them in wildcat outposts, settlements watchdog Peace Now said Sunday in its annual report. The overall number of starts was down sharply from the 3,100 that Peace Now reported for 2014 as right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu campaigned for a third term as prime minister, but was slightly higher than in the preceeding years. The year "2014 was an exceptional year in terms of construction", the Peace Now report said. Jewish settlers carry their belongings as they are evacuated by Israeli security forces from homes in the West Bank city of Hebron on January 22, 2016 Hazem Bader (AFP/File) It said that in 2015 work on infrastructure was carried out for planned construction of at least another 734 housing units in the West Bank. "Despite government declarations of a 'freeze', construction on the ground continued in full force," the report said. Settlers did not contest the latest figures, but said they were evidence of a devastating spiral. "The numbers that Peace Now talks about only prove what a difficult state we in the settlement movement have been in for a long time," Shilo Adler, head of the Yesha Council of Jewish settlements, told public radio. "How can it be that with a settlement population of close to half a million we are building in such low numbers?" About 380,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, with another 200,000 in east Jerusalem. The report does not cover Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Israel seized the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Israel's settlement expansion has been a major source of contention with the international community. US Secretary of State John Kerry said in December that such a policy raises "honest questions about Israel's long-term intentions". US-backed peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in April 2014 amid bitter mutual recriminations. Burundi refugees fearful after Rwanda expulsion threat "In Rwanda we're safe. I don't see anywhere else to go," says Audrey, one of thousands of Burundian refugees now living in Rwanda -- but fearful after Kigali unexpectedly announced plans to relocate them to other countries. The 27-year-old, who was personally threatened for taking part in demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza at home, says she cannot return to Burundi. And she is equally unsure of her safety in other countries in the region. About 230,000 Burundians have fled the country since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans in April 2015 to run for a third term Stephanie Aglietti (AFP/File) "When we heard the news, we were amazed," she said. "We did not expect it." Burundi has been in turmoil since Nkurunziza announced plans in April 2015 to run for a third term, which he went on to win. In less than a year, hundreds of people have been killed and around 230,000 Burundians have fled the country. According to the UNHCR, some 75,000 of those have taken refuge in Rwanda. Like many of her compatriots, Audrey has been put up by a Rwandan family since fleeing three months ago and she remains too frightened to be photographed or clearly identified. "We talk about it a lot amongst ourselves, especially on social media, we wonder where we are going to be able to go," she said. Rwanda's plan to relocate the refugees comes amid accusations that Kigali is meddling in the affairs of its troubled neighbour. Burundi has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing rebels intent on overthrowing the government in Bujumbura. Kigali has fiercely denied the accusations. - Victims for second time - The United States has also accused Rwanda of involvement in "destabilising activities" in Burundi. "There are credible reports of recruitment of Burundian refugees out of camps in Rwanda to participate in armed attacks by Burundian armed opposition against the Burundian government," Thomas Perriello, US envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, said Wednesday. UN experts also told the Security Council last week that Rwanda had recruited and trained refugees from Burundi, among them children, who wanted to remove Burundi's Nkurunziza from power. Rwanda's relocation announcement came out of the blue on Friday, even taking the UN refugee agency by surprise. "The government of Rwanda... will immediately begin working with partners in the international community to plan the orderly and safe relocation of Burundian refugees to third countries," the government said in a statement. Reacting to the plan UNHCR said it was "concerned", saying it "seems to undermine the precedent of refugee protection Rwanda has set over decades." "A third country? What does that mean?" said Amandine, a mother of two children, one of whom has just started at a primary school in the Rwandan capital. Neighbouring nations already host thousands of Burundian refugees in overstretched camps, with Tanzania hosting some 130,000 and the Democratic Republic of Congo over 18,000. Uganda, which borders Rwanda to the north, has 21,000. "Many refugees have started a new life in Kigali," said Sandrine, 26. "Some started their own business. Students who had had to interrupt their studies when they fled Burundi have resumed their education here," she said. "We will be victims for a second time," she said. - Goodwill of Rwandans - Kigali has assured the UNHCR that it "would continue to respect its international obligations to protect refugees, would not close its borders, and would not forcibly expel Burundian refugees". The agency, however, urged "the government to make such clarifications publicly as soon as possible to prevent panic on the part of refugees in Rwanda". "We would like to have more information. We are in the dark on this," said Audrey, who is only half reassured by the UNHCR statements. Exiled Burundian journalist Reverien Bazikanwe said he too was concerned. But he said he understood Rwanda's decision. Kigali, he said, was reacting to unfounded accusations which he accused the Burundi government of using to "drown out the major issue" of the crisis in Burundi. "It's in the interests of Bujumbura to cloud the real issue," he said. UNHCR spokeswoman in Rwanda, Martina Pomeroy, said she feared possible tensions between the Rwandan population and the refugees. Most of the refugees are "living in families or the community where they have been dependent on the generosity and goodwill of Rwandans hosting them", she said. "So what can happen if the population thinks that refugees have become undesirable for the government?" she added. Demonstrators march on February 13, 2016 in Bujumbura, Burundi during a protest against Rwanda Burundian refugees wash clothes at a temporary shelter at the Gashora refugee camp in Rwanda Stephanie Aglietti (AFP/File) Ehud Olmert, once feted for his peace efforts with the Palestinians, has become Israel's first former premier to serve jail time as he began a 19-month sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice. With the nation transfixed and Israeli television broadcasting live, the 70-year-old entered the Maasiyahu prison in the central city of Ramle just before 10am. He was escorted to the prison by officers of Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency as a crowd of journalists watched from nearby. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (left) arrives at the Maasiyahu Prison in the central Israeli city of Ramle today to begin his 19 month prison sentence for corruption and obstruction of justice During his trial, a court heard how he had taken envelopes stuffed with cash from a U.S. businessman during his time in office before he was the Prime Minister Olmert (centre), leaves his home in Motzah near Jerusalem to begin his 19 month prison sentence A debonair man reputed to have a taste for fine cigars, the start of Olmert's prison term closes a chapter in a long legal odyssey since he left office in 2009. The charges against him date to before his time as prime minister, to the years when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and economy minister, among other positions. In a video message released on Monday morning before he began his sentence, Olmert maintained his innocence. 'You can imagine how painful and strange this change is to me, my family, loved ones and supporters,' he said, looking haggard and downcast. 'I totally deny all the bribe charges attributed to me.' He added that 'over the course of my extensive career I also made mistakes, though none of them were criminal by nature in my opinion. 'I'm paying a dear price for some of them today, perhaps too dear. With a very heavy heart, I'm accepting my sentence today. Nobody is above the law.' Olmert was initially given six years' prison in May 2014 for taking bribes in the early 2000s in connection with the construction of Jerusalem's massive Holyland residential complex, but the sentence was later reduced to 18 months. Last week, an Israeli court handed him an additional month for obstructing justice. He admitted to the crime as part of a plea bargain in that case. His prison sentence could still be extended further. The Supreme Court is debating his appeal against a third sentence of eight months for fraud and corruption. Olmert was found guilty of taking bribes while in office in the early 2000s in connection to the development of a residential complex The Israeli Prisons Service says Olmert will be housed in a special block, separate from the general prison population The Israeli Prisons Service says he has been assigned to special block 10, 'which is intended to house prisoners who for various reasons cannot be placed with the general prison population.' He will join four other unidentified inmates in the block, which has a maximum capacity of 18, and he will eventually have to share a cell. Inmates are allowed to bring from home four pairs of underpants, four pairs of socks, two towels and two sweatshirts without hoods or lining. They can also bring with them one blanket, two sheets, a pillowcase, and religious books and articles. Born near the port city of Haifa, Olmert was elected to parliament in 1973 for the rightwing Likud party and served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003. He later joined the cabinet. He broke away from the Likud with then-prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2005 to form the centre-right Kadima party and became premier the following year after Sharon suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. Olmert resigned as prime minister in September 2008 after police recommended he be indicted for graft, but he remained in office until March 2009, when Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in to the post, which he has held ever since. Olmert won international acclaim for relaunching peace efforts with the Palestinians at the Annapolis conference in the United States in 2007, but the corruption charges against him have come to define his legacy. U.S. financier Morris Talansky, a key witness in one of the cases, testified that Olmert gave him envelopes stuffed with cash and said much of the money may have been spent on luxury travel and fine cigars. The testimony sent shock waves through Israeli politics. Before taking over as premier in 2006, Olmert was recognised as a key strategist behind many of Sharon's boldest moves, including Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza and his decision to leave Likud and form Kadima. He was seen as among the most promising politicians in Israeli history. Child killed, 30 wounded in Burundi grenade blasts Insurgents in Burundi hurled a series of grenades on Monday, killing a child and wounding at least 30 people in the latest in a string of attacks, the security minister said. Men on a motorbike threw three grenades in the symbolic heart of the city, while two other blasts were reported in a northern suburb, according to witnesses and a journalist group, SOS Medias Burundi. A young child was killed, with SOS Medias Burundi issuing a photograph of the victim, a small corpse covered by a blanket lying on the street. Burundi police patrol a street in Bujumbura following a grenade attack on February 15, 2016 Public Security Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni confirmed a child was killed and 30 people wounded. Grenade blasts have become commonplace in the city, but it remains unclear who carries out the attacks, which have increased in the past two weeks. Security forces, rebels and opposition all blame each other for the killings. Presidential press chief Willy Nyamitwe confirmed the attacks, saying that "as usual... terrorists kill civilians with grenades." Burundi plunged into crisis in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for and won a controversial third term, sparking street protests, a failed coup, regular killings and a nascent rebellion. Hundreds have been killed in the violence and at least 230,000 have fled the country. "We do not know what is going on. but it is clear they want to terrorise us. I heard three grenade explosions and here, near the central roundabout, there were several wounded," said one witness, who asked not to be named. The leader of the failed May 2015 coup, ex-general Godefroid Nyombare, now leads a rebel group, Forebu. The rebels formed the force "to protect the population" and uphold the Arusha Agreement that paved the way to the end of the country's 1993-2006 civil war -- an accord they say Nkurunziza violated by his third term in power. UN, US condemn Syria air strikes as 'almost 50 civilians' killed The United Nations and Washington on Monday condemned air strikes on medical facilities and schools in Syria that the world body said killed almost 50 civilians, with the US implicating Russia. Also ahead of a hoped-for ceasefire, Kurdish fighters in northern Syria captured a key town despite Turkish cross-border shelling, a monitor said, as Ankara and Moscow traded accusations over their military entanglement in the conflict. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad poured cold water on the plan for a ceasefire to begin later this week, saying it would be "difficult" to implement. A hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is reduced to rubble in an airstrike near Maaret al-Numan, northern Syria, on February 15, 2016 The UN said air strikes on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria's Aleppo and Idlib provinces killed nearly 50 civilians including children. UN chief Ban Ki-moon considers that "such attacks are blatant violations of international law", added the organisation's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. The United States, which like the UN did not identify who carried out the air strikes, said two civilian hospitals were hit in and around Aleppo in northern Syria: one run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and another in Azaz city. Such action "casts doubt on Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people", the State Department said. But Syria's ambassador to Moscow, Riad Haddad, said the hospital had been the target of a US raid. "American warplanes destroyed it. Russian warplanes had nothing to do with any of it -- the information that has been gathered will completely back that up," he told Russia's state television channel Rossiya 24. The increasing violence on the ground in Syria and war of words between Ankara and Moscow have dampened hopes that a proposed cessation of hostilities will take hold this week. "They are saying they want a ceasefire in a week. Who is capable of gathering all the conditions and requirements in a week? No one," Assad said in televised remarks. "A ceasefire must mean stopping terrorists from strengthening their positions. Moving weapons, equipment, terrorists or strengthening positions must all be forbidden," he added. UN peace envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura arrived Monday in Damascus, a government source there said, amid the ceasefire push. Without assigning blame, MSF confirmed a hospital supported by the charity was hit in Idlib, northwest Syria, and said seven people were killed and at least eight were missing, presumed dead. - Turkey resumes shelling Kurds - Turkey, meanwhile, resumed shelling Kurdish-led forces in several parts of Aleppo, alarmed by their recent advances against mostly Islamist rebels. Ankara accuses the Kurdish forces of ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least two children were killed in Monday's shelling, and an AFP journalist on Turkey's border said Turkish howitzers fired for around 20 minutes from the Akcabaglar region. Despite the shelling, the coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured Tal Rifaat, the Observatory said. Barely 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border, the town was seized from an alliance of mostly Islamist rebels. The SDF had already seized the nearby Minnigh airbase and severed the road between Tal Rifaat and rebel-held Azaz on the border. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said Turkish artillery on Monday fired on Tal Rifaat itself for the first time. Turkey fears the Kurds will be able to create a contiguous Kurdish territory just across the border in northern Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned earlier Monday that Ankara would not let Azaz fall to the SDF, adding that "the necessary intervention will be made". - EU joins condemnation - Moscow says its military intervention has targeted the Islamic State jihadist group and other "terrorists", but rights groups say Russia's raids have caused disproportionately high civilian casualties. The MSF-supported hospital in Idlib is one of several health facilities Russia is accused of hitting since its aerial campaign began September 30. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini branded the Idlib attack "unacceptable" and urged "all parties (to respect) basic principles of humanitarian law". Acts such as the "deliberate" bombardment of a hospital "constitute war crimes", said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. The Observatory also reported 10 civilians, including three children, killed in suspected Russian strikes in and nearby Azaz. The strikes in Azaz hit near a hospital, it said. Russia's air strikes have allowed government forces to press a major operation that has virtually encircled rebels in eastern Aleppo city, as well as pushing them from much of the region to the north. They have angered Turkey, with Davutoglu on Monday warning: "If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response." Moscow called Turkey's shelling in Syria "provocative" and said it supported raising the issue at the UN Security Council. A US State Department spokesperson urged Turkey and Russia to avoid any further escalation. "It is important that the Russians and Turks speak directly, and take measures to prevent escalation," the spokesperson told AFP. More than 260,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Latest deadly airstrikes on schools and hospitals in Syria Thomas Saint-Circq (AFP) UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura (L), arrives at his hotel with Syrian assistant foreign minister, Ayman Sosan (R) in the Syrian capital Damascus on February 15, 2016 An injured Syrian man stands in front of Kilis hospital in south-central Turkey on February 15, 2016, arriving from northern Syria Bulent Kilic (AFP) Turkish army cannon shoots in the direction of Syria near the border close to Oncupinar crossing gate in Kilis, in south-central Turkey, on February 15, 2016 Bulent Kilic (AFP) One killed as Uganda opposition and police clash ahead of polls At least one person was killed Monday as Ugandan police fought running battles with opposition supporters, firing tear gas and briefly detaining a top presidential challenger days ahead of polls to elect the head of state. Kizza Besigye, a three-time failed presidential candidate who heads the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, was held after street clashes as he campaigned in the capital Kampala ahead of Thursday's election. "Police can confirm one person died during the confusion today," Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango told AFP, without giving further details. Ugandan anti-riot police arrest opposition leader Kizza Besigye on a busy Kampala street on February 15, 2016 Isaac Kasamani (AFP) Opposition politicians said three people had been shot dead, but the claims could not be independently verified. "Three of our supporters have been shot dead, and several other people have been seriously injured and are in hospital," said Mubarak Munyagwa, FDC's candidate for Kampala mayor. "They were firing tear gas, a lot of tear gas," said FDC supporter Swaibu Mugalu, 32, describing how police blocked Besigye from holding a rally in central Kampala. Besigye was driven to a police station, before then being taken home by police, with police spokesman Onyango stressing he was "not under any form of arrest." FDC spokesman Semujju Nganda claimed "several" supporters were injured during scuffles with police. "We protest in the strongest terms police brutality towards our supporters and targeting our candidate," he said. Minister for the Presidency Frank Tumwebaze however said it was "madness" that Besigye had tried to hold a rally in the centre of the capital, saying the police had a duty to ensure calm. He accused Besigye of "seeking publicity... after sensing defeat ahead." Besigye has been repeatedly arrested in the past, and is commonly freed without charge shortly after. He called for restraint after his release. "I appeal to my supporters to be calm. Let us remain firm and law-abiding. We shall assert our rights," Besigye said, according to the New Vision. - US warns on violence - Seven opposition candidates are vying to deny veteran leader President Yoweri Museveni a fifth term at the February 18 election, and there are fears violence could mar the campaign, with all sides accusing each other of arming militias to press their claims. Museveni faces his stiffest challenge yet from Besigye, his former personal doctor, and Amama Mbabazi, a former prime minister and ruling party stalwart now running as an independent. The US State Department on Monday stressed the need for a "peaceful, transparent and credible electoral process" and called on all sides to "refrain from provocative actions or rhetoric that raise tensions." Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo earlier this month claimed opposition parties were raising militia to disrupt the election, claims they have denied. "Violence or threats of violence from any group or individual are unacceptable, and those who participate in such acts -- regardless of which candidate they support -- must be held accountable," the US statement added. "We strongly urge the government and electoral authorities to ensure a level playing field and transparent process, including through fair application of the law, so that all candidates have an equal opportunity to express their views and voters have the opportunity to hear them." Museveni, who seized power in 1986, is one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, after Equatorial Guinea's President Theodore Obiang Nguema, Angola's Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Cameroon's Paul Biya. Aged at least 71, Museveni is widely expected to be re-elected, having changed the constitution in 2005 to allow him to run again. Ugandan police fire tear gas in Kampala on February 15, 2016 to disperse opposition supporters Isaac Kasamani (AFP) Uganda military police put out a burning barricade that was lit by supporters of the opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Kampala on February 15, 2016 Isaac Kasamani (AFP) Israel's Olmert: from promise to prison term Ehud Olmert was once described as "probably the best" politician Israel had ever produced, but the debonair ex-premier who began a prison term for corruption on Monday has seen a humiliating fall from grace. Olmert, 70, became Israel's first ex-prime minister to serve jail time when he walked into the Maasiyahu prison in the central city of Ramle for the 19-month term. Once known for relaunching peace efforts with the Palestinians while prime minister between 2006-2009, Olmert is now likely to be remembered for allegations that led one judge to speak of "corrupt and filthy practices." Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrives for a hearing in his trial for corruption linked to a major property development on May 13, 2014 at the district court of the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Finbarr O'Reilly (Pool/AFP/File) A balding father-of-four with a lean physique, roguish grin and a reputed taste for fine cigars, Olmert maintained his innocence in a video message before entering prison. You can imagine how painful and strange this change is to me, my family, loved ones and supporters," Olmert said in the video, looking haggard and downcast. He added that he believes the public will eventually see that while I was prime minister, there were sincere and promising attempts to reach peace. The charges against him date to before his time as prime minister, to the years when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and economy minister, among other positions. Olmert was born near Haifa on September 30, 1945 during the British mandate of Palestine. A lawyer by trade, he surprised many rightwing friends in the early 1970s by marrying left-leaning artist Aliza, who brought up their children with equally liberal views. He entered the cabinet in 1988 and five years later was elected mayor of Jerusalem, a post he held for a decade but in which he rarely distinguished himself, before returning to the government under Ariel Sharon in 2003. With Sharon, he broke away from the rightwing Likud party in 2005 to form the centre-right Kadima and became premier the following year after Sharon suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. - Unfulfilled promise - Before taking over as prime minister, Olmert was recognised as a key strategist behind many of Sharon's boldest moves, including Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza as well as their split from the Likud. Time magazine was so impressed that it dubbed him "the 12th Israeli to serve as prime minister and probably the best politician of them all". After Sharon's collapse, Olmert led Kadima to victory in March 2006 on a platform of dismantling dozens of settlements and withdrawing troops from most of the West Bank. But from that point, things began to go downhill, with his West Bank plan shelved after a bloody 34-day war against Lebanon's Hezbollah that summer which left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers. Unlike many of his predecessors, Olmert lacked an illustrious military background and his handling of the conflict was harshly criticised. Although he rejected peace talks for decades, Olmert underwent a late-career conversion. Following the relaunch of peace talks in November 2007 ending a seven-year hiatus, Olmert met several times with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, reportedly making far-reaching concessions in a bid to reach an agreement. But the talks were abruptly halted just over a year later when Israel embarked upon a devastating three-week offensive in Gaza. Olmert also entered into Turkish-mediated talks with long-time foe Syria in May 2008 over Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights. He resigned as premier in September 2008 after police recommended he be indicted for graft, but he remained in office until March 2009, when Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in to the post, which he has held ever since. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (C) arrives at the Maasiyahu Prison in the central Israeli city of Ramle on February 15, 2016 as he begins a 19-month term for bribery and obstruction of justice Jack Guez (AFP) Then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert (L) and his wife Aliza arrive at the Tokyo International Airport on February 25, 2008 Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon (R), seated next to his then deputy Ehud Olmert, during a parliamentary session at the Knesset in Jerusalem 03 May 2004 Gali Tibbon (AFP/File) Palestinian official says spike in violence born of desperation Renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians has its roots in the latter's humiliation and desperation after decades of occupation, Palestinian foreign minister Riad Al-Malki said Monday. Five Palestinians, including three teenagers, were killed while carrying out attacks Sunday, the latest in a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks on Israelis that erupted at the beginning of October. Since then 172 Palestinians and 26 Israelis have been killed. A Palestinian girl and women figth to free a Palestinian boy (bottom) held by an Israeli soldier (C) during clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters following a march against Palestinian land confiscation last year Abbas Momani (AFP/File) Most of the Palestinians were carrying out attacks but others died during clashes and demonstrations. Malki pointed to ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank, which began in 1967, saying Palestinians born under it have seen nothing "but humiliation, soldiers' check-points, deaths and killing". "They are born without any hope for the future... that's why sometimes they (teenage assailants) decide to sacrifice their lives even at the age of 15... for the better lives of the rest of the Palestinians," Malki told a press conference. He is visiting Japan with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who was due to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later Monday. Malki added that authorities do not advocate violence and are trying to prevent it. "But the international community has to understand that there is a limit to everything," he said. Some analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the unrest. Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a main cause of the violence. Peace talks collapsed in April 2014 and since then, the situation has deteriorated, with the prospects of fresh dialogue appearing more remote than ever. Malki said that one-on-one talks with Israel were out of the question. "We will never go back and sit again in a direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations." He stressed that a multilateral framework to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is needed and he praised an initiative discussed late last month by France to revive plans for an international conference to end the conflict. And he warned that without international involvement a vacuum will be left that may end up being filled by the Islamic State jihadist group. "If Daesh take advantage of lack of any brokers... then of course, they might come and try to fill it," he said, referring to Islamic State. "This is very dangerous," he added. "If the Americans are giving up and the Europeans don't have the courage to do anything and Arabs are really worried about their own problems, what do you expect? Extremists around might take over." UK government to ban English boycotts on Israeli goods English town halls and publicly funded universities face "severe penalties" if they institute boycotts of "unethical" companies or Israeli goods under controversial new rules to be outlined by the government this week. "Locally imposed boycotts can roll back integration as well as hinder Britain's export trade and harm international relationship," the Cabinet Office said in a statement on Monday. "Town hall boycotts undermine good community relations, poisoning and polarising debate, weakening integration and fuelling anti-Semitism," it added. The European Union last year backed the labelling of products from Israeli settlements, in a move that Israel condemned as discriminatory and warned could harm the peace process with the Palestinians Ahmad Gharabli (AFP/File) The proposed rules are due to be announced later this week by Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock during a visit to Israel, the government statement said, without saying what penalties may be imposed. "We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts," Hancock was expected to say. The ruling will only affect England as the decision in other parts of the United Kingdom comes under the authority of the devolved governments. The Israeli government praised the ruling. "We welcome the decision taken by the British authorities not to allow anti-Israeli initiatives at local level," foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told AFP. "This is a measure adopted following a few cases in which anti-Israeli elements tried to initiate local initiatives against Israel," he added. The measure would apply to the public sector in England as a whole, including the National Health Service. The only exception to the boycott ban, which also covers action against companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuel and tobacco, would be official sanctions agreed by the central government. The move follows a series of local boycotts in recent years that have angered Israeli authorities. In 2014, Leicester City Council instituted a boycott on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The European Union last year backed the labelling of products from Israeli settlements, in a move that Israel condemned as discriminatory and warned could harm the peace process with the Palestinians. The Cabinet Office said it continued to support labelling "to ensure that individual consumers are able to make informed choices before they buy". But an opposition Labour Party spokesman said the boycott ban was "an attack on local democracy". "This government's ban would have outlawed council action against apartheid South Africa," he said. Amnesty International's UK economic relations programme director Peter Frankental also condemned the plan. Row over India student's sedition arrest escalates A row over the arrest of an Indian student on a controversial sedition charge escalated Monday, with students refusing to attend classes and violent scenes at the Delhi court where he was due to appear. Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on Friday for alleged seditious behaviour at a rally to mark the third anniversary of a Kashmiri separatist's execution, sparking major protests at Delhi's prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and other universities. He was brought before a judge on Monday, but violent scuffles broke out in the courtroom where fellow students and journalists had gathered to witness his appearance. Indian students hold placards during a protest against the arrest of the president of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Student Union (JNU) Kanhaiya Kumar, at Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla on February 15, 2016 An AFP reporter at the court said men wearing lawyers' robes snatched reporters' phones and notebooks and pushed them to the ground, accusing them of being "pro-Pakistan" and "anti-Indian". Several journalists said they had been threatened and ordered to leave the court. Television footage showed unidentified men punching and shoving people outside the court building. Kumar and other students are accused of voicing anti-India slogans at last Tuesday's largely peaceful rally at JNU, charges they deny. His arrest has reignited a row over freedom of expression in India, where some rights campaigners say the British-era sedition law is being misused to clamp down on dissent. Students have since staged protests at campuses around the country in support of Kumar, accusing India's Hindu nationalist government of overreacting. JNU students said Monday they would boycott classes until Kumar was released. Kumar has denied any wrongdoing and remains in police custody after reportedly being arraigned for two more days on Monday. The maximum penalty for sedition is life imprisonment. Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi defended the decision to arrest Kumar, saying the student had "raised anti-India slogans and that's why he has been arrested". He played down Monday's violence after media accused police in court of doing little to stop it, saying that "to my knowledge nobody has received any serious injuries". The head of the ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah, said the government would not tolerate what he called "anti-national activities" at JNU, which has a long history of left-wing student activism. "The people of our country want to know if supporting Afzal Guru means freedom of expression. Is attacking our parliament freedom of expression?" he told reporters on Monday. "Do you care for the sentiments of the family members of our martyrs and soldiers who protect our borders?" Separatist Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in 2013 over a deadly attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. He had always denied plotting the attack, which was carried out by Kashmiri militants. India and arch-rival Pakistan have fought two wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between the countries. Both claim the territory in full. Indian Congress and Leftist activists shout slogans against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government during a joint protest against the arrest of a student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Kolkata on February 15, 2016 Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP) Bahrain arrests four American journalists during protests Bahraini authorities have arrested four Americans during protests marking the fifth anniversary of a Shiite-led uprising in the kingdom, US and Bahraini authorities said, drawing condemnation from rights groups. They include an independent journalist named Anna Therese Day and three members of her camera crew, according to a statement issued by Day's family. Police said four Americans, among them a woman, were arrested around the Shiite town of Sitra on Sunday during clashes between security forces and protesters, in a statement published by the official Bahrain News Agency. A Bahraini police vehicle drives past women during clashes with protesters following a demonstration to mark the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring-inspired uprising in Sitra Mohammed Al-Shaikh (AFP) "One of them was masked and taking part with a group of saboteurs in Sitra in acts of rioting and sabotage and attacks on security officials," it said. "The other three were arrested at a security checkpoint in the same area." The four entered Bahrain between February 11 and 12 and "provided false information to concerned authorities" claiming to be tourists, police said. "Some of those arrested had carried out journalistic activities without permission from concerned authorities, in addition to carrying out illegal acts." The US State Department said it was aware of reports that Americans had been arrested in Bahrain but declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns. Day's family said the four were committed journalists and denied they had done anything wrong, calling for their immediate release. "The allegation that they were in any way involved in illegal behaviour or anything other than journalistic activities is impossible," a spokesperson for the family said in a statement. Rights groups also criticised their detention, with the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists branding Bahrain "one of the worst jailers of journalists in the Arab world". "It is sad that the fifth anniversary of the protests is marked by the arrest of yet more journalists in Bahrain," said Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator Sherif Mansour. Activist Brian Dooley from Human Rights First called the arrests "another alarming reminder of how dangerous Bahrain is for reporters," urging Washington to "stand up to its repressive military ally". Day is an award-winning journalist who has reported extensively from the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, and her work has been featured in news outlets including the New York Times and CNN. Bahrain said the case of the four detainees has been referred to the public prosecution. Home to the US Fifth Fleet, Bahrain was rocked by an Arab Spring-inspired uprising demanding reforms and a constitutional monarchy on February 14, 2011. Authorities crushed the protest movement one month later, but demonstrators have still taken to the streets and clash with police in Shiite towns surrounding Manama. Bahraini protesters take part in a demonstration to mark the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring-inspired uprising in the mainly Shiite village of Sitra Mohammed Al-Shaikh (AFP) UN peace envoy on surprise trip to Syria: government source The UN's peace envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura was making a surprise visit to Damascus on Monday, a government source told AFP, as world powers push for a ceasefire this week. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said De Mistura was expected to arrive later Monday and meet Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem on Tuesday. The envoy's visit comes after world powers last Friday called for immediate aid access throughout Syria and a "cessation of hostilities" to begin within a week. UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, pictured on February 3, 2016, is expected to meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem Fabrice Coffrini (AFP/File) The plan was intended to help pave the way for the resumption of peace talks presided over by De Mistura that collapsed earlier this month. The source said the envoy was expected to discuss the ceasefire and aid access plan, as well as the possible resumption of talks on February 25. He said it was not yet clear how long De Mistura would be in the country. Iran's first post-sanctions oil exports to Europe begin Iran is poised to export its first oil shipments to Europe since international economic sanctions were lifted in mid-January, the oil ministry's SHANA news service reported on Monday. It said two million barrels of oil were being pumped aboard a tanker at Kharg Island in the Gulf, bound for French energy giant Total. Another two tankers were preparing to ship a million barrels each to Spain's CEPSA and Lukoil of Russia, SHANA reported. An Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat cruises past an oil tanker off the port of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on July 2, 2012, in recent years, Iranian oil exports have fallen from more than 2.2 million barrels per day to about one million Atta Kenare (AFP/File) It cited oil terminals official Pirouz Moussavi as saying on Sunday that loading of the tankers would be complete within 24 hours. "For the last four years, no oil has been shipped to Europe because of the unjust sanctions against our country," Moussavi added. In early 2012, the European Union and United States strengthened economic sanctions against Iran because of its controversial nuclear programme, forcing the Islamic republic to halt oil exports to Europe. Since then, Asia -- mainly India and China -- have been the main market for Iranian oil. In recent years, Iranian oil exports have fallen from more than 2.2 million barrels per day to about one million bpd. It currently produces 2.8 million bpd. Iran's nuclear agreement last July with world powers means that now that most of the sanctions have been lifted it can resume oil exports to Europe. Last month, the National Oil Company said it had ordered production to increase by 500,000 bpd -- a move Tehran had long planned once the nuclear deal with world powers took effect. When President Hassan Rouhani visited France in January, a deal was signed with Total to buy 160,000 bpd. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the contract with Total would take effect from February 16, SHANA said. Oil prices rose on Monday with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March delivery climbing 57 cents to $33.01 per barrel from Friday's close. DR Congo opposition party leader freed by military unit A military intelligence unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo freed opposition party leader Martin Fayulu after holding him for several hours ahead of a planned general strike, he said Monday. Fayulu, a member of parliament who heads the small Engagement for Citizenship and Development movement (ECIDE), was arrested by soldiers on Sunday in front of party members and passers-by. He told AFP that he was "kidnapped" outside ECIDE's headquarters in northern Kinshasa by agents of the Military Detection of Anti-National Activities service (DEMIAP). Opposition supporters, like these men at a rally in Kinshasa on September 15, 2015, accuse President Joseph Kabila of seeking to delay the polls and cling to power after he made a call for "national dialogue" in November Junior Kannah (AFP/File) The intelligence unit still had his car, a mobile telephone whose total contents they copied, some documents, a cheque book and almost 700 dollars (625 euros) in cash. They also kept more than 1,000 leaflets calling for a general strike on Tuesday against the regime of President Joseph Kabila, who has been in office since 2001. Under the constitution, Kabila is barred from standing in an election due to take place by the end of the year, but the opposition accuses him of seeking to delay the polls and cling to power after he made a call for "national dialogue" in November. "They were trying to stifle the dead city (strike) day on Tuesday," Fayulu said when asked about the probable motive for his detention. Instead "the government has given us some publicity," he added. Fayulu said he was allowed to contact his lawyer while in custody, then he was taken home without charge after some eight hours in DEMIAP hands. The ECIDE is part of an opposition coalition whose members signed a call for a nationwide general strike across the vast central African country on Tuesday. Leaflets urging people to take part in the strike were circulating in several districts of Kinshasa, witnesses said. Later Monday the provincial interior minister for Kinshasa, Emmanuel Akweti, told AFP that the government "has not authorised any demonstrations for tomorrow (Tuesday)." Iraq PM offers cash-strapped Kurds salaries for oil Iraq's federal government will pay the salaries of the cash-strapped Kurdish region's employees if it halts its independent oil exports, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Monday. Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, facing a financial crisis due to low oil prices, has announced its employees will be paid partial salaries until further notice and that months of unpaid wages will be considered loans to the government. "Give us the oil and I will give every employee in Kurdistan (their) salary," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state television. The SCF Altai tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan, sits anchored near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on June 22, 2014 David Buimovitch (AFP/File) Iraqi Kurdistan has been independently exporting crude via Turkey from northern territory it controls since a deal with Baghdad on oil and revenue-sharing collapsed last year, a move the federal government considers illegal. Abadi, who has previously put Kurdistan's oil exports at over 600,000 barrels per day, said this amounts to the region's share of the federal budget, which Baghdad is withholding. "Exports from the region represent around 16 percent of the oil exported... from all Iraq, so the region has obtained its (share of the) budget," he said. The Kurdish austerity measures have sparked widespread anger among regional government employees, some of whom have protested or gone on strike. Massud Barzani, the region's de facto president, has called for a referendum on independence, but Kurdistan's financial woes effectively rule out a viable state for now. Abadi has said he hopes Kurdistan will remain part of Iraq. As the Iraqi premier grapples with a dire budget crisis caused mostly by the collapse of oil prices, he also vowed to crack down on "ghost fighters" in the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation units. These pro-government paramilitaries forces are nominally under his control but are dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias. "We have the financial provisions, but they increased their numbers beyond that," Abadi said of the fighters' salaries. "Those fighting on the frontline are not getting paid because those sitting at home are. Is that fair?" he asked. "I must support the real fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi," he said. Abadi did not specify the number of "ghost fighters" but an adviser to his office said earlier this month that only around half of the estimated 120,000 Hashed members were active fighters. Hashed al-Shaabi volunteer fighters, who played a major role in halting a sweeping offensive by the Islamic State group in 2014 and later in pushing the jihadists back, have since been officially incorporated into the security apparatus. Some high-profile Hashed al-Shaabi commanders are political rivals of Abadi. Carved-up N. Carolina county braces for redistricting fight DURHAM, N.C. (AP) Mary Hodgin lives in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District. Her neighbors across the street do not. In fact, Hodgin didn't live in this district until a few years ago even though she's been in the same Durham home for 25 years. The change came when Republican lawmakers drew the dividing line right down the mile-long stretch of Alston Avenue in front of her house. And, with the March 15 primary just weeks away, a court fight could change the boundaries again. "It's very concerning as a voter who tries to stay abreast of the issues," she said. "Worst-case scenario, it would put voters off from participating in any election." Durham County had been part of a single congressional district for more than a decade until legislative mapmakers carved out chunks and added them to other territories before the 2012 elections. A color-coded map by state legislators makes the 1st District look like a yellow fist reaching in to scoop up downtown Durham and the surrounding neighborhoods. The county is now divided among four congressional districts. The mapmakers traced highways, a river and the county line where they could, but they wound up using residential Durham County roads more than a dozen times. While districts on both sides of Hodgin's street elected Democratic congressmen, neighbors elsewhere live across a greater divide. To the northeast, voters on one side of Olive Branch Road helped elect a Democrat, while the district across the street chose a Republican. The same is true along a stretch of Cole Mill Road in the western part of the county. The 1st Congressional District was one of two struck down this month by a federal court, which also demanded new boundaries by Friday. The state's GOP leaders have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene so the current map can remain for now avoiding confusion that could ripple beyond the two districts found to be illegally race-based. North Carolina's GOP legislative leaders and their attorneys say the 12th District, which is west of Durham County, was adjusted primarily to give political advantages to Republicans. The 1st District, they say, was drawn to avoid legal challenges under the federal Voting Rights Act. "They say that race was the predominant factor in drawing the districts. We know that not to have been the case," said Republican state Rep. David Lewis of Harnett County, who helped draw the current boundaries. The high court's decision may not come until late in the week, so state lawmakers are scrambling to prepare a new map. New boundaries could be voted on by the General Assembly on Thursday if the deadline imposed by the federal court isn't overturned, House Speaker Tim Moore said. While many in heavily Democratic Durham County have called for changes to the map, they're now left wondering if they want it badly enough to throw their ballots into chaos. Still, concerns about finding the correct poll location or a familiar candidate on the ballot aren't new. For years, Democratic U.S. Rep. David Price represented all of Durham County until the district once bounded by several right angles trickled south like melted ice cream dripping off a park bench. Since the redistricting, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, also a Democrat, has represented the heart of Durham County along with others to the east. "One time I voted for Price, and the next time he wasn't there. It was Butterfield. I think that could have been a tactic to confuse voters," said Alta Lindsay, who recently moved from Durham to nearby Orange County. While she's back in Price's territory, she's worried it could change again. "I just don't see how they are going to educate voters," she said. "You could be considering one candidate, but then they redraw the lines." Late last week, legislative leaders invited the public to discuss redistricting at meetings on Monday in six locations though none in Durham County. Lindsay, who's considering retirement after losing a job in the pharmaceutical industry, says the boundaries need to be changed. "I do think the lines need to be redrawn because it was an effort by Republicans to get what they want," said Lindsay, who is black. "Small portions of African-Americans or Latinos end up in Republican districts." Durham County Democratic activists argue that lawmakers diluted the area's Democratic base by putting chunks in Republican-leaning territories. Cathy Moore, past president of Durham Democratic Women, says the current map has already sown plenty of confusion and discouraged voters. "People say they'd rather not vote than vote and make the wrong choice," she said. "If it's too complicated to figure out, they stay home." Still, she said her group wants the districts redrawn as soon as possible. "There's always some kind of stalling tactic or hoop to jump through," she said. Back along Alston Avenue, 26-year-old Valerie Bass moved into a house in the 4th District back in May, one block east of the dividing line. Lying south of downtown, the neighborhood consists of mostly one-story houses on small, tidy lots shaded by tall pines. Census data indicates the neighborhood is mostly middle-class, with roughly equal proportions of whites and blacks. The Census tract has a poverty rate around 17 percent similar to the statewide rate. Holding a 12-page voter guide from state elections officials, Bass joked that the pamphlet mailed out a few days ago could soon be out of date. It lists key dates, voting procedures and changes in voting laws. "It's a whole pamphlet of changes that have already taken place, and here's another thing that could change," she said. The registered Democrat who works in fundraising for a nonprofit organization thinks redrawing the districts is a good idea, but worries about the logistics. "What happens if they can't change the map in enough time? Does that push the primary back?" she said. "I'm definitely worried." ___ Former priest arrested in cold case known for compassion PHOENIX (AP) For nearly 20 years, John Feit was known around the St. Vincent de Paul nonprofit agency as one its most compassionate employees. The former priest worked in downtown Phoenix with food-pantry volunteers and even raised money to buy a house for a needy family. His desire to help others was apparent at his church and whenever he showed up on the doorsteps of the poor with donated food or furniture. He also mediated disagreements when local agencies were first planning a campus to house multiple services for the homeless. Feit was able to do all this charity work despite public knowledge that he had long been a suspect in the 1960 rape and killing of a Texas schoolteacher and beauty queen. This undated photo provided by the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office shows John Feit. The former priest has been arrested Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Arizona in the 1960 slaying of a 25-year-old Texas schoolteacher and beauty queen, Irene Garza. (Maricopa County Sheriffs Office via AP) Now 83, he was arrested Tuesday for the murder of 25-year-old Irene Garza in McAllen, Texas. She was last seen at the church where Feit was a priest. Her bludgeoned body was discovered in a canal days later. A grand jury brought the charge based on yet-to-be-disclosed evidence. Feit, who uses a walker, is now in jail and plans to fight extradition to Texas. For many acquaintances in Phoenix, the heinous allegations are a stark and incomprehensible contrast to the man they worked with and saw at church. "He'd be the last person you would suspect of anything like this," said Stephen Zabilski, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul. "I can't imagine you can't talk to anyone who doesn't say wonderful things about his humility and compassion." Feit, who left the priesthood to marry, joined St. Vincent de Paul's administrative office in 1983. Zabilski, who joined the organization in 1997, remembers him as a "regular, humble" guy who was either in the office or working with volunteers. He could also be determined with a project. During his first year as executive director, Zabilski saw Feit go out of his way to raise money for a couple who had taken in their 12 grandchildren. Feit and another person spearheaded an effort to raise at least $50,000 so the family could get a house. Despite disbelief from volunteers about such a daunting goal, Feit wouldn't give up. "John said 'We help people. That's what we're here to do,'" Zabilski said. "It wasn't easy for John, but he wanted to ensure it was done. I was just touched by that. Wow, this person really does care about people." But in the early 2000s, local media became interested in Feit's connection to the murder investigation. Authorities zeroed in on Feit when the killing first occurred. Feit told police that he heard Garza's confession in the church rectory, not in the confessional. But he denied killing her. Furthermore, suspicion was bolstered because he had been accused but did not serve jail time in the attack of another young woman weeks before the slaying. Feit opted not to hide his past from co-workers and fellow churchgoers at St. Theresa Parish in Phoenix. "When media were researching those particular stories, John felt it was good to give me a heads-up because they would probably be contacting me," said the Rev. Charles Kieffer, a pastor at St. Theresa. Zabilski said law enforcement never contacted anyone at St. Vincent de Paul. So there was no reason not to allow Feit, who retired in 2004, from continuing his work. A previous grand jury had found insufficient evidence to issue an indictment. "My understanding was that this had been presented to a grand jury and no one moved forward with it," Zabilski said. "He said he hadn't done it and the fact that it was so long ago." Lynda de la Vina, Garza's cousin, was 8 years old at the time of her death. Now an economics professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she believes the right person is in custody. Three weeks before Garza was slain, Feit attacked another woman in another church and pleaded no contest to that charge, she said. "It's an indication of who the man was," de la Vina said. She said Feit's time spent giving to others doesn't erase what happened. "You just don't escape something in your past if you've done something heinous," she said. Feit's brother, 92-year-old Matthias Feit, said it's not surprising that people who know him are in shock. "You can find several hundred people in Phoenix who would say the same thing a very kind man who helped others," Matthias Feit said. He did not know if his brother had retained an attorney. A portrait of Irene Garza displayed at the home of her aunt Herlynda De La Vina Republican candidates joust over foreign policy, immigration GREENVILLE, South Carolina (AP) Republican presidential candidates jousted over immigration and foreign policy in a raucous debate that was shaken by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia hours before they took the stage. Scalia's death thrust the future of the high court into the center of a heated presidential campaign. In their debate Saturday night, the Republican candidates insisted that President Barack Obama step aside and let his successor nominate Scalia's replacement instead, a position the White House vigorously opposed. Among the contenders, only Jeb Bush said Obama had "every right" to nominate a justice during his final year in office. The former Florida governor said the presidency must be a strong office though he added that he didn't expect Obama to pick a candidate who could win consensus support. Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump, right, and Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speak at the same time during the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) The five other candidates on the stage urged the Republican-led Senate to block any attempts by the president to get his third nominee on the court. "It's up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it," Donald Trump said. "It's called delay, delay, delay." Just six contenders took the debate stage in South Carolina, far from the long line of candidates who participated in earlier Republican events. Yet the Republican race remains deeply uncertain, with party elites still hoping that one of the more mainstream candidates will rise up to challenge Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Many Republican leaders believe both would be unelectable in November. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton said at a dinner in Denver that Obama has the right to nominate another justice. He "is president of the United States until Jan 20, 2017. That is a fact my friends, whether the Republicans like it or not." "Let's get on with it," said her challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, arguing that the Senate should vote on whoever Obama nominates. The Republican debate that began with a moment of silence for Scalia devolved quickly into fighting between Trump and Bush, then between Trump and Cruz. The exchanges highlighted the bad blood between the billionaire businessman and his rivals just a week before the pivotal primary in South Carolina, a state known for rough-and-tumble politics. Cruz and Trump emerged from the first two voting contests in Iowa and New Hampshire with a victory apiece and appear positioned to compete for a win in the first Southern primary. The winner in South Carolina has gone on to win the Republican presidential nomination in five of the last six elections. Trump, repeatedly interrupting his rivals, lashed out at Cruz after the Texas senator challenged his conservative credentials, calling him the "single-biggest liar" and a "nasty guy." The real estate mogul also accused Bush of lying about Trump's business record and said Bush's brother former President George W. Bush lied to the public about the Iraq war. "Obviously the war in Iraq was a big fat mistake," Trump said. Bush, who has been among the most aggressive Republican candidates in taking on Trump, said that while he didn't mind the businessman criticizing him "It's blood sport for him" he was "sick and tired of him going after my family." Trump was jeered lustily by the audience in Greenville, South Carolina, a state where the Bush family is popular with Republicans. George W. Bush plans to campaign with his brother in Charleston Monday, making his first public foray into the 2016 race. Ohio Gov. John Kasich sought to inject the election's high stakes into the discussion in the midst of the fiery exchanges between his competitors. "I think we're fixing to lose the election to Hillary Clinton if we don't stop this," Kasich said. The governor's warnings did little to deter his feisty colleagues. Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio also revived their fight over immigration, with the Texas senator haranguing his Florida counterpart for sponsoring failed legislation that would have created a pathway to citizenship for many of those in the United States illegally. Cruz also accused Rubio of taking a more moderate approach when speaking to Spanish-language media in an attempt to appeal to Hispanics. "I don't know how he knows what I said on Univision he doesn't speak Spanish," Rubio shot back. Rubio entered the debate under immense pressure following his disappointing fifth-place finish in the New Hampshire primary. He stumbled badly in a debate days before that vote, but appeared more fluid in Saturday's contest. Scalia's sudden death and the chance to replace him could serve as a reminder for voters of the consequences of elections. Cruz cast the moment in stark terms, saying allowing another Obama nominee to be approved would amount to Republicans giving up control of the Supreme Court for a generation. "One of the most important judgments for the men and women of South Carolina to make is who on this stage has the background, the principle, the character, the judgment and the strength of resolve to nominate and confirm principled constitutionalists to the court," Cruz said. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is fighting to stay in the mix in South Carolina, but was overshadowed in the debate by his more aggressive rivals. ___ Pace reported from Washington. Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump with his wife Melania Trump at right, speaks to the media in the spin room after the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt) Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., embraces his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio after the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump speaks during the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., right, hands Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump a tic tac container at a break during the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Republican presidential candidate, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, right, speaks as Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump and Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., look on during the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump speaks during the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Cumberland University launches project on Martin Van Buren LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) Cumberland University is launching a major national project Monday in time for Washington's Birthday on the papers of Martin Van Buren. Van Buren was the eighth president of the U.S., serving from 1837 to 1841. The university will hold a press conference Monday to talk about the project that involves posting online more than 13,000 of Van Buren's documents, including his speeches and letters. Cumberland University history professor Mark Cheathem, who will serve as project director, says some heavy lifting is involved, since Van Buren's handwriting was notoriously illegible. Prior to serving as president, Van Buren served as Andrew Jackson's vice president. He is credited with engineering Jackson's groundbreaking election. A shrewd politician, Van Buren was one of the founders of the Democratic Party and is considered an architect of the modern-day political campaign. The university will hold a press conference on the Van Buren Project at 2 p.m. Monday in the Doris & Harry Vise University Library. Afterward, the presidential paper historians of George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew Jackson will speak about their projects and how they relate to Van Buren. His papers show that unlike Jackson and other presidents, Van Buren was guarded in his writings, Cheathem said. Scalia's death means loss of key vote in divided cases WASHINGTON (AP) Justice Antonin Scalia's death deprives conservatives of a key vote that could change the outcome in some major Supreme Court cases, including one in which labor unions appeared headed for a big defeat. Next month's Supreme Court arguments in a clash over contraceptives, religious liberty and President Barack Obama's health care law also now seem more likely to favor the Obama administration. Those are the most immediate effects on the court of the loss of its conservative icon and longest-serving justice. FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005 file photo, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks during a news conference in New York. On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79. (AP Photo/Chad Rachman) It's a firm Supreme Court rule that decisions are not final until they are handed down. So nothing Scalia did or said in pending cases matters to the outcome. "The vote of a deceased justice does not count," veteran Supreme Court lawyer Roy Englert said Sunday, a day after Scalia was found dead in his room at a west Texas ranch. Subtracting Scalia's vote from cases in which he was in the majority in a 5-4 split leaves the result tied, four a side. The remaining eight justices have two options in that situation: They can vote to hear the case a second time when a new colleague joins them or they can hand down a one-sentence opinion that upholds the result reached in the lower court without setting a nationwide rule. A second round of arguments seems less likely at the moment because a new justice may not be confirmed until the next president is in office. A tie vote, by contrast, resolves the case at hand and allows the legal issue to return to the court at a later date when there is a ninth justice. Public sector labor unions had been bracing for a stinging defeat in a lawsuit over whether they can collect fees from government workers who choose not to join the union. The case affects more than 5 million workers in 23 states and Washington, D.C., and seeks to overturn a nearly 40-year-old Supreme Court decision. Now, what seemed like a certain 5-4 split, with the conservatives in the majority and the liberals in dissent, instead looks like a tie that would be resolved in favor of the unions, because they won in the lower courts. "That's a big loss. It was all teed up and it looks like it's not going to go anywhere now," said Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor who once served as a law clerk to Scalia. Another case in which there now seems little chance of finding a court majority to upset long-standing practice involves a conservative challenge to the way governments have drawn electoral districts for 50 years. The court heard arguments in December in a case from Texas on the meaning of the principle of "one person, one vote," which the court has said requires that political districts be roughly equal in population. But it has left open the question of whether states must count all residents, including noncitizens and children, or only eligible voters in drawing district lines. The court's upcoming look at the health care overhaul will be its fourth case involving the 2010 law. This time, the focus is on the arrangement the Obama administration worked out to spare faith-based hospitals, colleges and charities from paying for contraceptives for women covered under their health plans, while still ensuring that those women can obtain birth control at no extra cost as the law requires. The faith-based groups argue that the accommodation still makes them complicit in providing contraception to which they have religious objections. A tie vote here would sow rather than alleviate confusion because the appellate courts that have looked at the issue have not all come out the same way. That prospect suggests that Justice Anthony Kennedy will join the court's four liberal justices to uphold the arrangement, Supreme Court lawyer Thomas Goldstein said. Other big cases before the justices this term include affirmative action, abortion and immigration. With Justice Elena Kagan out of the affirmative action case, the court still is more likely to rule, 4-3, in favor of a challenge to the consideration of race in admissions to the University of Texas. On abortion and immigration, a 4-4 tie would sustain lower court rulings in favor of Texas' regulation of abortion clinics and a Republican-led challenge to an Obama administration plan to allow millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally to avoid deportation and acquire work permits. ___ Follow Mark Sherman on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/shermancourt FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2010 file photo, the Supreme Court justices pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington. Seated, from left are, Justice Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Standing, from left are, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito Jr., and Elena Kagan. On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) Puerto Rico man held when twin girl dies, other hospitalized SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) Puerto Rico police say a 20-year-old man has surrendered to police after one of his twin toddler daughters died and the other was hospitalized. Police Lt. Carlos Nazario says investigators are conducting medical tests to determine if the girls were poisoned or otherwise mistreated. Nazario said Sunday that Antonio Vazquez brought one of the 23-month-old girls to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The other twin remains in intensive care at San Juan's main medical center after Vazquez turned himself in to authorities Saturday night. George W. Bush: From South Carolina cameo to starring role GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) George W. Bush won a bruising South Carolina presidential primary on his way to the Oval Office, as his father did before him. Now it's his brother's turn, and for Jeb Bush, the most consequential foreign policy decisions of his brother's time in office are suddenly front-and-center of his bid to keep alive his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination thanks to Donald Trump. The former president had already announced plans to campaign for his younger brother on Monday in South Carolina, marking his most direct entry into the 2016 race to date, when the GOP front-runner used the final debate before the state's Feb. 20 primary as an opportunity to excoriate George W. Bush's performance as commander-in-chief. FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2006, file photo, President George W. Bush jokes with his brother Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in Pensacola, Fla., where the president was drumming up support for local Republican candidates. Jeb Bush is summoning his brother, former President George W. Bush, to campaign for him in South Carolina. Its not without risks, but the Bush family has long, deep political ties in the state, and the former Florida governor has little choice if he wants to join his father and brother as Oval Office occupants. (AP Photo/Mari Darr-Welch, File) The former president, Trump said, ignored "the advice of his CIA" and "destabilized the Middle East" by invading Iraq on dubious claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. "I want to tell you: they lied," Trump said. "They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none." Trump didn't let up as Bush tried to defend his brother, dismissing his suggestion that George W. Bush built a "security apparatus to keep us safe" after the 9/11 attacks. "The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign, remember that," Trump said, adding: "That's not keeping us safe." The onslaught which Jeb Bush called Trump enjoying "blood sport" was the latest example of the billionaire businessman's penchant for mocking his rival as a weak, privileged tool of the Republican Party establishment, special interests and well-heeled donors. But the exchange also highlighted the former Florida governor's embrace of his family name and history as he jockeys with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to emerge from South Carolina as the clear challenger to Trump, who won the New Hampshire primary, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the victor in Iowa's caucuses. The approach tacks away from Bush's months-long insistence that he's running as "my own man," but could be a perfect fit for South Carolina. Noted South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who ended his GOP presidential campaign in December and endorsed Jeb Bush in January, said: "The Bush name is golden in my state." George W. Bush retains wide appeal among Republicans, from evangelicals to chamber of commerce business leaders and retired members of the military. All are prominent in South Carolina, with Bush campaign aide Brett Foster going so far as to say that George W. Bush is "the most popular Republican alive." After the debate, some Republicans again suggested Trump had gone too far. Bush wasn't alone on stage leaping to his brother's defense, with Rubio coming back to the moment to say, "I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not Al Gore." The attack on George W. Bush carries risk for Trump, given the Bush family's long social and political ties in South Carolina and the state's hawkish national security bent, bolstered by more than a half-dozen military installations and a sizable population of veterans who choose to retire in the state. Trump has repeatedly defied predictions that his comments might threaten his perch atop the field. And as he jousted Saturday with Trump, Jeb Bush said, "this is not about my family or his family." But the Bush family does have a history in the state that's hard to overlook. In 2000, George W. Bush beat John McCain in a nasty contest, marred by rumors that McCain had an illegitimate black child. McCain adopted a child from Bangladesh. Exit polls showed George W. Bush won nearly every demographic group. George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, won twice here, beating Bob Dole in 1988 and demolishing Pat Buchanan in 1992. One of the elder Bush's top strategists, Lee Atwater, hailed from South Carolina and remains a legend in GOP campaign annals. Last week, Jeb Bush touted the endorsement of Iris Campbell, the widow of former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell, a national co-chairman of previous Bush presidential campaigns. Yet even as he defended his brother's presidency at Saturday's debate, Jeb Bush found a way to distance himself from George W. Bush's business affairs and to criticize Trump at the same time. The issue: eminent domain. Before entering politics, George W. Bush was part-owner of the Texas Rangers, and their home city of Arlington, Texas, used eminent domain to take private land and build a stadium for the team. Trump has defended such uses of eminent domain as a way to foster economic development. Retorted Bush, who argued eminent domain should be reserved for public infrastructure projects, "There is all sorts of intrigue about where I disagree with my brother. There would be one right there." ___ Bustos reported from Miami. ___ Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton spoke at the same African American baptist church in Las Vegas on Sunday as they compete for support. But Clinton seemed to have one up on her rival, arriving with civil rights icon John Lewis. Just days after receiving highly-influential endorsements from Lewis and some NAACP leaders, Clinton beamed as she greeted congregants of Victory Missionary Baptist Church on the city's west side. Lewis led her around, introducing her to some of the church's key figures before Sanders arrived. Once Clinton was seated, the Vermont senator entered with his wife and took a pew on the other side of the hall, according to ABC. Sanders has also been endorsed by key figures in the NAACP. Scroll down for video Hillary Clinton brought special guest John Lewis to Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Las Vegas on Sunday days after the civil rights icon backed her for the Democrat nomination. They are pictured here at a later event Sanders, who has also received backing from key NAACP members, arrived after Clinton and took a seat on the other side of the church with his wife. He is pictured (above) getting in his car after the service on Sunday Both aspiring Democrat candidates took to the pulpit - as did Lewis. 'The vote is powerful ... It is the most powerful nonviolent tool in a democratic society,' Lewis said. 'I am here for ... my friend, my beloved sister, who I've known for so many years, who's a warrior, a fighter. ... Look, she is prepared, she is ready.' Lewis' appearance was a continuation of Clinton's efforts to woo black voters, which has intensified following her 22-point loss to Sanders in last week's New Hampshire primary. Both Nevada and South Carolina, which follows the Western state on the Democratic primary calendar, are more racially diverse than leadoff Iowa and New Hampshire. The first two states also have relatively strong economies and low unemployment rates, while Nevada is still recovering from the Great Recession. The state experienced a massive real estate bust and years of double-digit unemployment, and its gambling and construction industries have not returned to the success of their boom-time years. The official unemployment rate in Nevada in December was 6.4 percent, the lowest since June 2008. But the state has the nation's highest rate of underemployment, which measures people who have stopped job hunting or those who are in part-time jobs that want full-time employment. Wage growth remains a common concern. Sanders and his wife Jane get in their car after landing in Vegas for a campaign rally on Sunday Clinton visits Lee's Sandwiches during a campaign stop Sunda in Las Vegas Sanders stands with his wife Jane and speaks to a crowd outside of a rally at Bonanza High School on Sunday Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, is handed roses at an event to meet with immigrants, or so-called 'dreamers,' at a campaign office Sunday Sanders speaks during a rally at Bonanza High School on Sunday in Las Vegas 'This state was decimated,' Sanders told the congregation. 'We have made great progress, but much more needs to be done.' At a later rally in Las Vegas, Sanders' call for a new approach to the nation's economy resonated with Nicole Reihl-Molloy, 37, of Las Vegas, who said that she and her husband struggled after the recession. Reihl-Molloy said she had to take a retail job when she couldn't find work in her field of marketing and her husband a construction project manager had to move away for several years to work. 'I used to cry myself to sleep,' she said. 'There are a lot of people whose careers evaporated.' Clinton, meanwhile, continued Sunday to cast herself as the rightful heir to President Barack Obama and build on his work to resuscitate the economy after the 2008 crash. 'I am proud to stand here and tell you that I will work my heart out to build on that progress and go further,' Clinton said at the church service. Scalia's death in office a rarity for modern Supreme Court WASHINGTON (AP) A black-draped chair on the Supreme Court bench once signaled that a justice had died, but those somber memorials have been increasingly uncommon at the court as its members have chosen to retire rather than hold their office until death. Justice Antonin Scalia's death Saturday at the age of 79 marks only the second time in more than 60 years that an active justice has died. "Dying this suddenly on the bench is the exception, not the rule, for the justices in the twentieth century," said Washington and Lee University law professor Todd C. Peppers, who has written about the fact that chief justices seem more likely than other justices to die while in office. An American flag flies at half-staff in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in honor of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as the sun rises in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Scalia, the influential conservative and most provocative member of the Supreme Court, has died. He was 79. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who had thyroid cancer, died in office at age 80 in 2005. Before that, the last justice to die in office was Justice Robert H. Jackson, who died in 1954 of a heart attack at age 62. Of the approximately 100 justices who have served on the court and left, a little fewer than half have died while still holding the position. But modern justices are much less likely to die in office. Before 1900 about two thirds of justices died in office, but since that time only about a third of justices have. One reason why justices, who are appointed for life, may have been more likely to die in office in the court's earlier history was that there were no pensions for federal judges. Because they got nothing if they retired, justices tended to stay, scholars said. That changed in 1869, and retirement provisions have become increasingly generous over the years so now any federal judge who is 65 and has served 15 years on the bench can retire with his or her full salary. After age 65, their combined age and years of service must just equal 80. But justices don't necessarily retire when they hit that number. Five current justices are over 65 and qualify for full retirement. Three justices are over 70. Justice Stephen Breyer is 77. Justice Anthony Kennedy is 79. And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has been asked a lot about retirement in recent years because of her age and two bouts with cancer, is 82. Artemus Ward, a professor at Northern Illinois University who wrote a book, "Deciding to Leave," about justices quitting the bench, said these days they tend to strategically time their retirements so that their replacement gets picked by a president of the same party that appointed them. Scalia acknowledged wanting to be replaced by a like-minded successor and might have thought about retirement if a Republican were elected in 2016, Ward said. But he said Scalia also might have gambled and waited longer. All three justices who've retired since Rehnquist's death are still living. Sandra Day O'Connor, who retired in 2006, is now 85. David Souter, who retired in 2009, is 76. And John Paul Stevens, who retired in 2010, is 95 and has said he may have jumped the gun on retirement. "They expect to live a long time and they see their colleagues doing it," Ward said. "We think, 'Oh, they're old.' But they're thinking, 'I've got another 10 years at least.'" Who Obama might nominate to replace Scalia on Supreme Court WASHINGTON (AP) Republicans are near-unanimous in demanding that President Barack Obama leave it to his successor to nominate a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But the president insists he plans to come forward with a nominee and that there's plenty of time for the Senate to weigh in. That sets up what could be an epic election-year clash between Obama and Republicans who say they'll refuse to vote for his nominee, who could reshape the court for decades to come. So who will Obama pick? President Barack Obama speaks to reporters about the death of Supreme Court Justice Justice Antonin Scalia at Omni Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage, CA. Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. Scalia, 79, was found dead Saturday morning at a private residence in the Big Bend area of West Texas. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) The White House had prepared for the possibility of liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Stephen Breyer retiring but less so for a sudden vacancy of one of the court's staunch conservatives like Scalia, said a former administration lawyer with knowledge of current White House planning. Now the White House is scrambling to put together a "short list" of candidates to be fully vetted, said the former official, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. The biggest question facing Obama: whether he and his team feel there's any realistic chance they can persuade Republicans to allow a vote. If the answer is yes, Obama would have to try to find a perfect candidate with enough appeal to Republicans to change their minds. A sitting senator or someone recently confirmed might do the trick. If the answer is no, Obama could try to use his selection to political advantage in this year's elections by nominating someone who would spark backlash if Republicans oppose him or her. Picking a minority or someone from a battleground state in the election could rile up the Democratic base. The White House said Sunday that Obama will nominate someone "in due time" once the Senate returns next week from recess. Obama took roughly a month to nominate Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, but this time the clock is ticking like never before. Obama hasn't said who he's considering, but some Cabinet members, politicians and current judges are being prominently floated as possible picks: THE CABINET MEMBERS Attorney General Loretta Lynch Though Lynch's nomination was fraught with politics, she's been recently confirmed and has been received relatively well by both parties since taking over the Justice Department less than a year ago. Before Obama promoted her, Lynch was a U.S. attorney for a key district based in Brooklyn. An African-American woman has never served on the Supreme Court. But her role in the Obama administration could prove divisive. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson Johnson has serious credentials in many critical areas of the law, having served as the Pentagon's general counsel and as a federal prosecutor. He has the benefit of having been Senate-confirmed multiple times most recently in 2013 by an overwhelming majority. But Republicans loathe Obama's executive actions on immigration that Johnson's department put forward and are currently before the Supreme Court. THE POLITICIANS California Attorney General Kamala Harris Elected statewide in California in 2010, Harris is a longtime prosecutor and rising Democratic star who has drawn occasional comparisons with Obama. She's currently running to replace California Sen. Barbara Boxer. Obama has made no secret of his affection for Harris; He once had to apologize after making an offhand joke that Harris was the country's best-looking attorney general. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar Picking a current colleague of the senators who will be voting on Obama's nominee could be one strategy to increase prospects for a vote. Klobuchar, in her second Senate term, is a former prosecutor and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch The Republican senator would be nominated only if Obama decided it would be better to pick a candidate Democrats didn't love than risk a Republican successor making the choice for him. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has suggested Obama go with a "consensus pick" like Hatch. He's also a key holdout in getting Senate approval for Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. THE JUDGES Sri Srinivasan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit With a compelling personal story, Srinivasan has long been eyed for the high court. Born in India, Srinivasan clerked for former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor a Republican. He has the added appeal of having been confirmed unanimously less than three years ago. Merrick Garland, chief judge, U.S. Court for Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit Garland is a Harvard Law School graduate whose name has long been in the mix. He's considered a moderate judge and has experience on the D.C. circuit, which handles many cases involving administration actions. Paul Watford, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Watford once served as a law clerk to Ginsburg, and worked as a federal prosecutor before Obama appointed him to the San Francisco-based court. An African-American, Watford was confirmed 61-34 in 2012. Jacqueline Nguyen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Nguyen would be the first Asian-American on the Supreme Court. She emigrated as a child from Vietnam and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and a judge in California before Obama nominated her to federal courts. Patricia Millett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Obama nominated Millett in 2013 after John Roberts joined the Supreme Court as chief justice. Her nomination lingered for months amid a fight about the filibuster. Millett had experience in the U.S. Solicitor General's office, arguing dozens of cases before the Supreme Court. Robert Wilkins, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit A chemical engineer by training, Wilkins was a public defender before being appointed by Obama to federal positions. Wilkins, an African-American, was raised by a single mother and is known for his involvement in civil rights issues. Jane Kelly, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Kelly, a former public defender, was unanimously confirmed to the St. Louis-based court. She's earned praise from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Grassley has joined Republicans in urging delay until after the election. ___ Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report. ___ Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/josh-lederman FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2014, file photo, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks to an audience gathered at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, Colo. Scalia, 79, was found dead the morning of Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, at a private residence in the Big Bend area of West Texas. Scalia's body lay in a Texas funeral home Sunday and officials awaited word about whether they would need to perform an autopsy before the late Supreme Court justice could return home to Virginia. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) FILE - In a Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016 file photo, Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. Lynch is a possible pick by President Obama as a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) FILE - In this April 26, 2014, file photo, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah speaks in Sandy, Utah. Hatch is a possible pick by President Obama as a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) FILE - In a Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015 file photo, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles. Harris is a possible pick by President Obama as a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2015 file photo, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Klobuchar is a possible pick by President Obama as a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) The Philippine government is selling former first lady Imelda Marcos' extensive jewelry collection, valued to at least 14.5million. The jewels were seized in 1986 when dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family fled to Hawaii following a popular revolt that ended his two decades in power. Now, 30 years later, the government has approved the auction of the collection, which includes a 25-carat rare pink diamond worth at least 3.5million, officials said Monday. Up for grabs: The Philippine government is selling the extensive jewelry collection of former first lady Imelda Marcos, which was seized in 1986 The Marcos family allegedly amassed billions of dollars' worth of ill-gotten wealth, and the dictator's widow, now 86 and a member of Congress, became known for excesses, symbolised by her huge shoe collection. Her jewels include a Cartier diamond tiara that is now many times more valuable than the previous estimate of 35,000. The pride of the collection is the 25-carat Indian barrel-shaped pink diamond probably cut in the 18th century. The pink diamond is from India's famous Golconda region, which produced rare finds like the Hope Diamond and a 500-carat diamond that is part of the British crown jewels. Bling: Imelda Marcos' extensive jewelery collection has been valued to at least 14.5million Appraisers from Christie's auction house examine a necklace. The Marcos family allegedly amassed billions of dollars' worth of ill-gotten wealth The jewels were seized in 1986 when dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family fled to Hawaii following a popular revolt that ended his two decades in power A pair of earrings that is part of the extensive jewellery collection once owned by the former first lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos The three jewelry collections, which had been kept in a vault at the central bank, have been appraised by international auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's. The government had tried to auction the three jewelry collections in 2005 but Mrs Marcos contested the move, claiming ownership of two of the sets. One was found in the presidential palace after her family's hasty departure and another was seized in Hawaii, where they lived in exile. Mrs Marcos, whose husband died in exile in 1989, vowed to recover her family's seized assets. Their only son, Ferdinand Junior, is a senator. He is running for vice president in the May election and latest independent polls showed him to be a top contender. The extensive jewellery collection includes very rare and exceptional pieces which experts say is like something royalty would own Andrew de Castro of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, an agency tasked to recover the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth, said they hope to hold the exhibit and auction before the end of President Benigno Aquino III's term in June, when the terms for the current members of the commission also end. The government's Privatization Council headed by the Department of Finance last week approved the sale of the jewelry. A portion of the collection seized at the presidential palace when the Marcoses fled, however, is still being contested in court. Other pieces of jewelry were seized in Hawaii and at Manila's airport. Justice Antonin Scalia said to have died of 'natural causes' WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes and no autopsy was necessary, a judge has told The Associated Press. Scalia's family didn't think a private autopsy was necessary and requested that the 79-year-old jurist's body be returned to Washington as soon as possible, said Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes in Texas. The body was returned to Virginia late Sunday. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Sunday that she consulted with Scalia's personal physician and sheriff's investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding that he had died of natural causes. He was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch Saturday morning. FILE - In this Oct., 15, 2006 file photo, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at the ACLU Membership Conference in Washington. On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79. (AP Photo/Chris Greenberg, File) The owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch said the justice seemed his usual self at dinner the night before he was found "in complete repose" in his room. John Poindexter told reporters Scalia was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests. The group had dinner Friday night and Scalia was his "usual, personable self," Poindexter said. Scalia retired around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep, according to Poindexter. In Washington, where flags flew at half-staff at the White House and Supreme Court, the political arguing soared, raising the prospect of a court short-handed for some time. The Senate's Republican leader, backed largely by his party's presidential candidates, essentially told a Democratic president in his final year in office not to bother asking lawmakers to confirm a nominee for the lifetime seat, especially since it would tip the court's balance away from its conservative tilt. Scalia's colleagues praised his brilliance and grieved his death. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and Scalia "were best buddies" for more than 30 years. President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the high court, where Scalia served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation and U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world. The campaign-year political heat has risen over the vacancy on the nine-member court. At issue is whether Obama should make a nomination and the Republican-led Senate should confirm that choice in an election year. Obama pledges a nomination "in due time." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks it should wait for the next president. The Constitution gives the Senate "advice and consent" powers over a presidential nomination to the Supreme Court. But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings on a nominee, said it would be "sheer dereliction of duty for the Senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote." Sen. Patrick Leahy told CNN that he believes McConnell is "making a terrible mistake. And he's certainly ignoring the Constitution." ___ Warren reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Sarah Rankin in Chicago and Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Texas, contributed to this report. AP videographer John L. Mone in El Paso, Texas, also contributed. ___ Follow Laurie Kellman at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman The hearse which transported Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's body to the airport from Sunset Funeral Home departs the Atlantic Aviation hangar at El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. (VIctor Calzada/The El Paso Times via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT A Dutch tourist survived a tiger attack in the jungles of Nepal by climbing a tree and clinging on for two hours while the beast circled him below. Gerard Van Laar was trekking with a Nepalese guide in Bardia National Park when a growling tiger came running at them 'at full speed' on Saturday. The 33-year-old freelance engineer was able to escape by climbing a tree, but his guide was attacked and injured as he ran away to draw the attention of the predator. Dutch tourist Gerard Van Laar (right) has survived a tiger attack in the Nepalese jungle by climbing a tree and clinging on for two hours until his guide Krishna (centre), who was injured in the ambush, came back with help Predator: A royal Bengal tiger in Sal forest, Bardia National Park, a protected national forest, which is home to about 70 tigers. It is popular and receives thousands of visitors a year, but tiger attacks are rare (file picture) The tiger returned and circled the tree while Mr Van Laar tried to stay as quiet as possible about six metres (20 feet) above the ground. About two hours later, the guide arrived back with help and they shouted and used sticks to drive away the tiger. 'I was super lucky to be alive. I would have been dead if it had not been for Krishna (the guide),' Mr Van Laar said from Bardia, about 400km (250 miles) southwest of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. 'All of a sudden, I heard a roar and a growl, and the tiger was heading toward us at full speed.' Bardia National Park, which is located about 400km (250 miles) southwest of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu The guide spent a day in hospital, but Laar was not hurt. Mr Van Larr, from Dedemsvaart, Netherlands, said he thought he would be killed until he was able to climb the tree. Facing new sanction threats, North Koreans defiant as ever PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) The United States and Japan have already announced plans for new sanctions over North Korea's recent nuclear test and rocket launch, and the U.N. Security Council is likely to deliver more soon. Cross-border tensions with Seoul are escalating quickly and even China is starting to sound more like an angry neighbor than a comrade-in-arms. But with a storm brewing all around them, North Koreans have their own take on things and it's decidedly unapologetic. Pyongyang started off the new year with what it claims was its first hydrogen bomb test and followed that up with the launch of a satellite on a rocket condemned by much of the world as a test of banned missile technology. When Seoul responded by closing down an industrial park that is the last symbol of cooperation between the two rivals, Pyongyang lashed back, expelling all South Koreans from the site just north of the Demilitarized Zone and putting it under military control. In this Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 photo, Pak Mi Hyang, a 22-year-old childrens camp worker, of North Korea is interviewed as she makes her way towards an underground subway station in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea launched a rocket on Feb. 7, carrying what it said was an Earth observation satellite into space. The launch, which came about a month after the country's fourth nuclear test, was quickly condemned by outsiders as a test of banned ballistic missile technology. Pak says that right now, as her country is once again coming under widespread pressure from the world around it, pressure that will almost certainly translate into sanctions that will negatively impact her own daily life, North Korea in her eyes is only growing stronger. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) Each move brought a new round of international outrage. But while the motives of Kim Jong Un's regime are as usual a matter of speculation, ask a North Korean what's going on and the reply is swift, indignant and well-practiced. It's America's fault. "It's not right for the U.S. to tell our country not to have nuclear bombs," Pak Mi Hyang, a 22-year-old children's camp worker, told The Associated Press as she walked with a friend near Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on Sunday. "The U.S. has a lot of them and tells us not to have any. It's not fair. We've been living with sanctions for a long time and we are not afraid." Candor in street interviews is rare in North Korea. Pak and others who agreed to be interviewed by the AP were mindful of the fact that speaking out of turn can have severe repercussions, especially when talking to an American journalist with his North Korean escort. "We have a lot of hatred toward Americans," Pak said, politely, before walking on. It hard to discern exactly how much of that is political correctness, North Korean style. But anti-U.S. sentiment in this country does run deep, for good reason. That is partly because the relentless propaganda that depicts Washington which has made no secret of its desire for regime change as its biggest existential threat. But it also reflects the brutality of the Korean War, which left millions of Koreans dead and most of North Korea's cities and industrial base in ruins. Though called the "Forgotten War" in America, it is anything but forgotten in North Korea. It is used by authorities to rally the nation around anti-U.S. feeling and a common outside enemy, and it also resonates with many North Koreans who remember wartime suffering or have family or friends who died in the fighting, which the North says was started by the United States and South Korea. And since the 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, the U.S. is still technically and literally "the enemy." Reflecting that sentiment, Kim Cho Yong, a 49-year-old who works at the ministry of coal mining industry, said he feels "proud of the H-bomb." "We made a big step in making bombs so we are not afraid of any attacks from the enemies," he said. "No enemy can attack us because we have an H-bomb." North Korea's media has also tried mightily to show the public that nuclear tests, rocket launches and other acts condemned by the U.S. and its close allies are seen by countries outside Washington's sphere of influence as symbols of national pride, socialist progress and strength. Every day brings new praise from places like Guinea and Bangladesh or political organizations such as the Workers' Party of Hungary and the Group of Youth for the Study of Kim Jong Il Juche Idea in Vienna. Even so, Pyongyang's message has always been twofold: North Korea has every right to defend itself against a U.S. government bent on bringing it down, but if Washington would give up its hostile policies, it would be willing to seek peace, too. The only realistic way to turn the situation around on the Korean Peninsula, Pyongyang has long said, is for Washington to remove its troops from the South or at least stop its huge annual war games there and start talks toward normalizing relations and negotiating a peace treaty. "The U.S.'s ceaseless military threat and nuclear blackmail against the DPRK are precisely the reason why the nuclear issue in the Korean Peninsula was spawned and still remains unsettled," the official Minju Joson newspaper said in an editorial Sunday using the acronym for the country's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The only solution to it is to put an end to the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK." In Washington, of course, that position is seen as a non-starter. North Korea must, it claims, make the first move and dismantle its nuclear program. Taking a deep dive into the U.S. media to suggest that even many Americans question that logic, the North's official news agency, KCNA, on Sunday cited articles on the popular website Reddit and a recent issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that hit two of Pyongyang's favored themes failed U.S. policy toward the North and the need to engage, not isolate. "Our country wants peace, and if the U.S. wants peace too then there will be peace," said Pak, the children's camp worker. But she added that right now, as her country is once again coming under the threat of sanctions that will probably have a negative impact on her daily life, North Korea in her eyes is only growing stronger. "I feel proud to be a member of the Korean nation," she said. In this Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 photo, North Korean men put up a propaganda poster urging its citizens to carry out their country's ruling party's goals for North Korea with an unwavering spirit in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea launched a rocket on Feb. 7, carrying what it said was an Earth observation satellite into space. The launch, which came about a month after the country's fourth nuclear test, was quickly condemned by outsiders as a test of banned ballistic missile technology. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) In this Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 photo, people walk past portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il as they make their way into, and out of an underground subway station in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea launched a rocket on Feb. 7, carrying what it said was an Earth observation satellite into space. The launch, which came about a month after the country's fourth nuclear test, was quickly condemned by outsiders as a test of banned ballistic missile technology. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) Fire breaks out at investment event in Indian city of Mumbai NEW DELHI (AP) A massive fire broke out an event in Mumbai meant to showcase India as an attractive destination for billions of dollars of foreign investment. There were no casualties from Sunday night's fire, and the weeklong "Make in India" event was not canceled. Still, the incident is being viewed as an embarrassment for the government because the event is among Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's most ambitious economic initiatives and aims at making the country a manufacturing hub on par with neighboring China. Video showed the fire blazing at the base of the elaborate stage as dancers performed at a cultural extravaganza to celebrate the event. The fire later spread as the scaffolding caught fire and flames could be seen rising into the sky. An Indian fire fighter douses a fire which broke out during an event held for Make in India Week in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. According to news reports a fire broke out on Sunday evening during a cultural programme. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) It was not immediately clear what caused the fire and the government has ordered an investigation. Top government officials and Bollywood stars were evacuated soon after the fire broke out. Modi inaugurated the event on Saturday, but was not there on Sunday. Leading actor Amitabh Bachchan tweeted Sunday that he had ended his own performance and left the venue shortly before the fire started. In India, safety norms are routinely flouted. When big, public events are organized, it's not unusual to find dangerously low-hanging electricity cables or just a single fire engine and an ambulance on stand-by. Indian fire fighters douses a fire which broke out during an event held for Make in India Week in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 . According to news reports a fire broke out on Sunday evening during a cultural programme. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) An Indian fire fighter douses a fire which broke out during an event held for Make in India Week in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. According to news reports a fire broke out on Sunday evening during a cultural programme. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) Things to know about the space tourism industry LOS ANGELES (AP) Space tourism projects leaped off the drawing board when a $10 million prize was offered as an incentive for private development of manned rockets, but it took years to make a winner. Many more years have passed since, but the only space tourists have been a few wealthy people who paid millions of dollars for trips aboard Russian rockets to the International Space Station. Things to know about space tourism: X PRIZE In 1995, the St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation conceived the idea of a $10 million reward for development of a privately financed, reusable spaceship capable of carrying three people to an altitude of 62 miles twice within two weeks. This undated image provided by Virgin Galactic shows Virgin Galactic's first SpaceShipTwo, an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic. Space tourism companies are employing designs including winged vehicles, vertical rockets with capsules and high-altitude balloons. While developers envision ultimately taking people to orbiting habitats, the moon or beyond, the immediate future involves short flights into or near the lowest reaches of space without going into orbit. (Virgin Galactic via AP) The X Prize announcement the following year was timed to an anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's nonstop flight from New York to Paris aboard the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927, which won the aviator the $25,000 Orteig Prize that was offered in 1919 for the trans-Atlantic flight. At the time the X Prize was announced, maverick aerospace designer Burt Rutan, creator of the Voyager aircraft that circled the globe in 1986, speculated that the $10 million prize could be won in three years. In fact it took more than eight. ___ SPACESHIPONE The Kittyhawk moment for private manned spaceflight occurred on June 21, 2004, when SpaceShipOne designed by Rutan and funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen soared more than 62 miles above the California desert and then glided to a landing at Mojave Airport as crowds cheered. Standing by the stubby-winged, three-seat spacecraft, test pilot Mike Melvill said seeing the curvature of the Earth from that altitude was "almost a religious experience." The feat placed SpaceShipOne in the lead among more than two dozen competitors for the $10 million reward, by then renamed the Ansari X Prize after the Ansari family of Dallas, which made its wealth in telecommunications and funded the prize. Rutan subsequently announced he would go for the prize later that year. SpaceShipOne launched again on Sept. 29, reaching the required altitude after Melvill ignored a request to abort because the craft went into a series of rolls. Well within the two-week period required by the contest, the craft launched on Oct. 4 with test pilot Brian Binnie at the controls. After it landed, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis announced the altitude was official and the SpaceShipOne team clinched the prize. ___ WHERE DOES SPACE BEGIN? Earth's atmosphere does not abruptly stop and the vacuum of space begin, but the altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers) is accepted as a useful boundary line by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, a keeper of flight records. Known as the Karman line, it is used to distinguish between aeronautics and astronautics. Melvill, the SpaceShipOne pilot, received the first commercial astronaut wings awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration after surpassing the line. The U.S. Air Force, however, awarded astronaut wings to five of its pilots who flew above 50 miles decades ago in X-15 rocket planes used for hypersonic research. Three civilian X-15 pilots who also surpassed that altitude were belatedly awarded astronaut wings in 2005, two posthumously. The first American in space, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, rocketed to an altitude of 116 miles on May 5, 1961. ___ SPACEPORT In a remote stretch of desert in southern New Mexico, officials at Spaceport America the world's first futuristic hangar and runway designed specifically for commercial space travel have been anxiously awaiting Virgin Galactic. Taxpayers footed the nearly quarter-billion-dollar bill for the spaceport years ago in hopes of it being a gateway for space tourism. With Virgin as the anchor tenant, the delay in flights has made it tough for the spaceport to get off the ground. Spaceport director Christine Anderson can't wait to attend the upcoming unveiling of SpaceShipTwo. She said seeing it in person will make the progress even more real. "I'm excited they have a spaceship built and things are looking forward and it's full speed ahead for them," she said. Anderson acknowledged there's no question that Virgin Galactic is the linchpin for the state's space tourism aspirations. With flights expected to start sometime in 2017, the spaceport expects to see as many as 100,000 visitors by 2020. ___ AP Correspondent Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, N.M., contributed to this report. This undated image provided by Blue Origin shows an illustration of a rocket taking off from a launch pad. Space tourism companies are employing designs including winged vehicles, vertical rockets with capsules and high-altitude balloons. While developers envision ultimately taking people to orbiting habitats, the moon or beyond, the immediate future involves short flights into or near the lowest reaches of space without going into orbit.(Blue Origin via AP) Anti-migrant force builds in Europe, hurting Merkel's quest PRAGUE (AP) So where should the next impenetrable razor-wire border fence in Europe be built? Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban thinks he knows the best place on Macedonia's and Bulgaria's borders with Greece smack along the main immigration route from the Middle East to Western Europe. He says it's necessary because "Greece can't defend Europe from the south" against the large numbers of refugees pouring in, mainly from Syria and Iraq. The plan is especially controversial because it effectively means eliminating Greece from the Schengen zone, Europe's 26-nation passport-free travel region that is considered one of the European Union's most cherished achievements. FILE - In this February 8, 2016 file photo, Macedonian Army soldiers erect a second fence on the border line with Greece, near the southern Macedonia's town of Gevgelija. Six nations from Central and Eastern Europe meet Monday in Prague to discuss plans for a new line of defense for Europe that involves a double fence along Greeces northern border. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski, File) Orban's plan featured prominently Monday at a meeting in Prague of leaders from four nations in an informal gathering known as the Visegrad group: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Visegrad group, formed 25 years ago to further the nations' European integration, is marking that anniversary Monday. Still, it has only recently found a common purpose in its unified opposition to accepting any significant number of migrants. This determination has emboldened the group, one of the new mini-blocs emerging lately in Europe due to the continent's chaotic, inadequate response to its largest migration crisis since World War II. The Visegrad group is also becoming a force that threatens the plans of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who wants to resettle newcomers across the continent while also slowing down the influx. "The plan to build a new "European defense line" along the border of Bulgaria and Macedonia with Greece is a major foreign policy initiative for the Visegrad Four and an attempt to re-establish itself as a notable political force within the EU," said Vit Dostal, an analyst with the Association for International Affairs, a Prague-based think tank. At Monday's meeting, leaders from the four nations were joined by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov so they can push for the reinforcements along Greece's northern border. Macedonia began putting up a first fence in November, and is now constructing a second, parallel, fence. After the meeting in Prague, Orban said his country is ready to help "those countries that are ready to create a second defensive line south of Hungary." He also said Hungary fully supports Bulgarian membership in the Schengen zone because "it is capable of fully protecting its borders." He also called for opening "sensible talks" on Macedonia's EU membership. Ivanov said Macedonia was ready for any scenario, but added Greece should be part of any plan. Borisov said Bulgaria "is very interested in participating in the protection of the EU's external border." "If it were up only to us Central Europeans, that region would have been closed off long ago," Orban said before at a news conference recently with Poland's prime minister. "Not for the first time in history we see that Europe is defenseless from the south ... that is where we must ensure the safety of the continent." Poland has indicated a willingness to send dozens of police to Macedonia to secure the border, something to be decided at Monday's meeting. "If the EU is not active, the Visegrad Four have to be," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said recently. "We have to find effective ways of protecting the border." The leaders will try to hash out a unified position ahead of an important EU meeting Thursday and Friday in Brussels that will take up both migration and Britain's efforts to renegotiate a looser union with the EU. The Visegrad countries have also recently united against British attempts to limit the welfare rights of European workers, something that would affect the hundreds of thousands of their citizens who now live and work in Britain. Hours before the Prague meeting, the European Commission unveiled a further 10 million euros ($11.3 million) in finances to help Macedonia improve its borders and migration management, but insisted the money not be used to build fences. "We don't think that closing borders is the response. We prefer managing borders," said commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas. "The European response to the refugee crisis will be done with Greece, not against Greece." But Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo insisted "the alternate plan is not aimed against any EU partner." Anti-migrant messages resonate with the ex-communist EU member states, countries that have benefited greatly from EU subsidies and freedom of movement for their own citizens but which now balk at requests to accept even small numbers of refugees. The Visegrad nations maintain it is impossible to integrate Muslims into their societies, often describing them as security threats. So far the Poles, Czechs and Slovaks have only accepted small numbers of refugees, primarily Christians from Syria. Many officials in the West are frustrated with what they see as xenophobia and hypocrisy, given that huge numbers of Poles, Hungarians and other Eastern Europeans have received refuge and economic opportunity in the West for decades. Indeed there are plenty of signs that the countries are squandering a lot of the good will that they once enjoyed in the West for their sacrifices in throwing off communism and establishing democracies. Orban's ambitions for Europe got a big boost with the rise to power last year in Poland of the right-wing Law and Justice party, which is deeply anti-migrant and sees greater regional cooperation as one of its foreign policy priorities. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo's government says it wants to do more to help Syrian refugees at camps in Turkey and elsewhere while blocking their entry into Europe. Although Orban is alienating Greek authorities, who are staggering under the sheer numbers of asylum-seekers crossing the sea from Turkey in smugglers' boars, he insists he must act as a counterweight to Western leaders, whom he accuses of creating the crisis with their welcoming attitude to refugees. "The very serious phenomenon endangering the security of everyday life which we call migration did not break into Western Europe violently," he said. "The doors were opened. And what is more, in certain periods, they deliberately invited and even transported these people into Western Europe without control, filtering or security screening." Dariusz Kalan, an analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, said he doesn't believe that the Visegrad group on its own can destroy European unity but says Orban's vision is winning adherents across the continent in far-right movements and even among mainstream political parties. "It's hard to ignore Orban," Kalan said. "People in Western Europe are starting to adopt the language of Orban. None are equally tough and yet the language is still quite similar." ___ Karel Janicek in Prague, Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report. FILE - In this February 8, 2016 file photo, Macedonian Army soldiers attach a razor wire to a fence on the border line with Greece, near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Six nations from Central and Eastern Europe meet Monday in Prague to discuss plans for a new line of defense for Europe that involves a double fence along Greeces northern border. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski, File) Prime Ministers of Poland Beata Szydlo, right, Hungary Viktor Orban, center, and Slovakia Robert Fico, left, arrive for a Summit of the V4 Prime Ministers with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria and the President of Macedonia in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) From left: Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Poland Beata Szydlo, President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov, Prime Minister of Czech Republic Bohuslav Sobotka, Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boiko Borisov, and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, pose for a photograph during a Summit of the V4 Prime Ministers with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria and the President of Macedonia in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) Curfew imposed in Indian Kashmir after 2 killed in protests SRINAGAR, India (AP) Authorities imposed a curfew in some parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday amid a general strike called by separatist groups to protest the killing of a teenage boy and a young woman during a protest against Indian rule. As a result of the strike and curfew, shops, businesses and some government offices were closed and public transport stayed off the roads in the disputed Himalayan region. Train services were suspended and university examinations were postponed. Hundreds of troops patrolled the old part of Srinagar, the region's main city, and some other towns, warning residents to stay indoors. An indian policeman fires tear smoke shell on protesters during a clash in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Authorities imposed a curfew in some parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday amid a general strike called by separatist groups to protest the killing of a teenage boy and a young woman during a protest against Indian rule.(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) The two students were killed Sunday during an anti-India protest that followed the killing of a local rebel in a gunbattle with government forces in southern Kakpora village. Police and paramilitary soldiers on Monday laid razor wire and erected additional road checkpoints in the region in anticipation of protests. Still clashes erupted in Kakpora and at least three Srinagar neighborhoods as protesters threw rocks at police and paramilitary soldiers, who responded by firing tear gas shells, police said. At least three protesters were injured. Protests by stone-throwing youths and clashes with government forces have become routine in Kashmir, where anti-India sentiment runs deep among the mostly Muslim population. Rebel groups have fought since 1989 for either independence or a merger with neighboring Pakistan. India and Pakistan each administer a portion of Kashmir. Both claim the region in its entirety. Since 1989, an armed uprising and an ensuing Indian crackdown in the region have killed an estimated 68,000 people. A Kashmiri protester throws an exploded tear smoke shell on paramilitary soldiers during a clash in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Authorities imposed a curfew in some parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday amid a general strike called by separatist groups to protest the killing of a teenage boy and a young woman during a protest against Indian rule.(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) A Kashmiri Muslim woman walks at a closed market during a curfew in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Feb.15, 2016. Authorities imposed a curfew in some parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday amid a general strike called by separatist groups to protest the killing of a teenage boy and a young woman during a protest against Indian rule.(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) An Indian paramilitary soldier asks a civilian to return at a temporary check point during a curfew in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Feb.15, 2016. Authorities imposed a curfew in some parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday amid a general strike called by separatist groups to protest the killing of a teenage boy and a young woman during a protest against Indian rule.(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) Saudi border guard killed by cross-border fire from Yemen RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) Saudi authorities say a border guard has been killed by incoming fire from war-ravaged Yemen. The Interior Ministry announced the guard's death on Monday morning. It said the soldier died on Sunday night when a cross-border shell landed near him in Jazan, a southern province bordering Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition launched an air campaign against the Shiite rebels known as Houthis in Yemen in March 2015. Since then, more than 5,800 people have been killed. Deadly airstrikes hit hospitals, school in northern Syria BEIRUT (AP) Airstrikes blamed on Russia hit at least two hospitals and a school in northern Syria on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of civilians and further dimming hopes for a temporary truce, as government troops backed by Russian warplanes pressed a major offensive north of Aleppo. The raids came days after Russia and other world powers agreed to bring about a pause in fighting that would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the revival of peace talks. The projected truce agreed on Friday in Munich was to begin in a week, but there was no sign that would happen. This image taken from video provided by the Syrian activist-based media group Azaz Media Center, which has-been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows people gathered around destroyed vehicles in Azaz, Syria Syria, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Turkey says Kurdish forces have been expelled from areas around the northern Syrian town of Azaz after a weekend of cross-border shelling.(Azaz Media Center,via AP Video) MANDATORY CREDIT On Monday, Syrian state TV reported that pro-government forces have entered the northern town of Tel Rifaat, where they were fighting "fierce battles" against insurgents. Tel Rifaat is a major stronghold of militants fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad. Capturing Tel Rifaat would bring government forces closer to their target of Azaz, near the Turkish border. In Idlib province, an airstrike destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in attacks that were minutes apart. It said seven people were killed and eight others were "missing, presumed dead." "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said MSF mission chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The opposition group, which tracks both sides of the conflict through sources on the ground, said dozens were wounded in the attack. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by phone from Maaret al-Numan. He said five people were killed near the MSF clinic and "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead." The Observatory and other opposition activists said another hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also hit Monday, most likely by a Syrian government airstrike. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing five people, including three children and a pregnant woman, according to the Observatory. A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said close to 50 civilians were killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria. Ban called the attacks "blatant violations of international laws" that "are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria," according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. Activists posted amateur video that showed civil defense workers pulling bodies from the rubble of the MSF-supported structure in Idlib, which collapsed into a heap of rubble and was tilting to one side. Others showed a huge crater next to a building that purportedly housed the child and maternal hospital in Azaz. Incubators could be seen in a ward littered with broken glass and toppled medical equipment. Russia says its airstrikes are targeting militants and denies hitting hospitals or civilians. But rights groups and activists have repeatedly accused Moscow of killing civilians. Those accusations have increased recently as Russia intensified its airstrikes to provide cover to Syrian troops advancing in the north. Troops are trying to cut rebel supply lines to Turkey and surround rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, once Syria's largest. Daragh McDowell, the head Russia analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a British risk analysis firm, said Russian and Syrian tactics "strongly suggest a deliberate effort to further exacerbate the refugee crisis, as a means of destabilizing Europe and pressuring the West to agree to a settlement in Syria on Moscow and Damascus' terms." Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defense, a group of first responders known as the "White Helmets," said the women's hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles. He said some 10 people were killed and many were wounded. "We think it is Russia because the photos of the missiles have Russian language (and) because we haven't seen this kind (of missile) before the Russian intervention," he said. Russia has been a key ally of Assad throughout the five-year uprising and civil war, and began launching airstrikes on Sept. 30. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving and medics unloading children on stretchers. "They hit the school, they hit the school," wailed a Syrian woman who was unloaded from an ambulance onto a wheelchair. The U.S. State Department condemned the airstrikes, saying they cast doubt on "Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people." In Brussels, European Union officials had earlier called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table, decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities." Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said "we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that." The U.N.'s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with Syrian officials. ___ Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Lorne Cook in Brussels and Dominique Soguel in Istanbul, Turkey contributed to this report. Turkish forces' armoured vehicles patrol at the southeastern town of Nusaybin, Turkey, near the border with Syria, where Turkish security forces are battling militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers, Party or PKK, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, a day after Turkish media reports said a police officer was injured in a clash. The private Dogan news agency said the militants on Saturday detonated an explosive device in the town as a military vehicle was passing by, but no one injured. A second bomb was defused in a controlled explosion. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Into the mosh pit: Republican campaign talk gets nastier WASHINGTON (AP) In 2011, eyebrows shot up when former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used a salty acronym WTF to mock the policies of President Barack Obama. How quaint. Five years later, Donald Trump has blown right past acronyms. He's in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. In this photo taken Feb. 11, 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Baton Rouge, La. Eyebrows shot up when Sarah Palin used a salty acronym, WTF, to mock the policies of President Barack Obama in 2011. How quaint. Five years later, Trump has blown right past acronyms in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) In recent days, Trump has publicly lip-synced the F-bomb, blurted out the S-word more than once, hurled an offensive term for coward at rival Ted Cruz and fired a steady string of put-downs at other candidates whom he labels pathetic, liars, losers, nasty, evil and more. While Trump started it, other GOP candidates have jumped right into the rhetorical mosh pit, readily trading versions of "liar, liar" in Saturday night's venomous debate. Cruz has said Trump is "losing it," called out his "Trumpertantrums" and dismissed the billionaire's insults as "hysterical." Before exiting the race, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie predicted that he could beat Hillary Clinton in a debate, promising, "I'll beat her rear end on that stage," and tormented fellow Republican Marco Rubio as a fragile "boy in the bubble." Even Jeb Bush, whose 90-year-old mother recently complained that he was too polite, belatedly joined in. Bush, a favorite target of Trump's taunts, tweeted back: "You aren't just a loser, you are a liar and a whiner." This, after weeks of calling him a "jerk." It's not that politicians are typically paragons of proper speech and etiquette. They've just tended to keep their name-calling and coarseness off-mic. Now, it's on the podium and by design. "There's a general taboo-breaking that allows more and more of it to happen faster and faster," says Robert Lane Greene, author of "You Are What You Speak," a book about the politics of language. "The first time somebody does it, eyebrows go up and people get concerned, but then the next person doing it is less eye-opening." The Democratic nomination contest has been tame in comparison with the Republicans: Hillary Clinton complained of a "low blow" when Bernie Sanders said she was a progressive only on "some days." Sanders, in turn, rejected Clinton's accusation that his campaign had engaged in an "artful smear" by insinuating that she was beholden to Wall Street. As for the GOP campaign, Greene sees the coarseness of the GOP campaign as evidence that "the contest to become the alpha male in the room has become more obvious this time than in previous elections." That seems to be just fine with the voters who have put Trump at the top of the polls and handed him a victory in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary. About a quarter of Republican voters in New Hampshire said "telling it like it is" was the most important quality to them in selecting a candidate, and two-thirds of those voters went for the potty-mouth guy who tells it like no one else. "He's real, right?" said Joanne Galvin, an independent voter from Pelham, New Hampshire, explaining her vote for Trump. She dismissed his use of a vulgarity about Cruz at a big rally by saying Trump was simply repeating what someone in the audience had shouted out. Trump has offered a similar defense and promised he'll tone things down if he gets closer to the presidency, saying, "when you're president, or if you're about to be president, you would act differently." Asked during Saturday's debate about his penchant for profanity, Trump pledged to knock it off, saying, "I will not do it again ... Not using profanity is very easy." But he also made clear he has no intention of reining in his personal attacks and insults. A super PAC supporting Bush is hoping Trump's language is a turnoff to South Carolina voters. It's running a radio ad in the state that strings together clips of Trump's expletive-deleted language and then asks, "Is this the type of man we want our children exposed to? The time is now for South Carolina to end the Trump charade." Trump frames his blunt language as a harmless rejoinder to political correctness run amok, telling one TV interviewer, "Every once in a while you can have a little fun, don't you think?" But Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on political communication, said Trump has "hijacked" political correctness to justify his routine use of personal attacks. That's causing other candidates to mirror his tactics and creates a worrisome diversion from a needed discussion of ideas, she said. Harking back to 1988, she recalled when Republican presidential contender Bob Dole stepped over a line when he snapped at GOP primary rival George Bush to "stop lying about my record." Until then, she said, "candidates did not use the word 'lie' about each other." It's all part of a broader trend toward informality in politics that has been going on for more than a century, says Greene. Many Americans are drawn to Trump, Greene says, because he talks like "the guy next to them on the bar stool." "Some people find the guy next to you on the barstool obnoxious, but a lot of Americans ARE that guy." ___ Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Jill Colvin in Nashua, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. ___ Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac FILE - in this Sept, 5, 2011 file photo, former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at a Tea Party Express Rally in Manchester, N.H. Eyebrows shot up when Palin used a salty acronym, WTF, to mock the policies of President Barack Obama in 2011. How quaint. Five years later, Donald Trump has blown right past acronyms in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File) FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2016 file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a town hall-style campaign event at Hampton Academy in Hampton, N.H. Eyebrows shot up when Sarah Palin used a salty acronym, WTF, to mock the policies of President Barack Obama in 2011. How quaint. Five years later, Donald Trump has blown right past acronyms in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. Before exiting the race, Christie predicted that he could beat Hillary Clinton in a debate, promising, Ill beat her rear end on that stage. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File) George W. Bush offers tough Trump takedown in campaign debut CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) George W. Bush never mentioned Donald Trump. But with his folksy touch, the former president unleashed a tough takedown Monday of the billionaire businessman who has upended a Republican Party his family has long led. "I understand Americans are angry and frustrated," Bush said during his first campaign rally for his brother, Jeb Bush. "But we do not need somebody in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration." Trump's rise has confounded the Bush family and its allies. But despite months of predicting the brash billionaire would fade, it's Jeb Bush whose White House hopes are in peril, particularly if he's unable to pull out a strong showing in Saturday's South Carolina primary. Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, center, accompanied by his brother former President George W. Bush, right, and George's wife Laura Bush, takes the stage during a campaign stop Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) The former president emerged from his self-imposed political hibernation to try to give Bush a boost. He layered each validation of his younger brother with an implicit critique of Trump. He urged voters to back a candidate who will be "measured and thoughtful" on the world stage. A candidate whose "humility" helps him understand what he doesn't know. A candidate who can win in November's general election. "All the sloganeering and all the talk doesn't matter if we don't win," Bush said. "We need somebody who can take a positive message across the country." With his brother as a strong warmup act, Jeb Bush delivered an impassioned version of his campaign speech, touting his experience as Florida governor and vowing he could put Republicans back in the White House for the first time in eight years. "I can beat Hillary Clinton," he said of the Democratic front-runner. "I can promise you that." The former president's return to presidential politics has been met with blistering attacks from Trump about the unpopular Iraq war and the economic recession that began at the end of his administration. Trump has also repeatedly reminded voters that the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks happened on Bush's watch. "If the ex-president is campaigning for his brother, I think he's probably open to great scrutiny, maybe things that haven't been thought of in the past," Trump told reporters Monday. Rather than gloss over 9/11, Bush leaned in. As the crowd fell into a hushed silence, he recounted in detail his whereabouts on the morning of the attacks and praised the troops that served in the two wars he started in response. "Your most solemn job as voters is to elect a president who understands the reality of the threats we face," he said. As he praised South Carolina's Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian-born parents, Bush pointedly said: "Thank goodness our country welcomed her parents when they immigrated here in 1969." It was a reminder of how much the Republican Party has changed since he was president. While Bush championed failed legislation that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for millions of people in the U.S. illegally, many current GOP presidential candidates have fought to outdo each other with tough enforcement policies and even mass deportations. Jeb Bush spent months trying to figure out what role, if any, his brother might play in his campaign. The 43rd president left office deeply unpopular with a nation fatigued by the Iraq War and angry over his botched response to Hurricane Katrina. He's also a reminder to voters eager to break with the political establishment that Jeb Bush would be the third man from his family to serve as president. But South Carolina is a state that has long been friendly to the Bush family. Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush each won two Republican primaries in the state, and their family retains deep social and political ties here. Pete and Tisha Petersen were among the Bush family fans who attended Monday's rally. Neither is sure who they'll vote for in Saturday's primary, and both said the former president's return to the campaign trail has indeed rekindled memories of the Iraq war and the economic recession. But Tisha Petersen said that, "for people who love the Bush family, I think it's not such a bad thing either. It shows loyalty." And her husband said that with Jeb Bush struggling to get traction, he may not have had any other choice but to campaign with his brother. "Jeb doesn't quite have that edge that his brother had," he said. "Maybe his brother will give him a little bit of that." George W. Bush has kept a low profile since leaving the White House in early 2009. He retreated to his home state of Texas, where he picked up painting and delved into work on his presidential library, public health projects in Africa, and events for wounded military service members. The former president is the latest member of the prominent political family to hit the campaign trail to help prop up Bush. Family matriarch Barbara Bush had hit the campaign trail in New Hampshire, delighting voters with her outspoken style and tenacity, as the 90-year-old traipsed through snow to get to events. ___ Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jill Colvin in Charleston contributed to this report. Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, accompanied by his brother former President George W. Bush and George's wife Laura Bush, takes the stage during a campaign stop Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) A young girl waits for Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to speak at a campaign stop Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, right, accompanied by his brother former President George W. Bush, left, and George's wife Laura Bush, takes the stage during a campaign stop Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Strongmen to predominate at Obama's SE Asia summit WASHINGTON (AP) A coup leader with a penchant for song. A sultan with a taste for the high life. A ruthless prime minister with 31 years on the job. A former furniture salesman. A communist politburo veteran. A prime minister trying to shake off a $700 million financial scandal. When President Barack Obama welcomes Southeast Asian leaders for a shirt-sleeves summit set to begin Monday in California, he'll have some interesting dining companions. U.S. officials say the unprecedented gathering, running through Tuesday, is the culmination of Obama's seven-year effort to engage with the Asia-Pacific, a strategic push that China views as an attempt to contain its rise. FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama shakes hands with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When President Barack Obama welcomes Southeast Asian leaders for a shirt-sleeves summit in California this week, hell have some interesting dining companions. There will be a coup leader with a penchant for song, a sultan with a taste for the high life and a ruthless prime minister with 31 years on the job. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File) For the first time, the American president has invited to the United States all the leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a diverse and democratically challenged 10-nation grouping. The meeting place is the sprawling Sunnylands estate where Obama hosted an ice-breaking summit with China's President Xi Jinping in 2013. During two days of discussions and a working dinner, the leaders plan to discuss economic cooperation and trade, and security issues. Hours before the summit was to get underway, Obama, an avid golfer, headed for the estate's nine-hole course, which is considered one of the finest in the country. ASEAN was founded in the 1960s as an anti-communist bloc. It now straddles all of Southeast Asia and has become a fulcrum of U.S. outreach in Asia. That includes its push for adherence to international law in the South China Sea, where disputes between China and its neighbors have stoked tensions. But the U.S. faces an uphill battle to forge unity among ASEAN's members, which includes poor nations such as Cambodia and Laos that are heavily influenced by China and are not party to the dispute. Others members such as Vietnam and the Philippines have been strongly critical of China after confrontations near contested islands. James Clapper, the director of U.S. national intelligence, told Congress last week that ASEAN cohesion is challenged by "varying threat perceptions of China's regional ambitions and assertiveness in the South China Sea." Another challenge for the U.S. lies in promoting a "rules-based order" in a region with a very mixed record on democracy and rule of law. Several of the invitees have not come to power through free and fair elections. They include Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who took power in a May 2014 coup, has cracked down on critics and dissidents and repeatedly pushed back the date for new elections. In the meantime, he has penned the lyrics to a tune called, "Returning Happiness to the People," often played on state-controlled media. Hun Sen from neighboring Cambodia is making his first official U.S. visit as leader, although he's been prime minister since 1985. He has used a combination of guile and brute force to stay in power, including a violent coup in 1997. In recent months he has intensified pressure on the political opposition. Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, defended the invitations, saying the U.S. is not going overboard by rolling out the red carpet for "problematic leaders." He said discussions at Sunnylands will be an opportunity to promote U.S. values and respect for human rights. "Hun Sen isn't going to hear it from his subordinates. Gen. Prayuth isn't going to hear it from his colleagues, but they will and do hear from (Secretary of State) John Kerry, from Barack Obama," Russel told reporters. "It's important for there to be real communication here." Human Rights Watch, however, said inviting unelected leaders represents "an unearned diplomatic reward." In a pre-summit report surveying the record of ASEAN members, it concluded most "have an extraordinarily poor human rights record." Among the 10 nations, only Indonesia and the Philippines are widely regarded as being open democracies. Vietnam and Laos have communist governments that prohibit political dissent, while tiny oil-rich Brunei is governed by the vastly wealthy Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, one of the world's few remaining hereditary leaders. In 2014, Bolkiah introduced Shariah criminal law that calls for punishing adultery, abortions and same-sex relationships with flogging and stoning, an action that prompted a Hollywood boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel, which he owns. Also attending is Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has been dogged by a scandal over a state investment fund and accusations of a lavish lifestyle. From neighboring Indonesia comes President Joko Widodo, a more down-at-heels leader who rose from being a furniture seller to running the world's fourth-most populated country. Four of the invitees are "lame ducks" with little time left in office, like Obama. At least one of them, from Myanmar, is skipping the summit and sending a deputy instead. Still, Ernie Bower, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the summit will demonstrate the importance of Southeast Asia to the U.S. and set a precedent the next president can follow. "It will send a resounding message to Asian capitals that the United States is committed to this," he said. ____ Follow Matthew Pennington on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mattpenn_99 Army to step up efforts to recruit women WASHINGTON (AP) Beginning this summer, a visit to a local Army recruiting office will include a new set of gymnastic tests to help determine what military jobs a recruit is physically capable of performing. Prospective soldiers will be asked to run, jump, lift a weight and throw a heavy ball all to help the Army figure out if the recruit can handle a job with high physical demands or should be directed to a more sedentary assignment. The new tests come as the Pentagon is opening all combat posts to women, a process that involves setting physical standards for every job that both men and women will have to meet. FILE - In this July 15, 2015 file photo, the Times Square military recruiting station displays insignia for each military branch in New York. Beginning this summer, a visit to a local Army recruiting office around the country will include a new set of gymnastic tests to help determine what military jobs a recruit is physically capable of doing. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) As part of the effort, the Army will increase the number of female recruiters to better target women. The goal will be to add 1 percent each year for the next three years in order to get at least one woman at each of the Army's more than 780 larger recruiting centers across the country. Right now, only about 750 of the 8,800 Army and Army Reserve recruiters are women. The head of U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Maj. Gen. Jeff Snow, told The Associated Press that adding more women as recruiters will give female recruits someone more credible to talk to about options for women in the military and how an Army career could affect married or family life. But he said that getting that increase will be tough because other commands across the Army are also competing to get more women in their units. As women move into combat roles, Army commanders want to have women in leadership positions across the force to serve as mentors and role models. In particular, Army leaders want more women as drill sergeants and platoon sergeants as recruits go through basic and advanced training. Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December ordered the military services to allow women to compete for all combat jobs. But he and other military leaders have been adamant that the physical standards for the jobs will not be lowered in order to allow more women to qualify. Brig. Gen. Donna Martin, deputy commander of Army Recruiting Command, said that despite the added recruiting efforts, there may not be a flood of women rushing to compete for combat jobs. But she said the Army may see an eventual increase in women enlistments as they see the array of options. "I think it's all about awareness about a choice," Martin said. "It's not forcing any women to go into combat arms. It's about making them aware that this is a choice. "It's the whole question of can you have it all," said Martin, who has been in the Army for 29 years, has been married for 21 years, and has a 19-year-old son. "You can have as much as you want." The new physical tests, according to Army leaders, will evaluate all recruits men and women and will judge their core strength and endurance. Recruits still will have to take the routine aptitude tests and physical evaluations. "By doing predictive tests we can marry people up with those specialties that physically they should be able to do, which should reduce attrition and be a better fit for the Army," Snow said. "It is truly about the right person at the right time with the right skill sets to perform, and we think that we're setting them up for success in that particular specialty." He added, however, that Army leaders are trying to finalize what scores will be needed to qualify for a highly physical job and what would limit recruits to less physical occupations. While the tests coincide with the campaign to bring women into combat fields, military officials note that setting specific physical standards for all jobs may prevent some men from getting into certain infantry or armor posts if they don't qualify. The tests stem from the three years of study the Army did as it considered whether all combat jobs, including grueling infantry, Army and special operations careers, should be opened to women, and what abilities recruits needed to succeed at the more difficult battlefront posts. The questions also reflect concerns that women are injured at a higher rate than men, even during the early days of enlistment. Injuries or difficulties doing physical requirements often lead many women and men to fail or decide to leave the military. The physical assessment test is made up of four tasks: a standing long jump; an interval, aerobic run; a dead lift of weights; and a seated power throw of a weighted ball. Snow said the tasks test upper and lower body strength, body core strength, endurance and power. He said it will cost about $3 million to get all the testing equipment to the Army's 1,300 recruiting locations. ___ Online: Results in key cases could change with Scalia's death WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court abhors even numbers. But that's just what the court will have to deal with, perhaps for many months, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Eight justices will decide what to do, creating the prospect of 4-4 ties. Here are some questions and answers about the prospects of filling the vacancy left by the death of its conservative icon and longest-serving justice and its effect on the court: Q: What happens when President Barack Obama makes a nomination? A U.S. flag flies at half-staff in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, after is was announced that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, 79, had died. (AP Photo/J. David Ake) Any nominee would first face the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold confirmation hearings and then vote on whether to send the selection to the full Senate. An Obama nominee would have a hard time even getting a favorable vote to get out of the committee, where Republicans hold an 11-9 edge. Some of the fiercest foes of the president serve on the panel, including GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz of Texas, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, David Vitter of Louisiana and Mike Lee of Utah. The committee chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said within hours of Scalia's death on Saturday that Obama's successor should select the next justice. Q: What if the nominee did emerge from the committee? The decision then rests with the full Senate, where Republicans are in the majority 54-46 and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wasted no time on Saturday making clear that "this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president." Further complicating the prospects for approval is Cruz, who has vowed to filibuster any Obama nominee. That means it would take 60 votes to break a GOP filibuster. Obama's allies would need 14 Republicans to break ranks and move ahead on the nomination. The 2012 and 2014 elections left just a handful of moderate Republicans who might vote for an Obama pick. Of those still in the Senate, only Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., voted for Obama's two other Supreme Court choices, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Q. What happens to cases in which Scalia cast a vote or drafted an opinion, but no decision has been publicly announced? A. It may sound harsh, but Scalia's votes and draft opinions in pending cases no longer matter. Veteran Supreme Court lawyer Roy Englert says that "the vote of a deceased justice does not count." Nothing is final at the court until it is released publicly and, while it is rare, justices have flipped their votes and the outcomes in some cases. Q. What happens if there is a tie? A. The justices have two options. They can vote to hear the case a second time when a new colleague joins them or they can hand down a one-sentence opinion that upholds the result reached in the lower court without setting a nationwide rule. When confirmation of a new justice is expected to happen quickly, re-argument is more likely. In this political environment, the vacancy could last into 2017. Q. Why doesn't the court like tie votes? A. A major function of the Supreme Court is to resolve disputes among lower courts and establish legal precedents for the entire country. Tie votes frustrate those goals and they essentially waste the court's time. Q. How does Scalia's death affect specific cases? A. It deprives conservatives of a key vote and probably will derail some anticipated conservative victories in major Supreme Court cases, including one in which labor unions appeared headed for a big defeat. Next month's Supreme Court clash over contraceptives, religious liberty and President Barack Obama's health care law also now seems more likely to favor the Obama administration. Q. What other pending cases could be affected? A. A challenge to the way governments have drawn electoral districts for 50 years now appears to have little chance of finding a court majority. The court heard arguments in December in a case from Texas on the meaning of the principle of "one person, one vote," which the court has said requires that political districts be roughly equal in population. But it has left open the question of whether states must count all residents, including noncitizens and children, or only eligible voters in drawing district lines. Q. What will happen in the upcoming case over the Obama health care overhaul? A. The Supreme Court will be looking at the health care law for the fourth time since its 2010 enactment. This time, the focus is on the arrangement the Obama administration worked out to spare faith-based hospitals, colleges and charities from paying for contraceptives for women covered under their health plans, while still ensuring that those women can obtain birth control at no extra cost as the law requires. The faith-based groups argue that the accommodation still makes them complicit in providing contraception to which they have religious objections. A tie vote here would sow rather than alleviate confusion because the appellate courts that have looked at the issue have not all come out the same way. That prospect suggests that Justice Anthony Kennedy will join the court's four liberal justices to uphold the arrangement, Supreme Court lawyer Thomas Goldstein said. Q. Are there cases in which a tie would be a loss for the Obama administration? A. The administration's plan to shield up to 5 million people from deportation was struck down by lower courts and a Supreme Court tie would leave that ruling in place. On abortion, the administration is backing a challenge to Texas' strict new regulations for abortion clinics. A federal appeals court upheld the regulations. Q: Have there been other instances when a Supreme Court justice was nominated and confirmed in an election year? A: More than a dozen Supreme Court justices have been confirmed during the final year of a president's term in office, but nearly all of those took place more than a century ago when the process was far less politically polarized. Republican leaders in the Senate have argued that filling the vacancy left after Scalia's death should wait until after the next president is elected. Obama insists he plans to fulfill his duties under the Constitution to nominate a new justice before his term ends. Most recently, Kennedy was confirmed by a 97-0 vote on Feb. 3, 1988, an election year. But Kennedy had been nominated by President Ronald Reagan in November 1987. And he was actually Reagan's third choice and far less reliably conservative than the first two picks. The Senate rejected the nomination of Robert Bork, and Douglas Ginsburg withdrew over reports that he used marijuana while a Harvard law professor. Before that, it was 1940 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Frank Murphy in an election year, and he was confirmed in just 12 days on Jan. 16, 1940. Q: When was the last time the Senate refused to confirm a Supreme Court nomination made during a president's final year in office? A: President Lyndon Johnson nominated two men for Supreme Court seats in 1968, the last year of his presidency. He sought to elevate Justice Abe Fortas to replace Earl Warren as chief justice, and he nominated Homer Thornberry a federal appellate judge from Texas to fill the expected vacant seat. But the Senate blocked a vote on Fortas over strong opposition to the move, and Fortas later withdrew his nomination. Without a vacancy, Thornberry's nomination also never got a Senate vote. Warren eventually retired in 1969, and President Richard Nixon named Warren Burger to replace him. A worship announcement is posted in front of the United Methodist Building across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington where the flag flies at half-staff in honor of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/J. David Ake) This photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, as the sun rises Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Antonin Scalia, the influential conservative and most provocative member of the Supreme Court, has died. He was 79. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) An American flag flies at half-staff in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in honor of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as the sun rises in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Scalia, the influential conservative and most provocative member of the Supreme Court, has died. He was 79. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 31, 2005 file photo, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia joins the members of the Supreme Court for photos during a group portrait session, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) PICTURED: Editor selections from Asia In images from around Asia last week, North Koreans celebrated the launch of a rocket condemned by many governments as a banned missile test, and in Hong Kong masked protesters threw bricks in street riots during Lunar New Year's. Dozens were injured and arrested in the Hong Kong when New Year festivities descended into chaos after authorities cracked down on unlicensed street stalls, a move that some viewed as Beijing tightening its hold on the semiautonomous Chinese city. In Manila, meanwhile, lion dancers performed amid exploding firecrackers to mark the start of the Year of the Monkey. In this Feb. 8, 2016 photo, North Koreans gather at the Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate a satellite launch, in Pyongyang, North Korea. People in Pyongyang danced and watched fireworks the day after a rocket launch that has been strongly condemned by many countries around the world. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File) After North Korea's rocket launch, South Korea suspended operations at the jointly-operated Kaesong industrial park. In retaliation, Pyongyang then expelled all South Korean workers and put the area under military control. Buddhist monks collected alms in Myanmar, which marked the anniversary of a 1947 agreement among the country's ethnic groups that paved the way to independence from Britain. In Tokyo, runners dressed as "minions" were among 10,000 participants in a one-kilometer run for children's charities. ___ This gallery was curated by Associated Press photo editor Karly Domb Sadof in Bangkok. In this Feb. 11, 2016 photo, a South Korean driver changes his vehicle number after returning from North Korea's joint Kaesong Industrial Complex at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea. North Korea on Thursday ordered a military takeover of the factory park that was the last major symbol of cooperation with South Korea, saying Seoul's suspension of operations at the jointly run facility was a "dangerous declaration of war." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) In this Feb. 9, 2016 photo, riot police stand guard against a broken car in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. Hong Kong's Lunar New Year celebration descended into chaotic scenes as protesters and police, who fired warning shots into the air, clashed over a street market selling fish balls and other local holiday delicacies, leaving dozens injured and arrested. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File) In this Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 photo, police officers walk past a blazing fire set by protestors in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. Several dozen people appeared in a Hong Kong court Thursday, Feb. 11 to face rioting charges following a violent clash earlier this week between protesters and police sparked by a clampdown on holiday street food vendors. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) In this Feb. 9, 2016 photo, protesters throw bricks at police and lit fires on streets in Mongkok district of Hong Kong. Protesters clashed with police overnight and into the early hours of Tuesday in a crowded area of Kowloon. The unrest started when local authorities tried to prevent street food sellers from operating on Monday night. Activists who are dissatisfied with Hong Kong's administration took part in the clashes, local media reports said. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File) In this Feb. 8, 2016 photo, dragon and lion dancers perform amidst exploding firecrackers in celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Manila's Chinatown district in Manila, Philippines. This year is Year of the Monkey in the Lunar calendar. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) In this Feb. 13, 2016 photo, LED light roses are lit up at the Light Rose Garden, against the backdrop of Central, the business district of Hong Kong. Light Rose Garden" is originated from South Korea, an art installation project featuring 25,000 white roses made of LED lights for Valentines Day. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File) In this Feb. 12, 2016 photo, Buddhist monks walk to collect alms on a flyover in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar mark the 69th anniversary of Union Day on Friday, a 1947 agreement among the country's ethnic groups that paved the way to independence from Britain. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe, File) In this Feb. 10, 2016 photo, Cambodian pupils sit together on one seat of a bicycle as they head to school, at Prey Kla village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) HSBC to keep HQ in London, decides against move to Asia LONDON (AP) Britain's biggest bank is staying put. HSBC Holdings plc said it will keep its headquarters in London, ending a 10-month process in which one of the world's largest financial companies considered moving to Hong Kong to get closer to its center of gravity in fast-growing Asian economies. "I think we've ended up with the best of both worlds," HSBC chairman Douglas Flint told the BBC on Monday. "A pivot to Asia, led from London." In this Monday Feb. 8, 2016 photo, the HSBC headquarters building stands amongst other skyscrapers in the Canary Wharf business district of London, with a statue of Lord Nelson in the foreground. International bank HSBC said Sunday Feb. 14, it has decided to keep its headquarters in London after considering a move to Hong Kong in response to tougher U.K. banking regulations. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) Flint said that HSBC was, at its heart, a bank focused on trade and investment flows. Sidestepping concerns about the recent volatility in Asian markets, Flint said it had been a privilege to choose between two of the world's great financial centers and that the decision was not based on short-term market dynamics. "The U.K. is one of the most globally connected economies in the world with a fantastic regulatory system and legal system and immense experience in dealing with international affairs," he said. The bank launched the review last April in light of regulatory and tax changes implemented by the U.K. after the 2008 financial crisis. Particularly problematic was a 2010 tax on a bank's global balance sheet, which penalized those with global operations such as HSBC and Standard Chartered. Fears that Britain would vote to leave the European Union also heightened concerns. HSBC's decision was a relief to the government, which feared losing a pillar of Britain's financial world and the signal it would send more broadly for the economy at a time of heated debate about whether or not to leave the EU. The thought of losing one of London's financial icons had sent the government into panic. "It's a vote of confidence in the government's economic plan, and a boost to our goal of making the U.K. a great place to do more business with China and the rest of Asia," the Treasury said in a statement after HSBC's decision. Campaigners who want the country to leave the EU argued the decision proved that big financial institutions would not be frightened off by a leave vote. But Flint told the BBC that the bank has the ability to move people from London to Paris if necessary for the bank's wholesale operations. Investec banking expert Ian Gordon, who thought a move was in the bank's interest, suggested it was dangerous to trust political promises that won't be enacted until after the next election. Concerns about slowing economic growth in China and market volatility around the world may have persuaded HSBC to stay with the status quo, Gordon said. "I'm sure that a perception of market and political volatility would have been a consideration against moving," he said. The bank's decision came after a complicated process that took longer than expected, but speculation increased in the days before the company was set to report its earnings Feb. 22. HSBC still believes its commercial future lies in the growing wealth of Asia. Almost two-thirds of the bank's pretax profit came from Asia in the first nine months of 2015, compared with 19 percent from Europe. It has offices in 72 countries and territories in Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and North Africa. It claimed assets of $2.5 trillion as of September. Many Western banks are interested in expanding operations in Asia, but HSBC has the advantage of already having a major presence there. Founded in Hong Kong in 1865, when the city was a British colony, the bank financed growing trade between China and Europe and was originally known as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. The company moved its headquarters to London in 1992 to meet the regulatory requirements for its acquisition of Midland Bank. In this photo taken on Monday, February 8, 2016, a tourist takes a picture backdropped by the HSBC headquarters building standing amongst other skyscrapers in the Canary Wharf business district of London. International bank HSBC said Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, it has decided to keep its headquarters in London after considering a move to Hong Kong in response to tougher U.K. banking regulations. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) Texas judge disclosed details about Scalia's health WASHINGTON (AP) The Texas county judge who decided no autopsy was needed following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has disclosed new details about Scalia's health in the days before he died. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Monday she spoke with Scalia's doctor on the day he was found dead in his room at a remote Texas ranch. She said the doctor told her that Scalia had a history of heart trouble, high blood pressure and was considered too weak to undergo surgery for a recent shoulder injury. Those details are seemingly at odds with recollections of friends who described Scalia as his usual, happy self during the days leading up to his death. News that the 79-year-old justice was in declining health may come as a surprise to the public, but unlike presidents, the high court's members don't provide regular health disclosures. FILE - In this Oct., 15, 2006 file photo, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at the ACLU Membership Conference in Washington. On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79. (AP Photo/Chris Greenberg, File) Guevara told the AP that she consulted with Scalia's personal physician and local and federal investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding that he had died of natural causes. She said she spoke with a "Dr. Monahan" at some point after 8 p.m. on Saturday to discuss Scalia's health history. Rear Adm. Brian P. Monahan is the attending physician for members of Congress and the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court spokeswoman could not immediately confirm that Monahan had examined Scalia, and Monahan did not return a phone message left for him at his Capitol office Monday. Scalia's death was a shock to those at the Cibolo Creek Ranch where he died, as well as to the rest of the nation. The owner of the ranch near Marfa, about 190 miles southeast of El Paso, said Scalia seemed normal at dinner the night before he was found "in complete repose" in his room. John Poindexter told reporters Scalia had arrived Friday and was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests. Scalia retired around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep, according to Poindexter. Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes in El Paso, Texas, said Scalia's body was taken from the facility late Sunday afternoon and was to be flown to Virginia An El Paso International Airport official, Terry Sharpe, the airport's assistant director for operations, said a private plane carrying Scalia's body left the West Texas airport about 8 p.m. Eastern time Sunday. Guevara said Monahan told her Scalia had gone to the doctor's office on both Wednesday and Thursday before traveling to Texas, and had an MRI on his shoulder. She said Monahan told her surgery was needed, but that Scalia wasn't strong enough to endure surgery so rehabilitation was recommended instead. Scalia apparently had mentioned to some people at the ranch he was not feeling well, according to Guevara. She said that information came from her conversations with Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez and a U.S. marshal she identified as Ken Roberts, both of whom had seen Scalia's body and determined there was no foul play. State law allows an inquest to be performed by phone. Guevara said she followed the procedure because both justices of the peace serving the region were out of town and she was also about 65 miles away from the resort. Guevara certified Scalia's death by telephone about 1:52 p.m. Saturday. She had previously conducted two other death inquests by phone. Bryan Garner, one of Scalia's close friends and the co-author of two books with the justice, said in an interview that Scalia seemed happy and jovial during recent trips to Hong Kong and Singapore in late January and early February. Garner said Scalia never mentioned anything about heart problems or other ailments during the trip. "He did seem strong as ever," Garner said. "He was a very strong man physically." During the trip, Scalia and Garner spent long days traveling, speaking to university audiences about their most recent book on interpreting the law, and meeting with public officials. Garner said his most recent conversation with Scalia was on Wednesday morning, when the justice told him, "'The world of tennis has lost a great competitor.'" Scalia, long an avid tennis player, said he had torn his rotator cuff for a second time and that his playing days likely were over, Garner said. But Garner said Scalia never mentioned any other ailments other than that he was dealing with a "head cold." In the nation's capital, where flags flew at half-staff at the White House and Supreme Court, the political sniping soared over replacing Scalia on the bench, raising the prospect of a court short-handed for some time. President Barack Obama has pledged a nomination "in due time." But the Senate's top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, thinks it should wait for the next president. McConnell and other Republicans argued that, as a lame duck, Obama should not fill the vacancy created by Scalia's death during an election year. ___ Warren reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Sarah Rankin in Chicago and Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Texas, contributed to this report. The hearse which transported Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's body to the airport from Sunset Funeral Home departs the Atlantic Aviation hangar at El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. (VIctor Calzada/The El Paso Times via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT The U.S. flag flies at half-staff outside the Sunset Funeral Home, Sunday Feb. 14, 2016 in El Paso, Texas. Antonin Scalia's body lay in a Texas funeral home Sunday and officials waited word about whether they would need to perform an autopsy before the late Supreme Court justice could return home to Virginia. In Washington, where flags flew at half-staff at the White House and Supreme Court, the political sniping soared, raising the prospect of the court remaining short-handed for some time. (VIctor Calzada/The El Paso Times via AP) EL DIARIO OUT; JUAREZ MEXICO OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT, EL DIARIO DE EL PASO OUT Traffic passes the Cibolo Creek Ranch near Shafter, Texas, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Justice Antonin Scalia vacationed at the resort prior to his death Saturday. Scalia was found dead Saturday morning at the private residence in the Big Bend area of West Texas. (AP Photo/John L. Mone) Lawyer: Suspect in Bangkok blast confessed under torture BANGKOK (AP) The lawyer for a one of two suspects in last year's deadly bombing of a Bangkok landmark said Monday his client was tortured to elicit a confession, as the pair were set to formally hear the charges against them in a military court. Lawyer Chuchart Kanpai says Bilal Mohammad avows he was tortured by security personnel into falsely confessing to the Aug. 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine that killed 20 people, 14 of them foreign tourists. More than 120 other people were hurt in one of the deadliest acts of violence in Bangkok in decades. Chuchart said that his client would deny all charges brought before the court Tuesday except that of illegal entry into Thailand. Bilal and Mieraili Yusufu, described by officials as ethnic Uighurs from western China's Xinjiang region, were indicted last November on 10 charges, including conspiracy to explode bombs and commit premeditated murder. No progress has been announced on the hunt for 15 other suspects sought in arrest warrants. Police say the case against the two suspects is supported by closed-circuit television footage, witnesses, DNA matching and physical evidence, in addition to their confessions. Police believe Yusufu detonated the bomb minutes after a backpack containing the device was left at the shrine by a yellow-shirted man they suspect was Bilal. Thai authorities say the bombing was revenge by a people-smuggling gang whose activities were disrupted by a crackdown. However, some analysts suspected it might have been the work of Uighur separatists who were angry that Thailand in July forcibly repatriated more than 100 Uighurs to China, where they may be persecuted. The Erawan Shrine is popular among Chinese tourists, and many were among the bombing victims. Bilal was initially identified as Adem Karadag, the name on a fake Turkish passport he had when he was arrested Aug. 29. "He was tortured by officials, he didn't know if they were soldiers or police because they were non-uniformed," said Bilal's lawyer Chuchart. "Back then he confessed so that he wouldn't be tortured again. He was just saying it." Yusufu, whose intentions for his court appearance are not known, was arrested Sept. 1 near the Thai-Cambodia border, carrying a Chinese passport indicating he was from Xinjiang. A new prize in Nevada: the Asian-American vote LAS VEGAS (AP) Cynthia Ameli stopped her car, shocked at what she saw: A group of young Asian-Americans waving Obama campaign signs on the side of a Las Vegas thoroughfare. A Chinese-American who grew up in Chicago, Ameli was used to African-Americans and Latinos organizing for candidates, but not members of her own ethnic community. Even more astounding to her were how those signs in late 2012 announced the support of a community that had rarely spoken out about its politics "Asian American Pacific Islanders for Obama." Ameli leapt out of her car and asked for a sign. Now Ameli, a 57-year-old pharmacist, keeps a collection of Asian-American campaign placards and buttons at her house, including new ones from the Hillary Clinton campaign, for which she volunteers. As Clinton and Bernie Sanders scrap for every vote before Saturday's Nevada caucuses, they are competing for support among members of the nation's fastest-growing ethnic group, one that both parties are trying to win over. Asian-Americans comprise 6 percent of the U.S. population and their numbers have increased 56 percent since 2000. In Nevada, Asian-Americans are 9 percent of the population. Asian-Americans encompass a diverse range of people, among them recent Chinese immigrants, Muslims from Pakistan, Filipino-American Catholics and U.S. citizens from Hawaii. Campaigns are paying attention. "It's a fast-growing population, it's young, people are getting engaged," said Shu-Yen Wei, who helps with Asian-American outreach for the Democratic National Committee. "That's why people are interested." Since the 1990s, exit polls have found Asian-Americans voting increasingly Democratic during presidential elections, with 73 percent backing President Barack Obama in 2012. Analysts attributed that to the GOP's criticism of illegal immigration. But in the 2014 midterm elections, Asian voters appeared to split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Their numbers are small enough so that it's difficult to rely on polling to determine their leanings. Most, analysts agree, do not register with a political party, and they have among the lowest turnout rates of any group. "There's a huge, unaffiliated voting bloc of Asian Americans," said Jason Chung, the Republican National Committee's director of Asian Pacific American Initiatives. "We're working hard to grow our party and include Asian-Americans in our political process." Nevada's Asian-American population shows why it's so hard to sum up the community's politics it ranges from dedicated union activists to anti-abortion rights Filipino-American churchgoers, sprinkled with so many who have relocated from Hawaii that Las Vegas is often called "the ninth island." A Las Vegas financial planner, Derek Uehara underscores that diversity. A registered Republican, he's sympathetic to Donald Trump and thinks others may warm to the real estate developer's businesslike approach. "That can appeal to the Asian-American community, if the focus is on hard work and getting things done," Uehara said. "There's a huge opportunity here, but no one knows how to tap into it." As Nevada's caucuses draw closer there's been a surge in activity aimed at attracting Asian voters. Chung flew to Las Vegas to hold caucus trainings. The Sanders campaign held a "multiethnic" meeting Sunday that included Asian-American community leaders. But all agree the Clinton campaign, with a robust staff in the state for months, has had the most sustained outreach with a series of Asian-American themed events: dinners celebrating a Filipino holiday, Asian-American-themed phone banks and canvasses, and more. Clinton last month kicked off her national outreach to Asian-Americans with an event in Los Angeles' heavily Asian eastern suburbs with Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan. At a recent caucus training for Asian-American Democrats in Las Vegas, the Clinton campaign's national director of Asian-American and Pacific Islander outreach, Lisa Changaveja, mentioned that Clinton's longtime aide Huma Abedin and campaign finance chairman Dennis Cheng are both Asian-American. Changaveja argued that the former secretary of state was uniquely positioned to appeal to Asian-Americans. "She's been in Thailand more than I have, and my mother lives in Thailand," Changaveja quipped. Ameli, the Clinton campaign volunteer, sees Clinton as a natural fit. "Asians are very family-oriented and want everything for their families, and I believe everything Hillary is for, is for our families," she said. At the caucus training in Las Vegas, the Sanders campaign countered with an organizer who played a song about the Vermont senator on his ukulele, and a casino worker who is saddled with student debt and enthusiastic about the senator's free college plan. They contend Asian-Americans will embrace Sanders. "Asian-Americans, as they're getting to know Sanders, they're gravitating toward the campaign," said Zaffar Iqbal, a physician who lives in Las Vegas and was drawn to Sanders by his call for a government-financed health care system. "This community has pretty much the same issues as any other community." US OK's first factory in Cuba since revolution HAVANA (AP) The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a two-man company from Alabama to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year for sale to private farmers in Cuba. The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017. FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2011 file photo, a farmer drives his tractor in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a pair of former software engineers to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year. The partners were notified by Treasury Department officials in February 2016. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano, File) "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do. We're looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve," Clemmons said. "It's our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries." The $5 million to $10 million plant would be the first significant U.S. business investment on Cuban soil since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalized billions of dollars of U.S. corporate and private property. That confiscation provoked a U.S. embargo on Cuba that prohibited virtually all forms of commerce and fined non-U.S. companies millions of dollars for doing business with the island. Letting an American tractor company operate inside a Cuban government facility would have been unimaginable before Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared on Dec. 17, 2014, that they would restore diplomatic relations and move to normalize trade, travel and other aspects of the long-broken bilateral relationship. Since then, Obama has been carving exceptions into the embargo through a series of executive actions, and his administration now says they allow U.S. manufacturing at the Mariel port and special economic zone about 30 miles west of Havana. One exception allows U.S. companies to export products that benefit private and cooperative farmers in Cuba. Berenthal and Clemmons say they will sell only to the private sector. The Obama administration says it is eager to make the opening with Cuba irreversible by any future administration. Since the start of the year, U.S. and Cuba have made a series of announcements that appear designed partly to create a sense of unstoppable momentum in their new relationship. Cuba announced late last month that it would more than double the number of public Wi-Fi access spots to more than 100 across the country this year and bring broadband Internet to a small number of Cuban homes, where it is currently illegal. Obama said in 2014 that Castro had promised to increase Cubans' access to the Internet as part of detente. On Saturday, Cuba announced that it had returned a U.S. Hellfire missile that it said was mistakenly shipped to Havana from Paris in 2014. On Tuesday, Cuba's Transport Minister and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation will sign a deal authorizing the first regularly scheduled commercial flights between the U.S. and Cuba since shortly after the 1959 revolution. The Oggun tractor plant, named after a god in Cuba's syncretic Santeria religion, will assemble commercially available components into a durable and easy-to-maintain 25-horsepower tractor selling for less than $10,000, Clemmons and Berenthal said. The men believe they can sell hundreds of the tractors a year to Cuban farmers with financing from relatives outside the country and to non-government organizations seeking to help improve Cuban agriculture, which suffers from low productivity due mostly to excessive control of both basic supplies and prices by an inefficient, centrally planned state bureaucracy. "I have two countries that for 60 years have been in the worst of terms, anything I can do to bring to the two countries and the two people together is tremendously satisfying," said Berenthal, a Cuban-born semi-retired software engineer who left the country at age 16. He met Clemmons, who is from Paint Rock, Alabama, when they worked at IBM in the 1970s. They left to form a successful cash-register software company that grew to earn $30 million a year before they sold it in 1995 for a sum that Clemmons says was "enough that I don't have to work." Between their own capital and commitments from private investors they say they have enough cash in hand to build the Oggun factory as soon as Cuba lets them proceed. "Everything's locked in," Clemmons said. Berenthal said they are optimistic that they will also be able to export Oggun tractors to other Latin American countries, which have low or no tariffs on Cuba products, making them competitive on price. The men expect a 10-20 percent profit on each tractor. For the project's first three years, Clemmons and Berenthal say they will export components from the United States for assembly in Cuba. They hope to eventually begin manufacturing many of the parts themselves on the island. They said they expect to start with 30 Cuban employees and, if things go as planned, grow within five years to as many as 300. Clemmons and Berenthal will publish all the schematics of their tractors online in order to allow Cubans and other clients to more easily repair their equipment and come up with designs for other heavy equipment based on the same frame and motor that Cleber can then produce at their Mariel factory. The men already have plans to produce excavators, backhoes, trench-diggers and forklifts, equipment that's badly needed across Cuba, where virtually all the infrastructure is crumbling after years of neglect and mismanagement and a lack of cash that the government blames on the embargo. "I think it'll have a tremendous impact on their ability not only to help their economy but to set an example across the Caribbean and Latin America," Berenthal said. ____ Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein In this Feb. 12, 2016 photo, Saul Berenthal, partner in a tractor company, poses for a portrait in his office in Raleigh, N.C. The Treasury Department notified Berenthal and his partner that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017 at the latest. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) 'Trumpertantrums:' Republican campaign talk gets nastier WASHINGTON (AP) Front-runner Donald Trump is in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks. In recent days, Trump has publicly lip-synced the F-bomb, blurted out the S-word more than once, hurled an offensive term for coward at rival Ted Cruz and called other candidates pathetic, liars, losers, nasty, evil and more. Cruz has called out his "Trumpertantrums" and dismissed the billionaire's insults as "hysterical." FILE - in this Sept, 5, 2011 file photo, former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at a Tea Party Express Rally in Manchester, N.H. Eyebrows shot up when Palin used a salty acronym, WTF, to mock the policies of President Barack Obama in 2011. How quaint. Five years later, Donald Trump has blown right past acronyms in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File) Even Jeb Bush, whose 90-year-old mother recently said he was too polite, belatedly joined in. Bush, a favorite target of Trump's taunts, tweeted: "You aren't just a loser, you are a liar and a whiner." Politicians have tended to keep their name-calling and coarseness off-mic. Now, it's on the podium, and by design. "There's a general taboo-breaking that allows more and more of it to happen faster and faster," says Robert Lane Greene, author of "You Are What You Speak," a book about the politics of language. Trump is playing to voters who have a disdain for anything associated with the establishment, including the whole idea of appearing "presidential," says Norman Ornstein, an American Enterprise Institute scholar. That makes it hard for Trump's rivals to fight back using traditional tactics. "If you are trying to be a boxer playing by Marquess of Queensberry rules and you're coming up against a mixed martial arts guy who doesn't even abide by the rules of mixed martial arts, do you sink to that level?" Ornstein asks. "There's no easy way to respond, because if you're trying to show you're different from this vulgar guy, then he's going to beat you up." That seems to be just fine with the voters who have put Trump at the top of the polls. About a quarter of Republican voters in New Hampshire said "telling it like it is" was the most important quality to them in selecting a candidate, and two-thirds of those voters went for Trump. A super political action committee supporting Bush is hoping Trump's language is a turnoff to voters in the next voting state, South Carolina. It's running a radio ad there that strings together clips of Trump's expletive-deleted language and asks, "Is this the type of man we want our children exposed to?" Trump has promised he'll tone things down if he gets closer to the presidency, saying, "when you're president, or if you're about to be president, you would act differently." He has framed his blunt language as a harmless rejoinder to political correctness run amok, saying, "Every once in a while you can have a little fun, don't you think?" But Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on political communication, said Trump has "hijacked" political correctness to justify his routine use of personal attacks. That's causing other candidates to mirror his tactics and creates a worrisome diversion from a needed discussion of ideas, she said. Many Americans are drawn to Trump, Greene says, because he talks like "the guy next to them on the bar stool." "Some people find the guy next to you on the barstool obnoxious, but a lot of Americans ARE that guy." ___ Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Nashua, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. ___ Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac In this photo taken Feb. 11, 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Baton Rouge, La. Eyebrows shot up when Sarah Palin used a salty acronym, WTF, to mock the policies of President Barack Obama in 2011. How quaint. Five years later, Trump has blown right past acronyms in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2016 file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a town hall-style campaign event at Hampton Academy in Hampton, N.H. Eyebrows shot up when Sarah Palin used a salty acronym, WTF, to mock the policies of President Barack Obama in 2011. How quaint. Five years later, Donald Trump has blown right past acronyms in a profanity-laced campaign for the Republican nomination that has seen multiple candidates hurl insults and disparaging remarks at one another and their critics. Before exiting the race, Christie predicted that he could beat Hillary Clinton in a debate, promising, Ill beat her rear end on that stage. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File) Americans sending less lobster to Canada as processing grows SACO, Maine (AP) America's lobster industry is sending less of its catch to Canada as processing grows in New England, and the growth could have widespread ramifications for consumers who are demanding more lobster products every year. U.S. lobstermen, clustered in the coastal New England states, have long sent a large amount of their catch to Canada's Maritime Provinces, where some two dozen companies process millions of pounds of lobster meat every year into everything from vacuum-sealed lobster meat packages to lobster pate. The processed lobster ends up in products like lobster ravioli and lobster pot pie that are growing in popularity with consumers. But the dynamics of the processing industry are slowly changing. America exported about 69 million pounds of lobster to Canada in 2014, and the 2015 figure was less than 67 million, federal data show. FILE - In this June 20, 2014, file photo, lobsters are processed at the Sea Hag Seafood plant in Tenants Harbor, Maine. Americas lobster industry is sending less of its catch to Canada as processing grows in New England, and the growth could have widespread ramifications for consumers who are demanding more lobster products every year. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File) The trend comes as the lobster catch is booming, enabling the growth in processed lobster products. American fishermen set a record for lobster catch in 2012 and nearly topped it the following two years. More processing plants in Maine are providing a way for fishermen to sell their lobsters locally rather than export, and Massachusetts lawmakers might change laws to allow more processing in their state. The processing growth could ultimately democratize the notoriously expensive lobster by making lobster products more available and affordable. "Processors are creating more markets; more markets create greater opportunity for additional channels for lobster products to be sold," said Luke Holden, president of Luke's Lobster and owner of Cape Seafood, a processor in Saco, Maine. Maine's lobster meat processing industry barely existed 25 years ago, slowly grew to five companies in 2010 and now includes 15 firms that processed about 20 million pounds of meat in 2013. Voters agreed to help pay for more growth through a 2014 referendum to dedicate $7 million in public money to Maine seafood and lobster processing. In Massachusetts, where the lobster industry and some state leaders see the possibility of creating a bigger lobster-processing sector, the state Senate approved a bill in January that updates state laws to permit processing, sales and transportation of cooked and frozen in-shell lobster parts. New England's processing industry remains dwarfed by Canada's. Companies in provinces including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia processed about 150 million pounds of lobster in 2013. But leaders in Canada's industry have noticed the U.S. growth. Jerry Amirault, president of the Lobster Processors Association of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, said he anticipates more competition between the U.S. and Canada for lobsters to process. "We believe with the growth in the U.S. industry, increased demand takes place," he said. "There's going to be a competition for that resource." The slight drop in lobster exports to Canada can be attributed to more factors than just processing growth, such as the supply of lobsters and the weak Canadian dollar, said John Sackton, an industry analyst and publisher of Seafood.com. But domestic processing growth is important because it reduces shipping costs, which are eventually borne by the consumer, lobstermen have said. Processing growth is also important because of the trend toward processed lobster products and the importance of branding them as local to New England, some said. Drones pose new contraband, smuggling challenge for prisons SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Wily inmates and their associates on the outside are deploying drones to deliver drugs, cellphones, and other contraband to prison yards, leaving prison guards and correctional authorities trying to decide how to deal with the new technology. After smuggling incidents around prisons in Maryland, Ohio and Oklahoma, Illinois lawmakers are proposing legislation to penalize the activity, even though the state has yet to see an incident on its own turf. Wisconsin and Michigan also have pending legislation to criminalize the use of drones over prisons. The idea for the Illinois measure came from the state's Department of Corrections. While drones haven't been a problem yet, the department "is taking a proactive approach to ensure it does not" become one, spokeswoman Nicole Wilson said. FILE - This Aug. 24, 2015, file photo shows a Yuneec Typhoon drone and controller in Jessup, Md. Maryland State Police and prison officials say two men planned to use the drone to smuggle drugs, tobacco and pornography videos into the maximum-security Western Correctional Institution near Cumberland, Md. Illinois has yet to see a case where drones have been used to illegally smuggle items into correctional facilities, according to state officials, but lawmakers are proposing legislation to penalize the activity after seeing whats happened in other states. (AP Photo/David Dishneau, File) "It's like anything, new technology brings new problems," said Sen. Tim Bivins, a Republican sponsoring the Illinois legislation. Bivins' bill would add an extra year of prison to inmates involved in bringing contraband into prison with a drone. In Ohio, a drone delivering drugs to a prison in Mansfield in July triggered a fight among inmates when the package with heroin, marijuana, and tobacco was dropped in the yard. Maryland police arrested two men planning to use a drone to drop off drugs, pornography and a cellphone into a prison in Cumberland in August. And in October, prison officials at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary found a drone that crashed on facility grounds with hacksaw blades, a cellphone and heroin. Knowingly taking aerial images of a correctional institution would also be punishable with a felony charge under Bivins' bill. That's because in addition to being worried about contraband, officials also are concerned that drones could be used to plan escapes or other crimes by capturing videos or photographs of a prison's layout. "You shouldn't have the ability to fly over a prison whether you're dropping contraband or not," said Bivins, of Dixon, Illinois, which is home to a medium security prison with about 2,300 inmates. He said while it may be possible to charge someone caught flying drones over prisons, it would be only a misdemeanor offense, such as disorderly conduct, and prison officials wanted to have something in the books specifically on drones. Tennessee is the only state with a law specifically relating to the use of drones over prisons, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Under the proposed measure in Wisconsin, anyone who flies a drone over a state correctional institution would face a fine up to $5,000. But states are trying to address the issue without legislation, too. South Carolina's Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville got new surveillance equipment installed in December 2014 after someone tried to smuggle contraband with a drone. Ohio correctional officials are also trying to figure out how to prevent more drone-smuggling cases like the one that sparked the prison yard fight. Brian Niceswanger, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Corrections, said officials explored the possibility of using technology that blocks the radio waves that control the drones, but worried that could impact cellphone reception at the prison and in nearby neighborhoods. For now, Niceswanger said, they're still trying to determine what to do about drones. A new prize in Nevada caucuses: the Asian-American vote LAS VEGAS (AP) As Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders compete for every vote before Saturday's Nevada caucuses, they are looking for support among members of the nation's fastest-growing ethnic group. Asian-Americans comprise 6 percent of the U.S. population, and their numbers have increased 56 percent since 2000. In Nevada, Asian-Americans are 9 percent of the population. Asian-Americans encompass a diverse range of people, among them recent Chinese immigrants, Muslims from Pakistan, Filipino-American Catholics and U.S. citizens from Hawaii. Campaigns are paying attention. "It's a fast-growing population, it's young, people are getting engaged," said Shu-Yen Wei, who helps with Asian-American outreach for the Democratic National Committee. In this Feb. 12, 2016, photo, Cynthia Ameli, center, a Chinese-American, picks up materials from Sarah Gibson before heading out to canvass for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas. Asian-American voters are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S. and both parties increasingly are wooing them. (AP Photo/John Locher) Since the 1990s, exit polls have found Asian-Americans voting increasingly Democratic during presidential elections, with 73 percent backing President Barack Obama in 2012. Analysts attributed that to Republican criticism of illegal immigration. But in the 2014 midterm elections, Asian voters appeared to split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Their numbers are small enough so that it's difficult to rely on polling to determine their leanings. Analysts agree that most do not register with a political party, and they have among the lowest turnout rates of any group. "There's a huge, unaffiliated voting bloc of Asian Americans," said Jason Chung, the Republican National Committee's director of Asian Pacific American Initiatives. "We're working hard to grow our party and include Asian-Americans in our political process." Nevada's Asian-American population shows why it's so hard to sum up the community's politics. It ranges from dedicated union activists to anti-abortion rights Filipino-American churchgoers, sprinkled with so many who have relocated from Hawaii that Las Vegas is often called "the ninth island." Las Vegas financial planner Derek Uehara underscores that diversity. A registered Republican, he's sympathetic to front-runner Donald Trump and thinks others may warm to the billionaire's businesslike approach. "That can appeal to the Asian-American community, if the focus is on hard work and getting things done," Uehara said. "There's a huge opportunity here, but no one knows how to tap into it." Cynthia Ameli, a 57-year-old Chinese-American pharmacist, is a volunteer with the Clinton campaign. She sees the former Secretary of State as a natural fit with the Asian-American community. "Asians are very family-oriented and want everything for their families, and I believe everything Hillary is for, is for our families," she said. As Nevada's caucuses draw closer, there's been a surge in activity aimed at attracting Asian voters. The Sanders campaign held a "multiethnic" meeting Sunday that included Asian-American community leaders. But all agree the Clinton campaign, with a robust staff in the state for months, has had the most sustained outreach with a series of Asian-American themed events: dinners celebrating a Filipino holiday, Asian-American-themed phone banks and canvasses, and more. Clinton last month kicked off her national outreach to Asian-Americans with an event in Los Angeles' heavily Asian eastern suburbs with Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan. At a recent caucus training for Asian-American Democrats in Las Vegas, the Clinton campaign's national director of Asian-American and Pacific Islander outreach, Lisa Changaveja, mentioned that Clinton's longtime aide Huma Abedin and campaign finance chairman Dennis Cheng are both Asian-American. Changaveja argued that the former secretary of state was uniquely positioned to appeal to Asian-Americans. "She's been in Thailand more than I have, and my mother lives in Thailand," Changaveja quipped. At the caucus training in Las Vegas, the Sanders campaign countered with an organizer who played a song about the Vermont senator on his ukulele, and a casino worker who is saddled with student debt and enthusiastic about the senator's free college plan. They contend Asian-Americans will embrace Sanders. "Asian-Americans, as they're getting to know Sanders, they're gravitating toward the campaign," said Zaffar Iqbal, a physician who lives in Las Vegas and was drawn to Sanders by his call for a government-financed health care system. "This community has pretty much the same issues as any other community." The attention is thrilling for a group often overshadowed by Latino and African-American voters. Normally in Nevada, Asian-Americans "are the last to get any benefit," said longtime activist Rozita Lee, 81. "We matter now, because we have the numbers." In this Feb. 12, 2016, photo, Cynthia Ameli, a Chinese-American, prepares to canvass for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas. Asian-American voters are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S. and both parties increasingly are wooing them. (AP Photo/John Locher) Experts: Building case in 2014 Nevada standoff is complex LAS VEGAS (AP) When rancher Cliven Bundy faces a federal judge in Oregon on Tuesday, it won't be because he is accused with his sons of having a hand in the armed occupation of a federal wildlife preserve that ended last week. Instead, the 69-year-old patriarch will be answering charges stemming from a 2014 armed standoff that forced federal officials to release cattle being rounded up near his Nevada ranch. Bundy is the first to face charges in what some advocates hailed as a victory in the fight to turn over federal land to state control. This Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016 booking photo provided by the Multnomah County, Ore., Sheriff''s office shows Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. Bundy, the father of the jailed leader of the Oregon refuge occupation, and who was the center of a standoff with federal officials in Nevada in 2014, was arrested in Portland, the FBI said Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. (Multnomah County, Ore., Sheriff''s office via AP) U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden in Las Vegas isn't saying why it took so long to arrest the elder Bundy. He has said only that the investigation is continuing. Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said there could be many behind-the-scenes reasons for the arrest. "Negotiations, investigations, safety concerns, administrative concerns," Levenson said. "There could be an ongoing investigation that could include a grand jury. They could have been waiting for the safest time, the most opportune time." Bundy was taken into custody last Wednesday as he stepped off a plane at Portland International Airport. Family members said he was on his way to visit his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who are jailed and accused of organizing the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that lasted nearly six weeks. They had demanded public lands be turned over to locals. Cliven Bundy is charged in the Nevada case with conspiracy, assault on a federal officer, obstruction, weapon use and possession, extortion to interfere with commerce, and aiding and abetting. If convicted of all six charges, he could spend the rest of his life in federal prison and face more than $1 million in fines. Officials won't say if a grand jury has been hearing evidence in the Nevada standoff. But additional arrests are widely expected. Bundy and his sons could still be indicted. The criminal complaint refers to at least four co-conspirators, but not by name. It accuses Bundy of unlawfully directing them and "more than 200 followers" to stop federal agents and contract cowboys who were trying to enforce a court order to round up about 400 Bundy cattle. Federal authorities said two years ago that Bundy owed more than $1.1 million in fees and penalties for letting cows graze illegally for decades on public land near his ranch. An updated accounting has not been made, a Bureau of Land Management spokesman said last week. Bundy asked for a court-appointed attorney at his first hearing last week, but the judge said she wanted to see financial documents first. It's a complicated case, and collecting evidence has likely been painstaking work, with results presented in secret to a grand jury, said Richard Pocker, a former U.S. attorney in Nevada. "They've probably been working up to this by talking to a lot of people who showed up as followers, and making deals and trying to get cooperating witnesses," Pocker said. "It's really hard to get folks in these movements to cooperate with a grand jury." Pocker won convictions in 1987 of five members of an anti-government group accused of threatening the lives of Internal Revenue Service agents and a Nevada state judge. He is not connected with the Bundy case. Pocker said federal prosecutors will want strong evidence, because the case is likely to reach trial. Defendants with a political message "may find trial is an opportunity to talk about their credo," Pocker said. "But no matter how they wrap it up in constitutional dressing, the underlying crimes are serious crimes." FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, rancher Cliven Bundy stands along the road near his ranch in Bunkerville, Nev. Bundy, the father of the jailed leader of the Oregon refuge occupation, and who was the center of a standoff with federal officials in Nevada in 2014, was arrested in Portland on Wednesday night, Feb. 10, the FBI said, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) UN warns of famine in besieged Yemeni city SANAA, Yemen (AP) The U.N. is warning of famine in the Yemeni city of Taiz, which has been besieged by Shiite Houthi rebels for months. The World Food Programme said Monday that Taiz "is in the grip of severe food insecurity at 'Emergency' level - one step below famine." The U.N. agency says it delivered enough aid to part of the city on Saturday to support 3,000 families for one month. The central city of Taiz has been a major battleground between the Houthis and forces allied with the internationally recognized government. The rebels are allied with army units loyal to a former president. EU lifts sanctions on 170 Belarusian officials BRUSSELS (AP) The European Union lifted most sanctions against Belarus' authoritarian president and scores of other officials to reward the east European nation for a more constructive role in a region still under Russia's influence. Asset freezes and travel bans against President Alexander Lukashenko and 169 others had been suspended last year and Monday's meeting of the EU foreign ministers decided to fully do away with them. "We are not recognizing a situation that turns from black to pink overnight," EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said, referring to remaining human and political rights concerns. "We have agreed on the fact that we have seen over the last couple of years some steps that are encouraging and that we want to try to support and encourage further." European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini participates in a handover ceremony of the EU membership Application with Bosnia Herzegovina at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) At the same time, the EU nations maintained sanctions against four individuals linked to the unsolved disappearances of two opposition leaders, a journalist and a businessman. An arms embargo also remains in place for another year. In a statement, the ministers said that the release of all remaining political prisoners and the lack of violence during the October presidential elections contributed to the decision. "There is an opportunity for EU-Belarus relations to develop on a more positive agenda and that progress in a variety of fields can better be achieved through enhanced channels of communication," the ministers said. It was the latest EU move that could contribute to the end of the decade-long international isolation of Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994. Lukashenko was slapped with an EU and U.S. travel ban in 2006 when a presidential candidate was jailed. The 2010 presidential election ended in a big opposition rally and lengthy prison sentences for most of the candidates who opposed Lukashenko. Lukashenko took a first step toward exiting international isolation last year when Belarus, Russia's closest ally, refused to recognize Moscow's annexation of Crimea or support Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine where Russia-backed rebels have been fighting government forces. Lukashenko also resisted the Kremlin's push for Belarus to host a Russian military base. Lukashenko helped to broker peace talks between Russia and Ukraine last year. Clashes in Turkey on anniversary of Kurdish leader's arrest ISTANBUL (AP) Clashes erupted in southeast Turkey on Monday after a rally to mark 17 years since the arrest of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. About 300 demonstrators assembled in the mainly Kurdish district of Diyarbakir chanting "We will win by resisting" and "long live Apo," in reference to Ocalan. Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the rally. Some demonstrators retaliated by firing stun grenades and fireworks, while others banged the shutters of closed shops and banged pots in protest. A protester launches firecrackers against a Turkish police water cannon during clashes in Istanbul, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, between police forces and people protesting against security operations against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey. Turkey imposed curfews in mainly Kurdish towns and districts in December while its security forces battled militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who set up barricades, dug trenches and primed explosives in the areas they have declared to be under Kurdish self-rule. (AP Photo/Cagdas Erdogan) "If the Turkish people want to have peace in this country, this depends on peace and security in Kurdistan," said Ayla Akat Ata, a Kurdish politician from the city of Batman. Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. The PKK renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in late July. Turkish security forces have been engaged in large-scale operations against Kurdish militants since December, imposing controversial curfews in flashpoint areas and raising concerns about civilians caught up in the fighting. Lawyers representing Ocalan say a lawsuit against the Greek government over his capture in 1999 is due to be heard in an Athens court on Monday. Ocalan, 67, was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, after a brief stay at a Greek Embassy facility and flown back to Turkey to stand trial. Ocalan's supporters say he was essentially handed over to Turkey by Greek authorities a claim Athens rejects. Yiannis Rachiotis, a lawyer representing Ocalan in Greece, said Ocalan is seeking "symbolic financial damages" from the Greek state. Selahattin Demirtas, leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, was present at an Athens news conference held by Ocalan's lawyers. Two charged with slavery offences after woman placed in care of agencies A man and a woman have been charged with slavery offences after a 28-year-old woman was found being held in domestic servitude, police said. Greater Manchester Police said officers attended an address in Bamford, Rochdale, on Thursday and arrested a 47-year-old woman on suspicion of slavery, servitude and forced labour offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Minu Chopra and Sanjeev Chopra, both 47, and of Cranbourne Road, Rochdale, have been charged with holding a person in slavery or servitude between July 31 2015 and February 11 2016, intentionally arranging or facilitating entry into the UK of a person with a view to their exploitation, and knowingly holding another person in slavery or servitude between January 1 2011 and July 31 2015. The 28-year-old suspected victim has been placed in the care of agencies The alleged victim was removed from the address and is being cared for by partner agencies, police added. Minu Chopra appeared at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Saturday and was remanded in custody. Her next appearance will be at Manchester Minshull St Crown Court on March 11. Scientists to probe links between hearing loss and dementia Scientists are to investigate whether a lack of hearing aids is helping to fuel the Alzheimer's epidemic. Even mild hearing loss is said to double the risk of dementia, and severe deafness increases it five-fold. Hearing impairment has been found to raise the rate of cognitive decline with age by about 36%. Scientists are going to examine whether hearing aids can help in the fight against dementia Experts believe deafness undermines working memory by making it harder to concentrate and think. Studies also indicate that hearing loss actually changes brain structure, causing shrinkage in some regions most affected by Alzheimer's. In addition, the social isolation caused by deafness may speed up mental decline. Because of this association, researchers in the US now plan to find out if better treatment for hearing loss can reduce rates of dementia. If the connection between poor hearing aid provision and dementia is proved it will have far-reaching implications in the UK too. Here, a leading charity has mounted a major campaign against NHS plans to ration hearing aids. Dr Frank Lin, associate professor of geriatric medicine at Johns Hopkins University in the US, who is leading the study, said: "Overall, I would say that the epidemiologic evidence is moderately strong that hearing loss is exerting an effect on the risk of dementia that is not solely being driven by a correlation from a common cause. "The bigger and more critical question, however, is whether treating hearing loss could actually mitigate some of this risk irrespective of the mechanism. This is a question that we are just beginning to address now through the development of a definitive clinical trial which will determine whether treating hearing loss in older adults can reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia." He said that until the trial was complete it was "impossible to say" that poor distribution of hearing aids was worsening the Alzheimer's epidemic, but added: "The possibility of even slightly reducing the proportion of risk associated with hearing loss is important given the high prevalence of hearing impairment in older people." In the US, current regulations require patients to spend thousands of dollars over many months to be specially fitted for hearing aids, Dr Lin pointed out. "Hearing aids are out of reach for the vast number of Americans," he said, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC. The US government-funded study will recruit around 800 patients to see if hearing loss treatments can reduce brain decline. A link between hearing impairment and dementia was first suspected in 1989 but until five years ago hard evidence was lacking. Then in 2013 a team led by Dr Lin showed that hearing loss could accelerate the rate of cognitive decline by about 36%. Like dementia, hearing loss mostly affects the elderly. The number of people with hearing impairment doubles with every decade of age, so that almost two thirds of the over-70s suffer from significant hearing loss. The proportion of those affected using hearing aids is very low - an estimated 25% in the US. In the UK, the NHS says 6.7 million people could benefit from hearing aids, but only 1.4 million (around 20%) use them. One in six people in the UK, or 11 million, has some form of hearing loss. Paul Breckell, chief executive of the charity Action on Hearing Loss, said there was "a significant body of evidence" showing that unmanaged hearing loss can lead to dementia. He added: "Evidence shows that mild hearing loss doubles the risk of dementia, with moderate hearing loss leading to three times the risk, and severe hearing loss five times the risk .. "We are concerned that Clinical Commissioning Groups in England are considering cuts to hearing aid provision, with the North Staffordshire CCG the first to ration them since the inception of the NHS. "As a charity we have successfully campaigned to stop other CCGs from following suit and we are calling on all CCGs to continue to provide hearing aids to all those who need them, particularly in light of the priority that NHS England has placed on hearing loss through its development of a Commissioning Framework for hearing loss services which will provide guidance for CCGs and is due to be published in April 2016. "Hearing aids offer a lifeline to many, especially older people with hearing loss who would otherwise be sat at home alone unable to communicate with the outside world. They are a highly cost-effective intervention and are accepted to be the only viable treatment for people with adult-onset hearing loss." Sue Archbold, chief executive of The Ear Foundation charity, said: "We need to ensure that the public are aware of the potentially damaging consequences of hearing loss and we must ensure that the rationing of hearing aids in some areas of NHS stops now to ensure that we don't add to the number of dementia cases leading to heartache for families and additional costs to the NHS. "We know that hearing loss is linked with dementia - and we know that today's hearing technologies are hugely beneficial in addressing hearing loss. Doctors angry after Jeremy Hunt drinks event relocated to new venue Doctors have spoken of their anger after being told an event with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had been cancelled when it had actually been relocated to a new venue. Mr Hunt had been due to attend a "drinks and canapes" evening on Friday organised by Fareham Conservatives with tickets on sale for 15. But on the day of the event at the Lysses House Hotel in Fareham, a notice went up on the Fareham Conservatives' website stating that it had been cancelled. A drinks event with Jeremy Hunt was cancelled for security reasons, Conservative officials said It had actually been relocated for a members-only event because of security concerns over "the very real threat of disturbance". Dr Kathryn Carey-Jones, who had bought a ticket to the event, said she felt she had been lied to. She wrote on Facebook: "Tonight just hours before I was due to meet Jeremy Hunt in Fareham I was told the event was cancelled and that I would be refunded next week .. but it wasn't cancelled, the venue was changed and went ahead without us. "I could have accepted being told I am 'not allowed' to attend given recent events but I was lied to to keep me away. "This is dishonesty at its best and would not be accepted from a doctor to a politician. If this is the way the local conservatives treat their local doctors what can we expect from the rest? Imagine if we lied to the public like this." Thomas Fyfe, chairman of Fareham Conservative Association, told the Portsmouth News: "Because of the very real threat of disturbance from groups circulating details of our planned reception with Jeremy Hunt, the advertised event was cancelled on security grounds. Schalke defender Joel Matip to join Liverpool at end of season Liverpool have announced they have reached an agreement for Schalke defender Joel Matip to join them at the end of the season. Matip will move on a free transfer when his current contract with the Bundesliga side expires this summer. Liverpool did not mention in their announcement on Monday details of the contract he will be on at Anfield, but reports have suggested it is to be a four-year deal. Joel Matip has made over 200 senior appearances for Schalke In a statement on their official website earlier in the day, Schalke confirmed their efforts to convince the 24-year-old to stay with them had been in vain, with Matip Liverpool-bound. Director of sport Horst Heldt said: "We've had plenty of talks with Joel and his agent since May. "It soon became clear that Joel's mind would ultimately be made up by factors which we could not influence." The German-born player, who can operate as a midfielder as well as at centre-back and has 27 Cameroon caps, came through Schalke's youth set-up. He made his Bundesliga debut at the age of 18, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich in November 2009, and has over 200 senior club appearances to his name. He was part of the team which won the DFB-Pokal in 2011 and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League the same year. Matip said: "I always said that I would only leave Schalke for one reason, and that would be to get to know something completely new. That is why a never even considered a move within the Bundesliga. "Even if it certainly wasn't an easy decision, I'm convinced that now is the right time for me to take this step." He added: "Schalke will remain an extended family for me. I was always proud to play for this great club. "I will do everything in the months to come to get the maximum out of this season. I owe that to the fans and to my team-mates." Liverpool's interest in Matip has been known since January and the move will see him follow Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic - Jurgen Klopp's first signing as Reds manager - in joining the Merseyside outfit. Reuters Health News Summary Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Athletes concerned about Zika before Rio Olympic test event International athletes set to compete in an Olympic diving test event in Rio de Janeiro next week have asked about risks linked to the Zika virus, but have not canceled participation because of the outbreak, one of the organizers said on Friday. "They are concerned and are being given advice on how to proceed," Cassius Duran, a former Brazilian diver, told reporters at the inauguration of the remodeled Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, where the Olympic diving will be held in August. Exercise programs may lower the risk of serious falls for older men Older men who do moderate exercise several times per week may experience fewer injuries and hospitalizations from falls, a new study suggests. For men and women combined, the exercise program did not significantly reduce fall injuries, but in men it was associated with reduced risks of serious fall injuries, broken bones. More than 5,000 pregnant women in Colombia have Zika virus: government More than 5,000 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the country's national health institute said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas. Cases of the virus total 31,555, the institute said in a epidemiology bulletin, among them 5,013 pregnant women. Brazil reports more microcephaly cases under investigation Brazil's health ministry on Friday reported 4,314 suspected and confirmed cases of microcephaly, a birth defect causing an abnormally small head in newborns, up from 4,074 cases on Feb. 2. Of those, 462 were confirmed as microcephaly and 41 were determined to be linked to the Zika virus that has spread rapidly through the Americas but is most common in Brazil. Brazil enlists army, cabinet in campaign against Zika Brazil's government launched a nationwide campaign on Saturday to fight the Zika virus, with President Dilma Rousseff and cabinet ministers personally visiting homes and handing out leaflets along with 220,000 troops. Under a scorching sun in the neighborhood of Zepellin in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, which will host the Olympic Games in August, Rousseff said everyone needed to take part in the battle against the mosquito carrying Zika, suspected of causing the birth defect microcephaly. U.S. agencies to study safety of artificial turf fields Three U.S. government agencies will team up to study whether artificial turf fields and playgrounds that use bits of recycled tires are exposing children to dangerous chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday they will study the issue, CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye said in a statement. Kansas confirms two more norovirus cases in Buffalo Wild Wings probe Two more cases of norovirus were confirmed in people who visited a Buffalo Wild Wings Inc restaurant in Kansas, but the source of the illness could not be identified, a spokeswoman for the state health department's county office said. Now, a total of three people out of the 10 people who were tested are confirmed to have contracted norovirus, the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment spokeswoman said. Michigan warning on Flint Legionnaires' outbreak came late State officials knew about an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and its suspected link to water system issues in impoverished Flint, Michigan, at least 10 months before a public announcement was made, documents released on Friday showed. The state's disclosure of the documents, among thousands of pages of emails and other material released, comes as Michigan's Republican governor, Rick Snyder, faces pressure to resign over his administration's handling of the Flint water crisis. Zika link to birth defects could be proven within weeks: WHO The suspected link between the Zika virus and two neurological disorders, the birth defect microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome, could be confirmed within weeks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. A sharp increase in microcephaly cases in Brazil has triggered a global health emergency over the mosquito-borne virus, which had previously been viewed as causing only a relatively mild illness, and spurred a race to develop a vaccine, medicines and better diagnostic tests. Guillain-Barre on rise in five Latam countries, no proven link to Zika - WHO France's Sarkozy urges party unity, lags behind popular rival By Ingrid Melander PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, struggling to put his re-election bid back on track, urged his conservative party on Sunday to rally behind a programme of curbing immigration, building more jails and cutting taxes. Sarkozy wants his platform, which also includes overhauling labour rules and restoring checks at French borders, to set the party line for the 2017 presidential elections. But his main rivals for November primaries that will choose The Republicans' (LR) candidate for the presidential elections have all said they would not be bound by it. They snubbed his keynote speech at the end of a two-day policy meeting of top party officials, one of them saying he couldn't be there "because it's Valentine's Day." Sarkozy said he would put the policy plan to a vote of all party members in April. "It would be unacceptable for us to be divided at a time when the (far-right) National Front is so strong," he said. "There will be no going back.". While he received a standing ovation from hundreds of party officials, Sarkozy, who is also the party leader, has fallen behind his main rival Alain Juppe in opinion polls. Some 48 percent of right-wing voters think Juppe would be LR's best candidate in 2017, versus only 20 percent for Sarkozy, a BVA poll published on Saturday showed, confirming a string of similar polls in the past weeks. And while for long Sarkozy remained more popular with LR sympathisers, he has fallen behind there too, with 43 percent favouring Juppe while 30 percent prefer Sarkozy, the poll showed. "CAN'T BE THERE, IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY" Sarkozy, who had retired from politics after he lost in his first re-election bid to the Socialist party's Francois Hollande in 2012, made a comeback in September 2104 and was elected as head of the party. While he still commands loyalty amid party officials, he has in past months seen Juppe, a former prime minister in the mid-1990s, rise in opinion polls and overtake him, with the gap between them widening. Their rivalry is set to dominate much of the party's agenda until its members vote in the November primaries. Both published books last month setting out their platforms - with Sarkozy on Sunday reiterating that France must set tougher rules on granting citizenship and reinstate border checks as long as Europe's border-free Schengen area is not completely overhauled. Criticism - sometimes veiled, sometimes open - among senior officials was rife at the two-day meeting and French media said another official, Jean-Francois Cope, was set to announce he too will run in the party primaries in an evening news interview, at the same time as another channel interviews Sarkozy. France calls on Turkey to stop bombing Kurdish zones in Syria PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The French Foreign Ministry called on Turkey to halt bombardments of Kurdish zones in Syria, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. "France is worried about the deteriorating situation in the region of Aleppo and the north of Syria. We call for the cessation of all bombardments, those of the regime and its allies on the entire territory and those of Turkey in the Kurdish zones," the statement said. It added that the priority should be the fight against Islamic State and application of agreements reached by the major powers in Munich on Friday. 'The Revenant' wins big in Britain's BAFTA awards By Marie-Louise Gumuchian LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Survival drama "The Revenant" was the top winner at Britain's biggest movie awards on Sunday, taking the best film prize and honours for leading actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Alejandro G. Inarritu. The movie earned five British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards, including for cinematography and sound, at a ceremony in London, two weeks before it vies for Hollywood's top honours, the Oscars. In the film, which has already picked up several trophies in this awards season and leads Oscar nominations, DiCaprio portrays fur-trapper Hugh Glass, who after being attacked by a bear, is left for dead by his companions during an 1820s expedition. He survives in harsh winter conditions and sets out for revenge. DiCaprio is heavily favoured to win the best actor Academy Award on Feb. 28, which would be his first in five Oscar acting nominations. In collecting his first BAFTA, he paid tribute to his mother and listed actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Peter O'Toole among his inspirations. "All of this was not expected tonight ... Often we have talked about how difficult this movie was to make, and it was, but we are so proud," he told reporters. Inarritu, the Mexican director whose film "Birdman" won last year's best picture Oscar, said the prizes were "overwhelming". Continuing a winning streak for the portrayal of a young mother held captive with her son in "Room", Brie Larson prevailed in the leading actress category and is also favoured to win the Oscar. Kate Winslet won the supporting actress category for her portrayal in "Steve Jobs" of the late Apple co-founder's colleague Joanna Hoffman, while Mark Rylance was named best supporting actor for his Soviet spy role in "Bridge of Spies". Action adventure "Mad Max: Fury Road" was the second biggest winner on the night with four prizes in editing, makeup and hair, costume design and production design. Financial misdeeds movie "The Big Short" won for adapted screenplay and "Spotlight", a film about a newspaper investigation into Catholic Church sex abuse, won best original screenplay. Irish immigrant story "Brooklyn" won outstanding British film. Lesbian romance drama "Carol" went home empty-handed after leading BAFTA nominations with "Bridge of Spies" with nine nods each. The industry did not shy away from the big theme of the awards season: the outcry over the lack of diversity among Oscar nominees in the four acting categories for the second straight year, which revived the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. Several guests poked fun at the controversy and the Oscar organizers, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "I have never been invited to the Oscars because, as you know, they are racist," Australian comedienne Rebel Wilson said as she introduced a BAFTA award. Libya's presidential council announces revised unity government SKHIRAT, Morocco, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Libya's Presidential Council named a revised line-up late on Sunday for a unity government aimed at ending the conflict in the North African state. One of the council's members, Fathi al-Majbari, said in a televised statement that the proposed government included 13 ministers and five ministers of state. Women and infants in Philippines at higher risk of HIV from "downstream" infections By Ana P. Santos CEBU, Philippines, Feb 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - W hen Clarissa's younger sister died, she had little time to dwell on her own grief. There were the three young children left behind to think of, two of them HIV positive. Together with her own children, there are now seven youngsters crammed in her tiny, crumbling shanty in Cebu in central Philippines. Space and money are tight as they all depend on Clarissa's husband who is a day labourer. "The kids have no father or mother now. They have no one," said the slight 31-year-old. Clarissa's sister and her partner both died from HIV-related complications traced back to injecting drugs. Clarissa suspects that it was her sister's partner that got her started on drugs. "Charity groups said the child who does not have HIV could be put up for adoption. But I couldn't bear for them to be separated. And who will make sure the two take their medication?" said Clarissa, who did not want to give her full name. Climbing HIV infection rates in the Philippines are bucking the global trend of decline. Along with Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka in the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines saw the rate of new HIV infections increase by more than 25 percent from 2001 to 2011. Increasing infections among injecting drug users combined with low condom use and high fertility rates have health experts worried about "downstream" HIV infections - when the virus spreads to people who are not typically at risk of HIV, like children who acquire the virus through mother-to-child transmission. "Mother to child transmission is definitely an emerging problem," said Genesis Samonte, head of the Department of Health HIV/AIDS surveillance unit. Of the 84 children who acquired HIV through mother-to-child transmission since 1990, 17 - or one fifth - were reported in 2015 alone. "Judging from the number of pregnant women we see in the clinics who test positive, this is definitely an underreported number," Samonte said. HIV RATES CLIMBING In 2015 there were a total of 30,356 recorded HIV infections in the Philippines, more than 80 percent of which were reported since 2010. At this current rate, the health department predicts that the total number of HIV infections will grow to 133,000 by 2022. While majority of the infections cluster around men who have unprotected sex with men, HIV among injecting drug users is centred in Cebu City. In shooting galleries that dot shantytowns, a person can get a narcotic shot for 50 U.S. cents and use a "service needle", a syringe that the dealer has on rotation for anyone to use for free. Department of Health surveillance studies show that a service needle can be used four to six times before it gets too blunt out and can infect as just as many people. Needle exchange programmes aimed at ensuring drug users could access clean needles were criticised by Philippine legislators who said such programmes promoted drug use. Citing the Dangerous Drugs Act which criminalises the possession and distribution of drug paraphernalia like syringes and a late 1990s city order that banned the sale of syringes without a prescription, Cebu city officials suspended needle exchange programmes in 2009. Drug users had little choice but to buy from the black market - or share. "Around this time we began seeing more HIV positive pregnant women," said Ilya Tac-an, head of the Cebu City Health Department HIV/STI Unit. An injecting drug user is typically male, in his 20s or 30s. Despite his high-risk behaviour, he is not likely to know his HIV status, making early detection of HIV among female partners difficult. "Women discover they are positive when they are offered an HIV test during their pre-natal exam," Tac-an said. "There is a missed opportunity for prevention and early detection because her partner did not disclose his status or does not know it." Chamberlain Agtuca, Jr. head of the Sotto HIV Treatment Hub in Cebu, said his clinic had treated 42 HIV positive pregnant women since 2010. He estimated that 60 percent of the women were housewives and partners of men with high-risk behaviour. STIGMA The Cebu City Health Office has bolstered its early detection efforts by making an optional HIV test part of pre-natal exams in all private and public clinics. But after the testing and diagnosis comes another problem in the Philippines, a deeply conservative, Catholic nation: stigma. Many women do not return to the clinic for follow-up exams or anti-retroviral treatment which is a crucial first step in preventing mother-to-child transmission. Others move away to another town to avoid malicious gossip and are lost in the health tracking system. Sotto Treatment Hub has designated one nurse to act as a case manager tracking women from when they test positive until they give birth and their babies are tested for HIV. "We can still do this while numbers are low. That's why we need to keep them low," Tac-an said. Beijing's top official in HK calls rioters "radical separatists" HONG KONG, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Beijing's top representative in Hong Kong has blamed radical separatists for riots that erupted in the Chinese-ruled city almost a week ago, the worst violence since pro-democracy protests paralysed parts of the Asian financial centre in 2014. More than sixty people have been arrested in connection with the violence, during which protesters hurled bricks at police and set fire to rubbish bins in Mong Kok, a tough, working-class neighbourhood just across the harbour from the city's financial district. Thirty-seven people were charged on Thursday. The riots erupted when authorities tried to remove illegal street stalls set up for Lunar New Year celebrations. The actions of the "radical separatists" were "leaning towards terrorism", the South China Morning Post daily quoted Zhang Xiaoming, the head of Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong, as saying. "We will not this very small number of radical separatists to destroy the most precious rule of law in Hong Kong," he told a spring festival in Hong Kong. Police fired two warning shots into the air during the violence, almost unheard of in the former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 and is considered one of Asia's safest cities. More than 130 people were wounded in the clashes. At least one of those charged in connection with the trouble belongs to a group called Hong Kong Indigenous, one of a cluster of outspoken groups calling for greater Hong Kong autonomy and even independence from China, the group said. Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, who attended the same reception as Zhang, echoed the Beijing official's comments, saying the rioters only represented a small minority in the city, the South China Morning Post reported. Many so-called localists remain deeply embittered by the lack of any concessions from Beijing or Hong Kong authorities during the 2014 protests to demand greater democracy. PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Feb 15 SOFIA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. -- The central bank launched the asset quality reviews of the Bulgarian banks as part of its efforts to recover the trust in the banking system after the collapse of Corporate Commercial Bank in 2014. The results along with following stress tests are to be announced in August. (Capital Daily, Standart, Trud) -- Bulgaria will not build fences along its border with Greece and Macedonia in order to limit migrant inflows to western Europe, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call. (Standart, Duma, 24 Chasa, Trud, Monitor) Africa's big cities offer investors hope in hard times By Joe Brock JOHANNESBURG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Africa's biggest economies have been hammered by the collapse in commodity prices over the past 18 months but there are still investment bright spots to be found. In cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, Kinshasa and Johannesburg, growth remains robust and investors are prospering in the retail, financial services, technology and construction sectors. This means investors can now re-adjust their strategy for Africa. Instead of taking a view on the continent as a whole, or choosing one country over another, they can seize opportunities city by city. Sub-Saharan Africa is urbanizing faster than anywhere else in the world and city dwellers have more money to spend. "In the current economic environment, investors want areas where success is proven, growth is strong and will remain strong. Big African cities give you that," said Jacob Kholi, a partner at Abraaj, a private equity firm with $9 billion under management. "It has become even more important to focus on these key cities than before," Kholi added. Nairobi is the most attractive destination for foreign investment, according to a 2015 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, followed by Accra, with Lagos and Johannesburg equal third. Consumption per capita in Accra is 1.6 times greater than the average in Ghana, 2.3 times bigger in Lagos than the average in Nigeria, and 2.7 times larger in Nairobi than nationally in Kenya, Abraaj estimates. Lagos, one of the world's fastest growing cities and with a population of 20 million, expects economic growth of 7 percent this year, twice the pace of the country as a whole. Even South Africa, which is grappling with youth unemployment of over 40 percent and could slip into recession this year, has areas where industry is booming. "Looking around here, you wouldn't know things were so bad," construction worker Sifiso Zwane told Reuters in Johannesburg's wealthy Sandton business district. "Rich people will always find a way to make more money," said Zwane, with cranes filling the skyline behind him and billboards advertising new retailers like Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Hennes & Mauritz. There are similar stories elsewhere. This year, Kenya is set to unveil the Two River malls in Nairobi, the continent's largest shopping centre outside South Africa, with brands like Porsche, Hugo Boss and France's Carrefour already booking space. "The economy still has opportunities," said Gabriel Modest, a jeweller who says demand for the gold necklaces and bracelets he sells remains strong. "Sometimes you have to treat yourself," he added, ordering a bowl of muesli and yoghurt at an upmarket Nairobi coffee shop. In Lagos, plans are in place to develop the vast multi-billion-dollar Eko Atlantic city, a Dubai-style gated community that will boast chrome skyscrapers, business parks, palm trees and a marina. "MEGA-CITY" By 2025, Mckinsey estimates that more than 80 cities in sub-Saharan Africa will have populations of more than one million, accounting for 58 percent of the region's growth. This rapid urbanisation means Africa's big cities will need more roads, hospital and power stations, while growing numbers of new inhabitants will be buying consumer goods like instant noodles, washing powder and mobile phone cards. Though some big companies like Massmart, Barclays and Nestle have slowed expansion plans in Africa in the last two years they are still making healthy profits in the big urban centres, according to banking sources. "Our investment is focused on cities where we see the best opportunities even if the investment environment in the rest of the country isn't as robust," said Louis Deppe, partner at Actis, an emerging market-focused investment company. "The 'mega-city' trend is still very much on the cards." The share of Africans living in urban areas is expected to grow from 36 percent in 2010 to 50 percent by 2030, with cities expected to be home to 85 percent of the national population in some countries, according to the World Bank. The rapid urbanisation of mostly the young and unemployed is placing a huge strain on infrastructure and will put pressure on politicians to direct more resources towards cities. Inequality in African cities is already among the highest in the world. African governments with stretched public finances will need to improve housing and social safety nets in cities and diversify their economies to support rural areas in order to avoid an increase in inequality that could stir up discontent. "In a more risk-averse world, 'urban bias' - where there are proven returns - is likely to be reinforced. Investors will look at urban areas," said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered. "This trend runs the risk of the rural electorate being marginalized - in especially unequal regions, it may raise political risks, and the potential for unrest." Back in Lagos, business is still expanding for cab-owner Cyril Ugochukwu, whose earnings are running well above the target he set for his business, which has contracts with online firm Easy Taxi. "Individuals must make trips whether times are good or bad," he told Reuters. Turkish soldier killed in clash with group at Syrian border - army ISTANBUL, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A Turkish soldier was killed on Sunday evening after Turkey's security forces clashed with a group at the Syrian border seeking to enter Turkey illegally, the armed forces said in a statement. Slovak Republic - Factors To Watch on Feb 15 BRATISLAVA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 1 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases................... Previous stories on Slovak data............ Overview of economic data and forecasts......... ==========================EVENTS================================ BRATISLAVA - Finance ministry will release an updated tax revenue forecast. Related news: ===========================NEWS================================ IMMIGRATION: Central European leaders are ready to help Balkan countries seal their borders with Greece to stem the flow of migrants across the continent, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told Reuters on Sunday. Story: Related news: IMMIGRATION RIFT: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls rejected on Saturday the idea of a permanent quota system for distributing refugees across Europe, putting Paris at odds with Germany ahead of a summit to discuss the EU crisis over migration. In another sign of Europe's deep divisions over the influx of migrants and refugees, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said Germany had protested against plans by eastern European leaders to help Macedonia and Bulgaria seal their border with Greece, the entry point into the EU for many migrants. Story: Related news: STATE DEBT: Slovakia should take advantage of negative yields on its sovereign debt to invest in major public infrastructure projects, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday as campaigning for next month's general election heats up. Story: Related news: RATING: Fitch affirmed Slovakia at 'A+' with a stable outlook. Story: Related news: CEE POWER: Forecasts for an increase in wind power generation and lower demand due to the weekend sent central and southeastern European day-ahead power prices lower on Friday, traders said. Story: Related news: For Instant Views of key economic data click on For summary of economic data and forecasts For diary of forthcoming Slovak events For calendar of east European economic indicators TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX News editor of the day: Jan Lopatka on +420 224 190 474 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom) Support in Russia for Syria strikes slips, but 59 pct still in favour MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Public support in Russia for the country's air strikes in Syria has slipped since the Kremlin launched its air campaign more than four months ago, a poll showed on Monday, but a comfortable majority still back the bombing. The survey, by the independent Levada Center, showed that 59 percent of Russians backed a continuation of Moscow's air campaign in Syria, which began on Sept. 30, compared to 27 percent who were opposed. Approval levels were slightly higher than a Nov. 15 Levada poll which found 55 percent of Russians broadly supportive. However both surveys suggest support has fallen since the start of the bombing campaign when Levada found that 72 percent of Russians were broadly supportive of the strikes when asked at the start of October. That may reflect fears, expressed in earlier surveys, that Russia could get sucked into a protracted Afghanistan-style conflict and follows the downing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt in October, an episode described as a terrorist act by the Kremlin in which 224 people were killed. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the plane bombing, saying it was revenge for Russia's Syria intervention. Monday's survey also found Russians were not following events in Syria as closely as they were at the end of last year. Pollsters say people are more preoccupied with Russia's economic crisis, which has prompted the steepest fall in real incomes since President Vladimir Putin came to power 15 years ago. Buddhist monks scuffle with troops in Thailand over leadership protest BANGKOK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A handful of Buddhist monks scuffled with troops in Thailand on Monday during a protest against what they called state interference in religious affairs and a bid to overthrow the governing body of their religion. Religion is becoming a proxy war for the colour-coded politics that Thailand's junta has quashed since taking power in 2014 in an effort to end a decade of political violence. A battle for the top post in Thai Buddhism has divided Thailand between supporters of the leading candidate, a 90-year-old abbot facing investigation for a tax scam involving luxury cars, and those who oppose him. Critics say the battle is an extension of a deep-rooted crisis, involving scandals over lavish lifestyles, sexual impropriety and drugs that have tarnished the reputation of the country's dominant religion. Television images showed troops and saffron-clad, shaven-headed monks shoving each other after troops tried to keep the monks from entering the park, in Nakhon Pathom province west of Bangkok. "Don't touch monks!" shouted some of those watching, while some civilians held up placards urging the government to declare Buddhism as Thailand's national religion. About 1,000 monks had gathered to express support for Thai Buddhism's governing body, said one of them, Methi Thammacharn, secretary-general of the Buddhism Protection Center. "We will not move until the state stops interfering in religious affairs," Methi told media. The mostly peaceful gathering saw more monks join late on Monday afternoon, with many sitting and praying on a lawn. The frontrunner for the top post, Somdej Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn, also known as Somdej Chuang, has ties to the wealthy Dhammakaya Temple, which has been dogged by allegations of corruption for years. Last year, Thai Buddhism's governing body, the Sangha Supreme Council, cleared the monastery's abbot of allegations that he had embezzled donations running into millions of dollars. The abbot rejects the fraud allegations. Critics say Thailand's military government must not endorse Somdej Chuang's nomination and should honor a pledge to stamp out the corrupt practices. "We need to reform Thai Buddhism because it has become rotten and lost its way," said activist monk Buddha Issara, who is leading the fight against Somdej Chuang. Police Major General Charnthep Sesawej, head of Provincial Police Region 7, said most of the monks who gathered were supporters of the Dhammakaya Temple. In Syrian war, a bigger role for Russian strategists By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT, Feb 15 (Reuters) - While Russian fighter planes pound rebel positions on the battlefield in Syria, Russian military strategists are playing a far more subtle role in support of President Bashar al-Assad. Several sources - on both sides of the battle lines - have told Reuters in interviews conducted over the past two months that Russian advisers have been involved in drawing up plans to secure Damascus, Assad's seat of power. Those interviewed by Reuters, including non-Syrian military officials fighting alongside Assad's forces, said Russia's plans to buttress Damascus involve weakening rebel forces in the south of the country between the capital and Jordan. The aim is to reduce the rebels' chances of launching a major offensive. The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to written questions for this article. Russia has said it has no ground troops in Syria beyond those protecting its bases. Russia does concede it has trainers and advisers on the ground, but only in an educational and advisory capacity. Russia's influence in military planning is already evident, rebel fighters and the non-Syrian military officials say. They say Russian experts played a major role in a Syrian army offensive at the turn of the year in the western coastal province of Latakia, home to the Alawite population of which Assad is part. That offensive helped pave the way for the Syrian army to push towards the Turkish border, cutting the insurgents' supply lines from Turkey. DEGREES OF INVOLVEMENT The extent of Russian involvement on the battlefield is disputed, however. Two military officials, neither of them Syrian but both fighting alongside the Syrian army, said Russian officers and military experts had helped in the planning and directed the offensive in Latakia. According to their account, the Russians were in charge of artillery fire and provided artillery cover, not just air strikes. "The coast battle was theirs," said one of the sources. A Syrian military source, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters in Damascus last week, said the Russians were partners, but he denied they had a leadership role. "The Russian role in participation, in planning and executing military operations is being reinforced all the time. It is participation, not management," said the source. "The Russians take part in the ground and air planning, but at the end, the Syrian officers are the ones who know the land, the fronts, the geography better." Insurgents interviewed by Reuters, including a local commander from the Ahrar al-Sham group, also said that Russian troops took part in the fighting. Moscow says that its main goal in Syria is to target hardline Islamist groups which pose a global threat, including to Russia. Islamic State commander Abu Omar al-Shishani is a Chechen. He is believed to be leading thousands of fighters most of them from Chechnya and Central Asia. CEASEFIRES Pro-government sources say the Russian role has expanded to include facilitating local ceasefires in rebel-held areas around Damascus, with the aim of creating a secure buffer around the capital. Syrian Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar described the process as purely Syrian even if there had at times been Russian help. "The truth is that since the presence of the Russians on Syrian land, they can play the role of mediator in some areas," he said at his offices in Damascus. "The Russians make contact (with militants) when they can, of course - in Douma and other areas," he said, in reference to an area east of Damascus. "Sometimes it is the militants who request mediation by the Russians," he said. Those wishing to relocate wanted guarantees of safe passage to rebel strongholds, and those wishing to stay wanted to be sure they wouldn't be killed later on, he said. According to the non-Syrian sources interviewed by Reuters, Russian advisers orchestrated two deals in which hardline Islamist fighters were evacuated from the south towards areas their groups control in the northern and central provinces. One of the non-Syrian military sources said the Russians worked "in the shadows" to facilitate the ceasefire deals. In some cases the Russians operated as guarantors for the deals. Dozens of cars left southern towns of Syria in December carrying fighters from Nusra Front with their families to the northern province of Idlib which is under control of an alliance of rebels including Nusra Front. Weeks later a convoy left Hajar al-Aswad and Yarmouk camp areas near Damascus carrying fighters and families from Islamic State to the group's stronghold of Raqqa. A second source who was informed of the deals said the fighters were given safe passage. The aim was to empty these areas of hardline Islamists so clearing the way for the government to strike deals with the remaining rebels. "The Russians want all the battles to be focused in the north, they want the south and Damascus and the coastal line all neutralised. Ultimately they are working towards achieving a wider political solution," said the source. Zika scare prompts Philippines to advise women to postpone pregnancy MANILA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A minister in the Philippines has urged women to delay pregnancy until more is known about the mosquito-borne Zika virus raging in Latin America, even though the Asian country's only reported case of zika was four years ago. Much remains unknown about Zika, but the virus has been linked to thousands of cases of birth defects in Latin America, and the World Health Organisation has declared an international public health emergency. "To those who are not in a hurry to get pregnant, maybe they can postpone and wait next year when we know more about the virus," Health Minister Janet Garin said in a radio interview on Sunday, suggesting they practice family planning methods. Garin said she was also asking Filipinos to avoid Zika-affected countries because "travelers, who contracted the disease abroad, may then transmit the virus sexually to their partners". The scare over Zika has been heightened by warnings from the Pan American Health Organisation that in a few cases the virus could have been sexually transmitted. The Philippines, sole reported case of Zika was in 2012 and involved a teenage boy in Cebu island in central Philippines. "While we do not have any reported cases as of now here in the Philippines, we know that the threat is there," Lyndon Lee-Suy, spokesman for the health ministry, told Reuters on Monday. "Even the husbands should be aware of the risks of pregnancy." There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms. On Monday, an outspoken Roman Catholic bishop accused the health minister of using the scare over Zika to suggest people practice family planning. "It is beyond her competence to say that," Archbishop Oscar Cruz said. "Is it in her job description to say when women may get pregnant or not? Is it?" Good chance Hungary will have to build fence on Romanian border -Hungary govt BUDAPEST, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Hungary is ready to build a fence on its border with Romania to keep out migrants and there is a good chance that this cannot be avoided, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday. "We are ready to erect a technical barrier on the Romanian border as well ... today there is significant chance that this cannot be avoided," Janos Lazar told a news conference. Lazar also said Hungary and the Visegrad group of Central European countries respected a proposal that the flow of migrants should be primarily tackled on the borders of Greece. Islamists kill Somalia's former defence minister with car bomb By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar NAIROBI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Islamist militant group al Shabaab killed Somalia's former defence minister with a car bomb in capital Mogadishu on Monday, officials said. Al Shabaab, which is aligned to al Qaeda, told Reuters it planted the car bomb that killed Muhayadin Mohamed, who was also an adviser to the speaker of Somalia's parliament. Pictures taken by a Reuters photographer from the scene showed the passenger seat took the brunt of the damage, with passenger-side doors blown out. "We are behind his killing," Sheikh Anbdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters. A police official confirmed Mohamed was killed and added a second person in the car survived the blast without any serious injuries. Mohamed was briefly defence minister in 2008 during Somalia's transitional federal government, which was backed by United Nations and had fought alongside African Union peacekeepers to push al Shabaab out of Mogadishu and other major cities. Al Shabaab fighters left the capital in 2011 and a permanent Somali government was established in 2012, but the government has struggled to end chronic insecurity. Ukrainian prosecutor quits over corruption as government teeters By Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk KIEV, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A senior Ukrainian prosecutor resigned on Monday, calling the office he worked for a "hotbed of corruption", another blow to government attempts to clean up the judiciary, a crucial step to unlock more Western aid. The resignation, the second exit of a Western-backed reformer in under a fortnight, came a day before a possible no confidence vote in parliament that could topple Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk and lead to a snap election. Failure to tackle endemic corruption has derailed a $40 billion aid programme that keeps the war-torn country afloat. If Yatseniuk falls, it would further delay negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for the next tranche of money, $1.7 billion, which has been on hold since October. "Today, the General Prosecutor's office is a brake on the reform of criminal justice, a hotbed of corruption, an instrument of political pressure, one of the key obstacles to the arrival of foreign investment in Ukraine," Deputy General Prosecutor Vitaliy Kasko said in a televised statement. Kasko's move follows the exit of Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, who accused vested interests, including a close ally of President Petro Poroshenko, of meddling in his ministry and trying to siphon off state funds. Kasko's accusation that there was merely a facade of change in the prosecution service is damaging to Poroshenko, who has resisted pressure to fire General Prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Vladislav Kutsenko, an aide to Shokin, dismissed Kasko's resignation as self-publicity. But U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt called Kasko "a champion for change". "His resignation is a blow to #Ukraine's reform progress ... #Ukraine deserves a clean judiciary. Will require top-to-bottom rule of law reform to address pervasive corruption + cronyism," he tweeted. Yatseniuk's approval ratings have plummeted to less than 1 percent since he came to office in 2014 after protests ousted the previous pro-Russian government. The economy has tanked and a conflict with separatist rebels has no end in sight. Parliament convenes on Tuesday to debate a report on the four-party coalition government's performance, which could precipitate a no confidence vote. A parliamentary source said that, after a meeting of various faction leaders on Monday, "the general mood is that the government should leave." Philippines to put up for sale seized Marcos property, jewelry MANILA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Jewelry, property and stocks confiscated from the Philippines former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family following his ouster 30 years ago will be put up for sale, government officials said on Monday. Marcos fled to Hawaii in 1986 following a near bloodless popular revolt, known as "People Power". He had ruled the Philippines for 20 years, during which time his family amassed an estimated $10 billion. Sources at the finance ministry said the government is looking to raise at least 838.85 million pesos ($17.70 million) from the sale of two real estate properties, company shares, and the jewelry. "Proceeds from the sale will go to the Bureau of Treasury and Philippine Commission on Good Government," Gil Beltan, deputy finance secretary, told reporters, referring to the agency established to track down the Marcoses' fortune. About 300 pieces of jewelry, including a rare 25-carat barrel-shaped pink diamond, are among the assets that will be auctioned. The three jewelry collections, which had been kept in a vault at the central bank, have been appraised by international auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's. The government had tried to auction the three jewelry collections in 2005 but the late dictator's widow Imelda Marcos contested the move, claiming ownership of two of the sets. One was found in the presidential palace after her family's hasty departure and another was seized in Hawaii, where they lived in exile. Imelda Marcos, now an elected member of Congress, is best known for leaving behind more than 1,200 pairs of shoes when she and her late husband fled. She has vowed to recover her family's seized assets. Samarra's Sunnis fear displacement a decade after Iraq shrine attack By Stephen Kalin and Kareem Raheem SAMARRA, Iraq, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Sunlight once again glints off the golden dome of one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines, almost fully restored 10 years after suspected al Qaeda militants blew it up in northern Iraq. But as Shi'ite influence grows in Samarra, shops and homes around al-Askari shrine owned by residents of the mainly Sunni city have been shut, amidst fears of forced displacement and splintering of the area along sectarian lines. The shrine's destruction on February 22, 2006 sparked a wave of revenge attacks that killed tens of thousand of people and plunged Iraq into a sectarian civil war. No one was injured in the bombing itself. In the attack, gunmen in police uniforms burst into the shrine, tied up guards and planted explosives that brought down its 100-year-old dome, one of the Muslim world's biggest and best known. Another blast in 2007 destroyed two golden minarets. Communal blood-letting has abated, but the Samarra residents' concerns reflect those of many in Iraq's Sunni minority, who fear expulsion from sensitive areas they say the ascendant Shi'ite majority wants to control. Sunnis point to violence like last month's attacks in eastern Diyala province as proof they are still not safe more than a decade after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni from north of Samarra. That has also hindered the return of three million Sunnis displaced by Islamic State, which authorities consider key to Iraq's stability. Government officials and Shi'ite leaders reject talk of partition and deny there are any intentions to alter Iraq's demographic makeup. But the tensions represent another challenge to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a moderate Shi'ite trying to win over Sunnis to push Islamic State out of northern and western areas it seized in 2014. EXPANDING THE SHRINE The multi-million-dollar construction project to restore al-Askari shrine, also called the Golden Mosque, was aimed partly at healing mistrust sown by the attack, but it may have actually deepened suspicions. Local authorities are trying to incorporate nearby districts into the site, two local officials told Reuters. Around 2,500 shops and 1,000 homes owned by Sunnis have been closed and shuttered, said Kamil Abbas, a member of the provincial council of Salahuddin where Samarra is located. "Expanding the shrine will deprive thousands of Samarra residents of the right to use their properties," Abbas said. Some residents sold their properties at high prices a year ago, but most left after security forces kept them from accessing their shops and homes or barred public services like rubbish collection, said a city official, who requested anonymity. "They are making a Shi'ite city and a Sunni city, like Adhamiya and Kadhimiya," he added, referring to adjacent Baghdad neighbourhoods. Shi'ite officials dismiss those charges and say life in the heavily fortified city on the east bank of the Tigris River is returning to normal. Ahmed Mahdi, the shrine's operations manager, said any property acquired near the shrine took place consensually and in exchange for compensation. "If they refuse, we do not force anyone to sell their property ... but expansion is happening at all Islamic sites, not just Samarra," he told Reuters, referring to holy cities in southern Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. PILGRIMAGE SITE Mahdi said Samarra's "special security status" close to the front-line where forces are battling Islamic State required precautions but called them "normal" and not unlike security at sites in southern Iraq far from the fighting. He denied that residents were deprived of public services. A member of Salahuddin Operations Command, overseeing the province's security, said measures imposed after the 2006 attack were tightened after two suicide bombers detonated explosives near the shrine in mid-2014 amid Islamic State's advance. Colonel Abdul Kareem al-Saadi said vigilance was required to combat militants seeking to reignite sectarian unrest. "Such procedures are meant to achieve a bigger objective which is maintaining peaceful coexistence," he said. Millions of Shi'ite pilgrims, many from neighbouring Iran, flock annually to Samarra, an ancient city 125 km (80 miles) northwest of Baghdad. Its shrine, which also permits Sunni visitors, houses the tombs of two ninth century Shi'ite imams -- religious leaders descended from the Prophet Mohammad. The site was easily accessible under Saddam even as he violently oppressed Shi'ites and imposed a mostly secular rule. Shi'ite militiamen armed with automatic weapons and dressed in black uniforms now impose a security cordon extending hundreds of metres around the shrine. Most gunmen belong to the 'Peace Brigades' of powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army was accused of operating death squads targeting Sunnis a decade ago. A charge it denied. PREVENTING ATTACKS Blast walls and metal gates block movement around the shrine. Storefronts inside the security perimeter are shuttered or abandoned. The only activity is from patrolling guards and pilgrims who are bussed in. After Islamic State's advance, militiamen surged to protect the site, sparing Samarra the destruction and mass displacement of other Sunni-populated areas further north and west. Yet the government's reliance on Shi'ite militias and volunteers rather than the ineffectual national army as a unifying military force has deepened sectarian mistrust. The Peace Brigades now conduct high-profile patrols in urban areas around the shrine, run joint police checkpoints along the road from Baghdad and hold an 85-km-long front-line nearby. The U.S.-led coalition launching air strikes against Islamic State, which split from and overtook al Qaeda in recent years, said the insurgents would not threaten Samarra on the tenth anniversary of the attack. "We could see (car bombs). They're capable of launching rocket attacks ... but as far as amassing forces, they don't have the capability before we would interdict them," U.S. Army Captain Chance McCraw, an intelligence officer, said last month. Hussein Sharifi, a former lawmaker from southern Iraq now fighting with the Peace Brigades, said there were attacks and casualties daily at the front-line 30 km west of Samarra. Cameron seeks French, EU help on deal, avoids Farage By Elizabeth Pineau and Kylie MacLellan PARIS/LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - David Cameron embarks on a final push for support in Europe for a deal to help keep Britain in the EU when he meets French President Francois Hollande on Monday and then leaders of a wary European Parliament in Brussels. Two weeks after a draft accord won initial backing from fellow national leaders who will try to iron out remaining differences with the British prime minister at a summit on Thursday, Tuesday's meeting with EU lawmakers highlights some of the risks of political turbulence before a British referendum. Not only was a plan to meet leaders of all the European Parliament's party blocs cancelled -- allowing Cameron to avoid a confrontation with his eurosceptic arch critic Nigel Farage -- but the need for the assembly's approval of key elements raised questions about how binding any summit agreement will be. Speaking before Cameron begins his last planned pre-summit trip at a Paris meeting with Hollande, his spokeswoman rebuffed questions in London about the extent to which the European Parliament could later block reforms agreed by the leaders after Britons vote in the referendum, possibly in June. Insisting that senior parliamentarians have indicated their general support, and refusing to speculate on the "hypothetical" situation where the legislature refuses to pass laws that the leaders agree on, the spokeswoman said: "We have been very clear this is a legally binding, irreversible decision." Leading members of parliament have been involved in negotiations and say they are willing to work on legislation to, for example, help Britain discriminate against EU workers on benefits to discourage immigration. 'GUTLESS' But the 750-seat chamber is dominated by supporters of closer European integration, jealous of their powers and little given to voting discipline within their trans-national parties -- creating a risk of delay or amendment to legislation that Farage, a seasoned anti-EU campaigner was quick to highlight. In a statement describing Conservative leader Cameron as "gutless" for choosing to meet only leaders of the three main parties rather than all eight, including himself, Farage said: "He knows that not only is his deal pitiful but that ... I would be able to expose the fact that even if he wins the referendum, the parliament will veto its terms." If the 28 national leaders agree to a deal on the basis of a draft brokered by summit chairman Donald Tusk, Cameron is expected to call the referendum and campaign to stay in a "reformed European Union". The precise legal form of the accord is still under discussion but EU and British officials say it would have the force of a binding international treaty. It would only come into force, however, after British voters backed continued EU membership. Only then would the European Parliament consider legislation, still to be drafted by the EU executive European Commission, to put some changes into law. Cameron has said Tusk's current offer will give Britain the ability to reduce immigration from the rest of the EU, protect its sterling-based finance industry from being disadvantaged by the majority of EU states in the euro zone and ensure Britain's right not to be drawn deeper into a political union in Europe. A diplomatic source said the British do not want any retreat from Tusk's proposals as Cameron has to have a deal he can sell to both the public, and the already unimpressed eurosceptics in his own Conservative Party. After himself meeting Hollande in Paris on Monday, Tusk said he hoped for a deal in Brussels at the end of the week. The French are seeking to limit any British right to interfere in euro zone decisions, and ensure Britain commits to allowing further integration of the euro area, the source said. France secured some amendments last week that Paris said were needed to ensure that efforts to balance the euro zone's "ins" and "outs" did not give the City of London an unfair edge. An EU source said Tusk and Hollande had gone through all the outstanding political issues with a focus on finding solutions to the French concerns on that issue. Progress had been made but there was still some work to be done. Europe ends sanctions on Belarus, seeks better ties By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The European Union ended five years of sanctions against Belarus and its authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday, citing improving human rights as the bloc seeks more friends in Russia's back yard. A peaceful presidential election in October, the release of political prisoners and Lukashenko's role in holding Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Minsk have improved ties with the man who the United States once said runs Europe's last dictatorship. "This decision is not taken under the illusion that Belarus is changing overnight," Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, underlining what the European Union insists is its sober but constructive approach to the former soviet state. Announcing its decision at a foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, the European Union said it will maintain its arms embargo on Belarus and will keep sanctions for another year on four men suspected of being behind the disappearances of two opposition politicians, a businessman, and a journalist. The sanctions -- on 170 people, including Lukashenko, and three companies -- were already lifted for four months at the end of October in a gesture to Lukashenko. Monday's decision means they will end definitively on March 1. The European Union has pushed for democratic change in Belarus but is now shifting its approach to engage rather than isolate its neighbours in central and eastern Europe, as well as to counter what it sees as a newly aggressive Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014. They had warned Lukashenko, in power for two decades, that sanctions relief depended on a peaceful election on Oct. 11 last year, which returned the president for a fifth term but which did not feature the kind of crackdowns that have followed Belarus' elections in 2010 and brought on the EU's sanctions. The release of political prisoners in August was also sought by the European Union. Brussels is still urging Minsk to abolish the death penalty. The conciliatory moves by Lukashenko suggest he is seeking to improve his image abroad to rely less on his ally Russia, which is under Western sanctions due to the Ukraine conflict and also suffering from the fall in oil prices. More than 300 Brazilian companies busted for modern-day slavery - campaigners By Anastasia Moloney BOGOTA, Feb 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Brazil's ministry of labour has fined 340 Brazilian companies for using slave labour, including forced labour and people working in degrading conditions for little or no pay in rural and urban areas, a leading anti-slavery group has said. A "dirty list" published by the rights group Reporter Brazil this month revealed that 340 Brazilian companies from May 2013 to May 2015 employed people working in slave-like conditions, including in sweatshops producing clothes, in farms, cattle ranches, timber companies, construction and charcoal production. Leonardo Sakamoto, head of Sao Paulo-based Reporter Brazil, said his organisation, which works to expose slave labour, used the Freedom of Information Act to uncover the names of companies and individuals that were found to have slave labour by federal labour inspectors in Brazil. "The companies were fined by the labour ministry and those enslaved were released," he said. Brazil defines slave labour as work carried out in degrading conditions or in conditions that pose a risk to a worker's health and or life. Forced labour, and working for free to pay off debts incurred with an employer, known as bonded labour or debt bondage, are also considered slave labour. "We don't know yet if children were enslaved. We are still analysing the list. And we can't say yet if the construction companies are involved in building works for the Olympics," Sakamoto told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. AMAZON SLAVERY HOTSPOT Brazil imported more African slaves than any other country in the Americas, mainly to cut sugar cane. While slavery was formally abolished in 1888, there are still pockets of Brazil, especially on farms and in areas where the Amazon jungle is being razed, where working conditions are similar to those in the 19th century, experts say. "Historically the worst slave conditions in Brazil have been found in cattle ranches in the Amazon where state power is difficult to reach and where exploitation is more violent," Sakamoto said. Brazil's government has made addressing slavery a top priority over the past decade in Latin America's largest economy. In 1995, Brazil officially recognised the active use of slave labour in the economy. That year, the Labour Ministry launched a Special Mobile Enforcement Group that works with prosecutors and police to find and raid farms, construction sites and other companies suspected of employing slave workers. Since then, around 50,000 people have been freed from slave-like work, according to government figures. There is no reliable data to show the scale of child labour across Brazil but 2014 figures from the labour ministry show 5,522 children were "removed" from child labor, as well as 1,509 adults released from forced labour and labour exploitation. Worldwide, an estimated 21 million people are trapped in some form of forced labour, generating profits totalling $150 billion a year, according to the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation (ILO). DIRTY LIST In recent years, a key weapon in Brazil's fight against slavery has been the so-called "dirty list" of employers published by the labour ministry. Launched in November 2003, the blacklist has revealed to the public hundreds of companies and individual employers who were investigated by labour prosecutors and found to be using slaves. Blacklisted employers are blocked from receiving government loans and have restrictions placed on sales of their products. If after two years a company pays all its fines and proves that it has improved working conditions, it is removed from the list. But in late 2014, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the Labour Ministry to suspend the release of the slave labour blacklist. The ruling came in response to an injunction filed by Brazil's Real Estate Developers' Association (Abrainc), whose members include the country's largest construction companies. Reporter Brazil is lobbying to make the list public again. Meanwhile, the NGO uses freedom of information laws to publish the information. UN peace envoy visits Syria as ceasefire plan struggles DAMASCUS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy for Syria, has arrived in Damascus and will meet Syria's foreign minister on Tuesday, a Syrian government official said. De Mistura is making the surprise visit as world powers push for a ceasefire in the Syrian conflict. He suspended peace talks in Geneva last week after only three days, but hopes to bring parties back to the negotiating table by Feb. 25. "He will be meeting (Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem) tomorrow," a Syrian government official, who was outside of the country, told Reuters. A senior UN official confirmed that de Mistura had arrived in Syria for an unscheduled visit to "follow up on commitments made in Munich." World powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a cessation of hostilities that would let humanitarian aid be delivered in Syria. The talks in Damascus will include discussion of the resumption of peace talks set for Geneva on Feb. 25, including procedural issues, the Syrian official said. The ceasefire was scheduled to start a week later, but Syrian army offensives continue unabated across the country, backed by Russian air strikes. Egyptian investigator in Italian's death has prior conviction linked to death of detainee-court documents, sources By Ahmed Mohamed Hassan CAIRO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A senior Egyptian police officer investigating the death of Italian student Giulio Regeni has a prior conviction in connection with the torture and death of a detainee, according to security and judicial sources and court documents seen by Reuters. Regeni, 28, disappeared on Jan. 25, the fifth anniversary of the 2011 uprising that ended President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. His body was found on the side of the main Cairo-Alexandria highway on Feb. 3. Egyptian forensics and prosecution officials have said he was tortured and killed by a blow with a sharp object to the back of the head. Khaled Shalaby, now head of Criminal Investigations in Giza and one of the investigators in the Regeni case, and three others were charged in 2000 with torturing and killing a detainee inside a police station in Alexandria, according to the security and judicial sources and documents. One document from the Alexandria Criminal Court shows that Shalaby and three other policemen were initially cleared of the charges related to the killing of Farid Shawqi Ahmed Abdel Aal. A retrial led to the conviction of Shalaby and the three others in 2003 on reduced charges of failing to protect the detainee and not transferring him to hospital, according to a ruling from the Alexandria Criminal Court seen by Reuters. The court handed Shalaby a one-year jail sentence with labour that was suspended. The court documents show that the accused officers claimed that during his arrest, Abdel Aal hit his own head against a pole and later died of wounds. Contacted by telephone, Shalaby denied any wrongdoing: "There are no cases against me and I don't understand what does this have to do with the Italians case?," he said. Shalaby became head of Criminal Investigations in Alexandria in 2009 and was transferred in 2013 to Giza where he was promoted to head the Criminal Investigations unit, according to a security source. The Criminal Investigation unit Shalaby heads is one of several involved in the investigation, which is led by Homeland Security and also includes Italian security officers. On Feb. 4 the website of the pro-government newspaper Youm7 quoted him as saying Regeni's body bore no signs of a criminal act. "Preliminary investigations show he was the victim of a car accident," he was quoted as saying. Egyptian Interior Ministry spokesman Abu Baker Abdel Karim did not respond to calls by Reuters but a ministry statement issued on Monday denied media reports that Regeni had been arrested by security forces. But Ahmed Nagy, a senior prosecutor in Giza, said Regeni's body bore cigarette burns and slits to the ears. The Egyptian coroner's report has not been made public but other forensic and prosecution sources have said it found signs of torture including broken ribs and electrocution. A copy of Regeni's professional biography provided by a friend showed he spoke Arabic and that his doctoral research at Britain's Cambridge University focused on trade union activity in Egypt after Mubarak's overthrow. Friends of Regeni said his research may have led him to meet labour activists and critics of the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is waging the fiercest crackdown on dissent in Egypt's modern history. Rights groups allege that Egyptians are often detained by police on scant evidence and beaten, sometimes to death. The Interior Ministry and other Egyptian authorities denies police brutality is endemic and say any allegations of abuses are investigated. Critics say investigations are not always thorough. Regeni's death could complicate efforts by Sisi's government to project an image of stability to win back tourists and foreign investors scared off by years of post-uprising turmoil. Something unprecedented since the Emergency is taking place in India. Debate on almost every subject of significance is being choked off. After the government and Modi bhakts silenced NGOs like Greenpeace for being anti-development and hence "anti-national", it was natural that the next targets will be all that constitutes civil society. When Padma awards were returned over Akhlaq's lynching in Dadri, they were told to go to Pakistan for being anti-nationals. When Aamir Khan spoke about the climate of fear, he was told the same. Academicians who opposed the government in anyway were told the same. It seems the government is keen to formalise mob violence as a tool to silence its critics. The blatant attack on JNU students, teachers and even journalists inside Patiala House courts by "lawyers" and a BJP MLA, O P Sharma tell us that now is the time to rise together for saving not just JNU but our democracy itself. It is simply unthinkable that goondas of any affiliation can violate the court premises without the prior and silent approval of the Delhi police. This is Delhi police's second public act of omission in less than a month. Not too long ago, it had watched as goons rained blows on peaceful students while protesting Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's death. If that was an aberration, this cannot be. In fact, the Delhi police, under the home ministry, is a professional force and each act is scrutinised by both the government and the media. It doesn't show such a supine spine towards lumpenism unless it has been told to do so. The charge that Delhi police commissioner is only trying to please his political bosses for post-retirement comforts looks sickeningly real now. When Daliit scholar Rohith and his friends raised the issue of discrimination, they were illegally suspended and charged by the police and university administration and thrown out of their rooms. The student wing of the BJP, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) led this witch-hunt with at least two central ministers giving them letters of support. It ended with Rohith's death but the so-called ABVP nationalists continued to discredit the Dalit student's movement. A few days later, a group of students raised slogans, some of them against the Indian state, at JNU, and were labelled "traitors", "anti-nationals" by the hordes of Modi bhakts. The usually circumspect Rajnath Singh, home minister of the country also fell for the jingoism and announced that the student protests were backed by terrorist leader Hafiz Saeed, based on a fake Twitter account. That should have given the rabid and violent pro-Modi mobs a cue to control their hounds. Instead of that, we have seen an unprovoked escalation of the conflict between peaceful and democratic students and the violent and fascist "nationalists". This situation is now so out of hand that even the Delhi police chose to watch as the practised goons beat up students, journalists and teachers alike. Anybody who looked like a JNU student was prey to the blows of these goondas and their leader O P Sharma. No sedition charge has stuck to any student in the country and it will not stick to Kanhaiya Kumar either. The fact that even the most ardent and articulate supporter of Modi like journalist Tavleen Singh has called it churlish and ridiculous is not lost on the wider common public. ALEPPO - Syria - Although World War 3 started a few years ago, we are now seeing major escalations with Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran on the ground. As mentioned by the Daily Squib in 2013, there is a red line that tips the geopolitical world into global war, and this line is firmly being crossed at the moment by Turkey and Saudi Arabia with ground troops entering Syria. The Russians and their Syrian, Iranian allies claim Syria despite the myriad of hands firmly in the pot. The United States has been cautious to enter directly into the Syrian battlefield but have been utilising proxies to do their dirty work, however, with the entrance of Turkey into the hornets nest, the Russian bear will no doubt want a piece of Turkey, if only for payback for the downing of one of their jet fighters. Saudi Arabia will not allow the corridor for supplies to be cut off from Turkey which is a lifeline for militants fighting Assad, and this is why the moves happening now could be construed as a desperate attempt to keep the lines open even if it means a risky ground war. We could be seeing a direct escalation between Saudi, Turkish forces under the auspices of NATO, against Russian, Syrian, Iranian forces. As for the Kurds, the sworn enemy of Turks, who want to portion off part of the Turkish nation for themselves, they may pay a heavy price for their meddling and receive a firm beating, especially as they are labelled as terrorists by the Turkish government. outlook A person's point of view or general attitude to life. About Us DC Outlook is your guide to staying busy in the nation's capital. Discover the city's best in film, food, music, sports and all things entertaining. Search DC Outlook Movies Movies: Now Playing A+ Top Gun Maverick B+ Nope Thor: Love and Thunder The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent B Bullet Train The Northman Where the Crawdads Sing B- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Elvis C- Bodies Bodies Bodies D+ Jurassic World Dominion F Firestarter Visit Our Friends at ArcLight Cinemas Get the ArcLight App Top 10 Weekend Box Office Weekend of July 30 - August 1 1. Jungle Cruise... $35M 2. Old... $6.9M 3. The Green Knight... $6.8M 4. Black Widow... $6.5M 5. 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Get a FREE Pasta Visit Our Friends at Pune: Swedish telecom technology giant Ericsson, which is setting up its second export-oriented factory in India from where telecom equipments would roll out from September-October, is betting big on India, Asias third biggest economy. We are investing an initial amount of $15 million (about Rs 100 crore) in our second factory at Chakan, near Pune, Mats H Olsson, senior vice president and head of Asia-Pacific, Ericsson told Financial Chronicle. He was in Pune, one of the major industrial hubs for Swedish firms, to show the new Ericsson plant under construction to the visiting Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven. Pune is home to big Swedish firms like Alfa Laval, Tetra Pak, Sandvik, Atlas Copco, among others. India is a one of the top key markets for us, driving our business rapidly. It is, in fact, fourth largest market in the world and fast growing, Olsson said, adding that the country was next only to Sweden, North America and China in terms of business. He said the Indian arm contributed about 5 per cent of Stockholm headquartered Ericssons total net sales in 2015 at $29.4 billion. In absolute numbers, Ericsson Indias revenues jumped 74 per cent to $2 billion in 2015, Olsson said. He expects this pace of growth to continue for few years from present low base and then stabilise as the market matures. Olsson said the Chakan facility would serve as an export hub for the companys exports to South East Asia, West Asia and Sub Saharan African regions. The new factory will manufacture current and future products for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies and radio and microwave products. Olsson also said the firm plans to double its head count from the present 22,000 employees in a few years as it would continue to invest in the country to tap growing demands for its range of high-tech equipment and services. Between 2010 and 2015, the company added 15,000 employees. The bulk of the new recruits are likely to be deployed for its rapidly growing services segment in the country. India is a phenomenal market where the internet, smartphones and digitalisation was going faster, creating more business opportunities, Paolo Colella, managing director at Ericsson India, said. The company has signed another four-year contract with Airtel to expand its 3G network across eight telecom circles in the country. But the company did not divulge the deal value. This is Ericsson's first 4G network using LTE-FDD technology in Delhi. Apart from Delhi, Ericsson will deploy LTE network in four other circles. Ericsson is the market leader on LTE technology with 40 per cent of the world's LTE smartphone traffic currently served by its network. LTE subscriptions in India are expected to reach more than 230 million by 2020, which will work out to around 17 per cent of the total subscription base. Ericsson has three major R&D centres in India at Gurgaon, Bangalore and Chennai. On a net-calorific value (CV) basis, the gas price is likely to be USD 3.50 per mmBtu as compared to USD 4.24 currently (Representational Image) New Delhi: Natural gas prices in India are likely to decline 17 per cent in April to USD 3.15 per unit, further straining economics of developing discoveries in deep sea. As per the new gas pricing formula approved by the NDA-government in October 2014, gas prices are to be determined on a semi-annual basis and calculated based on a volume weighted average of rates in gas surplus nations of the US, Canada and Russia, based on the twelve-month trailing average price with a lag of three months. Using benchmark prices for the period of January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015, gas price for the period April 2016 to September 2016 is likely to be about USD 3.15 per million British thermal unit as against USD 3.82 currently, sources said. On a net-calorific value (CV) basis, the gas price is likely to be USD 3.50 per mmBtu as compared to USD 4.24 currently. Development of numerous existing discoveries in the blocks operated by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) as well as Reliance Industries are dependent on remunerative price. ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Dinesh K Sarraf last week stated that developing finds in the firm's Krishna Godavari (KG) basin block KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 was economically unviable at current price. The company has asked the government to raise the rates to make developing the explorations economically viable, he had said. Goldman Sachs had in a recent report stated that "Indian domestic natural gas prices that are linked to prices in gas surplus economies remain materially below the costs to develop marginal and deep-water fields and hence do not incentivise exploration and production capex." This has resulted in Indian producers potentially losing USD 2 billion annually in value added assuming they can replace imports entirely, it added. "We believe the current gas price regime is not incentivising domestic capex sufficiently as we expect prices under the current formula to decline in 2016-17 while cost for new deep-water discoveries ranges between USD 6 to USD 7 per mmBtu," Goldman had said. Gas price in India, it said, is lower than USD 9 per mmBtu in China, USD 10.5 in the Philippines, USD 6.5 in Indonesia and USD 8 per mmBtu in Thailand and Malaysia. Sources said going by current price trends, gas price may rise marginally to USD 3.32 (on gross calorific value or GCV basis) in second half of 2016-17 fiscal. They may further rise to USD 3.36 per mmBtu and USD 3.42 in the first and second half of 2017-18 fiscal and would be around USD 3.45 in the following fiscal. On work front, Jacqueline will be next seen in 'Dishoom' and 'Housefull 3'. Mumbai: Jacqueline Fernandez has been shooting in Abu Dhabi for 'Dishoom' with John Abraham and Varun Dhawan is a known fact. However, the boys have been back since the past week and everyone has been wondering what has kept the leggy lass at bay. According to reports, the actress has been spending quality time with her former boyfriend, Sheikh Hassan bin Rashid al Khalifa, the prince of the country. She often stays at his palace where two Rolls Royce and a fleet of Beemers are at her service. Recently, several old pictures of the Sri Lankan beauty locking lips on a beach with him had surfaced on the internet. Jacqueline dated him for two years and ended the relationship in 2011. While there were said to be many reasons behind this break up, it was apparently Jacqueline's growing closeness to Sajid Khan that was the main source for the rift between these two. Meanwhile, Rohit Dhawan's 'Dishoom' is all set to release on July 29, 2016. Jacqueline also has 'Housefull 3' up for a release in June 2016. Middle aged white men are at particularly high risk compared to other races. Washington: Men are twice as likely as women to get cancer of the mouth and throat linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, researchers say. For men, the risk of HPV-driven cancers of the head and neck rise along with the number of oral sex partners, researchers said at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in the US capital. Nearly two out of three of these oral cancers in the United States and most western nations are caused by infection with the HPV 16 strain of the virus, and incidence of cancer is on the rise in recent years, said Gypsyamber D'Souza, who teaches epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Middle aged white men are at particularly high risk compared to other races. She said her research shows that youths are engaging in oral sex at increasingly young ages, compared to past generations. "Our research shows that for men, the number of oral sex partners as that number increases, the risk of an oral HPV infection increases," she told reporters. But with women, the number of sexual partners does not appear to raise the risk. "Comparing men and women with the same number of sexual partners, a man is much more likely to become infected with oral HPV than a woman." Furthermore, women who have a greater number of vaginal sex partners appear to face a lower risk of oral HPV infection, she said. The reason may be that when women are first exposed to HPV vaginally, they mount an immune response that prevents them from getting an oral HPV infection, she said. But men do not seem to have equally robust immune responses. "Men are not only more likely to be infected with oral HPV infection than women, but our research shows that once you become infected, men are less likely to clear this infection than women, further contributing for the cancer risk." HPV infection is quite common, and most people clear the virus within a year or two, she said. In some cases, however, HPV does not go away and can lead to cellular changes in the mouth and throat, which eventually become cancerous. Oral sex may raise the risk of head and neck cancer by 22 percent, according to a study published January in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This type of cancer has risen 225 percent in the last two decades. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges HPV vaccination for all pre-teen boys and girls so they can be protected against the infection before they become sexually active. About 230,000 Burundians have fled the country since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans in April 2015 to run for a third term (Photo: AFP) Kigali: "In Rwanda we're safe. I don't see anywhere else to go," says Audrey, one of thousands of Burundian refugees now living in Rwanda but fearful after Kigali unexpectedly announced plans to relocate them to other countries. The 27-year-old, who was personally threatened for taking part in demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza at home, says she cannot return to Burundi. And she is equally unsure of her safety in other countries in the region. "When we heard the news, we were amazed," she said. "We did not expect it." Burundi has been in turmoil since Nkurunziza announced plans in April 2015 to run for a third term, which he went on to win. In less than a year, hundreds of people have been killed and around 230,000 Burundians have fled the country. According to the UNHCR, some 75,000 of those have taken refuge in Rwanda. Like many of her compatriots, Audrey has been put up by a Rwandan family since fleeing three months ago and she remains too frightened to be photographed or clearly identified. "We talk about it a lot amongst ourselves, especially on social media, we wonder where we are going to be able to go," she said. Rwanda's plan to relocate the refugees comes amid accusations that Kigali is meddling in the affairs of its troubled neighbour. Burundi has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing rebels intent on overthrowing the government in Bujumbura. Kigali has fiercely denied the accusations. Victims for second time The United States has also accused Rwanda of involvement in "destabilising activities" in Burundi. "There are credible reports of recruitment of Burundian refugees out of camps in Kigali: "In Rwanda we're safe. I don't see anywhere else to go," says Audrey, one of thousands of Burundian refugees now living in Rwanda but fearful after Kigali unexpectedly announced plans to relocate them to other countries. The 27-year-old, who was personally threatened for taking part in demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza at home, says she cannot return to Burundi. And she is equally unsure of her safety in other countries in the region. "When we heard the news, we were amazed," she said. "We did not expect it." Burundi has been in turmoil since Nkurunziza announced plans in April 2015 to run for a third term, which he went on to win. In less than a year, hundreds of people have been killed and around 230,000 Burundians have fled the country. According to the UNHCR, some 75,000 of those have taken refuge in Rwanda. Like many of her compatriots, Audrey has been put up by a Rwandan family since fleeing three months ago and she remains too frightened to be photographed or clearly identified. "We talk about it a lot amongst ourselves, especially on social media, we wonder where we are going to be able to go," she said. Rwanda's plan to relocate the refugees comes amid accusations that Kigali is meddling in the affairs of its troubled neighbour. Burundi has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing rebels intent on overthrowing the government in Bujumbura. Kigali has fiercely denied the accusations. Victims for second time The United States has also accused Rwanda of involvement in "destabilising activities" in Burundi. "There are credible reports of recruitment of Burundian refugees out of camps in Rwanda to participate in armed attacks by Burundian armed opposition against the Burundian government," Thomas Perriello, US envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, said Wednesday. UN experts also told the Security Council last week that Rwanda had recruited and trained refugees from Burundi, among them children, who wanted to remove Burundi's Nkurunziza from power. Rwanda's relocation announcement came out of the blue on Friday, even taking the UN refugee agency by surprise. "The government of Rwanda... will immediately begin working with partners in the international community to plan the orderly and safe relocation of Burundian refugees to third countries," the government said in a statement. Reacting to the plan UNHCR said it was "concerned", saying it "seems to undermine the precedent of refugee protection Rwanda has set over decades." "A third country? What does that mean?" said Amandine, a mother of two children, one of whom has just started at a primary school in the Rwandan capital. Neighbouring nations already host thousands of Burundian refugees in overstretched camps, with Tanzania hosting some 130,000 and the Democratic Republic of Congo over 18,000. Uganda, which borders Rwanda to the north, has 21,000. "Many refugees have started a new life in Kigali," said Sandrine, 26. "Some started their own business. Students who had had to interrupt their studies when they fled Burundi have resumed their education here," she said. "We will be victims for a second time," she said. Goodwill of Rwandans Kigali has assured the UNHCR that it "would continue to respect its international obligations to protect refugees, would not close its borders, and would not forcibly expel Burundian refugees". The agency, however, urged "the government to make such clarifications publicly as soon as possible to prevent panic on the part of refugees in Rwanda". "We would like to have more information. We are in the dark on this," said Audrey, who is only half reassured by the UNHCR statements. Exiled Burundian journalist Reverien Bazikanwe said he too was concerned. But he said he understood Rwanda's decision. Kigali, he said, was reacting to unfounded accusations which he accused the Burundi government of using to "drown out the major issue" of the crisis in Burundi. "It's in the interests of Bujumbura to cloud the real issue," he said. UNHCR spokeswoman in Rwanda, Martina Pomeroy, said she feared possible tensions between the Rwandan population and the refugees. Most of the refugees are "living in families or the community where they have been dependent on the generosity and goodwill of Rwandans hosting them", she said. "So what can happen if the population thinks that refugees have become undesirable for the government?" she added. to participate in armed attacks by Burundian armed opposition against the Burundian government," Thomas Perriello, US envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, said Wednesday. UN experts also told the Security Council last week that Rwanda had recruited and trained refugees from Burundi, among them children, who wanted to remove Burundi's Nkurunziza from power. Rwanda's relocation announcement came out of the blue on Friday, even taking the UN refugee agency by surprise. "The government of Rwanda... will immediately begin working with partners in the international community to plan the orderly and safe relocation of Burundian refugees to third countries," the government said in a statement. Reacting to the plan UNHCR said it was "concerned", saying it "seems to undermine the precedent of refugee protection Rwanda has set over decades." "A third country? What does that mean?" said Amandine, a mother of two children, one of whom has just started at a primary school in the Rwandan capital. Neighbouring nations already host thousands of Burundian refugees in overstretched camps, with Tanzania hosting some 130,000 and the Democratic Republic of Congo over 18,000. Uganda, which borders Rwanda to the north, has 21,000. "Many refugees have started a new life in Kigali," said Sandrine, 26. "Some started their own business. Students who had had to interrupt their studies when they fled Burundi have resumed their education here," she said. "We will be victims for a second time," she said. Goodwill of Rwandans Kigali has assured the UNHCR that it "would continue to respect its international obligations to protect refugees, would not close its borders, and would not forcibly expel Burundian refugees". The agency, however, urged "the government to make such clarifications publicly as soon as possible to prevent panic on the part of refugees in Rwanda". "We would like to have more information. We are in the dark on this," said Audrey, who is only half reassured by the UNHCR statements. Exiled Burundian journalist Reverien Bazikanwe said he too was concerned. But he said he understood Rwanda's decision. Kigali, he said, was reacting to unfounded accusations which he accused the Burundi government of using to "drown out the major issue" of the crisis in Burundi. "It's in the interests of Bujumbura to cloud the real issue," he said. UNHCR spokeswoman in Rwanda, Martina Pomeroy, said she feared possible tensions between the Rwandan population and the refugees. Most of the refugees are "living in families or the community where they have been dependent on the generosity and goodwill of Rwandans hosting them", she said. "So what can happen if the population thinks that refugees have become undesirable for the government?" she added. People queue at a polling station in Bangui to vote in the Central African Republic second round of the presidential and legislative elections. (Photo: AFP) Bangui, Central African Republic: Election officials began counting ballots on Sunday after the Central African Republic voted in delayed legislative elections and a presidential run-off it hopes will bring peace after the worst sectarian violence since independence in 1960. The nation, dogged by coups, violence and misrule since winning independence from France, could take a step towards rebirth if the polls and their aftermath go smoothly. "For the first time we have a true opportunity to turn our backs on war," said Paterne, a voter in his 40s, as he queued at a polling station in the capital Bangui. The elections apparently passed off peacefully, with security tight as UN peacekeepers and French soldiers helped to patrol areas where tensions remain high. Vote counting began on Sunday evening in school classrooms where election officials used chalk to tally totals, according to an AFP reporter. The first official results may not be known for several days. The two men in the close presidential race are both former prime ministers who have campaigned on promises to restore security and boost the economy in the mineral-rich but dirt-poor country. Anicet Georges Dologuele, a 58-year-old former central banker known as "Mr Clean" for his efforts to bring transparency to murky public finances, won the first round on December 30, taking 23.78 percent of the vote. He faced Faustin Archange Touadera, a former maths professor, in the run-off. Also 58, Touadera was standing as an independent and surprised everyone by coming second in the first round with 19.4 percent. Touadera's popularity stems from a measure he introduced as prime minister paying government salaries directly into bank accounts, ending decades of pay arrears and unpaid wages. 'Act of Love' Dologuele wished voters a happy Valentine's Day as he cast his ballot in Bangui. "Valentine's is a celebration of love, and I'd like Central Africans to see voting today as an act of love for their country." Touadera, speaking to voters near the working-class neighbourhood of Boy Rabe, pitched himself as the people's candidate. "I am confident of the outcome of the vote," he told supporters who were already addressing him as "president". Central Africans also voted in a re-run of the last legislative election, also held on December 30 that was later annulled over numerous irregularities. A total of 1,800 candidates were competing for 105 seats in the National Assembly. 'Close Race' Queues in the capital were noticeably thinner than in December, with barely half of eligible voters having cast their ballots less than two hours before polling stations were due to close at 1500 GMT. Some polls did not close until an hour later, having opened late in the morning. Voters in some parts of Bangui and the provinces complained of being turned away because their names were not on the list or because they were not carrying proof of identity. The race for the presidency is expected to be tight. Dologuele has the backing of the candidate who came third in the first round while Touadera has the support of 22 other candidates who ran in December. CAR's most recent episode of bloodletting was sparked by the March 2013 ousting of long-serving president Francois Bozize, a Christian, by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance. The coup sparked a series of revenge attacks involving Muslim forces and Christian vigilante groups known as "anti-balaka" (anti-machete) militias. Thousands were slaughtered in the spiral of atrocities that drove about a tenth of the population of 4.8 million to flee their homes. Both Dologuele and Touadera are Christians. Turnout was high in December's elections, despite huge logistical problems and grinding poverty. Some 1.3 million valid ballots were cast in a country with nearly two million registered voters. The elections came after 93 percent of voters backed a constitutional referendum that cleared the way for the vote. It also followed Pope Francis's groundbreaking trip in November his first to a war zone. His impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation has been taken up by candidates, political parties and religious leaders. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault welcomed Sunday's polls as "decisive progress" and called on "all political sides to await calmly the publication of results." A Uhaul is parked outside Midwest Academy in Keokuk, Iowa. Federal, state and county law enforcement officials have returned to the southeast Iowa boarding school for troubled teens following abuse allegations. (Photo: AP) Iowa City: A boarding school for troubled teenagers in Iowa that is being investigated by the FBI routinely kept pupils in small concrete "isolation boxes" for days or weeks and wouldn't let them out unless they sat in a specific posture for 24 hours, according to several former students. Six former students recently told The Associated Press about abuse they say they suffered while attending Midwest Academy in Keokuk, a city along the Mississippi River where Iowa borders Illinois and Missouri. They said the dark, cell-like punishment rooms were often filled with the sounds of students' screams and motivational recordings piped in through speakers. Surveillance cameras and staff members kept watch. "You spend your time pounding your head against the wall. You can't sleep because there is a lot of noise. A lot of girls like to scream in there. You basically look forward to bathroom breaks and those moments when you can get out of your box," said Emily Beaman, 17, of Wheaton, Illinois. Beaman said that after weeks of isolation, she got out in July only after cutting herself with a bottle cap and begging emergency responders to place her elsewhere. She said an earlier escape attempt failed. The students, who attended the academy between 2008 and last September, said they and their classmates mutilated themselves, hated the lack of activity and natural light, and lost weight due to small meals. Some said they were scarred by the experience months or years later. Officers raided the academy on Jan. 28 to investigate allegations that a staff member sexually assaulted a student. The investigation has since expanded to other possible criminal activity and abuse. Academy owner Ben Trane declined to comment on abuse claims at a news conference this month and didn't respond to AP interview requests. The academy's 90 students were removed and it has been temporarily closed. Three students interviewed by the AP said they had spoken with the FBI. Lauren Snyder, 17, of Springfield, Missouri, recalled begging to get out of isolation last year, after an employee turned up the audio recordings so loud that the speakers blew out and were making a screeching noise. "It was complete hell," she said. Snyder said she eventually attempted suicide by tying a sock around her neck, and was sent to a psychiatric hospital the next day. After being placed in isolation her first day for refusing to take out a belly button ring, Sarah Wilson said she made a point not to return. "I knew I would lose my mind in there," said Wilson, 20, of Rock Island, Illinois. The academy says it provides "struggling teens with a safe, structured and disciplined environment." Many middle- and upper- class families from Midwest states and beyond sent misbehaving teenagers to the academy, which costs roughly $5,000 per month. Trane has said the students were fortunate to have its staff in their lives. Other supporters include parents who say the program saved teens' lives. As a privately funded school without state-ordered placements, the academy didn't require a license to operate and was otherwise unregulated. "It flew under the radar," said Drake University professor Jerry Foxhoven, an Iowa juvenile law expert who'd never heard of the program previously. Foxhoven said long-term isolation can be very damaging for juveniles, exacerbating mental illnesses and causing lasting effects that may include post-traumatic stress disorder. He said parents wouldn't be allowed to keep children in isolation for weeks without facing abuse allegations, and the academy shouldn't, either. Former students said the school kept parents in the dark by strictly limiting and monitoring their communications. Only now, they say, are some of their claims being taken seriously. A typical academy day started with physical education, followed by hours of online-based school work and meetings. Former students said the goal for many was to avoid an "out-of-school suspension" for violating rules, recalling that fighting and insubordination were some reasons they were put in isolation. "That is the worst I've ever been treated," said Shaun McCarthy, 19, of Avoca, Iowa, who said he was lucky to go into isolation only twice. "It's not humane." McCarthy complained about the small meals and lack of stimulation, but said it was worse for others. Students who reach "level 3" in the academy's points-based advancement system help staff watch the boxes. In that role, McCarthy said he saw one girl puncture her finger, draw on the walls with her blood and go to the bathroom on the room's floor before staff intervened.. To get out, students said they had to sit in a certain way for 24 hours. Sometimes, lengthy essays were required. Rachel Adkisson, 19, of Des Moines, said she was put in isolation for refusing to run during gym and had lost 20 pounds (9 kilograms) when she left two weeks later. She said she told the FBI about another girl who tried to kill herself by tying her bra strap around her neck. "It's like torture," Adkisson said. "You think it's never going to end. You think, how can a human do this to another person?" The four, who were tried in absentia, are part of a group of 11 defendants accused of "joining the terrorist ISIS in an Arab country", the official WAM news agency said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. Syria: A top court in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday sentenced four Emiratis to death after convicting them of joining the ISIS in Syria, local media reported. The four, who were tried in absentia, are part of a group of 11 defendants accused of "joining the terrorist ISIS in an Arab country", the official WAM news agency said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. Local newspapers said that the group had traveled to Syria. They were also charged with "promoting" ISIS online, helping to finance the group and insulting UAE leaders, WAM said. Three other Emiratis, a Bahraini, a Mauritanian and a Syrian were handed jail sentences of between three and 10 years, the local Gulf News daily reported. Another Emirati was acquitted. Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court does not allow international media access to such trials. The UAE is a member of the US-led coalition that has been bombing ISIS jihadists in Iraq and Syria since September 2014. UAE authorities have enacted tougher anti-terror legislation, including harsher jail terms and even introducing the death penalty for crimes linked to religious hatred and extremist groups. In July, the UAE executed an Emirati woman for the jihadist-inspired 2014 murder of an American school teacher in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall. Her husband is accused of seeking to carry out attacks on targets including Abu Dhabi's Formula 1 circuit and has reportedly claimed to be the local leader of ISIS. He is currently on trial. In another case, the same court jailed three Arabs for 10 years each after convicting them of ties to the Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen, WAM said on Sunday. It acquitted three others for lack of evidence against them, it added. The UAE is also playing a key role in a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the Huthis and their allies in Yemen since March last year. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as a revenge-seeking fur trapper in "The Revenant" won him best actor at Bafta where the film dominated by bagging the best picture and director trophies. Indo-British director Asif Kapadia's critically acclaimed documentary "Amy" on the late British songstress Amy Winehouse won the best documentary award at the British awards ceremony, hosted by Stephen Fry. DiCaprio, who is the front-runner to win the best actor trophy at Oscars this year for his physically-gruelling performance in the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's film, was previously nominated for "The Aviator", "The Departed" and most recently "The Wolf of Wall Street". "The Revenant", based on the true-story of a 19th century fur trapper, who survived despite being mauled by a bear and abandoned for dead by his friends, won five major awards at the ceremony, while "Carol" had to return empty handed despite maximum nominations. In his acceptance speech, DiCaprio paid tribute to British actors like Gary Oldman, Peter O'Toole and Daniel Day Lewis for influencing him as a performer. He also thanked his mother for helping him. Inarritu, who swept the Oscars last year with "The Birdman" and a favourite this year as well, said the film's success at the Bafta awards was overwhelming. Brie Larson won the best actress Bafta for her poignant portrayal of a woman kidnapped and kept in a small room with her child in "Room". Her trophy was accepted by the film's director. George Miller's apocalyptic action movie "Mad Max: Fury Road" won four Baftas for hair and make up, editing, costume design and production design.Both supporting acting prizes went to British winners. DiCaprio's "Titanic" co-star Kate Winslet won her third Bafta trophy for her role as an Apple marketing executive Joanna Hoffman in "Steve Jobs". Her previous wins were for "Sense and Sensibility"and "The Reader". Mark Rylance won in the best supporting actor category for his role of a Russian spy in Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies". Journalism drama "Spotlight" won one in the best original screenplay category, and co-writer and director Tom McCarthy dedicated the award to the reporters of the Boston Globe, who broke the story of the Catholic Church paedophile priest cover-up. "The Big Short" won the best adapted screenplay award. Nick Hornby's "Brooklyn" was adjudged the outstanding British film. Emmanuel Lubezki's win for cinematography for his work on "The Revenant" was his fourth Bafta. The Mexican has won for the past three years, having previously picked up statuettes for "Birdman" and "Gravity". Best animation went to Disney/Pixar toon "Inside Out" and helmer Pete Docter accepted the award and called on young people in secondary school who were struggling and trying to figure things out to "express themselves." Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer went to Jordanian pic "Theeb," directed by Naji Abu Nowar, beating out the more well-known "Ex Machina," helmed by Alex Garland. "Theeb" is up for an Oscar for best foreign language film. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" snapped up best special visual effects for Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh and Neal Scanlan. The EE Rising star Bafta award, the only award voted for by the public, went to "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Attack the Block" British star John Boyega."The Revenant" also won for best sound, while the original music trophy went to Ennio Morricone for "The Hateful Eight". The best British short film honour went to "Operator," a movie funded by Kickstarter and helmed by Caroline Bartleet while best short animation went to "Edmond."The obituary section included tributes to Alan Rickman, Maureen O'Hara, Omar Sharif, David Bowie, Ron Moody, Frank Finlay, Saeed Jaffrey and Christopher Lee. Sidney Poitier, the first African-American to receive a best actor Oscar for his role in 1963 movie "Lilies of the Field", was honoured with a Bafta Fellowship, the highest accolade, for his outstanding and exceptional contribution to the business. He was unable to attend the ceremony in person due to health reasons. Angels Costumes, the world's longest-established costume house, now in its 175th year, received the outstanding British contribution to cinema award. A Scottish chief executive officer of a gym in south Delhis Defence Colony was arrested on charges of raping a Delhi-based woman on Saturday night. The accused, Scottish national Crispin Lamont, 40, is the CEO of Ozone Fitness 'n' Spa. Ozone has at least six centres in and around Delhi. Its corporate office is located in south Delhi's upscale Defence Colony. The woman, who works as an event management professional, is a resident of CR Park in south Delhi. She said in her complaint to the police that she met the accused on Facebook and they soon became friends. The 30-year-old woman wrote in her complaint that Lamont sexually assaulted her for five months after promising to marry her, but ended the relationship when the victim insisted that he marries her. Based on her statement, a case under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code was registered in Defence Colony police station. A police team arrested the accused from his residence on Saturday night. Police are currently questioning the accused about the charges and further investigation is underway. A case was registered on Saturday on the basis of the womans complaint and the accused was arrested late at night from his residence in Defence Colony, said a police officer investigating the case. The accused was produced before a duty magistrate on Sunday which sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. According to police sources, the man has been living in India for the past decade. The Supreme Court today asked the Chief justice of Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to its controversial judge, Justice C S Karnan, who has been transferred to the Calcutta High Court. The apex court passed the order on an application moved by the Registrar of Madras High Court, who is also private secretary to the Chief Justice, seeking an order to restrain Justice Karnan from doing any judicial work. The apex court noted the application moved by senior advocate K K Venugopal which said Justice Karnan, on receipt of the transfer order, had suo motu decided to pass an order against his own transfer and had listed the matter for today. Taking note of this submission, a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi said, "We consider it just and appropriate to allow the Chief Justice of the High Court not to assign any judicial work to him (Justice Karnan)." The bench which perused the affidavit filed by the Registrar, said "consequent upon the copy of this order is furnished to Justice Karnan by the Registrar of the HC, it will be open to Justice Karnan to enter his appearance before this court, if desired by him, in the pending matter (before the apex court). If he does so, it will be at his own cost." Immediately after the lunch recess, Venugopal again mentioned the matter before the apex court bench seeking modification of the earlier order, saying Justice Karnan had passed a fresh order today and had sought response of the Chief Justice of India. Justice Khehar initially said the earlier order of the court takes care of everything but later agreed to Venugopal's plea that it needs to be modified keeping in view the recent order passed by Justice Karnan. "I will correct it (order passed earlier in the day) and update it immediately after it is approved by Justice Banumathi," the judge said. The apex court had on May 11 last year stayed an interim order passed by Justice Karnan, allegedly undermining the authority of High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in a case relating to appointment of officers of lower judiciary. "We restrain the judge who initiated the suo-motu proceedings relating to the suo motu writ petition pending before Madras High Court from either hearing or issuing any direction in the said writ petition," the apex court had said. It had further said that in all other matters connected with it, there shall not be any interference by any person or authority or judges in completing the process initiated by the High Court for selection and appointment of junior judicial officers in Tamil Nadu till disposal of the special leave petition. Justice Karnan had triggered a row by threatening to file contempt of court proceedings against Justice Kaul and a case against him under the provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act, in unsigned letters to the HC Chief Justice. Justice Karnan had stated in the letters that he was suo motu staying the administrative order of the Chief Justice with regard to selection of civil judges. The Madras High Court registry had moved the Supreme Court seeking stay of the order passed by Justice Karnan. In the plea, the high court registry had said that on April 16, Justice Karnan suo motu passed an order, questioning the nomination of one of the judges, Justice V Dhanapalan, to the selection committee for the process for recruitment of 162 Civil Judges which had commenced by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission on August 26, 2014. The petition had also questioned the judge for giving a direction to the Chairman, National SC/ST Commission, to initiate proceedings to conduct a detailed enquiry regarding chief justice's harassment to him of being a dalit judge. The leopard that was captured last week after it had entered a private school here and injured three forest department personnel has escaped from the enclosure in Bannerghatta Biological Park, where it was caged. A senior official said it could have escaped late in the night and the incident came to light only this morning. An operation is on to track and recapture it. "We will come to know about it only after investigation... Once the probe is over, we will fix the responsibility and initiate action," he said. The leopard had entered a private school near Varthur here on February 7 causing panic in and around the area. However, it was tranquilised and captured after a day-long operation, during which it had attacked three forest personnel. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he would seek information from forest department officials about the leopard's escape. "I will seek details of the animal's escape. I will talk to the forest department officials and find out the reason," he said. Officials said there were three layers of barriers and it was difficult (for the animal) to escape by itself. "We will get to how the leopard escaped only after a thorough investigation," they said. Claiming that extending reservation in government jobs to Dalits of minority communities would encourage conversions, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot today said the Centre has told a court that it was "not agreeable to" granting them such rights. Strongly opposing recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission and the Sachar Committee for reservation to Dalits of Christian and Muslim minority communities, he told a gathering at a Hindu leadership conclave here that there is no provision in the Constitution to grant reservation to Dalits who convert to other religions. The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment also said any such step would "weaken the Hindu religion". "Our government has given in writing to a court rpt court that it does not agree with the reports of the Ranganath Mishra Commission or the Sachar Committee. "We won't accord Scheduled Caste status to those who have converted. We are following the Constitution in letter and spirit," Gehlot said at the function, organised by the Hindu Aikya Vedi, a Sangh Parivar outfit in Kerala. He noted that reservation was provided to Dalits in Hindu community to uplift them socially and economically from the ill-practise of untouchability and said such a practise does not exist in Christian and Muslim communities. So those who converted to these religions should not be granted SC status. "Granting Scheduled Caste status to those belonging to minority communities will encourage conversion and weaken the Hindu religion. There is also no such provision in the Constitution," Gehlot observed. He also accused Congress of plotting to reduce quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs to benefit minority communities. General Secretary of Hindu Aikya Vedi E S Biju said the Centre's decision opposing reservation has been given to the Supreme Court. It was one of the major demands of the Hindu organisations, he told PTI. The Justice Sachar Committee was constituted by non-BJP government to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in the country. The Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission was formed to identify the criteria for socially and economically backward classes among religious and linguistic minorities and suggest various welfare measures for minorities, including reservation. Both reports of the Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Commission had revealed that Muslims in India are the most backward community, despite their rich cultural heritage and strong numerical presence. The Supreme Court today refrained from passing an order on a plea to legalise passive euthanasia and the right of terminally-ill persons to execute 'Living Will' not to prolong their lives by putting them on life support systems and kept it open for the government to take a call on both the issues. "The issues of passive euthanasia and Living Will is being considered by the government. However, we may clarify that the pendency of the petition should not come in the way of the authority to take a decision," a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice A R Dave said. "We are not passing any order at this stage," the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, Shiva Kirti Singh, A K Goel and R F Nariman, said while agreeing with the view of the Centre that the court should post the next hearing in July and till then allow a public debate to take place in the peoples' court, that is Parliament. Additional Solicitor General P S Patwalia opposed the plea of NGO Common Cause and its advocate Prashant Bhushan that the court should consider and pass an order at least on the limited issue of Living Will, till a legislation is enacted. He submitted that since the Health Ministry was examining the Law Commission report after which a Bill would be drafted by the Law Ministry, the apex court should defer the hearing and wait till July for the debate to take place. When the bench asked Bhushan, "do you want court's verdict or the people's verdict on it," he said the issue of Living Will is not the subject of parliamentary debate as it concerns the fundamental right to life guaranteed under the Constitution which also covers the right to die with dignity. However, the bench was of the view that "it is something which should be debated in peoples' court, i.e Parliament." As Bhushan argued for consideration of the limited issue of Living Will saying that it is given by the terminally-ill persons of sound mind, the bench asked, "would it not be a case where you are permitting a miracle to happen?" During the hearing, the ASG gave an example of former Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, who is in coma for over two years, saying that his family members are hoping that medical science has developed and he will return to normalcy and are against withdrawing life support system. A doctor-turned-advocate, who has sought intervention in the matter, said the issue concerning euthanasia is very sensitive and has to be deliberated in a careful manner. Dr Kishore submitted that persistant vegetative state does not mean that a person is dead, so the life support system should not be withdrawn. He elaborated that during his career as a doctor for 40 years, he had come across three cases from across the globe that after being in coma for 19 years, they have returned to lead a normal life. Putting the onus on the authority to take a decision on the issue assumes significance as the Centre in its latest affidavit has said it has framed a draft legislation on the issue but would await the apex court's verdict on it. "Based on recommendations of the expert committee, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has proposed formulation of legislation on passive euthanasia. The expert committee has further suggested certain changes in the draft bill. "The committee has not agreed to active euthanasia since it has more potential for misuse and, as on date, it is prevalent in very few countries worldwide," the ASG had said in the last hearing. He had also submitted that the Law Commission's report favouring legalising of passive euthanasia with certain safeguards is being examined and a bill will be drafted thereafter. The court is awaiting the government's stand in its endeavour to examine a plea to legalise passive euthanasia by means of withdrawal of life support system to terminally-ill patients. The apex court on January 15 had asked the government to make its stand clear in a reasonable time. The law officer apprised the bench about the 241st report of the Law Commission which has stated that passive euthanasia should be allowed with certain safeguards and there was a proposed law -- Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patient (Protection of Patients and Medical Practioners) Bill, 2006. He had said his contention will also be based on 6.7 regulation of 2002 in Medical Council of India Act which says that practicing euthanasia shall constitute unethical conduct. However on specific occasions, the question of withdrawing supporting devices to sustain cardio-pulmonary function even after brain death, shall be decided only by a doctors' team and not the treating physician alone. The bench was hearing a PIL filed in 2005 by NGO Common Cause which said when a medical expert opines that the person afflicted with a terminal disease has reached a point of no return, then he should be given the right to refuse being put on life support system, as otherwise it would only prolong his agony. A Delhi court today allowed TERI's executive Vice Chairman R K Pachauri, facing sexual harassment allegations by a former woman colleague, to travel to Sharjah tomorrow where he will be conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award. The court allowed Pachauri's application to travel abroad after he sought permission to go to Sharjah from February 16 to 18 where he is likely to be conferred with the award. In his application, he stated that he will also have a meeting with Secretary General of Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation for which he needs to travel abroad further from February 22 to 26. Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan granted permission to Pachauri while noting the submission of the Investigative Officer that investigation in the matter was complete and charge sheet is likelyn to be filed soon. "In these circumstances, the accused is permitted to travel as per his itinerary subject to furnishing of one local surety of Rs 4 lakh to the satisfaction of this court and upon furnishing and undertaking that he will make himself available to the investigating officer as per the requirement," the magistrate said. The court also directed him to file a copy of his travel tickets and intimate the court and the IO after his return. Advocate Ashish Dixit, counsel for Pachauri, submitted that his client has been invited as a guest of honour at the First Annual Water and Energy Congress at Sharjah from February 16 where he is scheduled to deliver lecture and has been selected to be conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Alleem Business Congress. During the pendency of the trial, Pachauri has been allowed at least nine times to travel to various countries, including USA, UK, China, Japan, France, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Kuwait, Somalia and Saudi Arabia. On February 13 last year, an FIR was registered against Pachauri on charges of sexual harassment under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(d) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Havells India, a leading electrical and consumer product company in India, has announced its plan to open a manufacturing facility in Karnataka and getting into other product categories. In an interaction with Deccan Herald, Havells India CMD Anil Rai Gupta said the company has 10 manufacturing facilities spread across the country. Our manufacturing presence in South India is less so there is a requirement for a manufacturing facility in Karnataka. It will most likely come out side of Bengaluru, he said. Gupta said the company has allotted Rs 150 crore as capex for 2016. Gupta said the company will double its turnover by 2020 and this will be made possible by inorganic growth and more focus on the Indian market. We have divested 80 per cent stake in Sylvania, our lighting business, to Chinese Shanghai Feilo Acoustics. This strategic move will give enough money for inorganic growth and to focus more on India business, he said. He said the company is going through slump in few vertical as the global economy is also going through a down slide. But India is on sweet spot as demand is picking up which will help us to bounce back. Also, the government is giving thrust on electricity generation and more villages are connected by electricity. New technologies are also enhancing the pace of our growth, he said. Commenting on the consumer durables of the company, he said the company entered this segment 10 years ago and it is now Rs 1,200 crore business and contributes 25 per cent of the topline. Right now we have categories like fans, water heaters, domestic appliances, and domestic pumps. We are trying to double the revenue by three years instead of four years, he said. Gupta said the company which launched water heaters this year will also launch air purifiers in the country. He said technologies are transforming life and electrical goods are moving towards electronics. It gives electrical products more communication oriented and there is the emergence of IoT. Havells focuss is to make products more smart and solar enabled in all four categories, he said. A new energy and purpose is visible in the India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) bilateral relationship. Barely six months after Prime Minister Narendra Modis historic visit to the UAE he is the first Indian premier to visit the country since Indira Gandhi did so in 1981 Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAEs armed forces came to India to further consolidate the bilateral partnership. The two sides signed a string of agreements in the fields of cyber security, space, infrastructure investment, cultural exchange and renewable energy. A landmark deal sealed during the Crown Princes visit will see the UAEs national oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company store crude oil in Indias strategic storage facilities. It has agreed to give two-thirds of this oil free to India. In addition to proving India-UAE relations with a shot in the arm, this will boost Indias energy security. The storage of crude, which is expected to be adequate to meet our oil requirement for 10 days, will enable India to hedge against volatility in global crude oil prices. The UAE is Indias third largest trade partner; in 2014-15 this trade was worth $60 billion, a giant leap from trade in the 1970s valued at around $180 million. Oil accounts for the bulk of this trade and the UAE provides 8 per cent of Indias oil imports. While bilateral relations have been robust for decades, there are several issues of concern. One is that booming trade relies heavily on Indias import of oil from the UAE. Both sides are seeking to diversify the trade basket. They appear to be making some progress in this direction given their increasing interest to work together in information technology, space etc. With regard to investment, the two sides have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a bilateral Infrastructure Investment Fund of $75 billion, which will oversee the UAE investment in Indias infrastructure. It is with regard to counter-terrorism cooperation that India-UAE relations have witnessed the most dramatic change in recent times. Last year, the UAE, which is known to be pro-Pakistan on terrorism issues, agreed to counter-terrorism cooperation with India. The rising threat of the Islamic State is likely to have triggered a rethink in the UAE on the question of its long-standing support to religious extremism and terrorism. This presents India with an enormous opportunity to win the strategic support of a key trade partner in the Persian Gulf. While many people think that night life in a city indicates its vibrancy, it is the early morning life which gives a true picture of any human dwelling. Pre-dawn is the time to know how people spend their nights. This is the time when night shift workers and party hoppers pack up and go home to have a good days sleep. Once in Bangkok while briskly walking on the footpath, I heard loud music blaring from a parked vehicle and saw empty liquor bottles indicating a pavement party. Some partying sex workers who were there accosted me and would not allow me to move forward. With great difficulty, I could sneak out. In Cape Town, a bunch of drunk goons were about to rob me and thanks to a police patrol car, I could get away to safety. Pre-dawn, is also the time to see and smell freshly arrived vegetables, fruits and flowers. Any passerby in front of K R Market in Mysuru will be exhilarated by the smell of Jasmine and sight of brinjals. Early birds in coastal towns can see freshly caught fish being sorted out and, if lucky, buy the best catch at reasonable price. Seeing the faces of satisfied fisherfolks coming back home with a substantial catch is elevating. Early mornings are also peoples fitness time. One can come across people walking, jogging, doing yoga, clapping their hands. In Hanoi, I saw a group of elderly women convert a footpath into a gym and perform Chinese dance. This is also the time to see different breeds of dogs. I was amused to see walkers in New York carrying plastic bags and scoops to take away their pet dogs poop. I was surprised that people in Antwerp allow their dogs to spoil pavements despite seeing warning signs of hefty fines. Mornings are the times to know the local breakfast habits. It is the time when roadside vendors do roaring business. In Saigon, one can see footpath vendors serving pho, a soup with rice noodles, to customers sitting on low plastic stools. In Ghana, it is burgers and sandwiches, whereas in Sri Lanka it is string hoppers with curry. While walking in the Little India area in Singapore the smell of fresh Idlis linger and while in Belgium, it is the smell of waffles and potato chips. The smell of filter coffee in Tamil Nadu makes one stop and savour a tumbler. It is a sight to see busy office goers grab a plateful of breakfast on the streets and rush to their offices. Dawns are also the time when the smell of printing ink wafts through. Road corners are full of newspaper vendors. As a media man once, I would learn which newspaper sells most in that town by talking to the vendors, apart from quickly glancing at all headlines. As the sun slowly rises, the air smells of petrol and diesel, the chirps of the birds recede and the city comes to life with a lot of noise. Mornings, wherever in the world, are a mirror to the lifestyle of the people of that place. India has the second largest number of mobile subscribers in the world and the telecom sector contributes significantly to Indias GDP. The telecom sector fuels economic growth in the country in addition to driving growth of a number of ancillary industries. The advent of 4G/LTE will provide subscribers faster and more reliable service that will break the barriers between the online and brick and mortar world. This will drive the digital economy and change the way people function starting from shopping, interactions, communication, banking and even public governance. However, given the level of capital investments required in the sector, telecom operators are burdened with huge debts. Reforms which help reduce the debt burden and clearer policies with respect to taxation top the telecom service provider wish list. The Centre is giving a great push to the Make in India initiative. Telecom tower companies have been granted infrastructure status which has enhanced the benefits to various stakeholders. Similar benefits could be extended to all telecom players through tax holidays, investment-linked incentives which would benefit the sector. The infrastructure status could be extended to handset and telecom equipment manufacturers who meet certain required norms to incentivise and provide a great impetus to domestic manufacturing. Incentivising mobile payments would enable greater financial inclusion and move towards cashless economy. Greater fund allocation of initiatives like Digital India, Smart Cities as well as access to internet connectivity to our people in rural India would surge growth by increasing the income generating activities and swelling the domestic spending. On direct taxes, some expectations are: Clarification may be issued that payments made in connection with the trading/sharing of spectrum do not attract withholding tax obligations. Definition of the term Royalty should be amended with retrospective effect to exclude telephony, internet bandwidth and other similar services. On indirect taxes, some expectations are: With multiples taxes and levies applicable on the telecommunication sector, the stakeholders have also demanded for removal of Swachh Bharat Cess levied on telecommunication services. Significant balances of CENVAT credit of cess is lying unutilised as on May 31, 2015, in the books of service providers which are not eligible to be set off against any output service tax liability. Amendments to allow utilisation of such credit of cess balance available in the books of the service providers. (The author is a partner with KPMGs TMT consulting practice) The efforts of pourakarmikas, various organisations and environmentalists, to maintain the beauty of the heritage city, yielded fruits. Since the city secured the Cleanest City tag last year, various organisations, residents and civic workers, have been striving to maintain cleanliness in the city in order to retain the tag. Organisations like Lets Do It Mysuru, H V Rajeev Sneha Balaga and others are organising cleanliness camps every week. The Balaga completed 75 weeks of Swacch Mysuru Abhiyana last Sunday. The team, led by District Cooperative Union president and educationalist H V Rajeev, comprises, students, professionals, homemakers and senior citizens. The announcement of the award is a proud moment for the city. It is also a result of peoples effort. The Balaga will continue its effort and reach the places, where civic authorities cannot take up cleanliness drives, said Rajiv. But, organisations, working for the beauty of the city, feel that they have a long way to go to make the city more beautiful and clean. K S Shiva Shankar, a volunteer of Lets Do It, said, We are already number one, now, our responsibility has doubled. He says though the city has bagged the clean city tag, many people need to be educated in composting waste. Lets Do It, which has nearly 700 members, conducts educative and awareness camps about solid waste management at crowded places, apartments and residential areas. Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha has expressed his gratitude to the civic workers and the MCC. Simha said the credit goes to pourakarmikas and the MCC, working to maintain the beauty of the city. Besides making us proud, the award has increased our responsibility. The cultural capital has emerged as a model for all cities in the country. The efforts of the civic workers has helped the city to retain the tag, he said. The mortal remains of seven soldiers who were killed in an avalanche in the Siachen glacier arrived in the city in a military aircraft from Delhi via Hyderabad on Monday. The bodies of three bravehearts, including two from Karnataka, were given a guard of honour at the HAL Airport, before they were taken to their respective hometowns by road. The remaining four bodies were flown to Chennai, Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram in a separate aircraft. The bodies of Subedar Nagesha T T from Hassan, Sepoy Mahesha P N from H D Kote, Mysuru district and Sepoy Rama Moorthy from Gudisatanapalli in Krishnagiri (Tamil Nadu) were taken to their respective destinations through a green corridor (zero traffic lane) created for the purpose. At the HAL airport, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav, Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner V Shankar and Police Commissioner N S Megharikh paid their final respect to the martyrs. About 80 jawans from the Parachute Regiment Training Centre, 94 soldiers from the South and 54 from the North ASC Centre and College gave the guard of honour. The families of the deceased soldiers - including the wife of Nagesha - who were at the airport broke into tears while paying tributes. On February 3, nine soldiers were killed when an avalanche hit the Armys Sonam post in Siachen. Lance Naik Hanmanthappa Koppad, who was rescued alive after he was buried under snow for six days, breathed his last on February 11. The government will treat corporal punishment at government and private schools as a criminal offence and appropriate action will be taken against both the teachers and the school management, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kimmane Ratnakar said on Monday. Speaking to reporters here, he said corporal punishment was a violation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. Even parents dont punish their children. Teachers giving corporal punishment to children is not acceptable. Directions have been issued to the education department officials to take strict action against teachers and school managements that violate the Act, he said. He said the department had issued a show-cause notice to the school management for tonsuring two brothers for not attending classes recently. The department will not remain a mute spectator to such incidents, he warned. Teachers recruitment The minister said he had convened a meeting of the department officials on Tuesday to discuss the rules to be followed for recruiting English language teachers in government schools. The department recently initiated steps to recruit about 4,000 English teachers. Those who had completed a nine-month diploma in English were eligible for recruitment. But the Karnataka High Court quashed the recruitment process as graduates who had studied English as a major subject challenged it, he added. The government cannot treat both diploma holders and graduates with English as a major subject equally, following the court order. The department needs about 4,000 English teachers. But that many English graduates are not available. So, the department will try to find a solution to the issue, he said. MP Pratap Simha said that the Congress has been playing family politics in the State and only the family members of Congress leaders are provided chance to contest in the panchayat elections. He was speaking at an election campaign meet at Jaycees stage in town on Monday. The Central government has implemented various programmes for the betterment of less privileges class. But, the State government has failed to utilise these schemes including various pension facilities, and programmes for marginal and small farmers, said Simha. The Chief Minister of Karnataka has been pasting his photo on the bags of ration provided to the poor, Pratap Simha said, and questioned the contribution of the Siddaramaiah government to the people of Kodagu district. The chief minister has not been able to provide drinking water to his own constituency Varuna, he criticised and said that people must vote for the BJP, in order to utilise the schemes implemented by the Central government. Madikeri legislator M P Appacchu Ranjan said that the State government had released only Rs 15 crore to Kodagu district, while in the budget, Rs 100 crore was announced. He further said that the state exchequer has gone bankrupt. No development work is being carried out and the contractors are cursing the government. Out of the Central government funds, only 46 percent has been utilised by the State government, said the legislator.The people are leading a fearful life, while officials are being assaulted, he added.Party leaders as well as Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat candidates were among those present during the meet. In a bid to widen the tax base and check tax evasion, the Income Tax department has asked the State government to provide details on sale and purchase of immovable assets online. The Directorate General of Income Tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation) is in talks with the state government to share information online to avoid delays. The revenue department is said to have promised to make necessary changes in the Kaveri (Karnataka Valuation and E-Registration) software to integrate with the I-T departments software to share information at the time of registration. The DGIT (I and CI) was created in 2011 to widen the tax base. A present, J-slips are sent to the tahsildars office after every transaction of agriculture land. J-slips record the sale transaction of agriculture land at all sub-registrars offices and have details of the new owner. This is done through an integration of Kaveri and Bhoomi softwares. Bhoomi is the online delivery and management of land records. At a recent interaction with officials of the revenue department, Director of Income Tax (I and CI) R Ravichandran stressed on the need to share information on time. At present, the state government provides Annual Information Returns (AIR) for high value transactions through sub-registrar offices according to Rule 114e of the Income Tax Act. They have to be sent on or before August 31, that is within five months of the closure of the financial year. The I-T department uses AIRs to compare them with Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed by individuals. Cases are taken up for scrutiny in case of discrepancies. Information not available The information, however, is not strictly shared because of additional paperwork involved. Though there has been a steady increase in compliance from 55 percent in 2005-06 to 86 percent in 2014-15, information is not available on time. From April 2015, sub-registrars have been made duty bound to provide all information on all property transactions under section 285BA of the Income Tax Act. The registrar or sub-registrar appointed should furnish information on purchase or sale of immovable property valued at Rs 30 lakh or more, says the I-T Act. In Bengaluru alone, the number of property documents registered is close to 3.3 lakh a year while in Karnataka, the total transactions are close to 18 lakh a year. Nearly 60 percent of property transactions are above Rs 30 lakh in Bengaluru because of a steep increase in guidance value in recent years. The situation is no different in big cities like Mangaluru, Mysuru, Hubballi, Belagavi and in Tumakuru, Bengaluru rural and Ramanagaram, where the land value has increased drastically because of their proximity to Bengaluru. The department has also sought similar information from the sale and purchase of motor vehicles from RTOs. No funds, staff Sources in the revenue department said they have not been sanctioned funds to generate information in the format specified by the I-T department. The department also doesnt have staff to compute the information and has been asked by the I-T department to avail services of Karvy, a private company. As the war of words intensified over the JNU incident, BJP president Amit Shah has demanded an apology from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for supporting anti-national forces in the country. He also rebutted Rahuls analogy that today's India is like Hitlers Germany which is lack of right of dissent. I ask Rahul Gandhi was 1975 (emergency) a demonstration of Congresss commitment to democracy. Was Indira Gandhi not Hitler like? Shah wrote on his blog. He also wondered whether Rahul by lending his voice to separatists in the country want another partition of the country. Shah said Rahul is so frustrated with Modi governments performance that he has forgotten difference between national interest and anti-national activities, which he said was evident from his visit to JNU and subsequent solidarity with students raising slogans eulogising terrorist Afzal Guru. Following the controversy, JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition by the Delhi Police which has snowballed into a major political slugfest. Unmindful of the controversy following Hyderabad Dalit student Rohith Vemulas suicide where the opposition had reservation over anti-national tag foisted on students raising similar Afzal Guru slogans, the BJP has taken aggressive nationalist stand on the JNU episode as it believes that agitation in the universities are a part of a larger conspiracy to unsettle the Modi government. Defending Rahul stoutly, the Congress hit back at Shah, with its spokesperson Randeep Surjewal saying, those once externed by the Supreme Court over criminal charges (in an encounter case) should desist from teaching patriotism and love for India. The Congress also took pot shots at the RSS and the regimes of Modi and Vajpayee. Surjewala, who regretted slip of tongue by addressing Afzal Guruji said that its was distressing and condemnable to find that those who helped British and sided with them in the freedom movement and whose parent organisation RSS did not hoist the National flag at its headquarters in Nagpur were teaching nationalism to Congress. Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Monday promised action against those involved in the attack on mediapersons, Jawaharlal Nehru University students and faculty at a Delhi court. The court was about to hear the sedition case against JNU students union leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Responding to questions, he told reporters that law will take its course. Action will be taken in accordance with the law against anybody who takes the law into their hands, he told reporters. Bassi, however, described the incident as a scuffle and that no major injuries were been reported. A journalist, Akshay Deshmane of the Economic Times, who bore the brunt of the attack, tweeted: Lawyers ask, Pakistan Murdabad? and beat up reporters present to cover proceedings. Lawyers beat up reporters, including me, at the Patiala District Court. Another journalist Kaunain Sheriff of the Indian Express, said in a series of tweets: Advocates threaten media to get out of court room. Advocates ask media to show ID cards, threaten reporters for being anti-national. Soldier Mustaq Ahmed, a native of Parnapalli in Bandi Atmakur mandal in Kurnool, who was killed in an avalanche in the Siachen glacier in Jammu and Kashmir, will be accorded a state funeral on Tuesday morning. His mortal remains have reached here on Monday in an IAF flight. After paying homage, his body was handed over to his relatives. Paying homageAccording to Nandyal Revenue Divisional Officer Sudhakar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister K E Krishna Murty and Army officials would attend the ceremony and pay homage. The body would be cremated with police honours. The Andhra Pradesh cabinet met in Vijayawada on Monday and announced Rs 25 lakh ex gratia to the kin of Mustaq and a job for one person from his family. Mustaq Ahmed hailed from an agriculturist family. Dean and professor of the faculty of legal studies at South Asian University Yogesh Tyagi has been appointment as the new vice chancellor of Delhi University. President Pranab Mukherjee has approved Tyagis appointment to the post, a Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry official told Deccan Herald on Monday. Tyagi, who had his LLM from Columbia University and PhD in legal studies from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), will serve as the vice chancellor of the Delhi University for a five-year term or until the age of 70 years, which ever is earlier, he added. Mukherjee, who is the Visitor of the Delhi University, approved South Asian University professors appointment to the post from the list of four names drawn by the search-cum-selection committee. JNU professor at School of Life Sciences Rameshwar Nath Kaul Bamezai, former faculty at Indian Institute of Technology and a member in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Hemchand Gupta and Delhi Universitys professor in political science department Bidyuth Chakraborty were other contenders for the post. The HRD Ministry had recently sent the four names shortlisted by the search-cum-selection committee recently.. The Delhi Universitys academics for action and development welcomed Tyagis appointment as the new vice chancellor of the varsity, hoping that he will safeguard the autonomy of the university. We are also optimistic that New VC will look into the unresolved issues of the promotion and pension and speed up the process of permanent appointments for around 4000-vacancies in the university, it said in a statement. President Pranab Mukherjee has approved dismissal of Vishwa Bharatis vice chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta, accepting the recommendation of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry. The President has approved the Ministrys proposal to dismiss the vice-chancellor today (Monday), a HRD Ministry official said, confirming the development on Monday. With this, Dattagupta becomes the first vice-chancellor of a central university to have ever been sacked by the government. He was facing charges of committing financial and administrative irregularities.Dattagupta, who had about seven more months left to complete his five-year term in office, was appointed as vice-chancellor of the university by the erstwhile government of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2011. Vishwa Bharati was founded by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore in West Bengal in 1921. It was declared a central university and an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1951. Mukherjees approval to the dismissal of Dattagupta comes after several months of consultation between the HRD Ministry and the president secretariat. The presidents office had returned the file of the HRD Ministrys proposal to remove Dattagupta a few months ago. The Supreme Court on Monday said there was nothing wrong in granting bail to actor Salman Khan on the day he was convicted and sentenced to five-year imprisonment in the 2002 hit-and-run case. A bench of Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi explained that nobody can be sent to jail without being provided a copy of the conviction order and that is why Salman was let out. The court rejected a plea by advocate M L Sharma that the Bombay High Court committed procedural irregularity on May 6, 2015, in allowing Salman to walk free even after his conviction and sentence. Nobody can be sent to jail without a conviction order, that is the law and that is how he (Salman) got the bail, the bench said. Sharma sought a probe into the circumstances leading to Salmans acquittal in the case in which a Toyota Land Cruiser, allegedly driven by the actor, ran over five men sleeping on the pavement in Bandra, leaving one person dead and several others injured. He also cited Salmans father Salim Khans extra-judicial confession to the media that the family spent Rs 25 crore in the case. The court dismissed his petition saying these were wild allegations levelled without any basis. Where is the material to substantiate it? They must have spent on lawyers.The court is already hearing the appeal by the Maharashtra government against Salmans acquittal by the high court in December, last. Victims family members have also approached the court challenging the actors acquittal and seeking compensation. More than 15 years after the Kargil conflict, the Supreme Court has cleared the decks for having a more agile fighting force at the border. The sluggish response by the Army during the Kargil episode with Pakistan was red-flagged by a government panel that recommended lowering the age of colonels and brigadiers to make the force more agile. The panel headed by former defence secretary Ajay Vikram Singh observed that the average age of a colonel in the Indian Army was 41, while it was 37 in the armies of Pakistan and China. The panel proposed overhauling the cadre management in the armed forces, though the focus predominantly remains on the army. Compared to armies of Pakistan, China, UK, Germany and Israel, the Indian Army has a higher age-profile which adversely affects the officers physical alertness and operational preparedness. Alertness drops after 50Officers beyond 50 years of age find it difficult to sustain mental and physical alertness at high altitude as well as in hazardous and hostile topography along the Line of Control where a brigade commander is required to serve for effective command and control. This is also true in the case of battalion commanders who are required to move during operations with their units for effective command and control. In the Indian Army, officers assume battalion command at the age of 41-42 years and continue till 44-45 years in comparison to those in Pakistan and Chinese Armies where the age of the battalion commander, on an average, is about 35 and 40 years, respectively. Three wingsThe Army is split into three divisions combat, combat support arms and services. The combat arm consists of armoured corps, infantry and mechanised infantry, which participate in direct tactical land combat with requisite weaponry. The combat support arm comprises of artillery, air defence, engineers and signals, whereas the remaining four streamsarmy service corps, army ordnance corps, electrical and mechanical engineers, and other corps, including intelligence, aviation and other minor corpsfall into the service category. The panel proposed separate promotion policies for these categories. The government accepted the recommendations but breached those provision within months while releasing the first tranche of 750 vacancies, encouraging some officers to approach the court. With the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) now open for business, the cash-strapped Government of India is now looking at the new lending institution as a potential source for funding some of its major projects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the top officials to move fast to approach the AIIB for loans for some of the flagship projects of his government, particularly in agriculture, rural housing and railway sectors. The Ministry of Finance has accordingly asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Railways to prepare proposals to seek loans from the new bank, which is perceived as a counterweight to US-led World Bank and Japan-led Asian Development Bank. According to a note being circulated by the Department of Economic Affairs within the government, Modi has asked the officials to seek AIIB fund particularly for Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (Prime Ministers Agricultural Irrigation Scheme) or PMKSY, rural housing programme and some projects in railway sector on priority. The PMKSY, which is aimed at extending the coverage of irrigation, has been approved for implementation across the country with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore over the next five years. For 2015-16, a total amount of Rs 5,300 crore has been earmarked for the project, combining allocations for the different schemes, which were amalgamated into it. The agriculture ministry conveyed to the finance ministry that it would be in a position to seek the AIIB loan when the NITI Aayog would lay out the roadmap, possibly by the end of this month. Rural housingThe MoRD is finalising the guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana, which envisages construction of 2.95 crore houses in rural areas over a period of seven years with the cost-sharing pattern between the central and state government being 60:40. The estimated financing requirement at the Centre is Rs 1.83 lakh crore, the MoRD noted, adding that the huge funding gap of about Rs 1.13 lakh crore could be bridged with loans from the AIIB and other such lending institutions. The railways is likely to seek funds from the AIIB for the proposed East West Corridor and East Coast Corridor, according to the DEA note. India is not only a founding member, but also the second largest shareholder of the AIIB, which has its headquarters in Beijing and opened for business on January 16 with a capital of $ 100 billion. A representative of India has been elected to the Board of Directors of the bank, which is expected to start approving loans by the end of 2016. Indian nominee D J Pandian has been appointed vice-president and chief investment officer of the new bank earlier this month. AIIB president Jin Liqun, who earlier headed China International Capital Corporation, on January 11 had called on Modi in New Delhi. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has asked one of its senior most executives to talk to the organisations staffers confidentially to know their concerns about the institution, which is under scanner due to multiple allegations of sexual harassment against its former boss R K Pachauri. This has been announced on Monday by the new TERI management comprising the governing council chairman Ashok Chawla and director general Ajay Mathur, who spoke to TERI employees. Energy specialist Veena Joshi, who is associated with TERI since 1984, would seek inputs in a confidential manner from colleagues in all TERI locations to identify and prioritise their concerns and suggestions on process improvements within the organisation, says a TERI statement. We want to ensure that the workplace concerns of all employees are heard and addressed in a manner that respects them and helps the Institute to develop robust and transparent processes, said Chawla, who was appointed as the new chairman of the TERI governing council last week. The not-for-profit organisation with 1,200 workers and five regional centres at Bengaluru, Goa, Guwahati, Mumbai and Nainital was headed by Pachauri for three decades, during which he was also became the chairperson of the UN Inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC). Pachauri now faces two allegations of sexual harassment by two former TERI employees and one of the allegations is being heard by the Delhi High Court. Rebel Congress MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh led by Kalikho Pul along with BJP lawmakers and two independents met Arunachal Pradesh Governor J P Rajkhowa on Monday and staked claim to form the next government. Congress rebel camp boasts of 18 MLAs while BJP has 11. Pul paraded all the 32 MLAs (including himself) before the governor to prove he has a majority. Puls camp has one more than the magic figure of 31 to prove his majority in the Assembly which has been placed in suspended animation since January 26 last when Presidents Rule was imposed in the state. Leader of opposition Tamiyo Taga (BJP), who came along with BJP MLAs, submitted a separate memorandum stating unconditional support to Pul. This move from the rebel Congress camp comes after an initiative by the Congress high command to broker peace between the warring camps failed, party sources added. While there was no official word from the governors office on this development, sources indicated the governor would be sending a note to the Centre recommending the withdrawal of Presidents Rule. Lack of co-ordination between agencies, ban on hoardings and delay in streamlining the advertising policy have led to mushrooming of illegal and unauthorised display exhibits in Bengaluru. Senior officials who have worked in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) admit that there is no single agency which is vested with powers to take action against the violators. Since 2007, the powers are vested with zonal commissioners in the advertisement wing at the head office. All files related to advertisements are sent to the respective zonal offices. The zonal commissioners have delegated their powers to the assistant revenue inspectors (ARIs) to check legal and illegal advertising boards. Already overburdened with mobilising property tax, the ARIs havent bothered to check the advertisement hoardings. As a result, no clear information is available on the number of legal or illegal hoardings in the BBMP limits. The figures provided by the ARIs and the zonal office on hoardings in their division just dont tally. Former commissioners and senior officials who have worked in the BBMP advocate centralisation of all advertising matters at the head office. Even advertisers such as Manmohan Singh and R Krishnadevaraya have submitted petitions for centralising the advertisement wing for proper tracking of hoardings and making licence renewal easier. Assistant Commissioner (Advertisement) K Mathai, in his reports, also pitched for centralising the advertisement wing to curb illegal hoardings besides ensuring effective collection of tax. Several officers suggest that lifting the ban on hoardings will bring down illegal hoardings and increase the civic bodys revenue. Officially, the BBMP has banned giving permission for new hoardings since 2008. Why cant the BBMP adopt the tender-cum-auction process for hoardings. Let the advertisers have an agreement with private property owners for a period for which they have been given permission instead of entering a long lease agreement. This will increase the competitive bidding and fetch more revenue, said a former assistant commissioner in the BBMP. Mathai, in his report, also suggested lifting the ban on advertisements to curb illegal hoardings. Hire junior lawyers Mathai also suggested hiring lawyers with five years of experience and using seniors as consultants. According to him, junior lawyers are likely to be more enthusiastic to establish themselves and fight the BBMPs cases effectively. He also suggests firing lawyers if they fail to get a stay vacated in nine months. A 19-year-old man was stabbed by four drunk men as he unwittingly jostled one of them during a religious procession on Patalamma Street in Adugodi, southeast Bengaluru, in the early hours of Monday. Venkatesh, a BPO employee from Ejipura, was dancing with his friends during an idol procession taken out as part of Rathasapthami around 1.30 am. Four men, all of them drunk, were dancing, too. Venkatesh unwittingly jostled and shoved one of them. The men got angry and picked a fight with him. In a flash, one of them took out a knife and stabbed him in the thighs, stomach and back. They also attacked his friends Prashanth and Louis, when they rushed to his rescue. The attackers then fled the spot. Venkatesh was taken to hospital, but he succumbed to injuries, said the Adugodi police. The police added that they had leads on the attackers and would arrest them soon. Man hacked over rivalry A man was chased down and hacked to death by a gang of eight men at Gollahalli in southeastern Bengaluru on Sunday night. Muniya, 25, a cab driver from Veerasandra village, was on his way to meet a friend when the men accosted him and picked a fight around 8.30 pm. As he started to run, they chased him down and hacked him with lethal weapons. He was killed on the spot, said the jurisdictional Hebbagodi police. A relative of the victim, in a complaint to the police, has named one Nepali Manja and his seven associates for murdering Muniya over an old rivalry. Police said they had formed a team to arrest the suspects. Rs 15-lakh heroin seizedThe Central Crime Branch (CCB) has seized 750-gram heroin worth Rs 15 lakh by arresting nine men at Baba Sabarapalya in Kengeri on Mysuru Road in western Bengaluru. The sleuths raided a place in front of ICFAI Business School. The suspects are said to have told the police that they procured the contraband from peddlers outside Karnataka. They were trying to sell the drugs to college students and working professionals. The suspects are Shivachenna, Manu, Ranjith Kumar, Harish, Basavaraju, Lokesh, Guru, Chetan and Kumar K. The Central Crime Branch police said they had also seized a car, two motorbikes, 10 mobile phones and Rs 1,285 from them. Undergraduate students from a number of colleges affiliated to Bangalore University staged a protest on Monday under the aegis of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for a number of goof-ups in their results. Karunya M, a second-year Biotechnology student of Maharani Science College, said: Instead of marking the two sections under our biotechnology paper as biochemistry and biophysics, they have been marked as microbiology and biostatics which are second semester subjects. Even though the full marks in biophysics is 25, one girl has got 28. There are numerous other such goof-ups, said Karunya. Another student, Kavyashree, studying BCom (fourth semester) at Maharani Commerce College, said: In every other subject, I got above 70 marks. However, in my optionals I got only 18. There are people who have failed in all their major subjects. More than 250 students from my college are facing this problem, she said. The Karnataka State Bar Council has urged the acting Chief Justice of High Court, Justice S K Mukherjee, to prefer members of the bar over those of the bench in filling vacancies in the lower courts. At a meeting on Monday, the council passed a resolution requesting the President of India and the National Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court to include members of the bar in their list of appointment of High Court judges. In a letter to Justice Mukherjee, the council requested him to consider lawyers practising in the Dharwad and Kalaburgi benches for postings in lower courts. Dharwad and Kalaburgi are considered backward and rightly complain of underrepresentation in every sphere, including higher judiciary. The letter states that while selecting suitable persons as district judges, social justice and the diversity of Karnatakas population should be kept in mind. There are eminent and intellectual lawyers who are capable of becoming High Court judges, it said. The letter further states that any overrepresentation of one section naturally deprives another section of its dues. Hence, its necessary that people from North Karnataka get their due. While sending the list of probable persons, members of the bar members should be considered first and then those of the bench. The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the Unit Trust of India (UTI) to notify the hospitals that it has empanelled to provide benefits its Senior Citizens Unit Plan (SCUP). The direction comes after Chinna Narayana Swamy, a city-based senior citizen, approached the Commission, seeking that a notification be issued to help beneficiaries who turned 58 before 2008. Under SCUP, the beneficiary and spouse can avail treatment in the empanelled hospitals on completion of 58 years to an extent of Rs 2.5 lakh after attaining an age of 58 years and Rs five lakh after the age of 61, apart from other benefits. Swamy told Deccan Herald that he had enrolled for the benefit since 1994 and had been utilising it since 1998. In the appeal, Swamy said that he was in for a shock when he came to know that M S Ramaiah Hospital, which was on the list of empanelled hospitals provided to him, did not cater to the beneficiaries anymore. The response was same when I approached Narayana Hrudayalaya. The UTI did not update us about the hospitals that have discontinued their services for the scheme beneficiaries, Swamy said. The senior citizen later lodged a complaint with the Citys Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, after he got no response from the UTI about the cancellation of the empanelment. At that point in time, I was in shock. How is a person expected to arrange so much money from in the last minute? There are so many people who rely on this scheme. How can one expect them to go from one hospital to another hoping to avail the benefits. Not all are tech savvy to see updates online, he said. In its reply, UTI said, The complainant has already availed cashless facility in various hospitals for Rs 3.17 lakh up to 2007 against his investment of Rs 35,000. It is also specifically pleaded that the scheme was terminated with effect from February 18, 2008. Hence, the complainant is not eligible for receiving any other amenities and compensation. Those who completed 58 years of age before UTI declared that the scheme would be closed, however, are still eligible to avail the treatment. Ireland, and especially its gorgeous western coastline, christened the Wild Atlantic Way.Wild Atlantic Way is the longest coastal touring route in the world 2,500km long, running from Donegal in the north to Cork in the south. It passes through picturesque towns, medieval villages, stunning beaches, and some of Europes highest cliffs (including the spectacular Cliffs of Moher). You can go walking, hiking, biking and kayaking, and sample some of the best produce that Ireland has to offer. Spring made a quiet appearance over the weekend, and very soon it will be time for the much-awaited summer vacation! If youre wondering where to go in 2016, Id highly recommend, and especially its gorgeous western coastline, christened the Wild Atlantic Way.is the longest coastal touring route in the world 2,500km long, running from Donegal in the north to Cork in the south. It passes through picturesque towns, medieval villages, stunning beaches, and some of Europes highest cliffs (including the spectacular Cliffs of Moher). You can go walking, hiking, biking and kayaking, and sample some of the best produce that Ireland has to offer. The Aran Islands, on the Wild Atlantic Way in Galway Bay, are three islands that seem sort of stuck in time. They are positively littered with ancient sites, the most impressive of which is Dun Aengus (Dun Aonghasa), a prehistoric fort going back to the Iron Age. Its an easy hike up to the fort, and its a fun activity suitable for all, including children. I travelled along a part of the Wild Atlantic Way last year, and the visit to the Aran Islands and Dun Aengus was a definite highlight. I wrote about it for The Hindu Business Lines weekend supplement, BLink. Heres an unedited version of my article. Holding Fort On a tiny island off Irelands west coast, a mighty stone fort sits atop a sheer cliff and gives a peek into the countrys Celtic past. I look anxiously at the white Cessna parked on the tarmac. Im not a nervous flyer, but the tiny 10-seater plane seems a bit flimsy to me. Im at the Connemara Airport at Inverin, Co. Galway, on the west coast of Ireland (or what is known as the Wild Atlantic Way), and I am about to take the Aer Arann flight to the Aran Islands. I have just been weighed along with all my luggage just a laptop bag with a change of clothes and my camera. Your weight determines where you sit in the plane and the on-ground attendant (who mispronounces my name as Peaches) seats me in row 4 of 5. After days of gusty winds and intermittent rains that have characterised my Wild Atlantic Way trip so far, I take it as a good omen that the sun is shining brilliantly and the wind has died down especially since Im about to take a 20-minute joyride in what looks like a toy plane. But all my anxiety melts the moment we are airborne. From up above, Ireland is a visual treat the land glitters in all shades of green and gold, and the sea sparkles an intense cobalt. The flight to Aran Islands actually takes less than 10 minutes, but Im getting the scenic route, with a fly-by over the famed Cliffs of Moher. The plane heads further west and the outline of the Aran Islands becomes visible. The Arans are three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay Inishmore (Inis Mor in Gaelic), Inishmaan (Inis Meadhoin) and Inisheer (Inis Oirthir). Inishmore is the largest of the three, and as the plane returns to terra firma, I can see a curious lattice-like pattern on most of the island. These are stone walls that the farmers build to demarcate their lands and also to keep the top soil from blowing away, says Cyril OFlaherty, a local artist and farmer who runs Aran Walking Tours on Inishmore, and who is my guide for the day. Inishmore has hundreds of miles of these stone walls, which are built by just piling the stones and boulders on top of each other, without using mortar. After a quick lunch, we begin the hike up to Dun Aengus (Dun Aonghasa), a prehistoric fort dating back to the Iron Age, built at the edge of a 100-metre high cliff. Dun Aonghasa means the Fort of Aonghas, possibly named after the god Aonghas, who according to Irish mythology is the god of love and youth. Another theory is that it was built by the mythical king Aonghus mac Umhor, somewhere around 2 BCE, explains OFlaherty. However, he elaborates further that archaeological excavations now indicate that the first construction of the fort goes back to 1100 BCE i.e. the Iron Age. The fort walls were later strengthened and added to in the early medieval period, around A.D. 700. The 1-kilometre trek is over a gravel path, gradually ascending upwards. The fort itself is built strategically at the highest point on the cliffs and at the narrowest point of the island. As we plod along, under the afternoon sun, OFlaherty points out to the neighbouring fields, dotted with brilliantly coloured flowers the hardy gentian whose trumpet-shaped flowers are a gorgeous lapis colour, interspersed with wild lilac orchids. As we approach the fort, I can see stone pillars set vertically into the ground all around. These are limestone blocks, called chevaux de frise, that were erected to deter attackers, and even today they are difficult to negotiate, says OFlaherty. We enter the forts middle enclosure through a breach in the wall; the original doorway is about 50 metres to the right from here, but it has now been blocked as its in a precarious condition. From the air, Dun Aengus appeared a neat semi-circle. We are not sure if the fort was ever circular, like Dun Eochla (also on Inishmore) or whether it was D-shaped with a wall on the cliff-side, says OFlaherty. Either way, a substantial part of the fort has surely collapsed into the raging Atlantic below, during an earthquake or tsunami at some point in the past. For the last 100 metres of the hike, I clamber over some rough naturally formed stone steps, to enter the inner enclosure of the fort. In its heyday, Dun Aengus was probably the political, economic and ritual centre for a tribe. Elite members of the tribe would have certainly lived inside the fort. Foundations of seven houses, with paved floors and stone hearths, have been found in the inner enclosure. Pottery shards, bronze rings and fragments of clay moulds have also been excavated. At the centre of the enclosure, close to the edge of the cliff stands a natural rock platform. The platform was likely used for religious ceremonies, as a horde of bronze rings was found at this spot, probably a ritualistic offering, elaborates OFlaherty. I walk towards the edge of the cliff; there is no protective barrier, just uninterrupted views of the North Atlantic. I lie down on my stomach (a precaution against being blown away by the wild wind) and crawl over to the edge to look down upon the vertigo-inducing sight a perilous drop of 100 metres straight to the craggy rocks below, against which the foaming sea beats mercilessly, much like it did during Celtic times. Getting there: There are no direct flights to Ireland. Fly Etihad via Abu Dhabi to Dublin. Travel by road to Connemara Airport in Inverin (240 km) and take an Aer Arann flight to Inishmore. Stay: The 3-star Aran Islands Hotel is a great base to explore the islands. Its balcony rooms offer a stunning view of the Kileaney Bay and Kilronan Harbour. The 3-staris a great base to explore the islands. Its balcony rooms offer a stunning view of the Kileaney Bay and Kilronan Harbour. Do: Cyril OFlaherty runs Aran Walking Tours, which give an in-depth introduction to the islands history & culture. Cyril OFlaherty runs, which give an in-depth introduction to the islands history & culture. CORVALLIS, Oregon, 8 February 2016 (OSU) At the rate humans are emitting carbon into the atmosphere, the Earth may suffer irreparable damage that could last tens of thousands of years, according to a new analysis published this week. Too much of the climate change policy debate has focused on observations of the past 150 years and their impact on global warming and sea level rise by the end of this century, the authors say. Instead, policy-makers and the public should also be considering the longer-term impacts of climate change. Much of the carbon we are putting in the air from burning fossil fuels will stay there for thousands of years and some of it will be there for more than 100,000 years, said Peter Clark, an Oregon State University paleoclimatologist and lead author on the article. People need to understand that the effects of climate change on the planet wont go away, at least not for thousands of generations. The researchers analysis is being published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change. Thomas Stocker of the University of Bern in Switzerland, who is past-co-chair of the IPCCs Working Group I, said the focus on climate change at the end of the 21st century needs to be shifted toward a much longer-term perspective. Our greenhouse gas emissions today produce climate-change commitments for many centuries to millennia, said Stocker, a climate modeler and co-author on the Nature Climate Change article. It is high time that this essential irreversibility is placed into the focus of policy-makers. The long-term view sends the chilling message (about) what the real risks and consequences are of the fossil fuel era, Stocker added. It will commit us to massive adaptation efforts so that for many, dislocation and migration becomes the only option. Sea level rise is one of the most compelling impacts of global warming, yet its effects are just starting to be seen. The latest IPCC report, for example, calls for sea level rise of just one meter by the year 2100. In their analysis, however, the authors look at four difference sea level-rise scenarios based on different rates of warming, from a low end that could only be reached with massive efforts to eliminate fossil fuel use over the next few decades, to a higher rate based on the consumption of half the remaining fossil fuels over the next few centuries. With just two degrees (Celsius) warming in the low-end scenario, sea levels are predicted to eventually rise by about 25 meters. With seven degrees warming at the high-end scenario, the rise is estimated at 50 meters, although over a period of several centuries to millennia. It takes sea level rise a very long time to react on the order of centuries, Clark said. Its like heating a pot of water on the stove; it doesnt boil for quite a while after the heat is turned on but then it will continue to boil as long as the heat persists. Once carbon is in the atmosphere, it will stay there for tens or hundreds of thousands of years, and the warming, as well as the higher seas, will remain. Clark said for the low-end scenario, an estimated 122 countries have at least 10 percent of their population in areas that will be directly affected by rising sea levels, and that some 1.3 billion or 20 percent of the global population live on lands that may be directly affected. The impacts become greater as the warming and sea level rise increases. We cant keep building seawalls that are 25 meters high, noted Clark, a professor in OSUs College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Entire populations of cities will eventually have to move. Daniel Schrag, the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University, said there are moral questions about what kind of environment we are passing along to future generations. Sea level rise may not seem like such a big deal today, but we are making choices that will affect our grandchildrens grandchildren and beyond, said Schrag, a co-author on the analysis and director of Harvards Center for the Environment. We need to think carefully about the long time-scales of what we are unleashing. The new paper makes the fundamental point that considering the long time scales of the carbon cycle and of climate change means that reducing emissions slightly or even significantly is not sufficient. To spare future generations from the worst impacts of climate change, the target must be zero or even negative carbon emissions as soon as possible, Clark said. Taking the first steps is important, but it is essential to see these as the start of a path toward total decarbonization, Schrag pointed out. This means continuing to invest in innovation that can someday replace fossil fuels altogether. Partial reductions are not going to do the job. Stocker said that in the last 50 years alone, humans have changed the climate on a global scale, initiating the Anthropocene, a new geological era with fundamentally altered living conditions for the next many thousands of years. Because we do not know to what extent adaptation will be possible for humans and ecosystems, all our efforts must focus on a rapid and complete decarbonization the only option to limit climate change, Stocker said. The researchers work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the German Science Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Konstanz, Germany, February 15, 2016 Today, Hyperstone introduces their new U9 - USB 3.1 Flash memory controller. U9 is targeting industrial applications such as removable USB Flash drives (UFD) and embedded USB Flash modules (eUSB). Together with Hyperstones hyMap Flash translation layer (FTL) and hyReliability firmware features, U9 provides enhanced endurance and data retention management, as well as rigorous power fail-safe features. Product Highlights: Fully compliant with USB 3.1 Gen 1, SuperSpeed, Hi-Speed, and Full-Speed modes and mass storage device class ECC engine correcting up to 96-Bit/1KB data unit Ample hardware resources to support next generation SLC, MLC and 3D NAND Flashes Flash interface compliant with Toggle DDR and ONFI 2.3 On-the-fly AES encryption hardware engine Additional SPI, I2C, and ISO7816 (smartcard IC) interfaces hyMap sub-page-based Flash translation layer (FTL) hyReliability Flash Memory Management and firmware architecture Read Disturb Management and Dynamic Data Refresh to maximize data retention and refresh data subject to read disturbance Built-in temperature sensing capability Our new U9 USB controller complements our USB line and is designed to deliver SuperSpeed performance while maintaining the highest level of reliability. Our hyMap FTL and our hyReliability firmware features are mature and offer highest levels of endurance and reliability, said Axel Mehnert, VP Marketing of Hyperstone. Our sophisticated architecture and FTL significantly reduce wear-out of Flashes and offer highest 4K random write performance. Competing USB controllers in the market are still focused on consumer requirements. Hyperstone offers a one hundred percent rugged industrial solution. Our design delivers additional hardware resources such as RAM, error correction, and encryption that enable high-end solutions, said Dr. Jan Peter Berns, Managing Director of Hyperstone. Such levels of random write performance, endurance tuning, optimization and health monitoring features are otherwise only found in top notch SSDs. U9 will initially be available in a TFBGA-124 (9x9x1.2mm) package qualified for industrial temperature range (-40 to +85 C). Mass-production samples are available now. About Hyperstone Hyperstone is a fabless semiconductor company based in Konstanz, Germany with a strong focus on world class flash memory controllers for industrial embedded markets. Its products set the standard for high-reliability flash management providing confidence for NAND flash performance in mission critical situations. Hyperstones products include microcontrollers for various host interfaces and performance points, e.g. SATA, USB, CF/PATA, SD/microSD and eMMC. Flash controller firmware is supplied complementary to the controllers and customized for each flash and application. To learn more about Hyperstone, please visit www.hyperstone.com You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site. by Kathleen Gilbert BEIJING, September 7, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) Escaped Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng is leading international opponents of forced abortion in calling upon the worlds largest company to end compliance with the Chinas one-child policy. Family planning police have targeted employees (569) Sign up below to have the hottest Catholic news delivered to your email daily! Close Sign up below to have the hottest Catholic news delivered to your email daily! Church Militant, we need to band together to protect our religious liberties and win the culture war! An enzyme that speeds up breathing and regulates metabolism could offer new treatment interventions for people with sleep apnea, according to Scottish researchers. Sleep apnea is a common breathing disorder which leads to interrupted breathing during sleep. It can be a warning sign of type 2 diabetes developing, and people with type 2 diabetes have a one in four chance of suffering from sleep apnea. Obesity makes it more likely for a person to develop sleep apnea more likely, but losing weight can reduce this risk. Sleep apnea is caused by muscle relaxation in the tongue and throat, making it harder for air to reach the lungs. This causes blood oxygen levels to fall. A team led by Professor Mark Evans, University of Edinburghs Centre for Integrative Physiology, conducted a study on healthy mice in which they noticed the AMPK (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase) enzyme responded to low oxygen levels. The mice were unable to product the AMPK enzymen, and displayed similar symptoms to people with sleep apnea. When the researchers activated AMPZ, it enabled the mice to breathe faster when their oxygen levels were low. Evans said: Our findings identify exciting new avenues for the treatment of sleep disordered breathing, because drugs that mimic AMPK activation could restore normal breathing patterns in people suffering from this disease. Mice with AMPK deficiencies could also prove useful for helping us to identify such therapies. The researchers also hope the findings could lead to treatments for people who struggle to sleep at higher altitudes, where lower oxygen levels can cause interrupted breathing. However, human trials will need to be conducted before the development of any future treatments begin. The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. One of the US's largest independent telcos was providing Amino Technologies with plenty of business this week, with the start of a rollout of its Enable TV platform to Cincinnati Bell 's FiOptics subscription television service in the United States. The UK-based AIM-traded firm said the upgrade would give FiOptics customers a much richer media interface, with advanced applications. Cincinnati Bell remained the dominant telephone and internet provider in Cincinnati, Ohio, and nearby suburbs in the states of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The upgrade was being applied to the company's legacy IPTV devices, negating the need for any hardware replacement in customer homes. Amino Communications said the platform offered a rich native C and HTML5 development environment, allowing for extremely flexible development for operators. "We're delighted to present our subscriber base with a fresh user interface and new media choices without the time-consuming logistics associated with a complete hardware replacement," said Cincinnati Bell's chief technology officer Tom Simpson. Amino CEO Donald McGarva said the Enable platform was originally designed for the company's own needs to deliver rich TV user experiences on Amino TV devices. "Along with our customers such as Cincinnati Bell Inc., we are starting to see the real value of Enable software - giving operators the freedom to update their TV user interface, applications and DRM on legacy devices without a costly roll-out of new hardware to consumer's homes," he said. AIM-listed Avingtrans said that it has signed a three-year 3.5m deal with Californian security screening specialist Rapiscan to provide parts for a new airport scanner. Avingtrans, which designs, makes and supplies critical components, modules and associated services to the aerospace, energy and medical sectors said the "new and ground-breaking" airport scanner, the RTT110 was also the first scanner to pass successfully the European Civil Aviation Conference's Standard 3 threat detection test for baggage-borne explosive risks. The standard will become compulsory for airports around the world by 2020, it added. Avingtrans added that Stainless Metalcraft, part of the Group's Energy and Medical division, had signed a 1m a year framework agreement with Switzerland's Bruker BioSpin. The agreement will see Stainless Metalcraft produce high integrity cryostat components for Bruker's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance systems (NMR). NMR spectroscopy complements other structural and analytical techniques, such as X-ray, crystallography and mass spectrometry and can be used alongside MRI related technology, to provide multidimensional images and spatially resolved information, Avingtrans said. Production will initially take place in the UK, before manufacturing transitions to Metalcraft's own established facility in Chengdu, China. Metal Tiger was aggressively pressing ahead with expanding its Spanish operations on Monday, updating the market on the 2015 year at its Logrosan and Zorita licences, and revealing a new opportunity in the country. The AIM-listed investor in natural resource opportunities said, of the 500,000 (385,177) spend commitment by Metal Tiger on the Logrosan and Zorita licences, 450,000 had been paid to the joint venture with the remainder to be applied to due diligence at its potential new venture. It said the work undertaken in 2015 achieved the objectives to delineate the extent of tungsten and gold mineralisation, and delineate the extent of mineralisation across key targets. Metal Tiger said that it was now looking to expand its Spanish interests in association with its existing joint venture partners. A separate standstill agreement, expiring 10 March, had been reached to provide the company with time to conduct due diligence over the Maria exploration project, currently 100% owned by Mineral Exploration Network (Finland). The company said Maria was principally prospective for gold mineralisation. Metal Tiger's drill rig had now been moved to Maria to undertake due diligence drilling. "We are delighted with the progress achieved by our joint venture partners in Spain and our experience to date has been very positive," said Metal Tiger chief executive Paul Johnson. "This [Maria] licence is attractive due to the historical information we have received on the property, and the results from work undertaken by MEN (Finland) in recent times," he added. Johnson said that, by moving the drill rig to the Maria project, Metal Tiger would gather valuable exploration data and project information, which would help it during the due diligence project. Summit Germany revealed a significant suburban investment on Monday, committing 25.5m (19.66m) to the purchase of an office complex in Oberursel. The AIM-traded German commercial property and investment firm described Oberursel as a prosperous suburb of Frankfurt, and said the complex had 18,000 square metres (193,750 square feet) of lettable area on around 19,000 square metres of land. The properties were fully let to a Germany-listed construction company, it confirmed, with around 60% of the complex used as its headquarters and the remainder sublet to other tenants. "We are very excited with this acquisition which is in line with our strategy," said managing director Zohar Levy. "It has an attractive location, excellent yield with a stable long-term income and a tremendous upside potential from further residential development and the potential conversion of office spaces," he added. Following a preliminary assessment, the company said there was an opportunity to build a residential development on the existing plot and convert part of the office space into residential units when they were vacated, creating further upside from the purchase. Summit Germany said it was initially financing the acquisition with cash initially, and was entering into discussions with German lenders to refinance the property at a later stage. Closing was expected to occur within weeks. The company's board confirmed the aggregate net rent on the property was 1.8m, reflecting a net operating income yield of 7% on the acquisition cost. The weighted average lease length was 11.4 years, it said. Stocks finished near their best levels of the day as Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan weighed-in with positive short-term views on global equity markets and after soothing words from the president of the European Central Bank and People's Bank of China. Speaking to the European Parliament, ECB chief Mario Draghi said the monetary authority stood to ready to act if either the decline in commodity prices or a less effective monetary policy because of problems at banks were found to threaten price stability in the euro area. Earlier in the day, China's central bank set a higher fixing for the country's currency, the yuan, close on the heels of remarks by the PBoC chief over the weekend that analysts hoped might indicate less of an inclination by China to depreciate its exchange rate. The remarks out of China, in particular, helped front-month Brent crude oil futures rise by 0.773% to $33.61 on the ICE alongside a 1.7% gain in three-month copper futures to $4,567.50 per metric tonne on the LME. Against that backdrop, Britain's top flight index closed 116.68 points or 2.04% higher at 5,824.28. The ECB chief also emphasised that European banks' capital positions had been strengthened significantly since the crisis. Draghi called for fiscal stimulus, where possible, and further structural reforms too. His words weighed on the euro, which retreated 0.45% against the pound to trade at 0.7723 and 0.74% versus the US greenback to end the day at 1.1152. China sets a higher fix, less devaluation risk seen Overnight, China's central bank set a higher daily reference value for the country's currency, with central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan talking over the weekend about the need for patience in balancing reform, growth and stability, as well as China's need to remain a responsible economic power. The PBoC set the daily fixing for the country's currency, the yuan, 0.3% higher at 6.5118 - its loftiest level since November. On the back of Xiaochuan's remarks, Deutsche Bank's chief economist for the region, Zhiwei Zhang, lowered his estimate on the odds for a large renminbi devaluation from 15% to 10%. US equity markets were closed on Monday in observance of Presidents' Day, contributing to lower than average trading volumes overseas. JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley voice tactical optimism Strategists from two of the world's largest brokers weighed-in with positive short-term views on equity markets at the start of the week. "Some tactical indicators are again signaling that equities are becoming oversold in the short term, which could argue for a near-term bounce, potentially a bigger and more durable one than the 6-8% up move we saw toward the end of January," Mislav Matejka from JP Morgan said in a research report sent to clients. Risk-markets were oversold and more likely to rally than fall over the coming month, one of the world's largest brokers told clients on Monday, Morgan Stanley's cross-asset strategy team chimed in. In a research note sent to clients, analysts Andrew Sheets, Phanikiran Naraparaju, Serena Tang and Wanting Low said global equities had already matched the median 'bear-market' in terms of duration and were more than three-quarters through the median price decline. A global economic recession was a part of Morgan Stanley's bear-market scenario. Consumer goods giant's savings programme delivers earlier than expected bang Reckitt Benckiser saw broad growth in the year to 31 December, despite a year of mixed market conditions. The FTSE 100 consumer goods giant saw total net revenue grow 5% on a constant currency basis to 8.87bn, and like-for-like revenue grow 6%, which exceeded the company's targets. Reckitt's gross margin expanded during the year by 140 basis points to 59.1%, which the company's board said was driven by mix, commodity costs and cost optimisation initiatives. British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines flew higher on Monday after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded its stance on the stock to buy from underperform with an unchanged price target of 610p.Overall, the bank reiterated its structurally bearish equity and credit view on the European airlines. Nonethless, it added that we continue to appreciate that even the most value-destructive companies can have their day in the sun, particularly in these increasingly volatile times. Banking giant HSBC said it had decided to retain its headquarters in the UK, adding that it was dropping its three-yearly review of where it is based. The bank said the board's decision was unanimous and comes after HSBC had threatened to move to Hong Kong in retaliation for stricter UK regulation. In a statement, HSBC said the UK was "an important and globally connected economy. It has an internationally respected regulatory framework and legal system, and immense experience in handling complex international affairs." Defence group BAE Systems appointed Charles Woodburn to the newly-created role of chief operating officer. Woodburn would report to chief executive Ian King and be appointed to the BAE Systems board as an executive director in the second quarter of this year. Fidessa confirmed its dividends as it posted flat pre-tax profit but a rise in revenue, as it continues with its investment programme. In its preliminary results for the year to the end of December, Fidessa reported flat pre-tax profit of 39.1m, although revenue rose 7% to 295.5m, beating consensus expectations of 290m. Acacia Mining remained confident in a low gold price environment at the end of 2015, with the company reporting muted full year numbers on Monday, but an ongoing cost cutting plan to ensure sustainability. The FTSE 250 mining firm saw revenue dip 7% in the 12 months to 31 December to $868m (597.71m), which it blamed on the 8% lower average gold price during the year. United Arab Emirates-based healthcare provider Al Noor Hospitals merger with South Africas Mediclinic has been completed. Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,824.28 2.04% FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,730.83 1.94% techMARK (TASX) 2,992.65 2.40% FTSE 100 - Risers Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,371.00p 6.79% Standard Chartered (STAN) 453.05p 5.61% Hammerson (HMSO) 563.50p 5.33% Anglo American (AAL) 393.35p 5.19% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 504.50p 5.15% Shire Plc (SHP) 3,797.00p 4.34% Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 299.00p 4.07% British Land Company (BLND) 678.50p 3.98% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,175.00p 3.98% GKN (GKN) 265.40p 3.92% FTSE 100 - Fallers Fresnillo (FRES) 874.00p -2.56% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,030.00p -2.03% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,157.00p -0.75% BHP Billiton (BLT) 693.60p -0.43% SABMiller (SAB) 4,138.00p -0.24% Sage Group (SGE) 565.50p -0.09% BP (BP.) 332.80p 0.09% Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,851.00p 0.19% Rexam (REX) 596.50p 0.42% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 171.60p 0.47% FTSE 250 - Risers Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,970.00p 11.24% Tullow Oil (TLW) 178.60p 7.66% Enterprise Inns (ETI) 79.80p 7.47% NCC Group (NCC) 280.60p 7.47% Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,238.00p 6.91% Genus (GNS) 1,442.00p 6.81% BGEO Group (BGEO) 1,727.00p 6.74% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 276.20p 6.23% Ocado Group (OCDO) 259.90p 6.17% Just Eat (JE.) 348.40p 5.45% FTSE 250 - Fallers Acacia Mining (ACA) 225.10p -8.01% Circassia Pharmaceuticals (CIR) 256.80p -2.39% Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 121.30p -2.33% Allied Minds (ALM) 297.30p -2.33% Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 215.60p -2.00% Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 151.20p -1.88% Polymetal International (POLY) 603.50p -1.87% Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,124.00p -1.67% John Laing Group (JLG) 200.80p -1.67% Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 267.30p -1.58% Defence group BAE Systems said on Monday it has appointed Charles Woodburn to the newly-created role of chief operating officer, following press reports over the weekend that it was lining Woodburn up to be the next chief executive officer. Woodburn will report to CEO Ian King, and will be appointed to the BAE Systems board as an executive director in the second quarter of this year. For the last five years, Woodburn has been CEO of oilfield services business Expro, and is a non-executive director of Seadrill Limited. He also held a number of senior management positions in the Far East, Australia, France and the United States during a 15-year career at Schlumberger. King said: "As a highly qualified engineer with considerable international business experience, Charles will strengthen and broaden the strategic and operational capabilities of the business as a welcome and valuable addition to the leadership team." Chairman Sir Roger Carr said: "I am delighted that we have secured an individual of considerable talent and proven industrial experience as part of our succession planning programme. Charles will bring fresh perspective to the company's operations and board, whilst building a detailed knowledge of the defence industry under the guidance of Ian King." Reckitt Benckiser saw broad growth in the year to 31 December, despite mixed market conditions. In a trading update on Monday, the FTSE 100 consumer goods giant revealed total net revenue growth of 5% on a constant currency basis to 8.87bn, and like-for-like revenue growth of 6%, which exceeded company targets. Reckitt's gross margin expanded during the year by 140 basis points to 59.1%, which the company's board said was driven by a mix of commodity costs and cost optimisation initiatives. Its adjusted operating margin was up 210 basis points to 26.8%. Reported earnings per share were up 6% to 240.9p, and diluted earnings per share were up 12% to 258.6p. "RB delivered excellent growth and margin expansion in 2015 as a result of our continued focus on our Health, Hygiene and Home Powerbrand portfolio and supported by our culture of innovation and agility," said chief executive officer Rakesh Kapoor. Its reported operating profit was up 7% on a constant currency basis to 2.24bn, with its reported net income up 8% to 1.74bn. Adjusted net income was up 15% on a constant basis. "Despite a year of mixed market conditions, we achieved broad-based growth across both developed and developing markets," Kapoor said. "This was led by an exceptional performance in Consumer Health, due to both a strong flu season at the beginning of the year and outstanding performances from our innovations on brands such as Scholl, Durex, Nurofen and Strepsils," he added. The company made a continuing investment in brand equity, putting 48m in for the year. Reckitt Benckiser's tax rate - excluding exceptionals - was 20%, reduced from an ongoing 23% by the effect of future corporate tax rate cuts in the UK on deferred tax. Net debt was reported at 1.6bn, with a free cash flow of around 100% of income. "Strong gross margin expansion, combined with accelerated indirect cost savings from our Supercharge programme, created room in our P&L to both increase our brand equity investment and to deliver exceptional operating margin expansion," Kapoor explained. He said he expected Supercharge to lead 150m in cost savings over three years, but the company had achieved a significant portion of those savings within the first year. Reckitt Benckiser's board recommended a final dividend of 88.7p per share, up 12% against 2014, which brought the total dividend for 2015 to 139p per share. Looking ahead, the company's management said it expected the macro environment to be tough, but remained confident in its so-called Powerbrands and Powermarkets to deliver another year of growth and margin expansion. "We are targeting like-for-like net revenue growth of 4-5%," said Kapoor. "For operating margin, we reiterate our medium term target of moderate margin expansion," he added. Rakesh Kapoor said the company expected this growth to be supplemented in 2016 by part of the remaining efficienicies to come from Project Supercharge. Whitman Howard was impressed with the numbers, issuing a buy recommendation with a price target of 6900p. "Full year sales of 8,874m compared with VUMA consensus of 8,814m which was 0.6% ahead. Operating profits were 2,374m which appears 3.9% ahead of analyst forecasts, again based on VUMA," said Chris Wickham of Whitman Howard in a note. "Reckitt Benckiser is salient as a UK listed international FMCG company which should grow in both mature and emerging markets. As such, it should trade in our opinion on a premium P/E to the rest of the UK large cap FMCG sector. We base our price target, which implies 16% upside, on a 26x 2016 P/E," he added. Gold miners retreated on Monday following a decline in the price of the yellow metal, but the drop was more than offset by banking sector shares. The FTSE 100 closed 2.04% or 116.68 points higher at 5824.28, while the FTSE 250 ended 1.92% or 296.79 points higher at 15,728.10. Oil futures posted decent upticks but gold retreated as calm returned to the equities market. At 1620 GMT, WTI was up 1.22% or 36 cents to $29.80 per barrel, while the Brent front-month oil futures contract was up 1.02% or 34 cents to $33.70 per barrel. Meanwhile, the gold rally faltered as traders booked profits, with the COMEX closed for the US Presidents day holiday. Dubai gold futures were down 1.2% or $15.10 at $1238.80 an ounce. Selected base metal futures remained in positive territory on the London Metal Exchange with China coming back online following its week-long Lunar New Year holiday break. At 1635 GMT, three-month futures contracts of copper (up 1.7%), primary aluminium (up 1.1%) and nickel (up 5.9%) rose, but lead (down 0.1%), zinc (down 1.2%) and tin (down 1.3%) futures posted declines. Predictably, gold miners Fresnillo (down 2.62%) and Randgold Resources (down 2.03%) were among the biggest FTSE 100 fallers, while Acacia Mining (down 8.01%) registered a substantial decline on the FTSE 250. The midcap mining firm also posted a revenue dip of 7% in the 12 months to 31 December to $868m (597.71m), which it blamed on the 8% lower average gold price during the year. Anglo American (up 5.11%) due to post its financials on Tuesday saw a downgrade from Moodys following the close of trading, while BHP Billiton (down 0.43%) ended marginally in negative territory. Elsewhere, Tullow Oil (up 7.66%) posted decent gains. Away from resource stocks, Standard Chartered (up 5.61%) led banking stocks higher, as peer HSBC decided to keep its headquarters in London, have mulled over the possibility of moving it to Hong Kong. Story of the session belonged to Reckitt Benckiser (up 6.79%) as the company posted broad growth in the year to 31 December, despite a year of mixed market conditions. The FTSE 100 consumer goods giant saw total net revenue grow 5% on a constant currency basis to 8.87bn, and like-for-like revenue grow 6%, which exceeded the company's targets. Reckitt's gross margin expanded during the year by 140 basis points to 59.1%, which the company's board said was driven by mix, commodity costs and cost optimisation initiatives. British Airways and Iberias parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) flew higher on Monday after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded its stance on the stock to buy from underperform with an unchanged price target of 610p. Finally, software firm Fidessa (up 12.08%) led the FTSE 250 risers, having reported a flat pre-tax profit of 39.1m, although revenue rose 7% to 295.5m, beating consensus expectations of 290m. Columbus-area business profits surged in COVID bounce back Some Franklin County suburbs did particularly well as the economy recovered from COVID disruptions, according to income-tax receipts. Saudi Arabia is reported to be spearheading a military campaign amassing forces from 20 countries against Iran-backed forces in West Asia, including Syria and Yemen, in what could lead to catastrophe in conflict-ridden West Asia. The report follows another report by Al Jazeera that Turkish forces have already started shelling Kurdish-held areas in Syria, including an airbase, in the northern province of Aleppo, where Saudi is also opening a front against the Iran-backed Syrian regime. An AFP report quoting Syrian Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) said Turkish artillery have targeted their positions in Menagh airport and a village near Azaz, which were recently captured from the Syrian opposition. The report quoting news agency SPA said armed forces from some 20 countries, including Pakistan, are gathering in northern Saudi Arabia for ''the most important'' military manoeuvre ever staged in the region. In what is termed the ''Thunder of the North'', the military exercise involves ground, air, and naval forces, the report said. Saudi Arabia is currently fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Saudi Arabia, which last December also formed a new 35-member coalition to fight ''terrorism'' in Islamic countries, also deployed fighter jets in Turkey for anti-Islamic State fight. SPA did not specify when the military exercise will begin or how long it will last. However, the agency called it the ''most important and largest in the region's history'' in terms of the number of nations taking part and the weaponry being used. Twenty countries will be taking take part, SPA said. Among them are Saudi Arabia's five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia, it added. A Saudi source said on Thursday that members of the new ''anti-terrorism'' coalition will gather in Saudi Arabia next month for its first publicly announced meeting. Riyadh has said the alliance would share intelligence, combat violent ideology and deploy troops if necessary. Meanwhile, Al Arabiya television quoted Saudi Arabia's minister of defence as saying that the country has already sent aircraft to NATO-member Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria. Turkish forces, on the other hand, have started shelling Kurdish-held areas, including an airbase, in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, Al Jazeera quoted sources as saying. Turkish artillery targeted Syrian Kurdish positions in Menagh airport and a village near Azaz, which were recently captured from the Syrian opposition, the report said. US defence secretary Ash Carter welcomed Saudi Arabia's commitment to expand its role in air strikes against Islamic State but disapproved of Turkey targeting Kurdish positions. Both the Pentagon and the State Department have called on Turkey and Kurdish militants to take steps to prevent the violence from getting worse. ''We are concerned about the situation north of Aleppo and are working to de-escalate tensions on all sides,'' the State Department and the Pentagon said in their statements. The approximately $25 million Kewaunee County budget presented on Tuesday drew only praise during the scheduled board meeting. Kewaunee County Administrator Scott Feldt went department by department describing some of the highlights of the budget. Even though the budget size and the tax levy amount went up, taxpayers will likely pay less depending on their property values. One of the budget's more significant changes is with the corporation counsel, which will become a full-time position in 2023. Before winning his position as a circuit court judge, Jeffrey Wisnicky served a dual role as corporation counsel and human services director. Feldt hopes that once a new corporation counsel is hired and gets a grasp of the position, they can be contracted out to other municipalities. The county will continue to receive payments from Dominion due to the Kewaunee Power Station closure. The $500,000 has been used in the past to fund loans to Bug Tussel Wireless as they wire the county with broadband and fiber services. The countys human services department commands the most significant part of the budget at $6 million, but the staffs ability to get reimbursed for billable hours has lessened its impact on the tax levy by as much as $60,000. It also contains the budgets biggest question mark, which sets aside $20,000 a month for two children determined to be under the countys care. One of the few questions of the discussion came from Supervisor Aaron Augustian. He asked Feldt why they are paying down an additional $300,000 in debt service ahead of the countys most considerable expense moving forward: the future jail facility. Supervisor Gerald Paape praised Feldt and his staff for putting together the budget and making it easy to understand. The Kewaunee County Board will vote to approve the budget at their next meeting. Community members made no comments during the public hearing on the budget preceding the board meeting. James E. Patterson, of Ozark passed away on February 11, 2016. He was 93. A graveside service will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at Bethel Assembly of God with Rev. Scott Patterson officiating and Fuqua-Bankston Funeral Home directing. James was born on August 19, 1922 in Dale County to Berry and Marry Patterson. After graduating from the Dale County School, he went on to join the U.S. ARMY in 1940. He was stationed in Honolulu, HI at the time of the surprise attack on December 7, 1941. He went on to serve six years in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Mr. Patterson went on to retire in March of 1988 after 30 years as an aircraft mechanic at Fort Rucker. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Lillian Bullard Patterson; and a sister, Anna Mell. Mr. Patterson is survived by his daughter, Gloria Ann Frech; three sons, Edwin Wayne Patterson (Donna), James Randall Patterson (Debbie), and Richard Scott Patterson (Renea); nine grandchildren; and eight great grandchildren. Fuqua-Bankston Funeral Home in Ozark 334-774-4551 is in charge of arrangements. Members of the Dignity Memorial network. Condolences may be offered at www.fuquabankston.com. Sign the guest book at www.dothaneagle.com. dpa ElectionsData With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc. The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties. A church, function rooms and coffee shop that was being run by a Christian chuch group operating in Dundalk has closed its doors over Christmas. A church, function rooms and coffee shop that was being run by a Christian chuch group operating in Dundalk has closed its doors over Christmas. The Grace Fellowship Church, now known as the Grace Church Dundalk, left the premises just before Christmas Eve. The group had been running a coffee shop, church and previously a school from the former retail unit. The Grace Church began in 1987 as Grace Fellowship Family Church with lead pastor, Hassan Boyle, who - according to their slickly produced website - started the church from his living room in Bay Estate. Speaking to the Dundalk Democrat , Kenneth Cumiskey, the landlord of the unit confirmed that they had left, but did not wish to comment further. It is not clear if the group have any plans to set up elsewhere in Dundalk. The Coffee Room had been operating for a number of years from a former retail unit in the Northlink Retail Park, and was well known for selling unbranded Starbucks Coffee. Theoperators of the business however announced on December 18 that the business would be closing. Written on their Facebook page it said: It is with much regret that we have to announce that sadly The Coffee Room will cease trading at close of business on Christmas Eve (5pm). The management and staff would like to thank you for your support and valued custom over the last 3 years. The coffee shop was being run by the Christian group, and was popular with both members of the congregation and members of the public. The Grace Fellowship also ran a school, initially at the retail park and then at the old Keytronic school. The church is a registered charity, and encourages its congregation to make financial donations in order for it to make an environment that can be enjoyed on a weekly basis. Two years ago the premises and the part of the complex that was run by the group was described as a fire trap. Dundalk Town Council had summonsed the landlords and the tenant Hassan Boyle, trading as Grace Fellowship Family Church, under planning enforcement and building control regulations, and the building was temporarily closed. Improvements were made and the premises was reopened following a fire officers approval. Other Christian church groups across Ireland have fallen on hard times, with a staggering 18 million judgement being awarded against the Victory Christian Fellowship in Dublin. It is understood that such churches finance their operations, and parishioners lifestyles, through tithes (donations) and through enterprises such as the coffee shops. The Democrat attempted to contact the group by email, by phone and via social media, but did not receive a response before going to print. Through an eleventh-hour maneuver, the United States and the European Union last week avoided action that could have choked the movement of data between the regions and caused financial harm to U.S. companies. It may be only a temporary respite, however. The problem stems from a European Court of Justice decision in October that blew up an agreement between the regions that provided more than 4,000 U.S. companies with a safe harbor from strict European privacy laws when handling the information of the regions citizens. The pact, called the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, agreed to by both regions, includes the following provisions: Strong obligations on how Europeans personal data is handled and individual rights are guaranteed. The U.S. Commerce Department will monitor compliance with the obligations, and the Federal Trade Commission provide enforcement. A promise that access by U.S. law enforcement and national security agencies to Europeans personal data will be subject to clear limitations, safeguards and oversight mechanisms. Establishment of several forms of redress for Europeans who believe their data has been misused. Enforcement Uncertainty The agreement aired last week is just a draft. Details will be worked out over the next two months. During that time and very likely beyond it uncertainty will persist. Uncertainty remains about the contents of the final wording of Privacy Shield and whether or not Privacy Shield will be approved by all EU member states, said Neil Stelzer, general counsel forIdentity Finder. Meanwhile, the Article 29 Working Party the group within the European Union thats charged with protecting the processing and movement of the personal information of EU citizens has said it will hold off on enforcement actions until Privacy Shield is finalized. However, data protection authorities in each EU country may still bring enforcement actions if a company was transferring data under [the original] Safe Harbor and continues to without another legal method, Stelzer told TechNewsWorld. Whether or not they will is unknown, he added. Kicking Can Down the Road Although Privacy Shield has received kudos in many quarters, it appears to be a stopgap measure intended to buy more time for EU and U.S. negotiators. They had to rush the announcement so that European authorities didnt start enforcement actions after the Jan. 31 deadline, said Aytekin Tank, CEO ofJotForm. As the deadline to create a new Safe Harbor approached, European authorities may have realized that their high court had placed them in an untenable position. Enforcement action on the scale required would be totally overwhelming for the national data protection authorities, said Stuart Buglass, an international business expert atRadius who advises high-tech multinationals on regulations and compliance for overseas data protection and privacy. A prolonged moratorium was inevitable. The announcement on the Privacy Shield provided a reason for doing so, he told TechNewsWorld. The draft agreement seems to be a kick-the-can method of buying time, Identity Finders Stelzer added. Legal Tempest Ahead Even after Privacy Shield is finalized, its fate could be the same as its predecessor. Id put my money on the agreement getting tossed by the European courts, JotForms Tank told TechNewsWorld. The first agreement was tossed because the EU didnt trust European personal data with the U.S. government. This new agreement is no different, he noted. Without a final document in hand, its difficult to predict Privacy Shields legal prospects, said Yorgen Edholm, CEO ofAccellion. If history is any indicator, its only a matter of time until Privacy Shield is challenged in the courts, he told TechNewsWorld. Max Schrems, who brought down Safe Harbor, has already expressed doubt regarding the new frameworks potential effectiveness, Edholm continued. And without any commitment from the U.S. government to soften certain provisions of the Patriot Act, it is very unlikely Privacy Shield will be acceptable to European privacy advocates. Surveillance Reform Needed Privacy Shield alone likely wont satisfy Europes high court. Unless there is significant legal reform of the surveillance rights of U.S. government departments, then U.S. law will continue to fall short of EU data privacy standards and any data transfers will be unlawful, Radius Buglass said. The issue with the agreement is that it simply provides a complaint mechanism for EU citizens to seek redress for a privacy breach rather than prevent the breach occurring in the first place through significant reform of the U.S. surveillance laws, he added. Both the U.S. and Europe need to get their intelligence houses in order if Privacy Shield is going to work, noted Jens-Henrik Jeppesen, director of European affairs for theCenter for Democracy & Technology. The U.S. Congress should move swiftly to reform FISA Section 702, and EU member states should also narrow their surveillance laws and practices to be more aligned with international human rights norms, he said in a statement. FISA Section 702 is the law the National Security Agency used to justify its mass collection of phone calls and emails by directly tapping into the physical infrastructure of communications providers. Breach Diary Jan. 29. Landrys and Golden Nugget Hotels and Casinos releases list of facilities affected by three data breaches between May 4, 2014, and May 4, 2015. It is unknown how many customers may have had fraudulent charges on their payment cards because of the incident. Jan. 29. Neiman Marcus informs an unspecified number of customers that unauthorized individuals compromised their accounts, and some of the accounts were used to make fraudulent purchases. Credentials to compromise accounts were obtained from a source outside Neiman Marcus, the company believes. Feb. 1. The National Law Review reports a federal appeals court overturned a district court ruling dismissing a consumer class-action lawsuit against Neiman Marcus over a data breach in 2014 that exposed information about 350,000 credit cards. Feb. 1. Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier of Iowa reports that Bernard Ogie Oretekor, 45, has filed papers in federal court stating he will plead guilty to charges stemming from a data breach at the University of Northern Iowa. Feb. 1. Patrick McFarland, inspector general of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, submits his resignation to President Obama. Last year, McFarlands office found significant deficiencies in the first credit monitoring contract OPM issued following a data breach in which personal information for 22 million current and former federal employees was stolen. Feb. 2. Humberside, UK, police confirm they are investigating a complaint by the North East Lincolnshire council of a possible data breach of electoral data prior to last years general election. Feb. 2. Medfield, Massachusetts, announces it paid extortionists US$300 to unlock the towns network. Town systems were offline for a week after they were infected with malware that encrypted most town hall files, as well as files on a backup system. Feb. 2. NASA denies a group of data thieves calling themselves AnonSec hacked one of the agencys drones. The group also posted to the Internet 250 GB of data it said it robbed from NASAs systems, although the agency stated the information was freely available to the public. Feb. 2. Morgorna Mohorne files a class-action lawsuit against Web.com for failing to employ adequate security, resulting in a data breach in August that exposed credit card and access credentials of nearly 100,000 users. Feb. 3. TalkTalk reports a data breach last year cost the company 101,000 customers and Pounds 60 million. Feb. 3. The U.S. House Oversight Committee subpoenas documents related to last years massive data breach from the Office of Personnel Management. Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, says the action was necessary because the agency refused to cooperate with his panels probe of the breach. Feb. 4. University of Central Florida announces that a data breach of its computer network resulted in unauthorized access to the Social Security numbers of some 63,000 current and former students. Feb. 4. TaxSlayer.com announces that some 8,800 customers may have had personal and tax-return information stolen by criminals who gained unauthorized access to its computers. Compromised credentials from a source outside TaxSlayer were used in the attack, the company believes. Feb. 4. Republican Party of Iowa takes offline a database containing personal information for some 2 million people after being informed a security gap had exposed the database to public view on the Internet. Feb. 4. Reuters reports data thieves attacked 20 million accounts at Taobao, an e-commerce website owned by Alibaba. Reuters noted the attackers obtained 99 million user credentials from sources outside Taobao and used them in a brute-force attack on Taobao launched from Alibabas cloud services. Feb. 5. Jackson Health System announces it has fired two employees for inappropriately accessing the medical records of New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. ESPN published his medical records while he was in surgery having his right index finger amputated. Upcoming Security Events The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University on Monday released a report that questions the so-called going dark phenomenon. The U.S. government and its surveillance and law enforcement agencies have been calling for an end to encryption because they say it lets terrorists communicate and plan with impunity and is responsible for going dark the inability of law enforcement to monitor communications. Thats not true, according to the Berkman Center, which notes the following: Not all companies likely will adopt end-to-end encryption and other technology for obscuring user data because most businesses providing communications services rely on access to that data for revenue streams and product functionality, including user data recovery; Software ecosystems are fragmented and far more standardization and coordination than currently exists would be needed to ensure that encryption becomes widespread and comprehensive; Networked sensors and the Internet of Things will grow substantially, possibly enabling real-time interception and recording, and, in essence, providing a workaround to encrypted channels; and Metadata isnt encrypted, and it needs to remain unencrypted in order for systems to operate. The center is suggesting a think-it-through-first strategy, which seems obvious but apparently isnt, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. What were currently doing isnt very effective, and the government should likely fix the not very effective part before they ask for permission to do more surveillance, he told TechNewsWorld. Market Forces at Play Short of a form of government intervention in technology that appears contemplated by no one outside of the most despotic regimes, communication channels resistant to surveillance will always exist, the report states. This is especially true given the generative nature of the modern Internet, in which new services and software can be made available without centralized vetting. Market forces and commercial interests will likely limit the circumstances in which companies will offer encryption that obscures user data from the companies themselves, and the trajectory of technological development points to a future abundant in unencrypted data, some of which can fill gaps left by the very communication channels law enforcement fears will go dark and beyond reach, the report states. That hasnt quelled law enforcements calls to limit encryption. FBI Director James Comey has been arguing for an end to encryption, and senior Obama administration officialsmet with high-tech firms CEOs last month in whats been viewed widely as an attempt to get high-tech firms to cooperate with government requests for data and possibly create encryption backdoors. In November, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the U.S. National District Attorneys Association released a report on going dark, and made seven recommendations. Legislators in New York and California last month introduced bills toban the sale of smartphones encrypted by default, on antiterrorism and anti-human trafficking grounds. More Efficiency Needed Its not as if law enforcement or the U.S. National Security Agency isnt scooping up tons of data already. Back in 2013, the NSA began work on a 600,000-square-foot data center in Utah to house all the data it was getting. In May, a federal appeals court ruled that the NSAs telephone metadata collection program was illegal under the Patriot Act. Some local law enforcement agencies use StingRay phone trackers on the sly, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has been collecting data on Americansphone calls illegally for decades. The U.S. Marshals Service also iscollecting data through specially equipped planes without a warrant. A Happy Medium? There is a lot of value to metadata, and the Berkman report might be a compromise that all sides should willingly agree to, suggested Daniel Castro, vice president at theInformation Technology and Innovation Foundation. The debate on counterterrorism and privacy seems to have some entrenched views, and so the Berkman reports useful in that it tries to shake out some new perspectives, he told TechNewsWorld. Its important for law enforcement to recognize, and start using, many of the other tools at its disposal that do not depend on having backdoor access to encrypted data. (Credit: REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett)Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, appear with their baby daughter outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, in London, Britain May 2, 2015. The Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a girl, the couple's second child and a sister to one-year-old Prince George. Two recent follow up reports on supposedly pregnant Duchess of Cambridge have surfaced and one counters the talks. The wife of Prince William, Kate Middleton, has been reported to carry another royal baby in her womb. Rumors are pointed to have started with OK! Magazine who said that a source went as far as telling them that twins are on their way to be added to the royal's family tree. The source was quoted as saying (via International Business Times) "It's early days, but the buzz in the royals' inner circle is that Kate's pregnant again, and this time she's got not one but two buns in the over. They weren't even trying." The same source claimed that Prince William was surprised upon learning about Kate's pregnancy so he called to say "You're joking aren't you? We're not really having another baby right now." Gossip Cop refutes these claims saying Kate is not currently expecting. It traces the expectancy rumors back to October when the same publication, OK! Magazine, first broke the news about twin girls on their way. The Palace was also saying confirmations will only be done once the bump becomes obvious. Palace exclusively assures no such confirmation occurred, now claims Gossip Cop who also reports that Prince William and the non-pregnant Kate is going to Bhutan and India on an official trip. The royal couple currently have two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. Prince George was born on July 22, 2013 and is now two years of age. Princess Charlotte was born on May 2 and is now nine months old. They met at a University in Scotland in 2001 and started dating in 2003. They were reported to have separated briefly and in November 2010, their engagement was announced. They were married at Westminster Abbey in April 2011. (Photo: REUTERS / Paul Hackett)The former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu dances with his grandson Khalil Morrison, 6, grand daughter Onalina Burris, 7, and daughter Rev. Mpho Tutu (R) after he received the 2013 Templeton Prize at the Guildhall in central London on May 21, 2013. South African anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu won the 2013 Templeton Prize worth .7 million for helping inspire people around the world by promoting forgiveness and justice, organizers said. Rev. Canon Mpho Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, has been asked to step aside as the executive director of The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation. The board met last week and decided to look into grounds of a possible conflict of interest between the foundation and Tutu's wife, Professor Marceline van Furth, South Africa's newspaper, The Citizen, reported Feb. 15. A professor in pediatric infectious diseases, Van Furth also occupies the Desmond Tutu Chair of Medicine at Vrije Universiteit, in the Netherlands The foundation says on its website it seeks to "harnesses, consolidates, preserves and propagates the values, principles and mission of its founders to contribute sustainably to the creation of a more compassionate world." The board of the foundation met last week and decided to look into grounds of a possible conflict of interest between the foundation and Tutu's wife, Van Furth. "Following a preliminary investigation, the board of the Foundation has asked its executive director, the Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, to step aside, while a process is undertaken to tighten administrative procedures and practices, and mitigate potential for perceived conflicts of interests between the foundation and its partners," foundation spokesperson Don MacRobert said in a Feb. 14 statement. In February 2013, the Dutch Postcode Lottery donated 2 million ($2.23 million million) to the foundation. Of that, 1.5 million went to a joint special project by the Vrije Universiteit Medical Center and The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation. Roger Friedman said on behalf of the Desmond Tutu and Leah Legacy Foundation that the decision followed a preliminary investigation and "the outcome of the process would determine Tutu's future" the Cape Argus newspaper reported. ANGLICAN CHURCH 'CONUNDRUM' ON GAY MARRIAGE This is not the first controversy regarding the marriage of Mpho Tutu and the Johannesburg newspaper, City Press reporeted Jan 18 that her wedding created "a conundrum" for the Anglican Church, Church sources said Archbishop Desmond Tutu had not given his public blessing for his daughter's wedding to avoid any impression of forcing the hand of the church, where discussions on the same-sex marriages of both priests and congregants have been ongoing. City Press said it had reliably learnt that neither Archbishop Tutu nor his wife, Leah, attended their daughter's December wedding in the Netherlands. The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba declined to be interviewed. His office said he was constrained as to what he could discuss publicly, as the issue was a pastoral one involving church members, the newspaper said. The Anglican church in South Africa is officially opposed to its priests entering into same-sex marriages and insists that practicing gay clerics remain celibate. The church is now drafting pastoral guidelines for members entering into same-sex marriages. British newspapers reported that a December conference of Anglican archbishops, bishops and senior leaders from around the world voted to condemn same-sex marriage. They also decided to bar the Anglican Communion church in the United States, the Episcopal Church from global church activities because of its accommodating stance on homosexuality. The Daily Mail reported that the Anglican leaders, who met behind closed doors in the UK's Canterbury Cathedral, decided to explicitly condemn same-sex marriage, saying matrimony should be between "a man and a woman in faithful, long-life union." The role of the clergy in same-sex marriages has been under legal scrutiny in South Africa. In November 2015, the country's Constitutional Court declined to hear a discrimination case brought by Ecclesia de Lange against the Methodist Church, on the grounds of her having no reasonable prospects of success. De Lange challenged her dismissal, meted out after she told her congregation in 2009 that she intended to marry her same-sex partner. Archbishop Tutu has come out in public support of gay marriage and previously saying he would refuse to go to a "homophobic heaven". Those close to church affairs told City Press Mpho Tutu's marriage had put the church in a tight spot. "Mpho is a reverend canon and this has implications for the church. You have to be celibate or unmarried to continue being a [gay] priest in the church. A question is her role in the church as a reverend canon. There is nothing in the church's constitution about whether you can marry," said an insider. Mpho Tutu has said she was ordained in the Episcopal Church in the United Stats and was "canonically resident" in the Diocese of Washington, DC. "In terms of the canon, I must have the approval of my diocesan bishop to marry, which I have," she said. "With regard to the Anglican Church, I imagine it will resolve its position on these matters in due course," said Mpho Tutu, who noted that she was personally not involved in the discussions the Anglican church was having about its priests in same-sex marriages. She rejected suggestions her marriage did not have her parents' blessing, as they had never made public statements on any of their children's marriages, "so this is not a concern to us". She told City Press that her aging parents did not attend the ceremony as they were trying to avoid overseas travel. Tutu said her parents would attend an upcoming celebration in Cape Town. In September 2016 the Anglican church in South Africa is expected to finalize and adopt pastoral guidelines for members who enter into same-sex civil unions. Sao Paulo, Feb 14 (EFE).- The Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul suspended the use of the larvicide Pyriproxyfen, used to treat water to combat the spread of the mosquito carrying the Zika virus, the regional government said Sunday. In a communique, the state government said that "the suspension was communicated to the 19 Regional Health Coordinating Authorities, which in turn will inform the respective Municipal Monitoring services" in all cities in the state. The measure was taken after doctors with the Argentina-based Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns organization and the Brazilian Collective Health Association, or Abrasco, questioned whether the larvicide might be linked with microcephaly. To date, Brazilian scientists had associated the increase in microcephaly cases with Zika, which - like dengue and Chikungunya - is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. But on Sunday, Rio Grande do Sul Health Secretary Joao Gabbardo said that, despite the fact that a relationship between the larvicide and microcephaly has not been proven, the "suspicion" that there may be a linkage had led the organizations to decide to "suspend" the use of the chemical. "We cannot run that risk," Gabbardo said. In response, Health Minister Marcelo Castro said that the larvicide supplied by his ministry presents no danger to the public. "That is a rumor lacking logic and sense. It has no basis. (The larvicide) is approved by (the National Sanitary Monitoring Agency) and is used worldwide. Pyriproxyfen is recognized by all regulatory agencies in the whole world," Castro told reporters in the northeastern city of Salvador. In a statement, Sumitomo Chemical, the manufacturer of the larvicide, said that "there is no scientific basis for such a claim," adding that the product has been approved by the World Health Organization since 2004 and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 2001. Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London. 17:55, 17 OCT 2022 Islamic refugee problem terrifying Europeans, coming to U.S. next By Rachel Alexander The mostly Islamic refugees fleeing oppressive regimes like Syria and Iraq are increasing, not decreasing, and it is starting to bring out strong opposition in the European countries they are fleeing to. Considering how progressive European countries are, the situation must be really bad for these countries to start building fences like Americans do to keep illegal immigrants out. Obamas bumbling foreign policy in Iraq and Libya helped lead to this situation; creating power vacuums that allowed ISIS to make inroads there and then over to Syria. People began fleeing those countries last year and traveling to the European Union for asylum. France and Germany have taken in about as many refugees as the U.S. Sweden and the UK have allowed in about half that number, and France about one-third. Over four million of the refugees are from Syria, about half of all the refugees, and about a million and a half are from Iraq. Turkey says it is at full capacity with three million refugees, mainly from Syria. Turkey is helping about 30,000 more on the Syrian side, but has not opened its border for them. Lebanon has taken in 1.2 million. The European Union's open-border Schengen agreement allows people to move freely within the EU, but countries are now making exceptions. Austria and Denmark have tightened up border checks, and Austria has built a fence along its border with Slovenia. Hungary built a fence on its border with Serbia, and in September began arresting refugees for criminal trespassing. Croatia has said it cannot take anymore refugees and closed its border with Serbia last fall. Finland blocked two of its border crossings with Russia to keep out any more refugees, and set up repatriation centers to house those who were not granted asylum. Denmark is considering a law that would let the government seize valuables from the refugees. Sweden has instituted border checks, unable to accommodate any more refugees. A homeless refugee camp in Calais, France, that has existed in various forms since 1999 has swollen in numbers to 3,000, despite the governments attempts to shut it down over the years. Several European leaders have said if they cannot control the massive migration, it will mean the end of Europe. Glenn Beck visited Europe recently and said its too late in an interview with Megyn Kelly, explaining: This is not unique. What's happening with Donald Trump is not unique. It is happening all over the West. The people of Sweden know, we are headed towards fascism. Because the government is not listening to the people. They are not doing things that are full of common sense. All of our vetting right now for these refugees that are being jammed down everybody's throat in the west, and I believe is a Trojan horse, is being jammed down the throats by the EU, the United States, and the U.N. Demonstrators across Europe are showing up in thousands to protest the refugees. On Saturday, as many as 8,000 rallied in Dresden, Germany, as part of the anti-refugee movement PEGIDA. The German acronym stands for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West. Up to an additional 3,500 counterprotesters were also present. Along with the refugees comes violence. In the Czech capital of Prague, a refugee center was recently set on fire with Molotov cocktails. On New Years Eve, there was an outbreak of attacks against women by refugees in Cologne. At least 120 women were robbed or sexually molested by around 1,000 young men. The city police chief Wolfgang Albers called it a completely new dimension of crime, and Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker said it was monstrous. The BBC reports that the men appeared to have specifically arrived at the area around Cologne Cathedral with the intention of attacking women. Similar attacks were reported in Stuttgart and Hamburg. Breitbart published the full list of 1,049 crimes that took place in Cologne that night. The leader of Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, has been reluctant to close the countrys borders to the refugees, no doubt due to concerns about looking xenophobic considering Germanys Holocaust history. Germany took in 1.1 million refugees last year. Merkel has since backed down slightly, promising to expel the criminals and reduce the number of refugees allowed into the county. Who would have guessed the leader of Germany would sound like a conservative Republican on immigration? Under Obama, illegal immigrant felons are frequently released right back into the population, or out on bail instead of being deported, where they often commit more crimes. A teenage girl in Germany posted a video to Facebook expressing how afraid she and her friends have become about going out in public due to the refugees. She said they get viciously criticized by the Islamic refugees simply for wearing T-shirts. She asks, Why should we, children, have to grow up in such fear? She says the police wont do anything, which is likely due to their fear of being labeled a racist. Many of the protesters now carry signs that say Keep rapefugees out, a reference to the large numbers of rapes taking place. According to The Spectator, rapes by foreigners have been increasing in Sweden. However, Sweden has become so politically correct, The Spectator reveals, that police officers dont dare release the ethnicity or nationality of suspects or risk being accused of being racist. The Swedish Democrats, which have become the main political party in Sweden opposing the refugees, are now the third-largest political party in Sweden. The U.S. is likely headed in the same direction as Obama has welcomed the refugees here, and called for at least 10,000 more Syrian refugees over the next year. Texas has taken in more refugees than any state over the past three years, at least 7,200 over the last year or so, and last fall Republican Governor Greg Abbott finally told Obama the state would not accept anymore. However, about half of the states that have said they will not accept refugees actually have. Texas is currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the federal government over it. The protests have begun here. Earlier this month, protesters gathered on the courthouse steps in Missoula, Mont., to express their opposition to creating an International Rescue Committee field office in the community. On February 6, a group calling itself America First rallied at the Berks County Courthouse in Reading, Pa., to protest the Syrian refugees. They were confronted by two groups of counterprotesters; one wearing black masks and a Latino group. Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Europe should reject the refugees. "This means turning boats around, for people coming by sea," he said in a speech last November. "It means denying entry at the border, for people with no legal right to come. And it means establishing camps for people who have nowhere to go." He said the decision "will gnaw at our consciences yet it is the only way to prevent a tide of humanity surging through Europe and quite possibly changing it forever. UKIP leader Nigel Farage praised his remarks as heroic. It boils down to this: Society has become so politically correct that even though many of the refugees are radical Islamists, Western governments insist on bending over backward to accommodate them, to the detriment of their own citizens. Radical Islamists interpret the Koran to permit the sexual abuse of women. They insist that society conform its laws to their strict Sharia laws. This sets them up for conflict with the free world especially when there are millions of them. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a moderate Muslim and the son of Syrian immigrants, said the problem is not vetting the refugees. A resident of Arizona, he backs Governor Doug Duceys call to stop refugees from being settled there if theyre not going to be vetted. If the U.S. does not carefully vet the refugees no easy task because many of them disguise who they are, including saying they are Christians we can expect to go the way of Europe. Maybe then the border fence will finally be built, but it will be too late. Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, and other publications. Home Audubon goes over the edge By Robert W. Endlich The January-February 2016 issue of Audubon Magazine proclaims "Arctic on the Edge: As global warming opens our most critical bird habitat, the world is closing in." In reality, the magazine's writers and editors have gone over the edge, with wildly misleading "reports" on the Arctic. The magazine is awash in misstatements of fact and plain ignorance of history, science and culture. It epitomizes the false claims that characterize "news coverage" of "dangerous manmade climate change." The following analysis corrects only some of the most serious errors, but should raise red flags about most every claim Audubon makes. The first part of this issue devotes pages to each of the countries surrounding the Arctic Ocean. The Finland page says "storms become more severe" with warming. The writers are either clueless or intentionally misleading; they likely did not take Earth Science or Meteorology and are oblivious of atmospheric fluid dynamics. The pole to equator temperature difference drives the strength of storms. If there actually is Arctic warming, that temperature difference declines, and storm strength becomes less severe not more so. The Norway page describes the Black-legged Kittiwake and speculates that warming in the Barents Sea attracts herring which feed on Kittiwake prey. The authors are clearly unaware that natural warming and cooling cycles have been occurring for centuries. On a map derived from the Norwegian Polar Institute's examination of ship logs, a green dashed line depicting reduced Nordic Sea ice extent demonstrates extensive warming in the Barents Sea in 1769. During that particular warm period, ocean currents and weather conditions made Svalbard and even parts of Novaya Zemlya ice-free. The Greenland page purports to show "Greenland Warming." However, it was warmer than today during the Medieval Warm Period, and abundant new ice formed in Greenland during the past century. Enough snow and ice accumulated on the Greenland Ice Sheet that Glacier Girl,the P-38 airplane that landed there in 1942, was buried in 268 ft of ice before she was recovered in 1992. That's 268 feet in 50 years, well over 5 feet of ice accumulation a year, much of it during a period when Earth was warming and Greenland was supposedly losing ice. Audubon's cover photo features a Russian oil rig amid an ice-covered Arctic Ocean. It is intended to instil fear, by suggesting that a once solidly icy Arctic is melting rapidly. However, history shows that the Nordic ice extent has been decreasing since at least the 1860s, and probably since the depth of the Little Ice Age, around 1690. In fact, historic data, indicate that multi-decadal variability of Nordic Sea extent (some 30-45% more or less ice during each cycle) has been occurring for over 150 years. Toward the end of the January-February issue is an account of a visit to Wainwright, Alaska, an Inupiat village of about 556 natives, located on the Arctic Ocean in North Slope Borough. The Native Inupiat much prefer to maintain their subsistence culture, which has been their tradition since their ancestors settled nearby about 13,000 years ago. The caption to the Audubon photograph of the village emphasizes rising ocean waters. However, most of Alaska has falling sea levels, the result of the isostatic adjustment of northern North America. This rebound effect began with the melting of the Wisconsin Ice Sheet, as Earth emerged from the Wisconsin Ice Age and entered the Holocene between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago. The nearest tide gage to Wainwright is Prudhoe Bay, and sea level rise there is very small: 1.20 mm/year +/- 1.99 mm/year (up to 7.9 inches per century) so small that sea levels might actually be falling there, as well, when margin of error is considered. The Audubon writers mention "melting permafrost" numerous times, but when the Natives spoke about this in 1979, they clearly did not view it as a problem. In fact, in their own words, recorded in The Inupiat View , the Natives specifically say melt water is scarce in North Slope Borough. What has happened in the years since? First, the North Slope has a summer, and from early June until mid-September air temperatures average warmer than 32 degrees F. Wainwright's extreme maximum once reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit! During summer, the soil melts, creating an "active layer." The surface is not permanently frozen, but is melted part of the year, every year. Whether there actually is problematical "melting permafrost," as claimed by Audubon, can be determined only by finding the long-term trend in the thickness of the active layer. Specialists studying this phenomenon publish reports in the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring Network, in NOAA's annual Arctic Report Card, and elsewhere. The 2012 Report Card edition had an extensive section on permafrost. A quote from this edition pours freezing water on Audubon's "melting permafrost" claim: "Active-layer thickness on the Alaskan North Slope and in the western Canadian Arctic was relatively stable during 1995-2011," it notes. The NOAA Arctic Reports do have a heavy dose of alarmist rhetoric, especially in the boilerplate introductory sections, but the actual measurements and data present nothing that supports the alarmist polemic of the day. The long term pattern shows centuries-long slow warming, with multi-decadal fluctuations; significant or alarming anthropogenic trends are simply not there. Audubon should stay away from areas where it has no expertise specifically imagined or invented catastrophic anthropogenic global warming. Audubon's equivocal policy on wind power ostensibly calls on wind energy developers to consider planning, siting and operating wind farms to avoid bird carnage; the Society claims to support "strong enforcement" of laws protecting birds and wildlife. On the other hand, the same Audubon policy speaks about "species extinctions and other catastrophic effects of climate change" and "pollution from fossil fuels." When read together, this schizophrenic policy clearly puts Audubon on the side of climate alarmism with the loss of birds and bats merely a small price to pay in an effort to "save the planet." Another article shows that Audubon's alarmist climate claims, rather than bird safety, clearly dominate president David Yarnold's concerns. Beneath a picture of a forest fire, an editorial quotes him: "Climate change is the greatest threat to birds and biodiversity since humans have been on the planet." Yarnold's editorial is rife with alarmist propaganda: increasing drought (data show drought decreasing in the United States over the past 110 years in regions where we have temperature and rainfall measurements) increasing forest fires (not so, according to actual data) increasing species extinctions (virtually no extinctions have occurred except on isolated islands where predators were introduced by humans) and more flooding (there has been nothing outside normal experience). Audubon needs to concentrate on saving birds and other flying creatures from the very real death machines that kill countless thousands, perhaps millions, of them every year. These killing machines include wind turbines, that chop up raptors, song birds and bats, and heliostats (installations using mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays) that incinerate them. Bats pollinate crops and consume insects. However, the number of bats killed has been conservatively estimated at 600,000 annually, and may be as high as 900,000. The Ivanpah solar-to-electrical-energy plant in California's Mojave Desert actually ignites birds in flight; the dying birds are called "streamers," because they emit smoke as they fall from the sky. One report estimates that over 100 golden eagles and 300 red tailed hawks are killed yearly by wind turbines at California's Altamont Pass, but another calculates that millions of birds and bats are killed every year by US wind turbines. Audubon needs to get some real science in its research and show true empathy for the human-caused deaths that our flying friends face on a daily basis. Robert Endlich served as a weather officer in the US Air Force for 21 Years. He has a BA in geology and an MS in meteorology and is a member of Chi Epsilon Pi, the national Meteorology Honor Society. (A more extensive version of this article can be found on MasterResource.org) The Empire swallowed the Republic By Dr. Robert Owens Take a look at the size of the defense budget in America today as a percentage of federal spending. In 2015 it accounted for 53.71% of the entire budget. Now try to image what would happen to our economy if that spending was stopped and not immediately replaced by other federal spending. See the problem? We may have been warned by President Eisenhower about the military industrial complex. However, the thing he forgot to tell us was that the military industrial complex had already won and that we as a nation are dependent on military spending which is dependent on continuing crisis, wars, and garrison duties around the world. In other words, when our most idealistic sing give peace a chance while they are giddy in their idealism, if we chose to follow their advice it would lead us all to depression. What is the result of all this? The Empire has swallowed the Republic. How can we know that? What guide is there to evaluate if this is so? Garet Garret, that great critic of the New Deal revolution which changed America forever outlined the characteristics of empire: (1) Rise of the executive principle of government to a position of dominant power (2) Accommodation of domestic policy to foreign policy (3) Ascendancy of the military mind (4) A system of satellite nations for a purpose called collective security, and, (5) An emotional complex of vaunting and fear. There are other versions of this metric used to recognize an empire. 1. Imperial boundaries there is a distinction between imperial and non-imperial space. 2. Dissolution of equality subordinates are considered to be "client states" or "satellites." In other words international relations are not between equals, but between a "center" and a "periphery." 3. The existence of most empires has been due to a mix of chance and contingency most empires do not arise due to "will to empire" (imperialism) or a grand strategy, but rather a series of circumstances that lead to increased power and control of people and/or territories. 4. The capacity for reform and regeneration empires do not need to necessarily hold to the qualities of the original situation in which it was conceived. Often they become independent of the values/qualities of the founder(s). 5. Inability to remain neutral in relation to the powers in its sphere of influence empires will retaliate if there is an attempt at independence or non-participation on the part of its subordinates. Ask yourself, are any of the current crop of presidential candidates from either side of the government party talking about ending America's crushing commitment to empire? If we would bring our troops home, use them to guard our borders, and held in reserve to protect our genuine interests we would have all the money we need to do anything we want. Whichever guide for recognizing an empire you choose one of these or any of the many others available America transitioned long ago from a peaceful nation of farmers, shop keepers, and mechanics into a worldwide empire projecting power for many reasons, few of which have anything to do with either our vital interests or our security. We have garrison troops in over one hundred nations. We are spending billions building infrastructure for people who burn it down while our own nation crumbles. We are spending ourselves into the poor house for nations that hate us. Which brings us back to the problem imagined in the beginning of this essay: what would happen to our economy if that spending was stopped and not immediately replaced by other federal spending? The answer to this question is found in a fundamental need in the American psyche: the need for a mission. Today our mission is portrayed as being the world's unipolar hegemon involved in everything everywhere a roll completely inappropriate and incompatible with a free republic. History is littered with the dust left behind by republics that have tried it and found themselves becoming slave states with imperial dictators on their way to being debtors who collapse in economic ruin. Look at Athens. Look at Rome. If they could not avoid this, how can we? I know many will try to broad brush these thoughts with the stain of isolationism or America First. For one, I am not advocating for isolation because I advocate for peace and trade with all. And secondly, I don't think there is anything wrong with Americans thinking of America first. Here is my solution. End our occupation of Europe and Korea. Stop the endless war in Afghanistan. Close every military base in the world that does not directly protect the Homeland. Build effective walls on our borders and use our returning troops to garrison them. Instead of providing military aid to other nations refit, retrain, and retain our own military so that it is unthinkable that anyone would challenge us. And what shall be our new national goal? Let us dedicate ourselves to once again becoming not only the preeminent space faring nation but also the nation that sets its sights on the active exploration and colonization of the Solar System. I believe if we build the Starship Enterprise in earth orbit no one would dare becoming the target for its phaser banks. The technology that would evolve from a renewed move into space would expand our lives and offset the cost. Today we are a dysfunctional republic masquerading as a functional democracy. Tomorrow we may be an operating oligarchy with the veneer of a republic. Following this trajectory how long will it be until we are a third world hellhole that used to be the United States of America. As Garet Garret, told us "There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom." Jettison the empire to save the republic! Dr. Robert Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com 2016 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens. Dr. Owes' first fiction book, America's Trojan War is coming soon. Home Questions of ethnic identity persistence in mass-media dominated North America (Part Four) By Mark Wegierski In today's world, especially in the now increasingly-multicultural Canada and United States, "monodal" identities have become less and less likely to occur. Indeed, insofar as some kind of Polish affiliation is to persist in Canada, it will perforce have to be an intermediary, emphatically hyphenated identity. It should be Polish-Canadian in order to attract persons of the generations born in Canada. This is likely to be the main vehicle for the persistence of a fragment culture. Looking at the life of the Polish-Canadian community today, there does not appear to be any forum or setting or context where a dynamic, intermediary, somewhat enduring, emphatically Polish and Canadian identity can get underway and be consciously worked out. What seems to be happening is rather quick language loss, followed by near-total assimilation into the so-called "mainstream". But the "mainstream" is not a very interesting and dynamic place to be, today. In his interview in Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm's book, The Roots Are Polish (Toronto: Canadian-Polish Research Institute, 1998), Rudolf Kogler -- himself the long time head of the Institute -- says: "Not much has been written about...the descendants of the Polish immigrants. The reason is that they are hardly visible, even though they amount to two thirds of our community. They do not hold membership in our organizations (except for parishes) and they do not participate in the life of the community...they are not interested in us; they do not contribute financially, intellectually or otherwise. I find it sad, all the more that a lot of them went through the Polish language schools and scouts system... While talking to them, one can easily discern that they are aware of their Polish origins but have no sense of responsibility towards the community they sprung up from. They hardly speak the language, know close to nothing about any Polish or Polish-Canadian matters... [they] are unable to sympathize or appreciate the effort that went into their Polish upbringing and education... According to the statistics of the census, only 150,000 people...of 600,000 speak Polish." (p. 150) Nevertheless, in contrast to Dr. Kogler's pessimism, one should ask the question if it may be possible that further advances in technology could weaken the trends to assimilation that certain earlier technologies have made possible. Earlier technologies such as television tended to be homogenizing and to intensify assimilative pressures. I had mentioned the Internet earlier in the presentation. The Internet is especially helpful today in cases where the person has learned to a greater or lesser extent -- the language of the country of origin of their immigrant parents or grandparents. Today, they can continually refresh their links to their ancestral homeland by reading multifarious material online including many newspapers, magazines, and journals. Because of the increasingly globalized world, there is also considerable web material available in English from their homeland or from the communities abroad. So a weak knowledge of the ancestral language does not necessarily preclude some kind of affiliations with the ancestral homeland. They can also if they wish download music and video directly from their home country. They can also remain in close touch with relatives and friends in the home country through e-mail or through live, Internet-based conversations. There could also be, for example, Polish-Canadian themed blogs or Facebook groups. Should one be interested, one can also scout the websites of Polish universities and colleges, for possibly studying in Poland, or taking part in conferences like this one. Secondly, the cost of international regular telephone rates has decreased greatly and telephone service has become ubiquitous in Poland -- so it is possible to regularly converse with persons from the home country whether on matters weighty or trivial. Thirdly, satellite and cable television technology allows the possibility of Polish television channels in one's Canadian home notably TV Polonia a world-wide channel whose main mission is to serve the cultural needs of Poles and persons of Polish descent living abroad. Fourthly, the possibilities of air travel by modern jet, and the fact that such air travel is now comparatively inexpensive, mean that the home country is far more accessible to visits than some decades ago. Thus contacts with the home country can be renewed through physical trips. It has also become more possible, for example, for families to send younger children to spend the summer with grandparents in Poland, or at summer camp. Fifthly, the ease of new printing technologies means that books or other publications such as newsletters on topics that could help shape debate in the community, or represent the Polish-Canadian community to Canadians, can be fairly easily produced. Such books (or e-books) or other printed and/or electronic publications can, theoretically at least, be widely marketed through individuals' websites (with payment usually tendered through the current standard Paypal), or through Amazon.com. One of the characteristics of the Internet has been called "the long-tail phenomenon". This means that very niche products and ideas can find some kind of long-term market and audience. It is also possible to offer or sell materials in purely electronic formats, such as PDFs or e-books; or in fact, to distribute newsletters electronically to pre-set lists. However, the arrival of new technologies, which could perhaps facilitate the persistence of fragment-cultures, may have come too late for the Polish-Canadian community. To be continued. Partially based on an English-language draft of a presentation read at the conference, Transatlantic Encounters (Lodz, Poland: University of Lodz), September 28-30, 2008. Mark Wegierski is a Toronto-based writer and historical researcher. Home The Interlude II: The Combined Genius of Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando By Michael Moriarty The earliest and, I am convinced, most distinctive influences on that classically American stage and film director, Elia Kazan, were the creators of the Group Theater: Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg. All three, in turn, were living and creating a new American theater under the awesome shadow and influence of Constantine Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theater. A few of these Group Theater Americans had, in the 1930s, even visited Moscow to view this new form of realism in, by then, Soviet Russia firsthand. The Group Theater's rather mystical influence on myself first came from Harold Clurman and his writings. At Dartmouth, studying as a major in drama, where I spent most of my time in that college's two theaters, Robinson Hall and Hopkins Center, I had eagerly read Clurman's book about the Group Theater, The Fervent Years. I finally met Harold Clurman in New York months after my first Broadway success as an actor in the John Hopkins' play, Find Your Way Home. Harold couldn't help making it clear, despite my having won a Tony Award for that performance, that he would have directed me differently. While listening, I nodded in some sign of respectful recognition and did my best to thank him for some advice I didn't really ask for. Eventually Harold's former wife, the legendary acting teacher, Stella Adler, was ultimately the greatest Group Theater influence on me. Not because I had ever studied with Stella Adler. I had been given, for better or for worse, my acting technique in London, England. Stella, however, approached me, entirely on her own, and, in the midst of a very bad time in my career, personally expressed her admiration for me as an artist. Stella had even some remarkable words to say about me in People Magazine. Or was it Today Magazine? Oh, well I can't quote her words because it has been so long since I read them and I haven't been able to find a copy of that issue nor can I recall the time it was published or remember the exact words she'd said to her interviewer. Praise from Stella Adler in print, however, and at that moment particularly, was the vital medicine I needed to keep me going, to keep me plodding on in the increasingly strange and painfully unfriendly businesses of stage, film and television. Marlon Brando had always paid great respect to the influence that Stella Adler had on him. She was the only acting teacher he would acknowledge as his. That alone placed Stella, in the eyes of most admiring talents in the American Theater, way above what I consider to be the overly exaggerated and so-called "genius" of Lee Strasberg. I never asked Harold Clurman about Marlon Brando. The most legendary actor he had ever directed. I never asked Stella about her having been Brando's principle acting teacher. I later avoided even meeting Marlon Brando himself at the studio filming Report To The Commissioner. He had visited the set as a close friend of that film's screen writer, Abby Mann. It was on the lunch hour and I made sure I wouldn't be there. Despite the fact that Brando was all every actor in the English-speaking world ever heard about! Or even talked about!! I felt, "Enough already!!!!!" What about Laurence Olivier whom I had already seen live in his astonishing performance as Othello?! Or Paul Scofield as Don Adriano de Armado in Love's Labor's Lost at Stratford, Ontario?! Or, most memorably, William Hutt in the Canadian Players production of King Lear?!?! Well so much for trying to avoid the elephant in the room. The Goliath of acting, Marlon Brando. There would be no Biblical "David" not even James Dean qualified to cut this acting monster called Marlon Brando down to size. Even Brando's own efforts to ruin his own career with his own, deliberate obesity?! Not even that could erase the depth of his achievements. Brando's glory days under the direction of Elia Kazan were actually resurrected and reaffirmed by his later appearance as a portlier Godfather. As the Godfather of American acting, Brando's authority as Don Corleone had his supporting cast not having to "act" their reverence and awe for The Godfather. The director, Francis Ford Coppola, simply cast Brando and the "pecking order" instantly fell into place. No questions asked. This second article of my new essay series, The Interlude, concentrates upon the profoundly unique chemistry that was created from the moment in which Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando began working together. Kazan had first produced Brando before directing him. Elia Kazan as Producer and Harold Clurman as Director, having, I suspect, heard about Marlon Brando from Stella Alder, cast Brando in a Broadway production of the ill-fated play, Truckline Cafe. The embarrassingly short run of that play left Marlon Brando the only new event that anyone, who had seen the play, talked about. Brando's next appearance on stage under Kazan's all-important, personal direction, in Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire, confirmed him first as a major new heartthrob on Broadway and then, with his subsequent 1950s film appearances, as an indisputably charismatic film star. Ultimately Brando, I believe, became perhaps Hollywood's most stunning movie star, running neck and neck with even the great silent movie legend, Rudolf Valentino. With Kazan's direction, Brando's stardom swiftly cast so huge a shadow over American leading men, that subsequent stars such as James Dean, Paul Newman and Robert Redford?! Brando somehow made them all look like lightweights. His range of appearances on film left the critical world with no other choice but to rank Brando's record-setting star quality as merely the frosting on a multilayered cake of acting genius. Nothing, however, was more important to the Brando legend than Elia Kazan's indispensable contribution to it. Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando The Kazan collaboration with Brando eventually spawned an extraordinary trio of films from the debut of Streetcar Named Desire in 1951 to the appearance of Viva Zapata in 1952 and then to Kazan's and Brando's unsurpassable cinematic masterpiece: On The Waterfront in 1954. My two favorite Kazan films? On The Waterfront and the film I concentrated on in my first article for The Interlude, East of Eden. Both works are in my list of the Top Ten Films of All-Time. With Budd Schulberg and John Steinbeck as the creators of these two, quintessentially American classics? Each taking a microscope to American souls within the two farthest corners of the American continent: the 20th Century Brooklyn waterfront and the pre-World War I mysteries of Monterey, California? No two films that I know of, could introduce the essential soul of America and Americans with more density, power, naked honesty and limitless emotional range than East of Eden and On The Waterfront. They never cease to impress. Michael Moriarty is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor who starred in the landmark television series Law and Order from 1990 to 1994. His recent film and TV credits include The Yellow Wallpaper, 12 Hours to Live, Santa Baby and Deadly Skies. Contact Michael at rainbowfamily2008@yahoo.com. He can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/@MGMoriarty. Home T. Boone Pickens on Obama oil tax: "Dumbest Idea Ever" By Rakesh Upadhyay The Obama administration's proposed $10.25 per barrel oil tax adds up to approximately $32 billion a year, and critics are coming out of the woodwork in defense of both the oil industry and end users who would foot the bill for transportation system reforms-but it may be a moot point since the effort will simply be killed off by Congress. At the end of the day, this proposal is simply meant to start a discussion and possibly add to the Obama environmental legacy. The proposal has sparked immediate backlash, with critics blasting it as an impossible production tax, the death knell for the already struggling oil industry, and an unfair policy that would render gas at the pumps more expensive for consumers. Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens has sensationally dubbed the Obama proposal "the dumbest idea ever." The $32 billion tax per year would be consistent with a production tax, tweeted Ed Crooks, the energy editor of The Financial Times. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, likewise criticized the tax, stating, as reported by Reuters: "The President is now apparently proposing yet another way of damage to our nation's oil industry". According to Steven Kopits, Managing Director of Princeton Energy Advisors, at today's prices there would be no material impact on either U.S. mobility or the economy. However, if WTI were to hit $115 per barrel, an additional $10 per barrel tax could push the economy towards a recession. Federal gas taxes have not been raised since 1993, and with gas prices at an all-time low, such a proposal will be fairly easy to justify at the pump, and is unlikely to cause much of a fuss for end users. Consumers would pay an additional 22-25 cents per gallon of gaswith the final price still well under gas prices a year or two ago. According to the American Coalition for clean coal electricity report of June 2015, the lower and middle-income families, which represent 48 percent of the nation's households, spend an estimated average of 17 percent of their after-tax income on residential and transportation energy. If we consider the households earning less than $30,000 before taxes, the expense rises to 23 percent of their after-tax family incomes, without considering any energy assistance programs. If gas prices should climb higher, the proposed increase would further strain the budgets of the poor, whereas the rich are unlikely notice the price difference between $30 and $40 per barrelor if gas prices should climbbetween $75 and $85 a barrel. It should be noted, however, that the Obama proposal would redirect 15 percent of the revenues to poorer households to offset higher energy costs. On the flip side of this emerging discussion, there are also economists who believe a tax on fossil fuels will benefit the U.S. economy. They talk about taxing "negative externalities" that may lead to "market failure.'' Harvard's Gregory Mankiw notes that there are a "host of side effects'' associated with oil and gas production and consumption, and economists view these negative side effects as a "kind of market failure" that needs to be addressed. So will this proposal ever see the light of Congressional day? Not likely. History suggests it will be a major challenge. The first budget proposal of the Obama Administration sought to eliminate all remaining tax breaks for oil and gas producers, which would raise another $31 billion in revenue between 2010 and 2019, according to Reuters. That proposal has been shot down seven times already. For the latest budget proposal, Republicans are departing from decades of tradition by not even inviting the White House's budget director to attend Congressional hearings to explain the budget. The government taxes on fuels have largely remained unchanged since 1993, as Congress has been unable to arrive at an agreement to raise them. The current proposal of a 22-25 cents per gallon rise on top of the existing taxes is unprecedented, so most are viewing this as a legacy-maker and a discussion starter and nothing morefor now, at least. The proposal has put the spotlight on the administration's futuristic policy and has attracted headlines, but there is little chance that it will make it through Congress. Rakesh Upadhyay is a writer for Oilprice.com where this originally appeared. Home Phantom thread of Islam in the fabric of America, Part 2: Dubious debt to Islam By Debra Rae Religious tolerance is rooted deeply in the American psyche. Historically, Constitutional freedom of religion allows free exercise of the Christian faith while, at the same time, giving place to differing persuasions. In his 1791 autobiography, for example, Benjamin Franklin "did not disapprove" of a Pennsylvania meeting place designed to accommodate preachers of all religions. "Even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us," Franklin opined, "he would find a pulpit at his service." The subjunctive mood of Franklin's comment occurs in a counterfactual dependent clause, used to express a state of unrealityi.e., a possibility or action that has not actually occurred. Clearly, Franklin perceived Islamic influence in America to be counterfactual and, therefore, unlikely. If Muslims and their religious-political system of Islam were intrinsically involved in the founding, growth, and spectacular success of the United States, as some progressives contend, one would expect long term, high visibility to this day. However, even the Executive Director of Michigan's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Dawud Walid, admits how unusual it is that Hamtramck boasts a Muslim-majority city council, not to mention more mosques per capita than anywhere else in the country. By fashioning stories that plant Muslim Americans squarely in the center of our nation's history and culture, the New Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History seeks to rectify indignities toward post-9/11 Muslim Americans who, we're led to believe, are misunderstood, unfairly maligned, and marginalized. With this mindset, President Obama commits to "fighting negative stereotypes against Islam wherever they appear." Negative Stereotypes Under Fire By definition, a stereotype is a fixed, but overly simplified viewpoint applied broadly as if it were empirically authenticated when, in fact, it's not. That "all Muslim Americans are terrorists" is a fallacious stereotype to be soundly rejected, as is the odious stereotype, "All Christians are hypocritical hatemongers." Keep this in mind: Religious dictates are not stereotypes. They're doctrine. Whereas Christians are enjoined to turn the other cheek, and love their enemies, Muslims are charged with fighting, seizing, beleaguering, smiting, and slaying nonbelievers. Endorsed Islamic practices include female genital mutilation, underage/ forced marriage, polygamy, domestic abuse, honor killing, extortion, torture, and lying to achieve one's ends (called taqiyya). Muslim men freely scourge their disobedient wives and, for perceived misbehaviors, engage in honor killings. To quote the Qur'an, faithful devotees "instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers," "smite them above their necks," and "smite all their finger-tips off them." Now we're talking doctrine (not stereotype), Qur'an (not Bible). Freedom Under Fire The philosophical importance of the American Revolution was liberty for all. As eloquently penned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Heroes dare to die and leave their children free." Minutemen fought to the death for freedom, not for the death of freedom in some lame attempt to avoid negative stereotypes. It's folly to subjugate "freedom for all" to combat "negative stereotypes for some." Yet heralded in The Muslim Discovery of America as the first permanent Arab Muslim settler in New York, an Egyptian Muslim, named Norsereddine, allegedly perpetrated North America's first Muslim "honor killing." To play the PC card on his behalf is to deny a victim (in this case, Mohawk Indian Princess Lotowana) both life and liberty at the most fundamental level. Reverse Nepotism One would expect that, if a double standard were applied in "the land of the free," it would favor the biblical principle of freedom. Indeed, in 1892 the U.S. Supreme Court established that "our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian." Notwithstanding, the Council on Islamic Education, based in California, guides publishers in how to represent Islam favorably, if not accurately, in public school textbooks. Tinsel-Town executives follow similar protocol, as do all segments of politically correct society; yet selective application of the so-called "separation" principle more often than not denies this very courtesy to American Christians. Our Debt to Islam Fact is, there's no credible documentation for Muslims having arrived in the Americas five centuries ahead of Christopher Columbus. Still, Dr. Youssef Mroueh claims that Muslims preceded European explorers. To prove this, some assign bogus Arabic-Islamic roots to names of places with no known Muslim past. Allakaket in Alaska, for instance, is not derived from "Allah." It is a Koyukuk Indian name, meaning "mouth of the Alatna River." Treaties established with the Barbary Kingdoms called for paying tribute to Muslim pirates in exchange for not raiding U.S. cargo ships. What President Obama identifies as the first iftar dinner in the White House was merely the venue for discussing Tunisia's piracy against American merchant ships. Thomas Jefferson's sharing a meal with the Muslim ambassador presumed no Islamic menu. Legacy of Dishonor In the 1930s, the Nation of Islam's founding augmented the Muslim American population among African Americans; and it brought Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Louis Farrakhan to the public eye. However, their presumed-to-be "enormous influence on American life and politics" hardly qualifies as a legacy of honor. While portraying white people as "potential humans" who have yet to evolve, Farrakhan applauds Hitler as "a very great man." Claiming not to be anti-white, Malcolm X likewise insisted, "We don't have time for the white man." Conclusion Truth that sets free deems all men and women to be equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Sadly, our nation fell short of the ideal with legal institution of human chattel. Cruelty toward slaves by some American plantation owners was no less egregious than treatment of Muslim traders who burned escaped slaves at the stake, impaled them on huge iron hooks, or had large wooden poles shoved up their rectums (Don Fredrick, July 2012). Rather than ignore or reimage unsavory reality, it's far better to face historical facts head on with a mind to combat evil. To embrace America's self-evident, founding truths is to be blessed so as to bless others in turn. By way of example, a foreigner to Judea, the Moabite widow named Ruth, famously professed loyalty to her mother-in-law by embracing Naomi's people and God as her own. In willingly adopting the Hebrew culture and religion, Ruth eventually gained security for Naomi, as well as herself. In following Ruth's example of assimilation, immigrants today share in the blessings of America's Bible-birthed, God-kissed culture at its best. Our charge as Christian Americans is to humble ourselves, seek God in prayer, and turn from our wicked ways. Then will we hear from heaven; God will forgive our sin, and He will heal our land. That's a promise but, even more, a command. Debra Rae is a regular contributor to The Intellectual Conservative and this publication. 2016 Home Clinton's Democrats and Sanders' Socialists By Michael Alexander Hillary Clinton is fighting an unanticipated battle for her political life against an unlikely fringe opponent, 74-year-old Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. Indeed, Sanders clobbered the Clinton machine 60-39 in the New Hampshire primary. According to conventional political wisdom, Clinton's bid for the Democrat presidential nomination, and her ascension to the throne of Barack Obama, would be unimpeded, despite her 30-year record of malfeasance. But as Republican contenders rudely discovered when confronting another native New Yorker, Hillary's friend Donald Trump, there's nothing "conventional" about this presidential election cycle. Sanders and Trump were considered marginal candidates, but their populist appeal has built disgruntled constituencies that refuse to be marginalized. And in head-to-head competition, reliable polling indicates that Sanders would defeat Trump. For Clinton, the assumption was that Sanders, who openly wears the "Socialist" label, would not be able to garner support beyond the Leftist NeoCom cadres of "Occupy Wall Street" and other socialist groups. But the fact is, Obama has paved the way for Sanders' class warfare rhetoric, and Clinton is playing catch-up. Sidebar: It's no small coincidence that both Sanders and Obama are products of the "Chicago Marxist Mafia," both having their radical roots in the Windy City's leftist movements, and neither having ever created a private sector job. It's no small irony that, while they lament "the rich" living off the labors of the poor, both Sanders and Obama have spent the vast majority of their adult lives living off the labors of taxpayers. While there remains a stark contrast between "liberal" and "conservative," the gap between the "New Democratic Party" of Obama and Sanders' socialist platform has narrowed to the point that only the labels are different. In January, Leftmedia talkinghead Chris Matthews asked Clinton to distinguish between "Democrat" and "Socialist." But she couldn't articulate the distinction, opting instead to respond, "I'm a progressive Democrat." Notably, Matthews had earlier asked the same question of Democrat National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who likewise was unable to make the distinction. "I used to think there was a big difference," Matthews lamented. Clinton assumed her "progressive Democrat" label would distinguish her from Sanders' "Socialist" label, and that he would be marginalized as such. The truth, however, is that the distinction between "progressive Democrat" and "Socialist" is now largely in name only a distinction without a difference. The same can be said of Clinton and Sanders, with the exception being that Sanders has the integrity to call himself what he is a Socialist. Sanders is abundantly clear about the enemy of "equality," insisting that we must "take on and defeat a ruling class whose greed is destroying our nation." If by "ruling class" he means the socialist administration controlling the executive branch, and the many statists in the legislative and judicial branches who support similar views, then yes. Of course, what Sanders really means by "ruling class" are the free-market wizards behind the curtain, who endlessly endeavor to subvert what he would argue is a moral imperative to establish "economic equality." Can you feel the bull, I mean, "Feel the Bern"? This is a page right out of BO's "ruling class" playbook, except Obama is perfectly content to hobnob with the rich and famous on his taxpayer-funded all-expense-paid vacations at the most lavish resorts on the planet. Endeavoring to promote their egalitarian goals, Clinton and Sanders are in a race "to see who can spend and borrow the most taxpayer money," as economist Stephen Moore notes. "These days that's how you win the Democratic nomination for president." In fact, that's been the way Democrats have done it for almost a century it's the "FDR model" for buying presidential victories. And Sanders has pulled out in front of Clinton with his promised tax increases of $20 trillion. However, Clinton will most assuredly announce new measures to out-tax and out-spend Sanders. On the campaign trail, Sanders boldly invokes Franklin Roosevelt's statist vision for America, noting that he "redefined the relationship of the federal government to the people of our nation" and "restored their faith in government." Actually, what FDR did was promote a populist wealth-redistribution Ponzi scheme based on this dubious classist assertion: "Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle." If that sounds vaguely and disturbingly familiar, it's because Roosevelt was merely paraphrasing Karl Marx, whose maxim declared, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Unfortunately, neither Sanders' nor Clinton's legions of "useful idiots" have the ability to discern that this is another distinction without a difference. FDR's New Deal was the rawest of raw deals, and its stepchild, Lyndon Johnson's so-called "Great Society," is largely responsible for today's urban poverty plantations on which millions of Americans have been generationally enslaved. Sanders recently lamented, "There is something profoundly wrong when ... the average American is working longer hours for lower wages and we have shamefully the highest rate of child poverty of any major country on earth." But why, then, is he advocating for more of the same? While there is little difference between Clinton the "progressive Democrat" and Sanders the "Socialist," it is ominous that the same can be said about Socialism and Communism. Russian-born philosopher Ayn Rand, who immigrated to the United States after the Bolshevik Revolution, is best know for her treatise against statism, "Atlas Shrugged." Rand observed, "There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide. ... There is no difference between the principles, policies and practical results of socialism and those of any historical or prehistorical tyranny. Socialism is merely democratic absolute monarchy that is, a system of absolutism without a fixed head, open to seizure of power by all corners, by any ruthless climber, opportunist, adventurer, demagogue or thug." It has been Obama's objective since 2009 to "fundamentally transform" the U.S. economy into a socialist state by breaking the back of free enterprise. He has succeeded in many respects, as demonstrated by the latest economic report. And his last tax-and-spend budget, which congressional Republicans will defeat, sets the bar for his socialist successor. Sanders seems to be the poster child for the New Democrat Party. Most of his supporters can't even define socialism, and many of Clinton's constituents are proving to be equally dullard. Perhaps they should all start with a basic economics lesson on capitalism v socialism from Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman. It has always been The Patriot Post's mission to ensure that a majority of grassroots Americans understand the primacy of economic freedom over statism in order that they reject socialism at every turn and instead endeavor to extend Liberty to the next generation. Ronald Reagan once observed, "Socialists ignore the side of man that is of the spirit. They can provide shelter, fill your belly with bacon and beans, treat you when you are ill, all the things that are guaranteed to a prisoner or a slave. ... Throughout the developing world, people are rejecting socialism because they see that it doesn't empower people, it impoverishes them." His contemporary, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, keenly observed, "Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money. ... Then they start to nationalize everything." Most often, Socialists start by nationalizing health care sound familiar? The failure of misguided socialist welfare programs has been documented for centuries. In his famous 1766 letter to the London Chronicle, "Management of the Poor," Benjamin Franklin wrote: "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. Repeal that [welfare] law, and you will soon see a change in their manners. St. Monday and St. Tuesday, will soon cease to be holidays. Six days shalt thou labor, though one of the old commandments long treated as out of date, will again be looked upon as a respectable precept; industry will increase, and with it plenty among the lower people; their circumstances will mend, and more will be done for their happiness by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing all your estates among them." Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. Tax oil to subsidize wind? By Paul Driessen If you want more of something, mandate it, subsidize it and exempt it from regulations. If you want less of something, punish it with taxes and regulations. Put more bluntly, the power to tax and regulate is the power to destroy. This is the First Rule of Government. No presidency has ever come close to the Obama Administration in employing the rule to advance its ideologies and agendas. No industry has been so favored as renewable energy over the past seven years. No sector has been so thoroughly vilified and subjugated as fossil fuels during that period. Thankfully, Congress refused to impose a cap-tax-and-trade regime on carbon-based energy and U.S. jobs, families, economic growth and living standards. However, EPA and other Obama agencies simply replaced unsuccessful legislative initiatives with regulations, often employing highly innovative statutory interpretations to justify its actions and courts too often bowed to this "agency discretion." Nowhere was this more heavy-handed and destructive than in the coal and climate change arena, where a regulatory tidal wave inundated mines, power plants, companies, families, communities and entire states. Other EPA and Interior Department rules blocked leasing, drilling, fracking and other energy activities on millions of acres of government-administered lands, onshore and off, and even on state and private land. Thanks to determined efforts by state attorneys general and other parties, however, a number of these regulations were stymied in courts of law. Nowhere was this more important than this week's Supreme Court decision to block implementation of President Obama's Clean Power Plan while lower courts consider some 30 lawsuits over its legality, state sovereignty, the scope of agency discretion in interpreting and rewriting federal laws, and the plan's effects on energy, jobs, health and welfare. That means this noxious regulation will be "vacated" for the remainder of Obama's presidency. The president, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and their allies are not happy. They promise to charge ahead with their "fundamental transformation" of the United States, via other tactics and edicts. The oil patch is one of the few industries that kept the Obama economy (and presidency) afloat primarily because of fracking, which slipped in under the EPA/environmentalist radar but is now under constant attack by Interior and Big Green. It created millions of jobs, channeled billions of dollars to local, state and federal treasuries, brought gasoline prices below $2 per gallon, and saved American families billions: every penny not spent on gasoline puts $1 billion a year back into our pockets. So how does Obama intend to repay the industry, now that it has fallen on hard times? Amid a sluggish global economy and record oil and gas production, oil prices have plunged below $30 a barrel forcing the oil patch to lay people off, many companies to retrench or ponder bankruptcy, and many communities to confront reduced employment, consumer spending, real estate values, and revenues. But as part of his last-gasp, $4.1-trillion, $503-billion-deficit 2017 federal budget, the president wants Congress to slap a $10.25 tax on every barrel of domestically produced or imported oil. He says this will raise some $400 billion over the next ten years. This will allow him to increase EPA's budget to $8.3 billion, pour $1.7 billion a year into the "climate fund," and channel hundreds of billions into high speed rail, wind, solar, biofuel, "eco-friendly" cars and other "green" energy schemes. It thus means more opportunities for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to pick winners and losers, expand their fiefdoms, and pad their bonuses and pensions. Thankfully, the proposal is "dead on arrival" in Congress. Enough members understand (even if the president does not) that this tax will not be "paid for by the oil companies." It will only be collected by oil companies and then passed along to every American family and business, in the form of higher gasoline prices and higher costs for everything produced or transported using petroleum: food, clothing, plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, housing, healthcare, and countless other products and services. Even ethanol and other biofuels require petroleum, as do organic food and electric cars. Mr. Obama, however, sees additional advantages to a 35% oil tax. It lets him stigmatize Big Oil yet again. It advances his goal of ending our "addiction" to fossil fuels that still provide 82% of US and 87% of global energy because they are the most abundant, reliable, affordable energy sources available today; because they sustain modern economies and living standards, and help lift billions out of poverty and disease. Would Obama also have us end our "addiction" to food, shelter and human companionship? An oil tax would also help him promote the climate treaty he signed in Paris. The Supreme Court's slap-down of EPA's plans to regulate fossil fuels into oblivion means the United States is far less likely to implement the president's unilateral commitment to the accord's emission reduction demands (and massive wealth transfers, via climate "adaptation and reparation" payments) even assuming the Senate ultimately approves the treaty, under its "advice and consent" authority. That in turn means developed and developing nations alike are even less likely to slash their CO2 emissions, carbon-based energy use, economic growth and living standards, for no progress in controlling nature-driven climate change. Finally, all that devoutly wished for tax revenue would enable Mr. Obama to repay his debts to crony corporatist friends like Elon Musk. His Tesla Motors company continues to hemorrhage investor money despite massive infusions of taxpayer cash in the form of CO2 rules, subsidies, loans, $7,500 tax credits per car purchased, and free charging stations, so that the wealthiest 1.0 or 0.1 percent will buy the pricey cars. In 2015 alone, Tesla lost another $889 million, on revenues of $4.05 billion. We've come to expect this from President Obama. Equally depressing, we also expect it from Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, former DemoRepublican candidate-in-waiting Michael Bloomberg, most of today's Democratic politicians, too many Republican pols, most government "public servants," and certainly those who are "feeling the Bern" or think "there's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women" by voting for a certain candidate. (Hint: Ms. Albright didn't mean Carly or Sarah.) Indeed, Mrs. Clinton wants to have a half billion more solar panels deployed during her first four years in office, "enough clean energy to power every home" in America, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $200 billion a year. Plus free education, free universal healthcare, and more. Senator Sanders doubtless agrees. It is a sad, painful assessment of their economic literacy and of our high schools, colleges, business communities and politicians' ability to empower students and voters through economic literacy, a grasp of socialism's abject failures and horrid excesses, and an appreciation of free enterprise capitalism's incomparable record of improving the health, living standards and prospects of billions. It's also a sad commentary on liberal-progressive "climate justice" and "compassion" for coal mine, power plant and oil patch workers and families who have been pummeled by their policies and for poor, minority and blue collar families that would be hit hardest by the Obama oil tax. Those families pay a far larger share of their incomes on energy, food, clothing and other necessities than do Barack, Hillary and Michael's upper-crust friends, Bernie's Wall Street benefactors, or even middle class families: Families making less than $30,000 a year spend 26% of their after-tax income on energy, while families that make over $50,000 a year spend only 8% and those in upper 1% spend only a fraction of 1 percent. Were President Obama to succeed on his oil tax, "stop climate change" and "leave all fossil fuels in the ground" agenda, his "legacy" would be making tens of millions more Americans jobless, energy deprived and impoverished and keeping billions beyond our borders mired in abject poverty, disease, malnutrition and despair. It's up to informed citizen-voters to ensure this does not happen. Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green power - Black death. February 2016 Home Younited Italia, Nicola Manzari e il nuovo Coo, Luca Faccini e Head of Growth e Domenico Petraroli e General Counsel BOSTON - Major infections such as influenza and bacterial sepsis kill millions of people each year, often resulting fro dangerous complications that impair the body's blood vessels. But the reasons why some patients experience these dramatic responses to infections -- and others don't -- have been unclear. Now a research team led by investigators in the Center for Vascular Biology Research (CVBR) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has shown that variations in the Tie2 gene, which is expressed on the inner surface of blood vessels, play an important role in patient responses. The new findings, which appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), demonstrate that diminished Tie2 levels are associated with potentially devastating responses to infections, while higher Tie2 levels provide protection. This new discovery suggests that Tie2 could be an important target to help clinicians more quickly determine which patients are at highest risk of developing these life-threatening vascular complications following infectious disease. "The complications arising from sepsis and other infections can appear rapidly and dramatically, leaving patients in absolutely terrible shape," said senior author Samir Parikh, MD, an investigator in BIDMC's CVBR and Division of Nephrology and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Patients might arrive at the hospital feeling generally unwell and within a few hours, can be in critical condition." But, this is not the case for everyone: many other patients arrive at the hospital with the same infectious symptoms, but get no worse and go on to recover fully. In studying the host response to infections, researchers have for many years focused on the role of the innate immune system. More recently, the focus has broadened to include the role played by the body's vascular system. "Improperly functioning blood vessels can have lethal consequences," explained Parikh. "For example, when the lungs' small blood vessels become leaky, the lungs fill with water and stop working properly, resulting in an often fatal condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS]. No matter what type of infection a patient has initially, if he or she goes on to develop vascular leakage, that patient is in trouble. We wanted to find out if the Tie2 protein played a role in determining whether or not patients experience these devastating vascular complications," said Parikh. The authors first determined in mouse models of several infections -- including the parasitic infection malaria, the viral infection influenza and the bacterial infection sepsis - that all animals had decreased levels of Tie2 compared to baseline levels. Subsequent experiments revealed that reduced Tie2 was indeed setting the stage for vascular leakage and ensuing clinical complications in the animal models. "The Tie2 gene is essential for embryonic development and knockout mice without the Tie2 gene die in utero," said corresponding author Chandra Ghosh, PhD, a member of the Parikh laboratory at BIDMC. "Interestingly, mice with a single copy of the gene behave normally until they are challenged with infections." After genomic analysis identified common variants that influence Tie2 expression, the authors examined a cohort of more than 1,600 intensive care unit (ICU) patients overseen by the research group of coauthor David Christiani, MD, MPH, at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, to determine if variation in Tie2 expression was associated with the development of ARDS. Indeed, the members of the cohort who had genetic variants linked to low Tie2 levels were at higher risk for developing ARDS, while those with genetic variants linked to higher Tie2 levels were protected from this devastating complication. "This discovery was exciting," said Parikh. "It was an exact match with the variants we had just identified in the genomic analysis. It supported our hypothesis that greater amounts of Tie2 protein may help people handle the stress of infection, while less-than-normal amounts of the protein leave individuals vulnerable to these dangerous complications. "Our research appears to offer the first genetic evidence that the Tie2 gene itself may be an important target to think about in terms of clinical development," added Parikh. "Many more studies are needed to understand how the body's vasculature reacts to the stress of infection. These may not be massive differences at the level of genes and gene expression, but we think they are commonly present and of high enough magnitude that they could tip the scales. Many patients with severe infections are walking a fine line between recovery and deadly complications like ARDS. If the body is genetically hard-wired to better sustain Tie2 in those critical hours, it might put that patient's health on a whole different path." ### This study was supported by research funding from the National Institutes of Health (HL093234; HL093234-S1 and HL125275) the German Research Foundation, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Study coauthors include BIDMC investigators Chandra Ghosh and Sascha David (co-first authors), Anthony Berghelli, Katelyn Milam, Sarah Higgins, Jon Hunter, Aditi Mukherjee, Mei Tran, Kiichiro Yano and Shulin Lu; Ruyang Zhang and Yongyue Wei of MGH and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health; Freeman Suber, Lester Kobzik and David Christiani of Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health; Kevin Kain and Daniel Dumont of the University of Toronto; Ansgar Santel of Silenece Therapeutics GmbH, Berlin, Germany; and Prajna Guha of Roger Williams Medical Center. About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. BIDMC is in the community with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, Anna Jaques Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Lawrence General Hospital, Signature Healthcare, Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare, Community Care Alliance and Atrius Health. BIDMC is also clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Jackson Laboratory. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit http://www.bidmc.org. In what may provide a potential path to processing information in a quantum computer, researchers have switched an intrinsic property of electrons from an excited state to a relaxed state on demand using a device that served as a microwave "tuning fork." The team's findings could also lead to enhancements in magnetic resonance techniques, which are widely used to explore the structure of materials and biomolecules, and for medical imaging. The international research team, which included scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), demonstrated how to dramatically increase the coupling of microwaves in a specially designed superconducting cavity to a fundamental electron property called spin--which, like a coin, can be flipped. By zapping an exotic silicon material developed at Berkeley Lab with the microwaves, they found that they could rapidly change the electron spins from an excited state to a relaxed, ground state by causing the electrons to emit some of their energy in the form of microwave particles known as photons. Left on their own, the electron spins would be extremely unlikely to flip back to a relaxed state and to also emit a photon - the natural rate for this light-emitting effect, known as the Purcell effect, is about once every 10,000 years. The experiment demonstrated an accelerated, controllable relaxation of electron spins and the release of a microwave photon in about 1 second, said Thomas Schenkel, a physicist in Berkeley Lab's Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division who led the design and development of the silicon-bismuth sample used in the experiment. "It's like a juggler who throws the balls up, and the balls come down 1,000 times faster than normal, and they also emit a microwave flash as they drop," he said. The results were published online Feb. 15 in the journal Nature. "Our results are highly significant for quantum information processing," said Patrice Bertet, a quantum electronics scientist at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) who led the experiment. "Indeed, they are a first step toward the strong coupling of individual electron spins to microwave photons, which could form the basis of a new spin-based quantum computer architecture." John Morton, a professor at the London Center for Nanotechnology and co-author of the study, said, "Our ultimate aim is to find a link between quantum information that is fixed and quantum information that can be transported by photons." In today's computers, information is stored as individual bits, and each bit can either be a one or a zero. Quantum computers, though, could conceivably be exponentially more powerful than modern computers because they would use a different kind of bit, called a qubit, that because of the weird ways of quantum mechanics can simultaneously behave as both a one and a zero. A coupled array of qubits would allow a quantum computer to perform many, many calculations at the same time, and electron spins are candidates for qubits in a quantum computer. The latest study shows how the microwave photons could work in concert with the spins of electrons to move information in a new type of computer. "What we need now is ways to wire up these systems--to couple these spins together," Morton said. "We need to make coupled qubits that can perform computations." In the experiment, conducted at CEA in France, a small sample of a highly purified form of silicon was implanted with a matrix of bismuth atoms, and a superconducting aluminum circuit was deposited on top to create a high-quality resonant cavity that allowed precise tuning of the microwaves. The electron spins of the bismuth atoms were then flipped into the excited, "spin-up" state. The microwave cavity was then tuned, like a musical tuning fork, to a particular resonance that coaxed the spins into emitting a photon as they flipped back to a relaxed state. The cavity boosted the number of states into which a photon can be emitted, which greatly increased the decay rate for the electron spins in a controllable way. The technique is much like buying more lottery tickets to increase your chances of winning, Morton said. The large bismuth atoms embedded in the silicon sample provided the electrons with unique spin properties that enabled the experiment. Schenkel said that implanting the bismuth atoms into the delicate silicon framework, a process known as "doping," was "like squeezing bowling balls into a lattice of ping-pong balls." "We did a new trick with silicon. People wouldn't expect you could squeeze anything new out of silicon," Schenkel said. "Now we're looking into further improving bismuth-doped silicon and into tailoring the spin properties of other materials, and using this experimental technique for these materials." To enhance the performance of materials used in future experiments, Schenkel said it will be necessary to improve the doping process so it is less damaging to the silicon lattice. Also, the implantation process could be designed to produce regularly spaced arrays of individual electron spins that would be more useful for quantum computing than a concentrated ensemble of electron spins. "We are now doing experiments on processing this and other materials at higher temperature and pressure with nanosecond ion pulses at NDCX-II, one of the accelerators here at Berkeley Lab," Schenkel said. "There are indications that it will improve the overall spin quality." Researchers said the latest research could potentially prove useful in boosting the sensitivity of scientific techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and dynamic nuclear polarization, useful for a range of experiments, and could also shorten experimental times by manipulating spin properties. "You need a way to reset spins--the ability to cause them to relax on demand to improve the rate at which you can repeat an experiment," Morton said. Bertet said it may be possible to further accelerate the electron-flipping behavior to below 1 millisecond, compared to the 1-second rate in the latest results. "This will then open the way to many new applications," he said. ### Researchers from the Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics and Nanotechnology in France, the Quantum Nanoelectronics Laboratory in Israel also participated in this research, which was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, European Research Council and The Royal Society. For more information about Thomas Schenkel's research, go here (http://atap.lbl.gov/programs-2/ion-beam-technology/). Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website at http://science.energy.gov. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 15% of the world's population is physically impaired to some degree. In order to overcome the hurdles of everyday life, many disabled people use assistive technologies. Unfortunately, technology has not kept pace - most wheelchairs cannot yet climb stairs, bulky powered exoskeletons lack acceptance, and prostheses are still limited in function. This week during the AAAS 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C., Robert Riener from ETH Zurich, The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, Ronald Triolo, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., and Kyu Jin Cho, Seoul National University in Seoul, Republic of Korea reveal the latest developments in limb prosthetics, assistive robotics, and brain computer interfaces that tackle form as well as function. In the future, artificial electrical stimulation signals will stimulate nerves and glove-like soft devices will restore hand functions offering a better quality of life for people who need assistive devices. Challenging the Scientific Community to Advance Assistive Technologies Robert Riener, Head of the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich - The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland challenges the limits of assistive technology with Cybathlon, a one-day Olympic-style competition that awards both the teams of disabled pilots and scientists from around the world. It is comprised of different disciplines that test the ability of pilots to navigate a series of everyday tasks while using assistive devices and robotic technologies. Riener founded the Cybathlon event as a platform for developing and benchmarking novel assistive technologies useful for the daily life of persons with motor disabilities. The well-defined race tracks, normed obstacles and exact rules will make it possible to compare the performance of devices in a relevant setting. Six different disciplines apply the most modern powered devices such as prostheses, wearable exoskeletons, wheelchairs, functional electrical stimulation as well as novel brain-computer interfaces. Cybathlon 2016 will be held in Zurich, Switzerland on October 8th, 2016 Implanted Neuroprostheses for Mobility after Paralysis Ronald Triolo, Professor of Orthopaedics and Biomedical Engineering Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio reveals the advantages of implanted motor system neuroprostheses that access anatomically deep nerves and muscles over conventional prosthetics. He will demonstrate a novel adaptation of implanted technologies by interfacing them with exercise equipment. This system presents a new option for recreation and independence previously unavailable to implanted neuroprosthesis recipients and offers potential health benefits derived from exercising the large paralyzed muscles of the lower extremities and trunk. Exo-Glove: Technology that Enables People with Hand Disabilities to Grasp Kyu Jin Cho, Director of the Biorobotics Laboratory at Seoul National University in South Korea introduces the Exo-glove that addresses paralysis of the hand that inhibits patients from even the most simple of activities in daily life. The Exo-glove is a hand robot inspired by human fingers and superior to exoskeletons due to its light-weight compactness and increased usability. The robotic technology enables people with spinal cord injuries to grasp objects of various shapes - potentially improving their quality of life. The device is developed through a unique and inspiring cooperation of students with disabled persons. ### Further information Meet us at AAAS 2016 Press conference: Monday, February 15th, 2016, 08:00 AM, AAAS Newsroom, Virginia Room, Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Follow-up session in the Park Tower 8219. Symposium: "Advancing Assistive Devices through Global Olympic-style Competition" Media Contacts Monday, February 15th, 2016 at 09:00AM - 10:30AMMarriott Balcony A (Marriott Wardman Park, Washington D.C., USA) Franziska Schmid, Head of ETH Zurich Media Relations +41 44 632 41 41 mediarelations@hk.ethz.ch http://www.ethz.ch Marianne Lucien, International Communications Officer, ETH Zurich marianne.lucien@hk.ethz.ch About ETH Zurich ETH Zurich is one of the world's leading universities for technology and the natural sciences. It is well-known for its excellent education, ground-breaking fundamental research and for implementing its results directly into practice. Founded in 1855, ETH Zurich today has more than 18,500 students from over 110 countries, including 4,000 doctoral students. To researchers, it offers an inspiring working environment, to students, a comprehensive education. Twenty-one Nobel Laureates have studied, taught or conducted research at ETH Zurich, underlining the excellent reputation of the university. Placental mammals consist of three main groups that diverged rapidly, evolving in wildly different directions: Afrotheria (for example, elephants and tenrecs), Xenarthra (such as armadillos and sloths) and Boreoeutheria (all other placental mammals). The relationships between them have been a subject of fierce controversy with multiple studies coming to incompatible conclusions over the last decade leading some researchers to suggest that these relationships might be impossible to resolve. There are thus many outstanding questions such as which is the oldest sibling of the three? Did the mammals go their separate ways due to South America and Africa breaking apart? And if not, when did placentals split up? "This has been one of the areas of greatest debate in evolutionary biology, with many researchers considering it impossible to resolve," said lead author Dr Tarver of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences. "Now we've proven these problems can be solved - you just need to analyse genome-scale datasets using models that accurately reflect genomic evolution." The researchers assembled the largest mammalian phylogenomic dataset ever collected before testing it with a variety of models of molecular evolution, choosing the most robust model and then analysing the data using several supercomputer clusters at the University of Bristol and the University of Texas Advanced Computing Centre. "We tested it to destruction," said Dr Tarver. "We threw the kitchen sink at it." "A complication in reconstructing evolutionary histories from genomic data is that different parts of genomes can and often do give conflicting accounts of the history," said Dr Siavash Mirarab at the University of California San Diego, USA. "Individual genes within the same species can have different histories. This is one reason why the controversy has stood so long - many thought the relationships couldn't be resolved." To address the complexities of analysing large numbers of genes shared among many species, the researchers paired two fundamentally different approaches - concatenated and coalescent-based analyses - to confirm the findings. When the dust settled, the team had a specific family tree showing that Atlantogenata (containing the sibling groups of African Afrotheria and the South American Xenarthra) is the sister group to all other placentals. Because many conflicting family trees have already been published, the team then gathered three of the most influential rivals and tested them against each other with the same model. All of the previous studies suddenly fell into line, their data agreeing with Tarver and colleagues. With the origins of the family tree resolved, what does this mean for placental mammals? The researchers folded in another layer - a molecular clock analysis. "The molecular clock analysis uses a combination of fossils and genomic data to estimate when these lineages diverged from each other," said author Dr Mario Dos-Reis of Queen Mary London, UK. "The results show that the afrotherians and xenarthrens diverged from one another around 90 million years ago." Previously, scientists thought that when Africa and South America separated from each other over 100 million years ago, they broke up the family of placental mammals, who went their separate evolutionary ways divided by geography. But the researchers found that placental mammals didn't split up until after Africa and South America had already separated. "We propose that South America's living endemic Xenarthra (for exmaple, sloths, anteaters, and armadillos) colonized the island-continent via overwater dispersal," said study author Dr Rob Asher of the University of Cambridge, UK. Dr Asher suggests that this isn't as difficult as you might think. Mammals are among the great adventurers of the animal kingdom, and at the time the proto-Atlantic was only a few hundred miles wide. We already know that New World monkeys crossed the Atlantic later, when it was much bigger, probably on rafts formed from storm debris. And, of course, mammals repeatedly colonised remote islands like Madagascar. "You don't always need to overturn the status quo to make a big impact," said Dr Tarver. "All of the competing hypotheses had some evidence to support them - that's precisely why it was the source of such controversy. Proving the roots of the placental family tree with hard empirical evidence is a massive accomplishment." ### Paper 'The Interrelationships of Placental Mammals and the Limits of Phylogenetic Inference' by James E. Tarver, Mario dos Reis, Siavash Mirarab, Raymond J. Moran, Sean Parker, Joseph E. O'Reilly, Benjamin L. King, Mary J. O'Connell, Robert J. Asher, Tandy Warnow, Kevin J. Peterson, Philip C.J. Donoghue and Davide Pisani in Genome Biology and Evolution An estimated 30 percent of the world's population is chronically infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Most people live with the infection without noticeable effect, but it can be life-threatening for people with suppressed immune systems, such as people on cancer therapies or who have HIV/AIDS. Pregnant women can also pass an infection to their unborn children, putting the babies at risk of severe neurological disease. It's known that "Toxo" can affect the brain, even influencing the behavior of its hosts. But scientists have debated exactly how the parasite crosses the blood-brain barrier, a physical obstacle intended to keep pathogens out of the brain. Now, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and colleagues from across the country have identified how the parasite makes its way in. Using a powerful imaging technique that allowed the scientists to track the presence and movement of parasites in living tissues, the researchers found that Toxoplasma infects the brain's endothelial cells, which line blood vessels, reproduces inside of them, and then moves on to invade the central nervous system. "Crossing the blood-brain barrier is a rare event in part because this structure is designed to protect the brain from pathogens," said Christopher Hunter, the Mindy Halikman Heyer President's Distinguished Professor at Penn Vet. "And yet it happens and we have now been able to visualize these events. It's something that no one had seen before." By illuminating the pathogen's path into the brain, the research helps inform what treatment strategies may be most effective at combatting the parasite before it wreaks its worst damage. The study appears in Nature Microbiology. Hunter was the senior author on the study, which was led by Christoph Konradt, a post-doctoral researcher in Hunter's laboratory. A few different theories have been considered to explain how Toxoplasma could enter the brain. Some believe the parasite squeezes between the barrier cells, while others think the parasite goes directly through a cell. Another idea, "beloved of microbiologists," Hunter said, is the Trojan horse hypothesis, in which the parasite hitches a ride across the barrier while hidden inside an infected host cell. Konradt used Penn Vet's multi-photon microscope, which allows them to peer deep into living tissues without damaging them, to try to witness the parasite's invasion in action. In these studies, they used mice that had been specially bred to express a fluorescent green protein in their endothelial cells. They then infected the mice with modified Toxoplasma that expressed a red fluorescent protein. After a week, they saw endothelial cells in the brain that were infected, as well as evidence that the parasite was reproducing inside those cells. Two weeks post-infection, they saw that parasites appeared in the brain tissue adjacent to the endothelial cells. In additional experiments, they were able to visualize parasites bursting out of infected endothelial cells, thereby introducing the parasite into the brain. The researchers also wanted to revisit the Trojan horse hypothesis, to see if, as had been proposed, infected monocytes, a type of immune cell, might be responsible for carrying the parasite into the brain. To test this, the team infected monocytes with a form of Toxo, labeled red, that can't reproduce, then introduced those cells into mice. If the monocytes were indeed acting as a Trojan horse, the scientists would expect to see the parasite breach the blood-brain barrier. But they only saw infected cells within blood vessels, and these cells were not able to cross the blood brain barrier. To further illuminate the mechanism by which Toxo infects and disseminates through the body, the researchers looked specifically at levels of free parasites, that is, parasites that had not already infected or become engulfed by a host cell. They were surprised to see that a significant portion, around a third of the mouse's total parasite load, existed as free parasites in the blood. "I think we expected to see a small number of parasites outside cells, because they have to come out to move from cell to cell," Konradt said. "But I don't think anyone had fully appreciated the sheer number of parasites that are free and able to infect other cells in the vasculature." This presence of free parasites was, however, transient. By 10 days after infection, most mice had no free parasites in their blood. "From a treatment perspective," Hunter said, "that means if a pregnant woman gets infected for the first time, there is a fairly short period of time when the parasite can cross the placenta and affect the fetus. That tells us that targeting these stages in the blood during this narrow window could be effective at preventing congenital transmission." As a final test to see whether parasites could directly access the brain from the blood, the researchers infected mice with a mixture of normal parasites and mutants that was unable to reproduce, each labeled in different colors. They then showed that only the normal, reproducing parasite made its way into the functional brain tissue. "This shows that the parasite has to replicate in order to spread from the blood into other tissues," Konradt said. "That could mean a drug that blocks replication could be effective at preventing dissemination." The team's findings suggest that the current theories about how Toxoplasma crosses the blood-brain barrier are probably not the main way the brain is infected. Rather, parasites move directly from the blood into endothelial cells, where they replicate, cause the cell to burst and then infect neighboring brain cells. Beyond its implications for Toxoplasma infections, the research may give insights into how other viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens may move from the blood into the brain. "Toxo is a really nice model for studying vascular immunity in general," Konradt said. ### Coauthors on the paper included David A. Christian, Jonathan Delong and Gretchen Harms Pritchard of Penn Vet; Norikiyo Ueno and Melissa B. Lodoen of the University of California, Irvine; Jasmin Herz and Dorian B. McGavern of the National Institutes of Health; David J. Bzik of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Anita A. Koshy of the University of Arizona. The study was supported by grants from the German Research Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the University of Arizona and the BIO5 Institute. WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Feb. 15, 2016 - Using a sophisticated, custom-designed 3D printer, regenerative medicine scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have proved that it is feasible to print living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue in patients. Reporting in Nature Biotechnology, the scientists said they printed ear, bone and muscle structures. When implanted in animals, the structures matured into functional tissue and developed a system of blood vessels. Most importantly, these early results indicate that the structures have the right size, strength and function for use in humans. "This novel tissue and organ printer is an important advance in our quest to make replacement tissue for patients," said Anthony Atala, M.D., director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) and senior author on the study. "It can fabricate stable, human-scale tissue of any shape. With further development, this technology could potentially be used to print living tissue and organ structures for surgical implantation." With funding from the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, a federally funded effort to apply regenerative medicine to battlefield injuries, Atala's team aims to implant bioprinted muscle, cartilage and bone in patients in the future. Tissue engineering is a science that aims to grow replacement tissues and organs in the laboratory to help solve the shortage of donated tissue available for transplants. The precision of 3D printing makes it a promising method for replicating the body's complex tissues and organs. However, current printers based on jetting, extrusion and laser-induced forward transfer cannot produce structures with sufficient size or strength to implant in the body. The Integrated Tissue and Organ Printing System (ITOP), developed over a 10-year period by scientists at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, overcomes these challenges. The system deposits both bio-degradable, plastic-like materials to form the tissue "shape" and water-based gels that contain the cells. In addition, a strong, temporary outer structure is formed. The printing process does not harm the cells. A major challenge of tissue engineering is ensuring that implanted structures live long enough to integrate with the body. The Wake Forest Baptist scientists addressed this in two ways. They optimized the water-based "ink" that holds the cells so that it promotes cell health and growth and they printed a lattice of micro-channels throughout the structures. These channels allow nutrients and oxygen from the body to diffuse into the structures and keep them live while they develop a system of blood vessels. It has been previously shown that tissue structures without ready-made blood vessels must be smaller than 200 microns (0.007 inches) for cells to survive. In these studies, a baby-sized ear structure (1.5 inches) survived and showed signs of vascularization at one and two months after implantation. "Our results indicate that the bio-ink combination we used, combined with the micro-channels, provides the right environment to keep the cells alive and to support cell and tissue growth," said Atala. Another advantage of the ITOP system is its ability to use data from CT and MRI scans to "tailor-make" tissue for patients. For a patient missing an ear, for example, the system could print a matching structure. Several proof-of-concept experiments demonstrated the capabilities of ITOP. To show that ITOP can generate complex 3D structures, printed, human-sized external ears were implanted under the skin of mice. Two months later, the shape of the implanted ear was well-maintained and cartilage tissue and blood vessels had formed. To demonstrate the ITOP can generate organized soft tissue structures, printed muscle tissue was implanted in rats. After two weeks, tests confirmed that the muscle was robust enough to maintain its structural characteristics, become vascularized and induce nerve formation. And, to show that construction of a human-sized bone structure, jaw bone fragments were printed using human stem cells. The fragments were the size and shape needed for facial reconstruction in humans. To study the maturation of bioprinted bone in the body, printed segments of skull bone were implanted in rats. After five months, the bioprinted structures had formed vascularized bone tissue. Ongoing studies will measure longer-term outcomes. ### The research was supported, in part, by grants from the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (W81XWH-08-2-0032), the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command (W81XWH-07-1-0718) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (N66001-13-C-2027). Co-authors are: Hyun-Wook Kang, Ph.D., Sang Jin Lee, Ph.D., Carlos Kengla, B.S., and James Yoo, M.D., Ph.D., Wake Forest Baptist. Editors' Note: Photos and video are available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/znichphkx5o6hhs/AAD-EXRF42luwIPPPpuyJDzNa?dl=0 Media contacts: Kathryn Drinkuth, kdrinkut@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-1597, Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-4453; Media Relations Office, 336-716-4587. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is a fully integrated academic medical center located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The institution comprises the medical education and research components of Wake Forest School of Medicine, the integrated clinical structure and consumer brand Wake Forest Baptist Health, which includes North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Brenner Children's Hospital, the creation and commercialization of research discoveries into products that benefit patients and improve health and wellness, through Wake Forest Innovations, Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, a leading center of technological discovery, development and commercialization, as well as a network of affiliated community-based hospitals, physician practices, outpatient services and other medical facilities. Wake Forest School of Medicine is ranked among the nation's best medical schools and is a leading national research center in fields such as regenerative medicine, cancer, neuroscience, aging, addiction and public health sciences. Wake Forest Baptist's clinical programs have consistently ranked as among the best in the country by U.S. News & World Report for the past 20 years. The case in favour of the KYC utility model is clear: it removes the need for the same documents to be provided multiple times and therefore reduces operational costs for banks and clients workload. However, there are a number of utilities in the market that all seem to be jostling for a piece of the same market segment. Jon May, Markit Markit operates the KYC.com utility with Genpact. Although there are a number of competing utilities, Jon May, CEO of the joint venture, indicates a consolidation in the market is unlikely. The utilities are different, he says. Swift has its own niche and we dont look to compete in their space. May argues the benefit of adopting a utility for a bank is the opportunity to work within a fresh regulatory climate. In the utility databases, there is no burden of legacy, he says. There is not the situation of having different groups of data that dont talk to each other. By centralizing the data, it becomes an asset. However, collated information requires cross-border regulatory trust, a harmonization of rules and an agreement on market best-practice. Mahesh Muthu, eClerx Mahesh Muthu, associate principal, client engagement, financial services, with KYC platform provider eClerx, says: What we are seeing is the rise of standards across the globe. It used to be perceived that the US was driving the change, but we are seeing higher standards now across the board. In some Asian countries, there is greater stringency around the submission of original documents. Muthu says that for the utility model to work most effectively, it requires all of the constituent parties to be fully involved. Even when complete, the due diligence to assess the risk of working with the counterparty will remain with the bank. Singapore is asking for locally certified copies of documents whereas in the past electronic copies were accepted, adds Muthu. We are seeing these changes globally and it is making it harder for utilities. Asking for original documents wont create too many issues, but will make more work. Markits May thinks the issue is manageable, saying: If you look at Hong Kong and Singapore, for example, these are two jurisdictions where it is often industry practice to require a certified true copy for certain client types. With kyc.com, we work with our customers to receive documents, which have been certified by a notary or legal department. Our team attests to the origins of the documentation and uploads the information to kyc.com. End-user benefits Matt Stauffer, CEO at KYC utility provider Clarient, explaining the benefits of using the utility for end-users, says: Currently, original physical documents are not included in the Clarient solution. However, Clarient can receive certified copies of original documents and validate them through their internal processes for the end-consumer. Another shake-up could come through the greater use of the LEI. The LEIs allow for easy recognition of a company and its divisions under a single recognizable code. As yet, they are not mandated for use outside of derivatives transactions, but the forecast is that they will expand across a broad array of securities and geographies, even in the absence of a coordinated regulatory push. Alan Samuels, Alacra Alan Samuels, vice-president, reference data solutions at compliance solutions provider Alacra, says the LEI system will help streamline the process of obtaining multiple information about related entities. The greater use of the LEI will help with the KYC challenges, he says. It will identify if the company named is the same entity, or even if it has been replicated elsewhere. Muthu explains its inherent identification characteristics: The LEI contains several core attributes such as the legal name and address of the entity. The bank has to locate the record in the registry, validate the information is correct, record the identifier within their own system, and match the legal documents when the customers are onboarded. At present, there are concerns some of the companies with LEIs might not need them, while others that could benefit are yet to subscribe, as it is not a regulatory requirement. Alacras Samuels says: The most prominent entities are the ones that need to have an LEI. The rated and listed companies need to have it. There are six million entities that could be using it, and 400,000 now have LEIs. It is still only getting started and needs further change to impact how we do business. Matt Stauffer, Clarient Clarients Stauffer says the integration with Depository Trust & Clearing Corporations Global Markets Entity Identifier Utility brought with it 200,000 LEIs issued over 184 jurisdictions. He says: Clarient includes all LEIs issued globally. Having a consistent identifier, such as an LEI, to support the client lifecycle from pre-trade account set up, including KYC, through post-trade processing certainly helps with the compiling of accurate entity data. May concludes: LEIs will continue to increase. Through kyc.com, we procure LEIs for every existing entity. We retrieve the LEI information, update the database and reflect that information back to the banks. The more LEIs that are in place, the easier it will be to update each entity. John Cryan has deliberately set out to talk less grandiloquently and less often than his predecessors as CEOs of Deutsche Bank used to about the banks strategy. Asked to explain his vision at the banks annual press conference in late January perhaps the only interesting question in two and a half hours he shrugged. We are a bank. We are a regulated entity. We dont have much latitude in what we do. Weve organized in four divisions. We think they all work well together; they have a logic in being together. Its understandable, laudable even, that Cryan would rather stick to executing the plan in hand in a determined and disciplined way. But failure to articulate a vision, at a press conference in which he returned time and again to low morale among employees, felt like a mistake. Cryans advisers perhaps told him as much. A week later a memo to employees, from which most observers concentrated on his assertion that Deutsche remained rock solid amid concerns that it might not be able to meet coupon payments on its AT1 debt, sought to address what Deutsche might be in the longer term. Cryan said: We want to be the most-respected financial services provider across all customer segments in Germany, our vital and strong home market; the number-one bank for our corporate, institutional and fiduciary clients in Europe; and the best foreign bank in the United States and Asia. Its early days, but its becoming apparent that even that worthy aim of just executing the strategy that his predecessors set out last April and that he himself approved from his seat on the board, might be harder than Cryan realized. Net revenues Deutsche Bank Source: Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank is coming late to this task. It is finding, as others have before it, that as it cuts costs, revenues disappear and there is no neat and linear improvement in the cost/income ratio. The bank is now talking about investing in areas where it has already lost too much market share and where it wants to rebuild revenues: areas such as cash equities, where it is now recruiting in research and sales, and in advisory, which is a capital-light business but in most years a lousy cost/income one. The bank is determined to get risk-weighted assets down, but weak earnings in its core operating business and poor capital generation dont give it much capacity to take the hit of dumping assets at a big loss, so progress is slow. It can deleverage and shed high-capital-consuming assets that at least earn revenue, but almost as fast as it does so, regulators hit it with higher operational risk-weighted assets (RWAs) in recognition of past regulatory and compliance failures. Seven months into a five-year plan, with the two toughest years ahead, and Deutsche appears to be running full pelt only to stand still. CET 1 ratio vs SREP requirements CRR/CRD IV CET1 ratio Source: Deutsche Bank It needs to get its CET1 capital ratio up to 12.5% in 2018, just to be marginally above the 12.25% demanded by regulators. That would leave it with a much thinner buffer than most banks aim to work with. Today it stands at 11.1% and it might be down to close to 10.5% by the time Deutsche Bank next reports first-quarter 2016 earnings. It wants to reshape the retail bank by listing or selling Postbank, improving the leverage ratio and deconsolidating 40 billion of RWAs in one shot. Deutsche Bank shareholders shouldnt hold their breath as equity prices, particularly those of European banks, collapse. Deutsche Bank wants to grow transaction banking and asset management, in which it is strong in no-growth Europe, by picking up market share in the US and Asia where competition is most fierce. And it has to do that while fixing the investment bank that still dominates the group. This is the business on which Deutsche grew, from a fading European commercial bank in the mid-1980s into a global giant, over the 20 years leading up to the financial crisis. The still unfolding regulatory response since the financial crisis has set out to crush investment banking. Cryans predecessor, Anshu Jain, gambled that as others got out, Deutsche Bank could both grow market share and benefit from fatter margins and he resisted voices on his own board urging him to cut back investment banking. It is easy to say he got that call badly wrong, not quite so easy to say what he should have done instead. James Chappell, analyst at Berenberg, sums up the dilemma neatly: A successful transformation of any banking franchise requires a core business to fall back on and enough capital to change. In Deutsche Banks case, its core business is investment banking, which represents 50% of equity, 75% of leverage assets and 50% of profits. However, investment banking is in structural decline. The most worrying aspect of Deutsches results announcement at the end of January was not the reduced store of ADIs from which to service AT1 coupons, or the fines or restructuring costs it took last year. It was the shuddering drop-off in underlying investment banking revenues in the last two quarters. At a time when it needs its core business to produce profit and generate the capital buffer to shrink its balance sheet, the trajectory suggests that revenues might fall faster than costs, producing not profits but losses. And heres where Deutsches biggest problem lies. Well intentioned though Cryans determination is to focus on execution rather than strategizing, at the moment, when the morale of the banks staff is close to rock bottom, there is a big, existential unanswered question hanging over the bank. Say it does get through the next two years without another huge fine or another big loss, say it manages to work through the restructuring, simplify the bank, get out of the bad markets, cut costs. What then? What is Deutsche Bank for? Who needs it? What does it do and which customers does it serve that no other banks can reach as easily and serve better? Rivals scent blood. US investment banks are almost in a re-run of the early 1990s using the profits from their high-margin oligopoly at home to win out globally in investment banking. European rivals are suddenly ready to pounce as well. The head of investment banking at a leading European competitor to Deutsche Bank tells Euromoney: The biggest change for me came in the second half of last year, when German corporates actively began to engage with us in a way they hadn't before. Deutsche has lost that cachet of being the bank you had to deal with if you were a big German client. Some clients almost express shame at the state the bank finds itself in. There is a feeling in certain quarters in Germany, especially among public-sector financiers, that the bank that bears the countrys name long ago sold its soul to the Anglo-Saxon locusts that have ruined it. Cryan at least speaks German. His name elicits almost universal respect among senior executives at rival banks; Deutsche Banks name, not so much. A board director of another large European bank tells Euromoney: I think for many years up to the crisis its German clients could always tell themselves that Deutsche Bank was the Mercedes-Benz S-Class of European banking. Its now dawning on them that it may be more Volkswagen Polo. Little known outside the banking industry, Cryan has such a high standing within it that almost none of his peers question the new chief executive's ability to stick to the plan and restructure Deutsche Bank, something that his more renowned predecessors could not achieve. A former UBS colleague assures Euromoney: Not only is John very smart, clear thinking and determined, even more importantly he is absolutely straight, honourable and honest. It is perhaps characteristic of the man that while Deutsche bankers, like most of their peers, have traditionally boasted about their wonderful technology as they built platforms that truly altered markets, such as Autobahn, Cryan has come clean about the awful muddle of its legacy IT systems and dependence on end-of-life software. Soft spoken and with a subtle British sense of humour that his audience doesnt always pick up on trust us, he doesnt really want to run Wells Fargo Cryan might need to take a lesson or two in how to bullshit. At the analyst call on January 28, he almost audibly shifted tone as he went from the tell-it-to-the-analysts-like-it-is part of his formal remarks to the dont-forget-to-give-the-troops-something-to-cheer closing section. The core strength is Deutsche Banks brand and client engagement that continues to be extremely strong. I have been very impressed with the depth of client relationship, Cryan said, rather going through the motions. But later, during the gruelling two-and-a-half hour annual press conference that always follows the full-year results, Cryan let slip his observation that: The Deutsche Bank brand isnt resonating with clients, quite so readily. Litigation reserves Source: Deutsche Bank Editors note: In his new book Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton not only updates the argument from his groundbreaking Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (1985) but also presents a powerful new critique of Darwinian evolution. This article is one in a series in which Dr. Denton summarizes some of the most important points of the new book. For the full story, get your copy of Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis. For a limited time, youll enjoy a 30 percent discount at CreateSpace by using the discount code QBDHMYJH. At Londons famous Natural History Museum in South Kensington, a statue of Richard Owen had been prominently placed for many decades at the head of the main staircase. But in a curiously symbolic event on May 23, 2008, the statue was moved to one of the adjacent balconies to make room for a statue of Charles Darwin, which now sits in pride of place. The reason for this gesture? The Natural History Museum is a grand temple to Darwinian evolution, and Owen was a staunch defender of the alternative structuralist conception of nature a conception that, if true, would relegate Darwinian selectionism to a very trivial role in the evolution of life. Owen founded the museum and served as its first curator and director. He made huge contributions to comparative anatomy and paleontology in the 19th century, including coining the term dinosaur and defining the term homology. Owen believed that there was a substantial degree of order inherent in living systems, manifest in what he termed primal patterns, the grand taxa-defining homologs or ground plans that underlie the adaptive diversity of life. Because of his vigorous opposition to the functional conception of nature, Owen was vilified by Huxley and other supporters of Darwin. After the publication of the Origin, Owens contribution to biology was increasingly downplayed by the Darwin camp, and his rejection of the conception that all biological order was to serve some utilitarian end was dismissed as archaic and treated as based on failed metaphysical assumptions. Little wonder they moved his statue! While many of the taxa-defining homologs including, among others, the feather, the poison claw of the centipede, the retractable claw of cats, the mammalian diaphragm, and mammary glands are clearly adaptive, a great many others, such as the odd number of segments in centipedes, the concentric whorls of the flower, the insect body plan, and the pentadactyl limb, convey the powerful impression of being basically non-adaptive Bauplans. The fact that many exhibit curious geometric and numeric features reinforces the impression that they are indeed abstract non-adaptive patterns, quite beyond the explanatory reach of any adaptationist or selectionist narrative. In all those cases Darwinian explanations are simply ruled out of court. The difficulty of accounting for arbitrary geometric and numerical patterns in terms of bit-by-bit selection was one of the basic thrusts of William Batesons vigorous attack on Darwinian orthodoxy, where he argued that such stories descend into endless absurdity.1 If indeed a significant proportion of the taxa-defining primal patterns serve no specific adaptive function and never did, as common sense dictates and as Owen thought to be true of the Bauplan of the tetrapod limb, then I think a fair assessment has to be that Darwinism (more specifically, cumulative selection) cannot supply an explanation for the origin of a significant fraction of the defining homologs of the Types and hence for the natural system itself. References: (1) Bateson, Materials for the Study of Variation, 410. Image: Richard Owen with giant moa skeleton, by John van Voorst [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. NFU Scotland has welcomed an announcement of 70,000 which will fund a full-time post within Police Scotland to move rural and agricultural crime policy forward. At NFU Scotlands AGM last Friday (12 February), the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) announced the funding from leading rural insurer NFU Mutual for a years post to take forward the initiative. NFU Scotland has worked closely with Police Scotland over the last 18 months to influence an increased focus on rural and agricultural crime in its remit. As well as inputting into national SPARC meetings, NFU Scotland has been active at a regional level with local Rural Watch initiatives set up in many areas in conjunction with Police Scotland as well as on farm events with members. In addition, the Union has been working closely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service on a refresh of agricultural crime prosecution policy. NFU Scotlands President Allan Bowie commented: NFU Scotland has been extremely encouraged by the work undertaken by SPARC to this point. The Union has been instrumental in re-focussing rural crime within Police Scotlands remit and positive change has taken place in recent times. We have held a number of very successful events on farms for members at a regional level to encourage members to take simple precautions to protect their farms, but also how to correctly report a crime or suspicious activity. This work will continue over the coming year and we look forward to further collaboration with Police Scotland and other stakeholders. Assistant Chief Constable Kate Thomson said: We have made significant progress in building partnerships across Scotland to more effectively tackle rural crime. This sponsorship consolidates and builds on activity over the last 12 months and is a real vote of confidence in the commitment of Police Scotland, SPARC and its members to tackling crime in rural communities. As outlined in our recent written submission to Justice Committee, SPARC partnership activity takes the form of prevention, investigation, intelligence gathering and enforcement, specifically targeting resources at the key rural crime issues affecting each local area. At the SPARC meeting on 26 January 2016, members were advised, by NFU Mutual, that its claims data showed that the partnership working driven and supported by SPARC is already showing what it described as impressive results. Martin Malone of leading rural insurer NFU Mutual stated: NFU Mutual is delighted to be financially supporting SPARC. This is a key initiative in supporting our members concerns around rural crime, through our network of 34 offices across Scotland and we are working closely with Police Scotland to reduce the impact rural crime has on our members. The British Veterinary Association (BVA), the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA), the Sheep Veterinary Society (SVS) and the Goat Veterinary Society (GVS) have responded to the publication of the Animal and Plant Health Agencys (APHA) risk assessment of a Bluetongue outbreak in the UK. Following the ongoing presence of the disease in France, the report reveals the UK is at risk of an outbreak during the Spring or, more likely, late Summer months. BVA's Senior Vice President John Blackwell joined Defra, the National Farmers Union (NFU) and The Pirbright Institute in urging farmers to remain vigilant over the Bluetongue risk, including monitoring their stock carefully and reporting any clinical signs of the disease immediately to their vet and the APHA. BVA Senior Vice President said: The APHA risk assessment has identified a high risk of a Bluetongue outbreak in the UK towards the end of the summer. The information released today is a useful reminder to UK farmers, particularly those in the South East of England, to remain vigilant for any signs of Bluetongue in their animals. We strongly encourage all farmers to closely monitor their stock for Bluetongue symptoms - particularly sheep that are most susceptible to the disease - including eye and nasal discharge, drooling, swelling around the head or mouth, lethargy and lameness. Cattle may show no signs of illness, but any suspected symptoms should be reported immediately to your local vet and to the APHA. Vets are there to support farmers in protecting the health and welfare of their livestock. Wed recommend farmers speak to their local vet about the benefits of vaccination, given their locality and individual circumstances, and especially if farmers have any concerns about their livestock. As vaccination is one of the key controls, BVA and our colleagues in other veterinary associations will continue to work with farmers, government and manufacturers to ensure there is enough vaccine to meet demand. The current situation highlights the continuing importance of robust disease surveillance. In a global world, where diseases such as Bluetongue pose threats to UK livestock whether as a new disease or the re-emergence of a disease after many years with no outbreaks in the UK its important we have the capability to identify and diagnose in order to protect our national herd and flock. BVA has called on government and industry to lead in developing new and cost efficient ways to capture and analyse disease and surveillance data, drawing on innovations in digital technology and big data analysis. Neil Blake BCVA President said: Bluetongue is a notifiable disease. BCVA urges vets and farmers to ensure they are aware of the clinical signs and of the importance of reporting suspicion of disease as the year progresses and the risk of incursion increases, especially in the likely higher risk areas towards the South and East of Great Britain. Although clinical signs seen in France have been generally mild, the disease has the potential to cause significant production loss, and also major disruption to trade. Farmers considering importing animals or attending shows in or near the affected area in mainland Europe should consider carefully the risk to their stock and others', and keep themselves fully informed. Vaccination is a key part in the control and prevention of spread as it was in in 2007-8 in the UK, and it is hoped that availability of vaccine will not be a limiting step in BTV control should it reach Great Britain. Tim Bebbington SVS President said: It is sobering to learn that there is likely to be an incursion of Bluetongue into Southern England in late summer 2016. It seems that we are again vulnerable to the spread of a once exotic disease that is carried by midges blown on the wind. Sheep can suffer severe ill health from Bluetongue infection, with extensive damage to the lining of the mouth, swollen face and tongue, lethargy and lameness. Our national flock needs protection. All farmers and vets must remain vigilant and report any suspicious signs in their stock as Bluetongue is notifiable. The last outbreak of Bluetongue in 2007-8 was controlled and eradicated both by the use of movement controls, insecticides and most importantly 28 million doses of vaccine. The production, supply and delivery of vaccine on this scale was an outstanding achievement of the pharmaceutical and livestock industry. As our livestock is threatened again we may have to repeat this feat. Farmers in Southern England should consult with their vets as they likely to be in the front line and vaccination along this coast will be our best defence. David Harwood GVS Chairman said: All goats are susceptible to Bluetongue, and it is important that this message is made clear not only to farmers, but to all those who keep goats, many of which are kept as pets and are popular in public attractions around the UK. We would urge all goat owners to remain vigilant for this disease, and to familiarise themselves with the clinical signs described and to discuss any concerns with their own veterinary surgeon. See also: Farmers urged to remain vigiliant over Bluetongue risk New report backs farmers' calls for better waste crime policies In a post for the FCPA Blog, Ilya Zlatkin recently compared corrupt companies to white collar tomb raiders. He outlined how antiques and ancient artefacts circulate on the black market, and the excellent work of the FBIs Art Crime Team in locating and returning those artefacts to their rightful owners. As I read Ilyas post, I thought about recent TV news pictures from the Middle East of temples and other treasures that have for survived thousands of years suddenly being blown up by mindless thugs, determined to shock the rest of the world. The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has taken a perverse delight in filming its zealots systematically destroying ancient statues and carvings using sledgehammers, trying to erase history. Ironically, the ISIL fanatics have also used the black market to dispose of ancient artworks, too, to fund their nihilist statelet. In fact, customs borders worldwide are ripe for corruption (Jeroen Michels touched on this in another recent post for the FCPA Blog). Jeroen quoted J.W. Shaver, former Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, who said: There are few public agencies in which the classic pre-conditions for institutional corruption are so conveniently presented as in a Customs administration. Why are the two scenarios inextricably linked? Because the same thugs who are slowly destroying priceless artefacts in Syria and Iraq are also funding their terrorist campaigns by pilfering crude oil, via the oil fields they acquired when they conquered their way through parts of Syria, Libya, and Iraq, and set up their so-called state. The questions here should not be limited to who is buying ISILs oil and thereby funding their atrocities: rather, how on earth is this oil reaching the end-consumer? Carole Nakhle, writing for Al-Jazeera, has researched the problem. Many commentators are suggesting the value of the oil sold by the rogue state is $1 million to $1.5 million per day. If we assume that recipient countries are oblivious to the origins of this oil (and some of us have our doubts), then it is reasonable to assume that these countries have porous borders and controls at best and, of course, potentially corrupt customs officials. Most readers of the FCPA Blog will agree that all corruption is wrong. But the wider issue is potentially catastrophic: If borders are manned by corrupt customs officials, and they allow terrorist oil (or worse) to pass through, this is corruption on the most serious of scales. Those responsible are knowingly facilitating the funding of terrorism. In doing so they are putting their own country and the rest of the world at risk. Russia has already accused Turkey of buying cheap terrorist oil. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, and the accusations have to be viewed in the context of the ongoing conflict in the region. The accusations and counter accusations will continue to fly. Theres going to be a lot more to come with this story about the movement of illicit oil. Meanwhile all countries should clear out corrupt customs officials and their crooked bosses, and plug the leaks at their borders. The worlds security depends on it. _____ Martin Kenney is Managing Partner of Martin Kenney & Co., Solicitors, a specialist investigative and asset recovery practice focused on multi-jurisdictional fraud and grand corruption cases www.martinkenney.com |@MKSolicitors. Bonjour or Buenas Dias, perhaps Guedemorgen or Ciao! Barbara Kastelin Have you stumbled into Stansted or Luton airport at 4.30 in the morning, eyelids puffed and pillow-crinkles on your cheek, to find that you have to elbow yourself through the crowds? You sit at the table you fought for, nursing your crack-of-dawn coffee, and look up at the departure panel, showing the 'time until gate' for the first ten destinations. In Venice you offer the gondolier gingernuts and he gives you his boater and teaches you how to row. In Amsterdam you show interest in the Dutch name of the flowers in reception, and she takes you to a flower auction. In the French Alps you start a snowball fight for apres-ski and three dozen people join in. In Morocco you compliment the cook and he shows you the secrets of his clay oven. In Paris you give 20 euros to the human statue near Sacre Coeur and, from his plinth, he winks and tosses you his 'stone' rose. In the Algarve you get up early to photograph sardine-boats coming in and are invited to fish with them tomorrow. In Tallinn you engage with the guide in the Orthodox Church and she shows you the crypt where her ancestor carved the iconostases. In Turkey you caress a cat, and an old woman gets off her chair to make a gift to you of her blue-eye amulet. Next the gate for Barcelona comes up. The sudden rumble of pull-along cases reminds you of the thunderstorm, and everyone helping the waiters to move inside where they played Flamenco to which people danced at 10 in the morning. After that, your gate is up. You gather your things. A new destination beckons: a life experience which will add to the wealth of the other nine, because you now know how to live and give. I've had two autobiographical/ travel books dealt with by my publisher Matador: A Time for My Life Travels with Morris and A Time in My Life. Both cover events, many years ago (1960s) when I was still in my twenties. They've been inspired by diaries kept at the time. To begin with I was a so-called 'Ten-pound Pom', gaining a place on a skip that took off to Oz. Here I fulfilled a year's contract working as a trained hospital nurse in Victoria. Julie, whom I'd met on the ship, now contacted me, suggesting I join her to explore Oz. So - it was when I acquired what was to become our mutually owned, second-hand, Morris Minor, teaching myself to drive in just a few weeks. Many nights were then spent sleeping in a two-man tent, cooking over a campfire, before taking off to tackle unmarked roads. The second book has to do with myself alone obtaining a contract to work close to the Equator - as a nurse on Atolls, centre of the Pacific Ocean. This was during the dying days of British Colonialism. And now, poor islanders - how they suffer. The sea around them rises, so must so many islands will be lost. Tyra Banks has shared the first picture of her newborn son. Tyra Banks and York [c Instagram] The 'America's Next Top Model' host - who has opened up about her fertility struggles in the past - took to Instagram on Sunday (14.02.16) to share a picture of herself cradling baby York, who she welcomed with partner Erik Asla last month. Tyra captioned the image: "This is the Happiest Valentine's Day of my life. York, Daddy @erikasla and I send you so much love (sic)." Last month, Tyra revealed she and Eric had welcomed their "miracle baby boy" via an "angel" surrogate mother. She wrote on the photo sharing site: "The best present we worked and prayed so hard for is finally here. He's got my fingers and big eyes and his daddy Erik's mouth and chin. "As we thank the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us, we pray for everyone who struggles to reach this joyous milestone. York Banks Asla, welcome to the world. (sic)" The 42-year-old supermodel previously revealed she has had to endure "traumatic" rounds of fertility treatment in the past. She said: "When I turned 40, the one thing I was not happy about is that I did not have kids. I'm like, 'Damn, the clock is ticking!' When you're like, 'OK, I'm just going to do it,' then it's not so easy as you get older." "I've had some not happy moments with [IVF], very traumatic moments. It's difficult as you get older. It's not something that can just happen." Britain's Prince George is "very clever and articulate". Prince George The two-year-old prince enjoyed a playdate with Maud Windsor - whose grandfather is Queen Elizabeth's cousin Prince Michael of Kent - before the birth of his sister Princess Charlotte last year and impressed his relatives with his advanced development. Maud's mother, actress Sophie Winkleman - who is officially titled Lady Frederick Windsor - said of Prince William and Duchess Catherine's son: "We were invited to tea at Kensington Palace just before Princess Charlotte was born. "Maud and George got on very well. He's a very clever, articulate little boy and was speaking long before other toddlers his age." Lord Frederick and Sophie welcomed their second child, Isabella, into the world on January 16 and the pair are thrilled to have two daughters. Financial analyst Frederick, who is known as Freddie, told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "I am thrilled to have a second little girl. "I didn't realise how funny little girls can be until I had one. I'm also thrilled they will have each other. "As a child I had - and still have - a close bond with my younger sister [Lady Gabriella Windsor]and it will be wonderful to watch Maud and Isabella play and grow up together like we did. The bond you form with your sibling can be the closest one you have with anyone in your life." The couple had been living in Los Angeles since they wed six years ago but are happy to have returned to the UK to raise their daughters. Sophie said: "We had a fascinating, fun time in LA. "The place is exciting when you don't have any responsibilities. But when you're suddenly in charge of a little person's life, that changes." Britain's Pippa Middleton has been appointed an ambassador for Dassi bikes. Pippa Middleton The 32-year-old party planner - who is the younger sister of Duchess Catherine - chose the company for a 3,000-mile cycle race across the US in July 2014 and will now be helping to promote their message of only using British components in their bikes. Dassi founder Stuart Abbott told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "We are talking to her about standing up for British manufacturing and riding more events." After competing in the Race Across America event, Pippa auctioned off her Dassi 6.2 Aero road bike in aid of the British Heart Foundation and the Michael Matthews Foundation. The auction raised 3,100, which was added to the 20,000 she raised from the race. This week, Dassi - whose custom-build bikes cost around 5,000 each - launches its first "totally made in Britain high performance cycle" at the Bike Show, at the ExCel centre in East London. Dassi was founded in 2011 by the former Rolls-Royce engineer, who invested 125,000. Last year, he took on 400,000 of investment to fund expansion in return for 30 per cent of the firm. The company's annual turnover is around 300,000. Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria is reportedly planning a home birth. Prince Daniel and Princess Victoria The 38-year-old princess and husband Prince Daniel - who already have three-year-old Princess Estelle together - reportedly feel the Hala Palace would provide the perfect atmosphere to welcome their second child into the world next month, Swedish publication Svenskdam reports. Victoria's final official engagement is to take place today (15.02.16), however she is expected to continue working until as late as possible, just as she did while expecting Estelle. Royal spokesperson Margarate Thorgren said: "The royal family have engagements that are not on the official calendar." Last week, Victoria attended the Global Change Awards - an event set up by H&M to recognise innovative ideas that will improve sustainability in fashion - at Stockholm's City Hall in a stunning midnight blue floor-length lace gown. The couple announced they were expecting their second child back in September, but have not revealed the gender of their unborn tot. However, the princess - who has been rumoured to be expecting twins - joked Estelle isn't interested in having either a little brother or a younger sister to play with. She quipped recently: "What she really wants is a hamster!" Stephanie Davis and Jeremy McConnell are moving in together. Stephanie Davis The loved-up couple may have only been dating six weeks after they controversially fell for each other while trapped inside the 'Celebrity Big Brother' house last month but it seems they aren't wasting any time as they've already started hunting for their new love nest. Stephanie explained: "Our first night alone together [after leaving the infamous abode earlier this month] was amazing. We didn't see the point in waiting around so we're moving in together." Jeremy, 25, added: "We've already started house-hunting!" And, if getting a house together wasn't enough, the Irish hunk is also thinking about popping the question to Stephanie, 22. Speaking to OK! magazine, he said: "All my friends are going to take the p*** out of me but I can see myself marrying her." The duo came under fire a few weeks ago when they embarked on a steamy love affair inside the infamous abode while the axed 'Hollyoaks' actress' boyfriend Sam Reece, who she dated for a year, saw their romance flourish on national television. But, although many people felt sorry for Sam as he watched the situation unfold, Stephanie has since claimed her relationship with the handsome model was on the rocks before she even entered the house because he'd also done the dirty on her. Although Stephanie seemingly ended things with Sam when she began locking lips with Jeremy, the brunette beauty sealed the deal the night after she left the house two weeks ago by dumping him via text. She said recently: "I sent a text to Sam the next day. I said a lot of things. I just said, 'It's nice to see you're making money off the back of me. You won't need my money now. Good luck. I've met someone I want to be with now.' " The page you were looking for does not exist. HOME | B2B | KNOWLEDGE | SERVICES Here are some helpful links instead: The Indian arm of global e-commerce major Amazon has undertaken several initiatives in the India and US marketplaces to celebrate the Make in India week.Amazon.in dedicated its gateway (main page) to the Make in India initiative on the opening day of the event. It has also launched a dedicated 'Make in India' store on its platform featuring products, across categories that are manufactured in India including offerings from hundreds of Indian and international brands, the company said in a press release. The Indian arm of global e-commerce major Amazon has undertaken several initiatives in the India and US marketplaces to celebrate the Make in India# To further support the Government's effort in taking the Make in India creations to global markets, Amazon.com is showcasing India Products prominently on the site, thus providing over 294 million global customers easy access and an opportunity to discover millions of India made products. These products are being offered by over 6000 Indian manufacturers and sellers and include products ranging from tapestry, toys, Indian handicrafts, Ayurveda products to yoga accessories, nautical instruments and more.Amit Agarwal, VP and Country Head, Amazon India said, We are very excited to support the Make In India week with several initiatives on both Amazon.in and Amazon.com. Make in India connects with our mission to transform how India buys and sells and we are thrilled that it will provide further impetus to Indian manufacturing allowing customers globally to access Indian innovations and creations. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The Haryana Government has ambitions plans about its textile industry wants to turn Gurgaon into an apparel hub like Surat and Varanasi.The government made its intentions clear ahead of the 'Happening Haryana: Global Investors Summit in Gurgaon at a discussion hosted by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC). Haryana Government officials and apparel industry experts took part in the discussion on the scope of investment in the clothing industry. The Haryana Government has ambitions plans about its textile industry wants to turn Gurgaon into an apparel hub like Surat and Varanasi.The government# We have made a mark in apparel export all over the world. We are the seventh largest apparel exporter in globe and the industry is growing at the rate of 3.50 per cent. Haryana is the upcoming destination for investment in apparel industry and is turning into an apparel hub. I would like Gurgaon to become an apparel brand like Surat and Banaras. The Government of Haryana will support the budding entrepreneurs and will provide favorable environment to them. We will gear up and address the critical issues of the industry to motivate entrepreneurship and provide investment in Apparel Industry, said P K Das, Additional Chief Secretary of the state, according to an official press release.The apparel sector is one of the focus areas for investment in Haryana at the global investors' summit.Critical issues such as skilled manpower supply, ease of doing business and need for constant interaction between government and industry for easier compliance of regulations for the apparel industry were discussed.Participants also highlighted the need to address the lack of sufficient industrial training institutes. With grueling emphasis on Skill India these days, there is a need to open more ITI's training students about the nuances of apparel sector, so that this industry sees more professional entering it to entry-level jobs. Skill-based training makes entrants more employable in a particular sector, the release said.We are happy that Happening Haryana has apparel sector as an area of investment in Haryana. I appreciate the initiative taken by the Government of Haryana in taking up the industry issues. The apparel sector has its share of problems; investment would increase by leaps and bounds once the government takes steps towards eradication of these problems. We have collaborated with state government in various areas and we are constantly in touch with them to help Apparel Industry grow further, said Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, AEPC. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Teatum Jones was announced as the winner of the womenswear final of the 2015-2016 International Woolmark Prize, presented at a special event as part of New York Fashion Week last week, the Woolmark Company said in a press release.I loved the original concept, the articulation of the concept and the romanticism of the clothes, said Andre Leon Talley, one of the judges who is also a fashion author, editor and consultant, former Editor-at-Large, American Vogue. They did their research in terms of sourcing and I believe some customers will really respond to the narrative. It was wonderful. Teatum Jones was announced as the winner of the womenswear final of the 2015-2016 International Woolmark Prize, presented at a special event as part# Thakoon Panichgul, Chief Creative Officer, Thakoon explained: The winner took to the task of using wool in innovative ways. They showed artisanal qualities through wool lace, colour blocking and double-faced wool creating a three-dimensional quality.Inspired by a Wool Utopia conceived by English nun Agnes Morrogh-Bernard in 1892, whereby she founded the Foxford Woollen Mills to weave luxurious woollen blankets and restore hope to an impoverished town, Teatum Jones travelled to the mill to create exclusive blankets and modernised them with geometric foil prints and hand embroideries on skirts and jackets.Using a mix of 17.5 micron and 19.5 micron Australian Merino wool for the clothes, and 23 micron wool for the accessories, the UK design duo partnered with a specialist guipure lace mill in France, convincing them to use wool for the first time, to create innovative, vibrant geometric Merino laces - inspired by the geometric borders of the blankets. Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones then flew to Italy where they developed a stretch wool that feels similar to a scuba suit, upon which they bonded the Merino lace, creating a luxurious lace fabric that performed as a structured tailoring cloth.For our regional entry we really pushed the innovation in our textile development and the use of Merino wool. We had developed many techniques and new ways of using Merino, which impressed the judges. For the final capsule collection, we decided to take the strongest of these techniques and concentrate on developing them, refining them and maximising the beauty in their potential.Stuart McCullough, CEO Australian Wool Innovation, who was also a jury member, said: Teatum Jones has showcased wool in a unique but very commercial way. We are excited about their take on Australian Merino wool and it feels like something very new.Teatum Jones added: This is amazing, we are honoured and excited and it's just the beginning; we have only scratched the surface. This award lets us ignite the magic of wool, so the customer sees the romance in wool. This competition is the opportunity to be physically present at store launches and being able to pass on that experience to the customer is magical. There is finally some good news for Maharashtra's cotton sector. The new textile policy unveiled on Sunday which promises capital grants of up to 25 to 30 per cent to self-financed investors is aimed at giving better payment to three lakh farmers in the state's cotton belt.The new policy unveiled at the Make in India Week in Mumbai is based on the theme 'Cotton to Cloth, Farm to Fashion'. Currently, only textile units which had taken bank loans were eligible for capital subsidy.Now, self-financed textile units in Vidarbha, Marathwada, and North Maharashtra regions that produce the bulk of the state's cotton, will also be eligible for 25-30 per cent capital grants from the state.Textiles minister Chandrakant Patil announced the policy to revive the sector at a panel discussion on opportunities in textiles in Maharashtra at the Make in India week.Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that his government state has laid stress on investments to strengthen the linkages that would take into account the farmer who produces cotton to spinning of yarn to ready-made garments in industrial units, complete with innovative design and marketing.Patil underlined the huge potential of textile mills in the state and said that Maharashtra needs over 250 spinning, 200 processing and 2,000 garment units in order to utilise the cotton produced in the state. He invited investors to invest in the state which would benefit them as well as farmers and youth.Dilip Jiwrajka, Managing Director of Alok Industries, which operates four textile units in the Maharashtra, welcomed the initiative. He said textile units in the state should also get cheaper electricity like in neighbouring Gujarat.R.K. Dalmiya, chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, said the initiative will give Maharashtra a competitive edge over Tamil Nadu which has a heavy concentration of textile mills.Maharashtra's Industry minister Subhash Desai said the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) was setting up 10 integrated textile parks in the state. He said the government is targeting an investment of Rs 40,000 crore for these parks in the cotton producing regions of Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra which would generate more than 11 lakh jobs.The state government has reduced the premium on MIDC land to encourage investors to invest in these parks, Desai said. One of these parks has come up at Nandgaon Peth in Amravati district in Vidarbha where Raymond Industries has signed an agreement for an investment of Rs 1400 crore. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Be it the leaked pictures from the sets or some controversies, Shahrukh Khan's upcoming film, Raees is in tremendous buzz. And now, we got our hands on the exclusive picture of Shahrukh's co-actress in Raees, Mahira Khan, straight from the sets of the film. Mahira was spotted in a red traditional wear and the actress is looking really pretty. Reportedly, Mahira will be seen playing the character of a girl named Aasyia, and romancing Shahrukh Khan in the film. Check Out The Pictures Here: For those who don't know, Mahira Khan is a film and television actress from Pakistan, and she is debuting in Bollywood with SRK's Raees. Along with Shahrukh Khan, she will also share screen space with Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the first time and we are really excited to watch this trio on-screen! When Shahrukh Praised Mahira: Not so long ago, while interacting with press in Edinburg, where Shahrukh had gone to receive his second Honorary Doctorate, he had praised Mahira and said, "She is soft spoken, very gentle, very sweet." He had added, "She's beautiful, she's fantastic and she has a very different style of acting. The reason we took her in the film was [that] we wanted it to be very different as far as the leading lady was concerned, and she brings that to the table and much more." "It's a pleasure to work with her," said SRK admiringly. Mahira is a die-hard fan of SRK, and Shahrukh too, is equally smitten with the very talented diva. SRK-Mahira's Raees is directed by Rahul Dholakia and all set to hit the theatres during Eid this year (2016). The film is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Gauri Khan and Farhan Akhtar. BORN BEAUTIFUL! These 30 Unseen Pics Of The 'Immortal Beauty' Madhubala, Will Kill Your Monday Blues Actor Kabir Duhan Singh, who was seen in Thala Ajith's Vedalam, says he couldn't take up any other projects, despite being bombarded with opportunities to star in Tamil flicks, post Vedalam. "By god's grace, I'm busy till April. I have back-to-back releases and I'm shooting for a few projects. I got some really nice offers in Tamil after 'Vedalam', but I couldn't accept them because of my packed schedule. Instead of accepting any offer that comes my way, I'm keen on doing a bigger project," Kabir told IANS. He also showered praises on Ajith and Telugu star Pawan Kalyan. "Working with them (Ajith & Pawan) is always special and I'll treasure the experience. It's like I've found two elder brothers in Ajith sir and Pawan sir. Both of them, despite being huge stars, are very warm and friendly to not just co-stars but to everybody on the sets," he said. "Both of them take such good care of the unit members. Ajith sir even cooked for nearly 200 unit members on the sets of 'Vedalam'," Kabir, who is currently shooting for Pawan Kalyan's Sardaar Gabbar Singh, said before signing off. 'Jil Jung Juk' Movie Review & Rating: An Eccentric 'Jung'le-like Ride! Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, who is currently in the US, made a pit-stop in San Jose, California on Monday to meet members of his extended family. "All Haasan boys except Mr. Charuhasan. R to L. Chandrahasan, Nirmal Haasan, Siddharth Haasan and Me K. Haasan. San Jose (sic)," Kamal Haasan posted on his official Twitter page. Chandrahasan is Kamal's elder brother while Nirmal and Siddharth are Chandrahasan's son and grandson, respectively. On Sunday (14th February), the Manmadan Ambu actor also visited Google's office in Boston. "Googling the Google & managing some googlers. Was at the heart of @google & there was so much of it there @YouTube." The star actor posted. Last week, he delivered a speech on freedom at India Conference 2016 at Harvard University. During this trip, Kamal is said to have finalised locations for his next Tamil-Hindi bilingual which will be shot entirely in the US. The project, which will see Shruti Haasan share screen space with her father for the very first time, will be helmed by eminent Malayalam director TK Rajeev Kumar. Do More Tamil Films: Mani Ratnam To Madhavan Being an ardent follower of 'Hindu Dharma' and one of the key politicians of Andhra Pradesh, Balakrishna was in Visakhapatnam yesterday, at the Sarada Peetam to offer special prayers; for the sake of the state's well-being. Talking about the purpose of the visit and how 'Sastras' and 'Hindu Dharma' has been playing a pivotal role in the ruling of the states since the ancient times, he reminisced a few slokas. But, when an enthusiastic fan screamed 'once more', hooting for the slokas said by Balayya, it pissed him off. The actor chided the fan-boy and said it is not any movie dialogue. However, it was all a candid moment to the cameras and Balakrishna himself laughed it off, which left the fan also, in smiles. A few days ago, Balakrishna was trending on the social networking sites, when a video of his abusive talk with media, has gone viral. However, it is not anything new for Balayya, who is quite outspoken in nature. On the work front, Balakrishna is gearing up to kick-start his 100th movie and the rumor mill inform has it that he has already given a nod for the sequel of his old super hit film, Aditya 369. The film is said to be titled Aditya 999 and director Krish is likely to helm the project, if the sources are anything to go by. Enormous amounts of heat and pressure can dramatically change the most solid geological formations. Similar tensions are causing transformations in Asias financial services landscape. Increasingly stringent regulations, volatile economies, tougher competition and shifting technology are forcing banks and insurers to consider how best to reshape their businesses to suit this changing environment. It isnt easy. Companies are often underprepared for deals, with poor data clouding value assessments, and lacking preparedness for separation issues including carve-outs of financial data. EY has identified a set of themes that are likely to underpin M&A in the financial services sector in 2016. Companies seeking to benefit from this volatile period might want to consider these possibilities as they plot their strategies for the coming year. 1. Expect a buyers market Financial services executives often lament having held onto certain assets for too long, but they appear to be learning. Several major players are becoming willing to exit non-core investments, offering acquisition opportunities for Asian buyers. EY predicted in 2015 that acquirers needed to understand local dynamics and put them into a regional context. But market volatility during the year led many would-be divestors to wait for better conditions and more clarity over their own capital positions before selling assets. This will likely change in 2016, as more international companies decide the positions they hold in Asia are too small or costly. International financial services companies used to like making minority investments in regional companies to extend their reach, says Charlie Alexander, partner responsible for financial services sector transactions across Asia-Pacific at EY. But new capital rules make such positions capital-inefficient. Now its often better for companies to divest such assets and recognize the upside or downside in value on disposal. Some have sold minority investments at high valuations. For example, Deutsche Bank recently agreed to sell its 20% stake in Beijing-based Hua Xia Bank to Chinese insurer PICC Property and Casualty for up to US$4 billion. 2. Banks to take fintech seriously Financial technology, or fintech, was the buzz expression across the worlds financial services industry in 2015. The potential of new, online-based forms of technology to streamline and modernize traditional banking services both excites and frightens financial services companies. Many banks and insurers are supporting fledgling fintech businesses. Others are seeking to buy proven technologies. Towards the end of 2015 we began to see banks do more than just discuss acquiring innovative and disruptive technologies, and start to commit themselves, as Australias Westpac did piloting SME lending with fintech Prospa and its own fintech fund, says Alexander. Financial services institutions in Asia-Pacific are embracing disruptive technologies including blockchain, robo-advice and customer-centric payments platforms. And they are beginning to make such investments directly. Previously banks invested into fintech venture capital funding, but this year we expect banks to make more alliances and acquisitions, says Alexander. Expect to see fintechs acquiring fintechs and more direct acquisitions by banks and insurers of fintechs. Watch out too for blockchain technology advancements, and the disruption that could bring. 3. Consider what banks of the future will look like A tougher regulatory environment is also leading to M&A possibilities. Financial institutions are not just thinking about how best to make savings. Increasingly stringent rules have forced bank decision-makers to consider which divisions best offer return on capital, says Alexander. Last year, EY predicted banks would explore how to better extract value from their franchise, such as through bancassurance or similar forms of distribution arrangements. This has been borne out through a tighter strategic focus, with banks increasingly looking at disposals, alliances and capital-light deal structures. Often these deals are small and tactical in nature, with banks often acquiring a small financial institution with a specific skill set or customer base. Alexander thinks more is to come. Banks are re-examining the business lines and geographies to be in for the long term and are increasingly trying to future-proof their businesses from the impact of digital and regulatory disruption, he said. 4. Insurers to focus on winning in their key markets Asias insurance sector is growing fast, but it is also competitive. Margins are under pressure due to high levels of legacy costs and low investment yields. So insurance companies should focus on winning in their key markets before expanding further. As with banking, embracing fintech can help insurers. Technology is accelerating mobile and web-based sales, advice and distribution opportunities in the region, says Alexander. Insurers should continue to focus on their core while investing in fintech. Increasingly, a divide is forming between legacy insurance businesses and forward-looking new companies that use new technology to enable digital customer interaction, technologically enabled pricing and product design, and streamlined processing and settlement. This disconnect between the old and the new is likely to drive divestment of back books or entire legacy operations in 2016, says Alexander. China also offers a big opportunity, both due to its large potential customer base and the liberalization of its financial system. Insurance companies are likely to invest more into China via Hong Kong, which remains an attractive market for local customers and mainland customers signing contracts while visiting the city. Hong Kongs Dah Sing Financial Holdings is reportedly looking to sell its life insurance business for up to US$1 billion. 5. Emerging markets are on the hunt Lastly, expect to see regionally-headquartered financial institutions seek geographic expansion via M&A. This continues EYs theme from last year, when it highlighted that banks with capital to spare had more strategic flexibility. Well-capitalized lenders have been able to pursue larger transformational transactions. Banks and insurers from mainland China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan will continue being the likely consolidators or partners of choice for vendors, says Alexander. More banks and insurers from mainland China will use Hong Kong as a springboard for outbound investment. Chinese companies could continue to lead this development, investing into Europe, the Americas and Australia. The vulnerabilities at home are leading many Chinese financial services companies to actively seek to build expertise and distribution overseas, says Alexander. We also expect to see strong outbound agendas from Korea, Taiwan and Japan into markets across South-East Asia. Asia-Pacific focused private equity and venture capital also look set to become increasingly active acquirers and capital providers to financial services companies in Asia, as values fall and equity markets show ongoing volatility and temporary closures. In summary The worlds financial markets remain volatile, and hard to predict. Many institutions are reconsidering their market positions. However, the disruption presents an opportunity for financial services companies committed to Asia to grow. As global financial services firms continue to exit, opportunities will abound in 2016. But organizations need to better prepare their M&A strategies in order to get best value, concluded Alexander. Charlie Alexander is Head of Financial Services Transactions, Asia Pacific, EY This publication contains information in summary form and is therefore intended for general guidance only. It is not intended to be a substitute for detailed research or the exercise of professional judgment. Member firms of the global EY organization cannot accept responsibility for loss to any person relying on this article. HSBCs 10-month long identity crisis is finally over; not only has it decided to remain a London-headquartered bank, it has also pledged to cease periodically navel-gazing about the matter. The reaction within HSBC and among its peers and clients was agreement and relief, as the alternative may have crippled decision-making with red tape. Investors seemed pleased too, with HSBC's share price in Hong Kong closing up 4.47% on Monday at HK$50.25 and adding 1% in morning London trade. London has an internationally respected regulatory framework and legal system, and immense experience in handling complex international affairs, HSBC said in a statement on Sunday unveiling its decision. In contrast, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is woefully undermanned to monitor Europes biggest bank by market capitalisation and ill-equipped to understand its global business, said senior bankers in Hong Kong who regularly interact with the Territorys banking regulator. If HSBC had relocated its domicile to Hong Kong then decisions to make a large loan to, say, Africa would have had to have been explained to the HKMA, thereby slowing down the process, said the bankers who spoke to FinanceAsia on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of relations with regulators. One senior banker at an international institution with a presence in Hong Kong said it took much of his time explaining to HKMA officials why the bank was moving capital around and why they were using different vehicles to do so. He noted that the HKMAs primary focus and the bulk of its work is regulating local, smaller Hong Kong banks. HKMAs chief executive officer Norman Chan said in a statement: "The HKMA appreciates that for a large international bank such as HSBC, relocation of domicile is a very major and complicated undertaking. Another senior banker in Hong Kong who counts HSBC among his major clients said he was relieved by the news it will remain lead-regulated by Britain, even though he had expected the status quo to prevail. He said the decision means collaboration on projects with HSBC are now less likely to become bogged down in bureaucracy. Close but not too close HSBC is also taking a long-term view on the direction of regulatory oversight in Hong Kong. It said in its statement that it would not continue to review the location of the groups headquarters every three years as it has done in the past. As China opens up its financial markets it is becoming more interconnected with Hong Kong. In the past year the HKMA has been coordinating with mainland Chinas banking regulator, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, on projects such as providing oversight for clearing systems for the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the accumulation of renminbi deposits in Hong Kong. To be sure, the bankers FinanceAsia spoke to said that they had not seen examples to date of the CBRC unduly influencing the HKMA but they thought it only a matter of time before the HKMA becomes a unit of its mainland peer. It would be very dangerous to be beholden to Beijings regulators who dont understand global markets and wont for a long time, said the first Hong Kong-based banker. HSBC generated about 60% of its pre-tax profits in Asia in the nine months to September 30. Hong Kong is its single biggest market globally. One senior banker within HSBC noted that mainland regulators handling of financial liberalisation over the past 12 months has dented confidence in their abilities. What has been happening in Chinas markets over recent months has had to have made Hong Kong a less attractive destination, he said. HSBC sought in its statement to balance lauding the benefits of London as the ideal location to support international trade while defending the pivot to Asia. Having our headquarters in the UK and our significant business in Asia Pacific delivers the best of both worlds to our stakeholders, said HSBC group chief executive Stuart Gulliver in the statement. HSBC plans to add 4,000 jobs in Chinas Pearl River Delta region over the next three to four years. A second senior banker at HSBC in Hong Kong said that the push in China will not be impacted by the decision on where to domicile. "We are not expecting any negative reaction from regulators ... will there be any impact on our growth in the Pearl River Delta and Asean, absolutely not," he said over the phone. HSBC said in the announcement that the review process, which kicked off in April, not only considered regulation but also the scale of HSBCs presence by jurisdiction, economic importance, future growth, and financial impact. The main financial benefit from a shift to Hong Kong would have been a reduction in the size of the UK bank levy. However, it was announced in the 2015 UK Summer Budget that the bank levy would be charged only on a bank's UK liabilities from 2021 onwards, so HSBC should be able to capture much of this benefit without the need to change headquarters. Hence we believe the announcement is in line with market expectations, Martin Leitgeb, a London-based bank analyst at Goldman Sachs, said. LONDON -- Theres sometimes little reward in being a guinea pig. Advisory firms should pioneer new technology only under some scenarios. Other times, those firms should spare themselves and their clients from enduring guinea-pig status. Instead, they should wait, watch others and fast-follow rivals who might experiment and fail but will eventually discover what works. Advisors, consultants and even new-tech promoters agree on this cautionary advice, even though it sometimes does not represent the latters self-interest. What is the minimum amount of new technology you must have? Greg Palmer, senior director of events at Seattle-based financial and banking technology conference presenter Finovate, asked a roomful of techies at the firm's Europe 2016 conference this month. Scrappy entrepreneurs in attendance presented new products for the financial services industry. However, not all audience members, which included representatives of UBS, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Fidelity, agreed on exactly when the risks of adopting new tech made it worth the rewards. Gavin Spitzner, president of New York-based Wealth Consulting Partners, a company that works with advisory firms that was at the conference scouting for new tech for clients, warned advisors against striking out as early adopters. Rather than go with technology aimed at transforming their embedded business operations or back-office functions, Spitzner recommends firms try early technology for marketing campaigns or management of advisors. SLICING AND DICING BIG DATA Several companies presenting at the conference including London-based LogicalGlue, Malta-based my-Invenio.com and San Francisco-based SizeUp offered software solutions for slicing and dicing big data to provide predictive and prescriptive analytics. Such data might help advisory firms better identify worthwhile client prospects and target marketing campaigns. The price competitiveness of such services for advisory firms, however, remains an open question. The products are so new that the entrepreneurs behind them are still guessing what the market will bear. No firm prices exist yet, conceded Colin Magee, CEO of LogicalGlue, a London-based predictive analytics company. Advisors should pay particular attention when entrepreneurs introduce a flood of products to address the same problem, Spitzner says. At the conference, for one, there were several startups pushing robo-advisor software for advisory firms to use with clients. There is more commonality than I expected, Spitzner said, noting many presenters at the conference had products focused on improving the client experience online. The market for such software could reach $500 billion by 2020, according to a recent report by Cerulli Associates. Last year when BlackRock, the U.S.s largest asset manager, acquired robo-firm FutureAdvisor, the expectation became widespread that robo-advising would become a part of almost every advisory firms game plan. Multiple companies at the conference offered a variety of white-label robo-advising software solutions, including products that offered extensive segmentation and co-browsing options. GETTING OUT OF HAND The robo-advising movement has gotten out of hand, Blake Wood told conference attendees. Wood is a senior vice president for Envestnet, a Chicago-based company that has a robo-advising platform managing $900 billion in assets, and 43,000 advisors using it with clients. Digitization of the advisory business is something that has already happened, says Adriano Lucatelli, a board member of Zurich-based Additiv.com, which has developed a robo-advising platform for high-end users. The platform has already been licensed to divisions of Credit Suisse and RBS. Lucatelli wants more customers and envisions his firm as the iTunes of the advisory world, offering a portal from which clients can pick advisors to play, so to speak. Some of the functionalities of the new tech recently unveiled will become more imperative as time goes on. Others will become quickly obsolete. Given that reality, Spitzner recommends advisory firms seek out the services of what are being called middleware companies, which are automated go-betweens for technology vendors and users. Spitzner particularly recommends that tact when advisory firms evaluate new technology for their operational and back-office functions. Some advisory firm managers brag about how many vendors they use, as if they command more-competitive pricing by using more vendors, he says. But, he adds, thats erroneous thinking: It just doesnt make sense. At the conference, Singapore-based startup Alpha Cloud Payments offered such a middleware option for payment technology. The company serves a role that greatly amplifies third-party solution access, while simplifying the process of selection of new vendors down to the click of a button, Alpha Cloud Payments executives told conference attendees. That claim, one of hundreds expressed by 60 or so companies presenting at the London conference, appealed to a relative high-tech skeptic like Spitzner. It could be useful for other parts of the business, he said. Read more: A close look at the 489 mutual funds that opened for business last year reveals the reversal of a long-term post-crisis trend. The percentage of new fund offerings made up of alternative strategy funds fell over six points to 15.8%, while equity funds saw their allocation grow almost nine points to 45.4%. This shift may have been in response to the growing confidence in equity markets prior to 2015. Understanding these shifts may help advisors and their clients on deciding when to use alternatives. In the years following the 2008 global financial crisis, alternative strategy funds accounted for over 17.3% of all new mutual fund offerings, peaking at 22.1% in 2014. In the five years preceding the crisis, they accounted for just 5.5% of new offerings. After suffering over $430 billion of net outflows in the years directly following the crisis, equity funds were flooded with $271 billion of net new money in 2013 and 2014. Equity markets also experienced a robust recovery after hitting crisis lows. The S&P 500 appreciated for five of the first six years after the crisis, for a total return of just below 128%. With these positive indicators, product development managers at fund companies apparently thought it was time to start emphasizing equity funds again. However, the results of 2015 may have put an end to that trend. Investors pulled money out of equity funds to the tune of $67.8 billion last year, and the S&P 500 suffered its first yearly loss (-0.7%) since 2011 (-0.003%). NOT-SO-NEW START The new year started as 2015 ended, with losses in equity markets and investors fleeing from mutual funds. The S&P 500 lost 5.1% in January. Things dont look any better on the fund flows side, as investors have continued their exodus out of equity funds (-$11.9 billion in net outflows). So where does that leave product development managers at mutual fund companies? Will they pivot back to the post-crisis trend of launching a higher percentage of alternative strategy funds, or will they continue to increase the number of equity funds they develop? A major input into this decision will be their forecast for the broad equity market. If it is predicted that the slump is only temporary, then equity funds will most likely continue to curry favor among product-development managers. But if the S&P 500 continues to retreat further into correction territory or worse, it is more probable that a higher number of alternative strategy funds will surface. The increase in alternative strategy options post-crisis made perfect sense, as this type of fund is intended to be used as a means of hedging or mitigating market risk, which may be a prime concern of clients during a volatile time for equities. These funds implement a hedge fund-like strategy, often incorporating one or a combination of the following: leverage, derivatives, short positions and/or multiple asset classes. Thomson Reuters Lipper parses alternative strategy funds into 10 separate classifications. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT Two of these categories long/short equity funds and absolute return funds distinguished themselves during the post-2008 period for having the most new launches. As the name spells out, long/short equity funds combine long positions in stocks that are anticipated to increase in price, and short positions in those expected to depreciate. This type of strategy reduces market risk because the shorts offset the long market exposure. Over 100 new long/short equity funds were launched post-crash, compared to just six new products of this type in the five years leading up to the crisis. Absolute return funds, on the other hand, aim for positive returns in all market conditions. This type of fund is not benchmarked against a traditional long-only market index; instead, it typically has the aim of outperforming a cash or risk-free benchmark. Not being tied to a specific benchmark gives absolute return funds the ability to allocate assets to a wide range of investments and use multiple strategies for hedging risk. Similar to long/short equity funds, absolute return funds saw their initial public offerings jump: from five funds in the years leading up to the crash to 82 funds afterwards. Meanwhile, equity funds saw their allocation among new mutual fund offerings shrink after 2008. Equity funds accounted for almost 49% of all new funds launched in the time period prior to 2008, but saw that allocation shrink to 41% in the post-crash years, with a low point of 37% in 2014. Within the post-crash equity fund universe, fund management companies have looked for new growth stories. The one group of funds that stood out above the rest was emerging markets funds. Almost 150 new emerging markets funds sprang up after 2008, an increase of almost 125 funds from the pre-cash time period. At the same time, the industry ratcheted down its commitment to U.S. diversified equity funds. USDE funds accounted for 29.5% of all new funds launched pre-crash, but only 16.4% post-crash. WHATS NEXT? Unfortunately, from the current data, it looks like product development managers are still trying to determine which way the wind will blow this year. Year to date, only 21 new mutual funds have launched, of which four are equity funds and two are alternative strategy products. Overall, things are off to a slow start this year; at this pace, the industry will introduce only around 250 new mutual funds in 2016, its lowest number since 2009. Of all fund categories, mixed-asset funds make up the largest number of new products launched in 2016, with 10 so far; all 10 are target date investment funds from Virtus Investment Partners. Interestingly, despite accounting for just 23% of new funds launched in 2015, mixed-asset funds attracted over $51.2 billion of net inflows, representing 51.6% of net inflows to all new funds. A suite of target date retirement funds launched by the Vanguard Group accounted for almost all net inflows (+$48.7 billion) for this fund group. Perhaps Vanguard and Virtus have identified the new trend for advisors and clients to navigate what may be choppy investing waters in the year ahead. Patrick Keon is a research analyst specializing in U.S. fund classifications and portfolio analytics at Lipper. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Monday release preliminary Q4 numbers for gross domestic product, highlighting a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity. GDP is expected to contract 0.3 percent on quarter and 0.8 percent on year after expanding 0.3 percent on quarter and 1.0 percent on year in the three months prior. Japan also will see final December figures for industrial production, with little change expected from the previous reading that called for a 1.4 percent decline on month and a 1.6 percent drop on year. Also due are December numbers for the tertiary industry index, which skidded 0.8 percent in November. China will release January figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to fall 3.9 percent on year after dropping 7.6 percent in December. Exports are called lower by 2.0 percent after slipping 1.4 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $60.90 billion, up from $60.09 billion a month earlier. Thailand will see Q4 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting a flat quarterly reading and a gain of 2.3 percent on year. That follows the 1.0 percent quarterly increase and the 2.9 percent gain in the third quarter. Australia will provide January numbers for motor vehicle sales; in December, sales dipped 0.5 percent on month and added 2.2 percent on year. New Zealand will see January figures for non-resident bond holdings; in December, the rate was 67.4 percent. Singapore will release December data for retail sales, with forecasts calling for a decline of 2.4 percent on month and an increase of 3.4 percent on year. That follows the 1.4 percent monthly increase and the 4.7 percent yearly gain in November. Indonesia will provide January figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to slide 8.17 percent after losing 16.02 percent in December. Exports are called lower by 15.4 percent after shedding 17.66 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at $210 million, up from the $230 million shortfall a month earlier. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Marilyn Ho Experia Events Pte Ltd Director, Communications Tel: +65 6595 6130 Email: marilynho@experiaevents.com Kevin Foo Hill+Knowlton Strategies Tel: +65 6390 3320 | +65 9099 9119 Email: kevin.foo@hkstrategies.com SINGAPORE, Feb 14, 2016 - (ACN Newswire) - Singapore Airshow, Asia's largest and one of the most important aerospace and defence exhibitions in the world, today announced the launch of the inaugural Singapore Airshow Aero Campus (SAAC). A new initiative designed to foster deeper interest and provide insights about the industry, from exploring higher education to embarking on rewarding careers in the aviation field, the SAAC will be integrated into the Airshow's traditional Education Day programmes, which will take place on 18 and 19 February 2016."Accounting for a quarter of the Asian Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) market*, Singapore has become the leading aviation hub in Asia-Pacific today, and a skilled workforce will be essential to its continued development," said Leck Chet Lam, Managing Director of Experia Events, organisers of the Singapore Airshow. "The Singapore Airshow Aero Campus offers a platform for stakeholders, including institutions of higher learning and companies spanning the wide spectrum of potential opportunities in the industry, to come together to inform and inspire the next generation of young Singaporean talent that will power the future growth of our aviation and aerospace sector."Experia Events, with the support of Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore) (AAIS), is setting up the Singapore Airshow Aero Campus that will showcase the wide range of education and career development opportunities that are available in the aviation and aerospace sector in Singapore.The Singapore Airshow Aero Campus is targeted at secondary and tertiary students, NSFs, fresh graduates and young professionals. There will be a host of activities where visitors will be able to experience the scale and scope of the aviation and aerospace sector through two different zones that will focus on learning, education and career prospects:-The Education Zone will allow students and young professionals considering a career in the industry to explore the variety of academic programmes offered by local and overseas institutions including polytechnics, universities and specialised schools.- The Industry Zone has been specially created for companies to showcase the breadth and depth of their capabilities, and also for attendees to network and seek information on the job opportunities currently available in the industryParticipating educational institutions include: Air Transport Training College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Asia, German Institute of Science and Technology - TUM Asia Pte Ltd, Kaplan Singapore, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, STEM Inc., Temasek Polytechnic and University of Glasgow - Singapore Institute of Technology.Participating companies and organisations include: Airbus, Aviation Virtual Pte Ltd, Boeing Asia Pacific Aviation Services Pte Ltd, Certis Cisco Security Pte Ltd, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, JEP Precision Engineering Pte Ltd, Jet Aviation (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Singapore Aero Engine Services Pte Ltd, SIA Engineering Company Limited, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, Singapore Workforce Development Agency, Thales Solutions Asia Pte Ltd and UTC Aerospace Systems.*EDB of Singapore: http://bit.ly/1PwDKavAbout Singapore AirshowSingapore Airshow, a marketplace and networking powerhouse for the world's aviation community, is a must-attend event in the global aerospace and defence calendar. Organised and managed by Experia Events, the biennial event is also a platform for high-level conferences dedicated to leading players in the global aviation industry with the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit (SAALS) as well as co-located events - the A*STAR Aerospace Technology Leadership Forum and the Singapore Aerospace Technology and Engineering Conference (SATEC). For more information, visit www.singaporeairshow.com.About Experia Events Pte LtdExperia Events specialises in organising and managing exhibitions and conferences of strategic interest, fostering industry development and thought leadership. It has built a strong portfolio in aerospace and defence with the highly successful Singapore Airshow, Asia's largest and one of the most important aerospace and defence exhibitions in the world, and IMDEX Asia, the premier international maritime defence exhibition in Asia, and Rotorcraft Asia, the premier dedicated event for the global civil helicopter industry. Its expertise also extends to the government and lifestyle sectors, through key events such as the Singapore International Water Week and World Cities Summit. With a proven track record underscoring its aspirations to stage events that influence, Experia Events aims to diversify its range of strategic events globally. For more information, visit www.experiaevents.com.Source: Singapore AirshowContact:Copyright 2016 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. PUNE, India, February 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- RnRMarketResearch.com adds The Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Competitive Landscape and Strategic Insights: Market Profile and The Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Country Analysis: Market Profile reports in its store. Complete report the Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Competitive Landscape and Strategic Insights: Market Profile spread across 70 pages, analysing 7 major companies and providing 50 data tables and 27 figures is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/the-global-cyber-security-market-2015-2025-competitive-landscape-and-strategic-insights-market-profile-market-report.html. The Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Competitive Landscape and Strategic Insights: Market Profile report shows the leading Cyber Security market segments in various regions across the world. Details of top companies active across the global Cyber Security market are provided, together with market size and forecast 2015-2025 for the main players across those areas. Key Findings: The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitive landscape of the Cyber Security market. It provides an overview of key Cyber Security companies catering to the Cyber Security sector, together with insights such as key alliances, strategic initiatives and a brief financial analysis. Major Companies are Lockheed Martin Corporation, Panda Security, Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, NetCentrics (Hyastax Technology), Airbus DS Communications, Raytheon, CRGT, Digital Management Inc., KEYW, Northrop Grumman, Camber Corporation, Check Point Software Technologies, General Dynamics, Mantech International Corporation, BAE Systems Detica and Thales. ReasonstoBuy: The Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Competitive Landscape and Strategic Insights: Market Profile" allows to: Gain insight into the competitive landscape of the global Cyber Security market.. Provides detailed company profiles of leading Cyber Security companies and related systems manufacturing companies across the world. Analyse the activity of key Cyber Security companies, together with insights such as key alliances, strategic initiatives, and a brief financial analysis. Order a copy of The Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Competitive Landscape and Strategic Insights: Market Profile report @ http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/contacts/purchase?rname=450441. List of Tables Table 1: Lockheed Martin Corporation - Overview Table 2: Lockheed Martin Corporation - Alliances Table 3: Lockheed Martin Corporation - Recent Contract Wins Table 4: Panda Security - Overview Table 5: Panda Security: - Alliances Table 6: Panda Security: Recent Contract Wins And more List of Figures Figure 1: Lockheed Martin Corporation - Revenue Trend Analysis (US$ billion), 2010-2014 Figure 2: Lockheed Martin Corporation - Operating Profit (US$ billion), 2010-2014 Figure 3: Lockheed Martin Corporation - Net Profit Trend Analysis (US$ billion), 2010-2014 Figure 4: Booz Allen Hamilton - Revenue Trend Analysis (US$ billion), 2010-2014 Figure 5: Booz Allen Hamilton - Operating Profit (US$ million), 2010-2014 Figure 6: Booz Allen Hamilton - Net Profit Trend Analysis (US$ million), 2010-2014 Figure 7: CACI - Revenue Trend Analysis (US$ billion), 2010-2014 And more Another report on cyber security market available with RnRMarketResearch.com is The Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Country Analysis: Market Profile, this report offers detailed analysis of the global Cyber Security market over the next ten years, and provides extensive market size forecasts by country and sub sector. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Cyber Security market. Key Findings: The Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Country Analysis: Market Profile provides details of the key markets in each region, offering an analysis of the top segments of Cyber Security, expected to be in demand. It also investigates the top three expected Cyber Security programs, in terms of demand in the key markets in each region. Complete report the Global Cyber Security Market 2015-2025 - Country Analysis: Market Profile spread across 101 pages, providing 15 data tables and 52 figures is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/the-global-cyber-security-market-2015-2025-country-analysis-market-profile-market-report.html . About Us: RnRMarketResearch.com is your single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 100+ leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets. With comprehensive information about the publishers and the industries for which they publish market research reports, we help you in your purchase decision by mapping your information needs with our huge collection of reports. Contact: Ritesh Tiwari UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar Pune - 411013 Maharashtra, India. Tel: +1-888-391-5441 sales@rnrmarketresearch.com Connect with Us: G+ / Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/104156468549256253075/posts Twitter: https://twitter.com/RnRMR Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/RnR-Market-Research/413488545356345 VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - Leonard DiCaprio won the best actor award at British Academy of Film and Television Arts for his performance in the Revenant that was adjudged the best film. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is the best director and that too for the Revenant. Inarritu is a Mexican director who has won Oscar in 2015 for the Birdman. Fury Road won the awards for the best make up & hair, editing, costumers as well as production design. Best Leading actress award was won by Brie Larson, while Best Supporting Actress is Kate Winslet. Mark Rylance is the Best Supporting Actor. Brooklyn was adjudged the outstanding British film. Dicaprio said he is absolutely honored and has been influenced by many British actors. He thanked his mother for guiding him in his life. While interacting with the media, he said the team behind the movie has put heart and soul into this movie. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. GLASGOW, Scotland, February 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- New compounds designed to overcome efflux pump mediated bacterial resistance MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing a truly novel class of anti-infectives to address the major global problem of antibiotic resistance, and the University of Strathclyde (UoS), today announced that they have agreed terms to extend their collaboration and to a Licence Option Agreement ("Agreement") that aims to develop novel MGB anti-infectives designed to overcome efflux pump mediated bacterial resistance, commonly seen in Gram-negative pathogens. The Agreement provides MGB Biopharma access to additional intellectual property (IP) owned by UoS relating to DNA Minor Groove Binders. MGB Biopharma has already acquired rights to the proprietary minor groove binder (MGB) platform, developed at the UoS, with exclusive worldwide licensing rights for all anti-infective fields. UoS has been carrying out further research to develop anti-infectives intended to provide and/or modify DNA Minor Groove Binders with an ability to overcome/prevent efflux pump resistance as drug development candidates. This Agreement provides MGB with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal rights to the IP arising from this research. Miroslav Ravic, CEO of MGB Biopharma, said: "We are delighted to be extending our relationship with the University of Strathclyde and to be in a position to progress its important research into a key mechanism of antibacterial resistance. This new Agreement will allow MGB biopharma to expand our anti-infectives portfolio by initially adding novel compounds targeting susceptible and resistant Gram-negative pathogens to add to our lead compound MGB-BP-3 which is effective against Gram-positive bacteria. Today's agreement is a further important step for MGB Biopharma as we work to tackle antimicrobial resistance by bringing a number of truly novel antibiotics to market as quickly as possible." Professor Colin Suckling, Research Professor at Strathclyde's Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, said: "We have been pleased to see the successful completion of the Phase 1 clinical trial for our lead compound for C Diff treatment. This has been made possible by the hard work of MGB Biopharma and we are now delighted to be able to continue our partnership with the company in the discovery and development of novel antibacterial and antifungal agents." About Efflux pumps Efflux pumps are transport proteins involved in the expulsion of toxic substrates (including virtually all classes of clinically relevant antibiotics) from within cells into the external environment. These proteins are key resistance mechanism in Gram-negative bacteria. About MGB Biopharma MGB Biopharma is a clinical stage company developing a truly novel class of anti-infectives. Its lead candidate, MGB-BP-3, is an antibacterial which is active against a broad range of important multi-resistant and susceptible Gram-positive pathogens. The Company has developed an oral formulation of MGB-BP-3 for the treatment of Clostridium difficile. The Phase I study is complete, and MGB are now progressing with Phase II activities. An intravenous formulation targeting the treatment of a range of systemic hospital acquired Gram-positive infections is in late-stage preclinical development, and a topical formulation for the treatment of serious skin infections showed encouraging efficacy data. MGB Biopharma has acquired rights to the proprietary minor groove binder (MGB) platform, developed at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, with exclusive worldwide licensing rights for all anti-infective fields. This platform provides an opportunity to develop various compounds with a completely new mode of action which are distinct from the antimicrobial drugs used in clinical practice today. Consequently many MGB-based drugs offer significant advantages over existing anti-infectives, such as MGB-BP-3, which exhibits high efficacy against many multi-drug susceptible and resistant Gram-positive pathogens. To-date no resistance to MGB compounds has been observed. The Company intends to work with partners to fully capitalise on the multiple value creating opportunities offered by its broad and innovative anti-infectives platform. The Company, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, is backed by Scottish investors including Archangel Investors, Barwell, TRI Cap and the Scottish Investment Bank, Scottish Enterprise. For more information please visit http://www.mgb-biopharma.com. About the University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde is a leading international technological university located in the heart of Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city. Its commitment to useful learning guides its research, learning and teaching - and the way it works with businesses and organisations. Research is of central importance in everything Strathclyde does. It informs the University's teaching and helps it to make a difference to business, industry and society as a whole.The University'sTechnology & Innovation Centre- which also boasts some of the most modern, flexible conferencing facilities in Glasgow - is transforming the way Strathclyde works with partners. Strathclyde's advances in research output and quality have been significant. It is now among the20 top researchintensiveuniversities in the UK, as shown in latestResearch Excellence Framework (REF). The University's reputation and influence is global, yet it is an institution firmly grounded in the heart of Glasgow. Strathclyde contributes to the social, cultural and economic life of Scotland through the presence of a vibrant, international student community, as a major employer and by proactive engagement with the city leadership to drive Glasgow's growth. Established in 1796 by Professor John Anderson 'for the good of mankind' and with the purpose of being 'the place of useful learning', Strathclyde is the only higher education institution to be established in Scotland during the Enlightenment. For further information, please contact: MGB Biopharma Miroslav Ravic, Chief Executive Officer Or Dr Dawn Firmin, Head of Project Management enquiries@mgb-biopharma.com +44(0)208-946-0120 Citigate Dewe Rogerson David Dible, Sylvie Berrebi, Pip Batty david.dible@citigatedr.co.uk +44(0)20-7282-2949 DUBLIN, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rlhpwx/gene_expression) has announced the addition of the "Gene Expression Analysis Market by Technology, Consumables (DNA Chips, Reagents), Services (Gene Profiling, Bioinformatics) & Applications - Global Forecasts to 2020" report to their offering. The global gene expression analysis market is projected to reach USD 5.30 Million by 2020 from USD 3.39 Million in 2015, at a CAGR of 9.3% from 2015 to 2020 The market is expected to be dominated by North America, followed by Europe, Asia, and the Rest of the World (RoW). Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. The global market is segmented on the basis of consumables, instruments, services, and application. By consumables, the gene expression analysis market is categorized into reagents and DNA chips. In 2015, the regents segment accounted for the largest of the gene expression analysis consumables market and expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. The market is divided on the basis of instruments into the different technologies such as PCR, NGS, DNA Microarray, SAGE, and Northern Blotting. The PCR technology accounted for large share of the gene expression analysis instruments market. However, the NGS is expected to grow at a fastest CAGR during the forecast period. The market on the basis of services is categorized into gene expression profiling, and bioinformatics solutions. In 2015, the gene expression profiling segment accounted for the larger share of the gene expression analysis services market and expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. The market on the basis of application is categorized into research, drug discovery, diagnostic, and others. Others comprise of animal research, agricultural research, and forensics. In 2015, the research segment accounted for the larger share of the gene expression analysis application market and expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. The North American gene expression analysis market is the dominant and a mature market. The development of gene therapy in the U.S., focus on gene expression studies to improve quality of patient care, and availability of government funding for research are the factors that contribute to the dominance of this market. In terms of market size, the North American market is followed by Europe. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Industry Insights 6 Market Overview 7 Gene Expression Analysis Market, By Consumables 8 Gene Expression Analysis Instruments Market, By Technology 9 Gene Expression Analysis Market, By Service 10 Gene Expression Analysis Market, By Applications 11 Gene Expression Market, By Region 12 Competitive Landscape 13 Company Profiles - Affymetrix, Inc. - Agilent Technologies, Inc. - Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. - F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Roche) - Ge Healthcare - Illumina, Inc. - Oxford Gene Technology - Perkinelmer, Inc. - Qiagen N.V. - Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rlhpwx/gene_expression Media Contact: Laura Wood , +353-1-481-1716, press@researchandmarkets.net PUNE, India, February 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report"Geospatial Analytics Marketby Type (Surface Analysis, Network Analysis, Geovisualization), Technology, Application, Vertical, Region (Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Latin America) - Global Forecast to 2020", published by MarketsandMarkets, is expected to grow from USD 27.42 Billion in 2015 to USD 72.21 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 21.4% from 2015 to 2020. Browse 84 market data Tables and 70 Figures spread through 160 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Geospatial Analytics Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/geospatial-analytics-market-198354497.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports. Convergence & integration, commoditization, and security & safety are driving the global geospatial analytics market. Convergence and integration paved the way for a solution-centric approach, allowing technology developers to work in close collaboration with the end users, directly or through solution partners. GIS technology to play a key role in the geospatial analytics market GIS technology has given a significant boost to the geospatial analytics market due to developments in several trends, such as increase in the amount of geospatial information gathered through smartphones, GPS devices, and social media, among others. An increase in the accuracy of data gathered; advancements in hardware technologies are additional factors influencing the demand of GIS technology. Business vertical holds the largest share in the geospatial analytics market The business vertical holds the largest market share among all the verticals. This large share is attributed to the increasing deployment of geospatial technologies in verticals, such as retail, manufacturing, real estate, healthcare, and so on. In retail, GIS technology is used to discover the best possible site for the location of a new shopping mall. Europe emerged as the leading region in terms of adoption and implementation of geospatial services Europe accounted for the largest share in the global geospatial analytics market in 2015. This high market share is mainly attributed to huge investments made in the field of geospatial analytics by key players in European countries. Major players of the geospatial analytics market covered in the report include Trimble Navigation, Ltd., Hexagon AB, General Electric, RMSI, Bentley Systems, Inc., ESRI, MDA Corporation, Fugro N.V., Harris Corporation, and WS Atkins Plc. Some of the other players are TomTom, Digital Globe, Critigen, AAM, and Nokia. The increasing importance of geospatial analytics can be gauged by the fact that many leading players across the globe are entering into partnership agreements with each other to gain a commendable position in the global market. Acquisition is another key strategy adopted by market players, wherein leading providers of geospatial services are being acquired by the key players. Ask for PDF Brochure@ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=198354497 The Geospatial Analytics Market report provides market trends, overall adoption scenarios, and competitive landscape as well as key drivers, restraints, and opportunities in this market. It aims to estimate the current size and future growth potential of this market across different types, technologies, applications, verticals, and regions. The scope of the report also covers analysis of strategies, such as new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, agreements, and collaborations among key vendors. Browse Related Reports Workforce Analytics Market, by Solution, by Service (Consulting Services, System Integration, Managed Services), by Deployment, by Organization Size, by Vertical, by Region - Global Forecast and Analysis to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/workforce-analytics-market-122082467.html Predictive Analytics Market, by Business Function, Application (Risk Management, Operations Management, Sales Management, Supply Chain Management, Workforce Management), Organization Size, Deployment Model, Vertical, & by Region - Global Forecast to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/predictive-analytics-market-1181.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr.Rohan Markets and Markets UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India 1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/telecom-it Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets LJUBLJANA (dpa-AFX) - Slovakia's consumer prices continued to decline at the start of the year, figures from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic showed Monday. The consumer price index fell 0.6 percent year-over-year in January, following a 0.5 percent drop in December. The measure has been falling since December 2014. Core consumer prices edged down 0.1 percent annually in January, while it rose 0.3 percent from the preceding month. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages slid 2.3 percent and transport costs dipped by 4.3 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.2 percent in January, after a 0.3 percent fall in December. It was the second consecutive monthly decrease. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/15/16 -- Prime Minister's Office The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement to mark National Flag of Canada Day: "Today, I join Canadians at home and abroad in celebrating the 51st anniversary of our national flag. "The Maple Leaf is a powerful symbol that unites Canadians across the country and around the world. It has been worn by our astronauts in space, by the brave women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces, and thousands of backpackers around the globe. Our flag has been planted on Mount Everest, raised over Olympic podiums, and proudly flown at our embassies. "No matter where the Maple Leaf flies, our flag represents the values that our country holds most dear: peace, freedom, respect, compassion, and diversity. As Canada moves towards a greater leadership role in the world, I am confident that our flag will remain synonymous with these cherished Canadian values. "On this important day, I invite all Canadians to take part in Canadian Heritage's 'Share your Moment with the Flag' Challenge, to celebrate our national flag and what it stands for." This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca Contacts: PMO Media Relations: 613-957-5555 WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The CIA chief has warned that the Islamic State or IS is planning to carry out an attack in the United States. The Paris terror attacks in November last year that killed 130 people happened due to an intelligence failure, CIA Director John Brennan told CBS News in an interview Sunday. Brennan said that the dreaded terror outfit made it possible using very sophisticated technologies and taking advantage of the newly available means of communication. In a rare interview, the head of the CIA outlined the threat to America posed by IS and discussed other security concerns such as cyber and biological terror. 'I'm expecting them to try to put in place the operatives, the material or whatever else that they need to do or to incite people to carry out these attacks, clearly. So I believe that their attempts are inevitable,' Brennan said on the '60 minutes' program, adding that he doesn't think their attempt will be successful. Brennan claimed that US intelligence security services have stopped numerous IS attacks and operatives that have been moved from Iraq to Syria and into Europe. But there's more in their arsenal, Brennan told CBS. The CIA believes that IS has the ability to manufacture small quantities of chlorine and mustard gas, and export those chemicals to the West. Brennan admitted that the cyber environment 'can pose a very, very serious and significant attack vector for our adversaries if they want to take down our infrastructure, if they want to create havoc in transportation systems, if they want to do great damage to our financial networks.' To a question, if other countries have the capability in turning the lights off in the United States, the CIA veteran of 36 years replied: 'Fortunately right now those who may have the capability do not have the intent. Those who may have the intent right now I believe do not have the capability.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Technavio has announced the top six leading vendors in their recentconstruction spending market in the GCC countriesreport. This research report also lists six other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period. Competitive vendor landscape The Gulf corporation council (GCC) construction industry is dominated by small and large construction companies. Following the increase in investment in the construction industry, the competition among the vendors has also increased. As GCC governments are encouraging private investment in infrastructure development, the industry could witness huge competition, in particular from foreign companies. "In terms of advanced technology, construction companies in the GCC countries are increasingly implementing new practices. Companies are increasingly using environmentally friendly building materials and equipment. There is an increase in awareness about carbon footprints and construction companies are using green building materials on a large scale. Also, the application of building information models during the construction phase has also increased," says Soumya Mutsuddi, a lead construction analyst from Technavio. Request sample report: http://goo.gl/qRr0lK Top six construction spending vendors in the GCC countries AlJaber Engineering AlJaber was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The company is involved in the business of construction, infrastructure development, logistics, and heavy lifting, transportation, trading and marine. As of March 2014, the company won a contract of USD 1.7 billion with HLG to design and construct a new orbital highway project in Qatar. This project is part of a seven-year overhaul of Qatar's road network, which began in 2012. The entire overhaul project includes major projects aimed at constructing 980km of new roads along with 240 multi-level interchanges, flyovers, and underpasses. It is a major opportunity for HLG and the company and it is an important part of national infrastructure. Arabian Bemco Contracting Arabian Bemco Contracting was established in 1964 and is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The company offers engineering, procurement, and construction based industrial and power projects, which include combined cycle, co-generation, and steam power plants. They also provide services related to project control, project management, engineering management, procurement management, and construction management. Arabian Bemco Contracting is one of the major vendors in the construction sector as it is one of the turnkey contractors, which offers industrial, power, and civil projects. Arabtec Construction Arabtec Construction was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Dubai, UAE. The company offers engineering and construction services in real estate and infrastructure. The projects of the company include building high-rise developments, residential developments, commercial developments, airport developments, villa communities, and hotels in MENA, Russia, and elsewhere. As of January 2015, the company's subsidiary Target Engineering Construction was awarded USD 58.52 million from Abu Dhabi Company for an onshore oil operations project called 'ADCO'. According to the contract, the work involves construction of a new management building in line with a new civil defense station in Shah Island. The project is expected to be completed by February 2016. HBK HBK was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Qatar. The company is engaged in the construction industry serving commercial and residential buildings, high-rise towers, infrastructure works, bridge works, water sewerage networks, drilling and blasting works, hospital and university complexes, electromechanical works, aluminum glazing works, ready-mix concrete, precast construction, industrial coating, and insulation works. Mushrif Trading and Contracting Company Mushrif Trading and Contracting Company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Rumaithya, Kuwait. The company designs and builds heavy civil works, major pipeline projects, wastewater treatment plants, road works, deep foundation works, buildings, and provides specialized construction services. As of December 31, 2014, the company generated a revenue of USD 124.40 billion. Saudi Binladin Group The Saudi Binladin Group was incorporated in 1931 and is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The company provides construction and architectural services for infrastructure, public buildings and airports, petroleum, chemical and mining, industrial and power projects tourism and transportation, real estate, operation, and maintenance. Browse Related Reports: Airport Construction Market in the GCC Countries 2015-2019 Data Center Construction Market in GCC Countries 2015-2019 Railway Infrastructure Spending Market in Saudi Arabia 2015-2019 Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160215005133/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com DUBLIN, February 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent report published on Research and Markets has predicted the global offshore oil market and the global offshore gas market to grow at a CAGR of 2.7% and 1.9%, respectively, between 2015 and 2019. It notes that market players are investing huge amounts of funding to improve offshore oil and gas exploration technology. Royal Dutch Shell finalized their $53 million acquisition of British rival BG Group on Monday, as they look to focus on the rapidly growing LNG market and deep-water oil production. A report on the global floating LNG market projected the market to grow at a CAGR of 15.2% over the same period of time. LNG exports are increasing to fulfill the increasing demand for energy. According to the report, the market will witness a significant increase in the number of new offshore floating LNG projects compared to other shale gas and related exploration projects. The deal to purchase BG Group was first announced ten months ago, and sees Shell overtake Chevron to become the world's second biggest public oil and gas company. Shell has said it will cut thousands of jobs and sell $30 billion of assets over the next three years to finance the deal.[1] Shell's income dropped 87% in 2015, but expects the LNG market to grow rapidly in the coming years as the world turns to less polluting sources of energy. The global oil and gas separator market is also expected to grow during this period, at a CAGR of 5.52%. The growing need for energy security positively affects market growth, as separators are necessary for oil and gas production. Vendors from various countries are using these new technologies to reduce their oil and gas processing costs and meet larger energy-security goals. For further information on this topic, and a full list of all related documentation, please visit the Oil section at http://www.researchandmarkets.com/rm/LNOM. About Research and Markets Research and Markets is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. -------------------------------------------------- 1. Source: Reuters [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bg-m-a-shell-idUSKCN0VO0YJ ] Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: +1-646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/15/16 -- ExtraHop, the global leader in real-time stream analytics for IT operations and business intelligence, today announced that the Puget Sound Business Journal has named Palvi Mehta its 2016 medium-sized private company CFO of the Year. These annual awards recognize financial leaders in Washington who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in financial stewardship, operational excellence, corporate leadership, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Ms. Mehta was selected based on the 2015 performance of ExtraHop, her contributions fostering economic growth within the organization, and her leadership role in the larger business community. She is recognized alongside CFOs from leading organizations including Microsoft, Chef, and the Port of Seattle, among others. "Palvi's leadership extends far beyond managing the day-to-day financial health of ExtraHop," said Jesse Rothstein, CEO and co-founder of ExtraHop. "Her rare business savvy, confident leadership, and team-oriented approach have made her a critical member of our leadership team and her stewardship is a central component of the growth and success of ExtraHop. Palvi is a world-class CFO, and this honor is richly deserved." "CFOs are a critical part of a company's leadership team, and play a central role in the success of the business," said Matt McIlwain, Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group. "Palvi is an outstanding example of the broad-reaching impact a top tier CFO can have on business outcomes. Her shrewd financial management and keen business sensibilities are an asset to ExtraHop, driving their continued growth and success." Ms. Mehta joined ExtraHop as CFO in 2011, a role to which she brought more than two decades of financial management experience with companies including Ernst & Young, RadioFrame Networks, and NewPath Networks. As CFO, she leads the company's financial operations and strategy, oversees human resources, legal, facilities and manufacturing operations, and serves as a strategic consultant to the sales, information technology, and marketing teams. In addition to her role with ExtraHop, Ms. Mehta is on the board of Code.org, for which she serves as treasurer. Her deep experience in the technology industry also makes her a key strategic advisor to the organization as it works to advance its mission to make computer sciences education available to the masses. "This recognition is a tremendous honor, and I'm grateful to the Puget Sound Business Journal, to the judges, and to the financial professionals who have helped shape and grow my career," said Ms. Mehta. "Most of all, I'm indebted to our team at ExtraHop. Their hard work, integrity, and constant support have played an integral role in my success, and in the success of the company we're working together to build." Ms. Mehta holds a B.S. in Business, Finance, and Accounting from The University of California, Berkeley. In addition to numerous financial leadership positions, she has also served as a strategic financial consultant to businesses throughout the Puget Sound. This is the tenth year that the Puget Sound Business Journal has honored the financial super-strategists of Washington companies and organizations. Ms. Mehta will be recognized along with the six other category winners at the 2016 CFO of the Year Awards dinner at the Bellevue Westin Hotel on March 11, 2016. Visit the Puget Sound Business Journal for more information and to see a complete list of honorees. About ExtraHop ExtraHop is the global leader in real-time stream analytics for all data-in-motion. The ExtraHop wire data analytics platform analyzes all network and application communications, including full bidirectional transactional payloads. This innovative approach provides the correlated, cross-tier visibility essential for application performance, availability, and security in today's complex and dynamic IT environments. The winner of numerous awards from Interop, TechTarget, and others, the ExtraHop platform scales up to 40 Gbps in a single appliance, deploys without agents, and delivers tangible value immediately upon deployment. Learn what we mean at www.extrahop.com. Contact Rachel Pepple pr@extrahop.com 206-462-2240 PUNE, India, February 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report"Injector Nozzle Marketby Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars, LCVS, HCVS), Technology (Gasoline Port Fuel Injection, Diesel Direct Injection, Gasoline Direct Injection), by Fuel Type (Diesel, Gasoline), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2020", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global market is projected to grow from USD 3.95 Billion in 2015 to USD 5.33 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2015 to 2020. Browse 59 market data Tables and 22 Figures spread through 67 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Injector Nozzle Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/injector-nozzle-market-55639733.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Factors such as stringent emission norms, necessity of fuel-efficient vehicles, and the growing demand for passenger cars are driving the growth of the global injector nozzle market. Passenger Cars: Leading vehicle type segment in the injector nozzle market According to the OICA publication, 89.7 Million vehicles were manufactured in 2014, globally. The passenger cars segment is the largest vehicle type segment with 75.3% share in the total vehicle production, in 2014. This growth in the passenger cars segment is mainly attributed to the increase in disposable income owing to industrialization, easy availability of finances, and changing buyer preferences towards self-owned luxury transport, among others. The passenger cars segment is projected to grow at a high CAGR over the next five years. On the other hand, industrialization & construction activities and increase in mining & other industrial activities have influenced the demand for commercial vehicles. Countries in the Asia-Oceania region, especially China and India are projected to witness a substantial growth in the commercial vehicles segment. All these factors have equally contributed to the growth of the injector nozzle market. Asia-Oceania: Leading region in the injector nozzle market Asia-Oceania is the leading region in the injector nozzle market, owing to growth in the manufacturing sector in this region. In addition to this, low production cost in the Asia-Oceania region as compared to western countries, easy availability of economic labor, and lenient emission & safety regulations are also propelling the growth of the injector nozzle market. Almost every OEM has its presence in Asian countries owing to the aforementioned reasons. On the other hand, the North American region is projected to become the next promising region in the injector nozzle market, due to growth in the automotive industry. According to the OICA publication, the total vehicle production in the U.S. increased by 5.4% in 2014 as compared to 2013, whereas this growth was reported close to 10% in the Mexican region. Ask for Sample Pages@ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsample.asp?id=55639733 Major players operating in the global injector nozzle market include Continental AG (Germany), Denso Corporation (U.S.), Delphi Automotive PLC (U.K.), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Infineon Technologies AG (Germany), Keihin Corporation (Japan), and Magneti Marelli S.p.A (Italy), among others. The report covers the global Injector Nozzle Market, in terms of volume and value. It explains the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the injector nozzle market on the basis of region, vehicle type, fuel type, and technology from 2015 to 2020. It also provides a brief overview about the market dynamics (drivers, restraints, and opportunities) and recent developments. About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr.Rohan Markets and Markets UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India 1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/telecom-it Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets The global allergic rhinitis drugs marketwas valued at USD 11.73 billion in 2015 and is likely to reach USD 12.3 billion by 2020, according to Technavio's latest report. In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of theglobal allergic rhinitis drugs market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from the sales of prescription and off-label drugs used to treat allergic rhinitis. According to Imran Mushtaq, a lead analyst from Technavio's cardiovascular and metabolic disorders research team, "Unmet medical needs is one of the major drivers propelling the market's growth by creating opportunities for pharma companies to develop new effective drugs. Also, more people are becoming aware of the condition through awareness programs and events conducted by organizations." Technavio's research study segments the global allergic rhinitis drugs market into the following regions: Americas EMEA APAC Americas: largest allergic rhinitis drugs market The Americas accounted for more than 42% of the global allergic rhinitis drugs market in 2015, with the US being the largest revenue contributor in the region. The demand for drugs that cater to unmet medical needs provide an opportunity for vendors to develop new safe and efficient molecules. The market in the Americas will grow at a steady pace during the forecast period due to competition from generics in the oral antihistamines and intranasal corticosteroid segments. However, there are opportunities for the expansion of the immunotherapy segment in emerging markets such as Brazil and Mexico. Combination drugs such as Meda Pharmaceutical's Dymista and the Rx-to-OTC switch of intranasal corticosteroids in the US will also contribute to the market growth. Awareness about the condition and availability of cost-effective OTC drugs fueling EMEA's growth The allergic rhinitis drugs market in EMEA will grow at a moderate pace during the forecast period due to increased awareness about the condition and availability of cost-effective over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. EMEA followed the Americas, with a market share of over 33% in 2015. The region's market is dominated by the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The adverse effects of the drugs such as drowsiness, coughing, nasal congestion, sneezing, and nausea have resulted in compliance among individuals with allergic rhinitis toward therapies that have fewer side effects. "According to the World Health Organization, Europe has the highest number of deaths due to tobacco and 16% of adults over the age of 30 years, have a high prevalence of allergic rhinitis due to smoking. In this way, the use of tobacco could contribute to the global allergic rhinitis drugs market in the region," says Imran Mushtaq. Allergic rhinitis drugs market in APAC to exhibit rapid growth compared to other regions APAC had a comparatively low market share of 24% in 2015 but an increase in this share is expected during the forecast period due to the rise in the incidence of allergic rhinitis. The market in the region is dominated by countries such as China, Japan, and India. The market in APAC is expected to grow rapidly compared to the other regions due to increased healthcare spending in this region. Also, major growth opportunities may be created in China, Japan, and India because of healthcare investments by the governments in these countries and increased out-of-pocket expenditure by individuals. However, the rising use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies to treat allergic rhinitis may offset the market growth. Ask for a sample of this report: http://goo.gl/vFKQZI Some of the top vendors in the global allergic rhinitis drugs market highlighted in the report are: AstraZeneca GlaxoSmithKline Meda Pharmaceuticals Merck Sanofi UCB Browse Related Reports: Asthma Drugs Market in the US 2015-2019 Global Preventive Asthma Drugs Market 2015-2019 Global COPD and Asthma Devices Market Industry Analysis 2015-2019 Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160215005150/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 02/15/16 -- Today, in honor of Presidents' Day, as America celebrates its past and present commander in chiefs, Pizza Patron announced that it is launching its 'Veterans Por Favor' program. The program waives all franchise fees for veterans on their first restaurant with the chain. "The 'Veterans Por Favor' program was formed to show our gratitude and appreciation for the hard working, blue collar men and women of our armed services," said Victor Vazquez, vice president of Business Development for Pizza Patron, Inc. The program is for qualified, honorably discharged veterans. It fully waives the $20,000 in franchise fees for the first restaurant to give veterans an enormous boost into business ownership with a rock-solid thirty year old chain. "Our experience with veterans within our corporate organization strengthens our belief that military training often provides veterans with the skills and discipline needed to operate successfully within a franchise organization," said Vazquez. "By eliminating franchise fees, the cost of entry may come down just enough to put owning a business within the reach of many otherwise qualified candidates." The 'Veterans Por Favor' program is now being offered and is slated to run through the end of 2016. Development opportunities exist throughout Texas in both major and tertiary markets, and exclusivity is available in select markets. Pizza Patron is coming off its best year in company history, and recently announced the re-launch of its franchise program. The chain has more than a decade of experience in franchising and has grown over the years with a strong core of seasoned franchisees. Pizza Patron provides franchisees with extensive training and support, as well as turnkey development, including assistance in site selection, tenant representation, architectural plans, construction and store launch. Pizza Patron franchisees also benefit from commodity pricing negotiated direct with manufacturers, long-standing relationships with vendor partners and an operating system that has been refined and strengthened over thirty years of business. For more information on Pizza Patron, or to find the nearest location, visit www.pizzapatron.com. About Pizza Patron Since 1986, Pizza Patron has been committed to making its promise of "Mas Pizza. Menos Dinero." a reality for every customer. From the beginning, the brand has been recognized for its 'fresh-dough' pizza, its low prices and its trademark "friendly, bicultural service." In 2007, the company drew international media attention with its PIZZA POR PESOS program when it began accepting Mexican Pesos at all of its restaurants. In 2012, the company's PIZZA POR FAVOR promotion that gave free pizzas to anyone who ordered in Spanish sparked international news coverage and lively debate throughout the U.S. Today, Pizza Patron is the leading Mexican pizza brand in the U.S. and remains dedicated to bringing its unique experience to life with every pizza made, and in every community it serves. Website - www.pizzapatron.com Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pizzapatron Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/pizzapatron Contact: Sandy Bell Phone 972-800-1745 Email Contact PRINCETON, NJ, and OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--(Marketwired - February 15, 2016) - GtreeBNT Co., Ltd., has entered into an agreement with the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) to acquire the rights to OKN-007, a new investigational drug for the treatment of glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. Under a new company, Oblato, Inc., GtreeBNT will assume exclusive rights to the compound, which was developed by OMRF researchers Rheal Towner, Ph.D., and Robert Floyd, Ph.D. OKN-007 has been evaluated as a novel therapeutic that protects nerves and reduces both necrosis and glioblastoma cell proliferation by eliminating reactive oxygen species, a known cause of cancer. In studies at OMRF, the drug reduced tumor size and increased lifespan in animal models of glioblastoma. An estimated 12,000 Americans are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year, according to the American Brain Tumor Foundation. OKN-007 has undergone phase I-B clinical testing at the University of Oklahoma's Stephenson Cancer Center, where physicians assessed its safety in patients suffering from glioblastoma. "There is currently no cure for glioblastoma, and the development of new treatments is a very important unmet need," said GtreeBNT and Oblato's President and Chief Executive Officer Won S. Yang, Ph.D. "Oblato will conduct glioblastoma clinical trials on patients in the U.S. and will work to develop this new drug worldwide. With our history of work in the orphan drug market, this new drug fits well into our portfolio and matches the goals of GtreeBNT." Oblato will initiate additional trials to study the efficacy and safety of this investigational drug in larger patient populations. At this time, OKN-007 is administered as an infusion. This agreement will provide the resources to expand the size of the patient cohort and to eventually develop an oral form of the drug. Since 2014, GtreeBNT has been focusing on the development and commercialization of biopharmaceutical drugs, particularly first-in-class medications for ophthalmic indications, such as dry eye disease and the orphan ocular disease neurotrophic keratopathy. By acquiring the rights to OKN-007, GtreeBNT has expanded its interests to developing cancer treatments. Due to GtreeBNT's highly experienced and qualified team, it is able to rapidly bring early clinical stage drugs to market. "GtreeBNT's focus on rare and orphan disease indications makes them an attractive partner to help us take the next steps in getting this drug to market," said OMRF Vice President of Technology Ventures Manu Nair. "Their ultimate goal is to see OKN-007 benefit patients living with this terrible disease. The company's interest in the project and its ability to work quickly makes them an excellent fit for us." Through execution of this agreement, it is expected that GtreeBNT will advance toward becoming a leading biopharmaceutical company that is able to consistently grow by securing worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialize new drugs to treat various diseases, including glioblastoma and ophthalmic indications. "Right now, there is no effective treatment for glioblastoma," said OMRF's Nair. "Patients typically receive a prognosis of 12 to 18 months from their initial diagnosis. We hope this new partnership can change those numbers for the better." About GtreeBNT GtreeBNT Co., Ltd. (www.gtreebnt.com) is a clinical development pharmaceutical company in Korea that aims to acquire the rights to early clinical stage pipeline pharmaceuticals targeted at diseases with unmet needs. GtreeBNT plans to rapidly develop the pharmaceuticals through additional studies and clinical trials for commercialization. Currently in the USA, its subsidiary, ReGenTree (www.regentreellc.com), is completing a phase 3 clinical trial for dry eye disease and is conducting another phase 3 trial for the orphan ocular disease neurotrophic keratopathy. About OMRF OMRF (omrf.org) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and developing more effective treatments for human diseases. Its scientists focus on such critical research areas as cancer, diseases of aging, lupus and cardiovascular disease. CONTACT: Shari Hawkins shari-hawkins@omrf.org Technavio's latest report on the global Hadoop marketprovides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook through 2019. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. Amrita Choudhury, one of the lead analysts from Technavio's enterprise application sector, says, "Based on the current market trends and drivers, the global Hadoop market is expected to reach close to USD 28 billion by 2019, growing at a remarkable CAGR of 53%. Several factors such as the data explosion in enterprises and the demand for cost-effective solutions to meet big data analytics needs are contributing to the growth of the market." The report also emphasizes that despite the lack of trained and talented technical experts, organizations are increasingly adopting Hadoop solutions to provide higher ROI and address challenges such as the management of a dynamic Hadoop environment. Organizations prefer SaaS-based Hadoop solutions as they increase efficiency, help in time management, reduce costs, provide a better user experience, and help to drive more sales. This results in more productivity and business value, which leads to greater organizational success. The top three emerging trends driving the global Hadoop market according to Technavio ICT research analysts are: Increased adoption among SMEs Rising demand for enhanced scalability Increased investment in HDaaS Increased adoption of Hadoop among SMEs Similar to large enterprises, SMEs also generate large amounts of data in their databases in the form of social media data, customer data, enterprise applications, and financial data. Therefore, SMEs seek cost-effective solutions for managing their big data. Also, the increasing competition in the business environment is another reason behind the increased adoption of Hadoop. "SMEs need to manage and analyze big data solutions and derive actionable insights to come up with a customer-driven marketing strategy to improve their position in the marketplace. As Hadoop-as-a-service solution is one of the best ways for companies to perform analytics with low capital investment, SMEs across the globe are increasingly starting to adopt this solution," says Amrita. Rising demand for enhanced scalability Due to technological advances in almost all sectors, there is an increase in the volume of big data stored in databases. The increase in enterprise big data brings with it several opportunities as well as disadvantages. An organization has to undergo several complex processes to increase its scalability. The use of Hadoop solutions allows organizations to achieve trouble-free big data implementation. "Organizations can reduce the problems associated with compatibility and integration of a large volume of big data with the hardware infrastructure because this is taken care of by the Hadoop vendor. By using these solutions, decision makers can make instant decisions regarding the storing, processing, managing, and analysis of big data," adds Amrita. Increased investment in Hadoop-as-a-service (HDaaS) In the past few years, the global Hadoop market has witnessed multiple venture capital investments of more than USD 250 million. Most of these companies are also providers of HDaaS solutions. Cloudera raised USD 65 million in December 2012 from Accel Partners with participation from Greylock Partners, Ignition Partners, In-Q-Tel, and Meditech Capital Partners. The company had raised USD 40 million in November 2011. MapR Technologies has raised USD 20 million through venture capital investments. Some of the major investors are Redpoint Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and New Enterprise Associates. As MapReduce is the best way to analyze large amounts of data in a cost-effective manner, several investors are interested in investing in this company. Browse Related Reports: Global Hadoop-as-a-Service (HDaaS) Market 2015-2019 Global Big Data Enabled Market 2015-2019 Global Data Protection as a Service (DPaaS) Market 2015-2019 Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160215005158/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com Technavio's latest ICT industry report covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global human resource outsourcing market 2016-2020 In this report, Technavio's ITO and BPOresearch experts announce their key market highlights for the global human resource outsourcing (HRO) market. Their findings include: Global HRO market to accelerate at a growth rate of almost 13% and surpass USD 284 billion by 2020 Technavio's report states the global HRO market is currently growing steadily with significant growth potential owing to increased recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and professional employer organization (PEO) services by large organizations to reduce costs, improve business efficiency, and focus on core strategic business activities. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of close to 13% during the forecast period. "RPO, a segment of HRO offered as a service, is a cost-effective solution for organizations seeking to create intense competition in the marketplace. RPO providers have now shifted beyond the back-office services and now guide clients in terms of the selection of the right talent through sophisticated methods such as benchmarking, best practices, and process improvement. Thus, cost saving becomes more of a strategy to utilize RPO services," says Amit Sharma, a lead ITO and BPO research analyst at Technavio. The report also states that the need to minimize compliance risks due to frequently changing labor laws and employment regulations with specific regions is driving both large and small organizations to outsource most of their human resource (HR) functions to enhance organizational productivity and gain competitive advantage. "Outsourcing compliance management to an external service provider not only helps the organization minimize risks but also boosts organization growth, profitability, and competitive advantage," adds Amit. Banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) and manufacturing: key leading end-user segments of the global HRO market The BFSI and manufacturing segments are the key leading end-user segments contributing substantial revenues to the global HRO market. These sectors look for cost-efficiency and process improvement combined with a requirement for complex employee benefits and pension services for staff. The increased need to comply with regulatory standards has boosted demand for HRO services in these sectors. With a market share of about 35%, the BFSI sector dominated the market in 2015. Although this segment's market share will reduce a tad during the forecast period, it will continue to dominate the market over the next five years. "Many BFSI organizations continually increase their investments to gain more profits, introduce new products and services, manage regulatory compliance, and meet growing customer demands, increasing the need for RPO. In terms of the number of deals and transaction volumes, this sector is the largest segment outsourcing RPO functions among all other sectors," confirms Amit. Increasing number of RPO contract deals to come from Latin America due to the region's language and cultural affinities Key geography Market share in 2015 Americas 44% EMEA 34% APAC 22% The HRO market is the largest in the Americas, which held the majority share of about 44% of the market in 2015. North America is one of the key contributors due to notable factors such as managing compliance, greater alignment between HR and businesses, and access to new technology and skills. Technavio analysts also expect the number of RPO contract deals to increase in Latin America during the forecast period with the increased demand for nearshore and offshore delivery requirements in the US and Europe. The region's language and cultural affinities have attracted many clients. The US is the key leading country in the HRO market with companies increasingly spending in payroll activities. This is driven by the high demand for cost-cutting and multi-country payroll outsourcing (MCPO) buyers consolidating multiple payroll systems to ensure compliance with local laws. Browse Related Reports: GAO Market in Latin America Market Research 2015-2019 IT Outsourcing Market in APAC 2016-2020 Global Procurement Outsourcing Market Research Study 2015-2019 Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160215005179/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com Technavio's latest hardware and semiconductor industry report covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global photoresist market 2015-2019 In this report, Technavio's semiconductor equipmentresearch experts announce their key market highlights for the global photoresist market. Their findings include: Global photoresist market to grow at a CAGR of over 5% during 2014-2019 According to the report, the global photoresist market is expected to grow a CAGR of more than 5% during the forecast period to be worth close to USD 2 billion by 2019. Several technological advances and the increase in demand for semiconductor devices, especially memory and logic ICs used in computers, storage, and memory devices, have been driving the growth of the global photoresist market. "As the electronic device industry grows, the demand for semiconductor ICs for different applications such as telecommunication, consumer electronic, memory, and sensor devices will increase, thereby driving demand in the global photoresist market," says Asif Gani, a lead analyst from Technavio's semiconductor equipment sector. Miniaturization of electronic devices is another major driver for the growth of the global photoresist market. The demand for compact electronic devices has grown in almost every sector, be it telecommunication, automotive, industrial manufacturing, or healthcare. This trend has forced semiconductor IC manufacturers to invest in R&D to reduce the size and increase the performance of ICs, which has led to the emergence of MEMS and 3D chip packaging. ArF segment: largest contributor for the global photoresist market The ArF segment, which consists of ArF dry and ArF immersion, dominated the global photoresist market and together contributed 41% of the market share in 2014. This share is expected to increase during the forecast period. The main reason for the market dominance of ArF photoresists is their utility in the miniaturization of semiconductor ICs. In 2014, the ArF dry segment dominated the ArF market, but Technavio analysts expect the ArF immersion segment to take the lead by 2019. As of 2014, the ArF immersion segment was worth over USD 309 million and is anticipated to generate USD 518 million in 2019. The increase in the ArF immersion segment is mainly due to the increase in the adoption of double patterning and immersion lithography techniques that help in increasing the resolution of the projection system used in photolithography equipment. The ArF dry segment is also expected to grow at a rapid CAGR of close to 8% during the forecast period. Photoresist market in APAC anticipated to surpass USD 1 billion by 2019 In terms of revenue contribution, APAC has been dominating the global photoresist market in 2014, accounting for a share of close to 64%. The majority of the revenue from this region is generated from foundries in Japan, South Korea, and China. Country Global contribution Japan 25.83% South Korea 4.65% China 4.43% Japan, South Korea, and China are the key countries contributing to the growth of the market in this region. The presence of major semiconductor foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, United Microelectronics, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International are creating the demand for photoresist material in APAC countries. Further, the presence of dominant players in consumer electronics and mobile devices such as Samsung, Sony, LG, Toshiba, and Panasonic is supporting the demand for semiconductor devices in the region. "The estimated growth in the global consumer electronics and mobile devices markets will lead to an increased need for photoresist materials in APAC, aiding the region to retain its dominance in the market over the next five years. Also, increased R&D activities by prominent global vendors of photoresist materials, such as JSR and TOK, will also contribute to the increasing market share of this region," says Asif. Browse Related Reports: Global Semiconductor Materials Market Global NFC Chips Market 2015-2019 Global LED Chip Market 2015-2019 Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160215005175/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- (Marketwired) -- 02/15/16 -- Ventripoint Diagnostics Ltd. ("Ventripoint" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: VPT) is pleased to announce that Dr. Don Segal has joined the Board of Directors of the Company replacing Mr. Treuman Katz, who has stepped down after 8 years as a Director of the Company. "It has been a great privilege to work with Treuman, who has been the thoughtful, strategic and considerate Chairman of the Board for all my time at Ventripoint," stated Dr. George Adams, President and CEO. "We at Ventripoint wish him all the best." "I am pleased to welcome Dr. Segal to the Board of Directors and I look forward to his advice as the Company continues to commercialize the VMS technology for analysis of the whole heart." Dr. Segal is an entrepreneur with a successful history starting companies both in the private and public sector. With approximately 40 years of experience in the healthcare industry, he has managed several start-up companies through to commercialization. He is currently the Chairman and CEO of United Biopharmaceuticals Inc. Previously he founded Joldon Diagnostics and spearheaded its amalgamation with Intercon Pharma and Helix Biotech to form Helix BioPharma Corp, where he was Chairman and CEO. During his tenure, the company was listed on the TSX and NYSE and raised significant funding from capital markets to support product development. Dr. Segal's first company was Radioimmunoassay Inc. (RIA Inc), which was sold as a private company. Dr. Segal has a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from the University of Guelph. In other news, Ventripoint has established a development and manufacturing facility in Toronto, Canada. This will also serve as the head office of the Company. The facility will undergo an ISO certification audit in April. The Company's new office phone number will be 416-848-4156 and fax number 416-848-0709. The Company also announces that it has granted 37,500 Deferred Share Units (DSU's) to certain directors. Under the terms of the Company's DSU plan, holders of DSUs may redeem each DSU for one share of common stock upon the termination of their services to the Company, at no cost to the holder. Forward Looking Statement: This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Corporation. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Corporation can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Other factors, which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors in the Corporation's most recent annual management's discussion and analysis that is available on the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Ventripoint Diagnostics Ltd. Dr. George Adams President and CEO 519-803-6937 gadams@ventripoint.ca what more is there to say This has been my favorite chocolate for 50 years! It's childhood memories and creamy milky chocolate. It's not dark chocolate sophisticated, but I choose it first over all other chocolates (and I do know other chocolates). A Chocolate Tradition These are mints that I have purchased annually for my son-in-law for Christmas since my visit to Finland in '89. He asked for them as a souvenir that year. I purchased them then and have ordered them online ever since not being able to find them in local stores. Target used to carry them as well as a shop in the Amana Colonies near here. The chocolates are always a big hit and do NOT last long when Dan opens them! Thanks for the great service. They arrived as advertised on time and in great shape! As we anticipated last week, Milan, Italy-based Panakes Partners SGR SpA has launched its first medtech venture capital fund, Panakes Fund I, the first Italian EU Venture Capital Fund (EUVECA). After its second closing in January, Panakes now targets a new closing in March. Beyond financial institutions European Investment Fund and Fondo Italiano dInvestimento, investors in the fund include corporate and private players in the sector (Menarini, Cogliati Elemaster, Colombo SapioLife, Rovati RottaPharmBiotech). The firm, which obtained the required authorization by the competent authorities at the end of 2015, aims to back innovative companies in the Medtech sector, innovating in therapeutic medical devices, diagnostic devices and kits and healthcare IT companies. Co-founded by Alessio Beverina, former Partner at Sofinnova Partners, Fabrizio Landi, the founder and CEO of Esaote, which became a leader in the diagnostic space, and Diana Saraceni, founder and Partner in charge of the Life Sciences investments at 360 Capital Partners, in 2015, Panakes will focus primarily on startup and commercial stage companies, with strong intellectual property, at prototype level or CE marked products, run by experienced management teams, providing them with capital towards clinical demonstration and revenues growth. The firms Advisory Board includes: Laura Iris Ferro, founder and ex CEO of Gentium, Giuseppe Prisco, former MP of Intuitive surgical, Lorenzo Tallarigo, former COO Eli Lilly, and early stage Investor and board member of Intercept, Emanuele Gatti, former CEO EMEA Fresenius Care, Gabriele Cogliati, CEO of Elemaster, Antonello Biscini, VP business development of Menarini Diagnostics, and Maurizio Colombo, CEO of SapioLife. FinSMEs 15/02/2016 Gjirafa, Inc., an Albanian language search, content, and community platform, raised $2m in funding. The round was led by Rockaway Capital. The company intends to use the funds to grow online search, e-commerce, and online advertising infrastructure. Led by Founder and CEO Mergim Cahani, an Albanian native, Gjirafa is the company behind Gjirafa.com, a search engine launched in 2014 at StartupYard Accelerator in Prague. The company, which received earlier investments from U.S. angel investor Esther Dyson, Credo Ventures Partner Ondrej Bartos, and Roland Berger Managing Partner Philip Staehelinm, plans to advance Albania and Kosovos first native AdNetwork, to introduce e-commerce into a region which is still reliant on older forms of payment, but where the internet population is mobile-first. FinSMEs 15/02/2016 Smartfrog, a Berlin, Germany- and Dublin, Ireland-based Internet of Things (IoT) startup, secured a second investment round which brought total funding to approx. US$10m. The round was led by new investor Target Global and existing investor e.ventures. The company intends to use the funds to further scale global operations. In addition to its existing bases in Ireland, China, Germany and Switzerland Smartfrog will soon open offices in several countries, including the UK and USA. Led by Managing Directors Andreas Rudyk and John Fitzgerald, Smartfrog provides a Home & Small Business Surveillance solution, a home security solution featuring a video camera, an app (to manage up to ten cameras) and video storage. Launched in October 2015, the solution is available globally with users in over 65 countries. The package starts at 4.95 per month, with no minimum contract period. The company is hiring in Berlin. FinSMEs 15/02/2016 Even as signs emerge of a drying up of funds for Indian startups, Snapdeal has raised another $200 million or Rs 1,367.6 crore, just seven months after it raised $500 million. The key investors this time are Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, one of the largest pension funds in the world, Brother Fortune Apparel, a company based in Singapore, and Iron Pillar, a venture capital firm, media reports say. With the latest round of funding - 11th, according to the Business Standard - the company has been valued above $6.5 billion, a steep jump up from $4.8 billion in August when it raised $500 million, says reports in the Economic Times and the BS. This makes it the second most valued ecommerce company after Flipkart, which has been valued around $15 billion. According to the Economic Times, the total funds raised by Jasper Infotech, the company that owns Snapdeal, stands at $2 billion. "We see these investments as a continuing endorsement of Snapdeal's strategy to build India's most reliable and frictionless commerce ecosystem. We continue to make targeted investments in building internal and external capabilities that will enable us to consistently deliver optimal experience for the millions of buyers and sellers who transact daily on Snapdeal," said Jasper CFO Anup Vikal has been quoted as saying in a statement. According to the ET report, the company will use the latest proceeds to enhance its "technology platform, logistics, payments and back-end infrastructure". Apart from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Brother Fortune Apparel, Bennett Coleman & Co, the publisher of The Economic Times and The Times of India, has also invested Rs 25.49 crore in the company's warrants. The five-year-old e-commerce company has more than 275,000 sellers and over 30 million products and caters to more than 6,000 cities and towns in the country, media reports said. The latest round of fund raising comes at a time when the government is considering permitting 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the marketplace format of e-commerce retailing, the model followed by companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal. An e-commerce firm carry its business either through marketplace model or inventory based model. In the marketplace model, the e-commerce company provides an online platform for buyers and sellers. As opposed to this, in the inventory model, the company owns and keeps the goods in warehouses. A PTI report last week citing sources said the government will soon roll out detailed guidelines on the norms on FDI in the sectors such as e-commerce, IT and ITeS. According to these sources, the Department of Industrial Policy and Planning (DIPP) has suggested that 100% FDI should be allowed in marketplace model e-commerce activities. At present, global e-tailer giants such as Amazon and Ebay are operating online marketplaces in India while homegrown players such as Flipkart and Snapdeal have foreign investments even as there are no clear FDI guidelines on various online retail models. By Charu Bahri / IndiaSpend Substandard medicines could be three times more prevalent than the government says, two new studies show. These data have serious implications on health in a country where 58.2 percent of the total health expenditure is an out-of-pocket cost burden on people, according to the World Health Organisation, and where medicines alone account for between 70 percent and 77 percent of health spending. Substandard drugs work less effectively, causing disease to run a longer course, and can even require a new prescription during treatment. Substandard drugs also contribute to antibacterial resistance, a threat that has doubled in the last five years in India, IndiaSpend reported earlier. About 4.5 percent of the drugs in the Indian market are substandard, according to surveys by the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the official regulatory authority. Reputed brands too fail to meet quality standards Experts believe that more lucrative routinely prescribed drugs are at higher risk of failing quality standards, as this new study, published in the December 2015 Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science, concluded, after testing 32 samples of diclofenac sodium, a popular pain killer. A second study, published in 2016 in the International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, evaluated 46 samples of amoxicillin trihydrate, a fast-moving antibiotic. We found a substandard medicine incidence of 15.62 percent for diclofenac sodium and 13.04 percent for amoxicillin trihydrate, said Ahmed Nawaz Khan, study co-author and assistant professor, Department of Pharmacy, Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan. Even some higher-priced medicines from reputed sellers failed to measure up. This is sad because many consumers shell out more for reputed brands, believing those products are better, said Khan. To make the grade, a tablet must contain between 90 percent and 110 percent of the active ingredient named on the label, according to the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, an autonomous Indian health ministry institution. However, the CDSCO offers a 5 percent grace margin on that lower limit, a leeway Khan called needless. If the more stringent Indian Pharmacopoeia specification was made the yardstick for quality, twice the number of samples of Khans study would fall short. The implications of this finding: Borderline quality suggests a lack of quality control, said Khan. If you cant measure drug quality, you cant manage it Government surveys reveal a falling incidence of substandard and spurious drugs in the Indian marketfrom about nine percent in the mid 1990s, as this 2015 International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences study cited, to 4.5 percent in recent years. Spurious medicines alone, distinguishable from substandard products for being imitations of (usually) popular branded drugs, with ingredients that may or may not match their label, make up a negligible part of the Indian drug market as per the CDSCO0.046 percent according to its 2009 Report on Countrywide Survey for Spurious Drugs and 0.11 percent, according to last years regular sampling. Based on these data, the government has taken exception to high fake-drugs figures for India in the media, figures that have been reported and later withdrawn: 35 percent of counterfeit drugs supplied worldwide come from India, according to the WHO, said this report in The Economic Times in 2003. Subsequently, the WHO said it had been misquoted, and continues to maintain that it has not undertaken any survey to map the extent of spurious drugs in the Indian market. 25 percent of medicines sold in India are fake, counterfeit or substandard, said the 2014 Fake and Counterfeit Drugs in IndiaBooming Biz report by industry body ASSOCHAM, before retracting the study because of some errors in the projections, an ASSOCHAM communication representative told this reporter. Lack of industry data hampers sampling, drug control Last year, the CDSCO tested 74,199 samples across the country, a 150 percent increase in sample size over 2012. However, that is still a drop in the ocean for the worlds third-largest pharmaceutical market by volumeIndia consumes 383 billion medicines per annum, according to this 2015 report, but details of the manufacturing units producing those tablets are virtually unavailable. There is no consolidated national list of manufacturers or total number of licenses granted, which makes it difficult to devise any concrete national or state policy for the regulation of this sector, said this 2015 Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) report. Without digitised lists of manufacturers, licenses granted and inspections, annual sampling by the CDSCO is too limited and unstructured, said Bejon Misra, a consumer policy expert and founder, Safe Medicines India, an industry watchdog. Nor can consumers ask for the name of the licensee for a particular pharmacy, or when the chemist was registered or last inspected. All that the CDSCO has handy, by way of digital lists, is monthly drug alerts enumerating samples that failed tests. It is unclear who reads these lists. What happens to drugs that fail quality standards? Manufacturers of drug samples that fail CDSCO tests for ingredients, dissolution, sterility, toxicity, among others, are served notice. Of six such manufacturers this reporter spoke to, only one private manufacturing unit, Akpash Pharmaceuticals in Madhya Pradesh, hauled up in December 2015 for a batch of metronidazole tablets that failed a dissolution test, consented to speak on the record: We withdrew the entire batch from the market, investigated the cause, found a quality issue with the intermediate used as the binding agent for the tablet, and have since taken corrective action, said director Girdharilal Jadwani. Here is what the other manufacturers said: We have contested the notice for the inaccurate description and assay of two batches of our syrup, by supplying the authority an in-house laboratory report and a report from an unbiased government laboratory. Faulty machine compression setting caused the deficiency in the uniformity of weight, dissolution and assay of our tablet. Inappropriate storage after the tablet leaves the factory caused the lack of uniformity of weight of the sample. We have introduced an additional test during manufacturing to ensure our product conforms to standards. One manufacturer disconnected, as soon as this reporter explained the reason for the call. Seven testing laboratories cater to all of Indias drug-testing needs In case of failure to correct the processes or repeated instances of non-compliance, the manufacturers product licence is suspended and in extremely rare circumstances, even cancelled, to quote the ICRIER report mentioned previously. However, in case a given manufacturer has multiple production lines, then a short-term suspension of a single production licence may not prove to be an effective deterrent. Partial suspension of manufacturing by a company with unscrupulous intentions also may not comfort consumers. Last July, drug-control authorities in Punjab raided the premises of a manufacturer and seller of spurious hydroxyprogestrone caproate injections, a hormone prescribed to lower the risk of preterm delivery. We were attracted to the sale of the hydroxyprogestrone caproate injections at Rs 10 12 per dose, roughly one fifth of the actual price, said Bhag Singh, drugs controller of Punjab. The unscrupulous manufacturer had produced medicine with no active ingredient, and sold stocks to chemists, even without a bill in some cases. We imposed a ban on the manufacturing on hydroxyprogestrone caproate injections, but production of other drugs by the manufacturer is ongoing. We acted within the law and on the basis of the available evidence. As for a conviction, not much has happened in the six months since the story made headlines. The manufacturer has responded to the legal notice asking for a re-test in the Central Drugs Laboratory Kolkata, which takes time because the laboratory is overloaded, said Singh, who believes loopholes in the current system for producing evidence against unscrupulous manufacturers need to be plugged. No more than seven national-testing laboratories capable of processing about 15,000 samples per year cater to the entire country. State drug regulatory authorities have given out licenses left, right and centre. But the rise in the number of manufacturing units and products hasnt been matched by expanded testing capacity, said Khan. We filed FIRs against all the chemists involved; the police are investigating, albeit slower than desired, perhaps due to being overworked, said Singh. With cases becoming long-drawn affairs, penalties rarely enter the picture. Were seeing too few convictions, so effectively the industry has no deterrent, said Misra. During the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) regime, the Mashelkar Committee, of which I was a member, had recommended death penalty, which subsequently was watered down by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) to life imprisonment. How to put testing in the hands of the consumer Consumers need technology that allows them to verify the quality of a strip of medicines. That is possible with solutions from a host of companies, such as Sproxil, PharmaSecure and mPedigree. For instance, PharmaSecure, a global provider of verification technology for pharmaceutical companies, generates a unique alphanumeric code for a strip of medicines, printed on the package directly or applied via scratch-off labels or holographic labels, pasted on the packaging line. Consumers buying the medicine can inquirevia SMS, mobile app or onlinewhether the code, and therefore the medicine, is genuine or not. Typically, we process one inquiry for one code, said Samit Yadav, vice president operations, PharmaSecure. A second inquiry for the same code could indicate that the strip had been passed on to an alternative user, who also wants to check its veracity, but a third and more inquiries for one code would definitely raise questions. On the day this report was written, PharmaSecure was tracking a situation with the makings of a scam. We have been receiving 15 inquiries a day, for the last couple of weeks, to verify one single code, and these inquiries have poured in from across India, said Yadav. After analysing those interactions, PharmaSecure was passing on the data to brand owners for further investigation. At worst, the situation would mean that an unscrupulous manufacturer has produced an imitation product bearing the labellingcode includedof one genuine packet of the medicine in question, said Yadav. Few companies in India voluntarily use medicine-verification technology, although it is affordable and locally available. The governments stand is that verification technology is expensive for small firms. Misra believes low adoption reflects a general unwillingness to be transparent about products, so, verification technology must be made mandatory. Another technology that would help root out substandard drugs is near-infrared spectroscopy, a technique can filter hundreds of samples in a few minutes, much faster than conventional, expensive high-performance chromatography technique, said Khan. The bottom line: Indias substandard-drug problem can be solved. Five people have been arrested in the abduction case of Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna. Four other accused are absconding, CNN-IBN reported on Monday morning. The 24-year-old, who went missing on 10 February, but subsequently returned home two days later, took a police team through the route that her abductors took on Sunday, the Hindustan Times reported. Dipti was travelling in a shared auto before she was kidnapped. The police claimed that the main accused in the case is a 'psychopath.' Ghaziabad senior superintendent Dharmendra Singh is quoted in another report in Hindustan Times as saying that the main accused was in a one-sided love affair with Dipti. He even went on to make an analogy to the movie Darr, starring Shah Rukh Khan, and added that criminals like him were "hardcore". Further, it is also suggested in the report that the accused had allegedly stalked Dipti for over a year, after first spotting her in a metro. Other reports quoted the police as saying that the stalker did not want to cause her any harm as he was trying to be affectionate towards her. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Ghaziabad SSP said, "The abductor had been stalking the girl for some time. He met the girl at Rajiv Chowk for the first time." In the 36 hours for which Dipti Sarna went missing, there was no clue where she stayed.But details slowly started emerging on Friday evening. Dipti's father Narendra Sarna told NDTV that while his daughter did not wish to press charges, she was abducted by four men at knife-point. "They blindfolded her and dropped her at some railway station at 3 or 4 am... (they) didn't harm her in anyway and they even gave her food on time," he said. Adding that the kidnappers were "beginners", who allegedly even left a gun with Dipti at some point, Narendra postulated, "They got afraid that is why they left her." On 10 February night, she had hired an auto from outside Vaishali Metro Station. According to police, Dipti was on her way from Vaishali metro station to the old bus stand of Ghaziabad where her father Narendra Sarna, a resident of Kavi Nagar, was waiting to pick her up when he received a frantic call from her friend. Diptis friend said that something had happened to her. They were talking on the phone when he heard her scream and the call got disconnected. He asked me to look for her, said Narendra. He was supposed to pick up Dipti from the spot he was waiting at, like he did every evening, after she returned from her office in Gurgaon. Everyday, she would call us twice on her way back home. Once when she reached the metro station and then again when she was near the Hindon bridge. Her father would then pick her up, said her mother Vandana. Narendra said that sometimes, he would pick Dipti up from Vaishali metro station. Why did I not do that yesterday, he had said lamenting before her return. The family was afraid that Dipti had been abducted. However, the family received good news on Friday morning. Dipti's father said that she called him up in the morning and told him that she was in train in Panipat and coming to Vaishali. "She told me that she will come to Vaishali, but I asked her not to come to Vaishali and said I will come to New Delhi Railway Station to pick her. "I don't know how she came (managed to escape). She was calling me up from the phone of her co-passenger in the train. She was found sitting in the train. I don't know whether she was in trauma," he told reporters here. Ghaziabad residents on Thursday evening blocked traffic on national highway-24, and also staged a sit-in at the office of the senior superintendent of police. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs office had tweeted that he had asked the Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police to personally head the search operation, and that several teams had been formed. With inputs from agencies By Srinivasa Prasad A recently-released, much-acclaimed Malayalam film Pathemari (dhow) portrays the travails of a man who takes a boat ride to the Gulf it is set 50 years in the past to make a living. Homesick, he later returns with a suitcase full of gifts for the family, but is forced to go back to make ends meet. Even as the movie was running to full houses in Kerala and UAE in October-November 2015, many Malayalees began to pack up and return to Kerala, not with goodies for their dear ones but with pink slips. A recession brought on by the oil price crash has been forcing companies in the Gulf to cut costs and jobs. Some 60 lakh Indians work in West Asia, about a third of them from Kerala. There have been lay-offs since the second half of 2015 when the crude price dipped lower and lower. And by December 2015, when the price crashed to an 11-year low, the bad news turned worse. No other Indian state is as devastated by the Gulf crisis as Kerala: Around 50 lakh families in the state depend on the money that the migrants send home. And Gulf remittances besides tourism, sale of liquor and cash crops like rubber and spices drive the states economy. The precise number of Malayalees losing jobs there is hard to get. But reports trickling in from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain indicate that the number is on the rise. Many who lost jobs are looking for alternatives wherever they are, even for less pay and reduced perks. Without waiting for pink slips, many Malayalees are scouting for opportunities in Kerala and elsewhere. Many have sent their families home, expecting to be made redundant soon. And head-hunting agencies in Kerala are reporting drastically reduced levels of recruitments. Job losses in West Asia will mean reduced remittances to Kerala, which grew to approximately Rs 1 lakh crore last year, amounting to about a third of the states GDP. Reduced cash inflows can dampen the real estate and consumer durables market and so on in the state. And questions are once again being asked about the wisdom of a state excessively relying on migrants to keep its economy going. That leads to the inevitable question: Why doesnt Kerala have enough jobs? The inevitable answer: The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which take turns in ruling Kerala, are the obvious culprits. Over the last few decades, the CPI(M)s bizarre version of communism in Kerala and the Congress partys own regressive policies together created an environment that was hostile to job-generating industries. This drove Malayalees to virtually every nook of India, West Asia and other parts of the world for employment; though some delude themselves by romanticising it as the Malayalees penchant for wanderlust. Despite Keralas impressive Human Development Index, laudable performance in health and literacy and a per capita income that is more than the national average, the states unemployment rate is 7.4 percent. This is thrice the national level, and only Nagaland and Tripura have higher unemployment rates than Kerala, according to the state governments Economic Survey released last week. For Malayalees, the Gulf has been a favourite hunting ground for jobs. The Centre for Development Studies (CDS) estimates there are some 21 lakh people from Kerala working there. UAE and Saudi Arabia together employ about 65 percent of them. The state governments Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) department says drivers, salesmen and nurses make up a third of the Malayalee workforce in West Asia. Other jobs they take up range from healthcare and engineering to plumbing and housekeeping. The CDS estimates that, on average, three people migrate overseas from every ten families in Kerala. Now the recession has put not only white-collar Gulf jobs on the line but even the blue-collar ones. And its not just the oil companies, but even the construction sector, a big employer for expatriates, and other firms are laying off staff in a big way. Even marketing jobs are disappearing. Malayalees migration to the Gulf had its origins in the 1930s when oil reserves were first discovered there. The relatively more educated Christians were among the first to get wind of the job opportunities there and grab them, though in small numbers. By the 1950s, large-scale commercial extraction of oil had begun and Muslims from north Kerala started to go there illegally on Arab merchant vessels to begin with and by legal means later. About 40 percent of all emigrants are Muslims. They found jobs as mechanics, drivers, electricians, plumbers and masons. Then followed Hindus. The trickle turned into an exodus in the 1970s when oil price peaked and Arab nations used their petro wealth to turn the deserts sand dunes into buzzing cities, leading to a construction boom and a bonanza of jobs for expatriates. Many Malayalees, as did Indians from other states in smaller numbers, began to take up even white-collar jobs there. But the Gulf money did nothing to boost Keralas economy the way it was expected to. It led to general lethargy among dependent families and stagnation of agriculture and industry. This was partly because the money was channelled in wrong directions, quite a bit of it being lavished on ostentatious living and gadgets. A unique 1989 study by Prema Ann Kurien, an India-born professor of sociology at Maxwell School of Syracuse University at New York, said that the way migrants spent their money depended, among other things, on the values of their communities. Her study indicated that: Status spending and public generosity were common among all migrants. Muslim migrants tended to spend money on community and religious activities and offered high-interest loans back home. Backward Hindu caste Ezhavas were prone to gift-giving and entertaining. Christians, on the other hand, confined the gains of migration largely to their immediate families. They spent a little on religious causes but saved most of their money for their children. But even if the migrants wanted to put their money in productive ventures, the state was anything but investor-friendly. For some time now, warning bells have been ringing about a remittance economy some called it a money order economy not being a sustainable one. Its sustainability came into question when many Malayalees returned home during the Gulf War of 1990, when debt crisis hit Dubai in 2008 and when Saudi Arabia imposed job reservations for locals in 2011. The CDS warned in its latest survey released five months ago that the situation this time could be different as the lower oil price regime could last a long time. The obvious need for diversification (of education, employment, skill-training and policy options)...cannot be understated. The Economist said in a recent report on Kerala: Some believe there might be a future in medical tourism: perhaps Gulf Arabs have become so accustomed to Keralites that they will travel to the state for treatment. So Keralas people are bracing for an economic disaster; but Keralas government is not. The ruling UDF and the opposition LDF are busy gearing up for the coming Assembly elections instead. And the BJP, busy fashioning itself into a third force, lacks leaders with economic acumen. If the BJP has an alternative economic agenda for Kerala, it has kept it as a secret. Indira Gandhi had a perfect explanation for everything that went wrong in India during her tenure: It was a conspiracy of India's foreign enemies. During Indira's time, enemies came in different forms. They were Pakistanis, imperialists, capitalists and even the CIA. And together they got the flak for everything that Indira did not like. When Indira imposed Emergency on the country, spooked by an agitation of students that drew out Jai Prakash Narayan from retirement, she justified it by saying her government was foiling a conspiracy against the nation that was backed foreign enemies of India. So, when she jailed politicians from across the political divide, imposed censorship on the Press, banned strikes and demonstrations, Indira effectively meant this: All these people and institutions could have played into the hands of foreign enemies and destabilised India. Indira's template lives on four decades after the Emergency. Her ghost continues to speak through the very people who she had jailed, called a threat to national security. On Sunday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, one of India's most respected politicians, internationalised the slogan-shouting in the JNU by saying it had the blessings of terrorist Hafiz Sayeed. "I also want to make it clear that the JNU incident has the support of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. We should also understand this reality that Hafiz Saeed has supported this incident and it is extremely unfortunate," he told the media. Singh's statement came within hours after a tweet from an unverified account in the name of Hafiz Saeed. "We request our Pakistani Brothers to trend #SupportJNU for our pro-Pakistani JNUites brothers." It also exhorted JNU students to come to Pakistan for spreading the anti-India in its universities. It is amusing to note that "Hafiz Saeed" is now willing to fight his silly war on Twitter and use hashtags to attack India. Better that then sending fidayeens across the border. If only it were true. According to a report in the Indian Express, the home minister's statement was based on a fake Twitter account. Intelligence and police sources, however, told The Indian Express they had no evidence that the tweet in question was issued by the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief or an individual connected to him. Saeed denied tweeting from that account. He even took potshots at the Indian government for taking a parody account seriously. After being panned on social media for getting misled by a fake Twitter account, the home ministry later clarified that the statement was based on intelligence inputs. Rajnath Singh is a politician of unquestionable integrity, his public life has been unblemished and non-controversial. He inspires both respect and admiration even among rivals and critics, which is not something that can be said about many other politicians. When he says something, as Firstpost editor Ajay Singh argues, it must be taken seriously. So, it is quite possible that Hafiz Saeed is indeed fomenting trouble in one of India's premier educational institutes and influencing its students, who are among India's best minds and talents. But, isn't this a great cause for concern? Shouldn't India be worried that Hafiz Saeed now has the power and the means to cause unrest in India's top varsities right under the nose of the government? It is a cause for serious concern. And this is precisely why the government should tell us more about why it thinks some JNU students are puppets in the hands of the LeT. Saying that the fear is based on intelligence inputs just wouldn't wash. It will sound like an ode to Indira's policy of blaming everything on the enemies of the state. Writing for The Telegraph, Mukul Kesavan argues that the government's response to the events in JNU verges on the insane. "The BJP's response to radical student activism, whether it is Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad or Kanhaiya Kumar in JNU, is uncannily like the fearful, vengeful reaction of Krishna's wicked uncle. The Krishna story shows us two ways of dealing with unbiddable youth: the love and nurture supplied by his foster mother on the one hand and the fearsome, but ultimately futile, use of power by his uncle on the other. "In our story, Kanhaiya's mother, Meena Devi, who worked her fingers to the bone to give her son an education that she and her husband didn't have, is obviously Yashoda. The question we should all ask is why are so many in the BJP auditioning for the role of Kansa?"" There are several other unanswered questions about the episode. There is indeed something fishy about the happenings at JNU. It has conspiracy written all over it from the very beginning. There are too many claims and counterclaims, videos, fake tweets and rumours floating around. Who were the students shouting pro-Pakistan slogans? Will that won't be too difficult to find out if they are visible on HD videos? Identify them, check their antecedents, ask them a few polite questions and we'd know. It won't take long, will it? Where did the Hafiz Saeed tweet originate from? Who circulated it? Would that be too difficult to know in the age of widespread electronic snooping? And, of course, what is the extent of Hafiz Saeed's influence on our young minds? Blaming everything on foreign-based anti-India forces could be good rhetoric. But, as Indira found out later, crying wolf will not satisfy the collective conscience of the nation eager to know who are the real villains of the JNU drama. For god's sake, we can't be a dumb republic that frames it policies on the basis of fake tweets. If that be the case, khuda (god) is the only hafiz (protector) of this country now. Sycophancy, it appears, is so integral to the workings of the Congress that its leaders unthinkingly append ji to every name they utter. Even convicted terrorists who have been sent to the gallows for attacking Parliament. Party leader Randeep Surjewala on Monday put this trait on display when he suffixed the honorific to Afzal Gurus name. Surjewala also displayed a tenuous grasp of contemporary history when he declared that Guruji was guilty of attacking the Supreme Court in 2001. WATCH: Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala's statement on Afzal Guru.https://t.co/Z88HzuDo3b ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Surjewala, who addressed the media on the ongoing issue of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) row, later apologised for his remarks. He clarified that of the several instances when he referred to Guru, he called him Guruji but once, and that this must be considered a slip of the tongue. Meanwhile, the escalating stand-off over the arrest of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges on Monday saw the students going on strike till he is released. With rising tensions over the arrest and police action on the campus, JNU teachers will join the strike with the students on Tuesday, CNN-IBN reported. The teachers on Sunday extended solidarity with the students over the issue. Kanhaiya, who was sent to three days police custody, will be produced in court on Monday. Vice Chancellor Jadesh Kumar appealed to the students to not resort to strikes and protests so that academic functioning of the university is not hampered. New Delhi: JNU on Monday sent a "status" report to HRD ministry about the situation in the campus and the action taken by the varsity in connection with an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, during which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. The HRD ministry had last week sought a report about the 9 February incident which has sparked a widespread outrage among various quarters. "We got a communication from the ministry seeking information about the investigation being conducted by the university about the incident. A response has been sent today," JNU Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi said. The varsity has stated the sequence of events in the report beginning from how four students had taken permission for an event titled " Poetry-reading-The country without post office". "On the day of the event, it came to notice of the administration that the poster of the event was captioned 'Against the Brahmanical Collective conscience, against judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat and in solidarity with the struggle of the Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self determination," the report said. "...despite the university deciding to withdraw the permission the students went ahead with the programme where allegedly certain objectionable slogans were raised. The organisers also invited the media to cover it without permission from university authorities. "The varsity constituted a high-level enquiry committee comprising of three members to enquire into the incident. On basis of the interim report, eight students identified by the panel have been debarred from academic activities while allowing them to stay in hostel as guest," the report added. The varsity has also told the ministry that the final report of the committee will be submitted by 25 February. Informing the ministry about the apprehension among faculty members about police presence on campus, JNU has said, "a letter was sent to police requesting them to take utmost precautions before entering the university campus if required under law. Police officers gave us assurance that police will enter the campus only if absolutely necessary as per law and authorities will be informed in advance". The university administration is facing flak fromteachers and students who have alleged that the issue was "manhandled". The JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on 12 February in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy over an event at the varsity against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. PTI By Shishir Tripathi At the Periyar hostel in JNU on Sunday night, students set aside the politics being played over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, the student union president. They organised a cultural night and music from the North-East filled the air. At regular intervals, the master of ceremony called from the stage, Tej se bolo kaun hai hum and the crowd responded with equal zeal Bharatwasi Bharatwasi. Just few hours before the cultural night, the campus had witnessed an almost two-kilometre-long human chain demanding the release of the Kanhaiya Kumar. It was preceded by a press conference by the JNU teachers association condemning the arrest of Kumar. This face of the campus stood in sharp contrast to what has been playing out on television screens since 9 February. The footage on television showed some students of the varsity raising anti-India slogans, calling for the annihilation of the nation state. On Sunday, the real JNU spirit was in full flow. While many students with a Left-leaning opined that at no cost anti-national activities should be defended, many Right-leaning students said the state went overboard and overreacted in arresting Kanhaiya and booking him under the sedition law. An interesting unification among the students, irrespective of their ideological positions on another point, was noticeable too: all of them are disturbed over the branding of this great institution as anti-national. This is purely absurd. A little understanding of sedition laws clearly shows that there is a caveat in invoking it; there must be direct incitement of violence, which is not the case here, said Prosenjit, a student. Shakti, a final year PhD student who was present at all three events, had this to say: There is a principle in ecology that says the more diverse the ecosystem, the better are the chances of it being more stable. In JNU diverse viewpoints have existed but it never created any ugly conflict. All the differences remained at the level of thought and sometimes culminated in angry debates. He added, We cannot deny the fact that there have been numerous incidents which can be seen as anti-national, but they are nothing more than rhetoric. Sedition charges are indeed an overreaction. Rajneesh, a PhD student at department of Sanskrit, raised an important point. In 2007, the presidential candidate of Bahujan Student Front (BSF) released a pamphlet during the presidential debate which demonised Ram. A major altercation took place and that was the last election held under the aegis of JNU administration. But no action was taken against any student. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) has provisions to book a person for hurting religious sentiments but JNU has a very vibrant culture where extremely hostile viewpoints exist in harmony, at least at the surface level. He added, See we also read Valmiki Ramayana and analyse roles of different characters critically. But that is academic work. But when you use a political stage for the same conflict theres bound to be trouble. You have to respect sentiments." Another student makes an important assertion. In 1989, when hundreds of protesting students were killed by Chinese army at Tiananmen Square, JNU students, irrespective of their political affiliation, criticised it. The fact is that we might have very strong ideological stance which, in many cases, are extremely anti-state but we never defend which cannot be and should not be defended. There can be no contention that JNU has been the ground for fierce debates. Severe criticism of the state and challenge to all settled notions of right and wrong has been the legacy of JNU. It has always idolised revolutionaries like Che Guevara, Mao, Lenin and Marx but when these figures were replaced by the likes of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt, then we too feel that something has gone wrong," said the student. New Delhi: Unfazed by public outcry, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday defended his senior in the Home Ministry, Rajnath Singh, saying there were enough indications that Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed was backing the incident in Jawaharlal Nehru University. "Intelligence inputs indicated that Hafiz Saeed and some related organisations were backing the JNU incident. That is what the Home Minister had said," he told reporters in New Delhi. Rijiju's comments came a day after Singh said that the JNU event in Delhi in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from terror outfit LeT founder Hafiz Saeed. The statement sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. "Intelligence inputs can't be shared or analysed in public. Political parties supporting the anti-nationals should learn what is patriotism," Rijiju said. Coming down heavily against political parties and others who were extending support to the protesting students of JNU, Rijiju said some of the students of the university were trying to immortalise terrorist Afzal Guru, who was convicted and hanged for Parliament attack, and they even talked about "breaking India". "There is a support group for a convicted terrorist who was hanged. The event was organised where people spoke about breaking India into pieces. And then they are getting support from political parties. This is very, very unfortunate," he said. The Union Minister of State for Home said today, at a time, when the whole country was paying tribute to those martyrs who laid down their lives in Siachen, one section of the people was paying tribute to terrorists and their organisations. "We are clear in our stand. Anything anti-national will be dealt firmly. Whether they are extreme Left or anyone. But no innocent will be harassed," he said. Rijiju said raising slogans in favour of a convicted terrorist, Afzal Guru, was akin to endorsement of their anti-India designs. He charged people belonging to extreme Left ideology with playing with the image of the country. Seeking to portray police action against some JNU students similar to action against terrorists hiding in Golden Temple in 1984, Rijiju said (the then Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi had acted against militants hiding in Golden temple but that was not an action against the shrine but against terrorists. "Police acted against some students of JNU. It was not an action against the institution," he said. PTI Kolkata: One youth was injured when unknown men on a two-wheeler fired at him in a crowded road in the central part of Kolkata on Monday morning, police said. A bullet hit a local youth, identified as Kalu, in the leg when the bikers opened fire. Kalu was taking a relative's child to school at that time. The two men on the motorbike, whom Kalu identified, had some issues with him for long, the police said. "The bikers fired a couple of rounds before fleeing. One of the witnesses have noted down the number of the two-wheeler. We have launched a search for it," an officer of Kolkata Police's detective department said. Kalu has been admitted to hospital. PTI By Deya Bhattacharya RK Pachauris description on the website of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) contains some bracket content - he is (on leave) - along with other chilling information: Pachauri is the Executive Vice Chairman of the Governing Council of the Institute since 7 February, 2016. Pachauris background as a climate change maestro is the crux of this description: a PhD, the Padma Bhushan, the Environmental Award of Recognition, the Noble Peace Prize. Under the sombre photograph of Pachauri on the website, there is no information, no warning labels, not even an intimation, in minuscule font, to indicate that he is or ever has been the subject of a sexual harassment complaint. His accolades and awards form the basis of this portrayal. TERIs repeated inaction and the myriad ways in which the organisation has failed its obligations is astonishing. The law warrants not only a routine inquiry by the employer-agency, but it also makes mandatory the implementation of disciplinary action against the perpetrator. In more ways than one, TERI has reduced the elements of the legislation into mundane tasks, that had to be undertaken before it used its loopholes to circumvent legal obligation to shield Pachauri. According to Section 13 of the The Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, during the inquiry phase of a complaint, the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) has the same powers as a civil court, under the Code of Civil Procedure, and after the inquiry has the authority to take disciplinary and punitive action if allegations are proved to be true. In this case, even after recommendations were underlined by the ICC, very little has been done by TERI. Ten days between the proved misconduct and the ex parte order by Pachauri, TERI waited and took no action against him. Indeed the ICC was a toothless tiger in this case. But the biggest question at this juncture is that whether womens safety, even in the wake of horrifying rape incident of 2012 and the incessant misogyny that women in India face in public, private as well as social media spaces, means so little to a leading non-profit, and how what is happening in this case might just become a precedent for other sexual harassment cases in the sector. In the tug of war of the TERI case, it is obvious that men who sexually harass his subordinates with impunity receive promotions, and women who complaint against such instances are victimised and thereafter, shown the door. It is but obvious that in the dichotomy of a sexual harassment case, the powerful climate change maestros reign supreme. Instead of a clear stance on the matter, TERI has repeatedly shielded the perpetrator - first by not suspending Pachauri immediately after the accusations, then sitting in complete inaction after the ICC recommendations, and now, pushing him away completely from the scene of legal consequences by stating that he is on leave. TERIs lack of disciplinary action against Pachauri and its incessant ways of sheltering him is dangerous and sends a wrong message to other employees of TERI - aggrieved by the lecherous Pachauris antics or not - as well as to the rest of the country: Pachauri because of his power and accolades deserves an inherent immunity from all legal action, and that on leave maybe the easiest way out for other perpetrators of sexual harassment at the workplace. Moreover, first by asking the complainant to settle, then by allowing her to quit TERI and now, by reinstating this powerful man, it is pushing the complainant towards the mandate of silence, which is frequently the case in matters of sexual assault, rape and harassment. Lastly, the impression that we might get from the occurrences of this case is that Pachauri and TERI are now a selfsame entity and therefore, TERI is as much the perpetrator in this case, as is Pachauri. Dangerous precedents aside, sending the recently reinstated and promoted perpetrator on leave is not just a violation of the Sexual Harassment Act, it also amounts to further harassment and victimisation of the complainant by a third party, namely TERI, according to the the Vishakha Guidelines (Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan, 1997). Moreover, the Act in itself is vague about the Duties of the Employer (Section 19), leaving legal loopholes for TERI to exploit for Pachauris advantage. In February 2015, the 29 year old complainant, the research analyst from TERI, alleged that Pachauri had sexually harassed her via texts, whatsapp messaging and emails since September 2013. Later in May 2015 the ICC, mandatorily established under the The Sexual Harassment at the WorkplaceAct, found him guilty of such alleged acts and provided its recommendations. Pachauri, our climate-change hero, was successful in seeking an ex parte order to stay the recommendations of the Committee within 10 days of the verdict. Since then, the dramatic quotient of the case has quadrupled Pachauri stepped down as the Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in February, 2015; he stated, against the allegations, that his computer had been hacked; TERI publicised identifying information of the complainant; the Head of the ICC resigned; Pachauri entered TERI headquarters in Delhi; the complainant quit TERI; and now Pachauri reinstated (and then, on leave) within the TERI. Between February 2015 and 2016, the law and the circumstances seem have to favoured the climate scientist more than the complainant herself. As it has been seen in the past that big, powerful men have had the easy way out, whether it be the legal intern and the former Supreme Court judge or the adventurous Editor and the junior journalist. And a pathetic pattern emerges out of these cases: big companies, non-profits, government entities - synonymous and in cahoots with the perpetrators - become centres of impunity, where the women are disposable and the men, the powerful but troublemaker maestros, at the time of tumult, are on leave. The author is a gender-based violence coordinator at Swasti Health Resource Centre, Bangalore, that works with marginalized communities. She has also worked on gender and post-conflict justice in Kashmir New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking a CBI probe into the 2002 hit-and-run case on the ground that corrupt means have been adopted in securing the acquittal of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. "These are all wild allegations. He must have spent Rs 25 crore on lawyers," a bench comprising Justices JS Khehar and R Banumathi observed when the lawyer said there were news reports quoting Salim Khan that they had to spend Rs 25 crore in securing acquittal for his actor son. "What are the materials to substantiate this? They must have hired lawyers. How can you say that they did something wrong," it said and dismissed the PIL filed by advocate ML Sharma. The PIL had alleged that Salman and others had "succeeded" in manipulating "police and judicial system" in the case. The same bench is hearing appeals filed by Maharashtra government and the family of the victim, who were killed in the incident, against the acquittal of Salman in the case. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represents the state government in the case, had argued that Salman was driving his SUV in a drunken state when it ran over the victims sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai in 2002. He had also debunked the theory that instead of Salman, his driver Ashok Brahmadev Singh was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser on the night of 28 September, 2002 when it crashed into a Bandra pavement, killing one and injuring four others. The high court, in its verdict passed on 10 December last year, had held that prosecution had failed to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that the actor was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and was drunk. The judgement by the high court had come on an appeal by Khan, seven months after he was pronounced guilty by the trial court. The magistrate's court had conducted the trial for a much lesser offence of causing death by rash and negligent driving. On 6 May last year, a sessions court had convicted Salman in the case. PTI The escalating stand-off over the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges on Monday saw the students going on strike till he is released. Reports on Monday afternoon said that teachers of the university have decided to join the agitating students over the ongoing row as well. Lawyers and JNU students indulged in scuffle inside the court premises in New Delhi ahead of hearing in the case against Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested in a sedition case, PTI reported. Further, journalists were reportedly beaten, threatened and their mobile phones were snatched. This happened even as the police present at the spot remained mute spectators, according to an NDTV report. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said, "We are looking into the content of various tweets which are blasphemous and objectionable." Delhi: Scuffle in Patiala House Court during production of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Tweet was highly blasphemous and it tried to incite Indians,youth against lawfully established Govt of India- Police Commissioner BS Bassi ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 There's no doubt that tweet ws under Hafiz Saeed's name.He did it himself or got it done by some proxy is a matter of investigation-BS Bassi ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Vice Chancellor Jadesh Kumar appealed to the students to not resort to strikes and protests so that academic functioning of the university is not hampered. We also stand for free expression of ideas but I believe there is no need for strikes as the problem can be solved amicably. We are reaching out to the entire JNU community to see how the problem can be addressed but academic functioning of the university is of prime importance and should not be hampered, he told reporters. While the teachers association of the university have raised questions over the VC allowing a police crackdown on campus, Kumar said he was bound with the law of land. I never invited the police to enter the campus and pick our students. We only provided whatever cooperation was needed as per the law of land. We were bound to do so, he added. Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest last week has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties. The university teachers had on Sunday rallied behind its protesting students and questioned the administrations decision to allow the police crackdown on the campus even as they appealed to the public not to brand the institution as anti-national. Teachers bodies of 40 central universities and Pune-based FTII had also come out in support of the agitating students saying it is an issue of indiscipline and not "sedition". An united Opposition vehemently protested against Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's diktat against the agitating students of JNU. CPM leader Prakash Karat on Monday took pot-shots at Rajnath Singh for saying that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed backed the Afzal Guru event at the JNU campus here. "The home minister relies on a fake Twitter handle for information," Karat, who visited the campus on Monday, told the media. Nitish Kumar: who was raising anti-national slogans? show the proof. Don't just make baseless allegations pic.twitter.com/gK8UEoY9LH ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Nitish Kumar: in 2019 the people will throw out these people because of the way they are running the country. pic.twitter.com/hE7dG1j5os ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Sadhvi Prachi, meanwhile, also ended up at the JNU campus. Sadhvhi Prachi at JNU campus: Hafiz Saeed was supporting that protest. Why was Rahul Gandhi supporting that protest? pic.twitter.com/ociuAEMISs ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said: "We don't accept their (central government's) definition and version of nationalism. If they call us anti-national, we wear it as a badge of honour." Karat also said that by filing "cases against elected student leaders under sedition charge", the government was "declaring war" against them. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury has allegedly received threat calls over extending support to students who are protesting the arrest of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said they have received a complaint in this regard and a probe has been initiated. However, no case has been registered so far. Party sources claimed three threat calls were made at the party head office between 10.30 pm and 1 am on Sunday night. "The callers were abusing the party general secretary over his support to the JNU issue. They said 'whatever he (an alleged reference to Yechury) is doing is not right and we will see him' if he continued to support the protesting students. "They (the callers) said they belonged to some organisation Aam Aadmi Balvir Sena. We suspect it is the same organisation which had attacked our head office yesterday," the source said. Police suspect that the calls were made by the same person. The source added that the party traced the numbers from which the calls were made and lodged a complaint to this regard with Mandir Marg Police Station. CPI(M) is prepared to defend itself frm such illegal attacks,they(Govt)dont take action on them bt take action agnst JNU students-S Yechury ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Out of 20 times I spoke name (Afzal Guru), once on account of flow there ws an error or slip of tongue-R Surjewala pic.twitter.com/5OvTbWvgCI ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Murderer of Mahatma G Nathuram Godse for them(Govt) is nat'l hero &Sitaram Yechury is anti-national-Sitaram Yechury pic.twitter.com/pQmjKIp3f5 ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Have u issued a demarche against Pakistan for Hafiz Saeed's 'tweet'?You havent as u dont have proof: Sitaram Yechury pic.twitter.com/UOwiyIW7qx ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 On Saturday evening, Rahul Gandhi showed up at JNU campus where he slammed the government action: "What is anti-national? Most anti-national people are those suppressing the voice of students in JNU." Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi at #JNU campus pic.twitter.com/GpTeWoWkcm ANI (@ANI_news) February 13, 2016 BJP president Amit Shah on Monday launched a scathing attack on Rahul for his stand on the JNU row and said that no anti-national activities would be allowed in the country. "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country," Shah said in a blog. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," he said. Shah also said, "Rahul Gandhi has compared the present situation in the country to Hitler's reign...I want to know from Rahul Gandhi-did the Emergency of 1975 define the democratic values? Does not consider Indira Gandhi's approach as comparable to Hitler?" Meanwhile, maintaining that the Centre was against only a 'handful' of people responsible for the current state of unrest at the JNU campus, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said that the government had problems with students protesting only when it was 'anti-national'. Quoting Naqvi, ANI tweeted saying, "We don't have any objection to students raising their voice and protesting, but the reason behind it is important. If an anti-national activity has happened and action is being taken against it and someone protests against it then it is unfortunate." JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days' police custody on Friday although he denied raising the anti-India slogans. With inputs from agencies We ought to make the 2016 election a referendum on the Supreme Court, U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said on NBC's Meet the Press. The normally nine-justice court is set to decide this year its first major abortion case in nearly a decade, as well as cases on voting rights, affirmative action, immigration and public employee unions. Scalia died on Saturday at a West Texas resort. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara said on Sunday that she consulted with Scalia's personal physician and sheriff's investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding the 79-year-old had died of natural causes. His family didn't think a private autopsy was necessary and requested his remains be flown home as soon as possible, said Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes, which took the body to El Paso airport. Obama, a Democrat, said on Saturday that he would nominate someone to fill the empty seat, setting up a battle with the Republican-controlled Senate, which must approve any nominee. Republicans quickly vowed not to act on the vacancy until Obama's successor takes office next January. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said failure to act would be a shameful abdication of the Senate's constitutional duty. Both sides claimed history was on their side. Reid said it would be unprecedented to have a vacancy on the court for a year. In the modern era, the longest Supreme Court vacancy was 363 days after Abe Fortas resigned in May 1969. Republicans cited 80 years of tradition in which no Supreme Court nominees were approved in presidential election years. In fact, Justice Anthony Kennedy was approved in 1988, after a bruising battle in which the Senate rejected President Ronald Reagan's first nominee, conservative Robert Bork. Supreme Court nominations are rare, so neither side has much data to rely on in determining precedents. History is also an unreliable guide as the nomination process has become significantly more politicized in recent years. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a relative moderate among the Republicans vying for the White House, said the Senate should wait because a battle this year would only deepen divisions in the country. You know how polarized everything is, Kasich said on ABC's This Week. What I don't want to see is more fighting and more recrimination. Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy warned that a delay could have consequences in November's election, when voters get to decide who fills one-third of the Senate's seats. If the Republican leadership refuses to even hold a hearing, I think that is going to guarantee they lose control of the Senate, because I don't think the American people will stand for that, he said on CNN's State of the Union. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said the Constitution was clear. The president makes the appointment, Senate confirms, let's get on with that business, the senator said on Fox News Sunday. Cruz, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that takes the lead on Supreme Court nominees, said the vacancy left by Scalia makes the presidential election even more critical. He warned that a justice chosen by Sanders or his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, would mean the Second Amendment right to bear arms would be written out of the Constitution and abortion would remain legal. Cruz lumped Donald Trump in with the Democrats, saying the Republican front-runner's views were indistinguishable from theirs. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, another White House rival, said he would want someone who echoed Scalia's originalist ideology that looks at the U.S. Constitution through the lens of its framers' 18th-century intentions. Does the person that we are nominating have a consistent and proven record of interpreting the Constitution as initially meant? Rubio said. Trump, appearing on NBC, was more direct when asked what he would want: Someone just like Justice Scalia. Wire services By N R Mohanty The recent JNU developments raise larger issues of freedom of expression in a democratic country. Let us take a hypothetical example: If some students in a university campus in the US had raised slogans against the State (as distinct from the government) and demanded the overthrow of the capitalist regime on the ground of some real or imaginary grievances, how would the university and the State have reacted? I would think that neither the university authorities nor the State mandarins would have taken notice of the matter. That is a point of view and all points of view are welcome in a university campus this would have been their standard reply. Only if the sloganeering by the students would have been accompanied by violence or destruction of property, then the might of the State would have come down heavily on them because such disruptive behaviour would have adversely affected the freedom of the fellow students. So long as their revolutionary fervour was confined to words, verbal or written, they would be protected by the First Amendment The Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or press or assembly. But then does such a right to freedom of speech exist in reality or only in Statute books? My personal encounter with a group of radical students in the US told me that these rights were there for the real. It was the year 2002. I was the resident editor of a national daily based in Patna then. I was offered by the US government a six-week travel through 12 cities in the US to see democracy at work (under the distinguished young leader program sponsored by the State Department). As part of the program I was asked to specify two groups of people that I would like to meet in the US. Having been a student activist myself (I was a former president of the JNU Students Union), I expressed a desire to meet a group of left-wingers if at all they existed in the US campuses (my other request was to arrange a meeting with the inmates of American prisons). In the very first week, I was taken to the action hub of a student group (I forget the name) in the heart of the capital city, Washington DC. I was surprised to see the pictures of all revolutionary leaders splattered across the walls; a large photo-frame of Ho Chi Minh welcomed me at the entrance itself. As I glanced through the published literature that viciously attacked the American policy both domestic and international I wondered if these young men and women symbolised the quintessential anti-Americanism. Were they not afraid of the State unleashing its power to subdue them, with all their Anti-American campaign, I asked. What they said startled me: The American State has no issue with us in carrying on such propaganda. We are only afraid of our fellow students who sneer at us. They are in a majority. They cannot physically hurt us because the State and the university are there to protect us. But sometimes we have to face verbal abuse from those students who think we deserve to be put behind the bars for running down the country we live in and benefit from. This interaction was indeed instructive. I myself a former student leader of the most politicised and ostensibly the most radical campus in India JNU felt even as we, JNUites, prided in our radicalism, were doves compared to these hawks in the American campuses. The twenty boys and girls that I interacted with were so passionate about creating a just, anti-militaristic America that I felt they were all budding Noam Chomskys in the making! One cannot but give credit to the American State that it allows Noam Chomskys to survive and prosper in American campuses despite their anti-national credentials. It has been so because the Declaration of Independence defended the very idea of a right to alter or abolish the government. This right has been upheld by the US Supreme Court. In Yates versus United States case, the Supreme Court ruled that citizens could even go as far as to advocate the forceful overthrow of the United States government. The Supreme Court has seen to it that this revolutionary right is further strengthened in the university campuses. In Healy versus James case, the Supreme Court rejected the contention of President James of the Central Connecticut State College to deny the official recognition to a local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as a student organisation in the campus. President James had announced that he was unwilling to give sanction to an organisation that openly advocates the destruction of the very ideals and freedoms upon which the academic life is founded The Supreme Court said: The mere disagreement of the President with the groups philosophy affords no reason to deny it recognition. As repugnant as these views may have been, especially to one with President James responsibility, the mere expression of them would not justify the denial of First Amendment rights. Whether petitioners (members of SDS) did in fact advocate a philosophy of destruction thus becomes immaterial. The college, acting here as the instrumentality of the State, may not restrict speech or association simply because it finds the views expressed by any group to be abhorrent. Justice Black said: the freedom of speech, press, petition and assembly must be accorded to the ideas we hate or sooner or later, they will be denied to the ideas we cherish. If the First Amendment in the US gives the American student the untramelled right to profess subversive ideas, why cant the Article 14 of our Constitution give the students of JNU, or students of any campus for that matter, a similar right? As someone has rightly said that the State can be criminally assaulted by speech is the hallmark of closed societies. Those who are asking for sedition charges against JNU students be they university administrators or government big bosses or ill-educated public are, in fact, seeking to turn India into a closed society. New Delhi: The stage is set to recognise cities that have taken Swachh Bharat campaign seriously and rank them on their cleanliness and sanitation. That's what will happen at 3 pm on Monday when Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu announces the results of the Swachh Survekshan that will rate 73 cities of the country. Swachh Survekshan, conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) on behalf of the ministry, involved a pain-staking ground survey and calls made to no less than 20 million citizens, among others parameters, to arrive at the rankings. Adil Zainulbhai, chairman, QCI, explains the rationale of Swachh Survekshan: It has been 16 months now since the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched. It is now time to take stock. Swachh Survekshan will help us assess the level of cleanliness and awareness in 73 cities, council chairman Adil Zainulbhai said. But isnt it too early to assess a project like this, particularly given the state of cleanliness in India? On the contrary, we want to make the campaign even more successful. We want to foster a spirit of healthy competition between cities, he said. In fact, we have already started moving towards our next task even more challenging. It is to make Swachh Survekshan a rugular affair and go on to rank as many as 4,000 cities and towns in the country, added Zainulbhai, former India chief for McKinsey. The Swachh Bharat campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 October, 2014 Mahatma Gandhis birthday calling upon the citizens to realise the dream of a clean India by the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation in 2019. The council chairman said Swachh Survekshan involved citizen feedback, a self-evaluation by municipalities and an independent assessment by experts. All these were based on a uniform cleanliness index so as to make it totally non-discretionary and scientific. The exercise also involved six measurable aspects of sanitation and hygiene: How cities proposed to stop open defecation and integrate solid waste management systems Communication strategies on information, education and behavioral change Systems adopted for sweeping, door-to-door collection and transportation of waste Efficiency in processing and disposal of waste Deployment of public and community toilets Progress in construction of individual household toilets. According to Zainulbhai, 110 assessors, most of them engineers, visited over 40 locations in each city to make an assessment across several parameters. The locations included bus stands, railway stations, planned and unplanned colonies, community toilets, religious places and market areas. A base-year pre-survey was also conducted in 476 cities before the launch of this exercise. The results were then tallied with the latest findings in each of the 73 designated cities for their ranking, he said, adding the results will also be shared on the swachhbharaturban.gov.in website. IANS Mysuru is the cleanest of 73 cities and Dhanbad in Jharkhand is the dirtiest in the "seminal" Swachh Survekshan results the government rolled out on Monday a cleanliness monitor based on extensive surveys across Indian cities carried out by Quality Council of India (QCI). Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai both make the cut and are grouped in "leader cities". Chandigarh, Tiruchirapalli, Delhi (NDMC) and Vishakapatnam come right behind Mysuru in the top five "leaders" which have high levels of sanitation and cleanliness. Chennai in Tamil Nadu just about makes it into the Aspiring Leaders category coming in last among 22 cities while Panaji leads this bunch. More than one city in Bihar is bunched with the laggards, including state capital Patna. Two important cities in Kerala a state which goes to the polls soon, are in the 'Accelaration required' category. Unveiling the results, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said "a clean India is the most profound statement that the country can make to the world which is keenly watching us." Prime Minister Modi launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014 and laid a roadmap for improving the level of sanitation and cleanliness in the country with a vision to create a Clean India by 2019, the 150th birth year of Mahatma Gandhi. The QCI Swachh Survekshan informs this effort with measurable data points the first of its kind in the country. QCI and the government invite citizens to tweet their views to @SwachhBharatGov. Key findings: Less than 3 in 10 people (25 percent) have access to a public toilet within 500 metres. Almost 9 in 10 of those surveyed have a toilet at home. Only 2 in 10 people (23 percent) can locate a trash can. Less than 2 in 10 (18 percent) people find their areas always clean. Although cities have been ranked point wise with a variety of indicators and cross checks, these four categories offer a better "understanding" of the results, says the survey. Cities with a score of 1,400 and above are leaders, those with less than 1,000 are slow movers while the other two categories come within the 1,000-1,400 point scale. The total of 2,000 points at the upper end comes from three sources: Service level status data (1,000), independent observation (500) and citizen feedback (500) Calling this a "seminal project", Quality Council of India chairman Adil Zainulbhai said he hopes the survey "becomes the cornerstone for a much intensive exercise of local government and citizens working together for a better future for the next generation". "A well ranked city wholly benefits from its cleanliness by leading to influx of the new-age, economically strong working class population further strengthening the economic market of the city," says Zainulbhai, former India chief for McKinsey. In fact, we have already started moving towards our next task even more challenging. It is to make Swachh Survekshan a quarterly affair and go on to rank as many as 4,000 cities and towns in the country, Zainulbhai said. Prime Minister Modi also weighed in saying: We reached Mars. No PM or Minister went. It was the people who did it, our scientists who did it. So cant we create a Clean India? Underling the 'objective' nature of the Swachh Survekshan survey, Zainulbhai said the "power and penetration of technology was used to minimize human subjectivity in the surveys." "The assessors were given tablets to fill the surveys and click evidence-based pictures of the locations in the cities. The pictures were also geo-tagged to detect precise locations, ensuring accuracy and transparency. Assessors were not given the op-tion to amend, revise or re-do the survey unless approved or requested by the control room, on a real time basis." There are 15 cities in the "leader" category while the other 58 cities get sorted into three other categories 'Slow movers', 'Accelaration required' and 'Aspiring leaders'. Other "leader" cities: Surat Rajkot Gangtok Pimpri Chinchwad Greater Mumbai Navi Mumbai Pune Vadodara Ahmedabad Imphal Aspiring leaders: Panaji Thane Coimbatore Nagpur Hyderabad Bhopal Allahabad Bhubhaneshwar Vijayawada Indore Shimla Madurai Lucknow Warangal Nashik Jaipur Gwalior Agartala Ludhiana Vasai - Virar Gurgaon Chennai Acceleration required: Delhi-SDMC Bengaluru Thiruvananthapuram Aizawl Gandhinagar Delhi-North DMC Kozhikode Durg Kanpur Agra Srinagar Amritsar Guwahati Faridabad Shillong Delhi-EDMC Hubli Dharwad Kochi Slow movers: Aurangabad Jodhpur Kota Cuttack Kohima Dehradun Ranchi Jabalpur Kalyan-Dombivili Varanasi Jamshedpur Ghaziabad Raipur Meerut Patna Itanagarh Asansol-Durgapur Dhanbad Self assessment and independent data collection After the initial round of self assessment, Swachh Survekshan moved to the next round of independent observation and on-ground assessment by QCI assessors. "Survey assessors used maps and simple handheld recording formats and photographs" to record data and visual evidence, with "location, date and time are tagged on all the pictures." 4 zones in each municipality Each municipal jurisdiction was divided into 4 zones and QCI zeroed in on these specific locations within that zoning: Slums including informal settlements and urban villages, 'non-slum' neighborhoods, main market area and places of worship, bulk waste generators including hotels, banquet halls, weekly vegetable market areas, two community Toilets and 2 public toilets in each zone. Key numbers in #SwachhSurvekshan: 73 cities ranked 1 lakh citizens participated 110 assessors 3,000 plus locations 1,168 public toilets 876 residential areas The exercise also involved six measurable aspects of sanitation and hygiene: How cities proposed to stop open defecation and integrate solid waste management systems Communication strategies on information, education and behavioral change Systems adopted for sweeping, door-to-door collection and transportation of waste Efficiency in processing and disposal of waste Deployment of public and community toilets Progress in construction of individual household toilets. QCI's Zainulbhai said a happy outcome of this survey would be healthy competition between cities and bottom-up change for a cleaner India and a sense of ownership among government stakeholders and citizens. With inputs from IANS Twitter users in India's cleanest of 73 cities in the first of the Swachh Survekshan results - Mysuru lay low while the results trended in 26 cities in 2 countries including India. Mumbai's Twitter users spent a total of 460 minutes on the Swachh Survekshan results which ranked highest at #19 in this city, according to iTrended data. In Chennai's online community, Swachh Survekshan reached the #20 trend which it shared with Amritsar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Nagpur, Ranchi, Surat and Thane. Across Twitterscape in India, people spent 2240 minutes while Vietnam's Tweeple spent a total of 325 minutes on India's clean sweep. Clearly, the cleanest top two cities - Mysuru and Chandigarh left it to the rest of the field to mull over the results. The results trended for more than 450 minutes among Delhi's Twitter users who spent 10 minutes tracking the news when it reached its top ranked trend of #21 here. Various sub divisions of Delhi find mention in both the leader cities as well as in the 'acceleration required' category. A recap of the results released Monday: Mysuru is the cleanest of 73 cities and Dhanbad in Jharkhand is the dirtiest in the "seminal" Swachh Survekshan results the government rolled out on Monday a cleanliness monitor based on extensive surveys across Indian cities carried out by Quality Council of India (QCI). Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai both make the cut and are grouped in "leader cities". Chandigarh, Tiruchirapalli, Delhi (NDMC) and Vishakapatnam come right behind Mysuru in the top five "leaders" which have high levels of sanitation and cleanliness. Chennai in Tamil Nadu just about makes it into the Aspiring Leaders category coming in last among 22 cities while Panaji leads this bunch. More than one city in Bihar is bunched with the laggards, including state capital Patna. Two important cities in Kerala a state which goes to the polls soon, are in the 'Accelaration required' category. Unveiling the results, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said "a clean India is the most profound statement that the country can make to the world which is keenly watching us." Prime Minister Modi launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014 and laid a roadmap for improving the level of sanitation and cleanliness in the country with a vision to create a Clean India by 2019, the 150th birth year of Mahatma Gandhi. The QCI Swachh Survekshan informs this effort with measurable data points the first of its kind in the country. QCI and the government invite citizens to tweet their views to @SwachhBharatGov. Key findings: Less than 3 in 10 people (25 percent) have access to a public toilet within 500 metres. Almost 9 in 10 of those surveyed have a toilet at home. Only 2 in 10 people (23 percent) can locate a trash can. Less than 2 in 10 (18 percent) people find their areas always clean. Although cities have been ranked point wise with a variety of indicators and cross checks, these four categories offer a better "understanding" of the results, says the survey. Cities with a score of 1,400 and above are leaders, those with less than 1,000 are slow movers while the other two categories come within the 1,000-1,400 point scale. The total of 2,000 points at the upper end comes from three sources: Service level status data (1,000), independent observation (500) and citizen feedback (500) Calling this a "seminal project", Quality Council of India chairman Adil Zainulbhai said he hopes the survey "becomes the cornerstone for a much intensive exercise of local government and citizens working together for a better future for the next generation". "A well ranked city wholly benefits from its cleanliness by leading to influx of the new-age, economically strong working class population further strengthening the economic market of the city," says Zainulbhai, former India chief for McKinsey. In fact, we have already started moving towards our next task even more challenging. It is to make Swachh Survekshan a quarterly affair and go on to rank as many as 4,000 cities and towns in the country, Zainulbhai said. Prime Minister Modi also weighed in saying: We reached Mars. No PM or Minister went. It was the people who did it, our scientists who did it. So cant we create a Clean India? Underling the 'objective' nature of the Swachh Survekshan survey, Zainulbhai said the "power and penetration of technology was used to minimize human subjectivity in the surveys." "The assessors were given tablets to fill the surveys and click evidence-based pictures of the locations in the cities. The pictures were also geo-tagged to detect precise locations, ensuring accuracy and transparency. Assessors were not given the op-tion to amend, revise or re-do the survey unless approved or requested by the control room, on a real time basis." There are 15 cities in the "leader" category while the other 58 cities get sorted into three other categories 'Slow movers', 'Accelaration required' and 'Aspiring leaders'. Other "leader" cities: Surat Rajkot Gangtok Pimpri Chinchwad Greater Mumbai Navi Mumbai Pune Vadodara Ahmedabad Imphal Aspiring leaders: Panaji Thane Coimbatore Nagpur Hyderabad Bhopal Allahabad Bhubhaneshwar Vijayawada Indore Shimla Madurai Lucknow Warangal Nashik Jaipur Gwalior Agartala Ludhiana Vasai - Virar Gurgaon Chennai Acceleration required: Delhi-SDMC Bengaluru Thiruvananthapuram Aizawl Gandhinagar Delhi-North DMC Kozhikode Durg Kanpur Agra Srinagar Amritsar Guwahati Faridabad Shillong Delhi-EDMC Hubli Dharwad Kochi Slow movers: Aurangabad Jodhpur Kota Cuttack Kohima Dehradun Ranchi Jabalpur Kalyan-Dombivili Varanasi Jamshedpur Ghaziabad Raipur Meerut Patna Itanagarh Asansol-Durgapur Dhanbad Self assessment and independent data collection After the initial round of self assessment, Swachh Survekshan moved to the next round of independent observation and on-ground assessment by QCI assessors. "Survey assessors used maps and simple handheld recording formats and photographs" to record data and visual evidence, with "location, date and time are tagged on all the pictures." 4 zones in each municipality Each municipal jurisdiction was divided into 4 zones and QCI zeroed in on these specific locations within that zoning: Slums including informal settlements and urban villages, 'non-slum' neighborhoods, main market area and places of worship, bulk waste generators including hotels, banquet halls, weekly vegetable market areas, two community Toilets and 2 public toilets in each zone. Key numbers in #SwachhSurvekshan: 73 cities ranked 1 lakh citizens participated 110 assessors 3,000 plus locations 1,168 public toilets 876 residential areas The exercise also involved six measurable aspects of sanitation and hygiene: How cities proposed to stop open defecation and integrate solid waste management systems Communication strategies on information, education and behavioral change Systems adopted for sweeping, door-to-door collection and transportation of waste Efficiency in processing and disposal of waste Deployment of public and community toilets Progress in construction of individual household toilets. QCI's Zainulbhai said a happy outcome of this survey would be healthy competition between cities and bottom-up change for a cleaner India and a sense of ownership among government stakeholders and citizens. With inputs from IANS All aspects including sabotage angle will be investigated while ascertaining the cause of the massive fire that gutted the stage during a cultural programme at the Make in India Week event in Mumbai on Sunday night attended by many VIPs, an official said on Monday. Fire brigade authority has begun an inquiry into the blaze. "We will probe all aspects, including finding out if there was a sabotage angle involved," a fire brigade official said. No casualties were reported as the venue at the Girgaum Chowpatty area was emptied within minutes. As the audience scrambled to safety, Firstpost reporter Sanjay Sawant heard strains of soundbites like these: "Maharashtra ki barah baj gayi" which, loosely translated, means the State's image has taken a good beating. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 'Make in India' week in India's financial capital Mumbai on Saturday. The week-long event, the boldest since Modi launched the initiative to emulate China's export miracle back in 2014, seeks to "spark a renewed sense of pride in India's manufacturing says the marketing blurb. Maharashtra welcomes you read half burnt posters and banners at the venue as cranes picked up the remains of the night and smoke continues to billow many hours after the fire, Sawant reported. "Disarray is the word. I can imagine the headlines tomorrow in Beijing and Islamabad. There is no tape to cordon off people, anyone is just walking in and picking up scraps...," I'm very disappointed at these optics...what kind of message does this send out to the world about India's financial capital?" a witness at the scene around midnight told Firstpost. Bollywood stars flee Make in India event, the BBC reported. "We were shaken with the sudden announcement that there has been a fire at the venue but thankfully there were multiple exit routes," said Heman Goyal, a Delhi businessman who was attending the event. "There was chaos but we all got out in time. I saw parts of the stage burning." Set designer Nitin Chandrakant Desai ruled out any flaw in sets which could have led to the blaze. "A fire audit will ascertain reasons but I am sure it was not due to the sets," he said. The blaze is likely to overshadow the message of India being open for business that Modi wanted to send. When he opened the investor jamboree on Saturday, Modi called Make in India "the biggest brand India has ever created". The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland took part in Saturday's gala opening ahead of Make in India Week, which is being attended by 2,500 foreign companies and 8,000 firms from India. The week-long string of events is meant to showcase India's "manufacturing prowess" and attract billions of dollars in investments from domestic and global majors. Over 2,500 international and 8,000 domestic companies will be participating in the week-long multi-sectoral industrial event, which will be attended by foreign government delegations from 68 countries and business teams from 72 nations. Clearly, high stakes here. Though the official line is that a short circuit could have done it, the "sabotage?" angle is raging on social. Although the Mumbai fire chief says investigation is on and the cause of the fire will be known, here's the thing: Many hours after the fire, smoke was still swirling at the venue, people still walking around fiddling with burnt remains, examining debris lying around, police had not blocked off entry, how would any official be able to stop folks who may want to tamper with evidence? Chowpatty is a banned area for such events and Bombay High Court had refused permission for the event. Yet, the Maharashtra government pushed ahead and went to the Supreme Court seeking permission for the event which it got barely two weeks ago. Did the government lose time in legalities and do a rush job on safety considerations is another question everyone's asking. According to fire officials, the blaze may have been caused due to firecrackers that were set off at the venue, DNA reported on Monday. Varying versions have emerged about the causes leading to the blazing fire that brought down the stage. Some officials also said that the fire may have started due to a short circuit. The stage creator Nitin Desai told The Mumbai Mirror, "This was clearly due to a short circuit. I prepared the stage and handed it over at 4.30 pm, and my responsibility ended there. The wiring was done later." Additional Chief Secretary KP Bakshi said that a gas leak may have taken place due to pressure cylinders meant to light up firecrackers later. Wizcraft, the organisers of mega events, on Monday claimed that a complete fire audit, including all safety checks of the main stage of the 'Make In India Week' cultural extravaganza, was carried out before was gutted in a huge fire. "Prior to the event, all safety checks and audits were done during rehearsals and prior to the show. All fire and safety norms prescribed have been followed," Wizcraft said in a statement on Monday. Wizcraft said that the detailed planning, both with regard to smooth execution of the event and disaster management in case of an unfortunate incident, ensured that there were no casualties and injuries in the fire which reduced the stage to ashes on Sunday night. The statement said that as soon as the fire broke out - around 8.15 p.m. - the audience comprising many VVIPs, performers, and technical crew were evacuated to safe zones inside and outside the venue at Girgaum Chowpatty beach. BMC Disaster Control brought the fire under control within an hour by which time there wasn't much left of the stage which hosted Amitabh Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi and chief minister Fadnavis barely an hour before the blaze. At least 14 fire tenders and 10 water tankers were rushed to the site. Maharashtra Governor C V Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his wife Amruta Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his wife Rashmi Thackeray, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Hema Malini, Katrina Kaif, Vivek Oberoi, Isha Koppikar and Shreyas Talpade, ministers, parliamentarians and legislators witnessing the performance were shifted to safer places. For those of us who were at the venue, the first visual of the fire was an angry orange spark just below where Puja Sawant was dancing and it seemed to have caught the top of a decorative foliage and erupted out control in seconds. BMC said the fire could have been caused by an electric short-circuit. Fadnavis termed the incident sad and said a comprehensive probe will be ordered and those responsible for it would face action. Fadnavis confirmed that there were no injuries or casualties and all artistes and guests were evacuated safely. With inputs from agencies Respected Sir, In your noted speech at Rajya Sabha in November 2015, you compared the emergency imposed during Indira Gandhis regime to that of Hitlers Germany. You stated, Those who talk about intolerance snatched the right to life and liberty. You also remarked that the Constitution should be strengthened and democracy should not be subverted again. During emergency, you were under preventive detention for a period of 19 months. You have been noted for your active role in student politics and Jan Sangh, where you audaciously mustered up the courage to challenge the system, question it. Talking of emergency, the arrest of JNUSU President and the police patrolling on campus is highly condemned by us. Videos by a few media houses have manipulated the freedom (azaadi) concept that JNUSU President Kanhiya had talked about. He did not endorse any secessionist ideology he was supporting azaadi from fear, azaadi of conscience, azaadi to choose and the azaadi to express. Dont you think that charging students with the draconian laws of criminal conspiracy and sedition on the basis of few video clippings is highly obnoxious? Dont you think that every individual in India, owing to our democratic status, has the Right to Dissent? Why was the decision to arrest Kanhaiya taken in such a hurry, escalated to a degree that is highly repulsive and odious? V. Sujatha, a JNU Professor rightly questions our government is tolerant of people who celebrate the birthday of the assassin of the father of the nation? Is being mindlessly hostile and vindictive towards students of JNU, the educational capital of India, the right approach? Isnt it replaying the times of Emergency when such rampant arrests took place and the Freedom of Speech and Expression were snatched away? These students were and are defenseless. When the same Afzal Guru exhibition took place last year, why was there no hullabaloo created then? It was almost as if the government was restlessly waiting for such an incident to occur, to escalate its intensity with the aid of ABVP supporters in the campus and launch a massive attack on the personal Right to Dissent. Arent the students allowed to proscribe to a point of view, but be brow-beaten and called anti-national, without being endowed the chance to explain? Media commentators like Arnab Goswami have already egregiously rebuked the JNU student leaders, called them more dangerous than Maoists and portrayed the image that JNU, in itself, it completely antithetical to the Idea of India?. If thats the case Sir, then what is this Idea of India anyway? Tagore had stated that nationalism is collective egoism of the people and a machinery of destruction and profit-making. It is the most powerful anesthetics that the man has ever invented and an artificial product of human ingenuity manufactured to satiate mans need for power. The irony is that in nation the individual worships with all sacrifices a god which is morally inferior to him. Then sir, would you too call him anti-national and an insult to Mother India? Right from FTII, Hyderabad University and now JNU, what we are witnessing now is extreme dictatorial and authoritarian reaction towards radical student politics. Our educational institutions are marred with several loopholes and caveats, but rather than addressing those, focusing on such small events and escalating them to an atrocious degree will not endow any solution. Rather, it would just radicalize the student politics even more, as its doing right now, against the government, creating dialectics of hatred and mistrust. Is that what the government wants, especially from the youth who are the pillars of tomorrow? JNU has always been recognized for its left politics and democratic space. So, is asking for freedom from a nation, against the usage of Freedom of Expression? Why is the government so keen on creating the other intertwined with the identity of students, reflecting upon them a horrendous image without proper judicial or procedural enquiry? Who draws the line, and who has the final say? Is it the system which is so radically against students? It seems as if the social conservatives are ideal for the government rather than informed, argumentative Indians? Is it because of creating this national project of Greater India, which is so utterly and scandalously nationalist that it can attack defenseless students? DP Tripathi (Ex. President JNUSU arrested during the emergency) in a press release rightly stated, "We condemn in the strongest possible words the high-handed police action in JNU. This is reminiscent of the dark days of the emergency when the state had swooped down on the campus and had arrested many on false and trumped up charges. While we hold no brief for those who raised objectionable slogans, the arrested students have been charged with anti-national activities, precisely the charges on which we were also arrested during the draconian emergency." Sir, are we then turning into a fascist nation because for sure, our democracy is grasping for breath. Isnt the Right to Live being snatched away with what has happened in JNU? If yes, how is it different from Emergency? Just because it has not been officially declared, but its clandestine practice makes students like us, worry, and worry a lot. The democracy is being subverted Sir, and this is Emergency for us. Students from JNU. Sincerely, Shubhda Chaudhary Reacting to former prime minister Manmohan Singh's recent comments that prime minister Narendra Modi should reach out to the Opposition, finance minister Arun Jaitley has said that the NDA government has been doing just that. Singh's comments come in the wake of the stalling of Parliament proceedings over the GST Bill, in which the Congress is demanding the tariff rate to be included in the constitution amendment bill. The BJP has been saying that the rate cannot be part of the constitution, which has held up the key reform. "Is the Congress position on Constitutional cap not motivated by real politics? The economist in Dr. Singh should advice his party that tariff are not provided for in the Constitution. This is what nation expects from the senior leaders and statesmen like former Prime Ministers," Jaitley said in a Facebook post on Saturday. In the interview to India Today, Singh had stated that "people don't believe the government". "...When they (apparently industrialists) go and call on the ministers, they say the right things, but when they come out, all of them say that nothing much has changed... There is today a crisis of confidence in the government," he said. He was critical of the prime minister for not speaking on issues like beef or communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and elsewhere. He said the beef controversy and issues like intolerance were problems. "All these are problems. The public in our country expects the prime minister to take the lead in managing public opinion. But he (Modi) has never spoken; whether it is on the beef problem or whether it is what happened in Muzaffarnagar or elsewhere, he has kept quiet." Here's the entire Facebook post of Jaitley: What Dr. Manmohan Singh should advise his Party? Former Presidents and Prime Ministers rarely speak, but when they do, the nation should listen to them with rapt attention. They represent the wisdom of the nation. They are expected to be non-partisan, render constructive advice and at times send a powerful message even to their own political party to act in broader national interest. Having consistently held Dr. Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister in high respect, I expect the same from him. I have read his interview in the latest edition of India Today, particularly his concern that the Prime Minister and the Government are not reaching out to the opposition. He feels that the Government is not doing enough to move up the countrys economy. I am sure if Dr. Singh would dispassionately analyse the present Government, he would really realize the India has a Government where the Prime Minister has the last word, where natural resources are allocated without corruption through transparent process, where industrialists no longer visit North Block to push files/decisions, where environmental clearances are dealt with in routine and not stalled on sadistic or corrupt considerations. Has there been any change in the work culture of the Government? During the UPA Government, the public sector banks were hardly run by their own Boards or even by North Block. They were run from 24, Akbar Road. In Power and Infrastructure areas, sectoral challenges were not addressed during the UPA. It is the present Government which is clearing up these accumulated challenges. Many stalled infrastructure projects have now started moving. Indias journey is from policy-paralysis to a global bright-spot, as the fastest growing economy moves on notwithstanding major challenges. On consultations with the opposition, almost all political parties except the Congress, support the GST. The Congress has done a volte face. Both the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and myself have discussed the GST with every senior Congress leader in Parliament. Is the Congress position on Constitutional cap not motivated by real politics? The economist in Dr. Singh should advice his party that tariff are not provided for in the Constitution. This is what nation expects from the senior leaders and statesmen like former Prime Ministers. Jammu: Adopting a reconciliatory tone after weeks of tough-talk, PDP on Monday said it has not demanded any confidence-building measures (CBMs) from its ally BJP as a pre-condition for government formation which will take "some time". BJP, in turn, also sounded hopeful of moving ahead with formation of coalition government in the state which has been under the Governor's Rule since 8 January, a day after the sudden death of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh asserted that the alliance with BJP is in tact and there was no question of making any fresh demands to the coalition partner. "It (formation of the government) is being looked into. We don't want alliance primarily for gaining the power. We want the alliance (government) to work for the people of the state. So it (government formation) will take some time," he told reporters in Jammu in response to questions over government formation. He, however, did not reveal why the government formation will be delayed. "Some things are confidential. If something is revealed before time, things get derailed," PDP MP and former state minister said while insisting that the issue of people wanting the government "is in our mind". When attention was drawn to the demand by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti that the central BJP government should announce CBMs before any initiative could be taken to form the government, he claimed, "She (Mehbooba) has never said anything like CBMs. I don't know where from the newspapers have carried such a news about CBMs." He went on to add, "CBMs actually take place between two hostile countries. It (PDP-BJP) is one alliance which has not disintegrated here. We are not talking to any enemy that we should demand CBMs." Mehbooba, seen as a successor to her father Mufti Sayeed as Chief Minister, has earlier talked tough, asserting that PDP "cannot move forward" in forming government with BJP unless the Centre takes "tangible confidence-building measures" to address the causes of alienation and works towards a lasting solution to the state's problems. She had also made it clear that she will not form the government with BJP if the Modi dispensation does not create a "conducive atmosphere" by committing CBMs for the state. Seeking to interpret these statements of Mehbooba, Beigh said, "she has said that there should be a timeframe on our 'Agenda of Alliance' that in the first year, we can do this thing and in the second year, next thing, and so on." Claiming that the PDP chief had "not used the word CBMs for any fresh demand", the party leader remarked, "But the thing is that Mehbooba Mufti said that whatever has been decided (in the Agenda of Alliance), a time-frame should be added to it. What we have agreed for six years has even been accepted by BJP people". In Delhi, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who had played a key role in forging the alliance, said, "We are communicating with each other. It is not that communication between us has broken down." BJP sources sounded hopeful of forming the alliance government that ruled the state for 10 months under Sayeed but the two parties have been unable to come together after Mehbooba Mufti took over PDP following her father's death. Asked about new conditions put forth by PDP for the resumption of alliance, BJP sources said the saffron party had shared its views too with the regional party and talks were continuing. Meanwhile, on the 40th day of Sayeed's death today, BJP leaders Sat Pal Sharma, Nirmal Singh, Bali Bhagat and C P Ganga visited Mehbooba's residence. "It was a courtesy call on the 40th day," Sharma told PTI. Earlier, Mehbooba, accompanied by several senior party leaders, went to Sayeed's grave in his hometown Bijbehara in Anantnag to pay their homage. PTI Mumbai: Taking an aggressive stand on the turmoil at JNU, Shiv Sena on Monday said all politicians who support the students' agitation should be stripped off their 'elected status' and those raising slogans against India put behind bars. Citing the example of cricketer Virat Kohli's Pakistani fan being declared an "anti-national" by the neighboring country for waving an Indian flag, the Sena said all those sloganeering against India should be declared "anti-nationals". "All those who are sloganeering against India should be immediately put behind bars. The JNU campus has now become a hub of not only anti-nationals, but of Pakistani and Chinese agents, who are indulging in anti-national activities on government's money," an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said. "If elected representatives come forward in support of anti-nationals, there should be a provision in the law that such representatives should be stripped off their elected status. More than Pakistani terrorists, democracy and freedom is strangulating the country," the ruling ally said. The Sena further said that there should be a "combing operation" on institutions where prayers are being held for terrorists like Yakub Memon and Afzal Guru. "If a Pakistani fan of Virat Kohli can be declared an anti-national by that country for waiving an Indian flag, why are people who shout anti-India slogans treated with kid gloves. The government has to take firm steps," it said. Hitting out at the Congress, the Sena said, "There is ruckus created in the Parliament if somebody celebrates the birth or the death anniversary of (Nathuram) Godse. Why Congress does not create a ruckus now when a day of remembrance is being observed for Afzal Guru." PTI Haiti's lawmakers selected an opposition senator who served as interior minister under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide as interim president on Sunday, in a move aimed at filling a power vacuum threatening stability in the Caribbean nation. Senate chief Jocelerme Privert, 63, was sworn in on Sunday as the provisional president. His main task will be to quickly organize fresh elections. Haiti canceled a runoff presidential election in January amid often violent protests over alleged fraud in the first round and after the opposition candidate boycotted the vote. Privert vowed to complete the elections and hand over to an elected president by May 14. "I will engage in dialogue with all sectors to get the country out of crisis," he said. Former President Michel Martelly finished his term a week ago with no elected successor. Under an agreement struck before Martelly left office, the interim government will have a 120-day term but should organize elections by April 24, and hand power over to the winner in May. Privert's selection could help calm the protests led by factions of Aristide's Lavalas movement, which believed elections organized under Martelly were not free and fair. After Aristide was forced from power in 2004 by armed groups, Privert was jailed for two years on charges that he orchestrated a massacre of Aristide's opponents. The charges were later dropped. Lavalas spokesman Gerald Gilles welcomed the development. "The election of Privert is a great satisfaction for us and for the democratic sector," he said. Another opposition party, a breakaway faction of Aristide's movement called Platform Pitit Dessalines, was more cautious and called for Privert to create a balanced electoral council acceptable to all sides. A major challenge for Privert will be to reach an agreement about who can participate in the election, with many opposition parties rejecting the October results that led to a two-man race between opposition candidate Jude Celestin and ruling party favorite Jovenel Moise. The last time there was an interim government in Haiti was after Aristide's ouster and it took two years to hold elections. Reuters In a major setback to the Congress, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition seeking the status of the Leader of Opposition in the Parliament for its party. In the landmark 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was reduced to merely 44 seats, less than 10 percent of the total seats in the Lower House believed to be a prerequisite to being appointed Leader of Opposition. The Narendra Modi government has reportedly insisted on the criterion being applied in order to accord the status to the party. Its has based its argument on a six-decade old ruling by India's first Speaker GV Malvankar. The decision of the Supreme Court assumes significance as the Leader of Opposition's post is equivalent to that of a cabinet minister, as pointed out in this Firstpost article. The leader of opposition is mandated to be a part of the selection panel of several constitutional posts, including the Lokpal, CVC and the NHRC. Interestingly, the criterion of 10% seats is not mentioned on the website of the Rajya Sabha, which mentions the qualification required for the post. The website quotes The Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977, which defines the Leader of Opposition as a ''member of the Council of States or the House of the People, as the case may be, who is, for the time being, the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised as such by the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People, as the case may be.' However, according to an article in The Economic Times, the BJP-led government is also relying on a 1998 legislation that holds that a party that has 30 to 54 MPs in the Lok Sabha would be recognised as a 'group' and only a party with more than 55 MPs would be termed as a 'recognised party'. Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the government to take quick action and had said that the issue could not be put in cold storage. It had also observed then that the Parliament had never envisaged a situation where there would be no Leader of Opposition. How the Congress reacts to this latest setback in its quest to wield some influence in the Lok Sabha, remains to be seen. Bihar had a maverick chief minister in Mahamaya Prasad Sinha. At the height of the student rowdiness in the state in the late 60s that graduated into a formidable movement against the Congress, particularly against the incumbent chief minister Kirshna Vallabh Sahay, Sinha, a die-hard Congress man, turned up at the vanguard of anti-Congressism. But that was hardly credit-worthy. What was really remarkable during those times was his dramatics. During a series of student movements, he would ride on the roof of a bus, give an emotional speech and tear his kurta with an utterly emotive idiom (jumla) thrown at his audience mere jigar ke tukdo (part of my heart), an obvious allusion to the restive students. His idiom worked. In 1967 when Bihar got its first non-Congress government, Sinha became the chief minister on the basis of his dramatics and emotions much against the wishes of Ram Manohar Lohia. This brief political history bears significance in the context of the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) over-reliance on emotive content rather than realpolitik in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) episode. The party has found the entire development as a low-hanging fruit to establish its nationalist credentials and push rivals into the category of anti-national. At first glance, the debate appears to be as phoney as it can get. For instance, JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar hardly comes across as a student leader who is hell-bent upon betraying his motherland to enemies. His speech punctuated with acerbic diatribe against the BJP and the RSS contained all elements of undiluted nationalism on which the Sangh Parivar claims monopoly. He belongs to a party (Communist Party of India) whose belief in Indian constitutionalism can hardly be questioned. The fact that Kanhaiya Kumar is an elected representative of the student union in the JNU is an index of his popularity. He prima facie comes across as a seasoned leader well-versed with the dialectics of student politics. His mere presence at the spot where anti-India slogans were raised by a group of students could hardly be ground for booking him for sedition. And Kanhaiyas incarceration on serious criminal charges appears motivated more by political reasons than legal requirement. But why did the BJP government do it? Perhaps nobody can answer this question than one of the most brilliant proponents of Hindutva -- KN Govindacharya. The problem with the BJP and the Sangh Parivar is that they find emotive issues more handy than tackling real and political issues, he would say while explaining the reason for the tough stance of the government against hapless students of the university. Apparently in Govindacharyas view, the governments actions seemed to have emanated more out of arrogance than nationalism in this case. Like him there are many in the Sangh Parivar who realise the explosive potential of mishandling a students issue. Given the governments exponential failure in translating its promises to reality, its stand against the JNU students would appear as a cover up for its failure. Perhaps the BJP leadership would do well to handle problems that have been plaguing the country. Despite its proclamation of unfettered masculinity, terrorism, particularly of cross-border variety, has hardly shown any sign of abatement. On the economy front, the situation is far less sanguine if not alarmist given the fact that the investment has not picked up. Job-creation across the country presents a dismal scenario. There is little doubt that Prime Minister Narendra Modis victory in 2014 marked a tectonic shift in Indias politics. This is the first time since independence that an ideological party opposed to the Congress won a clear mandate to run the country in its own way. Unlike Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was substantially influenced by Jawaharlal Nehrus politics and followed conciliation more than confrontation, Modi belongs to a new genre leadership which is deeply immersed in the Sangh Parivars ideology and often chooses confrontation than conciliation as a favoured political tactics. Those who expected that the BJP would deal with the JNU episode with kid-gloves tend to see Modi in the political prism of Vajpayee. Those fed on a high dose of Sangh Parivars variety of nationalism and patriotism now run the government. And those who held the function and allowed it to turn into a platform for free-wheeling seditious expressions by a handful in the JNU have easily walked into the Sangh Parivars trap. But in a vast and diverse country like India, emotion is a double-edged sword. It would only require the genius of a Mahamaya Prasad Sinha to discover one more idiom (jumla) akin to mere jigar ke tukdo and turn the table against the BJP should this issue snowball into a full-blown crisis across the country. BAGHDAD Iraqi's prime minister said on Monday Baghdad would pay the salaries of government employees in Kurdistan if the autonomous northern region stopped selling oil independently, suggesting a deal on sharing oil and revenues could be revived. After a decade-long economic boom, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) began to suffer in 2014 when Baghdad slashed its share of the budget in response to the Kurds, in pursuit of economic independence, building their own pipeline to Turkey. The KRG was forced to cut public workers' salaries by up to 75 percent this month as the region grapples with an economic crisis brought to a head by plummeting oil prices. "I have a suggestion: Give us the oil and we will give every Kurdish employee a salary like we do for every Iraqi employee," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in an interview on state television. Oil exports from northern Iraq via pipeline to Turkey averaged 601,811 barrels per day last month, mostly from fields within the Kurdistan region. The rest came from the disputed Kirkuk field, which is operated by Iraq's state-run North Oil Co but has been under Kurdish control since June 2014 when Islamic State militants overran the north of the country. The region's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani led a delegation to Baghdad on Jan. 31 to meet with Abadi and other senior government officials, but no concrete decisions were announced. The war against Islamic State and an influx of more than one million people displaced by violence in the rest of the country has compounded the problem, which is also the result of years of mismanagement and corruption. Kurdish officials have warned in recent weeks that their region faces an economic collapse. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin; editing by John Stonestreet) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. CHARLESTON, S.C. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush enlisted his brother, former President George W. Bush, on Monday to try to give him a lift as he looks for a strong showing in South Carolina's crucial primary. The 69-year-old George W. Bush, who won the 2000 and 2004 Republican primary contests in South Carolina en route to presidential victories those years, was to appear with Jeb at a 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) rally in North Charleston, days before Republicans vote in the state on Saturday. Before that event, the elder Bush and his wife, Laura, visited with U.S. military veterans at an American Legion Post in Columbia, South Carolina, to try to encourage the state's large contingent of military personnel and veterans to get behind his brother's White House bid. The former president looked as comfortable as ever as he made a rare campaign appearance, shaking hands, posing for pictures and cracking jokes. The appearance of the elder Bush on the campaign trail is seen as helping Jeb with South Carolina Republicans who hold the former president in high regard. But it also carries some risks given his launching of the Iraq war in 2003, which ended up being unpopular with many Americans and which rival Donald Trump has seized on to criticise him. George W. Bush's standing has risen among all Americans since he left power in 2009 and he has stayed on the sidelines of his brother's presidential bid, headlining private fundraisers but otherwise staying off the campaign trail. That he is getting out in public now shows the urgency that Jeb Bush sees in a good performance in South Carolina. Bush finished in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses and in fourth place in the New Hampshire primary - the first contests in the state-by-state battles to pick a party nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election. In South Carolina, opinion polls show Jeb currently running in fourth place behind Trump, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Trump, who is the national front-runner in the Republican race and is leading in polls of South Carolina, scheduled an afternoon news conference in Charleston and was likely to criticize the Bush family anew. At a debate of the Republican presidential candidates in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday, Trump accused George W. Bush of squandering trillions of dollars to wage the Iraq war over weapons of mass destruction that did not exist, and noted that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had occurred on his watch. Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor whose studious demeanour and policy-heavy campaign is in sharp contrast to Trump's fired-up rhetoric, has been hitting back. On Monday he said he sees Trump as attempting a hostile takeover of the Republican Party with positions that go against party doctrine, such as his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. Bush, mocked by Trump as a "low-energy" candidate, has been the only Republican candidate to take on Trump consistently at the debates. He goaded the New York billionaire into angry outbursts in Greenville in the most acrimonious debate of the 2016 cycle. "It was ugly, I guess. Part of it was related to the need to make sure people knew that Donald Trump is not a conservative and he got angry and, you know, kind of lost it a little bit," Bush told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. A radio ad running in South Carolina by Bush's SuperPAC, Right to Rise, called attention to Trump's frequent use of profanity. As Trump's voice is heard, his expletives are bleeped out and an announcer says: "Is this the type of man we want leading our country?" (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Karachi: A dentist with close links with the al-Qaeda has been arrested in Pakistan for his alleged involvement in the brazen terrorist attack on the minority Ismaili community last year that killed 45 people. Usman Ali Khan was arrested after a shootout near a bus stop here yesterday. A Kalashnikov rifle was seized from him. Khan's arrest is the third incident when a highly-educated professional has been arrested in connection with the case. Earlier, Adil Masood Butt, vice-chancellor of a private college and university, and Khalid Yousuf Bari, a former engineer at the national airline were arrested, The Express Tribune reported. While Bari is imprisoned, Butt is still on his 90-day preventive custody with the police unable to bring concrete evidence against both. The arrests highlights a worrying-trend in Pakistan, where more and more highly-educated people are linked to extremist groups. Station House Officer of Preedy Police Kamal Naseem said that Khan, who runs a clinic in the city, has been working for al-Qaeda since 2008 and was also friends with Saad Aziz, the alleged mastermind of the attack on Ismaili Muslim community. In May last year, armed men stormed a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community here and opened fire on them. 45 people had died in the brazen attack and all the victims were shot from a close-range. Naseem said the dentist used to generate funds for al-Qaeda and also gave shelter to militants of the globally proscribed organisation. PTI Washington: The Paris terror attacks in November that killed 130 people were an intelligence failure, America's top spymaster has said, warning that the Islamic State is planning an attack on the US. "Paris was a failure of intelligence. All but one of the eight terrorists were French citizens, trained by Islamic State in Syria. They returned, unnoticed, and attacked six locations killing 130 people," CIA Director John Brennan said. There is a lot that Islamic State probably has underway that the US doesn't have full insight into, he said. "We knew the system was blinking red. We knew in the days before that Islamic State was trying to carry out something," he told CBS in an interview on Sunday. "But the individuals involved have been able to take advantage of the newly available means of communication that are walled off, from law enforcement officials," Brennan said adding that the Islamic State has been using very sophisticated technologies and communication systems. "I'm expecting them to try to put in place operatives, the material or whatever else that they need to do or to incite people to carry out these attacks, clearly. So I believe that their attempts are inevitable. I don't think their successes necessarily are," he noted saying it was inevitable that will try to attack the US. Islamic State, he observed, is trying to provoke a clash between the West and the Muslim world to gain more adherents. "Because what they are claiming is that the United States is trying to take over their countries which is the furthest thing from the truth," he asserted. Brennan argued that the intelligence security services have stopped numerous attacks and operatives that have been moved from maybe Iraq to Syria or into Europe. They have been stopped and interdicted and arrested and detained and debriefed because of very, very good intelligence, he noted. "But the failure in Paris allowed Islamic State to attack with bombs and assault rifles," said the CIA Director. Noting that there are reports that Islamic State has access to chemical precursors and munitions that they can use, he said the CIA believes that IS has the ability to manufacture small quantities of chlorine and mustard gas. "There's always potential for Islamic State to transport those chemical weapons to the West. "This is why it's so important to cut off the various transportation routes and smuggling routes that they have used," he said. The CIA chief said the waterboarding method of torture is not being used and would not be used in the future. "The cyber environment can pose a very, very serious and significant attack vector for our adversaries if they want to take down our infrastructure, if they want to create havoc in transportation systems, if they want to do great damage to our financial networks. There are safeguards being put in place. But that cyber environment is one that really is the thing that keeps me up at night," he said. PTI London: If the European Union were a patient, its survival would be seen as threatened by multiple organ failure. That's the view of many experts as EU leaders prepare for a Brussels summit that starts Thursday. Analysts believe the combined strain of challenges including a refugee crisis, threats facing the euro currency and Britain's plan to hold a referendum on whether to leave the EU may be unbearable for the 28-nation bloc. Just 20 years ago, the EU seemed to be growing in stature as it proudly offered freedom and democracy along with lucrative subsidies, military alliances and billions in foreign investment to newly freed former Soviet satellites. Now, Nato warships are steaming toward the Aegean Sea in an escalated bid to impose order on the chaotic arrival of more than 1 million migrants, which has not abated despite the wintry weather in southern Europe. Informal mini-blocs have formed within the European Union, with some countries banding together to challenge, or just ignore, the EU's announced refugee resettlement program. Temporary border controls have been introduced in key countries including Germany and France, threatening the cherished notion of freedom of movement across European borders. Britain, a nuclear power with a seat at the UN Security Council, is demanding concessions before a referendum on whether the UK should simply abandon the EU, a prospect known as "Brexit." And a slow-burning, extremely divisive budget crunch threatens the future of the euro single currency that has been a hallmark of European integration. Ian Kearns, director of the European Leadership Network research group in London, said the EU is "undergoing an existential crisis" as a once shared sense of mission fades. Countries are pursuing their perceived national interests instead of seeking collective solutions, he said, and the notion of European solidarity is fading. "It's anybody's guess now whether it will survive long term," he said of the European Union. "I think it's that serious. It's not just the migration crisis, or Brexit. The challenge is the lack of faith in the mainstream political class in Europe that is evident across the continent, manifested in the rise of populist movements. The migration crisis has simply highlighted it." The summit is one of a series of meetings that have tried, but mostly failed, to find an effective collective response to the chaotic arrival of so many people. Leaders will consider fairly minor changes to Britain's status aimed at placating restive British voters ahead of a referendum, and assess how well or poorly earlier edicts on migration have been implemented. The union has a knack for solving difficult situations by building consensus, and papering over cracks with layers of bureaucracy, but some warn the migrant situation is a more serious threat to continental unity. Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe group at King's College London, says the European Union simply doesn't have a practical method of tackling its myriad mounting problems. The structures set up when the union was formed by six countries as the European Economic Community in 1958, and diluted with the addition of so many countries with differing perspectives, are simply too weak, he said, so nations either make unilateral decisions or forge small alliances with other countries in the bloc that share their concerns. "The European project is probably in trouble," he said. "The EU is where it's been for the last few years: Very big crises without the tools to address them. It's a halfway house of integration. You have a little bit of authority in these areas the migrants, Greece but the big decisions are made by the member states. It's fragmented because the member states have completely different views." Europe needs to have one cogent immigration policy to cope with the influx of people from West Asia, Africa and elsewhere but won't be able to forge one because countries don't view the problem the same way. "The countries in the south like Greece and Italy are facing the brunt of it," Menon said. "A few countries in the north Germany and the Scandinavians were generous at first and are now regretting it. The Brits are pretending it's not happening. And the Visegrad countries (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) say they are not interested in helping for reasons of culture and history. They say they have no history of taking in migrants." Officials had expected the flow of desperate people fleeing war and poverty would slow during the winter months, but The International Organization for Migration said this week that 76,000 people nearly 2,000 per day have reached Europe by sea since Jan. 1, a nearly tenfold increase over the same period the year before. More than 400 have died, most of them drowning in frigid waters. In this diffuse environment, it is difficult to see the EU managing to respond effectively to such an unpredictable situation. It was much easier 20 years ago, before Islamic extremism had showed its face inside Europe. The opening of the continent's internal and external borders was seen then as a welcome part of a peace dividend, not an Achilles' heel that left residents more vulnerable to suicide bombings and marauding gunmen. The relative stability in West Asia meant the flow of migrants was manageable, not seen as a threat. At the time, French President Francois Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl articulated forceful arguments in favor of more integration, and they were used to imposing their vision on the rest of the bloc, which was smaller and easier to manage. When the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 it heralded a new era of passport-free travel in much of Europe, speeding trade, facilitating the easy movement of workers and students, and giving concrete, facts-on-the-ground reality to the idea of a continent turning its back on the wars of the past in favor of a more hopeful vision. This inclusive approach guided the expansion of the European Union as the bloc was renamed in 1993 when Eastern European countries lined up to join. Stefan Lehne, visiting scholar with Carnegie Europe in Brussels, said the unsolved refugee calamity may put the EU integration process into reverse by rendering the Schengen agreement unworkable pointing out that border controls have already been temporarily reintroduced in some countries, as allowed by Schengen rules and threatening other integration goals. He said the rule of law, and the EU's authority, has already been undermined by the bloc's failure to implement an agreed upon quota system calling for the resettlement of refugees in a number of countries. Stark divisions have been exposed, he said, by the way the Visegrad countries in Eastern Europe reap the economic benefits of EU membership but while refusing to help the refugees. All these factors, he said, have put the brakes on integration and may shortly lead to its opposite. "This is really the first time we might lose a very real achievement of the integration project, Schengen, with important economic costs," he said. "It's also very symbolically important. My sense is that unless we get a grip on refugees, the integration process will be reversed." AP Mogadishu: Somalia's former defence minister was killed in a car bomb today, the latest in a string of attacks in the capital Mogadishu, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion in the central K4 district of the city, but Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have carried out similar bombings in the past. Muhidin Mohamed, who was defence minister in 2008, "died after the violent elements attached an explosive device beneath the driver's seat of his car," said police officer Ibrahim Mohamed. "Another person was wounded in the attack." The Shebab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, which is protected by 22,000 African Union troops. "I heard the explosion near the K4 area and I saw a dead body he was horribly wounded with blood all over his body," said Samiro Muktar, a witness. Meanwhile a military drone reportedly crashed in southern Somalia on Monday in a remote area held by Shebab fighters, residents said. "We saw what looked like a small aircraft crashing in the mountains," said Abudlahi Muhidin, a resident in a nearby village. "Shebab fighters carried away the wreckage on a vehicle." Several Shebab commanders have been reportedly killed by US drone strikes. Shebab insurgents said they had seized the wreckage of an unmanned aircraft, which landed in a hilly region south of Bardhere in the far southern Gedo district, close to the border of Kenya and Ethiopia. "Mujahedeen fighters secured control of the wreckage of the plane and the equipment it carried," a pro-Shebab website claimed. The Islamists are on a mission to disprove claims they are close to defeat since being routed from Mogadishu in mid-2011. Last week the Shebab claimed responsibility for a bomb attack which ripped a hole in a passenger plane shortly after takeoff from the capital Mogadishu earlier this month. AFP BEIRUT Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday any ceasefire did not mean each side had to stop using weapons, and nobody was capable of securing the conditions for one within a week. "Regarding a ceasefire, a halt to operations, if it happened, it doesn't mean that each party will stop using weapons," Assad said in Damascus in televised comments. "A ceasefire means in the first place halting the terrorists from strengthening their positions. Movement of weapons, equipment or terrorists, or fortification of positions, will not be allowed," he said. World powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a "cessation of hostilities", scheduled to start a week later, but Syrian army offensives across the country, backed by Russian air strikes, continue unabated. He said that there were many questions before a ceasefire could happen, including defining who is a terrorist, adding that as far as the state is concerned, anyone who carried a weapon against it was a terrorist. "There can't be a ceasefire without a goal or a time. So far they say they want a ceasefire within a week. Who is capable of gathering all these conditions and requirements within a week? Nobody," Assad said. "Who will talk to the terrorists? If a terrorist group rejects the ceasefire, who will hold it to account?" If the terms of ceasefire are agreed, operations must be stopped with the aim of improving the security situation in order to reach local reconciliation agreements with rebels, he said. Local reconciliation agreements are widely seen as a way for the state to pacify areas on its terms. Assad also said that any political transition in the country must be subject to the existing Syrian constitution. "Any transitional process, regardless of what it is, must be subject to the current constitution," he said, adding the suggestion of having "a transitional governing body" was a departure from the constitution. "We can only stop working with the current constitution if we agree, in dialogue, to a new one that the Syrians vote on," he said. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Tom Perry; Editing by Alison Williams) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. At least 23 civilians were killed when missiles hit three hospitals and a school in rebel-held Syrian towns on Monday, residents said, as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo. Fourteen people were killed in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border when missiles slammed into a school sheltering families fleeing the offensive and the children's hospital, two residents and a medic said. Bombs also hit another refugee shelter south of the town and a convoy of trucks, another resident said. "We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital," said medic Juma Rahal. At least two children were killed and scores of people injured, he said. Activists posted video online purporting to show the damaged hospital. Three crying babies lay in incubators in a ward littered with broken medical equipment. Reuters could not independently verify the video. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in the airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving at the Kilis State hospital and medical personnel unloading children on stretchers and a girl wrapped in a blanket as well as a handful of adults They hit the school, they hit the school, wailed a Syrian woman who was unloaded from an ambulance onto a wheelchair. In a separate incident, missiles hit another hospital in the town of Marat Numan in Idlib province, in northwestern Syria, said the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity, which was supporting the hospital. MSF said the attacks were minutes apart, adding that at least seven people were killed and eight members of staff are currently missing. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence across the country, said one male nurse was killed and five female nurses. This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms, said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF's mission chief. The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict. The aid group said the hospital had 30 beds, 54 staff members, two operating theatres, an outpatients department and an emergency room. The statement added that MSF has been supporting the hospital since September and covered all its needs, including providing medical supplies and running costs. "The author of the strike is clearly ... either the government or Russia," MSF president Mego Terzian told Reuters, adding that it was not the first time the charitys facilities in Syria had been attacked. Also in Marat Numan, another strike hit the National Hospital on the north edge of town, killing two nurses, the Observatory said. The Observatory and residents in both towns blamed Russian strikes, saying the planes deployed were more numerous and the munitions more powerful than the Syrian military typically used. Abu Thaer al-Halabi, a spokesman for the rebel-controlled Aleppo local council, also told Al Jazeera the strikes were carried out by Russian jets. The strikes also destroyed a section of a highway that facilitates the main supply line for humanitarian aid to the region, he said. Over the past week, Syrian troops have been on the offensive in the country's north under the cover of Russian airstrikes. Rescue workers and rights groups say Russian bombing has killed scores of civilians at market places, hospitals, schools and residential areas in Syria. Western countries also say Russia has been attacking mostly Western-backed insurgent groups. But Moscow has said it is targeting "terrorist groups" and dismissed any suggestion it has killed civilians since beginning its air campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces in September. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Union officials on Monday called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities. She said more fighting is obviously not what we expect. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that. Syria's main Kurdish faction, the People's Protection Units, has been most effective in combating the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), but Turkey appears uneasy over the group's recent gains. Al Jazeera and wire services Ankara: The Turkish government denied claims that it had sent troops into northern Syria, where the regime backed by the Russian air force has launched a major campaign, state-run Anatolia news agency said on Monday, quoting the defence minister. "It is not true," Ismet Yilmaz told parliament on Sunday night when asked whether Turkish soldiers had intervened in the fighting in the Syrian province of Aleppo. "The Turkish military has no intention of intervening in Syria." The Syrian government claimed that on Saturday 12 pick-up trucks equipped with heavy machine guns and ammunition had crossed into Syria from Turkey via the Bab al-Salama border crossing. They "were accompanied by around 100 gunmen, some of them Turkish forces and Turkish mercenaries," Syrian state news agency SANA quoted the foreign ministry as saying. Turkish artillery struck at targets of Kurdish militia at the weekend, with Ankara insisting that it was returning fire under the rules of engagement. The regime in Damascus has condemned Ankara over the shelling while urging the United Nations to act. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has said it deployed warplanes to a Turkish airbase in order to "intensify" its operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkey's Yilmaz said a decision had been made with Saudi Arabia for the deployment of four F-16 jets. "They have not arrived today but they may tomorrow. An agreement had been reached in principle," he said. AFP News of the Barack Obama administration's decision to sell Pakistan eight Block 52 F-16 C/D fighter jets for around $700 million was met with dismay in Delhi. Technically, however, the announcement does not mean that the sale has been concluded. By law, the White House is required to inform the Legislature of its intent which then has 30 days to block or modify the decision. The last time a similar proposal was floated, barely five weeks ago, it was stalled in the US Congress when lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, questioned the White House's policy to sell advanced weaponry to a state known to aid and abet terrorists. The White House and the Pentagon have argued that the sale will enhance the Islamic Republic's capability to fight terrorism by allowing its air force to operate in all-weather, non-daylight environments, sustain a greater operational tempo, and provide area suppression potential. Their story has few buyers: Several influential leaders from across the political spectrum have written to the president expressing concern that the nuclear-capable F-16 is an obvious weapons platform against India and of much less utility against terrorists. Pakistan already fields 76 F-16s in its air force. In February 2014, it purchased 13 of the fighter jets from Jordan with Washington's tacit blessings: US military exports policy prevents recipients of US equipment from selling arms to third parties without approved end user certificates. In essence, the United States possessed a veto over Jordan's sale of F-16s, but did not use it. Islamabad has also been upgrading its older versions of the fighter jet with help from Turkey. Eight new planes would buttress Pakistan's aerial capabilities but not measurably alter its strategic balance vis-a-vis India. However, were this deal to be successfully concluded, it would have enormous symbolic value for Pakistan. At one stroke, it would negate much of the unfavourable publicity the country has received regarding its ties to international terrorism, illicit nuclear activities, and political volatility, replacing it with the image of a robust state with a modern military and the confidence of the world's superpower. India's response to the whole affair has been predictable. Its public expression of disappointment is just that, a formality it has performed every time the United States has given Pakistan military aid; a private admonishment delivered to US Ambassador to India Richard Verma is unlikely to have much more potency either. Time and again, Delhi has exhibited an inability to sufficiently influence US policy towards South Asia enough to stem the flow of weapons to its regional rival. The timing of the sale, however, in the midst of an uptick in India-US relations, is certainly intriguing, especially so soon after rumours surfaced though quickly quashed that the United States was considering offering the South Asian irritant-in-chief a civil nuclear cooperation deal similar to the one it had offered India in 2005. Nonetheless, Delhi's role in furthering the United States' myopic policies towards South Asia must also be acknowledged. Whatever may have been the differences between the two countries during the Cold War, the years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and India's economic liberalisation has undeniably seen a significant convergence of interests. Unfortunately, substantial segments of Indian society bureaucrats, outdated politicians, 'intelligentsia' still prefer to get their endorphin rush from moral grandstanding than a pragmatic pursuit of national interests. For all the talk of warmer India-US relations, the two countries are like awkward teenagers at a 'formal'. Historically, the United States has shown that its foreign policy is amenable to reason given the appropriate incentives. In the late 1950s, the Dwight Eisenhower administration grew closer to Pakistan as the South Asian State joined a series of American-led defence pacts and began receiving military assistance from Washington. This was largely influenced by Pakistan's vital role in US reconnaissance efforts over the Soviet Union, and China and its sideshow insurgency in Tibet. In the late 1960s, when Islamabad's utility had diminished, Lyndon Johnson did not hesitate to impose sanctions on his ally during the Second India-Pakistan War in 1965. Yet within a few years, when Pakistan emerged as the preferred conduit for secret negotiations with Mao Zedong, the United States was willing to overlook one of the gravest genocides of the latter half of the 20th Century. This pattern repeats itself twice in Afghanistan once during the Soviet invasion when Washington looked the other way on Islamabad's nuclear programme and again after terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on 11 September, 2001. In contrast, India maintained its "strategic autonomy" from the United States and did not make common purpose with Washington even on issues that most concerned Indian security. As a result, its usefulness to the United States remains only theoretical and therefore a second-class relationship albeit with plenty of pleasing revisionist rhetoric about shared values and a multipolar global order in the 21st Century. Of the many disagreements between India and the United States. three issues involving regional security are Delhi's role in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, the alphabet soup of military agreements that facilitate closer operation of the Indian and American armed forces, and a greater role for India in the regional security commons. On the first issue, India has preferred the sanctimonious high ground even as its advantages in the post-Taliban Afghanistan slip away; an ideological holdover from the Nehruvian era seems to be preventing bureaucrats and politicians from mutually augmenting military capabilities on the second item, and on the third point, India is pretending to go it alone for no discernible reason. It might be argued that Delhi is trying to avoid over-dependence on the United States, but this cautious approach was nowhere in evidence when over 70 percent of the Indian armed forces were supplied by the Soviet Union. Notwithstanding, India should not work itself into a situation whereby it finds its options constrained by an American veto, but there is no danger of this at present engagement levels. India's commitment to regional security, be it in the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, or in Afghanistan, must also be a reflection of its capabilities. While it may be desirable for Delhi to take a more pro-active role in its region, the fact is that the country's military capabilities simply do not presently support this broader view of security after decades of being assured that only a "Kleinindische Losung" would be pursued. Were Delhi to jettison its quaint residual anti-Americanism, there is a much greater chance that it would find in the United States a much better partner for a Pax Indica. The country's political structure, history, and economic interests are not seen as a threat in Southeast Asia and some states will no doubt welcome the development of Indian power in the region. With a greater role in regional security and a larger economy will come greater engagement and more influence with the United States; finally, Delhi may be able to have its concerns heard in Foggy Bottom. Until then, as long as India remains an undecided bystander in regional geopolitics (even at the cost of its own national interests), the United States will be forced to seek willing if imperfect partners that further its goals in the region and there will be further sales of F-16s and other equipment over India's objections. Cape Town South Africa will finalise requirements for its 9,600 megawatt nuclear power plant by April, with Russia and China the front-runners to win the bid, a government official involved in the negotiations told Reuters. Pretoria has earmarked billions of rand for much needed power generation but its nuclear plant of 9,600 megawatts by 2030 at a price tag of up to 1 trillion rand ($63.46 billion) has raised concerns over whether it would be affordable. Fears that what could be the most expensive procurement in the countrys history will be made behind closed doors, without the necessary public scrutiny have been raised by the opposition, claims the government has rejected. From what I have seen, the Russians do have a case and so do the Chinese. If we go with two countries, it could include the Chinese, said the official, who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media. If we go for one country, it would be the Russians. Political alliances, Pretoria and Moscows membership of the BRICS association of five emerging economies and Russias ability to fund the project have put them as the favourites, the official said. Russias willingness to build the plant at its own expense, operate it for 20 years and charge South Africa for the power and running costs had given that country an even better chance to clinch the deal, the official said. Officials at the nuclear unit in the energy department were not available to comment, Thandiwe Maimane, the departments spokeswoman, said. In his annual speech to the nation on Thursday, President Jacob Zuma said the nuclear procurement would proceed on a scale and pace that the country can afford. Africas most industrialised economy faces weak growth due to a power crunch and slowing global demand for its gold, coal and platinum. The central bank has projected growth at 0.9 percent in 2016 from a previous forecast of 1.5 percent. In December, Zumas cabinet approved the nuclear project which will generate power through pressurised water reactors (PWR), the same method used at Koeberg near Cape Town, the continents sole nuclear plant commissioned in 1974. We have experience in operating a PWR, there is more global experience with PWR, than any other reactor. We can already eliminate countries that dont do PWR, the official said. While Russia could drive the project, the official said companies from other countries will most likely be included in the building of the plants. Reuters/NAN (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); With just under two weeks to go before its release, Lionsgate has released the first clip from director Alex Proyas fantasy epic Gods of Egypt, along with two new TV spots. Check them out below SEE ALSO: New UK trailer for Gods of Egypt Magic, monsters, gods and madness reign throughout the palaces and pyramids of the Nile River Valley in this action-adventure inspired by the classic mythology of Egypt. With the survival of mankind hanging in the balance, an unexpected hero takes a thrilling journey to save the world and rescue his true love. Set (Gerard Butler), the merciless god of darkness, has usurped Egypts throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict. With only a handful of heroic rebels opposing Sets savage rule, Bek (Brenton Thwaites), a bold and defiant mortal, enlists the aid of powerful god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in an unlikely alliance against the evil overlord. As their breathtaking battle against Set and his henchmen take them into the afterlife and across the heavens, both god and mortal must pass tests of courage and sacrifice if they hope to prevail in the spectacular final confrontation. Gods of Egypt is set for release on February 26th and features a cast that includes Gerard Butler (Olympus Has Fallen), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), Brenton Thwaites (Maleficent), Chadwick Boseman (Captain America: Civil War), Elodie Yung (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and Geoffrey Rush (The Book Thief). The only good Constitution is a dead constitution, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once said. The 79-year-old conservative jurist died Saturday, and while he professed to believe that the founding bylaws of the United States were set in stone immutable and unchanging, even as the world and American society evolved the identity of his successor, the ideology of the high court and the fate of many nation-defining issues before it are now very much in flux. Notified of Scalias death, President Barack Obama expressed his condolences and praised the judge (with whom he rarely agreed) for his wit, intellect and love of family. Obama also vowed to fulfill [his] constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time, saying that filling the vacancy on the court was about our democracy and bigger than any one party. In a different time, or even in a different year during his term, the immediacy of the presidents defense of his constitutional prerogatives might have seemed unnecessarily urgent or callously premature. But with Scalias death falling in the middle of an election cycle where control of the White House and the Senate are up for grabs, political winds were already howling hours before Obama took to the microphones. And the swiftness with which those winds shifted could say a good deal about the political direction of each political party not to mention the future of many touchstone issues before the electorate. Scalia brought constitutional law into the political arena Fittingly, justice's death becomes a central battleground over law at this politically charged moment Many of Sundays round-by-round accounts of the fight over the Supreme Court vacancy began with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who, approximately two hours after news of Scalias death hit the wires, apparently threw down the gauntlet. The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice, said McConnell in a statement. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President. The majority leader, as most reports have it, was soon echoed by Iowa Republican Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first stop in any confirmation process for the federal bench. The fact of the matter is that its been standard practice over the last nearly 80 years that Supreme Court nominees are not nominated and confirmed during a presidential election year," said Grassleys statement. The Iowan added that the Senate should defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court Justice. But that was not Grassleys initial take on Scalias death. According to the Des Moines Register, not only did the Senator revise his official statement to include nominate (he originally said only that high court nominees should not be confirmed in a presidential election year), his very first reaction, when reached by phone a couple of hours earlier, was that he wouldnt make any prognostication on how his committee would handle a potential Obama nominee. The tale of the tape (or the Twitter feed) perhaps details a more accurate narrative. At 5:27 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, less than an hour after a local Texas paper broke the news of Scalias death (and only 10 minutes after it was confirmed by the Supreme Court press office), Ted Cruz the junior Senator from the Lone Star State and candidate for the Republican nomination for president tweeted: Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement. Dismiss Share Overlay Share on Social Link to Video copy copy Embed Video Dismiss Share Overlay The political fallout from the death of Antonin Scalia Link to Video copy Dismiss Share Overlay The political fallout from the death of Antonin Scalia copy Embed Video Other GOP presidential hopefuls followed (via Twitter or press releases) in fairly rapid succession, with Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and John Kasich expressing their condolences, and Marco Rubio and Ben Carson joining in Cruzs call for a delay. Carson, now seemingly all but out of contention, was especially adamant, placing his call for the Senate to stop any attempts to fill this crucial seat until We The People elect a strong Constitutionalist this November before any traditional expression of sympathies. By Saturday nights Republican debate, held in Greenville, South Carolina, the die appeared cast. The opening question was about Scalia, and the first response came from Donald Trump, who initially said if he were in Obamas position, he would use his presidential privilege to nominate a new justice. But the frontrunner quickly caught himself, insisting that if the president did make a pick, McConnell and Senate Republicans should delay, delay, delay. Bush and Kasich insisted action could only come on a consensus candidate, Carson reiterated his earlier statement, and Rubio said the vacancy raised the stakes in the presidential race, leaving Cruz to again drive the point home and the conversation rightward. We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that will strike down every restriction on abortion adopted by the states, he said. Split decisions But the fact is, for the Supreme Court and for the country that one-justice difference could be felt well before anyones nominee can fill Scalias seat. Prior to Scalias death, the current court was considered closely divided along ideological lines, with four reliable conservative votes (Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts), four justices dubbed liberal (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan) and the moderate conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy often pegged as the swing vote on close cases. That lineup has sustained the high courts decades-long shift to the right, and the trend was expected to continue this session with important and ideologically riven decisions due in cases dealing with voting rights, abortion rights, immigration and union representation. For organized labor, the ruling in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association was awaited with a sense of impending doom. The case tests the constitutionality of fair share fees charged by unions to cover the costs of negotiating contracts that govern all workers, whether or not they are members of the labor union. The fees are already banned for private-sector unions in 25 so-called right to work states, and all of those states have seen a decline in union membership since the advent of those strictures. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed organized labors right to collect the fees, but Rebecca Friedrichs, the plaintiff, has garnered strong support from a number of anti-labor and pro-business groups, and the sense was, after January arguments before the Supreme Court, that those groups would emerge with a 5-4 decision overturning the Appellate ruling, with Scalia joining the majority. Now that case faces a 4-4 split, and one of two possible futures. While a hung court technically affirms the ruling of the lower court and past sessions have sometimes seen Appeals Court rulings stand after split votes the precedent, especially in cases of major consequence, is for the justices to schedule re-argument for the next session when (theoretically, anyway) a new appointee will restore the panel to a full nine members. Affirmative action There was perhaps no case this session where Scalias presence was more strongly felt then in Fisher v. University of Texas. The case, which was previously before the justices in 2012 and sent back to the lower courts, was seen as another opportunity for opponents of affirmative action to restrict the consideration of race in college admissions. During arguments before the court last December, Scalia not only wondered whether African-American students wouldnt do better in less-advanced, slower-track schools, he questioned whether an integrated student body, or integration in general, was a necessary goal. But as brash as that sounds, the ideas behind it were not that far from views expressed by justices Roberts and Alito. And with Elena Kagan having to recuse herself because of her intersection with the case when she was Solicitor General, the liberal bloc was already down a vote. But with Kennedy apparently again in the swing seat, it is important to remember that he has a long and consistent history of votes against race-based diversity programs. With a likely 4-3 decision in favor of Fisher among the remaining justices, Scalias passing would appear to have no effect on the final outcome. Drawing lines Another case out of Texas, Evenwel v. Abbott, has some of the same conservative interest groups behind it as the Fisher appeal, and was originally believed another right-wing victory in the making. At issue, whether state and municipal electoral districts are drawn on the basis of eligible voters or the entire population, with Evenwels side hoping to exclude large numbers of children, immigrants and former felons from factoring into the maps. But the federal standard of counting total population for federal electoral districts is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and has been applied to the states for half a century. With the plaintiffs unable to present a plan to reconcile the difference, most court watchers saw the pendulum, again in the form of Kennedy, swinging left. Scalias absence just turns a 5-4 decision into a 5-3 ruling in favor of the more-inclusive total population model. To be argued Perhaps even more fluid are several cases scheduled but yet to be argued before the Supreme Court. First up, March 2, a challenge to tough new conditions imposed by the state of Texas on clinics and doctors offering abortions. Scalia was a dependable vote against abortion access, and prior to his death, reproductive rights advocates were apprehensive the case would uphold Texas law and possibly set a broader precedent. If arguments go forward before an 8-judge panel, and the court splits 4-4, the lower courts ruling in favor of the stricter requirements would stand, but the finding would be specific to Texas. Later in March, justices are set to hear arguments concerning a further expansion of religious exemptions to the Affordable Care Acts requirements that employer-funded health insurance include coverage for contraception. The court opened the floodgates on ACA exemptions in 2014 with the Hobby Lobby decision and an injunction in the case of Wheaton College. Since then, a number of non-profits, schools and charities have sought similar dispensation, and with Scalia on the court, it seemed likely they would get it. Minus the late justice, however, another split decision looms. Decisions on this in lower courts have been divided, so if any case seems destined for re-argument in a later session, it would be this one. Also up in the air, challenges to Obamas two executive orders on immigration: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA). The first defers the deportations of people who arrived in the United States as children, the other, undocumented parents of citizens or lawful permanent residents. The case has 26 states, all under Republican governors, challenging a Democratic presidents rulemaking authority. While the naked partisanship involved had many court watchers assuming the justices with or without Scalia would eventually rule in favor of the White House, if the high court pushes back the original April date for arguments, the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals injunction against the Obama order could continue. Cruz control Bosnia filed its application for European Union membership Monday, hoping to catch up with its neighbors on the EU path but confronting the reality that many in the country have grown tired of waiting for jobs and prosperity and are already voting with their feet. President Dragan Covic submitted the application to the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, Bert Koenders, in Brussels. The Netherlands currently holds the EU presidency. "There is no way back for Bosnia-Herzegovina, we must catch up with our neighbors," Covic said. He said the country would speed up the required reforms in the expectation that the EU will grant it candidate status in 2017. Bosnia first knocked on the EU door in 2008 when it signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the bloc, 13 years after the end of the bloody conflict that left the country ethnically divided. But unresolved wartime quarrels have hindered the necessary reforms as Bosnian Serbs feared for their autonomy within Bosnia. This frustrated the Muslim Bosnians and some Bosnian Croats, who felt they were hostages to the Serb lack of will to reform the country at least enough to attract foreign investments that would kickstart the economy. The stalemate has produced an unemployment rate over 40 percent and a general feeling of apathy among Bosnians. Every year, tens of thousands decide to leave the country. In 2014, about 68,000 Bosnians, mostly aged between 25 and 40, permanently left the country of 3.8 million. For 2015, the figure will be 20 to 30 percent higher, parliamentarian Senad Sepic told The Associated Press. "The very substance that should be building this country is leaving," he said. Things only started moving with the EU application in 2014, when Bosnian Serbs split their votes between two blocks one that favors the reforms and one that continues to pursue a separate Serb state. Pro-EU Serb officials managed to push for the required reforms, enabling Bosnia to submit Monday's application. "It is a day of celebration for all of us: only 20 years ago, it was in the Balkans where one of the most awful pages of European history was written," said a joint statement from the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn. But the recent progress comes too late for many. They are choosing to run toward the EU rather than limp there with Bosnia. "Just from the town of Livno, 60 whole families left in January 2016 alone," Sepic said. Livno is a town in the south of the country with 9,000 residents. Germany is looking for 40,000 medical workers alone each year so in the past two years the number of applicants for German-language courses at the Goethe Institute in Sarajevo has doubled, and it keeps growing. Amer Cekic, 20, a student of political science, attends the course because he believes it will help him find a job in Germany. "I feel I have no future here," he said. In Sepic's constituency of Cazin in the northwest of the country, the number of first-graders was down in 2015 by 40 percent compared with 2011. If the trend continues, there will be no first graders at all by 2022, Sepic says. "And if there are no people left here, then the whole story of EU membership is pointless," he said. The Associated Press A powerful car bomb exploded Monday at a police checkpoint in Russia's Dagestan republic, killing two officers and the car's driver and wounding 19 others, in what appears to have been a suicide attack, investigators said. The attack was organized by militants who have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), said Rasul Temirbekov, spokesman for the Dagestani branch of the federal Investigative Committee. The explosion, which was set off by two 122 mm shells, destroyed the Russian-made Lada Priori and four other vehicles parked at the police post near Derbent, he said. All that remained of the driver of the Lada were fragments of his head, hands and feet, the spokesman said. Dagestan has been the center of an insurgency that spread across the Caucasus region after two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. For more than a decade, Dagestan has seen bombings, attacks on police and kidnappings blamed on the militants. In recent years, many of the militants have proclaimed allegiance to ISIL, while at the same time the republic has grown markedly less violent as hundreds of them have left to join ISIL in Syria. Some, however, are now coming back home with battlefield experience. While the returning fighters usually land in jail or are kept under close police surveillance, there have been concerns that the presence of fighters trained in ISIL warfare could lead to greater instability and violence. Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the ISIL threat to Russia as a key factor behind his decision to launch air strikes on militants in Syria. He said that between 5,000 and 7,000 people from Russia and other former Soviet countries are now fighting alongside ISIL militants. Meanwhile, Russia's air campaign in Syria has drawn threats of retaliation from militants there. The Associated Press The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are now less than a week from their official unveiling. Although, we have seen several leaks over the past few weeks that have given us glimpses about the phones features and looks, we now have high resolution images of the smartphones showing the different colour options. The new images showcase three colours for the S7 edge. There is a Gold variant, a Black one and a Silver variant. The Silver variant is similar to what Samsung introduced with the Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+. There seems to be no sign of the Light Blue colour of the Galaxy S6 or the Emerald Green colour of the S6 edge+. The reason for this could be the difficulties in production as Samsung only released the basic White, Gold and Black colours for the S6 and S6 edge. The Blue colour S6 and Green S6 edge came out only much later and even then, it depended on your region. Samsung was rumoured to release 3 different colours of both the handsets at the start itself. There is a chance that they could release more colours in the future but perhaps they dont want to announce the colours first and then disappoint customers by not having it upon release. The regular Galaxy S7 on the other hand is only shown in 2 colours which suggests that the silver colour option might be reserved for the higher end S7 edge. The high resolution images also indicate that the White colour option is missing. Instead, you will have to go for the Silver colour variant if you want something close to that effect. Even the Black variant seems to do without the Bluish tinge that was present on the flagship smartphones from Samsung last year. Instead, it goes for a more Black and Greyish combo. We will know for sure once we get our hands on the device next week. Source 1 | Source 2 Qualcomm will supply LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation support technology to smartphone makers such as Micromax and Samsung, according to a latest report from the ET. Carrier aggregation used in LTE-Advanced increases the bandwidth, thereby increasing the bitrate. Back in 2014, Qualcomm partnered with LG and Airtel to offer LTE Advanced with carrier aggregation on LG G2 that is powered by Snapdragon 800 processor. Qualcomm has two carrier aggregation solutions one that can be plugged into existing SoCs and the other in-built. Qualcomm already powers several budget and high-end 4G smartphones in India. Apart from the mid-range Snapdragon 625 and 435 SoCs, Qualcomm also introduced Snapdragon 425 chip with built-in 4G for budget smartphones last week. In an interview with ET, Sunil Lalvani, president, Qualcomm India, said: More 4G devices are coming to the market than 3G devices, suggesting customers may leapfrog from 2G to 4G technology. You get a good 4G phone at sub Rs 5,000. 4G devices in India outsold 3G devices and one key catalyst is the 4G delta with 3G is lowering. LG usually introduces official case for their upcoming flagships every year, this time Xiaomi has teased (Via) a clear protective case for its upcoming flagship Mi 5 smartphone. Xiaomi says that the case will be just 0.45mm thick. It also reveals that the camera will be present on the left corner, the USB Type-C port will be present on the bottom with dual speakers. These coincide with earlier leaks. Li Wanqiang already confirmed that Xiaomi Mi 5 will not features a 2k display like the Mi Note Pro due to high battery consumption, sit is clear that it will come with a 1080p display. A screenshot of Mi 5 from Hugo and Lei Jun already revealed that is will come with dual SIM support with dual standby, support for all networks in China and NFC. Hugo Barra recently posted an HDR image taken with the Mi 5 that confirmed 16MP rear camera. Xiaomi Mi 5 rumored specifications 5.2-inch (19201080 pixels) display Snapdragon 820 64-bit Quad-Core SoC with Adreno 530 GPU 3GB RAM with 32GB storage, 4GB RAM with 64GB storage Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 7 16-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash 8-megapixel or 13-megapixel front-facing camera Fingerprint scanner USB Type-C 3,600mAh non-removable battery The Xiaomi Mi 5 will be introduced during the MWC 2016 on 24 February. The event is scheduled in China National Convention Center at 14:00 China time (11:00 AM IST). It looks like similar to most of us out there, Samsung does have a thing for superheroes. Last year the company released the Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man limited edition and now a new rumor is stating that it might launch a Batman v Superman edition of the Galaxy S7 edge in 2016. As per the Korean media dubbed as Naver, Samsungs special edition of the Galaxy S7 edge release is scheduled for sometime in March or April. Batman V Superman is one of the most awaited movies of 2016 and if the rumor is to be believed, it looks like the special edition will be released at the time of the movie release on March 24. The Iron Man edition of the S6 edge was a limited one and it is not known if the Batman V Superman edition will also be the same, but there is a possibility it could be. The special edition could sport wallpapers, ringtones and other content from the movie. In addition, it is expected that the phone could have design that is also based on the movie. Samsung is set to announce the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge on February 21 before MWC 2016. via The bill is sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a Kentucky Democrat who is a nurse. She told the Courier-Journal newspaper that the legislation is aimed at protecting the health of Kentuckys men. She wants to make sure they understand the potentially dangerous side effects of erectile dysfunction drugs. The bill also would require that doctors prescribe a drug for erectile dysfunction only to a man who is currently married and require a man to make a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible that he will only use a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction when having sexual relations with his current spouse. The bill would also require the current spouse to give the man a signed and dated letter providing her consent for the prescription. This is about family values, Marzian told the Courier-Journal. It is also about Kentuckys anti-abortion measures, she acknowledged to the newspaper. Gov. Matt Bevin, who wants to dismantle the states health insurance exchange, recently signed a law that requires a woman seeking an abortion to get counseling 24 hours in advance of the procedure from a health professional. Marzian, who is an abortion-rights advocate, said her bill is meant to protest the interference of Kentuckys General Assembly into womens health. The Assemblys members are predominantly male. "Do we really want a bunch or legislators interfering in private, personal, medical decisions?" she asked, allowing to the newspaper that she doesnt expect the erectile dysfunction bill to get very far. Marzian introduced her legislation as abortion opponents are gaining ground in the statehouse. Earlier this month a bill that would require doctors to perform ultrasounds prior to abortion and to describe what is seen to the pregnant woman cleared the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee. Marzian has said she's bracing for more Republican attempts to force House votes on abortion bills in the final weeks of this year's legislative session. "Republicans saying that they want a less-intrusive government don't mind getting between a woman's decision and her doctor," she said. Marzian said she also plans to file a bill requiring potential gun buyers to obtain counseling 24 hours in advance from victims of gun violence before the purchase. "I'm just making sure the government is taking care of your safety," she told the newspaper. Al Jazeera with The Associated Press Now that the Iowa Caucuses and the primaries in New Hampshire are over, the field of Republican presidential candidates has been narrowed down to just six: Donald Trump Sen. Ted Cruz Sen. Marco Rubio Dr. Ben Carson Gov. Jeb Bush Gov. John Kasich All six have released tax plans -- some with extremely specific details, some a lot more vague. Some of the candidates are proposing relatively moderate changes, such as lowering the top income tax brackets and reducing taxes on businesses. Others are suggesting more radical reforms, such as throwing out the current tax code and replacing it with one so simple that people could file their annual tax return on a postcard. With that in mind, here's what we know so far about where the Republicans stand on tax reform. "To grow something from my kitchen and a $100 investment from my first flea market - to the largest beauty company in the world buying the brand - that's a success to me." Lisa Price, Carols Daughter Founder The journey of Carol's Daughter began more than two decades ago in a Brooklyn, New York kitchen. "I always had really dry skin, so I started out making creams," says Lisa Price, founder of Carols Daughter. "I was experimenting the way you would with a food recipe. I did that for two to three years. When I got the cream recipe right, I would give it to people as gifts." In 1993, Price's mother encouraged her to sell her body butter and bath oils at a church flea market. After a $100 investment, she made the leap from a hobby - to a business. Price spent the entire summer selling her creations at craft fairs and flea markets. After customers began requesting hair care products, she started mixing and making those as well. In 1994, Price officially established Carols Daughter the company named after her mother. "It just kept growing that way with people telling people," says Price. "Customers shopped out of my apartment for six years before I actually opened a store." Over time, Carols Daughter exploded from a home-based business, into a multi-million dollar beauty empire with celebrity investors including rapper Jay-Z and actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Carols Daughter opened as many as nine stores and announced partnerships with companies such as Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Macy's (NYSE:M.) But at the end of the 2013 holiday season, Carols Daughter reached a pivotal point in its journey. Most of the beauty companys retail stores weren't performing as expected. After evaluating the business, the decision was made to sell five of its seven free-standing retail stores through a bankruptcy process. Two stores currently remain open. Less than a year later, another key moment in the history of Carols Daughter took place. In November 2014, LOreal USA announced it was buying the company. "If a company like LOreal or (Estee) Lauder or Procter [& Gamble] - if they acquire another brand, they don't acquire brands that are in trouble," says Price. "You acquire something that's going to enhance your portfolio and help to make you money. It was pretty amazing that we were able to turn our finances around in such a positive way that we were attractive to someone else to purchase us, because that wasnt the case a year before that. Price says Carol's Daughters exit strategy is something she always envisioned. "I personally did not have tens of millions of dollars to write checks to my investors," Price says. "It was and is still one of the best things I've done professionally." Today, Carols Daughter sells millions of dollars worth of products at its stores, on its website as well as Target (NYSE:TGT), Walgreens (NYSE:WBA), Ulta Salon (NASDAQ:ULTA), Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) stores and the Home Shopping Network (NASDAQ:HSNI). And Price is still "mixing it up" at Carol's Daughter, just as she had all those years ago when mixing fragrances in her kitchen. She remains the voice of the brand and is heavily involved in all product development, education and marketing initiatives. "Even though there was technically an exchange of assets from one to the other, I'm still the soul of the brand and you can't remove that, says Price. I'm still here with her. I'm still guiding her. I want my great, great grandchildren to walk into a store one day and still see what I built and made sitting on the shelves." Oil prices were steady on Monday, holding on to last week's gains on speculation that OPEC might agree to cut production to reduce a supply glut that has pushed prices to the lowest in over a decade. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were unchanged at $33.36 a barrel at 1718 GMT. U.S. futures traded at $29.67 a barrel, up 23 cents on Friday's close. Trade was thin due to the U.S. Presidents Day holiday. "Some traders still think about the chances of an OPEC plus Russia (production) cut and close their short positions," said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at Stuttgart-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg. Nigeria's oil minister told Reuters the mood inside OPEC was shifting to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to prop up prices. Non-OPEC member Russia said on Monday it was in talks on coordinated output cuts with individual OPEC members, mainly Venezuela, but not with the organization itself, news agency Interfax quoted Russia's representative to OPEC as saying. Last week, the United Arab Emirates' energy minister said OPEC was willing to cooperate on an output cut, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. "The fact that the market has reacted so strongly certainly indicates that these comments are being taken seriously," analysts at Frankfurt-based Commerzbank wrote. However, many analysts, including the International Energy Agency, are still skeptical OPEC will cut a deal with other producers to reign in ballooning output. "We continue to believe that if prices were to be artificially supported with production cuts it would only give more expensive forms of production more room to breathe and would only solve the problem in the short term," Phillip Futures said in a note. Iran is exporting 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, and will be pumping 1.5 million bpd by the start of the next Iranian year on March 20, a vice president was quoted as saying on Saturday. Iran would load 4 million barrels of crude on tankers destined for Europe in the coming 24 hours, a senior official was quoted as saying. Ben van Beurden, chief executive of oil company Shell , said on Monday that volatility in oil prices may stabilize later this year and that prices could rebound after that. (Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; Editing by Dale Hudson and Susan Fenton) With just five days left before the South Carolina Republican primary, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is counting on his brother, former President George W. Bush to tip the scales in his favor among voters. On Monday night, Bush will join Jeb for the first time on the campaign trail for a rally at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center. The Bush campaign began promoting the event last week on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR): Honored to have my brother joining me on the trail this week. Join us Monday in Charleston. Honored to have my brother joining me on the trail this week. Join us Monday in Charleston. https://t.co/HETjKZiZZJ Jeb Bush (@JebBush) February 11, 2016 Thousands are expected to attend and there is already a wait list for the event. The Bush campaign did not immediately respond to requests for ticket distribution totals. Over the weekend, Bush and Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump went head to head on the GOP debate stage arguing over George W. Bushs tenure as commander in chief. Bush stood his ground saying his brother kept America safe after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, but Trump struck back calling the Iraq War a big fat mistake and adding, "The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George W. Bush - He kept us safe? That is not safe," said Trump. Gibbs Knotts, the political science chairman at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, says the battle on the debate stage is a preview of the Bush tag team appearance which is already creating intrigue in the media. Everyone is talking about it and wondering if George W. is going to take on Trump. Bush was known for being a tough president with this Texas cowboy image. He talked tough and was willing to use the military, so it will be interesting to see what he says, said Knotts. According to a Bloomberg Politics Poll conducted by Selzer & Company in November of 2015, former President George W. Bushs approval rating was 45% nationally. However in the Palmetto state, the 43rd president along with his father, former President George H.W. Bush is highly regarded, and both won the South Carolina primary during their White House bids. Knotts says South Carolina is a state that puts a lot of stock in the military and national security issues which are a strong area for George W. Bush who is still a very popular president when it comes to his support for the troops. The Bushs have done well in South Carolina over the years. I think it is smart to bring out George W. Bush in a place like South Carolina where he will be better received. Bush is a former president, so he might help Jeb emerge as an establishment candidate, said Knotts. To have a former president whos dealt with some of the worst crises that this country has faced like 9/11 to say look I have done the job I know how difficult protecting the U.S. is and I feel like this person, who happens to be my brother, has demonstrated that level of leadership that can be very powerful. Doubling down on his attack of George W. Bushs legacy over the weekend, Trump took to Twitter on Monday with a warning: Now that George Bush is campaigning for Jeb(!), is he fair game for questions about World Trade Center, Iraq War and eco collapse? Careful! Now that George Bush is campaigning for Jeb(!), is he fair game for questions about World Trade Center, Iraq War and eco collapse? Careful! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2016 Trump followed up with another jab at Jeb Monday afternoon during a campaign rally in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. I think he [Jeb Bush] should have used his family a long time ago he wouldve done better, said Trump. Radio and TV ads featuring the former president also started running in South Carolina last week endorsing Jeb Bushs ability to lead. In the 30-second spot Bush says, "The first job of the president is to protect America. The next president must be prepared to lead. I know Jeb. I know his good heart and his strong backbone. The 2016 campaign trail is looking more and more like a Bush family affair; ahead of the New Hampshire primary Bush tapped his 90-year-old mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, to join him. According to exit polls in the Granite state, Bush finished in 4th place with 11% support. In a recent CBS News/YouGov poll, Bush ranks in 5th place with 6% support from likely South Carolina GOP primary voters; Trump holds a commanding lead with 42%. South Carolina Republican primary voters will head to the polls on Saturday, February 20. Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. The following are some questions and answers about the virus and current outbreak: How do people become infected? Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Aedes mosquitoes are found in all countries in the Americas except Canada and continental Chile, and the virus will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found. How do you treat Zika? There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika infection. Companies and scientists are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Zika, but the World Health Organization (WHO) had said it would take at least 18 months to start large-scale clinical trials of potential preventative shots. How dangerous is it? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. The CDC said now that the causal relationship has been established, several important questions must still be answered with studies that could take years. According to the World Health Organization, there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly in babies, a condition defined by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. In addition, the agency said it could cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis. Conclusive proof of the damage caused by Zika may take months or years. Brazil reports the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly at more than 1,700 as doctors and Brazilian health officials find that some suspected cases of microcephaly are not the disorder. Suspected ones under investigation declined to 3,257. Brazil registered 91,387 likely cases of the Zika virus from February until April 2. Current research in Brazil indicates the greatest microcephaly risk is associated with infection during the first trimester of pregnancy, but health officials have warned an impact could be seen in later weeks. Recent studies have shown evidence of Zika in amniotic fluid, placenta and fetal brain tissue. What are the symptoms of Zika infection? People infected with Zika may have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days. But as many as 80 percent of people infected never develop symptoms. The symptoms are similar to those of dengue or chikungunya, which are transmitted by the same type of mosquito. How can Zika be contained? Efforts to control the spread of the virus focus on eliminating mosquito breeding sites and taking precautions against mosquito bites such as using insect repellent and mosquito nets. U.S. and international health officials have advised pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin American and Caribbean countries where they may be exposed to Zika. How widespread is the outbreak? Active Zika outbreaks have been reported in at least 51 countries or territories, most of them in the Americas, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Brazil has been the country most affected. (http://1.usa.gov/1ovAJyh) Africa (1): Cape Verde Americas (42): Anguilla, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saba, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelmy, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Eustatius, St. Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Virgin Islands and Venezuela. Oceania/Pacific Islands (8): American Samoa, Fiji, Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tonga. What is the history of the Zika virus? The Zika virus is found in tropical locales with large mosquito populations. Outbreaks of Zika have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Southern Asia and the Western Pacific. The virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys and was first identified in people in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania, according to the WHO. Can Zika be transmitted through sexual contact? The World Health Organization (WHO) said sexual transmission is "relatively common" and has advised pregnant women not to travel to areas with ongoing outbreaks of Zika virus. It also advised women living in areas where the virus is being transmitted to delay getting pregnant. The U.S. CDC is investigating about a dozen cases of possible sexual transmission. Those cases involved possible transmission of the virus from men to their sex partners. But the CDC issued updated recommendations for preventing and testing for Zika infection on July 25, warning that the virus can be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected female partner. A reported case of female-to-male sexual transmission in New York City, and limited human and non-human primate data indicating that Zika virus RNA can be detected in vaginal secretions, led to the new warning, the agency said. CDC's expanded warnings on sexual exposure to Zika now caution against sex without a condom or other barrier method of protection with any person, male or female, who has traveled to or lives in an area with Zika, including female to female transmission with a pregnant partner. British health officials reported Zika was found in a man's semen two months after he was infected, suggesting the virus may linger in semen long after infection symptoms fade. The PAHO said Zika can be transmitted through blood, but this is an infrequent transmission mechanism. There is no evidence Zika can be transmitted to babies through breast milk. The WHO has identified Zika cases in Argentina, Chile, France, Italy and New Zealand as likely caused by sexual transmission. What other complications are associated with Zika? Zika has also been associated with other neurological disorders, including serious brain and spinal cord infections. The long-term health consequences of Zika infection are unclear. Other uncertainties surround the incubation period of the virus and how Zika interacts with other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue. Most U.S. medical schools fail to accommodate students with disabilities, a study shows. The researchers analyzed policies covering admission eligibility and what assistance to give people who have difficulties with hearing, vision or mobility. While most schools posted their policies, known as technical standards, on their websites, only one third appeared to provide accommodations to students who might be eligible for help under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the analysis found. "The students' ability to process complex information and help render diagnoses and help patients is not the issue - rather the means by which educational information is provided is the issue," said lead author Dr. Philip Zazove of the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. It's crucial that medical schools do a better job of ensuring that patients with disabilities encounter people like them when they go to the doctor, Zazove added by email. "People often prefer, when possible, to see a physician who looks like them," Zazove said. "This includes the desire to see someone of the same gender, ethic group and disability, among other things." For the study, Zazove and colleagues focused on students with physical disabilities who might, for example, be able to practice medicine aided by a motorized scooter or assisted by a sign language interpreter. Technical standards were available for 161 of 173 medical schools reviewed from 2012 to 2014. While 146 schools posted these documents on their websites, only 100 of the plans were easy to find online, the researchers reported in the journal Academic Medicine. Just 53 schools - a third - had technical standards specifically supporting accommodations for students with disabilities, while roughly half had no clearly stated policies and about 4 percent were unsupportive. Many schools also lacked information on who would be responsible for providing any needed accommodations, though 27 percent of the programs indicated they would offer this support and 10 required students to assume at least some of the burden themselves. While about 40 percent of the schools permitted use of auxiliary aids like motorized scooters, less than 10 percent allowed intermediaries like sign language interpreters. One limitation of the study is that the analysis based on the technical standards might not accurately reflect the accommodations that schools offer students with disabilities, the authors note. It's possible that schools provide and pay for assistance even though this isn't spelled out in their written policies. In addition, the study didn't explore the experiences of applicants or students with disabilities or assess the nature of accommodations needed on an individual basis to see what type of assistance schools might provide in specific situations. Still, Zazove, who is deaf and chairs the family medicine program at the University of Michigan, notes that technology and tolerance can make a wide range of medical specialties possible for people with disabilities. When he trained in the 1970s, he rigged a bed to vibrate when he was needed during on-call shifts because they couldn't give him a vibrating beeper. Today, he can use a combination of sign interpreters, text-to-speech computer software and Bluetooth-directed voices in his hearing aid. "Many accommodations are now available that would have been unimaginable fifty years ago, and individuals with specific disabilities can and do practice effectively with unique dedication to their profession and empathic attunement to their patients who have chronic illnesses and related disabilities," said Dr. Annie Steinberg of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Medical schools are also legally required to make reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, Steinberg, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "In addition, having diverse health care providers, including those with disabilities, assures patients that they will be equally respected for what they can contribute, and that their lives matter equally," Steinberg added. The relationship between the inequality, precarious rights and high degrees of violence were clearly manifested in the case of Ciudad Juarez, according to the final statement issued in November 2014 by the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, which replaced the Russell Tribunal or International War Crimes Tribunal. But what distinguishes Juarez from other cities on the tour is that here more than anywhere it is possible to see the failures of the contemporary global economic model. After arriving in Mexico City, Francis is scheduled to visit Ecatepec, a troubled municipality of the state of Mexico that not only is a crossing point for migrants but also has one of the highest rates of femicide in the country. He will then travel to San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, the main entry point for Central American migrants seeking to reach the U.S. From there he heads to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, the second-largest push region for undocumented Mexicans. Francis chose this point of the border with Texas to end his first visit to Mexico with an unprecedented Mass on the banks of the Rio Grande. Local authorities estimate that more than 210,000 people will participate in the event, and it is expected that thousands more will do the same on the United States side, where giant television screens will be placed. The Mass will be directed to migrants, the focus of his agenda in Mexico. That was the space we were given by the local diocese to make a human chain to receive the pope. The only place where we could speak out to demonstrate our reality has been taken away from us by the authorities, said Martin Solis, the leader of El Barzon, a peasant organization that has denounced the exploitation of water and land grabs with the use of terrorist tactics, including murder and kidnapping. CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico Mesh wire was hurriedly erected along a half-mile section of a route that Pope Francis will transit when he arrives in the Mexican border city of Juarez on Feb. 17. Its just a small part of the more than 10 miles the pope intends to cover that day, but it offers a glimpse at the actions undertaken by local officials and businessmen to silence Juarezs victims of violence, poverty and banishment. The holy father encourages us to leave our temples and has placed us, with his message, at the core of the current national discussion focused on the injustice and the shameful indifference to human suffering. In his message of peace the pope tells us that when indifference becomes rampant in the public sphere, then indifference has become globalized. And that is the situation we are living, Vera said. Vera is one of the few members of the church to accompany the pope on his tour of the country. He is convinced that Francis will not only bring hope but also leave the Mexican church with the weight of the enormous responsibility that comes with defending justice and social rights. Vera is one of the three leaders of the Catholic Church in Mexico with whom Francis is most acquainted. Vera, a Dominican friar, became a bishop in 1988 by order of Pope John Paul II, and he started his commission in Altamirano, in Guerrero, a region often known as Tierra Caliente (hot earth). Later he was named the curate bishop under Chiapas Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who defended the claims of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in favor of the rights of indigenous people. Since then, Bishop Vera has been a staunch defender of human rights and an implacable critic of neoliberalism and government corruption. Vera presented the document during a trip to the Vatican before Christmas and in late January he sent further information about the prevalence of mass murders, disappearances of women, femicides, police operations of federal forces and the existence of paramilitary groups during the years of the drug war, which was most prevalent from 2008 to 2011. He also mentioned the harassment, intimidation and killings of human rights activists. A copy of that judgment was delivered to Francis by one of the members of the tribunal, Raul Vera , the bishop of Saltillo in northern Mexico, who has twice appeared on the shortlist for the Nobel Peace Prize for his human rights activism. Bishop Raul Vera, left, and poet and peace activist Javier Sicilia, center, walking to the start of the March for Peace, in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in 2011. Gustavo Graf / LatinContent / Getty Images With the frankness and simplicity that characterizes the women and men of the country, we ask you for an audience during your next visit to Ciudad Juarez in order to share with you our struggles, dreams and hopes and to hear your word. That indifference has been reflected in the behavior of the Mexican Catholic Church, which has kept its distance from the violence and brutality to which Mexicans are exposed. The way in which public officials and businessmen have organized to meet Francis is further evidence of this indifference. For the Mass at the border wall, authorities will provide 20,000 seats. Initially, the local diocese decided these seats would be for politicians and businessmen. But when the local media called them VIP seats, it sparked outrage from victims organizations whose requests for seats were ignored by the church. The diocese then reported that a thousand seats would be reserved for the families of missing people throughout the country but that no one would be allowed to make speeches. Unable to have a private audience with the pope, citizen groups requested to be able to participate in the human chain that will follow his 31-mile tour. The diocese allowed them to participate, with the condition that they not carry banners. But for El Barzon, that space was eliminated when the wire fencing was erected. Juarez is devoted to its industrial economic model like no U.S. city, said businessman Miguel Fernandez Inturriza, who in 1999 founded the Pact for Juarez, an association that seeks to diversify the local economy. However, the multimillion-dollar interests not only concentrate a complex set of phenomena such as migration, poverty and violence in Juarez, but also perpetuate these issues. Some of these entrepreneurs and the workers selected by them are whom the diocese had initially granted 20,000 seats for the meeting with the pope. The peasants were not so lucky, so they decided to write him a letter. As you, Father Francis, we maintain a constant struggle against the economy of waste which discards humanity and Mother Nature just for the sake of the idolatry of money. It is an unwavering struggle for justice. Therefore, with the frankness and simplicity that characterizes the women and men of the country we ask you for an audience during your next visit to Ciudad Juarez in order to share with you our struggles, dreams and hopes and to hear your word, they wrote, appealing to his message about the sacred right to land, work and housing that Francis gave during his visit to Bolivia. From 2008 to 2011, the city, with 1.5 million inhabitants, recorded 11,000 homicides, according to statistics from the state attorney. This happened while the city was occupied by 7,000 troops and 5,000 federal agents sent by the administration of then-President Felipe Calderon. The official explanation to such figures which included shootings, beheadings and massacres of innocent people was a clash between criminal organizations. In only two of those years, from 2010 to 2011, 495 women were killed; from 2008 to 2011, about 1,300 reports of disappearances of other girls and women were registered. During those years, a quarter of a million people left the city for safety reasons, and in the adjacent municipality of Guadalupe Distrito Bravos, 9 out of 10 residents fled. Most of them requested an audience with the pope through the diocese, according to the Barzon, Mujeres de Pacto and other groups, but none received an answer. Jose Luis Castillos daughter has been missing since 2009. He is one of the few men involved in activism alongside mothers of other victims of abduction and murder. His activism has prompted the creation of murals and monuments to remember what happened, but neither he nor the immense group of mothers in the movement was chosen for Francis final Mass. What I know is that those who are attending are prohibited from taking any protest banners and from talking, Castillo said. Other mothers, attached to different organizations, also sought an audience with the pope. No one in the church replied to them. We feel that there is no real support from the church toward mothers, said Gabriela Reyes, the director of Mujeres del Pacto (Women of the Pact), the institution through which Perla Reyes Loya, the mother of a missing daughter, determinedly seeks contact with the pontiff. In response, Hesiquio Trevizo, a spokesman for the diocese, referred to the spaces opened for some mothers and added that the pope will not deliver a message solely for the parents of the missing, but that the message will be for all. Those who watched the New Hampshire Republican debate surely made a mental note of aspects of the candidates appearances as they staked out their turf: Ted Cruzs jutting chin, Ben Carsons avuncular temples, Donald Trumps blond, blond hair, Marco Rubios full cheeks and boyish manner. Its all window-dressing, you might say; only the candidates positions matter. But in politics, looks count more than we care to admit. Indeed, we often clinch our political decisions a split-second after we see a candidate and dont change them much over time. In a 2006 study published in Psychological Science and led by Alexander Todorov of Princeton University, subjects who selected favorites after a brief glance at snapshots of unfamiliar candidates were able to predict who would win nearly 70 percent of the 2004 Senate and House races. When the researchers gave people more time to decide, they simply confirmed their first impressions. In another study, published in 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Prof. Todorov and colleague Nikolaas Oosterof digitally manipulated peoples facial features in photos, revealing just what makes us fall so hard for a candidate. They showed that a rounded, baby-faced appearance with prominent cheekbones, arched inner eyebrows and a sunny demeanor makes a person seem trustworthy. Such snap judgments also can skew life-or-death decisions, according to a new study in Social Psychological & Personality Science.Assessments of the trustworthiness of convicted murderers based on their facial features aligned well with how they were sentenced. The sense that a prisoner was trustworthy was a good predictor of whether he got life in prison or the death sentence. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. We just discussed political ads and asked the question -- just how effective will they really be this time around? In a political year when so many tried and true protocols dont seem to be working the same way -- its a good question. In a year when political outsiders like Trump and Sanders are so popular -- you have to wonder if negative ads against them will really work? Its also fair to ask if the old school way of going about primaries and caucuses -- having a good ground game and organization -- also matters as much as in the past. Yes, in Iowa it for sure worked for Ted Cruz, but then in New Hampshire, Donald Trump killed it by not playing by the typical political rules. Then of course there's money -- super PAC millions -- that many believed would send Jeb Bush straight to the top of the heap -- but that has not happened. To me, the one thing that has appeared to make a difference is the debates. People have been more interested than in the past -- and the needle has changed for certain candidates after a good, bad, or non-existent performance. With just one more GOP debate before the South Carolina vote, I believe those performances will mean more than anything else. In the past month, criminals have murdered six police officers in the line of duty. The number might have been eight if not for the actions of two concealed handgun permit holders. At this rate, police deaths could be way up this year compared to previous years. By this time last year, only one officer had been murdered. While Republican presidential candidates such as Cruz, Rubio and Trump have spoken out forcefully about police shootings, Democrats have been silent. Youve probably heard on the news when at least one of these officers has been killed. But you almost certainly havent heard about concealed handgun permit holders stepping forward to protect officers. -- Last month, a drunken man attacked a deputy sheriff near Austin, Texas. As the deputy relates what happened, I remember thinking stay in the fight. Just keep fighting, keep fighting. Do whatever you can do, just stay alive you need to go home. The deputy ended up having his gun taken away from him. Fortunately, a concealed handgun permit holder pointed his gun at the attacker and ordered him to freeze! Im alive today because of [the permit holder], said the deputy. There are no words to explain it. Hes such an outstanding citizen. -- On February 5, in Upper Darby, Pa., a police officer tried to break up a fight between two teenagers who had just gotten out of school. Two other students then jumped on the officer. A crowd of 40 to 50 other students had been watching the fight and all [started to] move in toward the officer. At that point, a permit holder told everyone to get away from the cop. As the Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood described it: He had the gun in his hand, but he didnt point it at the kids, he just told them to back off. If this guy didnt come out and come to the aid of the officer, this officer would have had significant problems. Fortunately, the officer only suffered significant hand injuries. The permit holder kept the mob at bay until other officers arrived. But that wasnt the end of it. Even one of the responding officers suffered a major injury to a leg. The permit holders actions prevented these incidents from becoming national news stories. When theres no death, there seems to be no news story. And so, we dont hear about all the cases where defensive gun use has saved lives. Another permit holder took heroic action just this past week. This Wednesday, in Warren, Mich., a woman was being repeatedly stabbed with a steak knife. She was struck in the neck, back and abdomen. She was rescued by a permit holder -- a valet driver who just happened to be nearby. Unfortunately, rather than hailing the driver as a hero, his employer fired him. That same day, another permit holder stopped a shooting at a business office in Hamilton, Ala. A few days before that in New Orleans, a wanted felon with a long rap sheet for violent crimes shot three men at a gas station. Fortunately, one of the victims had a permitted concealed handgun. The felon fled after he had been shot. Believe it or not, there were a lot more police murders a couple of decades ago. In the five years from 1990 to 1994, an average of 70 officers were killed annually. From 2010 to 2014, that number had fallen to 51 deaths per year. According to research by David Mustard at the University of Georgia, part of that drop occurred because states adopted concealed handgun laws. When states let law-abiding citizens carry concealed handguns, criminals actually become less likely to carry. Deterring criminals from carrying is of benefit both to civilians and to police. Perhaps it isnt too surprising that police strongly support concealed carry. According to PoliceOne, a private organization with 450,000 law enforcement members, 91 percent of officers support very lax concealed handgun laws. Essentially, they believe that if someone can legally own a gun, that person should also be able to carry it. Police officers have very difficult jobs and put their lives on the line every day. What can we do to help make sure that they can come home to their families? One way is to let law-abiding citizens carry guns. I got up at 4:00 a.m., Tel Aviv time, to watch Saturday nights Republican debate and I was dozing my way through the proceedings when John Dickerson asked Donald Trump about an interview Trump gave to CNN in 2008. Dickerson: You said you were surprised the Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi didnt try to impeach [President Bush] . . . which personally, I think would have been a wonderful thing. Dickerson asked if Trump still thinks the most recent Republican president should have been brought to trial for high crimes and misdemeanors. I thought he would deny he ever said it or try to wiggle out of it. But Trump didnt flinch. I want to tell you they lied, he said, referring to the Bush administration. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction. . . The war in Iraq, we spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives, we dont even have it. Donald Trump was a Democrat back in 2008, but even responsible Democrats rejected the charge that Bush and his advisers lied about WMD in Iraq. Bill Clinton admitted that he, too, had thought Saddam Hussein had such weapons based on the assessments of the CIA and foreign intelligence agencies. Bush lied, people died was the trope of the Michael Moore-onic fringe and the marching chant of the Stalinist rabble of ANSWER. Hearing it recycled as a talking point by the leading candidate for the Republican nomination startled me out of my four-in-the-morning stupor. Whether it is a wake-up call for primary voters in South Carolina is an interesting question. So far, despite his best efforts, Donald Trump has been unable to offend South Carolina Republicans. According to the pre-debate polls, he was far ahead of the field. Pundits warned that dissing Senator McCains heroism as a prisoner of war in Vietnam would cost Trump with the many veterans who live in South Carolina, but it hasnt been a problem. White Evangelicals, the old Moral Majority, were supposed to be put off by Trumps sybaritic lifestyle, and unapologetic lack of enthusiasm for that old time religion, but the Church of Trump seems to be flourishing. And in a state that supposedly venerates good manners, South Carolinians seem unfazed by Trumps vulgarity and unpresidential language. Nor was Trump being penalized for his striking similarities of Bernie Sanders. Both are New Yorkers, political late-bloomers of a certain age (Trump turns 70 this summer, Sanders 75) and leaders of insurgent movements with more than a little in common. Both men think America is a mess. Both put the blame, with varying degrees of emphasis, on the social, fiscal and trade policies of the Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Trump is soft on ObamaCare (in fact, he may be amenable to single-payer health care) and Sanders has been soft on guns (although he denies it on a stack of Das Kapitals). Neither is electorally popular with constituencies of color but both have done surprisingly well with women voters. Trump and Sanders portray themselves as tribunes of the middle class. They are enemies (they say) of corporate greed, antidotes to the malign Washington influence peddling by the billionaires who comprise the political donor class. On foreign affairs, they are both proud amateurs. If they have advisers, nobody knows who they are. They are willing to stake national security on their own instincts and judgment. Unlike their primary opponents, they remain unapologetic critics of the war in Iraq, although Bernie was to the right of Trump on impeachment, which the senator dismissed as impractical. There are issues -- immigration and taxation, most notably -- where Trumps brand of secular insurgency differs from that of Sanders. But as the debate made clear, Donald Trump is neither a conservative nor a Republican. The GOP electorate of the Palmetto State is reputed to be both, big time. That will be tested next Saturday at the polls. If Trump can win in South Carolina as a Bush lied, people died secular enemy of the rich, he can win anywhere. For seven years weve all watched as Americas global leadership has declined and radical Islamic terrorism spread around the world. The explosion of this global ideology of violent extremism is only accelerating, and innocent men, women and children are paying the price for our ineffective action and failure to lead. What will it take for Americas leaders to wake up to the true nature of radical Islamic terrorism? Even after horrifying attacks in San Bernardino, Calif. President Obama refuses to acknowledge this threat for what it is: a radical ideology that seeks to violently impose Islam on others and supplant existing cultures and duly constituted governments around the world. We cannot defeat the Islamic State and other brands of radical Islamic terrorism until we confront this truth. Instead, we have an ineffectual strategy without direction and without dedication. While bombs fall around Raqqa, Syria, enclaves of the would-be Islamic State caliphate have sprung up in Libya and other North African nations, as well as the Gaza strip and even Pakistan. Unless we act now, these ISIS loyalists will only entrench their positions as they work to meet each other in the middle. These are not just the ambitions of faraway mad men. Around the world people are working to advance this ideology -- not just in the Middle East, but here in America as well. Whether through violent attacks like San Bernardino or the shooting of a police officer in Philadelphia, or through social lawfare tactics designed to silence criticism and advance the goal of imposing sharia, Islamic jihad has already reached our shores. For example, the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been operating in the U.S. for more than 20 years. Although CAIR claims to represent peaceful Muslims in civil rights issues, its history ties directly to the terrorist organizations Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundations funding of terrorist attacks, several prominent members and founders have been incarcerated or deported for fraud and terrorism charges, and the countries of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have designated it a terrorist organization. "As President I will declare war on the Islamic State . . ." Most disturbing of all is the revelation during the Holy Land trial of a strategic document that called on members to conduct a civilizational jihad to impose sharia law in the United States. This is not representative of all Muslim Americans, but rather of the terrorist organizations to which some are tied. We must fight this radical Islamic ideology wherever we find it, and by every means at our disposal. We must destroy terrorist movements like ISIS around the world while countering radical Islamic ideology here in the United States. No group can subjugate the U.S. Constitution to their will. Recognizing the complex nature of this threat, I have put forward a plan to address radical Islamic terrorism, from ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq to even non-violent jihad in the U.S. and elsewhere. Winning this fight will not be easy, but if We the People unite behind the cause of freedom and American values, I know that we will prevail. This is hardly the first time the United States has been threatened by radical ideologies. Just as with Nazism and Soviet communism, the American people will prove too resilient to be defeated by expansionist and oppressive regimes like ISIS. As President I will declare war on the Islamic State, taking back the territory through which it claims legitimacy. I will destroy the means by which it gains revenue and cut off the supply routes on which it relies, and I will work with regional partners and local forces -- including displaced Syrian men -- to take back that country from the jihadists. At the same time I will work with allies and partners in Europe and Northern Africa to halt the advance of the Islamic State in the Maghreb and turn back the growing tide of radical Islam across the continent. This movement is global, and our efforts must match it in scale and intensity. This fight extends far beyond the illegitimate borders of the Islamic State and the soldiers they have recruited. My plan will leverage every American strength -- diplomatic, economic, political and cultural -- to combat radicalization and ensure that no country provides safe harbor for terrorism. In the U.S., I will work tirelessly to defend our way of life from those who wish to destroy it. That means not only investigating groups like CAIR, but securing our borders to ensure that terrorists do not have a pathway into the homeland. Unlike President Obama, I will not allow a stream of poorly vetted people from Syria to come to the U.S. On the contrary, I will establish refugee safe zones in Syria and neighboring countries, so that refugees are provided for, but are also ready to return home when it is safe for them to do so. A presidents most solemn vow is to protect the people, whose country they have entrusted to him. This plan is my promise to uphold Americas security to my utmost, confronting our worst threats head on. Radical Islamic terrorism is the greatest threat we face today. But with the support of the American people, there is no challenge too great for us to overcome. Dr. Ben Carson is a retired pediatric neurosurgeon and Republican candidate for President. Editor's note: A version of this piece originally appeared on FoxNews.com on January 8. Brian Kilmeade is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History" (Sentinel, November 3, 2015). President Obama was elected on a promise to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and avoid new wars. But a funny thing happened on the way to peace more terror attacks at home and the rapid rise of ISIS abroad. No matter how much hed rather focus on issues like global warming and gun control, the president has to rise to the challenge of this increasing Islamist threat. America is in the crosshairs, and Obamas legacy will depend on what he does about it in 2016. Hes certainly not the first president to have to shift priorities on the fly. Many if not all of his predecessors entered office with a clear agenda,only to watch world events scramble their to-do lists. When that happens, great presidents adjust to new challenges -- even if it becomes necessary to break a campaign promise. Consider our third president, Thomas Jefferson, who took office in 1801. Like Obama, Jefferson was widely considered a pacifist who preferred diplomacy over war. But when Tripoli (now Libya) declared war on us because we refused to pay extortion and ransom to the pirates off the Barbary coast, Jefferson rose to the challenge. He started with a display of strength to intimidate our enemies, sending the U.S. Navys newest frigates to the region. When that show of power wasnt enough to get the Tripoli pirates to stop their attacks and release their hostages, Jefferson ordered bombardment from those powerful new ships. Unfortunately, then as now, long distance bombing didnt work. To the Islamic extremists of any generation, surviving against a Western attack is considered as good as winning. Thats why airstrikes and a few ground advisors wont break the back of ISIS today. In fact, ISIS just uses our bombings to recruit more terrorists. Although Jefferson initially saw a land war as much too risky, he kept his options open. Eventually he recognized that theres no substitute for boots on the ground. Three years into the Barbary Wars, he embraced a plan by one of Americas finest officers, General William Eaton, to invade Tripoli over land, smash its army, and break the will of its leaders. Eaton and a detachment of Marines took the major city of Derne in less than 3 hours. Yusef Qaramanli, the Tripoli leader, quickly surrendered. A deal was cut, hostages were released, and Americas merchant ships could finally pass safely near the Barbary Coast. President Obama still hasnt learned the key lesson that Jefferson and other presidents (most recently George W. Bush) learned about the Middle East: You cant crush an outlaw Islamist regime from the air. The more we delay putting boots on the ground against ISIS, the more the American people will lose patience and the more power and prestige ISIS will gain for surviving our attacks. In his final year in office, with his legacy on the line, Obama needs to realize that winning a war is more important than his pledge to end a war. He needs to empower our military and trust the experts at the Pentagon. He needs to end the irresponsible releases of terrorists from Gitmo, tighten restrictions on immigrants from countries that support terrorism, confront our enemies abroad, and do whatever it takes to keep us safe at home. Much has changed since the early 1800s, but if President Jefferson could learn the importance of ground troops, so can our current president. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone about the continuing conflict in Syria, as forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and backed by Russian air power pressed an offensive around Aleppo, the country's largest city, officials in Moscow and Washington said Sunday. Both sides said the two leaders discussed a possible cease-fire in Syria, but separate statements issued in the Russian and U.S. capitals suggested continued diplomatic jockeying. The conversation between Messrs. Putin and Obama followed an international security conference in Munich last week, where top Russian officials warned that relations between the Kremlin and the West were descending into Cold War-style confrontation amid the Syria crisis. On Sunday the Kremlin issued a statement saying that the phone call was at Washington's initiative, and that the two leaders agreed to "intensify cooperation through diplomatic agencies and other entities" to implement an agreement reached in Munich to determine the technicalities of a Syria cease-fire. "In particular, Mr. Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," the White House said. Though diplomats have discussed a cease-fire in Syria that could take effect soon, doubt persists about whether the deal will hold. Russia's intervention with a massive bombing campaign in Syria has given the Kremlin an upper hand in bolstering Mr. Assad. U.S. officials complain that the Russian bombing campaign is doing little to dislodge Islamic State from Syria, and is targeting instead moderate opponents of Mr. Assad, some of whom are supported by the U.S. The White House said the two presidents discussed the simmering conflict in Ukraine, where Moscow has been supporting separatists on Russia's border. The U.S. and Europe have dangled the possibility of lifting economic sanctions against Russia if it helps implement a peace accord signed last year in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, and the White House said Mr. Obama "also urged combined Russian-separatists forces to fulfill their Minsk obligations, especially adhering to the cease-fire" and ensuring that international monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have access to rebel-held areas. Western diplomats say Russia has been trying to downplay its role in Ukraine while it uses its intervention in Syria to raise its profile as a player on the world stage. In its statement Sunday, the Kremlin said Mr. Putin in his conversation with Mr. Obama "once again stressed the importance of creating a common front against terrorism with the rejection of double standardsemphasizing the need to establish a solid working relationship between the militaries of Russia and the United States." Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. Despite deliberately avoiding post-presidency politics, George W. Bush hit the campaign trail for a Monday night rally in North Charleston, S.C. with his brother, Republican White House candidate Jeb Bush. "We need to nominate someone who can win in November, all the talk doesn't matter if we can't win," George W. Bush told supporters. "We need someone who can take a positive message across the entire country." In promoting his brother's past experience of dealing with recovering from eight hurricanes slamming Florida, Bush spoke of his own experience of being thrust into the role of a wartime president during the Sept. 11 attacks. "I've seen Jeb in action. He'll be a strong and steady hand with dealing with the unexpected," he said. While not bringing up any of the other candidates in the race, the former president said Americans are yearning for a "strong leader," but that in his opinion, strength comes from "integrity and character." "The strongest person isn't the loudest in the room," he said. In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, George W. Bush said he found it "interesting" that foreign policy is a central campaign issue, unlike in the 2000 presidential election. "I hope the voters take a look at whos got the clearest-eyed view of the world, and whos got a plan to deal with those who will do us harm," Bush told Hannity. "Ive looked at Jebs plan, I know how solid it is. The other thing thats needed in the White House and Jeb understands this is you set a goal: defeat ISIS," he said. "Then you call upon the people who know how to help you achieve that goal, that would be the military and intelligence community. And Jeb respects them, and thats what you really want." "The lessons of 9/11 are being forgotten by a lot of people and that is [that] the human condition elsewhere matters to our national security," the 43rd president added. "If we let down our guard against this group of thugs, they will hurt us again. And the good thing is Jeb wont let down his guard." The plan is to boost the former Florida governors popularity ahead of this weekends South Carolina Republican primary. The move comes as Donald Trump turns up the heat on Jeb over his brother -- the countrys 43rd president -- and his legacy on Iraq and 9/11. But as the gloves come off in the Republican race, some say its unclear whether Trumps tactic to discredit the Bush administration and paint Jeb as a repeat president could backfire. In a normal election year, arguing that a former president of ones party lied his way into a war would be political suicide, but in this year, it might show that Trump is more his own man than all of the other candidates, Lara Brown, director of George Washington Universitys political management program, told FoxNews.com. Trumps game plan will be tested in South Carolina, a still Bush-friendly southern state. There is no state, outside of Texas, that has a stronger relationship with the Bush family, she said. Lee Atwater, who helped establish the South Carolina primary in 1980, was former President George H.W. Bushs consultant in 1988, and his more than 25-point win there is what secured his path to the nomination, Brown said. South Carolina also helped former President George W. Bush in 2000 bounce back from a loss he suffered in New Hampshire to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Fast forward to today and the strong political ties to the Bush family still exist. For example, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a long-time friend of the Bush family, has already endorsed Jeb Bush for the 2016 run. During Saturday nights debate, the billionaire businessman delivered multiple blows to the Bush administration, blaming him for the War in Iraq and 9/11. The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush, Trump said Saturday. He kept us safe? This is not safe. He then zeroed in on Iraq. The war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake, Trump said. They (the Bush administration) lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none. In other words, Trump wasnt simply attacking former President George W. Bushs decision to go to Iraq, Brown said. Instead, he was attacking all of the Republicans in South Carolina for standing by the Bush family. It should be a bridge too far. Jeb Bush denounced Trump for attacking his family, calling it a blood sport. Im sick and tired of him going after my family, Bush said. Jeb Bush told CNN that theres a lot of interest in my brother coming. Hes been helpful all along in a lot of different ways, Bush said. Giving me advice and helping me to raise money. Doing all sorts of things. But this is the appropriate time for him to do something he has not done before. This is the right time, when its important and when people are watching. Bush has been trailing in the polls and struggled in the first few debates to gain traction and air time while other candidates such as Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz grabbed most of the headlines. Bush was unable to convincingly carve out the narrative that he is his own man and not a replica of his father's and brothers administrations. Some strategists say the big return of W. to the campaign trail, which was once seen as a political liability, is now just the right shot of adrelienine Jeb Bushs presidential campaign needs. The political calculus is very different now than what Jeb thought it would be a few months ago, Flip Pidot, Republican strategist and CEO at American Civics Exchange told FoxNews.coms Strategy Room. He needs something, even though (former President George W. Bush) might not be universally loved, even among Republicans, Pidot said. Fox News contributor Ellen Ratner put it bluntly -- Hes banking on his brother. She added, Hes got absolutely nothing to lose. FoxNews.com's Travis Fedschun contributed to this report. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was known for his quick wit as much as his sharp legal mind. The following are selected quotes from his opinions and speeches: "I don't assess the nation's mood, I assess my own, and I'm feeling good." --Remarks at Columbus Citizens Foundation dinner, Oct. 8, 2005 "Being on the Supreme Court is rather like taking the veil; you just sit there and try to get the right answer as other people argue in front of you. It's not nearly as exhilarating as the Executive Branch." --Remarks at Columbus Citizens Foundation dinner, Oct. 8, 2005 On judicial activism: "The Court must be living in another world. Day by day, case by case, it is busy designing a Constitution for a country I do not recognize." --Dissent in Wabaunsee County, KS v. Umbehr (1996) On the war on terror: "War is war, and it has never been the case that when you capture a combatant, you have to give him a jury trial in your civil courts. It's a crazy idea to me. If he was captured by my army on the battlefield that is where he belongs. I had a son on that battlefield and they were shooting at my son. And I am not about to give this man -- captured in war -- a full jury trial, that is just crazy." --Remarks at University of Freiberg, Switzerland, March 8, 2006 "So, the question comes up, is there a constitutional right to homosexual conduct? Not a hard question for me. It's absolutely clear that nobody ever thought when the Bill of Rights was adopted, that it gave a right to homosexual conduct. Homosexual conduct was criminal for 200 years, in every state. Easy question." --Remarks at University of Freiberg, Switzerland, March 8, 2006 "The Court today continues its quixotic quest to right all wrongs and repair all imperfections through the Constitution. Alas, the quest cannot succeed." --Dissent in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co (2009) Scalia has said this was the best opening line to one of his opinions: "This case, involving legal requirements for the content and labeling of meat products such as frankfurters, affords a rare opportunity to explore simultaneously both parts of Bismarck's aphorism that 'No man should see how laws or sausages are made.'" --Dissent in Community Nutrition Institute v. Block (1984, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit) On which case most people ask him about: "I guess the one that created the most waves of disagreement was Bush v. Gore, OK? That comes up all the time. And my usual response is: Get over it." --2012 CNN interview On why he became a lawyer: "I had an Uncle Vince -- most Italians have an Uncle Vince -- who was a lawyer. And he seemed to have a good life so I thought I'd give it a shot. And it turns out it was what I loved. Don't do it if you don't love it, it's not the most exciting profession unless you love the process, you love words." --Remarks before Virginia high school students, April 9, 2008 "A journalistic purpose could be someone with a Xerox machine in a basement." --Oral argument in Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Corporation (1999, U.S. Supreme Court) "As long as judges tinker with the Constitution to 'do what the people want,' instead of what the document actually commands, politicians who pick and confirm new federal judges will naturally want only those who agree with them politically." --Remarks before Philadelphia Bar Assn., April 29, 2004 On whether the Constitution has "economic" content: "A law can be both economic folly and constitutional." --Concurrence in CTS Corp. v. Dynamics Corp. of America (1987) On his belief in "originalism": "Our manner of interpreting the Constitution is to begin with the text, and to give that text the meaning that it bore when it was adopted by the people ... This is such a minority position in modern academia and in modern legal circles that on occasion I'm asked when I've given a talk like this a question from the back of the room -- 'Justice Scalia, when did you first become an originalist?' -- as though it is some kind of weird affliction that seizes some people -- 'When did you first start eating human flesh?'" --Remarks before Woodrow Wilson Center, March 14, 2005 On whether unelected judges should be deciding issues such as abortion and the death penalty: "If you think aficionados of a 'living' Constitution want to bring you flexibility, think again. You think the death penalty is a good idea? Persuade your fellow citizens to adopt it. You want a right to abortion? Persuade your fellow citizens and enact it. That's flexibility. Why in the world would you have it interpreted by nine lawyers." --Remarks before Woodrow Wilson Center, March 14, 2005 "What is a 'moderate' interpretation of the text? Halfway between what it really means and what you'd like it to mean?" --Remarks before Woodrow Wilson Center, March 14, 2005 "Every time the Supreme Court defines another right in the Constitution, it reduces the scope of democratic debate." --Speech at University of Vermont, Oct. 8, 2004 On "decency" laws: "Perhaps the dissenters believe that 'offense to others' ought to be the only reason for restricting nudity in public places generally ... The purpose of Indiana's nudity law would be violated, I think, if 60,000 fully consenting adults crowded into the Hoosierdome to display their genitals to one another, even if there were not an offended innocent in the crowd." --Concurrence in Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. (1991) "'The operation was a success, but the patient died.' What such a procedure is to medicine, the Court's opinion in this case is to law." --Concurrence in National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley (1998) On commuting to high school, where he was a member of the Rifle Team: "I used to travel on the subway from Queens to Manhattan with a rifle. Can you imagine doing that now in New York? I mean, 'There's a man with a gun!'" --Remarks at Wild Turkey Federation Dinner, Feb. 26, 2006 On life tenure for federal judges: "So long as you stay awake on the bench and don't drool, there's nothing they can do about it." --Remarks at Supreme Court Fellows event, Jan. 26, 2012 On religious displays on government property: "I find it a sufficient embarrassment that our Establishment Clause jurisprudence regarding holiday displays has come to 'requir[e] scrutiny more commonly associated with interior decorators than with the judiciary.' But interior decorating is a rock hard science compared to psychology practiced by amateurs." --Dissent in Lee v. Weisman (1992) "Since Walton [v. Arizona, a 1990 death penalty case], I have acquired new wisdom ... or, to put it more critically, have discarded old ignorance." --Concurrence concurring in Ring v. Arizona (2002) On religious faith in public life: "[H]ave the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world." --Speech before Knights of Columbus Baton Rouge Council 969, Jan. 29, 2005 "What secret knowledge, one must wonder, is breathed into lawyers when they become Justices of this Court, that enables them to discern that a practice which the text of the Constitution does not clearly proscribe, and which our people have regarded as constitutional for 200 years, is in fact unconstitutional?" --Dissent in Wabaunsee County, KS v. Umbehr (1996) Letter to the editor of the Boston Herald: "It has come to my attention that your newspaper published a story on Monday stating that I made an obscene gesture -- inside Holy Cross Cathedral [Boston], no less. The story is false, and I ask that you publish this letter in full to set the record straight. Your reporter, an up-and-coming 'gotcha' star named Laurel J. Sweet, asked me (o-so-sweetly) what I said to those people who objected to my taking part in such public religious ceremonies as the Red Mass I had just attended. I responded, jocularly, with a gesture that consisted of fanning the fingers of my right hand under my chin. Seeing that she did not understand, I said 'That's Sicilian,' and explained its meaning-- which was that I could not care less... How could your reporter leap to the conclusion (contrary to my explanation) that the gesture was obscene? Alas, the explanation is evident in the following line from her article: "'That's Sicilian,' the Italian jurist said, interpreting for the 'Sopranos' challenged." From watching too many episodes of the 'Sopranos,' your staff seems to have acquired the belief that any Sicilian gesture is obscene-- especially when made by an 'Italian jurist.' (I am, by the way, an American jurist.) Sincerely, Antonin Scalia." --March 29, 2006 "I don't worry about my legacy. Just do your job right, and who cares?" --Remarks at National Constitution Center event at National Archives, April 21, 2005 "I respectfully, and indeed diffidently, dissent." --Dissent in Saratoga Fishing Co. v. J. M. Martinac & Co. (1997) The body of late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was flown to northern Virginia from Texas late Sunday after investigators determined there was no foul play in the 79-year-old's death. Jose Amezcua, a manager at Sunset Funeral Homes, told Fox News that he personally loaded Scalia's casket onto a private plane bound for Fairfax, Va. at El Paso International Airport. Terry Sharpe, assistant director for operations at the airport, told the Associated Press a private plane carrying Scalia's body departed around 8 p.m. EST. Scalia's body was accompanied to the airport by U.S. marshals. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told Fox News that she determined Scalia had died of natural causes. Guevara also said that she had spoken to local investigators and U.S. marshals, as well as Scalia's family and personal physician, before determining that an autopsy was not necessary. Guevara said Scalia's doctor told her that the justice was suffering from minor ailments, but did not elaborate further. The owner of the Cibolo Creek Ranch, the West Texas resort where Scalia spent his final hours, told reporters Sunday that Scalia was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests and had arrived at the ranch at around noon Friday. John Poindexter said Scalia ate dinner with the group and was his "usual, personable self". According to Poindexter, Scalia retired to his room at around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep. Scalia was found dead in his room Saturday morning. Poindexter said he was found "in complete repose" and added it was obvious that he had "passed away without any difficulty" in the night. Guevara says the formal declaration of death was made at around 1:52 p.m. Saturday. A procession that included about 20 law enforcement officers brought Scalia's body to the El Paso funeral home more than three hours from the ranch. Kristina Mills, a history teacher at nearby Chapin High School, came to the funeral home to pay her respects and brought flowers. "Recognizing his contribution to serving our country just compelled me to come," she told the Associated Press. "I wanted to do yellow roses because for him dying in Texas. I didn't want his family to have bad memories of Texas." In the nation's capital, President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the high court, where Scalia served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation and U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world. Even while the flags were being lowered, the campaign-year political heat began to rise over the vacancy on the nine-member court. At issue is whether Obama, in his last year in office, should make a nomination and the Republican-led Senate should confirm that choice in an election year. Obama pledged Saturday that he would submit a nomination to replace Scalia on the court "in due time." The Constitution gives the Senate "advice and consent" powers over a presidential nomination to the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz, one of the two GOP senators running for president, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the GOP-controlled Senate would be doing its job by blocking a nomination by a president with less than a year left in office. "We're advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court," Cruz said. But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings on a nominee, said it would be "sheer dereliction of duty for the Senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote." Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy told CNN's "State of the Union" that he believes McConnell is "making a terrible mistake. And he's certainly ignoring the Constitution." Fox News Channel's Casey Stegall and the Associated Press contributed to this report. In Uganda, many young people are educated, they have their qualifications, but they cannot find jobs, he says, noting that hes been searching for work since finishing secondary school last year. Students no longer even want to go to school. They say, My brother went to school, but now hes a [motorbike taxi] driver. My sister went to school, but shes a farmer down there digging. People are so discouraged. Martin Mivule, however, isnt buying it. A 22-year-old Kakindu native, hes spent much of his life in the capital, Kampala, and is attending the rally on a trip home to visit his grandmother. Like many Ugandans who have only known one president, hes longing for a new face in the statehouse. Pausing at the edge of the crowd, Mivule presents an array of complaints about the NRM system. Theres the endemic corruption; the health facilities that routinely lack workers, equipment or even mattresses; the crumbling public schools that leave graduates ill prepared to join the workforce. Mivules biggest frustration, though, is the challenge of finding work. One independent survey , conducted in 2012, estimated the countrys rate of youth unemployment to be 62 percent. When Museveni finally arrives, waving to the crowd from a black Mitsubishi SUV, he presents inhabitants of Kakindu village with a brief, familiar set of talking points. Standing at a lectern atop the vehicle, draped in the Ugandan flag and wearing his trademark wide-brimmed hat, he delivers promises of roads, electricity and resolutions to local land disputes. His remarks, which last about 10 minutes, generate wide applause from this predominantly peasant farming population. For hours, thousands of yellow-clad supporters of his National Resistance Movement have camped out on the grounds of St. Luka Baanabakintu Primary School, waiting to catch a glimpse of the man they refer to as mzee a Swahili term for respected elder. With Ugandas Feb. 18 election fast approaching, the 71-year-old president has been on a tear across this nation of 39 million, campaigning in towns, villages and far-flung outposts, including this rural swath of Ugandas central region. The polite and soft-spoken Mivule, who doesnt quite fit the stereotype of a young man prone to civil disobedience, nonetheless insists hell take to the streets if he believes his candidate, Besigye, has been slighted. If they announce results we dont believe are true, automatically we will riot, Mivule says. We are ready for anything. This budding tension is heightened across the country by the presence of hundreds of thousands of crime preventers: civilian volunteers, trained by the police, who authorities claim are nonpartisan and are authorized to assist police in keeping peace in their towns and villages. Critics, however, say they are strongly affiliated with the NRM and have been used to intimidate opposition supporters. A January report , published by four human rights organizations, alleges theyve also been responsible for brutal assaults and extortion, including the beating of individuals over small amounts of money, and calls their ill-defined role a serious cause for concern during the elections. As Mivule admits, Museveni remains popular in rural areas like this one, where voters tend to be less informed and more susceptible to NRM campaign promises. Many urban-educated youth, however, are staunch supporters of the opposition. Their frustration with the status quo has even raised the specter of poll-related violence. Already, youth aligned with Museveni clashed violently with supporters of Amama Mbabazi, the former prime minister and NRM secretary general, who fell out with the president in 2014 and is now one of his two main challengers. The other, Kizza Besigye, who has run unsuccessfully in the past three elections and insists those polls were rigged, has called for his supporters to take to the streets should they dispute the legitimacy of the vote. That prospect, his campaign team says, is highly likely. While campaigning on Monday, Besigye was arrested, reportedly as he tried to hold a rally in the capital's center that was blocked by police. Some Ugandans, including Katumwa, also credit Museveni with raising the countrys standard of living and level of development. In January 1986, when Museveni was sworn in on the steps of Ugandas Parliament building, much of Kampala was in ruins. Today, after three decades of steady economic growth, the city of 1.5 million pulses with life, from corner bars thumping homegrown Afrobeat, to upscale shopping malls that cater to the growing ranks of the affluent. With the help of more than $1 billion per year in foreign aid linked, in part, to Ugandas status as a key Western military ally Museveni has also overseen a number of improvements in public health. Between 2000 and 2015, according to World Health Organization statistics, the rates of maternal and child mortality fell by 45 and 63 percent, respectively. During the same period, life expectancy rose from 45 to 59 years, in part due to a widely lauded national program to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. For Ugandans, this event was especially poignant, in part because it undermined Musevenis most important selling point: the stability long associated with his regime. Under his predecessors Idi Amin and Milton Obote, hundreds of thousands of Ugandans are believed to have died through campaigns of targeted killings and a five-year civil war. But after Musevenis rebel NRM army captured power in 1986, much of the country gradually returned to normal life. (The north, where Joseph Konys Lords Resistance Army launched a subsequent insurgency, remained at war for two more decades.) Today, older Ugandans who remember the pre-Museveni period are often quick to defend their president. Isaac Katende, a 45-year-old farmer who attended the rally in Kakindu, recalled Obotes soldiers ransacking households and raping women in his village. Edward Katumwa, 68, another member of the crowd, spoke of living in fear under the notoriously eccentric Amin, a ruler described in one obituary as a sadistic and telegenic despot. After the 2011 election, in which Besigyes vote count fell to 26 percent, he decided against another court fight. Instead, two months after the poll, he summoned his supporters to the streets for Arab Spring-inspired demonstrations. Dubbed Walk to Work, the protests condemned rising food and fuel prices, as well as government expenditures deemed wasteful, such as a $744 million purchase of fighter jets and a $1.3 million swearing-in ceremony for Museveni. Over the course of several weeks, security forces broke up demonstrations with tear gas and, at times, live ammunition, resulting in at least nine deaths . Besigye himself was arrested at least four times, including one particularly brutal incident, caught on video , in which plainclothes security operatives smashed the window of his vehicle with a hammer and doused him in the face with pepper spray. Should Thursdays vote prove controversial, it would not be the first disputed poll on Musevenis watch. Ugandas Supreme Court, responding to petitions filed by Besigye, ruled unanimously that serious malpractices had occurred in the presidential elections held in 2001 and 2006. Each time, however, the court narrowly voted against nullifying the results, arguing the irregularities would not have changed the final outcome. In 2006, the first election held after a constitutional amendment abolished presidential term limits, the court documented instances of ballot stuffing, voter bribery and intimidation and voters names being deleted from the register. Besigye, who officially garnered 37 percent of the vote, claims to have won the poll outright. Zac Niringiye, a retired Anglican bishop and prominent anti-corruption campaigner, calls Uganda a predator state and describes corruption as a key tool employed by Museveni to ensure his longevity in power. Museveni has increasingly gotten better at his job, he says Essentially, this is perfecting the art of ensuring that this state serves his personal interests. Over the last decade, meanwhile, high-profile cases of corruption have eroded public confidence in the ruling elite. In one case in 2012, officials within the office of the prime minister embezzled an estimated $12.7 million in foreign donor funding meant for projects in Ugandas north. The government says it has taken steps to curb corruption. In an interview, Shaban Bantariza, a retired army colonel and government spokesman, noted the establishment of internal watchdog organizations, as well as an anti-corruption court that has prosecuted hundreds of cases. Activists, however, say these bodies are rarely effective in targeting the countrys most powerful individuals. As a 2013 report by Human Rights Watch notes, only one government minister has ever been convicted of a corruption-related offense during Musevenis 30 years in office. And that ruling was eventually overturned. The report blames a lack of political will linked to an entrenched patronage network that, for the purpose of securing loyalty to the regime, has rewarded devotion with financial enrichment. Critics, however, point to major gaps in public services. The national budget, they say, allocates too little money to health and education and too much to security and defense. One 2013 World Bank survey of the countrys public health facilities found that more than half lacked basic medicines and proper staffing. Funding shortfalls and logistical mismanagement led to shortages of HIV/AIDS drugs, interrupting treatment for more than 750,000 patients during the second half of 2015. And while the government introduced tuition-free primary education in 1997, a 2012 U.N. study reported that 68 percent of students drop out before finishing the prescribed seven years. Thats in part due to families inability to afford incidentals such as uniforms, books and pens. Among African nations, only Chad had a higher dropout rate. For all the corruption that has festered on Musevenis watch, many Ugandans wonder whether another leader could do any better particularly since his two main challengers also have deep roots in NRM politics. Museveni, Mbabazi and Besigye all fought against the Obote regime in the bush war of the 1980s. (That conflict was launched ironically after Museveni claimed the 1980 elections, won by Obotes Uganda Peoples Congress, had been rigged). Besigye, formerly Musevenis personal doctor, fell out with the regime in 2001 after accusing the NRM of veering incorrigibly off course. Mbabazi, once considered the second most powerful man in government, defected in 2014. Although it has drawn some support from the urban middle class, the Mbabazi campaign has failed to live up to early speculation that it might draw a critical mass of voters away from the NRM. A January poll conducted by the Kampala-based firm Research World International, estimated Mbabazis support at only 12 percent, trailing both the presidents (51 percent) and Besigyes (32 percent). Although these figures suggest that a runoff, mandated if no candidate receives a majority of the votes, is possible, few Ugandans believe this to be likely. To start, the NRM has a far more enduring brand image, a more effective grass-roots apparatus and far deeper pockets than its rivals. According to a January report by the Alliance for Election Campaign Finance Monitoring, which tracked candidate spending in November and December, Museveni spent 12 times more in the 16 districts surveyed than the other seven candidates combined. The report also documents systematic voter bribery, including handouts of cash, food, hoes, seeds and other agricultural staples, though it notes this was prevalent across political parties. The impartiality of Ugandas Electoral Commission, whose leadership is appointed by Museveni, is also in doubt. Independent observers have questioned its ability to conduct a free and fair election. However, Jotham Taremwa, an Electoral Commission spokesman, calls fears of rigging unfounded. He insists that new biometric voting technology that uses fingerprints to verify voters identities will help prevent irregularities. But electoral watchdogs note that the machines, which only arrived in the country last month, have never been piloted. Crispy Kaheru, coordinator of the Kampala-based Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, says that similar biometric kits have malfunctioned during polls in several African countries, including neighboring Kenya, where they had undergone far more extensive testing. As doubts linger over its credibility, the vote and its aftermath are shaping up to be tense. Last month, the U.S. State Department expressed concern over an electoral climate of fear and intimidation, characterized by reports of police obstructing opposition rallies and intimidating media, as well as the disappearance of Mbabazis head of security. (The former prime ministers team alleges he was abducted by police last December.) The opposition, meanwhile, is encouraging supporters to watch out for possible rigging. Solome Nakaweesi, the Mbabazi campaigns chief of staff, said their team has instructed its supporters to speak out if they suspect their votes have been improperly counted. But, she said, the campaign will not advise them to take to the streets. Besigyes camp, however, has been explicit in its plans to protest the results. Ibrahim Ssemujju, a member of Parliament and spokesman for Besigyes Forum for Democratic Change, told Al Jazeera America the FDC has been mobilizing volunteers to monitor polling stations and fight for the will of people to prevail. Ssemujju insists the network, dubbed Power 10, will not be armed, nor instructed to use violence, but rather will forge a campaign of civil disobedience that is better organized and more entrenched than the Walk to Work movement of 2011. Should the elections be rigged, we are asking the population to rise up, he said. That is all we are saying. Ugandan authorities, however, appear unlikely to give much breathing room to a movement intent on disturbing public order. Calling Power 10 a militia, Bantariza, the government spokesman, said police are prepared to arrest anyone causing insurrection. Independent observers, meanwhile, worry that the so-called crime preventers might turn violent against election protesters. In a January speech, Kale Kayihura, the inspector general of police, suggested that the volunteers could legally be given guns in case of war. Although few envision Uganda descending into full-fledged armed conflict, many say the war of words by political actors has left the country on edge. While the skirmish lines are forming in Congress over President Obamas nomination of a successor to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia the president first will have to make his choice known before the battle can be joined. Though Obama had not been expecting to make a Supreme Court nomination in the final months of his second term, Scalias death triggers a rigorous selection process that begins with an informal list of nominees this administration -- and those before it -- keep in the event of a sudden vacancy. Serious vetting only begins, however, when a vacancy occurs or is announced. And Obama will have plenty of names from which to choose. While not an official short list, the following list of potential nominees is based on past nominations and discussions with sources, including government officials involved in the selections of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan: Loretta Lynch, attorney general The North Carolina native became the nations top law enforcement officer last year, after a bitter confirmation fight in the Senate. She served two stints as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, earning a reputation as a tough prosecutor in several high-profile financial and terrorism-related cases. Most recently in the AG role, she filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department over what she called its unconstitutional violation of the rights of the largely minority community. If successfully nominated, the daughter of a Baptist minister and a school librarian would be the first African-American woman on the high court. Judge Patricia Millett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Millett was named in 2013 to a bench considered a stepping stone to the high court -- where four current justices once served. Formerly a private Washington-based appellate attorney -- Obama called her "one of the nation's finest"-- who also had more than a decade of experience in the U.S. Solicitor General's office, Millett argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, the second-most ever for a female lawyer. Sources of both ideological stripes call her fair-minded, no-nonsense and non-ideological. Judge Sri Srinivasan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Srinivasan was named to the court in 2013, months before Millett joined him. The son of Indian immigrants who was born in India and raised in Kansas -- Padmanabhan Srikanth Srinivasan was the principal deputy solicitor general at the Justice Department, and argued more than two dozen cases before the Supreme Court. He would be the high court's first Asian-American. Known as low-key, practical and non-ideological, he may not excite many progressives, or give conservatives much to dislike. Judge Paul Watford, 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Watford was named to the appeals court in 2012. He clerked for conservative-libertarian federal Judge Alex Kozinski on the 9th Circuit, and later for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Supporters call the Orange County, Calif., native an ideological moderate, which may not sit well with progressives seeking a stronger liberal voice. Judge Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Nguyen, 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals The Vietnam-born Nguyen was named to the court in 2012 after two years as a federal district court judge. She, too, would make history as the high court's first Asian-American justice. She is already the first Asian-American woman to sit a on a federal appeals court and is a former state judge, federal prosecutor and private attorney. She moved with her family to the U.S. when she was 10, just after the fall of then-South Vietnam to the Communists. Kamala Harris, California attorney general Harris was elected to her current job in 2010. Harris is a former San Francisco district attorney and author of "Smart on Crime." Her political savvy, ethnic background (part-African-American, part-Asian-American), law enforcement credentials and early support of Obama's candidacy make her a favorite for any high court vacancy. Kathryn Ruemmler, former Obama White House Counsel Ruemmler left her government position for private practice in spring 2014. She most famously helped lead the prosecution in the Enron fraud case in 2006. She earned high praise in the White House for helping spearhead the legal defense of Obamas health care overhaul law. She also supervised the vetting for the Kagan and Sotomayor high court nominations, though she has no judicial experience. Judge Jane Kelly, 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Kelly is only the second woman to serve on the St. Louis-based court, appointed in 2013. She spent most of her legal career as a federal public defender in Iowa. One of her biggest fans is fellow Iowan Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge David Barron, 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Confirmed in May 2014, Barron formerly served as acting assistant attorney general in Obama administration, then went to Harvard Law School as a professor. He clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens. Judge Diane Wood, 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Wood has sat on the bench since 1995. Twice a finalist for the high court vacancies in 2009 and 2010, she is considered a mainstream liberal and well-regarded by many legal analysts as a strong, articulate judge. She served in both the Reagan and Clinton Justice Departments. Judge Merrick Garland, D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Garland was a finalist for the high court seats that went to Sotomayor and Kagan, and is a possible compromise choice, considered a relative judicial moderate on the high-profile appeals court. Four current justices came directly from the D.C Circuit. Garland was a former associate deputy attorney general and supervised the criminal prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. His perceived "moderate" views may not sit well with some liberals. While Obama says he plans to nominate a Scalia successor, Republicans in the Senate are threatening to hold up the confirmation in hopes that a Republican president will be able to make the selection next year. If the decision does fall to a Republican president, the following are a few possibilities: Paul Clement, former U.S. solicitor general Clement is considered by many one of the best lawyers of his generation. The Wisconsin native went to Harvard Law School and later clerked for Justice Scalia. He served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush and earned raves for his persuasive, conversational style at oral arguments before the justices. Now as a private attorney, he has become the go-to guy among conservatives to lead appeals over a variety of hot-button issues: health care reform, same-sex marriage, immigration enforcement and gun rights. Judge Brett Kavanaugh, D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Kavanaugh began his job May 2006 in a court that has seen several of its former members make the jump to the Supreme Court. A former top official in the George W. Bush White House, his nomination to the prestigious D.C. circuit was held up for three years by Democrats who accused him of misleading over whether he helped formulate policy on the detention and questioning of accused terrorists held overseas. He is considered one of the brightest young conservative legal minds. Judge Diane Sykes, 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Sykes is a former private lawyer, county judge and justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She is a Federalist Society member, and her profile has been increasing among many conservatives. Sen. Mike Lee, Republican from Utah The rising GOP star may have the best credentials of any lawmaker to be a justice. Lee is a former appellate and constitutional lawyer, both in Utah and Washington, who twice clerked for Justice Samuel Alito, on both the federal appeals and later Supreme Court. Much of the media is convinced that Donald Trump had a lousy debate in South Carolina. Trump Bludgeoned In Nasty GOP Debate, said Politico, whose insiders (who utterly failed to predict the Trump phenomenon) said The Donald had flopped. The Washington Posts Chris Cillizza branded Trump one of the debates losers, with Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio (and moderator John Dickerson) the winners. Rich Lowry, whose National Review has savaged Trump, offered this frustrated headline: Trump Half-Crazed, But Does Anyone Care? My own view is that while Cruz and Bush landed some blows, Trump punched back quite hard. The reason the CBS debate, and the campaign, turned so ugly is that the other Republicans know this is probably their best shot at derailing the Trump express. I was surprised that Trump used as much of his high energy as he did to go after Jeb, who trails him badly in the polls. Bush may have gotten under his skin in this debate. Cruz held back for the first 90 minutes, then seemed to unload every anti-Trump attack line he had been saving up all at once. Keep in mind that the media have often turned thumbs down on Trumps debates and controversial comments, only to discover that they didnt hurt him among Republican voters. About the only concession hes made to South Carolina is to announce that hell stop cursing. Of course, Trump did attack George W. Bush over 9/11 and the Iraq war and went a step further, saying he and his administration lied about Saddams weapons of mass destruction. Trump also defended Planned Parenthoods non-abortion services. Im sure well hear more about this, but it also plays to his self-description as a common-sense conservative, not a doctrinaire one. For all the ink spilled on South Carolina as the land of dirty tricks, none of the punches thrown have been below the belt. Unless you count Cruz having to pull an ad that featured a soft-core porn actress, a silly controversy that became a distraction. The attacks on Trump have gotten so noisy that they may have trouble breaking through the static. And they mostly recycle past charges that havent stuck. A Cruz ad accuses The Donald of having been a sleazy businessman. Since Trump has said he gave big bucks to politicians to help him on the real estate front, the charge is not exactly new. The ad says Trump has abused eminent domain for his own profit, dramatized by footage of an elderly widow whose home the billionaire wanted for an Atlantic City casino parking lot. Left unsaid is that he offered the woman $1 million and the project fizzled in any case. After Mitt Romney was portrayed as unfeeling for laying off thousands, a single example feels small. (Trump responds in tweet form that he might have to sue Cruz for not being a natural-born citizen.) Bushs Super PAC also looks backward, to Trumps shifting position on abortion and his insults directed at John McCain and Megyn Kelly. (Trump mocks him for bringing in his mother and now his brother as surrogates.) Meanwhile, Rubio makes a present-tense charge, portraying Trump as having no foreign policy experience other than building hotels abroad. The recitations of Trumps past heresies have been tried several times, to no avail. His supporters dont seem to care that he once gave money to Democrats, took liberal positions in New York or worked what he now calls a corrupt system as a businessman. In their eyes, his successful real estate career is a plus. As the media have learned, when it comes to Trump, the wayback machine usually malfunctions. Donald Trump dramatically escalated his feud with rival Ted Cruz on Monday, threatening to sue the Texas senator over his eligibility for office if he does not retract alleged lies about Trumps positions and calling on the Republican National Committee to intervene on two fronts. The billionaire businessman wants the RNC to pressure Cruz, and also stop allowing so many donors at the debates. If the RNC does not get its act together, Trump warned, they would be violating the pledge he signed to support the eventual GOP nominee. While dragging the RNC into the fray, Trumps already-nasty and personal feud with Cruz was hitting an unprecedented level. At a press conference and in a written statement, Trump demanded Cruz apologize for allegedly false statements about him or hell follow through on threats to challenge in court the Canada-born senators eligibility to run. He doesnt even have the right to serve as president, or even run as president. He was born in Canada. So I will bring that lawsuit if he doesnt apologize, Trump told reporters at a press conference. Simultaneously, his campaign issued a statement detailing Cruzs allegedly false statements about his positions on abortion, ObamaCare and more. If he doesnt take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will [file suit] immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they dont, they are in default of their pledge to me, Trump said in the statement. The threats come as Cruz has questioned Trumps positions on abortion, gun rights and other issues. In one new ad, the Cruz campaign warns conservatives are "just one Supreme Court justice away" from losing on issues that are important to them. Those issues, the ad says, include "life, marriage, religious liberty, the Second Amendment." It suggests Trump would nominate more liberal justices. Cruz, though, is standing by his statements. Truth matters. You cannot simply scream liar when somebody points out the actual position of Donald Trump or the actual positon of Marco Rubio, Cruz told reporters. I will continue to focus on substance and truth. Trump for months has questioned Cruzs eligibility to run, though the Cruz campaign dismisses such concerns some legal analysts have said Cruz is eligible because his mother is an American-born citizen. "The people of South Carolina want a consistent conservative they can trust," Cruz told reporters before his rally in Aiken. But about the same time at a rally 130 miles away in Mount Pleasant, S.C., Trump called Cruz "the most dishonest guy I think I've ever met in politics." "I think he's an unstable person," he said, later declaring: "He's nuts." The exchange was in keeping with the barbed tone of the race set at Saturdays debate, where Cruz openly questioned Trumps pro-life credentials and Trump called him the single biggest liar. Trump went on to repeatedly accuse Cruz of lying on Monday. Meanwhile, his comments about the RNC pledge renewed speculation that hes threatening to mount an independent run for the White House. Last September, after much intra-party drama, Trump signed a loyalty pledge saying he would support the eventual GOP nominee though the document was not binding, it was an effort to soothe concerns he might strike out and run as an independent. Trump said Monday that the RNC isnt holding up its end of the bargain, suggesting the committee was hurting his campaign by giving out too many GOP debate tickets to donors. This was a reference to incidents at the last two debates, where Trump repeatedly was booed by the audience and Trump, in turn, openly accused them of being rival candidate Jeb Bushs donors and supporters. The RNC better get its act together, Trump said at an earlier campaign stop in South Carolina. I signed a pledge. But the pledge isnt being honored by them. He later went on to say the RNC would be in default of their pledge if they dont intervene in his dispute with Cruz. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Death Valley may be gearing up for a rare wildflower super bloom, according to experts at the National Park Service. In a statement posted on its website last week, the Service described the bloom as still basically localized, fantastic in the southeastern part of the park but just beginning in other locations. Related: Rare weather event produces spontaneous snowballs in Idaho To have a big bloom like this, which we hope will become a super bloom, which is beyond all your expectations, these are quite rare, maybe once a decade or so, explained Park Ranger Alan Van Valkenburg, in a video posted on YouTube by the National Park Service. Autumn rains and El Nino may have fuelled the rare burst of wildflowers, which would be Death Valleys first since 2005. Related: What caused this weird crack to appear in Michigan? There are so many seeds out there, just waiting to sprout, waiting to grow, said Van Valkenburg, who has lived in Death Valley for 25 years. Death Valley really does go from being a valley of death to being a valley of life, but thats so brief, because its not a permanent thing. More than 50 million years ago, a giant flightless bird that weighed several hundred pounds lived in the Arctic. Based on a single toe bone first found in the 1970s, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and the University of Colorado Boulder determined that the bird, named Gastornis, lived in the Arctic Circle on Ellesmere Island. "People thought there was a larger bird up there but the fossils had never been described," CU-Boulders Jaelyn Eberle, a co-author of a study on the bird that appeared in Scientific Reports, told FoxNews.com of the bone which was in the collection of the Canadian Museum of Nature. "There are lots of wonderful discoveries we can make in the field," she said. "But I would say there are a lot of great discoveries that can be made in collections that have been hanging around for a while but, for whatever reason, hadn't been described. We knew there were birds but nothing had been described until this paper." Related: Fossil of massive crocodile found on edge of Sahara desert Eberle and the lead author on the study, Thomas Stidham, then compared the bone to those of similar bird fossils found in other parts of the world. They concluded it may be of the same genus as giant birds found in mid-latitude locations. "Gastornis has been known from mid-latitudes for a long time, from Wyoming, Colorado, Europe. What we were able to do was compare that fossil from the Arctic to all of these mid-latitude specimens," she said. "I think what is interesting is that the toe is virtually identifical to specimens from Wyoming. The difference is they are 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) apart. That is kind of strange." Coming upon this bird would have been a terrifying sight and researchers initially believed it was a fearsome carnivore. It would have stood 6-feet-tall and been about the size of an adult male with a head about the size of a horse's head. Related: Fossils of rats as big as dogs found in Southeast Asia But more recently, other researchers had found that it been a vegan, using its huge beak to tear at foliage, nuts, seeds and hard fruit. And unlike the harsh conditions of Ellesmere Island today where temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees in winter, the birds environment about 53 million years ago would have been similar to cypress swamps in the southeast, Eberle said. "It was still formidable but it was the plants that had to be fearful," Eberle said. Fossil evidence indicates the island, which is adjacent to Greenland, hosted turtles, alligators, primates, tapirs and even large hippo-like and rhino-like mammals. Related: Fossil of ancient fish with massive jaws discovered in Colorado And unlike modern day ducks and geese that migrate through the Arctic, Eberle said Gastornis was most likely a year-around resident. It would have had enough to plant material eat, she said, and probably wouldn't have had the energy to migrate elsewhere. "We would hyphosize that a large bird, just like large mammals up there, could overwinter in the Arctic," she said. "Because this is a land dwelling bird, I think they were permanent residents. Part of it is because - this is the same argument we use for the mammmals up there - it's energetically expensive for an animal that walks on land to travel from Ellesmere Island down the tree line each year." Laser scans of Britain's terrain may reveal weathered Roman roads that have been hidden for centuries across the countryside of northern England. Over the past 18 years, the U.K.'s Environment Agency has used a technology called lidar to collect data for more than 72 percent of England's surface. This remote sensing technique bounces laser light beams off the ground to make 3D terrain maps that can peer below vegetation and reveal the contours of every ditch and boulder below. The U.K.'s lidar maps were used primarily for environmental purposes, such as for planning flood defenses or tracking eroding coastlines. But last summer, the agency dumped all 11TB of its data sets onto the Survey Open Data website. [Roman Fort: See Images of the Long-Lost Discoveries] The maps grabbed the attention of archaeologists and history buffs among them, David Ratledge, a 70-year-old retired road engineer who has spent nearly five decades searching for ancient Roman roads, The Times of London reported. After the Romans invaded Britain in the first century A.D., they built an impressive network of roads to secure their occupation. You can walk in the footsteps of Roman soldiers on a few surviving sections of these ancient highways today, but many routes have been stripped of their stones or they have been obscured by development and farmland. These "lost" roads left some gaps in the history of Roman Britain. One mystery for Ratledge was, how did the Romans get from Ribchester to Lancaster? With access to the new maps, Ratledge thinks he has solved the puzzle. He traced an 11-mile road from Ribchester to the main north-south road at Catterall that then led to Lancaster. "The road takes a very logical and economical route to join the main north-south road at Catterall and hence on to Lancaster," Ratledge wrote on the website of the Roman Roads Research Association. "Years of looking for a road via Priest Hill, White Chapel, Beacon Fell, Oakenclough and Street proved to be time spent in the wrong place!" Ratledge said a prominent stretch of a Roman rampart is even visible in Google Street View. "How nobody me included spotted it is a mystery," he wrote. Archaeologists Hugh Toller and Bryn Gethin have also used the lidar data to find four other roads, including a missing part of a Roman road called the Maiden Way, the U.K. Environment Agency said in a statement. First developed in the 1960s, lidar has a variety of uses. In one of its best-known early applications, it helped NASA's astronauts study the surface of the moon during the Apollo missions. Today, it's been used to survey land for oil and gas companies, or to assess the damage of a disaster like the 2010 Haiti earthquake or Hurricane Sandy. It's even been used in an artistic capacity, to make haunting portraits of people in Ethiopia. The technique has also become a useful tool for archaeologists who want to look for buried structures without breaking ground. In recent years, archaeologists have used lidar to discover the foundations of a lost city in the Honduran rainforest, mapped the sprawling ancient city of Angkor in Cambodia and revealed lost historic sites across New England. In England, archaeologists aren't the only ones interested in the Environment Agency's terrain maps. The agency said utility companies might use the data to plan the construction of new infrastructure, and winemakers might even find the lidar maps useful when scouting potential plots for vineyards. "Minecraft" players have also requested the data sets to help them build virtual worlds. Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. It is one of the world's greatest treasures. Written sometime around 930 A.D. in the town of Tiberias on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, the Aleppo Codex is the oldest surviving copy of the Hebrew Bible, according to experts. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, added the millennium-old manuscript earlier this week to its International Memory of the World Register, which honors some of the most important discoveries in human history. "It is regarded as the oldest complete Hebrew Bible in the world," Don Bassett, director of the Biblical Museum of History in Tennessee, told FoxNews.com. "The text has been preserved with phenomenal accuracy," Bassett said. All current versions of the Old Testament are believed to have stemmed "in one way or another, from this ancient manuscript," Adolfo Roitman, head curator of the Shrine of the Book Museum in Jerusalem, told the Christian Post. "The best Bible for scholarly study available today is traceable back to the Aleppo Codex," added Bassett. The Codex, which was smuggled out of Syria and brought into Israel in 1958, currently resides at the museum. Some 190 pages of the Codex -- around 40 percent of the total -- are missing, Bassett told FoxNews.com. The missing pages include four out of five books of the Pentateuch -- the first section of books in the Bible also called the Five Books of Moses -- and five books from the last section --Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel and Ezra, i24News reported. Its fitting the Aleppo Codex has been designated as a world treasure, given its storied past and significance to Jews and Christians through the ages, said Michael Holmes, Ph.D., executive director of the Museum of the Bibles research arm, the Scholars Initiative. Its simply unparalleled in the world of biblical manuscripts. There is also a disagreement over who owns the priceless text. Filmmaker Avi Dabach, who is making a documentary on the ancient manuscript, told the newspaper he believes the Codex belongs to the Jewish community that fled Syria. "In the 1960s the Aleppo-Jewish community sued the people who brought the Codex to Israel," Dabach said, according to the Christian Post. "The Israeli authorities decided to confiscate this item and then, from a position of strength, force on the community an arrangement." UNESCO says on its website that the manuscript, also known as the "Crown," is "the oldest extant nearly complete Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)." "It is considered by many scholars to be the most exact and authoritative Hebrew Bible and served as a source of text, cantillation and vocalization of the Bible both in the past and present," according to UNESCO. Russian scientists are planning to tweak their ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) to target near-earth objects (NEOs), according to a report by news agency TASS. The news came from Sabit Saitgarayev, the leading researcher at the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. The projectiles could be aimed at meteorites measuring 20-50 meters in size. A meteorite is a chunk of debris that can originate from a sun-orbiting asteroid, and that survives the trip through the atmosphere to reach Earth's surface. The scientists plan to test their missiles on the asteroid 99942 Apophis, which Saitgarayev believes may pass "dangerously close" to Earth in 2036. There is a general consensus as to this expected close encounter, though NASA has "effectively ruled out the possibility" of an impact. Related: NASAs newest branch has one job: Protect the Planet from humongous asteroids The lead scientist explains the reasoning behind his team's work. "Most rockets work on boiling fuel," Saitgarayev says. "Their fueling begins 10 days before the launch and, therefore, they are unfit for destroying meteorites similar to the Chelyabinsk meteorite in diameter, which are detected several hours before coming close to the Earth. For this purpose, intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used, which requires their upgrade." Saitgarayev says that modifying the solid-fueled ICBMs will require several million dollars and permission from the authorities. These are weapons of war, after all. It is unclear whether or not this project will ever come to fruition, though the work has already begun. The Makeyev Design Bureau was established on December 16, 1947. The company specialized in developing long-rockets designed by the OKB-1 (Experimental Design Bureau), which was led by pioneering rocket designer Sergei Korolov. It was under Korolov's direction that Russia launched the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957, and put the first man in space in 1961. In the mid-1950s, Maketev OKB began developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Today, its rockets are used to launch Russian satellites into space. On Dec. 23, the entire Ivano-Frankivsk region in Ukraine suffered a major power outage. According to security experts and the Ukrainian Government the attackers used a destructive variant of the popular BlackEnergy malware. According to a Ukrainian media, the power outage was caused by a destructive malware that disconnected electrical substations. Experts speculate that the hackers targeted Ukrainian power authorities with a spear phishing campaign to spread the malware, leveraging Microsoft Office documents. The incident in Ukraine has refocused attention on the security of critical infrastructure worldwide. Western infrastructure is a target for several kinds of threat actors, including nation-state hackers, cybercriminals, cyber terrorists and hacktivists. The Stuxnet case demonstrated the efficiency of modern cyber weapons - a malicious code spread in a virtual environment like cyberspace could put the lives of entire populations in danger. Protection of critical infrastructure is a pillar of any governments cyber strategy. The cyberspace is recognized as the fifth domain of warfare, and militaries across the globe are improving their capabilities in order to protect national assets from cyberattacks. Related: 3 biggest security threats of 2016 According to the former chief of the National Security Agency, General Keith Alexander, electric grids, oil refineries and power plants are the biggest targets for cyberattack. The greatest risk is a catastrophic attack on the energy infrastructure. We are not prepared for that, he reportedly said, during a private dinner held by IHS CERAWeek last year. According to The Telegraph, the former NSA Chief listed five countries that have significant cyber-warfare capabilities - the U.S., U.K., Israel, Russia and Iran. China and North Korea are two other countries two countries significantly investing to improve their cyber capabilities. NSA chief Admiral Michael Rogers told Congress last year that China is capable of cyberattacks that could cause catastrophic failures of an electricity grid, water systems or energy plant. Related: T9000 malware steals your information When dealing with threat actors, we cannot ignore the menace represented by terrorist organizations. The recent dramatic escalation of terrorist attacks is an alarm bell. Security experts believe that too many countries are not prepared to handle cyberattacks, according to a recent report issued by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a nonprofit, non-partisan organization with a mission to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The third Nuclear Security Index published by the NTI evaluates the readiness of nations with regard to securing their atomic programs against targets and digital assaults. According to the 2016 NTI Index, while a few nations have found ways to secure atomic facilities against cyber assaults, many still dont have the necessary laws and regulations in place. Threat actors could be interested in targeting an atomic facility for a number of reasons, including sabotage and the burglary of atomic materials. For example, access control systems could be compromised, thus allowing the entry of unauthorized persons seeking to obtain nuclear material or to damage the facility, says the NTI report . Accounting systems could be manipulated so that the theft of material goes unnoticed. Reactor cooling systems could be deliberately disabled, resulting in a Fukushima-like disaster. Related: Don't open that attachment from your office scanner The Nuclear Threat Initiative found that, of the 24 states with weapons-usable nuclear materials and the 23 states that have nuclear facilities but no weapons-usable nuclear materials, 13 receive a maximum score for cybersecurity: Australia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan, the U.K. and the U.S. However, the report found that 20 states score 0 and lack even basic requirements to protect nuclear facilities from cyberattack. Worryingly, a number of the states that scored 0 have been extending their use of atomic energy. Recently a number of countries have passed new laws and regulations to improve and upgrade cybersecurity requirements when dealing with the protection of critical infrastructures. The NTI Index took into account efforts by a number of governments, including the U.K., South Africa, Russia, France and Pakistan. Given the potential consequences, all states must work aggressively to ensure that their nuclear facilities are protected from cyber attacks, the report said. Governments should include the cyber threat within the national threat assessment for their nuclear facilities, and they should put in place a clear set of laws, regulations, standards, and licensing requirements for all nuclear facilities that require protection of digital systems from cyber attacks. Related: Stolen Netflix passwords can be bought for 25 cents on the black market, Symantec warns At the facility level, leadership must prioritize cybersecurity, determine potential consequences, and implement a program that ensures that digital assets and networks are characterized and secured and that the security is routinely tested, the report added. The same opinion is expressed in a survey conducted by the Chatham House think tank that analyzed cybersecurity at civil nuclear facilities. The study interviewed 30 industry practitioners, academics and policymakers from the U.K., Canada, the U.S., Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany and Japan. The report found that the nuclear industry is falling behind other industries when facing cyber security despite rapidly evolving threats. The nuclear industry is beginning but struggling to come to grips with this new, insidious threat, said Patricia Lewis, research director of Chatham Houses international security program. Related: Hackers could throw off our power grid by manipulating our AC units Nuclear facilities worldwide have reached a high level of physical security and safety, but they are still open to cyberattacks despite steps taken recently by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Hackers target the core of civil nuclear facilities and other critical infrastructure - the SCADA systems and industrial control systems (ICS). Both SCADA and ICS are affected by numerous vulnerabilities that could be exploited at any moment by hackers. Another myth worth dispelling is the safety of networks totally isolated from the Internet, so called air-gapped networks. Not only can air gaps be breached with nothing more than a flash drive but a number of nuclear facilities have virtual private networks (VPN) or undocumented or forgotten connections, some installed by contractors, the Chatham House report said, citing the example of Stuxnet. The worm most likely spread initially when infected USB flash drives were introduced into these facilities. Related: Identity thieves used thousands of stolen SSNs to generate IRS e-filing pins When dealing with technical challenges, insecurity by design is a major problem, according to the report, with patch management of industrial control systems an extremely complex activity. A patch, for example, could cause serious compatibility issues and, in the worst case scenario, deployment could result in downtime and compromise the operation of the entire facility. The nuclear industry as a whole needs to develop a more robust ambition to take the initiative in cyberspace and to fund the promotion and fostering of a culture of cyber security, determining investment priorities and ensuring that sufficient and sustained funding is allocated to effective responses to the challenge. It also needs to establish an international cyber security risk management strategy and encourage the free flow of information between all stakeholders, Chatham House said in its report. This will require the industry to develop appropriate mechanisms and coordinated plans of action to address the technical shortfalls identified, as well as to find the right balance between regulation and personal responsibility. Risk assessment is the most important challenge for operators of critical infrastructure - it is vital to accurately assess and measure the risks in order to have a clear idea of the security measure that must be adopted. Underlining the importance of this issue, the World Economic Forum recently identified the very real threat posed by cyberattacks. Clearly, theres no time to waste when it comes to protecting critical infrastructure. Pierluigi Paganini is the author of the book The Deep Dark Web and founder of the Security Affairs blog. Authorities gave the all-clear Sunday after an "explosive device" was found attached to a rental car at Albuquerque International Sunport. The Albuquerque Police Department said a credible explosive device was found under a car while being checked after it was returned, KRQE-TV reported. The Albuquerque Journal reported that police were called to the scene at around 8:30 a.m. local time by a mechanic who had been working on the car. A bomb unit was called in to dispose of the device, which prompted the evacuation of the Avis Budget Rental hub next to the airport. The Journal reported that people attempting to rent or return cars were directed to a nearby parking lot. Soon, a long line of people formed along the sidewalk, with many checking their cell phones in an effort to find out what had happened. The device was eventually rendered safe. Police spokesman Simon Drobik told the Associated Press that the local bomb unit initially inspected the device, but they later handed it over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Despite the hub's proximity to the airport, no flights were affected as a result of the incident. Some nearby roads were closed, but later reopened Sunday afternoon. Agents from ATF and the FBI will conduct a separate investigation, looking into the location from where the vehicle was rented and who was the last to occupy it, Drobik said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from KRQE-TV. It also helps cement a legacy issue for Obama, who has championed a trade and foreign policy pivot to Asia during his presidency and is determined to present the United States as a Pacific power. "We want to make very clear that the United States is going to be at the table and a part of setting the agenda in the Asia-Pacific in the decades to come," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters last week. Goals of the two-day gathering include increasing commercial ties, which will be underscored by the presence of a handful of U.S. corporate executives; cooperating on counter-terrorism; and setting principles for maritime security in the region, the White House said. The first day of the summit, which is scheduled to kick off at 3:00 p.m., will focus on economic issues and trade, including discussion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, which includes four of the ASEAN members: Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia. Others are interested in joining, and the White House wants to make sure the pact goes into effect. On Tuesday, the leaders will discuss maritime issues including the South China Sea, where China and several Southeast Asian states have conflicting and overlapping claims. Rhodes said Obama would deliver a tough message to China that disputes over the area must be resolved peacefully. "We will continue to underscore the principle that these issues have to be resolved consistent with international norms and not through bigger nations bullying smaller ones," he said. The challenge at the summit may be to get all ASEAN countries to agree on a strong statement on the issue. Officials say China has put pressure on countries such as Cambodia and Laos not to sign on. Encouragement from Obama, and a message that the United States will continue to engage with the group, may counteract that. "If the ASEAN leaders feel that the United States is investing in ASEAN ... that would encourage even the weakest, the most susceptible ASEAN states to sign on with their brothers to make these statements," said Ernest Bower, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "No one in Southeast Asia wants the Chinese to run roughshod over their smaller neighbors." Reuters Authorities say a Rochester judge has been arrested on a drunken driving charge after being pulled over on her way to court. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley says Judge Leticia Astacio was arrested Saturday morning after being stopped by New York State troopers on Interstate 490. Astacio, who was elected to the judicial post in 2014, was released with an appearance ticket and ordered to appear in court in March. She hasn't immediately returned a call for comment. Doorley says Astacio was stopped on her way to court, where she was scheduled to preside over criminal court arraignments. Another judge was called in after Astacio was arrested. A spokesman for the state court system did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Astacio's arrest. The U.S. Coast Guard says a passing cruise ship has rescued 12 Cuban migrants from an unseaworthy vessel in the Caribbean. A Coast Guard spokesman in Miami says the crew of the Disney Wonder spotted the migrants southeast of Cuba. Petty Officer John-Paul Rios said the cruise ship took the migrants to its next port of call Sunday in the Cayman Islands. There were no reported injuries but Rios said cruise ships have agreed to notify the Coast Guard if they see migrants on dangerous vessels at sea and to rescue them if necessary. An increasing number of Cubans have fled their country and the U.S. normalized relations. Many Cubans fear restored relations will bring an end to the law granting them U.S. residency if they reach the country. Convicted murderer Jodi Arias will not be receiving visitors anytime soon. Arias has lost visitation privileges for roughly 200 days as punishment for calling a female correctional officer a vulgar name, KNXV-TV in Phoenix reported. Arias referred to the officer on Feb. 3 in a crude fashion while talking with another officer, according to an Arizona Department of Corrections report. The report said Arias was upset because the officer denied her request for a haircut. When confronted, Arias acknowledged the name-calling. But Arias told investigators she didn't think the name meant anything sexual. She said she knew the name to mean someone who stonewalls another person. DOC spokesman Andrew Wilder said Arias must show good behavior for at least 180 days to regain her privileges. Two suspects in an armed robbery that preceded the shooting of a Mississippi police officer were in custody early Monday, authorities said. Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett told the Associated Press that one of the suspects was brought in for questioning by his father Sunday afternoon. The second suspect was taken into custody at around 4 p.m. local time. Both men are suspected of having robbed a convenience store four blocks from the site where Clarksdale Police Cpl. Derrick Couch was shot Saturday night. Couch was in critical condition at the area's top trauma center, Regional One Health in Memphis, Tennessee, nursing supervisor Vivian Crawford said Sunday. Luckett said Couch is on a ventilator, has lost one eye, and the bullet remains lodged in his brain. The mayor said surveillance video from a nearby law office shows Couch's patrol car approaching two men, one of whom runs. "I'm not sure if Officer Crouch saw [one of the suspects] run or not," Luckett said. "Then you see the officer's lights turn and illuminate the second guy, who's walking. He walks with a noticeable limp, which is telling" because a video of a robbery last month at the same store, the Corner Grocery, shows a man with a limp. The other man shot Couch after the officer got out of his car and approached the suspect, apparently to question him. "I've seen the video. It's harrowing," Luckett said. "As soon as the officer approached him, he just swung around and, bam!" Neither suspect in custody had been identified by authorities. Both are African-American, as is Couch. Luckett said officers with a search warrant found "telling evidence" at the family home of the man whose father brought him to the station. He said Couch is a veteran officer in his mid-30s, and worked for the Tunica County Sheriff's Office before coming to Clarksdale, where he was a narcotics officer until recently. He is married and has one or two children; other relatives live in Southaven, the mayor said. "This is not a homicide yet. It would be our first this year if it turns into one," Luckett said. "I can't remember an officer in Clarksdale shot by a suspect." The Associated Press contributed to this report. A new $18.5 million donation will provide for some much-needed improvements to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, and soon give visitors a closer look into how the iconic marble structure was made, officials announced on Monday in honor of Presidents Day. The memorial is built on pilings, and the National Park Service is going to explore ways for visitors to see the foundations that anchor the memorial to the bedrock. The unseen superstructure is marked with graffiti from the workers who built the memorial over a seven-year period, including caricatures of former President William Howard Taft and memorial architect Henry Bacon. Washington investor and philanthropist David Rubenstein made the donation. He previously gave tens of millions of dollars to restore other historic sites in the nation's capital, including $7.5 million to fix and improve the Washington Monument after it suffered damage from a 2011 earthquake. Workers at the Lincoln Memorial will also clean the site, fix masonry and add some 15,000 square feet of new exhibit and research space, officials said. The memorial is structurally sound but does need some repair work, Park Service Director John Jarvis told reporters. "It's pretty stout, and I think really has held up quite well for a structure of its age," he added. The memorial was completed in 1922, more than 50 years after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The Lincoln Memorial draws more 7 million visitors annually and is the most visited attraction on the National Mall. The statue of the seated president overlooks Washington's largest reflecting pool, across from the Washington Monument. Rubenstein, a history buff, said he is particularly excited that his gift will provide the park service a better opportunity to tell Lincoln's story to visitors at the memorial, and generally increase awareness about his presidency. His donation represents the start of the National Park Foundation's Centennial Campaign, marking 100 years after the Park Service was established. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A quick-thinking refueling plane crew saved a fighter pilot who faced having to eject over Islamic State territory. The F-16 had been trying to refuel in mid-air when the pilot discovered a malfunction with his fuel system, which meant he could only fly for 15 minutes - nowhere near enough to reach safety. Instead of leaving the pilot to cope with the emergency himself, the US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crew managed to escort him back to its base while refueling every 15 minutes to keep the jet in the air. US Air Force commander Lt Col Eric Hallberg said: "Over 80% of his total fuel capability was trapped and unusable. "Knowing the risks to their own safety, they put the life of the F-16 pilot first and made what could've been an international tragedy a feel-good news story. The jet first ran into trouble when it connected to the KC-135 but was forced to disconnect after taking on 500lbs of fuel - just a fifth of the 2,500lbs it should have had. After a second failed attempt to refuel, the pilot ran through a checklist and was able to tell the tanker crew about the fuel emergency. The Air Force did not reveal where the incident took place or which country the F-16 pilot was from. The tanker crew's actions may have saved the airman from a fate like that of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh, who was shown being burned alive in pictures and video by IS extremists after he ejected and was captured. Click for more from Sky News. The largest drug seizure in Australia's history was almost literally a bust, as the country's law enforcement agencies discovered $900 million of worth of methylamphetamine hidden in imported boxes of silicon bra inserts and glue bottles, it was announced Monday. Four Hong Kong passport holders were arrested in Sydney last month over the import from China of 190 gallons of the drug, commonly known in Australia as ice, police said in a statement. The initial discovery was made in December, when Australian Border Forces intercepted a shipping container from Hong Kong. They found 50 gallons of liquid methamphetamine concealed inside the gel bra inserts. Subsequent investigations focusing on the suburbs of Sydney uncovered more of the drug. The liquid could have made about 1,100 pounds of high-grade crystal meth, Australian Federal Police Commander Chris Sheehan said. Officials also seized 4.4 pounds of the crystalized form of the drug. Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the operation used information gathered through new cooperation between Australian Federal Police and China's National Narcotics Control Commission. The Australian and Chinese agencies established a joint task force in November to investigate criminal syndicates trafficking methamphetamine. "This largest seizure of liquid methylamphetamine to date is the result of organized criminals targeting the lucrative Australian ice market from offshore," Keenan told reporters. The four will appear in a Sydney court next month charged with importing and manufacturing commercial quantities of illegal drugs. Each suspect faces a potential life sentence if convicted. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from news.com.au. Irans defense minister met Tuesday in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin about delivery of the advanced S-300 air defense system -- and the purchase of powerful offensive weapons, including Russia's most sophisticated tank and jet fighters. Russian media and two intelligence officials speaking to Fox News confirm the meeting between Putin and Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, believed to be the architect of the 1983 terror bombing that killed 220 U.S. Marines and 21 other service members in Beirut, Lebanon. A United Nations resolution passed on July 20, days after the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, forbids Iran from making conventional arms sales for the next five years. While a defensive ground-to-air weapons system such as the S-300 is exempt from U.N. Resolution 2231, the ban explicitly forbids battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, [and] warships from being purchased by Iran without prior approval from the U.N. Iran is looking to buy Russia's most capable tank, the T-90, as well as modern Su-30 Flanker fighter jets, Dehqan has said. The State Department would address any concerns over Iran-Russia transactions by speaking directly with Russia or at the U.N., a department official told Fox News. Dehqan's arrival in Moscow Monday comes a month after Iran received billions of dollars worth of sanctions relief when the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers went into effect. Iran freed five American hostages on the same day. In late December, Iran transferred 25,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium and weeks later capped its plutonium reactor in Arak, fulfilling its obligations under the deal. This is not the first time Iran has appeared willing to violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. Fox News was first to report that Iran carried out a medium range ballistic missile test in November. Intelligence officials said the Nov. 21 test launch was held near Chabahar, a port city in southeast Irans Sistan and Baluchestan Province near the border with Pakistan. The launch took place from a known missile test site along the Gulf of Oman. The Ghadr-110 missile tested by Iran has a range of 1,200 miles, and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missile fired in November is an improved version of the Shahab-3, and is similar to the precision-guided missile tested Oct. 10 by Iran, which elicited strong condemnation from members of the U.N. Security Council. Last month, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned 11 entities and individuals linked to the October ballistic missile launch, after seven House Democrats, including the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, wrote a letter to President Obama urging him to take action. The Obama administration has not publicly acknowledged the November launch. In January, Iran detained 10 U.S. Navy sailors and held them for 15 hours on the same day as President Obamas State of the Union address. Hours after the sailors were released, Secretary of State John Kerry said his strong relationship with Irans foreign minister forged during months of negotiating the nuclear agreement led to a quick resolution to the incident. All indications suggest or tell us that our sailors were well taken care of, Kerry said the day the sailors were released, January 13. Iran later released pictures showing the U.S. sailors surrendering. A video released on Iranian State TV showed a young Navy lieutenant apologizing. The images and video outraged senior U.S. officials. Last week, Iran released another video showing one of the U.S. sailors crying in captivity. Days later, Revolution Day parades across Iran celebrating the 1979 Islamic Revolution displayed floats with actors simulating the surrender of the U.S. sailors which drew cheers from the crowds. In late December, as the USS Harry Truman, an American aircraft carrier, transited the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian missile boat fired a number of unguided rockets only 1,500 yards away, an act the U.S. Navy called highly provocative. Officials say Iranian-Shiite militias backed by Russian airstrikes have tipped Syrias civil war in favor of the regime. Since late September, Russia has conducted 90 percent of its airstrikes against opposition fighters, some backed by the U.S., according to defense officials. Last weekend in Munich, the United States and 16 senior world leaders failed to stop Russia and Iran from continued violence against civilians and opposition groups battling the Assad regime. A Syrian opposition leader asked leaders attending the 52nd Munich Security Conference to not forget the lessons of World War II and urged them to stand up to Russia and Iran. The Allied forces could not have won that war with a policy of appeasing dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, which they must confront with decisiveness, said Riad Hijab. Hijab called for the neutralizing of Russia, Iran and its militias in Syria, which he called a real source of terrorism. Wont somebody please think of the hair? A far-north Canadian town where temperatures can hit 40 or 50 below zero for a week or two at a time is in desperate need of a hairdresser. Its been a long struggle for us, Nicky Richards, the economic development officer of Norman Wells, told The Guardian. We just dont have anyone. Its something that people down south dont even ever think about because they dont have to worry about it. People get by in the Northwest Territories town of around 800 just south of the Arctic Circle -- by having family members cut their hair or by cutting it themselves. Past hairdressers have come and gone from the town, using a workspace in a local inn that is outfitted with chairs, mirrors and a sink. Its currently available for lease, and potential clients number in the thousands, The Guardian reports. Richards said the town has heard from a few interested people, but living in Norman wells has its challenges. Sometimes we will have a good 40 or 50 below spell for a week or two at a time. So youre either going to love it or hate it, I suppose, she said. Click for more from The Guardian. A New York-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to return to London's Heathrow Aiport Sunday after the plane's first officer reportedly fell ill when a laser beam was shined into the cockpit. A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic confirmed that Flight 25 bound for JFK Airport, had been abandoned "as a precautionary measure due to a laser beam incident." A flight track published on the website FlightAware.com showed that the Airbus A340-600 had passed over the west coast of Ireland when it decided to turn around. A purported recording of one of the plane's pilots requesting permission to return to Heathrow was published online. In the recording, the pilot uses the code "pan, pan, pan" which refers to a non-life-threatening onboard emergency. "We have a medical issue with one of the pilots after a laser incident after take off and we are going to return to Heathrow," the pilot says in the recording, adding that the incident occurred "around six or seven miles west of London." London's Metropolitan Police confirmed to Sky News that they had been contacted at around 9:35 p.m. local time, but were still trying to establish exactly where the incident took place. All the passengers were reported safe, but were forced to disembark and wait until Monday afternoon to fly on to New York. Their luggage was being kept on the plane overnight. "The safety of our crew and customers is our top priority and we apologize for any inconvenience to those onboard," a Virgin Atlantic spokesman said. "All customers will be offered overnight accommodation and we will get them on their journey as soon as possible." According to civil aviation authorities in Britain, there were 414 such incidents in the first half of 2015 and some 1,440 in 2014. Lasers can cause a temporary loss of sight that persists even after the light is moved, the British Airline Pilots Association said. They also have the power to blind. "This is not an isolated incident," said Jim McAuslan, the organization's general secretary. "Aircraft are attacked with lasers at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength." The organization wants British authorities to classify lasers as offensive weapons. Aviation analyst Howard Wheeldon described the shining of lasers into cockpits as a "very serious issue." "Those who are endangering the lives of passengers must be brought to justice," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from Sky News. Click for more from The Daily Telegraph. LOS ANGELES Yoshawn Smith is 25 and the father of a 3-year-old boy. He has been working since he was 18 as a dishwasher. His wife, Guadalupe, also 25, works in food and safety at a grocery company. They both earn the $10-an-hour minimum wage rate in California and are struggling to make ends meet. Its very difficult because every check goes to pay bills and rent, said Smith, who lives in south central Los Angeles. The plight of low-wage workers has been well documented but research by the University of California Los Angeles Labor Center is putting the spotlight on the challenges that young workers face, whether theyre working fulltime or part-time while in college. As of January 2016, the national unemployment rate for all workers is 4.9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But for 16-19 year olds, its a staggering 16 percent and 8.2 percent for 20-24 year olds. Jobs today for young people are not to just supplement their lives, said Saba Waheed, research director at the UCLA Labor Center who spearheaded the survey of 559 workers aged 18 to 29. They pay rent, they pay for food and they help their families. Then you put in the skyrocketing cost of education. Since the decline in manufacturing jobs, the young work primarily in retail and food service and have seen their wages drop 15.8 percent since 2000. A third of young workers contribute financially to their households and 16.5 percent are parents. More than 12 percent live below the poverty level. Two in five unemployed workers in Los Angeles County are young and unemployment rates in that age group is much higher than the labor force as a whole. In 2013, the rate was 9.2 percent for workers older than 29 and 16.8 percent for the young. The Economic policy Institute Class of 2015 reports that for college graduates, the unemployment rate has risen from 5.5 percent in 2007 to 7.2 percent. The underemployment rate went from 9.6 percent to 14.9 percent. For young high school graduates, the unemployment rate is 19.5 percent, up from 15.9 percent in 2007, and the underemployment rate is 37 percent, up from 26.8 percent. Policies are working out of the old paradigm that young workers work to pay for fun social activities or clothes and iPhones, Waheed said. Its not the world we live in anymore, Waheed said, and the survey shows that most work to survive. Less than 1 percent of young workers surveyed work solely to pay for recreation. A lot of young workers who are in their late 20s are still at entry level, Waheed said. Young people really need the income and deserve a better workplace. But many employers rely on the young for cheap and temporary labor and often expect them to juggle crazy schedules that dont take into account family obligations, school schedules and the need to receive a consistent income. That often results in exploitation, including no benefits and wage theft in the form of overtime and off-the-clock violations. And in several communities including Santa Monica and Long Beach first-time workers get 85 percent of the minimum wage for six months. Nine out of 10 dont have a set schedule, said Jeylee Quiroz, 24, a recent UCLA graduate who worked on the project. They put their lives on hold. Reyna Orellana, 24, graduated from UCLA last summer and is now working fulltime at the UCLA Labor Center as a research assistant. Like Quiroz, she worked on the survey and has advocated for young workers rights at city council meetings. No one understands what young workers are going through, said Orellana, who still lives with her parents in south central Los Angeles. Theyre not working to play but to live. A quarter of them have student debt averaging more than $19,000, she said. Two-thirds receive no benefits. Orellana was surprised by the number of young workers she interviewed who said that they were not aware that working off the clock equals wage theft. A third of them were asked to clock out and continue working, she said. That has happened to Smith. I had to tell my boss that if I clock out, Im going home, he said. People dont take it very well for some reason but its the law. The report, I am a #YOUNGWORKER, advises policymakers, government officials, educators and employers to pay attention to the work conditions of the nations future primary workforce. It states: Early employment experiences have lasting effects on economic security, lifelong earnings, and social well-being, and the state of young workers in Los Angeles County and nationally is in need of serious and sustained transformation. Massive protests paralyzed one of India's top universities Monday after the president of the student union was arrested on charges of sedition. Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested Friday, days after a demonstration was held at Jawaharlal Nehru University to mark the anniversary of the 2013 execution of Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri man convicted of an attack on India's Parliament. Kumar, a left-leaning student leader, was arrested amid allegations that anti-India slogans were used at that protest. On Monday, several student groups called for a strike on campus and very few students attended classes. Over the weekend thousands of students and teachers from several universities and colleges across India held protest rallies at the university. The arrest came after a student faction linked to the ruling rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party filed a police complaint against the campus event. On Thursday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that "If anyone shouts anti India slogan & challenges nation's sovereignty & integrity while living in India, they will not be tolerated or spared." A day later, Delhi police, who are under Singh, entered the university and searched dorm rooms and demanded audio and video recordings of the pro-Guru demonstration, and arrested Kumar. He has denied making any anti-India comments, according to news reports. India's Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani supported Kumar's arrest, telling reporters "the nation can never tolerate an insult to Mother India." Several political commenters said the arrest is an attempt by the government to silence dissent. "The arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar and the crackdown on political dissent at JNU suggest that we are living under a government that is both rabidly malign and politically incompetent," Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the head of the Center for Policy Research, a leading New Delhi-based think tank, wrote in an opinion piece over the weekend. The government reaction to the protests at the prestigious university well-known for its politically active student body is seen by many as part of a rising tide of intolerance in India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014. Over the last few months scores of artists, scientists and historians have returned government awards to protest against what they view as the government's silence or complicity in creating a climate where criticism is viewed as unpatriotic. Russian warplanes are being blamed for carrying out what is being called a "deliberate attack" on two makeshift hospitals and a school in northern Syria Monday that killed nearly 50 people, according to the United Nations. Doctors Without Borders -- also known by its French acronym MSF -- said in a statement that the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in at least two attacks that were minutes apart. "This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms," said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF's mission chief. "The destruction of the hospital leavesthe local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict." In the neighboring Aleppo province, two missiles struck a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing at least five people, including pregnant women and children, and wounding dozens, the chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil defense said. The hospital was hit four times in two series of at least two attacks within a few minutes of each other #MSF pic.twitter.com/HGFxdWK96S (@MSF_Syria) February 15, 2016 A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks were carried out by Russian warplanes. The Observatory, which tracks the casualties in Syria's five-year civil war, said nine people were killed, including a nurse and eight civilians, and dozens were also wounded. The airstrikes came as the White House confirmed the President Obama had spoken Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling on Russia to play "a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria." U.S. Military Spokesman Col. Steve Warren, on Twitter, said the destruction of the Doctors Without Borders hospital was "terrible news." He added that the only U.S. coalition-led airstrikes carried out in Syria Monday were in the cities of Raqqa and Hasakah. MSF said the hospital had 30 beds, 54 staff members, two operating theatres, an outpatients department and an emergency room. The statement added that MSF has been supporting the hospital since September and covered all its needs, including providing medical supplies and running costs. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev issued a blanket denial over the weekend that Moscow was targeting civilians and civilian facilities within Syria, The Guardian reports. But since the start of the Russian campaign that launched in October, the NGO Physicians for Human Rights documented seven Russian attacks on medical facilities in Syria, according to the newspaper. #Idlib: The destruction of the hospital leaves around 40,000 people without medical services." #Syria pic.twitter.com/6NSaD5qy48 MSF International (@MSF) February 15, 2016 Last week, MSF said at least 13 health facilities in Syria have been attacked this year alone. Syrian troops have been on the offensive over the past week in the country's north under the cover of Russian airstrikes. The ground offensive has been focused on the northern province of Aleppo while Monday's airstrike struck the clinic in the nearby Idlib province. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by telephone from Maaret al-Numan. He added that "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead." Paramedics and volunteers were now working on removing the rubble, he added. The four-story building once was a cement company but had served as a makeshift clinic during the war, said al-Sobeih. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian air strikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving at the Kilis State hospital and medical personnel unloading children on stretchers and a girl wrapped in a blanket as well as a handful of adults. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Union officials on Monday called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities." She said more fighting "is obviously not what we expect." Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said "we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that." Syria's main Kurdish faction, the People's Protection Units, has been most effective in combating the Islamic State group, but Turkey appears uneasy over the group's recent gains. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The U.N. is warning of famine in the Yemeni city of Taiz, which has been besieged by Shiite Houthi rebels for months. The World Food Programme said Monday that Taiz "is in the grip of severe food insecurity at 'Emergency' level - one step below famine." The U.N. agency says it delivered enough aid to part of the city on Saturday to support 3,000 families for one month. The central city of Taiz has been a major battleground between the Houthis and forces allied with the internationally recognized government. The rebels are allied with army units loyal to a former president. A Saudi -led coalition launched an air campaign against the rebels in March 2015 and has sent in ground forces. Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country. 5:30 p.m.: Crews are clearing drainage system on I-95 bridge over Rappahannock River VDOT has closed two lanes on I-95 south just south of Exit 133 (Route 17/Falmouth) in Stafford County. Crews are clearing the drains on the bridge over the Rappahannock River in anticipation of heavy rains that are expected to begin tonight and continue through Tuesday. VDOT crews are removing snow and debris from the bridge to ensure proper drainage. Work is expected to be complete by 6 p.m. 3:45 p.m.: Officials in Virginia are asking motorists to delay unnecessary travel until weather conditions improve. The Virginia State Police said in a statement Monday that as of 3 p.m. State Police were on the scene of 37 traffic crashes statewide, including a fatal crash in Fauquier County. Troopers were also responding to 9 disabled vehicles across Virginia. State Police said that as of 2 p.m. Monday they had already responded to 538 traffic crashes and 347 disabled vehicles for the day. 1:55 p.m.: Colonial Beach has accumulated at least 8 inches of snow, according to its volunteer fire department. Due to the federal holiday, the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office is answering all law enforcement calls for the town. 11:40 a.m.: Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins reports no major problems so far, but says primary roads are getting slicker. Most secondary roads in Culpeper have not been plowed. The county's E911 Center says a few fender-benders have been reported, but no major accidents. 11:20 a.m.: The Virginia State Police are still asking people to stay off the roads if possible until conditions improve. As of 11 a.m. Monday, Virginia State Police were on scene of 55 traffic crashes statewide, to include the fatal crash in Fauquier County. Troopers were also responding to 23 disabled vehicles across the state. Fatal Fauquier crash involved SUV and snow plow Fauquier County Fatality: Troopers are still in the process of notifying the next of kin of the driver who died in a Monday morning crash in Fauquier County. The two-vehicle crash involved an SUV that struck a snow plow head-on along Crest Hill Road. 9 a.m.: There has been a fatality in a two-vehicle crash in Fauquier County this morning. Virginia State Police have issued the following news release: Road conditions are treacherous this morning and will continue to be dangerous as precipitation continues to fall across the Commonwealth. State police are asking Virginians to delay unnecessary travel until conditions improve. As of 8:30 a.m. Monday (Feb. 15), Virginia State Police are on scene of 62 traffic crashes statewide, to include a fatal crash in Fauquier County. Troopers are also responding to 19 disabled vehicles across the Commonwealth. From midnight Monday (Feb. 15) through 7 a.m. Monday (Feb. 15), Virginia State Police responded to 163 traffic crashes and 101 disabled vehicles: Division IRichmond (Metro Richmond/Northern Neck/Tri-Cities) Traffic Crashes=25 Division IICulpeper (Fredericksburg/Culpeper/Warrenton/Harrisonburg/Winchester) Traffic Crashes=22 6:55 a.m.: About 5 inches of snow have fallen overnight in Fredericksburg, and a light snow continues to fall at this hour. Stafford Fire and Rescue warns that roads are slick. The Virginia Department of Transportation has issued this warning: Overnight snow has blanketed most roads in central Virginia, and with a changeover to freezing rain expected this afternoon, the Virginia Department of Transportation advises against travel this Presidents Day. Interstate 64 and the areas primary and secondary highways are reported in moderate condition, with current snow totals of 1 to 6 inches covering the roadway. In Fauquier County, I-66 and primary roads are patchy with snow and ice; secondary roads are snow-covered. VDOT crews have been working since Sunday evening to treat roads with salt and sand and to plow accumulated snow. They are focusing first on interstates and primary highways, which carry the most traffic, then will turn their efforts to secondary roads, which are numbered 600 and above. Motorists are advised that freezing rain, which is expected in central Virginia this afternoon, is extremely hazardous. Motorists should expect slick conditions even on treated roads, and especially on bridges, overpasses and ramps, which freeze first. Motorists should tune in to local media for weather information and visit 511Virginia.org or call 511 for real-time road conditions. Details about VDOTs winter-weather preparation and response can be found at www.virginiadot.org/travel/snow.asp. Stafford Fire and Rescue issued these safety tips: The best advice for driving in bad winter weather is not to drive at all, if you can avoid it. Don't go out until the snow plows and sanding trucks have had a chance to do their work, and allow yourself extra time to reach your destination. If you must drive in snowy conditions, make sure your car is prepared (TIPS), and that you know how to handle road conditions. It's helpful to practice winter driving techniques in a snowy, open parking lot, so you're familiar with how your car handles. Consult your owner's manual for tips specific to your vehicle. Driving safely on icy roads 1. Decrease your speed and leave yourself plenty of room to stop. You should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you. 2. Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake. 3. Turn on your lights to increase your visibility to other motorists. 4. Keep your lights and windshield clean. 5. Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills. 6. Don't use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads. 7. Be especially careful on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads, which will freeze first. Even at temperatures above freezing, if the conditions are wet, you might encounter ice in shady areas or on exposed roadways like bridges. 8. Don't pass snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers have limited visibility, and you're likely to find the road in front of them worse than the road behind. 9. Don't assume your vehicle can handle all conditions. Even four-wheel and front-wheel drive vehicles can encounter trouble on winter roads. If your rear wheels skid... 1. Take your foot off the accelerator. 2. Steer in the direction you want the front wheels to go. If your rear wheels are sliding left, steer left. If they're sliding right, steer right. 3. If your rear wheels start sliding the other way as you recover, ease the steering wheel toward that side. You might have to steer left and right a few times to get your vehicle completely under control. 4. If you have standard brakes, pump them gently. 5. If you have anti-lock brakes (ABS), do not pump the brakes. Apply steady pressure to the brakes. You will feel the brakes pulse this is normal. If your front wheels skid... 1. Take your foot off the gas and shift to neutral, but don't try to steer immediately. 2. As the wheels skid sideways, they will slow the vehicle and traction will return. As it does, steer in the direction you want to go. Then put the transmission in "drive" or release the clutch, and accelerate gently. If you get stuck... 1. Do not spin your wheels. This will only dig you in deeper. 2. Turn your wheels from side to side a few times to push snow out of the way. 3. Use a light touch on the gas, to ease your car out. 4. Use a shovel to clear snow away from the wheels and the underside of the car. 5. Pour sand, kitty litter, gravel or salt in the path of the wheels, to help get traction. 6. Try rocking the vehicle. (Check your owner's manual first it can damage the transmission on some vehicles.) Shift from forward to reverse, and back again. Each time you're in gear, give a light touch on the gas until the vehicle gets going. Sources: National Safety Council, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Washington State Government Information & Services This blog will be updated throughout the day. The lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has captured national attention. But Flint is hardly the only town with dirty and poisonous drinking water. A 2014 report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health revealed that 18 cities in the state had higher rates of children who tested positive for lead poison. Allentown, Pennsylvanias third-most-populous city, had 23 percent. But unlike Flint, where the disaster occurred after city officials switched to a cheaper water source, lead poisoning in Allentown came from homes built before 1978. Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation in homes built before 1950. That little has been done to solve this problem underscores the depraved indifference to issues plaguing inner-city youths in the United States. Environmental racism goes beyond black and white. Allentown is more than 40 percent Latino, most of them low-income Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who migrated to there from New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia since the 1980s. Real estate agents steered minorities into the most hazardous section of the city. Allentown is a city I once called home. When I visited the city in 2015, I noticed positive and disturbing developments. Local government officials proposed more than $1 billion for a downtown revitalization project, but the poverty rate had increased to almost 39 percent as of 2013. There were more boarded-up and abandoned homes and police cameras at major intersections. Low-income students make up almost 90 percent of the public school district. National street gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings and the Trinitarios have a visible presence. Last year Karina Bermudez, an Allentown resident for more than 33 years, blamed a recent spike in school violence on the people from Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey who are coming here. But Allentown is not unlike many other urban communities in the U.S. Old-time residents ignore social and economic factors and place the blame on the behavior of newcomers and poor residents. The Flint water crisis and the student sickouts in Detroit have brought some issues plaguing minority communities into the national debate. But that is not enough. Most of the problems affecting minorities including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), struggling school districts and child homelessness dont make headlines. As a result, they are not deemed national crises and receive less sympathy than other issues such as the heroin epidemic. The lack of national outcry on issues affecting primarily poor nonwhite children raises the question, Do inner-city youth lives matter? Several commentators have noted the racial hypocrisy in the current debate around the opioid crisis. Statistics show that about as many people are dying from heroin and opioid-based drugs as people died of AIDS during the height of that crisis in the 1990s. Most of the people dying from drug overdoses are non-Hispanic whites. During the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, nonwhite drug users were demonized and incarcerated. By contrast, today we see white heroin addicts viewed as victims. It is a disease, not a moral failing, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said of the heroin crisis on Feb. 6 during the Republican presidential debate in Manchester, New Hampshire. Educational Toy Experts At Click-A-Brick Applaud New Study That Calls For Balanced Approach To Science Education Educational toy experts at Click-A-Brick say a new study that shows making rock star scientists more relatable to kids helps them learn science better is a good indication that a more balanced approach to science education is needed for student success. -- Humanizing brilliant scientists by highlighting their struggles and failures in addition to their world-changing successes helps engage students while learning about science, a new study suggests, and has the educational toy experts at Click-A-Brick calling the idea itself brilliant. Jason Smith and Georg de Gorostiza, Co-Founders of Click-A-Brick, which just released its newest 30-piece educational toy set Bug's Life, say presenting a more balanced approach to teaching kids about science is a brilliant idea. "Even as adults, we sometimes forget that successful people, whether athletes, musicians, scientists, business people or whatever, have endured hardship and outright failure before becoming successful," Smith said. "Kids see these superstars of the science world and without any context about what they went through to make their discoveries and come up with their revolutionary theories, it's easy for kids to believe that success just came easily to them without that process of making mistakes and having to endure unbelievably harsh circumstances. There is such a push to teach science, technology, engineering and math skills, but while we're teaching kids these important skills, we also need to look at how we're teaching them. Making these rock star scientists more relatable is a good start." For the study, Columbia University researchers divided 402 students in Grades 9 and 10 into two groups. The students came from four different high schools with predominantly low-income students in the Bronx and Harlem areas of New York City. At the beginning of a six-week grading period, half of the students involved in the study were tasked with reading a passage of a science book that detailed major scientific discoveries of famous scientists like Albert Einstein and Marie Curie while the other half read a passage detailing the personal struggles and failures of the famous scientists like Einstein having to flee from Nazi Germany and Curie's multiple letdowns in the laboratory while making her groundbreaking discoveries. At the end of the six-week period, researchers looked at grade trends and found students who read about the personal struggles and failures of the scientists showed grade improvement, with the biggest improvements shown among the students who had struggled the most. As detailed in the Journal of Educational Psychology, student grades in the other group dropped slightly, suggesting an overly positive representation of scientific success may have a negative effect. "When kids think Einstein is a genius who is different from everyone else, then they believe they will never measure up," associate professor of cognitive studies at Columbia University's Teachers College and lead researcher Xiaodong Lin-Siegler, said in a press release. "Many students don't realize that all successes require a long journey with many failures along the way. Many kids don't see science as part of their everyday lives. We teach them important content, but we never bring it to life. Our science curriculum is impersonal, and kids have a hard time relating to it because they just see a long list of facts that they have to memorize." The researcher suggests science books should present a more balanced narrative of scientific successes and failures in order to bring larger-than-life scientific figures down to size, making the work of Einstein and others more relatable. For more information about us, please visit http://www.clickabricktoys.net/ Contact Info: Name: Rob Swystun Organization: Click-A-Brick Toys LLC Phone: 855-976-3664 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/educational-toy-experts-at-click-a-brick-applaud-new-study-that-calls-for-balanced-approach-to-science-education/103823 Release ID: 103823 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Web Marketingville Introduces Review Branding Commercials, Its Newest Product Review Branding Commercials are the latest product offered by Web Marketingville in Cincinnati to help local businesses grow their business. -- Web Marketingville, a non-traditional internet marketing company, is introducing its latest reputation marketing product that aims to make local businesses the online market leader in their niche. To get more information on Review Branding Commercials click here. The Review Branding Commercial resolves to help establish an online presence, promote the brand, and position it as a brand leader. Using social media to get the buzz out about a business is important, and through the use of professional branding videos, everyone can instantly know all of the reasons they should choose a company over all others. Customer reviews play a major role in the success of a business. By highlighting stellar customer reviews, Review Branding Commercials attract customers ready to invest in the business services and products. Review Branding Commercials are short, professionally shot and edited videos that use professional spokesmodels to promote the brand and reputation. They highlight a 5-star reputation in 45-60 seconds with an on-location view of the business. The added prime time graphics and animation will make it stand out and make the brand easily recognizable. Local businesses emerge as industry leaders and establish a reputation of trust with potential customers. These videos help to promote the local business on the internet, and give added content to the website. Web Marketingville has been developing and implementing internet marketing strategies for local and national brands for a number of years. Ron Spratt, a local business owner of The Barbers in Montgomery worked with Web Marketingville to grow his local business. Spratt says, "Web Marketingville helped The Barbers in Montgomery bring more customers to its barber shop through an effective internet marketing campaign. The Review Branding Commercial made the difference." Ken Geers of Web Marketingville says this about Review Branding Commercials, "We're offering a way to really understand what reputation is and how you can build a 5-star reputation online." Go to http://www.webmarketingville.com/review-branding-commercials/ today to get more information For more information about us, please visit http://www.WebMarketingville.com Contact Info: Name: Ken Geers Organization: Web Marketingville Address: 9204 Village Green Dr Cincinnati, OH 45242 Phone: 5134895550 Release ID: 103875 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Remanufactured Truck Parts By Valley Parts Plus Named As Authorized Remanufacturer Valley Parts Plus offers top quality remanufactured parts for a range of brands and models. The remanufacturing process ensures strict adherence to specifications and standards. -- Remanufactured Truck Parts and Brent Heath, CEO of Valley Parts Plus are pleased to announce that the firm has been named as an authorized remanufacturer for Allison and Eaton Fuller parts. Heavy-duty truck parts from Valley Parts are recognized as industry leaders. The company provides parts for many top brands, including Dana, Holland Hitch, Fuller, Rockwell, Spicer and Timken. Over the last half-century, the company has grown dramatically in its ability to provide remanufactured transmissions, remanufactured steering gears and remanufactured differentials. High quality transfer cases, drive shafts, walking beams, clutches, and many other heavy duty truck parts can make customer truck fleets more efficient. The company offers same day service for many parts, including transmissions, differentials, steering components, hydraulics, driveline components, suspensions, clutches and other components. As an authorized service rep for Eaton, Allison and others, certified services are available for many types of semis, fire trucks, buses and cement trucks, as well as many other vehicles. The lengthy remanufacturing process begins with washing and disassembly, plus a secondary cleaning. The components are subjected to a thorough inspection and parts which fail the standards are discarded. Bearings, seals, synchronizers and air components are also discarded and replaced. Cases and castings are media blasted and painted. Any gears or other hard parts which fail original specifications are replaced. Where appropriate, manufacturer updates will be reviewed and used in inspections. All of the parts and the unit are then reassembled, using strict quality requirements. Another inspection and bench testing is performed with a secondary inspection by the team leader. The unit is then subjected to a real world simulation under normal operating temperatures. A final inspection is performed and the unit is tagged with model number and serial number. At that point is is placed in inventory and ready to be sold. The multiple inspections and careful attention to specifications and standards ensures the highest quality products. For more information about us, please visit http://www.valleypartsplus.com/ Contact Info: Name: Brent Heath Organization: Valley Parts Plus Address: Grand Rapids, MI Phone: (888) 548-7273 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/remanufactured-truck-parts-by-valley-parts-plus-named-as-authorized-remanufacturer/103908 Release ID: 103908 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Joomla Templates Marketplace Website Launched B2B Web Design Solutions Ltd offers a convenient and reliable website and marketplace to buy and sell Joomla! Templates online. Designers set their template prices and are assessed limited commission rates. -- Managing Director, Adam Johnson of B2B Web Design Solutions Ltd is pleased to announce the launch of a Joomla! templates marketplace to buy or sell Joomla! templates. Both designers and buyers will welcome the online location as a location for listing templates for the popular Joomla! Open source content management system. The website is designed to be simple to use with fair commission rates. Designers receive sixty percent of sale price for each template sold on the site. Other sites charge as much as seventy percent commission. Designers set the prices for the templates which are listed on the website. There are no restrictions to limit the amount of money which the designer receives from the sale of a template. The designer gets to set the selling price. Designers are allowed to upload new templates on the website without obtaining advance approval by the developers of the site. The website managers believe in keeping activities on the website on a professional level, rather than a censor level. Designers are not locked into an exclusivity deal as is typical with other template marketplaces. The design creator may use the B2B Web Design Solutions LTD website, their personal website, or other websites, as desired. Designers who sell products on the website are paid promptly on the final day of each calendar month. There is no hold back of the profits, unlike other website which may delay payment. Utilization of the website is simple to follow. The designer can open a shop on the website easily, followed by uploading and managing the templates which have been designed. Any number of templates can be listed in the designer's shop. Designers are encouraged to list as many of their templates as desired to bring a wider exposure for their products. The marketplace loads quickly and is searchable or browsable to assist buyers with finding the template which is needed for a project. For more information about us, please visit http://www.joomlatemplates.design/ Contact Info: Name: Adam Johnson Organization: B2B Web Design Solutions Ltd Address: Office 1A, Fortue Street, Leeds,United Kingdom Phone: 0044 1719721584 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/joomla-templates-marketplace-website-launched/103905 Release ID: 103905 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) 26-Year-Old Turns Down Corporations Offering Millions To Buy Handmade Organic Skincare Formulas The 26-year-old has created one of the most sought out products on the market today, and after signing a deal to sell his formulas to a startup company, corporations have swarmed the young entrepreneur for his secrets. -- Ryan Zamo, the 26-year-old CEO of Z Skin Cosmetics, has officially signed a deal to sell the formulas to his organic skincare products to a philanthropy style company in Africa. The company 'Coco Vita' is a brand new start up with a mission to help local families, but after catching wind of the deal, corporations from around the world have descended upon the young entrepreneur with even larger offers. Zamo quoted "I didn't start my company to make money, I did it to help others. And as nice as it would be to say "I sold my product for millions when I was 26-years-old and bought a mansion and a plane" that's not what my goal is. I pride my company on the passion I put into my products, because my mission isn't to try and get rich fast, its to bring people affordable organic skincare that works." His deal with 'Coca Vita' may look like an ant compared to the ones from the corporations knocking on his door now, but the young entrepreneur commented, "They have a mission statement to help local Kenyans. Coco Vita is trying to help the local coconut farmers, build schools for the children, and breathe life into the ailing local economy. So it's not a company just using my successful products to expand their wallets, but its going to help a really great cause, and that in itself is why I started my business; to help people." Z Skin Cosmetics was originally started to help Ryan Zamo win his battle over acne. He quoted, "I honestly just started making skincare because I was tired of trying everything under the sun and seeing absolutely nothing happening to my skin. I never thought I would have a successful business from it, but my goal became helping others the way I wish someone would have helped me when I needed it, and that's why I took the deal with Coco Vita and shut the door on the other offers; because I knew their heart was in the right place." For more information about us, please visit http://www.zskincosmetics.com/#!welcome/lzx57 Contact Info: Name: ZSC Email: Ryan.Zskincosmetics@gmail.com Organization: Z Skin Co Phone: 9738518573 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/26-year-old-turns-down-corporations-offering-millions-to-buy-handmade-organic-skincare-formulas/103917 Release ID: 103917 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Computed Tomography (CT) Market Size To Reach $6 Billion By 2018 : Radiant Insights,Inc RadiantInsights.com has announced the addition of "Global Computed Tomography (CT) Market Trends, Growth And Forecast Report Up To 2018 : Radiant Insights, Inc" Market Research Report to their Database. -- Global Computed tomography market had more than USD 3.5 billion in 2012 and is anticipated to be at USD 6 billion over the forecast period. To take therapeutic healthcare decision CT imaging is used. Loses caused due to stroke and heavy bleeding are kinds of imaged condition. Ruptured aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage are the types of images. Treatment options can be selected only after considering the conditions. Oncology basic tool for diagnosis is CT. It has been in use for detecting cancer, the follow-ups of ontological treatment, and lungs disease assessment. CT is also used for chest pain, Trauma, and stroke. Autonomous diagnostic centres' rising popularity is one of the driving factors which are growing in figure owing to demand of patients along with cost being cheaper in comparison to multi-disciplinary full hospitals. Other growth factors are rising good quality healthcare support by the government with the CT imaging. Important progresses in technologies of imaging promise to develop wellness during previous and further accurate finding of medical situation. Browse Full Research Report With TOC On "Computed Tomography (CT)Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2013 to 2018" at: http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/computed-tomography-ct-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2013-to-2018 Increasing geriatric population, congestive failure of heart, diabetes, and chronic diseases are known to be the major imaging market booster in developed countries. Using statins and obesity are the basic devices for diseases which have become chronic. The fundamental cause of obesity is mainly lack of workout or lack of proper nourishment. The increasing financial shortfall is anticipated to restrain the CT growth in the developed countries. Browse All Reports of This Category at: o Exoskeletons Market - http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/exoskeletons-market o Touch Panel Transparent Conductive Film Market - http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/touch-panel-transparent-conductive-film-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-nanotechnology-2013-to-2019 About Radiant Insight Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. Contact: Michelle Thoras Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Radiant Insights Inc. United States Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Web: http://www.radiantinsights.com For more information about us, please visit http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/computed-tomography-ct-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2013-to-2018 Contact Info: Name: Michelle Thoras Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Organization: Radiant Insights, Inc. Address: 28 2nd Street Phone: 14153490054 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/computed-tomography-ct-market-size-to-reach-6-billion-by-2018-radiant-insightsinc/103982 Release ID: 103982 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Military Ground Robot Mobile Platform Systems of Engagement Market Worth $12 Billion By 2019 : Radiant Insights,Inc RadiantInsights.com includes new market research report on "Global Military Ground Robot Mobile Platform Systems of Engagement Market Size, Share And Trends Report To 2019 : Radiant Insights" to its huge collection of research reports. -- Global military ground robot mobile platform systems of engagement market was valued at USD 4.4 billion in 2013. It is projected to grow to USD 12 billion in 2019. This may be attributed to higher adoption of automated processes by military establishments all over the globe. Technology is expected to be at the forefront in fighting the war on terror. Platforms of engagement leverage capabilities of mobile devices. The U.S. army, after withdrawing troops from warzones like Iraq and Afghanistan, deployed automated processes that were implemented as mobile platform systems of engagement. This protected human life, yet deterred terrorists. Browse Full Research Report With TOC On "Military Ground Robot Mobile Platform Systems of Engagement: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2013 to 2019 " at: www.radiantinsights.com/research/military-ground-robot-mobile-platform-systems-of-engagement-market Systems of engagement have arms, sensors, wheels, tracks, solid state batteries and motors. They assist in establishing a smarter and broader military presence across the world. Over the past ten years, unmanned ground systems have been deployed by the U.S. to save lives of soldiers from improvised explosive devices. As the war in Afghanistan ends, these robots will have to be used for other purposes. Browse All Reports of This Category at: o Medical 2D X-Ray Equipment Market - http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/medical-2d-x-ray-equipment-market o Low Iron Glass Market - http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/low-iron-glass-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2015-to-2021 About Radiant Insight Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. Contact: Michelle Thoras Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Radiant Insights Inc. United States Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Web: http://www.radiantinsights.com For more information about us, please visit http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/military-ground-robot-mobile-platform-systems-of-engagement-market Contact Info: Name: Michelle Thoras Organization: Radiant Insights, Inc. Address: 28 2nd Street Phone: 14153490054 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/military-ground-robot-mobile-platform-systems-of-engagement-market-worth-12-billion-by-2019-radiant-insightsinc/103979 Release ID: 103979 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Offices.net Promotes Two New Manhattan Office Buildings Offices.net, America's popular office space provider today announced that they have added two new offices in Manhattan, New York. -- Offices.net, America's popular office space provider today announced that they have added two new offices in Manhattan, New York. "We are pleased to announce the availability of new office space for rent in Manhattan," said Offices.net spokesperson Teresha Aird. "The new offices are available immediately with flexible terms designed to suit small to medium sizes businesses, and should make a great alternative to traditional commercial office space." The first of the new offices added to Offices.net is on 7th Avenue, and is set in a classic building that dates back to 1928. This Business Center offers a prestigious and beautiful address in a vibrant area, and offers a range of fully furnished, air conditioned, ready-to-go office suites with internet and telecoms readily installed ensuring immediate occupancy is possible. All offices are available on a flexible lease agreement, with a host of services and facilities inclusive in the cost. The second is a professional office building situated on Penn Plazza, and boasts dazzling views and an impressive environmentally friendly design. These offices provide a great working environment for any business looking to set up in a stylish, modern location in the Garment District of Manhattan. The executive suites available are all tastefully furnished, fully serviced, with internet and telephone systems readily installed, ensuring a quick and efficient set-up. Following this announcement, Offices.net will have 46 office buildings available on Manhattan Island. "A lot of the feedback we have received from businesses over the years has been regarding the necessity for affordable, flexible rental terms for office space, and these two new Manhattan offices are part of our mission to meet these requirements," concluded Teresha Aird. Find out more about Offices.net's Manhattan office space. About Offices.net Offices.net provides a free office-finding service in cities across America. The executive suites and temporary office space featured on Offices.net allow companies of all sizes to do business in prime locations without being locked in to long term contracts and expensive monthly overhead costs. For more information about us, please visit http://offices.net Contact Info: Name: Teresha Aird Email: office@offices.net Organization: Offices.net Address: www.offices.net Phone: 1 866 399 1166 Release ID: 103966 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Middleware Messaging Market Size To Reach $27.0 Billion By 2019 : Radiant Insights,Inc RadiantInsights.com includes new market research report on "Global Middleware Messaging Market Size, Share And Trends Report To 2019 : Radiant Insights" to its huge collection of research reports. -- The Middleware Messaging Market was valued more than USD 8.5 billion in 2012 and is estimated more than USD 27.0 billion by 2019. To support the 7.4 billion smart phones, sensor network, and internet of things the growth will rapidly crush by 2019 resulting growth of the market. The global market is going to grow significantly as it turns to be the foundation of enterprise involvement and cloud computing in the mobile market. The market is being driven by the messaging of mobile devices and internet of things. It also supports information exchange as it provides marvellous trustworthiness. Smart phone apps, cloud computing, enterprise collaboration suites, and mobile applications for the web are implemented by the integration project of software systems which is base of IBM's critical messaging middleware. Browse Full Research Report With TOC On "Middleware Messaging Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2013 to 2019" at: http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/middleware-messaging-market Web-Sphere MQ of IBM in fact is IT trade standard for the critical information messaging mission. It fully rules the industry. IBM is used at the backend as different database connector for distributed systems and different data base. It is the major managing component for quantum raise of generated database. It gives cross application, cross platform support once and once it delivers content files across the network. Browse All Reports of This Category at: o Pakistans Cards and Payments Industry - http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/pakistan-s-cards-and-payments-industry-emerging-opportunities-trends-size-drivers-strategies-products-and-competitive-landscape o LED Lighting Market - http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/led-lighting-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2015-to-2020 About Radiant Insight Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. Contact: Michelle Thoras Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Radiant Insights Inc. United States Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Web: http://www.radiantinsights.com For more information about us, please visit http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/middleware-messaging-market Contact Info: Name: Michelle Thoras Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Organization: Radiant Insights, Inc. Address: 28 2nd Street Phone: 14153490054 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/middleware-messaging-market-size-to-reach-27-0-billion-by-2019-radiant-insightsinc/103970 Release ID: 103970 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) SKYYTRAXX today launches a brand new website in order to give new offers and deals to the clients SKYYTRAXX is a company that offers music related services to the clients across the planet. These services are available to individuals and to the other companies or organizations. They provide avenue needed for recording. -- Since this year began, thousands of companies have launched new websites. This is needed due to the fact there are new technologies and new development tools. One of those companies is SKYYTRAXX. Although, it is a new company that had a new website, they decided to launch a completely new website. Canada: February, 11 2016 Toronto: SKYYTRAXX today launches a completely new website, developed especially for new clients who want to get the latest deals from the company. The website is online already, and it can be visited. This was mandatory due to the fact the company announced several additions to their offer and several improvements. Beside a completely new interface, the website in question is modern, has lower response time and easier to navigate. Another reason, why SKYYTRAXX had to make a new website was number of clients. According to the company's statements, this number is increasing constantly. The spokesperson of the company said "This website is just a beginning. We have lots of plans and goals that are going to become a reality during this year. Of course, the first thing we had to do is to make a new website. It has been launched today and it is fully functional already. As you can notice, if you visit it, it is much better in any way and it is a perfect start for this year. In addition, we have several additions, planned for February, but they are classified. Anyway, all of them are going to be displayed on our new website." The website in question was made by a company in London. However, SKYYTRAXX refuses to say which company is in question. Due to the fact the website is done professionally, it is likely that the company who made it is a well-known in the United Kingdom. A known fact is that the company who made it is going to be responsible for maintaining the website and further improvements. As aforementioned, SKYYTRAXX has several additions planned. Some of them are related to the website. In general, the website looks modern and it is based on the latest designing technologies and terms. There are no demanding features, so browsing the website is quick. In fact, the new website has 3 times lower response time than the old version. On the other side, it has interesting graphics, so browsing it is interesting. In addition, the company claims that they have changed the servers, so the website is safer now. For more information about us, please visit http://www.skyytraxx.com Contact Info: Name: Bogdan Popa Organization: Skyytraxx Source: http://marketersmedia.com/skyytraxx-today-launches-a-brand-new-website-in-order-to-give-new-offers-and-deals-to-the-clients/103985 Release ID: 103985 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) The prophecy is more than seeing into the future. For the prophecy sees without the element of time. For the prophecy sees things as they were, as they are, and as they always shall be. Best phpBB Hosting Providers in 2016 Announced by TheHosting.review TheHosting.review today announced the best phpBB hosting providers in 2016. These providers offer 100% phpBB compatibility and can help beginners set up a discussion board within minutes. -- TheHosting.review, a leading web hosting review site, today announced the best phpBB hosting providers in 2016 which offer reliable and fast services for phpBB users to set up discussion boards easily. The providers with the top value are BlueHost, A2Hosting and HostMonster, three well-known companies with over 10 years' experience in the web hosting industry. According to TheHosting.review, the selection is based on the monitoring and reviews of more than 200 web hosts which claim to support phpBB. The pricing level, web hosting features, upgradability, performance and support are the major considerations. The top reason that BlueHost, A2Hosting and HostMonster are recommended is they provide outstanding phpBB hosting solutions at reasonable rates. o They offer LAMP stack with the latest versions to make sure that their hosting platforms are 100% compatible with multiple versions of phpBB. Advanced PHP modules are also installed. o They have web hosting plans for beginners which cost less than $4/mo. o They have various upgrade options including cloud hosting, VPS and dedicated server. o They offer over 99.9% uptime and fast page loads. o They own a support team which consists of experts knowledgeable about phpBB and web hosting. BlueHost has been sponsoring multiple open source communities for years. To ensure a good hosting experience for phpBB users, the company offers CentOS 6, PHP 5.4, MySQL 5.5, PostgreSQL and Apache web server. Purchasing a web hosting plan from BlueHost at $3.49/mo by going through the company's exclusive promotional link, phpBB users get access to 50 GB disk space, unlimited bandwidth, cPanel, SimpleScripts installer and daily automated website backups. New customers can ask for a refund within 30 days if there is any dissatisfaction. A2Hosting is offering a 51% discount for all the web hosting plans. Paying $3.92/mo, phpBB users receive a developer-friendly hosting platform featuring multiple choices of programming language and database. The fast speed which is backed by SSDs and CloudFlare CDN is another highlight of the phpBB hosting solutions of A2Hosting. HostMonster provides a free domain for all customers. Besides, there are marketing credits which phpBB users can use to promote their discussion boards. For the technical problems during hosting, HostMonster offers 24x7 support via phone, live chat and the ticket system. "We have spent over one year in finding the best phpBB hosting providers. Our editors have tried hundreds of web hosting plans personally, and the technical team has been monitoring the uptime and speed constantly," said Eunge, the founder of TheHosting.review. "Those winners not only serve phpBB well, but also offer reliable services for many other open source projects. Above all, they enjoy a high customer satisfaction rate," added Eunge. For more information about us, please visit https://thehosting.review/best-phpbb-hosting/ Contact Info: Name: Eunge Email: founder@eunge.com Organization: Eunge Media and Technology Group Ltd Source: http://marketersmedia.com/best-phpbb-hosting-providers-in-2016-announced-by-thehosting-review/103975 Release ID: 103975 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) The chancellor has been warned of prioritising homeownership at the expense of the buy-to-let market by a committee of MPs. The Treasury select committee published a report into last years Autumn Statement, which introduced a new level of stamp duty for buy-to-let investors and owners of second homes. This levy, set at 3 per cent on top of current stamp duty rates, will come into effect in April. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the committee, said a number of economists pointed out the problems in the UK housing market were due to a lack of supply. He said: The measures taken to curb buy-to-let will come at a cost, not only for those who will now face higher rents, but for the wider economy. A failure to ensure that individuals have access to a well-functioning, affordable rental market will inhibit labour mobility and reduce economic activity. The chancellors attempts to resolve what he calls a home ownership crisis should not come at the expense of the private rented sector. Housing policy in the UK has been in a mess for a long time caused by the policies of successive governments over decades and, often, their unintended consequences sooner or later, more thorough reform will be essential. Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts show the surcharge will increase public sector receipts by 3.8bn over the forecast period, making it the second largest tax raising policy measure in the Autumn Statement. But the committees report stated that there is high uncertainty surrounding this costing, because data on the number of transactions involving the purchase of second homes is poor, along with possible behavioural effects. In his Summer Budget, chancellor George Osborne also said from April 2017 the amount of tax relief on mortgage interest will be limited to the basic rate. While they clearly stimulate demand for owner-occupied housing, it is far less clear, despite the promises to the contrary, that the measures contained in the summer Budget and Autumn Statement will materially increase the supply of homes, read the report. This is likely to lead to a rise in house prices, sharply curtailing any overall increase in owner-occupation. The committee added the Mirrlees Review of 2011 found stamp duty to be an inefficient and damaging form of tax and it criticised the government for increasing its reliance on it. The case for a reconsideration of the system of property taxation in the UK is therefore all the stronger, it added. Adviser View Jeremy Duncombe, director of the Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: Prospective landlords are flooding the already under supplied housing market ahead of the introduction of the new stamp duty rate. This has stretched the sizeable rift between supply and demand, forcing more people to compete for properties, which is, in turn, pushing up house prices. FIVE GENERATIONS Five generations of the Leach family are pictured above. This is Minnie Brown Leachs second five generation line. Pictured are Minnie Brown Leach, A.L. Jamison, Julia Leach McGill, John F.... County OKs tax break for company that will purchase spec building Now we know why there was plenty of buzz around Project Bee. Although Project Bee had been identified several months ago as the codename for the Canadian company Niagara Pharmaceutical,... Open house on public transportation County residents are invited to drive the conversation this week about how future transportation needs can be met in the community. RLS & Associates is hosting open houses Wednesday from... Cancer Association event to go Over the Edge of AC Hotel The Cancer Association of Spartanburg & Cherokee Counties Inc. announces the return of the popular fundraiser, Over the Edge Upstate slated for Thursday, November 3, at AC Hotel Spartanburg,... Story Highlights 49% say U.S. is No. 1 military power in world, down from last year Views that U.S. is spending too little on defense are edging up Republicans much more likely to say military spending is too little PRINCETON, N.J. -- Americans are evenly split when asked if the U.S. is No. 1 in the world militarily, with 49% saying "yes" and 49% saying "no." The current percentage who view the U.S. as No. 1 is, by a small margin, the lowest Gallup has recorded in its 23-year trend. It also marks a significant downturn from last February, when 59% said the U.S. was the world's top military power. A separate question included in Gallup's Feb. 3-7 World Affairs poll asked Americans about the importance of the nation being No. 1 militarily. Two-thirds of Americans say it is important, in line with sentiments measured since Gallup first asked this question in 1993. Views That U.S. Spends Too Little on Military Up, but Still in Minority As might be expected given the less positive views of U.S. military power, more Americans than in recent years say the country is spending too little on its military. In the February survey, 37% say the government in Washington is spending too little on "national defense and military purposes," up slightly from last year and the highest since before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Even with this shift, however, the "spending too little" sentiment remains relatively low. Nearly as many, 32%, say the U.S. is spending "too much," and the remainder, 27%, say defense spending is "about right." Gallup has asked this defense spending question since 1969, with responses fluctuating a good deal over the years. The broad patterns show that Americans' belief that military spending is too low rise after the real-world level of such spending goes down. This is evident in the sharp spike in views that the nation was spending too little on defense in January 1981, as newly elected President Ronald Reagan took office -- winning in part on a platform emphasizing the need to bolster the military to counter the growing Soviet threat. The "spending too little" measure also rose in February 2001 as newly elected President George W. Bush took office after a two-term Bill Clinton presidency in which military spending fell. U.S. military spending rose sharply after 9/11, peaking in 2010, and Americans' views that the government was spending too little on the military dropped concomitantly. Now that military spending has been dropping in the last several years because of sequestration and a reduced involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans' views that the U.S. is spending too little on defense have begun to increase. Republicans More Than Three Times as Likely as Democrats to Say Spending Is Too Little Defense and military spending have been a significant talking point for Republican presidential candidates this year, with most calling for a sharply increased military budget. Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, says, "In order to restore America's safety and security, we must rebuild our military. If you think defending the country is expensive, try not defending it." Donald Trump says he would "build up the military so nobody messes with us," and Marco Rubio says he would "work to begin to undo the damage caused by $1 trillion in indiscriminate defense cuts." On the other hand, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders says he has "very serious concerns about our nation's bloated military budget and ... misplaced national priorities." Rank-and-file Republicans across the country generally share the hawkish views of their party's presidential candidates, with about two-thirds agreeing that there is too little spending on the military. In sharp contrast, 20% of Democrats say the U.S. spends too little while 45% say the government spends too much. Independents are largely divided, but the greatest percentage of that group says the U.S. spends too much. Implications The 10-point drop in the percentage of Americans who believe the U.S. is the No. 1 military power in the world may reflect worries about international terrorism, which the public views as the most critical international threat the nation faces. It may also reflect the discussion of the military and defense in the current presidential election campaign. The uptick in Americans' view that the nation is spending too little on its military may partly reflect these two dynamics, but also follows the classic ebb and flow of attitudes about military spending in response to ups and downs in the nation's actual spending. Although more Americans now than in the years after 9/11 say there is too little spending on defense, that percentage is nowhere near as high as it was immediately after the Jimmy Carter years when Reagan took office and began years of massively increased military spending. Nor is it as high as in the years just before 9/11. And even with the recent shifts in attitudes, the majority of Americans remain convinced that the nation's military budget is about right or is too high. Republicans' and Democrats' very different views on the current level of military spending suggest this could become a contentious issue in the general election this fall. As commander in chief, the president is a critical determinant of the nation's defense posture. This means the direction of military spending in the years ahead will be quite different, depending on whether a Republican or a Democrat is elected in November, and the public's attitudes about the strength of the U.S. military will most likely follow in turn. Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics. Survey Methods Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Feb. 3-7, 2016, with a random sample of 1,021 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. View survey methodology, complete question responses and trends. Learn more about how Gallup Poll Social Series works. Story Highlights Favorability jumps from 38% in 2014 to 54% now Improvement matches timeline of Obama's overtures to Cuba Partisan gap on issue has doubled in last two years WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A majority of the American public, which for decades has viewed Cuba in a decidedly negative light, sees the country favorably for the first time in Gallup polling history. Fifty-four percent now view Cuba positively -- an increase of eight percentage points from last year, 16 points from two years ago and 33 points since 2006. Americans' attitudes about Cuba have changed dramatically since 1996 when Gallup first asked the current version of the question. Only 10% that year said they had a favorable opinion. An earlier version of the question that measured favorability with a numerical scale not directly comparable to the current format found strong majorities of the U.S. public in 1976, 1979 and 1980 viewing Cuba unfavorably. Public's Views of Cuba Tied to U.S. Government's Actions The public's increasingly positive view of Cuba comes against the backdrop of President Barack Obama's vigorous campaign over the past two years to rebuild relations between the two countries. The biggest change took place last summer when formal diplomatic relations, severed in 1961 after the U.S. objected to the revolutionary regime led by Fidel Castro, were restored, and both countries reopened their embassies. Over the past two decades, the views of the American public have tended to move in tandem with the ups and downs of relations between the two governments. Gallup measured the highest unfavorable rating, 81%, in 1996 -- the year the U.S. Congress passed the Helms-Burton Act tightening an embargo on Cuba. About two-thirds of Americans viewed Cuba negatively in most years from 2001 through 2008, as President George W. Bush maintained a hard-line approach to relations between the two nations. In 2009, Obama was sworn into office, and unfavorable attitudes about Cuba dropped to 60%, with 29% favorable. During Obama's presidency, with its emphasis on finding ways to decrease hostilities between the two nations, Cuba's favorable ratings have climbed 25 points. Perceptions of Cuba Divide Along Partisan Lines Most of the shift in attitudes over the past two years has occurred among Democrats and independents. The percentage of Republicans with a favorable view grew by just six points from 2014 (28%) to now (34%) and still represents only a third of those in the GOP. Meanwhile, there has been a 15-point increase among independents from 2014 to 2015 (38% to 53%, respectively), and a 28-point change among Democrats -- from less than a majority (45%) holding a favorable view in 2014 to almost three-fourths (73%) today. With a strong majority of Republicans seeing Cuba in a negative light and an even larger majority of Democrats viewing it positively, candidates for the parties' presidential nominations this year have mostly echoed those views. Both candidates on the Republican side with Cuban backgrounds -- Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio -- blasted Obama's reopening of the U.S. embassy in Havana. Two of the other top vote-getters in last week's New Hampshire primary, John Kasich and Jeb Bush, have also been critical of the move. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have strongly supported Obama's attempts to normalize relations. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has taken a different tack, saying he agrees with reopening relations with Cuba -- with the caveat that "we should have made a stronger deal." Bottom Line Americans' views of Cuba have become dramatically more positive in recent years, mostly because Democrats now overwhelmingly view Cuba favorably. During the past few years, Americans' opinions about Cuba have become sharply polarized by political party, with the Democrat-Republican gap in favorability more than doubling in the last two years -- from 17 points in 2014 to 39 points today. The momentum of public opinion seems to favor Democratic presidential candidates; the public backed their stances on reopening diplomatic relations with Cuba even before Obama's moves in the past two years. The wild card in this, as in so many other aspects of the upcoming election, is Trump, who seems to lean closer to a Democratic point of view than a Republican one. Survey Methods Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Feb. 3-7, 2016, on the Gallup U.S. Daily survey, with a random sample of 1,021 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. View survey methodology, complete question responses and trends. This morning, we were tipped off that there were some staffing changes hitting Activision. While the publisher isnt being specific about offices impacted, we have reason to believe that the Minneapolis, Minnesota location has been affected. When reached for comment, the company confirmed layoffs had taken place. As announced on our earnings call, our games for core audiences did extremely well, but the casual audience has not yet emerged on next gen consoles, an Activision spokesperson told us. So we are refocusing to better align with Activisions long-term priorities because, as always, our strategy evolves to keep us ahead of a rapidly-changing industry. We are working with those impacted by the changes to offer outplacement services and support. Activision revealed on its earnings call that Guitar Hero and Skylanders both under-performed this year. The company also confirmed that its music game would strictly be service-based this year, and no new boxed title would be arriving in 2016. The publisher has also scaled back its licensed game business, which was handled in part out of the Minnesota location. This years lineup includes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan and a rumored Ghostbusters game. Our tip-off about the layoffs came from a significant other of an alleged Activision employee. At this time, we cannot confirm the status of that office, and the publisher isnt saying. However, Activision did not deny or correct this information and it is possible that the location has been closed. We are continuing to track this story and determine the impact at different locations. Well update should we receive a response. Activision has taken on new priorities recently in mobile (with the acquisition of King), television and movies, and eSports (thanks to its new ownership of Major League Gaming). These could be the elements of the evolving strategy mentioned in the statement. Our Take Our thoughts are with those impacted by these layoffs. Were hopeful that the impact to the Minnesota office and other locations is minimal. However, it seems that Activision is aligning itself away from casual gaming on consoles a bit after the disappointing performance of two key titles in that segment. Wednesday: Downtown Corvallis Association monthly membership meeting, 8 a.m., Cloud and Kellys Public House, 126 S.W. First St. Thursday: Annual career wardrobe makeover sale, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., ballroom, Memorial Union, 2501 S.W. Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Oregon State University Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences will host its annual sale to provide students with professional attire for interviews, conferences and the workplace. Proceeds will go to support student travel. Information: 971-221-6374 or lamk@oregonstate.edu. Thursday: Personal Styles and Workplace Success, noon, Linn-Benton Community College, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W., Albany. Part of the professional development series Developing World-Class Employees. Cost: $89 per person, or $79 each for three or more from one company. Registration: 541-917-4923. Thursday: Philomath Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon, noon to 1 p.m., social hall, Peace Lutheran Church, 2540 Applegate St. The owners of Soft Star Shoes will speak; Soft Star will be relocating from Corvallis to Philomath. Philomath High School students of the month will be honored. Lunch will be catered by Pavilion Catering. Bring raffle prizes. RSVP: 541-929-2454 or director@philomathchamber.org. Thursday: Business After Hours, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Citizens Bank, 1224 Main St., Philomath. Networking with Philomath Area Chamber of Commerce members. Friday: Oregon Northwest Workforce Investment Board, 10 a.m., Oregon Coast Community College, 3788 S.E. High School Drive, Lincoln City. Local workforce board for Benton, Lincoln, Tillamook, Clatsop and Columbia counties. Topics: administrative policy on nomination and appointment, request for proposal specification, strategic elements of the Northwest Area Local Plan. Information: www.onwib.org. TODAY Master of Business Administration Information Session, 5:30 p.m., Room 126, Austin Hall, 2751 S.W. Jefferson Way. Oregon State University offers a flexible program that allows full-time students to earn an MBA in about a year. Those working full time can earn a degree in the evenings at a pace more appropriate for working professionals. Prospective students as well as advisors encouraged to attend. RSVP: osumba@oregonstate.edu. Information: http://business.oregonstate.edu/mba TUESDAY Wisdom workshop, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through March 1, Room 302, Learning Innovations Center, 2750 S.W. Campus Way. John Edwards of the Oregon State University Department of Psychology will lead the session. Session topics are Emptiness, Karma and Embodiment. Each session includes meditation. Information: Teri.Morris@oregonstate.edu. WEDNESDAY Provosts Lecture Series, 7:30 p.m., LaSells Stewart Center, 875 S.W. 26th St. Food writer, television host and former editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine Ruth Reichl will present American Food Now: How We Became a Nation of Foodies. Followed by book signing. Information: http://communications.oregonstate.edu/events/ruth-reichl. THURSDAY Starker Lecture Series, 3:30 p.m., Construction and Engineering Hall, LaSells Stewart Center, 875 S.W. 26th St. The series, Burning Questions: People, Forests and Fire, is hosted by the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Scott Stephens of the University of California, Berkeley, will present Fire Ecology, Management and Policy in the Western United States. The series is sponsored by the Starker family in memory of T.J. and Bruce Starker, leaders in the development of the Oregon forest products industry. The series also is supported by the OSU College of Forestry and the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. Further information on the series is available at http://starkerlectures.forestry.oregonstate.edu. FRIDAY Book signing, 7:30 p.m., rotunda, Valley Library, 201 S.W. Waldo Place. Poet and essayist Maggie Nelson will read. A question-and-answer session and a book signing will follow. Nelson is the author of five books of nonfiction and four books of poetry. Part of the 2014-15 Literary Northwest Series, sponsored by the Masters in Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing in the School of Writing, Literature and Film. A visit to the doctors office is rarely something we look forward to. Despite this, its important that when we need to see the doctor, we receive the best possible care. For most of us, good care means plenty of face time with our doctors so they have time to listen to us, the ability to see our doctors within a reasonable time, the ability to choose the doctors we feel will give us the best care, and, most importantly, proactive care. Increasingly in our communities, however, there is a trend that could affect the values that we collectively consider as good care. Throughout Oregon, independent physicians are starting to close their practices to join larger entities, merging practices, or even moving their practices to areas where they can be more competitive. This shift will affect even those blessed with the finest quality health care in Oregon. Independent physicians are at a disadvantage within our health care system. In addition to providing care to their patients, independent physicians must fill out mountains of paperwork for each patient they treat if they want to get paid. They also must navigate and negotiate insurance reimbursement rates and address issues when they arise on a given claim. Moreover, some independent physicians are gradually seeing a shrinking patient base due to larger health care entities increasing their market share and primarily referring patients in-house. As a natural response, large multiprovider clinics and entities, some of which are run by or associated with insurance companies, have begun offering a solution to purchase and absorb independently operated medical clinics. The solution is in essence an escape hatch for physicians from the administrative burdens and the declining patient base and referral network. This, however, does not always translate into the good care we desire as patients. Many physicians end up sacrificing their autonomy upon joining large providers. Though larger health care providers remove administrative barriers, a larger system often requires doctors to visit with far more patients than they were seeing before. The high volume of patients eats much of the time saved by eliminating the administrative burden and sometimes results in less time with patients. Moreover, as more independent physicians close their practices, we as patients have fewer medical clinics to choose from. Independent physicians may also find themselves in a new and potentially uncomfortable scenario should they choose to join one of the health care systems associated with an insurance company. In a traditional setting, physicians often advocate on their patients behalf with an insurance company. To work for an employer associated with an insurance company and, at the same time to advocate with that insurer for a patient, could create an awkward dynamic between a physician and his or her employer. A health care system focused on good care should include a diverse network of providers one that includes independent physicians. As Oregonians continue to look at health care, we need to consider the needs of, and leave room for, the independent physician. The independent physician is a valuable asset to any health care system. A one size fits all health care model is likely to disappoint patients. Prominent Republicans this weekend suggested that President Barack Obama should simply hand off nominating a successor to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to the next president. Its a ludicrous suggestion, and Republicans know it. Obama made it clear that he would move forward with nominating a successor to Scalia, the firebrand conservative who was found dead Saturday. He was 79. In fact, in any other circumstance, had Obama actually said he would wait a year to name a successor to Scalia, Republicans would be arguing that the president was guilty of dereliction of duty and they would be right. The Supreme Court is too important an institution to leave short-handed for any length of time, although the battle over confirmation will be fascinating. The Scalia vacancy is particularly interesting because the justice was part of a 5-4 conservative majority. His death raises the possibility that the court could deadlock 4-4 on a variety of issues until his seat is filled. (In a tie vote, the ruling of the lower court stands.) And the nomination gives Obama an opportunity to turn that conservative majority to a more left-leaning court. Seeing how these Supreme Court nominations are one of the ways in which a president can leave a lasting legacy, its silly to imagine that Obama would just boot this opportunity to the next president. Because Supreme Court justices are appointed for life (or until they choose to retire), its always a bit of crap shoot nominating someone you think will tend to be on the conservative side or the liberal side. Its not unusual for justices to experience some ideological drift during their years on the court: Look no further than Chief Justice John Roberts, who has enraged conservatives with his rulings on the Affordable Care Act. (In Roberts case, though, this may be less a question of ideological drift than the chief justice carrying out the role he sketched out during his confirmation hearings, as a carefully restrained jurist who typically seeks to reach rulings based on what he believes legislators intended rather than what he thinks the law should be.) Expect Obama to play a bit of a centrist card in his nomination for Scalias replacement; he might, in fact, be looking for someone a bit to the right of his previous nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The possibility that Obama might be looking for someone who could serve as a second swing vote on the court (Anthony Kennedy currently relishes that role) is mouthwateringly intriguing for court watchers. In the meantime, Scalias death should serve as a reminder to voters that perhaps the single most important thing presidents do is appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Arent we interested in what sort of justices Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush or Donald Trump or Marco Rubio or John Kasich or Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would appoint in the very likely event that the next president will get to make one or two appointments to the court, and possibly more? (Three of the sitting judges are 77 or older.) We should be. Now would be a particularly good time to start asking. As'ad's Bio As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants. #1 Starting off the MWC festivities is Samsung. The South Korean mobile manufacturer will be launching its next flagship smartphone, or smartphones, at the Galaxy Unpacked' event on the 21st, just a day before MWC officially begins. We recently covered the rumors and features expected on the new Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. With specs including a Snapdragon 820 chipset, pressure-sensitive display, 4k displays and an Iris scanner, Samsung's newest flagship devices are expected to be monstrous in terms of performance. The company's teaser for the event depicts the use of VR (Virtual Reality) technology. This means that Samsung will also be showcasing some developments along the path of their Gear VR platform. Gear VR, as a technology, has shown a lot of potential in the past couple of years and can be the perfect mid-range alternative to expensive headsets like the Oculus. Source #2 Contrary to last year's MWC, this time around there is no exciting news from the HTC camp. With an official announcement of the flagship One M10 launch not expected at MWC 2016, HTC isn't even hosting a proper press conference this time around. The launch of the One M9 at MWC 2015 was not received well and fortunes for the company have been falling since. Delaying the launch is a step towards prevention of hurried decisions, that cost HTC a lot of market share in the past one year. With their VR headset, HTC Vive, due to ship starting mid-April 2016, the company is expected to remain focused on its virtual reality technology this time around and a few surprising announcements can be expected. The price of the Vive is what we are waiting for. Source #3 A big player in the Chinese smartphone segment, Xiaomi is all set to finally unveil the Mi5 smartphone, after a long haul of more than 18 months. The company will host the MWC press event on the 24th of Feb, with another simultaneous event happening in Beijing, China. Known to tease with puzzling posters, Xiaomi has explicitly revealed the number 5' in the teaser that leads up to the event date. The Xiaomi Mi5 will be the company's first device to sport the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. It also brings back dual-SIM support and NFC compatibility, both absent from the previous Mi4. Source #4 Following the huge success of last year's G4, LG Electronics will be launching the LG G5 just a few hours before MWC and Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event. While most of the specifications of the device are currently under the wraps, what isn't, though, is the touch-enabled case that has been made for the LG G5. Ironically, this new case has been leaked' by the PR team at LG itself and displays how revolutionary this new case will be, except the fact that it has been based loosely on HTC's dot-view case, launched with the One M8 in 2014. All the other rumors suggest that the G5 will have a metal unibody (no removable back!) and a fingerprint or Iris scanner for security. The smartphone is also expected to sport dual-cameras on the rear for depth photography. Source #5 As has been the case with OEMs including HTC and Microsoft, Sony has struggled to make a place for itself in the crowded flagship smartphone segment. This year will be no different as Sony plans to keep their MWC stall, a silent affair. With press invites sent out for their event on the 21st morning, we can't expect much but a couple of Xperia-branded tablets and some accessories to go along. A new smartphone isn't something Sony has in the pipeline for MWC 2016. Source #6 With the launch of the promising Lumia flagship smartphones last year, the Redmond-based software giant doesn't have any good sales reports to show from its mobile division. With continuous layoffs and losses from their smartphone line, no new Lumia smartphones are expected at MWC 2016. This year's biggest mobile event will be another day for the employees at Microsoft. Source #7 Every story has a dark horse. Nokia is currently the one in the global smartphone situation - only problem being that it is severely crippled. With no new launches for a long time, Nokia isn't expected to surprise this time around, either. Termed the most-awaited MWC press event in the yester years, Nokia's decline has been steady, most evidently after the Microsoft takeover. With no new hardware innovation, we can expect Nokia to come out with their plans regarding the 5G networks that the team has been working on. Nokia had tied up with Foxconn to showcase the N1 Android tablet at MWC 2015. This year we shall get to know whether the partnership has proven fruitful and if we will see more of such hardware coming out from the Finnish brand's rusting development centers. Gizbot will be at MWC 2016, covering all the major updates, from 21st February 2016. Stay tuned for our special updates. LeEco Le 1s: Flagship Killer at an Incredibly low price! News oi -GizBot Bureau LeEco's recently launched flagship killer Le1s reiterates the brand's image of bringing disruptive technology to global markets. The Le1s is already the market disruptor, having sold record breaking units in just a few seconds of its sale. The Superphone which comes at a sustainable price of Rs. 10,999 re-defines the value segment and challenges flagship smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S6, which are priced much higher, Rs. 33,900 and HTC One M9+ at Rs. 41,000 respectively. Stunning design, best-in-class technology, and compelling features make Le1s the winner hands down! SEE ALSO: Yu Yutopia Review: A Specs-Heavy Phone with Some Shortcomings! Design Le1s has a trendy full-metal body - it is one of the few brands in the market worldwide to have so. It is no wonder that Le1s has been the top seller in China since its release last October - has sold more than 2 million units in just two months. Le1s's metal uni-body is breathtakingly sturdy and made for perfection with aircraft grade aluminum, which makes it solid and reliable -- the CNC processing duration of 3300s is exquisitely crafted for a seamless experience as a whole. The Le Superphones are possibly the world's only metal uni-body devices that feature a screw-less industrial design leaving no trace of industrial assembling on the body. And surprisingly, although Le1s is a full-metal phone, its weight is 169 gm, 23 gm lighter than the same-screen sized 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus. The metal design also not only provides full signal but also strengthens it. Compared to the same full-metal iPhone 6s Plus, Le1s has a better signal performance when compared to iPhone 6 Plus; 18 percent over 2G-3G, 24 percent over 4G, while 13 percent on Wi-Fi. Specifications Like its unique hidden button design, only by LeEco, Le1s comes with many firsts in the category. At a highly competitive price over the Galaxy S6 or the M9+, Le1s brings the Dual SIM on a 4G Wi-Fi band that is available only on the M9+ at a difference of Rs. 30,000! The Le1s also packs the Octa-core, 2.2 GHz, Helio X10 Turbo processor compared to Samsung's Quadcore or HTC's Mediatek MT6795T Helio X10. The Le1s is a budget powerhouse and heavy gamers are sure to inhabit the Le1s for a stunningly smooth gaming experience. The phone is also crammed with 3GB of RAM offering the joy of multitasking. The Le1s packs in more battery power compared to the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the HTC One M9+. The Le1s comes with a 3000 mAh Li-Po battery over S6's 2550 mAh and M9+'s 2840 mAh. This means a Le1s consumer can enjoy far more talk time than others in the category on the same charge. A comparative analysis of Le1s with Samsung Galaxy S6 & HTC One M9+ Product Name LeEco Le 1S Samsung Galaxy S6 HTC One M9+ 32 GB Price in Rupees 10999 33900 41000 SIM / Band Dual Sim, Dual 4G, Wi-Fi Single SIM, 4G LTE/NFC/WiFi 4G LTE/NFC/WiFi Processor Octa-core, 2.2 GHz, Helio X10 Turbo Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.1.0 GHz Cortex-A57 Mediatek MT6795T Helio X10 RAM / ROM 3 GB RAM, 32 GB inbuilt 32/ 64/ 128 GB, 3 GB RAM 32 GB, 3 GB RAM Battery 3000 mAh Li-Po 2550 mAh 2840 mAh Display 5.5 inches, FHD 1920 x 1080 pixels, IPS 5.1 inches, Super AMOLED 5.2", Super LCD3 External Memory No No Yes OS Android v5.0.2 eUI Android OS, v5.0.2 Android OS, v5.0.2 Front Camera 5 MP 5 MP 4 MP Body Type Aluminium Metal Metal Fingerprint Sensor Yes Yes Yes Glass Protection Gorilla Glass 3 Corning Gorilla Glass 4 Yes IR Blaster YES YES No That's not all! The Le1s features the revolutionary Type C charger, which makes charging quick - just 5 minutes of charge gets you 3.5 hours of talk time! The reversible USB Type-C connector is technologically advanced than its competitors in many ways such as it has an additional sealing and PTC protection in-between wires, which is an industry first. SEE ALSO: Facebook India head Kirthiga Reddy steps down: 10 interesting facts you didn't know about her! For tech enthusiasts, the Le1s offers two charging paths, 24W charger, 3A Data Cable, and high-density superfast charging battery supporting the Type C connector. The Le1s also proves the high AnTuTu score of 55844. Rated much ahead of competitors on AnTuTu benchmark, the device is a true market disruptor. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Pushkar-Gayathris Vikram Vedha showcases that a film can be made in any language or for any audience, can be told with the premise & outcome without deviating and keeping the narrative tight. News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles. Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used. Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year] Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006) Home Page Follow @arra Operation Inherent Resolve Counter-ISIL Strikes Continue in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, February 14, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Fighter aircraft conducted two strikes in Syria: -- Near Hawl, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL tunnel. -- Near Hasakah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building. Strikes in Iraq Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted [today's number] strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government: -- Near Albu Hayat, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL improvised explosive device cache and six ISIL rocket rails. -- Near Habbaniyah, a strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position. -- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed two ISIL rocket positions. -- Near Mosul, 12 strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units, an ISIL headquarters, two ISIL financial storage centers and two ISIL financial distribution centers, destroying 12 ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL vehicle-borne IED. -- Near Ramadi, six strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL staging areas, three ISIL fighting positions and two ISIL assembly areas. -- Near Sinjar, a strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position. -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions. -- Near Tal Afar, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position. -- Near Fallujah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL assembly area. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Future USS Portland (LPD 27) Launches Navy News Service Story Number: NNS160214-03 Release Date: 2/14/2016 4:12:00 PM From Team Ships Public Affairs PASCAGOULA, Miss. (NNS) -- The future USS Portland (LPD 27) was successfully launched at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard Feb. 13. The ship was transferred from the land level facility to the drydock, which was then flooded allowing her to float off the blocks. 'Every milestone in the construction of a ship is significant, but seeing the ship float out of drydock is visually one of my favorites,' said Capt. Darren Plath, LPD 17 Class Program Manager, Program Executive Office (PEO), Ships. 'I'm looking forward to sea trials, delivery and other exciting milestones.' The ships are designed to support embarking, transporting, and landing elements of over 800 Marines with both a flight deck which accommodates CH-53 helicopters and MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and a well deck that can launch and recover landing craft and amphibious vehicles. LPD 17 class ships are versatile players in maritime security with the ability to support a variety of amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare missions, operating independently or as part of Amphibious Readiness Groups (ARGs), Expeditionary Strike Groups (ESGs), or Joint Task Forces (JTFs). In addition to performing their primary mission, San Antonio class ships have supported anti-piracy operations, provided humanitarian assistance, and foreign disaster relief operations around the world. Portland will be the 11th San Antonio class ship delivered by HII which is also currently in the final stages of production on the future John P Murtha (LPD 26). As one of the Defense Department's largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and special warfare craft. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Boko Haram militants trained in Somalia: President Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:57PM Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Nigeria's Boko Haram militants have been trained in his country before going back to West Africa. Mohamud said at a security conference in Germany that militant groups in Africa are associated and that the African states need to be organized to be able to deal with their threats. He noted that his country, which is plagued by attacks by al-Shabab militants as well as corruption and political infighting, has only made limited progress in setting up a working political system. Somalia has not had a functioning central administration since civil war erupted a quarter of a century ago. 'Without a stable Somalia, the whole region of the Horn of Africa will remain unstable and by and large, the African continent. There are proofs and evidence that (for) some time Boko Haram has been trained in Somalia and they went back to Nigeria,' Mohamud said. 'The terrorists are so linked together, they are associated and so organized, (that) we the world we need to be so organized,' he added. Al-Shabab militants, which have link to al-Qaeda, have frequently staged attacks against government officials and civilians over the past years. Boko Haram, on the other hand, has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri group, which is wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq. Boko Haram terrorists have killed more than 1,650 people since the inauguration of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2015, and claimed the lives of over 17,000 people since the start of their insurgency in Nigeria in 2009, AFP figures show. They have since forced over 2.6 million others to flee their homes. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Winter Storms Of Northern Afghanistan February 14, 2016 by Bruce Pannier The situation in northern Afghanistan, in areas along the border with Central Asia, has been deteriorating for more than two years now. Local officials, military officials, and residents of the northern provinces admit there are districts near or at the border of Central Asia that are currently under the control of the Taliban and their foreign militant friends. Winter, as it does, had led to a lull in fighting in northern Afghanistan. But in recent weeks a renewal of hostilities has seen power lines coming from Central Asia cut and some amazing allegations from Afghan officials about militants in the north and their ability to sustain their efforts. RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, assembled a 'majlis,' or panel, to discuss the recent developments in northern Afghanistan and how these developments are impacting neighbors to the north. Azatlyk director Muhammad Tahir moderated the discussion. Participating from Kabul was Obaid Ali of the Afghan Analysts Network who recently visited Kunduz, one of the more restive provinces of northern Afghanistan. Joining the talk from Canada was Helene Thibault, professor at the University of Montreal's School of Public and International Affairs who has spent a great deal of time in Tajikistan doing research there and has authored many articles about the country. And I threw in a few comments also. The panel first listened to an audio recording of Imomuddin Kureyshi, the head of the Imam Sahib district in Kunduz Province, who spoke with RFE/RL at the start of February. 'The people who make explosives and carry out suicide bombings are organized by Tajik and Uzbek militants. According to reports we have received from the intelligence [service], their numbers are about 200 in Imam-Sahib and Dashti Archi districts,' Kureyshi said. The Imam Sahib and Archi (sometimes called Dashti Archi) districts border Tajikistan. Ali confirmed some of what Kureyshi said. Ali was in the Archi district and he said, 'There they [foreign militants] have their training bases where they train Afghans, Taliban, and also other Central Asian fighters who came to Afghanistan.' But Ali cautioned about the numbers of these foreign fighters. 'I would like to mention that the number of Central Asian fighters or foreign fighters supporting the Taliban in Kunduz Province is not clear,' he said. Kureyshi had even more sensational news. 'Some of them have even created a base...in Tajikistan on the other side of the river. When militants come under pressure on the Afghan side they escape to their base in Tajikistan,' he claimed. Tajik border guards reject this claim. Thibault has been to the border area and she also found it difficult to believe militants would be able to cross from Afghanistan into Tajikistan because, she said, there is not much support for militant groups on the Tajik side of the border. 'The connections between the two peoples are actually quite limited,' Thibault explained. 'Within [Tajikistan's] population there isn't much support for Taliban and even not so much interest in Afghanistan.' Reporting on the situation along the Tajik-Afghan frontier on February 3, Russia's TASS news agency quoted a 'representative' of Tajikistan's State Security Committee as saying there were some 5,000 militants along the Tajik border in northern Afghanistan. Russia media has been prone to quoting officials and experts who provide dire and sometimes incredible assessments and information about the Central Asian-Afghan border region. But interestingly, the 'representative' TASS quoted also mentioned 'several hundred militants in the Imam Sahib district,' which jibes with what Kureyshi told RFE/RL. Ali said, 'What I noticed particularly in Kunduz Province, the places or the areas where the militants are more interested to establish their bases, actually it's very close to the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.' But on the other side of the border Thibault said that at the moment, 'Tajik authorities are more concerned with internal politics than they are with external politics, especially the Afghan conflict.' Power Cuts Moving further west, there has been fighting in Baghlan Province since late January. During that fighting the power line from Uzbekistan to Kabul, which provides more than 30 percent of Afghanistan's electricity, was cut, leaving the Afghan capital and other areas with limited or no electricity. And moving a bit more to the west, the power line from Turkmenistan to Faryab Province was also knocked out.* These acts of sabotage in themselves would be bad enough but there is more to the story here. Members of the Baghlan provincial council said Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs Golab Mangal made a deal with the Taliban that handed over the Dand-e Ghowri area, where the fighting has been going on, to Taliban control in exchange for promises to leave the provincial capital Puli Khumri alone. There are accusations that similar deals between officials and the Taliban have also been made in Kunduz, Badakhshan, and Faryab provinces, again, all provinces that border Central Asia. Tahir mentioned that Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum has not followed up on his pledge to drive the Taliban and their foreign allies from northern Afghanistan. Dostum led successful counteroffensives against militants last summer in northwestern Afghanistan, Dostum's native region. But there has been little evidence of a new push in recent weeks. Ali concluded the discussion by saying, 'this is the time the government needs to gain the ground.' He followed that comment by saying, 'If they [the government] lose it at this time it means that during the spring and summer the Taliban will obviously start their so-called spring offensive, so that will be very difficult for the government to fight against the Taliban in several fronts across the country.' The group discussed these issues and greater detail and looked at other issues of security along the Central Asia-Afghan border. You can listen to the full roundtable below: * On February 11, the day after the panel discussion, the power line from Tajikistan to Kunduz was also cut. Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/qishloq-ovozi- roundtable-northern-afghanistan/27551540.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Civilian Casualties Hit New High in 2015 United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan [UNAMA] 14 Feb 2016 KABUL - The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan during 2015 are the highest recorded, the UN said today on the release of its 2015 Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. The annual report, produced by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in coordination with the UN Human Rights Office, shows that increased ground fighting in and around populated areas, along with suicide and other attacks in major cities, were the main causes of conflict-related civilian deaths and injuries in 2015. This report records yet another rise in the number of civilians hurt or killed. The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable, said Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA. We call on those inflicting this pain on the people of Afghanistan to take concrete action to protect civilians and put a stop to the killing and maiming of civilians in 2016. UNAMA documented 11,002 civilian casualties (3,545 deaths and 7,457 injured) in 2015, exceeding the previous record levels of civilian casualties that occurred in 2014. The latest figures show an overall increase of four per cent during 2015 in total civilian casualties from the previous year. UNAMA began its systematic documentation of civilian casualties in 2009. Ground engagements between parties to the conflict caused the highest number of total civilian casualties (fatalities and injuries), followed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide and complex attacks. Ground engagements caused the most fatalities amongst civilians, followed by targeted and deliberate killings. The people of Afghanistan continue to suffer brutal and unprincipled attacks that are forbidden under international law, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein. This is happening with almost complete impunity. The perpetrators of the violations, documented by UNAMA and my staff, must be held to account. And the international community should emphasise far more vigorously that the rights of civilians should be protected. Anti-Government Elements continued to cause the most harm 62 per cent of all civilian casualties despite a 10 per cent reduction from 2014 in the total civilian casualties resulting from their attacks. Notwithstanding the overall decrease, the report documents Anti-Government Elements increasing use of some tactics that deliberately or indiscriminately cause civilian harm, including targeted killings of civilians, complex and suicide attacks, as well as indiscriminate and illegal pressure-plate IEDs. In addition this reduction of Anti-Government Elements caused casualties must be considered in the light of the increase in unattributed casualties. Civilian deaths and injuries caused by Pro-Government Forces caused 17 per cent of civilian casualties 14 per cent from Afghan security forces, two per cent from international military forces, and one per cent from pro-Government armed groups. The report documents increased civilian casualties caused by Pro-Government Forces, including during ground engagements, aerial operations, and the activities of pro-Government armed groups. Fighting between the parties to the conflict, which could not be attributed to one specific party, caused 17 per cent of civilian casualties. Unattributed explosive remnants of war caused four per cent and cross-border shelling from Pakistan into Afghanistan caused less than half of one per cent. Ground engagements between parties to the conflict caused 4,137 civilian casualties (1,116 deaths and 3,021 injured) a 15 per cent increase from 2014 and the leading cause of civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Improvised explosive devices caused 2,368 civilian casualties (713 deaths and 1,655 injured). While this represents a 20 per cent decrease it is still the second leading cause of civilian casualties in Afghanistan. In 2015, UNAMA documented a 37 per cent increase in women casualties and a 14 per cent increase in child casualties. In 2015, the conflict caused extreme harm to the civilian population, with particularly appalling consequences for children. Unprecedented numbers of children were needlessly killed and injured last year one in four casualties in 2015 was a child, said Danielle Bell, UNAMA Director of Human Rights. Other children suffered the loss of parents, and increasingly their mothers, sisters, and female role models one in 10 casualties was a woman. Selected accounts from victims of conflict related violence: It was around 10 in the morning and I was playing with my two-year-old daughter when a mortar landed in my home and exploded. I was in shock. A small piece of shrapnel hit my daughter on her back and my wife was severely injured two pieces of shrapnel hit her right leg while she was in the kitchen cooking. Later another mortar landed elsewhere in our neighbourhood. The doctor discharged my daughter after a day but my wife could not move her leg and had to undergo surgery. -- Relative of two victims injured during crossfire between Afghan security forces and Taliban in Aqcha district, Jawzjan province, on 11 May 2015. The crossfire killed one boy and injured 11 other civilians, including two girls and a boy. He called my mobile and said, Hey brotherI was shot in my stomachI dont know who shot memy injuries are seriousI can see pieces of my own intestines on my motorcycle. After that, the line went dead. I tried to call him back several times, but his phone was switched off and no one could reach the site of the incident to take him back because of the fighting. The next day, I saw his dead body and his motorcycle on TV. His body remained in the streets for three days, until my relatives could recover it and bury him. When I saw his body, he still had his phone in his handa small piece of bread was in his mouth, and his body was completely burnt and had turned black. -- Brother of a civilian man killed in crossfire in Kunduz city, on 1 October. The victim had gone out to obtain water for his family as residential water supplies had been cut during the Taliban occupation. The report outlines key steps to be taken by parties to the conflict to mitigate casualties and protect civilians from harm, including the following: Anti-Government Elements : Cease the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian locations, in particular, journalists, human rights defenders, judges and prosecutors, civilian Government officers, aid workers, and places of worship and culture. Cease the use of IEDs in all areas frequented by civilians and stop using illegal pressure-plate IEDs. Cease indiscriminate and disproportionate complex and suicide attacks and cease firing mortars, rockets and grenades from and into civilian-populated areas. Uphold statements by the Taliban leadership regarding the human rights of women and girls in areas under Taliban influence; cease attacks and threats against girls education, teachers and the education sector in general. Government of Afghanistan : Cease the use of mortars, rockets, grenades, other indirect weapons, and aerial attacks in civilian-populated areas. Finalize the national policy on civilian casualty mitigation backed by an action plan with concrete objectives to prevent civilian casualties in the conduct of hostilities. Immediately disband and disarm all armed groups, militias and national uprising movements. Investigate all allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and human rights abuses by Afghan national security forces and pro-Government armed groups. Ensure that victims of violations have an effective remedy; strengthen procedures for compensation to women and families of civilians killed and injured in conflict-related violence. International Military Forces : Conduct an independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigation of the attack against the MSF hospital and make the findings public. Ensure accountability for those responsible. Review current targeting protocols, operational policies and pre-engagement targeting criteria to prevent attacks against civilian locations, including hospitals. Support the Government of Afghanistan to develop and implement a national policy on civilian casualty mitigation in the conduct of hostilities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Release of UNAMA's 2015 Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan [UNAMA] 14 Feb 2016 KABUL - The following is a near-verbatim transcript, edited for clarity, of a press conference on 14 February 2016 about the release of UNAMA's 2015 Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. Participants: UN Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom Director of UNAMA Human Rights, Danielle Bell Nicholas Haysom: Welcome to you all and thank you for attending this press conference convened by UNAMA. Let me say right at the outset that this report is jointly produced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva and the UNAMA Human Rights Unit here in Kabul. I associate myself with this report and I can confirm that High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has also endorsed the report. As part of its mandate under Security Council Resolution 2210, UNAMA carries out independent and impartial monitoring of incidents involving loss of life or injury to civilians. It conducts advocacy and it engages directly with all the parties to the conflict to strengthen protection of civilians affected by the armed conflict. The most important finding in the report is that 11,002 Afghans civilians, non-combatants have died or were injured in 2015. This figure surpasses by 4 per cent the same figure for 2014. We have high-lighted this horrible phenomenon by referencing the year on year continuous increase in the level of civilian casualties. The truth is that the figures, in themselves, are awful. Over 11,000 Afghans died or were injured last year as a result of this conflict. Because what we report is controversial, and because the figures are frequently contested by those to whom responsibility is attributed, I myself as the special Representative of the Secretary-General have had to satisfy myself that the methodology used is rigorous and that we can rely on the findings of the report. I can reassure you that the information in the report is triple-checked. It is reliable, and the modalities used by the Human Rights Unit, which are fully described in the report, have been recognized as global best practice by the Oxford Research Group in its comparative evaluation of war monitoring across the whole world. The report has been shared with all the parties to the conflict before its publication, including the ANA, the ANP, the NDS, the international military forces and the Taliban. UNAMA engages in constructive face-to-face dialogue with all the parties to the conflict. Our objective is not simply to shame and blame but to effect real changes in the practices of the parties to the conflict. We share our report, not only to ensure its accuracy to capture all perspectives on the conflict, but because our primary objective is to change what happens on the battlefield. We recognize that all the parties to the conflict have agreed on the need to avoid civilian casualties. But what we need to see are those same parties going beyond public statements, to change the way they conduct the war. What I want to do is, next year, when we release our report for 2016, to be able to report to you that there has been a significant drop in civilian casualties. I have no doubt that a peace agreement would lead to a reduction in civilian casualties. But until we have a peace agreement, we must call on those parties engaged in the conflict, who have it within their power to reduce the number of civilian casualties, to commit to taking every step that will avoid harm and injury to civilians. I would note that this report reflects similar findings and identical trends as presented by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. I will share with you that at every one of my briefings to the Security Council, I have raised the question of the unacceptable level of civilian casualties. Members of the Security Council have themselves condemned the civilian casualties in Afghanistan. But we must also look to the overarching international system of humanitarian law which envisages that the reckless and indiscriminate killing of civilians is a war crime and is punishable in international courts under that label. Reading the statistics and percentages contained in the report doesnt really reflect the real horror of the phenomenon we are talking about. They dont capture the impact of the bombs, the IEDs, the indirect fire on civilian communities. The real cost we are talking about in these figures is measured in the maimed bodies of children, the communities who have to live with loss, the grief of colleagues and relatives, the families who have have to make do without a breadwinner, the parents who grieve for lost children, the children who grieve for lost parents. These are the real consequences of the acts described in this report. It is this violence and its impact on civilians that we need to acknowledge and in doing so call upon the parties to the conflict to take every step to avoid these consequences. And that is why this report specifically includes the voices of Afghans who have been directly impacted by violence and highlights the protection concerns of the most vulnerable, especially women and children. Thank you. Danielle Bell: Last year, UNAMA documented 3,545 civilian deaths, 7,457 injured (or 11,002 civilian casualties), a four per cent increase from 2014, and the highest level of total civilian casualties recorded in a single year by UNAMA. The overall four per cent increase resulted mainly from a rise in suicide and complex attacks carried out in Kabul city, as well as the Taliban offensive in Kunduz last year. In most parts of Afghanistan in 2015 civilian casualties decreased. Ground engagements killed and injured the most civilians, followed by IEDs, complex and suicide attacks. These tactics, combined with targeted killings, accounted for 90 per cent of total civilian casualties. Anti-Government Elements continued to cause the majority of harm, causing 62 per cent of civilian casualties - a 10 per cent decrease from last year. Despite this overall decrease, the mission recorded increases in civilian casualties from targeted killings, complex and suicide attacks, and pressure-plate IEDs. In addition, the reduction of civilian casualties caused by Anti-Government Elements must be considered in the light of an increase in unattributed casualties. Anti-Government Elements including the Taliban continued to carry out and publicly claim attacks on persons and locations that are clearly civilian under international law, including killings of community leaders, judicial authorities, civilian Government officials and humanitarian workers. The report encourages Taliban and other anti-government element groups to apply a definition of civilian that is consistent with international law. Pro-Government Forces caused 1,854 civilian casualties while this accounts for 17 per cent of the total, it also represents a 28 per cent increase compared to 2014. Of this 17 per cent, Afghan national security forces caused 14 per cent, international military forces two per cent, and pro-Government militia groups one per cent. The rise in civilian casualties attributed to Pro-Government Forces resulted mainly from increased fighting in civilian-populated areas and the use of indirect weapons, mainly mortars, coupled with increase in civilian casualties from aerial operations. The report also notes significant progress made by the Government of Afghanistan in the development of a national level policy on civilian casualty prevention and mitigation, and encourages the finalization and implementation of this policy in the near future. As the SRSG said, the report draws special attention to the human rights and protection issues concerning the most vulnerable, women and children. Of the 11,002 civilian casualties, one in 10 was a woman and one in four was a child. Women casualties increased by 37 per cent while child casualties increased by 14 per cent. The report also highlights issues concerning womens freedom of movement, access to healthcare, access to education, and it notes a disturbing new trend of Anti-Government Elements increasingly using parallel justice structure mechanisms including executions and lashings -- to punish women for moral crimes. And the mission plans to release a separate report on this in the near future. The report also looks at other key protection issues, including school closures, incidents affecting access to healthcare, displacement, and harm from unexploded ordnance. In conclusion, the report references commitments made by all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, however, the figures documented in 2015 reflect a disconnect between commitments made and the harsh reality on the ground. With the expectation of continued fighting in the coming months combined with the current levels of harm, immediate steps to be taken by all parties to the conflict to protect Afghan communities from further harm. The report is available on the website and it will be available in Dari and Pashto as a full report in the coming weeks. Thank you very much. Qais Azimy, Al Jazeera: I know you are hoping that, in 2016, the number will be decreased. But the reality on the ground, and also some military leaders have already said, that 2016 could be very bad. So what else could you do to make sure that we are not seeing an increase in the number? And also what is your personal view, what are your thoughts, and the reality of what youre seeing in the first two months? And also, sir, about the report, how general was this report? Were you able to go to the areas where the Taliban are in control to get numbers from there too or no? Haysom: Let me say that even if 2016 were to see an intensification of the fighting, which we cant say for certain, but that is no excuse to see the civilian casualties rise. The civilian casualties is really about the damage done to non-combatants and in our report we make a number of recommendations to the parties. We engage with the parties and we talk to them about the steps that they can take to diminish the impact of the conflict on the innocent. And we will continue to do that. I still believe, even if the conflict were to intensify, it would be possible to reduce the damage on the innocent. In regard to the monitoring of what takes place in Taliban areas, Ill ask Danielle to reply. Bell: You had asked if the report first was general and do we have access in Taliban areas. The report documents over 4,200 separate incidents of conflict-related violence, each of which resulted in civilian casualties. Within those incidents, they are broken down by region, province, district, tactic, perpetrator, victim, victims age. Every victim in here has a name. Regarding access to Taliban areas, indeed its a challenge. UNAMA relies on a very highly reliable network -- outreach network of community leaders, teachers, doctors. We visit hospitals, clinics. Every incident in here is verified by three different types of sources. Additionally, we do regular outreach to all communities including Taliban-controlled areas. And this often means bringing people into our offices or meeting them in neutral places, so we can speak to them directly. For example, with IDPs displaced from communities in Kot district Nangarhar, we met directly with IDPs in Jalalabad for example. So very specific, thank you very much. Qais Azimy, Al Jazeera: Knowing that the majority of civilian casualties are caused by the Taliban, would you like to give them a message because the media is here? What would be your message? Haysom: We would say that to reduce civilian casualties is an obligation under international law. Its an obligation which affects all parties. Its an obligation in terms of Islamic law. And we would urge them to consider the recommendations which we have made, which also addresses them, specifically, on the steps that they can take to reduce civilian casualties. Can I say that we will do that -- its not if we were to meet them -- we will do that directly. Zabiullah Doorandesh, Khurshid TV: Does the report, which you have released, include the casualties caused by Daesh. Daesh is present in some parts of the country, mainly the eastern part of Afghanistan. How serious a threat is it, given that the fighting will be intensified and the Taliban will be present together with Daesh? How do you assess this threat? Bell: I will answer the first part of the question. In 2015, UNAMA recorded 83 separate incidents carried out by Daesh in Afghanistan, which also include threats, intimidation and harassment. Of the 83 incidents, 82 took place in Nangarhar mostly in Kot, Achin and Spinghar area in southern Nangarhar resulting in 39 deaths, 43 injured and 82 abducted. As you know, Daesh does not have natural foothold in Afghanistan, and what we observe particularly in southern Nangarhar is the capacity of ANSF to contain Daesh to that pocket of south Nangarhar. Haysom: Lets take aside the question of the foreign fighters who are not strictly Daesh. Daeshs contribution to the overall civilian casualties, and to the conflict more broadly, is very limited at the moment. Of course it may be a much more important phenomenon but their actual engagement in the conflict is still more limited when looked at against the full picture. Abdullah Nezami, BBC Pashto: You mentioned that, following the Taliban, the national security forces of Afghanistan were responsible for the biggest part of civilian casualties in Afghanistan. And also you mentioned the international law on the basis of which those who commit civilian casualties will be tried in the international court and will be considered war criminals. I would like to know whether Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Ghani will be included in those people who could be called war criminals? And secondly, what is the role of the UN regarding the peace talks in Qatar and other parts of the world on the peace process in Afghanistan? Bell: On the first part of the question you asked about attribution of responsibility for civilian casualties. The vast majority remains Anti-Government Elements including the Taliban at 62 per cent. At 17 per cent is Afghan security forces, followed by unattributed fighting between two of them. But the vast majority is Anti-Government Elements. Haysom: In regard to the question of accountability for causing civilian casualties, we would want to believe and we continue to call for accountability for the actions of those who are directly responsible for civilian casualties. I know of no international court thats directly seized with the Afghan conflict, but I would want to believe that there will eventually be accountability; that these, as it were, crimes committed -- if they have been committed -- should not be simply ignored. I think there are many who believe its a worldwide responsibility, not only here, but also in places like Syria and elsewhere that there needs to be accountability for what people do on the battlefield. Hamid Mayar, Shamshad TV: I would like to know your latest information about the fighting in Baghlan. What is going on in Baghlan? According to reports, civilian houses have been attacked, and hundreds of hundreds of civilians have been killed in this regard as a result of this fighting. Which province has seen the highest number of casualties in 2015? Bell: We are closely monitoring the situation in Baghlan. In the past couple of weeks, we are currently following up on 20 separate incidents in Baghlan, mainly in Pul-i-Khumri, Doshi and Baghlani Jadid. We have confirmed so far 27 civilian casualties, 7 deaths and 20 injured, including two women and 13 children. Regarding destruction of houses and destruction of a mosque, we are currently trying to verify -- and indeed we have received these allegations -- we are currently following up with Afghan security forces, Taliban as well as people on the ground. Haysom: If I could just answer the unfinished part of the question on what UNs attitude is to peace and what it is doing. Let me just share with you that from my travels in this country, I have detected an enormous thirst for peace. People, Afghans want peace. I am also aware that they deserve peace after so many years in conflict. And finally, we clearly recognize that Afghans need peace. Without peace, there is very little prospect of dealing not only with civilian casualties but an improvement in the quality of life and in the economy and economic opportunities of the nation. And thats why we engage with all the parties firstly on the need for peace and to commence the urgency of commencing a serious and engaged peace talk. I have spoken directly to the Taliban themselves and argued with them that what is required now is not more track II exercises and conference but direct face-to-face engagement with the government with the purpose of reaching an agreement and in particular ceasefire so that the people of Afghanistan can experience at least a measurable improvement in their lives from the increased security. And we have offered the United Nations role in any capacity that will help whether as a facilitator, mediator, convener -- even in training people in how to engage in peace talks and we will continue to do that. Hamed Hakimi, Salaam Watandar Radio: In your report, you attributed 60 per cent of the overall civilian casualties to the Anti-Government Forces and 17 per cent to the Pro-Government Forces, while 21 per cent is unattributed. What happened to that 21 per cent which is not attributed to any party? Also you stressed that the reason you are making this report is in order to prevent and also decrease the civilian casualties. While since 2009 UNAMA has released such reports, every year the number of civilian casualties has been on the rise. Bell: Thank you. As you said 62 per cent to Anti-Government Elements, 17 per cent to Pro-Government Forces, 17 per cent unattributed to either party and 4 per cent unexploded ordinance. The extra 17 per cent of unattributed results from a few different factors. Number one, you saw that there was a rise in civilian casualties from ground engagement. As the fight increasingly moves into civilian populated areas it is increasingly difficult or quite difficult to establish which party may or may not be responsible for a particular tactic. So it goes into Pro-Government Forces and Anti-Government Elements. For example, in Kunduz, my team documented close to a thousand civilian casualties, most of those we could not attribute to a specific party, also because we did not have staff on the ground at the time. So the fog of war -- those ones have almost doubled as the nature of the fight has shifted. The second part of your question, you said civilian casualties have risen since 2009 when we began documenting and indeed you are correct. This year the figures have almost doubled what we recorded in 2009. But we have seen changes and improvements in practices on the battlefield. For example, in 2015, UNAMA recorded decreases in every region except north-east and central and that was mainly Kabul city suicide attacks and fighting in Kunduz city last year. Elsewhere we documented decreases. The third part of your question was where did we record the most civilian casualties? By region, south, north-east, east, south-east. By province, Kunduz, Kabul, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Helmand, Ghazni, Faryab, in that order. And all of the numbers are in the report, thank you. Haysom: Let me also join my voice to Danielles in saying that I believe these increases are despite our report, not because of our report. What we have noted in the commentary that we have made in the report, is that we have managed to secure very important political commitments to avoid civilian casualties, including from the Taliban: Public commitments. The question that we raise is that those public commitments must not be propaganda; they must be converted into effective instructions to those who are responsible for the conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan casualties hit record high 11,000 in 2015 - UN report 14 February 2016 The United Nations reported today that Afghan hostilities in 2015 left more than 3,500 civilians dead, including an unprecedented number of children one in four casualties over the past year was a child and nearly 7,500 others wounded, making this the highest number of civilian casualties recorded. "This report records yet another rise in the number of civilians hurt or killed. The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable," said Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMA), in a press release. The annual report, produced by the UNAMA in coordination with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office (OHCHR), shows that increased ground fighting in and around populated areas, along with suicide and other attacks in major cities, were the main causes of conflict-related civilian deaths and injuries in 2015. "We call on those inflicting this pain on the people of Afghanistan to take concrete action to protect civilians and put a stop to the killing and maiming of civilians in 2016," stressed Mr. Haysom. UNAMA documented 11,002 civilian casualties (3,545 deaths and 7,457 injured) in 2015, exceeding the previous record levels of civilian casualties that occurred in 2014. The latest figures show an overall increase of four per cent during 2015 in total civilian casualties from the previous year. UNAMA began its systematic documentation of civilian casualties in 2009. At a press conference today in Kabul, Mr. Haysom told reporters that while the figures in themselves are "awful," the statistics and percentages contained in the report do not really reflect the real horror of the phenomenon. "The real cost we are talking about in these figures is measured in the maimed bodies of children, the communities who have to live with loss, the grief of colleagues and relatives, the families who have to make do without a breadwinner, the parents who grieve for lost children, the children who grieve for lost parents [] these are the real consequences of the acts described in this report," he emphasized. According the report, ground engagements between parties to the conflict caused the highest number of total civilian casualties (fatalities and injuries), followed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide and complex attacks. Ground engagements caused the most fatalities among civilians, followed by targeted and deliberate killings. "The people of Afghanistan continue to suffer brutal and unprincipled attacks that are forbidden under international law," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in the press release, adding that this is happening with almost complete impunity. "The perpetrators of the violations, documented by UNAMA and my staff, must be held to account," Mr. Zeid underscored, adding that the international community should emphasize far more vigorously that the rights of civilians should be protected. Some of the report's other key findings highlight that anti-Government elements continued to cause the most harm 62 per cent of all civilian casualties despite a 10 per cent reduction from 2014 in the total civilian casualties resulting from their attacks. Notwithstanding the overall decrease, the report documents anti-Government elements increasing use of some tactics that deliberately or indiscriminately cause civilian harm, including targeted killings of civilians, complex and suicide attacks, as well as indiscriminate and illegal pressure-plate IEDs. Civilian deaths and injuries caused by pro-Government forces caused 17 per cent of civilian casualties 14 per cent from Afghan security forces, two per cent from international military forces, and one per cent from pro-Government armed groups. The report documents increased civilian casualties caused by pro-Government forces, including during ground engagements, aerial operations, and the activities of pro-Government armed groups. In 2015, UNAMA documented a 37 per cent increase in women casualties and a 14 per cent increase in child casualties. "In 2015, the conflict caused extreme harm to the civilian population, with particularly appalling consequences for children. Unprecedented numbers of children were needlessly killed and injured last year one in four casualties in 2015 was a child," said Danielle Bell, UNAMA Director of Human Rights. "Other children suffered the loss of parents, and increasingly their mothers, sisters, and female role models one in 10 casualties was a woman." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN: Afghan Civilian Casualties Hit New High in 2015 by Ayaz Gul February 14, 2016 The United Nations said Sunday Afghan hostilities left more than 3,500 civilians dead and nearly 7,500 others wounded in 2015, an increase of four percent in civilian casualties from the previous year. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the number of civilian casualties during 2015 were the highest recorded since it began its systematic documentation of civilian casualties in 2009. UNAMA said increased ground fighting in and around populated areas, along with suicide and other attacks in major cities were the main causes of conflict-related civilian deaths and injuries in 2015. The report, however, documented a 10 percent reduction in civilian casualties from Taliban attacks. "Anti-Government Elements continued to cause the most harm 62 percent of all civilian casualties despite a 10 percent reduction from 2014 in the total civilian casualties resulting from their attacks," it said. Despite the drop in civilian deaths caused by the Taliban in 2015, there were more civilian deaths caused by pro-government security forces during ground fighting and attacks by aircraft, according to the U.N. report. "Pro-government forces caused 1,854 civilian casualties. While this accounts for 17 percent of the total, it all represents a 28 percent increase compared to 2014," said Danielle Bell, UNAMA Director of Human Rights. UNAMA Chief Nicholas Haysom told reporters in Kabul the report has been shared with all parties to the conflict before its publication, including Afghan security forces and the Taliban. "Our objective is not simply to shame and blame, but to effect real changes in the practices of the parties to the conflict because our primary objective is to change what happens on the battlefield," he said. The report also documented a 37 percent increase in women casualties and a 14 percent increase in child casualties. "In 2015, the conflict caused extreme harm to the civilian population, with particularly appalling consequences for children. Unprecedented numbers of children were needlessly killed and injured last year one in four casualties in 2015 was a child," said Bell. The statistics and percentages contained in the report don't really reflect and capture the real horror and the impact of the bombs, the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the the indirect fire on civilian communities, said Haysom. He again called on all the parties engaged in the Afghan conflict to uphold their public commitments and take every step to avoid harm to civilians. Sunday's report cited a deadly U.S. airstrike in October on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in northern Afghanistan for largely contributing to the 9-percent rise in civilian causalities caused by international military forces in 2015. The air raid in the strategically important city of Kunduz killed 42 staff, patients and family members, and wounded another 43. The provincial capital was at the time briefly overrun by the Taliban. Report urges independent, transparent investigation The UNAMA report called for conducting an 'independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigation of the attack against the MSF hospital and make the findings public. Ensure accountability for those responsible.' The Taliban has rejected the UNAMA report, alleging in the past two weeks alone Afghan security forces and their foreign partners have killed hundreds of people in northern Baghran province. "Civilian casualties can never be prevented with such injustice rather it only encourages irresponsibility of stooge Kabul administration and their masters in this regard," the militant group said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office in a detailed written response to the report has acknowledged UNAMA's efforts to highlight civilian suffering in the country but insisted the findings did not present the full picture of casualties the Taliban and their affiliate groups have inflicted on Afghan civilians in 2015. It said the government 'is concerned that UNAMA's decision to not attribute such a large number of civilian deaths misrepresents reality and could help the Taliban and other terrorist groups avoid accountability and escape justice." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Central African Republic Votes in Presidential Runoff by Nick Long February 14, 2016 Voters in the Central African Republic went to the polls Sunday in the final round of presidential elections and in a re-run of elections to the national assembly. Polling stations were relatively quiet this morning, with just a trickle of people voting at several centers, but in the afternoon VOA saw many more people arriving to vote. Georges Anicet Dologuele, one of the two candidates in the presidential run off, spoke to reporters outside Bangui city hall. He wished everyone a Happy Valentine's Day and said that as Valentine's Day is a festival of love he would like Central Africans to think of voting as an act of love for the country. There was a livelier atmosphere outside the Boganda high school in Bangui where the other presidential challenger Faustin Archange Touadera went to cast his ballot. He said he felt serene. "In view of what we've seen in the rallies and meetings during the campaign, which have often been very well attended', he says, 'I think our compatriots have heard the message and they'll act on it at the polling stations." There were 30 candidates in the first round of the presidential election, 20 of whom have since said they are backing Touadera while three say they're backing Dologuele. Many of those voters may abstain in the second round. Second round abstentions Dologeuele said it was too early to say if there would be many abstentions. Only a few voters VOA spoke to were willing to say how they'd voted. This student said he voted for Touadera because he was paid his bursary regularly during the time Touadera was prime minister up until 2103, and he thought Touadera had done other good things - such as paying government workers regularly and upgrading some roads. This man said he voted for Dologuele, because he embodies change whereas if the other candidate is elected, he said, it will be more of the same. First round results cancelled The first round of the legislative elections last month was so flawed with irregularities the results were cancelled. The head of the African Union election observer Mission in CAR Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye said this time round the polling stations seem to have enough ballot papers. He also said he'd heard teachers have been recruited to improved the reporting of results from polling stations, so there has been a bit of improvement, as he put it, since the first round of the legislative elections. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China opposes unilateral sanctions against N.Korea People's Daily Online (Global Times) 08:45, February 14, 2016 US THAAD system in S.Korea will complicate situation China will not follow the US in imposing unilateral sanctions on North Korea, and the possible deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in South Korea will only complicate the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region, observers said. Meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday made clear China's opposition to the possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. As one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world, THAAD can intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Despite claims by Washington and Seoul that the missile shield would be focused solely on North Korea, analysts warn that the deployment would pose a considerable threat to neighboring countries, especially China and Russia. 'The latest North Korean nuclear test has served to assist the US' intended deployment of THAAD, which will become a direct threat to both China and Russia. Both countries will not let their guard down against South Korea after the deployment,' said Lu Chao, a professor at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. The US and South Korea began talks on the deployment of THAAD, hours after North Korea carried out on February 7 what it said was a satellite launch but which others believe was a missile test. The Pentagon has since stressed that it would like the anti-missile system to be deployed in South Korea 'as quickly as possible.' There is already a THAAD battery stationed in Guam and the other key US ally in the region, Japan, is also considering taking on the system. Broader agenda 'The deployment of the THAAD system by the US ... goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent,' Wang said in an interview with Reuters. 'It doesn't require experts. Ordinary people know that the deployment of the THAAD system is not just to defend South Korea, but a wider agenda and may even be meant for China,' Wang said, urging the US side to act cautiously, not to undermine China's security interests or add new complications to regional peace and stability. The North will not be threatened by either THAAD or nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Instead, the country will only enjoy more strategic opportunities when THAAD leads to conflicts between major powers including China, Russia and the US, Lu noted. 'It's clear that the US is trying to promote its rebalance to the Asia-Pacific. The South [Korea] should also be aware that further submission to the US is likely to lead to more conflicts between itself, China and the US,' he added. Guiding principles Wang stressed in the interview with Reuters that China's policy would be increasingly attentive on the regional nuclear issue and guided by three principles. 'First the Korean Peninsula cannot be nuclearized. This applies to the North and South. Second, there is no military solution to this issue. If there is a war or turbulence it is not acceptable for China. Third, China will not allow its legitimate interests including in national security interests to be undermined,' Wang said. China's three principles do not suggest a changing attitude in Chinese foreign policy toward North Korea, but reflect a continuance of foreign policy, with more specific details on its opposition to nuclearization and militarization, according to Lu. 'It also shows China's stance, which is different from the US, will not create chaos and conflicts,' Lu noted. China and the US have agreed to speed up the consultation process at the UN Security Council to reach a new resolution and take strong and effective measures to deter the further development of nuclear and missile programs by North Korea, Wang said in his meeting with Kerry. When asked whether Beijing was ready to support stronger economic sanctions, Wang said the resolution would be wide-ranging, but its objective should be to curb Pyongyang's efforts to develop nuclear and missile technologies. 'Sanctions are not the end, the purpose should be to make sure that the nuclear issue in the Korean Peninsula be brought back to a negotiation-based resolution,' he said, adding that China will back a UN Security Council solution to make North Korea 'pay the necessary price.' Lu said that this is one of the sternest declarations from China and the nation will strictly follow the UN resolution. However, Beijing will not follow the US in imposing unilateral sanctions on North Korea outside the UN framework, which is against China's interests and the spirit of humanitarianism, he said. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since its first nuclear test in 2006. 'Our policy on the North is not weak and we will not tolerate challenges and provocation from the North. But it is groundless to demand a reaction from China similar to the US',' Lu noted. Lu added that China is North Korea's largest trading partner, but a complete shutdown of bilateral trade will trigger a crisis similar to the European migrant crisis, which will in turn affect China and South Korea. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenpress state news agency introduces on the air of Lratvakan.am all that you will read, hear and see on todays news. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's speech, internal and external factors, changes in personnel, election of the Ombudsman, the OSCE / ODIHR report: Internal political developments are the topic of discussions for political and public figures. Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be in the context of regional developments. Lieutenant-General Vagharshak Harutyunyan is going to analyze the latest developments. On February 15, all military units of the Armenian Armed Forces will host solemn events on the occasion of the new academic stage by the attendance of the leadership of Armenias Armed Forces, Defense Ministry and Armed Forces General Headquarters. 15th February is International Childhood Cancer Day. This day was chosen in Luxembourg, 2001 by the initiative of the parents of children with cancer and Funds Association. The day is an occasion to once again talk about the causes of disease and preventive measures. Environmentalists will continue the topic of childhood cancer. The Head of the Crisis Management Center, Colonel of Rescue Service of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) Hovhannes Khangeldyan will summarize the 2015 emergency situations. He will also present the situation in the state and interstate highways. Head of EU delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski will introduce EU support on the protection and promotion of children's rights. Chinese tea drinking event and a tasting of tinctures of Armenian herbs will be held in the frames of Armenian-Chinese Culture Days. Recall that the Armenian-Chinese Culture Days are held in the period from February 8-25. More on these and other topics is available on armenpress.am. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. North Korea Forms New Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles Unit - Reports Sputnik News 07:20 14.02.2016 North Korea has formed a new military unit to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), South Korean media cited its government sources as saying Sunday. TOKYO (Sputnik) US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said this week Pyongyang expanded the size of its ballistic missile forces to include KN-08 road-mobile ICBM. North Korea has now established the so-called KN-08 Brigade under its Strategic Forces, multiple unnamed sources told the Yonhap news service. The move indicates that Pyongyang has 'inched closer to fielding the road-mobile ICBM.' Experts assess KN-08 has range of at least 6,200 miles. The KN-08 system was first unveiled at an April 2012 military parade commemorating the 100th birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung. Last Sunday, North Korea launched a three-stage rocket that placed a small satellite into orbit. Although Pyongyang said its launch was part of a peaceful effort to explore space, the technology of the rocket was nearly identical to those used by North Korea to deliver nuclear weapons. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address N.Korean Govt Confiscated Up to 70% Joint Industrial Zone Workers' Wages Sputnik News 06:06 14.02.2016 The North Korean government has confiscated up to 70 percent of the Kaesong industrial zone jointly run with South Korea to allegedly spend on its nuclear program, South Korean Unification Ministry said Sunday. TOKYO (Sputnik) Pyongyang suspended all emergency contact lines with Seoul after South Korean staff walked out of Kaesong last Wednesday in protest of North Korea's long-range rocket launch on Sunday. 'The workers in Kaesong were paid in cash in US dollars, but the money did not go directly to these workers. Instead, they went to the government of North Korea. It has been confirmed from various sources that kickbacks to the ruling party accounted for about 70 percent,' the ministry said. Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said on South Korean television that 'any monthly foreign currency earned in Noth Korea goes to the Workers' Party, where this money is being used to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, or to buy luxury goods.' On Thursday, South Korean companies were ordered to pull out of the Kaesong industrial park on the border between two Koreas. The move reportedly aims to sever financial flows to the North, which it allegedly uses to develop nuclear and missile technologies. There were 124 South Korean companies operating at Kaesong, producing clothes, footwear, watches and other goods, with over 54,000 North Korean employees earning a minimum of $70.35 a month. Despite limited industrial cooperation, South and North Korea are still legally at war as no peace treaty between them was signed after the Korean War of 1950-1953. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's defense minister due in Russia for military talks Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 7:6AM Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan is to visit Russia to discuss ways to boost defense and military cooperation between the two countries. Dehqan will travel to Moscow on Monday at the official invitation of Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and will hold talks with senior political and defense officials. The two sides are scheduled to discuss the latest mutual, regional and international developments. Enhanced defense, military and technical cooperation between Tehran and Moscow will be among main objectives of the Iranian minister's visit. Dehqan's trip to Moscow comes in response to a previous visit to the Islamic Republic by his Russian counterpart. During Shoigu's visit to Tehran in January 2015, the Iranian and Russian defense ministers signed an agreement to improve cooperation in defense and military arenas. The deal focused on the need for strengthening and promoting the level of bilateral military and defense cooperation with regard to the common interests of Tehran and Moscow. Iran and Russia signed an agreement on the delivery of the S-300 missile system to Tehran, which was banned by Moscow back in 2010 under the pretext that the deal was covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council sanctions, which barred hi-tech weapons sales to the Islamic Republic. In April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree paving the way for the long-overdue delivery of the missile defense system to Iran after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries - the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany - reached a mutual understanding on Tehran's nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne. On February 10, the Iranian defense chief said the country will take delivery of the first batch of Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system in the first quarter of 2016. Dehqan added that the Islamic Republic will receive the second batch by the first half of 2017. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Praises Albania for MEK Resettlement by Pamela Dockins February 14, 2016 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has used a visit to Albania to thank the government for resettling members of an Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedin e Khalq, or MEK. Over the past two years, Albania has taken in about 1,000 members of the MEK and has committed to resettling an additional 2,000, said a senior State Department official. Most lived in U.S.-backed camps in Iraq. Ahead of Kerry's Sunday visit to Tirana, the official said Kerry would not talk publicly about the resettlement effort, which remains a sensitive issue. The U.S. has assisted Albania in its efforts to resettle the MEK, a group that has supported the U.S. in military operations in the Middle East and in its fight against terrorism. The U.S. assistance includes a donation of $20 million to the U.N. refugee agency to help resettle the MEK, said the State Department official. The U.S. has also provided Albania with security and economic development assistance, to help the country build up its physical capacity to house the refugees. Support for Albania's justice reforms Kerry's visit comes at a time when Albania is trying to adopt judicial reforms, as part of a wider effort to combat corruption. Kerry praised those efforts in his public remarks in Tirana The country is considering legislation that would bring Albania's judicial sector more in line with U.S. and European norms. The measure would also create an entity similar to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. and European Union provided advice to help Albania draft the provision, which would create a special anti-corruption force. "Your country is moving in the right direction," said Secretary Kerry during an appearance with Prime Minister Edi Rama. Kerry added that he was "encouraged" by the judicial reform package under consideration. "Without the support and advice of the United States, Albania would not have managed to make so much progress in its reforms, said Rama. The judicial reforms could also benefit Albania in its bid for EU accession. Kerry traveled to Albania from Germany, where he participated in the Munich Security Conference and an International Syria Support Group meeting. He received a robust welcome in Albania, that included a column of U.S. and Albanian flags lining the streets along his main routes and onlookers who crowded street corners to catch a glimpse of his passing motorcade. In addition to meeting with the country's prime and foreign ministers, he met with opposition leaders and civil society groups. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Decisive Rebuff? Iraq Sends Military Forces to Border With Saudi Arabia Sputnik News 20:05 14.02.2016 Saudi Arabia started large-scale military exercises close to the Iraqi border. The military training known under name 'Northern Thunder' involves ground and air forces from Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and several other Arab and Islamic countries. Iraq has deployed 'large' military forces at the border with Saudi Arabia to oversee the ongoing military training conducted by the kingdom, member of the parliamentary security and defense committee Adnan al-Asadi told the Iraqi news agency INA. The large-scale military exercises started on Tuesday, with the participation of ground forces from Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and several other Arab states, the members of the Riyadh's antiterrorist coalition. The exercise is expected to last 18 days and involves about 150 thousand soldiers. 'Large military forces have been sent to observe the maneuvers at the Iraqi-Saudi border in coordination with the security authorities,' al-Asadi stated. The official noted that a possible violation of Iraq's airspace will be regarded as a violation of the stated sovereignty and perpetrators will be held responsible. According to another Iraqi politician Iskander Vitvit, Iraqi authorities should abandon diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and strengthen cooperation with Russia. 'These maneuvers are a part of the plan on Iraq's division, supported by Saudi Arabia and the United States, in coordination with Turkey. But they are well aware that Iraq is no longer the same as before and that it is ready to fight back,' the politician said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Islamabad Surprised With Indian Stance on US' Sale of F-16 to Pakistan Sputnik News 17:22 14.02.2016(updated 18:41 14.02.2016) Islamabad is surprised and disappointed over Indian reaction to the US decision to sell F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Saturday, Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar summoned US Ambassador Richard Verma to express dissatisfaction after Washington announced the US Department of State had approved the sale of eight F-16 combat aircraft and other equipment to Pakistan. 'We are surprised and disappointed at the Indian Government's reaction. Their army and arsenal stock is much larger and they are the largest importer of defence equipment. As regards F-16 sale, Pakistan and the United States closely cooperate in countering terrorism. US spokesperson clearly announced that the sale is to enhance precision strike capability,' the ministry's spokesman, Mohammed Nafees Zakaria, said. Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said on Saturday, India was disappointed at the US President Barack Obama Administration's decision on the fighters sale, stressing that New Delhi disagreed with the US rationale that the arms transfer would help to combat terrorism. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi Arabia confirms sending warplanes to Turkey 'for Daesh fight' Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 5:51AM Saudi Arabia confirms it has dispatched warplanes to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, claiming that the move was in line with the so-called fight against Daesh Takfiri terrorists in Syria. Speaking to al-Arabiya television network on Saturday, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, a Saudi military spokesman, claimed that the kingdom was committed to battling Daesh. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are widely believed to be among major sponsors of terrorist groups operating against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Asiri said no ground troops are currently stationed at the air base, adding, "What is present now is aircraft that are part of the Saudi Arabian forces." On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Yeni Safak newspaper that Riyadh had inspected the air base in preparation for the dispatch of the military aircraft. "They (Saudi officials) came, did a reconnaissance of the base. At the moment it is not clear how many planes will come," Cavusoglu said, adding, "They said, 'If necessary we can also send troops'.'" The Turkish minister said Ankara and Riyadh could launch a ground operation in Syria "if there is a strategy." On February 12, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the CNN that Riyadh is ready to deploy special forces to Syria if the US-led coalition decides to send ground troops. The so-called coalition has been conducting combat sorties against purported positions of Daesh in Syria since September 2014. 'If the international coalition against Daesh, which we are a part and have been since the very beginning, decides that it will introduce ground troops to Syria in addition to the current air campaign, we have said that the Kingdom of Saudi is prepared to contribute special forces to this effort,' Jubeir said. 'In coffins will end any incursion' Earlier this month, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Damascus would resist any ground incursion into its territory and send the aggressors home 'in coffins.' 'Any ground intervention onto Syrian land without the agreement of the Syrian government is an act of aggression... and we regret that those [who do so] will return to their countries in coffins,' the Syrian foreign minister stated. Russia and Iran have also warned against the deployment of foreign ground forces to Syria, calling it dangerous. "All sides must be compelled to sit at the negotiating table instead of unleashing a new world war," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper on February 12. Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on February 9 that a potential troop deployment by regional countries to Syria would be a "very dangerous" decision. In addition to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also expressed readiness to send soldiers to Syria. According to a new report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict in Syria has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders since March 2011. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish artillery keeps pounding Kurdish areas in northern Syria People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 21:06, February 14, 2016 DAMASCUS, Feb. 14 -- The Turkish artillery continued to shell Kurdish areas in northern Syriafor the second straight day on Sunday, killing and wounding nine fighters of a Kurdish group, a monitor group reported. Two fighters with the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Force, a new rebel alliance constituting of Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters and supported by the West, were killed and seven others wounded by the Turkish shelling that targeted the positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Uk-based watchdog group said the Turkish artillery fired at the Kurdish positions in the Minnegh airbase, the town of Afrin and near Azaz in northern Aleppo near the Syrian-Turkish borders. Meanwhile, the YPG and the PYD, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, rejected the Turkish claims that the shelling came in retaliation to a fire against Turkey from YPG positions. Moreover, the Kurdish fighters made it clear that they reject the Turkish demand to withdraw from the Minnegh airbase and the vicinity of Azaz. They further warned that they will confront any military intervention from Turkey, according to Salih Muslim, the PYD leader, who was cited by Kurdish media as saying Sunday. A day earlier, the Turkish artillery started pounding the Kurdish position in northern Syria, just hours after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on that Turkey, 'if necessary,' will take military actions against the Kurds in Syria. In a televised speech, Davutloglu said 'we would expect our friends and allies to stand by us.' The Kurds have been Ankara's worst nightmare, especially after they have made notable gains in northern Syria, something Turkey apparently cannot accept. Turkish officials have repeatedly said that they will not allow the Kurds in Syria to expand more near the Turkish border. The recent escalation also came as the talks about a ground intervention by Saudi and Turkey troops in Syria have made headlines in recent days. Such an intervention will spark extra chaos in the already war-torn country, particularly after Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said any foreign troops entering Syria without the consent of the Syrian government 'will be sent home in wooden coffins.' NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran will defend Syria's airspace if Damascus requests Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 9:23PM A senior Iranian air force commander says Iran is prepared to defend Syria's airspace if Damascus calls for it. Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, made the remarks during an interview with the Tasnim news agency on Sunday. After praising the government and people of the Arab country for their five-year battle against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorism, he stressed that any military presence in Syria without the approval of Damascus would end in nothing but 'defeat." The remarks were made in the wake of reports that Turkey and Saudi Arabia were preparing to launch joint military operations on Syrian soil. Instead of contemplating a ground presence in Syria, Esmaili noted, Riyadh should consider stopping atrocities in Yemen where over 8,200 people have been killed and some 16,000 more injured since March 26, 2015. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has confirmed deployment of warplanes to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, claiming that the move was in line with the so-called fight against Daesh. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has also stated that any decision for the deployment of forces to Syria would follow the will of the US-led coalition. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has also said Ankara and Riyadh could launch a ground operation in Syria "if there is a strategy." Saudi Arabia and Turkey are widely believed to be among major sponsors of terrorist groups operating against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi awaits US order for troops deployment in Syria: Jubeir Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 4:16PM Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has said that any decision for the deployment of special forces to Syria would follow the will of the US-led coalition allegedly hitting hideouts of the Takfiri Daesh militants. 'The Kingdom's readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh in Syria - this US-led coalition - so the timing is not up to us,' al-Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh, adding, 'With regards to timing of the mission or size of troops, this has yet to be worked out.' The top Saudi diplomat, however, refrained from elaborating further on the issue. On February 12, al-Jubeir told the CNN that Riyadh is ready to deploy special forces to Syria if the US-led coalition decides to send ground troops. The so-called coalition has been conducting combat sorties against purported positions of Daesh in Syria since September 2014. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has dispatched warplanes to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, claiming that the move was in line with the so-called fight against Daesh terrorists in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Ankara and Riyadh could launch a ground operation in Syria "if there is a strategy." Saudi Arabia and Turkey are widely believed to be among major sponsors of terrorist groups operating against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The idea of Riyadh's possible participation in ground operations in Syria was first raised on February 4 by Ahmed Asiri, a spokesman for the Saudi Defense Ministry. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also followed in Saudi Arabia's footsteps and hinted their preparedness for similar deployments. Although swiftly welcomed by allies like the United States, the proposal was met with huge criticism from Syria and Damascus' allies. Damascus has issued warnings against any such move with Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem saying that any "ground intervention on Syrian territory without government authorization would amount to an aggression that must be resisted." He has also warned that potential aggressors would return home in a "wooden coffin." The development come as Syrian troops, backed by Russian air raids, have been making gains against foreign-backed militants. The Syrian president has said the government forces will retake the whole country from terrorists. Assad on Friday warned that the involvement of regional countries in the conflict meant that the process to liberate Syria would take a long time. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has also warned against the deployment of ground troops to Syria, describing the envisioned move as a "dangerous escalation." Russia and Iran have also warned against the deployment of foreign ground forces in Syria. 'Syria is a big country... which has been fighting terrorists for five years. Any presence there without coordination with that country's government will only lead to a defeat and a fiasco,' Commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili said on Sunday. For nearly five years, Syria has been grappling with a foreign-backed militancy. According to a new report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict in Syria has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders since March 2011. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. According to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations (MTAES) of the Republic of Armenia (RA), on February 15 by 09.30 all state and interstate highways in the Republic are mainly passable. As Armenpress was informed from the Armenian MTAES, Sotk-Karvachar highway is difficult to pass. Black ice is formed on Vardenyats pass and Goris-Sisian roadway. MTAES of the Republic of Armenia warns to drive on the high-mentioned roads only with winter tires and in urgent cases. As the department of ES of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of The Republic of Georgia informs Stepantsminda-Larsi highway is open for all types of vehicles. Turkey shelling supports terrorists: Syria Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:48AM Syria has taken Turkey's shelling of its territory to the UN, saying it amounts to "direct Turkish support for terrorist groups." In a letter on Sunday, the Syrian foreign ministry called on the UN Security Council to "put an end to the crimes of the Turkish regime." "The foreign ministry strongly condemns the repeated Turkish crimes and attacks against the Syrian people and Syria's territorial integrity," Syrian official news agency, SANA, reported. Turkish forces continued to shell positions of Kurdish fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo for a second day on Sunday. According to Turkey's Anadolou news agency, the Turkish army attacked PYD targets around the town of Azaz by its howitzers stationed on the country's border with Syria. Similar bombing took place on Saturday. Ankara accuses the PYD, and its military wing, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), of having links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group that has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said after the Saturday attacks that Ankara "will retaliate against every step (by the YPG)." "The YPG will immediately withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding area and will not go close to it again." Davutoglu also noted that Turkey "can if necessary take the same measures in Syria as we took in Iraq and Qandil,' referring to Turkey's bombardment of PKK situations on Qandil mountain last year. The Syrian government condemned Davutoglu comments as 'blatant interference' in Syrian affairs. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian army forces make fresh advances against Takfiri terrorists Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 9:11AM Syrian government forces, backed by fighters from allied popular defense groups, have made fresh gains in their battle against foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists across the Arab country. Syrian forces established full control over the village of al-Tamora in the northwestern province of Aleppo on Sunday after they purged the remaining pockets of al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front terrorists and other militant groups from the area, Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported. A military source, declining to be identified, said government troopers have already defused scores of improvised explosive devices and mines, which terrorists had planted in the region to slow down Syrian army advances. The development came a day after Syrian soldiers seized control of Zahra al-Qar'a and Zahra al-Qandilah heights as well as hilltops overlooking al-Tamora village, and cut the extremists' supply route from Turkey. A Syrian army unit also destroyed a number of terrorist hideouts in Tel Abdrabbeh area of al-Lirmoun district in Aleppo Province. There were no immediate reports on the number of extremists killed or injured in the process. Also on Sunday, Syrian army soldiers and their allied forces restored security to the village of Job al-Kalb, which is located near the Kweiris air base. A considerable number of Daesh militants were killed and their positions destroyed during the operation. Syrian artillery units struck Daesh bases in several villages of al-Bab district in the northeastern part of Aleppo Province, but no reports of casualties on the ranks of the Takfiris were immediately available. Additionally, Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters wrested control over several areas in Kinsabba district of the western coastal province of Latakia. Syrian forces also liberated al-Bajabjah district in the southwestern province of Dara'a from the clutches of terrorists, killing a large number of them. The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has claimed the lives of some 470,000 people and left 1.9 million injured, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research. Moreover, 6.36 million people have been displaced internally and more than four million others have fled the country since the beginning of the conflict. That accounts for 45 percent of the country's population, which has shrunk by 21 percent. Syria accuses Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar of funding and arming terrorist groups operating inside the country, including Daesh. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey calls for YPG withdrawal from Syrian border Iran Press TV Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:0AM Having confirmed the shelling on the positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), Ankara has called for the withdrawal of YPG forces from northern Syrian border regions. "The YPG will immediately withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding area and will not go close to it again," said Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during a live broadcast on Turkish TV on Saturday. He also confirmed the shelling of positions recently retaken from the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group by the YPG affiliate the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and added that they were carried out as "retaliation" and were "within the framework of the rules of engagement.' Davutoglu added that Turkey would 'retaliate against every step' made by the group. Earlier, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the strategic Minnigh military airport and a village in the northwestern province of Aleppo had been shelled by Turkey. Ankara considers the PYD as an ally of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it has been battling for months, but to the US, the group is seen as part of the fight against the Daesh terrorists. Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman John Kirby called on Turkey to halt military strikes on the PYD. 'We are concerned about the situation north of Aleppo and are working to de-escalate tensions on all sides,' he said. Daesh terrorists, who have been wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq and miles further in Libya, were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government. Ankara has reportedly provided support for the Takfiri militants operating inside Syria. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Senator Blasts Syria Truce Deal, Says Serves Putin's Purposes February 14, 2016 by Steve Gutterman MUNICH, Germany -- U.S. Senator John McCain has sharply criticized an international agreement on a cessation of hostilities in Syria, calling it 'diplomacy in the service of military aggression' by Russia. McCain spoke on the final day of a prominent security conference in Munich on February 14, where U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and diplomats from other countries in the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) reached the agreement early on February 12. 'I wish I could share the views of some of my friends who see this agreement as a potential breakthrough, but unfortunately, I do not,' said McCain, a Republican critic of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The agreement, which U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed by telephone on February 14, calls for a cessation of hostilities to start in a week in Syria. The White House said that Obama emphasized to the Russian leader the importance of Moscow playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria. Western officials say most of Russia's air strikes to date have targeted other opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Western-backed groups. McCain predicted Russia would use the cessation-of-hostilities deal to press ahead with support for the assault by government forces on Aleppo, a big city that it wants to take back from rebels . 'Let's be clear about what this agreement does: It permits the assault on Aleppo to continue for another week. It requires opposition groups to stop fighting, but it allows Russia to continue bombing terrorists -- which it insists is everyone, even civilians,' McCain said. 'And if Russia or the Assad regime violates this agreement, what are the consequences? I don't see any,' he said. 'Not Our Partner' McCain said the agreement would help Putin achieve the goals of the bombing campaign he launched in Syria on September 30 and laid out his view of what those goals are. 'Mr. Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime; he wants to establish Russia as a major power in the Middle East; he wants to use Syria as a live-fire exercise for Russia's modernizing military; he wants to turn Latakia Province into a military outpost from which to harden and enforce a Russian sphere of influence -- a new Kaliningrad or Crimea; and he wants to exacerbate the refugee crisis and use it as a weapon to divide the transatlantic alliance and undermine the European project,' he said. 'The only thing that has changed about Mr. Putin's ambitions is that his appetite is growing with the eating,' McCain said. McCain said the predictions of some U.S. officials that Russia would get stuck in a quagmire in Syria and have to 'sue for peace,' as he put it, appear far off the mark at this point. 'Instead, Russia has indiscriminately bombed civilians and moderate opposition groups for months with impunity,' he said, adding that 'U.S. intelligence leaders have stated publicly that Russia's intervention has stabilized the Assad regime and helped it get back on the offensive,' he said. 'And now...Syrian, Iranian, Hizballah, and Russian forces are accelerating their siege of Aleppo.' The head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, Norbert Roettgen, also indicated he believes Russia will use the cessation of hostilities agreement to advance its goals in Syria. 'Russia is determined to create facts on the ground, and when they have accomplished this, then they will invite the West to fight a common enemy, this is IS,' Roettgen, a senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said at the Munich Security Conference. 'We've Seen This Movie Before' McCain said that Russia had also used negotiations and cease-fires to further its military aims in Ukraine, where Moscow has backed separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014 and forcibly annexed the Crimean Peninsula the same year. 'We've seen this movie before in Ukraine,' he said. 'Russia presses its advantage militarily, creates new facts on the ground, uses the denial and delivery of humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip, negotiates an agreement to lock in the spoils of war, and then chooses when to resume fighting.' 'This is diplomacy in the service of military aggression. And it's working because we are letting it,' he said. McCain also said that the cessation-of-hostilities agreement 'commits the U.S. and Russian militaries...to coordinate' actions in Syria, where the United States and allies have been targeting IS militants with air strikes since 2014. The United States has so far refused Russian calls for coordination of their military activities in Syria beyond efforts to avoid incidents and accidents involving their forces, and it is unclear what was agreed upon in the cessation of hostilities deal. Russia has portrayed closer military coordination as crucial. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested in Munich on February 13 that the agreement would not work if the United States refuses to coordinate more closely, in remarks that added to Western concerns about the chances of success. The Kremlin said that in his conversation with Obama, Putin put particular stress on 'the need to establish close working contacts between representatives of the defense ministries of Russia and the United States, which would allow for...a successful fight against IS and other terrorist organizations.' Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-us-mccain- truce-serves-russia-purposes/27551373.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Medvedev Warns Against Any Foreign Ground Operation In Syria February 14, 2016 Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says that any ground operation by foreign troops in Syria will lead to 'a full-fledged, long war.' Speaking to Euronews TV on February 14, Medvedev criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for saying earlier that foreign troops could enter the conflict if a recently agreed truce in Syria fails. Commenting on Kerry's words, Medvedev said that 'he should not have said that.' Medvedev added, 'no one is interested in a new war, and a ground operation is a full-fledged, long war.' He also said Kerry should not 'try to frighten anyone' with 'futile words.' Major powers agreed on February 12 in Munich to a pause in combat in Syria, except for strikes against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and the Al-Nusra Front, Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria. Moscow has said it will continue bombing 'terrorist' groups, raising fears it might maintain strikes on Western-backed rebel groups by putting them in that category. Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has reportedly said that his country and Saudi Arabia may launch ground operations against the IS group in Syria. 'Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch an operation [against IS] from the land,' Turkey's pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper quoted Cavusoglu as saying on February 13. Based on reporting by Reuters and AP Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-syria-medvedev- warns-foreign-ground-operation/27551760.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Says Will Continue Attacks On Kurdish Targets In Syria February 14, 2016 Turkey says it will continue to conduct strikes against Kurdish fighters in Syria, despite growing pressure on Ankara to stop the shelling amid a truce deal backed by world powers. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on February 14 that Ankara would continue to strike back at Kurdish fighters of the YPG. Turkey views the YPG as an affiliate of the Kurdish PKK movement, which it considers to be a terrorist organization. The Turkish Army shelled Kurdish militia in northern Syria for a second day February 14. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said two fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces group were killed. The Syrian Democratic Forces group is dominated by Kurdish fighters from the YPG. Earlier on February 14, France called on Turkey to halt bombardments of Kurdish targets in Syria. The French Foreign Ministry said all military action should cease in Syria in line with the truce accord. The cessation-of-hostilities agreement reached by nations in the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in Munich on February 12 makes exceptions only for attacks against Islamic State (IS) militants and Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has confirmed it will send aircraft to NATO-member Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against IS in Syria. Brigadier General Ahmad al-Assiri told pan-Arab Al-Arabiya television on February 13 that the kingdom was committed to stepping up the fighting against IS and that the move was part of those efforts. Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-turkey- continues-kurdish-strikes/27551761.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian PM Slams 'Futile' Threats of Possible Ground Operation in Syria Sputnik News 20:24 14.02.2016(updated 21:14 14.02.2016) Countries taking part in the Syrian crisis settlement should look for a compromise, instead of threatening to launch a ground operation in the country, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, commenting on a recent statement by US Secretary of State John Kerry. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Earlier this week, Kerry said that if Russia and Iran do not help the US in Syria, there was a possibility of sending ground forces in Syria. 'These are futile words, he should not have said that for a simple reason: if all he wants is a protracted war, he can carry out ground operations and anything else. But don't try to frighten anyone,' Medvedev told the Euronews television, referring to Kerry's statement. According to Medvedev, Washington should instead attempt to reach an agreement on the same lines as Kerry's conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. However, the Russian prime minister said he was 'cautiously optimistic' concerning international cooperation on the Syrian reconciliation. 'I'm cautiously optimistic about the prospects for cooperation on this issue. Let me emphasise that this cooperation is critical, because unless we come together on this issue, there will be no end to the war in Syria.' All Parties to Syrian Conflict Must Make Joint Decision to Cease Hostilities All parties to the Syrian conflict must be make a joint decision to lay down their arms, and have to have this as an objective, Dmitry Medvedev said. 'Decisions on ending combat operations depend on whether the parties involved are willing to lay down arms and how fast. In fact, when one group stops fighting, while the other begins to build on its military success, this is the most dangerous situation. All it does is escalate the conflict. It is for that reason that there should be a common decision on when to stop military action. This should be our objective.' According to the Russian prime minister, Moscow came forward with this initiative on February 4, but it was met with hesitation among the US officials, who ended up reaching consensus. 'Let's hope that there will be no delays from now on. This will be the starting point for Russia.' Russia, US, EU Should Facilitate Launch of Transition Process in Syria Moscow, Brussels and Washington should create favorable conditions for the launch of the political transition process in Syria, the Russian prime minister said. "I don't think that we should go into too much detail on these issues. I'm talking about Russia, the European Union and the United States. We should focus on facilitating the launch of this process. We must make sure that everyone sits down at the negotiating table, in fact, make them talk to each other, so that maybe they close their eyes to the mutual grievances they might have and the outstanding issues," he told the Euronews television channel. He added that such a dialogue "will be anything but simple" given the parties involved. "On one side, you have President Assad, supported by a part of society and the military, and, on the other side, the other part of society, often representing different confessions, people who don't like Assad but have to sit with him at the same negotiating table. Nevertheless, they need to come to an agreement for the sake of keeping Syria united." Assad Should Be Integral Part of Syrian Crisis Settlement Syrian President Bashar Assad should be involved in all parts of the process to resolve the situation in the country while its political destiny should be decided upon by the Syrians, Medvedev believes. 'We simply believe that there is currently no other legitimate authority in Syria apart from Bashar Assad. He is the incumbent president, whether anyone likes it or not It is for that reason that he should take part in all the procedures and processes, and it should be up to the Syrian people to decide his destiny. He fully understands that.' He added that during Assad's visit to Moscow, the Syrian president said that if the people do not support him, he will naturally step down. 'However, he should remain in office until the future political order is agreed upon, as well as how the country is to be governed. This is Russia's take on this issue,' Medvedev said. Russia Ready to Cooperate With EU in Anti-Terror Fight Russia is ready to share its anti-terrorist experience with European partners, Dmitry Medvedev said. "We have some very serious and dramatic experience in fighting terrorism in our country. For a long time, nobody heard what we had to say. Even the terrorists who were active the Caucasus were called not terrorists but insurgents, even though when those 'insurgents' were captured or eliminated, they were found to be in possession of Turkish or Arab passports. But then we began to be heeded and at some point Europe and the entire world were overwhelmed, unfortunately. Today we are all in the same boat. We are all faced with the threat of terrorism." He added that Russia is willing to share information and experience, willing to cooperate, but its European partners should also take "a responsible stance." "It is essential to take a broad perspective here think about future generations, about the value of human life, not talk to the effect that Russia is an outsider, that it does not behave the way it should and this is why our special services do not collaborate with it. Well, don't. I just addressed a panel and said: Daesh leaders will thank you," the Russian prime minister said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Next Stop Raqqa: Syrian Army Poised to Enter Daesh Stronghold Sputnik News 09:41 14.02.2016(updated 09:47 14.02.2016) With a number of strategic positions on the border of Raqqa province already retaken, the Syrian Army is now poised to advance into the Daesh-held northern region, Iranian media reported citing a Syrian military sources on Saturday. 'It is an indication of the direction of coming operations towards Raqqa. In general, the Raqqa front is open <> starting in the direction of the Tabqa area,' Fars news agency quoted the unnamed source as saying. Tabqa is the territory where a Syrian air base captured by Daesh forces in 2014 is located. Meanwhile, the Syrian army and popular units continued to advance on the terrorists' positions in the northeastern part of Hama province securing a long chunk of Salamiyah-Raqqa highway. They also managed to push the terrorists away from the key town of Ithriyah, which is the government's only supply route to Aleppo province along the Khanasser-Ithriyah Road. Currently, the Syrian Armed Forces are approximately 35 km away from the Tabqa military airport their primary objective in Raqqa at the moment. On Friday Syrian pro-government forces gained full control over Tal Madakhah after a fierce firefight with the terrorists positioned on this small hilltop near Ithriyah. Following the capture of Tal Madakhah the government forces continued their offensive along the Raqqa-Salamiyah Highway. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey to Extend Strikes on US-Allied Kurdish Fighters in Syria by VOA News February 14, 2016 Turkey says it will continue to target U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters on the Syrian frontier near its border, despite mounting international pressure on the Ankara government to stop the artillery bombardments. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in telephone talks Sunday, told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Turkish forces will 'not permit' the Kurdish People's Protection Units fighters (YPG), of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) 'to carry out aggressive acts.' Both France and the United States have called for an 'immediate halt' to the Turkish bombardments. YPG fighters, backed by the West and Gulf countries, have been battling for more than a week against a ferocious Russian-backed offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. However, the Ankara government sees the YPG as linked to an offshoot of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, and considers both groups terrorist organizations. Davutoglu earlier confirmed artillery strikes overnight Saturday and demanded the withdrawal of YPG fighters from the Syrian border town of Azaz. Ankara also demanded the Kurds vacate a nearby airbase seized last week from Syrian rebel forces. Rebel commanders say YPG fighters are now in parts of Azaz, just six kilometers from the border with Turkey. The Turkish shelling continued Sunday, with new fighting reported around the strategically important town of Tell Rifaat between Syrian rebels, Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters. Amidst the shelling, the YPG claimed to have captured the village of Ayn Daqnah, east of Menagh and south of Azaz. According to Turkish military officials, the shelling of YPG positions came in retaliation for Kurdish gunfire, and was focused just southwest of Azaz. Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said Turkish shelling struck wider afield, targeting YPG positions near Menagh, the airbase the Kurds took from Syrian rebels. Later Sunday, Saudi Arabia confirmed it had sent aircraft to the NATO air base at Incirlik in Adana, near the Syrian border in southern Turkey, to step up operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Melvin Cavusoglu had said Saturday that no decision had yet been made on a ground force against IS, which analysts say could dangerously widen the multi-factioned conflict and raise the specter of a Turkish clash with the Russians. Meantime, the Syrian regime has condemned Turkey's shelling of PYD-held areas inside Syrian territory, describing it as an attempt to raise the morale of 'terrorist' groups. According to Turkish official,s Davutoglu spoke this weekend with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden concerning Turkish anger about YPG military encroachments in northern Syria, adding that Biden had said he would pass the Turkish Prime Minister's remarks on to the "relevant parties." U.S. officials say there is little to be done to counter militarily the Russian-backed Assad offensive and they argue the vicious five-year-long Syrian civil war that has left upwards of 250,000 dead won't be resolved by the clash of arms but through a negotiated political settlement. Jamie Dettmer from Gaziantep, Turkey and Lou Lorscheider from Washington contributed to this report NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Observers: Fighting Flares In Eastern Ukraine, Residents In 'Dire' Situation February 14, 2016 by Steve Gutterman MUNICH, Germany -- Fighting between Russia-backed separatists and government forces has flared in eastern Ukraine and the humanitarian situation is 'dire,' the head of Europe's main security organization has told RFE/RL. Combatants have moved heavy weaponry back up closer to the front line and the separatists in particular have been conducting "military activities" including exercises under cover of night, Lamberto Zannier, the secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said on February 14. "The cease-fire is not holding as we would like it to," Zannier said in an interview on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where Russia traded angry accusations with Ukraine and the West over a war that seemed unthinkable just over two years ago but has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014. A cease-fire that was agreed as part of the February 2015 Minsk II accord took hold in September, but fighting increased later last year and has surged again after a truce for the New Year and Christmas holidays, Zannier said. "It's still, unfortunately, an active conflict," he said. "We see...ongoing military activities, especially on the separatist side, we've seen rather large night exercises military exercises. So there is a lot of dynamic, a lot of movement there, and that's of course a concern." He said the OSCE, which has 700 unarmed monitors observing the conflict with equipment including drones, had recorded "the use of multiple-rocket launchers and field howitzers." Ukrainian forces and the Russia-backed separatists, who seized control of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions after Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in the face of protests over his abandonment of a landmark deal with the European Union, pulled heavy weaponry back last year under Minsk II. The accord also set out steps to resolve the conflict and was supposed to be completed by the end of 2015, with the return of Ukrainian control over its border with Russia in the separatist-held areas. Few of the steps have been carried out, however, and Zannier said that elections under Ukrainian law in the separatist-held areas -- another key point of the settlement plan -- could probably not be held until after the summer. A senior separatist, meanwhile, said it would be at least 10 months before voting could be held. At the Munich Security Conference on February 13, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev accused Kyiv of foot-dragging on its obligations under the accord. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said it was Russia that is blocking a resolution, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Western sanctions imposed on Moscow will remain in place until Russia fulfills its commitments. Western governments fear Russia is using the conflict to destabilize Ukraine, undermine its pro-Western government, and keep it from drawing closer to NATO and the European Union. Despite powerful evidence, Russia denies accusations by Kyiv and the West that it has sent troops and weapons into eastern Ukraine to support the separatists. Zannier said it is difficult for the OSCE monitors to determine whether Russian soldiers and arms are crossing into Ukraine now because they only have a mandate to observe at two border crossings, where they are positioned on the Russian side. In separatist-held areas on the Ukrainian side, "we are being systematically prevented from reaching the border, especially in the Luhansk area," he said, adding that "because it's rather flat territory, obviously there are possibilities for men and equipment to cross that border in places where we are not there to see it." The ability of the monitors to record violations is also restricted by the fact that they operate only in the daytime, while "many of the violations occur at night," Zannier said. He also said that the OSCE monitors are now experiencing "systematic limitations" to their freedom of movement, and in some cases "threatening behavior" on the part of separatists at checkpoints. "As people stop them, they also point guns, and this is obviously something we don't like," Zannier said. "It's not, you know, a kind of friendly warning." He said that 90 percent of the incidents of this kind of limitation of movement in the past few weeks have been on the separatist side. He said the frequency of such incidents 'is making our role more complicated, but it's also pointing to the general deterioration of the situation.' The cases of heavy weaponry use are "on both sides, and it's understandable because if one side starts using heavy weaponry again, it's inevitable that the other reacts," Zannier said. "It's a general dynamic that we are assessing, and it's a worrying one, of course." Ukrainian military spokesman Oleskandr Motuzyanyk said on February 14 that seven Ukrainian military personnel were wounded over the previous 24 hours, and had no information on civilian casualties. Citing Ukrainian military intelligence, Motuzyanyk said that one Russian serviceman was killed and died and one wounded nea rZaytsevo, in the Donetsk region. There was no comment from Russia on the claim. Many of the people killed or maimed in the war have been civilians, and hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes. For those who remain, Zannier said, "the humanitarian situation is dire." He said that "we really feel that there is a need to open up channels to facilitate the movement of the population," improve access to humanitarian assistance, and repair vital infrastructure for supplies of gas, power, and water. Zannier said that people living in the war zone "are increasingly tired, and they want this thing to finish." He said he was speculating, but that there may be "increasingly a gap between the militant side of the separatist movement and the normal people, many of whom have left." Those people are "bitter about everything, but they also don't seem to think that this is sustainable any longer, this kind of situation," he said. That should "push us to find ways to help bring this to an end," Zannier said. With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian service, TASS, and Interfax Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-osce- zannier-interview-fighting-flares/27551666.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The rival violated the ceasefire in the line of contact of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing armies on the weekend. During that period more than 2500 shots were made towards the Armenian frontier troops from weapons of different caliber including 60mm (23 missiles) and 82mm (14 missiles) mortars and AGS-17 (7 missiles) grenade launcher. The Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic informed Armenpress that the frontier troops of the Defense Army mainly remained loyal to the ceasefire regime and made counterattacks only if necessary. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The Libyan coastguard on February 13 intercepted a ship with a 12-man foreign crew that was smuggling diesel and escorted it to the marine base in Tripoli Armenpress reports citing Frans Press agency. "The coastguard was conducting a reconnaissance mission when it intercepted the tanker carrying about 1.66 million litres of diesel," coastguard official Abu Ajila told. He said the crew of the "Captain Khayyam" was arrested, adding that they were of Ukrainian, Turkish and Azerbaijani nationality. Libya has Africa's largest oil reserves, estimated at 48 billion barrels. Its production was estimated at 1.6 million barrels per day in 2011 but has plunged by a third since. Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, spoke out against a string of automated phone calls from a political action committee attempting to change his vote on a public health bill. Marshall said in a news release the unidentified callers had been ringing residents on behalf of the Virginia Hospital Association PAC. In one instance, Marshall said the caller asked residents to remain on the line while they connected to Marshalls General Assembly office in Richmond. On Tuesday, a string of calls with no message connected residents directly to the office, Marshall said. After some investigating, Marshall said his staff found out the source of the calls. He said they were a desperate attempt for citizens to pressure legislators without knowing all of the information about the topic. The calls attempted to change Marshalls position on a string of bills reforming Virginias Certificate of Public Need program. Marshall still encouraged citizens to contact his office with questions and concerns. Danvilles wintry precipitation ended late Monday, with sleet and freezing rain transitioning to rain in the evening, according to the National Weather Service. Its going to be a messy situation over the next few days, thats for sure, said Blacksburg meteorologist James Murrow. Murrow said sleet and freezing rain would continue off and on until about 4 p.m. Monday. Then, rain would take over Monday evening, with a chance of more rain until late Tuesday. Until the rain begins, Murrow said roads will remain slick. Slick roads will be an issue as long as we stay below freezing at the surface, he said. The snow and ice closed schools in Danville and Pittsylvania County and left roadways void of traffic as most residents seemed to stay inside on the Presidents Day holiday. After temperatures climb above freezing, Murrow said standing water and some minor flooding could occur. Danville road crews began plowing main road around 9 p.m. Sunday, continuing throughout Monday. About 2.5 inches of snow fell on Danville on Sunday evening, according to public works director Richard Drazenovich. With main roads plowed in the morning, crews began plowing residential streets later Monday. We ask our residents and visitors not to park, when possible, on the streets, eliminating the chance of snowplow operators damaging vehicles and allowing for a quicker plowing operation, said Danville Public Information Officer Arnold Hendrix in a news release. Motorists are advised to limit travel and stay off the streets entirely if possible. Virginia Department of Transportation crews also worked on roads throughout Sunday night and Monday. VDOT spokesperson Paula Jones advised motorists to limit travel if possible. She also advised drivers to slow down, clear windows and lights of ice and snow and allow extra time for travel. Danvilles utilities director, Jason Grey, said in the release the storm has the potential to cause widespread power outages due to icy conditions. Outages can be reported to Danville Utilities at (434) 773-8300. It can cause major problems, Grey said. We urge our customers to make sure they have warm blankets, a radio, batteries and flashlights just in case the power goes out. Temperatures rebound Tuesday with highs in the 50s and continue that trend throughout the week. By Saturday and Sunday, temperatures may reach the lower 60s. A judge has tossed out one of five counts against a think-tank analyst charged with lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a flawed dossier about former President Donald Trump. The remaining counts against Igor Danchenko will go to a jury Monday after both sides rested their cases Friday. But the judge reserved the right to toss out the other four counts regardless of what the jury decides. In the count that was tossed out, prosecutors alleged that Danchenko lied when he told an agent he never talked with a Democratic operative named Charles Dolan about the information in the dossier. As it turns out, there was evidence that Dolan and Danchenko had discussed the information over email but hadn't spoken orally. The budget in both chambers is likely to focus on new spending for economic development, K-12 and higher education, and Medicaid waivers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Virginia lawmakers have a term to describe when everyone is agreement. They call it peace in the valley. But so far, the 2016 edition of the General Assembly has been anything but peaceful. Perhaps its the aftermath of a costly, often contentious legislative election that injected new blood into the ranks and fostered new ambitions for higher office. Or perhaps the prospect of Virginia as a partisan presidential battleground has intensified the stakes for both parties one of which controls the legislature, the other the executive branch. Whatever the case, the 60-day session, at its midpoint, has struck a decidedly discordant note in a variety of areas. Lawmakers have clashed publicly not just with their party opposites but with members of their own caucuses over judges, committee assignments, press access and even over a rare bipartisan agreement between Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican legislators on gun permit reciprocity and background checks. And while the top priority this session is agreement on a new, two-year, $109 billion budget, many issues remain in conflict as the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate sprint to complete work on their respective bills by Tuesday at midnight. Heres where some key issues stand: Abortion: A bill to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy failed to advance from a House of Delegates committee Friday. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would have imposed new restrictions on abortion based on theories about when fetuses become capable of feeling pain. Virginia law bans most abortions after the second trimester, or 27th week, except when the mothers health is at stake. Airbnb: With short-term lodging services such as Airbnb taking off in Virginia, lawmakers are looking to legitimize the industry by creating statewide regulations. The House has passed legislation to allow Airbnb to pay collective taxes on behalf of its operators while allowing local governments to enact some rules to prevent Airbnb rentals from becoming neighborhood nuisances. Supporters say the legislation would help the state harness the economic activity of an innovative industry. Some cities, including Roanoke and Williamsburg, have complained that the legislation supersedes local authority to establish neighborhood rules. The lodging industry has pushed for stronger regulation to level the playing field with existing hotels. The Senate is expected to take up the measure early this week. Budget: One near certainty in the pending two-year state budget is that it will not expand Virginias Medicaid program, despite McAuliffes third attempt to do so in as many years. The governor included expansion in the $109 billion budget he proposed in December, as well as ways to spend the estimated $157 million in state savings by taking advantage of billions of dollars in federal money available to Virginia to provide health coverage to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians. But Republicans in the House of Delegates have made clear they will not include Medicaid expansion in the budget proposal that will emerge from the Appropriations Committee on Sunday. Instead, the budget in both chambers is likely to focus on new spending for economic development; K-12 and higher education; and Medicaid waivers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The legislature will tackle budget policy on mental health, including a McAuliffe proposal to begin planning the closure of Catawba Hospital in Roanoke County, and the governors plan to reform the juvenile justice system by replacing two correctional centers with smaller, modern facilities. The legislature is not likely to endorse either plan as proposed, but the budget could lay the foundation for future reforms of the mental health and juvenile justice systems. Charter schools: Republican majorities in the House and Senate have pushed for constitutional amendments to encourage more charter schools. The House passed its version of the amendment and enabling legislation to place the issue on the November ballot; the Senate has delayed a final vote on its amendment and enabling legislation. Currently only local school boards can establish a public charter school, and only nine have been approved in the state. The amendments would let the state Board of Education authorize a charter school. COPN: The House voted Friday to advance two bills to revamp or dismantle the certificate of public need program and defeated one COPN bill. The state system requires big-ticket health care services and projects to go through a lengthy state application and approval process. Ethics: Senators last week advanced legislation from the Rules Committee that would make several significant changes to the conflict-of-interest ethics law passed last year. The new bill would exempt food and beverages from the gifts that must be disclosed and counted toward the $100 annual aggregate gift amount that lawmakers can accept from lobbyists and their principals. The new bill also would bar lobbyists from disclosing the name of any legislative or executive official, or a member of his family, if the official pays their own way at an event that is subject to being reported. The legislation, which the Senate takes up this week, also amends the number of filings lawmakers and lobbyists must make and raises the threshold on gifts that must be reported or counted toward the cap. Expungement: The Senate passed legislation that would allow offenders under age 21 with simple marijuana or alcohol possession charges the chance to expunge the crime from their record five years after fulfilling requirements of their sentence. The bill, which is heading to the House, is aimed at removing roadblocks to employment and educational advancement for people who commit minor crimes when they are young. FOIA: Bills limiting access through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act largely have succeeded, while those seeking greater access have failed. A bill the Senate passed Friday would remove the names of public employees from salary database requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. Supporters say it is necessary to protect government workers from identity theft. Critics say it would make government less open and transparent. GO Virginia: McAuliffe has proposed $39 million in the budget, including about $13 million in savings from Medicaid expansion, to endow a new state and regional blueprint for economic development called the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Act, or GO Virginia. Both chambers have approved legislation to create a state fund and governing board, as well as regional councils that would be able to make grants for collaborative projects proposed by two or more localities. The initiative is backed by corporate muscle from the Virginia Business Higher Education Council and McGuireWoods Consulting. The question is whether spending on GO Virginia will replace other economic development programs in the budget that the money committees have begun to question because of the growth in state spending to attract new and expanded businesses under McAuliffe and his Republican predecessor, Gov. Bob McDonnell. Gun deal: In perhaps the most surprising action of the session, McAuliffe and Republican leaders announced a bipartisan gun deal. It is expected to lead to the passage of safety measures long blocked by the legislature while reversing a crackdown on concealed-carry permits that sparked outrage among gun-rights activists. The compromise requires the state to recognize concealed carry permits from almost every state. Thats a sharp reversal from Attorney General Mark R. Herrings announcement in December that the state would end recognition for 25 states with looser permitting rules than Virginia. The deal also requires the state police to be at every gun show to perform voluntary background checks for unlicensed sellers and requires domestic abusers to give up their guns after conviction or face a felony charge. Both sides have hailed the deal as a historic breakthrough. Gun-control advocates have been less enthusiastic, and some of McAuliffes former allies have launched advertising campaigns accusing him of wavering in his dedication to gun safety. McAuliffe says the deal makes progress toward making Virginians safer. The legislative package enacting the deal has sailed through both chambers, which will now look to reconcile House and Senate bills. LGBT, religious freedom: Democratic lawmakers introduced a slew of bills to codify anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community. Republicans advanced bills that seek to give people who have a sincerely held religious belief the choice not to provide marriage services to same-sex couples. A religious freedom bill narrowly advanced from the Senate, as did bills banning discrimination against the LGBT community in housing and government employment, by wider margins. A House committee defeated a bill that would have required people to use restrooms in schools and public buildings that correspond to their biological gender. The House also tabled another measure that would have prevented local governments from enacting anti-LGBT discrimination policies. A House committee has advanced to the floor a bill that would prevent any government entity from taking action against a person, organization or business that denies services based upon a sincerely held religious belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman who were of opposite sexes at birth. Proffers: Both chambers have passed bills that would bring major changes to the way local governments negotiate with residential developers to offset the costs of population growth. The legislation would limit sharply localities ability to seek cash payments and other concessions from developers during the rezoning process. The Home Builders Association of Virginia has characterized it as a way to restore fairness to a system localities have abused to pad their coffers and micromanage architectural designs. Several fast-growing suburban localities, including the Richmond regions largest counties, have said the legislation would minimize community input and could lead to tax increases if builders cant be forced to help pay for roads, parks and schools and other infrastructure tied to their developments. Henrico County, which uses proffers to seek architectural changes but does not request cash payments, has been particularly aggressive in fighting the legislation. The county appears to have won a significant amendment to the bill to have the new restrictions imposed on cash proffers but not architectural proffers. Roush: Friday marked the end of McAuliffes second interim appointment for state Supreme Court Justice Jane Marum Roush. Republicans do not have the 21st vote they need to elect the judge they want to succeed her, Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. of the Court of Appeals. That raises the prospect that McAuliffe will give Roush another interim appointment when the legislature adjourns. The General Assembly session is scheduled to end March 12. Tolling: The governor defused a political confrontation over plans to put tolls on Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia by reaching an agreement with a bipartisan coalition of legislators in both chambers to allow the plans to proceed, while accelerating a plan to widen the interstate inside the Capital Beltway. The fight over I-66 had statewide implications for transportation funding, because state officials said the plan to relieve congestion inside the Beltway, primarily with increased mass transit options, is critical to a $2.1 billion plan to widen the interstate for almost 23 miles outside of the Beltway the top-ranked transportation priority in the state. The General Assembly also is wrestling with legislation proposed by Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, to establish a statewide policy on tolling that generally would require General Assembly approval before tolls could be imposed on existing highways. Exceptions include tolls on lanes now open only to high-occupancy vehicles during rush hour, such as I-66; and roads that were opened as toll roads, such as Pocahontas Parkway in the Richmond area. But prohibitions would remain against tolls on Interstate 95 south of Fredericksburg or on Interstate 81. The legislation is pending in the House; an identical proposal in the Senate died in committee. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenias peacekeeping brigade is the structure which will be fin future the basis for the establishment of a professional army, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said on the occasion of Armenian Armed Forces new academic year, during the ceremonial meeting. Brigade of peacekeeping forces is mainly staffed by professionals. You must not start a new way to absorb everything that is necessary to defend the homeland during each new academic year but need to add your skills to previously acquired skills. This means Armenian peacekeeping forces' brigade is the structure which will serve as a basis for establishing a professional army, the minister mentioned, Armenpress reports. According to him, the modern geopolitical developments in the region, security environment around Armenia and the threats which exist not only make to form national security guarantees , but also to provide security system by combination of international guarantees. Seyran Ohanyan added that our peacekeeping brigade has its big role and significance in the mentioned case. Seyran Ohanyan considers this day symbolic as a few years ago, on February 15, all Soviet Unions subdivisions, which were realizing a task in Afghanistan, were taken out from that country. But today our peacekeeping forces, along with united forces and security agencies of other countries, are conducting a big mission ensuring peace and stability for the Afghan people in this region. Being in places for numerous times, where Armenian peacekeepers performed their service, I only felt pride, I felt that every day, every year our reputation and significance of the Armenian peacekeeping forces increases and it is based on you, together with your commanders, Seyran Ohanyan concluded. The Armenian peacekeepers joined the NATO peacekeeping mission in February 2004. The Armenian peacemakers conducted missions at the American and Greece Armed Forces staff in Kosovo, from January 2005 until October 2008 as part of the Polish multinational division in Iraq and from January-February 2010, at the German Armed Forces staff in Afghanistan. The 32-member platoon of peacekeepers, from 26 November 2014, has been conducting peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, at the UNIFIL mission staff, under the Italian command. The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia participates in the peacemaking mission, in Mali since 2015. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb 15, 2016) - Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PGE)(FRANKFURT:5D31) (the "Company" or "Group Ten") announces that the Company has entered debt settlement agreements with creditors to settle $888,045.52 of outstanding debt by way of a write-off and the issuance of 9,382,874 common shares. A total of $723,287.39 of debt will be settled at $0.10 per share while a further $107,500.00 will be settled at $0.05 per share, including $47,000 of debt owed to Michael Rowley and MVR Consulting, a company controlled by Michael Rowley, President and CEO of the Company. In addition Mr. Rowley is writing off $57,258.13 in debt owed to him by the Company. The settlements are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, and settlement shares will be subject to a four-month hold period. The settlements will not create a new control person holding more than 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of the company. For further information, visit the corporate website at www.grouptenmetals.com or contact Corporate Communications at info@grouptenmetals.com. About Group Ten Metals Inc. Group Ten Metals Inc. is a mineral exploration company with a particular focus on deposits of platinum group metals (PGM), nickel, copper and gold. The Company is specifically focused on the Kluane Ultramafic Belt in the southwest Yukon Territory where it controls the premier land position in this emerging world-class PGM district including properties adjoining Wellgreen Platinum Ltd.'s Wellgreen deposit. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Group Ten Metals Inc. Michael Rowley, President & Director Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission. Heston Blumenthal is popping up in Melbourne. Photo: Simon Schluter Foodies will rejoice at news celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal will return to Melbourne in March with four pop-up restaurants. The "Hidden Heston" restaurants will pop up for one night only in separate secret locations across the city, with each offering a "unique dining experience". But fans who paid $525 plus drinks for a seat at the two Michelin star Fat Duck restaurant during its short stay last year might choke on their snail porridge and meat fruit, because this time the menu will be absolutely free of charge. Lucky diners will have to solve clues posted on MasterChef Australia's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts to find out where each restaurant is. The clues will drop just before the restaurant doors open. Each will offer a "unique dining experience". Blumenthal, who stars in Channel Ten's popular MasterChef series, said Melbourne had become "like a second home" since he opened his Dinner by Heston restaurant late last year. "Coming on MasterChef Australia over the years has always been amazing fun, but this time, out of the studio and into this great foodie city that I love, popping up with MasterChef Australia, is even more exciting," he said. Blumenthal temporarily brought his world-renowned Fat Duck restaurant to Crown Casino last February. It was a roaring success, with 15,000 cashed-up foodies enjoying a seat at the table during its six-month residency. An astounding 300,000 people applied to the ballot, with some tickets ending up on the black market at even higher prices. After the Fat Duck packed up and flew back to the UK, Blumenthal opened Dinner by Heston. SHARE New GM for Foster Communciations Foster Communications President and Chief Executive Officer Fred M. Key announced the naming of Michael Holderle to the position of General Manager Sales Manager for the San Angelo company. We are excited to bring Michael on board, said Key. He brings a whole new level of professionalism to our customers and clients as they seek consultancy and partnership in their marketing efforts. His experience and expertise fits the model for the way Foster Communications will be moving into the future. Holderle began his career in 1986 in St. Louis, Missouri and followed that with stints in Dallas and San Antonio. Most recently, he owned and managed his own consulting firm working mostly with Entravision. Holderle also developed and co-founded the Unidos Digital Network. He also brings a wealth of experience with The Arbitron Company where he developed radio sales training programs, with Katz National Rep Firm and with Univision Radio National Sales, a news release from Foster said. Holderle also gained experience along the way with ABC Radio Networks and others in Dallas and San Antonio. Foster Communications Company, Inc., locally owned and operated, is the parent company of KIXY-FM, KKSA-AM, KCLL-FM and KWFR-FM. Masons help kids with dental care First-graders at many area elementary schools were recently given free prevent-tooth decay kits through the Fantastic Teeth Fan Club. Members of San Angelo Masonic Lodge and Concho Masonic Lodge, led by King Walker, assembled and delivered more than 400 dental hygiene kits to the schools in San Angelo, Irion County and Water Valley independent school districts. Prevent tooth decay kits contain a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, healthy teeth sticker, two-minute brushing timer, Tips for Healthy Teeth educational info for parents in both Spanish and English and a summary of Mason-sponsored services. Tooth decay is the single most common chronic childhood disease five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever, according to Oral Health In America: A Report of the Surgeon General. "Poor children are affected by this epidemic more frequently than other children, with nearly 12 times more restricted-activity days due to dental issues than children from higher-income families," the report states. Masonic Home and School of Texas is a nonprofit with a history of helping children across Texas for more than 100 years. Contact MHS at 877-203-9111, info@mhstx.org or through mhstx.org. New businesses up 4%, state reports AUSTIN Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos announced 14,281 new business formations were filed in his office in January, a 4 percent increase from last year. "The increase of new businesses formed in the state reflects a belief that Texas is still a great state for business," Cascos said. "I applaud all the entrepreneurs and business leaders continuing to invest in and grow the Texas economy." The 14,281 certificates filed by the secretary of state formed new Texas for-profit and professional corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships and professional associations. The year-over-year growth for January echoes the overall trend in 2015. Last year 165,026 businesses were formed in Texas, an almost 5 percent increase from 2014. The bulk of new formations for 2015, about 82 percent, were limited liability companies, with a total of 135,250 certificates of formation filed. Business contest moves to next level Eight of the 19 entrepreneurs who entered the San Angelo Business Plan Competition have been chosen to advance to the competition's second round and to vie for the top prize of $15,000 in cash plus in-kind products and services. The entries were in the fields of manufacturing, technology and service business. The competition was open to entrepreneurs looking to launch local startup businesses and existing business owners who are creating new ventures as separate entities. The eight semifinalists will submit a draft business plan that includes an operations plan, market and financial analyses, a sales strategy and a management profile by March 21. Those selected will move to Phase III, involving a final business plan, which will be due by April 18. Winners will be announced April 27. The competition is being coordinated by the SBDC, The Business Factory and ASU's College of Business. Pancakes to be served in fundraiser The San Angelo IHOP will participate in the company's National Pancake Day by serving free pancakes March 8. Restaurant guests will be welcome to a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes on that Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and also welcome to leave behind a donation for their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Shriners Hospital for Children and other local charities. Last yea, IHOP restaurants served 6.6 million free pancakes which would have created a stack nearly 19 miles high and raised $3.5 million for children's charities. "Every pancake we give away has a purpose on National Pancake Day," said Darren Rebelez, International House of Pancakes president. "Through the generosity of our guests and the hard work and commitment of our franchisees and their team members, we will help fund lifesaving treatment and care for children in need." For more information on National Pancake Day, visit www.ihoppancakeday.com. Energy producers name new leaders The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers announced some administrative changes last week. John James Tintera, who has been a consultant with the Alliance since 2012, has been appointed executive vice president of government relations. He will be based in Austin. Gloria Leal has been named general counsel, and Bill Stevens will serve as chief lobbyist. Both are based in Austin. James M. Wortham has been hired as director of membership services for North Texas. He will be based in Fort Worth. Brown Bag Series will offer strategies The ASU-SBDC, Chamber of Commerce and The Business Factory (part of the Concho Valley Center for Entrepreneurial Development) have teamed up to provide entrepreneurs and business owners an informative speaker series called the Business Brown Bag Series. The next event will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Chamber Riverview Room, 418 W. Ave. B, with the topic "Financial Strategies for Small Business." The presentation is planned about how small business can improve cash flow, work to budget more efficiently and plan for success in the economic climate of 2016. The speaker will be Pamela Venable, owner of Strategic Business Solutions. This event is free and open to the public with an RSVP. Optional box lunches are available for $7. To find out more about this seminar or to RSVP please call 325-655-4136. More information about the Business Brown Bag series can be found at angelo.edu/bbb. Seminar to give tips on firm's narrative The training event "How to Write Your Business Plan Part I: Focus on the Narrative" is set for 3 p.m. Wednesday at no cost at the ASU-SBDC at 69 N. Chadbourne St. "A good business plan can save a business thousands of dollars in the long run and is a great way to avoid common pitfalls in the startup stage of any business venture," said training coordinator Dezaray Johnson, of the ASU-SBDC. This seminar is part one of a two-part business plan series. Part one will focus on the business outline, writing proper narrative and more. Part two will focus on how to create proper financials for your business plan. The speaker is Dave Erickson, MBA director of Small Business Development Center and certified business adviser. Advance registration is requested for this free event by calling 325-942-2098 or at sbdc.angelo.edu. Drilling permits fall more than half AUSTIN The Railroad Commission of Texas issued 510 original drilling permits in January compared with 1,102 in January 2015. The January total included 425 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, five to re-enter plugged well bores and 80 for re-completions of existing well bores. The breakdown of well types for those permits issued January 2016 included 141 oil, 41 gas, 282 oil or gas, 35 injection, two service and nine other permits. In January 2016, commission staff processed 951 oil, 197 gas, 52 injection and four other completions compared to 1,450 oil, 344 gas, 198 injection and five other completions in January 2015. Total well completions for 2016 year to date are 1,204 down from 1,997 recorded during the same period in 2015. According to Baker Hughes Inc., the Texas rig count as of Feb. 5 was 262, representing about 46 percent of all active rigs in the United States. SHARE By Rashda Khan The San Angelo City Council will start its meetings at 8:30 a.m. a half-hour earlier than before in an attempt to finish in a timely manner and Tuesday it has a packed agenda. In anticipation of having designated dog parks in San Angelo by later this year, city staff is introducing related ordinances. The proposed ordinances address visitor responsibilities, dog behavior, liability issues, general rules and penalties. According to the agenda material regarding Sec. 9.02.010 Designated Dog Parks, violators could be charged with misdemeanor and fined up to $500 while repeat offenders could be barred from the dog parks. General rules for visitors and their dogs: 1. Obey dog park hours, which are from sunrise to sunset daily unless otherwise closed for maintenance or after inclement weather events. 2. Obey all other rules that govern city of San Angelo parks. 3. Stay within the park and within the view of the dog at all times. No person shall bring into an off leash area: 1. A dangerous dog as defined by Section 822.041 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, as amended. 2. A female dog in heat. 3. More than two dogs at a time. 4. A dog that is not currently registered, vaccinated and spayed or neutered in compliance with Chapter 3 of this Code. Rules of Conduct for Any person bringing a dog into a designated dog park: 1. Keep their dog(s) in the appropriate area as designated by signs. 2. Dispose of all fecal matter in the appropriate container. 3. Carry a visible leash at all times. 4. Keep the dog(s) under voice control at all times. 5. Remove any dog showing any sign of aggression toward any person or animal immediately. 6. Remove any dog excessively barking. Prohibitions 1. Sick animals 2. Professional training 3. Spike or pinch collars 4. Food for humans or dogs, including treats 5. Children under age 10 6. Children between the ages of 10 and 16 years unaccompanied by a responsible adult. 7. Children chasing or otherwise taunting or harassing dogs within the park. Visitor Acknowledgment The use of a designated dog park by any dog constitutes: 1. Implied consent of the owner, harborer or person having care, custody or control of the dog to comply with all conditions and regulations stated in this section or posted at the dog park site. 2. Acknowledgment that visitors are solely responsible for damage and injury caused by their dog. 3. A waiver of liability to the city by the owner, harborer or person having care, custody or control of the dog and an agreement to protect, indemnify, defend and hold harmless, for any injury or damage caused by the dog during any time that the dog is in the designated dog park. Other items The council will also consider several items involving the San Angelo Police Department: Authorization for the city manager to hire design services related to renovating the First Financial Bank Building into a new police station. Authorization to apply for a $34,000 grant. A resolution supporting the SAPD's Law Enforcement Training Academy, and Discussion, and possible action, regarding policies or ordinances related to registered sex offenders living within the city limits. SHARE By Denise Morris of the San Angelo Standard-Times An updated map of Interstate 14 superimposed over existing roadways of Texas including a potential route through San Angelo was recently released by the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway System. However, the decision that would change the face and function of the city lay in congressional hands and will remain a while in coming. "No time frame is known at this time," said Phil Neighbors, the late president of the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce, in an earlier interview. "It's moving slowly but surely." The Interstate 14 project, in the dream stages for 15 years by the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition Inc., was approved by Congress in December. Known as "ports to forts," its imaginary lines extend over 1,000 miles across Texas, stretching eastward from Sonora to Fort Polk in Louisiana, and northward from Corpus Christi to Fort Hood. Further congressional action will be needed to add U.S. 87/state Highway 158, which runs from Brady to Midland, to the I-14 Central Texas Corridor as a connection to I-20. Another potential segment is an alternate connection to I-10, extending from U.S. 190 west of Menard to Sonora. The designated Central Texas Corridorwould begin in West Texas and generally follow U.S. 190 through Killeen, Belton, Bryan-College Station, Huntsville, Livingston, Woodville and Jasper before terminating on state Highway 63 at the Sabine River. Congress will ultimately decide whether I-14 will head west from U.S. 190 via I-20, through San Angelo and Midland, or via I-10, through Sonora. The Texas Department of Transportation tries to maintain the existing footprint as much as possible, said Gary Bushell, consultant with the coalition. "We want to cooperate with the wishes of local people," he said. "TxDOT wants to build roads where local people want roads, and we want to do the same thing." Neighbors, then-president of the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce until his death Feb. 3, spoke highly of the potential for positive growth from the I-14 project. "Interstate designations and their construction years later have positive economic consequences for communities along those routes," Neighbors said. Signs are placed along the roadways designating the future interstate, he said. "As segments are improved to four-lane divided status, traffic and commerce begin to increase. This 'ports to forts' I-14 proposal would increase the east-west traffic through San Angelo, not only improving access for existing and future businesses but allowing more through-travelers an opportunity to discover San Angelo." The north-south improvements in recent years facilitated by ports to Plains improvements, such as the four-lane divided north from here through the Panhandle, have helped create jobs and commerce in San Angelo, Neighbors said. "I-14 will also have a great impact on our area if it is routed through here going northwest to Midland," he said. The I-14 corridor designation amendment was sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Texas Sen. John Cornyn. It was authored and presented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Brian Babin, of Woodville, with support from Blake Farenthold, of Corpus Christi, both members of the House Transportation Committee. "This major milestone in the improvement of transportation in Texas would not have been possible without the determined support of Sen. Cornyn, Congressman Babin and Congressman Farenthold," said John Thompson, chairman of the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition. The Strategic Highway Coalition works toward highway improvements that will improve access between major U.S. Army installations at Fort Bliss, Fort Hood and Fort Polk and the Texas strategic deployment seaports that support them the Port of Corpus Christi and the Port of Beaumont. A feasibility study of upgrading the U.S. 190 corridor prepared for the Texas Department of Transportation and completed in 2012 set the stage for designation of future Interstate 14 improvements by Congress. It recognized the benefits of a high-volume east-west highway that would serve a vast section of Texas between Interstate 20 and Interstate 10. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. 15 persons, 12 out of which are women, were detained over the case of attack on Turkish-Armenian family in Istanbuls Sisli district, Armenpress reports citing Agos newspaper. After questioning in the prosecutor's office, the court made decision on the arrest of 3 detainees: Arthur A., Aram E., and Sergey B. 12 women were released under judicial control condition. Seta Ayda Demirci and Hagop Yakup Demirci were attacked on February 6 in their house on Cumhuriye Street in Sisli. Given the fact that the valuables in the house were stolen, it was thought that this is a robbery. However, Seta Ayda Demirci and Hagop Yakup Demirci were tied with hogtie and it seemed this might be a hate crime. Attacked by 3 people, Hagop Yakup Demirci was suffocated. Seta Ayda Demirci was slightly injured in the attack and discharged from the hospital on February 7. After the crime Turkish police made investigation to identify the attackers. Law Enforcement Officials were able to identify the criminals faces by the records of the areas cameras. It also turned out that the three persons, who carried out the attack, hired a car and travelled from Istanbul to Trabzon. It is here that the police arrested them. The criminals aimed at fleeing from Trabzon to Georgia with the theft. 5 persons who assisted them in several cases were also arrested. Trabzon Chief Public Prosecutor's Office shared a statement that 8 suspects (5 women and 3 men), are Armenia citizens on February 10. Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the information that there are Armenians among the detained suspects. Ability to provide consular assistance is limited by the absence of diplomatic relations, Armenian MFA spokesperson Tigran Balayan said. One of the relatives of Demirci family informed Agos they still do not know the cause of Hagop Yakup Demircis death. We can know about that after the medical examination, but the process will take 1.5 months, relative said. How Big Government, Big Business Stifle Cyberdefense Innovation Think Like a Hacker Protecting Innovation with Innovation Where the Cybersecurity Industry Went Wrong What a Cyberattack Looks Like When I spoke on the need for cybersecurity innovation at the January ITEXPO conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., I sensed something interesting about my cybersecurity colleagues: They don't seem to care about innovation; they care about having a job in cybersecurity.Unfortunately, this is a normal reaction, and has plagued both government and industry, leading to inferior cybersecurity products and deployments that may never catch up with the hacker -- unless we change our thinking.The difference between a hacker and cybersecurity companies is that a hack has no brand, no national loyalty, no secure employment. Hackers immediately use or develop for their purposes the best hacking technology out there. It is this same innovative thinking we must use in approaching our cyber defense technologies.One of the most difficult challenges in offering superior technologies to big government and big business is the massive amount of bureaucracy you must penetrate. As a cyberdefense expert and adviser, I know how to choose the best technologies while addressing the hurdles of bureaucracy. Like the hacker, I have no brands, bosses or bureaucrats influencing my objective selection (though I do admit to national loyalty as an American). I can focus on correcting cybersecurity problems and find the best in defense technologies to address them.I have discovered that government and business are sometimes their own worst enemies. While government decisions are sometimes based on confusing politics, industry makes decisions based on a technology's return on investment or a corporate purchase that has now made a technology part of their company. This type of thinking not only delays needed new cyberdefense technologies from getting in, but can cause old technologies to be used due to political and business decisions. These inferior technologies are known and hackers can already can penetrate them. A perfect example of this was the U.S. Office of Personnel ( OPM) data breach and the solution of the problem ( EINSTEIN ) that is plagued itself with problems. We need to find better ways of offering quicker technical responses to cyberdefense technologies or hackers will always be one step ahead.Today if you are offering even an urgently needed technology there are two main factors that will give you road blocks. Government is making political decisions and industry is making monetary decisions. This is the worst place to be when offering a disruptive technology but is exactly where I have been in the last few years. I use a simple formula in addressing these road blocks. One is know your problem and predict how big it will become. My past articles written over a period of five years given me a discipline of putting my name on not only disclosing the problem but offering some suggested solutions to the massive weaknesses were are facing in cyber defense. With limit resources this is difficult but I have had the luxury of standing back from politics and business and staying focused on the problem and the fix just like a hacker focuses on getting in.Now, you can't disregard the reality of politics and business, but you must surround yourself with people who excel at such things so you can maintain your focus on correcting problems. This approach has allowed me to surrounded myself with the best in both technology and business.In an article inby President Barack Obama titled, " Protecting U.S. Innovation From Cyberthreats ," both the cyber attack threats and the immediacy in addressing these threats was clear. The presidents analogy that, government IT is like an Atari game in an Xbox world," was a perfect example of how much catch-up is required by the federal government when it comes to cyberdefense systems.In fact, the president is pushing a new Cybersecurity National Action Plan that includes $3 billion to kick-start an overhaul of federal computer systems. This is the right move to stop the bleeding. But let's go back to the hacker: All the employment and training in the world cannot stop a hacker's millisecond attack. People don't think in milliseconds; technology does. We need to find technologies that can proactively defend in milliseconds, or we will lose our defense capabilities to the first strike capabilities of hackers. This can be done, but will require big changes in our current cyberdefense technologies; we cannot continue using the patch and pray cyberdefense systems we employ today.The reason hackers can hack in the first place is that the 3rd- and 4th-generation software used today can be exploited because it was made to connect and automate things -- not view or secure digital processes. The code and algorithms are, by nature, vulnerable to attacks. And new cyberdefense techniques such as analytics and business intelligence software may actually be adding to the prevalence of cyberattacks as they also run on 3rd- and 4th-generation software. In fact, my colleagues and I have been warning that security software's use of analytics and business intelligence software will be the next attack targets. Why steal a database when you just hack the analytics and business intelligence software to see what a company is doing? We can't continue this way. We need a true paradigm shift in cyberdefense technologies.There is a great article in thecalled, "A History Internet Security ." It gives a great snapshot of where we started with Internet security and why we have the problems we do. The lack of security was intentional. No one thought the Internet would get so big or be used in so many ways. Interestingly enough, the reason the Internet was first developed was to create a survivable network even if an atomic war occurred. The survivable network was a great idea. Offering little to no security was not.As an independent adviser I have worked with some of the best in both technology and business. Together we have seen the problems and have again and again come back with confidence to the same solution. First and foremost, we need to understand that cyberdefense is just the viewing and auditing of selected security policies in milliseconds for a specific process. It is validating what we want to happen, not what we don't want to happen. This is how we can protect critical systems and intellectual property residing on the Internet.The entire cybersecurity industry has been looking at cyberdefense in the wrong way and frankly has used the wrong technologies in the wrong place when addressing it. To clarify the needed changes we must make in cyberdefense technologies, my colleague Tom Boyle, CEO of On Point Cyber, Inc. , commented on what the problems are, what changes must be made and how they should be implemented.The proliferation of big data, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and mobile devices has created an intrusion detection environment that challenges current information security practices, if for no other reason than sheer volume of data. Detecting intrusion is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Government and corporate leaders echo the need for a fundamentally different approach to cybersecurity, capable of sustaining the pace of cyber threats, while detecting intrusions at machine speed.We see an information security transformation to the process side of information technologies, and work with companies who develop these capabilities, 5GL visual languages of logic with autonomic modeling of system operations for immediate reactive cyber security. Through these technologies, the cybersecurity playing field is leveled, so defenders can stop attackers within milliseconds, at the point of attack.Fortunately for the United States, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have spearheaded cooperative research and development between private and government sectors, to readily identify and adopt new and emerging tools to secure our most critical cyber infrastructures. Now it is time to get it done.The trouble with hacking is twofold: We dont see it, and we dont understand how damaging it is. So first and foremost, we need to find a different word for "hacking." It is too nice a term given the devastation it causes.I grew up in Harper Woods, Mich., and lived one block away from Detroit and one block away from Grosse Pointe Farms -- my small city sat between these two vastly different communities. The satellite photo below shows these two communities: The left depicts the complete demolition of entire neighborhoods that were knocked down for the copper in the walls. Those living on the right side -- with which my small community aligned -- didnt steal, nor would we let people who stole into our neighborhood. We had a good police force, but frankly, the old ladies were the enforcers: By the ear, they would walk the intruder right back to his house. Basic defense, but quite effective.Cyberdefense is the right side of the picture. Cyber war or cyber offense is stealing back and forth, which in the end offers no gross national product until there is nothing left to steal. That is the left side of the picture. This is a picture of just millions lost over many years. Last year, in the private sector alone, British insurance company Lloyds projected that more than $400 billion was lost due to cyber attacks Anybody got a picture for that? Monza, the historic host of the Italian grand prix, is still facing an uncertain future on the annual F1 calendar. While recently it seemed funding problems had been solved due to a law tweak, it emerged last week that the latest meeting between race organisers and Bernie Ecclestone did not go well. Roberto Maroni, the regional Lombardy president, admits that a deal is not yet done. "There can be no formula one without Monza, as I have reiterated to Ecclestone along with thousands of (petition) signatures," he is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Now we have to go the final mile to make sure history continues as it should." Maroni said the region is highly supportive of the race and the fabled Autodromo Nazionale circuit, so "I hope this commitment can convince Ecclestone to put his signature on the renewal in the coming weeks". F1 supremo Ecclestone told Reuters that he has set an end-of-February deadline. "I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "It's a little bit Italian at the moment. "There's no deadline. They can take as long as they like, provided it's by the end of this month," the 85-year-old added. Meanwhile, amid similar uncertainty about the future of the historic British grand prix, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reports that Jaguar Land Rover is close to buying Silverstone for $36 million. A member of the circuit-owning club BRDC told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt: "No one can be 100 per cent sure that (it) will get the go-ahead but from what we are hearing there is a potential upside of what is being proposed." (GMM) Most read of the week YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan signed a decree extending term of office of head of the Civil Service board Boris Arushanyan for a 6 year period. Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Artsakhs Presidents office that according to another Presidential decree, director of the Kashatagh region's Berdzor town library Sona Hoveyan was awarded with the ''Gratitude'' medal for a long-term fruitful service in the field of library science. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Two police officers were killed and twelve others were injured when a car exploded at a police post in southern Dagestan, a spokesman for the local Health Ministry said on February 15, Armenpress reports. "Two were killed. Nine were injured, two of them seriously," the spokesman said adding that the injured persons have been sent to a hospital in the town of Dagestanskiye Ogni. Dagestans Interior Ministry said earlier two police officers were killed and two others were injured. The blast occurred at 9.05 a.m. local time at a police post in the Derbentsky district when officers stopped a Priora car for checks. "As a result, two police officers were killed and two others were hospitalized with wounds," the ministry said. A source in the North Caucasus republics law enforcement agencies earlier said the blast was believed to be the act of a suicide bomber, TASS reports. Updated at 9:34 a.m. The public hearing to be held at 10 a.m. at GTCC has been canceled due to the winter weather. GREENSBORO The public gets its chance today to offer comments about what the states Congressional district boundaries should look like in light of a court ruling that struck down the 1st and 12th Congressional districts as illegal gerrymandering. After years of litigation, a panel of three federal judges recently struck down as racially biased the congressional-district map initially drawn in 2011 by the Republican-led General Assembly. And last week that panel, including U.S. District Judge William Osteen Jr. of Greensboro, reaffirmed its order for legislators to fix it by Friday. State government lawyers immediately filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the order, arguing it could cause chaos during a Congressional election year. But state legislators are not taking chances, and last week they created the bipartisan Committee on Congressional Redistricting, which will meet this morning at 10 a.m. in Raleigh, along with six other public hearings throughout the state beginning at the same time. Todays public hearing site for the Triad will be the Medlin Campus Center on Guilford Technical Community Collegess Jamestown campus, off East Main Street, in the Guilford Room. At issue is the extent to which, if at all, the Republican-led redistricting effort five years ago unlawfully packed excessive numbers of African American voters into two, oddly shaped districts the 1st, to the Triads northeast, and the 12th, which extends from Charlotte through various parts of the Triad, including sections of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem. U.S. Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro represents the 12th District, and U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield of Wilson represents the 1st District. Both are Democrats and African Americans. And both districts stretch into odd contortions so that the population of voting age residents is more than 50 percent African American. A study by Duke University mathematicians and computer scientists recently suggested that North Carolina should have far more than the current three Democrats out of 13 in its Congressional delegation. They used computer modeling to create hundreds of different sample districts that met the basic requirements of equal population and relatively compact design. Then they ran the 2012 voting results through 500 simulated elections to find that even with two districts designed for African American candidates to succeed, the Democrats never ended up with only three of the 13 seats. State Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Greensboro), an appointee to the new redistricting committee, said he believes the current maps are fair and reasonable, but he supports redistricting reform. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Georgia will officially implement a visa-free regime for Iranian citizens from February 15, Armenpress reports, citing Georgia Today, Georgias Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release. Iranian citizens will be allowed to stay in Georgia, visa-free for up to 45 days. Abbas Talebifar, Irans ambassador to Georgia, emphasized that visa-free travel will be a major boost to free trade between the two countries. Georgia plans to restore direct flights between Tbilisi and Tehran later this year. Economy and Suitable Development Minister Dimitri Kumsishvili announced on February 15 that Iranian airlines have already applied to Georgias Civil Aviation Agency to receive permission to carry out flights to Tbilisi. This promotes the tourist flow into the market, which we desperately need. As soon as the (air) companies provide all of the necessary documentswe will grant them the right to operate, Kumsishvili said, adding that potential flight schedules are still under consideration. Georgia and Iran signed an agreement on visa-free travel in November 2010 during a visit by Tehrans then-foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki. The agreement came into force in January 2011 and envisaged reciprocal visa-free travel for up to 45 days for both Georgian and Iranian citizens. However, in July 2013, Georgia unilaterally cancelled the agreement and suspended direct flights between Tbilisi and Tehran as part of a series of measures tied to sanctions levied against Iran by the international community. Motorola started rolling out Android 6.0 to the Moto G (3rd gen) back in December. The update first arrived in the United States and Canada, with units in India getting it last month. Now, the device has started receiving the update in Europe, too. What's worth mentioning here is that it's not exactly the same update that rolled out in other regions. The software version it carries is 24.41.33.en.EU, which is newer when compared to the 24.11.25.en.US version it carried in the US and India. Unfortunately, it isn't yet known how the European update differs or exactly what new changes it brings along. The roll-out is ongoing, meaning you should receive an OTA notification soon. Alternatively, you can also manually check for the update by heading to your handset's settings. Via Chinese smartphone manufacture Meizu will likely unveil a new Ubuntu-powered phone at the Mobile World Congress next week. The company recently released a teaser that suggests the same, although it doesn't reveal anything specific about the device. If you recall, this is not the first time Meizu will be presenting an Ubuntu smartphone at MWC - back in 2014, the company showed off the Ubuntu MX3, and last year's MWC saw the company unveiling the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu. There's currently no official word on which Ubuntu-powered Meizu device we'll see at this year's MWC event, although reports say that the company could unveil the rumored Pro 5 Ubuntu Edition. The teaser shown above reveals that the handset will be on display beginning February 22, the day MWC 2016 kicks off. Via YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Health Ministry of the Republic of Armenia continues measures to prevent infiltration of Zika virus. Press service of the Ministry informed Armenpress about this in answer to the remark that Zika virus has been recorded in the Russian Federation. Considering the epidemical situation of Zika virus in the world, methodological directory has been confirmed by the Health Minister aimed at preventing the virus among the population of the Republic of Armenia. Other measures include poster reading Warning for tourists for avoiding Zika virus poster and reinforced sanitary control on border check-points. Key facts about the virus by WHO Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. People with Zika virus disease usually have a mild fever, skin rash (exanthema) and conjunctivitis. These symptoms normally last for 2-7 days. There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available. The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites. The virus is known to circulate in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. Vaccine against Zika virus has not been yet developed. It is advised that pregnant women avoid visiting countries where Zika is spread. Haiti - Diplomacy : The US Embassy welcomes the election of Jocelerme Privert In a statement, the US Embassy welcomes the election by the National Assembly of Jocelerme Privert as Provisional President of Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16595-haiti-flash-jocelerme-privert-provisional-president-of-haiti.html "[... This is the first step in implementing the accord signed February 5 by the President of the Republic and the Presidents of the two Chambers of Parliament, to ensure continued governance and the conclusion of the 2015 electoral process. The U.S. Embassy calls on all parties to work together to complete the presidential, legislative, and local elections by April 24, as the accord calls for, so that Haiti can renew its democratic institutions and move forward to address the serious social and development challenges facing the country." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16603-haiti-flash-installation-of-the-provisional-president-jocelerme-privert.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16533-haiti-politic-the-details-of-the-agreement-from-a-to-z.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping politics... Declaration of war by Arnel Belizaire Col. Himmler Rebu deplored on a radio station of the capital last week, the statements "unfortunate and regrettable" of the former Deputy Arnel Belizaire, who said "able to conquer the National Palace in 48 hours if 120 men armed join him..." Gerald Germain asks Privert to respect the agreement Gerald Germain, the Political Advisor of Jude Celestin, candidate for the presidency under the banner of the "League Alternative for the Emancipation of Haiti" (LAPEH), reminded the President a.i. Privert that his mandate was limited in time and asked him to respect the terms of the agreement of 6 February https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16533-haiti-politic-the-details-of-the-agreement-from-a-to-z.html whsoe he is one of the signatories, by creating favorable conditions for the continuation of the electoral process so that the people can freely choose their future leaders. Gerald Germain called for the establishment of the Evaluation Commission of electiosn of 25 October and the formation of a new Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16610-haiti-politic-limits-of-the-mandate-of-provisional-president.html Words of the Minister of Tourism "I welcome the new interim President of the Republic, HE Mr. Jocelerme Privert and his great willingness to provide his leadership to the service of Haiti," declared Stephanie Balmir Villdrouin, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries. Democracy view by the opposition Friday, on the eve of the election of the Provisional President of the Republic hundreds of Lavalas activists won the streets of the metropolitan area to provide their support to the candidacy of Jocelerme Privert. Andre Fadot, Head of the National Movement of the Opposition and Rony Timothee of the platform "Pitit Dessalin" participated in the march, threatening to attack the parliament building, if Privert not become provisional President of the Republic ! Promises of Jocelerme Privert Hours before his election, Jocelerme Privert assured that he was going to form a "government of consensus to inspire confidence and be able to create peace for the continuation of the electoral process." "We will continue to respect the Constitution and laws of the Republic. Democracy is a necessary choice, we can not deviate from them. It must and will be taught, transmitted to future generations," declared Sunday the head of the provisional government elected in the morning, during his installation. Michaelle Jean welcomes the election of Privert Michaelle Jean, the Secretary General of the International Francophone Organisation (OIF) "welcomes the election of a provisional president in Haiti, towards a democratic electoral process through dialogue." HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2016/02/14 | Source North Korea on Thursday severed all communication channels with South Korea, including military and Red Cross hotlines. Advertisement The move came the same day it expelled all South Korean staff and seized assets at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex and repeats a scenario from April 2013, when the complex was shut for about four months amid heightened military tensions. The military communication line served as a conduit for the two sides to exchange entry passes for South Korean staff at the industrial park. A Unification Ministry official warned the lack of communication channels could cause isolated provocations to "escalate into a big problem". North Korea in a statement said South Korea's decision Wednesday to shut down the Kaesong complex "severed the last lifeline of North-South relations". Seoul worries that North Korea may resort to fresh provocations when the UN Security Council decides on tougher sanctions against the North and South Korea and the U.S. hold their annual joint military drills in the next couple of months. Recent developments suggest that old military hardliners are in the ascendant in internal power struggles in the North, and its patterns of behavior are wearyingly familiar from the last days of former leader Kim Jong-il. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The EUs foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, asked Turkey on February 15 to stop its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend, Armenpress reports citing Associated Press. Only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities, Mogherini said. She said more fighting is obviously not what we expect. Syrian Kurdish the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) has been most effective in combating the Islamic State group, but Turkey appears uneasy over the groups recent gains. Turkey shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish group in northern Syria for a second day on February 14, drawing condemnation from the Syrian government, whose forces are advancing against insurgents in the same area under the cover of Russian airstrikes. The YPG is the main fighting force of Syrian Kurds and a key ally of the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group. Turkey, which is also in the alliance, considers it an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara. Korean Movie | 2015 Drama Directed by Cho Jung-rae () Written by Cho Jung-rae () 127min | Release date in South Korea: 2016/02/24 Links Crank in : 2015/04/15 Crank up : 2015/06/23 Synopsis Jeong-min, Yeong-hee and other girls similar to their young age are forcefully dragged to a service club by the Mokdan River and raped by Japanese soldiers. By the end of the war, Yeong-hee survives by herself and becomes an old lady. Through a sixteen year old exorcist who has a past like her, they both gather the souls of poor comfort girls who died on foreign land. Source Published on 2016/02/15 | Source American television host Conan O'Brien is surrounded by fans on arrival at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday. /Newsis Advertisement Conan O'Brien arrives at Incheon International Airport on Sunday. Over 1,000 Korean fans showed up at Incheon International Airport for the arrival of American television host Conan O'Brien on Sunday. O'Brien is recording a special episode of his talk show "Conan" in Seoul. His visit was prompted by letters a Korean teenage girl sent him with a box of Korean snacks. He said he would come here to personally thank her, and indeed met her at Incheon and took a selfie with her. He is also to hold a fan meet on Monday and shoot a segment in a folk village. Conan, as he is known to everyone, graduated from Harvard and hosted NBC's "Late Night Show" for 15 years from 1993. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) touched upon Azerbaijani sides shared statement as if 17-year old youngster was injured by the Armenian shot and called the aforementioned regular failed attempt of Azerbaijani propaganda. Armenpress was informed from the NKR Defense Ministrys Press Service that the statement particularly reads: The information, made up by the Azerbaijani propaganda machine and confirmed by the mentioned countrys Defense Ministry as if 17 year-old Joshgun Mammadov was wounded by the Armenian sides shot, does not correspond to reality. The Defense Armys vanguard units remain faithful to their principles and not only refrain from firing at peaceful civilians, particularly school-age young people, but also take preventive measures only in cases of extreme necessity. Hence, the information can be viewed as another failed attempt of the Azerbaijani propaganda. If HR wants to speak to the employees doctor, they must ensure they seek permission from the staff member (unless they are merely confirming that a medical certificate is authentic) and all sensitive medical information should be kept strictly confidential and not disclosed to other employees. However, HR can go further and require employees to provide medical reports and attend a medical examination where reasonable to confirm fitness for work, such as in labor-intensive industries. When faced with the employee who calls in sick on a regular basis, HR can insist on appropriate evidence to confirm the employees eligibility to take that sick leave. If the leave is regular, it may be a good idea to seek more information to exclude the possibility that the illness is work related and to see if there is anything the employer can do to facilitate a return to work, Marshall says. Although managing extensive sick leave can be headache for HR, Marshall cautions that firing sick employees is fraught with risk. It may be possible to terminate the employment if the employer has a proper basis to say the employee is not actually sick and is abusing sick leave, he says. This is very difficult to do in practice (see Anderson v Crown Melbourne Pty Ltd [2008] FMCA 152 for a successful example). Generally, an employer can terminate on incapacity grounds if the employee has exhausted all of their sick leave; and been away sick for an aggregate period of more than three months in any continuous 12 month period, Marshall says. However, employers must consider the specific circumstances, including whether further absences are likely and whether the employer can accommodate any ongoing disability, before terminating for incapacity. And if your worker refuses to provide a medical certificate for a chucking a suspected sickie HR needs to consider the circumstances and legal implications before considering punitive measures. Whether you can fire them will turn on their reasons for not providing the medical certificate, such as whether they provided other evidence and their specific contractual obligations, Marshall says. It may not have been possible or practicable to comply in the circumstances or there may be other reasons that would make termination harsh, unjust or unreasonable, he says. Marshall says there are various legal pitfalls employers should be mindful of when requesting evidence of illness and medical certificates. If employers do not regularly require employees to provide evidence to access sick leave then the reasons for changing this practice may be questioned, he says. Adverse action of this kind must not be taken for an unlawful reason. Failure to accept the evidence may also constitute unlawful adverse action. Notable court cases include Australian and International Pilots Association v Qantas Airways Ltd [2014] FCA 32, Qantas successfully resisted claims that requirements to provide more medical information were unlawful adverse action. In Cf. Marshall v Commonwealth of Australia (represented by the Bureau of Meteorology) (2012) 64 AILR an employee who was fired after he appeared on the Beauty and the Geek television show while he had a valid medical certificate showing he was unfit for work won his case for unlawful adverse action. Common mistakes employers often make surrounding sick leave policies include: Often employers specify that medical certificates will not be required for absences of up to one day (or sometimes more). This may limit their ability to challenge ongoing sick leave abuse where the employee is compliant with the policy. An employee only needs to provide evidence where their employer requires it. Another common mistake is allowing staff to take sick leave without speaking to their manager directly. The manager will need to manage the absence and assess the validity of the sick leave claim and this is difficult to do without direct feedback. The manager can often assess whether evidence of illness is required. Policies and contracts can assist employers to manage the type of evidence provided so that the expectation of a medical certificate is clear. Related stories: The ironic problem with HR's health issues Should overweight staff be allowed to start work late? What happens when medical opinions collide? On Friday Feb. 12, 2016, the Boone Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation closed another on-going online child predator investigation. This investigation was a proactive attempt by the Boone Police Department to catch the individuals that seek to victimize our children online. This investigation was a cooperative effort between the North Carolina and South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Specific agencies involved were the Boone Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the Greenville County South Carolina Sheriffs Office. Investigators observed a suspicious ad on a popular website. Investigators noticed an ad with a vulgar title and feared the ad could be a predator looking for children online. A Boone Police Detective posed as a 14-year-old girl in Boone and responded to this ad. The poster interacted with the undercover investigator and despite being led to believe that he was interacting with a 14-year-old girl, he arranged a meeting in Boone for sexual purposes. When officers saw the suspect travel to the meeting location on the arranged date and time, they approached him and conducted an interview. This interview led to the suspects arrest. A search of the suspects vehicle led to the seizure of multiple items of evidence that further indicated the suspect was there for sexual purposes. This investigation has led the Boone Police Department to charge John Edward Heelan with felony violations. Heelan was arrested and taken before Magistrate Gales. Probable cause for the arrest was found and Heelan was then turned over to the staff at the Watauga Detention Center. The arrestee in this case is: John Edward Heelan 104 Orchid Drive Greenville, SC 29617 W/M, 55 years of age The charges filed are: One count of Felony Solicit a Child by Computer and Appear One Count of Indecent Liberties with a Minor Heelans court date was set for March 3, 2016, and his conditions of release were set as a $50,000 secured bond. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Asylum seekers should not have the right to choose whether to settle in Finland or Russia, states President Sauli Niinisto. It has been impossible not to notice the new phenomenon on the border with Russia. The reciprocity between the countries has previously worked in a way that people have no business crossing the border without a visa, he said while meeting with the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday. I'm naturally delighted. The project was only just announced, however. We'll keep the champagne on ice and wait for the investment decision. It's clear that this is a huge opportunity for Kemi, Tornio and Northern Finland, he says in an interview with Uusi Suomi. Tero Nissinen, the municipal manager of Kemi, has voiced his delight with the news that Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group is considering building a bio-refinery in Kemi. We've held intensive talks already for a full year. We're confident and believe bioeconomy will be a good match for the strengths of our region, he adds. He reminds that the project is expected to have a considerable impact on the regional economy by creating thousands of jobs in the construction phase and over one hundred permanent jobs after the refinery is put into commercial operation. We've got the workforce. We have a long industrial tradition and a lot of people with experience from the process industries who are currently outside of the labour force, Nissinen says, pointing out that the regional unemployment rate is over 15 per cent. I'm sure they're itching for a chance to show off their skills. Nissinen also estimates that the announcement will encourage the region to invest in developing its bioeconomy and circular economy but reminds that the final investment decision has yet to be made. Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group, which is one of the leading green energy companies in China, is currently seeking funding and partners for the project. We'll do our part. We'll help with issues related to land acquisitions and possible with development partnerships, he says. He adds that the proposed site of the bio-refinery has been designated specifically for this kind of activities. Kaidi announced on 10 February that it has laid out plans to invest up to one billion euros in the construction of a cutting-edge bio-refinery in Kemi. The refinery would be the first in Finland and the entire world to use so-called energy wood as its primary raw material. The expectations are high: Hopefully, it'll be a serious boost to the development of Kemi and the entire region, says Nissinen. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Aramayis Avagyan and the other culprits have been convicted to 14 years of jail on the charges of launching Islamist activities in Uzbekistan, attempts to topple the Constitutional order and a number of other crimes. Armenpress reports, citing Radio Free Europe Armenian Service, lawyer of Aramayis informed Flora Sakunts, mother of the arrested, about this. Flora Sakunts informed Radio Free Europe that the lawyer, transferring the information on her son, asked to wait for 2-3 days. According to the lawyer, the court assistant informed that the copy of the verdict is not ready yet. Aramayis Avagyan is the only in the group that denies is fault. On September 4, 2015, Aramayis Avagyan was abducted with his 4 Uzbek friends. Later, it became known that the special forces of Uzbekistan accuse the Aramayis in religious fundamentalism, separatism, forming and directing an extremist group for toppling the Constitutional order, as well as theft. Aramayis acknowledged only his participation in some thefts. Aramayis Avagyans mother, Flora Sakunts, insists that her son has been arrested so as some people seize the fish farm rented by him after some failed attempts. Aramayis Avagyan was born in Uzbekistan and is a citizen of that country. On January 6, Avagyans mother applied to the office of Human Rights Defender of Armenia, mentioning that her son is tortured in the isolator. Before the resignation, Karen Andreasyan wrote to the Human Rights Defender of Uzbekistan, asking to provide the Armenian side with information on Aramayis Avagyans health and psychological situation, as well as take appropriate measures to prevent illegal acts against Avagyan. Advocates fight confusion over voter ID law Advocacy groups are fighting voter confusion over the new photo ID law amid a shifting landscape of the spring election season brought on by a court decision invalidating the state's congressional map. Related Stories North Carolina voters for the first time must show a valid photo ID to vote in the March 15 primary. Its not always as simple as it sounds. We recommend that they follow the law and the law currently says that you have to have a valid ID, said Sharon Burlingame, of the League of Women Voters. However, we would encourage them to vote if they have a reasonable impediment that prevents them from getting an identification card. I just think theres a lot of confusion, even on the part of intelligent people. The murkiness is not limited to voters without ID cards. In at least one case the local Department of Motor Vehicles office seemingly got it wrong when an official issued a photo ID card. When Mack Fowler heard about the new law, he knew he needed to help his sister get a state-issued ID. My sister had been able to drive or nothing, he said. Mabel Fowler, 53, is handicapped and lives in a nursing home. Shes been voting ever since shes 18 years old, Fowler said. Shes been interested in politics, too, elections and stuff, always voted. On Jan. 11 Fowler drove his sister to the DMV office to comply with the new law. We got all her papers right, got her birth certificate, and then what happened we went over to the motor vehicles office, he said. I told him about three times this is for voting and he said, Well, you can do more than one thing with it. The DMV official charged Fowler for the ID card. So I went ahead and paid $13, he said. I knew it wasnt right. I reported it to Democratic headquarters and the lady from the Women Voters talked to me about it. I found out that they said you wasnt supposed to pay. The state Board of Elections confirmed that. The woman from Raleigh called here and said it was a misunderstanding and I wasnt supposed to pay, he said. I was supposed to get my money back. But I havent got my money back. Im going to have to call her back about that. Shes got my address. Thats what she said. It was a big misunderstanding. Since then they put out a pamphlet at the motor vehicles office (saying) its free. Thats what I understand. Henderson County Elections Director Beverly Cunningham also confirmed that a photo ID is free. If youre requesting one for voting purposes it should be free, she said. The state Board of Elections, she pointed out, is aggressively publicizing the new rules. Theres tons of videos being played that are public service announcements. Theres billboards out there that has the number for the state Board of Elections. SUBHED Not a big problem here The Legislature has debated, enacted and tweaked the voter ID law since 2011, and its under appeal in a federal lawsuit even now. In a defensive move against the legal threat, we amended the law to offer a reasonable impediment for voters who can verify significant or unseen circumstances for not having a valid ID when the election comes, state Rep. Chuck McGrady, a Hendersonville Republican, told the Land of Sky Regional Council last month. The concession did little to appease opponents of the voter ID law, who argue that the legislation would disenfranchise poor people and minorities. The Henderson County Board of Elections office has not seen much confusion and is getting few questions. Weve been educating the public for three or four elections, Cunningham said. Every time somebody comes to vote weve told them that beginning in 2016 youre going to need a photo ID to vote. Pollworkers also showed them a part of the form all voters sign that allowed voters to declare that they had no ID and needed help getting one. We probably had 10 to 15 people that signed a form saying that they didnt have an ID, she said. I dont see it being a big problem in our county. I see it more in the urban areas where people use public transportation and have never had a drivers license. Because of the potential for confusion and the opportunity to vote a provisional ballot and prove legal residency later, the state Board of Elections wont bar people from voting even if they have no ID. I think theyre really working hard to educate people and train the poll workers, the Leagues Wilkes said. If a voter has none of the acceptable forms of ID, he or she can still vote a provisional ballot and claim a reasonable impediment. Examples of a reasonable impediment, the state Board of Elections says, include but are not limited to the lack of proper documents, family obligations, transportation problems, work schedule, illness or disability, among other reasonable impediments faced by the voter. The voter must sign a form describing the impediment, provide birth date and Social Security number and document a home address. If those conditions are met, the ballot will be counted. SUBHED Court decision clouds primary date The photo ID is not the only new wrinkle. In the old days, North Carolina voters sat idly by while Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina voters enjoyed the affections or suffered the pain of candidates for president. No more. The Legislature moved the primary up six weeks with the idea that a March vote would increase the influence of North Carolina voters in the primaries. In the meantime, volunteers have been working to register voters during lunch periods at Henderson Countys public high schools. Volunteers have registered students at Balfour Education Center, Hendersonville High School on Monday and Early College and plans signup opportunities at East Henderson High School on Thursday, North Henderson High School on Friday, and West Henderson High School on Monday, Feb. 15. Most high school students dont know that they dont need an ID card to register, said Judy Wilkes, a League of Women Votersn who has been helping with the registration effort. Seventeen-year-olds can vote in the primary (except for the bond issue) if they will be 18 by the fall Election Day, Nov. 8. To register, new voters must either show a photo ID or give the last four numbers of their Social Security card, Cunningham said. They just have to put it on the form and then when we verify that, she said. Added to the crosswinds of change is the decision late Friday by a federal appeals court throwing out two of the states congressional districts. The decision upheld a challenge from the NAACP that the districts were racially gerrymandered in a way that reduced the voting influence of African-American voters. The judges ordered the Legislature to redraw them before the March 15 primary. Legislative leaders immediately filed an emergency appeal. Should this decision be allowed to stand, they said in a statement, North Carolina voters will no longer know how or when they will get to cast their primary ballots in the presidential, gubernatorial, congressional and legislative elections. And thousands of absentee voters may have already cast ballots that could be tossed out. This decision could do far more to disenfranchise North Carolina voters than anything alleged in this case. For now, the primary election is scheduled as planned. What the state is telling us is to conduct business as normal, Cunningham said. Were proceeding like were going to have election. LIGHTNING EDITORIAL: George Jones lighted the past and the future George A. Jones, as a young man. It is a testament to Dr. George A. Joness vitality that people who knew him well expressed shock when they learned of his passing on Friday. Related Stories At age 95, Jones was still active in the community, church life and civic affairs and he kept alive the historic flame for Henderson County and his beloved hometown of Saluda. He was emphatically unlike that other George Jones, the country crooner whose drinking habit earned him the derisive sobriquet of No Show Jones. George Alexander Jones might have been called Never Absent or Always Here or Sure to Show Jones. Born Aug. 2, 1920, in Saluda to Martha Ida Constant Jones and Uel Garfield Jones, George Alexander Jones was the last surviving of the couples eight children. In interviews with the Hendersonville Lightning, friends and admirers it was impossible to be one without being the other commented on his generosity of spirit, his ability for getting done things and his knowledge of everything from Genesis to Revelation, from birth records to cemetery locations, from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush. Dr. Jones, his daughters and son wrote in an obituary, was a dedicated and committed minister, educator, historian, and public servant a man of vision with the skills and perseverance to make dreams reality. His accomplishment in life is beyond belief really, said his friend Leon Morgan. The Courthouse would not be there if it hadnt been for him. And he didnt do it just here. He did it everywhere he went. * * * * * Indeed, although he was the opposite of slow-witted protagonist in the book and movie, Jones lived a life that was almost Forest Gump-like in its sweep and influence. His suffering of close personal loss in his formative years an older brother died in a car crash and a younger sister drowned must have made him appreciate the fragility of human life and the imperative of a deeper faith in making ones time on earth meaningful. We imagine Dr. Jones Forrest Gump like popping up over and over in a newsreel of the 20th century. Here is World War II, and 1st Lt. George Alexander Jones, an Army chaplain, ministering to the troops. Heres desegregation in the South, and George Alexander Jones leading the peaceful desegregation effort in Beaufort, S.C., amid the Low Country cotton and rice fields where slaves had worked. Here is the 1950s labor force in those same fields, and George Alexander Jones, with his wife, Evelyn, beside him, creating one of the first ministries to help seasonal migrant workers. Here is the decline in the Sixties and Seventies of the Democratic Partys Solid South and the rise of the Republican Party, and George Alexander Jones working to resurrect the GOP in Beaufort. Here is the pivot of the national party to Ronald Reagan and the politics of personal magnetism, and George Alexander Jones casting ballots as a national convention delegate from Kentucky and North Carolina. * * * * * Closer to home, Jones was involved as part of the South Carolina Baptist Foundation in the decision to move Furman University to its current campus. Because of Dr. Jones, Hendersonville has a Genealogical and Historic Society that local people and visitors can use to trace family trees. Because of Dr. Jones, the Historic Courthouse was turned from a decaying symbol of political inertia to a functioning center of county government and a cultural anchor of Main Street. He never quit. In the most recent times, Dr. Jones lent his support and reputation to the effort to save the Historic Train Depot in his beloved hometown. At the History Center in the old Erle Stillwell-designed State Trust Co. and Citizens Bank, which opened three years after Jones was born, family-tree researchers lauded their good fortune if they happened to run into Dr. Jones. Jimmy Freeman, who was Joness friend and driver for many years, recalled those chance meetings. Hed say, Are you kin to so and so? and theyd yes and he knew the whole family history before they started asking what they were looking for, Freeman said. That wont happen anymore, sadly, but we do have the archives, the cemetery books and other records, thanks to George A. Jones. It just makes us weaker, Jeff Miller said of Joness death. Its true in the moment. But the long view is that George Joness life made us stronger, too. He preached the word, blessed the flock and led men and women to peacefully resolve conflict. He enriched the institutions he led. Knowing first-hand that life could be inexplicably cut short, he lived as if no aspiration was too large to achieve, no wrong too entrenched to right, no mountain too steep to climb. He spent his life lighting the past, yes, but his lantern also shined light on the present and the future. Eight kilos of cannabis herb was seized in the raid A massive haul of drugs worth more than 2m is being hailed as a huge success by gardai fighting organised crime. Two men were arrested in connection with the seizure in north Dublin at the weekend. Detectives discovered 300 kilos of cannabis resin, eight kilos of cannabis herb and one kilo of cocaine in the garage of a house at Donaghmede Park in Dublin 13, after they raided the premises on Saturday evening at 7.30pm. The two men, aged 25 and 52, were arrested at the scene. Illegal They were detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, at Coolock and Clontarf Garda Stations. The scene at Donaghmede Park was preserved and technically examined. "As part of an operation targeting the illegal sale and supply of controlled drugs in the North Dublin area, Detective Gardai from Coolock, assisted by the local Street Crime Unit and DMR Divisional Task Force, have seized cannabis resin, herb and cocaine with an estimated value of 2.1m, pending analysis," said a garda spokesman. Gardai are confident they have disrupted the operations of a major drugs gang by putting such a large quantity of drugs off the streets. The haul is one of the largest in the city in recent years, in both weight and its estimated value. In October last, a seizure of cocaine and cannabis with an estimated value of 750,000 was made as part of an ongoing operation into the illegal sale and supply of drugs in South Dublin. The drugs were found following a planned search of a property and vehicles in the Irishtown area of Dublin. The scene of the crash near Kinnegad where Jacqueline Wolohan died An investigation is continuing into a fatal crash that claimed the life of a Dublin mother-of-three. Jacqueline Wolohan (51), a widow from Coolock, died when her car was involved in a collision with a car driven by an off-duty garda. Her 14-year-old son was seriously injured in the crash that happened on the M4 motorway near Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, at 1.30am on Saturday. He was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar. Officers from the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) are conducting the investigation because of the involvement of the garda. Mrs Wolohan was on her way back from Longford to her home with her son, his friend and an adult female cousin when the crash happened. All three of her passengers were taken to hospital. The garda also received treatment for injuries. Pet The Wolohan's pet dog was found dead near the scene some hours after the crash. Sarah Wolohan, one of the victim's two adult daughters, paid tribute to her mother on Facebook. "Today I woke up to the horrific news that my mother had died. Heaven has gained one funny, special and beautiful character. Rest in peace ma, your memory will live on forever." A family friend described Ms Wolohan as "a very nice woman" who had lost her husband several years ago and was a stay-at-home mother raising her three children on her own. She had lived her entire life in the Coolock area and was well respected. Local councillor Tom Brabazon said the accident has left the local community in shock. "For anyone from the area to lose their life in circumstances like that is extremely tragic. "I hope that the GSOC investigation will get to the bottom of it," he said. A spokeswoman for GSOC refused to comment on claims that the garda helicopter was deployed to the scene of the accident. She issued a statement which confirmed that "the incident was referred by the Garda Siochana to GSOC under section 102 of the Garda Siochana Act 2005, which provides for independent investigation of any matter that appears to indicate that the conduct of a member of the Garda Siochana may have resulted in the death of, or serious harm to, a person". GSOC is appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact them on 1890 600 800. They have also requested that anyone who may have seen a blue Opel Astra, 2005 registration, or a silver Nissan Micra, 2004 registration, travelling on the eastbound side of the M4 at about 1.30am on Saturday to contact them on 1890 600 800. Ms Wolohan's other daughter Alison said: "We went out to the crash and both cars were still there. "We were initially looking for my mum's dog Honey as Andrew, my brother, is very close to her. We found her but she was dead too and is now with my mam." Meanwhile, a man was hospitalised with serious injuries following a road crash in Dublin yesterday. The incident happened shortly after 9.30am on the N11. The man - in his early 40s - was travelling outbound close to University College, Dublin when the single vehicle collision occurred. He was taken to St Vincent's Hospital where his injuries have been described as serious. The Lord Mayor of Dublin has hit out at delays to the planned regeneration of St Teresa's Gardens. The housing complex, built in the 1950s, is due to undergo a major facelift, with the construction of 50 new housing units. The Dublin City Council (DCC)-owned housing block is to be redeveloped under a 12.5m plan more than a decade after residents were first promised a regeneration under a public-private partnership scheme which later collapsed. The current regeneration was due to be complete by mid-2017, but the timeline has slipped. Lord Mayor Criona Ni Dhalaigh, who sits on the board, said that the delays are "frustrating" for tenants. "I'm frustrated that all the timelines keep slipping - and it's extremely frustrating for the residents who are still living there," she told the Herald. "Some of the residents who wanted to stay have given up and they're leaving. It's very important that the council deliver on those timelines." "It's very worrying, because what we are trying to do is instil confidence in the community that the regeneration is going to happen. "Each time a deadline is missed, there is a terrible sense of 'this is not going to happen', and that's what we don't want. "We want the community to stay as a community and move into their new apartments." The demolition, which is now underway, was delayed when the contractor appointed pulled out - but it is due to be completed within six weeks, according to the Lord Mayor. Respond There is no timeline at the moment for the demolition of the remaining blocks, Ms Ni Dhalaigh added. DCC did not respond to queries on the progress of the work when contacted by the Herald. Meanwhile, local community worker Michael Conlon has been appointed to the regeneration board. "I'm looking forward to being able to make a valuable contribution to St Teresa's regeneration," he said. Gardai are investigating a shooting in Clondalkin in the early hours of Sunday morning. A man in his twenties was hospitalised following the latest shooting incident in the capital. Gardai are investigating a shooting in Clondalkin in the early hours of Sunday morning. A man (23) was discovered with a gunshot wound in Old Tower Crescent shortly before 6am, having been shot in the back. The young man was treated for his injuries at the scene by paramedics, before being rushed to hospital. It is understood that the victim was found on a road in the area by locals, who then called the emergency services. The injured man is from the Clondalkin area, but it is not known if he was found shot near his home. Gardai are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident. A local source told the Herald that the shooting may have been linked to a financial dispute of some kind. The injured man was brought to James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown where he was recovering last night from non-life threatening injuries. The scene was preserved for technical examination yesterday by investigating gardai. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident . It is believed that the latest shooting is unrelated to the gang feud that has been escalating in the city in recent days. Isolated Local Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Graham said that he hopes the shooting was an isolated incident. "I condemn all types of violence, at the end of the day this is not a nice thing to be happening in the community. "We wouldn't like to see more of this happening," he added. Meanwhile, People Before Profit councillor Gino Kenny also called for an end to violence in his local community. "It's all to familiar on the streets of Dublin and Clondalkin in particular. "This is terrible for his family and for the injured man himself. "It's to be condemned, all of this gun violence has such a detrimental effect on all communities in Ireland. "I hope that the people that carried out this act are brought to justice," he added. The incident marks the third shooting in the capital this year. Gardai are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to contact Ronanstown Garda Station on 01 6667700 or the confidential line. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. On February 15, dollar depreciated by 0.44 drams, forming 495.61 drams, and euro by 4.91 drams, forming 555.38 drams in the currency market. Armenpress was informed about this from the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia. ABINGDON, Va. It started as your typical American love story. He was an international attorney who had lived all over the United States and parts of Europe. And she was a small-town girl who loved hiking and dancing and was now living in Los Angeles. This pair - Dane Ratliff and Lindsey Lola Simmons - had a chance meeting in Chilhowie, Virginia, at a restaurant called the Town House on March 13, 2009. "I was visiting from Los Angeles," Lindsey remembered, saying she shared a dinner table that night with her mother, JoAnne Hairston, and her stepfather, Tom Hairston. Dane came there from his home at The Hague, in the Netherlands, to have dinner with his brother, Jesse Ratliff, who then worked as that restaurant's sous chef. Jesse Ratliff knew that Lindsey was JoAnne's daughter. But Dane didn't know anyone at the restaurant, other than his brother. Still, on this slow night, with theirs being the only occupied tables, it was quite comfortable when Dane and Lindsey started talking. What impressed her: Dane had a vast knowledge of contemporary dance theater. "I saw Dane and I said, 'That's a good looking guy and we're in Chilhowie!'" the 31-year-old Lindsey remembered with a laugh. Dane remembered Lindsey as simply "a beautiful woman. I was really smitten with her. But she didn't know it." Lindsey, in turn, said, "I was trying to play it cool and not appear too forward." Leaving the restaurant, Dane and Lindsey exchanged a way to get to know each other on Facebook. They chatted with a couple of messages in 2009. "Then we totally lost touch," Lindsey remembered. "Nothing." >> Happy New Year About this same time, Dane was leaving Europe to take a new job as an attorney in Montreal, Canada. "I didn't even think about trying to pursue a relationship with someone from Los Angeles," he said. As Dane tells his life story, and it's always with a touch of humor, he had been briefly married to "a German girl" but they soon found themselves living apart, and they were divorced. Dane had also been on the move practically his whole life. "I grew up in about 10 different places," said this 45-year-old native of Ohio. After graduating high school in Texas, Dane lived in Europe for about 15 years, working in international law. Still, over time, he considered the greater Abingdon area his home, because his parents, Don and Michelle Ratliff, lived nearby at Meadowview, Virginia. Lindsey attended Sullins Academy in Bristol and graduated Abingdon High School in 2002. She danced in the ballet and, later, pursued a passion in the performing arts. That's why she had moved to Los Angeles, leaving her family, including her father, William Simmons, back home in the Abingdon-Bristol area. For Dane and Lindsey, however, time slipped away - until New Year's Day in 2013. On that morning, Ratliff woke up with a hangover after celebrating the night before with his brother Jesse. Feeling groggy, Dane started typing Facebook messages to friends, wishing them, "Happy New Year." Those friends included Lindsey Simmons. "As I was going down the Facebook list, her name was the very, very last message. And, so, I wrote her and said, 'Hey, Happy New year. I know this is out of the blue, but I hope L.A. is going well with you.' That's all I wrote." Still, Dane noticed something. He found Lindseys Facebook profile indicated that she now lived at Asheville, North Carolina not Los Angeles. Dane wrote again, saying, "I'm in Asheville. Do you want to meet for a drink?" Lindsey returned, "Well, it better not be for a drink. I am engaged. So, do you want to have tea?" Dane obliged. And, oh, what a cup of tea that turned out to be! Lindsey and Dane met on Jan. 2, 2013 at the High Five Coffee Bar, embracing each other in conversation. "It was really amazing," Lindsey remembered. "It was just one of those conversations that you just connect really deeply. I ended up telling him all about my situation with my fiance, and, you know, he's ready to save the day." Lindsey had troubles. At that time, she was working in business development for a chocolate company, and she danced in a company at night. Yet she was also engaged to be married, and, as she tells it, she wasnt happy with the engagement. Could Dane be her savior? "I kept it respectful," Dane said, sounding careful. "I wasn't sure, because I was getting mixed messages from her at that meeting," he added. "It seemed like she liked me, but, I mean, she's engaged ... so I was just playing it cool." Lindsey was cool, too. "I couldn't tell if he liked me, either, or if he was just a nice guy," she said. When their tea time was up, Danes mind continued to race. He just could not stop thinking about Lindsey as he left Asheville and headed back to the greater Abingdon area. "I just kept feeling like, 'Turn around, go back and see this girl,'" he said. "But, I thought, 'This is crazy. She's getting ready to marry this other dude. This is ridiculous'." So overwhelmed with emotion, he finally stopped his car and started typing. Dane sent Lindsey an email, saying, "Hey, I had a really nice time talking with you. If you want, I'd love to continue our conversation." That message, he figured, was "polite and respectful to her situation. But, at the same time, I wanted to show her ... She kind of showed me there was kind of a crack in the door. And I also wanted to show her that I was interested in continuing." Lindsey was equally confused. "I had gotten in my car and I literally said to myself, 'Oh, my gosh. My life is never going to be the same,'" she said. "I felt literally like a tug when we left." That same day, Lindsey went home and wrote an entry in her journal: "What if I let this live on inside me? Yummy. Tingly. Scary. Food. Travel. Art. Blue-eyed babies. Spiritual. Creative. Brilliant. Reflective. Challenging. Driven. Curious. I know I'm insane but I can't help it. I just didn't believe HE was possible!!!" D for Dane Lindsey then made some daring decisions. Over the next few days, in a whirlwind of emotions, she broke off her engagement, and she moved out of where she was living in Asheville. She put all of her stuff in storage. And took up Dane's offer to visit Canada, taking her first plane ride to Montreal on Jan. 22, 2013. "I seemed always to sit in seat 7D on my flights up there, lucky number 7 ... D for Dane," Lindsey said. Smiling, she remembered, "We had our first kiss in the airport." Over the ensuing spring, she became a regular visitor, staying in Canada for a couple of weeks at a time. "And you spent all of your money flying me there," Lindsey said, looking at Dane with a laugh. Yet Lindsey was also resolute in maintaining her dancing career. She made it a point to return to Asheville for at least one week at a time, though all that changed on June 1 when she left Asheville to be with Dane. Within a few short months, Dane knew that he wanted to take her somewhere special and propose marriage. So Dane got the best seats in the house for a performance of "The Nutcracker" at the David H. Koch Theater of the Lincoln Center at New York City. Then, just a few days before Christmas in 2013, Dane dropped down on one knee. "I said, 'Darling, this was a wonderful performance tonight, and the dancing was amazing, but the only dance that I'm really concerned about is the one you do with me on our wedding night if you marry me.'" Lindsey smiled. And the couple married on June 21, 2014 in Bristol, Virginia, on an estate owned by Lindsey's paternal grandfather. A good pick Looking back, Dane counted a few tumultuous relationships. Yeah, oh, yeah. I know how to pick 'em - except for this one." Dane smiled. "This was a good pick. This is probably the only really good pick that I've ever made. She was always what I was looking for," he said. "I had traveled all over the world. I dated all of these international, jet-setting women, and I wasn't happy. And it took me going all around the world to coming back home." Ironically, he said, he met a girl who had grown up less than 10 miles from where his parents live today. "You can live a very self-absorbed, selfish life, but that will lead to ultimately, I think, unhappiness and emptiness," Dane said. "And love is about building. And building is hard. It takes a lot of work. But I feel we built something here that will last and something that, I think, we can pass down to the next generation." >> A new life With a new life in the Abingdon area, this couple is now pursuing several passions. Dane has, for now, put his career as an international attorney on hold. But he keeps busy teaching a course in environmental studies at Emory & Henry College. Lindsey, in turn, continues her career as an actress and dancer, using the stage name Lola York. She works with Screen Artists Talent of Asheville, and she's compiled several credits, including a television commercial for the spa at Abingdon's Martha Washington Inn. Right now, though, Lindsey will tell you that Boone is her boss. And that's a reference to this couple's infant son, Boone, who was born late last year. "He amazing," Lindsey said, showing off baby pictures. The Ratliffs also keep busy in business, helping to co-manage Lum & Sue's, an Abingdon food store, which they began operating in November 2014. Of course, they also carefully cultivate their ever-evolving love story. Each Valentines Day, that story hits another high mark. Lindsey smiled as she showed off a ring that Dane gave her on their first Valentine's Day together in 2013 at Charleston, South Carolina. "Valentine's Day was our second date," Dane explained. "Our second date, we went to Charleston. I flew down from Montreal. And we went to dinner." On that day, Dane also gave Lindsey this promise ring. "I was on a mission, he said. I said, 'I'm not letting her go again.'" YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The summing conference of regional commission of Middle Eastern countries coordinating the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide took place under the auspices of His Holiness Aram 1 in the museum of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon. Armenpress was informed about this from the press service of the Ministry of diaspora of the Republic of Armenia. Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Lebanon Ashot Kocharyan, members of the commission coordinating the events, representatives of parties and religious figures attended the session on February 13. Hranush Hakobyan gave an extended speech at the session, during which she introduced the activities of the ministry headed by her. Hranush Hakobyan highlighted the works of Armenian and foreign media in the world. Minister Hakobyan congratulated the participants of the conference on the 25th anniversary of the independence of the two Armenian Republics: Armenia and Artsakh, mentioning that the 100th anniversary of the first republic will be soon, and the Armenian must celebrate that glorious day with new consolidation and achievements. The proposal of the President of Armenia to empower Never again movement and make Armenia the forerunner of struggle against terrorism can become reality if International Genocide Research Centre is created which will engage in research of legal, historical, and international issues and will submit necessary suggestions of organizing global forums, she said. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The European Union on Monday decided to lift sanctions imposed against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and a number of other officials in the country, Armenpress reports, citing Sputnik, a diplomatic source said. As far as I know, theres already a decision, the diplomatic source told RIA Novosti. Earlier on Saturday, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok said that there has been progress on the issue of Belarusian political prisoners. Belarus, a former Soviet republic, has been under US and EU sanctions for about a decade, including visa bans and financial restrictions on Belarusian individuals and entities. We, of course, are not so naive to think that Belarus will change in one day. We will follow the developments, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan met with audience of Yerevan School of Political Studies on February 14. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Armenia, during the meeting Seyran Ohanyan introduced the establishment phases of the Armed Forces of Armenia to the audience of the school of political courses. He also talked about the ongoing reforms in the Armed Forces and the registered achievements, as well as existing problems and challenges. In the context of the reforms in the Armed Forces, the Defense Minister highlighted the necessity of individual preparedness of servicemen, and coordination of activities, which is the guarantee of organizing prudent defense. Mentioning that 2016 is declared the year of command staff readiness, which is aimed at fostering the knowledge and skills of each commander, Seyran Ohanyan stated that the Armenian Armed Forces has shaped deterrent mechanisms due to its combat readiness, high level of morale of servicemen, and combat spirit. Minister Ohanyan also stressed the necessity to work open and transparently preserving the principles of justice and fairness. Principles that are prerequisite for effectively implementing planned activities. Seyran Ohanyan answered the questions of the audience of Yerevan School of Political Studies during the meeting. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. On February 15 by 17.00 all state and interstate highways in the Republic are passable. As Armenpress was informed from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia, the department of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Georgia informs Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ Punjab, once the most developed state in India, has had a traumatic past and is now facing a troubling present. The assembly elections are a little over a year away but the process of electioneering has started creating waves. The reason is simple. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is preparing for a grand entry in the state after having tasted success in the assembly polls in Delhi last year and in the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab two years ago. For the past nine years, the Shiromani Akali Dal has been in power in the state in alliance with the BJP. Last time it barely managed to win. Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal is a veteran of many electoral battles and is respected for his fight against the Congress. But he is not the same man we knew. His son Sukhbir Singh Badal is virtually running the state as deputy chief minister. During their tenure, Punjab has touched a new low and a very strong anti-incumbency undercurrent can be felt. Punjab is now hurtling from one crisis to another: The drug crisis, farm crisis, Panthic crisis and financial crisis. Experts say drugs were introduced to the state under the Congress regime. Now the problem has turned unimaginably dangerous. Village after village has been swept away by the drug menace. A whole generation has been wasted. The most tragic thing is the fact that this has been done under the patronage of their own leaders, the leaders the people have voted for. And under the rule of the Badals, terrorists and drug lords are having a free run. In Punjab there is mysterious silence on the drug menace in the power corridors. But there are whispers all around. The names of a very senior Cabinet minister and a powerful politician of the state are openly bandied about in public also. A deputy superintendent of police and a drug dealer, on interrogation, hinted at the involvement of a person close to the Badals, but nothing happened thereafter. The state is passing through one of the worst agrarian crises. The cotton crop has failed and adequate compensation has not been given to the farmers. Farmers suicide is no news in Punjab now. The situation has come to such a pass that last month a farmer immolated himself on the day of his daughters wedding. Punjab has turned into a bankrupt state. There is virtually no money to pay salaries and pensions to government employees. Its a small state but has incurred a debt of Rs 1.3 lakh-crore. There is no fiscal discipline and corruption is rampant. Industry has moved to other states. Ludhiana, once hailed as the Manchester of the east, is now a barren land. I spoke to many industrialists and they say that unless one pays a substantial amount of money as bribe, it is impossible to run a business. Finally, the Badals have played with fire. The people of Punjab are deeply religious. Unlike other states, religion plays a very important role in determining the course of politics in Punjab. The Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) are very powerful institutions. But the Badals, after assuming power, tried to hijack these institutions. A few months ago they became so audacious that they decided to transfer/sack the Panj Pyare, a revered institution in the Sikh religion, on frivolous grounds. It has been alleged that at the behest of the Badals, Guru Ram Rahim was pardoned by the Akal Takht and when people reacted in anger the pardon was withdrawn after two weeks. It was the same Ram Rahim who is alleged to have impersonated Guru Govind Singh, the 10th Guru, something that has infuriated the Sikh community. The Badal government committed a blunder in the response to the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. When pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were torn and thrown away by some miscreants, a stir took place. The community was protesting peacefully when the police opened fire on the protesters and two young men were killed. Now, one can see posters and banners saying that the Akalis are not welcome. Terrorism has once again come back to haunt the people. Three incidents have already been reported and Pathankot is the latest. It is common knowledge that the police are compromised; competent officers are not given appropriate postings. Punjab is a classic example of how a developed state can turn into a sick one. People have alternated enough between the Akalis and the Congress because of the lack of an alternative. Today Punjab is looking for one. The state is willing to look out of the box to fight the political malaise. The overwhelming response to AAPs Maghi Mela last month is a pointer in that direction. If AAP could continue the present momentum, Punjab is heading towards a major upset in the Indian political system. Punjab is looking for a massive change, a change to send the message that the days when people could be taken for granted are gone. The state is ready to throw all the rogues to the dustbin of history. Ashutosh is spokesperson of AAP The views expressed are personal Social worker and Bandhua Mukti Morchas national president Swami Agnivesh on Monday demanded the constitution of a Special Task Force (STF) to end the problem of bonded labour in Madhya Pradesh. He said nearly 1,000 tribal labourers would take out a rally in Bhopal on Tuesday from different roads of the city and stage a sit-in protest at Neelam Park. Agnivesh said the practice of bonded labour is still going on under the nose of Madhya Pradesh government even though a law to end it was framed in 1976. The activist said he has handed over a list of 450 people of Saharia tribe of the state, who were working as bonded laborers, to the Guna district Collector. He claimed to have written to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the administration a number of times on the issue, and that no discussion had taken place yet on the issue. People are forced to work as bonded labourers on their own land for generations since last 20-25 years and moneylenders were recovering interests from them at the rate of 15-20%, Agnivesh told reporters in Bhopal, during a programme on the issue. Agnivesh said he has also drawn the attention of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Guna MP and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on the issue of bonded labourers in Scindias constituency. Both leaders have assured they would raise the issue in Parliament, he said. He also alleged that attempts were being made by the ABVP, RSS and BJP to defame the highest traditions of JNU as their students wing was defeated in the campus elections. The attempts being made by responsible leaders of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, RSS and BJP to defame highest traditions of JNU are highly condemnable. It was being done as ABVP lost to Kanhaiya Kumar (JNUSU president). It is totally wrong and such dirty acts should not have any place in politics, he said. After JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy for allegedly shouting anti-national slogans at a meeting to mark the anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Gurus execution, Delhi police commissioner BS Bassi told reporters in Delhi Kanhaiya Kumar had joined the meeting in the campus where anti-national slogans were raised. He also raised these slogans. Kumars arrest has triggered outrage among students and teachers and has drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties. Read: Irrefutable proof against JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar: Bassi Since the government has declared the recent JNU students protests as sedition, we take a look at films that, by the same definition, could be categorised as seditious: 1. Rang De Basanti This one was clearly one of the boldest entries from mainstream cinema: The Aamir Khan-starrer had the protagonists killing the defence minister as they held him responsible for the death of an army pilot. Sharmila Tagore asked the then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee who had told Aamir, My job is to protect the country, not to certify films. 2. Raanjhanaa (2013 ) Sonam Kapoor and Abhay Deol played JNU students active in campus politics in this film by Anand L Rai. While the movie was mainly a love story, it did have references to student groups protesting against the establishment. 3. Chakravyuh (2012) Prakash Jhas political war film traced the war against Naxals, and to some extent, how the loopholes in our system could make one turn to Naxalism. The song Mehengai was one of the most hard-hitting ones in recent times, which attacked everyone from the government to businessmen and politicians. Birla ho ya Tata Ambani ho Bata, sabne apne chakkar mein desh ko kaata. 4. Main Azaad Hoon (1989) Our angry young man, Amitabh Bachchan, represented the youth irritated with the shackles of the Indian system in the film. His slogans were all against the state, ruling government and the rules and presumptions in practice. 5. Shaurya (2008) One of the most famous sequences in the film, the climatic monologue by Kay Kay Menon, attacks not only the state but also the concept of democracy. In Menons character, Samar Khans film targeted the authoritarian dictator mindset. Read: From Vijay Anand to Pahlaj Nihalani: NDAs Censor Board tangle Follow @htshowbiz for more Chinese shares started lower on Monday as trading resumed after the long Lunar Holiday break and investors caught up with wild swings in global markets, while Beijing took another swipe at devaluation talk with a strong fix for the local currency. The Shanghai Composite Index eased 2.6% in early trade in its first session since Feb. 5, while the CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen lost 2.4%. The moves were relatively modest given Japans Nikkei alone sank 11% last week. The Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) fixed its yuan at the highest rate in over a month as it continued efforts to stem speculation of an imminent devaluation. Reflecting the recent retreat in the US currency, the Monday fix of 6.5539 yuan per dollar, a reference point for trading, was much stronger than the 6.5314 set before the holiday. The news provided a fillip to risk appetites across Asia and nudged the safe-haven Japanese yen lower. In an interview over the weekend, PBoC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan warned speculators should not be allowed to dominate market sentiment regarding Chinas foreign exchange reserves and it was quite normal for reserves to fall as well as rise. Zhou said there was no basis for the yuan to keep falling, and China would keep it stable versus a basket of currencies while allowing greater volatility against the US dollar. The comments come after China reported economic growth of 6.9% for 2015, its weakest in 25 years, while depreciation pressure on the yuan adds to the case for the central bank to take more economic stimulus measures over the near-term. Trade figures for January are due on Monday and any disappointment would be a setback to risk sentiment globally, adding to worries about a global economic slowdown. Median forecasts were for exports to dip 1.9% compared to a year earlier, with imports down 0.8%. The data tend to surprise, however, and estimates varied hugely from sharp falls to big rises. Figures out over the weekend suggested there was still life in the Chinese consumer with retail sales growing 11.2% during the week-long Lunar New Year vacation compared with the same holiday period last year. The holiday is especially important for retailers, which vie for customers by launching promotions and discounts. Millions of people take time off work to travel and generally spend more than usual during the break. Jan exports, imports shrink much faster than expected Chinas exports fell 11.2% in January from a year earlier and imports tumbled 18.8%, both far worse than expected, putting pressure on policymakers to take further action to put a floor under the slowing economy. The fall in January exports marked the seventh straight month of decline, while the decline in imports was the 15th month. China posted a better-than-expected trade surplus of $63.3 billion in January, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday, versus $60.09 billion in December. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected exports to fall 1.9%, after slipping 1.4 percent in December, while imports had been expected to drop only 0.8 percent, following a 7.6% slide in December. The poll forecast a trade surplus of $58.85 billion. It was a steeper than expected fall in trade numbers, said Chester Liaw, an economist at Forecast Pte Ltd in Singapore. The government will soon announce a new policy on coal swapping and is targeting a total investment of $1 trillion (Rs 68.07 lakh crore) in the power sector by 2030, including in coal renewables. A policy to promote coal swapping under which companies will be allowed to use coal from their captive mines, allocated for a specific steel or power plant, for another project has been in the making since last year. Through this policy, the ministry is looking to increase power generation and raise savings by discarding obsolete power plants. We are coming out with a new policy on coal swapping. It is under discussion and we are engaging with stakeholders before we can take a final decision. We dont want to do this in a hurry, power minister Piyush Goyal said at the Make in India event. While the long-term plan is to bring in investments of $1 trillion, the government has set an ambitious short-term target of fund flows of about $250 billion by 2020. Investments in the power sector had fallen sharply during the previous UPA regime mainly due to a rise in coal prices and delayed environmental clearances for power projects, which discouraged private producers from building power plants. We are taking efforts to create one nation-one grid and for that, we have already created a capacity of 71% in 18 months in southern India, which has led to power costs in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to fall drastically, Goyal said. A different framework is also being designed for 12 states and Union territories, so that they do not have to own distribution companies, which will be included under the UDAY scheme. In the electricity sector, the scheme will save `180,000 crore annually. Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana, or UDAY, was formed to revive ailing electricity distribution companies. The scheme will see state governments take over 75% of discom debt, with the remaining covered by state government-guaranteed bonds issued by the discoms. The government is also revamping ultra-mega power projects (UMPPs), one of the flagship schemes of the previous UPA regime. Goyal said the scheme was hit due to the faulty drafting of the bids. Banks were reluctant to finance UMPPs as project documents were not bankable. We have got a senior team of experts to look at documents, which are in the public domain. We will go to the Cabinet for approval of new documents, the power minister said. Speaking on improved prospects for Coal India, Goyal said the state-run company saw production growth of 6.9% last year, with 32 million tonnes being the increased production, higher than last four years put together. This has led to reduced coal imports. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Five years ago when Timothy Liverton joined Tata Motors as the head of product planning and engineering, the domestic carmaker was struggling to keep its head above water. Indica, the companys most sold car, had fallen from its prime in 2004. It looked old and weary, as if creaking under its own weight. Hyundai i10 and i20, Maruti Swift, Toyota Liva, Ford Figo, and Volkswagen Polo had entered the market with superior style and better technology. That relegated the Indica to just the fleet operators favourite. Soon, even they shifted loyalty to Marutis Dzire, and Toyotas Etios. Tata Motors market share is down to a third of its peak of 16.9% in 2004-05. The industry has changed a lot, says Liverton, who has worked with BMW and Jaguar-LandRover (JLR) the latter is now owned by Tata Motors. Two years ago, Tata Motors launched a campaign called Horizon Next. It sounded more like a marketing gimmick. Two new products were launched, the Zest and the Bolt. Though the cars had interesting features and did not look like the Indica, they were modified extension of the old platform. They did not do well. The new cool cars In the 1990s two Indian commercial vehicle makers Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) wanted to become full-service automobile manufacturers. M&M wanted a larger play in the SUV market, and Tata in passenger cars. M&M did try to make cars in partnership with Renault, but its only product, the Logan bombed. We will be an SUV player. Even our latest launch is a crossover SUV, says Pawan Goenka, executive director of M&M. But Tata Motors still wants to be a full service player. At the Auto Expo that just ended, it showcased its new range of products Zica, Kite5, Nexon and Hexa. None of them resemble the Indica. Hexa is an SUV, to be launched next year. Zica, the zippy car, which is looking for a new name after the Zika virus outbreak, is an all new car. We are also coming out with a new sedan (Kite 5), says Girish Wagh, senior vice-president programme, planning and management for passenger cars. Waghs challenge is to launch two new products every year. It was important for the brand to be cool, for the cars to look sleeker, to have infotainment and connectivity gadgets, says Wagh. Every time Tata Motors launches a car, it will be more youthful. That is important. If you cant get people through the door of your dealership you are in trouble, says design head Pratap Bose. A little bit of JLR When Liverton joined, the design teams office was like a cubby hole. A team of 25 people sat and designed vehicles that looked distinct from the modern ones brought in by the MNCs. Today the team has more than 300 people. Two-thirds of those are in Italy, and rest in the UK. They have started working closely with JLR. Design and engineering have been brought together. The cars are developed, tested and produced with both the departments working in tandem. That is something JLR taught Tata Motors. Liverton also infused the team with the understanding, again learned at JLR, of how to make teams work together towards a common goal. The development process was completely overhauled, Liverton says. If Tata Motors launches two new vehicles every year, it will have 10 new ones by 2020. Some of those, he says, can become global products. Tata Motors being a listed company, brokerages and bankers are taking note. For the India business, we believe 2014-15 marked the earnings trough, and we expect gradual recovery from there, with EBITDA margins swinging from -2% in 2014-15 to 9% by 2017-18, driven by sharp volume recovery across segments, writes Binay Singh of Morgan Stanley. EBITDA margins are a key indicator of financial health. Its not just about new vehicles. Liverton will have to see that the cars are also refreshed from time to time. The Indica was flogged for years with cosmetic changes. Others in the stable Safari, Indigo, Sumo have also spent much time looking to be in severe need of new trims. Some of the old horses may at some point be riding into the sunset. But is this a new sunrise for Tata Motors? SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Almost half of the 67 Aam Aadmi Party legislators did not participate in the Delhi Cabinets interaction event on Sunday, with party volunteers and guests being made to occupy the seats reserved for the MLAs. In one instance, when a caller narrated his problem, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the MLA concerned to answer the question. The MLA, however, was not present. It was not a show of strength nor was it mandatory for MLAs to attend. The idea was to engage with the public, said a spokesperson. Government officials said formal invites were not sent out to the MLAs, but they were aware of the event and were expected to attend. MLAs Adarsh Shastri and Jarnail Singh are in the UK for fundraising activities. Controversial MLA Somnath Bharti is in Pondicherry for party work. Gulab Singh is also not in town for the same reason. Another reason was that 20 MLAs were busy preparing for the inauguration of poly clinics in their constituencies which was scheduled for 3.30 pm, the spokesperson added. Among those who attended the event were Alka Lamba, Amanatullah Khan and Naresh Yadav. The three BJP MLAs in the 70-seat Delhi assembly were protesting outside with their partymen against the government. CIVIC POLL CAMPAIGN Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal did not miss a chance to campaign for his party for the 2017 Delhi municipal elections at the event. When a caller expressed his dissatisfaction with the status of construction of the Sultanpur Bridge, the CM said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was not under the governments control. He said his government could not do anything about it and asked the caller to vote for the AAP in the municipal polls to avoid facing such problems. It is often said that conducting foreign policy gets more challenging as we come closer to our own borders. This couldnt be truer in Indias case and especially in relation to Pakistan. In todays world where clear power blocs do not exist, where new threats emanate frequently, and where dominance of non-State actors adds to the complexities, we must deploy every resource to be able to safeguard our national interest and security and contain disruptive forces that inflict maximum damage on us. These super-states are secretive, well armed, powerful, and do not draw their strength from democratic structures. They have become self-serving machines intent on cornering power and financial resources, subverting institutions and forcing other nations to deal with them as legitimate representatives of popular will. Over the years, they have extracted powerful rents from the legitimate structures within Pakistan, cornered international attention and financial assistance to further their own agenda, and have propped up organisations to destabilise the neighbourhood. Their role in funding, training, and arming terrorists, and in irresponsible nuclear proliferation is well documented. This has led to two Pakistans one which swears by a democratic polity based on representative and fair elections, and the other in which the armed forces have cornered patronage, a decisive role in diplomacy, and replacement of transparent checks and balances with supervision of elected governments by a military clique that is beyond accountability. There is also a prominent third force on the rise in Pakistan militant jihadism. Armed to fuel proxy warfare in India and Afghanistan, parts of it now routinely target civilians within Pakistan. The organisational principles of armed militancy have also been absorbed by generations of youth in Pakistans north-west, an area neglected by successive Pakistani governments and seeking the protection of tribal warlords, and thus bearing the brunt of anti-terrorist operations, further radicalising the local population. Periodically, the reach and intent of maleficent non-State forces becomes manifest in incidents, like the one that recently happened in Pathankot. The bravehearts who laid down their lives in the operation need to be remembered for their valour. Yet, the breach has raised questions on the role larger strategic and political moves play in precipitating such incidents and the preparedness of our several lines of defence. Prime Minister Narendra Modis impromptu visit to Pakistan seems to have been the immediate provocation for this attack. Every spectacle in dealing with the democratically elected government of Pakistan is likely to elicit a violent reaction from the underbelly of that violent state. Going by the last 20 months, this governments Pakistan policy is a stranger to subtlety, that necessary ingredient of statecraft. In 2014 the talks were called off in a spectacular fashion because Hurriyat leaders was invited for a talk at the Pakistan high commission, then few months later the NSA-level talks were conducted under a thick cloak of secrecy in Thailand. And post a Christmas/birthday/wedding visit on December 25, we had the Pathankot air base attacked. This resulted in the foreign secretary-level talks being postponed with a promise to hold them in the immediate future many weeks later the limbo continues. Instead of betting on high-profile optics, a broader engagement across multiple areas should have been pushed without fanfare. In an interconnected global economy, interdependence and low-profile diplomacy can dilute the logic religious extremists use to recruit youth. The Pathankot attack should force introspection on the part of the government, and hopefully, will lead to a better alignment between the need to engage with Pakistan from a position of strength and avoid providing grist to the extremist mill. So much can be accomplished by enriching cultural and commercial contact through countless conversations and transactions between our peoples. The second area of concern is about our defence preparedness. The armed forces need the support of the populations living along our borders. The rampant drug trade, smuggling, corruption and apathy in our border areas are only driving some people into the hands of anti-Indian forces. The states acts of commission and omission have allowed holes to be punched in our security apparatus, which terrorists exploit. The very legitimacy of sovereign power is creaking. This has created an adverse atmosphere for public participation in securing our borders. Pathankot-type challenges need to be prevented. The solutions are not simple and need our diplomatic and counter-terrorism policy and operational strategy to be on the same page. When thrust into such situations, different forces should act in unison, with a clear demarcation of duties. A central plan to strengthen anti-terrorism operations of police organisations in border-states needs to be developed. A broad zone of community and other preventive policing techniques should make our borders more difficult to cross. Profiling physical vulnerabilities along the land border can highlight areas where more intense surveillance is justified. Lawful interception, electronic intelligence pooling and real time interpretation of communications intelligence are critical, but neglected. Currently, India relies too much on high-level engagement with Pakistan. This in itself is a risky strategy that could derail at the slightest of provocations. Other structures of engagement should be initiated. Deep expertise is available outside the government for such multiple dialogues to flourish. This is also likely to yield unexpected synergies in tackling some of the thorny issues, such as Kashmir. Practical measures such as lowering barriers to trade, promoting a South Asian entrepreneurship ecosystem, or cooperating on multilateral platforms on shared objectives are likely to yield results in the medium term and create political traction for continued engagement in both countries. It is not an easy task. Tackling several bits of a complex situation through a mix of strategies is more likely to add up someday to a critical mass that will transform the relationship than over-reliance on all-or-nothing grandstanding. Grand gestures, while good photo-ops, cannot secure the nation or reduce the level of mistrust and low engagement in our neighbourhood. It is the concerted effort of a hundred small steps by dozens of stakeholders. The question is whether the government is up to it. Sachin Pilot is a former Union minister and president, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee The views expressed are personal Three days after Delhi University professor SAR Geelani was booked for sedition and criminal conspiracy, he was apprehended and questioned late on Monday night. Geelani, who was an accused in the Parliament attack case but was acquitted later, was brought to the Parliament Street police station where he was questioned till the filing of this report, police said. A case under sections 124A (sedition), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC was registered against Geelani and others for allegedly organising an event at the Press Club of India during which anti-national slogans were raised by some participants on Wednesday. The case was registered on suo moto cognizance and police named Geelani as the chief organiser of the event. Sources said he would be placed under arrest on Monday night after he is questioned in detail about the incident. Ali Javed, member of the PCI in whose name the conference hall was booked, was questioned for two consecutive days in connection with the entire anti-India activities. Police sources said Geelani was summoned to join investigation following Javeds questioning during which he reportedly spilled the beans on Geelani. According to sources Geelani was asked to report at the Parliament Police station for questioning however when he did not come, he was apprehended. We will question Geelani to ascertain why he organised an event in which pro-Afzal Guru and Pakistan Zindabad slogans were shouted by some of the participants. The final decision on his arrest will be taken only when we establish his role in the entire anti-India activities, said a police officer who wished not to be quoted. JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested last week on charges of sedition, did raise anti-national slogans in the campus, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said on Monday. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said that there was irrefutable proof against Kanhaiya Kumar. He also said that the police are looking into the content of various tweets which were blasphemous and objectionable. Kanhaiya Kumar had joined the meeting in the campus where anti-national slogans were raised. He also raised these slogans, Bassi told the media. Kumar, who is with the CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF), has denied the charge. Bassi said Kumars interrogation was still on and further action would be taken after the investigation gets completed. He also claimed to have identified students who were also part of the JNU campus meeting on Kashmir on February 9 and were on the run. Kumar was arrested on February 12 on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy for allegedly raising anti-national slogans at a meeting to mark the anniversary of parliament attack convict Afzal Gurus execution. A scuffle broke out in Patiala Court on Monday afternoon as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union president Kanhaiya Kumar who was arrested on sedition charges last week was produced in court. The court ruled that Kumar will stay in custody for two more days. Men wearing lawyers robes snatched reporters phones and notebooks and pushed them to the ground, accusing them of being pro-Pakistan and anti-Indian. Woman constables too were asked to come inside to the courtroom to ensure that JNU faculty and students were taken out of the premises. Local media accused police of doing little to stop Mondays chaos, amid claims on social media that right-wing Hindu nationalists were behind the violence. BJP leader OP Sharma denied taking part. He told reporters he was only rounding up those who raise pro-Pakistan slogans outside the court. Delhi BJP MLA OP Sharma and his supporters seen escorting a man out of Patiala House Court. (Sonu Mehta/HT Photo) Speaking before the violence, Delhi police commissioner BS Bassi defended Kumars arrest, saying there was evidence to back a sedition charge. Read: JNU row: When dissent becomes sedition, democracy gasps for breath While the teachers on Sunday extended solidarity with the students over the issue, they have not joined the strike yet. Vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar appealed to the students to not resort to strikes and protests so that academic functioning of the university is not hampered. We also stand for free expression of ideas but I believe there is no need for strikes as the problem can be solved amicably. We are reaching out to the entire JNU community to see how the problem can be addressed but academic functioning of the university is of prime importance and should not be hampered, he told reporters. While the teachers association of the university have raised questions over the V-C allowing a police crackdown on campus, Kumar said he was bound with the law of land. I never invited the police to enter the campus and pick our students. We only provided whatever cooperation was needed as per the law of land. We were bound to do so, he added. Read: The JNU crackdown could be the BJPs undoing A group of lawyers allegedly thrashed protesters and journalists inside the Patiala House court premises on Monday afternoon. (Sonu Mehta/HT) JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested last week in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised. His arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties. The university teachers had on Sunday rallied behind its protesting students and questioned the administrations decision to allow the police crackdown on the campus even as they appealed to the public not to brand the institution as anti-national. Teachers bodies of 40 central universities and Pune-based FTII had also come out in support of the agitating students saying it is an issue of indiscipline and not sedition. (With agency inputs) Read: Rajnath links LeTs Hafiz Saeed to JNU protest, Oppn demands evidence This is not a crisis that the NDA government would like to have on its hands for too long. The students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are heading out on protest marches daily, backed by the teaching community and leading figures from the Opposition. The cycle of events began with an event to observe the anniversary of the hanging of the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and there some pro-Pakistan slogans were heard. Union ministers expressed outrage and swung into action with the police arresting Kanhaiya Kumar, the students union president, on charges on sedition. There has understandably been a blowback from students and the wider intelligentsia. The immediate charge of sedition before an investigation by the university authorities could be initiated has set the stage for the criticism that followed. The sedition law is, in any case, clear that it can be invoked only when speech constitutes incitement to violence, which prima facie here does not seem to be the case. As commentators have noted, the Supreme Court in the Balwant Singh v State of Punjab has overturned convictions for sedition and acquitted those who had shouted slogans in favour of Khalistan. In any case, taking exception to controversial slogans and criminalising them in a university setting is to deny the scope for the interplay of ideas, however intense they may be. The political handling by the parties concerned also leaves much to be desired. The Congress and other Opposition parties have waded into troubled waters to compound the NDAs discomfort. All sides must exercise restraint to avoid deterioration in the atmosphere. Hate speech is deployed with impunity on social media. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has reportedly received threat calls for extending support to the protesting students. JNU students and teachers and journalists were abused and attacked on the Patiala House premises on Monday as Mr Kumar was to be produced in court, while the police looked on. The Centre needs to give careful thought to its strategy. Union home minister Rajnath Singhs allegation that Lashkar-e-Taibas Hafiz Saeed was supporting the JNU students a statement evidently based on a tweet from an account impersonating the terrorist does not help the Centres narrative, unless it is substantiated. The unrest in the university is bound to get increasing attention at home and abroad. And at time when there is an important Budget Session of Parliament coming up and crucial state elections to follow, turmoil in a prominent university in the capital will only make politics more fractious. Wiser heads at the Centre need to prevail. IIT Jodhpur scholar Poonam Sharma often craved to meet international experts in nanomaterial synthesis after studying their research papers. So, when Prof Timothy Fisher from Purdue University in the US, whose work in the field is well known, arrived at her institute under the HRD ministrys Global Initiative for Academic Network (GIAN) programme on a week-long lecture tour, the chemistry PhD student was ecstatic. Sharma says her interaction with Fisher broadened her horizons on the subject and she is excited about possible collaborations with the professor and his university. Prof Fisher is among 300 foreign academicians hired under the GIAN initiative, which allows higher-education institutes such as the IITs, IIMs and central universities to bring them to their campuses with the government picking up the cost ranging from $8,000 to $12,000 for courses that last a week or two. Judging by the response of students and institutes to GIAN, the programme that was launched in November has taken off well. As many as 224 institutes expressed interest in inviting foreign teachers for short- term courses and of these 160 have already got the human resource development ministrys consent. Among these institutes, 19 are IITs, 25 NITs, six management schools, 57 universities and 48 AICTE colleges. Every institute wants to bring the best faculty available in the field to interact with its students, but the cost of hiring them was a big stumbling block, said IIT Kharagpur director Prof Partha Chakrabarti. So, as soon as GIAN was launched, institutes such as IIT Mumbai, Mizoram University and Bhopals School of Planning and Architecture sought foreign faculties and the list will grow further. Scholars from premier international schools including MIT, Cambridge University, University of Leeds and Imperial College have been hired to teach Indian students, officials said. In the programme at IIT-J, we held thirteen one-hour lectures, delivered by myself and several other esteemed colleagues, as well as a laboratory tutorial, an examination session, and many informal discussions with participants, Prof Fisher said. An expert panel of the ministry has approved 297 courses spread over 13 disciplines, including mathematical and computer sciences, mechanical sciences and infrastructure, humanities and liberal arts, architecture, law and social sciences. Read more: City schools import teachers to provide global perspective In Mumbai, some of the best schools that offer the state education boards curriculum are the institutions managed by the Archdiocesan Board of Education (ABE). The state government does not provide aid to new private schools that have English as t he medium of instruction, but most ABE institutions, because they were set up decades ago, continue to get public grants, making them practically free. The demand for seats at these schools is so great that an average classroom here is filled with 60- 70 students, and though the ABE would like to make the schools less crowded and bring student numbers closer to the ratio suggested in the Right to Education Act, there has been despair whether politicians will ever allow that. This is because, during every admission season, local politicians try to wring out seats in these schools. There are about 150 ABE schools in Mumbai and, despite the growing popularity of national and international education boards, these schools continue to follow the old curriculum. This is now changing: in the past one decade, there has been a drastic change in the student demography at these schools, with children from well-off families, including Catholic, shifting to private institutions. The change be g an in the 1990s, and while the decline in the number of children from Catholic families was the result of a lower birth rate and emigration, especially in the suburbs between Bandra and Santacruz, which has a large number of these schools, the decline has now been intensified by t he popularity of other curriculums. For instance, t he last bacho f kindergarten students admitted t o St Xaviers High School at Dhobi Talao, one of the oldest in the city, had only a handful of Catholic students, according to Father Francis Swa my, AB E s joint-secretary. At the 75-year-old school run by the Sacred Heart Church, Santacruz, l ess than a third of t he 150 new students admitted every year are Catholic, and t he number is falling, according to Father Joseph DSouza, the parish priest. Richer families are sending their children to schools that offer the international curriculum. ABE has now asked some of its schools to also start a section offering an international curriculum from the next academic year. Father Swamy said they are concerned by the changes in the demography of their schools. The Catholic community set these schools so that their children get both religious and secular education; if the children go to private schools, they will receive no religious education, said Swamy. Swamy said there was worry that, without the religious classes that the ABE institutions provide in the form of the Sunday School, the childrens only link to their faith would be a few rituals and sacraments like confir mation and marriage. The ABE has selected the International General Certificate of Secondary Education ( I GCSE) curriculum, of f ered by t he Cambridge International Examination, as the board has flexible rules on school infrastructure: while other international and national boards require institutions to have exclusive buildings and premises, IGCSE classrooms can be set up in existing schools. Apart from the Santacruz school, St Stanislaus in Bandra, too, was asked to start a new section. Most of our schools have large campuses, so it will not be difficult to set aside one building or a wing for the IGCSE section, said Swamy. The ABE, however, has no plans to discontinue the state board curriculum. We will always offer the curriculum as long as there are students applying for it, said Swamy. At some of the schools, the response to plans for an IGCSE section has not been very good, and this could be because there are well- established schools in t he locality t hat are already offering the curriculum. Nowadays, families are not bothered about religious instruction, they are only concerned about the education curriculum, said Father DSouza. Read more: Catholic schools in city want uniform admission schedule Leonardo DiCaprio prefers supermodels but at BAFTA, it was Dame Maggie Smith who had his attention. DiCaprio won his first-ever BAFTA award in the best actor category for The Revenant and was buzzing with goodwill. As the award host Stephen Fry turned on the playful Kiss Cam at Leo and veteran actor Maggie Smith on the award nite, which took place on Valentines Day, they both were game. DiCaprio placed a huge kiss on the beloved Harry Potter star and she responded with a fond hug. The Leo-Maggie kiss... Leo and Maggie Smith's kiss at the BAFTA kiss cam is the highlight of my life pic.twitter.com/EVOd56gPfz (@ClNEMAH) February 15, 2016 DiCaprio and Maggie, who are up for the Best Actor and Best Actress gongs respectively, were seated next to each other. The UK film industry also showered Valentines Day love on The Revenant, awarding the endurance epic five prizes, including best picture and best actor, at the British Academy Film Awards. Read: All about BAFTA 2016 DiCaprio cemented his Oscar-favorite status by taking the best-actor trophy for playing a bear-battling fur trapper in a brutally wild American West. Alejandro G. Inarritu was named best director for what he called a human and tender story, and The Revenant also won prizes for cinematography and sound. Others who kissed for the cam... DiCaprio, who has been nominated three times before at the British awards without winning, said in his acceptance speech that he was absolutely humbled to beat The Martian star Matt Damon, Trumbos Bryan Cranston, Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs, and Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl. He cited the influence on his work of British actors including Tom Courtney, Peter OToole, Daniel Day Lewis and his Revenant co-star Tom Hardy, and sent thanks and greetings to his mother, whose birthday fell on Sunday. And those who didnt... The British awards, known as BAFTAs, are considered a portent of success at Hollywoods Feb. 28 Academy Awards. The Revenant has earned DiCaprio his sixth Oscar nomination - and, many believe, his best shot at finally winning. The one and only @LeoDiCaprio wins the Leading Actor award, his first BAFTA, for @RevenantMovie! pic.twitter.com/IQqK88Vt2i BAFTA (@BAFTA) February 14, 2016 DiCaprio said it was out of his hands, but expressed pride in what he called not just a film, but an epic journey we all went on. We put our heart and soul into this movie ... Its up to the world now and voters to decide, he said at a post-ceremony news conference. Read: The curse of Leonardo DiCaprio Talking about his first-ever win, he said, I grew up in this industry. Ironically I felt very detached from it even though I lived in East LA, in Hollywood. I always felt like it was this distant thing that I couldnt touch. So to have worked in this industry ever since I was 13 years old, having done 20 some odd movies, to be here now, and have it be for a film like this that weve worked so very hard on really feels amazing. Asked about his Titanic co-star and close friend Kate Winslet, who also took home a trophy for best supporting actress, he said: Kates my home girl. Senior BJP leaders will meet PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar on Monday in what is being seen as the first serious shot by the two parties at reviving a joint government in Jammu and Kashmir. The state has been under governors rule since the death of chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed last month. His daughter Mehbooba refused to succeed him, unhappy with the way the coalition had worked over the past nine months. Mondays meeting, coinciding with the end of the 40-day mourning for Sayeed, is likely to be attended by BJP state president Sat Sharma and former deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh, source said. It wasnt immediately clear if party general secretary Ram Madhav or Union minister Jitendra Singh would attend. As the BJPs in-charge of the state, Madhavs presence in the meeting is seen as crucial. If the meeting is successful then Mehbooba will likely meet BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi before formally announcing the formation of the government before end-February. BJP leaders have sought time for a meeting in the evening, senior PDP leader Nayeem Akhtar told Hindustan Times without giving any names. Initially, the PDP had cited the customary mourning period for the delay in deciding on continuing with the alliance with the BJP. But soon it was clear Mehbooba was unhappy with the coalition itself, reflecting the reservations of a section of the party. She then called for confidence building measures from the BJP, including steps to implement an Agenda of Alliance before taking a call on the partnership. She also said she was unwilling to come into office with empty coffers. BJP state spokesman Sunil Sethi said Mondays talks were the first formal meeting on government formation after the end of the 40-day mourning. Killing of civilians in the state as well as a growing controversy at the Jawaharlal Nehru (JNU) University involving Kashmiri protests have added to worries over talks between the BJP and PDP. Unfortunate things are happening in the state It can cast a shadow on the decision to form the government, a PDP leader said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. As the political stalemate drags, state governor NN Vohra has appointed two former civil servants as advisors to help with running the government. He also asked all political appointees of the previous PDP-BJP government to resign, a move aimed at giving the new government a say in the appointments. Among the first to resign was advocate general Jahangir Iqbal Ganai. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A college student in north Keralas Kozhikode is planning to move the state women commission to complain against her college authorities, who allegedly didnt allow her to attend classes for marrying a man from another religious community. A first-year degree student at the Muslim Education Society womens college, Neeraja was in love with 23-year-old Mohamed Rameeze and they had a court marriage under the special marriages act on Feb 1. But when she went back to college after a week, she said, she was allegedly told she couldnt continue her studies. The college authorities told me that I cant attend classes since I married a person without the consent of my parents. They told me if I continued my education it would set a bad precedent for other girls, she said. When she insisted on attending her classes, college authorities said they could consider her case if she converted to Islam. But the couple took a vow to not change their religious identities after marriage. They are not ready to give certificates, saying those were deposited with the Calicut University. I have tried to meet the principal a couple of times, said Rameeze. The college denied the charges, saying she was asked to bring her parents since she missed her classes for 10 days. We have only asked her to bring her guardian to explain how she missed her classes for 10 days. It is part of college discipline. They are coming out with wild allegations to get undue publicity, said a spokesman of the MES womens college. Rameeze said since it was a love marriage, both sets of parents are against their relation. It is a lame excuse on the part of college authorities. They know it well that parents are against our wedding. How do they expect Neerajas parents to explain her absence, he said. Apart from the women commission, the young couple is also planning to move the state human rights commission. Neither set of parents were available for comment. Leaders of the CPI-M and the Congress will on Monday walk shoulder-to-shoulder in a rally in Kolkata to protest against the Centres bid to propagate the ideology of the BJP and the RSS with regard to the happenings at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. We will protest against the way the administration has become active to propagate the ideologies of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The civil society, various political parties, student bodies and youth will walk in a huge rally, Jadavpur University professor and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Om Prakash Mishra said here on Sunday. The rallyists will assemble at College Square, and walk three km up to Dorina Crossing. Among the leaders who would participate in the rally are Congress leaders Abdul Mannan and Arunava Ghosh, Communist Party of India-Marxists Sujon Chakraborty and Ritrabrata Banerjee, and former Kolkata mayor Bikash Bhattacharya. The main issue of the rally is freedom of speech and expression which has come under attack at JNU, said Mishra, a JNU alumnus. JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mourn the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police registered a sedition case on Thursday and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days police custody on Friday although he denied raising the slogans Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has said the divisive BJP will go the Bihar way in Assam, where assembly elections are due in two months. Addressing party workers at Gohpur in Sonitpur district and a womens rally at Bihpuria in Lakhimpur district on Monday, Gandhi said peace-loving people in Assam have seen through the BJPs divisive design to opt for the Congress yet again. Assembly elections are near, and we need to tell the people why Congress is their best option for saving the country from a party that has only ensured an atmosphere of intolerance and conflict between communities, he said. The BJP is desperate to rule the state through the politics of polarisation, but its fate will be similar to that in Bihar, he said. Rahul is on a two-day visit to add wings to the Congress campaign for Mandate 2016. He had launched the partys campaign in December 11-12 by addressing a rally in western Assams Barpeta district. Barpeta is dominated by migrant Muslims, who have over the years shifted allegiance from Congress to the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) headed by perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal. In 2011, the AIUDF won five of the eight assembly seats in the district with a Muslim population of 70.73%. Muslims dominate at least 35 of Assams 126 assembly seats and are a deciding factor in 20 others. Gandhis programmes at Gohpur and Bihpura Titabor in Jorhat district and Sivasagar later in the day were largely aimed at tea tribes or Adivasis who account for a sizeable chunk of the voters in these areas. The Adivasis, like the migrant Muslims, have been a traditional vote bank for the Congress. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Despite being Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency, lack of cleanliness continues to be a major problem in Varanasi that has been ranked among the 10 dirtiest cities of India. A series of sanitation drives has failed to improve the situation in the ancient city which draws tourists from India and abroad. Stained walls, mounds of garbage and water logging due to a poor sewage system are some of the issues plaguing the city. While the Opposition blames the Centre for taking no concrete initiative to develop the infrastructure required to keep the city clean, several others blame the mindset of the locals for poor sanitation. Rajni Sinha, an associate professor in the citys Arya Mahila Postgraduate College, says, Instead of contributing to the sanitation drive, the locals have indulged in criticism. People need to change their mindset to ensure cleanliness across the city. Even a little effort will yield a massive change. Hitting out at the Centre, senior SP leader Shatrarudhra Prakash said, The BJP has always believed in propaganda politics. In the last two years, the city got false assurances. It failed to find a place on the smart cities list. Now, it has figured among the dirtiest cities. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Schoolchildren are caught in the firing line between the government and the Maoists in extremism-hit Chhattisgarh. Students are often seen marching under police security through streets of small towns and hamlets in Bastar region holding banners and placards, demanding peace and asking extremists to end killing of innocents, allegedly at the behest of state authorities. This despite the SC in 2011 termed as illegal the Chhattisgarh governments anti-insurgent militia of young tribals called Sulwa Judum. However, the passive aggressive campaign did not gone down well with the Maoists. The insurgents sent out an advisory to parents and teachers this week and also distributed pamphlets in the area asking them to desist from allowing children to participate in such anti-people rallies. We appeal to the parents of students to ensure their children are not used in anti-people (against the Maoist) events or rallies. We ask the school management and teachers too to not allow the students to be part of anti-people activities that are based on lies, said the statement issued by Vikalp, the spokesperson of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, the most powerful unit of the Maoists in central India covering the entire Bastar region along with Malkangiri, Koraput areas of Odisha and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. The Chhattisgarh police promptly dismissed the appeal as ridiculous. Are the Maoists not using children in their movement and destroying their lives? By issuing such statement, the rebels are trying to create a threat perception among the masses and gain the media hype, an ADGP told HT. Nonetheless, this propaganda war has left parents anxious. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty here, said Idpa Ramvilas, a businessman in Geedam. Another parent said their children were the most vulnerable as the school could act against them if they refused to participate in the marches and the Maoists could strike if they did. Maoists are known to forcibly pick up children to induct as combatants, and also urge villagers to willing offer their children to be trained as rebel warriors. Madkami Hunga, 14, and Puja Markam, 16, from Aranpur in Dantewada were forced to join the Maoist organisation some three years ago...Puja was traced by Malkangiri police in Odisha on January 26 this year after she fled, additional superintendent of police, Sukma, Santosh Singh told HT, adding that Puja was sent to a residential ashram in Dantewada for studies. Though the administration claims the student marches were voluntary and an attempt to counter the growing support for left-wing extremism among the youth, teachers admitted that the marches were conducted on the directive of the police and the district administration. We comply with the orders given and ensure the participation of students as directed, said a senior teacher of Bijapur government high school requesting anonymity. Another teacher in Sukma, who did not wish to be named, said, It is believed that when you rope in students to hold meetings or rallies, it might garner support from people but this will not win the hearts and minds of Maoists. But, not everyone is against the involvement of students in the anti-insurgency operation and say the childrens participation to create a terror-free environment was largely restricted to safer areas. Such initiatives might help build confidence in remote areas where the peoples trust in authorities remains abysmally low, said Alok Shukla, a human rights activist. Anti-terrorism experts are not worried and see the advisory as a reflection of the Maoists frustration. With the local tribal population understanding the futility of the ideology of left-wing extremism, they are now increasingly going against the rebels whose statements clearly show their desperation. The people in the affected areas yearn for peace, said Brigadier (retd) BK Ponwar, director of Kanker-based counter terrorism and jungle warfare college. The Bihar government is planning to set up a new chief ministers office that will open up governance to professionals outside the system in a bid to fast track chief minister Nitish Kumars development schemes. Being drafted on the lines of the Prime Ministers Office, the participatory model will welcome talent from outside the existing government eco-system without creating a parallel system. The focus will be on the delivery mechanism at the grassroots to bring about improvement in the socio-economic indices, a promise that Kumars government has been struggling to deliver on. Insiders say it will complement the objective of finding best possible solutions by drawing on professionals from different fields. Poll strategist Prashant Kishore will pilot the change for the first five years through the chief ministers pet project Bihar Vikas Mission, the special purpose vehicle set up to implement Kumars key poll promises. The new CMO will have around 1,500 professionals young or retired for a specific period to work as force multipliers and provide much-needed background support. The existing administrative system, headed by the chief secretary and comprising department secretaries, district magistrates and others, will continue work as they do, while the mission will trouble-shoot for them. In over 69 years, barely 3% people in Bihar could get piped drinking water. Now, the challenge is to take it to 100% in five years. The challenges are similar in other spheres. Despite improvement in power sector, a lot needs to be done to take it to all households. The mission, therefore, has seven buckets for CMs seven resolves, which will pool in all possible resources to translate his vision into reality, said an expert involved in the process. Some resistance however is being expected from government officials who may not see the new system as support for effective and timely implementation of policies. The mission is just a facilitating body to complement the existing system, not to confront. But yes, it is a novel initiative, as opening up governance to new talent outside the system is unheard of in India, and will be a challenge, but it is worth taking. CM has been talking to senior officials himself, said a government functionary. . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Limited stocks and shortages have driven up prices, with remote areas, particularly those in Western Province, most affected. According to the UNs Food and Agriculture Organisation, up to one-third of the population is currently struggling as a result of the drought. Since mid-2015, when the current El Nino cycle hit the Pacific region, large swathes of PNG have experienced droughts and frost, leading to a substantial decline in agricultural production and forcing some communities to begin shipping in food. EFFORTS to promote agricultural self-sufficiency in Papua New Guinea saw a setback in 2015, with sector growth affected by severe drought conditions triggered by the El Nino weather pattern. While many of the most affected regions saw rain in early 2016, concerns remain that the impact of El Nino will be felt for some time, with food shortages and high prices expected to continue. The drought is also likely to impact PNGs agri-business sector, disrupting supplies of produce for processing and hitting the countrys key agricultural export coffee. According to World Bank estimates, PNG accounts for 1% of global coffee production. Floods in early 2015 damaged some coffee plantations in the Highland region, while the subsequent drought is expected to take its toll on the upcoming harvest. Supply chains have borne the brunt of the drought, as water levels in many of the countrys larger rivers are now too low to transport produce or other goods. The OK Tedi open-pit copper, gold and silver mine, for example, was forced to halt operations in August after low water levels on the Fly River made river transport impossible. The mine is only now re-opening. The government is currently looking at ways to diversify shipping methods to ensure agricultural output reaches targeted destinations. In late January the prime minister announced plans to hold consultations with farmers, wholesalers and retailers on improving supply chains. According to ONeill, airfreight is being considered to ship produce from remote regions, such as the fertile Highlands. This will include discussion with airlines so as to more efficiently transport produce within the country, ONeill told local media. The Highlands have the potential to grow some of the best and most nutritious fruit and vegetable produce in the world. We have to improve our supply chains to get this to market in other centres. While relying on airfreight would likely increase costs, such a move could also help encourage more substantial production in remote areas, which remains a key goal of the governments agriculture policy of self-sufficiency. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and BJP chief Amit Shah engaged in some long-distance skirmishing on Monday over the JNU crisis that has snowballed into a major political row with leaders from a slew of parties weighing in. Gandhi accused the BJP and RSS of trying to create conflict between people of different faiths and beliefs even as Shah asked him to apologise for igniting anti-national activities at the Delhi-based university and wondered if he was rooting for another partition of the country. While we work for peace, the BJP wants to spread violence and destroy the brotherhood between communities, Gandhi said at a rally in poll-bound Assam. They want to make Hindus fight against Muslims. You can see Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana... wherever they (BJP) went, they triggered clashes between communities by spreading hatred. Read more: The JNU crackdown could be the BJPs undoing The Congress and other opposition parties have criticised the government crackdown at the prestigious university with its student union leader being arrested under charges of sedition while the incident has sparked a debate on free speech in India. Shah attacked the Congress leader in a blog, accusing him encouraging anti-national forces by supporting the JNU students who allegedly shouted anti-India slogans while commemorating Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru who was hanged three years ago. Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals? he wrote. Has Rahul Gandhi lent his voice to separatists in the country? Does he want another Partition? The JNU row has escalated an ideological confrontation between the Narendra Modi government that critics say is pushing a Hindu nationalist agenda and left-leaning organisations. CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat questioned the Centres definition of nationalism and said he would prefer to wear the anti-national badge with honour. It has become a much wider issue for the society because this is not a clash of ideas between different groups of students, he told the media while visiting the JNU campus amid a swirling students protest. It is the government and the establishment directly intervening to set the agenda to change the framework of our education system and values. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who political observers say may emerge as a national alternative to Modi ahead of the 2019 general elections, likened the government action against JNU students to the Emergency. Its too much of a design to impose ideology of the ABVP, which is the student wing of the RSS in educational institutions, he told reporters in Patna. The saffron party should explain if BJP leaders attending a ceremony on Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, is an example of nationalism? His Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, criticised the BJP on NDTV for having double standards with the Centre ordering action against the students while the party is trying to revive an alliance in J&K with the PDP which calls Afzal Guru a martyr. (With agency inputs) Students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University went on a strike Monday to demand release of the students union President Kanhaiya Kumar even as ABVP criticized teachers for supporting anti-national elements. Kumar was arrested on Friday and charged with sedition and criminal conspiracy for allegedly raising slogans that called for Indias doom and celebrated convicted terrorist Afzal Guru. Kumar has vehemently denied all allegations. On Saturday teachers and students launched Save JNU campaign against what they alleged was a witch-hunt against students and demanded release of Kumar. Sunday saw teachers and students form a human chain demanding the release of Kumar and that the Delhi Police be asked to leave from the campus. Read | The JNU crackdown could be the BJPs undoing We will be on strike till our President is not released. The government is carrying out a witch-hunt in campus. Hostels are being raided. There is a lot of police presence here. We need all of this to stop, said a student. While students said they will be on strike till Kumar is not released, JNU teachers association (JNUTA) said that teachers will not take any classes on Monday. We are on strike for one day and will then decide on the course of action, said a JNUTA member. The universitys vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar on Monday morning appealed for peace. We dont see any need for strikes. The focus needs to be back on academics. A high-level inquiry committee has been set and a report will be submitted on February 25. I appeal for normalcy. Freedom of expression is crucial, he said. Read | FTII, 40 central universities extend support to JNU students JNUSU general secretary Saurabh Kumar Sharma, the only ABVP member in the student union, said that teachers have turned a blind eye to all the anti-national events that had been organized for decades in JNU. They have given a call for University Strike on 15 February; we are strongly opposed to it and strictly condemn this behaviour of JNUTA. These teachers, who should show some concern for nation, are in strong support of the ones who are willing to destroy the nation, he said. ABVP also said they will demand dismissal of teachers if they dont stop their support to students. This university is run by the money of tax payers of this country. These teachers have no right - absolutely no right - to waste money that is meant for promoting higher studies and research and national unity by openly siding with terrorists supporters, ABVP said in a statement. Read | JNU joins hands to demand Kanhaiyas release SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed has taken pot-shots at the Indian government for using a fake twitter handle to link him with the JNU students protest and called it a prime example of how the Indian government fools its own people. In a series of tweets with the hashtag, #JNU, Saeed went on to accuse India of similarly misleading its people about the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 160 people in 2008. Alleging me for #JNU protest based on a Fake account in my name is a prime example of how Indian government fools its own people. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 Kashmiri youth are not acting on anyone's orders. The opression and atrocities they have faced is enough to make them resilient #JNU Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 All allegations put forward by India are based on hatred and enemity towards Pakistan. #JNU #FakeAccountScam Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 Home Minister Rajnath Singh had brought in Hafiz Saeed into the public debate on the anti-India JNU protests, suggesting that those speaking in support of the JNU students were on the same side as Saeed. The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed . This is a truth that the nation needs to understand, Singh told reporters in Allahabad on Sunday. The home ministers comments had come days after a tweet, on a fake twitter handle, appeared under a hashtag asking Pakistanis to support the JNU protests. Delhi Police had reacted within hours of the tweet, putting out an advisory on Twitter asking students not to get swayed by Saeeds tweet. Do not get carried away by such seditious anti-national rhetoric, Delhi Police said in its advisory on social media. Police in other metros such as Mumbai and Hyderabad were also tagged to draw their attention. But it soon became clear that Delhi Police had probably jumped the gun. It wasnt the Lashkar chief. In fact the Lashkar chief even released a video on Youtube claiming that the tweet wasnt by him. HT however could not verify the authenticity of the video. The home minister seemed to follow-up on the police assessment on Sunday when he drew the link between the protests at JNU and Saeed. It is a point that the BJPs general secretary Shrikant Sharma had made a day earlier to attack Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who had visited the campus to make common cause with the students. Rahul Gandhi and his friends are speaking in the voice LeT terrorist Hafiz Sayeed who had tweeted in support of anti-India event in JNU, Sharma had said on Friday. The opposition reacted sharply to the home ministers remarks. The Congress and the Left parties slammed the home minister and asked him to provide proof of what he had claimed. The CPMs top leader, Sitaram Yechury, accused the government of scaring us off and crushing dissent, after protesters attacked the CPM party office. On Friday, police charged JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar with criminal conspiracy and sedition for organizing a protest on the anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Gurus hanging three years ago. This has become a hotly contested political issue, days before Parliament is to convene for the Budget session. Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah too was unsparing in his attack, calling it a new low for the NDA government. That #HafizSaeed supported the #JNU protests is a very serious charge to level against the students. The evidence must be shared with all. Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) February 14, 2016 Cracking down on students & using #HafizSaeed to justify the crack down is a new low, even for this NDA government. #JNUCrackdown Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) February 14, 2016 On the back foot, the home ministry tried to cap the criticism, asserting that Rajnath Singhs statement bringing in the Saeed link was not based on a single source but inputs from different agencies. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Madras high court judge raised the banner of revolt on Monday when he stayed his transfer ordered by the Supreme Court, demanded a written explanation from the CJI and threatened an FIR against two top court judges for their caste bias in shifting him to Kolkata. The Supreme Court moved swiftly to nip justice CS Karnans rebellion. It put on hold the stay he had ordered on his transfer and also asked Madras HC chief justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul not to assign any work to the controversial judge, who is also locked in a running battle with his senior HC colleagues. But an undeterred justice Karnan said, My judicial powers are still with me. I will pass a suo motu judicial order to the Chennai city commissioner of police to register an FIR against the two (SC) judges. Accusing justice JS Kehar and justice R Bhanumathi of discriminating against him because he was a Dalit, justice Karnan said the two Supreme Court judges should be booked under the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) act. The drama started Monday morning when justice Karnan stayed a February 12 order issued by Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur-led SC collegium, transferring him to the Calcutta high court. Justice Karnan then went on to ask the CJI for a written explanation and fixed April 29 to hear the matter. The order was in the form of a letter addressed to the CJI and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Within minutes, the top court -- taking note of senior advocate KK Venugopals plea -- stayed the order. A bench of justice Kehar and justice Bhanumathi also restrained him from hearing any case and permitted chief justice Kaul not to assign judicial or administrative work to him. in our view it would be appropriate that justice Karnan should hear and dispose of only such matters as are specially assigned to him by the chief justice, the bench said. All orders passed by justice Karnan after the February 12 transfer notice would remain stayed, it said. Justice Karnan sought political support, marking copies of his judgment staying the transfer order to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati. Asked why he had turned to politicians, justice Karnan told media that as an opposition leader Sonia would come out in his support while Paswan and Mayawati were his community leaders. I have a right to expose how a Dalit judge is being treated in this country. I am prepared to drag all judges concerned to Parliament for a debate, he said. Earlier, the Madras HC registry urged SC to stay justice Karnans orders threatening contempt proceedings and action against justice Kaul under the SC/ST act. Justice Karnan said the chief justice didnt make him a member of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy because he came from a scheduled caste. Accusing justice Kaul of caste discrimination, justice Karnan declared him an offender under SC/ST act. The apex court stayed that order as well. In May, too, SC had stayed a justice Karnans order initiating contempt proceedings against justice Kaul for not implementing one of his orders. No meeting of the beleaguered CPI(M)s central committee has been of such significance in the recent past as the upcoming one from February 17. Fireworks are expected at the CC meet as CPI(M)s Bengal unit is desperate to ally with the Congress for the assembly polls in April. The CPI(M)s Kerala leaders and also a large section of the central leadership, however, are vehemently opposed to such tie-up on ideological as well as tactical grounds. In the CC, the West Bengal unit is in a minority. If we align with the Congress, we may get a few more seats in Bengal but it will almost surely ruin our chances to win back Kerala. So, which is more important? Getting a few more seats as a runner-up or wresting power in a state? a politburo member told HT. The partys glorious days are all but a distant dream, but there seems no end to the tactical tussle between what is commonly called as the Kerala line and the Bengal line. While Kerala unit leaders prefer to stick to hardcore communist principles and see both the BJP and the Congress as its key enemies, the West Bengal comrades are seen as more flexible in its tactics and now want to join hands with the Congress to revive their vote bank against the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool. The two sides have clashed on several occasions. In 1996, the powerful Kerala lobby was blamed for the partys reluctance to allow Jyoti Basu to become the Prime Minister of the United Front government. The bitterness escalated to a central committee meeting to decide if the rejection of the PMs post was a historic blunder. In 2007, the party again faced a conflict over withdrawal of support from the Manmohan Singh government. Last year, the Bengal unit backed Sitaram Yechurys candidature for the general secretarys post while the Kerala comrades wanted SR Pillai in the hot seat. Even if the partys headquarters formally reject the idea of a Congress-CPI(M) alliance, in parts of Bengal, informal understanding is already in place. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A leopard that sneaked into a suburban Bengaluru school on February 8 and mauled six people escaped from an enclosure in Bannerghatta National Park where it was being treated, officials said on Monday. Read more: Stray leopard sneaks into Bengaluru school, mauls 6 The leopard escaped on the night of February 14 when attendants opened the cage to provide food to the big cat. Park director Santosh Kumar said it was suspected the cage door was not properly shut. There is no need to panic as the cat is still inside the park, its natural habitat. But we would have liked to have kept it for a few more days as the leopard was undergoing medical treatment, he told HT. Authorities constituted six search teams comprising 52 officials. Read more: Leopard scare freaks out Bengaluru: 134 schools declare holiday The leopard which was tranquilised and captured strayed into the citys eastern suburb on 8 February through bushes, boulders, hills and thick plantations across the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border in search of prey and water. As it was a holiday, students and teachers were lucky to have escaped from being attacked by the wild animal. The leopard was put in an iron cage and shifted to the Bannarghatta national zoo park. Watch | Stray leopard sneaks into Bengaluru school Rumours of several leopard spotting over the week led to 134 schools across the city shutting down, triggering a debate on increasing man-animal conflict due to greater human encroachment on natural habitats. The political sweepstakes in the April-May assembly polls in West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry could be encapsulated in two words: survival and redemption. Hitting a low in 2015 after a dream run the previous year, the BJP is looking to redeem itself. The Congress, ousted from power at the Centre and in four major states in 2014, can ill afford to lose two more and lend steam to the BJPs Congress-mukt Bharat slogan. For the Left, a failure to wrest power in Kolkata or Thiruvananthapuram would raise questions on their political relevance. There is much at stake for these national parties as also for regional ones such as the DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The poll outcome would have national ramifications. It would have a bearing on the degree and pace of coalescence of anti-BJP forces, a phenomenon BJP president Amit Shah recently described as BJP-versus-all or Narendra Modi-versus-all. Already hobbled by a lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha, the NDA government would be confronted with a more belligerent Opposition in case of adverse results in these polls. The BJPs stakes The party has never been in power in any of the four states and one Union territory. It is said to have a realistic chance in Assam and a significant increase in its vote-share and seats in the other states would not only take the steam out of the Oppositions onslaught but also bolster the partys claim for a pan-India status. Conversely, questions about the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the policies of the NDA government would surface again. After the partys best-ever show in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the victory march continued in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Then it hit a trough in 2015, losing Delhi and Bihar assembly elections. Results of civic polls in five different states showed a slide in fortune. In Madhya Pradesh, after losing the Ratlam Lok Sabha bypoll, the BJP lost five of eight urban civic bodies. In Gujarat, the Congress managed to win 21 of 31 district panchayats; the BJP had won 30 of them in 2010. There was little to cheer in the Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and West Bengal civil polls either. The BJP is anxious to break the spell and return to the winning streak before assembly polls in seven states next year, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat. They (BJP) dont have to worry about these elections. Whatever they achieve, they can project as their gains, says political scientist Suhas Palshikar. Oppositions stakes Besides Assam and Kerala, the Congress is in power in six states that account for 42 Lok Sabha MPs. The party rode piggyback on the RJD-JDU combine in Bihar and opted for a similar arrangement with the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu. Whether it would play the lead or tertiary role in any national mahagathbandhan in the future would depend on its performance in the 2016 and 2017 assembly polls. Until 2008, the Left parties dictated the UPA governments economic and foreign policies. Today, their writ runs in Tripura only. In West Bengal, they are fighting a marauding TMC. Left sources say they are only hoping for a miracle this election. Political observers are not surprised to see the CPI(M) state committee proposing an alliance with the Congress last week. The CPI(M) central leadership may not be inclined to barter away the partys chance to form the government in Kerala, where it is pitted against the Congress-led coalition, for marginal gains in West Bengal. Their individual gains and losses apart, these parties are likely to make renewed efforts to stitch non-BJP alliances. These polls could provide the contours for this. NDA governments stakes The NDAs debacle in Bihar prompted an emboldened Opposition to close ranks and disrupt Parliament in the winter session. If it harbours any hope of outsmarting the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha to push reforms, the BJP has to do extremely well in the upcoming polls. The BJP has 48 MPs in the 242-member Upper House. There will be 11 vacancies from Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu by June this year, six and five from West Bengal in 2017 and 2018 respectively. None of these seats is held by NDA. They may not give the BJP the requisite numbers to push any legislation through but if it does extremely well in the coming elections, the government may get some elbow room. If it doesnt, parliamentary logjams and political slugfests may continue to dominate public discourse. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The mortal remains of nine Siachen brave hearts, who were buried alive in an avalanche, will be brought to the national capital today from Leh on Monday morning. The bodies of the soldiers are likely to reach New Delhi at around 11.30 am. Earlier in the morning, Leh Corps Commander paid his tributes to the nine Siachen Martyrs at a solemn function at Leh. The soldiers were killed on February 3 when an avalanche had struck their post, burying ten soldiers under 25 feet of snow. While a soldier Naik Hanamanthapa was found alive after remaining under snow for six days, bodies of the nine other soldiers were retrieved a week after the incident. The mortal remains of the soldiers, however, could not be transferred to their native places as bad weather had made flying out of Siachen area impossible. Mortal remains of all nine martyrs were brought to Leh from Hunder on Sunday. Wreath laying is planned in New Delhi after which IAF aircrafts will fly our martyrs to Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Chennai and Trivandrum, an army official said. The mortal remains of martyrs would then be carried by IAF aircrafts to Bangalore, Chennai, Trivandrum, Madurai, Pune, and Hyderabad. The others killed in the avalanche were Havildar Elumalai M of Dukkam Parai village, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, Lance Havildar S Kumar of Kumanan Thozhu village, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, Lance Naik Sudheesh of Monroethuruth village, Kollam district, Kerala and Sepoy Mahesha PN of HD Kote village, Mysore district, Karnataka. Sepoy Ganesan of Chokkathevan Patti village, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, Sepoy Rama Moorthy of Gudisatana Palli village, Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu, Sepoy Mustaq Ahmed of Parnapalle village, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh and Sepoy (Nursing Assistant) Suryawanshi S V of Maskarwadi village, Satara district, Maharashtra are the others. (With agency inputs) Read: Siachen miracle: How Army rescued a hero trapped under 35 ft of snow Union home minister Rajnath Singh faced renewed calls from opposition parties on Monday to prove his claim that a flashpoint event at JNU campus received support from Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed. Delhi police however said it has so far found no evidence in this regard. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar urged Rajnath Singh to show evidence to back up his claim on Sunday that the founder of the Pakistan-based terror outfit, supported the event at the campus in Delhi to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on his third death anniversary on February 9. Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi told reporters in Delhi that they have found no evidence linking the LeT to the incident at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) so far. As and when it comes, it will be shared with the Home Ministry, he said. Read | JuD chief Hafiz Saeed takes potshots at govt after fake tweet fiasco Chief of the Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hardliner Jamaat ud Dawa, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed (AFP File Photo) Congress again hit out at Rajnath Singh over his claim, accusing him of communalising the issue and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask his Pakistani counterpart to arrest the Lashkar chief for terror attacks in India. Rajnath communalising#JNUATROCITY at PULPIT of Pulp Patriotism. Tell PMs Biryani friend Nawaz Sharief Arrest Hafiz Seed for terror attacks, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said in a tweet. A home ministry spokesperson on Sunday had said that Singhs statement was based on the inputs available from different agencies. RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale, meanwhile, alleged that the Afzal Guru event was a result of a conspiracy and those who allegedly raised slogans in support of Pakistan and the Parliament attack convict are traitors and should be charged with treason. Speaking at the Mahanagar Swayamsewak Sangam in Meerut, the RSS joint general secretary wondered how a generation of students indulging in anti-national sloganeering came up in an institution, which is known as a temple of learning. Read | Rajnath links LeTs Hafiz Saeed to JNU protest, Oppn demands evidence The Energy and Resources Institutes (Teri) former head, RK Pachauri, could be charged this week under four sections of criminal law, including sexual harassment and stalking, based on allegations he pestered a woman co-worker with inappropriate texts and emails. Delhi Police have prepared the charge sheet that implicates the 75-year-old Pachauri of outraging the modesty of a woman and criminal intimidation, besides sexual harassment and stalking. The 29-year-old colleague filed her complaint and named him in a first information report (FIR) at Lodhi Road police station on February 20, 2015. The draft charge sheet was prepared after a yearlong investigation that drew allegations of police tardiness. Sources said the draft has been approved by senior officers and police commissioner BS Bassi would like it filed before his retirement on February 29. Police have attached soft copies of Pachauris mails to the woman researcher, sent from his official email address, as crucial evidence in the case. Read: Sexual harassment case: Pachauri sent on leave, Teri gets new chairman The former UN climate panel chief, a leading voice on the dangers of global warming, wrote five poems between September 2013 and January 2014 and love letters to the woman. His text and WhatsApp messages to the woman, including her replies rejecting his advances, were also attached to the charge sheet. Pachauri had claimed in his defence that his phone had been hacked and the mails were sent to frame him. But the charge sheet dismisses his statement. It says Pachauri never reported the phone hacking when investigators questioned him during the early days of the probe into the harassment case. Read: Teri alumni flay councils decision to send Pachauri on paid leave Pachauri has been accused of tampering with his mobile phones and laptop when the case was registered. A report from the Gandhi Nagar forensic laboratory is awaited to confirm this charge. A protester outside The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) office in New Delhi. (AFP Photo) Police are likely to file a supplementary charge sheet if the forensic report corroborates the charge. The high-profile former boss of Teri, the environment and energy think-tank which he headed for 35 years, has been forced to step down and sent on leave. He was also compelled to resign as chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last February after the sexual harassment complaint. Read: As second victim surfaces, its time to take a hard look at RK Pachauri A tragedy that left a 14-year-old Grady High School bicyclist dead has raised questions about safety at one of Atlanta's most popular pedestrian intersections where the Beltline meets Piedmont Park. Alexia Hyneman, a freshman, was riding home from a school theater performance about 9:15 p.m. Thursday when police say she "proceeded through the intersection" at 10th Street and Monroe Drive and was struck by a vehicle. A witness told police that traffic had started to move on Monroe before the girl was hit, and the driver told police he didn't see her, the AJC reports. Atlanta police are still investigating, but a sergeant told the newspaper it doesn't appear that the driver was at fault. Beltline patrons and pedestrian advocates have long pondered safety upgrades to the intersection, where hundreds of people transfer daily between the Beltline and the park. An anonymous emailer vented to Curbed that the tragedy should spur a total reevaluation of the intersection and the possible inclusion of a tunnel under Monroe: "When this (tunnel) idea has been raised to Beltline officials, they claim the topography would make this somehow impossible, but I've seen many similar pedestrian tunnels in other cities (Minneapolis, Knoxville, Toronto, etc.), so I am not buying that explanation." Near the intersection, where a memorial grows, family and friends held a touching tribute to the teen Saturday. Friends, family remember Grady High School freshman hit by car, killed [AJC] Recent Beltline coverage, discussion [Curbed] Should a government department spend Rs 27 to get an RTI applicant to pay a fee of Rs 8? Yes, said chief information commissioner RK Mathur in a controversial decision this week, overruling a common sense decision delivered by his predecessor, Satyananda Mishra. The CIC was hearing an appeal where Right to Information (RTI) applicant Subhash Chandra Agrawal had questioned the logic of the Supreme Court spending Rs 27 in postal charges to ask him to pay Rs 8 for four sheets of paper. The rules require government departments to make citizens pay Rs 2 for every page of information received under the Right to Information Act. Wouldnt it be cheaper for the government if it just gave away the information for free, Agrawal had asked. Mishra had agreed with this line of thought when he had in 2013 told the home ministry it might be technically correct to ask for a Rs 2 fee for a page of information, but it certainly wasnt prudent as much more public money is lost in correspondence. Mathur, who took over as CIC last month, said Mishras decision was rendered in ignorance of the statutory provisions and not binding on this commission. But the information commission has repeatedly questioned this provision. Just last November, information commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu took the national green tribunal to task for spending Rs 30,000 in legal fees to defend its decision of not providing information to a citizen who had paid the Rs 10 RTI fee in court stamps and not via postal order. The law has to conform to common sense, said Mishra while another former CIC, AN Tiwari, termed this penny wise, pound foolish rule an absurdity. Like Mathur, Tiwari and Mishra too were IAS officers. They retired from the department of personnel that oversees the implementation of the transparency law before being appointed to the commission. An IIT alumnus, Mathur retired as defence secretary last year. A retired government official said if the previous UPA government had gone strictly by the book, the RTI Act may have been dead by now. The law ministry had told former PM Manmohan Singh that information commissioners could only decide cases if all of them sat on the bench together. Singhs office had, however, advised against pursuing this line as it could be counterproductive to the spirit of the law. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rahul Gandhi will begin a two-day visit to Assam on Monday as the Congress looks to revive lost ground in four key districts in the state ahead of its elections due this summer. Rahul sounds the poll bugle to counter the surging Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which kicked off its campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modis rally at Dibrugarh and the party chief Amit Shahs rally at Nagaon in the first week of February. The Congress has pinned hopes on Rahuls visit to the districts of Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Jorhat and Sivasagar to give the national party a much needed boost as it struggles in its strongholds elsewhere. The BJP surge is worrying for the Congress, a fact reflected in Rahuls itinerary. The Congress vice president will be addressing party workers at locations that were once its forte. In the past decade, the BJP has made inroads in these base locations, showing strength in the entire upper and Northern Assam during the last Lok Sabha poll. BJP had won in all the five Parliamentary constituencies in upper and northern Assam. Rahul Gandhis visit to the state will certainly boost party workers morale for the assembly election, said Anjan Dutta, president of Pradesh Congress committee. From tea workers to micro businesses, Rahul will move through the four districts and hold sessions with locals. He will also meet with members of the National Students Union of India in upper Assam districts. At Gahpur, Rahul Gandhi will address micro booth management committee workers of three assembly segments in Sonitpur district, Dutta said. In Lakhimpur district, Rahul will also address a Mahila Jagaran Samaroh meeting. Tremendous enthusiasm prevails among our women cell members over Rahul Gandhis visit. This will certainly enthuse moral boosting to our workers ahead of the assembly election, Bhupen Bora, Congress MLA from the Bihupriya constituency said. On day two of the visit, Rahul is expected to cover six kilometers in a padayatra from Rangghar to Durbar in Sivasagar town, Dutta added. The Congress on Monday accused home minister Rajnath Singh of communalising the JNU issue by claiming that militant Hafiz Saeed was backing protests by the university students. Congress said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should instead ask his Pakistani counterpart to arrest the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief for terror attacks in India. Rajnath communalising#JNUATROCITY at PULPIT of Pulp Patriotism. Tell PMs Biryani friend Nawaz Sharif Arrest Hafiz Seed for terror attacks, Congress leader Manish Tewari tweeted on Monday. Home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday claimed that the event on JNU campus in Delhi against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received support from Saeed, a statement that sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. On Saturday, a post on an alleged fake account @Hafeez SaeedJUD - along with the name Hafeez Muhamad Saeed - invited JNU students to Pakistan to continue their Pro-Kashmiri, Anti-India Propaganda in our Universities. The incident (Afzal event) at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand, Singh had said, adding that what has happened is very unfortunate. Later, a home ministry spokesperson said Singhs statement was based on the inputs available from different agencies. Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh sought to know from the government which agency had given inputs to the government on the issue. Would Home Minister pl clarify on which Agencys input did he make a statement of JNUs connection with Hafiz Saeed ?, Digvijay Singh said in a tweet. As Natures primary scavengers, vultures have always been credited with performing a useful service to society and now scientists have put a value to it, highlighting that the birds declining population could be costlier than thought. A recent study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that 600 vultures consume the same amount of animal waste as a medium utility plant required to dispose it. The India office of IUCN has arrived at a value based on the scavenging services: A vulture is worth Rs 6.96 lakh in urban India and Rs 5.85 lakh in rural areas. Vultures ability to feed on dead animals makes them crucial for the environment and society as they help contain contamination from rotten carcasses, lowering the risk of diseases in humans and livestock. However, in the past two decades, the vulture population in the country has declined drastically. Today less than 1% vultures are left of their population in the early 1980s. Vulture numbers declined from about 40 million in the 1980s to less than 0.1 million now. This is the steepest decline in the population of any species, said Vibhu Prakash, principal scientist at the Bombay Natural History Society. The decline is primarily blamed on the extensive use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac to treat livestock. The drug residue present in the carcass is consumed by vultures indirectly. Though the drug to treat livestock is banned in the country, there have been reports of its illegal use. The absence of vultures has led to a crisis of carcass disposal across the country. Earlier people would remove the skin of the animals for their use and throw away the rest of the carcass. Vultures helped them quickly decay. But, in the absence of the birds, stinking carcasses started piling up, spreading diseases and leading to an increase in the population of secondary scavengers such as dogs, Prakash said. This forced the governments to put in place carcass rendering plants at several places. IUCN India scientists studied the cost of carcass disposal through these plants to estimate the economic value of the service provided by the birds. The cost of processing four-five carcasses per day at a rendering plant is estimated to be about Rs 15 lakh, taking into account the establishment and maintenance cost of these plants and the transportation and processing work. A medium utility plant processes 164,400 kg of meat in a year, whereas the amount consumed by 600 vultures in a year is between 115,200 kg and 172,800 kg, the study said. A medium plant is valued at Rs 6.7 crore in rural areas and Rs 7.9 crore in urban. This gives a vulture a value of Rs 5.85 lakh in villages and Rs 6.96 lakh in cities. Declining vulture population has other indirect costs, too. Anecdotal evidence shows the population of secondary scavengers such as dogs, jackals and rodents has been increasing. This might be leading to increased expenditure on diseases such as rabies, leptospirosis in humans and canine distemper in tigers. Besides, the increase in feral dogs population and the change in their feeding habits might also have an impact on the prey base for tigers in future, said NM Ishwar of IUCN who led the study. The scientists are making a case for breeding vultures and releasing them in the wild. A vulture safety zone for breeding 600 birds and releasing them in the wild would cost 75% of the cost of a medium carcass rendering plant. All the other natural ecosystem services will be in place. Thus it makes more sense, at least in rural areas, to invest in vulture breeding, Ishwar said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Restrictions were imposed by authorities in parts of Kashmir after the Valley witnessed a shutdown on Monday to protest against the killing of two civilians, allegedly by government forces during a demonstration on Sunday. Police and CRPF were deployed -- in riot gear -- across the city, particularly in its sensitive areas. Police had blocked roads using iron barricades and concertina wires to prevent people from protesting. There is a chance of escalation of protests after yesterdays deaths. That is why restrictions have been imposed in Nawhatta, SafaKadal, Khanyar, Maharaj-Ganj, Rainawari and Maisuma areas of Srinagar and some areas of Pulwama, said a police official. The two youths, including a woman, were killed and several others injured as protesters clashed with police in Pulwama on Sunday. Danish Farooq Mir (20), who was pursuing B.Tech from Islamic University of Science and Technology and Shaista Hameed (22) who was pursuing post-graduation in Urdu -- both residents of Pulwama -- were killed when security forces allegedly fired on a group of protesters near an encounter site in the districts Kakpora area on Sunday. Police said that Shaista was killed while being evacuated from the encounter site. Their deaths triggered outrage in the Valley, with tensions high since February 9 -- the third anniversary of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Gurus hanging in Tihar. Separatist leaders termed the deaths as cold-blooded murders and have since called for a shutdown. Shops and business establishments also remained closed in uptown areas of Srinagar where restrictions were not imposed. The situation in the city is very fragile. Youth tried to come out in uptown Hyderpora to throw stones on police but were chased away, said a resident. Traffic movement was also affected due to the shutdown. Rail services within the Valley have also been suspended and the situation was no different in other district headquarters of the Valley. There is a huge deployment of police and CRPF across south Kashmir. People prefer to remain indoors, said Bilal Ahmad, a resident of Pulwama. (With inputs from PTI) Police collected evidence on Monday from five exhibits gutted during a fire at a Make in India event in Mumbais Girgaum Chowpatty to be sent to forensic laboratories to ascertain if any foul play was behind the accident. Police at the DB Marg station said they will record statements of the technical staff, organizers and performers around the stage when the fire broke out. We have collected samples from the core area where the fire was first spotted. The investigation will focus on the part of sabotage and we will look into the sequence of incidents, said an officer. Read more: Fire at Make in India event in Mumbai: Sabotage angle to be probed Watch: Moment fire broke out at Mumbais Make in India event Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry but a bureaucrat in the chief ministers office said the reason for the fire hadnt been found. Two possible reasons for the fire could either be short circuit or a spark due to pyrotechnics, said a fire brigade official. Although fire brigade officials cleared the chowpatty, two major structures near the state and two cranes, which were used to raise the stage, could not be moved. The fire brigade officials informed us that wires inside the cranes were damaged due to the fire, so they cannot be operated. Now, towing vehicles will be brought to move these trains out, local Shiv Sena leader Pandurang Sankpal said. Officials said that a team of forensic experts from Kalina will visit the spot and collect more samples. The final report will be constituted by the police and will consist of the fire brigade and forensic reports. The investigators added in case any negligence or sabotage, a criminal case will be registered against concerned persons. All the related agencies are looking into the incident and are coordinating with each other thoroughly. It is not a time bound probe and all angles will be looked into, said Dhananjay Kulkarni, deputy commissioner and Mumbai police spokesperson. The staff of the event management company went through the charred remains of the fire to collect small equipment that were not damaged , sources said. The fire broke out a little after 8pm at the event, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Make in India week to exhort global business giants to set up base in the country. A performance of the Maharashtrian folk dance performance, Lavni, was going on at the time with around 15,000 people in attendance. People noticed flames under the stage and stopped the performance. In no time, the fire had spread to the entire stage and police evacuated the audience within minutes. Dignitaries such as Fadnavis, Maharshtra governor Vidyasagar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, film personalities Amitabh Bacchan, Hema Malini, Amir Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Shreyas Talpade, Isha Koppikar were at the venue. What happened at Girgaum chowpatty on Sunday evening? 8.07pm: Amitabh Bacchan finishes his poetry recital 8.17pm: Actor Puja Sawant starts performing Lavni as the last part of traditional dance celebration 8.20pm: Fire can be seen at the front of the state. It spread fast forcing performing dance troupe to exit the stage 8.22pm: A Fire engine reaches near the stage 8.25pm: Dignitaries being evacuated to safer place. Meanwhile, crowd starts leaving the venue. Many take video shooting of the fire 8.30pm: Fire engulfs entire stage with huge flames; Police starts removing inflammable material like plastic chairs, mattress 8.45pm: 14 fire tenders and 10 water tankers at the spot 9:15pm: Fire flames vanish 9.20pm: CM arrives the spot, takes a stock 9:25pm: CM announces inquiry 9.51pm: Fire doused. Debries shouldering 11.03pm: Civic chief arrives the spot, ask officials to clear debries as soon as possible SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A woman is abducted in Ghaziabad every 20 hours. None of them make the front page of newspapers, get wall-to-wall coverage on television, or a top-trending hashtag dedicated to them. The few that are found find scant mention, often buried deep in the inside pages of newspapers as single-column stories or snippets. Read more: Darr, lure of Rs 12 cr, Maruti Swift: How Snapdeal exec was abducted So what was so different about Dipti Sarna, the Snapdeal employee whose abduction triggered a massive police manhunt and an unprecedented outpouring of solidarity on social media? Read more: SRKs Darr inspired Snapdeal execs psycho stalker. He is not alone Was it because it was she was one of us, someone we could see a friend, colleague or family member in? Was it because she checked all the recognisable attribute boxes young professional, works with a multinational, takes the Metro, 20-something urban aspirational person? As a legal executive working with a billion-dollar e-commerce firm who crisscrossed the national capital region on her way to work every day, Sarnas abduction should have triggered important questions about policing, safety of women in public spaces, the state of our transport system and last-mile connectivity. But the media focused on none of those questions. TV channels didnt wonder how her abduction was an indictment of our lifeline, the Delhi Metro, and if it made sense to celebrate car-free days her abduction coincided with the first such event in Ghaziabad in the absence of safe last-minute connectivity. Instead, print, television and digital media jumped on her Snapdeal and urban credentials, gaining sympathy from the young Delhi crowd. The news about a billion-dollar companys employee getting abducted was enough to send everyone in a tizzy. Read more: Lure of Rs 12 cr, Darr, Maruti Swift: How Snapdeal exec was abducted Later that evening, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted the case details as Snapdeal launched a Twitter campaign to find her. Yadav said he instructed the state police headquarters and top cops to monitor the case, possibly understanding that this case was linked to his states prestige. That prestige linked to the company name, the prospect of scared multinationals and irate urban professional crowd is not present in most of the 426 cases of female abduction in Ghaziabad last year. That is why we havent heard of them. If Dipti Sarna didnt work for Snapdeal, if she wasnt a mobile urban professional, the news wouldnt have hit the headlines. Her abductors wouldnt have been spooked by the massive police manhunt a rare occurrence for abduction cases that may have only happened due to the chief ministers involvement. Read more: Darr! Cops arrest movie-inspired stalker who abducted Snapdeal exec Abductions have become so commonplace that they have stopped shocking us. Discussions about womens safety and hostile public spaces is at best a tea-table topic. Rampant murder and rape of lower-caste and tribal women across the country, even if they happen a hundred kilometers away from our homes, are dismissed as regular events. The only reason the Snapdeal case was different was because the media picked it up, sensing in it a potential for the sensational. We connected and cared, not because we want an India that is safer for women, but because we recognized ourselves in the story that it could be us the next time. If she didnt work with a e-commerce giant, we wouldnt have cared. Just like we didnt care for any of those 426 women. (Views expressed by the author are personal) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Police arrested five people on Monday in connection with the abduction of a 24-year-old Snapdeal employee, who returned unharmed last week after a massive manhunt for her received unprecedented social media support. Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police Dharmendra Singh said Devender Kumar, the main accused in the case was a psychopath who was involved in a one-sided love affair with the woman. It is just like a case portrayed in Bollywood movie Darr where Shah Rukh Khan is involved in a one-sided affair. The prime accused was just like a psycho and lived in a virtual reality. The criminals are hardcore. We are verifying whether the men are auto drivers or not, said Singh. Officials said the accused followed Dipti around for over a year after he first saw her at the Rajiv Chowk metro station. He didnt harm her as he wanted to gain her affection, they said. I never had an inkling that someone could be following me as the Metro is crowded and I always boarded the ladies compartment. I remained puzzled throughout the abduction as to where and why I was being taken. Also it was strange that even after abducting me, they did not harm me, said Dipti. The 28-year-old Devender -- a Haryana criminal who is wanted in 15 murder cases -- told police he was inspired by Hitler, Osama Bin Laden and Genghis Khan. A resident of Kami village in Haryanas Sonepat district, Devender planned to take Sarna to Nepals Kathmandu and marry her. Police said they recovered a car and an auto and that none of the five arrested were linked to the victim. The arrest came hours after the Ghaziabad Police took Dipti for a crime reconstruction from river Hindon to Morti village on Sunday evening. Dipti returned home last Friday and said four men who had abducted her 36 hours earlier released her and left her at a suburban railway station. Read| Snapdeal case: Dipti retraces abductors route for police She had gone missing after being allegedly whisked away from an autorickshaw in Ghaziabad when she was returning from work on Wednesday evening, sparking a police search across two states. The 24-year-old Snapdeal's abducted executive was also blindfolded by the men after overpowered initially. (HT Photo/Sakib Ali) Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police Dharmendra Singh, who questioned Dipti at her residence for more than hour on Saturday, had said he sought details related to her educational institutions and other companies she worked earlier. I can say that there is someone behind this who knows her. She has told (us) that she do not know people involved in the incident. But we suspect that the mastermind could be some known person, Singh said. Stating that she had revealed additional facts, the SSP had said the involvement of professional criminals behind the incident was remote. According to Dipti, she was driven in an i10 car and made to walk long distances, kept in a sugarcane field the next day before the abductors decided to leave her at a suburban railway station near Narela. There are a lot of strange things like abductors leaving her at a railway station and also making her walk 30-40km. These are being verified, the SSP added. Read: Ghaziabad police start to tag autos after abduction of Snapdeal staffer After she left her Gurgaon office on February 10, Dipti had shared an auto from outside Vaishali metro station. She said the auto broke down halfway at Mohan Nagar, forcing the passengers to board another auto to the old bus stand in Ghaziabad. But minutes later, the only other woman passenger in the auto was forced to get off at knifepoint by the four men in the vehicle, somewhere near the Hindon river, she said. The men allegedly snatched Diptis bag and mobile but not before a friend she was speaking with on the phone heard her scream. Snapdeals 24-year-old executive taken to a government hospital for medical examination on Feb 12. (HT Photo/Sakib Ali) Diptis last mobile location was found near a secluded area leading to Raj Nagar Extension. The police said they found it strange that the driver of the second auto got involved with the three other abductors. She had also told police that the abductors told her they knew about the brand of chips she liked. The family had said on Friday that the four men treated her well after the initial assault in the auto and put her on a Delhi-bound train, handing her a Rs100 note. Read: Abductors were following Snapdeal employee Dipti for 14 months SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Politicians didnt hold their tongue when they commented on sedition cases being filed against Jawaharlal Nehru University students--a controversy which has sparked protests across campuses in the country. Words like traitor, anti-national and intolerant were used to describe a JNU rally last Tuesday during which students allegedly shouted anti-national slogans and supported Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Here are top quotes on the controversy on Monday: Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president, in Titabor, Assam It seems only the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have the licence to say who is a traitor and who is a patriot. The president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union spoke about the poor people, weak people, adivasis and development etc. What does the government of India say? It terms him a traitor. Amit Shah, BJP president, in a blog post An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet? Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals? Saurabh Sharma, joint secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, in New Delhi You cannot be an Indian if you celebrate the death anniversary of a terrorist. Read: Students, journos assaulted near Delhi court hearing JNU sedition case Mayawati, president of Bahujan Samaj Party, in Lucknow. In one stroke, the BJP-led government has branded the prestigious institution like JNU as anti-national in order to implement the extreme and offensive agenda of the RSS. The arrest of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition looks wrong in the first place itself. Police has made the arrest on sedition charges under political pressure. Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) leader, in Patna Sedition charge against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar is wrong. He was not involved in any anti-national act. The central government has framed him. Those who stand and speak in favour of the BJP are nationalists and those who oppose the BJP are termed anti-national. Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of Indian (Marxist), in a tweet There can be no bigger farce than (Nathuram) Godse-worshippers putting out certificates on nationalism. B S Bassi, Delhi Police Commissioner, in Delhi Kanhaiya (Kumar) was present at the event (in JNU), where he delivered a speech and participated in an unlawful assembly which indulged in anti-India sloganeering. It was because of his involvement, and the evidence we have collected so far, that he has been arrested under charge of sedition. M Jagadesh Kumar, vice chancellor of JNU, appeals against campus strike in Delhi We also stand for free expression of ideas but I believe there is no need for strikes as the problem can be solved amicably. Read: JNU row: When dissent becomes sedition, democracy gasps for breath The JNU crackdown could be the BJPs undoing Two Indian girl students were killed and some others were injured in a fire at a medical university in western Russia, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday. We have lost two Indian girl students (both from Maharashtra) studying at Smolensk Medical Academy in Russia in a fire accident, Swaraj tweeted late Monday night. The minister further said: Some students are injured. They are out of danger. The place is 400km from Moscow. Our team has already reached there. We have lost two Indian girl students (both from Maharsthra) studying at Smolensk Medical Academy in Russia in a fire accident.@RajeGangarde Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 15, 2016 Some students are injured. They are out of danger. The place is 400 Kms from Moscow. Our team has already reached there.@RajeGangarde Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 15, 2016 According to the Russian investigative committee, the preliminary report showed that fire occurred at the fourth floor of the dormitory of the university on Sunday morning. The two students killed in the dormitory fire were Indian nationals, it added. In another tweet, Swaraj said the mortal remains of the two girls will reach Moscow on Tuesday and will be flown down to Mumbai later. Their mortal remains will reach Moscow tomorrow. We will fly their mortal remains to Mumbai. Our heartfelt condolences. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 15, 2016 Item No "x x x. The elements of the crime of theft as provided for in Article 308 9 of the Revised Penal Code are as follows: (1) t... The defence ministry was aware of the possible risk of avalanche at Siachen glacier but not of the exact location where the snow slide struck, the defence minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday. The Siachen avalanche killed ten soldiers earlier this month, including the last survivor Lance Naik Hanmanthappa Koppad. We had the information about the risk of avalanche in Siachen glacier. However, this information was not meant for this particular place (where the disaster occurred), Parrikar said while addressing media on the sidelines of Make In India event in Mumbai. Ten soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of Madras Regiment, were trapped under tonnes of snow after their post was hit by avalanche at the altitude of 19,000 feet close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan on February 3. While all of them were confirmed dead earlier, the rescuers found Koppad alive under snow after six days. However, he died on February 11. Still, I am personally monitoring each and every case relating to the battle casualty on monthly basis so as to ensure that the families of the victims get all the relief in time, Parrikar said. Replying to a query on the report of supply of F-16 planes by the US to Pakistan, the minister said, Only a notification for the proposed supply of F-16 planes to Pakistan is issued by the US Congress. However, we have already raised an objection to the US move on the issue. India had already conveyed its displeasure and disappointment over the Obama administrations decision to sell eight F-16 jets to Pakistan worth nearly $700 million. Which cities are Indias cleanest? Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu will announce on Monday afternoon the results of the second cleanliness survey Swachh Survekshan carried out in 73 cities with a population of over a million. There are 22 state capitals in the list. The survey is part of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in urban areas and is done every year. In 2014, the ministry carried out a similar exercise in 476 cities and municipalities with a population of over 100,000. The citys performance was judged on two sanitation parameters open defecation and solid waste management facilities. The survey found Delhi ranked among the dirtiest cities to live in while Mysore, Bengaluru, Kochi and Navi Mumbai were the cleanest. Each of the cities for the 2015-16 survey were judged on their performance on each of the components of SBM -- solid waste management, construction of individual, community and public toilets and sanitation strategies and behavior change communication. Out of a total 2,000 marks, 1,000 was for documented claims of cities in respect of their efforts, initiatives and infrastructure created, present service levels and efforts for behavioral change communication. 500 marks for independent evidence based observation of surveyors and another 500 marks for citizen responses. Cities which consistently fare well on sanitation parameters will be given an incentive of 10 % from the Centres Swachh Bharat share of Rs 14,623 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the governments flagship Swachh Bharat Mission soon after taking charge in 2014. The mission aims to make the country clean and open defecation free by 2019. Of the Rs 62,009 crore earmarked for SBM till 2019, the Centres contribution is Rs 14, 623 crore while respective state governments will fork out Rs 4874 crore. The remaining contribution of Rs 42, 512 crore is to be borne mainly by the private sector. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The decomposed body of a teenaged girl was recovered from a secluded location behind the Lucknow Zoo near the Director General of Police (DGP) office on Monday. Police said the post mortem report had confirmed that the girl was gang raped before being murdered. According to the police, the victim, a student of Class 12 in a prominent city school, was murdered on February 11 and her body dumped in the bushes behind the zoo. The girls clothes were found torn and her body was wrapped in a towel. The post mortem report has revealed rape before murder and death due to shock and haemorrhage, said Alok Pathak, spokesperson of the district police. He said police had detained two rickshaw pullers Satguru and Deepuwho lived in a slum colony near Park Road, but originally belong to Haidergarh and Barabanki respectively. The girl had gone missing on February 10 after she left her house for school on her bicycle to take her practical examination. Her family members lodged a missing complaint with the Gudamba police station after she did not return home till late in the evening and her mobile phone was found switched off. Almost all autorickshaws in Mumbais suburbs are likely to go off the road today, as a city union, representing 85% drivers, has announced a strike to protest the hefty rise in permit fee and is demanding restrictions on app-based taxis. Mumbais suburbs has more than one lakh autorickshaws, of which 83,000 are members of the Mumbai Autorickshawmens Taximens Union (MATU), which has given the call. Although other unions have said they will not participate in the strike, the drivers may still stay off the road to avoid damage to their vehicles. The union has not even paid heed to an appeal by the state government that invited them for discussion. Transport minister Diwakar Raote had called Shashank Rao, the union leader, but it is learnt that Rao refused to go for the meeting. He claimed it was too late, as the government did not act on their demands since January 19, when they first made the representation. As announced earlier, our delegation will try to meet transport minister on Monday. We will not protest if the government fulfils our demand, otherwise we will intensify our agitation from next week, Rao said. He said more than a lakh autos will stay off the roads. The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Sunday suspended from the party its Nawada MLA and former minister Raj Ballabh Yadav, who has been accused of raping a minor on February 6. Yadav was stated to be on the run after the police launched a manhunt for him following an FIR lodged against him at the Mahila police station of Biharsharif on February 9. A medical report has confirmed the rape of the minor, a class 10 student. State RJD chief Ram Chandra Purve said the party had suspended Yadav after verification of reports pouring in from various sources, including the media. He attributed the delay in taking drastic action against the MLA to the absence of knowledge about the incident. Soon after the news regarding the rape broke out on Saturday, deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had said the law-enforcing machinery was acting in an impartial way and guilty would not be spared. Deputy inspector general (central range) Shalin said intensive raids were being conducted to nab the fugitive legislator after the victim identified him as perpetrator of crime. The district police will pray for issuance of warrant of arrest against him on Monday. The girl, who was residing in a rented house with her family at Garhpar area of Biharsharif, was allegedly taken to the legislators place at Pathra English locality of Bakhtiyarpur in Patna district on February 6 night by one Sulekha Devi. Meanwhile, three separate teams of police personnel conducted raids at suspected hideouts of Yadav in Patna, Nalanda and Nawada districts. A luxury vehicle was also seized by the police from the MLAs residence at the Anishabad police colony in Patna. The police swung into action after the central range DIG ordered the arrest of the accused MLA after recording the statement of the victim on February 13 in Nalanda. Reports said Sulekha, who is into flesh trade, got paid Rs 30,000 for offering the girl to the legislator. The victim was dropped back at her house a day later with a warning to keep her mouth shut. Officials said efforts were also on to arrest Sulekha and her two accomplices. The police have, however, managed to nab a close associate of Sulekha. The MLA was also accused of raping a student in a hotel about two decades ago. The JD(U), which is ruling the state in alliance with the RJD and the Congress, had recently suspended its Jokihat MLA Sarfaraz Alam, after a woman travelling on a Rajdhani Express train filed a case accusing him of attempting to molest and assault her last month. A court in Abohar on Monday granted permission to police to conduct a lie-detector test on Akali leader and liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda and his nephew Amit Doda, both accused in the brutal murder of 27-year-old Dalit Bhim Sen. The court of judicial magistrate (first class) Jagjit Singh will hear the application for conducting a narco analysis test on the two accused along with Harinder, alias Harry, another accused in the case, on Tuesday. Bhim Sens parents Kaushalya Devi and Kapoor Chand, along with Ranjit Singh, brother of Gurjant Singh, who sustained serious injuries in the attack, had sought a narco test on accused. The court sent the accused to judicial custody till February 24. Doda had surrendered 10 days ago at the office of Fazilka senior superintendent of police (SSP) Indermohan Bhatti after the Punjab and Haryana high court denied him anticipatory bail on January 21. Dodas anticipatory bail was first rejected by Fazilka additional district and sessions judge Jatinder Walia, following which he moved the high court. During arguments in the Fazilka court, Dodas counsel had presented photographs and a video showing him in a Delhi hotel on December 11, the day Bhim was murdered at his farmhouse in Abohar. Opposing the anticipatory bail application, public prosecutor Navdeep Girdhar had argued: The call details of Doda and his nephew, Amit, suggest that prime accused Harry had called up Amit before and after the murder. The records seized from Dodas farmhouse reveal that Bhim was his employee and Harry also worked for the liquor baron. The murder weapons were recovered from another employee of Doda, while several accused among the 26 booked were also found to be his workers. Surinder Tinna, counsel for the victim families, said police had substantial evidence against Doda and needed his custody to ascertain his role in the crime. Moreover, Bhims dying declaration blaming Doda is enough to arrest him, he said. After the arguments, Dodas application was rejected. The Fazilka police have, so far, arrested 23 accused, while three are on the run. A case under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 148 (armed riot) and 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against 17 people, initially. Later, following public outrage, police were forced to add the names of Doda, Amit and seven others in the FIR. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) entrance examination prospectus has brought some concerns to the UT aspirants, with Chandigarh for second year in a row not having a single centre. The examination will be held on May 29. Mohali is the closest centre allotted for appearing for the exam. Few others in Punjab include Ludhiana, Ropar, Sangrur, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda, among other cities. The exam was made online from last year and even then Chandigarh didnt have a single centre. Neha, a resident of Sector 18, said , It would have made things for city aspirants much simpler, if there was a centre in Chandigarh. Now well have to figure where to go. Considering so many people apply for the AIIMS exam from UT, I wonder what made the authorities take this decision. A student of Class 12 of Delhi Public School said it was not clear as to whether the photograph had to be uploaded with name or date or without as the same had not been clarified in the prospectus. There is also discrepancy regarding the tiebreaker criteria in the prospectus and whether general knowledge marks would be considered or not for children. Schedule Exam date: May 29 Expected date of declaring result: June 14 First counselling: July 4, 5, 7 and 8. Second counselling: August 4 Orientation programme and feedback session: August 10 and 11 The problems of the absconding Gagandeep Singh, owner of Royal Education Consultants, an immigration firm, are only compounding as police registered another first information report (FIR) against him and his mother on Sunday on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy. Naresh Kumar, a resident of Surajganj locality here, complained to police that he had given Rs 1.5 lakh to Gagandeep in two instalments after the accused assured him of arranging a work permit for him in New Zealand. Kumar alleged that one instalment of Rs 50,000 was handed over to Gagandeep and his mother Sangeeta at their residence in Dilbag Nagar Extension here. After preliminary investigation, a case under Sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Emigration Act was registered against Gagandeep. The first FIR against the firms owner was registered on December 11 and the second on December 24. The cause of one-fourth of the marital disputes are trivial and with little counselling couples can live happily even after taking the discord to the police station. This is what the data of Crime Against Women Cell in Sector 17 for 2015 reveals. As per the data, the cell received 2,414 complaints, of which 1,912 were disposed off and a compromise was struck in 605 cases. Discord between spouses can also be due to ego, property, money, illicit relations, drinking habit etc. Police officials at the cell said they were receiving a number complaints from women where misunderstanding between the couple was the only reason. Cell in-charge inspector Harjeet Kaur said there was a newly-wed couple involving a Ludhiana girl and a local boy. It was a love marriage and all hell broke loose when the boys parents came to know that their daughter-in-law drank occasionally. The boys parents asked him to call the marriage null and void. During inquiry, it was learnt that the boy knew before marriage that his would-be-wife drank. The complaint is being investigated. She said they were counselling the couple, but the chasm had widened between them. She said there were cases wherein wives decided to divorce their husbands on minor issues such as husbands not allowing them to use mobile phones as and when they wanted; or didnt give them access to their (husbands) SMSes and friend list. In other complaints, disputes involved demand for share in property and wealth of the husbands family. In some cases, either of the spouses apprehended that his or her partner was cheating and having an extra-marital affair. Interestingly, there were complaints wherein discord was due to wifes opposition to leave Chandigarh even though the husband belonged to some other city. There were also complaints against husbands who wanted or forced their wives to have unnatural sex, the inspector said. In December 2015, about 73 couples entered into a compromise after counselling at the cell. Happy ending to the discord was mainly in cases where couples family members and friends intervened to make amends between the two, said Kaur. Holding the SAD-BJP government responsible for the deplorable condition of Dalits in the state, Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said in case of the party coming to power, it would take special care of education of the communitys children. He was speaking at the two-day SC Leaders Conclave that began here on Monday. Party leaders highlighted the need to educate Dalit children in front of the community leaders of the Congress from across the state. With an eye on the next assembly polls, the conclave is being held to woo Dalits who constitute nearly 35% population of the state. The conclave is being organised as part of the Congresss nationwide programme to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar. Amarinder said education of Dalits in the state would be a major agenda of the party. If we come back to power, we will ensure that children of Dalits get better education opportunities, he said. He said Dalits are not getting quality education, due to which when they go to schools they fail in most subjects. The system is divided into schools for the poor and schools for the rich. We will ensure that the quality of education becomes the same for both, he said. Talking about the selection of candidates for the assembly polls, Amarinder said every constituency and every candidate would be thoroughly assessed before the final nomination and if need be, the party could take any decision. To be incuded in manifesto Party leader Manpreet Badal said he would ensure that the manifesto of the Congress included education for Dalits. I assure you that all poor, especially children of Dalits, would get the education children of private schools get, Manpreet said. Congress campaign committee chief Ambika Soni said a major chunk of the states population belonged to Scheduled Castes and there is need to provide quality education to them. The Congress has always worked for the welfare of Dalits in the country. We will make sure that it continues if our party is voted to power, Soni said. Congress Legislature Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi, the Dalit face of the party, said children of Dalits wanted to study but were stopped from doing so. Our children want to study in such schools where children of the rich study. Most private schools are English medium whereas almost all government schools are Punjabi medium. This creates a difference between children studying in different schools, which should be eliminated, Channi said. The conference will deliberate on the issues confronting Dalits and suggest means to address these. It will come up with a declaration that will be submitted to the manifesto committee to be incorporated in the Congress manifesto. The conclave will also discuss the agenda of the RSS impacting Dalits. Punjab Congress affairs incharge Shakeel Ahmad, secretary incharge Harish Chaudhary, MPs Ravneet Singh Bittu, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, and former state Congress presidents Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo were present on the occasion. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat has said his government is developing all Sikh shrines in the state as major religious tourism destinations. Gurdwara Hemkunt Sahib is being developed as fifth Dham (after the Hindu pilgrim centres of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath) in the state, with better roads and ropeway connectivity that will start this year, he said. The road to Gurdwaras Nanak Matta and Reetha Sahib has also been upgraded for the coming pilgrim season, Rawat in Patiala on Sunday, during a Garhwali Community programme that legislator Brahm Mohindra had organised. In the address, he also termed the Niti Aayog a failure of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, and said the disbanded Planning Commission was a much better platform for resolving the Centre-state issues and bringing development. Without naming BJPs rulingcoalition partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), he said the failures of PM Narendra Modi had started upsetting his allies. The PM disbanded Planning Commission, saying now Niti Aayog will deliver a federal structure of decision-making. However, now every decision has to be cleared by the PM, while in Planning Commission, the deputy chairman had all the powers and solutions, he said. I am not saying this because I am in the Congress. Even the BJPs coalition partners have blamed Niti Aayog openly, as it has proved a disadvantage to their states, he said, adding: The PM has centralised powers and rendered the ministers and coalition partners ineffective, which has derailed development and the GDP (gross domestic product) growth. On the Jawaharlal Nehru University incident, he said the state government of Delhi and the NDA government at the Centre had two different versions of what had happened. Anti-India slogans are not a good thing but here it seems that the Modi government played up this issue to divert public attention from its failures, said the Uttarakhand CM. Later, he addressed the Uttrakhand people living in Patiala and made them take a pledge to vote for the Congress next year in Punjab. Brahm Mohindra and the other Congress leaders honoured Rawat for his governments work of upgrading the gurdwaras and helping out the Punjabi community in the hill state. As Panjab University (PU) faces its worst financial crunch in recent times, a think tank formed to suggest measures to increase revenue and decrease expenditure has recommended increasing the tuition and examination fee by 20% for the 2016-17 session. In addition to that, for the year 2017-18, a hike of 25% and for 2018-19, another 25% hike has been recommended by the panel, keeping the base year for fee structure as 2015-16. However, the syndicate in its meeting last week approved a hike of 5% for all PU courses for the 2016-17 session. PU vice-chancellor Arun Kumar Grover has said examination and hostel fee need to be increased. The hike in tuition fee has already been decided by a committee. The hostel and examination fee will be hiked to generate income, he said. For 2015-16, the PU budget deficit has been Rs 278.55 crore, but till date it has received just around Rs 150 crore from the Centre. The Board of Finance meeting to discuss budget for 2016-17 is slated for Monday. Other varsities much expensive A study of the tuition fee data of five universities Panjab University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjabi University, Patiala, Kurukshetra University and Himachal Pradesh University shows that KU leads when it comes to lower fees, followed by PU in the region. In a meeting of think tank held on February 1 whose minutes of meeting were circulated on February 12, it was suggested that two sub-committees be formed to suggest algorithm to recommend increase the tuition fee and examination fee after taking cognisance of the fee being charged by three universities of Punjab, two of Haryana, one of Himachal Pradesh and central universities Banaras Hindu University ( BHU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Along with vice-chancellor Arun Kumar Grover, Dean University Instructions professor AK Bhandari and registrar Col GS Chadha (retd), professor DVS Jain, professor BS Brar, professor Ronki Ram, professor M Rajivlochan, Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) president professor Akshaya Kumar, former Chandigarh MP Satya Pal Jain, Ashok Goyal and professor Dinesh Gupta are members of the think tank. During the meeting, vicechancellor Grover said that the fee being charged by partially/ fully self-financed departments like University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), Dental Institute and traditional courses could be enhanced to increase the income. Professor AK Bhandari, Dean University Instructions, suggested that in the traditional courses 50% of the total seats could be run on self-financing basis and 50% on subsidised rates. Professor Ronki Ram had remarked that the central universities, which were charging less fee from the students were surviving because they receive liberal grants from the Central government. Other measures Regarding other measures, vice-chancellor also said since there were no different yardsticks of selection of the faculty for different subjects in University School of Open Learning (USOL) and Department of Evening Studies (DES), these faculty members could be utilised for teaching in the main departments of the university, including Panjab University Institute of Social Sciences Education and Research (PUISSER). Such faculty members should also be treated as part of the main discipline, and a rotation policy for adjunct appointments be thought of, he added. After Kurukshetra University, PU cheapest in region A comparative chart of tuition fee structure in universities was also circulated among think tank members which clearly showed that barring Kurukshetra University of Haryana, PU is cheapest in comparison to Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar and Punjabi University, Patiala. But central universities like Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, and Jawarhar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi, have a much lower fee structure than PU. The only universities which are charging lesser than us are central universities-AMU, BHU and JNU-which have much higher budget allocation. We are short of funds, we have to devise ways to increase the income, said PU V-C Arun Grover. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar has clarified that the makers of Randeep-Hooda-Aishwarya-Rai starrer Sarbjit had no permission to shoot certain scenes of the film at the Golden Temple here and that an inquiry has been ordered into how the Bollywood crew got in. Answering media queries on Monday here, Makkar regretted that a couple of bouncers protecting leading films lady Aishawarya Rai had misbehaved with the press photographers covering her and co-actress Richa Chadha at the shrine last week, while the biopic drama produced by Omung Kumar was being shot without Randeep Hooda, who plays the title role. When the media pointed out that a certain SGPC official had allowed the crew to shoot inside the shrine without his knowledge, Makkar said: The inquiry will also bring out the name of this official. Asked who would lead the inquiry, he replied: In due course of time, you will know. The film is based on the real life story of an Indian farmer from Punjab who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan, sentenced to death, and later wounded fatally by inmates in a Lahore prison in April 2013. Executive body meets Makkar also led proceedings at a meeting in which the SGPC executive body decided to pass the annual budget for the financial year 2016-17 before March 31. The SGPC will hold many functions through the current year dedicated to the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh coming up on January 5 next year in Patna, Gurus birthplace. Of the various organising committees formed, one comprising senior SGPC officers Roop Singh and Satbir Singh will be in charge of the religious procession from Anandpur Sahib to Patna next month. A mobile exhibition of the Gurus weapons will be part of the event; and this bus will take the route that the young Guru as Gobind Rai had taken to reach Anandpur Sahib from Patna. In June, the SGPC will also observe the 300th martyrdom day of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, and on the occasion, take out a religious procession from Gurdass Nangal in Gurdaspur district to Delhi. After the Mughals had captured him at Gurdass Nangal, they had taken the Sikh warrior to Delhi and there tortured him to death. SGPC to prepare students for defence, civil services Makkar told the media that the SGPC through its professional academy at Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib, would prepare Sikh students for defence and civil services. Sabat soorat Sikhs (who do not cut their hair or trim their beards) will be trained for clearing the National Defence Academy (NDA) and other officer training academies, said Makkar, adding that 60 students admitted on the basis of written test and interview had commenced training at the academy. He said a similar academy to help Sikhs clear the civil services exams was coming up at Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgrah Sahib. Mobile link to shrine The SGPC will develop a mobile app to link Sikhs world over to the Golden Temple. This project was being worked out, said Makkar. Are you having relationship troubles? Is the long distance bothering you or do you have trust issues? Are you looking for someone to talk your heart out about these problems? Worry not. So, TV anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist and author, Cyrus Broacha is here to help you: From navigating relationship trouble to helping your love life go the distance, hes got all the dating advice youll ever need from your first date to something that you cant find a solution to. From how to approach your crush to how to handle a break up, shoot your questions to Cyrus and he will answer them. A boy in my college loves me. I have rejected his proposals several times in the past because my focus is on the studies. But he is still waiting for a positive reply from me. How do I get rid of him? - PC via GIPHY One of the most underrated virtues in the world is that of lying. Lying can be a beautiful thing. In your situation, it fits like fog and Delhi. Hes pestering you, so you need to spin a good one. Why cant you say you are (a) Engaged to someone, (b) Leaving India forever, (c) Want to have a sex change operation and become a man or (d) Have irritable bowel syndrome. Any of the above should work. So why hurt his feelings when you can lie! Im infatuated with a guy, but Ive heard he has a girlfriend. I dont want to intrude into his relationship. At the same time, I want him to be mine. Please help. - Candida via GIPHY Candida, first let me wish you a happy Valentines Day. If you are at present in a crowded lane in Bengaluru, three feet outside the Ram Seva headquarters, please dont read this answer out aloud. In todays day and age, there is a good chance that his relationship status has been posted online. Google him or ask around. He cant hide it from the world. Kim Jong Un once said relationships are like wigs. Sooner or later, they are found out. So dig around. Then start the process of chatting. Its easier than you think. Read: Just say no, advises Cyrus Broacha My best friend is in a relationship with a guy who is loving and caring, but weird. He is very sensitive and gets hurt easily. He says things that hurt her. But she apologises every time. Sometimes he ignores her to be with his friends, at times he finds her love suffocating and says talking daily is not necessary. He starts a fight and she blames herself and tries to change. His ego stands firm when they have a fight. Kindly help. - DT DT, why do you care so much? Do you love her? Do you have your own love column? In which case, you are a competitor in a very crowded industry, and I shouldnt humour you. Fact is, you cant help her if shes weak and allowing herself to be bullied. She has to help herself. She has to find the strength to fight and stand up to him. For this strength, there are vitamins available in the market. And dont forget ayurvedic options. Mostly though, she needs to rewrite the rules. All you can do is suggest what they should be. via GIPHY Read | Cyrus Broacha to the rescue: Long distance love can work, you know Just write to uncle Cy: cyrus@hindustantimes.com And Ill give you some relief. err that is, provided, Im not doing a headstand at the time. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more. Indian television is never low on drama and twists and this week will be no exception. We bring you a short but important insight into your favourite TV shows. Join us as we try to figure out what will go down this week. Saath Nibhana Saathiya Saath Nibhana Saathiya airs on Star Plus from Monday to Saturday at 4pm. (Star Plus) Premlata may have sent Gopi into a mental asylum but Meera is going to try to get her out. In the upcoming episodes, Meera will come to know of what all has happened to Gopi in her absence. She will get really angry and will make it her goal to get Gopi out of this mess. However, Gopi will fail to recognise Meera on seeing her. Of course, it is Premlata who tortures her and scares her against revealing the truth to Meera so Gopi has to pretend to be mad. Saath Nibhana Saathiya airs on Star Plus from Monday to Saturday at 4pm. Naagin In the last episode, we saw how Shivanya lost all her powers. In the upcoming week, that issue will be resolved as well. Shivanya will be kidnapped by some goons who also try to assault her sexually. But at the very last moment, Sri Krishna will come to her rescue and save her modesty -- the way he helped Draupadi in the Mahabharata. He will also give Shivanya her powers back and she will stop at nothing to unleash her vengeance. She will be seen in a half-human, half-snake avatar while blowing fire from her mouth at victims. Watch Naagin on Colors from Saturday to Sunday at 8pm. Read: The absolute, most ridiculous stuff seen on TV this week (Part 2) Kumkum Bhagya We have already seen the episodes where Pragyas mother, Sarla, gets kidnapped but learns that Nikhil and Tanu were responsible for all that is going wrong in Pragya and Abhis lives. However, in the upcoming week, we may see Sarla get fatally hurt in an accident. While Pragya and Abhi frantically search for her, they find her lying on a road, bleeding. Will she be able to reveal Nikhil and Tanus truth to them or will it be to late? Watch this video from the shoot: Watch Kumkum Bhagya on Zee TV from Monday to Saturay at 9pm. Swaragini Swara has to give up Sanskaar for Kavita. (Colors) Swara will soon be out of jail but that would require Sanskaar to marry his ex-girlfriend Kavita, leaving him in a spot as he would have say Swara a final goodbye. Swara was ecstatic about finally getting to spend her life with Sanskaar but looks like their future is not together but far apart. Urvashi has gone missing and is somehow making everyone think that she has been murdered and of course, the blame of it all is again falling on Swara. Watch Swaragini on Colors from Monday to Saturay at 9.30pm. Diya Aur Baati Hum What will Bhabhos reaction be on learning Aarzoos truth? (Star Plus) Arzoo is about to get married to the youngest son of the Rathi family and they still dont know she is from Pakistan. However, Sandhya comes to know of the truth that Mehak has been trying to hide for so long and rushes to tell Bhabho about it. But too late, the two have already been married and there is nothing that can be done now. Will Sandhya stall the matter more or will she tell everything to everyone right there? Diya Aur Baati Hum airs on Star Plus from Monday to Saturday at 9pm. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised scientists involved in the countrys recent rocket launch that he said struck a telling blow to enemies and ordered them to press ahead with more launches, state media reported on Monday. Earlier this month, North Korea ignored repeated international warnings and launched what it said was an Earth observation satellite aboard a rocket. Washington, Seoul and other powers view the launch as a prohibited test of missile technology and are pushing hard to have Pyongyang slapped with strong sanctions. The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said the ruling Workers Party on Saturday gave a banquet in honour of scientists, officials and others who it said contributed to the February 7 rocket launch. Kim and his top deputies were present. In a speech, Kim said the launch gave confidence and courage to his people and dealt a telling blow to the enemies seeking to block the advance of our country, KCNA said, in an apparent reference to Seoul and Washington. Kim said the Norths launch decision was made when the hostile forces were getting evermore frantic to suffocate North Korea, and called for launching more working satellites in the future. The launch, which followed the Norths fourth nuclear test last month, aggravated already-strained ties between the rival Koreas. Last week, Pyongyang expelled all South Korean workers from a jointly run factory park in the North and put the area in charge of the military in retaliation for Seouls decision to suspend operations there. Seoul on Sunday accused North Korea of having channelled about 70% of the money it received for workers at the Kaesong park into its weapons programs and to buy luxury goods for the impoverished nations tiny elite. North Korea was able to divert the money because workers in Kaesong were not paid directly. Instead, US dollars were paid to the North Korean government, which siphoned off most of the money and paid only what it wanted to the employees in North Korean currency and store vouchers, according to a statement from Seouls Unification Ministry. The South Korean government estimate did not detail how it arrived at that percentage. North Korea has previously dismissed such views. The jointly run park, which was the Koreas last major cooperation project, employed about 54,000 North Koreans who worked for more than 120 South Korean companies, most of them small and medium-size manufacturers. The project, which began during an era of relatively good relations between the Koreas, combined cheap North Korean labour with the capital and technology of wealthy South Korea. While the Kaesong closure will hurt North Korea, it is not critical to that nations economy. North Korea gets the vast majority of its earnings from trade with China. The United States and Japan have announced plans for new sanctions over North Koreas recent nuclear test and rocket launch, while the UN Security Council is likely to deliver more soon. Even China is starting to sound more like an angry neighbour than a comrade-in-arms, cut North Koreans have their own take on things and its decidedly unapologetic. Bacha Khan University in northwest Pakistan where Taliban gunmen killed at least 20 people in January reopened for classes on Monday with only teachers allowed to carry weapons. Pakistani Taliban militants have threatened more assaults on schools and universities since the January 20 attack on the university in Charsadda, fuelling a growing sense of insecurity in the country. The attack had reminded Pakistanis of the horrors that took place a little over a year earlier, when militants massacred 134 pupils at an army school 31 km away, in Peshawar, the main city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Before Mondays reopening, the university took extra security measures including installing new CCTV cameras, hiring more armed guards, and raising the height of boundary walls, the vice chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat told Reuters. The university also decided that teachers could continue to carry their own licensed weapons as long as they do not display them in classrooms, Marwat said. Pakistani sutdents walk through Bacha Khan university after it was reopened in the northwestern town of Charsadda on February 15, 2016. A Pakistani university attacked in January 2016 by the Taliban reopened on February 15, guarded by hundreds of police, highlighting a pervasive atmosphere of fear after the Islamist group vowed more strikes on schools. Gunmen stormed Bacha Khan university in the northwestern town of Charsadda on January 20, killing teachers and students in a rampage that left 21 dead. AFP PHOTO / A MAJEED (AFP) A chemistry professor who was killed during last months assault had been lauded as a hero for firing back at the attackers. But Marwat said the school decided to reject a request from some teachers to issue them firearms. After taking whatever security measures were possible for protection of students and faculty members, we opened the university today for classes, Marwat said. Read | Pakistanis say time for tough questions instead of blaming India Students who owned weapons had to submit them at the entrance of the campus, he said. Firearms are easily available in northwest Pakistan, and gun ownership is ingrained in the culture of Pashtun tribes of the region. Many of the returning students arrived at the campus with their parents and relatives, who waited while they went to classes. Several, however, were still too traumatised to attend school or were made to stay home by scared parents. I know the university has been opened today, but my parents didnt allow me to go today, said student Ihsanullah Khan. I am not afraid and will definitely join my friends very soon. Vice chancellor Marwat said the university had arranged counselling sessions for students and for recreational trips elsewhere in the country. Read | Attack on university was attack on Pakistan, says PM Nawaz Sharif The Pakistani army said the attack on the university was masterminded by Umar Mansoor, a Pakistani Taliban militant based in Afghanistan, who was also blamed for the Peshawar school massacre. The Pakistani Taliban are fighting to topple the government and install a strict interpretation of Islamic law. On Monday, an IED blast in Pakistans volatile South Waziristan region on the border with Afghanistan left one paramilitary soldier dead and three injured. Pakistans ailing flag carrier PIA has resumed normal operations after almost 10 days of cancelled flights following protests by staffers opposed to the airlines proposed sale but its problems appear to be far from over. After the government announced its intention to privatise Pakistan International Airlines, which operates the only direct flights between India and Pakistan, employees went on strike outside Karachi airport. During the protest, the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers fired into a crowd, killing a senior engineer and two more staff members. The staff then shut down operations completely and mounted protests across Pakistan. In response, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared PIA an essential services entity, under which refusal to work would result in the arrest of employees. The strong arm tactics of the government brought the employees back to work but it is a temporary truce, said Captain Sohail Baloch, head of the employees joint action committee. In order to meet targets set by the International Monetary Fund, the government rushed a bill through parliament in January that will allow it to sell PIA to the highest bidder through the privatisation commission. PIA costs Pakistani taxpayers nearly $500 million a year in subsidies as it has one of the highest employees to aircraft ratios for any airline. Apart from overstaffing, it is plagued by corruption and incompetence. There has little investment in technology and a number of questionable deals have left PIA, once considered a leading airline of the world, struggling with a moth-balled fleet and highly unionised staff structure. Baloch said employees are willing to buy a stake in the PIA but there are rumours the government has already shortlisted a Gulf-based airline for the sale. Sharifs advisor on aviation, Shujaat Azeem, is believed to have played a role in plans to sell the airline. Azeem is seen as the villain by most employees. There are many who argue the sale of the PIA will be a blow to Pakistan. PIA is a national institution. It is our flag carrier. How can we sell it, said Irshad Ghani, who worked as the airlines head of marketing for several years. Experts said the problem is not just restructuring the airline but also the sale of some its routes to Gulf carriers. PIA has virtually handed over its market to Gulf-based airlines. They carry 70% of the passenger traffic from Pakistan, said analyst Tariq Ali. These deals were signed during the regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf and his prime minister Shaukat Aziz, he said. As the government readies the sale of PIA, resistance continues to mount from various quarters. Pakistan Peoples Party leader Bilawal Bhutto and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan have accused the government of selling the family silver. Khan said the process of sale is clouded with inconsistencies. The Sindh Assembly on Monday passed the Hindu Marriage Bill 2015, becoming the first provincial legislature in Pakistan to formalise the recognition of marriages of the Hindu, Sikh and Jain minorities. Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) general secretary Deepak Kumar Bhagchandani said the bill fulfilled a long-standing demand of the community as Hindu marriages were not formally registered till now. The bill, moved by Sindh law minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, was passed after a debate. Khuhro said, Since the creation of Pakistan, it is the first time that such a law is being passed. The decision has been taken to provide a mechanism for formally registering Hindu marriages in Sindh. Hindu leaders said the bill ensures the protection of rights of divorced women. There is no room and concept of divorce in Hinduism but this law legitimises and preserves the rights of women if and when it happens, said community member Pooja Rajput. It ensures the conservation of womens matrimonial rights, such as pension for widows, share in husbands property and the minimum marriage age of 18 years. This requirement will play its part in the much-needed renunciation of the Hindu communitys old customs and tradition of child marriages. Hindu couples were often unable to apply for work abroad or immigration in the absence of a legal marriage document. The bill sets several conditions for recognising marriages. The bride and groom have to be 18 years or older, parties to the marriage should be able to give consent, and two witnesses must be present at the time of the marriage. The bill will have retrospective effect for registering marriages solemnised prior to the law. Couples who fail to register their marriage will have to pay a fine of Rs1,000. Last week, a panel of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament cleared the Hindu Marriage Bill, paving the way for federal regulations for registering marriages and divorces by Hindus. A panel of the Senate or upper house has convened a meeting to take up the same draft bill. A clause in the draft bill, which says a marriage will be annulled if one of the partners converts to another religion, has been opposed by the PHC. Bhagchandani said this provision is objectionable as there is potential for its misuse, leading to more cases of forced conversions. Hindus are Pakistans second largest religious minority, with an estimated population of 3.3 million. The lack of a legal mechanism to register marriages made it difficult for Hindus, especially women, to obtain government documents, open bank accounts or apply for visas. Feb. 15, 1936 Henry F. Steigerwald of Frances Street, nationally known breeder of English setters, added to his great collection of blue ribbons at New York this year when his female setter "Rose" received the high award at the Westminster Kennel Show at Madison Square Garden, over blue blooded competitors from all over the world. Mr. Steigerwald has not arrived home, so that the award for his male setter could not be definitely learned. Feb. 15, 1961 New officers of the United Synagogue Youth of B'nai Israel were installed Sunday at Temple B'nai Israel. Officers are Fran Palmer, chaplain; Richard Schwartz, treasurer; Jim Michaels, recording secretary; Carol Hoffman, past president; Judy Rose, corresponding secretary; Judy Aroneck, vice president; Carol Palmer, president. Feb. 15, 2006 Sharing some delicious home-baked treats, and a good romance story with friends is a fine way to spend Valentine's Day. The friends of the Jordan Bramley Library hoped the community would agree as the group held its first Valentine's Day Romance Book and Bake Sale Tuesday at the library. Cookies, cakes, pies and other home-baked treats were donated by the group's members and other local volunteers. Daniels said the group raises money throughout the year to aid the library in purchasing useful items. Through past fund-raising efforts the group has been able to purchase a new fax machine, color copier and a color printer, Daniels said. Feb. 15, 2011 The Auburn Ice Hawks Bantam (snowbelt) team defeated Salmon River 4-1 at Casey Park Saturday. It capped off a 2-0 weekend for the Ice Hawks, who beat Centerstate 9-0 at SUNY Morrisville Sunday. Against Salmon River, Hunter Charles led the way with two goals and an assist. Conor Hastings and Sean Walsh added a goal apiece. Jamie Edwards and Joe Butera each picked up an assist. Ian Stevens and Amanda Lupo tallied 14 saves in net. Sunday, Charles again led all scorers with two goals and four assists. Brett Lowe added two goals and an assist. Hastings and Walsh chipped in with two goals apiece. Edwards finished with a goal. Stevens and Lupo recorded 24 saves in goal. Celebrating Mass for more than 300,000 people in one of Mexicos poorest and most dangerous cities, Pope Francis on Sunday took a swipe at the countrys rich and corrupt elite . Decrying a society of the few and for the few, he denounced deep inequality and the vanity and pride of those who consider themselves a cut above the rest. That wealth which tastes of pain, bitterness and suffering. This is the bread that a corrupt family or society gives its own children, the pope said at the Mass in the city of Ecatepec. Francis urged his listeners to struggle to make Mexico a land of opportunities where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream and where drug traffickers, whom he called dealers of death, would not ensnare their children. Watch | Pope Francis continues Mexico visit with Sunday Mass Mexico is home to one of the worlds richest men, billionaire Carlos Slim, and a wealthy political class stained by corruption even as much of the country is steeped in poverty and violence. A gritty expanse of cinder block homes north of Mexico City, Ecatepec has seen a surge in crime in recent years as it became infested with warring drug cartels. Pope Francis (C) celebrates a Mass before a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Ecatepec, Mexico. (REUTERS) Fueled by a weak economy and youth unemployment, gang violence has driven the citys murder rate to one of Mexicos highest. It is notorious for the unsolved murders of scores of women, the bodies of many found abandoned in garbage dumps or tossed in a canal only miles from where Francis spoke on Sunday. No dialogue with the devil The pope warned Mexicans not to succumb to evil: You cannot dialogue with the devil because he will always win, he told them. Ecatepec is home to a giant statue of Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, a cult figure followed by millions across the Americas. The saint is often depicted as a skeletal grim reaper draped in white satin robes, beaded necklaces and carrying a scythe, and is believed to grant requests without judging people. Although he did not address Santa Muerte in his Mass, the Roman Catholic Church has been dismayed by the cults rise at a time it is battling competition from other religions. People participate in Pope Francis's Mass for a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Ecatepec, Mexico. (REUTERS) The Mexican Church already was very concerned by expanding Protestantism and now it must contend with a folk saint venerated mostly by Mexicans who still consider themselves Catholic, said Andrew Chesnut, the author of a book about the cult. A sea of Catholic faithful greeted the pope as he flew into Ecatepec aboard a white helicopter, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his image, chanting, cheering and waving flags. Tens of thousands of others lined the streets. We are living through a period of great violence ... May (the pope) give us strength to continue to bear this, to keep struggling against it, said Maria Dolores Angeles Martinez, a 26-year-old housewife from Ecatepec. Across the country, more than 100,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the last decade and some 26,000 are missing. President Enrique Pena Nieto has failed to significantly curb the bloodshed, with murders rising last year after falling early in his term. Before becoming president, Pena Nieto was governor of the State of Mexico that is the home to Ecatepec. In the second half of his 2005-2011 term as governor, the murders of women doubled. Corruption and incompetence are rampant in under-funded police forces across Mexico. The vast majority of murders are never solved and family members complain authorities show little interest in the cases of the missing. Francis condemned corruption in a hard-hitting speech at the presidential palace on Saturday. Unlike his predecessor Pope Benedict, who visited Mexicos conservative heartland in 2012, Francis is stopping in some of the countrys most troubled corners on his first trip as pontiff. He will travel on Monday to Mexicos poorest state Chiapas, where he will say Mass with indigenous communities. Evangelical Christian groups have made huge advances in Chiapas, weakening the Catholic Churchs influence. The pope will also meet with young people in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state where drug gangs and armed vigilante groups have waged a bloody conflict. He then concludes his trip in the notorious northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, where he will address the tide of illegal immigration into the United States, meet relatives of victims of violence, and visit a prison. A South Korean military helicopter crashed in an eastern province on Monday, killing three of the four soldiers on board, officials said. The helicopter went down in a farming field in the city of Chuncheon in the eastern province of Gangwon during a checkout flight, defense and army officials said. The officials said that all four soldiers aboard the helicopter were initially rescued after the crash, but that three of them died while being treated in hospitals. They said no casualties on the ground have been reported. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department rules. South Korea maintains more than 600,000 troops under a conscription system to cope with potential aggression from rival North Korea. The crash occurred amid a heightened standoff with North Korea over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. Amid continuing concerns over immigration in Britain and Europe, a new study released on Monday shows the UK and the Netherlands have the highest number of MPs of immigrant-origin, including those of Indian descent. Ten MPs of Indian origin were elected in the May 2015 election in Britain, the highest number so far. Campaign groups have estimated the number of MPs categorised as black and ethnic minorities too was the highest in Britain after the election: 42. The new findings are from an international project called Pathways to Power, which studied political representation of immigrant-origin MPs in Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The findings, announced by Laura Morales of the University of Leicester, suggest the Netherlands and Britain lead in the presence of citizens of immigrant origin in national parliaments; south European countries fare the worst. Morales said: The study is the first of its kind to compare in a systematic way the political representation of citizens of immigrant origin across European countries. Our findings show that migrants and their native-born offspring are under-represented in national parliaments in all countries, but they are much more likely to gain elected national office in the Netherlands and the UK. The study also shows that centre-left wing parties are, in most countries, still the most permeable to citizens of immigrant origin and are the ones contributing more to including this sector of our populations to the national political arena. Westminster was found to be among the parliaments most representative, with around 11% of MPs being of immigrant origin. The other country leading on this dimension of representation is the Netherlands, with around 12% MPs of immigrant origin. The findings indicate that the direct descendants of immigrants (second generation), born in the UK, are more likely to be represented than first-generation immigrants. Nevertheless, over 3% of British IO (immigrant-origin) MPs in the Parliaments elected in 2005 and 2010 were born abroad, the study said. The Labour Party has had a historical lead in the presence of Indian origin MPs in British parliaments. This gap, however, has been closing in recent electoral cycles, with the Conservative Party significantly increasing the number of immigrant-origin MPs and MPs with ethnic-minority backgrounds on its benches. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An Indian-origin couple has been charged and remanded to police custody in Britain after a 28-year-old woman was found being held in domestic servitude in the Greater Manchester area. The police said officers attended an address in Bomford on February 11 and arrested a 47-year-old woman on suspicion of slavery, servitude and forced labour offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Minu Chopra was charged with holding a person in slavery or servitude between July 31, 2015 and February 11 this year, intentionally arranging or facilitating entry into the UK of a person with a view to their exploitation, and knowingly holding another person in slavery or servitude between January 1, 2011 and July 30, 2015. Chopra appeared at the Manchester Magistrates Court on February13 and was remanded into custody. She is due to appear at the Manchester Minshull St Crown Court on March 11. Sanjeev Chopra, 47, was arrested on February 13 and charged with holding a person in slavery or servitude between July 31, 2015 and February 11 this year, intentionally arranging or facilitating entry into the UK of a person with a view to their exploitation and knowingly holding another person in slavery or servitude between January 2011 and July last year. The victim was removed from the address and is being cared for by partner agencies, Greater Manchester Police said. Individuals of Indian origin have figured in similar cases in recent years in Britain. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Donald Trump, in one of the more bizarre moments in Saturday night's Republican presidential debate, claimed that GOP rival Jeb Bush said he wanted to "moon everybody." In responding to a comment by Bush about his foul and derogatory language on the campaign trail, the billionaire businessman lashed out at the former Florida governor for his recent words. "It's weak to disparage women," Bush said, according to The Orlando Sun Times. "It's weak to disparage Hispanics. It's weak to denigrate the disabled. And it's really weak to call John McCain a loser, that's outrageous. He's an American hero." As Bush spoke, Trump disagreed with Bush's claims about women and McCain and then mentioned how he was criticized for his language. "He said about language -- my language," Trump said, referring to Bush, according to CBS News. "Two days ago, he said he would take his pants off and moon everybody. And that's fine -- nobody reports that. He gets up and says that. And then he tells me that 'oh my language was a little bit rough.'" "For the record -- make sure my mother's listening, if she's watching to the debate," Bush said, with a puzzled look on his face. "I didn't say that I was going to moon somebody." "Yes, you did say that," Trump responded. Trump was referring a recent Boston Globe interview where Bush complained about the lack of attention he gets in the media. "I could drop my pants," he said in the interview. "Moon the whole crowd. Everybody would be aghast, except the press guys would never notice." @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. While Titans of Mavericks, a big wave surf competition held Friday at the renowned break in Half Moon Bay, Cali., has seen crowds of over 100,000 in previous years, local government has warned event organizers that their future is in jeopardy. The California Coastal Commission will not issue permits in the future unless the event makes an effort to include women in the event. The invite-only event has been held nine times since its inception in 1999, and a woman has never competed. "Those arguments saying, 'there aren't enough women, they don't surf well enough,' they maybe used to hold true, but now, those excuses don't work anymore," said Bianca Valenti, who has been surfing Mavericks for eight years, according to CBS. Titans of Mavericks is one of the most elite surf competitions. For it to occur, the weather criteria is simple: the waves must be huge. The 24 surfers who competed on Friday rode waves as high as 60 feet. The event's organizers, Cartel Management, and the five male judges-known as Committee 5 faced criticism from community members and commissioners last November, as they believe the event has not made an adequate effort to include women. The Coastal Commission upholds the Coastal Act, which mandates that beach access cannot be limited by gender. Cartel Management told Surfer Magazine that Sarah Gerhardt and Savannah Shaughnessy were on the long list of potential invitees but were cut in the end. Cartel also invited Gerhardt to join the selection committee, but she declined. Jeff Clark, the event's founder and Committee 5 member, says that the event is open to anyone who can surf at that level. He says that the event judges have yet to see a woman with the skills to compete. Grant Washburn, 48, has surfed in every competition held since it was founded, and he agrees with Clark. "There is a huge difference between the top 24 who make it into the competition and the rest of the group," he told The Guardian. "The women are just not at that level yet. There are a lot of guys who belong on that list first." Clark is also quick to draw attention to women's participation in other aspects of the event. Committee 5 invited a woman to be an alternate competitor for its first year and again this year. "We've had women judges, we've had women in our water patrol and water rescue," Clark said, according to CBS. Many, however, see these nominal examples as mere tokenism. "I think it was a publicity stunt," said Bianca Valenti, according to CBS. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Boston is breaking records this winter, as Sunday marked the coldest Valentine's Day on record for the city, The Boston Globe reported. It was also the coldest day in the city since 1957. Temperatures dropped to minus eight degrees in the city Sunday morning. The wind chill in Boston dropped to minus 28 degrees, bringing about warnings of "potential life-threatening wind chills," according to WHDH Boston. In the neighboring city of Worcester, temperatures dropped to minus 16, the wind chill falling to minus 36. "For people stepping outside on Sunday morning, it's going to be like walking into a freezer. This will be the coldest air for more than a decade for much of the Northeast," said Michael Plamer of the Weather Channel, according to the Inquisitr. With temperatures this low, frostbite can set in within 10 minutes, making it very dangerous for anyone to travel outdoors. Because of this, the Boston Public Health Commission has assured residents that emergency shelters will be open 24/7. Anyone who needs to get out of the cold will have a place to go. However, temperatures are expected to rise in the coming days. Monday will see temperatures back into the 20s, and they will continue to climb throughout the week. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. For the seventh year in a row, a record number of civilians were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in 2015, four percent more than the previous year, the United Nations said Sunday. An increase in fighting between Western-backed government forces and insurgent groups like the Taliban resulted in 3,545 civilian fatalities and 7,457 injuries last year, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its annual report of civilian casualties. Ground engagements around populated areas became more intense due to international troop withdrawal, and suicide attacks in major cities also increased, UNAMA said, reported The New York Times. There were two particular developments responsible for much of the increase in casualties: Large numbers of people were killed and wounded in the northern city of Kunduz, which the Taliban captured briefly in September, and suicide bombings in the capital of Kabul also surged. Civilian casualties actually decreased in most parts of Afghanistan in 2015, said Danielle Bell, director of the U.N. human rights program in Afghanistan, according to Reuters. Fighting on the ground killed the largest number of civilians, 37 percent, while 21 percent were killed by roadside bombs and 17 percent in suicide attacks. There were an unprecedented number of women and children casualties - a 37 percent increase for women and a 14 percent increase for children. The Taliban and other anti-government groups were blamed for 62 percent of civilian deaths, though the Taliban was responsible for 10 percent less than in 2014. On the other hand, 28 percent more civilians were killed by pro-government security forces compared to the previous year, the report said. "Pro-government forces caused 1,854 civilian casualties. While this accounts for 17 percent of the total, it all represents a 28 percent increase compared to 2014," said Bell. International forces killed 103 civilians and wounded 67, according to the report. "The report references commitments made by all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, however, the figures documented in 2015 reflect a disconnect between commitments made and the harsh reality on the ground," said Bell, according to Reuters. "The expectation of continued fighting in the coming months combined with the current levels of civilian casualties, demonstrate the critical need for immediate steps to be taken by all parties to the conflict to prevent harm to civilians." @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It's been a good year for Bank of America and CEO Brian Moynihan is reaping the benefits. The company has rewarded its CEO, Brian Moynihan, with $16 million after its profits nearly doubled under his executive supervision, the Washington Post reports. This $16 million raises his compensation by almost 23 percent for the year. It includes a $1.5 million cash salary bump and $14.5 million in restricted shareholdings, The New York Times reports. "Bank of America in 2015 demonstrated continued progress as a result of its strategy of simplifying the company," the company said in a statement. This is not the first time Moynihan has been given a hefty bonus. In 2014, Moynihan received $13 million for getting the bank through mortgage security investigation settlements. In 2015, Bank of America earned $15.89 billion, which was a substantial increase from 2014, when the company saw $4.83 billion in profits. In 2013, the company earned $11.43 billion, according to Reuters. Even though this pay hike might seem outrageous, he is still one of the lower paid CEOs on Wall Street. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon received $27 million last year. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein received $23 million last year, and Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman received $22.5 million. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. As the embattled car maker struggles with its worst crisis in years as a result of its ongoing "Dieselgate" scandal, German carmaker Volkswagen seems to be taking its first steps towards recovery as the company was able to sell a total of 847,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles in January, a rise of 3.7 percent from last year, according to The Wall Street Journal. The primary driver of the company's numbers is Asian superpower China, where demand for the carmaker's vehicles across its numerous brands have increased. In January alone, group deliveries in China were up 15.4 percent. "Developments on world markets at the beginning of the year are mixed. The situation in Brazil and Russia remains tense, China is regaining momentum and the trend in Europe is generally stable," CEO Matthias Mueller said, reports Left Lane News. Though the company's sales in Europe were also up by 1.8 percent, all other regions, most especially in the United States, exhibited a decline in sales and deliveries. Russia and Brazil, for one, declined 29.5 and 38.8 percent respectively, reports Reuters. Volkswagen has been hit with a massive crisis that has shaken the company's foundations since it revealed a massive cheating scandal last September. Dubbed "Dieselgate," the scandal has tarnished the prestigious automaker's brand and has driven its stocks to record lows. For more business news, click here. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Is there a woman who has made a difference in your life? Is there one woman who, as a role model, has inspired you to develop your full potential and achieve your goals? Are there women who have supported you and helped you when you needed it? Are there women you can always count on? March is Womens History Month and March 8 is International Womens Day. March 8 is special to Zontians as it has been set aside as Zonta Rose Day, a day to honor women who make a difference in your life. Zontians around the world will honor women who are there for us, have gone before us, who have dared to use their strength to empower women around the world. That is our Zonta mission: to empower women through service and advocacy. Zonta encourages everyone to think about the women who have influenced you. She could be your mother, aunt, teacher, sister, neighbor, coworker or friend. Whoever it is, take the time to recognize her and thank her. One unique way to do so is to make a donation in her honor to the Zonta Rose Fund. The Rose Fund enables Zonta to continue supporting projects and programs that help women achieve a life free of violence and empower them to overcome gender barriers that hinder their access to health, education and professional advancement. For each donation made to the Rose Fund at zonta.org/donate between Feb. 5 and March 4, Zonta will send the woman you honor a virtual yellow rose and your special message to let her know that she has made a difference in your life. Those emails will be sent by March 7. The Zonta International Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by U.S. law. March is also an important month for women at the United Nations, since it hosts the Commission on the Status of Women from March 14 to 24. Zonta is always a big part of the CSW, and this 60th year will be no different. District 2 Zontians have hired a bus that will start in Auburn, picking up Zontians and friends in Syracuse, Utica and Albany on the way to spend one day at the CSW at the United Nations on March 18. Those participating have a choice of events, which include a U.N. tour and lunch and/or the Arts Club Dinner, where they can meet Zonta leaders including International President Maria Jose Landeira Oestergaard, of Denmark. If you are interested, visit zontadistrict2.org for more details. Zonta International has been closely associated with the United Nations for many years. We maintain representatives at U.N. sites in New York, Geneva, Paris and Vienna. Zonta has general consultative status with the U.N. Economic and Social Council, consultative status with UNESCO, participatory status with the Council of Europe, and a very special relationship with U.N. Women, promoting womens rights. Our newest project is for Gender Responsive Schools in Vietnam, providing $644,000 to the U.N. Trust Fund to create a school environment for adolescent girls and boys across Hanoi that is free from gender-based violence, which is one of the main barriers to girls empowerment and gender equality in Vietnam. The service part of our project is to train youth group ambassadors to organize school campaigns and assist teachers, train teachers and empower them to prevent and respond to violence, and inform and engage parents and caregivers. The advocacy part of our project contains plans for sustainability and visibility to build with the Department of Education and Training a strong response mechanism to prevent violence, protect survivors and pursue perpetrators. It includes three key components: A school code of conduct, a reporting system and direct support for student and trained teachers. The project will work closely with 25 local and national journalists to inform and encourage responsible reporting. Expected outcomes include reaching 20 schools, 700 teachers, 30,000 school children, 45,000 parents and caregivers. Find more about this and other projects at zonta.org. The programs of Zonta are all made possible by club and individual donations to the Zonta International Foundation. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away on Feb. 13 at the age of 79. His demise has resulted in differences of opinion on whether President Barack Obama should get to nominate Scalia's replacement. "I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time. There's plenty of time...for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. These are responsibilities I take seriously as should everyone," Obama said, adding that those duties were "bigger than any one party," reports Time. "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," said Republican majority leader Senator Mitch McConnell opposing Obama in a statement, according to The New York Times. But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid differed from McConnell. "The President can and should send the Senate a nominee right away. With so many important issues pending before the Supreme Court, the Senate has a responsibility to fill vacancies as soon as possible. It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat. Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate's most essential Constitutional responsibilities," Reid said according to CNN. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both predictably were opposed to Obama nominating anyone. "I do not believe the President should appoint someone," said Rubio according to CNN. While Cruz opined, "We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that would undermine the religious liberty of millions of Americans," reports CNN. The Republicans hold 54 seats in the Senate and could block any person nominated by Obama. Even if nominated, the person would have a tough year ahead considering 2016 is election year. "It certainly is a lot for a person to take on to be the nominee in this heated political climate," said Elizabeth Wydra of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center, reports Politico. "Barack Obama is President of the United States until January 20, 2017. That is a fact, my friends, whether the Republicans like it or not. Elections have consequences. The President has a responsibility to nominate a new justice and the Senate has a responsibility to vote," said Hillary Clinton on the issue, reports CNN. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A Bell UH-1H Iroquois helicopter crashed by a residential area approximately around 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) in the eastern city of Chuncheon, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) from Seoul, reports Daily Mail. The crew of four was rushed to hospitals. Three, except the 50-year-old pilot who is in critical condition, succumbed to their injuries, reports Yonhap News Agency. The chopper crashed in the Gangwon Province of Chuncheon. No civilian casualties have been reported so far. The aircraft, which was completely destroyed, was on a checkout flight. The aircraft had a flight schedule planned after the test operation," a military official said, according to the Korea Herald. The military, the police and local fire fighters are still determining the exact cause of the crash. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu has said that he will not allow Azaz, a town in northern Syria, to fall to Kurdish YPG forces. "We will not let Azaz fall. The YPG (the People's Protection Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates [River] and east of Afrin," said Davutoglu on his plane en route to an official visit to Ukraine, reports Israel National News. According to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, two fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces - a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters - have been killed and seven others wounded in shelling over the weekend, reports the Deccan Chronicle. Davutoglu said on Feb. 13 that Turkish forces retaliated against a Kurdish faction "that presented a threat in Azaz and its environs," reports the Deccan Chronicle. Davutoglu promised the "harshest reaction," if the YPG attempted to take the city. "YPG elements were forced away from around Azaz. If they approach again they will see the harshest reaction. We will not allow Azaz to fall," Davutoglu said, according to RT. Davutoglu warned that Turkey would ensure that Syria's Menagh air base became "unusable" if the YPG forces did not retreat from areas around Azaz, reports The Daily Star. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Just days before the election, one of Uganda's most popular presidential-hopefuls, opposition candidate Kizza Besigye, was briefly arrested on Monday. Besigye, together with his supporters, were on their way to the business district of the country's capital, Kampala, for a political rally when they were confronted by authorities, according to Newsweek. Ugandan police stated that the presidential candidate was not really arrested, but was merely being held after he disobeyed police orders not to disrupt city traffic, reports BBC News. After holding the highest post in the country for 30 years, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's fifth and latest bid for the presidency has been met by a number of challengers. In this year's elections alone, his candidacy is being challenged by seven opponents, one of the most prominent of them being Besigye. Museveni's former doctor, Besigye, had attempted to run against the president thrice in the past. His previous attempts, however, failed. He had also been arrested multiple times in the past, though was usually released soon after, reports The Associated Press through Yahoo! News. Such were the exact events that happened on Monday, as police eventually released Besigye not long after he was apprehended. Besigye's party, the FDC, has accused the government of initiating a number of unfair strategies against opposition candidates, such as prohibiting political rallies in most public spaces in the capital, thereby crippling the campaign efforts of opposition candidates. For more world news, click here. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Sunday painted himself as a defender of the Second Amendment in multiple scenarios and against multiple forces, taking shots at President Barack Obama, GOP rival Donald Trump, as well as Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Cruz, appearing on multiple Sunday talk shows, argued that there should be a delay in nominating a Supreme Court justice because of the Second Amendment, saying that the U.S. is "one justice away" from it being written out of the Constitution. "You know what? The Senate is advising right now," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press.," according to The New York Times. "We're advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court, that we're going to have an election." However, President Obama was not the only target of Cruz's stance on the Second Amendment and the nomination process. He also used those issues to bolster his position in the 2016 race, saying Donald Trump was "indistinguishable" from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, because he is "not a conservative." "We are one justice away from the Second Amendment being written out of the constitution altogether," he said, according to the Washington Examiner. "And if you vote for Donald Trump in this next election, you are voting for undermining our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms." On ABC's This Week, Cruz reiterated that talking point, saying, "And if Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution, because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative," according to The Hill. The Texas senator characterized the late Justice Antonin Scalia as a strong defender of the Second Amendment for his 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which upheld the right to bear arms. "Justice Scalia, one of his biggest opinions was the Heller decision," Cruz said, according to RealClear Politics. "It was 5-4 upholding the individual right to keep and bear arms. If an additional liberal justice goes to the court, we're one justice away from the Second Amendment being written out." @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A Mississippi police officer is in critical condition after being shot in the head on Sunday as he was investigating an armed robbery call from a convenience store in Clarksdale that was located a few blocks away from City Hall, authorities said. The shooting reportedly occurred Saturday evening four blocks away from a convenience store the two masked men just finished robbing, Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett said, reported NBC's Memphis affiliate WMC-TV. The officer, Cpl. Derrick Couch, had driven up beside the men and began to approach them then they opened fire. "I've seen the video. It's harrowing," he said. "As soon as the officer approached him, he just swung around and, bam!" "I'm not sure if Officer Crouch saw him run or not," Luckett continued, according to Reuters. "Then you see the officer's lights turn and illuminate the second guy, who's walking." The two suspects fled the scene, leaving Couch on the ground until other officers found him. He was immediately rushed to Regional One Health in Memphis where he underwent surgery. As of Sunday, he remains in critical condition and is on a ventilator, has lost one eye, and the bullet remains lodged in his brain. In the meantime, police are on the hunt for the two suspects responsible for the shooting. "Surveillance footage released by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations shows one of the suspects had a distinctive walk, and authorities are asking the public for assistance with their identification," police said in a statement, reported NBC News. Authorities are questioning two potential suspects, one of whom was found to be in possession of "telling evidence" following a police search at his home, but no arrests have been made. Releasing the details of the incident to the public, Luckett was sure to note that the shooting isn't being treated as a homicide just yet. "This is not a homicide yet. It would be our first this year if it turns into one," he said. "I can't remember an officer in Clarksdale shot by a suspect." @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. As the Syrian conflict seems to be on the brink of reaching its climax, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has berated Russia on its current military strategies in the Middle East, even going so far as stating that Russia is acting like a "terrorist organization," according to Israel National News. "If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response," the Turkish PM said through a translator while on a visit to Kiev. Davutoglu has centered on Russia's military operations in Syria, which have been controversial as of late due to suspicions that Russia's military has been initiating attacks that end up killing civilians. Though Russia has been very firm in denying that no such attacks are taking place, many of the countries involved in the fight against the Islamic State have stated their reservations about Russia's strategy, reports The Associated Press through Yahoo! News. In the Turkish PM's tirade, he bundled Russia together with extremist groups such as the coalition's main adversary in the Middle East, the Islamic State. "Barbaric attacks on civilians are continuing in Syria and these attacks are being waged by both Russia and terrorist groups. Russia and other terrorist organisations, first and foremost, the Islamist State in Syria, are responsible for numerous crimes against humanity," he said, according to The Telegraph. Tensions between Turkey and Russia are at an all-time high, as Turkey points an accusing finger at Russia for backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's administration and Russia seethes over a fatal shooting incident in previous months which involved a Russian fighter being shot down by Turkish jets. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CIA Director John Brennan said during an interview Sunday evening that the chances of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) trying to carry out attacks on the United States is "inevitable." Appearing on CBS' "60 Minutes," Brennan said, "I'm expecting them to try to put in place - the operatives, the material or whatever else that they need to do or to incite people to carry out these attacks clearly." "So, I believe that there attempts are inevitable," he added. "I don't think their successes necessarily are." As the interview progressed, Brennan noted that U.S. intelligence has been successful in preventing "numerous" ISIS attacks from occurring so far, according to Newsmax. "Believe me, intelligence security services have stopped numerous attacks - operatives that have been moved from maybe the Iraq to Syria theater into Europe," he said. "They have been stopped and interdicted and arrested and detained and debriefed because of very, very good intelligence," he added. Despite these successes however, there have been times when CIA intelligence was unable to prevent an attack. One such case was the Paris terrorist attacks on Nov. 13, 2015, that left 130 dead. Brennan said that despite having knowledge that ISIS was planning an attack "somewhere" just days before the incident, ISIS' access to encryption technology ultimately rendered the CIA's attempt to block the attack inert, according to The Hill. "We knew just in the days before that ISIL was trying to carry out something," he said, using an alternate acronym for the group. "But the individuals involved have been able to take advantage of the newly available means of communication that are - that are walled off from law enforcement officials." This isn't the first time Brennan has warned of imminent attacks from ISIS. Speaking at a global security forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the Monday after the Paris attacks, he warned that ISIS definitely has other attacks "in the pipeline." "I certainly would not consider [Paris] a one-off event. It is clear to me that ISIL has an external agenda that they are determined to carry out these types of attacks," he said at the time. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Winter Storm Olympia is continuing to spread snow and create dangerous travel conditions, with snow and icy rain mixes covering the eastern U.S. on Monday. Over the weekend, several multi-vehicle accidents occurred in the Midwest as a result of the storm, according to The Weather Channel. Hundreds of flights have been canceled due to snow and ice in the Tennessee Valley up to Washington, D.C., according to Accuweather. Precipitation in the East should start as snow or ice but will most likely change to rain as the storm persists. A low-pressure system moving inland from the South to the Northeast should warm the air in the region along the I-95 corridor. Boston, which saw temperatures as low as -9 on Sunday, should see temperatures shoot up to the mid-50s with rain Tuesday, reports The Weather Channel. Monday will bring snow in the mid-Atlantic, but it will change to a wintry, sleet mix. Snow can be expected up to the Lower Hudson Valley and southern New England, according to Weather Underground. Moisture will beat out subfreezing air by the surface, causing freezing rain and sleet for some time in southern New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania, out to Virginia and most of North Carolina. Sleet will also come down on northern South Carolina and northeast Georgia. On Monday, the arc stretching from northern Maine, southwest along the Canadian border to western New York, northwest Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio will see the most snow. Ice has the penitential to linger Monday evening from northwest North Carolina to western Virginia and other parts of the mid-Atlantic before changing to rain, but by Tuesday most of the East should warm enough for it to have changed to rain. Temperatures will be in the high 40s to the mid-50s across the mid-Atlantic. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Mexican police have regained control of the Topo Chico jail since the riot last week that left at least 49 inmates dead, and have discovered that there were several luxury items in the facility - including mini-bars, air conditioners, aquariums, and saunas. The deadly prison standoff broke out on Thursday, allegedly triggered by a power struggle between two rival leaders of the Zetas drug cartel: Ivan Hernandez Cantu, known as "El Credo," and Juan Pedro Zaldivar Farias, known as "Z-27," Agence France-Presse reports. While most inmates in Topo Chico stay in cells without water or proper ventilation, the gang leaders had special privileges. Hernandez Cantu's cell had a king-sized bed, luxury bath, and large flat-screen television, according to a statement released by the Nuevo Leon state prosecutor's office. At the time that the violence erupted, there was allegedly even a woman with him. "All the privileges are over," Cuauhtemoc Antunez, state public safety chief, declared. Authorities also disassembled 280 food stalls that were operated by inmates, and hundreds of altars to Santa Muerte, a skeleton-like "Death Saint" venerated within Mexico's drug cartels but also by ordinary Mexicans, as the BBC explains. The prison director, Gregoria Salazar Robles, and her deputy, Jesus Fernando Dominguez Jaramillo, have both been arrested under accusations of failing to reinforce security measures. A guard has also been charged with homicide after fatally shooting an inmate during the skirmish. The rest of the 49 victims were stabbed or beaten by other inmates, using sticks, hammers, and homemade weapons, as reported by the New York Times. In the past, prison inspectors had criticized the fact that ordinary inmates had to rent space in cells and purchase food at inflated prices from other prisoners, and that those unable to afford to pay for space in cells had to either take turns sleeping or sleep in the hallways. Located in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, Topo Chico holds convicted criminals as well as people awaiting trial. At the time of the riot, the jail was 35 percent over capacity, holding more than 3,800 inmates within its walls with only 100 guards, the BBC reports. The state government has said that at least 230 inmates have been transferred to other prisons. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Australian man nearly loses life after consuming weight loss products A Western Australian man has undergone an emergency liver transplant to save his life after consuming weight-loss products. ABC News reported that the man, Matthew Whitby said he had been given two weeks to live after taking a protein powder containing green tea extract and a supplement with garcinia cambogia fruit. Both are commonly used in weight-loss supplements. Apparently, this is not the first time that a green tea extract has been linked to liver failure in some people. Garcinia cambogia has also been linked to liver damage. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said it is investigating the incident as part of a review and will inform the public if there is sufficient evidence of a safety issue to warrant further action. The TGA is responsible for ensuring therapeutic goods sold in Australia are safe. These include vitamin tablets and medicines purchased at supermarkets, pharmacies and other retailers. By contrast, food regulation is enforced by State food regulators based on national food standards developed at Federal level by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead in a Texas ranch on Saturday where he had been invited for a party, and while the political battle over his replacement is already underway, another battle is heating up over the circumstances of his death, with some saying that Scalia was murdered by none other than President Barack Obama. The San Antonio News-Express was the first to report Scalia's death and a followup statement from an unidentified official said there had been no evidence of foul play and that his death appeared to have been from natural causes. Following suit, media outlets reported that he died from a heart attack. However, the person who discovered Scalia's body, Houston businessman John Poindexter, who owns the 30,000-acre Cibolo Creek Ranch, has spoken out about Scalia's final moments and the seemingly "bizarre" circumstances surrounding his death. "He was seated near me and I had a chance to observe him. He was very entertaining. But about 9 p.m. he said, 'it's been a long day and a long week, I want to get some sleep,'" he said, according to The San Antonio News-Express. The following day, Poindexter went to check on Scalia after he failed to come down for breakfast, and found him dead in his room. "We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled," said Poindexter. "He was lying very restfully. It looked like he had not quite awakened from a nap." He was found to not have a pulse, and after consulting with a doctor, Poindexter determined that it would be futile to try to resuscitate him, deciding to call federal authorities to recover his body. The issue with the case, as many note, is that not only was Scalia found dead with a pillow over his head, but no autopsy was done to determine his cause of death. Though it is permissible not to order an autopsy under Texas law, the decision to decline doing so has raised many eyebrows. "If it had been me...I would want to know," Juanita Bishop, one of two officials who were notified about the death but didn't arrive in time to see the body, said in an interview, according to the Washington Post. Some have taken the lack of an autopsy as evidence that there is in fact foul play at work. In a Facebook video that has since been removed but can still be viewed here, Infowars radio host Alex Jones expresses his belief that Scalia was assassinated by the Obama administration. "My friends, it's Saturday night, this is an emergency transmission," Jones said . "The question is, was Antonin Scalia murdered? And the answer to that is, has the Bill of Rights and Constitution been murdered? Has it been reported that members of the Supreme Court have been blackmailed? Yes, it has." "When they kill somebody, they say, 'it appears to be natural causes, nothing to see,'" he continued. "And I wish it was natural cause, but man, my gut tells me no. And if this is an assassination, this signifies that they are dropping the hammer." He wasn't alone in his belief either, at least one other person expressed similar concerns over social media as well. The SCOTUS was about to spank Obama once more for ruling by fiat and slap down his renegade EPA. Scalia died of natural causes my ass. Teresa (@BlackIrishI) February 13, 2016 @JamesRosenFNC Scalia's death needs investigation no autopsy no security detail and a pillow found over face? Come on. James (@JimThewayout) February 15, 2016 Now that the seed of doubt has been planted in the minds of many Americans, it may not matter if the political battle over Scalia's replacement reaches a conclusion. Unless a cause of death is determined by an autopsy, the controversy surrounding the incident will remain ever present for years to come. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Saudi Arabia, together with troops from about 20 other Arab and Muslim nations, have launched the largest military exercise ever organized in the region. Dubbed "North Thunder" maneuvers the exercises are set to run from February 14 to March 6 at the King Khalid Military City in northeastern Saudi Arabia, according to Big News Network. The forces participating in the exercise come from numerous countries, including land, air, and naval forces from Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Morocco and Egypt, to name a few. "North Thunder drills represent a clear message that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its brothers and friends of the participating countries stand united to confront all challenges and maintain peace and stability in the region," the Saudi Press Agency said, according to CNN. Qatari Force's Commander, Major Rashid Saleh Al Hajri emphasized that the exercises are extremely pertinent, in order to show that unity and military might of the Arab and Muslim nations in the region. The exercises will involve a number of military maneuvers, which involve field exercises, command center exercises and tactical exercises. Overall, the operations are designed to send a strong statement about the ongoing cooperation to achieve peace and security among friendly countries in the region, reports Emirates 24/7. Northern Thunder comes just two months after Saudi Arabia announced that it would take it upon itself to create a coalition of 34 nations that is powerful enough to effectively end the reign of terrorism. For more World News, click here. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Eric Garner, an unarmed African-American man, was killed in 2014 by New York Police Department officers when he was put him in a deadly chokehold. "I can't breathe," were Garner's last words, which became an integral part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Garner's daughter, Erica, features in a new ad campaign by Bernie Sanders, thus giving him much needed support and impetus from the African-American community. "I was able to see my dad die on national TV. They don't know what they took from us. He wasn't just someone that no one cared for him, or no one loved him; he was loved dearly," the young Garner is shown saying in the four-minute video titled "It's Not Over," reports The Independent. "I believe Bernie Sanders is a protester.... He's not scared to go up against the criminal justice system," said Garner of her decision to support Sanders, according to The Wrap. "When a police officer breaks the law, that officer must be held accountable," Sanders says in the video directed by Paul Hairston and Julian Mulvey of the New York production company Acres, reports Creativity Online. The Sanders campaign seems to have created rifts within the Garner family, with Garner's mother supporting Hillary Clinton. "There's no other person that's speaking about this. People are dying. This is not TV. We need a president that's going to talk about it," the young activist says endorsing Sanders, reports The Independent. Watch the video below: @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A 17-year-old thief from Brooklyn, N.Y., lost his arm Friday after he was slammed against a fence while trying to steal a pair of sneakers and now the intended victim is facing possible jail time for the act. The incident occurred after buyer Zachary Sam and seller Philippe Pierre, 39, arranged to meet up through the app Wallapop in Canarsie, said sources, reported the New York Post. The two met at Avenue M and East 84th Street as planned, and Sam got into Pierre's Honda Pilot SUV. However, instead of the deal going down as Pierre expected, Sam pulled out a gun, stole the coveted Air Jordan 8 Retro sneakers and walked away. Sam only managed to make it 100 yards away from the SUV, however, when Pierre made a U-turn with his car and struck Sam, disarming him in both senses of the word after Sam not only lost his gun, but his arm as well, according to the New York Daily News. "He technically did disarm him," said a police source. With his arm missing, Sam fled the scene and managed to catch an MTA bus. However, Pierre, still on his trail, tracked the bus down and explained that Sam had just tried to rob him. Sam fled once more, this time running home, where he collapsed outside, a police source said. An ambulance arrived at the scene soon afterward and took Sam, as well as his severed arm, to the hospital in critical but stable condition. Doctors surgically reattached his arm, but, as of Friday evening, were still unsure whether the operation was successful, according to PIX 11. In the incident's aftermath, Sam was charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon, while Pierre was arrested on attempted murder charges - a charge that his family said is entirely fallacious. "He was just there to help support his family," said Pierre's cousin. "What would you do if someone pulled a gun on you?" @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Kim Jong Un, the temperamental and elusive North Korean leader, has ordered his country to launch more rockets. Praising scientists involved in the recent launches, including the latest ones on Feb. 7, Jong Un said the launch gave confidence and courage to North Koreans, and dealt a "telling blow to the enemies seeking to block the advance of our country," reports the Associated Press. Jong Un added that his country's decision to launch rockets was made when "the hostile forces were getting evermore frantic to suffocate" North Korea, and asked for more launches in the near future, reports CNBC. The Korean Central News Agency, the official news agency of North Korea reported that the ruling Workers' Party honored scientists involved in the recent rocket launches at a banquet on Feb. 13. Jong Un attended the banquet along with his top deputies, reports Vindy. In the face of the recent rise in tensions between North Korea and the United States, China has urged both countries to resolve issues through dialogue. "The focus of the nuclear issue on the peninsula is between the United States and North Korea. We urge the United States and North Korea to sit down and have communications and negotiations, to explore ways to resolve each other's reasonable concerns and finally reach the goal we all want reached," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei according to SBS. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Three people have been found dead in a house in West Omaha, Neb., following a standoff and hostage situation that lasted almost 12 hours, according to NBC News. Two of the men killed were brothers, Jason and John Edwards. The incident reportedly began on Friday, when the two brothers attempted to help their sister, Julie Edwards, recover some possessions from her ex-boyfriend, 45-year-old Kenneth Clarke, according to the Associated Press. A statement from the sheriff's office on Saturday said that the visit had been organized by Julie Edwards beforehand. It is believed by investigators that Clark proceeded to fatally shoot Jason and John Edwards, who were inside the house, before taking Julie Edwards hostage, according to the Associated Press. Authorities responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call at approximately 10:30 a.m., which is now believed to have been made by John Edwards. Clark then kept Julie Edwards hostage for almost 12 hours, with police surrounding the residence and making repeated efforts to negotiate, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Julie Edwards was released in the early afternoon after a hostage negotiator persuaded Clark to let her leave the building but remained inside himself. "He was all over the map, between sobbing, crying, praying," Douglas County Chief Deputy Sheriff Thomas Wheeler told reporters, according to the Associated Press. "Several times he said he was going to come out, and of course, he never did." Officers fired tear gas canisters into the house at around 10 p.m. after hearing a gunshot, which led them to send in a robotically controlled camera. It was then discovered that Clark had killed himself in the upstairs bedroom. Jason and John Edwards' bodies were found inside the house shortly afterward. A small crowd gathered on Sunday to commemorate the lives of the two brothers, who were described by their former employers as "honorable men," according to the Omaha World-Herald. Both brothers were fathers, and a memorial fund has been set up for their children. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New York City Police Department detectives are investigating former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer for allegedly assaulting a woman at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Saturday night, reported Retuers. An unidentified 25-year-old Russian woman claims that Spitzer, who resigned from the governorship in 2008 over a prostitution scandal, choked her inside a room at the Plaza Hotel Saturday night around 8 p.m., law enforcement told CNN. Spitzer, 56, and the woman reportedly had "some sort of romantic relationship for about two years," and she was considering breaking up with him, which "may have led to the spat," an official told ABC station WABC. The woman then tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists and was taken to the hospital to be treated for the non-life threatening cut on her arm. Spitzer showed up at the hospital shortly after, hiding his face with a hat. The woman told police at the hospital that she and Spitzer had a verbal argument that became physical. She declined to press charges and has since left the United States to return to Russia. "The victim has indicated that the subject is Eliot Spitzer," the New York Police Department said in a statement released Sunday, according to CNN. "Through an ongoing investigation, we are attempting to further establish the identity of the subject and the nature of the incident." A spokeswoman for Spitzer said "there is no truth to the allegation." Spitzer, a Democrat, served as the New York State attorney general before being elected governor in 2006. He was forced to resign in 2008 after an investigation revealed that he was a frequent client of a high-end prostitution ring and had spent $15,000 on call girls. "I cannot allow for my private failings to disrupt the people's work," Spitzer said upon stepping down from office on March 17, 2008, reported NPR. "Over the course of my public life, I have insisted - I believe correctly - that people take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor." Investigators found that he did not spend public funds on prostitutes and he was not charged with a crime. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Bahrain has arrested four American citizens, accusing them of entering the country under false pretenses and participating in "attacks on police," according to a police statement released Monday. In the statement, officials said that three men and one woman who "had not registered with the concerned authority and were involved in illegal activities," were detained on Sunday in Sitra, south of the capital, according to CNN. The officials went on to allege that one of the four journalists "was wearing a mask and participating in attacks on police alongside other rioters in Sitra." "At least some of the arrestees were in the country as members of the international media but had not registered with the concerned authority and were involved in illegal activities," the statement said, without elaborating on what those activities were, according to the Associated Press. Officials declined to respond to questions about the arrests, but it was confirmed that they occurred amid violent protests marking the anniversary of the kingdom's 2011 uprising. The uprising in question was driven by the country's Shiite majority, who demanded greater political rights from the Sunni-led monarchy. It is regarded as the largest of the Arab Spring wave of demonstrations to rock Gulf Arab states. Bahrain's government has since introduced a series of reforms, but low-level unrest, particularly in Shiite communities, still continues. Small groups of activists frequently clash with riot police, and bombs occasionally target security forces. The Human Rights Watch describes the incident and others like it as indicative of the "highly problematic" human rights situation in Bahrain. The group argues that authorities use "disproportionate force to quell unrest," while peaceful protesters are imprisoned and stripped of citizenship while officials are not held to account for allegations of torture and other crimes. In the meantime, the local U.S. embassy said it was aware of the situation but unable to comment further due to privacy-act concerns. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A woman described by friends as a "superstar" has been killed as a result of a road rage incident in Mission Beach, San Diego, according to CBS8 News. Maruta Gardner, 69, was a community activist who had also served as principal at Mission Bay High School, according to the Times of San Diego. Gardner had been cleaning up graffiti on Friday afternoon in Mission Beach when she was hit by a black Toyota Corolla, seemingly the result of a road rage altercation between the driver and another motorist, according to the Times of San Diego. Gardner was hospitalized with severe injuries including a skull fracture but was reported by friends and family to have passed away on Saturday afternoon. The driver of the vehicle was identified a 23-year-old Jonathan Domingo Garcia, who has been booked on charges of vehicular manslaughter, DUI and hit and run, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Police arrested Garcia after he stopped briefly in a parking lot after hitting Gardner and then attempted to drive away. The other motorist involved in the road rage-inducing argument that preceded Gardner's death remains unidentified. It is suspected that Garcia may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident. Gardner was well-loved in her community, with San Diego City Council recently honoring her contributions to the area by declaring Nov. 3 "Maruta Gardner Day," according to the Los Angeles Times. She is mourned by a great number of friends and family, with neighbors describing her as a "wonderful person" who has been "a pillar of the community for a long, long, long time," according to NBC San Diego. "You don't replace someone like Maruta. There's nobody that can step up," her friend and neighbor Mike Hornung told NBC. "This is someone the community needs... We need her down here. We love her when she's here. She's done so much. It's just a needless accident." @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Anti-whaling eco-activist group Sea Shepherd has announced that it is currently struggling to keep up with the activities of its sworn enemy, the Japanese whaling fleet conducting its activities in the Southern Ocean, according to BBC News. The group's flagship vessel, the Steve Irwin, left Western Australia for the Southern Ocean back in January, with the goal of intercepting the Japanese fleet, which is set to initiate its annual whaling operations in the area. Sea Shepherd has continuously disrupted Japan's whaling activities for about a decade, and its activities have been so brazen that it left the Japanese no choice but to abandon its 2014-2015 hunt after the International Court of Justice declared that the annual hunts were commercial activities masquerading as research, reports the Associated Press via Yahoo! News. This year, however, Japan opted to do something different. By seemingly expanding its operations across a wider area, its activities have become very difficult for Sea Shepherd to track, reports Radio New Zealand. Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has expressed his aggravation about the current situation. "The Japanese whaling fleet has greatly expanded their area of illegal operations in the Southern Ocean. This makes finding them very difficult," he said. The activist group has asked Australia and New Zealand for support, requesting the countries provide them with the coordinates of the Japanese fleet. Though Australia has stated that it does not condone the practice of whaling, the statements of its Environment Minister Greg Hunt have so far been non-committal. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. This blog is written solely by John Ray, who has a Ph.D. degree in psychology and 200+ papers published in the academic journals of the social sciences. It does occasionally comment on issues in psychology but is mainly aimed at giving a conservative psychologist's view on a broad range of topics. There are very few conservative psychologists.The blog originated in Australia and many (but not most) posts discuss Australian matters. Australians have an unusually good awareness of events outside their own country. Australian newspapers feature news from Britain and the USA not as an afterthought but as a major part of their coverage. So Australians do tend to have a truly Western heart, which is the reason behind the old name for this blog. So events in Australia, Britain and the USA all feature frequently here, plus occasional coverage of other places, particularly Israel.SCOTUS is the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the landThe "GOP" stands for "Grand Old Party" and refers to the Republican party. The GOP is at present center/Right, while the Democrats have been undergoing a steady drift Leftwards and now have policies similar to mainstream European Leftist parties.The ideological identity of both parties has however been very fluid -- almost reversing itself over time. In the mid 19th century, the GOP was the party of big government and concern for minorities while the Democrats advertised themselves as "The party of the white man" -- an orientation that lasted into the mid 20th century in the South. The Democrats are still obsessed with race but have now flipped into support for discrimination AGAINST whites.Was Pope Urban VIII the first Warmist? Below we see him refusing to look through Galileo's telescope. People tend to refuse to consider evidence if what they might discover contradicts what they believe.Climate scientist Lennart Bengtsson said. The warming we have had the last 100 years is so small that if we didnt have meteorologists and climatologists to measure it we wouldnt have noticed it at all.The term "Fascism" is mostly used by the Left as a brainless term of abuse. But when they do make a serious attempt to define it, they produce very complex and elaborate definitions -- e.g. here and here . In fact, Fascism is simply extreme socialism plus nationalism. But great gyrations are needed to avoid mentioning the first part of that recipe, of course.Beatrice Webb, a founder of the London School of Economics and the Fabian Society, and married to a Labour MP, mused in 1922 on whether when English children were "dying from lack of milk", one should extend "the charitable impulse" to Russian and Chinese children who, if saved this year, might anyway die next. Besides, she continued, there was "the larger question of whether those races are desirable inhabitants" and "obviously" one wouldn't "spend one's available income" on "a Central African negro".Hugh Dalton, offered the Colonial Office during Attlee's 1945-51 Labour government, turned it down because "I had a horrid vision of pullulating, poverty stricken, diseased nigger communities, for whom one can do nothing in the short run and who, the more one tries to help them, are querulous and ungrateful."The book,, authored by T.W. Adorno et al. in 1950, has been massively popular among psychologists. It claims that a set of ideas that were popular in the "Progressive"-dominated America of the prewar era were "authoritarian". Leftist regimes always are authoritarian so that claim was not a big problem. What was quite amazing however is that Adorno et al. identified such ideas as "conservative". They were in fact simply popular ideas of the day but ones that had been most heavily promoted by the Left right up until the then-recent WWII. See here for details of prewar "Progressive" thinking.R.I.P. Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet deposed a law-defying Marxist President at the express and desperate invitation of the Chilean parliament. He pioneered the free-market reforms which Reagan and Thatcher later unleashed to world-changing effect. That he used far-Leftist methods to suppress far-Leftist violence is reasonable if not ideal. The Leftist view that they should have a monopoly of violence and that others should follow the law is a total absurdity which shows only that their hate overcomes their reasonFranklin Delano Roosevelt was a war criminal. Both British and American codebreakers had cracked the Japanese naval code so FDR knew what was coming at Pearl Harbor. But for his own political reasons he warned no-one there. So responsibility for the civilian and military deaths at Pearl Harbor lies with FDR as well as with the Japanese. The huge firepower available at Pearl Harbor, both aboard ship and on land, could have largely neutered the attack. Can you imagine 8 battleships and various lesser craft firing all their AA batteries as the Japanese came in? The Japanese naval airforce would have been annihilated and the war would have been over before it began. FDR prolonged the Depression . He certainly didn't cure it. WWII did NOT end the Great Depression . It just concealed it. It in fact made living standards worse Joe McCarthy was eventually proved right after the fall of the Soviet Union. To accuse anyone of McCarthyism is to accuse them of accuracy! The KKK was intimately associated with the Democratic party . They ATTACKED Republicans!People who mention differences in black vs. white IQ are these days almost universally howled down and subjected to the most extreme abuse. I am a psychometrician, however, so I feel obliged to defend the scientific truth of the matter:The average African adult has about the same IQ as an average white 11-year-old and African Americans (who are partly white in ancestry) average out at a mental age of 14. The American Psychological Association is generally Left-leaning but it is the world's most prestigious body of academic psychologists. And even they have had to concede that sort of gap (one SD) in black vs. white average IQ. 11-year olds can do a lot of things but they also have their limits and there are times when such limits need to be allowed for. America's uncivil war was caused by trade protectionism . The slavery issue was just camouflage, as Abraham Lincoln himself admitted . See also here Leftist psychologists have an amusingly simplistic conception of military organizations and military men. They seem to base it on occasions they have seen troops marching together on parade rather than any real knowledge of military men and the military life. They think that military men are "rigid" -- automatons who are unable to adjust to new challenges or think for themselves. What is incomprehensible to them is that being(to use the extreme Prussian term for following orders) actually requires great flexibility -- enough flexibility to put your own ideas and wishes aside and do something very difficult. Ask any soldier if all commands are easy to obey. At least seven people are dead and eight others remain unaccounted for after a series of airstrikes destroyed a hospital supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in northern Syria, the aid organization said Monday. The hospital, which is located in the town of Maarat al-Noaman in the Idlib province, was destroyed after being hit by four missiles in two sets of attacks within a few minutes, the charity said, citing reports by hospital staff members, according to The New York Times. Officials from Doctors Without Borders said that about 15 other buildings had been struck in residential areas nearby. Giving a tally of those killed, the aid group said that the seven fatalities included five patients, a caretaker and a guard. It said eight more staff members are missing in the rubble and other patients are also missing, but their total number remains unknown, according to NBC News. The statement gives no indicator as to who could be responsible for the airstrikes, but the incident did occur in an area that sees regular Russian and Syrian military operations. Neither country has commented on the incident. Regardless of who is responsible, considering the manner in which the hospital was hit, the MSF has concluded that the airstrikes were deliberate and has condemned them. "This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms," said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, the Doctors Without Borders head of mission, according to Reuters. "The destruction of this hospital deprives about 40,000 people of healthcare in this conflict zone." On the other hand, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as well as rights organization Amnesty International blamed Russian warplanes for Monday's assault, which the latter referred to as "the latest of scores of apparently deliberate attacks on hospitals, clinics and medical personnel being committed in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law." "Russian and Syrian forces know full well that deliberate attacks on medical facilities are war crimes," the group said in a statement. "All parties to the conflict must cease such horrific attacks, stop destroying medical facilities and allow medical workers to carry out their life-saving work without fear of being killed or injured in the line of duty." The hospital, which had 54 staff, 30 beds, two operating rooms, clinics and an emergency room, is financed by MSF. The aid group also supplies medicines and equipment to the facility. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Authorities in Australia conducted a drug bust over the weekend - the largest in the country's history - where they seized one billion Australian dollars worth of liquid methamphetamine, according to Time. The amount in American dollars comes to $700 million, reported CNN. The drugs were found hidden inside gel bras and art sets. "This has resulted in 3.6 million individual hits of ice being taken off our streets," said Michael Keenan, Australia's Federal Justice Minister. "This is a devastating blow for the organized criminal gangs that peddle in ice and it shows you that if you do target the Australian market, we have the powers and the resources to prosecute you," he continued. Four people have been arrested in connection with the bust, reported the New York Post. They were arrested in Sydney last month for importing the drugs from China. Authorities have been investigating the increased presence of meth on Australian streets for months. They first discovered large quantities of the drug in December, again found in gel bras. Since then, authorities have found more than 720 liters of the liquefied drug. Australia has rapidly become one of the largest companies for methamphetamine use, with 1.3 million residents reporting having tried it. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday accused the Republican National Committee of filling its Saturday debate with hostile donors and special interest groups, which the real estate mogul said was a violation of the loyalty agreement he signed with the party. "The RNC better get its act together because you know, I signed a pledged, but the pledge isn't being honored by them," Trump told the crowd at a campaign rally in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, reported The Daily Caller. "I did well in the debate. A lot of people said I won that debate. But when I walked in, it was like, my wife was clapping, my kids were clapping, but the whole room was made up of special interests and donors, which is a disgrace from the RNC." In September, after Trump hinted that he may run as an independent candidate should he fail to secure the party's nomination, he signed a loyalty pledge with the RNC vowing to support the nominee, reported Business Insider. There are no provisions in the pledge prohibiting the RNC from inviting certain people to the debates, however, Trump demanded that he be treated fairly in return for signing, and he suggested that the special interest groups were invited to the debate to make him look bad. "I signed a pledge. The pledge isn't being honored by the RNC because those tickets were all special interest people," the billionaire real estate mogul claimed on Monday. Trump was loudly booed on numerous occasions during Saturday's debate, which was hosted by CBS from Greenville, South Carolina, where the first-in-the-South primary will take place on Feb. 20. On the other hand, Florida Gov. Marco Rubio, who has been branded as the leading establishment candidate, along with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, also viewed as establishment candidates, received roaring applause after nearly every statement. Trump said Monday that he personally knew many of the audience members that were booing him. "I know them. I'm looking in the audience. Some of them are friends of mine, and yet their booing me because they're having fun. The guy's booing me, and he's laughing and he's waving and going 'boo, boo' and he's waving at me. I'm saying, this is crazy. But I know many of these people: lobbyists and special interests," Trump said. "And take a look, that was a wealthy room," Trump said. "Now, it started with young kids in the college case, the one previous because it was the same thing, although the last one was even worse. But what happened is some of the college kids sold their tickets to the special interest for good money, they made a couple of bucks, I don't blame them. But the RNC does a terrible job, a terrible job. And just remember what I said, remember in this room, I signed a pledge, but it's a double-edged pledge, and as far as I'm concerned, they're in default of their pledge when they do that." Trump wasn't the only one to accuse the RNC of rigging the debates by stacking the audience with donors and special interests who heavily favor establishment candidates, rather than inviting people who represent the overall American or South Carolina electorate. Rupert Murdoch, founder, chairman and CEO of News Corporation, which owns the conservative media outlet Fox News, tweeted just hours before the debate, "Tonight's audience in S.C. Probably rigged by party establishment. Repeating old tricks from previous elections." Tonight's audience in S.C. Probably rigged by party establishment. Repeating old tricks from previous elections. Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) February 13, 2016 Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who have both endorsed tea party favorite Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president, were also critical of the debate audience, saying it was stacked to favor candidates like Rubio and Bush. "I was a little disappointed in CBS and the moderators in that they kind of let the debate and the crowd get out of control," Duncan told Breitbart News. "It doesn't represent the voters of South Carolina," Duncan said. "Definitely, the room was stacked for Rubio - there's no doubt about it, especially from where I was sitting. But look, I thought Ted Cruz had a great night and I thought he made a great point about the economy and about how he'd unleash an unbridled entrepreneurial spirit with less taxes and less regulation." RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told Breitbart that of the 1,600 debate tickets, only 600 were given to the six campaigns, while state party and local officials got 550 tickets, the RNC got 367 tickets and 100 went to debate partners CBS news, the Peace Center and Google. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump escalated his ongoing battle with GOP rival Ted Cruz today, calling the Texas senator "unstable" and threatening him with legal action. The billionaire businessman also called on the Republican National Committee to "intervene" in the matter. "Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual," said Trump in a statement, according to the Hill. "He is the single biggest liar I've ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them. His statements are totally untrue and completely outrageous." However, Trump was not threatening a lawsuit over Cruz's words, but rather his citizenship - a question that has routinely been raised in recent months. "One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and, therefore, cannot be President," said Trump, according to Business Insider. "If he doesn't take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they don't they are in default of their pledge to me. " Later, in a press conference, Trump reiterated his position that he has "never ever met a person that lies more than Ted Cruz." He added: "What Cruz says is incredible. I've never seen anything like it." For its part, the Cruz campaign responded by saying Trump is lashing out "with name-calling and falsehoods." "To be fair to Donald, he doesn't know what he actually believes so he can't really be expected to defend himself with reason and facts," Rick Tyler, the communications director for Cruz's campaign, told CNN. "He can't be held to account for his own words because he likely doesn't remember from one day to the next what he says about anything because he has no core set of beliefs." Cruz also weighed in on the issue, adding Marco Rubio to the mix after the Florida senator also accused Cruz of lying about his record. "It is not being honest or candid for either Marco Rubio or Donald Trump to pretend that their records are different than what they are and simply to yell and scream at anyone who points to the words that have come out of their own mouths," said Cruz, according to the Hill. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Here is a weekend 'Point to ponder over' for staying on top of your leadership game! What is more important in good management education (knowing why), training (knowing how) or experience (knowing when)- a friend asked sometime back. Without as much as thinking twice, I would say that it has to be a composite of all three. Good education is like a strong foundation. It is a resource that you keep dipping into consciously, sub-consciously and unconsciously all through your work life. Training is like the cement and mortar that fortify the structure of your house (you in this case). You keep adding suitable inputs given the kind of outcome you wish to see. Finally, experience is the beautiful structure that you have built / acquired through years of slogging and tilling away in the right direction. And for well rounded management, you need to add liberal doses of understanding, compassion, wisdom, adaptability, humour, MBWA, leading by example, Gestalt and fore and farsightedness. What's your take? According to Phocuswright, 74% of independent hotel reservations in Europe come from an OTA. As such every hotelier's 2016 new year's resolutions should include boosting direct revenue for your property. As you know, by increasing direct revenue, you can decrease the cost of acquisition and increase repeat business. It's a win/win situation for every property no matter the property type, location or star rating. So to ensure that you are fully prepared to start boosting your direct revenue this year, I've compiled the top six tips that you can (and should) implement today: A surprisingly large number of hotels continue to offer their best room rates through the OTAs rather than their own website. Because most consumers are price-conscious shoppers (meaning that they will most often choose the room with the cheapest rate), it makes sense to offer the same rate on the OTA channel and the direct channel (where your property keeps 100% of the booking amount), to ensure that less consumers will choose to book through the expensive OTAs. Use loyalty programs to incentivize repeat customers As I mentioned earlier, it is much more expensive to secure new business (6 to 7 times more expensive, in fact!) than it is to keep an existing customer. Marketing Metrics also demonstrated that "the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70%... the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5 to 20%", once again making it a more profitable business practice to secure repeat business from prior customers, instead of searching out new ones. One of the best ways to secure repeat business is by implementing a loyalty program and letting customers know that they should book directly in order to earn and/or redeem points. By doing so, you are converting guests who started out as OTA customers to direct customers on future bookings. Ensure that the booking engine on your site is easy-to-use and accept all of the different forms of payment This one is pretty self-explanatory basically, make sure that you don't confuse potential guests with the booking process and that you accept all possible forms of payment (including Paypal, Bitcoin, etc.) to ensure that you aren't losing possible direct bookings. Which brings me to my next point Simplify your pricing options Consumers are looking for one thing: a good price. They don't want to have to try to figure out eight different pricing options in order to find the best rate. As with your booking process and booking engine, it is always best to keep it simple, silly (KISS) when setting your rate options. Make it easy to find the 'Book Now' button on every page of your website Some consumers may assume that you don't offer a booking engine on your site if they don't see a call-to-action clearly displayed on every page (as you never know which pages they will look at before deciding to book). The button should be large, brightly colored and placed in a position of prominence to garner as much attention as possible. Sign up with all of the last-minute booking apps/sites This year, oil prices will decrease which means that there will be more walk-in guests arriving either by plane or car with no prior booking. In 2016, hoteliers should have a complete revenue management strategy designed to attract last-minute bookers and should use all of the last-minute booking apps/sites (like HotelTonight) to reach as many potential guests as possible within a shorter booking window. Andrea Carr RevPAR Guru Inc. Torgeir Silseth is the President & CEO of Nordic Choice Hotels. It is the leading hotel chain in Scandinavia, with 184 hotels at more than 100 destinations throughout the region. From 1990 - 2016, Nordic Choice has grown from two to 184 hotels, of which 50 percent are located in Norway. The company has more than 12,000 employees. Torgeir Silseth was the Managing Director at Quality Hotel Hafjell in Norway from 1991-1996. He was then appointed Director of Operations Scandinavia until 2000, when he became the Vice President. Scandinavia later became the Nordic Choice Hotels, which he took over as the CEO in 2006. He now manages 116 GMs under Nordic Choice's own operations and works with 54 GMs over franchise hotels. Like many top executives, he is direct and pulls no punches. Those who work for him must have a strong self-confidence and be able to roll with the punches. INTERVIEW You graduated from the Norwegian School of Hotel Management in 1988. Did you always want to be an hotelier? No. I grew up on a farm. Being an hotelier was not on my mind. When I was 13 or 14 years old, I wanted to be a chef. Later, I worked as a chef in Norway and Hamburg. It was then that I became interested in hotel management. So, I decided to study hotel management and pursue a career in the hotel industry. I must tell you that a good thing happened when I was studying at the Hotel School. I met my future wife there and we are still happily married. I understand that you are a trained chef. Was the journey of moving from the kitchen to the boardroom a difficult one? No. It was not a difficult journey. Learning to be a chef gave me a good basic training, which helped me enter the hotel industry. Being a chef, I learned three things that really benefited my career in the hotel industry: (1) good planning, (2) performing under pressure, and (3) instant feedback. For example, when I worked in Hamburg, we had to plan all our meals. Our head chef used a microphone to shout the incoming orders and therefore, we always had to perform under pressure. When the order was ready, he would give us instant feedback whether the food was up to the restaurant's standards. You've been with Choice Hotels for 25 years since your graduation. Many hoteliers change employers, especially during the early stages of their career. What keeps you working with the same company? I feel proud that I've been a loyal employee of our company. However, my journey with our company has not been a journey with "a" company. Our company has grown from having two hotels to 170 hotels in 13 years. I am now working with 116 GMs. Secondly, I was able to team up and work with our owner, Petter Stordalen. Note: Petter Anker Stordalen is a Norwegian investor, a hotel "tycoon", a property developer and an environmentalist. He has an estimated personal net worth of 910 million to 1.43 billion, stemming from investments in hotels, shopping centers and other properties. Nordic Choice has grown from two to 170 hotels. It now has almost 12,000 employees. Looking back, what was the biggest obstacle you and your company have managed to overcome? I think our biggest obstacle has been keeping our company focused while growing at a fast pace. Our owner was able to infuse investment capital required to grow and my main job is keeping operational focus while generating profit. Do you think that there are some similarities in strategy formulation and brand image between Choice Hotels and the French hotel company, ACCOR? I definitely see similarities between the two companies. In terms of branding strategy, both companies have brands ranging from economy to luxury hotels. In terms of investment strategy, ACCOR is like many international hotel companies working together, as ACCOR does not focus on investing in hotel properties. On the other hand, we invest in real estate and develop our properties. Most of your hotels are located in Norway and Sweden. Only 4 percent or 7 seven out of 170 hotels are located outside these two countries. Is there a plan to expand to other Nordic countries? Yes. At one point time, we invested in 20 hotels in Denmark but we retreated. We are now working very hard to re-enter the market in the near future. We also want to enter the markets in Finland and the Baltic countries. At this point time, we have no plan to invest outside of these regions. In your opinion, are there differences between managing an economy hotel and a luxury hotel? I think in principle there is no difference. For example, issues such as guest satisfaction, value for money, distribution and operational issues are basically the same whether we are talking about economy or luxury hotels. But in practice, there are differences. In upscale hotels, keeping hotel guests satisfied involves managing emotional challenges. That is, we need to ensure that complicated operational details are carried out in perfect timing and manner, so that we are able to deliver the promises that stand behind our brand image. On the other hand, an economy hotel has more basic requirements, such as ensuring clean rooms and a reasonable price. Torgeir Silseth Photo by Lin & Pavelson B.V. What are the most challenging issues you are facing on your current position? Offering reasonable prices while keeping a healthy margin for every hotel is a challenging issue for us. Coming up with new, fresh products while facing a lot of competition is another challenge I am facing. Distribution is also a challenging issue: who will guests turn to when they need a hotel? Hiring the right people, keeping them and encouraging them to grow is a challenge for us. What do you do at work that you enjoy so much you actually lose track of time? It gives me great pleasure working with people who are eager to learn, have talent and have a great future. That's rewarding! What learning from today are you taking into tomorrow? I've learned to never settle! You can always do better. You can be better today but be great tomorrow. If you stay still, you will lose the competitive edge and innovativeness. In your opinion, what is the single most important concern for your employees? If I were an employee, I would want to know whether this company shares my values and whether it has a strong sense of social responsibility, such as doing community work, paying taxes, and generally being a good corporate citizen. In Norway, these are the values in a company that attract young people. In the eyes of your employees, what is the single most important quality you should have? I would like to believe that they expect their leader to have the ability to make the right decisions for the future of their company. If you must make a choice, would you do the things right or would you do the right things? I definitely would do the right things. In the long run, it would make you more successful. What is your leadership style, and what makes you an effective leader? We have a flat organization. In Scandinavia, everyone is equal. My employees are well-informed. I am honest and straightforward so that people know what they can expect from me. Directness, "telling it as is", is an important and effective way to lead --- even though at times it can be difficult for some people. What are your strengths and weaknesses? My strengths are being direct and walking the talk. But not everyone appreciates a straightforward approach and therefore, being direct can be a weakness also. Another thing, I tend to worry too much. I always want to be prepared for the worst instead of looking at the bright side. I am working on a more balanced approach between being optimistic and being prepared for the worst. At work, what puts a smile on your face? Happy guests, that is, no guest complaints, and happy employees will put a smile on my face. Working for a great company also makes me happy. What puts a frown on your face? Just the opposite: don't make promises you can't keep. I hate not being able to live up to the expectations of my employees and guests. What is your greatest fear? I have a sinking feeling if I think I am not able to achieve expected growth for our company. Personally, if I woke up in the morning with no fear, I would go to the top of a mountain and shout out happily and just enjoy life! What advice would you offer to those who are inspired to become successful in the hotel industry? I would advise them to learn one discipline really well, may it be revenue management, operations management or sales and marketing. Build a platform and then evolve from that platform. If you know a little bit of everything but nothing in depth, you won't be able to make it. What's next? As you probably have guessed, I am tied to this company for the rest of my working life. I am looking forward to our successful entry in Denmark and Finland. I want to be better tomorrow than I am today! The Quote Book: Wit & Wisdom from Successful Hoteliers Source: Lin & Pavelson B.V. View source PHOENIX The death Saturday of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could undermine efforts by Arizona Republicans to undo the states 30 legislative districts. Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who asked the high court in December to void the current lines, said much of his pitch was based on the constitutional one-person, one-vote requirement. Brnovich said that was squarely aimed at Scalia who had defined himself as an originalist who believes the language of the Constitution means exactly what it says. What makes Scalias death significant for that case is the possibility the court would have ruled 5-4 that the Independent Redistricting Commission acted illegally in creating districts with unequal populations. Without Scalia assuming he sided with challengers that would result in a 4-4 tie, leaving intact the lower court ruling which concluded the commission did not act illegally. And that, in turn, means the current lines remain through at least the 2020 election, lines that Republicans who challenged them contend give unfair advantage to Democrats. The fight surrounds the admitted population differences among the 30 districts. Challengers contend the commission intentionally packed non-Hispanic Republicans into some districts so the remaining districting had a higher proportion of Democrats. That would give candidates from that party a better chance of getting elected. Attorney Mark Hearne, representing a group of Republicans who brought the original lawsuit, said the numbers bear that out. He pointed out that if the states population was equally divided by 30, each district should have about 213,000 residents. But he said some Republican districts had more than 221,000 residents; five Democrat districts had fewer than 205,000. But a three-judge panel accepted arguments by the commission that was done in hopes of ensuring the U.S. Department of Justice, which had to preclear the maps, would find them in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act and its mandate to not dilute minority voting strength. Brnovich, who joined the challenge on behalf of Republican Secretary of State Michele Reagan, told the justices they should overturn that ruling. He said the intent of the commissioners is legally irrelevant, telling the justices they should instead focus on that one-person, one vote requirement of the U.S. Constitution. Essentially what happened was by overpopulating the other districts, the voters in the overpopulated districts had their votes diluted, Brnovich argued. And by diluting those votes, it violated the Constitution. And that, he told the justices, should end the discussion. No statute can trump the Constitution, Brnovich said. But Brnovich said Sunday his constitutional arguments did not necessarily mean Scalia was going to side with challengers. Theres no way you can predict what any judge is going to do, he said. And Brnovich acknowledged that Scalia could just have easily concluded the legal fight is simply about politics, an issue that the justices often try to avoid. Scalia did, in fact, express some skepticism to arguments made by Hearne that the commissioners, in creating unequal size districts, showed an intent to violate the law. The justice noted the lower court concluded the commission had made a good-faith effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act. And he said the commissioners own attorneys told them the changes in lines that were made by needed. That doesnt show a bad motive on their part, does it? Scalia asked Hearne. Hearne conceded the point. But I dont think this courts ever held that bad legal advice justifies a constitutional violation, he said. Quest St Leonards is the first of three new Quest properties scheduled to open in the capital city this year, to be followed by Quest Bella Vista in June and Quest Macquarie Park in December. Quest CEO, Zed Sanjana emphasised the importance of the Sydney market in the company's growth strategy looking forward. "Sydney continues to be a key growth market for Quest, as we continue increasing our presence, strengthening our brand and cementing our position as the accommodation provider of choice for travellers doing business and spending their holidays in New South Wales," said Mr Sanjana. One of Sydney's suburban skyscraper clusters, St Leonards provides a central access point to three of Sydney's key business hubs, positioned 5 kilometres from the CBD, 2 kilometres from North Sydney, and 3 kilometres from Chatswood. St Leonards' own commercial centre continues to expand, providing one of the largest office markets in metropolitan Sydney, while establishing the area as an important employment centre for the North Shore and Sydney. Key economic drivers include professional, scientific and technical services, health care and manufacturing. The brand new property features 79 studio apartments and guests will have access to an onsite car park, gymnasium and swimming pool. 2016 sees an extensive pipeline of new property openings for Quest across Australasia, opening in 11 new locations. In addition to St Leonards, this includes: West Perth, Mounts Bay Road, East Perth and Fremantle (WA); Newcastle West, Bella Vista and Macquarie Park (NSW); Port Adelaide (SA); Dandenong Central (VIC); and Petone (New Zealand). About The Ascott Limited The Ascott Limited (Ascott) is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international lodging owner-operators. Ascott's portfolio spans more than 200 cities across over 30 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the USA. Ascott has more than 78,000 operating units and over 57,000 units under development, making a total of more than 135,000 units in over 800 properties. The company's serviced apartment, coliving and hotel brands include Ascott The Residence, The Crest Collection, Somerset, Quest, Citadines, lyf, Preference, Vertu, Harris, Citadines Connect, Fox, Yello, Fox Lite and POP!. Ascott's loyalty programme, Ascott Star Rewards, offers exclusive benefits to its members when they book directly with Ascott for their stays at its participating properties. Ascott, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Investment Limited, pioneered Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced apartment with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. Today, the company boasts over 30 years of industry track record and award-winning brands that enjoy recognition worldwide. For more information, please visit www.discoverasr.com. About CapitaLand Investment Limited Headquartered and listed in Singapore, CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) is a leading global real estate investment manager (REIM) with a strong Asia foothold. As at 31 December 2021, CLI had about S$122.9 billion of real estate assets under management, and about S$86.2 billion of real estate funds under management (FUM) held via six listed real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and 29 private funds across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and USA. Its diversified real estate asset classes cover integrated developments, retail, office, lodging, business parks, industrial, logistics and data centres. CLI aims to scale its FUM and fee-related earnings through its full stack of investment management and operating capabilities. As the listed investment management business arm of the CapitaLand Group, CLI has access to the development capabilities of and pipeline investment opportunities from CapitaLand's development arm. Being a part of the well-established CapitaLand ecosystem differentiates CLI from other REIMs. As part of the CapitaLand Group, CLI places sustainability at the core of what it does. As a responsible real estate company, CLI contributes to the environmental and social well-being of the communities where it operates, as it delivers long-term economic value to its stakeholders. Visit http://www.capitalandinvest.com/ for more information. It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore). Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net. Go back to home There are 4,084 projects totaling 496,184 rooms Under Contract in the United States, according to the January 2016 STR Pipeline Report. This represents a 13.0% increase in the number of rooms Under Contract compared with January 2015 and a 17.1% year-over-year increase in rooms under construction. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. Nearly 49% of U.S. hotel room construction is occurring in the 26 markets with the highest existing supply numbers, said Bobby Bowers, STRs senior VP for operations. Among those Top 26 Markets, New York, New York, reported the most rooms Under Contract (34,217 rooms) and most rooms In Construction (14,544 rooms). New York continues to rank atop the pipeline list while accounting for roughly 10% of all U.S. room construction activity, Bowers said. New Yorks under construction total also represents more than 12% of its existing room supplyby far the highest percentage of the 26 largest U.S. markets. Six additional markets each reported more than 10,000 rooms Under Contract for the month: Houston, Texas (18,069 rooms); Dallas, Texas (15,088 rooms); Miami/Hialeah, Florida (13,033 rooms); Los Angeles/Long Beach, California (12,354 rooms); Orlando, Florida (10,979 rooms); and Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia (10,578 rooms). Seven markets in addition to New York each reported more than 3,000 rooms under construction: Houston (5,553 rooms); Los Angeles/Long Beach (4,630 rooms); Dallas (4,278 rooms); Las Vegas, Nevada (3,905 rooms); Miami/Hialeah (3,896 rooms); Washington, D.C. (3,339 rooms); and Chicago, Illinois (3,302 rooms). New supply in Houston and lagging demand due to low oil prices will create significant headwinds for that market in 2016, Bowers said. Three markets each reported fewer than 500 rooms under construction: Oahu Island, Hawaii (482 rooms); St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois (407 rooms); and Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia (300 rooms). Top 10 U.S. Markets by rooms in the In Construction phase* Market Existing Supply In Construction January 2016 In Construction January 2015 In Construction YOY % change New York, NY 117,847 14,544 14,272 +1.9% Houston, TX 80,528 5,553 5,603 -0.9% Los Angeles/Long Beach, CA 98,303 4,630 3,051 +51.8% Dallas, TX 80,140 4,278 2,479 +72.6% Las Vegas, NV 167,689 3,905 103 +3,691.3% Miami/Hialeah, FL 51,841 3,896 3,983 -2.2% Washington, DC-MD-VA 107,991 3,339 3,440 -2.9% Chicago, IL 111,422 3,302 3,200 +3.2% Seattle, WA 42,621 2,872 2,543 +12.9% Denver, CO 43,591 2,756 1,719 +60.3% Source: STR, Inc. / * Data as of 31 January 2016 About STR, Inc. STR, Inc. provides clientsincluding hotel operators, developers, financiers, analysts and suppliers to the hotel industryaccess to hotel research with regular and custom reports covering the United States, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean. STR provides a single source of global hotel data covering daily and monthly performance data, forecasts, annual profitability, pipeline and census information. STR founded the STR family of companies and is proudly associated with STR Global, STR Analytics and Hotel News Now. STR also founded the Hotel Data Conference. For more information, please visit www.str.com. Radisson today announced the opening of the Radisson Hotel Recife near Boa Viagem Beach, one of the most visited beaches in Northeastern Brazil. Located in the city of Recife, at Avenida Boa Viagem, 1906, the hotel offers 164 guestrooms and 67 residential suites. As the largest upscale brand in Brazil, we remain focused on retaining our leadership position as we continue to explore strategic growth opportunities in the region, said Javier Rosenberg, chief operating officer, Americas, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The Radisson Recife is a welcome addition to our portfolio in Brazil with our longstanding partner Atlantica Hotels International. Guests of the hotel can enjoy on-site amenities that include dining at Nabuco, featuring a mix of regional and contemporary cuisine; an outdoor pool; a state-of-the-art fitness center; a business center and free high-speed Internet. We look forward to welcoming guests to our refreshed hotel, said Eugenio Emerenciano, the hotels general manager. True to the Radisson Yes I Can!SM service philosophy, our staff is committed to delivering the elevated level of hospitality that the brand is known for worldwide. The hotel is conveniently located near the Recife International Airport, the Boa Viagem Beach and local shopping destinations. The bands performance in Stockholm marks the beginning of their Nos Amis tour which will return to Paris this week Eagles of Death Metal returned to the stage in Stockholm on Saturday exactly three months after the terror attacks that saw their Paris concert tragically torn apart. While the rock ensemble did appear at Paris' AccorHotels Arena to help close out U2's Paris concert three weeks after the terror attacks, the Stockholm gig marked Eagles of the Death Metal's first concert of their Nos Amis Tour. The American group kicked off their trek at Stockholm's Debaser Medis, where they performed a 17-song set that included a cover of Duran Duran's Save a Prayer as well as their own I Love You All the Time, which has become a kind of anthem for the band following the Bataclan attack. Nos Amis Tour will encompass a number of rescheduled dates from their European tour that were cut short after the death of 89 of their fans in November. The band will be returning to Paris on Tuesday for a show at the French capitals Olympia venue; the Bataclan has yet to reopen since the terror attack. A gesture of respect and kindness will see that the fans who held tickets to the Bataclan concert in November will attend the Olympia concert for free. The band will be making good on their promise to fans which frontman Jessie Hughes laid out in a former statement: Not returning to finish our set was never an option. We look forward to coming back in February and continuing our mission to bring rock & roll to the world." Regarded as one of the most promising young outfits in the UK, all four members of the band and their manager have died in a road accident near Stockholm... In one of the worst tragedies to hit rocknroll in many years, the rising young UK indie band Viola Beach have died in a car crash in Sweden. The car, in which the bands manager, Craig Tarry, was also travelling, plunged into a canal in Sodertalje, near the capital city of Stockholm. The police have confirmed that all five passengers in the car died in the accident. The members of the band, formed in Warrington in 2015, were Kris Leonard (guitar/vocals), Tomas Lowe (bass), River Reeves (guitar) and Jack Dakin (drums). "We can confirm that five British nationals died in a car accident in Sweden on February 13, a spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said. "We are in contact with local authorities and supporting the families at this very difficult time." Police have said that divers recovered the bodies of the deceased. The accident occurred at a bridge, with a reported 25 metre drop into the canal below. The family of guitarist River Reeves issued a statement following the tragedy. It reads: Advertisement "We are all heartbroken following River's tragic death and the circumstances which have seen him lose his life alongside the band-mates and manager he adored and loved being with. "River had such talent and such humility, such charm and such innocence it seems so unfair that he can be taken so cruelly from us like this. "We are so proud of him, not only for what he achieved in his short, beautiful life, but also what he was clearly destined to achieve. He will live forever in our hearts and we hope the band's wonderful music lives on." The band recently played The Academy in Dublin, where they supported Blossoms, on February 5. They released their debut single Swings and Waterslides in 2015. They were in Sweden as part of the line-up for the Where Is The Music? festival. Viola Beach were scheduled to play the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, in March this year. Please Donate In order to maintain this blog I have to pay for its upkeep including a hosting company, support services, virus and other malicious hackers. If you appreciate what I write please make a donation. Racist PayPal Tries to Close Down My Blog As you can see from this article PayPal have removed my blog. I would therefore ask people to make any future donations to the following: Name of Account: Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre Account No: 04094107 Sort Code: 09-01-50 Reference: Web donations Our landmark relic Skellig Michael features prominently in the announcement for Star Wars: Episode VIII production announcement. JJ Abrams and Disney are still reeling in the success that came with Star Wars: Episode VII but the force must go on. As of today, the camera's have started rolling for Star Wars: Episode VIII. The snippet published on the official Star Wars YouTube account shows Luke Skywalker and Rey where they last left off in The Force Awakens. Standing in all its glory, the glorious Skellig Michael acts as the adverts backdrop and is something to behold. Filming on the Unesco World Heritage site was a contentious issue amongst conservationist groups. Throughout filming on the heritage site, an ecologist monitored the filming activity and had the authority to cut shooting whenever they deemed necessary. However, since the release of The Force Awakens with Skellig Michael's screen debut, Tourism Ireland are honing in on the potential worldwide market that awaits. Tourism Minister, Pascal Donohoe was hugely in favor of the project; "The fact that Skellig Michael features in all its glory brings the dramatic scenery of Co Kerry and the broader Wild Atlantic Way to an audience of potentially hundreds of millions of people." With The Force Awakens after grossing no less than $2 billion, there's no doubt there will be plenty of fans frequenting Kerry's coast. Primary filming for Star Wars: Episode VIII is taking place at Pinewoods Studio in London with Dubrovnik, Croatia also featuring for location shooting. Disney released their press release which officially announced that our Domhnall Gleeson will reprise his role as General Hux. Gleeson will be joined by most of Episode VII's cast with newcomers to the cast including Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern. To top it all off, the directing baton has been passed from J.J Abram's to Rian Johnson who will have the expectation of millions on his shoulders to continue on Abram's legacy. Star Wars: Episode VIII is expected for release on December 15th 2017 but die hard fans will have the spin off Star Wars: Rogue One release this December 16th to tide them over until then. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Girl Guiding in Ceylon The Girl Guide and Boy Scout Movements were founded by Lord Robert Baden-Powell (B-P). B-P had first worked wit... Hector Montalvo of Source Marketing Direct hosts highly anticipated Business SeminarsEntrepreneur and business owner Hector Montalvo spent the weekend in both Dublin and London, as he played host to two of direct marketings most eagerly awaited business Posted by Press Releases on Monday, 02-15-2016 8:27 am Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes LONDON, GREATER LONDON (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 10, 2016Mr. Montalvo - managing director of Source Marketing Direct - is a regular speaker at industry events in all the major cities of the UK including London, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. His diverse portfolio of public and motivational speaking on business topics also includes other countries such as South Africa and the USA.About Source Marketing Direct: http://sourcemarketingdirect.com/The first business seminar was hosted in Dublin on Saturday, 6th Feb at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, near the Old Jameson Distillery and Dublin castle. The second seminar was hosted the following day on Sunday 7th at the Novotel London West Hotel, in Hammersmith./Both seminars involved Mr. Montalvo meeting with fellow business owners and sales representatives from across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The purpose of the seminars was to focus on getting back to basics in 2016, and how to pass knowledge onto other people an... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. If you do not receive your activation email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or call our Help Desk at 1.877.472.6648 For faster assistance, dial extension 4. Thank you! Continue Hi Verification error - Please enter the correct code above. Verified Wow! You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile InfoTronics recognizes Gorrie-Regan and Associates as Top Channel ChampionInfoTronics recognizes Gorrie-Regan and Associates as Top Channel ChampionInfoTronics recognizes Gorrie-Regan and Associates as Top Channel Champion Posted by Press Releases on Monday, 02-15-2016 8:40 am Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes FARMINGTON HILLS, MICHIGAN (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 10, 2016Gorrie-Regan and Associates, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama has once again been awarded the 2015 Channel Champion Award for Top Sales Performance from InfoTronics, a technology company with over 35 years of expertise in developing employee time and attendance solutions.Each year, InfoTronics recognizes its partners for top sales performance. Gorrie-Regan has a track record of success having consistently placed in the top five over the years.We are very pleased that Gorrie-Regan has once again been honored as a Top Channel Champion, said Charlie Regan, President, Gorrie-Regan and Associates. To receive top honors from over 80 dealers throughout North America is particularly humbling.Top five honorees include: . Gorrie-Regan and Associations, Inc. . Time Management Systems, Inc. . Advanced Time Management, Inc. . Midwest Automated Time Systems, Inc. &... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. 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You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Robert Morris University Illinois and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Sign Memorandum of Understanding, Cementing New Educational Partnership Robert Morris University Illinois and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology have created a Posted by Press Releases on Monday, 02-15-2016 8:37 am Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes Chicago, IL (PRWEB) February 10, 2016Robert Morris University Illinois (RMU) and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) have created a partnership through the establishment of an advanced graduate level program for students pursuing a doctoral degree in business psychology. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is a nonprofit university, and one of the leading institutions devoted to psychology and related behavioral and health sciences.The agreement between the two schools provides a post-graduate path for Robert Morris University students in the School of Business Administration program. As undergraduates, students will be granted admission to The Chicago School upon fulfilling application requirements, the completion of specific coursework, and a minimum GPA. With the objective of completing a Ph.D. in Business Psychology, students will begin graduate work at The Chicago School during the last 36 quarter hours of their Bachelor of Business Administration progr... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. If you do not receive your activation email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or call our Help Desk at 1.877.472.6648 For faster assistance, dial extension 4. Thank you! Continue Hi Verification error - Please enter the correct code above. Verified Wow! You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-02-15 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at CONTENTS [01] Greece to inaugurate first - albeit empty - hotspot in Chios on Tuesday [01] Greece to inaugurate first - albeit empty - hotspot in Chios on Tuesday The first identification and registration center has been completed on the island of Chios, in the eastern Aegean, and is set to be inaugurated by Defence Minister Panos Kammenos on Tuesday, as part of his tour in the eastern Aegean. The new so-called hotspot, built in a defunct industrial complex near the village of Halkios, has the temporary capacity to register 600 refugees and migrants on a daily basis which is expected to increase by up to 1,200 people per day. The center will remain completely empty for now as no refugees or migrants have arrived on the island in the past three days. Public sector employees union ADEDY's local branch said it will stage a protest on Tuesday outside the center to "express its opposition to the attempted ghettoization of the victims of the brutal war in Syria and Iraq as well as NATO's entrance into the Aegean." Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article An ancient shipwreck off the southern coast is yielding fascinating artefacts that provide a remarkable record of ancient sea trade between the Aegean Sea and Cyprus. It was discovered in 2007 and sits at a depth of 45 metres off the coast of Mazotos in Larnaca. Having sat undisturbed in its silent, watery grave since the 4th century BC the wreck has caused a buzz in the archaeological community. This reports Cyprus Mail Director of the project is Dr. Stella Demesticha, associate professor at the University of Cyprus. Describing the Mazotos shipwreck and the details, she says that it is very revealing about maritime life in the region over 2,000 years ago. The ship sank at about the time the Romans built their first aqueduct and before the conquests of Alexander the Great shook the region. It set sail on its ill-fated voyage during the height of the Classical Greek civilisation, as philosophy, literature and architecture were spreading far and wide."Its like excavating a time-capsule. The Mazotos shipwreck is special for many reasons. First of all, it belongs to the rare class of ancient shipwrecks that can be characterised as coherent meaning they preserve their internal stratigraphy. Such wrecks can provide unique insights into seafaring, seaborne trade and shipbuilding in antiquity. We study the ship itself, although very little has been exposed thus far: its size, its anchors as well as the methods and materials of construction. We focus on the wine amphorae of the cargo, which are thoroughly documented before and after recovery,The wreck is considered to be of historic importance, and excavation is being conducted by the Archaeological Research Unit at the University of Cyprus along with the Department of Antiquities.The collaboration of these institutions marks a first in local underwater archaeology, as no foreign organisations are involved. What makes this discovery special is its incredible state of preservation, which classifies the site among the rare cases of shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.Since being discovered, the wreck has yielded a rich trove of wine amphorae, thought to come from the Greek island of Chios. Around 500 visible amphorae are scattered over an area of almost flat seabed. Remarkably, four layers of the ceramic jugs are preserved in their original stowage position.Other artefacts include lead stocks, the remains of three anchors, a large number of olive pits and even the keel and structural timbers. Organic materials such as the remains of the crew, textiles and fittings have long since disintegrated. The team anticipates more discoveries and insights will be revealed from beneath the deep layers of silt and mud.The mystery of how or why the merchant ship foundered will never be known, but Demesticha argues that she probably sank after waves and sea spray filled the bilge.The reason of a wreck in the open sea, like this one, which does not involve capsizing, most probably is the water in the ship because of a storm and high waves.The job of conducting surface surveys and mapping the wreck is complex, says surveying engineer and diver Dr. Dimitrios Skarlatos, assistant professor at the Cyprus University of Technology who has been involved in the wreck documentation since 2010.When we started there were several clear limitations with the underwater environment, and several challenges. It may sound trivial, but prior to any finding removal, the exact position of it should be recorded and documented. Therefore, the survey should be daily, detailed, robust, quick and accurate to the centimetre. Acquisition time had to be less than twenty minutes, which is the bottom time for the divers. The final result must be both accurate and very detailed, while the processing time is limited, from dusk till dawn of the next day.According to Skarlatos the real challenge was to understand the peculiarities of the underwater environment in order to propose an accurate acquisition method. The team used computer vision techniques to fully automate the photogrammetric processing.That way, within the given time we could process hundreds of photos and produce millions of points within an afternoon."Mazotos was the first reported shipwreck where the photogrammetry was merged with computer vision to produce dense colour point clouds, changing completely the way underwater documentation is being conducted worldwide.Conservation of the finds requires specialised personnel. The laboratory for the conservation of maritime antiquities was created by the Department of Antiquities and is supervised by the conservator Eleni Loizidou and is where all the excavated material is being kept and conserved. Once brought to the surface, the finds are desalinated through immersion and their surface is cleaned mechanically. As it stands there are no immediate plans to raise the vessel. According to Demesticha:At this depth and without the proper conservation infrastructures on land, bringing up the vessel is not an option. While working with the Department of Antiquities towards that direction, we will continue with the recovery of the cargo.However, the team is not ruling out that other wrecks are sitting on the seabed in this region waiting to be discovered. According to Skarlatos:We can assume that there should be undiscovered wrecks in Cyprus. The archaeological significance of those may vary though. Using combination of aerial Lidar surveys and multi beam echo sounders to scan the sea bottom we will for sure discover more. We are currently working towards that direction.The excavation has been made possible with the support of many sponsors; the Honor Frost Foundation, from the UK and CYTA from Cyprus are among the most important ones. Apart from funding, the project is in constant need of human resources with a significant number of volunteers coming from many different countries every year to join forces with the main team.For more images of the researchers and finds, go here Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-02-15 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at CONTENTS [01] German FM spokesman favors Greek FM's presence at Visegrad group meeting [02] Privatization agency denies reports on new concession deal for Athens airport [03] Greek FM Kotzias meets counterparts of Cyprus, Lebanon [01] German FM spokesman favors Greek FM's presence at Visegrad group meeting BERLIN (ANA-MPA / F. Karaviti) It would be "the right approach" to include the Greek foreign minister in the meeting of the Visegrad Group countries in Prague next week, the German foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday. The group is made up of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, and on Monday participants discussed measures on guarding the external borders of the EU in view of the ongoing refugee and migrant crisis. "We hear and I hope it's so that in the meeting of the Visegrad Group the Greek foreign minister will be present. That would be, in our view, exactly the correct approach - to talk with those who are mostly burdened and not for them, or bypassing them," foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said during a regular press briefing. Asked to comment on an article by German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, in which he opposed the possibility of Greece being excluded from the Schengen zone, Schaefer said: "I understood Sigmar Gabriel's article as a very strong advocacy for European solutions - for European rather than national solutions. And this is a fundamental belief of the government." [02] Privatization agency denies reports on new concession deal for Athens airport The head of Greece's privatization agency (HRADF) on Monday dismissed media reports claiming the agency has started negotiating a 20-year extension of the concession agreement with the managing company, Athens International Airport S.A. (AIA), which will be paid for by the state, saying the reports "have no connection with reality." "Everything that is being written and said about the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport have no connection to reality," Stergios Pitsiorlas said in a press release, adding that HRADF has simply requested the opening of talks to extend the concession rights with the AIA. He also noted that the procedure has not even started yet. AIA was established in 1996 in order to build, maintain and operate the airport on a 30-year concession. The current shareholders of AIA are the Greek State (25%), HRADF (30%), the Canadian company AviAlliance GmbH (26.7% plus 8 shares), Canada-based AviAlliance Capital GmbH (13.3%) and the Copelouzos Group (5% minus 8 shares). In addition, the Greek State has also transferred to HRADF the right to extend the existing concession by 20 extra years (until 2046). [03] Greek FM Kotzias meets counterparts of Cyprus, Lebanon Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias met in Brussels, on the margins of Monday's meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, with the foreign ministers of Cyprus and Lebanon, Ioannis Kasoulides and Gebran Bassil, respectively. This first such trilateral meeting was dominated by issues of regional and international interest, while special emphasis was put on the refugee crisis, terrorism and the peace process in the wider Middle East. The talks looked at the prospects for building trilateral cooperation in the economic and trade sectors, as well as in the sectors of energy, security and culture. Finally, Kotzias and Kasoulides agreed to carry out a joint visit to Lebanon in the near future. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article Saturday Night Live had a laugh at Beyonce's haters Saturday in a hilarious new skit, "The Day Beyonce Turned Black." Beyonce's new video, Formation, and subsequent performance at Super Bowl 50 elicited criticism from white politicians in Canada and the United States alike. The video features many political statements, from a drowned cop car in New Orleans to a young black boy dancing in a hoodie before a line of riot cops. And her performance of the song, the night after it came out, paid tribute to the Black Panthers. Advertisement "For white people it was just another great week," the SNL skit opens with. "They never saw it coming." What follows is a meltdown of apocalyptic proportions, as the white characters come to a shocking conclusion: "Maybe this song isn't for us." "But, usually everything is!" Vanessa Bayer's character gasps in dismay. When Beyonce dropped Formation, the internet lost its collective mind some more than others. Posted by Saturday Night Live on Sunday, February 14, 2016 Will the white world ever be the same? Also on HuffPost Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show: Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Coldplay See Gallery BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 19: Caroline Pidgeon, the Lib Dem London Mayoralty candidate speaks at a Members' Rally on the first day of the Liberal Democrats annual conference on September 19, 2015 in Bournemouth, England. The Liberal Democrats are currently holding their annual conference using the hashtag #LibDemfightback in Bournemouth. The conference is the first since the party lost all but eight of its MPs in May's UK general election, however after gaining 20,000 new members since Matt Cardy via Getty Images Londons working mothers are not getting the childcare support they need because of the very male dominated nature of the capitals politics, according to the Lib Dem Mayoral candidate. Caroline Pidgeon believes Londons economy is suffering a brain drain of skilled women because the issue of childcare costs is not being addressed by either current mayor Boris Johnson or the two men most likely to succeed him. Advertisement Speaking to the Huff Post UK, Pidgeon claimed the mudslinging between Labours Sadiq Khan and the Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith shows the two are less concerned with the issues facing Londoners and more with focusing on the politics of fear. If either Goldsmith or Khan is successful, it will mean there has not been a female Mayor of London since the position was created in 2000. In an interview at the Liberal Democrats party headquarters in Westminster, Pidgeon set out her policies on transport, housing and childcare. When asked for her views on how the race to City Hall was going, she said: I think its a shame that it appears to have got so dirty so early. Advertisement Lets talk about the issues Londoners want to hear about - put your case to the electorate, rather than trying this politics of fear. She added: Theres mudslinging going on from both sides, trying to undermine the other candidate and make people feel fearful one way or another of the other candidate being elected. Why dont they get out and talk about the issues Londoners care about and get out there and talk about transport, housing, childcare. "None of them are talking about childcare this massive issue in London that affects women returning to work particularly but also families with 30 per cent higher the costs than any other region. Advertisement Caroline Pidgeon and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron wrap a christmas present during a visit to the Salvation Army homeless drop-in centre If elected mayor, Pidgeon would introduce a 2 a night tourist tax for three star and above hotels. She believes this would raise around 50million to fund the training of more child-minders and support longer opening hours for schools and nurseries. Pidgeon, who has been on the London Assembly for eight years, said she has repeatedly tried to raise the issue of childcare provision with the Mayors economic arm but theyre not interested in it, they dont get it as a big issue. When asked if she felt that Johnson, Goldsmith and Khan were failing to give the issue greater prominence because they are men, she thought for a moment, and replied: Part of it is they are very male dominated, but it just isnt registering with them. They are thinking tech sector, they are thinking this, they are thinking that, but actually this a hugely trained up part of the workforce which you are losing. Advertisement Its a brain drain from Londons economy and we need to make sure we try to help with that as well. Pidgeons childcare policy aside, as with the majority of the other candidates in the race she believes housing is the biggest problem facing the capital right now. Her solution is to keep the 20 precept Londoners currently pay as part of the council tax bill towards the Olympics which runs out next year to fund a building boom. Labeling it our Olympic effort for building the homes Londoners need, Pidgeon estimates 2billion could be borrowed against the money raised from the precept. Her Tube policy is less ambitious than some of her rivals. While the Greens would abolish the zone system and Labour would freeze fares for four years, Pidgeon will only commit to half-price fares for those travelling before 7.30am. Advertisement When asked if her plan could be more ambitious, she said: Mine is realistic and can be delivered. Ive been on the London Assembly eight years, Ive got that experience, Ive been looking at Transport for Londons work over that time and I know that you cannot freeze fares for eight years and continue the investment we need in the transport network. It just doesnt add up and I dont think the public believe it either. What Ive come up with is half price fares by half 7 in the morning to really help those low income workers travelling in, the people who do the cleaning, the security and so on, and also to encourage people to travel that bit earlier and help with that crush we all face, the severe over-crowding in the morning. The London Mayoral candidates: Sadiq Khan, Caroline Pidgeon, Peter Whittle, Sian Berry, and Zac Goldsmith The elections on May 5 will be the first major test for the Lib Dems in the capital since last years drubbing in the General Election. Advertisement The party saw its total number of votes fall by 64 per cent from 751,561 in 2010 to 272,544 in 2015 and also lose six of its seven MPs. Pidgeon acknowledges there is pressure on her to do well in the mayoral race, but believes the party is already bouncing back from last Mays disappointment. She said: Our membership has grown hugely, lots of new activists, new members who are very enthusiastic, energetic and enthused, also about the Europe debate which is coming up straight after and thats really energising our people on the ground. Amidst this Awards Season's unprecedented furore surrounding the lack of diversity on display in the prominent shortlists, it couldn't have been more timely that this year's recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship Award was the mould-breaking Sidney Poitier. Read the complete list of BAFTA Film Awards Winners Mr Poitier was not well enough to travel to London for the BAFTA ceremony, so he was presented with the award on video by Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx. Advertisement Sidney Poitier's career has endured an awe-inspiring six decades The screen legend was the first African-American actor to win an Oscar for his role in 'Lilies of the Field' in 1964. While his success on screen has made him one of the world's most popular stars, off-screen he has also worked as a director, activist, author and tireless humanitarian. Receiving his award, he said: "I'm sorry I'm unable to be there with you in London, because I hold a very special place in my heart for your great city. "I've been honoured by the Queen and have had the privilege of being recognised by BAFTA on a few previous occasions, but today my cup runneth over, because I'm here with my daughter and future filmmakers of the world, in celebration of this wonderful art form - moving pictures - that have brought me tremendous joy. "To the wonderful courageous filmmakers of the world, I thank you for being part of bringing me to this moment and to my family, my life force, I am nothing without you, and to all of you, thank you for your warm embrace and this extraordinary moment, and memory, I shall cherish always." Advertisement Stars on both sides of the Atlantic paid tribute to Sidney Poitier's great influence. Oprah Winfrey told the audience, "Sidney Poitier is the great example of what it means to live your life with integrity and power and grace," while British director Noel Clarke added, "Sidney's importance to the industry should never be underestimated or overlooked. "We have a voice, and we have a voice because of people like Sidney Poitier." Beth Ditto has created a plus size fashion collection that lives up to her reputation for being "uncompromising," and "unapologetic" - and we want to buy it all. Ditto called on the help of 'Love' magazine editor and her long-time friend Katie Grand to create the high fashion aesthetic of the look book shoot, which features models of the moment Barbie Ferreria and Philomena Kwao, alongside Ditto herself. "I wanted to create something all its own, something just for us, made with love and consideration," the 34-year-old Gossip front woman said. Advertisement Beth Ditto models items from her new collection with Philomena Kwao "Made ethically in the USA as a small company with no big corporate input," Ditto added. "Uncompromising, unapologetic and timeless. Go-to pieces designed to last. "A movement by us, for us." The 11 piece collection is available online and in Selfridges in UK sizes 18 - 32. It features vibrant prints on silk and rayon jumpsuits, pencil skirts and dresses, as well as hand-embroidered, vintage sourced denim jackets, which Ditto states, "represent a commitment to quality and craft rarely seen in plus size fashion." Advertisement Barbie Ferreria models the Modern Love jumpsuit Ditto announced the collection in December 2015 with the unveiling of a limited-edition T-shirt designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, but this is the first time she has released images of the full collection. Back in 2009, Ditto teamed up with Evans to create a plus size line, but has long hankered after creating a range all of her own, as she has been disappointed to see high-street plus size ranges are often made with little thought given to style. "Theres no real thought about the patternlike, what could you make for a body like mine," she told Vogue. "I dont think there are a lot of plus-sized people behind it, and I dont think thats fair." However, her new collection is the antidote to that - referring to a sculptural skirt, Ditto noted: "instead of the idea of being flattering, is just really interesting and cool." At last! *** VIDEO: WATCH PAUL GOLDING AND JAYDA FRANSEN BE ARRESTED BY... *** VIDEO: WATCH PAUL GOLDING AND JAYDA FRANSEN BE ARRESTED BY LUTON POLICE! ***Both Paul and Jayda were arrested today by an increasingly-desperate Luton police for the crime of wearing "political uniforms" while on a leafleting session in Luton several weeks ago.They were both interviewed by Luton "criminal investigation department" and then shortly after released. Posted by Britain First on Monday, February 15, 2016 Britain First leader Paul Golding and his deputy Jayda Fransen have been arrested after a police investigation into their 'Christian Patrol' in Luton last month and have subsequently banned from the "entire town". The far-right party announced the arrests on their website on Monday, saying their leaders were currently being held in Kent. Advertisement "At the request of Luton police, Paul and Jayda had to present themselves, not in Luton, but in a Kent police station because they did not want them to approach Luton in any way," the party website reported. According to Britain First, Golding and Fransen were both arrested for wearing "political uniforms" while on a "leafleting session in Luton several weeks ago". That was in fact their highly controversial 'Christian Patrol'. Britain First leader Paul Golding and his deputy Jayda Fransen are said to have been arrested in relation to their 'Christian Patrol' in Luton earlier this month Advertisement "The video of this particular activity was seen by almost 30 million people and clearly shows a barrage of racism, bigotry and violence directed at Britain First by the local Muslims of Luton. "To our knowledge, none of the local Muslims have been arrested." A later report by Britain First indicated that the pair had been bailed but were now prevented from entering the "entire town of Luton in any way". Another condition imposed, which the party said was "more disgraceful", was that the duo have to attend a London police station every Saturday to sign in which means "that both Paul and Jayda will be unable to attend any days of action, protests or activities on any Saturday for the next four months". Golding's bail form which shows he has been banned from entering Luton The party said it is going to apply immediately to magistrates to "have this part of the conditions challenged". Advertisement Kent police referred the Huffington Post UK to Bedfordshire Police for comment but they are yet to respond. Earlier this month the party begged members for donations to fight Bedfordshire Police's attempts to ban it from returning to Luton in the wake of their 'Christian Patrol'. Britain First claimed the move would give the "Muslim bigots of Bury Park free rein to inflict violence and racism on outsiders." On 23 January, around 20 Britain First members marched through Bury Park carrying wooden crosses and confronting local Muslims about trying to "take over" Britain, in an incident condemned as "inflaming" tensions. A video of the event gained more than 25 million views on Britain First's Facebook page before the social network removed it. The footage is still viewable on YouTube where it has been watched more than two million times. In the days after the march Bedfordshire police said they had made no arrests, but announced they were investigating to see if any crimes had been committed. At a packed public meeting at Bury Park Community Centre earlier this month police told the Luton community they were trying to ban Britain First from returning to the town. Assistant chief constable Mark Collins told the meeting: "We are making three commitments, the first being an investigation which will leave no stone unturned, the second is that we will be seeking an injunction to prevent Britain First from returning to Luton and thirdly that no members of the local community will be arrested over the events of last Saturday." Advertisement Bedfordshire Police unsuccessfully sought a court injunction to ban Golding and Fransen from entering Luton and its surrounding area for a year, ahead of a march the party hosted on June 27 last year. However, it was granted an interim injunction that restricted Golding and Fransen's behaviour in the town. The injunction banned Golding and Fransen, either by themselves, or by instructing or encouraging or giving permission to any other person from: Entering any mosque or Islamic Cultural Centre or its private grounds within England or Wales without prior written invitation. Publishing, distributing or displaying, or causing to be published, distributed or displayed any words or images, whether electronic or otherwise which having regard to all the circumstances are likely to stir up religious and/or racial hatred. Using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour thereby causing harassment, alarm or distress to any person Carrying or displaying in Luton on Saturday, 27 June, 2015, at or in connection with the march by 'Britain First' any banner or sign with the words 'No More Mosques', or similar words or words to like effect. The police were also given the power of arrest should either party breach any of the terms of the injunction At that time Chief Superintendent David Boyle said: "This injunction was sought due to concerns that their presence in Luton could increase the possibility of disorder and anti-social behaviour in the town. "The terms which have been agreed today give us greater power to ensure that order is kept in the town during the demonstration. Advertisement "I would like to be clear that it was never our intention to ban any demonstration and we will always facilitate peaceful protest where possible. "We have a policing plan in place to ensure we meet the needs of those wishing to demonstrate." Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen confronts a local Luton resident during the 'Christian Patrol' Bedfordshire Police told the Huffington Post UK earlier this month that the force was investigating any "potential breach" of the interim injunction and urged anyone is "with information or evidence in the form of photographs or video footage" to contact them. During the 'Christian Patrol' Britain First members repeatedly told local Muslims that Britain was not their country, and in the words of charity Tell Mama, acted in an "intimidating" way aimed at "inflaming" tensions. Advertisement Britain First however, saw it differently saying that they had faced "ferocious hostility from local Muslims". Video of the 'Christian Patrol', Britain First wrote, was a "shocking look into the Islamisation of our beloved country". Its activists, the party said, were pelted with eggs and verbally abused by Muslims who claimed to have "taken over" Luton. In an email to Britain First members earlier this month Golding wrote that "we are running out of time to get prepared for the new legal onslaught". The party, he said, needed to raise 5,000 to defend itself. So far Golding said it had raised 1,960. Golding noted that Bedfordshire's police first attempt to ban the party from Luton had left it with "egg on their faces" and that their recent march had "exposed that Bury Park in Luton is a no-go zone for non-Muslims" (A day after their march local Christian's handed out roses in the town, distancing themselves from Britain First's views, and calling for community cohesion). Golding wrote that no members of the local community, "even the ones who shouted racist abuse and who actually attacked some of our activists" would be charged. "Can you actually believe what you are reading," Golding's email read. Advertisement Golding: "The Muslim bigots of Bury Park have been given free rein to inflict violence and racism on outsiders. "Even if the law has been broken, the Assistant chief constable of Luton police will not arrest you if you are Muslim! "We did not expect this and we are totally unprepared for a new legal battle against Bedfordshire Police in the High court. "These taxpayer-funded parasites are going to try again to scupper our movement but, like last time, we will fight till our dying breath against them no matter what they throw against us. Advertisement Muslim men confront Britain First members during their 'Christian Patrol' in Luton "They are hoping that we will be unable to defend ourselves again like last time and then the Muslim bigots of Luton will be able to form a Sharia Law enclave with the help of the police! "Once again, our very existence is on the line as well as freedom of speech and democracy in our beloved Britain. "Please, please, please chip in to our urgent legal fighting fund and give us the tools we need to fight off this latest attempt to sabotage our movement." Golding's email ended by saying: "No wonder the Muslims in Bury Park were happy to shout "We Muslims are taking over!" on the video we put online of our action in Luton - they know the authorities will bend over backside to appease them!" At present there are two petitions against Britain First. One to ban them from Facebook and Twitter has over 900 signatures, and another to ban them as a political party has over 12,000. Advertisement A response to the petition by the Home Office, published on 28 January, said while the government kept the list of proscribed organisations "under review" it would not confirm if it was considering banning Britain First. Right-wing demonstrators hold a sign Juergen Schwarz/AP After refugees were blamed for thieving from, sexually assaulting and raping women in Cologne on New Year's Eve, new evidence has emerged to suggest they were in the drastic minority of perpetrators. Just three of the 58 suspects arrested in connection with January's mass sex attack were refugees, local public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer has confirmed. Advertisement The German legal official said two Syrians and one Iraqi had been detained by police as part of their inquiries, contrary to the hysteria caused by headlines which accused hordes of refugees of masterminding the assault. Unnamed police sources were previously used to attribute claims Syrian refugees were those behind the attacks, in a move branded "demagoguery" by Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth. Despite all the demagoguery, only 3 of the 58 Cologne attackers identified were refugees. https://t.co/CImp5298Qspic.twitter.com/s7PZZwwpPG Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) February 15, 2016 Those of migrant descent did make up large numbers of the arrested; a full list of nationalities of those accused stands at 25 Algerians, 21 Moroccans, three Tunisians, three Germans, two Syrians and an Iraqi. Advertisement But Kris Pollet, acting secretary general of the ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles), said the news that significantly fewer refugees had been involved in the attack than previously believed should "counter the anti-refugee agenda some groups have been pushing since Cologne". "It shows how dangerous it is to make sweeping generalisations about such events without establishing the facts first," he told The Huffington Post UK. "This is about violence against women and should be addressed as such, regardless of the status and background of those suspected of having committed such acts. "It is important for the authorities to continue their investigations and to ensure that the perpetrators, regardless of their nationality or status, are effectively brought to justice. "Meanwhile we hope that this may also help to counter the anti-refugee agenda some groups have been pushing since Cologne and that has too often clouded the political debate in Europe on refugee protection." Advertisement Pundit James O'Brien also piled in to ponder what the British media would do with new information that contradicted previous reports. What will British media do with this? 58 arrests over Cologne attacks: 3 refugees; 3 German; 52 Moroccan/Algerian https://t.co/InxiSieHEa James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) February 14, 2016 Bremer later hit out at how his own remarks had been reported, insisting most of the suspects identified in connection were refugees. He claimed to AP: "They have various legal statuses, including illegal entry, asylum-seekers and asylum applicants." "That covers the overwhelming majority of suspects." A refugee is commonly defined as someone who has been granted asylum status or fled a conflict zone. Advertisement Allegations that those recently fleeing persecution in their own countries, the lion share of which are Syrian, were behind sex attacks on women in Germany have fuelled a significant hardening of attitudes to immigration. Hundreds turned out to protest Angela Merkel's open door policy for asylum seekers in the aftermath of January's atrocity. Some carried banners reading "Rape refugees not welcome"; others held signs depicting a crossed out mosque. Germany has also seen a spike in racially motivated arson attacks on refugees' homes and shelters since the incident, with vigilante gangs vowing to 'clean up Cologne' in a mass "manhunt". In Leipzig, 250 members of local anti-migrant group Pegida attacked doner kebab fast food stalls, set cars ablaze and smashed windows. Advertisement A policeman next to burning bins during the demonstration Demonstrators threw fireworks at police, and attempted to build a barricade with signs and torn up paving stones. A bus carrying leftist demonstrators was also attacked. German women responded to the action by handing out flowers to refugees in a bid to protest against violence unfairly levelled against them. I'm a writer and translator based in Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand. I publish regularly here and at Overland File photo dated 02/02/16 of Prime Minister David Cameron, who will spell out his case for reforming the European Union as he prepares for next week's crunch summit in Brussels. Ben Pruchnie/PA Wire David Cameron has been branded a chicken by Nigel Farage after the Prime Minister pulled out of a meeting with the Ukip leader in Brussels. Mr Cameron was scheduled to come face to face with Mr Farage on Tuesday during a meeting with European Parliament leaders. Advertisement But today, Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister has pulled out of the event, with a spokesman saying its not the best way to use his time. Mr Farage reacted with anger at the news, and claimed Mr Cameron was insulting millions of British people who voted for Ukip in the 2014 European elections. He said: "The Prime Minister is a chicken. I received my official documentation this morning to say that I was one of several meeting the PM tomorrow morning and he has now run away scared. "Frankly I'm not surprised. Not only is the deal pitiful but he would not want me exposing the fact that even if he wins the referendum, the European Parliament will veto it." Advertisement As Leader of the party that won the European Elections, @David_Cameron is insulting millions of British people by refusing to meet me. Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) February 15, 2016 The meeting, due to be held at 11.30am on Tuesday, would have involved European Parliament president Martin Schulz and the leaders of the seven Parliamentary groups. Mr Cameron was due to discuss the draft deal he had secured with European Council President Donald Tusk for new terms of the UKs membership of the EU. The Prime Minister is hoping to get the negotiation signed off by the 27 other member states at a summit in Brussels later this week. British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. European Union heads of state met Thursday to discuss, among other issues, the current migration crisis and terrorism. (AP Photo/Francois Walschaerts) Francois Walschaerts/AP David Cameron will hold an unprecedented meeting of his Cabinet this Friday if he gets the EU reform deal he wants at this weeks Brussels summit, HuffPost UK has learned. The decision means that the Prime Minister would effectively fire the starting gun on the EU referendum campaign, with a poll held on June 23, within hours of any package agreed with fellow European leaders. Advertisement A Downing Street source said that if the crunch summit concludes on time, the Prime Minister will travel back to London to gather his senior ministers in No.10 on the same day. And as soon as the Cabinet meeting is held, collective responsibility is expected to be formally suspended, freeing ministers to campaign either for or against the UKs membership of the EU. The Friday meeting would reassure Eurosceptic Tory MPs who had feared that Brexit-supporting Cabinet ministers would be gagged for several days while Mr Cameron got a head-start in making the case to stay in the EU. Advertisement Priti Patel, expected to back the 'Leave' campaign Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, Commons Leader Chris Grayling, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale and Employment Minister Priti Patel are all expected to campaign for 'Brexit' once they are free to do so. The Brussels summit is set to be the most important for Britain for decades, with Mr Cameron hoping to clinch a deal that will show voters that he has won significant curbs on the powers of the EU. A No.10 source told HuffPost UK: "If Friday's European Council finishes in time, the PM will hold a Cabinet on Friday afternoon." Downing Street is also keeping its options open for a weekend Cabinet meeting if the summit runs over into Saturday morning, with one source saying that 'other options' be reviewed "as the picture becomes clearer". The outcome of this week's EU summit, set to take place on Thursday and Friday, could be crucial to the final verdict of the voters in the referendum. Advertisement Polls show that Mr Cameron is trusted by many Tory voters and insiders hope a deal protecting Britain's sovereignty, protecting the pound and curbing migrant benefits will swing the referendum towards the 'Remain' camp. Iain Duncan Smith, expected to back 'Brexit' Cabinet meetings are traditionally held on Tuesdays and some close to the PM had been warning that only in "war time" had previous Prime Ministers and their senior ministers held them at the weekend. Some ministers had been privately warning that they were ready to breach collective Cabinet responsibility - which means every minister has to follow the same approach - if they were banned from speaking out until Tuesday. But today it was clear that Mr Cameron had decided on a level playing field to honour his pledge to allow ministers to disagree during the EU referendum campaign. Advertisement David Cameron's current Cabinet During the 1975 referendum on the UK's membership of the EEC, Labour's Cabinet was allowed to campaign on either side of the argument. Mr Cameron is set to appear on this Sunday's Andrew Marr Show to trumpet his reform package, but now it appears that a senior figure such as Mr Duncan Smith could also appear on the programme to make the rival case. The cross-party Grassroots Out campaign is due to hold huge rally on Friday night, and Brexit ministers are set to attend to launch the 'Leave' campaign in earnest. Domestic British politics is expected to effectively shut down for many weeks during the EU referendum campaign. Advertisement A passenger launched a violent attack on Emirates cabin crew during a flight from Dubai to Heathrow which allegedly included headbutting one of them. According to reports the man was forced to the floor during flight EK005 and restrained by staff and a policeman that was said to have been on board. He was later arrested at Heathrow airport when the plane landed about 8pm on Sunday. A witness told how the man had his hands and legs tied up, and had a mask put over his face to prevent him from biting anyone. The incident follows an altercation on an Air Mediterranee flight from Algiers to Paris last week where a shirtless passenger was said to have urinated on another traveller, sparking a massive brawl after being denied cigarettes and alcohol. Advertisement A man was arrested for assault after allegedly attacking four cabin crew members on an Emirates flight to London Passenger Dr Farah Jameel said the violent incident began in the food preparation area of the plane and "freaked out" those on board. Jameel told how the man was pinned to the ground and tied up with "some sort of black rope as well as a spare seatbelt. Advertisement Jameel, who is deputy chair of the British Medical Associations equality and inclusion committee, told the Evening Standard: The guy was pinned down and they had tied him up. His hands, legs, and even someone holding his head. Violent passenger EK005 DXB-LHR, restrained, still many crew members assaulted. Do something now! @EmiratesSupportpic.twitter.com/en7tOKDvtA Dr Farah Jameel (@DrFJameel) February 14, 2016 "They even at one point put a surgical face mask on him, I guess to try to stop him biting them. They were wearing gloves as well." She said the man "kicked off" twice, and had earlier being put in a headlock by the police officer on board. "They held him there trying to calm him down but he still kept abusing. The whole cabin could hear, everyone was freaked out," Jameel said. Advertisement The man was said to have been restrained for over two hours before police "swarmed" the plane at Heathrow and arrested him. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said they received a call at 5.30pm on Sunday about a violent passenger and later arrested a 30-year-old Dutch national on suspicion of common assault. The man remains in custody at Heathrow police station. The spokesman said police are not treating the attack as an act of terrorism incident. An Emirates spokesman confirmed that an "unruly passenger was restrained by cabin crew" and handed over to "authorities" in London. The spokesman added: "The safety of our passengers and crew is of critical importance and will not be compromised. John McDonnell has warned HSBC it can not have "blank cheque" when it comes to doing business in Britain, after the bank announced it would not be moving its headquarters abroad. The bank had been considering quitting London amid concerns about stricter regulations, including the Bank Levy introduced in 2010 which targeted HSBC's global balance sheet. Advertisement However in his July Budget, George Osborne announced the Levy would be changed to apply just to a bank's domestic UK operation. The bank's chairman, Douglas Flint, said Osborne was "well aware of our view" when it came to the Bank Levy but insisted "no pressure" had been put on the government. McDonnell said today: "It is welcome news to those HSBC staff who were concerned about their jobs. However, the bank's senior management has to now also reassure those taxpayers who would have read that the bank is not paying a significant amount in corporation tax in the UK, while successfully lobbying the chancellor to cut the Bank Levy. Advertisement "Senior bankers at HSBC can't have it both ways. Doing business in the UK comes with certain responsibilities and not a blank cheque when it comes to rights and regulations. "We have seen on numerous occasions such as on the Bank Levy that the chancellor is happy to take his orders from the banks. But we simply can't afford this light touch approach to the financial sector at such a sensitive time in the global economy, as it could be seen as a green light for a return to 2008." Downing Street this morning ducked questions as to whether it had caved into threats by HSBC to quit the UK unless the Bank Levy rate was lowered. The prime minister's spokesperson said: "The chancellor, in last summer's budget, when he announced the changes, set out very clearly that the Levy was introduced to raise revenue, to stabilise bank balance sheets. It served its purpose, it worked. But it risked doing harm, if left unchanged." "You would expect the government to look at measures, look what they are intended to achieve and make sure they are continuing to serve their purpose. The Bank Levy served its purpose." Advertisement HSBC said the Bank Levy cost it 700 in 2014. Osborne's decision to gradually reduce the Bank Levy from 0.21% to 0.10% by January 2021 was described by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank as a "significant giveaway, a large slice to HSBC". Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Flint, said the regulatory regime for banks "hasn't been softened" under Osborne and denied HSBC had put pressure on the chancellor to water-down regulation. "We had no negotiation with the government. The government was well aware of our view, and indeed the view of many other people who commented upon it, but there certainly was no pressure put, or negotiation," he said. HSBC's decision to remain in the UK comes as Sir John, the Independent Banking Commission chair, warned British banks were still not protected enough from future "economic disasters". Advertisement McDonnell said: "On a day when Sir John Vickers is warning that many of the reforms he proposed to prevent another banking crisis have been watered-down, it does seem whatever the banks want under George Osborne, they tend to get from the bankers chancellor." The Bank of England has proposed banks have, at the most, a 2.5% extra capital in reserve compared to loans. But Sir John said a "much thicker" 3% buffer was needed. In my view what they proposed was disappointing; was unambitious, he told Today. "It would give us better insurance, better shock absorption if - and more likely when - the next crisis hits." The boycotting of goods produced on settlements in the West Bank by local councils and public bodies is to be outlawed, the government will announce this week. Cabinet Office minister Matthew Hancock will reveal details of the new regulations later this week after describing the prohibition of goods, including fresh produce, electronics and waste services as "divisive" and "counter-productive". Hanock described the "need to challenge and prevent divisive town-hall boycotts." However, a spokesperson for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the move as an affront to local democracy. Advertisement Boycotts are called against a range of products produced in occupied territories Boycotts target goods and services produced by Israeli firms on contested territory in the West Bank. Campaigners say that Israel's alleged apartheid is implicitly supported by firms operating in the zone. While the government plans will limit local authority procurement decisions - they may also impact upon some student unions, an increasing number of which have passed policies governing the sale of consumer goods. A revealing list of items prescribed for boycott on the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement's website highlights the goods targeted by the campaign - and which may soon be protected by government. Advertisement BDS: Boycott Israeli Consumer Goods See gallery The move comes after some local authorities have moved to use their procurement decisions to challenge Israel's human rights record. Birmingham City Council threatened to impose a boycott on the services of French waste firm Veolia, which had been operating in the occupied territory on the West Bank. While in November 2014, Leicester City Council passed a policy to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Protests in support of BDS have taken place across the world Student unions as Birkbeck University, Kingston University, Swansea University, Brunel University, and University of Arts London are among those which have implemented a policy of BDS against goods produced on the West Bank. Advertisement Ali Milani, President of the Union of Brunel Students told HuffPost UK: "Students have always felt that university campuses should be the heart of moral and ethical practices and that companies we work with should be free from occupation and apartheid policies. "This is the best form of non-violent protest against these - but we feel we're in a strong position to resist this latest move by the government as student unions are charities rather than public institutions." A spokesman for the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Independent: The Governments decision to ban councils and other public bodies from divesting from trade or investments they regard as unethical is an attack on local democracy. People have the right to elect local representatives able to make decisions free of central government political control. That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds. Advertisement Monday morning started off so well... Good morning all, Prince & Dan here with the line updates. A good service is operating. Please check the latest tweet for current status. Victoria line (@victorialine) February 15, 2016 Unbeknown to Prince and Dan they were in for one hell of a few hours. London commuters reported scenes of "absolute madness" and people "crushed" on the Victoria line. Maddest journey into work today thanks to Seven Sisters station & the @victorialine. People getting crushed on escalators & then evacuated Tasha Demi (@TashaDemiOnline) February 15, 2016 Advertisement The penny began to drop. Minor delays between Brixton and Victoria due to an earlier faulty train. Victoria line (@victorialine) February 15, 2016 But it got worse. Update: Severe delays between Brixton and Victoria due to an earlier faulty train and a signal failure at Victoria. Minor delays on the rest Victoria line (@victorialine) February 15, 2016 It kept escalating. Update: Severe delays on the entire line due to a signal failure at Victoria. Tickets valid on local buses, South West Trains, Southeastern Victoria line (@victorialine) February 15, 2016 And then an entire section of the line just gave up completely. Update: No service between Brixton and Victoria due to a signal failure at Victoria. Severe delays on the rest of the line. Victoria line (@victorialine) February 15, 2016 Advertisement Prince and Dan have not tweeted for over two hours now. For an unlucky few, the chaos continued even after they were out of the tube station. #VictoriaLine signal failure, tried Overground but station evacuated, got on a bus, bus crashed into a van! Now on a train... David Haywood Smith (@DHS) February 15, 2016 Get on at Tottenham Hale, get to seven sisters, tube evacuated, get bus to the city crashes into van, bus evacuated, busses are offline! Lewis Styles (@LewisStyles95) February 15, 2016 Others were late for some crucial appointments. Love it when I'm evacuated from seven sisters because of an unknown emergency and miss my uni interview Joe. (@Jchapman_J) February 15, 2016 So today's been a nightmare of a journey. Should be only 90 mins late for a 60 min lecture. #sevensisters#victorialine Aiden Langan (@AidenLangan95) February 15, 2016 A spokesperson for TfL said no one had been injured and normal safety measures to relieve overcrowding had been put in place. Advertisement There were no reports of injuries. Regarding #SevenSisters tube station.. Overcrowded & just like an overload of ants sprawling everywhere.. pic.twitter.com/83BXfbIWO7 ....S e z z e r a... (@sezzera) February 15, 2016 What goes around, comes around. Martin Shkreli, the shamed former drugs baron who unscrupulously hiked the price of life-saving medicines, appears to have fallen victim to a multi-million dollar Bitcoin fraud. Over the weekend, Shkreli approached rapper Kanye West on Twitter with an offer of $10m to become sole owner of his upcoming album. Advertisement aiyo @kanyewest last minute can i buy your album out so it dont get released publicly Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 11, 2016 Here is my initial offer for the album. @kanyewest Thanks for your consideration and I look forward to your response pic.twitter.com/opJ7mlfraK Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 11, 2016 It appears behind-the-scenes negotiations between Shkreli and a person purporting to represent the 'Gold Digger' star began soon after. Texted Ye that he only allowed to play the leaked half of the album Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 Advertisement Things quickly took a turn for the worse when Shkreli alleged his credit card information had been leaked and as much as $15m in Bitcoin stolen by the fraudsters. WHO THE FUCK HAS MY FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS ????????????????????????????????????? Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 I NEED MY MONEY BACK THIS ISNT A FUCKING JOKE WTF Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 SOMEONE NAMED DAQUAN SAID HE WAS KANYES BOY AND I SIGND THE DEAL TO BUY PALBO AND SENT THE BITCOIN. CALL THE POLICE THIS IS BULSHIT Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 I hope you all enjoy this stupid music SO much and the fact it has brought me so much pain and suffering. I quit rap. Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 Advertisement And second of all I can make the money back faster than anyone so the joke is on YOU if you think I even care. Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 Also, idiots, I've gotten in touch with Sitoshi (Bitcoin's creator) and he's agreed to help me get my money back. I always win. Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 Anyone using my leaked credit card is being backtraced and prosecuted. Congratulations, you played yourself. Shubhan Jain, you first. Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 14, 2016 There is yet to be official confirmation of the alleged crime. Shkreli was hauled before politicians in America earlier this month, accused of hiking drug charges and "price gouging". Despite members of congress launching a stinging rebuke of the businessman's practices, he refused to answer the committees questions, preferring to rant on Twitter afterwards about the imbeciles in Congress. Advertisement This article was initially published under another URL on February 2, 2016 and has been updated with new images. NHS bosses are pledging to transform mental health funding that has left thousands of lives ruined or lost, by committing to treat one million more people a year suffering from cognitive conditions. The move comes as a new report found only 15% of people who need psychological therapy in England get access to care, despite mental health problems representing the largest single cause of disability in the UK and suicide rates in England rising after years of decline. Advertisement The report announced investment of more than 1 billion a year from the NHS by 2020-21 but also shone a light on problems for children - one in ten of whom have a diagnosable mental health condition. Children and adolescents can be sent anywhere in the country for inpatient treatment, forcing families to travel long distances, and in some areas one in ten of childrens appointments are cancelled because of staff shortages, the report found. The Duchess of Cambridge is a staunch supporter of children's mental health support Place2Be As well as a rising suicide rate that peaked in 2014 at 4,882 deaths, the number of people being detained under the Mental Health Act is rising year on year. Advertisement The leading cause of death for men aged 15-49 is suicide and a quarter of people who took their own life had been in contact with a health professional, usually their GP, in the last week before they died. Suicide is also the second leading cause of maternal death, after cardiovascular disease, but only 15% of areas have the right perinatal mental health services and 40% have none at all. A focus on care for new mothers also aims to see at least 30,000 more women a year receive access to specialist perinatal mental health services which are currently only available in 15% of areas. THE HEADLINE FIGURES: 1 in 4 adults will experience a mental health problem in any given year 0.6% of NHS budget is spent on young mental health patients Children with conduct disorder are 20x more likely to end up in prison 105bn - the estimated cost to the economy of mental health problems 1bn - the amount committed to mental health services from 2020 The plans, set out on Monday in the Mental Health Five Year Forward View, lay out objectives to integrate physical and mental health care and take steps to ensure people facing a crisis should have access to care seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Advertisement Paul Farmer, head of the independent task force that authored todays report and chief executive of Mind, claimed a failure to address inadequate mental health services had caused thousands of deaths. Mental health services have been underfunded for decades and too many people have received no help at all, leading to hundreds of thousands of lives put on hold or ruined, and thousands of tragic and unnecessary deaths, he said. Later, he admitted on Radio 4s Today programme that the 1bn funding pledge was not enough to get us to the full parity of esteem that everybody talks about and wants, but still hailed it as a significant step forward. His report - which put the cost of mental ill health to the economy, NHS and society at 105 billion a year - recommends actions to help one million more people a year, 280,000 of whom are those with severe mental health problems who will have their physical health needs met. Paul Farmer, who led the task force PA Archive/PA Images Advertisement At the moment, 24/7 community-based mental health crisis care is only available in half the country, but by 2020-21 home treatment for patients in crisis should be available all over England and every acute hospital will have mental health liaison services in emergency departments. The recommendations come as a survey of GPs by Pulse magazine showed 58% of GPs say they have to diagnose child and adolescent mental health above their level of competence due to a marked deterioration in access to specialist services. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: We have made monumental strides in the way we think about and treat mental illness in this country in the last few decades - from a society that locks people away in asylums to one giving mental health equal priority in law. But we must accelerate progress even further. Our shared vision of a seven-day mental health service means people will get the care they need, when they need it, and will help us do much more to prevent mental illness in the first place. Shadow minister for mental health Luciana Berger said: It is very welcome that NHS England has listened to this independent task force and is committing to reforms and additional investment that our mental health services desperately need. Advertisement If implemented in full, these changes could make a significant difference to a system which has had to contend with funding cuts and staffing shortages at a time of rising demand, leaving too many vulnerable people without the care they need. The real challenge will come in ensuring these recommendations are actually delivered. For too long this Tory Governments rhetoric on mental health has not matched the reality on the ground. For the thousands of patients who have been left to struggle without the right support, ministers must keep their promises and deliver these vital reforms that are long overdue. Unison head of health Christina McAnea said: The provision of mental health services in this country is in a dire state. It is hard to imagine how much worse things can get when children are being sent far away from their families because of a lack of bed and when too may adults harm themselves because they are not receiving the help they desperately need. Advertisement This report rightly highlights the urgent and immediate need for extra funding to save services. The Prime Minister has so far failed to live up to his pledge to prioritise mental health. Be true to your electors! If you told them you were Eurosceptic, then vote to leave the EU in the referendum. Your supporters backed you because they want our democracy restored, with powers of self government returned. They will feel very let down if you do not help them get the UK out of the EU at the referendum. This referendum will be a defining moment for MPs. We will be judged for several Parliaments to come by what we do and how we vote. Some colleagues have implied that as it is the peoples choice their vote can be a private matter. This is unrealistic. If you claimed to be a Eurosceptic to get selected and elected you now have to vote to leave. It is important to listen to the members of our party who turned out to help you win your seat. We live in an age when traditional political parties are mistrusted by many electors. One of the main reasons is their fear or in the case of some parties their experience that promises are not kept or important views are overturned once in office. It is crucial that we do the right thing by our voters on this most important of matters. This is a time to put country before party, and the public interest before any personal interests. Brussels is a bureaucracy run by bureacrats for bureaucrats. Many of those who voted for free trade with the EEC dislike the excessive regulatory interventions of the single market, and never imagined they were voting for a government of the EU with its own currency, anthem, President, borders, foreign policy and soon to have its own Treasury. We know more than enough about the prospective deal to know that it falls far short of the words of the Prime Ministers Bloomberg speech, where he rightly talked about restoring Parliamentary control over the things that matter to our voters. His well meaning efforts to negotiate a compromise that the UK can live with has simply illustrated the sad truth that the UK can no longer decide for herself the most basic things like how much we pay in benefits, who we invite into our country or what taxes we levy. We Conservative Eurosceptics have rightly highlighted the dangers of having to ask permission to make even modest changes to our spending plans, our taxation and our borders. Those of us in the Commons at the time united to oppose the Nice, Amsterdam and Lisbon treaties that gave away far too much of our power to govern ourselves. David Cameron himself led us in our opposition to Lisbon. The deal before us does nothing to change a single word of any of these treaties. Not a single veto is returned to the UK that was wantonly given away. In future without a veto the UK government, Parliament and people can be outvoted by other EU states, giving us laws, taxes and policies we do not want. The well intentioned efforts to give us a bit more freedom over the payment of benefits in certain circumstances is not proof against a European Court case reversing it, nor against a future change of policy by a majority of EU members. There is no half way house or middle way. The vote is simple. Stay or leave. If like me you want to be governed by a democracy, where government is of the people, by the people, for the people, there is only one option. UK democracy is incompatible with EU membership. Your voters and your party members look to you now to lead them. They will watch carefully, and will expect to see you now do what your words at the selection conference and at the election implied you would. We cannot just be Eurosceptic for the election. Five years ago, Facebook landed itself in hot water after suspending an account over a post containing a 19th-century nude painting. A 55-year-old Parisian teacher had his account suspended after posting a picture of Gustave Courbets 1866 painting The Origin of the World, which shows a vagina. Advertisement Durand-Baissas believes Facebook's decision is an act of censorship and has been suing the company for 20,000 ($22,500) in damages. The social media giant defended itself by saying the lawsuit was without merit as all cases needed to be heard in a specific court in California, where Facebook's headquarters are. However, an appeals court has now upheld a decision to let French courts hear cases concerning French users. This sets a legal precedent in the country, where Facebook has more than 30 million users. The lawyer representing the teacher told the Associated Press: This is a great satisfaction and a great victory after five years of legal action. Much of the Republican debates have been expendable theatrics, but I watched this weekends follies from South Carolina anyway. And one thing has struck me: The ads are starting to get better. This seasons debates have had the highest ratings of any recent Presidential race, and theyre attracting some serious corporate sponsorship. One spot in particular caught my eye: This ad looks like a lot of others Ive noticed coming out of large companies these days dramatic, driving music, compelling fast frame visuals, an overarching sense that something important and world changing is going on. The spot has one purpose: To make us wonder if a business can be alive. Heres the ad copy: Can a business have a mind? A subconscious. A power to store every experience, and call upon it through something called intuition. Can a company have reflexes. A nervous system. The ability to react, precisely and correctly, faster than the speed of thought. Can an enterprise have a sixth sense. A knack for predicting the future. Can a business have a spirit? Can a business have a soul? Can a business bealive? THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE. THE ANSWER IS SAP HANA Given our cultural fascination with evil, AI-driven corporations, I have to wonder how stuff like this gets through any big companys Fear of Looking Scary filters, right? I mean, does the agency not watch Mr. Robot? But somehow the spot resonates if you work in a large company, dont you want that company to be alive? Dont you want it to be fast, and smart, and nimble, and soulful? Dont you want to be part of something powerful and vibrant? Clearly, the ad is working for SAP, theyve been running it for well over a year, and they (or their agency) felt it was appropriate for the 13+ million folks watching the Republican debates on Saturday night. The ad leaves a pretty clear premise for the viewer: If you want your company to be alive, install our software! But it begs a larger question: what is the role of corporations in our society going forward, if weve begun to accept that they are in fact alive? (And have the rights of people, to boot!) Id be curious if folks out there are buying this whole narrative. What do you think? File photo dated 23/03/07 of the original 1806 Foreign Slave Trade Abolition Bill on show at the House of Commons. The 1,000-year-old practice of printing laws on goat and calf skin will continue, a minister has said just days after the House of Lords signalled the tradition would end. Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire The centuries-old tradition of printing laws on goat and calf skin is to continue, the Government confirmed yesterday, after it looked set to be scrapped to save money. The House of Lords decided to stop using the special parchment, known as vellum, from April in a bid to save taxpayers 80,000 a year. Advertisement The move provoked outrage from traditionalists, and Labour MP Sharon Hodgson complained the paper replacement would not last as long as vellum which has a life span of thousands of years. Yesterday, Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock confirmed the practice would continue, and today David Cameron gave his full support to continuing using the skin of dead baby cows to record UK laws. The PMs Official Spokeswoman said: Traditions are an important part of our Parliamentary heritage and its right that we should look to preserve them wherever possible. If you are surprised the move away from parchment to paper has been halted, here are other traditions which show Parliament really is stuck in another age. Advertisement Can't get enough of that wonderful snuff If you ever hear MPs sniffing in the Commons, it could well be thanks to the free snuff thats laid on for them. With smoking banned in the Commons for more than 300 years, a cheeky snort of snuff was the only way for MPs to get a tobacco hit while in the chamber. A box containing the eye-watering powder is kept at the doorkeepers entrance to the chamber should any member wish to partake. The outgoing principal doorkeeper Robin Fell told Westminster Hour last night that grades of snuff ranged from "weapons grade" to milder versions. Advertisement A House of Commons spokesman told the Huff Post UK: The snuff is traditionally purchased by the Principal Doorkeeper, so no public funds are used. Labour MP Dennis Skinner has found himself in breach of Parliamentary language rules a few times Listening to a House of Commons debate might make you think you have travelled back in time thanks to the archaic language used by MPs. Members are not allowed to refer to each other by name during debates, instead saying the honourable member for. as they desperately try to remember which constituency the other MP represents. If the MP is talking about someone from the same party, they can say my honourable friend, and if they are a member of the privy council, they are the right honourable. Advertisement MPs are not allowed to accuse each other of lying no matter how tempting it might be and other words also deemed unparliamentary include blackguard, stoolpigeon, idiot, tart and pipsqueak. If an MP uses such a term, and refuses to withdraw it, they can be named by the Speaker which means they are banned from the Chamber for at least the rest of the day. In 2005 Labour veteran Dennis Skinner was named after saying: The only thing growing [in the 1970s and much of the 1980s] were the lines of coke in front of boy George [Osborne] and the rest of them. You would think no one would want to be Speaker of The Commons based on the fuss they make when they are chosen. Advertisement The successful candidate has to be physically dragged to the chair by other MPs, although to be honest they dont put up much of a fight. According to the Parliament website: This tradition has its roots in the Speaker's function to communicate the Commons' opinions to the monarch. Historically, if the monarch didn't agree with the message being communicated then the early death of the Speaker could follow. Therefore, as you can imagine, previous Speakers required some gentle persuasion to accept the post. The first speaker was appointed in 1377, and Parliament research shows nine of his successors are known to have died violent deaths, of which seven were beheaded. Advertisement Louise Mensch lasted less than three years as an MP In 1624, a resolution was passed meaning MPs could not resign their seats a rule which, of course, stays to this days. So if an MP cannot technically resign, how do they get out of Parliament early to, say, move to New York with their family despite having only served two years of a five year parliament (were looking at you, Louise Mensch). A legal loophole means that MPs cannot have any employment paid for by the Crown, so any member wishing to bail out of parliament early applies to one of two positions: Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds and of the Manor of Northstead. Neither is an actual job, and merely allows the MP to be technically disqualified from serving. The 56 SNP MPs elected last May showed they meant business when it came to shaking up Westminster by breaking one of the rules of the Chamber: no clapping. Advertisement Traditionalists almost choked on their snuff as the 56 repeatedly burst into rounds of applause in their first few months in the Commons. But their rebellious act might not be as daring as they had hoped, as clapping is technically not banned in the Commons. From Robin Cooks resignation speech over the Iraq War to David Cameron leading the applause as Tony Blair left the Commons for the last time, the Chamber has frequently reverted to the sound of clapping. A Select Committee looking into the modernization of the House of Commons in 1998 said: While we agree that spontaneous clapping at the end of a speech could in no way be interpreted as disturbance of the speaker, there is a danger that such a practice might be open to abuse and could lead in certain circumstances to orchestration of what would amount to standing ovations with the success or failure of a speech being judged not by its content but by the relative length of the ovation at the end. According to Westminster folklore, the Government and Opposition benches are two sword lengths apart to stop MPs from stabbing each other. Advertisement However this is unlikely to happen as the only person allowed to carry a sword in the Chamber is the Serjeant- At-Arms. A schoolboy was questioned by police under the government's anti-terror laws after he wore a "free Palestine" badge into school and asked permission to fundraise for children affected by the Israeli occupation. Rahmaan Mohammadi was referred to police by teachers at Challney High School for Boys in Luton, Bedfordshire, last summer. The 17-year-old also reportedly read a pro-Palestinian leaflet out in class, written by Friends of al-Aqsa, a group which recently had its bank account with the Co-op shut down. Advertisement Rahmaan Mohammadi spoke of his experience during a Students Not Suspects meeting Speaking at a meeting held last week by the Students Not Suspects campaign - which aims to fight back against the Prevent strategy - Mohammadi said: "I need to talk about the reality of Prevent, what actually happens in schools, colleges and campuses. As a Muslim, I fight for justice. The equality of freedom, and Prevent itself is fighting that. It takes basic human rights away." He claimed his younger brother was approached by the school's staff and told to "advise Rahmaan to stop being radical or he would be referred to the authorities". Advertisement Mohammadi told The Sunday Times: "Prevent creates paranoia. In school . . . if a senior member of staff was walking past, we would whisper to each other saying, What if theyre listening to our conversation? Thats how paranoid it makes you. "When police come to your house and say, I want to speak to you, with this massive folder with your name on it, thats intimidating. It makes you feel alienated." During his speech, which was held at Goldsmiths University, the teenager added: "I'm targeted in the UK because I'm from Afghanistan. If I go back to Afghanistan, I'm targeted because I've lived in the UK. So I don't really have a home." Mohammadi was speaking alongside Moazzam Begg, director of Cage - an organisation which previously described ISIS terrorist Jihadi John as a "beautiful young man". Rizwaan Sabir, a lecturer in Criminology from Liverpool John Moores University and Malia Bouattia, NUS Black Students officer, also spoke at the event. Advertisement Yusuf Hassan, Vice President of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) told HuffPost UK: "Instead of allowing our young people to critique and explore their opinions on such issues, the government are policing thoughts with initiatives like that of Prevent. "Would a child wearing a badge in support of the illegal Israeli settlements be treated in such a manner? I highly doubt it." In a statement, Bedfordshire police said: The officers spoke to the boy and were satisfied that he was not at risk and he was given advice and support. An open letter urging the government to repeal Prevent, which was established in 2011, was recently published and signed by hundreds of students, academics and politicians. It read: "Prevent is not making anyone safer. Instead it damages the fabric of trust in our society, silences Muslims and dissent, and institutionalises Islamophobia at a time when the far-right is gaining influence in many parts of Europe." Advertisement Rupert Sutton, director of Student Rights, a group campaigning against extremism on university campuses, said Mohammadi was found by teachers at least twice with leaflets produced by Friends of Al-Aqsa... and as such his school was right to be concerned. "Claims he was referred to Prevent simply for wearing a badge or talking about Palestine ought to be scrutinised extremely closely, as there is an ongoing pattern of misinformation and false claims about this vital programme being spread on campuses which must be challenged. Tommy Robinson is recovering in hospital after being found unconscious following a night out with his wife at an Essex nightclub - just days after he led a Pegida march in Birmingham. A spokesperson for Robinson, Helen Lel Gower, wrote on Facebook on Sunday that the former leader of the English Defence League "has had his head glued up, yet again". According to reports the 33-year-old was hit over the head from behind early on Sunday morning, in an incident being investigated by police as an assault. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had undergone an X-ray and CT scan, Gower said, and was suffering from concussion. He was discharged on Sunday, but was said to have returned to hospital on Monday because he was feeling unwell. Advertisement Tommy Robinson, pictured above during a Pegida rally in Birmingham on February 6, was assaulted outside an Essex nightclub Gower said Robinson was waiting outside Club 195, in Cottis Lane, Epping, while his wife collected their coats. An unknown assailant who hit his head with something reportedly attacked him from behind. She said the back of Robinson's head was split open, following the assault. A staff member from Club 195, who declined to be named, told IBTimes UK that there had been an altercation between Robinson's group of friends and other clubbers, which began in the club's toilets. Advertisement The worker said he had seen two people "dragged out the club by the bouncer, with Tommy following behind". He said: "I believe there were then some fights going on outside but I don't know who was involved. Next thing I saw was someone taking out a first-aid kit." Robinson was assaulted outside Club 195 in Epping Essex Police confirmed they were investigating an alleged assault on Robinson. A spokesperson said they were contacted by the ambulance service "with reports a man had been found injured" in High Street. The Bedford man, the spokesperson said, was believed to have been assaulted in Cottis Lane. His injury, "was not serious", police said. Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident to contact them. Advertisement The message from Robinson's spokeswoman Helen Lel Gower The incident comes a week after Robinson led a "silent march" in Birmingham for Pegida UK. The demonstration was replicated across Europe. The recent story that the Metropolitan Police are considering trialling/ will use (depending on the source read) eagles to control miscreant drone use raises some important and interesting questions over civil drone use policy in the UK. I have to admit when I read the story of eagles being used to capture drones I had to do a quick check on the date to make sure it was not April 1st. But the video released alongside the story clearly shows that an eagle can be trained to catch a small drone and bring it back down to earth without injuring itself, although whether that would be possible to do so safely outside of controlled conditions, with larger machines is questionable. The fact that the Metropolitan Police are willing to consider such a possibility highlights a very serious message - as things stand it is not possible to adequately prevent drone misuse, and as such anything will be considered. Advertisement There continues to be a lot of talk about the need for more drone regulation. But on what basis can more regulation be justified when it appears so difficult to enforce existing regulations? So we need to ask in reality if there a problem and what is the extent of it if there is, and can new regulations play any meaningful part in alleviating drone related problems? One of the big fears surrounding drone use is they could bring down a manned aircraft if a drone gets sucked into an aircraft engine. The Airprox Board which investigates near misses between aircraft in UK skies, has released reports of 19 near misses between drones and manned aircraft in 2015. In all 19 cases it was not possible to identify the pilot of the drone. One of the near misses occurred on the 22nd September when a Boeing 777 which had taken off from Heathrow Airport and was flying at 2000 feet over the Houses of Parliament had a drone fly within 25 metres of it. The investigation found that avoidance action by the plane had not been possible and the risk of collision between the Boeing and drone was high. Another major area of concern relates to the surveillance potential that is made possible via drone technology use. Whilst we have applicable data protection and privacy laws, again there is this problematic question of enforcement. Advertisement It is important however to recognise that surveillance can be used in both negative and positive ways. It may be visualised that the recent floods in Northern England and Scotland provided an ideal type of situation by which the benefits of drone technology might be clearly seen, by for example enabling the identification of those in peril more quickly, assessing the impact on key infrastructure, and the possibility of flying rapid emergency supplies to those cut off. Recently published research by a team from the University of Zurich has looked into ways that drones may be used in a cheap and effective way to help in the search and rescue of missing people, as in the forests and mountains of Switzerland around a thousand people annually go missing. The researchers have developed artificial intelligence that enables drones to automatically identify and follow man made trails. Whilst this work may save lives, it is of course a short journey to envisage how such technological developments could be used in a negative, subversive way, both by governments and criminals. In 2011, I promised the people of Wales a decade of delivery. I said that despite the record cuts to our budget, we would fulfil the promises we made to steer the country through tough times. Together, we delivered on our promises. Extra jobs, more money for schools - we did what we said we would do. Today represents the half-way point on our journey, on that decade of delivery. And so today I make six new promises to you, the people of Wales. First, we will build on the incredible success of our apprenticeship, training and jobs placement schemes. A future Welsh Labour Government will fund 100,000 extra apprentices by the end of the next Assembly. This new all-age scheme will mean everyone will have the chance to fulfil their potential in the workplace. Advertisement Second, we will give a tax-break to small businesses in Wales using our new powers on business rates. We know that small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy - and of our communities too. This new scheme will benefit over three quarters of business premises in Wales. Half of all eligible businesses will pay no business rates at all. Third, we will refresh our commitment to rigour in the classroom, and give the teachers the resources they need to deliver for our children. A new 100million fund for school standards will build on the Literacy and Numeracy Framework, school tests and our record breaking GCSE results. Fourth, we believe that people in old age who need extra help - those who have played fair and paid in - deserve a fairer deal. So we will double the capital limit they will be allowed to keep on the sale of their home should they need to go into care. That's an effective 26,000 tax-break for thousands of older people in Wales. Responsibility rewarded. That is the kind of Wales I believe in. Fifth, we will develop a New Treatment Fund in Wales to ensure that people suffering life-threatening conditions can have access to the latest medicine and treatment. We are proud of our record on the NHS - we are treating more people, more effectively and more quickly than ever before in Wales. We will strive to improve things still further in the coming years. Advertisement Finally, we will deliver the most ambitious childcare offer in the UK. This will mean 30 free hours of childcare for working parents - covering not just 38 weeks, but 48 weeks worth of care for 3 and 4 year olds. This will supplement the Flying Start scheme we already have in place in our most disadvantaged communities. This is an investment not just in working families, our children's future - but in our economy too. We know how hard it is for so many working mothers in particular to get back to work and today's commitment will make family life that much easier. These are the promises I want you to use to judge the next Welsh Labour Government - but these policies will only see the light of day if people vote Welsh Labour in May. We are more ambitious for Wales than any of the other parties. You will never catch me talking Wales down as others do, I believe in Wales, and I believe our best days are still ahead of us. The half way point in our decade of delivery, is a good time to reflect on the path we have already travelled. The promises we made in the last election, we delivered. Through Jobs Growth Wales we supported 16,000 young people into work - providing countless businesses with the confidence they needed to take people on. We have recruited 500 Community support officers to keep our streets safe, and many of these have gone on to become warranted officers. Advertisement We promised better access to your local GP at times that suit people best, and now eight out of ten GP practices offer appointments after work. We promised to double the childcare and health visitor support in our least well-off areas, through our Flying Start scheme - and now 18,000 extra children have benefitted. Last, but not least, we promised extra funding protection for our schools - and working with our colleagues in local government, we delivered that too. This year we saw the best ever GCSE results in Wales. Five out five. Delivered. And that's not all we've done - we have record direct investment now in Wales, unemployment is now routinely lower than London - and, we continue to spend more on the NHS in Wales than happens over the border in England. That is a record I am proud of, in the context of a 1billion cut in the Welsh budget, and the many other obstacles we have had to contend with, standing up against an obstructive Tory Government in Westminster. The Government, and Jeremy Hunt, have said they will impose the new Junior Doctor contract. In so doing, they continue to demonstrate their disappointing lack of respect for the commitment and intelligence of the 53,000 junior doctors who work for the NHS, not to mention the 377,000 nurses, 97,000 senior doctors and 74% of of the general public who seem to understand that if we lose significant numbers of juniors, the whole system will collapse... So, what's next? We could get all angry; but we have a responsibility as doctors. We have a duty to remain professional, to protect patients, and to save the NHS. We want to prevent damaging, poorly thought out reforms, whilst holding strong to the cornerstone of modern medicine: evidence based practice with patient care as a priority. Action One: Give them some evidence. There are three simple things we can do to make the Government see the scale of the problem. None of these will cause you trouble with your training, and most importantly, none of them will impact on patient care. Advertisement Firstly, go online and apply for a GMC Certificate of Good Standing. This is the form you need for working in another country. It's simple and free to do, just visit GMC online. Even if you are not currently planning to leave the country, it gives you faster options if the situation worsens, doesn't commit you to any action, and demonstrates a potential intent to leave. 200 JDs getting a certificate each week makes headlines (see right). Imagine the news that 98% of junior doctors are considering on leave the country? Next, my dear colleagues, its time to actually fill in those breach forms. I'm not talking about one annoying F1 kicking up a stink. I'm talking about the 10,000 unpaid hours we logged in 5 days in October. Of course we can't work to rule - we all feel pressured into working extra hours by our caring attitudes and the low staffing levels: leaving work on time would put patient safety at risk. Advertisement However, a BMA coordinated hospital-by-hospital submission of breach forms daily from every ward gives clear evidence of how hard we already work. Put patients first and work late unpaid - most of us regularly do - but let's let everyone know about it! Finally, let's warn them again that this is not something we are going to accept. We need a BMA sanctioned letter for us each to send to our training deaneries, line managers and rota co-ordinators, along the lines of "I am writing to warn you that I am incredibly concerned about the actions of the Government in imposing a new junior doctor contract. We are concerned that the new contract is not evidence based, and comprises a significant risk to the stability of the NHS. In solidarity with many of my colleagues, I wanted to give you the courtesy of telling you that we are considering our options, resignation from our posts being a distinct possibility. We do not feel it would be professional for us to accept a contract that may do so much harm to patient safety and staff morale". This gives the Government, and just as importantly, the newspapers, lots of clear evidence that many doctors are talking seriously about leaving, and how much time we are already giving out as goodwill. They will be more effective if well organised: delivered piecemeal they would lack the impact of an orchestrated BMA campaign. I really call on the BMA to use its management skills to deliver a focused, media savvy approach. Action Two. Strikes Advertisement Patient safety first. NHS first. The problem with strikes is they provide a risk for patient safety. So does the new contract, but I know that many of us feel uncomfortable with the fact that withdrawal of emergency care is likely to increase that risk significantly. How about we take the moral upper ground and plant a massive "Doctors care about the NHS more than we care about money" flag in it?! My proposal? We start one week, full strike for all of us - no money - but we still provide emergency care - for free! That's right. We say "We can't afford to let the NHS die, but the NHS can't run without us". We have a picket line for awareness - but with just 6 people on it at any time. Everyone else goes to work in A&E. No routine work, but emergency care is filled with professionals in tshirts saying "I'm not getting paid today, I'm working for free because I want to save the NHS". And we co-ordinate this with the senior doctors and nurses and other unions. Because if we let them gut the junior doctor contracts, they will go after the consultants next, the nurses next. The BMA needs to talk to the other unions, promise that if they stand with us, we will stand with them if the Government tries any similar nonsense with them. Advertisement Let's get the hospitals filled with unpaid volunteers who love the NHS. With junior doctors, and nurses and consultants and porters, all volunteering, all saying "This is not about money, its about saving the NHS". Action Three. "The Nuclear Option" And after one week of this emergency care only strike action, if still the Government persists, the BMA co-ordinates a mass resignation from all junior doctors. We sign the forms, give them to BMA rep, and they deliver 500 at once to every trust in the country at 9am on the same day. It's actually fairly low risk for us. Firstly: the Government can't let it get that far. Even our enormously foolish health secretary knows that. Secondly, if they do, your trust will immediately need to hire a locum to fill your job. So, you'll likely get paid more for a few weeks, and once the dust settles, they'll have to let everyone back onto their training schemes. It may even be possible to negotiate immediate new locum contracts for all resigning doctors, given that trusts will appreciate that they have no other option... Advertisement Thirdly, both Scotland andWales have made it clear they are keen to have us. Let alone Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa... Demonstrating our joint commitment So, there you go, a three step plan to saving the NHS. I desperately feel we need this level of clear, co-ordinated campaign from the BMA. It demonstrates to the Government that we are serious, that we know how to plan and organise, and that we are willing to push very hard in the interests of patients, staff morale and a national health service that still has a heart beat. Please use the poll below to show your thoughts... When he announced a series of 'fanfare' prison reforms this week, it seems that the Prime Minister David Cameron woke up to the reality that his Government's austerity cuts have had a detrimental effect on the UK prison system. In fact, his speech was a long overdue 'wake-up' call to his ministers and a consequence of having slashed the prisons budget so dramatically since 2010 that prison officer morale has plummeted and prisoner re-offending statistics have soared. Yet even in the smugness of his announcement, the Prime Minister dodges key issues and establishes another 'distancing mechanism' to absolve his ministers and his government from the consequences of his new strategy. Despite public unease as to the quality and validity of crime statistics, Mr Cameron claims yet again to have 'cut crime by around 23%' a claim that flies in the face of the large numbers of individuals who have given up on the 101 police contact system, who experience little or no effort made to solve instances of low-level criminal behaviour, or who see cases 'dropped' by the CPS as 'Not being in the public interest'. Advertisement Instead Mr Cameron signals his intention to hand more responsibility to Prison Governors. Fine words maybe, but what does this achieve if there is no proper operational frameworks in place, resources to draw upon and more importantly aspects of 'EU Human Rights' legislation that will allow prisoners to regularly flout sentencing and even deportation? In a little reported part of the announcements we also notice another example where a public service is expected to act as pseudo border guards when the PM stated that the Government will legislate to give the police new powers to require foreign nationals to hand over their passports and declare their nationality in court. Well, border control and passport checks go hand in hand. Why should society wait until a crime has been committed before establishing that the individual, with his criminal background or because he is an EU passport holder, has had unrestricted entry to the UK? Police officers will now join landlords and hospitals in undertaking precisely the responsibility that UK Border Control undertook before it too was subjected to Conservative Party 'Modernisation & Re-structuring' and the damaging outcome of a reduced personnel resource. Advertisement Prisons are there for a purpose - to punish and to deter. There will always be an element of society who sees crime as a way of life. We also know that the nature of crime is changing. If a national government has no real idea of the size of the country's population or the speed at which it is increasing then civil servants are unable to plan prison infrastructure and UK prison service resourcing will be inadequate. Our prison service makes a hugely valuable contribution to the security of civil society. Morale and motivation amongst prison officers should be a pivotal priority for this government. It is heartening to see the value and common-sense of UKIP's 2015 General Election manifesto commitments appear in the PM's announcement even if it is a slight re-jig of UKIP's specific policy: 'Rehabilitation and re-integration into society for all prisoners is a UKIP priority, so it is essential that prisoners have sufficient numeracy and literacy skills to re-enter the workplace'. Although regretfully the PM does not go far enough, as UKIP did, in outlining how that might happen, be financed and ultimately delivered. Regretfully, as is now usual for the David Cameron, his announcement outlines expansive pledges but lacks the key workable detail that would make it credible. Whilst I welcome the changes, particularly those areas where the Government has followed UKIP's lead, far more must be done to restore morale and motivation amongst prison officers. I call upon David Cameron to add some key detail and immediately commit to reversing the 41% cut in prison officer strength which has happened on his watch since 2010. Yes, one can re-invigorate and re-invent the role and competencies of the Prison Governor but it is the prison officer staff who should be the real target of his plans. Without them, motivated and able to withstand the stresses of their daily workplace experiences, the pivotal lynchpin underlying his announcement is sadly missing. Advertisement Islam is the second largest religion in the UK with more than 3 million adherents. Muslims are regionally spread across Britain, covering a wide spectrum of ethnicities and races. With this come many challenges in the way Islam is understood by the wider non-Muslim population. In recent months, and arguably for some years now, there has been an ongoing debate amongst British politicians, academics and journalists with regards to what constitutes as "mainstream Islam". Due to a number of misconceptions being irresponsibly disseminated by sections of the British media, mainstream politicians and far-right groups, a state of confusion over what is "real Islam" has arisen. Here in the UK, numerous Islamic beliefs and practices are currently under the spotlight, in many cases, due to the blowback from geopolitical events occurring in the Muslim majority world. The labelling of Muslims as "moderates", "liberals", "reformists", "conservatives", "extremists" and "Islamists" has become the norm in Britain. Inevitably, this has resulted in division within the Muslim community, as well as misunderstandings amongst Britain's non-Muslim public. Advertisement In response to this environment of ambiguity, 5Pillars commissioned research in an attempt to establish what qualifies as the basic tenets of the Islamic faith, as understood by 150 mainstream Muslim scholars, academics and professionals belonging to a variety of theological, political and sectarian backgrounds. The desired aim of this research entitled the "Normative Islam Report" is to provide an empirical reference point for the media, academics and policymakers when ascertaining what qualifies as mainstream Islam. 5Pillars felt that if this objective could be quantified, it could assist in educating the wider British public in understanding what mainstream Islam is. 5Pillars were confident that while British Muslims are not a homogeneous group with a single designated figurehead, the many influential leaders from among them would demonstrate a pattern of religious consensus in the twelve categories of Islamic beliefs and practices we selected for a survey. Judging from the consistent documentation of Islamic history throughout fourteen centuries, it is well-known that theological, juristic and sectarian differences have always existed within the boundaries set by Islamic scriptures - the main sources of Shariah law. However, these differences within an Islamic paradigm allowed Muslim scholars and theologians to robustly deal with new realities according to the Quranic text and the Prophetic teachings. Advertisement Unlike the systematic reformation that Christianity underwent in Europe during the sixteenth century which subsequently led to the period known as the "Enlightenment", the Islamic world is yet to experience such a wholesale transition. This is a historical testimony that the societal effects of Christianity and Islam cannot be treated and understood in the same manner, as the latter had always allowed an impressive degree of flexibility to deal with new realities without having to alter the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. 5Pillars feel that this is still the case with Islam in the twenty-first century. The Normative Islam Report should not be treated as a definitive representation of the beliefs of mainstream Muslims, but as an insight to what influential British Muslims consider as the basic tenets of their faith. Admittedly, like most if not all researches of this nature, there were some methodological weaknesses. The lack of qualitative substance in the 95 survey statements we formulated restricted the dimension in which the participants' religious opinions could have been elaborated upon with contextualisation of socio-political realities. Another methodological constraint was that 5Pillars had assumed what mainstream Islamic beliefs and practices were, and we used this to engage the participants. I hope that the Normative Islam Report will benefit both Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain, facilitating further dialogue in order to strengthen community cohesion and mutual tolerance. Bernie Sanders and his followers have had a good night in New Hampshire, winning big over the woman that looked destined to be crowded the next President of the United States by acclamation. Now the media and the public will move beyond the excitement and look at what Bernie is actual staying. And for most of America, the America that could elect him President, his vision of the US is pretty radical. It's a vision that no mainstream Democratic would have dared to say publicly, even a few years ago. These are wacko. Crazy ideas. Things that might sound pretty reasonable here in the UK. Ideas like free university tuition, universal healthcare and raising taxes on Wall Street. And it's because people in Great Britain might think they are reasonable that shows he has clearly gone too far. Advertisement Although it's not so much that he's saying these things that is the problem; the problem is he has been saying them for 30 odd years or more. He's been consistent in this world view for decades, never wavering. Pure in his beliefs. Which could explain why he never had time to comb his hair. What the Sander-nistas seem to say is that if you have evolved in your beliefs you're not a true believer to the cause. But by this definition most Democrats wouldn't be Democrats anymore. And back when he first had these views Sanders wasn't a Democrat either, he was always an independent who sided with the Democrats regularly. He only joined the party last year, as he decided it was ready to be lead by him. Sort of the cart rolling down the hill and reaching the horse. And many on the far left are excited by their new, fresh 74 year-old standard bearer. They want everyone to be as true as Bernie in order to now be a Democrat. And this firebrand, liberal Puritanism could come at a high price. Much as Republicans are now hostage to the right-wing Tea Party - and gagged by anti-tax pledges - Bernie's supporters are making American politics even more dysfunctional than they already are - and that's saying something. For the Democrats that are embracing him they should take hard look at how far their Republican frienemies have fallen. Advertisement The Grand Old Party (or GOP as the Republicans are commonly called) are clearly in chaos, even if they don't end up with Donald Trump as the nominee. They have brought this disaster on themselves, most recently by absorbing the government-is-always-bad-except-for my-own-social-entitlements Tea Party, but it goes back even further. There are so many rules to be a Republican now that even Reagan looks a bit progressive in hindsight. You can't support Obamacare, ANY tax increases, ANY gun control or gun restrictions, ANY increase to the debt ceiling, ANY deals with Iran/Syria/Russia/Foreign-ish Peoples. Between all their anti-government, anti-tax, anti-everything Obama all the GOP has left are candidates who can't compromise, can't tax, can't govern. It's makes it hard to see them winning the presidency. The only GOP path to victory may be the success of Bernie Sanders. His supporters say they 'Feel the Bern' and are a fired up, angry lot. They are stoking the flames of liberal version of the Tea Party. In this case it will be Organic, Free-trade, Green Tea. And it will be full of nuts. Because they are ignoring the fact that most American's just want a Full-fat Kardashian Frappuccino. Bernie is simply too far to the left to be President of the United States. Just like Jeremy Corbyn won't be Prime Minister in the UK. That isn't popular to say at the moment. But it's true. You can try and believe it. But it's like believing another pint makes you more attractive to someone. It doesn't. It means you're simply driving them into the arms of a Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Advertisement Because Bernie isn't coming from America. He's coming out of Vermont. A state that couldn't get any whiter even if it never snowed again. They have more in common with Sweden than they do with South Carolina. I'm not arguing to completely put out the Bern, or that they have to dump out his holistic tea, or some other stretched metaphor ready to have its elasticity snapped. Just channel the energy differently. It's great that he's exciting progressives. It's great that he's helping to destigmatize the idea of socialism in America. In the past saying you were a socialist in America was about as popular as saying ISIS have a few interesting ideas. The Democrats need a candidate that can win. Even if it means a dose of moderation. Because more than just protecting Obama's legacy, keeping Obamacare, or having a viable immigration policy, the next President will have a huge chance to remake the US Supreme Court. Four of the Justices in lifetime appointments will soon be in their 80's. Their lifetimes are nearly up. Whoever picks the next generation of Justices will change America for a generation. While it's great to see the left fired up, they are destroying the Democrats only reasonable chance of winning, by putting up someone who has no chance. If that happens they will have left the whole country feeling truly burned. NOTE: Since the original writing of the this piece on of the Justices has left us. But it has nothing to do with me or this piece. I haven't been in Texas for year. Advertisement The initial clause, found on page 2 of 1957's Treaty of Rome, sets a pretty clear precedent. Achieving ever-closer-union, as it foreshadowed, has been the driving force behind the gradual (and often forceful) assimilation of law, currency and culture across the European continent. To many, it seemed a wonderful way of enhancing international cooperation, and promoting both peace and unity. In 2010, then president of the European Commission Herman Van Rompuy claimed quite audaciously that the European Union is "the biggest peacemaking institution ever created in human history". A wildly inaccurate statement which, to my dismay, many have believed. The EU's status as Europe's 'peacekeeper' is not only actively misleading; it is also disingenuous and insulting to those adversely affected by its governance. In 2015 alone, European Union policies directly contributed towards the devastating effects of mass migration, soaring unemployment and homelessness in Greece, intervention over who could govern in Portugal, November's Paris atrocities and disgraceful sexual assaults in Cologne. If Angela Merkel deserved TIME's 'Person of the Year', then I'd hate to see what one of her bad years would look like. Advertisement Back in April, Islamic State representatives warned the European Union quite sternly that any mass displacement of Middle Eastern refugees to the continent would inevitably include jihadist fighters, seeking a path into Europe under the guise of 'asylum seeker' status. As we have seen subsequently, a naive and foolish policy of opening up the doors to just about anybody has not worked. Checks on who has arrived and assessments of their needs have not been adequately carried out, gun sales are through the roof in Austria, women in Stockholm and Cologne are afraid to leave the house on their own, and all of this has erupted as a result of a deliberate ploy on the part of European Union officials to attempt to help everybody. Though I have no doubt that positive intentions were there, I do think that the impossibility of helping everybody in need is glaring. I also do not necessarily think that kindness and compassion need always be shown by throwing money at people. Perhaps the biggest internal failure within the EU is the now obvious point that one size doesn't fit all. Whereas once, enhanced cooperation and intertwined economies were helpful, we now face a situation where the political interests of member states are incompatible, (as seen with contested fishing quotas and controls over immigration) and new, more intra-EU conflicts are starting to emerge. Squabbling and unrest has also been a key feature of European life at local level in recent months. Anti TTIP marches, angry PEGIDA rallies and violent protests in Athens over belt-tightening austerity measures have been all too representative of EU incompetence and perhaps a result of the ever-widening gap between citizen and commission. European Union politicians are not on the ground, they refuse to acknowledge links between the Common Asylum Policy and multicultural tension and they made no effort to speak to flood victims in England. Advertisement Domestic stress is only exacerbated by the unacceptable distance between the EU and its citizens. With the displacement of national sovereignty and the sheer power enshrined within the Commission, European citizens now feel further away from their governing politicians than ever before, and the voices of ordinary people are shrinking by the day. International failures must also be considered deeply. In 2013, European Union officials proposed a European Association Agreement (EAA), for signature between Ukraine and the EU. Its purpose was to enhance trade and other political links between the two parties, and while this may have been seen as a positive step, the agreement totally ignored Russian economic interests enshrined in the Eurasian Customs Union (ECU). The shafting of Russia's sphere of influence was as aggressive, expansionist and confrontational as Vladimir Putin's Russia is often accused of being. As Prof. Richard Sakwa reveals in his magnificent book 'Frontline Ukraine' (a must-read for anybody interested in Russia, Crimea and the Ukraine crisis), the European Union spent close to half a billion Euros on the promotion of western-aligned democracy in Ukraine. Though this may sound like a nice gesture, it was a decision which in fact proved to be particularly provocative, and one which had noticeable long-term ramifications. To exploit the internal tribalism of a country torn from one ethnic group to the next, and to attempt to entice the monist Ukrainian nationalists to incite hatred against their country's pro-Russian, pluralist communities seems to me to be an act of extraordinary spite. NATO's role in preserving peace in Europe must, too, be flagged up. A necessary military buffer to Soviet aggression was a rational attempt at bolstering solidarity. Its prominence during the Cold War ensured the safety of millions, and protected both political stability and the economic status of western capitalism. Advertisement This February marks the 22nd LGBT History Month, a month that celebrates the progress made by the LGBT community. It also continues to be a campaign that throughout the year aims to challenge homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. If you're interested in learning more or getting involved yourself head over to, http://lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/. The website is full of great things, such as the last news, resources for students and also a list of yearly events. An important part of this month is keeping awareness high about issues that may face the community but not others. For example, to remember aspects of life that many may take for granted but the LGBT community does not, such as travelling with partners (or even on our own). Preparation and awareness for LGBT travellers is key to staying safe and well while travelling to new places. Advertisement Preparation, information and awareness should be part of any traveller's pre-departure plans. Knowing local customs and cultures can help keep you out of trouble and keep the locals happy. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website is a great place to start with information on 225 countries and territories! This local understanding is even more important for the LGBT community. Attitudes towards the community can be very different from those within the UK depending on the country you're planning on going to. Some countries are still very openly homophobic prohibiting any form of it by law. This applies to foreigners in the country too! IGLA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) has a map on their website (http://ilga.org/) which shows the status of LGBT relationships globally. This interactive map can also take you to specific webpages that will have more information on a country. The FCO also has some great general advice for LGBT tourists (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-foreign-travel-advice). Their twitter account @FCOtravel is also full of current issues that you may need to be aware of. It's a great way to make sure you always know what is going on in the world! An important part of travelling. These websites (along with many others) are a great tool for the LGBT traveller who wants to make the most of global travel, while staying safe. It gives you the chance to be fully equipped with the knowledge you need to know before you go! Another way to make the most of your holiday plans is to go through a travel agent... albeit it being (a lot) more expensive sometimes. Many specialise in Gay Travel and not just the party holidays! Such as ANAZURE, who offer the chance to explore a diverse range of countries, from Japan to Botswana. This travel company give you the chance to make a customized programme, including meeting with gay locals and activists in these amazing places. A unique travel opportunity. Advertisement The government has gone 'all in' and is imposing a new contract upon the junior doctors. Despite 98% of doctors saying no to the contract, two rounds of industrial action and multiple protests the government has declined to pay heed and unilaterally enforced their vision. The doctor's trade union, the BMA, must have known this was in the offing as it has long been muted. Thus, an emergency escape plan for the 'nuclear option' of imposition will have been drawn up in advance. The possible avenues available are explored below. The first natural and knee-jerk reaction would be for relentless industrial action in protest. Fighting fire with fire would certainly sate the outpour of pent up anger and exasperation of the 53,000 strong workforce. However, continued striking would dent the pockets of the middle-aged doctors who have families and steep debt to think of. Aside from financial implications, the public support could also wane when it has an increasing impact upon their healthcare, even with the avid cover of consultants. Interestingly, the legal action route has already started. Part of a disagreement between an employer (government) and employee (BMA by proxy) in varying a contract of employment is involving a mediator - in this case Acas. Doctors, by law, could say that they're working any new terms under protest (treating the change as a breach of contract) or are able to take their case to an employment tribunal. The other two legal options, resign and claim constructive dismissal or have a right to refuse to work under the new conditions, are discussed in the next paragraph. The government has moved to block the likeliest of these, working under protest, by staggering when the doctors take up the contract. This option will therefore be logistically complicated for the trade union to organise and involve uncertainty to the individual doctors. The second process of taking 53,000 cases to an employment tribunal will be extortionately expensive for both sides, but could be highly effective if successful. Advertisement The incredibly high stakes option would be mass resignation. This essentially flaunts the power and backing of the trade union by its members. The government would effectively be held to ransom and unless they concede to demands hospitals nationwide would stutter to a halt with only emergency care possible. The historic cat herding nature of medical professionals will be a stumbling block, and concern over training numbers and progression will be at the forefront. However, the one thing that has shone through during this conflict has been the unification of the doctors, and with progressively more colleges speaking dimly of the imposition the threat to training could be negated. Added to this, the financial detriment would be mitigated, as there are some months to save in preparation for August - the likely timeframe for such action. Charles Dickens may have been referring to London and Paris when he wrote 'The Tale of Two Cities' in 1859, but today he may have considered The Tale of Three Cities as the focus for a book effectively about emancipation of the masses. Devolution is in a way a revolution, albeit one inspired by government itself rather than by the proletariat. The Great Western Cities of Bristol, Cardiff, and Newport, are three middle weight British Cities who are seeking ever greater collaboration in the hope of benefiting the region they represent better than is currently being done separately. Advertisement These three cities represent nearly 2 million people. It is just as quick to drive or get the train over to Cardiff from Bristol (50 minutes) for dinner as it is to travel from say Ealing to Chiswick in London by tube. With the electrification of the railway about to happen, getting the train will be even quicker in future, and of course you can have a drink with your dinner too! Bristol Mayor, George Ferguson is quoted as saying he would like the train time reduced to 30 minutes which looks very achievable to me. Travel times are the critical thing in my opinion. It doesn't really matter how far somewhere is, it's how long it takes you to get there that's the real issue. Bristol, Newport, and Cardiff, currently considered the Great Western Cities, are linked by excellent rail and road connections and already produce more commuter interactivity than the routes between Manchester and Leeds or Manchester and Liverpool, an area now referred to as The Northern Powerhouse. Advertisement With three forward thinking councils showing inspired leadership The Great Western Cities are about to become a major Western Powerhouse. Already these three are net contributors to the UK economy, something that cannot currently be said for the newly termed Northern Powerhouse. Bristol, which is only around 1.5 hours from London is the de-facto capital of the West Country and has two excellent universities. The University of The West of England (ranked 62) in the UKs best Universities and Bristol University (ranked 15th) Newport too has its own university. The University of South Wales, (ranked 102) with its stunning state of the art riverside campus, located right in the centre of Newport. Charles Dickens would be pleased because USW offers a well thought of creative writing degree course among many others. With an ambitious brand new student village with crisp, ultra modern, 'super large' apartments, containing every amenity, including flat screen TVs, superfast broadband connection & a free student bike scheme planned only minutes from Newport city centre campus makes USW well placed to grow exponentially over the next decade. Advertisement Newport itself is right at the heart of The Great Western Powerhouse region and forms the central position between the larger centres of Cardiff and Bristol. As I say the three are often referred to as The Great Western Cities or GWC. In the past Newport has often lost out on inward investment due to the perceived power of Bristol and Cardiff but increasingly it is being viewed as a major investment opportunity due to its high speed broadband connection and its location at the centre of The Great Western Cities area. With the brand new shopping mall Friars Walk, which opened in November 2015, Newport now has many attractions you would expect of a city growing in importance, including a multiplex cinema right opposite the University Campus. There are also all the food brands you would expect, including TGI Friday, Nandos, Coffee One, etc etc and being only twelve minutes by train from Cardiff, Newport is becoming a very attractive location in which to live and work. Cardiff University (ranked 31st) is also of international repute, with well established student numbers providing a vibrant community. Advertisement If the area west of London is not to lose out to the north and metropolitan midlands as devolution expands, the success of the GWC initiative is essential. The area has a large and diverse skilled workforce, first class educational facilities, and is exceptionally attractive for individuals and families to live and work in. Bristol vibrates to the hustle and bustle expected of an established historic and cultural centre with over 440,000 people in it. It has won 'Best Place in Britain to Live' on several occasions and was European Green City in 2015. The Welsh capital of Cardiff, whilst smaller at around 320,000, feels much the same. Newport, fast growing and currently with a population in excess of 140,000 continues its upward projection. The three together with all their hinterlands provide the centers for nearly 2 million people across a diverse ethnicity and skill base. Advertisement In this instance the word 'Powerhouse' is properly descriptive. I've pondered a while whether I should write this post, to air my views and explore a subject that frankly, needs more airing and exploring. A grey area I've shied away from. For fear of being judged, of being considered 'too white' to have experienced racism, for concern of not being taken seriously. Advertisement Thank you to my great friend, the brilliant writer Uju of Babes About Town for encouraging me to get this on paper (digi-paper) and to hit publish after a many a chat about ethnicity, belonging and identity! ...You see I am considered White European as both my parents are Greek Cypriot, I was born in Leeds, Yorkshire and am British. When I asked my Mum if she considered herself white, she said, 'olive' and that's what we are, olive skinned-although to be fair, that term makes no sense to me. Cyprus geographically is considered to be part of Europe, but it is an island equally close to the Middle East, and my ancestry is no doubt, as with us all, mixed by neighbouring/conquering countries over history. Advertisement I am perhaps 'in between' to some, a little bit 'different', I often see people struggle to quite place me and I'm used to the question, 'So where are you from?', usually on a daily basis. Funnily enough, it never means which part of Leeds! Granted, I could be from anywhere, we're all global citizens after all and in my 35 years on this planet, I've been asked if my origins lie in so many different countries, I've literally lost track and count. Some from memory though include whether I'm: Latino, Spanish, Italian, French, Mixed Race, Asian, Middle Eastern, Israeli, Turkish, Greek, Moroccan...the list goes on. And on. ...I'm always stopped in Paris and asked for directions by tourists assuming I'm a local. When I lived in Rome, the Italians were stumped daily that I couldn't speak their mother tongue. I'll never forget ( and it happened on many occasions) when Spaniards and South Americans would speak Spanish to me on the tube, or in clubs in London. I've also been asked if I'm mixed race, Asian, Mexican and more- And all that is wonderful, that so many people assume I look like they do and can connect with me. Truly. And that old age question, 'Where are you from?' is natural no doubt, particularly when you live in a majority White English country, but it can be loaded at times too and rather complicated. Advertisement The fact I am being asked firstly makes me recognise on a daily basis my 'otherness'. I was born in Leeds, I'm British, my parents were born in Cyprus, but were half-generation immigrants, moving to the UK in their tweens and late teens respectively. We all feel British- but we equally have a strong sense of our ethnicity, we are connected to our community, our Greek Orthodox religion, traditional food, films, music and of course values we hold, that are tied in part to our background. I'm proud of my heritage. There are downsides too to that deep connection to both-my host society and identity of Britain and my origin. I have been asked if I'm British by some, most unaware of what being British actually means, questioned on whether I feel 'British' or 'English', patronised, I have endured racism and was even asked once, if my fairer youngest child was my own, by a new teacher who assumed I was a nanny. ...For me, my frustration lies in the fact others feel they have the right to ask those questions, or make those statements in a way that shows ignorance which can hurt or harm. Rather than assuming I was the nanny, why not ask first, if I was the mother? Advertisement So much of the problem is in the context and/or delivery of the questioning. I believe in the power of micro politics and in all honesty, I'm annoyed that I've not always taken a stand, spoken up or fought in some small way the too-often uninformed and racist attitudes of others. I need to be more confident in calmly stating to the offender they don't have a right to make a statement, to remark on my 'exotic looks' or make me feel unusual. Thank goodness we are striving boldly towards greater equality, since my own childhood at least and improvements have been made. I distinctly remember school teachers at my private all girls school telling me I was loud because I was Greek throughout my school years (quiet Greeks do exist too, people)- and the sheer lack of diversity in toys and on TV growing up, played its part in fuelled an 'otherness' in both myself and my brother. Moving to Leeds from Ilkley aged 7 helped. Now with new British Greek mates I'd discovered there, I gained a renewed sense of a pride in who I was. I wasn't alone, the only Greek in the English village! Advertisement Plus, speaking a language only you and your Greek mates, know can be all kinds of hilarious! And now? I'm instilling that confidence and self-belief in my own children, I want them to know my background and their father's (English) and appreciate both cultures and to ensure they will hopefully feel they fit in anywhere, in the world. There's only one race, the human race, after all. I fully embrace who I am, I love the fact my looks can frankly fit/conform to so many ethnicities (a kind of instant passport offering me automatic residence anywhere) is liberating. It allows me to engage, relate and connect with so many. I just wish this feeling of freedom existed for my own parents whom moved here from Cyprus in the 60's, my mother aged 12, my father 16, they both met at university at 19. My folks both studied and gained MA's and MSc's (my Mum also a PGCE and she started a PHD)-and eventually both went on to have successful careers. Both, however were subjected to racism and despite being highly educated, struggled when it came to job opportunities. Advertisement This only spurred my father, an entrepreneur on. My mother was a teacher and university lecturer, focusing on fittingly, sociology and English Literature. Ironic that only last year my Mum and I were subjected to being spoken to SLO-OO-WLY on two separate occasions in a well known department store. That assumption that we might not speak English or in fact, even if we didn't, needed to be spoken to as children, is casual racism. Sad and baffling. Then, last week, a white male (seemingly middle class), who also appeared rather intoxicated approached me in a store, while I was shopping with my husband and kids, firstly pointing to a nightie on a stand advising me I should buy it- (weird, uncalled for, sexist...) before asking my husband where I was from? Am I now voiceless too? Objectified, he began playing a guessing game, proceeding to blurt out a list of countries from Italy to the Middle East, before asking me where my parents were from and if I was Jewish or Christian?! Advertisement Highly inappropriate behaviour that needs to be called out, correct? There are ways to ask about people's backgrounds of course, this, I'm not silencing, but is it appropriate to bombard a stranger, to make them feel 'the other' in their home town, going about their business, to air misguided assumptions and proceed to play a game of 'what's your ethnicity' with them? No. Ask questions, show interest, YES, the more we understand about one another's differences, stories, experiences, the better. The more open and nourished we will feel. The more difference is naturalised and celebrated, the more empowered and less fearful we will be and become. No doubt. This post and my views do not want to call a stop those discourses, those important conversations, but rude, ignorant and racist statements must be stopped. People must think before they speak. ...I related to so much of what Laila of Tape Parade so succinctly wrote about in 'What it's Like Not Being White Post' , which went viral last year. Advertisement Her post gave me the final push to write this today. Like Laila, I too, never know which box to tick on forms-'White British' doesn't adequately represent me -people often can't be bothered to even try and say my surname-and I've seen first hand as a screenwriter and director how limiting representation is on screen both here and in the US. How few ethnic minority gate-keepers work in the industry to get important, other, different stories and ways of 'being' made and on screen. When I lived in London, I felt race to some extent was far more invisible than elsewhere in the UK- yet of course, it still exists. My friend Zaz's post on Why We Have to Be Aware-The N Word is Still Out there' angers and saddens me in equal measure. I don't want race to be an issue for my kids whom are of mixed origin. I don't want stories like my own TV project on warring kebab shop owners in London, to be hard to cast and greenlit because there are so few Cypriot looking actors, famous enough to make it happen. The case right now. You only have to look at the #Oscarsowhite situation to despair. Maybe the worldwide discourse on this lack of diversity in the media and the release of the much anticipated My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (the first film was the highest independent grossing film of all time when it was released) much to the surprise of most of the industry many who passed on it as a screenplay, might JUST help 'other' stories become more mainstream, commission-able, the norm. And not just narratives revolving around ethnicity either. We need protagonists who just happen to be Black, Greek, Turkish, Hispanic, disabled, lesbian, transsexual. Advertisement I DO NOT want there to be a lack- and yearning for equality in 2016 and beyond- yet the road is long and so much is needed to transpire, and happen for change. Is it too much to ask for an openness, for an interest and respectful approach to understanding and accepting one another and all our differences? For tolerance, thoughtfulness and a commitment to challenging those against equality. I don't think it is. Let's do this. Supplied A move by Indonesia's government to ban same-sex emoticons in messaging apps has been condemned by human rights groups. Information and Communication Ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu said last week social media and messaging platforms should drop stickers expressing support for the LGBT community. Advertisement "Social media must respect the culture and local wisdom of the country where they have large numbers of users," he said. He later told French news agency AFP there was a concern colourful emojis and stickers could appeal to children. Those things might be considered normal in some Western countries, while in Indonesia it's practically impossible, he is reported to have said. In a letter to president Jokowi Widodo, Human Rights Watch said the government should publicly condemn officials who make grossly discriminatory remarks against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Advertisement President Jokowi should urgently condemn anti-LGBT remarks by officials before such rhetoric opens the door to more abuses, Human Rights Watch LGBT rights director Graeme Reid said. The president has long championed pluralism and diversity. This is an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment. The Indonesian government is obligated under international law to protect everyone in the country regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, Human Rights Watch said. Outrage was sparked last week when after Japan-based app LINE'S announced it would be remove LGBT-themed stickers from its Indonesian store after receiving complaints from Indonesians on social media. Indonesia's National Commission of Human Rights has reportedly said recent statements made by public officials vilifying the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community is a violation of human rights. Advertisement Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, however it is a sensitive issue in the Muslim-majority nation. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 12: Leader of the parliamentary caucus of the Australian Greens Richard Di Natale delivers a speech during a demonstration to protest accepting so few Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Melbourne, Australia on September 12, 2015. (Photo by Recep Sakar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Federal Greens leader, Senator Richard Di Natale, has reiterated his calls for Australia to introduce testing of illicit drugs. As Australia grapples with how to treat the nation's party drug problem, with young people dying or becoming hospitalised after adverse reactions to pills or powders at parties of festivals, calls for change are getting louder. Critics of current drug policy -- sniffer dogs, strip searches and the rest -- claim that a regime where partygoers could have their drugs tested and analysed before they take them would help people make better choices about their behaviour. Advertisement Di Natale, speaking in Melbourne on Monday, again outlined his calls for Australia to adopt a pill testing program so drug users know what they are about to ingest. "We've got young people overdosing and dying, because they're taking substances of unknown quality and purity and the consequence is we're losing people. Why wouldn't we put in place a measure that prevents those young people from ingesting potentially harmful substances, and keeps them safe," Di Natale said. "It makes perfect sense, it's the principle of harm minimisation here that we know works and it needs to be advanced through this public debate." He equated such a pill testing regime with the legal injecting room in Sydney's Kings Cross and the successful needle exchange program, with both programs aiming to support safe drug use for people who might have otherwise taken drugs in an unsafe manner, not to promote the use of drugs. Advertisement Police with sniffer dogs at Melbourne's Stereosonic Festival "Needle and syringe exchange is very effective, a way of preventing the spread of blood borne viruses and a way of bringing people to a treatment centre where they can engage with health professionals and have access to treatment when they need it," Di Natale said. "We're also having a conversation about pill testing. Now pill testing is harm minimisation just as needle and syringe exchange is harm minimisation. The NSW [Police] Minister says that pill testing won't happen under his watch and he uses the same old tired arguments that we use when needle and syringe exchange was first introduced into Australia. It's the same arguments, this nonsense that somehow it condones drug use. It doesn't. What it does is it prevents harm." As The Huffington Post Australia reported previously, calls for pill testing have been coming from the medical and drug treatment professions for some time. In 2015, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfares National Drug Strategy Household Survey reported 27 percent of Australians aged 20-29 had used illicit drugs in the preceding 12 months, with eight percent having used ecstasy in that period. The 2014 United Nations World Drug Report found Australians had the highest rate of ecstasy consumption on Earth. Advertisement The deaths of young people Georgina Bartter, Sylvia Choi, Stefan Woodward in the last year have become the tragic shorthand for the consequences of illicit drug use, among several other music festival deaths believed to be related to drugs. Police conduct a frisk search of a festival-goer Speaking to HuffPost Australia after the press conference, Di Natale said such a pill testing regime would have to be legalised on a state-by-state basis, but he hoped the federal government could outline the case for pill testing in national guidelines and literature. "Pill testing is a similar acknowledgement [to safe injecting rooms and needle exchange], that despite our best efforts some people will use illicit drugs. While they continue to do that, we as policy makers should ensure we minimise the harm of that use, and this is one way is to ensure the substances people ingest are not laced with toxic chemicals," Di Natale said. "Ultimately it is a decision for state governments to implement, but there needs to be a very strong signal nationally that a nationwide pill testing regime and an overarching framework developed by the commonwealth, is something that would be useful. Through our national drug strategy, the importance of needle exchange is outlined; we should do the same for pill testing, which would send a strong message to state governments that they should look at these reforms." Advertisement Di Natale said he has been hosting roundtable forums around the country, and plans to again outline his calls at a federal parliament drug summit in March, but said such measures would not have the support of parliament yet and is therefore not planning an imminent introduction of legislation. "If such legislation had the prospect of success, we'd look at introducing it. But given the nature of this debate, I'm very keen to start by working across the political divide to build consensus," he said. Fairfax An international student was paid as little as 47 cents an hour to work at a 7-Eleven, a law firm says. The allegations are the latest in a series to plague the convenience store chain, following evidence at a senate hearing staff at some outlets were physically intimidated and underpaid. Advertisement The law firm Maurice Blackburn Lawyers on Monday said one staff member was paid as little as $0.47 an hour. "On his wages it would take a day's work to be able to buy a cup of coffee. It would take two days' work to be able to buy a sandwich," Maurice Blackburn Principal Giri Sivaraman told reporters in Brisbane. He said the allegations were "probably Australia's greatest employment law scandal," and reports suggested anywhere from $25 million to $50 million was owed across at least 60 percent, but could be up to 100 percent, of franchises. Sivaraman criticised the federal government's "radio silence" over issue, and he called for better education of migrant workers. Advertisement "Without exception, every single worker that we've spoken to has been completely unaware of their rights," he said. "They're unaware of what they should be paid, their rights in relation to safety, they're unaware of their rights to take breaks. They're unaware of their right to complain, they're unaware of who they can complain to." Former 7-Eleven worker Pranay Alawala -- one of two workers whose allegations sparked a joint Fairfax/4 Corners investigation into the wage allegations -- said migrant workers frequently don't know their rights. Alawala, who no longer works for the chain, has recently received $33,000 in back pay. "It's really widespread, I am still getting calls from stores in Brisbane. They don't know how to do the claims or how to complain," he told the Huffington Post Australia. "Most of the international students, not only from India but from Pakistan, China, Japan, from all over the world they are working in 7-Elevens so it brings a bad impact on Australia. Advertisement "This is a good country, everyone is helping here, but they have to know their work rights." The SDA the union for retail, fast-food and warehouse workers said it believes the latest revelations of underpayment are the tip of the iceberg. We know the exploitation is ongoing. 7-Eleven workers continue to tell the SDA that the cash back scam which involves workers being forced to withdraw and pay back part of their pay continues, but most of these workers are too scared to come forward publicly, SDA National Secretary Gerard Dwyer said in a statement. A spokesman for 7-Eleven told the Huffington Post Australia the allegations were a matter for former competition tsar Professor Allan Fels' Wage Fairness Panel, set up by the company to investigate the claims. Fels has been a harsh critic of 7-Eleven. The embattled chain on February 2 announced it had appointed also a former police officer to investigate criminal activity and fraud within its Australian empire. Last week two former 7-Eleven workers who played a role in exposing underpayment at the convenience store chain received their back pay. Advertisement Zurii Just over a year ago, Ugandan mother of four Kevine Ochola felt powerless to change her future -- and it was looking pretty bleak. Six days a week she spent up to 12 hours breaking up rocks in a hot and dusty quarry, before returning home to cook and care for her children, and grab a few hours of sleep. Advertisement On the one day a week she wasnt at the quarry, Ochola went to a local artisans' market to try and sell beaded jewellery she had made from rolled-up pieces of recycled paper. Ochola was just one of many women in Uganda desperately trying to forge a living to provide a better future for themselves and their children. Many learn the skills they need to help pull themselves out of poverty through the work of organisations such as The Hunger Project, a global, non-profit organisation committed to building sustainable community-based programs to bring an end to poverty and world hunger. For those creative women though, having skills isnt enough -- finding somewhere to sell their wares on an ongoing basis is what can make all the difference. Advertisement And thats where Australian entrepreneur Patrice Gibbons came in. Back in 2013, along with 15 other corporate Australian women, the then communications director of Roses Only raised $10,000 to take part in a leadership program to Uganda, organised by womens networking movement Business Chicks. Everyone had to raise $10,000 in a six-month campaign, and then you basically go and see that money at work in that community and that year they were going to Uganda, Gibbons told The Huffington Post Australia. I ran the City2Surf to raise money, and Im someone who wouldnt run across the road to catch a cab. It came about because a girlfriend of mine said Patrice, Id pay money to see you run and other people will too'. $5000 later it turns out everyone thinks Im a bit lazy!" Advertisement Patrice Gibbons visited The Hunger Project's Iganga Epicentre to meet some of the people she would be employing through Zurii. It was so hard! Id had visions of coming along the home stretch hearing Chariots of Fire, thinking Id be so empowered -- but it wasn't like that at all, I was nearly crawling, and crying. It was hilarious. Well, now it is. Then I retired on a high and Ill never run again. It was so worth it though -- the idea of the leadership program is that women in corporate leadership positions gain practical leadership experience by meeting women who are leaders in their community with none of the opportunity or skills that we had. On that trip, standing in the middle of a village in Uganda, we met a number of just incredible women who were going through training programs with The Hunger Project. Some were agriculture-based programs, some were microfinance-based, others were health-based and there was one particular program where they were learning how to make jewellery from recycled paper. Then this lady pulled out five necklaces shed made from this recycled paper. Advertisement The beads are made from recycled paper. This bead was made from directions to install a wireless router. She was so proud of what shed made, and could see an opportunity to sell them to us. We desperately wanted to help and help her feel empowered and I remember thinking in that moment, This is great, the program is fantastic, theyre doing a really good job, theres a real opportunity for these women to make an income, thats all great, but theres no market. So Gibbons created one. In mid-2014, she ditched corporate life, refinanced her house and founded Zurii -- a socially conscious and ethical fashion accessories label. After so many people commented on the jewellery I brought back, it dawned on me -- I could be the marketplace, she said. Advertisement I could be the one to source from them directly, pay them and give them financial independence and, on the flipside, help women here be able to choose something that looks great and makes us feel good, and know its doing something positive in the process. I liked both sides of that. And in that moment, Zurii was born. When she knew she was going to go ahead with Zurii, Gibbons and her husband went to Uganda to again meet with the women and set up the business. They set up two partnerships -- one with the women based at the Epicentre, a creative hub at The Hunger Project in Iganga, and another in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. She employs a production manager for each to ease the proximity and communication barriers, and regularly orders jewellery from both. Watching them make the jewellery was so important for me then, she said. It really informed how I defined them, how we packaged them, how we shipped them, everything. Advertisement Some of the jewellery in Zurii's beaded range. Gibbons pays the women upfront for their work so they can afford to buy supplies to make her products as well as food for their families. The partnerships are based on paying per item, she said. We have set prices for the items we order and those prices are above market as were paying for quality, were paying for time, and Im happy for the profit margin to be slightly lower than it would be in standard fashion industry. I want it to be really ethical in terms of what theyre paid, but I also want products when they get here to be reasonably priced so women here can make a responsible choice. She said the women quickly found a way for the work to benefit the wider community. When I put in an order, they spread it over their friends and family, there could be 20 women at any one time working on one of my orders, she said. Its a great example of community -- they just outsource it. As someone starting a new business, you realise youve got to be everything from the CEO to the secretary to the cleaner, and letting go of that control can be so confronting; its your money and your dream. Advertisement But watching these women, when they see an opportunity, they know they need to get it done, so they outsource it to their friends and family. Its very entrepreneurial. Gibbons also sources leather goods, scarves and silverware created by family units in Indonesia. My original vision was to have only women in developing nations making the products, but what I discovered quite quickly when I realised we needed to branch into new accessories was that women arent as involved in making those leather or silver products as much as the men. So I find family groups where the women are very much a part of the process. Through Zurii, Patrice Gibbons employs Ugandan women including Kevine and Eugenie, who no longer have to work manual labour jobs. Gibbons said she also runs a communications business in Brisbane to help fund Zurii, and even though its only been 15 months since she founded the small business, its already making a difference. Advertisement Ochola has left her job at the quarry and with the money she saved making jewellery for Zurii, has opened a general store, and has plans to also open a second-hand clothing store. Shes really typical of all the women we work with in Uganda, Gibbons said. She was in 40 degree heat, 10-12 hours a day, breaking up rocks with a hoe. But she saw an opportunity here and she ran with it. Shes started a general store with the money shes made from the partnership -- she still does the beading and is a leader in the community, teaching other women how to bead, but she started the store, where shes selling flour and fruits and veg and shes starting a secondhand clothing store. Zurii isnt a big brand yet, and Im not ordering thousands of pieces, when you look at this in relative terms, Im shocked and surprisingly amazed at the massive impact weve been able to make in one person's life, with a relatively small amount of purchase. I hope we can expand and have that impact on the lives of so many more women in so many more countries. Advertisement Gibbons also donates 10 percent of Zurii's net profits to The Hunger Project to help fund training and education programs for disadvantaged women. Fairfax: Alex Ellinghausen Liberal backbencher Ian Macfarlane has announced he will be retiring from politics at the next election, following a string of resignations in the coalition. In a statement released on Monday, the Queensland MP said "the time is right to pass the baton" after 18 years holding the seat of Groom, nine of them as a cabinet minister. Advertisement I dont want to be a passenger in politics if Im not involved in cabinet, Macfarlane told ABC radio. There comes a time when youve given all youve got - when youve become a passenger its time to get off and let someone else drive ... sitting on the backbench wasnt an option for me. I wish PM Malcolm Turnbull & his Ministerial team all the best in tackling challenges Aus faces as we make this even greater country #auspol Ian Macfarlane (@IanMacfarlaneMP) September 20, 2015 The Liberal backbencher was Industry Minister in the Abbott government and before that, Small Business and Tourism Minister in the Howard government -- but was dumped from the frontbench when Turnbull took the Prime Ministership. Advertisement After losing his cabinet position, Macfarlane tried to move to the Nationals Party in an attempted side-step with the hope of returning to the frontbench. The move was publicly blocked by the Queensland LNP. Macfarlane's resignation announcement comes after coalition members Andrew Robb, Warren Truss and Philip Ruddock announced they will retire at the next election. ABC It was the Q&A question which left Labor and Liberal ministers butting heads as they split hairs over "offshore detention" versus "regional resettlement". Monday night's audience member Joy Dovovan told the panel she talks to an asylum seeker who has been detained on Manus Island for 30 months. Advertisement "He is 30 years old. He is severely depressed. He is unable to sleep, he is not eating, he is feeling that he might die there. He has been assessed as a UN refugee. My question is to the panel: What can you do, what can you say to our government and to the people of Australia that could encourage our government to change this, this awful situation?" Greens Senator Sarah-Hanson Young slammed the Government's policy of offshore detention, labelling it "inhumane" and saying she is one of the only Australians who has visited the detention centres without being "gagged" from telling the stories "of what goes on in there". "It's an awful, awful circumstance. It's something that we have to tackle. The truth is the Government doesn't have an exit strategy for Nauru and Manus Island and they need to get one because it's not sustainable. You can't continue to leave hundreds of people effectively rotting in these camps," said Hanson-Young on the program. "The deterrence policy is designed to break people." Newly appointed Trade Minister Steve Coibo defended the government's asylum seeker policy of off-shore processing, claiming the government offers detainees the option to resettle in a third country. And Labor MP Terri Butler quickly jumped in. Advertisement "What third country is on offer? You had four people go to Cambodia, didn't you? "It is a disgrace -- you had people in camps for 30 months." But when Butler was asked by an audience member whether Opposition Leader Bill Shorten would listen to the delegates at a NSW Labor conference at the weekend voting "unanimously" in favour of allowing asylum seekers "in limbo" to remain in Australia, the Labor MP was short for words. "Hang on. I guess there is a few things I want to say. The first thing is if you accept - I'm sure a number of people in this room don't accept it - but if you accept the proposition that you need to not have an advantage by coming here in the unsafe means of a boat, over and above coming here in the safe means of a plane, which is our policy," said Butler. "I think there is good, strong arguments to say offshore processing is necessary... that does not necessitate the idea you have to accept people sitting in tents for months and months and months." When asked what Labor's policy was by Ciobo, Butler said "regional resettlement". Host Tony Jones then clarified: "your policy is under no circumstances should those people come to Australia and their policy is the same". "It's the same policy!" retorted Minister Coibo. "This is the madness of Labor's position." Offshore processing is the way to avoid the 'pull factor' of coming unsafely. Process people @terrimbutler#QandAhttps://t.co/E89XAxkUu7 ABC Q&A (@QandA) February 15, 2016 Advertisement British journalist and author Mark Steyn who was described as a "conservative commentator" by the program claimed he was unsympathetic to the refugee issues but claimed the current policies were "just bandaids on the symptoms rather than actually getting to the heart of the problem." "I have problems with what is going on in Nauru and Papua New Guinea -- which seems to me as an old school imperialist to be colonialism with all the defects and none of the benefits," said Steyn. The best place for a Sumatran tiger is in Sumatra--not the Sacramento Zoo. Yet, it's now reported that a 15-year-old Sumatran tiger died after being attacked by another captive tiger there. These tigers were forced together in unnatural confinement, devoid of all that they need innately, biologically, physically, and environmentally... all in an effort at forced breeding. The male became aggressive and killed the female. This is, of course, shocking; it is, of course, sad; but, most importantly, perhaps, it is, of course, totally predictable and preventable. I feel as though I've said it so many times before, and I wonder how many more times I'll have to say it again... Wild tigers belong in the wild. Their welfare is compromised in captivity, and there is zero conservation benefit to keeping them or even breeding them in captivity. Should these tigers have bred successfully, they would not see their offspring shipped to the wild in Asia to repopulate forested areas of that tiger-depleted continent. They would have languished in the Sacramento Zoo in perpetuity (unless they were shipped to some other zoo instead). TV news reports note that the female, now deceased, had been at the zoo since 2002 and had five offspring. When I heard this, my mind immediately turned to thoughts of horrific puppy mills throughout the United States, where poor dogs are kept confined in cages, forcibly bred to supply the pet trade. We rarely think of wild animals in zoos this way, and I know I never have before, but that's what it seems like here. This majestic, highly endangered animal, living in captivity for 15 years, forced to breed, with no chance of freedom. How pathetic. Advertisement The other thing I often find myself saying is that I get very annoyed when those of us in animal protection are referred to as Chicken Little or "joy-killers" trying to take away people's fun through our animal advocacy positions. But, then again, it doesn't take a genius to realize that keeping wild animals in captivity is potentially dangerous. In 2003, a different Sumatran tiger at the Sacramento Zoo attacked a zookeeper, and in 2005, a male lion at the Sacramento Zoo killed a female lion. So, while some might attempt to self-servingly present this new tiger death as a freak occurrence, history suggests otherwise. What wild tigers need simply cannot be provided in a zoo. What wild tigers need is to be safe and protected in the wild. We mustn't compromise their individual welfare, ever. They deserve better than that. And, we surely mustn't treat them as breeding machines to supply new animals for captive display throughout the country. I don't appreciate people who breed cats or dogs to sell commercially in pet stores in America because I know such intensive breeding creates sick animals and the unfortunate euthanasia of others for whom loving homes are not available. Similarly, I can't support intensive commercial breeding of tigers for public display: not when the animals suffer, not when there's no conservation benefit, and not when the tigers of Sumatra are critically endangered, numbering around 500--and potentially disappearing forever. Advertisement "Diamonds are intrinsically worthless, except for the deep psychological need they fill." -De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer It's Valentine's Day - and everyone, single or paired, is thinking about love. And what's more inextricably linked with love than money? No -- seriously. Take a minute to think about that... What's more synonymous with love than an engagement ring? What's more synonymous with romance and diamonds? Have you ever wondered how that happened? I did. It turns out diamond engagement rings are not a timeless tradition as we've been led to believe. They were a marketing tool invented by an advertising agency in the early 50s to sell the surplus of small, colorless (i.e. worthless) diamonds that De Beers had hoarded and then found it couldn't unload. Advertisement This isn't a hate on romance, or jewelry. I love both. This is just the story of a story. In fact, it's the story of two stories. One is the story of the very first diamond engagement ring, given to the Princess Mary of Burgundy by Archduke Maximilian when he proposed in 1477 AD. The second story occurs half a millennia later, when De Beers, having consolidated 99% of the diamonds on earth, convinced the entire, previously indifferent world that everybody wanted a diamond, and always had. This is the story of how De Beers pulled off one of the greatest con jobs in history, and built a multi-billion dollar empire as a result. Will You Merger Me? In 1477 AD, 18-year-old Archduke (and later Holy Roman Emperor) Maximilian proposed to his great love, Mary of Burgundy, with the first ever faceted diamond engagement ring. Thus the two lovers began the swoon-worthy tradition of the diamond engagement ring; a tradition that has persisted, in an unbroken procession of promises, sparkles, and kisses for the last 534 years. Sigh... Well, that's De Beers version, anyway. The Archduke did in fact propose, (through emissaries and ambassadors) to Mary of Burgundy in 1477--even though he'd never met her, and probably couldn't have picked her out in a line-up. He did present a faceted diamond engagement ring...to her father, Charles the Bold. That part of the story is true. It wasn't the kind of Tiffany's, diamond solitaire you might be picturing. The diamonds were tiny, and set into the shape of an 'M.' Supposedly it was an 'M' for Mary--although it could just as easily, and even more aptly, been an 'M' for monarchy or am 'M' for money. It really should have been 'M' for merger. The marriage was actually an elaborate, multi-national land deal, as royal marriages often are. The diamond ring was a well thought-out and heavily loaded symbolic gesture of the most public kind. Advertisement The diamond engagement ring, as we all know it, was an invention of De Beers and a New York advertisement agency, N.W. Ayers. It was, first and foremost, a product. But it was a new kind of product. It was a way to emotionally compel people to buy diamonds, by reinventing the idea of diamonds as necessities, rather than temptations or frivolities. It was also a way to unload those diamonds on the biggest new market in the world. Even if it was also the market least interested in having them. Finally- it was a way dress up and present the smallest, least desirable stones, as though they were something special and important. So how did they do it? First they invented, or at least sensually massaged, an origin story; they settled on the exchange of the "first diamond engagement ring" between Maximillian and Mary. They mined history for a precedent, and made it the center of an epic spin campaign. The story of "the first diamond engagement ring" set just the right romantic tone, and just the right epic historic context. Then they did something really creative: They hired Madison Avenue ad firm, N.W. Ayer, to sell the idea of diamond engagement rings to an unwitting public, particularly the under-18 crowd. De Beers already had the scarcity angle covered by manipulating the supply, to such a degree that diamonds were already considered rare and thus very valuable. All that was left was to manipulate the customer. Advertisement In 1948, N.W. Ayer created the iconic campaign: "A Diamond is Forever." They engaged in cutting-edge techniques, like product research and social psychology. They employed, if not invented, product placement way ahead of its time; they gifted movie stars with diamond rings, then paid paying multiple media outlets to show them wearing the rocks. De Beers didn't invent the diamond engagement ring. They did one better. They invented the myth of the diamond engagement ring. Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Diamonds What is a diamond, technically speaking? In scientific terms, a diamond is an allotrope of the element carbon, meaning that it is one of many forms a substance might take. Other allotropes of carbon include coal, soot, and graphite, more commonly called pencil lead. Carbon is a component of almost everything. It's certainly a component of you. 99% of the human body is made up of only three elements, and one of them is Carbon. It's also major component of the atmosphere, the oceans, and every organic (i.e. carbon-based) life form on the planet. To say carbon is common would be an understatement. It's the fourth most abundant element in the universe. All the diamonds on earth and underground were formed about 320 miles below the earth's surface, 1 to 3 billion years ago, under intense heat and pressure. There is no doubt an almost inconceivable amount of diamonds are still down there. The diamonds that we mine or find near the surface were carried up to the earth's crust by kimberlite pipes, the "roots" of certain small, and super powerful volcanoes that reach three times deeper into Earth's mantle than larger volcanoes like Mount St. Helen's. Millions of years ago, when those volcanoes erupted, diamonds were carried upward in the magma, and deposited among the other rocks. Advertisement Carbon actually comes from the Latin word Carbo, meaning Coal. Diamonds are in fact, just a really, really compressed form of coal. Fancy, huh? At standard temperature and pressure, carbon will take the form of graphite. In graphite, each atom is linked to 3 other carbon atoms, all of them linked together, in a 2-D sheet of fused hexagonal rings. Confused? Imagine a chain-link fence lying on the ground; each place where the chain crosses is an atomic bond. If you layer one chain-link fence on top of another, on top of another, in loose sheets, that's graphite. So what makes some generic carbon a diamond and not a sheet of graphite? Organization. Under very, very high pressures and temperatures carbon atoms will form a more well-organized version of the same thing. Each of those layers of chain-link fence is linked to each other vertically as well, at every cross point. Like stacked cubes, stuck together at each joint, a diamond's lattice is symmetrical in every direction. This pattern gives the mineral all of its properties, most famously its ability to scatter light waves like a prism. When light enters a diamond, the incredible density of electrons forming that cubic crystal lattice scatters the light waves, breaking them apart (into colors) and causing them to bounce around. This isn't just pretty, it's perfect, at least from a molecular standpoint. That does not, however, make them rare. In 1998, there were approximately twice as many diamonds in circulation as there had been fifteen years before that. And there have been massive new finds since then. GIA estimates an accumulated total of 4.5 billion carats of diamonds have been mined just since the beginning of the South African diamond rush. That's enough diamonds to provide every single one of the approximately 7 billion people on the planet with a standard one half carat diamond ring--with a billion carats left over. Nor do diamonds last forever, despite what their many advertisers would have us believe. The word diamond comes from the word adamantine, meaning indestructible. And while it's true that nothing can cut a diamond except another diamond, that doesn't mean nothing can destroy them. In fact for an item which bases its reputation on its strength and timelessness, diamonds are aren't really that durable. Hard, yes: the hardest substance in the mineral family, and more than 50 times harder than the next hardest, sapphires. But hard isn't the same as strong. Advertisement You can do all kinds of terrible things to them. You can scratch them up in your jewelry box as long as you have other diamonds, you can actually incinerate them at 1400- no joke, they just vanish--not a trace is left behind. Or, if you're like my curious six-year-old father, having heard that diamonds are the hardest substance on the earth, you can take your mother's one and only diamond ring and smash it to bits with a hammer. (It was a trauma from which she apparently never fully recovered). Diamonds are not only brittle, but quite thermodynamically unstable. Right now, as you read this, every diamond you've ever seen is slowly converting back to graphite. The process is just so incredibly slow at room temperature that human beings will never live to see it. So-- who wants coal in their stocking this year!? (Because that's all diamonds are made of.) The answer, apparently, is everyone- as long as they don't know the real substance of what they're getting. Generally, people don't. And there's a good reason for that: No one in the last 80 years has sold a diamond - they've sold an idea. And God only knows what ideas are made out of... Can't Buy Me Love Oh wait--yes, you can. At least, according to De Beers you can. They've spent the last half a century convincing the world that a diamond is synonymous with love. Not everyone wants a diamond, but everybody wants love. The best thing about love, as a seller's commodity, is that it's free--so the profit margin is spectacular! There's a reason that linking diamonds with the idea of love was so completely successful. Love and money share the same real estate in your brain. Researchers in a relatively new field called neuroeconomics are studying just that. They are looking, not just behaviorally or chemically, but actually structurally, at the way your brain values things. And a team at Duke University finally found the sweet spot. It's called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), it's a few centimeters in, right between your eyes. Advertisement So what happens in this special V-spot? You value things. You also love things. They've actually discovered that "the processes that determine emotion and value both take place in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. " That means the process by which you feel an emotional attachment, and the process by which you determine a thing's worth, are all bundled up in the same little cluster of neurons. Clearly, wires get crossed. Everyone's always known that making someone feel good is an effective way to make them part with cash, whether that's a charming salesman, or an ad with a smiling baby- But that's just anecdotal. Now, with the identification of the vmPFC's action, we know why, and where, and how. According to Dr Scott Huettell, of the Center for Interdisciplinary Decision Science at Duke University, it has been well established that judging value and emotion happen independently in the cortex, but until this breakthrough, no one had found the physical link between the two. Well, De Beers must have had an inkling... Diamonds aren't forever. Diamond engagement rings have only been a "necessary luxury" for about eighty years. The truth is: diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable. What value diamonds do possess is largely created in the minds of the consumer. We take the tradition of a diamond engagement ring for granted, as if it were as old as marriage itself. It is not. In fact, it's only about as old as the microwave oven. Through a clever combination of pioneering market research, advertising, and product placement, De Beers has bedazzled us so thoroughly that we all believe this myth is not only true, but always has been. In fact, the myth is so compelling that it justified the sale of a product De Beers couldn't unload, to a population who didn't want it. It was at the 2008 New Hampshire Primary that Hillary Clinton "found [her] own voice." Eight years later, the Granite State delivered one of the worst defeats of her political career. But despite coming away with less than 40 percent of the vote, Clinton will most likely receive a majority of the support of New Hampshire's 32 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. This narrative is political spin, but the explanation is pretty simple: Hillary has support from six of the eight of New Hampshire's superdelegates. Advertisement Hillary does not have just the support of New Hampshire's superdelegates; the vast majority of superdelegates around the country have committed themselves to Hillary. The perceived inherent advantage for the Hillary campaign has rocketed superdelegates to the forefront of discussion, both on social media and on news coverage. The Democratic Party primary system, just like the electoral college, is misunderstood and rather opaque. Many seem to take the superdelegate system at face-value, without digging too deep, accepting it as a quirk of the party or a predetermined mechanism rigged to favor Hillary. But in order to fully understand the superdelegate system, and ultimately weigh its current value, it's necessary to explore why it exists in the first place. The late Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, an architect of the superdelegate, penned a staunch defense of the system in 2008 for The New York Times: Advertisement "The superdelegates were created to lead, not to follow. They were, and are, expected to determine what is best for our party and best for the country." In 2016, this perspective seems increasingly hard to fathom. The past decade has been dominated by debate over growing inequality in all facets of society. Yet still, the Democratic Party, which claims to champion the voice of the working class and minorities, has an electoral system that gives unequal power to the party elite. But for Ferraro, and many Democratic elders, the superdelegate is not a means of leverage, but a failsafe from a time of chaos and turmoil. In 1968 the Democratic Party, and even the nation itself, seemed on the brink of collapse: President Lyndon B. Johnson had declined to run for reelection, America was losing the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated mid-campaign. The disastrous 1968 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago ended with pro-war Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey as the nominee. He had never entered a single primary, and 80 percent of primary voters had voted for anti-war candidates. Humphrey was soundly defeated by Richard Nixon's "law and order" campaign, and the Democratic Party quickly formed the McGovern-Fraser commission to repair the clearly broken system. Advertisement The response was even worse than before. The McGovern-Fraser commission gave too much power to political outsiders, pushing the party dialogue far left, and creating a number of delegate controversies in states like Illinois and California. McGovern was nominated thanks to a powerful grassroots campaign, and the Democratic Party elites could only watch in horror as McGovern was trounced in a landslide by Richard Nixon. At the next presidential election in 1976, the relatively unknown Jimmy Carter was able to defeat the incumbent President Gerald Ford. In a maelstrom of controversy following the Watergate Scandal, Ford had only managed to secure his nomination during the Republican Party Convention by the narrowest of margins. Through two defeats, Democratic Party strategists learned the hard way that an image of party unity was key to general election success. Four years later, the party's primary rules came to head in an ugly and brutish primary race between Ted Kennedy and President Carter. The incumbent Carter had jumped to an early lead, mainly thanks to the "rally 'round the flag" effect of the Iran Hostage Crisis. However, as the DNC approached, Carter's failed hostage rescue and increasing impatience from the American public lead to Kennedy sweeping the final set of primaries. At the 1980 DNC, Kennedy delegates bitterly advocated for the delegates' right to abandon their pledges to Carter. Only on the penultimate day of the convention did Kennedy concede, but the damage was done. The 1972 McGovern defeat was to be overshadowed by Carter's defeat to Ronald Reagan, who won with the highest number of electoral votes ever won by a non-incumbent presidential candidate. In order to avoid the fiasco of 1980, the Hunt Commission was created, according to Governor Jim Hunt, to "give our convention more flexibility to respond to changing circumstances and, in cases where the voters' mandate is less than clear, to make a reasoned choice." Advertisement The result was the "unpledged delegate," created to represent the establishment and agenda of the Democratic Party and its ideals. Comprised of "Party Leaders and Elected Officials," the superdelegate is supposed to prevent the party from the election flops of Carter and McGovern, providing support to a candidate who is most likely to win with the general public. But the chaos of those years is now the past. The Democratic Convention, as a publicity vehicle, has waned. In 2010, the DNC Rules and Bylaws committee reconsidered superdelegates -- but very quietly. The result was a decrease of superdelegates from 20 percent to 15 percent of the total. Committee co-chair James Roosevelt Jr. provided a rather convoluted reasoning for retaining the system: People ask: isn't it enough for folks to have floor privileges and a hotel room and not have an actual vote? The answer is: what you're doing is creating two classes of delegates, people with the vote and people without the vote. Clearly, the people at the grassroots level should be the predominant voice. But if you don't give elected officials a real voice, they are basically second-class citizens. It's a confused statement with fundamentally flawed logic; only in some alternative dimension would party leaders like Bill Clinton or Barack Obama feeling like second-class citizens on the floor of the Democratic Convention. The superdelegate exists for a reason, and a rather sound one. The Democratic Party, and parties in general, are not some divine institution enshrined in the Constitution. It's a political machine, designed to propel a party agenda. However, when the system seemingly clashes with the ideals behind the party and the potential threat of party disarray has faded, the superdelegate seems like an insalubrious vestige of the past. Advertisement Twenty-six years ago, on Feb. 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from the Victor Verster high security prison after 27 years of incarceration. Apartheid was coming to an end, and South Africa was moving from an age of color discrimination to universal equality -- at least constitutionally. That South Africa is still trying to work out the kinks in this idea of equality, and has many hurdles ahead, takes nothing away from the greatness of the man who has since become an epitome of freedom, equality and dignified struggle. When Mandela passed away in 2013, his funeral was perhaps the most power-packed funeral witnessed in the last century. The huge line-up of Heads of States and dignitaries testifies to the influence this single man has had on the collective psyche of humanity in the last 40 years. Mandela became a giant in his own time. But he was always humble and dignified -- the antithesis of a dominating leader. His subtle style of leadership has many lessons in it for today's leaders. His idea of leadership was as much about delivering results as it was about uplifting those who worked and strove with him. His experience of discrimination ensured that he never allowed immediate situations to overshadow the true purpose of his activity, to create a world where there is space for everyone to live a life of dignity. Advertisement He was also one who never differentiated on the "big" or "small" things. He certainly prioritized activities on the basis of urgency and need, but once involved in anything, he never treated one situation as less than the other. This is illustrated in a beautiful quote of Nelson Mandela's: "The habit of attending to small things and of appreciating small courtesies is one of the important marks of a good person." He certainly strove to live up to that mark. Today, as the world battles climate change, religious bigotry and rising intolerance, world leaders have much to learn from this South African hero. His fundamental message was that unless we learn to put aside our differences and work together, we will never create a better world. To hold grudges against each other does neither party any good. It is only through forgiveness and a genuine desire to move ahead that enemies can turn into friends. Whether it is India and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine, or many other political and regional hotspots around the planet, the leaders of these nations would do their people a world of good if they applied Mandela's words of wisdom to their respective situations. This article originally published in the inaugural edition of Workplaces Magazine on February 1, 2016 and can be found at this link. For too many, entry into parenthood means sacrifice. Due to poor maternity leave laws in The United States, parents are forced to go back to work way too soon. Thankfully, finally, culturally we are evolving to give working parents more grey areas, and more choice. But there is still much more work to be done. Diana Rothschild, in partnership with NextSpace Coworking in San Francisco, was among the first to push the coworking model further than ever before with the addition of childcare services. It is regarded the first coworking and childcare center to be profitable, and energized many looking to follow suit. Sadly, due to a lack of revenues to profitably cover increasing real estate pressures, this space closed its doors on January 29, 2016. Advertisement But Diana Rothschild, CEO of NextSpace, is not letting that stop her. She has fielded many calls from other facilities trying to follow suit, and still firmly believes that with the right location, this model CAN work. This is the message she wants to be sure to spread: "For those bravely working to create and see this model work, I encourage you to continue on. The world is in need of this solution. And with more millennials having children, more families co-parenting (50% of our families had the dads on-site), and companies wanting to retain talented new parents, this situation will be needed even more." She shares this message in a letter that can also be found on their website: "As sorrowful as endings always are, I cannot help but feel a great deal of joy at the fact that we, for an inspiring pocket of time, were able to genuinely help families integrate work and life, without compromise. We created a space where hard working parents could take care of both their careers and their children, and excel at both. That we, as a community, were able to lean in together, and collectively blend the needs of working families, and, for a while, alleviate the pressures that society puts on young working families." Before we look at what went wrong, we should start with what went right. After all, this was the first facility to find success for 2.8 years. When asked about what made NextKids successful when so many other models failed, Rothschild said, "The market was ready. San Francisco is one of the coworking hubs of the world. To start it here just made sense. If it can't work here, it can't work anywhere. NextSpace was already successful. Add NextKids and that creates an exponential community-building piece." Rothschild had a very personal reason to push this dual-business model: she wanted to grow her career, without sacrificing too much time away from her daughter. She recognized that there is a narrow niche of people who want to work and be close to kids, but believed there were more people out there who may benefit from the concept. And many did. Rothschild says, "I am proud of what we accomplished. Our vision impacted almost one hundred families, hundreds of our member's organizations, and was recognized by the press, artists, authors, and the White House for our solution that makes working families work. Many of the first kids to join NextKids are now thriving in the best pre-schools in the Bay Area, and they are the best proof of what we can accomplish when we keep parents close to their children, while following their own work ambitions." Advertisement One of the biggest challenges to creating coworking spaces with childcare is that it requires running two mutually exclusive businesses at once. They are completely different models and different businesses, both of which require attention. What ultimately forced the close was an issue with the underlying economics surrounding the location and its ability to attract enough members to remain consistently profitable.Rothschild says, "We simply couldn't renew our lease at possible terms in a timely manner." Her advice to those who want to learn from her experience is this: "First and foremost, find the right partners, and a great location, (preferably with ability to have the childcare be licensed). Then, design the space in a way that fully utilizes the space while enhancing the children's different types of learning experiences. And create a member experience that's well marketed in a way to attract those members who value what you are offering. In this location it didn't work, but the crisis of childcare and the conversation of how we can enable, support, and empower parents is just starting. My hope is that we continue to see solutions that genuinely help families integrate work and life, without compromise to alleviate the pressures that society puts on young working families." WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 14: A makeshift memorial for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is seen at the U.S. Supreme Court, February 14, 2016 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was at a Texas Ranch Saturday morning when he died at the age of 79. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Saturday night, upon reflecting on the Republicans' shocking expressions of an unwillingness to consider a Supreme Court nomination from President Obama, I had some thoughts that I decided I'd write up yesterday after my Valentine's celebration with my beloved. On my way to that task Sunday afternoon, however, I discovered that someone had written essentially the same piece, and done a good job of it. The piece, appearing on Slate.com and written by Mark Joseph Stern, bears the title "The GOP's Supreme Court Gamble." Advertisement The idea in Stern's piece -- which was also to be the heart of mine -- is essentially this: The Republicans can probably get a moderate justice appointed this year, but if they block that, and if the Democrats win both the presidency and control of the Senate in the elections this November (which is not unlikely), they could end up with a much more liberal justice instead. If Stern's piece fully expressed my views, I would just consider myself scooped, and not bother to write anything myself. But Stern's piece contains one point to which I object, and leaves out another point that I think bears mentioning. First, Stern's definition of a moderate that Obama might nominate, and that Stern thinks the Republicans would be wise to confirm, gives way too much ground to suit me. Stern writes: "There are serious compromise candidates on the current shortlist, extraordinarily qualified moderates like Sri Srinivasan who would likely refuse to overturn treasured conservative precedents like Heller (establishing an individual right to bear arms) and Citizens United (allowing unlimited corporate electioneering)." Any justice who would refuse to overturn Citizens United hardly qualifies, in my view, as "moderate." That was one of the most disgraceful decisions in the Court's history - up there with Dred Scott - with dire consequences for American democracy. That decision -- which itself showed utter disregard for precedent -- deserves no deference as established precedent from any justice that President Obama should consider. What we want in a "moderate" is someone who is fair-minded and not a right-wing ideologue. The Republican-appointed justices on the Court have prevailed in a great many 5-4 decisions that have required torturing the law to get a desired right-wing result. (Besides Citizens United, the decision gutting the Voting Rights Act comes to mind.) Any reasonable, fair-minded jurist not wedded to a right-wing agenda would likely give us 5-4 decisions going the other way on some crucial matters. (For example, with any such moderate justice on the Court instead of Scalia, I strongly doubt the Court would have put the Clean Power Plan on hold the other day.) The Republicans may understand that the appointment of any fair-minded, reasonable and moderate justice would be costly to them. It would cost them the ally they've enjoyed, a Court that has worked with them to advance their ideological and corporate agenda. But if President Obama puts forward a genuine moderate with excellent qualifications and character, they would block that confirmation at their peril. Which leads to the second point--the one that Stern did not make. Stern does undercut the bogus case the Republicans make for forcing a delay until after the elections. Advertisement Republican presidential contenders agreed at Saturday night's debate, and the right-wing press jumped into action to pretend that blocking a Supreme Court nominee for 11 months is a time-honored American tradition. (It's not.) And Stern also suggests that the Republicans could hurt themselves in the elections by putting the Supreme Court front and center as an issue. Are the Republicans really certain, he asks, that a presidential election entirely focused on the impact of the court on American life--as this one surely now will--plays to their advantage? Most Americans, after all, absolutely despise Citizens United and want to keep Roe v. Wade on the books. An election that focuses overwhelmingly on money in politics and first-trimester abortion is a losing election for Republicans. If "most Americans...absolutely despise Citizens United," why President Obama would want to nominate a "moderate" who would leave that decision standing is beyond me. This is precisely the kind of argument the Democratic president, and the party generally, should be glad to pick. But there's another way the Republicans could hurt themselves with such obstructionism. To fail to vote on a President's Supreme Court nominee, with nearly a year to go in his term - it's not as though Scalia's death created this vacancy only a month before the election - would be unprecedented. (At least, so I believe. Has any Senate refused to vote on a Supreme Court nomination submitted nearly a year before the end of the president's term?) Advertisement Indeed, their immediate, unjustified, and wholly partisan warning to the president not to nominate a successor to Scalia was disgraceful, a violation of American political norms. It reveals the Republicans utter commitment to their own power, regardless of how it shreds the American political tradition. Such a disgrace, in itself, could be made a potent election issue, affecting the presidential race, and even more directly affecting the fight for control of the Senate. So it is not just that putting a focus on the Supreme Court raises issues that might be disadvantageous for the Republicans in the coming election. But it is also that they might hand the Democrats an opportunity to expose the Republicans for the political atrocity that they've become. It is true that there have been no shortage of such opportunities, and it is true that the Democrats have often shrunk from seizing such opportunities and making the Republicans pay a political price for their scandalous behavior. But this is an election year, and -- as the Republicans have lately been in disarray --the Democrats have been showing more boldness and confidence in the political fight. Moreover, they will soon have a new standard bearer who may be more disposed to press such a battle. Advertisement These wildfires are plainly visible in the NASA/MODIS satellite shot -- covering about a 1,400 mile swath stretching from the Ivory Coast, through Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon and on across the Central African Republic, the Congo, and Gabon. Smoke from these fires is extremely widespread -- stretching over almost all of Western and Central Africa, blanketing parts of Southern Africa and ghosting on out over the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Together with these massive fires we have what appears to be a rather significant CO2 plume showing up in the Copernicus monitoring system (see below). It's a signature reminiscent of the amazing Indonesian wildfires that, during a few weeks of the Fall of 2015, matched the CO2 emission of Germany. The satellite representation of these fires is so strong that it's difficult to believe that no news of the fires has hit the mainstream media. But, so far, there hasn't even been a peep. The intensely burning fires now rage across a region of Africa experiencing both severe heat and drought with temperatures hitting well over 40 C in Nigeria and over 36 C throughout the broader region today. An extreme heatwave occurring in tandem with a new kind of flash drought event that's becoming more and more common as human fossil fuel emissions keep forcing the world into higher and higher temperatures ranges. Imagine finding out you had been drinking toxic water with sky-high levels of lead from a friend who messaged you on Facebook. That's what happened to Ruth Elwart in Flint, Michigan, who is now packing up her things and preparing to move in with her daughter outside the city limits. Advertisement "I am furious. My kids are panicking," said Elwart. "They are super worried about me, and basically I don't want my grandkids over here." It's just one example of the extraordinary treatment of local residents we have discovered as we make a feature documentary on the Flint water crisis. Up to 100,000 people have been exposed to unsafe levels of lead in their drinking water, after state emergency managers who had taken over the city made a disastrous money-saving decision to switch water sources to the highly corrosive Flint River. We were astonished to discover this week that the Michigan government is openly releasing thousands of new lead test results online without first bothering to directly inform residents most badly affected. As lead fears mounted last year, Flint officials filed false reports regarding which homes were used for collecting water samples, essentially hiding the extent of the lead problem, so there is an understandable push for greater transparency in releasing information. But once again, the needs of Flint residents most affected seem not to be taken into account. Advertisement The reading from Ewart's home is currently among the 15 worst in the city, and her address is there for anyone with a computer to access. A spokesman for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) defended the practice, noting that names are never posted alongside addresses. "Posting the results online is the quickest, most effective way to get people information that they desperately want about the water in their homes," Snyder spokesman Dave Murray said in an email. "The alternative is for them to wait until they receive information in the mail." The federal Environmental Protection Agency, however, takes a different view, assuring Flint residents that the results of its drinking water testing -- being undertaken separately from the state's efforts -- are strictly confidential. According to the agency, "the EPA will remove all personally identifiable information from sampling data before it is posted publicly." That the Michigan government is taking no such steps to protect the privacy of families hardest hit by the water crisis enraged Elwart, who has now packed up most of her belongings. Advertisement "I am furious," Elwart said. "They should have let me know before they published it for the world to see. I should have been informed what was going on." Elwart said no one from the Michigan Departments of Health or Environmental Quality has been in touch since the state posted, almost two weeks ago, her lead-in-water reading of more than 1000 parts per billion, or more than 100 times the acceptable level established by the World Health Organization. The EPA requires public water systems to take action if 10 percent of homes have water lead levels above 15 parts per billion. Lower lead levels are not necessarily safe. The neighbors of Joe Ragnone, a retired English teacher, also found out he had been drinking poisonous water before he did. When he went online to check the results, he had to scroll through hundreds of readings before he found his address. "I found it very confusing," he said. "And once I got there I didn't understand any of it. Except one column was in red." He has subsequently discovered he has some of the highest lead-in-water levels ever recorded in Flint, at over 5400 parts per billion. According to Virginia Tech's Professor Marc Edwards, who was instrumental in uncovering the Flint catastrophe, a reading of 5000 "exceeds criteria that classifies water as a hazardous waste." Advertisement Ragnone said nobody from the government has contacted him to explain what his readings mean, and what precautions he should take. The filters the state is distributing to Ragnone and other residents, for example, are are not rated to cope with such disastrously high levels of lead. Thousands of Flint residents have dutifully delivered a water sample from their taps to one of the state's emergency water distribution centers in Flint, from where it is sent to a state laboratory. This follows a public appeal by Gov. Snyder that families should get their water tested. Although residents who return water samples are given a form to sign, the document does not indicate that the results, with their potentially deeply distressing health implications, will be revealed online with addresses attached. Irreversible brain damage is just one of the potential risks for children affected by high levels of lead poisoning. Adults can suffer high blood pressure and a range of other symptoms. And Michigan has strict laws governing the release of health information. Currently, the addresses of 591 homes with lead-in-water levels above the EPA "action level" of 15 parts per billion, are highlighted in red on the Michigan government's website. Advertisement Publishing addresses online, without consent, can have other consequences too. Ruth Elwart says that before our visit, the only people who had arrived at her door to ask about her water were three individuals who claimed to be EPA employees needing to carry out tests. When they couldn't produce identification she refused them entry, and she said they tried to break into her home. The police have since issued an alert about the fraudsters. "I won't be able to sell the house now," Elwart says. "I couldn't sell it to people with children because I couldn't stand the guilt. But no one wants a house here. I just have to get out of the city." The post was originally published on www.blackandwordy.com The Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee (CBC PAC) has endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, and by the way in which it did so has demonstrated its propensity to play establishment politics. An endorsement in itself isn't a bad thing, but for the CBC PAC to endorse the Clinton campaign by misleading black voters about Bernie Sanders' record on issues important to black Americans, and neglecting to offer any critique on the impacts the Clinton policies have had on black Americans is not only insulting, it's dishonest. According to South Carolina House Democratic Leader J. Todd Rutherford, Bernie Sanders has "only really started talking about issues concerning African Americans in the last 40 days." Rutherford has also criticized Bernie Sanders for his vote in favor of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, and suggested that Bernie Sanders apologize for his vote on the bill. Advertisement Perhaps Bernie Sanders should apologize for voting in favor of the crime bill, and if he does he should do so with the 24 members of the Congressional Black Caucus who also voted for the bill in 1994. A critique can be made about Sanders' vote in favor of the crime bill; however, that critique must be put into the context of his support for women who are victims of domestic violence, which is part of the reason he voted in favor of the crime bill: The Violence Against Women Act was attached to it. Here is a video of Bernie Sanders addressing the crime bill, domestic violence, and The Violence Against Women Act. Advertisement Bernie Sanders strongly opposed the crime bill, and addressed congress in a two-minute speech in which he called the bill a "punishment bill," and went on to say he had a "problem with a president, and a congress" that wants to get "tough on crime" while millions of people go hungry and children sleep outside on the streets. He ended his opposition to the crime bill with the saying, "let's not keep putting poor people into jail and disproportionately punishing blacks" -- that was 8,880 days ago. Here is a clip from C-Span of Bernie Sanders' remarks at the 1994 Congressional Black Caucus hearing on crime and guns in African-American communities. At the beginning of the clip, Bernie Sanders is introduced by the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus as "a colleague and associate member of the Congressional Black Caucus." In his remarks, Sanders would go on to say that addressing crime without addressing poverty and jobs is "absurd"--that was 8,066 days ago. Here is a compilation of Bernie Sanders' consistency on his views on war, poverty, jobs, campaign financing, income inequality and crime. The video covers Bernie Sanders from 1985-2015, which covers a span of about 10,957 days. When you compare Hillary Clinton's advocacy for the crime bill and Bernie Sander's reasons to vote in favor of the bill, the difference in their narratives is clear: Advertisement Bernie Sanders is addressing crime in relation to poverty and jobs, while Hillary Clinton's "tough on crime" narrative is dealing with the people who commit crimes and not the socioeconomic conditions that lead to crime, which is a narrative that must be scrutinized. When politicians say they want to deal with the "real problems" of crime without addressing structural oppressions that lead to crimes, they are really saying they want to "deal with" (see incarcerate) "the people" (see black and brown youth) who commit crimes. Hillary Clinton's acceptance of this narrative was exemplified when she called gang-related youth "superpredators," and compared "those people" to the mob, and suggested that America have a concentrated effort on gangs in the same way there was a concentrated effort on the mob. When she had an opportunity to address the reasons why youth turn to gangs or crime she said, "we can talk about how they got that way, but first we have to bring them to heel." Her remark could have been improved if it were given in reverse order: Let's address the conditions that create gangs, before youth of color are indiscriminately thrown into jail. Advertisement The lack of such a distinction is alarming, and we should find it troubling that the CBC PAC has recently received money from a lobbyist to Corrections Corporation of America, a corporation that manages private prisons. In 2010, The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Idaho filed a class action federal lawsuit charging that officials at a Idaho Correctional Center promote and facilitate a culture of rampant violence that has led to carnage and suffering amongst prisoners at the state-owned facility operated by Corrections Corporation of America. Since the CBC PAC and Hillary Clinton have claimed money doesn't influence their politics, I am sure they will support a bill Bernie Sanders introduced into congress called Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015, which aims to eliminate federal, state and local contracts for privately run prisons. The introduction of the Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015 contradicts Hakeem Jefferies', a Democrat from New York, claims that Bernie Sanders has been "missing in action" on issues that are important to the African American community, and that "there's no credibility to the things that are being said at the twilight of Sanders' political career." There have been numerous reports that show private prisons exploit the poor, and according to a 2014 study the racial disparities in private prisons housing state inmates are even greater than in publicly run prisons. Advertisement Sanders' actions regarding civil rights and issues important to the African American community has been documented thoroughly. Mother Jones has extensively covered Bernie Sanders' activism during the civil rights movement. In 1962, he protested police brutality, and he was arrested for protesting segregation in public schools in Chicago. As a member of congress, Bernie Sanders' record on civil rights is clear. Sanders introduced The National Priorities Act of 2007 to congress, which addresses poverty and income inequality, and he has found success by amending legislation, which included an increase in accountability for corporate crime, expanding free health care, and gaining a $22 million increase in funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program and the Weatherization Assistance program. Bernie Sanders has also introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2015, which could help legalize marijuana, and lower the rate in which black Americans are disproportionately arrested for marijuana possession. Bernie Sanders also received a 97 percent rating by the NAACP in 2006 (an indication of his pro-affirmative-action stance). Not too bad of a record for a man who has been accused of being "thin" when it comes to civil rights issues. Advertisement The problem with the CBC PAC endorsement is that it further continues the notion that because the Clinton name has black politicians, she will have us. This message in its nature is condescending because it assumes that any black politician who fought for civil rights has a monopoly on what's best or who's best for young, black voters. The last time I checked "being a friend of the African American community" wasn't a viable campaign slogan, and for a member of a black caucus to use this language as way to get black Americans to cosign Hillary Clinton's campaign is insulting. If Hillary Clinton is a "friend" of the African American community then she and the black politicians who endorse her must live up to criticism that a "friend" of the African American community and the endorsement of said friend ascribe for itself. Unfortunately, this is criticism that has yet to be seen. This does not mean that criticism of black members of state is a sign of ungratefulness for the work black politicians have done during the civil rights movement. This is a call for us to unite against the establishment--both black and white--and demand that our representatives march to our anthems of progress, despite how radical they may seem and acknowledge that our vote for the Clinton Campaign is far from granted. Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, speaks as Hillary Clinton listens during a Democratic presidential primary debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) It's the kind of publicity every author dreams of: In the heat of the 2016 primaries, a leading candidate for president mentions your new book in a nationally-televised debate. Unfortunately, it involved a Democrat, attacking her Democratic opponent for endorsing it. That happened to me last Thursday, when Hillary Clinton accused Bernie Sanders of writing "a foreword for a book that basically argues voters should have buyer's remorse when it comes to President Obama's leadership and legacy." Advertisement I'm torn between sending Secretary Clinton flowers for all the free publicity or criticizing her for misrepresenting the facts. The truth is: Senator Sanders did not write the foreword for my book, Buyer's Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down. He only provided a blurb for the back of the book. So did Congressman Keith Ellison and former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich. The truth is: While giving him credit for the good things he's done, my book is, indeed, critical of President Obama. But Senate Sanders' blurb is not. In it, he merely repeats a point he makes in every campaign speech: Bill Press makes the case why, long after taking the oath of office, the next president of the United States must keep rallying the people who elected him or her on behalf of progressive causes. That is the only way real change will happen. Read this book. The truth is: I wrote this book because, as a liberal, and as a member of the White House Press Corps, I remembered what Obama said on more than one occasion. In September 2008, for example, as a candidate for president, he urged his supporters: "I want you to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable." It's an argument he repeated, once in the Oval Office. "I want you to hold all of Washington accountable," he told an Annandale, Virginia, town hall in April 2011. "There are powerful lobbies and special interests in Washington. I want you to hold me accountable." The truth is: When you do hold President Obama accountable, his record is a mixed bag. There are many good things President Obama has accomplished, for which I duly give him credit right up front: Obamacare; ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell; supporting same-sex marriage; two (and, hopefully, soon three) outstanding appointments to the Supreme Court; the Iran nuclear deal; and re-establishment of relations with Cuba, among others. But the truth also is: There are many areas where he has let progressives down. Most likely, he will end his eight years in office, for example, with no comprehensive immigration reform, no serious new measures to curb gun violence, no new restrictions on out-of-control campaign spending, and the infamous prison at Guantanamo Bay still open. Okay, maybe you can blame his inability to deliver on those issues on recalcitrant Republicans in Congress. But there are other areas of disappointment where Obama acted on his own: embracing NSA's wholesale domestic spying; unleashing hundreds of killer drones; forcing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, over the objections of organized labor and Democrats in Congress; pursuing journalists and whistle-blowers for reporting the truth; failing to prosecute one single Wall Street executive for the illegal trading that caused the crash of 2008. And, at a time when the economy needed more stimulus, he spent years trying to craft a "Grand Bargain" with Speaker John Boehner that would cut social programs, instead. Advertisement To paraphrase Hillary Clinton in the PBS debate: These are the kind of actions you expect from a Republican in the Oval Office, but not from a Democrat. The family of Anna Therese Day have confirmed she is one of four American journalists arrested in Bahrain yesterday on the anniversary of the popular protests which broke out there in 2011. A local source told me they are expected to appear before Bahrains public prosecution tomorrow morning. Her three colleagues have yet to be formally named, are and believed to be members of her camera crew. An eyewitness told me one of the four was arrested on a street in Sitra around 3.30pm, the other three taken at a security checkpoint at about 10pm. Advertisement Bahrains state news agency has confirmed that The four are suspected of offences including entering Bahrain illegally having submitted false information to border staff, and participating in an unlawful gathering. The unlawful gathering charge is a common one pinned on dissidents in Bahrain who are in the vicinity of any sort of protest or gathering, and the entering Bahrain illegally is possibly because the four didnt declare they were journalists when they arrived in Bahrain a few days ago. Journalists and NGO workers often tick the Tourism box on visas for repressive countries which deny entry to reporters and human rights activists. Bahrain is notorious for not allowing critics into the country - it has famously refused to permit New York Times journalist Nick Kristof into the kingdom for several years. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez has also been denied entry, as was US Member of Congress Jim McGovern in 2014. Like many others from international human rights organizations I am routinely denied entry to the kingdom and havent been allowed in, despite many attempts to visit, since March 2012. American Erin Kilbride was swiftly deported from Bahrain in August 2013 when authorities discovered she was writing articles exposing human rights violations in the country. Advertisement The questions now are whether the authorities will overreact and prosecute some or all of the four, bringing unwanted international attention to the regimes appalling human rights record, and whether the US embassy in Manama will play a constructive role in finding a solution to the incident. Bahrain state media reported that US Ambassador William Roebuck met Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa today, though there is no mention in the official report that the journalists were discussed. The State Department should emphasize the universal rights to freedoms of peaceful of expression and assembly in its dealings with the Bahrain regime, and not be bullied into muting its criticism of press freedoms and other rights, as we have seen too often in recent years. The Bahrain authorities report that the four have been afforded full legal rights in line with the Kingdoms procedures and constitution while investigations continue is of little reassurance, given the dictatorships long record in ignoring legal safeguards. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports there are at least six other journalists in jail in Bahrain in connection with their work, and that The government has frequently equated reporting on protests and attacks on police with participating in them. Anna Day is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, CBS, the Huffington Post and elsewhere. A spokesperson for her family said she is "much loved and missed and we are concerned about her well being as well as that of her three American colleagues. We hope the Bahraini authorities will release all four journalists as soon as possible so they can return home." Advertisement I'm tired of the heartbreaking eulogies about a bright life snuffed out way too soon. I've had it with the tear-jerking renditions of Amazing Grace as grief-stricken parents and distraught children of the deceased cry out in pain. I'm over the Facebook posts with captions of "fly high" transposed upon pictures of beautiful young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. I'm sick of the conversations about how much unrealized potential an individual had, fed up with the number of devastated families left behind and beyond frustrated by the posthumous questions of what more could have been done. A lot more can be done. In my state of Pennsylvania, a state ravaged by the opioid epidemic, only $131,736,000 was designated to drug and alcohol programs in 2014. In this same year, 2,489 individuals died from drug-related causes. Comparatively, Pennsylvania's corrections systems received $2,040,073,000 in funding in this same year and, interestingly enough, drug-related convictions accounted for more than half of the individuals incarcerated in 2014. Not only do we pump more money and more people better-suited for treatment and recovery support services into our prison system, we then go on to fall way short of adequately supporting these individuals upon release. Far too often we find that individuals are sent back out into the community with little resources or roadmaps for success. It is therefore no surprise when, at best, these individuals return to substance misuse and ultimately re-incarceration and, at worst, they become the next reason for us to iron out our black clothing and yet again watch a picture slideshow of a beautiful life cut short. Advertisement What if I told you that a city with a large African-American population and low tax base had water emanating the tap that was brown in color and appeared undrinkable? Many would offer that I'm referring to Flint, Mich., but in this case I happen to be specifically discussing St. Joseph, La. Despite the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals consistently declaring the water is "safe" to drink, the brown color simply fails the eye test. When National Public Radio asked Dr. Jimmy Guidry, Louisiana's state health officer, if he would drink St. Joseph's water, he responded: "It's not that I don't think it's safe from the standpoint that we measure the bacteria, we measure all the chemicals that make it safe. But when you look at it, it looks like sludge," he says. "It doesn't look like something you want to put in your body." Advertisement As Yogi Berra might offer, Guidry's remarks sound like deja vu all over again. There is something unsettling when government officials are uncomfortable using a service that they provide to others. Perhaps it's even more unsettling when such practices are accepted by the general public, assuming of course they are not the recipients, in this case, of sub-standard water. According to Guidry, the problem lies with St. Joseph's aging system. "Like most small water systems, when you don't have many customers, it's very expensive and it's not affordable." Adding, "But they have to do so because right now there's risk of worse things than color." Why is it that "they have to do so?" Who should be held to a standard to drink something, as Guidry describes, that "doesn't look like something you want to put in your body?" Guidry's remarks reflect a cogent response, provided that one not live in an area where the water they use is brown. Advertisement Is the aging water system in St. Joseph's isolated? Who's to say that other communities in Louisiana and elsewhere do not experience similar situations? It's certainly something that should be discussed on the presidential campaign trail. Before we can "Make America Great Again" or "Feel the Bern," can we not agree that everyone, regardless of income, ought to be afforded the luxury of not playing Russian roulette when they decide to get a glass of water? What has occurred in Flint has been well-documented, but the mere fact that another community has similar problems could suggest it's time for a thorough analysis of water systems throughout the country, particularly in low-income communities. Though President Barack Obama may be relegated to "lame duck" status, the examples in Flint and St. Joseph require moral authority from the Oval Office. Here is where the bully pulpit is warranted. Investment in infrastructure, though not something that will titillate audiences into frenzy, is fundamental to sustaining a nation. Moreover, a crumbling infrastructure, which we are systematically witnessing in America with our roads, bridges and water, is a nation in decline. And tax cuts ad nauseam can't solve this problem. What we are witnessing in Flint, St. Joseph and potentially elsewhere is a human-rights issue that belies any standard set forth by an industrialized nation. If there are communities that cannot afford to repair aging water systems, should those of us who possess the luxury to trust the water that comes from our tap merely shrug, dismissively declaring, "Oh well?" Advertisement What are we saying if ensuring clean water is cost-prohibitive? This may be the ultimate "penny-wise and pound-foolish" scenario. Any long overdue repairs to an aging water system are just the beginning. What are the long-term costs from drinking bad water? This could produce irreparable harm to future generations. Who knows how much that will cost taxpayers? When the emphasis is placed on money over people, then drinking substandard water is understandable. It is a social tax we impose on those languishing in poverty. Physically they are present, but their humanity remains painfully invisible. Their humanity is buried under the weight of political interests. It is inconceivable that Guidry would have offered a similar response had the brown-water crisis sprang from one of Louisiana's more affluent communities. Guidry might respond by offering that the more affluent communities have a larger tax base to mitigate such problems. "I encourage people to tell an 'opportunity story.' How might this topic come up later in students' lives?" -- David Perkins Our world is getting increasingly complex; so how do we know what is worth teaching and learning? I watched David Perkins' presentation on this timely topic at the IB Heads World Conference this year and I am delighted to welcome him today to The Global Search for Education. David is interested in how we ought to adapt our curriculums in light of an ever-changing world. He asserts that what is conventionally taught in our schools is not necessarily meant to produce the kinds of community members we want and need. Perkins believes that only by reimagining what we teach our children can we lead students down the road to learning that results in a flourishing life. David Perkins is the Carl H. Pforzheimer, Jr. Research Professor of Teaching and Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a founding member of the Harvard Project Zero, a research project investigating human symbolic capacities and their development. He has participated in curriculum projects addressing thinking, understanding and learning in Colombia, Israel, Venezuela, South Africa, Sweden, Holland, Australia and the United States. David's latest book, Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World, is a toolkit for helping educators and parents think through the all-important question: "What's really worth learning?" Advertisement What do you think students need to be taught in order to prepare them for life? This is perhaps the most important question in education for today's complex world! Let me respond not by declaring a curriculum but exploring how we ought to think about it. From teachers to school leaders to makers of national policy, we should be asking, "What topics are truly likely to matter in the lives today's students will live?" For any candidate topic, I encourage people to tell an "opportunity story." How might this topic come up later in students' lives? With what frequency, what importance, offering what insights, empowering what actions in the world, informing the ethics of their decisions and the policies they support? Traditional curricula are stuffed with topics that resist a good opportunity story, topics just "there because they are there." What are examples of "big understandings," as I call topics with a strong opportunity story? For instance, understanding democracy not just as an ideal but in its complexities and shortcomings around the world; or energy - its physics, economics, politics. Or basic statistics and probability... which come up frequently in medical decisions, insurance decisions, gambling, policies that impact the poor or international conflict. Also, many powerful works of art, literature, and music that resonate with the human condition. "What's needed here is a rich conversation within and across schools, including school boards, parents, and even students. Much of that conversation involves sketching and critiquing opportunity stories." -- David Perkins Advertisement What steps should schools take to ensure they are constructing a curriculum which prepares their students for the future? What's needed here is a rich conversation within and across schools, including school boards, parents, and even students. Much of that conversation involves sketching and critiquing opportunity stories. It's hard to tell a sound opportunity story solo. One needs the rich critical conversation! How should schools identify the key aspects of the curriculum they need to focus on in the classroom to ensure that students develop the key competencies they need in life? One place to look is the traditional disciplines - mathematics, history, etc. I grumbled earlier about the clutter of limited topics, but any discipline also contains abundant "big understandings." Another place to look is outside those disciplines. Based on comparative study of curriculum innovations, I can point out six "beyonds," where educators are venturing beyond the traditional disciplines, in brief: beyond content, infusing 21st century skills, competences, etc.; beyond local, embracing global perspectives, problems, and studies; beyond topics, transforming topics into tools of broad understanding; beyond the traditional disciplines, renewing and extending those disciplines; beyond discrete disciplines, embracing interdisciplinary topics and problems; beyond academic engagement, fostering personal significance, commitment, and passion. Advertisement "What to do with topics lacking a good opportunity story is a tough problem for educators. It's always harder to take something out than put something in."-- David Perkins You stressed that many topics can be rich with learning opportunity - much depends on how teachers help students to develop insight about how some aspect of the world works, see potential for action, ponder ethical issues and generally see opportunities to build relevant links to their worlds. You state that topics that don't have this potential should be removed from the curriculum. Based on your research, what are the top 5 strategies you would recommend to teachers to help them with this? What to do with topics lacking a good opportunity story is a tough problem for educators. It's always harder to take something out than put something in. Here are some suggestions for how to do it. Don't take the topic out. Shrink it! Make it an object of "acquaintance knowledge" so that students have some orientation to it. Don't take the topic out. Expand it! Many topics are thin only because they are thinly treated, but one can greatly increase their reach by looking for big generalizations and making connections to other areas. For instance, don't just teach the French Revolution as about the French Revolution - teach it quite explicitly as a source of big themes that touch many other revolutions and various social innovations not only in the past but today. And pursue those connections as part of the instruction! Don't start by planning what to remove but what big understandings to get in. With a positive agenda defined, it's much easier to decide what to. Don't start by redesigning your whole curriculum. Start with a manageable unit or two. Make the entire transformation a project of two or three years. With all that said, of course sometimes just take the weak topic out! "Take a dispositional approach. Don't just foster the skill's development but also enthusiasm, commitment, sensitivity to occasions. Make such expectations part of the classroom culture." -- David Perkins Based on your research, what top 5 strategies would you recommend to teachers to help them nurture the 4 C's (creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration) in classrooms? First, let me note that there are many frameworks offering versions of 21st century skills. The 4 C's is just one and not the only reasonable choice. However, I do think it's quite a good one - broad enough to touch on important learner needs, compact enough to be manageable. I'd encourage teachers to address the 4 C's (or in fact almost any 21st century skills framework) as follows: Approach the C's through "infusion," weaving them into the teaching and learning of content. Be explicit about strategies. Research shows that students learn such skills better through making good practices explicit rather than just exercising them tacitly. Take a dispositional approach. Don't just foster the skill's development but also enthusiasm, commitment, sensitivity to occasions. Make such expectations part of the classroom culture. Teach for transfer. Declare an expectation for transfer, invite students to consider where else the C's might apply within and beyond school, ask students to log stories of application. Coordinate across the subject matters. Use the same C approach in multiple subject matters yourself or by coordinating with teachers who teach the other subject matters. This reinforces the C and fosters transfer. Thank you for your questions. I'm much more hopeful today than I was 20 years ago that we will see some fundamental changes in education. And I'm delighted to be part of the dialogue. Our thanks to you David! C. M. Rubin and David Perkins (All Photos are courtesy of Light Poet and Bike Rider London, Shutterstock.com) Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Geoff Masters (Australia), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today. The Global Search for Education Community Page Both kinds of anger--the xenophobic kind against outsiders, the righteous kind against money-power--are broad-based, as New Hampshire confirms: Those supporting Trump and Sanders span from young to old; from working-class to middle-class to the wealthy; men and women. That anger is white-hot (the New York Times uses the word "fury"). And that fury is anti-establishment: Burning at the far ends of the political spectrum, this fury scorns the Republican and Democratic powers-that-be perceived to be responsible for the present chaos. Advertisement The bombshell news of the death of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia last Saturday raises the stakes of this election even further, along with the thermostat, if that evening's Republican presidential debate is any sign: After bowing their heads in silence for Scalia, the candidates lit into each other with new levels of viciousness. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell demands President Obama hold off naming Scalia's replacement; Mr. Obama pledges to proceed per his Constitutional duty. We now have an electoral and a Constitutional battle; the anger will scale even higher. An angry public is a volatile one. Historically, anger has fuelled revolutions; it is the "change agent" without peer. Prime example: our own American Revolution. But, mishandled, anger can also blind and end in more chaos, even civil war. We can manage the volatility, as historically Americans have shown. But a happy outcome depends on wise handling of the anger and on the understanding--on the part of the presidential candidates and the electorate--that we are playing with fire. This isn't just another "watershed" election; this one involves the fire brigade. More than the usual partisan tug-of-war for the White House, this election coalesces around forces building for a long time and now bubbling to the fore. Advertisement Trump's campaign theme--"Make America great again"--reflects the anger of those who see America in decline in recent decades, both in the world and at home ("We don't win anymore"). The caricature of a capitalist, he observes the workings of the marketplace, democracy, and international relations and sees winners and losers. This message is a siren call especially to white middle- and working-class Americans who are angry at losing their jobs to globalization, seeing their demographic role shrinking, and whose mortality rates are accelerating vis-a-vis other groups. But rather than honestly addressing our myriad problems and seeking to repair them ourselves, Trump points the finger at others: immigrants, refugees, Muslims, ISIS, China, Japan, Mexico. Forget self-examination, flex muscle. In his New Hampshire victory speech, Trump promised to "rebuild our military" ("It's going to be so big, so strong, so powerful, nobody will mess with us"), "build the wall" (between the U.S. and Mexico), and "start winning again" ("We're going to win so much, you are going to be so happy, we are going to make America so great again, maybe greater than ever before"). Trump also promises to "bomb the [expletive deleted] out of ISIS." It's the mentality of a profoundly insecure individual. But it also appeals to a profoundly insecure country at present. Trump proposes to make America great again by doubling down on a bully's tactics--insults, scorched-earth policy, playing by his own rules, employing tactics like "roughing up" and waterboarding "or worse" (torture). It must be noted that Trump is capitalizing on an angry brew stoked by the GOP for some time now, as traced by a number of observers, including E.J. Dionne in his new book, Why the Right Went Wrong. As the Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes: "Over the decades [the Republicans] pried open a Pandora's box, a toxic politics of fear and resentment, sometimes brewed with a tinge of racial animus, and they could never satisfy the unrealistic expectations that they nurtured among supporters." Sanders' theory of the case--a moral theory--that the economy is rigged in favor of the millionaires and billionaires, who buy the politics they need through unlimited campaign contributions, is having an equally profound impact, especially among those Americans struggling since the 2008 Wall Street-generated financial crash. Seeing the 1 percent reap almost all the rewards in the so-called "recovery," while their own wages remain stagnant, makes Sanders supporters see red. And justifiably so: As Sanders often declares, a founding principle of the American project is the principle of fairness. And basic economic and financial fairness by no means applies at this moment. Americans are singular in world history in their insistence on fairness (even while acknowledging that life itself is not always fair). But in their anger, neither Sanders nor his supporters have mapped out a viable path to that New Day of fairness, income equity, universal healthcare, free public college. Raising the minimum wage to $15 goes only so far; the tax system must be addressed, with major tax hikes required, but Sanders is vague on specifics, other than calling for a "political revolution." The Republican response, should Sanders become the nominee, is predictable: "Seventy-four-year old socialist revolutionary wants to raise your taxes sky-high." Hillary Clinton, who lost resoundingly to Sanders in New Hampshire (38 percent to 60 percent) would be well-advised to address this underlying anger of Sanders supporters--about fairness--and then provide the map to that New Day. If she instead attacks Sanders himself, as she occasionally does, rather than addressing the very American demand for fairness, she will alienate his supporters and, should she become the nominee, in their anger they could sit out the election. Making America great again by invoking first principles like fairness, rather than stoking populist anger: It's the way to go, I believe, but will we? Advertisement Worryingly, on the Republican side, Trump's successes have pushed the rest of the field further to the right, with all of them fanning the populist anger, each trying to be tougher than the other. Even the more moderate John Kasich, who placed second in New Hampshire, advocates building a U.S.-Mexico wall. At least Kasich tries to modulate the anger, by asking Americans to listen to each other more. On the Democratic side, it all depends on Sanders getting more specific, Clinton getting statesmanlike, and both managing, not stoking, liberal anger. It was encouraging to see in the first post-New Hampshire Democratic debate, two days after her loss, Clinton attacking the issues while also mapping out specifics; Sanders, though, remains unspecific. Both would do well to address the angry helplessness that supporters of the GOP candidates feel at America appearing to lose its place in the world. As to the anger in the body politic, various commentators (here and here) warn against making too much of it, arguing such anger is "self-indulgent" and that, compared with the rest of the world, America is doing quite well economically. Maintaining this comparative perspective as the presidential campaign heats up further will be a test. It remains the case, however, that, in absolute terms, many Americans are suffering, thus the appeal of the messages of Sanders and Trump and the anger they variously invoke. Will the general election sort all this out? As to anger in a President: Temperament is not often cited as a quality voters consider in a President, but an angry Donald Trump in the White House would be catastrophic and only accelerate America's decline, especially in the capacity of Commander-in-Chief, brandishing the sword in a tinderbox world. The way to an American Renaissance is through a new Enlightenment, not anger and bombast. Here I salute President Obama, who has been the model of temperance in office on all fronts. Perhaps the Republican fury at him stems from their not being able to knock him off his even keel? That his hair has turned grey in office may bespeak what it takes to hang on to one's keel. That temperance will be tested in the nomination fight over Justice Scalia's seat. History will judge Mr. Obama highly. Advertisement Back to the angry present: We can take heart at the record turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire, also at the record turnout of young people at a time when their anger at a scanty jobs market and crushing college debt might have muted them. Anger: While it can be a propellant endlessly regenerating itself, anger can blind us and, as Shakespeare tell us, make us deaf---to compromise, nuance, specificity; we now disparage the motivation and character of our political opposites. Homer tells of Achilles, whose anger ultimately led to his downfall, anger being his Achilles' heel. With the establishments of both parties sidelined, the onus for handling our anger---at a declining America, at the abrogation of the American principle of fairness---is on the presidential candidates and on us, We the People. If we mind and manage our anger, we could mature as a people and reverse our decline. For my earlier post, "The Speech Hillary Clinton Should Give to the 1 Percent on Capitalism and Income Inequality," see here. Carla Seaquist's latest book, "Can America Save Itself from Decline?: Politics, Culture, Morality," is now out. An earlier book is titled "Manufacturing Hope: Post-9/11 Notes on Politics, Culture, Torture, and the American Character." Also a playwright, she published "Two Plays of Life and Death," which include "Who Cares?: The Washington-Sarajevo Talks" and "Kate and Kafka," and is at work on a play titled "Prodigal." In Tel Aviv, Bauhaus architecture meets the azure waters of the Mediterranean, beach bums with longboards sit at sidewalk cafes sipping strong espresso, and eclectic cuisine fuses European culinary techniques with Arab spices. With creative flair and endless enthusiasm, expats and Israel-born artists, chefs, and designers are paving the way and making Tel Aviv the coolest city in the Mediterranean. Here, four Tel Aviv insiders tell you where to go and what to see in their city. The dining room at Pastel. The heart of the city The White City is the heart of Tel Aviv. It's saturated with a unique collection of Bauhaus buildings; some of them in very bad condition and some newly renovated. The population of this area is pluralistic: families, young and old, affluent and beginners, high culture and low culture. It's a real melting pot. Spend the night Montefiori has just 12 rooms and is an upscale little hotel with very unique and eclectic design. Its restaurant is a hotspot in the city. Advertisement A room at Hotel Montefiore. Soulful reads The Book Worm is full of soul. The owners are two ladies, Ariana and Fanny, who are able to recommend books on almost every topic you are interested in. This bookshop has its own little cafe, which gives the opportunity to sit for a drink and check out a book before making up your mind. No fuss humus Sometimes when we develop a crave for humus, we drive 10 minutes to Jaffa and stop at Abu-Hassan [1 Dolphin St.; no website] near Jaffa's old port for the best humus in town. It's a very typical place in Jaffa: no formalities, no reservations, no choice of your table. You sit where there is a place and share the table with other humus fanatics. It's always a very authentic and a cool experience. Catch the sunset Banana Beach is the best location to drink a beer and to admire the sunset. But go in the early morning, around 6 or 7 am, and you can meet regulars who start their day swimming and drinking a very strong Turkish coffee before going to work. THE CHEF Meir Adoni, chef/owner of various restaurants--Catit, Mizlala, Blue Sky, and Lumina. Sitting at the bar at Mizlala. Favourite neighborhood Neve Tzedek is scattered with 100-year-old fascinating and exciting buildings, which create an architectural mosaic. Also, the peace and tranquility in the alleys combined with the artisan shops, tiny cafes and boutique restaurants create the most exciting neighborhood in Tel Aviv. Colorful market I love the Levinsky Market, which is filled with colors and intoxicating smells of spices, pickles, smoked sausages, cheeses, Turkish pastries and whatever you can think of. It is small but very passionate and reminds us of the markets of Morocco, Turkey and the Middle East in general. As a person who loves to cook food that's passionate, delightful and full of aromas and flavors, this market is an inspiration and a fascinating drawing board. Perfect for people watching I usually do not eat breakfast, but I like to drink my morning coffee while watching the Nahalat Binyamin Street fabric dealers hurry to work alongside business people rushing to banks and security firms that are located around the Catit and Mizlala restaurants. The architecture in the area, the breaking of the morning light and colorful people--these are the things that give me great energy to start the day. Savoury Treat I especially like Cubana, a pastry that came to Israel with the Jews of Yemen. I do a version of it at Mizlala. There are those who call our Cubana the "Yemini Brioche," an airy pastry filled with butter and served with crushed fresh tomato and a few slices of hot pepper. Advertisement THE ARTIST Haifa-native Guy Yanai lives and works in Tel Aviv. His work can be seen at Alon Segev Gallery. Weekend brunch Hotel Montefiori restaurant has the best breakfast. It's relaxed in the morning, with classical music playing, and impeccable service. The crowd is mixed, with locals and foreigners, artsy and business people. I like all of the poached egg things they do. Brunch at Hotel Montefiore. Hipster hangouts I drink Negronis and anything gin based. Har Sinai and Port Said are very fun places to have a drink. For music in an intimate space go to Rothschild 12. Superb dining Without a doubt try any vegetable dish that Eyal Shani serves at Abraxas Tzafon [Lilinblum 40]. His food is always sexy, always fresh, always jaw dropping, and somehow so down-to-earth. Great ingredients The Delicatessen on Yehuda Halevi is my favorite. The place is small but you can pretty much get everything there--from perfect pastries and olives, canned goods and cheeses to wines and seasonal fruit. What else does one need? Advertisement Pastries at Delicatessen. THE DJ Tel Aviv born and bred Yarin Lidor, who recently opened Kuli Alma, a hotspot for light eats and DJ beats. Late night drinks at Kuli Alma. Authentic finds Gelada Studio sells cool t-shirts with playful graphics from around the world, printed in the very neighborhood. Gelada also sells unique stationary, photos, and graphics from local Tel Avivian artists. Caffeine fix Without a doubt Cafelix has the best coffee in town. They have seven different coffee blends, and you can also get pastries and sandwiches. It's located in a peaceful neighborhood off Shlomo Hamelech Street. It's also a great spot for your quiet afternoon chill. Sit on the porch if there's space. Dance the night away I'm subjective to my place, Kuli Alma, but otherwise The Block has the best sound system in town and features the biggest international DJs performing in Tel Aviv. Bars in Tel Aviv are usually lax with smoking and it's pretty much anything goes around here. Late night bite If it's 4am and you're dying for a tasty munch but don't want a fancy schmancy place, go to Itzik & Ruthi, a sandwich place at 53 Sheinkin Street. This place has been running for almost 60 years. Hair of the dog Brown Hotel has a nice cocktail bar that serves a mean Bloody Mary, the perfect cure for a long night out. Advertisement There's an old saying: "Never wrestle with a pig. You both get all dirty, and the pig likes it." The Republican debate of February 13 broke that rule. The candidates mud-wrestled all evening long, and the results were grim. Indeed, the debate only confirmed my belief that the nominating contest is fast devolving into a race between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. The Establishment candidates meanwhile -- Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Marco Rubio -- did themselves no favors. Let's first perform an autopsy and then assess where the contest goes from there. We must start with Trump. Regrettably, John Dickerson and his co-panelists decided to address the opening question of most of the rounds to Trump. He was asked the first question about filling the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. He was next asked the first question on foreign policy. The same pattern held true in the third round, which concerned "money." Dickerson may or may not have intended it, but he and his co-panelists created an atmosphere in which Trump and his answers helped to frame not only the night's agenda, but the issues that will be on voters' minds in South Carolina next weekend. The questioning, in other words, served to frame the contest as a referendum on Trump and Trumpism. Advertisement So, what is on the table if the primary becomes a referendum on Trumpism? First there is the Trump style -- bellicose, demagogic, and bombastic. He seethed, he raged, he taunted his fellow candidates and denounced them as "liars." The audience played along with the show. This the audience should not have done. They booed, they jeered, they catcalled, they behaved like it was ringside at some professional wrestling venue. I half-expected a chair to come flying from one of the balconies. The entire spectacle lacked the decency or decorum demanded of a presidential election. But there is more to Trumpism than his obnoxious style. There are also his issues. Trump is right to want to protect Social Security benefits. American senior citizens are facing mounting financial difficulties. They have steep levels of mortgage debt, auto debt, and even student-loan debt, some of which is surely the result of co-signing on their children's or grand-children's borrowing. Seniors worked for their Social Security benefits, they earned their benefits, and those benefits should remain untouched. Trump is also partly-right in his defense of workers' rights. He expressed his sympathies for the 1,400 workers laid off by Carrier Corporation in its recent decision to relocate manufacturing facilities. And, truly, displaced workers need our sympathy and support. Advertisement Trump, however, is absolutely wrong to oppose international trade. Rather, we must ensure that future trade agreements make generous provisions for the rights of labor. International trade should become a means of growing the world's standard of living, and that is done by lifting workers up. But even if Trump is right on Social Security and half-right on workers' rights, he is an utterly unworthy representative of these causes. His racism, his xenophobia, and his obvious emotional instability all disqualify him from elective office. Seniors and workers must avoid the siren song that is Trump. And this gets us to the heart of Trumpism, which is nativism and xenophobia. Shall we be a welcoming nation? Shall we regard the newcomers in our midst as equally worthy of respect with those whose families have been here for centuries? Trumpism rejects an open and welcoming view of the world, and Trumpism must be repudiated on those grounds. Unfortunately, the principal alternative to Trumpism, at least within the Republican Party, is also unacceptable. Ted Cruz is rapidly positioning himself as Trump's only viable opponent. Cruz has strong credentials as a lawyer. He is a former Supreme Court clerk and former Solicitor General of the State of Texas. Even before the death of Justice Scalia, he had made the future composition of the Supreme Court a major focus of his campaign. The sudden death of Justice Scalia now allows Cruz to exploit this particular strength. At least where Republican primary voters are concerned, Cruz carries a certain degree of credibility on judicial matters and he will now stress that part of his resume even more forcefully. He will make the Supreme Court the centerpiece of his candidacy and by extension seek and gain the increasing support of social conservatives. Advertisement Like Trump, however, Cruz lacks the capacity and temperament to serve as president. He has few supporters among Republican office-holders and is an extremist on matters like church and state and in his opposition to gay marriage. In his brief Senate career, he systematically sabotaged Congress and prevented action on important legislation, all in a ruthless quest for self-advancement. With this track record, it is hard to see how he governs as president. The candidates fought intensely over George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. In the end, I don't think this argument greatly influences the outcome of the primary in South Carolina or elsewhere. Aside from ISIS and terrorism, Republican voters are not thinking deeply about foreign policy. We must remember what is moving the voting public this election cycle. It is commonly described as "anger," and there is certainly a great deal of anger in the air. But behind the anger, there is also despair. Many people really have seen their lives move backwards since the Great Recession -- whether because of lost jobs, or lost benefits, or because of the heartbreak one feels when one's children have it worse than you did. These voters are simply not excited by appeals over who was right or wrong about September 11. They want to know who will make their lives better. And it is this despair that is being cynically and tragically manipulated and exploited by this field of candidates. The Establishment candidates did a poor job of explaining why they should be elected president. Jeb Bush stood up for his family. He praised his father, he defended his brother, and announced that he "won the lottery" with his mother. In all of this, he sounded like a tin-eared successor to the Habsburgs or the Romanovs, only less intellectually curious and more reactionary. John Kasich came across as decent and well-intentioned, but in over his head. Marco Rubio was, well, himself, all striving, no substance. To describe this moment in the GOP contest, I must resort to the Greek literature I studied in college. There is Aristophanes, the comic writer, and there is Sophocles, the tragedian. Truly, this contest is veering between these two extremes. On the one hand, there is a dark, absurdist quality hanging over this field. "Cloud Cuckoo Land" was the imaginary republic Aristophanes dreamed up as his plot device in The Birds, and you can close your eyes and imagine anyone of these candidates reigning gloriously in that comic-opera land of myth and make-believe. Advertisement Still, beneath the humor lies unspeakable tragedy. This nominating contest is proving to be the final denouement of the fates and frenzies that were set in motion a half-century ago when Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon implemented their infamous southern strategy. They unleashed the hellish hounds of racism and resentment that is now tearing apart the right wing. "Shall we dance?" I say to my bride on Valentine's Day. My arms outstretched, Ceci places her hands in mine, and I draw her in close. Our eyes meet and time melts away. Dance and love is all. Dance in various forms has been an unbroken thread in our relationship. When I met Ceci in 1996, she'd journeyed from Chiapas, Mexico to Montclair State University in northern New Jersey to earn her graduate degree in education in one intensive calendar year. An inveterate dancer, she somehow found time to venture to New York City each weekend and continue her dance training, at Martha Graham School. And she found time to take a weekly lesson with yours truly. Ceci and I took our first dance class together in the fall of 1996, after spotting an announcement posted on the bulletin board at the cafe where I convened weekly Socrates Cafes. It promised to teach us the rudiments of Western Swing, Salsa, Rumba. Until then, my relationship with dance had been of a wayward, styleless, fair-weather sort. In my more youthful years, my stabs at it were limited to rather campy disco and simple line dancing. Advertisement I demonstrated remarkable ineptness at learning the most basic steps during those first classes. But my frustration was mitigated by Ceci's patient encouragement and insistence that she couldn't have asked for a better partner. I stayed with it, practiced in my spare time. I improved. Ceci's movements were elegant, languorous. She watched the instructor demonstrate a new step, and she'd match it. It took me more time. Still, my workmanlike, earnest movements became smoother. I learned to guide Ceci. I became less self-conscience, practiced enough to lose myself on occasion in the rhythm. Ceci studied philosophy as an undergraduate in teeming Mexico City. Like me, she was a particular aficionado of German philosopher and social critica Friedrich Niezsche, a devotee of dance. Ceci and I subscribe to Nietzsche's generous conception of what dance amounts to; it encompasses, as he puts it in Twilight of the Idols, "dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words." Advertisement He might have noted that dance itself can be an inquiry, a searching and problng exploration. Dancing at its most sublime, to Ceci, is of that sort. At age 15, she was accepted in the Martha Graham School. Several times a week, she traversed teeming Mexico City, braving on her own its dicey public transit system to get to dance calss. Nothing would stop her from immersing herself in the world of modern and jazz dance and ballet, then returning home alone in the late hours. Ceci continued with dance even while juggling demanding university studies. She only parted company with the Martha Graham School when she moved to Chiapas in 1995, where she lived and worked as teacher in an indigenous community. My relationship with Ceci started as a dance of minds, all the way back in late summer 1996, at a Socrates Cafe I convened in Montclair, New Jersey. Ceci was the sole person who showed up - the first and only time this has ever happened. She and I sat across from one another at a table and explored the question, "What is love?" I was so taken by her beauty that I didn't always attend carefully to the philosophical pearls she shared. When I asked a question more than once, she patiently repeated her response, the picture of politeness. She knew what was what. Near the midpoint of our tete-a-tete, the impossible thought occurred to me that if all unfolded as the diehard romantic in me was already dreaming it might, I'd have ample time in the future to continue exploring this eternal question, and many others as well. We married 18 months later. Ceci has been my modern Diotima, a reincarnation of Socrates' great teacher about love, a whirling dervish of piercing insights on matters of the mind and heart. Over the years, we have explored thousands of questions -- some just between the two of us, some with the thousands of people around the globe who've engage with us in a Socrates Cafe, others with our two daughters -- Cali, who lives for ballet, was entered the world with the assistance of a midwife exactly ten years to the day Ceci and I first met, and Cybele, born in 2013 on our nation's real Independence Day, July 2, and has never met a rhythm she didn't like and couldn't master. Advertisement Anyone who's taken part in a Socratic Cafe dialogue that's worth its salt experiences a kind of dance, a do-si-do in which all involved link their figurative hands and hearts circle around a theme, twirling around this idea and that. Dance is an inquiry, a search, at times halting, tentative, at others a deep dive with no hesitancy. It is a spirited delving into and exploration of dimensions for which words don't suffice. It makes me a better life partner, better lover, better dad. Dance heightens my romance with life and those in my life. Nietzsche characterizes dance as "a blissful, peaceful state of motion. It is the artist's and the philosopher's vision of happiness." I'll buy that. Now here Ceci and I are, on Valentine's Day, nearly twenty years after we first met, dancing once again. My wife and I look at one another, lean back, clasp hands. A distance is bridged, a chasm traversed, two hearts beating as one. Tenses have lost most of their significance. I am not so much swept up in the moment, as part of the moment. If my face is in any way a reflection of Ceci's, it reveals a childlike exuberance, a joy-filled state, a reawakening, a rekindling, a bridging. Advertisement The Democratic debate in Wisconsin presented a fascinating contrast of two very different approaches for conducting a political campaign. One candidate focused on presenting ideas and positions for the voters to evaluate. The other candidate focused on destroying the opponent. Bernie Sanders attempted to spend his allotted time on explaining his views directly, openly, and honestly about the most important issues confronting our society and how he would seek to solve them. But he was repeatedly knocked off track and was forced to spend much of his time responding to attacks and mischaracterizations against him. He did not attempt to distort the positions of his opponent. Advertisement Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, put on a masterful display of the dark art of politics. The issues she presented were selected not due to their importance to our society or to voters. Instead, she focused on issues that were carefully designed to magnify and exploit the political vulnerabilities of her opponent. And she has no ethical compunctions whatsoever about shamefully mischaracterizing her opponent in order to score political points for herself. These differences were framed right at the beginning of the debate in the opening statements. Bernie described how the central issue facing our society today is how the wealthy class now disproportionately controls our entire system through political contributions, and this results in harming ordinary people in the middle and lower classes. In Hillary's opening statement, she appealed directly to African Americans, immigrants, and women. This was no accident. She didn't just pull this out of a hat. Instead, this reflects a very shrewd political calculation. Hillary is seeking to exploit Bernie's weakness with African Americans as the campaign heads into the South Carolina primary elections that will include a large population of African American voters, and Bernie's weakness with immigrants as the campaign heads into the Nevada caucuses that will include a large population of immigrant voters. And Hillary is also seeking to undermine Bernie's success with women voters. So we see that lurking behind every statement from Hillary lies some sort of a calculated political motive. Advertisement Throughout the entire debate, Hillary repeatedly tried to associate herself with President Barack Obama. It was rather humorous, actually. Example after example, over and over again, Hillary presented herself as being aligned with Obama. She mentioned that a super PAC that had previously supported Obama now desires to support her. She said she was proud that Obama listened to her advice on greenlighting the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. She praised Obama for supporting causes that benefit African Americans. She said that both she and Obama enjoy support from small donors, dubiously elevating her level of grassroots support to that of Obama. And she repeated her common line that Obama trusted her enough to appoint her as secretary of state. In perhaps the most shameless example of coopting Obama for her own political purposes, when Hillary is questioned about the vast sums of money she has raised from Wall Street, her answer is that Obama also raised money from Wall Street. The problem with this is that it doesn't make it right. But no matter. Hillary's little device of associating herself with Obama was no coincidence. It was another shrewd political calculation. Hillary is seeking to exploit the vote of African Americans. Obama is extremely popular among African Americans, so Hillary is trying to appeal to these voters by implying that she is the candidate who is most closely aligned with Obama, and thus African Americans should all vote for her over Bernie. Hillary didn't stop there. She went even further and underhandedly tried to turn African Americans against Bernie by falsely claiming that Bernie is opposed to Obama. Advertisement In what was the absolute low-point of the entire debate, and possibly of the entire Democratic campaign, Hillary blasted Bernie for calling Obama "weak" and "a disappointment." She went on to say that Bernie's criticism "about our President I expect from Republicans, I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama." A stunned Bernie responded appropriately. "Madam Secretary," he said, "that is a low blow." But the damage had been done. Bernie was then forced to defend his long history of being a staunch supporter of Obama. And he explained that his criticism of Obama was merely a healthy exercise of democracy. Bernie did manage to slip-in the rather humorous point that, in fact, it was Hillary who had run against Obama and tried to prevent Obama from ever becoming president in the first place. Nonetheless, Hillary's political ruthlessness is on full display here in her effort to smear Bernie in the eyes of the critical voting block of African Americans. In another example of Hillary's political shrewdness, she kept repeating that it was important for the candidates to "level" with the American people, and that they should not make promises they could not keep. Then Hillary would talk about the costliness of Bernie's proposals, like healthcare and free college tuition. She was essentially accusing Bernie of lying about the costs and feasibility of his proposals. She, on the other hand, said that she would not wish to throw the nation into debt. She said that Bernie's proposals would expand the size of the federal government by 40 percent. Ouch. Bernie was again forced back on his heels to explain that all of his proposals are paid for. Advertisement Bernie managed to make the great point on healthcare that other large countries around the world pay less for healthcare and provide better service, so we in America could do this as well. The problem in America, he explained, is tied to his central campaign theme that large corporations use their political influence to block meaningful reform. But Hillary had already cunningly cast a cloud over Bernie's proposals. Hillary also maligned Bernie for voting against an immigration bill in 2007, thereby creating the misleading impression that Bernie was against immigrants. This again was no accident. Hillary was shrewdly smearing Bernie in the eyes of immigrants on the eve of the Nevada caucuses where immigrant voters are numerous and the issues surrounding immigration loom large. Again, Bernie was back on his heels defending himself. He explained that the reason he voted against the bill is because it was bad for immigrants. Many immigrant rights groups, Latino rights groups, and progressive groups also opposed the bill. So by voting against it, he was in fact voting in favor of immigrants. But this is a bit confusing, so Hillary still landed the blow, even if it was below the belt. So which candidate should voters prefer? The candidate who is more sincere about important issues and solutions? Or the candidate who is better at underhanded political attacks? If we fall for political manipulators in elections, then our government will be filled with nothing more than political manipulators and we will be very dissatisfied with the actual performance of government. Advertisement Several aspects of the Children and Adult Immunization Clinic have changed in recent years, including adding "adult" to the name of the clinic. The clinic now operates by appointments, uses an electronic filing system and bills insurance for vaccinations. Vaccinations are now paid for by insurance companies -- previously they were sponsored by the state. An administrative fee may apply to each patients visit to the clinic. For many years, there were free immunization clinics that were a service to communities, said Diane Vicars, director of marketing for Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center. Hospitals provided the manpower and the state provided the vaccinations. Because the Affordable Care Act and insurance saw vaccinations as preventative and covered by insurance, the state the government said, Insurance will pay for this. Lets not pay for this. Lets make sure clinics are set up to bill insurance. By this time, technology was plenty advanced to handle appointments, patient information and bill pay, Vicars said. Several things came into play that just made it the right thing to do to have insurance pay for it, and not the government, she said. If a patient doesnt have insurance, he or she can still get vaccinated free of charge. Now, the clinic bills the proper players, but they still offer it for free because the goal is to keep every child healthy, Vicars said. The clinic, located in the Parkview center near South Eighth Street and Tait Avenue, is run by Beatrice Community Hospital in partnership with Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. No child will be turned away due to inability to pay," said Laura DeBoer, a registered nurse and the immunization coordinator at the clinic. We want everybody to get their shots, so well work with them and do what we have to do. Staff at the clinic consists of two receptionists and two registered nurses who both administer shots and educate about vaccinations. Our role at the clinics is to educate and provide vaccinations, DeBoer said. If patients have any concerns, we tell them to ask their family physician. We follow guidelines by the CDC. The Centers for Disease Control and DHHS websites list when children and adults need what shots. The word adult was added to the title of the Beatrice clinic in January 2015, though it had always offered services to all ages. DeBoer said the number of adult patients at the clinic has tripled since two years ago. Between January 2015 and January 2016, the clinic administered 2,201 shots to children and about 586 to adults. About 400 of those were given to adults off-site at places such as Homestead Village, Parkview Village, Samaritan Springs, DeWitt Community Center and First State Bank in Pickrell. We do whatever we can to get everybody their shot, DeBoer said. Shots commonly given to adults help prevent the flu, shingles, pneumonia, adult chickenpox and hepatitis B, as well as other illnesses including whooping cough. Patients seeking vaccinations for rarer illnesses such as typhoid or yellow fever are referred to a clinic in Lincoln. We serve people from Marysville (Kansas), Hebron, Pawnee City, transient people, people here for work, as well as local and area residents, DeBoer said. DeBoer said the clinic works closely with area schools. Kindergartners are required by the state to receive a second chickenpox vaccination, a second MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) shot and their last DTaP shot, which helps prevent diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio. Seventh graders also receive vaccinations. Vaccinations are important because it keeps not only kiddos healthy, but everyone around them healthy, DeBoer said. It promotes a healthier society. We dont want anyone in the hospital with something that could have been prevented. As of 2010, there are 82 immunization clinics in Nebraska. If you can't be with the one you love, which is more romantic, a voicemail or an email? You might think, "Voicemail, since it is more personal, conveys more feeling, has the words and music." Two California State University researchers would have agreed with you. And all of you would be wrong. A recent Atlantic Monthly article describes how researchers measured the physiological responses of individuals composing either romantic emails or voicemails and found that the written word sets hearts more aflutter when compared to leaving our loving feelings "after the beep" Media naturalness theory contends that the further we venture from face-to-face communication, the less natural and effective our efforts to connect become. This theory contends that the less communication is face to face the more likely it will decrease physiological arousal, and arouse fewer emotions. Advertisement It makes intuitive sense, what could be more intimate than the sound of a human voice? It seems, though, that writing an email arouses deeper emotions within the composer, indicated by the movement of facial muscles, and sweaty hands and feet. That might not sound romantic to you, but it is the physiological arousal that accompanies emotional experience - the experience of an emotion. Emails contain a greater amount of evocative and positive language resulting in more thoughtful and explicit communiques, compared to voicemails. The authors also expected that using email for romantic communication would be more frustrating than using voicemail- for one, they take longer. But why were emailers more aroused? Was it the thought of their beloved? In attempting to explain their results, the researchers pondered that "senders engage with email messages longer and may think about the task more deeply than when leaving voicemails. This extra processing may increase arousal." Admit it, who doesn't get turned on by a little "extra processing?" In leaving a voicemail, we are engaged in simultaneously creating and then delivering a message, even if our goal is to convey our loving feeling: Live, on-stage -- one take, no revisions. Many people leave them as they attend to other tasks. Writing is different, even if our chosen medium is the humble email, as this research suggests. When we attempt to articulate our tender feelings in writing, we enter an inner dialogue of self-exploration: we forage for the more precise word, the more resonant phrasing. If the writing is done with particular care and attention, there is a Goldilocks quality to it: We rustle through an assortment of terms, discarding one, perhaps as "too weak" or another "too ordinary" until we settle upon the one that is "just right". In doing so, we have discovered something about ourselves: "This is closer to how I really feel...this expresses me best." What gets aroused is something like "Eureka!-I found it!". I found a more explicit means of expressing an important experience- the answer to the question: "How do I love thee?" Doing so also acquaints me with the most updated version of who I am. Advertisement When I was about 10 years old, my parents went on a "Marriage Encounter" weekend through our church. When they came home, they were a little scary - to me, at least. They seemed like different people. They were affectionate in their words and actions. They seemed to enjoy each other's company more than I had ever seen. The crux of their "encounter" I later discovered, centered on making dialogues with each other via writing. This was a radical departure for a World War II era conventional marriage between a Brooklyn Italian and her Midwestern Irish farm boy husband. I admit that I snuck a peek at their "composition notebook"- and what I remember most are descriptions of moments: "the time you were so mad and all you could say was "VOOM!" and then we both laughed like crazy..." They reflected on those moments they felt most connected to and some of the moments that scared them to death. They used writing to first crystallize those events into feelings and then share what made that fleeting moment so significant. I do not think they would have ever come close to that kind of intimacy if not for the scrawls in that tattered notebook. It allowed them to look inward and reveal something neither of them would ever do otherwise. They could express what made them feel loved and what scared them. They admitted being vulnerable- that the other had the power to make them feel many things. If we take the time to write to our beloved, sharing those now clarified feelings, we are choosing exposure; we are risking intimacy, choosing to make ourselves vulnerable. Vulnerability can be terrifying, but as Brene Brown argues in her excellent book, Daring Greatly, characterizing it as: "the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path." Advertisement Why is this so? In my experience, vulnerability - often the exposure of our own fear and pain - can feel like giving someone a weapon to use on you at some later date. But risking vulnerability, revealing where we can be hurt, also opens the door to greater understanding of ourselves and our partners. If we want to be understood, we have to venture revealing what often acutely feels to be private, even secret. Sharing our secrets, our Achilles heels, is made a little less fearsome by writing. By sharing, and inviting the same from a lover, we better grasp what the ancient Greek meant by: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a difficult battle"- we are imperfect, we each falter, we all fall. "Understanding is love's other name...Your understanding of your own suffering helps your loved one to suffer less." wrote Thich Nhat Hanh, All this is possible via email? Well, it won't happen in a voicemail. Whether it's an email, shared Google doc or old skool pencil and paper, the act of writing can reveal that our rivers run deeper than we might assume. The empirically supported 21 minute writing exercise is "new and improved" way of couples can write themselves closer to each other. WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 11: Activists in orange jump suit participate in a rally in front of the White House to demand the closure of Guantanamo Bay detention camp January 11, 2016 in Washington, DC. Activists staged the rally to call on President Barack Obama to keep his promise to shut down the detention site in Cuba. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) On Tuesday, the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay are scheduled to start up again, this time hearing yet more procedural arguments in the case against the five alleged plotters of the 9/11 attacks. More than 14 years after the attacks, not only haven't the men been tried yet, but lawyers are still arguing over a host of questions that are totally irrelevant to whether the men are guilty. These include: Advertisement 1) Can female military guards at Guantanamo escort the defendants from their cells without violating their religion? 2) When will the Defense Department provide the detainees' lawyers with a translator with the necessary security clearances who wasn't previously working for the CIA and implicated in their clients' torture? and 3) Are the defendants getting proper medical treatment for the conditions that apparently resulted from the CIA abuse? None of this seems to be getting us any closer to a trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four alleged al Qaeda compatriots. Although the case was filed in this latest version of the commissions four years ago, no trial date has yet been set. Advertisement Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a petition from another Guantanamo detainee charged in the military commissions, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who's asking the court to dismiss the charges against him. Charged with plotting the bombing of a U.S. Navy ship docked in Yemen in 2000, al-Nashiri has likewise been at Guantanamo for nearly a decade without a trial. His lawyers claim his case doesn't belong in the military commissions at all, because the military courts were created to try war crimes, and in 2000, the United States was not at war. It's a good point. Both of these cases highlight a key question: Why is the Obama administration pursuing these prosecutions in the military commissions at all? Widely criticized for their delays and ineptitude, the commissions are hardly the appropriate venue for trying the deadliest acts of terrorism ever committed against the United States. U.S. federal courts, on the other hand, have successfully tried hundreds of alleged terrorists. The civilian justice system also has far more laws holding terrorists accountable than does the military system, which, as al-Nashiri's case underscores, has extremely limited jurisdiction. Vehicles drive at reduced speed on February 13, 2016 on the A43 highway near Chignin towards ski resorts during a crossover of people going to or coming from the ski stations during the school holidays. / AFP / Jean-Pierre CLATOT (Photo credit should read JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP/Getty Images) President Obama has proposed a $10 barrel fee on crude oil to be imposed on oil companies. The fee--to be phased in over five years--would be imposed upstream, presumably at the refinery level. Crude oil exports would not be included in the proposal. The tax--let's call it what it is--would fund both the beleaguered Highway Trust Fund, which is presently being sustained by cannibalizing other public assets and budget accounts, plus R&D to lead the U.S. towards a clean transportation economy. Advertisement The proposal has already been pronounced "dead on arrival" by the person who counts most--House Speaker Paul Ryan. His House majority will not support anything to do with clean transportation or a new tax, and this proposal would do both. Instead of imposing a new oil tax on travelers alone, what if Congress traded the gas tax for the Obama proposal--getting rid of the federal gas tax altogether? On examination, such a proposal makes more sense since it both helps the driver at the pump and recapitalizes the Highway Trust Fund. Here's why. First, it is important to understand that the federal gas tax is a consumption tax, not a sales tax--though some states impose an additional sales tax on gasoline as well. Since the transportation sector represents about 70 percent of total oil consumption while passenger and truck consumption represents about 80 percent of transportation oil consumption, the actual incremental tax per gallon on refined gasoline and diesel fuel sold under the Obama proposal is about 18 cents a gallon. This is almost precisely the present federal tax on gasoline of 18.4 cents. However, switching from a retail fuel consumption tax (the federal gas tax) to an upstream oil consumption tax (the Obama proposal), would yield no new net revenues from transportation oil consumers. So what's the point? The point is that transportation oil consumers are not all oil consumers. About 25 percent of crude oil is consumed either as oil feedstocks in the industrial and commercial sectors (primarily petro-chemicals but also other petroleum products such as asphalt and natural gas liquids). An additional 4 percent is consumed in commercial, industrial and residential heating. Oil consumed as feedstocks are presently not taxed. The tax collected on home heating oil can be waived or refunded. Taxing oil consumption in these other sectors would increase revenues by almost 25 percent while making the oil tax structure more equitable. Advertisement Second, no tax is now imposed on oil consumed in the oil refining process itself. However, if oil consumers are going to pay an oil consumption tax it is only fair that the oil refiners pay the tax on oil consumed in crude oil processing as well. Since oil refiners are now prospering from the very low price of the oil feedstocks they consume, they can well afford to pay a tax on that consumption. There is a reason Warren Buffett is gobbling up stock in the largest pure-play refinery stock on the market--Phillips 66. Let's bring the refiners into the tax tent. Third, there is presently no oil consumption tax paid on the export of refined oil products. About 20 percent of all domestically refined oil products are exported. If the oil consumption tax were collected at the refinery level, that tax would already be "baked into" the price of the exported product. That would significantly increase total oil tax revenues at no increased cost to the U.S. consumer, while also encouraging refiners to sell their refined products into U.S. markets, thus reducing net oil imports. The Obama proposal, however, has two clear flaws. First, the proposal seeks to implement the tax gradually over five years, while keeping the full gas tax on top of this tax. Instead, it would make more sense to impose the full tax now, while the price of oil is at historic lows--and then eliminate the gas tax gradually as the price of oil rises. A six-cent cut in the gas tax when the average six-month oil price hits $50, $60, and $70 would do it. Second, make it an ad valorum tax so revenues remain stable as the price of oil rises (and gas tax revenues decrease) while keeping the gas tax as a revenue buffer if oil prices, and thus oil revenues, fall further from present levels. By applying the oil tax to all consumers of domestic oil products, not just U.S. transportation consumers, the Obama proposal would significantly increase total oil consumption tax revenues. By gradually eliminating the gas tax as oil prices rise, the transportation consumer is protected from paying two taxes at the same time--the gas tax and the oil tax. In both cases the Highway Trust Fund revenue problem is solved, regardless of whether the additional revenues fund clean transportation programs. Note: As fun as conspiracy theories might be, this piece is satire, except for the references to Dr. Bronner's. Justice Scalia was a friend and colleague of my father-in-law, and they worked together on the administrative law section of the ABA. He was at the opposite end of the political spectrum from Scalia, but greatly enjoyed his friendship and his humor. Nothing written here should be taken to diminish Antonin Scalia, or those who mourn his passing, in any respect. When I was in my teens, I used to love reading the screeds of Lyndon LaRouche and various Trotskyite factions pasted on walls and the outside of mail boxes in New York. Even Dr. Bronner's Christian mystic rant about the unity of faith. There is something pure and liberating in a good rant. The more unhinged the better. It works better than waterboarding to suss out the fanatics in the world around us. Then came the World Wide Web. Dr. Bronner's unleashed. Every person their own bottle of soap, free to inscribe what they will. Advertisement And so it was this morning, the day after Antonin Scalia was found dead at a ranch in West Texas. From natural causes. Sure. Like that story was going to hold up. It is now widely accepted across the web -- now, there is an oxymoron -- that Scalia was murdered. According to a recent poll of 400 Likely Conspiracy Believers published at RealClear Conspiracies, 52% of those polled reject the official accounting of Scalia's death. Of those who reject the official accounting, 67% suggest that Barack Obama was responsible, seeking to change America; 42% believe he was killed by the Clintons, because it is what they do; while 22%, mostly under the age of 29, believe it was a collaborative effort of Obama and Hillary seeking to undermine Bernie's attacks on Wall Street. (Huh?) Of these explanations, only the second one holds any water. Obviously Obama didn't do it. Obama knows exactly what he's doing, as Marco Rubio explained over and over. If this was the path he was going to take, he would have done it last year. As is normally the case, these accusations mask a deeper explanation, that may never be uncovered. It may sound a bit too close to Pelican Brief, or an Oliver Stone film, but there are times when reality imitates art. So here goes. Advertisement Antonin Scalia was murdered by a right-wing, evangelical Christian, Texas oilman billionaire. We will call him Sheldon, just to keep things anonymous. Any similarity to Sheldon Adelson is purely unintended. After all, Sheldon is a Jew from Boston. If he was going to do it, Scalia would have died in his sleep at a resort in Macao, or on a settler outpost on the West Bank. The other Sheldon, the one who had Scalia put down, is a courageous Christian who has invested tens of millions of dollars in Ted Cruz's campaign. Cruz's election is critical to him for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the oldest and most compelling rationale for these things. Money. The value of Sheldon's oil holdings have been destroyed by the decline in price of oil from $100 per barrel down to $25. The driver of continued weakness in global oil markets is the looming entry of millions of barrels of new supply coming onto world markets from Iran. This was made possible by the Iran nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions. Ted Cruz has committed to tearing up the Iran deal on his first day in office and reimposing sanctions on the mullahs. The two largest looming impediments to the election of Ted Cruz are the U.S. Constitution and Donald Trump. The greatest irony of Scalia's death is that the passing of the titan of Constitutional originalism benefits no one more than it does Ted Cruz, a man who fashions himself as the greatest patriotic defender of the words of the Constitution. While the kerfuffle around whether Ted Cruz is a "natural born" citizen -- a requirement under the Constitution for being President of the United States -- seems to have died down, the simple truth is that to a Constitutional originalist, Cruz is manifestly not eligible for the highest office in the land. Unless, of course, as the other Constitutionalist in the race, Rand Paul, suggested, the land is Canada. Advertisement Sheldon, like Cruz himself, understood that his eligibility to serve was likely to be tested. They both had great faith in Scalia's fealty to the words of the Constitution, and that as much as Cruz was his preferred candidate, the words were clear. Scalia stood as the greatest obstacle to a majority vote in favor of Cruz when the issue came before the Court. Then there remained the Trump factor. Trump demolished Cruz in the New Hampshire vote across all demographic and political categories, but more devastating was that Cruz only polled 8% among non-evangelical voters. His sophisticated turnout strategy had worked brilliantly in Iowa, but if he were to drive other voter groups to his corner -- libertarians and non-evangelical conservatives most notably -- he needed to turn up the flame on the urgency of the campaign, and draw attention to his deep conservative credentials. One might have thought that killing Justice Ginsburg would have been a more likely target -- after all, it would draw attention to the Court without costing the Court its greatest herald of conservative jurisprudence, but -- in addition to the risks that Scalia presented to Cruz's eligibility to serve -- Scalia was the titan of the right, and nothing, absolutely nothing, would drive turnout from the conservative quarters more than the prospect of Barack Hussein Obama appointing Scalia's replacement. Except, perhaps, giving that power to a New York reality show billionaire with deep liberal credentials. For Sheldon, it was all on the line: his fortune; the oil markets; the Iran deal; Ted Cruz's eligibility to serve; The prospect of Donald Trump holding the future of the nation and the Court in his hands. Scalia's visit to the ranch in West Texas solved all his problems. Someday, Michael Moore may make a movie about this. Until then, Scalia's death will remain fodder for conspiracy theories and outrage on the right, pushing into the background the more likely explanation that is hiding there in plain site. And that is exactly what Sheldon is counting on. Valentine's Day! The day of romance named for a Christian martyr dates back to the 5th century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia and is recognized as a significant cultural and commercial celebration in many regions around the world. More... to give you an idea about the value of its cultural and commercial power in the United States alone: It's a $13.5 billion industry; almost 200 million roses are produced and distributed just for the day; 53% of women said that they would end their relationships if they didn't receive a card or gift and some 11,000 babies are conceived on average... see Barbara Streisand's view in Funny Girl... Advertisement However, I leave it to you to follow up on your country's statistics and share them, as you will. Suffice it to say -- it is a global phenomenon. Truth is my interest isn't in the Day itself -- but, rather in one of its critical and powerful drivers of commerce... and that is DELIVERY... same day or otherwise, as so many of those cards, gifts, flowers and such are meant to be delivered by others -- in time to make the impression that was intended. The Big Data starts flowing; the powerful algorithm starts cranking; the digital magic starts streaming and once again we have created true, high-value disruption... getting "stuff" in people's hands in ways never before contemplated... quickly, cheaply, for free even... changing the course of human behavior and altering the world for all time... NOT! PURE AND UNADULTERATED DIGIBABBLE!!! Listen from this week's New York Times, "Startup Delivery Services Run into a Reality": Trying to duplicate what local pizza shops have been doing for decades -- usually for free -- is not necessarily innovation... Investors put more than $730 million on companies like DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates from early 2014 through the first half of 2015, according to data from CB Insights, a venture capital analytics firm. The hope was that once these companies became big enough, they'd be very profitable... But as delivery start-ups like Kozmo.com and Webvan discovered in the dot-com boom, getting to that point is not easy. For starters, you have to pay for drivers. Then you have to cut deals...and manage orders from customers. And you have to find lots of people willing to pay a premium... Will this new generation be a cautionary tale for the next generation of...delivery start-ups? Perhaps not. But turning this tricky business into a profitable enterprise is proving, yet again, to be elusive. And then again... will people pay a premium or expect it for free? Said another way... will they be lured into addiction by companies losing massive amounts of money to "build a customer base" and then be hit with high costs when dependency hits the tipping point... when I need that Valentine delivered so my relationship doesn't hit the rocks.... The "Last Mile" is typically the term used to describe this "new and exciting" opportunity so ripe for investment and subsequent disruption. As a term, it is particularly well suited to Digibabble, as it has been used to refer to technological issues - that is, the final connection between a network and a consumer/final user where the data/information/signal/whatever leaves the "firehose" and enters the narrower capillaries of non-commercial pipes. It also refers to the final journey of any package when it leaves the huge machinery of global distribution and enters that last leg to you. Interesting that around the world, the last competitive value of any Postal System is the Last Mile...unless you actually believe that millions of drones will be the solution... more on that later. Advertisement The upshot of all of this has been a huge amount of investment... with little to show for it... From yet another New York Times piece on the delivery dilemma -- "Delivery Startups Face Bumps in Quests to Capture Untapped Market": Based on a belief that the companies would succeed once they grew to enormous scale, investors poured more than $730 million into delivery firms like DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates from early 2014 through the first half of 2015, up more than 1,100 percent from the same period a year and a half ago, according to data from CB Insights, a venture capital analytics firm. But entrepreneurs and investors are beginning to find that the economics of making a delivery service work are far from easy. The problems are rooted in the high operating costs of the start-ups, which typically act as middlemen between consumers and restaurants or grocery stores. The companies not only have to pay for large fleets of drivers, they also have big groups of employees who receive customer orders from the apps and who then manually make calls to the restaurants to order food. At the same time, to attract customers, many of the start-ups offer introductory prices and discounts, often making delivery free for first-time users. Hmmm... so you need drivers? Customer service? You mean it costs money? And yes -- lots of money given away to hook the newbies. Yet, as if The Last Mile wasn't enough of a challenge, Amazon -- no doubt feeling that they have licked that problem at least with their investors -- has begun to focus elsewhere... At first it seemed like Amazon was focusing solely on the last mile, or local delivery. That's where things like drones would come into play, or even Amazon-owned trucks and vans. But then there were reports in December of Amazon leasing its own jet planes to use for cross-country delivery, which certainly wouldn't qualify for the last mile. Subsequently, there was a report that Amazon might be buying a French shipping company called Colis Prive, in which Amazon already has a 25% stake. Again, probably not for the last mile. Most recently, Amazon China has registered to operate as an ocean freight forwarder in the U.S., meaning that Amazon can deliver products from China to the U.S. on its own ships." -- The Street Is Amazon becoming a logistics company and just outsourcing merchandising to others? And interesting to see how Amazon is copying Postal Services and building lockers for personal delivery...not drone-like, but smart... while other entrepreneurs are also tackling the real issues and looking at garage door security...check it out.... Somehow it all comes back to Pizza... All across the Valley, the majority of big start-ups are actually glorified distribution companies that are trying, in some sense, to copy what Domino's Pizza mastered in the 1980s when it delivered a hot pie to your door in 30 minutes or less. Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, Luxe, Amazon Fresh, Google Express, TaskRabbit, Postmates, Instacart, SpoonRocket, Caviar, DoorDash, Munchery, Sprig, Washio, and Shyp, among others, are really just using algorithms to deliver things, or services, to places as quickly as possible. Or maybe it's simpler than that. As one technologist overheard and posted on Twitter, "SF tech culture is focused on solving one problem: What is my mother no longer doing for me?" -- Vanity Fair And there you have it... although I think the algorithm reference is way off... One last thought... As flowers are so key to Valentine's Day -- I took a look at how "Digital Disruption" is affecting an industry that has always been about personal delivery: The industry's current financial structure has its roots in a century-old practice. In 1910, a group of 15 American florists formed a cooperative, the Florists' Telegraph Delivery service, to exchange orders. A customer in Denver would, for example, be able to walk into a local flower shop and arrange a delivery to a friend in Boston. The originating florist transmitted the order through the florists' wire service and received a commission for the effort; the rest of the money was passed on to the fulfilling merchant. Real Local Florists, an advocacy group, began working several years ago with Sundaram Natarajan, a software developer,on an e-commerce system for florists' websites that would offer a less expensive alternative to the wire services' systems. "We had the idea that we wanted to create our own florist-to-florist network," said Mr. Fiannaca, one of the group's founders. "I can send an order to a member florist, and his or her products would populate on my web page." So a century later, Real Local Florists is essentially working to recreate the kind of co-op that FTD pioneered. When asked about the similarity, Mr. Fiannaca laughed.... LISTEN: "It's a good model," he said. "It just has to be one that helps keep local florists in business." -- New York Times And there you have it -- we need good models that keep the stuff we want in business... What do you think? P.S. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. I hope you got what you wanted. Just to be clear. I am not a millennial. I was born in 1973 and so I am smack dab in the middle of Generation X. I am a Gen Xer and a feminist and this distinction is important. It is important because Gen X feminists (early Third Wave feminists) were the first generation to be routinely lectured and talked down to by white baby boomer feminists (later Second Wave feminists). This is why I am so disturbed by Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem's comments last week. This is why I find Secretary Clinton's "even though young women don't support me, I support them" buzz line so frustratingly patronizing. Advertisement When I was in college and seminary in the 1990s, I sat at the knee of early Second Wave feminists, particularly those who were religion scholars. My bookcases are still full of their books--Mary Daly, Rosemary Radford Reuther, Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Phyllis Trible, Sallie McFague, Letty Russell, etc. These scholars broke open the study of religion for me. Truth be told, they broke open my faith. Not only am I pastor because of their work, I am Christian. I am not sure I would be without them. It is not enough to say that they played a huge role in creating who I am and in informing what I do. Their work transformed me and I cherished them for that. Still do. But in 2000, after I was ordained and called to my first church, I bounced out into my clergy colleague groups at the young age of 27 and eagerly looked for my feminist pastor mentors. I craved their wisdom and their guidance. I wanted to hear their stories. I needed their support and love. I thought, for sure, that since we were all women there would be a support network. But I found little support among my white baby boomer feminist colleagues in local churches and in the wider church. It was incredibly disorienting for me. Too often I found resistance and distance and competition and a whole lot of "you have it so easy." I got their stories too, but sometimes, these stories were told with an edge, with a finality. They were told like they were finished stories that couldn't include my story and the stories of women even younger than me. It felt like the purpose of the stories were to get my requisite "thank you for paving the way" at the end. I so wanted to celebrate that their hard work had created opportunities for me and other women, but instead, I mostly felt their resentment because I did, indeed, have it easier than them. So as a young feminist pastor, my true mentors ended up being men. Sometimes I am a bit heartbroken about this. I grieve the fact that women do this to one another. Sometimes I feel betrayed or deserted. But right now, I am mad. Because my microcosm experience is happening on the national level, and unlike my personal experience, there is a risk of great harm to women and to our movements. Advertisement Our young activists see one thing older progressives don't see. They see a long, long future ahead of them. And that future looks bleak. They see that future much more clearly than we do or ever will. Just like the young activists of the 1960s and 1970s, millennials (and not just the white feminists) want to change that future. Just like the activists of the 1960s and 1970s, they are idealists. Just like the 1960s and 1970s, they are motivated by the Big Vision. Just like then, they want a revolution even if they aren't Bernie supporters. And they deserve one because we have made a pretty big mess of things. What they don't want or need is to be belittled or blamed or patronized by people who should be their mentors and greatest supporters. They don't need a lecture or a history lesson. They don't need to hear resentment or anger because they aren't doing it our way. They don't need to stop their work to repeatedly acknowledge and thank their fore-mothers and fathers. Let's stop that destructive pattern now. They need us to listen and to trust them. They need us to stand with them. They need us to celebrate the progress that has brought them to this place and then they need us to recognize that they are deeply connected to the progress that is being made now and in the future. See, Madam Secretaries Albright and Clinton and Ms. Gloria Steinem, there is a special place in hell for older activists who try to silence or disparage or scapegoat or ignore our millennial activists. For their work is God's work. It's September already, and year-end reviews are just around the corner. It isn't too late to show your boss that you're worthy of a promotion. Maybe you've been holding down the same position for a few years and are ready to move up. Maybe your company is going through some internal shuffling and you're expecting your dream job to open up. Or, maybe you've been disappointed a few too many times by other people getting promoted ahead of you. Whatever the reason, you want to make certain now that you're ready to move up. In other words, you need to make certain that your boss sees it that way. "Be so good they can't ignore you." - Steve Martin Advertisement Anthony Greenwald at the University of Washington has studied bias more than just about anyone, and his research findings have major implications for your ability to get promoted. His recent studies showed that unconscious workplace biases tend to stay constant, and bosses follow these biases, whether they are aware of them or not. "People are claiming that they can train away biases," Greenwald says, "[They're] making those claims without evidence." When it comes to getting promoted, you want to present yourself in a way that feeds into the biases that bosses' have about what makes someone promotable. You're already doing the hard work, so why not frame your effort in such a way that it increases your chances of obtaining the position you want? While this probably sounds a bit manipulative, there are several straightforward things that you can do to showcase your work and make certain that you're promotable. The following five actions will appeal to your boss's inherent biases about promotability, without you being disingenuous. Advertisement 1. Stretch your boundaries Anybody (well, almost anybody) can do what they're told. To get promoted, you have to go above and beyond. Taking on additional responsibilities without being asked is not only a great way to demonstrate your work ethic, energy, and skills, but it also lets your boss know that you're ready (and able) to expand your scope. When you take on more than the norm, your boss can't help but think that you're capable of a bigger role. This includes showing that you're willing to take risks by making innovative suggestions. 2. Don't be too irreplaceable Most people fail at this. Of course, performing at your highest level regardless of the position you're in is always the best idea. The key here is not to be seen as the only person capable of performing the necessary duties in the position that you want to move on from. If you do, your boss will conclude that promoting you isn't worth the trouble (and risk) of finding someone to replace you. The best way to find a balance between doing your best and showing that you're ready for more is by developing other people. As tempting as it is to hoard knowledge, don't. Instead, make certain that there are others who know how to do important aspects of your job. Plus, teaching is a critical leadership skill. So, in addition to alleviating concerns about finding your replacement, you'll demonstrate that you can handle the responsibility that comes with a more advanced position. 3. Demonstrate emotional intelligence (EQ) You might be able to get away with being a temperamental genius in entry-level positions, but you'll never move past that without emotional intelligence. If you're the type who's prone to temper tantrums when things don't go your way; losing your cool when people cross you; storming out of rooms, yelling; or going silent during conflict, you're signaling to your boss that you don't want a promotion. No boss wants to be known as the guy or gal who promoted a short-fused person. Once you're promoted, your behavior is a reflection of the judgment of the person who promoted you. Show your boss that you have enough self-awareness to acknowledge your weaknesses and to work to improve them. This will prove you're capable. Emotional self-control is the result of hard work, not an inherent skill. 4. Make certain you speak the company's language Bosses appreciate vision more than anything. They love it when you see what could be useful to the company over the long term and tell them about it in language they understand. As you move up in any company, your choice of language becomes increasingly important. It's no longer enough to simply be an expert at what you do; you have to demonstrate that you understand how the work you do serves the business. That means learning the vocabulary of the executive team and your boss. Whether that's KPIs, EBITA, profit margin, market share, failure rate, or what have you, know what the terms mean and why they're important so that you can use them correctly when speaking with upper management. Speaking the right language will not only show that you're interested in more than your current role, but it will also demonstrate your intelligence and fit within the company. 5. Don't be afraid to ask for it Not everybody wants to be promoted; some people are perfectly happy doing the same job for years on end. If you don't tell your boss otherwise, he or she may assume that you're one of them. When the time comes to show up in your boss's office and say, "I'm interested in a promotion," it's important that you have something specific in mind--if not a specific job title, then at least a clear idea of what the responsibilities might include and how this ties in to your career goals. And, if the job requires skills you don't have yet, outline your plan for acquiring them. Bringing It All Together You may not get the promotion you're aiming for. If that happens, ask for feedback, but stay away from sour-grapes questions like "Why did you pick him and not me?" In fact, don't speak about the person who got the promotion at all. Instead, ask which of the critical skills you lack and what you need to do to be ready for the next opportunity. Don't argue; just listen, and ask thoughtful follow-up questions. Just make certain you follow through on the suggestions you're given. If your boss suggests some things you can do to become more promotable and you don't follow through, don't expect to be considered the next time around. Following his meeting with Bernie Sanders, Al Sharpton explained: "My concern is that in January of next year, for the first time in American history, a black family will be moving out of the White House. I don't want black concerns to be moved out with them." I think one could argue that black concerns never truly moved into the White House in the first place; not in any substantial way. Tavis Smiley argued that African Americans lost ground under President Obama. When one looks at the state of African Americans today it's certainly difficult to find any area where African Americans have truly gained ground. The Black Lives Matter movement developed in response to the many incidents of unarmed African Americans being killed. Those that have been killed since Obama has been president includes Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Aiyana Jones, Tamir Rice, and Kenneth Chamberlain to name just a few. Just as disturbing is the violence within black communities, most notably Chicago. The violence in African American communities is in large part a symptom of the overall instability of those communities. Bernie Sanders described Baltimore as a Third World country after a visit there. We also have to remember that the disparity in unemployment has also persisted throughout Obama's presidency. President Obama has given a few speeches on race in America in the wake of particular events such as the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, the verdict of the Trayvon Martin trial, and the grand jury decision in Ferguson. But when we look at policy changes or institutional changes in the racial structure of the United States, we haven't seen much from the Obama administration. Advertisement Obama has taken some steps to address the racist and unfair policies that have been attached to the War On Drugs, which the Obama administration has admitted is a failure. The Fair Sentencing Act that was signed in 2010 reduced the disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which has been one of the hallmarks of the racism of the War on Drugs. Obama has also pardoned a number of drug offenders. Outside of addressing these issues, however, the Obama administration hasn't done a whole lot to address issues such as the pervasive poverty and violence in African American communities. Al Sharpton can partly be blamed for this in the sense that in 2011 he declared that he would never criticize President Obama on anything. That's a mentality we simply cannot afford to have. We cannot elect people into office and be so satisfied to have them there that we are afraid to constructively criticize those office holders in any way. That approach results in communities being neglected and ignored, as has happened to African Americans. Moving forward in 2016 we have to keep in mind that the issues impacting African Americans go beyond the White House. For example, the ongoing crisis in Flint is not a Federal government issue, but a local governmental issue. For this reason, our goal should not merely be having our concerns represented on a national level, but on a local level as well. This is especially important considering that African American turnout is considerably lower for local elections. We should also learn from the example of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. As a people we so often focus on the struggle that was waged to win equal voting rights that we seem to forget that African Americans did not win those voting rights through voting. Those rights were won through organizing a mass movement with the intent of creating policy change. For this reason it's not enough for us to vote in the candidate that we feel will best represent us in 2016, but as a people we also have to organize so that our voices are truly heard regardless of who gets elected this year. Advertisement Hoang Truong says becoming a U.S. citizen gave him "the key" to unlocking a better life. "When we become a U.S. citizen," he said, "we have the key -- the key to the higher education door, the key to freedom, the key to vote, the key to do whatever we want." Truong, who came to the country seven years ago from Vietnam, said he was watching TV one day when he saw there was an upcoming free workshop in San Jose to help people apply for citizenship. With help from the local organization Asian Law Alliance, Truong and his family were able to get fee wavers so they didn't have to pay the $680 naturalization fees. Truong, his mother and his sister, applied for citizenship in July, had their interview in October, and in November they became U.S. citizens. Advertisement This year, they will be able to vote in their first U.S. presidential election. Truong spoke to over 50 ethnic media journalists and community members at San Jose City Hall. The media roundtable was organized by New America Media in collaboration with the New Americans Campaign, a national, non-partisan coalition that aims to make citizenship more accessible. In a climate of escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric, service providers here are encouraging more immigrants like Truong to take the step to become U.S. citizens so they can have the chance to make their voices heard in November. "With this presidential election happening right now, the rhetoric around immigrants and immigration is scary," said Vanessa Sandoval, immigration legal services program director of Services Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN). "Naturalization empowers people. They become engaged. They have a voice," said Sandoval. "The urgency is now," she said. "It's a time to come forward." John Kramar, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says becoming a citizen is often easier and faster than people think. Advertisement "After someone takes the citizenship test, they often say, 'That wasn't as bad as I thought,'" Kramar said. "There was a time in years past when you would file and it would take several years. We're now averaging four to five months." That means that green card holders who apply for U.S. citizenship now could be able to register to vote in time for the elections. "There are hundreds of thousands of people who are eligible and are not naturalizing," said Theodore Ko, a staff attorney with Asian Law Alliance. "In an election year, there is no more important reason." According to the last available data from 2008, about 193,000 green card holders in Santa Clara County are eligible to naturalize, including about 34,000 Mexicans, 22,000 Vietnamese, 32,000 Chinese and 11,000 Filipinos. If they naturalize, they will not only be able to vote, but also to access the other benefits of becoming a U.S. citizen, said Ko. These include protection from deportation, the ability to travel freely, and access to better job opportunities and income potential. Advertisement Taking the step to become a U.S. citizen is a "win-win, for the people, but also for the city," said Zulma Maciel, assistant to the city manager at the City of San Jose Office of Immigrant Affairs. Research shows that when someone becomes a U.S. citizen, their income increases by an average of 8 to 11 percent. Greater earnings have a multiplier effect and stimulate the economy, she said, from increased payroll taxes to greater spending power. "San Jose's vitality is derived from our large immigrant population," said Maciel, "and when immigrants become citizens, they invest in the community." Next month, the city kicks off a public outreach campaign to encourage legal permanent residents to become U.S. citizens. Through partnerships with local libraries, they are creating "citizenship corners" with materials to educate people about the citizenship process. "The greatest barrier to citizenship is that fear factor," said Kramar. "That's why demystifying the process is important to us." Advertisement Residents who want help with their applications can go to free citizenship workshops - in San Jose and in cities around the Bay Area - where legal service providers are available to assist them in multiple languages. Those who want to take the first step on their own can fill out their application at CitizenshipWorks.org, a free online tool. It is currently available in English and Spanish, with other languages coming soon. The New Americans Workforce, a partner of the New Americans Campaign, is also working with local employers to bring citizenship clinics to worksites. For Truong, going to a free citizenship workshop was the best way to get help. Service providers there spoke Vietnamese, and guided his family through the process to become U.S. citizens. "It's a really great gift," said Truong. The next free workshop in San Jose is: Saturday, February 27, 2016 at Mayfair Community Center 2039 Kammerer Ave, San Jose CA 95116 For more information, visit siren-bayarea.org. To register, call (408) 474-0454. Advertisement Nuclear waste. Is Bernie Sanders really calling for revolutionary change, or is he just telling his base what they want to hear? Bernie Sanders made a cold political calculation in 1998 that affected the lives of hundreds of poor, powerless people half a country away. He did it because it would benefit his affluent, politically engaged constituency, and, in turn, benefit him. Advertisement Two decades later, Sanders is making another political calculation. He's choosing to disregard African-American demands for reparations because he believes he can concentrate on empowering his affluent, politically engaged constituency, who will, in turn, empower him. This is not a "political revolution," and Sanders is no revolutionary. Back in the early 1990s, the state of Vermont had a problem. The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant was generating tons and tons of radioactive waste, but there was nowhere palatable in the state to store it. The only town which was willing to study the possibility, Vernon, was deemed "geologically unstable." No other towns in Vermont, quite reasonably, wanted the waste. By October of 1998, Vermont had a solution. A deal had been worked out between Vermont's Congressional representation, Texas Representative Joe Barton, and then-Governor George W. Bush. The legislation, which was cosponsored and championed by then-Representative Bernie Sanders, was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1998. Senator Paul Wellstone, who is often mentioned in the same breath as Sanders among the latter's supporters, was opposed to the legislation. Advertisement The people of Vermont didn't have much of a problem with the deal. But Texans and their Mexican neighbors over the Rio Grande were outraged. A delegation from Texas reached out to Sanders and tried to reason with him, citing the environmental and human degradation the waste site would create. They thought they would get an empathetic response from the nominal socialist. They were wrong. Sanders's reply was curt, abrupt, and final: "My position is unchanged and you're not going to like it." When asked if he would at least visit the proposed site in Sierra Blanca, he said: "Absolutely not. I'm gonna to be running for re-election in the state of Vermont." The real costs of generating nuclear energy for Vermont, Sanders made clear, would be borne by a small, poor, majority-Hispanic community in Texas. The politically powerless people of Sierra Blanca- where the median income is only $10,500- were chosen to bear the toxic burden of Vermont's electricity. In the end, however, the Sierra Blanca site was rejected by the Texas state legislature. It wouldn't be until 2012 that Vermont would begin shipping its radioactive waste to Texas. The waste goes to a facility in a barren stretch of desert in West Texas, in Andrews County on the New Mexico border. Advertisement Still, Sanders's callous indifference to the political impotence of the constituents of Sierra Blanca is telling. Not only does it show that the now Senator from Vermont doesn't practice what he preaches when it comes to issues of economic inequality, it also shows blunt ignorance on privilege, race, and class. He doesn't seem to have learned much in the past two decades. On February 12, 2016, now-Presidential candidate Sanders was attending "A Community Forum on Black America" in Minneapolis when Felicia Perry, a panelist on stage, asked him about reparations. "Can you talk about, specifically," Perry asked, "Black people and reparations?" Sanders appeared flustered and pivoted quickly to a more comfortable topic: white people. "What I just indicated, in my view," Sanders said, holding up his hand to quell the applause for Perry's question, "Is that... it's not just black. It's Latino, there are areas in America, poor rural areas, where it's whites!" It's hard to understand exactly what Sanders means here, but he appears to be indicating that reparations - long identified as penance for centuries of slavery in the United States - should be open to white people as well. It's a step in the right direction. Sanders rejected the idea of reparations outright as politically unfeasible the last time he was asked. But while he's engaging with the concept, it's also the "All Lives Matter" of reparations. Advertisement Sanders regularly tells cheering crowds that he is working toward a "political revolution" and to effecting real change in the American political system. There's nothing more revolutionary than talking about reparations. The question is shunned in Washington. There's nothing more consequential to effecting real change in the American political system than standing up for the powerless, even when they're half a country away. If Sanders wants to be the champion for the working poor, he's going to have to do better. Pivoting on reparations to include whites and attempting to create a sacrifice zone in South Texas for the affluence of his home state of Vermont aren't going to cut it. Sanders is either tone-deaf on these issues, or he has made a political calculation that he can get through the primary process without them. A 50 minute drive is more significant with a newborn in the car. So when a Beatrice Community Hospital nurse instead made the trip to rural Jefferson County to check on newborn Ibri Mitchell, the babys parents were delighted. I was thrilled to have someone come here, said Dani Mitchell from her home in Endicott. You dont have to get out of your home, especially within the first two weeks of having a newborn. Dani and Kegan Mitchell brought Ibri into the world Jan. 27, 2016. On Feb. 11, Terri Zajicek visited the Mitchell home to check on Dani and Ibri, just as she has for area newborns and mothers for the past 25 years. Zajicek, a registered nurse and employee of BCH, is the coordinator of People Caring for People, a program offered by the hospital to mothers who gave birth at BCH and live in the region. Zajicek said most moms happily agreed to the free home visit, where she checks the overall health of mother and child and provides information and resources. She asked me how Im doing and did my vital signs, Dani Mitchell said. She asked a lot of questions about me and the baby. Very friendly, very helpful. At the hour-and-a-half visit, Zajicek gave Mitchell a packet of information including when to give the child what vaccinations. Its nice to keep me on board because I dont know what they get and when they get it, said Mitchell, who is a first-time mother. Most visits come about two weeks after birth and one week after mothers are advised to take a newborn to the pediatrician to check for jaundice, weight gain and how feeding is going. Its appreciated by moms, Zajicek said of the program. It shows that the hospital cares about new moms and babies and wants to make sure that they get off to a really good start. The program started in 1991 and was funded by a federal grant. Now, the hospital pays for People Caring for People. Zajicek is the only person who makes the visits, which totaled 247 in 2015. She is in contact with pediatricians, physicians and community agencies to further assist the families. In the home, there are no visitors around and its more relaxed, Zajicek said. After its been a week, they have a lot of questions. The visits also include assessments of the safety of the home and the support the family has. Sometimes Zajicek gives a second visit. Agencies Zajicek works with and suggests include Head Start, Early Head Start, Healthy Families America, Mother to Mother Ministry and the Pregnancy Resource Center. Theres a lot of support and services for mothers in Beatrice, Zajicek said. Zajicek called People Caring for People a neat option for families, a unique program and an outstanding commitment by BCH. It gives mothers a listening ear to any concerns, problems or inquiries they have, she said. It is really rewarding to help a mom, Zajicek said. It is so satisfying to see youve helped a mother feel confident and assured that shes doing OK with the baby. Its like 10 pounds gone off her back. Zajicek moved to Beatrice from Omaha in 1987. I would have loved to have a nurse just to reassure me even on my third baby, Zajicek said. And Im a nurse. Zajicek said the program is non-discriminatory and respects all cultures and traditions. Interpreters have accompanied her on the visits in the past. Mitchell had all good things to say about her experience giving birth at BCH. Going into this, it was all a new experience as a new mom, Mitchell said. I thought it would be hi and bye. But I thought they made my husband and I feel like a part of the facility. I even made friends with some of the nurses. They were just awesome. US Supreme Court building, Washington DC, USA. In the wake of Antonin Scalia's sudden death, the Beltway press almost immediately began to seamlessly frame the unfolding debate about the Supreme Court Justice's replacement along the contours of Republican talking points. To do so, the press continued its habit of looking away from the GOP's stunning record of institutional obstructionism since 2009. Immediately after the news broke of Scalia's passing, Republican Senate leaders, GOP presidential candidates, and conservative commentators declared that the job of picking Scalia's replacement should be performed not by President Obama, but by his successor. Advertisement Quickly suggesting that Obama was picking a "fight" with Republicans by signaling he plans to fulfill his constitutional duty by nominating Scalia's successor, the press aided Republicans by presenting this radical plan to obstruct the president as being an unsurprising move that Democrats would likely copy if put in the same position during an election year. (Given the rarity of the situation precedents aren't perfect, but it's worth mentioning that during the election year of 1988, Democrats actually did the opposite, confirming Justice Anthony Kennedy unanimously.) The framework for much of the coverage regarding the GOP's radical demand that Scalia's seat sit empty for a year is this: It's Obama's behavior that's setting off a showdown, and of course Republicans would categorically oppose anyone Obama nominates. But journalists often don't explain why: Why is it obvious Obama would have zero chance of getting a Supreme Court nominee confirmed when every president in the past has been able to fill vacancies? It is unusual for a president to face a Supreme Court vacancy his final year in office? It is. But there's nothing in the Constitution to suggest the rules change under the current circumstances. (Obama still has 50 weeks left in office.) It's Republicans who have declared that all new rules must apply. And it's the press that has rather meekly accepted the extreme premise. Note that Republicans and their conservative fans in the media aren't telling Obama that a particular nominee he selects to become the next justice is flawed and will likely be rejected after hearings are held. Republicans are telling Obama that there's no point in even bothering to make a selection because the Senate will reject anyone the president names. Period. The seat will remain vacant for an entire year. That is the definition of radical. But the press still looks away. Advertisement For instance, Politico reported the president "was facing the choice between setting off a nasty brawl with Congress by seizing the best chance in a generation to flip the ideological balance of the Supreme Court, or simply punting." The Politico headline claimed Obama had chosen to "fight" Republicans. But Obama faces no real "choice," and he isn't the one who decided to pick a "fight." As president of the United States he's obligated to fill Supreme Court vacancies. The New York Times stressed Scalia's death had sparked "an immediate partisan battle," suggesting the warfare ran both ways. But how, by doing what he's supposed to do as president, is Obama sparking a "partisan battle"? If Obama eventually decided to nominate an extremely liberal justice to replace the extremely conservative Scalia, then yes, that could accurately be described as sparking a "partisan battle." But what could be "partisan" about the president simply doing what the Constitution instructs him to do? Meanwhile, the Associated Press framed the unfolding story as Obama's announcement being "a direct rebuttal to Senate Republicans," without noting the Republican demand that the a Supreme Court Justice's seat sit empty for at least a year is without recent precedent. Advertisement And BuzzFeed suggested Scalia's vacancy is different because the justice was, "as one Republican put it, 'a rock solid conservative seat,' and given the divisions on the court conservatives will be adamant that one of their own replace him." But that's not how Supreme Court nominations work. Obviously, while the Senate has the responsibility to advise and consent on nominees, the party out of power doesn't get to make the selection. So why the media suggestion that Republicans deserve a say in this case, or else? Again and again, the press has depicted Obama's expected action in the wake of Scalia's death as being highly controversial or partisan, when in fact it's Republicans who are acting in erratic ways by categorically announcing they'll refuse to even consider Obama's next Supreme Court pick. The sad part is this type of media acquiescence has become a hallmark of the Obama era. Republicans have routinely obliterated Beltway precedents when it comes to granting Obama the leeway that previous presidents were given by their partisan foes in Congress. Yet each step along the way, journalists have pulled back, refusing to detail the seismic shift taking place. Instead, journalists have portrayed the obstruction as routine, and often blamed Obama for not being able to avoid the showdowns. Advertisement Today's Republican Party is acting in a way that defies all historic norms. We saw it with the GOP's gun law obstructionism, the sequester obstructionism, the government shutdown obstructionism, the Chuck Hagel confirmation obstructionism, the Susan Rice Secretary of State obstructionism, the Hurricane Sandy emergency relief obstructionism, and the consistent obstruction of judicial nominees. When the next president of the United States takes the oath of office on January 20, 2017, he or she will be a Democrat. By then, the nation will have had its fill of the extremist right wing of the Republican Party-- especially of the disrespectful and racist messages of Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz. To be sure, the mean-spiritedness of the Republican Party will have torn at the nation's fabric, but the ties that hold us together as a free and compassionate people are ultimately too strong to succumb to anti-democratic demagogues. We Democrats, and the nation, are fortunate to have a choice between two eminently qualified people -- Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Both have contributed greatly to our nation. Both can do the job and lead by appealing to our "better angels." And like President Obama, they take strong stands, political and personal, against the politics, fear, divisiveness, and disregard for working families and the poor that is so evident among today's Republican Party. That said, I strongly and proudly support Bernie Sanders in his campaign to be our next president. Here's why. Advertisement Bernie is igniting the interest and energies of millions of Americans, many of whom have not been previously engaged in politics. We need this at a time when our nation's political institutions are at risk; when our economic institutions seem to work well only for the rich and powerful, not for hard-working people and families. We need new generations of Americans and older ones, too, not only to care about what is happening in our nation, but, like Bernie's supporters, to get involved and become vehicles for a better America. Putting aside the risks posed by Trump and Cruz to our democracy, we will still face the corporate and billionaire domination of our politics and the coordinated efforts of the Republican Party to suppress voting, especially among minority, young, and low-wage workers. Senator Sanders' campaign is bringing attention to campaign finance. No one can doubt Bernie's complete opposition to the domination of our politics by corporate interests and money. He refuses to accept campaign contributions from Wall Street and other corporate donors. His campaign is fueled by millions of small donations. Bernie, whose politics were shaped by involvement in the civil rights movement, is no new-comer to voting rights. He's always been there and will work to expand the voting franchise. Wall Street doesn't like Bernie. And they shouldn't because he's the real thing. When he talks about breaking up too big to fail banks, Wall Street and their handmaidens worry. Wall Street bankers who virtually crashed our economy don't like the sunshine being cast on their dishonesty and undeserved huge bonuses. Too bad. The public knows that Bernie will walk the talk, and that the economic policy of a Sanders Administration will not be under the control of Wall Street shills. Another good reason to support the Senator... Bernie is the people's candidate. From campaign finance to voting rights, from economic inequality to requiring the rich to pay their fair share, from infrastructure to sustainable environment, from corporate regulation to choking-off corporate loop-holes, Bernie has the right ideas. And no one can doubt his commitment. Talking about the difference between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, my 16-year old daughter, Sarah, hit the nail right on the head: "Bernie Sanders wants to serve the people; Donald Trump wants the people to serve him." That Bernie is a servant of the people is something the people of Vermont-- liberals, conservatives and moderates; rural and urban-- have known for a long time. Not only is Bernie who he is, he has real follow-through-- outstanding constituent service and respectful treatment of everyone regardless of party. And he's never gone negative in a campaign. Simply put, that's called integrity. Advertisement Another reason for my enthusiastic support of Senator Sanders for president is that as co-founder of Social Security Works and the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, I've seen how effective he's been in stopping Social Security cuts and building the case for expanding Social Security benefits. Six years ago, when we established the organization and coalition, there were only a handful of Senators and Representatives who would say "do not cut our Social Security"-- Bernie Sanders, former Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and a few others. It may not seem so now, but this took political courage in the first few months of 2010. The press, the talking heads, party leaders, White House advisors, and many others were caught in their own echo chamber. Nearly all believed that cuts to Social Security were needed and would soon happen. Concerned that the fiscal crisis drumbeat would stampede Congress into cutting Social Security, Bernie organized the Senate Defend Social Security Caucus, initially bringing five other Senators along. Later, in the context of budget and deficit negotiations, when it looked like Bowles-Simpson Commission cuts would be enacted, Bernie played a pivotal role in coordinating push-back to proposed cuts to annual cost of living adjustments. In a call that six or seven of us where on, I recall Bernie saying, "Look, we can stop this cut; but we have to act fast and get the voices of the American people into Washington," followed by strategic suggestions for doing so. A meeting chaired by Senator Sanders in a Senate hearing room packed to the gills with 200 advocates, seniors and journalists got the message out that the American people did not want their benefits cut. Careful messaging, speeches, and one million signatures stopped the cuts-- much to the credit of the Senator who has never been fearful of standing up for what he knows is right. Today, the two remaining Democratic candidates for president are now firmly on record for expanding, not cutting, Social Security. This would not have happened without Bernie. I am running for Congress in Central New York (NY-24). When I go to Washington as a new member of Congress, I want to see a Democrat in the White House. And I believe our nation will be best served if that Democrat is Bernie Sanders. Eric Kingson is a candidate for the House of Representatives in New York's 24th Congressional District, a professor of social work at Syracuse University, and co-founder of Social Security Works. His most recent book (co-authored with Nancy J. Altman) is "Social Security Works: Why Social Security Isn't Going Broke and Why Expanding It will Help Us All" (The New Press, 2015). Campaign website: www.erickingson.com Email: eric@erickingson.com I've noticed a lot of negativity in the comments of articles that are about people traveling, moving to another country or doing something that may seem or feel out of reach. It's brought back memories of a mindset shift I had a couple years ago. Let me share a little bit of my story first, for context. After nine years in management consulting, I decided that I wanted to switch careers and design my life around what makes me feel alive, that thing I have to share with the world that I love to do. And I wanted to write a book. I didn't know what my passions were and I didn't know how to go about finding them. So I started with what I did know... I love to travel and I learn a lot from getting out of my comfort zone. When I wanted to make my own change, it felt natural to go travel and embrace the unknown... although it took me two years to sort things out and make the leap. There were scary parts about it, but they were scary in an exciting way. Advertisement The "write a book" part was much harder. I looked at people like Elizabeth Gilbert who inspired me with her travels, writing and purposeful approach to life. She was already an accomplished writer with a book advance when she departed on her Eat, Pray, Love journey. I was jealous. How much easier would this soul quest be if I had a book advance and wasn't terrified of my dwindling finances?! With some encouragement, I started a blog anyway, guarding the little creative person within who felt totally vulnerable by convincing myself that the blog was just for information updates and was not my "real writing". So I wandered around Argentina and into Chile and Peru too, writing about my experiences, noticing that they often brought me into nature and up mountains. I was feeling so alive and falling more in love with adventuring in nature. What would it look like to have a life with more of this? I found myself meeting people who were born in the mountains and had been playing in them ever since. They were sponsored adventurers, wilderness guides, sought after nature/adventure photographers having been places and accomplished things that I was longing to do. This was clearly their "thing." Advertisement I grew up in suburban Chicago living a fairly conventional life. This all felt so out of reach. And I think it would stay that way if I remained focused on this ominous vision and what others had that I felt I didn't have... yet. Then a friend who I had met in the mountains of Colorado happened to be passing through Argentina on his way back north from guiding kayaking trips in Antarctica. We had never really talked about my "old" life and while on a hike he asked what I had done for a living before coming to South America. I told him how I had been in management consulting, specializing in change management/ corporate transformations; how my job was to understand a client's vision and help them get there by asking the right questions, understanding the impacts, creating and executing strategies to bring people through the desired change. He gasped and expressed what an awesome and applicable skill set that was to have for going through a personal change, such as I was. Until that point, I had not thought about it as directly as that. I spent the next day writing out a list of questions I would typically ask a client and after answering all of them for myself, I had fifteen pages of information that would help me move my journey forward from a point where I was feeling a little stuck. I still revisit those questions and add to them and they still help... a lot. Fast forward a year and this would become a cornerstone for what I was discovering my passions to be. I didn't have a book advance and I wasn't born on a mountain; those are things that I would have to actively pursue. But I did find my own "thing" that I had to start with, my interest in and experience with inspiring and facilitating change. It was so natural that for a while I had missed it as my "thing." Not only was it helping me, but it could also be a part of the gift that I was looking to give. And thanks to the courage I mustered to start my blog, I already had a platform to start sharing this. Advertisement There were a few big learnings for me: A lot of work, ups, downs, haves and have nots, mini successes and mega failures go into making dreams a reality. In full disclosure... I still get jealous of those who appear to be living my dream. I try to notice that energy and use it to learn something about myself. What am I longing for that I see in these examples? Jealousy without inspiration to act is useless and keeps us stuck. It is often easier to recognize what someone else has that we don't than to recognize what we do have. I do this all of the time. Now I try to remember that I don't know their whole story. They may just as likely be longing for what I had as my "thing" to start with. The big picture/end goal view of something can be so daunting to the point where it paralyzes us. While it is great to have something to work towards, it helps to focus on doable steps. What am I going to do next and why? And we all start with something. If we have that nag in us, that call to adventure, then there is something within our current value system, skill set or natural being that we can use to take the next step... like the universe is tapping our shoulder to see it and use it. By Aiste Zalepuga, Managing Editor Review of European and Transatlantic Affairs Her father took her to the local school in Gawlow, Poland to cast a vote in the European Union membership referendum. "Vote any way you want because this is about you," he said, giving the ballot to his daughter. Olga Karnas, a student at Yale College, was then ten years old. Now she is taking action through European Horizons, a think-tank based at Yale devoted to the future of the European ideal, where she is one of the Executive Directors. David O'Sullivan, the EU ambassador to the US, opened the second European Student Conference with a question. "What kind of Europe do you want? It is for young people to think about because you are going to own this future and live it," he said. This past weekend (February 5-6) over one hundred graduate and undergraduate students from 53 different universities came together at Yale University to discuss solutions for shaping the next generation of Europe. Leading academics and policymakers joined the students to discuss current issues that the EU faces, ranging from the construction of European identity to the refugee crisis to the expansion of transatlantic cooperation. Advertisement Vito Borelli, Head of Sector for the Jean Monnet Actions under Erasmus+, emphasized the importance of young people's views for the future of Europe. "Through the meeting of more experienced minds and innovative approaches we will envision alternative ways ahead," he said. "This is why the European Commission is determined to strengthen its efforts and financial investments in the meeting of these minds." The Conference centered on Workshops in which the students created policy papers, incorporating direct feedback from the visiting academics and policymakers. "It's an opportunity for lofty dreams to become concrete policy proposals," said Nasos Abuel, a student at Yale College and an Executive Director of European Horizons. The policy papers will be published in European Horizons' biannual academic journal, Review of European & Transatlantic Affairs. While the Conference came to a close, the projects are just beginning. The Entrepreneurship Workshop, for example, will implement the winning idea selected at the conference. Marco Pau, a student at the Yale School of Management and director of the European Horizons Innovation Program, said the Entrepreneurship Workshop adds a bottom up approach to the top down, policy focus of the Conference. "The Entrepreneurship Workshop reflects the belief that tackling challenges, like the migrant crisis, requires innovation and practical business ideas, along with sound public policy." The winning pitch was e-Ubelong, a subscription-based, digital platform that connects migrant workers and employers, using geo-data and a collaborative filtering system to more efficiently foster integration in labor markets. "I found their project innovative, implementable and with a deep potential to impact European society, particularly in relation to the integration of migrants in the European economy," Pau said. Advertisement Klaus Welle, the secretary general of the European Parliament, said the EU is in a state of transition. "It has been for a long time a legislative superpower but is now confronted with necessity to develop an effective executive capacity," he said. "We cannot guarantee this is working, but I can assure the dream remains alive. The journey for EU integration is going to continue." The conference comes at a challenging time for Europe, but Karnas said that members of European Horizons are prepared to play their role in shaping their vision for Europe. "So much has changed in the 13 years since the EU membership referendum, but not my choice of vote that June. My father made me believe that the project of European integration is about me, just as it is about all individual Europeans," Karnas said. "For us, the people who gathered for the European Student Conference, the EU is not a lofty political term. It is a true force that affects our lives, but one that we also have the power to influence through European Horizons." FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, shakes hand with Syrian President Bashar Assad as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, looks on in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Iran sits down with the United States, Russia, Europeans and key Arab states for the first time since the Syrian civil war began to discuss the future of the war-torn country. It will also break ground by bringing Assadas main supporter, Iran, to the same table as its regional rivals, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who have been backing many of the insurgent groups. (Alexei Druzhinin, RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) Airstrikes destroyed multiple medical centers in Syria Monday, killing dozens of civilians and leaving tens of thousands without health care. Both Russian and Syrian warplanes operate over the region. The strikes occurred amid discussions of a cease-fire to be implemented by Thursday. On paper, the cease-fire deal made last week by members of the International Syria Support Group -- most notably Russia and the U.S. -- is an unprecedented diplomatic success: they agreed to a "cessation of hostilities" and to expand humanitarian aid in the region. But the details of the deal are not promising. Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar Assad have little reason to abide by the terms, given the military imbalance on the ground. They also have several ways to work around them. Diplomacy will not survive first contact with military reality in Syria, unless the U.S. and its allies take concrete steps to ensure the regime and its backers cease all hostilities and allow humanitarian assistance to move freely. Deal or not, Russia and the Syrian regime have no reason to voluntarily jeopardize their recent gains or slow their momentum. In the days before Feb. 18, the ISSG will "elaborate modalities for a nationwide cessation of hostilities" -- that is, it will try to determine how exactly to implement a cease-fire based on the goodwill of the dominant belligerents, Russia and Iran. In the meantime, the regime and its backers will continue targeting opposition forces in northern Syrian's Aleppo province, with the aim of surrounding them in Aleppo city and severing their supply lines. The main supply line from Turkey to Aleppo city has already been cut, giving the regime control of humanitarian aid flows through that area. In other words, the regime can effectively continue to besiege rebel-held areas. None of the regime's international opponents have the leverage to force it to do otherwise. Advertisement On Feb. 18, the regime and its backers might adjust their tactics, but hostilities will almost certainly not cease. The plan essentially locks in place the opposition's weak position in Aleppo. Above all, there is a critical clause in the ISSG agreement that effectively gives the regime a free pass to continue the war: namely, the cease-fire will not apply to the so-called Islamic State and the Nusra Front. The rebel landscape in northern Syria is immensely complex, with the Nusra Front often reportedly coordinating with and dispersing among mainstream opposition groups, including some U.S.-backed ones. Assad and Putin can target any opposition group they please, claiming the group is fighting alongside the Nusra Front. Assad and Putin can target any opposition group they please, claiming the group is fighting alongside the Nusra Front. Russia has repeatedly bombed U.S.-supported opposition groups, claiming they were terrorists. The U.S. protested but did nothing, allowing Russia to stay its course. Even if the regime goes after the Nusra Front itself, this would be an internationally sanctioned war against a powerful anti-regime force, even as other rebels would be surrounded and banned from fighting the regime. Under the circumstances, that would constitute a net loss for the opposition. The "Nusra Front clause" will also allow the regime and Russia to look beyond Aleppo. The nearby province of Idlib has a strong Nusra Front presence in addition to the powerful insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham. Russian media has described Ahrar al-Sham, which is not a United Nations-designated terrorist group, as "affiliated" with the Nusra Front, building a rationale for attacking them. The regime and its backers would further exploit the cessation of hostilities to set their sights on rebel supply lines in Idlib. This will cut off the rebellion's last border crossing with Turkey, placing the entire opposition in the north under siege. The regime is unlikely to restrict these strategies to the north. In recent weeks, it has stepped up air strikes in southern Syria, where sieges are a common regime tactic. According to the website Siege Watch, the regime has 42 areas under siege or threat of siege in the Damascus area alone. Just as in Aleppo, the ISSG agreement depends on the regime to allow the passage of humanitarian aid into besieged territory. And as in the north, the Nusra Front has a significant presence in southern Syria. The regime is just as likely to use Nusra Front as a cover to attack all insurgent groups. Advertisement The regime and its Russian and Iranian backers are on track to overwhelm the insurgency in the north and south. The regime and its Russian and Iranian backers are on track to overwhelm the insurgency in the north and south. ISSG deal or not, they have no reason to voluntarily jeopardize their recent gains or slow their momentum, even if it applies some window dressing to its strategy under a "cessation of hostilities." Just hours after the ISSG was announced, Assad said his government forces would try to retake all of Syria "without any hesitation," but that the involvement of regional powers meant that "the solution will take a long time and will incur a heavy price." He faces no military pressure to do otherwise and no credible threat of punishment if he violates and exploits the agreement's terms. Given their interests and capabilities, the regime and its backers' smartest strategy would be to reject the agreement, openly violate its terms or exploit its weaknesses by disguising their war on the opposition as a war on the Nusra Front and other "terrorists" of their choosing. Joshua Mast allegedly submitted a doctored passport for the baby and then claimed the child as his own after convincing the family to travel to the U.S. for medical care. Woman with suitcase in a train station Quit your job, leave your boyfriend, buy a one-way ticket, and go... One afternoon a couple years ago, after spending weeks purchasing one-way tickets to places I'd never been, I left my office for lunch. I walked along the brownstone-lined sidewalks of Park Slope, stopped into a neighborhood pub, ordered a whiskey neat (and then another), returned to work and gave my two weeks notice. I'd moved to New York with very little money, few friends, no apartment and no real game plan. Four weeks and about a hundred job applications later, however, I'd secured a job -- a job with a desk, and my own phone extension, and a salary with benefits. And even though it had nothing to do with journalism, which I'd studied in college, I was proud of myself for finding a relatively comfortable job in "the big city," in what was being hailed as "the worst job market in 50 years." My friends and family were proud, as well. Advertisement "My choice of freedom over monotony was viewed as my selecting uncertainty over security." So, the news that I was now planning on leaving this job that had enabled me to live in the expensive, fast-paced city that I'd left Seattle for, two years earlier, to "gallivant" around Europe and Northern Africa, greatly distressed the people in my life. Their growing concerns that I was running away from my problems were becoming more apparent, every day. And they were right. I was 24, deflated from a job where I was overworked and unfulfilled, in a long-distance relationship that left me weepy in front of strangers on the Q train, and too often at the bottom of a whiskey bottle. I was miserable. Regardless of this reality, my choice of freedom over monotony was viewed as my selecting uncertainty over security. I recently caught up with my high school best friend who'd just called off her wedding to her boyfriend of nearly a decade. Resolved to no longer ignore certain persistent issues in her relationship, she made the final decision just a month before the big day. Advertisement As she told me her story, I was struck with an overwhelming sense of reverence for her. I considered the bravery required to overcome the pressure of expectation -- from her friends, her family, her fiance. She could have, very easily, decided not to rock the boat and ended up in a marriage doomed for failure. We're conditioned early on, especially as women, to value security above all else and cling on to it at all costs, and it takes an exceptional sort of fearlessness to tune out the expectations of the people in your life and risk your own security, in pursuit of genuine happiness. "People find comfort in consistency -- even if that consistency is repetitive bullshit." There's a saying that goes, "running away from your problems is a race you'll never win," but staying where you are, when you're discontent, can give you the feeling of being stuck. Even when you're not. Still, people choose this path, more often than not, because letting go is hard. Starting over is grueling. Adjusting to a new day-to-day life will almost always be daunting. People find comfort in consistency -- even if that consistency is repetitive bullshit. On top of Monserrate, overlooking Bogota, Colombia. To be clear, I have no interest in getting into the business of aggressively encouraging young 20-somethings to quit their jobs and uproot their lives. Just because something worked for me, doesn't mean it'll work for you. And, more to the point, I'm not in any position to help you out financially -- or emotionally, for that matter -- when your cell phone gets turned off and your student loans go into default. Still, there will be no shortage of people in your life discouraging your desire to be adventurous, to take risks. And, as someone who has developed a deeper sense of self, amid the mystifying chaos of Jemaa el-Fnaa in old Marrakech and the self-reflection inspiring serenity of the Spanish countryside, this is my humble petition that you don't make the mistake of anchoring yourself to a halfway fulfilling romantic situation or an uninspiring job (or anything!) because they're comfortable. Advertisement Don't be afraid to get up and go. "Mind is the Master Power that molds and makes, and we are mind. And ever more we take the tool of thought, and shaping what we will, bring forth a thousand joys, or a thousand ills. We think in secret, and it comes to pass, environment, is but our looking glass." -- James Allen At some point we have all heard the adage "Thoughts are things," which serves as the central tenet of such popular New Age philosophies like the Law of Attraction, featured in best-selling books like The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. And while many skeptics have been quick to dismiss the idea of "As a man thinketh, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7) as nothing more than a pop psychology platitude, the ongoing findings of medical science are telling a different story. In an article from the January - February 2013 edition of Harvard Magazine Cara Feinberg profiles the pioneering work of Dr. Ted Kaptchuk, Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. In the article, Feinberg chronicles the exciting findings made by Dr. Kaptchuck and his team in conducting a "clinical drug trial" charting the effects of prescription medication vs. acupuncture in relieving the pain of the trial participants: Advertisement "Two weeks into Ted Kaptchuk's first randomized clinical drug trial, nearly a third of his 270 subjects complained of awful side effects. All the patients had joined the study hoping to alleviate severe arm pain: carpal tunnel, tendinitis, chronic pain in the elbow, shoulder, wrist. In one part of the study, half the subjects received pain-reducing pills; the others were offered acupuncture treatments. And in both cases, people began to call in, saying they couldn't get out of bed. The pills were making them sluggish, the needles caused swelling and redness; some patients' pain ballooned to nightmarish levels. "The side effects were simply amazing," Kaptchuk explains; curiously, they were exactly what patients had been warned their treatment might produce (emphasis added)." Even more startling, "...most of the other patients reported real relief, and those who received acupuncture felt even better than those on the anti-pain pill. These were exceptional findings: no one had ever proven that acupuncture worked better than painkillers. But Kaptchuk's study didn't prove it, either - the pills his team had given patients were actually made of cornstarch; the "acupuncture" needles were retractable shams that never pierced the skin. The study wasn't aimed at comparing two treatments. It was designed to compare two fakes (emphasis added)." Advertisement Although Dr. Kaptchuk doesn't contend that patients can simply "think themselves better" his study - along with many others conducted on the placebo effect - does prove a very important, and critically under looked, fact in health care: "patients' perceptions matter, and the ways physicians frame perceptions can have significant effects on their patients' health." Beliefs are powerful things and what we tell ourselves and others tell us can make us better or worse. We all have "our narrative" and we tell it over and over again both to ourselves and to others. We believe it, we expect it and we project it. When we change our beliefs and our story, we change the outcomes. One of the better known studies which demonstrates how changing our narratives can change our outcomes (and our lives) is the 1980's breast cancer support group study that was written up in the journal Advances. All of the women had breast cancer that had metastasize before the study began. (The only person who deserves any Native votes so far is Thomas. Photo Credit: Steven Paul Judd) "Combine Indigenous and general public voter blocks. Walk together in support of change. Vote unanimously for freedom." Leonard Peltier Make no mistake about it, in presidential elections Native people are an afterthought. Meaning: as much as you (or I) may be invested in Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, they're simply not thinking about your Native ass. Personally, I support Bernie Sanders in this upcoming election because his record shows that he has more concern and policy support for poor people generally than Hillary Clinton. Hillary, as has been well-chronicled, has been a dear, beloved friend of the wealthy and that's why Wall Street donors line up to give her truckloads of money. Rich people love Hillary. Maybe they don't love her quite as much as they love Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, but they love her quite a bit because she's shown an undying allegiance to them. Advertisement Despite my support for Sanders the truth is that neither candidate has really said anything or done anything of note for Native people or for our communities. Sanders released some generic statement on Native pledges and proposed a bill to stop the transfer of the Oak Flat which is important but hasn't gone anyplace. Yet that is much, much more than what Clinton has done. She hasn't done anything. At all. We have to require more. It's an interesting contrast because right now both candidates are pandering shamelessly to black voters. I watched the Democratic Debate last night and it was entertaining to watch Hillary Clinton try to attach herself to President Obama's hip; this is the same Obama who her campaign supporters accused of "shuckin' and jivin'" at press conferences. This was the same Obama whom Bill Clinton accused of creating fairy tales and essentially accused of being a liar. Lots of loaded language, dog whistle stuff. But now she's all about Obama--that's her dude. And she's all about the black community--even doing her own shuck and jive, dancing and showing how hip and pro-black she is. History shows that she's none of those things. She has a long history of being neither hip nor pro-black. Advertisement Moreover, the Nevada primary is coming up quick and both candidates will soon be pandering to our Latina/o brothers and sisters. I suspect that we'll probably Hillary immersed in Latina/o culture and Bernie Sanders won't be immune to that either. That's fine--I hope they continue to court our black sisters and brothers and also our Latina/or sisters and brothers. Good--I get it. I'm glad they're power is being recognized. Plus, they are a bigger demographic than Natives. Yet, if those candidates truly value our community, the relative size should not matter. But understand that they won't be even looking toward the Native community unless there's an extremely close race. Obama, in 2008, knew that it would be a very close race and that he needed every possible delegate that he could get his hands on. We're glad--despite my many critiques of Obama, he unquestionably ended up being the best president ever for Native people. Conversely, Hillary was supposed to blow out Bernie Sanders this year and so she had no need to talk to us at all. So we need to remember this time--February--when nobody at all has contacted our community directly (except for some impersonal videos at the NCAI Conference) and make both candidates answer why we're always the last people that they contact during their races. Neither candidate has had much interaction with Tribes--there are no federally recognized Tribes in Vermont so Bernie's had little-to-no formal interaction. Hillary represented New York which has many tribes, federally and state recognized, but did nothing of note. Yes, the Republicans are destructive. We know that. But that's not the test. The test has to be "when are Democrats going to value/cater to Native people the same way that they value/cater to the black community/Latino community?" Native people simply shouldn't give our vote away to people who don't value us; if we don't require some level of commitment, we're selling ourselves horribly short. Advertisement The recent Supreme Court decision to temporarily pause implementation of the U.S. Clean Power Plan doesn't mean the end of U.S. climate action, the end of the Paris climate agreement, or the demise of national-level climate action in key countries around the world. I know the court's decision raises a lot of questions, as I've received a number of inquiries from international climate policymakers, but it is important to look at the situation with a clear perspective and not get caught up in the rhetoric (or some media reports). The U.S. is continuing to reduce its emissions and the international move to low-carbon economies continues. Some commentators are raising doubts about the ability of the U.S. to live up to its climate commitments and some news reports give the impression that things will stall internationally and in key countries. So let's add a dose of reality to those discussions. Supreme Court didn't "end" the Clean Power Plan. The Court put a "stay" on the Clean Power Plan, but did not issue any opinion or make any determination on whether the Clean Power Plan is legal under the Clean Air Act. The action now moves to a lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, which will consider briefs and oral arguments on June 2, 2016 to review whether the Clean Power Plan is legal, and we could get that court's decision and their written decision as early as late this summer. The "stay" does not prevent or prohibit states from continuing to plan for compliance with the Clean Power Plan. A number of states have made clear that they plan to continue planning for compliance with the Clean Power Plan. We always expected that polluters would drag the Clean Power Plan to court, that the legal battle would take some time, and that it might ultimately end up in the Supreme Court. But as my colleague said: "We are confident the courts will ultimately uphold the Clean Power Plan on its merits." Advertisement The first compliance obligations for power plants under the Clean Power Plan do not come due until 2022, and this case will work its way through the courts well before then. As a result, the legal issues will be resolved well in advance of 2025, when the U.S. climate target - to cut emissions up to 28 percent below 2005 levels - for the Paris Agreement is to be met. As the EPA spokesperson said: "We're disappointed the rule has been stayed, but you can't stay climate change and you can't stay climate action. We believe strongly in this rule and we will continue working with our partners to address carbon pollution." U.S. Climate Action continues. The U.S. has been implementing a variety of policies to reduce emissions across the economy. As a result, U.S. energy sector emissions are already more than 10 percent below 2005 levels as of the end of 2015. And in the final hours of 2015, two new sets of policies were enacted that will have a huge impact on emissions from U.S. energy sources. First, enacted into law was a five-year extension of renewable energy tax credits that will help the renewable power sector - solar photovoltaics, wind farms, and others - continue their significant expansion, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Second, the Department of Energy has finalized new energy-efficiency standards covering a wide range of residential, commercial, and industrial equipment. These new efficiency standards will significantly reduce energy consumption and prevent several million tons of global warming pollution. Advertisement Clean energy deployment in the power sector continues. To meet the U.S. climate targets in 2020 and 2025, U.S. electric sector emissions need to decline significantly. Renewables are booming, energy efficiency is taking hold, and other dynamics in the electric sector are cutting power sector emissions. So even long before the Clean Power Plan's first compliance deadlines in 2022, US power sector emissions are down around 18 percent below 2005 levels according to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. As my colleague said: "The electricity sector has embarked on an unstoppable shift from its high-pollution, dirty-fueled past to a safer, cleaner-powered future, and the stay cannot reverse that trend." Even since the Supreme Court issued its stay, a number of major power companies have signaled that they will continue to move forward with shifts towards lower carbon sources of electricity. Climate action in key countries continues and the Paris Agreement still moves forward. In a historic move, countries agreed to adopt a new international climate agreement that sets in motion stronger climate action by all major emitters over the coming decades. A cornerstone of that agreement was enshrining and regularly updating national climate targets in the agreement. Leadership by the U.S. has been critical over the past year to help advance climate action around the world. But other countries developed their own national targets based on their perception that action to address climate-changing pollution is in their own self-interest, and their commitments reflect robust domestic policy debates about what it is achievable and desirable for them. China and India provide prime examples. There is broad recognition by Chinese officials that the country needs to reduce its coal consumption both to clean up its air and cut its greenhouse gas emissions. Coal accounts for 50-60 percent of China's fine particulate matter and 80 percent of its CO energy-related CO emissions. Addressing China's air pollution has the side-benefit of helping to address climate change. Similarly India is embarking a major national effort to build 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. This target was announced by Prime Minister Modi well in advance of Paris. At the same time, meeting the solar energy target will generate over a million jobs and help India meet its energy needs through its massive low-cost renewable energy potential. Advertisement ------------------------- It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios? Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything. No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now, unending. Benjamin Mann sits in a hospital in Champaign after an incident with police in March 2014. Mann filed a lawsuit alleging Officer Matt Rush and other officers used excessive force in the incident. Submitted photo. Four handwritten words written in printed capital letters tilt to the right near the top of Chief Anthony Cobb's letter of July 23, 2014 that informs Officer Matt Rush he has been fired: "Rescinded per arbitrator's ruling." Cobb terminated Rush after three incidents in which he had been found by the department to have, among other actions, sworn at a resident during the course of a confrontation, punched a woman in the process of attempting to control her, and lied about the punch. Advertisement Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen and the City Council backed Cobb's decision. Rush exercised his right to arbitration. In April 2015, Milwaukee-based arbitrator Fredric Dichter reduced Rush's punishment to suspensions of 30, 1 and 3 days. He wrote that Rush swore and punched, but did not exhibit dishonesty during the third incident. The lack of police accountability has been thoroughly discussed and hotly contested since the killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson by Police Officer Darren Wilson in August 2014. Responses to Dichter's ruling illustrate a stark divide on a significant but little-examined topic: the impact of the arbitration process on the efforts of chiefs like Cobb to hold officers accountable. David Wickster, president of The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, said the arbitrator's ruling represented a triumph of the due process to which Rush was entitled. "Officer Rush served his suspension and has not had a complaint against him since returning to work in the spring," he wrote in a statement. "We should all move forward and allow Officer Rush to continue serving the public in a job that he loves." But Sundiata Cha-Jua, an associate professor of African-American Studies and History at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, disagreed. "The consequences demonstrate that there is no accountability," Cha-Jua said. "In this case, we have a chief who took action, city council supported the chief in taking the action, and the guy comes back on the force." Advertisement The situation Champaign encountered with Rush is part of a national pattern. Across the country arbitration leads to more than 60 percent of police firings being reversed or reduced, according to Will Aitchison, an attorney who represents police labor unions and the director of Labor Relations Information System, a Portland-based organization that compiles information for police and fire unions. Aitchison said that he's looked into more than 10,000 police disciplinary cases throughout the nation during the past 30 years. He attributed the percentage of reversals to police departments' taking on comparatively few cases due to a calculus of their high costs and what he said are officers' tendency to be more critical of their colleagues than the general public. "Unions will take into account the merits of the case, the costs of litigating the case," Aitchison said. He added that he has found in his 35-year career that "the toughest people on police officers are other police officers." But Patricia Avery, president of the NAACP Champaign County, said reversals like that of Rush's termination demonstrate a flawed system. "If the likelihood of being held accountable is very low, it makes it so easy to abuse the system," she said. Advertisement Feinen said Rush's actions have had a financial cost for the city and have made effective policing more difficult for other officers who have not been sanctioned for the kind of behavior Cobb cited in firing him. "We're paying off lawsuits for an officer who should have been terminated," she said. "It's not just about the money, it's about him being back on the street and all of the other things that surround [that]. The good officers who are working hard, it impacts their ability to do their job." Three ettlements for incidents involving Rush have cost the City of Champaign more than $300,000 in the past two months, according to the Champaign News-Gazette. Avery and Cha-Jua said that the arbitrator's decision to reinstate Rush highlights the importance of accountability through the criminal court system. State's Attorney Julia Rietz did not respond to repeated requests for comment about whether she plans to file criminal charges against Rush. Advertisement University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Emeritus Professor Belden Fields called for an alternative to the current arbitration system. "When arbitration simply gives a way out for police officers who are abusive, that has to stop," he said. "There has to be some other process where police chiefs can do it." Feinen and Champaign City Attorney Frederick Stavins both said removing arbitration from police contracts is unrealistic. But Cha-Jua said overhauling police personnel, changing the police contract to include a residency requirement and removing rights that police have under the Uniform Peace Officers' Disciplinary Act are critical elements in achieving a positive relationship between the community and the police. Republican presidential candidates arrive for the CBS News Republican Presidential Debate in Greenville, South Carolina, February 13, 2016. From left are: John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson. / AFP / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images) After two primaries, Republican candidates for president Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have developed a contentious rivalry as they battle to be the viable alternative to Trump mania in their party. But on one issue, the use of force over diplomacy, an issue that has become the backbone of the GOP, they agree. Evidenced by a somewhat less-than-thoughtful approach to dealing with ISIL: "This is a clash of civilizations...there is no middle ground on this. Either they win or we win." "We should carpet bomb" the Islamic militants and find out whether "sand can glow in the dark." These two quotes -- the first by Senator Marco Rubio and the latter by Senator Ted Cruz -- are ostentatiously descriptive of where the GOP is today on foreign policy. With the added irony that these two senators were elected as Tea Party candidates standing for conservative fiscal policy. Advertisement After the neo-cons led by the George W. Bush administration racked up by some accounts almost three trillion dollars of debt in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The tea party wing of the GOP that swept into Congress in 2010 promised fiscal austerity and a balanced budget. Today these presidential hopefuls would now make former VP Dick Cheney proud. Rubio and Cruz are changing the message of a chameleon Republican party from Tea Party conservatism to a once again war party where spending on war and massive defense budgets gets a pass. The echoes of Cheney's pronouncement that "budget deficits don't matter" reverberate again. Foreign policy never leaves center stage in American politics and with the December terrorist attack in San Bernardino, CA a brighter light has been cast as terrorism being the number one existential threat to us. Even as statistics clearly show that issues like random gun violence pose a far greater risk to most Americans over the last 15 years. Both parties realize the symbolic menace of foreign terrorism. On the democratic side, candidate Hillary Clinton will use her resume on foreign policy to surely convince voters that Bernie Sanders is not ready for the now famous 3 AM call. In the Republican party that would be only the appetizer. Their full course menu would be to expound on the debate stage that ISIL or Iran or Syria requires military intervention at any cost. In their paradigm the world is a safer place when America is strong. And strong is defined as when we display our ability to engage in armed conflict. Advertisement Donald Trump has consistently reported that he not only wants a temporary ban on Muslims coming into the U.S., but he wants to spend whatever amount it takes to build our armed forces to the point that it will strike fear in the heart of every country on earth. Their rhetoric on the campaign trail and their bluster about an alleged weak Obama administration on national security has defined their foreign policy. War has become their zero sum solution. This never more evident than their response to the negotiated peace treaty between America and its partners with Iran on nuclear disarmament. You would be hard pressed to find in any speech made by these Republican candidates where the word diplomacy or the organization the United Nations is mentioned. And sadly those who are asked to fight these seemingly endless wars come home to a nation that is insulated by the media of its brutal consequences and therefore ignores what it would rather not see anyway. With looming primaries in Nevada and South Carolina and Super Tuesday next month, Americans more importantly Republicans and Independents must decide if "making America great again" means making America a war protagonist. In the 20th century after WWI (the war to end all wars) and WWII, the epiphany was to gather all nations and form the United Nations. An organization that would employ diplomacy and not violence to settle disputes between nations and help eliminate the tragic consequences that war brings to those who survive: hunger, poverty and society's dysfunction. Diplomacy was to be the next evolutionary step in man's quest to climb the rungs to a higher ground of humanity. On an August day in 1983, I went to a hospital in Shanghai to visit my father. He'd developed liver problems in the mid-1960s while being tortured and forced to do hard labor by the communist government on a labor camp as punishment for his "anti-government activities." That day, his liver finally collapsed and he was dying. As I sat by his bedside, he said to me "Leave China if you can, and stay as far away as you can. Nothing good could ever come out of Red China." He died the next day.Two years later, I left Red China for America, the shining democratic beacon of the world. Today, the black-and-white contrasts between the democratic capitalist U.S. and the oppressive communist China have faded into grayish contradictions. By the time I began to write "Two Tales of the Moon," my recently published novel, it was 2014 and China seemed to have convinced the world that it could grow a capitalist economy under a communist party-controlled regime. So, I decided to go back and to fact check China's claim. It's true that the economic boom over the past two and half decades has lifted many Chinese out of dirt-poor living conditions. However, it's often the party members who have benefited most and become filthy rich. At least half of China's 1.3 billion people are still toiling long hours under sometimes subhuman conditions for a dollar or two a day. In Shanghai's glitzy districts, beggars and unemployed migrants wandered the streets lined by Chanel and Prada stores. Ghosts only occupied the sky scraper-like luxury condos and apartments, and air pollution hovered over the futuristic-looking city like a concrete dome. Advertisement To me, China has become a country of contradiction. But on the opposite end of the world, here in U.S., the contradictions related to China are no less prominent. I hear our government accusing China of human rights violations, currency manipulations and opaque financial and banking practices. Yet, China is the largest holder of U.S. national debt. We worry about cyber security threats from China, yet high tech companies like IBM and Microsoft are willing to reveal their source codes to China in order to gain the privilege of doing business there. We say we are proud of products made in America, but we have exported our manufacturing infrastructure to China for many decades. Just about every large corporation has rushed into China to chase a dream of profiting from the country's 1.3 billion customers. Take Wal-Mart as an example: High flyers on Wall Street love Wal-Mart stock, but they seldom buy Wal-Mart products. Middle and working class Americans complain that companies like Wal-Mart have exported their jobs to countries like China, but they are the ones who love Wal-Mart's inexpensive products. The new FX series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, examines the O.J. Simpson trial from the perspective of the lawyers. Based on Jeffrey Toobin's book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, the series uncovers how each side worked behind the scenes to create their strategies. Along the way, we learn how they stumbled and prevailed. David Schwimmer plays the late Robert Kardashian (aka the father of Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and Rob). The businessman, lawyer and close Simpson friend was part of Simpson's high-profile defense team. Schwimmer appears with a dream cast which includes Cuba Gooding Jr., John Travolta, Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance, Nathan Lane, Connie Britton, Selma Blair, Rob Morrow, Steven Pasquale, Evan Handler, Cheryl Ladd, Robert Morse and many more. To celebrate the 10-episode anthology, several of its stars gathered at a luncheon at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City. David Schwimmer talked to Parade.com and other reporters about playing Robert Kardashian, his thoughts on the trial and how he handled his own fame after Friends. Advertisement What inspired you to play Robert Kardashian? What appealed to me was the idea of mystery. How does a man choose to stand by a good friend when many people believe him to be guilty of terrible, terrible crimes? Also, given the fact that he was dear friends with Nicole, it was very complicated and messy. Robert Kardashian was very conflicted. How much did you know about him? I knew nothing about Robert Kardashian. I spoke to Kris Jenner about him for a couple of hours. When I learned that he was a very religious man of great faith, that held one of the keys to understanding how he could decide to stand by his friend and stick it out. Even when there might have been great uncertainty or doubt in his heart. Part of it was the idea that it was not for him to judge. It was just for him to love and stand by his friend. The more I learned about Robert, I discovered that he represents the conscience or the moral compass of the whole series. Did you ever think there'd be a day where you're playing Kim Kardashian's father? (From left) Courtney B. Vance, John Travolta, Sarah Paulson, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Schwimmer at a special luncheon at the The Four Seasons Restaurant (Marion Curtis/Startraksphoto.com ) Natalie Krim's drawings are S&M inspired, but it's all thought about, curated. Sometimes the best artists don't always drive down the middle lane, and that can be dangerous. Natalie [Krim] is a very interesting artist. If you look at the surface, it's a vagina. But if you look deeper into what's going on in the drawings, there's something surrealist going on. She uses the sexuality as a trick to lure people in. And then once you're in the drawings, there's a whole different thing happening that has nothing to do with sex. She's tricky that way. Are you considering adding a blog to your online strategy this year? As an online professional, chances are that you are present on more than a few social media networks. You recall that the social media networks were not as ubiquitous even five years earlier. Things have changed. Constant Connectivity Today, it's rare to find someone not carrying a smart phone or some other device to connect to the Internet. In fact, there have been concerns whether constant online connectivity is replacing actual physical meetings. Advertisement Competitive Online Presence In simple terms, a significant majority of consumers spend a majority of their time online. Businesses have recognized this trend and have invested in building a strong online presence. While digital marketing has definitely helped in increasing the reach of businesses, it has also given rise to tough competition in almost all the business categories. Consequently, businesses are facing more competition than ever when it comes to the mind-share of the consumer. Branding Strategies That Work This is the reason that businesses need to focus on embracing platforms that can help them in reinforcing their brand message. One of the most effective platforms when it comes to branding is your business blog. Advertisement So, if you have been neglecting your blog or haven't even started a blog for your business, here is a brief guide on why blogging is so valuable for your brand. (It can even have a therapeutic value) #1 - More Traffic to Your Website In simple terms, brand means awareness. The best way to increase awareness about your products and services is to tell more people about it. Begin your blogging journey The smart way to get more people to your website is to learn how to create a blog site. In simple terms, it's a virtuous cycle that feeds itself. Google & Search Search engines love fresh content and most often give preference to websites that publish quality content regularly. Your blog is the best place to publish new content on a regular basis. When you publish a new blog post, you have one more page on your website which means that you have one more opportunity to get traffic from search engines. Oh, Social Media Blogging not only attracts traffic from search engines but also from social media. You want to make sure to add social sharing widgets to your blog too. Advertisement People love to share content they like on various social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest among others. Quality Engagement And Sharing Potential When you publish high quality posts full of useful information it is likely to be shared by readers with their friends and family on various social media site. Your content gets more shares on social networks which in turn brings builds more awareness about your brand. Blogging also helps with building up your social media presence as the repository of content on your blog can be used for building up your social media profiles. #2 - Builds Authority When you regularly publish blog posts that help your readers keep up with the latest trends in your industry, it helps in establishing you as an authority in your industry. Advertisement Answer Questions The best blogs provide readers with useful content that answer common questions. This is especially useful for sales professionals. It is true that measuring increased authority is not as easy as increase in traffic and leads, but you may measure the impact of blogging by measuring the sales enabled by your blogs. When you answer the questions via blog posts, it helps in building trust which in turn helps the sales process. Education-based Marketing Readers who have been benefited from your blog posts will be more educated when they enter the sales process which means that you are going to have a far more productive sales conversation. #3 - Long-Term Results The content on your blog drives long-term results as a good piece of content will keep bringing traffic. Advertisement If your posts start ranking in the search engines, you will keep getting traffic and leads for days, months and years to come. #4 - Builds Better Customer Relationships & Search Attraction A brand is a sign of trust. It represents the promise to your customers. Consumers buy a brand because they trust a brand and feel a relationship with the brand. Customer Experiences Another benefit of blogging is that it helps in developing better customer relationships as it is another avenue for business to deepen the connection with the customers. Your clients connect directly with your business on your blog and get to know your product and business better. Consumers want to be informed and when your blog becomes a trusted source of information, they appreciate the efforts. The Future of SEO And, the New SEO (infographic) is showing us that search experience is becoming key to the future of search engines themselves. Advertisement The conversations with potential and existing customers on your blog in the form of comments will last much longer as compared to a Facebook post or a response on Twitter. Plus, you get the benefits from building owned media assets. These conversations will also be seen by other customers and help in deepening the relationship with your brand. #5 - Builds Brand Awareness When you publish quality content on your blog on a regular basis, it helps in keeping your business fresh in the minds of your target consumers and entices them to use your services and products. Quality blog post offers consumers an insight into your product and the organization behind the product. Conclusion In summary, these are key advantages of blogging for businesses: Gets more targeted traffic to your website Creates a powerful authority boost for your brand Gains long term results and traffic Creates better customer relationships Builds greater brand awareness So, start a blog now or if you already have one, create a blog and marketing calendar and keep publishing high quality content to attract more traffic and to enhance brand awareness. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at Syrian Cease Fire Talks. Image courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of State The United States and Russia announced on February 12 that they had reached an agreement for a Syria-wide "cessation of hostilities" to take effect on February 19. The announcement was met with widespread skepticism throughout the Arab world, and many politicians in Europe and the United States don't believe that the ceasefire will actually be implemented. The ceasefire only applies to the Free Syrian Army forces and will not affect the continuing battle against extremist jihadist groups like Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaeda affiliated, al-Nusra Front. In the meantime, Syrian armed forces, backed with Russian air power, were intensifying their ground campaign against rebel Syrian forces in Aleppo province and were threatening to encircle rebel held areas in the city of Aleppo. The threatened encirclement is only the latest chapter in the four year siege of Aleppo, a siege that in many ways has become a metaphor for the convoluted alliances and Byzantine politics that have come to characterize the Syrian Civil War. Advertisement Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the country's financial capital. Its prewar population was around 2.5 million. Its current population is unclear. The Battle of Aleppo began on July 19, 2012, and was one of the opening chapters of the Syrian Civil War. On one side was the Free Syrian Army (FSA), various Sunni militant groups that would eventually become the Saudi backed, Islamic Front coalition, the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG), and assorted radical Sunni jihadist groups. Pitted against them were the Syrian Armed Forces, Hezbollah and various Shiite militias backed by Iranian advisers. The siege of Aleppo, described in Syria as "the mother of all battles," has been a key conflict in the Syrian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting. Both sides have been condemned for the indiscriminate use of barrel bombs and improvised explosives that have resulted in thousands of deaths. The Old City of Aleppo, the historic center of Aleppo, which dates back to the 12th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has experienced catastrophic destruction. The siege began when approximately 6,500 fighters, mostly drawn from the local communities, infiltrated Aleppo and seized control of the eastern portion of the city. Prominent among the rebel groups was the Free Syrian Army, a secular force made up mostly of former officers and soldiers in the Syrian Army, and the al-Tawhid group, a Qatar backed Islamist group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter was among the largest Islamist groups in Aleppo province. The initial success of the rebels also attracted large number of foreign fighters including Chechens, Libyans and Frenchmen of Syrian descent. Syrian Christians and Armenians living in the city sided with the Syrian government and formed their own militias. The Kurdish People's Protection Units, affiliated with the anti-Turkish Kurdish Democratic Union Party, originally tried to stay neutral, and insisted that both sides stay out of the Kurdish areas of the city. Later they joined the rebel group fighting the pro-Assad forces. The Turkmen inhabitants also formed a 400-strong, anti-Assad, militia under their leader Sultan Abdulhamid Han. Advertisement The rebel force initially seized large portions of the city in the east and southwest. They were also able to seize the strategic town of Anadan, north of Aleppo; this gave them a direct supply route between the Turkish border and the city. During the first half of 2013, the rebel forces steadily expanded their control of the city, seizing the Great Mosque of Damascus in the heart of the old city. The mosque, which dates back to the seventh century, is considered to be the fourth holiest place in Islam. It also the site of the mausoleum containing the tomb of Saladin, and according to local lore, is supposed to be the site where Jesus will appear at the "end of days." Starting in the second half of 2013, the Syrian Army began a determined push to retake the portions of the city controlled by the Free Syrian Army and the various Islamist groups. They were successful in relieving the rebel siege of the government controlled area of the city but were unable, despite some notable progress, to eject the Free Syrian Army from the eastern portion of Aleppo. Over the course of 2014 and 2015, both sides launched offensives in an attempt to seize control of the rest of the city, but the situation remained largely stalemated. Beginning in the autumn of 2015, Syrian and Hezbollah fighters, backed by Russian air power, began a broad sweep south of Aleppo, which captured approximately 160 miles of territory over the month of November. By late December, forces loyal to President Assad were in control of around 75 percent of the countryside around Aleppo. Between February 1 and 4, Syrian military forces cut the FSA's supply route to Turkey and launched a new campaign to encircle rebel forces in the eastern portion of the city. In the meantime, the Kurdish YPG seized control of Menagh Air Base from groups affiliated with the Syrian rebel forces. Disposition of ground forces in Syria as of February 6, 2016 The fall of Aleppo will cripple the Free Syrian Army, and the rebel groups affiliated with it, and cut it off from one of its key supply lines to Turkey. The FSA has already declared that if they are defeated at Aleppo they will "go underground" and continue their struggle as an insurgency against pro-Assad forces. In the meantime, the Russian objective of eliminating the Western backed FSA as a credible alternative to the Assad government is succeeding. Barring a dramatic reversal in the fortunes of the Syrian rebels, the choice in the Syrian Civil War is increasingly between backing either the Assad government or the al-Qaeda and Islamic State backed radical jihadist groups. The Obama White House finds itself increasingly short of credible options in the Syrian Civil War. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to declare that the proposed ceasefire was a major step toward a political transition that would end the civil war and allow the international community to refocus its attention on the Islamic State. He also noted that in the meantime the United States would continue its air operations against Islamic State targets. Advertisement Critics of the agreement, however, were quick to denounce the agreement as a sham; pointing out that Russian air strikes against "radical jihadist groups" in Aleppo would continue. Since the rebels in the city consist of both moderate FSA forces and various Islamist groups, from radical jihadists like the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front to ones that would be more tolerable to the U.S. and its allies, and since the disposition of these groups in the city is relatively fluid, it would likely prove impossible to restrict attacks to only radical jihadists. It is increasingly clear that only an armed intervention by Turkish ground forces offers any hope of maintaining the Free Syrian Army as a credible alternative to the Assad government in Damascus. In the last several weeks, Turkey has been signaling that it is prepared to intervene with ground forces into Syria. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have also declared that they would be willing to commit ground troops to a Syrian intervention as well as air power. On February 13 Saudi Arabia announced that it had reached an agreement with Turkey to base Saudi Air Force planes at Incirlik Air Base. In the meantime there have been numerous reports that Turkey has been clearing access routes through the minefields it maintains along its border with Syria. For Turkey, a ground invasion would have a dual benefit. First it would stop the advance of Kurdish YPG forces west of the Euphrates River and their eventual linkage with Kurdish areas in western Syria. That prospect that would create a Kurdish controlled zone, what the Kurds are referring to as the autonomous region of Rojava, from Iraq to the Mediterranean coast. Secondly, it would allow Turkish forces to directly assist FSA forces in Aleppo and restore their supply lines from Turkey. The key issue to a Turkish ground invasion will be what role the U.S. would play. Ankara appears to be reluctant to commit Turkish air forces to any ground invasion. Given the Turkish downing of a Russian jet fighter on November 24, the appearance of Turkish air forces over Syria would almost certainly precipitate a Russian response. Although there have been unconfirmed reports that Washington has agreed to provide air cover for a Turkish ground invasion, U.S. support for Kurdish YPG units has remained a contentious issue between Washington and Ankara. Turkish President Erdogan has repeatedly insisted that the U.S. must choose between supporting Turkey or the YPG. Advertisement Russian Sukhoi Su-34 over Syria Viewed from this standpoint, it would appear that the Russian ceasefire initiative is really designed to forestall any Turkish ground invasion into Syria and to neutralize any American actions in support of it, while at the same time buying Syrian armed forces enough time to finish the encirclement of FSA troops in Aleppo. The sharply increased pace of Russian air attacks in Aleppo also suggest an ulterior motive. Russian air strikes in Aleppo have been averaging between 500 and 1,000 a day in February compared to the 20 to 30 air strikes being conducted by the U.S. against Islamic State targets. Moreover, as one Russian general was quick to point out, unlike their American counterparts, Russian pilots drop 100 percent of their bomb loads. Repeated warnings from Russian Prime Minister Medvedev that the deployment of ground troops in Syria "would draw everybody in," and that it might lead to a "new world war," further underscores Moscow's objective to forestall any ground invasion. This is a sequel article to "future of Syria," which was published on October 21, 2015. There were predictions made based on news articles written since it started and historical trends. Now, five months have passed and many things have developed since the day it was published. The numbers of refugees are climbing as European countries walk towards far right policies induced by a bogeyman fear that islamic extremism is lurking in every corner, whispering messages of madness into individuals' ears, which was the result of terroristic attacks that have occurred since the prior article was published. In the defense of national pride, ultraconservatives have raised their blunted witted historical minds to defend their nations; unaware of the similarities they share with other terrorist. They howl and bark at the refugees to go back to a country that lies in rubble that delegates are trying to stitch stone together as people dreadfully wait for food that is only a few miles away from their besieged town. There are refugees who are fortunate to have the chance to start settling into their new homes and there are others who are unfortunate. Despite the mix experiences, it seems the war is not going to finish any time soon. The longer it progresses; the likelihood of more families settling is an obvious conclusion, for children start to be born or someone gets accustomed to a country. Another factor that may encourage them to refuse moving to Syria is the fact ISIS is not just an organization. It is also a belief system. After the destruction of the establishment, the ideas may linger: for example, Nazism still exists despite losing War World 2 and Al Qaeda still exists from its inception despite the many attacks. The thought of obliterating an establishment would always lead to the fall of a belief is incorrect. A belief may linger till it is viewed as absolutely irrational. Last, after war, a country does not recover as soon as the war is declared finished. There are many steps of recovery that has to occur because the cities, towns, and so on are destroyed. It is not feasible option to return and more so if they are families. Even when the country is nearing its end of recovery, it may start experiencing a rise in unemployment due to the infrastructure jobs not being needed anymore. Therefore, Syria has many pitfalls awaiting them that needs a careful set of policies to avoid possible bad outcomes for the coming days. The influx of refugees has sparked ultraconservatives to renew their belief system. There has been an increasing amount of attacks on someone who is assumed to look Muslims in Europe. In addition, there have been ultraconservative rallies in Europe occurring. Elected officials are starting to utter far right policies: such as, sending the refugees back after the conflict is resolved and charging a fee to refugees. If things progress at this rate, more far right incidents and identity clashes will start appearing in news articles. Europe has become a large pot of water on a small flame that is slowly increasing the heat, which is the start of the moralistic crisis in Europe. United States has also started to walk towards far right policies by making it more difficult for anyone coming from a country that is deemed to have terrorist activities. This slow action by the United states has left Europe with solving where else the refugees should go. Then Canada has become more welcoming to refugees. In addition, some refugees has relocated to South America, Central America, and other countries, yet news on this matter has been dim. In sum, the nations of the world need to collaborate together and overcome the adversities at the present moment. If they do not, they risk the chance of being consumed by other problems that are starting to emerge: for example, drought in many different countries, other military factions, sickness, other civil wars, odd global weather patterns and so on. This is translating into budgets being tightly managed due to the limited resources that can be utilized to mitigate the stress of the conflicts. I have been in Athens over the course of the last week and, as I roam the city, from corner to corner, it is plain to see that there is very little traffic. Athens' onc- legendary vehicular hysteria is a thing of the past. Moving towards the normally bustling district of Kolonaki, my frustration turns to anguish. Many shops are closed, their storefronts papered over by filthy "for sale" or "for rent" signs, standing out like ghosts of a bygone era. The municipal garbage bins, overflowing with rubbish, attract various individuals, here and there, rummaging for leftovers. Omonia Square and Patission Avenue are living the ongoing tragedy of the destitute immigrant families who idle and subsist, mainly in the streets and the parks, waiting to transit to some city in Europe. For the overwhelming majority, their dreams have crumbled in Athens but, to everyone's dismay, they continue to arrive by the thousands from Turkey. The Greeks are deeply sympathetic, helping them with what little they have. These pictures of solidarity, of Athenian sympathy and humanity, are very touching amidst the storm that is battering the country from the unsolved problems of the Middle East. Advertisement In the Exarchia district, graffiti covers most of the area's wonderful post-war era buildings that stand empty. The sidewalks are full of garbage, cigarette butts and yellowed advertising flyers are everywhere, making this once thriving part of the capital appear deserted. The city is suffering badly. Only the bitter orange trees that are full of fruits and smell so divine are able, with their heavenly fragrance, to counter the depressed atmosphere of Athens. My friends are plunged in melancholy. Most are journalists who have been left jobless in their fifties. They mourn the lost booming era of private television and radio. Some of their pension funds are in deficit, having been forced to invest in worthless government paper, while others seem set to be raided anew with the government's upcoming social security bill. The nation's farmers, continuing their blockade of the major highways, are threatening to bring their tractors into the capital's streets this weekend. Its lawyers and freelance professionals, on strike for their own interests, have begun to hang their ties, in protest, outside the Greek Parliament. The government is hurriedly putting the final touches on a new pension plan bill that, despite the austere contents, does not appear to meet the demands of its European lenders, even though the plan entails further cuts to the country's already savaged pensions. Advertisement The daily drama emanating from Brussels continues unabated as eurozone officials come and go, negotiations drag, and desperately awaited funds from the country's neighbors are nowhere to be seen. Rumors abound that large gaps remain between what the Europeans are asking for and what the Greek government has offered. The lenders, or "institutions," have not made any specific remarks to this effect as they do not have their hands on the actual data but they are at odds with what they hear being leaked from the Greek government regarding "insufficient" increases in taxation and pension cuts. At the same time, Europe continues to threaten Greece that it will see itself excluded from the Schengen treaty, moving the continent's controlled borders northward, if it does not quickly comply with its partners' refugee influx requirements. The Greeks are living in martyrdom for a fifth consecutive year. The stock market crashed last week, reaching levels not seen in 26 years, as investors abandon the country. The dreaded "Grexit" has begun to hover again and fears abound that the recapitalization of the country's banks may eventually result in a "haircut" to individual deposits, adding to the recent haircut suffered by bondholders. The storied land of the Hellenes, with its history, hospitality and creativity, has been wronged and abused by its European allies. Its once proud citizens are crawling between a depressing reality and a bleak future carved by the failed policies of the European Economic Union. Your RSS feed from RSSFWD.com. Update your RSS... he received some vaccines Vaccines and autism are in the news... again. This time, Melinda Gates' recent remarks at Davos got me thinking about a strange vaccines analogy. Often, the lack of widespread vaccinations leads to unsettling news headlines. As an example from 2014, a record high number of measles cases (667) was uncovered since the disease was considered eliminated in 2000. This did not transpire in one of the African countries that the Gates Foundation targets for funding vaccine campaigns, but in one of the most developed countries in the world and in the history of time. Before I demystify my analogy, let me ask a question: How can a celebrity hide in plain sight in a place you normally don't find them? Let's say in downtown Berkeley, California where I went to college, a colorful place where tight-jean-wearing hipsters and hippies abound. You would think they could blend in as normal people, given that stranger things can be spotted near fraternity row, like tutu-wearing EDM concertgoers sporting Cookie Monster's carcass for shoes (read: furry rave leg warmers). You would think that... but no. Advertisement Usher once tried to get one of Top Dog's famed hot dogs in Berkeley, and my entire FB newsfeed just about imploded. Like a normal guy, he was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses -- the typical MO for any celebrity trying to blend in. But the attack was immediate. It was like the hipster kids on the street could smell the "mainstream" on him. They all rebelled by outing him on social media and closing in on him until he was forced to moonwalk out of there. Or, at least, that's how I imagined the scene transpiring. What if he was wearing the same outfit in N.Y.C.? Now, that's a whole different story. I've heard native New Yorkers say celebrities walk in plain sight all the time. They dress like us lesser mortals and pop on some shades to go. So why don't they get the same reaction on the streets? Because everyone wears shades in New York. It's called herd immunity. When a celebrity wears sunglasses and everyone else in a 5 mile radius is also wearing them, he/she will be safe from recognition. But, when you try to go to a place full of lovable weirdos like in Berkeley and try to be normal... well, then you will be spotted. And there's the neat little vaccines connection I'm trying to draw here. The effectiveness of vaccines in a population operates just like donning sunglasses in New York. A certain percentage of the population must be wearing them for celebrities to be safe from their adoring fans. In the same way, a certain percentage of the population must be vaccinated for us to be safe from adoring germs. Advertisement The CDC publishes these thresholds called Herd Immunity Thresholds (HITs), and they vary by disease. For measles, 83-94% of the population must be vaccinated; for mumps, 75-86%; for rubella, 83-85%. Not many people know about that. In our class studying the diffusion of innovation in society, my professor Dr. Tim King told us about the Wakefield/McCarthy anecdote to shed some light around what causes some innovations to be adopted and others to be discarded. On mass airwaves, Jenny McCarthy gave credence to the fraudulent study by Andrew Wakefield that tried to paint a causal link between the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine and autism. And why did Dr. Wakefield do that? Because he was getting ready to peddle some bogus test kits to doctors to diagnose "autistic enterocolitis" (i.e. vaccine-induced autism, an entirely fictitious condition) and sell a counter-vaccine for MMR. And you thought Martin Shkreli was shady. Anyhow, many public health experts blame this incident for propagating the mistaken notion that vaccines are dangerous. Given the influence of celebrity opinion leaders in America, endorsing such claims and worse, failing to condemn them upon further evidence, is extremely irresponsible. In this case, you also uncover the two traits that prevent vaccines from being adopted at greater rates: (1) Observability: If people don't see visible results, slow adoption rates ensue. When you have a product like a vaccine, where success is defined by a non-event, people are just a lot less likely to believe its efficacy, especially if they see a neighbor who didn't get vaccinated remain healthy. Advertisement (2) Complexity: If people don't understand how something works, they may not adopt it. Vaccines sound like paradoxes: "So you're telling me that you're going to inject potentially lethal bacteria into my blood, and I'm letting you...why?" As much as you want to go into the details of how small doses don't do harm and that vaccines in fact create antibodies that protect you from the disease, people won't get into the minutiae. Smartphones are easy to use thanks to Steve Jobs and brilliant UX designers, but does the lay person really understand the circuitry behind them? (For more information on how products or ideas are adopted by society, read Diffusion of Innovations by Everett Rogers). Dr. King's words during that lecture were haunting: "It's safer to be unvaccinated among a vaccinated population than to be vaccinated among the unvaccinated." With the latter, there is a much greater likelihood for disease outbreaks to happen. So next time you hear of a highly publicized measles outbreak (hello April 2015 Disneyland!), don't blame The Mouse. Don't blame vaccines. Don't even blame your neighbors who didn't get their kids vaccinated. Educate them. The only person you can probably blame this all on with some immunity (hehe) is Jenny McCarthy. American political consultant Karl Rove is seen at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, during final preparations for the opening of the Republican National Convention on August 27, 2012. Due to tropical storm Isaac, the convention will come to order later today, Monday August 27th, and then immediately recess until the afternoon on Tuesday, August 28th. AFP PHOTO Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GettyImages) One percenters have it all, extra houses, extra cars, even an exclusive legal defense if they kill, affluenza, to keep them out of jail. But until last week, they felt unfairly denied access to the benefits of social welfare organizations, United Way, Habitat for Humanity and the like. Now, these are rich people, so they wanted special social welfare groups, ones that would solely benefit rich people. And thats exactly what they got. Advertisement The Internal Revenue Service gave it to them. The IRS declared that an association called Crossroads GPS is a nonprofit social welfare group. That makes Crossroads GPS a sibling to agencies like Little Sisters of the Poor, the American Red Cross, and the Humane Society. Except that Crossroads, spawned by Republican strategist Karl Rove, spends every clandestine million dollars it collects to benefit the rich, not to help hurricane victims or homeless veterans or abandoned puppies. Citizens United Carpet Bombing Democracy Image by DonkeyHotey on Flickr. The IRS took five years to review the Crossroads GPS application for nonprofit social welfare status. This seems very odd since Crossroads GPS spent every donated dollar about $330 million on politics, either to fund its own campaigns to smear liberal candidates and causes or to fund other organizations devoted to smearing liberal candidates and causes. Most Americans would need only five minutes to determine that such a group is about politics, not social welfare. And, as a political group, it should not receive the tax breaks that are justly awarded to organizations that serve society by mentoring foster kids and delivering hot meals to elderly shut-ins. But now, because of the IRS decision, Crossroads GPS doesnt have to pay taxes on the hundreds of millions it spends to influence elections for the benefit of the one percent. But, probably more important to Crossroads GPS, it can keep its fat cat donors names secret because nonprofit social welfare groups are donor disclosure exempt as well as tax exempt. Advertisement For actual social welfare groups, this may come from the admonishment in the New Testament that, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you. But Crossroads donors dont give a damn about charity. Their only interest is self-interest. They are attempting to elect politicians who will implement policy to further enrich the rich. They dont want to sound a trumpet about their bribes, sorry, political gifts, because they dont want anyone to know who they are. For these donors, there could be repercussions if the public discovered them. For example, if the CEO of a corporation whose primary customers were Latinos gave millions of dollars to a presidential candidate who said undocumented immigrants were rapists and drug dealers, the stock might suffer. But now the CEO can surreptitiously slide money to Crossroads GPS with the absolute assurance that his name will never be revealed. Advertisement Also, some of this dark money is drawn directly from corporate coffers, not from CEO pockets. Stockholders may be generally unhappy with the amount of corporate money spent on politics but enraged if they knew it went to groups they loathe like Crossroads GPS. One percenters expect a return on these political investments and have made that increasingly clear. Heres what Republican lobbyist and donor Theresa Kostrzewa told the New York Times, Donors are demanding a lot these days, man, and they want answers and they want results. . . Donors consider a contribution like, Well, wait, I just invested in you. Now I need to have my say; you need to answer to me. Tens of millions of dollars secretly invested with Crossroads GPS will buy a few answers. Three clandestine Crossroads GPS donors in 2012 gave more than $10 million each. Fifty-three secret donors gave more than $1 million. Five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court set this in motion with the democracy-killing Citizens United decision, which handed the one percent license to buy elections. In October, the New York Times reported that one result is that not since before the Watergate scandal have so few people and businesses provided so much early money in a presidential campaign. The total, the Times found, was $176 million from just 158 one percenters and their companies. Advertisement That was the reported money from the reported donors. The American public will never know the rest of the story on nonprofit social welfare groups political spending. Even before Crossroads GPS, the IRS had granted social welfare status to virtually every political group that sought it, from the right wing Koch network to the liberal David Brock American Bridge 21 Century Foundation. The decision on Crossroads GPS is significant only because of the groups enormous wealth. In the last presidential election, right-wing dark money groups like Crossroads GPS spent $125 million and liberal groups spent $35 million. The IRS tried to write rules governing these groups, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did the bidding of right-wingers and inserted in last years spending bill two provisions to stop that. One of Mitchs provisions prohibits the IRS for the next two years from issuing rules defining social welfare. The other blocks the Securities and Exchange Commission from forcing corporations to disclose their donations to dark-money groups. Advertisement Emily Ratajkowski is an actress and model best known for appearing in Gone Girl and the "Blurred Lines" music video. She's supporting Senator Bernie Sanders in the democratic primary this election. Emily introduced Sanders at a rally on Monday, and you can watch her speech here. Emily posted about this to her various social media accounts, and while most of her fans were excited to see her support of Bernie, a number of people weren't. This is what happens when you support Bernie Sanders online while female. First, people tell you to shut up and look pretty. People will also tell you you're stupid. If you're a woman who has at any point appeared without a top on, well, people will talk about your breasts. A lot. Advertisement And those are actually some of the nicer things that happen. Those are just a fraction of the hate Emily has gotten for being a woman that supports Bernie Sanders. Most of these comments came within a few hours of her first post, so there's plenty more insults and slurs to be found. You may be wondering what the significance of all this is, but there is none. Social media is often a toxic place, even more so for women. The companies running these websites do little or nothing to change the environment, and we continue to use their products in spite of that. So it goes. But in spite of the universal nature of online harassment, a number of prominent Hillary Clinton supporters in the media accused Sanders supporters of being uniquely vitriolic online. Their evidence? Offensive, sexist, and racist remarks from some Sanders supporters that are of the exact sort aimed at Ratajkowski's today. "Social media is often a toxic place, even more so for women. The companies running these websites do little or nothing to change the environment..." Find any group that includes men who use the Internet, and you will find men who are behaving horridly. The idea that this would be something unique to men drawn to support Bernie Sanders, a candidate with an impeccable record on women's issues, is of course absurd, but the media and Hillary supporters have latched onto this convenient, if unsupported, narrative and treated it as gospel. Emily Ratajkowski found the Internet to be no kinder to a woman who supports Bernie Sanders than it is to a woman who supports Hillary Clinton. Online harassment is a serious issue, and it would be great if both campaigns addressed it in a productive way. All the campaigns in this election are heavy users of social media and if they presented a unified platform to address online harassment it could possibly make social media companies to take the issue more seriously. However, by framing the discussion in a way meant to benefit Hillary Clinton alone, the pundits have accomplished little, save insulting Sanders supporters and deluding Bill Clinton into thinking sexism is an issue he can lecture about. With Clinton surrogates Madeline Albright and Gloria Steinem joining in with the online mob to hurl sexist insults at Sanders' female supporters coupled with the offensive spectacle of America's most iconic practitioner of sexual harassment taking a stand on sexism, Hillary will likely need more than Bernie Bro thinkpieces to bridge the massive gap between her and Sanders among young women. But don't expect the Bernie Bro meme go away, or be replaced by a non-partisan push against online harassment. See, even while Emily Ratajkowski was being flooded with sexist insults, a Hillary fan managed to stick to the narrative: Advertisement "Its a pity." I wasn't sure what disturbed me more--the constant, high-pitched shrieks--or the people crouched on the cold, cement floor, chained to the poles. I kept the scarf tied close to my head and face, as is customary for women within the walls of the Mira Datar Shrine. Even though my head covering felt like a layer of protection that could shield me, at times, it just wasn't enough. It was then that I would stare at the floor, giving my eyes a break from the mass exorcism taking place before me. Before I go any further, I think it is important for you to know how I arrived in Unava, a small village in Gujarat, India. I grew up in a small town comprised of 4,000 people in rural Illinois. Two-thirds of the population was Amish. This town was situated smack-dab between a corn and a bean field, and there was a celebration when the first (and only) stoplight was installed. The citizens of Fairbury held conservative beliefs about religion, politics, and people of color. As I got older and wished to explore the world and its fascinating cultures, I felt stifled and stunted by my small-town surroundings. Since then, I have been on a perpetual quest to learn as much as I can about people and foreign lands--and to distill the limiting beliefs that influenced me as a child and young adult. So...I often find myself packing up, heading to a faraway land, and letting the adventure unfold once I reach my destination. When I arrived in India to volunteer with Living Smile at the Ghandi Leprosy Society, I entered a world I had only been able to previously witness through books and documentaries. On my first day, I met a couple from San Francisco who was in India for the seventh time, and I sat with them and listened to their stories, gathering several recommendations for unique and intimate ways to experience the culture of India. Deborah and Gerald insisted that I hire a Muslim driver named Shaikh, so I could take a day trip to a few sights outside of Ahmedabad. Advertisement As my day with Shaikh came to a close, we entered the Sufi Shrine Mira Datar. We removed our shoes at the entrance, covered our heads, and crossed the threshold. This mosque was a humble structure of concrete and plaster, which had been painted sea green. The air smelled of incense and roses and was charged with the energy of the mujarwars, or faith healers. It is believed that mujarwars can heal the mentally ill afflicted by black magic, evil spells, and bad curses. Every night, around six o'clock, the faith-healing ceremony starts. I took my seat off to the side, on a cold, concrete slab, and tried to blend in. The ceremony started with Islamic chanting, which lasted for about 15 minutes. Then, the drumming began. There must have been five or more drummers behind the patterned curtain, and their forceful, choreographed beating caused my body to vibrate. The combination of chanting, drumming, and incense fueled the ceremony, and within a few minutes, hundreds of participants began to shriek, pace, stomp, and throw themselves against the concrete pillars. Eyes rolled into the backs of heads, chains rattled on the poles as the most violent tried to break free, and one woman used her scarf to attempt strangulation. Family members must attend the ceremony with their loved ones. Many have been housed near the shrine for months and years, attending every night, hoping that the evil spirits will leave, so they can all get back to a normal life. It was not uncommon to see family members helping constrain and protect the afflicted of another family during the exorcism. It was a true community of mentally-ill and mentally-well, all focused on helping one another through a difficult time. Judge Antonin Scalia died Saturday afternoon and within minutes of the news hitting the web, talk began of possible nominees to fill the vacant seat. Among those on the short list was Sri Srinivasan, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Srinivasan's name immediately garnered excitement in the Indian-American community. Facebook was alighted with chatter about him and multiple shares of the 2013 Jeffrey Toobin piece in The New Yorker, "The Supreme Court Nominee in Waiting." As Executive Director of the South Asian Network, a Southern California community-based organization serving the needs of individuals of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and Nepali descent, I immediately began to contemplate what such a nomination would mean for the future of our community and our country. South Asian Americans have been among the strongest voting blocs for President Obama. According to National Asian American Survey run by UC Riverside Professor Karthick Ramakrishnan, in 2008, 92% of Indian Americans voted for President Obama while only 8% voted for Senator John McCain. Similarly, in 2012, 86% voted to re-elect the president and only 14% voted for Governor Mitt Romney. It's unclear how Indian Americans will vote in the 2016 election, but with Republicans like Donald Trump calling for a ban on the entry of all Muslims into the U.S. and Jeb Bush referring to some Asian American infants as "anchor babies," it's unlikely that the GOP nominee will garner much more support than their recent predecessors. Advertisement But for voters favoring Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, there is a question of whether Srinivasan will mete out justice in a way that serves the interests of the South Asian community, which according to the 2012 National Asian American survey, lean heavily in favor of environmental protections, affirmative action and immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for the undocumented. A Stanford Law graduate, Srinivasan clerked for two Reagan appointees, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Judge Harvie Wilkinson, of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Later, Srinivasan did serve as Principal Deputy Solicitor General, replacing another Indian American, Neal Katyal, in the Obama Administration. While at O'Melveny and Myers, Srinivasan defended Jeffrey Skilling, former Chief Executive at Enron in front of the Supreme Court. More importantly, he represented Exxon Mobil, arguing that it should not be held liable for human rights violations that took place abroad. In that particular case, an Indonesian village claimed that security staff of Exxon Mobil had engaged in the torture and murder of its residents. On the other hand, Srinivasan has filed pro bono briefs in support of affirmative action and against Indiana's restrictive voter ID law. Similarly, his representation prevented a legal immigrant from getting deported for a minor gun offense and he sided against the government in the U.S. v. Jones case on the question of unconstitutional surveillance. While it's unlikely that Srinivasan will be a Brennan or Marshall-style liberal given his defense of corporate interests, albeit as an attorney representing his clients, it's very possible that Srinivasan may play the role of his former boss O'Conner as the fifth swing vote, which means that he will change the balance of the court in very significant ways. What is clear is that in addition to becoming the first Indian-American, Srinivasan would become the first Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) on the nation's highest court. Even in 2016, there are only four Asian American judges at the federal appeals court level -- Denny Chin of the Second Circuit, Raymond Chen of the Federal Court of Appeals, Jacqueline Nguyen (also on the short list for the vacant seat) of the Ninth Circuit and Srinivasan on the DC Circuit -- and no AAPI has ever been nominated, or perhaps even considered, for the Supreme Court. And the Srinivasan nomination -- likely to be viewed as historic by the wider Asian American and Pacific Islander community -- will almost certainly encourage AAPI voters to come out in force this November and choose a Democrat, especially if Republicans are viewed as opposing him or treating him unfairly because of his race. And this is significant because while AAPIs will likely represent only 4-5% of the overall electorate in 2016, they make up 11% in Nevada and a steadily increasing percentage in Virginia, two important swing states. Advertisement Every few years it seems a new virus captures the public's attention. Over a decade ago it was SARS which had people in Hong Kong wearing masks, then it was avian flu, then H1N1, then the West Nile virus, and then Ebola and now, it is Zika. We don't know for certain why a new virus emerges, but I can speculate. More on this later but first let me share what we know about the Zika virus. Over a half century ago, Zika virus was discovered in Africa (I found it mentioned only in a chart in my Tropical Medicine textbook). Now the virus has hopped across the oceans into the Americas. In Brazil alone, where the virus was discovered in May, a million Zika infections have occurred and the number may reach up to 4 million over the next year. Advertisement Understanding the chain of transmission is critical to controlling and preventing Zika infections. Transmission flows back and forth between mosquitoes and people. First, an infected mosquito bites a person, who becomes infected. The infection is spread when an uninfected mosquito bites that same person. That mosquito in turn becomes a carrier that goes on to spread the virus to other people. This is the same way malaria and other viruses, like dengue fever, cause infections in the tropics. Another route of transmission for the Zika virus that has been discovered is sexual contact. Recently in Texas, a traveler who had recently traveled to Venezuela infected his or her sexual partner, who had not left the country. Studies show that Zika can also be transmitted by blood transfusion. At present no Zika-infected mosquitoes have been found in the United States, and no non-travelers have reported infections, other than the Texas case. But it is only a matter of time until such cases will appear. Why do experts say this? Because the two types of mosquitoes which spread the Zika virus are present in the southeast United States from Florida across to Texas and up to Tennessee, Ohio and Connecticut. For decades the Zika virus has not been widely investigated or feared because it was known to cause only a mild infection with fever, rash, arthritis and red-eyes, which subsided within a week. However, last year health authorities in Brazil noticed a surge in cases of birth defects among newborns linked with infection of Zika virus. To date a cause-and-effect relationship between the virus and the birth defect of microcephaly (small head) has not been proven. Also it is unclear if the virus has changed or if better monitoring in the Americas has led to its connection with birth defects. Advertisement Zika has no treatment and no vaccine, and none are available in the short term. Many are wondering if they should put their vacation plans, including going to the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, on hold. In time it is likely the outbreak will be contained but for now, health agencies are recommending that pregnant women not travel to Zika-affected areas which includes Brazil and many other South American countries, all of Central America, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the US virgin islands. For people living in these regions, local governments are recommending that women delay pregnancy. Some authorities advise women who are traveling to these areas to wait for one month after their return before getting pregnant. Those who must travel should use extra precautions to not become bitten by mosquitoes. So, now to answer the question, why do more new viruses appear to be emerging? I believe there are three reasons: globalization, surveillance, and climate change. We need to only look at the flight destinations page in back of the airline magazine. In a single day millions of people connect to thousands of flights to hundreds of destinations. This is how quickly a virus such as avian flu can spread. Secondly, we may be becoming more aware of virus outbreaks due to better global surveillance of diseases by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly every country has collaborations and disease surveillance posts for early detection. Lastly, our environment is changing: global warming, deforestation, changing weather patterns and coastlines affect not only human patterns and habitat but also that of animals, primates, mosquitoes, birds - and even viruses who reside within them. Advertisement Back in the late 1970s at a bar called the Spike in New York, Durk Dehner glimpsed a small drawing of a man in leather that spoke to him with such compelling intensity that he sought out the artist and invited him to his home in Los Angeles. Dehner became a muse of artist Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen, 1920-1991), as well as his archivist and business manager, which ultimately led to the founding of the Tom of Finland Foundation in 1984. By then, the artist had ended his full-time job at the Helsinki office of international advertising firm McCann-Erickson and was spending up to six months a year at Dehner's gabled Craftsman home in Echo Park. Throughout the last decade of the artist's life, the two men shared the home at 1421 Laveta Terrace, which is now known officially as Tom House. Published by Rizzoli, Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles offers an intimate perspective into the extraordinary world of one of the most revolutionary artists of the 20th century. Edited by Michael Reynolds, with a foreword by Mayer Rus and photography by Martyn Thompson, the 256-page volume provides an armchair equivalent of a private tour into a home that has served as a fraternity house and den of iniquity, as well as a haven of quotidian (and forbidden) pleasures. Advertisement Thompson's atmospheric photographs evoke the illicit thrills of Tom of Finland's arousing art: a row of boots in a bedroom, a closet filled with leather jackets and uniforms, a hand-painted sign leading to Pleasure Park. A stud-covered rimming chair, a pissoir fountain, an endless parade of penises -- all are rendered in full shelter magazine glory in Thompson's signature painterly photographs. Nearly hidden by a massive hedge, Tom House is the headquarters of the Tom of Finland Foundation, as well as a shelter for LGBTQ youth and a gallery for outsider art. Originally built in 1912, Tom House featured dark oak paneling, sliding doors -- and a cellar that became a "proper gay dungeon" when painted in black. More than merely sex, however, Tom House has offered its various occupants "a place without shame or judgment" -- and, as Dehner explains, "It had a spiritual dimension." As the current West Coast editor of Architectural Digest, Rus provides an insightful foreword that chronicles the evolving landscape of LGBT culture during Tom's tenure in the States. "During the bleakest years of the AIDS crisis," Rus writes, "Tom House hosted roughly 50 memorial ceremonies by Dehner's account." What lingers in Tom House, beautifully captured in Thompson's revelatory photographs, are the artworks that celebrate "the vital, sex-positive spirit" of Tom of Finland and his fellow artists. Throughout the sleekly-designed monograph, Thompson's evocative images recreate the suggestive seductive atmosphere that fueled Tom of Finland's art. The attic bedroom that the artist employed as a studio, sequestering himself for hours at a time, remains virtually unchanged since his residency. Family photographs, racks of flannel shirts and leather jackets -- and Tom's officer's uniform from his service in the Finnish army during World War II -- summon the man behind the hyper-masculine imagery. Advertisement As for the artist's vast collection of work, a cargo container has been repurposed as a refrigerated repository for the Foundation's most valuable holdings. According to Los Angeles gallery owner David Kordansky who represents the work of Tom of Finland, "It's so much more than a garnish for West Hollywood coffee tables. There's a politic involved and it's pretty fucking radical." A member of the founding team of Wallpaper* magazine, as well as a contributing editor for Architectural Digest, Reynolds has edited an interior design tome that celebrates the unabashedly radical vision of Tom of Finland's oeuvre. Still occupied by Dehner and others who have been influenced and inspired by the Finnish artist, Tom House functions not merely as a shrine to Tom of Finland but as an ongoing tribute to homoerotic sexuality. (All photographs Martyn Thompson for Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles by Michael Reynolds, Rizzoli New York, 2016.) Details: Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles By Michael Reynolds Essay by Mayer Rus Photography by Martyn Thompson Hardcover / 256 pages / 8" x 11" / 200 color & b/w photographs and images ISBN: 978-0-8478-4811-9 Publication date: March 2016 Rizzoli New York PRICE: $55.00 US and CAN / 40.00 UK www.rizzoliusa.com The challenge of climate change is widely held to be an obvious instance of The Tragedy of the Commons, Garrett Hardin's argument that individuals pursuing their self-interest will produce an outcome that is sub-optimal for everyone, including themselves. Overgrazing of the commons occurs in the absence of an effective way to collectively limit the number of cattle put out to pasture. Restraint by one herdsman simply creates an opportunity for others to do the opposite. The result is restraint by no one. Optimism about the recent climate agreement in Paris seems to ignore the logic of the Commons. Not only do country pledges to limit carbon output fall short of what would be needed to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, but there is no mechanism in place to hold countries to their pledges. This looks like a case in which agreement between the herdsmen is only won by allowing overgrazing to occur. Still, as long as the agreement results in some restraint over business as usual surely that is a virtue. And when it comes to climate, business as usual is projected to produce a likely increase of 3.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century and 8 degrees Celsius by the year 2300 according to the most report of the IPCC. But the problem is that every smart herdsman has an incentive to pledge restraint and then take advantage of others who follow suit. Advertisement So why isn't the Paris agreement doomed? Consider a farmer who declines to put his cows to pasture on the commons. He knows his restraint will simply leave more for others. But still he acts. Maybe he is driven by respect for the welfare of future generations of farmers irrespective of the material consequences that follow for him. But just why he acts does not really matter. All that matters is that, with such interests in hand, the clash of interests that drives the logic of the Commons is broken. The step from "if I show restraint, others will simply benefit and so there is no point in doing so" is replaced by the "if I show restraint, others will simply benefit and so be it." In doing so, the farmer steps outside the logic of the Commons by embracing interests that it assumes are not in play. But wait! Is the logic of the Commons undermined by any of this? Surely it does not demand that everyone march to its drum beat. As long as some people do, and their needs outstrip available resources, the problem will arise. One farmer stepping outside this logic does not change this. Nor do many. As long as there are remaining farmers with enough resources to buy more and more cows, enough stay in place to create the problem, irrespective of the actions of others, and the logic of the Commons still holds us in its grip. Suppose most farmers follow the leader but some do not. But suppose the holdouts do not have enough resources to create the problem. They will show no restraint but their lack of restraint won't be enough to create the Hardin's outcome. Why might this be? A lemon tree stands on the village green. Villagers are asked to take no more than their fair share. Most do but some do not. If there is a market for lemons beyond the village then there will be an incentive for the holdouts to take all of the lemons. But if there is no market beyond the village and no market within the village (since everyone gets some lemons), satiation will limit the holdouts take. After all, how many lemons can one person make use of? This is a situation of stable partial cooperation. What would it take for such a partial cooperation to obtain in the aftermath of Paris? In the short term, enough countries need to cooperate so that the benefits of their restraining carbon output outweigh the costs to them even in the face of unrestrained output by others. In this sense, size matters - on both sides of the ledger. For the cost-benefit calculus for those cooperating will require them to increase their level of restraint to offset the unwillingness of the non-cooperators to do the same. Advertisement That said, in the long run, size can also matter in a different sense. If the cooperating countries constitute a large enough slice of the export market of countries that choose not to cooperate, reforming the WTO to allow the imposition of tariffs could be used to move the world to full cooperation. (Such punitive tariffs were included in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 which was approved by the House of Representatives but not in the Senate.) Today, running a retail store is hard. It's hard work with long hours. It's hard to make sales. It's hard to find good employees. It's hard to keep expenses down. It's hard to maintain inventory and have good cash flow. It's hard to get vendors to support you when frequently they can't decide whether or not they need you. And of course, there's Amazon. It's just damn hard to make a profit -- which if you could, would make everything else less hard. Ten years ago, my photo distribution business was in serious trouble. My business model of selling film and accessories to photo retailers wasn't working any longer. The number of photo retailers had dramatically declined over the preceding ten years from well over 10,000 to a few thousand, and then to a few hundred. Our product mix had become obsolete and our customers became few. The end was coming fast. We could have gone out of business. But that would mean I had failed. It would mean I would have to leave the business I was born into and grew to love. I would have failed in a business that my parents started in 1947 and was trusted to me to run. I had to make it work. Advertisement So in 2008, we opened a camera superstore in New Jersey. There were many doubters who did not believe we could be successful -- inside the company and out. They doubted my sanity in fact. After all, we were 15 miles from Manhattan and the largest photo retailers in the world. Today, eight years later, that camera store is one of the largest and most successful cameras stores in the country. And I did well enough to be able to walk away, leaving the business running successfully and sustainably, to do something different in my life, find new challenges and help other businesses succeed. So based on my experiences, here are the 10 things that will help any retail store survive and thrive: 1. Build a Brand. What brand means the most to you: the brands of products you sell in your store? The answer is: "No!" The most important brand to you should be the brand of your store. A customer can buy your products almost anywhere, anytime. She will buy it from you if she has an attachment to your store. A quality brand builds attachment to its business. At my camera store our brand was centered on experience. Our salespeople educated as they interacted with customers. And as the company's president, I became a photography expert. Our brand oozed into our company from the top down and outward in every way. Advertisement Action Items: Create a list of what makes your store worth going to and make sure every aspect of your business speaks to that. 2. Build a Meaningful Education Program. Build a coordinated instructional program that draws customers in and gets them coming back. Create a class space that looks great (even if it's small), have topics of varied interests and levels, and find instructors that are informative and well liked. By educating customers in a meaningful way you change your relationship with them from an adversarial/business one to one of a trusted advisor. That turns them into advocates for your store. Action Items: Plan three classes/workshops per week minimum for the next six months. Focus your marketing on filling these classes. Survey your customers after each class. 3. Streamline Your Product Lines. It is easy, considering the long-term relationships you have with so many vendors, to try to stock every product line they want to sell us. Don't let salesmen pressure you into that trap. You have to do what's best for your business. It's better to reduce product lines and stock deeper in the ones that work best for you. This is your chance to get greater discounts and support from vendors by agreeing to eliminate a competitor from your store. Pick items based not only on what you think would sell but from the vendors you think will give you the most support. Action Items: Ask your staff which five product lines you don't really need. Stock deeper in fewer product lines and negotiate with the vendors that you chose to keep for more support. Advertisement 4. Get Social Now. If you aren't using social media to build your brand and business every day, you are falling behind one day at a time. If you don't know how to do this, hire someone to do it. I successfully built a well-known brand mostly through social media. It is the way modern business communicates, builds brand awareness and fosters loyalty from its customers. Action Items: Hire someone to do your social media or take a course and do it yourself. Start today and never stop. 5. Fix Your Website. If your website isn't good (and you know if it isn't), you are basically sabotaging your own business. If you have a commerce site, you are not going to be able to compete with the scope of Amazon, so make sure what you have looks great, works perfectly and shows your brand. When a customer goes to your site it should look like the brand of your store. If your site is not as you like and you don't have the resources to build one, then use a free technology like WordPress and build an attractive and informational site that at least looks great. Action Items: Ask ten customers who come in your store each day for the next seven days what they think about your site. If anything gets mentioned with more than three complaints, you need to fix it now. 6. E-mail Frequently. E-mail is the most effective way to contact existing customers. It is also a cost-effective way to reach new customers. You should be e-mailing at least once per week and your content should be informative and carry your brand message. Make sure your e-mails are not only about product and price. Those get deleted fastest and the reader unsubscribes more frequently. Use an e-mail manager like iContact, MailChimp or Constant Contact. They work really well to manage both the creative side and your lists as well. Advertisement Action Items: Buy an e-mail list from a local source, upload it to an e-mail manager and send out an e-mail. Do it now. Then create an informative and entertaining e-mail that has absolutely no product or price in it, and send it to your existing customers. 7. Only Grade-A Employees Wanted. Employees deserve to know where they stand. You deserve to have only grade-A employees working for you. Reviews should happen at least twice per year, and positives and negatives should be communicated. If you have any employees who aren't top-level performers (grade-A), they need to be guided to the A level or let go. If you allow grade B or worse employees to interact with your customers, you're committing a business sin. Action Items: Start reviewing all staff members. Grade A's should be given incentive to grow with the company; B's should be worked with to get to A, and C's or worse should be immediately let go. 8. Make Your Store Look and Smell Great. I think of your products as jewelry. Merchandising must be perfectly neat and attractive. Showcases need to look clean and modern. Every item needs to be priced, and there should never be any garbage around. Make sure the aisles are clear and the store looks uncluttered. Brew coffee or make popcorn to make your store smell wonderful. We want the experience to be great and that requires your store to look great all of the time. Action Items: Remove anything from your store that doesn't belong there. Have your store professionally cleaned. Make sure every display looks perfect. Advertisement 9, Focus on Customer Service. You have to set the example for fanatically good customer service. If customers don't think you care about them, they will simply buy online. Unless the customer is crazy or trying to get one over on you, never let a customer walk away unhappy. I would respond to customer complaints myself in the middle of the night. Turning a complaint around into a positive experience bonds a customer to you for life. They will talk about that to everyone. Conversely, we all know what unhappy customers can do to your online reputation with a negative review. Action Items: The next complaint you get after business hours should be answered by the store's owner and the entire staff should be copied on the response. Create a reasonable written policy that says no customer should leave the store unhappy. 10. How Badly Do You Want It?! That's my personal slogan. If you run your business with desperation and you want to be profitable badly enough, you can make it happen. It requires work, imagination and dedication. But ultimately you are the only one who can lead your business to success. Action Items: Create a list of 10 objectives for your store for this year and place that list where you and your staff can see it. Hold regular meetings to see how you are progressing. Today, February 12, is the anniversary of the assassination, martyrdom and resurrection of Sister Dorothy Stang, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, who was murdered in the Amazon for standing with the peasants against landowners, multi-nationals and others determined to destroy peasants, indigenous peoples and others living in and defending the rainforest. Sister Dorothy ("Dot") was a student of mine in my master's program in creation spirituality. Born to a farm family in Ohio, with nine siblings, she is becoming known around the world as a peaceful warrior on behalf of Mother Earth. Her life and teachings and commitment make her a contemporary patron saint of eco-warriors. Last night, on the eve of her anniversary, I received a letter from her brother David Stang. He wrote of their final phone conversation, the night before she died: Dorothy called me on the 11th to express her entering into the pit of hell, Esperanza, basically to give me a hug and say goodbye. She had just been refused any security. She knew what this meant, her death. She left early in the morning, during the rainy season and it was raining. The 30 mile trip was totally on slippery, muddy, dirt roads, across four slippery log bridges, with dangerously deep filled rivers below. The small black car she sat in was filled with four people, blankets, food and tools for rebuilding. Though it was only thirty miles it took over four frightful hours. Why one would ask would you do this? She knew the farmers were waiting for her. She knew these poor proud strong farmers were scared to death. They knew that they were being threatened with drunken killers and one of their neighbors had just been harassed all night by these drunks and early in the morning they had burnt down the home, the crops and left the family in the forest with no food, or clothes or any tools, and scared to death that they would all be shot. "How can I desert my family?" Dorothy said again and again. She had been told not to go by her friends, even by the Federal Prosecutor for land in her area. "I cannot leave my family," she responded. By reading your book Confessions and knowing Dorothy's story I can say, Matt you have gone through this very same pit of hell and would understand Dorothy's story very well. I am with you as you talk about Dorothy whom you freed from the Empire and the Institutions so you and her could love real people without the moss covered Empire and Institutions. Thank you for giving me my free joyful sister who so loved me to call me about her death. Joy, David At her funeral a peasant farmer stood up and declared: "Sister Dorothy, we are not burying you, we are planting you." This is what resurrection means in our time: Dot's life and message to take a stand on behalf of Mother Earth is a seed that is growing in many places around the world. Sister Dorothy Stang's life and work and death and resurrection, in the form of others being inspired by her work, is very much a part of an eco-spirituality and eco-practice where courage and commitment are needed to protect the rainforests and small farmers and soil and animals and oceans and rivers and trees everywhere. Dorothy Stang's story raises for all of us the important question of vocation. What am I called to do in this life, after a journey of 13.8 billion years to get here? That's a long journey. Our work matters. Our choices matter. Our conscience matters; and especially at this time when the planet is in grave danger and so many species, our own included, is facing extinction from a dominant reptilian brain in humans that is dangerously out of control. My Dominican brother St Thomas Aquinas said: "The proper objects of the heart are truth and justice." Sister Dot was in love with both truth and justice. That is why she asked lots of questions and did a lot of study. That is why she learned the legal details of the Brazilian legal system, so she could fight for and with her people; and that is why she studied the judiciary in Brazil to know which judges were reliable and which were bought and sold. Advertisement Sister Dot also loved her conscience. How do we know this? Because she used it!! She acted from it. She dared to live from it. And, like her model Jesus, she died prematurely because of it. Today, her legacy is honored at the Sister Dorothy Stang Center for Social Justice and Community Engagement, on the campus of her alma mater, the College of Notre Dame de Namur, where some of her sisters still teach. It is a rich tribute, because a school for young adults in particular is a place, a space, for vocations to gestate. We all have a vocation--that is just one of the profound lessons learned from today's science. Our existence as a species after a long journey of 13.8 billion years, the existence of this special and unique planet that has birthed the rainforests that Sister Dot so loved and the diversity of cultures and peoples and music and dance and foods and languages and religions--all this is in jeopardy today and all this is calling us. And that is what a vocation is - a calling, calling out to the young people especially to stand up and be counted. To not settle for the trivial. To live lives of generosity and adventure. Sister Dot is also calling--by her example, her generosity and life of adventure and her courage are calling and modeling: What is it you will give your lives for? A laying down of one's life is not just a thing for martyrs: It is a choice we make daily in whatever field we choose to serve others--as scientist, as nurse, as teacher, as doctor, as business person, as artist, as parent, as grandparent, as citizen--wherever we are called the choice of conscience is ours. Do not settle for just loving your spouse or family or children or country. Anyone can do that. Think bigger; love larger. Be like Sister Dot: Alive, joyful, determined, in love with both truth and justice, in love with the future, an eschatological hope that has not happened yet, such as Jesus spoke of and Sister Dot invoked as her final words. When her two assassins appeared, as she walked on the muddy road in the jungle, she had just enough time to pull out her Bible and this is what she read to them: "Blessed are the peacemakers...." Advertisement Team Success: I am writing to update you about Success Academy pre-k for next year. This first year has been one of tremendous growth for our youngest scholars -- and for Success as well, as we challenged ourselves to develop a magical curriculum that engaged and delighted 4-year-olds. The response from families has been so positive that we made plans to expand our pre-k to our Union Square and Bensonhurst schools. Unfortunately, in the case of Success Academy, Mayor de Blasio does not truly support pre-k for all. The mayor and the Department of Education have again thrown up a roadblock. He has refused to pay us the pre-k funding to which we are entitled under the law unless we allow him to dictate how we run our pre-k program. A critical aspect of charter schools is that we are not subject to the control of the city government. That is what enables a high-quality program. Success Academy and 24 parents of students in our pre-k program have brought a legal action against the city but it is unclear how long it will take to get a decision. Unfortunately, unless we get a result or persuade Mayor de Blasio to do the right thing within the next two weeks, we will be forced to cancel our pre-k program for the coming year! Please feel free to express your concern to the mayor directly and to you local elected officials. This would be a terrible shame for families and for staff who have worked so hard to create a truly amazing pre-k experience. This is just part of a larger war on Success Academy and charter schools. On a daily basis, we are forced to fight for kids' rights to a world-class, free education. Thank you for all you do for children. Warmly, Eva Moskowitz [Emphasis added.] I grew up in a strictly religious household where we were taught that Satan was a literal force for evil in the world, that he was a former angel who rebelled against God and was thrust out of heaven, and that there were other spirits who followed after him and became demons. We prayed frequently for protection from Satan, heard stories about literal possession, and even talked about how to tell the difference between an angel and a demon if an incorporeal being appeared before us. This was all meant to protect us from evil and to help us always "choose the right." But when I was in my twenties and no longer part of my parents' household, I began to question the idea that Satan was the reason that people chose badly. Was it really Satan's fault that a friend of mine had been tempted to leave her marriage? Was it really Satan who told young women to wear scanty clothing or told young men to watch pornography? Wasn't it sufficient to say that these people had simply chosen these things on their own? What was the purpose of talking about "Satan" except to stir up fear about an invisible force that could take power of us--or to explain away mental disorders that we surely now have better names for than possession? Maybe Satan wasn't real, but I continued to think that "evil" was. A friend of mine studied serial killers with a kind of obsession and insisted to me that certain people were born utterly without a conscience and that whether or not Satan was real, there was truly evil in the world. When I studied the horrors of the Holocaust in my graduate German career, it seemed impossible to deny that evil was real. Hitler and Himmler and Goering planned out such evil acts and then the men around them seemed eager enough to obey these terrible commands. This had to be evil. And what about the terror attacks that we as a country endured on 9/11? Surely those were acts of evil by people who wanted nothing more than to cause harm because their hearts had been turned to evil. Advertisement But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered even about the usefulness of the label "evil." Even without the physical embodiment of evil in the person of Satan, the idea that evil can overtake people seems to eliminate at least a portion of the responsibility that we humans should be taking for our own actions and for their consequences. When we talk about Hitler or the Nazis being evil, it separates them from us, making it so that we do not think of our own choices as having the capacity to be as wrong. It also makes us see certain people as no longer quite human. I am not sure that this is a good thing for modern Christianity. As a religious person who would like to see more good in the world, I cannot accept the idea that people ever completely lose the capacity to make decisions for themselves. Do they lose clear-sightedness? Yes. Do they choose selfishness? Yes. Do I think that people are sometimes so caught up in nationalistic rhetoric that they stop thinking for themselves and ignore the faint protestations of a better, moral self? Yes. But it happens on both sides. Even during World War II against the Nazis, the allies were as capable of making terrible moral decisions as the Germans were. It is not only the other side that works in propaganda, after all. The more I reconsider the idea of "good" and "evil" in the framework of modern Christianity, the more I wonder if we are simply dividing the world into "good" and "evil" based on people who agree with our morals and those who don't. This seems not only wrong, but destined to lead to continuing conflicts with cultures, religions, moralities, and governments that are not like ours. Doing so makes us feel good on a simplistic, knee jerk level. Doing so also makes us feel more secure in our sense of self and in our own moral compass and sometimes moral complexity can be very threatening to that sense of security. But this is my question: does continuing to talk about "Satan" and "evil" make the world a better place? Does it actually contribute to the kind of better world that Christ tasks us with making in our own communities, through loving our enemies? When we say that those who oppose our views politically are "evil," does that help us to choose unselfishness and self-sacrifice? When we talk about our own sins as times when we gave into the "temptations of Satan," are we excusing ourselves in any way from doing the same thing again? Advertisement Maybe it's time to stop talking about morality in such simplistic terms. What would happen if we gave up not only the idea of a personal embodiment of evil in the form of Satan, but also the idea of "good" and "evil" as forces beyond human control? What do we lose religiously if we simply accept that some people act selfishly and that others don't, that some people are courageous even if we disagree with the morality they believe in? I think what we lose is the idea that our religion, our country, and our morality is the one approved by the only true God. But there is much to be gained on the other side in terms of expanding our own understanding and perhaps even seeing our own mistakes. LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 14: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a get-out-the-caucus event at the Mountain Shadows Community Center on February 14, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Clinton is challenging Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination ahead of Nevada's Feb. 20 Democratic caucus. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) The Clinton juggernaut is losing traction. Powered by the full weight of the Democratic Establishment, it was designed to smoothly carry its idol across America and into the White House. It still may get there. But now it must traverse a far more treacherous and uncertain route than Hillary and her entourage ever imagined. The course is lined with the pundits, operatives and analysts who will cover the spectacle with their usual attention to trivia and a faith in their own perspicacity matching that of the heroine herself. This was all predictable. For it conforms to the parochialism and inbreeding that for so long has infirmed the Democratic Party's leadership as well as the punditocracy. Fortunes could be made betting against the "Washington consensus" whose singular talent for getting it wrong extends from the country's endless skein of foreign misadventures to electoral politics. They give the impression of all sipping out of each other's double-lattes at Starbucks in Dupont Circle. The resulting damage done to the party's traditional constituents, to the integrity of national discourse and to America's interests in the world is incalculable -- and may well be irreparable. Advertisement Still, it is worth recording the pathologies that this latest bruising encounter with reality reveal. Most obvious is the disconnect between political elites and the country they presume to know or aspire to govern. The success of Bernie Sanders makes that transparently clear. His greatest asset is simply that he ran as a "Democrat" -- that is, as representative of the party as forged in the mid-20th century and whose precepts conform to the socio-economic interests and philosophical truths typically held by most Americans today. He is the first Presidential candidate to do so since Walter Mondale in 1984. Mondale's defeat convinced many pols that the future lay with the Reagan smorgasbord of discredited nostrums and myths repackaged by skillful political craftsmen as the new Revelation. Market fundamentalist economic models, a cartoonish version of American individualism a la Ayn Rand, financial libertinism, muscle-flexing abroad in the mantle of democratic proselytizing, and anti-government demagoguery were fashioned into an intoxicating cocktail. It worked to the extent that the cheap high thereby produced tapped latent racism, jingoism, evangelical Christian passions, and a new-found greedy selfishness which was the mutant offspring of 1960s liberation. Disoriented Democrats badly miscalculated the danger, and in the process lost sight of who they were. Most damaging, many found a comfortable niche in this new world of hallucination. Among them are the careerists, the trendy intellectuals, and the ambitious politicians who thought that they had discovered the one route to recouping power and glory. Together, they reshaped the Democratic Party into a me-too auxiliary to a waxing conservative movement. Today, it is radical reactionary Republicans who sweep elections at state and local levels, who hold an iron grip on the Congress, who have used their power to ruthlessly transform the judiciary into an active ally. True, Democrats have won the White House twice. Bill Clinton did thanks to Ross Perot and then retained it against feeble opposition. In the process, he moved progressively to the Right in policy and philosophy ("the era of Big Government is over"). Republican ascendancy followed. Only the Bush era collapse into disaster abroad and at home made possible Barack Obama - who presented himself not as the embodiment of Democratic values but as a transcendent bipartisan healer- with just a few vermilion strokes. A prophet without message or mission. Whatever liberal ideas he had sounded were swiftly abandoned in what is surely the most shameless bait-and-switch in American political history. Advertisement This was predictable. After all, he thrice cited Ronald Reagan as the man who most influenced his view of the Presidency. His administrations aeguably were oriented to the Right of Richard Nixon -- on civil liberties as well as on economic and social programs. Look it up. His White House actually took delight in maligning "Progressives" -- as made manifest in Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's cursing out of their representatives personally within its walls. That was the administration of which Hillary Clinton, the born-again 'progressive,' was a mainstay. The cause already was abandoned in his first months in office when the Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congress. Indeed, Obama's embrace of the Wall Street barons was what allowed the Tea Party to channel popular anger and fear into a well-financed anti-government, know-nothing movement which nowadays dominates the political landscape. Hence, Obama drove the final nails into the coffin of the old Democratic Party. This evolution of American politics in effect disenfranchised something like 25% of the electorate. They are Bernie Sanders' constituency. It's as simple as that. Personalities do play a role, but it is a secondary one. Sanders as a person stands out for his integrity, his earnestness, for his truth-telling, for his transparent decency. It is the message, though, that counts above all. An old Brooklyn Jew who advertises himself as a "Socialist" is not a compelling figure on the political stage. Intelligent and well-informed on domestic matters, he is not a phrase-maker, not verbally nimble, an incurably respectful gentleman, and largely disengaged from foreign policy where Hillary was custodian of ACT II in the pageant of American failure and fiasco in the Middle East. In addition, he feels inhibited about attacking the misdeeds of the Obama years out of a concern for estranging black voters, and turning the President from Hillary's tacit ally into an active ally. Yet, he has made history with unprecedented accomplishments in the teeth of implacable opposition from the entire political and media establishment. Clinton's shortcomings and failures are aggravated by the widespread distrust that she engenders. That was evident a year ago. She has had higher "negatives" in polls that any serious candidate ever. So why was she coronated even before the contest began? Why did no other candidates present themselves? Why did Democratic bigwigs feel so complacent at the prospect of another electoral setback? One common answer is that there was nobody else. Decimated at the state level, and lacking fresh blood in the Senate, they have a very thin squad. For the better part of a decade, Harry Reid has been the face of the Democratic Party outside of the White House - and during Obama's romantic non-partisanship phases, its face country-wide. Still, someone like Martin O'Malley could have been promoted as a credible candidate had the party bigwigs the will to do so. Compare him to George W. Bush in 2000. The Republicans molded that non-entity into a winner with relative ease. Democrats had much more to work with in O'Malley. Or, they could have rallied behind Elizabeth Warren. Admittedly, she wasn't interested. Just think, though, of what could have happened had she been persuaded to run. For one thing, she quickly would have eclipsed Hillary as the front runner. Razor sharp, personable, with a blue steel edge to her words, and resolute -- she likely would have delivered the Last Rites to Clinton by Super Tuesday. And then imagine her against any of the Republicans hopefuls whose only chance of winning turns on Clinton's negatives. A Warren -- Republican X contest, moreover, would have raised the prospect of a Democratic comeback across the board that it utterly beyond Clinton's capabilities. The principal reason the Democratic Establishment lined up behind Hillary in lockstep is their lack of conviction and a political timidity that arises from 1) capture by the big donors, and 2) past failures that have sapped self-confidence. Their uniform commitment to a flaccid orthodoxy has been evident for all to see these past few weeks as Hillary's supporters hit the panic button. It has not been a pretty performance. From the editors of The New York Times and Paul Krugman (who now sees Hillary as the heir to Obama whom he hagiographically refers to as "one of the most consequential and successful President in American history") to the feminist brigade headed by Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright, Democratic stalwarts have embarrassed themselves by their contrived and specious arguments for Hillary. This is not to say that there isn't a reasonable and logical case to be made for voting for her. It is the falsity of the presentation by those eminences that reveals the hollowness at the party's core. Its leaders never miss an opportunity to display their political obtuseness and fearfulness about leaving their very narrow, personal comfort zone. The blunt truth is that the Democratic leadership has been meek and fearful for decades. They can't stand the sight of blood -- especially if it's their opponents. It took Newt Gingrich in 2012 to make an issue of predatory hedge funds and private equity. Reluctantly picked up by Obama, it resonated well -- so well that a gaggle of Wall Street operatives led by Steven Ratner called the White House to express vehemently their displeasure. Obama pulled the ads. (Jane Meyer Dark Money). Now it is Donald Trump who boldly steps forth to declare that the intervention in Iraq was based on lies, and that it is the source of our current troubles in the region. No Democrat, including Sanders, is ready to make that case with equal force. None has since 2008. One can go on and on. It's a loser's mentality. President Barack Obama speaks to reporters about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at Omni Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. Scalia, 79, was found dead Saturday morning at a private residence in the Big Bend area of West Texas. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Almost immediately upon hearing the shocking news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had unexpectedly died Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not permit the president to fill the court seat. This is a new one. In the past there have been heated Senate confirmation hearings over a Supreme Court nominee, leading to several turndowns, the withdrawal of some, including President Johnson's decision to elevate Justice Abe Fortas to Chief Justice, but I can't remember a time when it was declared in advance with no foreknowledge of a selection that a president should not be allowed to nominate a replacement. Advertisement McConnell said "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President." His declaration is absurd and an abrogation of the Constitution, and another example of his venality towards Obama. McConnell is determining that one of the constitutionally-mandated powers of the presidency -- the right to appoint -- should be restricted even though Obama has more than eleven months left to his term in office. Let's not forget this is a man who famously said in 2010 that "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Now, it would be fair to assume that a Democrat would have felt similarly about, let's say, George W. Bush, but would they have stated it in such obstructive terms? Obama still had two years before his re-election and it was clear McConnell intended to throw stumbling blocks in the way of everything the president offered, not to mention his continuing efforts to repeal the recently passed Affordable Health Care Act. So, my reading of the quote is they wanted to treat Obama miserably, no matter what he proposed, to make him look like a loser, unable to accomplish anything meaningful, but in the process failed to do so resulting in his convincing re-election victory, furthering the acrimony, which no doubt led to the disastrous 2013 government shutdown for over two weeks. Advertisement Leading us to this past weekend's events, where McConnell's dearth of ethics and responsibility, which in years past permitted such political opposites as Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill to work together, has come forth with his irresponsible statement. First of all, it is the right and expectation that the president may and should appoint a supreme court justice and not be told that, even with almost a year left in office, he has no apparent right to do so. To me that sets forth a potential legal battle, not to mention the political uproar if Obama nominates a progressive, but generally middle-of-the-road nominee with sterling credentials. Let's start with the legal issues first. McConnell stated up front he will not bring to the Senate floor anyone Obama nominates, thus he, in a de facto manner, is violating the constitution. He is also, by stating his opposition to a yet unknown candidate, showing his bias, not to the nominee but to the nominator himself. I'm not a legal scholar, but I do know the law (and constitution) can be interpreted in different ways, and it would seem this inhibition of presidential rights might well lead to a ruling by the Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court in the past has voted on political grounds (think Bush v. Gore - 2000), there have been swing votes by Kennedy and Roberts on issues such as Obamacare and Gay Marriage. Might the Supreme Court Justices believe that a Senate led by an obstructionist had overstepped its boundaries and is tainting the sanctity of the Court? Indeed, why can't Obama sue the Senate? In September of 2015 in House of Representatives v. Burwell, a court determined that the House of Representatives could sue the Executive Branch over funding of the Affordable Care Act. Advertisement Next, regardless of whether Obama sues McConnell, will McConnell's vicious action pass the smell test? Alongside of a no doubt immediate (certainly within a month) selection of a very acceptable nominee to all but the most dire conservatives, might there be a number of GOP senators who don't want this to be an election issue, including moderates like Maine's Susan Collins, Illinois' Mark Kirk, Ohio's Rob Portman, New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and relative moderates like John McCain of Arizona? GOP senators up for re-election this year include, not only Murkowski, Kirk and Portman, but also Marco Rubio. If he doesn't get the nomination will he risk antagonizing the population in his swing state of Florida? Also up for re-election are Roy Blunt from Missouri, another swing state. And Pat Toomey, who had a close race in Pennsylvania, as did Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. Plus, Dan Coats in Indiana is not running for re-election, a state which went for Obama in 2008. With all these factors in place, let's assume McConnell is open to being reasonable. A difficult notion to engage, but might one say, look, if your candidate wins in November there is a likelihood that one or more of the liberals, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Stephen Breyer might not have enough juice to stay. Then your side gets to pick, changing the judicial landscape once again. Of course this presumes Mitch McConnell and his cadre of unpleasant naysayers -- chief among them Ted Cruz, who already announced his intention to filibuster Obama's choice -- have the integrity to engage in fairness, to respect the fact that Barack Obama is still president for an appreciably long time and deserves to exercise his power accordingly. The answer is they probably won't, but it is possible that clearer heads in their party, plus the onset of terrible polling numbers against them might make them see what awaits them in November if they do not act in a mature and responsible manner. If not, what's next? If they discount the reality of Obama being president for the last full year of his term, why not cut out funding for the White House and force the president and his family to move out. They might argue, with a $400,000 salary, he can certainly afford to rent a house in the Virginia suburbs. Advertisement It's good to be alive in interesting political times. I got a chance to meet Justice Antonin Scalia, the most homophobic force on the Supreme Court for more than a quarter of a century, last year. It was just a few days before the historic arguments in the Obergefell case that would bring marriage equality to the entire nation. And it was pretty brilliant. Why? Because Justice Scalia, upon being introduced to me by a colleague at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, connected with me on our shared Italian heritage. He repeated my name several times, with the proper Italian pronunciation, singing it out loud with a smile. And then, I told him that I am gay. Actually, I first said that that coming Tuesday, the day of the arguments in the "gay marriage case," was a "big day." Advertisement He just shrugged, though kept his smile as we posed for a photo (above). Then I said, "I'm a gay journalist and I'll be in the courtroom" and I told him that I hoped he'd "do right by the gays." That didn't get a response of any kind. I didn't for a minute think I'd influence Scalia's thinking on the case, of course, but I thought it was important to come out to him, not to cover in that moment. I firmly believe those kinds of interactions add up over time, revealing humanity to those who make decisions affecting millions. Scalia needed to know that this guy with whom he tangentially bonded was one of the very people he'd written blistering opinions against and said defamatory things about. Now he's gone from the court. And our options are much bigger than revealing ourselves to him in public. Already, as of this moment, a right-wing, conservative, homophobic, racist, misogynistic grip that held the court tightly for decades has been released. With many current cases soon to be resulting in 4-4 decisions, the much more liberal lower court rulings will prevail. And it can only get better from there if Scalia is replaced by a Democratic president, ushering in a dramatic transformation in our world. There's been so much talk of revolution in the Democratic campaign for the presidency. But the real revolution can now take place. Advertisement Neither Bernie Sanders nor Hillary Clinton will get much of anything done through Congress, no matter how hopeful or pragmatic they sound. And any campaign supporters claiming a coat-tails effect by either candidate which will turn the House to the Democrats are fantasizing. The GOP has put the fix in via gerrymandering for a long time to come. But the seats at stake indicate the Senate is likely to switch back to Democratic control. Outrageously but not surprisingly, Republicans are intent on keeping President Obama from putting anyone on the court to replace Scalia. They're threatening no hearings and not allowing any vote. We can argue with them until we're blue in the face, and they will likely even hurt themselves by engaging in this reckless action, as they have the past. No matter: Their base will demand it, and it will be done. The next president could be the one making the appointment, and if that person is a Democrat with a Democratic Senate, there's not much the GOP can do for long. The stakes are enormous. We could secure abortion rights for a long time to come if not once and for all, not worrying about Roe being in peril. Labor unions, affirmative action, the death penalty, global climate change, campaign finance, Wall Street reform, immigration and so many other issues can all be affected in dramatically positive and fundamental ways. And for LGBT rights it's a watershed moment. While some GOP presidential candidates have claimed they'll work to overturn the marriage equality decision, that would be pretty difficult. The real threat to blocking LGBT rights is the "religious freedom" argument being made to prevent much-needed state and federal laws against all kinds of discrimination or to give exemptions to people like Kim Davis or the Oregon bakers. All these kinds of cases will reach the Supreme Court eventually, and with a 5-4 conservative grip it's always been a treacherous reality after Hobby Lobby. More than that, getting The Equality Act, which was introduced by Democrats in Congress last year, passed in the current Congress or any Congress in which the GOP has a hold on the House (which could be for a decade) is impossible unless a significant number of GOP politicians' minds are changed. That law would add gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, securing protections in employment, housing, public accommodations, education and credit. Advertisement But the Supreme Court could rule that LGBT people are actually already protected in the 1964 act under most of those categories, because that law protects against sex discrimination. Already, transgender people won those protections in 2012 regarding employment via a ruling from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which now investigates discrimination against transgender people as sex discrimination. That decision eventually needs to go up to the Supreme Court, too. And cases arguing that sex discrimination covers not just gender and gender identity but sexual orientation, too, are working their way through. Just last week the EEOC asked the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to rule that sexual orientation discrimination is covered under protections for sex discrimination in employment under Tittle VII of the Civil Rights Act. Of course, we still need federal legislation that secures rights explicitly in law in all areas for gay, bisexual and transgender people, not just court rulings. And, amazingly, the Civil Rights Act doesn't protect against sex discrimination in public accommodations -- something the Equality Act aims to fix, too -- so that is an issue to deal with as well via legislation. But no doubt, huge avenues are opened by changing the balance of the Supreme Court. Republican voters have always been motivated to turn out for elections based on securing the Supreme Court. It's a fundamental issue that drives anti-abortion evangelicals, to use just one example, to the polls. Scalia's death will only energize the base, and it could even make GOP voters more pragmatic than they've been in recent months. Let's not forget that, after all the naysaying, evangelicals in the end got behind Mitt Romney, a Mormon, in 2012 because they ultimately believed that among other things he'd secure the high court. Democrats and progressives of every constituency have a lot of organizing to do, and decision-making to focus on, regarding the upcoming election and the choices we make. And we've got to be energized to turn out in even greater numbers. Perhaps the most consequential thing a new Democratic president may do is replace Scalia. That's when the status quo for decades ends, and the real revolution begins. Jamie I've known for a long time. He spent some time in the kitchen at Clio back in the day, and we used to see each other at this one bar that a lot of restaurant people used to hang out at after work. And we'd always talk about food. It was nice to see a younger guy so into classic French food and things that I love -- like how to make a great cassoulet or pate de campagne or stuffed pig's feet or whatever. He was just a real student of food in general and especially of classic French food, which is what I grew up learning as well. So we would just talk food and talk food and talk food, and we'd always have these conversations and debates and I could just see the passion that he had. And we just kept in touch. I would always pop in and eat where he was cooking. And there was one point where I had an opportunity for this consulting job down at a place called KO Prime and I was like, "Man, Jamie would be the perfect fit." I told him that I thought it could be beneficial for both of us, because I thought he had a ton of talent and it would be good because we see eye to eye and could collaborate. After that, we worked so well together, I brought him over to Toro and we kind of became partners. Then we opened up Coppa and Toro New York, and the rest is history. Federal Reserve Building To say that it has been a wildly volatile year for financial markets would be an understatement ... and we are only in mid-February! Indeed, it has been quite a while since we have seen such intra-day fluctuations -- up and down -- in stocks, bonds, and oil. Unsurprisingly, this volatility has unsettled many investors, contributing to growing financial insecurity. If it continues, it would also risk aggravating economic insecurity, undermining growth potential and fueling political debates. Advertisement All this serves to place an even brighter spotlight on central banks -- from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to the Bank of Japan, the People's Bank of China and others. For example: Some observers argue -- wrongly in my opinion -- that the volatility in financial markets is the result of the Federal Reserve's decision in December to raise interest rates by 0.25%; Some -- and, I suspect, way too optimistically in my opinion -- think that central banks can just push a policy button in order to restore market calm in a durable fashion; and Too many politicians around the world have delegated economic governance to central banks that only have partial tools to tackle the consequential challenges facing the global economy. With all this going on, I thought you may be interested in an excerpt from my new book, The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability and Avoiding the Next Collapse. Appearing on page 253, this book extract summarizes the role of central banks in the aftermath of the global financial crisis that violently erupted in 2008. It highlights the extent to which these institutions have been the primary policymaker in many countries; and points to what they can and cannot do going forward. *** Central bank activism did not stop with their success in normalizing utterly dysfunctional markets and calming a financial crisis that had brought the global economy to a virtual standstill. Having succeeded, they then found no one to hand off to for the next stage of the economic recovery. As such, they felt that they had no choice but to take on unprecedentedly large responsibilities for the macroeconomy. This was not a power grab. Nor was it something that central banks were seeking. Instead, with political dysfunction paralyzing other policymakers with better policy tools, central banks felt a moral and ethical obligation to do whatever they could to buy time for the private sector to heal and for the political system to get its act together and assume its economic governance responsibilities In this new role, central banks did more than assume a leadership role. They also supplied almost the entire content of the policy response, and did so with inherently partial and blunt measures. Advertisement Being the only game in town, central banks found themselves pushed ever deeper in experimental policy terrain, and they have stayed there much longer than anyone anticipated or may have hoped for initially. Policy making often entails difficult trade-offs. This phase of modern central banking has been no different, though with one major qualification: This time around, central banks have not been able to resort to reliable insights and information from historical precedents, analytical models, or past policy experience. There are none that can guide them properly and inspire well-placed confidence. On the positive side, the central banks' unconventional measures did manage to buy considerable time and space for others to get their act together. They facilitated major private sector balance sheet repair, starting with banks and then corporations and households. They contributed to growth, albeit frustratingly tepid, and, in the case of the United States, to significant job creation. Like dedicated engineers, central banks constructed the best bridge possible with the limited materials they possessed. But no matter how long a bridge they have built, the right destination was never theirs to deliver on their own. _________ Excerpt from the New York Times best seller released on January 26th, 2016: The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability and Avoiding the Next Collapse, published by Random House. (www.mohamedel-erian.com) Advertisement Now that most of the predictors have exhausted themselves, allow me to enter my own long-shot guesses for a successor to the late Antonin Scalia: Ohio Governor John Kasich and Charlane McCray, the wife of New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio and a distinguished figure in the civil rights movement. Kasich has demonstrated his intelligence and grasp of some of the major issues confronting the nation; and the first lady of New York City has shown her flare for calling attention to profound issues that face the Afro-American population. The Republican minority would be hard-pressed to oppose either candidate for the High Court. She thought she was choking. It was June of her first year as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Joyce Beatty had just returned to her office following a luncheon when she felt her throat shut down. She couldn't swallow, couldn't talk. Couldn't cry for help. As she reached for water, her left side went numb. She collapsed. Someone called 911, thinking it was a heart attack. It was a stroke. Specifically, a brain stem stroke. The brain stem is a precarious spot -- a half-inch wide area that controls basic activities like consciousness, blood pressure and breathing. A stroke there could harm any of those functions. Or ruin all of them. Advertisement Beatty was lucky. Because she was rushed to a hospital and treated by doctors who quickly determined the source of the problem, she escaped the worst of the worst. Yet the stroke still took its toll. She spent a month in the hospital and several more in rehabilitation. It was six months before she began feeling like her old self, nearly a year before she truly was. Walking was her biggest obstacle. Told she may never do so again, her reaction was to try twice as hard. Literally. When told to do two hours of physical therapy, she did at least four. Although she left the hospital in a wheelchair, she was soon on her feet. She celebrates her recovery by regularly wearing 2-inch heels. Beatty's stroke occurred in 2000. She's now in her fourth year as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Of those 435 legislators, she's the only known stroke survivor. Advertisement Beatty always has been a groundbreaker. She was first in her family to go to college, the first female to represent her Columbus district in the Ohio House and the first female Democrat to lead the Ohio House. Alas, she's a follower in terms of her family's health history. All four grandparents died of complications from cardiovascular diseases, either stroke or heart attack. At the time of her stroke, she was being treated for high blood pressure and later learned she had high cholesterol, too. Beatty was 50, which she thought was too young to be stricken. She's since learned so much more about the disease, both from experience and through her devotion to fighting it. I'm proud to say she's become a passionate supporter of my organization, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, getting behind our Go Red For Women movement since its inception and recently spending several years on our national board of directors. This Act would provide Medicare reimbursement for treatment via telemedicine when a stroke patient begins their care in an urban or suburban hospital. Currently, Medicare only reimburses telestroke evaluations at rural hospitals. Yet, only 6 percent of all strokes begin care at rural hospitals. Thus, 94 percent of patients are denied this coverage for what could be their quickest evaluation. We believe that over 10 years, this policy change could save more than $1 billion in Medicare payments for rehabilitation and skilled nursing -- not to mention the physical and emotional agony for patients and their loved ones. Advertisement As American Heart Month continues, and as stroke thought leaders prepare to gather in Los Angeles this week for the International Stroke Conference, it is my privilege to turn this spot over to U.S. Rep. Beatty. *** February is American Heart Month, a month-long initiative to raise awareness about the No. 1 killer in women and men: heart disease. Each year, this accounts for one in four deaths in the United States. It is important we talk to our family and friends about heart disease risk factors and the benefits of living a more heart-healthy lifestyle, but it is as equally important we talk about the No. 5 killer of Americans -- stroke. Like heart disease, stroke is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. In fact, stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability. Scary. However, what is even more startling is the fact that heart disease and stroke cause one in three women's deaths annually -- that's more than all forms of cancer combined. The statistics are even more troubling for the African-American community. Of African-American women ages 20 and older, 46.9 percent have cardiovascular disease. Yet only 43 percent know that heart disease is their greatest health risk. Additionally, almost 50 percent of African-Americans have high blood pressure, the leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Moreover, blacks are almost twice as likely of having a stroke and more likely to die following a stroke than whites. I and many people across the country are no longer remaining quiet about heart disease and stroke. Every year, on the first Friday in February, I proudly participate in Go Red for Women's Wear Red Day, a critical public awareness platform that the American Heart Association uses to help promote heart-healthy lifestyles among women. It is always great to be joined by my fellow Democratic and Republican women colleagues in this effort. Who says bipartisanship is dead?! Advertisement For many of us in Congress, it is personal. Our fight to prevent and support individuals dealing with heart disease and stroke transcends party lines and political differences. You too probably have a loved one who has been affected by heart disease or stroke. We all very likely know someone. In my case, that person was me. That is why I decided to be a part of the solution, which is why I have teamed up with Congressman Morgan Griffith -- a Republican from the Commonwealth of Virginia -- to introduce the Furthering Access to Stroke Telemedicine Act, also known as the FAST Act (H.R. 2799). The FAST Act, as the name implies, will help more stroke victims gain access to fast, high-quality care, commonly called telestroke. As a stroke survivor and member of the Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition, I know firsthand how minutes can literally mean the difference between life and death. We need to make sure telestroke is readily available to more people, and we need to do it fast. Currently, the FAST Act has the support of nearly four dozen lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. However, it has not come up for a vote. Help us get a vote on the FAST Act faster. How? Use your voice, do not stay silent. Jump on the phone, send an email or write a letter to your elected officials to demand they support the FAST Act. You have to do it fast because in the time it takes you to read this post another person will die from stroke. Advertisement Stroke does not differentiate between Democrats and Republicans -- it affects all of us. We must ensure more Americans not only survive, but have the opportunity to thrive post-stroke. FILE - In this March 8, 2012 file phoo, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. Scalia drew unusually critical attention during this past Supreme Court term for comments he made in court and in his writing that seemed to some more political than judicial. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File) I remember when I heard his name for the second time. The first time was in the summer of 1981. Ronald Reagan had been President for about seven or eight months and The New York Times ran a story listing a group of law professors he intended to appoint to the various U.S. Courts of Appeals. Scalia -- along with Posner, Bork, Winter and Easterbrook -- was on the list. All of them were ex or current law professors. And constituted President Reagan's brigade of conservative intellectuals. The second time was about a year to two thereafter. By then I was working as a law clerk for one of Reagan's brigade. In between bench memos, opinion drafts and editing conferences, we clerks drank coffee and socialized with the judge (who, by the way, are in need of constant socializing for the simple reason that being an appellate judge is a very lonely job). At one of those coffee klatches, we were speculating on who President Reagan would pick as his second appointee to the Supreme Court (Sandra Day O'Connor had been his first, very early in his initial term.) Advertisement The Judge's candidate was . . "Nino" Scalia. Who, by then, I had totally forgotten. When I asked why that would happen, the answer had nothing to do with judicial philosophy or originalism or antidotes to liberal activism. Instead, according to my boss, Scalia would get the nod because he was Catholic and Italian. At the time, the Supreme Court lacked the latter and had only one of the former. Wow! I never thought I'd ever say this . But let's bring back the good old days . . . When politics was normal and even Supreme Court justices were evaluated by more than their fidelity to extremist ideologies. Because we are nowhere near normal today. Justice Scalia, as everyone now knows, died yesterday. Instead of a bi-partisan period of mourning, we have been catapulted into a year long political mud wrestle. In the not too long ago old days, Justice Scalia's death would have been greeted with a bi-partisan period of mourning -- one where opponents and adversaries praised the intellectual firepower, side-splitting humor, and genuine loyalty of the man. Today, however, Nino's passing to the other side is met with an obligatory nano-second of condolences, followed by a torrent of hypocritical posturing. This is all so childish. Indeed, so much so that we have to revert to kids rules even to referee the contest. Under which, the first comment that has to be made is . . . Advertisement Sen. McConnell started it. That's right. Within an hour of the announcement of Justice Scalia's death yesterday, McConnell issued a statement saying that the seat on the Supreme Court left vacant thereby "should not be filled until we have a new President." McConnell asserted this was necessary because "the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice." Of course, the American people already had such a voice. They exercised it in 2012 when they re-elected Barack Obama to the Presidency, a position which -- on this issue -- comes with a written job description -- called the Constitution -- entitling the holder to nominate justices to the Supreme Court when vacancies arise. Though conservatives like McConnell regularly praised Justice Scalia for a commitment to enforcing our founding text as written, that rule apparently has been waived in the last year of the Obama presidency. McConnell's hypocrisy was then met with a cascade of supporting endorsements. In the Republican debate last night, five of the six left in this season's crop of GOP ideologues agreed that Obama either shouldn't -- or would not be allowed to -- fill the vacancy. (The outlier was Jeb Bush, who -- given his relentless attacks on Trump and now unique willingness to abide by the Constitutional rules on selecting members of the Supreme Court -- has become the only GOP candidate I can remotely respect.) In any case, the Gang of Five claimed there was "precedent" for this refusal, invoking at or after the debate different versions of the assertion made by Republican Sen. Grassley that "It's been standard practice over the last 80 years to not confirm Supreme Court nominees during a presidential election year." That claim, however, gives hyperbole new meaning. At one level, it is demonstrably false. If 80 years is a cutoff, then there have been at least two instances where confirmations have occurred in presidential election years. Justice Butler -- a Roosevelt appointee -- was confirmed in 1940, and Justice Kennedy, though nominated by President Reagan in November 1987, was confirmed after hearings were held in 1988, both Presidential election years. The notion that there is something magical about 80 years is also sheer nonsense. In fact, the reason Grassley chose it is because, before 1940, there had been numerous Supreme Court nominations and confirmations in presidential elections years. President Taft did it in 1912; President Wilson did it (twice) in 1916, and President Hoover did it in 1932. Among those ostensibly politicized jurists who, in Sen. McConnell's words, the American people never had a "voice" in selecting were Justices Brandeis and Cardozo. Brandeis was one of Wilson's appointees in 1916 and Cardozo was Hoover's in 1932. Advertisement Neither, of course, were judicial lightweights. In fact, both of them became giants on the Supreme Court, lauded in their day with the encomia being laid at the feet of Justice Scalia today. On Meet the Press this morning, conservative talker Hugh Hewitt said the Kennedy confirmation in 1988 didn't count, ostensibly because the nomination came in late '87 (oh what a difference two months makes) and followed the Senate's rejection of President Reagan's original nominee for that vacant seat (Robert Bork). (Hewitt would say the same thing about the 1912 and 1940 confirmations because, in each case, those nominations were announced late in the year before.) As with many explanations designed to fit pre-determined conclusions, this one turns out to refute itself. On the one hand, the Senate's deliberations and vote on the Kennedy nomination -- namely, all the interesting and contentious stuff -- occurred in a presidential election year, as will be the case when Obama sends his nominee to the Senate this year. The two circumstances are perfectly comparable. On the other, apart from Constitutional requirements, the reason hearings and deliberations had to go forward on Justice Kennedy (after the Bork rejection) is that the Court would have been operating for too long without a sitting ninth justice. It would have had only eight members instead of nine, creating the possibility of four to four splits. The problem of equal division cannot be gainsaid. Without Scalia, the present Court on most contentious issues -- abortion; the right of unions to charge non-members a fee for having negotiated wages; the death penalty; whether Obamacare is authorized by the commerce clause -- is now split four to four. The consequence is that it really cannot decide anything on those cases or issues. Granted, some of them are over (e.g., whether the commerce clause authorizes the Affordable Care Act; it doesn't under current precedent but the taxing power does so the ACA is constitutional). Others, however, are alive and on the Court's current docket. If the Court hears these cases and remains deadlocked at four each, the lower court decisions and orders will be deemed "affirmed by an equally divided Court." In other words, the Supreme Court will no longer be supreme. Instead, that honor will fall to a lower panel of appellate judges. And it gets worse. The federal appellate courts -- there are twelve of them throughout the country -- are often split on issues; in fact, disagreement among the various appellate circuits, and even within them, is a typical reason the Supreme Court agrees to hear a case in the first place. With a deadlocked court, those splits remain and what is illegal in one jurisdiction can be legal in another. Advertisement That's not the rule of law. It's chaos. Had the Democrats not gone forward with hearings and a confirmation vote on Justice Kennedy in 1988, the seat he filled would have been left vacant for more than a year. If today's Republicans do not hold hearings and confirm an Obama nominee, the vacancy period will be as long. In 1988, the Democrats controlled the Senate, just as the Republicans control it today. Had the Democrats wanted to, they easily could have refused to go forward with hearings on Justice Kennedy and taken their chances on winning the Presidency. But they didn't. Because . . . Sometimes politicians really do put country first. Finally, there is the whole question of what -- precisely -- Sen. Grassley means when he says there is an 80-year-old "standard practice" of avoiding Supreme Court confirmations in presidential election years. As far as I can tell from the historical record, this has occurred only once, with Abe Fortas's nomination to replace Chief Justice Warren in 1968, and in that case, President Johnson did not pull the nomination because it was a presidential election year; he pulled it because the nomination was being filibustered on a bi-partisan basis. In Sen. Grassley's arbitrary eighty years, the only other time -- after Justice Kennedy in 1988 -- there was even the possibility of an election year nomination and confirmation was in 1956 when Justice Brennan replaced retiring Justice Minton. In that case, however, far from refusing to go forward, President Eisenhower actually put Brennan on the Court with a recess appointment that did not even require Senate action. (Though Brennan was thereafter re-nominated and confirmed in 1957 when the Senate was back in session, no one appears to have drawn and quartered Ike for having jumped the appointing gun in a presidential election year.) Why are we in this mess? The answer is division, and -- frankly -- a Republican Party bound by nothing other than the hypocritical assertion of its raw power. The arguments about "standard practice" and allowing the American people a "voice" are transparently false. There has been no standard practice (if anything, there's been the opposite) and Americans decided three plus years ago who should fill a Supreme Court vacancy were it to occur in 2016. They did that in 2012 and the guy they chose was Obama -- not Romney, or any of the six Republicans now running for President, or even Hillary or Bernie Sanders. None of them has the right to make this decision and giving it to any of them would not honor the Constitution. It would demean it. The GOP is preemptively telling Obama it will not go forward on anyone he sends up for one and only one reason. And that is this . . . Advertisement It can. And, unfortunately, the reason the GOP embraces this raw assertion of power, draping it in a curtain of false justifications, is that this approach worked in the past. In fact, it worked in the not too distant past . . . In 2000 . . . When five unelected justices invented an equal protection claim that had no precedential support, stopped a re-count which had been ordered by a state Supreme Court, effectively got to vote twice, and then (illegitimately) put George W. Bush in the White House. One of those Justices was Antonin Scalia. I praise his intellect, his devotion to public service, his sense of humor, his enormous family, and his close friendship with the liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the latter of which proves he did not take himself too seriously and which -- in the ethereal circles he travelled for almost 30 years of his life -- was a very good thing. I am proud he and I graduated from the same Jesuit high school -- Xavier -- in lower Manhattan. The Jesuits know how to educate people and in his case they obviously did not fail. Nevertheless, Antonin Scalia wasn't a genius and his jurisprudence created more problems than it solved. The invented basis that led to the appointment of Bush II was one of them; we are still dealing with its consequences at home and abroad. But there were others, principally in the form of an asserted devotion to text that proved to be much less consistent, and much more unbounded, than he (or his legion of conservative supporters) claimed it to be. Contra Scalia, the Constitution is not a "living" document because a bunch of liberal ex-law professors sitting on the Supreme Court say it is. It is a living document because the founders used words -- like due process and equal protection -- that do not have fixed meaning. Today's conservative jurists rarely see this. Advertisement So . . . May Justice Scalia rest in peace. Almost as rare as a sasquatch, a rare albino green turtle has hatched on a beach in Australia. It will be a tough road for the little guy however, according to experts only 1 in every 1,000 of these green turtles survive to maturity. (CNN)A rare albino green turtle has been spotted -- newly hatched -- on an Australian beach. Volunteers from Coolum and North Shore Coast Care were "amazed" to see the tiny creature at Castaways Beach, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Little Alby was taking his time: his brothers and sisters had hatched last Friday, but their distinctive sibling was still in the nest on Sunday. "It was a surprise. We were amazed to see this small white creature with pink flippers," group president Leigh Warneminde told CNN. Warneminde said the group was surveying a green turtle nest laid in November to gather research data. While counting the empty shells to see how many turtles had made it to the ocean, they found the animal still sitting on the top of the nest. "It is a very rare find," she said. "It is the first time I've see one." Australia's ABC quoted an expert at the Queensland's Government's Threatened Species Unit saying that "albino hatchlings are extremely rare; it probably occurs at the rate of one in many hundreds of thousands of eggs that are laid." The straggler among the nest's 122 hatchlings, Alby faces a tough life. Warneminde explained that only one in 1,000 green turtles typically survives to maturity -- and Alby's chances are even slimmer. For the full article, click here. She leans over, and opens the bag. Her sharp, "I'm Not A Waitress" red painted nails glistening in the low light of the play space -- or what you might call a "Dungeon." She is a well-shaped woman of a certain age; and her male partner is tied to what is known as a "spanking bench." She could be a teacher, a nurse or lawyer when she isn't tied into a corset standing in five-inch heels. Her lips are ruby red, matching her finger nails. She removes something dark. Something long. Something leather. As she stands, it almost slithers from the bag. She steps up, lifts her arm, and that long, leather something whistles through the air ... a foot or two in front of my gaping mouth ... Crack! Like a gunshot, the sound permeates the space. Again, her arm moves, her breasts heave and the object of her affection is in bliss. I briefly wonder if they are married or just met here and if he might be a police officer or a judge in his day job. It really doesn't matter. What is clear is that they are ordinary people enjoying not being ordinary. I move on. The lights are low, but I can still see everything that is going on. Perhaps not in garish detail, but certainly well enough. Despite the throbbing, driving scene music, you can hear some of the moans, the sharp slap of toys. Look at all those people -- sharing, connecting ... playing! That one over there in a sexy flogging scene. This one here getting paddled. Another spread on a cross, tied tautly by the arms and legs. Dominant types reaching into their toy bags, pulling out some new article to create a different sensation. This is hot. This is what over 600 people traveled to Columbus, Ohio for ... and have taken over a perfectly ordinary hotel for a weekend of mischief and very sexy, sex education. Advertisement It's hard to fathom that Ohio's kissing cousin Michigan just passed legislation to outlaw oral and anal sex and I am standing in a converted conference room -- now dungeon -- where "Fifty Shades of Grey" in comparison seems so bland. I guess because this is real and so are the people. No Barbie and Ken Dolls here! They eat red meat here (prime rib served at midnight) and every other kind of snack food from donuts to Milky Way bars is always available to keep your strength up between spankings. I pinch myself. Welcome to the edge of the Bible Belt and the not so undercover world of an emerging, kinky and incredibly diverse sex scene in the Midwest. You want spanking, bondage, rope play, LGBTQ, straight, body acceptance, age acceptance, sacred sexuality, tantra, bd/sm and everything in-between? It's right there in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio may be the country's "test kitchen" for fast food restaurants and it may also be the country's only "Test Kitchen" for what "everyday" Americans are wanting to experiment with when it some to sex. And they are showing up. Meet Andrew "Barak" Gardinier and Trina "Brat Sheba" Gardinier, "Ordinary" Ohio Citizens By Day (or at least at their day jobs), and Sexual Super Heroes all the rest of the time. They are what most would call; "Sex Educator Pioneers." They have been married for about 14 years and together for almost 16. When I asked Andrew to describe their relationship he said this: "We are in a primary partnered, non-monogamous, married relationship with agreements. In other words we are married and ethically polyamorous." Photo Credit: Terra Luna They are also the founders of Adventures In Sexuality (AIS) which was formed on Jan. 13, 2006 and just celebrated its 10th anniversary. This not-so-little group with about 4,000 online members (many more visitors and voyeurs) and roughly 1,500-2,000 regular attendees, two widely attended kinky conferences where 600 kinksters show up from all over the country called COPE and Winter WIckedness. And there is more! To meet the growing need, there is now an addition of a new sexuality community center that is just opening called "The Space." Advertisement I asked Andrew and Trina why they do what they do? "We primarily do what we do, because we want to create a safe and nurturing space for people to seek and discover/uncover their bliss. For us, it is essential for people to be free to experience their sexual aspect in an accepting environment. Here's the thing; all the other aspects of self -- emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual -- have outlets and facilities, and supportive environments ... but not so much with our sexuality. Sex is a part of ourselves, yet it lives a life of shadow, shame, and persecution. We want to change all of that. We strive for the acceptance and equal consensual expression of a persons sexuality -- regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. People will push their sexual boundaries. They will seek out and find sources to experience that part of themselves ... and if it is kept in shadow ... it will remain a source of shame, and will remain a 'dark' and 'perverted' place. It's essential for people to have safe and protected spaces to seek out and experience their sexuality in a consensual and open environment ... or it becomes twisted (and not in a good way)." So, do you want to be free? Explore? Attend amazing classes and learn just about everything having to do with sexuality in all its flavors? Consider a trip to Columbus, Ohio. Really. Earlier on Huff/Post50: It is becoming more difficult to take Bernie Sanders seriously as the potential Democratic nominee for president. When he decided to run as a Democrat many were generally supportive even knowing he was an Independent and a socialist and had previously dumped on the Party. Yet over the years he caucused with Democrats in Congress so my thoughts were, "Ok, let's get on with it." Sanders got tremendous benefits by running as a Democrat including access to the media as competition to Clinton, a spot on the ballot, and the ability to reach voters through the DNC voter list. The same voter list his now-fired staffer was caught stealing Clinton information from. Had Sanders run as an Independent, which he apparently never considered, he would have needed millions of dollars just to do those things and would likely never have gotten a campaign off the ground. As the campaign progresses it is becoming clear he doesn't have any interest in meeting what his responsibility would be as the Democratic nominee. In a presidential election year a big part of the nominees job is to help elect candidates down ticket; U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, Governors and state legislators. He would need to help them raise money and build a platform on which they can run. Appears he is so taken with his own rhetoric of 'revolution' he hasn't thought about those down ticket candidates winning giving it even a chance in hell of happening. As of today Hillary Clinton has raised twenty-seven million dollars to be distributed to state parties to assist their candidates and Sanders has raised one thousand dollars. The FEC is now questioning his campaign finances. Advertisement Sanders is making it clear he doesn't understand as Democratic nominee he would be running for a third Democratic term. Whether it fits his agenda or not, as the Democratic nominee he would be running on Barack Obama's record so tearing it down as he is doing only hurts the Party and him. Politico reported in response to a question on whether he will be better on race relations than Obama Sanders said, "Absolutely" and in an interview with MSNBC Sanders criticized President Barack Obama's leadership saying, "There's a huge gap right now between Congress and the American people. ... What presidential leadership is about [is] closing that gap." It is laughable Sanders thinks he has a better record of leadership, or accomplishment, than the President. Sanders takes a line right out of the Republican playbook attacking Obama's record on bringing down unemployment insisting, "Real unemployment in this country is not 4.9 percent, it is 10 percent." This done on the day Obama is touting how far we have come under his administration where we have seen an increase of fourteen million jobs since his economic policies took effect compared with the end of the Bush Administration when we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. Republicans immediately pounced on Sanders saying "Of course, Sanders can criticize Obama for the high unemployment rate all he wants, but it's not like socialism has ever, at any time in history, led to an explosion in jobs. So he might want to tread lightly there." Sanders advocates' tax increases for all. Even Democrats with long memories can't remember a President McGovern or a President Mondale. They remember Mondale suggesting a tax increase for everyone. In 1972 McGovern won only Massachusetts and DC and in 1984 Mondale won only Minnesota and DC. Remembering those losses vividly The Hill reported House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made it clear, "We're not running on any platform of raising taxes". Democrats, Democratic office holders and candidates across the nation must understand what Sanders at the top of the ticket would mean. We can't repeat the debacles of McGovern and Mondale. Whether or not they like any of Sanders policies the final consideration must be whether we can win an election with him as nominee. The answer is an emphatic NO. With the death of Scalia and potentially three Supreme Court nominations in the balance; Democrats must face reality which is we can't allow those nominations to be made by any of the clown car of candidates running for the Republican nomination. Hillary can win in November. She has been vetted and faced everything Republicans can throw at her. She is raising millions of dollars to help down ticket candidates and local parties. Her progressive policies will help people and actually have a chance to be implemented. Advertisement In the Milwaukee debate Hillary made the best case for her own candidacy. "We agree that we've got to get unaccountable money out of politics. We agree that Wall Street should never be allowed to wreck Main Street again. But here's the point I want to make tonight. I am not a single- issue candidate, and I do not believe we live in a single-issue country. I think that a lot of what we have to overcome to break down the barriers that are holding people back, whether it's poison in the water of the children of Flint, or whether it's the poor miners who are being left out and left behind in coal country, or whether it is any other American today who feels somehow put down and oppressed by racism, by sexism, by discrimination against the LGBT community, against the kind of efforts that need to be made to root out all of these barriers, that's what I want to take on. And here in Wisconsin, I want to reiterate: We've got to stand up for unions and working people who have done it before... the American middle class, and who are being attacked by ideologues, by demagogues. Yes, does Wall Street and big financial interests, along with drug companies, insurance companies, big oil, all of it, have too much influence? You're right. But if we were to stop that tomorrow, we would still have the indifference, the negligence that we saw in Flint. We would still have racism holding people back. We would still have sexism preventing women from getting equal pay. We would still have LGBT people who get married on Saturday and get fired on Monday. And we would still have governors like Scott Walker and others trying to rip out the heart of the middle class by making it impossible to organize and stand up for better wages and working conditions. So I'm going to keep talking about tearing down all the barriers that stand in the way of Americans fulfilling their potential, because I don't think our country can live up to its potential unless we give a chance to every single American to live up to theirs." Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump (R) and Ted Cruz (L) argue during the CBS News Republican Presidential Debate in Greenville, South Carolina, February 13, 2016. / AFP / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images) How the Trump campaign performs in South Carolina will tell us much about whether he can eventually win the nomination. His field generalship, ground tactics, and response to Ted Cruz's emerging flank attack may also reveal much about what kind of Commander-in-Chief Trump will be. Thus far, on the big stage, we have seen Trump as General Patton with an uncanny ability to rally his anti-establishment troops. On the debate stage, we have seen Trump as Rommel, deftly outmaneuvering his enemies with a deadly combination of humor, insult, and chutzpah. Advertisement On the ground, however, we have also seen Trump as an ineffectual General George McClellan unable to wage door-to-door and phone-to-phone campaigns with the same ruthless efficiency as his chief rival, Ted Cruz. Cruz is indeed Trump's greatest threat in South Carolina. Over 60% of registered Republicans identify as evangelicals and the Tea Party remains popular. These are the twin pillars of Cruz's Right Wing base. Cruz has risen in the polls, however, not because he has expanded that base. Rather, it is because a succession of Conservative Republican rivals have sequentially dropped out of the race -- Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, and soon the hapless Ben Carson. By steadily consolidating Ultra Conservative Republican support, Cruz has created an illusion of momentum; but no one knows better than Cruz that he urgently needs to widen his base. In South Carolina, his best shot is the substantial Military Hawk vote. Advertisement This is a state with a proud military history with an impressive array of military facilities. For example, Fort Jackson in Columbia trains 50% of the initial entrants into the Army's Basic Combat Training while the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island - the "Cradle of the Corps" - has birthed over a million marines. Similarly, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter is home to the mighty 20th Fighter Wing while Joint Base Charleston is one of the Pentagon's 12 joint bases. It supports over 90,000 Airmen, Marines, sailors, soldiers, and Coast Guardsmen along with civilian dependents. South Carolina also hosts roughly 900 defense contractors, with companies like Lockheed Martin, Fluor, and BAE Systems leading the list. It also ranks near the top ten of states in terms of defense spending. Perhaps most importantly, South Carolina boasts over 50,000 military retirees - the eighth largest cluster in the nation. This is a well-pensioned and patriotic community that frequently "double-dips" by working civilian jobs in support of the military. These retirees have a huge stake in the outcome of the presidential race, they have been at the tip of the budget sequestration spear, and they traditionally vote with high-turnout rates. It's not for nothing that Ted Cruz has been dramatically upping his military game on the campaign trail. In fact, this is a bold attempt by Cruz to outflank Trump in South Carolina by positioning himself as the true "Commander in Chief" that will rebuild the military and bring spine and steel now sorely lacking in the Oval Office. Advertisement Source: US Navy. "Marine Recruits at Parris Island Here's the good news for the Trump campaign. Cruz's flanking maneuver should be easy to counter. All Donald Trump need do to gut Ted Cruz on the national security issue is to repeatedly point out the role Captain Cruz of the Budget Sequestration Titanic has played in gutting the defense budget. As a further line of attack there is this: As the Senate's ring master of the Government Shutdown circus, Ted Cruz must bear considerable responsibility for shrinking - and therefore sinking -- the US fleet down to levels that would have Ronald Reagan with his 600-ship force apoplectic. At the end of the Republican Primary day, South Carolina should be Trump country, at least when it comes to disaffected white males tossed out of their factories and onto the unemployment line or into minimum wage jobs. It is a state that was once a thriving hub of US manufacturing but has, for decades, been decimated by everything from NAFTA to China's mercantilist weapons of job destruction. This white-hued, blue-collar base is itching to pull the lever for the Donald, and he likely won't be disappointed. To get that base to the polls, Trump may want to take a page out of Patton's book and be seen not just on the Big Stage at rallies but also driving around in at least a figurative Patton Jeep visiting the ground troops and helping with the phone banks -thereby turning New York AstroTurf into true Southern grassroots. Ultimately, the South Carolina battlefield may be the best forum for Trump to skillfully extend his core message of restoring America's economy into the military dimension. The message for South Carolina and beyond should be as clear as a bugle call at reveille: Without a strong economy and a solid manufacturing base, there can be no effective defense of the American homeland. _________________ Peter Navarro is a professor at the University of California-Irvine. He is the author of Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World (Prometheus Books) and director of the companion Crouching Tiger documentary film series. For more information and to access film interview clips, visit www.crouchingtiger.net or see his book talk on CSPAN2. There's a reason California is associated with surf, sun and sand. The Golden State has an abundance of these riches, and those who live there take their beaches very seriously. This makes more sense to outsiders when you realize that California is by far the most populous state (38.8 million per the 2014 Census) and over 68 percent of its residents live near the coast. Californians have salt water in their veins and sand perpetually stuck in the spaces between their car seats, so it's no surprise that the Surfrider Foundation began with a handful of surfers from Malibu. The year was 1984 and the surf break at Malibu Point was under threat from development and pollution. The surfers organized, protested and were ultimately successful in preserving the area. But, like most surfers, they refused to give up on the wave until they'd ridden it as far as they could go. Thirty-two years later, they're still riding. Surfrider volunteers at the beach. (Photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation) Today, the Surfrider Foundation encompasses 85 chapters across the United States and is made up of over 50,000 volunteers. The mission of the organization has grown beyond protecting local surf spots and, as Surfrider is eager to point out, one does not have to be a surfer to join. Its members are made up of everyday people who want to see smart coastal development, clean water and plastic-free beaches. Together, they've won victories in 344 campaigns across the areas of beach access, coastal preservation, ocean protection and plastic pollution. Advertisement And while most of its chapters are based along the United States' three major coastlines, chapters have also sprung up in the middle of Texas, Minnesota and near the border of Arkansas and Tennessee. "Those are locations where we have seen a critical mass of people who are concerned about the ocean," Dr. Chad Nelsen, CEO of Surfrider Foundation, told Planet Experts. "In Texas, they're focused in Austin, which is the capital -- so it's important for our statewide political advocacy in the state. But there's also a ton of surfers who live in Austin and they basically make three- or four-hour drives to the coast. They'll leave their house at four in the morning to get to the beach at eight to surf." The same is true for surfers in Georgia and Memphis, added Nelsen, who often travel to the Florida panhandle. "The way it works at Surfrider is our chapters are organically born," he said. "If they can meet the qualifications for a charter, if they can rally enough people and organize around some issues, we'll support them." Making Climate Change a Coastal Priority Dr. Chad Nelsen became the Chief Executive Officer of the Surfrider Foundation in October 2014 after serving as its Environmental Director for 16 years. As a Laguna Beach native, the son of a marine science educator and the co-founder of "Surfonomics," Nelsen's West Coast bonafides are on lock. The man has dedicated himself to achieving Surfrider's mission of protecting 100 percent of the nation's coastlines, making it the first of three major goals he set for himself when he took on the leadership of the organization. Advertisement Dr. Chad Nelsen, CEO of Surfrider Foundation. (Photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation) The second goal was to provide more support to Surfrider's tens of thousands of volunteers at the grassroots level. "[They] are out there developing leadership skills, and it's pretty incredible that you have these 'laypeople' taking on these really challenging and complex environmental issues," he said. "So we provide the legal, scientific, policy and organizing support for these chapters out there." The third goal is to address the issue of climate change as it affects the coast and oceans. "Even if we stop pumping carbon into the atmosphere tomorrow," he said, "there's going to be 100 years of climate change because of the lag time in the atmosphere." The impacts of climate change are likely to last even longer, according to the majority of climate scientists. For the first time in human history, the carbon saturation in the atmosphere is at 400 parts per million in the Northern Hemisphere. At the current rate of industrial and agricultural emissions, the carbon and other greenhouse gases in the planet's atmosphere are predicted to influence climate and weather patterns in chaotic ways, such as a major increase in wildfires, hurricane intensity, food shortages, heat waves and coastal flooding events. The absorption of carbon by the ocean is also harming corals and shellfish due to increasing acidification. "The ocean is becoming more carbon rich, and that's impacting shellfish and marine life and coral reefs," said Nelsen. Advertisement Not only is the ocean becoming more acidic, he added, it's also getting warmer. Dangerously so. "It's going to increase sea level rise, both because of the melting of the glaciers and also the thermal expansion of the ocean as it warms. Sea levels rose about eight inches in the last 100 years. It's going to rise another six feet in the next hundred, so preparing our coastlines for that change, I think it's going to fundamentally rearrange our relationship with the coast." The proof, said Dr. Nelsen, is arriving every day. He pointed to the record flooding that recently occurred off the New Jersey and Delaware coasts during winter storm Jonas. Extreme storm surges are becoming yearly events, and both NASA and the Union of Concerned Scientists have urged coastal communities across the world to prepare for yearly floods. Following the widespread devastation of Hurricane Sandy, Jersey City is already building a two-mile, $2 billion seawall. Banning Plastic Bags and Supporting the BEACH Act Surfrider is currently pursuing two major campaigns for improving the nation's beaches, one within California and the other at the federal level. The California campaign focuses on raising awareness for the state's deferred plastic bag ban, which is up for a vote at the end of this year. In September 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 270, making California the first to ban plastic bags at the state-level. However, the ban was postponed following a signature campaign undertaken by the plastic industry. Nelsen says the referendum was a disappointment but not really a surprise. The plastic industry, he explained, "makes about $16 million per year selling those bags in the state of California, and they invested a few million in the referendum. So if the referendum fails, it will still be a profitable exercise for the bag industry -- just by delaying the implementation of the policy for a year." In the meantime, the cleanup for the bags that litter the state's beaches, streams and mountains costs taxpayers millions of dollars every year. Advertisement Surfrider is urging all Californians to vote "yes" on the ban. On the whole, said Nelsen, Californians are in favor of ditching their single-use plastic bags for reusable ones -- over 100 communities in the state already have such bans in place. "I think there's a pretty good chance that the referendum will fail," he said. "It's just too bad, because it's another 18 months of senseless waste and pollution." Surfrider is also lobbying Congress to continue federal funding for the BEACH Act (Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act). An amendment to the EPA's Clean Water Act, BEACH requires states to adopt minimum health-based criteria for recreational water quality in the nation's 35 coastal states. It also subsidizes beach water quality monitoring and public notification programs for coastal states and territories. Throughout the Obama administration, the BEACH Act has consistently been thrown on the budgetary chopping block, with legislators threatening to strip its funding entirely. While fiscal conservatives dislike the subsidy, Nelsen points out that the return on investment is several magnitudes beyond its $9.5 million budget (which is shared amongst all 35 states). "Compared to the tens of billions of dollars generated by coastal tourism, [it's] a small investment," he said. Further, BEACH ensures that the nation's beaches are all being held to at least a minimum standard of health. In California, where the beach is integral to its economy, water quality monitoring is extensive and funded by both the state and the fed. But states like North Carolina and Oregon receive 100 percent of their coastal monitoring funding from the BEACH Act. Defunding the Act would not only end water monitoring in these states, it would also eliminate residents' right to know when beaches are unsafe to visit. Advertisement According to Amanda Griesbach, an Environmental Compliance Inspector for the Los Angeles watershed, beach water doesn't have to look polluted for it to be contaminated. An excess of fecal bacteria in the water can lead to nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as skin, ear and eye infections. In an interview with Planet Experts, Griesbach explained that California is unique in that it tests water samples against seven marine water bacteria standards, whereas many states "only have one or two standards." Losing funding for the BEACH Act would expose countless Americans to this harmful bacteria. Surfrider's volunteers. (Photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation) Taking Responsibility for the Nation's Coasts The Surfrider Foundation has grown steadily over the past three decades, and today its volunteers dedicate 540 collective hours to the organization per day. It's something Nelsen takes great pride in. "There are people doing work on behalf of Surfrider and our coasts every day of the week, every day of the year," he said. "It's not just taking on these campaigns, it's the day-to-day stewardship, whether they're out cleaning beaches, planting dune grass, testing water. And it is growing." Yesterday the country and perhaps those who watch America's Supreme Court from abroad were shocked to receive the news about Justice Scalia's sudden passing. Of course, the initial reaction, as would be for any public figure in a peaceful and stable democracy, is the appropriate condolences to the surviving members of the Scalia family, which President Obama quickly extended. But as soon as the mourning began, the political debates intensified with a Republican primary debate in South Carolina the very same evening that the public heard the news about Scalia's death. And of course, the issue of President Obama's suspected intention to nominate a new justice was fiercely contested with Senator Cruz claiming, falsely, that no confirmation has ever taken place during an election year. In this light, it's only expected that a flurry of legal historical works, opinions and editorials from major newspapers, and briefs from any institution that follows the history of SCOTUS will ensue. They will attempt to assess the long, complex and scintillating legacy of Justice Antonin Scalia. For us, two dissents stand out in particular: they reveal not only Scalia's mode of legal reasoning and argumentation but his deeply held moral and political convictions about gay rights in America, which he unabashedly made known, not only in public interviews but in blistering Supreme Court decisions. The great irony is that Scalia was famous for defending the literal interpretation of the Constitution in protecting, say the Second Amendment on gun ownership, while critiquing judicial activism and overreach that would compromise the democratic liberty of citizens from governing themselves. It is not up to judges to tell Americans what to think or believe. Naturally, this could mean Supreme Court justices not allowing moral stances or polemic ideological positions to infiltrate the serene, neural, objective and fair interpretation of the law that is expected in Supreme Court decisions on major social issues. But this is exactly where some could argue Scalia's hypocrisy comes shining through, allowing for his own personal opinions on controversial subjects over the years, such as gay rights, to conceal itself within the constitutional rigor of his often times brilliant and powerful reasoning. Advertisement One major case from thirteen years ago illustrates the point. Take for example Lawrence v. Texas (2003) that overturned the last few states' anti-sodomy laws, thus effectively decriminalizing homosexuality across the nation. Justice Kennedy delivered the 6-3 majority opinion arguing that the anti-sodomy laws preventing sexual conduct between same-sex individuals violated the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects the privacy and liberty interests of citizens' decisions of utmost significance about their lives from undue government interference. There is no justification for state intervention in the most private dimensions of a citizen's life. Interestingly enough, the issue of whether same-sex individuals not being able to engage in a certain sexual practice, which for example heterosexual couples may practice, does not violate the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth amendment, or equality before the law. The decision came down to privacy and liberty interests as opposed to equality. But this is where Scalia's dissent could have enormous import, particularly as other countries in the Global South reckon with old colonial laws that criminalize homosexuality. For example, India's Supreme Court recently decided to review its decision from two years ago that effectively re-criminalized homosexuality after a New Delhi court decriminalized it. And no doubt, these countries may take a look at the dissents put forward by conservative justices like Scalia before undertaking such a momentous decision for or against gay rights. Seeing that the U.S. expanded the liberty and equality of gay people to marry last year in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the stakes couldn't be higher for Global LGBTQ rights activists. So what does Scalia say in the Lawrence v. Texas decision that decriminalized homosexuality in his staunch and vehement disagreement with the majority opinion? One can ask about the saliency it holds in terms of its constitutional credibility or whether it succumbs to unfounded moral biases that parade as legitimate given the charismatic voice Scalia represented on the Court for nearly thirty years until his unexpected death yesterday. The only question Scalia should have considered is whether free adults engaging in consensual sexual conduct should be spared any state interference in curtailing the kind and nature of such conduct. The constitutional matter of protecting privacy and liberty is what makes democratic freedom essentially a right to self-government, and not have government impose a moral or religious system upon individuals. This is much different from asking whether the conduct itself is morally or politically acceptable given the heterosexual majority's opinion on the matter over the course of American history. Advertisement Drawing upon the nation's "tradition," it is telling that Scalia invoked his dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) where he argued that abortion was not in the constitution as a fundamental right, which meant analogously neither is the right to same-sex people engaging in certain forms of sexual conduct. Examining Scalia's nearly twenty page dissent in Lawrence tells us much about the in-built constraints of government itself, the separation of powers, and how much power government officials, such as a Supreme Court justice, can actually wield. It raises the question of the ethical responsibility of non-elected government figures who occupy enormous positions of power to shape the social agenda of the country. Arguing for the notion that states have an interest in rationally placing burdens on certain forms of individual liberty and privacy in the name of "tradition," and whether any future forms of social conduct are actually sanctioned in the literal text of the Constitution cannot be the overriding standard for legal judgement to determine the permissibility of such conduct, liberties and privacy. It's not so much the obvious fact that society changes while the constitution was only written once that makes Scalia's conservativism so calcified. Rather, his inflexible reasoning points to the utter impossibility to rethink the boundaries between states' responsibilities to protect new emerging liberties, say the legal right to transgender identity, also not written in the Constitution, and the fundamental right of individuals to be protected from laws that are unconstitutional, say the anti-sodomy laws on the remaining states' books before 2003 or current state laws that do not invalidate discriminatory practices against LGBTQ peoples when it comes to employment. So much is at stake now as the political battle lines are drawn to contest or delay the confirmation of President Obama's eventual nomination to replace Justice Scalia. Seeing that the Court is planning to weigh in on major social issues in the near term, including abortion rights and affirmative action, one wonders whether the legacy of Scalia's conservatism, couched in the legal reasoning of the 'rational basis test' for states placing burdens on individual liberties, will itself stand the test of time. The binary logic of Scalia's pendulum is quite revealing: that citizens should legislate and vote on matters, say the limits of state interference in restricting abortion rights or whether gay people should have the right to marry, and not come from overreach of judges and courts deciding such matters. Yet this, when convenient from the moral argumentative point of view, can swing in favor of courts deciding on what should in principle be legislative and political matters in the name of precedent. Indeed for Scalia, it is the issues' intrinsic subject matter, say gay and abortion rights, which determines when literalism and traditionalism hold sway and when they don't. But that flies in the face of the independent and neutral nature of the judiciary as sanctioned in the Constitution itself. Advertisement In Paolo Sorrentino's movie Youth, Michael Caine plays a retired composer on holiday at a spa in the Swiss Alps. He hears a young student practicing the composition for which he is best known. The precocious boy says his professor finds it easy to learn, and continues, "It's more than that. It is beautiful." Caine's character replies, "I composed it when I loved." The music, "Simple Song #3," is now nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. Last week the Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang, known for his work in classical music, stepped out of the class in music composition he was teaching at Yale to talk to me about making music for movies. How was it working with Paolo Sorrentino on The Great Beauty and now Youth? In movies, music often gets used without direct connection. The industry is set up to deal with dead composers. For The Great Beauty, Sorrentino simply licensed my music; the opening choral piece is now on YouTube, and has gone all around the world. I am grateful. The reach of movies is larger than my reach as a classical musician. I met Paolo Sorrentino, finally, at The Great Beauty premiere in Toronto. He told me his next film would be about a classical composer. How was the work different for the two films? The way music usually gets used: everybody is done; then, the film is given to the composer to fill in the emotion in x seconds. In Youth, because the character is involved with music, my job came before casting, before everything. I had to answer first about the character's life and emotions. It was terrifying to start from nothing. I kept thinking, if I could make this music feel authentic, I could help drive the story. I loved feeling that the music could be so important. The whole point of the movie is to lead up to a performance of that song. Advertisement How would your life change if you won an Oscar for "Simple Song #3? If I win the Oscar I have no idea how that will change my life. Even though I worked on movies before, for the documentary The Woodmans and the string arrangements for Requiem for a Dream performed by the Kronos Quartet -- I am surprised I'm nominated for an Oscar for the first time now for Youth. I consider myself an opera composer first. For a composer, opera is the most complete form. If I won, maybe people would realize there's not such a real difference. I'm having a blast. On the red carpet at Cannes, my thoughts facing all those photographers were that movies engage so many senses; people get excited about them. I'd love to bring some of that energy back into this other world, to take attention from the film world and plow that back to the opera Many years ago, I had a surgeon with a terrible bedside manner. He was abrupt and spoke above my level of understanding. There was nothing about this man that I liked. But he had a great reputation as a surgeon, and surgery was what I needed. And the surgical theater is not equivalent to the theater in which people pay to be entertained. I said at the time that no matter how odious a person was, my choice would always be to take the doctor who would perform the most successfully in the operating room. I'm at that moment, again, regarding Donald Trump. I've always disliked Trump, decades before he began making noises about a political career. I disliked his megalomania, his arrogance, his overuse of superlatives. I have nothing against people who inherited their fortunes. Like anyone else, they make choices about how to use that money. Trump used his for personal gain. That was his choice. Thankfully, it was easy to ignore him. My world and his were not connected at any level. When Trump entered the world of reality TV, I made it a point to never watch the show. I merely noted that he was probably perfect for the role that he played. Advertisement When Trump jumped into the Obama birther movement and wrestled it to the ground, I was appalled. I could make no sense of why he cared. For me, the evidence of Obama's foreign birth was non-existent. I had attributed that movement to people who were pissed off that their country had elected a black president. Much as I didn't like Trump, I would not have put him into that category. When Trump declared for the presidency, I didn't take him seriously. I assumed that what he really wanted was to rule the world in some ultimate global reality show, and to be able to scream "You're fired!" to anyone on the planet who displeased him. It wasn't long before I started to feel really uncomfortable about his candidacy. My discomfort was in the following areas: When Trump railed against political correctness, the result was that for him, it excused behavior that showed a real disrespect for the people whom he hoped, one day, to govern. For me, that was a huge problem. Even worse was the feeling that most of the people he degraded, he did so, not based on political disagreement, but rather on his perception that they disrespected him in some way. For me, that didn't bode well for a president who must operate on the world stage and deal with people whose opinions and behaviors are sometimes offensive and insulting. Advertisement When I really listened carefully to him, much of what he said sounded eerily like the conversations I have with my post-menopausal female friends. Because we have episodes of losing nouns and pronouns, we say things like "that guy who was in that movie..." and "I love those things that..." In Trump's case, it was: "We are going to close the borders to Muslims, until we figure out what's going on. He said that, even if waterboarding didn't achieve the results we wanted, he was still in favor of it because "these guys have chopped the heads off Christians and other people also. And they did other stuff also. Even if waterboarding doesn't work, they deserve it anyway." I try really hard to understand him, but I'm always left with the creepy feeling that most of what he says is completely open to the interpretation of whomever is listening. And given some of the people who listen to him, that's a pretty scary proposition. In fact, it's a scary proposition, period. I'd like to know who I'm following. I don't want to make up whatever I'd like. I cringe every time he tells people that he will solve problems simply because he is a problem solver. Or that we as a country will win simply because he is, personally, a winner. Or listening as he reverts to telling a story about his success in negotiating or in building big buildings or in running his rivals into the ground. I'm not a political science guru, but I feel pretty sure that operating on a world stage is a bit different from controlling real estate development in New York or Las Vegas. I need more from a president than a declaration that he/she will solve problems. I need details about exactly how he/she expects to do that. I am appalled at how he plays so fast and loose with facts, especially when the veracity of such facts is so east to check. He asks me time and again to trust that he knows what I do not, that he has access to information that no one else does. Or that he has seen with his own eyes what no one else has seen. He also asks me to trust that in a short period of time, he will get "smarter than everyone else" about something that he might not know about at that moment. I'm, by nature, a trusting person. But I'm also a discerning person. I know that politicians sometimes play fast and loose with facts. In Trump's case, there are very few "facts" that he utters that can be verified. Forgive the language here, but when I listen to him, I have the feeling he is pulling some of this stuff out of his butt. Advertisement Trump has a couple interesting ways to destroy ISIS. The first is to "get all of the computer geniuses out there to figure out a way to keep ISIS from being on the internet." That comment, alone, shows a pretty profound lack of understanding of what the internet is or how the internet works. "Next, I would just bomb those suckers, and that's right, I'd blow up the pipes, I'd blow up the refineries, I'd blow up every single inch, there would be nothing left. And you know what, you'll get Exxon to come in there, and in two months, you ever see these guys? How good they are, the great oil companies, they'll rebuild it brand new... And I'll take the oil." This shows another pretty profound lack of understanding, on several levels. I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. I'll only say that if Trump believes that ISIS is one entity that lives in a large clump, somewhere in the Middle East, he is mistaken. Or maybe he plans to bomb the entire Middle East. Trump's solution for the economy is to allow "Wall St pros to run the country." We are still reeling from the effects of Wall St pros basically running the country. I, for one, am not enthusiastic about another go-around. He would repeal Obamacare on his "first day in office." Say what you want about the pros and cons of Obamacare, as well as the cost of repealing the taxes levied by Obamacare ($353 billion), at the very least, this statement shows a serious lack of understanding about our political process. Climate Change Trump has called climate change a plot hatched by the Chinese. He has also called it "weather," meaning it's just the normal course of the ebb and flow of our usual weather patterns. In other words, it's no big deal. I won't belabor all of the reasons why climate change is neither a plot hatched by anyone nor business as usual. Scientific minds far more knowledgeable and brilliant than mine have pretty much put that argument to rest. I'm aware enough and concerned enough to want a leader who appreciates that climate change has implications that are a threat to the planet and to those who inhabit it. And I strongly suspect that it's people like Trump who will be the first ones who start screaming "What the fuck is happening?!" when water becomes the resource that wars are fought over, when food supplies start drying up, when increasingly destructive weather patterns become the norm, and when insect-borne diseases start spreading to ever-widening parts of the planet. By then, it will be too late to blame the Chinese or anyone else. Advertisement I've listened to Trump's supporters. I respect their frustration and their passion. I hear them say that Trump will stand up to Mexico for threatening our jobs, to China for threatening our economy, to ISIS for threatening our lives. They believe his unacceptable rhetoric is simply him being "real." It doesn't concern them. He is a bully and a loose cannon, but he is our bully and our loose cannon. He is a junkyard dog. But he is our junkyard dog. He is fighting for us. We are in danger, and he will protect us. Ezra Klein said, "Trump doesn't offer solutions so much as he offers villains. His message isn't so much that he'll help you as he'll hurt them." His supporters understand that, and they love it. When the announcement came that Trump had won the New Hampshire primary, people started chanting "Build that wall!" "Built that wall!" I keep hearing that, as a billionaire, Trump is his own man, beholden to no one. As an outsider, he will do things his way, rather than subscribe to the party line. In fact, he won't follow any line, other than the one he creates. His followers take great comfort in all these things. I don't take comfort in any of this. A president is beholden to every one of us. Whether some of us realize it or not, we deserve more than being told that our president will solve our problems and make us great again. We deserve a president who has workable plans, based on reality (not on reality shows). We also deserve a president who knows how to serve within a system of government that we have created. We deserve a president who is accountable to us, not to his own ever-changing view of the world as a mere background to himself. Advertisement If this bizarre election year needed one thing twist, it is now likely to play out against a deepening economic crisis. Advantage: Trump and Sanders. The global economy is weakening, due to a perfect storm of a cratering economy in China, a crash of oil prices, slower growth in the Third World and a realization by central banks that they can't fix what's broken. There is a lot of whistling past the graveyard that the U.S. can somehow continue our (rather tepid) recovery, but in a global economy, no country is an island. Fears of a recession push the stock market downward; then the wipeout of stock values helps bring that recession nearer. (Who said markets were rational?) Advertisement Consumers benefit for now from the cheaper gas prices at the pump. But with wage growth minimal, and real careers giving way to a succession of on-demand "gig" jobs, that's small comfort. As the election year wears on, you can expect Republicans to blame the economic slide on the Obama Administration and the Democrats. You can expect Hillary Clinton to intensify her attacks on Bernie Sanders as the candidate of tax increases and big government. And you can expect the economic anxiety that drives the Trump and Sanders campaigns only to grow. On the GOP side, why are Republican elites so terrified of Trump? Let us count the ways. First, he doesn't need their money. So all the billions that were set to buy the election are suddenly like the worthless Marks of Weimar Germany. And if Trump doesn't need either their money or the votes of their political toadies, then the GOP elites have no leverage on him and no IOU's to call in. Uh-oh. Second, it becomes clearer every day that Trump isn't a conservative. He's an anti-Wall Street, anti-foreign populist. And anti-foreign doesn't necessarily mean more interventionist. At the most recent Republican debate, he actually said that he would have voted to impeach George W. Bush over the invasion of Iraq. Advertisement That comment set pundit tongues wagging: this time, Trump finally overreached. W is popular in South Carolina, isn't he? Well, maybe among the swells, but not so much among the white working class good old boys who are Trump's constituents. It is their sons, fathers, brothers (and some daughters and wives) who got killed in W's pointless war in Iraq. And all Jebby could do was pitifully blather about what great man his dad was, and how much he admired his mother. Maybe she should have run, Trump shot back. This man is crazy like a fox. Third, unlike GOP conservatives, Trump doesn't hate government. In a severe economic turndown, you could imagine a President Trump sponsoring, say, a massive public works program to Make American Great Again. And fourth, the Trump phenomenon suggests that the supposedly ultra-conservative Republican base isn't all that conservative either. Yes, the Evangelicals are religious conservatives, and the base doesn't like foreigners, and a dwindling number hate gays, but that doesn't make them economic conservatives. Until Trump, there was an awkward alliance of convenience in the GOP between social conservatives and Wall Street conservatives (who have little in common), in which each one did the other's bidding. Trump unmasks and blows up that alliance. Advertisement That fracture, over the long run, is even more serious than the oft-stated risk of Trump somehow destroying the Republican Party entirely. What he really does is to weaken the party as the instrument of Wall Street conservatives. And what Trump is doing to the GOP is mirrored on the Democratic side by Sanders' impact on the Democrats. Hillary Clinton, at the most recent Democratic debate, double down on her attacks on Sanders as a big-government Democrat. Sorry, but a dose of higher taxes and more social investment is just what the economy and the disaffected people who are flocking to Sanders need right now. Take the case of tax-financed debt relief for college grads. That's not a case of building a big government bureaucracy. On the contrary, money would flow in, via more tax dollars collected from the rich, and it would flow out for debt-free higher education. Does Hillary really want bash Bernie over that? Or take Medicare for All. That's less bureaucracy, not more. Medicare is an exemplar of the efficiency of government. It spends 98 cents of the premium dollar on medical care. Most private insurers are down in the 80s. If you want to see bureaucracy in action, take a good look at private medical and health insurance bureaucracies. (And you have, if you've been to the doctor or filed a claim lately.) Hillary's biggest blunder was to try to tag Bernie as a one-issue candidate. If that issue is the economy, bring it on. Advertisement What Trump and Sanders are forcing is a debate about the declining prospects of most Americans. For all of its power, Wall Street, in the driver's seat on both parties for at least three decades, suddenly has the weaker horse in both parties. Amazing! Of course, Hillary Clinton is still the more likely Democratic nominee. And in a head-to-head with Trump, she is probably the favorite barring some new horrendous disclosure about Clinton Foundation conflicts of interest or emails. Clinton, presumably, is a good enough reader of public opinion and of sources of political energy, that she would be a more progressive president that one might have expected. But Wall Street would still have a good friend in the Oval Office -- too good a friend. *** Coda: McConnell's Misstep Here I have to violate the cardinal rule of journalism that a column is about one thing. It seems to me that Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, echoed by the Republican presidential field, blundered when he declared that the Republican Senate would not vote in an election year to confirm an Obama nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Scalia. The Republicans would be a lot shrewder if they bargained with Obama to nominate a center-right nominee who could be confirmed. That would deprive Obama's successor, quite possibly a Democrat, of the chance to name a real progressive and would extend the conservative sway over the court. Advertisement With a court divided 4-4 for the next year, liberals will likely prevail because of several lower court decisions that will now be upheld, most notably the Freidrichs case allowing public sector unions to broadly organize and collect dues. Other key cases, including affirmative action, voting rights, and abortion rights, are in the same category. If Republicans are sly, they will play to Obama's vanity and begin bargaining with the White House about naming a moderate conservative who they will confirm. I would not be surprised if such back-channel bargaining has already begun. And if Obama is shrewd, he will appoint a distinguished liberal and let Republicans be the party of negativity, and let the chips fall. -- Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis University's Heller School. His latest book is Debtors' Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility. It was 1968. A little known local politician named Allard K. Lowenstein was running for Congress in my suburban neighborhood in Nassau County. Al lived in a small cottage on the west end of Long Beach - a place that was bohemian chic compared to our ranch-burger house just a stone's throw away in Oceanside. He'd been involved with desegregation movements in the South --- a hero in our very white neighborhoods. Al would invite us, the students, over to discuss social and political issues. Now that I think about it... preach is probably a better word. I was only in high school, couldn't even cast a vote, but I was mesmerized by Al's ability to make us believe that we were the change - not just any politician. His adeptness as a politician was to deputize of us all to be politicians. Sanders is the successor to the Pied Piper throne. He appeals to the narcissistic and impatient cry of every young generation. We matter and we're going to change things, fast. There seems to be a certain studied look to wooing young voters. Male. Unruly hair, disheveled look, unkempt suits and poorly tucked shirts. There's that nutty professor eye-contact thing that's part evangelist and part "I've got my head in some other place." Humor, whimsy and most of all an ability to laugh at politics, even while you love it. That's the secret sauce. Advertisement I went gaga for Lowenstein. I begged my Dad to stick one of those Lowenstein for Congress picket signs on our front lawn. I loved that sign. I didn't understand all the intricacies of Vietnam but I knew that too many had died for all the wrong reasons. If Al thought it was an immoral war, we did too. We were Al's soldiers. He got us to make phone calls to people we didn't know - a teenage act of bravery. He got us to knock on doors and hear from people with whom we disagreed. Another teenage anomaly. He got us to jump on buses to Washington carrying signs and singing songs. Al's critics scratched their heads and couldn't figure out what was up with the schlubby guy and his Pied Piper thing. Ultimately things didn't work out too well for Lowenstein. His District was gerrymandered and he lost his second bid for Congress to a business-as-usual Republican, Norman Lent. Lowenstein and his "shiksa" wife (who we all wanted to be just like when we grew up) got divorced. Finally, in 1980, a deranged friend, someone Lowenstein knew since his early campaign days, stalked him and killed him. The irony? The killer was the kind of devotee/lost soul that Al was always trying to engage in politics. Some say what fueled Lowenstein, the ability to speak to the disaffected, was what killed him. Al was like our Dads but cool. Sanders is like your grandfather but cool. Both understand that young voters want to know they are the importance in the process, not the candidates. They want to know they can change the status quo, that they can be the disrupters. If a generation of Congressman Lowenstein's followers had enough clout to influence Lyndon Johnson to exit from Vietnam, then why can't a bunch of idealistic young voters be able to end the forever wars in Afghanistan and Syria? Fast forward more than forty years. I named my second daughter Arli in honor of Allard Lowenstein. I left active politics because the burdens of raising a family and working were overwhelming. I'll be voting for Hillary because Bernie, like Al, is a bit of a one trick pony. And I'm older and a bit more skeptical now. But I'll never forget the rapture, the high and the incredible hope of believing in a good man who said that I was a part of the solution. Bernie knows what Al knew. Advertisement As a jurist, Antonin Scalia will likely be remembered most for championing the "originalist" view of constitutional law, that is, the view that in determining how constitutional provisions should be applied today, we need to adhere without deviation to the "original" meaning of the provisions. Scalia maintained this is the only legitimate way for an unelected judiciary to apply the Constitution because otherwise they would be acting as legislators. Scalia repeatedly heaped scorn on the view that judges should interpret constitutional provisions in light of contemporary conditions and standards. The originalist view has some superficial merit, which, in part, explains why it continues to have supporters. On this view, judges are not influenced by their personal beliefs. Instead, they are objective legal technicians, who hold their positions because they have the skill necessary to understand and apply the constitutional manual. They're like plumbers but with more education because, you know, the piping in our legal system is more complex than the one in your bathroom. But the alleged objectivity of originalism is a pernicious myth. To begin, the Founders themselves likely did not adhere to originalism, so originalism is predicated on the paradoxical position that we should respect the Founders by rejecting their own understanding of the Constitution. Moreover, Scalia, like all judges, interpreted constitutional provisions through his own ideological prism. The mask of originalism was simply used to camouflage his agenda. Advertisement How is an originalist supposed to determine the meaning of a constitutional provision? According to Scalia, one starts, and ideally ends, with the text. Just read the provision in question. Fine, the Constitution does contain a number of provisions that are specific and, at least arguably, unambiguous. For example, one must be at least thirty-five years old to be the president (Art. II, sec. 1) and an argument that "years" in this provision really means "Martian years" is unlikely to be found persuasive. But precisely because these provisions are unambiguous they have not been the subject of much litigation. On the other hand, a number of provisions in the Constitution are very broadly worded and do not provide a clear, definitive demarcation between constitutionally permissible and constitutionally impermissible practices. This is especially true with those provisions--most of which are found in the Bill of Rights--that limit the government's ability to interfere with or restrict civil liberties. For example, the Fourth Amendment prohibits the government from conducting "unreasonable searches and seizures"; the Fifth Amendment states that no person can be deprived of life, liberty, or property "without due process of law"; and the Eighth Amendment prohibits "excessive" bail and fines and "cruel and unusual punishments." So how does a jurist such as Scalia, who believes the Constitution's text must govern the application of the Constitution to a contemporary dispute, determine whether a punishment is "cruel" or "unusual"? Scalia's answer was that we need to look to history, which will provide the requisite context for interpreting constitutional provisions. Scalia maintained that by examining how those who approved and adopted the language in question understood the language, we can determine what the government can and cannot do. For example, if at the time of the adoption of the Eighth Amendment capital punishment was an accepted practice then, according to Scalia, it is clearly unjustified to argue that capital punishment is forbidden by the Eighth Amendment. Advertisement Scalia's position ignores the fact that history is itself open to dispute and interpretation. The dueling opinions of Scalia and Justice Stevens in District of Columbia v. Heller (the 2008 case deciding the Second Amendment protects individual gun rights) were both rich in historical detail and reached completely opposite conclusions. But the more fundamental flaw is to assume that the Founders wanted us to use detailed historical research, or perhaps necromancy, to discern the specific things they were thinking of at the time they wrote the Constitution. As indicated, Scalia argued that capital punishment cannot be cruel and unusual because it was practiced at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted. However, that assumes that what those who proposed and ratified the Eighth Amendment intended was something such as: "The government cannot utilize punishments considered cruel and unusual at the time of the enactment of this amendment." Where is the justification for this interpretation? There isn't any. There is certainly no justification in the text itself because the Founders did not include the language I italicized--although it would have been easy to do so. The Constitution doesn't have a word limit. Given that the Founders hoped the Constitution would endure for generations, it is much more plausible to infer that what they intended was to establish the principle that the government may not impose any punishment that, given the circumstances of the time, is considered cruel and unusual. That's why they used the open-ended language. As indicated by the minimum age requirement for the presidency and numerous other provisions, when the Founders wanted to be very precise, they had no trouble doing so. So they could have listed the specific punishments they considered cruel or unusual. Instead they deliberately opted for more general guidance. Likewise with other critical provisions, such as the "due process" clause or the prohibitions on "unreasonable" searches and seizures. They recognized they could not predict the future and they trusted future generations to apply these general principles intelligently, consistent with the underlying objectives of these principles. And, in many instances, the Supreme Court has done so. For example, in 1967 the Supreme Court determined that the Fourth Amendment prohibition on an "unreasonable" search and seizure applies to wiretapping. But there was no electronic eavesdropping in 1791, so the Court had to consider what it viewed as the underlying objectives of the Fourth Amendment to reach its decision. To argue that the text of the Fourth Amendment along with knowledge of the types of searches the Founders specifically approved or disapproved could render precise the meaning of this provision is disingenuous or naive. In short, there is no basis for claiming that Scalia's originalist method is more "objective." His method relies on certain suppositions just as much as any rival method of constitutional interpretation and, if anything, the suppositions of the originalist view are more questionable. In addition, Scalia himself ignored textual history when it suited his purposes. One of the legal positions for which Scalia was most noted was a rejection of the view that the government is not supposed to promote religion. Scalia, an extremely devout Catholic, never met any government endorsement or funding of religion he did not like. His rationale for approving government promotion of religion was that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment supposedly only prohibited government explicitly preferring one (monotheistic) religion over another--the government could still promote religion in general. Yet, the history of the First Congress' consideration of proposals for the Establishment Clause decisively refutes Scalia's understanding of this provision. Specifically, the First Congress considered and rejected language that would have limited the Establishment Clause to a prohibition of preferences among religions and instead opted for very broad language prohibiting any government involvement respecting religion. (Justice Souter's concurring opinion in Lee v. Weisman provides a detailed description of the evolution of the language in the First Amendment.) The reality is Scalia indulged in motivated reasoning as often, if not more frequently, than the justices and judges he ridiculed. The originalist position on constitutional interpretation should be laid to rest along with Justice Scalia. A Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I do not want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny -- Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear. I doubt if the Republican Party could -- simply because I don't believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans aren't that desperate for victory. - Margaret Chase Smith Good thing Senator Smith is not alive to see the Republican Party she so dearly loved. Her faith is the American people to not uphold a party that puts politics above national interest is noble. Unfortunately, our current state of affairs with Republican resistance to gun control in particular proves her wrong. Advertisement I have often quoted the "lady from Maine." Yet, I never knew much about her aside from the fact that she was the first Republican to denounce McCarthy and his tactics. That alone made her noteworthy to me. When I delved into her background, I was utterly astonished at what she accomplished. Although she may not have agreed with the term, but she was a trailblazing progressive feminist long before women in America started to burn their bras. What's more? She was a Republican. Not since President Abraham Lincoln has there been a Republican that impressed. However, one thing separates President Lincoln from Senator Smith. President Lincoln ended slavery not because of a great moral conviction, but because it was best for the country. Whereas, Senator Smith denounced McCarthy and his rhetoric on principal. Many of her "colleagues said that this was political suicide." The Wall Street Journal noted, "She was a pioneer Republican...Deeply - even devoutly- conservative, she was neither patrician nor partisan." That is what amazes about Senator Smith. She was so progressive and ahead of her time. For speaking out against McCarthy, her party replaced her on the investigating subcommittee with Richard M. Nixon. The New York Times noted, "Shortly before his assassination, President Kennedy called Mrs. Smith a 'formidable political figure' against whom he would not like to campaign. The morning after his death, she went into the Senate chamber before it convened and laid a red rose on Kennedy's old desk." Even before her famous Declaration of Conscience speech, she made history. She was a champion for women in the military and fought to improve their status in rank and pay. She was the first woman elected to both the House and Senate. She was the first woman "to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency." The Wall Street Journal reported, "She launched her 1964 campaign for president aiming 'to destroy any political bigotry against women,' she said, 'just as the late John F. Kennedy had broken the political barrier on religion.''' She lost the Republican nomination to Barry Goldwater. It was said that, "She was not credited for her greater experience; instead pundits speculated about whether Senator Smith was menopausal. Her point that 'I haven't seen the age played up in the case of the men candidates' was in vain." Advertisement For as much as Hillary Clinton would like us to believe that she is the ultimate trailblazing woman in politics, if Senator Smith were alive and ran against Hillary, Senator Smith would have my vote hands down. I have not been silent on the fact that I am no party loyalist and that Hillary does not have my vote. As I read Senator Smith's biography and her Declaration of Conscience, I wondered how the Republican Party descended in its current state of lunacy. The GOP presidential campaign looks like a three ring circus and the animals have taken over. Maybe it is best that the "lady from Maine" is not around to see what the Party she so loved and thought highly of has turned into. I leave you with some quotes from her Declaration of Conscience to guide you. "It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear." "I speak as briefly as possible because too much harm has already been done with irresponsible words of bitterness and selfish political opportunism." Advertisement "But recently that deliberative character [of the United States Senate] has too often been debased to the level of a forum of hate and character assassination sheltered by the shield of congressional immunity." "Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism - the right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; the right of independent thought." "The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed." "Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and suspicions that ...spread like cancerous tentacles of 'know nothing, suspect everything' attitudes." "As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the...design of 'confuse, divide and conquer.' As an American, I don't want a Democratic Administration 'white wash' or 'cover up' any more than I want a Republican smear or witch hunt." Advertisement "A Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I do not want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny -- Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear. I doubt if the Republican Party could -- simply because I don't believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans aren't that desperate for victory." Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic shake hands at their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, May 9, 2015. Tomislav Nikolic is attending the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. (Alexei Nikolsky/RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) On January 11, 2016, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitri Rogozin announced Moscow's intention to arm Serbia with sophisticated weaponry, including S-300 surface-to-air missiles. Belgrade's decision to deepen military cooperation with Russia caused controversy in Brussels, as Serbia in recent months has taken tangible steps towards accession to the European Union. Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic has insisted that Serbia's strengthened alliance with Russia will not compromise its EU membership aspirations. But difficulties in balancing relations between the increasingly hostile European and Russian blocs, and long-standing tensions over Kosovo's status are significant roadblocks to eventual Serbian EU membership. Advertisement Serbia's contradictory foreign policy strategy of simultaneously expanding linkages with Russia and the EU can be explained by two main factors. First, Serbia's views on state sovereignty align more closely with Russian perspectives than the Western consensus. This normative synergy caused Belgrade to implicitly support Russian conduct towards Ukraine and Turkey. Second, Russia, to combat its international isolation and to partially offset the breakdown of relations with Turkey, is offering Serbia the opportunity to bolster its economic and military development, without the conditions typically imposed by Western economic institutions. Serbia and Russia: Normative Partners on State Sovereignty Since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, Serbia has defied the Western consensus on state sovereignty, by arguing that Kosovo is an "integral" part of its territory. This contrasts with the 23/28 EU member states and 24/28 NATO members who have recognized it as an independent country. Russia has consistently supported Serbia's position on Kosovo. In 2008, Vladimir Putin warned that the legitimization of Kosovo's declaration of independence would destabilize the international system. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described unrest in Tibet, and Albanian autonomy demands in Macedonia as pernicious consequences of Kosovo's de facto secession from Serbia. The Kremlin's view that the EU was violating international law and Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo, and placing ethnic Serbian enclaves at risk of violence, consolidated the long-standing Russia-Serbia partnership. The 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea gave Serbia an opportunity to reward Russia for its resolute support for Belgrade's position on Kosovo. Initially, however, Serbia's position appeared unclear. Immediately after the annexation, Serbian Prime Minister Alexander Vucic emphasized his country's support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This solidarity built on the deep cultural, economic and humanitarian partnership between Serbia and Ukraine, that was highlighted by former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko's 2009 statement supporting Serbia's WTO membership aspirations. Vucic's statement matched Viktor Yanukovych's 2010 opposition to Kosovo's independence, to uphold international law and avoid an Abkhazia-style frozen conflict in the Balkans. Advertisement But Serbia's refusal to impose sanctions on Russia and right-wing political leaders' open support for Crimea's re-incorporation with Russia diluted the credibility of Vucic's commitment. Belgrade has provided informal military assistance to pro-Russian separatists in Donbas, with Serbian paramilitaries fighting openly in Donetsk. Many European policymakers believe that Serbia regards Crimea's union with Ukraine after 1991 to be an illegal action analogous to Kosovo's unilateral secession. As Russia is a vital international partner supporting Serbia's position on state sovereignty, Serbia pledged its unerring loyalty to Moscow to reaffirm its historic alliance, even though this pact could greatly complicate its EU accession. More recently, Serbia expressed rhetorical solidarity with Russia after Turkey's November 2015 shoot-down of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 plane that was allegedly flying over Turkish airspace. President Nikolic blamed the incident on Turkey, claiming that the Turkish military had frequently violated the airspace of Greece and Syria with impunity, and questioned the credibility of Turkey's commitment to counter-terrorism. Serbia subsequently sought to cool tensions with Turkey, by emphasizing the two countries' economic partnership and by offering mediation assistance in the Turkey-Russia dispute. But these diplomatic overtures obscure the shared suspicion of NATO military activities between Belgrade and Moscow, which revealed itself in Nikolic's condemnation of Turkish actions. The distrust engendered by NATO's bombing of Serbian territory during the 1999 Kosovo War partially explains Nikolic's unwillingness to accept NATO's argument that Turkey had a legitimate right to self-defense against Russia, and has caused Serbia to view Russia as a more trustworthy military partner. The Economic Foundations of Serbia's Partnership with Russia Since the imposition of Western sanctions against Russia in 2014, the Kremlin has tightened its economic linkages with Serbia. Serbia remains heavily dependent on Russian energy exports, as 80% of its gas imports come from Russia. Russia has exploited this dependency by charging Serbia $340 per thousand cubic meters of natural gas, a rate that is considerably higher than what Moscow charges Hungary and Ukraine. While Serbia has actively courted Western investment to improve its energy infrastructure, its lack of alternative short-term energy partners has forced it to accept Russia's pricier exports. To offset Serbian qualms over Russia's dominance of the Serbian gas market, Russia has invested considerably in Serbia's economic diversification and development. This assistance became particularly important after February 2012, when the IMF temporarily suspended its loan deals with Serbia as retaliation for Belgrade's refusal to comply with IMF targets. After Serbia's IMF dispute, Russia expanded investment in Serbia's infrastructure. Putin pledged the expansion of the South Stream pipeline in 2012 and offered to lend Serbia $800 million for a railway track between Belgrade and Pancevo. Advertisement Russia's provision of credit to Serbia during a period of tension with the Western economic establishment also extended to the heavy industry and defense sectors. Russia established a humanitarian center in Southern Serbia to facilitate Serbia's purchase of Russian military equipment. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) regarded these deals as steps towards making Serbia a Russian corner in Europe, akin to Cyprus. The Serbian state media's coverage of investment flows has also benefited Russia's image amongst the Serbian people. Substantially more attention given to Russian development aid relative to EU funds in the years after Slobodan Milosevic's demise in 2000, caused 47% of Serbians to regard Russia as its main economic backer compared to 28% for the EU in 2014. This statistic was misrepresentation of reality, as the EU provided substantially more economic assistance to Serbia than Russia after the devastating spring 2014 floods. The Serbian public's increased recognition of the value of the EU assistance over the course of 2015 could explain Russia's recent expansion of ties with Belgrade. As Moscow finds itself increasingly isolated internationally, Putin wants to entrench the idea of a Russia-Serbia special relationship at a time when an increasing proportion of Serbians believe that European integration is the ideal way forward for their country. Russia's strained relations with Turkey following the shoot-down crisis could also benefit the Serbian economy. The Russian state media fuelled speculation in January 2016 that Russian automobile exports to Turkey could be re-routed to Serbia. Russia could also expand trade with Serbia's agriculture market to gain access to produce that Turkey has been banned from selling to Russian markets. As Serbia's economy is still undergoing a recovery from a 2013-2015 recession that reduced its productivity by 10% , short-term Russian investment is very appealing for Serbian policymakers. The battle over filling Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court has already begun in earnest. President Barack Obama vowed to appoint a successor almost immediately upon learning of the conservative jurist's death. "I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time," the Democratic president said. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, countered moments later that "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president." The candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are united in their support of Senator McConnell's position. Unfortunately, the real fight over filling Justice Scalia's seat is about partisan politics: President Obama wishes to help cement his legacy by appointing a liberal to replace the conservative Scalia, whereas the Republican-controlled Senate and the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination want to wait until a new president takes office because they hope the next president will be a Republican. That is obvious to anybody who has paid even a minute's attention to the avalanche of commentary about replacing Justice Scalia. Advertisement But what is not so obvious in this day and age of "everything is political" is that both President Obama and his Republican critics are wrong to default to the cliched practice of partisan politics during this potentially transformative moment in the history of the Supreme Court. In honor of Justice Scalia, the nation's most celebrated proponent of the historical approach to constitutional interpretation known as "originalism," it is important to point out that partisan usage of the appointment process is not what the original understanding of the Constitution demands. Instead, the original understanding is for, to quote James Madison, "a bench happily filled" with the esteemed likes of "Wythe, Blair, and Pendleton": leading jurists of Madison's day. The debates during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were silent on the criteria for appointment precisely because the delegates assumed that the basis of selection would be merit. Even Alexander Hamilton, who saw a limited role for the Senate in the appointment process, believed that the Senate could -- and should -- reject a nominee who was lacking in objective merit. "Thus it could hardly happen," Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers, "that the majority of the Senate would feel any other complacency toward the object of an appointment than such as the appearance of merit might inspire and the proofs of the want of it destroy." Although the vast majority of political commentators appear to believe that, given the realities of constitutional politics, a merit-based appointment process is not realistic, I respectfully disagree. To borrow from Professor Henry J. Abraham, almost certainly the leading scholar of the appointment process who ever lived, "merit need not, indeed does not, 'lie in the eye of the beholder,' It is eminently identifiable and attainable." Advertisement And whatever one may have thought about Justice Scalia's conservative politics, it is difficult to deny that the president who nominated him to the Supreme Court, Ronald Reagan, and the Senate that unanimously confirmed him, "happily filled" the Court with a judge of unquestionable merit. Indeed, as rancourous as the political commentary has already been about filling Justice Scalia's seat, there has been virtual unanimity from both the Left and the Right that Justice Scalia was a brilliant jurist who not only wrote more beautifully than any justice since Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. but also transformed the very nature of constitutional interpretation itself. This is the stage of the Democratic primary where things get very testy and even nasty between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. I've begun to see more withering critiques and negative media about Hillary crop up in my Facebook feed as Bernie's supporters taste the possibility of victory after New Hampshire. What if more of us broke with political tradition and really embraced them both? What if we were willing to love and publicly appreciate what they both bring to the table without diminishing the other? Advertisement That isn't just a nice sentiment; it's actually the best strategy to ensure we DO see progressive change in the next administration. That's because on the Republican side, the fight is going to get increasingly nasty as the number of still-viable candidates leads to bitter infighting in South Carolina and beyond, something very much in evidence during Saturday's debate. Each will lose credibility and clout as they are further diminished by each other. It's already been an intense primary season for Republicans and the knife-fight only promises to get bloodier. Inevitably this will lead to a lot of supporters who feel bitter that their chosen candidate was so badly wounded by the others, making it harder to rally and unify around the eventual nominee. A protracted and ugly primary season will leave the Republicans more fragmented and less enthusiastic about their final choice, with less time to prepare for the general election. On the Democratic side of the aisle, perhaps our single most important strategy to elect either Hillary or Bernie is to not emulate what is underway on the Republican side. We need to fan the flames of the genuine enthusiasm, passion, and support that is building, regardless of the eventual nominee. Advertisement And that simply won't happen as effectively if the primary turns into a rancorous and bitter fight at the grassroots level. My personal opinion is that I am very grateful for Bernie's presence in the race. He's brought sterling integrity and bold truthtelling to areas that have needed to be addressed, include calling out the corruption of the political process and calling foul on Wall Street. He's also championed ideas on the big stage that were considered untenable, such as single-payer health care. Even if we're not ready for single-payer health care, I'm glad it's now part of our national conversation. As for Hillary, I am deeply grateful that we have a woman with the gravitas, intelligence, and experience who is truly ready to stand as the most powerful person in the world. She is steely enough to handle very tough actors on the global stage and tender enough to care for the downtrodden. She's a remarkable woman who was an exemplary Secretary of State and accomplished Senator. She would be more ready on Day One for what the job actually entails than perhaps any President in history. What a blessing for our country to have a woman so ready for that role! I see them both as truly admirable people who play important functions in our nation: the idealistic purist who calls us into a bolder vision and the practical dealmaker who knows how to pull the levels of power to create progress. Bernie speaks more naturally to where we need to go, Hillary more to how we can get there, step by tenacious step. We would be a lesser nation without both of them serving our collective evolution. The Democratic Party is blessed to have their visions and voices to play off each other in a largely complementary fashion this primary season. Watching a Democratic debate is a pleasure, largely punctuated by agreement: yes and yes and YES! Advertisement If Hillary indeed becomes the nominee, as still looks most likely, she can use some of Bernie's revolutionary fire and idealism to rally the grassroots support she will need to win in the general. Her more measured and thoughtful approach to creating change is less galvanizing, to be sure, but it is ultimately more realistic. If Bernie becomes the nominee, he'll need her sobriety and savvy to make the case for how his bold proclamations can get traction in reality. Each of us who vote in the Democratic primaries will, at the end of the day, have to make a binary choice with our actual vote but we don't have to do so with a polarized heart. If we can appreciate the real blessing of both of them and offer gratitude for their unique leadership gifts, we can allow a natural unfolding of the primaries in a way that doesn't leave unhealed scars, disillusioned youth, or cynical voters. We simply end up with a choice of one of these two brave leaders as our nominee. By not having a rancorous, negative primary season, we can ultimately present a more positive, hopeful vision for America that is both visionary and practical. We can speak to the hunger in the American electorate to have a politics that represents our better nature rather than our worst. Advertisement We can also more easily have them work together on making progress for our country, both in the election season and beyond (who knows, perhaps even on a single ticket?). Embracing both Hillary and Bernie is thus our most sensible pathway forward. Let us dare to let the excitement for each flourish without needing to attack or diminish the other. Let's celebrate our Bernie friends and our Hillary friends and recognize that each is offering part of the medicine our country truly needs. Let's offer a higher way. That is ultimately what America is hungry for: a politics that shines with more wisdom, care, and service to the whole. Today - when we think of video we think of television. And when we think of computers, we think of desktops, laptops, or maybe mobile devices. But there is coming a new technology that melds video and computing into a new kind of reality. Augmented, Virtual, and beyond. It's what comes After Television. Last year, Chris Milk gave a TED Talk about his journey into Virtual Reality and his dream to become Evil Knievel. His talk was captivating and for many in the room, the first time that the future of VR clicked. Now he's back - a year later - with a new TED talk. This is rare and exciting. TED's process of choosing speakers is rigorous, and second TED talks rare and just one year later almost unheard of. But the area that Milk is working in is red hot, and his company Vrse has been collaborating to bring VR projects to New York Times readers, along with a free edition of Google Cardboard. Milk stretches virtual reality into a new canvas for storytelling. So what did he share with the TED programmers that convinced them that he had really new things to share? We'll, that's going to be one of the great questions of TED2016, which takes place Feb. 15 to 19 in Vancouver,. Will VR be the big new thing? It very well may be. Advertisement I expect amazing things from Milk, but the buzz that's building for Meron Gribetz's talk is almost deafening. Meron Gribetz is the founder and CEO of Meta. Meta is the first company to produce and sell augmented reality (AR) glasses with natural gestural hand recognition. Last year, the AR firm Magic Leap was slated to give a TED talk and pulled out. That never happens, leading critics to wonder if it hit a snag. But now the buzz is back, as Magic Leap has just raised another $793.5 million dollars - bringing their funding to 1.39 billion dollars. But, back to Meta. Gribetz is leading an effort to produce and sell augmented reality (AR) glasses with natural gestural hand recognition. Gribetz' first encounter with AR was during his service in an elite technological unit of the Intelligence Corps within the Israeli IDF. One of the first to get to try on Meta, Tech explorer Robert Scoble explained that he's still under NDA until Meta premiers at TED. But that didn't stop him from in an emotional video that he thought Meta is the most important new product since the original Macintosh. Said Scoble: "the biggest product demonstration, demo -the most interesting that I've ever had in my life. The most important product since the Apple II" said Scoble. If Magic Leap is even second to what I saw today, it's so f*cking undervalued, compared to the 1.3 billion dollars in magic leap. I can't even explain how undervalued it is. In the next five years, we're going to be wearing glasses instead of using computer monitors. We're going to be wearing glasses instead using mobile phones. And this is in the next five years. It's coming. it's coming more quickly than I expected. But the markets that are going to come in the next five to six years are going to be absolutely stunning. We're talking about Augmented Reality Glasses, and I have just seen a ghost. The iPhone was an improvement over a product we had seen. This is a new product category. I'm emotional because I haven't seen a product like this since the MacIntosh. That's been 30 years. When you are in it and wear it, and walk around, and look at the world. Your head starts exploding. This changes computing fundamentally." So all eyes are on Meta and it's first public demonstration of Augmented Reality. Solar panels used to generate power outside an office building in Los Angeles, California on August 4, 2015. President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan to slash electricity-generated CO2 emissions was welcomed as a courageous step towards a lower-carbon future, but not yet enough to brake dangerous planet warming. Obama announced August 3 that power plant owners must cut carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. AFP PHOTO / MARK RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images) One of the very few efforts to update federal environmental policy is the Clean Power Plan rule that is designed to reduce America's carbon footprint. Rather than embracing this belated response to their own decision requiring such a rule, the Supreme Court recently signaled reservations about the Environmental Protection Agency's approach to climate policy. The Court's decision halting the implementation of EPA's Clean Power Plan was unprecedented because it took place before a federal appeals court had reviewed the substance of the rule. It delays the implementation of federal greenhouse gas policy--a policy that the Supreme Court told EPA was required under the Clean Air Act. The Court seems to have questions about EPA's approach to regulation, but as Coral Davenport and Karen Yourish observed in the New York Times recently: Advertisement If the rule is eventually overturned, it's not the end of the road for a climate change regulation. The E.P.A. is still required by law to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. So the agency will have to go back to the drawing board to write a new climate change rule. What that rule will look like, and how strong it will be, will depend on the priorities of the next president. The Court's decision delays U.S. climate policy, despite the urgency of the need to move decisively. It creates uncertainty about the eventual shape of the policy and is a step backward in the global effort to mitigate climate change. The death of conservative Justice Scalia adds further uncertainty, with the prospect of a Supreme Court deadlocked with 4-4 votes on key decisions. While a tie at the highest judicial level leaves lower-level decisions in place, the Court has reinforced climate change policy as ideologically driven. In this decision, conservative justices voted to halt implementation; liberal justices voted against delay. Once again, we see further evidence of dysfunction in Washington. America once led the world in developing and implementing environmental policy, and our air, water and land are far cleaner than the environmental resources in many parts of the world. But this awful Supreme Court decision, coupled with the human-made water disaster in Flint, Michigan, should be seen as warning signs that America's leadership in environmental policy is under attack. Over the past quarter century, technologies have changed, population has grown and the global economy has become a fact of life, but U.S. national environmental law has not been modified to reflect this new world. There have been no major revisions to American environmental law in over a quarter-century. Instead, it has fallen to states and cities to protect the public, and while many have stepped up and acted, others have not. The cities that implement sustainability plans and the states that enforce environmental rules have cleaner air, better parks, and higher quality of life. In the long run, these assets will attract people and business in the giant casino we call the global economy. But a large part of the country clings to the fossil fuel-based economy. They treasure their SUVs and express a fervent desire to turn the clock back to an America that was simpler, more ordered and somehow bound for glory. I'm not sure that world ever existed, but nostalgia is a powerful political force. Still, even conservatives like to breathe fresh air and drink clean water. They may never believe the science of climate change, but they know orange water when they see it and they know it's government's job to keep the drinking water clean and safe. Advertisement For government to do that job, we need updated environmental laws, and sufficient resources to enforce them. In 1972, we decided we needed national water quality standards, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act was passed over President Nixon's veto to ensure clean water. Subsequent national law focused on safe drinking water. If states and cities try to evade their responsibilities to implement water quality rules, the federal government is required to step in and protect the public. The structure of law and responsibility is clear and has been in place for over four decades. In Flint we saw the implementation chain was only as strong as its weakest link, and the system needs reform and update. In the case of climate change, the problem is global and far more complicated than the environmental issues we addressed in the 1970s and 1980s. We need action by every level of government and by national governments all over the world. The Supreme Court knows that greenhouse gases must be regulated--they just don't seem to like the way EPA decided to regulate them. Looking closely at the Clean Power Plan rule, EPA provided states with plenty of time and lots of flexibility in deciding how to meet statewide greenhouse gas reduction targets. If that's an abuse of executive power, it's hard to figure out what conservative justices would buy into. The Court's action on the Clean Power Plan rule and the lack of federal oversight of Flint's water are indicators that the ideological assault on national environmental policy and management is taking a toll. Instead of modernizing these rules to deal with new technological and economic realities, we are allowing the old system to wither away. The new, emerging state-based system will be a tale of two countries. One set of states will regulate pollution, promote renewable and efficient energy systems and build resilient 21st-century infrastructure. The other group of states will do few of those things. One will attract businesses and people from the global brain-based economy; the other will suffer the boom and bust cycle common to places that rely on resource extraction for wealth. People in the coal states may well come to wish that they had lost the "war on coal" and were forced to modernize their economy. America's lost leadership on environment is not only a function of inadequate and outdated laws, but insufficient resources. While additional resources are needed for inspection and enforcement, the big dollars needed are for replacing outmoded infrastructure. Our energy system is old and low-tech; our water infrastructure is worse. These systems are inefficient and, in some cases, dangerous. We lose enormous amounts of energy when we transmit electricity over outmoded power lines. We lose vast quantities of water from leaking pipes. The issue comes down to willingness to pay upfront for improved systems, rather than pay to address environmental emergencies later on, when pieces of the system fall apart. Both water and energy systems carry user charges, but weak, ideologically-bound politicians refuse to allow these fees to grow to pay the capital cost of modern infrastructure. We even see this in our highway system, where the gasoline tax has not been allowed to grow enough to fund repairs of highways and bridges. "Only in painting have I found happiness," Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun confided at the end of her long, prolific career. Though Vigee Le Brun's high society portraits earned her great fame during her lifetime, her sentimental style fell out of fashion and she largely dropped off the radar. Her long overdue retrospective, "Vigee Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France" opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (February 15 to May 15, 2016). Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun, Self-Portrait with Cerise Ribbons, ca. 1782. Oil on canvas, 25 x 21 in. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas Organized at the Met by Katharine Baetjer, curator in the department of European paintings, the exhibition follows Vigee Le Brun's career chronologically -- from Paris to her peripatetic years as an emigre artist and return to France. According to Baetjer, preparation for the exhibition confirmed Vigee Le Brun's technical skills. "Her works on both canvas and panel are exceptionally well preserved and, as far as one can know, seem to look much as they did when they were painted." Advertisement The show opens with Augustin Pajou's terracotta portrait bust of the young artist. Born in Paris in 1755, Vigee Le Brun learned to paint from her father, a professional pastel portraitist. After his death, the precocious teenage talent went to work to support her family. At 21, she raised eyebrows by marrying a man twice her age, Parisian art dealer Jean Baptiste Pierre Le Brun. Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun, Marie Antoinette with a Rose, 1783. Oil on canvas. 116.8 x 88.9 cm. Lynda and Stuart Resnick The marriage was short lived, but Vigee Le Brun's well-connected husband helped her attract the notice of Marie Antoinette. She won over the young queen with her elegant brushwork and talent for painting luxe fabrics.Three full-length portraits are on view in the U.S. for the first time, starting with Marie Antoinette in Court Dress, a gift for her mother, Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. It took an edict from Louis XVI for the 28-year-old artist to gain admission to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture -- one of just four women members. Because women were barred from practicing history painting, Vigee Le Brun focused on portraiture, developing a unique style. She portrayed many of her female subjects informally, wearing chiffon dresses and loose, unpowdered curls. Advertisement Meanwhile, Vigee Le Brun's royal patrons were growing increasingly unpopular. In 1787, in an effort to polish the queen's badly tarnished image, Vigee Le Brun painted Marie Antoinette and Her Children, an ambitious propaganda piece depicting the queen as a devoted mother. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were soon arrested, tried, and beheaded. Because of her ties to the queen, the artist and her nine-year-old daughter fled Paris in disguise in 1789. A savvy businesswoman, Vigee Le Brun turned misfortune into a lucrative career, producing flattering portraits of royals and courtiers across Europe. After an initial stay in Italy, Vigee Le Brun spent three successful years in Austria, followed by six years in Russia, periods well represented in the show. Interspersed throughout the eighty plus works here are four self-portraits, which Vigee Le Brun used to advertise her talent. These include a recently discovered drawing from her twenties, along with a newly cleaned picture from Florence's Vasari Corridor. Wearing a black dress trimmed in white lace and a red sash, holding palette and brush, Vigee Le Brun stops painting for a moment to look engagingly at her viewers. Three portraits of the artist's daughter are also on view. Despite her celebrity, Vigee Le Brun got off to a shaky start with Russia's Catherine the Great, who despised a sentimental double portrait of her young granddaughters. She had greater success with a more formal portrait of Catherine's beautiful daughter-in-law, wisely adding a portrait bust of the empress to the background. A year after Catherine the Great's death, Vigee Le Brun painted one of the empress's early lovers, the deposed king of Poland, Stanislaw August Poniatowski. Vigee Le Brun would call Russia her second homeland. Stanislaw August Poniatowski, formerly King of Poland, 1797 Oil on canvas, oval, 38 7/8 x 30 in. Musee National des Chateaux de Versailles et de Trianon, on deposit from the Musee du Louvre Advertisement Vigee Le Brun returned to France in 1805, where her new clients included Napoleon's sister, Caroline Murat, the future Queen of Naples, and Her Daughter. The exhibition closes with four later French period pictures from private collections. In another masterstroke of marketing, the septuagenarian dictated her memoirs, equally colorful portrayals of the personalities she'd painted. After its run in New York, the show travels to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa (June 10 to Sept. 12). For more information, visit http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/vigee-le-brun Before they went mainstream, personals were a way for same-sex couples to discreetly connect. Has the Internet really revolutionized dating? Or is hijacking tech for love and sex just what humans do? * * * * * Hardly a week goes by without another new think piece about online dating either revolutionizing society or completely ruining our ability to have real relationships. But these hyperbolic pronouncements miss a deeper fact: At its core, "online dating" isn't something we just started doing 5, 10 or even 20 years ago. Before the Internet, there were personal ads, and before that, lonely shepherds carved detailed works of art into tree bark to communicate their longing for human contact. Advertisement Since the earliest days of mass media and technology, people have been finding ways to broadcast their desires and find connections that might have otherwise eluded them. I mean, one could argue that even Voyager 1's Golden Record is kind of a massive, interstellar personal ad (complete with the recorded sound of a kiss!) out to the universe. It's as if humanity decided to document all our best features and send them into space with this message: Lonely humans seek extraterrestrial lifeforms in Milky Way or nearby. Open to all body types. * * * * * The modern newspaper was invented in 1690, and the first personals followed soon after. So dating apps are really the latest manifestation of human beings doing what we've always done -- create new tools to communicate and then turn around and use those tools to find love, sex and companionship. 1695: The First Personal Ads According to history professor H.G. Cocks (seriously --The Best Name Ever for an academic) personal ads began as a way to help British bachelors find eligible wives. One of the earliest personals ever placed was by a 30-year-old man, with "a very good estate', announcing he was in search of 'some good young gentlewoman that has a fortune of 3,000 or thereabouts." (3,000 is equivalent to roughly 300,000 today. #ShamelesslySeekingSugarMomma...) 1700s: Personal Ads for Homosexual Safety Personal ads were one of the only ways for the gay and lesbian communities to meet discreetly and safely at this time. Less-Than-Fun fact: homosexuality was outlawed and punishable by death in the UK by wife-murderer Henry VIII and continued to be illegal until 1967. During this time, gathering sites for gay men known as Molly Houses were subject to regular raids by law enforcement. (Meanwhile in the future U.S.A., anyone accused of being a "sodomite" doing "buggery" was also legally sentenced to death as of 1776.) Coded words, female names and other signals in personals were channels to privately expressing vulnerability and find companionship that society forbade. Advertisement 1727: Women Get Smacked Down for Expressing Personal Desire In 1727, Englishwoman Helen Morrison became the first woman to place an ad in a Lonely Hearts column. She convinced the editor of the Manchester Weekly Journal to place a small ad stating she was "seeking someone nice to spend her life with." (It's radical, I know.....) A man responded to Helen, but it was not the man she was hoping for. It was the mayor, who had her committed to an insane asylum for four weeks. Women asking for what they want -- clearly delusional to 18th century dudes. 1800s: Aristocrats Catch On Always on the lookout for ways to exploit media for their own ends, aristocrats in the 1800s used personal ads to broadcast their interest in romantic engagements that seem scandalous by today's standards. An 1841 ad in the Journal of Munich tells of a 70-year-old Baron seeking a woman "between 16 and 20 having good teeth and little feet." (Well... maybe not that much has changed for the one percent? ) Mid 1800s: The General Public Follows In the mid-19th century, the need to advertise for a husband or wife was still considered a "failure" and associated with deviant behavior for many judgmental straight, white, middle-to-upper class people. But as magazines and periodicals such as The Wedding Bell in the US and The Correspondent, Matrimonial Herald and Marriage Gazette in the UK hit the newsstands with immense popularity, matchmaking and personals took off as well, creating the first wave of true mainstream normalization for the personal ad. Late 1800s: The Scam Emerges You know, someone's always got to ruin the party. The popularity of personals paved the way for grifters who soon realized that they could prey on the vulnerability of people seeking love. Scam artists caused a scandal that many newspapers ran with, and personals disappeared practically overnight as public attitudes became more cautious. Phishing, fake profiles, and ads for escorts continue this tradition today. Advertisement Early 1900s: The Lonely Rural Farmers, Ranchers and Shepherds Around the turn of the last century, personal ads enjoyed a renaissance of popularity, especially in the Western US with low populations and the harsh realities of rural life without a partner. (Farmers Only continues the legacy to find "where all the country girls are" today.) Some very pragmatic examples of early 20th century personals: HOUSEKEEPER: 18 to 30 years of age, wanted by widower, 40. Have prominent position with the rail company, have 75-acre ranch also house in town; object matrimony if suited; have boy 13 years old, would not object to housekeeper having child. Can give best references. Young woman, reared in luxury, having lost everything and earned her living for the past eight years, is tired of teaching and wishes a home: would like to meet a well-to-do businessman who would appreciate refinement and affection in a wife. Object: matrimony. If only these two had found each other's personals then..... 1920s: Lonely WWI Soldiers Seek Pen Pals Personal ads went mainstream again in the early 20th century, when social pressures to get married by 21 (and thus, expectations for relationships) were much lower, thankfully than their earlier incarnations. Many of the postings were simply calls for friends or pen pals. These kinds of ads were especially fashionable among lonely soldiers during World War I. 1960s: Counterculture and Computer Love Removed from the context of wartime, old stigmas crept back in. Like the Internet today, lonely hearts ads were suspected of harboring all sort of scams and perversities. Because they were often used by homosexuals and sex workers, British police continued to prosecute those who placed personals until the late 1960s, when ads became part of the burgeoning youth counterculture. Advertisement Meanwhile, a new technology was emerging. In 1965, a team of Harvard undergrads created Operation Match, the world's first computer dating service. For $3, users could answer questionnaires and receive a list of potential matches, a process that is still used by many dating sites. 1990s-2000s: Second Wave of Mainstream The explosion of the Internet in the mid-to-late 1990s created a new context for personals, and by the end of the decade, they had become relatively acceptable. Even before the Web itself, bulletin boards and newsgroups hosted a variety of ways people could use technology to meet others with similar interests, including dating. Services such as America Online, Prodigy and eventually Craigslist offered chat rooms, forums and online classifieds of use to singles. By the time Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan AOL'd each other in You've Got Mail, it had become clear that the Internet was going to change every aspect of our lives forever -- including love and romance. Match.com was founded in 1995, and by 2007, online dating had become the second highest online industry for paid content. (....Can you guess what's #1?) 2010 - Today By 2010, different dating sites existed for virtually every city, sexual orientation, religion, race and almost every hobby, making it easier to find exactly what we're looking for and harder to stumble on someone who exists outside our pre-defined bubbles of identity. In 2002, Wired Magazine predicted, "Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love won't look for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because 'the right books are found only by accident.'" Advertisement Online dating is the new norm for introductions, replacing the role of traditional personals and in many cases, merging with the functions of social media. If we are going to improve the way people meet one another, we're going to have to do so by questioning the existing paradigms of online dating and figuring out how to do it better. The humble fruit fly is being put to an unusual use in sub-Saharan Africa: it's being used as bait. Its intended lure? It's hoped that the tiny creature, whose scientific name is Drosophila melanogaster, can stop the exodus of researchers from Africa. At the moment most of the biomedical research being done in African laboratories is performed using rats. Now a project called DrosAfrica is underway to promote the use of the fruit fly as a model organism for research into human diseases. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, rats are far more expensive to keep than fruit flies. As an affordable alternative, the fruit fly requires fewer resources to maintain and not as much expensive preparation for experiments. Advertisement Also, as a model system, Drosophila enables researchers to perform sophisticated genetics, live imaging, genome-wide analysis and other state-of-the-art approaches. Drosophila research has identified thousands of genes with human equivalents. This has provided key insights into cancer biology, pathology, neurobiology and immunology. Drosophila is a prime model organism with tens of thousands of researchers working on every aspect of their biology. This work is aided by electronic open resources such as Flybase and stock centres like the one in Bloomington, Indiana in the US. The centre will send Drosophila to any lab in the world for the cost of shipping. These stock centres are funded by governmental grants enabling 100 000s flies to be kept alive in warehouses. And entire research unit has been built with a focus on understanding a specific aspect of the fly. The most famous is called Janelia Farm, founded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US. A bigger agenda The project that's using fruit flies as bait for scientists is known as DrosAfrica. It wants to drive the paradigm shift from rats to flies as experimental organisms. To do this, project leaders have organised workshops to share fruit fly techniques with universities and research institutes across sub Saharan Africa. Advertisement But there's more to the work than merely extolling the virtues of fruit flies. We also try to provide basic equipment such as dissecting microscopes, buffers, slides and antibodies for labelling proteins to facilitate the creation of local research communities. Such strong communities will ultimately be able to provide PhD programmes and research opportunities for African researchers. This will mean students don't automatically feel they have to emigrate when seeking research opportunities. Powerful local research programmes will also help to place the continent in the spotlight of international research. This could ultimately lead to a return of expatriates with a strong scientific background. Activities organised by DrosAfrica: Past and Future During the last three years, DrosAfrica has organised three workshops at the Institute of Biomedical Research Kampala International University-Western Campus, Uganda. Two focused exclusively on the use of Drosophila for biomedical research. The other concentrated on image and data analysis techniques. The workshops' participants came from sub-Saharan Africa and included Nigerians, Kenyans, Ugandans and a delegate from South Sudan. They were able to work on several common projects and then networked after the workshops using information and resources on a dedicated website. These interactions planted the seed for developing an African Drosophila research community. At this institute, we've been lucky to build on the work that the non-profit organisation Trend has already done. Their team of volunteer scientists equipped the institute's lab and introduced insect research models to the local scientists. Advertisement In 2016 the project plans to deliver workshops at Kenya's International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology. The team is also visiting Nigeria during the second half of February to pave the way for future research collaborations. The work done over the past few years has already paid dividends. Alumni from the workshops have presented their work at international scientific conferences and supervised undergraduate, Masters and PhD projects. PhD candidates have graduated on the basis of their research done on flies. One student has submitted an abstract to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. DrosAfrica vision The DrosAfrica project is taking important steps to increase the African contribution to scientific advancement. In the coming years we hope to further boost local research opportunities to promote genuine African research led by African researchers, all of them investigating matters of interest to Africans. And to think: it all started with a tiny little fruit fly. *DrosAfrica would like to acknowledge the generosity of Faculty members and sponsors, without whom the workshops described above wouldn't have been possible. They are: Advertisement Obama has some difficult steps to climb to appoint a justice to replace Antonin Scalia. REUTERS/Carlos Barria With the unexpected death of United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia this weekend, the political battle lines have been drawn. President Obama has made clear that he plans to nominate a successor. His opposition is equally adamant that he should not do so, but allow the choice to be made by the next president. Many Republicans, including presidential hopefuls and current Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, have already announced their intentions not to act on any nominee the president sends them. Advertisement "The president can nominate whoever he wants," Rubio told Fox News. "We're not moving forward on it, period." The Supreme Court was to rule on many controversial issues this year, including abortion, immigration, affirmative action and voting rights. And because many of the court's decisions have been decided by a 5-4 vote, typically with the four liberal justices on one side and the five conservative justices on the other, both parties are well aware that replacing Justice Scalia with a more liberal justice will change the balance of power on the court. Leaving Justice Scalia's seat empty until there is a new president would mean that difficult cases this term could come down to a tie, evenly split along ideological lines. In those cases, the lower courts' decisions would stand, as if the Supreme Court had never considered them. This would definitely impair the court's responsibility to "say what the law is." So what will it take to get a new justice named? Step 1: The presidential pick The first thing to know is that the Constitution of the United States gives the power of nomination to the president. Advertisement Article II, section 2 provides that the president "shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ... judges of the Supreme Court." By law, President Obama can nominate whomever he wants to replace Justice Scalia. Appointment is really a three-step process: nomination (by the president), confirmation (by the Senate), and appointment (by the president again). It's somewhere between nomination and confirmation that the going gets tricky. Step 2: The Senate Judiciary Committee REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) heads the Judiciary Committee. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein Once the president has made a choice, the nomination is referred to the United States Senate. Since the early 19th century, this has meant that the nomination will first be considered by a smaller group within the Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee currently has 20 members - 11 Republicans and 9 Democrats - and has a three-step process of its own. First, it conducts a prehearing investigation into the nominee's background. Second, it holds a public hearing, in which the nominee is questioned and may give testimony about everything from her judicial philosophy to her stand on abortion. Advertisement Finally, the committee will "report" its recommendation to the full Senate. The committee can report the nomination with a favorable recommendation, a negative recommendation or no recommendation. If a majority of the committee opposes confirmation of the nominee, it can technically refuse to report the nomination, therefore preventing the full Senate from considering the nominee at all. This hasn't happened since 1881, and would deviate from the committee's "traditional practice." But that does not mean it is out of the question. The chairman of the committee, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, has already said that, in his view, the Senate should not act on a Supreme Court nomination before the presidential election in November. Step 3: The full Senate Let's assume that the committee does report the nomination to the full Senate. There are 100 senators in the United States Senate - two for each state. Currently, the Senate is majority Republican, with 54 senators to the Democrats' 44, with two independents for added flavor. This is where it gets interesting, because the Senate follows rules so arcane and incomprehensible that otherwise reasonable writers freely refer to them as "insane." Advertisement In order to consider the nomination, the Senate has to enter a special "executive session." This is typically achieved by having the Senate majority leader ask for unanimous consent to have the Senate consider the nomination. REUTERS/Gary Cameron Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to delay any vote on an Obama nominee. REUTERS/Gary Cameron Unfortunately for the president, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the current majority leader, has issued a statement saying that Justice Scalia's vacancy should not be filled until after the November election. So McConnell appears unlikely to ask for unanimous consent to consider an Obama nominee. If unanimous consent cannot be obtained (if it even is sought), the nomination can be considered if someone makes a motion that the Senate do so. Advertisement If the motion that the nomination be considered is made during a special "executive" session of the Senate, then the motion itself is debatable and can be blocked by filibuster - that movie-ready delay tactic in which which a senator recites Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss or recipes for fried oysters until everyone gives up and goes home. Closing debate on the motion so that the Senate could move on to a vote would require a supermajority of 60 votes - again, unlikely given the current polarization of the Senate. If the motion is made while the Senate is in its regular "legislative" session, then the nomination will be considered by the full Senate. But because of aforementioned arcane Senate rules, the vote on the nomination could also be blocked by filibuster. Step 4: The vote But let's assume that the nomination does emerge from the Judiciary Committee, makes it to an "up or down" vote and weathers any filibuster attempts. A vote to confirm then requires a simple majority of the senators present and voting. If all goes well, the secretary of the Senate will transmit the confirmation vote to the president. Advertisement The president then can breathe a sigh of relief and sign a commission appointing the person to the Supreme Court. But I wouldn't count on it. The loophole If the traditional 4-step process fails, there is one additional possibility open to the president. Article II of the Constitution also says that the president "shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate" and that the appointment can last until the end of the Senate's next session - in this case, until late 2017. A recess appointment would mean that the president could simply fill Justice Scalia's seat temporarily without any input from the Senate. As it happens, the Senate is currently in recess until February 22. What happens next is anyone's guess. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Panama is, indeed, the Hub of the Americas, and, living in Panama City, you'd think that traveling around Latin America would be easy and cheap. Easy, yes... cheap, not so much. Copa flies to most major cities in Central and South America and continues to expand its destinations in the United States, the Caribbean, and Canada. So you've got many and increasing options for where and when you can fly; however, prices aren't low, thanks to limited competition. Earlier last year, two airlines--one in Colombia and one in Panama--began flying between Panama City and Medellin, Colombia. That forced Copa to lower its prices on that route, a move much appreciated by many, including me. Before the fare cut, a Panama City-to-Medellin flight on Copa was US$600 to US$700 round trip. Now you can make the round-trip flight for US$250... less if you book early enough. Copa's prices still aren't as low as those of VivaColombia or Air Panama, but Copa offers more and better flight options. Advertisement Traveling in Europe these past couple of months, taking lots of around-Europe flights, I've been reminded that so-called low-cost airlines aren't always cheaper. Checking in online recently for a flight from Paris to Ireland, the Aer Lingus website prompted me to select my seats. To do so, however, I discovered, I would be charged a fee! You've got to pay for the privilege of choosing a seat online, in advance of a flight. Otherwise you're allocated a seat on the day, when you check in at the airport. Likewise, if you want to bring luggage beyond the allowed carry-on, you've got to pay a fee. Worse, this fee is contingent on the weight of the bag you want to check, meaning you've got to know how much your bag is going to weigh before you get to the airport. You're prompted to select from among a variety of weights, then you're charged a fee accordingly. If you show up at the airport with a bag to check that weighs more than you indicated (and paid for) online, you're charged an additional fee at the counter. This I-underestimated-the-weight-of-my-bag fee is such that you can pay more for a few extra kilograms than you did to check the bag in the first place. Taking into account all the add-on fees from the airline (seat selection, boarding order, luggage, etc.) and taxes, the total cost of a "low-cost" ticket can be as much or more than the cost of flying a full-service carrier. Advertisement In addition, many of Europe's low-cost carriers fly to obscure and remote airports (RyanAir flies to Paris, for example, but not to Charles de Gaulle or Orly but to Beauvais). This means extra travel time and expense to get from the arrival point to the center of the city, where you're probably headed. The airlines who fly these non-traditional routes sometimes provide buses from the airport to town... for, yes, another fee. I'd say that the only reason to deal with the so-called low-cost airlines and the hassles of navigating their reservation and check in labyrinths is if they offer point-to-point service from and to your actual departure point and destination. Flying from Faro in the Algarve region of Portugal to Paris last year on a direct EasyJet flight made sense because it meant no connection. The time saved more than offset the pain of the booking and boarding processes. Low-cost airlines have been a boon for the working-class vacation traveler, opening up their holiday destination options dramatically. This is good, in turn, for the economies of the locations nearby the tertiary airports these airlines typically fly into... but not necessarily good for other travelers. The good news in Europe is that the traveler has other options. Trains in Europe are fast and efficient and take you from city center to city center, eliminating the trip from the airport to town upon arrival at your destination. I took the train from Paris to Frankfurt for a business meeting a few months ago, and the time/cost benefit was off the charts. The first-class round-trip train ticket was about the same cost as a round-trip plane ticket would have been, but I saved money on taxis on both ends. More important, I saved hours of time, as you can (and I did) hop on a train two or three minutes before it departs. No check in, no security, no waiting in a gate lounge, no waiting after boarding, etc. Give me a train over a plane every time. Alas, you can't take a train across the Atlantic. A friend who visited me in Paris last year, though, told me about a new trans-Atlantic carrier called La Compagnie that is offering low-cost business-only travel between New York and London and between New York and Paris. Prices are more expensive than economy seats on other airlines serving those routes but a fraction the cost of a business-class seat on full-service carriers. I look forward to trying it out my next trip to this side of the Pond. Advertisement by Joel L. Swerdlow A fleshy-faced man stands in front of an enlarged image of his own face, spreads his arms, smiles at the adoring crowd, and proclaims, "Every straw vote, every independent poll shows that I will be elected. I know, it does seem too good to be true." Earlier, he had explained, "It is my duty to see to it that decent, hard-working people of this community aren't robbed blind by a pack of money-mad pirates. I'm the man to do it. I have money and property. If I don't look after the interests of the underprivileged, maybe somebody else will, maybe somebody without any money or property and that would be too bad." Donald Trump? No, Charles Foster Kane, fictional protagonist of the 1941 classic Citizen Kane. Such Trump-like statements fill the film, consistently voted the number one movie of all time and celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Advertisement Both Donald Trump and Charles Foster Kane are brilliant, aggressive salesmen, willing to say whatever they believe no matter who feels offendedand don't ever expect either to apologize. The trademarks for each are certainty, disdain for nuance, and a disregard for complexity, facts, and even truth. Both are creations of the media and masters of it; larger than life and armed with a boldness untempered by conventional political caution, enabling them to say those things many may feel but few can publicly admit. Both are former liberals turned self-proclaimed conservatives, offering broad populist promises but few specific policy positions. Kane and Trump: brash, lacking shame, and eager to break accepted rules--outsiders eager to attack party leaders: ... politicians are all talk, no action. Nothing's gonna get done. They will not bring us to the promised land. They will not.... I watch the speeches of these people, and they say the sun will rise, the moon will set, all sorts of wonderful things will happen. And people are saying, "I just want a job. Just get me a job. I don't need the rhetoric. I want a job."... I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. Donald Trump declaring his presidential candidacy in June 2015 That Charles Foster Kane exists today in the guise of Donald Trump is something I would love to discuss with my friend Frank Mankiewicz, who served as a confidant to top Democratic leaders including Robert F. Kennedy. Frank was also the son of Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. Frank spoke with his "Pop" after Herman finished the first draft of Kane, attended the movie's premiere with his parents, and listened with them to the radio broadcast of the 1941 Academy Award where Herman was awarded the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Frank's parents danced around the living room). Eventually, Frank came to realize that underneath his father's blusterhe was most famous for drinking and taunting studio executivesHerman, at times, took movies seriously. Famously, Mankeiwicz modeled the character of Kane on newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, well-known for his extreme political conservatism, but it is no coincidence that Mankiewicz created Charles Foster Kane in 1940, a year in which German "exceptionalism" threatened to overwhelm Europe and Wendell Wilkie, a business executive with no prior electoral experience, had defied the political machine and seized the Republican presidential nomination on a wave of passionate public support. Advertisement In the process of writing his memoirs, Frank and I discovered that in 1933, the same year Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany, Herman Mankiewicz wrote and began fundraising for a satirical film entitled The Mad Dog of Europe. Further evidence of Herman's belief that movies could change mind, Mad Dog featured an absurd fictional leader in a fictional European country clearly meant to invoke Hitler and Germany. In Mad Dog, Herman hoped to achieve what Citizen Kane has become for us today: a "fictional" story that provided insight and commentary on current events. With pure Mankiewicz humor, the screenplay for Mad Dog began with a message in capital letters: "THE INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS IN THIS PICTURE ARE OF COURSE FICTITIOUS. IT IS OBVIOUSLY ABSURD TO ASK ANYONE TO BELIEVE THEY COULD HAPPEN IN THIS ENLIGHTENED DAY AND AGE." That movie was never made. (Hollywood did not produce its first anti-Hitler movie until long after World War II began.) Citizen Kane features no such disclaimer, but it is clear that satirizing the emotional, mindless appeal of fascism had remained on Herman Mankiewicz's mind. Written after World War II had begun in Europe, the film includes a fake newsreel of Kane standing alongside Hitler and Gestapo-founder Hermann Goering. Advertisement So how does such an "absurd character" as Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump come to exist in what should be an even more "enlightened day and age" than Hermann's? Far beyond the circumstances of 1940 or the present moment, men like Kane and Trump are very much part of the American way. At play hereas Frank and I often discussedis the way that media has tangled the American people tighter and tighter into new versions of "reality." Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln worried about the slant newspapers put on their politics (Jefferson once declared that "the man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers"). Franklin Roosevelt, worried about his portrayal on the radio, actively co-opted this form of media with his fireside chats. John F. Kennedy showed us how television could be used both to win elections and to govern. Ronald Reagan taught us that the line between real life and the movies was thin indeed. Seen from this perspective, the reality show that is the Trump campaign has arrived right on schedule. In an age where television news networks actively embrace ideological slants and rancorous debate between pundits is not only expected but courted, we have grown accustomed to the idea that "facts" are not necessarily true and the power of persuasion is achieved not through objective rationality but by making the most noise. Seen this way, the most important truth about Trump will not be his eventual electoral fate, but what he represents about our citizenry and our political process. And, while today's candidates may be louder and more absurd than ever, these are not new revelations. As Citizen Kane shows, any nostalgia we may feel for a golden age of unbiased and fact-based political coverage is a fallacy. In Citizen Kane, Hermann Mankiewicz never pulled back the camera to reveal this bigger picture, instead leaving it to viewers to draw their own conclusions about the dangers posed by putting a media man on the campaign trail. But his use of the authoritative newsreel voice throughout the filmin many ways a precursor to the seductive certainty of people like Trumpalong with the fact that Kane's campaign was eventually derailed by a sex scandal, shows us that Hermann clearly knew where the relationship between politics and the media was headed. In the film's most famous scene, as the larger-than-life Kane diesalone and discreditedhe murmurs the now-iconic word "Rosebud," which has since acquired a life of its own. These days, to find a Rosebud means to discover some hitherto unknown or ignored fact that, once exposed, unlocks a great mystery about a person. Advertisement Hollywood lore is filled with stories as to why Herman Mankiewicz chose "Rosebud" to fill that role, but Frank told me that the source of the famous utterance was well-known within the family: his father was among the first in Hollywood to be psychoanalyzed and, during his sessions, he found himself focusing on a bicycle he had received as a gift when he was ten years old. On the very first day young Herman rode it, the bike was stolen from in front of the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania public library and, to teach him responsibility, his parents decided not to get him another one. Rosebud was the brand of the bike. "Donald Trump has become America's Rosebud," I want to tell Frank. "He and his campaign have shown us what we must understand in order to understand ourselves. His 'Make America Great Again' slogan touches something deep within the American people, and until we address it, this Trump will only be followed by a bigger, louder Trump." But I can't say this to Frank, who died last year, just before his 90th birthday. Speaking from within me, Frank says in response, "It was just a movie," and then reluctantly agrees that Kane foreshadowed Trump, and that Kane-Trump does indeed force us to think about the larger, technology-driven changes in our society that have given rise to a slew of ever more confident, combative, and downright noisy media-men while also allowing them to invade our homes, our minds, and the political arena. Frank would then go through the same stages as many of us when it comes to Donald Trump. First denial, then amusement, followed by fear and resignation, and, finally, the difficult realization that Trump, like Kane, is far more than an aberration. Frank Mankiewicz (1924-2014) was a public relations consultant, lawyer, writer and journalist. He is best known as Robert F. Kennedy's press secretary but also as the president of NPR, regional director of the Peace Corps, and George McGovern's campaign director. Dr. Joel L. Swerdlow is an author, editor, journalist, researcher, and educator. A senior writer and editor at National Geographic for 10 years, his published works include To Heal a Nation: The Story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. CO-AUTHORED BY REBECCA COHEN Dear Governor Cuomo: Like you, we are the parents of three daughters. Walking the streets of New York, they tell us they are catcalled, leered at and objectified. Last year, one of them was groped by a stranger on the street. In high school and college, they are highly likely to experience unwanted sexual advances. The last place we imagined our daughters would be objectified would be while riding the New York City subway to school. There are three ads currently on display from Doctor's Plastic Surgery -- one more offensive than the other. In one of these ads a young woman making a sad face holds two oranges in front of her breasts. Next to her stands the same woman, but this time she is beaming ear to ear. Why? She is now holding two grapefruits in front of her breasts; she is the happy recipient of breast augmentation surgery by the crass medical group that paid for this public ad seen by millions of subway riders. Advertisement Would you and the MTA allow an ad with a young man making a sad face while holding a cucumber in front of his penis next to the same man making a happy face while holding a large banana in front of his penis? We think not. I doubt we are the only parents in New York whose blood boils every time we're standing in a cramped subway car in front of sexist "breast augmentation" ads? Most men in New York either have daughters or nieces or sisters or wives or girlfriends whose daily commute is subject to this body-shaming image. Governor Cuomo, we know this situation has upset you in the past. In April 2014, your former aide, Howard Glazer, sent a pointed note to MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast on your behalf objecting to a similar ad. "Made in New York" (which was emblazoned across a woman's oversized breasts) was another augmentation ad that featured oversized cleavage as a desirable outcome. Your aide's letter to the MTA read: "In response to a query from our office, the MTA advised that such ads fall within the MTA's written standards for advertising. With all due respect, we suggest those standards need to be revisited...Tens of thousands of children ride the subway every day to get to school...The public has a right to expect that the MTA will strive for a family-friendly environment." Advertisement MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said then that the agency would look into the governor's request. "The MTA understands the concerns that Governor Cuomo and other parents have raised about this advertisement and about maintaining a family-friendly environment on our trains and buses. We will revisit our standards for advertisements and our process for reviewing them." That was almost two years ago. When we recently wrote to the MTA to complain about the offensive "breast augmentation" ads, an MTA employee wrote back that "because of the First Amendment" the state agency cannot make guidelines to reject ads that are offensive or demeaning unless it would "imminently incite or provoke violence." Really? Governor Cuomo, you have the power to change this clearly mistaken MTA policy. If an ad demeaning to men were to be submitted for display in New York City subways or buses, we have no doubt that it would wisely be rejected by the MTA. Why are ads demeaning to women any different? Your instinct two years ago, when you had one of your aides question this sexist ad campaign, was absolutely correct. We are not sure why you backed down so quickly. We know that in 2014 you were busy running for re-election and starting the Women's Equality Party (WEP), which delivered more than 50,000 votes in your victorious campaign. Advertisement Now it is time to stay true to your beliefs and do the right thing. Tear down those sexist ads on the subway. We know you can do it, Governor. If nothing else, do it for your daughters. And ours. Sincerely, Tom Allon and Rebecca Cohen Rebecca Cohen is a writer of plays, poetry and opinion pieces. She is the mother of a teenage girl and lives in Brooklyn. WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 02: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) October 2, 2012 in Washington, DC. The American Enterprise Institute and the Federalist Society held a book discussion with Justice Scalia, who co-authored the book 'Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts.' (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) With the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, the country loses a giant of American law. Scalia's audience was bigger than that of most justices: as the most prominent exponent of originalism and textualism, he was speaking as much to the public, and to present and future law students, as to his colleagues on the Court. He was a great dissenter, who embellished his opinions with language sure to get the attention of casebook writers. His hope was that his views would one day carry the day, as they did for earlier masters of dissent like Oliver Wendell Holmes . In his love of debate and sheer joy in argument, Scalia embodied a commitment to rigorous pursuit of knowledge. We at the University of Chicago, where he taught before being appointed the federal judiciary, like to think of him as the most prominent exponent of our culture of vigorous discussion. More than most justices, he dwelt in the realm of ideas. But he was also a superb communicator. Advertisement Justice Scalia was also the extreme example of a pronounced trend on the Supreme Court: identifying justices with their individual personae rather than as members of a collectivity. His opinions were full of pithy phrases that fit today's 144-character format, even as they heralded an older tradition of rhetorical flourish. Both his conservative and more liberal colleagues were frequent targets of his caustic pen and antiquarian epithets: he was prone to accusing colleagues of jiggery-pokery, argle-bargle, and manufacturing "pure applesauce". These terms sent law professors scurrying to their dictionaries, and inspired the hashtag term #Scaliaism. Yet, in cultivating outside audiences and reaching to the broader public, Scalia's influence on the Court itself may have suffered. Though personally friendly with his colleagues, he was not always able to persuade them to come around to his views. Courts are like many other kinds of organizations: to be most effective, they require working in teams. The reputation of the court is a collective product, and the whole is ideally greater than the sum of its parts. As Professor Nuno Garoupa and I argue in our new book , there is a danger when judges emphasize their individual reputations more than that of the larger body of which they are a part. If each judge speaks in their own voice in every case, jurisprudence can seem indeterminate and confusing, and the court's reputation as a whole may suffer. The public may come to see the law as simply political, a product of the nine people who happen to be sitting on the court at any one moment. Something like this seems to have happened to the US Supreme Court in recent years. Traditionally, it has been one of most trusted institutions in society. But as Eric Posner notes, confidence in the Court has declined for many years, and now more people disapprove of the Supreme Court's performance (50% than approve of it (45%). A recent Pew survey found that 70 percent of Americans believe that the justices "are often influenced by their own political views." Advertisement Although John Roberts promised more unanimity when he took the Chief Justiceship, it has been hard to achieve, in no small part because of the outsized pen and personality of Justice Scalia. Many decisions feature multiple opinions which make it hard to know what the law is. With low levels of agreement, and occasionally caustic name-calling, the court now seems to reflect the political polarization that pervades American society more broadly. The fragile "cessation of hostilities" agreement brokered last week shows little sign of halting the fighting in Syria. Government forces supported by Russian airstrikes continue to advance on Aleppo. Turkey has shelled territory occupied by Kurds, the ethnic group backed by the United States. France meanwhile accuses Russia of targeting civilian areas using "dumb" (non-precision guided) bombs. More Syrians are being killed and driven from their homes. In the face of this tragedy, the U.S. has no good options for halting the conflict. Bashir al-Assad and his Russian backers have little incentive to make peace as long as the fighting continues to go their way. Two courses of action might change that situation. The U.S.-led coalition could target Syrian troops attacking Aleppo, but doing so carries an unacceptably high risk of direct confrontation with Russian warplanes. To avoid that risk, U.S. and allied aircraft could attack Syrian government forces elsewhere in the country, inflicting loses on Assad that might force him to negotiate. That course of action would, however, undoubtedly kill more civilians and displace more people, and it could escalate the crisis. Leveling the killing field thus seems a poor strategy. Ironically perhaps, the belligerents do seem to agree tacitly on one thing: ISIS must go. All the players in the civil war are devoting at least some of their military assets to destroying the Islamic State. Syrian government troops and U.S.-backed Kurds acting independently are moving into the Islamic State's heartland of Raqqa Province while American and Russian airstrikes continue to hit ISIS targets. This sustained pressure from all sides is exactly what is needed to destroy the self-proclaimed caliphate. Sadly, it will take time. During that time, the killing will continue and the refugees keep arriving at the border of Turkey, which will no longer let them in even to transit its territory on the way to Western Europe. Advertisement Young woman standing on top of mountain with outstretched arms, rear view On Thursday February 11, 2016, Villain Theater down in Miami, Florida asked me to write a "love letter to myself." This letter was then performed by an actress on stage as part of a show that benefitted Women in Comedy -- a Chicago based organization that empowers, connects and advocates for women in the industry. Below is the "lover letter" I wrote to a younger version of myself -- my twenty-two year old self. I post it here in honor of Valentine's Day. Lover Letter to My 22 Year Old Self The city you live in is about to go up in smoke. Well, not in its entirety, just two of its towers. But the world will change. It will change forever. It will change you. Advertisement You have just graduated from college, you are a writer, an artist, and it will be hard for you to find work. The city will smell like an urn for months. The sky will mirror the pitch of the road. But, you will find solace in work, and you will write until your eyes burn, even if nobody is paying you any money or attention. You will sit at your kitchen table in the middle of the day -- a table you found on the street in Washington Heights. Tiny cockroaches will make their way up the pipes into your sink, and no matter what you do to try and kill them, they will persist, and they will breed, and you will learn to live with them. In fact, you will learn from them -- about grit, and survival. Don't despair. You are not Kafka, you will not become a roach yourself. You are a different kind of insect, you are spinning a cocoon, and one day, I promise, you will feel the infinite beauty of the world flitter beneath your wingspan. Most nights, you sleep alone in your twin bed. You are afraid of getting too close to men because you've seen them ruin your friends, take away their work. You will not let this happen to you. You will sacrifice years of affection holding on to this theory. You will have been half wrong, half right. Advertisement Some days in your bed, despite your loneliness, you feel a soft embrace. Invisible. It will be me, your 36-year old self, stretching across time and space, to hold you. Listen to that embrace and keep going. You will find work with a famous writer, this writer will be generous with you. He will teach you and guide you in the ways of living like a writer. You will make mistakes, not heed certain pieces of his advice. He will tell you not to worry, that "the writer's life is long." You will not know what that means because you will be anxious and impatient -- those twin flaws of youth. Don't despair. You will, eventually, after a long and bumpy road publish a book (the first of many). You will get your words out there, thrive off your writing, meander into TV and film. You will travel the world. There will be places you can't believe exist. You will look out at the ocean from Miami, Havana, Elmina, Los Angeles and spheres of glowing awe will plant themselves inside you, fueling your journey forward. Before all of this, your complicated father will die suddenly, and the world will change again. The ground will shift beneath you, and the rubble and dust you had seen cover your city, will now cover you. The rubble of years, of regrets of I Love You's not said -- these will weigh you down. Your body will seem to crumble under this new weight. There will be a number of years that you will not eat, you will be afraid of food. You will try to disappear. You will not understand why you are doing this. You will find yourself in bed one day, alone, and the world will go black, and you will realize that dying young is a thing that can happen in reality, not just in songs. Advertisement But, again, do not despair. You will refuse to die. You will not be like your father. You will go to therapy. You will do lunges and squats with the weight that, previously, tried to crush you. And you will come out with biceps the size of hungry hyenas, hungry for the world, for life; ambitious. This time you will let yourself eat, you will take it all in, and allow it to nourish you. Your cocoon will start to crack. Your thirties will be magic. You will get married and divorced. The year after your divorce, you will decide that you should live a year as a slut. You hate that word, you use it only in order to kill it. You will find that you will learn about the lives of many, from their lips, in their beds. You will discover that between other people's sheets, under dim lighting, and after the body's great release, people will tell you things. They will tell you about the roots beneath their feet, the people they have loved, their burdens, their fears, their joys. You will want to hold each of their lives in the nook of your arms, like babies, you will coo them. You will write their stories. Nights like this will come and go, until you decide it's time for someone to hold you in their arms, long and hard, and for a longer run than just a couple of nights, a week, a month. You will find someone, and you will set an anchor in his heart, and he in yours. This does not mean you are not free, it only means that the weight of your grip helps the other's heart beat brighter. When you are 36, about to turn 37, you won't know what will become of these beating anchors, but you've grown a tiny bit more patient, and your anxiety has quelled, so you are not worried. Advertisement Now, you look at the map of your life -- your love, your work -- the way it has all made a path out there, the way it's beginning to see how far it can go still, and you are filled with pride and you are filled with the eager anticipation of all that is left to conquer. There is so much world to chart and venture through, there is so much left to see and do. Have you ever read a book so perfect that not a single word was superfluous or out of place? A book so packed with truth and wisdom you wanted to read each line to the other people in the room or call a friend to share what you'd read? That's how I felt about Sherri Mandell's book, The Road to Resilience. Sherri's 13 year-old son Koby and his friend Yosef Ish-Ran, were murdered by Arab terrorists in 2001, in an unspeakably brutal manner. Because I live in the same general area as the Mandell family, I was privy to the story and its details even before it was carried by the media. As a mother of many, I was shocked and horrified and yes, frightened that this could happen to my own children. The horror has never quite dissipated, though the horror of it is, of course, horror from a distance. The horror was and is not distant for Sherri and her family. I will see Sherri in the grocery store or at a conference, and the pain is there, etched into her skin and large expressive eyes. She is blond and beautiful and fragile. And I don't know how she puts one foot in front of the other to walk, how she manages to speak, or get out of bed each morning. Advertisement The answer is, of course, the answer to Jewish survival. Like steel, we are strengthened by fire. Sherri is my emblem and my Jewish sister. I hug her in my mind's eye and I follow her every word. I want to learn from her. And that, in fact, is the message in her book that speaks loudest to me: trauma and hurt can turn us into teachers. Trauma, the thing we want least, the thing we pray will never happen to us, is the thing that makes us finer. Pain and grief can be catalysts for tremendous personal growth. It's something I knew, but Sherri has managed to put this into words both exquisite and profound. She takes you back to your place of pain and shows you how to use it for good. The Road to Resilience describes what Sherri calls the seven C's: chaos, community, choice, creativity, commemoration, consecration, and celebration. This is a slim book, with one chapter devoted to each "C." Each chapter is followed by a short series of questions ("Can you see God in the midst of pain?") so you can use the book as a sort of workshop for grief. Sherri shares wisdom from a wide font of sources, both Jewish and secular. She is equally comfortable quoting the Kotzker Rebbe, Christian theologian Henri Nouwen, or Michael Ondattje, and loves to play lexicographer, too. Mandell tells us about "contronyms" single words having two opposite meanings, like the two sides of a single coin, to teach us life lessons for personal growth. Advertisement But first we need to understand the meaning of "resilience." In her prologue, Sherri explains: Jewish philosophy teaches that resilience is not overcoming, it's becoming. Becoming more, becoming our fullest, deepest selves as a result of adversity. We don't escape, but contemplate and reshape. We don't leap over troubles as if they don't exist. We allow them to be our teachers. We experience resilience when we are enlarged rather than diminished by our challenges, when facing adversity causes us to change, grow, and become greater. Part of that becoming is to enter the chaos, the first leg of the journey and the first chapter of Mandell's book. Here, the author uses the metaphor of a vegetable seed to help explain why chaos is not a step we can or should avoid, in rebounding after tragedy. Every seed has to disintegrate before it can turn into a vegetable. Every seed has to break apart to sprout; it has to surrender to the darkness of mystery in order to emerge. That process can feel excruciating. But it is only when the seed turns to nothing that it can, in fact, become something. Even so, chaos, as the author points out, can be both healing and dangerous: If a person remains in this unprotected territory of raw pain and need indefinitely, he or she won't be able to heal. On the other hand, if the person doesn't allow the trauma entrance, she or he may never recover. I read these words, and recall exactly the feelings of rootlessness accompanying my grief in the days after my father's death when I was 13. My cousin the pediatrician left pills with my mother. There were pills to help me sleep at night, and pills to keep me calm and grounded during the shiva. But the pills only postponed grief by keeping the mourning process at bay, ensuring a lengthy stay in a weird state of limbo. The pills kept me from the chaos when I needed the chaos to move forward. I needed my shiva. Advertisement Shiva, of course, means being surrounded by community, and community is the next part of the journey to resilience, according to Mandell. Sherri describes a poignant memory to illustrate the importance of those who care for us and about us in our times of greatest sorrow: On the first night after Koby was killed, when I went upstairs to my room, resting on my pillow was a little bunch of wildflowers from a friend with a card. Just when I thought I would die, I smiled. Because my friend had entered my room to give me love. Author Sherri Mandell In her chapter on choice, Mandell tells us that even in our darkest moments, when we're suffering from events beyond our control, there is probably still something we can choose, for instance, we can choose to accept help from others, and we can choose to see ourselves and others in a good light. Choosing, Sherri tells us, "will allow you to fare better in times of stress and trauma, when you feel that you have no control. But the more profound choice may be your ability to recognize God in your life--to believe that God is present in this pain. This enlargement, which may entail a revised understanding of the Divine, is a key component of resilience." The Hebrew word for "faith," says Mandell, is emuna which is related to the word imun, training. "One has to work at faith," she tells us. "It's not a gift that is granted, but a muscle that needs to be constantly exercised and developed in an act of will." Mandell doesn't neglect scientific research in her quest for truth and understanding and to further our own. It's there in her chapter on commemoration, where she points out research suggesting that those who know a great deal about their families fare better when dealing with difficulties. This interested me very much, as I have spent much time and effort researching my family tree. In fact, I began my genealogical work during a time of trauma and it did do a great deal to help me rebound and grow. Advertisement Science is also present in the chapter on commemoration, where the author describes that 61% of American aviators held captive in Vietnam, felt they had benefited from the experience. Here Mandell quotes the New York Times Magazine, "Perhaps it was no more than the desire to give meaning to a horrible time in their lives, but a follow-up study conducted twenty-five years later found that the soldiers remained convinced that the captivity had changed them for the better." As a person who loves words, I appreciated the way Mandell weaves words and their meanings into her narrative. In her section on creativity, the author tells us, "In Hebrew the roots of the word for sadness (etzev) and design (itzuv) are the same. Sadness must be given shape." Sherri also tells us that the Hebrew word for kindness, chessed, can also mean "disgrace," explaining that a small number of Hebrew words also mean their opposite, "a linguistic phenomenon known as a contronym." The author asks, "Can we allow ourselves to experience the healing power of kindness or do we feel ashamed at being its beneficiary?" In this presidential election, the debate on immigration has degenerated into implicit labeling of immigrants as security and economic threats to Americans. GOP candidates complain that we should secure the border first, and Democratic candidates would like to reform the broken system. The partisan attempt for immigration reform died in the Congress. President Obama, tired of waiting for the "DREAM Act", issued an executive order in 2014 which, among other provisions, allowed parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents to request deferred action and employment authorization for 3 years, if they have lived in the US continuously since January 1, 2010. Presidential action has been challenged in lower courts that have put an injunction on the order; hence the issue is now before the Supreme Court. This controversy has sidestepped the discussion on the benefits of immigration and immigration reform that is in the best interest of the US. Advertisement We all have heard the usual argument advanced by those who are fearful of immigration, that it reduces wages and employment opportunities Americans. Many may also be familiar with the counter argument that immigrants do the jobs that natives do not like to do. This argument usually applies to low paid jobs in farms, slaughterhouses, fast food industry and other hard labor jobs in construction. What is lost in this debate is the discussion on immigrants who foster innovations, create new businesses, increase productivity of others and generate employment opportunities for natives. Immigrants also bring their cultures, views and behaviors toward economic and political institutions that affect innovations and productivity. Immigrants may also burden the infrastructure and impose congestion costs that lead to inefficiencies and loss of productivity. Policy makers have to weigh the trade-off in implementing immigration policy in addition to ethical and moral issues. In this blog I discuss the impact of immigrants on innovation and productivity. Immigrants are self-selected people. In general, in free societies like the US, where there is opportunity and encouragement for individual achievement, immigrants are willing to take risks by moving to a different country with different cultural, economic, political, social and institutional environments with uncertain future prospects for economic survival and success. However, the attitude toward risk taking is an essential ingredient for innovations. Research by Peter Moser et al., American Economic Review, 104(10), 2014, shows that Jewish emigre scientists, who were forced out of their professions by Nazi Germany, revolutionized US innovations. Moser finds that "US inventions increased by 31 percent after 1933 in fields of German emigres." This inventive activity, evidenced by patent activity in chemical fields, increased not only due to entry of new researchers in the fields of emigres but also due to research collaborations with the emigres. This spillover effect affirms other research on human capital. Innovations provide a fertile ground for jobs creation and employment opportunities. Advertisement The paper by Jennifer Hunt and Marjolaine Gauthier-Loiselle, How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation, NBER, September 2008, shows that immigrant college graduates do not crowd out native inventors. They significantly affect inventive activity as measured by patents. The results show that a 1.3 percent increase in immigrants increased per capita patents by 20 percent (including positive spillover effects) for the period 1990-2000. The impact of post college immigrants is even larger. A 0.7 percentage point increase in their share increased per capita patents by 21 percent, and 0.45 percent increase in scientists and engineers increased per capita patents by 22 percentage points. The US politicians should be pleased to know that immigrants arriving in the US in the last 5 years are the most educated ever (see an article by Richard Fry for the Pew Research Center, October 5, 2015). Another paper by Mariya Aleksynska and Ahmed Tritah, Economic Inquiry, January 2015, finds that "immigration has a positive and sizable impact on income and labor productivity of host countries." The evidence on beneficial effects of immigration is overwhelming. Immigration provides diversity of talents thus creating churn in the economy. James Surowiecki argues in The Wisdom of Crowds that diversity of cognitive intelligence and knowledge overcomes sameness of thinking among homogenous groups, and "...expands a group's set of possible solutions and allows the group to conceptualize problems in novel ways." Immigrations' share in OECD countries, including US, has been increasing over time. However in 2000, relative to the natives, the share of younger (25 to 54 years) immigrants is rising more than the share of older immigrants. This means that these immigrants will make a positive contribution to the countries' economies for a long time. History is full of episodes where immigrants have made enormous contributions in arts, sciences and inventions in the receiving countries. The current negative posture of GOP presidential candidates and their supporters on immigration is on the wrong track. Rather than creating fear of immigrants, they should lead the voters in the positive and balanced direction of immigration policy. Sound bites on negative effects without any grounding in facts is counterproductive for the wellbeing of Americans and the future of the nation as a whole. Perhaps the hysteria against immigration will calm down after the elections and common sense will prevail in designing an immigration policy that maintains the integrity of borders, but at the same time recognizes the value of immigration for the benefit of the country. As Erick Weiner, the author of The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places, From Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley, states in his essay in The Wall Street Journal, January 16-17, 2016, ..."SCAN THE ROSTER of history's intellectual and artistic giants, and you quickly notice something remarkable: Many were immigrants or refugees..." WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 17: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia waits for the beginning of the taping of 'The Kalb Report' April 17, 2014 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The Kalb Report is a discussion of media ethics and responsibility at the National Press Club held each month. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) As we know, an oxymoron is a linking of words that have contradictory or different meanings, like, for example, "cruel kindness" or "jumbo shrimp." I have long believed that when it comes to protecting the rights of minoritized groups in the United States, we can include "Justice Scalia" on the list of oxymorons since Scalia promoted anything but justice in his opposition to the Voting Rights Act and affirmative action, women's reproductive freedoms, and in particular, the rights and freedoms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans* people. In Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court in a 6 to 3 decision ruled in 1996 that a Colorado state constitutional amendment unconstitutional when it prevented protected status based on homosexual or bisexual identity because the law contradicted the Fourteenth Amendment's "Equal Protection Clause." Writing for the majority, Anthony Kennedy stated that the Colorado amendment lacked "a rational relationship to legitimate state interests," and that "[a] state cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws...." Advertisement Scalia dissented by virtually equating same-sex sexuality with murder, multiple spousal unions, and animal abuse: "Of course it is our moral heritage that one should not hate any human being or class of human beings. But I had thought that one could consider certain conduct reprehensible -- murder, for example, or polygamy, or cruelty to animals -- and could exhibit even 'animus' toward such conduct. Surely that is the only sort of 'animus' at issue here: moral disapproval of homosexual conduct..." Scalia believed same-sex couples equivalent to nothing more than roommates: "[Colorado's ban] prohibits special treatment of homosexuals, and nothing more. [I]t would prevent the State or any municipality from making death benefit payments to the 'life partner' of a homosexual when it does not make such payments to the long time roommate of a nonhomosexual employee." Boy Scouts of America v. Dale Scalia joined with the majority 5 to 4 in 2000 to rule it constitutional for the Boy Scouts of America, which it deemed as a "private organization," to exclude a person, in this instance James Dale, from membership when "the presence of that person affects in a significant way the group's ability to advocate public or private viewpoints." Since the Boy Scouts of America opposes homosexuality as a feature of its "expressive message," and since James Dale, an adult leader, "came out" publicly as gay, the organization stands on constitutional groups for his dismissal. Advertisement In Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court in 2003 finally ruled "unconstitutional" so-called "anti-sodomy" laws, which had criminalized primarily same-sex sexuality. Police arrested the plaintiffs in the case, John Geddes Lawrence & Tyron Garner, whom they supposedly witnessed engaging in sexual activity. The landmark ruling struck down the law not only in Texas, but in the remaining 13 states with similar statutes, and overturned the Court's 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision, which upheld Georgia's restrictive anti-sodomy statute. Writing for the majority in Lawrence v. Texas 5 to 4 decision, Anthony Kennedy stated: "The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives. The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime." Antonin Scalia, however, did not agree, and he voted to maintain the discriminatory law. During oral arguments in the case, he fabricated a false analogy to same-sex sexuality, which he posed to the attorney for the plaintiffs: "[S]uppose all the States had laws against flagpole sitting at one time, you know, there was a time when it was a popular thing and probably annoyed a lot of communities, and then almost all of them repealed those laws. Does that make flagpole sitting a fundamental right?" In his dissenting written opinion, Scalia argued that public attitudes against same-sex sexuality alone is enough to maintain its criminalization and, thereby, circumscribe individual rights and liberties. He asserted that the Court's majority "had signed on to the so-called 'gay agenda'" even though: Advertisement "Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children's schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive." Scalia made the scurrilous argument that the Texas law did not target homosexuals unfairly since heterosexuals were subject to the law. "Men and women, heterosexuals and homosexuals, are all subject to [Texas'] prohibition of deviate sexual intercourse with someone of the same sex." In other words, heterosexuals were also at risk for arrest if they violated the law by engaging in sex with someone of their same sex. He emphasized that homosexuals could still legally have sex with some of another sex, so, therefore, Texas was not violating the Fourteenth Amendment's "Equal Protection Clause" as the plaintiffs claimed. In this 2013 Supreme Court case, the majority in its 5 to 4 decision ruled it unconstitutional to restrict federal definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to refer only to heterosexual unions as classified in Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Writing again for the majority, Anthony Kennedy stated: "The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity. By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment [Due Process Clause]." Advertisement Scalia again dissented, this time by calling for increased rights for the individual states: "This case is about power in several respects. It is about the power of our people to govern themselves, and the power of this Court to pronounce the law. Today's opinion aggrandizes the latter, with the predictable consequence of diminishing the former. We have no power to decide this case. And even if we did, we have no power under the Constitution to invalidate this democratically adopted legislation." He then warned of a slippery slope to legalized marriage for same-sex couples: "As far as this Court is concerned, no one should be fooled; it is just a matter of listening and waiting for the other shoe. By formally declaring anyone opposed to same-sex marriage an enemy of human decency, the majority arms well every challenger to a state law restricting marriage to its traditional definition." In 2015, the Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 vote, followed a trend began back in 2004 in the state of Massachusetts by extending marriage equality to same-sex couples. Writing in his eloquent majority opinion, Anthony Kennedy asserted: "No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were....Their [same-sex couples'] hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right." Scalia, in his dissent, seemed resigned to the reality of marriage equality following his dire prediction of its coming following the United States v. Windsor decision. Scalia focused his vitriol on the Court itself, and by so doing, joined with other conservatives who condemn judges for their so-called "judicial activism": Advertisement "The substance of today's decree is not of immense personal importance to me...It is of overwhelming importance, however, who it is that rules me. Today's decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court. The opinion in these cases is the furthest extension in fact -- and the furthest extension one can even imagine -- of the Court's claimed power to create 'liberties' that the Constitution and its Amendments neglect to mention." Farewell Mr. Antonin Scalia To be clear, I truly respected Mr. Scalia's soaring intellect, his larger-than-life personality, his passion for engaging and challenging others and himself to think in different ways, outside of the box. His bright flame for learning became extinguished only with his passing. What I certainly will not miss was his relentless assault on the rights of LGBT people and other marginalized people, which he justified and rationalized under the philosophy of "originalism": the concept that we must view and interpret the U.S. Constitution as fixed within the time in which it was enacted. We must follow the original meaning of the text according to what "reasonable persons" living at the time had meant. If a topic or issue is not specifically touched upon in the original text, then let federal legislators and/or the individual states rule on it, which in the parlance of doublespeak can be understood as "let the people and let the states discriminate." Well, if we had followed this interpretation since the drafters wrote and passed our Constitution, only white male landowners would have the vote and rights to full citizen status, white people would still have legal rights to enslave black people, most people, except the offspring of the wealthy would have access to education, and LGBT would have absolutely no rights since "We the People" was so circumscribed and limited in scope. stevanovicigor via Getty Images Man typing love text messages on a smartphone for Valentine's day. Selective focus on hands and phone device. A few years ago in India, when every other youngster didn't have a smartphone, online romancing was largely limited to sending friend requests to people with cute DPs, or perhaps lurking in chatrooms, hoping that the soulmate you were chatting with wasnt an arthritic grandparent. Then, of course, there were all the matrimonial websites, but lets face it, these are the online equivalent of chai and samosa with ladka- and ladki-waale. Dating apps have changed much of that, removing some of the surreptitiousness and leaps of faith that tended to come with virtual searches for love. People are changing too they no longer need their parents to trawl through suitable profiles and they are a lot more open to casual meetings and online interactions with potential dates and mates. Finally, it looks like young Indians are ready to search for their own partners and to make up their own minds. Advertisement In this season of love, we took a look at the most popular apps and how young people are using them. This is clearly the most popular app out there. It has a huge user base, a great number of matches and is fast gaining a reputation as the best hook-up app out there. But its not champagne and novelty underwear for everyone. A male user we spoke to said, "I installed it just for fun. I wasn't looking for anything serious. I went on a couple of dates too but they were pretty boring". There are more serious concerns than boredom, too. Many female users say that the men they connect with get abusive when theyre denied a date. Some users even go on and send them messages on Facebook. This can be the reason why almost 66% users on the app are male. The other pain point is rejection, with several users reporting they were stood up on Tinder dates. Advertisement The trend of fewer female users isnt limited to Tinder. Only 30% of the 2.2 million users on leading Indian app TrulyMadly are women. The apps big claim is that they believe in 100% verification and they assign a trust score to the user. That score is based on the integration of Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, mobile number, photo ID and salary slip verification. This is all very well in theory, but many users arent so comfortable with sharing such details despite TrulyMadlys claims that this information is kept extremely confidential. Advertisement TrulyMadly stats According to TrulyMadly, the app has made almost 4.5 million matches so far. The majority of viewers tend to check in between 8-10pm, spending an average of 56 minutes on the app. They might spend a bit longer, but women have reported that men need to upgrade their conversational skills. This Indian app prides itself in not being Tinder-like, but like its international rival, it requires users to sign up with Facebook. Woo offers a lot of features for security and anonymity before the actual conversation starts. After a user makes the profile here, they can search for a match based on common interests such as travelling, music, cooking and so on. They can even include a small voice note. We talked to Woo's CEO Sumesh Menon and he said, "Woo is more about meaningful relationships than a casual date or a hook-up. We have included LinkedIn integration so people can search for partners of a particular profession. Also, for safety and privacy, we only display the initials of the person till they are matched". "We have around 2 million users across India with the numbers growing every day. At Woo, we always want more mature relationships to take place through the platform. Advertisement Some interesting trends which the app has seen are that more women prefer entrepreneurs as a match. They also tend to ask men a lot of questions about their hobbies and interests. Preferences of matches profession wise on the Woo App See Gallery Floh offers a service which doesn't follow the traditional app model. You need to get an invite (no, they are not OnePlus of the dating world!) and after that, they screen your profile. Based on the profile you are verified. It is a paid service which uses technology and personal interactions to connect people. Once your profile is created you can use the app (available only to members) and explore new connections. The profiles you are interested in can be bookmarked and you can ask the Floh team to for a one-on-one interaction. The app uses an algorithm consisting of 42 factors to match people. The CEO of Floh Siddharth Mangharam claims that unlike other services they have 55% females on their network. And the network has around 3000 active members in various cities. He said, "On an average we see a wedding through our network every week. Most of our customers are in their 20s or 30s but we are seeing a change where people even in 40s are registering on Floh. Advertisement To have a chance at love here, you need to shell out 7000 for three months. What you get back is the assurance that youll meet 50 singles in their events and will be introduced to 10 potential matches one on one. Analysis done by the app shows that people in the 26-35 age group tend to look for more stable relationships. Note that those who are unambitious or have poor communication skills are seen as the most undesirable. This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com Roberto Machado Noa via Getty Images CUBA - 2014/07/22: Free roaming rooster in the countryside close to a farmer's house. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) JAMSHEDPUR -- Irate over the loss of his farm produce, a farmer today took his hen to a police station, holding it responsible for an incident of fire that reduced his recently harvested crop to ashes at Deoli village here. Deputy Superintendent of Police (Musaboni) Ajit Kumar Vimal said the 50-year-old farmer, Simon Sardar, was "not ready to be convinced despite our best efforts to make him understand that a complaint cannot be lodged against a hen." Advertisement A cat had suddenly pounced on the hen moving around near Sardar's house yesterday, but it managed to escape running towards a verandah where food was being cooked, the DSP said. In the melee, one of the wings of the hen caught fire and as it ran towards a heap of crop kept for processing, the heap immediately caught fire and was reduced to ashes within minutes, he said. When the farmer arrived at the police station with the hen, the officer in charge of the police station, Satnarayan Sharma, convinced him that a complaint cannot be lodged against a hen. The officer in charge has asked Sardar to instead to file an application with the block circle officer requesting compensation for the damage, Vimal said. Advertisement Last week, a goat was arrested by for trespassing Chhattisgarh police for into a magistrate's lawn. Contact HuffPost India Also See On HuffPost: Bloomberg via Getty Images A customer walks past CSR Ltd. white sugar products on a shelf at a supermarket in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. Bright Food Group Co., the biggest food company in Shanghai, offered as much as A$1.5 billion ($1.4 billion) cash for CSR Ltd.'s sugar unit to gain raw materials after global prices more than doubled in the past year. Photographer: Luis Enrique Ascui/Bloomberg via Getty Images SINGAPORE -- Indian companies need to improve on their Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure to attract more foreign investments, an Indian-origin business leader said today. Indian companies have a mandatory two per cent spending on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which was improving their standings globally. But there was a need to do more work, Rajesh Chhabara, Managing Director of Singapore-based investment consultancy CSR Works said. Advertisement "Businesses in India has a very strong tradition of community related or charity work but that is not CSR or sustainability," Chhabara said while calling on the need to build on such community work into an internationally- recognised CSR format. Indian companies are rated just behind Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Asian leaders in CSR. They need to improve on their CSR disclosure to attract a bigger share from USD 21.4 trillion in the globally-spread Socially Responsible Investment Funds (SRI), he said. But there are more opportunities to attract the investment from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) which in 2014 had an estimated USD 21.4 trillion in SRI funds for companies that disclose their social and environmental performance such as through annual Sustainability Reporting. The SRI funds has seen a phenomenal growth from USD 550 billion in 2012 which are meant for investing globally in companies that qualify on the basis of regular disclosure of sustainability performance by reporting to relevant authorities. Advertisement Chhabara estimated that only 0.6 per cent or USD 12.8 billion of this huge funds were being invested in Asian companies which are transparent in their CSR activities. To support the Asian companies, CSR Works organised its inaugural Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards on 28 January, 2016, with the support of the British and the Canadian High Commissions in Singapore. "In line with global trends, more and more companies in Asia are embarking on sustainability reporting. Our aim is to encourage and promote sustainability disclosure by honouring those who have demonstrated leadership in sustainability reporting," Chhabara said. CSR is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. India's Birla Carbon won Asia's Best online CSR Communication and Asia's Best Materiality Report awards while YES Bank took Asia's Best Community Reporting honor from 180 entries. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 25: BJP Delhi Unit President Satish Upadhyay with BJP MLA OP Sharma during a press conference against Arvind Kejriwal's government and on the issue of BJP MLA OP Sharma for his alleged sexist remarks about AAP MLA Alka Lamba, on November 25, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Sharma was suspended from the assembly till Thursday. AAP members have now demanded that the BJP take action against Sharma and he be removed from the assembly. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) NEW DELHI -- The Patiala House Court on Monday extended the custody of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar by two days. On Friday, Kumar was slapped with sedition charges for allegedly raising anti-India slogans at a meeting to protest the the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for masterminding the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, and executed in 2013. Advertisement The court premises and surrounding areas were volatile throughout the day of Kumars hearing. Earlier today, violence broke out at the court premises when JNU teachers, students and journalists were attacked by a group of lawyers who appeared to be BJP supporters, NDTV reported. While a BJP MLA from Delhi and his supporters thrashed a CPI man for allegedly shouting Pakistan Zindabad slogans, a group of men, dressed as lawyers, shouting nationalistic slogans, had assaulted members of the media and faculty from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in the court premises before Kumar was brought in. The man, who was assaulted by O.P. Sharma and his associates was identified as CPI's Ameeque Jamai, ANI reported. Man beaten up by BJP MLA OP Sharma and his supporters identified as Ameeque Jamai of Communist Party of India (CPI) ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 The group of lawyers, apparently BJP supporters, warned the students, teachers and the media to immediately leave the court to avoid being harmed, according to an NDTV reporter at the venue. When they refused to leave, the lawyers allegedly started assaulting them, NDTV reported. JNU students and teachers, attacked in court, cops just watch. 10 facts here: https://t.co/3LRnRTOlQzhttps://t.co/prSKck8VJ7 NDTV (@ndtv) February 15, 2016 An NDTV clip showed a group of men in black coats beating up a person at the premises. The NDTV reporter claimed the police did not make any attempt to intervene. The lawyers allegedly blamed the media for the coverage of the "anti-national activities" at JNU. Soon, the social media started reacting to the incident with people tweeting about the event under the hashtag 'saffron emergency,' criticising the attack on students, faculty and the media. #SaffronEmergency BJP MP with lawyers, goons attack students, teachers, journalists in court! Fascism at its worst!https://t.co/BOfPhBYJM6 Vinod Mehta (@DrunkVinodMehta) February 15, 2016 An ANI report claimed Delhi BJP MLA OP Sharma and his supporters allegedly beat up an unidentified man outside the court. Advertisement Delhi BJP MLA OP Sharma and his supporters beat up an unidentified man outside Patiala House courthttps://t.co/PFv8ku45kV ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Earlier, Delhi police commissioner BS Bassi met union home minister Rajnath Singh even as protests continued to rage in JNU despite its vice chancellor's appeal for calm in the campus. The campus has been on the boil ever since the arrest of Kumar. The political war of words only got shriller on Monday as two days after he met Singh, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who allegedly received threat calls for supporting the students protesting the arrest of Kumar, attacked the BJP saying people who support Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse should not be preaching nationalism. According to party sources, the party head office received three threat calls between 10:30 and 1:00 last night. Meanwhile, reacting to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's visit to the troubled campus declaring his support to the protesting students, BJP president Amit Shah lashed out against Congress on his blog. He blamed Gandhi of supporting 'anti-national' activities by backing the students at JNU who are protesting against the arrest of JNU student union president. Advertisement In his blog titled Is this Congresss new definition of nationalism?, Shah questioned the Congress partys intent on why it was supporting and encouraging the events that happened in the varsity. Shah also claimed that the BJP did not need to learn nationalism from a party which has Hitlerism in its DNA. A couple of days ago, the commissioner's office had also urged students across the country, including those from JNU, to not get carried away by 'seditious anti-national rhetoric'. "Abetment of any kind of anti-national activity is a punishable offence," he said. Backing the central government's move to slap sedition charges against Kumar, commissioner Bassi reportedly said that initial inquiry suggests that he was involved in anti-India activities. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also on HuffPost: Hindustan Times via Getty Images MUMBAI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 14: A massive fire broke out during a 'Make in India week' cultural programme at Maharashtra Night at Girgaum Chowpatty on February 14, 2016 in Mumbai, India. The fire broke out almost 10 minutes after Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis delivered his speech at the event, during a lavani performance. The stage collapsed under the impact of the fire. However, no casualties were reported and the venue, at the Girgaum Chowpatty area, was evacuated very soon. Around 16 fire tenders put out the fire in 10 minutes. No casualties have been reported yet. Prime Minister Modi had inaugurated the Make in India Week yesterday as a showcase event for the government's flagship manufacturing scheme. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) MUMBAI -- A huge fire engulfed the venue of a cultural event in Mumbai on Sunday that was being held at the opening of a "Make in India" week launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drum up foreign investment. Television pictures showed fire breaking out at the front of the outdoor stage during a performance by dancers. Fanned by high winds, it quickly spread, licking the sides of a scaffolding rig and lighting up the night sky. Advertisement Thousands of spectators, among them dignitaries including the chief minister of the host state of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, were evacuated safely. ADVERTISING Venue was evacuated immediately . Traffic management allowed early dispersal without any trouble. Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) February 14, 2016 Fadnavis tweeted, adding that no fatalities or injuries were reported. The fire broke out at 8:24 pm (1554 GMT) due to a short circuit and 14 fire engines and 10 water tankers took just over an hour to bring it under control, said Raviraj Kamde, fire officer at the Maharashtra Fire Control Room. Kamde confirmed there were no casualties and people at the event had been evacuated safely. Eyewitnesses said the evacuation was orderly. "We were shaken with the sudden announcement that there has been a fire at the venue but thankfully there were multiple exit routes," said Heman Goyal, a Delhi businessman who was attending the event. Advertisement "There was chaos but we all got out in time. I saw parts of the stage burning." The blaze is likely to overshadow the message of India being open for business that Modi wanted to send. When he opened the investor jamboree on Saturday, Modi called Make in India "the biggest brand India has ever created". The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland took part in Saturday's gala opening ahead of Make in India Week, which is being attended by 2,500 foreign companies and 8,000 firms from India. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Hindustan Times via Getty Images MUMBAI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 29: (Editor's Note: This is an exclusive shoot of Hindustan Times) Bollywood actors Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor during an exclusive interview and photoshoot with HT Cafe-Hindustan Times, at their residence, in Juhu, on November 29, 2015 in Mumbai, India. During the interview, Sonam Kapoor said, 'No one knows my struggle. For instance, I just refuse to take my dadas help.' On Film Reviews, Anil Kapoor said, 'I only read reviews either six months or a year later. At that time, I can look at them objectively.' This year really has been a good one for Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. While Sonamas latest release has turned into a box office success, it has entered the Rs. 200 crore clubs. The performer has also shot to get a special picture on late flight attendant Neerja Bhanot. Meanwhile, Anil received rave reviews for his part in Dil Dhadakne Do. Now, the senior artiste is busy working on the second season of his TV show that is popular. (Photo by Vidya Subramanian/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) NEW DELHI -- Being a star kid comes with its own advantages but actress Sonam Kapoor says it is a constant struggle to make her own mark while living up to the legacy of her father Anil Kapoor. Sonam stars in an upcoming biopic Neerja, the story of a young flight attendant, who was shot dead by terrorists while trying to save the lives of passengers on a hijacked flight. Advertisement The movie aims to inspire youth to be fearless and when asked what's her biggest fear, Sonam said, "I have a lot of fears but the biggest is not to live up to my father's name. Everybody reminds me of this every day. I face this fear every day. People say, 'Oh she is Anil Kapoor's daughter. Is she?' "It is heartbreaking but at the same time it gives me strength because I love being my father's daughter and I don't want anyone to make me feel like it is a burden. He has worked very hard to give me everything that I want. My father has always worked for the family. That's my fear," she said. Sonam, 30, also recalled a conversation with actor Dhanush, her co-star in Raanjhanaa (2013), about the same and that affected her deeply. Advertisement "One day I sat down with Dhanush, who is a very close friend of mine. I heard something and it stayed with me for a very long time. The saying was that 'not much grows under a banyan tree,' he said. "Raanjhanaa is a turning point in my life and after that, I try to shine bright to make my father proud and so that a shadow can grow under a banyan tree." Neerja, also starring Shabana Azmi, is directed by Ram Madhavani. It will release this Friday, 19 February. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Hindustan Times via Getty Images PATHANKOT, INDIA - JANUARY 5: Commandos stand guard at Air Base during combing operations at Pathankot Air Base on Day 4 of terrorist attack on January 5, 2016 in Pathankot, India. Addressing the media after a visit to the forward base that was under siege from Saturday morning, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the terrorists were neutralised in an operation that was over in 38 hours but combing operations are still on and may continue for a day or two. (Photo by Sameer Sehgal/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) The Morning Wrap is HuffPost India's selection of interesting news and opinion from the day's newspapers. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning. Essential HuffPost Amid a massive faceoff over the JNU controversy, home minister Rajnath Singh said the event in the memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had the backing of Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT. "We should also understand this reality that Hafiz Saeed has supported this incident and it is extremely unfortunate," he said. Advertisement Talking at an event to celebrate 'Make In India' week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to woo global investors by highlighting Indias growth story and promising policy reforms to make business easier, including a transparent tax regime. A Twitter user observed that Modi's 'Make In India' agenda looks like the UPA's 2011 Manufacturing Policy. HuffPost India compared the two and found a couple of sentences that are, in fact, exactly the same. In a major embarrassment for the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar, an RJD legislator was booked for allegedly raping a minor. An arrest order was issued against RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav in connection with the rape case of a minor girl last week, a senior police officer said. Justice Antonin Scalia, a colorful and by far the most influential member of the US Supreme Court's conservative wing, died at a ranch in West Texas. He was 79. Local officials initially claimed that the cause of death was a heart attack, but later stated that the official cause will not be determined for several days. Expressing happiness over completion of one year in the office, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the bonding between the Aam Aadmi Party and the national capital is deep and everlasting. Advertisement Main News A massive fire broke out at a cultural event held in Mumbai where a string of film celebrities and political leaders were present as part of the high-profile Make in India investment meet, but swift action averted a major tragedy. The police must not interfere or take criminal action against adult sex workers participating with consent, recommended a Supreme Court panel, looking for measures to ensure better work conditions for prostitutes and to protect their rights. The National Investigation Agency has decided to preserve the bodies of the four terrorists killed in an encounter at the Pathankot airbase for an indefinite period as it makes preparations to hand over their photographs to Pakistan. A 23-year-old woman was allegedly raped inside the ICU of a private hospital in Haryana. She had delivered a baby through C-section a few hours ago. The police are conducting raids in and around Bahadurgarh to nab the accused. Actor Shah Rukh Khans car was attacked in Ahmedabad, where he was shooting for his forthcoming film. The attackers shouted slogans, demanding the boycott of his film. Sources said this was likely a reaction to Khans recent comments on intolerance in India. Advertisement Off The Front Page In MP, theres a police station that doubles up as a school, and the cops as teachers. Opened on the premises of Hanumanganj police station, the initiative by the city police aims to help young children in slum areas prone to crime. When an engineering student asked RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan why the humble dosa was so expensive, Rajan did not disappoint and promptly explained the economics of it, attributing the high cost to the discrepancy between the traditional tawa preparation and the wages of the person making it. The controversy over Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah's luxury wrist watch will now echo in the Parliament. BJP state president said he would raise the wrist watch issue in the budget session, demanding for an inquiry by the enforcement authorities. Eight young Jains took diksha' at a ceremony in Mumbai that was witnessed by a big crowd. It was conducted under the guidance of a monk. Diksha refers to the preparation or consecration for a religious ceremony to renounce the worldly life in order to lead an ascetic one. On Valentines Day, Milind Yende, a bangle shop owner in Mumbai, got a pleasant surprise when an eye surgeon visited his home to thank him for saving a diabetic man's vision. Yende had directed one of his customers to visit the doctor for her husbands vision problem. Advertisement Opinion India has been toying with the idea of high speed trains for 15 years. High speed lines require huge investments and cause long-term demographic and economic impacts. Their success depends on getting a comprehensive, context-specific optimal solution; at the very least this means getting speed, pricing, and distance right, writes Sriram Lakshman in The Hindu. Critics have lampooned carpooling as superficial, claiming that it is like a new model of table manners when you are confronting a food crisis. There is truth in the comment as car sharing does not challenge any of the basic categories of a crisis. A car is still a private vehicle and the crisis of vehicular pollution needs a public solution. But sometimes great reform comes through small changes in narrative, not through immediate changes in plot, writes Shiv Visvanathan in the Hindustan Times. Nothing that JNU students did poses nearly as much of a threat to India as government's subversion of freedom, writes Pratap Bhanu Mehta in The Indian Express. The arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar and the crackdown on political dissent at JNU suggest that we are living under a government that is both rabidly malign and politically incompetent. It is using nationalism to crush constitutional patriotism, legal tyranny to crush dissent, political power to settle petty scores, and administrative power to destroy institutions. Advertisement The bodies of nine Indian soldiers who tragically lost their lives in an avalanche that hit an army post close to the Line of Control in Siachen were brought to the capital today. The soldiers were honoured with a wreath ceremony conducted at Palam Airport in Delhi, led by Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag. Their bodies will be flown out by Indian Air Force planes to be handed over to their families in different parts of the country: Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram. Delhi: Army Chief General Dalbir Singh pays tribute to 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #Siachen avalanche. pic.twitter.com/KGLb975ore ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Delhi: Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha pays tribute to 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #Siachen avalanche. pic.twitter.com/XLN3Tz9q2K ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Wreath laying ceremony of 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #Siachen avalanche, underway in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/dkQnbQh0PV ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Mortal remains of 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #SiachenAvalanche brought to Delhi, wreath laying underway pic.twitter.com/M0hAlQdotM ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Mortal remains of 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #SiachenAvalanche brought to Delhi, wreath laying underway pic.twitter.com/zUVK6IqYmy ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Mortal remains of 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #SiachenAvalanche brought to Delhi. pic.twitter.com/IrOVaATFuF ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Mortal remains of 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #SiachenAvalanche brought to Delhi. pic.twitter.com/oiUfLtazlg ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Mortal remains of 9 soldiers who lost their lives in #SiachenAvalanche brought to Delhi. pic.twitter.com/nT2S0HKa6U ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 Ten Indian Army personnel were buried under 25 feet of snow when an avalanche struck their post situated at approximately 20,000 feet above sea level on 3 February. Nine of them lost their lives instantly. The 10th soldier, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, who was trapped in an air pocket was found alive after six days, and fought for his life for three days in the hospital before he finally passed away due to multiple organ failure. Advertisement He was given a national salutation on 11 February at Brar Square. Amidst several others, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal paid homage to the braveheart who is survived by his young wife, and a two-year-old daughter. The nine soldiers who lost their lives in Siachen: Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also See On HuffPost: Ex-officer was a churchgoer, family man. Police say he may be a serial rapist. The Allen family lived on the northwest side of Hutchinson, less than two miles from Rice Park, where several women said they were accosted. Back Catalog Sales Overtake New Releases A recent review of music sales has revealed 2015 to be the first year where back catalog sales (18 months +) exceeded those of new releases, even with the launch of big name titles like Adele's 25. ________________________________________ Guest Post by Kevin Cornell on the TuneCore Blog Every year since people have been reading and writing blogs, January has been a time in the music industry to examine the depressing statistics of album sales from the previous year. While often grim, these articles are an essential part of covering the year-to-year evolution and changes in how music fans consume their favorite genres. (Plus, theyre usually a better read than the comment section in your favorite music blogs article about the best albums of the year.) Case in point, a very interesting article emerged on Music Business Worldwide over a week ago, presenting to us that 2015 was the first year in recorded history during which catalogue album sales outnumbered current album sales. According to Nielsen data, catalogue albums which it defines as any release over 18 months old shifted 122.8m copies in 2015 in the US, down 2.9% on 2014s tally of 126.5m. And since no music article is a music article without mentioning Adele, author Tim Ingham pointed out that the pop starlets 25 album made up for 7.4 million current sales. That means without her release in 2015, catalogue sales would have cleared any current releases by 11.7 million. (Its of course important to acknowledge Adeles position in mainstream music independent artists dont necessarily have a lot in common with this sort of star when it comes to sales, whether theyre old releases or new. Adele is worth mentioning in this case because of how much of an impact one album had on the final stats for the year 2015.) Taking a deeper dive, the Nielsen stats show that there was a larger discrepancy between sales of new albums and sales of past albums in the physical sales column than in the digital sales column. Not hard to believe when you factor in the popularity of vinyl records its a lot more likely that the 21-year old getting into record collecting is purchasing 2 old Rolling Stones or Velvet Underground LPs than using his or her record player to spin albums released this year. On the digital front, current albums beat out catalog albums in sales 52.5 million vs 50.9 million, with catalog singles beating current single sales by a larger margin of 484.9 vs. 479.8. This probably comes down to the demographics of those purchasing music: younger fans are more in touch with digital consumption, following their favorite artists on social media and knowing just when their new music is going to drop. Streaming on the whole is being done by a younger demographic, and we see that this group is more likely to stream singles than older consumers, who might opt for a more dated release. This is good news all around if youre an artist looking to appeal to a wide array of ages. Are catalog sales not something youve ever really taken into serious consideration when thinking about the state of music? Youre not crazy. If youre an independent artist reviewing their year-end sales, youre likely more focused on how you can continue to better market your more recent or even upcoming work. What does this mean for artists who are going at it without label support, booking their own gigs, and managing their own marketing efforts across all channels? Its a lot of data to digest, and there are lots of conclusions to draw. One hugely clear takeaway from all of this, however, is that your old releases can still be important to your future career. Now, if you go from playing black metal to pop music over 6 years under the same name, yeah, maybe you can let go of some of those early releases as you head into a new direction. But as you continue to evolve and you begin to reach new fans, theyre going to want to hear everything youve got to bring them, even if its from years ago. There may be some releases you have from back in the day that have a lot more value you than placed in them originally. Youre trying to appeal to diehard music fans, and in 2016 diehard music fans want access. Find your super fans on social media channels, your email lists, and at your shows give them as much access to your music as you can! When you find those demos or old EPs you handed out after gigs and offer them on iTunes, Spotify and Deezer, youre able to grow your super fan base and reinforce their dedication. Were seeing that catalog sales and streaming matter for all artists, and when youre able to offer access to more of your music to super fans, everyone benefits. Share on: Pandora, Spotify And The Future Of Freemium Although not long ago it was everyone's favorite business model, the growth of freemium based services like Pandora has slowed, causing its financial backers to lose faith, and call into question the viability of freemium in general. ___________________________________________ By Mark Mulligan of the Music Industry Blog Earlier this week Soundclouds financials revealed that the company was hemorrhaging cash (even before it had to start worrying about content license fees). Now news comes that Pandora is working with Morgan Stanley to meet with potential buyers. Back in Q4 2014 free streaming got a stay of execution when the majors decided to put their weight behind freemium after a period of many executives seriously considering canning the model. In 2015 free streaming was the growth story, with YouTube out performing everyone. Now though free streaming looks to be in seriously troubled waters. So what gives? Pandoras Problem Is Wall Street Probably the biggest problem of all that Pandora has is the story it tells Wall Street. Every year Pandora accounts for a little bit more of total US radio listening, builds ad revenue and steadily strengthens its business. But thats not the sort of story Wall Street expects from a streaming media company. Investors expect dynamic growth. But Pandora is, along with Rhapsody, the granddaddy of streaming and had 10 million users before Spotify was even launched in Sweden, let alone the US. Pandora long since passed its dynamic growth stage in the US and is now a mature business that is going about sensibly building a sustainable business. The standard thing to do at this stage for streaming companies is to roll out internationally and find new markets where you can start a new dynamic growth story. This is exactly what Netflix is doing now that US subscriber growth has slowed. The approach has also served Spotify well. But the unique compulsory licensing structure in the US that underpins Pandoras business model does not exist elsewhere. There is no global landscape of SoundExchanges for Pandora to plug into. With the exception of Australia and New Zealand Pandora has not been able to negotiate rates that it launch internationally with. Actually, Slowing Growth Is A Problem Too All of which explains why Pandora has gone down the acquisition route, buying Next Big Sound, Ticket Fly and Rdio in a bid to become a full stack music company. The problem is that Wall Street either does not buy it, or simply does not get it. In fact, Wall Street does not really make much of a distinction between semi-interactive radio or on-demand streaming. The pervasive view among the investor community is that Pandora is being out competed by Spotify, regardless of the fact that there is only partial competitive overlap in terms of value proposition, target audience and business model. The net result is that Pandoras market capitalization has fallen from $7bn to $1.8bn and to make matters worse it had to raise $500 million in debt, with revenue growth slowing. Pandora Needs A New Wall Street Narrative In just the same way Apple needs a new Wall Street narrative, so does Pandora. Even if just to maintain some market value while it finds a buyer. The full stack music strategy should be central to that narrative, even though the real story is that Pandora is the future of radio. Unfortunately that story will take a decade or more to play out and most investors do not have that kind of patience. (Spotify, these are the sorts of problems youll be having to worry about this time next year). And, to be precise, it is the Pandora model that is the future of radio, not necessarily Pandora itself. Though the odds are still on Pandora playing that role, in the US at least. If Pandora really does not have the stomach for seeing out the long game it should not find it too difficult to find a buyer, if the price is right. Exactly because Pandora is the future of radio, some of those big radio incumbents are likely buyers. Hello iHeart Media. Share on: Russia has already blocked over 10,000 internet sites, describing them as propaganda for terrorism or pornography. But pages critical of the Kremlin have also been "deleted" The freedom of the internet is a thorn in many a politician's side. Some even talk about the West trying to force homosexual propaganda on Russia. The Kremlin has justified its actions as providing security for domestic users and invoked Russian patriotism. Many activists see them as government censorship, saying that, along with the other mass media, now the internet is to be under Kremlin control. Source: http://www.dw.com/en/internet-censorship-in-russia/a-19035168 The Insurance Marketing and Communications Association is reaching out to independent agencies looking to improve their skills with a Tuesday webinar. To be held February 16 at 1:00, Agents, Brokers and Carriers the ABCCs of B2B Communication will discuss effective business to business communication strategies to help agencies build community, engagement and loyalty among customers and partners. Jeremy Barnett, senior vice president of marketing at NAS Insurance Services, will present the program, which will include: Techniques for acquiring customers using content marketing strategies The use of CRM tools and targeted communications to convert leads into repeat customers New approaches to build community among customers and partners Barnett will also share success stories and real world fails in his work with NAS,that helped the company earn its 20% year-over-year growth. Building a better community with effective communications to profitably grow your business is paramount for insurance carriers, producers, underwriters and brokers, the IMCA said. Four More Shots Please S3 Review: This Old Wine In New Bottle Doesn't Get You Drunk As Easily Anymore We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers. To unlock this article: The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices have settled a substantial personal injury claim of $50,000.00 on behalf of a bicyclist injured in the Gold Coast this summer. The crash occurred when the bicyclist was riding his bicycle eastbound on West Oak Street and approaching its intersection with North LaSalle Street. At the same time the driver of a luxury SUV erratically attempted to go around the car in front him and swerved directly into the bicyclists path. The motorist illegally struck the bicycle by sideswiping him. The force of this collision forced the bicyclists off his bike and as result he suffered a dislocated left shoulder.This bicyclists injuries were so severe that he was immediately transported via ambulance by Chicago Fire Department paramedics to Northwestern Memorial Hospital emergency room. The ambulance report showed that the bicyclist had a deformity to his left shoulder. An x-ray confirmed dislocation of the bicyclists left shoulder and he had to have his shoulder reset. Upon leaving Northwestern this bicyclist knew he needed help. He reached out to the Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices were able to recover a settlement of $50,000.00 for this injured Chicago bicyclist. This is a substantial settlement for an injury that fortunately did not require surgery and the bicyclist's recovery was without any complications. The settlement was also reached without having to resort to filing a lawsuit and will fully compensate the bicyclist for his medical bills, time off from work, and his pain and suffering.In this case, the motorist violated a Chicago Municipal Code statute that protect bicyclists throughout the city. Section 9-40-160 of the Chicago Municipal Code states that every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any person operating a bicycleupon any roadway, and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary. (See Section 9-40-160 of the Chicago Municipal Code.)Without any warning or signal the motorist and his luxury SUV attempted to swerve around a vehicle directly in front of him to continue eastbound on West Oak Street. With no time for the bicyclist to react, he was violently struck from the side and injured. As a result of the crash, the bicyclist was thrown off his bicycle, injuring his left shoulder. It was very important for the Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices to recover as much money as possible from the motorists insurance company based on the injuries to this riders left shoulder and we are proud to have done so.If you have any questions regarding this post or have a question regarding personal injury law, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-239-6787 (Office) or 312-208-7702 (Nights/Weekends). Our staff and operators are available around the clock. You can also email Mike@KeatingLegal.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All e-mails and phone calls are returned promptly. All initial consultations are confidential and free. Keating Law Offices is the premiere personal injury law firm representing victims of bicycle accidents in Illinois. The firm is based in Chicago, Illinois and represents clients throughout Illinois. Keating Law Offices has successfully obtained compensation for hundreds of bicycle injury victims across Illinois. The firm's bicycle accident attorneys are always available to review your case with absolutely no risk or obligation to you. The firm's mission is to do everything possible to obtain you the maximum amount for the injuries you sustained. In the event that no recovery can be made for you, our legal services are absolutely free. The worlds first-ever 25,000-lumen 3LCD projector Epson, the worlds leading projector manufacturer, has announced it will this year launch a lineup of 3LCD business projectors with a laser-light source. The projectors, which include the worlds first-ever 25,000-lumen 3LCD projector, are also the first to include inorganic 3LCD panels with a laser light source including an inorganic phosphor wheel. Thanks to Epsons newly developed laser light source and proprietary 3LCD technology, the new lineup will offer customers outstanding performance, and includes a 4K-compatible lens and the worlds first zero offset ultra-short throw lens: Confirming Epsons commitment to the high-brightness segment, the new projectors are the result of sustained research and development. Offering mind-blowing image quality, reliability and flexibility, the lineup will include seven models ranging from 25,000 to 6,000-lumens. Epson will announce full product specifications later in the year, and there are plans for the projectors to be launched within Southeast Asia by this year. New 3LCD laser lineup to offer enhanced image quality, reliability and flexibility Epson has in recent years steadily increased its lineup of projectors in this class for applications including large exhibition rooms, concert halls and outdoor signage. The high-lumen projector market is forecast to grow by 125% by 2020, and the company is continuing to invest heavily in developing technologies and products to meet those expanding needs. We are delighted to announce Epsons first ever 3LCD laser projectors for business, said Siew Jin Kiat, Regional General Manager, Epson Visual Instruments Division. Not only do these products offer customers the outstanding value and performance you would expect from the global projector market leader, but they demonstrate Epsons firm and ongoing commitment to the high-lumen market. We are confident that these high-brightness projectors will fully demonstrate the quality and other benefits that Epson brings to the market, and will continue to expand our lineup of 3LCD projectors tailored precisely to meet the needs of customers in this segment. The advantages of Epsons new lineup of 3LCD laser projectors are as follows: Image quality With a highly efficient light source, Epsons 3LCD laser projectors are well suited for large venues such as auditoriums and concert halls. Using Epsons proprietary 3LCD technology, the new projectors are capable of reproducing spectacular images with outstanding levels of color brightness. Reliability Epsons original LCD panels and phosphor wheel are made of inorganic material with superior light and heat resistance. Combining these in a laser projector results in bright, vibrant images for extremely long periods, and 20,000 hours of maintenance-free use. Flexibility Epsons lineup of 3LCD laser projectors is designed for every venue and application. Rotating 360 degrees and fully tiltable, a large variety of lenses ensures that these projectors can be installed in a wide variety of locations for projection mapping, signage and a host of other applications. Back to top Imperial Valley News Center Notre Dame scholars address challenges for Latino Catholic education Notre Dame, Indiana - Luis Ricardo Fraga, Arthur Foundation Endowed Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership, Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science and co-director of the University of Notre Dames Institute for Latino Studies, served as co-editor of a special issue of the Journal of Catholic Education, its first issue ever to focus specifically on Latinos and Catholic education. According to Fraga, the Jan. 28 special issue, titled Latinos, Education, and the Church, concerns the opportunities and challenges confronting the Catholic Church in providing educational opportunities for the children of Latino families. Although Latinos now comprise 35 to 40 percent of all Catholics in the U.S., and a much larger share of younger practicing Catholics in the U.S., only 15 percent of students attending Catholic schools are Latinos and only 3 percent of all Latino children attend Catholic schools, Fraga said. Notre Dame, through the Institute for Educational Initiatives, the Alliance for Catholic Education and the Catholic School Advantage program, has figured prominently in making this an important issue. In addition to Fraga, Notre Dame scholars contributing to the issue include Rev. Joseph Corpora, C.S.C., director of university-school partnerships for ACE; Timothy Matovina, professor of theology and co-director of the Institute for Latino Studies, and Andre P. Audette, doctoral student in political science. In the article Es Su Escuela Nuestra Escuela? Latino Access to Catholic Schools, Father Corpora and Fraga write that the Catholic School Advantage program is just one example of the role Catholic universities can play in promoting new ideas, identifying supportive interests, and developing additional, innovative institutional relationships and structures that can serve dioceses and schools who want to increase Latino enrollment. Compliance cannot compel ethical behavior Ann Arbor, Michigan - Corporate ethics compliance programs have flourished since the federal government gave companies that established one a break on fines and penalties in 1991. Corporate scandals also have continued unabated. A new analysis by University of Michigan researcher David Hess suggests that both companies and the government rely too heavily on merely having a compliance programand not enough on preventing bad behavior. Hess recommends two key additions to federal corporate sentencing guidelines that could help companies achieve an ethical culture, not just a system of legal compliance. "It's really easy to focus on things that can be measuredlike how many employees received compliance training or how many audits we didand say the job is being done," said Hess, associate professor of business law at U-M's Ross School of Business. "But to really have an ethical infrastructure you need the right culture, and that's not easy to measure. So over time, compliance and culture became these two separate things when they're really two sides of the same coin." Current government guidelines and the way they're adopted by companies create too many "paper" compliance programs with no real teeth, he said. They also bring criticism from those who think it lets companies off the hook too easily, and from those who say it doesn't give companies enough credit for the work they do to create these programs. The government lays out seven requirements: The corporation must establish standards and procedures designed to reduce the risk of criminal conduct. The compliance program must be overseen by high-level personnel. The corporation should not grant substantial discretionary authority to any individual who has a propensity to engage in criminal conduct. The organization's standards and procedures must be communicated to all employees. The corporation must enforce its program, and may ensure compliance with its standards and procedures through monitoring and auditing systems, and means for employees to report wrongdoing without risk of retribution. The organization must consistently enforce its standards. Any violation of the program should be followed with appropriate disciplinary action and updating of the program as necessary. To that, Hess would add: Monitor the organization's informal system of communication, surveillance and sanctions, and promote an informal system that supports the goals of the compliance and ethics program. Periodically assess organizational members' perception of the organization's ethical climate. This gives some structure and meaning to the idea of culture, Hess said. It connects the formal system, the compliance program, to the softer, informal systemgroup pressures and ethical norms at the local level. The two should not be treated separately. "The managerial part of this is just as important as the legal part," he said. "The goal isn't simply to prevent a bad person from doing a bad thing, but to ensure the company isn't pushing a good person into doing a bad thing, and to create a culture that helps people do the right thing." Male biology students consistently underestimate female peers, study finds Seattle, Washington - Female college students are more likely to abandon studies in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines than their male classmates, and new research from the University of Washington suggests that those male peers may play a key role in undermining their confidence. Published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, the study found that males enrolled in undergraduate biology classes consistently ranked their male classmates as more knowledgeable about course content, even over better-performing female students. The over-ranking equated to males ranking their male peers smarter by three-quarters of a GPA point than their equally-performing female classmates, showing what researchers say amounts to a clear and consistent gender bias. Female students, on the other hand, repeatedly showed no significant bias in whom they picked as knowledgeable. This shows that there is a huge inequity in who male students think is strong in the class materials, said lead author Dan Grunspan, a doctoral candidate in the UW Department of Anthropology. Males were consistently nominated as being more knowledgeable by their male peers, regardless of performance. The study involved surveying around 1,700 UW students enrolled in the same undergraduate biology course. Students in three classes were asked to name the classmates they considered strongest in their understanding of class materials at multiple points in the course. Additionally, instructors were surveyed on which students were most outspoken in class an effort to determine which students would be most visible to other students as knowledgeable, given the large class size. More males than females were considered outspoken by the instructors, the researchers found. Even after accounting for differences in performance and outspokenness, male students got more recognition from other males than their female peers did, and the finding was consistent across 11 different class surveys. For an outspoken female student to be nominated by males at the same level as a male student, her performance would need to be more than three-quarters of a GPA point higher than the males. Using UWs standard grade scale, thats like believing a male with a B and a female with an A have the same ability, said co-lead author Sarah Eddy, who participated in the research as a UW postdoctoral biology researcher and is now a research scientist at the University of Texas, Austin. On the other hand, females nominated their male and female peers almost equitably across all the surveys, after controlling for differences in performance and outspokenness. The researchers determined that the female bias was so small it could have arisen by chance, and they estimate that gender bias among male students was 19 times stronger than among females. The top three most-nominated students in all classes were male, even though there were also outspoken female students in the class with the same grades. The findings are troubling, said Eddy, since peer support is a key factor in retaining women in STEM fields. To stay in STEM you have to believe you can do it, and one of the things that can convince you of that is your peers saying you can do it, she said. Helping students find peers who believe in them is really important, especially for women, because theyre not likely to get that from males in their class. The paper grew from research Eddy and other UW biology colleagues were doing on gender disparities in biology education. A previous study by the group found male students entering biology with the same GPA level as their female peers performed better in introductory biology. They also found that female students generally felt less comfortable speaking up in class. Grunspan, meanwhile, was doing research on how undergraduates form study networks. He initially wasnt focused on the gender makeup of those networks, but noticed a pattern of male students viewing their male peers as being stronger in course materials. As he dug further into the data, that pattern became even more pronounced. I realized that there was a really big problem, Grunspan said. Something is going on in the classroom that is either being influenced by currently held implicit biases or that is helping build implicit biases. We need to be thinking about what that means for the future. Students are the future policymakers in the country, he said. They are the people who will someday be responsible for hiring and making other important decisions. Because these are millennials showing this pattern, it means the age-old problem of gender bias may not go away simply because we have a new generation in charge. Previous research has focused on gender biases among faculty in STEM disciplines, but less is known about how current college students perceive women in STEM and how their views might impact female students. The researchers focused on biology, since females and males enroll equally in biology courses at the undergraduate level. The gender bias their study revealed, they say, could be even more pronounced in other STEM disciplines. Given that we typically think of biology as a STEM field without a gender gap, you could imagine that other fields like physics or mathematics or engineering, which numerically are very dominated by males, would have an even stronger effect than what were finding, Eddy said. The researchers say gender bias in the classroom could be mitigated through simple measures such as fostering female study groups, using randomized class lists to call on students to participate and creating small-group discussions to establish a less intimidating environment for women. But changing systemic gender biases, Eddy acknowledged, is a difficult challenge. The studys authors and their colleagues are addressing that challenge through ongoing research that they hope will help inform inclusive teaching practices. As science instructors at the college level, you can only affect so much, she said. Theres been at least 18 years of socialization. You do what you can to interrupt that. Other co-authors are Sara Brownell, an assistant professor of biology at Arizona State University, Tempe; Benjamin Wiggins, an instructional coordinator in the UW Department of Biology; Alison Crowe, a member of the UW Biology Education Research Group; and Steven Goodreau, a UW associate professor of anthropology. For Shelf to Travel, Twitter Video Shows Three Easy Hacks To Fold A Pair Of Jeans Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen both took their moments onstage as BAFTA presenters to jokingly address diversity issues within the awards race, as brought up by the popular tag #OscarsSoWhite. "Its so great to be here at this really serious event," Rebel Wilson stated in absolute deadpan, taking to the stage to present Best Supporting Actor to Mark Rylance (winning for Bridge of Spies). "I have never been invited to the Oscars, because as you know they are racists, but the BAFTAs have diverse members and thats what we all want to see in life. Diverse members." Though the Academy Awards fail to feature a single non-white nominee in its acting categories, the BAFTAs are at least notable for the inclusion of both Benicio Del Toro (for Sicario) and Idris Elba (for Beasts of No Nation) amongst the Best Supporting Actor category. Baftas 2016 winners Show all 17 1 /17 Baftas 2016 winners Baftas 2016 winners Kate Winslet Winner of the Best Supporting Actress for 'Steve Jobs' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Leonardo DiCaprio Winner of the Best Leading Actor for 'Revenant' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Alejandro G. Inarritu Winner of the Best Director for 'Revenant' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Lenny Abrahamson Lenny Abrahamson, accepts the Best Actress award on behalf of Brie Larson for 'Room' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners John Boyega Winner of the EE Rising Star Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Eddie Izzard and Pete Docter Winners of the Best Animated Film Award for 'Inside Out' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Blake Harrison (L) and Gemma Chan (R) with Nina Gantz (2L) and Emilie Jouffroy Winners of the British Short Animation award for 'Edmond' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Hugo Sigman (L) and Damian Szifron Winners of the Film Not In The English Language award for 'Wild Tales' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Domhnall Gleeson, Kate Winslet, Julie Walters, Saoirse Ronan, John Crowley, Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Nick Hornby, guest and Idris Elba Winners of the Outstanding British Film award for 'Brooklyn' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners David Joseph (L) and Chris King (2ndR) pose with winners Asif Kapadia and (2ndL) and James Gay-Rees (R) Winners of the Best Documentary for 'Amy' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Adam McKay and Charles Randolph Winners of Best Adapted Screenplay for 'The Big Short' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh and Neal Scanlan Winners of the Visual Effects award for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Chris Duesterdiek, Martin Hernandez, Frank A. Montano, Jon Taylor and Randy Thom Winners of the Sound award for 'The Revenant' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Director Caroline Bartleet (2ndR) and producer Rebecca Morgan (2ndL) and guests Winners of the British short film for 'Operator' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Naji Abu Nowarn and Rupert Lloyd Winners of the Outstanding Debut award for 'Theeb' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Jenny Beavan Winner of the Best Costume Design Award for 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Tom Hughes (L) and Annabelle Wallis (R) pose the winners Lesley Vanderwalt (2ndL) and Damian Martin (2ndR) Winners of the Make Up and Hair award for 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Getty Images "One day I hope to return here to collect a BAFTA myself. I have already been practicing my transgender face," she added, in reference to Eddie Redmayne's nomination for The Danish Girl. "Sorry, Idris Elba, you are making me a bit nervous," she then joked. "But I am sociologically programmed to want chocolate on Valentines Day." Sacha Baron Cohen also took a stronger jab at this year's lack of diversity in its Best Actress category; "The main reason I agreed to present at this awards ceremony is that BAFTA has shown none of the discrimination and prejudice, which is so shamefully on display at the Oscars. It gives me great pride that every year BAFTA makes sure that one of the lead actress nominees is a dame Dench, Smith." As he read out the winner, Baron Cohen joked about presenting the award to the Best "white" Actress. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Kate Winslet has dedicated her Bafta to all the girls who are doubting themselves after being told by her school drama teacher to settle for the fat girl parts. The Oscar winner won Best Supporting Actress on Sunday night for her performance in Steve Jobs but admitted that her path to success had once been rocked by criticism from others. Baftas 2016 winners list in full When I was younger, when I was 14, I was told by a drama teacher that I might do okay if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts, she told reporters in the press room backstage. So what I always feel in these moments is that any young woman who has ever been put down by a teacher, by a friend, by even a parent, just dont listen to any of it, because thats what I did - I kept on going and I overcame my fears and got over my insecurities. I would like to dedicate this prize to all the girls who are doubting themselves Baftas 2016 winners Show all 17 1 /17 Baftas 2016 winners Baftas 2016 winners Kate Winslet Winner of the Best Supporting Actress for 'Steve Jobs' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Leonardo DiCaprio Winner of the Best Leading Actor for 'Revenant' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Alejandro G. Inarritu Winner of the Best Director for 'Revenant' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Lenny Abrahamson Lenny Abrahamson, accepts the Best Actress award on behalf of Brie Larson for 'Room' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners John Boyega Winner of the EE Rising Star Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Eddie Izzard and Pete Docter Winners of the Best Animated Film Award for 'Inside Out' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Blake Harrison (L) and Gemma Chan (R) with Nina Gantz (2L) and Emilie Jouffroy Winners of the British Short Animation award for 'Edmond' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Hugo Sigman (L) and Damian Szifron Winners of the Film Not In The English Language award for 'Wild Tales' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Domhnall Gleeson, Kate Winslet, Julie Walters, Saoirse Ronan, John Crowley, Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Nick Hornby, guest and Idris Elba Winners of the Outstanding British Film award for 'Brooklyn' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners David Joseph (L) and Chris King (2ndR) pose with winners Asif Kapadia and (2ndL) and James Gay-Rees (R) Winners of the Best Documentary for 'Amy' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Adam McKay and Charles Randolph Winners of Best Adapted Screenplay for 'The Big Short' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh and Neal Scanlan Winners of the Visual Effects award for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Chris Duesterdiek, Martin Hernandez, Frank A. Montano, Jon Taylor and Randy Thom Winners of the Sound award for 'The Revenant' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Director Caroline Bartleet (2ndR) and producer Rebecca Morgan (2ndL) and guests Winners of the British short film for 'Operator' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Naji Abu Nowarn and Rupert Lloyd Winners of the Outstanding Debut award for 'Theeb' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Jenny Beavan Winner of the Best Costume Design Award for 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Getty Images Baftas 2016 winners Tom Hughes (L) and Annabelle Wallis (R) pose the winners Lesley Vanderwalt (2ndL) and Damian Martin (2ndR) Winners of the Make Up and Hair award for 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Getty Images In her on-stage acceptance speech, Winslet said: What an incredible year to be nominated. It has been an extraordinary year for women, and I feel so proud to stand alongside you Jennifer, Julie, Rooney and Alicia. Your performances really are extraordinary. Winslet will attend the Oscars on Sunday 28 February, where she is also nominated for her role in Danny Boyles biopic about the late Apple co-founder. She will go up against Carols Rooney Mara, The Danish Girls Alicia Vikander, Spotlights Rachel McAdams and The Hateful Eights Jennifer Jason Leigh for the gong. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} While Deadpool has been breaking box-office records all over the world, grossing an estimated 135 million in its first weekend in the US, the star at the centre of its rise to popularity - Ryan Reynolds - remains as down-to-earth as ever. In a recent Facebook post, Reynolds shared how he met with Deadpool fan Conner McGraith, a young man suffering from cancer. Like Wade Wilson, Connor's trying to put cancer in his rearview mirror, he wrote on the social media network. About 6 weeks ago, I traveled to Edmonton Alberta to show Connor the movie at his hospital. Of course, Deadpool was right up his alley because Connor's the funniest, potty-mouthed Canadian mercenary I've ever met. See the post below. Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls. This is my friend, Connor McGrath. He's quite possibly the biggest #Deadpool fan on... Posted by Ryan Reynolds on Friday, 12 February 2016 Conners isnt the only Deadpool fan who Reynolds invited to see the film early; while on the Jimmy Fallon show, the actor told of how he invited a fan to the premier in New York after she mistakingly thought she had missed seeing the film. The reason she thought shed missed seeing Deadpool, weeks before it even reached cinemas? She was, according to Reynolds, high as a kite after getting her wisdom teeth removed. Deadpool has been met with near universal acclaim and is in cinemas now. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} For many of us, the rousing songs sung by Disney princesses are synonymous with our childhoods. But what if they were performed in the characters native tongues, rather than in English? Thankfully, YouTube channel Movie Munchies has translated some of the classic numbers into their original languages. Now, you can enjoy Ariel singing Part of That World in Danish, Mulan musing on her reflection in Mandarin, Elsa bellowing Let It Go in Norwegian, Jasmine being wowed on that magic carpet ride in Arabic and Tangleds Rapunzel and Flynn seeing the light in German. If you think this might ruin the magic, think again but sadly, Disney doesnt exactly go in for realism. Disney princesses have been repeatedly criticised for presenting unattainable beauty standards to little girls, with eyes larger than their wrists and ridiculously tiny waists. New princess Moana will be introduced in a self-titled film coming out later this year but, despite being the adventurous daughter of a Polynesian chief, we somehow doubt shell be singing in Samoan. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Viola Beach has entered the UK charts following the band's tragic deaths in Sweden. Their debut single 'Swings & Waterslides' is currently sitting at number 5 on the UK iTunes charts, though it may climb further in the light of an impassioned fan campaign to have the song reach number 1. Following the news of their deaths on Sunday, fans gathered on social media to launch the campaign, which has seen the track rising in numbers ever since. Hailing from Warrington, the band's members were Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, and Jack Dakin. All four men, alongside their manager Craig Tarry, were killed on the outskirts of Stockholm; their car falling 80ft from a bridge into the canal below. The band's label Communion had previously announced all proceeds from their latest single, 'Boys that Sing', will be donated to the bands members' and managers' families. Everyone here at Communion is in a state of total shock and sorrow, and our thoughts go out to the families and friends of Craig and the band," Communion's statement read. "Viola Beach had only recently come into the Communion family, and had everything going for them great songs, passion, talent, drive everything that a band should have. To sit down with the band was to sit down with a group of guys whose band you wanted to be in, and to be in the presence of a band who knew just what it would take to make it." They have not clarified, however, where the profits from the sale of 'Swings & Waterslides' will go. Tributes have poured in for the band, who were set to support Blossoms on their February and March UK and Ireland tour, as well as spots at SXSW, The Great Escape, Latitude, and T in the Park. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Alan Partridge is back with six new episodes of Mid Morning Matters starting tonight, a new book of essays and think pieces and a one-off documentary in which he tackles the thorny subject of inequality, or, as he calls it, the schasm (schism/chasm) between the haves and the have-nots. In it, he will travel to the North, doorstep a loan shark, hang out with a gang and other cringey things. He says something on air that he shouldn't to some working-class people. And then he realises that there's some capital in it because he can do one of those documentaries where he puts on a leather jacket, goes on a journey of redemption and comes out of it a better man, explains Rob Gibbons, who together with his twin brother, Neil, is one of the chief architects of Partridge's Noughties comeback. Now 38, the twins have been immersed in Alan for eight years not counting a few years of young fandom during Partridge's Nineties peak. Having started out writing material for Steve Coogan's 2008 live tour, they went on to co-write the 2010 comeback web series Mid Morning Matters, the bestselling autobiography I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan and the 2013 film Alpha Papa with Coogan and Armando Iannucci. They are, says Coogan, essential to 21st-century Alan. Recommended Read more Pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre approved despite Alan Being as prolific and essential as they are has come at a price, though. People sometimes say that if you write a lot of Partridge, you find yourself becoming Partridge. I've always thought not, but then I looked on my TV planner the other week and I'd recorded a documentary called The Golden Age of Trams, says Rob. So it's happened, I just have to accept it. The Gibbonses, originally from Sandbach in Cheshire, never set out to become comedy writers. All we knew was that we had an ambition not to be in an office job, says Rob, older by one minute, clean-shaven and the slightly softer-spoken one. And not to live in Sandbach, adds Neil, younger, bearded and slightly gruffer. After university Neil did law at Manchester, Rob, political science at Warwick they moved to London where they lived together in Tooting. Rob was working in PR and Neil was working on Leisure Week and doing the odd stand-up gig when he could be bothered, which wasn't very often. One day they were tipped off about a BBC competition for new comedy writers One of those schemes they do once in a while when they realise that everyone who works from them is from London, says Neil. They were trying to encourage writers from the regions either living in the regions, or had been to, or had heard of the regions They submitted a sketch about a Labour supporter who sets out to become a councillor in order to win back his ex-wife. It was quite Partridge-esque. Or like The Thick of It, if The Thick of It had turned out really badly, says Rob. They won, got an agent and started doing odd sketches for BBC Radio 4 programmes such as Dead Ringers. Not our thing, really. It was totally unfulfilling, says Rob. I'd rather do office work, to be honest. They soon got a new agent, who sent one of their scripts to Baby Cow, the comedy production company owned by Coogan and Henry Normal. That was Pigsy Doodle, a bleakly funny tale of a man who has an early mid-life crisis, which re-acquaints him with his childhood imaginary friend, an animated pencil drawing who has gone to seed. Coogan and Normal called them in straight away and asked them to write material for a revival of Paul/Pauline Calf. Our style was similarly northern and crude, I guess, says Rob. They did as requested and wrote a bit of extra Partridge material too, just in case. A few months later, just when they thought they'd been dropped, they were called back in to write Mid Morning Matters, the first Partridge show for eight years, which films him broadcasting his North Norfolk Digital radio show via webcam. I asked the Gibbonses to write some material for Alan Partridge as a roll of the dice, says Coogan. What they sent back was a revelation. They seemed to intuitively understand Alan's psyche in a way that was faithful to the character yet surprised me. I had tears rolling down my face from laughter. I knew that Alan could not only be revived but that he could be developed in a fresher way. They brought a vulnerability and pathos to the character as well as making him more 'socially liberal', in a David Cameron sort of way. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Certainly Partridge 2.0 is a different beast from the bombastic Nineties TV star. He's been through a lot, not least the radio station siege that formed the plot of Alpha Papa. We don't want to make that a major part of his character, though. Alan is a local radio DJ, a small man who wants big things for himself and if you start reminding people that he's been in a siege and shot a man dead live on air, then suddenly he's got a really interesting life and you don't want that, explains Neil. Knowing them: Neil and Rob Gibbons (David Sandison) In the new series, Alan has a girlfriend, Angela first seen in Alpha Papa and finds himself grudgingly in charge of her two stepsons. In the first episode, he tackles blood sports, dinner parties and Jimmy Savile while making the usual gaffes A quick correction: yesterday I read out a text saying oestrogen was a kind of gas used to blow up balloons. Of course it isn't. It's a hormone used by women to perform a number of tasks relating to, ah, er, themselves. As the series continues, he loses his broadcasting mojo. He looks around and sees that broadcasters aren't held in such high esteem any more and he has a bit of a wobble, says Rob. We've tried to put in an extra layer to Alan. He's not just blurting stuff out that anyone else would regret. There's a little more art to the kind of things he says now. He's a reflection of the Blair years, in a way. He's a Little Englander but he's aware that that is not always the fashion, he adds. He's metrosexual sometimes, too, says Neil. He understands that that plays well. He's always trying to present a version of himself whether it's a tough man of character or a touchy-feely, sensitive soul. You can't be too Partridge-by-numbers. You have to play with the competing thoughts that are going on in his head. If you make it too much of the former, it feels like Alan 1.0. Not that it wasn't a brilliant character but when he was in On the Hour, it wasn't the distilled character study that Mid Morning Matters Alan is. The brothers watched Partridge when they were growing up but were never anorak-y fans, enjoying Cheers, Fawlty Towers, Porridge, The Mary Whitehouse Experience as well as The Day Today. They were aware still are that their subject comes with baggage. As Coogan says: It's not easy as you have to satisfy diehards and also bring something new. It has to be better each time. The new series I think passes muster with the best of Alan. Because people have taken Alan to their hearts, there's a version that they think is sacred, agrees Neil. You're aware of that but we were always mindful not to be straitjacketed by that. I'm Alan Partridge was 20 years ago and people change in 20 years. If you allow him to just play the same 'Back of the net!', 'Cashback!' James Bond fanatic version then it doesn't feel real, because no one is frozen in time like that. Culture news in pictures Show all 33 1 /33 Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures 30 September 2016 An employee hangs works of art with "Grand Teatro" by Marino Marini (R) and bronze sculpture "Sfera N.3" by Arnaldo Pomodoro seen ahead of a Contemporary Art auction on 7 October, at Sotheby's in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 29 September 2016 Street art by Portuguese artist Odeith is seen in Dresden, during an exhibition "Magic City - art of the streets" AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 Dancers attend a photocall for the new "THE ONE Grand Show" at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, Germany REUTERS Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 With an array of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice stands as a monument to two decades of artistic collaboration between Cheri Pann and husband Gonzalo Duran REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A gallery assistant poses amongst work by Anthea Hamilton from her nominated show "Lichen! Libido!(London!) Chastity!" at a preview of the Turner Prize in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A technician wearing virtual reality glasses checks his installation in three British public telephone booths, set up outside the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The installation allows visitors a 3-D look into the museum which has twenty-two paintings belonging to the British Royal Collection, on loan for an exhibit from 29 September 2016 till 8 January 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 An Indian artist dressed as Hindu god Shiva performs on a chariot as he participates in a religious procession 'Ravan ki Barat' held to mark the forthcoming Dussehra festival in Allahabad AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Air Power', 1984, is displayed at the Bowie/Collector media preview at Sotheby's in New York AFP/Getty Culture news in pictures 25 September 2016 A woman looks at an untitled painting by Albert Oehlen during the opening of an exhibition of works by German artists Georg Baselitz and Albert Oehlen in Reutlingen, Germany. The exhibition runs at the Kunstverein (art society) Reutlingen until 15 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 24 September 2016 Fan BingBing (C) attends the closing ceremony of the 64th San Sebastian Film Festival at Kursaal in San Sebastian, Spain Getty Images Culture news in pictures 23 September 2016 A view of the artwork 'You Are Metamorphosing' (1964) as part of the exhibition 'Retrospektive' of Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo at Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. The exhibition runs from 25 September 2016 to 1 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 22 September 2016 Jo Applin from the Courtauld Institute of Art looks at Green Tilework in Live Flesh by Adriana Vareja, which features in a new exhibition, Flesh, at York Art Gallery. The new exhibition features works by Degas, Chardin, Francis Bacon and Sarah Lucas, showing how flesh has been portrayed by artists over the last 600 years PA Culture news in pictures 21 September 2016 Performers Sean Atkins and Sally Miller standing in for the characters played by Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell during a photocall for Tim Burton's "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children" at Potters Field Park in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A detail from the blanket 'Alpine Cattle Drive' from 1926 by artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is displayed at the 'Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum for Contemporary Arts' in Berlin. The exhibition named 'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Hieroglyphen' showing the complete collection of Berlin's Nationalgallerie works of the German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and will run from 23 September 2016 until 26 February 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A man looks at portrait photos by US photographer Bruce Gilden in the exhibition 'Masters of Photography' at the photokina in Cologne, Germany. The trade fair on photography, photokina, schowcases some 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries and runs from 20 to 25 September. The event also features various photo exhibitions EPA Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A woman looks at 'Blue Poles', 1952 by Jackson Pollock during a photocall at the Royal Academy of Arts, London PA Culture news in pictures 19 September 2016 Art installation The Refusal of Time, a collaboration with Philip Miller, Catherine Meyburgh and Peter Galison, which features as part of the William Kentridge exhibition Thick Time, showing from 21 September to 15 January at the Whitechapel Gallery in London PA Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Artists creating one off designs at the Mm6 Maison Margiela presentation during London Fashion Week Spring/Summer collections 2017 in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Bethenny Frankel attends the special screening of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" to celebrate the 25th Anniversary Edition release on Blu-Ray and DVD in New York City Getty Images for Walt Disney Stu Culture news in pictures 17 September 2016 Visitors attend the 2016 Oktoberfest beer festival at Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany Getty Images Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Visitors looks at British artist Damien Hirst work of art 'The Incomplete Truth', during the 13th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled 'The World, Europe and Ukraine: storms of changes', organised by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation at the Mystetsky Arsenal Art Center in Kiev AP Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Tracey Emin's "My Bed" is exhibited at the Tate Liverpool as part of the exhibition Tracey Emin And William Blake In Focus, which highlights surprising links between the two artists Getty Images Culture news in pictures 15 September 2016 Musician Dave Grohl (L) joins musician Tom Morello of Prophets of Rage onstage at the Forum in Inglewood, California Getty Images Culture news in pictures 14 September 2016 Model feebee poses as part of art installation "Narcissism : Dazzle room" made by artist Shigeki Matsuyama at rooms33 fashion and design exhibition in Tokyo. Matsuyama's installation features a strong contrast of black and white, which he learned from dazzle camouflage used mainly in World War I AP Culture news in pictures 13 September 2016 Visitors look at artworks by Chinese painter Cui Ruzhuo during the exhibition 'Glossiness of Uncarved Jade' held at the exhibition hall 'Manezh' in St. Petersburg, Russia. More than 200 paintings by the Chinese artist are presented until 25 September EPA Culture news in pictures 12 September 2016 A visitor looks at Raphael's painting 'Extase de Sainte Cecile', 1515, from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence during the opening of a Raphael exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia. The first Russian exhibition of the works of the Italian Renaissance artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino includes eight paintings and three drawings which come from Italy. Th exhibit opens to the public from 13 September to 11 December EPA Culture news in pictures 11 September 2016 Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd perform during Otis Redding 75th Birthday Celebration - Rehearsals at the Macon City Auditorium in Macon, Georgia Getty Images for Otis Redding 75 Culture news in pictures 10 September 2016 Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Singers at the Last Night of the Proms 2016 at the Royal Albert Hall in London PA Culture news in pictures 9 September 2016 A visitor walks past a piece entitled "Fruitcake" by Joana Vasconcelo, during the Beyond Limits selling exhibition at Chatsworth House near Bakewell REUTERS Culture news in pictures 8 September 2016 A sculpture of a crescent standing on the 2,140 meters high mountain 'Freiheit' (German for 'freedom'), in the Alpstein region of the Appenzell alps, eastern Switzerland. The sculpture is lighted during the nights by means of solar panels. The 38-year-old Swiss artist and atheist Christian Meier set the crescent on the peak to start a debate on the meaning of religious symbols - as summit crosses - on mountains. 'Because so many peaks have crosses on them, it struck me as a great idea to put up an equally absurd contrast'. 'Naturally I wanted to provoke in a fun way. But it goes beyond that. The actions of an artist should be food for thought, both visually and in content' EPA Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures Neil lives in south London with his interior designer wife and their 18-month old; Rob lives nearby with his wife and four-year old son. They come up with plots together then write separately You have a shorthand if you're brothers. It makes things easier but it can also make things more difficult because you don't have to bother being polite, which can cause arguments. When they have a rough script, they sit down with Coogan. He's very, very forensic about what makes a joke work or not work. He'll really focus on the minutiae, sometimes to a fault. But he's generally a very fair man and brings no ego to the table at all, says Neil. He does like to have an afternoon nap. If it gets to 2pm and he's had a lunch that contains carbs, there's a little sofa in the writing room and he has the ability to fall asleep on it within 30 seconds. We leave it a few minutes then cough loudly, adds Rob. And then it's like someone's pressed 'on' he's back and absolutely fine. They are now writing a BBC Film which will star Coogan as a 17th-century witchfinder. It's a two-hander about a witchfinder and a witch, a roadtrip movie before there were roads, basically. They also wrote on the last series of Veep and still have a sitcom script floating around that was sort of based on Chris Huhne About a politician who had come out of prison and was living among the constituents he'd let down. Next, they have to write the follow-up to I, Partridge in time for Christmas. And I think after that we'll have to put Alan back in his box and slide him back under the bed for a couple of years, says Rob. Everybody needs to have a break, recharge the Alan batteries. 'Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters' returns to Sky Atlantic tomorrow at 10pm Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Radio 4 is to put punk poetry at the heart of its comedy schedule with new shows from John Cooper Clarke, Alexei Sayle and Henry Normal. Cooper Clarke, the so-called bard of Salford, will host Dr John Cooper Clarke at The BBC, a four-part series in which he will perform a mix of new and old selections of his poesy to a live audience. Normal, who earlier in his career toured as a performance poet supporting Pulp, went on to set up Baby Cow with Coogan and produced comedies including Gavin & Stacey and The Mighty Boosh. He will return to Radio 4 for the first time in more than 20 years with a live show A Normal Family, in which he describes life with his mildly severely autistic son, Johnny. Radio 4 will also bring back the actor and poet Alexei Sayle, who will perform four monologues of his surreal humour under the title Alexei Sayles Imaginary Sandwich Bar. The new shows are part of a diverse new schedule drawn up by the networks comedy chief Sioned Wiliam, who has also commissioned new work from the poet and playwright Lemn Sissay. Poetry is such a distillation of words and so scrutinised and forensically constructed that it actually matches the same kind of discipline Im looking for in comedy, so it works incredibly well, she told The Independent. With the poetry on Radio 4 they tend to be fantastically charismatic personalities as well. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA Wiliam, a former controller of comedy at ITV, said that splintering television audiences were allowing Radio 4 to attract the best of broadcast comedy talent. For our Radio 4 Friday Night Comedy there is over a 2m audience, a huge audience that a lot of telly programmes dont get anymore, she said. Its becoming more and more of an awareness, over 5.5 million listen to Radio 4 comedy over a week. I have done shows for telly that have had 300,000 watching them and its a sobering thought how the landscape is changing. Australian comedian Sam Simmons, winner of the prestigious Fosters award at last years Edinburgh Festival, has been commissioned to host his show Sam Simons Is Not a People Person, based on his search for rare birds, an unorthodox take on a favourite topic of Radio 4s. The network has also plundered the Edinburgh event for Canadian comedian and guitarist Mae Martin, who is to make a four-episode show on the Millennial generations sexual revolution. Daphne, a Goons-style comedy troupe whose sketch show was another Edinburgh sensation, is also coming to Radio 4. Blackburn comic Tez Ilyas, another of last years Edinburgh hits, will present four 15 minute programmes made in the style of TED talks and designed as a topical guide to being a British Muslim. The network will combine David Jason with One Foot in the Grave writer David Renwick for a faux interview show called Desolation Jests. Wiliam said that Simmons, who will do a late night show, blew me away with his performance at Edinburgh. Radio 4 is a wonderful place to start someone like Sam, who is relatively new to Britain. I imagine that the allure of being able to work purely with voice and sound must have seemed an exciting prospect. Wiliam was a member of the Oxford Revue at university with Armando Iannucci and Rebecca Front. She has commissioned Front and her brother, Jeremy Front to make a comedy pilot, Jack & Millie, based on an old Jewish couple. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Google was autocorrecting searches so that they read Muslims support terrorism, according to reports. In a slip-up that has now been fixed, Google would tell people searching for Muslims report terrorism that they might have been looking instead for Muslims support terrorism. The problem appears to have appeared automatically, and through no manual input from anyone at Google. It instead seems to be a result of the huge number of people searching for and writing that Muslims support acts of terror. Googles autocorrecting feature is thought to work by analysing words that tend to occur around each other, meaning that its computers are able to guess that one word is out of place, and what it might be supposed to read. But it appears to have done that for the terrorism phrase, with support being written around the world Muslims and terrorism so much more that the algorithm saw it as an error. Hind Makki, a blogger who first found the issue, told Quartz that she had found it while looking for a report specifically about the fact that Muslims do report suspicions of terrorism. She was reporting a piece about Clintons point about how American Muslims are on the frontline of our defense and how problematic that framing is, Ms Makki told Quartz. American Muslims *already* report suspicious activity & suspected terrorism to the authorities (and I wanted to link a particular study on my blog). Ms Makki said that the suggestion was sad, since it shows just how many people believe that Muslims are involved in supporting terrorism. Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty I thought it was hilarious, but also sad and immediately screen capped it, Ms Makki told Quartz. I know its not Googles fault, but it goes to show just how many people online search for Muslims support terrorism, though the reality on the ground is the opposite of that. The autocorrect has now been removed. It isnt clear whether that was manually removed by Google, or if the articles posted about it have meant that Muslims report terrorism has been written together enough to alter Googles calculations. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Even though we use our iPhones all day every day, there are still a handful of features that are relatively unknown. Some of these features are buried in the Settings menu while others are hidden in plain sight. Plus, there are a few things Siri can do for you that you may not know about. (Note: Most of these features are available in iOS 8 and higher, while some are available in iOS 9 and higher.) Respond to texts without unlocking your phone. You can respond to texts directly from your lock screen by pulling down on the notification drawer and swiping over to the left on the text notification. You'll see a Reply option, and tapping it will let you type a response without having to unlock your iPhone. Respond to texts while you're in an app. You can answer a text the same way you would on the lock screen. (Lisa Eadicicco) If you're in an app, you can swipe down from the top and access the notification drawer to answer a text the same way you would on the lock screen. See which apps drain the most battery. Want to know why your iPhone battery is draining faster than usual? Head over to Settings > Battery. This will tell you which apps are occupying the most battery power. View every photo someone has texted you, and vice versa There's an easy way to view every photo and video you've sent someone. Just open the messaging thread in the Messages app and press the Details button in the upper right corner. Send audio and video messages that self-destruct. You can choose to let them expire after two minutes or never. (Lisa Eadicicco) You can send audio snippets and video messages that expire after two minutes. If you head to Settings>Messages and scroll to the bottom, you'll notice a section for audio and video messages. You can choose to let them expire after two minutes or never. Share your current location with a friend. If you don't feel like explaining where you are, you can simply send your location to another person via text message. Just tap the Details button in the upper right corner of your message thread and select Send My Location. Let your friends track where you go. If you want your friends or a family member to be able to track you as you move, you can complete the same steps mentioned in the previous slide and choose the Share My Location instead of Send My Location. You can choose to share your location for one hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. Mute text messages. Just head over to your messaging thread and switch the "Do Not Disturb." (Lisa Eadicicco) You can mute text message notifications for individual contacts and conversations. Just head over to your messaging thread and switch the Do Not Disturb. Leave a group conversation. Group texts can be effective for reaching many people at once, but also annoying. If you want to leave a group conversation, simply tap the Details button in the upper right corner of the group conversation and select Leave Conversation. Name a group conversation. If you frequently chat with the same group or are talking with multiple people about a particular topic, naming a group conversation can be helpful. To do this, head over to Details in the message thread and fill in the Group Name field with an appropriate title. Multitask within emails. As you're composing an email, simply tap the top of the message where it says either "New Message" or the subject and drag it down to the bottom of the screen. (Lisa Eadicicco) If you're in the middle of an email, you don't need to trash it to return to your inbox and browse other messages. As you're composing an email, simply tap the top of the message where it says either New Message or the subject and drag it down to the bottom of the screen. This will push the message to the bottom so you can look at other emails. When you want to return, simply tap the email to keep editing it. Forward text messages to other contacts. You can forward text messages to other contacts the same way you would an email. Just double tap the message you want to forward, press the More option that appears next to the text, and that specific sentence, word, or phrase will appear copy and pasted into a new message. Fill in the To field at the top to forward that message to someone else. Use Siri hands-free. You don't always have to hold down the home button to launch Siri. If you have the new iPhone 6S, just say the phrase Hey Sirito launch Apple's virtual assistant (any phones older than the iPhone 6S must be plugged in to a power outlet for this feature to work). Just head over to Settings>General>Siri and turn on Enable Hey Siri first. Have Siri read anything. When you swipe down from from the top of the screen with two fingers, Siri will dictate the content of whatever is on the screen. (Lisa Eadicicco) You can enable Siri to read articles on websites, books, text messages, and more thanks to one of the iPhone's lesser-known accessibility features. Head over to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech. Then turn on Speak Screen and Speak Selection. Now, when you swipe down from from the top of the screen with two fingers, Siri will dictate the content of whatever is on the screen. Tell Siri how to pronounce names. You can also teach Siri how to pronounce names. First, launch Siri and ask her to say the name in question (i.e. if it's your name, ask What's my name?). When she answers, tell her that she's not pronouncing it correctly. Make sure you use her pronunciation so that she knows which word you're talking about. Siri should then ask you how to correctly pronounce the name. Once you do, she will present three ways to pronounce the name. Choose the correct one, and Siri will remember it. Via iMore Control your iPhone by simply moving your head. This is another feature buried in the Accessibility section. Navigate to Settings>General>Accessibility and then scroll down to the Interaction subhead and tap Switch Control. Tap Switches and Add New Switch. Select Camera and choose Left Head Movement or Right Head Movement. Then pick an action under the System menu, which essentially tells you what task your head movement will trigger. I chose Siri, so each time I tilt my head to the left it automatically launches Siri. Via BGR See everywhere you've been. Scroll to the bottom of System Services, select "Frequent Locations" and look at the History section. (Lisa Eadicicco) You're iPhone tracks each place you've been, and there's a way to find it by digging into your phone's settings. Press the Settings icon and head to Privacy>Location Services>System Services. Then, scroll to the bottom and select Frequent Locations and look at the History section. Via BuzzFeed Save battery by putting your phone in grayscale mode. If you're running low on juice and just need basic functionality from your iPhone, try switching it to grayscale mode to save power. Just head to Settings>General>Accessibility and tap Grayscale. Tap the home button twice to move app icons and other content toward the bottom of the screen (iPhone 6 Plus only). If you're using the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus with one hand, you can double tap the home button to schootch content down toward the bottom of the screen. Apple calls this Reachability Mode. Remember to tap the home button, don't press it or else it'll launch the app switcher. Access emergency medical information directly from the lock screen. Tap the "Emergency" button that appears with the keypad for entering your passcode and you'll see the Medical ID button on the lower left corner. (Lisa Eadicicco) If you set up a Medical ID in the Health app that comes with iOS 8, you can access medical information without having to unlock your iPhone. Tap the Emergency button that appears with the keypad for entering your passcode and you'll see the Medical ID button on the lower left corner. See your iPhone's actual signal strength. There's a clever trick that shows the actual signal strength on your iPhone rather than just the dots or bars you usually see in the upper left corner of the screen. Business Insider's Steven Tweedie explained it to us. First, you'll need to access a hidden app on your phone called Field Test Mode. To do this, you'll need to open up your Phone app and dial the following number, *3001#12345#* , including the asterisks and hashtag, and tap Call. This opens up Field Test Mode, which is mostly filled with menus of cell signal jargon that you don't need to worry about. What you're interested in is the tiny number in the upper left-hand corner of your iPhone, which should have replaced those cell signal dots. While that number can vary anywhere from -40 to -130, it will always be negative, and the closer that number is to zero, the better your cell signal. The best signal you can get would be -40, and no signal at all would be -130. Business Insider's Steve Tweedie explains how to find it here. See who's calling you even if a phone number isn't in your contacts. With iOS 9, Apple added a new feature that displays the possible name of an unknown caller. If you're receiving a phone call from someone you've emailed, and that person's email address is associated with his or her phone number, it'll pop up as a suggestion when he or she calls you. Use Siri to skip filter photos on your iPhone by date or location. This only works if your iPhone is updated to iOS 9. (Lisa Eadicicco) You can now ask Siri to show you photos from a certain time period or location. For instance, if you wanted to view photos taken two years ago on vacation, you could say something like, Show me photos from 2013 taken in Jamaica. It saves a lot of time since you no longer have to scroll through your whole photo library to find older images. This only works if your iPhone is updated to iOS 9. Have Siri remind you to read a text message or email at a later time. If you just received a text or email but can't take the time to read it right now, you can ask Siri to remind you later on. When you receive the notification, just ask Siri to remind you to read it later. This works with Messages, Mail, Notes, and Safari as long as your iPhone is running iOS 9. Launch a music app just by plugging in your earbuds. If you listen to music at the same time every morning, your iPhone will automatically know that it should launch the music app as soon as you plug your headphones in. This is another feature thats new with iOS 9. Use Low Power Mode to make your phone last longer. You can stop refreshing apps in the background, pushing email, and other tiny things in order to keep your battery going. (Will Wei/Business Insider) Low Power Mode, which is also a new addition with iOS 9, tells your iPhone to cut down on certain features to lengthen its battery life. This means itll stop refreshing apps in the background, pushing email, and other tiny things in order to keep your battery going. Search for anything in the Settings menu. You no longer have to dig through the iPhones settings menu to find what youre looking for. If your iPhone is updated to iOS 9, youll notice theres a search bar at the top of the settings menu that helps you quickly jump to any given setting. Lisa Eadicicco contributed to an earlier version of this article. Read more: Europe's markets are flying Apple is being sued over its pressure-sensitive screen Instagram and Pinterest are killing traditional retailers Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2015. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Elderly men who exercise may cut their risk of suffering broken bones if they fall, a new study has suggested. Scientists set out to test whether older people can benefit from following structured exercise programmes. The study published in 'The BMJ' journal used data on 1635 sedentary adults aged between 70 and 89-years-old from the US Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) study. Participants were dealing with mobility problems, including the inability to walk more than 400m. Researchers asked half of the the participants to follow a structured, moderate exercises programme at a centre twice a week, and at home three to four times a week. The regime included aerobic moves as well as others which built strength and flexibility. The other half attended workshops on topics relevant to older people where they were also taught stretches for the upper body. The team monitored how many falls each person had in 3.5 years, by asking them about incidents every six months. The study found that men who did exercises were less likely to have serious falls, suffer fractures or be hospitalised that women in the same group. Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty The researchers found that while the exercises did not significantly cut the number of falls, men were less likely to experience serious injuries such as broken bones or be hospitalised. Serious fall injuries are one of the most dreaded and devastating conditions experienced by older persons, Dr Thomas Gill, a professor of geriatric medicine at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut told Reuters Health. However, Dr Mary Tinetti at Yale University who studies people falling told Reuters that further research is needed into understanding whether men genuinely benefit more from physical activity than men. In the UK, falls are the most common cause of injury to related deaths in people aged over 75, according to the NHS. Elderly people who fall are urged to stay calm. Those who feel strong enough to get up must do so slowly by rolling onto their hands and knees, and holding on to stable furniture to slowly get up. If a person is unable to stand, they must try to get attention by calling for help, banging on the wall or floor, or by using an aid call button. If a person is able to, they should crawl to a telephone and request an ambulance by calling 999. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Vaccine-like treatments could one day be used to prevent people from developing cancer, new research has found. Scientists believe that rare white blood cells in the immune system known as T-cells could be programmed to stop cancers forming for many years. The research is part of the development of the field of cancer immunotherapies, which harness the bodys immune system to attack tumours, and are hoped to be the future of combating the disease. Dubbed a "living drug", the treatment would see the cells monitoring the body from cancerous tumour cells, which would be destroyed. Lead researcher Professor Chiara Bonini, from the University of Milan in Italy, said: "T-cells are a living drug, and in particular they have the potential to persist in our body for our whole lives. "Some of these memory T-cells will persist through the entire life of the organism. "Imagine translating this to cancer immunotherapy, to have memory T-cells that remember the cancer and are ready for it when it comes back." The process would involve finding T-cells cells with endurance which would be genetically modified in order to attack the cancer cells. The team behind the findings analysed 10 cancer patients who received bone marrow transplants which were infused with traceable T-cells. Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty After 14 years, scientists found that a small number of the cells were circulating the patients blood streams. The research was relayed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) taking place in Washington DC. Commenting on the study, British immunologist Professor Daniel Davis, from the University of Manchester, said: "These T-cells, the stem memory T-cells first identified in 2011, have stem cell-like properties and are thought to be important for long-lived immune responses. "The implication is that infusing genetically modified versions of these particular T-cells ... could provide a long-lasting immune response against a person's cancer. "Immunotherapy has great potential to revolutionise cancer treatment and this study shows which type of T-cells might be especially useful to manipulate for long-lasting protection." The study comes as early research by pharmaceutical firm AztraZeneca suggested it could soon be possible to combine two cancer drugs to use a patients immune system to attack tumours. The researcher involved testing a drug known as durvalumab alongside tremelimumab in lung patients with so-called cancer PD-L1 negative tumours. By combining both drugs, researchers found that tumours were 29 per cent more responsive to treatment, in comparison to 5 per cent when given one drug. Additional reporting by Press Association For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The youngest workers in society will be penalised under a "two tier" wage structure created by the introduction of George Osborne's National Living Wage in April, campaigners have warned. "The Governments announcement of a two tier welfare and wage structure last year is set to penalise young people both in and out of work," Alice Martin, researcher at the New Economics Foundation, said. Research by the Social Market Foundation shows that young people aged 25-29 make up one in five people affected by George Osborne's plan to raise the minimum wage to 7.20 from April. This should be a good thing: women and young people are expected to benefit most from the changes, because they are more likely to be on low pay. But many companies are grappling with unintended consequences and whether it will be cheaper for them to employ staff under the age of 24. (Social Market Foundation) The research shows that those working in restaurants and shops will benefit most from wage changes. But only those aged 25 or over. Under 24s are excluded from Osborne's so-called living wage, and stay subject to a minimum wage of 3.87 for under 18s, 5.30 for those aged 18-20 and 6.70 for those aged 21 and over. Apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over who are in their first year are entitled to a minimum of 3.30 an hour. That's almost 5 less than the current UK living wage, which is calculated by the Living Wage Foundation as the minimum needed to live on in the UK, at 8.25 an hour. (Social Market Foundation) Younger workers are theoretically paid less because they are less productive. Emran Mian, director of the Social Market Foundation, said it feels harder to make that argument when comparing two people, one aged 24 and the other 25. "They will both be likely to have some work experience. Nevertheless the person aged 24 could be paid less under the new rules and it may be tempting for some employers to hire them for that reason," Mian said. The UK's biggest union, the Trade Union Congress, has lobbied against what it calls the "unfair" treatment of younger workers. "Younger workers must be treated fairly. It is wrong to leave 21 to 24 year olds out: they face the same expenses as other adults and are highly productive. "Not paying them the full minimum wage will demotivate younger adults, who will get less pay than their colleagues for the same work," France O'Grady, TUC general secretary, said. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. Changes to welfare rules announced by George Osborne will also young people the hardest, campaign groups have warned. The UK Government is withdrawing housing benefit from some 18-21 year old from April 2017 in a move it claims will make 40 billion in savings from welfare expenditure by 2020/21. The Government has said that changes will "ensure young people in the benefits system face the same choices as young people who work and who may not be able to afford to leave home". Research from the homeless charity Centrepoint has found that the savings will soon become negligible if young people are forced onto the streets. "Only 140 more young people would need to become homeless for new claimant restrictions to actually begin costing taxpayers," Centrepoint said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Whats happened? HSBC has said it will keep its headquarters in the UK after a 10-month review into whether its should move its base. Europes biggest bank was said to be considering a move because of stricter banking rules in Europe following the financial crisis in 2008. But after the review and the loosening of some of new rules for banks - HSBCs 19-man board voted unanimously to keep their headquarters in London. Where would they go? The most likely location was thought to be Hong Kong, where the bank earns much of its profits. HSBC was originally headquartered in Hong Kong until a move to London in 1992. Why were they considering it in the first place? In April, HSBC didnt mention that it was worried about the banking levy, which taxes banks global balance sheets, but focussed on rules requiring the UKs banks to ring-fence their investment and trading activities from their consumer services. HSBC chairman Douglas Flint said to investors: We also have to take fully into account the repositioning of our industry being driven by the regulatory and structural reforms which have been put in place post crisis. We are beginning to see the final shape of regulation and of structural reform, including the requirement to ring fence in the UK. Why is HSBC staying? HSBC did talk about the banking levy when it made the decision to stay. I think what was important was that the Government changed the scope of the levy, Douglas Flint, HSBC chairman, told the BBC. In June, George Osborne said that the levy on worldwide banking assets would be reduced over six years and stop applying from 2021. HSBC have a relatively small portion of their assets in the UK but were paying 1 billion a year in levy charges. Hazel on HSBC So they reached an agreement with the Government? Flint denied that HSBC had forced the Governments hand. We had no negotiations with the government. The government was very well aware of our view, indeed of the view of many other people who commented upon it, but there certainly was no pressure put, or negotiation, he said. But analysts said they wouldnt be surprised if some negotiations had taken place. David Buik from Panmure Gordon said: I get the impression that there have been some sensible conversations with George Osborne, the Treasury, BOE and the FCA. There clearly has been some softening of approach by the authorities in their attitude to HSBC. Well, what else could it be? HSBC could also have been put off by Beijings growing influence on Hong Kong including the worrying detention of Hong Kong booksellers. A month ago, an HSBC insider told Reuters: The situation in Hong Kong appears to be getting worse. You have to wonder if the city will remain a suitable base for an independent-minded, top global financial institution. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. What does it mean for George Osborne and the Treasury? This is a relief for the chancellor, Gregor Irwin, a former Treasury official and now chief economist at Global Counsel, a London-based consultancy, told Bloomberg. It would have led to questions about his judgment had they left. In a statement, the Treasury celebrated HSBC's decision: Its a vote of confidence in the governments economic plan and a boost to our goal of making the UK a great place to do more business with China and the rest of Asia. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} HSBCs decision to keep its headquarters in the UK spells trouble for the UK economy, according to experts. Christine Berry, senior researcher at the New Economics Foundation, said that the 10-month review, in which HSBC was widely believed to be considering a switching to Hong Kong, was no more than an elaborate bluff to lobby policy makers into loosening banking rules. HSBC was never likely to leave London, but by dangling the threat of doing so, it has successfully lobbied policymakers into unpicking a whole string of measures designed to protect taxpayers and consumers, Berry said. This is a far greater threat to our future economic security than HSBC moving its headquarters would have been. HSBCs decision coincides with a warning from Sir John Vickers, who was in charge of recommending banking reforms to George Osborne in 2011. Vickers said that the Bank of Englands plans do not go far enough to protect the UK economy from another crisis. Vickers was in charge of the Independent Commission on Banking when it recommended that banks swell their capital as an insurance policy to cover any losses. He said that equity capital or shares was the best way to do this. The Bank of England might want to reflect on the turmoil we've seen in banking shares, Vickers told the BBC. Banking stocks have lost around a quarter of their value since the start of the year. Some are now trading around lows not seen since the financial crisis. HSBC denied that it had been involved in a softening of banking rules, including a reduction in the banking levy over six years. But it did say the rule changes were key to its decision to stay in the UK. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. I think what was important was that the Government changed the scope of the levy, Douglas Flint, HSBC chairman, told the BBC. Berry said the UK economy is uniquely vulnerable to financial shocks because of the complexity of its banking system. We need much more robust banking reform if we are to genuinely protect our economy from the risks posed by the likes of HSBC. Its deeply worrying that policy is currently going in the opposite direction, Berry said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It didnt take long. Barely hours after it was announced that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scala had been found dead in Texas, rumours and conspiracy theories began to swirl and there was no shortage of people suggesting his death was not quite so straightforward. Given the impact Mr Scalias death will have on the political landscape in Washington as President Obama and Republicans prepare for battle over his successor, it is not perhaps surprising that some were skeptical. Intellectual rigour and flamboyant style: Scalia in Washington in 2005 (AFP) But officials did not help provide clarity by providing confusing and conflciing details about this death. It was initially reported the outspoken jurist had died from a heart attack. Indeed, the Washington Post said the aftermath of the 79-years death had been marked by chaos, confusion and conflicting reports. The body of the late judge was flown to northern Virginia from Texas late on Sunday after investigators determined there was no foul play in his death. Jose Amezcua, a manager at Sunset Funeral Homes, told Fox News that he had personally loaded Mr Scalia's casket onto a private plane bound for Fairfax, Virginia at El Paso International Airport. Terry Sharpe, assistant director for operations at the airport, told the Associated Press a private plane carrying Mr Scalia's body departed at around 8pm. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara said she had determined Mr Scalia had died of natural causes, but not from a heart attack. Ms Guevara also said that she had spoken to local investigators and US marshals, as well as Mr Scalias family and personal doctor, before determining that an autopsy was not necessary. Texas law does not require such a post-mortem test. Ms Guevara said Mr Scalias doctor told her that the justice was suffering from minor ailments, but did not elaborate further. The owner of the Cibolo Creek Ranch, the West Texas resort where Scalia spent his final hours, told reporters Sunday that Mr Scalia was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests and had arrived at the ranch at around noon on Friday. John Poindexter said Scalia ate dinner with the group and was his usual, personable self. According to Mr Poindexter, Scalia retired to his room at around 9pm, saying he wanted a long night's sleep. Mr Scalia was found dead in his room Saturday morning. Mr Poindexter said he was found in complete repose and said he had passed away without any difficulty in the night. Yet there was no shortage of people to raise questions about Mr Scalias death William Ritchie, former head of criminal investigations for Washington DC police, wrote on Facebook that he thought there was more to Mr Scalias death than the public was being told. Mr Scalia was considered a champion of so-called originalism - the theory that tries to interpret the intentions of those who drafted the US Constitution (AP) My gut tells me there is something fishy going on in Texas, he wrote. As a former homicide commander, I am stunned that no autopsy was ordered for Justice Scalia. You have a Supreme Court Justice who died, not in attendance of a physician. He added: You have a non-homicide trained US Marshal tell the justice of peace that no foul play was observed. You have a justice of the peace pronounce death while not being on the scene and without any medical training opining that the justice died of a heart attack. What medical proof exists of a myocardial Infarction? Why not a cerebral hemorrhage? On Saturday night, the online radio host Alex Jones, considered one of the countrys most enthusiastic conspiracy theorists, was already convinced something was afoot. My friends, its Saturday night, this is an emergency transmission, he began his broadcast. The question is, was Antonin Scalia murdered? And the answer to that is, has the Bill of Rights and Constitution been murdered? Has it been reported that members of the Supreme Court have been blackmailed? Yes it has. He added: And I wish it was natural cause, but man, my gut tells me no. And if this is an assassination, this signifies that they are dropping the hammer. The Conservative trendsetter Matt Drudge also jumped on the conspiracy wave. He posted a line with a headline that yelled: Scalia found dead with pillow over head. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Super skyscrapers, underwater cities and 3D-printed homes will all be a reality in 100 years' time, according to a new report on life in the future. The SmartThings Future Living Report, which was commissioned by Samsung-owned internet of things firm SmartThings, was created by a group of academics and futurologists who suggest that in a century's time humans will be able to live in 'Earth-scrapers', which will go up to 25 storeys underground. The academics, which include future architects and urbanists as well as lecturers from the University of Westminster, suggest that 'bubble cities' will be created underwater making the depths habitable for humans.They also believe personal drones will become a staple mode of transport, as well as being used as futuristic mules to carry entire homes around the world for holidays. Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who co-authored the report, said: Our lives today are almost unrecognisable from those a century ago. The internet has revolutionised the way we communicate, learn and control our lives. An underwater city in 2116 from the SmartThings report (PA) Just 10 years ago, technology like SmartThings would have been inconceivable, yet today developments like this let us monitor, control and secure our living spaces with the touch of a smartphone. Over the next century we will witness further seismic shifts in the way we live and interact with our surroundings - working on the SmartThings Future Living Report with a panel of industry experts has allowed me to explore what these could be. The report also suggested that not only will furniture within homes become 3D-printed, but replicas of entire houses and structures could be printed. In the workplace, holograms will enable virtual meetings to take place. 3D-printing food - something already possible today - will also become smarter, with the ability to download dishes from our favourite chefs and print them, ready to eat, in minutes. The colonisation of the Moon and then Mars will also have taken place, with commercial flights into space now a regular occurrence, alongside smarter homes that will be able to house LED screen walls that can be changed to suit the mood, removing the need to redecorate. SmartThings UK managing director James Monighan said: The smartphone revolution is already ushering in the smart home revolution, which will have massively positive implications on how we live. Our homes are becoming smarter and can now detect the presence of things like people, pets, smoke, humidity, lighting and moisture. And this is just the beginning. PA For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Cameron has announced a billion pounds extra investment will be ploughed into mental health services across the country, claiming more than a million additional people with will receive treatment each year in England by 2021. However, the Governments announcement is being approached by some with a degree of apprehension. The Royal College of Psychiatric president Prof Simon Wessely has warned it will take sustained work to end the decades of inequality. Professor Sheila Hollins, of the British Medical Association, pointed out such promises had been made previously. Prof Hollins added: "Those suffering from mental illness need to see these pledges fulfilled." Here we take a look back at some of the criticisms of the governments approach to mental health provisions over the past five years: 1. Budgets for mental health trusts in England fell by 'more than 8 per cent' in real terms Research by the BBC and the online journal Community Care found, in March 2015, that the reduction was worth almost 600 million. Using freedom of information laws they compared the budgets of mental health trusts in England in 2010-11 with the year 2014-15. Taking changes to trust structures and contracts into account, the analysis suggested that trusts suffered a real terms cut of 8.25% - the equivalent of stripping 598m from their budgets. Stephen Dalton, chief executive of the Mental Health Network, speaking at the time called the situation "a car crash." 2. Number of nurses working in mental health fell by 10% since 2010 It was revealed in January that the number of specialist mental health nurses had fallen by more than 10 per cent over the past five years. Speaking at the time the shadow mental health minister Luciana Berger said the shocking figures raised serious concerns about the future of mental health provision in the UK. Figures from the NHSs health and social care information centre, obtained through a parliamentary question, showed that the number of qualified nurses working in psychiatry dropped by 10.8% from 41,320 in 2010 to 36,870 in 2015. 3. Inadequate mental health services have made it harder for abused children to receive correct help According to the NSPCC spending cuts and higher threshold of therapy had made it harder for abused children to receive the correct help. A survey of 1,000 health and social care professionals by the childrens charity across the UK revealed that 90 per cent believe that services to help children recover from trauma after suffering abuse are inadequate. Children are therefore forced to deal with the corrosive consequences of abuse alone, the charity added. "It shames our nation that children who have suffered abuse languish for months and even years without support," said NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless. Responding at the time a Department of Health spokesperson said that the government had set up a Child Protection Taskforce and pledged further investment to improve mental health services. 4. Only 14 per cent of patients said they had received appropriate care in moment of crisis A report by the Kings Trust in 2015 claimed that the mental health sector was under a huge amount of pressure. Driven by the need to reduce costs, the report added that only 14 per cent of patients said they had received appropriate care in a crisis and that bed occupancy rates routinely exceeded recommended levels. They added that their briefing highlighted the widespread evidence of poor-quality care in mental health services. 5. Merging of mental health services The same report by the Kings Trust added that the drive in the need to reduce costs has resulted in trusts embarking on large-scale transformation programmes aimed at shifting demand away from acute services towards recovery-based and self-management. It adds: This has seen a move away from evidence-based services in favour of care pathways and models of care for which the evidence is often limited. There has also been little formal evaluation of the impact of these changes. One example cited in the briefing is the merger of specialist crisis resolution home treatment teams (CRHTs) and early access to psychosis services into generic community health teams. Evidence suggests that these teams are often unable to provide the level of support required by patients, reducing quality of care and increasing pressure on inpatient beds, the authors add. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Thailand used evidence supplied by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to put two migrant workers on death row despite senior British officials warning that such a move could damage the reputation of UK policing, it has been revealed. In December, two Burmese labourers were convicted of the 2014 murder of backpackers David Miller and Hannah Witheridge despite the concerns of human rights groups. During their trial, the defendants claimed that they had been tortured into confessing their role in the killing. On 15 February, an investigation by BuzzFeed News disclosed that the NCA handed over details about Mr Millers iPhone to Thai police. The information the phones serial number was used in the criminal trial to link Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo to the killing, as it proved that a smashed iPhone found on a property linked to the two Burmese migrants had belonged to the victim. Government guidance suggests that law enforcement should not supply assistance to foreign nations that have the death penalty without written permission from ministers. The NCA confirmed that it had shared intelligence verbally with the Royal Thai Police but declined to say whether it had secured agreement from ministers. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, who were murdered on a beach in Thailand in September 2014 (PA) During the investigation into the murder of the British backpackers, the Metropolitan Police sent a team to the island of Koh Tao, following a discussion between the countries two Prime Ministers. But the Met officers were only authorised to undertake, in essence, a listening or observer role, because Thailand has the death penalty. Furthermore, no reassurances were received by Britain that the death penalty would not be sought in this case, according to court documents that emerged during the defendants unsuccessful bid to obtain copies of the report compiled by the Met. The officers were in effect sent to act as a family liaison team for the families of Miss Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and Mr Miller, 24, from Jersey. According to the court papers, the former assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, Cressida Dick, warned that any work by the officers should not become part of the Thai evidential chain, otherwise this would place the force and the UK at extreme legal and reputational risk. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA After the murders on a beach on Koh Tao, a small island popular with travellers and divers, Thailands Prime Minister appeared to suggest that beautiful women dressed in bikinis were effectively to blame if they were the victims of violence. Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha later apologised for the statement tourism is a key industry for the country but went on to point the finger of blame at the countrys migrant labour force. The two Burmese migrant workers were later arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. They had recanted their initial confessions and claimed that they were framed by the Thai police and made to confess after severe beatings. They are currently appealing. An NCA spokesman said: With regard to international law enforcement co-operation in general, intelligence may be shared with law enforcement partners, either verbally or in written form. In fast-moving investigations, potentially involving threats to life, it is not uncommon for intelligence to be shared verbally, with a record of the information shared being retained by the NCA. The NCA monitors human rights concerns closely, having regard to the Foreign & Commonwealth Offices Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance when sharing intelligence. We expect investigations and trials to be conducted in a fair and transparent way, in line with international standards. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A dozen of the UKs smartest canines are being trained to master the controls of a light aircraft after a nationwide search to find candidates for the experiment. Full details of the extraordinary venture - which was first reported on by The Independent last year after amateur fliers at a London airfield spotted a dog grappling with aircraft-style controls can now be revealed. Secluded at a mansion in the Sussex countryside, the 12 rescue dogs have been put through their paces by animal behaviour experts, who believe that the cognitive abilities of the most intelligent pets can be directed towards flying a plane. The finalists include Spike, a two-and-a-half year-old Parson-Jack Russell cross, who has been at a rescue shelter for some time and is described as an inquisitive, happy and confident dog. Poppy, an Australian kelpie-collie cross is very bright with focus and a keen mind whilst Spot is a two-year-old terrier-beagle cross, originally a stray, who is confident and eager to play. After weeks of problem-solving and reasoning tests, the best-performing dogs will be sent to flight school for ten weeks of intensive training. One will ultimately be chosen to take the controls of a light plane in the experiment, followed by natural history specialist Oxford Scientific Films for a Sky 1 series, Dogs Might Fly. The series is being presented by Jamie Theakston. Spot is a two-year-old terrier-beagle cross who was originally a stray. Confident and eager to play (Oxford Scientific Films Ltd) The experts putting the canines through their paces include Mat Ward, a clinical animal behaviourist who acts an expert witness in canine-related court cases and Cath Philips who trains police dogs. The team includes Charlotte Wilde, who has trained and supplied animals for the Harry Potter films and 102 Dalmatians and Professor Adam Miklosi, author of Dog Behavior, Evolution and Cognition. Stanley Coren, professor of canine psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, is among the critics of the experiment. Given that we would not expect a human three-year-old to be able to fly a plane, I would not expect that a dog could do so either, he said. Caroline Hawkins, creative director of Oxford Scientific Films, said the series would test in a safe and controlled way the question of whether a highly intelligent dog could take control of an aircraft. The experts will assess how the dogs response to stimuli and sensations designed to acclimatise them to their high-flying challenge. Their head for heights will be tested by being sent to the top of a London landmark in high-rise lift and they will be strapped in for a spin around the Thames on a speedboat. Each dog will be found a new home at the series conclusion. The six-part Dogs Might Fly begins in a fortnight. Each hour-long episode hopes to demonstrate that dogs have distinct personalities and incredible levels of intelligence. The expert team will explore communication, empathy, memory and reasoning with the animals, building up to the ultimate question: could a dog fly a plane? The RSPCA declined to comment on the programme. The dozen dogs preparing to fly * Alfie is a 23-month-old collie-lurcher cross. Hes full of energy and loves being around other dogs. * Shadow is a two-and-a half-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier-collie cross. A bit of a joker. * Chilli is a two-year-old Pyrenean shepherd cross from Spain. Chilli loves being handled. * Spot is a two-year-old terrier-beagle cross who was originally a stray. Confident and eager to play. Shadow is a two-and-a half-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier-collie cross. A bit of a joker (Oxford Scientific Films Ltd) * Sox is an 18-month-old boxer-Labrador cross whos excitable and a bit of a comedian. * Blondie is a friendly 22-month-old Labrador cross all the way from Spain. * Wilf is a collie cross with bags of personality. 22 months old, hes already had a few homes. * Honey is a high-energy lurcher cross. Two years old, shes very loving, despite being a stray. * Tess, 18 months old, is a Belgian shepherd who was a boisterous puppy. * Poppy, 2 , is an Australian kelpie-collie cross, whos very bright with focus and a keen mind. * Reggie, an 18-month-old German shepherd Labrador cross, who was originally a stray. * Spike, 2 1/2 year-old Parson-Jack Russell cross, loves to get involved with everything. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Pilots have called for lasers to be treated as "offensive weapons" after a beam shone at a New York-bound plane forced the aircraft to ground in Heathrow. The Virgin Atlantic flight returned to the west London airport after being targeted by a laser shortly after take-off at a height of more than 8,000ft. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) has said the use of laser beams against aeroplanes is a growing problem which requires government attention - preferably by making carrying a laser an offence. "This is not an isolated incident. Aircraft are attacked with lasers at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength," said Jim McAuslan, Balpa's general secretary. "It is an incredibly dangerous thing to so. Shining a laser at an aircraft puts that aircraft, its crew and all the passengers on board at completely unnecessary risk." the chart below, produced for the Independent by Statista, Attacks on planes with lasers are "not isolated incidents" say pilots (Statista) 1. How big is the problem in the UK? In the first six months of 2015, there were 414 incidents of lasers being used against aircraft in the UK. In total, they have been 8,977 laser beam attacks over the last six years. One pilot was left unable to fly after a "military strength" laser damaged his eye during a Heathrow landing. Landings are when pilots are most vulnerable as the cockpit is more exposed. 2. What kinds of lasers are they? They are usually more powerful than those used for pointing at a Powerpoint slide, but do vary in size and strength. Classified into Class 1, Class 1M, Class 2, Class 2M, Class 3R, Class 3B and Class 4, the latter two are the most powerful. The smallest might be the size of a compact torch, and the largest as big as a pair of binoculars. 3. What has the law done about it? The view from the cockpit: a green laser is pointed from a residential area (YouTube, Reuters) A London teenager was arrested in summer for targeting a laser pen at a Metropolitan Police helicopter, with the majority of incidents resulting in arrest pertaining to attacks on police aircraft. One set of flats in Glasgow is apparently known as "laser block" after a series of incidents there. There are multiple reported arrests of similar offences in the US. A law passed in 2010 allows offenders to be charged with "shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot," with a possible prison sentence if found guilty of "reckless endangerment." Balpa concluded: "We repeat our call to the Government to classify lasers as offensive weapons which would give the police more power to arrest people for possessing them if they had no good reason to have them. "This incident shows why this is becoming more-and-more urgent." Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Swedish police have opened an investigation into the deaths of British band Viola Beach and their manager in Sweden on Saturday, and whether the driver of their car was the cause of the fatal crash. Band members Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and their manager Craig Tarry, all aged between 19 and 32, were killed when the car they were travelling in plunged more than 80ft into a canal in Sweden. Recommended Read more Five Britons killed after car plunges 80ft from bridge into a canal Carina Skagerlind, a press spokesperson for Stockholm police, told the Guardian that investigators are looking into "all possible causes" for the crash. Post mortem examinations are due to be undertaken on the five bodies, which Ms Skagarlind said will be used to discover whether the driver was intoxicated or not. She said it "could be the case" that the driver is to blame for the deaths of the other passengers, but added "there are hundreds of possibilities." "We are looking at the car, we are looking at the circumstances, we are talking to witnesses. We don't have any answers yet and we have to look at everything," she added. A badly damaged car is towed up from the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden, (Reuters) The crash happened just hours after the Warrington band had played their first gig outside of the UK at the Where Is The Music? festival in Norrkoping. Their car crashed at around 2:30am local time near Stockholm. The driver has not been formally identified, but is thought to have been the band's manager Mr Tarry. John Olsson, a musician from Swedish band Psykofant, who had played alongside Viola Beach at the Swedish festival on the day of the crash, claimed Mr Tarry had not been drinking as he was the designated driver, and said there had been "a lot of snow that day", ITV News reported. Service personnel repairing the gate a car drove through before crashing into the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden (EPA) Swedish police told the BBC the car had fallen through a gap in the bridge that had opened to let a boat pass through. Police added that two sets of safety barriers had been in place on the bridge, as had flashing red warning lights, and that other drivers had been waiting. Inspector Martin Bergholm said: "For some reason, the car drove through the barriers and crashed down into the canal." "The witnesses just saw a car beside them and kind of disappear." Divers and rescue service personnel search for the victims of the deadly car crash in the canal under the E4 highway bridge (AP) The bands label, Communion, has said all proceeds from their current single Boys That Sing will be donated to the band members and managers families. Tributes have poured in for the group that described itself as indie pop. Viola Beach had released three singles and had appeared on BBC Introducing last year. The family of Mr Leonard, 20, said: "Words cannot express the sadness we feel at the loss of our precious Kristian. He was doing the job he loved and will be missed so much by his family and friends." General view during a minutes applause for Viola Beach and Craig Tarry, who had been a Manchester City supporter, during the Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur match (Reuters) "We ask for privacy to grieve at this devastating time." The family of Mr Reeves, 19, said they were "heartbroken" by his death alongside the bandmates and manager "he adored and loved". In a statement, they said: "All River wanted to do was perform and entertain and to think that he will never make us laugh again with his ridiculous impressions and cheeky banter is beyond comprehension for all his family." Viola Beach Relatives of Mr Lowe described him as "the best son, brother, uncle and friend you could ever wish for" and said his life had been "tragically cut short". Mr Tarry's family said they were "devastated" and "grieving the loss of their son and also for the other families involved in this tragic accident". The Boileroom in Guildford, where the band had been scheduled to play on Saturday, posted on Instagram that its managers were saddened and devastated to hear of the crash, while band Kasabian said in a statement: Our hearts go out to the families and friends of Viola Beach. So sad x. The band, who previously toured with The Courteeners, were just weeks away from playing a homecoming gig at Warrington's Pyramid on March 12. Additional reporting by PA Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Camerons aunt has joined an anti-cuts protest in Oxford, telling fellow protesters that government cuts to childrens services were a big mistake". Clare Currie spoke at the demonstration, which hundreds of people attended, rallying against Oxfordshire County Councils plans to close down 44 childrens centres. One photo of the Prime Ministers 78-year-old aunt appears to show her holding a placard with the sign no ifs, no buts, no cuts. Ms Currie, from Oxford, said: "I am here to protest against all of the cuts - I think they are a big mistake...I would like the county council to change its mind about making such huge cuts. "This is going to hurt everybody, particularly people who do not have enough in the first place." Last week it emerged that both Mrs Currie and the Prime Minister's mother signed a petition linked to the demonstration at the weekend. Mary Cameron, a retired magistrate, revealed her name appeared on the petition condemning a decision by the county council in her sons constituency. Mrs Cameron told The Mirror: My name is on the petition but I dont want to discuss this any further. The 81-year-olds name reportedly appeared among the 10,000 people who have signed the petition online and in person, which aims to protect the lifeline of childrens centres in Oxfordshire and maintain universal access to their vital services. Clare Currie, the Prime Minister's aunt, appearing on ITV News (ITV) The petition adds: Cutting these essential services would leave families vulnerable and isolated, and fail an entire generation of children. If current proposals go ahead, most of this support would either disappear entirely or only be available to families who are already in difficulties. An end to universal provision of support for families of under-fives will only increase the stigma associated with seeking out help, and may put people off using these essential services at a time when they feel vulnerable and isolated. Labour has previously mocked the Prime Minister as the leader of the anti-austerity movement in Oxfordshire after leaked documents revealed Mr Cameron wrote to his local council protesting against cuts in his area. The letter, which was sent to the council leader Ian Hudspeth, hit out at the cuts to libraries, early day centres and museums. In his letter, Mr Cameron wrote: I was disappointed at the long list of suggestions floated to make significant cuts to frontline services I would have hoped that Oxfordshire would instead be following the best practice of Conservative councils from across the country in making back-office savings and protecting the frontline. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Cameron has slashed housing investment since he came to power, while spending than ever on housing benefit ignoring his own advice on the subject. At Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday David Cameron warned opposition MPs that every penny you spend on housing subsidy is money you cannot spend on building houses. However, a House of Commons Library analysis seen by the Independent shows that the Government has in fact been spending more on housing benefit than its predecessors and less on building houses. Housing benefit is usually paid directly to landlords and the amount the Government spends on it has increased dramatically in recent years as rents increase and more tenants are pushed into the private sector. A lack of affordable homes is thought to be in part responsible for increases in rents that feed into higher social security costs. Despite Mr Camerons warning, housing benefit expenditure grew from 20 billion in the last year of the Labour government to 24.3 billion in 2014/15 under the Coalition. The same analysis found that total Government housing development expenditure has fallen from 11 billion in 2009/10 to just 5 billion in 2013/14 and 6 billion in 2014/15. Green MP Caroline Lucas warned that the Government could only bring the benefit bill down by building enough new homes. The effects of the housing crisis are hitting people hard. In Brighton people are being forced out of the city because of sky high rents- and lengthy waiting lists make social housing am impossible dream for most, she told the Independent. It's astounding that the Government are failing so miserably to get a handle on this situation. On their watch the money put into housing development relative to spending on housing benefits has dropped dramatically. In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent Show all 6 1 /6 In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties A "cosy" flat in an upmarket area of west London is available to rent for a reasonable 520 a month, provided the tenant doesnt mind showering under the bed In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties Located on Castletown Road, the advertisement on Zoopla boasts: "A cosy, single studio located in the heart of Londons fashionable and up-market area of West Kensington, this compact mezzanine includes not only a fully furnished living area including table, chair, wardrobe and chest of draws [sic] but also a personal shower and kitchenette complete with storage" In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties The property is recommended for "students, working professionals and those looking for a thriving London life at an affordable rate" Rightmove In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties A studio flat for rent in Kember Street, north London was advertised for 737-a-month Rightmove In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties The 'well-used' kitchen of a flat in Hoxton, which was on the market for 997 per month Zoopla In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties For only 125 per week you could be the lucky owner of this single studio flat, complete with shower and kitchenette, located between Barons Court and West Kensington Zoopla This perverse situation sees landlords subsidised by the taxpayer, while action to permanently cut the cost of renting or buying stalls. It is an indictment of this Government that so many young people struggle to pay their housing costs. Ministers must act fast to address this failure by building more homes and, at the very least, controlling rents to stop them going up anymore. People deserve decent homes they can afford to live in- it's the Government's duty to make this a reality. Official figures released in January show soaring numbers of people being made homeless because they cannot afford their rent or their landlord kicks them out at the end of a tenancy agreement. The increase in housing benefit spending comes despite harsh cuts to housing benefit rates for individuals over the same period. Changes include the so-called bedroom tax a reduction in housing benefits for people with rooms deemed unnecessary by the Government. That policy mainly hits disabled people and has been blamed for causing serious hardship and poverty. Overall ministers are looking to cut 12 billion from the benefits bill. David Cameron has described the benefits system as a "ridiculous merry-go-round". The Government has resisted growing calls to re-introduce rent controls for private rented accommodation; the Scottish Government is however consulting on the move, which could save taxpayers significant amounts of money in housing benefit. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government has been criticed over plans to ban publicly-funded institutions such as councils and university student unions from boycotting the products and services of "unethical companies". This move comes in response to various local authorities boycotting the services of companies who operate in "illegal" Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank. The ban will be formally announced by Cabinet minister Matt Hancock on a visit to Israel this week. The only exemption from the ban will be UK-wide boycotts as decided by the government in Westminster. Here are four examples of local authorities which have launched such boycotts: 1. Leicester City Council, 2014 In November 2014 ,the city council voted for a motion boycotting the use of all goods produced in Israeli West Bank settlements. Campaign group Jewish Human Rights Watch (JHRW), responded by taking legal action to end this move, calling it a "boycott of Jews". Last month, JHRW warned the council the boycott could leave the city with a 200,000 legal bill, according to the Leicester Mercury. Explaining the boycott, the council stated: "The motion has never been a boycott of Israel by Leicester and is not an attack on the Jewish people. "It relates specifically to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank." 2. Birmingham City Council, 2014 In April 2014, Birmingham city council threatened to not renew a contract with French multinational company, Veolia, due to its operations in the West Bank. Veolia, which runs the city's incinerator and refuse tip, caused international controversy fur running a tram line and other public services in "illegal" Israeli settlements. In April 2015 - Veolia announced it was closing its operations in Israel. The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Getty Images The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child 3. Scottish government procurement notice, 2014 In August 2014, the Scottish government issued a procurement notice to local authorities which "strongly discourages trade and investment from illegal settlements". Following this non-binding suggestion, four Scottish councils voted for a boycott of all Israeli goods: Clackmannanshire, Midlothian, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire. 4. Swansea City Council and Gwynedd County Council, 2010 and 2014 respectively The two Welsh councils started a boycott of any companies with interests in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip areas of Israel. Last December, the authorities reversed their decision to impose boycotts after JHRW began legal proceedings against them. Both councils have stated these motions were non-binding and that they have since been superseded. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Health Secretary has defended imposing a new contract on junior doctors without their agreement and again blamed the British Medical Association for escalating the dispute. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper Jeremy Hunt said morale was low in the medical profession and that it had been difficult to reach an agreement on the proposal. Mr Hunt last week unilaterally imposed the new contract, which junior doctors had rejected during negotiations. Medics have staged two strike days against the plan, with 98 per cent of those voting in the ballot backing industrial action. Right now its going to be very difficult for a health secretary to say anything at all that is given a warm round of applause by junior doctors, he told the paper. Mr Hunt, who has just launched an inquiry into why junior doctor morale is low, said conditions were difficult because of stressful conditions on weekends changes imposed by the European Working Time Directive. I think those two things meant that when there was a contractual dispute which started with the BMA wrongly telling everyone that the government wanted to cut their pay by between 30 and 50 per cent it lit a touch paper and I think that is what caused it. In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK 20,000 Junior Doctors marched through central London in protest at the new contract changes the government is trying to impose which they say will be unfair and unsafe In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors protest in London In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK 4 year old Cassius takes part in a demonstration in Westminster, in support of junior doctors over changes to NHS contracts, London In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Protest over proposed changes to junior doctors' contracts, Leeds In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors and NHS staff protesting against the health service cuts and the proposed contract changes offered by the government outside Parliament In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors and NHS staff protesting against the health service cuts and the proposed contract changes offered by the government outside Parliament In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Over 5000 junior doctors rallied in Waterloo place, before marching through Whitehall and onto Parliament Square, in opposition to Jeremy Hunt's new working conditions for doctors In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Demonstrators listen to speeches in Waterloo Place during the 'Let's Save the NHS' rally and protest march by junior doctors In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK Junior doctors marched in London to highlight their plight In pictures: Junior doctors protests in UK A protester at a demonstration in support of junior doctors in London Mr Hunt claimed last week that 20 NHS chief executives had signed a letter supporting the imposition. An investigation by the Health Service Journal however subsequently found that the vast majority at least 14 did not. The Health Secretary ducked a public event on Friday, apparently for fear he would be challenged by junior doctors about his new policy. Junior Doctors Contract A drinks and canapes fundraiser for Fareham Conservatives was moved to a secret location and doctors who had bought tickets were told it had been cancelled. The Government says the new contract will improve patient care at the weekends but junior doctors say it will incentivise unsafe staffing rosters and put patient care at risk. The British Medical Association, which has been leading negotiations on behalf of junior doctors, said it would look at all options available to it in order to prevent the contract from being implemented. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ken Livingstone has branded claims by the US Defence Secretary that Britain must keep the Trident nuclear deterrent to maintain its outsized role in the world as rubbish. Speaking to the Independent, the former London Mayor and co-convener of Labours defence review, said building the Trident submarines which we will never use at the expense of the armed forces will leave the UK more vulnerable to the threat of terrorism. Mr Livingstone added: The question is though, by the time they are operational in 15 years China and Russia will have underwater drones all over the world. Submarines are very noisy they will be traceable. The original idea that you had a submarine and no one knew where it was had a lot of logic to it. But thats not the world we will be living in. His comments follow the US Defence Secretary Ash Carters intervention that Trident enabled Britain to maintain its outsized role on the global stage. Secretary Carter told the BBC: Its important that the military power matches that standing and so were very supportive of itwe depend upon the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom depends on us, thats part of the special relationship. We build Joint Strike fighters together, we build Trident missiles together. Asked about the comments Mr Livingstone responded: Well, its just rubbish. The major power in Europe is Germany which doesnt have nuclear weapons. Its risen to being effectively the leader of Europe because it has invested properly in its manufacturing base. Ours is nine per cent of our economy, theirs is 20-21 per cent, which is crucial for your exports. He added: Americas dominance of the twentieth century wasnt because they had nuclear weapons it was because they had the largest economy in the world. At the end of the Second World War 48 per cent of the global economy was in the hands of America. The question is at a time when people are facing the most savage reduction in the size of our welfare state and the public services. Should we be spending what looks like 41 billion now just to build four submarines which we will never use at the time when the governments agreed to cut the size of our armies from a 102,000 down to 82,000. That will leave us much more vulnerable to the real threats we face which are increasing all over the world in terms of terrorism. The US Defence Secretary has urged Britain to renew its Trident submarines (PA) Renewal of Britains nuclear deterrent has sparked a fierce debate within the Labour party. The partys leader Jeremy Corbyn favours unilateral disarmament yet other members of his shadow cabinet are outspoken advocates. Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader who ended the partys commitment to unilateral disarmament in 1989, said at the end of last year that voters would not back a party that tries to axe the nuclear programme. There are a lot of MPs saying they want to keep Trident, added Livingstone, but when youre chatting to them privately the only reason they want to keep it is because they think its electorally damaging. There arent many Labour MPs who get turned on at the thought of being able to kill tens of millions of people. The former London Mayors role on Labours National Executive Committee led him to co-convene the partys defence review. The Trident review, he adds, is being by Emily Thornberry. My role hasnt changed at all. When Jeremy set up the [defence] committee it was me and Maria Eagle then it was me and Emily Thornberry. Now its me and the other lovely Hilary Benn. Me and Emily had a lunch just after her appointment and at the end of it I said well look in an hour and a half we havent disagreed about anything theres no point the two of us doing this so I think you should lead on the question of Trident and defence and that report will then come up to the foreign affairs and defence review under me and Hilary. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Cameron, who has attacked universities for not admitting enough black students, has been accused of rank hypocrisy by presiding over a civil service with an even worse record on ethnic minority recruitment. Last month universities denied they were guilty of institutional racism after the Prime Minister accused them, the armed forces and British businesses of ingrained, institutional and insidious attitudes that are holding back black people and should shame our nation. Mr Cameron, who is Minister for the Civil Service, singled out his old university, Oxford. He also criticised universities for not taking more students from poor families. But a review for the Government has now found that the civil services fast stream recruitment scheme has a less diverse intake than Oxford when the social and economic background of students is considered. And Labour has seized on figures published quietly on a government website showing that only 1.8 per cent of black and mixed race people who applied were accepted by Whitehalls fast track recruitment programme compared to 4.8 per cent of white applicants. Only 21 of the jobs filled in 2014 went to black and mixed race groups, compared to 766 white recruits, who took 86 per cent of the places. The overall success rate for all ethnic minority groups was 3.3 per cent, with 127 recruits taken on (14 per cent of the total). Gloria De Piero, a Shadow Cabinet member, told The Independent: It is rank hypocrisy for David Cameron to lecture Britains universities about their record on recruiting black and working class students when his own civil service fast stream has a recruitment record which is even worse. If he really wants to help young people from ordinary backgrounds to get on in life, he can start by putting his own house in order. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA The Governments figures show a 5.1 per cent success rate for fast stream applications by students whose parents were in higher managerial or professional jobs, compared to 3.1 per cent rate for those with parents doing routine or manual work. The top group took 711 of the Whitehall posts, with 60 going to the bottom group and 106 going to an intermediate group. Graduates from non-selective state schools made up 50 per cent of fast stream applicants, but only 43.6 per cent of successful ones. In contrast, graduates who went to private schools made up 18.5 per cent of applicants, but 22 per cent of those who succeeded. Of 718 candidates from poorer backgrounds who applied for the top graduate fast stream scheme, only eight succeeded. Whitehall blames the problem on the education system. The programmes latest annual report says: A longstanding core principle of the civil service is that recruitment must be based on merit, regardless of background. We already employ many of the countrys brightest and best and it is therefore inevitable, and right, that many of these civil servants come from our best universities. If the best people, recruited on merit, do not reflect society at large then we need to look to our education system to provide more support for younger generations to ensure they have the opportunity to become our future leaders. The Whitehall report added: It is our aim in the next three years, to recruit greater numbers of those currently under-represented in the civil service, in particular high-quality black minority ethnic, lower socioeconomic, disabled and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates. Downing Street pointed out that Mr Cameron announced last October that name-blind recruitment to tackle discrimination and ensure jobs are awarded on merit alone would be introduced by the civil service and NHS by 2020. Teach First, Learn Direct, the BBC, HSBC, KPMG, Deloitte, Virgin Money and local authorities signed up to the Government's initiative. More than 200,000 apprenticeships will be created in the public sector by 2020, with more than 30,000 in the civil service. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The risk of the EU breaking up is real and negotiations of the UKs future membership remain very fragile, the President of the European Council has admitted. Speaking ahead of the crucial summit on 18 February in which David Cameron will try to successfully renegotiate the terms of Britains membership, Donald Tusk warned that talks have reached a critical moment. If Mr Cameron is able to secure the backing of other EU leaders at the summit in Brussels for his demands to renegotiate the terms of Britains membership. Recommended Read more Tory battle lines harden as EU negotiations enter their final days If he clinches a deal, he will call an immediate Cabinet meeting on 19 February, after which Eurosceptic ministers such as Iain Duncan Smith would be free to join the Brexit campaign sparking the beginning of the EU referendum battle in earnest The potential timetable leading to an in-out referendum in late June emerged as David Cameron embarked on a last-minute flurry of diplomatic activity ahead of the summit. Last night he held talks in Paris with President Francois Hollande and will meet key figures in the European Parliament on 16 February in an attempt to gain their backing. David Cameron has been in Paris for talks with President Francois Hollande (AFP) Tory sources confirmed that the Cabinet would be called on 19 February in the event of a deal being struck the night before. Mr Cameron hopes it will be finalised during a working dinner at the summit on late on 18 February, although sources in London and Brussels have stressed there are still several important sticking-points to be resolved. The Prime Ministers spokeswoman said: Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, also warned last night that negotiations over Britains demands had reached a critical moment. Speaking after talks with the Romanian and French presidents, he tweeted: The risk of break-up is real because this process is indeed very fragile. If agreement is reached in Brussels, the summit will end at lunchtime on 19 February, at which point Mr Cameron would hurry back to Downing Street to chair the meeting of senior ministers. The Prime Minister had come under pressure most vocally from Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee not to delay the Cabinet session until 22 February. Campaigners to leave the EU had warned it would be seen as very unfair to leave the airwaves free over the weekend for supporters of EU membership while Eurosceptic ministers were still bound by collective Cabinet responsibility. The timetable will now allow them to attend a major pro-Brexit rally being staged on 20 February and to give interviews over the weekend to make the opposite case from the Prime Minister. Chris Grayling, John Whittingdale, Priti Patel and Theresa Villiers are expected to join Mr Duncan Smith in arguing for Brexit, while Michael Gove is understood to be agonising over which way to jump. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. Sources would not be drawn on whether Mr Cameron would take the unusual step of calling a weekend Cabinet meeting if the negotiations in Brussels run over into late on 19 February or even 20 February. Last nights talks in Paris were due to focus on French concerns over Mr Camerons demand for Britain and other nations outside the single currency to be protected from decisions made by Eurozone countries. The French have raised objections that the UK is asking for special treatment for the City of London. In Brussels, Mr Cameron will meet the European Parliaments president, Martin Schulz, as well as leaders of the centre-right EPP and the Socialist groupings. Downing Street has confirmed that key British reform demands, including curbs on in-work benefit payments to EU migrants and cuts in child benefit for youngsters living abroad, will require legislation in the Parliament even if they are backed by EU leaders. Both moves have encountered fierce opposition, particularly among MEPs from central and eastern European states. Asked whether this could enable MEPs to block the changes after the referendum has taken place, the PM's spokeswoman replied: This would be a legally-binding document under international law, entered into by the 28 leaders of member states. There are a number of decisions subsequently which would have to be delivered by secondary EU law by co-decision with the European Parliament. Meanwhile, HSBC warned that it could move 1,000 staff to Paris if the UK votes to leave the EU. Following a lengthy review, the group announced it was keeping its HQ in London, and chief executive Stuart Gulliver said the referendum result would not affect this decision. But he added: If the UK leaves the EU it could have a significant impact on our non-ring-fenced bank - our trading room, corporate banking and investment banking ... We have 5,000 people in global banking and markets in London and I could imagine that around 20% of those would move to Paris. Dont go two EU: Founding fathers urge UK in-vote Two elder statesmen who helped build and shape the EU have urged Britain not to leave the union. Valery Giscard dEstaing, father of the European Monetary System that was the forerunner of the euro single currency, said keeping Britain in was well worth the trouble. I strongly hope they stay, the former French president, who turned 90 this month, told Reuters. Britain has an ancient and very brilliant history, the good citizenship of its population, an old and deeply authentic democratic tradition and expertise in international trade, he added. Etienne Davignon, 83, the Belgian statesman and business leader who served in the European Commission under its only British president, Roy Jenkins, said the EU could adapt its structure to allow the eurozone to integrate further while keeping Britain in the EUs single market. This is not an impossible question to resolve, he said. Explainer: Who opposes what? Cuts in child benefit for children living abroad Being fiercely resisted by the so-called Visegrad Four Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia whose nationals would be most affected by the plan. Reducing in-work benefits for EU migrants Again, the Visegrad Four are strongly opposed; the Hungarian Prime Minister has attacked the idea that Hungarians in Britain were parasites. They are being backed by Romania. Other countries also fear that the proposal undermines the principle of freedom of movement across the EU. Protection from eurozone decisions for countries outside the single currency France is sceptical, and suspects that the UK wants special treatment for the City of London. The unexpected Could debt-ridden Greece use the occasion to demand extra concessions in return for backing Britains deal? Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A controversial new trade deal between the EU and the United States could make it more difficult to fight tax avoidance, a new report has warned. TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, is expected to include provisions to allow multinational corporations to effectively sue governments for taking actions that might damage their business. A new report by the Transnational Institute and Global Justice Now found that previous implementations of this rule in other trade agreements have been used to fight tax policies imposed by soverign countries. The analysis, which looked at data and documents of hundreds past of investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) tribunal cases, found that 24 countries have already been sued for changing their tax policies. ISDS clauses are written into international free trade agreements and allow foreign investors to take governments to court. Countries that have already had tax policies challenged by corporations include India, Romania, Mexico, Ecuador, and Uganda. US oil giant ExxonMobil has taken Russia to court asking for $500m in taxes it paid on a gas project, while Vodafone has been suing India since 2007 after the country insisted it paid capital gains tax on an offshore transaction. The evidence of the dangers of these investment deals continues to mount. Not only do they affect health and the environment and cost taxpayers millions in legal fees, this report shows they also affect the ability of governments to tax corporations effectively, said Cecilia Olivet from the Transnational Institute. This is yet more money lining the pockets of corporate executives stolen from the public taxpayer. New trade deals such as TTIP and CETA have to be stopped and the public interest defended. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Show all 5 1 /5 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Facebook Facebook paid 4327 in corporation tax in 2014, after it made a pre-tax loss of 28.5 million, according to filings at Companies House. That's less tax that new average UK employee pays on their salary. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Amazon Amazons UK business paid just 11.9m in corporation tax last year, even though the online retail giant took 5.3bn in sales from British shoppers. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Google So well known for avoiding tax that it had the 'Google tax' on multinationals that move profits to low-tax countries named after it. Alarm bells started ringing in 2012, when Google revealed it payed only 11.6 million to the Treasury, despite taking 3.4 billion in the UK. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Uber Uber paid 22,134 in UK corporation tax last year despite making an 866,000 profit. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Starbucks In October, the European Commission ruled that Starbucks' tax deal in the EU was illegal, ordering it to pay pay between 20-30 million to the Netherlands. Nick Dearden, the director of Global Justice Now said: Despite the enormous public outcry over companies like Google and Amazon paying ridiculously small amounts of tax in the UK, the government is trying to sign us up to a trade deal that could effectively prevent us from bringing about laws that could address tax injustice. The ability to enact effective and fair tax systems to finance vital public services is one of the defining features of sovereignty. The fact that multinational companies would be able to challenge and undermine that under TTIP is testament to the terrifying extent of the corporate grab embedded in this toxic trade deal. Tax justice campaigners including Friends of the Earth, the Tax Justice Network, and Global Justice Now have written to David Cameron to draw his attention to the new evidence. Leading opposition figures in the UK have previously said they are worried about the effect TTIP could have on the health service. In October last year Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage and Natalie Bennett all signed an appeal urging the NHS to be exempt from the deal. The next round of secretive TTIP negotiations begin in Brussels next week. In the last round of negotiations the European Commission proposed an alternative way of holding governments to the trade deal but it has so far been met with rejections by US negotiators For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Zimbabwe impounded a US-registered cargo jet with a dead body and millions of South African rand reportedly on board after their suspicions were aroused when ground crew saw blood leaking from the plane. Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe general manager David Chawota confirmed a plane registered with Western Global Airlines was impounded at Harare International Airport on Sunday. A web site says Western Global Airlines is based in Estero, Florida. "The case is now in the hands of the state. It involves nationals and property of other countries so I am no longer qualified to give much detail but yes we impounded the plane on Sunday," Chawota told The Associated Press. Recommended Read more Seven arrested over elephant cyanide poisoning in Zimbabwe "The crew requested to land for refuelling but our ground-handling personnel discovered blood leaks and became suspicious. Talk to the police for more details," he said by telephone, refusing to give details about the crew or the cargo. Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said she did not have the facts of the case yet. State-run Herald newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, reported on Monday that the MD-11 trijet was traveling from Germany to South Africa "stashed with millions of rands." At today's exchange rate, 1 million rand is worth $62,500. The 10 world's worst airports 2015 Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 world's worst airports 2015 The 10 world's worst airports 2015 10. Beauvais-Tille International Airport (Paris) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 9. Benazir Bhutto International Airport (Islamabad, Pakistan) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 8. Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 7. Hamid Karzai International Airport (Kabul, Afghanistan) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 6. Toussaint Louverture International Airport (Port au Prince, Haiti) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 5. Simon Bolivar International Airport (Caracas, Venezuela) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 4. Tashkent International Airport (Uzbekistan) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 3. Tribhuvan International Airport (Kathmandu, Nepal) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 2. King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) The 10 world's worst airports 2015 1. Port Harcourt International Airport (Nigeria) List taken from Guide to Sleeping in Airports worlds worst airports 2015 survey. http://www.sleepinginairports.net/2015/worst-airports-world.htm The crew, according to the Herald, includes two Americans, a South African and a Pakistani. The U.S. Embassy said it does not yet have a comment on the matter. Several U.S. embassy vehicles were seen at the airport Monday morning. In 2004, Harare airport authorities impounded a plane with 64 people on board, who were arrested on accusations that they had been on their way to stage a coup in Equatorial Guinea. Source: AP Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The sudden death during a quail-hunting trip of the strongest conservative voice on the United Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia, has created a whole new political battlefield in Washington as President Barack Obama vowed to nominate a successor and Republicans pledged to block him. Appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan 30 years ago, Mr Scalia was found dead in his room at a resort on Saturday morning after he failed to show up for breakfast. There was no sign of foul play, officials said. Aged 79, he had been the longest serving among the nine justices who make up the Supreme Court, the third arm of American government alongside Congress and the presidency. His death leaves the court split evenly, with four justices on either side of the liberal-conservative divide. That temporary balance could have profound consequences in the months ahead as key planks of Mr Obamas legacy come up for scrutiny in the Court, including his limits on fossil-fuel emissions, affirmative action, voting rights and his order protecting millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. But it is the longer term that matters more. Rarely will picking a new justice have been more fraught with political and ideological angst. Whoever is chosen will exercise a swing vote in the future court, deciding whether it becomes a new force for progressivism or conservatism in America. First though, will come the grieving for a legal mind that has had few equals in the modern age. Flags across Washington were at half mast yesterday for Mr Scalia, not least outside the imposing building that is Americas highest court, which for more than 200 years has made some of the most momentous decisions on the laws that govern the whole of the United States. Though he was derided or more accurately feared by most American liberals, few doubted the scholarship of Mr Scalia or his extraordinary influence as a conservative on the court, and thereafter the nation as a whole. This only resonated more loudly as the decades since Mr Reagan nominated him passed. In recent years he had been on the losing side of key decisions that will come to define the Obama presidency. On healthcare, he opposed the ruling that confirmed the legal basis of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and he was against upholding the sudden swing among the lower courts towards protecting the rights of gays to marry. If there was languor in the court when he first joined, he soon changed that, writing pointed, often spicy opinions either in dissent of rulings or with the majority, and deploying sharp lines of questioning in oral arguments. His conservatism, on issues ranging from abortion to affirmative action for minorities, was a product partly of his commitment to so-called originalism, where he would attempt to see what the perspective of the framers and authors of the American Constitution would have been as he considered each case. President Barack Obama speaking about Mr Scalia in California (AP) He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues, Chief Justice John G Roberts Jnr said in a statement confirming Mr Scalias death on Saturday. His passing is a great loss to the Court and the country he so loyally served. The political fallout from his untimely death spread quickly yesterday. While Democrats instantly saw an opportunity for Mr Obama to put a third justice on the court before he leaves office next January and thus ensure it has a complexion more to his liberal liking for years to come Republicans rose up as one to describe Mr Obama as a lame-duck President who should desist from doing any such thing. The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice, said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican Majority Leader. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. While Mr Obama flagged his own his intention to nominate a successor in due time, he faces a difficult choice. With only 46 Democrats in the 100-strong Senate, does he nominate someone sufficiently conservative to stand at least a chance of being confirmed or instead a person who is explicitly liberal, and thus set up a fight on Capitol Hill that could drag on for months? He could nominate a more liberal candidate who would have no real chance of getting through a Republican Senate in which case this would become a salient political issue in 2016, Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, noted. If Mr Obama were to take the bold route, he can be assured of galvanising the Democratic Party precisely as the race to succeed him gets into high gear. That could be a boon for whoever becomes the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, even if the squabbling on Capitol Hill ends with Mr Obamas choice for the Court going down in flames. Mr Scalias death and the question of what happens next has thrown a grenade into the Republican presidential nomination race, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas using a debate on Saturday night to aver that having the unpredictable Mr Trump choose a new Justice if Mr Obama is unable to would be a catastrophe. He will appoint liberals, said Mr Cruz, who is trailing Mr Trump in polls in South Carolina which holds its primary next Saturday. Two branches of government hang in the balance, not just the presidency, but the Supreme Court also. If we get this wrong, if we nominate the wrong candidate, the Second Amendment, life, marriage, religious liberty, every one of those hangs in the balance. At the debate, Mr Trump aligned himself with his rivals in the need to block any attempt by Mr Obama to choose a new justice. Its up to Mitch McConnell and everyone else to stop it, said Mr Trump, the biliionaire developer and current Republican front-runner. Its called delay, delay, delay. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Costa Rica's emerging status as a green energy leader has won renewed praise from experts discussing the country's 99 per cent fossil-free electricity use. The central American country achieved an almost completely carbon-neutral footprint when sourcing electricity for its citizens in 2015, according to the Costa Rican News. About 18 per cent of all its energy use was electric, official figures showed, with 99 per cent of that electricity sourced from green energy supplies. The other main sources of energy in the country include biomass, hydrocarbons and coal. This does mean that while 99 per cent of its electricity was renewable, this was only 17.8 per cent of the total energy used by the country - and given that the country's main industries rely on carbon-heavy transportation services, it remains a large consumer of fossil fuels. Yet an abundance of hydroelectricity and other policy changes have still won Nicaragua's neighbour the accolade of "my perfect country" by a leading academic speaking on the BBC World Service. Costa Rica has radically reversed its deforestation rate (Jeff Diener/Aurora creative) Professor Henrietta Moore of the Institute for Global Prosperity spoke about the government's success in aiming to reduce its fossil fuel use. "The thing about Costa Rica that's important is that it set out to do something, and it delivered on it," she said. Costa Rica's environment minister Dr Edgar Gutierrez is also not a "career politician", but an academic with a PhD in exactly the portfolio he is responsible for - an important factor in driving policy change, said experts on the programme. Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Paris climate talks in pictures Paris climate talks in pictures A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images Paris climate talks in pictures The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters Three quarters of the countrys electricity comes from hydroelectric power stations, a feat aided by Costa Rica's abundant river system and heavy rainfall. Other sources of green energy in the country are geothermal, wind, biomass, and solar, with strong popular support among the 80 per cent of Costa Ricans who want action on climate change, according to one UN report. A quarter of the country is also now protected land, including 26 national parks, and the government has reversed one of the worst rates of deforestation in the world to almost zero. Meanwhile, the UK government has come under criticism for reducing subsidies for the renewable energy industry - with the House of Lords recently rejecting an attempt to prevent any more onshore wind farms being built. Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP, told The Independent the current government needed to drastically change its approach. "It is entirely possible for the UK to go fossil-free but doing so requires a political will that has been conspicuous by its absence in recent years," she said. "When many countries across the world are trailblazing example of how to reduce fossil-fuel dependency, the UK is beginning to seriously lag behind." Meanwhile, Denmark recently announced that wind-generated energy made up almost 40 per cent of the country's overall electricity consumption in 2014. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Disney cruise ship paused on its way to the Cayman Islands to pick up 12 suspected migrants southeast of Cuba. CNN said that the ship - the Disney Wonder - was on its way from Miami to Grand Cayman on Saturday when a group of suspected migrants was spotted on a rustic vessel. The migrants were brought aboard the boat, which boasts 11 decks overflowing with restaurants, pools, recreation and more. The migrants will be passed on to authorities in the Cayman Islands (AP) The 12 suspected migrants, who were all Cuban, were on a rustic vessel, said US Coast Guard spokesman Jon-Paul Rios said. Rustic is a term authorities use to describe dangerous, unseaworthy vessels, Mr Rios said. The migrants are being turned over to Grand Cayman authorities, he added. He said it is unclear if the 12 Cuban migrants were on their way to the United States. US officials have reported an increase in Cuban migrants attempting to reach America by sea. One reason, experts say, is a fear that immigration policies welcoming Cubans into the United States may be numbered, given that relations between the countries are warming. Earlier this month, officials in the Cayman Islands said more than 120 Cuban migrants had landed there since January. In 2013, the same Disney cruise ship picked up a group of eight migrants stranded on a raft about 45 miles from Key West. At the time, Disney said it picked up that group at the request of the Coast Guard. The news channel said that cruise ships have agreements to contact the Coast Guard if they come in contact with migrants. It is common for cruise ships to pick up migrants stranded at sea, take them to the ships next port of call and hand them over to authorities. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Four American journalists have been detained in Bahrain while they were reporting on the anniversary of one of the largest uprisings of the Arab Spring. American freelance journalist Anna Therese Day and three male journalists were taken on 14 February, according to the Associated Press. The group reportedly provided false information that they were tourists and one journalist allegedly wore a mask and took part in an attack on an officer alongside other rioters. The US embassy in Manama confirmed it was aware of the arrest of four US citizens but could not discuss the case due to privacy concerns. Witnesses said police arrested a photographer working with the group on Sunday before surrounding the area with checkpoints later that night and arresting the other three. A statement issued from the Frontline Freelance Register on behalf of the families of the detained journalists confirmed they had not yet been released. "The four are experienced journalists, having most recently worked on virtual reality documentary filmmaking in Egypt and Gaza, and we hope the Bahraini authorities will release them rapidly and without harm," it read. A statement from the Interior Ministry in Bahrain said the journalists entered the country between Thursday and Friday on tourist visas and one member of the group participated alongside other rioters in an attack in Sitra. Sitra is a largely Shiite community south of Bahrain that has seen repeated protests over the last few years. At least some of the arrestees were in the country as members of the international media but had not registered with the concerned authority and were involved in illegal activities, the statement said. Media visas take several days to acquire and activists say these visas have been denied since the 2011 uprising. The uprising was led by the country's Shiite population who wanted greater political rights from the Sunni majority, which led to one of the largest protests in the Arab Spring. The protest was defeated when reinforcements from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sent in, and Shiite communities have been dissatisfied with government reforms, frequently clashing with authorities since 2011. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A day after a debate marked by a series of personal, petty exchanges and a day before former president George W. Bush was set to make a high-profile return to the national scene Republicans were grappling with their core beliefs on a host of issues, as well as the image they were broadcasting to the country. The infighting was ignited at the debate Saturday night by front-runner Donald Trump, who was unrelenting in his criticism of both how well the 43rd president kept America safe before and after the September 11, 2001, attacks and of the hawkish Republican worldview in general. The foreign policy fracas is only the latest row among 2016 candidates over many of the basic tenets that have guided Republican and conservative thinking since the Reagan years, from free trade to the extent to which the federal government should be involved in providing health care for its poorest citizens. Trump reiterated threats to use tariffs on imported goods to punish corporations that leave the United States, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich defended his decision to accept an expansion of Medicaid in his state as a humane step in line with conservative goals. The increasingly harsh discussions of these and other issues amount to an existential crisis within the Republican Party and reflect the growing influence of non-ideological, populist voters who have flocked in particular to Trumps nationalist Make America Great Again message. Trump was defiant and unapologetic Sunday, saying that he is a truth-teller and that the majority of Americans weary of war, alienated by the political class and thirsting for a populist revival would heed his call. The war in Iraq has been a disaster, Trump said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation. It started the chain of events that leads now to the migration, maybe the destruction of Europe. [Bush] started the war in Iraq. Am I supposed to be a big fan? Todd Harris, a senior adviser to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, echoed the sentiment of many in the GOP when he said after the debate that Trump was at war with the Republican Party. So far, at least, it is a war that many Republicans are willing to wage alongside Trump. Fresh off his commanding win in the New Hampshire primary, a new poll released Sunday by CBS News showed Trump surging here ahead of Saturdays South Carolina primary. The survey showed Trump with the backing of 42 percent of Republican voters, more than double the support of his closest rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. The poll was taken before the debate and the ensuing fallout, which many Republicans predicted would limit Trumps appeal going forward. Republican presidential nominations Show all 9 1 /9 Republican presidential nominations Republican presidential nominations Jeb Bush Who he is: Brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H. W. Bush, Mr Bush has formed a Political Action Committee and is exploring a presidential bid. He was the governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. The issues: Mr Bush has indicated that his campaign would focus on the economy, foreign policy and energy. He is also known as a proponent of education reform. Getty Republican presidential nominations Marco Rubio Who he is: Mr Rubio is a US senator from Florida who has served since 2011. He is an early favourite to receive heavy donations from ultra-rich donors the Koch brothers. The issues: Mr Rubio has said the biggest issue facing the US in the near future is foreign policy and dealing with threats from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. AP Republican presidential nominations Ben Carson Who he is: Dr Carson is a retired neurosurgeon, who became one of the most prominent physicians in the US. He has no political experience, but has formed a PAC to consider a run for president. The issues: A big proponent of smaller government, Dr Carson holds a tough stance on illegal immigration and is staunchly opposed to government involvement in health care. Getty Republican presidential nominations Ted Cruz Who he is: Mr Cruz has served as a US senator from Texas since 2013 and previously was the solicitor general of the state from 2003 to 2008. The issues: Mr Cruz is strongly against illegal immigration and figures to offer a presidential campaign heavy on foreign policy. He supports tough sanctions on both Russia and Iran. EPA/SHAWN THEW Republican presidential nominations Carly Fiorina Who she is: Ms Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a former executive at AT&T. She also was a 2010 nominee from California for the US Senate. The issues: Ms Fiorina, should she run, will campaign as a pro-business candidate whose background as chief executive of a major company proves she can handle the US economy. Getty Images Republican presidential nominations Mike Huckabee Who he is: Mr Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and ran for president in 2008. An ordained Baptist minister, he also hosted a talk show on Fox News until early this month. The issues: Mr Huckabee supports tax reform and often touts the FairTax, which would eliminate income and payroll taxes in favour of a uniform sales tax. getty images Republican presidential nominations Rand Paul Who he is: Mr Paul has served as a US senator from Kentucky since 2011. He is a libertarian and son of former US Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. The issues: Mr Paul supports balanced spending by the government, unlike some of his peers in the Republican Party who oppose most government spending. He has been called an isolationist by some political pundits. AP Republican presidential nominations Scott Walker - OUT Who he is: Mr Walker has served as the governor of Wisconsin since 2011 and has long been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate. Mr Walker this week launched a PAC to prepare for a presidential run. The issues: Mr Walker opposes compromise with Democrats on key issues and would encourage increasing the fight against Isis. AP Republican presidential nominations Rick Perry - OUT Who he is: Mr Paul has served as a US senator from Kentucky since 2011. He is a libertarian and son of former US Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. The issues: Mr Paul supports balanced spending by the government, unlike some of his peers in the Republican Party who oppose most government spending. He has been called an isolationist by some political pundits. Getty Nevertheless, the coming weeks will test not only who is most popular in South Carolina but whether the ties that have bound the GOP for a generation will unravel entirely. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), a supporter of Bush, said of Trump: This man accused George W. Bush of being a liar and suggested he should be impeached. This man embraces [Russian President Vladimir] Putin as a friend. The market in the Republican primary for people who believe that Putins a good guy and W. is a liar is pretty damn small. As confident as the Republican establishment is that voters will eventually turn against Trump for his apostasies and controversies, there is little evidence that they will. Still, other contenders are making their most concerted effort yet to stop him here, even though many top party officials and financiers are remaining on the sidelines and previous attempts to take down Trump have attained little. If the real estate magnate is able to win convincingly in South Carolina, he would enter the Super Tuesday states on March 1 with considerable strength and having endured a sustained assault. Despite the polls, Trumps competitors and their allies view South Carolina as perhaps their best opportunity to slow or stop Trumps march to the nomination. Bush, the former Florida governor, hopes to capitalise on the argument over his brothers legacy here, where polling suggests George W Bushs popularity is extremely high among Republicans. The Bush brothers will appear together at a rally Monday night in North Charleston, where Graham predicted the crowd would cheer so wildly that the Richter scale would break. The escalating quarreling may increase the likelihood of a long, expensive and potentially futile effort to unite Republicans around the eventual nominee. The barbs at Saturdays debate were ferocious and personal: Trump made fun of Bushs mother and bickered with him over whether Bush had suggested that he would drop his pants and moon people (which he had); Rubio jabbed Cruz for not being fluent in Spanish; and they all seemed to call one another liars. Pollster Frank Luntz, who for years has helped Republicans carefully calibrate their language to appeal to a broad range of voters, was aghast. If 10-year-old kids spoke to their teachers the way those candidates spoke to each other, those kids would be suspended, he said. There is no way that any independent observer can say the Republicans gained a single vote against the Democrats because of last night. If youre honest and unbiased, the GOP lost votes last night. Kasich, who largely avoided the vitriol, warned during the debate and again Sunday morning that the nominee could emerge so bloodied that he might lose in the general election. It was like a demolition derby. . . . I think these debates are ridiculous. This is not a way to pick a president, Kasich said Sunday on ABCs This Week. Ben Carson sounded a similar note. The retired neurosurgeon wrote in a fundraising email to supporters on Sunday: Last nights debate was ugly, vicious, and not worthy of the American people. Theres a reason that the first word in my campaign slogan is heal, and last night it was there for everyone to see. The cancer of divisiveness is corroding our politics and the soul of our nation and if we dont fix it, nothing else matters. On the debate stage, Trump blamed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in part on George W Bush, and he accused Bush of lying to the American people by directing the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite knowing, according to Trump, that there were no weapons of mass destruction there. Trumps strident criticism reopened a wound that party leaders had hoped was in the past. Jeb Bushs advisers and supporters scoffed and argued that finally Trump had done himself in. Bush lied, people died thats the Democrats refrain, said former senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), a Bush backer. Its a bridge too far. What do they say? Jump the shark? 9/11, blaming Bush thats a kooky thing, thats a conspiracy thing, thats way out there. Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Cruz, said Trumps comments about the September 11 attacks were completely out of step with the Republican base and most Americans overall. I think it will reverberate not just here in South Carolina but across the field for as long as this contest continues. The possible danger for Bushs defenders is that though the family may be generally revered in some quarters of the party, its political standing is complicated. Embracing the Bush mantle, with its elite pedigree and associations with war, could prove problematic. Trump and his team are confident that the hawkish mind-set that has defined Republican orthodoxy since the Cold War is now viewed suspiciously by grass-roots conservatives. He has been very clear on the foreign policy side that the Iraq war was a disaster. I think a lot of people agree with that, said Corey Lewandowski, Trumps campaign manager. We lost thousands of lives and $5 trillion for what? As the candidates returned to the campaign trail, the mess they left behind on the stage of Greenvilles Peace Center had some party strategists wondering whether the damage may be politically irreparable. I saw assaults going on across the stage: Mr. Trump to Jeb, Jeb to Mr. Trump, Cruz to a lot of people, and on and on, said John Weaver, Kasichs chief adviser. It was shameful all around, actually, and itll put us in a bind as a party. The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Tired of what she considers the government inserting itself into womens private lives, a Kentucky lawmaker has decided to return the favour. Rep Mary Lou Marzian, a Louisville Democrat, has introduced a bill that would force men who want to use erectile dysfunction drugs to jump through a series of humiliating hoops beforehand, such as visiting a doctor twice and getting notes from their wives. I want to protect these men from themselves, Marzian, who is a nurse, told the Courier-Journal. This is about family values, she added. Mazian told Fox affiliate WDRB that House Bill 396 would also require that someone seeking Viagra, Cialis, Levitra or Avanafil make a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible that he will only use a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction when having sexual relations with his current spouse. I started thinking, How would this body of men feel if the government was injecting [itself] into their private medical decisions, she added. Marzians proposal arrives a week after Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) signed a bill requiring women to consult with a doctor at least 24 hours before an abortion, according to the Courier-Journal. The informed consent bill, as it was labeled, passed with 92 yes votes on Jan. 28, according to WDRB. Marzian was one of three members of the Kentucky House to vote against the law, the station noted. An abortion rights supporter, Marzian has argued that government should not be able to interfere with peoples medical decisions. She told WDRB that her proposal was also inspired by her fellow lawmakers values. We are very family values in the Kentucky General Assembly they are all awash in Christian family values, so thats why I put that part in there that [erectile pills] can only be used in a marital relationship, she said. Marzian admitted to the station that her bill is more symbolic than serious and she doesnt expect it to receive much support. And yet, she told the Courier-Journal, she isnt done introducing provocative proposals. The lawmaker told the paper that she intends to introduce a bill that would require gun buyers to get counseling from victims of gun violence 24 hours ahead of a firearms purchase. Im just making sure the government is taking care of your safety, she said. The entire bill can be found here. Source: Washington Post For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Dutch tourist who survived a tiger attack in the jungles of southwest Nepal by climbing a tree over the weekend said he was lucky to be alive and will now have a story to tell when he returns home. Gerard Van Laar, who has been travelling in Nepal since Jnuary, said he was attacked by the tiger when he and his Nepalese guide were hiking in Bardia National Park on Saturday. "I was super lucky to be alive. I would have been dead if it had not been for Krishna (his guide)," Mr Laar said by telephone from Bardia, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of the capital, Kathmandu. Recommended Read more Death of 41 tigers in India prompts warning over shrinking habitats "All of a sudden I heard a roar and a growl, and the tiger was heading toward us at full speed," he said. Mr Laar was able to escape by climbing a tree but his guide was attacked and slightly injured as he ran away to draw the attention of the tiger. The tiger returned and circled the tree while Mr Laar tried to stay as quite as possible about six meters (20 feet) above from the ground. Where not to visit if you love animals Show all 9 1 /9 Where not to visit if you love animals Where not to visit if you love animals Monkey shows Chimpanzees are forced to perform demeaning tricks on leashes and are often subject to cruel training techniques. Animals who are confined to small, barren enclosures and forced to perform unsurprisingly show symptoms of stress and depression. Chimpanzees have been documented rocking back and forth, sucking their lips, salivating and swaying against enclosure perimeters in distress. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Marine parks Some parks confine orcas to concrete tanks and force them to perform meaningless tricks for food - many die in captivity. Orcas are highly intelligent and social mammals who may suffer immensely, both physically and mentally, when they're held in captivity. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Tiger shows Tigers are forced to live in an unnatural and barren environment and have to endure interactions with a constant stream of tourists. Since tigers never lose their wild instincts, across the world they are reportedly drugged, mutilated and restrained in order to make them safe for the public. However, every year, incidents of tiger maulings are reported at this type of tourist attraction. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Donkey rides Sunning on the beach is great for humans we can take a quick dip or catch a bite to eat when we get too hot or hungry. But it's pure hell for donkeys who are confined to the beach and forced to cart children around on the hot sand. Some donkey-ride operators at beach resorts in the UK even keep the animals chained together at all times. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Swimming with dolphins Some marine parks use bottlenose dolphins in performances and offer visitors the opportunity to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately, people are often unaware that these animals are captured in the wild and torn from their families or traded between different parks around the world. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Canned hunting Lions are confined to fenced areas so that they can easily be cornered, with no chance of escape. Most of them will have been bred in captivity and then taken from their mothers to be hand-reared by the cub-petting industry. When they get too big, they may be drugged before they are released into a "hunting" enclosure. Because these animals are usually kept in fenced enclosures (ranging in size from just a few square yards to thousands of acres), they never stand a chance of surviving. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Running of the Bulls Every year, tourists travel to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The bulls who are forced to slip and slide down the town's narrow cobblestone streets are chased straight into the bullring. They are then taunted, stabbed repeatedly and finally killed by the matador in front of a jeering crowd. The majority of Spaniards reject bullfighting, but tourists are keeping the cruel industry on its last legs. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Horse-drawn carriages City streets are no place for horses. The animals toil in all weather extremes, suffering from respiratory distress from breathing in exhaust fumes as well as numerous hoof, leg and back problems from walking on pavement all day long. As easily spooked prey animals, horses subjected to the loud noises and unexpected sounds of city streets are likely to be involved in accidents, even deadly ones. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Zoos The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws visitors and boosts revenue, yet often, there's nowhere to put the offspring as they grow, and they are killed, as we saw with Marius the giraffe in Denmark. Some zoos have introduced evening events with loud music and alcohol which disrupt the incarcerated animals even further. EPA About two hours later the guide arrived back with help and they shouted and used sticks to drive away the tiger. The guide was hospitalised for a day but Mr Laar was not hurt. The 33-year-old freelance engineer from Dedemsvaart, Netherlands, said he thought he would be killed until he was able to climb the tree. Bardia in southwest Nepal is a protected national forest which is home to about 70 tigers. It is popular and receives thousands of visitors a years, but tiger attacks are rare. AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Three of the 58 suspects arrested in connection with the mass sex attack on women in Cologne on New Years Eve were refugees from Iraq or Syria. Refugees have been widely targetted following more than 1,000 reports of theft, sex assault and rape of women at Colognes central train station - leading to a hardening of attitudes towards Chancellor Angela Merkels open door policy. On Sunday, it emerged that of those arrested only two had recently arrived from Syria and one from Iraq. The majority of the suspects were of Algerian (25 people), Tunisian (3) or Moroccan (21) origin and three were German citizens, according to Cologne public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer. Speaking to German newspaper Die Welt, he said that of 1,054 complaints received, 600 were connected to theft rather than a sexual offence. On Monday, Mr Bremer dismissed how his remarks had been reported, saying that the overwhelming majority of those arrested "fall into the general category of refugees". He said some had entered Germany saying they wanted to apply for asylum while others have formally filed an application. Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Show all 13 1 /13 Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Women protest against sexism outside Cologne Cathedral on 5 January after the assaults Oliver Berg/EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Women protest against sexism in Cologne following the rash of sex attacks on New Year's Eve Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police initially failed to mention the assaults in report the following morning EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police officers patrol in front of the main station of Cologne, Germany AP Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks German far-right supporters demonstrate at Cologne`s train station (Reuters) Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police used pepper spray to control supporters of Pegida, Hogesa (Hooligans against Salafists) and other right-wing populist groups as they protested against the New Year's Eve sex attacks on 9 January, 2016 in Cologne, Germany Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police use a water cannon during a protest march by supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016 Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police use pepper spray against supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida, in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Artist Mira Moire protests naked in Cologne against the mass sex attacks on New Year's Eve AP Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks A demonstrator holds a sign in German that reads 'No violence against women' during a demonstration in the wake of the sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, outside the cathedeal in Cologne, Germany, 09 January 2016. EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Counter demonstrators hold up a sign reading "Against sexism, against racism" as they protest against a demonstration of the islamophobic movement PEGIDA at the train station in Cologne, Germany, on January 9, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Demonstration by a womens group on Saturday (AP) AP A refugee is commonly understood to mean either an individual who has been granted asylum or someone who has fled a conflict zone. In January, the German government backed plans to include three north African states - Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia - on a list of 2safe countries of origin", meaning people form those nations would be highly unlikely to be granted asylum. Colognes newly installed police chief Jurgen Mathies said the technique of hemming women in and cutting them off from their friends did appear to have come from countries where they might be familiar with this behaviour. He said he had never seen it in Germany before. NYE celebrations in Cologne He said there was no evidence the attacks were premeditated and believes it was transmitted through social networks". A few people did in fact say, hey, were going to Cologne, theres going to be a big party, he explained. A total of 1,075 criminal complaints have been filed, including 467 alleging crimes of a sexual nature ranging from insults to rape. Since the attacks, German far-right groups have capitalised on increased feelings of mistrust towards refugees with Pegida using the attacks to stage mass anti-immigration marches through Europe. The increased animosity has forced Ms Merkel to scale back her welcome towards refugees - in late January she agreed a deal with her coalition partners to speed up deportations of failed asylum seekers and restrict family reunions for people granted partial protection. It comes as the police reported 22 cases of sexual assault at the Cologne carnival - including a Belgian TV reporter who was groped live on air by man who appeared to be of European descent. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Angry French farmers have besieged the town of Vannes in Brittany and blocked roads across western and northern France to protest against collapsing milk and pork prices. EU agriculture ministers, meeting in Brussels, came under pressure from the French government to ease Russian trade sanctions and to intervene to take surplus pork, milk and butter off the European market. Recommended Read more UK pork crisis looms as pig farmers expect income to half in 2016 Despite receiving a 600m package of special government aid last summer, the farmers say they are being forced out of business by rock-bottom prices, especially for pork and dairy products. More than 200 tractors and trailers blocked all roads into the town of Vannes in southern Brittany. Heaps of manure and burning tyres were dumped on crossroads. Local taxi drivers and oyster farmers joined the protest to publicise their own grievances. There were similar road blocks across Brittany and Normandy and in Picardy in northern France and in the central Auvergne region. President Francois Hollande promised last week to reduce social taxes on French farmers which are set at 45 per cent of their income, compared to an average of 30 per cent in other EU countries. The Prime Minister Manuel Valls is expected to announce other relief measures on Tuesday. Heaps of manure were dumped on crossroads, blocking all roads into the town (AFP) French farmers leaders are also calling for action at the European level, including at least a partial suspension of trade sanctions imposed to punish Russia for annexing Crimea two years ago. A tit for tat Russian ban on some EU food exports partially explains the collapse in dairy and meat prices in western Europe over the last 18 months. The French agriculture minister, Stephane Le Foll, is also pushing in Brussels for more generous EU terms for taking surplus pork and milk off the market. We cant carry on like this. We are being asphyxiated, Michel Joux, president of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes federation of farm unions said. We have to have prices which are linked to our cost of production, not a world market which is constantly going down. Recommended Read more Farmers block the streets of Brussels The protests reflect a triple crisis in French and European agriculture. Dairy, beef and pork farmers have suffered a collapse in farm gate prices of up to 40 per cent in the last 18 months as have similar farmers in Britain. Farmers no longer have the cushion of EU intervention to prop up the market. The old system of prices guaranteed by Brussels and stocking of surpluses has been progressively dismantled over the last dozen years. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The Russian embargo has deepened problems caused by reduced consumer demand for milk and meat. All sides agree that the animal husbandry sector of French agriculture about 50 per cent of the whole industry is facing its worst crisis for three decades. Mr Le Foll, the agriculture minister, said last year that one in 10 of all French dairy, beef and pork holdings about 25,000 farms were almost bankrupt. The French supermarket industry is also accused by farmers of conspiring to force down the price of food. The government has announced an investigation into alleged pressure on food processing companies to cut already rock-bottom prices. There have been a series of raids by French government inspectors on supermarket headquarters in recent days. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Greek riot police fired tear gas into crowds of demonstrators on the island of Kos on Sunday as more than 2,000 people marched in protest against a new refugee processing centre being built in the area. The rally was held near Pyli after the area on the island was identified by the Greek government as one of five new hotspots on its islands that will house and process the flood of refugees attempting to enter the EU by crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey. EPA reports more than 2,000 people took part in the protests, demanding the Greek government reconsiders its decision to build the centre on the island amid fears it will affect the communitys vital tourism industry. Greece: Police tear-gas anti-refugee protesters as scuffles erupt on Kos The protest started as a peaceful protest but changed after a group of people rushed police lines to gain access to the site where the centre is being built, at which point riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades on demonstrators, the Telegraph reported. Protesters hold banners and greek flags during a demonstration on the island of Kos, in the Eastern Aegean, against the creation of an identification and registration centre for refugees and migrants who are entering the European Union through Greece (EPA) Riot Police protect the area of Pyli during a demonstration on the island of Kos (EPA) The islands of Chios, Leros, Lesbos and Samos have also been named as hotspots. Kos is one of the many Greek islands to have borne the brunt of the refugee crisis as people have made the treacherous journey across sea to its shores. Vassilis Klamponis, who is overseeing the construction of the Kos site, told the AFP the hotspot will provide food, housing, healthcare and registration procedures, according to UN standards for refugees landing on the island. He added that many refugees spend a period of 24 to 48 hours on Kos but many who oppose the new centre are concerned those fleeing conflict will become stranded on the island due to the increasingly strict measures placed on refugees by neighbouring countries. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Just 40 miles downstream from the booming port of Hamburg, huge cargo ships pass grey-green mud flats and enter the Elbe on the flood tide, almost perceptibly groaning under the weight of up to 8,000 steel containers apiece. The river is Germanys second most commercially important after the Rhine. Now, if Chancellor Angel Merkels coalition and Hamburgs city government get their way, its lower reaches will soon be navigable by juggernaut vessels twice the size of the current megacarriers, each laden with more than double the cargo. These new 19,000-container super-freighters are expected to dominate commercial shipping in the coming decades, but if fully laden they are currently unable to reach Hamburg. The port citys answer to the problem is an increasingly controversial plan to dredge and permanently deepen the river for the ninth time in the past century by more than 5ft to accommodate them. Olaf Scholz, the citys governing Social Democrat mayor, warns that otherwise container ships of the future will bypass Hamburg completely and opt instead for its deeper Dutch rival, Rotterdam. Hamburgs commercial viability would be devastated. The projects importance for the whole of Germany should not be underestimated, he insisted recently. Even his local Green party coalition partners are holding back from actively opposing the project. The plan to deepen the Elbe is being examined by Germanys main administrative court in Leipzig. But a seasonal visitor to the mudflats near Neufeld, a village by the mouth of the estuary, meanwhile threatens to stop the plan dead in the water. One of the estuarys gull-billed terns (Alamy) From April to September, the marshes around Neufeld are alive to the sight and sound of 2,000 pairs of black-capped common terns which come to the area to breed. But among them are 34 pairs of much rarer gull-billed terns, discernible by their black, gull-like bills. They make up the only real European colony of the species, which is on the red list of most endangered birds. Under the European Unions strict nature protection rules, the Elbe can be deepened for increased maritime traffic only if the surrounding natural environment is not damaged. Ornithologists such as Markus Risch, who recently catalogued bird life for the port authority, is convinced that deepening the Elbe will eradicate the gull-billed tern colony. They make up the last pairs in central Europe, he said. His views are echoed by Veit Hennig, a Hamburg University biologist. Sitting in a nature research vehicle overlooking the Elbe, he pulls out a paper chart of the estuary to show where a northern channel of the Elbe will be filled with the 36 million cubic feet of mud and rubble dredged from the river, turning it into a giant landfill and effectively destroying scores of side creeks where the birds feed. If the project goes ahead then I fear the tern colony will no longer exist, he said. Now the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and two German environment protection agencies have mounted a legal challenge to the plans. The Federal Shipping Authority, which drew up the Elbe deepening plan, said it could not comment on the challenge while the case was still being considered by a court. A ruling is expected later this year. Anjes Tjarks, Hamburgs Green parliamentary party leader, said Rotterdam already berthed three times Hamburgs tonnage each year. The importance of the Elbe deepening project is exaggerated, he told The Independent. In German, the gull-billed rern is the Lachseeschwalbe or laughing tern because of its raucous, mocking cry. Environmentalists hope it may yet have the last laugh on the plans to deepen the Elbe. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Dozens of angry church-goers have barricaded the remains of St Valentine in an Italian cathedral to block plans for their removal. Parishioners from the San Valentino Bascilia in Terni in central Italy held hands to form a human barrier around the glass coffin containing bones supposedly belonging to the patron saint of love. The local bishop, Monsignor Giuseppe Piemontese, had planned to temporarily moved the remains from the cathedral to another basilica three miles away as part of a special Valentines Day celebration of the Vaticans Holy Year of Mercy. But the bones were still in the cathedral on Sunday morning as the local community refused to back down, the Telegraph reports. Locals say the town had seen steep population decline in recent years and was falling into a state of decay as a result. One resident told local Italian media that they had already lost everything and would not allow a piece of their history to be taken from them. Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Show all 11 1 /11 Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Une Rose fragrance, 145, fredericmalle.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Lipstick 38, Tom Ford, johnlewis.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Le Pliage tote 89, Longchamp, selfridges.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Rosaviola candle 44, Olympia Le Tan x Diptyque, diptyqueparis.co.uk Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want 3 pack of knickers 95 (for 3), Charlotte Olympia x Agent Provocateur, agentprovocateur.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Teddy sleepsuit 45, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for Autograph, marksandspencer.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Red roses bath oil, 40, jomalone.co.uk Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Mood ring, 200, eddieborgo.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Pyjamas 95, desmondanddempsey.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Knickers 17 cosstores.com Valentine's Day 2016: What women really want Bra 25, cosstores.com Another protester said: If they really want to do it, theyre going to have to get past us, because were not moving even one step backwards. Monsignor Piemontese insisted the remains would have been returned to San Valentino - where they have been housed since the 17th century - within two days and he is believed to have paid for a specially adapted car to transport them out of his own pocket. The San Valentino church in Treni where the bones have been housed since the 17th century In his Sunday homily to the parishioners he said: The controversy surrounding the temporary transfer...which was planned to make the celebration even more special for the devoted, is symptomatic of the intolerant, arrogant and disrespectful manner which has showed itself here. He said the decision had been made after many consultations and general consensus within the church and the wider community. St Valentine - whose birthplace was supposedly Terni - is the patron saint of romantic love and happy marriages and his feast day has been adopted by Western secular culture. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two hospitals have been hit in suspected Russian air strikes in northern Syria, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens. At least seven people have been killed after a hospital in Marat Al Numan, Idlib was hit on Monday, Doctors Without Borders (also known by its French acronym MSF) who support the medical centre have said. Eight members of staff have also disappeared - it is not known if they are dead or alive. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile hit a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing at least five people and wounding dozens. In a nearby village, an air raid also hit a school, killing seven others. The 30-bed hospital in Idlib was hit four times in two series of at least two attacks within a few minutes of each other on Monday, MSF said. Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSFs Head of Mission, told the Independent: This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict. An MSF spokeswoman previously said: "We can confirm that an MSF-supported structure in Marat Al Numan in Idlib, northern Syria was destroyed this morning in air strikes. We are currently gathering more information about the attack but have nothing more to share as yet." MSF have supported the hospital, which had 54 staff two operating theatres, an outpatients department and an emergency room, since September 2015. The humanitarian medical organisation covered all the needs of the hospital including provision of medical supplies and running costs. MSF International said over Twitter they believe four rockets were involved in the air strike. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The Observatory, which tracks the casualties in Syria's five-year civil war, said dozens were also wounded in the attack. Speaking by telephone from Maaret al-Numan, Tahya al-Sobeih, an opposition activist said: The entire building collapsed to the ground. He added five people were killed near the clinic and all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead. This has not been confirmed by MSF. He said paramedics were now working to remove the rubble. Alleged footage of the incident has been posted on social media, however MSF say the are unable to verify it. Five people were killed and more than 30 were wounded in the missile attack on a second hospital in Azaz, the Observatory said. They added the dead include three children and a pregnant woman. Activist Bahaa al-Halaby who is based in the northern city of Aleppo says it was a ballistic missile adding that it killed 10. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded air strikes in Azaz,mainly children, were taken to a hospital in southern Turkey. Footage of ambulances arriving at the Kilis State hospital showed medical personnel unloading children on stretchers and a girl wrapped in a blanket. The Observatory and al-Halaby also reported an air raid on the village of Kaljibrin near Azaz. Al-Halaby said the air raid hit a school, killing seven and wounding others while the Observatory said five were killed. In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis The strikes comes just days after Russia and other world powers agreed to a limited cessation of hostilities after talks in Munich. A Russian Foreign Ministry official has reportedly said Russia will continue its air strikes around Aleppo even if a ceasefire agreement in Syria is reached, according to the Interfax news agency. Syrian troops have been on the offensive in northern Syria under the cover of Russian air strikes over the past week. The ground offensive has been focused on the northern province of Aleppo while Mondays air strike struck the clinic in near-by Idlib province. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Union officials have called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a US-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. Additional reporting by various agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Barack Obama has phoned Vladimir Putin in a desperate attempt to hold together the Syrian peace deal as Russia launched major airstrikes in the region and Putin was accused of exacerbating the refugee crisis to undermine the European project. As world leaders scrambled to prevent a Syrian ceasefire from collapsing, the US President contacted the Russian President on Sunday night to urge him to stop bombing moderate rebels in the war-torn region in support of its Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad. The White House said: President Obama emphasised the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria. The Kremlin added that they had a frank and business-like discussion with Mr Obama. Major powers agreed on Friday to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria, but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties - the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it. The ceasefire would exclude military operations against the so-called Islamic State terror group. There is little optimism, however, that the deal will do much to end a war that has lasted five years and cost around 250,000 lives. Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial centre before the conflict. The intensified air campaign follows accusations from Senator John McCain, chairman of the US Senate armed services committee, that Russian President Vladimir Putin was intentionally stoking the refugee crisis in order to undermine the European project. The International Rescue Committee added that more than 40,000 had fled the countryside of northern Aleppo province in the past two weeks, crowding into towns near the Turkish border. In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis Speaking on the final day of the annual Munich security conference Mr McCain accused Moscow of using its aerial campaign in Syria to add to the flow of people feeling the Middle East. He [Mr Putin] wants to exacerbate the refugee crisis and use it as a weapon to divide the transatlantic alliance and undermine the European project, he said, His appetite is growing with the eating". Senators McCains concerns come amid reports that some Turkish soldiers have entered Syria over the weekend. Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz, however, denied the report and said Ankara was not considering sending troops into its neighbour, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Syria's government had said Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen who entered Syria on Saturday with 12 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, in an operation to supply insurgents fighting Damascus. Senator McCain added that Mr Putin "is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime. He wants to re-establish Russia as a major power in the Middle East." "This is diplomacy in the service of military aggression and it's working because we are letting it. On Saturday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the Munich conference there was no evidence that Russia was bombing Syrian civilians. Additional reporting by Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Isis militants attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq with mustard gas last year, the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, according to one Western official. A source at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told Reuters that laboratory tests had come back positive for the sulfur mustard, after around 35 Kurdish troops were taken sick on the battlefield last August. The OPCW would not identify who used the chemical agent. But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the findings have not yet been released, said the result confirmed that chemical weapons had been used by Isis fighters. Kurdish peshmerga forces have been at the front of the battle against Isis (Reuters) The OPWC, an intergovernmental organisation based in the Netherlands, has the task of monitoring adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention, an agreement which prohibits the use of chemical weapons and requires their destruction. No one from the OPWC immediately responded to inquiries on Monday. However, the news agency said that the samples that tested positive for mustard gas, were taken from soldiers who became after fighting against Isis militants near Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The OPCW had already concluded last October that mustard gas was used last year in neighboring Syria. Islamic State has declared a "caliphate" in territory it controls in both Iraq and Syria and does not recognise the frontier. Experts believe that the sulfur mustard either originated from an undeclared Syrian chemical stockpile, or that militants have gained the basic know how to develop and conduct a crude chemical attack with rockets or mortars, Reuters said. Iraq's chemical arsenal was mainly destroyed in the Saddam era, although US troops encountered some old Saddam-era chemical munitions during the 2003-2011 US occupation. Saddam Hussein used chemicals weapons - among them mustard gas - on several occasions during his time as Iraqs ruler. In March 1988, up to 5,000 people were killed and thousands more injured, after Iraqi forces dropped chemical munitions on the Kurdish city of Halabja. Saddam also used chemical weapons on a number of occasions during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, much of it made up of mustard gas, a blistering agent that destroys the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. It was used with devastating effect during World War One. Syria gave up its own chemical weapons, including stockpiles of sulfur mustard, under international supervision after hundreds of civilians were killed with sarin nerve gas in a Damascus suburb in 2013. Western countries blame President Bashar al-Assad for the attack, though his government denies it. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Israeli defence minister has warned of a coming nuclear arms race in the Middle East as other Arab states seek to develop weapons to counter Iran. Moshe Yaalon said Israel has gathered intelligence showing Sunni Arab nations were not convinced by last years nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, and have started developing their own weapons in response. He said: "We see signs that countries in the Arab world are preparing to acquire nuclear weapons, that they are not willing to sit quietly with Iran on brink of a nuclear or atomic bomb." Israel and the Gulf states do not have formal diplomatic ties but are known to communicate via back channels and share an opposition to Shia dominated Iran. Mr Yaalon said Iran could break the agreement to stop their nuclear enrichment programme if their economy improves substantially following the lifting of international sanctions. Even if Iran did not decide to violate the treaty and break for the bomb, the agreements 15-year expiry date was just around the corner, he added. Israel has not provided any evidence to back up its claims but is known to spy on the military activities of Islamic powers in the region. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Mr Yaalon made the claim after meeting King Abudullah of Jordan - one of the two Arab states Israel has formal diplomatic relations with. He did not say which countries were developing the weapons, but the comments were most likely aimed at oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which has close ties to nuclear power Pakistan. Iran and Saudi Arabia are already conducting a proxy war by supporting opposing sides in both the Syrian and Yemen conflicts. Recommended Read more Iran nuclear deal leaves it stronger as its neighbours fall apart Last year, US surveillance records revealed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to undermine the Iranian nuclear deal by secretly trying to persuade American politicians to block the deal in Congress. Israel was emphatically against the deal during negotiations because it feared it could threaten its own security - Iran does not recognise Israeli sovereignty and in 2005 the Iranian president threatened to wipe it off the map. But earlier this year the head of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), Gadi Eisenkot, said although the deal posed many risks it also contained opportunities for the country. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Saudi Arabia has reportedly launched the largest military drill in the regions history, according to state media, using troops from 20 nations. Dubbed North Thunder, the operation involves Arab and Muslim countries, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, though details of the exercise have not been released. Recommended Read more Saudi Arabia sends troops and fighter jets to military base in Turkey The countries joining Saudi Arabia in the operation are the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Senagal, Sudan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Chad, Tunisia, Comoros, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Egypt, Mauritania and Mauritius, in addition to the peninsula shield forces. The SPA reported this as the largest and most important military manoeuvre in the history of the region using qualitative military equipment of diverse sophisticated weapons. The North Thunder drills represent a clear message that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia an its brothers and friends of the participating countries stand united to confront all challenges and maintain peace and stability in the region, SPA reported. The move comes just months after Saudi Arabia formed an anti-terrorist coalition of 34 mainly Muslim nations. Foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said the alliance had been formed to push back and confront the terrorists and those who promote their violent ideologies, which promises to fight any terrorist organisation, not simply Isis. On Saturday it was reported Saudi Arabia would be sending aircraft to Turkeys Incirlik air base to aid in the fight against Isis militants in Syria. Saudi Arabia has in recent weeks resumed its part in the air strikes carried out against Isis, which has been welcomed by the US. The country has also offered to send ground forces to fight Isis militants. While President Obama has ruled out sending American ground troops into Syria, Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country and the Saudis would support a ground operation coalition. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Almost 50 civilians were killed in attacks on at least four hospitals and two schools in northern Syria, the UN has said, as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she now supported a no-fly zone to protect civilians. Residents and activists said that several of the attacks in Idlib and Aleppo provinces were launched by the Russian air force, casting further doubt on a pause in fighting due to come into effect by Saturday. Recommended Read more Saudi Arabia and Turkey send troops into Syria Russian and Syrian jets have pounded the region as part of a major offensive to push towards the key city of Aleppo and cut off rebels access to Turkey. The campaign has sent a new wave of refugees to the Turkish border, alarming both Ankara and European leaders fearful that more people could seek to reach their shores. In a new departure, Ms Merkel told Germanys Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper that she now favoured a no-fly zone being imposed in Syria. She said: In the present situation it would be helpful if there were an area over which none of the warring parties would fly air attacks a sort of no-fly zone. However, she ventured that such an arrangement should be negotiated, not imposed, saying: If it were possible to reach such an agreement between the anti-Assad coalition and the Assad supporters, that would be helpful. Turkey has long wanted a no-fly zone in Syrias northern border region, but has found few supporters in the international community. Mrs Merkels rethink follows warnings that the five-year conflict is spiralling out of control, bringing rival militaries into dangerously close proximity and sending the death toll soaring. Fourteen people were killed in Azaz, near the Turkish border, when missiles hit a childrens hospital, a school and a refugee shelter. The French NGO Syria Charity, which supports the hospital, blamed Russia. It published a video showing distressed babies in incubators as sirens blared. The UN childrens agency Unicef said that a further health facility and school were attacked in Azaz. Angela Merkel has said she now favours a no-fly zone being imposed in Syria (Corbis) In neighbouring Idlib province, five patients, a caretaker and a hospital guard were killed in two missile strikes on a hospital supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The charity said that the assault on the town of Maarat al-Numan was a deliberate attack against a health establishment by either the Syrian or Russian air force that would deprive 40,000 people of healthcare. A third attack in the same town killed two nurses at the National Hospital, according to the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Locals in both towns blamed Russia for the attacks, and the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said it was a Russian ballistic missile that hit Azaz. A UN spokesman said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was deeply concerned. Such attacks are blatant violation of international laws, he said. Moscow claims its air intervention, which began in September, targets only terrorist groups, but the US says it has mainly targeted other factions opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. The cessation of hostilities deal agreed in Munich last week was already criticised for not mentioning an end to Russian air strikes. The Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, told Time magazine that Moscow had no plans to halt its attacks on rebels. They are all bandits and terrorists, he said. Meanwhile complicated battles are under way in Aleppo province. US-backed Kurdish forces have sought to take advantage of rebel losses by advancing from their western enclave of Afrin. Alarmed by this, Turkey shelled Kurdish positions for the third day running. Even so the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the US-backed and Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces had wrested control of a large part of the town of Tal Rifaat from other rebel groups. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A leading international human rights group has accused the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen of using indiscriminate cluster bombs supplied by the United States, and says that their use could break US law. An international ban on the use of cluster munitions, which can kill and maim people long after being deployed, was agreed in 2008. Saudi Arabia, which joined the civil war in Yemen in March last year, is not a signatory. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, as well as their US supplier, are blatantly disregarding the global standard that says cluster munitions should never be used under any circumstances, said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) and chair of the international Cluster Munition Coalition. The Saudi-led coalition should investigate evidence that civilians are being harmed in these attacks and immediately stop using them. Human Rights Watch first accused Riyadh of using cluster bombs in Yemen in May last year. The group now says that the supply and use of the weapons could violate strict conditions in American law, which regulates their use. The organisation points out that one of the weapons being used by the Saudis is a CBU-105, which is made by Massachusetts company, Textron Systems Corporation. HRW says that it has evidence of the bombs being used at least five times, including an attack in December last year that injured civilians. US export law prohibits recipients of cluster munitions from using them in populated areas, as the Saudi coalition has clearly been doing. Second, US export law only allows the transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate of less than 1 per cent, the group says, adding that the CBU-150 does not meet that standard. Textron did not reply to a request for comment. As much as half of Yemens population is facing shortages of food, water and vital medicines, with the UN estimating that 14.4 million people in the country are at risk from starvation. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A student who faces deportation, despite suffering from ill health, is urging the Government to see him as an equal human being as he insists the Home Office will be sending him back to a death sentence in his home country. Speaking with the Independent, Luqman Onikosi, a recent MA student of global political economy, described how he first came to the UK from Nigeria in 2007 to study at the University of Sussex, after which he was subsequently diagnosed with a chronic liver condition brought on by Hepatitis B. He said: In Nigeria, there isnt the medical infrastructure required to keep me alive. My battle to stay in the UK on medical grounds is, therefore, a fight to stay alive. Mr Onikosi said his two brothers in Nigeria died of complications brought on by the same illness; one passed away in October 2011, and the other in March 2012. Unless the Home Office reverses its decision and allows him to remain in the UK, Mr Onikosi believes the same fate will await him. He said: I believe its barbaric to send a third member of my family, me, to my death. The student described how he feels international students are wrongly accused of milking the system when the reality is very different. He said: We are treated as cash cows by most education institutions. We continue to add value to the UK economy through its international education system, reportedly worth up to 2.8 billion in London alone. In short, we are not treated as human, we are dispensable and even the relation of customer to a marketised education system is not enough to allow us to progress. Last year, in the final stages of his masters, Mr Onikosi said his right to study was withdrawn due to demand from the Home Office, and said: If even my rights as a cash cow are denied, what a dire situation it is. Reflecting on his overall situation, the student said it was utterly dehumanising and humiliating to have to justify and defend his existence as an equal human being: I have to fight for my right to life, by discussing the death of my two brothers from the same chronic liver condition, just to highlight how serious the situation is. Callum Cant, a member of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and organiser of the online #DontDeportLuqman fundraising campaign, described how the Home Office has demonstrated its determination to deport people in similar situations previously. He said: Luqmans fight against deportation is part of a wider struggle against state violence and the border regime in communities and on campuses around the country. Speaking with the Independent, a Home Office spokesperson said all cases are considered on their individual merits, and in line with the immigration rules, adding: The individuals application was fully considered and has been through the appeal process. An independent immigration judge found he has no right to remain in the UK. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Wandering across the Parque Colon, I momentarily lose track of the fact that I am in the Caribbean. It is not that the palm trees which frame the square at Santo Domingos heart have uprooted themselves. It is more that I am suddenly aware that those classic symbols of the region the beach, the lounger, the cocktail are noticeable by their absence, their holiday aesthetic drowned by the busy noises of the city and the ghosts of colonial Spain. As a destination, the Dominican Republic is mainly known if it is known at all as a haven of sun and sand; a place of escape from the European winter. And it lives up to this perception with relish in the resorts of Punta Cana, at its far south-east corner. But its capital, fixed midway along the south coast, a three-hour drive away, is a different beast a kindred spirit of Havana, where the past waits in cobbled streets and historic landmarks. It is older than Cubas kingpin, of course the first city in the Americas, founded in 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus, just four years after his elder brother, Christopher, had stumbled across the wider island (Hispaniola) during his initial voyage of discovery to the New World. Over 500 years on, Santo Domingo still breathes this era, its Zona Colonial alive with churches and palaces protected as a Unesco World Heritage Site. As such, it is a beacon for tourists who are keen to add a dash of culture to their week of Caribbean relaxation. Not least in February, when Carnival season is in full flow building up to Independence Day (27 February), which fills Santo Domingo with costumed colour. Naturally, independence is a treasured idea in a city which faced centuries of attacks from British ships, Spanish overlords and neighbouring Haitians and lost its name from 1936 to 1961 when the dictator Rafael Trujillo retitled it in his own honour (Ciudad Trujillo). But it wears these scars with beauty a fascinating enclave for any who care to explore it. Matter of taste: Dining in the Zona Colonial (Ian Cumming) Sir Francis Drake made short work of what is now the Fortaleza Ozama museum (Calle Las Damas; 001 809 686 0222). The city fort was constructed between 1503 and 1507 and though overrun by the English seadog and his men, it was sturdy enough to continue to be in military use until 1965. Alas, the Alcazar de Colon (Plaza Espana; 001 809 682 4750) proved less resilient. The ornate structure, built by Diego Columbus (Christophers son) as a family mansion between 1510 and 1512 was left in ruins by Drake. What exists today is a reconstruction, albeit a faithful one, done from 1955 to 1957, with rooms full of tapestries, period furniture, and the Ozama river ebbing behind. The Museo de las Casas Reales (Calle Las Damas; 001 809 682 4202; same hours, price as the Alcazar) makes fine use of what was the Spanish governors home as a museum which recalls the Taino Amerindians who once lived here, as well as the voyages of Columbus. Unpack Santo Domingos hard-wired heritage runs to accommodation in the form of the Hostal Nicolas de Ovando (001 809 685 9955; mgallery.com) a fabulous five-star where 104 rooms yearn for 16th-century Spain in bare stone walls and cool ochre floor tiles. Doubles start at 124, room only. Rather more contemporary, but well located, just two blocks from the cathedral, the Hotel Mercure Comercial (001 809 688 5500; mercure.com) offers double rooms from 65, with breakfast. Think local Two emblems of Dominican pride crown the citys grid. The Panteon de la Patria (Calle Las Damas; 001 809 689 0089) is an 18th-century Jesuit church which now serves as a mausoleum for national icons, its marble tombs containing a crew of presidents and poets. Rather odder, on the east bank of the Ozama, is the Faro a Colon (Parque Mirador del Este; 001 809 5921492) a vast cement bastion, opened in 1992 in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas, which purports to hold Columbuss remains (though he is probably in Seville) while resembling less a lighthouse than a Soviet nuclear bunker. Eat The Hostal Nicolas de Ovando offers the gourmet jewel of La Residence a French affair in an enclosed courtyard where the three-course Menu de Chef features the likes of roast duck, and is good value at US$26 (18). Nearby, Meson DBari (001 809 687 4091) clings to more local flavours , serving dishes such as grilled Dominican crab (DP350 /5.30) in a restored colonial pile decorated with island artworks. Drink The Zona Colonial is dotted with options for a potent glass or two. Segazona (001 809 685 9569; twitter.com/segazona) proffers a giddy array of cocktails and regular 5pm to 8pm happy hours, with tables on the street. Elsewhere, Maquiavelo (001 809 817 3254; facebook.com/maquiavelo1) parties late, staying open until 4am. Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Show all 8 1 /8 Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winners: Landscape category - Jurassic Coast (Dorset, UK) by Tony Cowburn Tony Cowburn Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: Icon category - Tiger's Nest (Paro Valley, Bhutan) by Kasia Nowak Kasia Nowak Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: People category - Reflections (S-21 Prison, Phnom Penh, Cambodia) by Charlotte Currie Charlotte Currie Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: Wildlife category - Escape! (Tanzania) by Vittorio Ricci Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runners-up: Icon - Snow Time (Westminster Bridge, London) by Ron Tear Ron Tear Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: Wildlife - Momentary (Bucks, UK) by Porsupah Ree Porsupah Ree Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: Landscape - Polar Bear Landscape (Wrangel Island, Russia) by Gunther Riehle Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: People - Let Sleeping Sikhs Lie (Amritsar, India) by Allan Dransfield Allan Dransfield Spend Bettyes Galeria (Calle Isabel La Catolica 163; 001 809 688 7649) is a merry jumble, selling Haitian arts and crafts, and Dominican jewellery. Hombres de las Americas (001 809 686 2479; facebook.com/hombresdelasamericas), meanwhile, deals in sartorial elegance selling Latin accoutrements such as Panama hats. Getting there There are no direct flights from the UK to Santo Domingo, but BA (0344 493 0787; ba.com) flies to Punta Cana twice a week from Gatwick. Indirect options to Santo Domingo include Iberia via Madrid (020 3684 3774; iberia.com); Air France via Paris (020 7660 0337; airfrance.co.uk); and American Airlines via Miami (020 7660 2300; aa.com). Most Punta Cana resorts offer excursions to Santo Domingo. Olympus Tours (001 809 831 6003; olympus-tours.com) runs day trips to the capital for US$105pp (75). More information godominicanrepublic.com Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has sent shockwaves throughout America and the world. He was the leading conservative legal voice of his generation famous or infamous depending on your perspective for his rulings and opinions on issues ranging from the right for individuals to bear arms to campaign funding by corporations, from racial discrimination legislation to the rights of terrorist detainees. The impact of his passing remains uncertain. At the very least it sets the stage for a fiercely partisan battle over his replacement. President Obama will want to appoint a liberal judge, although the Republican Senate has already declared their intention to reject any such nomination. Whatever happens, the process will have significant ramifications for the 2016 Presidential election. Yet the stakes are much higher than any election, even a presidential one. The lifetime tenure of a Supreme Court judge means that they can shape the countrys policies and values for decades. This influence is even greater in this particular instance as if Obama gets his way the next judge will almost certainly shift the Courts balance of power in a more liberal direction. The consequences of this change will be felt in the short-term, regardless of what Republicans choose to do. In the event of a Justices death, all unresolved cases revert back to the previous rulings of the next lower court. Presently this would mean a victory for public sector unions, the continuation of immigrant deportations and the closing of a number of abortion clinics in certain states. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Looking further ahead, a more liberal court could be a dramatic force for progressive change nationally. Only last year, the Court legalised gay marriage despite the vigorous dissent of Scalia. With a liberal majority the court could uphold tougher campaign finance laws, reaffirm abortion rights for women and expand labour protections among other hot button issues. Putting aside for the moment the partisan battles and looming legal decisions ahead, this is an opportunity to fundamentally debate and change the role of the court as a force for social progress. It harkens back to a time not so long ago in the post WWII in which the Supreme Court made landmark decisions ending racial segregation and legalising abortion. Under its current leadership, however, the Court has retreated from this more activist role. Scalia in particular was a public spokesman for a court that used its power to preserve American traditions and accepted moralities leading to charges that he was trying to create a majoritarian theocracy. Philosophically he promoted the originalist and textualist approaches to constitutional interpretation. The former demands that judges adhere strictly too the original intentions of the founding writers, and the latter that such interpretations prioritise the actual text rather than broader socio-political context. These are not mere esoteric legal debates. They go to the heart of what America is and could be. Where the founders creating a country that respected religious pluralism but embraced then and forever a guiding Christian morality? Or was it a revolutionary nation committed even if only ever partially to ideals of freedom, equality and toleration? Should it remain committed to an ethics formed over three centuries ago or continually update its founding spirit to changing times? At stake is whether America looks backward or forward to discover its purpose and soul. It represents a constitutional history that is both inspiring and with retrospect appalling. The same constitution that enshrined free speech is the same one that justified slavery and later legalised racial inequality all the way up to the middle of the 20th Century. The same constitution that safeguarded citizens against arbitrary arrest by governments is the same one whose formal protection of armed militias presently legitimates a multi-billion dollar domestic weapons industry with increasingly tragic human consequences. It is a legacy, therefore, as complicated as the country which it founded and the world in which it was created. It is full of both hope and contradiction. Where many of its most prominent revolutionary writers were slaveholders. In their wisdom and blindness, they created a Supreme Court that protected the sovereignty of Native Americans while doing little to stop their genocide. That served as a bulwark against government intrusion while upholding the forced eviction of over a hundred thousand Japanese citizens in the Second World War. That made imperialism lawful despite itself being born in the desire for independence. That bans cruel and unusual punishment yet has refused to hold the US government completely accountable for its use of torture as part of the War on Terror. The 21th Century brings its own tests of progress. How will it address the problems of a democracy threatened by the stranglehold of corporate interests, the rights of citizens to privacy in the information age, the balance between the countrys ideals and what it proclaims it must do in the name of national security. Will it be up to the challenges of ensuring that a rapidly changing economy is not only strictly constitutional, but in keeping with its progressive principles handed down from its imperfect past? Peter Bloom is a lecturer in the Department of People and Organisations at the Open University. His book, 'Authoritarian Capitalism in the Age of Globalization' will be released in March of this year. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} News has emerged this week that shunning Israeli goods is about to become a criminal offence for public bodies and student unions in the UK. Put simply, the law will prevent publicly funded institutions - including local authorities choosing to refuse to buy goods from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products or illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. From here-on out, these institutions will face severe penalties for attempting to implement morally driven boycotts. What people are rightfully concerned about is the way in which this will prevent everyday voters from voicing their opposition to a decades-long humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. Why? It's complicated. There are scholars whove spent their entire adult lives trying to figure out whats going on with Israel, Palestine and the Gaza Strip. But the long and short of it is: there are a lot people arguing over one scrap of land, all of them have strong cultural and religious ties to the area and its nigh impossible to decide whos right and whos wrong. Yet as fate would have it, only one of these groups is extremely well-funded and super-connected. Thats why Israel can do pretty much whatever the hell it wants to Gaza and the native Palestinians who live there. World superpowers ordinarily wouldnt stand for it. Yet because Israel is a key Western ally in the region, governments like the UK tend to turn a blind eye to any and all alleged crimes against humanity that might be taking place in the region. The citizens of the UK arent quite as happy to ignore it all as the government, however. Thats why local councils and public bodies across the country have recently and historically - taken it upon themselves to bypass their national government and send Israel a message that not everyone in the UK agrees with its policies, particularly its practice of allowing settlements in Palestinian territories which are considered illegal under international law. Leicester City, Stirling, Clackmannanshire, Midlothian and West Dunbartonshire Councils have all implemented local bans on goods that come out of Israel and its illegal settlements. More than a few student unions have followed suit. Youd think ministers would be proud of that. Young people and everyday voters connecting with international issues, debating ethical dilemmas and implementing legislative policy on a local level in order to mirror the views of ordinary people isnt that what Big Society is all about? Apparently not. If David Cameron wants local authorities and everyday people to get involved in politics, thats great. But he needs to walk the walk. The government cant take that voice away from people simply because it doesnt like whats being said. Recommended Read more Corporate tax avoidance in the UK may be about to get even worse You see, politicians love to hear whats happening at the local level, but only if its about filling potholes or building houses. When activists and students start talking about their views on dynamic global issues, the government starts to get nervous. When David Cameron rose to power in 2010, he did so based upon a platform of devolution and pluralism. Under the highly marketable banner of creating that Big Society, Westminster unleashed a wide array of initiatives designed to empower local authorities and grassroots activists, and give them a stronger voice on the global stage. At least, that was the dream. But fast-forward six years, and the UK Government is clumsily attempting to mop up every single trace of the hyper-local activism it once encouraged. The latest casualty of this U-turn? This new ban on boycotting goods which a group might be morally against a ban on bans, if you will. After all, allowing open disagreements about these sort of things might inadvertently prove to the whole wide world that not everyone in Britain thinks alike. People might start to think we live in an open democracy. And why on earth would we want them thinking that? Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In modern Britain, it is getting harder and harder for young people from ordinary backgrounds to move up and get on. The Government purports to care about this. It set up the social mobility commission under Alan Milburn and claims social mobility is at the heart of every policy it pursues. And in the past two weeks, it has lambasted Britains universities over their admission record of black and working class pupils. But how do we square that with a government that is making it harder not easier for students from ordinary backgrounds to afford to go to university? It has scrapped Labour's education maintenance allowance, overseen a massive hike in university tuition fees and scrapped maintenance grants for students from poorer households. These non-repayable grants of up to 3,387 per year were there to help students with the costs of their rent, food and textbooks. In my constituency of Ashfield alone, 690 students benefited from the grants in 2013-14. But now these grants - which have helped thousands of students from poor backgrounds access university education - are being replaced with loans, putting off thousands of teenagers who do not want to start their working lives saddled with debts. The Government's rhetoric on social mobility does not match the reality of its policies. Take another area: recruitment of graduates to the civil service fast stream. Just over a year ago, I wrote about the shameful under-representation of former state school pupils in the ranks of graduates recruited to the fast stream in 2013. Black candidates fared equally poorly compared to their white counterparts, as pointed out by former fast streamer, Damian McBride in his own analysis In the wake of the Governments attack on universities on exactly these two issues, I looked at the latest figures for fast stream recruitment covering 2014, expecting to see a remarkable improvement. Instead, I found them throwing stones from inside a glass house. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA First, lets look at black candidates. The success rate for black and mixed-race applicants for the fast stream in 2014 was 1.8 per cent, well below the 5 per cent success rate achieved by white fast stream applicants. Black and mixed-race graduates made up 5.8 per cent of all British fast stream applicants, but just 2.3 per cent of all those who were successful. So the fast stream is not struggling to attract black and mixed-race candidates they are applying in higher proportions than they make up the British population it is just not giving them jobs. Take the almost 300 applicants to the fast stream of Caribbean origin in 2014. Just five succeeded. In short, if the government believes the university sector has an issue with black candidates, they first need to take a long, hard look at their own civil service fast stream. Lets turn to applicants from state school and working class backgrounds.The success rate for fast stream candidates educated in non-selective state schools was 4 per cent, well below the 5.4 per cent success rate for privately-educated graduates. Look at the proportions of successful candidates, and the numbers are more stark. Graduates from non-selective state schools made up exactly 50 per cent of all fast stream applicants, but just 43.6 per cent of successful ones. In contrast, graduates from independent schools made up 18.5 per cent of applicants, but 22 per cent of those who succeeded. As for students from poorer households, the failures are equally glaring. In 2014, graduates whose parents were in routine or manual employment made up 8.1 per cent of fast stream applicants, but just 4.4 per cent of those who succeeded. In contrast, those whose parents work in higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations were twice as likely to succeed with their applications. Trust in the government among low earners is half that of wealthier individuals (Rex) Astonishingly, of 718 candidates from poorer backgrounds who applied for the top graduate fast stream scheme serving in Whitehall, Parliament or the diplomatic corps only 8 succeeded. It does not help that the civil service summer diversity internship programme designed to give students from under-represented groups experience of fast stream work gives such favourable treatment to applicants from well-off and privately-educated backgrounds. Applicants whose parents work in higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations made up more than half of those accepted to the programme in 2014; those whose parents were in routine or manual employment made up less than a quarter. In addition, the success rate of non-selective state school applicants was just 15.3 per cent compared to 25 per cent for applicants from private schools. And this to get on the diversity programme. The civil service is clearly defensive about the accusation that it is not doing enough to recruit candidates from ethnic minority and working class backgrounds. Its own report on fast stream recruitment says: If the best people, recruited on merit, do not reflect society at large then we need to look to our education system to provide more support for younger generations to ensure they have the opportunity to become our future leaders. So the civil service passes the buck to universities, who in turn pass the buck to secondary schools, who ask what they are supposed to do, and nothing ever gets changed. The Government talks the talk on social mobility and deserves credit for raising the issue of university admissions. I agree with the Prime Minister when he says that we must be far more demanding of our institutions, and be relentless in the pursuit of creative answers. But where are the demanding questions being asked of fast stream recruitment? Where are the creative answers to their under-representation of black and working class talent? David Cameron is the Minister for the Civil Service and the simple fact is that on all the measures on which his government is challenging universities his own fast stream scheme is currently no better, and in many instances, much worse. The Prime Minister needs to put his own house in order before throwing any more stones at others. He might not be willing to U-turn on maintenance grants, but his own civil service recruitment would be a good place to start. Gloria De Piero MP is shadow Minister for Young People and Voter Registration Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The announcement that publicly funded bodies in the UK will be banned from boycotting Israeli settlement goods has been greeted as an out-and-out diplomatic victory by Jerusalem. It is, however, an unnecessary and heavy-handed move that will most likely backfire on those who are celebrating it most loudly. The full details of the new regulations will be released tomorrow by Cabinet Office minister Matthew Hancock, during a visit to Israel. So we dont know the specifics yet or even whether the severe penalties threatened by ministers on bodies which continue to pursue a boycott will be enforceable at all. But whats already clear is that this clumsy misuse of central government jurisdiction has allowed pro-Palestinian activists to position a minor dispute as an international issue of civil liberty and political freedom. Its important to note that these new rules for publicly funded organisations extend far beyond the boycotting of Israeli-settlement goods, although that is, inevitably, the issue thats won the most attention. Public bodies will also lose the ability to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels or tobacco products. The idea of limiting the powers of local authorities to set what are, in effect, their own foreign policies has been circulating for a number of years, partly based in genuine Tory outrage at political intimidation by its activist opponents among the British far left. These trouble-makers, they argue, should not be allowed to disrupt what government sees as national interests whether that be positive relations with Saudi Arabia or the purchase of drone technology from Israel. The occupation of Palestinian territory wont end if some local council in England decides to not to serve orange juice from a West Bank settlement in its meetings. But though such boycotts may seem like pointlessly small acts, and the banning of them superfluous, local governments should be free to indulge in gesture politics. The Government needs to win its arguments over our foreign relationships politically, rather than through the direct intervention of central government. The pro-Israel lobbys feelings of vindication at this new legislation are quite misguided. When it comes to boycotting and sanctions, its not about the economy, stupid. The impact of a boycott lies in its cumulative effect on Israels global brand, not on its GDP. In fact, even if a vast, EU-wide ban on settlement goods was introduced, its effect on Israels economy would be negligible. The movements real effect is to consistently grind away at Israels image in the world, and Jerusalem takes this image extremely seriously. The Israeli Foreign Ministry works hard to combat boycotts worldwide and its anti-boycott department will increase its staff five-fold this year, with a budget of 130m shekels (23m) in 2016 alone. And this position has broad sympathy from the Jewish diaspora. Many Jewish people feel that the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is a form of modern anti-Semitism. There is more support over boycotting settlement goods, but there is huge suspicion over the motives of the movement and its distinction between sovereign Israel and occupied territory. So its easy to see why some in pro-Israel circles are claiming this new law as a landmark victory in the fight for Israel. Theyre wrong: just as there is no military solution to the occupation, there is no legislative one to boycotting. The reason the movement so perturbs the Israeli government is because its highly effective. The reason its so hard for them to fight is because, however offensive some may find it, its entirely legitimate: it is non-violent and fully within the bounds of the law. Changing legislation in response to that will not make it the bigger issue it raises just go away. Daniella Peled is an editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Lasers are rapidly getting cheaper, smaller and better. But concern is growing over the safe use of small, battery-powered hand-held lasers, with thousands of incidents now happening every year of aircraft pilots being targeted from the ground, with some suffering serious eye damage. Our eyes are highly developed to see in great detail and also in very low light, but these very qualities make them vulnerable to damage from light. Lasers are classified according to whether they present a danger to the eye, with classes 1 and 2 being safe in normal use. At low power, less than a thousandth of a Watt or 1mW, laser pointers are useful and bright but still safe. Current laser technology can easily produce hundreds or even 1,000 times the safe limit in a battery-powered hand-held device, which can be dangerous even at a large distance. A laser pointer may seem like a harmless toy, but with too much power it has the potential to do serious harm from afar. Unfortunately, there are far too many incorrectly labelled lasers easily available at low prices. A study in the US found 90 per cent of green laser pointers tested did not comply with federal regulations. I have measured many blue and green laser pointers from online retailers sold as 1mW or less, but actually producing 20, 50 or even 100 times that safe limit. In fact, there is an incentive for small retailers in an online marketplace to provide too much power. Customer reviews are vital, and there are many more customers who are likely to give bad feedback if the laser seems too dim than there are expert customers who both know the regulations and are able to measure laser power accurately. Both the US FDA and the EU are trying to remove hazardous lasers from sale, but regulation and enforcement will need to be matched by a public willingness to understand the level of risk. To harm your eye the laser needs to shine through the pupil, which highlights the most difficult part of raising safety awareness. Your pupil is a very small area and so a beam shining around a room is very unlikely to hit exactly that spot. Most of the time nothing happens, but if it does, the result can be life changing. For pilots, hazard comes even without eye damage. A bright light can cause a distraction during crucial parts of a flight. Some safety specialists offer glasses which can block the most common laser colours, but this can also change how the cockpit controls look to the pilot. Dr William Wadsworth is Reader at the Department of Physics at Bath University. A version of this first appeared on theconversation.com Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In a seemingly fear-fuelled attempt to halt the rapidly growing popularity of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton has once more turned to her husband her secret weapon to move along the discussion. Except its all gone terribly wrong. At a rally in Memphis on Friday, Bill Clinton demonstrated his ineptitude in offering any meaningful contribution to political debates about racial equality when he argued that we are all mixed-race people. This comment - an attempt to downplay the significance of race - represents a lack of respect towards, and disregard for, the lives of people of colour living in the United States. Bill Clinton has had a lot of opportunities to think about race. He might have thought about the centrality of race to prejudice in US society when his tough on crime stance saw him introduce the 1994 crime bill. When this bill supported a burgeoning prison-industrial complex that disproportionately incarcerates African Americans, often for non-violent and petty crimes, he might have stopped to think about race. He might also have listened to the NAACP and African American activists when they warned that the 100:1 sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine disproportionately impacts upon African Americans. It was a golden opportunity. However, despite a plethora of evidence, he did not. Or, when his economic policies saw the unemployment rate of non-university educated African American males reach 42 percent, he might have stopped to think about the shocking correlation between race and rates of employment. He might also have thought about the way his attacks on welfare would disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities - but he didnt. To deny race to state blithely that we are all mixed race and therefore seen as and treated as equals - is to be complicit in the maintenance of the racial hierarchies that operate at all levels of US society. These racial hierarchies provide immeasurable advantages to white Americans like Bill Clinton. It is unsurprising, then, that he might want to draw upon the kind of colour-blind ideas that let white people get away with ignoring what happens to others. Of course, Bill Clinton is not alone in his line of thought. Just last week at the Berlin film festival, Meryl Streep caused controversy when she argued that were all Africans, really when asked about diversity in the film industry. These comments come in the wake of a number of high-profile black stars boycotting the Oscars. While two consecutive years of all-white nominations indicates a considerable problem with the industry, Streeps comments undermine and delegitimise black voices asking to put race higher up the agenda. Bill Clintons administration maintained and perpetuated racial inequality. Hillary Clinton who advocated for the controversial 1994 crime bill now so widely criticised can only be assumed to care as little as her husband did. Recommended Read more Corporate tax avoidance in the UK may be about to get even worse On the other side, Bernie Sanders is a candidate is not afraid to say that Black Lives Matter. This demonstrates that, at the very least, hes prepared to face up to the reality of race in modern America explaining endorsements from the likes of Cornel West, Erica Garner and Killer Mike. For meaningful change, America must face up to the racist underpinnings of its present, as well as its past. And most importantly, these underpinnings must not characterise its future. Admitting you have a problem is the beginning of the solution which is why claiming that were all mixed race in times of racial conflict is a terrible place to start. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} News that a former Cambridge University lecturer had refused to answer a letter from a 13-year-old Israeli girl asking about horse breeding until there was justice in Palestine, out of deference to the BDS Movement, may have been somewhat of a shock to neutral observers when it emerged last December. But to Jewish Britons routinely affected by the toxicity of the relentless campaign against co-religionists in Israel, the decision to exclude a Jewish schoolgirl from the international community is the natural consequence of a campaign which evokes painful collective memories of past persecution. Polls of British Jews demonstrate that most believe such anti-Israel boycotts are not merely immoral and hypocritical, but represent a form of intimidation against their community, and recognise that violent anti-Semitism has historically been preceded by such ostracism, the nurturing of a climate in which Jews were rendered (to use Daniel Goldhagens term) socially dead. The boycotters are not only ostracizing and demonizing six million Jews, but sending a message to the millions of non-Israeli Jews in the world who are Zionists that they are morally beyond the pale. This is the context in which to view UK Government plans to prevent local authorities from participating in boycotts against Israel, a policy reflecting not only the government's concerns about undermining British foreign policy, but a growing realization regarding the connection between BDS and antisemitism in the UK. Indeed, as has been reported by The Independent, senior government sources attributed the new policy to fear that BDS undermine[s] good community relations, and fuel[s] anti-Semitism. To understand why Jews, anti-racism campaigners and others feel so strongly about the issue, it's important to provide context. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The modern BDS Movement is inspired by whats known as the Durban Strategy, a declaration adopted at the 2001 NGO Forum of the UNs Durban conference. The Durban campaign is itself the political successor to the Arab anti-Jewish boycott launched in 1945, three years before Israeli statehood. The NGO Forum featured numerous expressions of explicit antisemitism, falsely labeled Israel an apartheid state, absurdly accused the state of genocide and adopted a resolution calling for the complete isolation of Israel and the full cessation of all international links to the country. Further, despite the false rhetoric of peace and human rights often used by BDS activists, their leaders have been clear that they in fact oppose the continued existence of a Jewish state within any borders. Whats known today as BDS which singles out the Jewish state, alone among the family of nations, for a coordinated campaign of boycotts, sanctions, divestment and social exclusion was essentially born on that day. Most Jews around the world indeed view current calls to exclude Israeli Jews from the international community in the context of the dark history of such measures. They also naturally question the motivation of putatively sophisticated Europeans. They see the unimaginable brutality and oppression in the Arab Middle East which includes the violation of the rights of women, gays and political dissidents, and even (as in Syria) industrial-scale killing and torture. Yet perversely they believe that the only country whose citizens deserve to be boycotted is the one that, according to a 2013 study by the NGO Freedom House, has the best human rights record in the region. It also just so happens to be the only one with a Jewish majority. Though many Jews are secular, most thankfully are imbued with a rich and edifying tradition which explains that "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun". Try as they may, no degree of sophistry employed by boycott proponents can possibly convince us not see this modern day political attack through the lens of Jewish history, nor to avoid reaching the conclusion that as in every generation resistance to this current anti-Jewish campaign is a moral imperative. Especially given the recent upsurge in anti-Semitism in the UK, legislation against such discriminatory boycotts puts the Government on the side of the victims, and gives those who have always viewed the movement through the lens of racism just cause to feel morally vindicated. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Like many myths about Islam, the Quran and Muslims, I've always heard the worst from Islamophobic extremists and Islamist extremists alike. They tend to share pretty much the same language, online content and perpetuate the same awful narratives about Muslims and their supposed religious practices. As time wears on Im starting to see these similarities are unavoidable particularly online where it is rife. For example, this video of a female Muslim 'scholar' saying that men can have sex with female prisoners of war to humiliate them has been shared widely on right-wing news sites and social media. This narrative has been spread in the wake of recent sexual assault allegations in Cologne and reports of Isis fighters raping and selling sex slaves. Its mainly been promoted by Donald Trump supporting anti-Muslim bigots, far-right extremists and people wholl easily believe anything bad about Muslims. Those sharing the video usually make unfounded claims that the 'North African/Arab' men accused of the Cologne assaults were motivated by a Muslim background. The video has been used as proof of a culturally ingrained mindset that all Muslims apparently possess, as well as claims that the Quran supposedly endorses raping women, in particular female slaves. Its worth noting the video has also been shared by Muslims who have strongly refuted and ostracised the scholar, reacting with disgust over this extreme view. Recommended Read more The Prophet Mohammed had British values And they are right: rape and sexual violence is not permitted in Islamic texts. It is of course something that causes harm to other humans, which is not Halal (permissible) and, in early Muslim communities, rape was a crime punishable by death. However, seeing as this myth isnt about to go away with a few online condemnations, what scripture is being cited by extremists and has it been distorted? After all, there are billions of Muslims across the globe that arent going round capturing women to rape as sex slaves. The main reference cited is Chapter 23:1-6 in the Quran. It reads: And successful are the believers who guard their chastity except from their wives or those that their right hands possess. The reference is about sexual relations, which are forbidden with any woman unless she is a spouse or those their right hands possess. To be clear, this means a concubine, bondmaid or a slave, but intercourse has to be consensual. Rape is forbidden as it is violent, and Islamic texts legislated for the proper and honourable treatment of slaves. Even consensual sexual relations with a slave were not permissible if it caused harm and abuse elsewhere (e.g. to a wife) as all parties involved would be affected. Furthermore this is not an entitlement. Concubinage and interpersonal relations with various bondmaids/slaves was already occurring at the time the Quran came about and subsequent passages list restrictions as a starting point to help to bring about the end of slavery. In any case, marriage was encouraged (Chapter 24:32) with slaves. In fact, slavery was never endorsed by Islamic texts; rather it was something inherited from pre-Islamic cultures (pre-600s) that needed to be voluntarily and gradually weeded out of society through manumission, which was highly encouraged (Chapters 24:32-33 & 16:71). Islamic texts list a plethora of avenues to free slaves, as it was seen as a highly virtuous act. Its difficult to find any references on how to make slaves out of people; rather the focus is always on ending slavery. Conveniently this is something the extremists ignore, and this example further enforces the point that religious illiteracy is a root cause of extremism. Islamophobic extremists as well as Islamist extremists (like Isis) who promote and validate sexual violence through unspecific passages in the Quran - or without context - do so to justify their own violent mindsets. Also, references in Islamic texts about slavery dont apply any longer for a modern age given that slavery has been officially banned internationally since 1948. There is widespread consensus across all nations on this, including Muslims ones. Theres no desire among ordinary Muslims to drag humanity backwards into slavery, especially when there was a clear agenda in key Islamic texts to eventually eradicate it. Human trafficking and modern sex slavery is, after all, not just a Muslim issue, its even happening right under our noses in the UK by all sorts of perpetrators. Therefore lets promote those devout Muslims like Zainab Bangura who work hard to empower victims of Isis sexual violence and slavery, as well as those women seeking justice for having been forced into sex slavery elsewhere in the world. The majority of sane, law-abiding Muslims do not seek to impose themselves on others by force or aggression. They dont even need me to explain passages in the Quran as theyre not interested in keeping a female slave to rape or humiliate. Those who do spread these myths should get called out for it. They have perverted the Quran, which is a smear on the religion of billions across the globe. Islamic texts do not promote rape and do not encourage slavery. We must therefore all be united in spreading light on the matter through proper understanding, not further ignorance and bigotry. This ignorance only plays into the hands of groups like Isis or Islamophobes, who have a vested interest in burying the truth of the Quran and pushing their own agendas instead. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Paying less tax than the cleaners they employ is mainstream practice for big business today. The close-to-zero tax rate of some of the worlds biggest corporations is widely acknowledged, as is the role of British territories like the Cayman Islands in helping make this possible. Less well-known is how trade agreements are giving corporations the ability to successfully challenge taxes in secret "courts" around the world. Whether it's a sugar tax in Mexico, a windfall tax on profits in Ecuador or the removal of tax holidays in Romania, corporations are using special clauses in trade deals to challenge and often lower their tax bill. Whats more, theyre often using British tax havens to do it. If youre not worried, you should be, because under new trade deals being negotiated (including TTIP) the British governments ability to introduce certain taxes could similarly be challenged by US-based corporations. The research that Global Justice Now has released today shows that foreign investors usually multinational corporations have already sued at least 24 countries from India to Romania in tax-related disputes. To do this, they use something know formally as an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), a sort of secret court system only accessible to foreign corporations, which is embedded in hundreds of trade agreements. The idea of ISDS was to allow corporations to take action if a foreign government expropriated that companys assets. Only a rapidly growing legal industry has interpreted an "act of expropriation" as virtually anything that "unfairly" damages a companys profits. Which could be pretty much anything from putting health warnings on cigarette packages to introducing a new piece of environmental protection to a new tax on their profits. TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed Show all 14 1 /14 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Responding to a Freedom of Information request from an EU watchdog regarding contacts between officials and the tobacco industry, the European Commission released a set of documents that had been so heavily redacted as to be meaningless. In this 14-page letter from British American Tobacco from its London HQ, outlining its serious concerns with the consistency of [redacted], only five per cent of the text was visible. TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 2 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 3 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 4 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 5 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 6 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 7 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 8 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 9 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 10 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 11 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 12 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 13 TTIP controversy: what an FOI request revealed TTIP controversy Page 14 In 2007, Vodafone took over much of Indias telecoms industry. The company is now one of the largest mobile network operators in the country, with more than 180 million customers. But it gained its stake through a complex $11bn deal which used offshore companies that allowed it to pay no capital gains tax. Indian tax officials understandably werent happy, and insisted that Vodafone retrospectively pay a multi-billion dollar bill. Vodafone responded with an ISDS claim, arguing that the state was breaching a trade treaty signed between India and the Netherlands in 1995. The case is ongoing. As part of long-running legal proceedings that began in 2005, Mexico has been successfully sued by a consortium of US-based agribusiness giants, including Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland, after introducing a new tax on the sales of soft drinks containing high-fructose corn syrup. Campaigners claim the tax was helping an obesity epidemic. But the tribunals ruled in favour of the corporations, and Mexico was ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages. There are dozens of other cases (all of which can be found towards the end of Global Justice Now's latest report). Multinational oil, gas and mining companies use these tribunals more than any other industry. Ecuador was sued by Anglo-French oil company Perenco for windfall profits levied on the oil sector. UK oil company Tullow sued Uganda over a disputed $400m capital gains tax bill. Whats worse, a corporation doesnt need to have a genuine presence in Britain in order to take advantage of a British trade agreement. Thats because British overseas tax havens are usually covered by these deals. All a company needs to do to make use of a British trade agreement is set up a "mailbox" presence on one of these islands and multinational law firms have advised companies to do just this. The Government is well aware this is happening. Their response? "Nothing to do with me, gov". But thats not true. At least 20 of the UKs bilateral investment agreements, signed with countries from Belize to Turkmenistan, were expressly extended to cover investors from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Several treaties have been extended to cover investors from Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, or the Turks and Caicos. In one ongoing case, Canadian mining group Gabriel Resources used its "presence" in Jersey to sue Romania for halting a controversial gold mine in Transylvania after it was the subject of mass opposition from local communities. If this all sounds worrying, its about to get a lot worse under a new set of trade agreements being negotiated, such as TTIP. This deal would extend access to corporate courts to tens of thousands of corporations. US big business would be able to directly take British or other European governments to task in these secret tribunals. Any promise political parties might make about taxes designed to improve the environment or national health, or to tax excessive profits, could be up for challenge. The British government will promise tax is exempt from TTIP. But weve heard this before. Almost all trade agreements have tax "carve-outs". But they have failed to stop the cases. As one veteran arbitrator has written, In an investment dispute, the very legitimacy of the tax is put into question. Of course, individual tax policies arent necessarily good. But raising and structuring taxation is a key element of sovereignty. Allowing corporations to challenge these policies in secret and without the right to appeal is a threat to the states ability to fund public services, redistribute income or just balance the books. As such, deals like TTIP are a clear attack on our sovereignty. Nick Dearden is director of Global Justice Now David Drumm with his wife, Lorraine, outside the US Bankruptcy Court. It must have been a bleak few weeks for David Drumm as he languished in Plymouth County Jail south of Boston. Locked in his prison cell, the Dubliner was waiting to contest his extradition to Ireland, where he faces 33 charges relating to his tenure at Anglo Irish Bank. Many of those familiar with the prison, which houses over 1,000 inmates, do not dispute the description by David Drumm's lawyer of a jail regime that is "unrelentingly harsh". While incarcerated in the jail, Drumm has had to wear a jumpsuit-style prison uniform. He would have spent long periods in his cell, and there is only a small concrete-enclosed recreation area where prisoners can walk for a short time. Jim Pingeon from the local non-profit group Prisoners' Legal Service tells Review: "The prison has an atmosphere that is down and depressing. It has a darker and more claustrophobic feeling than most prisons." Drumm has only been allowed two 30-minute visits per week. His wife Lorraine, family and friends would have had to join rows of visitors, meeting him contactlessly across a glass divide - and only able to talk using a phone device. Although Drumm has not been convicted of any offence, and was incarcerated prior to an extradition hearing, originally scheduled for March 1, he would not have been treated any differently to the convicts, according to James Pingeon. "Usually, they would have the same kind of cells and food. The only difference is that he might have a different coloured uniform." Faced with the daily grind of American prison life, it was hardly surprising that Drumm announced this week that he was throwing in the towel in contesting his extradition to Ireland. It was always likely that if Drumm returned to Ireland to face charges related to Anglo that he would seek bail in the run up to his trial. Under the Irish judicial regime, he would have a better chance of success than if he was fighting extradition in the US. Larry Donnelly, an NUI Galway law lecturer from Boston, is not surprised at all that Drumm resolved to return home. "The law made it clear that he had no chance of getting bail in the US. He had even less chance of prevailing if there was an extradition hearing. The advantage would be very much with the US Attorneys' office." "The extradition is as diplomatic as much as a legal process and it would have been vetted at every stage in the State department." Since his arrival in the United States in 2009 following the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank, Drumm has shown considerable ingenuity in keeping his head above water. Married to Lorraine, with two daughters, up until his arrest he was still living in a $2m mansion in the upmarket town of Wellesley, and holding down a job as a chief investment officer at an asset management firm in New York. The family remains in the house. In a letter to the judge in a US bail hearing, his employer (whose name was redacted) said Drumm occupied a "critical position in the business" which requires a high level of respect, confidence and trust. He was said to work on complex and time-consuming deals. Pleading unsuccessfully with the judge for bail for her husband, Lorraine said: "Through his salary, we pay the mortgage, utilities, school tuition, food and clothing. I honestly don't know what we will do if David is unable to work to support us." After they arrived in Wellesley, the Drumms enrolled their two daughters at Newton Country Day School. The Catholic school run by the Sacred Heart Order was last year ranked as the ninth most expensive private school in America, with annual fees of $44,000. The comfortable middle-class life in Wellesley was shattered on October 10 when Drumm was arrested by US marshals at home in the presence of his family. It was the Saturday of a bank holiday weekend, and Drumm has been locked up in cells in four different locations since. Since his imprisonment awaiting extradition, his lawyers have argued that there were risks to his personal safety in jail. It is all a far cry from his heyday in Ireland, where he was a business titan as chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank. In 2006, not long after he took over as CEO, Anglo was named by consultants Wyman as the best performing bank in the world. At one stage, Drumm's total pay packet was over 3m a year. One striking feature of Drumm's case is the sterling support that he has received from his family and friends. Since his arrest they have gone out of their way to try to help him secure bail. Before Christmas, his wife, his mother Mary, his brothers and sisters, as well as local priests, wrote to the judge on his behalf seeking his release. In a handwritten note to the judge, his mother said: "He has been my rock all his working life, in all my good and bad days". Mrs Drumm, who raised eight children on her own after her husband died of cancer, added in her letter: "Your compassion in David's case will be in my prayers forever." In another letter to the judge, Drumm's wife Lorraine said she was positive that Drumm would never flee if he was given bail. "David loves the girls and me too much to ever leave us. And since I have offered to put up our home as collateral, and have offered to turn over my and my daughters' passports, if David left there would be devastating consequences - we would be homeless, penniless and unable to travel. He would absolutely never do that to us." A local church also provided a reference at the bail hearing, stating the Drumms have made "a valuable contribution to this faith community". The Drumms were said to prepare and distribute baskets of food to the homeless in the locality of Wellesley every Thanksgiving and Christmas. While the glowing descriptions of Drumm by his family and friends are no doubt genuine, they are at times at odds with descriptions of the banker elsewhere. In November, a US bankruptcy judge rejected an appeal by Drumm and insisted he is personally liable for 10.5m of debts to IBRC (formerly Anglo). The judge said Drumm had been fraudulent and his excuses that he could not remember key details about his personal finances amounted to 'misdirection and dishonesty'. Drumm has probably been chastened by his prison experience, and his difficulties since the collapse of Anglo. In his interview with the Sunday Business Post this week, Drumm insisted that he had never fled Ireland after the bank's collapse, and fervently denied that he was a "fugitive". Drumm portrays himself as a scapegoat for all the economic difficulties Ireland has experienced. When the banking scene went pear-shaped in the late Noughties, it was not surprising that Drumm would seek to revive his prospects in America, where he had been an outstanding success earlier in his career. As a young Anglo executive in the 1990s, Drumm had set up an operation in Boston, and lived there with his wife and daughters. On his first outing he was credited with building Anglo's US operation from a suitcase to a 4.3bn business. By the time it all went belly up, Drumm had already focussed on America again and bought a luxurious mansion with a swimming pool on Cape Cod overlooking Nantucket Sound in March 2008. It was a palace befitting Ireland's highest-earning banker, and when the great bust got worse, the family moved lock, stock and barrel to the US in 2009. David Drumm moved on to Wellesley, and tried to carve out a new life. Inevitably, the past has caught up with him and this week he said he wanted to return home to mount a defence to the charges levelled against him. Banker's timeline 1997 Dubliner David Drumm sent to the US at the age of 30 to set up operations for Anglo Irish Bank. 2005 Drumm appointed chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank. 2008 September: Finance Minister Brian Lenihan introduces bank guarantee, mainly to stop the run on Anglo. December: Drumm quits as CE0. 2009 June: Drumm and his family move to the US, staying initially at a home in Cape Cod before buying a house in Wellesley. 2010 October: Drumm files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Boston. 2011 August: Anglo Irish Bank file a legal action against Drumm, claiming he should not be entitled to discharge from bankruptcy. 2015 January: Drumm denied a write-off of more than 10m in debts after the judge found him "not remotely credible". October: Drumm arrested as Irish State seeks his extradition to face charges related to Anglo. 2016 February: The former banker says he will return to defend charges. EXPORTS hiked 20pc to just over 111bn in 2015 boosted by the pharma and medical sectors, driving the trade surplus to a record level. Preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office showed that exports were 18.4bn higher than 2014. The figures also showed that the preliminary trade surplus for 2015 was 44bn, which is the largest surplus on record. Medical and pharmaceutical exports accounted for 27pc of all exports, or 30.1bn, up 36pc over 2014. Food, drink and live animal exports also showed increases - more of a reflection of a hike in indigenous goods. "Despite concerns over exports to the UK, we still think the overall trade surplus this year will be higher than in 2015," said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Stockbrokers. "We are currently projecting a positive trade balance of 46-48bn," he added. Dutch firm Interxion has said it is planning a multimillion-euro investment in a third data centre for Dublin. Photo: PA Dutch firm Interxion has said it is planning a multimillion-euro investment in a third data centre for Dublin. The 'Sunday Independent' reported plans for the centre in March of last year. The first two phases of the data centre, in the Grange Castle Business Park, are due to open later this year, along with expansions in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Karl Mulhall, managing director of Interxion Ireland, said the company was experiencing growth from new and existing clients. "They are looking for connectivity and security from their providers and our reputation and expertise in this area provide us with a unique opportunity for growth. This announcement demonstrates our continued investment in the Irish market." Other companies, including Microsoft, Amazon and Google, have also invested heavily in data centres in Ireland. Mark Carney is under pressure he didn't expect just 12 months ago. Then he was talking about an interest rate rise in the first three months of 2016 - what would have been the first since the financial crash. How times have changed. Any chance of a rate rise this year from the Bank of England seems to be out the window. Now there's even speculation of a cut, according to Bloomberg. UK investors now are harking back to 2013 and increasing bets the bank will need to do more to stimulate the economy. The last time traders were this certain the central bank would cut its benchmark rate was almost three years ago, Bloomberg reported, when a minority of officials, including then-governor Mervyn King, voted to expand the asset-purchase programme. Ultimately, no more stimulus was added. Still, back then unemployment was close to 8pc, wage growth was stuck around 1pc and King was arguing the recovery wasn't strong enough to be sustainable. Now, under Carney's stewardship, the jobless rate has dropped to 5pc and wage growth has almost doubled. Still, a financial-market rout, fears of a global slowdown and Britain's upcoming referendum on the EU are clouding the outlook. While Carney and his colleagues on the Monetary Policy Committee insist the next move is more likely to be up, and the majority of economists see an increase before the end of the year, futures contracts continue to suggest the opposite. Looking on the bright side of life After a bleak week on the markets, a London think tank has brought out an upbeat report, forecasting that investors have it all wrong about the global economy, and particularly on China, oil and the US economy. CEBR (The Centre for Economics and Business Research) said the BRICS were broken. China may follow Russia and Brazil into recession, leaving only India standing, and stock markets are tumbling - yet there are still strong reasons to be positive. "Our view on China is that it is not collapsing quite yet - it is certainly slowing, but the most important development is rebalancing. "The Chinese government clearly signalled both intentions far in advance. The next cyclical downturn, however, could see the world's second-largest economy fall into recession. "But although China could slip into recession at some point, this will largely be for cyclical and restructuring reasons, rather than the end of its adventure into commerce." CEBR said the effect of low oil prices had been overplayed and that the weak data out of the US was a "blip". Isn't it nice to have some positivity for a change? Let's just hope it's right. Geoff's star is on the rise Core Media has appointed Geoff McGrath as the new managing director of Starcom, and director of transformative change within the media group. McGrath, inset, was managing director of ad agency Target McConnells and has 20 years of experience in the business, including marketing communications skills. McGrath replaces Craig Farrell, who will take up a new post within Core Media as managing director of ZenithOptimedia. Core Media chief executive Alan Cox said McGrath's appointment was a "crucial step" in the evolution of the business. "We are in the process of transforming Core Media into a group that excels right across the full spectrum of marketing communications needs," Cox said. "Geoff will be a key driver in helping us to achieve that ambition.'' McGrath said he was looking forward to the challenge. "This is an exciting time in Core Media," he said. "It was not an easy decision to leave Target McConnells after 12 fantastic years there. It is a great agency and I'm very proud of all that Gary Brown and myself have achieved and I wish them continued success. "All companies benefit from change and I'm excited about what lies ahead in Starcom." APC, the Irish pharmaceutical company, and Swissport, the ground handling services firm at Dublin Airport, have announced the creation of 300 new jobs. APC opened its new headquarters in Cherrywood on Monday and announced the creation of 100 new jobs. The 6,000 sq m premises, located in south County Dublin, is part of the firms plans to double its workforce in order to meet client demand. APC, which was founded by then UCD student and professor pair, Mark Barrett and Brian Glennon, helps global clients accelerate the development of medicines for conditions including HIV and cancer. Taoiseach Enda Kenny described APCs decision to open its research centre in Dublin as a vote of confidence in Ireland. It is also a shining example of how a thriving business can grow from a bright idea once the right conditions are created by the right Government policies. The Government wants to keep the recovery going so that companies like APC can continue to grow and create jobs, the Taoiseach said. APC chief executive, Mark Barrett, outlined the roles that are being created at the new base. We are looking to expand the team with today's announcement of 100 highly-skilled research and development jobs across chemical engineering, sciences and analytics. We need people who enjoy the rewards of working in an environment that is driven by cutting-edge technology and science, Mr Barrett said. APC was established four years ago and it now partners with eight of the top 10 pharma firms in the world. The company relies heavily on exports with 80pc of its services being used outside of the country. Mr Barrett outlined the companys ambitions for growth including increased workforce and a revenue target of 50m by 2020. Minister for jobs, Richard Bruton, said that the Government had put in place a range of measures specifically aimed at attracting research and development activity to Ireland. Meanwhile, Swissport, the ground handling services firm, announced the creation of 200 new jobs at Dublin Airport, after the firm reported 23pc growth in 2015. The company is recruiting staff in the areas of customer service agents, ramp handling agents, flight operations, security and aircraft appearance operatives in order to support the positive development. Dublin Airport's managing director, Vincent Harrison, said he was pleased by Swissport's continuing growth. "We are delighted to see Swissports business go from strength to strength at Dublin Airport. The recruitment of a further 200 jobs, on top of the 350 recently announced by Dublin Airport further endorses the economic impact of the airport." Swissport station manager, Wayne Gough, invited interested parties to apply for jobs at the firm by going to www.swissport.com/careers. Swissport has been operating at Dublin Airport since 2013 after its takeover of Servisair in 2013. In addition, healthcare firm MSD is to take on an additional 200 people. The company said that due to its continued growth and increase in supply of products internationally from Ireland, it would be recruiting staff for its operations in Carlow, Cork and Tipperary. The new roles span operations, quality, engineering, supply chain and commercial operations. Ger Carmody, associate Vice President and Site Lead at MSD in Ballydine, Tipperary, said the announcement reflects the role MSD's Irish sites play in the company's wider global manufacturing network. "Those taking up these new roles will be at the cutting edge of healthcare innovation and will play a key role in delivering MSD's overall ambition to preserve and improve human life," Mr Carmody said. "Our state-of-the-art facilities in Carlow, Cork and Tipperary are leading the way in the development of new medicines, including MSD's new treatments for cancer and hepatitis C, which are being manufactured in Ireland for the world market. "Today, our Irish sites are involved in the production of over 60pc of MSD's global top 20 products." Meanwhile, a report carried out jointly by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants) found that more than half of businesses surveyed were confident about the future. In the final three months of last year, 48pc of those surveyed added new staff, compared with a global average of 17pc. Liz Hughes, Head of ACCA Ireland, said the survey shows a considerable amount of optimism in Irish business. Microsoft has announced its latest Windows 10 Mobile device, the Lumia 650, which will be launched in select European markets from Thursday. Microsoft today announced the Lumia 650, a Windows 10 Mobile handset with a 5-inch display. The Lumia 650's display offers HD resolution with a pixel density of 297ppi. It features a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 along with 1GB RAM. In terms of storage, you'll get your hands on 16GB built-in storage and you can expand this further via microSD. On the rear of the device sits an 8MP camera with LED flash, while there's a 5MP camera up front for selfies. Microsoft maintains that this handset fits "perfectly into the enterprise with built-in support for Microsoft business apps." Like other Windows 10 devices, the Lumia 650 comes with Microsoft's suite of productivity apps, including Office apps and OneDrive. The Lumia 650 will arrive in select European markets from Thursday and will cost around 220. Virtually all of the UAE's natural wealth - mainly oil - is held by the largest emirate, Abu Dhabi, whose hereditary ruler, or emir, is the federation's president. The oil-rich home of glitz, the United Arab Emirates, has appointed new ministers of "tolerance" and "happiness" as part of a cabinet reshuffle, as it attempts to cement its position as the Arab world's most eye-catching nation. The announcement followed weeks of speculation over the nature of the well-signalled government shake-up. The prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also the ruler of Dubai, has appointed Ohood Al Roumi Minister for Happiness - believed to be the first ministry of its kind in the world. Lubna bint Khalid al Qasimi will oversee tolerance. The latter ministry is symbolically important - most UAE residents are expats, many of them Christian, Shia Muslim and from other religions; Sunni Islam is the official creed. Two of the 9/11 suicide attackers were from the UAE, and its acceptance of a wide variety of "lifestyles", including alcohol-fuelled all-night partying, is not universally popular. Tolerance is not likely to be extended to political opposition - scores of activists and Islamists have been jailed in the UAE since the start of the Arab Spring to prevent "contagion" spreading to the Gulf state. Virtually all of the UAE's natural wealth - mainly oil - is held by the largest emirate, Abu Dhabi, whose hereditary ruler, or emir, is the federation's president. Dubai, the second largest emirate, which has little oil by comparison, has had to compete by becoming an outward-looking trading, transport and tourism hub, giving it a very different outlook to other parts of the region. As the city's ruler as well as the country's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed has ensured Dubai has been kept in the headlines by overseeing the building of the world's tallest building, offshore artificial islands, an indoor ski slope in the desert and a range of luxury hotels. Like other Gulf countries, the UAE has also attracted expat workers and investors by offering a consistent policy of zero income tax - something now under threat as the oil price falls and even Saudi Arabia is showing a massive budget deficit. Sheikh Mohammed said he had been motivated by the need to keep government close to the people. He has modelled his style of government partly on Singapore, another autocratic state that has kept its people happy by economic growth and more open relations with the outside world than its neighbours. In a book, 'Flashes of Thought', published 18 months ago, Sheikh Mohammed described how he had warned fellow Arab leaders for years that they had to provide better services and education to their overwhelmingly young populations, or risk being overthrown by the same revolutionary forces that had brought many of them to power in the first place. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Last week was painful for investors. On Monday alone, the FTSE fell 2pc, the German DAX and the French CAC both fell 2.5pc - even US heavyweights like Disney retreated. Since the beginning of 2016 markets have been declining, the weak global economy cited as the reason. Investors are worried and some have headed for the safety of US and German bonds, gold and defensive stocks like healthcare, utilities and to a lesser extent, telecoms. So, our company this week is a defensive one, the pharma company Astra Zeneca, an Anglo-Swedish outfit and the second-largest drug maker in the UK. Following the merger in 1926 of Nobel Explosives, British Dyestuffs and Brummer Mond, a new entity, Imperial Chemical Industry (ICI), was formed. It became Britain's corporate giant, which invented everything worth inventing in the '50s and '60s. To avoid being taken over, it spun off its pharma business, Zeneca, only to merge with the Swedish Astra to form Astra Zeneca. (You'd search in vain for traces of the once mighty ICI). The company is quoted in sterling on the London Stock Exchange but it reports in US dollars. It operates in over 100 countries with 57,000 employees. Almost 9,000 are in research and development and the firm has a market value of 50bn. Astra Zeneca today focuses on pain control, oncology, nervous systems, cardiovascular and gastro intestinal products. For most of last year it was in the news, following takeover talks with Pfizer. A bid was eventually rejected but the talks left a legacy of uncertainty - not to talk about political waves - on two sides of the Atlantic. Sweden got in on the act and the powerful Wallenberg family galvanized the successful resistance to Pfizer's overtures and won the day. The company's task is to bolster investor confidence. It has purchased a stake in Acerta Pharma, a company focused on blood cancer. This was followed by the acquisition of Japan's Takeda respiratory business and pharma outfits in the US and China. During the year the company issued a blockbusting bond of $6bn, one of the largest dollar bonds issued by a UK- listed company. It's a good guess that the funds raised will be used for fresh acquisitions. Last year the company had sales of $24.7bn, down from the previous year of $26.5bn, and a long way from $35bn five years ago. That decline was also reflected in the plunging of operating profits from a high of $13bn to $4bn last year. However, market confidence is returning and the share price today stands at 40, just below its record high of 48. Its price to earnings multiple is a high 26, way ahead of its peers Bayer, Roche, Sanofi even GSK. Astra Zeneca is also working on a $2.5bn restructuring programme which includes a reduction of 5,500 in headcount. A major problem for big pharma companies is the loss in exclusivity of some of its medicines and Astra Zeneca is no different. This is reflected in the decline in sales and operating profits over the last number of years and the company has signalled the 'patent cliff' could continue. To counter this problem last year the company devoted almost $5bn to R&D. This reflects the urgency to speed up its late stage drug pipeline. As well as the 'patent cliff' it faces challenging times. Pharma companies face intense pricing, particularly in the established markets as governments try to control healthcare costs. On the supply side, drug approval difficulties are having an impact. But Astra Zeneca feels its business is changing and is more sustainable, durable and profitable. The share price suggests investors share that hope, but I feel better defensive stocks are available. Nothing in this section should be taken as a recommendation, either explicit or implicit to buy any of the shares mentioned. There's a Tommy Cooper sketch in which one side of his body is dressed up like a German officer, with the other profile being that of an upper-class British type. With that air of deep sadness which Cooper exuded, convinced of the futility of his efforts, he would manouevre himself first into the German position, then the British position, and a ridiculous "conversation" would ensue. Cooper would grind away, hoping against hope that there might be just one person in the audience - perhaps one person in the whole world - who was stupid enough to think that this was a meeting of the two officers, rather than one man desperately pretending to be both of them. For a long time now, IRA/Sin Fein has presented itself to the public in a way that calls to mind that Tommy Cooper sketch - a slightly refined version of it perhaps, with one side in an army outfit, and the other wearing a suit, in which the audience is allowed to see just one half of this divided self, knowing that the other half is always there. Indeed Cooper was still a big star when the IRA was developing this act of theirs, and you wonder if there were doubters at the time in the republican movement, who felt that it couldn't possibly work. That you couldn't send well-known IRA men out there pretending to be mere politicians, insisting that all matters pertaining to bombing and so forth are nothing to do with them, that you'd have to ask the IRA about that. I mean, there must have been the odd voice raised at the time, suggesting that all those super-smart journalists would treat this obviously fictional construction with such scorn, it wouldn't last a week. That the media would simply refuse to talk to them in any circumstances, no more than they would talk to anyone else who was pretending to be something he wasn't, say, a gangland figure who for some weird reason was trying to pass himself off as a member of the SDLP. Indeed some members of IRA/Sinn Fein may have been surprised and quietly delighted that they were being allowed on television at all, even with them using "the voice of an actor", since there was already so much acting going on anyway. So it was instructive to see Gerry Adams on The Docklands Bomb - Executing Peace, being interviewed back in 1996, just after that bomb had brought an end to the IRA "ceasefire". When a TV reporter asks him if he knew this bombing was going to happen, he says, "no, of course not". The reporter suggests that it would be "outrageous", and "strange" given all the efforts that Adams and other "Sinn Fein" leaders had made to persuade the IRA to preserve the ceasefire, that the IRA would take such a decision without consulting either Adams or some of his senior "Sinn Fein" colleagues. And then Adams lands the punchline: "It's no surprise, the IRA would not consult Sinn Fein about military operations". Oh how we laugh at such lines, given all that we know now, looking at this scene from the last century, this little bit of history. Video of the Day Except there's a slight complication here, that you don't normally find in a documentary about some terrible event that happened 20 years ago - many of the protagonists in The Docklands Bomb are indeed figures from history, they are leading quiet lives or have just retired , but one man is still out there, still saying things like "the IRA would not consult Sinn Fein about military operations", and expecting to be believed. Expecting indeed, that a significant percentage of the electorate will soon be voting for what he would call Sinn Fein, but what can also be called the IRA. The Docklands Bomb was driven in a truck all the way from South Armagh. Two decades later Gerry Adams is still being asked about the boys of the county Armagh, and their singular contributions to the cause. And other things he couldn't possibly know about. Except now he's handling these questions, not with his back to the wall after a massive IRA explosion, but sauntering around the constituencies on his way to a big result -- because the thing you don't hear much about the Docklands Bomb, is that it worked. Reality TV star Megan McKenna has unleashed a foul-mouthed Twitter tirade at customers of a Northern Irish nightclub, describing them as "scum" after she walked out of a personal appearance. The Celebrity Big Brother contestant stormed out of popular Strabane nightspot Ruby's on Saturday with her entourage, amid claims that a bottle had been flung. Afterwards she took to Twitter to deliver an expletive-laden rant. As well as branding customers of the nightclub "scum" she called them "absolutely disgusting people". Expand Close Megan McKenna has a meltdown on Celebrity Big Brother / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Megan McKenna has a meltdown on Celebrity Big Brother Ms McKenna (23) slated Ruby's as "F***ing worst place I've been in my life" - in stark contrast to fellow reality star, Joel Corry, formerly of Geordie Shore, who seemed only to have good memories of the north-west nightspot. Afterwards he tweeted: "Thanks to Ruby's in Strabane for having me back down to play tonight! Club was bouncing for my whole set! Now back to Belfast!" Expand Close Ex On The Beach star Megan McKenna was evicted on day 18 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ex On The Beach star Megan McKenna was evicted on day 18 However, Ms McKenna seemed to be less than enchanted with the locals, tweeting: "Can't believe the scum that go to Ruby's in Strabane. Absolutely disgusting people! Get me home!" Back in England yesterday, she appeared to regret her outburst, deleting the tweet. As she headed to Selfridges for a Valentine's Day treat, she tweeted: "Love the people of Northern Ireland! Just had a bad experience in one club in Strabane". The former Ex On The Beach star then posted several images of herself posing in underwear. The foul-mouthed rant didn't go down well in Strabane, where some annoyed Twitter users branded her a diva and called her out for criticising locals. Erin Quigley posted: "We were waiting for a pic for 45 minutes when we could've been partying - who's the scum now?" Video of the Day And Emma McGrath added: "The UK evicted Megan McKenna after 18 days in CBB. It only took Strabane an hour". McKenna first hit the spotlight after reaching the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent in 2009 as part of music duo Harmony, then becoming a cast member on the third series of Ex on the Beach. In Celebrity Big Brother, she received a formal warning for aggressive and threatening behaviour. Ruby's was asked for a comment but did not respond. Local Sinn Fein councillor Karina Carlin said: "It's certainly not how we would want Strabane to be viewed and I wish it hadn't happened. "Her comments were out of kilter and they weren't befitting of somebody who is in the public eye to criticise an establishment or an entire town." Valentines Day messages and flowers are left at the grave of Michael Collins, in Glasnevin Cemetery. Photo: Gareth Chaney Hailstones fall during the ceremony for the priests who delivered the last rites to 1916 leaders at Kilmainham Gaol. Photo: Fergal Phillips The heroes of 1916 were remembered at a ceremony in Kilmainham Gaol yesterday, as admirers also visited the grave of Michael Collins with Valentine's Day love letters. The 14 leaders of the Easter Rising, who were executed for their role in the rebellion, were commemorated with the laying of a wreath inside the old prison yesterday. A small crowd filled a tiny chapel in Kilmainham as the Capuchin friars paid tribute to Padraig Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, John McBride and the other leaders who were killed by firing squad. They also paid tribute to five priests who delivered the last rites and documented the events before and after the executions. Kilmainham Gaol board of visitors member Damien Cassidy read a paragraph from the Proclamation before the group moved outside. A wreath was laid by Labour TD Joe Costello and Siptu general president Jack O'Connor before the group sang a verse of 'Amhran na bhFiann'. Meanwhile, Michael Collins was remembered as a romantic hero 94 years after his death - as admirers from both Ireland and abroad left love letters at his graveside on Valentine's Day. Flowers from a French admirer were left at Mr Collins's grave in Glasnevin Cemetery, with a note saying: "In loving memory of Michael. Happy Valentine's Day. Love from Veronica." Police are investigating after a body was found in a Belfast city centre McDonald's restaurant. The man's body was found on Thursday night in the fast-food restaurant on Donegall Place. Police are not treating the death as suspicious. A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out to determine the cause of death. A PSNI spokesperson said: "Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of a man whose body was discovered in a business premises in Donegall Place on the evening of Thursday 11 February. "A post mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death, which is not being treated as suspicious at this time." A McDonalds Spokesperson said: "We can confirm that there is an ongoing police investigation following a fatality at our Donegall Place restaurant in the early hours of this morning. "We are offering support to the staff who were working at the time and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the individual involved. An alleged rapist has failed to show up for his trial and has not been heard from for several weeks. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was due to stand trial at the Central Criminal Court this morning for rape in the Dublin area. Counsel for the prosecution Dominic McGinn SC told the court that the accused was not present and was not expected to show up. His defence team had previously alerted gardai that it had not heard from their client for three to four weeks and he had not been at his home. Gardai made enquiries with the social welfare services and traced the accused to a new address. An investigating garda told the court that officers have been trying to get an answer from that premises for several weeks with no success. Defence counsel Mary Rose Gearty SC said there was currently a bench warrant for the man's arrest from the District Court. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy adjourned the matter until Wednesday when he will issue another bench warrant after hearing further evidence from gardai. It's very unlikely he will be here, isn't it, Mr Justice McCarthy asked. Mr McGinn replied that there's always an outside chance. Convicted child killer Robert Howard, as a long-delayed inquest into the death of murdered schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson will finally start on Monday, nine years after it was ordered A long-delayed inquest into the death of murdered schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson will finally start on Monday, nine years after it was ordered. The 15-year-old from Castlederg, Co Tyrone, vanished after a night out at a disco across the Irish border in Co Donegal in 1994. She was last seen with convicted child killer Robert Howard, who died in prison last year. Howard was acquitted of the teenager's murder by a jury that was unaware of his previous conviction for murdering schoolgirl Hannah Williams, 14, in south London. He always remained the police's prime suspect in the Arkinson case. The inquest process has been plagued by hold-ups, many due to the length of time police have taken to disclose classified papers to the court. Expand Close Schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson disappeared after leaving a Co Donegal disco in August 1994 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson disappeared after leaving a Co Donegal disco in August 1994 Not all documents have been handed over and last week it emerged that a Government minister has signed off on a bid to withhold some top-secret files amid apparent concerns they could harm the public interest. Northern Ireland Office minister Ben Wallace has approved the Public Interest Immunity (PII) application. The final decision on whether it will be granted rests with the coroner, Brian Sherrard. Grounds for PII include matters of national security or the protection of police methodologies such as the use of informers. While the Government has obtained such immunity on sensitive papers relating to legacy terrorist cases in Northern Ireland, lawyers for the Arkinson family have questioned why PII issues would be at play at the inquest into the death of a missing schoolgirl. Mr Sherrard is set to hear legal submissions on the PII application on Tuesday, with at least part of the hearing due to be held behind closed doors. On the opening day of the hearing the broad facts of the case will be set out, with Arlene's sister Kathleen to make a statement to court. Howard, 71, had also been due to give evidence before the inquest. He died at HMP Frankland in Co Durham last October. The inquest is being heard without a jury, with proceedings streamed to Omagh courthouse in Co Tyrone for the missing teenager's family. Speaking outside the Laganside court complex, Kathleen Arkinson described her sister as a "blue-eyed girl". Choking back tears, she said: "Mummy passed away when Arlene was 11 and Arlene was just the blue-eyed girl of the family. She was brilliant at art, she was good at school. I want people to know the real Arlene. She was our sister and she deserves to be found." Ms Arkinson added that she hoped the long awaited inquest would help "ease" the family's pain. Sentencing has been adjourned in the case of a man who raped a young woman with Down Syndrome. Faisal Ellahi (34) had his case adjourned after the Central Criminal Court heard his lawyers are seeking a psychological report. Mr Justice Tony Hunt adjourned proceedings to tomorrow morning and said he was "disappointed" that it had not been established yet when the report will be ready. Ellahi, who is originally from Haripur in Pakistan, was convicted in December following a five-week trial. He had denied charges of rape, sexual assault and having sex with a mentally impaired person at his Dublin home on June 12, 2013. The victim became separated from her mother on a south Dublin street before being stopped by Ellahi, who lured her back to his house where he raped and assaulted her. Today, Lorcan Staines BL, for the prosecution, said the defence would know later whether there would be a report, and the "time frame." Judge Hunt said he was "surprised" because he thought the defence had requested a report and that the case was before the court "to see when that will be available." "I am surprised, to be honest, that the matter of a report is still under consideration," he said. Read More When the trial finished in December, Judge Hunt had told the jurors their verdict was absolutely correct and that Ellahis claim that the woman consented to the acts or was capable of consenting to them was absolutely ludicrous. At an earlier hearing, the court was told Ellahi continued to deny the charges and maintained his position that he did not know the woman had Down Syndrome when he attacked her. Judge Hunt agreed with counsel that the case involved a single incident of rape, unlike cases of multiple rape or rape over a prolonged period of time. But the judge added: The effects of [that single incident] are horrendous way beyond the normal range of the offence because of the victim. Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, submitted to the judge that he didn't know if the effects of the offence on the victim in this case was worse than that in other rape cases. Read More Judge Hunt said he disagreed with this and said: This goes beyond trauma. This victim's life has been upended in the most radical way. Ellahi could face a sentence of up to life imprisonment. Counsel previously told the court that most cases of rape do not attract sentences of more than ten years. Mr Dwyer had argued that Ellahis case does not attract a sentence beyond the median range, which is defined at five to seven years in an analysis of rape sentencing carried out by the Irish Sentencing Information System (ISIS). He said that rape cases which attracted a greater sentence than this usually involved a more severe degree of violence and previous convictions. Ellahi has no previous convictions in this jurisdiction and gardai are unaware of any in his native country. A woman who was raped by a 22 year old asylum seeker in Waterford has told a court that she doesn't think he should be allowed remain in the country. Kenneth Udeh met the woman while she was on a night out and raped her after offering her a lift home. The rape stopped when a passer-by scared him away. Udeh with an address at Coffee House Lane, Waterford, but originally from Nigeria pleaded guilty on the day of his trial at the Central Criminal Court to the rape of the woman in Waterford City on September 14th, 2014. After the sentence hearing Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy remanded Udeh in continuing custody until February 29th for sentencing. In a victim impact report read to the court the woman, who cannot be named, said Udeh violated and took complete advantage of her. She said she felt like she didn't want to live after the rape and that she had nothing to live for. It put severe pressure on her relationship with her partner and it was only through his patience and understanding that the relationship survived, she wrote. The woman wrote that she felt Udeh has given all black men a bad name and that she was now afraid of black men. She said she won't get into a taxi now if the driver was black. I feel he shouldn't be allowed remain in the country, the woman added in her statement. Udeh came here in 2009 and had applied for and been refused asylum twice. He is now appealing his position to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Garda Catriona Savage said that the first time Udeh applied for asylum he said he was a Christian coming from a Muslim country. The second time he claimed he was a homosexual coming from a Muslim country. Gda Savage told Tara Burns SC, prosecuting, that the victim, who was in her twenties, was out for the night in the city. In the early hours of the morning she was outside a pub and got chatting to a group of men, including Udeh, who were smoking. She said goodnight to the men and was about to leave when Udeh offered her a lift home. The two then walked to where Udeh said his car was. The woman said later that the next thing she remembered was being on the ground with Udeh on top of her with his trousers down. She shouted stop it and get off me but Udeh raped her. He did not wear a condom. A local man was leaving work late when he saw Udeh and the woman and heard her shouts. He shouted at them causing Udeh to get up and flee. The man and a taxi driver gave chase but lost Udeh. A female passer-by came to the aid of the victim and gardai were called. They tracked down Udeh to a hostel near where the men had lost him. In interview he denied any sexual contact with the woman but this was contradicted by the forensic evidence. Defence counsel Mary Rose Gearty SC said that he had written a short and genuine apology to the woman. Gda Savage said that she didn't think the victim would accept this. Counsel said Udeh had been in custody since the offence and submitted that his time in prison would be more difficult for him due to his race and nationality. Gerry Adams now claims that people should not be worried about a former Provo becoming justice minister. His comments came as a relative of Det Garda Jerry McCabe, who was killed by the IRA, called for Sinn Fein to support the arrest and extradition of two men who were part of the six-man IRA gang that carried out the 1996 ambush in Adare, Co Limerick in which he died. And IRA abuse victim Mairia Cahill has revealed that she turned down the opportunity of going into a witness-protection programme as part of her attempts to have the man accused of raping her prosecuted. When asked if the public should be concerned about a former IRA member being appointed as the defence minister or justice minister, Mr Adams drew bizarre parallels with the former Taoisigh Eamon de Valera and Sean Lemass, both of whom were prominent in the Easter Rising and War of Independence. "No, (not) any more than they would be concerned about it being Eamon de Valera. Or Frank Aiken or Sean Lemass. Or Gerry Kelly or Martin McGuinness in their time in the North," Mr Adams said on RTE's 'This Week'. The IRA's killing of Det Garda McCabe 20 years ago this June continues to haunt Sinn Fein. Pat Kearney, a brother-in-law of Det Garda McCabe, has described as "shameful" Sinn Fein's calls to abolish the Special Criminal Court (SCC), which tried and convicted four IRA members for the McCabe killing. Two IRA members are still on the run 20 years later. "Jerry McCabe was targeted by six men who ambushed him. He was shot dead. Ben O'Sullivan [McCabe's colleague] was hit by 11 bullets and, by the grace of God, has survived," Mr Kearney said. "Four men were apprehended and sentenced. Two men are still on the loose. "I don't hear Sinn Fein asking for those two men to be located and extradited back into Ireland to face trial. One of them was supposed to be in Spain, the other in South America." Meanwhile, Ms Cahill, who was raped as a 16-year-old by an IRA member, said she rejected a witness-protection scheme as she didn't want to have to change her identity and leave the country. She was speaking in the context of Sinn Fein suggesting a witness-protection-style system for jurors if the SCC was abolished. "I was offered witness protection as a victim in my case and I refused it," she said. Taoiseach Enda Kenny has dodged questions on whether James Reilly will remain as Fine Gael deputy leader if the party is returned to power. There is a widely held view within sections of the party that Dr Reilly will be dropped from Cabinet - and replaced as deputy leader - as a result of his decision to speak out on the issue of the abortion. But at the launch of the Fine Gael manifesto, Mr Kenny dodged questions from the Irish Independent on Dr Reilly's future. "And for minister Reilly, let me assure you that in this party we always have conversations, and sometimes tensions, but obviously the only person elected to the next Dail is the former Ceann Comhairle, deputy Sean Barrett," the Fine Gael leader said. "We will wait and see what the people decide. I want to see as many Fine Gael candidates to be elected as possible," he added, before mentioning Dr Reilly's running mate Alan Farrell. Dr Reilly's remarks on abortion prompted Mr Kenny to announce a citizen's convention and pledge that his TDs will be given a free vote. Fine Gael sources say Mr Kenny had always intended to set up the convention. However, Dr Reilly's intervention was seen as a direct undermining of his leadership. Fianna Fail TD Barry Cowen has declared his desire to lead the party. Mr Cowen, who is representing Fianna Fail during tonight's deputy leaders' debate on TV3, said each member of the parliamentary party would like to lead Fianna Fail. And he confirmed that his brother, former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, is assisting him with his campaign. "My esteemed brother is a member of the organisation, a member of the Fianna Fail party and he's played his role, the same as all other members are. He is entitled to as a private citizen. He is enjoying the campaign the same as everybody else is," Mr Cowen said today. Asked why the party currently has no deputy leader, Mr Cowen replied: "We are all deputy leaders". He made the remarks alongside Fianna Fail's finance spokesperson Michael McGrath during the launch of the party's mortgage proposals. Mr Cowen confirmed he would like to be appointed deputy leader on a permanent footing before going on to serve as leader in the future. "Of course I'd like to be deputy leader, I'd love to be leader. But that's neither here or there, so would this man( Mr McGrath), so would 19 others in the parliamentary party," he said, adding that Micheal Martin is now an "alternative Taoiseach". Read More During a press conference in Dublin, both Mr Cowen and Mr McGrath ruled out the prospect of entering coalition with Fine Gael. They said they would wait until the electorate has its say, but said they do not intend to do business with Enda Kenny's party. Meanwhile, Mr McGrath pledged a suite of measures aimed at assisting those in mortgage and rental difficulty. He described the higher rates being charged to 300,000 variable rate customers as scandalous. Mr McGrath said his party will introduce legislation which will empower the Central Bank to force lenders to slash rates. The legislation will allow a cap to be set on the variable rate and provide for sanctions if banks fail to comply with Central Bank orders. The party is also pledging measures to assist first times buyers caught in the "vicious circle" of not being able to save for a deposit because of high rent. The measures would see the Central Bank reducing the deposit requirements for those who can demonstrate a three year track record of paying rent. TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has insisted he's ruled out a post election deal with Fianna Fail "on at least ten ocassions" in the last two weeks and said he was doing it again today. Mr Kenny repeatedly failed to rule out leading his party into government with Fianna Fail yesterday. On Sunday, Mr Kenny hit out at Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, accusing him of "being able to give it but not take it". He said he does not "contemplate" doing business with Fianna Fail - but declined to rule out such a scenario after the election. Today Independent.ie reported that coalition party Labour want Mr Kenny to clarify his position. Asked this afternoon if he was prepared today to definitively rule out a deal with Fianna Fail Mr Kenny replied: "I was the first party leader to rule out Fianna Fail. "I've ruled them out on at least 10 occasions in the last fortnight and I'll do so again now - very clearly." A legal challenge over RTE's refusal to add Green Party leader Eamon Ryan to tonight's televised party leaders debate has been dismissed by a High Court judge. The RTE debate features seven party leaders from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Fein, People Before Profit, the Social Democrats and Renua. In judicial review proceedings by Green Party trustee Tom Kivlehan, it was argued RTE's criterion that only parties with three TDs in the outgoing Dail could be invited to participate was unfair, undemocratoc and unonstitutional. In denying those claims, RTE said its critiera are objective, fair, transparent and applicable to all parties. The Greens were effectively seeking to have the broadcaster apply subjective criteria for televised party leaders debates that would favour the Greens over other parties, it also argued. In her judgment today, Ms Justice Marie Baker agred with RTE's arguments. Her primary difficulty with the arguments advanced by Mr Kivlehan was thar many of the considerations that the Greens urged should be taken into account by RTE woudl favour the party over other possible participants in the TV debate. The claim the refusal to invite Mr Ryan marked a failure to consider the strength and historical and international importance of Green Paerty policies but those factors were "overly subjective" and could lead to arguments of partiality and subjectivity, she said. In this case, the criterion adopted by RTE have been made known to all relevant parties, she said. They were devleoped for the 2016 general election by an expert group which specifically had regard to the current political reality and plurality of parties. The judge noted Mr Kivlehan and the Green party leader had suggested different criteria be used by RTE in fixing threshold criteria for inclusion in the leaders' debate. She did not consider it was the role of the High Court to identify in detail the criteria that must be applied by any broadcaster establishing threshold criteria of this type. The requirement that broadcasters act fairly and impartially cannot involve the broadcaster in considering the value, whether national or international, of the partcuar policy any party espouses, she added. Mr Ryan was in court today. Costs issues will be decided later. RTE said it will be seeking its costs. The Labour Party is raging at Taoiseach Enda Kenny for leaving the door open to a Fianna Fail coalition. Mr Kenny repeatedly failed to rule out leading his party into government with Fianna Fail yesterday. His junior coalition partners want him to clarify his position, Independent.ie understands Tanaiste Joan Burton has planned to attack Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin on his lack of a credible alternative government, and describe his options as a "con job". Read More But Mr Kenny has given Mr Martin a lifeline by keeping Fianna Fail in the picture. The issue is expected to overshadow Ms Burton's manifesto launch this morning. Labour want Fine Gael to clean up the matter and rule out Fianna Fail definitively. "We have told them they need to close it down this morning," a senior party source told Independent.ie. "The FG-FF narrative is absolutely deadly for FG who are competing with FF for every vote." The party leaders will also be on the RTE election debate tonight. Environment Minister Alan Kelly has dismissed reports he is being kept under wraps in Tipperary over concerns he is derailing the Labour Partys general election campaign. In recent weeks it has been reported that senior Labour figures are worried about the partys deputy leader and the constant controversy surrounding him. Read More However speaking on RTEs News at One, Minister Kelly said this growing disquiet with his behaviour was nonsense. Well I say it as it is and [Joan] has referred to the fact that it would be very hard to hide me, he told host Aine Lawlor. Read More Also, by the way, Tipperary is a massive constituency so Ive been knocking on thousands of doors over the last few weeks. Speaking at Labour's Childcare launch earlier this month, party leader Joan Burton said the Tipperary TD was doing exactly what he should be doing. Alan like everybody else has to be in his own constituency, she added. SINN Fein leader Gerry Adams was ridiculed over his denials of IRA membership as he became embroiled in heated exchanges with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. The pair engaged in bitter clashes during tonight's televised leaders debate, which saw Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Joan Burton adopt another united front. The majority of the seven leaders struggled to land any significant blows during the RTE debate, which focussed on issues such as the economy, Rural Ireland health and crime. The debate began with questions over whether the Government is repeating the same mistakes in the past by engaging in auction politics. Mr Kenny insisted that the country is in a much safer position than five years ago, but warned: Complacency is the big enemy here. But there were fiery scenes after Mr Martin attacked Mr Adams over his links to the IRA. There isnt a guard in the country who doesnt believe that you werent in the IRA, Mr Martin said. Mr Adams became agitated and uncomfortable as he urged Mr Martin to present any information he has to the gardai. But later, the Louth TD was ridiculed by Mr Martin, Mr Kenny and Ms Burton as he became confused over the issue of garda numbers. Tonight's debate presented a rare occasion for the smaller parties to make their case to voters. As expected, Fianna Fails legacy came under attack from the offset. Such a tactic was prepared in advance and widely flagged to the media in the hours leading up to the debate. Ms Burton immediately attacked the Fianna Fail leader, who she described as the emperor with no clothes. He was in government for 15 years and he left just as the place went down in ruins, Ms Burton said. The Taoiseach also zoned in on Mr Martins record as Health minister, labelling his approach to the HSE as rubbish. While Mr Martin failed to shine to the same degree as last weeks TV3 debate, he managed to stave off an onslaught of criticism. He raised serious questions over the Governments jobs figures, and again highlighted the problems in health under James Reilly. The debate, the second of three due to be held during the campaign, provided an opportunity to the smaller parties to present their cases to the electorate. Stephen Donnelly, who was representing the Social Democrats, gave an assured performance as pointed out the number of think-tanks which are warning that the storm clouds are gathering. The Wicklow/East Carlow TD confirmed that his party intends to maintain the Universal Hated Charge (USC) in order to keep the tax base stable. Mr Donnelly also delivered a number of effective sound bites. He businessmen such as Donald Trump were greeted by dancing girls and harpists as they met ministers. Renua leader attacked the Governments record on Rural Ireland. I spent half my life in Rural Ireland. People arent feeling the recovery there. Anti/Austerity Alliance/ People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett struggled to gain prominence in the debate. During his contributions, the Dun Laoghaire TD focussed on issues such as housing and healthcare. Prior to the debate, Mr Boyd Barrett defended his decision not to wear a suit for the occasion. I dont see what wearing a suit makes to having a bit of conviction about policies you are campaigning for, he told reporters. If Olivia Mitchell had been handed a place within the ministerial ranks, Fine Gael would be well on course to deliver two seats in this newly-configured constituency. But as is the case for many within the Fine Gael fold, her decision to oppose Enda Kenny during the infamous leadership heave of 2010 came with a price. Mitchell has decided to step down at the election - making Fine Gael's task in Dublin-Rathdown more difficult. But if Fine Gael is facing a tough task to secure two seats, the Labour Party's challenge is looking increasingly insurmountable. Following the boundary changes, large pockets from the former Dublin South constituency were moved into neighbouring Dublin South West and Dun Laoghaire. This has made life particularly difficult for Communications Minister Alex White, who is seen as a steady hand at Cabinet. "People are still wary and a lot of people are wounded by what has happened, even though a lot of them are back on their feet," White admits. With Labour languishing in the polls, White may prove to be the most significant single casualty of the election. And he could be joined by the Independent TD Peter Mathews, who revealed last week that he has been diagnosed with cancer. Fianna Fail is desperate to make a comeback in Dublin and would be buoyed if it could win a seat in a constituency previously dominated by names such as Brennan and Kitt. The party's candidate, Senator Mary White, appeals to female and middle-class voters and this may well prove to be her best opportunity at taking a Dail seat. With the first two seats set to be won by Independent Alliance TD Shane Ross and Fine Gael's Alan Shatter, a dogfight will take place for the final seat. One of the candidates likely to be involved is Fine Gael councillor Josepha Madigan, who sparked controversy after producing a leaflet which claimed that building traveller accommodation in her area would be a "waste" of valuable resources. The Green Party is fielding a highly able candidate in its deputy leader Catherine Martin, who was elected to the council in 2014. Dublin Rathdown Candidates:3 seats FG Alan Shatter TD, FG Josepha Madigan, LAB Alex White TD, FF Mary White, SF Sorcha Nic Cormaic, PBPA Nicola Curry, IA Shane Ross TD, IA Peter Mathews TD, GP Catherine Martin. PREDICTION: 1 IND/2 FG Some 7,350 people failed to turn up to jury duty when summoned in 2015 Court Service to pass on jury no-shows to Gardai as thousands who shirk jury service gone unpunished despite the threat of heavy fines. Of the 7,359 people who were no-shows when summoned by the courts in 2015, not a single one was prosecuted under new laws introduced eight years ago to compel jurors to show up. The Courts Service are now planning a new crackdown on those shirking jury duty, saying that those who fail to show up when summoned will have their name passed on to Gardai. We are now introducing a system of routinely passing on information to gardai regarding those who fail to report for jury service. It will be a matter for An Garda Siochana to initiate any prosecution, a spokesperson told the Irish Mail. In an amendment to the 1976 Juries Act, fines for failing to turn up following a summons were increased from 50 to 500. However, according to figures released by the Courts Service to the Irish Daily Mail, there was not a single offender prosecuted last year despite the 2008 amendment. Asked about the lack of prosecutions in 2015, a Garda spokesperson said such matters were investigated only after they had been referred from the courts service. The Courts Service say about 100,000 people are called every year for jury service, and, of that amount, about a third are automatically excused because their profession bars them from serving on a jury. Another third are excused by the judge or the county registrar for legitimate excuses such as illness or a connection with a party in a trial. This leaves about 33,000 people eligible to sit on a jury at courts around the country. In regards to no-shows, Dublin has the highest number of people failing to report for jury duty. In 2015, some 3,321 people registered in the capital failed to attend when summoned. Other countries were jurors failing to show up for duty include Louth (1,266), Limerick (689), Clare (501), and Westmeath (327). A spokesperson for the Court Services said that while no-shows were a minority it was a persistent problem that had affected trials. Jury selection in the trial of former Anglo Irish Bank executive William McAteer, and three co-accused, in January had to been adjourned for a week after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court ran out of potential jurors. And in 2011, many cases at Ennis Circuit Court had to be adjourned because of the 250 people summoned, just 35 showed up. Frances Fitzgerald said an extra 1,800 gardai will be recruited by a re-elected administration to stand up to ruthless gangs ARMED gardai will remain on the streets of Dublin for as long as is necessary, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said. She has told the Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan that funding will be provided for officers to remain highly visible until the current threat of revenge attacks passes and then beyond that, if required. The resources are there for that level of intensity for as long as she (the Commissioner) deems necessary, said Ms Fitzgerald. The goal in the first instance is to avoid further death or trouble. She told the Irish Independent that every possible precaution is in place to prevent further bloodshed ahead of the funeral of Regency Hotel victim David Byrne today and Eddie Hutch Snrs funeral later this week. She continued: The context here is that we are dealing with some very ruthless gangs and were in a revenge cycle. We dont want any further examples of what has happened. Its a very challenging situation for An Garda Siochana. The minister paid tribute to the hundreds of men and women of An Garda Siochana who are out there taking risks, adding: Its a challenging and volatile situation. There was a substantial garda presence in Crumlin last night for Mr Byrnes wake, which took place between 3pm and 6pm. His funeral Mass is scheduled to take place in the Church of St Nicolas of Myra on Francis Street at 12.30pm today. His remains will then be taken to Mount Jerome Cemetery. No date has yet been set for the funeral of Mr Hutch as efforts are under way to secure temporary release from prison for his son, Alan Hutch. Sources said the only comparable event in terms of the number of armed police on the streets of the capital in recent memory was the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 2011. Ms Fitzgerald said she obtained a detailed update from the Commissioner over the weekend and described the operation now in place as huge. She pointed out that gardai are now working closely with authorities in Spain and The Netherlands to monitor the movements of criminals linked to a variety of gangs. Ms Fitzgerald said no country is immune, gardai now have a good network of international contacts and there were ongoing talks in relation to terrorism and gang crime. These had intensified in recent months and at the last meeting of justice and home affairs ministers there was a significant discussion around better ways of sharing data. Ms Fitzgerald said: This is an international crime business. This is their full-time business. They are using every method available and we have to match them. Obviously, there is a very big international aspect to this as well. We have liaison officers in Spain, Holland and the UK. Speaking about the threats that have been made to a number of journalists from Independent News and Media who have covered the incidents over the past 10 days, Ms Fitzgerald said: Where there is a threat to journalists, there is a threat to everyone in society. But she added: There is no question, we will stand them down. We have done it before in Limerick and after the death of Veronica Guerin. Armed gardai will remain on the streets of Dublin for as long as is necessary, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said. She has told the Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan that funding will be provided for officers to remain highly visible until the current threat of revenge attacks passes - and then beyond that, if required. "The resources are there for that level of intensity for as long as she (the Commissioner) deems necessary," said Ms Fitzgerald. "The goal in the first instance is to avoid further death or trouble." She told the Irish Independent that "every possible precaution is in place to prevent further bloodshed" ahead of the funeral of Regency Hotel victim David Byrne today and Eddie Hutch Snr's funeral later this week. She continued: "The context here is that we are dealing with some very ruthless gangs and we're in a revenge cycle. "We don't want any further examples of what has happened. It's a very challenging situation for An Garda Siochana." The minister paid tribute to the hundreds of "men and women of An Garda Siochana who are out there taking risks", adding: "It's a challenging and volatile situation." There was a substantial garda presence in Crumlin last night for Mr Byrne's wake, which took place between 3pm and 6pm. His funeral Mass is scheduled to take place in the Church of St Nicolas of Myra on Francis Street at 12.30pm today. His remains will then be taken to Mount Jerome Cemetery. No date has yet been set for the funeral of Mr Hutch as efforts are under way to secure temporary release from prison for his son, Alan Hutch. Sources said the only comparable event in terms of the number of armed police on the streets of the capital in recent memory was the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 2011. Ms Fitzgerald said she obtained a detailed update from the Commissioner over the weekend and described the operation now in place as "huge". She pointed out that gardai are now working closely with authorities in Spain and The Netherlands to monitor the movements of criminals linked to a variety of gangs. Ms Fitzgerald said "no country is immune", gardai now have a good network of international contacts and there were ongoing talks in relation to terrorism and gang crime. These had intensified in recent months and at the last meeting of justice and home affairs ministers there was a significant discussion around better ways of sharing data. Ms Fitzgerald said: "This is an international crime business. This is their full-time business. They are using every method available and we have to match them. "Obviously, there is a very big international aspect to this as well. We have liaison officers in Spain, Holland and the UK." Speaking about the threats that have been made to a number of journalists from Independent News and Media who have covered the incidents over the past 10 days, Ms Fitzgerald said: "Where there is a threat to journalists, there is a threat to everyone in society." But she added: "There is no question, we will stand them down. We have done it before in Limerick and after the death of Veronica Guerin." HUNDREDS attended the funeral Mass of murder victim David Byrne (34) this afternoon, where mourners heard that a film of his life would show him as a loving father and partner. In the region of 500 mourners attended the funeral at the church of St Nicolas of Myra on Francis Street in Dublin 8, which began at 12.30pm. David Byrne, 34, was shot dead during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in the north of the city on February 5 by a six-strong gang, some armed with assault rifles. Murder squad detectives believe his murder was retaliation for the shooting dead of Gary Hutch on the Costa del Sol last September. Expand Close The remains of David Byrne (34) are brought to the church of St Nicolas of Myra on Francis Street in Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The remains of David Byrne (34) are brought to the church of St Nicolas of Myra on Francis Street in Dublin Byrne's killing was avenged three days later with the murder in his Dublin home of Eddie Hutch, 55, brother of suspected armed robber Gerry Hutch, known as the Monk. This afternoon scores of people lined the narrow grounds and the street outside as the American-style casket holding Byrne's body was shouldered past the crowd this afternoon. Expand Close The remains of David Byrne (34) are brought to the church of St Nicolas of Myra on Francis Street in Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The remains of David Byrne (34) are brought to the church of St Nicolas of Myra on Francis Street in Dublin Inside, Fr Niall Coghlan spoke about Mr Byrne's brutal death, saying for a person to carry out such an act in cold blood they would have to be dehumanised. He also questioned whether the killers would have shot Mr Byrne if they saw a film of his life - which would have portrayed him as both a loving partner and father. Expand Close The remains of David Byrne (34) are brought to Mount Jerome Cemetery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The remains of David Byrne (34) are brought to Mount Jerome Cemetery The funeral Mass ended shortly after 2pm, and the funeral cortege then started to make its way to Mount Jerome Cemetary. Eight young men in dark blue suits, blue shirts and dark blue ties had earlier carried the coffin into the church. It is understood that the predominant blue colouring was a reference to a sporting team supported by Mr Byrne. Expand Close Mourners at the funeral mass of David Byrne (34). / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mourners at the funeral mass of David Byrne (34). A lone piper played a lament while a large floral tribute with a picture of Mr Byrne at its centre was also carried in. Byrne, a father of two, lived in Crumlin and was said to have been associated with an international drugs gang operating out of the south of Spain. Expand Close Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery There was a significant garda presence at the funeral, with officers keeping press photographers and videographers about 150 metres from the church gates which are locked. Signs on the gates of the church said no photography or audio or video recordings would be permitted within the church grounds. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Signs on the gate of the church on St Francis Street today Gardai stand outside the church on St Francis St / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Signs on the gate of the church on St Francis Street today Francis Street itself was closed to traffic while the funeral was underway, while a number of business premises on the street remained closed. At around 12.20pm approximately one dozen limousines had left Mr Byrne's home at Raleigh Square, Crumlin and made their way slowly to the church. Expand Close Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery The route for the funeral cortege had been agreed in advance with gardai lining up along the road from Crumlin to Francis Street. Another group of young men, also attired in blue, had headed the cortege along St Francis Street behind the lone piper. There were three horse drawn carriages, carrying floral tributes, one of which was designed in the shape of a boxing ring. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery Mourners at the funeral of David Byrne today / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery Some of Mr Byrne's relatives are from the Liberties around the Francis Street parish. Uniformed gardai were on duty on streets in the area from early morning following Sunday's security sweeps in the church and along the route the cortege was to take. The bomb squad was called in to carry out some of the checks. Expand Close Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral cortege for David Byrne driving up New Street South towards Clanbrassil street on its way to Mount Jerome Cemetery Several units of armed detectives were on foot on the narrow streets around the church. Additional heavily armed teams from the Emergency Response Unit circled the area in cars and 4x4s before and during the mass. The Garda helicopter was deployed overhead. It is believed Daniel Kinahan and his brother Christy Junior were among the mourners after flying into Dublin Airport last night. Expand Close The coffin is carried into St Nicholas of Myra church on Francis Street in Dublin, during the funeral of David Byrne. Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The coffin is carried into St Nicholas of Myra church on Francis Street in Dublin, during the funeral of David Byrne. Photo: PA Their father is Christy Kinahan senior, 58 and originally from Dublin's south inner city - who was arrested in a mansion in Spain in 2010 as part of an investigation into an international drugs and money laundering racket. Kinahan senior has not been charged. Son Daniel, who manages boxers out of the MGM Marbella gym, had been in the Regency for the weigh-in when the hit squad struck in front of hundreds of people. Gardai have said they are keeping an open mind over suspected dissident republican involvement in the hotel killing. The Kinahans are understood to be embroiled in a bitter feud with the Hutch family which turned bloody last September when Gary Hutch was shot dead in Spain. He was a nephew of the latest gangland victim Eddie Hutch and also Gerry Hutch. The scene on the M4 near Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, where a woman died and four people were hospitalised after a collision A devastated family have paid tribute to their mother who died in a horrific road crash, saying heaven has gained "one funny, special and beautiful character". Jacqueline Wolohan (51), a widow and mother-of-three from Coolock, Dublin, died when her Nissan Micra car was involved in a collision with an Opel Astra car driven by an off-duty garda. Expand Close The crash scene, inset, Jacqueline Wolohan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The crash scene, inset, Jacqueline Wolohan Her 14-year-old son was seriously injured in the crash, which happened on the M4 motorway near Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, at 1.30 am on Saturday. He was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar. Officers from the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) are conducting the investigation because of the involvement of the off-duty garda. Ms Wolohan was on her way back from Longford to her home with her son, his friend and an adult female cousin when the crash happened. All three of her passengers were taken to hospital. The garda also received treatment for injuries. The Wolohan's pet dog had been in the car and was found dead near the scene some time later. Sarah Wolohan, one of Ms Wolohan's two adult daughters, paid tribute to her mother on Facebook as she thanked friends for their messages of support following the tragedy. "Today I woke up to the horrific news that my mother had died. Heaven has gained one funny, special and beautiful character. "Rest in peace ma, your memory will live on forever," she wrote. A family friend described Ms Wolohan as "a very nice woman" who had lost her husband several years ago. The friend said she was a stay-at-home mother raising her three children on her own. She had lived her entire life in the Coolock area and was well respected. Local councillor Tom Brabazon said the accident has left the local community in shock. "For anyone from the area to lose their life in circumstances like that is extremely tragic," he said. "I hope that the GSOC investigation will get to the bottom of it." A spokeswoman for Gsoc refused to comment on claims that the Garda helicopter was deployed to the scene of the accident. She issued a statement that confirmed that "the incident was referred by the Garda Siochana to Gsoc under section 102 of the Garda Siochana Act 2005". The Act "provides for independent investigation of any matter that appears to indicate that the conduct of a member of the Garda Siochana may have resulted in the death of, or serious harm to, a person'," she said. Gsoc is appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to come forward. It has requested that anyone who may have seen a blue Opel Astra, bearing a 2005 registration, or a silver Nissan Micra, with a 2004 registration, travelling on the eastbound side of the M4 at about 1.30am on Saturday, or anyone who may have information that could assist the investigation, to contact the commission on 1890 600 800. Meanwhile, a man was hospitalised with serious injuries following a road crash in Dublin yesterday. The incident happened shortly after 9.30am on the N11. The man - aged in his early 40s - was travelling outbound close to University College Dublin when the single- vehicle collision occurred. He was taken to St Vincent's Hospital where his injuries have been described as serious. Two units of the Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene of the crash. A NORWEGIAN fraudster and the fiance of a Dublin socialite is to make a return to TV - on a true crime show in his home country. Kaste Dahl, who featured on the TV3 program Dublin Housewives with his other half Virginia Macari, is due to be featured on Norway's programme Asted Norge [Crimescene Norway]. It will air tonight on Tv2 in Norway and the blurb for the show refers to the fact that Dahl showed up on a "foreign reality series" and includes clips from the Irish show. In the teaser for the programme, a smiling Dahl (left) is shown dressed in a formal suit and posing on the red carpet at a Bord Gais Energy event. The former businessman was sentenced last year for his part in a multi-million euro loan fraud related to a lucrative property deal. Warrant He is fighting extradition after being arrested on an international extradition warrant in Spain in December. Previously Norwegian prosecutor Geir Kavlie told the Herald that authorities are keen to secure his return to face his prison term which is expected to run to more than five years. Gardai will step up armed patrols in Dublin's north inner city today to deter any attempts to escalate the feud between two of the country's most lethal gangs at a funeral service for murder victim David Byrne (34). Senior sources have revealed that the Defence Forces are on standby to assist them in bomb sweeps around the city. Members of the Emergency Response Unit will throw a cordon around the potential flashpoint areas as mourners gather to pay their final respects to Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel on the northside of the city on Friday February 5. Byrne, who is to be buried today in a 15,000 coffin, played an active part in the gang led by underworld boss Christy Kinahan. A number of associates are expected to turn up at the service. Gardai have been monitoring air and sea ports over the weekend to establish how many of those associates are arriving here from Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Senior officers say they do not expect any trouble while the service is being held at the Church of St Nicholas of Myra in Francis Street. A security plan will cover the hours immediately before and after the service, and well-known haunts of gang associates in the capital are also being kept under watch. Armed checkpoints and patrols have been in place across the city since the Regency attack and the tit-for-tat murder of Eddie Hutch Senior in the north inner city last Monday. But the armed Garda presence around Francis Street and in Crumlin, where Byrne and several of his associates either live or have connections, has been increased. Signs were hung on the gates of the small Liberties chapel yesterday instructing the public and media that their presence would not be welcomed at the service. One sign insisted that no photography, filming or audio recording would be permitted inside or outside the church. Detectives from the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau will be monitoring the service in unmarked cars, while other specialist units will also be active. It is understood that armed members of the Defence Forces have also been made available to be called on if tensions boil over. A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said they could not comment on the current gangland feud for operational reasons, but added they "maintain appropriate support and capability." "The Defence Forces do not "comment on matters of operational security," a spokesperson said. "The Defence Forces maintain appropriate support and capability on call to the Civil Power." Yesterday, roads surrounding David Byrne's family home were closed, with armed Garda checkpoints at the entrance to Raleigh Square. Nearby, Clonard Road was closed to the public, while on Kildare Road gardai maintained another heavy armed presence. Gardai were also visible yesterday searching a black Range Rover Sport close to the Byrne home. Detectives could be seen searching the undercarriage and removing sections of the engine cover and bonnet lining. Gardai say that the saturation policing over the past week has already disrupted the activities of the two gangs involved in the bloody feud and prevented them from carrying out further acts of violence. Several major gangland players have "gone to ground" since the two murders. Gardai have a list of what they describe as "persons of interest", who are suspected of either taking part directly in one of the attacks, planning the murders or providing logistical support to the gangs. Forensic examination of the footage taken at the Regency Hotel and of the getaway car, balaclava helmets and other items abandoned by the killers of Eddie Hutch Sr has played a significant role in drafting that list. Most of those on the list are from Dublin, while some are known to have been regularly commuting between here and mainland Europe. 'Any time soon!" Those were Yomiko Chen's last words in an interview she did with me for LIFE last Easter. She was only weeks away from getting married when we met, and already she felt that starting a family was the logical next step. Still, it all happened sooner than she ever expected. When we meet now, Yomiko is pregnant, and counting down the days to her baby's arrival in early April. "Yes, I wanted a baby!" she exclaims, laughing. "But we did not plan it so soon." Babies have a way of pointing out the folly of trying to make plans, however. While Yomiko's Bray wedding to her Offaly-born husband, Ian Conway, went to plan, their planned autumn visit to Japan and China, to introduce him to her family, was scuppered by the discovery that she was pregnant. "We found out that I was pregnant, and I was so sick the first few months that we cancelled the trip home," Yomiko says. Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Body, Stella McCartney, Brown Thomas Body, Stella McCartney, Brown Thomas. Long cardigan, Mary Grant. Shoes, River Island. Photo: Kip Carroll. Coat, Jennifer Rothwell. Briefs, Hanro. Shoes, River Island. Photo: Kip Carroll. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Body, Stella McCartney, Brown Thomas "Also, autumn/winter would be the busy time for me in modelling, and I knew I wasn't going to work again for a long time, so I had to do every single show. I had to. So that means that my family still has not met my husband. That was disappointing for me, but they will now come when the baby arrives. "It will be a lot all at once," she says, laughing. Yomiko is not a girl who is afraid of a challenge, though even she concedes that imminent parenthood has given her the odd wobble. The only daughter of a Japanese mother and a Chinese father, Yomiko has spent her life adapting and adjusting. As she explained to me the first time we met, her parents' cultures do not traditionally blend or enjoy harmony, but she manages to strike a balance between them both. Expand Close Yomiko Chen with husband Ian Conway at the Divine Boutique Spring Summer show / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Yomiko Chen with husband Ian Conway at the Divine Boutique Spring Summer show Yomiko's parents separated when she was very small, and she shuttled back and forth between them, which was no inconsiderable thing for a little girl. She is very careful - in a respectful way - not to dramatise this, however. It was all she knew, and she was happy. Later, Yomiko's mother moved to London, for work, and Yomiko went with her. From London, then, while still in her teens, Yomiko visited Dublin and decided, quickly, that Ireland was somewhere she could make a home. It's not Japan or China, that's for sure, so it wasn't a case of choosing one parent's culture over the other. Or, for that matter, choosing one element of her own cultural character over the other. Instead, Yomiko's move to Ireland was one designed to give her a fresh start, where she could forge her own identity. And, without doubt, that's what she has achieved here, to the point that she is one of Ireland's hardest-working and most in-demand models. Of course, now that she's pregnant and on her maternity leave from modelling, Yomiko feels like that carefully built sense of identity has been shattered. And, in a way, her feeling of being in some sort of identity crisis is like an exaggerated version of what every pregnant woman, every expectant mother, goes through. "I finished modelling in December. "I finished all the big shows, and the whole season. I was hiding it well," Yomiko says, explaining with a laugh how a big, loose coat has become her pregnancy staple. "I cried at the end of every show. Because I knew it would be my last for a long time. And now I'm missing it already. I finished autumn/winter 2015, and now I'll be gone for spring/summer 2016." Yomiko says the last sentence as a statement of fact, but it's a question as well. She looks at me for reassurance that this will be the case - as in, that all she will miss is one season. This happens a lot in conversation with pregnant Yomiko. As she admits herself, she's ravenous for reassurance. She has no family in Ireland to tell her how it is to be expectant and then a new mother, so she picks the brains of every parent she meets for tips and pointers and comfort. And she cries at the drop of a hat, she admits. And she cries when I'm with her, out of fear that the modelling life she worked so hard to create will disappear now. "I don't know what I think," Yomiko says. "I don't know what tomorrow brings. And now, my body is changing all the time and my mind is swinging. It's really hard, and I hate changing. I have been modelling every single day for so long. Doing the same thing, meeting the same friends at work. And then, suddenly, I have to decide to give up everything. "And with my job, the figure and the body is most important," Yomiko continues. "So, especially the first three months, I could see my body change every single day and it really kind of . . . I got pregnancy blue. Is that a word? "For my job, I don't feel good if I'm not at my best. I feel bad if I'm not at my best: it's not professional. That's on my mind all the time. People say, 'pregnancy will change everything', but I didn't know it would change this much, until I was the one. And now, when I look back at pictures of myself, I realise I should have appreciated more what I looked like. Again, there is a seeking look in Yomiko's eyes. She is talking about what it's like to be a pregnant model, but the hormonal swings she describes are familiar to anyone who has ever been pregnant. And I reassure her that everything will be fine, and that all of this is normal. "I was really negative about all the changes until week 20," Yomiko confides. "But then the baby first kicked me. And I saw Ian was so happy and the shocked face on him. I thought, 'OK, that's a real life inside me and it's not just my body, not just my changing body'. That was a real turning point for me." The pregnancy has been wonderfully bonding for Yomiko and Ian, she tells me, even though they were very close already. Together, the couple are not just married, but partners in business, with three Kokoro bento sushi bars around Dublin. These afternoons, Yomiko walks from the Liffey Street shop to South William Street, to the Baggot Street branch, keeping an eye on things and keeping fit. She really appreciates how hard Ian works, Yomiko says, now that she's in the business all the time. "I've been spoiled," she laughs. Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Coat, Jennifer Rothwell. Briefs, Hanro. Shoes, River Island. Photo: Kip Carroll. Body, Stella McCartney, Brown Thomas Body, Stella McCartney, Brown Thomas. Long cardigan, Mary Grant. Shoes, River Island. Photo: Kip Carroll. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Coat, Jennifer Rothwell. Briefs, Hanro. Shoes, River Island. Photo: Kip Carroll. "Another turning point for me in the pregnancy was when I realised that it made me miss home," Yomiko says. She didn't necessarily want to go home, for that matter. She would have missed Ian too much and, since her mother died of breast cancer three years ago, she would not be returning for that mother-love, either. So, instead, Ian strove to create an Asian sense of home here for his new wife. Yomiko could no longer eat the raw-fish sushi during pregnancy, so Ian began literally cooking up tastes of home for Yomiko. Ultimately, she realised that ramen - soup-based bowls of noodles, vegetables, meat, fish, or whatever you're having - was what she craved. And, out of that, a business idea was born. The back room of the South William Street branch of Kokoro is home to a new ramen bar, with an impressive ramen-making machine flown in from Japan, along with the special noodle flour, and even specific Japanese ramen water. Talking about the project animates Yomiko like nothing else, and you can see how it has proved a welcome distraction these past months. "That has helped me not to count down the days," Yomiko says, smiling. Yomiko and Ian are having a baby girl, she tells me, and the name they have chosen is a combination of Asian and Irish. Yomiko felt that there were so many elements out of her control, and she was so out of her cultural comfort zone, that she wanted to have one bit of certainty; so they found out the gender. She and Ian are delighted, as is her family in Japan and China. "They are happy, yeah," she says. "Now they want to see the baby and have family bonding, so they will come soon after she is born. In China, you know, the way with the family is that the new couple know nothing. So the family take over and do all that, while you look after yourself," Yomiko explains. "And my family wanted to do that. But me and Ian decided we wanted to do it all ourselves. "It is a surprise to my family that I want to do it this way," she adds. "They worry, because they think Ian doesn't know how to look after a baby, and the new baby is the hardest, and they want me to be relaxed and get my body back, so they are worried. But for us, we do everything together and it always makes us stronger, and we can learn fast. It's a cultural thing." Do they think this is a sign that she has become very westernised, I wonder. "No," says Yomiko, decisively. "No matter how many years I stay here, I'm still Asian. My mind is still Asian. I think I find a balance." Ian, she says, is very pleased by the idea that she will introduce Asian blood into his family. And she loves the prospect of the new beginning, too. "Having a business makes you close, and getting married makes you closer," Yomiko says, "but a baby is going to give you the greatest closeness and strength as a couple." When Yomiko says this, it's with full confidence. She's not asking for reassurance, she feels on steady ground with this one. And, in a matter of months from now, she'll have found her feet as a mother, too. She knows that her priorities will change once her little girl arrives, and she's not sure she's ready for that - "No one is ever ready!" - but that will work itself out. She will be the model mum, of that I have no doubt. And Yomiko's heartfelt desire is that the model mum will also get back to being a working model soon after that. The hormone-induced confidence-wobble is there, though. "I'm still thinking and hoping, 'Have the baby, get my figure back, go back to work'. But maybe it's different when it happens," Yomiko says, looking for me to reassure her that it will go this way. All I can say is that motherhood is, of course, always different when it happens. But mostly for the good. Mary Grant, Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, 59 Sth William St, tel: (01) 675-0881, or see marygrant.com Brown Thomas, 88-95 Grafton St, D2, tel: (01) 605-6666, or see brownthomas.com Jennifer Rothwell, Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, 59 Sth William St, tel: (01) 679-9374, or see jrothwell.net Photographed by Kip Carroll Styling by Liadan Hynes Assisted by Claire O'Farrell Hair by Michael Doyle, Peter Mark, 22 St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, tel: (01) 478-0362, or see petermark.ie Make-up by Paula Callan for CallanBerry, see callanberry.com Assisted by Michelle Field Photographed at The Merrion Hotel, Upper Merrion St, D2, tel: (01) 603-0600, or see merrionhotel.com The 3fe story is mostly about coffee, and there will be few who don't have some awareness of the genesis of the business in the third floor lobby of the Twisted Pepper nightclub on Abbey Street, back in 2009, nor of owner Colin Harmon's reinvention from IFSC high-flyer to Coffee Angel apprentice to champion barista. 3fe is a byword for good quality coffee in Ireland, and you'll find its brews in some great cafes and restaurants around the country, including Brother Hubbard and Sprout in Dublin. If somewhere is serving 3fe coffee, it's usually a good indication that they will be as rigorous about the quality of the rest of their offering too. The coffee is also available to order online and one of the best presents you could give a coffee-aficionado would be a subscription to their monthly delivery service. Harmon opened a stand-alone cafe on Grand Canal Street back in 2012 and its presence there has enlivened a dull stretch of street. It's become a handy meeting place for people working in the area and, of course, its status as a coffee destination makes it a magnet for start-up, tech and creative types, who rub shoulders with the boys and girls from NAMA and Communicorp down the road. On a Sunday morning, though, many of these have been displaced by families with young children and the clientele is less studiedly cool than during the week. (It's hard to maintain an aura of insouciance when you have a raging hangover and your three-year-old twins are kicking up a fuss because they would rather be at home in front of Dora the Explorer eating Nutella straight from the jar than accompanying you to brunch with your smug friends who were tucked up in bed last night at 10pm, the way you would have been if you had any sense. Any sense at all.) Yes there are still a few loners working away on their MacBook Airs, displaying scary prowess with all manner of organisational programmes, and a coterie of the usual international riff-raff that you find in these parts, but it's more chaotic than during the week and the decibel level is definitely higher. We're loitering inside the door trying to figure out if there's a queuing system for tables but the staff don't appear to see it as part of their job either to welcome us or explain the system, so eventually we flag one of them down. "There's no list," he says, incredulous that we might think that there was, "you just wait for a table to come free and pounce." So that's what we do and then, because we know how it works, one of us goes up to the counter to order. At brunch, there are four menu options, which keeps things simple, each priced at 12. Handily, there are four of us so we get to try one of each. The eggs Benedict is the winner, with a couple of poached eggs sitting atop slow roast, falling apart ham, char-grilled sourdough (in my country, we'd call it burnt, but perhaps that's me being picky) and a decent quantity of hollandaise. The fluffy buttermilk pancakes are good too; they come with crisp bacon, berries and a maple creme fraiche with nuts and seeds. Less successful are the creamy mushrooms with goats' curd topped with fried eggs on sourdough with a truffle dressing - there's an awful lot of food on the plate but it lacks seasoning and flavour; the mushrooms are the bland button variety and the dish would have been much better with field mushrooms. A dish that's described as 'potato and caramelised onion hash, black, pudding, poached eggs, fennel hollandaise sauce' doesn't add up to the sum of its parts. The potatoes are undercooked, there's not enough black pudding and the eggs are too firm (the poached eggs for the Benedict were perfectly runny). We finish with a round of Revolution Bakery's amazing doughnuts (toffee apple crumble, salted caramel, raspberry custard), and excellent (as you would expect) coffees. A waitress spills water over one of our phones while she's clearing the table and barely apologises. The phone's OK thanks to quick action with a napkin on our part, but the lack of interest on her part strikes a bum note. The loo is scruffy and could do with a spruce up. When I get home I check the website for food provenance information and can't find any. For a place that provides an awful lot of information about its coffee and where it comes from, I'd like to see 3fe tell its customers something about where its food comes from too. It could start with the eggs and the ham. Expect to pay about 20 a head for brunch with drinks and something sweet to finish. I returned for lunch. The menu is short and I think changes weekly. I had the 10 daily special: a root vegetable and lentil hand pie, served with raita, dukkah, apricot chutney and a salad of blood orange with roasted heirloom carrots and chicory. The pastry was excellent - light yet robust enough not to fall apart when picked up - and the combination on the plate worked well. My pal had the soup and sambo combination (also 10) - a curried root vegetable soup with raita and dukkah that was hearty but under-seasoned (there's no salt on the tables) and a terrific ham and cheddar sandwich with rocket and a great winter slaw featuring roasted hazelnuts on a brioche bap. We were in a rush so didn't have anything to follow apart from coffee, but the home bakes look pretty damn fine. Lunch for two with coffee was 27. All in all I'm a fan, and I'll go back again for lunch, but 3fe could up its game in terms of service and interaction with its customers. On a budget Soup and brown soda bread costs 5. It's a substantial portion. 3fe serves breakfast too. On a blow out 3fe's not a place for a blow-out, and it doesn't serve alcohol so it's never going to get very expensive. You'd be hard-pushed ever to spend more than 20 a head at lunchtime, even with a piece of cake and a coffee. The high point The coffee. The low point The sense that although 3fe cares very much about its coffee, it doesn't care quite so much about its customers. For people who haven't been before, the ordering process takes a bit of getting used to and can be intimidating; no one seems to have time to talk newbies through the coffee options on offer. The rating 7/10 food 6/10 ambience 8/10 value for money 21/30 Whispers from the gastronomicon Expand Close Food blogger Ed Smith / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Food blogger Ed Smith For anyone who spends time in London either for work or pleasure, one food blog worth following is rocketandsquash.com, written by city lawyer-turned-chef and food writer, Ed Smith (above). Smith gets around to a good number of restaurants, established and new, and also provides a great round-up of recipes appearing in the UK press each week. At a time when so many food blogs are dull and same-y, this has quality writing and is one that is worth subscribing to, even if you never find yourself in London. Nothing says 'I love you' like a chocolatey dessert. Here's three to try from Victoria Glass. Black Forest pavlova Expand Close Black Forest pavlova / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Black Forest pavlova Pavlova was created in the 1920s in honour of ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. Either an Australian or New Zealand invention - neither side can agree - I've added Germany into the equation, giving it the Black Forest treatment. Serves 8 Ingredients 6 egg whites A pinch of salt 335g caster sugar 20g cocoa powder, sifted 1 tsp white wine vinegar 75g dark chocolate (60-70pc cocoa solids), grated 600ml double cream Kirsch-soaked cherries 600g stoned cherries 3 tbsp caster sugar 5-6 tbsp kirsch (or other cherry liqueur) A large baking sheet lined with baking parchment Method Preheat the oven to 150C (300F)/ Gas 2. Whisk the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form. Gradually, 1 tablespoon at a time, add the sugar, whisking between each addition. The meringue should be very stiff and glossy. Whisk in the cocoa and vinegar and fold in the chocolate with a large metal spoon. Spoon generous dollops of meringue in a ring shape about 25 cm/10 in. across onto the prepared baking sheet. Spoon more of the mixture in the middle and build up the sides slightly higher. Make swirls in the meringue using a fork for an attractive finish. Pop the meringue in the preheated oven, close the oven door and immediately reduce the temperature to 140C (275F) Gas 1. Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, but leave the meringue inside, with the oven door shut, until the oven is completely cold. It's easiest to make the meringue in the evening and leave it in the oven overnight to cool. For the kirsch-soaked cherries, put the cherries in a bowl and sprinkle the sugar over the top. Pour in the kirsch and toss until all the cherries are completely coated. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to macerate for a few hours or even overnight while the meringue is also cooling. Whip the cream until stiff but not dry and whisk in 3-4 tablespoons of the macerating liquor from the cherries. Place the meringue on a cake stand and spread the cream thickly over the top, before piling on the drained cherries. Miracles Expand Close Miracles / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Miracles These simple chocolate fairy cakes hail from New Zealand and make perfect lunchbox and bake sale fare. Makes 12 Ingredients 130ml milk 2 tbsp golden syrup 100g light muscovado sugar 60g butter A pinch of bicarbonate of soda 2 eggs, beaten 170g self-raising flour 30g cocoa powder 3 tbsp raspberry jam 12 natural glace cherries Buttercream 75g soft butter 75g dark chocolate (60-70pc cocoa solids), melted and cooled 100g icing sugar A splash of milk, if needed A 12-hole muffin pan lined with paper cases A piping/pastry bag fitted with a plain nozzle/tip Method Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)/ Gas 4. Put the milk, golden syrup, sugar and butter in a large saucepan set over a medium heat and stir until melted. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will foam up slightly. Leave to cool for a few minutes before whisking in the beaten egg. Sift in the flour and cocoa, and fold in until fully incorporated. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely. Use a small, sharp knife to cut out a small inverted cone shape from the top of each cake. Fill each cavity with jam before replacing the cut cake tops. To make the buttercream, simply whisk the butter until very soft before adding the chocolate and whisking to combine. Sift in the icing sugar and whisk until light and fluffy. You can add a splash of milk to slightly slacken the mixture if needed. Spoon the buttercream into the piping bag and pipe a swirl of buttercream on top of each cake. Top with a glace cherry and enjoy. Black velvet cake Expand Close Black velvet cake / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Black velvet cake The Black Velvet cocktail was first created in 1861 by Brooks' Club in London as a tribute to the late Prince Albert. The cocktail, like this cake, mixes Guinness with champagne for an intensely dark and moreish cake. Serves 12 Ingredients 200g dark chocolate (60-70pc cocoa solids), chopped 225g soft butter 350g dark muscovado sugar 4 large eggs, beaten 440ml Guinness (or other dry stout) 225g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 2tsp bicarbonate of soda 100g cocoa powder A pinch of salt Frosting 250g soft butter 200g full-fat cream cheese (such as Philadelphia) 400g icing sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 50ml Champagne (or other sparkling wine) 3 x 20-cm/8-in. cake pans, greased and lined with baking parchment Method Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)/ Gas 4. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water. Leave to cool. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar and add the beaten eggs, a little at a time to prevent curdling. Whisk the Guinness into the melted chocolate (you might want to decant this into a large jug for ease later on). Sift together the dry ingredients and fold half into the butter and sugar mixture. Add half of the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Add the remaining dry ingredients, followed by the wet, and whisk until everything is thoroughly mixed. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack still in their pans, before turning out. To make the frosting, whisk the butter and cream cheese together before sifting in half of the icing sugar. Whisk to combine, before sifting in the remaining icing sugar. Continue to whisk until combined, then add the vanilla and Champagne. Continue to whisk until light and fluffy. Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate or cake stand. Layer the cakes on top of each other using two-thirds of the frosting, before spreading the remaining third on the top of the cake with a palette knife. An Irish woman has said the lack of care and support in hospitals here following her termination in the UK placed her health in extreme danger upon return to the country. Laura McGlynn and her partner Warren Beatty made the difficult decision to terminate her pregnancy in the UK after they discovered their son would not survive past birth. The decision to terminate was a result of a fatal foetal abnormality, Cystic Hygroma. But the couple believe a break in her care following the procedure placed her life at huge risk. When I came home I was bleeding for eight weeks. I haemorrhaged. The doctors here arent trained enough to pick up on things, Laura said, speaking to Newstalk Lunchtime. Only because I have a fantastic GP, she was the best in the world, she had to get on to the master of my hospital. Then he listened. We got brought in. They found a tiny piece of product which could have been a piece of the sack. It had calcified at this stage. They had to wash me inside and out with antibiotics. I was very sick. In my case, I put it down to my break in care. In the UK youre entitled to a scan two weeks after the procedure, she said. Laura revealed that the heartbreaking decision to end her pregnancy was made more stressful because she could not undergo the procedure in Ireland. "I was 14 weeks, when you're going for your first scan and you're dying to see your baby on the screen and they alerted us to there was a bit of fluid on the scan. "From there, that doctor referred us straight upstairs to the better scanners where we were greeted by three people waiting to bring us in. "At this stage, I didn't know what was going on. They said they could see extra fluid on the back of the baby's head which basically meant something to them. "So I was lying there, they were scanning. I could see their faces and they just turned to me and said, 'we're so sorry'". Laura and her partner Warren decided to terminate their pregnancy to spare their unborn son Darragh any unnecessary pain. The couple later discovered that their baby had Down Syndrome, complicated by a large cystic hygroma and some other malformations. Laura said: The way my mother said it to me one day was Would you put your dog through this pain and the answer would be no. Warren said: "It was the hardest decision we've ever had to make. He was a wanted baby. He wasnt going to live, and we werent going to put him through that pain. Laura revealed that she felt very alone as she had to get the money together to travel to the UK to deliver her baby at 19 weeks. Youre not meant to talk about it. Anyone I talked to couldnt believe that I was forced to leave the country with the support of my family and friends and try to get the money together. Luckily my family were very good and everyone contributed money. It was 1,500. I basically had to go over and deliver my dead baby but they tell you it could be one or two nights. Women are being forced to wait up to four weeks which is just not good enough because they can only take one Irish girl a week. Warren said: We were able to take photographs, to hold him. They cleaned him and dressed him and put him into a little shawl. We were able to go into the room and it was the kind of thing I needed to do for a bit of closure. Laura, who is currently pregnant, revealed that she decided to share her story to help other Irish women in the same position. Women are suffering. Its just not right that we should be forced out of our country. The reality of it is girls are now going to have to go as far as France and Italy to get access to this. Until youve walked in someones shoes I dont think you can judge them. You always think its never going to concern you but next week it could be your sister, your aunt or your daughter who is coming to you. Its not simple and clear cut and I think something has to be done for women in my situation, she said. Astronaut Expedition 39/40 (Soyuz 38) astronaut Steve Swanson during ISS Maintenance EVAAT at the NBL. Photo: NASA/BILL STAFFORD Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly takes part in the spin chair training during media day, Saturday, March 21, 2015 IN Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls NASA is hiring astronaut candidates, with the potential to travel further into space than humans have ever been. The latest job posting, on usajobs.gov, invites candidates to apply for the position at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center before February 18. Securing an office view like the one above is neither simple nor straightforward, of course, with only a handful of candidates landing the coveted roles. Who may apply? This announcement is open to all qualified U.S. citizens (the European Space Agency has its astronaut guidelines here). How much does it pay? A salary range of $66,026 to $144,566 per year is advertised. At current exchange rates that equates to roughly 58,000 to 128,400. Expand Close Expedition 33 crew members Sunita Williams and Aki Hoshide during NBL EVA training. Photo: NASA/Robert Markowitz / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Expedition 33 crew members Sunita Williams and Aki Hoshide during NBL EVA training. Photo: NASA/Robert Markowitz Why should I consider it? NASA is in the midst of "an unprecedented transition" to using commercial spacecraft for its scheduled crew and cargo transport to the ISS. Future Astronaut Candidates will have the opportunity "to explore farther in space than humans have ever been," it says. They may fly on the International Space Station (ISS), two new commercial spacecraft being built by U.S. companies, and NASA's Orion deep-space exploration vehicle, which will conduct complex operations in a deep space environment before moving on to longer duration missions on the journey to Mars, it says. What minimum qualifications do I need? 1. A Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics. 2. At least three years of related, progressively responsible, professional experience obtained after degree completion OR at least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Teaching experience is also required. 3. Candidates must pass a swimming test during the first month of training, and the NASA long-duration astronaut physical requires: Visual acuity correctable to 20/20 (glasses are acceptable) Blood pressure that doesn't exceed 140/90 in a sitting position A standing height of 62-75 inches Expand Close Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly takes part in the spin chair training during media day, Saturday, March 21, 2015 IN Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly takes part in the spin chair training during media day, Saturday, March 21, 2015 IN Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls What else should I note? A pre-employment background investigation is required This is a drug-testing designated position Frequent travel may be required Selectees must pass a pre-employment medical examination A financial disclosure statement must be completed What are the odds of success? Slim. A reported 4,000-8,000 candidates apply for each round, with 8-35 selected. And that's before the final training and evaluation process. Read More What are an astronaut's duties? Astronauts are involved in all aspects of training for and conducting operations in space, and in the development and testing of future spacecraft. This includes extravehicular activities (EVA), robotics operations, the ability to operate and conduct research experiments, the ability to operate as a safe member of an aircraft crew, and spacecraft maintenance activities, NASA says. Astronauts also participate in mission simulations to help themselves and flight controllers in the Mission Control Center operate in low earth orbit. Additionally, astronauts serve as the public face of NASA, providing appearances across the country, and sharing NASA's discoveries and goals... a role brought to new heights by the YouTube-shredding performances of Chris Hadfield. Want to have this view at work? #BeAnAstronaut. Submit your application by Feb. 18: https://t.co/LuUws4f6CN pic.twitter.com/xHVnkce1tP Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 10, 2016 How long could I spend in space? Long-duration missions aboard the ISS generally last from three to six months. Training is "very arduous" and takes two to three years, NASA says. Expand Close Astronaut Expedition 39/40 (Soyuz 38) astronaut Steve Swanson during ISS Maintenance EVAAT at the NBL. Photo: NASA/BILL STAFFORD / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Astronaut Expedition 39/40 (Soyuz 38) astronaut Steve Swanson during ISS Maintenance EVAAT at the NBL. Photo: NASA/BILL STAFFORD When will selections be announced? Selections will be announced in the spring of 2017. Selected candidates will report for duty at the Johnson Space Center in the fall of 2017. Selection as a candidate does not guarantee selection as an astronaut - final selection depends on a two-year training and evaluation period. Read the full Astronaut Candidate requirements here. Premium John Downing Opinion Pension reforms are dicey territory but grand plan by minister Heather Humphreys just might win through Pension system changes all across the western world have a great propensity to infuriate those most feared by politicians: the grey brigade. And when the oldies take to the streets, they usually play for keeps. If anyone wants to understand the shame of Afghanistan - the yearly cull of civilians, the beheadings, the execution by single shots, the kidnapping of women - they have only to read the shocking UN report just published in Kabul. It is laced with fearful eyewitness descriptions of brutality. Isil features in its 87 pages with its usual depravity - in Afghanistan, of course, not in Iraq or Syria - and the report's statistics show clearly that, last year, there were more civilians killed or wounded in the country than in any year since 2009. In 2015 alone, 3,545 civilians were killed and 7,457 injured. Since 2009, the total civilian dead - not soldiers, militiamen or Taliban - comes to 21,323. And this is the graveyard of empires into which we blithely trod after 9/11 on the basis that we would not "forget" Afghanistan again. We would see it through to the end. Our soldiers would not die in vain. And it has come to this. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) is a very professional institution. It has rigorously examined eyewitness testaments and its new report contains harrowing quotations from victims of the country's war. In total, 62pc of civilian deaths and injuries were caused by "anti-government elements" and 17pc by "pro-government forces" - 14pc of these by the US-trained Afghan National Security Forces. But, for reality, take this quotation from the father of a man killed by Afghan army shelling in Wardak province: "It was around 8am, and we had finished breakfast at home when I heard an explosion...When I arrived, I saw one injured person and many bodies. Then I found my son. He was in the final moments of his life ... I could not even touch his body or move him. The explosion killed eight people ... Can you imagine how difficult it is when your son is lying in his own blood and you are crying for him?" Or this, from a woman wounded in a suicide attack in Kabul city: "After I had fed my baby and put him back to sleep, I took a sip of water and returned to bed. There was a huge explosion and our roof began to collapse. I saw the roof falling on me and I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my hands, legs and back were bleeding ... After 20 minutes, I heard my husband shouting over and over again: 'Where are the others? My father, my father.' The blast seriously injured him and my son. My brother-in-law lost both of his eyes. We are a poor family and have lost everything." Unama confirmed that Isil forced the closure of 25 educational institutions in Deh Bala district, depriving 14,102 students of education and 341 teachers of work. Here, then, is Isil at work, just as it operates in Iraq and Syria. Unama also noted an increase in the targeting of hospitals, clinics and health personnel. There are accounts of Taliban fighting Isil and government militias fighting each other. I have long nursed the suspicion that many of these groups, including some Taliban units and even Isil - let alone the government militias - are not fighting about religion or government at all, more about mafia power. Afghanistan, I fear, is Mafiastan, fuelled by the billions the US and UK ploughed into this poor country after 2001. An Afghan told me only a couple of days ago how government army students were watching an American military trainer teach them how to shoot an automatic rifle. "The problem was that the students knew much more about shooting than the American. They grew up with automatic weapons in their hands. The only reason they joined was to get knapsacks and free uniforms." The same old story. Incompetence, money, grief and pain. Unama's report is first rate. And it brings individual tragedy into a brief, bright and disturbing light. But, yes, this is the country we were going to "save" a decade and a half ago. More than one in four voters say they are ready to back an Independent candidate or someone from the plethora of other small parties now standing in the General Election. This suggests it will be hard to form the next government. That in turn suggests that a period of political instability may lie ahead, which would not be good for business, investment and jobs. It also raises the prospect of a return to the polls for another election in a matter of months. But that is democracy and it is very wrong of members and activists among the main parties to be sniffy or condescending about those 'Independents and Others'. Such an attitude smacks of taking the view that people should only have a vote if they vote the 'right way'. It would be more appropriate for the principals in the four bigger parties to examine their own consciences about the reasons they are failing to enthuse large sections of our electorate. More than a quarter of voters find they cannot support Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour or Sinn Fein. That figure is almost as big as the level of support for the frontrunner, Fine Gael, and greater, by some distance, than the levels of support for any of the other three parties. The plethora of broken promises by Fine Gael and Labour after the 2011 election has compounded disillusionment with Fianna Fail for the economic calamity which occurred on its last watch in government. All of the main parties have a job to do to rebuild voter trust. Making a vast array of give-away promises on every level cannot help in this delicate task. It is also an objective political reality that 'Independents and Others' can get away with making an even bigger array of promises which cannot be delivered upon, or worse, would be economic suicide for the nation if they were delivered. All such promises must be challenged by the established parties, who need to up their game on delivering a clearer message to potential voters. There are just 11 campaign days left. 'It is no exaggeration to say there is a crisis in the crucial business of motor insurance' The simple arithmetic tells a very stark story about motor insurance. Many drivers who paid 400 for car insurance in 2014 may well have to stump up 700 in 2016. The issue was raised several times in the last Dail in recent months - but it is not an election issue. It is, however, no exaggeration to say there is a crisis in the crucial business of motor insurance. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to have a claim faces a huge premium hike. This raises the fundamental question of what was the point of them paying for insurance at all - in many cases for years, if not decades. Older drivers, and drivers with older cars, also face being hit for more money in premiums. A recent AA Ireland survey put the premium rises at up to 50pc for many drivers. This is a problem that has periodically afflicted this country and, apart from basic unfairness, it has also had a detrimental impact on the economy. Whatever government is elected on February 26 must urgently face this matter head on. First, the insurance companies must be obliged to explain. Then, action must be taken to ensure drivers get cover at a reasonable price. This General Election is in a bubble. It should be absolutely plain that circumstances outside Ireland fundamentally affect how our State can continue to borrow at reasonable rates to fund public services and to preserve, let alone grow, employment. Yet again in an election, we are sleepwalking through a very unstable world with a meltdown looming in the global economy - both finance and trade, the EU in turmoil and the biggest refugee tragedy affecting Europe since the Second World War. We are not even looking at the existential crisis facing our closest neighbour - that kingdom being unsure whether it should remain within the EU, or even whether it should itself be united. (With opinion polls showing an increasing likelihood of 'Brexit', the consequences for us could be very turbulent - not least in the context of Northern Ireland). It is not good enough to tacitly 'note' these threats to our stability and move on as if that is sufficient. That is what we did in the 2007 General Election and we all know, to our cost, the way that worked out. There is a storm coming. That we cannot measure its precise gale force and impact does not make it go away or allow us to ignore it. The issue at this General Election is not to be found in parsing numbers and fine points of policy. It is to be found in answering one question: 'Who do you trust to have the character and the ability to steer us through a hurricane.' Shane Molloy Dublin 6 Rural Ireland's raw deal I wish to respond to John Thompson (Irish Independent Letters, February 13). We who live in a rural area pay our taxes but never get any of the benefits, such as free water and sewerage. Over the past 60 years we have had to supply our own water through local initiative and private investment in water schemes and wells. I can tell you as Chairperson of the Michael Davitt Museum in Straide, which is a rural area, we had to pay for connection to the water scheme. A few years ago we paid 1,200 for an upgrade with a meter, and in 2000 we paid 10,000 for upgrade of sewerage. We also pay a yearly maintenance fee, as other locals do. It costs to drill a well, then there is the cost of an electric pump for pumping, and the purifying machine and purifying salt, which costs about 10 a fortnight. Yet city people expect our taxes to pay for their water and sewerage, as has been the case for the past 60 years. How irrelevant 1916 is to the people of rural areas - we don't count, according to some politicians. There is no broadband reception on the West Coast. Should rural areas - rather than Dublin - have an interesting event and seek RTE TV coverage, they are told "it's not relevant" or there's no reply at all - even though we pay our TV licence and taxes towards the funding of the national broadcasting service. When house rates, or as they are now called, property tax, were removed in 1977, there was no roads, bridges or drainage investment in the rural area. Yet Dublin got the new Dart and Luas, motorways, dual carriageways, etc. We do not request an industry in every estate - just industry for the general area. Dublin Airport was provided for you, we had to provide our own at Knock in the 1980s by weekly door-to-door donations and the American dollars thanks to Canon Horan's fundraising. Please, Mr Thompson, perplexed as you are, do not lecture rural areas on always looking for government funding - Dublin takes that prize. Nancy Smyth Ballinderreen, Co Galway. Moving home to housing crisis Emigrants like me who aspire to return to Ireland have an unfair dilemma. Moving back now could make someone else homeless by increasing the demand for housing. Under current government policy, we will continue to face this moral dilemma for many years. The Coalition ensured that as few houses as possible were built, by enthusiastically decimating social housing construction and doing nothing to encourage supply. The system that previously served banks and builders now serves landlords. Then, one minister added insult to injury in an astonishing act of self-pity and victim-blaming. Michael Noonan exonerated the Government as "victims of their own success" and insisted the housing crisis - the crippling rents and children living in B&Bs - is caused by "younger people moving into bigger cities to take advantage of all the jobs". What are they supposed to do? Emigrate? And what am I supposed to do? The idea of someone else being tossed out onto the street to make space for me is something I find utterly repulsive. But that's what will happen if I return to Ireland. Sean Roberti Luton, England The signs aren't so good If our next self-serving government is as solid and firm and well planned as the posters that I now see hanging off lampposts and blowing all over the roads and footpaths, I would estimate the following elections will take place about 12 months from now. Richard Barton Tinahely, Co Wicklow Labour's rank and file People must remember that it is not the Labour Party cabinet that will decide whether Labour will take part in government. The party rank and file must vote to allow them to sit in the seats of power. Members know they have done badly in the last five years. It's not only opinion polls that tell them this, but election results, such as Labour's 4pc showing in Meath East, where it was supposed to be strong If Labour again becomes the tail wagged by a larger dog, it will disappear, as did the PDs. The party will vote against Labour entering the next government. They must not tell the electorate this, however, lest the voters look elsewhere to make their vote count at the government table of influence. Padraig O Laimhin Address with editor The bidding has begun Fine Gael will offer the Social Democrats a cabinet seat in return for the party's support if a government cannot be formed. As the auction builds, you can bet that Fianna Fail will offer two cabinet seats, and will probably throw in a flatscreen TV to get into power. Seamus McLoughlin Keshcarrigan, Co Leitrim Donal Skehan and Sofie Larsson when they got engaged in 2014. Photo: Rhianne Jones Donal Skehan and his wife Sofie at a signing for his book 'Fresh' at Dubray Books in Dublin yesterday Photo: Arthur Carron Donal Skehan and wife Sofie leave their home in Howth behind as they prepare to move to Los Angeles. Photo: Donal Skehan Instagram. Celebrity chef Donal Skehan has said goodbye to his Howth home as he prepares for his new life in Los Angeles. The 29-year-old took to Instagram to share a photo of his beloved Howth home and shared a sentimental message to fans, as he and Swedish wife Sofie, prepare to leave special memories behind. "Six years and amazing memories at 27 Main Street, Howth- we said our goodbyes yesterday to the house which was our first home, the place all my shows were shot, the place we worked from, where our neighbours were never short of a big hello," the Howth native said on Instagram. "[It's] where Max (the couple's border collie) came home to for the first time, where we first came home to as a married couple, where we grew veggies out the back all summer long, where the best cliff walks started and finished and where we cooked some of the best dinners and enjoyed the best nights in with friends and family celebrating birthdays, engagements, babies, anniversaries and more. Expand Close Donal Skehan walks his dog around Howth every morning and evening. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Donal Skehan walks his dog around Howth every morning and evening. "A huge thank you to everyone who crossed the threshold and enjoyed the place as much as we did, for now though it's goodbye to our little Howth home." The chef is starting a new life in California as he builds on the opportunities he's received from working on the US food site Tastemade. A photo posted by Donal Skehan (@donalskehan) on Feb 15, 2016 at 12:58am PST He'll be working alongside his wife, given that Sofie's a photographer who does all his food shots. "Weve still got quite a lot of work over here so well be back all the time. We want to be there more permanently so well have the opportunity to do things over there," he recently told the Herald of the move. Expand Close Donal Skehan and his wife Sofie at a signing for his book 'Fresh' at Dubray Books in Dublin. Photo: Arthur Carron / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Donal Skehan and his wife Sofie at a signing for his book 'Fresh' at Dubray Books in Dublin. Photo: Arthur Carron Weve done some amazing things in Ireland and now its time to do what we do to a wider audience. Weve a few friends and my uncle lives out there so it wont be too lonely." He added: "We have a few exciting things in the pipeline and weve a new series with the Food Network in the works." Expand Close Donal and Sofie after their engagement in Paris. Photo by Rhianne Jones / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Donal and Sofie after their engagement in Paris. Photo by Rhianne Jones Video of the Day Saoirse Ronan is nominated for Best Actress at the 2016 Oscars Irish actress Saoirse Ronan poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London Saoirse Ronan poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London Saoirse Ronan has said she never could have anticipated the response to Brooklyn and has been moved by the 'outpouring of love' she's received after her performance in the movie. "It's honestly been one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had," she said on the red carpet at the BAFTAS on Sunday. The 21-year-old, who plays an Irish immigrant in Brooklyn, New York, in the period film, said she first picked up Colm Toibin's book "just for pleasure" when she was just 16. Now, five years later, she's nominated for an Oscar for her performance as character Eilis Lacey in the movie. The Carlow native told reporters on Sunday that she's enjoyed the fans' response to the love story, more than the awards recognition - specifically fans who can relate to the storyline. Expand Close Actress Saoirse Ronan arrives at the 88th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills, California February 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Actress Saoirse Ronan arrives at the 88th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills, California February 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni "Especially when you don't expect something like that to happen and you get that outpouring of love," she said. "And when people tell you it's their parents' story." Expand Close Irish actress Saoirse Ronan poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Irish actress Saoirse Ronan poses on arrival for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London Saoirse previously spoke about a boy from Brooklyn whose parents had a similar tale to the main characters in Brooklyn. "Someone last night came up to me at a [Q&A] he's from Brooklyn, his dad is Italian, his mom's Irish, he grew up in New York and the story just really resonated with him," she said ahead of the Screen Actors Guild Awards. "And he said that he could really appreciate what they had gone through. And I thought that was lovely. Out of everything, to get a response like that is the world. Expand Close Saoirse Ronan is nominated for Best Actress at the 2016 Oscars / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Saoirse Ronan is nominated for Best Actress at the 2016 Oscars The Irish actress lost out to friend Brie Larson for the Best Actress award at Sunday night's BAFTAs but Brooklyn took home the award for Best British Film at the ceremony in London. "I think there is a universality to just someone leaving home and even though it's quite a beautifully simple story, it's one that everyone can relate to - because everyone has gone through that experience regardless of where you came from and where you went to," Saoirse told RTE. Expand Close On set of the movie, Brooklyn, Saoirse Ronan. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp On set of the movie, Brooklyn, Saoirse Ronan. Video of the Day "We didn't expect it to become quite as big as it has done but I can understand why people relate to it in the way they do." A highland cow on the snow-clad hills of the Carron Valley in Stirling, Scotland, as snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures sweep the country. Photo: PA Drivers have been warned to take care on icy roads Motorists should take extra care this morning as Met Eireann warns of severe frost and icy stretches are widespread following Sunday nights cold snap. Temperatures fell to -5C in some areas overnight, and many areas would see a rise above freezing until closer to midday. AA Roadwatch is advising drivers to expect frost and ice on many routes, and said that they should remember that stopping distances can be up to 10 times longer in ice conditions. A low temperature warning is in place for the whole country until midday, so expect frost and ice on many routes, a spokesperson said. [2/2] Allow extra time to de-ice your car in the morning & keep in mind stopping distances are 10x longer in ice. https://t.co/qvBPcgxUj8 AA Roadwatch (@aaroadwatch) February 14, 2016 Several county councils have deployed gritting lorries overnight on main routes after snow flurries where spotted in the hills and mountains around Dublin, Wicklow and Donegal yesterday. There were also reports of snow in Carlow and in and around Mullingar, county Westmeath. Met Eireann says this morning will be very cold and that the severe frost and icy stretches could possibly linger well into the afternoon. The forecaster warned that while it will be bright and sunny in most parts, temperatures will struggle to reach 4C by this afternoon adding that it will feel much colder due to strong north-easterly winds. The frost will quickly set in again after dark as temperatures fall to lows of -1C. This will lead, especially over the eastern half of the country, to widespread frost and icy stretches on untreated surfaces earlier Tuesday morning. Forecaster Gerry Murphy told Independent.ie that temperatures would briefly rise from tomorrow as a new weather system brings milder air from the south but this would be quickly followed by another bitterly cold night, leading to icy roads again on Wednesday morning. Frosty start to the day with road temp as low as -4C on the N2 in Monaghan & the N3 at Butler's Bridge. Slow down. https://t.co/qvBPcgxUj8 AA Roadwatch (@aaroadwatch) February 15, 2016 "Colder, clearer weather will follow from the Atlantic later on Tuesday night, with scattered wintry showers and moderate southwest winds. There will be another sharp frost developing and icy stretches on untreated surfaces," he said. Daytime temperatures throughout the week will struggle to reach 7C in the south and 4C elsewhere. Expand Close Credit: Met Eireann / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Credit: Met Eireann Both Wednesday and Thursday will be cold but bright days, with scattered showers - most of them in west Munster, Connacht and Ulster. These will include hail or sleet and snow will be possible on hills. Cold with widespread frost & icy patches this morning.Sunny and dry for the rest of the day with an odd light shower in the north.Highs 3-7C Met Eireann (@MetEireann) February 15, 2016 Met Eireann said that early indications were that daytime temperatures will turn milder on Friday, although there will be spells of wet and windy weather for many parts of the country from time to time. Night-time temperatures over next weekend will vary and may be low enough in places for some frost. Meanwhile, some 10,000 customers of the Whitegate Regional Water Supply Scheme in Cork have been issued with a boil water notice by their provider on the advice of the HSE. They have been advised to boil all water intended for consumption, food preparation, teeth brushing and making ice. Irish Water said the notice "has been imposed as a precautionary measure pending further investigation in the interest of public health". The warning applies to Midleton South East, Ballynacorra, Cloyne, Aghada, Whitegate, Ballycotton, Churchstown, Trabolgan and surrounding rural areas. Other areas and water schemes in the county are not affected at this point. Police said they were trying to find the source of the beam. A pilots' union has said "more needs to be done" to tackle the growing use of lasers against aircraft after a New York-bound plane had to turn back to Heathrow. The Virgin Atlantic flight returned to the west London airport as a "precautionary measure" after the co-pilot reported feeling unwell following the incident on Sunday. A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said the safety of the crew and customers on board the VS025 travelling from London Heathrow to New York JFK flight was a "top priority." They added: "All customers will be offered overnight accommodation and we will get them on their journey as soon as possible. We are working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser that caused the return of the aircraft to Heathrow." Police said they were trying to find the source of the beam. In 2010 a law was passed in the UK which allows offenders to be charged with "shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot". If the distraction or dazzle is serious, a person may be found guilty of "reckless endangerment" and sent to prison. According to the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), a laser can result in temporary vision loss associated with flash blindness, a "visual interference that persists after the source of illumination has been removed", an after-image, an "image left in the visual field after exposure to a bright light", and glare. Balpa general secretary Jim McAuslan said: "This is not an isolated incident. Aircraft are attacked with lasers at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength. "It is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. Shining a laser at an aircraft puts that aircraft, its crew and all the passengers on board at completely unnecessary risk. "Modern lasers have the power to blind, and certainly to act as a huge distraction and to dazzle the pilots during critical phases of flight." He added: "We repeat our call to the Government to classify lasers as offensive weapons which would give the police more power to arrest people for possessing them if they had no good reason to have them. This incident shows why this is becoming more and more urgent." Between 2009 and June 2015 more than 8,998 laser incidents across the country were reported to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Topping the list for the number of most frequent laser incidents for the first six months of last year was London Heathrow with 48, followed by Birmingham with 32, Leeds Bradford with 24 and Manchester with 23. A CAA spokesman told the Press Association: "Shining a laser at an aircraft in flight could pose a serious safety risk and it is a criminal offence to do so. We strongly urge anyone who sees a laser being used at night in the vicinity of an airport to contact the police immediately." In November 2015 it was reported that the eye of a British Airways pilot was damaged by a "military" strength laser which had been shone into the cockpit of his aircraft earlier in the year. It is understood that the Virgin Atlantic aircraft, one of the latest flights to be affected by a laser, had passed over the west coast of Ireland before heading back to Heathrow. A message on Virgin Atlantic's status website said: "Following this incident the First Officer reported feeling unwell. The decision was taken by both pilots to return to Heathrow rather than continue the transatlantic crossing." It is understood that there were 252 passengers and 15 crew on board the flight. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Police were contacted at approximately 9.35pm on Sunday February 14 following reports of a laser shone in the direction of a commercial flight that had taken off from Heathrow Airport. "Inquiries continue to establish where the offence took place. There have been no arrests." The scene at the Santander bank in Leighton Buzzard Photo: @neilbradfordtv/BBC/Twitter Raiders have used a JCB digger in a ram raid attack on a town centre bank. The vehicle was left embedded in the branch in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, after the attempt to steal a cash machine. It had smashed through the front of the bank, which had been extensively damaged, and the ATM was left lying among the debris. Pictures taken from the scene by passers-by on Monday morning showed bricks, rubble and broken glass littering the pavement while metal window frames twisted out of the building. A restaurant on the other side of Hockliffe Street was also left with damage that was thought to have been caused by the digger driving back and forth. Bedfordshire Police officers were called to the bank at around 3am on Monday after the ram raid. However, the force said it was not immediately clear if anything had been stolen. The road was likely to be closed for most of the day while the police investigation continues. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] A Scotland Yard detective works with a sniffer dog at an area in Praia da Luz Madeleine McCann was almost four when she disappeared on a family holiday in May 2007 A computer generated image of how Madeleine McCann might look today Madeleine McCann was three when she went missing in Praia da Luz in May 2007 Kate McCann believes her daughter Madeleine was not taken far from Praia da Luz in May 2007 Kate McCann has said she believes her daughter Madeleine is still in the Algarve because her kidnapper did not take her "a million miles" from their holiday apartment. In the almost nine years since the three-year-old disappeared from Praia da Luz, there have been thousands of alleged "sightings" of her worldwide amid theories that could have been taken out of Portugal to be sold to a childless couple or criminal gang. However, her mother has said she believes Madeleine most likely never left the country and that the holiday resort is the place where she "feels closest" to her. Expand Close A computer generated image of how Madeleine McCann might look today / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A computer generated image of how Madeleine McCann might look today Read More Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, vowed she and her husband Gerry would "never give up" hope of finding their daughter after she vanished shortly before her fourth birthday in May 2007. The 47-year-old, who is an ambassador for charity Missing People, said her research had led her to believe abducted children were not usually taken far from the scene. Expand Close Madeleine McCann was almost four when she disappeared on a family holiday in May 2007 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Madeleine McCann was almost four when she disappeared on a family holiday in May 2007 "That's where she last was and I don't think she's been taken a million miles from there", Mrs McCann told The Sun. Expand Close A Scotland Yard detective works with a sniffer dog at an area in Praia da Luz / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Scotland Yard detective works with a sniffer dog at an area in Praia da Luz Read More "I've always said Praia da Luz is the place where I feel closest to her. It's all only speculation, but we've learned that's usually the case." Mrs McCann said the urge to look for Madeleine - whose 13th birthday is in May - "absolutely hasn't changed at all". "You hear all the time about people who have been missing for years being found," she added. "There have been so many cases like that. "We will never give up. You couldn't settle if you thought about giving up. I want an end, an answer. Whatever that it is." She is leading a two-week appeal in a bid to get a million people in the UK to register for Child Rescue Alerts. Read More The free scheme - funded by The Royal Mail - sends early warning messages to mobiles, computers and tablets when a child goes missing. Mrs McCann said that the alert system, which she helped launch, could have "mobilised" people at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. Since 2011, the Metropolitan Police have been assisting in the search for clues as to what happened to the youngster, with officers visiting the holiday resort in 2014. The McCanns had previously praised the "meticulous and painstaking work" of detectives and have again offered thanks to the police. However, last year the number of officers working on the case was reduced. Operation Grange, which was launched in 2011, will continue but will have the number of full time officers working on the case reduced from 29 to just four. Detectives have taken 1,338 statements and collected 1,027 exhibits, but a Scotland Yard spokesman said: While there remain lines of inquiry to follow, the vast majority of the work by Operation Grange has been completed. During Operation Grange, detectives from the Met regularly travelled to the Algarve to liaise with their Portuguese counterparts and undertook a number of exploratory digs in the Praia da Luz area. Police said they had also investigated more than 60 persons of interest. A total of 650 sex offenders have also been considered as well as reports of 8,685 potential sightings of Madeleine around the world. In 2013, detectives working on Operation Grange announced they were looking into possible links between Madeleines disappearance and bogus charity collectors who were knocking on doors in Praia da Luz at the time. They issued a series of photo-fit images of suspects they said may have been hanging around the Algarve around the time Madeleine disappeared. The decision to reduce the number of Met Police officers working on the case came after the Home Office granted another 2 million in order to continue with the investigation until April. The cost of the investigation so far has been estimated at in excess of 10 million. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] General view during a minutes applause for Viola Beach and Craig Tarry, who had been a Manchester City supporter, during the Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur match Divers and rescue service personnel search for the victims of the deadly car crash in the canal under the E4 highway bridge Service personnel repairing the gate a car drove through before crashing into the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden A badly damaged car is towed up from the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden, Swedish police have opened an investigation into the deaths of British band Viola Beach and their manager in Sweden on Saturday, and whether the driver of their car was the cause of the fatal crash. Band members Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and their manager Craig Tarry, all aged between 19 and 32, were killed when the car they were travelling in plunged more than 80ft into a canal in Sweden. Expand Close A badly damaged car is towed up from the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden, / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A badly damaged car is towed up from the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden, Carina Skagerlind, a press spokesperson for Stockholm police, told the Guardian that investigators are looking into "all possible causes" for the crash. Post mortem examinations are due to be undertaken on the five bodies, which Ms Skagarlind said will be used to discover whether the driver was intoxicated or not. She said it "could be the case" that the driver is to blame for the deaths of the other passengers, but added "there are hundreds of possibilities." Read More "We are looking at the car, we are looking at the circumstances, we are talking to witnesses. We don't have any answers yet and we have to look at everything," she added. The crash happened just hours after the Warrington band had played their first gig outside of the UK at the Where Is The Music? festival in Norrkoping. Their car crashed at around 2:30am local time near Stockholm. Expand Close Service personnel repairing the gate a car drove through before crashing into the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Service personnel repairing the gate a car drove through before crashing into the canal under the E4 highway bridge in Sodertalje, Sweden The driver has not been formally identified, but is thought to have been the band's manager Mr Tarry. John Olsson, a musician from Swedish band Psykofant, who had played alongside Viola Beach at the Swedish festival on the day of the crash, claimed Mr Tarry had not been drinking as he was the designated driver, and said there had been "a lot of snow that day", ITV News reported. Expand Close Divers and rescue service personnel search for the victims of the deadly car crash in the canal under the E4 highway bridge / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Divers and rescue service personnel search for the victims of the deadly car crash in the canal under the E4 highway bridge Read More Swedish police told the BBC the car had fallen through a gap in the bridge that had opened to let a boat pass through. Police added that two sets of safety barriers had been in place on the bridge, as had flashing red warning lights, and that other drivers had been waiting. Inspector Martin Bergholm said: "For some reason, the car drove through the barriers and crashed down into the canal." Expand Close General view during a minutes applause for Viola Beach and Craig Tarry, who had been a Manchester City supporter, during the Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur match / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp General view during a minutes applause for Viola Beach and Craig Tarry, who had been a Manchester City supporter, during the Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur match "The witnesses just saw a car beside them and kind of disappear." The bands label, Communion, has said all proceeds from their current single Boys That Sing will be donated to the band members and managers families. Read More Tributes have poured in for the group that described itself as indie pop. Viola Beach had released three singles and had appeared on BBC Introducing last year. The family of Mr Leonard, 20, said: "Words cannot express the sadness we feel at the loss of our precious Kristian. He was doing the job he loved and will be missed so much by his family and friends." "We ask for privacy to grieve at this devastating time." The family of Mr Reeves, 19, said they were "heartbroken" by his death alongside the bandmates and manager "he adored and loved". In a statement, they said: "All River wanted to do was perform and entertain and to think that he will never make us laugh again with his ridiculous impressions and cheeky banter is beyond comprehension for all his family." Relatives of Mr Lowe described him as "the best son, brother, uncle and friend you could ever wish for" and said his life had been "tragically cut short". Mr Tarry's family said they were "devastated" and "grieving the loss of their son and also for the other families involved in this tragic accident". A UN human-rights expert is calling on the UK and Sweden to follow the recommendation by a UN panel to allow freedom of movement for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Alfred de Zayas says the countries should set a "good example" and follow the finding announced on February 5 by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Mr Assange should be free to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Authorities in Britain and Sweden have rejected the finding, saying Mr Assange has detained himself by seeking refuge in the embassy after facing allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden. They insist he will be arrested if he leaves. Mr De Zayas said in a statement that the non-binding international order requires a "consistent and uniform" application of international law. A wounded Syrian man is carried to a hospital in Kilis, Turkey, after an airstrike in the northern Syrian province of Idlib destroyed a makeshift clinic (AP) Close to 50 civilians have been killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that victims of the attacks included children. He quoted the secretary-general when he called the attacks "blatant violations of international laws" that "are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria". Mr Haq quoted Mr Ban as saying the attacks "cast a shadow on commitments" made by nations seeking to end the Syrian conflict at a conference in Munich on February 11, which included a cessation of hostilities within a week and an end to attacks on civilians. In Idlib province, an airstrike destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in attacks that were minutes apart. It said seven people were killed and eight others were "missing, presumed dead". "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said MSF mission chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The opposition group, which tracks both sides of the conflict through sources on the ground, said dozens were wounded in the attack. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by phone from Maaret al-Numan. He said five people were killed near the MSF clinic and "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead". The Observatory and other opposition activists said another hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also hit on Monday, most likely by a Syrian government airstrike. In the neighbouring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing five people, including three children and a pregnant woman, according to the Observatory. A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. Activists posted an amateur video that showed civil defence workers pulling bodies from the rubble of the MSF-supported structure in Idlib. Other images showed a huge crater next to a building that purportedly housed the child and maternal hospital in Azaz. Incubators could be seen in a ward littered with broken glass and toppled medical equipment. Russia said its airstrikes are targeting militants and denied hitting hospitals or civilians. However, rights groups and activists have repeatedly accused Moscow of killing civilians. Daragh McDowell, the head Russia analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a British risk analysis firm, said Russian and Syrian tactics "strongly suggest a deliberate effort to further exacerbate the refugee crisis, as a means of destabilising Europe and pressuring the West to agree to a settlement in Syria on Moscow's and Damascus' terms". Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defence, a group of first responders known as the "White Helmets", said the women's hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles. He said some 10 people were killed and many were wounded. "We think it is Russia because the photos of the missiles have Russian language (and) because we haven't seen this kind (of missile) before the Russian intervention," he said. Russia has been a key ally of Mr Assad throughout the five-year uprising and civil war, and began launching airstrikes on September 30. The private Turkish Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving and medics unloading children on stretchers. The US State Department condemned the airstrikes, saying they cast doubt on "Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people". In Brussels, European Union officials had earlier called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a US-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table, decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities". Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said "we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that". Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks during an interview on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Munich. Reuters/Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/Pool Heavy smoke rises from a location said to be a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supported hospital in Marat al Numan, Idlib, Syria. Reuters/Social Media Website via Reuters Smoke rises from a location said to be a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supported hospital in Marat al Numan, Idlib, Syria. Reuters/Social Media Website via Reuters Heavy smoke rises from a location said to be a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supported hospital in Marat al Numan, Idlib, Syria. Reuters/Social Media Website via Reuters A clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) has been destroyed by an air strike in northern Syria, a spokeswoman for an international aid agency has said. Seven Russian missiles struck a hospital in the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Monday, a Turkish security official said, adding the the civilian death toll to rise above 14. Mirella Hodeib of Doctors Without Borders - also known by its French acronym MSF - said the airstrike destroyed the MSF-supported structure in the north-western town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province. The 30-bed hospital had 54 staff, two operating theatres, an outpatient department and an emergency room. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The Observatory, which tracks the casualties in Syria's five-year civil war, said dozens were also wounded in the airstrike. Syrian troops have been on the offensive in northern Syria under the cover of Russian airstrikes over the past week. The ground offensive has been focused on the northern province of Aleppo while Monday's airstrike struck the clinic in the nearby Idlib province. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by telephone from Maaret al-Numan. He added that five people were killed near the clinic and "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead". An aid official said at least one patient died and nine Syrian staffers were missing. Casualty figures are often sketchy and conflicting, and cannot be independently verified because of the inaccessibility of the conflict zones. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Union officials called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a US-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities". She said more fighting "is obviously not what we expect". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed a missile had also struck a children's hospital in a town in the north of the country, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens. Activists said the missile hit the hospital in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border, killing 10 and wounding more than 30. Activist Bahaa al-Halaby, who is based in the northern city of Aleppo, said it was a ballistic missile. The Observatory says the dead include three children and a pregnant woman. Security guards stand alert around schools and colleges following an attack on Bacha Khan University, in Peshawar, Pakistan. (AP) The university in northwest Pakistan where Taliban gunmen killed at least 20 people last month reopened for classes on Monday with teachers - but not students - allowed to carry weapons. Pakistani Taliban militants have threatened more assaults on schools and universities since the Jan. 20 attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, fueling a growing sense of insecurity in the country. The attack had reminded Pakistanis of the horrors that took place a little over a year earlier, when militants massacred 134 pupils at an army school just 19 miles (31 km) away, in Peshawar, the main city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Before Monday's reopening the university took extra security measures, installing new CCTV cameras, hiring more armed guards, and raising the height of boundary walls, vice chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat told Reuters. The university also decided that teachers could continue to carry their own licensed weapons as long as they do not display them in classrooms, Marwat said. A chemistry professor who was killed during last month's assault had been lauded as a hero for firing back at the attackers. But Marwat said the school decided to reject a request from some teachers to issue them firearms. "After taking whatever security measures were possible for protection of students and faculty members, we opened the university today for classes," Marwat said. Students who owned weapons had to submit them at the entrance of the campus, he said. Firearms are easily available in northwest Pakistan, and gun ownership is ingrained in the culture of Pashtun tribes of the region. Many of the returning students arrived at the campus with their parents and relatives, who waited while they went to classes. Several, however, were still too traumatised to attend school or were made to stay home by scared parents. "I know the university has been opened today, but my parents didn't allow me to go today," said student Ihsanullah Khan. "I am not afraid and will definitely join my friends very soon." Vice chancellor Marwat said the university had arranged counselling sessions for students and for recreational trips elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani army said the attack on the university was masterminded by Umar Mansoor, a Pakistani Taliban militant based in Afghanistan, who was also blamed for the Peshawar school massacre. The Pakistani Taliban are fighting to topple the government and install a strict interpretation of Islamic law. On Monday, an IED blast in Pakistan's volatile South Waziristan region on the border with Afghanistan left one paramilitary soldier dead and three injured. Civil defence members search for survivors after airstrikes by pro-government forces in Aleppo, northern Syria. Photo: Reuters Turkey shelled Kurdish positions in northern Syria repeatedly over the weekend, defying French and American calls to end the attacks. The Kurdish YPG militia took a former Syrian military air base near the Turkish border last week as it advanced east across formerly rebel-held territory, prompting furious calls for withdrawal from Ankara. On Saturday, the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, confirmed the cross-border shelling, insisting that his military would retaliate against "every step" made by Kurdish forces. Turkish media said the army was using howitzers on Kurdish targets near the Syrian town of Azaz. The YPG, which is the main Kurdish militia in Syria, is taking advantage of a Syrian offensive against rebel forces in northern Aleppo, moving in on Azaz and the town of Tal Rifaat in an attempt to expand its hold on land along the border. Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish group that has been waging a bloody insurgency on Turkish soil over much of the past three decades. Its disquiet has also been heightened by the arrival of tens of thousands of fleeing civilians on its border in recent weeks. At least 35,000 Syrians are camping out on the southern border while new arrivals in Azaz could yet be pushed northwards to join them. With more than 2.5 million refugees already living inside Turkey's borders, Ankara is desperate for Western countries to shoulder more of the burden from Syria's humanitarian crisis. Echoing an appeal made by the United States on Saturday, France called last night for "an immediate halt to the bombing, both that of the regime and its allies throughout the country and that of Turkey in the Kurdish zones". Washington has been working closely with Kurdish forces in northern Syria against Isil - so Nato finds itself on both sides in the war. The YPG in Aleppo has also been supported by Russian bombing raids, with Moscow claiming that the rebels they are fighting are dominated by the al-Qa'ida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Barack Obama spoke by telephone, calling for the implementation of a ceasefire that they agreed last week. But Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said that he thought the chances of its coming into effect were less than 50pc. The state-run Anadolu news agency said that the attacks were launched in retaliation for incoming fire from the People's Protection Units. Analysts said Turkey was alarmed that the YPG has taken advantage of losses suffered by Arab rebel groups to gain new territory. The five-year conflict in Syria has not only spilled over into neighbouring countries - but has also become an arena for international rivalries, pitting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's allies Russia and Iran against his opponents the United States, Europe, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Major powers reached a surprise agreement in Munich last week on a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria, which is due to come into force by the end of this week. However, even the deal's own architects have voiced scepticism about the prospects of success. Russia, in particular, stands accused of duplicity over its campaign of air strikes. Moscow argues that it only targets Isil and other "terrorists", but Washington says Russia is mainly hitting rebel forces who are fighting the Syrian army. President Obama spoke to President Putin yesterday and urged him to stop bombing "moderate" Syrian rebels, while the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond accused Moscow of "carpet-bombing" civilians. The Kremlin said Russia was "positive" about the Munich deal but promised to continue bombing "terroristic organisations", a term it uses to describe all those battling to topple the Syrian government. Iran said yesterday that it would be willing to provide air defence systems to the Syrian government. The offer came after Tehran's arch-rival Saudi Arabia said that it could send ground troops and warplanes to fight Isil in Syria and warned that President Assad may have to be removed "by force". A billboard in Zinacantan, near San Cristobal de las Casas, promotes the visit of Pope Francis to Chiapas state (AP) Pope Francis tries on a sombrero in Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo (AP) Pope Francis has denounced the centuries-old exploitation and social exclusion of Mexico's indigenous people. The pontiff celebrated Mexico's Indians during a visit to the southern state of Chiapas, a centre of indigenous culture, where he presided over a Mass in three native languages thanks to a new Vatican decree approving their use in liturgy. In his homily, history's first Latin American pope melded two of his core concerns: appreciation for indigenous cultures of the Americas and the need to care for the environment. "The environmental challenge that we are experiencing and its human causes affects us all and demands our response," Francis said. "We can no longer remain silent before one of the greatest environmental crises in world history." "In this regard, you have much to teach us," he added, speaking under clear blue skies at a sports complex in the mountain city of San Cristobal de las Casas. The soft sounds of marimbas accompanied the opening of the Mass in front of a replica of the brilliant yellow and red facade of the Sans Cristobal de las Casas cathedral, which Francis was scheduled to visit. Crowds chanted "Francis friend, San Cristobal is with you" as he arrived. Some 500,000 faithful were expected to see the pope in the city, including about 100,000 who gathered on the dirt field for the Mass. The visit, at the midway mark of the pontiff's five-day trip to Mexico, is also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in Mexico. Francis has already issued a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against indigenous people in Latin America. On Monday he was celebrating their culture in ways the local church hierarchy has often sought to play down, in a clear demonstration of his belief that Indians have an important role to play in Mexico today. Worshippers began filing shortly after midnight into the site of the Mass, which included readings, prayers and hymns in the three main indigenous languages of Chiapas: Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol, which are spoken by just over one million people, according to Mexico's latest census. The pope was presenting an official decree authorising the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin. Francis has insisted his is a "poor church, for the poor". After the Mass, he was scheduled to hear testimony from a handful of Chiapas families about the hardships they face. "He comes to redeem an entire struggle by the people," said the Rev. Marcelino Perez, an indigenous priest who was charged with translating the homily into Tzotzil. The pope has frequently expressed admiration for indigenous peoples, particularly their sense of custodianship of the environment. As archbishop in Argentina, he was heavily responsible for a major document of the entire Latin American church hierarchy in which bishops praised the harmonious way indigenous people live with nature. SHARE Hawthorne smiles while talking about retirement. Hawthorne started out with Duke Energys Anderson Water Company, and then helped oversee the transition when the city of Anderson went in the water business. He would respond to work calls, often in the middle of the night, and now he is planning to spend time camping and fishing with his wife, Debbie. Art Hawthorne looks at an antique fire hydrant from 1880 at his home in Abbeville County. Abbeville County resident Art Hawthorne talks about retirement from Electric City Utilities and camping with his wife, Debbie. Art Hawthorne looks over his camper at his home before a camping trip in Abbeville County. By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail Longtime utilities worker ready to enjoy retirement Art Hawthorne won't miss getting phone calls in the middle of the night. Hawthorne retired in December after spending more than 36 years helping to make sure that 40,000 residents and visitors in the city of Anderson had a reliable supply of water. Part of his job involved responding to problems that often occurred while he was asleep. Those problems typically required him to hastily make a 20-mile trek from his home in northern Abbeville County to Anderson. "The two things were broken water lines, especially this time of year when the weather changed cold weather and then hydrants getting hit by reckless drivers," he said last week. Hawthorne, who grew up with his two sisters in the city of Abbeville, started as a laborer digging ditches for Duke Energy's Anderson Water Company in 1979. His beginning salary was the equivalent of $3.71 per hour. When Duke sold its water system to the city of Anderson in 2002, Hawthorne played a pivotal role in the transition as a supervisor of a five-person crew for the newly formed Electric City Utilities. Working for the city "was totally different," Hawthorne said. For starters, he said, his crew quickly learned that dissatisfied customers would not hesitate to complain to City Council members. One of the most memorable crises that Hawthorne can recall happened in June 2014 when an intake pipe broke at the Anderson Regional Joint Water System plant on Lake Hartwell, triggering a water outage that lasted for about 17 hours. "We lost water completely in about three hours," Hawthorne said. "We went totally dry everywhere." The water system in Anderson dates back to 1889, when Whitner Creek served as the community's first source of water. Some of the original cast-iron pipes from the 1800s are still in use, Hawthorne said. Those pipes "may last another 100 years," he said. At a City Council meeting last month, Mayor Terence Roberts presented Hawthorne with a plaque marking his retirement. "We appreciate the service that you have given us," Roberts said. As Hawthorne's co-workers watched, Utilities Director Jeff Caldwell praised him during the ceremony at the council meeting. "I asked some of our staff, some of his co-workers for a few words to describe him. Some of the things I got were: experienced, knowledgeable, dedicated, dependable, committed and valuable," he said. "When I came here in 2002 I was new to this business and I saw him as an asset," Caldwell added. "But more importantly, he is a friend." Last month's meeting was the second time that Hawthorne had been honored by council members. They also recognized him in 2008 for being named as the South Carolina Rural Water Association's distribution system operator of the year. Hawthorne and his wife, Debbie, who raised two sons, celebrated their 40th anniversary on Sunday. Debbie Hawthorne works as the lunchroom manager at Diamond Hills Elementary School in Abbeville County. Besides spending more time with their young grandson and granddaughter, Hawthorne said, they are looking forward to "a lot of camping, fishing and traveling." The couple will spend two weeks in their camper at Calhoun Falls State Park in March. They also are planning to travel the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway this summer. Hawthorne said his bucket list includes a seaside destination. "We want to do the Outer Banks," he said. The first few weeks of retirement have been enjoyable, especially knowing that he can count on getting a full night's sleep, Hawthorne said. "The biggest thing was going to bed without having to worry about the phone ringing," he said. Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM Photos by Nikie Mayo/Independent Mail U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, speaks at his presidential campaign rally Sunday at Easley High School. By Nikie Mayo of the Independent Mail EASLEY Marco Rubio told a crowd of thousands Sunday that he feels good about his campaign momentum, and that he is the presidential candidate who can unite the Republican Party. The Florida senator campaigned at Easley High School on Valentine's Day, drawing a crowd far larger than even some of his closest supporters expected. As temperatures outside hovered in the low 30s, seats in the school's auditorium filled quickly. Soon, hundreds more people were redirected to the cafeteria, while others stood along walls and in hallways to hear Rubio speak. Easley police and school officials estimated that more than 2,000 people attended the event. "We can't win if we are fighting each other," Rubio told the crowd Sunday, a day after the raucous GOP debate in Greenville. He said that if the Republican Party is still divided by late summer and early fall, that paves the way for another Democrat to win the White House. "Hillary Clinton wins if we're divided," Rubio said. A CBS News poll of a sampling of debate watchers found that many viewers believe Rubio won Saturday's debate, besting Donald Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Jeb Bush. But a CBS News Battleground Tracker poll Sunday also found that Rubio has a lot of work to do in the Palmetto State. The poll found Rubio in third place in South Carolina, trailing Trump and Cruz in popularity. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, tried to help Rubio gain strength Sunday. Scott said that as president, Rubio would be ready to lead the military, to make the economy stronger and to help the country "return to focusing on the middle class." "I want a president who inspires Americans without conceding the conservative positions," Scott said. "Marco Rubio does that as well as anybody in politics." Rubio said that as president, he would work to ensure that military veterans could use their benefits at any hospital and with any doctor. He took a question from a student who said she is concerned about being able to afford college. Rubio said colleges should have to tell students what kinds of incomes their graduates in different fields earn, so students can compare those salaries with the costs of tuitions. Twice, Rubio's remarks were interrupted by protesters who shouted: "Marco wants to deport my mom." Rubio responded: "We have the right to determine who comes here and when they come here." The crowd erupted in applause. State Rep. Neal Collins, an Easley Republican, helped organize Sunday's rally. He called Rubio an articulate, educated man of faith. U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican and supporter of Rubio, spoke about the Saturday death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Gowdy said it is crucial that the right person be picked to replace him on the U.S. Supreme Court. "It is absolutely essential that we get that right," Gowdy said. "Which means it is absolutely essential that we win in November." Rubio drew thunderous applause when he spoke about his faith. Here's where I find my solace: God's in control of everything," he said. "God has a will for my life. ... No matter what happens next, God will either give me the ability to get around it or the strength to get through it." Charlotte Hirt of Seneca said Rubio's remarks Sunday solidified her plans to vote for him. She said she came to the rally so her 15-year-old daughter, Colleen, could learn more about the political process. "Marco's message is so positive," the elder Hirt said. "I like what he says because it isn't based on fighting and negativity." Laura Piggford of Greenville came to the rally to bring her son James because he gets to vote for the first time this year. "When I hear Marco talk, it seems like he knows us," she said. "It seems like he gets it." Guests at Embassy Suites may have been surprised to see firefighters lowering a basket from the roof Saturday afternoon but it was all part of the weekend experience. Along with the awards banquet, the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs and North Carolina Society of Fire and Rescue Instructors Conference included classes and a vendor fair. One of those classes was an Advanced Highline class talk by the North Carolina Firefighters Association in conjunction with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. The instructors used for the course were experts with the state fire marshals office. The 15 students in the class had previously completed firefighter, technical rescue and ropes certifications prior to talking the course. To bring someone off the roof of a building this tall takes skill, knowledge and training. It requires practical, hands on training that we are happy to provide at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, said Roger McDaniel, director of emergency services for Rowan-Cabarrus. This is a dangerous job. Our firefighters need to be highly trained in order to do it. After several hours adjusting the ropes and learning all of the techniques, the class successfully lowered a basket with a dummy in it from the roof of the hotel to the ground. China's Chalco together with the World Bank - inked a $20 billion deal for the southern section of the Simandou iron deposit in Guinea. The agreement calls for a new 650km railway across the West African country to Conakry, Guinea's capital in the north, plus a new deep water port at a conservatively estimated cost of $7 billion; infrastructure investments that will transform the economy of the impoverished country. Rio, the world's second largest mining company, posted a net loss of $866 million last week and abandoned its promise to maintain its dividend. CEO Sam Walsh also promised the firm will reduce capital expenditure to $4 billion this year and $5 billion in 2017, which is $3 billion below previously announced targets. Simandou with over two billion tonnes of reserves and some of the highest grades in the industry (66% - 68% Fe which attracts premium pricing) has a back-of-the-envelope calculation value of more than $80 billion at today's prices. It's also one of the most easily exploitable iron ore fields outside of Australia's Pilbara region and top producer Vale's Brazilian home base. At full production Rio's Simandou concession would export up to 100 million tonnes per year - that's a third of Rio's total capacity at the moment - and would catapult Rio past Vale as world number one. Simandou would by itself be the world's fifth-largest producer behind Australia's Fortescue Metals and BHP Billiton. Powered by Commodity Insights prominent business and residential corridors of Bengaluru like Jayanagar, Basavangudi, J.P.Nagar, Electronic City, Bangalore International Airport, Whitefield, B.T.M. Layout, Chamrajpet and Koramangala. The roll-out will be completed across all parts of Bengaluru in a phased manner by March 2016. The launch in Bengaluru marks the successful completion of first phase of roll out of Vodafone 4G services in Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi and NCR and Mumbai. Built on the efficient 1800 MHz band, this state-of-the-art network will enable Vodafone 4G customers to access internet via mobile with speeds across a range of smart devices including Mobile Wi-Fi. Vodafone 4G services can be readily accessed from 4G enabled handsets offered by leading smartphone manufacturers (iPhone, Samsung, Micromax,Microsoft, Lava, Xolo among others) available across the country. Vodafone 4G will significantly enhance the mobile internet experience for customers with faster download/upload of videos and music, seamless video chats to enjoy and greater ease in using their favorite apps. Customers will also adore features like high definition video streaming, mobile gaming and two-way video calling. Vodafones 4G service in Bengaluru is built on a strong fibre backhaul, and is supported by its superfast 3.5G services. With this launch, Vodafone is now uniquely positioned to offer in Bengaluru, 2G/3G/4G services on its own state of the art, convergent radio technology. Leveraging its global network and experience, Vodafone is also the first and only telecom service provider to currently offer international roaming on 4G to its India customers visiting UK, Germany, Romania, Spain and Netherlands with many more countries to be launched in coming weeks. Announcing the launch of Vodafones 4G service in Bengaluru, Sunil Sood, Managing Director & CEO, Vodafone India said, We are delighted to launch our high-speed 4G services in Bengaluru for our customers to experience the most advanced wireless broadband experience available across the globe today. With this, we complete the first phase of roll-out of our 4G services across Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi & NCR and Mumbai. Initial response from customers who have experienced our 4G services in these markets has been positive and encouraging. 4G has the potential to revolutionize the mobile experience through powerful innovation that impacts how we work and live. Vodafones global expertise and experience of launching 4G across 19 countries gives us a better understanding of this technology and the needs of the 4G customer. As a steadfast partner of Digital India, we remain focused on deploying multiple technologies be it 2G, 3G and now 4G-for optimum use as each technology has its own vital role to play in servicing the myriad connectivity needs of consumers across the country. With launch of 4G in Bengaluru, Vodafone 4G services will be present in 5 circles of Kerala, Karnataka, Mumbai, Delhi & NCR and Kolkata, which today contribute to 30% of industry revenues and close to 50% of Vodafone India data revenues. Vodafones Bengaluru customers have a bonanza of special benefits to experience 4G seamlessly. This includes: Unmatched value Vodafone India, one of Indias leading telecommunication services provider, announced the roll out of its next generation, high speed 4G network in. The launch in Bengaluru marks the successful completion of first phase of roll out of Vodafone 4G services in Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi and NCR and Mumbai.Built on the efficient 1800 MHz band, this state-of-the-art network will enable Vodafone 4G customers to access internet via mobile with speeds across a range of smart devices including Mobile Wi-Fi. Vodafone 4G services can be readily accessedoffered by leading smartphone manufacturersavailable across the country.Vodafone 4G will significantly enhance the mobile internet experience for customers with faster download/upload of videos and music, seamless video chats to enjoy and greater ease in using their favorite apps. Customers will also adore features like high definition video streaming, mobile gaming and two-way video calling.Vodafones 4G service in Bengaluru is built on a strong fibre backhaul, and is supported by its superfast 3.5G services. With this launch, Vodafone is now uniquely positioned to offer in Bengaluru, 2G/3G/4G services on its own state of the art, convergent radio technology.Leveraging its global network and experience, Vodafone is also the first and only telecom service provider to currently offer international roaming on 4G to its India customers visiting UK, Germany, Romania, Spain and Netherlands with many more countries to be launched in coming weeks.We are delighted to launch our high-speed 4G services in Bengaluru for our customers to experience the most advanced wireless broadband experience available across the globe today. With this, we complete the first phase of roll-out of our 4G services across Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi & NCR and Mumbai. Initial response from customers who have experienced our 4G services in these markets has been positive and encouraging. 4G has the potential to revolutionize the mobile experience through powerful innovation that impacts how we work and live. Vodafones global expertise and experience of launching 4G across 19 countries gives us a better understanding of this technology and the needs of the 4G customer. As a steadfast partner of Digital India, we remain focused on deploying multiple technologies be it 2G, 3G and now 4G-for optimum use as each technology has its own vital role to play in servicing the myriad connectivity needs of consumers across the country.With launch of 4G in Bengaluru, Vodafone 4G services will be present in 5 circles of Kerala, Karnataka, Mumbai, Delhi & NCR and Kolkata, which today contribute to 30% of industry revenues and close to 50% of Vodafone India data revenues.Vodafones Bengaluru customers have a bonanza of special benefits to experience 4G seamlessly. This includes: FREE upgrade to 4G for customers along with high-speed 4G SIM 4G @ 3G Prices for Prepaid and Postpaid customers. 100% extra data on 4G for Prepaid and Postpaid (Prepaid Rs.265 recharge : 2GB ( 1GB + 1GB) of 4G DATA); 100% Extra 4G DATA on Vodafone RED Plans for Postpaid. Enjoy 3 months complimentary subscription to TV, Movies & Music on VODAFONE PLAY as part of your Vodafone 4G on as part of your Vodafone 4G 100+ Live TV channels channels HOOQ, Asias biggest video-on-demand service, offers customers a diverse and expansive selection of over 35,000 hours of movies and TV series with hot favorites and award-winning series such as Ash vs. Evil Dead, Friends, Nikita, Fringe and awesome blockbusters, The Matrix, Spider-Man, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. with hot favorites and award-winning series such as Ash vs. Evil Dead, Friends, Nikita, Fringe and awesome blockbusters, The Matrix, Spider-Man, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. HUNGAMA PLAY , leading entertainment destination with over 6,000 movie titles , leading entertainment destination with over 6,000 movie titles VODAFONE MUSIC, stream your favorite music from over 1.2Mn songs Array of Data packs ranging from a trial pack at Rs 8 to a bonanza pack of 20GB to a bonanza pack of 4G Mobile Wi-Fi that supports connectivity for up to 10 devices Seamless customer experience Instant SIM swap at all Vodafone stores and select retail outlets Vodafone subscribers can also check if their SIM / Phone is 4G compatible by sending an SMS <4GCHECK> to 199 Request for 4G SIM by calling the call centre or sending an SMS <4GSIM to 199> Speaking on the 4G proposition for Bengaluru, Suresh Kumar, Operations Director South, Vodafone India said, We are one of the leading telecommunication services provider in Karnataka and our over 26 lakh customers in Bengaluru have a lot to look forward to. After having successfully launched our 4G services in Mysuru, we are proud and delighted to launch 4G services on the superior 1800 MHz band in the State capital. Beginning with key business and residential corridors in Bengaluru, which constitute more than 46% of our data users in Karnataka, we will soon expand our 4G services across the length and breadth of city in a phased manner by March 2016. The roll-out of our 4G services in Karnataka will continue to Mangalore, Hubli and over 50+ towns in a phased manner. We will continue to pursue our customer centric strategy of catering to the evolving needs of retail and enterprise customers for better and smarter solutions for both voice and data. We invite our data savvy customers in Bengaluru to make the most of the bonanza of special benefits and enjoy the best mobile internet experience. Karnataka is a focus and significant growth market for Vodafone India. To cater to the growing volumes of customer usage increasing need for speed, the company invested over Rs. 725 Cr in the past 18 months to expand, modernize and building a more technology and energy efficient network. With one of the largest retail footprints in Karnataka of 271 exclusive retail stores and 652 Rural Mini Stores, Vodafones products and services are easily available across all parts of the state. Indian Aviation sector has long been looked at with suspicious eyes by both investors as well as regulators. But for country like India, which is still in its nascency when it comes to penetration of air travel among its people, it makes more sense for government to give the operators the importance they deserve.Also, with a backdrop of 20% growth in 2015, it might be a good time to fix some of the issues that have been throttling the growth of sector for years. High taxes, regulatory controls, etc. are things that need to be rationalized in view of future growth potential.One of the biggest point of conflict among various parties is the controversial 5/20 rule. The rule requires the operators to complete 5 years of operations and have at least 20 aircraft before they are allowed to ply on foreign routes. Its obvious that old players are in favor of keeping this rule as it puts the newcomers at a disadvantage.But its also clear that this rule is pretty anti-business as it comes in way of sectors unobstructed growth. So both sides of the sector, old operators and newcomers are lobbying the government to take a decision in their favor.Another problem point is the rules governing the ownership structure of airline companies. Many feel that rules are against the general best practices followed across the globe. But then there are many others who feel that any rule relaxation should be based on whether it brings in any strategic advantage to the sector or not.With a population of 1.2 billion, there is a huge market waiting to be tapped in India. But unfortunately, Indias aviation sector is lagging behind many other countries with similar demographics. According to industry estimates, the sector is expected to grow more than 7 times in next 10-12 years. But it will not be possible unless growth-restrictive rules are abolished and more transparency is brought in systems and processes. Sector is hopeful that the new aviation policy will address all these issues in due course of time. The combined GDP of almost 4.7 trillion that ASEAN and India bring together defines one of the most important economic spaces to impact the lives of nearly two billion people. With the coming into force of ASEAN Economic Community on 31st Dec 2015 and the expected conclusion of RCEP negotiations this year, the India ASEAN relationship is expected to receive a shot in the arm. FICCI as conducted a survey ahead of the 8th edition of Delhi Dialogue slated to take place in New Delhi from 17-19 Feb 2016. For the first time, a full day has been dedicated to a business session. Delhi Dialogue is an annual Track 1.5 forum for discussing politico-security, economic and socio-cultural issues between ASEAN and India. It is an important forum at which political leaders, policy makers, researchers, academicians, business leaders and media persons converge for brainstorming on a range of issues pertaining to ASEAN-India relations. The FICCI survey underlines industrys optimism about the enabling environment created by the Government of India and the move towards consolidating the ASEAN region as an economic powerhouse of Asia through the formalization of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in December 2015 and expected conclusion of RCEP negotiations this year. However, there is a room for creating greater awareness about the specific possibility of economic cooperation with the various ASEAN countries and addressing NTBs of doing business with each other. According to the survey findings, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore are the destinations in the ASEAN region which are currently the most important for Indias industry. The survey has revealed that there is immense scope for systematically educating industry on the available incentives and possibility of leveraging inter-governmental economic agreements. Given the great cultural and historical affinity between India and ASEAN, strengthening the people to people connect has been a common response from industry, in line with the Governments emphasis on popular diplomacy with ASEAN. Against this backdrop, FICCI conducted this perception survey amongst Indian industry to assess their views on developing relationship. The survey covered members of the ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC) and Indian companies which have a business engagement with ASEAN. The survey focused on the following 4 key aspects of India-ASEAN relationship: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN for short, is central to India's Act East policy. The move from Look East to Act East is more than wordplay, as gathered in a perception survey conducted by FICCI amongst members of Indian industry.The combined GDP of almost 4.7 trillion that ASEAN and India bring together defines one of the most important economic spaces to impact the lives of nearly two billion people. With the coming into force of ASEAN Economic Community on 31st Dec 2015 and the expected conclusion of RCEP negotiations this year, the India ASEAN relationship is expected to receive a shot in the arm.FICCI as conducted a survey ahead of the 8th edition of Delhi Dialogue slated to take place in New Delhi from 17-19 Feb 2016. For the first time, a full day has been dedicated to a business session. Delhi Dialogue is an annual Track 1.5 forum for discussing politico-security, economic and socio-cultural issues between ASEAN and India. It is an important forum at which political leaders, policy makers, researchers, academicians, business leaders and media persons converge for brainstorming on a range of issues pertaining to ASEAN-India relations.The FICCI survey underlines industrys optimism about the enabling environment created by the Government of India and the move towards consolidating the ASEAN region as an economic powerhouse of Asia through the formalization of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in December 2015 and expected conclusion of RCEP negotiations this year.However, there is a room for creating greater awareness about the specific possibility of economic cooperation with the various ASEAN countries and addressing NTBs of doing business with each other. According to the survey findings, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore are the destinations in the ASEAN region which are currently the most important for Indias industry.The survey has revealed that there is immense scope for systematically educating industry on the available incentives and possibility of leveraging inter-governmental economic agreements. Given the great cultural and historical affinity between India and ASEAN, strengthening the people to people connect has been a common response from industry, in line with the Governments emphasis on popular diplomacy with ASEAN.Against this backdrop, FICCI conducted this perception survey amongst Indian industry to assess their views on developing relationship. The survey covered members of the ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC) and Indian companies which have a business engagement with ASEAN.The survey focused on the following 4 key aspects of India-ASEAN relationship: Trade Investment People to people connect and popular diplomacy Policy enablers The key findings of the survey: 1. 55 percent of survey respondents wish to expand their business to different countries of ASEAN. The economic agenda is assuming prominence against the backdrop of growing governmental engagements. Popular sectors include training services, consulting and medical tourism. Sectoral interests vary for each country and industry believes that comprehensive information and sector matching would be beneficial. Accordingly, study visits to explore niche sectors have been endorsed by respondents. 2. The survey reveals an extremely positive outlook towards the Make in India initiative of the Indian government towards enabling investment from the ASEAN region. Industry perception reveals an extremely positive perception towards the Make in India initiative of the Indian government towards enabling investment from the ASEAN region. Almost all the respondents consider it a successful initiative and enabler for enhancing investment and technology partnerships. Manufacturing, Tourism and Infrastructure are the most important sectors for Make in India for ASEAN region. 3. Major impediments to trade between India and ASEAN include lack of harmonization of rules and procedures across ASEAN (27% feel that this is a major concern), custom and border procedures (21%), modernization of trade compliance systems (19%), product standards (SPS/TBT) (19%), and administrative and technical procedures/certification (14%). Some of the elements essential for an enhanced trade and investment include better dispute settlement mechanism, greater emphasis on ICT, hand holding & facilitation of MSMEs, standardization of taxation and speeding up of approval systems. 4. 75 percent welcome the emphasis on soft diplomacy. Industry acknowledges that there has been a transition in the way people of India and ASEAN connect and that it is an enabler for deepening the economic relationship. Elements identified for promotion of Indias strategic objectives through soft diplomacy include education, socio-cultural cooperation, democracy and institution building and tourism. 73 percent of the industry respondents were aware of the ASEAN Economic Community. However they are yet to understand the specific benefit to Indian businesses. Industry is unanimous about advancing Indias participation and integration into regional production networks. 68 percent feel that greater connectivity on land, air, sea and digital fronts would be a force multiplier for economic partnerships. Of various modes, improved air connectivity would have the highest positive impact. According to the survey, some of the major challenges/hindrances for smooth flow of foreign direct investment between India and ASEAN include High and Complex Tax Structure (25.93%) followed by Poor Infrastructure (18.52%), Delays in Approvals (18.52%) and Lack of Institutional Reforms / Restrictive Labor Laws (14.81%). Commenting on the survey, Dr Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI stated: FICCI perceives a great responsibility to facilitate economic linkages between India and ASEAN. We would like our trade delegations to have significant representation from different sectors and states of India, with a special focus on SMEs. Enhanced awareness about each others culture and our common historical heritage would bring people together in an environment of trust. Narrowing the gap between private organizations, think tanks and government in both India and ASEAN through the work of the ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) and enhancing the potential to work on joint innovation platforms would be among our priorities for the coming year. Tata Steel zoomed 13% to Rs.246. As per media reports, Tata Steels European boss will join thousands of steelworkers in a protest against unfair practices by Chinese firms. Metal & mining stocks gained as copper prices rose on global commodity markets. The BSE Metal index settled up 8.8% or 556.50 points at 6,889 as against the previous close of 6,332.43. Vedanta surged 18% to Rs.74.85. NMDC, Jindal Steel and Tata Steel closed above 13% each.Jindal Steel and Power Ltd rose 13.8% to Rs.63.10 after the company said its net loss narrowed to Rs.573.48 crore in December quarter to Rs.1618.78 crore a year ago.The scrip opened at Rs. 57.6 and touched a high and low of Rs. 65.45 and Rs. 56.2 respectively. A total of 19417670(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 5073.14 crore.NMDC surged 14% to Rs.89.80 on BSE. The company has fixed February 25, 2016 as the Record Date for the purpose of Payment of First Interim Dividend for the financial year 2015-16. The company reported standalone net profit of Rs.655.04 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 58.88% yoy.The scrip opened at Rs. 86.55 and touched a high and low of Rs. 92.75 and Rs. 82.1 respectively. A total of 12205515(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 31202.19 crore.The scrip opened at Rs. 220 and touched a high and low of Rs. 247.65 and Rs. 220 respectively. A total of 16291794(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 21157.93 crore. The Maharashtra government and Japan have finalised an agreement whereby Japan will fund 80% of the INR 17,750 crore trans-harbour project connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, reports a business daily. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) agreed at the Make-In-India event on Saturday that the project will add two rescue lanes and convert 4 km stretch of the project into steel-only structure instead of earlier plan of cement and concrete bridge, according to the financial newspaper. Calling of bids for the project will now start as early as March and by October the project will be awarded to construction companies on cash contract basis, reports the daily. Of the Rs.17,750 crore cost of the project, JICA will give a loan of INR 15,000 crore at a very low interest rate. The balance will be funded by the state government. The Maharashtra government wants to complete the project by 2019. The project has already received the environment clearance. Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors. KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary. No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account." www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others. At 9:54 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 23,401 up 414 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,121 up 140 points.The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 2.67% at 9,871, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 2.87% at 9,960 .All sectors are in green.Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Lupin, Axis Bank and Coal India are among the gainers, whereas PI Industries, Alok Industries, Emami, Punj Llyod and GSPL are losing sheen on BSE.The INDIA VIX is down 8.33% at 22.6150. Out of 1,786 stocks traded on the NSE, 194 declined, 1,257 advanced and 335 remained unchanged today.A total of three stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 33 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.Indian Rupee opened higher by 5 paise at 68.19/$ in early trade on Monday as against the previous close of 68.23/$. On Friday, Indian rupee scaled higher against the greenback, helped by modest recovery in the domestic equities. On macroeconomic side, US retail sales during January grew in line with the expectations at 0.2%, while core retail sales (excluding auto) were reported at.1%. In Europe, Eurozone Q4 GDP readings came in +.3% on qoq basis, while rising 1.5% on yoy basis. Germany's Q4 GDP rose by 0.3% on qoq and 2.1% on yoy basis. However, Eurozone industrial production numbers disappointed, falling 1% on mom basis.Marksans Pharma slipped 7% to Rs.44.70 on BSE. The pharma company reported consolidated net profit of Rs.17.93 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 35.29% yoy. The companys revenue stood at Rs. 217.51 crore, up 1.97% yoy but down 14.88% qoq.Bank of Baroda soared 11.5% to Rs.127.50 on BSE. The bank has posted a net loss of Rs. 3,342 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of Rs. 333 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014. The bank's Net Interest Income (NII) stood at Rs. 2705.34 crore, registering decline of 17.67% yoy and 16.61% qoq.NMDC surged 9.6% to Rs.85.80 on BSE. The company has fixed February 25, 2016 as the Record Date for the purpose of Payment of First Interim Dividend for the financial year 2015-16. The company reported standalone net profit of Rs.655.04 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 58.88% yoy. Challenging export market conditions in Algeria, Europe and other neighbouring countries have resulted in decline of export volume of passenger vehicles (PV) by 18.85% to 33,909 units in January.As per a report by the PTI, 41,787 units of cars were exported by the Indian auto makers in the same period last year.Algeria, in 2014-15, imported passenger vehicles from India worth $293mn, where as Sri Lanka ordered units worth $158mn and UK received the shipment of $335mn.The car exports have declined by 5.22% to 4,39,208 units for the fiscal April-January.Algeria has changed technical regulations, while Sri Lanka has high taxation issues that is proving to be a hindrance for the automakers to sell in these markets.In April-January 2016, overall automobile exports grew by 1.61 percent. Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Three Wheelers and Two Wheelers registered a growth of 1.32 percent, 18.36 percent, 3.03 percent and 0.89 percent respectively in April-January 2016 over April-January 2015. SnapBizz Cloudtech Pvt. Ltd, which devises technology for grocery stores, said it raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ltd. (MINT)In a recent special report titled Their time will come, Economist magazine mentioned how different societies of the world viewed the young, or millennials, as we have come to know them. While some respondents were worried about how the world would shape out under the millennials, others thought they were ready to take on any problem hurled at them. (FE)Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao said work on Millennium Tower proposed at Rushikonda as part of the second phase of Sunrise Startup Village would be launched soon. (HINDU)For Flipkart's new chief executive Binny Bansal, it's not enough that the electronic marketplace is the country's largest. He wants to build an Internet powerhouse out of India that can match the might of Chinese ecommerce giants such as Alibaba and Baidu that have been able to thwart Amazon's efforts to dominate in their home turf. (ET)When Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted entrepreneurs to make in India in his 2014 Independence Day speech, it was touted as a watershed moment for the manufacturing sector, which accounted for 17.3% of the countrys gross domestic product in 2013-14. The corresponding number for China stood at 36%, according to the World Bank. (MINT)Global ridesharing service Uber said today it had raised USD 200 million in additional funding to help its push into emerging markets. The latest round comes from Luxembourg-based investment group LetterOne (L1), according to a joint statement. (FE)Two IIM graduates from the city are seeking funding from strategic investors to boost their start-up business plans for promoting financial and economic education among the youth. (ET)Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridmans investment vehicle LetterOne invested $200 million in Uber Technologies Inc., betting in ride-hailing technology after selling billions of dollars worth of oil assets. (MINT)Maharashtra will create an ecosystem to encourage startups so that new ideas and innovations prosper in the country, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said today. (ET) Electronics Development Fund (EDF) an initiative of this Department is formulated as a Fund of Funds to participate in Daughter Funds which in turn will provide risk capital to companies developing new technologies in the area of electronics, nano-electronics and Information Technology (IT). The Electronics Development Fund Policy was launched by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, during the inauguration of Digital India Week on 1st July 2015.Government of India has appointed M/s. CANBANK Venture Capital Fund Pvt. Ltd. (CVCFL) to house Electronics Development Fund (EDF) on 04.09.2015. Department of Electronics & Information Technology along with Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd is happy to announce the Launch of Electronics Development Fund (EDF) by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Honble Minister for Communications & Information Technology at 3:00 PM on February 15, 2016 at Hotel Trident, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Honble Minister for Communications & IT will hand over the letter of commitment to the first group of Daughter Funds under EDF. The target beneficiaries of the EDF will be Daughter Funds (set up to achieve the objectives of the EDF policy) registered in India and abiding by the relevant rules and regulations including the SEBI regulations on Venture Funds. The corpus of a Daughter Fund will be determined by market requirements and the capacity of its Fund Manager to cater to the requirements of the Fund. The supported Daughter Funds will promote innovation, R&D and product development within the country in the specified fields of electronics, nanoelectronics and IT. They will also support acquisition of foreign companies and technologies for products imported in India in large volume. The core focus of the Daughter Funds would be to develop domestic design capabilities. The Daughter Funds supported will create a resource pool of IP within the country in the specified fields. Terms and conditions of the Agreement will be firmed up through technical level discussions between the two central banks. The Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the Government of India, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates to consider entering into a bilateral Currency Swap Agreement subject to the concurrence of the respective Governments.Terms and conditions of the Agreement will be firmed up through technical level discussions between the two central banks. The MoU to this effect was signed by Governor Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan on behalf of the Reserve Bank and Governor H.E. Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori on behalf of the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates at the Reserve Bank headquarters in Mumbai. The proposed agreement will further strengthen the close economic relationship and cooperation between India and the United Arab Emirates. The Indian stock market rally on the back of firm global markets. At 2:27 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 23,555 up 569 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,167 up 186 points.In broader market is out-performing the BSE headline index, the Midcap has gained over 3.37 percent at 9,939 and the Smallcap index has advanced 3.47 percent at 10,018.Among Nifty gainers - Bank of Baroda and Vedanta have rallied over 10 percent each at Rs. 134 and Rs. 70.10. Tata Steel, Hindalco have jumped over 5 percent each at Rs.237.80 and Rs. 65.16, respectively.Tata Steel, SBI, L&T, Coal India, Adani Ports and Tata Motors are among the gainers, whereas Bharti Airtel, HUL, Dr.Reddy's and Asian Paints are losing sheen on BSE.The INDIA VIX is down 9.19% at 22.3050. Out of 1,798 stocks traded on the NSE, 207 declined, 1,342 advanced and 249 remained unchanged today.A total of six stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 46 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.Indian Rupee opened higher by 5 paise at 68.19/$ in early trade on Monday as against the previous close of 68.23/$. On Friday, Indian rupee scaled higher against the greenback, helped by modest recovery in the domestic equities. On macroeconomic side, US retail sales during January grew in line with the expectations at 0.2%, while core retail sales (excluding auto) were reported at.1%. In Europe, Eurozone Q4 GDP readings came in +.3% on qoq basis, while rising 1.5% on yoy basis. Germany's Q4 GDP rose by 0.3% on qoq and 2.1% on yoy basis. However, Eurozone industrial production numbers disappointed, falling 1% on mom basis.Marksans Pharma slipped 7% to Rs.44.70 on BSE. The pharma company reported consolidated net profit of Rs.17.93 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 35.29% yoy. The companys revenue stood at Rs. 217.51 crore, up 1.97% yoy but down 14.88% qoq.Bank of Baroda soared 11.5% to Rs.127.50 on BSE. The bank has posted a net loss of Rs. 3,342 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of Rs. 333 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014. The bank's Net Interest Income (NII) stood at Rs. 2705.34 crore, registering decline of 17.67% yoy and 16.61% qoq.NMDC surged 9.6% to Rs.85.80 on BSE. The company has fixed February 25, 2016 as the Record Date for the purpose of Payment of First Interim Dividend for the financial year 2015-16. The company reported standalone net profit of Rs.655.04 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 58.88% yoy.Tata Motors jumped 2% to Rs.304.65 on BSE. The company is believed to be working on reducing the engine size for its diesel vehicles to circumvent the sales ban imposed by the Supreme Court in Delhi-NCR, reports a business daily. The Mumbai-based company is looking to downsize engines to below 2,000cc (2 litre) for its models, according to the financial newspaper.ITC gained 1% to Rs.303.05 on BSE. The company is planning to invest Rs. 800 crore in Odisha over the next few years to set up a hotel property and a food processing park in the state, ITC Chairman and Managing Director Y C Deveshwar reportedly said at Make in India event. The hotel property will come up in Bhubaneshwar, while the food processing park details are being worked out, report added. Tata Motors: Tata Motors is believed to be working on reducing the engine size for its diesel vehicles to circumvent the sales ban imposed by the Supreme Court in Delhi-NCR, reports a business daily.Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries: Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries , multinational pharmaceutical conglomerate, reported consolidated net profit of Rs. 1,416.60 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering growth of 258.33% yoy.Bank of Baroda: The bank has posted a net loss of Rs. 3,342 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of Rs. 333 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.ITC: ITC is planning to invest Rs. 800 crore in Odisha over the next few years to set up a hotel property and a food processing park in the state, ITC Chairman and Managing Director Y C Deveshwar reportedly said at Make in India event.NMDC: NMDC, state-controlled mineral producer, reported standalone net profit of Rs.655.04 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 58.88% yoy.Nestle India: Nestle India Ltd, One of the largest food company in the world, reported standalone net profit of Rs.183.19 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 43.87% yoy.Suven Life Sciences: Suven Life Sciences , suppliers of bulk chemicals for life sciences companies, reported standalone net profit of Rs.17.71 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 45.05% yoy.CEAT: The companys consolidated revenue stood at Rs. 1,380.13 crore, down 2.08% yoy and 2.08% qoq.Sun TV Network: Sun TV Network, Tamil satellite television station, reported standalone net profit of Rs. 215.59 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering growth of 0.68% yoy.HDIL: Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd posted a net profit of Rs. 929.50 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 672.90 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.IOC: The companys standalone revenue stood at Rs. 83,461.89 crore, down by 22.05% yoy and 2.25% qoq.Oil India: The companys standalone revenue stood at Rs. 2,341.56 crore, up 6.69% yoy but down 7.5% qoq.Dynamatic Technologies: Dynamatic Technologies reported net profit at Rs. 2.45 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015.BPCL: The companys standalone revenue stood at Rs. 46,666.62 crore, down by 19.43% yoy but up by 0.42% qoq.Balkrishna Industries: The companys standalone revenue stood at Rs. 749.82 crore, down 21.92% yoy and 4.71% qoq.Goodluck Steel Tubes: The companys standalone revenue stood at Rs. 236.01 crore, down 9.79% yoy and 5.46% qoq.Gayatri Projects: Gayatri Projects, specialty in infrastructure, power, hospitality, real estate and industry, reported standalone net profit of Rs. 12.16 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering growth of 345.91% yoy and 66.87% qoq.UCO Bank: UCO Bank posted a net loss of Rs. 14970.10 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of Rs. 3035.90 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.Future Retail: Future Retail Ltd posted a net profit of Rs. 146.80 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to Rs. 53.20 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.KNR Constructions: The companys standalone revenue stood at Rs. 218.55 crore, up 2.34% yoy and 0.74% qoq.Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail: Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, Indian premium clothing retail chain, reported standalone net profit of Rs.7.43 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 87.88% qoq.Tilaknagar Industries: The companys consolidated revenue stood at Rs. 125.04 crore, down 38.19% yoy but up 26.29% qoq.Corporation Bank: Corporation Bank, public sector banking company headquartered in Mangalore, reported standalone net loss of Rs. 388.37 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, against net profit of Rs. 147.20 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year and Rs. 188.60 crore in the preceding quarter.Rolta India: Rolta India has reported results for the quarter ended December 31, 2015:The company recorded a fall of 38.7% in its net profit at Rs.46.9 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to Rs.76.6 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.Ahluwalia Contracts (India): Ahluwalia Contracts (India), India's leading Civil Contractors, reported standalone net profit of Rs. 19.83 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering growth of 46.08% yoy.Godrej Industries: Godrej Industries Ltd posted a net profit of Rs. 1389.70 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 906.50 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.Punj Lloyd: The companys standalone revenue stood at Rs. 1,007.84 crore, down 21.15% yoy and 0.1% qoq.Monnet Ispat & Energy: Monnet Ispat & Energy's standalone net loss widened to Rs.479.17 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 compared to Rs. 242.81 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year and Rs. 394.71 crore in the preceding quarter.Kolte Patil Developers: The companys consolidated revenue stood at Rs. 164.59 crore, down by 25.35% yoy but up by 6.17% qoq.MBL Infrastructures: The companys consolidated revenue stood at Rs. 691.80 crore, up by 27.62% yoy and 67.68% qoq. Declaring a crowd sourcing activity called #Fantastico Name Hunt for all netizens to suggest a new name for its groovy hatchback, previously named ZICA, Tata Motors showcased its new model in the Auto Expo 2016 The new name is likely to be unveiled within a span of a few weeks, however the model carried the Zica label for the duration of the event.Tata Motors looked all set to launch its cool and speedy hatchback model Tata Zica (Zippy car) last month. The all-aluminium 1.2-liter Revotron unit will develop 85 PS and 114 Nm of torque, estimated to deliver 20+ km/l. On the other hand, the 1.05-liter Revotorq diesel engine gives an output of 70 PS and 140 Nm of torque. While Autocar India had previously reported January 20, 2016 as the date of the launch, it recently reported the expected date to be mid-February 2016. Post its public debut in the Auto Expo 2016, Tata Zica is expected to be rolled out once the Auto Expo 2016 concludes. Considering this is the fresh innings of Tata Motors in the budget hatchback segment, the expected launch is being regarded as a significant turning point in the history of the Indian automaker.But the ongoing Zika-virus menace got the launch of Tata Zica shelved. Since the name was finalized several months ago, the possibility of Tata Motors having foreseen the current situation looks bleak, Tatas head of corporate communications, Minari Shah, told The Guardian.Call it bad timing more than the co-incidental similarity in names, trouble had, most certainly been brewed for the Indian automaker. The date for the announcement of Tatas decision has not yet been firmed up since the automaker is still underway evaluating the whole situation, however the expected time is mid-February 2016 which earlier was slated to take place on January 20, 2016.With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring an emergency over the rapid spread of the mosquito-borne virus, Tata Motors had little choice but to change the name of its new car model.Zika virus hails from the virus family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus and has impacted America the most so far. The mosquito-borne virus continues to unfurl across the globe at a worrisome pace. With its outbreak elevating to pandemic levels encompassing countries like Mexico, South America, the Caribbean and Central America since 2014, the Zika virus has been creating evident upheaval in the world, especially America. Being associated with the viruses of West Nile, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever, the possible health perils posed by the virus can get grotesque if not life threatening. Transmitted by the dengue and chikungunyathen spreading-Aedes aegypti mosquito, the virus causes microcephaly, a birth defect in babies causing a condition of abnormally small head and incomplete brain development in them. The threat for the unborn baby is at its peak during the first and second trimesters.However, a zika virus- infected mother with the Zika virus, could also escape the possibility of microcephaly altogether. Also, future pregnancies of a woman are not always impacted in the wake of a Zika virus-disease. Besides, the virus is said to be asymptomatic in 80% of the cases while symptoms like mild rash, mild fever and mild joint pain has been found out in 20% of the cases, as per physician Dr B Srinivas Kakkilaya, as per reports.Post World Health Organization (WHO) summoning a meeting with the health ministry of India, the latter issued guidelines for battling the condition, considering an alert has been raised as a guard against the virus in India as well. Since the geographical distribution of the mosquitos vector is considerably broad, the possibilities of the virus spreading internationally are quite strong, as per the health ministry of India. Owing to a vast number of people in India already being victimized by dengue, the Zika virus has not yet preyed on the people here. However, caution is still warranted even though no case has yet been reported.A person suffering from a Zika virus disease is said to usually witness symptoms like skin rash, mild fever, muscle and joint pain, malaise, headache, and conjunctivitis. The lasting duration for the same has been reported to be two to seven days. On diagnosis, a rise in the number of IgM antibodies indicates the presence of Zika virus in the body, as per published data.Tata Zica is the effort of Tata Motors to target the young customers as a respite from the boredom that had set in via continuous use of hatchback cars from other auto manufacturers. The model is already drawing buoyant reviews from informed commentators. Its name colliding with the perilous Zika virus might have upset the apple cart for a while. However, the crack undeniably has let in crucial awareness about the virus, health threats it could pose and possible preventive measures against it. twitter Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who was at the centre of a controversy over his comments on intolerance, attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here last night. Besides Aamir, actress Kangana Ranaut was also invited at the private dinner held in Turf Club where top politicians, diplomats from several countries and industry leaders were in attendance. The high-profile event, which was a strict no-media affair, was organised after Modi launched the mega Make in India (MII) week. Wading into the "intolerance" debate, the 'Ghajini' star had kicked up a controversy last year by saying he has been "alarmed" by a number of incidents and his wife Kiran Rao even suggested that they should probably leave India. His comments evoked sharp criticism from ruling BJP and also the NDA government. Later, the 50-year-old actor's contract as brand ambassador for the government's Incredible India campaign was not renewed by the Tourism Ministry. Kangana had recently said freedom of speech in the country does not mean one can insult anybody and stated that actors should be more careful with what they say. The 'Make in India' event is aimed at attracting investments into the manufacturing sector and showcasing success stories at a specially-created venue at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. pixgood Here's another twist in the Jiah Khan suicide case. Pointing out anomalies in CBI's December 2015 report, Khan's mother Rabia has filed a fresh petition in Bombay High Court. She has filed the petition against the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) report that categorised her daughter's death as a suicide and not a homicide. Jiah was found hanging in her room on June 3, 2013. So now, according to the petition filed by her, she has sought directions to enable the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist the Special Investigation Team (SIT) as Jiah was a US citizen. She has also sought a probe into the role of erring police officers who have helped the accused by sabotaging the matter. The petition, filed through lawyers Dinesh Tiwari and Swapnil Ambure, mainly stated that the CBI hastily concluded that it was a suicide case; and that neither did it bother to counter question concerned people nor bother to get important evidence on record. Meanwhile, reports have time and again raised questions about Suraj Pancholi's role in the matter. Some have even alleged that he flushed Jiah's unborn child down the toilet rather than take her to a hospital. Investigations had also concluded that Suraj Pancholi had also sent abusive texts to Jiah in the days leading up to her death. "The CBI has not concluded the investigation in its real spirit and has closed the investigation without making any serious effort to unearth the issues involved in the death of the deceased. In fact, they have been misleading both the petitioner and the US Consulate about the direction of the investigation," the petition alleged. The petition, likely to go for hearing on February 24, 2016, raised pertinent points about the report submitted by the CBI. Nine Indian Army personnel who lost their lives in an avalanche while guarding the border in Siachen on Februay 3rd was given a ceremonial adieu on Monday. PTI The bodies of the nine soldiers were flown into Delhi from Srinagar earlier in the day. Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh himself was present at the air force base in the national capital to receive the bodies of the bravehearts. PIB ADGPI ADGPI ADGPI ADGPI ANI ANI After giving full military honours the mortal remains of the soldiers were flown to their respective hometowns and handed over to their families for cremation as per their religious traditions. Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, who miraculously survived the avalanche lost his life on Thursday. PTI He was laid to rest in his hometown on Friday. Read More About The 9 Bravehearts Who Lost Their Lives Protecting Indian Territory In Siachen Students across India are taught that Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore gave Gandhiji the title of 'Mahatma'. But the Gujarat government insists that it was actually an anonymous journalist from Jetpur town of Saurashtra who gave the title. Images from buddybyte.com and biography.com Rajkot Jilla Panchayat Shikshan Samiti, a recruiting agency conducting the exam for the posts of talati in the revenue department for Rajkot and half-a-dozen other districts, has cited noted Gandhian Narayan Desai's work to claim that Gandhiji was first referred to as Mahatma in an anonymous letter from Jetpur when Bapu was still in South Africa. The name of the reporter remains unknown, according to an affidavit filed by the district panchayat in the Gujarat high court. The controversy arose when a candidate for the exam, Sandhya Maru, filed a petition in the Gujarat HC regarding answers to three questions. The petitioner argued that the provisional answer key had the correct answers but the final key changed them to incorrect answers. To the question who had first called Gandhi a 'Mahatma', the provisional-key gave 'Tagore' as the answer but later, in the final answer key , it was changed to 'unknown journalist'. Similarly, the answer to the question about which article is to be used before Mt Everest, the correct answer 'the' was changed to the incorrect 'a' in the final answer key. The third disputed answer was to the question: 'Which is the longest river in India?' The answer got changed from Ganges to Brahmaputra in the final answer key . It needs mention that Brahmaputra is only 1,346 km long in India while Ganges flows through 2,501 km in the country . The petitioner also claimed that the formulation of the sentence in the last question was not proper. Nobody's clear about the correct answer! Justice JB Pardiwala got furious over the matter and asked the district panchayat lawyer HS Munshaw what his answer would be to the question on Gandhi. The lawyer replied that he would write Tagore as his answer because that had been taught to students. The judge questioned the recruiting agency about why the questions had been twisted and the answers changed without having proper clarity on the issue. The court also commented that the authorities should conduct such exams in a proper manner and not with such ambiguity in questions and answers.Further hearing is kept on February 17. Ghaziabad police have arrested five people in connection with the abduction of Dipti Sarna, a Snapdeal executive, last week. Police said, the main accused in the case, identified as Devendra was involved in a one-sided love affair with Dipti. India TV The accused reportedly followed Dipti around for over a year after he first saw her in a Metro. He didnt harm her as he wanted her to be affectionate towards him. According to police Devendra and his associates, all hail from Haryana. Devendra also has a criminal past, and had broken out from a jail. It is just like a case portrayed in Bollywood movie Darr where Shah Rukh Khan is involved in a one-sided affair. The prime accused just like a psycho and lived in a virtual reality. The criminals are hardcore. We are verifying whether the men are auto drivers or not, Ghaziabad SSP Dharmendra Singh said. Dipti, a resident of Ghaziabad in UP was abducted by the accused last Wednesday, while she was returning from work. The Hindu She took the metro to Ghaziabad and then got into a shared auto to reach the bus stand from where her father used to pick her up every day. The news of her abduction made headlines after Snapdeal started an online campaign using #HelpFindDipti. Two days later on Friday, Dipti called her father Narendra Sarna using a borrowed phone and told him that she was safe and on a train to Delhi. She was in a dazed and exhausted state but unharmed, the police said. Twitter She told the police that she was kidnapped by four people at knife-point. She also said the kidnappers gave her food and took care of her. Investigators are still to assertion the motive behind the crime. According to Dipti, she was driven in an i10 car and made to walk long distances, kept in a sugarcane field the next day before the abductors decided to leave her at a suburban railway station near Narela. Twitter The victim and her family has also decided not to pursue legal action against the abductors as they didn't harm her. Yesterday I got called an Intellectual Moron by a Bhakt on Facebook. Well, under normal circumstances I would have protested the use of an oxymoron, but since I didnt know the guy from Adam and since I was pretty sure he wouldnt know what an oxymoron was, I let it pass. OK, let me start from the beginning. I am what the Bhakts call a Sickular (Pseudo Secular) Libtard (Liberal + Retard) and so naturally I spent last weekend trying to raise some reasonable points on social media to prove that JNU students are not out to destroy the country and that raising anti India slogans doesnt necessarily amount to sedition if there isnt a clear incitement to violence. So anyhow I land up on this friends Facebook wall and see this Saba Naqvi tweet being hotly debated. Facebook So I join in, trying to explain that Sabas tweet doesnt imply a causal relationship between the Sensex tanking and the government targeting students. Instead it basically implies that the Modi government should focus on improving business sentiment rather than trying to make an example of some poor students. But my interjections are not taken too kindly and I am called an Intellectual Moron So heres the irony. As India marches on to supposedly take her place among the great powers of the world, an attempt is being made to systematically dumb down public discourse. Noise is replacing reason. On prime-time TV and on social media, voices of logic and reason are being shouted down by people with an agenda to reinforce lies through fear, intimidation and abuse. If you point out that maybe the Indian Science Congress shouldnt have a session on astrology or on how ancient India invented air travel and plastic surgery, you are shouted down and called a part of the intellectual mafia. Now coming to the JNU fracas. The bhakts have whipped up such hysteria that even some liberals have become unusually jingoistic. Imagine my shock when a former colleague who is otherwise extremely chilled out, puts out this Facebook post. Facebook So allow me to make a few points for the benefit of those who are getting swayed by the noise being created by the Bhakts. Here goes... Kanhaiya Kumar Is Not A Terrorist! BCCL Infact the President of the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) was not even the organizer of the controversial meeting on 9th February. Kanhaiya belongs to the All India Students Federation (AISF) which is the student wing of the Communist Party Of India. The meeting was called by an Ultra leftist group on campus called the Democratic Students Union to protest what they called the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and to show solidarity with the struggle of the Kashmiri people for their democratic right of self determination. Many Kashmiri students from outside the campus were invited for this meeting and it was they who chanted the anti-India slogans if this eye-witness account by a JNU student is to be believed. The sloganeering apparently started in response to a strong provocation from the ABVP students present at the venue. While the sloganeering is unpalatable and condemn-able, what is more shocking is the way in which the full might of the state has been deployed to make an example of these students. Kanhaiya is in the custody of the Delhi Police on sedition charges and weve all seen how brutally Commissioner Bassis men carry out orders of their political masters to crush student protests. Remember the video from last month of police brutality against students protesting peacefully outside the RSS headquarters in Delhi against Rohith Vemulas suicide. Have those cops been booked, Mr. Bassi? Youtube/ Sanghapali Aruna Kornana Raising Anti-India Slogans Doesnt Necessarily Amount To Sedition! Some students raising anti India slogans, doesnt amount to sedition unless there was a clear incitement to violence. Did these students carry weapons? Were they attempting an armed rebellion against the Indian state? The answer is No. Why then are we equating sloganeering with terrorism? Is our state so weak that it will crumble by one student protest in JNU? Isnt it important to engage students who may be drifting rather than make an example of them? If the Hyderabad University administration engaged with Rohith Vemula in a humane fashion, he would perhaps have been alive today. JNU Is Not A Hotbed For Maoists And Secessionists. JNU is perhaps one of the last true citadels of free speech in India, where students of all ideologies can sit together over a glass of cutting chai at Ganga dhaba and debate issues. They may disagree with each other but they dont whip out pistols to sort out differences. They use words! JNU is also one of the last institutions of excellence in this country that has managed to resist saffronization. Not that the HRD ministry hasnt tried hard to change that. So when a student protest on campus becomes an issue of national security and attempts are being made to cast aspersions on the patriotism of its students, youve got to wonder Is there a larger conspiracy here to discredit an institution of excellence? Unfortunate Attempt To Somehow Link The JNU Incident To The Tragic Deaths Of Our Military Heroes In Siachen. Some low life newscasters and politicians have been saying JNU students do not deserve our Army heroes, somehow trying to mix two completely different issues to whip up hysteria. The fact of the matter is that we collectively as a nation have failed our Bravehearts in uniform. Cos we elect government after government that does little to prevent deaths of our soldiers in Siachen. Of the almost 1000 soldiers that have died at Siachen in the last 32 years, almost 80% have died due to the harsh weather conditions. Now Im not a scientist but if weve sent an unmanned mission to Mars how difficult is it to build tech that can put surveillance on Siachen in the hands of drones, robots and other remote controlled artillery, so that we dont need to send our men up there on the glacier? To add insult to injury the 7th Pay Commission recommends that an IAS officer stationed in the Northeast will get much more as hardship allowance than the Rs. 31500 per month allowance that a soldier posted in Siachen will get. Isnt this a bigger disgrace than a few students shouting anti-India slogans? Smriti Irani, Please Spare Us The Histrionics! BCCL We know Smritiji was an excellent actor on television, but she needs to know that drama is not a replacement for concrete work as an HRD minister. The role of an HRD minister is to foster an environment of learning and development so the youth of India can be propelled forward to achieve whatever they dream of. Ms Irani, just the other day you put on the face of death and in slow monotone told us how the JNU students had brought shame to Mother India and that couldnt be tolerated at any cost. I ask you: 1. Was Mother India not shamed when one of her sons, Rohith Vemula was driven to suicide cos he couldnt take the harassment and discrimination from his own Universitys administration? By sending those multiple letters to the Hyderabad University Vice Chancellor didnt you play that overzealous mom who goes to her kid's school and beats up other kids who have teased her child? Let ABVP, NSUI, SFI and other student bodies settle their own issues on campus without you trying to tilt the balance in favour of the student wing of your party! 2. Is Mother India not shamed when you destroy the autonomy of institutions of excellence and foist sub-standard leaders such as Gajendra Chauhan? 3. Is Mother India not shamed when a child enters a government-run primary school in villages and cities across India and has to sit on the floor and hope the teacher turns up, cos on most days she wont! What have you done to increase investment and improve the quality of primary education in the last 1.5 years that you have been minister? Dear Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Using Extreme Force On Helpless Students Makes You A Bully, Not A Patriot! Honourable Home Ministerji, why not use strong arm tactics to send shivers down the spine of the real villains of India, the terrorists with guns and grenades who kill, like the ones at Pathankot! Did you figure who was behind the attack? Are you doing anything about it? Or are sloganeering students a bigger threat to Indias internal security? Cos youve been making frivolous claims that JNU students might have terror links to Hafiz Saeed, just on the basis of an alleged tweet! Tomorrow if Kamal R Khan tweets in support of Jennifer Lawrence getting the Oscar are we going to assume they are friends? But please tell me what can explain your complete ignorance on whether Hafiz Saeeds terror outfit is even on your ministry's terror watchlist? Clueless Home Minister Rajnath Singh knw tht Hafiz Saeed is behind JNU antinational activity but he dn't knw Hafiz is terrorist or not :P Posted by Fekubook on Sunday, February 14, 2016 If you think speaking against the Afzal Guru hanging is equal to sedition why is your party so desperately trying to form a government with the PDP in J&K? Havent you heard their leaders' views on Afzal Guru? Or will you only go after soft targets like students? So, in conclusion sir, you and your colleagues have some serious explaining to do instead of Kanhaiya Kumar and the other JNU students. Dont question their nationalism sir; question your hypocrisy! Follow us on lenovo announces the launch of a new smartphone at mwc 2016 New Delhi: Lenovo will launch a new smartphone at the upcoming MWC 2016 trade show, according to a recently posted teaser. The company teased the handset in an image via its Twitter account last week. "A gorgeous new device has been engineered from scratch to deliver the #Knockout punch. Brace yourselves," tweeted Lenovo India "Coming Soon. MWC'2016". Also there was a teaser image attcahed which shows the upper half of the handset's back panel, that appears similar to the Lenovo Lemon 3 smartphone. As of now nothing nothing has been confirmed and it is likely that the handset may launch with a different moniker in other regions, which includes India, as it has with older variants. Also it is worth mentioning that the company last month launched its Lemon 3 handset in China. The smartphone is listed on the company's shopping website at a price of RMB 699 (approximately Rs. 7,000). The Lenovo Lemon 3 is a dual-SIM dual-standby dual-4G supporting smartphone that runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop. It smartphone has a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution IPS display with pixel density of 441ppi. It packs an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 SoC clocked at 1.5GHz and bears 2GB of RAM and Adreno 405 GPU. In terms of connectivity, the Lemon 3 features support for 4G LTE (supports India bands) networks, along with Bluetooth, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, and GPS options. The device comes with a 16GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded via a microSD card. It features a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash along with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It measures a 142x71x7.99 mm, the Lenovo Lemon 3 weighs 142 grams. The phone is backed by a 2750mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 15 days of standby time on 4G, 32 hours of talk time on 2G, 12 hours of audio playback and 6.2 hours of video playback. Latest Business News Follow us on make in india week aamir khan kangana ranaut dine with pm narendra modi Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who was at the centre of a controversy over his comments on intolerance, attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here last night. Besides Aamir, actress Kangana Ranaut was also invited at the private dinner held in Turf Club where top politicians, diplomats from several countries and industry leaders were in attendance. The high-profile event, which was a strict no-media affair, was organised after Modi launched the mega Make in India (MII) week here earlier on Saturday. Wading into the intolerance debate, the Ghajini star had kicked up a controversy last year by saying he has been alarmed by a number of incidents and his wife Kiran Rao even suggested that they should probably leave India. His comments evoked sharp criticism from ruling BJP and also the NDA government. Later, the 50-year-old actor's contract as brand ambassador for the government's Incredible India campaign was not renewed by the Tourism Ministry. Kangana, 28, had recently said freedom of speech in the country does not mean one can insult anybody and stated that actors should be more careful with what they say. The Make in India' event is aimed at attracting investments into the manufacturing sector and showcasing success stories at a specially-created venue at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Latest Bollywood News Follow us on in pics deepika ranveer celebrate valentines day in toronto New Delhi: So, we know that Ranveer Singh specially flew to Toronto to celebrate Valentines Day with her lady love Deepika Padukone, who is shooting for her Hollywood debut movie xXx: The Return of Xander Cage'. The movie director shared a picture showing a very happy Deepika Padukone along with her pigsney before the special day. Now, we have got hands on some pictures of the two love birds celebrating the Valentines Day. DP and Ranveer looked like a hawt couple shopping together at a local mall. In the pictures, both of them are seen hanging out at random shops and clicking adorable selfies together with their Toronto fans. Interestingly, in one frame DP is seen trying out sunglasses which left us thinking if that's what Ranveer has gifted her as V-Day gift. While it has given fuel to our anxiety, we are also wondering what DP must have gifted to her loving boyfriend, who flew miles just to be with her. He surely deserves some special gift for being so sweet and we guess Deepika had have planned something extraordinary. Let's see how it turns out! Latest Bollywood News Follow us on neerja the heroine of hijack the 30 year old story in 10 points New Delhi: Ram Madhvani's directorial Neerja hits theatres this Friday. The biopic on the life of Neerja Bhanot, the senior purser of Pan Am 73, stars actress Sonam Kapoor in the titular role. Neerja's bravery in fighting four terrorists who had hijacked the Pan Am 73 flight earned her the Ashok Chakra. She was also the first civilian to be bestowed with this honour. While most of us know by now who Neerja was, many don't know how incidents unfurled on the fateful day. These 10 points will help you understand the sequence of happenings on the plane that day. 1. On September 5, 1986, Pan Am 73 flight began its journey from Mumbai (India) to New York (America) via Karachi (Pakistan) and then Frankfurt (Germany). 2. At the Jinnah International Airport, few passengers got off the plane and few others boarded it. Just in time when the last passenger was about to board the New York bound flight, four terrorists entered the flight breaching the airport security. The terrorists were carrying automated guns and explosives with them. 3. 360 passengers, 13 crew members and three pilots were on board the Pan Am 73 flight. Just a few days back, Neerja Bhanot had returned after successfully completing an anti-hijack training programme from London. Neerja sensed that the plane had been hijacked sooner than anyone else. 4. The terrorists, who belonged to the Abu-Nidal organisation, had American citizens on their target. She alerted the three pilots in the cockpit and they soon left to ensure that the plane became stagnant. 5. The terrorists then started dialogue with the Pakistan government - but all in vain. The hijackers then asked senior purser Neerja to collect the passports of all passengers. Knowing that terrorists will attack American passengers only, Neerja asked her crew members to hide the passports of US citizens. 6. As soon as the hijackers got inside the plane, they shot down Rajesh Kumar, an American citizen of Indian origin. This confirmed Neerja's instinct of the threat on the lives of American passengers. 7. Having received no American passport from the crew, the terrorists lost their cool. It was then that braveheart Neerja switched to plan B. She unlocked the emergency door of the aircraft and asked the passengers to get off the flight. 8. After seventeen hours, when none of the hijackers' demands were met, they started throwing hand grenades. Due to exhaustion of fuel, ACs and lights of the plane stopped working. 9. It was then that three kids caught Neerja's attention. She took the three children and marched towards the exit but was stopped by the hijackers. 10. When one of the hijackers pointed a gun at the children, Neerja shielded them. Bullets perforated her back and she died after saving the lives of hundreds of passengers who could have breathed their last on that fateful day. Latest Bollywood News Follow us on highest paid bond actor daniel craig not to play 007 for us drama purity Los Angeles: The 47-year old star, Daniel Craig, has reportedly decided to quit the Bond series and move on to working on to a new U.S series named Purity', which is roping in multiple bidders- including Showtime and Netflix- to air the show. After almost a decade of playing the ultra smooth-gadget-lover 007, Craig has reportedly stepped down from the Bond series leaving the excitement in the air for who will become the next James Bond. The Spectre actor is now part of a television adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's novel Purity', releasing by the same title which will be produced by Scott Rudin and run for several series of 20 episodes each seasons. This, nonetheless, comes as very little surprise to the Bond fans as Craig has, in the past, said in an interview London's Time Out magazine that he would rather slash his wrist' than play James Bond again. This remark, however, didn't go down well with the producers of the film. MailOnline had initially reported that during last Bond film (Spectre) there were problem with the script and Craig was injured on the set and needed knee surgery, and they were still doing re-shoots last month. Craig was reported saying that It was a very difficult shoot. The Hollywood film fraternity also seemed unimpressed by Craig's displeasing attitude. Grey's Anatomy' actress Ellen Page wrote on Twitter that, this dude needs a reality check, after hearing about his remark. Craig made this claim when he was asked about the next, which would be the fifth Craig-played James Bond, film of the Bond franchise. To this he also replied that if he were to sign another one, it would only be for the money. Craig is currently the highest-paid Bond actor who was paid 7.38million for Skyfall, which also became the first Bond movie to push the one billion dollar threshold. For his next two (including Spectre) he sought a deal to get paid 31million. His comments in the Time Out magazine weren't, infact, the only time he dissed the role that brought him more fame than his any other project outside the Bond franchise. Last year in August, Craig was quoted in the Esquire magazing stating he has no wish to continue playing James Bond and would rather get on with his life pursuing other projects. As far as a speculation regarding the next James Bond is concerned, Luther and The Wire star Idris Elba is a definite fan-favorite. However, he also leads in heated debate about if there could ever be a black Bond. Tom hardy is also one of the stars who could be singed to become the next MI6 to walk in the shoes of Daniel Craig's legacy in the Bond series. Others who could possibly land the role are Richard Madden, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill and Michael Fassbender. Despite all the speculations of why Craig has decided to let go of the suave MI6 character, all that can be hoped for is that the next Bond takes the legacy forward...in style. Latest Hollywood News Follow us on 2008 malegaon blast mcoca applicable on sp purohit and sadhvi pragya says nia Mumbai: National Investigation Agency's special public prosecutor in the 2008 Male Gaon blast case, Avinash Rasal has said that the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (Mcoca) are "applicable" on the 10 accused, including Lt Colonel SP Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. The agency "never consulted" him before proposing to drop the charges, Rasal told the Economic Times. Earlier, the Agency (NIA) had told a special court in Mumbai that it was of the opinion that stringent MCOCA was not applicable in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case and the Attorney Generals opinion is being sought in this regard. Public prosecuror's statement may come as an embarassement to the investigating agency which was also earlier accused by previous public prosecutor Rohini Salian of asking her to 'go soft' on rightwing Hindu extremists accused in the case. "The case may come up on Monday for hearing before the special NIA court. The NIA is likely to seek more time to file the response," a top government official was quoted as saying to Economic Times. "I have been arguing on behalf of the NIA during which I showed it to the court that MCOCA is applicable.I strongly said those arrested conspired to revolt against the government. They wanted to have a Hindu Rashtra and they were trying to overthrow this government and that is why the provision of MCOCA is applicable." Rasal told the daily. Latest India News Follow us on aap govt gives in principle nod to delhi metro phase iv New Delhi: The Delhi government has given in-principle approval for construction of Metro Phase-IV. The decision was taken recently at a meeting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had with transport, PWD and Urban Development Departments. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has set 2021 as deadline for the phase-IV expansion, which would add 75 stations to the metro network. A total of 31.47 kilometres of new lines will be underground while 64.39 km will be elevated. In the recently-held meeting, government has given in-principle approval for the construction of Metro Phase-IV, a senior government official said. The official said the Delhi government has written to DMRC, saying that it will go for the revenue sharing model adopted in the previous phases. Once the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and financial proposal are received from DMRC, the matter will taken to the Delhi Cabinet for final approval so that the project can be completed at the earliest, the official said. Among the projects chosen under Phase-IV are Rithala - Narela (21.73km), Janakpuri West-RK Ashram (28.92km), Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54km), Inderlok-Indraprastha (12.58km), Tughlakabad-Aerocity (20.20 km), and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G-Block (7.96 km). Latest India News Follow us on custody of jnusu president kanhaiya kumar ends today police may seek extension New Delhi: The three-day police custody of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy, is ending today. The Delhi Police will produce him before Patiala House court today at 3 pm, where is most likely that they may seek his further custody as cops wanted to probe his links to terrorist groups. Kanhaiya was arrested earlier this week in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over the holding of an event at JNU against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. During the event, anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised. Kanhaiya's arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from opposition parties. On the other hand, seven of eight JNU students who were debarred from academic activities earlier this week in connection with a controversial event held on the campus, have been asked to appear before a high level committee of the varsity probing the matter. Seven students have been sent notices to appear before the university's high level committee probing the matter. Eight students including Kanhaiya have been debarred from any academic activity till the inquiry is over, JNU registrar Bhupinder Zutshi said. The debarred students have been allowed to stay in the hostels as they will be required to attend the probe committee meetings, he said. The varsity's decision was taken on the basis of an interim report of the proctorial committee set up by the university. The final report of the probe panel is likely to be ready by next week Latest India News Follow us on f 16 sale part of legacy announcement richard verma Mumbai: Stating that Pakistan needs to act more against terror groups operating on its soil, US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said that the 'controversial' decision by Obama administration to sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad was a 'part of a legacy announcement'. He, however, was quick to add that Washington 'expects Islamabad to do more' on eliminating terror safe havens on its soil. "Over the years, our equipment (sale) to Pakistan have been a mix of civilian and military equipment. (The latest decision on F-16 aircraft) is part of a legacy announcement," Verma said. "The reality is that there are dangerous groups operating within Pakistan. More action needs to be taken by Pakistan on terror groups. Safe havens need to be eliminated, Verma added. Verma's comments came a day after the Obama administration notified the US Congress of its decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan worth nearly USD 700 million. The announcement of F-16 sale to Pakistan comes close on the heels of a series of developments when India and Pakistan are working on fresh date for the foreign secretary-level talks. Soon after America's announcement India had summoned Verma to lodge its concerns. During the 45-minutes long meeting with Verma, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said that 'such military aids will embolden Pakistan' as it disagreed with the US rationale that such arms transfers help Pakistan in combating terrorism. "The record of the last many years in this regard speaks for itself," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement. The proposal is likely to face stiff resistance in the Republican-controlled Congress. Also the Indian officials believe the latest development and last week's admission by former president Pervez Musharraf that ISI trains LeT and Jaish militants may let Islamabad off the hook at a time when the government was using the Pathankot attack to force Pakistan to act against terror groups whose main target is India. On the other hand, Pakistan said it is 'surprised and disappointed' with India's reaction over the US' decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, arguing that India is 'the largest importer' of defence equipment and its arsenal stock is 'much larger'. Pakistan reiterated the Obama Administration's justification that the acquisition would enhance the country's precision strike capability to combat terrorism. "We are surprised and disappointed at the Indian Government's reaction. Their (India's) army and arsenal stock is much larger and they are the largest importer of defence equipment," the Foreign Office said in a statement in response to media queries. With PTI Inputs Latest India News Follow us on dipti sarna kidnapper a psychopath ghaziabad police New Delhi: Ghaziabad Police today claimed to crack the kidnapping case of Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna with the arrest of five persons, including one who is close to the family. Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Singh said that the main accused in the case, Devendra, is a psychopath who was involved in a one-sided love affair with Dipti. "It is just like a case portrayed in Bollywood movie 'Darr' where Shah Rukh Khan is involved in a one-sided affair. We arrested all culprits involved in Snapdeal Executive Dipti's abduction today. Total 5 were involved. Man named Devendra was the mastermind," Singh said. Belonging to Sonipat in Haryana, Devendra is a history-sheeter who had had earlier spent time in jail, he said. In her statement, according to Singh, Dipti mentioned that at many instances that the kidnappers did not harm her and provided her food as well. "Question that was arising was why was she released? This was hinting to a close person being involved who did not harm her," Singh said, adding that 'Devendra was deeply in love with Dipti and wanted to marry her'. "Finding out motive behind kidnapping was difficult task as girl's family didn't receive ransom call.Girl wasn't subjected to any physical harm," Singh said. "He (Devendra) was confident that the victim will agree to marry him after his heroic act and he will settle down in Nepal," Singh added. Deepti was abducted by four criminals in the garb of an auto-rickshaw driver and passengers on Wednesday night while returning home from the Vaishali Metro station. On Friday, she called up her father Narendra Sarna and told him that she managed to flee from her abductors and reached the New Delhi Railway Station. Her mobile phone, laptop, purse and some other personal articles were taken by the abductors and were yet to be recovered. Latest India News Follow us on mortal remains of 9 siachen martyrs to reach delhi New Delhi: The mortal remains of nine Siachen martyrs, who were buried alive in an avalanche, were brought to the national capital from the frontier Ladakh region today. Wreaths were laid at the Palam airport in Delhi at a solemn ceremony led by Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh. Indian Air Force planes were expected to fly the bodies to be handed over to their families in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. After wreath laying in New Delhi, IAF aircrafts will fly our martyrs to Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Chennai and Trivandrum, an army official said. The soldiers were killed on February 3 when an avalanche had struck their post, burying ten soldiers under 25 feet of snow. While a soldier Naik Hanamanthapa was found alive after remaining under snow for six days, bodies of the nine other soldiers were retrieved a week after the incident. The mortal remains of the soldiers, however, could not be transferred to their native places as bad weather had made flying out of Siachen area impossible. Latest India News Follow us on mysuru declared india s cleanest city varanasi patna among dirtiest New Delhi: Karnataka's Mysuru has topped the list of India's cleanest cities for the second year in a row while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi features on the list as among the dirtiest cities of India. The rankings, rolled out by the government today, are based on the 'Swachh Sarvekshan campaign' survey based on sanitation conditions across Indian cities. The result of Swach Survekshan (cleanliness survey) was announced by Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu. The latest rankings follow a similar survey conducted in 2014 which saw Mysuru and Tiruchirappali top the list of five cleanest cities of India. PM's constituency Varanasi has been ranked 65th in the list of 73 cities on account of its appalling sanitation facilities. When asked why PM Modi's constituency had not fared well in his initiative, Naidu said, "The local administration can best reply to this. If it has fared poorly, then the administration should work towards improvement," Naidu said today. Dhanbad, Asansol, Patna, Meerut, Raipur, Ghaziabad, Jamshedpur, Kalyan Dombivilli and Itanagar are the dirtiest cities of India. Four cities have improved their ranks when compared with the 2014 survey results. These cities are Visakhapatnam (which has climbed from 44 to 5), Surat (from 12 to 6), Rajkot (from 32 to 7), and Gangtok (from 16 to 8). The survey, the government said, was conducted to promote a spirit of competition among the cities. It was to assess the measures taken by the cities to improve sanitation, present service levels including infrastructure developed, deployment of men and machines and efforts to bring about behavioural changes. Here are the 10 cleanest cities of India: 1) Mysuru 2) Chandigarh 3) Tiruchirapalli 4) New Delhi Municipal Council (NCT Delhi) 5) Vishakhapatnam 6) Surat 7) Rajkot 8) Gangtok 9) Pimpri-Chinchwad 10) Greater Mumbai Latest India News Follow us on nsg withdraws 600 men from vvip security duty New Delhi: Taking the first step towards reverting to its original role of undertaking counter-terror operations, the NSG has pulled out over 600 commandos from its VVIP security unit and used them for the first time during the recent Pathankot attack. According to the new blueprint, which has been in the making since the last two years, two teams out of the total three of the 11th Special Rangers Group (SRG) stand withdrawn from VVIP security duties and have been tasked to undertake counter-terror operations along with and in assistance of the primary strike units the Special Action Group (SAG). While each of the two SAGs (51and 52) are tasked with counter-terror, counter-hijack and hostage rescue operations, the SRGs (11, 12 and 13) were used to render logistical support to the SAGs during such operations and have been primarily deployed for guarding high-risk VVIPs. Officials said the results of the first experiment at Pathankot have been satisfactory, with about 300 commandos commandos deployed to undertake door-to-door sanitisation at the station that was attacked on January 2. NSG commanders said the force, has the least number of 15 such protectees under its cover and, after its request to not burden it further in this regard, the government has not given it any additional responsibility for over two years now. While one team of the 11th SRG and two units (12 and 13) are still tasked with security of high-risk dignitaries, commanders of the elite force foresee a time when even these units will be gradually pulled out of VVIP duties. "Not in the very near future but NSG is on it way to go back to its original charter of being a specialist counter-terror and an exclusive commando force," the officials said. Latest India News Follow us on sc refuses to entertain plea on leader of opposition in lok sabha New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction for appointing Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, saying the aggrieved person was "capable enough" to approach it. A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the court should not entertain a PIL in cases where aggrieved persons are capable to approach it. "People, who are affected, should come to us. Let them come before us, they are capable enough to approach us. We are of the firm view that this issue cannot be entertained in a PIL," the court said while dismissing the PIL filed by activist H R Jain on the issue. Congress, as the second largest party in the Lok Sabha with 44 seats, had earlier made a strong bid for the LoP post. Ruling BJP had opposed it saying Congress does not have the requisite 10 per cent seats (55 seats) to stake claim and questioned why Congress did not give the LoP status seven times in the past when it was in power. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had rejected Congress' demand for being accorded the status of Leader of Opposition. Latest India News Follow us on barack obama asks vladimir putin to end airstrikes against syrian opposition Moscow: US President Barack Obama has urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to stop bombing 'moderate' rebels in Syria in support of its ally Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to latest efforts to end the war. A White House statement said Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have held a telephone conversation about the Syrian war and the unresolved conflict in Ukraine on Saturday. Obama stressed the need to quickly get humanitarian aid to besieged areas and initiating the cessation of hostilities across the war-wracked country, it said. "In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria." On Syria, the statement said that 'both sides gave a positive assessment of the results of the meeting of the International Syrian Support Group in Munich on Feb. 11-12, confirmed the principles and provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 both in terms of humanitarian aspects and to develop modalities for the cease-fire, and in promoting the launch of a real political process'. Putin stressed the importance of creating a 'common front against terrorism' and establishing a working relationship between the Pentagon and the Russian Defense Ministry, it said. Russia said the airstrikes it began on September 30 are aimed at extremist groups, but there are wide claims from the West that Russia is targeting rebels fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime Moscow ally. On Ukraine, Obama urged Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine to fulfill their obligations under a peace deal signed a year ago, while Putin made a similar call for the Ukrainian government to live up to its part of the agreement. With AP Inputs Latest World News Follow us on hafiz saeed dismisses rajnath singh s claim over jnu protests Lahore: JuD chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed today rejected claims by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that he had supported the event in JNU in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. "The India home minister has alleged that I am behind the protest of Kashmiri students in Jawaharlal Nehru University where they chanted slogans in favour of Pakistan. He also talked my tweet in this regard. I felt strange after learning the Indian home minister had given a reference of a tweet with my name," Saeed said in a video message posted on YouTube. "Neither I am behind the students protest nor I did any tweet to incite them (students). It is a fake tweet. India has made an issue out of this as if I am behind this protest campaign," said Saeed. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba said he wondered as how India is looking at the Kashmir freedom movement. "The Indian minister is misleading his own people and the world by levelling allegation on me that I am behind this protest campaign," he said. He asked Rajnath and other officials concerned to listen to the Kashmiri people. "Do not make Kashmiri freedom struggle a joke," he said. "I again say I did not incite the Kashmiri students. Don't you know how Afzal Guru was hanged? How Kashmiris are being brutally murdered in their homeland?...," he said. The Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief said India continues to neglect the Kashmir issue. "Kashmir Movement has been launched by the local people. Can't people of Kashmir raise their own voice?" he asked. He alleged that Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir to "oppress" the Kashmiris. Saeed, who is carrying a US bounty of USD 10 million, said India had also baselessly involved him in the 2008 Mumbai attack case. Latest World News Follow us on jnu row amit shah slams cong says rahul supporting anti nationals New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah today slammed Congress for blatantly supporting the arrested JNU students who have allegedly shouted anti-India slogans during an event organised for parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Launching a scathing attack on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Shah wrote in his blog that the Congress Vice President is unable to see what is good and bad for the country. Speaking on the raging controversy for the first time, Shah asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul a host of questions and demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology is not acceptable. "Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?", Shah wrote in a blog. Noting that slogans like 'Pakistan zindabad', 'go India go back' and those in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Kashmir's independence and India's destruction were raised in JNU," he wondered if the Congress leader had joined hands with separatists. "Does he want another division of India by giving a free run to separatists in the name of freedom of expression? The kind of statements the Congress vice president and other leaders of his party have made in JNU have proved again that national interest has no place in their mind," Shah said. The BJP president's tough stand indicates that the party is willing to slug it out with Congress and other opposition parties over an issue it believes will help reaffirm its nationalist credentials and put the opposition in a corner. Shah said no anti-national activities would be allowed in the country. "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country," Shah said in a blog. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," he said. JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were raised at the gathering. Follow us on congress left accuse rajnath singh of communalising jnu issue New Delhi: A day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that protest at JNU had backing of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, the principal opposition party, Congress, today accused the Union Minister of communalising' the issue and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask his Pakistani counterpart to arrest the Lashkar chief for plotting terror attacks in India. "Rajnath communalising JNU atrocity at pulpit of pulp patriotism. Tell PM's biryani friend Nawaz Sharif arrest Hafiz Saeed for terror attacks," senior Congress Leader Manish Tewari said in a tweet today. Rajnath Singh had yesterday claimed that the event on JNU campus in Delhi against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received support' from Saeed, a statement that sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence. On Saturday, a post on an alleged "fake" account @Hafeez SaeedJUD - along with the name Hafeez Muhamad Saeed - invited JNU students to Pakistan, "to continue their Pro-Kashmiri, Anti-India Propaganda in our Universities". "The incident (Afzal event) at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand," Singh had said, adding, "what has happened is very unfortunate." Later, a Home Ministry spokesperson said that Singh's statement was "based on the inputs available from different agencies." Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh sought to know from the government which agency had given inputs to the government on the issue. "Would Home Minister please clarify on which Agency's input did he make a statement of JNU's connection with Hafiz Saeed ?" Singh said in a tweet. Another Congress leader PL Punia suggested Rajnath to be careful while making remarks on such issues and demanded proof. What he says holds immense value and without any evidence or proof, he must not make such an irresponsible statement that JNU students' protests are being backed by Hafiz Saeed, Punia said. Rajnath relies on fake Twitter IDs: Prakash Karat CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Monday took pot-shots at Rajnath Singh for saying Hafiz Saeed backed the Afzal Guru event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus here. "The Home Minister relies on a fake Twitter handle for information," Karat, who visited the campus on Monday, told the media. The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said: "We don't accept their (central government's) definition and version of nationalism. If they call us anti-national, we wear it as a badge of honour." Karat also said that by filing "cases against elected student leaders under sedition charge", the government was "declaring war" against them. Follow us on sc status to dalit muslims christians will encourage conversion Kochi: Claiming that extending reservation in government jobs to Dalits of minority communities would encourage conversions, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot today said the Centre has told the Supreme Court that it was "not agreeable to" granting them such rights. Strongly opposing recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission and the Sachar Committee for reservation to Dalits of Christian and Muslim minority communities, he told a gathering at a Hindu leadership conclave here that there is no provision in the Constitution to grant reservation to Dalits who convert to other religions. The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment also said any such step would "weaken the Hindu religion". "Our government has given in writing to the apex Court that it does not agree with the reports of the Ranganath Mishra Commission or the Sachar Committee. "We won't accord Scheduled Caste status to those who have converted. We are following the Constitution in letter and spirit," Gehlot said at the function, organised by the Hindu Aikya Vedi, a Sangh Parivar outfit in Kerala. He noted that reservation was provided to Dalits in Hindu community to uplift them socially and economically from the ill-practise of untouchability and said such a practise does not exist in Christian and Muslim communities. So those who converted to these religions should not be granted SC status. "Granting Scheduled Caste status to those belonging to minority communities will encourage conversion and weaken the Hindu religion. There is also no such provision in the Constitution," Gehlot observed. He also accused Congress of plotting to reduce quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs to benefit minority communities. The Justice Sachar Committee was constituted by non-BJP government to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in the country. The Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission was formed to identify the criteria for socially and economically backward classes among religious and linguistic minorities and suggest various welfare measures for minorities, including reservation. Both reports of the Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Commission had revealed that Muslims in India are the most backward community, despite their rich cultural heritage and strong numerical presence. Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. The "Race To Raqqa" Is Quickly Intensifying By Moon Of Alabama February 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama " - This is a look at the larger picture of forces developing around Syria. Several foreign armies are aggregating at the Syrian borders with the intent to invade Syria and to occupy its eastern part. But before we dive into that, a short look at the curious situation developing in the north-west. Near Azaz the U.S. ally Turkey is currently shelling (video) the U.S. ally YPG which is fighting the CIA supported FSA. Map by AFP(?) The Syrian-Kurdish YPG troops were heavily supported by the U.S. in their fight against the Islamic State in north-eastern Syria. Under U.S. tutelage they united with Arab anti-IS fighters under the label Syrian Democratic Forces. In north-west Syria the SDF has used the recent success of the Syrian army against Jihadis in the area to take northern parts of the Azaz corridor which once connected Aleppo to Turkey. That corridor is held by a mixture of al-Qaeda Jihadist from Jabhat al-Nusra, "Turkmen" Islamists from various Turk speaking countries and local Islamist gangs supported by the CIA under the label Free Syrian Army. All three get money and weapons from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Syrian army is moving north and south from the red strip in the map. The SDF is moving east from the Kurdish enclave around Afrin. During the last days the SDF, supported by the Russian airforce, captured the Minnagh airbase which was held by al-Qaeda aligned forces. The SDF then proceeded north to take Azaz, the last major town the Turkish supported Islamist are holding in the area. Turkey today used 155mm artillery to fire from Turkey against SDF positions on Minnagh airbase and around Azaz. There will be Turkish special forces observers in Syria to direct the fire. The NATO member Turkey is shelling the YPG, which is backed by Russia and the U.S., and the SDF which is backed by the U.S. for attacking the FSA and Islamists who are backed by the U.S., Turkey and Saudi Arabia. A nice little clusterfuck the smart (not) girls and boys around Obama created. But as described here two days ago in The Race To Raqqa Is On , a much bigger clusterfuck is currently in the making in and all around Syria. The Russian and Syrian airforce will likely respond to the Turkish attack with an intensified bombing of positions held by Turkish proxy forces in Syria. Those forces just received new artillery ammunition and new TOW anti-tank missiles. There is yet unconfirmed news that this situation will escalate very fast: The Int'l Spectator @intlspectator BREAKING: Turkish official says there will be a 'massive escalation' in Syria over next 24 hours. The Turkish Foreign Minister said today that the fight against ISIS must include (Turkish) ground operations. The Syrian government and its Iranian and Russian allies are determined to liberate the whole country from the foreign supported terrorists and the Islamic State. The want to keep the country united. The aim of outside forces, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, the U.S., Britain, France is to occupy east Syria to gain political concession from the Syrian government and its allies. They will demand the reconfiguration of the independent, secular Syrian state under President Assad into a dependent Sunni Islamist entity. Should that demand not be fulfilled they will form a new "Sunnistan" Islamist protectorate from the currently ISIS held carcasses of east Syria and west-Iraq. Turkey today threatened further and wider attacks on Kurdish held areas in Syria. The Turkish 2nd Army is positioned to attack Syria from the north. It could come through the ISIS held corridor between Azaz in the west and Jarablus in the east and move south towards the Islamic State held Raqqa while other forces, see below, would reach Raqqa from the south and south east. Syria would be thus split into a government held western half and an ISIS and U.S. allies held eastern half. Russian advisers have trained one Syrian brigade specifically for the purpose of holding off a Turkish invasion. But that brigade is probably not a big enough deterrence for the large Turkish forces and could soon be overwhelmed. The Saudis today claimed again that Assad must be overthrown to defeat the Islamic State. That is of course nonsense but the Saudi family dictatorship has a personal grudge against Assad. The Syrian President once called the Saudis "only half men". (IMHO He was too generous.) Twenty Saudi F-15 jets arrived today in Incirlik airbase in Turkey to, allegedly, join the U.S. coalition force against the Islamic State. The Saudis also promised to send ground forces if those would fight under some allied command "against ISIS". The United Arab Emirates promised to send special forces for the same purpose. Some Saudi ground forces have already been observed making their way through Jordan. At least 1,600 British troops with heavy weapons and equipment are currently arriving in Jordan. The Brits claim that this is just for some normal training maneuver but we can expect the British government to paid off enough by the Gulf Arabs to take part in the fight. The British units would likely lead a Saudi/UAE/(maybe also Egyptian?) combined force from east Jordan up through the Syrian desert towards Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. These forces are currently explained as "trainers" who will enter Syria to instigate Syrian Arab tribes to fight ISIS. If there were enough forces in such tribes at all, these could be trained in Jordan. There is currently no Syrian or Russian force in the desert that could prevent such a move. An additional brigade from the U.S. 101st Airborne is deploying to Iraq without much public announcement. Its task is an invasion of Syria from the south-east along the Euphrates to first capture Deir Ezzor and to then move on to Raqqa. The Syrian army is on its way to ISIS held Raqqa to prevent any foreign force reaching there first. It will have to hurry up. The race to Raqqa is intensifying. The Russians have alarmed several airborne brigades and air transport units of their Southern command to be ready for a fast intervention should such troops be needed in Syria. The Russians could airdrop an airborne brigade into the government held, ISIS besieged parts of Deir Ezzor (vid) to prevent that city from being attacked or taken over by Saudi and/or U.S. forces. Two additional Russian missile ships are on their way to the Syrian coast. They carry long distance Kalibr cruise missiles which can be used against other ships as well as against land targets. Iran is ready to send as many men from its Revolutionary Guard and Quds brigades to Syria as are needed to sustain the governments fight. These folks salivate over the prospect of having some regular Saudi forces for breakfast. There are active attempts to draw all NATO nations into the phony "fight against ISIS". When the war over Syria gets hotter NATO will likely try to create diversions elsewhere to keep Russia distracted from reacting properly in Syria. The U.S. will tell its Ukrainian puppet government to reengage in massive attacks on Russian supported Ukrainian rebels in east Ukraine. The war against Syria, waged by the U.S., Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, was so far carried out by proxy forces and foreign mercenaries within Syria's borders. When the Syrian government was on the verge of losing the successful Russian intervention turned the war around. German intelligence no asserts (in German) that the Syrian government is winning the war against the foreign supported forces. As the war by proxy against Syria has now failed, the anti-Syrian powers have decided to join the action on the ground with their own forces. The "fight against ISIS" (which the Syrians and Russian are fighting more than anybody else) is now the pretext to capture eastern Syria, to split the country in half and to destroy the Syrian government and state. The "civil war" in Syria is now developing into an large international conflagration over the future of Syria and the whole Middle East. Meanwhile the Islamic State, confused by this U.S. created clusterfuck in Iraq and Syria, decides to relocate its headquarters from Iraq and Syria to Libya, the other failed state and Charly Foxtrot the U.S. (F, UK) recently created. There it will find rich oil fields, lots of new weapons and no capable enemies. Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter The US Plan B for Syria and the threat of world war By Bill Van Auken February 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " WSWS " - Negotiations on Syrias bloody armed conflict were held in Munich Thursday against the backdrop of a government offensive, supported by Russian airstrikes, to break the grip of Western-backed rebels over the largely shattered eastern part of Aleppo. The talks were convened under the auspices of the 17-member International Syria Support Group, which includes the US and its regional alliesSaudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatarin the war for regime change in Syria, along with Russia and Iran, which are allied with and actively aiding the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Washington demanded an immediate cease-fire and halt to Russian airstrikes in Syria. The US, together with the reactionary Arab monarchies and the regime in Turkey, fears that without a halt to the fighting, the Islamist militias that they have supported, financed and armed for nearly five years may face irreparable defeat. Russia, for its part, reportedly proposed a cease-fire that would begin on March 1, thus allowing enough time for the Syrian government to reestablish its control over Aleppo. Late Thursday night, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that they had reached a tentative deal that would see a ceasefire within a week along with expedited humanitarian aid. Kerry allowed that while the agreement looked good on paper, it was yet to be tested. All of the underlying conflicts remain unresolved, and both US and Russian military operations are to continue in the name of the struggle against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). On the eve of the Munich talks, Kerry, in an interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, delivered an unmistakable threat in connection with the US negotiating strategy in Munich: What were doing is testing [Russian and Iranian] seriousness. he said. And if theyre not serious, then there has to be consideration of a Plan B You cant just sit there. Plan B would consist of a sharp escalation of the US military intervention in Syria, carried out under the cover of combating ISIS, but directed at toppling the Assad government. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also reportedly spent the last several days discussing a Plan B that would involve their participation in direct military intervention to save the rebels that they have supported. The Saudi-owned news group al-Arabiya has quoted officials in Riyadh as confirming the House of Sauds decision to send troops into Syria in what would constitute a provocatively hostile invasion. Responding to the ominous implications of such an escalation, Russias Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the German daily Handelsblatt Thursday: The Americans and our Arab partners must think hard about thisdo they want a permanent war? All sides must be forced to the negotiating table instead of sparking a new world war. Medvedevs choice of words was not mere hyperbole. A military intervention to rescue the rebels, which amounts to a war to save Al Qaedas Syrian affiliate, the Al Nusra Front, the leading force on the ground in Aleppo province, could quickly bring the US and its allies into combat with Russia, an armed confrontation between the worlds two major nuclear powers. US officials have spoken in recent days of creating a humanitarian corridor to Aleppo and other rebel areas under siege by government forces. Presumably this corridor is meant to replace the main supply route for the rebels from Turkey, which has been cut off by the government offensive, disrupting the CIA-orchestrated arming of the rebels with stockpiles poured in from Libya, the Gulf oil kingdoms and beyond. Such a corridor would require a military force to protect it and enforcement of a no-fly zone, meaning a confrontation not only with Syrian government forces, but with Russian warplanes as well. Turkey, Washingtons NATO ally, is meanwhile blocking its border to Syrian refugees in order to create the maximum crisis possible so that it can pursue its own strategic aims, which include not only regime change in Damascus, but also the bloody suppression of the Kurdish minority on both sides of the frontier. The Obama administration has issued no warning to the American people that it is embarking on a policy in Syria that could pit the US against the Russian military and potentially trigger a global catastrophe. There is no significant popular support for US military intervention in Syria, which has been promoted under the false flag of humanitarianism, aided by a whole coterie of pseudo-left organizations that have specialized in portraying a bloody sectarian campaign by CIA-backed Islamist militias as a Syrian revolution. The extent of the catastrophe unleashed upon Syria through this intervention was spelled out in shocking terms with the release of a new study by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, which found that fully 11.5 per cent of the population inside Syria has been either killed or injured as a result of the armed conflict. The death toll from the warcombined with the systematic destruction of the countrys social infrastructure and health care system and a dramatic drop in living standardshas caused life expectancy to plummet from 70.5 years in 2010 to an estimated 55.4 years in 2015. The study found further that the countrys unemployment rate had soared from 14.9 percent in 2011 to 52.9 percent by the end of 2015, and that the overall poverty rate is estimated at 85.2 percent. In short, the Obama administration has inflicted upon Syria a war that is every bit as criminal and lethal as the war carried out by the Bush administration against Iraq. The Syrian people are the victims of a US-orchestrated war that is driven by the global strategy of American imperialism to reverse its economic decline through the use or threat of military force. Washington sought regime change in Syria as a means to an end: the weakening of the two principal allies of Damascus, Russia and Iran, and the reassertion of a Western stranglehold on the vast energy resources of the Middle East. The threat of world war is posed not merely by the prospect of US and Russian warplanes facing off in the skies over Syria, but by the entire logic of the Syrian war for regime change and the broader strategic aims that it serves. This finds expression in NATOs escalation of the military encirclement of Russia and the increasingly provocative anti-Chinese policy being pursued by the Pentagon in the South China Sea. The US drive for global hegemony was articulated in the strategic maxim enunciated by the Pentagon nearly a quarter of a century ago that Washington must prevent the emergence of any power capable of challenging the dominance of American capitalism on a global or even regional scale. This grand strategy has led to unceasing US wars of aggression since and now poses the real threat of a third, nuclear, world war. Against this barbaric strategy of the US ruling establishment, the American and international working class must advance its own independent strategy, fighting for the withdrawal of US and all foreign military forces from Syria, Iraq and the entire Middle East and for the unity of the working class across all national, religious and ethnic boundaries in a common struggle to put an end to capitalism, the source of militarism and war. Copyright 1998-2016 World Socialist Web Site Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Donate Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Why the Syria Ceasefire is a Long Shot By Finian Cunningham February 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " RT " - An end to the Syrian conflict is desperately needed. But the latest plan for a cessation of violence is unlikely to take hold, as the deal struck by international powers is based on fundamentally opposing premises. In short, Washington and its allies want regime change, while Russia and Iran insist that President Bashar Assad and his government are the legitimate ruling authorities in Syria. All sides are mandated by UN resolutions to respect the sovereign will of the Syrian people to determine the political future of their country. But the Western powers and their regional partners, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar in particular, are insisting explicitly or implicitly on their objective of ousting Assad. This premise of unlawful interference in the affairs of a sovereign state is the crux of the problem, and why the latest seeming agreement for a nationwide truce is as thin as the paper it is written on. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced the proposal for a cessation of hostilities following six hours of negotiations with 15 other member states belonging to the International Syria Support Group in Munich last Friday. The truce is supposed to come into effect later this week. The truce outlined in an ISSG communique does not apply to two militant groups: Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL/ISIL or Daesh) and the Jabhat al Nusra Front. Both are linked to Al Qaeda and are officially listed by international governments as terrorist organizations. The provision also exempts other terror groups but does not specify the names. This is a major loophole in the proposed truce deal which will make its application extremely problematic if not infeasible. That loophole also alludes to the foreign-backed nature of the conflict in Syria. Following the Munich communique, the Syrian government and its Russian ally both said that their combined military operations against terror groups would continue. President Assad vowed that his armed forces were moving ahead with their offensive, backed by Russian air power, to retake the whole country. He said the battle for the northern city of Aleppo the countrys largest was crucial to cut off terrorist supply routes from Turkey. Given the delineation of terror groups in the Munich communique and in recent UN resolutions (2249 and 2254), it would appear incontestable that the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies have every right to maintain the military momentum. Yet Syria and Russias continued offensive around Aleppo over the weekend provoked recriminations from Western powers. Western media coverage tended to portray the continuation of military operations as a bad faith breach of the tentative truce. Reuters news agency reported: Russia keeps bombing despite Syria truce; Assad vows to fight on. Secretary Kerry expressed irritation when he said: If the Assad regime does not live up to its responsibilities and if the Iranians and the Russians do not hold Assad to the promises that they have made... then the international community obviously is not going to sit there like fools and watch this. There will be an increase of activity to put greater pressure on them. Kerry even warned that greater pressure could involve foreign troops being sent into Syria, without naming from which countries, saying: There is a possibility there will be additional ground troops. The top American diplomat made the comments while attending the Munich Security Conference along with several world leaders, held the day after the truce deal was brokered by the ISSG. Kerry told delegates ominously: We hope this week can be a week of change. This moment is a hinge point. Decisions made in the coming days, weeks and months can end the war in Syria. Or, if the wrong choices are made, they can open the door to even wider conflict. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also addressed the Munich conference, but he warned that any ground invasion in Syria by foreign forces ran the grave risk of unleashing an all-out war. Over the weekend, it was reported that Saudi F-16 warplanes are to begin flying out of Turkeys NATO base at Incirlik, allegedly on combat operations against the Islamic State terror group in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a combined Saudi-Turkish ground force was ready to intervene in Syria, and there were reports of cross-border Turkish artillery shelling of Syrian Kurdish sites. The nub of the proposed truce is that Syria and Russia are legally entitled to eradicate ISIS, Al Nusra and related groups. Strategically, too, it can be argued that the defeat of such illegally armed insurgents is a priority task in creating conditions for an end to the five-year conflict. However, the related terror groups also include many other militants whom Western governments and Western media mendaciously refer to as moderate rebels. So, while the Syrian Arab Army and Russian fighter planes can legitimately make the case that these groups are to be targeted, Washington and its allies will deceptively allege that Moscow is attacking moderate rebels. This is a risible fiction constructed by Western governments, their regional partners and the Western media. It is well documented that groups like Jaish al-Islam, Jaish al-Fateh, Ahrar al-Sham and Farouq Brigade heavily sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Qatar are integrated with the officially recognized Al Qaeda terrorist organizations. Even the so-called secular Free Syrian Army much championed by Washington is in league with ISIS and Al Nusra, as are the Turkmen brigades openly supported by the Turkish government. US government-owned news outlet Voice of America described the terror-rebel connection in the following delicate way: The Munich deal writes out any cessation of hostilities for not only the Islamic State but [al Qaeda] affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra or other groups deemed terrorists by the UN Security Council. Some of those groups, aside from IS, have been battlefield allies of other rebel factions around Aleppo. Meanwhile, the Washington Post admitted that Jabhat al-Nusra in some instances fights alongside rebel forces supported by the United States and its allies. The Post article added that even in the event of a truce taking hold: The United States and its partners would continue their current level of equipping and training the opposition so as not to leave the rebels at a disadvantage if the cessation of hostilities collapses. The cessation that Washington has assiduously tried to craft is not premised on finding a genuine end to the conflict. Rather, it is evidently a tactical pause to afford proxy forces on the ground badly needed respite from the Syrian-Russian onslaught. That onslaught is threatening to wipe out the myriad terror- and terrorist-related brigades. Thats why John Kerry has been so concerned to stymie Russias intervention. That intervention ordered by President Vladimir Putin less than five months ago is wiping out terror assets that Washington and its allies have invested in for regime change in Syria over five years. That investment is going up in smoke, and that is also why Washington and its regional partners Turkey and Saudi Arabia are reserving a direct military contingency in order to salvage their regime-change project. The proposed cessation in Syria is a long shot that will miss the mark of bringing peace to the war-devastated country. Because Washington and its allies are not interested in peace. They want regime change by hook or by crook. Syria: Turning Over the Death Card By Jack Perry February 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Lew Rockwell " - A Things are getting hot again over in Syria, and not just because of the weather. Russia just said that if the United States jumps into the war in Syria, itll end up being the Third World War! Now, theres no reason to believe that Russia cant make good on that threat. This is a superpower, even though the United States likes to engage in the make-believe that they lost that coveted title when the Soviet Union collapsed. I fear that the threat of another world war might be too good an offer for the United States government to pass up. What?! We could have another world war?! Why, that would be swell! We havent gone out and had a world war in a long time! Its always been having to settle for wars that end up in cease-fires and were hungry for another war an hour later! Gosh, we havent had a world war since 1945! Honey, do you know where my good tie is? I want to look nice! Ill call the UN and make reservations. This will be a world war to remember! Just think of the soundtrack! Well be plugged in listening to this war and walking right into traffic distracted for years! Hey kids! Enlist in the United States Army and win a coveted guest appearance on Dancing With The Shahid debuting our new designer body armor! See, we think this is a world war where we just get to fight international iterations of the same thing. You know, like an International House of Pancakes of terrorists. Try the Syrian, Iraqi, and Afghani terrorists all at once with our all-new World Grand Slam Of Terrorists Platter! We dont stop and think, Say, this is the Russians who just flipped the Death Card out of the world crisis Tarot deck here. Maybe we better think again about that trip to Syria. And thats exactly what happened. Medvedev was sitting there in the tent, hunched over the Tarot spread, saying, Ah, this card blocks you, this card portends another quagmire war you wont be able to cease-fire your way out of andoh! The Death Card! Hmmmtheres a world war in it. The United States, unable to understand the nature of such divinations says, Ok, so, how about we go for two out of three readings, then? Maybe things will change. Indeed, the United States is always lured in by promises of a world war. After all, thats what the Cold War was about. Getting ready for the world war to make the world safe for cockroaches to ascend as the dominant species. But, boy oh boy, we had to be ready to do it, by golly! And the warmongers are still nostalgic for those days. Gee, it was so nice when everyone was terrified of the Russkies wiping out American cities. We were able to buy a new fighter plane every week back then. Evidently, the desire for the good old days has turned into provoking the Russians into returning into another Cold war with us, just for Auld Lang Syne. Even better, maybe we could actually get into a genuine world war and settle this once and for all. Or, until we have the Fourth World War, assuming the Third one doesnt go into overtime and end up with a thermonuclear coin toss to decide on a victor to break the tie. Warheads I win, fallout shelters you lose! People forget that the nuclear weapons the Russians have didnt expire in 1991. This isnt bottles of milk or packages of hamburger meat were talking about here. People say, Well, they havent got as many as they used to! Wha-a-a-a-at?! It only takes one to destroy a city with 20 million people in it there, Dr. Teller. People act like this country is invincible when it cannot even defeat the Afghan version of the Beverly Hillbillies. Theres probably two or more Mullah Omar Clampetts still running around over there spiriting turncoat gunmen into U.S. military headquarters over there to off a few American officers. Wow, great allies, what? And so youll find such loyal allies over in Syria, will you? Oh, silly me! Thats who became ISIS! Right, so lets risk a nuclear war with the Russians who have just come right out and used the phraseWORLD WARto warn us to mind our own business. Gee, how about that? Minding our own business? Because let me ask you this: Has Bashar al-Assad said if you dont sign up for AssadCare, hell ding your tax return? Has Syria raised your taxes or caused you to have to go to the food bank? In fact, is there anything whatsoever you stand to gain from Syria? Therefore, considering the hundreds of billions of dollars weve already squandered on this fools errand, why now should we risk a thermonuclear war over it? Again, if people cannot see that this is the perfect example to show us why the government is run by the insane, they must be working for the government. Just watch, the temptation of another world war will be just too great for the government to resist. The only way well avoid one is if the government feels we could get into a world war faster somewhere else, or thinks the Russians are just trying to trick us into thinking we could have a world war. Can we get a money-back guarantee on this world war? We cant pay for one up front and not have one happen. We dont feel thatd be fair. Its been awhile since weve had a world war. I think if its done right, it could be a regular item on the lunch buffets. People have been busy searching for the new trend to sweep in for 2016. Well, here it is! The Third World War! Hooray! Jack Perry [send him mail] is an arrowmaker and writer who lives in the Four Corners area of the Southwestern United States. He has been a truck driver, a purchasing agent at a now-defunct renewable energy company (don't even ask him about the "Green energy" scam), and served in the 101st Airborne Division. He spends his time practicing traditional archery, making arrows in the wilds of the Arizona high desert, and finding himself only mildly amused by the antics of the Great Father in Washington. Immediate past governor of Rivers State now Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has told his successor, Governor Nyesom Wike to stop making a fool of himself over the $150 million allegedly looted during his (Amaechis) tenure. Amaechi left office on May 29, 2015 and since then, has been the centre of allegations leveled by the Rivers State Government against his administration. During a thanksgiving service penultimate Sunday to celebrate his victory at the Supreme Court, Gov. Wike told the congregation that his predecessor took $150 million from the Rivers treasury to fund the All Progressives Congress, APCs political campaigns, of which the former governor was the Director-General. However, in a statement issued by his media office in Abuja on Saturday, Mr. Amaechi faulted the inconsistencies in Wikes claims, advising him to stop dancing unclothed in the market square. According to the statement, Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State in an interview with THISDAY newspaper of today Saturday, December 13, 2016 (yesterday), continued to disparage and attack the person and highly regarded reputation of his erstwhile benefactor and immediate past governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, whos now the minister of Transportation. In this his latest interview, Wike continued to re-tell his new stori stori of a phantom and bogus $150 million he claimed Amaechi stole from Rivers State government account(s) to fund the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December of 2014. However, this time, there were clear inconsistencies between this one and the first time he told the same fairy tale last Sunday inside the Anglican Church in his community. Same story; but two inconsistent, incoherent versions. This is clearly what happens when you fabricate a story with the sole aim of deceiving your audience. You are bound to tell different versions as you go along. Asked pointedly to provide evidence to prove his allegations that Amaechi took $150 million of State money to fund APC, Governor Nyesom Wike in a very deceptive manner, rambled on and on about EFCC, corruption, and fighting corruption with his discredited kangaroo judicial panel of Inquiry that was set up to indict Amaechi, and stop him from been appointed minister. Wike then went on to say the money was stolen between December 1st to 31st of 2014, and given to the APC. This version is sharply inconsistent with the first one he told inside the Anglican Church, when he claimed the $150 million was stolen and given to the APC within 18 days, from December 1 to 18 of 2014. Again, this is what happens when tale is a story story taken from a book of deception and deceit. Wike again, claimed he has evidence to prove his allegation but as usual, did not provide any, the statement noted. The statement continued: Its indeed laughable and shameful that Governor Wike will relentlessly albeit recklessly make a spurious allegation as serious as a purported stealing of $150 million and when asked to provide proof cannot provide any but would only say I have abundant evidence. That amount of money cannot leave the Rivers State government coffers to APC without a paper trail. Anything short of providing verifiable documentary evidence of the movement of the money from Rivers State government coffers to sponsor the APC is an assault on the sensibilities of Rivers people and Nigerians. Governance is not a drinking party. Governance is serious business. For the sake of Rivers State and Rivers people, Wike should stop dancing naked in the market square. In the interview, Wike kept talking about the judicial panel of Inquiry he set up to indict Amaechi of corruption in his failed bid to stop Amaechi from been appointed a Minister. In his usual disingenuous way of speaking, he made it look like the panel was the standard of determining who is corrupt or not, while deliberately and misleadingly failing to acknowledge that the vendetta panel was not a court of law, therefore cannot have the powers of our courts to determine whos guilty or not guilty of corruption As a matter of fact, the hack inquisition panel packaged as a probe panel, clearly showed bias and determination to indict Amaechi and officials of his administration during its public hearing. It was commonplace for witnesses to be coerced, directed, ordered and told in clear terms, sometimes with written notes, on what to say or not to say. In the same vein, Justice Omereji, the chairman of the panel prevents counsels to those invited by the commission from asking relevant questions that are likely to deviate and detract from their pre-determined agenda and conclusion. Also, the Commissions chairman was in the habit of ordering witnesses not to answer questions that would expose the commissions bias to indict former governor Amaechi. Indeed, the hack panel of Inquisition did not disappoint. It lived up to expectations as a comedy, a circus show to grab media headlines with bogus, phantom and fabricated and distorted claims of corrupt practices against former governor Amaechi and officials of his administration. Wike again lied in the interview when he claimed that Amaechi didnt pay workers salaries for 3-4 months. The process to pay the April salaries of regular civil servants was on going as May 29, 2015 when Amaechi left office. Wike was expected to continue with the process and pay the workers when he took over the mantle of leadership in the State. Everyone knows that May salaries would come from the May federal allocation that was received by Governor Wike after Amaechi had left office. Wike saying that Amaechi owed civil servants four months salaries is another distorted claim to mislead the public, the statement added. The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on Monday said that the controversy surrounding the 2016 Appropriation Bill is because it was rushed before submission to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari. Senator Ndume (APC/Borno South), spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. According to him, the problems inherent in the document would however be sorted out to enable the budget to be signed into law. Speaking earlier at the weekend, Ndume assured that the 2016 budget would be passed by the Senate before end of March. However, on Monday, he said: We are working on the budget daily. We are working on it collectively for the first time. The Executive and the Legislature are looking at the budget collectively. This is the first time we will be doing it this way. The matter is not about a date. If we can finish it today, we will hand it over for signature tomorrow. In those days, we just pass budgets that are normally not implemented. This is the first time we are doing a budget that the President is looking forward to implement. This budget was done in a rush and you know there are some issues that are cropping up. It is no longer going to be business as usual. So, those unusual things, if detected, we will work on them. It is not as if we are holding on to the budget. We are working collectively, he added. On his mission to the Presidential Villa, the Senate leader said the meeting with President Buhari was necessary because there were other bills pending before the National Assembly which requires such consultations. He said: There are issues that are really on ground. One is the budget. We also have two bills before the Senate that we need to start working on when we resume tomorrow. The Money Laundering Bill and the Criminal Information Sharing Bill There are issues other than those ones that are really on ground. This is how we are supposed to be doing it earlier. That is, coming into the Villa to consult and guide the proceedings in the Senate appropriately. Other than that, I dont want you to see it as an unusual visit. I will be doing this often because this is how it is supposed to be. Again, I normally consult with the President on a personal basis long before he became the President, so it is not unusual, he stated Sen. Ndume also faulted insinuations that his visit was to intercede on behalf of Senate President Bukola Saraki over his ongoing prosecution at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). I am not the Senate President. The question should be directed to the Senate President. You are asking me what I do not know. I consult and if I have to mediate on anything, there should be a problem. I do not know of any problem, he said. President Muhammadu Buhari has fired the heads of the six information-related parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. Sola Omole, DG of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the DGs of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) are those affected. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the announcement during a meeting he held with their Chief Executives on Monday. In lieu of this development, INFORMATION NIGERIA has put together 5 things you probably didnt know about the sacked NTA DG 1. Sola Omole is a communication and public relations expert, who graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1980 with a first Class. 2. He was an Announcer and News Reader at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) now FRCN between 1974 and 1976. 3. Sola Omole served in NTA as a Corp member and was retained as Editor/Newscaster in 1981. He left NTA in 1985, and moved to Gulf Oil Company now Chevron Nigeria Limited as Advisor Public communications. 4. He served in Chevron for 25 years in various capacities and retired in 2010 as Manager International Government Affairs (Chevron Washington, DC) and later became CEO of the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON Centre) in April 2012. 5. In February 2014, 65-year-old Omole was appointed Director General of NTA. The number of Afghan civilians killed and wounded surpassed 11,000 in 2015 the highest number recorded since the US-led invasion more than 14 years ago. The United Nations said in its annual report released on Sunday there were 3,545 civilian fatalities and 7,457 people wounded with children paying a particularly heavy toll, as Afghan security forces faced a surge in attacks by the Taliban and other armed groups. The total of 11,002 civilian casualties marked a four percent rise over 2014, the previous record high, the report said. One-in-four casualties was a child, while one-in-10 was female, it said, with the UNs special representative for Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom calling the figures unacceptable. We call on those inflicting this pain on the people of Afghanistan to take concrete action to protect civilians and put a stop to the killing and maiming of civilians in 2016, said Haysom. The report said anti-government elements were responsible for the most harm, causing 62 percent of all civilian casualties. Those killed and wounded by pro-government forces represented 17 percent of the record figure. Unprecedented numbers of children were needlessly killed and injured last year, said Danielle Bell, the UNs director of human rights in Afghanistan. Other children suffered the loss of parents one in 10 casualties was a women. The report said residents in northern and southern Afghanistan were particularly vulnerable as the Taliban and other armed groups intensified assaults on government installations and foreign forces. In a statement on Sunday, the Afghan Taliban rejected the UN report, calling it one-sided and biased. Aljazeera. Nigerians have been advised to stop exposing the military and other security institutions to public ridicule. A group, Citizens Initiative for Security Awareness (CISA) made the call against the backdrop of the arrest and detention of some top serving and retired military officers in connection with the $2.1 billion arms deal scandal. The group also frowned at what it described as media trial of top military officers, serving or retired, saying it is an ill-wind that will blow nobody any good. In a terse statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its head, publicity and mobilization, Aliyu Dogo, CISA noted that as at now, no military officer has been convicted by a competent court of law for corruption. President Muhammadu Buharis fight against corruption has received numerous thumbs-up from several Nigerians, some have gone ahead to enjoin him to extend his probe to some specific group of persons who have been linked in one way or the other to a corruption case in order to make his fight against corruption total. Here are is a list that contains 4 Nigerians whom some groups are calling on Buhari to probe as put together by INFORMATION NIGERIA Former President Goodluck Jonathan: The Christian Association of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter, over the weekend called for the immediate prosecution of former President Goodluck Jonathan for corruption while in office. The Chairman of Lagos CAN, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, said this while addressing newsmen in Lagos over the weekend. On why Jonathan should be probe, he said: What is wrong with it? A former President of Peru (Alberto Fujimori) was jailed. Also, a popular prime minister of Israel (Ehud Olmert) was jailed. If a nation puts you in a position of trust and you betray that trust, you should go to jail no matter who you are. I have no sympathy for anybody. Just make sure you get it right, and we get the facts right as well. Former President Shehu Shagari: Dr. Samuel Uche, of the prelate, Methodist church Nigeria, while speaking on Saturday, February 13 at the maiden Founders Day anniversary and inauguration of Very Rev. Sunday Onadipe as rector of Methodist theological institute, Sagamu in Ogun state said that the anti-corruption war championed by President Muhammadu Buhari must begin from the Shehu Shagari-led government. My advice to the President is that the fight against corruption should be total and shouldnt be a selective fight. Let him go back to 1979 and start fighting corruption till today. If it is lonely and lopsided, it will seem as a (political) vendetta against the opposition. Nobody will tell him that but the church will tell him that and that is how we see it. OAU VC: Hundreds of students of Obafemi Awolowo University on Friday asked President Muhammadu Buhari administration to probe the activities of the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Bamitale Omole. The students passed the message to the President through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who was at the university, to deliver the distinguished guest lecture, titled Nexus between corruption and underdevelopment of Nigeria at the Universitys Faculty of Arts. The students said: It is not only at the national level that the government should concentrate its fight against corruption, it should come to Universities and we welcome President Buharis war against corruption on OAU campus. Gani Adams: Some state chairmen of the Odua Peoples Congress have called on the President Muhammadu Buhari led government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate Mr. Gani Adams, who they referred to as a former OPC National Coordinator. While accusing Adams of financial impropriety, they also urged the EFCC to investigate some aides of Adams such as Ogunshola Olugbade and Femi Felix, who they referred to as his fronts. They spoke on Sunday during a media briefing in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Do you think all these people deserve to probed? The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Benue State has accused the immediate past Senate President, David Mark, of impunity and inducement ahead of the February 20 Benue South senatorial district re-run election. The Appeal Court sitting in Markurdi, the Benue State capital had last year nullified the election of Mark and ordered a re-run. The forthcoming poll is a two-horse race between the former Senate president, who is re-contesting on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Daniel Onjeh of the APC, whose petition led to the nullification of Marks election. The Director of Media and Publicity of the Onjeh Campaign Organisation, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi in a statement in Otukpo on Sunday, accused the Director General of David Mark Campaign Organisation and immediate past Interior Minister, Comrade Abba Moro, of using the official plate number of the Ministry, an office he left since May 28, 2015 to sensitize vulnerable youth on violent acts. Ogenyi said, Mr. Moro and his Personal Assistants are currently using the official plate numbers of the Interior Ministry as a cover in distributing arms and ammunitions including cash to various segments of Benue South, which culminated into the foiled attacks by men of the Nigeria Police Force, orchestrated by Marks Militants at Upu and Akpa yesterday during our campaign rallies. The Onjeh campaigns spokesperson further advised that the security agencies must do more especially in checking the illegal possession of government official plate numbers being used as a cover to perpetuate this evil act. Heavily armed men are assembled all over the Senatorial district to intimidate, mime and kill APC supporters across the 9 Local government areas in preparation towards the Saturday re-run election, he added. Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has hailed the Nigerian military for their sacrifice in restoring peace in the North-East. Mr. Shettima stated this while speaking with journalists in Maiduguri, the state capital on Sunday. The military has recorded tremendous achievements in the past six months, we are now consolidating the emerging peace in the state. It is wrong for anyone to say that the Boko Haram are in control. Yes you might have pockets of them trying to foment mischief, but eventually, we shall overcome the hiccups. We are all living witnesses to what is happening in Borno, you and I know that in the last couple of months Ngala was liberated by the military, so also was Bama, Gwoza, Dikwa, Mafa and so many other communities that were hitherto under the terrorists control. The military deserve commendation not condemnation, the governor said. He said it was clear that the Boko Haram terrorists had been decimated by the military. The Boko Haram terrorists have been decimated and President Buhari deserves special commendation for that. The people of the North-East, especially those of Borno are eternally grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment toward restoring sanity in the area, Mr. Shettima said. He said that the military were making efforts to rout out the terrorists from their hideouts in Sambisa forest. The most important thing for us now as a people is to support the Federal Government on the anti-terrorism war, Mr. Shettima said. He said that it was difficult to end terrorism within a short time. President Muhammadu Buhari said Monday in Abuja that the Federal Government had begun mobilizing the military and task forces to stop the sabotage of oil facilities and kidnapping of citizens for ransom in the coastal areas of the country. He made this known at a meeting with a delegation from the United States Institute of Peace, USIP. President Buhari also said that his administration was giving the highest priority to the resettlement of displaced persons and rehabilitation of infrastructure destroyed by Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast. While assuring the delegation that his administrations ongoing war against corruption would be fought within the ambit of the law, Mr. Buhari noted that mechanisms had been put in place to ensure respect for human rights in the fight against terrorism. We attach great importance to human rights. If there are breaches, they will be investigated and dealt with, a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted him as saying. President Buhari, according to the statement, welcomed the growing international support, especially from the United States and Europe, for Nigerias efforts to end the Boko Haram insurgency. He also expressed happiness with the support of Nigerians for the cardinal programmes of his government, the security of the country, the war against corruption and revival of the economy, which, he said, the administration would continue to vigorously pursue. Leader of the USIP delegation, Nancy Lindborg, applauded the progress being made by the Buhari administration in ensuring greater security in Nigeria. She promised the continued assistance of the Institute for the reconstruction and development work going on in the country. The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, says government must continue the legal efforts of thoroughly investigating the crimes of the past, transparently and prosecute all accused persons. Speaking at the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Cardinal Onaiyekan said that religious institutions cannot remain distant in the ongoing war against corruption and insurgency while a moral spiritual battle is raging. Cardinal Onaiyekan, while lamenting the problem of endemic corruption which has left a trail of poverty in the country, also asked the government to explore other strategies for fighting terrorism and insurgency in the country. He said this while delivering his homily as Catholic bishops from different states of the country came together with Catholic faithful to celebrate mass as part of activities to mark the Catholic Bishops Conference. The President of the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, who was the keynote speaker also focused on the war on terrorism. He said that the war on corruption and terrorism cannot be fought and won by government alone. Archbishop Kaigama expressed optimism that a new Nigeria is possible with a general reawakening of patriotic consciousness among the people. As a lot of you already know, Easter, Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday dates are never the same every year. For some years, it falls in March, for others it could be in April. For some of you, who have always wondered why this is so, INFORMATION NIGERIA in this piece brings you 6 things you must know about these feasts 1. Because of the complications which was encountered in calculating the date of Passover and the fact that Christians didnt like being dependent on the pronouncements of Rabbis for how to celebrate Christian feasts, they came up with another way of determining the date. They decided that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after (never on) the Paschal full moon. 2. Easter, the day Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is observed on the first Sunday after the Pascal Full Moon (the first full moon of spring, which is the first full moon on or after March 21) following the spring equinox. 3. According to a decree by the early Christian Church at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. and the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory in 1582, that day always occurs on March 21. 4. Therefore Easter can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. That is also why Easter and church holidays leading up to that day, like Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday, are referred to as moveable feasts. 5. As for Palm Sunday (the sixth Sunday of Lent) you start with the date of Easter and back up one week: It is the Sunday before Easter Sunday. 6. And as for Ash Wednesday (which was last Wednesday), you start with the date of Easter Sunday, back up six weeks (that gives you the first Sunday of Lent), and then back up four more days: Ash Wednesday is the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent. If you didnt know, now you do thanks to us!!! The Minister of Interior, Gen. Bello Dambazau at the weekend expressed hope that the abducted Chibok school girls will be rescued. The minister said this during an interview with journalists at the palace of the Lagos Monarch, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu where he went on a courtesy visit. According to him, the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were collaborating with the military in the efforts to rescue the abducted girls. Though the rescue of the Chibok girls is not within my jurisdiction, as a parent, I would like to see the Chibok girls back home. It is unfortunate that a lot of time was wasted in the past, but Nigerians should not lose hope on the Chibok girls as the present government is working assiduously to bring the girls home. The police and the Civil Defence Corps are also working with the army towards rescuing the girls and providing adequate security to all Nigerians, Dambazau said. Speaking earlier, Dambazau said he was at the palace to solicit the monarchs support for agencies under his watch in Lagos. Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday warned the Federal Government and Distribution Companies (DISCOs) against going against subsisting court orders on electricity tariff. The judge said the government must not act in a way that shows disdain for the court in a constitutional democracy. Justice Idris said: The point must be made that obedience to the rule of law by all citizens but more particularly those who publicly take the oath of office to protect and preserve the Constitution is desideratum to good governance and respect for rule of law. In a constitutional democratic society like ours, this is meant to be the norm. It is an act of apostacy for government to ignore the provisions of the law and the necessary rules meant to regulate matters. I must say it loud and clear that the government of this country shall be a government of laws and not of men. Protests by labour unions have trailed the new power tariff approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). It would be recalled that an activist/lawyer Toluwani Adebiyi last year filed a suit seeking a perpetual injunction restraining NERC from implementing any upward review of electricity tariff without significant improvement in power supply for at least 18 hours a day. Justice Idris made an order directing parties to maintain status quo. But, while the suit was pending, the NERC announced the take-off of new tariff prices, which are as high as 40 per cent. Adebiyi on Monday informed the court that he has initiated contempt proceedings against NERC chairman and DISCOs Managing Directors for disobeying the courts orders. The lawyer is praying the court to commit the alleged contemnors to prison. However, NERCs lawyer, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), said he had filed an appeal against the order by Justice Idris. Idigbe said he also had a pending application for stay of proceedings pending determination of the appeal. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, says he loses at least $1 million annually as a result of his decision to serve in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr. Kachikwu made the disclosure on Sunday in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee set up to investigate the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations offshore processing and crude swap arrangement for the period 2010 to date. The Minister, however, said he has no regrets leaving his lucrative position at Exxon Mobil, where he was vice president before President Buhari appointed him Group Managing Director of the NNPC. He said: The call to public service for me was unique. I was vice-president of Exxon Mobil West Africa and I was suddenly called to serve. In serving, I lose a lot of money, if not at least a million dollars every year by virtue of being a minister, but the thing is, I am directed by the voice of God. I believe that this country needs help. I believe that it is about time we began to perform for the young and upcoming. I believe that the sheer capacity of this country is unimaginable. I do not know of any country in the world with our population, our resources, our intellect, our flamboyance, our family nexus, everything is together, Mr. Kachikwu stated. Speaking further, the NNPC boss urged Nigerians to support and inculcate the new philosophy of the present administration, which is aimed at turning the fortunes of the country around. Everything in this country is together; the only thing that is not together is leadership and in Gods name; we are bound to change that. In every little space that you have, and in my own case petroleum, you have to make an absolute change and so I am not worried about price of oil. It can be five dollar for all I care. I am worried about the direction of the industry; I am worried about changing things the way they have never done before. I am worried about creating opportunities that exist; I am worried about improving the standards of living; I am worried about encouraging opportunities in the sector. I am worried about opening up those opportunities that have existed for years, he added. A former Aide-de-Camp to erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan, Colonel Ojogbane Adegbe, has denied comments attributed to him that Nigeria will quake if he opens a can of worms about his former boss. Adegbe was arrested last week by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Lagos where he was reportedly attending a senior officers course. According to the reports, the former ADC during interrogations, warned that another Dasukigate may be imminent if he is forced to reveal what transpired in that administration. Dasukigate is the term coined for the scandal surrounding how the immediate past National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) allegedly misappropriated the over $2.1 billion meant to purchase arms and munitions for the Nigerian military. Col. Adegbe, while expressing shock and disbelief over the recent viral report, demanded an unreserved apology from the management of the Sun Publishing Limited, which first carried the report, for dragging his hard-earned reputation in the mud. The ex-ADC said his recent visit to the office of the EFCC was never in connection with the controversial arms scandal. Reacting to the report, the military official in a letter by his solicitor, Chief Ogwu Onoja, SAN, denied ever making such controversial statement against the former president during his interrogation at the EFCC office. According the letter, We have read with shock and disbelief the lead story in your newspaper, dated Friday 12th February, 2016, titled: If I open up, Nigeria will burn. Detained Jonathans ex-ADC warns, as EFCC declares Tompolo wanted. Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, while describing the report as false, misleading and defamatory, said it had caused significant harm to Adegbes good name and reputation. He said, We have examined the full story contained on page 7 of the paper and the different statements credited to him and compared them with provable facts. This comparison shows without any doubt whatsoever that, among others, the following of your statements about what transpired are false: a. You stated that Col. Adegbe was credited to have said: If I open up, Nigeria will burn. b. You stated that: the economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) picked up Adegbe on Wednesday in Lagos where he was interrogated before he was flown to Abuja yesterday. c. You stated that: It was gathered that ongoing interrogation of the former ADC by operatives of the EFCC could open up a new can of worms, which could surpass what is now known as Dasukigate. d. You stated that: Col. Adegbe, who was arrested in Lagos a few days ago, was said to be attending a senior officers course outside the former capital city, but on a visit, when he was picked up for interrogation. To set the record straight, all the issues raised by your paper above only exist in the figment of your imagination. This attitude of yours is highly unprofessional and capable of heating up the polity and has indeed brought the name of our client to great disrepute. We are constrained to set the records straight by informing you that our client was not arrested as reported by your newspaper. Giving insights into the reason behind his clients invitation to the anti-graft office, the lawyer noted that, to set the records straight, Col Adegbe was not arrested by EFCC as claimed by your newspaper. It is known fact that Col Adegbe has been in the UK for studies having been released by the Nigerian Army to do so. The EFCC wrote the military authority to invite our client for questioning with respect to an ongoing investigation to clarify certain allegations made against him. The military authority invited him back to Nigeria, which he willingly came in and reported to the office of the provost marshal in Abuja on Wednesday 10th February 2016. Due to his late arrival and the inability of the Army to complete their documentation, he was asked to report to the Garrison Mess in Mogadishu Cantonment in line with military tradition till the next day. Upon completion of the necessary paper work, he was escorted to the EFCC where he wrote his statement and was interrogated. We are also familiar with the statement he wrote at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and are also acquainted with answers he gave to questions, so we are at a complete loss as to how your newspaper arrived at that highly sensational and false story. The lawyers and representative of the Nigerian Army were present throughout the interrogation. There was never a time Col. Adegbe threatened to burn down Nigeria. He has demanded a retraction of the said story with the same banner headline and an apology from the Sun Newspaper within 12 hours to avoid legal action. In view of your false and malicious statements, we demand a retraction of the false story with the same banner headline and an apology for your fictitious and highly embarrassing report. The retraction and apology must carry and be accorded the same prominence not less than 7 editions of your publication. We also demand that the retraction be syndicated to all your prints and the online media links in the same way and manner you spread the false story. We demand this to be effected within 12 hours while we advise our client on the legal implication of this malicious publication, the statement added. Libyas UN-backed Presidential Council has announced the formation of a revised national unity government, with the internationally-recognised parliament to vote on the line-up early this week. One of the councils members, Fathi al-Majbari, said in a televised statement late on Sunday that the list of 13 ministers and five ministers of state had been sent to Libyas eastern parliament for approval. Majbari, announced the list just before the deadline to reach an agreement expired. We hope that this will be the beginning of the end of the conflict in Libya, Majbari said from Skhirat, Morocco, where the council has been meeting to try to come up with a government. But in a sign of continuing divisions over how to bring together Libyas warring factions, two of the councils nine members refused for a second time to put their signatures to the proposed government, according to a document posted on the Presidential Councils Facebook page. The UN plan under which the unity government has been named was designed to help Libya stabilise and tackle a growing threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It was signed in Morocco in December, but has been opposed by hard-liners on both sides from the start and suffered repeated delays. Aljazeera. A 74-year old man has attracted a lot of attention from across China over the last few weeks, for his incredible dedication to his suprising lifelong mission: counting all the bricks of the Great Wall of China. Zhang Ming-hua is the son of a melon farmer from the Gansu Province, who joined the Red Guards in 1966, when he was only sixteen years old. In December 1968, in the midst of all the turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, he met Chairman Mao Zedong and was given a rather singular and unusual mission. He was asked to count the bricks of the Great Wall, in order to inspire greatness in modern-day Chinese by showing them the accomplishments of their ancestors. Mr Zhang has devoted his entire life to fulfilling his mission, and he has now almost completed his task. He has only 418.7 kilometers of wall left to count, out of a total of 21,196 km (13,171 miles), and hopes to finish in less than two and a half years. He says he was honored to receive such an important mission and says his main concern in life is to be able to finish before he dies. This wall is my life says the old man. I have put so much time and effort in my job, that I cant even think of anything else I would rather be doing. At this point, my only wish is to be able to make it to the end. The Great Wall is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China to protect it from the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. Nearly a third of the entire structure has disappeared over time, in great part due to the Cultural Revolution (19661976), when many bricks were used in building homes, farms, or reservoirs. Despite all the missing bricks and the damages caused by erosion and natural disasters, Mr. Zhangs calculations have already surpassed the 3,873,000,000 individual bricks given by most estimations. The elderly man says he wants to complete his mission before giving a definitive count, but he says it should be close to 10 billion bricks. WND Report. Punch Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the Central Bank of Nigerias initiatives in capacity building and access to fund will address the myriads of pitfalls facing young entrepreneurs and aid the expansion of employment opportunities for Nigerians. Vanguard fund, another serving officer and former Director of Military Intelligence, Major General Wiwa, has been arrested. The Sun EKITI State Governor, Mr .Ayodele Fayose, has said the Federal Government should not shield Mr Tope Aluko from facing trial over his allegation that the June 21, 2014 governorship poll in the state was rigged in his favour and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Thisday Boko Haram militants killed at least 30 people during attacks on two villages over two days in Borno State, local vigilante fighters and local officials said at the weekend. According to the Associated Press (AP), the vicious attacks saw the raiders looting food supplies, carting away herds, and kidnapping women and children Daily Times The death of a civil servant, Olatunji Famotua, in the workforce of Ondo State is causing an outrage following the non-payment of workers salaries by the state government since the past three months. Guardian IN its bid to improve its Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR), Anambra State government and its partners, ABX World, a Nigerian based courier/cargo company, Arik Air and Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL), have commenced agro-allied exports to the European countries. Daily Trust The Southwest geo-political zone has got the largest share of N88.7 billion for major projects in the 2016 proposed budget for the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, a Daily Trust analysis has revealed. A fresh round of controversy has greeted the recent transfer of Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka from Christ the King Parish, GRA, where he had been the parish priest for 20 years to Our Lady of Rosary, Emene Enugu, as members of his Adoration Ministry, Enugu Nigeria, AMEN, Sunday, alleged a conspiracy between the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Calistus Onaga and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The fiery Catholic priest is the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, which attracts tens of thousands of worshippers from various churches. His transfer last month put the normally-conservative Catholic Church in the spotlight, more so, as Fr. Mbaka claimed that the move was punitive because of his political pronouncements. In a statement signed by Kingsley Eze, Igbo Youth Kaduna, Sunday Ukam, Enugu Adorer, Adedije Wale, Osun State, Adorer, and twenty others, they maintained that the transfer of Mbaka out of the Christ the King Parish GRA, Enugu, fell short of the routine transfer of priests in the diocese. They alleged that whereas former Bishops in the diocese gave Mbaka all the support needed for the ministry to flourish, Bishop Onaga had allegedly been acting a script aimed at bringing the priest down. What Bishop Michael Eneja saw and allowed, Bishop Gbuji protected and watered but Bishop Onaga uprooted in a most barbaric and despondent manner. How? Sometime ago, he gave impromptu directive that the Ministry should stop the Wednesday all-night Adoration prayer, which Fr. Mbaka complied with. The directive would have blown out the fire of the ministry and brought it to a painful end if not for the intervention of the Holy Spirit, they stated. Is Bishop Onaga angry that Fr. Mbaka is prophesying? Was it not from the seat of the Bishop he occupies that Fr. Mbaka was ordained a priest, a king and prophet? How then can the Church become worried when he begins to prophesy? Does the Church contradict itself? We are not happy with the manner the wind of the transfer blew and many of us feel bad about it. Fr. Mbaka is holding the brake for some of us and we implore him to keep matching the brake and hold the steering firmly because all eyes are on him. He should not be discouraged. We are behind him. Even if they post him to the moon, there we shall be with him. Where are those behind this transfer? Let them come out from their hidings so that they will compete with Fr. Mbaka for us to see, in area of preaching the gospel, in prayers, in fasting or in charity. Some of us who are not from Enugu Diocese didnt believe it that Fr. Mbaka was transferred in this manner. The transfer is not our problem but the manner it was done. It struck us like thunder and we have been inundated with calls from our people residing outside the country, UK, Spain, USA etc. We are dumbfounded and we cant help asking- Is this the fight of faith that the diocese is enjoined to fight? Is this how the diocese wants to win souls? While the true lovers of the Catholic Church are thinking of how to protect Fr. Mbaka as gift to the Catholic Church, his own diocese just exposed him and left him without shelter. Most Nigerians know that the uncommon silence of Bishop Onaga over Fr. Mbakas prophesy of the defeat of the Goodluck Jonathans PDP-led government by President Muhammadu Buhari was not really for nothing. He was just waiting for the time to carry out the script of the stalwarts of the overthrown party. Barely few weeks before the posting, the voice of a faction of the Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, a socio-cultural group that fell out with the party was heard barking at Fr. Mbaka to shut up over his prophesies. And now comes the posting done in such a manner as to really shut Fr Mbaka up. Source Close to Bishop Onaga disclosed to us that the Bishop said he transferred Fr Mbaka out of pressure from Ohaneze and PDP. The posting is not Holy Ghost oriented but PDPnized and Ohanaezenized, and any cleric be him Pastor, Bishop or Cardinal that supported this is enemy of the Holy Spirit. How can the Bishop just wake up and tell Fr. Mbaka to pack into a parish that cannot comfortably contain two priests as a third priest? Is he meant to punish him? Is that the way the Catholic Church in the diocese is meant to reward and encourage him for the glory and honour he had brought to the Catholic Church in this part of the divide and for his unalloyed humility and total obedience to the Church? Is that the way the Church is meant to reward him for taking care of the flock of the Catholic Church both within and outside the dioceses? the statement read. They equally warned the Secretary, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Raph Madu to stay out of Mbakas ministry, otherwise, we shall expose his questionable life as a priest to public glare. He should learn the wisdom in the adage that he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones and keep silence. He lacks the moral rectitude as a priest to talk to Fr. Mbaka and we are ready to confront him with those facts if he doesnt mind his language, they warned. The members of AMEN added they are ready and determined to lead a religious revolution in Nigeria if what they termed the stage-managed defamation and character assassination sponsored by enemies of the Holy Spirit in the garb of clerics against Fr. Mbaka persists. We have been silent because Fr Mbaka has been calming us down to protect the image of the Church in Enugu Diocese , but this time, we cannot continue to hold our peace for we believe that respect is reciprocal. President Muhammadu Buhari embarked on a six-day vacation On Friday, February 5, and handed over to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as acting president of the nation. Before going on the vacation, President Buhari had dispatched a formal notice to Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the Constitution. It was the first time in the history of Nigeria, that a president voluntarily transmitted power to his deputy. As at the time Buharis short break became public knowledge, the acting president was in Lagos for the Holy Ghost Night programme of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), and rather than cut short his trip, Osinbajo, the following day, headed for Jerusalem Mission House International in Makurdi, Benue state, for a wedding ceremony. On Monday, February 8, Osinbajo fully resumed as acting president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, those who had expected him to move into the Presidents Wing of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa were in for a surprise as he chose to operate from the Vice Presidents Wing. Daily Trust reports that his office abruptly turned into a beehive of activity. Buharis office was, understandably, virtually deserted. State Governors, ministers refuse to visit State governors are regular visitors to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, ostensibly to brief the president on matters affecting their respective states. Some of them had been severally pilloried for allegedly abandoning their states for Abuja. But none of the state chief executives made it to the nations seat of power throughout the period Osinbajo held the fort for Buhari. Majority of the ministers were also not sighted at the State House during Osinbajos six-day reign as acting president. They could conveniently claim to be busy with the budget defence at the National Assembly. They could equally hide under the cover of a presidential directive that they be channeling their communications to the Presidency through the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President. In unambiguous terms, President Buhari had, on November 5, 2015 while hosting his ministers to a ministerial retreat at the old banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, instructed thus: All communications and appointments from you to the Presidency should be routed through the Office of the Chief of Staff as is normal in this Presidential System. So, even if the ministers had, on that ground, chosen to shun the acting president last week as insinuated, they could be understood or misunderstood to have simply obeyed their employers order. The Secretary to the government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, cannot hide under this cover, for it is his responsibility to ensure effective coordination and monitoring of the implementation of government policies and programmes for the overall development of the country. Little wonder his absence at the Acting Presidents Office set tongues wagging. No Federal Executive council (FEC) Even as vice president, Osinbajo has the power to preside over Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings, in the absence of the president. As acting president last week, he did not convene the meeting. Daily Trust report that Although FEC meetings had not been held on a weekly basis since the inception of the Buhari presidency, Osinbajo could have cashed in on Buharis vacation to demonstrate how real the power of an acting president is in Nigerias context. National Security Council (NSC) meeting, chaired by the president, has almost been a routine owing to the frequency of terrorist attacks on the northeeast. Acting President Osinbajo did not summon the service chiefs for the meeting even when terrorists blasted scores to death at Dikwa Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in Borno state on Tuesday. How far then did Osinbajo fare as acting president? He hit the ground running early Monday morning with a closed-door meeting with a delegation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, (EITI), a global body assessing transparency level of nations oil, gas and mineral resources. The session afforded him the opportunity to reiterate the administrations commitment to transparency and good governance. It is important that we handle our resources with transparency and good governance. One of the objectives we have set for ourselves is to ensure that we are transparent and able to handle our resources well. If as a nation we had handled our resources better with transparency and good governance, we would not have found ourselves where we are now. We have learnt our lesson, Osinbajo told his visitors. The acting president also played host to a delegation of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI) and reassured of the federal governments determination to rehabilitate and rebuild the insurgency-riddledNorth-east; with a passionate call on well-to-do Nigerians to partner with the government in that regard. Osinbajo on Tuesday received a delegation of the Senate which was at the Presidential Villa on a consultation visit over the 2016 budget proposal, the Money Laundering Bill and other bills currently before the National Assembly. Senate Leader Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who led the delegation, lauded Buhari for not leaving the country on autopilot. For the leader of the Senate, the transmission of power to Osinbajo was unprecedented in Nigeria. This is not the first time we are coming here, but this is the first time we are having the vice president as acting president. That is one of the reasons we are here. This is because we are setting a new example. During the previous governments, the president would just go and leave the place blank. But this time around, when our president went (on vacation) for a few days, he transmitted to all Nigerians that the vice president is to act as president.Now, we have the budget as work in progress; we have the new Money Laundering Bill before the Senate; we have many things we are looking at. We have come to consult on these, Ndume told State House correspondents shortly after meeting with Osinbajo. Acting President Osinbajo also on Tuesday received a delegation of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), led by its Executive Director, Michel Sidibe. He assured of effective primary healthcare centres across the country. He rounded off his six-day reign with a directive that security be beefed up at all the internally displaced persons camps in the country. He was, through a statement by his spokesman Laolu Akande, responding to Tuesdays suicide bombing of Dikwa IDP Camp. Well, Osinbajos directive could have possibly reminded the Armed Forces that an Acting Commander-in-Chief was in charge for six days. President Buhari resumed work on Thursday; and in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution, sent a formal notice of his resumption to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Prof Osinbajo and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami are at loggerhead over $1.3 billion Malabu scandal. Source: Naij Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has lampooned constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) for criticizing the Supreme Court judgment affirming his election. Sagay, who is chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, at the weekend in Warri, Delta State, described the Supreme Courts decisions in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States as very perverse. Everybody knows that people like Wike climbed into the governorship seat (over) dead bodies and over bloods of human beings. There were no elections, they wrote the results, the evidence is there, Mr. Sagay had said. Reacting to the comment, the Rivers Commissioner for Information, Dr. Austin Tam-George, accused the lawyer of re-litigating a settled matter. The statement reads: Prof Itse Sagay, one of the most opportunistic enablers of the corrupt regime of Mr. Rotimi Amaechi in Rivers State, seems to have found the courage to step out of his closet. In a widely reported statement yesterday, Sagay launched a bitter and completely unwarranted attack on the justices of the Supreme Court judgment for affirming Nyesom Wike as the duly elected governor of Rivers Statement. Prof. Sagay alleged, without any shred of proof that everybody knows that people like Wike climbed into the governorship seat over dead bodies and over blood of human beings. There were no elections, they wrote the results; the evidence is there. For a trained lawyer, Prof Sagay has lost his sense of irony. He criticises the legally sound and unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court, by resorting to the silly and unsubstantiated hearsay mindlessly peddled by the APC. In the twilight of an unremarkable career, is Prof Sagay seeking to be the dubious originator of the sick jurisprudence of Everybody knows, even without evidence? Is the Supreme Court no longer supreme in its judgments? Why is Sagay re-litigating a settled matter in the streets in such a disgraceful manner? Prof Sagay may wish to re-read the history of the people of Rivers State. We never give up our sovereignty. We condemn this orchestrated campaign of calumny launched by the APC and its cowardly surrogates against Nigerias justice system, which is the bedrock of our evolving constitutional democracy. Working with other Nigerians and our sister states in the Niger Delta, the government and people of Rivers State will continue to defeat the dark political fundamentalism of the APC. We call on the international community to restrain the APC from its desperate attempts to politically dominate our people and plunder the resources of our land. Government workers in Ekiti State who embark on strike without first exhausting channels of negotiation would henceforth forfeit their salaries during such industrial action, Governor Ayo Fayose has warned. Fayose gave the warning yesterday evening in Ado Ekiti, the state capital while appearing on his monthly media chat, Meet Your Governor. He also denied awarding contracts for the construction of Erekesan Market, Airport and flyover to his children, family members and cronies. The governors latest hard-liner was coming on the heels of a two-day warning strike by primary school teachers in the state last week to protest non-payment of September 2014 salaries and 2014 leave bonus. Speaking tough, Fayose said the state would henceforth divert salaries of striking workers to those ready to show concerns and understanding with the parlous economic situation of the state. He said: Since I came back, Ekiti is financially challenged. I have not hidden the financial position of the state from workers, particularly the teachers, because they are the set of people I have shown so much love for. I celebrate them on annual basis. Even during my first term, people called me Teachers Governor due to my love for them. But the strike they embarked on recently could have been resolved without any crisis if we had dialogued. According to him, the respect he showed the teachers was not reciprocated, adding that every worker in the state knows how much Ekiti receives as monthly federal allocation because he lays it bare for them to see. We should also know that the people who are not salary earners must be taken care of. We cant be paying salary and neglect other people from having access to facilities like good roads, good water supply and this market I just flagged. So, I enjoin the workers to show some level of understanding that we have to balance the two, I mean paying salary as the money comes and also help the masses as well. There is nowhere in the world where the entire budgetary provision will be centre around recurrent expenditure, Gov. Fayose. On his recent visit to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Fayose said: Governor Aregbesola is my very good friend. It is only in Nigeria where two friends in different political parties wont be free to greet each other. My visit to governor Aregbesola is in Yorubas interest. We have to forget about our political differences and build Yoruba into a huge political force in Nigeria. The Supreme Court on Monday gave reasons for upholding the election of Udom Emmanuel as the validly elected governor of Akwa Ibom State. Mr. Emmanuel contested the April 11, 2015 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. Justice Chima Nweze, who gave the reasons, said the decision of the lower court was a mis-judgment based on only facts and not on the provisions of the laws. Mr. Nweze said the decisions of the lower court was based on the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on the use of card readers for the election. He further held that the lower court denied the governor fair hearing. From the study of the evidence brought before us, Udom Emmanuel won the highest lawfully cast votes. This has placed the court to set aside the judgments of the two lower courts as the other parties challenging his victory could prove otherwise. The lower courts were wrong to have cancelled elections in 18 and subsequently the entire 31 Local Government Areas of the state on the basis of non-compliance. While we commend the introduction of the card readers, the innovation, however, cannot supersede the voters register. The extant laws of the federation provides for the use of voters register but the card reader, irrespective of its importance, does not have a place in any extant law of the land, Mr. Nweze held. Mr. Nweze, therefore, held that the tribunal was wrong to base its judgment on non-compliance with the use of card readers. On allegation of violence and irregularities during the election, Justice Nweze said Umana Umana and the All Progressives Congress failed to prove the allegations. The two respondents were not able to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt because they failed to bring witnesses from all the polling units to substantiate their claims, Mr. Nweze said. Mr. Nweze held that to prove non-accreditation, the respondents ought to have tendered the voters register and then demonstrate how it was abused. I do align myself to earlier decision of the apex court that the provision of the law recognises the voters register as the only key element to conduct any elections, he said. While noting that INEC had power to make subsidiary regulations regarding conduct of election, Mr. Nweze held that the regulations must conform to constitutional provisions. Mr. Nweze held that the extant laws did not give room for arbitrary nullification of an election. Petitioners have got to prove that there was substantial non-compliance in all polling units before we could take such allegation serious, he said. The Court of Appeal in Abuja had nullified the Akwa Ibom governorship election of April 11. The governors election was challenged by the APC and its candidate, Mr. Umana. At the election tribunal, the governor secured partial victory, as it ordered a rerun in 18 out of the states 31 local government areas. The governor challenged the ruling, insisting he won in all 31 local government areas, but the Court of Appeal went on to nullify the entire election. Justices Mary Peter-Odili and Clara Ogunbiyi had given similar reasons to justify the return of Delta, Yobe and Oyo States governors. Equity salespeople provide a number of valuable services to the buy side news updates, access to corporate leaders, interviews with analysts, etc. but few have the potential to impact a clients portfolio more than the investment ideas that salespeople generate. To find out which firms and individuals provide the most profitable suggestions, TIM Group, a London-based operator of the worlds largest network connecting investors with institutional brokerages trading ideas, assessed the roughly 235,000 equity recommendations it distributed to hedge funds and traditional investment management firms last year. A primary goal of TIM Group is to help funds find and connect with brokers who have great track records in the markets that interest them most, and therefore evaluating performance is central to our mandate, explains William Herkelrath, New Yorkbased head of business development. Publicly celebrating excellence within our network was a logical step. Contributors are evaluated on the basis of idea performance, volume and consistency, among other factors, and rankings are compiled for each of the markets that TIM Group serves: Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Japan and North America. Using a regional benchmark allows us to judge an individuals potential impact on a traditional market-relative fund, adds Robert Schuessler, director of analytics. We ensure that we are highlighting consistent performers, rather than individuals who might have had one or two exceptionally lucky ideas, by requiring a minimum number of ideas and scaling overall return by the number of ideas submitted. UBS is TIM Groups top bulge-bracket performer in Europe for a fourth consecutive year. Eighteen of its salespeople met the eligibility criteria, and they produced nearly 2,600 trade ideas, with an average return of 2.10 percent. Just behind, with an average return of 2.08 percent, is the team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch; some 25 participants offered nearly 3,400 suggestions. At No. 3 is Morgan Stanley, with 30 people whose 4,100 ideas generated returns averaging 1.73 percent. The MSCI Europe index tumbled 2.34 percent in 2015, in dollar terms. Among midtier and boutique firms, Belgiums KBC Securities repeats in first place, with ten qualified contributors serving up 686 ideas, with an average return of 4.55 percent. TIM Group recognizes only the top three among large firms; however, it ranks the ten best performers among the smaller brokerages. Here is the full list, with the average returns included parenthetically: KBC Securities (4.55 percent) Hauck & Aufhauser (4.27 percent) Equinet (3.86 percent) Carnegie (3.04 percent) DnB Markets (3.02 percent) ING Financial Markets (3.01 percent) MainFirst Bank (2.73 percent) Rabobank (2.61 percent) Numis Securities (2.30 percent) ABG Sundal Collier (2.27 percent) Here are the ten top-performing individuals among European equity salespeople at bulge-bracket firms: Tatiana Volochkovich, Morgan Stanley (8.36 percent) Michael Moizant, Goldman Sachs International (6.55 percent)* Louise Hough, UBS (6.92 percent) Brian Robinson, Goldman Sachs International (5.76 percent) Marina Zavolock, Morgan Stanley (4.94 percent)* Viktor Danielson, Goldman Sachs International (4.82 percent)* Rasmus Bertsch, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (4.96 percent) Sarah Murray, Goldman Sachs International (4.50 percent)* Jan-Willem Brand, Credit Suisse (4.83 percent) Timothy Cross, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (4.01 percent) And the winners among the midtier and boutique institutions: Anders Knudsen, SEB Equities (9.74 percent)* Sebastien Fuki, KBC Securities (10.86 percent) Konrad Lieder, Equinet (8.22 percent) Morten Halle, DnB Markets (7.48 percent)* Laurent Kieffer, HSBC (11.98 percent) Jonathan Loubser, Numis Securities (8.47 percent) Fabien El Haik, Oddo Securities (8.35 percent) Andrea Bottaro, Intermonte (6.46 percent)* Lara Delgado, Canaccord Genuity (8.49 percent) Philipp Stoecker, Exane BNP Paribas (7.21 percent) * Outperforms salespeople ranked lower owing to having provided a higher number of profitable calls and/or those of a longer duration. SEBs Anders Knudsen can sum up his source of inspiration in one word: change. That can be any event that causes a significant change in the perception of an investment, from end markets to discounted cash flow or many other factors, he contends. But change in dynamics for a company is the best source for capturing alpha if we are talking about long or short ideas. Case in point: The Copenhagen-based head of equity sales buy recommendation on Swedens Invisio Communications, a designer and manufacturer of headphones, headsets and radios. There is no sell-side coverage of the stock, so I had to do a bit of digging myself, Knudsen explains. I found a hidden gem after meeting with company management. Invisio has a unique product and market position, but obviously no one in the market cared about the company given the valuation of the stock at the start of 2015. Thats when Knudsen began urging clients to buy it, making the case that Invisios technological advances would enable it to win business from various members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He was right. In August its Marlborough Communications affiliate secured a contract to supply the U.K. Ministry of Defense with hearing-protection equipment, and in October its Australian partner was selected to provide similar products to that countrys defense department. The stock shot up an eye-popping 491.8 percent last year, from 12.80 Swedish kronor to Skr75.75, and he continues to recommend it. Knudsen, who earned a graduate degree in business administration from the Copenhagen Business School, worked in the communications department of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs before joining SEB in 2000. Sebastien Fuki says his inspiration comes from a desire to not disappoint the money managers who place their trust in him. I really have the deepest respect for the buy-side community. After almost 20 years of experience on the sell side, I am still very much impressed by them, the KBC Securities salesperson attests. Because of the amazing time constraints of investors, I do not want them to lose time when they speak to me. So Im constantly studying and updating myself on the listed companies. One that caught his attention at the start of last year was Delhaize Group, a multinational convenience store and supermarket operator headquartered in Belgium. Our case was based on the improvement of free-cash-flow generation and supported by a drastic improvement of its working capital, reports Fuki, who is based in Brussels. In addition, his assessment of managements efforts to remodel its Food Lion stores in the U.S. and strengthen its position in its home market prompted him to conclude that the stock was trading at an unwarranted discount to its peers. The shares, which were valued at 59.27 in early January 2015 when he began to promote them, had surged to 88.03 by late June, when Dutch rival Royal Ahold agreed to buy Delhaize for 26.1 billion ($29.1 billion). They ended the year at 89.79 up 51.5 percent and remain recommended. Fuki received a masters degree in business engineering at ICHEC Brussels Management School. The business engineering program consists of a mix between some economics and finance courses and, as the name suggests, some courses leaning more toward engineering chemistry, mechanics, physics, electrotechnology, he explains. The combination serves as a great basis in this field of work, especially since we cover companies in many industries. He joined KBC in 2008 as head of the firms equity sales and sales trading teams. Prior to that he held various positions at Petercam (now Degroof Petercam), including head of institutional sales. I strongly believe that hard work on a file makes a difference in the quality of the recommendations. I look for opportunities in small-, mid- and large-cap stocks, and I really find deep pleasure in each and every investment opportunity I identify, he says. Actually, every opportunity I find just increases my motivation to find a new one. TIM Groups recognition of excellence in equity sales, now in its fifth year, has enabled Schuessler to discern common traits among the winners. Top performers include brokers who consistently enter more ideas than average, and they also consistently enter ideas of longer duration, he notes. Top performers ideas remain active 30 percent longer than the rest of the universe, which suggests that in addition to being correct more often, they are also earlier. Details on previous years winners can be found online at timgroup.com. After a break in celebration of the Year of the Monkey, Chinas financial sector gets back into full gear this week. On Saturday the Ministry of Commerce reported an estimated 11.2 percent increase in retail sales versus the holiday week in 2015, indicating that the slowdown in activity on the mainland has not derailed household consumption. Meanwhile, official state media sources reported over the weekend comments from peoples Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan that yuan depreciation in recent months is unwarranted based on current economic conditions. The statements, coming on the heels of a more-than $99 billion drawdown in the central banks currency reserves in January in defense of the exchange rate after it retreated to a new multiyear low, rang hollow with many strategists. In particular, Zhous scapegoating of speculators was received critical as capital outflows from China continue unabated. Saudi Arabia initiates stimulus as Syrian conflict expands. Media reports yesterday indicated that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority raised limits on commercial lending facilities. This was an bid to boost demand as the nations economy continues to suffer on the back of declining oil revenues. Separately, media outlets in Turkey have reported that Turkish and Saudi military leaders were in discussions over placing ground forces in Syria despite objections from the U.S., Turkeys fellow NATO member. Hong Kong leaders urge calm and obedience to Beijing. A dispute over food vendor licensing during Lunar New Year festivities in Hong Kong escalated into a prodemocracy protest that has given way to violent clashes with police in riot gear. While Chinese government media outlets have largely avoided coverage of the ongoing protests, Hong Kong news sources have published comments from Beijing officials equating the prodemocracy activists to terrorists. The demonstrations follow public outcry over show trials on the mainland of Beijing-critical publishers apprehended in Bangkok in arrests that Thailand officials have asserted were illegal. Scalias death brings fresh controversy to election. The unexpected death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on a hunting trip in Texas has created a new flash point in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Considered the most conservative member of the nine-justice bench, the nomination process for a new justice is expected to become a protracted battle amid a polarized Senate and House of Representatives. The never-ending legal battles of former tyre king Bob Jane with his estranged son have delayed the planned float of the prominent businessmans new insurance company.Jane, who remains legally prohibited to use his name to set up new businesses, is rebranding the Bob Jane Integrity Insurance that he set up with smash repair businessman Tony Murdaca.The company has been renamed Integrity Insurance Australia where the two businessmen will sit on an advisory committee, the Australian Financial Review reported.We've put the name aside now, bearing in mind, Mr Jane only wanted to be an investor in this brand, he wanted to give us some advice. We can't [float or run the business] at the moment, and it's now called Integrity Insurance Australia," the report quoted Murdaca as saying."Bob's an investor of the company, endorsing what we're doing, and he's not a director at this stage. He'll probably come to the advisory board once we resolve [this]," Murdaca added.Rodney Jane, Bob Jane's estranged son and chief executive of Bob Jane T-Mart, previously won a court order banning the former race car driver from trading in his own name. The businessman was fined in 2014 for breaching the order."It's pretty simple. We own the trademark and he's trying to use it. It's the same thing yet again," the younger Jane said of his father and his insurance company."Maybe he's [Bob] doing it for fun, maybe it's for real, I don't know ... but he knows how to play the trademark game."Unfazed by the setback, the former tyre king said he would continue fighting for the right to use his name."We have to act to get rid of the [court] order," he said. "I'm only an investor of the company. The company has been set up by other people and they're being attacked by Rodney Bruce Jane about using the name."In September 2015, Jane and Murdaca said they would list Bob Jane Integrity Insurance by December having bought a shell company on the ASX. The new insurer will reportedly start in motor and will offer commercial policies. American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock won short-term relief at the risk of longer-term challenges by striking an accord with activist investors who want to shrink the company, former CEO Maurice Hank Greenberg said. By doing that, he let a fox in the henhouse to avoid a proxy fight, Greenberg said in a phone interview Friday, a day after AIG nominated hedge fund manager John Paulson and a representative from Carl Icahns firm to the insurers board. Greenberg built AIG into the worlds largest insurer before leaving in 2005, and criticized management as the company lost most of its market value and then sold prized assets to repay a 2008 government rescue. Icahn says AIG is still too big, and he wrote to Hancock in October demanding that he split AIG into three companies, one offering life insurance, another backing mortgages, and a third providing property-casualty coverage. I think thats a mistake, Greenberg, 90, said of Icahns plan in a televised interview on Jan. 26. I agree with Peter about the benefits of a diversified company. Icahn, 79, didnt immediately return a message seeking comment. He said in a statement Thursday that he looks forward to working with the board and that smaller and simpler is better. Hancock said in a conference call Friday that he was pleased to have an accord that will add an extra degree of scrutiny, at AIG. We have reached a solution that averts a very distracting proxy fight, he said. With assistance from Lily Katz. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona is a new entry this year Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona is a senior research fellow at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and a commissioner of the Independent Commission for Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), which seeks to promote debate on international corporate tax reform that is wider and more inclusive than is possible through any other existing forum. The Chilean lawyer has unquestionable pedigree in the areas of development, human rights and economic inequality, having previously held roles including: UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights between 2008 and 2014; and research director at the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) between 2006 and 2012. And she has brought the same zeal to her work on taxation. In November she wrote a piece for the Huffington Post 'It's time for companies to lead the fight against tax dodging' in which she pointed out that meeting Sustainable Development Goals (which have been agreed) will cost developing countries "more than could ever be delivered by aid". "Developing countries must be empowered to collect the taxes they need to end poverty," she urges. "Critical to this is tackling corporate tax avoidance." Sepulveda highlighted the example of Caroline Muchanga, a stall holder in Zambia who she says paid more tax than the British-owned multinational Zambia Sugar. "While she struggled to buy school books for the children, her corporate neighbour used clever tricks and tax havens to reduce its tax bill to near zero," Sepulveda claims. But, rather than adopt the Rottweiler-esque 'we are right, you are wrong; we are good, you are evil' attitude of some other campaigners, Sepulveda is pragmatic, highlighting apparent inequalities publicly but also appealing to "good businesses" to "recognise that they too must play their part". Il Niger e uno dei paesi dove si registra il maggior tasso di matrimoni infantili. Rapporto Save the Children Infanzia Rubata Secondo il rapporto Infanzia Rubata, di Save the Children, le bambine che diventano mogli nella fascia di eta compresa tra 15 e 19 anni rappresentano il 60% del totale. Nello specifico, ogni anno circa 15 milioni di bambini in piu si sposano prima dei 18 anni di eta. Quattro milioni si sposano prima di aver compiuto 15 anni. Nel caso del Niger la differenza tra nascere nella capitale o nelle zone piu svantaggiate del Paese segna il futuro delle bambine. Cosi, a Niamey, una bambina su 3 a 18 anni e gia sposata. Il matrimonio non e un gioco da bambini Con il programma Il matrimonio non e un gioco da bambini la ong vuole offrire alle bambine di 10 localita nella regione di Maradi, un ambiente nel quale poter decidere quando e con chi desiderano sposarsi, oltre ad avere nozioni igienico sanitarie. Negli ultimi 30 anni sono stati fatti numerosi progressi per la tutela dei diritti e della vita dei bambini in Niger e in tutta lAfrica Occidentale. Dal 1990 il tasso di mortalita infantile si e ridotto della meta anche se resta ancora molto da fare nel settore del matrimonio infantile. Le cause del fenomeno hanno a che vedere con credenze religiose e culturali, oltre che con le condizioni di vita in questo Paese tra i piu poveri del mondo. Fonte: Agenzia Fides. Sinn Fein has said it will create a national holiday to commemorate the Easter Rising if the party is elected into government. Party leader Gerry Adams launched Sinn Feins political manifesto last week ahead of the election on February 26. The party has pledged to add a 10th bank holiday into the Irish working calendar in memory of the Rising, the Irish Post reports. In October, the Irish government rejected a proposal from Sinn Fein calling for an annual holiday marking the 1916 Rising that would have started on April 24 this year. *Read more stories on the 1916 Rising here * The proposed La na Poblachta, or national independence day, was turned down by Equality Minister Aodhan O Riordain, who said the Coalition would not back the plan as there was no demand during previous 1916 Rising commemoration research. He said it would seriously dilute existing Rising celebrations and that the plan had not been properly costed, the Irish Examiner reports. Sinn Fein pledged to renew their efforts if elected into power. The party is also promising to create 250,00 new jobs and to scrap the taxes on water and property. 2016 is a time to deliver on the promise of the 1916 Proclamation. Ireland is a small country all 32 counties, Mr Adams said. For the first time since the foundation of this state, there is an opportunity to elect a progressive, Sinn Fein-led Government which place the rights of citizens at the center of Government decision-making. There is an air of unreality about the Irish election campaign in general. Parties are issuing promises to cut taxes and increase welfare spending but the value of their manifestos is deeply uncertain because none of them will have enough seats in the next Dail to form a government on their own. Since at least one other party will be needed to form a coalition government, there will inevitably be compromise as they struggle to agree a common program. The economy is doing a good deal better than when the Fine Gael-Labour coalition took power after the last election in 2011, but something is missing and the public just doesn't seem to have much confidence in the outgoing government. Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny can claim to have led Ireland through a very difficult few years and his argument that we are now in a much better place financially and economically is not lacking in substance. But he has a propensity to make silly mistakes such as his notorious anecdote at a gathering of European politicians on the possibility of the Irish Army going on standby to protect the automated teller machines of the banks, when the financial and economic crisis was at its height. He has also acquired an image of a man who is wary of getting into debates with his opponents for fear that his level of knowledge and understanding of the issues may be found wanting. A policy wonk he definitely isn't, although he has a great deal of energy and drive. When others are about to collapse from exhaustion, Kenny is still shaking hands and greeting people with warmth and enthusiasm. Read more: Shock as Sinn Fein surges in new poll as govt parties lose ground His deputy in the outgoing government, Labour Party leader Joan Burton, generally has a better grasp of detail and can be formidable in debate on policy issues. She replaced Eamon Gilmore as head of the party and Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) after Labour's disastrous showing in the mid-term local and European elections of May 2014. Things were supposed to improve for Labour under the new leader, but the party remains in the doldrums. The question for Labour was: how do we improve our standing in the opinion polls and ensure that we retain most of our 33 seats in the outgoing parliament? For all her undoubted ability, Burton wasn't the answer. Labour is facing a potential wipe-out and she herself is waging an uphill struggle to hold onto her own Dail seat in the constituency of Dublin West. The star performer in media terms in this election is Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, who has a ready answer for all the questions put to him. He was at his best during the launch of his party's manifesto in Dublin, although there was a very strange aspect to the occasion. Despite being accompanied by a range of Fianna Fail candidates at this major media event, he did all the talking. It was surprising also that his front bench did not appear alongside him for the occasion. Yet the prospect of an unprecedented coalition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail after the Irish general election looms closer with the latest opinion poll findings. A survey conducted by the Red C company for the Sunday Business Post casts further doubt on the chances of the outgoing Fine Gael-Labour administration getting re-elected on Feb 26. The two parties which make up the current government dropped a total of five percentage points. Fine Gael went down from 31 to 28 percent while Labour fell from ten down to eight percent. Sinn Fein rose from 17 to 20 percent despite a barrage of criticism from opponents over the party's call for the abolition of the non-jury Special Criminal Court. Fianna Fail went up one point to 18 percent. The combined total of Fine Gael and Labour at 36 percent indicates that the two parties could be far short of a majority when the newly-elected Dail Eireann, the main house of the Irish parliament, meets for the first time on March 10. However, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail between them stand at 46 percent in the Red C poll, which suggests that these parties would have a comfortable majority if they combined to form a government after the election. These two parties trace their origins to the bitter divisions that arose in the Irish Civil War of 1922-23. Their present-day leaders have rejected the prospect of uniting to form a coalition administration, but many observers believe there could well be a change of heart after the general election. At the launch of the Fine Gael election manifesto in Dublin, I asked the Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, if there were any circumstances in which he would go into government with Fianna Fail? He replied that he did not contemplate any circumstances in which such a partnership would take place. He was pressed on the issue by other journalists and, when asked if he would personally rule out serving as Taoiseach in such an arrangement, he said: "I do not contemplate doing business with Fianna Fail." The conclusion to be drawn from his remarks was that he did not anticipate such a set of circumstances arising, but Kenny failed to give a specific commitment that he would never participate in such a partnership. In other words, the door appeared to be left open, however slightly. Interestingly, the Fine Gael leader suggested that as the centenary of the Civil War approaches, there ought to be a commemoration which included both sides in the conflict and drew a line under those terrible events. Earlier in the day, a report in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times quoted former Fianna Fail deputy leader, Mary O'Rourke as supporting a coalition with Fine Gael, even if her own party was smaller in numbers, but providing that ministerial positions were divided on a 50-50 basis. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has been rising in the polls, even though Gerry Adams is rarely at ease in the media spotlight. In an interview on RTE's "This Week" radio program, the Sinn Fein leader came across as poorly-prepared on the implications of his party's policy of abolishing household water charges. Much of the campaign has been taken up with Sinn Fein's opposition to the Special Criminal Court, which operates with three judges but no jury. It is meant to deal with a situation where it is felt that juries might be intimidated in certain cases, usually involving alleged crimes of violence. Given the recent horrific incidents of gangland crime in Dublin, other parties have seized on Sinn Fein's stance to suggest that Adams and co. are weak on law and order issues, which is a polite way of implying that they are unreconstructed terrorists. Included as part of the onslaught is the support given by Sinn Fein leaders to the prominent republican Thomas 'Slab' Murphy, from the border area of South Armagh and Louth, who is due to be sentenced for tax evasion by the Special Criminal Court on Election Day, Feb 26. Sinn Fein's position is that a case concerned with tax issues should be tried before a jury. The Red C poll suggests that Adams and his party have not suffered damage politically because of this controversy quite the opposite as their numbers went up. But the seriousness of the current crime situation was underlined by the fact that, only a hundred yards from where the Fine Gael election manifesto was launched in Dublin's north inner city, heavily-armed police were on checkpoint duty to prevent a further outbreak of gangland violence. NOTE: Deaglan de Breadun's book 'Power Play: The Rise of Modern Sinn Fein' is published by Merrion Press. Read more: Ireland lost in fiscal space during election 2016 Close to 50 civilians have been killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that victims of the attacks included children. He quoted the secretary-general when he called the attacks "blatant violations of international laws" that "are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria". Mr Haq quoted Mr Ban as saying the attacks "cast a shadow on commitments" made by nations seeking to end the Syrian conflict at a conference in Munich on February 11, which included a cessation of hostilities within a week and an end to attacks on civilians. According to Medecins Sans Frontieres, at least seven people were killed, and at least eight are missing, presumed dead, after a MSF-supported hospital in Idlib province in northern Syria was destroyed in an attack this morning. The charity stated that hospital in Maarat Al Numan was hit by four missiles in two attacks within a few minutes of each other, according to staff from the hospital. Around 15 other houses and structures located in populated zones were struck in the area, including reports of another non-MSF-supported hospital during the morning. The destruction on the MSF supported facility appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, denounces Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSFs Head of Mission. Five patients were killed, as well as one caretaker. In addition, a hospital guard was killed and eight members of staff are missing, presumed dead. Other patients are still missing, but their numbers are currently unknown. The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict, Massimiliano said. Kate McCann has said she believes her daughter's kidnapper did not take her "a million miles" from the Algarve. Madeleine McCann was just three when she disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007. Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, England, vowed she and her husband Gerry would "never give up" hope of finding their daughter. The 47-year-old, who is an ambassador for charity Missing People, said her research had led her to believe abducted children were not usually taken far from the scene. She told the Sun: "That's where she last was and I don't think she's been taken a million miles from there. I've always said Praia da Luz is the place where I feel closest to her." "The urge to look for Madeleine absolutely hasn't changed at all. You hear all the time about people who have been missing for years being found. There have been so many cases like that. "We will never give up. You couldn't settle if you thought about giving up. I want an end, an answer. Whatever that it is." Mrs McCann added that Child Rescue Alerts, a scheme of early warning messages she helped launch, could have "mobilised" people at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. Since 2011, the Met have been assisting in the search for clues as to what happened to the youngster with officers visiting the holiday resort in 2014. The couple had previously praised the "meticulous and painstaking work" of detectives, and have again offered thanks to the police. But last year the number of officers working on the case was reduced. The British Home Office said in June that the investigation had cost 10 million, with a further 2 million budgeted for the year ahead. The internet of things (IoT) home and business surveillance company has doubled its total investment with the funding, having launched last October. The investment was led by serial internet company investor Target Global, along with international venture capital firm e.ventures which had invested in the previous funding round. Smartfrogs business model is globally scalable and driven by an impressive management team, said Target Global partner, Yaron Valler. It is an investment that fits perfectly into our portfolio. Smartfrog provides home and small business surveillance technology which includes a video camera and free-to-download app. The business which is headquartered in Dublin and has offices in Germany, China, and Switzerland says it is the only such company to make its app available for free. By allowing free downloads of its app, the company expects to be able to make quicker inroads into markets globally. As part of its expansion plans, Smartfrog is eyeing new offices in several countries including the UK and USA. As one of the most promising IoT companies in Europe, Smartfrog has proven that its innovative cloud- based Software as a Service business model is scalable, and its product is highly sought after by consumers, said e.ventures general partner Andreas Haug. The companys products are sold on its own e-shop as well as being listed on major online retailers such as Amazon and Germanys Notebooksbilliger.de. Key among these lessons is the importance of family businesses in creating a retail landscape that encourages people to become loyal customers over many years, as opposed to fleeting consumers. There are many examples of well-known family businesses on the street from Keanes Jewellers to Caseys Furniture. These are multi-generation family businesses which have been rewarded with peoples repeat custom because of the level of service they deliver. When the recession hit, businesses depended more and more on those that had supported them over many years. Many family businesses which had maintained a personal connection with their customers were able to survive for this reason, and the vibrancy that has been sustained on Oliver Plunkett St is a real testament to that. When I wrote Family Business: A Survival Guide, I discovered there are a lot of things family companies could teach the wider corporate community. Paying attention to detail, going the extra mile, and developing positive relationships, by treating customers with respect and putting them first, are qualities that should be applied in every single trading scenario, and these are things family businesses do really well. I also discovered there are challenges that great family businesses have to overcome which are not faced by other types of businesses. These include sibling rivalry, unhappy parent-child relationships, and succession issues, where the involvement or non-involvement of the next generation has the potential to upset the running of the business. The great family business owners I spoke to including Darina Allen of Ballymaloe and Marian OGorman of the Kilkenny Group had one thing in common. They have all adopted a collaborative approach to planning for the operation of the business now and in the future. The impact of disagreements in a small business can be very significant. Other non-family employees will be unlikely to commit to the future of the company where there is discord. It is a striking statistic that only 33% of family businesses survive from one generation to the next. It does not help that perhaps the biggest weakness for family businesses in Ireland is succession planning. Every business needs to make a plan for when the current CEO or other senior leaders move on. In a family business, this can be complicated because the question whether a family member or non-family will take the reins arises. If it is to be a family member, it is not always obvious which one will take control and non-family employees can depart the business if they feel they were unfairly overlooked when a son or daughter with less experience steps into the top job. To make sure the succession is planned for correctly, the business leader should consult with the various generations involved, ensuring that the selection of successors is fully considered. The needs of the business must be thought about, as well and the opportunities and challenges it is likely to face. A succession steering committee, consisting of certain management and family members, should be assembled and made responsible for the planning, preparation and transition management of the succession process. The succession plan prepared by the committee should set out the expected date of retirement; the first in line to succeed; other personnel changes arising and any future role of the former CEO. It may take a bit of hard work to get there, but once you have a document like this, hammered out by consensus, it will clear the path to a successful handover. As the success of Oliver Plunkett St makes clear, family businesses have an important contribution to make to the corporate and retail landscape in Ireland. With good planning, theres no reason such companies cant be around for generations to come. * Kieran McCarthy is a partner and head of the Cork office at Hughes Blake and author of a book called Family Business: A Survival Guide. There are many definitions of leadership but they all have a common thread the ability of people to bring others with them on their mission. Macra na Feirme whose national leadership award winners were recently announced has a proud record in producing people who have given outstanding service at community and national levels since it was founded. The organisation, which is for young people between the ages of 17 and 35, has done so through training programmes and competitions that help members develop their debating, public speaking and other skills. Macra is committed to the personal development of its 8,000 members and puts emphasis on social interaction and participation. Much has changed since Macra was founded in 1944 by a group of 12 agricultural advisors, rural science teachers and farmers, with Stephen Cullinan as the first secrtetary. Over 250,000 young people have since passed through the ranks of Macra. Some became leaders in farm organisations, business, politics and in their own communities. Young people today have different priorities, however, and need new challenges, which Macra tries to provide through 200 clubs in 31 regions. About one-third of Macra members are involved in farming, with males making up 60% of the membership and females 40%. Four of the six finalists in this years National Leadership Awards were women. Three were from Cork Eilis Ahern from the Carrigaline branch in Seandun region, Joan Marie Healy, Berrings and Muskerry, and Marie Murphy, from Freemount and Avondhu. Grainne OReilly from the Ramor branch in Cavan was the fourth woman contender, the other finalists being Colm Stenson, South Leitrim, and Noel Duffy, Ferbane/Banagher, Offaly. The awards were organised as part of Macras Leadership Training Programme, which adds to the range of learning opportunities available to members at club, county and national levels. The aim is to provide opportunities for members to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes for leadership roles, either in Macra or in other voluntary roles or future occupations. Following a rigourous judging process, the three award winners chosen were Colm Stenson, Eilis Ahern and Marie Murphy. The three winners were presented with specially commissioned commemorative trophies and will represent Macra na Feirme on various international travel opportunities in 2016. Firstly, Colm Stenson is a part-time farmer from Eslin, Co Leitrim. He is a member of South Leitrim Macra, the Irish Simmental Cattle Society and a local group water scheme of which he is an ex-chairman. Eilis Ahern, a supervising pharmacist, joined Carrigaline Macra in 2011 and has found it a rewarding and enjoyable experience. She has held various positions in the club and is actively involved in her community. A chartered physiotherapist, Marie Murphy, joined her local Macra club in Freemount in 2010 and was a club officer when it won the 2014 Club of the Year award. In the past five years, the club raised over 20,000 for various local and national charities. This years finalists were judged by a panel comprised of Peter Byrne, chief executive, Farm Relief Services (FRS) Network; Mary Cunningham, director, National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI); and Neil Keane, president, Agricultural Science Association (ASA). Teddy Cashman, National Dairy Council chairman, who farms at Whitescross, near Cork City, was guest speaker at the awards final held at the Irish Farm Centre in Dublin. Macra president Sean Finan, said the competition recognises the hard work and commitment of young leaders who play a major role in the organisation and who often go on to hold positions in other national organisations. One area where Macra would like to see a greater presence of its members is on the boards of the countrys agricultural co-operatives. Mr Finan said recently that young dairy farmers are the most engaged in their co-ops. They supply their product which is processed and sold by the societies, which also sets the price. As a result, its easier to empower young dairy farmers to get involved in the co-op structures. Young farmers are not as involved with co-operative livestock marts which they see as providing a service. Some perceive mart boards as closed shops. Stressing that education and awareness are key to getting more young farmers involved in co-ops, Mr Finan said. Macra continues to develop leaders and young farmers through participation in programme areas and activities. He said Macra continues to provide leaders to co-ops who go on to take on leadership roles. It has run successful young farmer dairy and mart director courses for four years in conjunction with the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), the co-ops national umbrella body. Co-operatives should establish board committees for young farmers with the main purpose of educating them in co-op structures, corporate governance and leadership. The committee boards could interface with co-op boards to learn about their industry and also feed information up the line to senior board members. This would give young farmers a grounding in the operation of boards and co-operatives structures. This is a pro-active approach to nurturing young leaders, he said. Mr Finan said for a co-op to be successful there is a need for constant evolution of structures within the organisation. Constitutional rules that are more reflective of bygone times need to be adapted to a more modern society that reflects better communication and connectivity. If co-ops were to engage young farmer shareholders it could be a proactive approach to nurturing future leaders in co-operatives, stated Mr Finan. It follows the NTMA advertising a tender seeking interest from a range of architectural and engineering consultants to be placed on panels to help guide the project. Under the framework agreement, the consultants will be required to develop preliminary designs, and produce drawings and other documents, under the Social Housing PPP programme. It is hoped the programme could provide a significant boost to the house building industry, while also shortening local authority housing lists across the country. The Governments ambitious social housing programme was launched by Environment Minister Alan Kelly in November 2014, when the Government committed to spending 3.8bn to build and refurbish some 35,000 social housing units by 2020. At the time, Mr Kelly said the initiative was his number one priority, describing it as the first comprehensive housing plan since 1995. The strategy promises to effectively eliminate the housing waiting list of 90,000 by 2020. I am unlikely to have a more important day in this office. It is the most important announcement to be made during my time as minster, Mr Kelly said. The Government has since faced criticism for failing to do enough to deal with the countrys housing shortage which has also contributed to a growing homelessness crisis, however. A recent study by Simon Communities found that 95% of rental properties are unaffordable for people depending on state rent supports. The 3.8bn funding will come from central exchequer funds, off-balance-sheet funds, and some PPP programmes. Last October, Mr Kelly announced the location of the first six sites of the bundle of the social housing PPP programme. The first phase of the programme is to involve the construction of 540 homes at locations at Ayrfield, Malahide; Corkagh, Grange, and Scribblestown, Finglas in Dublin along with developments at Dunleer, Co Louth, Convent Lands in Co Wicklow, and Craddockstown in Naas, Co Kildare. The National Development Finance Agency responsible for much of the States PPP is acting as agent for the Department of the Environment in delivering the programme. The tender states that four consultants will be appointed to each panel. The tender also states that the outputs of the consultants work will be issued to those tendering for the PPP contracts to be procured under the Social Housing PPP programme. According to the tender, architectural firms must have a minimum annual turnover of 500,000; civil and structural engineering firms must have an annual turnover of 300,000, and likewise for mechanical and electrical engineering firms, while project supervisor design process businesses must have a turnover of 80,000. The consultants will also be required to provide planning and development advice and apply for full planning permissions. The closing date for the receipt of tenders is March 24. Before the assassination of David Byrne in the Regency Hotel more than a week ago, and the killing of Eddie Hutch in his north inner city home last Monday night, most Dubliners got on with their lives with little thought spared for the criminals that roamed around them. The two shootings brought this usually subterranean world to the surface. The quietest day of the year is always Christmas Day. Shops and pubs close, the roads are free of cars and the footpaths are free of pedestrians. Everyone stays inside. Yesterday felt like Christmas Day. Its quiet around here yeah, its because of the. you know, said an attendant in a petrol station in the north inner city. And if it was quiet on the northside of the city it was dead on the south. Garda checkpoints were set up on three roads leading to David Byrnes family home on Raleigh Square in Crumlin. Its a densely-populated area made up of a maze of interwoven streets, normally filled with kids on bikes and young parents pushing buggies. Yesterday however, the only people to line its streets were the dozen or so gardai involved in the checkpoints. The sky was cloudless and the air was crisp, but Crumlin locals felt their Sunday was better spent indoors. The drivers of cars looked that bit longer into the vehicles of others when passing them at junctions or stopped at traffic lights, and with two weeks to the general election, there wasnt a canvasser to be seen at lunchtime on Sunday, despite every electricity pole in the vicinity covered with posters. Byrnes funeral will take place at St Nicholas of Myra church in the Liberties today. Itll take about eight minutes for the hearse to carry his coffin from his Crumlin home to the Francis St church. The church was busy with women walking in out of the carpark to carry out some business or other in the 12th Century building. A lone general election candidate hung around outside the gate hoping to pick up a vote. A homeless man begged inside the gate. From St Nicholas of Myra church its about a 12-minute drive to Hutch-land in the north inner city. Driving past St Patricks and Christ Church cathedrals, where drug users hang around street corners in groups of four and five, there were no groups to be found yesterday. Dishevelled souls cut forlorn and solitary figures in these parts instead. Everyones keeping a low-profile, said a Liberties local who was headed to the city centre with her two grandchildren for the afternoon. After coming across the city from the south to the north, it wasnt until Clonliffe Road, on the way to Croke Park, where you could find a child at play. A little girl in multi-coloured leggings pushed her doll along the footpath in a pink buggy. At the end of Clonliffe Road is Poplar Row, where Eddie Hutch used to live. Five women stood outside his home. One of the women, she had blonde hair and was still in her pyjamas, was embraced by another of the women. They hugged one another for ages. An unmarked police car pulled out of flats on the opposite side of the road. In the passenger seat was a senior garda dressed in a suit and tie. The 48 hours after the shooting there was a feeling of numbness in the city, one Ive never felt before and I lived on Ballybough Road for 15 years, my family still live there and Ive represented the area for more than 30 years, said former lord mayor Christy Burke. These are resilient people. On the three-day lockdown last week after Neddie was shot, there was a feeling of what next? And after the Regency, the fact that it had happened in broad daylight, there was a feeling of anything could happen now. But things are back to normal. Kids are out on the streets on their skates and things and going in and out of the flats like normal, he added. An informed source believes that the two shootings might now add up to a one-all, but with the Byrne funeral today and the Hutch one apparently scheduled for midweek, Garda surveillance is still tight in our capital city. In a letter seen by the Irish Examiner, consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Keelin ODonoghue outlines potential consequences for parents and staff at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), including: In the hard-hitting letter to senior clinicians , Dr ODonoghue says that, in the past two years at CUMH, life-limiting anomalies which could have been diagnosed without difficulty on ultrasound were not. These included babies with an encephaly (portion of the brain and skull missing), hydrocephalus (excessive fluid on the brain), thanatophoric dysplasia (severe skeletal disorder), and Pataus syndrome (chromosomal abnormality), none of whose mothers had an anomaly scan. Presented with the diagnosis after their babies were born, the women had found it extremely difficult to deal with and recover from. While in these cases the infants individual prognoses could not have been altered, the experience of delivery could have been very different from what occurred, Dr ODonoghue wrote. Staff involved in these difficult deliveries were also affected by the lack of antenatal diagnosis, she said, having to deal with an unexpectedly bad outcome and sometimes a very complicated delivery. Those of us working in fetal medicine later have to explain to traumatised and/or bereaved parents how a major anomaly was not diagnosed, Dr ODonoghue wrote. Other colleagues, not specialised in ultrasound, felt professionally at risk of complaints or litigation, when diagnoses are missed or found late at limited ultrasound opportunities in the emergency room or clinic. Moreover, there were wider implications for training of doctors. Dr ODonoghue said it was clear from a report by the RCPI Hospital Inspections Committee, compiled following a meeting with CUMH management in 2013, that recognition of the unit for Higher Specialist Training [in] 2016 is conditional upon this issue being resolved. However, the situation in her department was set to worsen, come March, with over six WTE (whole time equivalent) staff on long-term leave (sick leave, parental leave, maternity leave, maternity-related sick leave), meaning that many of our services in the ultrasound department will be impossibly stretched, and the number of scans provided will be cut further. All of the above is likely, at the very least, to lead to probing questions regarding the inequity of service provided to women attending CUMH compared to other maternity units nationally and internationally, and far more likely to lead to litigation, wrote Dr ODonoghue. Just seven of 19 maternity units in Ireland routinely offer foetal anomaly scans. Dr ODonoghue said there was no doubt that the absence of legislation permitting termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly has confused the debate about the provision of services to detect anomalies. For once, amid the general election battle, all parties put aside their differences to support a motion from Michael Collins (Independent) to have the yet- unpublished report made public. He said morale was at an all-time low in the countys ambulance service, as resources were so poor and services overstretched. Those staff remaining, he said, worked far too many hours and several were so stressed that they were leaving for other jobs. More and more, West Cork ambulances are having to look after Cork City and Tralee. There are many times ambulance staff cant even stop to eat because they are so under pressure, said Mr Collins. He also said that the supposed back-up from SouthDoc wasnt filling the gap. Kevin Conway (Independent) said he had first-hand experience of problems with the ambulance service last April. He said he was a patient at Galway University Hospital at the time and had to be transferred to Cork University Hospital. The ambulance came from Dublin to pick me up in Galway and take me to Cork. After dropping me (at CUH) the driver and his colleague then had to go to Tralee to pick up another patient and bring them back to Dublin. They were exhausted, Mr Conway said, adding that there had to be health and safety issues concerning the hours these people were working. Paul Hayes (Sinn Fein) said ambulance drivers in West Cork were not only contending with long working hours. Theres huge mileage on the vehicles theyre using, he said. The ambulance in Skibbereen has 500,000km on it. The one on Clonakilty is not two years old yet and its clocked up 200,000km. Mr Hayes said huge distances were involved in dealing with emergency cases in West Cork. It takes drivers one and a half hours under blue lights to drive from Castletownbere to Cork, Mr Hayes said. He also claimed that the entry level salary for paramedics was 25,000 a year less than somebody might get for working at supermarket chain Lidl. Its no wonder huge frustration built up (in the local ambulance service). There needs to be proper investment for these people, said Mr Hayes. Youghal-based councillor Mary Linehan-Foley (Independent) said there were no ambulances permanently stationed in Cobh or Midleton two of the most densely populated areas in East Cork. She said she had tried to bring this issue up at the last HSE (South) Forum but had got nowhere because officials said they couldnt comment until the report was officially released. This is very frustrating when peoples lives are at risk. We need answers to this and we need them now, Ms Linehan-Foley said. Mayor of County Cork John Paul OShea (Independent) said he was sure that the so-far unreleased report would highlight the need for additional ambulance staff and vehicles, and he fully supported the call to get it published as soon as possible. A MAN looks at a newborn baby girl and discovers the face of Gerry Adams staring back at him. No, its not Sinn Feins latest election gambit. Its the absurd premise of David Irelands new play, Cyprus Avenue, which opens at the Peacock Theatre this week before transferring to Londons Royal Court next month. The plays vaguely Kafkaesque premise is typical of Ireland, a young Belfast dramatist who has distinguished himself in recent years with plays that blend graphic, often disturbing narratives to provocative, sometimes nightmarish imagery. In Cyprus Avenue, the man who finds Gerry Adamss mug beaming back at him is Eric Miller (Stephen Rea), a veteran Ulster loyalist who bemused by the vagaries of life in modern Belfast recounts his woes to a therapist. Having been commissioned by the Abbey Theatre, Ireland began writing the part specifically with Rea in mind in 2012, even though at that point he had never met the iconic actor. When, by coincidence, Rea approached Ireland to commission an earlier play for his own company, Field Day, in 2013, Ireland revealed to Rea that he was currently writing a play with him in mind. Even then, I never thought that he would do it, or that the stars would align, says Ireland. So it was very exciting when he said he was available and interested. The play brings to the fire Reas gifts for comedy, says Ireland. In some quarters, Stephen isnt really seen as a comedy actor, because he has done a lot of very prominent dramatic and serious roles, he says. But hes really very funny. Hell hate me saying that because then when people come to the show, they will expect him to be hilarious. But I think hes really funny. Hailing from a Protestant family in the east Belfast estate of Ballybeen, Ireland has spent much of his professional life in Scotland, working both as an actor and a writer. His success in the latter department saw him enjoy a stint as the Lyric Theatres first writer-in-residence in Belfast in 2012, and he is regarded as one of the most significant new theatre voices to have emerged from the North in recent years. Nevertheless, he currently lives in Scotland with his wife and young family. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that a great deal of his plays centre on issues of community identity and what it means for the individual. When I got commissioned by the Abbey to write Cyprus Avenue, I was very aware that I was being commissioned by the national theatre of Ireland at the same time that I was moving to Scotland, and also aware that Id never really felt particularly Irish, he says. So it made me question what Irish identity mean to me. So Cyprus Avenue is a play about loyalist identity, but its about questions of Irishness within loyalist identity and loyalisms relationship with Irishness. Although previous plays such as Cant Forget About You and Everything Between Us have explicitly dealt with the aftermath of the Troubles, Ireland is all too aware of the danger that people think youre speaking for a community or that youre speaking for loyalism or unionism but Im only ever speaking for myself and my own feelings. Just the same, while his plays may attend to the fate of the individual in the grip of complex identity politics, often doing so very viscerally, Ireland acknowledges how deeply his own thoughts and feelings are also inevitably informed by his own historical situation. People say to me all the time why dont you write about something other than the Troubles? And I say I cant escape it. I grew up in it. It obsesses me. And I was affected by it. And I need to talk about it. Cyprus Avenue runs until March 19 TRAUMATIC, distressing, inappropriate care, potential litigation Dr Keelin ODonoghue does not mince her words in a hard-hitting letter to 10 senior clinicians and managers within the local and regional organisations relevant to Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH). As the hospitals lead clinician for obstetric ultrasound and foetal medicine, she has serious concerns about the ongoing failure to routinely offer a foetal anomaly scan to all women attending for antenatal care. Her concerns echo those of the new Master of the Rotunda, Professor Fergal Malone, in an interview published in the Irish Examiner last month. Prof Malone said that due mainly to personnel issues, there were, unfortunately, some women in some maternity units around the country that do not get a routine anomaly scan. The challenge with obstetric ultrasound is the majority of foetal abnormalities occur in women who have no obvious recognised risk factors, so you will only find the anomalies if [you are] doing routine 20-week anomaly scanning on the entire population, Prof Malone said. If you just restrict it to women over a certain age, or who previously had a baby with an abnormality, that will only cover the minority of cases with foetal abnormality. So we really do have to get routine anomaly scanning into routine clinical practice in all 19 units (its currently in just seven), so yes, there are women missing out. But, while you might legitimately expect some of the countrys smaller units not to be in a position to offer this particular scan due to resources and difficulties attracting suitably qualified staff, its surely unacceptable in a major tertiary referral centre such as CUMH? Offered in the first instance to the high risk population attending for ante-natal care, thereafter its pot luck. The problem with this approach is most diagnoses are in the low risk population, as Prof Malone points out. Dr ODonoghue says its an issue that has defied resolution and exposes pregnant women attending CUMH, as well as clinicians and midwives, to an unacceptable level of risk. Since it opened in 2007, Irelands newest maternity hospital has never been in a position to offer a foetal anomaly ultrasound scan in the second trimester to all women attending the antenatal service. In 2008, just 10% of pregnant women were offered the scan. This had risen to 40% by 2014 and peaked at 70% by the end of 2015. Dr ODonoghue, who oversaw and drove the improvement, says much of it was due to significant investment in staff training, re-scheduling timing of scans, reorganising the working of the foetal assessment unit and changing many work practices of the staff. But what she is looking at now, with reduced staffing for 2016, is a serious backward slide in foetal anomaly scanning, from that 70% peak last year back to around 30% of women attending. You could argue that a very small proportion of pregnancies 2%-3% are complicated by a major foetal anomaly, and that the resources necessary to make this scan universally available render it economically unviable. But the economic argument is a hard sell compared to the moral issues involved. Is it right that parents of a baby with a major foetal abnormality only find out in the delivery suite when the resource exists to prepare them psychologically for that eventuality? Dr Keelin ODonoghue Is it acceptable that staff are caught unawares, denying them the opportunity to plan appropriate care, including, as Dr ODonoghue points out, the option of foetal therapy to improve the eventual prognosis? Is it sensible to expose staff to potential litigation because, in the absence of prenatal diagnosis, the appropriate care was not available? And most of all, is it fair on the baby? As Dr ODonoghue points out, Babies with undiagnosed anomalies will have worse outcomes due to being born outside centres of paediatric surgery. For the mothers, she warns it will mean unnecessary caesarean sections performed for infants who cannot survive. For families whose child will not survive, Dr ODonoghue says the deficit means they will not have to opportunity to avail of prenatal palliative care to enable them to prepare for their babys inevitable death. Amid these dire warnings, the ultrasound service faces more challenges posed by working arrangements. Dr ODonoghue says staff working in the department have, over time, been allowed flexible working arrangements. While this has been presumably to facilitate their retention within the workforce, it has impacted on our overall WTE [whole time equivalent] complement. By March 2016 we will have over six WTE of staff on long-term leave (sick leave, parental leave, maternity leave, maternity related sick leave), meaning that many of our services in the ultrasound department will be impossibly stretched. The number of scans offered will be cut further. Dr ODonoghue acknowledges there is plenty that is good about CUMHs ultrasound services which include the Ultrasound Department, the Foetal Assessment Unit (FAU) and the Aislinn Suite. Between them, these areas recorded over 30,000 patient interactions in 2014. Dr ODonoghue describes the staff as hard-working individuals providing good quality care in appropriately designed ultrasound facilities, using up-to-date machinery. Dr ODonoghue says, unlike several other units, all women attending CUMH are offered a dating ultrasound scan, performed between 11 and 13 weeks by a trained sonographer. This is important to determine pregnancy viability, to detect foetal anomalies in the first trimester, as well as for the diagnosis of multiple pregnancies, she says. At the foetal assessment unit, the detection rate of late anomalies and foetal growth restriction is good, she says. However, Dr ODonoghue now despairs that improvements shes worked on since 2008 are unravelling. Furthermore, she says failure to make an anomaly scan universally available is jeopardising recognition of the unit as suitable for training doctors to higher specialist level. An RCSI inspections committee met with hospital management in 2013 and recommended the scan be offered to all antenatal patients. The committee said a progress report was required by January 2016. Dr ODonoghue says they were clear from that meeting and a subsequent report by the committee that recognition of the unit for HST [higher specialist training) was conditional upon this issue being resolved. This unit is now falling far behind national and international practice, and widely accepted standards of antenatal care, Dr ODonoghue warns. Neither can CUMH realistically claim to be a tertiary-level maternity hospital leading the new South/South West hospital Group. NOT long after the great powers of Europe began to mobilise in early August 1914 an aging Irish immigrant emerged from his cheap hotel room in midtown Manhattan. He was headed uptown to the German Club on East 59th Street, where the German ambassador to the US was waiting for him. The Irishmans name was John Devoy, a native of county Kildare. In the late summer of 1914, he was nearly 72 years of age, half-deaf, half-blind, and plagued by insomnia. He had been in the United States since 1871, when, as a convicted Fenian, he accepted the Queens amnesty and set sail for New York along with Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa and three comrades. All these years later, John Devoy remained the spokesman for Irish revolutionary nationalism in America. At his meeting with the ambassador, a suave, English-speaking count named Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, Devoy revealed that his allies in Dublin would launch a rebellion at some point in the coming war. They wished to create a formal alliance with Berlin, Devoy explained, and would request German assistance when the time came. They didnt want money Irish Americans would provide that. They wanted arms, ammunition, and German officers. The ambassador agreed to convey Devoys message to Berlin, and soon the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and Berlin were communicating with each other through Devoy in New York, setting in motion the conspiracy that would end with the Aud off the Kerry coast, waiting for a signal that never came. Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, the German ambassador in the United States. Picture: Getty As a longtime leader of an oath-bound society called Clan na Gael, John Devoy was the most influential voice of Irish republicanism in America at the time of the Easter Rising. The Clan served as the IRBs partner in America, organising propaganda in the States and funneling money to Dublin. Devoy was a journalist by trade, the publisher and editor of a New York-based weekly called the Gaelic American, which served as the voice of Clan na Gael, and, by extension, the IRB. For several years after the turn of the 20th century, Tom Clarke served as an assistant to Devoy at the paper. By 1914, of course, Clarke was back in Ireland, minding a tobacco shop on Parnell Street and attending to another sort of business while keeping in close contact with his former employer. Clarke was not the only Easter rebel who was in contact with Devoy as planning began in earnest. Patrick Pearse met with Devoy and Joseph McGarrity, a liquor distributor and native of County Tyrone, in New York in February, 1914. Devoy gave the two immigrants a document which outlined how Irish America could help in the coming fight. The documents author was Roger Casement, and soon Casement himself turned up in New York. Devoy helped provide travel documents and money to Casement when he left New York for Germany in late 1914 to further his scheme to raise an Irish brigade made up of prisoners of war. And he began sending large sums of money to the IRB through a series of couriers, including a future president of Ireland, Sean T OKelly. Devoy sent at least $100,000 to Dublin in late 1915, most of it in sums of $5,000 or $10,000. Devoy became a familiar figure in the German consulate on Wall Street in lower Manhattan. As couriers from Dublin kept him abreast of plans, Devoy sent those plans to Berlin via the consulate. The communication was not entirely one-way; the Germans told Devoy they wanted James Larkin, who was touring the United States at the time, to help sabotage ships in New York Harbor bound for Britain. He refused, but did agree to stir up labour disputes on the American waterfront to disrupt traffic between the US and the Allied powers. For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE In September, 1915, Joseph Mary Plunkett arrived in New York after visiting Berlin. He had news: planning for the rebellion was nearly complete, and he had assurances the Germans would cooperate. But those promises remained vague. More definitive word arrived in February, 1916, when an IRB courier told Devoy the rebellion would take place on Easter Sunday. The following day, Devoy handed his German allies a message to be transmitted to Berlin: Unless entirely new circumstances arise we must have your arms and ammunition in Limerick between Good Friday and Easter Saturday. We expect German help immediately after beginning action. The reluctant Germans transmitted the message, but they demanded that Devoy tell his allies in Ireland that they should wait because of the difficulties in the way of our giving help. It is unlikely that Devoy ever passed along that message. In the meantime, Devoy sent Berlin a long memo assessing the strength of British forces in Ireland. He assured the Germans that the British would have to transfer as many as 500,000 troops from the Western front to Ireland to contend with a rebel force he estimated in the tens of thousands. Devoy was a hard-headed, clear-eye pragmatist, but his memo to Berlin contained more than a trace of wishful thinking. In early March, with the rebellion just weeks away, Devoy was summoned to the German consulate to receive Berlins answer to the Irish request for help. It is possible to send two or three small fishing steamers, with about ten machine guns, twenty thousand rifles, ammunition and explosives, the communique read. Devoy was expecting much more, but on behalf of the IRB, he agreed to the plan. He told his friend McGarrity in coded language that the salary is not as big as I expected, but I am certain I would get a raise soon. But things did not go according to plan. On April 14, Philomena Plunkett, sister of Joseph Mary Plunkett, arrived at Devoys newspaper office with an urgent message: The German arms were not to be delivered before Sunday, April 23. Devoy and the Germans had agreed on April 20. It was too late to let the Aud know of the change of plans, for it was already heading to Ireland without wireless communication. The fate of the German arms shipment, destined for the bottom of Cork harbour when the Aud scuttled itself, is a familiar part of the Risings narrative. The role of Devoy and Irish America in arranging for shipment, and more broadly, in financing and supporting the rising and its leader, is less well-known. It is hard to imagine the Rising without Devoys enormous influence in Irish America, his access to cash, his credibility with people like Pearse and Plunkett, and his contacts with German diplomats. It was no wonder that Pearse called him the greatest of the Fenians. Terry Golway is an American journalist, and author of Irish Rebel: John Devoy & Americas Fight for Irelands Freedom, published in a new revised edition by Merrion Press Enjoyed this? Then check out our dedicated micro-site, developed in collaboration with UCC, to mark the revolutionary period HERE ONLY the dead have seen the end of war. The philosopher George Santayanas dictum seems particularly appropriate nowadays, with the Arab world, from Syria and Iraq to Yemen and Libya, a cauldron of violence; Afghanistan locked in combat with the Taliban; swaths of central Africa cursed by bloody competition often along ethnic/religious lines for mineral resources. Even Europes tranquility is at risk witness the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. What explains this resort to armed conflict to solve the worlds problems? Not so long ago, the trend was toward peace, not war. In 1991, after the collapse of communism, US president George Bush Snr celebrated a new world order of cooperation between the worlds powers. At the time, he was right. World War II had been the high point of mankinds collective savagery. But from 1950 to 1989 the Korean War through the Vietnam War and on to the end of the Cold War deaths from violent conflict averaged 180,000 a year. In the 1990s, the toll fell to 100,000 a year. And in the first decade of this century, it fell still more, to around 55,000 a year the lowest rate in any decade in the previous 100 years and equivalent to just over 1,000 a year for the average armed conflict. Sadly, as I note in my new book, The World in Conflict, the trend is now turning upward. Given that so many of Africas wars, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the conflict in Somalia, began decades ago, the explanation lies elsewhere: in the Muslim world from northern Nigeria to Afghanistan and beyond. Since Syrias civil war erupted in 2011, the death toll has reached more than 250,000, and half of the population has been displaced. Indeed, the Syrian conflict alone has been enough to change the graph of conflict and the upward trajectory becomes even steeper when the deaths in Iraq, Yemen, and Libya are included. Those who hailed the Arab Spring five years ago must now recognise that its blooms died fast. Only Tunisia has reasonable democratic credentials, whereas Libya, Yemen, and Syria have joined Somalia as failed states. Egypt is an autocracy verging on dictatorship. The question is when or if the trend will turn down again. Thanks largely to multilateral bodies such as the UN, states very rarely go to war with other states. Likewise, thanks to the EU, another Franco-German war is inconceivable. Instead, wars are between states and non-state actors between, say, Nigeria and Boko Haram. Or they are civil wars for example, in South Sudan or Libya. Or they are proxy battles of the type that characterised the Cold War witness Irans deployment in Syria of Lebanons Hezbollah fighters to defend Bashar al-Assads regime. Whatever the various, often overlapping, causes of conflict ideology, religion, ethnicity, competition for resources the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz two centuries ago gave the pithiest answer to the question of why we resort to violence: War is an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will. But can force alone compel the submission of the Islamic State and the demise of jihadist extremism in the Muslim world? There are two reasons to doubt that it can. One is the reluctance of militarily strong outside powers, whether America and its NATO allies or Vladimir Putins Russia, to put boots on the ground after their painful experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. The second reason is the underlying appeal of the Islamist message to many of the worlds 1.3 billion Muslims. The nation-states of the Arab world are colonial inventions, superseding the caliphates that once spread civilization from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic. When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in June 2014 announced a new caliphate, with himself as commander of the faithful, it struck a chord. Moreover, the brutality of his Islamic State seems to many not so very different from the behavior of Saudi Arabia, which has spent decades spreading its Wahhabi fundamentalism around the world. In other words, the message must change if peace is to return to the Muslim world. That will not happen soon. Sunni Saudi Arabia will first have to moderate its antipathy to Shia Muslims in general and Shia-majority Iran in particular. Meanwhile, the Islamic State has manpower, money, territory, and military expertise. Saudi Arabia will eventually recognise it needs Irans help to defeat the Islamic State. And eventually the Islamic State will implode as its subjects demand the right to listen to music and behave as they want. Sadly, eventually is the key word. Saudi Arabias instinct is to see Iran as a threat to be confronted, rather than accommodated. As for the Islamic State, North Korea is proof that brutal regimes can be very durable. In the meantime, the graph of deaths from conflict will keep trending upwards, mocking the worlds diplomats, peacemakers, and pretensions to humanity and civilisation. John Andrews, a former editor and foreign correspondent for the Economist, is the author of The World in Conflict: Understanding the Worlds Troublespots. In the early hours of Easter Tuesday 1916, 61 Lansdowne Road, the Ballsbridge home of Judge William Johnston, his wife Kathleen and their only son was occupied, under amiable circumstances, by four armed and apologetic Irish republicans. Denis a future playwright was then a 14-year old schoolboy home for the holidays from his Scottish boarding school. He was a perceptive witness of this unfolding drama in the birth of the Republic, recounting it later in a radio broadcast during his career that included work as a BBC war correspondent. Pages from Johnstons diary on the week of the 1916 Rising. Picture: Board of Trinity College Dublin Lansdowne Road gave proximity to the railway line, a key artery into the city, with a view along the tracks to Bath Avenue Bridge, a hotspot of rebel activity. The rebels took possession of the upper floor of the house, consigning the family to the lower floors with polite orders not to leave the building. Beds and furniture were used to barricade the stairs and the insurgents knocked holes through interior walls to allow access to adjoining rooms without using the upper landing. The rebels and captives then sat down on the displaced furniture to share tea. The only note of discord was sounded by the family parrot who objected to so many lights being left on at night. The ensuing 48 hours were remarkable only for a lack of callers to the house . Their captors sortied out occasionally to check developments, returning with fantastic reports of Germans landing in Kerry and the withdrawal of France from the war. By Wednesday morning, the hiatus was broken by the arrival of British troops in Dublin. The rebels stripped off their uniforms, abandoned their rifles and ammunition and left the house dressed in plain clothes. Denis had a tale to tell on his return to boarding school that would rescue him from the ranks of new boy obscurity. He had even managed to deny officialdom some spoils of war a slouch hat and a bayonet which he treasured for his lifetime. The undated radio script in which Denis Johnson recalled his time as a 'schoolboy in the rebellion': Picture: Board of Trinity College Dublin The undated script of a 14-minute radio broadcast by Denis Johnston recounts the experience of looking over the stair rail at a uniformed Irish Volunteer in the hall below of his familys home in Ballsbridge. "To a regular reader of "Chums" as I was at the time, it was an exciting thing to be happening, although I remember a slight feeling of disappointment when he looked up, and I saw an honest round face, and an embarrassed smile, instead of the lean and hungry look of an armed revolutionary." Later, he mentioned how apologetic the four men were after turning house into a fortress "from which to fight the British Empire". "That is [the] thing that remains most firmly in my memory - how polite and reasonable it all seemed. "They were sorry to disturb us, and would do no more damage than was absolutely necessary. And any damage that they were forced to do would all be repaid by the Irish Republic. "So we weren't to worry. They would take over the upper part, and we could have the rest. And would we please not leave, because those were their orders, and it would be dangerous anyway. "Meanwhile, if we required any food from the shops on the following day, they would be glad to go and get it for us." * Denis Johnstons account of the 1916 Rising is part of the archive of the playwright, theatre director, BBC war correspondent, barrister, pioneer of television and teacher, presented to the Trinity College Dublin (TCD) library by his family in 1985. It is the subject of one of the entries in TCD Librarys weekly-updated 1916 blog, Changed Utterly: https://www.tcd.ie/Library/1916/ (Twitter: @TCDLib1916) * Felicity OMahony is assistant librarian in the TCD manuscripts and archives research library. Enjoyed this? Then check out our dedicated micro-site, developed in collaboration with UCC, to mark the revolutionary period HERE For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE The origins of the modern Irish republican movement are generally traced back to the creation of the Society of United Irishmen during the ideological ferment generated in the late 18th century by the Enlightenment and French revolution. The later Fenian movement certainly regarded itself as the inheritor of that tradition. It is worth noting in passing, however, that (as demonstrated by the late Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich) discussions of republicanism in Ireland (which took as their models the polities of classical Greece and Rome), and its potential as the basis for political separation from Britain, predated the United Irishmen by a century or more. And, of course, the Irish experience of the Cromwellian republic of the mid-17th century had been, to put it very mildly, decidedly negative. These historical precedents notwithstanding, this new iteration achieved a number of successes; albeit, arguably its greatest one achieving a mass following from the downtrodden Catholic population (drawn by its egalitarian premise) was registered at the expense of its original inter-denominational intent, and at the cost of support from the Presbyterian community that had provided its original impetus. The resulting tradition was a curious mixture of inspiring rhetoric and failed rebellions: 1798, 1803 and 1848, of which only the first had assumed menacing proportions. These were rebellions of aristocratic or gentlemanly leadership, predominantly drawn from the small, patriotic section of the Protestant community, and a following among the labouring, artisan, and plebeian classes, almost exclusively Catholic in their religious profession. The Irish Republican Brotherhood (the official name for the organisation popularly known as the Fenians) was formed in Dublin on St Patricks Day, 1858. While in certain respects it represented continuity with the tradition dating back through Thomas Davis and Robert Emmet to Wolfe Tone (its initial cadre was drawn largely from those who had been members of the Young Ireland movement of the 1840s), it also embodied novel elements. These were particularly evident in its cellular structure (although this had limited success in constraining the damage done by informers) and in its leadership. The leadership was more broadly based than that of previous republican groups, with both Catholics and those from lower down the social scale were more evident than in the past. Whether the latter feature or others (such as its oath-bound nature) were the prime cause of a hostility evinced towards it by the Catholic hierarchy (and all other denominations) is hard to say, but the animus was deep-seated and enduring. For the vast majority of the rank and file of the movement (which included a small number of priests) the hierarchys hostility to them (or more specifically their leaders) was not reciprocated. Most took the view that the political future of the country was a case of rendering unto Caesar, and that, in taking such a hard-line oppositional stance on an exclusively political question, the hierarchy had over-stepped its legitimate sphere of influence. The movement developed along a number of lines, sometimes acting in concert with its American counterpart (Clan na Gael), sometimes independent of it; at times highly active, while at others virtually dormant. Some advocated terror tactics, some conventional military actions (especially after an influx of Irish veterans of the 1861-1865 American Civil War), and others a policy of wait and see. Its early promise as a revolutionary agent (or threat, depending on ones viewpoint), as manifested in such actions as the invasion of Canada and a poorly-executed uprising in Ireland in the mid-1860s, was not fully realised for many decades. This was partly a consequence of judiciously-timed arrests of its leadership, and partly a result of a more general shift away from revolutionary activities towards the land question, home rule, and cultural revival from the late 1870s onwards. The short-lived, and highly controversial, dynamite campaign of the 1880s sundered any immediate prospect of unity. Prominent critics such as James Stephens (the IRBs progenitor) vehemently criticised Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa, its best-known figure following a brutal period of imprisonment in the late 1860s, for having alienated swathes of middle-ground opinion as a result of his sponsorship of attacks on civilian targets in British cities. The centenary commemoration of the United Irishmen Rising in 1898, and the Boer War that followed soon afterwards, did, however, offer the movement the opportunity to remember past glories; and, through the creation of an Irish Brigade to fight against the British in South Africa, to create new ones. A generational shift in the early years of the 20th century saw a new, more vigorous leadership emerge, with Belfast the centre of the revival. The release from prision in 1898 if dynamite campaign veteran Thomas Clarke, and his subsequent return to Ireland, helped to form a bond between this new upper echelon and the older traditions of the movement. Over the following years, this leadership put in place the organisational, ideological, and personnel infrastructure that planned, and carried through, the 1916 Easter Rising. It was, first and foremost, a Fenian rising, and - although it seemed initially doomed to imitate the preceding failures - was ultimately the most successful of all. Gabriel Doherty lectures at University College Corks school of history, and is a member of the Expert Advisory Group to the Ireland 2016 Centenary. Enjoyed this? Then check out our dedicated micro-site, developed in collaboration with UCC, to mark the revolutionary period HERE For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE The Mansion House was an election literature-free zone on Saturday. There were no posters smiling at voters, no leaflets being passed out, no candidates meeting, greeting or hunting down a few preferences. All of which was a surreal scenario for what was an election event by a group which has 101 candidates running under its banner. The Right2Change movement was holding a conference in the Round Hall. The stage was flanked on one side by a screen bearing the 1916 Proclamation and on the other by a passage from the Programme for the First Dail. Like all other political entities, this one appears to be claiming direct lineage to the nations founding fathers, or specifically, to the aspirations expressed a century ago. Over half the seats were filled with around 200 people who had braved the cold, or abandoned the campaign trail to be here. Right2Change grew out of the water protests that were at their zenith in late 2014. The group espouses a set of principles expressed as various rights to which each citizen should be entitled, including housing, work and access to proper healthcare. A range of independents and small parties, along with Sinn Fein, have signed up. With around of a fifth of the total number of candidates in an extremely fractured electoral landscape, Right2Change should be making serious waves. But why hold a conference effectively a love-in among committed followers in the heat of an election campaign? What we are tryng to do is give a different analysis that people can bring forward as to what the circumstances of the election are, according to Brendan Ogle, one of the main organisers. We think there is a strong and incorrect consensus about the state of Ireland, with the recovery and end of the bail-out and all that and so the reason we held it during an election was to impact on the campaign. For more election news, analysis and general banter join us HERE The morning session concludes with a panel discussion including TDs Clare Daly, Richard Boyd Barrett, Mary Lou McDonald and Ogle. All are in favour of major change from the politics of the establishment parties. The tenor of the conversation would find favour across large tracts of the electorate, not to mind society. Disillusion with politics has never been as intense, and anything that offers serious change should be on a winner. The debate is thrown open to the floor for questions. One man rises and declares: I have had no say in what has happened over the last five years. And you want me to put my faith in you. He is met with a few shouts from elsewhere on the floor. Mary Lou McDonald feels his pain. I know that you hate politicians and politics because I feel like that a lot of the time, she says before going on to explain why politicians in Right2Change are different. Richard Boyd Barrett wants the main message to emerge from the day to be that people should turn out for a water protest next Saturday. The importance of next Saturday for the potential for change was manifested on the streets last year, we need to see that again, he says. Street protest as much as the exercise of power derived from the ballot box is regarded in some quarters as the best route to change. God knows, the country wants change right now, but the long odds of any real change being effected from the left was best illustrated in the Mansion House. In another country, in another culture, Right2Change might provide the basis for a political party. Syriza in Greece had its origins in the coming together of disparate elements of the Left. We do things differently here. The group grew out of the water charge protests and opposition to water charges is a central tenet of Right2Change. As a result, the Labour party, founded by James Connolly, whose image was on display on Saturday, was not invited to join. Neither was the Green party, which favours the principle of charging for water. The Social Democrats is politically in more or less the same point of the spectrum as Labour and the Greens, but they oppose water charges, so were invited to join. The party, which so far consists of a triumvirate of high profile TDs, declined the offer. This entity has a fair to middling chance of being in government after the election so presumably it didnt want to present any hostages to fortune. Sinn Fein is far and away the biggest entity in Right2Change, and there is little doubt but that the wider group could prove beneficial to a party attempting to overcome toxicity in attracting preference votes. But its presence has meant that the Anti Austerity Alliance formerly the Socialist Party is staying outside the tent, as it views the Shinners with some suspicion. In fact, one could argue that the main constituent of this left wing grouping is not left wing at all. Sinn Fein has, through its US funding operation, connections with big business and even met with US-based businessmen in Leinster House to reassure them that the party wasnt.well, too left wing. All of which raises questions about Right2Change as a serious political force. But as a forum to espouse a new kind of politics taking a longer view, it may well have a role. The afternoon session saw more addresses from economists, including a video contribution from Varis Varifackos, the former Syriza politician. There was also a call from the conference for all progressive parties and independents to declare next Saturday a non-canvassing day in deference to the water charge protest. Let the canvas be in the streets next week, Ogle said. One notable feature of the days events was the performance of Stephen Murphy, a poet whose work wasnt just engaging, but presented him as the kind of political communicator who, in todays world, is both rare and highly effective. For more election news, analysis and general banter join us HERE Not joking you, the cat and the budgie are driving me to drink. Every time the man in my life turns on the television, there they are. One unappealing and somewhat menacing cat. One inconsequential canary. The first time I saw them, I didnt realise it was an ad. I thought maybe Id happened upon a documentary and was transfixed by them being so close to each other with the implicit danger to the tiny bird. Maybe the cat grew up with this canary. Maybe they go back to when they were kitten and egg, so to speak, but dont tell me even the most budgie-friendly cat wont have a sudden regression to feral feline if its a bit peckish and a trustful budgie is within paw-swipe. As the days went on, I realised it was an ad and further realised that it was probably the most annoying ad ever made, predicated as it is on the bird and the cat making their typical noises at high volume at their male owner until he eventually gets the message that his electricity is cheaper as a result of his wife shifting from one energy supplier to another. Cheep/purr. Cheep/purr. Got that, have you? In sharp contrast to the charming girl who dates the guy who keeps a pet pig, neither the bird, the cat nor their owners are particularly endearing. The woman is sharpish. The guy is not just thick as a plank (it takes him forever to work out the message his animals are sending him) but cowardly with it. And the blue tiles in their kitchen make you wonder how any cat of taste would continue to live there. (Budgies are cute but have no aesthetic sense. Trust me on this.) The point about this maddening ad is that it is superb. Its as effective as a brain tattoo. It gives you an earworm for half a day every time you hear it by virtue of the simple, drive-you-crazy-repetition of the key message: Cheep Purr. Cheaper, Cheaper. Right now, of course, every candidate in Fine Gael at the moment is behaving like a human version of the cat and the budgie. If you switch on the light, they say Keep the Recovery Going. This is about as popular with the hacks as the bird/canary are with me. Last Thursday, the night of the leaders debate in TV3, a political correspondent friend rang me, spitting teeth with fury about how the Taoiseach had arrived and immediately started on about the recovery. For more election news, analysis and general banter join us HERE So boring, my friend said, sniffing a long reproachful sniff imputing responsibility to me for this, which imputation would be untrue. So on message. I had a mad urge to ask him if hed expected the Taoiseach to get intellectually speculative in the TV3 foyer about the innovative approach taken by Peruvian cattle dealers to artificial insemination. Its just like before the last election, my friend went on. Dyou remember him and his five-point plan? Will you ever forget him and his five-point plan? I asked. The irony slid past him on oiled blades, as did the fact that the approach he was decrying as failing to serve the high boredom threshold of journalists works perfectly when it comes to setting up a repeating cognitive loop in the listeners heads. Cheep purr. Keep the recovery going. Cheep purr. Gerry Adams used repetition too, in the TV3 debate, but with rather less success. Gerry has the old verbal bully device of repeating the same phrase the way police forces throw down spikes to attack the wheels of getaway cars: sooner or later one of them will puncture the tyre and it will grind to a halt. Gerry seems to think that monotoning the same phrase underneath a Joan Burton monologue will collapse her tyres. Not going to happen, Gerry. That womans tyres dont ever collapse. We suspect theyre solid rubber. Good manners were reestablished in TV3 after the politicians went home. The two people who talked about social media didnt interrupt each other at all. They were, in fact, mutually courteous and appreciative. What they said was that some of the politicians got mentioned more than others on social media and they had the statistics to prove it, although not, as far as I could see, any attributable significant arising therefrom. But that doesnt stop a general enthusiastic unevidenced belief that this election will be partly won on social media. Thats such a safe prediction. Like Its all to play for. Or This is Fine Gaels to lose. Once the social media name-counters were gone, the funniest moment of the evening happened. That was when Ivan Yates demanded Pat Leahys take on the body language of the debate and Pat Leahys brain boggled while we watched. Irish viewers indeed TV3 viewers may, late on Thursday night, have witnessed the most perfectly formed brain boggle ever seen on camera. You could could almost see Leahy testing out a response like Well, Enda Kenny wags a classy fountain pen, and Gerry Adams has an offensive forefinger but baulking at the last minute at the prospect of trying to make either observation seriously relevant to the discussion. Having done a good full frontal boggle and looked down the barrel of the body language question, Pat Leahy decided he wasnt having any of it and answered a quite different question. Now this was very sensible of him, particularly since Ivan Yates takes a somewhat Biblical approach to the questions he poses. He casts them upon the waters and doesnt seem to care that much about the responses they evoke. He never does a Paxman, forcing people to answer the specific question as posed. In this instance it was just as well, because body language has its limitations as a predictor and as a qualifier for high public office. Were it otherwise, the inestimable Mary Robinsons infinitely repetitive meat-chopping gestures would have prevented her from ever becoming President of Ireland. What was particularly interesting about Pat Leahy rejecting an incoming questionand moving on to ask and answer one he preferred (because he had thought it up all on his own) is that a politician who did the same would be hung, drawn, and quartered. The rules of interrogation as applied to commentators are radically different, in tone, content and pace, from the rules of interrogation as applied to politicians. Interviews with commentators are invitations to be interesting. Interviews with politicians are invitations to make a public confession. Somewhere along the line the notion developed that openness and transparency on the part of politicians is best fostered by a KGB approach involving a naked light bulb, extensive sleep deprivation, and a central assumption that everybody in the room knows the guilt of the person interviewed. And that even if they wont fess up like an ordinary decent criminal, their body language will tell on them. In a Dublin, Mayo, Cork, or Belfast accent. For more election news, analysis and general banter join us HERE The liquid biopsy test looks for fragments of genetic material in a tiny drop of saliva. Early results from lung cancer patients suggest near-perfect accuracy, according to the scientist whose team developed the system. David Wong of the University of California at Los Angeles said: We need less than one drop of saliva and we can turn the test around in 10 minutes. It can be done in a doctors office while you wait. Only Jeb Bush said Obama had every right to nominate a justice during his final year in office. The former governor of Florida said there should be consensus orientation on that nomination, but added that he did not expect Obama would pick a candidate in that vein. The five other candidates on the stage in the debate in Greenville, South Carolina, urged the Republican-led Senate to block any attempts by the president to get his third nominee on the court. Its up to [Senate majority leader] Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it, said Donald Trump. Its called delay, delay, delay. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton said Obama had the right to nominate another justice. He is president of the United States until January 20, 2017. That is a fact my friends, whether the Republicans like it or not, she said. Lets get on with it, said left-wing challenger Bernie Sanders, arguing that the Senate should vote on whoever Obama nominated. Trump and Bush tangled in some of the nights most biting exchanges, highlighting the bad blood between the property mogul who leads the Republican field and the former Florida governor who was once expected to sail to the nomination. In a particularly heated confrontation, Trump accused Bushs brother, former president George W Bush, of having lied to the public about the Iraq war. Obviously the war in Iraq was a big fat mistake, Trump said. Jeb Bush, who has been among the most aggressive Republican candidates in taking on Trump, said while he did not mind him criticising him Its blood sport for him he was sick and tired of him going after my family. Trump was jeered lustily by the audience in a state where the Bush family is popular with Republicans. George W Bush plans to campaign with his brother in Charleston today. Candidates used Scalias sudden death to raise the stakes for the election. Ted Cruz cast the moment in stark terms, saying allowing another Obama nominee to be approved would amount to Republicans giving up control of the Supreme Court for a generation. Britain will be punished by the EU for leaving, because other countries will not want to see it succeed alone, the countrys foreign secretary Philip Hammond has warned. He delivered the stark message as he insisted negotiations over membership reforms will run right to the wire of a crunch summit in Brussels this week. The comments, in an interview on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, came as the sides began ramping up their campaigns with just four months to go until the likely referendum date. Two senior travel industry figures have cautioned that flight prices could rise and tourist safety could be compromised by Brexit. Mr Hammond said there were still a lot of moving parts in the draft deal tabled by European Council president Donald Tusk, but the UK had already secured an exemption from ever-closer union and a major breakthrough on restricting migrant benefits. Other EU states recognised Britain needs a robust deal in order to stay in. Until a few weeks ago people were telling us it was impossible to have any kind of period in which we treated newly-arrived migrants differently from people who were already here, he said. But the text that is on the table recognises that there can be a period of four years in which people are treated differently. That is a major step forward. What we have still got to discuss is what that difference in treatment precisely is. I dont think that is going to get resolved before Thursday. Mr Hammond said negotiations would go right to the wire, with some of these things only being able to be decided by the heads of state and government on Thursday when they sit down in that room together. If we cant get the deal we will carry on talking. Challenged that the proposals on the table fell short of the Tory manifesto pledge of a four-year ban on migrants claiming in-work benefits, Mr Hammond said: Lets look at it in the round. "There may be areas where we get more than we expected to get and areas where we get slightly less than we expected to get. Mr Hammond said he feared that if the UK left, it would have to forge new relationships with a very different EU. What I think I fear and many people in Europe fear is that without Britain, Europe would lurch in very much the wrong direction. Britain has been an enormously important influence in Europe, an influence for open markets for free trade. I think we would be dealing with a Europe that looked very much less in our image. I think the thing we have to remember is that there is a real fear in Europe that if Britain leaves, the contagion will spread. People who say we would do a great deal if we left, forget that the countries remaining in the EU will be looking over their shoulder at people in their own countries saying, Well, if the Brits can do it, why cant we?. "They will not have an interest in demonstrating that we can succeed outside the EU. Previously, scientists have thought womens ovarian reserve effectively the size of their egg bank came down to genes or their race. But the conditions women of a similar ethnicity and social background lived through as girls may also have a profound effect, the senior author of a study published in the journal Fertility And Sterility has said. At least 3,545 noncombatants died and another 7,457 were injured by fighting last year in a 4% rise over 2014, the UN said in its annual report on civilian casualties. The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable, Nicholas Haysom, the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement. Increasingly desperate fighting between Western-backed government forces and insurgent groups meant more noncombatants are being caught in the crossfire, investigators wrote, pointing to two developments in particular which pushed casualties up. Heavy fighting in the northern city of Kunduz, which briefly fell to the Taliban in late September, and a wave of suicide bombs which killed and wounded hundreds of people in the capital Kabul last year were the main factors behind the rise. In most parts of Afghanistan in 2015, civilian casualties decreased, Danielle Bell, director of the UN human rights programme in Afghanistan, told a news conference in Kabul. Ground engagements were the leading cause of civilian casualties at 37%, followed by roadside bombs at 21% and suicide attacks at 17%. Women and children were especially hard hit, as casualties among women spiked 37%, while deaths and injuries increased 14% among children. Casualties attributed to pro-government security forces jumped 28% compared to 2014. A 9% rise in civilian casualties caused by international military forces was attributed largely to a US air strike in October on a Doctors Without Borders hospital that killed 42 staff, patients, family members and injured another 43. Overall 103 civilians were killed and 67 wounded by foreign forces last year, the report found. As in past years, insurgent groups like the Taliban were blamed for the majority of civilian deaths and injuries, at 62%. Investigators accused insurgents of increasingly using tactics that deliberately or indiscriminately caused harm to civilians. The pontiff bought a message of hope and solidarity to residents with a Mass featuring readings about not being tempted by the devil a common exhortation from a pope who frequently invokes the threat of the evil one. The Mass took place at an outdoor field with an estimated capacity of 400,000 and the Popes choice of Ecatepec for what was his biggest event in Mexico said volumes about his priorities. The city of 1.6 million people is a sprawling carpet of breeze block slums mixed in with some better-off neighbourhoods. It is also a strategic point for drug gangs that thrive amid the poverty and unemployment. It was a strikingly different backdrop from the pageantry of Friday nights red-carpet welcome at Mexico City airport, where President Enrique Pena Nieto and first lady Angelica Rivera greeted him alongside performances by folk dancers and mariachi musicians. Conchita Tellez, 65, from the north-west Mexico border city of Mexicali, said she spent 38 hours on a bus to get to Ecatepec and was among the first in line for a spot at the Mass. She expressed hope Francis could help ease the troubled soul of the country, where 100,000 people have been killed and 27,000 disappeared in gangland violence since Mr Pena Nietos predecessor launched an offensive against drug cartels in 2006. The pope comes to Mexico at a very ugly moment, Tellez said. He comes to pray for us and for all those who lost hope and have submerged the country in blood and violence. Francis visit to Ecatepec came a day after his gruelling schedule appeared to be already taking a toll. He seemed tired and winded at times on Saturday and appeared to nod off at an evening Mass and also lost his balance and fell into a chair set up for him to pray. Dustin Taylor, 21, summoned police this week to his home in Fort Smith to remove a pair of handcuffs he told officers he and his wife had been using the previous night while doing some kinky things, the official report stated. The couple had lost the key, Taylor explained. The patrolman removed the handcuffs and did a routine search of Taylors name in a police database. When the computer reported an outstanding warrant for Taylor on criminal mischief, handcuffs went back on. But this time they belonged to the officer. Sergeant Daniel Grubbs, spokesman for the Fort Smith police, expressed a measure of sympathy for Taylor. I sort of wish the guy had invested in an extra handcuff key, Grubbs said. Sober affair Britain: Stephen Fry has said Bafta parties have been tamed in recent years due to buttoned-up and puritanical guests. The host of the awards bash said the stars tend to be on their best behaviour and stick to just one drink. Fry, 58, presented the glittering ceremony for the 11th time last night. Appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show on Saturday night, he said: It is an odd thing that... after the Baftas all the parties are pretty sober and people behave. People have one little drink and thats about it really, but if you went back to 20 years ago, 25 years ago, it was a very different story and I dont know why that is... now everybody is so buttoned-up and puritanical. Ross suggested that the reason for the change could be that people worry about camera phones, and Fry said: That is a very good point, that is a lot to do with it, isnt it? Stub it out US: The city of Boston is trying to rid the streets of unsightly cigarette butts by placing special receptacles in high traffic areas that will allow smokers to vote on a simple question. The receptacles, each with two disposal holes, will be placed in seven areas of the city and each is decorated with a question that has two possible answers. For example, one butt receptacle asks smokers: Which superpower would you want? Smokers can deposit their butts in an opening for Flight or for Invisibility. The receptacles, which are costing the city about 3,000 dollars, are part of the Neat Streets programne. Power of prayer Russia: A Russian regional court has ruled that an orthodox church diocese can repay part of an outstanding debt in prayers rather than money. Nizhegorodsky Regional Court said the local Russian Orthodox Church diocese can repay 258,000 rubles (2,900) it owes for the installation of a boiler system along with an additional 65,000 rubles (730) in fines and legal fees by praying for the health of the company that installed the system. Squirrelled away US: Charges against a woman who nursed two abandoned baby squirrels back to health have been dropped on a technicality. Maria Vaccarella, of Howell, New Jersey, had faced up to $500 (444) in fines after she took in a pair of baby squirrels abandoned by their mother. Ms Vaccarella used social media to document the rehab, which caught the attention of Fish and Wildlife officials, and she was charged with illegally being in possession of wildlife. But a judge has dismissed the charges after learning that the summons she was issued did not charge her with the correct offence. Ms Vaccarella said she had no idea what she was doing was against the law and would definitely save a life again. The accident happened on Saturday near the Swedish capital Stockholm. Local police said divers recovered the bodies of the victims aged between 20 and 35 after the vehicle plunged more than 25m (82ft) through a gap in the bridge which had opened to let a boat pass underneath. The bridge, at the Saltskogs junction between the E4 and the E20 motorways, has a middle section that rises directly upwards without tilting, leaving a gap that the Nissan Qashqai drove into, Swedish police said. A barrier, 50m before the opening, has flashing lights and signs warning there is a bridge opening, the officer handling the case said. Inspector Martin Bergholm said: For some reason, the car drove through the barriers and crashed down into the canal. Drivers of other cars were waiting behind the barrier but it is not yet known whether a boat had already passed or was waiting to pass. Mr Bergholm added: The witnesses just saw a car beside them and kind of disappear. The Warrington-based band members were Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, and Jack Dakin. Tributes have been paid on social media for the four-piece band who were from Warrington, Cheshire. Manager Craig Tarry is understood to be the fifth person in the car. The British Foreign Office said it was in contact with the local authorities and supporting the families of the victims. Band The Enemy wrote on social media: RIP Viola Beach and their manager. Such incredibly tragic and sad news. Thought with the friends and families of all involved x. The up-and-coming band were on tour and due to play a string of dates at venues across the UK. They were due to play a gig in Guildford in Surrey on Saturday, and were part of the line-up for Swedish music festival Where is the Music? on Friday. Burma As Tensions Rise Between Taang and Shan, SSPP Offers Mediation To halt escalating conflict between SSA-S and TNLA, SSPP offers to mediate between the two ethnic armed groups to reach a political solution. In an effort to reduce escalating tensions and violence between the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N) has offered to mediate between the two ethnic armed groups to reach a political solution. Maj-Gen Say Htin, of the SSPP, reportedly took on the role of mediator after meeting with chairman Lt-Gen Yawd Serk of the SSA-S on Sunday. He also leads the Shan State Joint Action Committee (SSJAC), which is comprised of Shan politicians and armed group leaders. Both the SSA-S and the TNLA recently released public statements stating that they were prepared to begin talks, but neither side could yet confirm when and where such a dialogue would be held. Conflict in northern Shan States Kyaukme, Namhsan and Namkham townships has intensified since February 7, but dates back to November 27, as both the TNLA and the SSA-S claim control over parts of the territory. On Monday, The Irrawaddy reported that over 2,500 people have been displaced by fighting in the area. The SSA-S, also referred to by its political wing, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), was a signatory to the so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the government in October last year. The NCA was signed by eight out of 15 eligible ethnic armed groups, but others, including the TNLA, were excluded from participation. Only if the RCSS retrieves its 1,500-plus troops from the area will the fighting subside, said Ta Parn La, a spokesperson for the TNLA. The RCSS reinforced its troops in the region, where they had only 80 troops in both Kyaukme and Namkham before the NCA. Ta Parn La appealed to the SSPP/SSA-Na fellow member of the armed group coalition known as the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC)to intervene on the issue, as the TNLA claims they have not been able to communicate directly with the RCSS. As early as December, UNFC leaders committed to reducing the tension, and have scheduled a meeting this week to work toward a resolution. Col Sai La, the RCSS/SSA-S spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they are ready to hold talks with the TNLA leadership, adding that they have been open to such talks since December. The group alleges that the TNLA never responded to requests to meet. We are not able to discuss details as we are now communicating with the mediator, Sai La said. Effective results will come only when the stakeholders meet peacefully. Sai La said that Lt-Gen Yawd Serk and his organization are ready to negotiate peacefully, as we are not enemies with other ethnic armed groups in our state. We would not have to fight back if we were not attacked, he added. Trading Allegations The RCSS/SSA-S and the TNLA have been exchanging allegations of abuse since fighting was first documented in late 2015. On February 12, the mutilated bodies of two Taang menAung Win, aged 27 and Tun Aung, aged 28were found in northern Shan States Muse Township after they had been missing for ten days. We found the two bodies in a corn farm, in different pieces. We do not know who killed them, said Tun Aungs older brother Aike Sik, who also pointed out that there are no armed groups near the familys village. After Aung Win and Tun Aungs disappearance, the Taang Literature and Culture Association of Muse released a February 6 statement suggesting that the RCSS/SSA-S had detained the men and called for their immediate release. The Shan armed group denied any connection to the victims. Last week, the RCSS said that 11 of their Namkham-based troops had been injured after a TNLA ambush in the Mai Wee area of the township in late November. They also accused the TNLA of burning houses, torturing locals, and of detaining over 20 villagers, 15 of whom are still missing. The TNLA rejects these allegations and accuses the RCSS/SSA-S of attacking them alongside government troops, a claim the Shan armed group denies. Burma Clashes in Northern Shan State Uproot Thousands Over 2,500 villagers in Kyaukme Township have been displaced by recent fighting between ethnic Shan and Taang armed groups, locals say. RANGOON Recent fighting between the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State has displaced over 2,000 civilians in Kyaukme Township, according to a local member of the National League for Democracy. Htay Win said a local committee had been established to provide assistance for almost 2,700 residents from 24 villages who have fled their homes since renewed fighting between the two ethnic armed groups flared earlier this month. The committee has been providing accommodation and food supplies for uprooted villagers from Shan and Palaung communities, with donations from locals. We dont know how long the conflict will last, so we dont know how long we will need to take care of them [displaced villagers], Htay Lwin said. The local [township] administration has also been providing a lot of support, including taking care of arranging accommodation for people. Displaced civilians, including from Tauk San, a small village around 35 miles outside Kyaukme, are reportedly sheltering in some 16 monasteries in Kyaukme Township. Villagers from nearby Tauk San have fled their homes because they are scared of fighting nearby, said Htay Lwin. Villages were being set on fire and news of a murder spread. Locals dare not stay in their villages. We have to take care of them until theyre able to leave. Fighting between the Shan and Taang armed groups has been reported on successive days since Feb. 7 across three townships in northern Shan StateNamkham, Namhsan and Kyaukme. Both sides have accused the other of being at fault. Local media reports suggest hundreds more displaced villagers are seeking shelter in Namkham Township. The SSA-S was among eight armed groups that signed the so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the government in mid-October. The TNLA by contrast was not recognized by the government and excluded from the negotiations. Burma Closing State-Run News Outlets Will Cause Ethnic Media to Suffer: MOI Official Ethnic representatives reject a Ministry of Information claim that the future of ethnic media is intertwined with that of government news services. MRAUK-OO, ARAKAN STATE Ethnic representatives rejected a claim made by a Ministry of Information (MOI) official on Sunday that the future of ethnic media is intertwined with that of state-run news services. If Myanmar TV (MRTV)the government-owned broadcasting serviceis dissolved, then ethnic media will suffer, said permanent secretary Tint Swe of the MOI at the 4th Ethnic Media Conference in Arakan State. Burma News International (BNI), an ethnic media coalition, hosted the conference in the ancient Arakan capital of Mrauk Oo. Nan Paw Gay, BNIs executive director, countered Tint Swe, pointing out that BNIs ethnic media partners had never received government funds, although she noted that the MOI had approached BNI and offered financial support to its members. Demolishing the MOI and the continued existence of BNI partners are different issues, because all of our partners are independent, she explained. The dissolution of broadcasters like MRTV, she argued, would not have an adverse effect on them. Some journalists have criticized the MOI as attempting to associate with ethnic media to advance their own interests, including on passing a so-called public service media law that would have transformed state-owned media organizations into public service outlets. The bill was ultimately withdrawn from Parliament in March last year. Media insiders have spoken in support of the shuttering of the MOI, claiming that the state-run newspapersMyanma Ahlin, The Mirror and The Global New Light of Myanmarare unnecessary and create market challenges for independent daily papers. These three newspapers also have the highest circulations in Burma. A participant in the BNI conference from the Northern Shan State Media Network, secretary Mya Wun Yan, said that Tin Swe did not specify which type of ethnic media would be affectedprint or broadcast. His speech was totally unrelated to the independent ethnic media because we havent received any aid from MOI. His words are related to some MOI proxy broadcasts, she said. Last year, the MOI established so-called national race channels (NRC) in some ethnic regions and provided financial and technical support for broadcasting. Some broadcasters affiliated with MOI are now producing radio programs in the ethnic Shan language for local audiences, said Mya Wun Yan. Speaking to reporters in December, Ye Htut, who leads the Ministry of Information and also serves as presidential spokesperson, said he hoped the incoming National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government would consider the careers and livelihoods of the MOIs 7,000 employees3,000 of whom work for state-run media enterpriseswhen pursuing reforms. Burma Fire Destroys Hundreds of Homes in Tenasserim Divisions Palaw Township A fire broke out on Saturday in Kyauk Kar village in Tenasserim Divisions Palaw Township, destroying 331 homes, according to a rescue official. RANGOON A fire broke out on Saturday in Kyauk Kar village in Tenasserim Divisions Palaw Township, destroying 331 homes, according to a rescue official. Sources report that houses in the island village, located about two hours by boat from Palaw Township, were ablaze for approximately five hours. The cause of the fire is still unknown. All we know is that negligence was involved, Nay Myo Htun, an officer in the rescue and resettlement department in Tenasserim Division, told The Irrawaddy. Local charities and social organizations are donating to fire victims, and the divisional rescue and resettlement department has said that it will provide 100,000 kyats (US$81) and home utensils to each affected household. More than 1,500 people were reportedly affected. The divisional government will provide 20 lakhs [2 million kyat] to each household for rebuilding purposes, while the rescue and resettlement department will provide 50 sheets of iron to renovate roofs, said Nay Myo Htun. Houses will be rebuilt according to locals wishes, he added, and if those affected ask the government to arrange for household repairs, arrangements will be made with contractors. KBZs Brighter Future Myanmar Foundation released a statement on Sunday saying that it had donated 3 lakhs [300,000 kyat] to each household to be used for home repairs and to recover lost items. Officials in Tenasserim Division and indeed across Burma are working to raise awareness among citizens of important fire prevention measures. The country has already faced a series of fires since the beginning of the year, including a massive blaze in January at Rangoon Divisions Mingalar Market that destroyed 1, 636 shops and another fire earlier this month that displaced over 1,200 residents in Namhsan Township in northern Shan State. In a letter sent to Rangoons Kawhmu Township administrative office on Monday, National League for Democracy chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi warned administrators to be vigilant regarding fire safety, including checking the electrical wiring of buildings and ensuring fire extinguishers are in public spaces as well as in homes. The Irrawaddys Nyein Nyein contributed reporting. Burma Hpakant Protesters Negotiate with Authorities over Waste Soil Dumps Locals in Kachin States Hpakant Township suspended protests on Monday against the continued dumping of waste soil after authorities agreed to dialogue. MANDALAY Locals in Kachin States Hpakant Township, who began protesting in three different villages on Saturday against the continued dumping of waste soil in their areas, suspended demonstrations on Monday after authorities agreed to dialogue. Protest camps had been set up in Lone Khin, Seng Taung and Sabaw villages of Hpakant Township, with residents issuing a set of demands to local authorities and mining companies operating in the jade-rich region and actively stopping dump trucks from depositing more waste. Protesters demanded that mining firms: stop dumping waste in their villages; remove existing piles of waste; abide by regulations set out by the government; and cooperate to restore tributaries of the Uru River impacted by the dumping of detritus. Protesters from Seng Taung and Sabaw villages said local authorities had visited their camps to seek a resolution. The authorities said they will meet with us tomorrow and will negotiate with the mining companies on our requests. So we decided to halt the protests during the negotiating period, said Dashi Naw Lwin of Seng Taung on Monday. The authorities said they will push the companies to fulfill our requests and if the companies dont follow the rules, we are allowed to protest again. We believe the local authorities will do the best for us [but] if not, we will resume our protest. In the Lone Khin area, while negotiations are also underway, local authorities reportedly told protesters they would be dispersed if they did not halt their demonstration. Some elders are still talking with the authorities at Lone Khin police station. The police said they will use force to crack down on the camp if we do not call off the protest by tonight, said protester La Taung on Monday. It seems the authorities cant give assurances [on the part] of the mining companies. If they can agree with us, we will halt the protest during the negotiation period. If not, we have to continue our protest and then, let us be arrested. Protests have been held in the area since late last year, demanding an end to the dumping of dangerous mountains of refuse. A string of deadly landslides were reported in 2015, including one incident in November that claimed the lives of more than 100 local prospectors at the site of a jade mine. Many hand-pickers are drawn from around the country to sift through huge piles of discarded waste in search of precious stone. Hpakant residents staged a roadblock from Dec. 10 to halt dozens of trucks planning to dump mine waste in nearby villages. The blockade was called off after several villagers were allegedly abducted by members of the Kachin Independence Army. Burma Newly Minted MPs Kick Off Week of Parliamentary Training Burmas new lawmakers have embarked on a week-long training course covering democracy, public leadership, ethics and their responsibilities as MPs. RANGOON During the opening session of a week-long training for newly elected MPs, Aung San Suu Kyi warned on Monday that the Parliament should not be a perch for lawmakers personal interests. Its not a stepping stone for a position. Its also not a call to fight people with different opinions. Its a place where we have to try our best to collaborate for the sake of the country and people, Suu Kyi told participants, made up of civilian and military representatives of the Union Parliament. Representatives of the people have to care about the people, not only the party or organization they represent, the National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman said. During the five-day training course, the themes of democracy, public leadership, ethics and the responsibilities and challenges facing lawmakers are scheduled to be discussed. Local lawmakers will be joined by parliamentary representatives from Australia, the UK, Pakistan, the Philippines and other countries who will share their expertise. On Saturday, the BBC reported that Chloe Smith, an MP for Norwich North in the UK, would help to train Suu Kyis new MPs over the course of the week. I will be discussing how MPs do constituency work and national work and emphasizing accountability and representation, Smith said. Burma President Waived US Trip to Monitor Sensitive Transition: Ye Htut Thein Sein cancelled a planned trip to the US-ASEAN summit in California this week due to the delicate nature of the countrys transition, Ye Htut said. RANGOON Burmas president cancelled a planned trip to attend the US-ASEAN summit beginning in California this week due to the delicate nature of the countrys political transition, according to presidential spokesperson Ye Htut. On Thursday evening, the presidents office announced that vice president Nyan Tun would attend the Feb. 15-16 summit in place of Thein Sein, giving no reason for the outgoing presidents abrupt change of plans. In an interview with the BBCs Burmese service on Saturday, Ye Htut referred to speculation of instability during the current handover, with the new governments term set to begin on April 1. The spokesperson, who is also information minister, did not elaborate on the potential instability but said, in case something bad happens, [the president] has to be here to make important decisions. It is more important for him to be here than in California to attend the summit. Thats why he decided not to join the meeting, Ye Htut said. Something could happen in the country. Im not saying anything will happen exactly. But as the head of state he thought it would be better for him to be here rather than in California. Thein Seins last minute cancelation comes as uncertainty continues to shroud reported negotiations between the military and the National League for Democracy (NLD) over the presidency. With Aung San Suu Kyi constitutionally barred from the position, speculation has centered on whether the clause could be sidestepped, with the consent of the military, to allow the NLD leader to formally lead the country. Parliament will not begin the process of considering presidential nominees until March 17, potentially buying the NLD more time to negotiate with the military, according to observers. On Friday, Reuters reported that the army was demanding the positions of chief minister in Arakan, Shan and Kachin states, as well as Rangoon Division, according to two unnamed sources. The NLDs appointment of former Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann to lead a legislative advisory panel earlier this month may have further fuelled mistrust in military circles, the news agency reported. Shwe Mann was ousted as ruling party chair last August in a move many chalked up to an apparent falling out with Thein Sein and the former generals ties to Suu Kyi. Burma From the Archive: 5 Years On, KNU Leaders Chilling Murder Still a Mystery The Irrawaddy revisits a story from 2013 on Karen National Union leader Mahn Sha who, eight years ago on Sunday, was gunned down at his home in Mae Sot. The Irrawaddy revisits a story from February 14, 2013, on Karen National Union leader Mahn Sha who, eight years ago on Sunday, was gunned down at his home in the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Five years ago today, Karen National Union (KNU) leader Mahn Sha was sitting on the balcony of his home in Mae Sot, a Thai town on the border with Burma, when two gunmen entered the house and shot him several times at point blank range. They left safely and were never seen again. A Thai police investigation came to nothing and the assassination of the prominent KNU general-secretary went down in history as a mysterious, cold-blooded murder that sent a chilling message to Burmas ethnic armed groups fighting the countrys government. As neither the victim nor the gunmen were Thai citizens, I dont think the Thai authorities will take this case seriously, said David Taw, a late former KNU spokesperson at the time. His words foretold the outcome. Five years later there has been no investigation, legal action or any new piece of information about the killing. On Thursday, Mahn Shas family said they remain deeply disappointed over this lack of action in the case. We are very sad as there is no legal action. Even if there is no legal action, we at least want to know the truth, said Nant Zoya Phan, Mahn Shas daughter, who works with the London-based Burma Campaign UK. Her sister Nant Bwa Bwa Phan said by phone from London that she supported any initiative that would help uncover what happened on Feb. 14, 2008. I want to encourage the KNU or any independent group to investigate the murder of our father, she said. Sunai Phasuk, a Thai researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said that Thai authorities had failed to thoroughly investigate the case. No matter who the victim is, the incident happened on Thai soil, so Thai authorities have a responsibility to bring the case to justice, he said. Mahn Sha was considered an inspirational leader for the Karen living in Burma and Karen refugees in Thailand, while he was also respected by Burmese dissidents for his support for the pro-democracy struggle in the country. He held many rounds of peace negotiations with Burmas military government and was expected to assume the KNUs leadership before he was gunned down at age 64. In decades past, tens of thousands of Karen have sought refuge in Mae Sot, just over the border from southeastern Burmas Karen State, where the KNU has been involved in a long-running conflict with Burmas central government. The KNU were tolerated by Thai authorities, as it had ties to the group. But Mae Sots murky environment of armed rebels, Burmese dissidents, Thai and Burmese businessmen, and Thai intelligence officers frequently led to unexplained incidents and killings. Mahn Shas killing remains unresolved although theories for the murder have been offered. Some said it was related to his opposition to the construction of Hat Gyi hydropower dam on the Salween River, a project that was planned by the Burmese government and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. Sources close to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a Karen splinter group, have said elements within the DKBA had been involved in Mahn Shas slaying. The group signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military regime after it split away from the KNU in 1995. His children said they hoped that the truth about his killing would surface in the future. I believe there will be a finding about the murder of my father. The truth will come out one day for sure, his daughter Bwa Baw Phan said. Mahn Shas adopted son Saw Say Say Phan added: As his children it was very difficult for us to lose a father, but it gave us comfort to see how so many other people also felt the loss of our father so deeply. He was a man who was widely loved and respected. In memorial of their father, his four children have set up the Phan Foundation, a charity that supports young Karen people or Karen organizations that fight poverty, promote education and development, or preserve Karen culture. Ethnic Issues RCSS Chairman: We Are Ready to Work With the NLD Govt Lt-Gen Yawd Serk of the Shan State Army-South discusses inclusion, lessons from abroad and future political collaboration with Burmas new leadership. LOI TAI LENG, SHAN STATE The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political wing of the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), became one of eight ethnic armed groups to sign a so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in October 2015. On the 69th annual Shan State National Day, commemorated on February 7, the groups leadership spoke publicly about a desire to build unity and a federal state system. The RCSS claims to have turned its efforts toward the development of Shan State, but the regions stability has been marred by recent clashes with the ethnic Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA). The leader of the approximately 7,000-strong armed group has become more vocal with the media and the broader public since signing the NCA. During a recent visit to the RCSS/SSA-S headquarters on the Thai-Burma border, reporter Nyein Nyein of The Irrawaddy spoke with chairman Lt-Gen Yawd Serk about inclusion, lessons from abroad and future political collaboration with Burmas new leadership. How do you envision the role of RCSS in the future, since security sector reform (SSR) and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes are supposed to follow in accordance with the nationwide ceasefire agreement? Perspectives on SSR and DDR differ on both sides. RCSS will practice security sector reform first, and only after it is in a stable situation, will DDR follow. RCSS will continue with our political policies. We have to work together for unity amongst the diverse minorities in Shan State. We have to work to implement federalism and development in the region. How would you unify the diverse public in Shan State, which is now also experiencing fighting? Signing the NCA is a way to unity, as it is signed between the government and the armed groups of both sides who think for the public. When the public cooperates, it will be successful. Why is social media important for building unity, as you described in your address to the public [on Shan State National Day]? Today is the media era. Everyone now has access to it and it makes it easier for us to communicate. So when we post or debate on social media, please keep your mind toward unity and peace. What is RCSS doing to reduce the Burma Armys practices of forced labor in the region? We are waiting for a response from the government so we can collaborate on this issue. So far we can only collect the information and document cases of abuse. Many women soldiers were seen in the military parade and taking responsibility for security [on Shan State National Day]. What is the RCSS/SSAs policy on the representation of women in decision-making? We have had a place for women in our organization since we formed. They have been taking on roles in healthcare and information documentation sectors for years. It is all based on a persons ability regardless of their gender. How helpful was your federalism study tour of Switzerland last month, as Switzerland is less populated than Burmaand even Shan Stateand has a different ethnic makeup? The division of power will be applicable to Shan State and Burma. The language learning is freer in their schools, even at the district level. They are more advanced in democratic practices, but we are way behind and cannot compare. In what ways do you expect to collaborate with the new NLD government? The new government has yet to announce their policies, as they have not formed them yet. We have to wait [until the end of March] and see what their policies will be and whether they will invite us to collaborate. If they do, we are ready to work with them for the benefit of the people in many ways. [gallery type="slideshow" ids="106573,106572,106571,106569,106570,106565,106566,106567,106568"] A relief team from Burma is in Iraq assisting ethnic Kurdish troops currently fighting against the jihadist group calling itself ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Formed in 1997, the Free Burma Rangers (FBR) has provided emergency relief to those in the remote ethnic regions of Burma plagued by over 60 years of civil war. Since January, a group of one Kachin and three ethnic Karen rangers from the organization have been delivering the same type of assistance in Iraqi Kurdistan. One ethnic Karen team member, who goes by the nickname Monkey, spoke with The Irrawaddy from the northern town of Sinjar, near the Syrian border. In accordance with the Free Burma Rangers motto, we stand for those who are oppressed, he explained. We were invited and encouraged to come here, so we came here to help as much as we can. Since November, Sinjar has been under the control of ethnic Kurdish troops, after previously falling to ISIS expansionist ambitions in 2014. The region has also been the site of an ethnic cleansing campaign by ISIS against the indigenous Yazidi ethno-religious group. This is the second time the FBR has dispatched its team to Iraq to help the Kurdish forces, or peshmerga, in combating the ISIS militants. The first group was sent in June 2015. During this visit, before Kurdish militia was able to take back Sinjar, the FBR team survived an ISIS attack on a Kurdish base where they were staying. Like the organizations work in eastern and western Burma, the FBRs activities with Kurdish troops and their families also involves both healthcare and documentation. Occasionally, they said they have to engage in military defense with the peshmerga soldiers against ISIS. We provided medical trainings, such as first aid, in order to immediately help those injured on the frontlines of a battle, said Monkey. We are collecting information and documenting what is happening here, to let the world know. Monkey explained that the obvious difference between war in Iraq and in eastern Burma is the geography: battles in Iraq take place in the desert, and are marked by airstrikes and heavy rocket shelling, while fighting in Burma happens in jungles and on hills or mountains with the use of smaller weapons. Here there are no trees. They mostly fire at each other from very far away and planes drop bombs. In Burma, they fight very close [to one another], he said. Every conflict zone is risky. But we have to help suffering people, so we have got things to do here. David Eubank, a former US Army officer, founded the FBR and has led both the previous and current delegations to Iraq. We have a very good team from Burma. Our mission is to give medical care and humanitarian assistance to people who are under attacks by ISIS and tell the world what happenshelp the people and get the news out, he told The Irrawaddy. They suffered like the people of Burma suffered, Eubank said of the Kurdish people. They said, wow, you came a long way here, even though you have troubles in Burma. You care about us. I see that Iraqi people, Kurdish people, they love these people from Burma because they came from Burma to help them, he added. The FBRs 2015 activities in Sinjar were documented in a video, titled Evil at Our Doorstep: The Free Burma Rangers in Kurdistan. FBR is largely funded by Christian charities, Christian communities, and churches across the United States and abroad. Monday, February 15th, 2016 (9:52 am) - Score 976 Fibre optic ISP Hyperoptic has joined forces with the Hyde Group, which is a United Kingdom focused Housing Association with 50,000 homes under its banner, in order to roll-out their ultrafast 1000Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to related residents. Apparently the first areas to benefit from this new agreement will be 6 of Hyde Housings existing developments in South London, such as Eyot House, Hicks House and The Parker Building in Bermondsey and Pinter, Arden and Beckett House in Stockwell. A couple of new build sites in Southwark and Harrow can also expect to get the new connectivity. Shaun Holdcroft, Regional Director of The Hyde Group, said: We were looking for a partner who could do two things. Firstly they had to offer something to help our offline social tenants to get on-line, our latest figures show offline rates amongst our tenants are 23% compared to 14% in the rest of the UK. Secondly they had to have experience in providing their services in new build developments as hyper-fast reliable broadband is increasingly expected by our new customers. Hyperoptic met these objectives fully and we are delighted to be the first housing association to work out a deal to provide fibre to our residents that benefits all our customers. Dana Tobak, MD of Hyperoptic, added: Hyperoptic is renowned for setting the gold standard in fibre broadband. We passionately believe that reliable, fast broadband access should be the norm, not the exception. We are working hard to increase our UK footprint so even more people can enjoy living their online lives without compromise and bridge the digital divide. The press release doesnt specifically confirm that all of Hyde Housings developments will get the new connectivity, but it does say that that the pilot areas will be live by September 2016 and the agreement allows for further Hyde blocks, both existing and new build, to be connected once the pilot has been completed. As usual residents will be offered Hyperoptics array of affordable 20Mbps, 100Mbps and 1000Mbps broadband packages, which can be taken with or without a phone service (all of these can be ordered on a contract-free basis and without any need for credit checks). The Hyde Groups social housing tenants in affected blocks will also be able to access a 2Mbps service from Hyperoptic. The vast majority of Hydes related developments are in England, with a strong focus on the regions of London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, the East of England and East Midlands. This domain name expired on 2022-10-16 00:22:00 Click here to renew it. With the increasing number of wireless devices, Bluetooth speakers are getting in trend. The powerful Bluetooth speakers are suitable for parties and picnics, which require you to play music and enjoy with your friends and family members. A lot of tech companies are manufacturing high-quality Bluetooth speakers, which gives us a huge choice of products. With the option, we are destined to get confused. Weve seen many of our friends spending a ton of money on the Bluetooth speakers every time and ending up with the third-grade product that only looks great but doesnt work at all. After seeing that, we decided to share our knowledge with our friends and help them to get the best Bluetooth speaker. Buying is a process, which requires the points that you should consider while shortlisting the product. Weve collected a few things or the features that you should consider before buying Bluetooth speakers. In this post, we are going to share the same features that you should follow religiously while spending your money getting the Bluetooth speakers. Features to Look for in a Bluetooth Speaker We have the option to look for the Basic Bluetooth speaker or the advanced Bluetooth speaker. Except for the additional features, both of these are going to work flawlessly and in the same way. Thats why we are listing the necessary features to look at in the Bluetooth Speakers. #1 Bluetooth Version A version of the Bluetooth connectivity is essential. As Bluetooth is a short-range communication network, you should consider only the Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity options. Having a higher version of Bluetooth connectivity, youll be able to enjoy the great sound quality, lower battery consumption, and excellent range of nearly 60 meters. So, checking the Bluetooth version is the absolute first step that you should not miss at all. Opting for Bluetooth 5.0 is highly recommended, but if you dont find some good options, then you may go for Bluetooth 4.0 and nothing lower. #2 Sound Drivers The driver is nothing but the speaker unit, which provides all the sound: the bigger the drivers, the louder the audio output. There are different types of audio drivers used by speaker manufacturers. The use of a variety of drivers changes the audio output style by multiples. If you choose the Bluetooth speakers with the big drivers, then obviously, the speaker size will increase. Also, the smaller the drivers, the smaller the speaker size will be. So, its essential to understand the requirements and choose the audio drivers accordingly. Not just that, checking out the speaker orientation and configuration is highly imperative. Some speakers come with a single driver or dual-driver setup. Also, some have upward and downward facing drivers, which provide a surreal sound experience. So, make sure to check for the drivers, its size, overall speaker size, and the driver setup for the ultimate music listening experience. #3 Battery Backup You are choosing the Bluetooth speakers because you dont want to have the hassle of carrying the cables and power supply around with you. The Bluetooth speakers are highly portable and come with an internal battery that provides it the necessary power. Even if it comes with a battery, you should check if it has sufficient battery backup. Having a battery life of 12 hours per charge is ideal. Also, if the device comes with the Low Power Profile with Bluetooth 5.0, then it will be an added advantage and will increase the overall battery life. So, checking out the battery life and the charging time is essential when you are buying a new Bluetooth Speaker. #4 Waterproof or Not Your pool parties are incomplete without the alcohol and good music. as you are near the water, you dont want to carry the wired speakers to avoid electrocution. SO, its better to use the Bluetooth speaker. But it is highly important to understand if the Bluetooth speakers are waterproof or not. When you are parting beside the pool, the speaker might get wet. So, its essential to check their waterproof ratings. With the great waterproof ratings, you can be sure to use the speakers in the rain and the pools to enjoy with your friends and family members. #5 Voice Assistant Well, this is pretty optional, but you should check if the Bluetooth speaker comes with the Voice assistant or not. Many of the popular companies are providing the speakers with the voice assistant. Though this feature wont be available in the bluetooth speakers under 2000, but if your budget is on a higher side, then you should keep this feature in mind. Be it Google or Amazon; we get the Bluetooth speakers with the voice assistant enabled. Such Bluetooth speakers are highly advanced and work on voice commands. So, they can easily connect to the internet and play the songs that you like or control automated devices with the voice command. If you are not going to use it in your house, then the voice assistant is just an additional feature that you can neglect. Final Words The world of Bluetooth speakers is very vast. You will find a lot of good products in the market, but there is no harm in doing the proper research before buying any Bluetooth speaker. With these essential features, youll be able to get the perfect Bluetooth speaker that has superb sound quality, compact size, and excellent battery life. All you have to do is to check out these essential features and get the best quality Bluetooth speaker that suits your requirements and the budget. There aren't that many international movies shot in Indonesia, either from Hollywood or Bollywood. The main problem is that the country does not offer tax incentives at the moment so film producers usually prefer shooting in Malaysia or Thailand. Indonesia is also considered more bureaucratic when it comes to getting permits delivered. Still, there are a few movies with famous actors that were either entirely shot in the country or with some scenes only. I managed to download and watch all the following movies from internet (legally of course). They provided me with an interesting look at how Indonesia is perceived abroad. Blackhat (2015) - Hollywood Chris Hemsworth, wisata di Sunda Kelapa One of the best international movies to have ever been filmed in Indonesia, Blackhat stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and was directed by Michael Mann. The last 20 minutes of the movie are in Jakarta in locations such as the airport, Tanah Abang, the Papua Freedom Monument or Sunda Kelapa. Eat, Pray, Love (2010) - Hollywood Java Heat (2013) - Hollywood Kellan Lutz and Ario Bayu in Yogyakarta Starring Kellan Lutz from the Twilight movies and Mickey Rourke, Java Heat was entirely shot in Indonesia in Yogyakarta and Magelang. Locations of the movie include the Station Leumpuyangan, the Tamansari palace and Borobudur. A funny scene is when Kellan Lutz ask a police officer who is having a nasi goreng: "How do you eat that shit?" One of the best international movies to have ever been filmed in Indonesia, Blackhat stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and was directed by Michael Mann. The last 20 minutes of the movie are in Jakarta in locations such as the airport, Tanah Abang, the Papua Freedom Monument or Sunda Kelapa.I don't think it's necessary to introduce Eat, Pray, Love as it is the most successful movies to have ever been shot in Indonesia. Starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem, it is so popular that you have tours in Bali where customers can visit the locations used in the film. Most scenes were taken in the surroundings of Ubud and Padang Padang Beach. After the Dark (2013) - US/Indonesia The funny thing about this movie is that it opens with a semi-nude love making scene and you also have a nude gay sex scene in the middle. Both of them could be considered as porn according to the 2008 Pornography Law. The director, the actors and the Indonesian producer (SCTV) risk up to 12 years in jail for that. I could recognize several locations in the movie such as The National Archive Museum , the Monas, Prambanan Temple, Sewu Temple, Belitung Island and the Bromo. Rogue Trader (1999) - UK Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel having a bintang and mie goreng Starring Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel who can both be seen in Jakarta for about 10 minutes, it tells the true story of the trader Nick Leeson who caused the bankrupt of Barings Bank. During a street food dinner somewhere in the city, they have this conversation: "Anna Friel: When they told me I was going to Jakarta I had to look on a map. Ewan McGregor: As a matter of fact so did I". Iseng (2016) - Malaysia/Indonesia Shot entirely in Jakarta with Indonesian actors but a Malaysian director/producer, Iseng is one of the few films in Bahasa that are being released with English subtitles. It will premiere in March 2016 and I advise you to watch it. It follows several characters in Jakarta who are flirting with the limits of morality, living their life without thinking about the consequences: Prostitutes, gangsters, lovers or cheating husbands. Slowly you see the stories getting more complicated until they take a more tragic turn. The cast of the movie includes Donny Alamsyah, Donny Damara, Fandy Christian, Zuli Silawanto, Yayan Ruhian, Tio Pakusadewo, Dayu Wijanto, Ayu Shita, Wulan Guritno and Manda Cello. Starring Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel who can both be seen in Jakarta for about 10 minutes, it tells the true story of the trader Nick Leeson who caused the bankrupt of Barings Bank. During a street food dinner somewhere in the city, they have this conversation: "Anna Friel: When they told me I was going to Jakarta I had to look on a map. Ewan McGregor: As a matter of fact so did I".Shot entirely in Jakarta with Indonesian actors but a Malaysian director/producer, Iseng is one of the few films in Bahasa that are being released with English subtitles. It will premiere in March 2016 and I advise you to watch it. It follows several characters in Jakarta who are flirting with the limits of morality, living their life without thinking about the consequences: Prostitutes, gangsters, lovers or cheating husbands. Slowly you see the stories getting more complicated until they take a more tragic turn.The cast of the movie includes Donny Alamsyah, Donny Damara, Fandy Christian, Zuli Silawanto, Yayan Ruhian, Tio Pakusadewo, Dayu Wijanto, Ayu Shita, Wulan Guritno and Manda Cello. Alex Cross (2012) - Hollywood Jean Reno: "Ini Siapa" This movie, directed by Rob Cohen who did the first Fast and Furious, stars Tyler Perry as Alex Cross, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns, Jean Reno and Rachel Nichols. One of the final scenes is in Bali in a villa on Pantai Jasri, Candidasa. The Fall (2012) - Hollywood/India There are two scenes of the movie that are set in Bali with the actors Leo Bill and Julian Bleach . The first one is a panorama of the famous Tegalalang rice field (at 41'30) and the second one shows a kecak dance ceremony in the Gunung Kawi temple at Tampaksiring (at 42'00). The Salt of The Earth (2014) - France/Brazil The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015. It also won the prize "Un Certain Regard" at the Cannes Film Festival 2014. The film is a documentary presenting the work of the Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado and was directed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders At 7'30, you can see Sebastiao Salgado taking pictures of the Yali tribe in Papua. You can see the character played by Jean Reno being wrongfully arrested for drug smuggling by the Indonesian police. On the phone, Alex Cross, who framed him says: "Do you have any idea what the punishment is for drug smuggling where you are? It's death by firing squad". You can also hear Jean Reno speaking a few sentences in bahasa. Bheja Fry 2 (2011) - Bollywood Part of the film is set on Bintan island, particularly on Lagoi Bay where two of the protagonist get lost. It stars Vinay Pathak and Kay Kay Menon. Savages (2012) - Hollywood Blake Lively in Sumbawa Most of the movie is shot in California, but the final scene is in Indonesia, in Moyo Island on Sumbawa. You see the three main characters, all drug dealers, starting a new life there. The three actors are Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Blake Lively. The film was directed by Oliver Stone and also stars Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta and Salma Hayek. Toute La Beaute du Monde (2006) - France Bali is filmed as a paradise on earth, which is quite far from the reality. For instance, you can see the actors in Seminyak with no noise, no pollution and no traffic. You also see the girl meditating in Tanah Lot with barely any tourists. An odd scene is when one of the actors buys a ring for Rp10,000 and later complains: "I paid it double the normal price, you could have helped me bargain harder". This French movie is mostly shot in Bali and Lombok. It tells the story of a French woman played by Zoe Felix who goes to Bali to forget the death of her husband. She falls in love with both the island and a French guy (Marc Lavoine). It's a bit similar to Eat, Pray, Love.Bali is filmed as a paradise on earth, which is quite far from the reality. For instance, you can see the actors in Seminyak with no noise, no pollution and no traffic. You also see the girl meditating in Tanah Lot with barely any tourists.An odd scene is when one of the actors buys a ring for Rp10,000 and later complains: "I paid it double the normal price, you could have helped me bargain harder". Pijnstillers (2014) - Holland War Photographer (2002) - Switzerland I didn't get the subtitles for this movie so I didn't really understand the plot. You have two scenes in Jakarta where you can see actor Raymond Thiry alone taking pictures.This documentary is about the work of James Nachtwey, one of the world's most famous war photographers and photo journalists. You can see him shooting in Jakarta and in Kawah Ijen. Other International films shot in Indonesia: Car chase in Jakarta in The Raid 2 The three movies of Gareth Evans can be considered international as they had a worldwide release. They are: "Merantau" (2009), "The Raid: Redemption" (2011) and "The Raid 2" (2014). The two movies "Baraka" (1992) and "Samsara" (2011) have scenes in Indonesia among several other locations on earth. The two critically-acclaimed movies from Joshua Oppenheimer "The Act of Killing" (2012) and "The Look of Silence" (2014) were both shot in Indonesia, in particular in Medan, Sumatra. Both films were nominated for Best Documentaries at the Academy Awards. Films with a story in Indonesia but not shot in Indonesia: Nick Nolte is the main character in Farewell to The King The three movies of Gareth Evans can be considered international as they had a worldwide release. They are: "Merantau" (2009), "The Raid: Redemption" (2011) and "The Raid 2" (2014).The two movies "Baraka" (1992) and "Samsara" (2011) have scenes in Indonesia among several other locations on earth.The two critically-acclaimed movies from Joshua Oppenheimer "The Act of Killing" (2012) and "The Look of Silence" (2014) were both shot in Indonesia, in particular in Medan, Sumatra. Both films were nominated for Best Documentaries at the Academy Awards. "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" (2004) is supposed to take place in Borneo but the location of the shooting was in the Fijis. "Paradise Road" (1997) with Glenn Close, Frances McDormand and Julianna Margulies. Even though it is a movie about the internment camps of Sumatra during WW2, it was shot in Malaysia for "technical reasons". "Farewell to the King" (1989): Shot in Borneo, Sarawak, Malaysia and not in Indonesia as some people think. "The Year Of Living Dangerously" (1982) with Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver was shot in the Philippines and Australia but the plot is in Jakarta during the fall of Soekarno. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie slammed divorce rumors circling around the internet by getting similar tattoos in Cambodia, Lawyer Herald reported. Known to be a firm believer of the power and meaning of tattoos, the actress got one that symbolizes protection and health for its wearer. His husband got one of his own Thai Buddhist symbol as a support to his wife who has been struggling with health issues. Jolie had both of her breasts removed, as well as her ovaries. The tattoos are allegedly composed of grids and pyramids on top and were done by Thai artist Ajam Noo Kanpai using bamboo tubes and sterilized needles instead of guns while in Cambodia to shoot for her new film "First They Killed My Father." A source told Radar Online that Jolie is a very spiritual person who has long believed that tattoos are more than just designs on her body and that they actually hold some meaning, power and influence over her. Pitt's tattoo is just below his previous tattoo which was done in Jolie's handwriting that says: "We live, we die, we know not why, but I'll be with you." According to Radar Online, Kanpai, who has also done some of Jolies tattoos, said that he only works with people who are clean and moral. "My tattoos have a great deal of spiritual meaning and significance, so I hope they have blessed her," Kanpai added. Jolie reportedly has a total of 17 tattoos to this date and is not stopping anytime soon. While in Cambodia for the shoot alone, Jolie already had gotten three new tattoos, all of which symbolizes something of magnificent meaning for her. Meanwhile, recent reports have said that Jolie, Pitt, together with their six children are currently looking to move to London, U.K. so that Jolie could focus on projects linked directly to the refugee crisis. Stay tuned for more Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt updates here! George Clooney and wife Amal Alamuddin are in the middle of another nasty divorce rumor once again. The married couple has been constantly hit with splitsville speculations ever since they got married last year. New reports are now claiming that the barrister has been demanding her hubby to give up a hobby she's not fond of. "Amal Alamuddin might want to loosen up the reins a little bit on George Clooney," Celeb Dirty Laundry reported. "Alamuddin has reportedly demanded that the Oscar-winner give up his yearly 'guys only' motorcycle getaway with buddy Rande Gerber." "According to National Enquirer sources, this latest argument over the motorcycle trip has turned into a much bigger argument than need be. And if Amal doesn't back off and let George enjoy some time away, the world-renowned lawyer could find herself on the receiving end of divorce papers." Previous reports have claimed that Amal was very controlling of George's activities, spawning more talk that a divorce might be imminent. Meanwhile, George and Amal have set aside all the negative press to help out in the refugee crisis. Both the actor and the barister met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently to discuss how they can provide help to people affected by the civil war in the Middle East. "The Academy Award winner and wife Amal were in Berlin to promote his new film when they met with Merkel for 30 minutes, during which they discussed the crisis and onslaught of people coming into Europe," International Business Times reported. "The three were joined by David Miliband, the former British foreign secretary and current head of the International Rescue Committee." Stay tuned for more George Clooney and wife Amal Alamuddin news here! Fans better get ready to scream once again as Emma Roberts has confirmed her return to "Scream Queens" season 2 as Chanel Oberlin. However, the sorority scream queen is ditching her Chanel jackets for hospital gowns. Being fashionable in real life and on screen, Roberts has revealed to E! News that "Chanel is back!" Roberts was attending the Ralph Lauren Polo Fashion Show at the New York Fashion Week and excitedly told the good news. "I'm so excited for season two of Scream Queens because I can only imagine what the writers have in store for Chanel," Roberts said. The last fans have seen the sorority queens was back in season 1 where they were admitted to a mental institution. For some reason, they loved the place. So fans ask, what does the upcoming run have in store for television viewers? For starters, Wallace University is no more the central location of the show as season 2 will take place at a spooky hospital. Reports have also indicated that the production is casting four new additional male actors who will play doctors. That's no surprise since most of the lead in season one were killed off one by one. "If there is anything season two needs, it's four hot doctors," Roberts excitedly confirmed. While it is now known that Roberts will return, Fox Co-Chairman Dana Walden teased that the other notable characters from the previous run could return. No official re-casting and casting has been officially announced by Fox so it is not yet official if Lea Michele and the rest of the Chanels are set to return. "Scream Queens" season 2 is scheduled to return to the small screens this year. SHARE By of the Citing last week's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday ordered state agencies not to do any work to prepare for federal climate change regulations that would require Wisconsin utilities to cut carbon emissions from power plants. His executive order follows a decision last week by the Supreme Court to put the regulation known as the Clean Power Plan on hold, temporarily, while an appeals court considers a challenge by 27 states including Wisconsin that the rules are illegal. "Clearly, this rule exceeds the President's authority and would place an undue burden on the Wisconsin ratepayers and manufacturers," Walker said in a statement. "The stay granted last week by the Supreme Court validates our concerns about this rule. The Executive Order we issued today protects our taxpayers from an unnecessary cost of up to $13 billion as we continue to act in the best interests of Wisconsin citizens." Until last week's decision, environmental groups and state agencies had expressed hope that the state would work to draft its own plan to comply with the regulations even as it fought the legality of the rules in court. Supporters of the rule have questioned the state's estimate for how much it would cost to comply with the Clean Power Plan. Among other qualms, they say those estimates fail to account for savings on medical costs that would be seen from reduced emissions from burning coal a contributor to asthma and other respiratory diseases. The Environmental Protection Agency was requiring states to file a plan or request an extension by this fall, and other states that had sued EPA announced they were taking steps to comply. But a coalition of Wisconsin business groups that supported Wisconsin's move to file suit against the rule agreed with Walker's position. The coalition told EPA in a filing last month that it would be premature to move to comply while the legal challenge is pending. The executive order affects both the Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission. The Department of the Natural Resources would have to set emissions limits for power plants. The agency approves air permits and administers regulations of the Clean Air Act and would play a key role in the Clean Power Plan. The PSC regulates utilities and approves applications for new power plants. Because there is no cost-effective way to remove carbon dioxide from power plant smokestacks, the rule would also involve the PSC. That agency would look to find other ways to reduce emissions, such as by allowing utilities to build more clean-energy projects such as wind farms or by amping up the state program that helps utilities cut energy use. Walker's order came two days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who sided with the conservative majority last week in its 5-4 decision to impose a stay on the Clean Power Plan. The Supreme Court's action was unexpected and came less than a month after a federal appeals court had declined to issue a stay in the matter. SHARE Ladmarald Cates Journal Sentinel files By of the Former Milwaukee police officer Ladmarald Cates, who is serving 24 years in prison for raping a woman after he responded to her 911 call in July 2010, will be allowed to personally cross-examine the victim during the trial in her civil suit, a federal judge has ruled. The woman's attorneys had argued that allowing a convicted rapist to question the woman he assaulted would re-traumatize her. Attorneys for the city said they believed the former officer should be able to question the woman. In court records made public Sunday, U.S. District Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr. noted "that nothing in the record shows plaintiff would not be able to withstand cross-examination by Cates." Robin Shellow, one of the woman's attorneys, said the victim, who testified against Cates during his criminal trial, should not be forced to face him in court again. "The idea that a convicted rapist cop is going to be allowed to luxuriate in the retelling of his victim's pain is alarmingly reminiscent of Ted Bundy's excruciating cross-examination of Carol DaRonch during his first trial," Shellow said. Assistant City Attorney Susan Lappen was not available for comment. Although Cates has a right to put on a defense, the woman's attorneys had proposed he submit his questions in writing for either the judge or a member of the court staff to ask them. Clevert said he would not allow that. The unusual set of circumstances arises because Cates is serving as his own attorney in the civil case. In most civil rights cases, city lawyers represent police officers. But the city is not representing Cates, saying his bosses were not responsible for his actions the day he answered the woman's 911 call about her neighbors throwing rocks through her windows. He then raped her in her bathroom, according to testimony during his criminal trial. After she ran outside shouting that she had been assaulted, she was arrested. Cates was criminally convicted in federal court of violating the woman's civil rights by raping her. Because a jury already has rejected his argument that the sex was consensual, the law prevents him from making that claim in the civil case. As a result, Cates will not be able to question the woman about the issue of consent, Clevert ruled. Cates will only be allowed to ask her about the impact the assault had on her and the extent of her injuries. City lawyers, on the other hand, have argued that because neither the city nor the Police Department were parties to the criminal case, they should not be bound by the jury's findings which would give them the latitude to argue consent during the civil trial, although they have not said whether they will do so. Attorneys for the city and the Police Department also have argued that Cates was not acting "within the scope of his employment" at the time of the sexual contact, and as a result neither the city nor the Police Department should be held financially responsible for any violations of the woman's civil rights. A hearing on those issues is scheduled for April 11. A trial date has not been set, and the judge "urged the parties to confer," according to minutes of a recent court proceeding. Those discussions theoretically could lead to a compromise regarding Cates' questioning of the victim, or they could result in a settlement, making a trial unnecessary. Ian Henderson, director of legal and systems services at the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said he could not think of a case in which the perpetrator of a rape was allowed to question his victim. Even without the added stress of being directly cross-examined by the rapist, court proceedings can be emotionally difficult for survivors, he said. "They're in the same room with that person, and when you're talking about being on the stand, even if it's a defense attorney, the person is potentially making eye contact with the survivor, looking at them," Henderson said. "That questioning sometimes can be seen to be victim blaming." Henderson credited the woman for coming forward to seek justice, both in the criminal and civil arenas. He also said he was glad the judge had made some effort to limit the topics Cates can ask the woman about. Cates was fired from the Police Department in December 2010 for lying and for "idling and loafing" because having sex on duty is against department rules. He was charged by the U.S. attorney's office after the Milwaukee County district attorney declined to charge him and was convicted in 2012. Previous accusations Cates had been accused of breaking the law five times before. Three of the previous allegations involved sexual misconduct two with female prisoners and one with a 16-year-old girl. The alleged incidents date to 2000, three years after he was hired as a police officer. As evidence that Cates wasn't the only officer not held promptly accountable for sexual misconduct, plaintiff's expert Lou Reiter cited former officers Michael Vagnini and Steven Lelinski. Vagnini was among four officers convicted of crimes in connection with illegal strip and cavity searches in district stations and on the streets of District 5 from 2008 to 2012. Vagnini pleaded no contest to four felonies and four misdemeanors and was sentenced to 26 months in prison. In March 2007, Lelinski was sentenced to 21 years and nine months in prison for sexually assaulting two women he met on duty. Allegations dating back to 1997 showed a pattern of similar behavior. In a report filed on behalf of the city, Milwaukee police Lt. James H. MacGillis, program manager at the training academy, said this about Vagnini: "I find no cause, evidence or argument that former Officer Vagnini is or was a repeat offender, either of general rule violations or repeat sexual misconduct." MacGillis also said he had at one time served as Lelinski's supervisor and had been informed Lelinski was under investigation, although he was not given details. "I balanced my MPD training and my training on applicable laws to ensure the proper work performance of my employee were in alignment with the law and MPD objectives," he said. "Admittedly, a supervisor cannot be everywhere at all times." SHARE Jonathan Aponte-Santiago Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office By of the A man police say used a gun to hold up 10 taverns, restaurants, a gas station and a driver on Milwaukee's south side in January has been charged in the robbery spree. Jonathan Aponte-Santiago, 22, faces 12 counts of armed robbery in a complaint issued Monday. The robberies began Jan. 7 and extended to Jan. 31, according to the complaint. Police say Aponte-Santiago fired his weapon during some of the robberies, and hit at least one person, a Denny's employee who tried to disarm him during a robbery early Jan. 28. According to the criminal complaint: For one robbery, Aponte-Santiago painted his face like a clown and carried a bolt-action .22-caliber rifle with a hunting scope. In others, he produced a handgun and didn't hide his face. Nearly every crime was captured on video. At one tavern, after robbing the till and several patrons, Aponte-Santiago fired a shot into the ceiling from a 9mm handgun. Two people were in the apartment above the bar but were not hurt. In several of the tavern robberies, Aponte-Santiago first entered and asked to use the restroom. After being asked for ID, he would leave, then return in a few minutes and announce a robbery. In others, he first ordered and drank Corona beer, according to police who later collected his fingerprints from glasses and bottles. On Jan. 28, at Reyna's, Aponte-Santiago robbed the bar and patrons after yelling "Give me your money or I will kill you. I have the devil inside me," and then fired a shot into the ceiling. He robbed yet another tavern, then took someone's car on S. 34th St. after pointing a gun at the driver's head and finally robbed a Denny's on S. Howell Ave. about 3:20 a.m., and shot the employee. The last holdup was on Jan. 31, which involved five victims at another tavern. Aponte-Santiago is being held at the Milwaukee County Jail; bail is set at $150,000. A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday. UW-Madison recently released recommendations from a task force created after a national survey found the rate of sexual assaults reported by UW-Madison students was above the national average. Credit: Journal Sentinel files SHARE By of the Madison Like other colleges and universities across the country, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is attempting to prevent sexual assaults by stepping up educational programs and awareness campaigns. The university teaches students the ground rules of consent: Sexual contact must be preceded by consent from both parties; a clear and freely given "yes" rather than absence of a "no." Anyone incapacitated by alcohol or drugs is considered incapable of giving consent. UW officials teach students how to spot unsafe situations involving others at a party or a bar: pushing drinks on a person, isolating someone from friends. And they show them how bystanders can speak up and intervene, even if they don't know those involved. Perhaps most importantly, they encourage students to take ownership of a problem that generations before them tended to sweep under the carpet. Social norms around sex and high-risk alcohol consumption a common factor in a majority of sexual assaults must be changed by the students themselves, campus officials acknowledge. "The idea that a single program online or in person or a single policy or norming campaign will change the culture is not going to happen," said Sarah Van Orman, a physician and executive director of University Health Services at UW-Madison. "But with comprehensive change through multiple channels, we know we can shift the curve on this," she said. Last week, the university released recommendations from a task force created after a national survey found the rate of sexual assaults reported by UW-Madison students was above the national average. More than one in four UW-Madison undergraduate women or 27.6% reported experiencing some form of sexual assault while enrolled, exceeding the national average of 23.1%. The task force called for new measures, and for refining and expanding some efforts already in place. For example, starting next fall freshmen will get a second dose of a prevention program that research suggests makes a difference. The program called "Tonight" has been required for all first-year students since 2013. It addresses alcohol-facilitated sexual assault, consent, healthy sexuality in relationships and bystander intervention. The recommendations also call for continuing to address potential perpetrators through programs that encourage healthier ways to express masculinity, reduce homophobia and increase empathy for victims of gender-based violence. Awareness efforts include the national "It's On Us" campaign and the "Don't Be That Guy" program. Van Orman said one of the keys is students internalizing the message that sexual contact without consent, or facilitated by alcohol, is a violation of Badger values. Greek life examined A Greek task force on sexual assault formed last fall to focus on steps fraternities and sororities can take. Greek housing off-campus has been identified as a disproportionate location of sexual assaults. Among its recommendations is reviewing and modifying, as appropriate, Greek-life member selection processes and new member orientation. A sorority leader who met with reporters last week to discuss prevention efforts said fraternities also are embracing the efforts. Sororities are not allowed to have parties with alcohol, while fraternities are. "We have a very social component of Greek life. We definitely need to make a culture change," said UW-Madison senior and sorority leader Sarah Louden, who is part of the Greek sexual assault task force. "I think student leaders can have an influence," Louden said. Both the campus and Greek task forces called for expanding educational efforts that address alcohol-facilitated sexual assault and consent. The university is spending about $400,000 to beef up staffing and educational efforts to address sexual violence. A full-time, designated Title IX coordinator was hired in August to separate the investigation function from the discipline function of the dean of students office. Van Orman said they also plan to hire two additional victim advocates for support and counseling, and additional conduct officers. "We are very aggressive about taking the recommendations we made and turning them into action," she said. The federal Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is watching. UW-Madison is one of 159 colleges and universities around the country with open investigations by the Office for Civil Rights for its handling of reports of sexual assault. Three separate complaints were filed by UW-Madison students who alleged they were subjected to a sexually hostile environment because the university failed to respond promptly and equitably as required by Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination. Only four universities in the country had as many active federal investigations as UW-Madison as of Jan. 2. Stanford, Kansas State and St. Mary's College of Maryland each had four to UW-Madison's three. SHARE By Winona, Minn. The getaway driver in the shooting death of a Winona man in October has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the other defendants. The Winona Daily News reported that 19-year-old Kayla Mae Clay of La Crosse, Wis., faced three counts of aiding an offender as an accomplice. But she pleaded guilty Friday to a new gross misdemeanor count. In exchange, the other counts were dismissed. Sentencing is set for March 31. The charges stemmed from the Oct. 18 shooting death of 31-year-old Adam Tylor Fort. Clay testified she drove her boyfriend and another man to Winona to buy marijuana. She said they ran out of an apartment building where Fort was killed with a bag that contained around $5,000, and her boyfriend gave her about $600 of it. Flowers and candles sit at the bottom of the steps at the U.S. Supreme Court after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Credit: Getty Images SHARE In this Oct. 1, 2014, file photo, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks to an audience gathered at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, Colo. Brennan Linsley By America lost a great man last weekend. Justice Antonin Scalia was, more than anything else, committed to law as a discipline; as a way of resolving questions that is distinct from and more limited than politics, economics and moral philosophy. Judges, in his view, are not charged with the capacious inquiry into what is "right," but a more limited duty to decide what is and is not legal. To that end, he championed interpretive methods ways of deciding cases that limited judicial power and discretion. He was a champion of "textualism," arguing that constitutional and statutory language should be read to mean what it says. (It would surprise the general public to know that this common-sense approach is quite controversial among certain elements of the legal community.) Justice Scalia was committed to the notion that, if the language of a law is not clear, judges should not simply give it their preferred meaning, but should attempt to discern its "original meaning," that is, determine what it meant to those who adopted it. As an advocate of plain meaning and originalism two ideas that were met with derision among legal sophisticates when I attended law school Justice Scalia moved the law. While I did always agree with him I thought his view of executive and administrative power was too generous and his views on what cases can and cannot brought in federal court too limited we are closer to a proper understanding of our Constitution than we were 30 years ago. Because he believed in judicial modesty, Justice Scalia would not have wanted the selection of his successor to be the existential battle that it is likely to become. He did not believe that courts should have enough power and discretion to make the question of who sits on them as important as it has become. But it is. While the Supreme Court is routinely described as "conservative," it has a very disciplined bloc of four members firmly ensconced in the doctrines and understanding of the legal left. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan would dramatically change our constitutional jurisprudence. On a long list of issues affirmative action, free speech, freedom of religion, federalism a fifth vote for this group will change current doctrine. The Senate is not obligated to allow President Barack Obama to change the court in this way. It's right to "advise and consent" its duty to exercise independent judgment on judicial nominees says otherwise. That duty is not limited to passing on a nominee's legal qualifications. Senators also are free to insist that a nominee has demonstrated a proper understanding of the Constitution. They are obligated to ensure that a nominee have a commitment to federalism, the separation of powers, individual liberty and the written Constitution. If the Senate is unable to confirm the president's nominee, it will not be "obstructing" the process but playing its constitutional duty in that process. It has absolutely no obligation to agree to the president's choice and, indeed, has a duty to exercise its independent judgment. It has been 80 years since a vacancy arising in the year of a presidential election has been filled in that year. In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower made a recess appointment of William Brennan, but Justice Brennan was nominated and confirmed in 1957 after the president was re-elected. In 1968, Chief Justice Earl Warren announced his retirement and President Lyndon Johnson like Barack Obama a lame duck nominated Abe Fortas to replace him. Fortas' nomination was blocked by filibuster. The people elected Richard Nixon, and it was Nixon who nominated Warren Burger to fill the vacancy and the next Congress that confirmed him. The future direction of the Court is in the balance, and the nominee is likely to serve for a generation. With the presidential election upon us, the people ought to be heard on who will fill this vacancy. Rick Esenberg is president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. A version of this commentary was first published Sunday at his "Shark and Shepherd" blog at Purple Wisconsin. SHARE Addressing heroin epidemic I lost my 25-year-old son to a heroin overdose six years ago. I am hopeful that the programs being put in place, not just in Milwaukee, but throughout southeastern Wisconsin, will show some success ("City part of $2 million anti-heroin effort," Feb. 11). I find it sad, however, that when heroin use was considered an "inner city" problem it was mostly ignored. Now that heroin has moved into white suburbia, people are taking notice. Had programs been put into place years ago, we may not be facing this epidemic now. It begs the question: Will we learn from this? Jeraline Enk Muskego More money won't help There they go again: The liberal do-gooders think every problem can be solved by throwing more money at it ("City part of $2 million anti-heroin effort," Feb. 11). We have had decades of history that prove it doesn't work. Only individual responsibility will solve the heroin addiction problem. Actions have consequences, sad to say. It's the real world, not the twilight zone that liberals tend to live in. Miles Dake Waukesha Ban prescription drug ads When will the day come that prescription drugs will not be allowed to advertise on TV or magazines? Why are we not discussing this? All the talk about health care and no one is talking about the billions of dollars the drug companies are spending on advertising. It should be no different than when advertising cigarettes became illegal. Every TV program and every magazine is bombarded with this, and enough is enough. This is the time to ask the politicians running for president what they think about this, because you better believe this is way bigger than Obamacare. Marlene Skowron Hartford Legalizing switchblades What a marvelous move by Gov. Scott Walker, to legalize switchblade knives ("Gov. Scott Walker signs switchblade bill into law," Feb. 7). You can't make stuff up like this. Kurt Fifer Muskego Sanders' socialism When some of my more conservative friends hear Bernie Sanders' name it kind of scares them. He's a socialist, they say. Actually, he's a democratic socialist, and it's nothing to be afraid of. If he were to become president, he wouldn't be the first. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson were every bit as socialist as Sanders. Four out of these five presidents had 90% top income tax rates on their watches. And what's more, the economy ran smooth as buttermilk. There was a sizable middle class to keep pumping money into the economy. People could afford education, which led to good jobs that pumped more revenue into the economy. The minimum wage had more buying power and many private sector jobs provided health insurance and even pensions. The company I work for is Tyson Foods in Jefferson, and it will be closing its doors in a few months, leaving hundreds of people out of their jobs. It's yet another example of what union-busting and deregulation lead to. Companies work you to death and reap obscene profits, then kick you to the curb when it's no longer convenient for them to keep you. Then you're supposed to be grateful they gave you a job in the first place. Doesn't sound like much of a deal to me. Thank you, Gov. Scott Walker! Don't allow the GOP and right-wing talk show hosts to buffalo you like snake oil salesman any more with their fear-mongering and angry rhetoric. If you are among the small group of wealthiest Americans, then the Republicans have your best interest in mind. But for the vast majority of Americans who have to work paycheck to paycheck, you're much better off with Sanders. John F. Trepte Watertown Please email your letters to jsedit@jrn.com, or mail them to Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201-0371. Letters are generally limited to 200 words and are subject to editing. Americans are about to be treated to what most assuredly will be a long-term, rancorous debate over filling the vacancy on the United States Supreme Court left by the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The battle is on before the nation can pay its respects to the long-term jurist who was the center of so many of these contests and was considered the guardian of conservative principles. The war between liberals and conservatives over the ideological/philosophical direction of the court will be played out in two areas. One is the Senate, which must confirm anyone tapped for this crucial assignment, and the other is in the presidential campaign where the current potential nominees, and ultimately the eventual Republican and Democratic winners, will certainly make the court a prime issue in the general election. There is nothing surprising about this. The battle for control of the high court has occurred several times in the last 50 years, and obviously will be center stage again in the nation's political theater because of its importance as the final arbiter of most of our major disputes. Beginning with the refusal to elevate Associate Justice Abraham Fortas to Chief Justice of the United States during the Johnson administration, there have been several 'spectaculars' over court nominees. Richard Nixon's first two nominees were rejected by the Senate in sensational hearings and the attempt to put conservative icon Robert Bork on the panel later met a similar fate. George H.W. Bush's nominee, Clarence Thomas, did win confirmation but only after one of the most prurient and silly hearings ever conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee an ordeal that has left him understandably resentful to this day. As an aside, Vice President Joe Biden was chairman of that committee and presided over the hearings. But all these incidents of political and philosophical warfare pale when compared to what may be in store for the court and the nation with the death of Scalia. That simply the highest bench in the land may be forced to operate with only eight jurists for more than a year until the inauguration of a new president. Clearly that is the intention of Republicans who regard the possibility of a third liberal appointment by Barack Obama as catastrophic. And a solid wall of GOP negative votes would make the rejection of any Obama nomination a reality. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has left little doubt that his caucus will work to that end saying that the president, in his last year office, should defer any nomination to the next occupant of the White House. But Obama is not likely to do so in the belief that to leave the court short-handed for a year would be the height of irresponsibility. The court has in its earlier days functioned for long periods without a member. But that hasn't been the case in modern times. While Bork waited it out for 108 days before rejection, it is a long way from 365 or more, which would be unprecedented. The issues facing the court over the next 12 months are considerable including immigration and the Affordable Care Act, and constant litigation on guns and a host of social issues like abortion. Scalia led the court to a position on the Second Amendment, which historically preceding panels had rejected the establishment of the principle of individual rather than collective rights to bear arms. Obama will have to make some difficult choices here. He might win over enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster should he chose a nominee that is philosophically attuned more to moderate thinking on a variety of these issues. On the other hand, to satisfy the left wing of his party in the current campaign he could reach out for a center left nominee. That would infuriate the GOP hard right conservatives. Most observers believe it also would risk bringing such social issues as abortion to the top of the campaign and probably assure a defeat in the process. Either way, betting on this president to convince Republicans to permit him to name a third person to the court would be a long shot. The hard right conservatives whose influence in the party outweighs their numbers can be expected to make this a single issue, priority fight even at the possibility of being labeled obstructionists. McConnell has been trying to overcome that image. Good luck. Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service and a former vice president of Scripps Howard Newspapers. Readers may send him email at: thomassondan@aol.com In January 2015, a state investigation started into Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake secure detention facilities for juveniles. Federal officials have since taken the lead in the investigation. Credit: Journal Sentinel files SHARE By of the Madison When a Racine County youth was sexually assaulted and beaten in a Northwoods prison in 2012, state officials told his mother that something had happened but didn't share with her the full and troubling picture. The woman was contacted the next day and in the following days county officials were contacted as well, with officials at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys telling the county that the youth had been moved into a security unit, county records show. Inmates are typically sent there for acting out at the state-run prison 30 miles north of Wausau. What the mother was not told is that on Jan. 13, 2012, another inmate had forced her son to perform a sex act and then struck him. The woman instead waited more than two weeks to learn the ugly extent of the incident, in which her son waited for hours to be taken to a hospital and for which the aggressor was eventually convicted. It took repeated questioning from Racine County officials to bring the crime to light. "We told her what happened," said Kerry Milkie, manager of the Youth and Family Division of the Racine County Human Services Department. "Like any parent, she was very upset about it." This case is the second shared with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in which a parent of a Lincoln Hills inmate learned of an attack against their son from someone else and not from the state officials charged with keeping him safe. Milwaukee County officials also learned from a tipster about youths from their county having their arms or wrists broken in November 2014. On Friday, Gov. Scott Walker announced that state Corrections Secretary Ed Wall was resigning from his post and being replaced by Jon Litscher, who was corrections secretary from 1999 to 2003 under GOP Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum. Though Wall had taken steps since December to confront allegations of abuse there, he and the governor have faced repeated revelations that the Walker administration knew for years about troubling incidents at Lincoln Hills. Also on Friday, the Journal Sentinel reported that the FBI has taken over the criminal probe into alleged abuses there and expanded it potential civil rights violations. Unsatisfied with state explanations in 2012, Racine County officials moved youths under their jurisdiction out of Lincoln Hills for a time and more recently have done so again, withdrawing the final juveniles last month. Milwaukee County officials are seeking to do the same, which could withdraw the majority of inmates from the prison and leave it with a gaping hole in its operations budget. The joint federal and state probe so far has focused on allegations of prisoner abuse, excessive use of force, child neglect and sexual assault in Lincoln Hills, where most of the inmates are minorities. 'Completely unacceptable' The governor said Friday he didn't know what the Racine County mother might have been told about the 2012 attack, which generated a sharp letter from the youth's sentencing judge to Walker. But the governor did say that the state hadn't done enough at the time and that the state had done some additional training with prison workers about responding to sexual assaults. "It's obviously completely unacceptable, which is why they took action," Walker told reporters in Appleton on Friday. In response to questions about the case, state corrections spokeswoman Joy Staab said the "youth's parents were notified on January 14, 2012" the day after the attack. Staab could not offer more details. Milkie, whose division dealt directly with the youth's family, said she had reviewed the file and found a fuller explanation. "My understanding is the mom was told he was moved into security the day after the assault but not told why," Milkie said. Racine County records show that the prison officials told the county on Jan. 17, 2012, that the youth had been moved into security on Jan. 14, prompting county officials to ask repeatedly what had happened. Staab said state records showed that on the day after the attack, Jan. 14, the youth was placed in "general population status" after his return from the hospital. She had no immediate explanation for the discrepancy. The Racine County youth was convicted of car theft and credit card fraud and was sent to Lincoln Hills after failing the county's alternative sentencing program. There he was attacked by his roommate, with the victim later telling prison staff that he had been left unconscious for an hour after the assault. Racine County officials stepped up their inquiries into his status after a Jan. 25 letter from another inmate alerted them about the sexual assault. It wasn't until Feb. 1 15 days after Racine County had started asking about the victim that a prison official acknowledged the attack. Racine County responded by pulling juveniles under its jurisdiction out of Lincoln Hills. It then resumed sending youths there for a time but has recently withdrawn them again, with Milkie saying that process was just completed in recent weeks. Disputing that on Friday, Walker said he believed there are currently about 10 juveniles from Racine County being housed at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake School for Girls on the same grounds. State and Racine County officials clarified that those youths had been sentenced by county judges either as adults or as "serious juvenile offenders," who by definition under state law are paid for by state taxpayers and are no longer under the county's jurisdiction. Mother lost faith In another interview with the Journal Sentinel, a mother of a Lincoln Hills inmate said she had learned of an attack against her son at the end of 2014 and had contacted prison officials, who apologized for not telling her about it and promised to do so if it happened again. In the spring of 2015, the mother said she learned that her son had been attacked again. But this time, the mother said, she did not reach out to prison officials because she no longer felt that would help her son and worried it might make things worse for him in the prison. Based on what she knows of the attacks and her son's medical history, the mother said she was concerned that her son didn't receive appropriate medical care. The Journal Sentinel is not naming her at her request to avoid identifying the alleged victim. Staab, the corrections spokeswoman, said agency policy is that in cases of attacks within 24 hours or the next working day the corrections unit supervisor or an assigned social worker must notify parents or guardians as well as county workers or state agents of both the alleged victim and perpetrator. "DOC's expectation is that (Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake) staff follow all DOC policies and procedures, including reporting incidents to parents and guardians," Staab said. Thomas Wanta, administrator of the Milwaukee County Division of Delinquency and Court Services, has said that he received an anonymous phone call on Nov. 18, 2014, from a woman alleging that youths at Lincoln Hills were not receiving adequate education and that some juveniles there had their arms broken. County leaders met with Department of Corrections officials about the allegations the next month and within weeks the state opened a probe into Lincoln Hills. Since then, at least 22 staff have been put on paid leave in addition to the departures of Wall, the school's superintendent and the state's juvenile corrections head. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said last week that state and county officials will have to work together to ensure that Lincoln Hills inmates and the public are kept safe. "The solution is we have to get the state to commit significant resources quickly to address this problem. We'll take on the responsibility of making sure that these kids are securely detained if that's appropriate, but in order to do that we're going to need the state to treat it as the emergency that it is," Chisholm said. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) blasted Republican lawmakers for declining so far to hold hearings on problems at Lincoln Hills. "The fact that they can't be bothered to investigate the serious and alarming cases of child abuse, rape and sexual assaults that have been documented over the last four years is appalling," Shilling said. Ashley Luthern and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (left) faces an election challenge from former Sen. Russ Feingold (right). Credit: Journal Sentinel files By of the The vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court has landed right in the middle of the U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin. And the battle lines are drawn exactly where you'd expect. Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson wants to wait until after the 2016 presidential election before a successor is nominated to fill the position left by the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Democratic challenger Russ Feingold is all for President Barack Obama nominating a replacement, who would go through the confirmation process. In a statement Sunday, Johnson said, "I strongly agree that the American people should decide the future direction of the Supreme Court by their votes for president and the majority party in the U.S. Senate. America needs Supreme Court justices who share Justice Scalia's commitment to applying the Constitution as written and to the freedom it secures." Feingold fired back Monday during an appearance in Milwaukee. "The Constitution makes it pretty clear the president is the person who is supposed to appoint the justices if there is a vacancy," Feingold said. "And there is a vacancy and he has basically a whole year in his term as president. He needs to do his job. And the Congress, including the incumbent senator, need to do their job. And they're not doing their job if they don't look at whoever is appointed and voted on." Feingold said it was "irresponsible" for GOP senators to not even "look at a nominee," and said they are "playing to the people on the right, who want an ideologue on the court." "Elections have consequences," Feingold said. "I had to vote on judges President (George W.) Bush appointed. I voted for one, voted against another." Feingold voted to approve the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice. But he voted against the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito. Feingold also voted against a cloture vote to end debate on the Alito nomination. Feingold said the Supreme Court needs a ninth justice so that it can rule in vital cases. He said if the Senate doesn't vote this year on a new justice, the Supreme Court could end up deadlocked for up to a year and a half as a new president and Congress take office after the 2016 election. "We already have Congress deadlocked," Feingold said. "We don't need another branch of our government deadlocked." In an interview Monday, Johnson took issue with Feingold's contention that Congress is deadlocked, and ticked off several initiatives that have passed through the Republican-led Senate. On the looming battle over Scalia's successor, Johnson said, "I'm just kind of recognizing reality. I'd seriously doubt President Barack Obama would nominate a Scalia replacement, someone who would show his judicial restraint." Asked if the Senate would take up Obama's nominee, Johnson said "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We'll see who he nominates." Johnson said it was up to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to schedule a confirmation hearing. Grassley has said the Senate should not take up a nomination to replace Scalia. Like Feingold, Johnson also noted that "elections do have consequences," and pointed to the 2014 midterms that saw Republicans take control of the Senate. "The Senate will work its will whether we take up the nomination, move it through committee, vote on the floor," Johnson said. "The Senate will still be fulfilling its job whether it acts on it (the nomination) or not." It's unclear what effect the potential Supreme Court standoff will have on the race. The fight isn't just playing out in the Wisconsin race. Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire and Rob Portman in Ohio are other Republican senators facing re-election who have come out against Obama naming a Supreme Court justice. Their Democratic foes are pushing for the Senate to take up the nominee put forward by Obama. "We're seeing the positions on the appropriate way of handling a Supreme Court nomination line up with the good politics for each party," said Richard L. Hasen, professor of law and political science at the University of California-Irvine. He said there is likely to be pressure on a number of vulnerable senators up for re-election to give Obama's nominee a hearing and a vote. "What happens will depend on politics," he said. Rick Esenberg, who leads the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said voters should focus on the Supreme Court as they analyze presidential candidates. "Maybe now with an actual vacancy instead of a hypothetical vacancy, people will pay more attention," he said. Jim Leissner of Milwaukee shows his photo ID to election inspectors Judy Harmon (left) and Tarubia King before voting at the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building on the corner of N. Broadway and E. Kilbourn Ave. in Milwaukee. Credit: Mike De Sisti SHARE Brian Reinkober of Milwaukee feeds his ballot with he help of election inspector Sherry Blanco while voting at the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building on the corner of N. Broadway and E. Kilbourn Ave. in Milwaukee. Mike De Sisti Related Photos Primary Tuesday By of the Don't forget to bring a photo ID. In Milwaukee County, voters will have the chance to cast ballots Tuesday to narrow the field in the mayoral, county executive and state Supreme Court contests as well as in one County Board and a number of Common Council races. Polling places in Tuesday's spring primary will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., and with the state's voter ID law now in place, photo identification will be required to cast ballots. The top two vote-getters in each of the races will compete in the April 5 spring election. Voters statewide will narrow the field from three to two for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Republican Gov. Scott Walker appointed Rebecca Bradley to the high court in October to fill the seat of Justice N. Patrick Crooks, who died in September. Challenging her for the full 10-year term on the court are Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Joe Donald and Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg. Voters in the city of Milwaukee will have four candidates to choose from in the mayoral race. Mayor Tom Barrett, 62, is facing three challengers, including Alds. Joe Davis and Bob Donovan as well as political newcomer James Methu. Seven of the 15 Common Council races will be up for votes in the primary because they have more than two candidates on the ballot. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) have the greatest name recognition among a field of four candidates in the race for the job of executive. Joining Larson in an attempt to unseat Abele are Joseph T. Klein and Steve Hogan. Abele, 49, was first elected in 2011 in a special election to fill the final year of Walker's term after he was elected governor. Abele was unopposed when he successfully ran for re-election to a full four-year term in April 2012. Larson, 35, is a former county supervisor who was first elected to the state Senate in November 2010. Klein, 58, is an unemployed IT specialist and member of the Wisconsin Pirate Party who ran unsuccessfully for an Assembly seat in 2012 and for county executive in 2004. Hogan, 69, is a carpenter and retired U.S. Navy officer who ran unsuccessfully for several Oak Creek and Franklin municipal offices in the early 1990s. Three candidates are vying for the open 11th District supervisory seat on the Milwaukee County Board. Patricia T. Najera and Yaghnam F. Yaghnam are making their first runs for public office. They are competing against Dan Sebring, who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) in four consecutive races from 2008 to 2014. Najera, 47, who has served as an appointed member of the Milwaukee City Plan Commission since 1999, is director of partnerships and fund development for the Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Yaghnam, 40, is a correctional officer with the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office. Sebring, 58, is owner of Sebring Garage LLC, an auto repair shop on the south side of Milwaukee. Aldermanic races The Common Council races on the primary ballot include: District 2. Davis' decision not to seek re-election as he runs for mayor has triggered a five-way primary race in the north side district. The five candidates running for the open seat are Keith Bailey, who works for the Department of City Development; community activist Tracey Dent; former Barrett staffer Chevy Johnson; longtime Davis aide Sherman Morton; and special education teacher Larresa Taylor. District 3.Ald. Nik Kovac, who was first elected in April 2008, faces a pair of challengers for his seat representing the city's east side, Riverwest and part of downtown. They are Shannan Hayden and Ira Robins, who worked as an investigator on the high-profile Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek case, pursuing it for more than 20 years. District 4. Ald. Bob Bauman, who was first elected in April 2004, faces challenges from Monique Kelly and Andrew Shaw for his seat representing downtown and the west side. Shaw, an attorney, previously ran unsuccessfully for Milwaukee mayor and judge. District 6. Ald. Milele Coggs, who was first elected to represent the near north side and part of downtown in 2008, faces three challengers: Ronny Thompson, Majungaray Watts and community activist Tory Lowe. District 7. The west side seat opened up when Ald. Willie Wade announced in November that he wouldn't seek re-election. He resigned Feb. 1, saying he was accepting a job as vice president of the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board. The five people running for the seat representing District 7 are Milwaukee School Board President Michael Bonds, County Supervisor Khalif Rainey, Randy Jones, David Crowley and Vivian Redd-Fehr. District 8. Donovan, 59, is trying to defend his seat representing District 8 on the south side from two challengers, state Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee) and Justin Bielinski, who works with special education students. District 9. Another City Hall veteran on the primary ballot is Ald. Robert Puente, who was first elected in 2004. Puente, who previously served 27 years with the Milwaukee Police Department, faces five challengers for his District 9 seat representing the northwest side: Frank S. Emanuele Jr.; David D. King, founder of the Milwaukee God Squad; Chantia Lewis, a board member for the worker rights group 9to5 Wisconsin; Penny Sikora, a former legislative director for the local transit union; and Milwaukee County Supervisor Martin "Mac" Weddle. Wisconsin's voter ID measure was passed in 2011 but was in place for just one previous election a low-turnout primary in February 2012 before it was blocked by a judge. The law remained blocked as four challenges to the law two in state court and two in federal court were considered. Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Photo ID law Voters who have moved or changed their names need to re-register to vote. Those wishing to register to vote need to bring a proof of residence document, as Wisconsin law no longer allows a "corroborating witness" to provide proof of residence. Documents that can be used as proof of residence include a current and valid Wisconsin driver's license or ID card, real estate tax bill or receipt for the current or previous year, utility bill or bank statement. Other proof of residence documents that may be used can be found here. Some exceptions are allowed to the photo ID requirement, such as for absentee voters who are active-duty military or who have difficulty getting to the polls because of age, illness, infirmity or disability. For more information: Those seeking more information about the state's voter ID requirements can go to bringit.wisconsin.gov website or call the toll-free number, (866) VOTE-WIS. People can also check out myvote.wisconsin.gov to find out whether they are registered to vote, where to vote and what will be on the ballot. Members of Sons of Union Veterans, Colonel Heg Camp 15, stand at attention around the Abraham Lincoln statue as its unveiled during the ceremony. Credit: Michael Sears By of the Burlington Snowflakes fell quickly and thickly, gathering on the Civil War uniforms of Sons of Union Veterans standing at attention below the blue tarp. Kept under wraps was Burlington's Abraham Lincoln statue, which has kept watch over the community for 103 years until a vandal with a pickup truck yanked it off its base a couple weeks ago. Damage was minimal and cleanup work went quickly; on Sunday afternoon, two days after Lincoln's birthday, a crowd gathered to celebrate the return of the 16th president to the Racine County city. Burlington Mayor Robert Miller noted that the community had turned out a couple years ago for the rededication of the statue installed at Kane and State streets in 1913 and was now back because of a "senseless act of desecration." Jacob Hinds, 22, of Burlington was charged with felony damage to property after police responded to a report of a truck parked on a snowbank near the statue on Jan. 30. Police tracked down the truck, which still had a tow strap dangling from the tailgate, and determined with the help of surveillance video from a nearby bank that it belonged to Hinds. He's due in court for a pretrial hearing next month. Luckily the statue fell onto snow and was not severely damaged, said Burlington Director of Public Works Jim Bergles, but it was scuffed and bolts attaching it to its heavy granite pedestal were replaced. The statue was sent to Milwaukee for cleaning at a cost of more than $5,000. The city will submit the bills to its insurance agency and, if Hinds is convicted, will seek full restitution. "In a good way, it really bonded the community. People were very upset," said Bergles. Lincoln re-enactor Nic Bur, dressed in a long dark coat and stovepipe hat, read to the crowd a short quote from the Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates in 1858. "My thoughts were the same as everyone why would someone do this? Just like in the Civil War unfortunate things bring people together," said Bur, of Waukesha. Steve Rogstad, a Lincoln historian from Racine who wore a scarf adorned with the president's picture, commended Burlington "for getting Lincoln back up on his feet two days after his birthday." The statue was a gift of the family of a Burlington dentist who greatly admired Lincoln. When the dentist, Francis Meinhardt, died in 1912, his family carried out his wish to memorialize Lincoln with an 8-foot-tall bronze statue created by Chicago-based sculptor George Etienne Ganiere. The statue shows Lincoln as he took the oath of office at his second inauguration and features a plaque with the last paragraph of his inaugural address and the famous words uttered by Lincoln just weeks before the end of the Civil War and his assassination: "With malice toward none, with charity for all ..." It was dedicated in October 1913, and a large black and white photo of the crowd that turned out that day was on display Sunday inside nearby Lincoln school, where folks gathered afterward for coffee, hot chocolate and two large sheet cakes featuring frosted pictures of Lincoln along with "Happy Birthday!" and "Welcome Back Abe!" More than 100 people stood in the snow families, neighbors, Lincoln buffs, police officers, community officials and listened to patriotic music through loudspeakers. A few minutes after 2 p.m. members of the Sons of Union Veterans Camp 15 from Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties marched up the street in formation under the beat of drummer Samuel Malliet on a Civil War reproduction snare drum. As they drew closer to the crowd, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" began to play through the loudspeaker. The Sons of Union Veterans stood at attention around the statue during the short ceremony. Camp commander Jeff Graf said his unit was honored to be a part of the event. "I was just shocked when I heard what happened," said Graf, whose maternal and paternal great-great-grandfathers fought in the Civil War. "I don't understand why anyone would want to do such a thing. Abraham Lincoln was the guiding force in saving our country during the Civil War." After the speeches, Malliet played a drum roll as city workers pulled down the blue tarp covering Lincoln and the crowd cheered and clapped. Afterward, Sons of Union Veterans members crowded close for a photo in front of the former commander in chief. They pumped their arms in the air and yelled "Huzzah!" After a tumultuous year for Palmyra and its volunteer Fire Department, Public Safety director James Small (right) and Village President Dave Turner are trying to get the department back on course. Credit: Michael Sears By of the Village of Palmyra The Village of Palmyra Fire and EMS Department is housed in a squat, utilitarian building, next door to a gas station, across the street from the Village Hall, a block and a half from Main St. on the eastern side of Jefferson County. Inside the firehouse, it's quiet most days, not a lot of action. But when the emergency calls come in, volunteers are mobilized, using two ambulances and four firetrucks to cover 36 square miles for more than 3,000 people. You'd figure there wouldn't be much controversy over a thing like a fire department staffed by volunteers, the kind of civic organization that usually brings a town together to protect its citizens. But, when it comes to the Village of Palmyra force, you would be wrong. Over the past year, the village has been embroiled in a struggle for control at the firehouse. Two people, including the previous fire chief, were fired. Seven others resigned, including six in protest over the fire chief's ouster. At last count, there was one lawsuit, one legal appeal of a firing and one criminal investigation. The fallout has left the village with thousands of dollars in legal bills. So much for a volunteer force binding a village together. "They have separated and divided the community," Dave Turner, village president, said of those who left the force. Seth Marquardt, one of the volunteers who resigned, countered, "There are lawsuits flying left and right. Accusations. Hopefully, the truth comes out." It's a small town. And a messy situation. The former fire chief, James Marshall Lewis, was placed on administrative leave in May. The village's police and fire commission fired Lewis in December after a three-day disciplinary hearing in front of an examiner. Among the allegations against Lewis is that he failed to "report a fraudulent reimbursement credit" that was submitted by his girlfriend, who was a member of the department, and "engaged in a conflict of interest." The examiner determined that Lewis wasn't "complicit" in the initial fraud but there was a conflict of interest because he "didn't remove himself from the situation." Lewis allegedly didn't follow orders to implement standard operating guidelines and ignored an order to not "contact any village employee to discuss the investigation," without the approval of higher-ups. Firings and charges According to a summary of findings by the hearing examiner, it was also claimed that Lewis created "a divisive atmosphere, and hindered the fire department from 'moving forward.'" The hearing examiner, John F. Fuchs, concluded: "This is not a bad relationship which can be cured. Chief Lewis has failed to follow directives, has engaged in a conflict of interest, has violated an order to remove himself from the investigation, and has been untruthful if not to the extent I find, still to an extent that the good of the services requires termination." Lewis has filed an appeal in Jefferson County Circuit Court to get his job back. He is also running in the April election for one of three spots on the Village Board. He declined to comment. Lewis' girlfriend, Katie M. Pekrul, a former captain with the department, faces a misdemeanor charge of theft as party to a crime on allegations of filing a false reimbursement form for an EMS training course. She resigned from the department. Teresa James, an EMS captain who was a part-time salaried employee, was placed on administrative leave in May and fired in June. In January, she filed a lawsuit against James Small, the village's public safety director, claiming she was denied due process in the firing and breach of contract. Problems and concerns In the meantime, calls come in and volunteers go out. Small, who became the village's public safety director a year ago after a stint overseeing public safety in Altoona, has assumed the role as fire chief. He is intent on rebuilding the department, which has a roster of 19 people. Small is recruiting for more personnel, even planning to set up a booth at a craft fair at Palmyra-Eagle High School. "The village should be proud of the people who are here," he said. "They had the courage to stay." Not everything has run smoothly, though. On Jan. 4, a vehicle fire was reported on Main St., within sight of the firehouse. At the time, there were no firefighters on call to drive the firetruck, and the alarm went to a station in Eagle, about six miles away. By the time the crew from Eagle arrived, the vehicle was a wreck. "It hasn't made me happy. What kind of fire protection do we have?" said Gary Kahn, owner of Hot Rod's Bar-N-Grill. The vehicle fire occurred right outside his bar. "I think actually people want a fire department," he said. "They want to be able to know that if their house is on fire, people would be out to their house in five or 10 minutes. The same with EMS." John Sheppard, who owns a flooring shop, said, "I just wish they'd get their act together and straighten it out." 'Really tough' Among those doing their best to keep the department going is Angela Gonzalez, recently promoted to EMS captain. Last year, she was on call for 4,400 hours as the department dealt with short staffing after the turmoil. For a while, she said, she was the only emergency medical technician who lived in the village and was able to respond to calls. "It's been really tough," she said. The uproar at the department has left a lot of bad feelings in the village, Gonzalez said. Even families had to deal with the fallout. Gonzalez and her husband remained with the department, while her husband's cousin left. For Gonzalez, being part of the department is very personal. When she was 16, she said, she was in a car accident that left her with a broken neck, broken left wrist and damaged tendons and nerves in her left ankle. Her best friend was paralyzed. Multiple departments responded to the call, she said, including volunteers from Palmyra. "A lot of people have a reason for volunteering," she said. "Mine is paying back the community. I love helping people." Reddit Email 0 Shares London (Informed Comment) The news that Turkey has begun military strikes against the Kurdish Peoples Defense Units (YPG) militia inside Syria marks an ominous chapter in that countrys civil war. Turkey acted after YPG forces and allied units from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized the strategic Mennagh Military Airport in northern Aleppo from a coalition of Islamist rebel groups fighting against Damascus. Turkish artillery strikes have also targeted regime forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in a major escalation of border tensions between the two countries. The new round of violence reveals the tangled and conflicting motives of the main actors operating in Syria at present. The Islamists and allied local militias were losing ground to a Russian-backed Syrian army offensive that is threatening to destroy rebel strength in the north-west of the country, taking back the whole of Aleppo for the regime and potentially sealing the border with Turkey again. That would be a blow for Ankara, which together with Saudi Arabia, has been sponsoring various rebel fronts as a counterweight both to the growth of Kurdish power in Syria, and to fight the Assad regime. Spoke to #Syria rebels from Azaz &Mare: #ISIS took Sawran. Now near 2Azaz &lots of pressure on Mare. (See arrows map) pic.twitter.com/5iYE2fUiRH Harald Doornbos (@HaraldDoornbos) May 31, 2015 In the past the YPG has sometimes fought in an unofficial partnership with the forces of Syrian President Assad. They are also seen by Ankara as a Syrian offshoot of its banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a particular Turkish bugbear. Syrias civil war has already merged with the Iraqi one across the border with the intrusion of the Islamic State (IS) movement into Syrias east. The decision by Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to widen his choice of targets to include Kurdish actors within Syria, means its struggle is increasingly merging with fighting in next door Turkey as well. Violence restarted there after a largely successful two year ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government, and the country has also suffered from suspected IS bomb attacks and assassinations. By taking Mennagh, the YPG/SDF were serving their own interests. These include linking up the two Syrian Kurdish cantonments into one contiguous stretch, as they are currently separated by territory held by both IS and other anti-regime factions. Such a united Kurdish enclave in Syria would then cut the supply lines between Turkey and IS held parts of the region, endangering the smuggling of oil which is one of the main source of funds for the militant group, according to Russian claims. But their offensive was fiercely opposed by President Erdogan, who does not want to see a unified Kurdish statelet emerge on Turkeys Syrian border to match the one in Iraq, especially at the expense of Turkish backed groups fighting the Damascus regime. Erdogans distrust of the Kurds is at least as deep as his dislike of IS, and he has recently publically lambasted the US for backing YPG/SDF forces with airstrikes in their operations against the militants. Simultaneously the territory of choice to be fought over by a kaleidoscope of movements and foreign armies, and the vortex into which its neighbours are sucked as the fighting spreads, Syria seems increasingly to be sharing the fate of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s. Saudi Arabia, which has already intervened in neighbouring Yemen, is also mulling despatching ground troops to Syria. It has confirmed its aircraft, which are taking part in sorties against IS, are now stationed at the Incirlik air base in Turkey. The two Sunni powers have moved closer together as their shared determination to bring down Syrias Bashar al-Assad has been increasingly questioned in the West, following the rise of IS. The Turks and Saudis accuse Western states of coming to see Assad as the lesser evil of the two, though he is blamed for the majority of deaths in the conflict, and say they are fighting both factions. But Turkey especially finds itself in a precarious position, where it is opposing the Kurds, the Syrian government and IS inside of Syria, whilst fighting Islamic State and the PKK inside its own territory. This stance has already poisoned its relations with Russia, whose government has intervened on the side of the Assad regime, and with whom Moscow has a longstanding client-patron relationship dating back to the Soviet Union. Any Turkish-Saudi ground intervention into Syria, whether against Damascus or IS, would run the risk of confronting Iranian Revolutionary Guard members or Russian special forces inside Syria: both Moscow and Tehran are reported to be providing Syrias government with ground and air support directly, as well as recruiting and bankrolling an array of pro-regime militia groups. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has issued a stark warning that any use of foreign ground troops in Syria without the express invitation of the Syrian government could spark a further massive round of regional conflict. The escalation of the crisis in Syria has come about in part because both Riyadh and Ankara are more suspicious and less dependent upon Washington than in the past. Equally however Washington has been reluctant to publically break with its Sunni allies, despite their questionable actions such as Saudi Arabias intervention in Yemen or Turkeys sponsorship of rebel groups with ties to Al-Qaedas Syrian franchise. Washington has opted to pursue policies which suit American national interests, such as its nuclear deal with Saudi rival Iran or sponsoring the YPG as the most effective local counterweight to IS inside Syria, while quietly allowing the Saudis and Turks latitude to pursue theirs. Thus it has stood by as Erdogan has restarted the war with the PKK inside Turkey and neglected the struggle against IS, or as Riyadh has blamed Iranian interference in Yemen for that countrys slide into civil war. This hands off attitude will have to change if the two Sunni powers are serious in their intention to intervene in Syria without the permission of Damascus. Syria is a tragedy but it is not worth consequences of a shooting war between two of Americas closest allies and Moscow. Washington and Paris have already called on Turkey to end its artillery bombardment against Kurdish and Syrian army targets near the city of Azaz in northwest Syria, in order to de-escalate tensions on all sides. It remains to been seen if Ankara is willing to endure the tensions the Turkish push to depose the Syrian President will raise with Washington. One unnamed Western diplomat has already told Turkish media that the US and Russia have come to an agreement to keep Assad in power as the least worst option for the moment in Syrias turbulent politics. Neil Thompson is a freelance writer and analyst on foreign affairs, who blogs for the Foreign Policy Association. He has written for The Diplomat, The Independent, The Financial Times. He has lived and worked overseas in the Middle East and East Asia, and is presently based in London. - Related video added by Juan Cole: CCTV: Turkey strikes Kurdish militia in Syria Reddit Email 0 Shares By IMEMC | US President Barack Obama reportedly intends to sign a sweeping trade agreement which includes provisions that fail to differentiate between Israel and illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as discourage the boycott of Israeli goods. The agreement H.R. 644: Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 was passed 75-20 on Thursday, and includes a provision that no US court can enforce judgement from a foreign court on a US citizen who conducts business operations in Israel, or any territory controlled by Israel. The provision, in effect, allows US citizens immunity from conducting trade with illegal Israeli settlements, while its terminology fails to distinguish Israeli settlements from the state of Israel, violating the US official line against the construction of settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The White House, in a statement released Thursday regarding the agreement, said: As with any bipartisan compromise legislation, there are provisions in this bill that we do not support. Of those provisions that the Obama administration did not support was, according to Maan, a provision that contravenes longstanding US policy towards Israel and the occupied territories, including with regard to Israeli settlement activity, the statement said. Despite the contravention, Obama plans to sign the agreement into law to help strengthen enforcement of the rules and level the playing field for American workers and businesses. The agreement also includes a provision that in creating commercial partnerships with foreign countries, the US should discourage politically motivated boycotts of, divestment from, and sanctions against Israel. The US government opposes the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, and while US law requires that products made in illegal Israeli settlements may not be labeled Made in Israel, the law is rarely enforced. Israel has been struggling to tackle a growing Palestinian-led boycott campaign which has had a number of high-profile successes abroad. The BDS movement aims to exert political and economic pressure over Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories in a bid to repeat the success of the campaign which ended apartheid in South Africa. However, BDS initiatives have also faced pushback abroad, notably in France, where a court ruled in October that a group of activists advocating for BDS were guilty under French hate speech legislation. Via IMEMC - Related video added by Juan Cole: CNN from two weeks ago: Obama speaks at Israeli embassy amid thaw in relations VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 15, 2016) - THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX VENTURE:MMS) (the "Company" or "Macarthur Minerals") is pleased to announce that it has made applications for three exploration licences (E45/4693, E45/4694 and E45/4702 - see Figure 1) in the world-class Pilgangoora district, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to advance potential lithium projects and has appointed global lithium and mining exploration experts to assist it in project development. Pilgangoora Projects The Company has made applications for three exploration licences covering an area of 287 square kilometres across three project areas in the world class Pilgangoora district, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia that are considered prospective for lithium (Figure 1). Peer activity in the vicinity of the applications includes Australian Securities Exchange listed companies, Pilbara Minerals Limited and Altura Mining Limited, which have lithium projects in the region. The region is emerging as a world class lithium district. Lithium Market The global lithium market is growing rapidly due to developments in the technology and energy sectors, especially in the use of lithium-ion batteries for portable electronic devices, hybrid electric motor vehicles and storage battery industries. Industry experts comment that overall lithium demand may more than double from present levels through to 2025, while incumbent producers of lithium are limited in their ability to bring on additional supply to satisfy growing demand. Industry experts further comment that lithium has been one of the few commodities to enjoy recent price appreciation, and that they expect this pattern to continue over the next 10 years.1 The price of 99%-pure lithium carbonate imported to China more than doubled in the last 2 months to the end of December 2015, to US$13,000 a tonne.2 1 John Hykawy and Tom Chudnovsky, 'Industry Report//Lithium', Stormcrow Capital Ltd, May 29, 2015. http://static1.squarespace.com/static/535e7e2de4b088f0b623c597/t/55689238e4b09f7c8dacebf1/1432916536166/Stormcrow- Lithium+Industry+Report-May2015-Final.pdf 2 'An increasingly precious metal', The Economist Newspaper Limited (online), Jan 16, 2016. http://www.economist.com/news/business/21688386-amid-surge-demand-rechargeable-batteries-companies-are-scrambling- supplies Global Lithium Exploration and Mining Experts Appointed Complementary to the Company's in-house mining and exploration expertise, the Company has appointed Dr Andrew Scogings and Mr Graham Jeffress from CSA Global Pty Ltd ("CSA Global"), who are Western Australia based consultants with substantial experience in the field of industrial minerals exploration, including lithium and graphite minerals. Further details of the expertise of Dr Scogings and Mr Jeffress are contained below. CSA Global will be initially undertaking technical evaluation of exploration targets for the Company's Pilgangoora lithium projects as well as supporting development of the projects over the coming months. The Company will continue to assess and identify further opportunities for potential lithium projects. Historic Exploration The broader Pilgangoora district has been the subject of extensive historical exploration for a range of minerals and is known to host many granitic pegmatites such as those discovered for the Pilbara Minerals Limited and Altura Mining Limited lithium projects. The largest concentrations of lithium- containing minerals, such as spodumene are found in pegmatites. Due to its high lithium content, spodumene is considered the most important lithium-bearing mineral. The licences under application have most recently been explored by Australian Securities Exchange listed Fortescue Metals Group Limited for iron, base metals and gold. Geochemical analyses of soil samples show anomalous areas for lithium as well as rubidium and caesium, which are indicator elements of pegmatites that may host economic concentrations of spodumene. Follow-up exploration work will focus on these anomalous areas. ABOUT CSA GLOBAL PTY LTD AND DR ANDREW SCOGINGS AND MR GRAHAM JEFFRESS CSA Global is a leading geological, mining and management consulting company whose staff includes geologists, mining engineers, project managers, data management professionals, and technical personnel. CSA Global has been operating from Perth, Western Australia since 1986. It is an independent company, with origins dating back to 1984 as part of the CSA Group founded in Ireland. CSA Global now has offices in the UK, Indonesia, Johannesburg, Vancouver, Darwin, and Brisbane. CSA has a high level of expertise in most mineral commodities gained from over twenty years' experience within the exploration and mining industry at an international level. It has experience in all stages of the mining cycle from project generation to production. For further information regarding CSA Global, please refer to the company website at www.csaglobal.com. Dr Andrew Scogings MSc, PhD, MAIG, MAusIMM, has more than 30 years of experience in industrial minerals exploration, geology, mining, product development, and marketing. During his time with CSA, he has undertaken project management and technical advice for a diverse range of industrial minerals exploration and mining projects including lithium, graphite, chromite, potash, mineral sands, silica, and REE in Australia, Africa, Greenland, Indonesia and Norway. Andrew is a regular contributor to Industrial Minerals Magazine (UK), SME Mining Engineering (USA) and Geobulletin (RSA) having published several papers on the requirements of JORC 2012 Clause 49, highlighting the need to report industrial minerals resources according to market specifications. Andrew was lead author for Industrial Minerals Research's recently published 'Natural Graphite Report- Strategic outlook to 2020'. He is a member of the AIG and AusIMM and is a Registered Professional Geoscientist (RP Geo.) specializing in industrial minerals. Mr Graham Jeffress BSc(Hons), FAIF, RPGeo, FAusIMM, FSEG, is a geologist with over 25 years' experience in exploration and management in Australia, PNG and Indonesia. Graham has worked in exploration (ranging from grassroots reconnaissance through to brownfields, near-mine and resource definition), project evaluation and mining in a variety of geological terrains, commodities and mineralisation styles within Australia and internationally. He is competent in multidisciplinary exploration, and proficient at undertaking prospect evaluation and all phases of exploration - sampling, mapping, prospecting and drilling through to resource definition; as well as project management including planning, budgeting, logistics, safety, people management, landowner liaison and project presentation. Additionally, Graham has completed numerous Independent Geologist Reports, Competent Person Reports, and Independent Valuation Reports. Graham was a Federal Councillor of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists for 11 years and joined the Joint Ore Reserves Committee in 2014. QUALIFIED PERSONS Dr Scogings, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Registered Professional Geoscientist (Industrial Minerals), is a full-time employee of CSA Global Pty Ltd and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Dr Scogings has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Figure 1 - shows Macarthur's exploration licence Altura Mining's lithium projects in the Pilgangoora applications location relative to Pilbara Minerals' and district of Western Australia. http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1042985.pdf ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED (TSX VENTURE:MMS) Macarthur Minerals Limited is an exploration and development company that is focused on identifying counter cyclical investments that complement Macarthur's capabilities. On behalf of the Board of Directors, MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED Cameron McCall, Chairman NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward -looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including whether the Transaction will be completed. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals, the reliability of information, including historical mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in exchange rates and certain commodity prices, uncertainties related to mineral title in the project, unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron ore demand or substitution by other metals or materials, the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron ore, uncertainty in successfully returning the project into full operation, and the general level of global economic activity. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Drinks Daily News The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Drinks Weekly News A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Drinks Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter Agriculture is the undisputed foundation of Nebraska. The economic engine of our state, Nebraska agriculture represents one in every four jobs and more than $23 billion in economic impact. The vitality of our rural communities, the conservation of our natural resources, and the protection of our defining culture as Nebraskans is inextricably linked to the success of the 50,000 Nebraska farm families who provide food, fiber, and fuel for every Nebraskan and millions more globally. Protection of Nebraska agriculture is my highest priority. It is for that reason my legislative priority bill for the 2016 session will be LR378CA, a resolution to establish a constitutional Right to Farm and Ranch in Nebraska. Nebraskas farm and ranch families are producing higher quality crops and meats with greater sustainability and a smaller environmental footprint than ever before. Modern stewardship practices and the use of technology for crop protection and promotion of animal health have enabled family farms and ranches of every size to thrive in a competitive global commodity market. As a national leader in agriculture and natural resources research, the opportunities for Nebraska to be home to new agricultural innovation are limitless. Unfortunately, as fewer and fewer consumers have a direct connection to agriculture and food production, misconceptions about modern agriculture created by activist groups take root. In the social media age, anyone with an anti-agriculture agenda can quickly undermine Nebraskas farm families, even using the guise of pro-farmer or pro-food groups. Activist groups also promote increasingly restrictive legislation and regulation that impairs the right of family farmers and livestock producers to use accepted, safe practices on their farms and ranches. Nebraskas farm families do not have the resources to defend legal challenges in response to suits filed by deep-pocketed, anti-agriculture activist groups. Even incremental adoption of their agenda is crippling to Nebraskas rural communities and to our entire state. With constitutional protection provided by LR378CA, Nebraskas family farmers and ranchers will have certainty as they build their operations and invest in our rural communities. Proposing an amendment to the Nebraska Constitution is no trivial matter. The significance of Nebraska agriculture, economically and culturally, raises it to the level of inclusion in the guiding principles of our state. Doing so clearly codifies the role and significance of agriculture as the foundation and stabilizing force of Nebraska. Placing the protection only in statute, which can be amended, fails to provide adequate protection. The amendment process in the Unicameral will require a super-majority of 30 votes on Final Reading to be placed upon the general election ballot. Then people of Nebraska have the final voice. In the past year Nebraska has seen the disruption that can be caused by anti-animal agriculture extremists targeting producers. Misinformation about the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and animal health practices is rampant on social media. Activist anti-agriculture legislation in California, Ohio, and Rhode Island has been crippling to agriculture not only in those states, but has had far reaching impacts on states nationally due to the interconnected nature of agriculture. Constitutional Right to Farm already exists in North Dakota and Missouri, and the issue is before Oklahoma voters. As the national leader in crop and livestock production, Nebraska needs to provide a similar level of protection to our farm families, now and for generations of future farmers and ranchers. Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell represents District 38 in the Nebraska Legislature. The district encompasses southwest Buffalo County and all of Clay, Franklin, Kearney, Nuckolls, Phelps and Webster counties. @JohnKuehnDVM We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The rock (brown) preserved the beetle as a fossil. Ephemeral soft tissue and fragile limbs are represented excellently in three dimensions. (Photo: A. Schwermann / Th. van de Kamp / KIT) The layman considers fossil beetles just stones. Even experts were able to describe the rough, outer shape of the millimeter-sized fossils only. Using the ANKA synchrotron radiation source of KIT, 30 million year old beetles have now been examined in more detail. The inner anatomy was imaged in such detail that the family tree of the beetles could be analyzed. The results are published in the journal eLIFE. Hence, latest imaging methods can provide access to the enormous store of knowledge of unused natural history collections. The beetles of a few millimeters in length come from a far more than hundred year old collection of fossil arthropods in Quercy, France, that was last studied in 1944. As the specimens are badly preserved on the outside, they have led a rather shadowy existence in the Natural History Museum of Basel since then. Using modern imaging methods, scientists have now succeeded in obtaining detailed information about the inner structures of these beetles. The researchers subjected the fossils to X-ray microtomography at the ANKA synchrotron radiation source of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In this way, the innermost structures of the untransparent fossils were represented in a three-dimensional manner for the first time. Measurement proper takes a few seconds only, co-leader of the project, Thomas van de Kamp of the KIT Laboratory for Applications of Synchrotron Radiation (LAS) explains. During measurement, the object is rotated in the X-ray and examined from various directions. In the future, increasing automation of measurement is expected to allow for a quick examination and study of the anatomy of a number of specimens of natural history collections. After measurement, the three-dimensional object is reconstructed digitally, which is associated with a considerable expenditure. Data processing and manual reconstruction require know-how of tomography as a tool and of the biology of the object examined. Thanks to the extremely good resolution of the tomography measurement station of the ANKA synchrotron radiation source, details of a few micrometers in dimension (millionths of a meter) in the beetle can be imaged. For the first time, this enables scientists to taxonomically describe the fossil beetle and evaluate its inner organs according to modern standards as if it was a specimen of a currently existing species. X-ray tomography of the fossil beetles thus revealed the mouth parts, throat, gastrointestinal tract, genitals, and the complex tracheal network. Then, a family tree analysis was made and relationships of the fossil species in the group of Clown beetles (also called hister beetles, histeridae), a beetle family still existing today, could be corrected and reevaluated. The level of detail of the fossil beetle images by far exceeds the knowledge normally obtained about fossil arthropods. The excellent preservation of the soft tissue shows that the beetles were preserved within a very short period of time, presumably within hours or days, paleontologist Achim Schwermann of the Steinmann Institute of Bonn University and co-leader of the project says. One fossil beetle that is still embedded partly in the rock shows the structures of the exoskeleton. The adhering rock now reveals what the outside of the beetle looked like. Surprisingly, it is the externally worst preserved beetle that is best preserved inside. The adhering rock protected the inner structures and fragile limbs from being destroyed by external environmental impacts. Never before have I seen the interior of a Clown beetle in such a detail, Clown beetle expert Michael Caterino of Clemson University, South Carolina, USA, emphasizes. After the fossil arthropods from Quercy, France, had been found to be badly preserved by a first analysis in the 1940s, this old collection has now turned out to be a true treasure trove. This makes us scientists look at the old collections of museums and universities with different eyes, Schwermann and van de Kamp say. Their team now plans to examine also other, similarly preserved fossils. The fact that the Quercy beetles have been left unnoticed for more than 70 years shows the high potential of old collections. Optimum adjustment of all components ensures an excellent imaging quality compared to medical computer tomographs, Tomy dos Santos Rolo of the Institute for Beam Physics and Technology (IBPT) of KIT says. Synchrotrons are among the most intensive sources of X-rays and infrared radiation and of highest use for research in both science and industry. Their pulsed, polarized light enables unique insights into the world of biology, medicine, chemistry, and physics and can be used for the non-destructive analysis of materials and components planned to be applied in future facilities and machines. In facilities, such as ANKA (Angstrom Source Karlsruhe), synchrotron radiation is generated by the acceleration of fast electrons in magnetic fields. Publication: Achim H. Schwermann, Tomy dos Santos Rolo, Michael S. Caterino, Gunter Bechly, Heiko Schmied, Tilo Baumbach, and Thomas van de Kamp: Preservation of three-dimensional anatomy in phosphatized fossil arthropods enriches evolutionary inference; eLife; DOI: 10.7554/eLife.12129) Other press releases on this topic: 3D X-ray Film: Rapid Movements in Real Time https://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2014_14798.php Science: Nature Uses Screws and Nuts https://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2011_7536.php Von Kaferschalen zu Leichtbaustrukturen (in German only) https://www.pkm.kit.edu/kit_kompakt_5857.php Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. (Kitco News) - Despite U.S. financial markets being closed Monday for Presidents Day, spot gold prices in different currencies showed losses across the board. After a stellar week, gold prices were softer Monday as less risk averse Chinese investors flocked back to the market after being closed all week for the Lunar New Year celebrations. Gold corrected at the start of the week after prices hit a high of $1263.90 an ounce Thursday, a level last seen one year ago. Looking at Kitcos Gold-Currency charts, gold trades lower in both hard and other currencies in real time. The Kitco charts provide gold prices in multiple currency terms, including the U.S. dollar, euro (EUR), Swiss franc, British pound sterling (GBP), Japanese yen (JPY) and Russian ruble (RUB), among other currencies. According to Kitcos data, spot gold priced in Chinese yuan terms posted the highest losses Monday, down 3.43%. Losses were seen in other currencies as well, with gold in South African rands down 3.33%, followed by gold in Russian rubles (-3.27%). The same can be seen with the harder currencies, which showed that spot gold in Canadian dollar terms is down 2.61%, followed by gold in U.S dollars (-2.35%). Next in line is gold in GBP (-1.95%). Also notable was gold priced in euro terms, which was down 1.59% in real time, as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi told European lawmakers in Brussels Monday that the central bank will not hesitate to act in March to further fight deflation and unemployment. Concern over the regions sluggish economy has investors flocking to safe-haven assets like gold. By Sarah Benali of Kitco News; sbenali@kitco.com Follow me on Twitter @SdBenali (Kitco News) - Gold prices are starting the week under modest pressure as U.S. markets are closed for the Presidents Day long weekend. After seeing its best week since 2011, gold hit a low of $1,202.7, Monday, in a light trading activity. In electronic trading, April Comex gold futures last traded at $1,203.20 an ounce, down $36.20 on the day. Silver prices have been even harder hit, falling to a session low of $15.230 an ounce Monday. March Comex silver futures last traded at $15.270 an ounce, down 52 cents on the day. The selling pressure Monday, is a continuation of the activity seen overnight during the Asian trading session as Chinese markets opened after being closed all week for Lunar New Year Celebrations. Analysts werent surprised with the selling pressure during the Asian trading session. Sam Laughlin, precious metals trader at MKS Precious Metals, noted that when Chinese markets closed last week, prices were $60 lower. In other financial news, during the weekend, Chinas business magazine, Caixin, published an interview with People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, who said there was no basis for a further depreciation of the yuan. These comments have removed some urgency for Chinese investors to buy gold. Analysts have noted that Chinese investors have been strong gold buyers because of currency devaluation fears. Economists at Capital Economics also said some recent fears of deprecation of the yuan are overblown. There is little to justify speculation that the authorities will soon be forced to devalue Chinas currency, which could unleash another wave of deflationary pressure and trigger further turmoil in global financial and commodity markets, said Julian Jessop, chief global economist at the U.K-based research firm. The fact that the PBOC has been selling large quantities of foreign exchange in order to prop up the value of the renminbi makes it clear that it is trying to avoid a significant depreciation. Also overnight, Japan stoked fears of a global recession. Japan's economy contracted at a worse- than-expected 1.4 percent annual pace last quarter. The data raises doubts about the impact Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's extensive stimulus policies are having on the countrys anemic consumer demand and sluggish exports. The data created a modest bounce in the U.S. dollar against the Japanese yen, which is helping the U.S. Dollar Index start the week with a gain of 0.6% at 96.565 light electronic trading. A stronger U.S. dollar also represents another headwind for the gold market. Although gold is starting the week on the back foot, most analysts remain confident that the yellow metal can hold on to its renewed momentum. Many analysts noted that gold could fall to $1,200 and still maintain its current uptrend. In a recent interview with Kitco News, Bill Baruch, senior commodity broker at iiTrader, said that he would be a buyer of gold on dips as prices remained above $1,180 an ounce. A break below that support level would negate the latest rally, he noted. Peter Hug, global trading director at Kitco Metals, said that the correction is very healthy for the market, on a technical basis. If the fundamentals remain intact and we can hold or consolidate around the $1,208-$1,212 level, the next leg higher will have a much more solid foundation, he said. By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com Follow me on Twitter @neils_C SHARE By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun BREMERTON The local Disabled American Veterans chapter connected more than 1,000 people with compensation last year. Service officers at Bremerton-based Chapter 5 and its satellites in Suquamish and Sequim handled 1,092 claims, worth about $65 million, on the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. Jerry Crowley alone was responsible for 306 claims. Chapter 5 commander Joel Courreges was right behind with 297, despite battling cancer. They're part of an all-volunteer staff of 14. "We're fortunate to have some really good people here," said Courreges, who's feeling better now. It was the chapter's most productive year, said Courreges, who has served there since 2006. In 2014 it handled 900 claims, 682 the year before. There isn't necessarily a growing number of disabled vets, but more of them are finding the white building on Burwell Street, Courreges said. It's open Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. "We have an open-door policy first come, first served," said Courreges, who is also the state DAV commander. "Monday's a bad day because I've got them lining up out the door." Claims have gone digital and are much quicker to process. "Instead of waiting a year or two years to get your claim done, it only takes six to eight months," Courreges said. Disability can be awarded from 10 percent (now $133 per month) to 100 percent ($3,000 a month). Claims can also be processed at Building 9 of Washington Veterans Home in Retsil. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN The Casad Dam, located about 10 miles west of downtown, stores water from the Union River and supplies about 60 percent of the Bremertons drinking water. The city also uses a $1.14 million corrosion control facility, which opened in 1999, to ensure a safe and healthy water supply. SHARE LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Kathleen Cahall, water resources manger for the City of Bremerton, stands near the chemical tank used to treat drinking water in the citys corrosion control facility. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Kathleen Cahall, water resources manger for the City of Bremerton, runs the tap water inside the citys corrosion control facility. The facility opened in 1999, after federal authorities worried about a rising level of lead in the citys water supply. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN PH water monitors inside the citys water corrosion control facility. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Kathleen Cahall stands on the platform looking over the water reservoir on top of Casad Dam, a structure built in 1957 and located in the citys watershed west of Bremerton. By Josh Farley of the Kitsap Sun BREMERTON As the lead levels of water that emerged from the faucets of some homes edged upward, federal authorities demanded the city do something about it. No, this wasn't Flint, Michigan. It was 1990s Bremerton, albeit on an order of severity much smaller. Bremerton's solution was the construction of a $1.14 million corrosion control facility, which opened in 1999. Put simply, it made the city's water supply more basic, reducing the chance that lead contained in the pipes of some city homes could "leach" and be consumed. Today, Bremerton's lead levels, analyzed every three years at 30 homes considered to have a risk for such leaching, are minuscule at last check in 2014, three parts per billion. "We have virtually no lead in the water," said Kathleen Cahall, the city's water resources manager. "It is almost less than detectable." Even in the 1990s, when one test revealed lead at 17 parts per billion two parts greater than the Environmental Protection Agency's level that mandates local water purveyors contemplate taking action the situation was nowhere near what was recorded in Flint. Some tests in the Michigan city showed levels as high as 13,000 parts per billion. Officials in Bremerton, around Kitsap and at the state's Department of Health are confident that if lead levels do creep up, the response is swift. "We don't wait for this kind of thing to happen," said Mike Means, deputy director of the state Department of Health's drinking water division. "We find out what's going on and we fix it." That was not the case in Flint, a city whose water supply, when it was purchased from Detroit, had the same corrosion controls as Bremerton's. But when Flint started drawing water from the Flint River as a means to save money in 2014, they no longer had a means to limit corrosion in the manner done by Detroit and many water districts. The water, at a more acidic level, became more "aggressive," water experts say, and enabled the leaching of lead within the city's water system. Kitsap County's water lines are unlike those in Flint, where lead water lines are still in use. Bremerton once connected its water systems to homes with a lead-contained "gooseneck" piping, but few of those pipes, if any, remain, Cahall said. The highest reading for lead found in Kitsap in the past five years came from Olalla Elementary School, which sits on a well, according to the state Department of Health. But that reading 41 parts per billion may have been a fluke, as lead levels there returned to much lower amounts in subsequent years, health officials said. Even so, Mike Riley, South Kitsap School District's assistant director of facilities and operations, said district officials are proactive when protecting water, often switching out fixtures if tests show contaminants. "We take any type of contamination extremely seriously," said Mike Riley, South Kitsap School District's assistant director of facilities and operations. Outside of Olalla, small water districts near Long Lake and Indianola registered 18 and 17 parts per billion in recent years, but then retreated below the EPA's "action" level. That's as close as any others have come to hitting an "actionable" level, as it is known federally. LEAD IS IN HOUSE Most water districts in the county, particularly Bremerton and those managed by the Kitsap Public Utilities District, have lab testing conducted on a weekly basis for bacteria. Other testing, mandated for lead and copper, for examples, is done on less frequent intervals. When it comes to the lead and copper rule, as it is known, federal authorities mandate an unprecedented level of scrutiny. "This is the only rule that requires us to take samples from inside the home," said Mark Morgan, chief of water quality for the Kitsap Public Utilities District. "Typically, we say our response stops at the meter." There's a reason for that. Here in Kitsap County, lead just isn't likely to be found in the water supply of any districts' water system. "If you're going to have a lead issue, it's going to be due to lead in the house," said Brent Winters, operations manager at the West Sound Utility District, which covers part of South Kitsap. Thus, testing is targeted to see how a district's water supply will affect the homes most risky for lead leaching. Each district must select homes built between the 1960s and 1980s, a time in which lead solder was used in plumbing. The home's residents must let water sit overnight and then take a sample first thing in the morning, so as to capture any contaminants that could have come loose. The situation in Flint has puzzled many water quality experts in Washington, who say that this state has the mechanisms in place to sound the alarm on such a community emergency. Nancy Parrott, a longtime chemist who runs Spectra Laboratories Kitsap in Poulsbo, said her reaction to Flint was one of disbelief. "What are the odds this would happen here? I'd say none," she said. SHARE By Ed Palm By sheer happenstance, this column is slated to appear on Valentine's Day. I take that to be an omen. I'm meant to tell a love story this week. When I was growing up, my cousin Doris, 10 years my senior, was considered the brightest and most successful of my cousins, even though she wasn't able to go to college. She went to work as an operator with the phone company right after high school. But they soon recognized her potential, promoting her to supervisor and even sending her out to speak to high-school classes about phone company careers. She was witty, well-spoken and attractive, and even did some modeling on the side. Her mother, my Aunt Rose, used to brag that Doris was dating doctors and lawyers, and she fully expected her to marry one. But her father died soon after Doris was established in her career. She stayed home to help support her mother, emotionally as well as financially. Doris was in her mid-30s when she brought home a suitor who fell far short of her mother's expectations. Bob was short, stocky and shy. He was a mere high-school graduate who worked for DuPont. He also ran, and would later inherit, his family's harness-racing and horse-boarding business in central Delaware. By that point, Aunt Rose was probably hoping Doris would never marry. But to think that her daughter was dating a man who appeared to be so far beneath her someone who ran a horse farm was too much for Aunt Rose. Bob may not have realized it at the time, but he was up against a deep-seated cultural prejudice. As a first-generation Slovak-American, Aunt Rose imagined that her family had risen above the farm life of the "old country." And as someone who had struggled through the Depression, she was proud of owning her own home. She kept a fanatically clean house, and she worried constantly that Bob might be tracking in dirt, or worse, from "the barn." Whenever Bob would come to call, my aunt would insist that he sit in one particular chair. It was covered with an old bedspread. It was the only chair her dog and Bob were allowed to sit in. Through it all, Bob never complained. Over her mother's objections, Doris and Bob were married in the summer of 1969. Doris decamped to live with Bob in a small, rundown house on the farm. Her mother's constant lament was, "To think what she came out of and what she went into!" Doris "came out of" a modest two-story house in a tract development, not a mansion. Their one and only child, their son Bobby, was born a few years later. Doris was 37. Her mother's new lament involved having to drive 30 miles to see her grandson. Flash forward to the mid-'80s. Aunt Rose developed Alzheimer's. Doris and Bob took her in to live with them in that small house she had disdained. They cared for her as long as they could, only putting her in a nursing home for the last few months of her life. Again, Bob never complained, exhibiting the patience of a saint. It was in 2008 that Doris left for the beauty salon she had long patronized, only five miles away. She couldn't find her way home and had to call Bob to come get her. From that point, the progression has been slow but relentless. One of the worst outcomes, Bob confided, has been the social isolation. One by one, all their friends have dropped away. Around the same time that Doris's symptoms began to emerge, Bob, a diabetic, had a heart attack and has since developed congestive heart failure. His kidneys have failed. He undergoes dialysis three times a week. With the help of their son and a visiting nurse, Bob managed to care for Doris at home until late last year. She is now in a well-maintained group home. She no longer speaks, nor does she recognize anyone not even Bob or Bobby. Bob hates dialysis. He wouldn't continue, except that he feels he can't die before Doris. He needs to see it through, ensuring that Doris is well cared for until the end. Aunt Rose was wrong. Doris didn't marry down. Bob renovated and made a comfortable home out of that small house. Together, she and Bob built up the business, raising it to prominence in harness-racing circles. They raised a fine son who now runs the business and helps look after his parents. As for the doctors and lawyers Doris had dated, they never managed to turn her head with the trappings of wealth or the promise of social status. Doris could see that Bob was a good man, one who would stand by her come what may. Husbands don't come any better than that. n this photo taken Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, teacher Melany Willis, left, talks with kindergartner Jonathan Turner about his work at First Place Scholars school in Seattle. The tuition-free private elementary in the citys Central District neighborhood serves low-income students, many of which are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Lawmakers in Olympia are pushing bills that seek to aid a growing population of homeless youth and reduce their numbers, but the success of the differing legislation has been varied. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) SHARE n this photo taken Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, teacher Melany Willis, left, talks with kindergartner Jonathan Turner about his work at First Place Scholars school in Seattle. The tuition-free private elementary in the citys Central District neighborhood serves low-income students, many of which are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Lawmakers in Olympia are pushing bills that seek to aid a growing population of homeless youth and reduce their numbers, but the success of the differing legislation has been varied. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) By WALKER ORENSTEIN, Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) Now that the family of 11-year-old Brian Phillips has found a place to live after spending about a year homeless, doing homework comes without fighting the distracting commotion of living in shelters. "I can do my homework peacefully, study peacefully with no noise," the fifth-grader said during a recent interview at First Place Scholars in Seattle, his tuition-free, private elementary school in the city's Central District neighborhood. The school has a history of serving low-income students, many who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Phillips is no longer homeless after moving in with his grandmother. But estimates from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction show more students are having difficulty finding permanent housing. The number of homeless youth attending public schools in Washington is rising: there were about 35,500 in 2015, up from 32,500 the year before. The count has been rising since the initial tally of 20,780 in 2009. The office says some of the increase might be because of more accurate data as the counts went on. Lawmakers in Olympia are pushing bills that seek to reduce the number of homeless youth and help those who need a permanent place to live, but the success of bills has been varied. "Everyone sees the data and says it's terrible that we just sit back and do nothing," said Sen. David Frockt, a Democrat from Seattle who is sponsoring Senate Bill 6298. The proposal seeks money to create a grant program aimed at providing money for housing assistance, transportation, emergency shelter, rent and providing social workers dedicated to homeless students. The grant program would award $2 million to school districts in both 2017 and 2018, paid from the state's general fund because of lack of political will to raise money through means like taxes, Frockt said. But after being approved by a committee, Frockt's bill has lost traction. A similar bill reintroduced from 2015, House Bill 1682, recently passed the House on a 68-28 vote. Frockt, sponsor of its counterpart in his chamber, said he doesn't expect the Senate to pay for the program. Some Senate Republicans that control the chamber say they have higher priorities to pay for such as preventing wildfires and repairing damage from them. But this year, there isn't extra money to spend, said Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee. "There are so many issues we would like to fund in the supplemental budget," she said. First Place stands out in providing services for homeless students and is an example of what it takes to properly aid them, according to Dawn Mason, president of the school's board. The private school has a small student-to-staff ratio and a number of social services including 16 units of subsidized, on-site housing, all provided mostly by private donations. In public school districts, there are liaisons dedicated to working with homeless youth because of the federal McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Assistance Act. The law provides about $950,000 a year for district programs that serve homeless students, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Districts are stretched thin, though, Frockt said. Public schools in Kent get no money from McKinney-Vento because the available funds are distributed through a competitive grant process, according to the district's director of categorical programs Rona Popp. That means the district spends "thousands and thousands" out of pocket to pay for staff and transportation required by the act. Just 24 of 295 school districts in Washington received McKinney-Vento money for a three-year period starting in 2013. Kent relies on community organizations to help get after-school food, housing and clothing for homeless students because the district can't do so itself. Popp said the district wants at least one social worker dedicated to helping homeless families, because academic counselors in schools are doing both jobs, and "there's a lot of needs" in each school. "We need to provide them with the ability to go to someone to spend time looking for housing, connect with social services and other state agencies that can help them," she said. At First Place, Phillips talked about his experience on break from his martial arts class. He was wearing a white karate uniform, and his voice perked up when talking about his love for drawing and where he's looking to attend middle school. His daily routine is different now that he has permanent housing: "Less difficult, not moving from one place to another." Stuff reports: A senior United States official has confirmed President Barack Obama will try to visit New Zealand this year. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Matt Matthews said the President would visit schedule permitting. Obama would be only the third US President to visit if he makes it. A New Zealand visit has been on the Presidents radar since Prime Minister John Keys last visit to the White House in 2014 when Obama told media: We are going to be working with my schedule to see what I can come up with if not this year then certainly before the end of my presidency. Matthews said Key and Obama had a very close relationship, real friendship in fact. One possible date for a presidential visit is June when the annual New Zealand-US strategic dialogue is held. Matthews said there would be other high level US officials visiting during that period to keep the momentum going in the New Zealand-US relationship. Another milestone in the New Zealand-US relationship could be reached this year if the US accepts an invitation to take part in our navys 75th birthday celebrations. Students across Iowa are more likely to participate in a local Safe Routes to School program if their parents are convinced the route really is as safe as possible. Former state Rep. Gloria Johnson has announced she's going to try to take back the 13th House District seat from Republican Rep. Eddie Smith, which was not a surprise, but she's resigned from working for a group advocating for President Barack Obama's initiatives, which is a surprise. Johnson said Friday she had not worked for Organizing for Action since Jan. 15 after joining the group in June. She plans to start a consulting business in education, but until she does, the retired Knox County Schools teacher is working for Seniors Helping Seniors, which helps seniors remain in their homes. As soon as she announced earlier in the month, Tennessee Republican Chairman Ryan Haynes issued a news release calling Johnson a paid staffer of Obama's campaign who "made a habit of misrepresenting Knoxville's priorities in the General Assembly." "Ryan is wrong," Johnson said. "I haven't worked with them since Jan. 15." The race between the two will be a repeat, assuming they win the Aug. 4 primaries. ENDORSEMENTS: The Knox County Political Action Committee for Children and Education, political action committee of the Knox County Education Association, has endorsed candidates in the March 1 primaries. For school board, the PAC endorsed Jennifer Owen, 2nd District; Tony Norman, 3rd District; Susan Horn, 5th District; and Mike McMillan, 8th District. For County Commission, the group endorsed Evelyn Gill, Democrat, 1st District; Laura Kildare, Democrat, and John Fugate II, Republican, 2nd District; Marleen Davis, Democrat, and Jeff Ownby, Republican, 4th District; John Schoonmaker, Republican, 5th District; Donna Lucas, Democrat, and Brad Anders, Republican, 6th District; Dave Wright, Republican, 8th District; and Brandon Hamilton, Democrat, and Carson Dailey, Republican, 9th District. FORUM: The Pond Gap Neighborhood Association hosts a forum for County Commission candidates at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Coop Cafe, 3701 Sutherland Ave. Republicans Hugh Nystrom, Janet Testerman and incumbent Jeff Ownby will attend, said David Williams, association president. Democrat Marleen Davis cannot attend because of family illness, he said. ANOTHER DISCLOSURE: Republican candidate Carson Dailey has reported raising $7,805, including a $1,000 loan to his campaign, to succeed 9th District County Commissioner Mike Brown. He has spent $3,397 and has $4,408 on hand. The report covers July 30, 2015-Jan. 15. His disclosure was not in an earlier story reporting candidates' finances. Chris Davis, elections assistant administrator, said most candidates in the Knox County primaries chose to make a report on Feb 1, which was a year-end supplemental report, although most could have waited until Feb. 23, when a pre-primary report is due. SHARE The Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley will offer $25 spay-and-neuter services during a three-day event Thursday-Saturday, in an effort to reduce animal homelessness and euthanasia. The Love Kitchen, a Knoxville organization that feeds and clothes the hungry, is partnering with the Humane Society on Thursday and Saturday by providing transportation from the Love Kitchen to the Society's Bearden Hill facility. Both organizations are dedicated to reducing the number of homeless puppies and kittens, often euthanized because they have nowhere to go. This is part of World Spay Day, a national movement to curb overpopulation of cats and dogs. Vets, animal rescue organizations and pet owners across the country are expected to participate in spaying and neutering events. Participants also wish to educate the public on the issues of animal overpopulation and euthanasia, with the goal of ending pet homelessness. Pet owners can schedule their pet's procedure by calling the society's low-cost clinic at 865-579-6738, or by contacting the Love Kitchen at 865-579-6738. Space is limited, so schedule soon. The Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley, a nonprofit organization established in 1885, works in more than 20 counties of East Tennessee to rescue and rehabilitate dogs and cats. The organization also offers affordable training and pet behavioral services intended to prevent pet relinquishment in the community. The organization is funded solely through donations and grants. For more information, visit HumaneSociety Tennessee.com or call 865-573-9675. For spay and neutering information, visit http://humanesocietytennessee.com/fix-a-pet/. SHARE James Allan Sims was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of a woman whose body was found outside her home in November of 2010. Officials: Slaying not random; cash, pills, purse also stolen By Natalie Neysa Alund Alundn@Knoxnews.Com SEVIERVILLE - A Sevier County man was behind bars Monday after being indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of a local housekeeper whose body was found outside her home last month. James Allan Sims, 45, of Seagle Hollow Road, Sevierville, is accused of killing Jacquelyn Basner, 50, of 1715 Bluff Mountain Road on Nov. 12 and stealing her cash, pills and purse. Her body was discovered in her driveway the following day by a friend concerned about her whereabouts, Sevier County Sheriff Ron Seals said. Her throat had been slashed. Deputies named Sims as a suspect when they found evidence related to the slaying inside his pickup truck. They are not releasing what that evidence was. The weapon Sims allegedly used to kill her had not been recovered as of Monday, Seals said. A Sevier County grand jury Monday morning returned a presentment against Sims. The indictment was the result of an investigation by the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the 4th Judicial District Attorney General's office. Sims was arrested without incident at his home. During a brief hearing at the Sevier County Courthouse, Circuit Judge Richard Vance arraigned Sims and assigned the Public Defender's Office to represent him. Sheriff's Department Capt. Jeff McCarter said Basner, who lived alone, worked as a housekeeper in the area. She had no criminal history in Sevier County. Sims was jobless at the time of her killing. The slaying was not random. The two, officials said, were acquaintances. Basner's home is near the intersection of Bluff Mountain Road and Goose Gap Road, just outside Pigeon Forge city limits. Her one-story white home with burgundy shutters is a few hundred yards from a closed hardware store. Monday was not the first time Sims has been arrested on felony charges, according to information from the Sevier County Circuit Court clerk's office. His most recent includes a November 2009 arrest on a charge of theft of more than $500. That case was dismissed. In June 2003 he was arrested on multiple drug charges. Those cases were dismissed, too. That same year he was arrested on an aggravated domestic assault charge. He served probation for that case. His next court date on the murder charge is April 12 when he will enter a plea. He is being held without bond in the Sevier County Jail. Natalie Neysa Alund may be reached at 865-342-6307. SHARE By News Sentinel Staff A Knoxville man's quick actions saved the life of his uncle Sunday during a fishing trip on the Clinch River in Anderson County. According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Cecil Branscom, 70, of Dublin, Va., and his nephew, Scott Branscom, had launched their boat at the Peach Orchard Access Area on the Clinch River and headed up stream toward TVA's Norris Dam. The pair reached the dam at around 2 p.m. and were preparing to fish when the boat's engine struck a rock, sending the elder man into the 48-degree water. Scott Branscom managed to get his uncle, who was not wearing a life vest, back into the boat and called 911. Anderson County EMS met the pair at the Miller's Island Access Area, where the older man, who was suffering from hypothermia, was transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. According to a TWRA news release issued Sunday evening, Cecil Branscom was "recovering well." TWRA Officer Jason Lankford, who is investigating the incident, said, "The quick actions of his nephew and the quick response of Anderson County EMS likely saved Mr. Branscom's life. Falling into that frigid water alone would have made it nearly impossible for him to get back into the boat and get help quickly." U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. SHARE By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel WASHINGTON It didn't take long for U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen's crusade for larger airplane seats to hit turbulence in Congress. Taking up the cause of passengers who are tired of squeezing into narrow seats for long flights, the Memphis Democrat filed legislation last Monday that for the first time would require the federal government to establish minimum seat-size standards and a minimum distance between rows of seats on airplanes. By Thursday, the proposal had been grounded. A House subcommittee rejected the measure on a vote of 26-33 when Cohen offered it as an amendment to a broader aviation bill. "This was a vote against the safety and health of airline passengers," a disappointed Cohen said afterward. But as often happens in Washington, the proposal may have been knocked down, but it's not yet dead. Cohen said he will continue to pursue the legislation as a stand-alone bill. Consumer advocacy groups have been pushing for years for more leg room and bigger seats on planes. Narrower seats and seat pitches the distance between seats have allowed airlines to fit more seats on planes, but at the cost of passenger comfort, critics charge. The average distance between rows of seats has dropped from 35 inches before airline deregulation in the 1970s to about 31 inches today, according to Cohen's office. The average width of an airline seat has shrunk from 18 inches to about 16. A television commercial that aired during last Sunday's Super Bowl poked fun at the issue. In the ad, aliens take a tour of a museum of the Earth's history. At one point, a guide shows them what he calls "a 21st century torture device" airplane seats, with men and women crammed uncomfortably together, elbow to elbow. "Pretty gruesome," the guide concludes. Cohen, who says he too has had the frustration of being wedged into an uncomfortably narrow airplane seat, played the clip to members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation last Thursday to demonstrate the issue of small seat sizes. When airline seating is fodder for a funny TV commercial, it obviously has become a major issue in the public's mind and one on which Congress should act, Cohen said. But the airline industry sees no need for lawmakers to impose minimum seat standards. "We believe the government's role in seat sizes for all forms of transportation (car, bus, rail and air) is to determine what is safe," said Vaughn Jennings, a spokesman for Airlines for America, a group that lobbies on behalf of airlines. Government should not regulate seat sizes but should instead let market forces, which reflect consumer decisions, and competition determine what is offered, Jennings said. "Those offerings are one component of what drives competition and product differentiation among airlines," he said. "And as with any commercial product or service, customers vote every day with their wallet." But it's not just a matter of passenger comfort, Cohen said. Health and safety also are at issue. The Federal Aviation Administration requires that planes be capable of rapid evacuation in case of emergency but has not conducted emergency evacuation tests on all of today's smaller seats, Cohen said. "You're going to have a situation where you're going to have a crash or an electrical problem on a plane, and people won't be able to get off in time," he said. At the very least, Cohen said, the FAA should study seat safety and size and, if necessary, recommend minimum standards. Michael Collins is the News Sentinel's Washington correspondent. His weekly Tennessee in D.C. column highlights Volunteer State lawmakers, causes and connections. Contact him at 202-408-2711 or michael.collins@jmg.com. United States District Judge Thomas Varlan, left, is administered the Chief Judge oath by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Nov. 6, 2012, in Washington, D.C. It is believed to be the first time that a judge in the Eastern District of Tennessee has received the oath for Chief Judge or any other office from a Supreme Court justice. Debbie Poplin, Clerk of Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, is holding the Bible. (SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE By Georgiana Vines of the Knoxville News Sentinel U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's reputation of reaching out to people and making them feel comfortable was remembered Monday by Joan Ashe, wife of former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe, and Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan. When Scalia administered Varlan his oath of office in 2012 as presiding judge in the Eastern District of Tennessee, the justice also provided his Bible for the occasion. "It was in one of his desk drawers," Varlan said. Scalia died Saturday at age 79 at a private ranch in West Texas. Scalia was the last visitor at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw in September 2009 right before the Ashes returned to Knoxville when the justice spoke at a judicial conference there, Joan Ashe said. The Ashes had a dinner and reception for him at the residence, where Scalia stayed during his visit. "We were in the process of packing up. We took him upstairs. Boxes were sitting in the hallway. He said, 'You really are leaving.' He was just very friendly, very much at ease," she said. She said after the formal events were over in the evening, he stayed and talked with young people who were either embassy employees or students. "He just seemed genuinely interested in what they had to say. I always had an impression that Supreme Court justices are isolated, that you can't get out and touch them. He seemed very comfortable with a crowd, seemed very approachable," she recalled. Victor Ashe, the former mayor of Knoxville, was unavailable for his recollections because he is traveling. Varlan was with Ashe in February 2009 when the ambassador presented an award from Poland's civil-rights ombudsman. Scalia had been was unable to attend the official presentation so Ashe accepted it on Scalia's behalf. In return, the justice invited the ambassador to visit the court and bring a guest. Ashe invited Varlan, who had served as Ashe's law director when he was mayor. "We had a private tour of the Supreme Court, including the library (which isn't open to the public), and lunch in his chambers. He gave us a signed copy of his book, 'Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges,' " Varlan said. The judge has since read it and described it as a "very good template for attorneys, in the art of persuasion, from his (Scalia's) vantage." Varlan said he talked with Scalia on several occasions in 2011-14 when he was on the judicial conference, the policy-making board for the federal court system, which is chaired by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. As part of those twice-a-year meetings, the federal judges get to meet all of the Supreme Court justices at a reception. Varlan said Scalia offered to arrange for him to hear oral arguments sometime when he was in Washington, so Varlan said he took him up on it. Then Scalia found out Varlan had been selected presiding judge and offered to give him his oath. "Obviously I was very honored for him to offer and to administer," he said. At the Nov. 6, 2012, swearing in were Debbie Poplin, clerk of court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and two of Varlan's former law clerks, Le Evans and Anna Stimmel. "He was very warm, open, interested in you as a person as well as an attorney and judge," Varlan said of Scalia. "His intellect and wit came through. He was a tremendous individual." Varlan and other local federal judges hosted Scalia at a reception at the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse when the justice came to speak at the University of Tennessee on April 14, 2014. Scalia described his talk as his "stump speech" in which he defended his position as an "originalist," or someone who interprets the U.S. Constitution as the founding fathers intended. "He certainly had a tremendous impact on jurisprudence, a keen legal mind. All the quotes as an intellectual giant are an apt description," Varlan said. Gov. Bill Haslam SHARE looking to the lord It's all the way in West Tennessee but worth mentioning that one of Tennessee state representative's campaign for Congress, he said, hinges on a higher power. Tennessee state Rep. Andy Holt, R- 76th District, declared his possible intentions to run for congress in a news release Friday. "A lot has been said, both negative and positive, about the fact that I am praying heavily over the decision of whether or not to run for Congress rather than just jumping in like a typical politician that smells blood in the water," he wrote in the release. The sitting U.S. Congress 8th District Rep. Stephen Fincher announced he won't run for reelection. Those jumping almost instantly into the race after Fincher said he would not seek reelection were George Flynn, a millionaire who has unsuccessfully run for Congress previously; state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown; former U.S. Attorney David Kustoff, Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood; and Shelby County Commissioner Steve Basar. Holt, a deacon at Long Heights Baptist Church in McKenzie, named a list of Boy Scout-like traits a good congressman should have in his news release. He also took a shot at those who previously announced that they plan to run, by writing, "to me, the idea of deciding (within mere moments of hearing Congressman Fincher isn't running for reelection) to run for Congress without truly taking the time to fall on my knees and pray to God for his guidance with family and friends seems self-entitled and reckless. I simply am not that person." Most of all, though, Holt wrote that he'll be guided by God's will. Johnson quits Obama group Former state Rep. Gloria Johnson has resigned from working for a group advocating for President Barack Obama's initiatives as she begins campaigning for a rematch in the House District 13 election, reports Georgiana Vines. Johnson said Friday she had not worked for Organizing for Action since Jan. 15 after joining the group in June. She plans to start a consulting business in education, but until she does, the retired Knox County Schools teacher is working for Seniors Helping Seniors, which helps seniors remain in their homes. Post-Labor Day wine While wine sales in grocery stores will become legal on July 1, they will not be a reality in many places until after Labor Day without passage of a bill filed by a West Tennessee lawmaker. As enacted, the 2014 wine-in-grocery-stores law declared the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission could begin granting licenses to supermarkets and grocery stores on July 1, 2016. But that date failed to take into account time for applications and getting wine delivered to the new retailers. SHARE My father, Earl Bailey, worked as an ironworker and welder at the Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge for more than 20 years. He took great pride in his work and his ability to support his wife and three children. Unfortunately, my father developed mesothelioma from being exposed to asbestos while doing his job. It was difficult to see my father's health deteriorate in the last months of his life. My mother, my siblings and I were at his bedside when on May 21, 2014, he succumbed to this terrible disease. Until he was diagnosed with mesothelioma I had never heard of this disease. I did some research and was shocked to learn that the only cause of this disease is from asbestos exposure. I also learned that a law already on the books in Tennessee has a statute of repose, which significantly limits compensation that injured workers like my father could receive from being exposed to this deadly substance. Now it has come to my attention that legislation being considered by our elected leaders in Nashville SB 2062 and HB 2234 would effectively delay and deny compensation to all current and future victims of asbestos exposure in our state. The legislation is strongly backed by the asbestos industry in an attempt to escape responsibility for what it's done to my father and thousands of others. Since 1999, nearly 4,000 residents of Tennessee have died at the hands of asbestos exposure. I strongly urge our local lawmakers to stand with their constituents who are sick from asbestos and oppose this legislation. Lisa K. Bailey, Knoxville By Lee Hyo-sik Kumho Tire said Monday that management and union leaders reached a tentative agreement over wage hikes, nine months after both sides began negotiations. Company executives and union leaders, who resumed talks on Feb. 12, reached an accord under which Korea's second-largest tire maker will increase the base salary by 4.6 percent, and pay a 3 million won bonus. In addition, management and labor decided to introduce a peak wage system in 2017. Both sides also issued a joint statement, pledging to boost labor productivity and create a more constructive and cooperative labor-management relationship. "It's been a tough process for both labor and management to come to the latest consensus," a Kumho Tire spokesman said. "We would like to wrap up the wage negotiation as soon as possible to work together to restore our efficiency and normalize operations." The spokesman said labor and management will form an ad-hoc committee to discuss the details of the upcoming peak wage system. Unionized workers staged a strike for 39 days last summer, dealing a severe blow to the company which just graduated from the creditor-managed workout program. On Dec. 17, the union staged a partial strike for two hours and had threatened to do the same indefinitely from Feb. 15 unless company management accepts its demand. Hit by labor unrest and the slowing Chinese market, Kumho Tire suffered an 11.6 percent sales drop to 3.04 trillion won in 2015 from the previous year. Its operating profit tumbled 58.1 percent to 150 billion won. The company also posted a 28.7 billion won net loss. The South Korean government said Monday that it is providing one-to-one support services for more than 100 firms troubled by last week's abrupt shutdown of a joint factory park in North Korea to help minimize their losses. The support measures were drawn up by a special task force team headed by Lee Suk-joon, the top official in charge of government policy coordination at the Prime Minister's Office. The team also includes vice ministers of the finance, trade and interior, and officials from relevant government agencies. "The team operates a one-to-one support channel for each firm on a regular basis to swiftly understand their difficulties," Lee said during the team's Monday meeting. Pyongyang expelled all 123 South Korean firms from the joint industrial park in Gaesong on Thursday, one days after Seoul announced its own decision to at least temporarily shut down the industrial complex in response to the North's recent nuclear test followed by the launch of a satellite that many believe was a disguise for a long-range missile test. Lee said the team visited all 123 firms between Friday and Sunday to determine their needs and difficulties. When the industrial park was closed for 160 days in 2013 in North Korea's protest against a joint military exercise between South Korean and U.S. forces here, the South Korean firms reported a combined loss of 1.05 trillion won. The firms claim their damage will be greater this time considering the growth of their business operations over the years, saying that they may even seek a lawsuit if the government refuses to compensate them for their losses. (Yonhap) By Yoon Ja-young Following the closure of Gaeseong Industrial Complex, businesses that had been operating in the joint factory zone are facing huge losses, as North Korea has frozen the goods and materials there. To make matters worse, most of these businesses are uninsured. They claim there are critical problems with the policies offered by the government through the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea. "Because the policies would have to guarantee against the political risks of North Korea, no private insurance company would be willing to sell such insurance policies," a bank spokesperson said. "That's why it was operated by the economic cooperation fund that the Unification Ministry entrusted to us." According to the bank, there are two types of insurance policies for companies operating in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. They can take out economic cooperation insurance, which covers losses incurred to their investment. Or they can take out trade insurance, which covers risks involved in taking goods in and out of the joint complex. However, about 40 percent of the businesses have not taken out economic cooperation insurance. No company took out trade insurance. "They chose not to take out the insurance, saying the process was too complicated," the spokesperson said. "They are supposed to submit documents verifying entry and exit of the goods and materials from the complex, but they said they did not have enough people to do this." The trade insurance was introduced in 2009 August, after the joint Mt. Geumgang Tour program in North Korea was suspended. Because Korean businesses suffered increasing losses when the joint tour program was closed, the Unification Ministry introduced the insurance policy to protect the businesses. If the joint factory zone is closed for more than two weeks, businesses that have taken out insurance can get up to 70 percent coverage for losses sustained from material left in Gaeseong. The insurance also covers the penalties that businesses have to pay their buyers for breaking the supply contract. However, businesses have been demanding that the insurance policies should be improved, citing the small coverage and complicated process. The private Inter-Korean Economic Exchange Council said in a report to the Korea International Trade Association that the businesses were not taking out trade insurance because it was of no help in reality. "The subscription rate for insurance reflects its effectiveness," the report notes. "A low subscription rate means the insurance program is failing to win the trust of businesses, and that the businesses are exposed to risks in investment." The council also said coverage of the economic cooperation insurance was too narrow. The insurance covers only up to 7 billion won loss in investment, even if the loss is much more. Businesses also complain that the insurance undervalues their total investment because it takes into account only the capital. Because of the situation, conflict between businesses and the government is expected over compensation. When the Gaeseong Industrial Complex was temporarily closed in 2013, businesses reported 1.1 trillion won in losses, but only 56 companies received a total of 176.1 billion won insurance money. The companies repaid most of the insurance money after resuming operations at Gaeseong. By Kim Jae-kyoung Steffen Dyck SINGAPORE Global investors' growing awareness of geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula may cut foreign direct investment and spark a capital outflow from the country, according to Moody's Investors Service. "Merely the perception of geopolitical risks can hurt a country's capital, current and fiscal accounts, making it harder for it to service its debt," said Steffen Dyck, a senior analyst from Moody's. "It can lead to lower foreign direct investment and higher funding costs for the public and private sectors," he added. "We have seen increased foreign investor awareness in previous episodes of heightened geopolitical tensions." His remarks suggest that the Seoul government should pay greater attention to coping with foreign investors' concerns about such risks which, if not dealt with properly, could deal a blow to the domestic financial market. Still, he is positive about the country's capability to weather the geopolitical risks. "While geopolitics poses a salient risk for South Korea, we expect Seoul's robust alliance with the U.S. and China's influence to contain the risk of direct conflict between South and North," he said. He pointed out that regional geopolitical risk in relation to the South-North situation was a key factor for the South's sovereign rating, currently Aa2 with a "stable outlook." Dyck is vice president of the agency's sovereign risk group that evaluates Korea's sovereign rating. Despite the growing geopolitical risk that Pyongyang's recent provocations have caused, he said the agency had no immediate plans to modify its credit rating for South Korea, citing the country's strong economic fundamentals. "Closing the Gaeseong Industrial Complex could be seen as credit-negative," he said. "However, at this point we do not think that there is any material difference to previous events." He explained that Korea's sturdy economic fundamentals have made it resilient to deal with episodes of heightened tension. "The country has a strong external position, supported by competitive export industries and large holdings of official foreign exchange reserves," he said. He pointed out that the country's current account had been in surplus every year since the Asian financial crisis, and reached a 16-year high of 6.3 percent of GDP in 2014. "These large and recurrent buffers will bolster the resilience of the government, banking and corporate sectors against any volatility in capital flows," he said. S&P maintains stable outlook' Standard & Poor's (S&P), another global credit ratings agency, expects that the latest provocations will have only a limited impact on Seoul's financial markets, indicating that the agency also had no plans to modify its ratings. "Our outlook on the sovereign ratings of South Korea remains stable. The geopolitical risks on the Korean peninsula are already factored into our ratings," said S&P's Singapore-based analyst Yee Farn Phua. "Recent events like the nuclear test and long-range rocket launch by North Korea can have a temporary impact on financial markets and economic activities. But we observe that they have not escalated beyond levels that we assess as part of the factors supporting South Korean sovereign ratings." On Friday, Korea's financial markets took another heavy beating, with the benchmark KOSPI dipping 1.41 percent. The tech-laced KOSDAQ plunged 6 percent on the same day, resulting in activation of a "circuit breaker" for the first time in more than four-and-a-half years. Amy / Korea Times file TV personality Amy, who was ordered to leave Korea after being found guilty of drug abuse, will move to China from the U.S. in late February. She will appear on a Chinese television program, the details of which have yet to be fixed, local media reports. Amy, 34, whose Korean name is Lee Yoon-ji, told local media that she would leave for China soon, where she plans to return to the small screen after months of introspection and contemplation. "After I was ordered to leave Korea, I did a lot of thinking and regretting," she said. "Now my mind and body have recovered to some extent, and I am no longer having trouble sleeping. "I want to prove myself worthy to my family by returning to my job." Amy left for Los Angeles through Incheon International Airport on Dec. 30 last year after the Seoul High Court dismissed the Korean-American suit against the head of the Korea Immigration Service. Immigration ordered Amy to leave Korea for violating drug laws a second time after receiving a suspended jail term for abusing the psychotropic drug propofol in November 2012. In March 2014, Amy was fined 5 million won for taking zolpidem, a common prescription drug that induces sleep, without a prescription. The immigration office had ordered her to leave Korea by March 27, but she rejected the order and filed a suit. The floor leader of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party called Monday for the country's own nuclear armament or the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to better cope with threats posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. Won Yoo-cheol said South Korea should consider realistic and practical measures for self-defense to deter North Korea's possible provocations. "We cannot borrow an umbrella from a neighbor every time it rains. We need to have a raincoat and wear it ourselves," Won said during a speech at the National Assembly. He was referring to the nuclear umbrella that the U.S. provides to South Korea after pulling its tactical nuclear weapons out of South Korea in 1991. In 1991, the two Koreas agreed to keep the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free in a landmark deal, though North Korea has violated it by pursuing nuclear weapons programs. Won said North Korea's four nuclear tests, including the one last month, have rendered the denuclearization principle "meaningless." Won's comments underscored growing calls among some conservative South Koreans to develop the country's own nuclear armaments amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. (Yonhap) The chairwoman of South Korea's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs said Monday that it is now time to consider a regime change in North Korea. "It is time to think about all possibilities including some arguments for a change of the North Korean regime," Rep. Na Kyung-won said during an interview with a local radio station. Na's comments come amid growing concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. "There should be a consensus whether we should consider the North Korean regime our dialogue partner amid persistent threats," Na said. The lawmaker also pointed out it was inevitable for the government to suspend the operation of a joint factory park in North Korea. (Yonhap) A security task force will be set up at Incheon International Airport in March to tighten border control, following a series of security breaches. The Incheon Immigration Office and Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) signed an understanding of memorandum on Monday. The parties agreed to create the team to tighten immigration inspections, particularly in the transit area, to prevent illegal entries and to deal with incidents involving suspected explosives. Six immigration officers and 36 security officers will make up the task force. "We expect the team to strengthen security control at the immigration office to prevent illegal entries, contributing to the nation's safety," said immigration office director Woo Ki-boong. Chung Il-young, CEO of the IIAC, said, "The new team will cooperate with other national agencies to enhance security and guarantee safe travels." IIAC said it would expand information sharing with airlines about passengers who failed to board. IIAC also plans to replace more than 2,000 surveillance cameras at the airport with high-definition cameras. A series of security incidents hit the nation's main gateway recently. A threatening message printed in Arabic was found with a box carrying butane gas canisters in a men's bathroom last month, although the suspect turned out to be a Korean man angry over his unemployment. A Vietnamese man and a Chinese couple also illegally entered the country through an unattended immigration checkpoint. South Korea's airport authority said Monday it has decided to set up a team meant to prevent illegal entry by foreigners. The Korea Airports Corp. said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Ministry for the creation of the team. The team will be composed of six immigration officials and36 security personnel managed by the Korea Airports Corporation, it said. The government has been under fire for a series of security breaches at Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, in recent months. Earlier this month, an immigration official apprehended a Vietnamese man accused of illegally entering South Korea. The 25-year-old transfer passenger forced his way through the gate of an unmanned automatic immigration checkpoint at the airport. Last month, a Chinese couple was caught by immigration authorities after illegally sneaking into South Korea at the airport. (Yonhap) A local court on Monday sentenced a liberal activist to six months in prison for supporting an anti-government organization in a lecture. Still, the Seoul Central District Court suspended the sentence for Hwang Sun for two years, meaning that she will not have to serve prison time if she stays out of trouble during that period. The court said she had intent to positively respond and join an anti-government organization by holding a lecture in 2010. She was indicted last year on charges of praising North Korea on an Internet broadcast and making comments in favor of North Korea in the on-stage talk shows she hosted in 2014. South Koreans are prohibited from supporting or praising the North in any way under the country's National Security Law. The 1950-53 Korean War ended with a cease-fire agreement, not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war. The court, however, acquitted the 42-year-old of making flattering remarks about North Korea during the 2014 talk shows. In the videos of the shows, Hwang and her Korean-American co-host Shin Eun-mi did not make direct, active and uncritical praise of the North, the court said. "There is no evidence to say that the remarks they exchanged on North Korea's child-bearing environment, economic growth and anecdotes on the North's leaders are intentionally distorted or false, though they cannot be verified and could have been exaggerated," the court said. It is hard to say that they posed a direct threat to the existence, security or free democracy of the country, it added. In November, the same court dismissed a defamation suit filed by Hwang against President Park Geun-hye on charges of accusing her shows of being pro-North Korean at a meeting with senior secretaries. Her Korean-American co-host Shin was deported in January last year because of similar allegations. She has been banned from entering South Korea for five years. (Yonhap) Police officers search for a seven-year-old girl's body, which her mother allegedly buried in 2011 after beating her to death, on a mountain in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. / Yonhap By Kim Se-jeong A woman, who was arrested Saturday for not sending her nine-year-old daughter to school for a year, has confessed to beating her other seven-year-old daughter to death and burying the body in Gyeonggi Province. Police recovered the girl's remains on Monday. This is the third case of suspected child abuse resulting in death involving parents since the police in December began a nationwide investigation into children who have been absent from school for a long time or who have not attended school even though they are of school age. Officials at Goseong Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province said on Monday that they had initially asked the prosecution to seek an arrest warrant for the 42-year-old woman, surnamed Park, on charges of negligence and that a local court issued this on Saturday. Once in custody, Park told police that she had beaten one of her daughters to death. Two of Park's friends, surnamed Baek and Lee, 42 and 45, were also arrested Monday for allegedly abusing the girl and helping the mother bury the girl's body. Another, surnamed Lee, 50, was booked without physical detention. All the suspects are women. According to police, Park left her husband in January 2009 and lived at Lee's apartment in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where the four adults and their six children lived together, until 2015 when she moved to Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Park confessed that she starved the girl as punishment for not listening to her. On Oct. 26, 2011, Park allegedly tied her daughter up in the apartment veranda as punishment for damaging furniture. She beat her for about 30 minutes together with the friends, and left her there, until 5 p.m. the next day, when they found her dead. Park and her accomplices allegedly stored the corpse in their vehicle for about two days and buried the body in a remote part of Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. At around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, police officers found the remains suspected of being those of the daughter, following a search conducted with two of the adult accomplices, Baek and Lee. The adults in this group also allegedly abused the other children often, forcing Baek's son to stay in the veranda for days. The education authorities, along with the police, have been tracking down children who are missing from school. The Goseong police were in charge of the case of Park's children as their residence was registered there. She told police that she was not sending her daughter to school out of fear of getting caught by money lenders because she was heavily in debt and on the run from them. But when asked about her older daughter, Park told the police that the girl went missing from an apartment playground in Nowon, Seoul, in 2009. Suspicious that the mother did not report the child as missing to police, officers questioned her closely, which led to her confession regarding her daughter's death back in 2011. The nationwide investigation was started in December following the discovery of an 11-year-old girl who had been starved and abused by her father, who prevented her from attending school for more than three years. So far, the investigation has already exposed two other cases of children who had been beaten to death by their parents, one a seven-year-old boy and the other a 13-year-old girl. Both had long-term absences from school. Concerns growing over Beijing's possible retaliation By Kang Seung-woo South Korea's relations with China are entering a crucial phase with Seoul leaning toward accepting the deployment of the terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system. Frustrated by Beijing's lukewarm stance on a series of provocations by North Korea, the Park Geun-hye government has pushed for THAAD deployment in South Korea. Seoul-Beijing ties, which have evolved into a strategic partnership, could turn sour because the THAAD talks are underway and Beijing may use its position as Seoul's No. 1 trading partner to thwart the plan. "For some time, China will slam South Korea and the United States for a possible THAAD deployment because it has steadily opposed the anti-missile defense system," said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong University. Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow of the Sejong Institute, said, "Despite a recent phone conversation between President Park and Chinese President Xi Jinping (on Feb. 5), the talks over the THAAD deployment have turned the clock back." After the South Korean government announced last week that it will hold negotiations with Washington about the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK)'s plan to deploy a THAAD battery on Korean soil, China has urged Seoul to withdraw the plan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se in Munich, Germany on Thursday that the matter of possible deployment of THAAD on the Korean Peninsula is detrimental to the proper handling of the current situation by related parties and the maintenance of regional peace and stability. "Obviously it will undermine the strategic security interests of China, and China shows grave concern about it," he was quoted by the Chinese foreign ministry. Given that China is Pyongyang's economic lifeline and political backer, President Park has made efforts to improve the relationship with Beijing, hoping that the Chinese government will curb the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons. President Park even attended China's massive military parade in September to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, something that the leaders of other U.S. allies did not do. However, such efforts have come to nothing because China is doing little thing to punish the Kim Jong-un regime for its Jan. 6 nuclear test and Feb. 7 long-range rocket launch, both of which violated United Nations resolutions. China's possible retaliation Amid growing protests from China, some are concerned whether the country may press the South by way of economic retaliation as occurred during the "garlic trade dispute" in 2000. At that time, Seoul imposed a 315-percent tariff on cheap Chinese garlic to protect its farmers, but the government later cut the tariff to 30 percent and agreed to import 32,000 tons of Chinese garlic after China retaliated by banning shipments of mobile phones and polyethylene from the South. There are mixed reactions on the prospects of the issue. "Although the Chinese government is protesting against the THAAD deployment at a diplomatic level during its lunar New Year, it is expected to begin to take retaliatory actions from now," Cheong said, adding that the nation's cultural industry catching on among Chinese as well as trade may be adversely affected. However, Bong Young-shik, a senior research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that should China opt for economic retaliation and that such a move may meet a headwind in terms of security. "China protests against THAAD out of concerns that it means the ROK-U.S. alliance will develop into a bigger regional strategy focusing on encircling China in Northeast Asia," he said. "However, a possible THAAD-triggered economic retaliation will ask for trouble." Park Won-gon said that China's current sluggish economy may prevent the government from taking retaliatory action, as well. "The two nations have close economic ties, so economic retaliation may also affect its own economy negatively," he said. Meanwhile, the two nations' vice foreign ministers will meet in Seoul today to discuss pending issues between them, according to the South Korean foreign ministry. First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will sit down with his Chinese counterpart Zhang Yesui in the 7th Korea-China Strategic Dialogue. Zhang is the first senior Chinese official to visit South Korea since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test. They are highly expected to discuss sensitive issues such as the THAAD deployment and a rift over the level of punishment against the North. By Kim Hyo-jin North Korea-related issues are likely to affect voter sentiment ahead of the April 13 general elections as inter-Korean tensions are expected to rise. In the wake of North Korea's rocket launch, widely viewed as a ballistic missile test following its fourth nuclear test, the ruling Saenuri Party has called for increased military readiness, tougher sanctions against the North and even nuclear armament of the South. As its hawkish stance gains traction, the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) appears to be losing weight in its longstanding support of inter-Korean exchanges and reconciliation. The party is taking a cautious stance on its North Korea policy while trying to divert election focus to economic issues. A poll conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo showed Monday that 61.1 percent of 1,000 respondents said "security issues" will have an influence on their choice in the election. Of all, those who said the impact will be "very strong" stood at 13 percent while 48.1 percent answered it will be "to some extent." The conservative Saenuri Party continued stressing the need to increase the country's military capacity on Monday, fanning uneasiness about security on the peninsula. "We need to achieve a high level of security readiness in preparation for the North's further provocations," said party chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung during a party meeting. "All means should be sought to deal a serious blow to the repressive country politically and economically." Rep. Won Yoo-chul, the party's floor leader, claimed the government should consider nuclear armament or deploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to boost the country's self defense. "It is urgent to have a proper shield in the face of a security crisis," he said during a parliamentary speech. The ruling party's voice is expected to gain further momentum with President Park Geun-hye's planned speech in the National Assembly today. Park will underline the status of the "security crisis" in the wake of the North's provocations and the need for national unity and bipartisan cooperation, said an official at Cheong Wa Dae. Meanwhile, MPK interim leader Kim Jong-in took a cautious approach, warning party members to be careful of earning a pro-North Korean image ahead of the election. "Be careful not to be embroiled in the ruling party's strategy," a party official said quoting Kim. Kim also said, "We shouldn't just oppose the shutdown of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, but give the government the time to explain and try to seek agreement together." Commentators expect security issues could become a "black hole" in the 2016 parliamentary race as talks on the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in the country and the shutdown of the inter-Korean industrial park are taking time. "Parties are required to maneuver election strategy wisely when it links to North Korea issues," said Choi Chang-ryol, a professor at Yongin University. Choi cited that security concerns have not always worked to the ruling party's favor since democratization. The opposition party won a victory in local elections after the sinking of the Cheonan on March 2010, which was believed to be done by North Korea as the public feared the possibility of war, he said. "If the ruling party pushes for fearmongering too intensely, it could face backlash." By Jun Ji-hye A heated dispute is underway regarding possible sites to locate a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery with South Korea and the United States scheduled to begin talks as early as this week on whether the missile-defense system is to be deployed. Where the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will locate the THAAD unit involves a variety of conflicting matters ranging from reactions from neighboring countries including China, along with possible safety and environmental threats to nearby residents. Locations cited as possible sites for THAAD include Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, Daegu, and Waegwan in North Gyeongsang Province. The USFK's Camp Humphreys is located at Pyeongtaek, Camp Walker in Daegu and Camp Carroll at Waegwan, outside of Daegu. Other candidate sites include Wonju in Gangwon Province and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province. Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said during a media briefing, Monday, that an allies' joint working-level group will conduct their review of candidate areas before deciding on a site after consideration of all related matters. "The military utility of the USFK will be considered as the most important aspect because the THAAD will be operated by the USFK," he said. "Allies will choose an optimal location from which the military can shoot down North Korean missiles." Moon's remark was construed as indicating that the government will give Washington's opinion priority when deciding the location. The U.S. wants to deploy the THAAD battery in order to protect its troops stationed here and their families from mounting nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. Among the possible locations, some observers say, Daegu or Waegwan could be the most likely site, given that it is regarded as an ideal location from which to protect most USFK bases on the peninsula. Their location in the southern part of the country is also further away from China than sites near Seoul such as Pyeongtaek which faces China across the West Sea. Observers say this could minimize opposition from China. Beijing, Seoul's No. 1 trading partner, is strongly opposed to THAAD deployment on Korean soil, out of concerns that THAAD's AN/TPY-2 radar system could snoop on Beijing's military activities and missile capabilities. In response to such concerns, spokesman Moon earlier said that the radar will be only be activated in terminal mode using a range of some 600 kilometers, not in the forward-based mode which has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers. If the THAAD with the radar in terminal mode were to be deployed in Daegu or Waegwan, the radar range would not provoke China. In addition, Daegu is the constituency of Rep. Yoo Seong-min, former floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, who has consistently raised the issue of bringing the THAAD into the peninsula to better cope with North Korean threats. The ministry downplayed speculation that the location would be decided by taking China's resistance into consideration. "All decisions will be made in accordance with the nation's interests and the national security," Moon said. Pyeongtaek has long been cited as a possible location for the THAAD unit as well, since the THAAD issue first emerged in June 2014 when the Commander of the USFK and United Nations Command Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti raised the possibility of a necessary deployment. Some military authorities here reportedly want Pyeongtaek to be the site because it is a better location from which to protect the capital area, in preference to the southern part of the nation. But skepticism is also abounding as there are residential apartment buildings and an industrial zone around Camp Humphreys. Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo speaks Monday during an interpellation session hosted by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. Hong claimed on Sunday that 70 percent of wages to North Korean workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex were diverted to fund developing weapons of mass destruction. However, he backed down from the claims, Monday, saying that the government has no evidence to support such an assertion. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun Hong denies existence of evidence of money diversion by North Korea By Yi Whan-woo Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said Monday there is no evidence that North Korea had been diverting wages for North Korean workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) to fund development of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), retracting remarks he made the previous day claiming that the government has such evidence. The flip-flop followed a controversy that Seoul may have violated U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions against Pyongyang's WMD programs if it was aware of such a fund diversion. "There is a misunderstanding that the government had obtained evidence on cash flowing from the GIC into funding for North Korea's WMD programs, including nuclear and ballistic missile tests," Hong said during his National Assembly appearance in Seoul, Monday. Speaking before the lawmakers from the National Assembly's Foreign and Unification Committee, he offered an apology for "his inadequate explanation" concerning the case. In a TV media interview, Sunday, Hong then claimed that 70 percent of the cash invested in the joint industrial park in Gaeseong, North Korea, have been sent to Office 39, a secretive branch of the repressive government. It directly reports to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un regime regarding use of money to build WMD, buy luxuries for Pyongyang's leadership and prop up the regime. Hong then said Seoul has gathered related evidence through various channels although he refused to elaborate further. "My words were based on speculation and I only intended to underscore the significant nature of Pyongyang's WMD programs," Hong told lawmakers. The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) still criticized Hong, holding him responsible for his comments. "If his words on Sunday are true, it means South Korea violated the UNSC resolutions and there should be relevant measures and policies to be taken against the government," said Rep. Chung Sye-kyun. "If he lied, he should be held responsible for spreading false claims." Chung speculated that Hong reversed his comment from Sunday to avoid possible criticisms from the international community Won Hye-young, also an MPK lawmaker, voiced a similar view. "It's an apparent breach of UNSC resolutions if the government knew in advance that the GIC has been a cash cow for North Korea's WMD but failed to take action," he said. South Korea decided on Feb. 10 to completely shut down the GIC as a part of its punitive measures against the North for defying the U.N. and carrying out its latest nuclear test on Jan. 6 and long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7. In retaliation, North Korea expelled all South Korean workers and froze South Korean-owned assets at the GIC on Feb. 11. Vice foreign ministers of South Korea and China will meet in Seoul this week to discuss pending issues between the two countries, the South Korean foreign ministry said Monday. Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will meet his Chinese counterpart Zhang Yesui in the 7th Strategic Dialogue between vice foreign ministers of the two countries on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The meeting comes amid a deepening chasm between the two neighbors over how to deal with North Korea's latest nuclear weapons and long-range missile tests. "The two sides will hold in-depth talks on issues of mutual interest, including relations between South Korea and China, political situations on the Korean Peninsula and regional and international affairs," the ministry said. They, in particular, will "intensively discuss responses to North Korea's nuclear test and long-range missile launch," it said. Zhang will be the first high-level Chinese official to visit South Korea after the North's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6. He is scheduled to fly into South Korea on Monday for the talks. The two officials are expected to exchange opinions on the intensity and direction of future international sanctions, including a new U.N. Security Council resolution, against Pyongyang for its latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch and seek to reach a consensus on the issue. Beijing has shown a lukewarm stance on the South Korea and U.S. moves to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea, maintaining that the nuclear issue should be resolved through "dialogue and negotiations." Seoul and Washington's recent decision to begin negotiations for the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system is also expected to be a hot issue during the talks. China has vehemently opposed any deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) on the Korean Peninsula, taking it as part of the U.S. Missile Defense system. (Yonhap) China called for easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula on Monday in response to South Korea's decision to halt the operations of its joint industrial park with North Korea. The suspension of the Gaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea was announced last week to punish the North for its latest rocket launch and nuclear test. Pyongyang then kicked out all South Koreans from the complex, calling the move by Seoul a "declaration of war." Asked about the South Korean decision to halt operations at the Gaesong complex, China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei urged "the relevant party to take actions to ease tensions." Hong described the current situation on the peninsula as "complex and sensitive." The Gaesong complex, which opened in 2004 as a major symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, has served as a major revenue source for the cash-strapped North Korea. Although South Korea has benefited from cheap but skilled North Korean labor, the South Korean firms operating at the complex annually provide about 100 million dollars in total income to North Korean workers. (Yonhap) Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung speaks at his office in Gyeonggi Province on Feb. 5. / Courtesy of Seongnam Municipal Office By Kim Hyo-jin Welfare programs drawn up by the mayor of a city located south-east of Seoul have become the focus of a national controversy. Lee Jae-myung, a second-term mayor of Seongnam, set up three key welfare programs, to which he allocated 19.4 billion won ($16 million) from the city's budget. These were designed to provide 1 million won annually for people aged 19-24, free school uniforms for students entering secondary school and 500,000 won in post-pregnancy subsidies to mothers each year. But amid increasing questions and accusations against Lee that he is pursuing populist policies, the central government is attempting to permanently block the proposed schemes. The Cabinet issued an ordinance that empowers the central government to slash funding for Seongnam's welfare programs. Lee, however, did not flinch. He filed a petition in the Constitutional Court on the basis that the central government infringed on the city government's autonomy and pushed ahead with the welfare plan in January. "Welfare is a right of citizens who pay taxes. I'm just giving (their money) back through an administrative channel," Lee told The Korea Times. "If you think welfare policies are equal to giving free benefits, you're wrong. It's a false perception affected by the government, which has been negligent of its basic duty." His voice carries some weight. Since becoming mayor of the debt-stricken city in 2010, 450 billion won in debt has been paid off over a period of three-and-a-half years. Since 2014, Seongnam has had the highest financial stability rating in the Ministry of Interior's regular assessment. With the city's larger budget, Lee started increasing welfare spending, first for the elderly and then on child care. His three key welfare programs came in the last stage of his grand welfare scheme, but received the most attention because of the government's veto. "I'm using the money on welfare that previously was used to pay back debt," he said. Lee added that it was possible to have a budget surplus by cracking down on irregularities and corruption, money wasted on public works, and tax evasion. "It's just a matter of willingness _ I'm proving that welfare is possible without raising taxes," he said. Controversy over populism Of the three programs, the so-called "Youth Dividend" is the most controversial. It offers 500,000 won in free vouchers to Seongnam residents aged 19-24 that they can use for their job training and living expenses. However, the program, which aims to support young people amid the high unemployment rate, came under attack because some vouchers were being traded for cash on websites. The unconditional provision of the subsidies was also questioned. The ruling Saenuri Party and President Park Geun-hye were at the forefront of the criticism. "I'm afraid populist policies are being overused ahead of the general election," Park told a press conference last month. "If municipal governments continue to undertake unaffordable projects, the burden will go directly to the central government." At a recent party meeting, Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung said, "Seongnam is working on free welfare. We should bear in mind that their populist policies are the devil's whispers." Lee struck back, saying he was merely fulfilling his election pledges. "Keeping one's pledges is not populism," he said. "Reneging on pledges after garnering the people's votes, like Park did, is populism." In her 2012 presidential campaign, Park pledged to expand subsidies to all people aged over 65 by providing them with 200,000 won a year. But amid rising concern about the proposed scheme's feasibility, it was revised to offer differential payment to 70 percent of those eligible, based on how long they had belonged to the National Pension Service. Lee said he believed his welfare programs were sustainable because they were based on an analysis of the city's financial capacity for the remaining three years of his term. He said there was a need for new policies for the young, who are becoming marginalized in society due to soaring unemployment. In 2015, government data showed the jobless rate of people aged 15-29 was 9.2 percent, compared to the national average of 3.6 percent. "For the first time in history, the status of the young generation is more dismal than that of the older generation," Lee said "When job creation has reached a limit we need to look at different solutions. And I don't think it is wrong to invest 11.3 billion won, or 1.9 percent of the city's yearly budget, on welfare." Lee added that the city was planning to provide nontransferable electronic cards instead of vouchers from the second quarter of the year to help prevent the illegal sale of welfare benefits. Communication through social networks Lee put his name on the list of potential presidential candidates, despite having only a one-digit approval rating in Gallup surveys conducted from April 2014. As he came to public attention with his strong welfare stance, his rating rose to 4 percent last August. His forthright remarks on ongoing issues through social networks have differentiated him from other possible candidates, observers say. Lee communicates with the public through Twitter and Facebook. When health authorities struggled with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak last year, Lee was a step ahead, setting up municipal emergency headquarters and providing related information and real-time updates through social networks, efforts that were highly praised. "I believe talking directly to people can be more beneficial to them than beating around the bush," he said. "Social networks have become a direct channel between the people and me. This is really important especially when the media often distorts politicians' words." Meanwhile, the prosecution has reportedly opened an investigation into Seongnam for allegedly launching illegal election campaigns for Lee through social networks in preparation for the 2018 local elections. The city has urged the prosecution to drop the case, saying it unfairly targeted the mayor. "To a ruler who delivers only her words unilaterally, a politician who advocates communication must look dumb," Lee said. "It seems there is an attempt to tie my hands by taking away social networking." The United States and China have been in discussions about the possible deployment of an advanced American missile defense system in South Korea, a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter said Monday. The discussions are aimed at seeking China's understanding that the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea is not aimed at undermining China's security interests, the source said on the condition of anonymity. While the U.S. is trying to explain technical details on why the THAAD is not targeting China, the Chinese side has not actively listened to the explanation from the U.S. side, the source said. "The Chinese side has been opposed to the THAAD with incorrect information and the discussions are aimed at changing China's view about the issue," the source said. South Korea and the U.S. are poised to hold their first formal talks on the deployment of the THAAD battery after North Korea defiantly launched a long-range rocket following its fourth nuclear test last month. With North Korea continuing to develop its nuclear and missile arsenals, analysts in Seoul say South Korea has no choice but to adopt the THAAD battery, which would be deployed at a U.S. base in South Korea, home to about 28,500 American troops. China has long voiced opposition to the THAAD battery in South Korea, claiming the missile defense system may target mainland China. U.N. Security Council members remain divided over how to punish North Korea for its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, with China, one of five veto-wielding council members, reluctant to put crippling sanctions on North Korea. (Yonhap) The international community should slap "bone-numbing" sanctions on North Korea over its nuke and missile provocations, the head of a South Korean presidential advisory panel said Monday. Yoo Ho-yeol, executive vice chairman at the National Unification Advisory Council, also stressed the importance of China's role in pressing Pyongyang into giving up its nuclear weapons development. "Above all things, the international community should push for sanctions that will inflict severe pain to North Korea. Efforts to press China to join this effort are necessary," Yoo said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. The U.N. Security Council is working on a fresh resolution for tougher sanctions against North Korea over its Jan. 6 nuclear test. On Feb. 7, the North launched a long-range rocket carrying what it claimed was a satellite, a move which Seoul and Washington view as a covert test for intercontinental ballistic missile technology. Yoo dismissed the view that sanctions imposed against the North so far have not been effective in reining in North Korea's reckless behavior. The North is already under a series of U.N. sanctions for its three nuke tests. "It is a short-sighted view. If we slap sanctions against the North, unexpected effectiveness can be produced," he said, citing Washington's financial sanctions that hit Pyongyang hard in 2005. The U.S. blacklisted the Macau-based bank Banco Delta Asia (BDA) for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering by North Korea. The move froze about US$24 million worth of funds in North Korea's accounts at the BDA. Yoo said China needs to play a more active role in pressing the North into abandoning its nuke aspirations as Beijing's joining of the sanctions will effectively cut off a lifeline for North Korea. Touching on the North's leader Kim Jong-un, he warned that a "serious" security crisis can crop up as Kim is so erratic that he can pose a real threat to the Korean Peninsula. Yoo took office last month, replacing Hyun Kyung-dae who resigned in December amid allegations that he received illegal political funds. (Yonhap) By Yi Whan-woo The government is considering banning entry to ships from other nations if they have visited North Korea, or if vessels are suspected of originating from the repressive state but are flying flags of other countries, said officials from the Ministry of Unification on Monday. They said the entry ban may be imposed as part of Seoul's unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang for its latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. The government's move would be additional to sanctions it imposed on May 24, 2010 in retaliation for North Korea's sinking of the South Korean naval frigate Cheonan in March the same year. Under the retaliatory measures, all North Korean-flagged vessels are prohibited from entering South Korea's territorial waters or making port calls here regardless of circumstances. Seoul's new set of sanctions is likely to be announced after the U.N. Security Council adopts a new resolution against Pyongyang in response to its nuclear test on Jan. 6 and long-range rocket on Feb. 7. The government is taking Japan's punitive measures announced last week against North Korea into account, according to officials. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Feb. 10 that the country will prohibit North Korean ships from entering its ports, even for humanitarian purposes, while banning visits by foreign vessels if they have made port calls to the North. The Kim Jong-un regime is believed to have operated vessels owned by paper companies that it set up abroad to evade a string of international sanctions, both unilateral and multilateral, on its trading activities, Those de-facto North Korean vessels fly the flags of the nations where the paper companies are established. And some of them have entered major South Korean ports, such as Busan and Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in recent years, according to intelligence sources. Mustafa Alani, a senior advisor at the Gulf Research Institute in Saudi Arabia, at Lotte Hotel in Seoul / Korea Times By Kang Hyun-kyung Korea had long been considered free of terrorist attacks, until recently, when security threats against Koreans at home and abroad, like the bomb hoax at Incheon airport and various armed attacks in Southeast Asia have put law enforcement officials on alert. According to experts, the rise of the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in the region exposes Koreans living or traveling there to terrorist attacks. Mustafa Alani, a senior advisor at the Gulf Research Institute in Saudi Arabia, said the recent attacks in various parts of the world may stem from the uncontrolled anger of some minorities who felt they were discriminated against by their society. "Most of the attackers in Paris were quoted as saying they engaged in terrorist attacks because they were not treated well in France," he said. "They thought they were second-class citizens and revolted to punish the society." Alani, a counter-terrorism expert who was born in Iraq and educated in the United Kingdom, said respect for diversity and affirmative action for underprivileged people can help prevent homegrown terrorism in Korea. The recent bomb hoax at the Incheon International Airport suggests the radicalization of some marginalized people, who are expressing their frustration about and fighting against society's discrimination, at the expense of others' lives. A 35-old unemployed man was arrested on Feb. 3 by the police for leaving a box they initially thought had explosives, at a rest room at the airport on Jan.29. The box contained a canister of butane gas, a bottle of water, batteries and banana peels and had an Arabic message that read, "This is the last warning. God will punish." The man, who has a wife and a child, said he made the box based on what he had seen in a movie. The police quoted him as saying he was upset at the society for allowing him to remain jobless even after finishing a graduate program following his bachelor's degree in music. "I was angry because I was unemployed. I needed money (to support my family)," he said. Lee Sue-jung, a professor of criminology at Kyonggi University, said the bomb hoax raises two unanswered issues: whether or not the man had intended to build a bomb to terrorize others and whether his making of the box and putting it at the airport constitute an act of terrorism. "Based on what's inside the box, including banana peels, I personally believe he didn't intend to build an explosive," she said. "We'll see how the court rules regarding the matter." However, Lee said what the 35-year-old did was a terrorist act. "He did that to terrorize the public and cause fear," she said. "But the tricky thing is that we don't have a terrorism act that defines terrorism or terrorist acts and how violators will be punished. So chances are high that he won't be punished because of an act of terrorism." Persistent terrorist attacks in Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines and Indonesia, meanwhile, pose a grave threat to the safety of Korean nationals or tourists there. According to media reports, over 30 extremist groups in Southeast Asia have pledged their allegiance to IS and hundreds of Indonesians have gone to Syria and Iraq to live in IS territory and support its cause. A recent media report about the possible establishment of an IS branch in Southeast Asia suggests the terrorist group's growing influence in the region. In an op-ed piece for The Strait Times published in January, Rohan Gunaratna, a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, wrote that IS was looking to establish a foothold in Southeast Asia and mentioned the Philippines and Indonesia as possible locations. IS foothold in Asia "IS is determined to declare at least one province in Asia in 2016. An IS foothold will present far-reaching security implications for the stability and prosperity for a rising Asia," he wrote. The terrorism expert predicted that of the two countries, the Philippines is more likely to be the main candidate for an IS branch in Southeast Asia. His remarks came months after Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made similar comments last year during the Shangri-La Dialogue that IS could establish a base somewhere in Southeast Asia. Alani said it's easier for IS than al-Qaida to create a local branch in the region. "IS will probably send one or two of its own people to teach local people how to conduct explosion or other terrorist activities. Al-Qaida has sent teams to establish cells or local branches in foreign countries, but this is not the case for IS," he said. "The local fighters are semi- or fully independent from IS, but they conduct attacks in the name of IS, which in turn serves the interest of IS." If the IS Southeast Asian branch is established in the Philippines, which has a history of Muslim rebellions, or in another country, as some experts predicted, Koreans will inevitably be exposed to more terrorist attacks there. Dozens of Koreans have been kidnapped or victimized by extremist groups in the Philippines since 2010. In November, a 74-year-old Korean man identified only by his last name, Hong, was found dead on the street in the southern region of Mindanao. He was kidnapped by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, a name that means "Bearer of the Sword," in January after he visited his son living there. Before his body was discovered, the armed group had demanded that a 500-million-peso ransom from his family in return for his release. Abu Sayyaf is a Muslim separatist group based in Mindanao, which is home to many Muslims. Labeled as a terrorist group, it is small but very active, financing its operations primarily through violent activities such as robbery, piracy and kidnapping of foreigners. The Moro National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the New People's Army are three other insurgent groups in the country. Hong was one of the 10 Koreans who were victimized by armed groups in the Philippines last year. Recently, the Philippines has emerged as a dangerous tourist destination for Koreans because 40 percent of the Koreans murdered or victimized by armed groups overseas happened there. Nearly 90,000 Koreans live in the Philippines, and over 1.2 million Koreans visit the country annually. Security worries in Korea might also have implications for the many Southeast Asian migrant workers in the country, including some 51,000 Filipinos who work in its manufacturing and service sectors. The National Police Agency's arrest of an undocumented Indonesian worker in November has raised the possibility of terrorists infiltrating Korea in the guise of migrant workers. According to the investigators, the unnamed 32-year-old Indonesian is a follower of Syria-based terrorist group al-Nusra, which was created by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Indonesian has sent nearly $2,000 to the organization since he entered Korea with a fake passport. He has also posted messages justifying al-Nusra's terrorist activities in Syria on social media. Although Korea has not been targeted by IS, Alani said there is good reason for the country to better prepare for counter-terrorism. He said IS is a new creature that is very different from al-Qaida and has followers from all around the world. "IS was able to recruit fighters from all around the world. Al-Qaida has done it but not to the same degree," he said. "IS is more international in terms of its attacks, as it has already hit France, Africa and other countries." Alani came to Korea for the 2nd Korea-EU International Conference on the Middle East and North Africa hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the two-day seminar held on Feb. 2 and 3, experts from Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel and other countries presented their ideas about what's going on in the region since the nuclear-related sanctions against Iran were lifted and how the Saudi-Iran rivalry created tensions in the Gulf region. Some experts put forth a regional security mechanism where all involved countries can join to ease tensions with the post-sanction Iran. Fictional account of North Korea 9 months after Gaeseong Industrial Complex Closure By Oh Young-jin President Park Geun-hye was watching YTN coverage of a CNN feed about a North Korean refugee crisis along the border near the Chinese city of Dandong. Outside, it was snowing, unusual for early November. A couple of hours ago, she talked to the nation of her decision to accommodate North Koreans crossing the Demilitarized Zone in an orderly manner. She was told that there was a coup in Pyongyang, in which North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-un was "incapacitated." A junta was taking over. An effort to establish a contact with the new leadership in Pyongyang was under way. She was planning to speak with U.S. President Barack Obama and President-elect Hillary Clinton as well as Japan's new Prime Minister Yuriko Koike, former defense minister under Shinzo Abe. She briefly felt amused to think of the best example of women empowerment. South Korean businesses have pulled out of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the inter-Korean economic cooperation project, in retailation to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests. The picture shows a convoy of cars heading home through a border checkpoint in Paju, northern Gyeonggi Province. / Yonhap Already, Park talked to Chinese President Xi Jinping, making clear her opposition to the entry of People's Liberation Army into the North, asking Xi not to treat the refugees harshly. The two's relationship has improved since their spat earlier this year over Xi's failure to back her for tougher U.N. sanctions against the North after its alleged H-bomb and long-range ballistic missile tests. Then, remembering what triggered the collapse of the North, she couldn't help feeling a great sense of irony. It all came down to Chocho Pie, a snack cake, weighing less than 40 grams per pop, made of marshmallow inside and a chocolate layer outside and, more preciously to sugar it provided for about 50,000 North Korean workers and, by extension, 200,000 residents in Gaeseong, the border city where a South-North industrial park was located. Two big confectionary firms Orion and Lotte sold up to 6 million Choco Pie to North Korean workers per month or 120 per worker. The North Korean authorities made their own versions, "Choco Pi," and provided them for the workers in 2013, unilaterally terminating the contracts for being too expensive. The workers liked the South Korean snacks but managed to live with their own products not out of patriotism but because of their addiction to sugar. By Maija Rhee Devine Why did South Koreans keep absolutely silent about former "comfort women" for 46 years? Only in August 1991 did the story of Kim Hak-soon a former comfort woman during World War II explode. The following December, three former comfort women filed claims against the Japanese government, demanding what since became their Holy Grail an official government apology with "legal" compensation, requiring legislative action. A patriarchal world view drilled into every soul for over six centuries led to the silence. For women, the teachings meant: Thou shalt hold chastity even above your life. Former South Korean Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil spoke about comfort women in 114 oral history interviews published in 2015 in The JoongAng Daily. Kim, the right-hand man to President Park Chung-hee, the engineer of "The Miracle on the Han River," revealed that during the 1951-1965 negotiations with Japan, neither Korea nor Japan ever discussed Korean comfort women. Why? Kim stated in The JoongAng Daily, 5/5/2015: "Korea's failure to address our comfort women issue reflected our society's near-paralysis, not knowing what to do for them. Those women miraculously survived the indignities inflicted upon them by the Japanese and returned home. They were still young, in their 30s or early 40s, and finally, they married and began to bear children. To drag out their unhealed past would have burst open their wounds for the second, maybe, third time." You, hypocrite! Paralysis? I ranted. True, the testimonies by 76 former Korean comfort women published in Korean since 1993 clearly depict the do-or-die roads these women travelled to protect their past secret. Some married but were divorced when the truth leaked out. So far, I know of only one woman who confessed her past to her suitor, but only because she had been divorced by her husband upon his discovery of her past. "Do you still want me?" She grilled the second man. He was college educated, younger than her, and had never been married a contrast to the partners some comfort women found. They were much older and with children from previous marriages. He said "Yes!" Crouching behind such a need for secrecy of their comfort women, Koreans licked angst over their impotence to protect them. Also smoldering in Koreans' hearts was their shame over some of their countrymen's sins "selling" their own girls to the Japanese. Even if Koreans broke their silence, and an army of governmental employees searched for former comfort women through every alley way, slum, red light district, market place, and homes with hired domestics, most women would have only shrunk deeper into the shadows, forfeiting any government subsidy. Hundreds or more of the 5,000 women (the lowest crude estimate of former comfort women who returned to the Korean peninsula) committed suicide or died of sexually-transmitted and other diseases that left their minds and bodies "manshinchang," meaning tattered to shreds. The ailments and hunger were compounded by "han," hearts bruised to pulp. This was the price of their silence.This was the price set by their fathers, mothers, and fellow countrymen. The framed calligraphy work in his office, defining Kim Jong-pil's canon of politics (and life) "Merely Smile and Offer No Answer" witnesses his stunning rise as one of the most crucial shapers of Korea's modern history. His motto syncs with that of Korean comfort women, except the women's would have been, "Merely Bear and Not Say a Word." All this said, the reason for the "Big Silence" Kim cited still rings hollow. If Koreans felt the passion to reach their abandoned women, apologize and compensate for Korea's failures, and comfort them, surely, they would have found ways. The author of an autobiographical novel about Korea, "The Voices of Heaven," Maija Rhee Devine is working on her next books a nonfiction book and a novel about comfort women of WWII. Contact: www.MaijaRheeDevine; maijadevine@gmail.com. By Lee Seong-hyon China's unusually strong fury toward North Korea's nuclear test three years ago initially looked like a harbinger for China's coming policy shift on North Korea in a fundamental way. Many observers commented that China's patience on its Cold War ally was finally wearing thin. Some members of the academic and policy community confidently concluded that North Korea is no longer a strategic asset to China, but has become a liability. Since then, the notion "China will abandon North Korea" has been the mainstay of the popular narrative. After all, the Cold War is over. China is not the same China the West knew as an adversary. There was also expectation that China, as an increasingly confident superpower, wouldn't tolerate the mischievous behavior by its smaller neighbor, especially under the strong and charismatic leadership of Xi Jinping, who is reportedly more conscious of China's global image and is more focused on China's own national interests. However, in the wake of Kim Jong-un's nuclear test in January 2016, China articulated that it was not ready to "abandon" North Korea and such chances in the future would be slim either. Foreign Minister Wang Yi even declared that China's position will not be swayed by a specific North Korean event. Why so? "Even after Pyongyang's latest nuclear and missile tests, North Korea is still one of China's important neighbors," said Liu Ming, director for the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "China wants to maintain good relations with surrounding countries. North Korea is particularly vital." Massive hepatitis C infections from reused syringes are again sending shockwaves across the nation. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 101 out of 927 patients, who visited Hanyang Orthopedics Clinic in Wonju, Gangwon Province, from 2011 to 2014, are suspected of having contracted hepatitis C after receiving intravenous injections. The ministry says the patients appear to have been infected while receiving Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment from the reuse of disposable syringes at the clinic, which was closed last year. Health authorities are also carrying out blood sample tests on nearly 4,000 patients who received injections last year at Yang Clinic in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, for possible hepatitis C infections. These two incidents came only four months after 95 people were infected after a doctor reused syringes at Dana Clinic in Sinjeong-dong, southwestern Seoul. Disposable syringes must not be reused, given the possible transmission of blood-to-blood infectious diseases. Even so, it is incredible that hospitals have reused syringes to save money the syringes cost less than 100 won each. The health ministry ordered a nationwide survey of hospitals from March through May to confirm similar cases in other clinics. Considering that reusing syringes might have been rampant across the nation, the ministry should carry out its probe more strictly. It is not difficult to find why these illegal medical practices have continued it is mainly because the punishment has been only a slap on the wrist. Currently, if disposable medical equipment is reused, the authorities have only to issue a correction order for hospitals and a one-month suspension of operations for associated medical staff. These penalties are certainly too light, compared with other industrialized countries, including the United States, where up to life imprisonment is imposed with the application of murder charges. To prevent similar incidents recurring, the health ministry announced a package of measures, including rewarding people who report suspected cases of reuse. Also, immediate on-site inspections will be carried out when such cases are reported. These measures are badly needed, of course, as the minimal warning apparatus. But stronger and more effective measures are necessary, especially because chronic infections of hepatitis C can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis. What is needed most therefore is for the health authorities to make it clear to doctors that they can lose their medical licenses if found to have used disposable syringes. Nothing is more important than a patient's life and safety. Park should admit shortcomings in NK policy In an uncharacteristic decision, President Park Geun-hye has decided to speak at the National Assembly as the nation continues to be divided over her administration's responses to North Korea's successive provocations. Park's decision to address the nation today is appropriate because the people and the media have wanted to hear our President's own words and thoughts about grave security concerns. Her message should ultimately show Korea's intolerance of the North's missile and nuclear buildup. But there are some other crucial messages that should be included as well, particularly with regard to her failures in North Korea policy. Park is by nature not an effective communicator. Judging from experience, she is likely to devote much of the speech defending her cabinet's shortcomings, blaming the Assembly and its divisive politics, and soliciting support for whatever course of action she chooses for the sake of unity during a time of national crisis. That kind of unilateral message will not resonate with the present mindset of citizens, who have long been frustrated with her unrealistic approaches to North Korea. That is why we hope that she will prove herself a more responsible and trustworthy leader than in her previous speeches in which she focused on problems, and not the solutions. A true leader admits his or her shortcomings. The deadlock in inter-Korean relations is testament to the huge failures of her North Korea policy, which was conceived and pursued without a proper assessment of the inter-Korean relations when Park took office. Coming off the heels of icy relations during the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration, it was not the time for Park to suddenly trumpet a unification slogan, calling it a "bonanza" for the future of the peninsula if unification took place. Unification should never have been highlighted with such a policy priority without effective measures first to mend relations, which had deteriorated after the end of a decade of liberal rule under former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. The slogan has proven to be futile. It upset the North by suggesting it would inevitably collapse. It is now an embarrassment to the President, and she shunned mentioning the word unification in her New Year address unlike on similar occasions. She can redeem herself by using today's speech as a starting point of re-setting her North Korea policy. Park should take responsibility for these ill-timed and inconsistent policy directions and provide convincing alternatives that befit the current setting, where we see North Korea unwilling to abandon its nuclear program against the backdrop of Chinese inaction. The President also needs to show she will continue to be tough on the North for as long as it keeps up its reckless ambition of becoming a nuclear power and threatening regional security. She should also leave no doubt about being fully prepared for future provocations. Last but not least, we want to hear what kind of message she has for the Korean owners of factories in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the definitive symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. Their livelihoods have been trampled upon since they were ordered to leave the factory town and close their businesses. Recent polls show there are more supporters than naysayers about her decision to close the joint factory town. But the factory owners are upset at the government and the President needs to deliver a firm message of solace and ensure that her administration will not overlook their hardships. Military efficacy from the standpoint of the American forces stationed in South Korea will be the key determinant in picking the location to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system, the Defense Ministry said Monday. "Criteria of the U.S. side will be taken the most seriously," ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said in a regular briefing after being asked to clarify whose military efficacy will take priority in choosing the location of the looming deployment. Hours after North Korea's latest long-range missile test launch on Feb. 7, South Korea and the U.S. unveiled their plan to bring in a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery into South Korea to counter North Korea's short-to-medium-range missile threats. "Because it is operated by U.S. Forces Korea, the location will be selected and reviewed for (their) military efficacy so (they) can intercept North Korea-launched missiles from the optimum spot," Moon noted. Where to deploy the THAAD battery is a source of intense controversy in and outside of South Korea as a number of local cities are counted by local media as candidate locations to host the air defense system, including the southern city of Daegu and Pyeongtaek, the relocated headquarters of USFK. A deployment close to the inter-Korean border could enrage China, which suspects the U.S. missile interceptor puts China within its range. In the end, the allies would have to choose a high-ground location for the deployment in order to prevent any deflection of radar beams emanating from the THAAD operations, a ministry official said, without discussing which locations could meet the requirements. The Defense Ministry said last week the allies could kick off their official working-level negotiations over the deployment this week to decide when and where to deploy THAAD as well as cost sharing issues. The opening of the negotiations could be pushed back to next week, another defense official said, adding that the two sides are taking time to sign terms of deference before launching their working-level talks. Earlier in the day, the mayor of Daegu's security aide Kim Sang-kyong held a press conference to voice the city's opposition to bringing THAAD into the populous region. "It is basically up to the central government to decide whether to deploy THAAD from the national security standpoint," Kim said. "Daegu may be a suitable location from the perspective of military operations, but it is an inappropriate place given the large population in the city," he noted. The mayor of Pyeongtaek also said on his social network accounts over the weekend that the city is not appropriate for THAAD deployment. Pyeongtaek is already hosting an array of national security-related facilities including the USFK headquarters, and it could cost a large sum of money to move residents in the event of the deployment, Mayor Kong Jae-kwang, vowing efforts to fight a potential deployment. (Yonhap) By Andrew Salmon It's different this time. Having covered North Korea's nuclear detonations and missile tests for a decade, I anticipated the usual scenario. The script is exasperatingly predictable. Pyongyang goes bang. Seoul, Tokyo and Washington go haywire. They convene the U.N, Security Council and demand further sanctions. Beijing appeals for "calm" and that's it. Things blow over. Pyongyang boffins and Pyongyangologists have new data to ponder; otherwise, nothing changes. And the cycle repeats itself. That was what I expected. I was wrong. Events have detoured off-script. Apparently recognizing (at long, long last) that sanctions are ineffective and that Beijing is not playing ball, Seoul and Washington have removed their velvet gloves to reveal, if not an iron fist, a respectable set of knuckles. Instead of pleading with Beijing to pressure Pyongyang, they are now pressuring Beijing to pressure Pyongyang. Their tactic? An announcement of talks over deployment of the U.S. missile shield (terminal high-altitude area defense, or THAAD) a system that China is vehemently opposed to in South Korea. This is creative pressure, craftily applied. Only talks have been announced; no deal has been done. This grants Beijing ample time and wriggle room to recalibrate its strategy. The "different" scenario did not end with THAAD talks. With Pyongyang's nuclear test being closely followed by a missile test, Seoul (probably bowing to overseas demands) made a surprise announcement: It would "suspend" the inter-Korean Gaesong Industrial complex. In reality, "suspension" sounds like a death knell. Kaesong survived previous nuclear and missile tests, as well as deadly military clashes in 2010. So why shutter it now? The announcement reeks of principle rather than pragmatism. Seoul says around a third of the monies paid to North Korean workers may have been diverted to weapons programs. If true, why was Gaesong permitted to operate for so long? And total wages are only around $120 million a year peanuts compared to cross-border trade with China that amounts to around $5 billion annually. Will the move hit Pyongyang's pocketbook? Unlikely. Gaesong's 50,000 workers, familiar with modern factory operations, can redeploy to plants in China. I will go on the record and predict though I hope I am wrong that Gaesong's closure will have no significant impact on North Korea's strategic arms programs. And that is the crux of the matter. Gaesong was a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, but the symbolic gesture of its shutdown Seoul demonstrating hardline intent matters little in the strategic game. More concretely, Gaesong 's closure closes a valuable cross-border communications channel. Now, with economic ties severed, the only linkages remaining across the DMZ are political, diplomatic and military. Since 1953, these channels have consistently failed to prod the North into change. Seoul also surrenders a weapon in the information war. Pyongyang propaganda paints South Koreans as heinous enemies and deluded puppets, but Gaesong erodes this belief by showing average North Koreans that South Koreans are neither. Moreover, Gaesong, a blueprint for a potential economic colonization of the North, incubated manpower that could have, one day, have played a constructive role in further engagement or even reunification. No longer. In sum: We are entering uncharted territory. What is the pro-con balance of these developments? On the plus side, China, rattled by THAAD talks (particularly if they proceed to substantial negotiations), may get tough with Pyongyang. With Pyongyang running a trade deficit with Beijing and suffering foreign exchange shortfalls, the loss of Gaesong cash may hobble its strategic programs. And the nascent and fragile Seoul-Tokyo-Washington alliance may be strengthened. But I doubt it. Negative outcomes look likelier. Seoul-Washington pressure tactics may submerge current strains in Sino-North Korea ties and push Pyongyang and Beijing back into each other's embrace. And while a stronger Seoul-Tokyo alliance is desirable, it only takes (yet another) emotive historical brouhaha to undermine it. What, then, should be done? The glaringly obvious answer is this. If Seoul and Washington are wielding bigger sticks, they should counterbalance their policy by proffering bigger carrots, too. Like Pakistan, North Korea is a de facto nuclear power. Refusal to see this defies reality. So does the stubborn belief that we can coerce or persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nukes. Let us set aside fantasies of full denuclearization of North Korea. Instead, let us place viable options on the table. A North Korea-U.S.peace treaty and acceptance of Pyongyang's existing atomic stockpile, in return for a test moratorium and international oversight, are promising avenues for pragmatic negotiations. However, with both Washington and Seoul brandishing big sticks, I fear neither will reach for the carrot. With all sides foregoing soft options, and with increasingly polarized, locked-and-loaded alliances eyeballing each other over the peninsula, Korean strategic risks have risen. Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based reporter and author. Reach him at andrewcsalmon@yahoo.co.uk. Oh Seong-mok, right, KT's network division executive vice president, introduces its Sync View helmet during a press conference at its headquarters in downtown Seoul, Monday. The nation's dominant fixed-line operator said the device uses Active Antenna 5G-based technology, which transmits high-definition images to viewers in real time. / Courtesy of KT By Lee Min-hyung KT pledged Monday that it will develop a handheld system on a chip (SoC) by the second quarter of next year, in a move intended to take a lead in the fifth-generation (5G) network era. "The SoC is the key to realizing the 5G era and developing devices for the next-generation network platform," Oh Seong-mok, KT's network division executive vice president, said during a press conference at the firm's headquarters in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul. "We plan to develop the handheld 5G-enabling chip for faster and stabler data transmission before the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games." At the press conference, the nation's dominant fixed-line operator showcased its major 5G technologies and devices such as 360-degree virtual reality (VR), a hologram live streaming display and a safety drone. This came as mobile carriers here have identified 5G, which is expected to be commercialized by 2020, as their next growth area amid surging demand for mobile data usage. SK Telecom, the nation's largest mobile carrier, recently said it will demonstrate the 20 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) data transfer speed at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. 5G is expected to generate speeds up to 20 Gbps, 20 times faster than the existing 4G long-term-evolution (LTE) network. The KT executive dispelled worries over potential threats from its competitors by saying, "Our 5G network system can also generate 20 Gbps speed, but more important is how to align the speed with other services," he said. KT said it will be the world's first in what it calls the "Olympics Triangle" referring to the upcoming three-fold international sporting event held in Asian countries, including Korea, Japan and China. Oh Sang-jin, IT division chief of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Games (POCOG), said, "Korea will hold the world's first 5G trial service at the upcoming Olympics, and this will be commercialized at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics." He added, "And the Beijing Winter Games in 2022 will be a venue to showcase advanced 5G technologies." 5G services at PyeongChang Winter Games KT unveiled its 5G technologies and devices to be used at the upcoming sporting event. The Sync View service enables spectators to enjoy 3D experiences from athletes' viewpoints, the company said. "The service can be realized via Active Antenna 5G-based technology, which transmits high-definition images to viewers in real time," said the KT executive. The company also said it has teamed up with Samsung Electronics to develop the 360-degree VR head-mount display. The device, which uses millimeter wave technology, will allow viewers to feel as if they were in the stadium, KT said. Hologram Live uses millimeter wave technology to project athletes on a monitor. "This technology still requires more technical development," he said. "Once it is realized perfectly, viewers can watch athletes interviewed after matches in 3D through the hologram monitor." The company also stressed the upcoming event will ensure improved safety conditions with drones. "The 5G safety drones will be used to detect intruders during the Olympics event," said the KT executive. "We will set up CCTV all around the stadium. When suspicious signs are detected, we will dispatch the drones, equipped with facial recognition, and they will transmit images back to the control center in real time." The PyeongChang Winter Games' organizing committee previously announced it will turn the upcoming event into the world's largest-ever information and communication technology (ICT) event, using more than 13,000 personal computers and 16,000 mobile devices. A coalition consisting of 14 civic groups holds a demonstration to oppose SK Telecom's plan to merge with CJ HelloVision in front of the telecom company's headquarters in downtown Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap By Yoon Sung-won A coalition of 14 civic groups has criticized SK Telecom for its proposal to merge with CJ HelloVision, arguing that the move is against the public interest. The coalition, led by the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Korean Federation of Press Unions, held a demonstration in front of SK Telecom headquarters in downtown Seoul on Monday. The coalition said it had written to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Korea Communications Commission calling for a transparent and fair merger review process. "We oppose a perfunctory review that gives indulgence to the merger," the coalition said in a statement. "We demand that our request for the public to be considered in broadcasting telecommunication to be clearly reflected in the integrated broadcasting act scheduled to be revised. A broadcasting act that guarantees this must be a prerequisite of the merger, instead of trying to fit SK Telecom's merger plan to the act." SK Telecom, the nation's leading telecom company, has pushed for its plan to merge with CJ HelloVision, which operates the nation's leading cable television and budget mobile service businesses. With the merger proposal under government review, SK Telecom competitors KT and LG Uplus have strongly opposed the plan, saying it violates the antitrust law. The coalition said the merger proposal was being discussed by people who were unqualified to do so. "KT and LG Uplus are calling for fair competition even while they have continued to turn a blind eye to it with their own illegal business operations," it said. "The so-called academic scholars have also been split into pros and cons representing the interests of each side at public hearings, making it obvious that they have received scholarships from the large conglomerates." The civic groups also accused the ministry and the commission of failing to encourage fair competition in the domestic telecom market. "It is a mystery why the ministry remains idle on the unfairness of the issue while overseas organizations such as Fitch are releasing negative evaluations," a protester said during the demonstration. The coalition criticized SK Telecom's argument that the merger would boost its global competitiveness. "We do not expect the tyranny of large conglomerates ... to be improved after SK Telecom's merger with a cable broadcasting operator," it said. The coalition also said SK Telecom's promise to boost the quality of mobile combination services was untrustworthy. An SK Telecom official said, "The civic groups are continuing to make the same accusations but we are just doing what we have to do to survive in the market." A new girl group will be debuting very soon and they are out of this world! Born through the collaboration of Starship Entertainment and China-based label Yuehua Entertainment, Cosmic Girls are expected to be quite the debut. Cosmic Girls so far consist of 12 members hailing from both China and South Korea. The 12 members go by the names of SeolA, Eunseo, EXY, Bona, Soobin, Xuan Yi, Mei Qi, YeoReum, DaYoung, SooBin, Dawon, and Luda and are expected to promote in both Korea and China. Each member is said to represent a different astrological sign according to the standard zodiac. Cosmic Girls has an alternative acronym for their Korean name, WJSN (Wu Ju So Nyeo). Netizens and some news reports have even been referring to the group as little Sistar. The WJSN acronym as well represents the name of each of the units Cosmic Girls will be split between; Wonder, Joy, Sweet, and Natural. Wonder Unit: DaYoung, Bona, Cheng Xiao Joy Unit: YeoReum, EunSeo, and Xuan Yi Sweet Unit: EXY, SeolA, and Soobin Natural Unit: Mei Qi, Dawon, and Luda Despite having yet to have their official debut, the ladies have been steadily active throughout various outlets including music video appearances, vocal covers, and magazine photo shoots. The official YouTube channel of Cosmic Girls has uploaded various videos showcasing the individual talents of each member. The channel also features a compilation video the Cosmic Girls debut teaser photos. Perhaps the most well known member at this point is Starships EXY. EXY received a boost in popularity in 2015 after her charismatic appearance on female rap survival show Unpretty Rapstar Vol. 2. Fellow member DaYoung, garnered attention as well for her talent after appearing on K-pop Star at the age of 13. The ladies have been engaging with fans using their official social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Members Eunseo, SeolA, and EXY along with the WJSN group account each have their personal accounts as well. Cosmic Girls SeolA, EXY, Cheng Xiao, Eunseo, Bona, and Xuan Yi all appeared in the Cosmopolitan magazine photo shoot late last month and flaunted their mile-long legs deemed as the Next Body Icon. Fans expressed their excitement and anticipation throughout various comments some including, Cant wait for their debut, omg. Cosmic Girls Fighting! EXY, Xiao, and Bona are so gorgeous! along with many more positive messages. It was announced through the official Cosmic Girls Facebook that the ladies will have their first group performance at the Olleh GiGA Legend Match with fellow idol group GFRIEND. Cosmic Girls will make their official debut Feb 25. Looks like 2016 is off to a strong start for these gals! By KP Stoller, MD www.incurable-me.comWhile the situation with the Zika virus is still evolving, there is a real danger in blaming a lone virus for any problem. It is not unlike the obfuscation of the real problem with Polio, where a single enterovirus (there are many) took the blame for a paralysis that would not have been possible if the population had not been well applied with DDT.While that assessment of the Polio epidemic may be controversial, the cases of non-poliovirus caused Acute Flaccid Paralysis climb in parts of the world that apply pesticides with abandon. I wrote about this in the paper: AD, AFP, ALS and DDT published last year http://journalijcar.org/sites/default/files/issue-files/0151.pdf Zika? The existence of the Zika virus has been known for many decades, but all of a sudden it has become a big problem? And a vaccine waits in the wings? Those are two red flags right there. How about the red flag that Brazil, ground zero for the crisis, uses more pesticides than perhaps any other country in the world many of them banned in other countries? Those who manufacture pesticides, the agro-chemical mob, are a particularly nasty group they were the ones who made sure attention was diverted from DDT so that Polio would be blamed on a single enterovirus named the poliovirus. It is probably safe to assume that, knowing that they were causing a massive outbreak on microcephaly, by deliberately pumping a toxic larvicide into the public water supply; they needed to blame something other than their product. The Zika virus became the foil. According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, large numbers of babies with borderline normal head sizes were born in Brazil at least as far back as 2012, two years before the Zika virus is thought to have entered the country.[1] Pediatric cardiologist Dr. Sandra Mattos had been collecting data on 100,000 newborns in the Brazilian state of Paraiba as part of her work studying and treating congenital heart disease. "We were very, very surprised," Mattos said. Babies with mild microcephaly were present in the population dating back to at least 2012. Mattos said the data analysis also confirmed the number of severe microcephaly cases increased starting in October or November of 2014. 'We have to deal with an unknown enemy.' - Dr. Sandra Mattos Lingering questions remain, including why more than 80 per cent of suspected microcephaly cases are confined to Brazil's northeast region. And why has microcephaly not appeared in other Latin American countries with similar climates, such as among the 2,100 pregnant women infected with Zika in Colombia? In Berlin, epidemiologist Dr. Christoph Zink has been charting publicly available data from the Zika virus outbreak in terms of when cases appeared, the geographic distribution and the continuous microcephaly epidemic. I soon got the idea that blaming the Zika virus for this epidemic does not really get to the point, Zink said. Zink suspects there was massive under-reporting of microcephaly in Brazil in the last five years. He proposes another potential explanation for the recent concentration of severe microcephaly cases in the northeast. I would ask my toxicological colleagues in Brazil to please look very closely into the practical application of agrochemicals in their country, Zink said. Up your nose with some pesticides "I think we jumped a little bit too fast into Zika, Mattos is now saying. The playbook worked so well on Polio, that even today 99.99999% of the population alive today has no idea that enteroviruses require a toxic co-factor before they can cause paralysis. It is just so easy to blame some nasty little virus as the sole problem, and given there is no epidemic of microcephaly in Suriname, or Columbia where the Zika virus is endemic, this whole Zika emergency is just another crime brought to us by the argo-chemical cartel. But unlike what took place in the USA over a half-century ago. a lot of people are wise to the old playbook. Case in point, a physician group Doctors from the Brazilian Association for Collective Health (ABRASCO)[2] has come forward with the truth that, A dramatic increase of congenital malformations, especially microcephaly in newborns, was detected and quickly linked to the Zika virus by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, they fail to recognise that in the area where most sick persons live, a chemical larvicide producing malformations in mosquitoes has been applied for 18 months, and that this poison (pyroproxyfen[3]) is applied by the State on drinking water used by the affected population. From the ABRASCO Press Release: The Brazilian doctors (ABRASCO) are claiming that the strategy of chemical control is contaminating the environment as well as people, that it is not decreasing the amount of mosquitoes, and that this strategy is in fact a commercial manoeuvre from the chemical poisons industry, deeply integrated into Latin American ministries of health as well as WHO and PAHO. Since the second half of 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Health(5) stopped using temephos (an organophosphate agrotoxic to which Aedes larvae became resistant) as larvicide, massively incorporating the poison Pyroproxyfen, commercially known as Sumilarv and manufactured by Sumimoto Chemical, a Japanese company associated to or subsidiary of Monsanto in Latin America (1,5). The spatial distribution by place of residence of mothers of children born with microcephaly shows a higher concentration in the poorest areas of Northeastern Brazil, with poor urbanisation and inadequate sanitation. Large areas of Recife and other cities in Northeastern Brazil, with intermittent water supply, led these communities to store water at home in an unsafe manner, due to the inadequate protection of tanks intended for human consumption, leading to very favourable conditions for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, by creating a breeding ground which should not exist and that can be mechanically removed.(1) Pyroproxyfen is applied directly by the Brazilian Ministry of Health on drinking-water reservoirs used by the people of Pernambuco, where the proliferation of the Aedes mosquito is very high (a situation similar to the Pacific Islands).(6) This poison, recommended by the WHO, is a growth inhibitor of mosquito larvae, which alters the development process larva-pupa-adult, thus generating malformations in developing mosquitoes and causing their death or incapacity. It is analogous to the insect juvenile hormone or juvenoids, which has the effect of inhibiting the development of adult insect characteristics (for example wings, mature external genitalia) and the reproductive development, maintaining an "immature" aspect (nymph or larvae), which means that it acts by endocrine disruption and that is teratogenic. Malformations detected in thousands of children from pregnant women living in areas where the Brazilian state added pyriproxyfen to drinking water is not a coincidence, even though the Ministry of Health places a direct blame on Zika virus for this damage, while trying to ignore its responsibility and ruling out the hypothesis of direct and cumulative chemical damage caused by years of endocrine and immunological disruption of the affected population. Doctors from the Brazilian Association for Collective Health (ABRASCO) demand that urgent epidemiological studies taking into account this causal link be carried out, especially when among 3,893 cases of malformations confirmed until January 20, 2016, 49 children have died and only five of them were confirmed to have been infected with Zika(1). Many policy-makers, even PAHO and OMS, epidemiologists, public health experts, chemists and politicians in general easily forget that human beings, every one of us, have deployed embryonic development processes in which we go through very different stages. The evolution from zygote to embryo, from embryo to foetus and from foetus to newborn, is not far from the development process of the mosquito affected by pyriproxyfen. They also very easily try to ignore that in humans, 60% of our active genes are identical to those of insects such as the Aedes mosquito. And it is much more confusing when they are advised by experts from Foundations and chemical insecticides companies (for ex.: Fundacion Mundo Sano and Chemotecnica), or when decision makers from the Ministry of Health are former employees of global companies manufacturing and selling poisons for domestic purposes. Brazil fumigates against adult Aedes using Malation, a carcinogenic organophosphorate compound according to WHO. Paraguay acquired thousands of tonnes of clorpyriphos in order to kill mosquitoes, although we know that clorpyriphos affects the developing brain of foetus and newborns. In Argentina, vector control is carried out using pyrethroids, which is a little less toxic but banned in Europe because of its effect on people. For doctors in ABRASCO, the problem is that behind these decisions we find the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization, holding Pesticides committees that maintain no dialogue with the environmental, sanitation and health promotion committees. In these agencies, the committees prescribing the use and regulation of the purchase of supplies for vector control for the entire world are imperial. It is these agencies who convince and endorse the tendering processes for national governments.(1) How to face these diseases The hegemonic strategies for facing these diseases spread by mosquitoes and multiplied by poverty, lack of sanitation, excreta, lack of safe water, are vertical intervention programs, while chemical poisons (larvicides and adulticides) demobilize the population by relying on the success of the poison's properties, which in turn makes them sick, kills the natural predators of mosquitoes and generates the need for repeated applications that only benefit the chemical poisons companies. A vast amount of independent scientific data shows how this strategy is defective and that it is only useful for taking photographs of the rulers in office. Community-based strategies including social participation and mobilisation yield better results against the impending epidemic.(7,8,9) The steps that lead to defeating the disease are linked to social justice and equity. Clearly, the social sectors affected by Dengue and Zika are the poorest and most deprived of services and rights. In some very specific moments, massive aerial spraying over inhabited areas might be advisable, but their effects are limited only to decreasing the amount of adult mosquitoes during 2-3 days, which can be useful when colder days arrive (note that the Aedes mosquito is immobilised and does not reproduce nor feed with temperatures below 23 C.) "Controlled applications around houses in the first case (focus control) are useful to decrease the progress of the epidemic, but massive sprayings over entire cities requires an analysis of health costs (damage to human health and the ecosystem) vs health benefits (control and mitigation of the epidemic), which cannot be justified in any "sanitary" way, despite being used by governments and the hegemonic press to simulate that measures are taken to defend the health of people. Our experience from the Dengue epidemic in Cordoba in 2009, in which we had direct participation, shows that the distribution of cases corresponds to the same distribution of infant mortality in 2007 and the distribution of the population with higher unmet basic needs, namely: lack of housing, jobs, education and health. Mass spraying is not the solution to a problem; it's merely generating a business within a problem. New strategy: GM mosquitoes (new business) Within this framework, there is a new health intervention strategy in Brazil, which they will try to expand to the entire region: GM mosquitoes. The English company Oxitec sells male GM mosquitoes, supposedly in order to decrease the Aedes population. A lethal gene is inserted in those mosquitoes, which is transmitted to the offspring, causing death to larvae if it is not blocked by an antibiotic (tetracycline). The goal is that millions of male mosquitoes are released to mate with wild females, so that their eggs result in larvae which dies spontaneously.(10,11) The business is to sell those lab mosquitoes to governments, and then people need to protect those mosquitoes because, supposedly, it is neither necessary nor advisable to remove the sites where mosquitoes breed. Currently in Brazil nearly 15 million GM mosquitoes have been released, and the failure is complete. Where field tests were carried out, less than 15% of larvae were transgenic, that is to say... wild females are not accepting the English mosquito from Oxitec. The response: increasing the release in poor areas. (10) Also, we must take into account that the biology of the disease shows that the female only "stings" when it's pregnant and generating eggs after being fertilised by a male; it does it in that state and only then, because it needs blood components in order to develop the eggs. So, if millions of male mosquitoes are released, there will be many more fertilised females looking to suck the blood of mammals, thus increasing the spreading of the disease from infected people to healthy people! In the face of the Zika threat, mass sprayings in Mercosur The governments of Mercosur are causing alarm with the threat of Zika and microcephaly, proposing "more of the same." The agribusiness is offering the services of the "Soya Air Force" to be used for spraying over cities and villages.(12) Monoculture, the massive use of pesticides, deforestation, destruction of flora and fauna, ecological imbalance, climate change, inequality, those factors are not considered as a cause of the problem. To social inequality, these epidemics will add health inequalities, and governments with their chemical attacks will generate environmental inequality. By KP Stoller, MD www.incurable-me.com References 1- nota tecnica e carta aberta a populacao Microcefalia e doencas vetoriais relacionadas ao Aedes aegypti: os perigos das abordagens com larvicidas e nebulizacao quimica fumace. Janeiro de 2016. GT Salud y Ambiente. Asociacion Brasilena de Salud Colectiva. ABRASCO. https://www.abrasco.org.br/site/2016/02/nota-tecnica-sobre-microcefalia-e-doencas-vetoriais-relacionadas-ao-aedes-aegypti-os-perigos-das-abordagens-com-larvicidas-e-nebulizacoes-quimicas-fumace/ 2. Hennessey M, Fischer M, Staples JE. Zika Virus Spreads to New Areas Region of the Americas, May 2015January 2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65(Early Release):14. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6503e1er 3. Duffy MR1, Chen TH, Hancock WT, Powers AM, Kool JL, Lanciotti RS, Pretrick M, Marfel M , Holzbauer S, Dubray C, Guillaumot L, Griggs A, Bel M, Lambert AJ, Laven J, Kosoy O,Panella A, Biggerstaff BJ, Fischer M, Hayes EBZika virus outbreak on Yap Island,Federated States of MicronesiaN Engl J Med.2009 Jun 11;360(24):2536-43. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0805715. 4. Oehler E, Watrin L, Larre P, Leparc-Goffart I, Lastere S, Valour F, Baudouin L, MalletHP, Musso D, Ghawche F. Zika virus infection complicated by Guillain-Barre syndrome case report, French Polynesia, December 2013. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(9):pii=20720. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId= 07202 5. Sumitomo Chemical and Monsanto Expand Weed Control Collaboration to Latin America. Sumimoto Chemical News Release December 09, 2014. http://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/newsreleases/docs/20141209e.pdf 6. Orientacoes tecnica para utilizacao do larvicida pyriproxyfen (0,5 G) no controle de Aedes aegypti. Ministerio da Saude. http://u.saude.gov.br/images/pdf/2014/maio/30/Instrucoes-para-uso-de-pyriproxyfen-maio-2014.pdf 7. Caprara, Andrea et al. Entomological Impact and Social Participation in Dengue Control: A Cluster Randomized Trial in Fortaleza, Brazil. Transactions of the RoyalSociety of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene109.2 (2015): 99105. PMC. Web. 3 Feb.2016. 8. Espinoza-Gomez, F, H Moises, and R Coll-Cardenas. Educational Campaign versusMalathion Spraying for the Control of Aedes Aegypti in Colima, Mexico. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 56.2 (2002): 148152. PMC. Web. 3 Feb. 2016. 9. Andersson, Neil et al. Evidence Based Community Mobilization for DenguePrevention in Nicaragua and Mexico (Camino Verde,the Green Way): ClusterRandomized Controlled Trial. BMJ : British Medical Journal351 (2015): h3267. PMC Web. 3 Feb. 2016. 10. Helen Wallace. Mosquitos Geneticamente Modificados: Preocupaciones actuales. TWN Biotechnology & Biosafety Series No. 15. Rapal Uruguay. Web. 3 Feb 2016. http://www.rapaluruguay.org/transgenicos/Mosquitos%20Gen%E9ticamente%20Modificados%20%20parte%20I%20y%20II.pdf 11. Genewatch UK. Marzo 2015. Mosquitos Geneticamente Modificados de Oxitec: Un enfoque creible para abordar el problema del dengue?. Web 03 Feb 2016. http://www.genewatch.org/uploads/f03c6d66a9b354535738483c1c3d49e4/Mosquitos_ Gen_ticamente_Modificados_de_Oxitec.pdf 12. La Nacion. Alistan unos 135 aviones para fumigar Mercosur. Web 3 feb 2016. http://www.lanacion.com.py/2016/02/02/alistan-unos-135-aviones-para-fumigar-mercosur/ February 3, 2016, Production Team REDUAS, Coordinator Dr. Medardo Avila Vazquez. www.reduas.com.ar [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/microcephaly-brazil-zika-reality-1.3442580[2] http://www.reduas.com.ar/ [3] The pyroproxyfen being used (as recommended by WHO) is manufactured by Sumimoto Chemical, a Japanese subsidiary of Monsanto. Source: http://www.bolenreport.com/zika.htm He estimates that 100,000 people in the United States alone die each year from the side-effects of correctly used drugs. Similar figures are not available in Australia, although the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that 3000 people died after complications with medical and surgical care in 2012. Peter Gotzsche, a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration, the world's foremost body in assessing medical evidence, arrives in Australia on Monday for a whirlwind speaking tour warning Australians about their use of prescription medications. Many of our most commonly used drugs, from painkillers to antidepressants, are dangerous and are killing us off in large numbers, says a leading researcher visiting Australia next week. "It's remarkable that nobody raises an eyebrow when we kill so many of our own citizens with drugs," Professor Gotzsche, who heads the Nordic Cochrane Centre, told Fairfax Media ahead of his visit. Two of Professor Gotzsche's biggest targets are antidepressants and the painkillers described as "non-steroidal anti-inflammatories", such as ibuprofen, diclofenac and celecoxib. Another, sold under the brand name Vioxx, was withdrawn after it emerged it had caused up to 140,000 cases of serious heart disease in the US alone in the five years it was on the market - during which time its manufacturer, Merck was withholding information about its risks. About half the cases were thought to be fatal. Professor Gotzsche says those deaths are only the tip of the iceberg and are representative of a system of drug regulation that simply does not protect patients. Even the name for these drugs, "anti-inflammatory", is not supported by evidence, he says. He has conducted a clinical trial and review of the evidence that has found there is no proof they reduce inflammation. "These terms for our drugs are invented by the drug industry," he said. "They had a huge financial interest in calling these things anti-inflammatory. It lured doctors into believing that these drugs somehow also had an effect on the disease process and reduced the joint damage." In a paper last year in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, Professor Gotzsche argued our use of antidepressants is causing more harm than good. He said as the evidence against drugs such as Valium and Xanax emerged, they have been replaced with antidepressants that are equally as addictive and their side-effects just as dangerous. Furthermore, he says research that showed small benefits over placebos was biased, as it did not properly hide whether patients were in the active or placebo group. Professor Gotzsche said the biggest victims of over-prescription are the elderly. For every 28 elderly people treated for a year with an antidepressant, one will die who would have lived otherwise, from causes including heart attacks, stroke and falls. "Those who use arthritis drugs are mostly the elderly who are most at risk of dying of a heart attack caused by the drug or a bleeding ulcer," he said. "We have a high use of psychiatric drugs by the elderly and we kill an enormous amount of them." Freedom-of-information requests lodged by Fairfax Media have shown more than 4 million antidepressant prescriptions a year are recorded for people aged over 67 - twice the rate for young Australians. "These people get shoved in a nursing home and they get aggravated, so they're knocked out with an antipsychotic drug - it's very inhumane," Professor Gotzsche said. Professor Gotzsche has been criticised for his stance that people should consider slowly going off their antidepressants if they are supported by their doctors in doing so. He believes many doctors mistake withdrawal symptoms for depression, immediately returning patients to their normal medication dose if they experience symptoms, despite the fact antidepressant medications are supposed to take some time to begin working. "If you get depressed by lowering the dose and then immediately increase it to the normal dose, you will usually be well in a couple of hours," he said. "But if you get better straight away it is withdrawal, not depression." But Peter McGeorge, the director of the St Vincent's mental health service, said the hospital will host Professor Gotzsche on Thursday "in the spirit of open inquiry". "I have seen people respond dramatically to the use of antidepressants so I'm certainly not opposed to the use of medicine," he said. "But I do think we have to be careful - and I'm talking more generally now - about just seeing medicine as the answer and prescribing it on the smallest indication it might be successful". He said many hospitals, including the mental health service at St Vincent's, now did not accept drug company representatives, and there was increasing interest in other forms of psychological therapies to help people with mental illness. Professor Gotzsche's list of what to avoid Antidepressants for all, as they very likely don't even work for severe cases of depression All brain-active drugs in children Anti-psychotics and other brain-active drugs for the elderly. Psychotropic drugs should be used as little as possible and mostly in very acute situations, as they are very harmful when used long term Anti-dementia drugs, as they very likely don't work Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used for arthritis, muscle pain and headaches, including over-the-counter, low-dose ibuprofen. These drugs should be used as little as possible. Mammography screening, as it doesn't prolong life whereas it makes many healthy women ill through overdiagnosis and leads to the premature death for some because radiotherapy and chemotherapy increases mortality when used for harmless cancers detected at screening Drugs for urinary incontinence, as they very likely don't work Professor Gotzsche will appear at a number of events, including the University of Adelaide Club, South Australia on Tuesday the 10th, the State Library of Victoria on Wednesday the 11th, the Garvan Lecture Theatre next to St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney on Thursday the 12th (free), the University of Sydney Law School on Saturday the 14th, and the Adina Apartment Hotel, in Brisbane on Wednesday the 18th. Booking details are available here. Source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/peter-gotzsche-founder-of-the-cochrane-collaboration-visits-australia-to-talk-about-dangers-of-prescription-drugs-20150204-136nqc.html Treatment from 2011 Los Angeles Magazine story on Mitrice Richardson. In an unexplained reversal, the state attorney general's office says it is reviewing the death of Mitrice Richardson after she left the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in the Malibu Canyon area in 2009. Just in November, the state AG had rejected family requests to look into how the sheriff's department handled the Richardson case. A spokeswoman won't say what prompted the sudden change, the Daily News reports. Richardson, you might remember, was detained after allegedly walking out on a bill at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu in September 2009. She was released several hours later from the sheriff's Lost Hills station, at midnight and without her car or cellphone, and not seen again. She had reportedly had mental issues earlier in the day. Numerous searches of the Santa Monica Mountains did not find Richardson, but her remains were found by rangers 11 months later. The sheriff's department went in and moved her remains before the coroner arrived, upsetting the coroner's office and Richardson's family. From reporter Susan Abram in the Daily News: Eleven months after she disappeared, Richardsons remains were discovered about seven miles from the station. Park rangers who were patrolling the area to check for illegal marijuana farms found her near a creek bed where few traveled. Deputies arrived and removed the bones, and once again met with criticism, this time from the Los Angeles County Coroners office. Baca had told reporters he believed his officers followed procedures and that deputies had asked her to stay in jail until her mother arrived, but Richardson refused. The Office of Independent Review, which oversees the Sheriffs Department, agreed with him. In the meantime, Richardsons parents, who are not married to each other, filed separate wrongful death suits and in 2011 were awarded $450,000 each by Los Angeles County. [skip] A spokesman with the sheriffs department said they are aware of the Attorney Generals review. The Sheriffs Department is aware of the investigation and its cooperating fully with the investigation, according to their statement. The review apparently began before last week's plea deal by former Sheriff Lee Baca in the jail abuse cover-up scandal. Previously on LA Observed: Was any part of the Mitrice Richardson case not bungled? County and Mitrice Richardson's family agree to settle Remains are those of Mitrice Richardson FBI to examine Mitrice Richardson remains Big search for Mitrice Richardson, finally The future of delivery might involve small drones zooming above pedestrians, cyclists and motorists at high speeds. Amazon and now Wal-Mart are moving down this path. Or it might be something a lot slower that travels on sidewalks. A London start-up founded by two Skype co-founders unveiled a self-driving delivery robot in November. It bumbles along at a whopping 4 mph. Thats slightly faster than a pedestrian but slower than a jogger. Advertisement Starship Technologies says the 40-pound robot could make local deliveries in 30 minutes or less. The technology could be useful for neighborhood restaurants and retailers. SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter >> Because the robot is largely automated, requiring almost no human involvement, Starship Technologies thinks the cost of delivering goods will drop by an order of magnitude. The slow speed and grounded approach also removes some of the safety concerns with drone delivery. A customer could follow the robots progress on an app, and would be alerted when his or her delivery arrives. The cargo bay is locked to prevent theft, which only the customer could open with the apps help. Starship is designed to be 99% self-driving, with difficult situations handled by a remote human operator. The approach is reminiscent of one Google patented for aiding its self-driving cars in sticky spots. The robots will cross the streets very much like the humans do: Stop, look both ways, and wait until it is safe to cross, Starship Technologies Chief Executive Ahti Heinla said. The robot can recognize approaching cars with its sensor suite from 100 to 200 meters and will cross the streets only in locations with great visibility. Starship Technologies imagines selling the robots as a service. Businesses could pay the start-up for every delivery made. Or they could buy the platform and pay for the operators and maintenance. The start-up says that it will be conducting a pilot study early this year in Greenwich, London, and that its in talks with several companies about using Starship. So far the prototype has been driven in San Francisco, New York, Boston and other cities. Starship Technologies says the Royal Borough of Greenwich granted it permission to conduct its trial. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Starship Technologies maps out areas ahead of time so that the robot can navigate safely on its own. It relies on sensors and cameras to maintain an awareness of its surroundings. It includes speakers so that a distant operator can speak to pedestrians. If somebody bothers the robot, the operator can actually shout Hey, what are you doing? Heinla told the BBC. If somebody tries to steal something the operator can actually yell, The police are coming in five minutes! We know your location; youre being filmed as well. Starship is 26 inches long, 21 inches wide and 22 inches high. The company says that future models could come in different sizes. Starship isnt built to carry hot foods such as pizza, but its planning future models with thermal insulation. Borrowing a page from the Google self-driving car, the robot created by Starship Technologies looks cute and harmless. Heinla and Janus Friis are funding the start-up themselves. Matt McFarland is the editor of Innovations for the Washington Post. ALSO Food delivery start-ups raise plenty of funding but face lots of competition These Stanford graduates want to help you run a YouTube empire Uber will pay $28.5 million to settle two class-action lawsuits over safety claims Steven Stucky, a Pulitzer Prize winner for music and for 21 years a composer closely affiliated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, died Sunday morning of brain cancer at his home in Ithaca, N.Y., said his agent, Jessica Lustig. He was 66. Stuckys long relationship with the L.A. Phil began in 1988, when music director Andre Previn appointed him composer in residence. He later became the orchestras consulting composer for new music during the tenure of Previns successor, Esa-Pekka Salonen. During that time the L.A. Phil commissioned Stucky to compose his Second Concerto for Orchestra, which premiered in March 2004 at Walt Disney Concert Hall and went on to win the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in music. Advertisement I didnt know about this until five minutes ago, a surprised Stucky said when a Times reporter called his office at Cornell University for a reaction to the Pulitzer news. I was just minding my own business, teaching theory. Stucky went on to explain how his Second Concerto was rooted in Los Angeles. I used it to sum up what I knew about writing for orchestra, he said. I figured Id write in a different way after it. I also put in what I knew about Esa-Pekka and the L.A. Philharmonic. After 17 years, thats my orchestra -- the orchestra I carry around in my head. The piece has a lot of connections to our time together. Stucky earned recognition from the Grammys as well. Three years ago, August 4, 1964, composed by Stucky to a libretto by Gene Scheer in a commission from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, was nominated in the contemporary classical composition category. Pianist Gloria Cheng (in 2008) and the choral group Chanticleer (in 1999) won Grammys performing Stuckys music. Steven Stucky, left, embraces conductor Lionel Bringuier during a 2012 concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) More recently, the composer premiered Symphony in 2012 with the L.A. Phil. In an interview with The Times, Stucky said the symphony was written thinking about the orchestra, and in some cases about specific players. I know the L.A. Phil like the back of my hand, or I did. That orchestra has been in my head so long. In 2014, the comic The Classical Style by Stucky and librettist Jeremy Denk became the first opera to premiere at the Ojai Festival. The operas accomplishment was as a study in how to transform the silly into the sublime, wrote Times critic Mark Swed, who included the performance in his list of the years best. The opera pokes delightful fun at Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, but it also cunningly ponders why millions of us music lovers are drawn to live modern lives in the thrall of centuries-old music. Stucky was born in 1949 in Hutchinson, Kan. At age 9, he moved to Abilene, Texas. He attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and received his doctorate in musical arts from Cornell University in Ithaca. Stucky went on to teach at Cornell from 1980 to 2014. He also founded the contemporary music group Ensemble X there in 1997. In 2014, he joined the faculty of the Juilliard School. Few knew of Stuckys cancer, an aggressive tumor diagnosed not long ago, Lustig said. At the time of his death, the composer was working on a short choral piece for the St. Louis Chamber Chorus that will premiere April 10, Lustig said. Survivors include his wife, Kristen Frey Stucky; son Matthew Stucky; and daughter Maura Stucky. No services are planned. Look here for an appreciation to follow from Swed. Follow The Times arts team @culturemonster ALSO Steven Stucky marks return to L.A. with his very own Symphony Classical Style at Ojai Music Festival draws on wit, wisdom Mark Sweds best classical moments:'Classical Style and more Shari Redstone is emerging from the long shadow of her larger-than-life father, Sumner Redstone. The feisty 61-year-old former attorney is stepping into the spotlight to exert her influence in the affairs of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. even if it means bucking her fathers wishes for who should lead one of the storied media companies. The daughter of ailing mogul Sumner Redstone suffered a defeat this month when Viacoms board rebuffed her concerns about naming Philippe Dauman as chairman of the company. Advertisement The vote put Shari Redstone squarely at odds with her 92-year-old father and his handpicked successor, Dauman. Nonetheless, she is intent on remaining a key player in determining the future of CBS and Viacom, which boasts such culture-defining assets as Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and the Hollywood movie studio Paramount Pictures. SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter >> Shari Redstone owns 20% of National Amusements Inc., the familys investment vehicle that holds the controlling shares of Viacom and CBS. She also is one of seven trustees who will eventually oversee her fathers stock interests in the two companies, potentially determining whether the companies are reunited or sold off in pieces. Viacoms stock has tumbled amid the uncertainties about the companys future and the lackluster performance of its signature business units. It is such a sad, tortured situation, said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership programs at the Yale School of Management. She is locked in this frustrating paralysis. Shari Redstone and her father have famously clashed over the years. Disputes have often centered on who would lead the companies after he was no longer able to do so. During a family squabble, Sumner Redstone in 2007 offered to buy his daughter out of the family business. Then in late 2014 he offered her $1 billion to surrender her stake in National Amusements, according to people familiar with the proposal. She declined. Shari Redstone declined to be interviewed for this story. But in recent court documents she acknowledged the friction within her family. My father and I have a uniquely close relationship, both as father-daughter and professionally, Redstone said in a court filing. In the past we have had very public disagreements over business matters. We have patched those up, and family has always been the most important thing to me. Shari Redstone grew up in Newton, Mass., and once worked as a summer intern at Paramount Pictures. She graduated from Tufts University and earned her law degree from Boston University, specializing in tax law. She lives outside of the city, speaks with a distinct Boston accent and is a passionate fan of the New England Patriots. Redstone worked as a criminal defense attorney before putting her career on hold to raise a family. When she returned to the workforce, she joined the family business, which started with movie theaters in the Northeast. In Hollywood, she is known for helping launch the trend toward luxury cinemas. Since 2000, she has served as president of the familys holding company, which includes the theater chain National Amusements that boasts more than 900 screens in theaters in the U.S., Britain, Brazil and Argentina. She is very determined and in her own way, she was a visionary in our business, said Paul Heth, her former business partner and current chief executive of Karo Films, a leading Russian cinema company. The one thing about Shari, she is unbelievably driven and focused. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> For several years, Heth helped Redstone operate the Bridge, an upscale theater in West L.A. off the 405 Freeway, which has since been sold to Cinemark. She also pushed to expand National Amusements into Russia, where she and Heth owned and ran a chain of six theaters before selling them in 2011. Redstone subsequently launched a small venture capital firm, Advancit Capital, with her son-in-law Jason Ostheimer. It invests in start-ups in the technology and media space. Over the years, she has repeatedly sparred with her strong-willed father, often about corporate succession. In one notable flare-up in 2007, Sumner Redstone publicly disparaged his daughter. While my daughter talks of good governance, Sumner Redstone wrote in a letter published by Forbes, she apparently ignores the cardinal rule of good governance that the boards of the two public companies, Viacom and CBS, should select my successor. It must be remembered that I gave to my children their stock; and it is I, with little or no contribution on their part, who built these great media companies. For months, father and daughter communicated by fax. Relations thawed in the fall of 2008 when the Redstones came precariously close to losing their empire. Amid the financial crisis, banks called in $1.6 billion in loans the Redstones had used to make investments, including for theater expansion. Shari Redstone worked alongside the familys attorneys to restructure the debt and preserve their holdings. But Shari Redstone was once again sidelined in recent years as her fathers much younger girlfriend, Sydney Holland, and another companion, Manuela Herzer, played central roles in the moguls life until last fall. Herzer, 51, in November filed a lawsuit that alleged that Sumner Redstone is no longer mentally competent. The petition came about six weeks after Sumner Redstone cut Herzer out of his will. Until then, Herzer was in line to receive $50 million from Redstone, as well as his Beverly Park mansion, worth $20 million, according to a court document filed last week. Shari Redstone has contended that the women drove a wedge between her and her father. She also noted in a court declaration filed this month that Herzer had already received $70 million in gifts from Sumner Redstone since 2009. Once Ms. Herzer was out of my fathers life, my family and I were able to reunite with my father, Shari Redstone said in a declaration filed this month. An attorney for Herzer, Pierce ODonnell, has disputed Shari Redstones claims and said Herzers privacy had been invaded. While Shari was an absentee daughter, Manuela was at Sumners side assuring that he had the very best health care, ODonnell said in a statement. Shari Redstone, in her declaration, said she has visited her father 39 times since late October. Another dispute became public this month when Sumner Redstone led the Viacom boards 10-1 vote in support of Dauman as chairman. That came after Shari Redstone took herself out of the running and said the chairman should be someone who is independent and not intertwined in Redstone family matters. Her hands might be tied at the moment. There is not much that she can do now, unless she can get her father to change his mind, said Louis A. Mezzullo, a San Diego County attorney who deals with business succession and estate planning. As long as Sumner Redstone controls the 80%, then what he says goes, and Dauman will be in charge at Viacom at least until her father is declared incompetent or dies. When that occurs, the Sumner M. Redstone Trust goes into effect. The trust will oversee Sumner Redstones 80% stake in National Amusements Inc., which controls Viacom and CBS. The mogul established the trust and named his five grandchildren as beneficiaries. Shari Redstone is one of seven trustees along with one of her sons, Tyler Korff, who has a law degree and is a rabbi. Dauman also is a trustee. My singular objective is to protect and build value for all of Viacoms shareholders and in doing so, for all the beneficiaries of Sumners trust, who not only include the descendants of his daughter but also those of her brother, Dauman said during a call last week with Wall Street analysts. Shari Redstones brother, Brent Redstone, also has had conflicts with her and Sumner Redstone. A decade ago Brent Redstone filed a lawsuit looking to break up National Amusements. To settle the suit, Sumner and Shari Redstone bought out his stake in the company for about $250 million. All of this probably sets the stage for a protracted battle over what happens to Viacom and CBS. There is nothing that makes family members hate each other more than fights over money or control, Mezzullo said. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. It looks like a prescription for a lot of contention, family tensions and lawsuits. meg.james@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @MegJamesLAT ALSO Republican debate ratings are growing again, with 13.51 million viewers on Saturday Star Wars film production company sued for Harrison Ford accident Profane superhero Deadpool kills it at the box office over How to Be Single and Zoolander 2' When all is said and done at the midseason premiere of the sixth season of AMCs The Walking Dead, only a single question remains: What happens in the zombie apocalypse when the imminent threat of zombies is contained? For nearly six full seasons, the scrappy band of survivors led by Rick (Andrew Lincoln) have battled against the plague of walkers that threatened their safety at each turn, before finally holing up in Alexandria, a seemingly safe haven. But in Novembers midseason finale, the walls of Alexandria were breached, leaving Ricks crew vulnerable yet again. Yet despite all odds, No Way Out ends with the zombie threat contained, thanks to a timely save by Daryl (Norman Reedus), and all of The Walking Dead primary players still (relatively) unscathed. If Alexandria can be transformed into the refuge it was always thought to be, then what will serve as the story engine as the series heads into the back half of the season? Advertisement The answer was likely provided in the first four minutes of the episode. No Way Out begins where the post-credits sequence of Start to Finish leaves off, with Daryl, Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) cornered by a gang who works under the control of a mysterious figure named Negan. The scene is four minutes of tension, deftly directed by Greg Nicotero, that ends with Daryl blowing up his enemies, as he so often does. But the specter of Negan looms. With Daryls gang returning to Alexandria to save the day by episodes end, it seems clear that the main purpose of the opening scene, outside of picking up where the cliffhanger left off, is to lay the groundwork for the enemy to come. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >> Fans of The Walking Dead series of graphic novels know exactly who Negan is as well as what makes him an equivalent threat to a never-ending horde of zombies. Yet presumably, there are millions of people within The Walking Dead audience who have no idea that they should view the opening scene as an indication of things to come. At least in theory. One issue with modern television, even more than alternate modes of distribution or peak TV is that it exists in the world of Wikipedia. Being based on a graphic novel series means that there exists multiple compendiums that an unitiated viewer could search for if they wanted to know just who Negan is and why its such a big deal hes entering the story at this juncture. It makes for a difficult balance for the show to strike, managing the expectations of the uninitiated against those of superfans and it makes it difficult to discern whether the material is still engaging for individuals who may not know what the future holds or that, worse yet, only know because they Googled it. As ridiculous as it may sound, another issue that The Walking Dead struggles with in No Way Out believability. Sure, this is a group of individuals struggling to survive a post-apocalyptic hellscape, but often, even given the circumstances, the characters make choices that just dont make sense. When, amid a passel of walkers, young Sam Anderson (Major Dodson) freezes in terror, unable to proceed and ultimately being torn apart by zombies, natural-born leader Rick stands dumbly and watches it happen. The same goes for when Sams mother, Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge), Ricks girlfriend, gets taken down moments later. Its only after Ron Anderson (Austin Abrams) gets run through by Michonne (Danai Gurira) amid shooting Carl (Chandler Riggs) in the face that Rick truly springs into action, picking up Carl and racing with him to the hospital. The problem is that if Rick had taken that same action when Sam was stupefied, the whole of his gang would have escaped to relative safely. Conversely, if Jessie had the good sense to send PTSD-stricken Sam along with Gabriel when he secreted Judith to safety, she and her sons would also be alive. Join the conversation on Facebook >> There was no end of bloodshed in the episode, with the entire Anderson clan dying, Wolf (Benedict Samuel) getting shot by Carol (Melissa McBride) and eventually taken down by walkers, and Carl getting his eye shot out, yet all of The Walking Dead main players remain unscathed. After the disaster that was the Is Glenn (Steven Yeun) Dead falderal in the first half of season six, the stakes on the series have been dramatically lowered, because it hasnt killed off a main players since season three. Even Beths (Emily Kinney) death in season five lost much of its sting as she was only part of the main cast for a single season. Even with stakes lowered, having the whole of the cast reunited by episodes end is a seductive setup for season sixs final seven episodes. The question is only whether The Walking Dead can find a way to raise the stakes even as the zombie threat is kept at bay. libby.hill@latimes.com Follow me @midwestspitfire ALSO The Good Wife recap: This Monday is not so good to Lucca The Day Beyonce Turned Black is the best SNL skit ever HBOs Vinyl has lots of sex and drugs but is light on rock n roll So its official, Good Wife"-ers, we are now in our last season of The Good Wife. Im flooded with emotions, but theres too much to cover about this weeks episode to posit about the series just yet. Despite Alicias hearty laugh at the end of the last episode when Cary asked her to return to Lockhart, Agos & Lee, Alicia and Lucca felt they had no choice but to join the firm. Now that theyre back, theyre having trouble dealing with the lack of independence and the bureaucracy that comes with working at a big companynot to mention the (not so) subtle racism thats happening. Alicia and Lucca immediately stumble into a complicated case when IT director Howell (Jason Babinsky) asks them for advice. While at a big tech conference, he found a brand new, not on the market yet, tablet from our favorite search engine, ChumHum. CEO Neil Gross is apparently expanding ChumHum into the gadgets business, but it appears his chief tech guy was a bit careless with this particular device, perhaps showing it off to impress women and then losing track of it. (I believed Alicias cross-examination, even if the ant-obsessed judge on the case didnt.) Since finding the tablet, Howell has received offers to review it for publications, and to sell it for $100,000. Thats quite a pretty penny! He wants to make sure hes within his rights to sell it, and if Alicia and Lucca will represent him. Advertisement Lucca immediately agrees, and sets out to prove that hes within his rights, but Alicia, and especially Cary and Diane, are hesitant. But when uniformed men from an agency called TAPS, the Technology Allied Protection Servicewho appear to be under Gross thumbarrest Howell for stealing the device, the firm leaps to action to protect their employee. Turns out, though, that Cary and Diane have plans for Lucca that do not involve the Howell case. They keep telling Lucca she needs to meet Monica because theyre sure to like each other, and they assign her to assist Monica on the latest Dipple case. Yet it seems so painfully obvious that theyre making a gigantic assumption based on race. How can they not see how transparent this is? Who knows if Lucca and Monica do, or will, actually like each otherthough their joke about spirituals is pretty funny. Lucca doesnt want to play, and has too much invested in the Howell case, perhaps even getting too involved. She leaves Monica alone, instead choosing to help Howell. When her witness, the disdainful Anthony Dudewitz (Joey Slotnick) strikes a fatal blow to Grosss case and TAPS retaliates with a search warrant, we learn that Lucca has possession of the tablet. She really should not have such a seemingly strong hand in this situation. Alicia also suspects Lucca of coordinating with the potential buyers, since they upped their bid to $250 grand. But the team realizes that its likely Howells 419,000 Twitter followers helped jack up the price, because theyre all clamoring to hear his review of the gadget. This helps Alicia and Lucca find their winning strategy: Howell is considered a citizen journalist, so hes able to do with the device as he wishes. But Luccas reluctance to toe the company line lands Alicia in Dianes office for a talk. Is Alicia supposed to be Luccas supervisor? Why wouldnt Diane talk directly to Lucca about her behavior? Alicia defends Lucca by telling Diane that shes capable of much more than grunt work, but Diane seems skeptical (theres that not-so-subtle racism peeking through again). Meanwhile, the charmingly sarcastic Sarah Steele is back as Marissa (I cannot get enough of her), as shes slaving away at a disgusting-sounding hipster juice bar. When a cute young guywho weve seen beforeasks her out for lunch, she says yes. They chat about her time in Israel, but when the conversation turns to her dad and her work for the governors wife, Marissa suspects that hes up to something and records the conversation. She is a smart cookiepart of why shes so awesome. He is indeed up to something, because he is Roland Hlavin (John Magaro), the slimy undercover FBI agent who tried to sting Judge Schakowsky. When Ruth Eastman comes back and confronts Eli because of a subpoena she received, Eli realizes that this time, Hlavins going after Peter. For what, exactly, were not sure. Elis worked with Peter for so many years now that it could be anything. But its clear theyre trying to unseat the governor, in scandal. Poor guy. Cant they ever leave him alone? Ruth surprisingly pays a visit to Alicia to warn her, and basically tells her to cut her losses. What exactly does that mean? Is she advising Alicia to divorce Peter? Its not such a bad idea, really, and I suspect many wonder why she hasnt done it before. Ive certainly wondered that. Does she really stand to gain anything from her relationship with Peter at this point, other than getting dragged through the mud yet again? Perhaps it is timeespecially now that the series is officially coming to an end. Speaking of relationships, not much happens on the romance front, other than Alicia and Jason acknowledging that they kissed, and they face no work conflicts because hes freelance. So that paves the way for big progress next week. If I dont acknowledge it then (I might have to miss next weeks recap), I will definitely do so with the following recap. So what do you think, Good Wife-ers? Should Alicia finally divorce Peter? What do you think the FBI will pin on him? Do you have any theories for the end of the series? Are you sad that our favorite law procedural is ending? ALSO What time are the 2016 Grammy Awards? A show primer The Walking Dead recap: Alexandrians summon their courage in zombie siege Star Wars: Episode VIII reveals new cast and first behind-the-scenes footage With a permanent seal for the Porter Ranch gas leak close, officials and residents are pushing for more safety precautions. On Monday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich called on county health officials to perform random tests of air and surface pollution across the neighborhood, from which thousands of residents had fled because of the leak. This action will provide our residents a small sense of security as they begin to put their lives back together again, he said in a statement. Advertisement Meanwhile, residents are renewing their call for a list of safety measures to prevent a repeat of the long, slow environmental disaster. Before they move back, some residents want independent experts to conduct a random sample of the air quality inside abandoned homes to make sure harmful chemicals havent settled in carpets, furniture and other soft material, said Paula Cracium, president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council. Residents also want Southern California Gas Co. to replace the aging wells at the Aliso Canyon storage site and set up publicly accessible video feeds from infrared cameras that would show if a well is leaking, Cracium said. Though gas leaks are invisible to the naked eye, state air-quality regulators released dramatic infrared video from Thursday that showed the flow of gas stopping after crews, who had spent months digging a relief well, were finally able to inject a mixture of heavy fluid and mud that temporarily blocked the leak. A system of such cameras would bring peace of mind to residents who are traumatized by what theyve been through in recent months, Cracium said. How amazing would it be if you smelled a gas leak and could go online and instantly check if it was coming from one of the wells? she asked. On Sunday, company spokesman Javier Mendoza declined to comment on the likelihood of a camera network, but said, We know weve angered people, but SoCal Gas is committed to doing everything we can to regain trust and make sure this never happens again. In the days ahead, the company and state regulators will test the seal created by the cement to ensure that even small amounts of gas are not still seeping through, and the California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District will continue to test the air for methane and other compounds. Join the conversation on Facebook >> But the drawn-out ordeal has opened a trust gap between residents and regulators, Cracium said. Thats why some want to bring in outside experts, from universities and environmental groups that have not yet been involved, to test the air quality in their homes. All of the data from the experts say there is no risk, but theyd like the reassurance, Cracium said. The community is really apprehensive. On Friday, Sen. Barbara Boxer echoed residents call for an independent air quality study, saying it should be done by a private group or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Before these families return home, they will need to know with certainty, with certainty, that the air will be safe to breathe and their homes will be safe to occupy, Boxer said. The damaged well is one of 115 on the massive Aliso Canyon complex, a former oil field that was converted to an underground storage facility for natural gas. Gas company officials acknowledged there have been leaks at surrounding wells in the past, but said they were minor and corrected quickly. The leak began in October. By January, estimates showed it had spewed more greenhouse gases than 440,000 cars emit in a year. Thats when the state enacted emergency regulations compelling the gas company to stop pumping gas into the storage facility until all of the wells were inspected and deemed safe, said Teresa Schilling, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources. As far as cameras and other safety measures requested by residents are concerned, Schilling said her agency is in the process of updating all of the regulations that cover natural gas storage and suggestions from the public are welcome. jack.dolan@latimes.com MORE ON PORTER RANCH Effort to seal the formerly leaking well near Porter Ranch makes progress Dramatic video shows gas leak ending at Porter Ranch Senator wants independent testing of air in Porter Ranch area before residents move back Mayor Kevin Faulconer has bowed to pressure from a conservative legal group that protested long-standing guidelines in the citys correspondence manual asking employees not to refer to the nations founding fathers, but to instead just call them founders. Suggesting that our founding fathers should be referred to as founder is political correctness run amok, Faulconer said in a recent statement. We are proud of our nations history, and there is nothing wrong with referring to the founding fathers. At my direction, this was removed from the citys correspondence manual. The manual will be reviewed for other misguided examples that defy common sense, and changes will be made accordingly. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> The guide was updated in conjunction with a $48,800 effort to create consistency in the citys visual image and communications. The initiative was related to Faulconers project to refresh the citys online presence. But the provision advising against the term founding fathers dates back at least to 2008. A version of the manual from that year said these options were preferred: pioneers, colonists, patriots, forebears. By 2014, founders was suggested for use instead. Craig Gustafson, a spokesman for the mayor, said final approval of the latest correspondence manual update had come from Amelia Brazell, the communications director who was replaced late last month without explanation. Brazell did not return a call seeking comment. In its letter, the Pacific Justice Institute made reference to Mondays Presidents Day holiday, saying the new city rules abridged the free-speech rights of city employees to use common, everyday terms. Many Americans, including city employees, will no doubt be surprised to learn that the city considers them biased for merely mentioning ordinary words and phrases like the common man, mankind, man-made and man up, to name a few of the parade of horribles, the letter stated. Most alarmingly, though, is the guideline directive that city employees should refrain from mentioning those to whom we owe our most fundamental freedoms, the founding fathers. The manuals inane attempt to recast the fathers as simply the founders reaches a level of political correctness, censorship and insensitivity toward time-honored American values that is indefensible. The letter by senior staff attorney Matthew McReynolds went on to cite 1,500 references in Supreme Court rulings to the founding fathers, by justices of all political stripes. It called on Faulconer, a moderate Republican, to rescind the new rules. lauryn.schroeder@sduniontribune.com Schroeder writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. ALSO Porter Ranch-area residents call for cameras, tests and other safety measures Why veteran teachers arent surprised young people are shunning the profession Birth control pills without prescriptions, coming soon to California under new law West Covina police on Monday arrested a woman accused of giving birth in a Subway restaurant bathroom and leaving the newborn in a toilet, authorities said. Police received a call at 8:34 a.m. after customers at the sandwich shop at 2540 S. Azusa Ave. reported seeing a woman go into a bathroom and emerged completely saturated in blood, said West Covina police Lt. Dennis Patton. After the woman, identified by police as 38-year-old Mary Trinidad, left the restaurant, customers saw a trail of blood and rushed into the restroom, where they found the baby boy in the water in the toilet and evidence of the afterbirth, Patton said. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Paramedics rushed the baby to Queen of the Valley Hospital, where he was in critical condition Monday afternoon, Patton said. When he was found, the babys core temperature was extremely cold because of the temperature of the water, Patton said. Police found Trinidad behind a Pep Boys Auto Repair & Service shop nearby about 15 minutes after the child was found, Patton said. Trinidad was taken to a hospital to assess her medical needs following the birth, Patton said. She has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, child abandonment and child endangerment, Patton said. Trinidad is a transient from the West Covina area, he said. Customers at the Subway were shocked by what they observed, Patton said. He said they saved the childs life by being inquisitive and reporting the situation to police and that they provided essential descriptions of Trinidad that led to police finding her. In my 25 years on the job, Ive never heard of this occurring, Patton said. It just makes no sense whatsoever. Under Californias Safely Surrendered Baby Law, parents or people with lawful custody can turn over an infant at fire stations and hospitals within the first 72 hours of birth with no questions asked. Patton said police have notified the countys Department of Children and Family Services about the birth and that the baby boy will be placed into protective custody. hailey.branson@latimes.com For more California news, follow @haileybranson / Google+ ALSO Three women found dead in Hawaiian Gardens home Detectives investigating crash that killed a jogger in Walnut Silver Lake billboard defaced in protest over illegal tree trimming by sign company It's Presidents Day. And while Los Angeles -- or California itself, for that matter -- couldn't be part of the travel itinerary for presidents George Washington (it wasn't yet part of the United States) and Abraham Lincoln (he was a bit preoccupied with the Civil War), we've compiled a snapshot of some of the presidents who have passed through the City of Angels over the decades. Check out below Obama giving the commencement speech in 2014 at UC Irvine (OK, so it's not exactly L.A.), a dripping wet JFK emerging from the Pacific, and FDR at the Hollywood Bowl -- along with several other presidents in between. (For more interesting tidbits about Los Angeles, check out #WeAreLA.) While in Santa Barbara in the summer of 1981, President Reagan shows his boot to reporters who asked if he had any problems with the bubonic plague threat in the area. In front of him lies the economic tax relief bill and budget that he signed while on vacation. (Los Angeles Times) (Jose Galvez / Los Angeles Times) A little presidential trivia: Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, was the first sitting president to visit Los Angeles, and the Western region, in 1880, the same year the University of Southern California formally opened. L.A. was more of a village then. The outlying areas around the city center were transforming from ranchland to orange groves, mostly. (Ever notice the preponderance of Orange Grove streets throughout the region?) The Los Angeles Times would begin publishing a year later, as the Los Angeles Daily Times. (More on that here.) As we're living the electoral process now, here's another fun fact: Hayes didn't win the popular vote; he squeaked into office by a margin of one electoral vote. Although some have praised his commitment to civil service reform and defense of civil rights, historians tend to rank Hayes in the bottom half of U.S. presidents. (Sorry, Mr. President.) Who knows. Maybe by this time next year, the newly inaugurated 45th president might have already visited our fine city. Follow me on Twitter for a curious view of Los Angeles: @mmaltais ALSO Free entrance to national parks during Presidents Day weekend Mamie's Million Dollar Fudge and more recipes for Presidents Day Reagan in slippers. Sinatra by the pool: Inside Sunnylands, the Camp David in California's desert Judging from my email, a lot of California public school teachers are demoralized and questioning their career choices. Theyre not at all surprised that fewer and fewer college students are going into teaching. My column last week about a growing teacher shortage triggered a barrage of responses. Most of it came from current or retired teachers. Advertisement The volume and intensity matched what would be expected from a column about such contentious topics as guns, abortion or taxes. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> I am a retired teacher who years ago encouraged my children to go into teaching, one woman wrote. Sadly, we are now strongly recommending that it is the last profession that my college-aged grandchildren consider. The former Los Angeles Unified teacher asked for anonymity because I still have exhausted, discouraged but dedicated family members teaching. The retiree, now a classroom volunteer, wrote about one 8-year-old who is confused, bored and frequently unaware of the need to use the bathroom, yet is not in special education. Thats probably because theres a particular shortage of special ed teachers. A 7-year-old, she continued, is the daughter of a woman in and out of rehab [who] has taught her child that she should never obey the rules. So the student refuses to work, lies on the floor and screams, bullies classmates and uses profanity that would make a truck driver blush. The retiree cited teacher bashing, general disrespect for the profession out of touch politicians and parents who either neglect their children or who set an example of disrespect and entitlement. She concluded: Young people are well advised to look elsewhere until society takes a good, hard and honest look at what they have done to the profession. Scores of emails echoed her sentiments. Only a handful hailed the profession. Teaching is a hidden gem of a career that only needs a slight nudge to get young people into, wrote Bob, a retired high school teacher from the San Fernando Valley. He recommended a modest advertising program and not so many hoops to get a teaching credential. As for being burdened with nighttime paper grading, he said, I did it for years until I noticed that most teachers were car key teachers. Thats the only thing being carried to the parking lot. My late wife never achieved car key status. She taught high school English plus public speaking, debate and journalism for 38 years and was always grading papers at night. That is, when she wasnt putting out the school paper, shepherding students through speech rehearsal or hauling debaters to tournaments. She loved the kids and teaching. But she was frustrated with timid administrators, decrepit facilities and a new reform seemingly every year. There also was the depressing fact that few parents ever showed up for back to school night to hear how their kids were doing. And when she called parents to caution them about their teens failing or ditching class, shed get an earful about being an awful teacher. I read similar stuff in the emails. A decline in classroom discipline was the dominant complaint. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> No one is going into teaching after hearing the horror stories emanating from the lack of discipline, wrote Dave, whose late wife taught. One day she came home and proclaimed it isnt fun anymore. The straw that broke the camels back, he said, was a boy who stubbornly refused to stop playing games on his smartphone in class. The teacher sent the student to the principals office, but he returned shortly with a readmission note and a sneer. She retired. It can get worse. My wife had her purse stolen by a student after class while another kid distracted her by ostensibly seeking academic advice. Gary, who taught in a country school near Modesto, wrote: Poor discipline was reinforced by the administration. If a child of someone politically important in the community got in trouble, the administration looked the other way. Students knew it was a game. Pay didnt seem to be the top priority for my emailers. Annual starting salaries average from $40,000 to $44,000, depending on the district, according to the state education department. They top out at $89,000 to $92,000. Thats the fifth-highest pay in the nation. But the cost of living in California is high too. Teachers get summers off. College students dont understand that four to six weeks of time off in the summer is PRICELESS, wrote Gale, a nurse, who has tried to talk her children into becoming teachers. They laugh at me. California has the nations highest average class sizes. Often teachers must kick in for their own supplies. The pensions are OK averaging $38,000 at age 61 after teaching 26 years but in California, they cant be supplemented with Social Security. In the last decade, there has been a 70% drop in people preparing to be California teachers. Last year, 15,000 new credentials were issued, but 22,000 were needed, says state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. Its a serious problem, he says, and weve just seen the tip of the iceberg. Fewer young people are entering the field. Baby boomers are leaving. Torlakson and legislators are pushing some proposals: Earlier teacher training, even in high school. More mentoring. Student loan forgiveness. But mainly, more teachers and retirees need to feel proud of their profession again. Then they can sell it to young people. george.skelton@latimes.com Twitter: @LATimesSkelton ALSO Gov. Jerry Brown opposes $9-billion school bond measure The UCLA gymnast who became a viral sensation by just being herself Can Inglewoods NFL-fueled turnaround be a success if its schools are failing? As they fight for prominence in a South Carolina primary that has lived up to its riotous tradition, Republicans are framing their own candidacies and their party in ways that may hurt them in November. The months-long rightward lurch of the 2016 candidates has grown even more pronounced in South Carolina; in Saturday nights televised debate and in remarks Sunday, both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and former President George W. Bush were found wanting. Candidates promoted opposition to gay rights and to abortion under any circumstances and support for unfettered access to guns, all issues that please the Republican base but run counter to the views of a general election audience. Advertisement TRAIL GUIDE: All the latest news on the 2016 presidential campaign >> The death Saturday of Justice Antonin Scalia, and the desire for a GOP win in November to secure his conservative Supreme Court seat, has seemed only to increase both the stakes and the rhetoric. On the Democratic side, national front-runner Hillary Clinton may have moved to the left in this primary season, but the presence of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders even further to the left has offered her a tinge of centrism. There is no corresponding pull to the center among the Republican candidates. Adding to the harsh tenor of their campaign is the vituperative tone; a variation of liar was flung almost two dozen times by candidates in Saturdays angry debate. Fresh from an aggressive debate appearance, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio acknowledged on Sunday that the demeanor of the South Carolina campaign might be a gift to Clinton were she to become the nominee. Well, I think ultimately thats true, he said on CBS Face the Nation. Voters have noticed as well. Theyre handing it over to Mrs. Clinton, said Nancy Kinlaw of Beaufort, S.C. She was referring to what she called children up there bickering, fighting over a toy, but the policies the candidates have emphasized as they compete for conservative votes have done almost as much to define them in risky ways. See the most-read stories this hour >> Much of the positioning is driven by the tight battle for the Republican nomination, which has forced the candidates into a state-by-state fight for the most dependable GOP voters, who are also the most conservative. A runaway front-runner would be more free to venture toward the middle at least occasionally, but todays circumstances preclude that. Candidates Donald Trump, John Kasich and Jeb Bush who famously said early in the campaign that he would be willing to lose the primary in order to win the general election, a logical impossibility have leaned toward a moderate policy notion or two but have been ravaged for it. The general tone in South Carolina has been akin to what Texas Sen. Ted Cruz offered Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press, when he laid down a scorching defense of his conservative policies. If liberals are so confident that the American people want unlimited abortion on demand, want religious liberty torn down, want the 2nd Amendment taken away, want veterans memorials torn down, want the crosses and stars of David sandblasted off of the tombstones of our fallen veterans, then go and make the case to the people, he said. The night before, Rubio and Cruz engaged in a blistering fight over who was toughest toward illegal immigration. Rubio also reaffirmed his opposition to abortion, without any exceptions for victims of rape or incest, and to gay marriage. And we need to put people on the bench that understand that the Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant, he said, in a comment that waved aside the original Constitutions repressive views on women and minorities. Various polls done over the last year by Pew Research illustrate the stark differences in attitudes between the voters who will decide the nomination and those who could vote in the general election. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Only 32% of Republicans backed gay marriage; 57% of Americans did. Only 16% of conservative Republicans said abortion should be legal all or most of the time; among Americans the figure was 51%. On guns and immigration, Republican candidates are even more conservative than their voters; 79% of Republicans and 85% of Americans want background checks to be expanded to include guns sold privately or at gun shows. A majority of Republicans, and 70% of the country overall, back a federal database to track gun sales. Another 53% of Republicans and 70% of Americans want some form of legal status for those in the country illegally. But there has been no push for additional gun controls by the candidates, and only Ohio Gov. Kasich and former Florida Gov. Bush have pushed for legal status for immigrants without proper papers. Democrats plan an all-out effort to spur turnout among women, Latinos, Asians and African Americans, groups with specific interests in the issues that have been emphasized in the GOP primary season. Republicans seem to be betting that other concerns, such as national security and jobs, will be more important to voters. But the sideshow of angry debates and mocking remarks still poses a threat. All that arguing and all that bickering amongst the candidates doesnt get a single person a job, said Hogan Gidley, a Republican strategist and South Carolinian who worked for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee before his departure from the race. It doesnt ensure a single kid gets clothes on his back. It doesnt ensure a single mother has the ability to feed her children, he said. That bickering doesnt do anything to solve the problems that face this country. cathleen.decker@latimes.com Twitter: @cathleendecker Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Seema Mehta in South Carolina contributed to this report. ALSO Republican debate ratings are growing again, with 13.51 million viewers on Saturday Donald Trump attacks Jeb Bush in personal terms, as death of Scalia hangs over GOP debate In search for Scalias successor, Obama may see GOP opposition as incentive to select a liberal Justice Antonin Scalia had been dead only a few hours when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate wouldnt act on any replacement proposed by President Obama. The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice, McConnell (R-Ky.) said. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. This is self-serving sophistry. The American people do have a voice in any nomination Obama makes. They spoke when they elected him to a second term that has 11 months remaining. His authority to nominate Supreme Court justices is no more diminished by his supposed lame-duck status than any of his other constitutional powers. The Senate also has a constitutional duty: to consider presidential nominees expeditiously. A long vacancy is undesirable in part because a court comprised of only eight members raises the possibility of 4-4 decisions that, while they affirm a lower courts decision, dont create a national precedent. Advertisement The obstructionism being threatened by Senate Republicans is outrageous. It would be equally so if the circumstances were reversed and a Republican president in the last year of his term were sending a nominee to a Democratic Senate. That nominee also would deserve prompt consideration. No doubt its galling for Senate Republicans that Scalias sudden death creates the possibility of a third Obama appointee and one, moreover, who is almost certainly not going to share Scalias strikingly narrow view of the Constitution. But there is no truth to the idea that Supreme Court nominations in an election year have an inferior status. Some Republicans have cited the so-called Thurmond Rule, a supposed tradition that the Senate need not act on judicial nominations in an administrations final year. It is named after the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, who along with other senators successfully blocked President Lyndon B. Johnsons attempt to promote Abe Fortas to chief justice in 1968, a presidential election year. But the rule has no formal status and has not been consistently honored. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for example, was confirmed in 1988. There is no truth to the idea that Supreme Court nominations in an election year have an inferior status. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for example, was confirmed in 1988. As a matter of practical politics, the Republican majority in the Senate and the fact that Supreme Court nominations may be filibustered make it unlikely that Obama would nominate a strident or doctrinaire liberal. But, like any president, he is likely to choose a candidate with whom he feels a philosophical affinity. If Obamas eventual choice resembles the impressive judges he has appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, it will be hard for Republicans in the Senate to denounce that nominee as a radical. Republicans will still have the option of opposing the nominee, but if their only rationale is that they dont want to confirm an appointment by a Democratic president, their partisanship and disrespect for the court will be blatantly obvious. Its true that both parties in the Senate in recent years have reacted to judicial nominations with excessive partisanship. President Ronald Reagans nomination of Scalia to the court was confirmed by a vote of 98 to 0 in 1986. President Bill Clintons nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg was approved 96 to 3 in 1993. Its inconceivable that any nominee, however moderate, would receive such an overwhelming margin of support today. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was confirmed in 2005 by a vote of 78 to 22; all of the no votes were cast by Democrats (including then-Sen. Barack Obama). In 2010, 36 Republicans (and only one Democrat) voted against confirmation of Justice Elena Kagan. This increased partisanship may have infected the court itself, with justices being publicly lobbied to time their retirements so that they will be replaced by a president of their own party. To prevent such gamesmanship, some have proposed that the Constitution be amended to provide for fixed but generous terms for Supreme Court justices. Its an idea worth considering. In the meantime, election-year partisanship should not prevent either the president or the Senate from doing their respective duties. After consulting with the Senate, Obama should nominate a successor for Scalia who commands broad respect; Republicans in the Senate should then give him or her fair consideration and an up-or-down vote. ALSO Antonin Scalia and the judgment of history How about an honest debate over filling Justice Scalias seat? Justice Scalia kept constitutional originalism in the conversation no small legacy My great-grandfather, John D. Rockefeller Sr., created the Standard Oil Company and I inherited shares in the companies it spun off, including Exxon Mobil. But this year I donated those shares to the nonprofit Rockefeller Family Funds Environmental program, which sold them and is using the $400,000 proceeds to fight global warming. I lost faith in Exxon Mobils future value. A prime reason is that Exxons valuation is based largely on the immense untapped reserves of oil and gas it owns. And yet if future generations are to inherit a livable world, most of those reserves must stay in the ground. After it was revealed that tobacco companies knew smoking caused cancer even as they funded hack scientists to deny it, they had to pay billions in fines and damages. Advertisement Cynics may say that foreknowledge of the dire consequences wont stop humanity from using this fossil fuel. I would answer that Exxon Mobil may not have any choice in the matter. The company bases its growth and stability projections on increasing its sale of fossil fuels to developing countries. And yet those are the places that will be hurt first and worst by climate change indeed, many are already suffering the effects. As those nations confront ecological harm and consequent economic damage in some cases even possible economic collapse will they really provide Exxon Mobil with the growth it forecasts? In shareholder resolutions and meetings with company representatives over the last 15 years, I and other members of my family have argued that it is shortsighted for Exxon to insist on remaining an oil and gas company rather than evolving into an energy company prepared to transition to a post-carbon economy. I thought the company was being foolish. But we now know it was worse: it was being deceitful, in a way that is almost unimaginably heartless to future generations. Reporting by two publications, working independently of each other InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times has shown that, starting in the late 1970s, Exxons scientists were leaders both in understanding the role of carbon emissions in global warming and in projecting its effects. By the mid-1980s, however, the company took a different public stance. It began to finance think tanks and researchers who cast doubt on the reliability of climate science. Internally, though, the company continued to accept the validity of the science it had helped pioneer. In the midst of its denial campaign, for instance, Exxon projected business opportunities presented by global warming: As polar sea ice melted, there would be new possibilities for oil drilling in the Arctic. At the same time, Exxon scientists warned the company of more dire climate change implications for the planet and corporate revenue. These findings were given to the companys management, but not released to shareholders or to securities regulators. Way back in 1982 Exxon Mobils environmental affairs office printed a primer on climate change marked not to be distributed externally. It laid out for company leaders the reality that major reductions in fossil fuel combustion would be required to avert potentially catastrophic events. Since then globally catastrophic events have become virtually certain. We already feel the oncoming wave in storms, flooding, droughts, hunger, human immiseration and migration. How different things might be if Exxon and others had begun to pivot away from fossil fuels 34 years ago. As the enormity of the effects of its lies becomes more evident, Exxon Mobil is positioned to supplant Big Tobacco as global Public Enemy No. 1. This is not good for a companys bottom line. The attorneys general in New York and California have launched investigations into whether Exxon defrauded its shareholders by hiding what it knew about climate change. Such investigations, with their legal power of discovery, are likely to unearth even more about what the company knew and when it knew it. That, in turn, likely will lead to lawsuits. After it was revealed that tobacco companies knew smoking caused cancer even as they funded hack scientists to deny it, they had to pay billions in fines and damages. Exxon could face much worse. Even before Exxon Mobil feels the loss in spending power among its expected developing country clients, public anger is likely to find other ways to take the company down. Just when Exxons stock price will begin to reflect these realities is hard to predict. But Im glad that the recipients of my Exxon stock sold it immediately. Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, an economist, is the co-director of the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook MORE FROM OPINION Its time to give the DWP a reboot Nominating Supreme Court justices is Obamas job. Let him do it. Trump and Sanders are the logical result of government that doesnt deliver Alex Nunez wasted no time Sunday morning when the first person he spoke with told him, with a clipped No, that he was not a backer of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Months ago, when Nunez first began traveling from Silicon Valley to Reno as a Sanders volunteer, he would stick around when he got a No, hoping to sway more voters to Sanders side. But theres no time for that now not with the Nevada caucuses less than a week away. ------------ FOR THE RECORD: Sanders in Nevada: An article in Section A on Feb. 15 about volunteers for Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in Nevada said that Christina Hughes was the founder of Washoe County 4 Bernie Sanders. Hughes was one of a group of founders. ------------ Without skipping a beat, Nunez politely bade the man farewell and moved on. Advertisement Sanders supporters in Nevada are clearly energized by his ascendant campaign, boosted by the razor-thin loss to Hillary Clinton in Iowa and a double-digit victory in New Hampshire. Their challenge now is to harness that enthusiasm into organization. The effort can be a little rag-tag, they admit. A rally at Renos convention center Saturday was half-full, and volunteers said the event had been sparsely advertised. On Sunday, as Nunez and fellow volunteer Dominique Lopez visited homes of likely supporters, they often found that other volunteers had already been there, indicating a mix-up in planning canvassing routes. Probably the Hillary Clinton campaign is better organized, Nunez conceded. But, he said, the fervor of fellow Bernie-ites was the campaigns saving grace. What would carry us through is the message Bernies message more than anything else, he said. And also, the enthusiasm and the almost visceral support that the supporters have for Bernie Sanders. The campaign day began with Sanders and Clinton attending services at the same church in Las Vegas, Victory Missionary Baptist Church on the citys heavily African American west side. African Americans made up about 15% of Democratic caucusgoers in Nevada in the last contested caucus, in 2008. Together with Latinos, they are expected to make up about a third of the vote on Saturday. Clinton was introduced to the church by a revered civil rights figure, Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. Pastor Robert E. Fowler has also endorsed her. But he welcomed both candidates, inviting each to give brief remarks to the congregation. We thank God, he said, that the church is singled out today to have both presidential candidates. Later in the day, as both candidates campaigned across the states largest city, canvassers for both went about the more nuts-and-bolts aspect of the campaign. For the rest of the week, thousands of volunteers on both sides will spend their days in a frenzy of door knocking and phone calling, trying to turn out voters for Saturdays caucus meetings. The pitch the two Sanders volunteers made to voters here was consistent with their candidates class-focused appeal: Sanders, they told one person after another, will fight against a system rigged against working people. At one home, Nunez delivered an identical speech in Spanish. I dont even bother mentioning immigration, he said. We all care about our economy and we care that our system is corrupt. Mexican, black, white we all care about the same things. Whether thats true and whether the Sanders camps organizational lapses will matter will become apparent in just under a week. Caucuses pose unique organizational challenges. Voters must be registered with the Democratic Party and must attend the caucus for the full duration. Rules of that sort are not an ideal match for Sanders voters, some backers said. Theres such an unfamiliarity about it, especially with the types of supporters that weve been seeing for Bernie, who maybe arent theyre anti-establishment. Theyre not in the system, said Christina Hughes, a Reno resident who helped found Washoe County 4 Bernie Sanders. Some supporters have taken planning into their own hands. Doug Smithson, a retired firefighter, walks his Reno neighborhood daily, identifying not just possible caucusgoers but also possible candidates to be delegates, in an attempt to ensure a Bernie-friendly presence at the local, state and national conventions. Have you ever thought about having a little extra political power? he asked in a booming baritone honed in his former life as a vacuum-cleaner salesman, as he handed out homemade informational packets. Nunez, 24, is also a true believer. Since October, he has commuted to Reno on weekends from Mountain View, where he works in cybersecurity sales, to canvass. His co-canvasser, Lopez, 28, from Oakland, is the shyer of the two, but both have signature flourishes. On this Sunday, Lopez wishes everyone she talks to a Happy Valentines Day, while Nunez ends most successful interactions with a high-five. At one house, the two canvassers met a familiar face: Rosalinda Castaneda, a Bernie super volunteer who has been pouring time into the Sanders campaign. Nunez greeted Castaneda with a hug, but grimaced slightly when she said the Sanders campaign had repeatedly called her a waste of time with a surefire supporter. You could say this is disjointed, he said. Somewhat disjointed. Twitter: @MelMason, @katelinthicum Five candidates who have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in the race for the 5th district seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will each make an appearance at an upcoming Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting to discuss issues close to La Crescenta residents. Beginning with the Feb. 18 council meeting, individual candidates will address topics close to our hearts, said Crescenta Valley Town Council member Mike Claessens, as part of the councils effort to familiarize locals with the candidates. NEWSLETTER: Get the latest headlines from the 818 straight to your inbox >> Theyll discuss the 710 connection, the proposed development on the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, homelessness and the high-speed rail, among other issues, he said. Unlike New Hampshire and Iowa, folks in La Crescenta rarely have an opportunity to rub elbows with any of our political representatives, Claessens said in an email. This is likely to be the only opportunity for members of our community to meet and get familiar with each of the top candidates before the primary election, he said. Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has occupied the 5th district seat for the last 35 years and will be termed out this year. He is seeking a seat in the state Senate. Among the five supervisorial candidates who will speak at the Crescenta Valley Town Council meetings, Los Angeles Councilman Mitch Englander has the largest war chest to date for the race, with $906,256 in monetary contributions, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Kathryn Barger, Antonovichs chief deputy, follows Englander with $809,680 in monetary contributions. L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Elan Carr has raised $721,892, while state Sen. Robert Huff (R-Diamond Bar) has garnered $714,299 in contributions. Meanwhile, Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian has raised $274,991. The candidates will appear at Crescenta Valley Town Council meetings as follows: Englander will speak at the Feb. 18 meeting. Carr and Huff will each appear at the March 17 meeting. Najarian will speak at the councils April 21 meeting, followed by Barger, who will appear at the May 19 meeting. The primary election occurs on June 7. The Crescenta Valley Town Council meets every third Thursday, starting at 7 p.m. in the community room at the La Crescenta Library, located at 2809 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta. -- Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com Twitter: @kellymcorrigan When: Monday, 1 p.m. PST. On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 830. Update: The Ducks recalled goalie Anton Khudobin because John Gibson is recovering from an upper-body injury. Gibson appeared to take a knee to the head from Chicagos Richard Panik on Saturday but it is not considered serious. Frederik Andersen is expected to start in the matinee on Family Day in Alberta, Canada. Ryan Getzlaf, playing with a face shield because of a broken nose, has four consecutive multipoint games, his first such streak since 2013. Jakob Silfverberg has four goals and seven assists in his last 13 games after having three goals and five assists in his first 41 games. Former Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller could start for Calgary because Karri Ramo is on injured reserve. Calgary is also without defenseman Dennis Wideman, suspended 20 games, pending an appeal, for cross-checking a linesman. After spending the last year flying tens of thousands of miles, frequent fliers might feel as though they have just crossed the airline elite-status finish line. Thats the line that gets you to extra perks, including upgrades and fee waivers. Those miles arent always easy to come by. When you fly, you get awards miles, usually based on how much you spend. Those are the miles that give you free travel. But elite miles are the miles that make you feel less like cattle, and theyre based on how far you fly and what fare class youre using. Advertisement A new year means the elite-status calendar has reset (unlike those awards miles that hang around for a while) so now is a good time to consider a strategy for the year. Here are seven ways travelers can rack up those elite-qualifying miles faster and get a jump start on status qualification for next year. Many will work just as well for occasional leisure travelers as for business travelers. An offer of status challenge or a match. Several U.S. airlines (and some foreign ones) offer the chance to challenge for status, including American Airlines and Delta. Once you enroll for a challenge, you typically have 90 days to fly a certain number of qualifying miles (7,000 for American AAdvantage Gold or 12,500 for AAdvantage Platinum, for example) to earn a new status. If you already have elite status with a competitor, Alaska Airlines offers outright status matches in which you prove your status with another airline, no additional flights required. One caveat: Status matches and challenges typically can be completed only once per person per airline per lifetime, so choose wisely. Credit-card spending. Though most of the miles you earn by spending with an airline credit card are miles you can redeem for award tickets, some credit cards let you earn elite-qualifying miles, but the spending thresholds are high. American Express Delta Reserve cardholders can earn up to 30,000 Medallion-Qualifying Miles by spending more than $60,000 on their card in a calendar year. Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier cardholders, meanwhile, can earn 1,500 tier-qualifying points for every $10,000 in purchases up to 15,000 points per calendar year. Promotional bonuses. Airlines sometimes highlight new routes by offering double elite miles on them for the first few months. American Airlines, for instance, offered certain LinkedIn members a fast-track to elite status at the end of last year. Virgin America offered automatic Gold status to folks who transferred 80,000 or more American Express Membership Rewards points to their Elevate accounts. Elite boost. American Airlines is offering its elite fliers (or those who have just missed qualifying) a chance to buy an elite-status renewal or boost to requalify for status or even to jump a tier in status. Prices vary based on tier and mileage but range from $399 to $2,499. Fliers have until July 31 to decide, and the status will be good through Feb. 28, 2017. Elite accelerator. Uniteds Premier Accelerator program lets fliers pay for extra elite-qualifying miles when they buy tickets. Prices for those miles tend to be high (20 to 30 cents each in some cases) but might be worth it if you are close to qualifying. Hotel partner elite programs. Airlines and hotels have started partnering to offer their loyalty-program members benefits. Most, such as the American Airlines-Marriott partnership, offer bonus mileage-earning opportunities, though Delta and Starwoods Crossover Rewards partnership offers Starwood elite airline benefits such as priority check-in and boarding. United has a partnership with Marriott called RewardsPlus in which Marriott Rewards and Ritz-Carlton Rewards Platinum members get automatic United Premier Silver status. Even if you do not fly frequently but do book a lot of hotel stays, this can be a good backdoor to airline status. Business programs. Several airlines, including American, Delta and United, have business frequent-flier programs in which small businesses can earn benefits based on their employees travel. (The company isnt taking anything away from employees; they will also earn miles and status as usual on their business travel.) Among the possible redemptions is the gift of elite status to employees. So ask your corporate booking agent if they can help you out. travel@latimes.com MORE FROM TRAVEL Why these travelers picked Disney Dream as the best cruise ship for 2016 An Alaska for all seasons with this $279 round-trip fare from LAX, good through January 2017 Las Vegas: Hanky panky in the High Roller wheel? Not a good idea (unless you want to get busted) President Obama on Monday will kick off a two-day summit with 10 Southeast Asian leaders at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, the first-ever such meeting on U.S. soil. The White House is framing the confab with the leaders of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, as another key step in Obamas effort to rebalance foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific, shoring up U.S. economic and security ties in the region and asserting American leadership as China exerts its military and financial might there too. Among the issues on the agenda: maritime security and South China Sea disputes; Islamic State radicals and extremism; North Koreas nuclear program and recent missile test; and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, entrepreneurship and innovation. Advertisement Administration officials and independent analysts say the summit is unlikely to produce detailed agreements, but the symbolism of the gathering is strong. President Obama greets ASEAN leaders during their last summit, in November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Vincent Thian / Associated Press) The White House says Obama will use one-on-one sessions with various leaders to raise concerns about human rights and democracy. But the gathering is drawing heat from critics who say its unseemly for the president to invite authoritarians such as Cambodias Hun Sen to the Camp David of the West. Protesters from Vietnamese American and Laotian American organizations, as well as anti-TPP groups, are among those expected to demonstrate near the estate. Heres a primer on the gathering. What is ASEAN? Ten countries Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia make up the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations. The grouping, established in 1967 with five members, was founded to promote political and economic cooperation and regional stability. ASEAN member states have a total population of 600 million more than the European Union, which covers about 500 million people. ASEAN, though, is much less cohesive than the EU and doesnt have a common currency like the euro or a common legislative body like the European Parliament. ASEAN countries run the gamut of governments. There are democracies, such as the Philippines; communist states, such as Laos; and an absolute monarchy, Brunei. They vary greatly in wealth: Singapore has a gross domestic product per capita of $56,286, while Cambodias is just $1,084, according to 2014 World Bank figures. And culturally, they include countries that are heavily Christian (the Philippines), mostly Buddhist (Myanmar) and majority Islamic (Indonesia, Brunei). How is it pronounced? AH-see-ahn. How important are ASEAN countries to the United States? The U.S. and the 10 ASEAN nations traded $254 billion in goods and services in 2014 about 8% of all American trade, or the equivalent of about half the U.S. trade volume with China. Four ASEAN countries Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia have joined the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, and others have expressed interest. Its Americas fourth-largest trading partner. Its by far the largest destination for U.S. investment in Asia more than China, Japan, South Korea and India combined. Its huge, said researcher Ian Storey of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. Southeast Asia is enormously important to the United States, and the Obama administration has been giving it the attention it deserves. About 4 million people living in the U.S. were born in ASEAN countries, including 1.8 million from the Philippines and 1.2 million from Vietnam, according to 2012 Census Bureau data. Thats about 10% of the foreign-born population. Among U.S. citizens naturalized in 2013, more than 111,000 came from ASEAN countries 54% more than from mainland China. How have U.S. relations with ASEAN been changing? Some ASEAN members, such as the Philippines, are long-standing U.S. allies. Others, such as Myanmar and Laos, have had strained ties with Washington in recent decades. But relations have been on a general upswing since Obama took office in 2009. In November, during an ASEAN summit in Malaysia, Obama announced that U.S.-ASEAN ties would be upgraded to the level of a strategic partnership. The Sunnylands summit isnt something Obama is doing out of obligation, said Satu Limaye, director of the East-West Center in Washington. Its not like its our turn to host a summit. He just met with all these leaders in November and launched the U.S.-ASEAN strategic partnership, he said. I think Obama really wants to say, Hey, were engaged in this region. Weve got full diplomatic relations with everyone, for the first time in roughly 20 years; weve got ambassadors in every place, and this is part of my rebalance legacy. This is the big capstone event. What will Obama and the Asian leaders discuss? The summit will begin Monday afternoon with a session on the economy, innovation and entrepreneurship, said deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes. That will be followed by a working dinner and a Tuesday morning session on security issues. Obama will have pull-away sessions, or one-on-one meetings, with leaders, administration officials said. Among the specific issues Obama will raise in group meetings, said Rhodes, are Chinas land reclamation projects on islets in the South China Sea and Beijings recent test flights on a new runway at Fiery Cross Reef. Counter-terrorism and law enforcement cooperation as well as North Koreas nuclear program are on the agenda; Washington and Beijing lately have failed to see eye to eye on how to respond to Pyongyangs purported test of a hydrogen bomb in January and a recent missile launch in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Sunnylands summit will be a diplomatic recruiting session as the Obama administration tries to line up Southeast Asian support for key pillars of the U.S. rebalance particularly the Trans-Pacific Partnership and a rules-based order in the South China Sea, said John Ciorciari, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan who studies Southeast Asia. So is this all really about China? No, and yes, experts say. I dont think theres any doubt that theres an element of competition between the U.S. and China in the region politically, strategically and economically. Thats been apparent for some time now, Storey said. China, he said, will be watching the summit closely, but I dont think theres any sense of jealousy or angst or resentment about it. Its not like this summit represents a loss for China. I dont think they would see it that way. The choice of venue, though, clearly is freighted with some meaning toward Beijing. Sunnylands was the site of Obamas 2013 shirtsleeves summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Of course, in Beijing people are inevitably going to draw comparisons with Xis visit, Limaye said. Although its important not to overanalyze that, he said, it is striking that the president has had two major meetings [at Sunnylands]: One with the leader of China and one with 10 countries in Southeast Asia that are having significant issues with China on the whole, both economic and security. Dan Kritenbrink, the National Security Councils senior director for Asian affairs, acknowledged that some of these issues that will be discussed will have some relation with China, but he emphasized that the aim of the summit was to deepen engagement with ASEAN. What about issues like democracy and freedom of speech? Human rights organizations and civil society organizations have raised serious concerns about Obamas decision to host a number of the ASEAN leaders on U.S. soil. Among those drawing concern are Hun Sen of Cambodia, who has ruled for decades; Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam and President Choummali Saignason of Laos, both communist leaders of one-party states; and Hassanal Bolkiah, the sultan of Brunei, who has moved to impose sharia, or Islamic law. President Obama shouldnt be rewarding abusive leaders with the prestige of a summit in the U.S., said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. Inviting to the U.S. people who dismantle democracies or systematically repress their own people sends the wrong message to the world about the U.S. governments respect for basic rights and freedoms. With so many Americans having fled repressive governments in Southeast Asia, Limaye said, the summit is likely to attract a substantial number of protesters from this countrys Vietnamese, Laotian and Hmong ethnic communities. Clearly this hits home. Lots of Americans will say, Whats up with this, what are we doing here? julie.makinen@latimes.com Clashes erupted at a courthouse in Indias capital on Monday, injuring several people, as the fallout from a student demonstration at a liberal university turned violent. Lawyers and at least one government official reportedly assaulted journalists and students and faculty members of Jawaharlal Nehru University, a public university in New Delhi whose student body president was due to appear at the courthouse to face sedition charges. The student president, Kanhaiya Kumar, was arrested last week and accused of chanting anti-national slogans at a meeting he organized to mark the anniversary of a convicted terrorists execution. Students and faculty members said they were roughed up inside a courtroom while several reporters said they came under attack outside the courthouse complex. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Critics have pounced on the Indian government for what they describe as a widening crackdown against student protests over the past year. Supporters of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party, a conservative Hindu organization, previously clashed with lower-caste students at a university in southern India and students at a prominent film institute who opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modis appointments to the schools governing body. In each case, the student demonstrators have been accused by BJP officials and authorities of anti-national behavior. Kumar is the first student to face charges of sedition, under a colonial-era statute that was enacted to protect the countrys former British rulers but is now often used to discipline government critics. The government does not want to just crush dissent; it wants to crush thinking, as its repeated assaults on universities demonstrate, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the independent Center for Policy Research, wrote Monday in The Indian Express. The drama outside Patiala House Court in New Delhi unfolded on television and social media as reporters were among those assaulted by pro-government activists, some reportedly shouting the slogan, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, or Long Live Mother India. Journalists covering the gathering said the attacks took place while a sizable contingent of Delhi police stood by. ANI, a news agency, posted video of what it said was a state lawmaker from the BJP, O.P. Sharma, and supporters beating up an unidentified man. Sharma, a former top aide to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said the man was shouting anti-India slogans but denied assaulting him. Amey Tirodkar, a reporter for a regional news channel who arrived to cover Kumars court appearance, said he saw a few dozen lawyers chanting slogans outside the courthouse. I took out my phone to call up the office when a lawyer asked me about my profession, Tirodkar said in an interview. The moment I said journalist, he started beating me up and also told others around him to join in. Police were on the scene but did not even move, he said. Journalist Amit Pandey said he was inside the courtroom when a group shouting nationalist slogans pounced on him. I guess we were targeted because the journalists have not reported the developing story like a certain people wanted us to, Pandey said in an interview. Ayesha Kidwai, a professor at the university, said on Twitter that she and others are all safe and being evicted from the courtroom under police escort. We have been pushed, sexually harassed but refused to move until the judge ordered it and the police escort came. Kabir Singh Nihang, a lawyer who said he was at the courthouse at the time, blamed university students for the scuffle, saying they provoked lawyers with insults. Tensions have simmered since last week, when anti-India slogans were reportedly shouted at a protest meeting at JNU, long a hotbed of left-wing politics, in memory of Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013 for his involvement in an attack on the Indian parliament. At the meeting, Kumar gave a speech that was harshly critical of the governments actions against liberals but did not include calls for violence, which are illegal under the sedition law. Indias minister of home affairs, Rajnath Singh, said last week that anyone who raises anti-India sloganswill not be spared. Singh later caused the government some embarrassment when he said that Hafiz Saeed, a Pakistani militant leader who has allegedly masterminded attacks against India, supported the JNU student. A tweet in which Saeed purportedly backed the protest turned out to have come from a parody account, and the militant took to social media on Monday to needle the Indian government. The fracas has again exposed the fault lines in India over Modis polarizing government, which has been accused of favoring majority Hindus and clamping down on religious minorities, journalists and others deemed to oppose its conservative policies. The Hindu Legal Cell, a pro-government group in New Delhi, congratulated those who have beaten Afzal supporter JNU students. It has also taken media attention away from a weeklong convention the government organized to promote Make in India, Modis signature initiative to promote the countrys struggling manufacturing sector. Vir Sanghvi, a commentator, said on Twitter: Sadly the only thing we are making in India these days is violence, divisiveness and hatred. Parth M.N. is a special correspondent. shashank.bengali@latimes.com Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia Israels former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert started serving a 19-month prison sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice on Monday, becoming the first Israeli premier to be imprisoned and capping a years-long legal saga that forced him to resign in 2006 amid the last serious round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Olmert walked into the Maasiyahu prison in central Israel hours after he released a video making a last-minute plea to Israelis meant to salvage his legacy. In the video, he appealed to the nation to remember his peace-making efforts as leader and denied any wrongdoing in the bribery conviction against him. The 3-minute video, released by his office and filmed at his home a day earlier, shows a weary-looking Olmert. He says it is a painful and strange time for him and his family and that he is paying a heavy price, but also adding that he has accepted the sentence because no man is above the law. Advertisement At this hour it is important for me to say again ... I reject outright all the corruption allegations against me, Olmert said in the footage. He said that in hindsight, the Israeli public might view the charges against him and the seven-year legal ordeal that enveloped him in a balanced and critical way. I hope that then many will recognize that during my term as prime minister, honest and promising attempts were made to create an opening for hope and a better future of peace, happiness and well-being, he said. Olmert, 70, was convicted in March 2014 in a wide-ranging case that accused him of accepting bribes to promote a controversial real-estate project in Jerusalem. The charges pertained to a period when he was mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister, years before he became prime minister in 2006, a point he reiterated in his video statement Monday. He was initially sentenced to six years in the case, but Israels Supreme Court later upheld a lesser charge, reducing the sentence to 18 months. That was extended by a month earlier this year for pressuring a confidant not to testify in multiple legal cases against him. Olmert is also awaiting a ruling in an appeal in a separate case, in which he was sentenced to eight months in prison for unlawfully accepting money from a U.S. supporter. Israel has sent other senior officials to prison, including Moshe Katsav, who held the mostly ceremonial post of the countrys president and who is now serving a seven-year prison term for rape. See the most-read stories this hour >> But having the once popular Olmert behind bars was met with mixed emotions by many Israelis, who viewed the milestone as a proud moment for Israels robust justice system but also a sorrowful one. When you look at a person like this, who is the salt of the earth, who is so talented, who is so charming, who is so capable, the fact that he is going to prison is something sad, Dan Margalit, a columnist with the daily Israel Hayom and a former Olmert confidant, told Israeli Army Radio. Olmert was forced to resign in early 2009 amid the corruption allegations, which undermined the last serious round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and cleared the way for hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahus rise to power. Olmert led his government to the Annapolis peace conference in November 2007 launching more than a year of ambitious, but ultimately unsuccessful U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians. Olmert has said he made unprecedented concessions to the Palestinians during those talks including a near-total withdrawal from the West Bank and an offer to place Jerusalems Old City under international control and was close to reaching an agreement at the time of his resignation. Despite his lengthy career as a public servant, former prison officials said Olmert would be treated like any other inmate, despite being held in a special wing for security reasons. Haim Glick, a former Israeli prison service official, told Israeli Channel 2 TV that Olmert would need to participate in roll call, be in his cell by 10 p.m. and have limited phone use. He will receive good treatment like the rest of the prisoners but not any better than them, he said. ALSO Pope Francis, visiting a bastion of poverty, envisions Mexico as a land of opportunity Is latest court ruling in Egypt a case of justice undone? 2015 was the worst year on record for civilian casualties in Afghanistan On the Mexican side of the border, they drove a battered brown Chevy sedan, slogging through rutted pavement and dirt streets lined with cinder-block shanties and school buses ferrying workers to the maquiladoras manufacturing plants that fuel the local economy. On the U.S. side, they drove a spacious Honda minivan, zipping along Highway 10 past multiple Starbucks, a Wal-Mart and cattle corralled at a dairy farm. They met at the U.S.-Mexico border to the west of El Paso and its sister city, Ciudad Juarez where a chain-link fence more than 15 feet high divides two worlds. Advertisement Si desea leer esta nota en espanol, haga clic aqui. Immigrant rights activists had planned a highly orchestrated event that included music, testimonials and the release of balloons. But for the families who assembled at the fence Monday, it was an intimate affair a rare opportunity to meet and touch. On the U.S. side, one of the youngest members of the family runs toward the fence and her family on the Mexican side. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) The event, timed to coincide with Pope Francis visit to Mexico, drew about 300 people to a rural site near where Texas, New Mexico and Mexico meet. About 50 gathered on the Mexican side and 250 in the U.S. at a gravel lot that is also the site of an annual get-together for families split by the border. Here they come! Sabino Montes, a 36-year-old who lives in Juarez exclaimed, pointing to his mother, Maria Ceniseros Galvan, in the crowd. Ceniseros, the family matriarch who lives in Las Cruces, N.M., walked quickly toward the fence. Her eyes welled with tears as she approached. Granddaughter Stephanie Rodriguez, 8, sprinted toward the chain link. Hola! Hola! shouted Stephanie. She offered up a foot-long strip of heart-shaped pink lollipops. In the crush of cross-border kisses and handshakes or at least what could be accomplished through the small holes in the fence the youngest of Ceniseros grandchildren grew frustrated. Three-year-old Nahomy wanted to scale the barrier and join her cousins, especially Stephanie, with her heart-shaped candy. Do you want a lollipop? Stephanie asked her, passing her the remaining half-heart through the fence. The aunt on the U.S. side, Valeria Montes, begs her niece on the Mexico side for a kiss. Un beso! (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) Ceniseros, who is in the U.S. without legal status, wont risk crossing into Mexico to see family there. It didnt used to be this way for Ceniseros and her family. At one time they all lived in Juarez, and Ceniseros and her husband, Graciano Montes, led a comfortable life with a big home and a successful store. But a series of violent events including a robbery at gunpoint and extortion forced them to flee in 2008. The couple, their daughter, Valeria Montes, and other son, Ramiro Montes, entered the U.S. on a tourist visa before they overstayed and fell out of legal status. The son eventually returned to Juarez with his wife, Perla Trejo, and Nahomy, who was born in the U.S. Valeria Montes and the rest of the family catch up through the international fence dividing the two nations. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) At the border fence mothers sobbed, sisters shared laughs and brothers exchanged jabs. The hourlong event gave families who are unable to travel to Juarez for the papal visit a chance to symbolically deliver a letter to the pontiff. They read the letter aloud in English and Spanish. The matriarch of the family, Maria Ceniseros Galvan, who lives on the U.S. side, gets to visit with all her grandchildren in one spot a rare occurrence. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) We welcome you to a border where hundreds of migrants die trying to reach the American dream, said Gabriela Castaneda, an organizer with Border Network for Human Rights, an El Paso-based nonprofit, which hosted the event. We ask for you to lift the spirit of immigrants.... Many of us are forced to flee our country because of violence. Some protesters including several women who are in the U.S. illegally gave testimony just steps away from the fence and Border Patrol officials in their vehicles. Ceniseros took the microphone and spoke to the crowd about her family on both sides of the international boundary. I dont think its just to have to see my grandchildren from across the border wall, she said. But most of what she and others said on the U.S. side was barely audible on the Mexican side. Instead, families took advantage to catch up and make introductions. Cousins swap candy through the border fence. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) This is your cousin Charlie! said one woman in Spanish to two boys at the fence. Do you have a boyfriend? one girl asked another. Valeria Montes tried to coax a kiss from her niece Nahomy. Come on. One kiss. Just one, she said, putting her lips to the chain-link fence. Meanwhile, sisters-in-law Perla Trejo and Valeria Montes share stories. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) Nahomys mother, Perla Trejo, and Ceniseros discussed whether the 3-year-old should attend school in the U.S. Shes a U.S. citizen and she should take advantage of her rights as soon as possible, Ceniseros said. Trejo simply smiled. Shes not ready to let go just yet. She doesnt have legal status in the U.S. even after having lived there for several years. Having Nahomy start school in Las Cruces would mean separating daughter from mother. A few steps away, other families were sharing cellphone photos through the fence, laughing and sobbing. An elderly one-legged man in a sweat suit hobbled up to the fence on crutches as relatives looking toward the U.S. side exclaimed in Spanish, Here comes Julie! Once the girl arrived, tearing up, he clasped her hand through the fence. Were here, we just dont have papers, said one of the young men with her. Next to them, a woman in a denim jacket was being greeted by another young man across the fence: Hi, mother in law, how are you? Farther down the fence, another man, Maximo Miranda, 46, greeted his adopted mother with a smile. She looks the same, he said, as if no time has passed. As time comes for goodbyes, the family on the Mexican side clutches the border fence. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) About noon, Ceniseros and her family had to say their goodbyes. Ceniseros clutched the fence still holding the hand of her son Sabino. Ceniseros walked away, covering her face with her hands. Stephanie ran up to her grandmother, putting her arms around her waist. I feel like my heart is going to rip through my chest, Ceniseros said. Ceniseros tries not to look back as she walks away from the border fence. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) On the U.S. side, she was quiet on the car ride home, finally breaking the silence by noting that Sabino had lost his panza, or belly. Everyone laughed. On the Mexican side, the car radio blared news of the popes imminent arrival. Nahomy was fast asleep on the shoulder of her mother, who was thinking of her husband, who had to work and missed the reunion. She has friends whose parents died after they had been separated for years by the border. There is solemn silence during the drive back home to Las Cruces. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times) I hope soon we can be together, that they will give us papers so we can go or they can come, Trejo said. Onward they went, away from the skyscrapers of El Paso, and their families, across the Rio Grande, and back home. Carcamo reported from Sunland Park and Hennessy-Fiske from Anapra, Mexico. Follow @cindythecarcamo and @mollyhf on Twitter. ALSO Pope Francis denounces the exclusion of Mexicos native peoples Migrant voices: On journey to north, you cant smile because there is no reason to Meet the deportee who fashioned the altar for Pope Francis cross-border Mass Pro-government forces fought fierce battles against rebels in northern Syria on Monday and United Nations officials said nearly 50 civilians were killed in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in the region. The attacks cast a shadow on commitments made by world leaders meeting in Munich, Germany, last week to pursue what was described as a cessation of hostilities in Syria, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition watchdog group with a network of activists in Syria, said the attacks included warplanes belonging to Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, striking a hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province. Advertisement The medical charity Doctors Without Borders reported at least seven people killed and eight missing and presumed dead in the strike. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> The destruction on the ... facility appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, said the groups head of mission, Massimiliano Rebaudengo, in a press release. The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict. Opposition activists also reported that four other medical facilities and two schools were hit in airstrikes on Idlib and Aleppo provinces. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby, in a statement released Monday, also condemned the strikes on civilian targets. That the Assad regime and its supporters would continue these attacks, without cause and without sufficient regard for international obligations to safeguard innocent lives, flies in the face of the unanimous calls by the ISSG [International Syria Support Group] including in Munich, to avoid attacks on civilians and casts doubt on Russias willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people, the statement said. Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, declared that it had pushed out the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra Front from the city of Tal Rifaat, according to a statement released on the groups official Twitter account Monday. The city, a vital rebel bastion since early 2012 located approximately 8 miles south of the town of Azaz and 11 miles south of the Turkish-Syrian border, lies on the main highway linking opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo city and the Turkish border. The observatory said the Kurdish-dominated militia had wrested control of major parts of Tal Rifaat. Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman, in a phone interview Monday, said that Turkish military units were shelling the town to force the militia to withdraw from the area. The Kurdish onslaught comes as Syrian pro-government forces backed by hundreds of airstrikes by Russian warplanes have made gains in rebel-held areas of Aleppo province, and are now poised to secure the countrys 500-mile border with Turkey. Last September, Russia launched an airstrike campaign that it said targeted the Islamic State but which critics insist has focused on opposition factions arrayed against Assad. Turkey, a major opposition sponsor, has facilitated the entry of militants and materiel into Syria, transforming the Turkish side of the border into staging area for rebel attacks on Syrian soil. The fighting has displaced an estimated 50,000 Syrians who are now stranded in tent encampments in and around Azaz. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused the Kurdish group of being an open instrument of Russia, and insisted Ankara would take military measures to stop its expansion. However, Ahmad Omar, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said his group was not coordinating with Russia to provide air cover for the Kurdish militias advance. Russian strikes bomb everyone that are in the way of the regimes forces, Omar said in a phone interview Monday. We are also against the regime and anyone who claims we coordinate with them and Russia is lying. The International Syria Support Group is a 17-nation organization working to end the almost five-year war in Syria, which has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced millions. It has also spurred a refugee crisis on Europes shores, which has raised sharp divisions between European Union member states. Last week, ISSG members, including Russia and Iran, met in Munich and agreed to halt attacks on civilians within one week. In a speech Monday, however, Assad said his forces would not stop fighting. For us, fighting terror is a priority that will stop neither now nor in the future, Assad said in a speech to the Attorneys Union in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The Syrian government refers to all opposition fighters as terrorists and mercenaries. What we care about in all these matters is one thing: That [decision-making in state affairs] returns to the Syrian people, in addition to Syrian sovereignty and the unity of the land. Bulos is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Kamiran Saadoun in Irbil, Iraq, contributed to this report. MORE WORLD NEWS This is like a dream; lined up for miles, thousands await the pope 2015 was the worst year on record for civilian casualties in Afghanistan An attack on student demonstrators and reporters in India unfolds on social media Nicaragua's construction sector is expected to undergo improvements. Rodrigo Pereira, president of the Chamber of Construction, said on Sunday that the country's construction industry grew 18 percent in 2015 and is expected to boom up to 17 percent this year, teleSUR reported. The construction sector's growth has been strong and sustained in recent years under the presidency of Daniel Ortega, the news outlet noted. The construction industry also affects Nicaragua's the growth of hardware store businesses, as well as the major suppliers of materials and equipment to construction firms. According to teleSUR, official data indicated that private construction increased by 20 percent in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Over 600 percent in the industrial area has been constructed. Nicaragua has scheduled major projects through 2016 and beyond, teleSUR added. This includes a canal, which is a main hydroelectric project on the Caribbean Coast. The country has exhibited steady recovery after impoverished decades caused by interventions from the United States and multinational corporations, teleSUR wrote. However, Nicaragua is still yet to prioritize lessening poverty with the absence of a developed industrial infrastructure and sources of capital accumulation like mineral and energy resources. Nicaragua Pushes Through with Chinese-Backed Canal Project Despite setback after setback, Nicaragua is still adamant in pursuing a $50 billion canal project backed by China. Manuel Coronel Kautz, the head of Nicaragua's Canal Authority, said that topographical and archaeological studies for the 170-mile long project are about to be completed, Bloomberg reported. Ortega awarded the waterway project to Hong Kong-based HKND Group three years ago. Chinese officials visited Nicaragua last month to inspect the Pacific Coast town of Brito where the port's construction is set to kick off in December, which is almost a year of delay, the news outlet added. China is reportedly facing financial woes, which prompted speculations that funding for the canal project will be on hold. Supporters of the waterway project said that it will attract larger vessels that won't fit through the century-old Panama Canal, Bloomberg noted. It is also expected to lift Nicaragua's $12 billion economy. However, engineers and shipping experts have expressed doubts over the viability of the project, the news outlet added. Protests were held in January, while a survey by Cid Gallup found that 34 percent of Nicaraguans view the project as "pure propaganda." Some residents also believe that the canal is Ortega's plan to gather support ahead of the presidential election in November. The government, on the other hand, published a separate study indicating that 81 percent of Nicaraguans support the waterway, according to Bloomberg. 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Twitter has shut down the official account of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, Colombia's second largest leftist group. Through their accounts, @ELN_Colombia and @ELN_Ranpal, the rebel group publicized political propaganda and updates on the preliminary peace talks with the Colombian government, according to Colombia Reports. Last week, the ELN has promoted a 72-hour armed strike, which is a cessation of economic activity across the country. Acts of this nature are usually violent, which includes burning trucks or buses that refuse to participate with the strike, Colombia Reports noted. The ELN also uses armed strikes to restrict the activities of vehicles and people, threatening to attack those who travel in highways in specific areas, EFE reported (via Fox News Latino). According to the rebel group, the armed strike marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Camilo Torres, a priest who was an ELN member and who died while fighting the Colombian army on Feb. 15, 1966. Colombia Reports wrote that Twitter considered ELN's latest antics as a call to violence and as a violation of the social media platform's rules and regulations. Twitter is not allowing users to "make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism," Colombia Reports added. The website also does "not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories," the news outlet further reported. The ELN's website, which is hosted by a radically rebel service provider in Spain, is still up and running, Colombia Reports wrote. The leftist group doesn't have active accounts on Facebook. Twitter did not take down the accounts used by the South American country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC, the news outlet noted. The FARC has an ongoing peace talks with the Colombian government since 2012. The group is using Twitter to promote the peace talks, as well as a tool to publicize their demands to President Juan Manuel Santos' administration. Last Saturday, the ELN blew up a transmission tower near Aguachica, a city in Cesar province. According to 5th Brigade commander Gen. Heider Giraldo, the attack left three cities without electricity, EFE reported. Aside from Aguachica, the cities of Gamarra and Morales also had their electricity supply cut off due to the attack, EFE noted. Centrales Electricas power company manager Jose Miguel Gonzalez said that utility workers are collaborating with the army to restore power to the affected cities. Teams are also working in the field to repair the damage. Santos said on Friday that ELN's armed strike was "a sign of weakness," adding that it would not help the peace talks, EFE added. 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. President Jimmy Morales's lack of experience and governmental plans were already a clear indication that he will start his rule in Guatemala with a bit of difficulty. However, El Periodico notes that the perception of the people in the first few weeks is already a cause for concern. Morales's campaign promised "full transparency" but it seems that it's easier said than done. To the public, his questionable appointments, disdain in answering certain questions, and incorporating defectors to his party is more than enough to damage his image. Yet, he denied involvement in any of these actions, making people wonder whether or not he has what it takes to rule the country. The current president's inexperience is now becoming much of a burden. As noted by Truth-Out, he was a former comedian known for being in a racist television show which mocked the indigenous tribes of his own country. Add the fact that the government is in poor condition, with problems in public finances and an economy that's about to collapse. Clearly, Morales is not off to a good start. The mistakes that people deemed he made in the beginning of his rule already lost him some of his popularity points. Still, it cannot be expected that he will be able to solve all of Guatemala's problems in the four weeks since he was sworn into office. His campaign, which read "Neither corrupt nor a thief," will not be able to save him when it comes to ruling the country, as it has now become evident that his lack of political experience is fast becoming a burden. His failure to act on important issues such as poverty and corruption could be enough for the public to turn on him once again. Kelsey Alford-Jones, the executive director of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, said that the public is tired of the corruption in the government as well as their disregard for the qualms of the people in previous years. Alford-Jones then added that if the public senses similar problems in the incoming administration, it likely won't be long before they take to the streets again. El Periodico noted that the democratic government is made to face greater challenges. With the problems Morales is facing now, only time can tell whether he will be the government to change the situation of the country, or be among the long list of former presidents who was absorbed by the poison of politics. 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Glitz, glamour, parties, and magic: that's what the land of the free promised many of its tourists and even immigrants. However, Latino tourists are quick to get reality checks once they set foot in the United States: Disneyland, Baywatch, and Sex and the City are not exactly the pictures they see in the real world. As We Are Mitu noted, not everything is glitzy, glamorous, and gorgeous in America. In fact, there are not-so-pretty things, like the dangers of fast food, not-so-pretty neighborhoods, and people who have had too much botox. However, there are bigger problems that Latinos face, especially when it comes to immigration. What happens then when they cross the border and promises of greener pastures are broken? Al Jazeera noted that in Allentown, Pennsylvania, environmental racism came into play, resulting in the lead poisoning of a community that is more than 40 percent Latino -- low-income Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, at that. Donald Trump's bias against Latinos is not helping matters either. The fight against immigration has put other Latino problems on the back-burner. Angelo Falcon, the president of the National Institute for Latino Policy told NBC, "Although immigration reform affects about 15 percent of the total Latino population, as a public policy issue it now occupies almost all the Latino policy agenda, sucking up, as one colleague recently put it, all the oxygen on Latino issues." Lack of Latino leaders also makes it hard to address issues about the Latino community, as nobody can properly present their qualms to higher legislation. The Pew Research said that in December 2013, the main issues for Hispanics in America include education, jobs and the economy, and health care. Immigration ranks fifth. Clarissa Martinez De Castro of the National Council of La Raza said, "Immigration continues to be wielded as a wedge issue. When we are talking about health care or voting rights, there are those who keep inserting immigration into the mix, whether it pertains to a particular issue or not - and normally in a detrimental way." Cristina Beltran, an associate at the New York University, added that instead of using immigration as a step in understanding the Latinos in the United states, it has become an "end-all." The widening social inequality in the world's melting pot is something to look into. As Al Jazeera said, Americans have a "collective state" in ensuring the success of the youth -- and marginalization is not the way to progress. 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Consumers are ready to embrace 5G technology, especially considering that it will give them communication speeds of ten to a hundred times faster than the current internet connections. Modern Readers pointed out that theoretically, your favorite TV show can be downloaded in less than 5 seconds. To embrace the coming of new technology, AT&T and Verizon decided to go ahead and step in front of the curve as they collaborate on how to standardize the specifications of 5G technology. According to Tech Times, Verizon started exploring 5G last year, while AT&T is planning on developing the same tech later this year, working closely with Ericsson and Intel. Arun Bansal, senior vice president of Ericsson said, "5G will impact the entire mobile network - from devices to access and core to cloud -- and open up exciting new IoT applications for consumers and industry." He also added, "Ericsson is enabling AT&T to move beyond 5G lab tests to gain a greater understanding of 5G's potential in their own network environments and markets." Verizon, on the other hand, announced last September that it is in contact with other firms as well, including Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung. Back then, Verizon said its 5G connectivity will be fast enough to download a Hollywood blockbuster. Verizon executive vice president Roger Gurnani said in a statement, "5G is no longer a dream of the distant future. We feel a tremendous sense of urgency to push forward on 5G and mobilize the ecosystem by collaborating with industry leaders and developers to usher in a new generation of innovate on." So what makes 5G better than the current 4G technology? Tech Times noted that it has Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology that ensures the efficient flow of data. The MIMO is then combined with carrier aggregation that ensures the data can stream down on the endpoints via servers and mobile devices. This then gives low latency (the time it takes between a query and the response time) connections that give an average speed of 50 times faster than the current 4G technology. The 5G technology can then deliver the power for virtual reality experiences, self-driving cars robotics, and more. John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president of AT&T operations said, "These technologies will be immersive, pervasive and responsive to customers explained, "5G will help make them a reality. 5G will reach its full potential because we will build it on a software-centric architecture that can adapt quickly to new demands and give customers more control of their network services." 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. More and more babies have been affected by the dangerous Zika virus over the past few months, and Brazil is having trouble containing the disease. As the number of affected citizens grow, more and more babies are being borne with microcephaly, a condition that leaves babies disabled, making them unable to walk, talk, or eat without help. For other places, abortion is legal -- it is the choice of the mother whether or not she will subject their children to such a condition the rest of their lives. In Brazil, women aren't offered the same choice and it is causing debates in the Brazilian government. Refinery 29 noted that some people -- like the catholic leaders, for instance, insist on abortion and contraception bans. Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner of the National Council of Bishops in Brazil said, "Contraceptives are not a solution. There is not a single change in the Church's position." He, along with the Catholic leaders, advocate for abstinence or natural family planning -- a method that according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services has a failure rate of 25 percent, as cited by Parent Herald. In Brazil, abortion is illegal except when the pregnancy is due to rape or is a danger to the mother's life. The only medical condition involving the baby to make abortion legal is anencephaly, which is a birth defect that involves the brain. In court, the debate is highly likely to intensify. A judge in Goiania already authorized abortions in severe cases of microcephaly, with media weighing in on the issue. A daily paper, Folha de S Paulo via CBS News said, "The most logical solution would be to revise the penal code relating to abortion, decriminalizing the practice. The legislation is three-quarters of a century old." A group of attorneys and psychologists are also on their way of preparing a lawsuit to allow legal abortions for women infected with the Zika virus. This is the same group which won an eight-year legal battle that added anencephaly to the list of justifications for legal abortion in 2012. They hope to make the law see their point of view early this year as well. In a Catholic country like Brazil, abortion is morally wrong. However, as presented by others, how can you bring a child into the world when he or she is going to need help to live his entire life, in an almost vegetative state? The debate regarding abortion is nowhere near reaching common ground, but are you pro-life or pro-choice in this matter? 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Marijuana Legalization Doesn't Mean You Can Grown Your Own; Cannabis Sales Could Quadruple by 2020 media@latinoshealth.com By Czarmecin Feb 15, 2016 04:32 AM EST Many are hoping that the use of marijuana will soon be legalized in most states. While some are still hesitant to pursue it, a new study suggests that the sales of cannabis will grow four times, four years from now. According to The Montley Fool, the expansion of legalizing marijuana at the state level has been incredible since 1996. California started the trend of allowing the prescription of medical cannabis and 22 additional states followed, including Washington, D.C. Per the report, it is not just the medical marijuana that is growing. Recreational marijuana has also been approved by voters in four states since 2012. These states include Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska. Many believe that this will even grow during the November 2016 election. Nevada has already gathered enough signatures to get a recreational initiative on its ballot. In addition, California, Ohio and half-dozen more states are likely looking forward to legalizing marijuana this November. If the legalization of marijuana will be granted, its sales could soar high. ArcView reported that marijuana sales grew by 17 percent in 2015, from $4.6 billion in 2014 to $5.4 billion in 2015. This year, the projected sales growth is 25 percent. However, with the continued state-level legalization efforts, the sales growth might take a 30 percent rate annually. The projected legal sale by 2020 is $22 billion, which is quadruple the amount sold in 2015. The expansive growth springs from the polling numbers from the public National pollster Gallup in October, which shows that 58 percent of Americans support the use of legal marijuana. A decade ago, only 36 percent were in favor and, in the mid-1990s, only 25 percent. Indeed, there is a growing support for marijuana legalization. However, in case marijuana will be legalized, this does not mean that residents will be allowed to grow cannabis in their backyard, Civilized reported. Among the reason for this is doing so will make it more accessible to minors. The Canadian Police Association noted that home growing should be highly regulated and limited to medical marijuana patients only. Another potential reason home-growing marijuana might not be allowed is its lack of support to the regulated market. Jim Gerhardt, vice president of the Colorado Drug Investigators Association, announced that letting people grow marijuana at home could undercut the regulated market. "Home growers can produce a lot of marijuana and they can certainly sell it for less than the [licensed] dispensaries," Gerhardt said. Do you support marijuana legalization? Do you agree that home growing marijuana should be regulated? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Subscribe to the latinos health newsletter! Domingo Martinez burst upon the literary scene with his masterful 2012 memoir The Boy Kings of Texas. The tragicomic autobiography, which detailed the authors rough experiences growing up in the oppressive and all-too-often violent world of the Rio Grande Valley, became a finalist for the National Book Award. With its highly original take on border issues and the plight of young Latinos pressured by a tradition of machismo, the book quickly caught the eye of Salma Hayek, who met with the author to express her respect for his work. She then put "The Boy Kings of Texas" forward to become an original HBO series. The Boy Kings of Texas, with its unabashed accounts of drinking, generational family drama, jail time, and poisonous love affairs, was a brave and brazen first book to write. But for Martinez, confronting the upsetting facts of his life was the essence of his art. My life was repressed memories and denial," he told the Texas Observer in 2012, If I wasnt brave enough to bring it all up, then I had no business writing. Since the publication of The Boy Kings of Texas, a second memoir, My Heart Is a Drunken Compass, has been published, and Martinez has been busy giving guest lectures, writing new stories and trying to adapt his first memoir to the small screen. Latin Post recently caught up with the author about his life and his current projects. A Cookbook Next? In his last memoir, Martinez seemed to joke that, due to the soul-taxing nature of autobiography, his next book would be a cookbook. The author revealed he is actually pondering this as a possible project. Just last week I was thinking about writing one for alcoholic cooks, called 'Cooking for Drunks,'" Martinez said. "The idea would be to make up these huge, elaborate, terrible meals from stuff you have lying around your pantry, and when you're done, the food just kind of sits there on the stove. The point of the book would actually delve deeper, past simple cooking instructions, to promote a kind of introspection about the consequences of inebriation. The real idea being, it's for the next day: You reheat it while everyone is hung over and people are ashamed about who they slept with and they can quietly, guiltily do their gnosh of shame, while waiting for their Uber. It's a Christmas book, obviously. Alternate title: 'Cooking Leftovers, You Terrible Bastards,'" Martinez explained. Struggling With Drinking Outside of his plans for some future comedic cookbook, binge drinking and the ramifications of an alcoholic lifestyle heavily figure in both of Martinezs memoirs. In My Heart Is a Drunken Compass, he hints he may one day give up drinking altogether. Has Martinez become a teetotaler now? "Thats something I struggle with every day. I clearly have the addiction gene and habits, and Im sure its something Ill be living with until the very end," Martinez said. For the time being, the writer said he is simply trying to manage his tendency to get tanked and admits some weeks are better than others. "Im seeing a psychiatrist and Ive started a new medication that is intended to curb the desire for drink," he said. "But then, so is apparently an AA meeting and nothing makes me want to drink more than sitting around a room for an hour talking about drinking. Salma Hayek and the Memoir Days before he spoke at the 2013 Texas Book Festival, Martinez met with Hayek, who had read "The Boy Kings of Texas" and wanted to discuss the potential for a screen project. According to Martinez, the actress was especially excited about his depiction of Latino male behavior. She told me that the description of machismo from the inside by someone who doesnt participate in it was a book she had been waiting to read for 10 years, he said. Though the prospect of turning his memoir into a series may seem like a writers dream come true, Martinez described his experience of working on his first HBO script as the most frightening thing he has ever done. Coming from a man who has written two memoirs teeming with life-threatening scenarios along the U.S.-Mexico border, that is a strong statement. Aside from the stress of script-writing, Martinez has found that naming Hayek an employer is not the best conversation starter. Believe me, you dont repeat that after a while, Martinez said. People have way too many questions and you get locked into the same conversations. After a few weeks, I started telling people I was a graphic designer again. What Next for Martinez and Chicano Literature During Martinez's time working on an HBO script, he started writing a collection of short stories that he is now finalizing. The forthcoming collection is called Certain Distant Sons, and the stories center around the theme of separation from mothers and fathers. Martinez described the scope of the new collection as "pretty broad," and he called the work an exercise in fear. Martinez was never the biggest fan of Chicano literature. He told the Texas Observer that as a young man he was more inspired by the literary possibilities he discovered in William Goldmans ironic pastiche The Princess Bride. His brand of self-deprecating autobiography has more in common with William Saroyan than Sandra Cisneros. But whatever influence Chicano literature did or did not have on his writing, Martinez is now one of the genre's stars. He said he has come to regard the category as deriving strength from location. "I think the marketplace is bearing itself out west of the Mississippi, where people actually know the difference between, say, a Puerto Rican and a Mexican," the author said. "East of the Mississippi, though, I dont think the population at large can discern the carbohydrate difference between a fried banana and a corn tortilla, or they dont really care." Martinez added he feels Chicano literature is changing and adapting to reflect the complexity of the times. "Previously, it was a sort of grab-bag, loose utensil drawer," he said. "Now the stories are becoming more specific and personal, and our writers more liberated. And hopefully, we can carry off this new liberation and remain relevant." Even as the praises for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia poured in from all fronts, the mother of all partisan battles appeared to be taking shape as to what should happen in the wake of his demise. After learning of the 79-year-old Scalia's death, The L.A. Times reports President Obama ordered flags at the White House lowered to half-staff, but he is already on record in asserting he plans "to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time." Meanwhile, the newspaper adds Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has been just as adamant in making clear the Republican-controlled Senate does not plan to act until after the November election in filling the Scalia vacancy; the hope being a GOP presidential victory will allow for the installation of a fellow conservative in the now vacant seat. Scalia's Death Could Shift Court's Balance of Power Almost all agree Scalia's death drastically alters the balance of power on the nation's high court, which up until now had been divided between five conservatives and four liberals. Democratic appointees have not held a majority on the court in more than four decades. Scalia's death also figures to have an instant and lasting impact on the court's immediate schedule, which this term was slated to hear cases on the long contentious issues of immigration and abortion. Immigration Battle Could Grown Even Hotter This spring the court was set to render a decision on President Obama's immigration orders shielding roughly five million people who entered the U.S. without legal authorization or either overstayed the terms of their visas from deportation. A federal judge in Texas previously blocked the administration from proceeding with its plan, prompting the White House to file an appeal. Scalia's death could now leave the high court deadlocked on the issue, thereby legally upholding the lower court's verdict on the matter. While such an outcome would still block the administration from proceeding with its plan, it could pave the way for a future Democratic president to re-litigate the issue. As early as in March, the court is also scheduled to hear arguments in an abortion case from Texas that was expected to decide whether states can adopt overly-strict medical regulations that have led to the shuttering of many abortion clinics. So far, the court has temporarily blocked the Texas rules from taking effect, a decision that might remain in effect if they cannot make a formal ruling in the case. Both Democrats and Republicans alike have pointed to the case as a critical showdown, but without Scalia the justices may not have a majority to rule on the matter one way or the other. According to USA Today, among the GOP leaders publicly agreeing with the stance taken by McConnell are 2016 presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Insisting that the nation owes it to Scalia's legacy, Cruz argued that his colleagues should "ensure that the next President names his replacement," while Rubio added "the next president" should pick a new justice in the mold of Scalia." Republican front-runner Donald Trump did not make mention of the nomination process in a statement he released praising Scalia for what he deemed his strict adherence to the letter of the Constitution. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have also weighed in, with Clinton insisting Republicans who want to delay the appointment of a new justice "dishonor our Constitution." While pointing out that he disagreed with Scalia on many fronts, Sanders praised him as "a brilliant, colorful and outspoken member of the Supreme Court." Although not as well-known as his fellow GOP presidential hopefuls, John Kasich, the current governor of Ohio, has been holding steady in the race. According to a poll conducted for Augusta Chronicle, Kasich has 9 percent of South Carolina Republican primary voters. To put this in perspective, the same poll shows Donald Trump is on top with 36 percent, while Ted Cruz has 19 percent and Ben Carson is at 5 percent. With this in mind, Latin Post looks at where the 63-year-old candidate stands on core issues. Immigration & Border Security Kasich, who has said the U.S. should finish construction on a border fence along Mexico, says, if elected president, he would crack down on illegal immigration but would provide immigrants already living in the U.S. a pathway to citizenship. In a 2015 CNN interview, Kasich said immigrants contributed a great deal to America. "They're hard workers, they're God-fearing, they're family-oriented. If they committed a crime, they've got to be deported or put in prison, but the only reason I say that is we have to solve this," said Kasich. The governor differs from more anti-immigrant candidates such as Trump and Cruz, by his ability to be comparably malleable on the subject. I'm just not going to pound the table on all these things and say my way or the highway," he said. Taxes According to Kasichs official site, his plans to invigorate the U.S. economy would involve cutting taxes, which is something Kasich has a record of doing. Since becoming governor of Ohio, Kasich has cut $5 billion in taxes by doing away with the death tax, reducing the state income tax by 16 percent, and making a special effort to eliminate the income tax for small businesses. While campaigning in New Hampshire, Kasich told his supporters that fiscal restraint was something missing in Washington. As quoted in the Lowells Sun, he said, "We must cut taxes to stimulate the economy. People won't create jobs because they're worried about this (debt). Kasich claims that under his leadership Ohio is currently running a surplus. Education Regarding education, Kasich says the responsibility of upholding academic standards should be a local concern that should not be micromanaged by federal bureaucrats. According to his site, Kasich believes lesson plans and textbooks choices should all be up to the local school districts. As president, Kasich would defend schools against the threat of federal intrusion infringing on their educational rights and freedoms. Aside from protecting the rights of local school districts, Kasich would seek to incorporate the ideas of parents and educational leaders alike in order to best inform his education policies. He would also support alternative pathways to graduation such as homeschooling, while making school vouchers available to all eligible students. Health Care In line with his fellow Republican candidates, Kasich views Obamacare as an expensive failure. Kasich believes Obamacare must be repealed and replaced with a program that would manage to lower the costs of health care yet stay outside of a patient's personal health decisions. According to Kasich, one reason the Affordable Healthcare Act fails is because it prioritizes treating symptoms rather than solving the underlying problems, which lead to disease. As his site informs, the candidate would seek to overhaul Obamacare by first implementing a primary care system that would promote long term wellness instead of merely just reacting to the patients illness. This preventative action would not only help patients in the long run but would help control medical costs as well. Kasich also believes health care costs could be brought down if everyone involved in a specific procedure, from the surgeons to the rehabilitation therapists, were considered as a whole and billed accordingly. Gun Rights Kasich, a gun owner, is a strong supporter of the right to bear arms. Due to his recent efforts to uphold the second amendment, Kasichs 2014 gubernatorial reelection campaign was endorsed by the National Rifle Association. According to his site, Kasich states President Obamas executive orders regarding gun control are a hindrance to a citizens right to keep and bear arms. Kasich's views on guns have changed in recent years. In 1994 he received much criticism from the NRA for joining with other House members to ban the production and sale of 19 semi-automatic assault weapons. As quoted in The Columbus Dispatch, Lars Dalseide, a spokesman for the NRA, praised Kasichs recent more pro-gun stance. Gov. Kasichs position on firearms, especially when addressing concealed carry and transportation issues, has shifted to reflect a more respectful view of the Second Amendment and law-abiding citizens right to exercise their constitutional freedoms, said Dalseide. Terrorism & Defense Kasich feels there is no room to negotiate with terrorist groups such as ISIS. His plan for defeating ISIS involves strengthening the U.S. military, working with U.S. allies in order to combat common threats, and globally spreading the concept of democracy. Kasich says the military must be reviewed and strengthened. He has called for a $102 billion increase in defense spending over the next eight years in order to improve capabilities and create new cyber defenses. The governor wants the U.S. to review its alliances and marshal its public diplomacy in order to spread ideas of freedom and democracy. In a 2015 CNN interview, Kasich said that the fight against ISIS would eventually require U.S. boots on the ground. "I think that the Western world needs to be united, and we need to invite our friends in the Arab world together, and we do need to develop a plan," he added. Chocolate is perhaps the world's most delectable treat. Unfortunately, the global supplies of chocolate are becoming increasingly scarce. The world is currently in the midst of what could be the longest streak of consecutive chocolate scarcities in more than five decades. Due to the factors that affect cocoa crops such as drought and disease, farmers are producing less cocoa than what the world consumes. According to a report entitled, "Destruction by Chocolate," supply for chocolates are decreasing due to poor farming methods. And since the demand outstrips the supply, it drives the world for a "chocolate deficit." More than a billion people from China, Indonesia, India, Brazil and the former Soviet Union have enter the market for cocoa since the '90s. However, the supply has not able to keep up with the increasing demand and the stockpiles for cocoa are falling, Daily Mail noted. "Demand is growing faster than supply and for the downstream sector the possibility of a supply shortfall is a looming nightmare," Hardman Agribusiness managing director and study author Doug Hawkins said. "In no other important commodity or business sector is there such a fragile balance between security of commodity supply and downstream brand performance. This fragility has increased with the emergence of the big new economies in Asia, Latin America and FSU." Hawkins also added that the production of cocoa is under strain as farming methods have not changed for centuries. "Unlike other tree crops that have benefited from the development of modern, high yielding cultivars and crop management techniques to realize their genetic potential, more than 90 percent of the global cocoa crop is produced by smallholders on subsistence farms with unimproved planting material," he explained, as per Herald Scotland. He also revealed that there are signs that the world will be experiencing a chocolate deficit of 100,000 tons annually in the next few years. Despite the looming chocolate shortage, Hawkins said Latin American farmers could solve the imminent threat in the supply of chocolates in the world. In fact, the future of cocoa production is being designed in the LatAm region, where the crop is being re-imagined. "Our research report lays bare a spiral of decline in Asia and the unpalatable truth about African production whilst shining a spotlight on the exciting developments in Latin America," Hawkins said. "Asian cocoa production is in a spiral of decline, African cocoa production cannot be described as sustainable and only in the Americas is a vibrant, progressive cocoa culture developing which offers the hope of a sustainable, reliable supply of high quality cocoa," he added. Hawkins also emphasized that Latin American farmers are eager to develop new methods of farming that will save the world from the devastating chocolate shortage. "We are seeing in Latin America, particularly in Ecuador, farmers who are saying, 'Let's bring it into the 21st century, let's rethink this crop,'" Hawkins said, Daily Mirror quoted. "That's what is happening: these are highly professional farms producing cocoa in an efficient way." The latest threat in the global supply of chocolates is not actually the first time it has been reported. As a matter of fact, a chocolate shortage report had already surfaced two years ago. Based on 2014 report, chocolate manufacturers had revealed that the world's chocolate supply has been diminishing and consumers are eating through the supply faster than makers can produce. Experts even predicted that worldwide chocolate shortage will be likely experienced by 2030. Researchers from the University of Mississippi have found out that marijuana's potency has become stronger today than it was back in 1995. The study used a total of 38,681 samples of cannabis and was recently published in the Biological Psychiatry journal. The thousands of samples were obtained from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and dates back to Jan. 1, 1995 up to Dec. 31, 2014. The data results showed that the number of sinsemilla variety samples increased and the potency of the illegal marijuana samples rose from 4 percent in 1995 to about 12 percent in 2014. According to Oxford Eagle, the research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and led by Mahmoud A. ElSohly, research professor and professor of pharmaceutics from the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The National Center for Natural Products Research supplied the high-quality grade marijuana to the licensed researchers including Suman Chandra, James C. Church, Susan Foster, Chandrani Gon and Zlatko Mehmedic. "I'm very proud to work for the Marijuana Project. It is very well-known across the country, and I'm honored to work for Dr. ElSohly. It is extremely important that we keep good security and up-to-date inventory when we are growing. We document everything we do and make sure that all the DEA and FDA requirements are met," Chandra said. The study concluded that the increase in marijuana potency has a higher risk of cannabis addiction among young people. It is mainly due to the majority of illegally produced cannabis changed from regular marijuana to the much stronger sinsemilla variety. "We can see that the ratio of THC to CBD has really, really increased and climbed so much higher. When a person smokes marijuana with lower doses of THC, it is a pleasant feeling. It is the munchies, the happiness," ElSohly told Live Science. However, ElSohly added that smoking marijuana with high doses of THC poses a higher risk of psychosis or panic attacks. He pointed out several likely factors behind the increase in potency of illegal marijuana like the development of tolerance to THC. "They need increasingly higher doses of THC to get high. These people create a demand for more and more potent varieties of pot," he said. In a recent report by Newser, the frequent use of high-potent varieties of marijuana could result in psychosis and may cause damage to nerve fibers. The reported damage is very similar to a concussion and could lead to other mental health problems. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said during the Munich Security Conference last Feb. 13 that the world is in a "new Cold War." Medvedev cited NATO's feelings towards Russia and said the comments in front of world diplomats like U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, per USA Today. "NATO's attitude toward Russia remains unfriendly and opaque, and one could go so far as to say we have slid back to a new Cold War. Sometimes I wonder if it is the year 2016 or 1962," the Russian Prime Minister said. "The picture is more grim than in 2007. Russia's rhetoric, posture and exercises of its nuclear forces are aimed at intimidating its neighbors, undermining trust and stability in Europe," Medvedev added. Russian President Vladimir Putin said back in 2007 in the same conference in Munich that the establishment of a new missile defense system by Western countries is risking a new Cold War. Medvedev added in his speech that the penalty imposed by NATO on Russia after the events in Crimea raised tensions. BBC News reports that Russia has received criticism from other countries because of the Crimean Peninsula invasion back in 2014 and recently with the air strikes in Syria in cooperation with President Bashar al-Assad. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in the same conference that Russia used force on both occasions, but the alliance wants an improved communication with President Putin and the rest of Russian officials. "We are not in a cold-war situation, but also not in the partnership that we established at the end of the Cold War," Stoltenberg said. U.S. Senator John McCain quickly responded on Sunday at the same conference in Germany by condemning Russia's attack on Syrian territory, per CNN. He even accused Putin of not being interested in having a partnership with the U.S. and using Syria to modernize its military. "He wants to re-establish Russia as a major power in the Middle East. He wants to use Syria as a live-fire exercise for Russia's modernizing military," McClain said. The former U.S. presidential candidate added that Putin wants the Syrian province of Latakia for a military outpost and to increase the existing refugee crisis in the West. According to History, the Cold War between the U.S., its NATO allies and the rest of the Western Bloc against the Eastern Bloc, which consists of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, started at the end of World War II. The tensions ended on Dec. 25, 1991 when the Commonwealth of Independent States was formed with Russia and most of the former USSR states. Colombia is perhaps considered the plastic surgery capital in Latin America. As a matter of fact, the country has always been in the top 10 with the highest number of operations, along with Venezuela and Brazil. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), a plastic surgery procedure is performed every five minutes in Colombia. And among the most popular choices were liposuction and breast implants. Due to the rising popularity of cosmetic surgery in the country, there has been no shame in taking one's body in for alterations. Vacation packages promising corporeal transformations are even offered by travel agencies and plastic surgeons in the country. As several locals and tourists seek plastic surgery procedures in Colombia because of its relatively cheap prices, these low-cost procedures, which are reportedly done in so-called, "garage clinics," come with extreme health risks and criticism. On a weekly basis, Imbanaco Medical Center plastic surgeon Alfonso Riascos Villegas revealed that an average of five patients, whose procedure were carried out in "garage clinics" visit a his office basis due to irregularities in their skin, necrosis, infections and asymmetries. Villegas also added that plastic surgery malpractices have been quite rampant in Colombia due to the much cheaper procedures performed by untrained or unlicensed staff. "In the region (Cali), there are 90 plastic surgeons and more than 700 in the country (Colombia as a whole), but general practitioners and those from other areas are performing these procedures," Villegas said, as per El Tiempo. "It's a great risk to go to people without specialized training." Among the most common malpractice is the application of biopolymers and all kinds of substances in order to augment the buttocks or have a "butt lift," Latin Correspondent reported. There are also risks of malpractice in rejuvenation procedures where substances are injected in the face, forehead, cheekbone, lips and wrinkles. "The worst is when it comes to biopolymers as they cannot be removed entirely and they go on to provoke allergic reactions for the rest of (the patient's) life," Colombian Society of Plastic Surgery president Lina Triana said. In addition, poorly-performed liposculpture and breast augmentations are also some of the common results of plastic surgery botches in Colombia. In fact, many victims end up being hospitalized since the procedures are performed by untrained practitioners. Triana also emphasized that all plastic surgery often comes with risks. However, these threats can be reduced when performed by appropriately trained staff, who possess the knowledge, skills and experience required for each particular procedure. And with the assistance anesthesiologists and the necessary medical equipment, malpractice can be minimized. Despite the warnings and the well-documented malpractice cases reported by the media, desperate patients are still going to "garage clinics" and insalubrious clinics to seek plastic surgery procedures. Today, Colombia is in the seventh place worldwide when it comes to plastic surgery procedures. Experts said the Latin American nation carries out about 440,000 cosmetic surgery and nonsurgical procedures. The Venezuelan Court has granted the maximum penalty of 30 years of imprisonment to the last three defendants for the assault and homicide case of ex-Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and her husband, prosecutor said Saturday, Feb. 13. A note from the Attorney General's Office said, "Considering the convincing proof presented by the prosecution Alejandro Maldonado Perez, 23, Franklin Cordero Alvarez, 30, and Leonar Marcano Lugo, 35, were sentenced to 30 years in prison." The three were convicted by the northern state of Carabobo with "intentional homicide committed during the robbery." As reported by Latino Fox News, other suspects Nelfrend Jimenez, 23, Jean Carlos Caloni, 21, and Jose Ferreira, 20, were previously sentenced between 24 to 26 years in prison. On the other hand, Gerardo Contreras Alvarez, who was only 19 when the crime happened, was sentenced to be in jail for four years. When a video was made for the documentation of the new edition of the book "The Homicide of Monica Spear" was aired Oct. 2, Alvarez insisted they never planned to kill the ex-beauty queen or her family. The initial plan was only to rob and not to end Spear's life. He told Maria Isoliett Iglesias and Deivis Ramirez, the book's authors: "I didn't kill her because I wanted to, I just shot and the bullet happened to hit her... I'm not sorry. I know someday I'm going to get out of here." Alvarez also stated the complete details of how his group executed the crime to Iglesias and Ramirez. According to him, they first threw some rocks on the street then waited until some vehicle would pass and had an accident. As the vehicle got stranded, they would then grab the chance to assault the people inside it. "Spear remained quiet -- it was robbery. I searched her. She said nothing. The husband talked, but I didn't understand anything because he was talking another language." When a tow truck tried to help, offering the victims breakdown assistance, the suspects began to panic and that was when every one of them opened fire, as posted by Yahoo News. The crime happened on Jan. 2014 when Spear and Thomas Henry Berry, 39, her British husband, was on their way going home passing through the highway in central Venezuela with their 5-year-old daughter. Their daughter was shot in the leg while Spear and her husband both died from a fatal shot. Meanwhile, their daughter has already recovered and is presently living with Rafael Spear, her maternal grandfather, in Orlando, Florida. "Teen Mom 2" star Jenelle Evans was hospitalized last January after suffering from various ailments which were not specified. Though Evans openly shared what she went through on social media, she did not mention what her disease was. She then added that the doctors were still unsure of their diagnosis on the cause of her unidentified illness. According to Radar Online, Evans went in and out of the hospital over the course of one week; her ailment however was not mentioned or specified. Evans previously admitted that she's battling anxiety disorder which often triggers her shortness of breath, but it was not the reason behind her frequent hospital trips. Evans was admitted on January 27, Wednesday, and was readmitted a few days after. "Her nerves are all messed up in her body and she has restless leg syndrome and can hardly walk," a source told Radar. "She has shortness of breath and loss of coordination and balancing when walking. She's having hot flashes like insane and overload in every sense of her body. She feels like she has arthritis in her knees." The doctors' findings initially pointed out Evans' anxiety, but the "Teen Mom" star insisted on having several tests. "Jenelle doesn't think it's stress-related," said the source. "The other hospital said it was anxiety, but they ran simple blood tests and Jenelle told them they were wrong, and to take a thyroid test on her. They refused and discharged her and sent her home." Aside from her hospitalization hype, Evans made it back on headlines after posting an Instagram photo of herself, popping a white pill which stirred a controversial comment thread. Though Evans made it clear that the pill was a "carb blocker supplement," fans and followers still took their time in trash-talking the starlet as per Hollywood Gossips' report. Evans openly admitted that she used to struggle with drug addiction, most especially with cocaine wherein she used to spend $400 a day for the drug. In relation to her addiction, fans were not thrilled seeing her with the pill as it can lead to false speculations knowing that she had a history with drugs. Fans will get to see more of Jenelle's health progress and personal life as she'll be making a comeback for "Teen Mom 2" season seven. Fans will get a glimpse of who Jenelle's new boyfriend is, following her breakup with her abusive baby daddy, Nathan Griffith. "Teen Mom 2" season seven will make its way back into the TV screen on MTV by March 21, 2016, according to Us Weekly. American Actress Jennifer Lawrence felt the need to help after visiting a Kentucky hospital that cares for children who are sick. It was during her recent hometown holiday trip that she decided to allot $2 million to establish the "Jennifer Lawrence Foundation Cardiac Intensive Care Unit," Lawrence announced Friday, Feb. 12. "My family and I have met so many wonderful children on our visits to the hospital. Their strength and courage is inspiring," Jennifer Lawrence said. She is encouraging other people to do the same and also challenging those who are fortunate enough to match the gift she gave. Jennifer was with her two brothers and parents, Greg and Karen Lawrence, when she revisited these wonderful children. Karen shared to the media how often her daughter would visit the place during the recent holidays. According to her, Jennifer even told them how blessed she was with the lives of these children. They even heard her say, "That's Christmas for me." The hospital executives revealed a rendering of the new cardiac ICU with Jennifer's name affixed in the building to show their gratitude toward the actress's act of kindness, as reported by OC Register. Jennifer's mom also added, "She's all about giving... she's not materialistic." Jennifer "has the biggest heart of anybody I know." The money she donated will be used to make major improvements to the hospital as it plans to expand its facilities and expertise. The innovation was made to be able to expand its services for the children and infants who have birth defects and heart diseases. As posted by the USA Today, the hospital is still raising funds to support their $25 million ICU project. The special room will feature 15 beds for children who will need intensive care. The hospital officials said there are also plans to allot a bigger space for the room so that the family of those who are confined will be able to stay with their children while they are under treatment. Jennifer's parents are both grateful and honored that their family was able to help other people. They also expressed how proud they were of Jennifer that she was able to stand out and help these children. "I'm so happy that we and she is able... to help another family. It's just giving from your heart," said Karen. Growing up in Louisville, Jennifer has been recognized as the Academy Award winner for her role in "The Hunger Games." She was also nominated for her role for the dramatic comedy film "Joy." The two-year plight of the Hellfire Missile that was mistakenly sent to Cuba has finally ended and is now back in the U.S. According to Wall Street Journal, the missile has arrived in Orlando, Florida where it will be surrendered to its manufacturer's warehouse, the Lockheed Martin Corp. The U.S. government and a representative from Lockheed Martin Corp. lauded the cooperation of the Cuban government in expediting the retrieval of the missile and bringing it home to the U.S. Mark Toner of the state department said in a written statement, "We can say without speaking to specifics that the inert training missile has been returned with the cooperation of the Cuban government. The re-establishment of diplomatic relations and the reopening of our embassy in Havana allow us to engage with the Cuban government on issues of mutual interest." The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] is conducting a separate investigation on the apparent fate of the Hellfire Missile. The organization has also based its investigation on queries that have been addressed by Lockheed Martin Corp. The Hellfire Missile, before it was mistakenly shipped to Cuba, was part of a NATO drill in Spain. After its purpose was exhausted, it was supposed to be returned to the U.S. but never made it until it was reported to arrive in Havana, Cuba. The Cuban government immediately took charge and kept the missile without any further details about it. Questions surrounding whether the missile was intentionally shipped to the country or was just a mistake from its handlers remained unanswered. An investigation on how it was mishandled was also launched. In a statement given by the Cuban government, they acknowledged that they received the Hellfire AGM 114 warhead and said that they made the necessary communication to the U.S. government on the process of returning it. According to the Daily Caller, despite the missile having sensitive parts, it didn't have its warhead and an installed guidance system. According to the news outlet, U.S. officials initially feared that the Cuban government might share the information on the missile's technology to North Korea and Russia. It was in 2014 when the Hellfire Missile was mistakenly shipped to Cuba instead of its original destination, which was in Germany. The Hellfire Missile will join other similar weapons manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp. in a warehouse specially made for the ammunition. After world leaders came to a conclusion of a partial Syria ceasefire during the recent Munich Talks, Russia suggested that it may not succeed partly because of the absence of their participation on the plans. According to Reuters, the Syrian war escalated to new heights after the Russian government supported Syria, providing them with extensive air strike back-up. U.S. State of Secretary John Kerry has since asked Russia's support on the ceasefire deal by changing their targets if they cannot adhere to a partial ceasefire. The U.S. has also asked the support of Syrian Kurds and Turkey to join the fight against the ISIS, which has a stronghold in larger parts of Syria. Russia's role in escalating the current war in Syria has also reached new heights after gaining control of the area near Aleppo for the Syrian government. With Raqqa as their next target, this may come as a challenge as the ISIS has a strong hold in the province. A Syrian military force said, "It is an indication of the direction of coming operations towards Raqqa. In general, the Raqqa front is open ... starting in the direction of the Tabqa area." According to The Guardian, opposition groups have little trust on Russia's ability to cooperate with the ceasefire saying, "No negotiation can take place while Russia is bombing our people, it is a certainty that Russia will continue to attack us while claiming to target al-Nusra. They claimed that their campaign in Syria was to fight Isis but, so far, 85 [percent] to 90 [percent] of their attacks were against the moderate revolutionary groups, with a high percentage of civilian targets." British foreign secretary Philip Hammond implied that if Russia doesn't back down on their air strikes or at least show cooperation on the ceasefire, the opposition groups cannot be expected to join the ceasefire. "They cannot be expected to join in this process," he added. A Free Syrian army member in Aleppo also questioned the inability of the U.S. to control the situation by citing how its efforts in saving the Syrian people is becoming useless because they are now the center of the attacks in Syrian war. Alexei Makarkin, deputy director at the Centre for Political Technologies, believes that Russia's apparent concern doesn't come as a protection for the Asaad governance but by its own personal interest. Latin America was recently found to have the highest female murder rate in the world. A number of international organizations presented that there are several factors which led to the high statistics. According to Mexidata, Latin America had the most female murders worldwide because of organized activities like gang violence and human trafficking, among others. The report showed that seven out of 10 countries with the highest female murder count in the world are in Latin America. El Salvador is at No. 1 with a female murder rate of 8.9 homicides per 100,000 women in 2012. Colombia is next with 6.3, Guatemala is third with 6.2, followed by Russia with 5.3, and Brazil with 4.8. Mexico and Suriname are the other two Latin American countries that made the list. InSight Crime reported that organized crime is a huge contributor to how women are being victimized in Latin America. Thelma Aldana, Attorney General of Guatemala said that half of the 854 women killed in the country in 2015 were murdered due to organized crime. General violence, human trafficking and domestic abuse are also factors that victimize women. Human trafficking usually involves females from 18 to 28 years old, and the numbers continue to rise. Many women from the region and other areas are tricked into entering the sex trade where they may be tortured, raped or murdered. Amado Philip de Andres, Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean, stated that the femicide rate in human trafficking cases is very high, especially for purposes of sexual exploitation, comprising about 91 to 92 percent of cases. De Andres added that the victimization of women never ends, because even if they may escape or are rescued, they may be murdered by organized crime members or later on return to the trade, due to sufficient job opportunities and attention. Mexidata also revealed that gang violence is another major factor that leads to Latin America having the highest female murder stats in the world. Many women are deemed to be the property of gang members. Women are usually during gang wars, where opposing groups target mothers, sisters, wives and girlfriends. Women who are actual members of a crime group are also vulnerable to being murdered. De Andres stated that there is still inadequate prevention and prosecution to stop the very high murder rates of women. It is important to raise awareness about the issues that contribute to the statistics. After the recent prison brawl at Topo Chico in Mexico, which resulted to the death of at least 49 inmates, authorities discovered that there were several luxury items within the facility. ABC News revealed that the warden and superintendent of the Topo Chico prison in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, were arrested and charged with drug trafficking and failing to apply appropriate security measures in the jail. Authorities found several items that were not allowed inside, such as mini refrigerators, portable saunas, aquariums, and more. Ivan Hernandez Cantu, also known as El Credo, a Zetas drug cartel leader, was found to have a large flat-screen television, luxury bath and king-size bed in his cell.Chief prosecutor Roberto Flores stated that during the attack, a woman was even with El Credo. According to Yahoo, on Feb. 14 the state government said that the police seized control of the Topo Chico prison and finally put an end to the self-government that organized crime leaders exerted with the involvement of certain people in authority. The jail previously had luxury cells that came with air conditioning units and other amenities. There were also hundreds of figures of Santa Muerte, a Death Saint who was worshiped by millions of Mexicans. The prison even had convenience stores, a bar and food stands run by inmates. One day after the massacre, the police also found several hammers, drugs and makeshift knives. The authorities reportedly confiscated everything. All the privileges are over, stated Cuauhtemoc Antunez Perez, the chief of state public safety. The prison brawl reportedly started from a dispute over the control of the Topo Chico prison between two Zetas leaders, namely Hernandez and Juan Pedro Zaldivar Farias, also known as Z-27. Most of the victims were murdered by stabbing or after having been beaten with sticks. One guard was charged with fatally shooting one of the inmates during the skirmish. There were 3,800 inmates at the jail during the riot, which was 35 percent beyond its maximum capacity. After the brawl, 233 inmates were transferred to other facilities, including the two Zetas leaders. The presence of the various luxury items, weapons, drugs and even females in the Mexican prison shows the corrupt system which even involves the connivance between jail officials and drug cartel leaders. The government has been attempting to stop the self-control of drug cartels in several prisons for years by creating more policies and adding more officers. More updates and details on Topo Chico prison are expected soon. Panama City is a captivating vacation spot in Latin America. In fact, it was tagged as the most beautiful capital city in Central America. One thing that makes this country stand out is its culture which is an interesting fusion of modern America, old Spain and marketplace atmosphere of the East. People here enjoy ultra-modern kind of cosmopolitan living and it was also listed as one of America's safest cities. The country is very rich in history as well so it is a perfect place to tour. The world's renown tour spot in Panama is probably the Canal but there are still a lot to see. To know more and get a good glimpse of Panama's history, here some places that you must visit: Panama Canal In August 15, 1914, this canal was officially opened. The Americans built this enormous passageway to connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans for easy travel. Moreover, the Panama Canal was meant serve as a shortcut for ships. The waterway was able to trim down the travel from New York to California by almost 8,000 miles. While on tour here, visitors can see the sophisticated engineering applied on the canal where a system of locks elevate ships at 85 feet above sea level. At the Miraflores Locks located at the Pacific entrance of the canal, tourist will be amazed with witnessing millions of gallons of water being carried over in minutes. If you will prefer to ride a cruise ship, it will traverse through the Gatun Lake and Chagres River where wildlife would be very visible. Seeing indigenous natives -- Kuna people -- at San Blas is another highlight of the trip. Casa Viejo Casa Viejo is the ruins of the old Panama City and has been dubbed as the "Disneyland" for tourists who love to visit historical places. The vicinity is full of unsavory history which dates back to 1500s. The city was built in 1519 and was the first European metropolis to constructed in America's Pacific coast. After Pedro Arias Davila built it, the place became a major trading ground, especially for gold and silver. Thus, it was also a favorite looting target of pirates in the old times. Eventually, the attack led by Welsh pirate named Henry Morgan in 1671 left thousands dead and the Casa Viejo in total ruins. The historical landmark is one of the most treasured locations in Panama because if its cultural value. See the colonial architecture and important landmarks like The Metropolitan Cathedral of Panama, Las Bovedas, El Arco Chato, Palacio Bolivar and many more. Portobelo forts It was Christopher Columbus whi named the town Portobelo in 1502. He coined the name by combining the terms Porto and Bello which means beautiful port. But although Columbus gave the town its name, it was Francisco Velarde Mercado who is listed as its founder. The town is a fishing village was Spain's best and richest port from 16th to 18th century. The golds and silvers that were traded to Europe usually passed through Portobelo for registration and counting. The place became a fort after the people built a wall around it as a way to protect the city from notorious pirates. With frequent attacks, it is now in ruins and recorded by UNESCO as one of Panama's World heritage sites. Visit the San Felipe Church and the Real Aduana de Portobelo that was once used as the counting house for the golds and silvers. Despite the sudden passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a decision on President Barack Obama's immigration executive actions lawsuit can still take place without him. The DAPA, DACA+ Lawsuit As a result of losses in the lower courts, the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the Obama administration, requested the Supreme Court hear the Texas lawsuit that seeks to block the president's Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program and the expanded guidelines of the Deferred Action for Childhood Availability (DACA). With DAPA and DACA's expanded rules, nearly 4.9 million eligible undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. would temporarily avoid deportation and be granted three-year permits to stay in the country. The lawsuit was launched by former attorney general Greg Abbott, who now serves as governor for the Lone Star State, but it remains alive under current Attorney General Ken Paxton. The suit scored victories from Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which provided a temporary injunction on DAPA and DACA's expansion, preventing the federal government from implementing the programs. Texas has since received support from other Republican governors and attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. On Jan. 19, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. A Split Court With Scalia's passing, the Supreme Court now has eight judges, though cases will still be reviewed. If the court is split 4-4, then the decision from the previous lower court stands. So, if the Supreme Court decision is a tie, then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit's decision, which supports Judge Hanen's ruling, would reinforce the pause of DAPA and DACA's expansion. With Scalia absent, the court has four consistent liberal-leaning justices -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan -- and three conservative-leaning justices -- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. Justice Anthony Kennedy has regularly joined both sides in the past. For the DAPA and DACA expansion case, the attention will be on Justices Roberts and Kennedy, as both have previously given the Obama administration victories on the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage cases. Scalia's Passing Scalia reportedly died on the morning of Feb. 13 from a heart attack during a retreat in Texas. Following his death, Obama said he intends to name a successor, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the next justice should be named by the next U.S. president. "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President," McConnell said in a statement. "I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time," Obama said on Saturday. "There will be plenty of time for me to do so, and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. They're bigger than any one party. They are about our democracy. They're about the institution to which Justice Scalia dedicated his professional life, and making sure it continues to function as the beacon of justice that our Founders envisioned." __ For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com. A new University of California, San Diego study finds Republican-driven voter ID laws are hindering minority voter turnout heading into the 2016 presidential election. Republican legislators have long argued the laws were designed to crack down on voter identity fraud, while critics have insisted instances of one person impersonating another in order to cast a ballot were extremely rare to begin with. Advocates aligned against the laws have also stressed they would disproportionately impact minority voters because these voters are much less likely to have state-issued forms of ID. "We looked at it because there were a series of claims and counterclaims on both sides," said Zoltan Hajnal, one of the UC San Diego researchers conducting the study. Hajnal and his team focused on voter turnout between 2008 and 2012 in states such as Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, all of which have passed strict voter ID laws. "Racial and Ethnic Turnout" Impacted Their research concluded that "racial and ethnic turnout" declined more sharply than white turnout in states where the laws have actually been enacted. The study revealed Latino turnout decreased by an average of 9.3 points and black turnout by 8.6 points during primary elections where a strict voter ID law had been enacted. General election turnout was almost equally affected in these states, with "the predicted gap" between white and Latino voters swelling from 4.9 points to 13.5 points in those states. For African-Americans, the gap increased by 2.2 points. Brennan Center for Justice Deputy Director of Democracy Myrna Perez said she was fully expecting to confront such results. The New York-based voting rights group has already sued Texas on behalf of several residents who fear that they will be disenfranchised by an ID law there. "Every election that happens with this law in effect, someone has their right to vote blocked," she told KUT.org. "Just because some voters were able to vote doesn't mean that other people were, and it doesn't mean that the people that weren't able to vote don't matter." Minority Voters Crucial on Election Day Latin Post previously reported supporters of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton invested $25 million in a non-partisan organization aimed at protecting and expanding voting rights for minorities. The group, called Every Citizen Counts, is dedicated to educating Latino and African-American voters about the impact they could have come Election Day in November. "There have been too many efforts to restrict access to the polls, making it even more difficult to vote," ECC adviser Guy Cecil told The Associated Press. "We will engage at all levels: pushing for stronger legislation around early voting, same day registration and vote by mail, waging legal battles to roll back onerous laws and registering voters in underrepresented communities across the country." Back in 2014, a U.S. Government Accountability Office survey found state voter ID laws disproportionately affect minorities. In the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, and Tennessee, 8 percent fewer Latino and African-American registered voters held valid IDs than white voters. On Sunday night's episode of "Last Week Tonight," host John Oliver jumped into the raging debate by mocking those who argue the laws are "simple, common sense measures" that don't impact a significant number of people. "By that standard you could say, 'We're going to incinerate everyone named Warren,'" Oliver said. "That's not a 'significant number of people,' but you are going to have a pretty justifiably upset Warren Beatty on your hands." Watch the clip below: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have been running in a tight race for the Democratic nomination. During the Iowa caucus earlier this month, the 2016 hopefuls were nearly tied, with Clinton earning 49.9 percent of the vote and 23 delegates, compared Sanders who gained 49.6 percent and 21 delegates. Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, then suffered a major blow in the New Hampshire primary, where she gained 38 percent of voter support and Sanders won with over 60 percent of support. Next up: the Democratic contenders will face off in the Nevada caucus on Saturday, Feb. 20. Hispanic voters will likely have a strong impact in determining who will win. The Latino Vote In Nevada According to statistics provided to Latin Post by the Nevada State Democratic Party, the state has a diverse electorate, and roughly half of Nevada's population is non-white. 2014 census data shows a growing Latino population that currently makes up about 27.8 percent, while about 9 percent of state residents are African-American and 8.3 percent identify as Asian-American. A breakdown of the 2008 caucus exit polls also shows that 15 percent of Latinos and 15 percent of African-Americans came out to vote. That means 30 percent of caucus voters were of color, while data shows 65 percent were white. In an email, Roberta Lange, Nevada State Democratic Party chairwoman, told Latin Post it is "critical" for the Democratic candidates to appeal to Latino voters and push them to participate in the caucus. "No other early state matches Nevada's demographic and cultural diversity, and the Latino community makes up more than a quarter of our state's population," Lange said. "Mobilizing Latino supporters will be absolutely critical for our Democratic presidential nominee to win in key Western battleground states like Nevada this November." Latino Outreach Clinton opened a campaign office in April to reach voters in the heavily Latino-populated state. She also has 7,000 volunteers in the state canvassing on her behalf, reports The New York Times. In comparison, Sanders waited until October to open an office and has only 2,000 staffers on hand. The former secretary of state also has an advantage over the senator, since she began building a foundation in Nevada eight years ago during her first presidential run. She managed to defeat Barack Obama in the popular vote, though he earned more delegates. Race for Nevada Much like the Iowa caucus, voters can expect the Nevada race between Clinton and Sanders to be very close. According to the latest FiveThirtyEight weighted poll in Nevada, the candidates are running neck and neck. Both have a 50 percent shot of winning. Meanwhile, a Washington Free Beacon/TargetPoint Consulting poll released on Friday shows support for the 2016 hopefuls is tied at 45 percent each. In previous polls, Clinton held a double-digit lead in the state. The Turning Point Nevada will likely be a turning point in the Democratic primary election. Clinton and Sanders were virtually tied in Iowa, before Clinton suffered an overwhelming defeat in New Hampshire. Nevada will determine if Clinton can resurge in the race or if Sanders is actually too great a force to overcome. Christian Pentecostal Church Associate Pastor Gerson Moreno and his congregation members are fighting back against the tactics of immigration officials. Moreno recently announced the church based in Schaumburg, Illinois would be holding a "know your rights" seminar for congregants after one was tricked into meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who quickly deported him, WBEZ reports. ICE Agents Using Any Tactic Necessary Numerous congregation members were on hand to see immigration agents take Reynold Garcia away one recent Sunday morning as he prepared to attend services. Just hours before that, immigration enforcement agents went to his house while he was away and took his wife and two children. On the morning Garcia was taken into custody, he received several texts from Noel Coria, his wife's cousin, claiming he'd been in a car accident. An officer eventually called Garcia to relay the same message and instructed him to meet officers near the church to be taken to Palatine Police Station to see his cousin and fill out paper work as part owner of the vehicle Coria was driving. When officers arrived in unmarked cars, Garcia and onlookers realized something was wrong. "The very last moment, you know, is when we realized what was happening," said Garcia's friend Haggar Gutierrez. "I go, 'No, no no... this is not police. This is ICE.' But it was too late, because he was already inside the car." Within 24 hours, Garcia found himself in a Texas detention center with his wife and kids. Moreno said the incident spooked church members because Garcia was taken from a place traditionally considered safe. Since then, Coria said he did not send any of the text messages about the car accident. He claimed the messages were sent by ICE agents who had stopped him on his way to service. While stressing the church does not oppose the government or the application of the law, Moreno said people need to be aware of their rights. He and other church leaders are now taking steps to help members of the congregation learn about those rights. "We're also letting members know that if anyone is calling you or asking you to leave the church, that you need to notify somebody," he said. Activist Calling on Obama Administration to end Deportations Latin Post previously reported a coalition of immigrant, social justice and faith groups have joined forces to call on President Barack Obama's administration to cease deportation raids. The groups recently delivered a petition calling for relief to Central American refugees. In a statement released to Latin Post, the White House confirmed receiving a petition that included more than 130,000 signatures and a letter on behalf of over 75 diverse organizations. An excerpt of the letter read as follows: "Reports indicate widespread problems with due process for many of those in immigration proceedings: a large number of individuals with deportation orders never received notification to appear in court, and never had a chance at a fair hearing. This is largely due to the accelerated and aggressive deportation processes put in place recently by your administration. Others had no legal representation on, fending for themselves in a system that is very complicated. President Obama, we have a moral obligation on to provide aide to people seeing violence and these people have a right to make their case. Your administration on must stand up for the rights and the dignity of people seeking refuge in the U.S." The groups further described the ongoing raids and deportations as inhumane and unacceptable, adding there was no way to undo the trauma inflicted on immigrant families that have suffered the ordeal. In addition, the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR), an independent and bipartisan federal agency, recently called for the administration to cease the raids. The USCCR published a letter to Obama and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson requesting they end raids that have largely target Central American refugees. Led by Chairman Martin R. Castro, the USCCR is also requesting legal reviews of cases of immigrants seeking asylum and scheduled for deportation in order to check for violations in the due process. The request also stipulates they should be granted pro bono counsel. Following the release of the commission's "Statutory Enforcement Report: The State of Civil Rights at Immigration Detention Facilities" last September, Latin Post interviewed Castro. "We have to understand that these folks are coming here to seek asylum. They're coming to be protected from a situation that in their homeland is untenable," Castro said. "They're not going to want to disappear, they want to have their rights enforced, they want to find their asylum case confirmed." Nick Khouri, Michigan Treasurer, has asked lawmakers to act fast on finding solutions on the financially troubled Detroit Public Schools (DPS) before they run out of money for funding. According to Khouri, the district is running out of money that could be meant to go to the funding of public schools. "Sometime this spring or early summer, unless legislation passes in some form, the district will not be able to make payroll, will not be able to pay vendors. Essentially they will be out of cash," said Khouri to the Michigan Senate's Government Operations Committee, as reported by Reuters. This month, several meetings have already taken place discussing the bills particularly supported by Republican Governor Rick Snyder. The essence of the bills is to basically create two separate entities: the Detroit Community District to run the public schools and the Detroit Public Schools to retire its debt, Yahoo News reports. The governor has several plans under the bill including giving the new community school district $715 million in additional funding for over 10 years to offset property taxes. The property taxes will be tapped by the old district to pay off. Additionally, a $240 million in Detroit Public School pension debt will be given to other school districts in the teachers' retirement system. However, Khouri presented that the legislation has a better solution for Detroit Public Schools and Michigan. Khouri said that filing a bankruptcy is actually counter productive and could take a year, costing the government $100 million. Khouri's written testimony states that a DPS filing would leave the state owing $1.45 billion and will take more than 11 years to pay off. In December 2014, the state settled a municipal bankruptcy: removing $7 billion from its $18 million debt. It is said to be the biggest ever municipal bankruptcy. The Senate committee has suggested for the need of an elected board to control the schools. President Mauricio Macri is expecting Argentina to be back on track after settling two of the six biggest holdouts of the South American nation. The country will continue their settlement talks with the four remaining holdout creditors. Channel News Asia reported that court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack said Thursday that everything is being solved through discussing things and talking about what's the best for both sides. Late night discussions with Argentina's high officials and the firms' principals are happening. Dart Management and Montreux Partners have already agreed with the settlement Argentina offered. They offered to pay US$6.5 billion plus a 27.5-30 percent discount. Elliott Management's NML Capital Ltd and Aurelius Capital Management LP did not respond to the settlement offer. President Macri got to the office just two months ago and this is one of his agendas. He wants to end the overdue debt of his country. According to Bloomberg, it has been a decade since these legal arguments are stopping Argentina to move on. Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay is hoping the lawsuit to drop so they can pay the other creditors properly. Reuters stated that U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan said the four remaining creditors should prove to the court as to why Argentina should be stopped to pay their debt to foreign countries. They were given until only this month to give their arguments. Back in 2014, Griesa gave a verdict that Argentina should pay their largest holdouts in the U.S. first as they have an equal rights agreements. Argentina's lawyers argue that those restrictions are stopping them to finalize deals and other settlements with other debt holders. Argentina together with its new president is hoping Argentina's economy will rise again. They are hoping that Argentina's debt and everything will be resolve this year and that they will be back in the bonds market worldwide. United States and Cuba commercial flights are set to resume next fall. The deal is a move to normalize the ties between the countries after five decades. According to U.S. officials, flights will be operating everyday and will be commencing next fall. As News Yahoo reported, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will be meeting with Cuban officials on Tuesday in Havana to fix the agreement. The US- Cuba commercial air flights deal follows after Pres. Barack Obama and Raul Castro agreed to end the 50- year-cold war between the nations. "This (agreement) provides for a very important, sizeable increase in travel between the two countries, and that reinforces the president's objective" of building ties, said Thomas Engle, deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs. According to ABC News Go, Obama is looking forward in building diplomatic alliance and trade with Cuba before he finishes his term. The U.S. president is set to visit Havana by the end of March. Under the US- Cuba commercial air flights deal, U.S. airlines can begin bidding on routes to as many as 110-U.S.-Cuba flights in a single day. The figure is said to be over five times the present chartered flights operating. Apart from the existing 10 to 15 charter flights operating daily, the US-Cuba commercial air flights agreement also include 20 regular flights from the U.S. to Cuba. The deal also allows other flights to other Cuban airports. About 160,000 U.S. leisure travelers flew to Cuba last year and hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans who booked through chartered flights out of Florida, MS News Now reports. After the US-Cuba commercial air flights agreement announcement, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines have expressed their wish to serve Havana from their hubs. Discount carrier Spirit Airlines has also claimed their plan to submit a proposal to offer their service between the U.S. and the island. The Alabama grandmother convicted for making her young granddaughter to run as punishment resulting to her death died on Friday. The said grandmother was serving life without parole for the killing. According to USA Today, Joyce Hardin Garrard, 50 years old died on Friday evening in Montgomery hospital. She was reportedly collapsed in jail, five days later she died in the said hospital. Garrard was convicted of capital murder in her 9-year old granddaughter's death, Savannah Hardin back in the year 2012. The grandmother punished her granddaughter after she lied about eating candy. Garrard forced her to run for several hours caused her to collapsed and died days later in Birmingham hospital, WQAD reported. Garrard had a heart attack on Sunday minutes after she was visited by her relatives at the state prison for women. She was taken by helicopter ambulance from the jail to a Montgomery hospital where she was placed on life support, however, she eventually died. Garrard said in court that she was running along with her granddaughter outside their home in northeastern Alabama. "If she was running, I was running," she said. She also added that she never meant to harm the child, Big Story reported. The grandmother also claimed she was teaching her granddaughter to run fast for school races. Dani Bone, her defense attorney said "This is another loss for a family that already has lost so much." Garrard was convicted last March, with prosecutors calling the grandmother, "drill sergeant from hell." They had even described the child's death suffering in agony in the hands of the woman she loved and trusted. Carol Griffith, the prosecutor said in the closing argument, the child was tortured. Jessica Mae Hardin, Savannah's stepmother, is also scheduled to appear in court trial in June related to the murder charge as she allegedly failed to stop the punishment. Hardin pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. Martin Fayulu, a member of the Congolese parliament, was arrested Sunday, Feb. 14, but was later released, confirmed government spokesman Lambert Mende. Fayulu is the leader of the parliament's opposition, the Commitment to Citizenship and Development political party. His arrest was done prior to a planned demonstration against the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fayulu was detained Sunday afternoon in Kinshasa, Bloomberg News reported Feb. 15. The arrest was done after reports of a protest against the governance of President Joseph Kabila surfaced, supposed to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 16, the newswire noted. "He was arrested by the security forces for inciting civil disobedience. When it was identified that he was a member of parliament he was released, but the magistrate has opened an inquiry against Mr. Fayulu which will be heard in parliament," Mende was cited by saying over a phone interview. Issues on President Kabila's purported plans of staying in the office despite the illegality of running for a third term lie behind the planned rally by the opposition, the Washington Post also reported. They claim that Kabila, who has been serving the country as president since 2001, plans to manipulate national policies to delay the upcoming presidential elections in November, reports said. Demonstrations of a similar nature have begun since 2015, opposing the planned changes to Congo's electoral law. Human Rights Watch recorded that casualties reached more than 40 citizens so far for the protests. The proposed changes by Kabila's government were since discarded. On Jan. 19, protests were held in more than 40 sites in the nation's capital, GhanaWeb reported. Rallyists comprised of several civil society groups and opposition political parties, and called themselves the Citizen Front 2016. "[T]he government sent soldiers and policemen to the site allotted to me and my party where they blocked our access and arrested five of my activists. They told the priest to stop the mass, not only here but at all the other sites too," Fayulu was cited as saying during one of the earlier rallies. A $100 million investors' lawsuit against Venezuela, which includes fraud charges, and even criminal conspiracy, is about to take place, unfolding one of the most talked about cases against the country. A controversial $100 million investors' lawsuit against Venezuela went in trial and it includes charges that make it seem as if it was from a movie. Counts of fraud, international criminal conspiracy, diamonds, junk bonds and a house fire in Switzerland are all being discussed. The complaint, which was dated in 2004, describes in detail old promissory notes issued by a Venezuelan bank that used to be sponsored by the government. Because of this, the country is facing such charges. The country has confirmed the debts and says it belonged to Bandagro, the government-sponsored agricultural development bank. Because Bandagro was backed by the government its debts need to be paid, as argued by attorneys for Skye Ventures in Columbus. "This case is straightforward: it's about a bank's refusal to honor a debt," said Charles Cooper, in a report by ABC News. Cooper represents Skye Ventures and submitted a court document dated January 27 that summarized the investors' arguments. However, lawyers defending the country argue that the notes were fake and had forced signatures. Additionally, the lawyers mentioned that the government never guaranteed the said notes. "The evidence will show not only that the purported notes are fake, but also that the plaintiff seeks to capitalize on a long-running international fraud," said Albert Lucas, a Columbus attorney that represents the country, in a report by Yahoo News. On January 27th, Venezuela submitted a defense, stating a case that the notes were fake, with the authenticity and legitimacy of the promissory notes as a main object of the case. The trial started last week with federal Judge Edmud Sargus, and will run up to four to six weeks. "The truth is, as always, much simpler," added the attorneys for Skye Ventures, where the said notes were bought. Feb 15, 2016, 9:39am ET Report: VW top brass aware of emissions problems in 2014 If true, the allegations suggest executives took no action for more than a year until the scandal came to light. Volkswagen executives were allegedly aware of diesel emissions trouble as early as May 2014, according to German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. A staff member known internally as "Winterkorn's fireman" is said to have notified top brass of the looming government investigation more than a year before the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board went public with their accusations. The document reportedly surfaced as part of Volkswagen's internal investigation into the debacle, though the company has not yet officially confirmed any details of the inquiry. The revelation could hint at deeper legal trouble as government agencies consider potential criminal charges against the company and its current and former executives. VW has promised to publicly disclose its internal investigation findings in the second half of April. Pippa and Sophia Devane from Mountmellick, who survived after being born dangerously ill at 24 weeks, are up against another obstacle due to health cutbacks in Laois. Pippa and Sophia Devane from Mountmellick, who survived after being born dangerously ill at 24 weeks, are up against another obstacle due to health cutbacks in Laois. The girls are among the smallest ever in Ireland to survive Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, and celebrate their second birthday next month. While walking and full of fun, their speech has not developed much beyond mama and dada, and they have had repeated lung infections, while Pippa is also deaf. Despite a recommendation for early intervention therapies, they have not yet been seen in Laois speech and language clinic in the Spraoi Centre, Portlaoise. Pippa also chokes on her feeds, which is causing lung infections, and needs to be seen at the Eating Drinking and Swallowing clinic in Laois. That service was closed last year, and there is no alternative clinic in the area. Their mother Debbie Devane is pleading for help. It is called early intervention for a reason. There is no point offering us an appointment when they are nearly three. Theres a window of time for developing speech, they need help now, she said. She knows of children of a similar age who got therapy. I have friends in Cork, Wicklow, even Newbridge, who all got early intervention because they are in a different area. I pay the same property tax but my girls are being denied the human right to learn to speak, because of where they live. It makes me so angry, she said. Debbie does not blame the staff in the Spraoi clinic. We need to get this service back to Laois. Staff are not being replaced when they go on leave. The medical care the girls got since birth from the Coombe and Dr Gul in Portlaoise, is fantastic. But we have hit a wall with this, she said. A request from the Portlaoise clinic to send Pippa elsewhere was turned down by Temple Street hospital. In a letter also sent to Debbie, senior therapist Clare Salley says there is currently no alternative service within Pippas local area. She adds that they have no outpatient clinic. saying, We cannot fill gaps in local service. This letter is the last straw. There is nowhere else to go, Debbie said. The HSE had no comment. A FINGLAS man living in Portarlington, who had post traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced to a month in prison at last Thursdays Portlaoise District Court. A FINGLAS man living in Portarlington, who had post traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced to a month in prison at last Thursdays Portlaoise District Court. Kenneth Roche aged 22, of 24 The Oaks, Kilnacourt, Portarlington, was found guilty of being threatening and abusive, and intoxicated in a public place, after he was ejected from Egans Nite Club in Portlaoise. Since the incident, he has begun serving a prison sentence in Mountjoy jail, and has four previous convictions. Inspector Aidan Farrelly gave evidence that Garda Paul Dooley was called to the scene at 2am on the morning of October 15 last. The defendant had been ejected from Egans, he was very intoxicated. The Gardai told him to desist and leave, but he failed to do so, and tried to start a row with other people, Inspt Farrelly said. Defence for Roche agreed that his client continued to make a nuisance of himself on the night. He did have too much to drink, he puts his hand up, he said, explaining the difficulties Roche has had in life. In 2006 he lost both brothers in the space of eight months, to tragic circumstances. This had a profound effect, he became depressed and developed post traumatic stress disorder. He self medicated through alcohol. He is under the care of a clinical psychologist at a health care centre in Finglas, he said. Judge Staines handed down the one month sentence, which Roche will face while finishing out his current prison term. I am not going to extend his sentence, she said. She was then asked by Roche to endorse his request to be moved to Portlaoise Prison, so that his girlfriend in Portarlington could more easily visit him. I have no power, you will have to talk to the governer. I will write but it wont make any difference, she said. In the lead up to the General Election Friends of St Patrick's are seeking party commitments from local candidates to the restoration of five day nurse led care at St Patrick's Hospital Day Care. On December 22, 2015 the group wrote to the local representatives of all political parties inviting them to commit to the building of a new hospital in Carrick-on-Shannon and to the reinstatement of 5-day nurse led care at the day hospital. While the announcement of 15.75m for a new hospital is very welcome news we are disappointed in the HSEs failure to re-instate 5-day nurse led care, the group stated. The group wrote to the election candidates saying, We respectfully request you to use your offices to obtain high level commitment from your political party in regard to St. Patricks Hospital. In particular we request that you seek a letter from your party leader or possibly health spokesperson which, as a minimum, commits specifically to the following: With regard to nursing care services at the Day Hospital: Commitment now to the immediate re-instatement of the 5-day nursing led care services should your party form part of the next government, to mean within two months of the commencement of the new Government in office. The Friends of St. Patrick's are delighted that local Green Party candidate Leslie O'Hora took up the baton and has received a positive response from Party Leader Eamon Ryan. Deputy Eamon Ryan has responded with not only its affirmation of commitment to a new hospital but also with its assertion that a 5 day nursing led services is absolutely essential. Liam Scollan on behalf of the Friends of St Patrick's Group said they will continue to share the detail of responses to the public in the run up to the election. A public meeting by the Friends of St Patrick's Hospital will be held in the Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon on Thursday, February 18 at 8pm. The objectives of the meeting are to inform the public on the up to date position in relation to the reinstatement of the 5-day nurse led day care service and to afford the political candidates in the upcoming General Election the opportunity to confirm their Party's official commitment to the reinstatement of the nurse led services at the Day Hospital. The group told the Leitrim Observer, Currently the HSE's position is that it will not reinstate full-time nursing care in the Day Hospital and will only consider the provision of tissue/incontinence and falls clinics. Our position is that such clinics are welcome but only as an adjunct to a full-time, generic nurse presence covering all of a full 5-day re-opening of the Day Hospital. I said it that Bini people will not accept that the throne of Ooni, not the individual, is senior to that of the Oba of Benin. In fact, the matter has started generating traditional controversy. Read their reaction: So no Yoruba monarch had as part of his titles the word Oba except the Oba of Benin Our own traditional history says that the Ooni of Ife was a Benin Prince who wandered from here to Ife, settled there and became the ruler there The Ooni of Ife by historical facts, is a son of the Oba of Benin, so they are not in the same class Following the statement credited to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo that the Oba of Benin is the third in the ranking of kings in the old Western region, the Palace of the Oba of Benin has dismissed this as untrue.The Esogban of Benin and Odionwere of the Kingdom (traditional head), Chief David Edebiri, said the Ooni of Ife was a son of the Oba of Benin, and that the stool of the Oba of Benin could not be compared with that of any Yoruba King.Esogban,who is third in command in the palace of the Oba of Benin, said: We wanted to discard this report as something that was not necessary at all. We do not see how the Alake of Egbaland suddenly woke up to think that the Oba of Benin is also a Yoruba Oba. There is no basis for such classification; Oba of Benin has nothing to do with the Yoruba Obas. It is simply unnecessary, unless they simply want to stir up an unnecessary controversy.We are not in Yorubaland. To be frank, it is because many of them are not willing to come up with the truth, the word Oba is alien to Yoruba monarchy; it is not part of their title from time immemorial."For instance, the one they call the Oba of Lagos, these are recent adaptations. In the 50s, there was no Oba of Lagos, what we had was the Eleko of Eko. That is the title of the King there. In Ibadan, you have the Olu Ibadan. You come to Abeokuta, you have the Alake of Egbaland. You come to Oyo, you have the Alaafin of Oyo. In Ilesha, you have the Owa-Obokun of IIesha.That word Oba is indigenous to Benin. It is only in recent times you find everybody bearing Oba. When the Western Regional conference of traditional rulers took place in Benin City in 1942, go and check the attendance, there was no other monarch in the whole of the Western Region then that bore the title of Oba, except the Oba of Benin. So it is an unnecessary excursion, an unnecessary attempt to turn history upside down by the Alake by classifying the Oba of Benin as third in the hierarchy of kings.. That is the position, if they dont know, they should send people here; we will teach them. We will show them landmarks.So this is unnecessary misrepresentation of history. Maybe the Alake wanted to mention a different place and not Benin. The monarchical rulership in this part of the world started from Benin during the era of the Ogisos. It was the son of the last Ogiso, Owodo, that wandered from here to Ife and he became a ruler there, carrying everything about the Benin monarchical system to that place."There is no basis for such classification.. The Oba of Benin is the only one that answers Oba, the rest dont. But today, we hear Oba here and there, they are all recent adaptations. I am saying categorically that the word Oba is indigenous to Benin and not to Yoruba nation.Hmmm...expect some more traditional insights into this matter very soon from the Yorubas. #tradition Last week saw four principal council by-elections take place. In Eastleigh (BC), the Liberal Democrats held a seat in West End North ward with 53%. Janice Asman was elected with a 267 vote majority over the Conservatives, with the Lib Dem vote share increasing by 13.2% from the wards previous election last May. In Hounslow (LB), there was a hold for Labour in Cranford with 54.7%, whilst Liberal Democrat Hina Malik polled 11.5% in third place, a vote share increase of 5.3% from two years ago. There were also comfortable holds for Labour in Coventry (MB) and Bolton (MB), with Lib Dems Christopher Glenn and Gary Veevers receiving 5.7% and 4.2% of the vote respectively. Alongside the principal by-elections, there was also success for the Liberal Democrats in contests for Town Council seats. Ollie Purkiss won a seat on Godalming Town Council in Surrey by winning the Central & Ockford ward by-election with 41.4% in what was a gain from the Conservatives. The party was also victorious in a contest in Hedge End Town Council in Eastleigh, with Maggie Allingham being elected in Freegrounds ward with 64.5% of the vote. Elsewhere, Laiga Brown received 22.6% of the vote in a by-election in Glastonbury, coming third behind the Greens and the Conservatives who held the seat. Next week, nine principal council by-elections will be taking place across England, Scotland and Wales. The party will be defending seats in Lichfield (DC), Chiltern (DC) and Flintshire (UA), with Liberal Democrat candidates also being fielded in contests in Cambridgeshire (CC), Suffolk (CC) and Manchester (MB), as well as two by-elections in Broxtowe (BC). No Lib Dem candidate will be fielded in the by-election in Argyll & Bute (UA). In addition, the party will also be represented in two Town Council contests in Yeovil, as well as contests in Berkhamstead (TC) and Street (PC). For a detailed list of this weeks results please click here. If you would like more information on all the forthcoming by-elections and details on who to contact for help, click here. * ALDC is the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners THE MINISTER for Finance Michael Noonan has said he cannot see how the University of Limerick can proceed with its High Court action against the Limerick Leader and its editor, following the publication of a review into matters at UL. The review centres on allegations made by three female whistleblowers reg-arding financial matters at the university and how they were treated by UL as a result of raising their concerns. ULs legal action against the Leader, and editor Alan English, centres on a front page report last September, detailing the grievances of two of the whistleblowers. A report commissioned by the Higher Education Authority has found that the women were right to raise their concerns and thanked them for their public service. Speaking on Limericks Live95FM during an election debate, the Fine Gael poll-topper said that having read various newspapers reports regarding the case he said he cant see how a legal case could proceed. I have seen the newspaper reports of the HEAs report, and it seems to be centred on unfounded claims for expenses, that seems to be the core issue, and they found that there were claims that werent totally in accordance with the procedures that were laid down. That being so, it seems to me, I cant really see how a legal case could proceed after that finding, he said. Fianna Fail TDs Niall Collins and Willie O'Dea have already said UL should drop its legal action. Minister Noonan was informed by broadcaster Joe Nash that despite the findings, which show ULs failings in a number of areas, from their understanding the legal case still stands. In response to Limerick Leader queries, UL said that it couldnt comment on legal matters, but yet has told other media organisations that its legal position remains unchanged. The Leader has stated that it will continue to stand by its story. The HEA appointed independent consultants Mazars last October to review the allegations of three female whistleblowers, all of whom had worked in the finance department in UL. While one of the whistleblowers has since left UL, the two women at the centre of the Leaders original story remain suspended, after they refused to sign a confidentiality clause and accept a severance offer of nearly 60,000 each. UL welcomed that the review found there was no financial wrongdoing, but local TDs Niall Collins and Willie O'Dea have credited the whistleblowers with having questioned numerous expenses - which were not ultimately paid as a result of their actions. Mazars outlined that its review does not constitute an investigation of the allegations, but reviewed the process employed by the university to inquire into the allegations made. THOUSANDS of voters across the northside of Limerick will face inconvenience on polling day, with many forced to travel outside their neighbourhood to vote. In a situation described by Sinn Feins general election candidate Maurice Quinlivan as bonkers, people in Kileely will have to travel to the Watch House Cross in Moyross to vote, rather than the former St Lelias School at Creagh Avenue. And in a bizarre twist, voters from Thomondgate who would normally cast their vote at the Unitas club in the High Road are now being asked to travel to St Lelias, which has since opened as an extension to the St Munchins Community Enterprise Centre. Back in the autumn, councillors approved the polling scheme on the basis that St Lelias School was closed and not able to be used as a polling station. It was agreed people in Kileely would travel to Moyross to vote. But only last month, after it emerged the Unitas club would be closed for renovations on election day, the returning officer Pat Wallace was alerted St Lelias was available, and could be used as a polling station and instructed Thomondgate residents to vote there. Cllr Quinlivan confirmed around 2,145 voters will be affected by this change, and said: It is an inconvenience, particularly in the two areas which are close together. Both areas have an older population, and the problem would be many of them would not realise it has changed, and would have difficulties getting to the Watch House Cross. I just cannot understand why they cannot all just stay in Kileely. Mr Wallace said: There was no intention to oust the Kileely voters out of their station. Its happened, its unfortunate it has happened, and the situation will have to be reviewed once this election is over, and the next polling scheme is approved by the local authority. Meanwhile, the first televised debate of Election 2016 will be broadcast on Monday next from the University Concert Hall. Seven party leaders are expected to take part in Mondays debate while will be moderated by RTEs Claire Byrne and will go out live at 9.30pm. The seven are expected to be the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny Fine Gael; the Tanaiste Joan Burton, Labour; Micheal Martin, Fianna Fail; Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein; Lucinda Creighton, Renua, Stephen Donnelly, Social Democrats and Richard Boyd Barrett or Paul Murphy for the AAA-PBP. A DETECTIVE garda who thought he would die when he was viciously attacked by two pitbull terriers, has thanked the people of his native Kilmallock for their support at the time of the incident. Det Garda John Leahy, 52, was this week awarded207,526 damages against the State in the High Court. I did get lots of goodwill from Kilmallock at the time and I want to thank people for that, said Det Garda Leahy who was reared in Kilmallock where his family still reside. The recovery is going well. Its the end of it now. Im working away full time serving with the detective branch in Galway. I did get plenty of good wishes from people I would have known when I was younger, added Det Garda Leahy. On Monday in the High Court, Mr Justice Bernard Barton said in a reserved judgment he was satisfied that Det Garda Leahy suffered an exacerbation of a degenerative condition in his back and left hip which required surgery. The State had claimed that it accepted the incident may have exacerbated Det Garda Leahys back condition, but had denied it was sufficient enough to result in surgery. Det Garda Leahy had told a Garda Compensation hearing that in June 2008 he was a member of the Divisional Drug Unit in Galway and had been patrolling in a car with Garda Orla Keenan when they noticed two known drug users around Wolfe Tone Bridge. The court heard Det Garda Leahy and Garda Keenan followed them until they had entered a house which was known as a place used for the distribution of heroin. Married father-of-one Det Garda Leahy said when they confirmed that suspicious activity was going on inside they had waited for garda reinforcements and shouted Garda Drug Unit as they entered the house. He said he saw a man put what he believed to be a packet of heroin in his mouth and warned the man he was going to be searched. The man had gone into a room where there was several other people. Det Garda Leahy told his barrister, Bruce Antoniotti SC, that the light had been switched off in the room as he tried to search the man who resisted, causing both of them to fall. The court heard that as the light was switched on again the man had succeeded in freeing himself while they wrestled on the floor and three dogs, two pitbull terriers and a Yorkshire terrier, were released from another room. The pitbulls had attacked Det Garda Leahy, biting him on the legs. Other gardai had beaten off the dogs. Garda Leahy said the dogs were extremely vicious, snarling, growling and ripping at his jeans and his flesh, particularly on his left calf. Garda Keenan, who burst into tears as she recollected the incident, said it was the worst experience she had seen in her life. It was horrific. Ive never ever seen anything like that. The dogs were ripping open his leg. He was screaming and there was blood everywhere. Garda Keenan had told the court that despite she and her colleagues begging the people in the house to call off the dogs, they had refused and stood watching and calling the gardai pigs. The court heard the gardai eventually managed to remove one of the pit bulls by hitting him on the head with a baton. Det Garda Leahy, after wrestling with the dog for several minutes, had managed to lie on his back, holding the dogs throat. He had been face to face with the dog and, in fear for his life, shouted to colleagues to call an ambulance. Judge Barton heard it took six gardai to eventually control the dogs. Mr Antoniotti said Det Garda Leahy had been taken to hospital where his injuries had been sutured. One wound had required 100 stitches. The court heard the wounds have left multiple scars on Det Garda Leahys legs. He had been out of work for a year and had required physiotherapy. Det Garda Leahy who had in 1989 received a Scott Medal for bravery after he saved a man from a building in a Dublin fire, said he was still suffering from mild symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. TRIBUTES have been paid in Limerick to Gemma Carcaterra, a mother of five-month old triplets, and director of Glor in Ennis, who passed away suddenly while on maternity leave. The 42 year-old was formerly director of the now defunct Daghda Dance Company, which was based at St Johns Church in the city. Ms Carcaterra was also a founding member of the Tri-Hards running group, based in Limerick. She was rushed to University Hospital Limerick after becoming ill and died on Thursday. Minister for Education and Skills Jan O'Sullivan said Gemma, who lived in Killaloe, "was a wonderful warm committed woman" and said her death will be a "huge loss to her family and the Clare and Limerick community. Her funeral mass will be held today in St Mary's Church, Ogonnelloe, at 12 noon, followed by a private cremation afterwards. Funds are now being raised to help support her devastated family, including husband Colm Clarke, and children - two identical twin girls, Ava and RIona, and her son Coen. Nearly 3,000 has now been raised through an online fund. Her friends in the TriHards running group in Limerick city were among those who paid tribute to her over the weekend, following her sudden death. "All of us, who were lucky enough to call this extraordinary lady and bright ray of sunshine our friend, are devastated by her untimely passing. "Gemma's energy and positivity was infectious, she was always smiling and her sunny disposition was reflected in her trademark bright running gear. "Her beloved 'leggy ladies', who she ran with regularly, will especially miss her - the motivation on long runs, the chats, the laughs, the coffees after training but mostly her warm, friendly face and love for life. We were all so privileged to call her our friend," they said. A native of Wolverhampton in England, she took up the post at Glor in October 2011. As a mark of respect, the Valentine's event in Glor was cancelled yesterday. Christy Moore played in Glor on Friday night and dedicated Nancy Spain in her memory as it was one of Gemmas favourite songs. In a statement, Glor said: "It is with deep regret and sadness that the staff and board at glor, Ennis, announce the untimely death of Gemma Carcaterra, who has served as Director since October 2011. "We extend our deepest sympathies to Gemmas husband Colm, her three children Ava, Riona and Coen, to her parents Rosa and Rob and her brother James." Ms Carcaterras sudden passing caused shock among those working in the arts community in Limerick and she was remembered in recent days as popular and hardworking for her time at Daghdha, which closed in March 2011. She was in charge of the dance company for nearly four years from August 2007. Louise Donlon, theatre manager of the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick, said staff were completely taken aback by the news, which she described as "devastating". "Gemma was really one of the most engaging, warm, bubbly personalities. We're really just completely taken aback and devastated by it. It's just awful news. She has been in Limerick for over 10 years, working in Daghda and then in Glor. We had a lot of contact with her. She's going to be a huge loss, to her family and to us as well. We are really devastated," said Ms Donlon. The board, management and staff of the University Concert Hall also wished to extend its sincerest sympathies to her family, friends and colleagues. Her friends who set up the fund said "she was a very inspirational woman and such an amazing mother, even if it was for such a little time". "We would like to give this gesture of support to her family to pay a small tribute to her and her life. They may go on to donate the money to a good cause or maybe use it another way that they know would make Gemma very happy," they wrote. To make a donation in Gemma's memory see https://www.gofundme.com/svggqstm She is also survived by her parents Rosa and Rob, and her brother James. A SIGNIFICANT step in the nurturing of Limericks history was taken recently at City Hall with the awarding of the inaugural Limerick Museum & Archives Scholarship, a joint project between Limerick Museum & Archives and the University of Limerick's Department of History. The recipient of the scholarship, William ONeill, a Kerry native, is a first year PhD student at UL. Over the next three years, William will contribute to delivering a public history programme within Limerick Museum & Archives. The main instigators and implementers of the project were Jacqui Hayes, archivist of Limerick Museum & Archives and Dr Bernadette Whelan of the history department at UL, who is also Williams academic supervisor. Congratulating William, Cllr Liam Galvin, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick said: Limerick Museum & Archives and the Department of History at UL are two of the key historical and cultural institutions in Limerick. Over many years, they have worked closely together in a highly productive manner and this scholarship is the latest example of this great partnership. Introducing the scholarship programme, Ms Hayes said that the coming year will be a busy one for them in the museum and archives, especially in commemorating Limericks role in the 1916 Rising and William will be part of the team as they work to do a good job for Limerick. She also mentioned that on a personal level it was a great occasion for William and for his family, especially his parents, Philip and Jane, who were present for the announcement. While formally announcing the recipient of the scholarship, Professor Don Barry, president of UL, welcomed the initiative and said the university is happy to partner Limerick Museum & Archives. He suggested Williams academic research will contribute to establishing the place of its history in Limericks public life. William will be involved in all areas of museum and archives work from collection management, oral history, exhibition research and production to access, education and outreach activities. He is also working on the research and public access elements of two current projects, namely a book and an exhibition dealing with the history of Limerick in 1916 and the development of a Revolutionary/Rebellion Songs Project, a partnership between Limerick City and County Council and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL. William ONeill, the recipient of the scholarship, outlined some of his ambitions stating that it was his hope that Limerick would achieve not just national, but international recognition of its historical and cultural significance and this scholarship would enable him to be part of realising that goal. EDUCATION Minister Jan OSullivan has said Limerick will get 700 homes as part of a 57m investment if Labour returns to power. But Sinn Fein general election candidate Cllr Maurice Quinlivan says the party cannot be trusted to deliver on these promises. Ms OSullivan was at the former Taits clothing factory in Lord Edward Street, where construction of social housing is to take place, with Environment Minister Alan Kelly to launch Labours housing policy. Ms OSullivan said: For the first time in more than a decade local authorities have the resources to build homes in significant numbers. Also, Labours policy gives the not-for-profit sector an important role in housing delivery and management. This investment is already paying dividends. She said Labours plan will see delivery by 2017. This is in addition to the houses that will be built or refurbished under the regeneration programme.Labour has provided the resources necessary to revive the social housing sector the challenge now is to ensure delivery, the Education Minister added. She also pledged Labour will increase the number of affordable homes, ensure more rental properties are available and relieve the bottleneck that impacts across all areas of housing. To achieve this, the party will provide support to allow local authorities to frontload part five contributions which compel private developers to make 17.5% of any development social housing, plus a land development tax to prevent the hoarding and speculation in zoned land. However, Ms OSullivans election rival, Cllr Quinlivan said: Despite holding the Ministry responsible for housing for two years now, the Labour Party and Alan Kelly have continued to tow the Fine Gael line. They have implemented policy that has only exacerbated the housing crisis. It is policy that has led to the ballooning of social housing waiting lists in Limerick, increased homelessness, evictions, soaring rents and thousands of families in mortgage distress. A LIMERICK mother has been left devastated after her phone, which contained 1,000 pictures of her little girl who died aged eight, was snatched from her business. Stacey Mulcahys black Galaxy Note was taken from the reception of the nail bar she runs in Foxs Bow in the city by a woman, during a short period when her back was turned. On the device is 1,000 precious pictures and videos of her daughter Sophie, who died from a rare genetic condition, 1q43 in October 2014. You could say these pictures are priceless to us, but that wouldnt even cover it. These are some of the last pictures we have of her, so they are really important. Especially the videos, because you can see Sophie and hear her, Stacey said. Gardai apprehended the thief a short time after the incident took place at tea-time on Friday. But the phone had already been sold. Stacey, who is from Rhebogue, is appealing to anyone who may have bought the phone to at least return the memory card to her, so she can recover her memories of Sophie. A phone is a phone. I dont care about the phone it is the memory card I want. I am really appealing to peoples good nature on this, she said. Since the theft, Stacey says she is not sleeping properly. Devastated is not the word really. These pictures were always on my person, they were always close to me. Now I dont have them at all. I am broken over it, she added. After she was born, Sophie was given only weeks to live by doctors. But she survived for eight years, with her fight inspiring her father Liam to set up the Cycle4Sick children charity. Stacey added if anyone has the telephone and memory card, they can return it anonymously to Henry Street garda station, or to her business, the Porcelain Doll on Foxs Bow. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. 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Woodbury, NY - February 15th, 2016 - Two Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.s members set to receive LIBNs Leadership in Communication Award on March 24th, 2016. LIAACCs President Phil Andrews will receive LIBNs In-House Marketing Leadership Position Award. LIAACCs Board Member Dr. Teresa Taylor Williams, NY Trend Newspaper Publisher will receive LIBNS Community Service Award. The Excellence in Communication Awards will be held on Thursday, March 24th, 2016 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Crest Hollow Country Club 8325 Jericho Turnpike Woodbury New York. This inaugural event will recognize industry professionals for their excellence in marketing, communications, public relations, website and graphic design. About Phil Andrews Phil Andrews is the current President of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. and Past President of the 100 Black Men of Long Island, Inc. He is the Founder of P.A. Public Relations Co.; Phil serves as Public Relations Director. Prior to beginning his career in Public Relations, Phil was the Vice President of the Haircut Hut franchise. Phil has received many proclamations from notable political officials including former Nassau County Executive Thomas S. Gullotta, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Assembly-woman Earlene Hooper Hill, 18th Assembly District of New York. In 2010, Phil was honored for 50 or So Around 50 by Long Island Business News. In 2011, Phil was honored by the Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY) with the Good Neighbor Award. Phil's work has been featured in multi-platform publications including Black Star News, The New York Beacon, Amsterdam News, Minority Business Review, The Network Journal and more. Hes also featured in 15 Years of Minority Business Development a book published by Mr. Robert Adams. Phil is listed in Whos Who in Black America and the International Whos Who. Phil has served on several Board of Directors including the Roosevelt Chamber of Commerce, Roosevelt Kiwanis, Hempstead Chamber of Commerce, Bronx Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Chamber of Commerce, and is currently serving on the board of The INN (Interfaith Nutrition Network). For more information, please visit Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. website. About Dr. Teresa Taylor Williams Dr. Teresa Taylor Williams is owner and publisher of New York Trend newspaper and CEO of TTW Associates, Inc. Great Neck, NY, a publishing and international consulting firm. Since 1989, New York Trend has earned recognition as a politically influential and socially progressive urban publication that covers the issues affecting the vast ethnic neighborhoods throughout New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties of Long Island. For more about Dr. Taylor Williams, please visit her website. Dr. Taylor Williams has provided a free internship program through New York Trend for over 20 years to college students, serving as a mentor and providing hands on training and experience for future leaders in the media industry. New York Trend has also underwritten charitable tickets over the years, providing free tickets to many concerts and events to community members. She has also been at the helm of numerous community events. Dr. Taylor Williams is the recipient of numerous awards including: 100 Black Men of Long Island & TD Bank Business Award- 2012, The Network Journals 25 Influential Women in Business- 2010, Phenomenal Women in Media -Herbert Von King Cultural Arts Center-2010, Woman of Distinction from the March of Dimes-2005, Entrepreneur of the Year from Black Women in Publishing, Entrepreneur of the Year from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Woman of the Year from the National Action Network-2001, Editorial Writer of the Year from the Independent Press Association - 2002, and Fifty of Fifty, Most Influential Woman on Long Island, 2003. To register for Long Island Business News Excellence in Communications Awards, please click here National & World News, Health & Wellness, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: February 15 2016 Installing Zika Czar Before U.S. Mosquito Season Takes Hold Would Strengthen U.S. Response; Whether Its NYC Residents, Pregnant Women Or Travelers Abroad, Zika Threat Behooves U.S. To Plan Accordingly. Albany, NY - February 15th, 2016 - U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today said that with dozens of Zika cases now confirmed in the U.S, the government must appoint a Zika Czar who can coordinate between federal agencies, NGOs and foreign governments. Schumer called on the White House to appoint a Zika Czar as soon as possible and charge them with the duty of leading prevention, response and treatment strategies to combat the viruss spread. The Senator said a move like this could help prevent further spread of the Zika virus this Spring and Summer. Schumer today also explained how installing a Zika Czar before mosquito season takes hold in the U.S. can help strengthen the U.S. response against the outbreak. Thus far, there have been over fifty cases of Zika in America, including approximately sixteen confirmed cases in New York. Schumer noted that officials at the WHO are concerned that up to four million people across the Americas could become infected with the virus over the next year. With dozens of Zika cases now in America, its time for the feds to step in and appoint a lead person who can rein in the outbreak before it spreads even further, said Senator Schumer. Just as we did following the Ebola outbreak, the feds should appoint a Zika Czar to coordinate between agencies and help lead prevention, response and treatment strategies here in America and abroad. Appointing a Zika Czar now, ahead of mosquito season, will protect public health and help us prevent the Ebola-like panic we all remember. Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on a person who has already been infected by the virus. The Aedes aegypti has spread most of the cases; these types of mosquitoes have been found in Florida and Hawaii. The Asian Tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is also known to transmit the virus; these types of mosquitoes have been found in New York and Chicago. According to the CDC, common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis, however, the virus may cause more serious risks to those who are pregnant. It is possible that Zika virus could be passed from mother to fetus during pregnancy. The virus has been linked to birth defects, including microcephaly, a rare condition in which the babys head is abnormally small and can have brain damage. Microcephaly may not be detected until the end of the second trimester. According to media reports, approximately 4,000 infants in Brazil have been born with microcephaly since last spring. There is currently no treatment or vaccine available for Zika. In May, the Pan American Health Organization issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. So far, approximately 1.5 million people have contracted the virus in Brazil. Zika virus has spread to more than two dozen countries including the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Saint Martin, Venezuela and others. Earlier this month, the CDC issued an Alert- Level 2 Practice Enhanced Precautions travel warning about the risk of traveling to countries affected by the virus. Earlier this month, the World Health Organizations (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan convened an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on Zika virus as well as the observed increase in neurological disorders and neonatal malformations associated with the virus. The Committee, which convened in Geneva, determined the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. According to WHO, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern is defined as an extraordinary event which is determined, as provided in these Regulations: to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease; and to potentially require a coordinated international response. According to the CDC, there have been at least 52 reported travel-associated Zika virus disease cases in the United States. Their numbers do not include New York States 16 cases. According to media reports, there have now been at least 16 confirmed cases of Zika in New York. The New York cases include individuals from New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Orange County, Rockland County, Westchester County, Monroe County and most recently, Putnam County. According to the CDC, the imported cases could result in local spread of the virus in the United States. The World Health Organization has said that the disease is spreading explosively in the Americas and estimates that up to four million people across the Americas could become infected with the virus over the next year. Previously, Schumer called for a three-point federal plan aimed at containing the Zika virus. First, Schumer called on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to prioritize and increase its involvement in Zika-affected countries abroad in order to better prevent, contain and treat the virus. USAID is one of the lead government entities that works overseas to help improve global health, help societies prevent and recover from conflicts, and more. Second, Schumer called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) to focus resources to expeditiously develop a vaccine and to work alongside the private sector in doing so. Currently, there is no cure, treatment or vaccine available for Zika, which can be extremely serious to pregnant women because of possible birth defectslike microcephaly--linked to the virus. Lastly, Schumer successfully called on the U.S. to push the World Health Organization (WHO) to publicly declare a health emergency. On February 1st, the WHO official declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern soon after Schumers push. Schumer today said that his 3-point plan, along with an installed Zika Czar, would help better fight this virus before it spreads further and more cases are brought to the United States. Schumer noted that following the Ebola outbreak, President Obama named former White House official Ron Klain to serve as the Ebola Response Coordinator, also known as, the Ebola Czar. As Ebola Czar, Klain briefed the President on details of Ebola cases in America, including that of Craig Spencer who was admitted to New Yorks Bellevue Hospital after testing positive for Ebola. Overall, Klain helped streamline communication between the CDC and other federal agencies to help with the monitoring and response process. Schumer said that a similar position should be implemented to help fight the Zika outbreak in America. Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases Ibrahim al Qosi, a senior AQAP leader and spokesman, delivered a two-part critique of the Saudi government earlier this month. Ex-Guantanamo detainee Ibrahim al Qosi has become a prominent fixture in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulas (AQAP) propaganda since early December, when he first revealed that he is a senior leader in the group. Qosi most recently delivered a two-part critique of the Saudi monarchy, entitled A Message to Our People in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques. Qosi begins his nearly 50-minute lecture, which was posted online on Feb. 6, by denouncing the Saudi governments execution of more than 40 mujahideen in January. The men were killed, he says, because they declared jihad against the Crusaders and opposed American interests around the globe. Qosi then discusses al Qaedas jihad against the Saudi regime, saying Osama bin Laden was motivated by Americas supposed occupation of Arabias two holiest sanctuaries. Bin Laden repeatedly warned the Saudis about the American presence, but the monarchy resisted calls to end the alliance. According to Qosi, more than 400 scholars signed a letter decrying the situation. After bin Laden spent years living outside of Saudi Arabia, he decided to call for jihad against the American occupiers, but not the Saudi government or military. Qosi says bin Laden limited his call for holy war to the Americans because he wanted to avoid internal strife and confusion among Muslims, who may not have understood his motivations. Bin Laden never recognized the Saudi monarchys legitimacy, Qosi claims, he simply didnt want Muslims to fight amongst themselves. (In his conspiratorial telling, Qosi says the real reason for the Americans initial presence in Saudi Arabia that is, to stop Saddam Husseins expansionist campaign in the early 1990s was merely an excuse.) Qosis testimony echoes that offered by another bin Laden loyalist, Nasir al Wuhayshi, who explained al Qaedas rationale for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In an interview recorded prior to his death in June 2015, and published just recently, Wuhayshi said al Qaedas leaders decided not to target the tyrants ruling in Muslim-majority countries because they wanted to avoid any potential internal discord. [See LWJ report, AQAP publishes insiders account of 9/11 plot.] Qosi, who served Osama bin Laden in a variety of roles prior to 9/11, offers an anecdote that he says demonstrates the Saudis duplicity. Saudi intelligence attempted to convince Yunus Khalis, a veteran jihadist who reportedly hosted bin Laden in Afghanistan after al Qaedas leadership left Sudan in 1996, to betray the al Qaeda master and turn him over. The Saudis left disappointed when Khalis refused the offer, Qosi claims. Despite supporting the jihad against the Russians in Afghanistan, Qosi explains, the Saudi government resisted the jihadists campaign against the Americans. He argues that the truth of the American campaign against the ummah (worldwide community of Muslims) was revealed when US warplanes took off from Saudi soil to strike in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the aftermath of the blessed 9/11 attacks, Qosi claims, the mujahideen youth tried to keep the Saudi government in check without striking the security forces. But the Saudi regime supposedly sided with the Crusaders, betraying their historical duty to protect Muslim land. Qosi clearly wants young Muslims to pay attention to his testimony, as he praises the youth for waging jihad in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (during the mid-1990s), and Somalia. He contrasts their dedication to the jihadists cause with the Saudi monarchys alleged betrayal, arguing that the government is allied with forces opposed to the mujahideen in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. Although the Saudi government claims to be leading the charge against the Safavid (Shiites and Iranians) project throughout the Middle East, Qosi argues, it maintains diplomatic relations with the Iraqi government at a time when Shiite forces throughout Iraq are committing massacres. He criticizes the Saudis for hosting a conference for Syrian rebels in December, arguing this only served Bashar al Assads interests by giving the Syrian dictator an opportunity to stay in power. Qosi complains that the Saudis even support the Lebanese Army despite its close affiliation with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group that is fighting the Sunni jihadists in Syria. And the House of Saud has also supposedly sold out the Palestinian cause by supporting a two-state solution. AQAPs spokesman chastises the Saudi scholars who refuse to speak out in public against the royals. Al Qaeda knows there are sincere men in their ranks, Qosi says, but they keep their criticisms private because they are afraid of the governments powerful interior ministry. Qosi calls on clerics who are not in the governments pocket to emulate the example of Sheikh Faris al Zahrani, one of the al Qaeda ideologues executed in early January, and speak out against the royals. Sheikh Faris took a stand against the governments alleged perfidy, Qosi claims, and others should follow suit. Although al Qaeda initially limited its attacks to the Americans on Saudi soil, the jihadists campaign expanded after the 9/11 attacks to include the Saudi security forces and the royals. But Qosi claims that the Saudi government has wrongly blamed al Qaeda for targeting mosques, which is against the organizations well-known policies. (Al Qaeda has repeatedly contrasted its own guidelines for waging jihad with the Islamic States tactics. Abu Bakr al Baghdadis men deliberately target mosques, especially Shiite houses of worship, but Ayman al Zawahiri has prohibited his fighters from doing the same.) Qosi ends his lecture by calling for the youth to join the jihad in Yemen, saying AQAP will welcome any noble muhajir (immigrant or foreign fighter) who abandons the world behind him. We wage jihad and stand together against the Crusader-rejectionist [Shiite] campaign, Qosi says. Several appearances in AQAP propaganda Qosi was transferred from Guantanamo to his home country of Sudan in July 2012. His first public appearance as an al Qaeda leader came in a video, Guardians of Sharia, which was released online by AQAP in early December. [See LWJ report, Ex-Guantanamo detainee now an al Qaeda leader in Yemen.] AQAP has released other messages from Qosi since then. In a message released in mid-December, he congratulated al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Al Murabitoon on their merger. Both groups operate in North and West Africa and were loyal to Zawahiri prior to their unification. They operated under different command structures, however, because AQIM emir Abdulmalek Droukdel and Al Murabitoon leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar had frequent disagreements. Interestingly, Qosi referred to Belmokhtar as being still alive by saying may Allah preserve him. Belmokhtar has been reportedly killed on numerous occasions, including in Libya last June. The jihadists, including AQIM, claim he has not perished. And Qosi credited Belmokhtar for Al Murabitoons decision to join AQIM, saying he put the interests of the ummah ahead of his own private concerns so that the Crusader-Shiite campaign could be confronted with one sword. In addition to praising the AQIM-Al Murabitoon joint venture, Qosi reaffirmed AQAPs pledge of allegiance (bayat) to Taliban emir Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour and swore to Zawahiri (whom he referred to as our sheikh) that AQAP would continue to wage jihad on all fronts. Qosi also eulogized Abu al Hasan al Bulaydi, a senior AQIM sharia official, in a video released in late December. He lamented Bulaydis death as a great tragedy and threatened the West. As The Long War Journal has previously reported, al Qaeda has relocated part of its global management team from South Asia to Yemen. Therefore, some jihadists have been both AQAP leaders and managers in al Qaedas global network. It is possible that Qosi, who served directly under Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, is serving in that capacity today. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Luton is a large town, borough and unitary authority area of Bedfordshire. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 258,000. Luton is home to Championship team Luton Town Football Club, London Luton Airport and The University of Bedfordshire. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. For all the latest news from Luton sign up to our newsletter here. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then virtual reality must be worth a million. Thats because unless you are present on the spot, theres no way a single photo or video can convey the desperate squalor of a refugee camp or the weightless sensation of floating in space. As a passive observer, you merely witness; with VR, youre where the action is. The key to VRs power and growing popularity is presencethe sense of being immersed in time and space regardless of actual locationaccomplished by an artful fusion of still images, video, animation, and interactivity viewed through a head-mounted display. While VR and gaming have always gone hand-in-handrelegating it to niche audiencethe genre is rapidly evolving to include journalism, creative filmmaking, and mainstream storytelling. VR is not just for recreation anymore. And thats where Apples new interest in the tech comes into play, despite Tim Cooks muted praise during Apples most recent earnings call. Whether you own a simple Cardboard viewer or one of the more expensive iPhone compatible plastic or foam headsets, theres plenty to see and do with VR. The past year has seen an explosion of VR content in every category for both iOS and Android smartphones, and a huge number of apps are available for free. Here are some of our favorites. Statoil has signed a farm-in agreement with Tullow to acquire a 35% working interest in offshore exploration block 15 in the Pelotas basin, deepening its position in Uruguay. "With this transaction, we are increasing our exposure to the upside potential of this untested geological setting. This is in line with Statoil' exploration strategy of access at scale," says Nicholas Alan Maden, senior vice president of Exploration. Recently Statoil announced its entry into Uruguay as partner in exploration block 14. By accessing the adjacent block 15 Statoil continues to pursue this regional geological trend. Block 15 covers an area of more than 8,000 km2 and sits in water depth of 2,000-3,000 meters. Tullow Uruguay Limited. Sucursal Uruguay remains the operator with 35% working interest, while INPEX Uruguay Limited holds the remaining interest. The transaction is subject to government approval. A comprehensive data collection program has already been completed in the block. As operator, Tullow is planning to collect further 3D seismic before a decision is made on further steps. The Coast Guard rescued six people in three separate search-and-rescue cases Saturday along the Washington and Oregon coastline. On Saturday morning, the Coast Guard rescued three people near Coos Bay, Oregon when their boat overturned. On Saturday evening, two kayakers were stranded between Hope Island and Whidbey Island, Washington when their kayaks capsized and required assistance. Additionally, a 58-year-old man was retrieved from the water after falling from D dock at the Port of Ilwaco, Washington. At approximately 5 p.m., Saturday, a watchstander at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a report from 911 dispatch of a male and female kayaker who capsized on the northeast side of Whidbey Island between Whidbey and Hope Islands. Rescue crews from Coast Guard Station Bellingham and Air Station Port Angeles and a local marine fire unit responded to assist the stranded kayakers, who swam to the shore of the uninhabited Hope Island. The Port Angeles aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter arrived on scene and located the kayakers and retrieved them from Hope Island. The kayakers later reported being in the water for more than an hour before making it to shore. The water and air temperatures were both in the mid 40s with winds up to 30 knots. At 6:17 p.m., Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment received a report from 911 dispatch of a man in the water near D dock. The report stated that the man had been in the water for approximately 20 minutes and was hanging onto a life raft, but was unable to get in. A Coast Guard boatcrew launched a 29-foot Response Boat - Small II and was on scene within 5 minutes. The boatcrew located the man, who was unconscious and wedged between a dock and the life raft. The rescue crew pulled the man from the water and successfully revived him within a few minutes. The man was transferred to awaiting EMS and taken to a nearby hospital. His condition is unknown at this time. The water temperature in the Port of Ilwaco was 41 degrees. The Coast Guard reminds everyone of the potential dangers of being on or near the water and encourages all to take necessary precautions. Those near the water should be mindful of slippery surfaces like docks and rocks, especially during this rainy and windy season. Those on the water should make it a practice to carry a handheld VHF-FM radio and a personal locator beacon, which will help notify authorities if an emergency situation emerges. Gold And Silver Will Precious Metals Purchasers Become Terrorists? A clarification: We tend to use the regular Friday closes for our charts to avoid the closing fix that can sometimes be several dollars for gold and several cents for silver away from the end of Friday trade. It is not of much consequence because we are consistent in doing it that way, but two weeks ago, the was a substantial rally after the normal close, and it was not taken into consideration during our analysis. More people are becoming aware that not all is as it seems with the federal government, but there is still a reluctance, even a refusal, to attribute many of todays existing problems as a root cause by the federal government, which is not a government of, by, or for the people. Todays de facto federal government has been a product of the globalists for over a century, starting in more earnest when the Rothschilds financed both sides in the Civil War, and when Lincoln introduced the Executive Order, now routinely used by presidents to by-pass Congress in the Bread and Circus facade known as the federal government where the globalists are in charge behind the curtain. We are on record for consistently advocating the purchase of gold and silver for the past three years, regardless of price. Some may fault us for exhorting purchases at much higher prices than are current. The recommendations were for wealth preservation and not for speculation or profit, even though we can be criticized for the [temporary] erosion of supposed wealth preservation, and in some cases, the erosion is substantial. The timing has been off, yet the reasoning, or purpose for buying and holding remains the same today, and even more pressing. Reuters printed an interesting article, a few weeks ago, from which we will provide excerpts. The full article is here. U.S. eyes ways to toughen fight against domestic extremists. Here is the opening paragraph: The U.S. Justice Department is considering legal changes to combat what it sees as a rising threat from domestic anti-government extremists, senior officials told Reuters, even as it steps up efforts to stop Islamic State-inspired attacks at home. Not to be missed is the lumping of domestic Americans in the same sentence as ISIS. Now, anyone who expresses discontent with the federal government is called an anti-government extremist, and they are labeled as a threat. No regard is given to the validity of their cause or reason for dissent. Actually, these individuals and/or groups are viewed as more than a threat: Extremist groups motivated by a range of U.S.-born philosophies present a clear and present danger, John Carlin, the Justice Departments chief of national security, told Reuters in an interview. They are a clear and present danger, says the chief of national security. The motivation is laughably described as a range of U.S.-born philosophies. The deeper one gets into the article, the less disguised is the association between those expressing a legitimate degree of dissatisfaction with the federal government. They are simply called domestic terrorists: Carlin said his counter-terrorism team, including a recently hired counsel, is taking a thoughtful look at the nature and scope of the domestic terrorism threat and helping to analyze potential legal improvements and enhancements to better combat those threats. No mention is ever made that ISIS was created, trained, armed, and still supported by the CIA/federal government. Such pertinent details are not for public consumption. Nor is any mention made that the US is considered the greatest threat to world peace, bringing nothing but destruction to many countries, especially in the Middle East, and/or economic warfare to those countries opposed to US greed and interests, including Europe. A legitimate consideration is, now that domestic terrorists will be treated the same as ISIS terrorists, does that mean the US will now also go after actual ISIS terrorists as it does when going after domestic U.S.-born philosopher terrorists? The French has been trying this, with little success, and what has been happening in France is that protestors against immigrants, some with known ISIS affiliations, the protestors are being arrested while the law-breaking immigrants are being protected. The point is, the US federal government views Americans as suspect terrorists for any reason when dissenting against the federal government. You can discover what your enemy [or government] fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you. Eric Hoffer American moral and spiritual philosopher [1898 1983] Where is the line drawn? Nowhere to be found. It will not be a far stretch to view those who buy and hold gold and silver as economic terrorists The Reuters article, which covers the views of the federal government, mentions a few specific groups or individuals many would [incorrectly] agree that should be called and treated as terrorists, as the federal Thought Police manipulate the publics mind. However, much of the content in the article is expressed broadly enough to encompass as a terrorist whatever the federal government decides or declares. A war against cash has now perked to regular news status to massage the public into accepting this form of slavery, which is all it is. The only thing the issuers of fiat can do to keep their Ponzi currency scheme going it to make it impossible to use any other form for money. Cash transactions are not recorded in the banking system, and that is unacceptable to those in control. Gold and silver fall into the anti-fiat category and outside of government control. Only those who use or have gold and silver must be against the government use of fiat, and being against the government dictates, gold and silver users must therefore be terrorists not to be tolerated. The window for buying, holding, owning gold and/or silver is closing. Problem, Reaction, Solution. Those dealing in PMs are outside of the system, a Problem. The Reaction is to make it extremely difficult to buy and hold gold and silver, unless it is in open public record where the federal government can come after you. Solution? Brand PM holders as economic terrorists. Sound far-fetched? We have recently discussed how there is no confirmation of a bottom in place, and then gold shoots up in an unchecked rally, seemingly making moot our point. Maybe, maybe not. We are less concerned in calling the bottom than we are in recognizing one is in place. There have been lot of so-called the-bottom-is-in articles that were simply wrong. We have never been in that camp since gold and silver began their step decline over the past 6 years. We may miss a 10%, 15%, even 20% rally once a final bottom is in place, but only in the paper futures market. Our call for the ongoing acquisition and holding of physical gold and silver has never wavered, however untimely some of those recommendations were when gold was over $1,500+ the ounce, silver over $30 the ounce. Like almost everyone else, we did not foresee the globalists exerting so much manipulative influence across all markets for as long as they have. That is past, and we do not use a rear-view mirror for physical purchases made. Are we starting to see a bottoming process? Yes. Does that mean a bottom is in? We do not know, yet. The rally ran into a zone of resistance, seen on the chart. The current rally is but one of many steps in a bottoming formation. Each successive step confirms the one that came before. The next step will be to watch the next downward reaction to see how it unfolds in order to assess the significance of the rally over the past two weeks. The daily chart makes this clearer. What validates the weekly resistance area is the activity on the daily chart. There is no apparent resistance on this lower time frame that shows up over a year ago on the weekly. We have often stated that smart money, aka controlling interests, buys low, sells high. It is also axiomatic that unusually large volume surges are from smart money in action. The public simply do not act in such a coordinated effort in concert to create heavy volume days. The public only react. The persistent rally in gold attracted a lot of attention breaking above moving averages and/or above prior failed rallies. The public do not want to miss out on the move higher, and each successive daily high whetted the appetite to want to buy gold before-it-became-too-late. Thus, the huge reaction rush by the public when gold went higher without pause. Guess who were willing sellers to the public at the higher prices? Whenever you see a substantially wider price range in a rally, accompanied by a huge surge in volume, odds favor that day as being a climatic buying spree that ends the rally. This is exactly what you see on the daily gold chart. A reaction to the downside will likely follow, and it is how the reaction unfolds that will tell us if higher highs will follow, or not. The next week or so may be revealing as to the significance of this recent strong rally. Silver has a much stronger fundamental underlying situation, yet for now, it continues to underperform relative to gold. If the Nov-Dec-Jan bottom trading range is the bottom, it will have fooled us, but it has yet to be decided as to final bottom status. This daily chart cuts off at the beginning of February, prior to the current rally. We want to show how the market provides pertinent information based on past market behavior. There was a swing high established last October when price closed strongly, and it then gapped open lower, net day. The price high is obvious resistance, and so is the high of the next days open when price could not regain the gap and continued lower. We drew in dashed lines to reflect how this failed swing high can influence future market behavior, a fact known well in advance. The same horizontal line was in effect when silver rallied to the lower portion of the zone of resistance. A weaker market will tend to fail at lower resistance areas rather than exceed them, as gold did. The unusually wide trading range and the huge volume surge were red flags for a possible buying climax at a recognized area of resistance. We will be more certain of this once any reaction lower unfolds in order to assess the character of any change on market behavior that can lead to a new trend. By Michael Noonan http://edgetraderplus.com Michael Noonan, mn@edgetraderplus.com, is a Chicago-based trader with over 30 years in the business. His sole approach to analysis is derived from developing market pattern behavior, found in the form of Price, Volume, and Time, and it is generated from the best source possible, the market itself. 2016 Copyright Michael Noonan - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Michael Noonan Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Three Simple Steps to Beat a 'Rigged' Stock Market Alexander Green writes: Best-selling author Michael Lewis made headlines a couple years ago when he argued in his book Flash Boys that "the stock market is rigged." Lewis points out that high-frequency traders use sophisticated computer algorithms to execute orders in a fraction of a second, effectively front-running the rest of us. This is often true. In an interview with 60 Minutes in 2014, he complained that a) nothing has been done about the problem and b) the lack of furor from individual investors is inexplicable. However, there's a good reason nothing has been done and there isn't any public outcry. Lewis is making a mountain out of a molehill... Yes, high-frequency traders have a clear technological advantage. And they are making a bundle of money with it. But the effect on you and me is miniscule. High-frequency traders are essentially vacuuming up nickels every day. They make tens of thousands of trades on millions of shares, gaining a penny advantage here and a two-penny advantage there. You probably wouldn't blow your top if you discovered one day that a kid had grabbed the change out of the ashtray in your car. That's about the annual effect these guys have on your trade executions. What's more, the extremely high level of volume they generate narrows the spread on thousands of stocks to as little as a penny a share. You could argue that their real net effect is to save you money. However, if you find high-frequency trading alarming, there are three simple steps you can take to avoid it... No. 1: Don't Day Trade I would tell you this as I did more than 15 years ago when this first became popular even if high-frequency trading technology didn't exist. Day trading is gambling, pure and simple. Over any decent period of time, share prices follow earnings. But in a single session, stock prices are a total crapshoot, moving up and down on all sorts of factors that are completely divorced from corporate fundamentals. An ordinary investor who is repeatedly trading in and out of stocks during the day is playing a foolish guessing game. (And may even have a gambling problem.) The folks making dozens of trades a day are the ones most affected by tiny price manipulations. If high-frequency traders caused you to give up your day-trading habit, thank them. They did you a big favor. No. 2: Always Use a Limit Order If a stock you want to buy is trading at $25.50, don't put in a market order and then act surprised when you get filled at $25.52. Put in a limit order at $25.50 and wait a few minutes. If you don't get filled immediately, the stock may be moving higher. So get another real-time quote, cancel your original order, and adjust your limit. You'll get filled. If you use limit orders, high-frequency traders can't affect your execution price. No. 3: Base Your Sell Decisions on Closing, Not Intraday, Prices Flash crashes and high levels of intraday volatility caused me to stop recommending the use of intraday prices and stop orders. It's a bit unsettling to see a stock open at $20, trade down to $16.50 and then close at $19.75. Base your sell decisions on closing prices and no market maker or high-frequency trader can pick you off at the intraday low. There is a chance, of course, that stocks may close at the day's low. But you have eliminated the risk of getting knocked out in a volatile session before the market (or your stock) recovers. In short, Lewis is wrong. The stock market isn't rigged. That's why there isn't any outrage. That's why no one has been prosecuted. That's why there haven't been any regulatory reforms. Even if you're a skeptic or a conspiracy theorist follow the three steps I've outlined above and you won't have a reason to even imagine you've been wronged. Good investing, Alexander Green Editor's note: Alexander recently told his subscribers about a technology firm that he believes has incredible upside from here. If you stick to these kinds of opportunities, you won't have to worry about high-frequency trading or getting taken advantage of in the markets. Learn more about this company in the presentation he recently put together by : Alexander recently told his subscribers about a technology firm that he believes has incredible upside from here. If you stick to these kinds of opportunities, you won't have to worry about high-frequency trading or getting taken advantage of in the markets. Learn more about this company in the presentation he recently put together by clicking here Source: http://www.dailywealth.com/3204/three-simple-steps-to-beat-a-rigged-stock-market http://www.dailywealth.com The DailyWealth Investment Philosophy: In a nutshell, my investment philosophy is this: Buy things of extraordinary value at a time when nobody else wants them. Then sell when people are willing to pay any price. You see, at DailyWealth, we believe most investors take way too much risk. Our mission is to show you how to avoid risky investments, and how to avoid what the average investor is doing. I believe that you can make a lot of money and do it safely by simply doing the opposite of what is most popular. Customer Service: 1-888-261-2693 Copyright 2013 Stansberry & Associates Investment Research. All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. This e-letter may only be used pursuant to the subscription agreement and any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the world wide web), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, LLC. 1217 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202 Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. The latest winter storm brought 2-4 inches of snow and a little ice to the Martinsville-Henry County area, according to the National Weather Service. Most of the ice was on roads (see related story). The good news, said Chris Fisher, a meteorologist at the weather service office in Blacksburg, is that the wintry precipitation "probably wont stick around too long" due to rain and warming temperatures expected today. A winter storm warning was issued for the area from 4 p.m. Sunday until noon today. However, Fisher said the weather service probably would lift the warning during the early morning hours today. As of Monday afternoon, the snow was over, at least for the most part. Mostly sleet was falling. "Im just amazed" at how much snow the area has received this winter, Yolanda Niblett said as she scraped snow off the windshield of her van on Broad Street in Martinsville. "But its wintertime." Another winter storm dumped as much as nine inches of snow across the area Jan. 22-23. Niblett is taking the wintry weather in stride. "Im just glad its light enough to move around" easily, she said of the powdery snow. Snow began falling in uptown Martinsville at about 7 p.m. Sunday. It continued for several hours, stopped for a while and then resumed overnight. The weather service predicted that sleet falling Monday afternoon would change to freezing rain later in the day and then to rain during the night as temperatures were expected to rise from the lower 30s to the lower 40s by early this morning as warmer air entering the atmosphere pushed closer to the ground. The freezing point is 32 degrees. By this morning, "youll definitely be above freezing" in Southern Virginia, Fisher said. Monday afternoon, the storm system bringing the rain was producing severe weather in parts of the South. Tornado warnings were issued for parts of Mississippi. Fisher said, though, that the system would bring Virginia only rain as it weakens. Most of the rain is expected to be gone by early this afternoon, and a high temperature of 49 degrees is expected today, according to the weather service. There is a slight chance of rain and snow overnight as the temperature falls to around 32 degrees, but meteorologists thought that any precipitation then would not amount to much. No more precipitation is in forecast for the remainder of the week, and high temperatures each day are expected to be in the 40s and 50s, edging close to 60 degrees by the weekend. Deputy Z.B. Smith, of the Henry County Sheriffs Office, is said to still be in stable condition following a duty-related accident over the weekend. Early Sunday morning, Smith lost control of his vehicle as he made his way to an individual threatening to jump off the River Hill Bridge on Greensboro Road, according to a news release from the sheriffs office. Sheriff Lane Perry said that no additional information about the wreck, beyond what was given in the release, will be made public at this time. Perry said that he spoke to Smiths mother early Monday afternoon, noting that he is still in the hospital and receiving medical treatment. Perry commented that he is unsure as to whether or not Smith will make a full recovery. According to the release, Smith was dispatched to the bridge at approximately 12:50 a.m., losing control of the vehicle at the intersection of Tensbury Drive on Greensboro Road. The media release noted that Smiths vehicle came to a rest in the Kentucky Fried Chicken parking lot, with Smith having been airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for evaluation and treatment. The wreck is under investigation by the Virginia State Police. Also noted in the media release, the individual who had been threatening to jump off the bridge later was located in Martinsville and was said to have received mental health evaluations. Martinsville dermatologist Dr. Judith Szulecki said the Zika virus "probably wont affect very much" her 16th medical mission trip to Honduras over the past 11 years which is set for April 2-10. Honduras is one of the infected countries. Szulecki and 16 others are scheduled to go on the upcoming medical mission trip through the Friends of Barnabas Foundation. They include two doctors, three nurses, one dentist, one dental assistant, and "the rest are regular people," Szulecki said. They pay their own way ($1,866 per person), plus have to raise a total of $10,000 for medical supplies. On the trip, they will travel by bus from Pena Blanca, in the northern mountainous part of Honduras, to various remote villages and set up medical, eye, dental and parasite clinics to provide health care and distribute parasite medicines, Szulecki said. "We always put on strong insect repellent" in Honduras, she said. Also, no one who is going on the trip is pregnant or planning to become pregnant, and if that changes, Szulecki would ask the person not to go on the trip, she said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website says: "There have been reports of a serious birth defect of the brain called microcephaly (a condition in which a babys head is smaller than expected when compared to the babies of the same sex and age) and other poor pregnancy outcomes in babies of mothers who were infected with Zika virus while pregnant." USA Today reported Wednesday that the CDC has identified the Zika virus in the tissue of two babies who died in Brazil from microcephaly, and that CDC Director Tom Frieden told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, "This is the strongest evidence to date that Zika is the cause of microcephaly." The findings didnt prove Zika causes the birth defect, and more tests are needed before the link can be proven definitively, he added. The CDC advises women who are pregnant (in any trimester) to consider postponing travel to any area where Zika virus transmission is ongoing, but if you must travel to one of the areas, to talk to your doctor first and strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites during your trip. Women who are trying to become pregnant are advised, before they travel, to talk to their doctor about their plans to become pregnant and the risk of Zika virus infection. They also are advised to strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites during their trip. Since the Zika virus also has been sexually transmitted, use of condoms and other precautions have been recommended by health officials. Szulecki said she thinks the Zika virus might come to the Martinsville-Henry County area because the mosquito that carries it is "ubiquitous." She advises the public to wear insect repellent when outdoors during the summer time, especially pregnant women, and to not have standing water in their yards. Kris Landrum, public relations and marketing manager for Patrick Henry Community College, said the college is or will be putting up posters on campus with information about Zika virus symptoms and methods of prevention. She also said the college has several students from Latin America including Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico who probably will be going home for the summer and returning to PHCC in the fall. Eastman Chemical Co., a global company that has a manufacturing site in Fieldale, has issued a statement regarding the Zika virus. "At Eastman, we are closely monitoring information regarding the Zika virus provided by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a statement from Brad Belote, corporate communications, Eastman Chemical Co. "We have issued global employee communications to let our people know about the virus, the areas of the world affected, and precautions that they should be taken if they live, work or travel in the affected regions," the statement said. It added, "As a global company, Eastman also follows the applicable requirements of those individual countries where we have offices and manufacturing sites." A statement of the comrades of the IMT in Italy explaining the reasons that have led them to break with Rifondazione Comunista. Introductory note: Rifondazione Comunista emerged in 1999 as a left split from the old Communist Party, whose leaders after the fall of the Berlin Wall decided to move in the direction of social democracy. It was born as a party of up to 120,000 members and significant support within the working class and the youth. The PRC leaders threw all that away and reduced the party to an insignificant force, thanks to their support and participation in several governments that carried out privatisations and austerity. The Marxists of FalceMartello [Now the SCR] have been a tendency within the party for all these long years, advocating a change of policy and direction. Every time the party leaders turned in the wrong direction towards collaboration with the old right-wing leaders of the former Communist Party [who later dissolved themselves into the bourgeois Democratic Party], either by supporting the Centre-Left governments or even going as far as entering such coalition governments, the Marxists warned of the consequences of such a policy. The PRC leaders systematically ignored such warnings and are now in the process of winding up the party. This has led the Marxists to break their links with these leaders and to leave the party. Here we present a public statement explaining the reason for this turn. --- The absence of a political party of the working class is the key factor in the current Italian political situation. The Italian Left is in a vegetative state, while the CGIL [the main trade union confederation] is in deep crisis, unable to respond to the attacks of the Renzi government and the Confindustria [the bosses association]. We will not list here all the past and more recent factors that have led to this situation. It is enough to see how the term Left, which includes the traditional communist parties, is understood by millions of people as small groups only concerned with winning a handful of MPs or councillors, disconnected from any form of real struggle, totally incapable of offering a credible analysis of the current crisis of capitalism and even less of coming up with a programme that can offer a way out. The fact that all those rank and file comrades (including those of Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) engaged in a thousands different forms of activity and struggles against capitalism may view our analysis as somewhat harsh further underlines the responsibility in all this of the leaders of the Social Democratic and Communist parties. It started with the Rainbow Left, then the Federation of the Left, followed by Civil Revolution and then the Other Europe, interspersed with other long-forgotten experiences such as the Dawn, We Can Change, etc. [Note: In the general election of 2008 Rifondazione Comunista stood in the elections as part of the Rainbow Left alliance. It had participated in the previous Centre-Left government and its present leader, Ferrero, was Minister of Social Solidarity. The party supported the austerity policies of that government, and also voted for Italys military presence in Afghanistan and Lebanon. The alliance was smashed, but ever since they have tried to get back into Parliament and local governments by forming alliances with all kinds of dubious left and so-called progressive groups, all ending in total failure]. All such attempts have always ended in tears for the leadership as they failed to attract any significant electoral support. And every time the leadership of Rifondazione has reacted in the same way, proposing exactly the same failed recipes. An independent party of the working class is a historical necessity. The labour movement will not be able to play a significant role and fulfil its tasks without a political force that identifies itself fully with the interests of the workers, which is able to defend them on all the fronts of the class struggle, and fundamentally distinguish itself from the ideologies and the programmes of other classes. A mass party of the working class will be born in Italy, as elsewhere, only on the back of great mobilisations of the working class and all oppressed layers. This is the lesson we learn from history and from the most recent experiences in Europe (see PODEMOS). However, a mass movement cannot be sucked out of thin air or come into being simply because it is historically necessary in the abstract. The conditions that lead to the birth of such a party are mainly objective and are certainly beyond the reach of the left forces in Italy in their present state. The position of the mass trade unions, such as the CGIL and its metalworkers union FIOM, is a different matter, however, as they have been capable of mobilising hundreds of thousands of workers on the streets against the Jobs Act [an attack on workers rights] and the so called Buona Scuola reform of the education system. The problem with the trade union organisations is that they did not follow up on these mobilisations. This was due to the opportunism and cowardice of the trade union leaders who totally reject any perspective of true class struggle to defeat the bosses. Instead they cling to the hope of reaching an agreement with the bosses and the government. These hopes are, however, dashed daily by the behaviour of the government and the ruling class. However, objective situation is only one side of the coin; the other is that of the subjective factor, i.e. the conscious intervention of an organized and coherent political force. A mass movement cannot be conjured up artificially. However we can, and we must, work to facilitate its development and work to guarantee the conditions for a victory of the working class. Today this means building and strengthening a network of advanced cadres that will be able to carry out this essential role. The movement requires tested cadres that that cannot be recruited and organised on the basis of a few simple anti-liberalist slogans. They must be able to unite theory and practice in the best Marxist tradition. Marxists today must be capable of applying theory during this historical crisis of capitalism, like never before in the past. Marxism is the only theory that is capable of understanding the roots of the present crisis and, most importantly, providing a perspective for its overthrow. What we need are activists that have not been discredited by past defeats, who are not disillusioned and cynical, which is so typical of so many left activists in Italy. But even more importantly, we need activists that have a strong, rational and unshakable faith in the ability of the working class to change the world when organized and conscious. We have defended and worked according to this perspective for many years also by participating in the internal life of Rifondazione, in its campaigns and internal debates. In particular after the defeat of the Rainbow Left (2008) and the subsequent split of the old more right-wing leaders who went on to form the Sel, the Left, Ecology and Freedom party. We did everything to improve the position of the PRC insisting we should learn the lessons from these defeats and from the political mistakes that were the root cause. In spite of all this, our battle within the party was not enough and the PRC has clearly demonstrated that it no longer has the force to swim against the stream of reformist and opportunism, but rather has been engulfed by this swamp. The party has basically collapsed with a massive fall in its membership and in its active base. The roots the party had in society, especially in the factories and among the youth, have been irreversibly undermined. The experience of all these years, and in particular of the last seven, has shown beyond any reasonable doubt that the national leadership, as well as a most of the local leaderships and the rank and file, now see no other option than to liquidate the party. The last stage of this long and inglorious march was the adventure of Sinistra Italiana (Italian Left). We will summarise what has happened. The PRC decided to respond to an appeal of various left and civil society groups (Noi ci Siamo We are Present) with a majority of the Central Committee voting in favour on 7-8 November. This appeal implies the party adhering to yet another so-called political subject of the Left. The Party decided to consult the ranks and file on this question. At the same time as this vote was taking place, this new subject of the Left was already being announced with the name of Sinistra Italiana. It brings together the Sel party and some MPs who left the Democratic Party. A few days later this coalition, strengthened by the fact that it has a parliamentary group, announced the formation of a new Party, stating cleraly that the newe party now exists and anyone wishes to adhere must dissolve their own party and join them. This was followed by letters, circulars, appeals, polemics, complaints and exchanges of insults. Meanwhile the PRC continued to consult the rank and file on something which had been superseded by events. In spite of this, there was no reaction within the party, and 70% of the 5000 Party members who took part in the consultation voted in favour of the proposal of the Central Committee. The PRC Secretary Ferrero swore adamantly that the PRC would never be dissolved, etc. etc.. But what is important is not intentions or statements but the inexorable logic of the decisions that have been taken. One can refuse to participate in an assembly, one can refuse to sign up an appeal or promote polemics on social media. But when the party will be faced with national or even regional elections it will have to choose between either scraping a 1% result in some or other alliance or begging on its knees to be given some candidates on the lists of Sinistra Italiana. And if Ferrero refuses to go down this road, some other party leaders will do it. This means that in reality today the only force to represent the Left in Italy is the Italian Left (Sinistra Italiana) and the PRC will be forced into a subordinate position. However, Sinistra Italiana, for both objective and subjective reasons, is neither the party of the working class nor its potential embryo. At best it is a caricature of the kind of Left that is required. It is not just a question of clarifying what position the party should have in relation to electoral alliances with the Democratic Party - which would be a big step in itself. Class independance is not simply a question that comes up in elections. Comrade Ferrero in fact makes his biggest mistake when he equates class independence as one of presenting a party list in elections. Class independence lies first and foremost in the programme, in the aims of the party and in the methods that it adopts to pursue them. We should understand the lessons of Greece. Syriza [prior to the January 2015 elections] did not form an alliance with any bourgeois party and this was one of the reasons for its electoral success. However, once in government - in a coalition - Tsipras reneged on all his previous promises and gave in to the diktats of the Troika in spite of the huge support he received in the 5 th of July referendum. Today, while the second Tsipras government is busy cutting pensions and privatising all and sundry, what is left of its claims to being against neo-liberalism? And what about all the talk of democracy? Shouldnt this lesson be ringing alarm bells for all those political forces that have uncritically supported Tsipras? Should not the lessons of Greece also be of concern for Podemos in Spain, Corbyn in Britain and the left coalition in Portugal? And looking even further afield, does the electoral defeat of the Bolivarian movement in Venezuela not confirm once again the failure of reformism? Does it not show that in the long run it is destined to succumb to the forces of capitalism? And shouldnt that teach us that in the long run it is not possible to carry out policies in favour of the working class while so long as real economic and political power is left in the hands of the capitalist class? All this should be the focus of serious debate for anyone setting out to build an alternative on the left.The cadres and activists of a future working class party can be educated only by learning these lessons. At the same - as such a political force does not build itself - a coordinated and systematic work needs to be carried out to sink roots in the labour movement and amongst the youth. Neither of these two tasks are being carried out by the PRC today. The party has also ceased to be a place where these tasks can even be posed. A party that abandoned its role, that sees itself as being subordinate to other political forces, loses its reason to exist. It can last in the form of a bureaucratic apparatus, as an organised structure, but as a political force it is doomed. In 2013 we launched a new political movement under the name of Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione [SCR, The Left, the Working Class and Revolution]. Today we take not of the fact that the latest decisions taken by the leadership of the PRC, and confirmed by the consultation of the membership, means that there is no longer any room for internal debate within the party, considering the fact that the party has formally renounced any independent political existence. This means that our activity within the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista has come to an end and we will not be renewing our membership of the party in 2016. We are very conscious of the fact that our movement is not a mass force able to set up the party that is required. To declare ourselves as the party of the working class would be tantamount to creating a sect. For this reason we will orientate to those forces on the left and in the labour movement that are still a point of reference for wide layers of the working class, and call on them to put an end to their subordination to the programme of other classes and assume the responsibility to form a party of the working class. To the degree that such forces lead even partial struggles that are recognised by the working class, we will support such battles. A United Front policy remains a necessity today as it has been in the past. However, in order to pursue it, absolute clarity and complete political independence in terms of programme and action is required. We are therefore breaking with the PRC. We are convinced, based on our recent experience, that such a separation will not isolate us but on the contrary will help us to develop fully the potential that we see from our work in the movement. In the labour movement and among the youth there is a huge potential for anti-capitalist struggle, but there is also a thirst for political analysis and education, a quest for revolutionary ideas around which the struggle against a more and more barbaric capitalism can be organised. We carry out this turn in full agreement and solidarity with our comrades in Europe and around the world. It is not based on any narrow national view of the crisis of the Italian left, although there are clearly also local considerations to take into account. The crisis of the Left in Italy can only be understood and overcome by taking into account the experiences of international labour movement. We are absolutely confident that also in Italy huge mass movements will emerge capable of shaking the system to its very foundations and posing the conditions for its overthrow. Our break with the PRC is therefore a prior requirement and clarification in order to fight to the very end the battles of tomorrow. January 8th, 2016 Claudio Bellotti, Lucia Erpice, Jacopo Renda (members of the National Executive of the Prc) Franco Bavila, Christian Febbraro, Irene Forno, Gemma Giusti, Lidia Luzzaro, Vittorio Saldutti, Ilic Vezzosi (members of the Central Committee of the PRC) Source: Rivoluzione UM students in undergraduate and graduate programs in the School of Business Administration and School of Forestry and Conservation set out on their intensive New Zealand and Australia study abroad experience on December 27 and returned on January 19. Led by Prof. Shawn Clouse of the MIS Department, the program examined international business, focusing on business sustainability practices and issues in New Zealand and Sydney, Australia. Full Story: http://www.business.umt.edu/stories/learning-about-sustainability-against-the-backdrop-of-the-lord-of-the-rings.php Les autorites ont decide le 2 septembre 2022 de promulguer le Civil Aviation (Passenger Service Charge) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 qui va infliger une amende de 5% aux prestataires de services concernant le Passenger Service Charge qui prendra effet le ler novembre 2022. Cabinet has agreed to the promulgation of the Civil Aviation (Passenger Service Charge) (Amendment) Regulations 2022. The new Regulations provide for application of a penalty of five percent and interest at the rate of one percent per month or part thereof, in respect of late payment by airlines of passenger service charge to the airport operator concerned. The remittance period would be not later than 30 days after the end of every month for the payment of the Passenger Service Charge. The Regulations would come into operation on 01 November 2022. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, February 15, 2016 On Presidents Day, it is traditional to remember the great presidents born in February -- most notably George Washington (on the 22nd) and Abraham Lincoln (on the 12th). But in this presidential-primary season, it seems appropriate to turn our attention to the would-be presidents too. And since this is a TV column, the one candidate who rises above the rest for consideration is none other than that famed reality-TV star Donald Trump -- former boardroom boss on The Apprentice. I have been sifting through my own personal archives of Trump stories and columns to see if I can revive some little-known details about his past that might not be well-known or even remembered today. advertisement advertisement As I have related in one or two previous blogs about Trump, I first met him in 2004 during the first season of The Apprentice, which he took upon himself to promote. I have described previously how Mr. Trump -- as he preferred to be addressed -- would call TV-beat reporters on the morning after The Apprentice to personally share the ratings with them, although his characterizations of the shows success were generally exaggerated. I recently remembered something else about him from those days too. I had been informed by several others who knew him that he was a germaphobe and preferred not to shake hands with anyone else whenever possible. He was too polite to make a big thing out of it if you reached out for a handshake, but I tried to remember to be considerate and offer him a fist-bump whenever I ran into him. I forgot a few times (but not always) and he shook my hand anyway. But I can also honestly say that I have fist-bumped with Donald Trump, a man who might become president of the United States. Now that hes on the campaign trail, I see him on TV shaking peoples hands all over the place, so I guess hes found a way to keep his germaphobia in check. I also came across a quote from an interview I conducted with him in May 2009 that gives a hint of how he might be applying what he learned in the world of reality television to his campaign for the Republican nomination for president. This interview was conducted in the corporate offices of the Trump Organization on the 25th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Specifically, he sat down with me in the office of one of his sons, Donald Jr., who wasnt there at the time. Trump was promoting another season finale of The Celebrity Apprentice that was scheduled to air a few days later on Sunday. This finale would feature finalists Joan Rivers vs. Annie Duke, a professional poker player, in a matchup that was shaping up to be antagonistic because the two were said to detest each other (at least according to the pre-show hype). To his credit, Trump didnt play up their antagonism in our interview. On the contrary, he feigned frustration over it when he said to me: Its pretty sad. When you dont have fighting, who cares, right? Fast-forward to the 2016 presidential race. These days, fighting with and antagonizing his fellow Republicans -- in televised debates and on the campaign trail -- has become Trumps trademark. So whether or not the battle between Joan Rivers and Annie Duke truly distressed him, Trump apparently learned the value of conflict on The Apprentice. By the way, Rivers won. It is also worth noting that Trump has engaged in petty feuds with plenty of people for years -- so his baiting of Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush is nothing new. The list of public figures he has feuded with over the years includes Rosie ODonnell, Barbara Walters, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Jerry Seinfeld, Robert De Niro, Seth Meyers and heaven knows who else. His feuds have provided fodder for journalists (myself included) for at least 10-15 years, if not more. Speaking of debates, betcha didnt know (or didnt remember) that Trump himself was going to moderate a Republican debate in late December 2011. Earlier that year, he had toyed with the idea of throwing his hat into the ring for the 2012 election cycle, but decided against it. He then seemed to be having second thoughts and contemplated entering the race as an independent. Since he couldnt seem to make up his mind about running, he at least had the courtesy to bow out as a moderator for a Republican debate that was being organized by Newsmax.com, the right-leaning news Web site. This debate wound up never happening at all. Virtual reality therapy could help treat depression by encouraging people to be easier on themselves and improve their chances of breaking the cycle of depression, says a new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open. Share on Pinterest A virtual reality scenario could help patients to feel better about themselves. In 2014, 6.6% of American adults experienced at least one bout of major depression. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) defines depression as a period of 2 weeks or longer during which there is either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure and at least four other symptoms that reflect a change in functioning, such as problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration and self-image. Self-criticism is common among people with depression. Increasing levels of self-compassion appears to help, but some patients find it hard to show compassion toward themselves. A negative self-image can increase an individuals sense of vulnerability and contribute to the persistence of the depression. Embodiment in an avatar A team, led by Prof. Chris Brewin of University College London (UCL) Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology department, tried the technique first with healthy volunteers. The researchers then invited 15 patients with depression to try it. They were aged 23-61 years, 10 were men, and five were women. Ten of the patients were taking antidepressants, seven were receiving psychological therapy, seven were waiting for therapy and one had completed a course of therapy. Each session lasted about 8 minutes, and it was repeated once a week for 3 weeks. The process involved a technique known as embodiment, in which participants wear a virtual reality headset to enable them to see from the perspective of a life-size avatar, or virtual body. As they watched in a mirror, the virtual body moved in the same way as their own body, giving the illusion that it was their body. While embodied in the avatar, participants learned to show compassion toward a distressed virtual child. As they interacted with the child, the figure gradually stopped crying and responded positively to the compassion. A few minutes later, the patients were embodied in the virtual child. As the child, they experienced the adult avatar delivering the compassionate words and gestures that they had used previously. A rapid, accurate test that can detect biomarkers of lung cancer in saliva is soon to be trialed in patients. Share on Pinterest The researchers say the saliva test, which is being trialed in cancer patients this year, takes only 10 minutes to give a result and could be done in the doctors office. The news marks a milestone in over 10 years of research led by oral cancer and saliva diagnostics researcher Prof. David Wong, of the School of Dentistry at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). Prof. Wong and colleagues have been working on a method called liquid biopsy that detects circulating tumor DNA in bodily fluids such as saliva and blood. Liquid biopsy holds the promise of rapid, less invasive identification of cancers and easier tracking of disease progress during treatment. Prof. Wong described the prototype in a news briefing at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which is taking place in Washington, DC. The device uses electric field-induced release and measurement (EFIRM) to detect non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) biomarkers in saliva. The EFIRM device analyzes the contents of exosomes tiny bags of molecules that cells release now and again. The device forces the exosomes to release their contents and carries out bio-recognition of the released biomolecules at the same time. A hallmark of Alzheimers disease is the formation of faulty protein clumps that clog up the brain and kill brain cells. Now, after observing its effects in a lab model of Alzheimers, scientists have discovered that an already approved anti-cancer drug could delay the onset of the neurodegenerative disease. Share on Pinterest The study suggests an anti-cancer drug that had previously failed to clear Alzheimers amyloid plaques may be effective in preventing them if given early enough. The drug called bexarotene, approved in the US for the treatment of lymphoma targets primary nucleation, the first step in the chain reaction that causes the faulty protein clumps or amyloid protein plaques, note the researchers, who report their findings in a Science Advances paper. The team is not proposing bexarotene as a cure for Alzheimers disease; they suggest it could reduce the risk of developing the disease by boosting the bodys natural defences against faulty proteins in the brain. Senior author Michele Vendruscolo, a professor in the department of chemistry at the University of Cambridge in the UK, explains that as we age, our natural mechanisms for defending against brain plaques get weaker and become overwhelmed. She adds: By understanding how these natural defenses work, we might be able to support them by designing drugs that behave in similar ways. He and his colleagues including other researchers from Cambridge, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and Lund University in Sweden gave bexarotene to nematode worms that had been genetically programmed to develop symptoms of Alzheimers disease. Preventing primary nucleation The team found bexarotene disrupted the first steps in the process of amyloid plaque formation. When given early enough, the drug completely suppressed the formation of the plaques in the worms. However, the drug had no effect once Alzheimers symptoms had already appeared. Further analysis of the molecular action of bexarotene revealed that it stops primary nucleation, the first step in the chain reaction that leads to amyloid plaque formation. This step occurs when naturally occurring proteins fold into the wrong shape and attach to other proteins. The process produces thin filaments called amyloid fibrils and smaller clusters called oligomers, which are highly toxic to nerve cells and are thought to be responsible for brain damage in Alzheimers disease. Research to prevent oligomer formation in Alzheimers has been going on for over 2 decades, without success, which Prof. Vendruscolo and colleagues attribute to not understanding exactly how the disease begins at the molecular level. An important feature of the study is that the researchers established exactly what happens stage by stage in Alzheimers disease, and what might result if a particular stage were interrupted or switched off. They managed to do this using a test they developed, which Prof. Vendruscolo says not only measures the rates of the overall process, but also of specific sub-processes. This means, he explains, we can reduce the toxicity of the aggregates rather than simply stopping them forming. Mother and child malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries encompasses a range of conditions including maternal wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, foetal growth restriction and stunting - a height that is below the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards median - of children younger than five years. While the prevalence of stunting has decreased during the past two decades, it still affects 160 million children under 5 and is concentrated in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. "In shifting the global burden of stunting and growth retardation, it is important to address determinants such as poor status of women in society, gender disparities, and invest actively in promoting education and economic empowerment of girls," said Professor Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Founding Director, Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University and Co-Director, SickKids Centre for Global Child Health in Toronto, Canada. He was speaking as the lead speaker at the session Childhood Stunting: Policy Solutions to Address a Global Burden with Long-Term Impacts at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC. "The Aga Khan University is leading efforts to monitor nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in Pakistan and the region, including Afghanistan. In addition, scientists and public health specialists at the University are engaged in testing and implementing innovations and low-cost solutions to addressing the problems of stunting and wasting among infants and children as well as adolescent girls in various settings," added Professor Bhutta. Last year, the University also pledged to support the Global Strategy's ambitious yet achievable targets - which are fully aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals - with an investment of over US$ 85 million to improve capacity and to develop programmes that will reach over 15 million women and children in South-Central Asia and East Africa, and potentially save a million lives. Other speakers included Professor Andrew Prentice from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Dr Shasha Jumbe from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Professor Bhutta also participated as a discussant in another session The Global Impact of Violence Against Children: Economic, Health, and Policy Perspectives along with Professor Susan Horton from the University of Waterloo and other experts. An experimental vaccine combined with an innovative way of vaccinating people has resulted in an estimated 100 percent efficacy of the vaccine against the Ebola virus in West Africa -- and the approach could establish a new way of responding to outbreaks of emerging pathogens, including the Zika virus. This is according to two researchers who will discuss their experimental Ebola vaccine trial during the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016. Their discussion focused on interim results of a study published in The Lancet in July. The study examined an experimental Ebola vaccine as well as a way of deploying the vaccine. The strategy includes vaccinating people who had contact with people who contracted Ebola and also the close contacts of people who had that contact -- an approach known as ring vaccination. Ring vaccination was first used in the 1970s to eradicate smallpox. University of Florida researcher Ira Longini, Ph.D., one of the study's authors, and lead author Ana Maria Henao Restrepo, M.D., a medical officer for the World Health Organization, expect the vaccination strategy could be used to combat other emerging pathogens. It works off the concept of surveillance and containment, and can be designed for interventions other than vaccination, including disease prevention and treatment. "This type of analysis is a very robust design. It worked for the Ebola vaccine, and could work for the Zika vaccine, or any other emerging threat we might see," Longini said. "Now, we want to make the point that we can almost certainly contain future Ebola outbreaks, and that we will probably have a new paradigm and tool for dealing with new outbreaks of whatever emerges in the future." Longini, a biostatistics professor in the UF colleges of Public Health and Health Professions and Medicine and director of the UF Center for Statistics and Quantitative Infectious Diseases, will highlight the study's unique design and results of the trial. Because researchers were working in an emergency situation, conducting a standard randomized controlled trial -- a trial in which study participants are randomly divided into two groups, one who receives the drug being tested and one who receives a placebo -- could have been unethical. "When you're studying a vaccine for Food and Drug Administration licensure, you would normally like to run the vaccine through a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial," said Longini, also a member of the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute. "To use a placebo in a situation like this Ebola epidemic, in which the probability of someone falling ill and dying is high, could be unethical." For the researchers' interim results, the study included 7,651 people, more than 3,500 of whom were vaccinated. Researchers found the vaccine 100 percent effective in preventing Ebola illness in vaccinated people and 75 percent effective in reducing the risk of Ebola illness in rings where about half of the people had been vaccinated. The researchers plan to publish their final paper examining the trial soon, but the trial is still ongoing to deliver ring vaccination for any new clusters of Ebola, including a current cluster in Sierra Leone. The researchers also plan to study how long a vaccinated person's immunity to Ebola lasts. "The answer to that question is usually 'no,' but there are exceptions," said Stanford Professor Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy. An expert on the health impacts of fossil fuels, Jackson has studied groundwater quality at oil and gas fields throughout the United States. He presented his findings on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 10:00 a.m. ET, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C. Jackson spoke at a symposium entitled, "Does Hydraulic Fracturing Allow Gas to Reach Drinking Water," at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Marshall Ballroom South. "We have found a number of homes near active wells with very high levels of natural gas in the tap water," Jackson said. "Where the chemistry suggests contamination, the problem usually lies with the integrity of the well, either the cementing used to isolate it from the surrounding rock and water or the steel casing that allows gas and oil to flow upwards." Most documented cases of groundwater contamination were caused by poorly constructed wells, he said, pointing to a widely publicized case in Parker County, Texas. "At that site, the company cemented very near the surface and deep underground, but they put no cement for 4,000 feet in between," he explained. "The gap allowed gases to move up and down freely like a chimney and contaminate the drinking-water supply." Besides structural issues, Jackson and his colleagues have identified problems associated with hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This technology uses pressurized sand, water and chemicals to crack open rocks and release trapped reservoirs of oil and gas. Fracking wells are often installed a mile or more below the surface, far from underground sources of drinking water. But in a recent study, Jackson found that at least 2,600 wells in U.S. have been fracked at depths shallower than 3,000 feet, some just hundreds of feet below the surface. "We found a surprising number of places where companies are fracking directly into shallow freshwater aquifers," he said. "In no other industry would you be allowed to inject chemicals into a source of drinking-quality water." Jackson cited a high-profile case in Pavillion, Wyo., where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that shallow fracking operations had released natural gas and other toxic compounds into freshwater aquifers. "At Pavillion, they were fracking less than 1,000 feet deep, while people were getting drinking water at 750 feet," Jackson said. "Contamination is more likely to occur when there isn't enough separation between the hydraulic fracturing activity and the drinking-water sources." In California, Jackson has identified hundreds of fracking wells drilled into aquifers located less than 2,000 feet below the surface. In the U.S., hydraulic fracturing is typically regulated by individual states. "Some states, like Texas and Pennsylvania, generally have pretty strong environmental regulations," Jackson said. "Others, like West Virginia and Arkansas, don't. Only Texas and Colorado have restrictions or additional safeguards in place for shallow hydraulic fracturing." The 2010 documentary, Gasland, sparked controversy with footage of a kitchen tap catching fire at a home located near a natural gas well. "That doesn't happen often, but we have seen it," Jackson said. "We've also documented people' s water change from clean to contaminated over the course of a year." Natural gas consists primarily of methane, a greenhouse gas that's more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. Concerns about global warming and the potential impacts if natural gas on drinking water have led several European countries to take a much more cautious approach to hydraulic fracturing, Jackson said. "In Germany, France, and many other countries, officials are under pressure to invest in solar, wind and other renewables instead of a technology that produces greenhouse gases," he said. One in five young people are not submitting a specimen for chlamydia testing after their general practitioner has requested one, according to research published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Men, people aged 16 to 19 years, those living in socio-economic disadvantage, and those attending clinics without on-site pathology collection were less likely to be tested for chlamydia after a GP request, the authors - a team from the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the Alfred Hospital and the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW - reported. "Chlamydia screening is a key preventive care activity for young Australian adults," the authors wrote. "Guidelines recommend that sexually active men and women aged 15-29 years have an annual chlamydia test, but less than 10% of this age group are screened each year in general practice. "It is possible that concern about confidentiality and privacy in general practice may have deterred some ... "It has been argued that simply raising awareness about the risk of chlamydia may not increase testing [in 16-19 year olds], and that providing reassurance of non-infection may be more productive. "Lack of knowledge about [the test's] cost may have deterred some patients. "Chlamydia testing can be stressful for some patients, and any inconvenience, such as having to ... attend an off-site pathology centre, will deter patients from following through." "Young age and socio-economic disadvantage are key risk factors for chlamydia....clinics must establish systems to ensure that tests ordered by GPs are actually undertaken". Being a caregiver for an older adult isn't easy. A new study suggests that family and unpaid caregivers who provide substantial help with health care were more likely to miss out on valued activities, have a loss of work productivity and experience emotional, physical and financial difficulties, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. Almost 8 million older adults with significant disabilities live in the community with help from family and unpaid caregivers. Caregivers not only provide most assistance with everyday activities but they help with a range of health care activities, including physician visits. Jennifer L. Wolff, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, and coauthors used data from two nationally representative samples that provided insight into older adults and the caregivers who help them. The study included 1,739 family and unpaid caregivers of 1,171 older adults. The caregivers provided substantial, some or no help with health care, which was defined as coordinating care and managing medications. The study sample represented 14.7 million caregivers assisting 7.7 million older adults, of which 6.5 million caregivers (44.1 percent) provided substantial help, 4.4 million (29.8 percent) provided some help and 3.8 million (26.1 percent) provided no help with health care. Among older adults receiving substantial help with health care activities, 45.5 percent had dementia and 34.3 percent had severe disability, according to the study. Caregivers who provided substantial help with health care were more likely to: Live with older adults Experience emotional, physical and financial difficulty Participate less in valued activities, such as visiting friends and family, going out for fun, attending religious services, and participating in club or group activities Report loss of work productivity Utilize supportive services, although only about one-quarter utilized such services Due to the nature of the study, the authors cannot draw cause-and-effect conclusions. "Because the magnitude and scope of assistance provided to disabled older adults by family and unpaid caregivers far exceed those of paid caregivers, and because their involvement persists across both time and settings of care, devising organizational strategies and health care practices to identify and more purposefully engage and support family caregivers merits greater attention by health system stakeholders seeking high-value care," the study concludes. Commentary: Putting the Spotlight on Invisible Family Caregivers "The study by Wolff and colleagues confirms and extends the existing knowledge about family caregivers who provide the most demanding levels of care for older adults at high risk of poor outcomes. Shining the spotlight on invisible family caregivers is just the first step, but it may be the most important," writes Carol Levine, M.A., of the United Hospital Fund of New York, in a related commentary. Almost all of our genes may be influenced by the food we eat, according to new research published in the journal Nature Microbiology. The study, carried out in yeast - which can be used to model some of the body's fundamental processes - shows that while the activity of our genes influences our metabolism, the opposite is also true and the nutrients available to cells influence our genes. The behaviour of our cells is determined by a combination of the activity of its genes and the chemical reactions needed to maintain the cells, known as metabolism. Metabolism works in two directions: the breakdown of molecules to provide energy for the body and the production of all compounds needed by the cells. Knowing the genome - the complete DNA 'blueprint' of an organism - can provide a substantial amount of information about how a particular organism will look. However, this does not give the complete picture: genes can be regulated by other genes or regions of DNA, or by 'epigenetic' modifiers - small molecules attached to the DNA that act like switches to turn genes on and off. Previous studies have suggested that another player in gene regulation may exist: the metabolic network - the biochemical reactions that occur within an organism. These reactions mainly depend on the nutrients a cell has available - the sugars, amino acids, fatty acids and vitamins that are derived from the food we eat. To examine the scale at which this happens, an international team of researchers, led by Dr Markus Ralser at the University of Cambridge and the Francis Crick Institute, London, addressed the role of metabolism in the most basic functionality of a cell. They did so using yeast cells. Yeast is an ideal model organism for large scale experiments at it is much simpler to manipulate than animal models, yet many of its important genes and fundamental cellular mechanisms are the same as or very similar to those in animals and humans. The researchers manipulated the levels of important metabolites - the products of metabolic reactions - in the yeast cells and examined how this affected the behaviour of the genes and the molecules they produced. Almost nine out of ten genes and their products were affected by changes in cellular metabolism. "Cellular metabolism plays a far more dynamic role in the cells than we previously thought," explains Dr Ralser. "Nearly all of a cell's genes are influenced by changes to the nutrients they have access to. In fact, in many cases the effects were so strong, that changing a cell's metabolic profile could make some of its genes behave in a completely different manner. "The classical view is that genes control how nutrients are broken down into important molecules, but we've shown that the opposite is true, too: how the nutrients break down affects how our genes behave." The researchers believe that the findings may have wide-ranging implications, including on how we respond to certain drugs. In cancers, for example, tumour cells develop multiple genetic mutations, which change the metabolic network within the cells. This in turn could affect the behaviour of the genes and may explain with some drugs fail to work for some individuals. "Another important aspect of our findings is a practical one for scientists," explains says Dr Ralser. "Biological experiments are often not reproducible between laboratories and we often blame sloppy researchers for that. It appears however, that small metabolic differences can change the outcomes of the experiments. We need to establish new laboratory procedures that control better for differences in metabolism. This will help us to design better and more reliable experiments." Advertisement Traditional randomized controlled trials can provide important information. However, only three trials in chronic Lyme disease have been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and they studied too few people (37 to 129) to yield meaningful results. "You need sample sizes in the thousands to perform the subgroup analysis necessary to tell us why some patients respond to treatment, while others don't," says Johnson.Subgroup analysis can be critical in Lyme disease where treatment response may depend on different factors, such as how early the patient was diagnosed or whether the patient also had been infected with other tick-borne pathogens. Patient-powered research networks like MyLymeData are uniquely suited to study this diverse patient population and evaluate complex treatments that are provided in a real-world practice.Big data tools allow patients to pool their data so that research can be performed quickly and inexpensively. "The last treatment trials of chronic Lyme disease were funded over 15 years ago. We now have the technology to do this today. Patients no longer need to wait," says Johnson.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently revised its estimate on the number of Lyme disease cases in the U.S. from 30,000 to 300,000 annually. The disease is six times more prevalent than HIV/AIDS and almost twice as common as breast cancer.Many patients who contract Lyme disease remain seriously ill after treatment. In fact, some studies suggest treatment failure rates may be as high as 35% to 50%. "Nobody knows for sure, but estimates based on treatment failure rates suggest that between one and three million people may currently be living with Lyme disease - a number that grows larger every year," says Johnson.The financial costs of failing to address this problem are staggering as well. Research indicates that medical expenditures alone for treating Lyme disease may exceed $1.3 billion. Other studies suggest the cost to society, in terms of loss of productivity, may be even higher. 43% of patients report having had to stop work due to the disease, while 24% report that they are receiving disability."The only way we are going to increase our understanding of chronic Lyme disease and be able to answer the important questions that directly impact patients' lives is through big data projects like MyLymeData. It is going to be individual patients coming together and sharing their information that will accelerate research to figure out this disease once and for all," explains Johnson.Source: Eurekalert Advertisement After the test, whichever embryo is found normal is transferred into the patient's womb resulting in a normal pregnancy, he said. The idea is to predetermine which embryo has to be implanted after secreening for the defect, said Abha Majumdar, the head of the IVF facility at the hospital."Usually, the screening happens after a woman is pregnant. A couple will conceive. They will come in the third or fourth month, get an ultrasound done and find that this is defective. They will then get an abortion done which is painful for the mother," she said. The hospital has also performed PGD cycles for couples with single gene defects such a beta thalassemia, citrullinemia, spinal muscular atrophy, and muscular dystrophy."PGD is a ray of hope for couples with single gene defects who otherwise are left with no option but to repeatedly abort an affected foetus. PGD helps couples who are either carriers of genetic mutations to conceive babies free from an inherited disease," said D.S. Rana, the Chairman of the hospital.The hospital has also claimed to have become the first hospital in northern India to have the egg freezing facility which allows women to defer child bearing. "There are women who are not ready to have a baby. They can come to IVF centre and ask for their eggs to be frozen," said Gaurav Majumdar."So we stimulate them in a similar manner that a IVF couple will be stimulated with drugs to make multiple eggs and they will be retrieved through a small invasive procedure and the eggs are frozen."Source: IANS Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. Advertisement "If you're not curious, you're probably not a real scientist," he said. "The goal that you have is to find out something true about the world, regardless of what your preferred hypothesis might be. Your real drive is to find what is revealed by the data. This is absolutely essential in being a scientist."If someone is dishonest and going to the extreme of faking data, that person is not really a scientist in the true sense, Pennock added.Those surveyed, using a scale from zero to ten, were asked to rate attentiveness, collaborative, courage, curiosity, honesty, humility to evidence, meticulousness, objectivity, perseverance and skepticism with regard to their importance for scientific research.Once they scored each trait, the scientists were asked how each characteristic is or isn't expressed in science. The subjects also were asked to identify the three most-important virtues.The study revealed a tacit moral code in scientific culture - one that most researchers hope to be able to pass on to their students, Pennock said."The results will have some implications for teaching science," said Pennock, who conducted the study with Jon Miller of the University of Michigan. "Our teaching shouldn't stop with the content or science processes. Cultivating the values - like honesty and curiosity - that underlie science should be a part of science education."Underscoring the importance of instilling desirable traits in the next generation of scientists, the study tackled how exemplary scientists preserve and transmit these values to their students.A whopping 94 percent of scientists believe scientific values and virtues can be learned. The number dropped a bit, though, when asked if these traits are actually being transmitted to current graduate students."It's encouraging that 4 out of 5 scientists believe that their values are being embraced by the next generation of students," Pennock said. "However, it's somewhat troubling that 22 percent of the scientists surveyed see these valued traits eroding a bit."With stories of falsified results making headlines, it's known that some scientists not only fail to achieve these ideals but directly violate them.Science is a truth-seeking enterprise. Based on this study, researchers violating this unwritten code of conduct may not be scientists in the truest sense, Pennock said."Researchers who commit such misconduct are not merely violating some regulatory requirements, but they also are violating - in a deep way - what it means to be a scientist," he said.Source: Eurekalert Best Ucrain Metal Act Once at the very beginning of their way in their hometown somebody said behind their backs : Won't go further than local gigs! Only pathos and crabs! Today JINJER are one of the best metal bands in Ukraine with wide popularity both in the motherland, all around Europe, and even overseas. De facto the band was formed in 2009 and right of the bat they released a promo-EP. However, it isn't really clear if we can call that line-up a real JINJER band. There was a guy, Max, on vocals. He emigrated to the states right after the demo-release. And generally there was only one person remained from that line-up a band-founder, Dmitriy Oksen. Probably the real starting point for the band was when Tatiana Shmailyuk replaced the previous vocalist. It is interesting that originally Tatiana didn't want to stay for long in the band, so to say she decided to help friends just for a while. But as it often happens the temporary turns into the permanent. Almost at the same time Roman Ibramkhalilov joined the band too, the guitarist whose talent and skills would become one of the basics of the band's sound. In 2010 JINJER recorded and released on the Internet two singles with Tatiana's vocals and the band finally started to gain first fans and popularity, though only locally yet. Same time they received their first invitations to play in the regional center of Donetsk and other towns around it. But till the summer of 2011 the band couldn't get a stable and ready-to-work line up. After Eugene Abdiukhanov (a-k Kostyuk) joining the band, he also took in charge of band's management and promotion, JINJER at last began their way to wide popularity on the underground metal stage of Ukraine. Info: http://jinjer-metalband.com/ AK: 12,- VVK: 10,- unter: www.dereuler.at, Jouls Kaffeesiaderei, p.m.k Buro The country's commercial capital does have a heart after all. Responding to the plight of the state's distressed farmers, the Vadkes from Thane downsized their daughter's wedding and donated Rs 6 lakh to two villages in Jalna and Nanded. Besides, a railway engineer from Parel, Biman Biswas, has been donating almost 40% of his salary every month to farmers who live more than 700 km away. The Vadke family is one example of how, despite their comfortable life, people from the city are responding to the severe drought in the state. Vivek Vadke (59) a chemical engineer has set an example for others to follow, by cutting down expenses on his daughter's wedding and donating the amount to two drought-affected villages in Marathwada. This region is the most-affected area in the state, with just 8% water stocks remaining. Reuters The family has donated to Padali village in Jalna and Dapshed village in Nanded. Vivek and his wife Vasanti have always been very active socially and connected with the Gram Vikas wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. They decided to not spend money on decorations and other unimportant things and saved Rs 6 lakh, which was then donated to two villages. The money will be used to desilt and widen rivers that run along these villages so that they are ready to accommodate more water during the monsoon. "We were quite aware of the situation in the state and did not want to spend money on things that are not too important like decorations," said Vivek. Their daughter, Jaai, a bio-informatics graduate, married Tejas, a fighter pilot on December 24 after which the sum was personally handed over to the villagers. "After visiting the villages, we realized that the best way to use the money would be to help deepen and widen the water resources in these villages to increase their capacity for the monsoon," said Vadke. Reuters As for Biman Biswas, a senior section engineer working with the Central Railway, he has been donating almost 40% of his salary to support at least 10 farmers and their families in Marathwada. His philanthropy started out with supporting two farmers. When he realized that his donations were saving families, he increased the number of people he would reach. "All my leaves were used to travel to villages in Yavatmal and Beed. The issue of farmer suicide is beyond drought, fair prices, cultivation practices are all related," said Biswas, who is due to retire in six months and will be spending his post-retirement time to work with farmers. Biswas was very emotional while talking about his experience with the farmers and their families. He said that Rs 5,000 is all that it takes to keep a farmer from committing suicide. "It's a matter of small donations and we can save them. More and more people should start adopting families of farmers who are in need." (This article originally appeared in The Times Of India) Alternate Foreign Minister Nikos Xydakis will be in Brussels on Tuesday, 16 February 2016, to attend a meeting of the EU General Affairs Council (GAC). The GAC agenda includes the debate on the European semester, the interinstitutional agreement on better law-making, and preparations for the European Council meeting to be held this Thursday and Friday, 18 and 19 February. Mr. Xydakis will present to his European counterparts Greeces positions on the preparations for the upcoming European Council meeting, including with regard to migration and the European Unions relations with the United Kingdom. Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias met in Brussels, on the margins of todays meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, with the Foreign Ministers of Cyprus and Lebanon, Ioannis Kasoulides and Gebran Bassil, respectively. This first such trilateral meeting was dominated by issues of regional and international interest, while special emphasis was put on the refugee crisis, terrorism and the peace process in the wider Middle East. The talks looked at the prospects for building trilateral cooperation in the economic and trade sectors, as well as in the sectors of energy, security and culture. Finally, it was agreed for Messrs. Kotzias and Kasoulides to carry out a joint visit to Lebanon in the near future. Today we started off with a trilateral meeting. Following Egypt, Israel and Jordan, trilateral cooperation between Cyprus, Lebanon and Greece was started. In this way we completed an initial process. Moreover, we have reached an agreement with Lebanon so that, after the summer, we can organize a conference of Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus and Greece on security and peace in the Eastern Mediterranean. The countries under discussion at todays meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council included, first, Moldova, where an effort is being made to consolidate rule of law and combat corruption, crime and black political money. The second country we looked at was Belarus, regarding which the lifting of the bulk of the sanctions is foreseen. It was proved once again that sanctions like these do not work and are not effective, and that it is much more effective to develop the relations between the European Union and third countries. Of course, a large portion of our talks concerned Syria, the developments following the London conference and the agreement reached in Munich. We once again expressed our concern, which is based on the fact that many powers continue to believe that they can continue bombardments or prepare military forces for intervention in Syria. For us, the Syria issue is not just a matter of humanism or battling terrorism, or a matter of pacifism in general. It is an issue that has to do with the situation of the member states of the European Union, with the future of the European Union itself and of its unity in facing major geopolitical problems, like the refugee crisis. In fact, one of the worst offenders when a tot's trying to listen is other voices babbling in the background, researchers said Saturday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "What a child hears in a noisy environment is not what an adult hears," said Dr. Lori Leibold of Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. That's a Catch-22 in our increasingly noisy lives because "young children learn language from hearing it," said Dr. Rochelle Newman of the University of Maryland. "They have a greater need for understanding speech around them but at the same time they're less equipped to deal with it." It's not their ability to hear. For healthy children, the auditory system is pretty well developed by a few months of age. Consider how hard it is to carry on a conversation in a noisy restaurant. Researchers simulated that background in a series of experiments by playing recordings of people reading and talking while testing how easily children detected words they knew, such as "playground," when a new voice broke through the hubbub, or how easily they learned new words. The youngest children could recognize one person's speech amid multiple talkers, but only at relatively soft noise levels, Newman said. Even the background noise during relatively quiet day care story time can be enough for tots to miss parts of what's read, she said. It's not just a concern for toddlers and preschoolers. The ability to understand and process speech against competing background noise doesn't mature until adolescence, Leibold said. Nor is the challenge just to tune out the background buzz. Brief sudden noises someone coughs, a car horn blares can drown out part of a word or sentence. An adult's experienced brain automatically substitutes a logical choice, often well enough that the person doesn't notice, Newman said. "Young children don't do this. Their brain doesn't fill in the gaps," she said. Children who were born prematurely may have an additional risk. When preemies spend a long time in an incubator, their brains get used to the constant "white noise" of the machine's fan different from a full-term baby who develops hearing mom's voice in the womb and thus is wired to pay more attention to voices, said Dr. Amir Lahav of Harvard Medical School. He had mothers of preemies record themselves singing lullabies or reading stories, and filtered them along with the sound of mom's heartbeat into the incubator three times a day when she wasn't otherwise visiting. The brain's auditory cortex became more developed in babies given that extra womb-like exposure compared with preemies with typical incubator care, Lahav found. Moreover, when those babies were big enough to leave the hospital, they paid more attention to speech, he said. "Exposure to noises and sounds very early in life will spill over to affect how our brain is going to function," Lahav said. Noise also is a special challenge for children with hearing loss, who may need technology beyond standard hearing aids to cope, Leibold said, describing special receivers that can transmit a teacher's voice directly to the ear so it's not lost in classmates' chatter. The research has implications for classroom design, too, Leibold added, as the type of flooring or ceiling height can either soften kids' natural noise or bounce it around. But learning starts at home, and University of Maryland child language specialist Nan Bernstein Ratner often has parents ask if they should stimulate a tot's environment with interactive toys and educational TV. "We tend to think bustling environments and creating background noise is stimulating for kids," she said. But, she said, "what's stimulating on the part of the parent may not be for the child." Among the tips: Don't leave the TV, radio and other electronics on in the background. It's not clear whether soft music is distracting, but lyrics might be, Ratner said. Speak clearly and make eye contact. Especially in noise, make sure tots see your face. They can pick up on mouth movements, Newman said. If the child doesn't understand, try again with simpler words. If a child's having school behavior problems, make sure being unable to hear in class isn't the problem. Pastor Letisha Bowman plans to lead services at the renovated Portland United Methodist Church on Sunday, the Lansing State Journal reported. She officially became the church's pastor July 1, just days after the tornado struck. "I'm looking forward to getting back into our space and having everyone at the worship services in our own building," Bowman said. The church's roof and windows were damaged in the storm, resulting in damage to the building's interior. Several churches were among 132 buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged by the tornado, resulting an estimated $3.3 million in damage. No one was injured in Portland, located about 25 miles northwest of Lansing. The church has been holding services at the Portland Playhouse, a downtown theater that also was used by the First Baptist Church. "The Playhouse board was very gracious in allowing us to use their facility," Bowman said. "However it was a transition because we always had to set up for the service and then take everything down each week." Some work still needs to be done, including replacement of some stained glass windows and reinstallation of the church's organ. "It will probably be another month for the organ to be replaced as the console and pipes are still being cleaned," said Todd Ness, a member of the church's board of trustees. "The organ was not damaged too badly. However, we decided to remove it because of the damage to the roof and the threat for further damage from rain." Some landscaping and cement work outside of the building also will wait until spring and better weather conditions, he said. world-series-detroit-skyline-fieldjpg-5948561eb5503b20.jpg Detroit skyline. (Tanya Moutzalias) DETROIT - While some continue to bicker about what the chunk of Detroit northwest of downtown is officially called, the popular piece of the city along Woodard Avenue between the Fisher Freeway and The Lodge might be getting another facelift soon. The Detroit News reports that the area traditionally known as Cass Corridor might soon see new city zoning rules, which would ban "strip mall" type stores. If the Detroit City Council passes the rezoning, any new building would have to contribute to a "street wall" in specified swarths of the neighborhood, according to The News. The street wall is described by Susan Mosey, executive director of Midtown Detroit, Inc., as a continuous block of buildings without individual parking lots or single-story shops interrupting a stack of shops, offices and residential buildings. The description applies to much of what already exists in the historic buildings on Woodward Avenue downtown. According to the News, the zoning change would ban domestic abuse shelters, pool halls and soup kitchens, among other things, in the areas that will be rezoned. It won't kick any of the existing establishments out, and Mosey told The News the shelters and things like them could still be built in other places in Midtown. The zoning law would attempt to make Midtown and Cass Corridor "more walkable." Last year, an annual report stated that the neighborhood held a 97 percent occupancy rate. Much of Woodward Avenue through the section of town pumped full of millennials, professionals and students is already built up. The rezoning wouldn't affect already-existing structures. So the possible changes would take affect on Cass Avenue, which is just a block west of Woodward and runs through what now bears what's left of the Cass Corridor moniker. The Corridor doesn't look a lot like Woodward, in that big portions of Cass Avenue have room for new development. The News reports that the area around Cass currently houses "an old-school pool hall" and two different outreach centers, which won't have to move, but might not fit into the desired Midtown model. One business owner from the area told the News he's not sure how he fits into the future of the neighborhood. Ian Thibodeau is the business and development reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. He can be reached at ithibode@mlive.com, or follow him on Twitter. Bravo! Cucina Italiana Bravo! Cucina Italiana will open its first West Michigan restaurant on Thursday, Feb. 18 at Knapp's Crossing. (Nick Gonzales | Mlive.com) (Nick Gonzales) GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Bravo Cucina Italiana will open its first West Michigan restaurant on Thursday, Feb. 18 at Knapp's Crossing. The Grand Rapids location marks the national restaurant chain's first expansion into the west side of the state. "The Knapp's Crossing area seems to be a happening area with lots of residential growth," said Nicole Roope, Bravo's director of marketing, explaining the choice of location. Bravo is one of five new restaurants coming to the revived Knapp Street and East Beltline Avenue NE development. There are four other of the Italian-American restaurants in the Lansing, Ann Arbor and Detroit areas. In Michigan, the five Bravo franchised locations are owned by the Bravo Brio Restaurant Group.The Ann Arbor-based firm also operates two Brio Tuscan grills in the Detroit Metro Area. To introduce the restaurant to the West Michigan market, Bravo is offering a three-course special for $10.99 through March 27. Along with traditional pasta and pizza dishes, the restaurant's menu offers grilled steak, pork chops, grilled salmon and mahi-mahi options. The menu also includes entrees that are gluten-free and low-calorie. Plates range from $9.95 to $23.95. The 6,500-square-foot restaurant has 233 seats, including outdoor seating around the fire pit. Since opening in 1992, the Columbus, Ohio-based chain has grown to 100 restaurants in 33 states. Bravo expects to open four to six locations annually over the next three years. The company is focusing growth in its Midwest markets. "At the end of the day, it's about the quality of the site and if it makes sense," Roope said. Part of the Grand Rapids' location's appeal was its closeness to the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at Grand Rapids Community College. "We are really excited about talent we've found," said Anthony Martir, general manager of the Bravo Rio Restaurant Group. The company interviewed 200 applicants for 120 positions. Happy hour is 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close Monday through Friday, and the restaurant offers a brunch menu from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Restaurant hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. RELATED: A taste of yesteryear: Bravo Restaurant recreates The Upjohn Co.'s rhubarb pie First look inside Ann Arbor's new Bravo Cucina Italiana Shandra Martinez covers business and other topics for MLive. Email her or follow her on Twitter @shandramartinez. Landscape and architectural firm MC Smith Associates can loosen the purse strings a bit on the Chicago Drive streetscape project at the entrance to Georgetown Township. The Georgetown Township board was divided on the spending limit, but on Feb. 8 voted to approve the plan in a 4-to-3 vote. The plan to brighten up the thoroughfare through a part of the Jenison business district, sometimes referred to as the "gateway," was part of a board goal discussion in May, 2014, a project to be paid for with designated funding. The project has come back to the board again at a reduced price, and this time, the design firm will have some leeway with financing. Original cost estimates ranged from $105,000 up to $900,000, depending on features. After rejecting both extremes, the township began evaluating three plans, settling on one with a cost of about $775,000, but township priorities changed and the plan was not put into action. A month ago it was suggested that Smith bring the plans to the board again. A modified plan was presented on Feb. 8 with a construction bid of $548,545, a reduction of about $200,000. A motion was proposed to accept the plan and bid. Trustee Jim Wierenga proposed an amendment to the motion to raise the limit on spending to as high as $600,000. The amendment was approved in the 4-to-3 vote. The amended motion was approved by Wieringa, trustees Ron Villerious and John Schwalm; and Treasurer Carol Scholma. Opposed were Supervisor Dale Mohr, Clerk Rich VanderKlok, and Trustee Chad Tuttle. Wierenga said he proposed the amendment because "With any project of this magnitude, there are going to be changes, something that wasn't anticipated will come up," and rather than have a change order approved each time a change is needed, he felt the designer should have discretion. Wierenga also said the timing was right to bring back the streetscape project. Acquisition of the property on Main Street next to the fountain will be improved, and will affect the streetscape. "I really think the people of Georgetown are going to like this," he said. Villerious said when motorists come from the expressway and see the lighted streetscape, they will be excited to see evidence that the township is improving, especially when combined with improvements at the fountain and Chicago Drive. "They're going to say 'Wow! This is a place I want to live, where I want to bring my business.'" Features of the streetscape include natural rock walls, salt-tolerant evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubbery, accent and seasonal plants and "uplighting" to accent features. Street lamps that would accommodate Christmas lights and banners would line the street on both sides, along with high-branch trees. The project will go from Main Street to just west of Cottonwood Drive. Sonnie Badu and Yaw Siki 15.02.2016 LISTEN UK-based Ghanaian gospel musician Sonnie Badu has offered to sponsor former hiplife artiste Yaw Siki as he embarks on a journey to preach the word of God. The international gospel musician believes that the new path the former hiplife musician is charting is a difficult one and so he will need support to achieve his goal. Former hiplife artiste Isaac Okai, known as Yaw Siki, after surviving a gory accident in 2013, now preaches the word of God on buses and in communities in Tema for a living. The accident, which happened on the Accra-Tema Motorway, renewed Yaw Siki's faith in God. Before giving his life to Christ, he ruled the airwaves with his 2011 smash hit, 'Wope Dodo'. One inch away from death, God gave me a second chance. They said theres this thing called hallow vest; that vest was screwed to my forehead. It actually touched my scalp and I had to lie on my back for three months, he recounted in an exclusive interview with MzGee on JoyNews on MultiTV. Yaw Siki added, I couldnt take my bath for three months; they had to do dry cleaning for three months. It wasnt a pleasant experience and so if today I am here, its by His grace; I am saved by grace. I have been given a second chance, forgiven and healed. Shortly after giving his life to Christ, he fulfilled God's calling by releasing gospel songs such as Thank You, Ohene and Medi Wekyi. . Rejected by his friends, Yaw started preaching the word of God. I was praying last year in December and then the spirit just prophesied through my own self that I should preach in Communities 7, 8, 9 and 10 (all in Tema) this year. The former hiplife musician now makes a living from preaching the gospel and the support he receives from his family. (With) my bills, my family supports me and then when I preach, people give [me money]. When I preach I do not ask but when I finish some people call me, 'oh take this, take that and all'. With the family's support, I am able to pay bills. Last year December, I [preached] at the Motorway Roundabout and a man gave me GH500. Thats the highest I have received so far. I preach in the Trotros (commercial buses); I preach in-between lanes in the Communities, and you see that people will not give you that big amount for preaching to them but I dont mind, Yaw concluded. The former gospel musician's toils and journey have caught the eye of Sonnie Badu who says he will like to meet and support him. Sonnie Badu said in a post on Instagram: I would like to meet this young man who has moved from being a secular artiste to a preacher on buses. I would like our ministry to sponsor him for the next few years. It will not be easy, with the decision you have made, as there will be long suffering. However, we are [here] to let you know that you made the right decision. #yawsiki CREDIT: myjoyonline.com Kigali (AFP) - In a church in Rwanda, sobs ring out and candles flicker as refugees from neighbouring Burundi mark a year since one of the deadliest episodes of violence in their crisis-wracked country. Darcy, 32, is one of about 200 Burundians who gathered to commemorate those killed when an attack on military installations by gunmen opposed to President Pierre Nkurunziza lead to a violent crackdown by security forces against those seen as "enemies" of the state. "They entered homes, killing anything that moved inside. They raped the women they found inside, even though they were state police, soldiers who should have protected the population," said Darcy, who fled Burundi two weeks after the violence of December 11 and 12 last year. The rampage of violence in which several witnesses described door-to-door killings in opposition strongholds of the capital Bujumbura, left 87 dead according to the government. The United Nations estimates the figure could be as high as 200. Burundi was plunged into crisis in April 2015 when Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office, sparking a failed coup attempt and months of protests that led to a government crackdown, armed attacks and assassinations. "When you see someone you know dead, it is like a nightmare," a sobbing Carmel, 19, told those congregated in the church. Her brother was killed in the crackdown. The UN estimates that more than 500 people have been killed and some 300,000 have fled since the crisis began. A September report by UN rights experts recounted spine-chilling cases of torture and horrific sexual violence, mass arrests and disappearances and warned that "the crime of genocide also looms large". Burundi has a long history of violence between its Hutu and Tutsi communities, which led to a 12-year civil war that ended in 2006. Bujumbura has reacted to the mounting criticism by cutting ties with the UN's main human rights body and pulling out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), while slamming a "foreign plot" to destabilise the country. 'Forgotten' The latest effort to get peace talks off the ground ran into trouble on Friday when mediator Benjamin Mkapa -- a former Tanzanian president -- urged the opposition to focus on 2020 polls and not those in 2015, which he said had come to a "legitimate conclusion". The main umbrella opposition movement, the National Council for the Restoration of Arusha Agreement and Rule of Law (CNARED) -- which is exiled in Brussels -- was furious and asked the United Nations to take over as mediator. "It really hurts me. I think that the international community, the region, has forgotten Burundi," said former bank employee Serge Barahinduka, 52. A Burundian journalist -- one of many forced into exile -- told AFP she fears that desperation may force some of her countrymen "to go and fight instead of dying of hunger here". Stan Dogbe 15.02.2016 LISTEN For me, the gruesome and brutal murder of Mr. Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu comes as what Mr. William Shakespeare once described as the Unkindest cut of all, rather than a facile occasion for vacuous tribute paying, as one or two opportunistic Ghanaian journalists have had occasion to do these past couple, or so, days since the New Patriotic Partys Member of Parliament for Akyem-Abuakwa-North was savagely stabbed to death in the sacred privacy of his Shiashie residence in Accra. The date was Feb. 9, 2016. And it was a Tuesday. Another date to remember with great sadness is Feb. 4, 1965. And the latter day was, of course, a Thursday. Mr. Danquah-Adu and I did not physically know each other, but it is quite certain that we knew about one another; for the Akan are fond of saying that Blood is thicker than water. Mr. Danquah-Adu was one of my Kyebi-Adadientem relatives. The parliamentary seat of Akyem-Abuakwa North, which he had held for quite a considerable while, was also being hotly contested by a local representative of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), whose original holder of the seat had been able to do so only because in 1992, the Adu-Boahen-led main opposition New Patriotic Part (NPP) had injudiciously decided to boycott the very first Fourth-Republican general election, thus rendering the country a virtual one-party state. Now what I am interested in here, more than anything else, both as a blood relative of the deceased and a justice-loving Ghanaian-born thinker, poet, author, scholar, journalist, educator and citizen dually speaking is that the alleged killers of Mr. Danquah-Adu are promptly arraigned before a legitimately constituted court of the land and presented with the inalienable opportunity and human right to defend themselves. This is the reason why I have decided not to rush to any prejudicial and speculative judgments, inferences and conclusions until all the facts, as ably and expertly assembled by our law-enforcement agents, are in. I was therefore not about to enter any discursive fray over whether Mr. Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, President John Dramani Mahamas Communications Director, had been the criminal mastermind behind the savage and decidedly primitive murder of Cousin Danquah-Adu, until Mr. Dogbe himself issued a social-medium statement luridly and callously seeking to trivialize the enormity of the widely publicized suggestion that it would not be altogether far-fetched for anybody to either infer or conclude that the man who was recently reported to have brutally assaulted a Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) reporter, with the evidently tacit complicity and/or approval of President Mahama, had also masterminded the brutal and strategic liquidation of Mr. Danquah-Adu (See I Didnt Kill JB Danquah Stan Dogbe Graphic.com.gh / Ghanaweb.com 2/12/16). Here also, I am less interested in the fact of whether, indeed, Mr. Dogbe had had a hand in the early morning apparent assassination of the New Patriotic Partys Member of Parliament (MP) for Akyem-Abuakwa North. What I am far more interested in is whether, indeed, as widely reported by the national media, notably including the state-owned Daily Graphic, that Mr. Dogbe had at any point in time threatened the life of Mr. Danquah-Adu. And also under precisely what circumstances such threat or threats were issued. And if it turns out that, indeed, Mr. Dogbe had engaged in any untoward verbal exchanges with Mr. Danquah-Adu shortly before the brutal stabbing death of the latter, the public has an inviolable right to know about the exact contents and nature of such exchanges. Such knowledge would enable members of the general public to have a fairly objective view of the political climate and circumstances leading to the murder of the renowned chartered accountant. It would also enhance the credibility of investigations for Nana Akufo-Addo, perhaps the most prominent relative of Mr. Danquah-Adu, at the moment, to call for the immediate involvement of the U.S. Federal Investigations Bureau (FBI) and the British intelligence agencies. The Mahama government must not be trusted with the protection of the integrity of this highly sensitive case. The President has called the slain man a friend, but it is not clear precisely what kind of friendship he was talking about. Then also, Mr. Dogbes widely reported tantrum at the suggestion that he may have had a hand in the primitive and brutal assassination of Mr. Danquah-Adu does not get us anywhere. What matters here is that Ghanaians get to the very bottom of the circumstances leading to the unnatural demise of Mr. Danquah-Adu, 51 years almost to the day of the equally brutal assassination of Dr. J. B. Danquah, Mr. Danquah-Adus globally renowned and distinguished grandfather and the undisputed Architect of Ghana, through the use of Nazified South African-based Eastern European toxicology specialists, by President Kwame Nkrumah at the Nsawam Medium-Security Prison. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs The Safer Internet Day (SID) is a global commemoration of efforts aimed at making the internet a safer and better place for children and young people in more than 100 countries. SID is part of a global drive by awareness-raising partners to promote a safer and better internet for all users, especially young people. It was initiated under the European Commissions Safer Internet Programme. This campaign keeps attracting the needed boost across the globe through the concerted efforts of the European Schoolnet and INHOPE (the International Association of Internet Hotlines). This years theme, Play your part for a better Internet! aims to encourage people to act in a manner that highlights the positive opportunities offered online with the needed skills, knowledge and support. Ghana Internet Safety Foundation, GISF is the official representative on the Safer Internet Day Organisation. To this end, thousands of activities involving young people take places across the globe each year. In the UK, The UK Safer Internet Centre study revealed that 4 in 5 (82%) young people witnessed online hate targeting people or communities because of their gender, transgender identity, sexual orientation, disability, race, ethnicity, nationality or religion thereby making it crucial for the creation of a kind and inclusive internet. In Ghana, the rising culture of online insults and hate speech is a clear and present danger which is eroding the moral fabric of our society with little or no regulation. Thus, the Ghana Internet Safety Foundation, in collaboration with Facebook,NCA, NYA, YMCA and Hapaweb Solutions organised numerous awareness activities for young people. The day was marked by public sensitization outreach programs by @TeamGISF in Kumasis Business District, Adum crowned with a Quiz competition between three renowned junior high educational institutions: Nhyiaeso International School, Headlines Educational Centre and Ridge School. At a seminar organized for key stakeholders, Board member, Ghana Internet Safety Foundation, Nanabanyin Ninsin Imbeah II, reiterated the indecent language that is currently portrayed on social media. He cited the correspondence between Honorable Kennedy Agyapong and Afia Schwarzenegger as a bad example the youth should not subscribe to. He also admonished the regulatory bodies to protect and sanitise internet ecosystem to ensure it is devoid of such negative utterances. In His Keynote Address, Mr. Gaisie of the National Communications Authority said, Our action and our cooperation are helping us deal with the dark crimes found online. Like more effective reporting and removal of child pornography. But lets also open up positive experiences for our kids, early on. Give them the right skills and tools, and prepare them for an increasingly digital world. As a key regulator and player in issues of technology, the national communication authority is constantly reviewing and implementing policies that are geared towards ensuring that Ghanaian Digital citizenry enjoy a positive experience, Mr. Gaisie said. Mr. Emmanuel Adinkrah, CEO, Ghana Internet Safety Foundation elaborated on the need for Government and other relevant stakeholders to help create the awareness about issues of child online protection and most importantly online safety. He said, the youth need to be taught the positive aspects of internet technology and how they can navigate it to help better their lives. He said, GISF is ready to partner and work with any organization that shares in the passion and desire to ensure the digital safety of Ghanaians. Mrs. Christine Nancy Adjei-Glover, a youth counsellor spoke to the students about staying away from negative practices online such as Pornography, 419 scams etc. Mr. George Orwell of the National Youth Authority also emphasized the need for Government to take a key role in child online protection initiatives. The Q&A session proved useful to pupils who engaged resources persons from the NCA, Social Welfare, YMCA and National Youth Authority Other guest speakers also elaborated on the relevance of internet in our daily lives but also the need to be cautious of our personal security. As a followup to 2015, Telecom Giant, Airtel Ghana celebrated this years Safer Internet Day with an announcement of its expanded efforts to keep the internet safe for children in Ghana. He was however quick to point out some of the worst risks children face online such as bullying but called on all stakeholders to prepare young people to adequately deal with such threats. Nonetheless, he was hopeful that with the needed collaborative support, Ghanas youthful resource pool would be able to rake in the numerous benefits of the World Wide Web. As the governments representative in the region, he briefed participants about the NCAs commitment to dealing with issues of technology through regulatory policies that favor the creation of a safer internet space for Ghanas digital citizenry. The Q&A session proved useful to pupils who engaged resources persons from the NCA, Social Welfare, YMCA and National Youth Authority The Ghana Internet Safety Foundation expresses appreciation to all who played their part to help make Safer Internet Day Celebration in Kumasi a success and we call on you to support us in order to expand the campaign into a yearlong engagement with stakeholders across the country. Together, we shall make the internet a kind and respectful environment for Ghanas young digital citizenry. IMG-20160210-WA0083 IMG-20160210-WA0071 IMG-20160210-WA0027 (1) 15.02.2016 LISTEN Death is always sad and painful to loved ones. But for a death so senseless and barbaric as the brutal murder of a man sleeping in his bed, it is even more painful than most. We of NPP Canada consider ourselves as part of the family of the late Hon. J. B. Danquah. So we console ourselves even as we extend our deepest condolences to the wife, children, siblings, parents, and other family members of the late Legislator. We also extend our condolences to the entire NPP fraternity. Hon. J. B. Danquah was a dedicated, hardworking, and noble legislator as attested to by several politicians from across the political divide. He was a very compassionate man who went the extra mile to take care of the poor in his constituency. Indeed, Ghana has lost such an astute legislator and a nationalist. NPP Canada hereby asks for calm from all Ghanaians and residents of Ghana. Let us not allow ourselves to be side-tracked by those who may wish to cynically exploit this unfortunate incident for less than noble purposes. The Ghana Police has risen to the occasion before. NPP Canada has no doubt that given the support and the tools they need, they can rise to the occasion yet again. We wish the Ghana Police well as they strive to get to the bottom of this murder. Rest In Peace, Honourable J. B Danquah. Damifirifa Due! Due ne amane hunu! ----signed---- Kwame Abrefah Chairman, NPP Canada 15.02.2016 LISTEN At an emergency meeting held in Accra at the weekend, the Federation of Muslim Councils of Ghana (FMC) has commended the Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service for their swift intervention in the conflict in Tafo in the Ashanti Region to restore peace. In a resolution signed by its General Secretary, Hajj Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, the Federation also noted with satisfaction the involvement of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, the Ashanti Regional Peace Council and the National Security Council in the peace talks leading to calm in the area. The Federation also commended the Tafo chief and elders for exhibiting maturity and goodwill towards peace by accepting to take part in the peace talks. It is our prayer that the outcome of the talks would be fruitful. It is the belief of the Federation that all sides of the conflict would listen to advice in order for an amicable settlement to be reached without either of the parties suffering any harm or pain. The Federation expressed concern about various stories being peddled, especially on social media, about the conflict - pointing to religious conflict, but which have turned out to be untrue. In an age and time where social media has become a soft spot for mischief, the Federation calls the public to be circumspect in accepting information on social media outlets such as WhatsApp, twitter, facebook etc that have not been authenticated , else we may be lured into creating more problems for the nation. It also advised individual members on social media platforms, especially WhatsApp, to measure their remarks and posts on their respective platforms in order not to inflame passions and worsen matters. It ended by commending Ghanaians in entirety for living in peace so far and called on all to contribute their quota in maintaining peace in the country at all times. Hajj Muhammad Kpakpo Addo General Secretary 15.02.2016 LISTEN When I look at Ghana today, many questions come to my mind. The biggest question I find is that in a country so rich and blessed with so much natural resources, why is Ghana ranked among the poorest countries in Africa? Why are Ghanaians still wallowing in abject poverty while tourists flock in our country on a daily basis to view of the beauty of our natural resources? Why do we have foreign investors making lots of money and take the money to enrich their countries? These same investors employ our citizens and subject them to hard labour under poor working conditions and yet underpay them. I have come to understand that CORRUPTION is the cause of all this tragedy. Corruption is something that we talk about, it is something that we complain about, it is something whose negative impact we recognise, it is something that even the corrupt acknowledge is a bad thing. But the tragedy is that those involved in it love it and those who are not involved in it accommodate it. Our level of tolerance for corruption in Ghana is amazing. It seems to be in the nature of Ghanaians to jail small thieves and elect the great ones into public office. Today the richest men and women are those who occupy public office. Our politicians will not rest until they have houses in which they will never live in. They have vehicles which they will never drive. They have beds of gold which they will never sleep in because they have no sleep anyway. They buy food which they will never eat because they long lost the appetite. We live in a country where our Members of Parliament dont care about the problems of people who voted for them but they care much about retaining their Parliamentary seats. Politicians claim to be concerned about the wellbeing of their citizens but at the same time they kill them with guns, they are being punished for the sins they never committed. The blood of these innocent citizens is still fresh in Old Tafo while those who shot them are left scotfree. We live in a country where the police officers are no longer used to uphold the law and protect the citizens but they are being used as tools of vengeance in the hands of those in power to oppress those in opposition. Politicians during their campaigns promise us jobs and more money in our pockets but the jobs they give us is being supporters and being used as tools of violence. We live in a country where we vilify good men and women while we celebrate criminals and thieves. While every other country in the world has moved in the right direction, Ghana still remains as a scar in the conscious of humanity. The tragedy is that in our health sector, our ministers dont have faith in the health system of our country. They build hospitals and clinics but they wont dare go to those hospitals and clinics when they are sick. Instead they seek medication in other countries like South Africa, India, France and the UK. The question is, if these politicians can be so selfish to only think of themselves, how about a common citizen from Bamvim, Foshagu, Manguli,Manguli kukuo,Gbelahigu,Junshegu and Duhini who cant even afford a bus fair to go to Tamale Teaching Hospital(TTH), how are they going to access medical attention to their various tumours and complications that need specialised treatment. They build schools but they wont dare take their children to those schools, an indication that they have no faith in our education system. Today we have colleges,polytechnics and Universities in their numbers where many young people graduate every year as Medical doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Nurses, Ecomonists, Accountants and Engineers but after they graduate they cant get jobs. When they protest for lack of jobs they are told to go and sell tomatoes. We have civil engineers but the people we see constructing our roads are the Chinese. We have engineers who cant even construct roads and doctors who cant give treatment to our ministers, Ghana is a tragic country. I want to submit to you that we are the authors of our own misfortune. When its time for campaigns, these politicians come to us and buy our votes at a very cheap price. They give us blank cheques in exchange for our votes. We behave like a man who buys a corolla and then expect it to behave like a Mercedes benz. We put hyenas to look after the goats and when the goats are consumed we wonder why. We vote for visionless leaders who even themselves admit they dont have a vision but when the economy collapses we complain. Our leaders have fallen short, not only to the glory of God but also to the glory of our great nation. Throughout the ages the greatest battle has been the battle of the mind and if your mind is conquered then you are going nowhere. We must always remind ourselves of these solemn realities because I believe we have learnt our lesson the bitter way. In order to liberate ourselves, as Ghanaians we must begin to think. But the question is, are we thinking? It gives me great joy that through the ongoing Electoral Commission talks and cleaning or Voter registration, many of our young people would choose to go and register as voters. If you havent done so in the past,your friend next to you did and you are the only one remaining, yes you!!. Now is the time we need to move from the comforts of our homes to go into all the parts of our country so that the conscious of Ghanaians must be re-awakened and make them realise that corruption is a cancer that must never be allowed to grow. But I want to remind you that its not going to be easy for the children of darkness have one advantage over the children of light, they are well organised. They are prepared to kill in order to protect their ill gotten wealth and remain in power. The question is, are we ready to liberate our country from the hands of criminals and corrupt leaders? Are we ready to die for the economic liberation of our country? If you are ready, then I am ready and together let us move Ghana forward. I look forward to a day when we will be free from corruption and poverty. I look forward to a day where we will all declare, Oh corruption, where is thy sting; Oh poverty, where is thy victory? Ibrahim Hardi,contact;0208245615,Email;[email protected] Haris Broumidis, Chief Executive of Vodafone Ghana 15.02.2016 LISTEN Accra, February 12, 2016 - Vodafone Ghana has announced two key Senior Management appointments as it continues to chart a leadership course in innovation and creativity across the Telecommunications landscape. Following its entry into the industry, Vodafone has been at the forefront of the transformational agenda, introducing dynamic products and services for customers and maintaining a key voice in thought-leadership. The appointments, which are both from the internal talent pool, are to provide leadership for the Commercial and Mobile Money functions of the business. Raphael Tawiah has been promoted to Commercial Director , and has been promoted to , and Martison Obeng-Agyei has been appointed Head of Vodafone Cash Raphael will move into the role of Commercial Director, effective February 01, 2016, following a two year period as the Head of Sales and Distribution. He began his career with Vodafone Ghana in May 2009 as a Regional Sales Manager, rising through the ranks within the Commercial function, to become Head of Sales and Distribution. Between 2003 and 2009, he worked in a variety of Commercial roles in Toyota Ghana, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, and Nestle Ghana Limited. As Commercial Director, Raphael is expected to provide leadership in making the function the best-in-class in the industry. Raphael is an alumni of KNUST and University of Hertfordshire Malaysia/UK. Martison, currently the Head of Mass Marketing, will move into his new role on March 01, 2016. He joined Vodafone Ghana in December 2014, from EMG Multimedia Ghana, where he was instrumental in the establishment of the company and its strategy. Prior to this, Martison spent a considerable period at Zain Communications Ghana Ltd, now Airtel Ghana, in Sales Management, Channel Development, Retail and Mobile Commerce. As Head of Vodafone Cash, it will be his responsibility to build a strong team to make the product the most preferred mobile money service in Ghana. Martison holds an EMBA in Marketing, from the University of Ghana Business School. Commenting, Haris Broumidis, Chief Executive of Vodafone Ghana said: We are happy to welcome Raphael and Martison to the Senior Management team. Their appointments reflect the confidence we have in our dynamic talent pool to rise to the occasion and take up senior leadership roles within the business. I am without doubt that their inclusion will take the company to the next level as we maintain our reputation as the premier brand in Ghana. US-based research and education think tank, Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has said that the testimony Wednesday by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accusing Rwanda of stoking fires in Burundi, provides further support to the widely held view within the international community that Rwanda has been recruiting Burundian refugees in Rwanda to participate in armed attacks against the Burundian government. In a statement, ACILA said that it has been following closely the situation in the region and fears that if Rwandas ongoing destabilizing effort in Burundi is not checked, the current domestic conflict could escalate into a regional war, adding that any solution to the Burundian conflict should take Rwandas destabilizing activities into account. The statement comes as the US publicly accused Rwanda of engaging in activities to destabilize the Burundian government. US envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Thomas Perriello stated that "There are credible reports of recruitment of Burundian refugees out of camps in Rwanda to participate in armed attacks by Burundian armed opposition against the Burundian government." Similarly, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs said: "We have seen a number of reports from our colleagues in the field that suggest the Rwandan government has been involved in destabilizing activities in Burundi." In addition, a confidential United Nations report also detailed the Rwandan governments destabilizing activities in Burundi. The Rwandan government has denied any involvement in activities aimed at destabilizing the Burundian government. However, ACILA noted that such destabilizing activities are a violation of the regional and international laws that Rwanda is a signatory to and urged the Rwandan authorities to respect their international obligations, among them being Article 4 (2) and Article 5 (1) of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGL) Pact on Security and Stability; Article 124 (1) of the East African Community Treaty; Article 4 (e & f) of the African Union Peace and Security Protocol, and Article 1 (1) and Article 2 (3 &4) of the United Nations Charter. On the current situation in Burundi, ACILA said that while it had noticed a decrease in the violence in Burundi, it urged the Burundian government to start immediately an inclusive and genuine inter-Burundian dialogue under the UN Security Council resolution 2248 (2015) to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. ACILA is a research, education, non-partisan, non-profit think tank incorporated under US law as a 501(c) (3) organization and also under Ghanaian law. ACILA, which aims to contribute to African scholarship through enhanced understanding of international law, focuses on monitoring African states' compliance with international, continental, and regional instruments, as well as human rights, rule of law, good governance, and international criminal justice. The question of Africas international dependencyin terms of its economicshas been brought up in circles of discussion. Much of Africa has been heavily dependent upon loans, technology, expertise, and other things utilised within the system of international economics. Needless to say, this dependency situation has not led to a situation of blessed livingto borrow a phrase from Africas Christian communitiesand righteousness. Rather, dependency on the West in particular has led to a situation of foreign control of African resources, as well as foreign domination of the continent in various spheres of governance. The question of how to deliver Africa from the type of dependency upon foreigners that leads to unrighteousness and heathenism is still the subject on the lips of some of Africas 21st century thinkers. This article explores this theme. Implications of Economic Independence When Africa chooses to depend upon foreigners whose systems of government are heathen in character, then the natural course of things will be that the continent will only produce what the Western world and the Wests cohorts desire. This cannot lead to a situation where the fatherland of the black race produces what it consumes and consumes mainly what it produces. In other words, economic dependency upon foreigners will be the norm for years to come. In order to better engage its production capacity, it has been suggested by prophets that African countries must, apart from increasing production capacity, they must trade among themselves (i.e. intra-African trade). But how does one facilitate such a vision? The answer is simple: revive Africas design culture and source local financing options outside of the international whore system. It is a hard thing to do for some. However, for others, this is a vision that can easily be achieved if only African peoples refuse to chase after degrees and spend more time in pursuit of divine purposes that are associated with creativity and righteousness. Design and more design needed! An integral part of so much of what is produced in the modern worldeconomically and in other facets of lifeis the divine discipline of design. From clothing, all the way to technology, everything that is made seems to involve design. Even the automation of labour processes for production has involved the use of design. Therefore, if African countries will produce for themselves cars and technologies of the future, they must come to grips with the lack of financial support towards design and the years of neglect of their respective design cultures. Every culture has engaged in some form of design. Why is the second largest continent in the world neglecting its design culture to the detriment of its peoples? It is a question that needs to be asked and thoroughly answered. East, West, South, North and Central Design Cultures of Africa In all of Africa, there is an aspect of design that exists. The cultures of Africa also require an inspirational source to fuel the design passions of todays African youth. All around the globe, the young people are lining up to exploit resources. On African soil, students are lining up to chase degrees and to harlot themselves out to a system that was created by foreign slavers whose love towards the continents peoples has been wanting. It is time for a systematic approach to Africa re-learning its design heritage and producing for itself, the necessary tools and technologies for developing a righteous system of economic production and distribution. This should equate with literally more government sponsored international design meetings within the continental African framework, from Cape Town to Cairo. Specific areas of interest and strength would have to be sought out by specific nations with the aim of facilitating intra-African trade in the long run. As well, the matter of design standards could be addressed on a regional level thereby ensuring that inferior designs are limited. Currency Integration Another subheading that is highly related to the intra-African trade debate is the matter of currency integration. It is believed by some theorists that African monetary and economic union is a way forward when it comes to liberating Africa from dependency upon foreign governments and insitutions that are heathen in character. To some, candidly speaking, if African countries must trade among themselves, then the matter of finance and balance of trade must be addressed in terms of currency integration. Currently, there are monetary union set-ups and proposals in a number of African regions: west, east, central and south in the form of the West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ) and West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA); East African Community (EAC); Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC); and the Southern African Development Communitys (SADC) Common Monetary Area. As well, under the auspices of the African Union (AU), an African Monetary Union has been proposed with an envisioned single African currency by 2023. The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) in Northern Africa also proposes a monetary zone and Maghreb single currency. That there is strength in numbers is a well-known adage that cannot be overlooked. Reflecting on the state of Africas design culture, as well as looking critically at what things like currency and economic union can do for intra-African trade provides some options for loosening the unrighteous foreign dependency hold that has noosed Africa since the era of its independence. Mawuetornam Dugbazah is a communications consultant and wisdom instructor. Among his interests is Africas architectural design heritage. Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Sir Sam Esson Jonah, has called on Ghanaian graduates to sharpen their minds and employ out-of-box thinking to provide jobs for themselves and others. According to the business magnate, it is a well-known fact that the unemployed graduate phenomenon has become part of the countrys social fabric and the earlier graduates changed their thought about employment in the government sector, the better it will be for themselves and the country. He was speaking at the 5th session of the 48th Congregation of the University of Cape Coast. Dr. Sam Jonah called on the graduates to gird their loins in the difficult times the country finds itself as government struggles with the available resources to meet the unlimited needs of the populace. While schools continue to churn out graduate, the reality is that this unenviable graduate population of the country will in doubt continue to grow. It is a fact that government does not have enough resources to battle the challenges coupled with businesses laying off workers. It seems easy to throw your hands up in despair and give up. But let me assure you of the words of the famous serial failure, Winston Churchill, never give up. Dont throw your hands in despair. Create value for yourself, for your family and for the entire country even in situations of despair, he said. Dr. Sam Jonah urged the graduate to activate the light of entrepreneurship, the only available option; instead of looking up to government. I wish to reassure you that your passage through the University of Cape Coast has equipped you to face the many challenges that lie ahead. While a number of you maybe already gainfully employed, the truth is that many of you may not necessarily find it easy to find ready employment opportunities waiting for you.It is indeed during this time that the entrepreneurial spirit imbibed in you by this University would be needed in even greater measure as you face the challenges you will be meeting out there. The UCC Chancellor also lauded the entrepreneurial spirit of the University of Cape Coast. I have taken keen notice of the diverse breakthroughs and innovations the University is pursuing in order to generate income internally. I have seen a Fuel station, a water bottling plant, a paper conversion plant, a detergent manufacturing plant and others. These are very commendable feats that ought to be emulated by all institutions The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Domwine Dabire Kuupole entreated the graduates to make the University proud with unbridled achievements in the world of work. In all 1915 graduands were awarded with their respective higher degrees. This includes Doctor of Philosophy, 31, Master of Philosophy, 224, Master of commerce, 22 and Master of Nursing, 7. The rest are Master of business administration, 71, Master of Education, 568, Master of Arts, 554, Master of Science, 178, post Graduate Diploma in education, 218 and Post Graduate Certificate in Education, 42. TELCOS SEE LIMITED GROWTH AS CONSUMERS CUT BACK ON SPENDING Telecom network operators in the countrys mobile telephony space are increasingly disturbed that the current macroeconomic uncertainties and high cost of living could limit consumer spending on telecom services and also affect the sustainability of their business. DOMESTIC AIRLINES GET INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION The two operational domestic airlines in the country, Starbow and Africa World Airlines (AWA), have received the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate a measure of the sound safety, management and quality control systems of the two operators. WASTEFUL SPENDING CHOKES ECONOMY A member of parliaments Finance Committee, Dr Mark Assibey Yeboah, has urged government to adhere strictly to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescription of curtailing spending and cutting down on expenditure if the economy is to rebound ECG, NEDCo IMPLEMENT REDUCED TARIFF REGIME The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) have begun the implementation of the reduced tariff regime which was agreed during negotiation between government and organized labour after initial hikes in prices of power. JUDICIAL CORRUPTION SCANDAL: JUDGES SET TO SUE CJ While pressure is mounting on the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to commence criminal prosecution of judges dismissed in the judicial corruption scandal, some lower court judges are preparing to sue the Chief Justice for refusing their request for a copy of the report of the committee that investigated the matter and recommended their removal from office. TEACHERS THREATEN TO LAY DOWN TOOLS OVER ARREARS Teachers across the country have served notice they will withdraw their services by February ending id outstanding allowances due them remain unpaid. GOVT TO ISSUE GHC500M 5-YEAR DOMESTIC BOND Ghana will issue a new five-year domestic bond to raise 500 million cedis on February 25 to finance government programmes in the 2016 budget. NHIA IN GHC420M ARREARS Public and private health facilities across the country are struggling to provide basic care for patients who are card-bearing subscribers of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) due to unpaid claims by the National Health Insurance Authrority (NHIA) totaling GHC420 million. NPP GIRL ATTACKED WITH KNIFE Some few days after the gruesome murder of the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, at his residence another barbaric incident nearly happened on Saturday when the parliamentary candidate for Cape Coast North, Barbara Asher Aysisi, was also attacked at her residence at Pedu Estate in Cape Coast. NANA STORMS 5 CHURCHES IN TAKORADI The 2016 presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has emphasised his readiness to bring a positive change in the life of every Ghanaian when voted president. MINISTER EXPOSED OVER AFRIWAVE DEAL The controversy over the award of a monopoly licence to Afriwave Telecom Ghana Limited by the National Communication Authority (NCA) to operate interconnect clearing house (ICH) for telecom companies in the country has taken a new twist, with a revelation that the NDA purported evaluation report was unsigned. ECONOMIC FIGURES: WHOS TELLING THE TRUTH? Each year, President John Mahama assures Ghanaians to look forward to better days ahead with a promise to turn the economy around before the next year begins but for many, these promises are yet to materialize. GHANA COCOA IN DAGER Ghana could lose as much as 25% of its projected cocoa output this season as harsh winds and a lack of rain confound efforts to boost yields in the worlds second-largest producer, a government source has said. 4 POLITICAL PARTIES OPPOSE USE OF HERITAGE FUND The four political parties with representation in Parliament, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and Peoples National Convention (PNC) have unanimously kicked against any suggestions to use the heritage fund. CONSULTANT CALLS FOR PROSECUTION OF IMANI OVER ALLEGED FAKE AFRIWAVE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS An international business consultant, Prince Kassim Alubankudi, wants IMANI Ghana dragged to court if documents it produced on the Afriwave deal are faked. ARMED ROBBER RESURRECTS IN BEKWAI HOSPITAL MORTURARY A young man whose body had been deposited at a morgue after being pronounced dead by doctors returned to life last Friday February 12, 2016. 15.02.2016 LISTEN The NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the Agona East constituency in the Central Region, Mr. James Owusu Barnes has said that the NPP is battle ready to recapture the seat for the party in the upcoming November 7, 2016 general elections. Addressing party supporters and sympathizers at a fund raising ceremony to support the party's campaign held at Agona Kwansakrom in the constituency, Mr. Owusu Barnes called on all hands to be on deck for the victory ahead. He disclosed that the needed resources would be put in place to facilitate smooth campaigning towards recapturing of the parliamentary seat that the NPP 'hired' it out to the NDC in the 2012 elections. The Parliamentary candidate has accordingly appealed to supporters, sympathizers and well wishers of the NPP to give out their best for the task ahead. "The battle ahead is not for me as your parliamentary candidate nor is it for Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, but its for all of us as one big family in the Agona East Branch of the NPP. We should strive to work together in unity and with one accord, I know we shall win massively. We ought to stay focus and work towards our goals. "To the youth wing and our communicators, I want to plead with you to avoid politics of insult and personal attack. Let us tell the masses what Nana Addo led NPP government can do to alleviate the people from poverty and economic hardships" The Former Minister for Information under former President John Agyekum Kuffour regime, Hon. Stephen Asamoah Boateng disclosed that the NPP had become more attractive thus attracting Ghanaians. According to him all over the country people were calling for Nana Addo and the NPP to rescue them from their economic woes. "The economic crisis facing Ghanaians clearly shows that its time the NDC is shown the exist and usher in the NPP government to offer economic freedom to Ghanaians" The former Municipal Chief Executive for Agona West, Mr. Ben Mensah who chaired the ceremony called on members of the party in the Agona East constituency to canvas for more votes for a resounding victory. The former MCE tasked the supporters to capitalized on the achievement of the NPP regime and to educate the voters on the need for them to vote for Nana Addo and all NPP parliamentary candidates Bsystems Limited, an enterprise software development company based in Accra together with IFC (World Bank Group) have implemented Bsystems flagship application Collateral Registry System (CRS) in Malawi. The Registry System is a public or market sector reform which, among other things enables businesses and individuals access loans using movable assets. Malawi is the third African country apart from Ghana and Liberia to have successfully executed this project. The Malawi project was launched by the country's Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima in Lilongwe, Malawi early this month. Dr Chilima said just like in many other countries, financial institutions traditionally require fixed assets such as land or buildings, as collateral for loans but with the registry that would be a thing of the past. The new system was implemented for the Ministry of Justice through the Registrar General, as well as the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Malawi. According to officials of BSystems, the Collateral Registry System is also being used at the Bank of Ghana, Central Bank of Liberia and soon to be deployed at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The system has been successful in Ghana three years after it was introduced. The system has so far registered more than 104,308 collaterals on which 49,096 loans have been secured, Central Bank Governor Henry Kofi Wampah revealed in Accra. About 160 institutionsboth local and foreign have so far accessed the Registry, with a total of 14,608 searches conducted by various lending institutions, law firms and the general public, he said at the official launch of the Registry in Accra. Bsystems, key partners in developing this project also develops Identity Verification Systems, database management systems, human capital management systems, financial management solutions, enterprise mobile applications and planning and budgeting systems. The applications are being used by the financial services Institutions, Insurance and Telecommunication companies. The 2016 edition of the special MTN Valentines Day Blood donation exercise has raised a total of 1, 137 pints of blood collected from six regions in Ghana. The blood collected from the 5th edition went to the National Blood Bank, Ridge Hospital, Bolga Regional Hospital, Efia Nkwanta Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and the Cape Coast Hospitals. This years edition held in partnership with Ecobank Ghana Limited was activated in six centers Western Region (Shama, Takoradi Market Circle), Central Region (Cape-Coast), Northern Region (Tamale), Upper East Region (Bolga), Ashanti Region (Adum, KNUST), Greater Accra (Ridge Towers). The total figures recorded from the various activation centers are; Northern region (Tamale) 207 Ashanti Region (Adum) 110, (KNUST) 172 Greater Accra (Ridge Towers) 199 Upper East Region (Bolga) 231 Western Region (Shama) 130, (Takoradi Market Circle) 110 Central Region (Cape Coast) 80 Instituted in 2011, the MTN Ghana Foundation blood donation exercise target going into this years event was 700 pints of blood but in the end, a plus of 437 was recorded. Executive Director of MTN Foundation, Mrs. Cynthia Lumor, expressed gratitude to co sponsor, Ecobank Ghana and the staff of MTN for their supports. The response to this years appeal has been amazing and we are grateful to all those who participated in the various locations, she said. The massive response is an indicative that people are committed to donating blood and that with some encouragement we can all help to save more lives, she added. 15.02.2016 LISTEN Nation such as Liberia progresses when regimes learned to appreciate each others in term of legacies in their governance processes especially the positive aspect since they ought to built on what the previous regime left undone as the old say goes old mat are often plat from looking at the old ones! Disappointingly Liberias Foreign Minister designate Ambassador Marjon V. Kamara who served as the orator of the 59th Armed forces day celebrations at the Barclay training center said that personnels within the previous regimes of the armed were uneducated as compared to the present enlisted men and women of the forces! Statement of such in public gathering discourages or defeats the purpose of forging ahead with the national reconciliatory that continues to be on the lips of all Liberians but lacking its substances in term of it implementation! It has and continues to be clearer that successes regimes see reconciliation as a as a fearful giant and never want to join in with its activities in order to stabilize the most cardinal aspect of the existence of the people of Liberia! Is Ambassador Kamara telling Liberians despite all that others regimes did for the military in making sure their capacities were built that if not all enlisted men and women of these various regimes in attending some of the most prestigious military institutions around the world from Ghana, Nigeria, Isreal, USA etc still amounted to nothing and toady you considering those gallant men and women uneducated? I can safely, say in this public manner that my research on the Liberian military from as far back as the 60s,70s,80s were some of the best among Nations within the West African basin and the world at large despite the daunting tasks in term of capacities building yet most of them were up and to the task! The problem which was associated with the Liberian military which is almost similar in all of Africa were and continues to be the tribal association that became visible in the early 80s when Liberian were misled that constitutional governance were the problem and military junta was the only option and way out in the hundreds and plus year of the True Wing party led government! Information available to this writer, reveal that the 60s, 70s and 80s produces lots of educated military professional personnel of the Armed forces of Liberia who were graduates from the officer staff college in Accra-Ghana, Nigeria military senior staff college, the Israeli scuba diving institute, the more famous West point military training academy in the US and advance military colleges from the world! Research on the Liberians population shows that those of the so-called educated class has had less impact on the Nation with respect to building up the capacities of the ordinary citizenry and addressing this fundamental problems within the educational sector as compared to those who they claimed dont have quality or better education with nothing visible to look at the history of a Country that boast of been 187 years! Since this Nation (Liberia) returns to civility after decades of madness perpetrated by these so-called educated gurus after inheriting these problems which they capitalized on in recruiting the very people they soldiers of the previous regimes referring to them as uneducated nothing absolutely has been done to reduce their plights for a decade plus now since their coming to governance! Liberians continues to live in this semi illiterate states for decades unending because of their refusal to look into the eyes of their slave master the power that be in erecting check points informing them that gone are the days for masses been used in accomplishing their selfish aims at their detriment! While, will at this point in time were national reconciliation which is cardinal that is lacking in the body politic for decades running of this Nation for a diplomat to mount a podium at a national event with foreign diplomats in attendance to condemned the workings and efforts of other gallant men and women of this noble armed of the pass in such a despicable manner? Madam foreign minister designate you owe these gallant men and women of the pass regimes an open apology for such a despicable statement on their persons despite the sacrifices they made during their tour of duties for mama Liberia no matter the regime they served as information depict that they were serving this Nation and the taxes of the Nation provided the medium to get them educated! Is now time that Liberians must learn to appreciate their own no matter the lapses because Liberians especially those of the so-called educated class has and continues to be the problems of this Nation since its establishment by the nongovernmental organization known as the American Colonization Society (ACS). The author is a Liberian broadcast journalist and can be reach at +231776590725/+231886224134 or E-mail [email protected] 15.02.2016 LISTEN And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Revelation 22:19) Three photo messages that I have seen on social media over the two weeks are really disturbing. These photos have really got my ire as a Christian. I am therefore going to town today, with my King James Bible (unless otherwise stated), Sunday school robes and all! In the first photo, a preacher in Tanzania is carried on the backs of some members of the congregation because according to the caption, this preacher must never touch the earth until he has delivered his sermon. So he is carried around the church as he speaks. The two other instances both video clips, in fact, came from Ghana. In the first video clip, a man who supposedly runs a church was arrested after an affray following his inability or refusal to pay a juju man from whom he had bought or hired a deity to help him improve the fortunes of his new church. And in the second video clip, a self-proclaimed bishop of a church claims he can turn into snakes and other wild animals to bite and devour people! There is a racist saying in Europe and North America that If you want to hide something from the Black person, put it in writing. What it means is that as a people, we do not like reading. There are millions of stark illiterate adults in every country in Europe and the Americas. I have personally completed forms at post offices and written cheques for lots of people in Europe and North America in my travels. Just last week, here in England, I met a man in his late 60s who boasted that he had never read a book of any kind or ever bought one, not even the books of his trade. He is a self-employed artisan. Fear of the written word Much as I have always argued against that axiom, I know in my heart of hearts that it is quite true of us in Africa, North and South America and practically everywhere one finds a large concentration of Black people. We do not read, and we do not even try to hide it! On any commuter train anywhere in Europe, as soon as the train moves from a station, all other people go for their newspapers or story books to read, every Black person, old and young alike, goes straight for their headphones, often blaring cacophonic music to the annoyance of other passengers. Anyone who protests is sure to receive the worst barrage of four letter insults. Nowhere is this dread of the written word more glaring than the Church of Christ. The Bible says in Hosea 4:6, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Where in the Bible does it say an ordinary mortal preacher must not touch the ground as he delivers a sermon and must therefore be carried by fellow human beings who are also fighting for their salvation with fear and trembling? Would any of those men actually carry this rogue of a preacher if they had ever read the Bible? Service with humility In John Chapter 13 (KJV), after Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, he told them in verse 14, You call me Lord and Master and that is what I am. If I your Lord and Master have gone down to wash your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet. That was a great lesson in humility. Today around Africa, pastors and ministers defend their obscene extravagance on the backs of their impoverished congregations by claiming that Jesus would ride in a private plane if he were preaching in our world today. As if there were no kings who possessed golden chariots at the time Jesus rode on a lowly donkey for his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. How very illiterate of us to buy such nonsense from our twenty-first century charlatans! All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, behold I am with you always, even till the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20) This is our great commission. If a person really believes that they have been called to preach the world of God, (and it is a calling), why would they need power from any other mortal or creature when the Lord the Creator has already given us His Holy Spirit the Helper and Counsellor, to guide and help us in all we do. I am the LORD! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols. (Isaiah 42:8, NET) So, how does a church that derives its authority and power from a deity glorify the name of Almighty God? And to think that some people (usually majority Sisters) actually attend this persons church? I will bet my bottom penny that this scoundrel of a preacher has given prophetic messages to loads of Sisters and fleeced them of their hard earned cedis, dollars in some cases, actually! Who do we actually serve? I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it abundantly (John 10:10). He who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9). The fact that Jesus was born a Jew and lived among human beings in Palestine is a historical fact. The great Roman historian, Tacitus, confirms the New Testament accounts of Jesus, his life and ministry in Palestine. The first century Jewish historian Josephus describes James as the brother of Jesus. Josephus was writing at a time people were generally described by the names of their fathers. However, according to him the name of James father, Joseph, was so common that the only way he could properly describe this important Bishop of the Church in Jerusalem had to be reference to his more famous brother, Jesus. There is nowhere in the Bible that Jesus is mentioned to have turned into any other creature, let alone a roaring lion or snake. Jesus life was one of service and a pointer to a gracious and merciful father God. Jesus was friend to the poor and down trodden. He came to save that which was lost, to pay the ultimate price to reconcile God the Creator to His creation. He sent His Holy Spirit to help us in our earthly journey and to make clearer to us the things he taught his followers that were too difficult to understand. He loved His own to the point of dying on a crude wooden cross that we might be saved from the wrath of God that was hanging over our heads, as the sons and daughters of disobedience. Why would my wonderful Saviour turn into a snake or lion to frighten or bite me? What would be the purpose of His excruciating pain and death on the cross? What is my hope of redemption if the Saviour who paid the debt I owed but could never pay suddenly decides to exact recompense for my wrongdoing for which He is already pleading on my behalf before the Father? Come on folks, let us begin some basic reading and stop making asses of ourselves! It is for the same reasons that some very low level politicians are taking us for apes on the continent. I shall return with my beaded gourd, God willing. Naana Ekua Eyaaba has an overarching interest in the development of the African continent and Black issues in general. Having travelled extensively through Africa, the Black communities of the East Coast of the United States as well as London and Leeds (United Kingdom), she enjoys reading, and writes when she is irritated, and edits when she is calm. You can email her at [email protected] , or read her blog at https://naanaekuaeyaaba.wordpress.com/. 15.02.2016 LISTEN The Catholic Bishops' Conference in conjunction with IMANI Center for Policy and Education invites you to a business roundtable on the theme CHURCH GROWTH: FROM DEPENDENCE TO SELF-RELIANCE IN THE RECOWA-CERAO SUB-REGION on Saturday, February 27 2016 at 9:30 am. This event will be held at the MPlaza Hotel in Accra. The Catholic Church is clearly the biggest religious organization in the world perhaps only bettered by Islam. The organization controls billions of dollars of assets from real estate to historical relics all over the world making it also a very wealthy organization. Despite these resources however, in most places around the world the Church struggles to raise the money it needs to fund its huge day-to-day activities. This is largely a result of the fact that the Catholic Churchs assets are not necessarily liquid whiles it has also shied away from the more aggressive fundraising approach adopted by the Charismatic churches. While the Catholic Church has always been a business-friendly organization, over the years it seems to lack a clear and focused business strategy and leadership, which will enable it to leverage its tremendous strengths to raise the funds its needs to be able to sustain all its activities including its massive humanitarian interventions. Global economic trends coupled with equally dire sub-regional economic challenges have only aggravated these financial sustainability challenges. The members of the RECOWA-CERAO sub region believe the time has come for major high level discussion to fashion out a framework that can be adopted by the Church as it seeks to move from dependence to financial self reliance. The following eminent persons will speak at the event. Mrs. Felicity Acquah, Former Managing Director of Eximguaranty Company (Gh) Dr. Tony Oteng-Gyasi CEO, Tropical Cable & Conductor Limited & Former President of the Association of Ghana Industries Mr. Kenneth Ashigbey, Managing Director , Graphic Communications Group Limited, Ghana's state-owned multi-media uniBank Ghana Limited is the main sponsor of the business roundtable. ABOUT THE RECOWA-CERAO Conference Episcopale Regionale de l' Afrique de l' Ouest (CERAO) was formed in June 1963 to bring together all Francophone and Lusophone Catholic bishops from West Africa under one regional grouping. Anglophone Catholic bishops from West Africa followed suit in 1977 with the formation of a regional body known as the Association of the Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA). In the 1990s, the idea was mooted for a union of Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Episcopal Conferences so that there could be better understanding, exchange of views, experiences and general pastoral collaboration among all the Episcopal Conferences of West Africa. 15.02.2016 LISTEN Have you wondered why it is expensive for you to fly from Accra to Ouagadougou than to fly from Accra to London? Have you wondered why the Ghana Water Company Limited is not keen about improving is services? The answer is due to the absence of competition in the services that they deliver. Competition is a basic mechanism of the market economy and encourages companies to provide consumers products that consumers want. In the US, it is called the Antitrust or antimonopoly in China. Countries that have developed their industries and service sectors have a strong competition regime to prevent market distortions thereby increasing efficiencies. Competition encourages innovation, and pushes down prices. In order to be effective, competition needs suppliers who are independent of each other, each subject to the competitive pressure exerted by the others. Competition puts businesses under constant pressure to offer the best possible range of goods at the best possible prices, because if they don't, consumers have the choice to buy elsewhere. In a free market, business should be a competitive game with consumers as the beneficiaries. We have seen competition in the telecom sector. It is now cheaper today to own a mobile phone than it was fifteen years ago. The objective of a functional competition regime is to promote competition, and contribute towards increased efficiency and curb anti-competitive practices in the market. Anti-competitive practices including cartels, abusive monopolies, predatory pricing, collusive tendering, exclusive market sharing agreements, bid rigging etc. have negative effects on both consumers and producers. Certainly, a well-enforced competition regime reduces uncertainty for businesses and is an important element of promoting private sector development. In an absence of competition, agreements between companies that restrict competition cartels or other unfair arrangements in which companies agree to avoid competing with each other and try to set their own rules, abuse of a dominant position where a major player tries to squeeze competitors out of the market, and mergers and acquisitions that result in player dictating the market. A trip into the memory lane in this country tells us how the price of cement was moving up even when raw materials and other variables were steady in the input market. GHACEM, for example has enjoyed dominance in the market. In 2007, the prices of cement in Ghana nearly doubled causing great concern in the building industry. Indeed, calculations commissioned by the Auditor-General, using data concerning price movements, production and raw material costs, suggested that cement could be retailed at less than 4.6 Ghana Cedis and a decent profit can still be made on top. In the absence of competition in the cement industry, prices were determined largely by GHACEM due to its share of the market. Now with the removal of entry barriers in the cement market, new domestic players have come into the market offering an alternative to GHACEM dominance. Now the cement prices are relatively stable compared with historical trends. With this enhanced competition, cement manufacturers in the country have to be creative, retool the system to be able to compete and make descent profit. The era of allegedly causing artificial shortage in the industry is over and now consumers are looking to buy cement product which will meet their pockets and their needs. The issue is that when a firm becomes bigger in the market, it turns to abuse its dominance not only to consumers but other competitors in the market. For market to be efficient and optimal, there must be competition policy and law to regulate the actions of firms and business. Though it is understandable that some form of competition exists naturally in some of the markets, however, competition cannot be achieved automatically and needs to be nurtured by the introduction and propagation of a competition regime. Competition regimes and consumer protection issues reinforce each other. They aim to ensure wider consumer choice in markets for goods and services, through innovation and efficient resource use by players in the market to promote economic welfare. Further, it endeavours to stimulate effective price competition between suppliers, and deter anti-competitive behaviour. This helps consumers get real value for their money. If passed and implemented effectively, empirical evidence and country experience suggests that an effective competition regime can promote private sector development, economic growth and poverty reduction in both developing and least developed countries. The United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for many years has been urging developing countries to make competition and regulatory reforms a priority as a way of boosting trade and investment and thereby taking advantage of the globalized world. A series of studies have provided evidence of effects from the absence of a well-regulated business environment and effective competition laws. An eminent economist like Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz (2001) asserts that, Strong competition policy is not just a luxury to be enjoyed by rich countries, but a real necessity for those striving to create democratic market economies. A large number of countries in the world including developing countries from Africa (Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Kenya, and our neighbours like The Gambia, Burkina Faso, Mali, etc.) have put in place a competition law and an agency to implement the act. However, in spite of having made a few attempts in the past, Ghana has not been able to adopt a Competition Law. The protection against unfair competition act 2000 (Act 589) does not achieve the full dosage requirement for an effective competition region. CUTS Ghana has demonstrated empirically from the COMPAD Project (with support from the BUSAC Fund) how a functional competition policy and law will engender the growth of businesses and make Ghanaian businesses to compete with foreign ones. The main goal of COMPAD Project is to complement the Government of Ghanas efforts towards evolving a functional national competition policy and law in Ghana, through an informed process, incorporating the views of key actors and with public support. In conclusion, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) should work as matter of urgency in developing the competition policy for the country incorporating the views from various stakeholders. The time to do it is now. Appiah Kusi Adomako is the Country Coordinator for CUTS Ghana. CUTS Ghana is a policy think tank which works in the areas of consumer protection and education, economic regulation, trade and development, regional integration, competition policy and law, etc. For more information about CUTS, and competition policy and law | Office: +233-30-224-5652 | Email: [email protected] , Website: http://www.cuts-international.org/ARC/accra 15.02.2016 LISTEN Some thirty years or so ago, Fela had a hit song titled, Beast Of No Nation in which he sang, I never hear that before o, make government talk o, my people are useless, my people are senseless, my people are indisciplined. Which kind talk be that o...? Fela was referring to Buharis military government. 30 years on, nothings changed: President Buhari is still socking it to his people, still disparaging his people, still bad-mouthing them in the committee of nations. In a recent interview with a British newspaper, Buhari declared that Nigerians abroad have made it difficult for Europeans and Americans to accept them because of the number of Nigerians in prisons all over the world accused of drug trafficking or human trafficking. He finished off by saying, We will encourage our countrymen to stay at home, work hard and make a respectable living at home. There goes our number 1 ambassador perpetrating negative stereotypes again. Really Nigeria doesnt need Buharis type of unhelpful intervention right now. It will further worsen its citizens' marginalisation abroad and increase prejudice against all Nigerians. Secondly, a president who habitually goes overseas for medical treatment has no standing at all to tell other Nigerians to stay home. The same factors, same conditions at home that propels the president into the arms of doctors in a foreign land are the same that drives many Nigerians abroad. Everyones life and future is dear to them and theyll do everything possible to make sure they get the best they can get not just presidents. No, Buhari did not say that all Nigerians abroad are criminals but he abdicated his responsibility when he threw some of his own citizens under the bus in a foreign land to a foreign media. That can never be cool. It is already hard for some Nigerians in the UK in light of the recent recession and the influx of Eastern Europeans into that country. For our own president to put his boot in is very disheartening. Buhari has handed the UK government and other racists another (official) weapon with which to further marginalise Nigerians. Is there more crime in Nigeria than in the USA? Nope. Are there more criminals in Nigeria than in the UK? Nope. Who are the number 1 foreign prisoners in the UK? The Polish. Nigeria is not even in the top 5. Without Nigerian Doctors and Nurses, the UK NHS will struggle very badly - maybe even collapse for a short while. If all Nigerians in the IT and Social Work sectors in the UK pull out, those sectors will struggle. Nigerian Pastors nko? Ditto for the USA; if Nigerian Educators down tools, that sector of America will struggle. Perhaps these were what the president could have flagged up in his interview. If he later meets with Nigerians in a private Nigerian forum, he could tell them off. He could remind the few yahoo boys to lay off, return home and stop giving the country a bad name. Rather it was the President who gave the country a black eye. I spent 33 years living abroad; Brazil, USA and the UK in that order. I tell you, sometimes it wasnt easy image-wise. The first stigma we faced in those days was that we were a brilliant people under un-dignifying military yoke. Then the Yahoo and credit card boys came in the 1990s and made life really uncomfortable for every Nigerian. A few drug dealers came later. I never heard of human trafficking. Back then, even our Embassy and Consular staffs (from Rio de Janeiro to London) treated their fellow Nigerians like unwanted people. Youd be lucky if you could get anyone in those places to talk to you. Youd be luckier if you got your passport sorted in 2 months. At its height, one chap who went by the imaginative name of Alhaji Alhaji who happened to be our High Commissioner (Ambassador) in London, in a fit of undiplomatic hysteria, declared that most Nigerians in the UK were criminals and wondered aloud why the British government issued them visas. Only God and a few privileged angels knew what provoked the man. However, things began to improve in the 2000s thanks in part to the efforts of former president Obasanjo, and largely due to the excellence and achievements of 2nd generation Nigerian Diaspora. It is Buharis primary task to make our image problem abroad better. However, in his second coming, it seems to me that Buhari is only interested in bending over backwards to please and pander to our erstwhile colonial masters when there is absolutely no need for it. It took the government of Murtala/Obasanjo in the mid 1970s to take on the British head-on and get us some much deserved respect. We seem to be going backwards in that regard again. We seem to be taking instructions from Downing Street, in particular, and the European Union in general before we make any moves in Nigeria. The Wikileaks revelations of a few years ago where our very senior government officials were falling over themselves and couldnt wait to blab to low level Western diplomats was a painful read. I do not see how Buharis latest remark would encourage any potential investor to come to Nigeria. The president ought to know that his main job is to defend Nigeria and Nigerians everywhere; not to put us down in foreign media in the hope to please foreign leaders. That is old and it is unproductive. [email protected] Twitter: demdemdem1 15.02.2016 LISTEN The Federation Of Muslim Councils of Ghana is right in commending the Ashanti Regional Police, the National Chief Imam and the Ashanti Region Peace Council for working swiftly to bring an end to the conflict between some Muslim youth and the indigenous people of Tafo in the Ashanti Region. Though one person lost his life with several others getting injured in the fracas, the situation would have degenerated into full blown war if immediate action was not taken. The conflict was said to be over the Muslims section of the cemetery at Tafo whose wall was demolished leading to a sharp reaction from the zongo youth who vandalized vehicles, a bank building and other properties. This is unfortunate because in this day and age when people are expected to live in peace many people were left wondering why such a conflict would break out in the center of the Kumasi which is considered to be the second city of Ghana. For now every peace loving person in and outside Ghana is happy that the situation has been brought under control after 40 youth who were arrested over the issue were released on bail, and it is the hope of all that the parties in the conflict would avail themselves of the opportunity to settle the matters involved amicably. Let us continue using the National Chief Imam together with the National Peace Council and all other persons and organizations concerned in the matters concerned in the dispute. However according to some security experts including a former military officer Captain Ebenezer Budu Koomson (rtd) the situation would have been averted if the security system in the Ashanti region had taken action on intelligence report on the Tafo Cemetery. According to him security officials had prior intelligence about the Tafo clashes before the skirmishes broke out. Indeed the issue between the Muslim youth in Tafo had been lingering for quite some time now as reported in the media and the police service in Ashanti cannot claim not to know about it. When they got wind of it they were expected to be proactive in taking steps to avert it but this they did not do till the unfortunate incidents occurred. Our bitter experiences in Tafo and the gruesome murder of the MP for Abuakwa North and attempt by a young man to attack a parliamentary candidate in Cape Coast must be a wakeup call to the Ghana police service and the entire security system on matters of conflicts throughout the country. The police must now activate and intensify its intelligence network to find out from people especially those in responsible positions what is going on in their lives especially as they interact with people. Most of the people who end up being attacked and killed are said to have received threats from their assailants on their phones long before they are attacked physically. From now on everyone must be encouraged to report these threats to the police at all times. Apart from this the police and the security system are aware about all security flash points in Ghana. It is required that intelligence personnel are sent to gather information regularly on what happens around the country regularly especially in the flashpoints. The police must be proactive and not wait for citizens to lodge complaints . when they suspect any mishaps the police must move in to invite suspects and feuding factions to find out from them what they glean to be happening. In this day and age when the social media has become a soft spot for mischief, the public must also be taught to be circumspect in reviewing information on social media outlets that have not been authenticated; else we may be lured into reacting to information leading to conflicts in the nation. This way some of the problems that lead to conflict would be averted before they erupt into full blown conflicts or war. In spite of all that has happened Ghana is still touted as one of the most peaceful nations in the world. It is expected that everyone would give a helping hand to the security system and men in responsible positions to help in maintaining the peace in Ghana. God bless Ghana to remain great and strong at all times EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EANFOWORLD FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 0244 370345/ 0264370345/0208844791 [email protected]/[email protected] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has agreed to closely collaborate with Ghana in the fight against terrorism. The agreement was reached in a closed door meeting with Ghanas President John Dramani Mahama who is on a two-day state visit to the Islamic nation. Addressing the press after the meeting, President Mahama said violent extremism and terrorism is a threat to the whole world and we can only defeat it if we collaborate with each other. In Africa we are also affected by violent extremism, the situation in Libya is affecting the Sahelian areas of Africa; the operations of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, the operation of Boko Haram are all threats to our peaceful survival. The president of the West African nation added that they discussed the issue on two levels, on the levels of using cultural means to try and fight against extremist ideology, but at the same time sharing intelligence and working together to fight terrorism. In the first visit by a Ghanaian president to Iran since 37 years ago, Mahama is also slated to meet with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Airtel Ghana, leader in Corporate Social Responsibility has supported fifteen (15) physically challenged individuals from the Nkoranza Disable Society in the Nkoranza South Municipality with Airtel products to trade in as Airtel retailers through the companys employee driven initiative dubbed Make Your Change. The beneficiaries were nominated by an employee of Airtel who recommended them be supported due to their resolve to engage in productive ventures that will make their lives and those of their dependants better. The beneficiaries were supplied with point of sale materials and souvenirs including parasols, tables, showcase, rechargeable cards and e-value for Airtel money transactions to empower and make them self-dependent. In attendance at the short ceremony to present the items to the beneficiaries in Nkoranza were Miss Shirley Adjeley Sowah, Representative of the Municipal Chief Executive Nkoranza South, Mr. Mintah Sufan- Chairman for the Nkoranza Disable Society and Mr. Douglas Musah District Director of Social Welfare. Kwaku Asiedu, Zonal Business Manager, Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo said We are moved by the eagerness shown by the beneficiaries to make a meaningful impact in their own lives. This is actually the power of potential which Airtel as a company believes that everyone has the power of potential to be the best they can be. We are committed to supporting initiatives such as this, championed by our employees, to make a difference in our local communities. Airtel Ghana has over the years contributed significantly to the lives of individuals and communities through its sustainable corporate social responsibility initiative MakeYour Change. This initiative welcomes and supports worthy causes identified by employees intheir communities. Airtel is Ghanas fastest growing telecom network providing unmatched product and services to meet the communications, connectivity and collaborative needs of its customers. About Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 335 million customers across its operations at the end of August 2015. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com About Airtel in Africa Airtel is driven by the vision of providing affordable and innovative mobile services to all. Airtel has 17 operations in Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel International is a Bharti Airtel company. For more information, please visit www.airtel.com , or like the Airtel Ghana Facebook page via www.facebook.com/airtelgh or follow us on Twitter via the handle @airtelghana. 15.02.2016 LISTEN State prosecutors are asking for more time to complete investigations into the case in which three persons suspected to be members of a passport and visa falsification gang are being tried. The accused persons are Moses Lamptey, aka OBK, 69, trader; William Kofi Mensah, aka Gaye, 45, businessman; and Eric Nyamekye, 35, aka Rasta, an artist. According to Chief Superintendent Duuti Tuaruka, the prosecution was yet to complete investigations into the case. But Bannerman Williams, who repeated his earlier application for bail for his client, described the excuse of the prosecution as an over-flogged statement which ought not to be entertained by the court. He said the prosecution had failed to tell the court that it needed to remand the accused persons in order to complete the said investigations. Alex Abban, who is the lawyer for Gaye and Eric, said even though his clients were on remand, there had not been any occasion when they were called upon to assist the police with investigations. It is the case of the prosecution that the accused persons, on January 22, 2016 in Accra, conspired to forge and forged official documents. Also charged with possessing official documents, altering official documents and forging other official documents, the accused persons were allegedly arrested with 181 Ghanaian passports and 13 other passports including that of the Netherlands, Nigeria and Britain. The trial judge, Aboagye Tandoh, remanded the accused in police custody until February 22. The judge was hopeful that the prosecution would not come to court asking for more time again. . Facts Personnel of the Regional Police Command received information that the accused persons were engaged in the falsification of fake passports and visas around Anyaa, Kokomlemle, Bubiashie and Bortianor Base. A search conducted on Moses revealed one printer, 60 Ghanaian and other national passports, one median passport and a Sanyo recorder. For Gaye, 135 Ghanaian and international passports, 69 rubber stamps used for visa application, 41 police CID clearance forms, 41 police CID seals and two lamination machines were retrieved. At the residences of Rasta in both Anyaa and Bortianor, a Toshiba laptop, three coloured Dell printers, an HP external hard drive, five different countries' rubber stamps used for documentation and visas, and binary code charts used in calculating codes for fake passports were found. The accused persons admitted the offences, stating that they made the visas for their clients to outwit embassies. [email protected] By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson 15.02.2016 LISTEN Four persons who allegedly pretended to be cripples with some serious illnesses and claimed to have been healed during church service, have been nabbed by the Tema police. Their names were mentioned as Kofi Fobi, 36, who resides at Kasoa in the Central Region; Victoria Gbafa, 55; Christiana Atta, 27 and Eunice Ohenewaa, 26, who travelled all the way from Nsawam in the Eastern Region to Ashaiman for the supposed fake miracle. They were said to have been healed by a pastor of Glorious Word International located at Lebanon, a suburb of Ashaiman, in order to entice more people into the church. They were arrested two hours into the program. Confirming the arrest to DAILY GUIDE, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Tema Regional Police Command, explained that during the service which started at about 7:00 am, the pastor asked the congregation if there was anyone suffering from any illness and two of the suspects responded that they had brought their sick relatives for healing. According to her, the pastor led the congregation to pray for the sick people who were unable to stand on their feet. The PRO added that after the prayers, the pastor asked the sick people to walk and instantly they were able to walk and even danced to the glory of God without any support from the supposed relatives who brought them. ASP Obeng disclosed that the suspects were arrested after the Overseer of the church had reported them to the police before the actual church service began. . According to her, the suspects were led by one Kofi Fobi to Pastor Prince Amoah Medereth, General Overseer of Glorious Word International, and discussed with him that they wanted to help his church to grow for a fee of GH80 per person. Their modus operandi was to feign sick so that Pastor Prince would pray to heal them. Pastor Prince informed the police who attended the church healing service and when the suspects showed up, feigned sick as planned and went through the healing process, were arrested, according to ASP Obeng. She said the suspects admitted the offence during interrogations and would be arraigned before court after they had been charged. From Vincent Kubi, Ashaiman 15.02.2016 LISTEN Some few days after the gruesome murder of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North, Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, at his residence at Shiashie in Accra, another barbaric incident nearly happened on Saturday when the parliamentary candidate for Cape Coast North, Barbara Asher Ayisi, was also attacked at her residence at Pedu Estate in Cape Coast. The unfortunate incident happened around 10am when an assailant believed to be in his early 30s, by name Bismark Yao, allegedly armed with a knife and a hammer, invaded her residence at a time she was having a meeting with the constituency executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) towards a programme planned for that evening at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). Bismark Yao Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, NPP vice presidential candidate, attended the meeting at the UCC. The invader reportedly succeeded in smashing the windscreen of the parliamentary candidate's vehicles parked in the compound. He also broke flower pots before he was overpowered by neighbours after vandalising the residence for close to 30 minutes. Her campaign vehicle, a Kia Rio branded with her posters, suffered more. The assailant has since been hospitalised at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital for what medics referred to as visual hallucinations and aggression. Account Recounting the incident to DAILY GUIDE, the NPP candidate said her driver, Ben Botwe, was washing her car embossed with her campaign posters at the compound when the man moved into the house on that day and demanded to see the parliamentary candidate to kill her. Where is the NPP MP? I will kill her if I lay my hands on her; as far as we are concerned, you can never be an MP in this constituency, the invader was reported as saying. Barbara Asher Ayisi indicated that her driver then walked Yao out of the house and locked the gate, thinking that the latter might be having a mental problem. Ms Ayisi stated that Yao was said to have become angry and started banging on the gate for close to 40 minutes in an attempt to have access to the house. She added that after sometime Yao scaled over the wall into the compound where he smashed the vehicles with the hammer, even though there were two other vehicles parked on the compound which belong to her mother. Ms Asher Ayisi disclosed that Yao then struggled with the driver and later pulled out a knife, threatening to stab him if he continued to prevent him from entering the hall where the meeting was being held, a situation which compelled her and the executives to start shouting for help. I was shivering and sweating profusely when he was struggling with the driver because I realised my driver was becoming weak and the residents were also afraid to come inside to rescue him, she said. The parliamentary candidate further told DAILY GUIDE that one of the residents then gathered courage, also scaled over the wall and was able to overpower him (Yao). She hinted that other onlookers then joined in and brutally beat the man to a state of unconsciousness. Ms Asher Ayisi said she then called the police to inform them about the incident. DAILY GUIDE gathered that the police came to find the attacker on the floor with blood oozing from the head and some parts of the body and was immediately taken to the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital where he is receiving treatment. . The MP's vandalized vehicle [PHOTO]http://cdn.modernghana.com/images/content/hl0ofr6eey_thempsvandalizedvehiclebarbaraasherayisi1.jpg[/PHOTO] Police Angle Police sources say Yao was reported missing on Friday by a lady, Happy Zanu, who claimed to be his (Yao's) fiancee. Happy claimed that they had returned from La Cote d'Ivoire, where they reside, for Yao to take her to his parents at Zongo in Twifo Praso to introduce her to them. She said they set off from Cote d'Ivoire on Friday but half way through the journey, Yao started shouting in the vehicle, saying his former fiancee had turned into a tiger and was attacking him. In the midst of the confusion, she stated that Yao took her mobile phone and threw it away, destroying the window of the vehicle in which they were travelling. Happy explained that on arriving in Cape Coast on Friday evening, Yao became more agitated and became uncontrollable so she decided not to continue the journey to Twifo Praso. According to the source, Yao took to his heels after attacking Happy with a bottle, only to land in the parliamentary candidate's house in an aggressive mood. I reported the incident to the police on Friday but we could not find him, Happy told the media. From Sarah Afful, Cape Coast Email:[email protected] 15.02.2016 LISTEN THE POLICE Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) has started investigations into the shooting of a teacher at the Mampong Midwifery Training School and his brother. The move is to unearth what really motivated the armed policemen, who were on patrol duties at Mampong on that fateful day, to shoot and kill the two brothers who were speeding away on a motorbike. ASP Mohammed Yussif Tanko, the Ashanti Regional Police Spokesman, who made the disclosure to DAILY GUIDE in an interview, appealed to people who had information about how the shooting took place to assist PIPS. Francis Gbene, 33, an Anatomy and Physiology tutor at the Mampong Midwifery Training College and his younger brother, Thaddeus Gbene, 28, were mistaken for robbers and shot by the police. The police patrol team later realised that the two siblings were rather speeding on the motorbike to find help for a female tutor at the school whose home had been attacked by robbers. . The unfortunate incident which happened in the wee hours of Wednesday is said to have triggered a huge debate at Asante Mampong as residents of the area seemed unhappy about the tragedy and how it occurred. The Ashanti Regional Police Command, led by DCOP Kofi Boakye, who was not happy about the unfortunate incident, quickly invited four policemen who were part of the police patrol team to Kumasi to assist in investigations. ASP Tanko stated that the police administration is not happy about how the two innocent brothers were shot dead and that they are therefore attaching seriousness to the investigation, noting that that is why the case has been referred to PIPS. Teachers of the Midwifery Training College had earlier called for an independent investigation into the cause of the death of Francis Gbene and his younger brother, who were shot dead by the police on Wednesday, February 10, on the campus of the college. At a press briefing at the college auditorium on Thursday, Ms Mercy Kporku, Vice Principal of the college, called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to institute an independent investigative team to thoroughly look into the matter. She catalogued eyewitness accounts of the incident that led to the deaths of the deceased and said if the police had been professional, the incident could have been averted. Ms Kporku said after the incident, seven bullet shells were picked from the spot where the victims were shot. The policemen, instead of agreeing and sending him to the hospital, rather said they had to send Gbene and the brother to the charge office before sending them to the hospital and then drove off. We strongly believe that on this particular occasion, if police were a little more professional, this incident wouldn't have happened. We seek for justice and we will follow this matter to its logical conclusion, she said at the press conference. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The 2016 parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Weija Gbewa constituency, Ms Obuobia Darko-Opoku has donated a 15,000 litre capacity water storage tank, drugs and bags of assorted food products to the Ga South Municipal Hospital as part of the valentine's day celebration. She used the occasion to pay the medical bills of some patients to facilitate their release so as to enjoy Valentines day with their loved ones. Ms Darko-Opoku also paid for the transfer of twins who were born prematurely to the Korle- bu Teaching Hospital to receive intensive care and better support. The items include 10 gallons of parazone, 10 gallons of disinfectants, 30 rolls of cotton, 50 cans of glucose, 10 cartons of carnation milk, 5 cartons of milo, 24 pieces of toilet paper, 10 pieces of bedsheets, 34 boxes of water, 10 gallons of liquid soap, boxes of vitaco, and boxes of sunlight soap. According to the hospital, they spend an amount of Ghc 1,000.00 monthly on water supply and this facility would allow them to store their own water for use. This event follows a similar exercise organised by her foundation- the Obuobia Foundation in August of 2015 where she presented the Physically challenged in the GA South Municipality with several items ranging from Wheel chairs to whites canes. A donor giving blood 15.02.2016 LISTEN THE Head of Blood Transfusion Medicine Unit of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr Shirley Owusu Ofori, says blood donation remains crucial and critical part of healthcare delivery in country. She has, therefore, expressed worry about the drop in the number of voluntary donors which is prompting fear of alarming generation gap in blood donation. Speaking at this year's MTN Valentine's Day blood donation exercise in Kumasi, Dr Ofori stated that family members of patients would not be required to give blood if 10 percent of the country's population is committed to blood donation. According to her, there is no placement for any health condition that requires blood, asserting that not even infusion, drug or medication can replace it. She mentioned that since blood is obtained from human beings only for their fellows, it requires the commitment of the citizenry to donate regularly in order for the country to have a good stock of blood at any point in time. Blood is mostly useful when there is a need for it and it must be ready and available when it is needed, she posited. Dr Ofori maintained that the nation needs to stock her blood bank to await emergency so as to make it available for any physical condition. . She assured members of the public that safety would not be compromised by the blood service throughout the country as it is committed to the safety and health of both the donor and the recipient. It's a fairly safe process and people should have confidence to come and donate. Once you are within the ages of 16 and 60 and you feel well on the day of donation, you can walk up to us, she appealed. Charles Osei-Akoto, head of Technical Division of MTN Northern Business District, said the aim was to help replenish the blood stock for people who need it. Blood is something nobody can manufacture, and so if you want to show love and give gift in the month of love then the best thing to donate is blood. It will give life to another person, he stated. Mr Osei-Akoto said the blood donation exercise, which is fifth in the series of such programme by MTN, would promote life. In 2013, we had 305 pints of blood, 625 for 2014 and 1,137 pints in 2015 for the hospitals nationwide, he disclosed, and added that the telecommunication company had been touching lives. From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi The convict with the stolen vehicle 15.02.2016 LISTEN A 38-year old driver, Stephen Adu-Poku has been sentenced to seven (7) years imprisonment in hard labour by a Takoradi circuit court for stealing a Nissan Urvan bus which belonged to another driver who lives at Ntankoful near Sekondi. The accused person pleaded guilty to the charge and after the trial, the court, presided over by Mrs Rita Doko, sentenced him. Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Fuseini Yakubu told the court that the complainant in the case was a driver while the accused was also a driver and a farmer who lived at Asamankese, in the Eastern Region. He said on October 31, 2015 at about 2pm, the complainant closed from work and parked his Nissan Urvan bus with registration number WR 1392 V at Ntankoful with all the doors locked and went home with the ignition key. The prosecutor added that the following day, November 1, 2015 at about 5.30am, the complainant woke up and detected that the Nissan Urvan bus had been stolen and efforts made to find yielded no fruit. The complainant therefore reported the case to the police and informed some friends as well. On November 7, 2015, a witness in the case who was driving from Accra to Kade spotted the stolen vehicle at Asamankese being driven by a young man. The witness quickly informed the complainant and the two met in Accra and later proceeded to Asamankese. . On November 8, 2015, both the complainant and the witness located the vehicle and informed the police. The young man driving the stolen vehicle was arrested together with the vehicle and sent to the Asamankese police station. The driver told the police that the accused, Stephen Adu-Poku gave him the vehicle to work with and render sales to him (accused). The accused was subsequently arrested and he claimed ownership of the vehicle and stated initially that he bought it in Accra. However, according to the prosecutor, the accused later admitted stealing the vehicle and was jailed by the court. From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi Abu Mamuda, the Tafo Zongo Youth Chief, addressing the crowd in the Mosque 15.02.2016 LISTEN SARIKI SAMARI of Tafo Zongo, Abu Mamuda aka 'Abusco' has strongly warned the Zongo youth at Tafo to stop fighting natives of the area. According to him, the destruction of property, injuries to people and loss of human life, which occurred in the community, is not necessary. He stated that the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Usman Sharubutu, who commands a lot of respect in the country, had intervened to ensure peace. Abusco therefore entreated the Zongo youth to show respect to the National Chief Imam by adopting peace and stop the violent attacks. He was speaking at the Tafo Central Mosque on Friday after the Chief Imam had led the Muslims in the area in prayers on Friday. Abusco, on behalf of the Zongo youth, apologized to the Tafohene, who was allegedly attacked by the angry Zongo youth of the area. He said the Tafohene is the father of the Zongo youth so he appealed to the chief to forgive and forget and continue to see the Zongo youth as his children. . According to him, the Zongo youth had been thoroughly talked to and warned not to take the law into their hands any longer so the Tafohene should accept the apology. Abusco sternly cautioned the Zongo youth to respect the laws of the country and desist from attacking residents of the area, saying we shall not beg for you again. He stated that the law would deal ruthlessly with any Zongo youth who would try to breach it, charging, respect the chief imam and be law abiding. The Tafo Zongo Youth Chief appealed to President Mahama to compensate people whose vehicles, houses and other items were destroyed during the riot. Abusco also urged government to compensate the family whose son was killed during the riot to help promote peace and unity in the area. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi Robert Bentil (7[SUP]th[/SUP] from right) and DCOP Dr Samuel Amo Mensah with other members of the two institutions in a group photograph after the donation 15.02.2016 LISTEN The Royal Bank Foundation has donated six portable oxygen concentrators with ventilators to the Police Hospital in Accra. The equipment, purchased with funds from the bank's foundation, are to assist the hospital in handling emergency cases, especially in the provision of oxygen for patients. Robert Bentil, managing director of the Royal Bank and executive director of the foundation, said the institution received a request from the hospital some months ago to support with the provision of some equipment. He said the bank in response to the request first donated six nebulisers to the hospital last year and was following that up with the presentation of the portable oxygen concentrators. The foundation since its establishment in 2014 has provided support to needy and vulnerable people and supported institutions and projects, so giving the police hospital this equipment is part of the foundations objectives, he said. DCOP Dr Samuel Amo Mensah, who received the equipment on behalf of the hospital, was full of praise for The Royal Bank, adding that donation would help solve the problem of delay in oxygen provision at the hospital. This can be used for 24 hours and we are going to use it very well to ensure more lives are saved, DCOP Dr Mensah added. By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri Accra: February 15th, 2016: Commodity value chain actors, who are expected to play key roles in the activities of the yet to be established National Commodity Exchange (GCX) are rallying support for the GCX to work to help alleviate poverty and transform the agricultural value chain in the country while creating wealth for all especially small farm holders. According to the commodity value chain actors who form the GCX Market Council, there was the need for all stakeholders to come together to fight for the rights of the local Ghanaian farmer whose activities are bedevilled with a number of obstacles such as lack of access to ready market and finance. These views came to the fore at the second Market Council meeting organised by the GCX Project on January 28, 2016 in Accra to share updates on the progress of work on the establishment of the National Commodity Exchange. The Market Council (MC) is composed of various representatives of the commodity market, from producers to traders/wholesalers, aggregators, processors, and others, put together with the intent of soliciting feedback at a bi - monthly consultation on the various outputs of the Project, for the duration of the Project. The aim of the consultative sessions with the Market Council is to enable the GCX Project Secretariat in its Design and Implementation phase to continuously engage with various stakeholders in order to ensure the relevance and feasibility of the Design, to embark on sensitization and preliminary capacity building, and to build a sense of joint ownership and engagement with the GCX Project. At the second Market Council session, members were briefed on how trading will be conducted on the Exchange. They were also updated on how clearing and settlement processes will be executed and key benchmarks that will be in place to ensure quality standards are always strictly adhered to. Sharing their feedback, Market Council members advocated the introduction of the concept of source validation to check the influx of imported commodities from being traded on the National Commodity Exchange (GCX) trading floor to protect local producers especially small holder farmers. In their view, this will go a long way to address the challenge of imported goods from being trafficked into the country due to artificial shortage and stressed the need for incentivisation to protect local trader interest. They also reiterated their commitment to partner the GCX to intensify market surveillance to proactively address any risk factors that would frustrate the process to create a platform to respond to needs of all market actors. Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Acting GCX Project Director, Mr. Robert Dowuona Owoo, commended Market Council members for the level of commitment so far demonstrated towards the establishment of the first Commodity Exchange of its kind in West Africa. The GCX Project is tasked to see to the creation of an orderly organised path that would enhance market efficiency, transparency and integrity through the dissemination of market information in real time to all market players. It is being financed with equity investment by the Government of Ghana under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and a private sector financing consortium made up of domestic and global institutional investors. It is a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) initiative aimed at transforming Ghanas agricultural sector through the establishment of the first modern commodity exchange in the country and was launched in June 2015 by the President, H.E. John Mahama. The recent water shortage in the Greater Accra, Western and Eastern regions is causing a lot of fear and panic among residents in these areas. The three regions have been without water for weeks. People have had to trek miles in search of potable water. At Nsawam Adoagyiri in the Eastern region where a reservoir which supplies water to the area has gone low, residents have had to resort to the polluted Densu River for water. Water from the river is used for cooking and drinking. It is the same river in which residents do their laundry and feed their animals from. One resident told Joy News that although the water is sometimes boiled before it is used, not everyone does this. It is the same water we use to wash, other people bath in it with soap. Some people dont even boil it, they just drink it like that, one resident told Joy News Emefa Atiamoah when she visited the area last week. Matilda Wemegah was in the community this morning and reports that residents fear an outbreak of cholera as food vendors use polluted water from streams and ponds to cook. Although there is yet to be a reported case of cholera, the residents are calling on government to, as a matter of urgency, address the water situation before it gets out of hand. The Principal Nursing Officer at the Nsawam Health Directorate, Christiana Obeng indicated that although National security through the Assembly is supplying water to some health facilities, others have had to buy their own water. Matilda also gathered that Member of Parliament for the area has supplied two other health centres with poly tanks. In the Ningo Prampram district of the Greater Accra region, school children are having to walk long distances in search of water before attending classes. Assemblyman for the area, Francis Tei Addotsu told Joy News the only source of water in the community has dried up. When you covered the water situation previously it looked like it was worse but this time it is the worst. Now the water is dried up and people have had to dig into the pond to get water from the pond. We called the water company and they came to fix a standpipe but nothing is coming out of it, he added. According to him, some teachers have threatened to leave the town due to the crisis. The situation is no different in the Western Region. The pollution of the Pra River has forced the Ghana Water Company to ration water. This is getting on the nerves of the residents who say they deserve to have water at all times due to the increases in water tariffs. The Ghana Water Company has indicated that the problems are largely due of the harmattan which is drying up water sources. We are not getting the water, sometimes the taps dont flow about a week or two yet the bills that come is outrageous, one resident said. Head of Communications at Ghana Water Stanley Martey told Joy News in an interview that until the rains come in, there is nothing they can do to solve the problem. 15.02.2016 LISTEN This year's MTN Ghana Foundation annual blood donations exercise took off with massive patronage from staff and volunteers. The blood donation exercise, dubbed 'Save A Life is the fifth edition that the giant telecom company embarked on and it took place in Accra and other regions. The donation exercise was done simultaneously at places such as Greater Accra MTN House, Independence Avenue, Accra; Central region Central Aggrey Memorial SHS; Western Region -Fiaseman SHS and Market Circle, Ashanti region Poku Trading Enterprise, St Joseph SHS, Mampong Asante, Northern Region Forecourt of Regional Library, Tamale. The Corporate Service Executive, who doubles as the Head of MTN Ghana Foundation, Cynthia Lumor, talking to the media during the exercise said, the move was to show love to people they see as family and friends on Valentine's Day, by giving the gift of life to those in need. According to her, they have always been able to exceed their target, hinting that last year's target was 700 pints but ended up getting more. Last year, the foundation set out to collect 700 pints of blood and with the support of volunteers and partners it was able to exceed that target and collected 1,135 pints across the country, Mrs. Lumor added. Although this year's target was to have 1200 pints of blood, she was optimistic they would exceed it. Mrs. Lumor, was positive that the blood collected from various locations will go a long way to complement the needs of the selected blood banks across the country. She said: blood donation is something we all need to consider doing because blood cannot be manufactured and any of us might need at one point or the other in our lives. Facilities to benefit from the exercise and who are also partners for the project include the National Blood Bank and the blood banks at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Effia Nkwanta Hospital in Takoradi, Tamale Teaching Hospital, Bolga Regional Hospital and Cape Coast Regional Hospital. The Senior Blood Donor Recruitment Officer, Joyce Oppong Adu, said in an interview that blood served as an important drug, especially if a person is anemic and needed blood transfusion, just like any other drug to make him or her survive. She said unlike some years back, today because of education, people are coming forward willingly to donate, which is a good sign. By Maame Agyeiwaa Agyei ([email protected]) 15.02.2016 LISTEN THE NEW Northern Regional Director of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Mr. Tanko Rashid Computer, has assured the youth groups in the region of equal opportunities to get employment under the Agency. According to him, his administration was ready to employ more interested youth, irrespective of their political affiliations. Speaking at a handing over ceremony at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council's Conference Hall, the new YEA Director said that President John Dramani Mahama had the Ghanaian youth at heart and would ensure that a large number of the unemployed youth in the country were employed. Majority of the youth in the Northern Region have been used by some unscrupulous persons to foment trouble, due to the lack of jobs for them. But Mr. Tanko Computer said that the current restructuring exercise going on in the YEA was ample testimony that the government wanted the best for the youth of this country and, therefore, encouraged the youth in the Northern Region to have faith in the NDC. My focus is to get all the youth employed and ensure good living for them. And I will make sure that all the youth groups in the region whether you are coming from the centre, you are coming from the right or left, top or down, you will get employment under this agency. The YEA is meant to provide jobs for Ghanaian youth but not only those in a particular political party. Mr. Tanko Computer, who claimed to have rich experience in youth activism and management said he was familiar with the challenges facing the youth and was ready to address them all. After commending President Mahama and other key personalities for his appointment, the new Northern Regional YEA Director fired back at some faceless influential persons using some hungry youth in Tamale to make ugly noises about him. Some of the youth of the NDC, after his appointment was announced, came out strongly to accuse him of financial malfeasance during his reign as the Northern Regional Manager of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). But the Former Regional NHIS Boss, who is also the current Director of Elections for the NDC in the region, said that he had never been involved in any financial scandal whatsoever, or being convicted by any Court for such claim. According to him, the only issued he ever encountered during his term was when two of his NHIS officers and the Accountant at Savelugu Scheme involved themselves in over payment of some claims and his attention was drawn to it as Regional Manager for rectification. However, his detractors, who attempted to destroy his handing over ceremony, but were swiftly curtailed by the Police and the Military, as they were insisting that Mr. Tanko Computer was sacked from the company after he had been transferred to NHIS head office in Accra as a result of the alleged financial misappropriation. The group, though, could not mention how much money he (Tanko Computer) had squandered or misapplied, but they insisted the appointment should be reversed. The Chronicle gathered that the NDC youth group are rather fronting for one Mohammed Abdul Moomin, who was in acting position as Regional Director of YEA after the termination of the appointment of the Former Regional Boss, Alhaji Mohammed Adam Amin Abio. Mr. Tanko Computer explained with copies of letters from his employers that he was transferred to the headquarters because of his competence, but later tendered in his resignation to allow him more time to help the NDC in the 2013 election petition at the Supreme Court, since he was the Director of Elections for the Northern Region. I resigned from NHIS Accra office because I couldn't stay in Accra and still handle the Pink Sheet issues as Regional Director of Elections for my party. I resigned because of NDC and not because I was sacked, as the ugly noises are forcing people to believe. I have the letters as evidence and the media or anybody who has any doubt can come and verify. From Edmond Gyebi, Tamale 15.02.2016 LISTEN The New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Obuasi West, Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng, has debunked the assertion that the fall in world market prices of oil have adverse effect on the economy. According to him, Ghana as a net importer of petroleum will not lose if the world market price falls and that the assertion that the drop in oil prices affects the economy is not true. He said: The suggestion that when oil prices falls it hurts our economy, is a dishonest one. Ghana is a net importer of petroleum. He noted that whenever petroleum prices fall, the analysis has been that, what we have been losing from the export side; nobody is telling us what we are gaining from the import side. For a country that imports crude, I think we should drop this suggestion that a drop in crude oil prices on the international market hurts our economy. Mr. Kwarteng said this when giving his party's stance on Fiscal Management at the Public launch of Policy Positions on Oil and Gas, organized by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), in partnership with Penplusbytes, a local Non-Governmental Organization. The forum brought together members of the four major political parties, National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People's Party (CPP) and the People's National Congress (PNC), represented by Dr. William Ahadzie, Kwaku Kwarteng, Kwame Juantuah and Bernard Mornah respectively, with Professor Audrey Gagdekpo as the Moderator. Positions on Transparency and Accountability on Oil and Gas contracts The NPP's Kwaku Kwarteng said when his party comes to power they would ensure that, contract disclosure must be legislated. He was of the view that it is crucial for oil and gas contracts to be disclosed to the people, in order not to suffer corruption. PNC and CPP's Bernard Mornah and Kwame Juantuah were also of the view that, a proper data should be free and available on oil and gas contracts so as to ensure transparency in the management of the revenue. The NDC's Dr. Ahadzie, also said his party would take a closer look at every contract to make sure that there is transparency. He said the government was careful how revenue are being used when it comes to oil and gas. Oil and Gas Revenue Management On the issue of Oil and Gas Revenue Management, all the four major political parties unanimously lauded the Heritage Fund, but kicked against misusing the funds, saying it should be left untouched for the future generation. PNC representative said they would prefer saving for the future and that revenue from oil and gas should be invested in agriculture and agro processing. Dr. Ahadzie on his part said: The Heritage Fund means we want to leave a legacy for the future. According to him, his party was aware that oil is exhaustible resources so revenue realized from it must be saved and used for future development. The NPP also affirmed that it will not abolish the Heritage Fund but would make public what is saved. He said: We uphold it. However, it is important to see the returns we are getting on the savings for the future. According to NPP, policy makers should owe it a duty to future generations to ensure that what it is being saved for them, yields adequate returns. We need to take a close look at the current situation and know why returns on money in the Heritage Fund are so low; sometimes 2.5% -3% at a time we are borrowing on the international market at 10.75%. The legislator said his party sees the current situation as irregular and would take a look at the money in the Heritage Fund and how to maximize the return on it when they assume power. The NPP representative (Kwarteng) reiterated his earlier exposition that being a net importer of oil, Ghana cannot claim to lose revenue as a result of falls in the price of crude on the world market. He said going forward, analysis must be done on taxes we put on petroleum to get more money to compensate loss on our exports, so that the impression is not created that somehow our economy is hurt. Broadly, we think that oil money is just money. If the broad financial management of the economy is infested with corruption and bad spending, you are never going to have a culture where people say: 'Well, when it comes to other monies, we can mismanage it, but for oil money, we have to manage it well. So, we think the real answer is cutting the waste and the corruption and improving the general management of the economy, so that oil money can fall into that culture. That is the position an NPP government will pursue. Bernard Monnah on behalf of PNC also said: fall in crude prices should not be the reason for the country to be at a standstill. He said the dipping oil prices on the world market, for a country that imports more of the product than it exports, would translate into a reduction in the amount of money the state spends to import petroleum, hence the state would not be left worse off. The CPP said there should be prudent economic policies and management. Adding, Ghana is currently running a deficit with its economic fundamentals. According to the CPP, this situation has created an apparently necessary over-reliance on revenue from the extractive sector where the country currently expends 100% of gold revenue and 70% from oil and gas sectors. The party advised that since both the resources and benefits from the extractive sector have diminishing returns, it is important to ensure equity and diligence in the management of revenue from the sector. The Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs. Hege Hertzberg said, they believe that petroleum and oil and gas of a country belongs to the people and that it is only prudent for them to decide what to do with it. She commended the organizers of the program for holding such a forum to empower the electorate to know the stance of political parties on important matters, to help them make informed decision when voting. By Maame Agyeiwaa Agyei ([email protected]) Accra, Feb. 15, GNA - The Queen of Peace Co-Operative Credit Union complex in Madina established by the Queen of Peace Catholic Church was on Sunday inaugurated to improve the financial status of traders within the community. The two-storey edifice, worth 1.4 million cedis, comprised a conference room, an office space for renting and a banking hall named after Rev Father Francis Mulder's who introduced the credit union to the church several years ago. Very Reverend Charles Owusu Ansah, the Parish Priest in Charge of the Madina Queen of Peace Catholic Church, inaugurating the building, offered prayers for a successful business activity throughout the years. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Mr Bertrand Zielley, the Manager of the Credit Union, said it started 34 years ago with a membership of 3,750 and an asset of 3.7 million cedis. GNA Sunyani, Feb. 15, GNA - The National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO) is to organize an international trade investment programme in Spain to promote the nation's agriculture. A statement signed by its Exhibition Director, Ms. Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, said this would be done jointly with Spain-based agricultural marketing and consultancy firm, Naxan. The five-day event to be held in Navarra, would begin on March 7, and end on March 11. It would provide the platform for bilateral engagements between commercial agricultural companies in the two countries. The statement said participants would also be provided the opportunity to tour input-manufacturing and packaging industries, financial and educational institutions, as well as farmer-based organizations in Spain. It expressed optimism that the event would tremendously help the Ghanaian delegation to tap into the rich expertise of their Spanish counterparts in agriculture'. The other high point is that it would strengthen cooperation for the mutual benefit of Ghana and Spain. GNA 15.02.2016 LISTEN A GNA Feature by A.B. Kafui Kanyi Ho, Feb. 15, GNA - In this place, every opinion counts; because everyone matters, after all, the might of the broom is in its unity of purpose. The Akatsi North District, a onetime unknown area in the Volta Region, is gradually becoming the centre of attraction - in terms of its practical demonstration of decentralisation; pinched on innovation and creativity. Located in the Southern Eastern part of the Volta Region, with a land area of 314.15 square kilometers, the Akatsi North District, with its Administrative capital Ave Dakpa, was carved from Akatsi District. It forms part of the 25 Municipalities and Districts in the Volta Region of Ghana and shares boundaries with the Akatsi South District to the south, to the north with Adaklu District, to the west with Central Tongu District and to the East with the Republic of Togo. Here, the introduction of suggestion boxes at vantage points across the community to involve the people in the decision making process of the District, which was inaugurated in June 2012, is so astounding. The concept is simply to encourage visitors, stakeholders, governance experts, students and indeed all and sundry to make valuable contributions towards good governance and rapid development of the area. 'You did not have to identify yourself,' Mr James Gunu, the District Chief Executive told Journalists. The 2012 National Population Housing Census put the population here at 29,777, with 54.1 per cent being females. Akatsi North's economy consists of agriculture, commercial, industrial and the service sectors. Of the citizens employed, 71.6 per cent are engaged in skilled agriculture, forestry and fisheries; 12.2 per cent engaged in craft and related trades, while 12.5 per cent are engaged in the service and sales sector, according to the Census. So, opinions of market women, farmers, pupils and students, fisher-folks among others, merging through the Assembly system are noted in the decision-making process. This 'opinion pool' initiative was welcomed by the people with a relatively high number of suggestions , which were received through the system within a few weeks of inception, demonstrating the willingness of the locals to participate fully in the local government system. 'We know we can't have everybody at our Assembly meetings, yet we don't want to miss those brilliant ideas, and this concept is performing magic,' Mr Gunu, said. Regular town hall meetings and publication of contact numbers of the District Chief Executive, the Presiding Member, the District Coordinating Director, Assembly members and Heads of Departments is another commendable effort. This has further taken governance closer to the people, making access to the governors less stressful. It looks ordinary! Contact addresses of bureaucrats and the DCE. It is a great achievement in a country where access to District Chief Executives is not easy. In some districts, one needs an appointment to pass through 'human barriers,' to have access to the DCE. One's social and economic status is important and sometimes, political affiliation is necessary to see a DCE in other Assemblies. Perhaps, the mind blowing innovation of Akatsi North District Assembly is the introduction of the District Assembly level Public Account hearing. Local government bodies and institutions are linkages to the central government. Challenges at the national level, I believe, are the same as at the local level. There are issues of cost padding, service diversion, limited responsiveness to local needs and limited access, among others, to which appointees and bureaucrats must give answers. The District level Public Account concept is an added advantage to the Assembly by fostering social cohesion and trust within the local communities through regular account hearing sittings at the district level. At least three public account sittings have been held at the Assembly, with individuals and institutions appearing before a Committee to account for their stewardship. This is enhancing the responsiveness of public policies to the needs of the population and increasing the effectiveness of service delivery. On the economic front, the Assembly has also established a local economic development fund to support small and medium scale enterprises to turn around it's the fortunes of the area. This is supported with the allocation of five per cent of the Assembly's internally generated funds to area councils for their self-initiated development projects, a way of ensuring equitable distribution of the Assembly's resources. The Assembly has also initiated moves to house banks in the Assembly complex with the introduction of cashless transactions. The plan is to make it easier for people to pay fees and rates directly into the Assembly's designated account, and submit the pay-in slips to the accounts section for further actions. Another simple, yet out of the box thinking, is the issuance of business cards to all Assembly members and traditional rulers of the area and declaring them ambassadors of the District with the task of wooing investors for the District. The business cards are also to advertise the logo and symbols of various stools in the District to promote tourism. Perhaps the rare push is the involvement of Unit Committees in the business of developing tourism, as the DCE put it, 'We have cleaner, serene atmosphere, and lush vegetation, and we are now training our unit committee members to own the projects and take it to the communities.' The District is made up of two traditional areas: Ave and Avenor, and it has five paramountcies. The main traditional festivals are the Ebliza and Amesikpeza. The Assembly has also created an album and data on all persons with disability in the district for easy identification and empowerment. The initiative has helped brought people living with disabilities together with a few given employable skills to enhance their status. To ensure that children, especially girls, remain in school; the Assembly introduced its own 'school feeding' concept, where basic school pupils across the District are fed once a day in school. The idea is to improve their nutrition. There are also girl-child education clubs to inspire girls for academic excellence. The Assembly again instituted an annual stakeholders' projects inspection tour. This is to keep the people abreast with socio-economic and infrastructural development in the District- a project audit system. That team, made up of traditional rulers, Assembly members, representatives of youth groups, market women, religious leaders and heads of departments, a few months ago, inspected work on the construction of affordable housing projects for public sector workers, construction of a shopping mall to open up the area, Ave-Dakpa market, court and police offices and some school and classroom blocks among others. Gains made in water, sanitation and hygiene and the government's social intervention programmes are transforming lives and making the District one of the fastest growing in the Volta Region. With the spirit of this community so ablaze to progress their area together, one can clearly see their unwritten motto: 'We can only go as far as we can move together'. GNA 15.02.2016 LISTEN Dear Chief Justice, I have once again felt the need to write to you. There has been an instance of obvious desire by some Ghanaian working in the judicial system to still bend the laws of the land to suit his caprices despite the mastery revelations of disgraceful and condemnable corruption within the judiciary that should have served as deterrence or a clear warning to him. Following the ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposure of frowned upon corruption within the judiciary; one would normally expect every Ghanaian, irrespective of their status, to try not to flout the laws of the land. However, some people still do, hoping they can persuade a judge or the Chief Justice to side with them regardless of how corruptible their actions may be. My love of prevalence of justice as the cardinal pivot on which the wellbeing of the ordinary Ghanaian revolves, coupled with a personal aspiration to see to the curtailment or eradication of official corruption in Ghana, has culminated in my keen interest in the ongoing Kumawu chieftaincy dispute. The nature of the Kumawu chieftaincy dispute typifies all the abuses of power that those in authority in whom we have entrusted the guarantee of justice for all, the security and safety of the Ghanaian, and the protection of individuals basic human rights, can, and do commit. You may be aware of how Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II abused his position as the Overlord of Asanteman. I did post a letter to you in which was enclosed copies of official documents proving the illegality, if not the criminality, of Asantehenes behaviour, and a video recording cassette on the presumed final adjudication of the Kumawu chieftaincy dispute brought before him at his Manhyia Palace on 24th February 2014. Same documents as sent to you were dispatched to some important personalities in Ghana, Presidents and governments abroad and credible international organizations like the United Nations. The action I took was to get the recipients prevail upon him to respect the laws of the land but not to behave as though Ghana, was still a total monarchy where the Overlord can behave dictatorially. The registrar of the Judicial Committee of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs has petitioned you to intervene in a High Court case in which an application of mandamus has been made against him. On what grounds is he seeking your intervention to either delay or quash the writ of mandamus issued to compel him to provide to the court, or to the plaintiff copies of the forms filled in by Dr Yaw Sarfo before he became the supposed Kumawuhene Barimah Sarfo Tweneboah Koduah? From my investigations, the Chief Justice can be petitioned by a plaintiff or a defendant on two grounds. First, when the plaintiff or the defendant sees and can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the judge presiding over the case is biased, will be based or is being biased. Secondly, when a ruling pronounced on a case involving the petitioner is adjudged by him/her to be unfair, thus, the judge did not judiciously consider the credible evidence and facts he/she submitted to the court in their accusation or defence submissions. On which of these two grounds did the registrar write to seek your intervention? The registrar who is in charge of all the court documents has blatantly refused to furnish the plaintiff with the requested proof of whether or not Barimah Sarfo Tweneboah Koduah has been gazetted as the paramount chief of Kumawu (Kumawuhene). Failing to comply with the lawful requests, an application of mandamus was sought against him in one of the Regional High Courts in the Ashanti region. In his appearance statement, he said the Regional High Court in Mampong has no jurisdiction to hear the case but the High Court in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital. Little did he know that there is only one High Court in Ghana as by Ghanas constitution? This means that all the various Regional High Courts throughout the country are one and have equal jurisdictional powers. When the judge confirmed to him he has the right to preside over the case and that he was going to hear the case on an adjourned date, the registrar refused to attend court on the appointed date. He rather sought refuge in a petition he had sent to you. As said earlier, on what grounds does he see it credible to petition you on this case? Has Barimah Sarfo Tweneboah Koduah been gazetted as Kumawuhene or not? Does the registrar possess any documentation on his gazetting? Can the public or the High Court request for information on the gazetting of Barimah Sarfo Tweneboah as Kumawuhene and if yes, from whom? Is the registrar within his legal rights to refuse anyone that information, or he is simply abusing his powers? If he is abusing his powers, does it not constitute judicial corruption? Has the registrar taken unfavourable sides in the ongoing Kumawu chieftaincy dispute? Is the registrar not meant to play a neutral role in any chieftaincy matters? Does the law allow him, the registrar of an Inferior Court (Judicial Committee of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs) to deny a request made to him by a Higher Court to provide them some genuinely requested documents? If he has no such legal right, why then has he petitioned you to intervene favourably on his behalf? What is his intention for petitioning you? You have been petitioned by the registrar, right; but what are you going to do? Are you going to accept his petition to block any further attempts to know the truth about whether or not Dr Yaw Sarfo has been gazetted as Kumawuhene going by the stool name Barimah Sarfo Tweneboah Koduah? If you do, does it not amount to abuse of power hence an instance of judicial corruption in the highest order? For your attention, Madam the Chief Justice, the proceedings on this case have been adjourned sine die. They can only be resurrected after you have declared your position on the petition filed with you by the registrar; throwing his petition away. The registrar has some dubious intentions deducing from his behaviour and intransigent stand taken on this case. Nonetheless, he will not achieve his objective as long as Anas Aremeyaw Anas helpful revelations of judicial corruption in Ghana go. He will not have his way as long as Madam the Chief Justice is seriously determined about pruning the judiciary of corruption. I am worried about the eye-sore state in which Kumawu is found today; lacking development, having no potable water etc. Subsequently, I am not ready to countenance any acts aimed at worsening the plight of the citizens of Kumawuman. The people need justice and peace. Nobody should be encouraged to underestimate the resolve by the people to remonstrate against any acts that are directed at underrating their intelligence. Yours Faithfully, Rockson Adofo 15.02.2016 LISTEN A Ghanaian man is accused of selling boxes of rice that he passed off as new iPhones recently in Rexdale, Toronto. Toronto Police claim at least two unsuspecting victims have been duped by the scam that offered iPhones for sale on Kijiji. The first alleged victim, a 20-year-old man, made contact with the seller online and made arrangements to meet near Islington Ave. and Dixon Rd. on Jan. 17, Const. Caroline de Kloet said Saturday. "A cash transaction was made for what was believed to be an iPhone 6 in a sealed box," she said. "The man later opened the sealed box which contained rice and no iPhone 6." The second alleged victim, a 27-year-old man, contacted the seller online and made arrangements to meet near Albion Rd. and Kipling Ave. "A cash transaction was made for what was believed to be an iPhone 6 in a sealed box," de Kloet said, adding the man later opened the sealed box and discovered it was also filled with rice. Gyimah Andrews Boateng, 21, of Toronto, was arrested on Wednesday. He's charged with two counts each of fraud under $5,000, two counts of false pretence under $5,000 and breach of court order. "Police believe there may be other victims," de Kloet said. Anyone with information regarding this fraud investigation should contact Det.-Const. Sylwia Swider at 416-808-2329 or [email protected], or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). 15.02.2016 LISTEN AngloGold Ashanti Updates on Illegal Mining Situation At Obuasi Gold Mine Accra, 15 February 2016: Following engagement between AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mr Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, and the Ghanaian Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and other high ranking government officials, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources has committed to sending a delegation of senior government officials today to examine the illegal mining at Obuasi Gold Mine. AngloGold Ashanti Ghana remains deeply concerned about the prevailing conditions, with illegal miners continuing to enter the site. If allowed to continue unchecked, illegal mining taking place on parts of the concession, and vandalism of property, could threaten the long-term viability of the mine and AngloGold Ashanti Ghanas ability to continue its feasibility study and maintain critical services, which serve both the operations and surrounding communities. AngloGold Ashanti Ghanas aim is to prove the viability of a project to turn Obuasi Gold Mine into a long-life, modern, world-class mining operation that will provide foreign investment, high-quality direct and indirect employment, taxes and foreign exchange revenue to Ghana. It has invested significant resources into this project in recent years. It is crucial that the Government of Ghana work with the company to resolve the current illegal occupation of the site by Galamsey, which not only poses a direct threat to the safety of employees, their families and other community members, but also threatens the viability of Obuasi, and jeopardises its long-term contribution to Ghanas economy. The immediate priority should be to re-establish law and order. AngloGold Ashanti Ghana will continue to urge authorities at a national and local level to assist in upholding the law and returning safety and security to the site before further injuries or further loss of life occur. Unless we have certainty that our employees are able to work in a safe environment, we will have no choice but to progressively withdraw personnel from the mine until the situation normalises. An official of CePAT taking journalists through the new labs 15.02.2016 LISTEN The Centre for Pharmaceutical Advancement and Training (CePAT) has added two new laboratories to enhance its resource capacity in pharmaceutical quality assurance and control. The addition of the new microbiology and instrumentation laboratories affords the centre the capability to conduct microbiology testing to ascertain that sterile products and non-sterile liquid medicines are free from microbial contamination. The instrumentation laboratory will also allow for differential scanning calorimetric tests, thermo gravimetic analysis and total organic carbon tests to verify drug authenticity and quality. Patrice Lukulay, vice president of the Global Health Impact Programme- Africa and head of CePAT Ghana, speaking at the official opening of the laboratories located in Accra, indicated that the microbiology unit is a context appropriate technology with the housing prefabricated. He said the microbiology laboratory, the first of its kind in the sub-region, can be located in any country even where the building infrastructure is inadequate because the unit is modular and self sufficient. With these additional capabilities, it is hoped that the regulatory authorities in the sub-region will drive the necessary change needed for full compliance with international standards for the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical products, he said. Minister of Health Alex Segbefia, giving the keynote address, expressed his gratitude to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) for selecting Ghana as their home for the establishment of CePAT in the sub-region. . He said the expansion of the new laboratories is timely due to the current challenge the country is facing with the influx of counterfeit drugs and other medical consumables. Mr Segbefia, therefore, pointed out that government is ready to collaborate more with CePAT to provide capacity training and testing of drugs. Roland Piervincezi, chief executive officer of USP, in his remarks, said the centre was established to help develop human resource capacity in pharmaceutical quality assurance and quality control. He said since its inception, CePAT has contributed to developing a cadre of competent professionals for the pharmaceutical industry and national drug regulatory authorities, totalling 190 professionals from 32 countries. CePAT serves as an integrated platform for training, consulting, testing and capacity building to support pharmaceutical quality assurance systems in a sustainable way in sub-Saharan Africa, he added. By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri 15.02.2016 LISTEN Accra: February 15th, 2016: Commodity value chain actors, who are expected to play key roles in the activities of the yet to be established National Commodity Exchange (GCX) are rallying support for the GCX to work to help alleviate poverty and transform the agricultural value chain in the country while creating wealth for all especially small farm holders. According to the commodity value chain actors who form the GCX Market Council, there was the need for all stakeholders to come together to fight for the rights of the local Ghanaian farmer whose activities are bedevilled with a number of obstacles such as lack of access to ready market and finance. These views came to the fore at the second, Market Council meeting organised by the GCX Project on January 28, 2016 in Accra to share updates on the progress of work on the establishment of the National Commodity Exchange. The Market Council (MC) is composed of various representatives of the commodity market, from producers to traders/wholesalers, aggregators, processors, and others, put together with the intent of soliciting feedback at a bi - monthly consultation on the various outputs of the Project, for the duration of the Project. The aim of the consultative sessions with the Market Council is to enable the GCX Project Secretariat in its Design and Implementation phase to continuously engage with various stakeholders in order to ensure the relevance and feasibility of the Design, to embark on sensitization and preliminary capacity building, and to build a sense of joint ownership and engagement with the GCX Project. At the second Market Council session, members were briefed on how trading will be conducted on the Exchange. They were also updated on how clearing and settlement processes will be executed and key benchmarks that will be in place to ensure quality standards are always strictly adhered to. Sharing their feedback, Market Council members advocated the introduction of the concept of source validation to check the influx of imported commodities from being traded on the National Commodity Exchange (GCX) trading floor to protect local producers especially small holder farmers. In their view, this will go a long way to address the challenge of imported goods from being trafficked into the country due to artificial shortage and stressed the need for incentivisation to protect local trader interest. They also reiterated their commitment to partner the GCX to intensify market surveillance to proactively address any risk factors that would frustrate the process to create a platform to respond to needs of all market actors. Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Acting GCX Project Director, Mr. Robert Dowuona Owoo, commended Market Council members for the level of commitment so far demonstrated towards the establishment of the first Commodity Exchange of its kind in West Africa. The GCX Project is tasked to see to the creation of an orderly organised path that would enhance market efficiency, transparency and integrity through the dissemination of market information in real time to all market players. It is being financed with equity investment by the Government of Ghana under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and a private sector financing consortium made up of domestic and global institutional investors. It is a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) initiative aimed at transforming Ghanas agricultural sector through the establishment of the first modern commodity exchange in the country andwas launched in June 2015 by the President, H.E. John Mahama. About GCX Project The GCX Project is a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) initiative designed to transform Ghanas agricultural sector through the establishment of the first modern commodity exchange in the country. It is the first of its kind in the West Africa sub region and expected to become operational by late 2016. The GCX when operational will be a modern market system, where buyers and sellers assured of quality delivery and payment come together to trade. The GCX will operate as a transformational vehicle dedicated to the creation of an up-to-date, transparent and professional market system that impacts the lives of millions of Ghanas small scale producers, processors and trade. The GCX will be a national multi-commodity exchange that will provides market integrity, by guaranteeing the product grade and quantity and operating a system of clearing and settling of contracts on a daily basis. The GCX Project is currently being executed by a team of professionals with made up of Ghanaians with diverse rich experience and expertise, headed by Mr. Robert Dowuona Owoo and Technical Partners, with deep knowledge in the establishment of Commodity Exchanges in Africa and headed by Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, Founder and first CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. Accra, Feb. 15, GNA - WaterAid Ghana, the Coalition of NGOs on Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) and the Ghana Water and Sanitation Journalists Network (GWJN) have jointly called on Government to consider a reduction in water tariffs to avoid the undesirable implications on health. WaterAid Ghana and its allies said the increases in tariffs were likely to have negative implications, including discouraging the practice of good hygiene behaviour such as hand washing at critical times, if people could not afford to buy water. A statement sent to the Ghana News Agency on Monday and signed by Kafui Nyaku, Communication and Campaign Officer, WaterAid Ghana, said the increase in tariffs would also negatively affect the health care system as many facilities would not have adequate access to water. This, it said, would compel people to compromise their health by resorting to the use of unsafe water. 'It will also enable water vendors such as tanker services to exploit the situation to the disadvantage of low income individuals and communities,' the statement said. The statement noted that especially in the context of other tariff increases on electricity and fuel, WaterAid Ghana, CONIWAS and GWJN, considered the intended increases in water tariffs as inimical to the Government of Ghana's own stated objectives. 'An increase in electricity tariff will also increase the operation cost of small-town water systems in many rural and small towns, where poor and marginalized people find it difficult to buy water,' the statement added. WaterAid and its partners have urged Ghana Water Company (GWCL) to pay more attention to addressing the challenges that diminished its revenue such as broken /leaking pipe lines and water theft which cost the GWCL about 12 million Ghana cedis monthly. 'We appreciate the need to raise more revenue to support and sustain the provision of water. However, we are of the view that a more efficient GWCL can support government's goal of universal access by 2025 and ensure everyone has adequate water for their domestic and economic use,' the statement added. GNA Accra, Feb. 15, GNA - Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, on Monday said the physical and spiritual problems of the world today was as a result of the sins of the forefathers. He said the problems of some homes and families were due to sins committed by some members of their families in the past which had attracted certain curses. Prof. Martey said this when he installed Mr Andrews Saban Armah as the new Family Head of Nii Okai We of the Kle-Musum of Teshie in Accra. Rev. Prof. Martey, who is also the President of the Christian Council of Churches, said: 'Today's installation of a family head by a reverend minister should be an eye opener to other families; by this we are bringing God into the families'. He called for God's blessing upon the new head and the entire family and expressed the hope that other families would do same to receive God's blessings in their homes to break the family curse. Mr Armah, whose stool name is Nii Agblo Armah Saban, said with the support of all members he would bring development, unity and prosperity to the family. He said there were a lot of intellectual, professional and businessmen and women within the family but for lack of unity they could not contribute meaningfully to bring development to their communities. He called for the observance of personal and environmental hygiene adding that the insanitary conditions in Teshie should be the concern of all. Mr Armah asked the family members to take hand-washing with soap very seriously. GNA Kumasi, Feb. 15, GNA - An 18-year-old cobbler who attacked and inflicted deep cutlass wounds on another man has been sentenced to six months imprisonment by a Kumasi Circuit Court. Ibrahim Tofique pleaded guilty to the offence. Police Chief Inspector Felix Akowuah told the court, presided over by Mrs. Afua Adu-Amankwaah, that the crime was committed at Sawaba in Kumasi on January 17, at about 2345 hours. A friend of the convict, whose name was given as Muntari and now on the run, picked a fight with a sale assistant the victim, Gee Toro, had engaged in his shop. This happened in the absence of the victim and on his return, he decided to find out why Muntari should attack his sales assistant and that was when his troubles began. The pair - Muntari and Tofique gave him severe beating. Not satisfied, the convicted pulled a cutlass and inflicted deep cuts on his back and ribs. A formal report was made to the police and Tofique was arrested but his colleague slipped through. GNA Kumasi, Feb. 15, GNA - The Very Reverend Joseph Atuahene, a Methodist Priest based in Canada, has expressed deep worry about the deception, strange and confusing religious doctrines, which he said, were not doing any good to the image of church. He said the situation where all sorts of tricks are used to swindle worshippers - selling anointing oil and other items to them at ridiculously high prices and false prophecies, gave cause for concern. Many of his colleague pastors, he said, appeared to have completely lost focus and into the priesthood only for self-gratification. The Very Rev Atuahene, speaking at the 32nd anniversary of the Adum Cathedral branch of the Association of Methodist Men's Fellowship in Kumasi, said the church must stand up against the charlatans. 'Truthfulness in worship' was the theme chosen for the event, which was used to review the activities of the Fellowship and how to grow the church. He reminded the association to continue to uphold the Christian values of love, care and affection for the poor, integrity and humility. He asked that it scaled up the church's evangelism to bring salvation to more people. Mr. Kwasi Agyemang Bediako, Kumasi Diocesan Chairman of the Men's Fellowship, underlined their determination to work hard to promote the physical and spiritual development of the members. They would continue to undertake major development projects to enhance the socio-economic well-being of the people. GNA Adeiso (E/R), Feb. 15, GNA - The Management of HPW Fresh and Dry Fruit Limited, producers and exporters of fresh and dry fruits, has passionately appealed for the urgent rehabilitation of the broken down culvert spanning the Adeiso-Bawjiase stretch of road to facilitate fast movement on that road. According to Mr. Malik Blaser, General Manager of the Agro-fruit producers and processors, the situation is affecting its operations as the carting of the perishable raw materials from the farms located at Adeiso to Bawjiase, its factory site, has become a nightmare. The General Manager made the appeal when Dr Ekow Spio-Gabrah, Minister for Trade and Industries paid a working visit to the company as part of his three -day working visit to the Eastern Region. Mr Blaser said the culvert which has broken down for some time now has rendered the road unusable, compelling other road users to avoid that section and make a detour through the bush before getting back onto the main road. Apart from increasing the travel time, he said, workers also find it extremely difficult to report to work during the rainy season-a situation which has contributed to a shortfall in total production for export and subsequent earnings. The HPW Fresh and Dry Limited produced 900 metric tons of dried fruits last year and planned to expand its production to 1,200 metric tons this year to create employment for 1,000 people, but has been crippled by the situation. As part of the visit, Dr. Spio Garbrah also visited the Blue Skies Company at Nsawam, export producers of fresh cut tropical fruits and fresh fruit juices and the PINORA Fruit processing Company at Asamakese, producers of orange and pineapple concentrate for export. Later during a courtesy call on Mr Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere, the outgoing Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Spio-Gabrah said the siting of most fruit processing Industries in the Region, gave hope that the Ghanaian economy is on the path of growth. He urged the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council to consider the development of the Volta River for irrigation farming, fish production and tourist development to rake in some revenue for the country. GNA We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. you are here: business Anil Agarwal-led firm to invest $10 bn on LCD manufacturing firm Agarwal-led firm Twinstar Display Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Maharashtra government to set up the facility. business Expect to return to FY14 profit levels next year: Bank of Baroda The new MD of Bank of Baroda PS Jayakumar has informed the government that his bank won't be needing capital and neither does he see any capital dilution for the next 18-24 months business Investing Rs 300 cr on capex; need to regain Maggi sales: Nestle Suresh Narayana, new Managing Director of Nestle India, says there is an urgent need to get Maggi sales back to the same levels. business Focus shifting from China to India: Swedish PM In an interview with CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan, Stefan Lofven, Prime Minister of Sweden, talked about his view of the Indian economy, his expectations of what the Sweden-India economic partnership could look like and how Sweden's own economy is looking like back home, among other things. business EU's anti-dumping duty impact on Tata Steel negligible: Religare Pritesh Jani, VP-Research, Religare, says the tax impact on Tata Steel is going to be extremely limited given that the EU will levy duty only on cold rolled steel, which forms one million tonnes for Tata Steel of their 14 million tonnes of production. February 15, 2016 The "Race To Raqqa" - A Syrian Campaign Plan There is today a lot of indignation in "western" media over the Russian air campaign in Syria. One, two, three, ... hospitals were bombed!. And schools! An the rebels lost more villages! Barrel bombs! Cluster bombs! One must ask how many of these "hospitals" were really hospitals and not just quarters for Jihadi "rebels". From the videos that were published I could identify only one destroyed building that might have been a real hospital. But ever there no medical equipment was visible in the debris. Could this probably arranged media assault be the preparation for some new false flag stunt or some other planned escalation? Hardly any mentions was made today about continued Turkish shelling of Kurdish towns in Syria. As soon as the Syrian artillery will be near the border, in a week or so, such shelling will be answered and the situation will then escalate very fast. The Russian promised that the The Gates of hell will be open in the coming months in Syria. The current massive Russian bombing is the beginning of that campaign. "Rebels" running away from a town due to bombing are not able to kill the Syrian soldiers that then enter that town. Houses and infrastructure can be rebuild but dead soldiers can not be resurrected. That is the simple rule that now guides the Syrian government campaigns. There are no hints yet of how exactly the liberation of Aleppo province, rebel held parts of Aleppo city and in Idleb will proceed. There is a bigger campaign plan behind it but it is not yet visible. Visible though is the Syrian plan of the Race to Raqqa against the Islamic State. map via The 'Nimr' Tiger - bigger From the south west a brigade sized force of the Syrian army (red), soon to be reinforced by volunteer units, is pushing north-east towards Tabqa airbase which lies south of Route 4 and the city of Al Tawra. Both are held by the Islamic State (grey). The troops are now some 15 kilometers away from the base. Should the Syrian army take the base it would achieve firecontrol over Route 4 from Turkey via Al Bab to Raqqa and could stop most Islamic State traffic on that road. Should the army take Al Taqra city it could also capture the Taqwa dam of the Assad barrier lake. Then all Islamic State forces west of the Euphrates would be completely cut of from Raqqa and Iraq. They could be further split up by Syrian army forces coming from Aleppo going east and in the north by Kurdish forces (yellow) going west . The Islamic State would lose a lot of terrain in that move and, much more important, its sole open access route to Turkey. The difficult attack on Raqqa city itself, some 15 kilometers further east, would only come after the Tabqa base and Al Tawra are taken. But few military plans survive the contact with the enemy and there are other forces that would like to get their hands on Raqqa before the Syrian army reaches it Last week the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim visited the Turkish President Erdogan in Istanbul. Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar have declared that they would join the announced Saudi ground campaign against the Islamic State should the U.S. take the command and lead. Saudi fighter jets are said to have landed in Incirlik airbase (not verified). A Kuwaiti air transport plane landed in Hatay today, allegedly filled with weapons. The Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu is visiting Ukraine with a large delegation. Is there some coordination ongoing? A diversion in Ukraine to keep the Russians busy in Ukraine while an Turkish/Gulf Arab attack is launched on Syria? Or vice versa? While the situation for the Syrian government and its allies looks much better now than six month ago, the war on Syria is far from over. It may well expand and escalate further before an end is in sight. Posted by b on February 15, 2016 at 18:56 UTC | Permalink Comments next page The House Financial Services Committees Housing and Insurance Subcommittee is questioning the fiscal health of the Federal Housing Administration. In a hearing last week, the subcommittee set its sights on the FHAs Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage the government insured reverse mortgage despite assurances from a top housing official that both programs are sound. Edward L. Golding, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, told the subcommittee that the MMI Fund had improved by $19 billion over the last year. He also insisted that the HECM was fundamentally sound, and had become even sounder in the wake of policy changes made in 2013 that improved its sustainability. But subcommittee chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) wasnt buying. FHA has suffered a case of mission creep, and the unfortunate truth is that the lack of sound underwriting and risk management puts both homebuyers and U.S. taxpayers at risk, Luetkemeyer said. While the most recent independent actuarial report showed signs of a modestly healthier agency, the bottom line is that FHA is still in a precarious state. A release by the House Financial Services committee criticized the FHA for morphing from an agency focused on first-time homebuyers and other creditworthy low- or moderate-income borrowers to a dominant component of our mortgage finance system. The underlying problems at FHA, high volatility and questionable underwriting, have existed for years and continue to pose a threat to all Americans, Luetkemeyer said. We need to continue to focus on commonsense reform and creation of a more stable housing market and housing finance system. WASHINGTON The anti-fossil fuel movement Keep It in the Ground has been inching toward the mainstream as prominent Democratic politicians ramp up their commitment to combating climate change. The shift follows an intense and well-funded activist campaign that has mixed closed-door Washington meetings with petition drives during the Iowa caucuses, all attempting to make the case advances in renewable energy technology now allow a radical shift away from fossil fuels. In November, the Obama administration announced it was putting a moratorium on new coal leases for federal lands, pending a review of the program. Earlier this month, Hillary Clinton was videoed at a campaign rally telling an attendee she wanted to put a moratorium on oil and gas drilling on federal lands the clip quickly spread across the internet. The initial reaction was were going to need some time to wrestle with this, said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who introduced legislation last year to halt new fossil fuel leases on federal lands. But this has moved so fast I think were going to see more of the Democratic Party signing on. I think its very helpful for Hillary Clinton to declare her intentions. Until recently, Keep It in the Ground as in leave alone those so far undeveloped deposits of oil, gas and coal struggled to gain ground even with mainstream environmentalists. Too impractical, skeptics said. The world has been almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels for almost a century now. Transitioning to clean sources like wind and solar would probably take another century. If you do this too quickly, youre talking a monumental blow to the economy, said Fadel Gheit, an oil and gas analyst with the investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. This cannot happen overnight. The economy is not ready for it. We went from horse drawn carriage to automobile over a period of many decades. Whether the moratoriums on fossil fuels come to pass, Democrats recent willingness to take a tougher stance on climate change leaves the oil industry the prospect of downsizing in this country. Already the flood of political donations coming from environmentally minded and wealthy investors is getting attention within corporate offices in Houston and beyond, said one U.S. oil executive, who agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity. You have billionaires like Tom Steyer and George Soros putting enormous amounts of money into this, he said. Steyer, a now-retired hedge fund billionaire in San Francisco, and his wife are the largest individual political contributor in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics not counting the uncountable sums donated to political campaigns through nonprofits since the U.S. Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling. Since 2014, his group, NextGen Climate, has pumped more than $89 million into political campaigns, pushing candidates to commit to getting the U.S. power supply to 50 percent renewable by 2030. Both Democratic presidential candidates already have signed on, and Steyer appeared to be lobbying for more pledges during a closed-door meeting in Washington last month with Senate Democrats. Steyer declined a request for an interview. But a spokesman for his group cited recent polls that show Americans shifting towards greater action on climate change. An ABC/ Washington Post poll in November showed 63 percent of the country believes climate change is a serious problem. Across the nation, voters are asking for a plan to address the climate crisis, and presidential candidates are listening, the group said in a statement. But would voters go so far as to dramatically shift away from fossil fuels in a matter of 14 years, potentially raising energy costs and devastating the economies of fossil-fuel rich regions like Texas? Last year, the British bank HSBC issued a report warning investors that moves by governments to limit carbon emissions, along with improving renewable technology and current economic uncertainty, posed the threat that many oil and gas reserves around the world would have to go undrilled. At the same time, there is plenty of skepticism that the campaign largesse of billionaires like Steyer will translate into actual votes in Washington. Right now, the country remains dependent on oil. Even as wind and solar makes gain on the power grid, the fuel supply of the countrys transportation system cars, trucks, planes and the like is more than 90 percent petroleum-based products. Louis Finkel, executive vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, said as hes watched the Keep It in the Ground movement over the last two years and sees little to indicate theyve moved beyond the liberal fringe of the environmental movement. Just because you have the backing of a couple of billionaires like Tom Steyer doesnt mean theres a broad movement. It means theyre well-funded, he said. Any carbon reduction scheme faces significant hurdles in the United States. The Republican Party has pushed back against such measures, with many prominent members like presidential candidate Ted Cruz questioning the science of climate change itself. And last week the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Obama administration from a plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants, while the legality of the presidents action is decided in the courts. When Merkley and five other senators introduced what was dubbed the Keep It in the Ground bill in early November, it seemed the sort of symbolic legislation that would never again see the light of day. What little news attention it garnered focused on the support of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. But two days later Obama announced he would not approve the Keystone XL pipeline, a seemingly straightforward project to transport Canadian crude to U.S. refineries that galvanized the environmental movement. Then, in December in Paris, world leaders agreed to work toward dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon mankind pumps into the atmosphere. Add in a primary season where presidential candidates work to appeal to the more ideological wings of their respective parties, and climate change seems to have found its political moment. Will it last? So far, support for Keep It in the Ground among U.S. politicians largely is limited to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and presidential candidates from that party. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, said for now a radical shift away from fossil fuels simply isnt practical, and he expects the current wave of pledges will fade away. I dont oppose renew-ables. But I know the world is still going to run on hydrocarbons, and Id rather we produce them here than buy them from Venezuela, he said. Were in the middle of campaign season. Times will change. For now, politicians supporting the Keep It in the Ground movement are eager to capitalize on the momentum. Earlier this month, as Obama was preparing to announce a $10.25 a barrel tax on crude oil, his administration was criticized by ten Democratic senators from coastal states for a plan announced last year to expand offshore drilling into the Atlantic Ocean, as well as within the Gulf of Mexico. Given the prevailing science and critical need to quickly reduce carbon emissions, we believe it is imperative that the federal government does not offer new leases, and make every effort to terminate existing, nonproducing leases, the senators wrote. Nicolas G. Bustillos, 19, of Midland was charged Feb. 5 with prohibited substance/item in a correctional facility. Raymond D. Click, 35, of Midland was charged Feb. 5 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Jerry J. Pena, 20, of Midland was charged Feb. 5 with aggravated assault of a date/family/household member. William F. Worsham, 37, of Midland was charged Feb. 5 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Christopher N. Costilla, 35, of Midland was charged Feb. 6 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Martha M. Esquivel, 37, of Midland was charged Feb. 6 with attempted prohibited substance in a correctional facility. David A. McCarley, 32, of Midland was charged Feb. 6 with driving while intoxicated. Duke H. Medaries II, 25, of Grason, Louisiana, was charged Feb. 6 with theft under $30,000. Tucker W. Morris, 19, of Rule was charged Feb. 6 with prohibited substance in a correctional facility. Calletano E. Ortiz-Sanchez, 25, of Uvalde was charged Feb. 6 with tampering with/fabricating physical evidence and prohibited substance/item in a correctional facility. Ricardo B. Renteria, 39, of Midland was charged Feb. 6 with tampering with/fabricating physical evidence. Cesar E. Rueda, 30, of Big Spring was charged Feb. 6 with unlicensed possession of a firearm by felon and possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Susan M. Salazar, 33, of Big Spring was charged Feb. 6 with unlicensed possession of a firearm by felon. Anthony A. Vasquez, 41, of Big Spring was charged Feb. 6 with unlicensed possession of a firearm by felon. George S. Butler, 29, of Midland was charged Feb. 7 with aggravated assault of a date/family/house member. Esequiel M. Rivas, 24, of Midland was charged Feb. 7 with aggravated assault of a date/family/house member. Gabriel O. Barela, 30, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Daniel Cantu, 20, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with two counts of assault with intent to impede breath. Michael S. Compian, 32, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with possession of a controlled substance under 400 grams. Tosha L. Compian, 34, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Kenneth B. Conor Jr., 35, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with tampering with government records. Devin D. Ethridge, 22, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with tampering/fabricating physical evidence. Joshua N. Goates, 28, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with assault of a public servant and tampering/fabricating physical evidence. Joe F. Narvaiz Jr., 51, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with failing to register for sex offender duty. Ervin K. Young, 51, of Midland was charged Feb. 8 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Jessica F. Contreras, 30, of Midland was charged Feb. 9 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Xavier D. Grogran, 19, of Midland was charged Feb. 9 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Henry J. Ahola Jr., 30, of Midland was charged Feb. 10 with injury to a child/elderly/disabled person. Crystal A. Banuelos, 30, of Odessa was charged Feb. 10 with possession of a controlled substance under 200 grams and possession of a controlled substance under 400 grams. Michael D. Brandt, 37, of Midland was charged Feb. 10 with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Christopher J. Hamor, 38, of Midland was charged Feb. 10 with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Edgar Monje, 28, of Midland was charged Feb. 10 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram, escape while arrested/confined, and tampering with/fabricating physical evidence. Rotiavia R. Morrison, 30, of Odessa was charged Feb. 10 with aggravated assault of a date/family/house member and injury to a child/elderly/disabled person. Juan P. Romero, 28, of Odessa was charged Feb. 10 with possession of a controlled substance under 200 grams. Michael A. Vaughan, 30, of Midland was charged Feb. 10 with credit/debit card abuse. Roberta J. Cedillo, 40, of Midland was charged Feb. 11 with harassment of a public servant. Bonifacio S. Gamez, 44, of Midland was charged Feb. 11 with two counts of terroristic threats. Matthew Rodriguez, 19, of Midland was charged Feb. 11 with aggravated robbery. Roy H. Urias, 39, of Midland was charged Feb. 11 with driving while intoxicated. Source: Midland County Sheriffs Office Election Letters (candidate letters have limit of 200 words) District Attorney Lundy has experience to serve as DA I write asking my fellow citizens to join me in voting for Will Lundy as our next district attorney. Will has the breadth of experience and mature judgment needed for this critical office. Will has worked as an attorney for Texaco in Midland and Denver but has devoted the majority of his 29-year career to prosecuting criminals and keeping communities safe. Will has returned to his hometown as a felony prosecutor with broad experience and the judgment born of such experience. Wills skill and dedication make him a great choice as our next district attorney. Harper Estes Lundy has judgment to be DA In his 29-year career, Will Lundy worked for Texaco before devoting the remainder of his career to prosecuting criminals and keeping communities safe. Will now has returned to his hometown of Midland to serve as a felony prosecutor and has done an excellent job. He has the experience and the judgment needed to be our next district attorney. Robert K. Whitt County commissioner Ramsey has experience for court I proudly endorse Scott Ramsey as the next Midland county commissioner for Precinct 1. Scott has the background and experience necessary to help guide the county during this downturn. It has been my honor to serve Precinct 1 and the citizens of Midland County for the past 15 years. We have accomplished many great things during this period and I want to see those accomplishments continue under Scotts leadership. Vote Scott Ramsey -- the one for Precinct 1. Jimmy Smith Precinct 1 county commissioner Ramseys experience will be an asset Midland County has been blessed to have Jimmy Smith serve as Midland County commissioner in Precinct 1 for the past 15 years. Jimmy has spent countless hours working to improve our community. His expertise in business, particularly real estate transactions, has proven invaluable for the Commissioners Court throughout the years. His tireless efforts and experience have saved the citizens significant money and made Midland a better place to live and raise our children. We are fortunate that Scott Ramsey is now running for the Precinct 1 commissioners seat. Like Jimmy, Scott will bring his years of business experience to the court along with his conservative fiscal responsibility. I believe his understanding of real estate as well as oil and gas transactions will be a great asset to the court as the county moves forward. Join me in supporting Scott Ramsey as the next Midland County commissioner of Precinct 1. Jay Edwards County clerk Haley has experience to be county clerk I would like to take this opportunity to endorse Alison Haley in her candidacy for Midland County clerk. I have known Alison for approximately 18 years, as she began working in the county clerks office as a probate clerk in 1998. Through the years, Alison progressed through the clerks office until she was named county clerk when the former county clerk resigned. I have always found Alison to be helpful, prompt, courteous, and conscientious in performing her job duties. Her 18-plus years of experience have prepared her to handle this job quite well. I believe Alison Haley is the best person for the job, and I encourage you to vote for her, as well. L. Shane Stokes Presidential race Carson recognizes drift away from Constitution An enemy no one recognizes, socialism/communism has captured countries throughout the world with the current result of an economic disaster. The only difference in the two is how they gain power, either by conflict or the ballot. When everyone demands governments supply all needs, who is left to pay for them? The only presidential candidate who recognizes what has happened and how to remedy the problems is Dr. Ben Carson. He recognizes the drift away from the Constitution, which the United States Founders established primarily to prevent such disasters. It provided for individual freedom, equality and responsibility with a government of and by the people. Politicians who woo voters so as to remain in office by promising eternal entitlements are guilty of the huge federal debt. Current citizens were educated after socialists infiltrated the department of education so they are ignorant of the difference between freedom and slavery. Carson said, Nothing good will happen if we continue along this reckless course of fiscal irresponsibility. I am convinced that the dreams of our Founders of a free nation filled with knowledgeable and caring people who trust in God and accept personal responsibility is still possible. Merrilyn Richardson Clinton deserves primary nod I write as an individual representing only myself in support of Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton has a record of accomplishment from her eight years in the Senate. Some bills she worked across party lines to pass include health benefits for National Guard families, health care for 9/11 First Responders, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which President Obama signed immediately. When Obama became President, he asked her to be our Secretary of State. Some of her accomplishments include the New START treaty with Russia and setting in motion the talks with Iran that resulted in the Iran nuclear deal. She negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Her diplomatic and negotiating skills are beyond question. Her ability to get good legislation passed is proven. Her talent in crossing party lines to get things done has been demonstrated. Hillary Clinton is the best candidate for president in either party. That is why the Republicans throw so many smears; they are afraid of the Clinton candidacy. They should be afraid. She is brilliant and would win in November. Starting Feb. 16, vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary. David Rosen Letters policy -- Candidate letters have a 200-word limit. -- Letters must be submitted to letters@mrt.com. -- Deadline is noon Thursdays for the following Sunday. -- Reporter-Telegram policy limits individuals to one letter in a 30-day period. -- Letter-writers should include phone number and address. Failure to do so could delay letters publication. Please enable JavaScript to experience the functionality of this website. - MWEB Sarkodie should have been bigger than ... Allegations of Central Florida Congressman Alan Grayson, who represents Florida's 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County, as well as parts of Orange and Polk counties, using his office to unethically promote a hedge fund continue to concern some political leaders. And now U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, whos running against Grayson for U.S. Senate, is calling on Grayson to come clean. This recent battle between democrats comes after the New York Times reported that Grayson traveled internationally using taxpayers money to promote his hedge fund. Congressman Murphy, who represents the Port St. Lucie area, is competing against Grayson for the Democratic nomination to replace Senator Marco Rubio. Hes now asking Grayson to shut down the hedge funds he manages. Its clear that he used his official position for personal gain and that is not only unacceptable but unethical. Alan Grayson has broken the trust of the voters who have put him in office, said Murphy. On Friday, the Senates top democrat, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, called on Grayson to drop out of the race. Grayson is refusing to give up his bid and says that Reid's actions are politically motivated. Political experts weighed in on the fast-moving developments. I think Grayson needs to come back swinging He needs to say Harry Reid who called for my resignation, called for me to get out of this race He needs to fess up that he is supporting Patrick Murphy in this-- his opponent. This is a big ole nothing burger, said Republican political analyst Michelle Ertel. So I think what he needs to do is bring out all the facts to bear and if it comes out that he has no wrongdoing then I think it can actually help his campaign, said Democratic political analyst Jeremiah Jaspon. Graysons campaign released the following statement Sunday: Congressman Grayson did nothing unethical, illegal or even fattening, so Wall Street's errand boy should stop this desperate, issue-phobic smear campaign, and be more respectful to voters. Congressional rules ban house members from holding outside jobs that bring in more than $27,000 a year. Graysons campaign says hes never brought in anywhere near that amount while working in Washington, D.C. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. When voters head to the polls starting Tuesday to cast an early ballot to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, in Texas 19th Congressional District, theyll have a dizzyingly large field of candidates to choose from. There are eight hopefuls in the race for one of the safest Republicans seats in the state (Mitt Romney won 74 percent of the vote here in the 2012 presidential campaign). Political insiders can't say for sure which candidates will advance from the March 1 primary to the almost certain May 24 runoff, but the safe money is on two of the three in the top tier: former Texas Tech Vice Chancellor Jodey Arrington, Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson and retired Air Force Colonel Michael Bob Starr. The remaining candidates are bank president Greg Garrett and surgeon Donald R. May, who are self-funding and have made some professional internal hires, and three with less cash and a slimmer organization behind their bids: farmer Jason Corley, veterinarian John C. Key, and health care administrator DeRenda Warren. So far, Robertson has the best-financed effort. He raised $557,000 in 2015, mostly in the form of loans he made to his campaign, and much of the $445,000 he's spent to date has gone for polling and a steady advertising presence on Fox News. The blitz only increases his already healthy name identification from his tenure as mayor of the district's largest city. Arrington, also from Lubbock, is running a conventional congressional campaign fueled by hundreds of donations many from old allies during his time working for George W. Bush, both in Texas and in Washington, D.C. By the end of 2015 he had raised $281,000 and had spent $90,000. He previously ran for state senate in a 2012 special election, not only losing to current incumbent Charles Perry but failing even to make the runoff. Then there's Starr, who hails from Abilene. A mix of donations and his own money fueled his efforts through the end of 2015: He had raised $156,000, including $25,000 he loaned to his campaign, and had spent $26,000. But what could benefit him most is if the top two Lubbock candidates split the regional vote and he consolidates his hometown. Lubbock is the dominant city in the 19th, with a population of 240,000, compared to Abilenes 120,000. The prospect of losing a hometown congressman is the source of anxiety in Hub City, where race-watchers are looking ahead to the redistricting process in 2021. Some race watchers worry an Abilene-based representative could leave Lubbock vulnerable. Even though the state legislature draws the federal maps, incumbents have been known to convey their preferences for district lines. To the north of CD-19 is U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberrys 13th Congressional District, which encompasses most of the Panhandle but excludes Lubbock. It stretches for nearly 500 miles to the east, all the way to the Fort Worth exurbs. A mapmaker could decide to pull Lubbock into the Thornberry seat and draw a new version of the 19th around Abilene as a population center. Neugebauer, the outgoing incumbent, told the Tribune in September he had no intention to endorse, but speculation abounds that either the congressman or his son, energy investor Toby Neugebauer, may quietly put a thumb on the scale. The latter is an emerging force in politics, having caught the eye of political observers earlier this year with a $10 million donation to a super PAC backing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruzs campaign. Also an unresolved question: whether the race will become nationalized in a presidential election year, attracting the attention of so-called outside money groups. As it is difficult to oust an incumbent federal officials, open-seat races in heavily Republican districts have become consistent battlegrounds between establishment Republicans and tea party activists. The biggest player in this world is the Club for Growth, which advocates for limited government organization and has a super PAC arm and a vast network if donors who give directly to individual campaigns. For now, the Club is not entering the fray. Were watching the race, said spokesman Doug Sachtleben. That was the same stance the Club took in 2014, when attorney John Ratcliffe challenged former U.S. Rep. Ralph M. Hall in Congressional District 4. But once Ratcliffe forced the race into a runoff, the Club endorsed him and turned its fire on the incumbent. In 2011, Republicans John Frullo and Jim Landtroop were two new members of the Texas House going through their first legislative sessions. Frullo, of Lubbock, would go on to be re-elected two more times. Landtroop, of Plainview, saw his West Texas district eliminated through redistricting and lost a bid to serve in a new district. Now Landtroop is vying again for the House, this time hoping to unseat his former colleague, whom he argues hasn't proven to be a "true conservative." "I believe especially in West Texas, we live in one of the most conservative districts in the country," Landtroop said. "We need true conservatives in there that are not afraid to stand up for those conservative values in order to continue to make Texas great, and I want Texas to be great for my children and hopefully some day for my grandchildren." Landtroop accused Frullo of having a liberal record, pointing to a handful of votes from the last legislative session, including his vote in favor of a bill that relaxed food stamp eligibility rules for felons. Landtroop also highlighted Frullo's vote on a motion related to a proposed cut in the business franchise tax, saying it showed he voted against tax relief for small businesses. However, Frullo ultimately voted for the franchise tax cut that was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Frullo rejected the idea that he is not conservative enough for District 84 in Lubbock. He pointed to big accomplishments of the last session, such as providing $4 billion in tax savings and putting more money toward education and transportation without raising taxes. "You look at the particular items that we've done, you look at open carry, campus carry, we have more gun rights than we've ever had," Frullo said. "By any measure, we are extremely conservative, and more conservative now than at the end of each session than we were at the beginning of each session. I'll stand on my record of being able to deliver those results." Like in several other GOP primaries this year, the race has turned on the candidates' views of House Speaker Joe Straus, who some Republicans view as insufficiently conservative. Frullo said he supports Straus, who appointed him chair of the House Insurance Committee last session. Landtroop blames Straus for some conservative legislation that failed to pass in previous sessions. "In the house, it's all about leadership," Landtroop said. "The leadership controls the committees and the bills and the legislation that comes out of the committees, and you have good conservative legislation that comes out of the Senate, for instance, but doesn't make it to the floor of the House." He declined to specify which conservative bills died due to Straus. He also declined to say whether he would support Straus for another term as Speaker without knowing which candidates will choose to run for the position for the 2017 legislative session. Both Landtroop and Frullo have secured high-profile endorsements. Frullo's supporters include the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, the Texas Alliance for Life and the political action committees for Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the National Rifle Association. Landtroop's supporters include Young Conservatives of Texas, Empower Texans and the Texas Right to Life PAC. On the fundraising front, Frullo's $256,584 in cash on hand as of Jan. 21 eclipses Landtroop's $59,616. Lubbock County Republican Party chairman Carl Tepper said the District 84 race, along with the nine-way Republican primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, has rejuvenated the local GOP. He said the difference can be seen in the large groups of people block walking and phone banking in the two races. "These were tasks and talents that we had had and were starting to lose because there really are no races to fight out here," he said. "There are no Democrats filed for any of these races, so everything has become an interparty struggle, and frankly, it can get out of hand. It could be hurtful for the party, but this particular season, it seems to be making the party stronger." Early voting for the March 1 Super Tuesday Texas Primary begins Tuesday, Feb. 16, with Texas voters getting a chance to have their say in who will be the presidential nominee for both the Democratic and Republican parties as well as who will be on the November ballot in three locally contested races. Theres a 10-day window to cast ballots early - Feb. 16-26 - with four locations where both Republicans and Democrats can vote early. They include the Courthouse basement, Hale Center City Hall, Abernathy City Hall and Petersburg City Hall. All registered voters are eligible to vote in either party primary, but not both. During early voting, county residents with valid voter registrations can cast their ballot at any of the four early voting locations. All three locally contested races all appear on Republican ballots. The race for Precinct 1 County Commissioner has drawn three candidates. incumbent Harold King faces challengers James Edwards, a retired TxDOT employee, and Ralph Langley, local auto dealer. Sheriff David Mull is being challenged by Louis Flores, who operates a janitorial service counts the county as a client. Hale County Tax Assessor-Collector Roland Nash is being challenged by retired USDA Farm Service Agency employee Debbie Crosby. No Democrats are running for the 19th District Congressional seat being vacated by Lubbock Republican Randy Neugebauer. The GOP field includes DeRenda Warren, Smyer; Don Parrish, Plains; Jason Corley, Slaton, Michael Bob Starr, Abilene; and Lubbock residents John C. Key, Donald R. May, Glen Robertson, Greg Garrett and Jodey Arrington. The election drew eight Democratic candidates for president, including frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The Democratic field also includes Martin J. OMalley, Roque Rocky De La Fuente of San Diego, Willie L. Wilson of Chicago and Texans Calvis L. Hawes of Hawkins, Star Locke of Port Aransas and Keith Judd of Midland. Thirteen Republicans are listed as presidential candidates, including Ben Carson, Carly Filrina, Chris Christie, Donald J. Trump, Jeb Bush, John R. Kasich, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum and Texans Ted Cruz of Houston and Elizabeth Gray of Taylor. The last day to register to vote in time for the March 1 Primary was Feb. 1, but qualified Texans who missed the deadline can still register by April 25 for the primary runoff election on May 24. Texas Secretary of State Carlos H. Cascos adds that voters need to bring photo ID if they cast a ballot in person. The photo ID requirement is still in effect, said Cascos. Voters will need to present one of seven forms of approved photo ID when coming to the polls. The forms of approved photo ID are: 1. Texas Driver License - issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) 2. Texas Personal Identification Card - issued by DPS 3. Texas Concealed Handgun License - issued by DPS 4. United States Military Identification card containing the persons photograph 5. United States Citizenship Certificate containing the persons photograph 6. United States Passport - issued by the U.S. government 7. Election Identification Certificate - issued free by DPS Any citizen who does not have an approved ID can apply for a free Election Identification Certificate and should visit VoteTexas.gov or call 1-800-252-VOTE for more information. Voters can contact their county elections office to locate the most convenient polling place, or they can follow the links at www.votetexas.gov. Democratic National Finance Committee Chairman Henry Munoz proved to be a good sport (if somewhat inadvertently) when he encountered Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the cigar-chomping, politically incorrect puppet voiced by comedian Robert Smigel. The segment made it into Hulu and Funny or Die's Triumph 2016 Election Special. Munoz, chairman of the board and CEO of Munoz & Company in San Antonio and a longtime Democratic fundraiser, appears about 16 minutes after the show starts. (Watch the video below, but probably not at work.) It happened after the MSNBC-hosted Democratic debate in Durham, New Hampshire, earlier this month. Triumph whose catchphrase is for me to poop on employed an African-American actress to play a fake lady in a wheelchair to ask questions in the post-debate spin room. In addition to making Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz blush, Triumph caused young, humorless political operatives to look like deer in the headlights and basically puzzled the candidates. So Smigel used the straight-faced actress to ask a question about Hillary Clinton. John Lamparski, Stringer Triumph picked out Munoz because he looked like someone with a pulse. Heres the exchange. Oh, the audacity. When Secretary Clinton goes to the hairdresser, does she show her stylist a picture of Siegfried or Roy? the woman asked. The always dapper Munoz, who looked stunned for a moment, broke into a huge laugh before answering, Um, Siegfried, probably. He walks away smiling but looking a little confused. Afterward, Triumph praised the woman That was perfect and then told her to get out of here and run away. The camera cuts to Munoz, who looks puzzled as he watches the actress bolt out of the wheelchair and out of the room. Hsaldana@express-news.net SAN ANTONIO Several people were injured Sunday morning after a large fight ended in a stabbing on the city's North Side. San Antonio police said the fight started outside the Huff N' Puff Hookah Lounge in the 11300 block of West Avenue close to 3:45 a.m. The fight escalated a block down the road at an empty parking lot between four women and a man, according to authorities. SAN ANTONIO The widow of an unarmed man shot by San Antonio police has sued the department, the city and the officer. Lawyer Thomas J. Henry filed the suit late Friday on behalf of Elena Scott, who is representing the estate of Antronie Scott. The federal suit alleges his civil rights were violated, and claims the department's policies are deficient. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN Hillary Clinton's upcoming visit to Houston may be one of only a handful of trips she makes to Texas before the March 1 primary because she'll be fighting battles across the country, a member of her Texas leadership team said Monday. It'll be a contrast to 2008, when she faced Barack Obama, because "most of the big primaries were already over and the reality was, she had 30 days to campaign here," said former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro at an event at Clinton's Austin headquarters. "She and President Clinton spent a lot of time here, made 20 and 30 stops apiece. We'll be lucky to get four or five." Texas is important, with 252 delegates at stake, but Mauro said there are more than 30 primaries and caucuses in March. "But guess what? Bernie Sanders has got the same problem. The only difference is and I want to make this really clear -- this isn't her first rodeo. This is probably the two- or three-hundredth time she's been to Texas, campaigning in every market in Texas....She has roots here. She has connections here. She has friends here. I think you're going to find that that memory people will have of her connections will make a big difference." Clinton's Texas roots stretch back to 1972, when she (then Hillary Rodham), Bill Clinton and Mauro worked here to boost George McGovern's campaign. The enthusiasm that Sanders generates among young people has some remembering McGovern's "kiddie crusade," but Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, said at Clinton headquarters that young people are "going to want to see results." "They're going to want someone that can talk about specifically how they've been involved in the fight to break down a lot of the barriers so that these young people have the kinds of opportunities that they so badly want and deserve," said Watson, also a member of Clinton's Texas Leadership Council. Mauro suggested that Sanders, a Vermont senator who's a democratic socialist, is a campaign archetype: the insurgent who brings up issues "that make our party stronger." "I think Bernie Sanders' campaign has made Hillary a better candidate, more prepared to be president and more importantly, more prepared to win the election in November which is what we all really want," he said. Clinton brings her message to Houston Saturday while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will be in Laredo and Dallas on Monday. Early voting starts Tuesday, but the high-profile Democrats said it may not be on Texan's radar, even though it should be. "I do think that to some degree, the primary here in Texas has snuck up on people," Watson said. Mauro said voting is crucial, particularly since the primary election is so early that it will help decide the race. "Every Texan's vote, for one of the few times in Texas history, is very, very important and can be the deciding factor in who gets the presidential nomination of the Democratic party," he said. pfikac@express-news.net Twitter:@pfikac A startup in San Antonio is at work on its first tiny home project here in the Alamo City, and its aiming to spread its brand of modern design across the entire city. Rising Barn, headquartered in the San Antonio Entrepreneur Center, celebrated a groundbreaking last week for its first unit in San Antonio in Dignowity Hill, located on the East Side. Pegy Brimhall, the companys CEO, said the home will be 1,519 square feet on a lot with dimensions that are 41 feet by 120 feet. The lot spans a mere 0.1 acres at 1008 Dawson, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. 1-Peter 2: 1-3 1) Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3) now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (NIV) The Apostle Peter calls us newborn babies. We know that newborn babies have only their mother and father to take care of them. They are totally helpless and dependent from the rising and setting of the sun. We know they need food, clothing, and a place to live. They need a mother and father who will provide the necessary protection and needs of a family. I suppose the Apostle is saying that we, just as little newborn babies are totally dependent on their parents; we Christians, likewise, are totally dependent on God. New Christians soon realize that they have limited power in themselves. Sadly, we often forget that we have access or right to the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. We also became aware that there was a longing in our heart, an appetite for the things of God. As we began to spend time in the Bible, we find that we were being fed spiritually. We become conscious that we were not strong enough on our own; we need the Holy Spirit to hold us up. The Apostle Peter describes or explains it in a way that invites us to share in this new experience. Peter points out that this new attitude in us is the same as newborn babies desire for milk; ours is spiritual milk, a desire for the nourishment of the Word of God. We have tasted of the Lords kindness and trustworthiness. We understand that this new desire in our heart can be fed by reading the Bible and spending time in prayer. The more we read, the more we think about it, the stronger our faith grows. I have also become aware that I am really only a visitor here on earth; my real home is in heaven. Now my desire with the help of the Holy Spirit is to keep away from evil things of this world. This evil desire is not meant for those who are in Christ, because it fights our new attitude that we have found in Jesus Christ. We now understand that no Christian can really stay the way they were before meeting Christ. Therefore, the Apostle Peter urges us to have no part in the evil pleasures of this world. Instead, we are to set our heart on that which nourishes our growth in a Christ-filled life. When we talk about a Christ-filled life, we are talking about a life of reverence. It is an attitude of our mind, which makes us aware that we are always in the presence of God. Life for the Christian is like living in the very shadow of eternity. We do not only think where we are this very moment, but also where we are going. We live in Christ today and long for the full realization of eternity. Life in this world should be very important to us because it is leading to the life beyond. Christians can never forget what it cost for us to have eternal life. It cost the life and death of none other than Jesus Christ. Life to us becomes so important that we do not want to waste or throw away the glory that is waiting for us. I cannot think of a Christian who would want to throw away unlimited joy, which is there for us. The Christ-filled life reveals a sincere love of others. We must always remember that we have been reborn, not of earthly parents, but of the heavenly Spirit. Reborn by the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus, we have been remade. As disciples of the Living Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in us to transform us into the very likeness of God To God Be the Glory! Would you pray this prayer with me Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I really want that Peace, joy and happiness that will fulfill my hearts desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honor Your Name. Amen. Posted on 02/15/2016, 10:00 am, by mySteinbach More than 50 farmers from the Swan River and Pelly areas of Manitoba and Saskatchewan met February 10, 2016 and unanimously passed a resolution calling for the re-establishment of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), and single-desk selling of grain in western Canada. Kyle Korneychuk, spokesperson for the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, an independent and non-partisan prairie-wide farm group noted: The fact a farm meeting of this size could unanimously pass this resolution is a strong indication to Ottawa that farmers are now feeling the loss of the CWB in their pocketbooks. Korneychuk thanked the Manitoba Minister of Agriculture Ron Kostyshyn and elected Rural Municipal (RM) Councillors from both provinces for their support at the meeting. Farmers respect those who consistently support them as this Minister has demonstrated. Responding to a study by Dr. Richard Gray of the University of Saskatchewan showing farmers lost about 6.5 billion dollars in the past two years; Agriculture Minister Kostyshyn said he is very concerned about the financial situation of farmers since the loss of the CWB. The Minister also expressed concern about the future of the rail line to the Swan River valley as well as the rail line to Churchill. RM Councillors expressed concerns about the recent closures of elevators and the long-term implications for the rail line. The meeting, chaired by Minitonas, MB farmer Walter Kolisnyk, heard presentations from the Hon. Ron Kostyshyn, Wheat Board Alliance organizer and Swan River grain farmer Ken Sigurdson , and Kyle Korneychuk a farmer-elected Director of the Canadian Wheat Board who was dismissed, along with his colleagues, when former Agriculture Minister Ritz passed legislation ending the Canadian Wheat Board. Last year the Harper government transferred the remaining assets of the Wheat Board to a company jointly owned by the Government of Saudi Arabia and Bunge, one of the worlds largest private grain traders. Sigurdson pointed out Professor Grays study when compared with the single-desk CWBs annual audited statements shows that with the single-desk system prairie farmers received over 90% of the port price and now without the single-desk farmers are only receiving between 40-60% of the port price for their wheat. Using Manitoba Crop Insurance data, Sigurdson calculated the loss to the Swan River Valley to be more than 70 million dollars over the last 2 years. This money is lost to farmers and the community and transferred directly to grain handling companies and railways, he said. Kyle Korneychuk explained the CWB coordinated logistics to move grain from the farm gate via rail to port then usually arranged ocean freight direct to end-use customers. He noted this integrated single-desk system allowed us to provide a high quality branded product into the world market. It allowed us to return almost the full value of the world price to farmers. Farmers only paid for the CWBs operating expenses but now they pay for the private trades operating expenses and the profits to foreign shareholders and grain company owners. Korneychuk went on to observe that under the system controlled by grain companies fusarium and other blending programs are no longer being provided and protein premiums are now small and infrequent. Ken Sigurdson predicted that when short term Federal subsidies to the port of Churchill end next year, it will be the next casualty caused by the end of the single-desk CWB. He noted that although the port remains a strategically valuable national resource, it is at risk of losing its economic reason for existence: grain movement. Sigurdson observed the single-desk CWB was the economic lynch pin which made prairie grain production viable by ensuring the efficient movement and reliable delivery of high quality-assured grain to customers and guaranteeing that farmers received the premiums customers paid. To get the advantages of the CWB there is no other solution than to reinstate the CWB single-desk selling system he concluded. The meeting concluded by unanimously passing the following resolution: WHEREAS, The loss of the farmer elected, single-desk Canadian Wheat Board has resulted in an increasingly dysfunctional rail system, no grain logistics oversight, a loss of transport efficiency on rail and at sea, reduced grain quality guarantees to other nations, and an overall loss of 6.5 billion dollars in income to farmers over the last two years, which has been devastating to the economy of Western Canada; and WHEREAS, The ending of the CWB marketing system has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs across Canada including 460 direct good quality jobs in the heart of Winnipeg and a further 1,834 full-time equivalent jobs that were sustained by the CWBs administrative expenditures; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That this meeting supports the farmers of Western Canada by calling for the re-establishment of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), and single-desk selling of grain in western Canada. The Flex 3 14 is an interesting 14-inch offering in Lenovos affordable Flex series, which also feature the Flex 3 15 and Flex 3 11. The convertible laptop shows off a slim and elegant design and is built to offer impressive versatility and performance with a 360-degree hinge and fifth-generation Intel Core processor. Where to Buy Lenovo Laptops Jumia.com.ng50,500.00 View Offers Konga.com50,500.00 View Offers By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Not yet. But they can if they want to. They might. And its complicated. Lets start by noting that even though Clinton and Sanders tied for the popular vote in Iowa, and Sanders won decisively in New Hampshire, the delegate counts that is, the delegates who will ultimately nominate the Democratic Presidential candidate dont reflect the popular vote. Nate Silver explains the discrepancy and gives a little history: While Sanders does have a modest 36-32 lead among elected delegates those that are bound to the candidates based on the results of voting in primaries and caucuses Clinton leads 362-8 among superdelegates, who are Democratic elected officials and other party insiders allowed to support whichever candidate they like. If youre a Sanders supporter, you might think this seems profoundly unfair. And youd be right: Its profoundly unfair. Superdelegates were created in part to give Democratic party elites the opportunity to put their finger on the scale and prevent nominations like those of George McGovern in 1972 or Jimmy Carter in 1976, which displeased party insiders. American governance is chock full of such undemocratic structures and procedures, of which the superdelegate system is only one. Take the Senate please! There is a tradition that Jefferson coming home from France, called Washington to account at the breakfast-table for having agreed to a second, and, as Jefferson thought, unnecessary legislative Chamber. Why, asked Washington, did you just now pour that coffee into your saucer, before drinking? To cool it, answered Jefferson, my throat is not made of brass. Even so, rejoined Washington, we pour our legislation into the senatorial saucer to cool it. Oddly, however, when we look at how todays party leaders justify the superdelegate systems, they dont use Washingtonian saucer arguments at all; they are clear neither on the purpose of the superdelegate system nor its history. From Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz you might want to put your coffee down, now we get this, in answer to a (February 12) question by Jake Tapper: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, let me just make sure that I can clarify exactly what was available during the primaries in Iowa and in New Hampshire. The unpledged delegates are a separate category. The only thing available on the ballot in a primary and a caucus is the pledged delegates, those that are tied to the candidate that they are pledged to support. And they receive a proportional number of delegates going into the going into our convention. Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials dont have to be in a position where they are running against grass-roots activists. We are, as a Democratic Party, really highlight and emphasize inclusiveness and diversity at our convention, and so we want to give every opportunity to grass-roots activists and diverse committed Democrats to be able to participate, attend and be a delegate at the convention. And so we separate out those unpledged delegates to make sure that there isnt competition between them. The above is the quote everybody seems to be using, so let me present Wasserman Schultzs B side, given to FOX (also February 12): [WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Unpledged delegates are our party leaders and elected officials who actually can make up their mind at any point and change their mind. We separate those so that we dont have elected officials and party leaders running against the activists, but want to make sure are helping to diversify our convention. That is something we take great pride in. A Native-American cancer survivor. Those people should have an opportunity to be delegates, too. And they shouldnt have to deal with very well-known officials and party leaders. And thats why we separate them. Wasserman Schultz is stunning in her effrontery[1], both for her fabrication does anybody really believe that the superdelegate system was set up so that Native-American cancer survivors could run? and for her paternalism: Does she really think that Native-American cancer survivors want to sit at the kids table, and dont want to deal with very well-known officials and party leaders? Personally, Id like to deal with them very much, and even have some ideas about how to go about doing it. And heres Harry Reid on the same topic, interviewed by Andrea Mitchell (February 11): ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC: There are a lot of concerns among people about the role of the super delegates. Here youve got Hillary Clinton getting clobbered in New Hampshire, 22-point landslide by Bernie Sanders, and yet, they divided the delegates 15-15 because she had so many super delegates, so many members of Congress and Senators and the governor of course. Is that a fair process? SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): Well, the process was totally unfair before eight years ago. Eight years ago, I looked at this and I thought, how in the world could we have the future of this country be dependent on Iowa, which is 93% white, and we have New Hampshire which is 97% white, no diversity, no diversity in Iowa. And have the final decision made as to who is going to be the president of the United States based on those two states, it was wrong. We now have Nevada and South Carolina before we get into the rest of the country as to whos chosen where. Reid seems to have rolled the wrong tape; hes not answering the superdelegates question at all; hes answering the Why Iowa and New Hampshire? question. Which is a good question, but not the one Mitchell asked. So here we have two elite establishment figures both superdelegates butchering their explanations of the superdelegate system. Wasserman Schultz brazenly lying and patronizing into the bargain, and Reid not answering at all. I find that concerning, not to say creepy, because none of the reasons I can come up with for why they would do this are good, even starting with ignorance, which is highly unlikely. So, from the history and purpose of the superdelegate system, and how party establishment figures are erasing both, let us turn to the state of play today. How many delegates are there, and how many superdelegates does each candidate have? From the Guardian: The Democratic partys nomination will ultimately be decided by more than 4,700 delegates at its nominating convention in the summer. Most of those delegates are allocated based on votes in each states primary or caucus. However, the party also assigns what are known as superdelegates 700 or so people who arent elected by anyone during the primary process and are free to vote any way they want at the convention. They are made up of members of Congress and members of the Democratic National Committee which is made up of much of the establishment that Sanders is implicitly running against. Party elites who have announced who they are supporting have almost universally broken towards Clintons camp. A recent unofficial count put Clintons advantage at a staggering 355-14. And given how Sanders falls well outside the establishment compared with Obama in 2008, its hard to see how he can gain a significant number to make up for Clintons lead meaning its more likely that superdelegates would at least want to tip the scales in favor of Clinton, even if he ends up winning more primaries. So, how likely is it that Clinton could lose the popular vote, but be nominated because the superdelegates threw the nomination to her? Joshua Holland in Alternet argues very unlikely indeed: [P]eople only become super delegates because they have a longstanding affinity for, and loyalty toward the Democratic Party. Some may be total hacks, but theyre party hacks, and that makes them unlikely candidates to completely rip apart the Democratic coalition for a generation or two, which would be the only possible result of these unelected delegates overturning the will of primary voters. They share a common sense of duty to the best interests of the institution. Hollands theyre hacks, but theyre party hacks is supported by many other more polite descriptions, some in this post: Democratic elected officials and other party insiders, party leaders and elected officials, members of Congress and Senators and the governor of course, members of Congress and members of the Democratic National Committee, and the establishment. And Hollands answer, in essence, is Win the primaries, and the superdelegates will come round. [2] That appears to be Sanders view as well, as he explained on Face the Nation: SANDERS: I think if we continue to do well around the country and if superdelegates whose main interest in life is to make sure that we do not have a Republican in the White House if they understand that I am the candidate and I believe that I am who is best suited to defeat the Republican nominee I think they will start coming over to us. (And Sanders noted that he had just met with a few superdelegates Saturday evening.) History provides some support for this thesis. Clinton, in 2008, was ahead in superdelegates, but as the campaign progressed, they jumped the sinking ship to sail with the winner: But is 2016 really 2008 all over again? If youre an establishment type, it might be one thing to jump from Clinton to Americas (potentially) first black President, especially when hes got Paul Volcker advising him and a proven afffinity for Goldman Sachs. Its quite another thing to jump ship to a candidate promising a political revolution. And campaigns 2010 and 2014 prove the Democratic establishment has no problem losing. In any case, do affinity and loyalty really drive the Democratic superdelegates?[4] Could there be other motivations? Prelimimary research from the Intercepts Lee Fang suggests so. Ive put a superdelegate tweetstorm from Fang in the form of a table. Of course, this is just a small sample of the 700-odd superdelegates, but its certainly suggestive. Its hard to imagine that the superdelegates would outright steal the nomination from Sanders if he won the popular vote by, say, 10%. But its certainly possible to imagine them demanding a high and not at all metaphorical price for their support if the Sanders margin of victory was much smaller. (What would Big Pharma give, for example, to avoid a Sanders victory, or cripple his single payer initiative?) Nate Silver gives the most benign prediction: What youre likely to see in close cases like these is competing claims to legitimacy, with Democratic party elites showing their bias by interpreting the evidence in favor of Clinton. Its hard to know the exact point at which such claims go from laughable to credible, but my guess is that its somewhere around the 5 percentage point gap So superdelegates do provide some advantage to Clinton: Theyll break a true tie in her favor, and perhaps anything that can reasonably be described as a tie in her favor also. Its just not the massive advantage implied by the delegate count so far. (And at this point I remember that Clinton has also been sharing fundraising money with the State parties, and Sanders small contributions have not been devoted to that, so a lot of those superdelegates may feel honor-bound to reciprocate for their walking around money. And I also remember that when the DNC took Michigan delegates away from Clinton and gave them to Obama, they violated procedural rules to do so; like changing the agenda during lunch, IIRC. So these are people not necessarily concerned with the niceties.) * * * What to do if youre a worried Sanders supporter, or a Democrat who doesnt want Chicago 1968 all over again, or just a voter who likes to see systems in place that are fair? What if youre concerned that winning the popular vote might not be enough? Bring pressure to bear, one would think. Therefore the first question is data: WikiPedia maintains a list of superdelegate names and districts. And MoveOn is running a petition drive that demands that superdelegates respect the popular vote. Ive heard theres an effort on Reddit, but I cant find out. Other thoughts? NOTES [1] Most of the memes on this quote propagate the idea that Wasserman Schultz is trying to suppress the grass roots; thats undoubtedly true, but she cannot be quoted directly to that effect. Her story is that shes trying to protect the grass roots, and as weve seen, shes sticking to it. [2] Meaning, of course, that theres no reason for the superdelegates to exist in the first place! [3] At least Sanders frames his answer in terms of interest. [4] When I hear words like loyalty and affilliation, a tear comes to my eye, undoubtedly, but Im also reminded of the old saying: If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. Major central banks tear up interest rate plans as market turmoil forces them into reverse Telegraph The Feds Flirtation With Negative Rates Signals Its Rush Toward Irrelevance Forbes. Labor is credit personified. Hmm. The toxic twins of European finance return Wolfgang Munchau, FT. Yves: Very consistent with our post on bank risk last week. One of his points is our doom loop; another is on the sucky/unworkable bank resolution process; a third is on how terrible negative interest rates are for banks. Germanys top court to examine if ECBs bond-buying is legal France24 Quantitative easing is not a superpower FT The Great Reset: Venture capitalists and startups have shifted from greed to fear Business Insider Debt Forgiveness Helicopter Drop the Next Step in Deflation Fighting? MishTalk. Betteridges Law The EFD ready to occupy Germany! unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens. Greece is simply a compass according to which, the executives of the EFD [(European Financial Dictatorship) want to impose a certain model across the eurozone. Dont Mind The Markets, Experts Say Economy Not Entering Recession NPR Recession probabilities Econbrowser. Fun with FRED! UAE Offers India Free Oil To Ease Storage Woes Oilprice.com China? Severe Contraction and Falling Prices in Japan Signal Tough Test for Abenomics NYT Syraqistan De mortuis, Scalia 2016 These Renters Were Hit Hardest by the Financial Crisis Bloomberg. Chances of home ownership decreased the most for affluent Hispanic millennials. Tension Simmers as Cubans Breeze Across U.S. Border NYT. Wait, what? Youre telling me all Hispanics are not alike? An Open Letter to Rep. John Lewis. The South Lawn Obamacare Hits 12.7 Million EnrollmentsBut Only Grows 8.5% Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review What Tasers Do to the Brain New York Magazine. [E]lectroshock can impair a persons cognitive functioning for up to an hour after being Tased, which questions the ability of suspects to waive their Miranda rights knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily within 60 minutes of a Taser exposure. Nuclear Fuel Storage in South Australia Seen as Economic Boon Bloomberg. I know what its like to live in a sacrifice zone. Its not a boon. Troops betrayed as Army dumps hundreds of heroic war dogs Daily Post The most bizarre, outrageous Airbnb feud story youll ever read San Francisco Chronicle Most romantic line in the English language revealed Telegraph Antidote du jour: See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Yves here. As this post demonstrates, the Koch brothers see academia as yet another activity that adheres to the Golden Rule: he who has the gold sets the rules. By run 75441. Originally published at Angry Bear Mark Jamison has been a guest columnist of the Smoky Mountain News on several occasions now arguing against the addition of the Koch sponsored Center for Free Enterprise. This is another well written expose of why this addition should not be allowed at Western Carolina University. I would point out the flip-flopping going on as Chancellor Belcher glosses over in his explanation of mistakes being made. In earlier statements by Dr. Robert Lopez, the Provost, and the Trustees, the procedure was followed. To give this the attention needed both Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism and Angry Bear have been covering this issue. UnKoch My Campus has also picked up on Western Carolina University. In Sons of Wichita, his detailed and heavily sourced biography of the Koch family, Daniel Schulman relates a story about Charles Kochs attempt to apply his libertarian management theory known as Market-Based Management to Wichita Collegiate, the private school located across the street from the Koch compound. The school originally cofounded by Bob Love an associate of Charless father Fred Koch from the John Birch Society became embroiled in an acrimonious uprising after Charles Koch in his role as chairman of the schools executive council applied techniques from his Market-Based Management system, a system designed to force everyone in an institution or business into an entrepreneurial role. Schulman relates how Koch and other trustees meddled in hiring decisions and caused the abrupt resignation of a well-liked headmaster. Incensed parents threatened to pull their children from the school; faculty members quit; students wore black in protest. Charles stepped down from the board of trustees citing, among other reasons, the schools refusal to integrate his management style. But in a sign of just how much influence he exerted over the school; Richard Fink, one of Charless key advisors and an architect of Market-Based Management was installed as Collegiates interim head. The outrage ran so deep that, as Fink tried to tamp down the uproar, he was hung in effigy around campus. Fink, who received his PHD in economics from Rutgers later moved to George Mason, a public university in Virginia, to start the Koch sponsored Mercatus Institute. Fink figures prominently in Koch efforts to control and dictate to charities and educational facilities receiving Koch support. Another Koch sponsored enterprise, the Institute for Humane Studies, caused similar disruptions when it was relocated to George Mason. Schulman reports, The mission of IHS is to groom libertarian intellectuals by doling out scholarships, sponsoring seminars, and placing students in like-minded organizations. Simply providing funding for the promotion of his libertarian ideology was not enough for Charles Koch though. Roderick Long, a philosophy professor from Auburn and an affiliate of IHS is quoted as saying, Massive micromanagement ensued. Long went on to say, the management began to do things like increasing the size of student seminars, packing them in, and then giving the students a political questionnaire at the beginning of the week and another one at the end, to measure how much their political beliefs shifted over the course of the week. (Woe betide any student who needs more than a week to mull new ideas prior to conversion.) They also started running scholarship application essays through a computer to measure how many times the right names (Mises, Hayek, Friedman, Rand, Bastiat, etc.) were mentioned regardless of what was said about them! (The preceding quotes come from pages 250-251 Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became Americas Most Powerful and Private Dynasty). It should be noted that Professor Long is no liberal. He edits The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies and is a member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, an organization that promotes the theories of the dean of Austrian economics. Both Professor Lopez and Professor Gochenour are products of the George Mason program and Mercatus. In his memo to Andrew Gillen of the Charles Koch Foundation Professor Lopez characterizes the other members of the WCU economics department indicating Professor Gochenour was a student of Boettke and Caplan. In a YouTube video seminar, Professor Boettke characterizes himself as a doctrinaire free-marketer. In the same memo, Professor Lopez lists his association with IHS. Presumably then both professors are familiar with the sort of metrics and deliverables that are integral to Kochs Market-Based Management system. Both Schulmans book and Jane Mayers new book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right go into great detail about the various organizations sponsored and funded by Charles and David Koch. From Americans for Prosperity to academic institutions similar to Mercatus, the Kochs have been active in funding organizations that promote specific ideologies. For better or worse that is something endemic in both our politics and apparently our public universities. Lately Charles Koch has been quite vocal in bemoaning the fact that his political contributions have not yielded an appropriate return on investment as demonstrated in a recent interview in the Financial Times where he said, Youd think we could have more influence. What is perhaps more troubling is in academic settings the Kochs have sought to exercise an extraordinary degree of control. Between 2007 and 2011 Charles Koch has pumped $31 million into universities for scholarships and programs (within that number the $2 million to WCU seems significant). At Florida State the contract with the university provide $1.5 million to hire two professors included a clause giving the Koch Foundation over the candidates. The plan Charles Koch with the aid of Richard Fink has enacted is called a Structure of Social Change a sort of business plan for the marketing of ideas. Fink has said about the plan: When we apply this model to the realm of ideas and social change, at the higher stages we have the investment in the intellectual raw materials, that is, the exploration and production of abstract concepts and theories. In the public policy arena, these still come primarily (though not exclusively) from the research done by scholars at our universities. (my emphasis) As Schulman reports, . . . Cato Institute, Mercatus, and the dozens of other free-market, antiregulatory policy shops that Charles, David, and their foundations have supported over the years . . . churned out reports position papers, and op-eds arguing for the privatization of Social Security; fingering public employee unions for causing state budget crises; attempting to debunk climate science; and making the case for slashing the welfare system and Medicaid. The book that Professor Lopez published for the broad market, Madmen, Intellectuals and Academic Scribblers: The Economic Engine of Political Change follows closely to the program Fink articulates. Over the years the gifts from the Koch Foundation to various universities have faced increased scrutiny. The contract with Florida State clearly went against basic academic ethics. There is nothing however to indicate that Charles Koch has retreated in his desire to instill his radical brand of libertarianism into the institutions that create public policy and the universities that provide the research that helps support policy decisions. What has perhaps changed is that Mr. Koch, his foundation, and those he supports have become ever more sophisticated in capturing an outsized amount of influence. Chancellor Belcher assures us there were mistakes made in the presentation of the current proposal but that the proposal itself meets all the basic criteria for acceptance. The fact that Professor Lopez advertised positions before official acceptance and outside normal channels raises significant questions. The contract may not allow veto power but if the structure of the program and the hiring are filtered through products of Koch programs, we may have a distinction without a difference. Charles Koch and his assistants like Richard Fink have been very clear about their intent and goals. It does not take a great deal of research to uncover statements that clearly speak to intent to indoctrinate. Ad hoc denials aside there is no reason not to take Mr. Kochs word. Chancellor Belcher suggests the bringing of a stronger level of scrutiny to the Koch proposal pushes us down a slippery slope. The chancellor is no naif and surely he knows that in a complicated world we are often presented with slippery slopes that is why judgment, ethics, and scrutiny exist. Dogmatic and doctrinaire disciplines give a skewed and distorted picture of the world as an either or, or black or white scenario. Hayek, Mises, and other doctrinaire believers in the creed of the free-market tell us the choice is either markets or Stalinism, an inexorable Road to Serfdom. Tennyson tells us, There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds. There is a certain irony bordering on outright cognitive dissonance when the economics department of a publicly funded university embraces a set of theories that denies the need for public education and treats such public funding as an affront to the market. If scrutinizing this proposal puts us onto a slippery slope then accepting it simply sends us to the bottom of the slope. SHARE Bill Spinelli Tom Lykos By John Osborne A pair of Southwest Florida construction industry stalwarts are teaming up to open a new kitchen and bath cabinetry retail location in Naples. Tom Lykos and Bill Spinelli, both past presidents of the Collier Building Industry Association, said Allure Cabinetry & Showroom at 3573 Mercantile Ave. would open for a sneak peek to industry tradespeople interiors decorators, architects, homebuilders and remodelers in February and to the general public in mid- to late-March. Lykos, a Midwest native who moved to Southwest Florida in 1992, said the staggered opening is being done for a specific reason. "We're not 100 percent done with display development yet, so we want to first introduce it to all the tradespeople to get their feedback on the appearance of the showroom and the effect it would have in support of the trades," he said of the 8,000-square-foot space that will feature full-size examples of five different kitchens, an outdoor kitchen, wine rooms, closets, family rooms, living room build-ins, home office space and more. Inside the showroom, Spinelli said several of North America's finest custom cabinet manufacturers would take center stage to shine a spotlight on all the latest trends in the industry. "This will be a totally new experience for customers and members of the trades alike," Spinelli said, preferring to leave most of the talking to Lykos. "It's a holistic approach to kitchen and bath design, as it offers one-stop shopping in a state-of-the-art showroom, something Naples hasn't seen before." Lykos said the 'one-stop-shopping' aspect referenced by his partner translates to deep cost savings for customers. "Allure essentially eliminates the middleman, which is why we believe our customers including builders will find this service so alluring," he said, playing on the name of the company that will provide a full range of design, manufacturing and installation services. "It offers everyone a single source for budgeting, design and more importantly control of the project from start to finish." Lykos, who was born in Chicago and grew up in southwest Michigan, cited a twofold inspiration behind the new venture. "I think some of it is based in logic and some of it is based in emotion," he said. "From my standpoint, we're trying to achieve a place where we create unique experiences for customers. We didn't want to create a big-box commodity or an off-the-shelf experience, so our showroom is not made up of eight-foot walls of cabinets." Instead, Lykos said Allure Cabinetry & Showroom would feature a decidedly more homey feel. "We've created whole kitchens and baths so that customers can stand in the space and easily envision standing in their own homes with the finished products," he said. "It's going to feel tangible to them; they're not going to struggle to imagine how it will look in their own house. We're want to show how it will look as a whole room rather than just a sample to create that experience for people." Lykos said the new store expects to employ 20 to 25 people as cabinet designers, cabinet installation staff member and managers. "We're also in the process of hiring an HR manager," he said. "Once that's done anybody interested in a job can contact the HR manager through the website." Allure Cabinetry & Showroom will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Sunday. For more information, call 239-417-4300 or see www.allurecabinetryFL.com. SHARE By T.R. Kerth Several weeks ago, I told you what an idiot I was when it came to the stupid things that leaped from my mouth when I met celebrities like Meadowlark Lemon and James Brown. It was a simple bumbler's confession, and I thought that would be the end of it. But then I heard from readers who wanted to throw their hat into the ring to be president of the Celebrity Stumblers Club. In a follow-up column a few weeks later I named Loren A. to the top post for meeting Bill Murray's brother and mistaking him for Bill's father. And I thought, OK, so that's the end of it. But, in true stumbler's fashion, I was wrong again. Since then, I have heard from a steady stream of stumblebums who have stepped forward to challenge for the top spot so today I think I'll just turn this page over to them and let them tell you their tongue-trip tales. Ann M. wrote to say, "My husband and I owned a restaurant in Iowa 2007 to 2009. We have a large employment firm in town whose president would bring in big-name speakers for his yearly employee banquet. This particular evening he brought that year's speaker to the restaurant. Theresa, the server, was nervous but approached the table bravely and said, 'I've always wanted to meet you, Dick Butkus.' The gentleman replied, 'That's too bad because I'm Mike Ditka.'" Maybe that's why Ditka stole Ann's meatloaf recipe to use in his own restaurant. Don R. wrote to say, "A number of years ago I was in Toronto for a few days on a business trip. In the hotel room I read in a local publication that Norm Crosby, a popular stand-up comedian at the time, was in the city performing. It interested me because I always enjoyed his humor but also I knew that he grew up in a section of Boston called Dorchester where I too grew up. After dinner the following evening I entered the elevator to go up to my room and lo and behold there was Norm Crosby! "Now up to this point in my life I had always felt I could handle myself pretty well in most social situations. I reached out my hand and said, 'Aren't you Norm Crosby?' He was very nice, smiled while he shook my hand and said, 'Yes, I am.' His response then gave me the confidence to go further and I said, 'I understand you're in Toronto.' As soon as I uttered those words I thought what a dumb statement! He's a comic and will undoubtedly rip me to pieces. I wanted to die. Fortunately, he was a real gentleman, or else felt sorry for the dim-witted stranger before him, and told me he was in Toronto to tape a show. For the rest of the elevator ride we shared our common experiences in the Dorchester section of Boston. I'm sure that evening he called his wife and told her about the idiot he met on the elevator while I called my wife and told her what an idiot I was which, of course, she already knew." I have to offer a tip of the hat to Don's wife for standing by her man-of-many-flaws. I'm fortunate to have a wife like that too. But not all men are so lucky. Consider this bumbler note I got from James M.: "Back in the early 1960's, I was a Massachusetts trooper stationed on the Mass Pike. I was assigned to escort Eddie Fisher's limo into Boston. At the end of the escort, Fisher's public relations guy asked me if I wanted to meet him. I said sure and held out my hand for a shake. The PR guy nudged me and said that was not him, but Fisher was the guy next to him. I exchanged a weak Fisher handshake and left, wondering how this guy got Elizabeth Taylor." Well, Liz only put up with Eddie for five years, so a limp handshake can only get you so far, I guess. And then I heard from Mary Jo C., who had this tale to tell about her search for the perfect bottle of wine in Big Rapids, Michigan: "Two men in our small town opened a wine shop. I'll call them Bill and Rick. One week I bought a bottle of French wine that Rick recommended. A couple of weeks later I went back to the store, but Rick was on a tractor mowing the lawn. I told Bill I was looking for a bottle of French wine that Rick sold me. Here's how the conversation went: Bill, holding up a bottle: Was it bahtar mon rah shay? (Batard-Montrachet) Me: No, I don't think so. Bill: Was it shom bowl moo sih nyee? (Chambolle-Musigny) Me: No, I don't think so. Bill: Was it shatoh lansh bahj? (ChateauLynch Bages) Me (embarrassed and wishing I had never brought this up): No, I don't think so. Then Rick walks in the back door. Bill says to him, 'Do you remember the name of the French wine you sold her?' Rick says, 'Ahhbeeznestgatme' and I said, 'Yes! That's it!' Wait. What? Rick had gotten stung on the tractor: 'A bee's nest got me.'" Anyway, whatever that wine was called, I'd like to pour a big glass and offer a toast to all the schlemiels who have tossed their hat into the ring to be named the next president of my Celebrity Stumblers Club. It's nice to know that our moronic membership is still growing but that's all I have room for today. So for now, if you're still hungry to hear more from morons, stumblers and bumblers who want to be president, you'll have to turn to CNN. - - - The author splits his time between Southwest Florida and Chicago. Not every day, though. Contact him at trkerth@yahoo.com. Why wait a whole week for your next visit to Planet Kerth? Get T.R.'s new book, "Revenge of the Sardines," available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other fine online book distributors. His column appears every Saturday. Robert Krumroy of North Carolina inspects Bob Campbell's 1960 Nash Metropolitan. The Marco Island Car Show, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, brought thousands out to view 200 fabulous vehicles on Sunday, Valentine's Day. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent SHARE Chevy pickup tailgates come in many styles. The Marco Island Car Show, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, brought thousands out to view 200 fabulous vehicles on Sunday, Valentine's Day. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent Keith Pershing of Island Automotive with the Marco Island Historical Society's Model T Ford. The Marco Island Car Show, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, brought thousands out to view 200 fabulous vehicles on Sunday, Valentine's Day. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent John Catrambone's 1929 Ford Roadster is a show-stopper. The Marco Island Car Show, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, brought thousands out to view 200 fabulous vehicles on Sunday, Valentine's Day. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent Bill Filbin has a mirror and lights inside the hood of his 2014 Corvette. The Marco Island Car Show, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, brought thousands out to view 200 fabulous vehicles on Sunday, Valentine's Day. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent By Lance Shearer Americans have an enduring love affair with the car. Symbol of freedom, mobility and the open road, these inanimate objects can trigger a powerful surge of emotions, as when a guy sees the car that, many years ago, gave him his first taste of adulthood. So it was fitting that this year, the Marco Island Car Show fell on Valentine's Day, the holiday devoted to the celebration of romantic love. Over 4,000 spectators came out to the grounds of the NCH Healthcare Center on Bald Eagle Drive to view and, yes, drool over 200 beautiful examples of automotive art. With the weather crystal clear but a little cool, conditions were perfect for car-gazing. The bright sunshine made the lustrous finishes on the cars positively glow, while the chill in the air kept people off the beach and at the car show. "It was a great turnout," said show organizer John DeRosa. "We sold out of soda, water, hot dogs, hamburgers, and sausage and peppers." With the number of display cars capped at 200, the club had to turn some late applicants away. All net proceeds from this 12th annual show go to help the Kiwanis in their support of children's charities in the Marco Island and East Naples area. When the crowds could tear themselves away looking at the cars, they listened to "car tunes" and doo wop from DJ Steve Reynolds, heavy on the Beach Boys, and applauded performers including the high steppers of the Celtic Spirit School of Irish Dance. The Marco Island Academy jazz band and vocal ensemble, along with the school's cheerleaders, also entertained, but at this show, the stars were the cars. "Every car has a story, or more than one," said Keith Pershing of Island Automotive. He had ties to numerous vehicles in the show, so many that a special section right behind the main stage was devoted to his customers' cars. "The Internet has made a big difference, but parts searching for some of these old cars takes an incredible amount of time. They come from all over the world I just found a radiator for a '35 Auburn Boat Tail Speedster in England," said Pershing. "I just saw the first car I ever had," said Henry Lowery of Marco, "a '37 Chevy six-cylinder. I was 14, driving without a license. I used to drive a tow truck in downtown Boston," but having a relative on the police force meant he didn't worry about being pulled over. Dick Fracasse from the "Firehouse Boyz" car club showed his 1934 Ford pickup in "resale red" that's the color that moves fastest on a car lot, he said with the roof chopped two inches, a shortened bed, and a 383-cubic inch Chevrolet stroker motor that generates 425 horsepower. He had never determined what "top end" on the vehicle would be, he said, after joking about going "112 mph on Barfield." His truck sat next to Jack Buete's 1939 Ford, a black convertible with green wheels and a rumble seat. For many motorists, a Rolls-Royce would be an aspirational purchase, but Bob Wilbanks had one for sale at $18,500, a 1976 Silver Shadow with "79,260 actual miles." Gary Groenke of Wisconsin talked about adding it to his collection, the dozen cars he already has back home. Best in Show went to Grant Miller's 1934 Packard coupe convertible with its "Goddess of Speed" hood ornament, with Jim Pinkerman winning first runner-up for his 1940 Ford deluxe coupe. Jim Salerno and his 1950 Mercury won second runner-up. In all, 21 trophies were awarded, with some very tough choices for the judges, said DeRosa. If there were an award for Cutest in Show, it would have to go to one of the Nash Metropolitans, of which there were at least two examples, a 1954 and a '60. The car always looks as if Minnie Mouse should be stepping out of it. On Sunday, though, Minnie upgraded her ride, appearing in the back of a 1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith limousine, the kind where the driver sits out in the weather up front. Daisy Duck rode with Minnie, while the Roadrunner and the Pink Panther also put in appearances on different cars. Tony Costantino, president of Marco Island Corvettes and Muscle Cars, invited everyone to come to Town Center every Friday at 8 p.m., where the group's members bring their cars. SHARE By Kristine Gill of the Naples Daily News Alfredo Fernandez Montero was riding his bike to work through North Naples in January when the driver of a small white car struck him. The driver kept going. But 50-year-old Montero was dazed by the wreck and didn't realize how badly he'd been injured. He rode the rest of the way to work where he lost consciousness. When he woke in the hospital three days later, family learned he'd been the victim of a hit-and-run crash. But the damage was done. Two weeks later, Montero died from his injuries. Across the state, the number of annual hit-and-run crashes has increased for the past few years. Spokesman Lt. Greg Bueno and troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol are holding a news conference Monday, admonishing drivers to report crashes and to avoid causing them in the first place. "People may leave scenes for a variety of reasons, whether it's to skirt responsibility by trying to avoid a driving under the influence charge, no insurance, suspended license or just being involved in a crash, etc.," Bueno said. Preliminary data from the Florida Highway Patrol shows there were 92,623 hit-and-run crashes throughout Florida in 2015. That's up 7,468 incidents from 2014. And Lee County is ninth among the top 10 counties for total hit-and-run crashes last year, with 2,312. Miami-Dade ranked first with 18,345. Lee County ranked seventh for fatalities in hit-and-run crashes, with seven total. Collier County statistics were not made available. While most hit-and-run crashes, about 83 percent, are not serious and don't result in property damage, many are. Of the 92,623 crashes last year, more than 19,000 people were injured. More than 1,200 of those crashes involved serious injuries. In all, 186 people died last year throughout Florida as a result of crashes where a driver left the scene. "If someone is involved in a crash, the motorist is obligated to pull over and stop safely and immediately," Bueno said. Drivers who leave the scene of a crash face additional penalties, as well. Drivers who leave the scene of a crash involving a death face first-degree felony charges with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Drivers who leave the scene of a crash with injuries face third-degree felony charges and five years in prison. Drivers who leave the scene of a crash with property damage face charges for a misdemeanor of the second degree and a maximum of 60 days behind bars. "If someone is involved in a crash, it's bad. No one wants to be involved in a crash," Bueno said. "However, it makes a bad situation worse when a motorist leaves the scene." State troopers are holding Monday's news conference, but the majority of crashes statewide are handled by local police departments and sheriff's offices. Troopers handle just 25 percent of crashes. Hit-and-run crash cases are difficult to solve, too, Bueno said. Just 12 percent of last year's hit-and-run crashes resulted in citations. Education, he said, is the best way to encourage drivers to remain at the scene and avoid further penalties. "The Florida Highway Patrol annually promotes a hit-and-run awareness campaign by providing education to the public through community events, teen driver education courses and a media-focused news conference," he said. "FHP also maintains a website with high-profile, open cases listed and advertises every hit-and-run crash to the media requesting the public's assistance to report any known tips. Education is the key." Data also shows the majority of hit-and-run crashes where citations were issued were caused by drivers ages 18 to 27. And during the past three years, those age 21 garnered the most citations for any age. Of all the citations written last year, 70 percent were for men. If you're involved in a crash, remain at the scene and call law enforcement. If you're the victim of a crash in which the other driver leaves the scene, try to record vehicle descriptions for law enforcement. In the meantime, Collier County Sheriff's deputies have been searching for the driver who killed Montero. He is described a Hispanic man driving either a white or silver older model four-door passenger car. The crash took place Jan. 15 about 4:30 p.m. along Goodlette-Frank Road near the intersection with Vanderbilt Beach Road. So far no arrests have been made. An Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus currently spreading throughout Latin America. New figures from Brazil's Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) SHARE By Naples Daily News staff One more case of travel-related Zika virus has been confirmed, bringing the statewide number to 21, according to the Florida Department of Health on Monday. The new case was reported in Broward County. The state's public health emergency spans eight counties, including Lee County which has three travel-related Zika cases. All of the cases are travel-related, where the infected individuals had traveled out of the country and were diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus after their return. About one in five people infected become symptomatic, which generally involves a low-grade fever, rash and joint pain. Pregnant women are at risk if their unborn babies are exposed to the virus, which can lead to birth defects. Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are examining the link between Zika and birth defects. The state health department encourages residents to drain standing water in any containers, which is the breeding source for mosquitoes; cover exposed skin with long-sleeved shirts and pants, and to wear mosquito repellent outdoors. For more information, go to www.FloridaHealth.gov. SHARE Couples renew their wedding vows during the Love at Lovers Key Valentine's Day event on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 at Lovers Key State Park. 39 couples renewed their vows on the beach. (Dorothy Edwards/Staff) A couple holds hands while renewing their wedding vows during the Love at Lovers Key Valentine's Day event on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 at Lovers Key State Park. 39 couples renewed their vows on the beach. (Dorothy Edwards/Staff) Jim and Judy Copeland of Estero renew their wedding vows during the Love at Lovers Key Valentine's Day event on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 at Lovers Key State Park. The Copelands have been married 50 years. 39 couples renewed their vows on the beach. (Dorothy Edwards/Staff) Jeri and John Hill of Port Clinton, Ohio share a toast after renewing their wedding vows during the Love at Lovers Key Valentine's Day event on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 at Lovers Key State Park. The Hills have been married for 65 years. 39 couples renewed their vows on the beach. (Dorothy Edwards/Staff) By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News Jeri and John Hill will be celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary Feb. 21 but they decided to recommit to each other on Valentine's Day. The couple were one of 39 who renewed their vows at Lovers Key State Park on a crisp and clear-blue Sunday morning in what has become a Valentine's Day tradition at the state park. Sunday was the seventh year the Friends of Lovers Key State Park has sponsored vow renewal on the beach, with the proceeds from the $75 per couple fee going to environment education. Forty couples had signed up to renew their vows at 10 a.m. but one couple didn't make it; another 40 couples were scheduled for a ceremony at 3 p.m. Afterward, Champagne and food were served under the gazebo. John Hill thought it was a nice idea that he and his bride renew their vows, even though he never gave it a second thought through all their years of married life. They were simply busy with life and raising a daughter and two boys. "It's so very nice to love your best friend all your life who is also your spouse," John Hill, 86, said. The Hills spend four months in Fort Myers Beach and the rest of the year in the small town of Clyde, Ohio, where they both grew up. They knew each other in high school but didn't date. He was in the National Guard and they dated for five or six months before he was drafted and shipped off to Korea for the war in 1951. They tied the knot before he left. She was a bride at 19 and on her own. "He was in Korea 19 months," Jeri Hill, 84, said. "It was frightening." When Hill came home, he worked in the tool and die business. The secret to a long marriage, he said, is having mutual admiration for each other, plus he likes her cooking. After the ceremony, they headed home for a normal Sunday afternoon. "I will find a chore," he said. Irela Morris, 61, and her husband, Steven, 63, have been married for 39 years. They tied the knot in Staten Island and retired to Estero. When she woke up Sunday, she didn't know what to expect for Valentine's Day. "He told me to dress warm but when I saw him dressed up, I changed," she said. When they got in the car and he turned into Lovers Key, she knew what was up but all in all, he did surprise her. "I had a feeling it had something to do with vows," she said. One of the couple's three daughters, Jackie Mason, had a special photo album made of reprints of their original wedding. Laura and David Cradey, of Tampa, had planned to spend the weekend in Fort Myers and renew their vows but the ceremony at Lovers Key was booked out. They got a call Saturday about a cancellation. That left David, 44, scrambling for something to wear and he settled on tuxedo T-shirt. "I brought the white dress with me," Laura Cradey, 39, said. Jim and Rhonda Miller plan to renew their vows every year at Lovers Key. The couple first wed on Nov. 30, 2014, in Madison, Wisconsin. They spend their winters in Bonita Springs. "It just sounded like a great thing to do, to continue the love," said Jim Miller, 59 SHARE By June Fletcher of the Naples Daily News When Dan Roseliep and his wife, Susan, arrived at the Naples vacation condo they rented last April, they were shocked at what they found. Water had leaked into the first-floor unit at the Neapolitan club that the Wisconsin couple had rented for about $2,500 for two weeks, wetting the walls. Consequently, two large commercial dehumidifiers were installed in both of the unit's bathrooms, taking up most of the floor area, making it difficult to get to the toilet or use the shower. Discharge tubes ran into the lavatories. Running 24 hours a day, the dehumidifiers were noisy, too. "The units shook, shuddered and gurgled," said Roseliep, 61. He and his wife couldn't find another place to stay and so they endured it. "It was a terrible situation," said Roseliep. Discovering the place you've booked for a vacation is more of a nightmare than a dream is a growing problem, particularly as more homeowners decide to turn their second homes into rental cash cows. And with the proliferation of for-rent-by-owner websites ranging from HomeAway to Airbnb, each with more than 1 million listings as well as traditional sites run by professional property managers and rental firms it's becoming increasingly easy for sellers and buyers to connect, often from afar. Last year, a survey of 1,800 respondents by travel website TripAdvisor.com showed that 59 percent planned to stay at a vacation rental home or condo this year, up from 52 percent in 2014. But complaints ranging from bedbugs, mold and rats to deceptive ads that tout nonexistent views are also on the rise. The Better Business Bureau serving West Florida, which includes Collier and Lee counties, said last year they serviced 80 complaints about vacation rentals, up from 71 in 2014. Resolving issues is challenging because unlike hotel owners, vacation homeowners usually don't have a maintenance staff on call and are unequipped to find an unhappy tenant another place to stay, said Bryan Oglesby, spokesman for the West Florida BBB. And because vacation renters often make reservations virtually, without visiting the property first, there's a lot of potential for disillusionment and disappointment. So he recommends scouring online reviews and complaint boards as well as the BBB before making a reservation. "Once you sign a lease for a specific property, it's a binding contract, "Oglesby said. Since renters usually pay for short-term seasonal rentals up front, it's important to discuss what you expect in advance with the owner or property manager, real estate attorneys say. That's because Florida statutes only require a landlord to comply with building, housing and health codes; keep property and screens in good repair and working order (while heat and hot water must be provided, there is no requirement for air conditioning); exterminate pests; keep common areas clean and safe; and provide garbage receptacles, keys, locks and working smoke detectors. Whether the lease is for a long or short period, however, every tenant has a right to a unit that's habitable, said Naples attorney Andrew Wozniak, who has represented both tenants and landlords in disputes. But what is considered habitable by the courts largely depends on the facts of each case, he said, and is subject to interpretation. Tenants who are so upset that they are considering legal action would do well to gather evidence by taking pictures and keeping records of visits by repair people, he said. "But the larger question is, what does your lease say?" he said. "Because once you start fighting with your landlord, that relationship is at an end. And where do you go after that?" Shabby carpeting, faded paint and hairy leftover soap in the bathroom bother, disappoint or even disgust many renters, but they don't make a place uninhabitable, says attorney Joe Adams, who represents more than 800 condo and homeowners associations and has offices in Naples and Fort Myers. "You're renting someone's home, it's not a hotel though many people expect hotel-like standards," he said. A more important, and often overlooked consideration is whether the landlord has complied with association documents that govern occupancy and dealing with such issues as minimum rental periods and overnight room stays. When landlords flagrantly violate these rules, associations can and sometimes do deny their tenants access to common areas like swimming pools, clubhouse exercise rooms and private beaches, he said. "It turns into a big mess," he said. Tenants can try to negotiate clauses in leases that state that the unit will be clean, that the landlord has complied with association rules and state taxing and registration requirements, and that if something uncontrollable happens that makes the place uninhabitable, the tenant will be financially compensated. But they may not get far in their requests in a place like Southwest Florida, where seasonal rentals are in high demand, Adams added. "If you want, you can hire a lawyer every time you go on vacation," Adams said. "In the real world, people don't. My suggestion is that best protection for the consumer is to deal with reputable rental agencies and look for online reviews." Spokeswomen for both Lee and Collier counties said that tenants can complain to their respective county code enforcement divisions if they discover code violations, such as non-working toilets, insect infestations and mold. While inspectors will respond quickly, that's no guarantee that the problem will be corrected immediately, however, since landlords are given typically given a few weeks to fix their properties, said Collier County spokeswoman Kate Albers. "The goal is to bring the properties into compliance," she said. Because bad rental experiences make customers wary, some online direct-matching services offer limited guarantees to renters. HomeAway.com and its affiliates, such as VRBO and VacationRentals.com, provide a basic guarantee of $1,000 that protects renters if the property is significantly different from what was advertised; the tenant was unable to gain access because of foreclosure or double-booking; the ad was fraudulent or made as the result of theft of the owner's identity; or a refundable damage deposit was withheld wrongly. Renters can get additional coverage of up to $10,000 for a fee. Since vacation rental payments often become nonrefundable within 90 days of the vacation, renters also can buy cancellation protection for rental payments up to $50,000, and damage protection of up to $1,500. Both are underwritten by Generali U.S. Branch. The cost varies according to the price of the trip. Airbnb collects funds from renters when they make a reservation, but doesn't release them until 24 hours after arrival. Its guest refund policy allows the company, at its discretion, to refund a renter's money if the host cancels or doesn't provide reasonable access to the property, doesn't describe the place accurately, and doesn't keep it clean. Some renters prefer to go through the traditional renting route using a third-party agency, but even that strategy doesn't guarantee a good experience. Dan Roseliep, who suffered from dehumidifier noise, booked his property that way but says his attempts to get the problem fixed were frustrated. Shortly after he arrived, the commercial property broker tried to contact the owner, Ellan Hylton, an attorney who lives in McLean, Virginia, asking for an adjustment in rent. "I have never had the door shut so soundly in my face," said Roseliep, a commercial property broker. "She stonewalled us." Hylton declined to comment, other than to say "one reason to have a management company is because I don't want to get involved myself." Roseliep also complained to Aadvisor Rentals in Naples, which managed the property. "The rental company didn't give me any relief," said Roseliep. "They were insensitive and nonresponsive." Tom Wentworth, marketing director at Aadvisor, said that the company was aware of the leak before the Roselieps moved in, and that the owner said the management company for the homeowners association was taking care of it. As for Roseliep, "I'm not sure what was told to him before he moved in," Wentworth said. He said Roseliep complained about the property, "but he didn't ask us for a refund or adjustment." While the company didn't volunteer to give him a refund, Wentworth said he would now be willing to give the couple a three-day credit toward a future vacation to compensate them for their inconvenience. He also said that when the Roselieps first complained, "we took a look to see if there was another property we could move them to, but everything was booked." Aadvisor maintains a guest services department that handles complaints ranging from wonky Wi-Fi connections to broken refrigerators, and can authorize emergency repairs of up to $300 at its discretion, Wentworth said. Moreover, it requires owners to sign an agreement that the unit will conform to government-mandated standards. But ultimately, he says, the firm is just a middleman which brings owners and renters together. "Beyond that, it's up to what landlords and tenants say," Wentworth said. A new multi-million dollar terminal constructed as part of the Mariel Special Development Zone is seen across Mariel Bay in Cuba. (David Albers/Staff) SHARE By Maria Perez of the Naples Daily News The U.S. has authorized an Alabama company to build what could become the first American factory in Cuba in more than 50 years. Cleber LLC, a company founded by two entrepreneurs, is planning to build a factory in the Special Development Zone near the Port of Mariel to produce cheap, small tractors that Cuban farmers can use to increase agricultural production. The company received the authorization from both the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to build the tractor manufacturing facility, said Saul Berenthal, one of the company founders. "This represents a precedent so that other companies can carry out similar projects," Berenthal said Monday. Cleber co-founder Horace Clemmons said now that they have U.S. approval, they can complete the process with the Office of the Mariel Special Development Zone in Cuba. That process requires certain conditions be met, such as showing they are financially capable of carrying out the plan, before Cuban authorities approve the project. Clemmons said they Cuban authorities have been encouraging about the project, so he believes they will move forward. "We are extremely optimistic that it's a process that we will complete in a far shorter period of time that it took us in the U.S.," he said. The authorization was made possible by the reduction of restrictions on U.S. companies and entrepreneurs to trade and invest in Cuba, steps taken in recent months by the Department of Treasury and OFAC, Berenthal said. The Cleber project, he said, doesn't need a specific license. It's now covered under a general license. Naples businessman John Parke Wright IV, who has longed advocated for the end of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, said the approval is important. "It's a good step," he said. "Anything to open trade is something positive." If the tractors are economical, he said, they can help Cuban farmers increase production. Agriculture, he said, will be a very important part of Cuba's economy. "These are small steps but important ones," he said. Wright said Chinese and Russian farm equipment is already available in Cuba and the production is still low. He thinks that Cuba's agricultural production will increase when Cuba is able to export agricultural products to the U.S. John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said the authorization is an important milestone that wouldn't have been possible without the changes in the U.S. Cuba relationship. But he said there are still challenges ahead. "Like any project in Cuba, the closer it becomes to reality, the more difficult it gets," he said. Berenthal said they have secured the funds to build the factory through private investors. They plan to invest $5 million. Berenthal said they expect Cuban farmers will be able to buy their tractors with the financial support of U.S. relatives. They are in contact with nonprofits, mostly in the U.S., that are interested in buying the tractors and donating them to Cuban farmers. "Cleber chose tractors as the starting point for manufacturing because more than 70% of Cuba's land has been returned to the private sector to be worked for the direct benefit of farmers," Berenthal said. "Family farmers and cooperative farms are critically important to Cuba's economy and provide a strong demand for affordable equipment to increase their productivity." SHARE Jim Brock, North Naples Unholy invasion Muslims are being deported from Sweden because of their lawlessness. France has raided mosques, found weapons and bombs, and is closing mosques. Denmark is searching for Muslin terrorists. Germany is experiencing Muslims assaulting women. There is Muslim violence and unrest in England, Australia, the Philippines and many other countries. We are bringing a Muslim government/religion into our country? We are being invaded by a culture that will not adjust to our laws and way of life, but expects us to adjust to theirs. Like it or not we are at war and it is a different kind of war. So why are we bringing them to our country? What are the peaceful Muslims doing to stop this abhorrent behavior? By their non-action, they appear to be sympathizers. The Spiro Group Incorporated, doing business as Spiro & Associates Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations & Brand Architects, recently received official notice of the successfully registered BRAND ARCHITECTS mark from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The registered mark will be in effect through 2025 after the firm files a declaration of continued use in late 2020. The mark reflects the firms brand architecture philosophy and strong belief in the need for businesses to create and sustain its brand. CEO and founder, Christopher T. Spiro seized on the notion that his Agency of marketing professionals are much like architects, not unlike engineering architects who design structures. The phrase accurately captures the firms truths and principles on the nature of the company and the business of the marketing professionals in the shop. The Agency has built a number of brands or evolved the brands for several local businesses recently, including B & I, Modern Services, Action Automatic Door & Gate, and Fusion Metalworks. The mark registration comes in a year that has been a particularly successful one for the ad agency. Spiro & Associates has earned numerous honors in 2015, including five international Davey Awards, nine Southeast Building Conference Excel Awards, and 22 BIA Pinnacle Awards, including Marketing Firm of the Year for an Associate Member. The company also was a finalist in the 10th Annual Uncommon Friends Foundation Business Ethics Award. Additionally, the Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University selected Spiro as one of just four finalists for the 4th Annual Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, which honors a small to mid-sized Southwest Florida business for its overall success and its impact in the community. Spiro & Associates is one of Southwest Floridas largest marketing, advertising and public relations firms, and this year alone added some 20 businesses to its client roster. The new clients that represent a diverse workforce and industries generate millions of dollars in capitalized billings. Of note also is the firm is seeing former clients re-emerge as their businesses pick up, turning to the Agency for marketing expertise. Spiro & Associates serves local, regional and national clients in the fields of land development, construction, retail, residential and commercial real estate, law, business and residential services, fine jewelry, the arts, government, health care, manufacturing, and property management. Visit online at www.spiroandassociates.com or call 239-481-5511. Join MasterChef Finalist Derrick Peltz as four of SWFLs finest chefs whisk, chop and improvise their way to glory in the triumphant return of the Celebrity Chef Cook-off at the 11th Annual Imagine Gala. Get your tickets now at ISC2016.gesture.com for this annual food fight, which happens 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 at the Imaginarium Science Center, 2000 Cranford Avenue in Fort Myers. The Imagine Gala is an unforgettable evening full of surprises that benefits the Imaginarium and Southwest Florida Museum of History, and is poised to exceed last years record-breaking $100,000 to support those community assets. For this very special engagement, MasterChef Finalist Derrick Peltz returns home to Fort Myers as Celebrity Judge but even he has his work cut out for him with this years formidable lineup of culinary champions. Chefs James Fraser, David Rashty, Fabrice Deletrain and Ben Voisin prepare to do battle, armed with a special Fresh From Florida pantry, and a surprise ingredient that will serve up magic or mayhem. Attendees will help determine the fate of our gourmet gladiators, as they get to sample the goods and vote electronically for their favorite appetizer. Chef Fraser is a Johnson & Wales grad whose CV includes tenures in renowned restaurants in Paris, Italy and India. For the past 10 years he has been refining the chops of our future chefs, and is an Instructor for FGCUs Resort and Hospitality Management. The International Culinary Center in New York City is Chef Rashtys alma mater, and hes got 3-star Michelin restaurants on his resume. Chef de Cuisine at Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina, Rashty has worked under such prestigious names as Daniel Boulud and Jean Georges. Chefs Deletrain and Voisin represent team Fathoms, the Cape Harbour eatery, and are the masterminds behind Black Salt Culinary catering. Deletrain studied at LEcole de Paris des Metiers de la Table, and he worked with Michelin three-star chef Guy Savoy for eight years. Before joining his partner in crime, Voisin was Executive Chef at Montpelier Plantation and Beach on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Previously he managed 20 kitchen teams as Executive Sous Chef at the luxurious La Manga Club Hotel Principe Felipe in Spain. Voisin is also Executive Chef at Fathoms neighbor, The French Press. Of course, as a television star, Peltz cant resist getting into the action, and will create his very own Fresh From Florida-inspired appetizer for the crowd to enjoy. Decadent food will be passed throughout the evening. Fourteen speakers throughout the building will broadcast plenty of smack talk and play-by-plays of the cutting-edge competition, along with important announcements regarding the fabulous live and silent auction. Auction items last year included a Steamboat Springs getaway and a fabulous Caribbean vacation. Many levels of sponsorship are available, offering exciting promotional opportunities, gala tickets, a seat on the Celebrity Cook-Off Judges Panel, family memberships and more. All money raised at the event benefits The Imaginarium Group and SWFL Museum of History Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization that supports the Imaginarium and the SWFL Museum of History in raising exhibit and education program funds. Lipman Produce has once again graciously agreed to be Title Sponsor of the gala. Other sponsors include: CONRIC PR & Marketing, EnSite, FGCU, Myers Brettholtz, and The News-Press Media Group. The Imaginarium Science Center is a family-friendly science center and aquarium offering fun interactive exhibits and a 3-D theatre. The mission is to engage guests in the exploration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through hands-on exhibit experiences and educational programs that further the understanding of the natural and human-made world, foster an appreciation for Southwest Floridas unique environment and natural waterways, and nurture intellectual curiosity, discovery, and innovation. For more information, visit www.i-sci.org. The SWFL Museum of History The Southwest Florida Museum of History is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of history and traditions, with particular emphasis on Fort Myers and Southwest Florida. Exhibits showcase the regions rich history, from prehistoric to modern day. For more information, visit www.MUSEUMofHISTORY.org. The Imaginarium Science Center and the SWFL Museum of History have been under joint leadership for nearly a decade, but are now planning a new museum experience. Get a sneak peek as to where that path may lead at this joint fundraising event. It is sure to make history and blaze new trails into the future! Baby Basics of Collier County (www.BabyBasicsCollier.org), a volunteer organization that provides free diapers and kindness to over 378 infants and toddlers from low-income, working families in Collier County and Bonita Springs, is pleased to announce that Waterside Shops raised $5,012.70 for Baby Basics through its Coins for a Cause program. Coins for a Cause is a program in which Waterside Shops donates all of the coins in its fountains to one deserving organization each year. It was an absolute honor for Baby Basics of Collier County to be named the 2015 Coins for a Cause partner. This money is so important to an organization of our size. We are a volunteer organization and rely on donations, fundraising events, and sponsorship dollars to purchase diapers for our families. This program will allow us to provide diapers and kindness to even more babies in need in our community and for this we are truly thankful, said Jean Ann Lynch, Baby Basics of Collier Countys Founder and Board President. Baby Basics of Collier County was founded in 2004 and has impacted over 1,600 families in Collier County and Bonita Springs since it began. Families interested in the program are referred from local social service agencies and are screened for qualification. To participate in the program, families must meet certain criteria - which include at least one working parent or guardian, demonstrated financial need, and the family may not be receiving federal or state cash assistance. Those families who meet the criteria come to the closest distribution site to pick up a free supply of diapers. Volunteers greet the families, help them select the proper size, and provide information about the next distribution and other opportunities for supportive services. Baby Basics is a volunteer organization and all donations and sponsorship funds are used to purchase diapers. Set in the ultra-exclusive city of Naples, Florida, Waterside Shops is a collection of the finest luxury brand retailers from around the world and elegant dining options in a tranquil, outdoor environment. Anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, the center is home to more than 60 stores including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Ralph Lauren and MaxMara. A truly sublime experience, visitors can wander past cascading waterfalls, lush flowering plants, and dramatic architecture all under the canopy of towering royal palm trees. For more information, please visit www.WatersideShops.com. For more information about Baby Basics, please visit www.BabyBasicsCollier.org or contact Jean Ann Lynch, Baby Basics founder and board president, at 239-352-4310 or via email at BabyBasicsNDC@hotmail.com. A Clonmel woman will be seen this week on a television dating show that's designed to put the powers of female intuition to the ultimate test. A Clonmel woman will be seen this week on a television dating show that's designed to put the powers of female intuition to the ultimate test. Olwyn Boyle from the Mountain Road appears on Take Me Out, which will be screened at 9pm on TV3 next Friday night, January 7th. Each week eligible bachelors are presented on stage. The female contestants stand behind a podium with the lights on. If a girl doesn't like what she sees she presses a buzzer and rejects the man. The programme, hosted by Ray Foley, was recorded some weeks ago in The Helix in Dublin, but obviously Olwyn can't give too much away before it's shown on Friday night. "I knew two of the lads on the show it's a very small country! Unfortunately I had to give one of them a blackout straight away. Overall it was great craic and I really enjoyed it", she says. She has two sisters, Clodagh O'Donnell and Nessa Boyle, and Clodagh and her friend Trish McGrath travelled to The Helix to offer her moral support, as did Olwyn's friend Jane Wardrop from Dublin. She qualified for the show from auditions held some months ago. The daughter of Carmel and Matty Boyle, 29 year-old Olwyn moved to Dublin 10 years ago to pursue a career in acting. So far she has appearances in Fair City and Desperate Houses, and on comedian Katherine Lynch's show to her credit. Olwyn returned to college last September to study counselling and youth work at the Liberties College in Dublin. For the last number of years she has also worked occasionally as a clown doctor at the Crumlin Children's Hospital. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is attending the Munich Security Conference on 12-13 February 2014, against the background of a changed security environment. The challenges from the east and the south, including NATO's role in tackling the refugee and migrant crisis, were high on the agenda of Mr Stoltenberg's meeting with the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. Mr Stoltenberg also met the EU High Representative/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini to discuss the need for even closer cooperation between NATO and the EU after the Alliance's decision to deploy its Standing Maritime Group 2 to the Aegean. Previously, Mr Stoltenberg spoke about EU-NATO cooperation in dealing with the refugee and migrant crisis with the President of the European Commision Jean-Claude Juncker and the President of the European Council Donald Tusk. The NATO Secretary General and the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov reviewed NATO-Russia relations and agreed to continue exploring the possibility of a NATO-Russia Council meeting. The Secretary General made clear that for NATO, the agenda of a possible NRC meeting must include Russia's actions in Ukraine, and the need for stronger mechanisms for transparency and predictability of military activities. NATO suspended practical cooperation due to Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, but kept open channels of political dialogue. Mr Stoltenberg also met the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Lamberto Zannier, to discuss the state of the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine, the need for transparency and predictability in military activities in Europe, and further strengthening the cooperation between NATO and the OSCE. The NATO Secretary General will make a keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, February 13. A conspiracy to destroy natural medicine and profit from sickness and disease (NaturalNews) In this important note to all Natural News fans and readers, I explain why every branch of holistic and naturopathic medicine will be criminalized or banned if we don't stop the government's 100-year censorship of natural medicine, medical marijuana and healing foods.Sadly, most people who promote holistic medicine are "progressives" who believe in bigger government with more power and control over everything in society. But the unfortunate result of bigger government islike what we see with forced vaccine mandates (California SB 277), the medical kidnapping of children by cancer doctors and one day evenfrom citizens who never consented.At the same time, Big Government continues to, outlaw holistic cancer treatment therapies and imprison alternative medicine doctors who are pioneering new breakthroughs that could render the multi-billion-dollar cancer industry obsolete. (See the history of Dr. Burzynski for details...)The history of medical suppression in America can be traced back to the Rockefeller Foundation and the rise of the American Medical Association , led by a sociopathic, arrogant huckster named Dr. Fishbein. Working in conspiracy to destroy natural medicine and chiropractic medicine, these criminal institutions gave rise to allopathic medicine which is currently responsible for the mass killing of at least one million people per year. See PharmaDeathClock.com for a real-time count of the deaths.It is a historical fact that the American Medical Association was found guilty of conspiracy (in federal court) to destroy the chiropractic industry.Food freedom, medical freedom and even the freedom to save your own seeds can only be protected when individual liberty is restored and defended against overreaching government tyranny and totalitarianism. It's time to, legalize medical marijuana nationwide, legalize industrial hemp farming, legalize herbal medicine for treating cancer and end the deadly monopoly of Big Pharma, the FDA, the CDC and the institutions that profit from suffering and disease. Positive regulators of ferroptosis Vdac2/3 VDAC2/3, but not VDAC1, has a positive role in ferroptosis because knockdown of VDAC2/3, but not VDAC1, inhibits erastin-induced ferroptosis in Ras-mutated cells (Figure 1c).4 VDAC2/3 has been found to be a direct target of erastin via affinity purification assay.4 Cells with more VDAC protein are more sensitive to erastin.4 Erastin decreases the rate of NADH oxidation in isolated yeast mitochondria expressing a single mouse VDAC isoform4 and increases the permeance of NADH into liposomes containing human VDAC2.24 Erastin can enhance oxidative mitochondrial metabolism and limit aerobic glycolysis by disrupting the interaction between VDAC and tubulin in human liver cancer cells (e.g., HepG2), suggesting a potential role of energy metabolism and cytoskeleton in the modification of ferroptosis.25 Ras Erastin exhibits gene-selective lethality in Ras-mutant cells, including H-Ras-mutant engineered cells, N-Ras-mutant HT1080 cells, and K-Ras-mutant Calu-1 cells.4 However, induction of ferroptosis may exist in a both Ras-dependent and -independent manner. Artesunate induces pancreatic cancer death in a Ras-dependent manner,18 whereas it induces leukemia cell death in a Ras-independent manner.23 Indeed, several normal Ras wild-type cells such as kidney tubule cells, T cells, and fibroblasts are sensitive to erastin.5, 22, 26, 27, 28 Even in some cases, overexpression of mutant Ras in rhabdomyosarcoma cells (e.g., RMS13 cells) promotes ferroptosis resistance to erastin and RLS3.29 TFR1 Compared with ferroptosis-resistant cells (e.g., BJ cells), the expression of TFR1 is upregulated in ferroptosis-sensitive cells (e.g., BJeLR cells).3 In contrast, the expression of FTH1 and FTL is downregulated in ferroptosis-sensitive cells (e.g., BJeLR cells), indicating that iron storage also affects ferroptosis.3 Knockdown of TFR1 by shRNA inhibits erastin-induced ferroptosis in BJeLR cells, confirming that inhibition of iron uptake prevents ferroptosis.3 Transferrin and glutamine are two important components of full fetal bovine serum, which induces ferroptosis in fibroblasts upon amino acid starvation.30 NOX The NOX protein family transfers electrons across biological membranes to reduce oxygen to superoxide. The canonical NOX inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium and the NOX1/4-specific inhibitor GKT137831 partly inhibit erastin-induced ferroptosis in Calu-1 and HT1080 cells (Figure 1c).1 The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is a metabolic pathway parallel to glycolysis that generates NADPH and pentoses. Pharmacological inhibition of PPP by 6-aminonicotinamde (Figure 1c) or knockdown of two PPP enzymes (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase) also partly prevents erastin-induced ferroptosis in Calu-1 cells.1 p53 Activation of p53 has been found to be required for ferroptosis in certain cancer cells.27 This process depends on direct transcriptional inhibition of SLC7A11, a key component of system X c (Figure 1a) (discussed later). Moreover, p533KR (an acetylation-defective mutant) is responsible for the inhibition of SLC711A expression (Figure 1a), but not other known p53 target genes (e.g., p21 and BAX) involved in antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic activity.27 p533KR mice lacking cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis, or senescence still exhibit tumor suppression function.31 This tumor suppressor function of p533KR is dependent on the induction of ferroptosis.27 Ferroptosis also mediates hyperactive p53 signaling in the promotion of embryonic lethality.27 The E3 ubiquitin ligase murine double minute-2 (MDM2) regulates the proteasomal degradation of p53. Ferrostatin-1 alone cannot prevent knockdown of MDM2 by RNAi-induced cell death,32 indicating that mixed cell death types are responsible for p53-induced death. CARS Cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CARS) is a positive regulator of ferroptosis upon cystine deprivation.33 Knockdown of CARS inhibits erastin-induced ferroptosis, whereas overexpression of CARS enhances erastin sensitivity in several types of cancer cells (Figure 1c).33 However, loss of CARS cannot prevent RSL3-, FIN56-, and BSO-induced cell death, suggesting that CARS regulates ferroptosis at the cysteine biosynthesis level.33 Negative regulators of ferroptosis GPX4 GPX4 converts reduced GSH to oxidized glutathione (GSSG) while reducing lipid hydroperoxides to their corresponding alcohols or free hydrogen peroxide to water. Treatment with erastin or BSO can deplete GSH and GSSG and increase NADPH oxidation and lysophosphatidylcholines (an indicator of generation of ROS from lipid).6 In contrast, GSH and N-acetylcysteine (a GSH biosynthetic precursor) prevent erastin lethality in U2OS cells (Figure 1a).6 However, RSL3 can generate ROS in the absence of GSH depletion.6 GPX4 is a direct target of RLS3. Knockdown of GPX4 induces ferroptosis in an iron-, MEK-, and ROS-dependent manner, whereas overexpression of GPX4 leads to resistance to RSL3.6 Erastin is also able to cause GPX4 degradation in several types of cancer cells, suggesting that the protein degradation pathway is involved in ferroptosis.23 The function of ferroptosis in vivo is confirmed by using GPX4 conditional or inducible knockout mice. Inducible knockout of GPX4 in the kidney leads to acute renal failure, which can be rescued by ferrostatin-1 and necrostatin-1 (a necroptosis inhibitor).5 Necrostatin-1 may have an off-target effect in the inhibition of ferroptosis in the kidney.5 In the presence or absence of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection, fewer CD8+ T cells have been observed in the spleens and lymph nodes of mice with conditional knockout of GPX4 in T cells by Cd4-Cre.26 GPX4/ T cells rapidly accumulate lipid peroxides and die by ferroptosis, but not other types of RCD.26 Inducible neuron-specific GPX4 knockout mice have neuronal loss in the brain partly due to induction of ferroptosis.34 In contrast, mice with deletion of GPX4 in hematopoietic cells develop anemia due to induction of RIP3-dependent necroptosis, but not apoptosis and ferroptosis.35 These results indicate context-dependent functions of the GPX4 in cell death. System Xc System X c is responsible for maintaining redox homeostasis by importing cystine, where it is then reduced to cysteine and used to synthesize the major antioxidant GSH. Inhibiting system X c with sulfasalazine can trigger ferroptosis, whereas increasing cystine uptake into cells by -mercaptoethanol inhibits erastin-induced ferroptosis in HT1080 cells (Figure 1a).1 System X c structurally consists of SLC7A11 and SLC3A2. The upregulation of SLC7A11 by erastin is not dependent on iron and ROS.1 Suppression of SLC7A11 expression by RNAi increases the anticancer activity of erastin, whereas overexpression of SLC7A11 by gene transfection diminishes erastin-induced ferroptosis.1 In contrast, RSL3-mediated ferroptosis is system X c -independent.1 Several ER stress markers such as phosphorylation of eIF2 and ATF4 protein upregulation has been observed in ferroptosis following treatment with erastin, sulfasalazine, and sorafenib.7 As discussed above, p53 is a positive regulator of ferroptosis in certain cancer cells by inhibition of SLC7A11 expression, therefore inhibiting system X c activity.7 HSPB1 HSPB1 expression is remarkably induced by the transcriptional factors heat shock factor-1 (HSF-1) after erastin treatment in several human cancer cells.36 Inhibition of HSF-1-dependent HSPB1 expression increases, whereas overexpression of HSPB1 inhibits erastin-induced ferroptosis.36 The phosphorylation of HSPB1 is important for its function in the regulation of actin dynamics and iron uptake. HSPB1 phosphorylation is increased by protein kinase C (PKC) following erastin treatment in HeLa cells, which facilitates ferroptotic resistance through blocking cytoskeleton-mediated iron uptake and subsequent ROS production (Figure 1b).36 NRF2 NRF2 has an anti-ferroptosis role in HCC cells.17 p62 interacts with the NRF2-binding site of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) and competitively inhibits Keap1-NRF2 interaction, which is responsible for NRF2 protein stability following treatment with FINs (e.g., erastin, sorafenib, and BSO).17 Upregulated NRF2 protein promotes transcription of genes encoding antioxidant proteins (e.g., quinone oxidoreductase 1 and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1)) and iron metabolism proteins (e.g., FTH1) in ferroptosis.17 Knockdown of NRF2 and these NRF2-targeted genes accelerates erastin or sorafenib-induced ferroptosis in HCC cells.17 In contrast, induction of HO-1 expression by erastin may promote cell death in HT1080 and fibroblasts, suggesting that HO-1 has a dual role in ferroptosis.37 Scientists recently revived a South African sub-species of zebra known as the quagga. This odd-looking zebra lacking stripes on its hind legs has been extinct for more than 100 years. The last known quagga died in a zoo in Amsterdam in 1883. Inspired to resurrect the species, Reinhold Rau from the University of Cape Town founded The Quagga Project in 1987. When analyzing DNA from original quagga skin, researchers found the extinct creature was genetically the same as the zebra. This means that the only true difference between the quagga and modern plains zebra (Equus Quagga) is their superficial markings. In addition to the lack of black and white stripes on its hindquarters, the quaggas' coat turns to a darker brown color towards the back part of its body. So Rau and his team looked for plains zebra that fit the profile -- less vivid black and white stripes on their hindquarters. Then, they selectively bred zebras to bring forth more and more quagga-like qualities. "It's an attempt to try and repair ecological damage that was done a long time ago in some sort of small way," Eric Harley, a retired professor of chemical pathology at the University of Cape Town, said in a statement. "It is also to try and get a representation back of a charismatic animal that used to live in South Africa." After several years of rebreeding the species, researchers claim that the quagga are back in action. It took five generations, but the selectively bred animals boast all the same traits as the quaggas once did. "To all intents and purposes they are the quagga back again. The project has been a complete success," Harley added. Quaggas were hunted to near extinction in the 19th century. Therefore The Quagga Project was an attempt to right wrongs and return a native South African species to the world after it was wrongly killed. In response to ethical concerns raised, Harley said: "We don't do genetic engineering, we aren't cloning, we aren't doing any particularly clever sort of embryo transfers-it is a very simple project of selective breeding." To appease critics, the team has decided to name the new animal Rau-quagga to set it apart from its predecessors. The hope is to keep the project running and to create a substantial herd of Rau-quagga to be released in their native homeland of South Africa. Related Articles Extinct 'Lonesome George' Tortoise Species May Be Brought Back To Life With Help From Relatives For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN). -Follow Samantha on Twitter @Sam_Ashley13 Harmful algae toxins have been found in as many as 13 marine animals living in Alaska, according to a new study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Researchers examined the stomach content, urine and feces of whales, walruses, sea lions, seals, porpoises and sea otters in the search of two types of toxins: domoic acid and saxitoxin. "What really surprised us was finding these toxins so widespread in Alaska, far north of where they have been previously documented in marine mammals," Kathi Lefebvre, study leader and a NOAA Fisheries research scientist, said in a news release. "However, we do not know whether the toxin concentrations found in marine mammals in Alaska were high enough to cause health impacts to those animals. It's difficult to confirm the cause of death of stranded animals. But we do know that warming trends are likely to expand blooms, making it more likely that marine mammals could be affected in the future." For their study, experts from the Wildlife Algal-toxin Research and Response Network for the West Coast (WARRN-West) examined samples of 905 marine mammals that were stranded or harvested in Alaska from 2004 to 2013. Algal toxin poisoning among sea lions has been a common occurrence in Central California since 1998. The recent study, however, is the first to document the presence of harmful algae from the south region of Alaska to the Arctic Ocean. While Pacific walrus showed the highest concentrations of both toxins, researchers found that as a whole the levels of these algal toxins were well below the seafood safety regulatory limits -- but that doesn't mean humans should not be cautious about the seafood they consume. Study co-author Gay Sheffield warns that bearded seals and walruses may contain contaminated clams in their stomachs suggesting the animals -- a delicacy in western and northern Alaska -- may not be completely safe for human consumption. However, it is less likely that animal parts such as muscles and blubber contain toxin levels that pose a threat to human health. So far, authorities have not made any changes in the food safety guidelines of the Alaska Department of Health. Their findings were recently published in the journal Harmful Algae. Related Articles Right Whale Die-Offs: Toxic Algal Blooms May Be Culprit, New Study Shows For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN). -Follow Samantha on Twitter @Sam_Ashley13 After a six month investigation, two missing boys have been found safe and their mother charged with international parental kidnapping, the FBI announced. The boys, aged nine and 15, of Washington, were found in Mexico's Sinaola state, with their mother, 41-year-old Faye Ku. The boys were reunited Saturday with their father, David, who has legal custody of the sons. The boys father has family in Carlsbad and Encinitas and says his ex-wife has friends in San Diego. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies believed Ku adbucted her sons in Southern California at Los Angeles International Airport in August. "For us personally, Helen and I are overjoyed to have [the boys] back at home," David Cook, the boys' father, said in a statement. "The boys are healthy, but have been through a difficult experience. They have begun to make contact with their friends, and we are confident that in time they will heal." A felony warrant for custodial interference was issued by the King County Superior Court in Washington on September 3 for the boys mother. A federal arrest warrant was issued in January by the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, after Ku was charged with international parental kidnapping. Another federal complaint and arrest warrant was issued Friday. According to investigators, Faye crossed the border from San Diego to Tijuana illegally on August 29. The FBIs Legal Attache office in Mexico pursued leads in the case and contacted Mexican authorities regarding their location. The FBIs Seattle Division and Legat Mexico City coordinated the deportation of Ku with Mexican authorities. National Institute of Migration (INM) officers accompanied the mother Friday to LAX, where she was taken into federal custody, officials said. "We are eternally grateful to the FBI both here in Seattle and in Mexico for their tireless work in bringing this case to a successful conclusion," the boys' father said in a statement. "We are also very thankful to the Bellevue police department and the Los Angeles County sheriff's department for their role in the initial investigation." Ku is expected to appear in U.S. District Court on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Presidents Day weekend shootings have left six people dead and at least 14 others wounded across the city, according to Chicago Police. The latest homicide happened when two men were discovered shot to death Sunday morning in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood on the South Side. Officers responded to a call of a person shot in the 5000 block of South Champlain at 10:50 a.m. and discovered two people unresponsive with gunshot wounds inside an apartment, police said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Earlier Sunday, another man was found shot to death in the Longwood Manor neighborhood on the South Side. A 22-year-old man was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the back about 1 a.m. inside a vehicle in the 9700 block of South Sangamon. Police said he had been driving southbound on Sangamon when he was shot before crashing his vehicle. He was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiners office did not immediately confirm the fatality. Saturday morning, a 27-year-old woman was gunned down while trying to intervene in a fight at an Austin neighborhood party on the West Side. Two people got into an argument about 5:25 a.m. at the party in the 300 block of South Cicero. Latania Anderson, 27, stepped in between the two males to break them up, but one of them shot her in the head, according to police and the medical examiners office. Anderson, who lived in the 4700 block of West Maypole, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Less than two hours earlier, a Back of the Yards neighborhood shooting left a man dead on the South Side. Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 3:50 a.m. in the 4700 block of South Laflin Street found 24-year-old Lorenzo Garcia outside with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. Garcia, who lived in the 4800 block of South Laflin, was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. About 2 a.m., one man was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting in the West Lawn neighborhood on the Southwest Side. The three men ages 22, 23 and 25 were in a vehicle shortly after 2 a.m. in the 6800 block of South Lawndale when the occupants of another vehicle started shooting at them, police said. They showed up at Holy Cross Hospital and were later transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. The 23-year-old, later identified as Vincent Avila of the 5400 block of South Moody Avenue, was shot in the chest and pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m., authorities said. The 25-year-old was listed in serious condition with a neck wound and the 22-year-old was in good condition with wounds to the right wrist and left shoulder, police said. The most recent nonfatal shooting happened late Sunday in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side. A 29-year-old woman and 35-year-old man were sitting in a vehicle in the 0 100 block of West 101st Street about 11:50 p.m. when they both heard gunfire and felt pain, police said. The man suffered gunshot wounds to the left and right shoulders, while the woman was shot in the left shoulder, police said. He drove them to Roseland Community Hospital, where both of their conditions were stabilized. Less than 20 minutes earlier, a 22-year-old man was shot in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. He was walking in the 8800 block of South Indiana Avenue at 11:35 p.m. when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He was shot in the upper left side of his chest and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized. About 9 p.m., a 34-year-old man was shot in the Southwest Side Ashburn neighborhood. He was getting into a vehicle in the 3400 block of West 84th Place when another vehicle drove by, and a back seat passenger got out and fired shots. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was taken to Christ Medical Center in good condition. Less than an hour earlier, a man was shot in the Archer Heights neighborhood on the Southwest Side. At 8:10 p.m., a 23-year-old man was in a vehicle in the 4700 block of South Hamlin Avenue when someone from the street fired shots. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the back and showed up at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn where he was listed in serious condition, police said. At least seven more people have been wounded in other shootings since 5 p.m. Friday. An award-winning journalist from Chicago was one of four Americans detained in Bahrain on Valentines Day during violent protests marking the anniversary of the kingdoms 2011 uprising, according to a family spokesperson and freelance journalism group representing her. Anna Therese Day and three members of her camera crew were detained while working in the country, Frontline Freelance Register, a group that represents freelance journalists exposed to risk while gathering news, said in a statement. The four are experienced journalists, having most recently worked on virtual reality documentary filmmaking in Egypt and Gaza, and we hope the Bahraini authorities will release them rapidly and without harm, the organization said in a statement. According to The Associated Press, the four Americans arrived in Bahrain last week and were journalists covering the anniversary of the uprising. Bahrain's interior ministry said one of the Americans was wearing a mask and joining "rioters" in attacks on police. All four gave "false" information that they were tourists and were detained in the same area, the ministry added in a statement. The ministry said "at least some" were acting as journalists but hadn't registered with the necessary authorities. The U.S. Embassy in Manama said in a statement Monday it was "aware of the arrest of four U.S. citizens in Bahrain" on Sunday but that it could not discuss the case due to privacy concerns. A spokesperson for Days family said the allegations made by Bahrains interior ministry were impossible. Anna and her crew are committed journalists who only want to ensure they could undertake their profession ethically and thoroughly. The allegation that they were in any way involved in illegal behavior or anything other than journalistic activities is impossible, the statement read. Anna Day is much loved and missed and we are concerned about her well-being as well as that of her three American colleagues. We hope the Bahraini authorities will release all four journalists as soon as possible so they can return home." Day, who is from Idaho but grew up in Chicago, has reported from all over the Middle East along with north Africa, India, Brazil and Mexico. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, Al Jazeera English, the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post and other media outlets. The identities of the three other journalists said to be with her were not released. A funeral was held Sunday for three generations of a Chicago family after they were found dead inside a Southwest Side home. Crowds of mourners lined up in front of the six caskets carrying six members of the Martinez family inside St. Gall Church to say their final goodbyes. The family was found dead in the 5700 block of South California, located in the citys Gage Park neighborhood, Feb. 4 in what investigators are calling a targeted incident. The victims were 58-year-old Rosaura Martinez; her 60-year-old husband, Noe Martinez Sr.; their 38-year-old son, Noe Martinez Jr.; the couple's grandchildren, 13-year-old Leonardo Cruz and 10-year-old Alexis Cruz; and the boys mother, 32-year-old Maria Herminia Martinez. The cause of death for all six victims was ruled a homicide. According to the autopsy report, the victims died of multiple sharp and blunt force injuries due to assault, except for Maria Herminia Martinez, who died of multiple gunshot wounds. Armando Cruz, the father of the youngest victims Leo and Alexis, fought back tears as he spoke in Spanish about his family. He used a translator during a news conference Sunday. "He says that Chicago has been his hometown, Chicago has given his family, and Chicago has taken away his family," the translator said. Authorities are reviewing hours of surveillance video from CTA buses and nearby city cameras for evidence in the investigation. A motive remains unclear in the slayings. I have faith in the Chicago Police Department that theyre doing their job, Dawn Valenti, a crisis responder, said. Investigators continue to interview family members coming from Mexico with the aid of the Mexican Consulate in Chicago, which was working to bring the victims bodies to Mexico for burial. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes and no autopsy was necessary, a judge has told The Associated Press. Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes in Texas, said the 79-year-old jurist's body was taken from the El Paso facility late Sunday afternoon and was to be flown to Virginia, although he had no details. Scalia's family didn't think a private autopsy was necessary and requested that his remains be returned to Washington as soon as possible, Lujan said. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Sunday she consulted with Scalia's personal physician and sheriff's investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding that he had died of natural causes. He was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch Saturday morning. Guevara says the declaration was made around 1:52 p.m. Saturday. Terry Sharpe, assistant director for operations at El Paso International Airport, said a private plane carrying Scalia's body departed around 8 p.m. EST Sunday. Scalia's body was accompanied to the airport by U.S. marshals, he said. The body was returned to Virginia late Sunday. [[368853341,C]] Scalia's weekend death was as much of a shock to those at the ranch as it was to the rest of the nation. The owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, where Scalia died, said the justice seemed his usual self at dinner the night before he was found "in complete repose" in his room. John Poindexter told reporters Scalia was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests. He arrived Friday around noon. The group had dinner Friday night and Scalia was his "usual, personable self," Poindexter said. Scalia retired around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep, according to Poindexter. A procession that included about 20 law enforcement officers arrived in the early hours Sunday at the funeral home more than three hours from the ranch, Lujan said. [[368734431,C]] Kristina Mills, a history teacher at nearby Chapin High School, came to the funeral home to pay her respects and brought flowers. "Recognizing his contribution to serving our country just compelled me to come," she said. "I wanted to do yellow roses because for him dying in Texas. I didn't want his family to have bad memories of Texas." In the nation's capital, where flags flew at half-staff at the White House and Supreme Court, the political sniping soared, raising the prospect of a court short-handed for some time. The Senate's Republican leader, backed largely by his party's White House candidates, essentially told a Democratic president in his final year in office not to bother asking lawmakers to confirm a nominee for the lifetime seat. [[238430011,C]] Scalia's colleagues praised his brilliance and grieved his death. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and Scalia "were best buddies" for more than 30 years. Justice Clarence Thomas said, "It is hard to imagine the court without my friend." President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the high court, where Scalia served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation and U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world. While flags were being lowered, the campaign-year political heat has risen over the vacancy on the nine-member court. At issue is whether Obama, in his last year in office, should make a nomination and the Republican-led Senate should confirm that choice in an election year. [[238427591,C]] Obama pledges a nomination "in due time." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., thinks it should wait for the next president. The Republican resistance to an election-year confirmation got a thorough public airing on the GOP debate stage just hours after Scalia's companions found him dead. Republicans argued that Obama, as a lame duck, should not fill the vacancy created by Scalia's death, but leave it to the next president which they hope will be one of them. The Constitution gives the Senate "advice and consent" powers over a presidential nomination to the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz, one of the two GOP senators running for president, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the GOP-controlled Senate is doing its job. "We're advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court," Cruz said. But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings on a nominee, said it would be "sheer dereliction of duty for the Senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote." Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy told CNN's "State of the Union" that he believes McConnell is "making a terrible mistake. And he's certainly ignoring the Constitution." Warren reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Sarah Rankin in Chicago and Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, contributed to this report. AP videographer John L. Mone in El Paso also contributed. A man and a woman were arrested Thursday after officials led a three-day investigation to search for a 15-year-old runaway who was being trafficked in Orange County, human trafficking task force officials said in a news release Sunday. Ariel Guizar, 35, and Araceli Mendoza, 23, both of San Jose, were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking Thursday evening after officers located their vehicle and two additional victims at a motel in Anaheim, according to the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. On Wednesday, concerned family members contacted the task force regarding a 15-year-old female runaway who was believed to be trafficked in Anaheim. The task force, along with other agencies, then launched a three-day investigation throughout Southern and Central California to search for the runaway. She was located in Bellflower on Thursday afternoon, officials said. During the police interview, she identified at least two other young female human trafficking victims, all three of whom were trafficked by the suspect, who used threats of violence and a handgun against them, officials said. Investigators discovered a handgun and two 19-year-old women in Guizar's hotel room, officials said. Guizar is being held on $1 million bail and Mendoza on $250,000 bail. Both were booked at the Orange County Jail for human trafficking of a minor and weapon violations. Snow has proven dangerous across the state of Indiana Sunday, as several major highways were shut down due to multiple crashes. Up to 50 vehicles were involved in a crash on I-70 westbound in Putnam County, according to Indiana State Police. Reported injuries are not serious, ranging from pain and lacerations to possible fractures, police say. All westbound lanes have been closed for the past few hours as troopers continue to deal with the clean-up. In a separate incident, all lanes of northbound I-65 in Lebanon, Boone County reopened Sunday evening after a reported 60 vehicles were involved in multiple crashes across a stretch of the highway from the 138 to 140 mile marker, according to multiple agencies investigating. With at least 10 people transported to area hospitals, no injuries at this time are believed to be life-threating, authorities say. Boone County Corporal Art Naekel told the Associated Press that poor visibility on I-65 led to an initial 5-vehicle crash around 2 p.m. that slowed traffic to a standstill, followed by another collision involving dozens of other vehicles. The Boone County Sheriffs Department, Lebanon Police Department, and Indiana State Police are all involved. Lanes reopened shortly after 5 p.m. Several additional multi-vehicle crashes later Sunday led to the closing of westbound Interstate 74 between Greensburg and Shelbyville. The sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday has already ignited an unanticipated political battle over who might fill his seat at the bench in the countrys highest court. Though many Republican politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, publicly opposed the thought of President Obama appointing a justice prior to the end of his term, Obama made it clear in a statement Saturday night that he intends to fulfill his constitutional responsibilities. So who will he appoint? Several names have been floated by various pundits and media outlets, and of those names, at least four have Chicago or Illinois ties. 63-year-old Merrick Garland, mentioned widely as a likely candidate for the role, is currently the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and grew up in north suburban Lincolnwood. Garland attending Niles West High School in Skokie before graduating with honors from Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He was also considered for the Supreme Court in 2010 after the retirement of Justice Stevens. Patricia Millett, 52, serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and has been named by the New York Times, Politico, CNN, among others, as a potential nominee. According to the New York Times, Millett earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before attending Harvard Law School. Some sources say Senator Amy Klobuchar, 55, would be an unusual, but not unexpected pick for the bench. The confirmation process involves a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Klobuchar is a current member. She was elected to the Senate from Minnesota in 2006, serving as Hennepin County prosecutor prior to that. Her Chicago tie? Shes a graduate of the University of Chicago Law school, where Scalia taught from 1977 to 1982, leaving just prior to her arrival. Another choice being discussed is 51-year-old Jane Kelly, who has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit out of Iowa since 2013. While her ties to Chicago and Illinois are not as strong, she did serve as a visiting instructor at the University of Illinois College of Law before moving to Iowa to work as an assistant public defender. Kelly graduated from Harvard Law in 1991 with President Obama, and former adviser David Axelrod is quoted in the New York Times as saying I would favor sitting appellate judges like Jane Kelly from the Eighth Circuit, who have cleared the Senate unanimously. While Axelrod also said There will be many opinions on this, and a lot of good candidates, with these potential nominees, there is a chance that the next Supreme Court justice could have Illinois ties. Dozens of people were trapped Sunday on a tram at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. Mountain officials confirmed that 48 people were in the tram suspended in the air of the Franconia ski area. All of the passengers were evacuated. According to Cannon Mountain, a service brake issue caused the tram to stop at 1:50 p.m. At 3:20 p.m., officials decided to make the evacuations. Cell phone video sent to necn by Britnee Rhoades shows people being rescued from one of the stuck trams "The tram stopped suddenly so it was definitely an e-brake stop, and it swung like I've never swung on that tram before," said Jeremy Fishel, who was on the lower tram.. Fishel is a season pass holder at Cannon Mountain. He says there was not panic. In fact, the head of lift operations happened to be on the tram, as well. She told the skiers they hoped to get it moving again quickly with an auxiliary motor. But after about an hour, they decided to get the people off. Cannon Mountain marketing director Gregory Keeler says the trams have equipment to do that. "There's a door at the bottom in the middle of the car that opens up," he told necn. "A rope gets put up to the top or down from the car and it's attached to a sling and we essentially lower people down on a sling. Sort of a belay system." "They had one harness that was lowered down, and as that was being lowered down, there was a bucket that would go up and then somebody would get in the bucket," Fishel explained. "The bucket would go down, the harness would go back up." He says it only took about five seconds to lower each person the approximately 40 feet to the ground where emergency personnel waited to check everyone out. "There were no injuries reported," Keeler said. "Some cold feet, but not even any frostbite reported." The tramway was expected to be closed until 8:15 a.m. Monday. No one was injured or sickened. The mountain says it provided food, drinks and blankets to the passengers once they were freed from the tram. Stay with necn as this story develops. Airstrikes blamed on Russia hit at least two hospitals and a school in northern Syria on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of civilians and further dimming hopes for a temporary truce, as government troops backed by Russian warplanes pressed a major offensive north of Aleppo. The raids came days after Russia and other world powers agreed to bring about a pause in fighting that would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the revival of peace talks. The projected truce agreed on Friday in Munich was to begin in a week, but there was no sign that would happen. On Monday, Syrian state TV reported that pro-government forces have entered the northern town of Tel Rifaat, where they were fighting "fierce battles" against insurgents. Tel Rifaat is a major stronghold of militants fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad. Capturing Tel Rifaat would bring government forces closer to their target of Azaz, near the Turkish border. In Idlib province, an airstrike destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in attacks that were minutes apart. It said seven people were killed and eight others were "missing, presumed dead." "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said MSF mission chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The opposition group, which tracks both sides of the conflict through sources on the ground, said dozens were wounded in the attack. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by phone from Maaret al-Numan. He said five people were killed near the MSF clinic and "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead." The Observatory and other opposition activists said another hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also hit Monday, most likely by a Syrian government airstrike. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing five people, including three children and a pregnant woman, according to the Observatory. A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said close to 50 civilians were killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria. Ban called the attacks "blatant violations of international laws" that "are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria," according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. Activists posted amateur video that showed civil defense workers pulling bodies from the rubble of the MSF-supported structure in Idlib, which collapsed into a heap of rubble and was tilting to one side. Others showed a huge crater next to a building that purportedly housed the child and maternal hospital in Azaz. Incubators could be seen in a ward littered with broken glass and toppled medical equipment. Russia says its airstrikes are targeting militants and denies hitting hospitals or civilians. But rights groups and activists have repeatedly accused Moscow of killing civilians. Those accusations have increased recently as Russia intensified its airstrikes to provide cover to Syrian troops advancing in the north. Troops are trying to cut rebel supply lines to Turkey and surround rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, once Syria's largest. Daragh McDowell, the head Russia analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a British risk analysis firm, said Russian and Syrian tactics "strongly suggest a deliberate effort to further exacerbate the refugee crisis, as a means of destabilizing Europe and pressuring the West to agree to a settlement in Syria on Moscow and Damascus' terms." Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defense, a group of first responders known as the "White Helmets," said the women's hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles. He said some 10 people were killed and many were wounded. "We think it is Russia because the photos of the missiles have Russian language (and) because we haven't seen this kind (of missile) before the Russian intervention," he said. Russia has been a key ally of Assad throughout the five-year uprising and civil war, and began launching airstrikes on Sept. 30. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving and medics unloading children on stretchers. "They hit the school, they hit the school," wailed a Syrian woman who was unloaded from an ambulance onto a wheelchair. The U.S. State Department condemned the airstrikes, saying they cast doubt on "Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people." In Brussels, European Union officials had earlier called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table, decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities." Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said "we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that." The U.N.'s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with Syrian officials. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is not giving up on his long-running attempt to overhaul Connecticut's liquor laws. Despite opposition during previous legislative sessions, the Democrat this year has again proposed a bill that would eliminate so-called minimum bottle pricing. Current state law generally prohibits retailers, such as package stores, from selling alcoholic liquor other than beer below a minimum price. Malloy contends that's unfair to the consumer and ultimately hurts Connecticut tax revenue collections. "When in doubt, stand up for the consumer," Malloy said in an interview with The Associated Press, estimating prices in Connecticut are $4 to $12 more per bottle than other states. "And the idea that Connecticut consumers are paying so much more money for wine and spirts than are paid by the surrounding states is quite indefensible." As in past years, the state package store owners association is opposing the move. The group argues the price difference between states, which it estimates is $2 or $3 per bottle, has more to do with taxes than the minimum pricing law, and warns Malloy's latest bill could lead to a 10 percent drop in revenues and force 600 of the state's approximate 1,150 liquor stores out of business, resulting in an estimated 2,100 job losses. "If we had a 2,100-employee company going belly up in Connecticut, we'd be falling all over ourselves trying to help them survive," said Carroll Hughes, chief lobbyist for the Connecticut Package Store Association. But not everyone in the industry agrees with Hughes' dire predictions. "I think that's a fiction," said Edward Cooper, vice president and public affairs and community relations for Maryland-based Total Wine More, which has 30 stores in 18 states, including three stores in Connecticut. Cooper said retail is always evolving and he's confident the liquor store owners will figure out a way to provide customers what they want. "Having a system in place, a government-mandated system in place in which the retailers are told what it is they should sell a product for and thus guarantee them a profit at a certain level, that's really not the free market," he said. "Really the losers are the residents of Connecticut." The General Assembly's General Law Committee has scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 23, when the proposal is expected to be discussed. It's unclear whether lawmakers will finally pass it in this year's short three-month legislation session. It could be appealing as legislators try to balance the state's budget. Malloy's administration has estimated the change could boost state revenues by $1.6 million to $2.1 million, a figure Hughes strongly disputes. Malloy began his efforts to overhaul the state's liquor laws in 2012. That year, he only managed to pass legislation that allowed retail sales of alcohol on Sundays and certain holidays. Undeterred, he renewed his push last year to extend hours for purchases and change the fixed-pricing system. While legislation passed in 2015 allowing the stores to stay open later, the price proposal faced strong opposition. Hughes said it would only benefit "big box" retailers who he argues are trying to take over the market. Lawmakers already agreed to expand the number of liquor licenses one person can hold from three to four, beginning July 2015, and from four to five, beginning July 2016. "The whole purpose here, the whole result would be to give business to the box store who is trying to take over everybody's business in Connecticut," said Hughes, who warns liquor prices will ultimately be higher if chains take over the market. Cooper, whose company is planning to open fourth store in Connecticut, called Hughes' argument a "tried and true red herring" that says bigger is worse and smaller is better. "I say, better businesspeople, better retailers are better, regardless of size," he said. West Haven police had their hands full Sunday night after deploying a taser on a man causing trouble in two different businesses. Police said they were first called to Z's Corner Cafe on Campbell Avenue for an intoxicated man causing a disturbance. The man then moved on to Krauszer's where he allegedly caused yet another disturbance. Officers located the man inside the store where he actively resisted officers' commands. Officials said they then deployed a taser before taking him into custody. Police arrested 39-year-old Branford Davis, of West Haven. He faces multiple charges and was held on bond. Davis also had a Failure to Appear warrant which was served. New Haven police are searching for a woman who is accused of setting her boyfriend on fire and causing extensive injuries. Medics were responding to a home on Blatchley Avenue on Thursday to investigate a domestic dispute when the call was updated to an assault by burning, police said. When crews arrived at the home, they found the victim, screaming in pain. He sustained burns to about 40 percent of his body, including his face, arms and torso, and some of his skin had burned off. He told police that his girlfriend, Mayra Crespo, 46, of New Haven, had thrown alcohol on him and lit him on fire inside their apartment, police said. The man was rushed to YaleNew Haven Hospital and he remains in critical condition at the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital. Police are searching for Crespo, who is wanted for first-degree arson, assault in the first degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, second-degree breach of peace and violation of a protective order. A popular Hartford restaurant was evacuated during Valentine's Day dinner on Sunday evening after water poured into the restaurant from burst pipes, according to employees. Scott Smith, vice president and chief operating officer for Max, said the Max Downtown on Asylum Street was forced to evacuate after a pipe burst above them on the mezzanine level of City Place. The power was out and the company will be able to assess the damage once power is restored. It was like Niagara Falls. I mean it was mounds of water. So, theres probably a lot of damage in there at this point, Lauren Holden, an employee of Max Downtown, said. Diners said they were evacuated from the restaurant after water starting pouring from above into the restaurant and spilling onto the sidewalk. We started to head to the front and they said, 'Turn around because theres live electrical over here,' and they put everyone in the back, Jeffrey Shankman, of Cheshire, said. Hartford fire crews responded to assess the situation and taped off the sections of sidewalk where the water spilled out and froze. No injuries were reported. The restaurant will be closed today and staff members hope to make a decision about when they can reopen by midday. Smith said the restaurant appreciates how understanding the customers have been and is very sorry for the inconvenience on Valentines Day. The FBI says a growing number of sexual predators are posing as tweens and befriending children and young teens by using apps such as Kik, Snapchat, Instagram and ooVoo. They use social engineering and they use cons to get these kids to build up that trust in that relationship and then possibly send images, FBI Special Agent Wes Tagtmeyer said. A Chicago mother said her 11-year-old daughter sent naked photos of herself to someone she met on a popular social media site two years ago and the recipient was someone who claimed to be a boy at her school. I think she probably felt special that he was asking for pictures and he kept asking and asking and she said No and then it was like, You go first, the mother recalled. NBC Connecticut is not using the mothers name in order to protect the identity of her daughter. The mother said she found photos of both of her child and the other person on her mobile phone. Police never found the person responsible for soliciting photos from her daughter, but word of the incident spread. Once you put a picture out there it really does grow like grassfire, she said. The mother said it was a difficult lesson to learn and two years later, the incident still impacts her child. We try to help her deal with the feelings and the regret, the mother said. The FBI said predators might also threaten victims into sending more photos in a growing crime known as sextortion. The subject comes back and says if you dont do this or send a more explicit image or video for me, then Im going to send this image to your parents, Tagtmeyer said. According to the FBI, the average age of a sextortion victim is 14. The FBI has investigated victims as young as 8-years-old. The FBI recommends parents closely monitor their childrens mobile device usage and have age-appropriate discussions about the dangers of communicating with strangers online and sending photos and videos. They also urge parents not to allow their children to charge their devices in their bedrooms at night and to set up passwords for downloading apps. Curran Dee is just 9 years old, but already uses social media in the classroom and at home. He and his mother, Marialice, are learning the virtual world together and they share a Twitter handle, in part, so that she can keep a close eye on him. I can check direct messages, I can check whos following him, just to make sure hes being safe, being ethical, being savvy, Marialice said. Its my responsibility. NBC Connecticut reached out to Kik, Snapchat, Instagram and ooVoo for comment and a spokesperson for ooVoo responded by saying the company takes security and privacy issues very seriously and roots out and deletes any suspicious accounts against which suspicious behaviors have been reported. A Kik spokesman told us the company is addressing parents safety concerns and offers a Guide For Parents. As a company, Instagram says it has zero tolerance when it comes to content or behavior that puts the privacy and safety of minors at risk, and that its team is ready to provide support 24/7. Snapchat has more than 100 million daily users and has a dedicated team that reviews abuse reports and takes action when they become aware of a violation. It also partners with safety experts to help parents, teachers and teens find safety tips. Tools: Pope Francis is celebrating Mexico's Indians on Monday with a visit to Chiapas state, a center of indigenous culture, where he will preside over a Mass in three native languages thanks to a new Vatican decree approving their use in liturgy. But the visit, at the midway mark of Francis' five-day trip to Mexico, is also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in Mexico. History's first Latin American pope has already issued a sweeping apology for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against the continent's indigenous. On Monday, he'll go further by celebrating their culture in ways the local church hierarchy has often sought to play down, in a clear demonstration of his belief that Indians have an important role to play in Mexico today. "I ask you to show singular tenderness in the way you regard indigenous peoples and their fascinating but not infrequently decimated cultures," Francis told Mexico's bishops Saturday in a speech outlining their marching orders. "The indigenous people of Mexico still await true recognition of the richness of their contribution and the fruitfulness of their presence." The Mexican hierarchy has long bristled at the region's "Indian church," a mixture of Catholicism and indigenous culture that includes pine boughs, eggs and references to "God the Father and Mother" in services. It was a tradition that was embraced by the late bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, Samuel Ruiz, who ran afoul of both the Mexican church and the Vatican at times for his use of the local ways. Worshippers began filing into the site of Monday's Mass shortly after midnight. It will include readings, prayers and hymns in the three main indigenous languages of Chiapas: Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol, which are spoken by just over 1 million people, according to Mexico's latest census. The Vatican has said the pope would present the official decree authorizing the languages to be used, some 50 years after the Second Vatican Council paved the way for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin. "Vatican II in liturgy finally comes to Chiapas," said the Rev. Manuel Dorantes, an assistant Vatican spokesman who is from Mexico. Despite the pope's overture, residents of Chiapas said they believe Francis is coming mostly to confirm their faith, not their status as indigenous. "It doesn't matter that I'm indigenous; I think it's more that I'm Catholic," said Emanuel Gomez, a 22-year-old Tzotzil who planned to attend the Mass. "The pope comes to encourage our hearts and faith as Catholics." He added, though, that the visit would "lift us up so we don't feel scorned by the powerful and rich." According to government statistics about 46 percent of Mexicans were living in poverty in 2014. That number surges in Chiapas, where some 76 percent were living in poverty, 32 percent in extreme poverty. Francis has insisted that his is a "poor church, for the poor," and was expected to address the problems of poverty and marginalization Monday. After the Mass, Francis was scheduled to hear testimony from a handful of Chiapas families about the hardships they face. "He comes to redeem an entire struggle by the people," said the Rev. Marcelino Perez, an indigenous priest who will translate the pope's homily into Tzotzil during the Mass. The pope has frequently expressed admiration for indigenous peoples, particularly their sense of custodianship of the environment. As archbishop, he was heavily responsible for a major document of the entire Latin American church heirarchy in which bishops praised the harmonious way indigenous people live with nature. Indigenous communities have legal rights to much of Mexico's forest and desert lands, and have long battled with outsiders to protect them -- and to share in the revenues they produce. Mining and commercial logging interests that were granted concessions by national or state governments long denuded or polluted indigenous lands. Francis' visit comes amid strong challenges to the church in the southern state, including huge inroads by evangelical Protestants who have helped turn Chiapas into the least Catholic and one of the most Protestant and evangelical in Mexico. According to the 2010 census, Chiapas was 58 percent Catholic, compared to a national average of 83 percent. San Cristobal is home to two of the most famed religious defenders of indigenous people in Mexican history: Bishops Bartolome de las Casas in the 16th century and Samuel Ruiz, who died in 2011. Both were beloved by indigenous people and widely reviled among the wealthy classes and much of the church hierarchy. Many officials accused Ruiz of acting on behalf of the Zapatista rebels in their 1994 uprising for greater indigenous rights. Part of the liberation theology movement that swept Latin America after Vatican II, Ruiz tried to fend off the rapid growth of Protestant denominations by adapting to indigenous customs. One of his controversial measures was to rely heavily on married male lay workers because local culture granted more respect to men with children than to childless, celibate men such as priests. Some in the church worried the married deacons were taking on priestly functions. In 2002, under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican asked the Chiapas diocese to halt deacon ordinations. But under Francis, the ordinations were renewed in 2014. In a sign that Ruiz remains a controversial figure, the Vatican declined to say whether Francis would pray at his tomb during his visit to the cathedral Monday. "There are many who feel he was more of a political figure than a religious one, often disregarding that the motivation for all that he did was Jesus Christ," Dorantes said. Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield reported this story from Mexico City and Sonia Perez D. reported in San Cristobal de las Casas. AP writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report. A BODY OF WATER... that sits an elevation of over 6,750 feet is going to have many moods. Come the summertime it often provides a source of refreshment, a place where warm people can take a dip after a bike ride or run. Fall and spring can give the lake a painterly glow, depending upon what the trees and flowers are doing, color-wise, at its banks. But wintertime? Hoo boy -- it's going to be frosty. The snow on the hills doesn't even need to telegraph that fact, for anyone can look at the still, sometimes steamy water and determine that the temperature is on the brrrr-y side. We're only setting this scene to get you super-pumped for the annual Polar Plunge at Big Bear Lake, which comes with the catchy title of "Freezin' for a Reason." That reason? Supporting an awesome beneficiary, Special Olympics of Southern California. DONATE FIFTY BUCKS, or more, of course, and suit up to dash into the high-elevation lake on the first Saturday in March. That's March 5, and while you may "pshaw" the idea the water will be cold, given that early March is nearly springtime, stop your pshawing right there: It will be frosty, and that's a fact. But that's the fun part of it, too, to see bravehearts, people who don't mind some briefly frozen tootsies, jump into the wintertime waves. Not only jump but do so in a complete, and completely outlandish, costume. CAN'T DO IT? Because cold water isn't your jam? You can give money to the plungees -- sorry, plungers, if you want to be 100% accurate -- or do some fundraising. There's always donating and stopping by the shoreline to watch, too. However you give, remember that you're helping the thousands of Special Olympics athletes who call our region home. That rocks, so go the distance into one of SoCal's highest, and, at times, frostiest lakes. Tuition and mandatory fees have more than doubled for California residents at the prestigious University of California, Berkeley's law and business schools since fall 2005, a report published Sunday found. An analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle of tuition and fee data also found the enrollment of residents at UC Berkeley's Law School and Haas School of Business has fallen sharply over the last decade, while out-of-state enrollment has increased. The data from the UC Berkeley Office of the Registrar shows the annual price for both schools in 2005 was about $24,000. Now it's more than $52,000 a year for the law school and nearly $58,000 for Haas, prices that approach the annual tuition by some top private schools, The Chronicle's analysis shows. Only 48 California residents signed up for the full-time MBA program at the Haas business school in fall 2015, compared to 98 a decade ago. At the law school, new enrollments of California residents went from 201 students enrolled in 2005 to 153 last year. Some say the university is wrong to charge Californians nearly as much as out-of-state students because residents pay taxes that support the UC system. "I think it's outrageous," said Paul Monge, 26, a first-year student at the School of Law who serves on the UC Student Association's budget committee. "The UC system has a special obligation to ensure access to California residents, who are products of our public schools and who are committed to contributing to California's workforce." But Berkeley Law and Haas officials say California's cut in support for UC gave them no choice but to eliminate most of the price break as they seek to maintain quality. "In previous decades, the state heavily subsidized the cost of an education for California's public university students thus, California students were able to pay substantially less than out-of-state students who weren't subsidized," said Susan Gluss, spokeswoman for Berkeley Law. Haas Assistant Dean Stephanie Fujii said the business school's first priority was to maintain quality. "When California provided more support to us, allowing tuition and fees to be lower, that was a wonderful benefit. But we couldn't lower the level of service," Fujii said. She and Gluss said both schools offer financial assistance and loan-repayment help to students. About 70 percent of blind people are unemployed, but one local organization is working to change that. Marilen Decena-Whisler teaches Braille at Junior Blind of America, a nonprofit school for blind adults in the View Park-Windsor Hills area southeast of Baldwin Hills. The school specializes in helping people who were born with vision but lost it as adults something that Marilen understands firsthand. When she was growing up in the Philippines, Marilen was 7 or 8 years old when she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disorder that causes people to gradually lose their vision. Marilen eventually lost all her vision and had to learn how to walk with a cane, which made her feel scared and ashamed. "It's like, I'm weak now I couldn't even hide that weakness," she said. "It's in the open people could see it. It's not like there's anything I could do." Marilen won a scholarship to study in America. Eventually, she trained at Junior Blind of America and now teaches other students, like Ronnie Chism. A former forklift operator from San Bernardino, Ronnie's autoimmune disease cost him his vision a few years ago. He knows he needs to learn new skills to support his family. "Now it's a transition," Ronnie said. "I have a family, I have a daughter. I'm trying to learn everything I can to adapt so I can still be useful even without vision." At Junior Blind of America, 25 students at a time spend six months living on campus learning life skills and training in adaptive technology so they can eventually get jobs. Most of the teachers at the school also lost their vision as adults. Allison Burdett, the director of rehab and employment services at the school, said that by sharing her story, Marilen has inspired hundreds of students. "The students can relate to what she's gone through in her past and understand on the other side of training, there's a brighter future," Allison said. Marilen said she hopes to show her students the can overcome any obstacle. "It's a choice we make to be happy," she said. "Do you want to be happy, or do you want to brood over things we can't do anything about?" And for students like Ronnie, that can-do attitude is pushing him to never give up. "Now that I see people like Marilen here teaching, very educated, smart, knows what she's doing and has been through it that's what I focus on when I'm chasing my own dreams and goals," he said. To learn more about Junior Blind of America, click here. Loss and healing were both themes of a ceremony Saturday to honor the lives of fallen veterans. The U.S. Army Reserve Family Programs' Survivor Outreach Services hosted the second annual Operation Love Letters at Moffett Field in San Jose. The event was a chance for the parents and relatives of soldiers who lost their lives in combat to share stories and support, and write letters celebrating their loved ones. "Every piece of support and love from our communities, our friends, our families means the most to us," Dianne Layfield said. "We probably couldn't make it through our tragic devastation without them." Layfield is a member of the American Gold Star Mothers Inc., an organization of mothers who "have lost a son or daughter in the service of our country," according to its website. Her son Travis enlisted in the Marines right out of high school, but did not make it home. "I'm very proud of my son," she said. The Fremont resident has now made it her mission to go to every veteran's funeral she can to connect with other members of a community that she said no one ever wants to be a part of. "Our grief is different than anyone else's," said Layfield, who brought brownies, her child's favorite snack, to Sunday's gathering. Beverly Balsley agreed. "The pain is every day even though it's been nine years," she said. Being with other people who have experienced the same loss as her has not only helped Balsley cope but also given her the "wonderful" opportunity to stand with them as they rebuild their lives, she said. "It helps that our children aren't forgotten -- that they'll be remembered and that means a lot to me," she said. Operation Love Letters began in Orlando, Florida four years ago and has since expanded to other locations throughout the country. "We are not mourning," Major General Daniel Helix told the half-filled room. "We are celebrating and we are so grateful." Helix, who prefers to think about PTSD as an "injury" as opposed to a "disorder," recalled talking to the Vacaville mother of a veteran who leaped off the Golden Gate Bridge and plummeted to his death. The man had been deployed five times as part of the United States Army Special Forces, but combat had compromised his mental health. The soldier's leaders refused to redeploy him, but he committed suicide the day his unit left the United States without him, Helix said. "[His mother] says, 'Do you still think my son is a veteran?'" he said. "And I said, "Oh my goodness. We think of your son as [Killed in Action] because the wound, the mortal wound that took your son, happened before the actual act occurred." Helix readily agreed that the loss experienced by parents whose children were killed in combat is "terrible and life-changing." But their sacrifices led to the "freedom of precious human beings," he said. He also urged Operation Love Letters' attendees to connect with others and make efforts to try and move on. Most importantly, he reminded them to prioritize their "self-care." "You're demonstrating to the one that you lost, demonstrating to yourself that life will go on and the memories will be preserved and cherished and the legacies will be honored," Helix said. "Those of us who remain in service, we see you as heroes." The men charged in the 9/11 terror attacks are set to face a military judge Tuesday in Guantanamo Bay Cuba at a hearing that is just the latest in what has been an incredibly slow and painful process for families who lost loved ones, and those who made it out of the Twin Towers and Pentagon alive. NBC 6 recently gained access to the one of the camps at Guantanamo Bay where the 9/11 detainees captured in the war on terror are still being held. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks, will return to the courtroom. Hes one of five charged in the attacks that killed 3,000 people. If convicted, they face the death penalty. Nearly 15 years after escaping from the twin towers, Michelle Cruz Rosado told NBC 6 via Skype that she uses her experience that day to motivate others to forge ahead despite obstacles. "The trial itself will probably make other people feel mad again, feel angry again, feel resentful and I think it will just hurt a lot of other people who are still trying to move forward," Rosado said. The men held at the detention facilities including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be transported from a location several miles across the base over to the location where the court proceedings will actually be held. "For some people hopefully these military commissions will put some closure on a trauma these people received and the military commissions will adequately be able to give justice," Nova Southeastern Law Professor James Wilets said. Wilets said it all should have happened much sooner. "If theyre guilty of these crimes, they should be tried," Wilets said. "We lost a lot of the evidence we needed. We needed to try them quickly when the evidence was still fresh." This weeks hearing will be about allegations that the U.S. was listening in on the detainees talks with their lawyers. The judge could also decide if female guards should be allowed to escort the men to and from court. The men say its against their religious beliefs. But survivors like Rosado wonder when itll all be over. "Whether they are convicted, whether they are guilty or innocent, it really doesnt change the past," Rosado said. It's something the survivors are left dealing with, trial or not. New York City detectives on Sunday were looking into a report by a woman who says she was choked by former Governor Eliot Spitzer inside a Manhattan hotel room, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The woman, in her mid-twenties, told police she accompanied Spitzer to Manhattan's Plaza Hotel on Saturday and that at one point he choked her, the sources said. A spokesperson for Spitzer said the accusation is unfounded. "There is no truth to the allegation," Spitzer publicist Lisa Lindon told NBC 4 New York Sunday night. The woman told police that she cut her wrists after being choked, the law enforcement sources said. A 911 call was made and she was taken to a hospital, they said. The woman was discharged from the hospital and later boarded a plane to return to Russia, the sources said. Sources said he could be seen in hospital security video after the alleged incident. No criminal charges have been filed against Spitzer. Spitzer resigned as governor in 2008 following an investigation into financial transaction that revealed he had paid for sex. Spitzer campaigned in 2013 to be elected as city comptroller, but lost. He has since managed the family's real estate development company. Outside Spitzer's Upper East Side apartment building, some who live and work in the neighborhood had mixed feelings. "If it's an assault, it's a big deal. But otherwise, it should be kept private in my opinion," said resident Richard Suero. Barbara Latucci of midtown immediately recalled the prostiution scandal. "I think he can't help but get in trouble -- his rep is following him around," she said. A military author says it's time to find where scores of Maryland soldiers are buried in New York City so a monument can be erected to honor their sacrifice during the Revolutionary War's Battle of Brooklyn 240 years ago this summer. "My goal is to make people aware of the story, and hopefully someone will put the resources together to find out where they're buried," said Patrick K. O'Donnell, whose book "Washington's Immortals" portrays the Maryland troops as some of Gen. George Washington's most dependable fighters during the eight-year war. Local lore in Brooklyn says they were buried somewhere in what is now the borough's Park Slope neighborhood. They died, along with hundreds of other Americans, during the August 1776 engagement, also known as the Battle of Long Island, that was the war's largest. Hundreds of Maryland soldiers made several assaults against a larger British force centered around a stone farmhouse. The ferocious bayonet charges prevented two wings of the advancing redcoats from attacking the 10,000 Americans outnumbered about 2 to 1 who had retreated to Brooklyn Heights. The British commander decided to put off resuming the attack until the next day. The delay gave Washington time to ferry his entire army across the East River to Manhattan in the dead of night. The British took control of New York the next month, but Washington's forces escaped to continue the fight for independence. "They saved the army there, but they saved the army several times, especially in the South," O'Donnell said. "They're Washington's shock troops." According to some accounts, more than 250 out of what became known as the "Maryland 400" died in the fight at the farmhouse, although the exact number killed remains murky. Their burial place has never been found. Some historians believe they were buried in unmarked trenches next to the farmhouse, while others say the more likely burial spot is nearby, under what is now a vacant private lot. The last official archaeological excavations, conducted in the 1950s, failed to turn up any evidence of military burials from the battle. The burial location remains "one of the great questions of the battle, one of great mysteries of history in Brooklyn," said Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House, a museum reconstructed nearby in 1933 from material from the original battlefield structure that was torn down nearly 120 years ago. "Washington's Immortals" is a bit of a departure for O'Donnell, author of nine previous books, most of them about World War II spies and elite American units such as the U.S. Army Rangers. He said he became obsessed with the Marylanders' story after touring the Brooklyn battle's sites in 2010. O'Donnell, who lives outside Washington, D.C., spent the next five years researching the Marylanders' exploits, visiting every battlefield where they fought from New York to South Carolina and combing through archives in the U.S. and Britain. What he learned prompted him to dub those patriots America's original band of brothers, men who continued the fight despite overwhelming odds and constant lack of food, clothing and equipment. "These volunteers marched often barefoot, starving and unpaid thousands of miles and battled the one of the finest armies in the world at the time," O'Donnell said. A Villanova University student was arrested after police found thousands of dollars in cash as well as LSD inside his dorm room, according to investigators. Investigators say they recovered 37 tablets of LSD, marijuana and $9,000 in cash in a white shoe box inside 18-year-old Justin Yims dorm. Yim, a freshman at Villanova, was arrested and charged with distribution and the intent to deliver. The investigation began Friday night when police responded to a report of an out of control student who assaulted a woman and public safety officers on campus, according to officials. The student, who investigators say is Yims roommate and was on LSD, was arrested and then taken to the hospital for treatment. Shortly thereafter there was a total of three incidents, including that one, where officers responded along with public safety and found people to be in some type of drug-induced state, said Radnor Township Police Lieutenant Christopher Flanagan. Also alcohol was mixed on board with some of the other people. All of those people were transported to the hospital. Yims roommate, along with another man and a teen girl spent about eight hours in the hospital and were later released. All three are doing okay, police said. A Villanova spokesperson released a statement on the arrest: Villanova University takes these matters extremely seriously and is fully cooperating with Radnor Police in its investigation of the incidents. In addition, the University has instituted an internal review and is moving forward quickly and thoroughly. Those found responsible will be held accountable. Villanova holds all of its students to a high standard and has a deep and continuing commitment to achieving an educational community free of substance abuse. Justice Antonin Scalia's death deprives conservatives of a key vote that could change the outcome in some major Supreme Court cases, including one in which labor unions appeared headed for a big defeat. Next month's Supreme Court arguments in a clash over contraceptives, religious liberty and President Barack Obama's health care law also now seem more likely to favor the Obama administration. Those are the most immediate effects on the court of the loss of its conservative icon and longest-serving justice. It's a firm Supreme Court rule that decisions are not final until they are handed down. So nothing Scalia did or said in pending cases matters to the outcome. "The vote of a deceased justice does not count," veteran Supreme Court lawyer Roy Englert said Sunday, a day after Scalia was found dead in his room at a west Texas ranch. Subtracting Scalia's vote from cases in which he was in the majority in a 5-4 split leaves the result tied, four a side. The remaining eight justices have two options in that situation: They can vote to hear the case a second time when a new colleague joins them or they can hand down a one-sentence opinion that upholds the result reached in the lower court without setting a nationwide rule. A second round of arguments seems less likely at the moment because a new justice may not be confirmed until the next president is in office. A tie vote, by contrast, resolves the case at hand and allows the legal issue to return to the court at a later date when there is a ninth justice. Public sector labor unions had been bracing for a stinging defeat in a lawsuit over whether they can collect fees from government workers who choose not to join the union. The case affects more than 5 million workers in 23 states and Washington, D.C., and seeks to overturn a nearly 40-year-old Supreme Court decision. Now, what seemed like a certain 5-4 split, with the conservatives in the majority and the liberals in dissent, instead looks like a tie that would be resolved in favor of the unions, because they won in the lower courts. "That's a big loss. It was all teed up and it looks like it's not going to go anywhere now," said Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor who once served as a law clerk to Scalia. Another case in which there now seems little chance of finding a court majority to upset long-standing practice involves a conservative challenge to the way governments have drawn electoral districts for 50 years. The court heard arguments in December in a case from Texas on the meaning of the principle of "one person, one vote," which the court has said requires that political districts be roughly equal in population. But it has left open the question of whether states must count all residents, including noncitizens and children, or only eligible voters in drawing district lines. The court's upcoming look at the health care overhaul will be its fourth case involving the 2010 law. This time, the focus is on the arrangement the Obama administration worked out to spare faith-based hospitals, colleges and charities from paying for contraceptives for women covered under their health plans, while still ensuring that those women can obtain birth control at no extra cost as the law requires. The faith-based groups argue that the accommodation still makes them complicit in providing contraception to which they have religious objections. A tie vote here would sow rather than alleviate confusion because the appellate courts that have looked at the issue have not all come out the same way. That prospect suggests that Justice Anthony Kennedy will join the court's four liberal justices to uphold the arrangement, Supreme Court lawyer Thomas Goldstein said. Other big cases before the justices this term include affirmative action, abortion and immigration. With Justice Elena Kagan out of the affirmative action case, the court still is more likely to rule, 4-3, in favor of a challenge to the consideration of race in admissions to the University of Texas. On abortion and immigration, a 4-4 tie would sustain lower court rulings in favor of Texas' regulation of abortion clinics and a Republican-led challenge to an Obama administration plan to allow millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally to avoid deportation and acquire work permits. Bahrain has arrested four Americans, three men and one woman, during violent protests marking the anniversary of the kingdom's 2011 uprising, officials said Monday, NBC News reported. Bahrain's interior ministry said one of the Americans was wearing a mask and joining "rioters" in attacks on police. All four gave "false" information that they were tourists and were detained in the same area, the ministry added in a statement. The ministry said "at least some" were acting as journalists but hadn't registered with the necessary authorities. According to The Assocaited Press, the four Americans arrived in Bahrain last week and were journalists covering the anniversary of the uprising. The U.S. Embassy in Manama said in a statement Monday it was "aware of the arrest of four U.S. citizens in Bahrain" on Sunday but that it could not discuss the case due to privacy concerns. A QUARTET OF CUISINE-PACKED DAYS: Two disparate foods that go very well together? We can all name at least a few dozen, from peanut butter and jam to milk and cookies. But quite often food festivals and locations meld well, too. Look to the Central Coast, and the Monterey Bay area, in the late winter and springtime, and look to top-notch food festivals brimming with excellent bites and the famous toque-wearers who create them. The area, the time of year, and the taste-driven spectacles have become something of a staple on the sup-seeker's calendar, a calendar that definitely has the Relais & Chateaux GourmetFest written in pen. You know this feasty four days if you're up on your L'Auberge Carmel and/or Masters of Food & Wine history (and we'll just be bold and assume you definitely are): David Fink, the proprietor of L'Auberge Carmel and founder of the Masters, created this winter reverie to spotlight some of the best Relais & Chateaux chefs around. If you've ever stayed at a property with the fleur-de-lis-like iconography front-and-center'd, then you know that the company is famed for its fine food and propensity for featuring Michelin-star'd chefs. And some of those chefs will make for Carmel-by-the-Sea over the last four days in February, all to celebrate really good eating in a host of ways. THOSE WAYS INCLUDE... a Welcome Party brimming with estate vinos and excellent brews, as well as stations helmed by a trio of Michelin-accoladed artists d'cookery. A Rarities Dinner is a "meal of a lifetime" that includes 10 courses (yep, 10 courses) and rare wines hailing from the Chateau, Domaines, and Estate cellars. And a Wild Mushroom Hunt and Lunch at the glorious Santa Lucia Preserve. It's a feastable four days, for both the palate and the whole person, and one with a tony yet approachable air. Cuisine-driven tour de forces don't come along every week, and definitely not in such delightful settings. Ready to get to know the noshables of some of the best chefs working today? Read more here about all the events -- there are more than just mentioned -- and get to planning your Carmel idyll. The U.K. film industry showered Valentine's Day love on "The Revenant" Sunday, awarding the endurance epic five prizes, including best picture and best actor, at the British Academy Film Awards. Leonardo DiCaprio cemented his Oscar-favorite status by taking the best-actor trophy for playing a bear-battling fur trapper in a brutally wild American West. Alejandro G. Inarritu was named best director for what he called a "human and tender story," and "The Revenant" also won prizes for cinematography and sound. DiCaprio, who has been nominated three times before at the British awards without winning, said in his acceptance speech that he was "absolutely humbled" to beat "The Martian" star Matt Damon, "Trumbo'''s Bryan Cranston, Michael Fassbender for "Steve Jobs," and Eddie Redmayne for "The Danish Girl." He cited the influence on his work of British actors including Tom Courtney, Peter O'Toole, Daniel Day Lewis and his "Revenant" co-star Tom Hardy, and sent thanks and greetings to his mother, whose birthday fell on Sunday. [NATL] Best Moments From the 2014 Golden Globes The British awards, known as BAFTAs, are considered a portent of success at Hollywood's Feb. 28 Academy Awards. "The Revenant" has earned DiCaprio his sixth Oscar nomination and, many believe, his best shot at finally winning. DiCaprio said it was out of his hands, but expressed pride in what he called "not just a film, but an epic journey we all went on." "We put our heart and soul into this movie ... It's up to the world now and voters to decide," he said at a post-ceremony news conference. The best-actress trophy went to Brie Larson as a mother trying to shield her son from a terrible reality in "Room." She won out over Alicia Vikander for "The Danish Girl," Cate Blanchett for "Carol," Maggie Smith for "The Lady in the Van" and Saoirse Ronan for "Brooklyn." [NATL] Top Entertainment Photos: Best of the American Music Awards, and More Supporting performer prizes went to Mark Rylance, a soft-spoken Soviet agent in "Bridge of Spies," and Kate Winslet, an Apple executive in "Steve Jobs." Winslet dedicated the prize to "all those young women who doubt themselves," recalling that she once had been told to go for "the fat-girl parts." "Look at me now!" Winslet said. "The Revenant" beat several hotly tipped awards contenders, including Steven Spielberg's Cold War thriller "Bridge of Spies" and Todd Haynes' lesbian romance "Carol." Each had nine BAFTA nominations, but "Bridge of Spies" won only for Rylance's performance, while "Carol" was shut out. Irish emigrant saga "Brooklyn" was named best British film, a distinct category, while the documentary prize went to "Amy," a powerful portrait of the rise and fall of singer Amy Winehouse. George Miller's dystopian thrill ride "Mad Max: Fury Road" took four prizes: editing, production design, costume design, and hair and makeup. Two leading Oscar contenders also won awards: "Spotlight," the drama about newspaper reporters investigating sex abuses in the Catholic Church, for original screenplay, and financial-crisis dramedy "The Big Short" for adapted screenplay. On a crisp, cool London winter evening, hundreds of fans gathered to watch the stars arrive at the Royal Opera House. Among the arrivals were nominees DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Fassbender, Blanchett, Spielberg, Winslet, and "Star Wars" action hero John Boyega. Inside the plush auditorium, actor-comedian Stephen Fry hosted a ceremony that included a Valentine's-themed kiss-cam stunt which saw seatmates including DiCaprio and Maggie Smith smooch onscreen. Boyega won the Rising Star award decided by public vote and dedicated it to "all the young dreamers who are hard-working, who are determined and who quite frankly are amazing." ''Star Wars: The Force Awakens" won the BAFTA for visual effects. The black comedy anthology "Wild Tales," written and directed by Argentine Damian Szifron, won for non-English language film. Famed Italian film composer Ennio Morricone, 87, received the music award for his score to Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight." The movie awards season has been dominated by debate about why the film industry remains dominated by white men. All the acting nominees for the Oscars both this year and last have been white. The BAFTAs are slightly more diverse, with two black actors nominated Boyega and Idris Elba, a supporting-actor contender for "Beasts of No Nation." Pioneering black American actor Sidney Poitier the first black best-actor Oscar winner, in 1963 received a lifetime achievement award, the BAFTA fellowship. A group called Creatives of Colour Network organized a protest beside the red carpet against a lack of racial diversity in show business. Demonstrators rallied under the hashtag #baftablackout, and distributed leaflets declaring the awards "male, pale and stale." The head of the British film academy said she supported the protesters' aims. "Our industry isn't diverse enough, so the pool of people to draw award winners from isn't diverse enough," chief executive Amanda Berry told the Daily Telegraph newspaper. Like Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British film academy says it will work to make sure its 6,500 voting members become a more diverse group. On the red carpet, Boyega said he was glad the issue was being aired. "I just think a larger conversation is being had and I think that's a very, very positive thing," he said. George Washington's 284th birthday is being marked at the northern Virginia estate of the nation's first president. FBI Director James Comey will lead the celebration of Washington's birthday at the Founding Father's Mount Vernon estate. Comey will speak at Mount Vernon at 10:30 a.m. Monday, shortly after a wreath laying ceremony at Washington's tomb. The day's activities will also include patriotic music and a military firing demonstration. The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, or The Old Guard, will play a key role in the birthday celebration. The Old Guard is the oldest active-duty infantry unit in the Army, dating back to 1784. Mount Vernon offers free admission on Monday as well. More than 10,000 people are expected to visit. While the holiday has commonly become known as Presidents Day, the federal government still designates the third Monday in February as a holiday celebrating Washington's Birthday. The actual birthday is Feb. 22. On a record-breaking cold day, firefighters battled multiple house fires in Weymouth, Massachusetts, while also battling the elements. One firefighter simply explained, "everything is frozen," and that's only a slight exaggeration. One blaze began just before 5 p.m. on Rainbow Lane at a two-story home. Shortly after, there was a call for a fire on Commercial Street - also a difficult fire, for many of the same reasons. A third fire sparked around 6 p.m. at 29 Arnold Road. Fire officials say the first two fires were caused by residents heating up frozen pipes. The cause of the fire on Arnold Drive remains under investigation and officials say the damage is estimated at $200,000. No injuries have been reported. By Tuesday afternoon, it's going to be 55 degrees. How does this happen? It's called high amplitude flow. necn Last week, a parcel of air released from north pole, passing through the eastern United States. It was piece of the polar vortex, and slid across New England Saturday night and Sunday. The coldest reading in New England was 40 below zero on top of Mount Washington. We have another sub zero morning Monday, but this time without dangerous wind chills. Polar high-pressure system that moved in Sunday pushes off to our south during the day Monday, causing warmer air to move in from the south. As were were so cold, the southwest has been very warm. Record high temperature in the 80s and 90s was experienced in California and Arizona the last several days. Along the boundary between the cold that is moving out, and the warmth that is on the way in, there is a band of snow, ice, and rain arriving in New England late Monday. Fading sunshine is here for early in the day, with temperatures rebounding to the 20s to lower 30s. Snow arrives in Connecticut just before sunset, advancing into Rhode Island and Massachusetts, becoming moderate to heavy for a short time between 5 and 8 p.m. One to three inches of snow are possible before a change to rain by midnight. Snow continues advancing into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, also with one to three inches expected before changing to ice and rain early Tuesday. The mountain areas may get more like five to seven inches of snow before the change. necn Powerful low-pressure will be intensifying over the state of Pennsylvania moving up the Hudson river valley during the day Tuesday. This storm track means much warmer weather here with high temperature in the 50s Tuesday in southern and eastern New England. necn Rain will shut off for a time Tuesday morning for southern New England, before returning and becoming heavy in the afternoon and evening. Further north in the mountains, snow will change to a period of ice and then rain midday Tuesday. The intensifying storm center passes near Montreal Tuesday night, at that time we have downpours and wind from the south, then west, gusting 40 to 50 mph, especially strong near the shore. necn Rain will change back to snow before ending in the mountains late Tuesday night and early Wednesday. One to two inches of rain are expected before ending late Tuesday night. After a very windy start on Wednesday, we should dry out with a good amount of sunshine and high temperature once again well into the 40s to near 50 across southern New England. Thursday looks quiet. Then another fairly strong storm moves from Ontario into northern New England Friday. That also brings a mix of snow and rain to central and northern New England Friday night and early Saturday. Seasonably cold weather and drying is expected for next Sunday. Cliff Richard tribute performer Will Chandler will be the speaker at a special Mens Breakfast at Cromer Parish Hall next month, and all men are welcome to come along. Cliff Richard tribute performer Will Chandler will be the speaker at a special Mens Breakfast at Cromer Parish Hall next month, and all men are welcome to come along. Heartsease Lane Methodist church to close As part of a reorganisation of the Norwich Methodist Circuit, Heartsease Lane Methodist Church will be closing towards the end of the year. Read more Free Julian of Norwich reflection and prayer day The Friends of Julian of Norwich present a free Quiet Half-Day with Robert Fruehwirth, author and former Priest Director of the Julian Centre, on Saturday November 12, 10.30am-2pm. Read more What it means for us to repent Nigel Fox believes that now is the time for a tide of repentance, and shares his thoughts about what that actually means for our society. Read more Christmas card shop opens in Norwich church Thousands of Christmas cards from around 30 local Norfolk charities have gone on sale today (October 19) at the Original Norwich Charity Christmas Card Shop inside St Peter Mancroft church in Norwich city centre. Read more Revelation Christian Resource Centre and Cafe Revelation in Norwich is a Christian resource centre, offering a bookshop, a meeting place and a welcoming refuge for refreshment open to visitors of any faith or none. Read more Farewell as Yarmouth church leader moves on Captain Marie Burr, the Salvation Army leader in Great Yarmouth, has paid tribute to everyone at the church and charity after she left her post at the end of last month to move to a new role. Read more Norwich Cathedral chorister in BBC final Norwich Cathedral chorister Alice Platten has her sights set on being crowned BBC Young Chorister of the Year after reaching the final stages of the prestigious nationwide competition. Read more Norwich to hear pastor, Policeman and tramp tale Essex Baptist Pastor Dave McDowell has been a Policeman, fed orphans in India and lived under a boat as a tramp. He will tell his remarkable story at the October dinner of Norwich FGB on Wednesday October 26. Read more Pioneer UK leader speaks at Sheringham church Ness Wilson, national leader of the Pioneer network of churches, was the main speaker at a day of teaching and worship held at Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham on 12 October, to be followed up by Word and Worship sessions at October half term. Read more Norwich event to give tips on bouncing forwards St Stephens in Norwich will be hosting an evening in October with Patrick Regan OBE, as he explores themes from his book Bouncing Forwards. Read more Youth for Christ lights a fire in north Breckland North Breckland Youth for Christ will be putting on a mini residential camp this year to coincide with Bonfire Night. Read more Delia Smith interviewed at Norwich church Top TV cook and well-known writer Delia Smith spoke about her faith at SOUL Churchs weekly Chapel gathering on October 11. Read more Children's Christian holiday club in Briston A half term childrens holiday bible club is taking place in Briston next week, and there is no charge to take part in the fun. Read more Ashill church puts on music to touch the soul The Fountain of Life Church in Ashill is hosting an afternoon concert in early November with classical, jazz, opera, ballads and pop classics. Read more Fakenhams new rector is officially installed Rev Tracy Jessop has been officially installed as Rector for Fakenham during a service at Fakenham Parish Church on Tuesday September 27, fourteen months after their last reverend retired. Read more Norwich homeless charity holds information evening Homelessness charity St Martins is holding an information evening on Thursday 3rd November at The Forum in Norwich for anyone who would like to know more about the work of the charity and to potentially become a volunteer. Read more Sheringhams harvest flowers and Fairtrade boost Giving thanks for Harvest was the theme of the Harvest Flower Festival held at St Andrews Methodist Church, Sheringham at the beginning of October, which included a Traidcraft stall. Read more The Open Compute Project's reputation, according to industry folklore, is as a cost-cutting innovator that scaled up Facebook's data centers with commodity hardware. Last week, Wired and CIO speculated that OCP's announcement of the Telco Project with large telecoms like AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and SK Telecom were targeting Cisco and HP's proprietary gear with open-sourced commodity hardware, so they could compete with cloud service providers Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. In the wake of the announcement, I asked Professor Frank Fitzek of the Technical University of Dresden to explain how large telecoms could use an OCP commodity hardware platform. As Deutsche Telekom's Chair of Communication Networks, Dr. Fitzek coordinates the 5G Lab in Germany, giving him insight into the future of networking. Generally, Dr. Fitzek sees the OCP Telco Project to be a strategic initiative to move the cloud closer to the network's edge, where apps can be built to perform complex functions. It is a telecom-specific platform, combining Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN.) He sees many more types of apps than the classic policy management use cases in technical literature that explain SDNs. He predicts an Internet of Things (IoT) with apps at the network edge that control autonomous vehicles and other types of autonomous devices, including robots, drones, and farm equipment. Dr. Fitzek's vision of the IoT doesn't consist of islands of smart sensors and autonomous devices loosely coupled by a best-effort internet. He described a new 5G IoT platform that would enable a huge network of not just sensors, but real-time control of vehicles and robotic systems. The IoT, according to Dr. Fitzek, will have islands of automation interconnected by very low-latency, error-correcting 5G networks capable of coordinating thousands of autonomous vehicles traveling at 150 MPH and robots interacting with traffic and humans. His design scale is 50 billion IoT devices extensible to 500 billion. Dr. Fitzek said the Google autonomous car, guided by a local cloud of cameras, lasers, radios, and sensors, can't detect and react to an upstream collision out of the range of the local cloud because the latency is too great. If the latency is greater than 1 ms, control and coordination of large-scale systems operating over long distances become difficult. In this vision, growth in latency increases reaction time of autonomous cars, meaning lower speeds and less distance between cars, reducing highway throughput and increasing travel time. And autonomous vehicles can't see around corners; however, 5G-connected vehicles can. Vodafone GmbH As the latency increases, coordination becomes more difficult, and finally fails. Take, for example, a person controlling a robot via a video camera that catches a ball thrown to it. At very low latency, it is very easy for the person to observe the throw, adjust the robot's hands to match the ball's trajectory, and catch the ball. Now introduce a video communications delay in the observation of the ball and the control of the robot. It becomes more difficult to coordinate the robot and catch the ball. As the latency increases, the person controlling the robot must make estimates based on less and less information about the ball, until finally the ball can no longer be caught. In Dr. Fitzek's scenario, 5G network nodes can be located at distances of up to 60 miles from an autonomous vehicle or system. Autonomous cars would use all sensors to steer in traffic, relying on low-latency 5G to look around corners and synchronize the cars with changing traffic conditions or accidents. Stateless data transmission using Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) enables control of the mobile edge cloud to be distributed, increasing its resilience without increasing latency. The on-the-fly coding properties of RLNC distribute error correction and the associated load to all nodes on the network. RLNC is an elegant approach to stateless transmission, avoiding altogether the network congestion from error correction and retransmission that degrades network performance. RLNC can recreate any packet lost on the receiving side from a later sequenced packet. In over-simplified terms, each RLNC encoded packet sent is encoded using the previously sequenced packet and randomly generated coefficients using a linear algebra function. Since the RLNC encoding sender doesn't need to listen for acknowledgements of successful transmission and perhaps retransmit, the sender can continuously transmit at near-wire speed optimized for latency and network throughput. If the computation time to reproduce a lost or damaged packet takes too long, the autonomous node can request other proximate nodes to broadcast random packets, increasing the probability that the computational time will be decreased. After speaking with Dr. Fitzek, the OCP Telco Project appears to be the start of standardization of an open design for commodity-edge NFV/SDN application servers. The telecoms are defining a new platform that moves the cloud closer to the network edge, enabling low-latency control that would not be possible using today's internet and cloud incarnation. It's starting to look like Apple is going to have an unusually busy March this year. According to a fresh report from 9to5Mac, Apple's rumored 4-inch iPhone 5se and iPad Air 3 will be unveiled on March 15 and will be available in stores just a few days later, on Friday, March 18 to be exact. While rumors of Apple holding a special media event in mid-March were already well known, this is the first time we've seen information regarding an alleged release date for Apple's new iPhone and iPad Air. Interestingly, the report adds that Apple won't offer a pre-order option for the new devices, a strategy which would be somewhat new for the company. As for what both products will bring to the table, the rumor mill hasn't left much to the imagination. With respect to the iPhone 5se, it will come in a 4-inch form factor and will pack an A9 processor and M9 motion coprocessor underneath the hood. The device will also come equipped with an NFC chip for Apple Pay support. On the software side, Live Photos (originally introduced on the iPhone 6s) and always-on Siri functionality will likely be included, while 3D Touch will remain exclusive to the flagship iPhone 6s. As for the iPad Air 3, there have been rumors that the device will see a revamped speaker system, a 4K display, support for the Apple Pencil, and 4GB of RAM. All this being said, it stands to reason that even more information about Apple's upcoming media event will trickle out in the weeks ahead. Indeed, there are also reports that Apple will introduce some minor Apple Watch improvements next month as well, perhaps with the roll out of new Apple Watch bands, such as new "Sport Band colors, a Space Black Milanese Loop, and NATO-style nylon bands." In the spirit of Valentines Day perhaps, much of the focus of iPhone 7 rumors over the past week or so has been on whats on the inside (since thats what matters of course). Not to say that eye candy like Herman Haidins iPhone Essence design concept didnt get a fair amount of love from iPhone followers this week. INSIDE IPHONE 7 The Pocket Lint blog picked up on Qualcomms latest Snapdragon processors that pack a superfast new modem in them that could just maybe find its way into the next iPhone. And why not? Qualcomm has supplied modem technology to Apple for years. The modems will be demonstrated at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. Pocket Lint writes: Dubbed the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, the new model is capable of download speeds up to 1Gbps, a huge boost on what is capable today, but without the need to drastically enhance the network infrastructure. It means users who have the modem in their phone and are on a network capable of delivering those speeds can have instant access to the cloud as if it was on the device, play 360 video instantly, and be able to make even crisper and clearer video calls. Were talking 5G here, if you believe the marketers In other iPhone processor news, a report from Electronic Times says that Apple is partnering exclusively with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for the A10 processor, leaving sometimes partner-most times rival Samsung in the cold. TSMC has been supplying processors for Apple smartphones since the iPhone 6, so they are quite familiar with each other. The question is whether Apple is taking too much of a risk not having two suppliers for this key component of its devices. Meanwhile, at least Samsung will get its iPhone killer the Galaxy S7 out well before the iPhone. HEAR ME NOW The latest on Apple ditching the standard 3.5mm headphone jack with a Lightning-based audio input is that Apple would add another speaker to where the headphone jack currently resides. Whats more, Apple would introduce noise cancellation technology, perhaps next year in the iPhone 7s, using technology from Cirrus Logic, according to MacRumors, citing a Barclays analyst report. As Apple Insider notes, Apple won't be breaking any new ground with an additional speaker on its smartphone: A number of competing smartphones already offer stereo speakers. Sometimes these are located along the same edge, but in other cases they're on opposite ends of a device, enabling better panning when in landscape mode. GOOD NEWS FOR APPLE Wouldnt it be a shame if Apple was going through all these efforts and then no one bought the iPhone 7? Well, of course thats not going to happen, but Apples stock has famously slumped in recent months. But as ValueWalk reports, not everyones outlook for the iPhone is bleak: A survey from Bank of America Merrill Lynch finds there is high demand for the iPhone 7 so much so that it could hurt iPhone 6s sales. About 4 out of 10 surveyed who said they plan to buy an iPhone said theyre cool with holding out until the next big model. BACK TO THAT DESIGN CONCEPT It's been way too long since we've had a good Liquidmetal rumor. Apple has had an exclusive license with the maker of this wondrous alloy for years now, promising ever stronger, possibly waterproof, ever more magical smartphones. But Herman Haidin's aforementioned Phone Essence design concept got the Liquidmetal crowd fired up this week when he released a vision for the next iPhone that includes a Liquidmetal layer serving as the device's base cooling system (we've reached out to the Ukrainian designer for permission to use an image of his concept, but for now we're just linking to his Behance.net page above.) Anthony Stansfeld joins opposition to closure announced last week The Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley has blasted the governments decision to close the Magistrates Court in Newbury. Anthony Stansfeld was speaking in response to the announcement last week that the West Berkshire (Newbury) Magistrates Court will close at any time between now and June. Mr Stansfeld said that he was disappointed with the Ministry of Justices decision to close the court. He said: It has made this decision in spite of the response to its own consultation showing overwhelming opposition from local Councils, MPs, Magistrates, and many other interested parties across the Thames Valley. Furthermore, the decision flies in the face of the Ministrys own pledge to put the victim first. It will result in more failed cases as victims and witnesses will have to travel long distances to get to courts. It will waste a considerable amount of police time getting officers to courts. It takes local justice away from the areas in which crimes are committed. Local justice will not be seen to be done as the local press will not turn up to cases heard in courts many miles away. It will prevent good people becoming Magistrates if they have to commute long distances to attend cases. It does nothing for the victims of crime or the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. He added that plans for public CCTV links to some courts were premature and went on to say: The decision to close [Newbury, Aylesbury and Bicester] Courts may save the Ministry of Justice money in the short term, but it will cost the Police money, do nothing for victims and witnesses, and is likely to result in yet more failed cases. It would seem to waste money rather than save it, at the expense of local criminal justice. NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia. Infliximab Consumer Medicine Information What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about REMICADE. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you using REMICADE against the benefits it is expected to have for you. If you have any concerns about being given this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again. What REMICADE is used for REMICADE contains the active ingredient, infliximab. Infliximab is a monoclonal antibody that is produced from human and mouse proteins by recombinant technology. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that recognise and bind to certain special proteins in the body. Infliximab acts by binding to a special protein in the body called tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF). In people with diseases such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis, the body produces too much TNF, which can cause the body's immune system to attack normal healthy parts of the body. REMICADE can block the damage caused by too much TNF. Rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease of the joints. REMICADE is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and to prevent damage to the joints. You will also be given a disease-modifying medicine called methotrexate. Ankylosing Spondylitis Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease of the spine. REMICADE can reduce the signs and symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis, thereby improving physical function. Psoriatic arthritis Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory disease of the joints in which psoriasis usually occurs in association with arthritis. Often the fingers and toes are affected, although it may occur in other parts of the body. REMICADE is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis and improve the physical function in adults who have not responded well enough to previous treatments with other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS). REMICADE may be given alone or in combination with methotrexate. Psoriasis Psoriasis is an inflammatory disease of the skin. REMICADE is used to treat patients with moderate to severe psoriasis who have not responded well enough to treatments such as phototherapy or conventional systemic treatments, or when these treatments are not appropriate. Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the bowel. It may also affect any part of the gut. REMICADE is used to treat moderate to severe Crohn's disease in adult patients and in children and adolescent patients (6 to 17 years old) who have not responded well enough to other treatments. REMICADE can also reduce the number of abnormal openings from the bowel through the skin (called draining enterocutaneous fistula), a common complication of Crohn's disease. Ulcerative Colitis Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease of the bowel. REMICADE is used to treat the signs and symptoms of ulcerative colitis in adult patients and in children and adolescent patients (6 to 17 years old) who have not responded well enough to other treatments. Do not give REMICADE to children with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis who are younger than 6 years. Do not give REMICADE to children and adolescents with any other disease. Your doctor, however, may prescribe REMICADE for another purpose. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why REMICADE has been prescribed for you. Before you are given REMICADE When you must not be given it Do not use REMICADE if you have an allergy to mouse proteins or any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet. Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction to REMICADE may include skin rash, hives, fatigue, wheezing, difficulty in breathing, and/or low blood pressure. Do not use REMICADE if you have severe infections such as tuberculosis and infected abscesses, a repeating infection or have had repeating infections. Do not use REMICADE if you are already taking another medicine for arthritis, which contains the substance called anakinra. If you have never been given REMICADE and have congestive heart failure, you should not use it. Before you are given it Tell your doctor if you: currently have an infection, or if you are prone to infections, or if you have a history of infections REMICADE may affect the normal immune response. You might get infections more easily. Some cases of serious infections, including tuberculosis (TB) and sepsis have been reported in patients treated with REMICADE. have ever had or been in close contact with TB, even if you were treated for it. have ever had or had been in close contact with hepatitis B Reactivation of hepatitis B have been reported in people treated with TNF blockers. However, these reports are very rare. have lived in or travelled to an area where fungal infections called histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, or blastomycosis are common. Ask your doctor if you don't know if these infections are common in the area in which you have lived in or travelled to. These infections are caused by fungus that can affect the lungs or other parts of your body. have had cancer A type of blood cancer called lymphoma has been reported in patients receiving TNF blockers. The reports are rare but are more frequent than expected for people in general. Cancers, other than lymphoma, have also been reported. have moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Lung, head, neck and other cancers have been reported in patients with a history of heavy smoking. have a long history of Crohn's disease rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondilitis or psoriatic arthritis, especially if you have a highly active disease and/or have been taking medicine that reduces the activity of the body's natural defences. You may be more likely to develop infections and lymphomas than people in general, even without receiving TNF blockers such as REMICADE. are pregnant or plan to become pregnant Like most medicines, REMICADE is not recommended in pregnancy. You must use adequate contraception to avoid falling pregnant during REMICADE treatment and for at least 6 months after the last infusion. are breast-feeding REMICADE passes into breastmilk. Talk to your doctor about the best way to feed your baby. have or have had a disease that affects the nervous system such as multiple sclerosis and seizures, or if you experience any numbness, weakness, tingling, or sight disturbances. suffer from congestive heart failure. Steps must be taken to monitor any changes to your condition during treatment with REMICADE. have ongoing blood disorders or a history of blood disorders. have recently received or are scheduled to receive any vaccines Patients receiving REMICADE should not receive some types of vaccines. If possible, you should have all of your vaccines brought up to date before starting treatment with REMICADE. have recently received or are scheduled to receive treatment with a therapeutic infectious agent (such as BCG instillation used for the treatment of cancer) If you have a baby while you are using REMICADE, tell your babys doctor about your REMICADE use before the baby receives any vaccinations, including live vaccines such as the BCG vaccine (used to prevent tuberculosis) and rotavirus vaccine. Your doctor will discuss with you the benefits of using REMICADE against the potential risks. Taking or being given other medicines Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some medicines may affect the way other medicines work. Do not use REMICADE is you are already taking another medicine for arthritis, which contains the substance called anakinra. Tell your doctor if you are already taking another medicine for arthritis, which contains the substance called abatacept. Tell your doctor if you are receiving other treatments for rheumatoid arthritis for ankylosing spondylitis for psoriatic arthritis for psoriasis, such as phototherapy or other treatments for Crohn's disease for ulcerative colitis to prevent rejection in organ transplantation. Tell your doctor you are taking REMICADE before receiving any vaccinations. While using REMICADE you should not receive live vaccines. If you have a baby while you are using REMICADE, tell your babys doctor about your REMICADE use before the baby receives any vaccines. Your doctor or pharmacist will be able to tell you what to do when being given REMICADE with other medicines. How REMICADE is given REMICADE is only available on prescription. REMICADE is given in a drip into a vein (called an infusion) over at least 2 hours. If you were able to tolerate the first 3 two-hour infusions, your doctor may decide to give your next REMICADE infusion over a period of not less than 1 hour. For children and adolescents (6-17 years) the infusion is given over at least 2 hours. A period of observation follows treatment. Rheumatoid arthritis The recommended starting dose is an infusion of 3 mg/kg. You will get additional doses of 3 mg/kg at 2 and 6 weeks after your first infusion and then every 8 weeks after that. If, after 12 weeks of treatment, your arthritis does not respond well enough to the 3 mg/kg dose, your doctor may decide to gradually increase your dose to a maximum of 7.5 mg/kg every 8 weeks. You will also be taking methotrexate as part of your treatment. Ankylosing Spondylitis The recommended starting dose is an infusion of 5 mg/kg. You will get additional doses of 5 mg/kg at 2 and 6 weeks after your first infusion and then every 6 weeks after that. Psoriatic arthritis The recommended starting dose is an infusion of 5 mg/kg. You will receive additional doses of 5 mg/kg at 2 and 6 weeks after your first infusion, then every 8 weeks after that. REMICADE may be given alone or in combination with methotrexate. Psoriasis The recommended starting dose is an infusion of 5 mg/kg. You will get additional doses of 5 mg/kg at 2 and 6 weeks after your first infusion, and then every 8 weeks after that. Crohn's disease The recommended starting dose for Crohn's disease in adults and in children and adolescents (6 to 17 years); and for closure of fistula in adult patients is an initial infusion of 5 mg/kg followed by additional doses of 5 mg/kg at 2 and 6 weeks after your first infusion, and then every 8 weeks after that. In some cases, your doctor may decide to increase your dose up to 10 mg/kg. Ulcerative colitis The recommended starting dose for ulcerative colitis in adults and in children and adolescents (6 to 17 years) is an infusion of 5 mg/kg. You will get additional doses of 5 mg/kg at 2 and 6 weeks after your first infusion, and then every 8 weeks after that. What do I do if I receive too much? (overdose): As REMICADE is being given to you under the supervision of your doctor it is very unlikely you will receive too much. If you think you or anybody else has been given too much REMICADE, contact your doctor, pharmacist or the Poisons Information Centre who will advise you what to do, or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital. Poisons Information Centre telephone numbers: Australia: 13 11 26 New Zealand: (03) 474 7000 Keep these telephone numbers handy. While you are being given REMICADE Things you must do Tell your doctor, nurse or pharmacist if the medicine starts to upset you or your symptoms become worse. Tell your doctor or dentist that you are being treated with REMICADE before you undergo any surgical procedures. Tell your doctor: if symptoms of TB (persistent cough, weight loss, listlessness, fever), or any other infection appear. Do this immediately. if symptoms of hepatitis B (upset stomach, loss of appetite, vomiting, tiredness, dark yellow or brown urine, and yellow eyes or skin) appear. You must do this immediately. that you are taking REMICADE before receiving any vaccinations. Some vaccinations should not be given while you are being treated with REMICADE. You should continue to take adequate contraceptive measures to avoid pregnancy. If you have a baby while you are using REMICADE, tell your baby's doctor about your REMICADE use before the baby receives any vaccinations, including live vaccines. Severely decreased numbers of white blood cells have also been reported in infants born to women treated with REMICADE during pregnancy. If your baby has continual fevers or infections, contact your babys doctor immediately. Things to be careful of Tell your doctor if you think you have an infection. REMICADE may affect the normal immune response. There is a possibility that you may be more prone to infections. You will be watched closely for signs of infection. Tell your doctor immediately if you develop a skin rash or hives. Your doctor may discontinue REMICADE until the symptoms go away and then begin giving the medicine again. Symptoms will resolve with appropriate treatment. If you suffer from congestive heart failure, tell your doctor immediately if your condition worsens. REMICADE is unlikely to make you drowsy. If you are tired, do not drive a car or work with machinery. Side effects Tell your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are being given REMICADE. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects. Generally, patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, or psoriasis already take several medicines to treat their disease. These medicines may themselves cause side effects. If you get additional side effects or any new symptoms, please tell your doctor. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. Do not be alarmed by the following list of possible side effects. You may not experience any of them. During the infusion of REMICADE the following reactions may occur: fever or chills itchiness or hives chest pain low blood pressure high blood pressure shortness of breath. These reactions are more likely to occur during the first and second infusion but may also appear up to six months after the last infusion. Tell your doctor immediately if you notice any of the following: pain or tenderness in chest, muscles, joints or jaw swelling of the hands, feet, ankles, face, lips, mouth or throat, which may cause difficulty in swallowing or breathing fever muscle pains joint pains tiredness abnormal chest sounds rash itching symptoms that may indicate heart failure, e.g. shortness of breath, especially with exercise or lying down, or swelling of your feet. Tell your doctor or nurse as soon as possible if you notice any of the following: headache nausea or vomiting dizziness and light-headedness fatigue fever rash hives itching sore throat coughing hoarseness shortness of breath chest pain back pain muscle pain abdominal pain indigestion diarrhoea weight loss, muscle wasting problems with urination changes in the way your heart beats, for example, if you notice it beating faster flushing dry skin or increased sweating fluid retention new onset of psoriasis, mainly on the soles of the feet and on palms worsening of rheumatoid arthritis. There have been very rare cases where people taking REMICADE have developed liver problems. Signs that you could be having a problem include: jaundice (skin and eyes turning yellow) dark-brown coloured urine right-sided abdominal pain fever severe fatigue (tiredness). You should contact your doctor immediately if you develop any of these symptoms. Tell your doctor if you notice any other effects. Most of the side effects are mild to moderate in severity. Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some patients. Some side effects may appear up to six months after the last infusion. Cancers In clinical studies, more cancers were seen in patients who received TNF-blockers, including REMICADE, than patients who did not receive these treatments. In children and adults being treated with TNF-blockers, the chances of getting lymphoma or other cancers may increase. It should be noted, however, that patients with longstanding and active rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease may already have a higher risk for developing cancers even without TNF-blockers, making it difficult to estimate the risk of developing cancers in these patients. Nevertheless, the role of TNF-blockers in the development of cancers cannot be excluded. A rare type of cancer called Hepatosplenic T-cell Lymphoma (HSTCL) has been reported rarely in adolescents and young adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis who have received REMICADE. All of these patients were also receiving drugs known as azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine. No cases of HSTCL have been reported in patients receiving REMICADE only. HSTCL often results in death. The role of TNF blockers in the development of cancers in children and adolescents remain unclear. Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about this. Skin cancers (T cell lymphoma, mycosis fungoides, melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma) have been reported rarely in patients treated with TNF-blockers, including REMICADE. Tell your doctor if you notice any new skin lesions during or after therapy or if existing lesions change appearance. Cervical cancer may occur more frequently in women treated with REMICADE. Periodic screening of women treated with REMICADE should continue. Patients with a lung disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and who have a history of heavy smoking may have an increased risk for getting cancer while being treated with REMICADE. After REMICADE has been stopped Tell your doctor immediately if: you notice any of the following side effects, even if they occur several weeks after stopping treatment with REMICADE. skin rash or hives frequent infections symptoms of TB (persistent cough, weight loss, listlessness, fever), or any other infection appear. symptoms of hepatitis B (upset stomach, loss of appetite, vomiting, tiredness, dark yellow or brown urine, and yellow eyes or skin) appear. These symptoms may appear several months after your last REMICADE treatment. You should continue to take adequate contraceptive measures to avoid pregnancy for at least 6 months after the last infusion of REMICADE. Tell your doctor if you notice any other effects. Storage REMICADE should be stored at 2C to 8C (Refrigerate.) Do not use beyond the expiry date. REMICADE may be stored at temperatures up to a maximum of 30C for a single period of up to 12 months; but not exceeding the original expiration date. The new expiration date should be written on the carton. Upon removal from refrigerated storage, REMICADE cannot be returned to refrigerated storage. REMICADE vials are for single use only. Any unused portion should be discarded. Product description What it looks like REMICADE comes as a white powder in a glass vial. Ingredients Active ingredient: Infliximab (recombinant) 100 mg per vial Inactive ingredients: sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate sodium phosphate dibasic dihydrate sucrose polysorbate 80 Supplier JANSSEN-CILAG Pty Ltd 1-5 Khartoum Road Macquarie Park NSW 2113 Australia Telephone: 1800 226 334 Australian Registration Number AUST R 73827 Health pioneers BetterYou have welcomed new guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) highlighting that many adults in Britain have low levels of vitamin D and that some exposure to sunlight can help to build this up. The health watchdog recommends that people expose their arms and legs to the sun for short periods in order to build up vitamin D, however, did not suggest a specific amount of time people should stay out. National surveys suggest that around a fifth of adults and 8 to 24% of children may have low vitamin D status and that it is not possible to get enough vitamin D by sitting next to a closed sunny window, or from sunlight (the main natural source of vitamin D) between October and March in the UK. UVB radiation is required for the production of vitamin D and these rays cannot penetrate glass, cloud, light clothing or sun cream over 15SPF. BetterYou are at the forefront of research into vitamin D levels and are keen to educate about the importance of maintaining your vitamin D levels. They aim to inform how much of this vital vitamin you should be taking, as dosage levels are still poorly understood. In the UK, the Department of Health recommends all children aged six months to five years, those aged 65 and over, people who have low or no exposure to the sun and those with darker skin take a vitamin D supplement. Professor Gillian Leng, director of health and social care at NICE, said: People who cover up for cultural reasons, are housebound or otherwise confined indoors for long periods of time are all at higher risk of low vitamin D levels. BetterYous DLux oral vitamin D spray range is listed in the NHS recommended product guide for vitamin D supplementation and comes in different strengths for people of all ages. BetterYou recommends 1000IU (International Units) of vitamin D is supplemented per 25kg of body weight. An adult living in the Northern Hemisphere requires between 2000-3000IU daily to maintain a healthy level. Andrew Thomas, founder and managing director at BetterYou, said: Our modern indoor lifestyles, processed foods and the overuse of sun creams in the Northern Hemisphere are resulting in a dramatic rise in vitamin D deficiency, which can cause fatigue, aches and pains, and frequent infections. Vitamin D deficiency can be easily corrected by supplementation and simple lifestyle changes. By taking just one spray a day of our DLux oral spray, you can ensure your vitamin D levels can be effectively managed. Multiple clinical trials have found that oral vitamin sprays elevate serum vitamin D levels on average 50% faster than traditional tablets and capsules. Researchers at Cardiff University, when testing BetterYous DLux vitamin D oral sprays, found that absorption within the mouth was far superior to the more traditional digestive route of tablets and capsules. In addition, trials by both the National Technical University of Athens and the Swiss Research Centre Pharmabase found that vitamin D absorption via an oral spray was at least 50% faster and more effective than traditional tablets and capsules. BetterYou has joined forces with Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust to provide a simple, affordable and accurate home testing kit for everyone to take control of their own vitamin D requirements. Testing is carried out by City Assays, who use liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to measure the Vitamin D in the blood. A clear interpretation of the vitamin D level is then sent to the customer. Customers are offered supplementation advice, along with a complimentary DLux daily vitamin D oral spray to help raise levels to adequate amounts. insights from industry Ian Fotheringham Co-founder Ingenza Why is correct placement of nasogastric (NG) tubes vital? Nasogastric tubes are placed directly into the stomach in order to feed or medicate patients. If an NG tube accidentally goes into the lung instead, which can happen, it can cause serious harm to the patient, with food, liquid or medication potentially entering the lung. This is a persistent and ongoing issue of medical error which can be fatal. NG tubes can also inadvertently be placed into the oesophagus, or even through the stomach into the small intestine, leading to patients not being fed properly, and other problems. These misplacements are not as serious, but are still problematic. What is the current method for determining correct placement? A number of methods have been described and practiced. It varies around the world, but the only recommended approved method in the UK is to draw an aspirate a small amount of liquid through the tube using a syringe. This draws out a sample of liquid (aspirate) from the stomach or wherever the tube is, and the pH of that liquid is then tested using a pH strip. The current guideline says that the aspirate pH has to be lower than 5.5 in order to start feeding or to medicate. It is presumed that a pH of 5.5 indicates the presence of hydrochloric acid (HCl) from the stomach, which you wouldn't find in the lung. Similarly, the pH in the small intestine would be more neutral. Why is the current method prone to misinterpretation? Because it is presumed that your stomach always has acid in it, but thats not correct. Quite often people don't have acid in their stomach. Up to 40 % of people in hospital can be on antacid medications, sometimes because they are anxious, or simply because its just a common medication. If people are on medication that reduces their stomach acid or perhaps if they haven't eaten and theres little or no acid present, then there will not be an acidic pH response when you draw the aspirate, and then you can't be sure if the tube is in the stomach. After an inconclusive acid test, X-ray is used as the gold standard method to check the position of the tube. However, according to Professor George Hanna at St. Marys Hospital, London, this is not an ideal method either; X-ray adds to the cost, time and patient inconvenience and is still open to misinterpretation. There is also the safety implication of repeated X-rays, particularly in children. The use of X-ray varies in different countries though and, in America, everybody is X-rayed to confirm the tube position. How does Ingenzas diagnostic assay work? One of our colleagues brought this challenge to our attention and came up with the idea of finding a different marker for placing tubes other than looking at acid in the stomach. The enzyme human gastric lipase, an enzyme in the stomach that hydrolyses compounds called esters including fats such as triglycerides was particularly appropriate, offering a consistently present and more reliable marker. When you digest these molecules, this hydrolysis cleaves the molecule apart and releases acid and alcohol. The presence of lipase can be detected in exactly the same way as the presence of gastric acid. You simply take the pH strip, and add a small amount of a triglyceride that the enzyme would break down to acid. Then, when you take a sample from the stomach, if there's hydrochloric acid present, you'll get an acidic pH response as before. However, if there's no hydrochloric acid but the lipase is present, it will break down the triglyceride that is on the paper, and there will still be an acidic pH response. Therefore, lipase acts as a marker that covers any occasions where there might not be enough gastric acid in the stomach to give an acidic pH response. The idea, in a nutshell, is a modification of the test to include triglyceride on the pH paper, so you're not doing anything different. Samples from the stomach have the enzyme present in them already, so that's an important thing to understand. We're not doing anything to the patient the patient is being sampled in exactly the same way. We're just providing a means to detect this enzyme, as a secondary way of producing acid on the pH strip. How specific and sensitive is the test? We have tested this in our laboratory. We added triglyceride to pH paper and found that adding lipase reduced the pH; it showed a pH response simply as a result of triglyceride being hydrolysed. Early experimentation showed that the pH fell by about 2 to 3 units, so from pH 7 to about pH 5 or pH 4. This is important, early data allowed us to obtain preliminary grant funding a 100,000 grant from SMART: Scotland to do a trial including around 30 patients with Professor Hanna at St. Mary's. We ran the trial so that each sample that was taken from a patient was tested on conventional pH paper, which was 65 % sensitive, and on our modified paper, which was 97 % sensitive. The important things to look at were sensitivity and specificity. Specificity is all about making sure that you detect the location of the tube, and the sensitivity is about how often you can confirm the correct positioning of the tube. Specificity is important because you never want to decide it's in the stomach, when it's actually in the lung. You never want false positives, and our method was 100 % specific in the sense that it never gave any false positives. The existing method is also 100 % specific in that it doesn't give false positives, but it gives a lot of false negatives. Its sensitivity is 65 % versus 97 %, which is a very, very big difference. However, this was based on a relatively small number of patient samples. Were you surprised by the results? Not really. We expected the new test to be much more sensitive because, according to the literature, human gastric lipase is not inhibited by drugs. It won't be affected by antacid medication and it seems to be pretty much always present in the stomach. It's even there in newborns and children, so it's a very fundamentally important enzyme. We knew that the current test often fails when an aspirate is drawn, but doesn't have much acid in it. We thought it was quite likely that the enzyme would be there, so we were not really surprised. We were very pleased that it was 97 % correct. The only reason it wasn't 100 % is that one patient did have a particularly alkaline stomach pH of 8.5, and we don't know the reason for that yet. In that circumstance, there obviously wasn't acid, but the enzyme loses its activity in alkaline conditions, and so it wasn't even able to react. However, all that meant was that one person would have required an X-ray. That's the important thing because, using the conventional method, about 12 people would have required an X-ray. In what ways do you plan to develop the test further? The trial was on quite a small number of patients, so the next step is to obtain a more substantial amount of funding so that we can conduct a much larger trial. We applied to the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst competition and we were successful. At the end of last year, we were awarded a grant of about 800,000. Imperial is recruiting a large number aiming for 200 or more of patients across various hospitals from the Imperial Healthcare Trust, which includes St. Mary's, Charing Cross, Hammersmith and Chelsea and Westminster hospitals. We will develop the test papers, which were developed by a standard laboratory practice before. The papers impregnated with the triglyceride substrate will be made to the ISO 13485 clinical quality control standard, so there is already quality compliance consideration for manufacturing. Those papers will be based on standard pH paper in clinical use, modified by us to the ISO standard. Rather than a pH strip that can be used for lots of different things and has about seven or eight different colours on it, we're going to develop a test that works more like a pregnancy test. This will be a second generation device, which is all or nothing and will either say feed or don't feed. It will give a single read-out, perhaps in the form of a colour change, because we think that will also contribute to removing ambiguity. Professor Hanna wrote a report for the government a few years ago which described this problem and recommended that, in order to avoid any ambiguity and medical error, the cut-off for feeding should be a pH of less than 4. The recommendation from that report wasn't implemented, for the simple reason that had that new standard been applied, there would have been a huge increase in the number of tests that, based on pH, were not clear. As a result, even more X-rays would have been needed. What we want to do is to provide a test that allows a new, safer standard to be implemented and ensure that fewer X-rays are needed than before. That's the approach we're trying to develop. What do you think the future holds for improving NG tube placement and how do Ingenza plan to contribute? I think there's a huge need for this test, as there's already a lot of cost involved and an ongoing issue of patient safety. It has a great chance of being very successful and could be implemented in the NHS as well as other countries, notably in parts of the developing world where X-ray support to confirm correct tube placement is largely unavailable. The test is cost effective; no expensive equipment is required, there is virtually no change in bedside procedure and so no additional training of end users, and there is no delay in getting the read-out. It's very compliant with existing practice, but ought to provide greater sensitivity. We will now either take it forward in house at Ingenza, manufacturing the paper and commercialising it ourselves, or partner with other end users, such as an existing diagnostic company or paper manufacturer. We're exploring all of those opportunities at the moment. We have an excellent relationship with the team at St. Mary's in Paddington, where Professor Hanna leads the National Institute of Health Research Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative London (NIHR DEC London) a government initiative to try to help facilitate the progression of innovations and new technology into the NHS. We think that this synergy with the DEC will greatly help with the test evaluation and, if the trial is successful, may speed up its adoption by the NHS. Where can readers find more information? http://www.ingenza.com/ About Ian Fotheringham Ian Fotheringham received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Glasgow, UK in 1986. He joined the NutraSweet division of Monsanto in Chicago, USA, constructing microbes to produce the Aspartame sweetener. From 1993 he continued developing large scale bioprocesses with NSC Technologies and Great Lakes Fine Chemicals. In 2003 he co-founded Ingenza, an Edinburgh, UK, based Industrial Biotechnology SME with a unique range of proprietary enabling technologies. Now a leader in microbial strain improvement, synthetic biology, fermentation and bioprocess development, Ingenza works with industrial partners worldwide to commercialise state of the art biomanufacturing processes. Ian has published 35 papers and articles and holds 8 current patents. It was clear from IoT Tech Expo Europe 2016 that the Internet of Things has the potential to transform not only healthcare but the way we live our lives. But what actually is IoT? Definitions vary, but in essence it involves the transfer of data between consumers, systems and devices. You may already be more familiar with IoT than you think. Ever used a smart TV to download films online for example? The potential of IoT to impact healthcare is wide ranging. We've already seen an increasing movement towards fitness tracking wearables over the last few years. Imagine a world where your vital signs were being constantly monitored and fed back to your healthcare professional. Such wearables can't come too soon for patient expert David Festenstein, who spoke of his life-changing experience of having a stroke and his remarkable recovery. Despite this, David talked of his anxiety over a potential future stroke and how he'd feel much more comfortable if he was being monitored and thereby could be alerted should symptoms start to indicate history repeating itself. Putting patients at the heart of IoT of the future was at the core of IoT Tech Expo both from the speakers and the audience questions. Jacqui Taylor, CEO of Flying Binary, described how we're still focussed on a consumption model, whereas a self-care and preventative model is what's needed. David Doherty, co-founder of 3G Doctor, emphasised how we need to empower patients with their own data and in doing so could lie the opportunity for preventative medicine. Dr Shafi Ahmed, Consultant General, The Royal London and St Bartholomew's Hospital, also discussed ways IoT could minimise or save costs for the NHS. Just like telephone appointments already in primary care, Dr Ahmed envisions a future where the outpatient process could be done remotely. Why hasn't this happened already you may wonder? There are many examples of great work being done according to Dr Ahmed, however, this has traditionally been in small pockets. He hopes that the NHS, who are becoming increasingly accepting of innovation, will help to make this easier moving forwards. Privacy is a big issue in the IoT space. Brad Schechter at Covisint talked to News-Medical about managing people's access to trusted information and the importance of knowing who has access to what. Similarly Kimia Salehi at Medopad outlined the restrictions in hospitals of sharing patient data, such as images between healthcare professionals, and how their approved platform overcomes such problems. Bob Gann, NHS England discussed further barriers including the sensitivity of health information and thereby concerns over data security; the uncertain environment of some apps being classed as medical devices and therefore requiring the relevant approval; finally the current lack of good evidence on the benefits of wearables. Perhaps the most shocking part of Bob's talk was the amount of people who aren't connected in our society, or the "internots" as he described them. The digital divide in the UK is huge, with 6 million people (11% of the population) never having used the Internet before. Over the last 3 years, Bob and his team have been working to support people to get online in libraries, homeless shelters, pubs and even chip shops! So far they've reached 300,000 digitally excluded individuals. Richard Marsh at Draper Esprit discussed another type of chip more commonly associated with IoT in his overview of venture capitalism in the IoT space. With Draper Esprit's typical investment of 5-10 million, and internet-connected devices in homes already averaging around 5-10 devices, such as laptops, smart TVs etc., it's clear to see this is an exciting area not just for healthcare but for life as we know it. Mother and child malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries encompasses a range of conditions including maternal wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, foetal growth restriction and stunting - a height that is below the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards median - of children younger than five years. While the prevalence of stunting has decreased during the past two decades, it still affects 160 million children under 5 and is concentrated in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. "In shifting the global burden of stunting and growth retardation, it is important to address determinants such as poor status of women in society, gender disparities, and invest actively in promoting education and economic empowerment of girls," said Professor Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Founding Director, Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University and Co-Director, SickKids Centre for Global Child Health in Toronto, Canada. He was speaking as the lead speaker at the session Childhood Stunting: Policy Solutions to Address a Global Burden with Long-Term Impacts at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC. "The Aga Khan University is leading efforts to monitor nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in Pakistan and the region, including Afghanistan. In addition, scientists and public health specialists at the University are engaged in testing and implementing innovations and low-cost solutions to addressing the problems of stunting and wasting among infants and children as well as adolescent girls in various settings," added Professor Bhutta. Last year, the University also pledged to support the Global Strategy's ambitious yet achievable targets - which are fully aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals - with an investment of over US$ 85 million to improve capacity and to develop programmes that will reach over 15 million women and children in South-Central Asia and East Africa, and potentially save a million lives. Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been awarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration to support the Boston Center for Refugee Health & Human Rights. Funding will support the Center's Freedom Through Wellness project, which will work to develop novel programs and support medical, behavioral and social services for torture survivors and their families. "This grant will support our Center's longstanding commitment to treating torture survivors and their families during the process of healing and recovery," said Lin Piwowarczyk, MD, MPH, director of the Center and the grant's principal investigator. "By providing strengths-based, trauma-informed care and services, and in partnership with strategic education and training partners, we're helping torture survivors attend to their health, build effective support networks, and lead productive and meaningful lives." Previous studies have estimated that approximately 10 to 30 percent of refugees in Western settings are survivors of torture. The Massachusetts Refugee Health Program reports that almost 65,000 refugees first arrived in Massachusetts between 1986 and 2013, with the largest number of refugees coming from East and Southeast Asia, followed by Africa, and then Eastern Europe and Central Asia. From 2011 to 2014, refugees arrived in Massachusetts from 74 different countries of origin. The Center provides comprehensive care and case management services to torture survivors and their families in the areas of mental health, primary care, obstetric/gynecological care, case management, career development, patient navigation and asylum evaluations. As part of Freedom Through Wellness, Piwowarczyk and her team will gather outcomes data and build critical infrastructure related to new initiatives and programs. For example, they will work with the YOUNG Africa and the Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistance Association, Inc. to better understand issues faced by the Liberian and Ethiopian communities related to mental health literacy and barriers to care. The Center also will expand its Leadership Skills Academy by incorporating a new program on resilient leadership. The Center staff have developed a seven-week workshop series called "BeWell," intended to help patients better understand best health practices, improve their ability to prevent disease, and maintain good health. Training for healthcare providers on how to identify and care for torture survivors will play a role in the Freedom Through Wellness project. "We help patients achieve the change they need in their lives, which can have a ripple effect within refugee communities," Piwowarczyk said. "Those who complete our career development and leadership skills training move on to support themselves and their families, become role models for the refugee community, and gain familiarity with the U.S. healthcare system." A new collaborative project between universities, hearing aid manufacturers and other experts will evaluate existing hearing loss treatment. The goal is to improve quality - to the delight of both hearing aid users and society. If you suffer from hearing loss, a hearing aid can help. This seems simple enough, but unfortunately the reality can be very different. Every tenth person never properly benefits from hearing aids which then often end up in the drawer. Now, a new, large collaborative project between the University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University, the Technical University of Denmark, independent tech company DELTA, Danish hearing aid manufacturers Oticon, Widex and GN Resound and the university hospitals in Odense and Aalborg will improve quality so that people with hearing loss can get more out of hearing aids. The project BEAR (Better Hearing Rehabilitation) has a budget of DKK 50 million kroner (6.7 million euros); of that, the industry is contributing 15 million kroner while Innovation Fund Denmark is investing just under 29 million kroner in the project. Imperfect basis Today, if you have hearing problems, you can get a hearing test that results in an audiogram. An audiogram is a graph that shows how well you hear in individual frequency ranges. This is important knowledge when fitting and adjusting hearing aids, but often much more information is needed for someone to fully benefit from hearing aids. "The audiogram is a simplistic description of how your hearing works. You can have normal hearing thresholds, but, for example, find it difficult to understand what is being said when many people are talking in the same room," explains Project Manager Dorte Hammershi, Professor in the Department of Electronic Systems at Aalborg University. Today we adjust hearing aids almost exclusively using audiograms, and that means that many important parameters do not get enough focus, for example, the ability to distinguish speech in noise. The actual hearing aid fitting and adjustment and advice on using it are also likely to play a role in acceptance and satisfaction. The project also addresses these aspects. The right tools The problem of customizing hearing aids has been known for many years, and there are many alternative ways to conduct hearing tests. Among other things, there is a test where one must recognize words that are said in different kinds of background noise. By its very nature, this provides a clearer picture of how well hearing is working. "The reason we are so focused on audiograms is that right now we can't put our finger on a specific measurement and say: that's the test that could enable us to adjust hearing aids better. There are a whole battery of various tests and examinations, but they take time and may require special equipment or training. That is why we need to find out which methods work best," explains Dorte Hammershi. Better use of resources The goal of BEAR is to identify new knowledge that will be used as the basis for new standards for better hearing aid fitting and adjustment and follow-up treatment so that hearing aid users get the most out of their hearing aids. Every year in Denmark around 130,000 hearing aids are customized. This alone costs the state a good 400 million kroner in subsidies. At the same time, a 2006 study by the Danish National Center for Social Research estimates that production losses due to untreated hearing loss among working individuals costs society 2.7 billion kroner each year. Projekt Partners University of Southern Denmark, Ture Damann Andersen, Associate Professor, Chief Physician, +45 2049 1958 Aalborg University, Dorte Hammershi, PhD, Professor (Project Manager), +45 9940 8705 Technical University of Denmark, Torsten Dau, Dr.rer.nat.habil., Professor, +45 4525 3977 Odense University Hospital, Rikke Schnack-Petersen, Chief Physician +45 6541 2536 Aalborg University Hospital, Michael Gaihede, PhD, Chief Physician, Associate Professor, +45 9766 2728 DELTA, 5000, Gert Ravn, Senior Technology Specialist, +45 7219 4102 Oticon A/S, 2765, Katrine Hertz stergaard, PR & Communications Director, +45 2095 2530 GN Resound A/S, Steen Frentz Laursen, VP Group Communication, +45 2065 3420 Widex A/S, Jeanette Blom, Group Communication Manager, +45 2675 3853 Facts Innovation Fund Denmark investment: DKK 28,921,500 Total project budget: DKK 50,232,250 Duration of the project: 5 years Project's official title: Better Hearing Rehabilitation - BEAR Patient-dedicated blood gas analyser ideal for use with ICU isolation beds Sphere Medical, an innovator company in critical care monitoring and diagnostics equipment, announces that at the Symposium Intensivmedizin + Intensivpflege 2016, it will be discussing the potential application of its newly introduced Proxima patient-dedicated blood gas analyser with isolation beds during outbreaks of infections, such as winter influenza, MRSA and VRE. To be held in the Messe und Congress Centrum Bremen from 24-26th February, the Symposium will provide an ideal opportunity for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) personnel to discuss this application with Sphere Medical on Stand Number S17. The Proxima in-line blood gas analyser removes the need to walk away from the patient for analysis Influenza is a common cause of admission to the ICU during the influenza season, consequently, epidemics are a great burden to ICUs in Germany. For example, last year in Lower Saxony, some clinics had to accommodate their patients in hallways due to pressures caused by an influenza outbreak. According to a recent report from the AGI (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Influenza), 32% of the 2,888 laboratory-confirmed influenza infections reported between Week 40 of 2015 to Week 3 of 2016 resulted in hospitalisation. Notably, the AGI, based on data from the NRZ (Nationalen Referenzzentrum fur Influenza), has confirmed that this years influenza outbreak in Germany started in Week 2, with a subsequent increase in hospital admissions. Infection control precautions are essential to minimise the burden of infection outbreaks on ICUs that are already strained due to personnel shortages in Germany. Therefore, single-room isolation can play an important role in preventing contact and droplet-spread between vulnerable ICU patients. Opportunities for enhancing workflow could also be considered to support stretched nursing staff. Efficient ICU blood gas analysis Blood gas measurements are important parameters when monitoring critical care patients with respiratory complications. Since frequent arterial blood sampling is necessary, a key aspect of infection prevention and control with such patients is the stringent management of their blood samples, particularly during collection and transportation for analysis. Operating as a closed system with an in-line design, the patient-dedicated Proxima arterial blood gas monitoring system keeps infection control simple and effective. Blood is withdrawn from the patient directly into the Proxima Sensor for analysis, minimising the number of openings of the arterial line for sampling. This protects both the patients blood from exposure to bloodstream infections, and also the caregiver by limiting exposure to blood borne pathogens during the course of routine patient care. Proxima can help to reduce nursing dependency of the patient and enhance workflows during blood gas analysis. Measuring blood gas actually in the patients bed space, as opposed to taking a sample and then walking away from the patient for analysis at a central analyser, can significantly save time. Furthermore, there is no need for an additional nurse to be found to monitor a critically ill patient while central blood gas measurements are made. Since it avoids the transfer of blood to a central blood gas analyser, Proxima also reduces blood handling and therefore cuts risk of infection transmission. Blood samples from isolation patients are kept within the isolated area and the caregiver by the patients bedside as an additional infection control measure. Additionally, the Proxima closed sampler returns all blood safely to the patient which avoids the need for waste management of potentially infected blood specimens and syringes. Proxima enables efficient, near real-time blood gas monitoring of critical care patients, meaning the caregiver need not walk away for analysis in an ICU which is already pressurised with personnel shortages, said Gerhard Riechers, Sales Manager Germany, Sphere Medical. Moreover, Proxima can offer real infection prevention and control benefits for the blood gas analysis of critically ill patients in isolation beds. Such benefits could be particularly important during outbreaks of infections, such as winter influenza, and we look forward to also discussing these with critical care personnel at our stand in Bremen. First sale in Germany Sphere Medical has recently sold the first Proxima system in Germany to the University Medical Centre Gottingen, a major teaching hospital with over 1,400 beds, in Lower Saxony. Professor Michael Quintel, Director of the Department of Anaesthesiology, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Gottingen, commented: A common toxin used to kill yellow fever mosquito larvae - the most prevalent transmitter of dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses - is highly effective. While there are some fitness advantages to surviving adults, this is still an effective way to control the damaging health impacts of these mosquito-borne diseases, a new University of Florida study shows. Scientists and mosquito control officials want to kill mosquitoes during the larval, or juvenile stage, before they grow into adulthood and transmit these dangerous diseases. Dengue and chikungunya viruses are regarded as two of the most important mosquito-borne viral illnesses, said Barry Alto, a UF/IFAS assistant professor in entomology at the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, Florida. The few mosquitos that do survive after exposure to the toxin gain a fitness advantage in adulthood, but their numbers are so small that their trait improvements, including enhanced size and ability to reproduce, are unlikely to outweigh the benefit of the rest of the mosquitoes that die from the pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), Alto said. Zika is an emerging virus, with cases imported to Florida and other parts of the United States, but no zika cases have been locally transmitted by zika virus-infected mosquitoes in the continental U.S., yet, Alto said. Public health officials in the Americas are concerned about a recent outbreak of zika fever in numerous countries and territories in the Americas due to microcephaly - small crania -- and other congenital issues with newborn babies, likely associated with maternal zika infection during pregnancy. "Both dengue and chikungunya activity have increased in Florida in recent years, and so these diseases pose a serious public health threat," he said. "Controlling the mosquito populations is currently the most effective approach used to control these diseases." In the study, published Feb. 12 in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, scientists found changes in some traits of mosquitoes but no significant changes in yellow fever mosquitoes' susceptibility to dengue virus infection after exposure to Bti. "The pesticide changes the environmental conditions -- including killing many other mosquito competitors -- so the remaining mosquitoes that mature into adults are different in many ways, compared to mosquitoes that were never exposed to the pesticide," said Alto, who conducted the study with Cynthia Lord, an associate professor in entomology at the Vero Beach lab. This study is one of the most comprehensive investigations of the lethal and nonlethal impacts of this pesticide on mosquitoes, Alto said. Source: University of Florida Following their release of a state-commissioned study on the potential public health impacts of fracking in Western Maryland, University of Maryland researchers are helping to inform the conversation about the potential risks associated with unconventional natural gas development and production. While other states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have already begun drilling along the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation, the Maryland government awaits direction from the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission before deciding whether and how to tap the state's natural resource. Recent growth of and political demand for unconventional natural gas development and production (UNGDP) has outpaced research into the risks those efforts pose for population health, according to the team of health researchers who worked on the Maryland Marcellus Shale Public Health Study. Two recently published papers from the study team provide important insights for researchers and communities that can be applied when assessing potential health risks from fracking in other settings. Ranking Potential Health Hazards from Natural Gas Fracking Devon Payne-Sturges, assistant professor in the UMD School of Public Health's Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health (MIAEH) and Meleah Boyle, project manager for MIAEH, were lead authors of a study published in the journal PLOS One, describes the "hazard ranking" methodology they developed to assess the potential public health impacts of fracking on a variety of areas, including air quality, social determinants of health, water quality, occupational health and healthcare infrastructure. "We felt it was important to publish this assessment methodology so other researchers and communities could benefit from a systematic public health evaluation process, which they could easily adapt for any other proposed UNGPD or resource extractive development projects," said Dr. Payne-Sturges. "So often decisions made in sectors outside of the traditional health care sector rarely consider linkages to health, and this leaves open the potential for unintended consequences. Our methodology brings public health to the table." Of particular importance to the research team was developing a system that would be simple to communicate. "We wanted a way to explain our findings to the community and policymakers that was clear and easy to understand," Ms. Boyle said. The study looked at two Maryland counties, Allegany and Garrett -- the only anticipated areas of Marcellus gas production in the state -- though its authors say their methodology can be expanded to examine other areas. Researchers conducted an extensive scoping process, including site visits and a literature review, to identify specific hazards that should be addressed in a Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Hazards were organized into eight categories that would specifically impact the unique populations of Allegany and Garrett counties: 1) air quality, 2) water quality (including water quality, soil quality, and naturally occurring radiological materials), 3) noise, 4) earthquakes, 5) social determinants of health (e.g. crime, injuries, mental health, sexually transmitted infections, and substance abuse), 6) occupational health, 7) healthcare infrastructure, and 8) cumulative exposures and risk. The final impact assessment methodology, modified from an existing HIA, consisted of a qualitative ranking and scoring system across those eight categories. Researchers also added a color-coded system to rank evaluations in terms of the potential risk of impact to public health. Each of the hazards was assessed according to established criteria, and assigned a score, which was then summed to produce a qualitative ranking: High, Moderately High, or Low levels of negative public health impact. The manuscript uses three examples -- air quality, water quality and healthcare infrastructure -- to illustrate in detail how researchers applied the ranking method to each hazard. "Should Maryland decide to move forward with fracking, our hazard ranking and overall report provided a set of recommendations that will minimize public health impacts," wrote the study's authors. "Our approach can be easily adapted by other communities facing similar situations as well as in other settings that entails making decisions with limited information." The Impacts of Fracking on Perceptions of Place and Identity Thurka Sangaramoorthy, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology of UMD's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, was the lead author of the study examining community perspectives and experiences with fracking published in the journal Social Science and Medicine. It examined community perspectives and experiences with ongoing fracking operations in Doddridge County, West Virginia. The findings from these interviews and site visit helped inform the baseline assessment of current regional population health, the assessment of potential public health impacts, and possible adaptive and mitigation strategies. "Fracking does a lot more than just disrupt the environment. It disrupts people's sense of place and identity, which is very important to this region of Appalachia," explained Dr. Sangaramoorthy. "The residents we spoke to expressed deep distress over the transformation of their land, their homes, and their relationships with each other as a result of fracking, which also influenced their perceptions of environmental and health impacts." The study published in Social Science and Medicine examined how community residents perceive and experience fracking in Doddridge County, West Virginia, which has a similar demographic and health profile to Maryland's Allegheny and Garrett counties. All three are rural, with high rates of poverty, and have populations that are older, more racially homogenous and more likely to lack health insurance and suffer from chronic diseases than both Maryland and West Virginia state averages. The research team conducted focus groups and a multi-day site visit with Doddridge County residents to gain insight into how individuals living in communities where fracking is underway are being impacted. One of the key issues that fragments communities where fracking occurs relates to who owns the rights to the land. "Split estates," which separate surface (above-ground portion of land) and mineral (sub-surface) rights, are common in the Appalachian region. These were created because of historical federal acts passed to allow the federal government to retain access to future mineral discoveries. Many homeowners own only the surface rights to their property, and by law are required to allow the use of surface property for mineral access by fracking operations. Long-time neighboring residents of the same community may have different rights -- and a different sense of control and power -- because those who own mineral rights can choose to keep or sell their land for a good profit, while those who only own surface rights are unable to stop drilling companies from taking over their land. Surface owners face the potential destruction and contamination of their land and the devaluation of their property if they try to sell. The study authors suggest that the rapid environmental change brought about by fracking in areas like Doddridge County is affecting the physical, mental and emotional health of residents of the area. If fracking is allowed in Maryland after the moratorium expires in October 2017, these impacts should be considered in the state's plans for further research. "The complex links between environmental impacts and social disruption can have long-term impacts on health outcomes. Ongoing research should examine the full spectrum of stress placed on communities that experience fracking," Sangaramoorthy explained. "This can aid healthcare providers, community leaders and policymakers in designing programs and services for local communities who are impacted or could potentially be impacted by fracking." UPDATE 9:20 AM, 2/15: Sleet is mixing with snow from south to north across our region this morning. When you start seeing the big quarter- and half-dollar-sized conglomerated snow "flakes" that's a sign of warming aloft and a likely change to sleet in the relatively near future. That may still be 2 or more hours, as it tends to toggle back and forth between sleet and snow for a while. Some of the heavy snow bands are still capable of 1-2 inches per hour, and may push a few locations over 10 inches, with 5-10 inches widespread across our region. Many forecast models shift the heavier precipitation north of us just as it would turn to freezing rain later today, leaving freezing drizzle and light sleet. A heavier band of rain is due overnight, with temperatures beginning near the freezing mark and possibly warming above it in many locations. END UPDATE ---- UPDATE 2:15 AM, 2/15: Heavy bands of snow have ratcheted snow totals up to the 3 to 6 inch range in the Roanoke and New River valleys and nearby areas as of this post shortly after 2 a.m. Moderate to occasionally snow appears likely to continue at least a few more hours, with many snow totals reaching 5 to 9 inches and locally more in and near the Roanoke and New River valleys, dwindling to 2-5 inches in parts of Southside. During the day Monday, warmer air aloft will begin creeping northward, though forecast models still vary as much as 6 hours on when it will become warm enough to start mixing snow with sleet. This will likely start near or shortly before sunrise in far southwest Virginia west of I-77, but will encroach on the rest of the area from the south and southeast between late morning and mid afternoon. The timing of this will greatly affect snowfall totals, as a later mix or changeover combined with heavier bands moving in from the southwest could mean additional inches of snow during the day. An earlier mixing and/or a lull in the heavier precipitation would mean significant snowfall is essentially over by mid-morning. By Monday night it will become warm enough aloft for mostly freezing rain and rain, as temperatures at the surface rise to near or slightly above freezing while they are several degrees above freezing aloft. A period of heavier rainfall is expected late Monday night and early Tuesday, which may continue as freezing rain in at least some pockets well into the wee hours of Tuesday morning. This is something that will have be fine-tuned during the day Monday for the risk of an ice storm. A low-pressure system track over the Appalachians just to our west is favorable for strong surface warming over our region, but new snow cover and falling precipitation into remnant Arctic air will resist that warming. A good melt still looks likely on Tuesday with highs in the 40s. I'll rejoin you in the morning sometime. Please continue to post any observations below, remembering to give your general location to make that observation more meaningful. END UPDATE ----- UPDATE 9:45 PM, 2/14: Most of the snow that has fallen so far in the Roanoke and New River valleys and nearby localities has been light to moderate, with accumulations steadily building into the 1-2-inch range. Heavier snow appears to be on the way later this evening as a band of much greater moisture transport from northern Tennessee into southern Kentucky and far southwest Virginia feeds the snow bad currently moving through our region. Some 1- to 2-inch per hour snowfall rates may develop with this heavier snow band later tonight. Widespread snowfall of 4-8 inches still appears likely for most of our region with localized 8-12 amounts, depending on how the heavy banding sets up. My guess for the Roanoke and Blacksburg-Christiansburg areas right now, based on radar trends, would be in the neighborhood of 6-8 inches. Snow is likely to continue into the morning hours on Monday before it perhaps slacks some and mixes with sleet near midday. END UPDATE ----- Snow is spreading eastward into the New River and Roanoke valleys early on this Sunday evening (radar above near 5 p.m.), reaching the high points first, and eventually filtering downward as the lower atmosphere saturates. It won't take long for travel to get slick, as it already has west of us from the I-77 corridor and southern West Virginia across most of Kentucky. We have many hours of snow on tap, possibly heavy at times, with 4-8 inches looking likely across all of the Roanoke/New River valleys and surrounding localities a county or two in all directions, with locally as much as 12 especially near the West Virginia state line but also possible anywhere narrow intense snow bands may set up during the night. With this system arriving a bit earlier than most projections and moving eastward rapidly, it may well be that most of our snow accumulation has occurred by morning light on Monday, with a little more snow during the day in conjunction with a low in the South intensifying, then perhaps a lull by afternoon with some light sleet and freezing rain entering the picture later in the day and into the evening. A heavier band of freezing rain and rain is likely to move through overnight Monday into early Tuesday as surface temperatures warm to near the freezing mark. We'll be nowhere close to that tonight or early Monday, with teens to low 20s temperatures. If it seems like deja vu to be having a winter storm in conjunction with Valentine's Day and Presidents Day in Southwest Virginia, there's a good reason. This will make 4 of the last 5 years we've had a winter storm in close conjunction with one or both of the holidays, which conveniently happen to be consecutive days this year. In 2012, there was a 5-8-inch wet snowstorm on the Sunday of Presidents Day weekend that essentially broke up a "no-hitter" for snow in the second warmest winter on record in Roanoke. In 2014, there was the 18-24-inch bomb on the two days before Valentine's Day. Last year, we had a 7-10-inch snowfall on Presidents Day, Feb. 16. And now ... this. I welcome your local observations in the comments below through the evening. Remember to tell us where you are (generally -- not a specific address, but a locality). Boy Thunder's secret identity will be revealed in January's Batman/Superman: World's Finest #11 - but who is he? Boy Thunder is secretly "someone DC fans have known for decades" - but who? 24 shops burnt in Imperial Plaza fire It was at about 4.45 pm on Saturday evening, when plumes of black smoke were seen emanating from the basement area of the building and business owners, many of whom had just closed their business places, raised an alarm and alerted the fire services department. Fire appliances from the Mon Repos Fire Station responded and quickly blocked off St James Street and Lower High Street to vehicular and pedestrian traffic in an attempt to contain the blaze. By late afternoon, fire fighters were forced to augment their supply of water by extracting sea water from the nearby Kings Wharf. Fire Service Officer, Lalchan Arjoon from the Fire Prevention Section, described reports of lack of water as erroneous, saying that the Water and Sewerage Authority was contacted and they assisted in boosting supplies. The Fire Service has water- carrying appliances so the water-carrying appliance came to the scene, but, on High Street, we have an emergency response plan in place to check the hydrants for water. The hydrants did have water but we needed WASA to supplement the supply and we did that. Our teams did a water relay from the wharf. We have a special hose, and water was lifted from the wharf. Arjoon said firefighters left the scene at approximately 11 pm, but admitted that the fires were always difficult to contain. Members of the Fire Prevention Section were surveying the damage yesterday to determine the cause of the fire. Arjoon said that the damage could run into millions, but we are trying to be very convenient to the occupiers because we know they lost things. The area we suspect the fire started, we are not going to interfere with that area. We are still in the process of determining the value of the buildings and determining the total value of what was lost. Arjoon said that 12 shops were confirmed to have been burned. Meanwhile, an employee of one of the shops, located in the basement, said that there was little they could do to contain the fire when the initial alarm had been raised. All you could see was flames and thick black smoke, and glass was breaking all round, Davie Ramdasssingh said Docs agree to hold back on overtime claims The medics are working overtime shifts but, in a drastic shift from the lucrative overtime claims of the past, they have decided to hold-back on submitting claims for payment as the San Fernando General Hospital grapples with a $140 million bill owing to suppliers for medical supplies. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh held an emergency meeting with SWRHAs officials on Saturday in which the possibility of closing down some of the wards at the hospital was pitched as an option, but Newsday was told that the Minister suggested tougher measures be taken to avoid such an occurrence. Newsday was told that there is a dire shortage of drugs, especially the drug Reagents which is used for the testing of blood samples for haemoglobin levels. Without Reagents doctors would unable to diagnose whether a patient has had a heart attack. In addition to the curtailing of doctors overtime, the SFGHs management has even implemented stringent measures on the volume of food that must be prepared in the hospitals kitchen, for patients. And, even those doctors who are doing extra duties without pay, would no longer enjoy a refreshment meal courtesy the hospital kitchen staff. They must either prepare their own meals or dip into their pockets to purchase them. Newsday obtained a memo from the Office of the Prime Minister, in which the call was made for the implementation of a seven-percent cut on salaries and goods and services at all SWRHAs health institutions. Asked to comment on the measures yesterday, particularly the doctors overtime cuts, Deyalsingh was in high praise for the SWRHAs board of directors, Hospital Medical Director Dr Anand Chatoorgoon, and Chief Executive Officer Anil Gosine. Deyalsingh said, The CEO, Medical Director and the board are well capable of executing government policy and maintain permanent jobs and patient care. SWRHA employs 700 medical doctors, the majority of who work at the SFGH, and, are mandated to provide health care to approximately 700,000 people. A source from the Health Review Committee, disclosed to Newsday yesterday that it had obtained a report from SWRHA, which stated that between 2012 and 2013, SWRHA paid out $7 million in overtime to medical doctors. However, measures to reduce such payout were implemented by Chatoorgoon and CEO Gosine in which they were able to reduce it to $1 million between 2014-2015. Refreshments for doctors performing overtime duties, used to cost SWRHA $250,000 per year. Contacted yesterday, Chatoorgoon confirmed the measures taken, but he said that it was indeed a bitter pill for SWRHAs doctors to swallow because their counterparts in the North-West Regional Health Authority, the North-Eastern Health Authority and the Tobago Regional Health Authority, were enjoying overtime as usual. Chatoorgoon said, Yes, we have asked the doctors to hold-back on their overtime for now, but come out and treat the poor patients and I must say, with great admiration, they have not been submitting their overtime. But how can we at SWRHA continue to urge them to make such a sacrifice when their counterparts in other regions are paid overtime. The sacrifice must be across the board and I must add, our doctors are some of the most hard-working in the country. The Health Review Committee has been informed by SWRHA, that other cost-cutting measures taken at SFGH especially, include the re-using of envelopes, typing paper, and even, the reviewing by a consultant, of expensive drugs prescribed for patients. Strong talk on failing Trini voice at Talk Tent It was clear, that last Thursday evening, the hearts of many Trinis were filled at the opening of this years Talk Tent at Queens Hall, Port of Spain. The annual tent held after the Carnival season, featured Paul Keens Douglas, The incredible Myron B (as host), calypsonian Short Pants, Roy and Gloria, Felix Edinborough, Farida Chapman, Miguel Browne, Avion Crooks and special guest, from Tobago, spoken-word poet Kelon McPherson. Known for its comedy, the tent delivered in masterful, authentic Trinidadian vernacular and elocution, the poignant message that TT is losing its own voice. The show opened promptly at 8pm with Pierrot Grenade, Felix Edinborough using the lyrical and satirical prowess of the Old Time Carnival Character, spelling words such as randomly and conference through story-telling. Seamlessly shifting through acts, Roy and Gloria entertained the audience with talk about life between a husband and wife, and the uniquely Trininbagonian experiences faced by them both. Gloria spoke to Roys spending habits with saying he would spend money on rims for his car, but not on which family, which he quickly countered with her spending habits on shoes-which Chapman created a verbal picture of life in Old Time TT She asked the audience to recall, in rhyme, what it was like to eat fowl and cooking on coal pot or how long time the music was romantic you could hold on to your partner and dance whole night. She opened and closed her act to Nappy Mayers Bring Back the Ole Time Days. Avion Crooks gave a mirrored performance of how Trinbagonains can be. She spoke to her disdain for weddings preferring funerals all the while keeping her husband, Jeremiah, waiting in the car as she gave her soliloquy-like performance. At the end of the act, she realised that the wedding was next week-end as opposed to the current one, not before exclaiming, Funeral dont need shoe. Browne came on to David Rudders Trini to de Bone, and spoke to cross-over disease which affected TT-in which media influence resulted in people forgetting who they were, and where they came from. Look at the food we eat, Trinis dont cook again, he said. We borrow what people have and bring it here wholesale- what Trinis know about Halloween, he asked. He closed his act with a poem called Folk for the Folks. After the intermission, the audience was treated to young Kelon McPherson whose exaggerated British accent, and in a sort of talking limerick, spoke to topics of beauty, getting a wine, courting caused large eruptions of laughter from the audience. Zika a major health challenge to region We are doing everything that we can here to reduce and suppress our mosquito population so as to, as far as we are able to, eliminate the vector effect, the Prime Minister said at a media briefing at the Piarco International Airport prior to his departure for the Twenty- Seventh Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom. I am sure that it will come up as a major health challenge for the region, Rowley said. So we expect that the prime minister who is responsible for health (will raise the matter) and Trinidad and Tobago will report what we are doing and that we are giving it very serious consideration. Cases of Zika have already been confirmed in Caricom member states Barbados, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname. Trinidad and Tobago health officials have deemed cases inevitable. Neighbouring Venezuela has confirmed thousands of cases, as have other countries in the Americas. The Caricom meeting takes place from tomorrow and ends on Wednesday. The Prime Minister is due to return on Thursday. Finance Minister Colm Imbert will be Acting Prime Minister, while National Security Minister Major General Edmund Dillon will be acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. Rowley defended his travel to the Belize meeting, saying several items were on the agenda. I have seen it recorded that these are holiday trips but these are not, the Prime Minister said. These are working trips. He said this country currently holds responsibility for security within the Caricom quasi-cabinet and many regional and international issues are to be addressed. The National Security Council, he said, had been preparing for the meeting over the last few days. The economic climate, the need for the Caricom single market and economy, intra-regional travel and sport are also on the agenda. Rowley said upon his return the Parliament will convene this Friday to consider matters relating to the Police Service Commission, with a package of legislation to amend the Childrens Act to follow. On March 3, he said, the Cabinet will meet at Tobago at the Magdalena Grand Beach Resort and then hold a retreat from March 4 to March 6. I expect that the Chief Secretary will attend that Cabinet meeting and we will have some discussions there and focus on some matters relating to Tobago, Rowley said. And after that Cabinet session the Cabinet remains in Tobago for a retreat on the Friday and Saturday of that weekend, ending on Sunday where we will focus for a few hours each day on the administration to date and the fine-tuning of the response to the very many challenges that we have as a Government taking responsibility in a very challenging period. There Were Rules on Handling Asbestos. They Were Ignored (Newser) Some 14,000 life jackets discarded by refugees entering Europe via the Greek island of Lesbos now adorn the six pillars of Berlin's landmark Konzerthaus concert hall. It's the work of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, Quartz reports, who has been a vocal critic of Europe's handling of the refugee crisis. Since January, more that 84,000 migrants have arrived in Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration. Of those, at least 410 have drowned or are missing. More than 1 million migrants made the journey to Europe in 2015, with the vast majority of them coming by sea. More than 3,700 people died crossing the Mediterranean last year, per Quartz. Officials in Lesbos say they gave the life jackets to Ai, CNN reports. The artist has spent a lot of time on the island in the last yeareven setting up a studio theredocumenting the dangerous journey refugees make as they flee conflict and poverty. As an artist, I have to relate to humanitys struggles," he tells the AP in an earlier interview. "I never separate these situations from my art." Recently, Ai recreated the photo of the Syrian toddler who drowned and washed ashore on a Turkish beach in September during his family's failed attempt to reach Greece, the Guardian adds. "It's an idea that came quite spontaneously," he tells CNN. "We had talked about the image of the boy, so I had that on my mind." (The artist is also partial to Legos.) (Newser) "It was coming right at me," said a 911 caller in Dayton, Ohio, who had pulled over to avoid a collision with a wrong-way driver on I-75 early Saturday. Soon after, there was another call: "There is a car on top of another car," the second caller said. "The people are stuck inside." Five people died in the crash, the Dayton Daily News reports. Among the dead in the suspected drunken driving accident was 61-year-old James Pohlabeln, the driver who was going the wrong way. The divorced retiree had been released from jail in connection with another suspected drunk driving crash just 33 hours earlier. Also killed were Kyle Canter, 23, Earl Miller II, 27, Devin Bachmann, 26all members of local hard rock band Counterfluxand 29-year-old Vashti Nicole Brown. The four were in a SUV being driven by Canter, the night's designated driver, a Counterflux member tells ABC 22. A message on the Counterflux Facebook page calls the three men "our lost brothers" and urges people not to drink and drive. "Your actions and choices affect more than just you," the post says. "And though a totaled car can be replaced a life cannot." Police arrested Pohlabeln some 48 hours before the fatal collision after he crashed into two parked cars around 2:20am. He pleaded not guilty and was released from jail Thursday night. Pohlabeln was "a very nice guy," but he had a drinking problem, a neighbor tells WHIO. He would be drinking and driving, pull up and his vehicle would be half parked, she says, recounting a time when she and her son had to carry a drunken Pohlabeln into his house after he stumbled out of his car and fell to the pavement. (Another suspected DUI crash killed a Marine soon after his poignant Facebook post.) (Newser) "We're all mixed race," Bill Clinton told Hillary supporters in Memphis a few days ago in remarks that are getting some belated attention from the media. The human genome has revealed that "unless your ancestors, every one of you, are 100%, 100% percent from sub-Saharan Africa, we are all mixed-race people," is specifically what he said, per the New York Post, which calls the remarks an attempt to "downplay President Obama's historic presidency." NBC News, however, notes that the remarks came after Rep. Steve Cohen introduced Clinton to the mixed crowd as somebody who wasn't the first black president but made "a heck of a stand-in." Clinton told the Thursday night rally that science has shown that people are genetically 99.5% the same, but people are "fixated" on the 0.5% that's different, the Commercial Appeal reports. "So what we need now is to say: 'How can we act like we're all 99.5% the same?'" he asked. Clinton got a huge ovation for praising both Obama's performance and Hillary's "change-making" prowess. "She's always making something good happen. She's the best change-maker I've ever known," he said, per Mediaite. "A lot of people say, you don't understand. It's different now. It's rigged. Yeah, it's rigged because you don't have a president who is a change-maker with a Congress who will work with him. But the president has done a better job than he has gotten credit for. And don't you forget it!" (Read more Bill Clinton stories.) (Newser) In a case of better late than never, a purse that went missing more than a decade ago has been found in the ceiling of a bank in Oklahoma City. Now the bag is headed back to its owner, Julie Curry, who now lives in Cherokee, Kan., KFOR reports. Curry's husband, Bill Sipp, likens the discovery to a time capsule. "It will be interesting ... when it shows up," he says. A construction worker came across the purse while pushing a ceiling tile during an inspection at First National Bank, and a business card put him on the trail to Curry. A court reporter at the time, Curry was in the building 14 years ago to meet with an attorney, as Sipp remembers it. He says his wife interacted with a hostile witness that day. Had they thought about the purse much during the intervening years? "No way," he says. "Out of sight, out of mind." Decorated with images of horses and dogs, the purse was symbolic of Curry and Sipp's shared pastime: "The couple used to fox-hunt with their dogs," a KFOR anchor says. "They'd chase coyotes on horseback." (Read more Oklahoma City stories.) (Newser) Civilian injuries in Afghanistan's long war with the Taliban rose last year, with women and children again bearing the brunt of the violence, the United Nations said in a report on Sunday. A total of 3,545 civilians were killed in 2015 as a result of the war, the UN report said, with another 7,457 wounded. The figures mark a 4% drop in civilian deaths, but a 9% rise in civilian injuries, compared to 2014. The UN's Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 2015 had the "highest number of total civilian casualties recorded by UNAMA since 2009." It also said that 10% of civilian casualties were women, up 37% from the year before, and 25% were children, up 14%. "The most important finding in the report is that 11,002 Afghanscivilians, noncombatantshave died or been injured in 2015; this figure surpasses by 4% the same figure for 2014," says UNAMA head Nicholas Haysom, per the AP. "The truth is the figures in themselves are awfulover 11,000 Afghans died or were injured last year as a result of this conflict," he says. The report found that most of the dead and injured were caught in crossfire. The annual report, titled "Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict," is based on on-site investigations where possible. It attributed 62% of all civilian casualties to anti-government elements, including the Taliban. Another 17% were blamed on pro-government forces and 2% on international military forces. (Read more Afghanistan stories.) (Newser) For visitors to the Seattle Aquarium, Valentine's Day just wasn't the same this year, after the annual giant Pacific octopus sex exhibition was canceled. But it's not because aquarium staff came to the conclusion that it's weird to invite a bunch of people to come watch octopi do it. Rather, they pulled the plug on the eventa Feb. 14 mainstay for a decadebecause they were concerned the male octopus would eat his mate, KOMO News reports. Weighing in at 70 pounds, Kong was just too much octopus for his female counterparts, who weighed 30 to 40 pounds. "Theres a chance he would see her as food," the aquarium's Tom Carpenter tells Crosscut. It could be that Kong dodged a bullet: Octopi are "terminal breeders," meaning that both males and females of the species die shortly after mating. So instead, the aquarium let visitors watch Kong swim around with a diver on Valentine's Day, and later planned to return him to Puget Sound. In any event, there's no telling what would have happened had the show been allowed to go on. "A blind date is a blind date," Carpenter says, "and you never know how it's going to go." Lovemaking itself can be dangerous for the males, too. Researchers in Indonesia have observed a female octopus basically strangle her mate during coitus and drag him to her den to eat him. (On the other hand, this little octopus is a romantic.) (Newser) Pope Francis condemned the drug trade's "dealers of death" and urged Mexicans to shun the devil's lust for money as he led a huge open-air Mass for more than 300,000 people Sunday in the violence-riddled Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec. In a clear reference to the drug lords who hold sway in the city's sprawling expanses of cinderblock slums, Francis focused his homily on the danger posed by the devil, the AP reports. "Let us get it into our heads: With the devil, there is no dialogue," the pope said at the biggest scheduled event of his five-day visit to Mexico. "Only the power of the word of God can defeat him." In a final prayer, he urged Mexicans to make their country into a land of opportunity "where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream, no need to be exploited in order to work, no need to make the despair and poverty of many the opportunism of a few, a land that will not have to mourn men and women, young people and children who are destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death." On his way to Mexico on Friday, Francis held a historic meeting in Havana with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. "We are not competitors, but brothers," Francis and Patriarch Kirill declared in a joint statement after the first meeting of its kind since the Great Schism of 1054, calling for action on such issues as the persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria. (Read more Pope Francis stories.) (Newser) More disgrace for Eliot Spitzer? The NYPD is looking into allegations that the former New York governor assaulted a woman at the Plaza Hotel on Saturday night, sources tell CNN, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post. The sources say a 25-year-old Russian woman told police that Spitzer, who has not been charged, choked her at the hotel following an argument. According to the Post's sources, the woman cut her wrists and called 911 after the fight with Spitzer, and he was the one who opened the door when officers showed up at the suite. She was taken to Mount Sinai West Hospital, where she allegedly told staffers Spitzer had attacked her. "The victim has indicated that the subject is Eliot Spitzer," the NYPD said in a statement. "Through an ongoing investigation, we are attempting to further establish the identity of the subject and the nature of the incident." CBS2 reports that the woman told investigators she did not wish to press charges against Spitzer, and a Spitzer spokeswoman says "there is no truth to the allegation." Spitzer, who was brought down by a prostitution scandal in 2008 after little more than a year as governor, is now running the real estate empire of his father, philanthropist Bernard Spitzer, who died in November 2014, the Daily News reports. (In a tell-all book, a call girl claimed Spitzer was one of her clients, and he liked a struggle.) (Newser) The FBI and the ATF are on the case in New Mexico for a Breaking Bad-like scenario: a "credible explosive device" found underneath a rental car that was returned Sunday to the Albuquerque International Sunport, CNN reports. Police say the vehicle had been rented elsewhere (cops aren't saying where) and then dropped off at the Albuquerque Avis center, per NBC News. The device was found by employees who had the car up on a lift to inspect it; they immediately called authorities upon their discovery. The device was eventually disarmed and the center's operations went back to normalbut even though the situation ended with no one hurt, there were related issues to the investigation. The airport itself wasn't shut down (the main terminal isn't attached to the car rental center), but travelers who needed to rent from or return cars to Avis were forced to wait in a long line in a nearby parking lot while the situation was resolved, per the Albuquerque Journal. A woman who went to pick up a friend at the airport says she "spent hours consoling" Avis workers, who were reportedly told they had to stay put during the incident, KOB-TV reports. "I can see the fear that they were having," she tells the station. "Here you get a bomb threat and they keep them in there. [It's] sad America has to have this fear." One of the center's employees tells the Journal that "we've had threats from hostile customers, but I've never heard of a bomb threat." (An alleged car bomber was injured because he likely didn't set the timer correctly.) (Newser) Photos and more than 350 "intense" letters from Pope John Paul II to a married woman he corresponded with for more than three decades have been found at the National Library of Poland, Deutsche Welle reports, via a BBC documentary. The notes and imagesoften showing the pontiff, who was made a saint in 2014, in casual wearreveal a friendship between himself and American philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka that included holidays spent together and an intimate relationship that historians are trying to figure out. "Here is one of the handful of transcendentally great figures in public life in the 20th century, the head of the Catholic Church, in an intense relationship with an attractive woman," a Christianity history professor at Cambridge University tells the BBC, which notes there's never a "suggestion [he] broke his vow of celibacy." "I would say they were more than friends but less than lovers," Edward Stourton, the documentary maker, tells AFP, via Deutsche Welle. Tymieniecka, who was born in Poland, first wrote to Karol Wojtyla in 1973 when he was still a cardinal, and their friendship deepened over the years. Stourton writes for the BBC that he believes Tymieniecka first told Wojtyla she was in love with him in 1975 and that it appeared the cardinal struggled with their relationship, writing that she was "a gift from God" and that "if I did not have this conviction, some moral certainty of Grace I would not dare act like this." He also gave her a scapulara piece of devotional clothingthat his own father had given him at his first Holy Communion. "I was looking for an answer to these words, 'I belong to you,' and finally, before leaving Poland, I found a waya scapular," he writes in a September 1976 letter. "The dimension in which I accept and feel you everywhere in all kinds of situations, when you are close, and when you are far away." Tymieniecka, who the BBC says visited the pope the day before he died in 2005, sold her letters to the Polish library in 2008 and died in 2014, per the Independent. (See some of their pics here.) (Newser) The Obama administration has approved the first US factory in Cuba in more than half a century: A two-man company from Alabama received the green light to build a plant to assemble small tractors for private farmers there, reports the AP. The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017 and plan to churn out as many as 1,000 a year. "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do," says Clemmons. Instead, he said, the company asked, "How do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important?" The $5 million to $10 million plant will be the first significant US business investment on Cuban soil since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalized billions of dollars of US corporate and private property. Clemmons and Berenthal are former IBM engineers who went into business together decades ago. Their company is called Cleber. (Read more Cuba stories.) (Newser) How do you say "large-scale tax avoidance" in Swedish? That's what a new report from the European Parliament's Greens/European Free Alliance group is accusing Ikea of, to the tune of $1.1 billion, per CNNMoney. The report alleges that the retail giant funneled money from its stores in highly taxed countries around Europe through a Dutch subsidiary, and possibly also through Luxembourg and Lichtenstein, so it could reap significant tax savings, notes Reuters. This type of "profit shifting"in which headquarters for multinational companies are set up in low-taxed nationsis common in Europe, CNN notes. Ikea's response, via a statement: "We pay our taxes in full compliance with national and international tax rules and regulations." The European Commission says it's going to delve more into the supposed tax avoidance, which Reuters notes is alleged to have taken place over a six-year period. (Ikea has been taken to task on its minimum wage, too.) (Newser) Protesters took to the streets of Bahrain Sunday on the five-year anniversary of the kingdom's uprising, and officials say four Americans who were in the midst of it in Sitra were arrested, NBC News reports. The charges for the three men and one woman: giving "false information" to border officials to get into Bahrain and "participating in an unlawful gathering," per an Interior Ministry statement. Two witnesses who spoke anonymously out of fear of being arrested says the four detainees are journalists, the AP reports. An Interior Ministry tweet accused one of the arrested parties of wearing a mask and attacking the police, per NBC. The US Embassy in Manama notes it's "aware of the arrest of four US citizens in Bahrain"; officials in Bahrain are staying mum for now. (Bahrain recently cut ties with Iran.) (Newser) Rebel-held Syrian towns took missile fire Monday and saw at least 23 civilians die in a school and three hospitalsblood that some say is on Russia's hands, Reuters reports. Azaz, a town near Turkey, took the brunt when airstrikes killed 14 at a children's hospital and a shelter inside a school, local sources say. "We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital," says a medic who found two children among the dead. In the north-western town of Marat Numan, Idlib province, seven others died when missiles struck a hospital backed by Doctors Without Borders. "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of about 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," Massimiliano Rebaudengo, the head of Doctors Without Borders in Syria, tells the Guardian. Two nurses also died when missiles hit a hospital on the north end of Marat Numan. So who's to blame? "The author of the strike is clearly ... either the government or Russia," says Mego Terzian, president of Doctors Without Borders in France, of the main Marat Numan attack. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu identified the Azaz missiles as Russian, the BBC reports. But Russia denies killing civilians in its support of the Assad regime, saying it only targets "terrorist groups." Meanwhile, Russia's anti-rebel air assaults are aiding Assad's attempt to take Aleppothe biggest city in Syriawhile civilian casualties mount. "Every day, hundreds of Syrians die from airstrikes and artillery bombardment, poison gas, cluster bombs, torture, starvation, cold and drowning," says Riad Hijab, lead negotiator for the Syrian opposition. (Read more Syria stories.) (Newser) A highly regarded tech investor was found dead in his New York condo Saturday after apparently overdosing on drugs, the New York Daily News reports. Jay Greenwald, 51, was reportedly fully clothed and face-down on his bed near empty pill bottles when a housekeeper discovered him and a female companion. "Im really still in shock," the housekeeper says. "Hes a really special person." His female companion, 33-year-old Lauren Levy, told police that she and Greenwald had done cocaine Friday night. She apparently thought Greenwald was just sleeping it off, reports the New York Post, which adds that bottles of Xanax and Viagra were found in the 32nd-floor condo. (Greenwald bought the place for $6.2 million in 2010, a sale that warranted a Wall Street Journal story back then.) Friends and ex-business partners seem stunned by Greenwald's death. "You couldnt manage the types of things he was managingthe diverse range of projects he had going onif you were messed up on drugs," says Gary Salmirs, who calls Greenwald his best friend. Greenwald made big money with a 1-900 psychic line in the 1990s before starting the Internet marketing company Traffix and email marketing company Datran, says former business partner Jeffrey Schwartz. Greenwald apparently stopped running the companies so he could mentor entrepreneurs and invest in start-ups. "He won at just about everything he tried, except this," says Schwartz. "You play with fire and you get burned." Foul play isn't suspected, police say, and the city medical examiner will determine the cause of death. (Read more tech industry stories.) In a freak tragedy, a 35-year-old art teacher in Boston was killed when a 200-pound manhole cover crashed into the car's windscreen during rush hour commute. According to Fox News, Caitlin Clavette, who taught at Glover Elementary School, was driving through Thomas P. O'Neil tunnel when the incident had occurred. The Honda SUV she was driving went a hundred feet ahead before coming to a stop. The manhole cover reportedly went through the windshield and exited the car from its rear. According to personal injury lawyers quoted by Boston Globe, the manhole cover may have been dislodged by a heavy vehicle like a truck. Traction between a big vehicle's tires and the lip of manhole could have turned it into a deadly projectile. The police or the transport department has not officially explained how the cover caused fatality. Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker termed the incident incredibly bizarre, according to ABC News. Following the incident, the transport department examined nearly 500 manhole covers on area highways. The cover which caused Friday's tragedy was last examined and certified functional in 2014. Though the police did not officially reveal the victim's identity, the Glover Elementary School released a statement lamenting the loss of one of its faculty. The school is expected to hold a meeting for parents to offer guidance for parents who wish to discuss Clavette's death with their children. The Saudi Arabia has just galvanized its decision to send in troops to Syria- a "final" and "irreversible" decision to flush militant elements out of the war-torn country- according to the Kingdom's top military spokesman. The confirmation came about after an official press announcement by Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri according to a report by Saudi government-owned news outfit al-Arabiya. For weeks, rumors had been circulation about an impending Gulf coalition-led invasion of Syria headed by Saudi Arabia. United States appears delighted of the recent development which sees an increasing regional military involvement of Middle East powers that are traditionally allied to the West in its effort to avert further growth and expansion of terror groups like ISIS (or ISIL) and Al-Qaeda affiliates. We're going to try to give opportunities and power to ... particularly Sunni Arabs in Syria who want to re-seize their territory back from ISIL, especially [the Syrian the city of] Raqqa," remarked US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter after NATO talks in Belgium as quoted saying by Press TV. As expected, the military incursion by Saudis and its Gulf allies have angered the embattled Assad-led regime including its backers- Russia and Iran. In an interview by Al Jazeera's Rory Challands with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian official warned of a possible escalation of the Syrian conflict into a world war. "He basically told them to back off on sending troops because if they did, this might result in some sort of interminable or even a world war," said Challands as reported by Qatar-based Al Jazeera. The world's major powers have reached an agreement on a ceasefire plan as their negotiating representatives agreed on a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" and the delivery of the much needed humanitarian aid to Syrians internally displaced by the 5-year multi-sided civil war. Tensions have been high in the negotiating halls as foreign ministers from more than a dozen nations tried to bring respite to a complex war fueled by competing interests by major powers, regional rivalry, sectarian violence, and, more recently, religious extremism. "I'm pleased to say that as a result today in Munich, we believe we have made progress on both the humanitarian front and the cessation of hostilities front, and these two fronts, this progress, has the potential -- fully implemented, fully followed through on -- to be able to change the daily lives of the Syrian people. First, we have agreed to accelerate and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid beginning immediately," explained US State Secretary John Kerry as quoted saying by CNN. But pundits and ordinary people who went through the horrors of war are not convinced by the weight of the recent diplomatic breakthrough in Munich where the war pause plan was hammered out. Also, the Munich truce will not apply in the ongoing military efforts against the extremist factions (ISIS and Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nustra Front) in the Syrian war. The world's major powers have reached an agreement on a ceasefire plan as their negotiating representatives agreed on a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" and the delivery of the much needed humanitarian aid to Syrians internally displaced by the 5-year multi-sided civil war. Tensions have been high in the negotiating halls as foreign ministers from more than a dozen nations tried to bring respite to a complex war fueled by competing interests by major powers, regional rivalry, sectarian violence, and, more recently, religious extremism. "I'm pleased to say that as a result today in Munich, we believe we have made progress on both the humanitarian front and the cessation of hostilities front, and these two fronts, this progress, has the potential -- fully implemented, fully followed through on -- to be able to change the daily lives of the Syrian people. First, we have agreed to accelerate and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid beginning immediately," explained US State Secretary John Kerry as quoted saying by CNN. But pundits and ordinary people who went through the horrors of war are not convinced by the weight of the recent diplomatic breakthrough in Munich where the war pause plan was hammered out. Also, the Munich truce will not apply in the ongoing military efforts against the extremist factions (ISIS and Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nustra Front) in the Syrian war. "The deals they make there are so isolated and detached from this reality here," said Syrian refugee Faisal (not his real name to protect his identity) as quoted by the New York Times. Meanwhile, embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vows to retake "the whole country" from the control of various rebel groups that are also competing with each other for territorial possessions in an interview with the AFP news agency as mentioned in a BBC report. "The deals they make there are so isolated and detached from this reality here," said Syrian refugee Faisal (not his real name to protect his identity) as quoted by the New York Times. Meanwhile, embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vows to retake "the whole country" from the control of various rebel groups that are also competing with each other for territorial possessions in an interview with the AFP news agency as mentioned in a BBC report. In a recent Munich Security Conference, Iran's foreign minister expressed that his country would seek a more cordial relations with bitter rival Saudi Arabia in order to establish greater stability in war-torn Middle East. The fragile state of affairs in the Middle East is overshadowed by an ongoing rivalry between Shiite Iran supporting the Assad-led regime Syria and Sunni Saudi Arabia backing the rebels allegedly including those deemed to be extremist in orientation. "We need to work together. Iran and Saudi Arabia cannot exclude each other from the region. We are prepared to work with Saudi Arabia ... I believe Iran and Saudi Arabia can have shared interests in Syria," remarked Mohammed Javad Zarif, Iran's top envoy as quoted saying by Newsweek. The statement coincided with European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's call for a fresh approach in diffusing tension among Middle Eastern powers and work on building greater cooperation among rivals. "All we need to do...is change our paradigm. I can assure you, Iran is ready," added Zarif in attempt to present a less bellicose image of Iran in front of Western and Middle East delegates in the said meeting in Germany as mentioned in a report by Radio Free Europe. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is reportedly massing ground troops and aircrafts in Turkish Incirlik base close to the Syrian border in an anticipated possibility of invading Syria with the help of Turkey and its Gulf allies. Also, Saudi officials have been pressuring the US to take a more aggressive and interventionist stance in the light of the unfolding regional fallout of the multi-sided Syrian civil war. "The United States must realize that they are the number one in the world and they have to act like it," Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said as quoted by the Huffington Post. Airstrikes targeting rebel-controlled towns in northern Syria have killed at least 23 civilians, local residents said, according to Reuters. The missiles, which are believed to be a part of the government's advancement into the city of Aleppo, reportedly hit a Women and Children's hospital and a school that was being used as a shelter for families in Azaz, which is near the Turkish border. CNN reported that 15 people were killed here with about 40 people being injured. "We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital," said medic Juma Rahal to Reuters. It is unclear who was responsible for the attacks but many are pointing fingers at Russia, who has backed the Syrian government throughout the civil war. Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also blamed Russia for the attacks in Azaz while speaking in Kiev. Russia has not responded to these allegations. In another attack, airstrikes hit a hospital that was supported by the Doctors Without Borders/Medecine Sans Frontieres (MSF) charity, a total of four times. The hospital was located in Marat Numan in the Idlib province. "There were at least seven deaths among the personnel and the patients, and at least eight MSF personnel have disappeared, and we don't know if they are alive," the French president of the charity, Dr. Mego Terzian, said. The people who died included five patients, a caregiver and a guard. The eight who are missing are all staff members. "The author of the strike is clearly...ether the government or Russia." Dr. Terzian said. Russia, who supports President Basar al-Assad, has been supplying the countries with a lot of airstrikes. "This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms," said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, Doctors Without Borders' head of mission reported by CNN. "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict." Pro-government forces did not respond to claims that they were responsible for the attacks in the Idlib province. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Periods of snow. Low 29F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. About one inch of snow expected.. Tonight Periods of snow. Low 29F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. About one inch of snow expected. Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad Police on Monday made five arrests in Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna's abduction case. They also held a Press Conference at 1 PM and revealed details of kidnappers. Addressing a Press Conference, Ghaziabad SSP Dharmendra Singh informed, "The accused read Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf in jail. Was impressed by Hitler and Shah Rukh Khan's character in the movie Darr." "He had plans to marry Dipti and settle in Nepal. Dipti was blind folded soon after she took an auto from outside Vaishali metro station. Her phone was detroyed by the accused in Nandgram. Her bag was burried at an under construction site. The accused then went to a village in Baghpat." "We arrested all culprits involved in Snapdeal executive Dipti's abduction today. Total 5 were involved. Man named Devendra was the mastermind. In her statement, the girl mentioned at many instances that the kidnappers did not harm her, gave her food as well. But the conflicting question was, if the girl never met them, then why did they keep her well? Question that was arising was why was she released? This was hinting to a close person being involved who did not harm her." On February 10 evening, Dipti left her Snapdeal office in Gurgaon for her home in Ghaziabad. She took an auto rickshaw from outside the Vaishali metro station. The auto rickshaw driver, who was known to Devendra, dropped her at a secluded place. Dipti told the police that she was blind folded by her kidnappers. Dipti said that she was not assaulted sexually by the kidnappers. A couple of days later, Dipti called her family to say that she was safe and was on a train to Delhi. She told the police that the kidnappers took care of her and gave her food. No ransom call was made to Dipti's family. She was traced in Panipat after she went missing for nearly 36 hours from Vaishali Metro station. However, she returned home safely after contacting her family from a co-travellers phone. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: Leonardo DiCaprios performance as a revenge-seeking fur trapper in The Revenant won him best actor at Bafta where the film dominated by bagging the best picture and director trophies. Indo-British director Asif Kapadias critically acclaimed documentary Amy on the late British songstress Amy Winehouse won the best documentary award at the British awards ceremony, hosted by Stephen Fry. DiCaprio, who is the front-runner to win the best actor trophy at Oscars this year for his physically-gruelling performance in the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritus film, was previously nominated for The Aviator, The Departed and most recently The Wolf of Wall Street. The Revenant, based on the true-story of a 19th century fur trapper, who survived despite being mauled by a bear and abandoned for dead by his friends, won five major awards at the ceremony, while Carol had to return empty handed despite maximum nominations. In his acceptance speech, DiCaprio paid tribute to British actors like Gary Oldman, Peter OToole and Daniel Day Lewis for influencing him as a performer. He also thanked his mother for helping him. Inarritu, who swept the Oscars last year with The Birdman and a favourite this year as well, said the films success at the Bafta awards was overwhelming. Brie Larson won the best actress Bafta for her poignant portrayal of a woman kidnapped and kept in a small room with her child in Room. Her trophy was accepted by the films director. George Millers apocalyptic action movie Mad Max: Fury Road won four Baftas for hair and make up, editing, costume design and production design. Both supporting acting prizes went to British winners. DiCaprios Titanic co-star Kate Winslet won her third Bafta trophy for her role as an Apple marketing executive Joanna Hoffman in Steve Jobs. Her previous wins were for Sense and Sensibilityand The Reader. Mark Rylance won in the best supporting actor category for his role of a Russian spy in Steven Spielbergs Bridge of Spies. Journalism drama Spotlight won one in the best original screenplay category, and co-writer and director Tom McCarthy dedicated the award to the reporters of the Boston Globe, who broke the story of the Catholic Church paedophile priest cover-up. The Big Short won the best adapted screenplay award. Nick Hornbys Brooklyn was adjudged the outstanding British film. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Hollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : The bodies of nine Siachen bravehearts, who were buried alive in an avalanche that struck their post on the worlds highest battlefield, are likely to be brought here today, if weather permits. The weather at Khardung La remains extremely poor and all attempts to bring the mortal remains of the nine soldiers to Leh are being made, a senior Army official said. If weather permits, the bodies will be brought to the national capital not before today, he said. A wreath-laying ceremony is expected to be held here. Plan to further move the mortal remains to Bangalore, Chennai, Trivandrum, Madurai, Pune, Hyderabad, is in place, he said. The mortal remains of nine soldiers were transported from Siachen Glacier to Siachen Base Camp in helicopters yesterday. A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and nine other soldiers of Madras Regiment were buried under the avalanche on February 3. While Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad was miraculously dug out alive, the bodies of nine others were recovered on February 9. One of those killed was Subedar Nagesha TT, a highly motivated and physically fit Junior Commissioned Officer. The JCO had served 12 years in tough field areas out of his 22 years of service. During his illustrious career, he had taken part in Operation Parakaram where he laid and recovered large number of mines. He also participated in Operation Rakshak at Mendhar in Jammu and Kashmir for two years where he was actively involved in counter-insurgency operations. He volunteered to serve with Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir for two years. The JCO also volunteered to serve as a Commando in NSG for three years. Later, he went to North East from 2009 to 2012 to take part in Operation Rhino where he was part of several successful operations against the militants as the ghatak platoon JCO. His colleagues remember him as Rambo who used to lift others weapons as well as load in addition to his own. He was highly adventurous and also did a para-motor course with outstanding grading. He is survived by wife Asha and two sons Amit TN and Preetham TN aged six and four respectively. The others killed in the avalanche were Havildar Elumalai M of Dukkam Parai village, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, Lance Havildar S Kumar of Kumanan Thozhu village, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, Lance Naik Sudheesh of Monroethuruth village, Kollam district, Kerala and Sepoy Mahesha PN of HD Kote village, Mysore district, Karnataka. Sepoy Ganesan of Chokkathevan Patti village, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, Sepoy Rama Moorthy of Gudisatana Palli village, Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu, Sepoy Mustaq Ahmed of Parnapalle village, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh and Sepoy (Nursing Assistant) Suryawanshi S V of Maskarwadi village, Satara district, Maharashtra are the others. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Seoul: A top ruling party official called today for South Korea to develop its own nuclear deterrent to combat the growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea. Support for a nuclear-armed South Korea is a minority voice in the country, but one that grows louder after every nuclear test by the North. US tactical nuclear weapons were withdrawn from South Korea in late 1991, though the country remains under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella. In the wake of North Koreas fourth nuclear test last month, Won Yoo-Cheol, the ruling Saenuri Partys floor leader, said it was time for the weapons to be re-deployed or for South Korea to get its own. We cannot borrow an umbrella from a neighbour every time it rains. We need to have a raincoat and wear it ourselves, Won was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency in a speech to the National Assembly. South Korea is one of 190 signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treatya pact that North Korea walked out on in 2003. There are few takers in Washington for the idea of a nuclear-armed South Korea which would set back a longstanding, if repeatedly violated, principle of not allowing new nations into the nuclear club. In an effort to reassure one of its key Asian allies, the US Air Force sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber on a sortie over South Korea shortly after the Norths nuclear test on January 6. South Koreas late military strongman Park Chung Hee the father of current President Park Geun Hyehad flirted with nuclear weapons in the 1970s when then US president Jimmy Carter planned to remove American troops from the peninsula. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Ankara: Turkey will continue to strike back at Kurdish fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told German Chancellor Angela Merkel today, despite growing pressure on Ankara to stop the shelling. In telephone talks, Davutoglu told Merkel that Turkey will not permit the PYD to carry out aggressive acts. Our security forces gave the necessary response and will continue to do so, his office said in a statement. Turkish artillery struck at targets of the PYD and its Peoples Protection Units (YPG) militia on both days of the weekend, while insisting that it was returning fire under the rules of engagement. Davutoglu alleged to Merkel that the Syrian Kurdish forces, who Turkey accuses of being the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), had been advancing with Russian air support. Russia is the key ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Turkey wants to see ousted. He said the move by the Kurdish fighters was aimed at uprooting hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians from the border region and creating a new humanitarian crisis that would affect both Turkey and the European Union. This is aimed not just at Turkey but also the European Union, he said, warning of a new wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees. The EU and Turkey, which hosts over 2.5 million Syrian refugees, are already grappling with the crisis that saw around one million migrants cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the EU in 2015. France had earlier called for an immediate halt to Turkeys artillery bombardments while the US State Department had also urged Turkey to cease firing. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: Long-term use of liraglutide - a drug used to lower blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes patients - may have a deteriorating effect on insulin-producing beta cells, leading to an increase in blood sugar levels, a new study has claimed. There is now compelling evidence that liraglutide therapy is efficacious at least in the short term, since it produces an initial reduction in blood sugar. However, many patients do not respond to the treatment and some even display adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Researchers from Karolinska Institute in Sweden and University of Miami in US conducted a study on mice implanted with human insulin-producing cells. Blood-sugar suppressors in the form of analogues of the incretin hormone GLP-1 are commonly used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, since they stimulate the glucose response of the pancreatic beta cells to make them secrete more insulin. To study the long-term effects of incretin therapy, researchers worked with humanised mice, generated by transplanting human insulin-producing cells into the anterior chamber of the eye. The mice were given daily doses of liraglutide for more than 250 days, during which time the researchers were able to monitor how the pancreatic beta cells were affected. The results showed an initial improvement in the insulin-producing cells, followed by a gradual exhaustion, with reduced secretion of insulin as a response to glucose. This, they say, was unexpected. Given the lack of clinical studies on the long-term effect of these drugs in diabetes patients, this is a very important discovery, said Midhat Abdulreda from University of Miami. We also need to take these results into account before prescribing blood-sugar suppressing GLP-1 analogues when planning long-term treatment regimens for patients, said Per-Olof Berggren from Karolinska Institute. Our study also shows in general how to carry out in vivo studies of the long-term effects of drugs on human insulin-producing cells, which should be extremely important to the drug industry, said Berggren. The findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism. New Delhi : In a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi over the JNU row, BJP chief Amit Shah today said he had proved that national interest had no place in his mind and asked if the Congress vice president had joined hands with separatist forces and wanted another division of India. Speaking on the raging controversy for the first time, Shah asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul a host of questions and demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Lefts progressive ideology is not acceptable. The BJP presidents tough stand indicates that the party is willing to slug it out with Congress and other opposition parties over an issue it believes will help reaffirm its nationalist credentials and put the opposition in a corner. An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet? Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?, Shah wrote in a blog. Noting that slogans like Pakistan zindabad, go India go back and those in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Kashmirs independence and Indias destruction were raised in JNU, he wondered if the Congress leader had joined hands with separatists. Does he want another division of India by giving a free run to separatists in the name of freedom of expression? The kind of statements the Congress vice president and other leaders of his party have made in JNU have proved again that national interest has no place in their mind, Shah said. He said Congress was in despair and frustrated over the success of the Modi government and its leaders were unable to decide how they can play the role of a responsible opposition. He claimed that Modi government has succeeded in controlling anti-national sentiments even in Kashmir but Congress was fuelling the shameful incident in JNU despite being the main opposition party. I seek answers from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi to my questions on behalf of 125 crore countrymen and also demand that Rahul Gandhi apologise to the country for his action, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : Violence broke out in Patiala House court complex when groups of lawyers today attacked journalists, students and teachers of JNU and unidentified people in and outside the court dubbing them as anti-nationals in the wake of a raging row over the arrest of a student leader of the university. A Delhi BJP MLA O P Sharma, who happened to be in the complex, also joined a group of lawyers in beating up a person, identified as CPI activist Ameeque Jamai, who was taken to Tuglaq Road police station. The violence broke out when JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar against whom a sedition case has been filed was to be brought before metropolitan magistrate Lovleen for remand proceedings but was later taken elsewhere. The lawyers, claiming to be patriots, first targeted the JNU students and teachers inside the court. They beat them up telling them that the JNU is a den of anti-India elements and terrorists. A television reporter was attacked while a woman journalist was spared even as the crowd threatened them that their phones and bones will be broken. Outside the court, another group of lawyers thrashed journalists, JNU students and even court officials. BJP MLA O P Sharma who was in the complex in connection with the hearing in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was seen beating up Jamai. Jaitley himself was in the complex for sometime. Later, when asked by the media, Sharma claimed he was roughed up when there a melee when slogans like Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad were shouted. When told there was footage about his beating up somebody, Sharma said I do not known which video you are taking about. And in the same breath, he said it is not wrong if some body shouting such slogans is beaten up or even done to death. In all, at least nine journalists were attacked, according to complaint by them with the Tuglaq Road police station. Two of the journalists were taken to RML hospital for medical check up. JNU teachers said 10 of their colleagues were beaten up. They said they had gone to attend the proceedings but a group of lawyers started yelling at them saying teachers were also anti-nationals, Rohit Azad, one of the teachers said. Nivedita Menon, faculty, JNU School of International Studies, said the attack on teachers was a clear indication how the government was running the country. You (JNU) produce anti-nationals and terrorists. You should get out of the country. Long live India, shut down JNU, the attackers shouted pushing the students and teachers out of the court room. Before the proceedings were to start, some people wearing lawyers gowns first started hurling abuses at us. And then suddenly some of them, without any provocation, started beating us badly. They pushed us and beat us up including women students, AISF President Waliullah Qadri told reporters. The students and teachers refused to go out of the court room and said they have a right to attend the proceedings as it was an open court hearing. The group also began to check the identity cards of media persons and asked them also to leave the court room. The media persons objected to their demand and refused to move out of the court room when they were attacked by the men, who accused the media persons of being JNU supporters and accused them of wrong reporting. There was heavy police deployment in the court complex, but the students alleged that they did not take any action against this group. The policemen later drove all the students, teachers and mediapersons out of the court complex. Later, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi promised action against those involved in the attack on mediapersons in Patiala House court. Law will take its course. Action will be taken in accordance with law against anybody who takes the law in their hands. I will speak to Delhi Police Commissioner, he told reporters. On his part, Commissioner B S Bassi described the incidents in the court complex as a scuffle and no major injuries have been reported. He said mediapersons were roughed up and added that police will look into complaints relating to the incident and take action. Certain excesses have been committed by both sides, Bassi said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking a CBI probe into the 2002 hit-and-run case on the ground that corrupt means have been adopted in securing the acquittal of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. These are all wild allegations. He must have spent Rs 25 crore on lawyers, a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi observed when the lawyer said there were news reports quoting Salim Khan that they had to spend Rs 25 crore in securing acquittal for his actor son. What are the materials to substantiate this? They must have hired lawyers. How can you say that they did something wrong, it said and dismissed the PIL filed by advocate M L Sharma. The PIL had alleged that Salman and others had succeeded in manipulating police and judicial system in the case. The same bench is hearing appeals filed by Maharashtra government and the family of the victim, who were killed in the incident, against the acquittal of Salman in the case. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represents the state government in the case, had argued that Salman was driving his SUV in a drunken state when it ran over the victims sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai in 2002. He had also debunked the theory that instead of Salman, his driver Ashok Brahmadev Singh was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser on the night of September 28, 2002 when it crashed into a Bandra pavement, killing one and injuring four others. The high court, in its verdict passed on December 10 last year, had held that prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the actor was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and was drunk. The judgement by the high court had come on an appeal by Khan, seven months after he was pronounced guilty by the trial court. The magistrates court had conducted the trial for a much lesser offence of causing death by rash and negligent driving. On May 6 last year, a sessions court had convicted Salman in the case. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan have narrated their first person accounts of the incident which took place at Girgaun Chowpatty during a Make in India programme. What happened at event? I just finished my performance got off stage and sat in my car and left... Just then fire on stage broke!, Bachchan, 73, tweeted. Production was wanting me to stay and go back on to meet the CM... Had I gone back would have been caught in fire.. providential. But its Gods grace that immediate action was taken and the fire brought under control... And no casualties !! But frightening!!. Aamir Khan also wrote about the mishap on his Facebook page. The fire during the live show at Chowpatty was most unfortunate but the crisis was very well handled by the Mumbai Police, Fire Department and the Maharashtra Government, he said. The evacuation was carried out smoothly resulting in no casualties and no panic. The CM stayed till the end to oversee the evacuation. Excellent disaster management, the 50-year-old actor added. A major fire broke out during a Make in India programme at Girgaum Chowpatty, Mumbai on Sunday. The whole stage, where a cultural performance was going on, was gutted in fires. Around seven-eight thousand people were present at the venue which also included some foreign guests. Minutes before the fire broke out, Amitabh Bachchan, Maharastra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackrey were present at the same venue where the fire broke out. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: The special court for womens cases here today ruled that it would conduct the trial of Jiah Khan suicide case and not the CBI court. The CBI had contended that the case should be heard in the special CBI court. But the special public prosecutor Dinesh Tiwari argued that the High Court had earlier asked CBI to investigate whether it was a case of homicide, and find out the culprit if it was so. As the CBIs conclusion was that it was a suicide, the Central agencys role was over and he should be allowed to conduct the trial, Tiwari said. The judge A S Shende upheld Tiwaris argument. The judge also asked the CBI to hand over all the documents of the case to the special public prosecutor. The next hearing will be on February 22. Jiah, the 25-year-old British-American actress, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her house in Juhu here on June 3, 2013. Her relationship with actor Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zareena Wahab, was said to be under strain and it was suspected that it drove her to end her life. Jiahs mother Rabia Khan alleged that Sooraj was responsible for her daughters death. The case was taken over by CBI last year on the High Courts order. The police had arrested Sooraj for abetment of suicide on the basis of a six-page letter purportedly written by Jiah, but the HC granted him bail. Soorajs lawyers argued that the two were in a consensual relationship. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: A website created in the UK to chronicle the final days of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose today released details of what it claims is proof that the last remains of the freedom fighter travelled to and remain preserved at a temple in Tokyo. The website posted details of the journey of the ashes from Taipei - where it has previously documented that Netaji died on August 18, 1945, as a result of a plane crash - to Renkoji Temple in the Japanese capital. It claims that on August 23, 1945 the day after the cremation of Netaji at Taipei his aide de camp Colonel Habibur Rehman, Major Nagatomo of the Japanese army and Juichi Nakamura, a Japanese interpreter who assisted Bose at the hospital before he died took the mortal remains to the biggest temple in Taiwan Nishi Honganji to be kept there. The Shah Nawaz Khan-led Netaji Inquiry Committee of 1956 noted a funeral ceremony was held at this Taiwanese site. The Committee further recorded first-hand accounts that on September 5, 1945 Col. Rehman and Lt Colonel T. Sakai both survivors of the crash - a Major Nakamiya and Sub Lt T Hayshida boarded a plane in Taipei with the remains wrapped in cloth, which was placed in a wooden box. Sub Lt Hayshida then slung this package around his neck as per Japanese custom, to fly to Fukuoka in southern Japan. Thereafter, while Col. Rehman and Maj. Nakamiya continued by air to Tokyo, Lt Hayashida with the remains took a train to Tokyo, guarded by three soldiers. The remains were immediately taken to the Japanese Army Imperial General Headquarters. The next morning, Lt Colonel Takakura, Chief of the Military Affairs Section, phoned Rama Murti, President of the Indian Independence League in Japan, to take charge of the remains. He came accompanied by S A Ayer, a minister in Boses Provisional Government of Free India, who had arrived in Tokyo from South-East Asia after hearing of the tragedy. According to the website, Murti stated: The urn was wrapped in white cloth and was taken out from a safety locker. It had straps of long cloth with which to sling around the neck of the bearer. It was a cubical box of about 1 foot dimension. It was received by Ayer. He was visibly moved by an overwhelming emotion. An army sedan car was arranged for our conveyance. Mr Ayer and myself took the urn directly to my house. At the time, Murtis residence was also the headquarters of the Indian Independence League. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Commanding Civil War battles from the Oval Office and delivering speeches as he towered over crowds with his famous top hat. Thats how most people picture Abraham Lincoln. Cooking up dinner with an apron fastened around his waist? Not so much. But it's true: Lincoln cooked, and maybe even had something of a sweet tooth. According to Rae Katherine Eighmeys biography Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen, neighbors of Lincoln observed how he used to do the family's grocery shopping and wear a blue apron while helping his wife Mary prepare supper for their three boys. Eighmey, herself a cook, wrote this culinary biography-cookbook hybrid to explore her fascination with Lincolns tastes, and she details everything from the meals he may have prepared as a cook on a raft trip, to the barbecue he enjoyed as an Illinois politico. But theres also something of a trend woven throughout her stories and recipes: Honest Abe seems to have had a sweet tooth. The Lincolns polished off a gallon of sugar syrup every 10 to 12 days and about 11 pounds of sugar every fortnight. While this sugar was shared among a household of six, it was still not an insignificant amount. And between this healthy dosage of sugar, the stories of Mary supplying a steady stream of baked goods, and the accounts of some of Lincoln's favorite foods, it's fair to say Honest Abe didn't exactly shy away from sweets. As president, he was even said to have strolled from the White House to a local bakery to pick up a certain pecan pie he loved. If he were around in the days of paparazzi, there might even be more photos of him putting away sweet treats than of Joe Biden taking down ice cream cones. When Lincoln wasnt eating sweets, he may have been found eating raw oysters, turkey legs, game meat like venison, pork sausages spiced with black pepper and sage, and other traditional foods of the time. We've rounded up four of Lincoln's favorite treatswith recipesas chronicled in Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen. Eat them in his honor on his belated birthday (February 12), or President's Day (February 15). 1. Corn Dodgers Along with corn bread, corn dodgersthink hush puppies that are boiled instead of friedwere a staple in the one-room log cabin where Lincoln grew up in Indiana. Made with corn grown on the family farm, corn dodgers held a special place in Lincoln's heart. Lincoln's cousin even caught him frequently stuffing his pants pockets full of them in the morning to eat during his mid-day break from working the fields. Did Lincoln cook up these dodgers himself? No one can say for sure, but it's more than likely he did. His mother died when he was just nine years old, so he would have had to help out around the kitchen. We're sure Lincoln would have loved this tasty cornbread just as much he did his dodgers. For authenticity, leave out the leavener and sweetener and bake in one of those fancy pans with cob-shaped holes for the batter. Then, stuff in your pockets and enjoy on the go. 2. Gingerbread Men How many presidents can say that a spiced cookie was part of their political platform? Probably only Lincoln, who threw a reference to gingerbread men into his famous debate with presidential contender Stephen Douglas in 1858. When Douglas misstated Lincolns position on slavery and then began throwing egregious compliments Lincolns wayto the point of near mockeryEighmey noted, Lincoln opted not to fight fire with fire. Instead, he recalled an experience he had as a young boy to make a point about the effect of the faux flattery piled on by Douglas: Before Lincolns mother passed away, she used to bake gingerbread men on special occasions. One day, Lincoln took three of them to enjoy under a hickory tree when a neighbor boy approached and said: Abe, gimme a man? Lincoln parted with one of his cookies and watched as the boy shoved it in his mouth as Lincoln slowly nibbled at his first cookie. Gimme that other'n, the boy said. I wanted it myself, Lincoln recalled, but I gave it to him and as it followed the first I said to him, 'You seem to like gingerbread.' The boy answered: Abe, I don't suppose there's anybody on this earth likes gingerbread better'n I do. And I don't suppose there's anybody on earth gets less'n I do. We bet these gingerbread cookies would make Lincoln happy, and his neighbor friend even happier. Instead of cutting into circular shapes, use a gingerbread man-shaped cookie cutter or shape pieces of dough into figures. Try subbing the maple syrup for sorghum syrup or molasses for authenticity. 3. Apples Apples agree with me, Lincoln once said. We're not sure we agree, however, with the strange manner in which Lincoln ate them. Lincoln's law partner, William Herndon, reported that Lincoln would wrap his thumb and index finger around the mid-section of the apple until his fingertips touched and then eat it beginning at the bottom. I never saw an apple thus disposed of by anyone else, Herndon remarked. Lincoln probably wouldn't mind if his beloved apple had a light caramel coating. Make these and then take the #LincolnAppleChallenge, and try eating them in hisahemunique manner. 4. Almond Cake There are many edible ways to make a man propose. You could roast up an engagement chicken. Or make 300 sandwiches. But the old school wayemployed by Lincoln's future wife Mary Toddis to bake an amazing cake. No one knows for sure whether Mary's almond cake actually incited Lincoln to pop the question, but he did proclaim it the best cake he'd ever had. Sadly, to the dismay of single lady bakers the world over, the jury's out on exactly what kind of almond cake Mary made. This tangy, tasty cake has no baking soda or baking powder, and when Mary made her cake in the 1830s, it was about a decade before chemical leaveners were commonly used. Inspired by, and designed for makers and the creative class, the Toyota U 2 Urban Utility concept answers the unique needs of today's consumers All-new 2016 Prius and RAV4 Hybrid and interactive displays in the spotlight at the Toyota booth of the Canadian International Auto Show TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2016 /CNW/ - Visit Toyota and discover a vision for Ever Better Cars, beginning with the Toyota Urban Utility concept vehicle ("U Squared"), which makes its global motor show debut at the 2016 Canadian International Auto Show, February 12-21 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This unique concept introduces a fusion of utility van, truck and passenger car and compliments the rise of the do-it-yourself movement that is transforming cities with invention-focused Maker Faire events and growing entrepreneurship. "As a company of makers, Toyota has been driven by a passion for designing and engineering practical solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of its consumers. The Toyota U2 concept is an example of that a vehicle tailored to those who make up today's makers, creators and mobile entrepreneurs," says Cyril Dimitris, Vice President, Sales, Toyota Canada Inc. "This creative class blurs the lines between work and play and we're delighted to give Canadians the first look at this compelling vision of urban mobility." The U2 concept is also the perfect vehicle for young, urban drivers who lead an active lifestyle and have embraced adventure. It's a flexible, functional mobile gadget that owners can customize according to their individual, on-the-go needs. Its custom graphics and interior colours and materials make the U2 concept a reflection of the owner's style, while its compact footprint makes the U2 concept easy to drive and park in crowded urban cores. "The U2 is a compelling design exercise that delves into the increasing re-urbanization of our cities and urban drivers' desire for flexibility, fun and maneuverability," says Kevin Hunter, President of Calty, Toyota's North American design studio. "Calty keeps a number of projects concealed while continuously exploring new ideas for unique concepts, and the U2 gives people a rare look at the constant innovation and creative thinking that happens behind closed doors at Toyota and our Calty studios." Prior to developing this unique Urban Utility Concept vehicle, researchers at Calty met with notable makers in San Francisco, at the Bay Area Maker Faire, to understand their lifestyle, needs, and the challenges they face when it comes to mobility. The Toyota U2 concept's unique design and the details sparked by that research were not lost on the exclusive group of Toronto makers and entrepreneurs who were treated to a sneak preview earlier this week at the historic Arstcape Wychwood Barns, where they marveled at the unique configurability and features such as: Side windows that flip up easily for more access from roadside Rear space that may be used anywhere from fully closed to completely open Retracting roof panels Rear glass panel that slides into the tailgate A fold-down tailgate which reconfigures into a ramp Retractable utility bar to customize for unique uses, from workspace to grocery bag hooks A versatile utility rail system allowing configurations to accommodate everything from baskets to bike stands Foldable and removable front passenger seat Fold-up rear seating Durable underbody Iconic modern design elements including a selection of colours and materials to suit a variety of tastes. The Toyota U2 headlines an impressive display of Toyota and Scion autos, SUVs and light-duty trucks at the auto show this year. Other highlights include: 2016 Toyota Prius The all-new, fourth generation Toyota Prius arrives in dealer showrooms this winter. It's the first vehicle to employ Toyota's New Global Architecture (TNGA) development program, and it's ready to win over new fans with ground-breaking environmental performance, bold new styling and a fun-to-drive spirit. 2016 Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid The 2016 RAV4 has been upgraded and is joined by the first-ever RAV4 Hybrid as Toyota continues to introduce the advanced efficiency of the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive to more vehicles. Great things happen when the world's most popular and proven hybrid powertrain joins forces with one of Toyota's most popular vehicles built right here in Canada. And while you're there, don't forget to check out the RAV4's unique Bird's Eye View camera safety feature. 2016 Scion iM Scion by Toyota will have a full line-up of models on display, including the newest addition the Scion iM. This all-new model redefines Canada's popular hatch-back segment with bold styling, dynamic handling and an extensive list of standard features including many premium amenities. Other "must-see" models From the bold Yaris Sedan sub-compact and Corolla compact to the Prius c, the Toyota booth showcases a broad range of small cars that are big on style. Those looking for a full-sized ride will want to check out the newly-styled Avalon premium sedan. And truck fans won't want to miss the next-generation, more rugged Tacoma including its award-winning Atkinson cycle V6 that delivers more power, better towing and improved fuel efficiency as well as the Tundra TRD Pro Series pickup truck. Toyota technologies on show Beyond vehicles, Toyota will have also lots of exciting technology on display. For fun and informative interactive experiences, learn about the Toyota Safety Sense system through a unique virtual reality simulator or explore passionate driving with the Toyota FT1 simulator. And, with so many Hybrid vehicle options available from Toyota (the new RAV4 marks the seventh!), it's a great time to learn about the many advantages of the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive. For more information on vehicles, technologies, and Toyota, visit www.toyota.ca @ToyotaCanada #ToyotaU2 About Toyota Canada Inc. Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles. Toyota has sold over 4.9 million vehicles in Canada through a national network of 285 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships. Toyota is dedicated to bringing safety, quality, dependability and reliability in the vehicles Canadians drive and the service they receive. TCI's head office is located in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax and parts distribution centres in Toronto and Vancouver. Toyota operates two manufacturing facilities in Canada. Having produced more than six million vehicles, popular Canadian models built at these facilities include Toyota RAV4, Toyota Corolla, Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid. For more details, including a full list of media contacts, digital images and product details please visit media.toyota.ca. To unsubscribe or update your profile, please send an email to [email protected]. Toyota Canada Inc. | 1 Toyota Place | Toronto, ON | M1H 1H9 | Canada SOURCE Toyota Canada Inc. Image with caption: "The Toyota U2 (U Squared) Urban Utility concept will make its global motor show debut at the upcoming Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. #ToyotaU2. (CNW Group/Toyota Canada Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160209_C7593_PHOTO_EN_616945.jpg For further information: To set up interviews regarding any of the above on site in Toronto on February 11th, please contact: Melanie Testani, PR Manager, Toyota Canada Inc., [email protected], 416 571-5894; Sheri Helman, PR Consultant, Toyota Canada Inc., [email protected], +647-622-6325 Review by Daniel Dunlow 14 February 2016 Brave, courageous, and full of heart. There's no play like The Woodsman. There's no play like The Woodsman. There's no play like The Woodsman. Now that the The Wizard of Oz puns are out of the way, opening up at New World Stages is incredibly innovative new play The Woodsman which tells the story of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz in his transition from man who chops down trees to becoming the rusted, metal creature in the woods that we all know from the indelible L. Frank Baum novel, and subsequent movie. You may be thinking to yourself that this is ultimately what that long-running Broadway "gem" Wicked is about; and you're right. However, there is one major difference. The Woodsman succeeds in pure, simple, and concise story telling without the use of words. That's right. Just a monologue or two of text in this 70-minute powerhouse, and the audience stays glued to the story like a Charlie Chaplin film. The story is told masterfully through physical acting, clowning, music, and beautiful puppetry. Though this may sound like a Ringling Brothers routine, it has the theatrical precision of a Sondheim, the heart of a Tennessee Williams, and the drama of an Arthur Miller. The design of the production by James Oritz (who also wrote and co-directed) is seamlessly integrated into performance, drawing our minds back to "found-prop" theatre techniques developed and used so beautiful by Peter and the Starcatcher. Wooden crates become walls, trees, and chairs, while company members give character to the most mundane everyday objects such as spoons, books, and sticks. The company quite literally breathes life into this production, and in that they are flawless. They work together to give life to puppets controlled by more than one company member, they play three of four characters within the minute of stage time, and they leave it all out on the stage in this hour-long tour-de-force. This is all thanks to some of the most innovative direction by James Ortiz and Claire Karpen. They create potent poetic and dramatic moments that cannot be seen on any other New York stage today. The storytelling that occurs without text is so clear that in a split instant something so true can happen that it brings the audience to tears. I'll be honest, I had to wipe tears from my eyes- not because something tragic had happened, but because something so pure, simple, and honest occurred on the stage. Simplicity is activated in its greatest from over at New World Stages in this production. See this once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience. (Daniel Dunlow) "Although the narrative is diffusely conveyed at times, many of the individual sequences are vividly rendered, most notably Chopper's gruesome transformation into the Tin Man." Frank Scheck for Hollywood Reporter "The puppeteers are proficient and the effects are exquisite...the life-sized tin puppet of the woodsman (tenderly manipulated by Ortiz) is heartbreaking." Marilyn Stasio for Variety External links to full reviews from popular press... Hollywood Reporter - Variety [February 15, 2016] The race is on: top teams from around the world go head to head in Capgemini's Innovators Race international finals PARIS, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, today announced the launch of its Innovators Race Web series. Starting today, viewers can follow the weekly episodes of the global innovation competition at www.innovatorsrace.com. For the next five weeks teams of students from some of the best IT and business universities around the world will present their creative solutions to real business challenges faced by global brands. After the fifth episode, viewers will have one week to cast their votes online for their favorite proposal. The top two highest scoring teams will then get to work developing a prototype of their solution, to be presented on the grand finale episode on April 18. Competing in this Web series are the winning teams from the UK, Netherlands, France, Brazil, India and North America. Each took part in local heats where they set real business challenges by six major brands: Barclays (for the UK), AccorHotels (for France), Natura (for Brazil), Reliance Jio (for India), Openbaar Ministerie the Netherlands' public prosecution service (for the Netherlands) and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (for North America). The country champion teams now showcase their winning solution on air, to scoop the ultimate prize of seeing their creation be brought to life in Capgemini's flagship Appled Innovation Exchange in San Francisco along with $25,000 USD. "At Capgemini we believe that it is the rapid application of innovation which promises sustainable value for the enterprise in the market of today and tomorrow," comments Lanny Cohen, Global Chief Technology Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee at Capgemini. "Innovators Race brings together and showcases the creative and diverse thinking of exciting young talent from around the world. I am really looking forward to seeing the competing solutions on the Web series and welcoming the winning team to our recently launched flagship San Francisco Exchange." Once the winning team reaches Capgemini's San Francisco Exchange1, their innovation journey will be documented right through to the fruition of their winning solution. This film will be available to view online during the summer of 2016. The Innovators Race series will be broadcast on the Web at www.innovatorsrace.com. It will also be featured on CNN International's "2020 Visionaries"2 Hub at http://money.cnn.com/technology/2020-visionaries/, where the technology visionaries featured in this CNN production will also be seen interacting with some of the most inspiring students from Capgemini's Innovators Race. About Capgemini Now with 180,000 people in over 40 countries, Capgemini is one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The Group reported 2014 global revenues of EUR 10.573 billion (about $14 billion USD at 2014 average rate). Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business, technology and digital solutions that fit their needs, enabling them to achieve innovation and competitiveness. A deeply multicultural organization, Capgemini has developed its own way of working, the Collaborative Business ExperienceTM, and draws on Rightshore, its worldwide delivery model. Learn more about us at www.capgemini.com. Rightshore is a trademark belonging to Capgemini 1 Capgemini has a global network of nine innovation spaces, known as 'Exchanges', where organizations are able to immerse themselves in the understanding, experimentation and application of all aspects of emerging technologies, as well as address the business disruptions confronting them and their industries 2 '2020 Visionaries' is a series of short animated films that each showcase an innovator and the technology they are inventing or using in a different way. The films will air as highlights in commercial ad breaks on CNN International and on the CNN International microsite alongside Innovators Race episodes Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150128/172130LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-race-is-on-top-teams-from-around-the-world-go-head-to-head-in-capgeminis-innovators-race-international-finals-300219933.html SOURCE Capgemini [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 15, 2016] The Fundraising Group Challenges Unhealthy School Campaign Ideas with New Website QUEENSLAND, Australia, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fundraising Group challenges the junk-food culture of school fundraising and provides ideas for schools to get much-needed funds on board. Schools often need to raise money for items such as computers, books, and sporting equipment that they might otherwise not be able to access. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160212/332906 The website relaunch aims to help schools find inspiration and gain information about healthy ways to raise money. The Fundraising Group is hoping to eliminate the presence of junk food in schools altogether. "The new website reflects our focus, which is to eliminate the need for junk food fundraising at schools. Fundraising can be done with healthy alternatives to achieve much better results," says Dean Newcombe, Customer Service Manager at The Fundraising Group. He continues, "We had one school with 47 students raise $24,500. To achieve that result with chocolate, each student would need to sell 521 candy bars." The Fundraising Group promotes fun-runs and read-a-thons as healthier alternatives to school fundraising. Past fundraising at schools has often consisted of selling junk food such as chocolate, cakes, or sausage sizzles. The Funraising Group is also utilising a new system to allow donations to be made to schools online. "Online fundraising is the future of this industry. On average, people donate five times more online than they would in cash, which means better results can be achieved for the schools," Newcombe says. "Our website visitors can now request a free information kit. They'll be able to find fundraising ideas for schools quickly and easily, as well as find inspiration in other school's achievements." The figure of 14-million Australians overweight or obese is on the rise with 80% of adults and one third of children expected to suffer by 2025, according to research by Monash University. Whilst schools don't sell chocolates at canteens anymore in Australia, fundraising has remained the loophole for these unhealthy treats to find their way into schools under the premise of raising money. With The Fundraising Group, healthy fundraising options are proving to be an alternative for schools. To find out more information about The Fundraising Group or to visit the website, head to www.schoolfundraising.com.au. About The Fundraising Group is a family-run business of fundraising enthusiasts providing fundraising assistance and service to schools, focusing on community connection and valuable experiences to achieve results for students and schools. With 29 years of experience and over $85million raised, The Fundraising Group keeps a consistent record of success by incorporating easy events and online options. Contact Brendan Hopp Director E: Email P: 0433 413 512 W: www.schoolfundraising.com.au To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-fundraising-group-challenges-unhealthy-school-campaign-ideas-with-new-website-300219802.html SOURCE The Fundraising Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 15, 2016] Smart Insights: EUR 1 Billion Revenue from mWallets in Europe from 2021 MARSEILLE, France, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Intelling is publishing a new Smart Insights Report "mWallets to meet European adoption" provising a thorough analysis of mobile payments and mobile wallet ecosystem in the EU. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160215/333110LOGO Focusing on the 'Pay' mobile wallets, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet, , Smart Insights analyzes the evolution of the contactless cards and mobile payments market in the region. The report finds that, so far, financial institutions and mobile network operators have all plunged into mobile payments by introducing mobile wallets as a payment tool. However, none of them has actually met a wide consumer adoption. The "mWallets to meet European adoption" Smart Insights Report finds that even if the card and mobile payments industry is set to see lower revenues with introduced interchange cap regulation in the region, the total mWallet revenue for the payments industry is forecasted to demonstrate a CAGR of 50% over the 2016-2021 period, surpassing the EUR 1 billion bar by 2021. Thierry Spanjaard, CEO of Smart Insights explains: "Even in a time of increasedcompetition and more challenging markets, the entrance of the electronics giants Apple Samsung and Google on the European market is bound to demonstrate its efficiency and profitability." Artur Khakimov, industry analyst for Smart Insights and author of the report adds: "Although we see a growing adoption of tech giants' mWallet initiatives in their home markets, companies like Apple, Google and Samsung have to adapt their mWallet business models to the specifics of the European market. Indeed, the report shows these tech companies have already set up necessary modifications ahead of the European launch". The Smart Insights Report "mWallets to meet European adoption" is available at http://www.smartinsights.net/Smart-Insights-Reports In related news, Smart Insights will be present at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, February 22-25, 2016. Feel free to give us a call to arrange a meeting. About Intelling: Smart Insights Reports, along with Smart Insights Weekly and Smart Insights Market Trends, are published by Intelling, a consultancy headquartered in Marseille, France. Intelling is a consultancy with two expertise majors: marketing and strategy for secure transactions, smart cards, telecoms, payment, and convergence, as well as market intelligence, for all industry fields. Intelling is the publisher of Smart Insights Reports, that address secure transactions and smart card markets, providing an extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis. More details are available at: www.smartinsights.net and www.intelling.com Contact : Thierry Spanjaard, CEO, Intelling, Email, tel: +33 609 18 28 51 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smart-insights-eur-1-billion-revenue-from-mwallets-in-europe-from-2021-300219987.html SOURCE Smart Insights [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 15, 2016] Digital Signal Corporation (DSC) set to attend Intelligence Support Systems (ISS) World Middle East 2016 CHANTILLY, Va., Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Signal Corporation (DSC), a world leader in facial recognition and identity management solutions, announced today that it will accompany its partner Chenega International Consulting (CIC) to the Intelligence Support Systems (ISS) World Middle East 2016 at the JW Marriott Hotel Dubai, UAE, March 14-16, Booth #H1. DSC will exhibit its advanced portfolio of fully exportable Facial Intelligence solutions. "We are excited to join our partner Chenega Corporation at ISS World Middle East," says David Guttadauro, CEO and President of Digital Signal Corporation. "[ISS] is the ideal venue to showcase DSC's human identification solutions to a community in charge of public safety, lawful interception, and cyber intelligence. Our proprietary 3D imaging technology allows global customers to achieve the highest level of accuracy in identifying persons of interest." ISS World Programs present the methodologies and tools for Law Enforcement, Public Safety and Government Intelligence Communities in the fight against drug trafficking, cyber money laundering, human trafficking, terrorism and other criminal activities conducted over today's telecommunications network and the Internet. ISS World is where security decision makers turn for technical training and product selection. Lance Swift, President of Chenega International Consulting believes in the strength of this joint capability offering: "<>Our combined technologies are the perfect fit for customers that need to blend security and automated identification in order to have more comprehensive safety measures," says Swift. "The partnership between CIC and DSC provides customers with an integrated security approach to efficiently eliminate and mitigate threats with a higher level of fidelity." DSC will be demonstrating its range of 2D/3D Facial Intelligence solutions that enhance security for governments and commercial businesses by removing identity challenges. Of particular note are: CES the only available facial recognition solution that utilizes 3D and enhanced 2D matching to overcome the limitations of video-based systems and enable reliable automatic identification in a surveillance setting. ENR a rapid biometric enrollment system that is suited for high-volume, real-world enrollment scenarios and queues; it enriches existing 2D databases and establishes 3D databases and infrastructure and it is fully integrated with DSC's multi-biometric ecosystem. SEEKER a biometric analysis solution which combines image enhancement, real-time fraud detection, and identity management into a single platform. This highly scalable platform is deployable on premise or in the cloud, and it handles real-time processing and databases of 20+ million records. ABOUT DIGITAL SIGNAL CORPORATION Digital Signal Corporation (DSC), was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia. DSC is the world leader in human identification technology through our revolutionary and proprietary facial intelligence solutions. The DSC software suite, combined with our proprietary true 3D imaging technology, enables governments and organizations to perform facial recognition with the highest accuracy available. With over 100 patents issued or pending, DSC continues to advance research and product development of human identification technology. For more information, please visit www.digitalsignalcorp.com ABOUT CHENEGA INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING Chenega International Consulting (CIC) LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chenega Corporation, which is the most successful Alaska Native Corporation to compete in the US Federal DOD market space. CIC has taken these strengths and applied them to the International market space to offer dynamic and holistic solutions for security mission-critical operations and sensitive enterprises for law enforcement, as well as national security agencies. With a diverse and world-wide international team, CIC maintains a unique understanding of the complexities of government and commercial services around the world. For more information please visit: www.chenegainternationalconsulting.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160215/333213LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digital-signal-corporation-dsc-set-to-attend-intelligence-support-systems-iss-world-middle-east-2016-300220121.html SOURCE Digital Signal Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A member of the Abia State House of Assembly may be on his way out of the hallowed chambers if found guilty of certificate forgery. The I... A member of the Abia State House of Assembly may be on his way out of the hallowed chambers if found guilty of certificate forgery.The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has directed the state Police Command to investigate the allegation of alleged forged certificates presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission for screening by the lawmaker identified as Mr. Francis Ifeanyi Uchendu.It was learnt that the order came following a petition written to the IGP by one Goodness Kalu Agbai, with copies to President Buhari, the Senate President, Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, among others.The petition alleged that the legislator presented forged papers while he was being screened to contest as a member of the state Assembly, representing Ohafia South.The petition dated October 19, 2015 and titled, Petition against Francis Ifeanyi Uchendu for certificates forgery and perjury and made available to journalists, reads, I write to inform you that the mentioned person is in possession of certificates he forged; a degree certificate in Marketing from University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and NYSC certificate.The petitioner, who wrote in from Amaekpu Ohafia, Abia State, alleged that the House member used the said certificates to deceive INEC and the general public in 2011 general election when he first contested for the Ohafia South State Constituency seat.He (the petitioner) also claimed that the lawmaker was privy to an existing certificate forgery syndicate.Agbai, who is a businessman in Aba, said he petitioned because he was afraid of the negative impact the house member was going to make in the society with a forgery background and knowledge of a forgery syndicate.He said, I know that he is not a graduate of any university in Nigeria and has never been a National Youth Service Corps member. It will serve the Nigerian country better if Francis Ifeanyi Uchendu and his accomplices are interrogated and prosecuted if found to have forged the mentioned certificates.I have other documents to substantiate this claim, although he brags that his in-law is a judge in Abia State and therefore, he can bribe his way out of any self-imposed problem.He did not have five credits, including English Language and Mathematics to have qualified him to take JAMB examination for admission in the University of Uyo. He only passed English Language in 2000 from the result on page nine, and he claimed to have graduated in 1999. The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has condemned the alleged use of Radio Nigeria Progress 100.5 FM, Ado-Ekiti to run do... The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has condemned the alleged use of Radio Nigeria Progress 100.5 FM, Ado-Ekiti to run down President Muhammadu Buhari and portray his administration in bad light.The party urged the Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ladan Salihu, to call the General Manager of Progress 100.5 FM, Kayode Akinsola, to order.In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC said its latest position was hinged on a programme aired on the station on Wednesday between 1.30 pm and 2pm where Governor Ayo Fayose was quoted to have called Buhari and the Federal Government unprintable names.Olatunbosun explained that Akinsola was fond of not giving the APC opportunity to be heard on the station.The party spokesman said Akinsolas alleged partisanship has become worrisome.He said: We are sick and tired of Akinsolas antics. We have complained and appealed to him but he has always rebuffed our appeals.The general manager will never use any press release by APC, yet he allows Fayose a free rein to abuse President Buhari regularly.Since he took over as the GM, he has not hidden his preference for the promotion of Fayoses propaganda and overt support for PDP leaders and their activities.The party urged Salihu to investigate Akinsola. Boko Haram fighters were trained in Somalia before returning to Nigeria, Somalias President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud , said yesterday. ... Boko Haram fighters were trained in Somalia before returning to Nigeria, Somalias President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud , said yesterday.He spoke at a security conference in Germany.Without a stable Somalia, the whole region of the Horn of Africa will remain unstable and by and large, the African continent. There are proofs and evidence that (for) some time Boko Haram has been trained in Somalia and they went back to Nigeria, he said.The terrorists are so linked together, they are associated and so organised, (that) we the world we need to be so organised, he said.It was not clear from his comments whether he believed al Shabaab was still training Boko Haram fighters, who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.Somalias al Shabaab, which has links to al Qaeda and wants to overthrow the Somali government and impose a harsh version of Islamic law, claimed responsibility for a blast this month that punched a hole in the fuselage of a plane.Somalia, plagued by political in-fighting, corruption and attacks by al Shabaab insurgents, has recently made limited progress towards creating a functioning political system.The Federal Government, the World Bank, the European Union, and the United Nations (UN) have concluded a two-week recovery and assessment mission in the Northeastern States ravaged by insurgency as part of its on-going Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) programme.Led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Dr. Mariam Masha, the recovery and assessment team visited Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi, Borno and Yobe states.A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, said the team actively engaged with governors, decision-makers civil society organisations, private sector players, traditional rulers, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), emergency management, humanitarian and relief agencies and other active partners in the recovery efforts in the affected states.The statement said: The field visit by the technical and humanitarian experts from the global institutions, the statement said, primarily focused on validating the processes through which data are to be collected and how to develop internationally acceptable mechanisms to maintain contact with focal points in all the States.This assessment will also form the pivot for planning a broad-based public sector recovery programme for the Northeast, as well as leverage, synchronise and inform the financing initiatives and projects of Nigerias development partners, civil society organisations and private sector groups and organisations, it said. Somalias former defence minister was killed in a car bomb on Monday, the latest in a string of attacks in the capital Mogadishu, police ... Somalias former defence minister was killed in a car bomb on Monday, the latest in a string of attacks in the capital Mogadishu, police said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion in the central K4 district of the city, but Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have carried out similar bombings in the past. Muhidin Mohamed, who was defence minister in 2008, died after the violent elements attached an explosive device beneath the drivers seat of his car, said police officer Ibrahim Mohamed. Another person was wounded in the attack. The Shebab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, which is protected by 22,000 African Union troops. I heard the explosion near the K4 area and I saw a dead body he was horribly wounded with blood all over his body, said Samiro Muktar, a witness. Meanwhile a military drone reportedly crashed in southern Somalia on Monday in a remote area held by Shebab fighters, residents said.We saw what looked like a small aircraft crashing in the mountains, said Abudlahi Muhidin, a resident in a nearby village. Shebab fighters carried away the wreckage on a vehicle. Several Shebab commanders have been reportedly killed by US drone strikes. Shebab insurgents said they had seized the wreckage of an unmanned aircraft, which landed in a hilly region south of Bardhere in the far southern Gedo district, close to the border of Kenya and Ethiopia.Mujahedeen fighters secured control of the wreckage of the plane and the equipment it carried, a pro-Shebab website claimed. The Islamists are on a mission to disprove claims they are close to defeat since being routed from Mogadishu in mid-2011.Last week the Shebab claimed responsibility for a bomb attack which ripped a hole in a passenger plane shortly after takeoff from the capital Mogadishu earlier this month. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may quiz a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Damian Dodo, over the cash any moment fr... The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may quiz a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Damian Dodo, over the cash any moment from now.There is the 22.5m (N6.18billion) loot which the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, allegedly stashed away on the Island of Jersey?This is the puzzle the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is trying to resolve.Besides, there is uncertainty over the whereabouts of over $400million Abacha loot on the Island.The anti-graft agency may quiz a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Damian Dodo, over the cash any moment from now.Dodo, who spoke with newsmen last night, said a UK-based lawyer, Erico Monfrini collaborated with a three-man Federal Government team Dodo, ex-Attorney-General of the Federation Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) and EFCCs ex- Secretary Mr. Emmanuel Akonmaye.A source, who spoke in confidence, said: We are probing the whereabouts of 22.5m (N6.18billion) loot of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha which was recovered from the Island of Jersey. The EFCC cannot locate where the money was remitted to.According to records, the late Head of State allegedly stashed the funds through a Lebanese called Bhojwani. But when the Office of the AGF was alerted by a whistleblower, the government of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan opened discussion with the Attorney-General of the Island of Jersey.The AG of the Island of Jersey cooperated fully with the government, leading to the repatriation of the 22.5m. We want to know where the money is; we need records from those involved.Replying a question, the source added: We are inviting Damian Dodo, who played a key role in securing the 22.5m (N6.18billion) loot for the Federal Government to give the details.The source said it was unclear if the Jonathan administration collected $400million Abacha loot also stashed on Jersey Island.He said: There is also uncertainty about $400million Abacha loot on the Island.The government of Island of Jersey pledged to repatriate the stashed funds and even initiatted a process towards that. As I speak with you, no one can account for the $400million.What we have been hearing is that the Government of Island of Jersey was demanding a proportionate part of the funds. Again, there is uncertainty whether the loot was remitted or is diverted or still on the Island.This is why the EFCC team is stepping up investigation into Abacha loot on this tiny island.In a chat with our correspondent last night, Dodo said: The EFCC was part of the negotiation for the repatriation of the 22.5m (N6.18billion) loot; it should just go through its records instead of calling for my head over nothing. The former Secretary of EFCC represented the commission at every stage of the recovery.The terms of agreement were clearly spelt out and the Federal Government provided the account in which the recovered funds should be paid. At inter-governmental level, the EFCC can ask the Federal Government to contact the Government of Island of Jersey for all transaction records.I have nothing to hide. No repatriation negotiation was done under the carpet at all. We did our best for this nation in recovering the looted funds. The Government of Island of Jersey wanted the substantial part of the money and we said no. We said Nigeria needed the money more than the Island of Jersey. It is just vendetta. I have nothing to hide. They have searched all my accounts in order to find out whether or not I transferred money to Adoke. They could not find anything against me. I think they are after the former AGF at all cost.The EFCC was involved from the beginning to the end, why cant they check their records instead of scandalising me.On the $400m still stashed on the Island of Jersey, Dodo said: They should get in touch with the Government of Island of Jersey.At the opening ceremony of the 8th Edition of the National Seminar on Economic Crimes, which was held at the EFCC training school in Abuja, the ex-AGF alluded to the recovery but he did not give details.He said: Only recently, we negotiated the recovery and repatriation of the sum of 22.5m from the Island of Jersey, being the proceeds of money laundered from Nigeria.I wish to seize this opportunity to commend the Attorney-General of Jersey for the support and cooperation we received and urge other jurisdictions to also extend to us, the much needed cooperation to enable us repatriate stolen assets within their jurisdictions.Our experience has shown that despite international condemnation of corruption and money laundering, many jurisdictions where stolen assets to victim states or impose stringent conditions for its repatriation with attendant negative consequences on victim states.We also intend to vigorously pursue stolen assets and the confiscation of other instrumentalities of crime within the country by strengthening our confiscatory and forfeiture laws. A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has issued a notice to sue the Federal Government in order to compel it to retrieve about $... A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has issued a notice to sue the Federal Government in order to compel it to retrieve about $66.5bn governments recoverable revenues, royalties and levies from some public and private bodies as well as some individuals.Falana, in a letter dated February 12, 2016, which was addressed to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, threatened to file the suit against the Federal Government not later than February 29.He said his planned suit was necessitated by the ministers failure to respond to the serious issues which he raised in his earlier letter discouraging the Federal Government to go ahead with its plan to obtain $3.5bn loan from the World Bank and the African Development Bank but to instead recoup the recoverable $66.5bn.His fresh letter issuing the notice of legal proceedings was entitled, Re: Federal Governments plan to seek $3.5bn emergency loan from World Bank and African Development Bank should be dropped.The letter read, Our letter dated February 5, 2016 in respect of the above subject matter refers.Since you have not deemed it fit to react to the serious issues raised in the letter, kindly be informed that we shall commence legal proceedings not later than February 29, 2015 with a view to compelling the Federal Government to recover the said loans, royalties levies and other recoverable revenues of not less than $66.5bn.Falana had in his earlier letter to the Minister of Finance, argued that there was no need to obtain a $3.5bn loan to finance the budget when the Federal Government could recover about $66.5bn it was being owed.The lawyer urged the Federal Government to drop its proposition to obtain the foreign loan, noting that it required the endorsement of the International Monetary Fund, which he said, usually imposes stringent conditions on borrowing countries.He lamented that the debt profile of the country had now grown to $64bn after it took much effort in 2005 for the country to exit the London/Paris Club after struggling to repay a loan of $12.4bn.Falana urged the Federal Government to make effort to recover the over $66.5bn accruable to it, rather than obtain loan to finance the 2016 budget. Israeli ex-premier Ehud Olmert, who began a 19-month jail term for corruption on Monday, is not the first former head of state or gover... Israeli ex-premier Ehud Olmert, who began a 19-month jail term for corruption on Monday, is not the first former head of state or government to serve time behind bars.Here are some others who went before him.Israel: Moshe Katzav The former Israeli president was sentenced to seven years in prison and incarcerated in December 2011.He was convicted of the rape of two aides while he was tourism minister in the 1990s, and of sexual harassment, attempting to intimidate witnesses and obstruction of justice.Katzav, who was president from 2000 until his forced resignation in 2007, has repeatedly protested his innocence.Portugal: Jose Socrates The former Socialist prime minister (2005-2011) spent more than nine months in temporary detention before being placed under house arrest in September 2015, a measure that was lifted on October 16, 2015.He was arrested on November 21, 2014 and charged with corruption, money laundering and tax fraud. He continues to proclaim his innocence.Croatia: Ivo Sanadar Sanadar, a conservative, served as prime minister from 2003 until his resignation in 2009. He was convicted of corruption in November 2012 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The charges stem from kickbacks he is said to have received from the Hungarian energy company MOL.In March 2014 he was convicted and sentenced to nine years in a separate trial over the alleged embezzlement of 10 million euros ($112 million) in public funds.But in November 2015, the Croatian supreme court overturned that conviction and ordered a retrial and his release on bail.Romania: Adrian Nastase A Social Democrat prime minister from 2000 to 2004, Nastase was sentenced to four and a half years for corruption in 2012, a milestone in the fight against graft in Romania.He tried to commit suicide after receiving a two-year prison term in a separate case relating to the improper use of 1.5 million euros of campaign funds.He was set free in March 2013, but jailed again in 2014 for accepting bribes worth a total of 630,000 euros in Chinese building materials and furnishings from a construction boss.Nastase was granted probation in August 2014.Peru: Alberto Fujimori Fujimori, who served as president of Peru from 1990 to 2000, is still behind bars at the age of 77 after being convicted of multiple counts of corruption and human rights abuses.In 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years after being found guilty of ordering massacres in 1991-92 that killed 25 people, including an infant.The killings occurred during the states brutal suppression of an uprising by Maoist guerillas of the Shining Path movement.He has also been convicted of bribery and embezzlement.Guatemala: Alfonso Portillo Portillo, a conservative who served as president from 2000 to 2004, was detained in Guatemala in 2010 and extradited to the United States where he was sentenced to five years and 10 months for money-laundering.He returned to Guatemala in February 2015 after serving a little over a year in a minimum-security US jail, in consideration of the time he had already spent behind bars while fighting extradition and on trial.Guatemala: Otto Perez Perez, a conservative who resigned as president last September, is in custody awaiting trial over allegations that he organised a vast fraud ring which netted him $800,000 in bribes.He was arrested the day after his resignation.AFP The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has said most herdsmen that cause trouble in Nigeria are foreigners, specifically fr... The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has said most herdsmen that cause trouble in Nigeria are foreigners, specifically from neighbouring Mali and Chad.He also argued that cattle rustlers were able to gain entry into Nigeria with their cattle as a result of the countrys porous borders.Arase said this on Friday during an interactive session between him and stakeholders in Ondo State. Majority of those at the occasion held at the Officers Mess, Akure, the state capital, were farmers.The IG, who paid a courtesy visit to the state and the neighbouring Ekiti State on the same day, however, noted that Nigerians among the herdsmen were not notorious, saying they are law-abiding.Arase said, We should also know about the history of migration. Most of these herdsmen are not Nigerians. They are people from Mali and Chad, who came into our system. That is why we have to be very careful. Our borders are very porous. Predominantly, our own herdsmen are law-abiding people.But when people come from outside with their cattle, we should not deny them entry because of ECOWAS protocols, good neighbourliness but at the same time we should not allow them to embark on criminal activities.During the visit, the police boss met with Governor Olusegun Mimiko and discussed how to set up ranches across the country to end the incessant clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers.I have taken suggestions on how we can develop big ranches so that they (Fulani) can stop grazing on farmlands, the IG stated.He also urged the farmers and other stakeholders to be careful and take caution in dealing with the herdsmen.During the interactive session, some of the farmers lamented that persistent attacks on their farmlands by Fulani herdsmen had been on the increase, wondering why the government had failed to address such attacks.One of the farmers, who identified himself as Sunday Owoseni, said there was a need for security agencies to take attacks by the herdsmen seriously before it degenerated into a serious security threat.He said after the abduction of a former Minister for Finance, Chief Olu Falae, by the herdsmen, everyone thought the government and other stakeholders would be more proactive about reducing such attacks on farmers.Owoseni argued that despite Falaes abduction by herdsmen, the government had refused to take the Fulanis threat seriously.Another farmer, Mrs. Ngozi Ogbonna, explained that she secured a N1.5m loan from a microfinance bank to plant cassava and rice, lamenting that her crops were destroyed by cattle.She alleged that all efforts to arrest the culprits were frustrated by the police.She appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mimiko and Arase to find a lasting solution to the incessant attacks by the herdsmen on farmlands. Members of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, on Sunday accused the Peoples Democratic Party of masterminding the recent transfer of the founder... Members of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, on Sunday accused the Peoples Democratic Party of masterminding the recent transfer of the founder and Spiritual Director, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka. Mbaka was transferred from the Christ the King Parish, GRA, in Enugu metropolis, to Our Lady Parish, Emene, on the outskirts of the Coal City. Mbaka's transfer was part of a general redeployment of priests by the Enugu Catholic Diocese, headed by Bishop Calistus Onaga. But the fiery priest had, while handing over to his successor at the CKC, insinuated that the transfer was in line with a witch-hunt against him, and raised the alarm that he was going to suffer in the new parish. However, members of his religious organisation have accused the PDP, and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, of influencing the transfer. In a statement signed by Kingsley Eze, Sunday Ukam, (Enugu State Adorer), Adedije Wale, (Osun State Adorer), and others, the members of the Ministry insisted that their spiritual director's transfer was not in order. The furious worshipers accused the bishop of the Enugu Catholic Diocese, Onaga, of acting according to a script written by Mbaka's enemies. They wondered why Onaga should decide to transfer Mbaka from the CKC, after previous bishops had allowed him to stay in the parish for about 20 years. "What Bishop Michael Eneja saw and allowed, Bishop Gbuji protected and watered but Bishop Onaga uprooted in a most barbaric and despondent manner," they said, referring to the transfer. They claimed that the bishop was working with unnamed 'stalwarts' of the PDP, who they said were unhappy over Mbaka's role in the last presidential elections. Mbaka had predicted President Muhammadu Buhari's victory, and in a message entitled 'From Good Luck to Bad Luck', urged Nigerians to vote for the APC candidate. The Adoration Ministry members added, "Most Nigerians know that the uncommon silence of Bishop Onaga over Fr. Mbaka's prophesy of the defeat of the Goodluck Jonathan's PDP-led government by President Muhammadu Buhari was not really for nothing. "He was just waiting for the time to carry out the script of the stalwarts of the overthrown party. "Barely few weeks before the posting, the voice of a faction of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a socio-cultural group, was heard barking at Fr. Mbaka to 'shut up' over his prophesies. "And now comes the posting done in such a manner as to really shut Fr. Mbaka up. "Sources close to Bishop Onaga disclosed to us that the Bishop said he transferred Fr. Mbaka out of pressure from Ohanaeze and PDP. "The posting is not Holy Ghost oriented but PDPnized and Ohanaezenized, and any cleric be him pastor, bishop or cardinal that supported this is enemy of the Holy Spirit." Further condemning the transfer, they said members of the Ministry, who are based outside the country, have been calling to express their anger at the development. They warned of their readiness to carry out a "religious revolution" over the matter. Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, assured Nigerians on Sunday that the National Assembly will pass the 2016 Appropriation Bill before the end of Mar... Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, assured Nigerians on Sunday that the National Assembly will pass the 2016 Appropriation Bill before the end of March, contrary to the declaration of the appropriation committee that the passage of the bill had been postponed indefinitely.Ndume who spoke with journalists in Abuja said the budget passage was not suspended indefinitely but that it would be passed before the end of March being the deadline for the implementation of the 2015 budget.He said that it was the wish of the National Assembly to pass the budget on February 25 but which was not possible due to some errors, discovered by the federal parliamentarians at their different committees.He however assured Nigerians that the National Assembly would ensure that all errors and differences were corrected before passage.He said, "We have not postponed it (passage of the budget) indefinitely. What we are saying is that with the developments that we are seeing, the 25th February deadline we gave ourselves may not be realistic."That is why we now said that going by this, it is not possible to say we will come back on 25th and say this is the budget, but we are not saying that we have suspended it indefinitely.The reason we fixed 25th was because we wanted Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry has questioned the togetherness within the Manchester City squad by pointing out the lack of a celebration ... Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry has questioned the togetherness within the Manchester City squad by pointing out the lack of a celebration after Kelechi Iheanacho's equalising goal against Tottenham.The Nigerian forward cancelled out Harry Kane's second-half penalty but Christian Eriksen scored a late winning goal for Spurs to earn the visitors a crucial three points.Watch video below...The defeat sees City remain six points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City and Henry believes the muted way in which Manuel Pellegrini's players reacted to drawing level was telling."I know you have to go and get the ball back [to ensure a quick restart with the score level at 1-1 at the time] but no one went to celebrate with Iheanacho," Henry told Sky Sports."That's something that, I don't know you scored a goal, go and celebrate with the guy. 'Let's go, get the ball back'. No one went to celebrate with him. He was in the corner there."I think Vincent Kompany went with him and someone else but that's it. Maybe I'm reading too much between the lines about that Man City team, but no one went to celebrate with him, that's a bit weird." WASHINGTON -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes and no autopsy was necessary, a judge has told The Associated Press. Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes in Texas, said the 79-year-old jurist's body was taken from the El Paso facility late Sunday afternoon and was to be flown to Virginia, although he had no details. Scalia's family didn't think a private autopsy was necessary and requested that his remains be returned to Washington as soon as possible, Lujan said. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Sunday she consulted with Scalia's personal physician and sheriff's investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding that he had died of natural causes. He was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch Saturday morning. Guevara says the declaration was made around 1:52 p.m. Saturday. Terry Sharpe, assistant director for operations at El Paso International Airport, said a private plane carrying Scalia's body departed around 8 p.m. EST Sunday. Scalia's body was accompanied to the airport by U.S. marshals, he said. The body was returned to Virginia late Sunday. Scalia's weekend death was as much of a shock to those at the ranch as it was to the rest of the nation. The owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, where Scalia died, said the justice seemed his usual self at dinner the night before he was found "in complete repose" in his room. John Poindexter told reporters Scalia, a native of Trenton, was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests. He arrived Friday around noon. The group had dinner Friday night and Scalia was his "usual, personable self," Poindexter said. Scalia retired around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep, according to Poindexter. A procession that included about 20 law enforcement officers arrived in the early hours Sunday at the funeral home more than three hours from the ranch, Lujan said. Kristina Mills, a history teacher at nearby Chapin High School, came to the funeral home to pay her respects and brought flowers. "Recognizing his contribution to serving our country just compelled me to come," she said. "I wanted to do yellow roses because for him dying in Texas. I didn't want his family to have bad memories of Texas." In the nation's capital, where flags flew at half-staff at the White House and Supreme Court, the political sniping soared, raising the prospect of a court short-handed for some time. The Senate's Republican leader, backed largely by his party's White House candidates, essentially told a Democratic president in his final year in office not to bother asking lawmakers to confirm a nominee for the lifetime seat. Scalia's colleagues praised his brilliance and grieved his death. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and Scalia "were best buddies" for more than 30 years. Justice Clarence Thomas said, "It is hard to imagine the court without my friend." President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the high court, where Scalia served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation and U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world. US-SENATE-INTELLIGENCE CIA Director John Brennan, a native of New Jersey, testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats to America and its allies on Capitol Hill earlier this month. (AFP/Getty Images) ( ) CIA Director John Brennan, in a wide-ranging interview with the television news program "60 Minutes," said the United States has evidence ISIS has used chemical weapons in combat, bringing a new dimension to the terrorist group's capabilities. Brennan, a New Jersey native who grew up in North Bergen, also said he believes it is "inevitable" that the group, which also goes by ISIL, will try to mount some kind of attack on American soil. "I think ISIL does eventually want to find its mark here," he told Scott Pelley. "I think their attempts are inevitable. I don't think their successes necessarily are." Brennan provided little detail about the group's use of chemical weapons, but said the CIA has gathered reports that ISIS has access to chemical precursors to fashion weapons that contain chlorine and mustard gas. Asked specifically about chemical weapons that have already been used by the group, Brennan replied: "We have a number of instances where ISIL has used chemical munitions on the battlefield." ISIS controls a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq. The CIA director did not say where the weapons were used. Brennan spoke on a range of topics during the interview, reiterating his opposition to waterboarding as an interrogation tactic and speaking of the increasing difficulty of gathering information with the rise of encrypted communications. He said he worried, too, about the possibility that ISIS or other terror groups would become more sophisticated at cyber warfare. Brennan, who has led the agency since 2013, created a new directorate devoted specifically to cyber defense. "That cyber environment is the one that keeps me up at night," he said. View More: | | Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJMueller. Find NJ.com on Facebook. To the Editor: This is how I see Gov. Chris Christie's just ended presidential candidacy: I have sat back and listened to all the debates. I must say that they show no promise of any change with the exception of the Feb. 6 one, where Christie took on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. However, I think Christie should not criticize any candidate. Here is a governor who had a veteran Navy Seal escorted out of a town hall meeting and labeled him stupid. He told another questioner about slow Hurricane Sandy aid a year after the storm to shut up and sit down. More recently, in New Hampshire, he responded to a questioner about not staying in New Jersey after the recent blizzard with "What do you want me to do, bring a mop?" On top of it all, there is "Bridgegate." He stands there and touts his efficiency, but then states he had no knowledge that his staff was involved in a politically motivated plan that shut down lanes into the George Washington Bridge. Some leader he is. He has no idea what his staff is doing, and then wanted to be president? What a joke! How could we elect anyone who shows so much disrespect for people? This is someone who uses the state helicopter to travel to his son's ball game. How can Christie stand in front of a national audience and throw stones at any candidate when he, as the saying goes, lives in a glass house. I ask this question: Do we want someone so ill-tempered to be president or in any other position of authority? Dominick A. Ruggiero Jr. Sewell Why downgrade Woodbury hospital? To the Editor: Regarding Inspira Health Network's plans to replace its Woodbury hospital with a new building in Harrison Township: The Inspira leadership sounds quite convincing when they say the Woodbury building, the former Underwood-Memorial, building is too old to continue using and that it would be cost prohibitive to upgrade it. How about Our Lady of Lourdes in Camden, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia? They're old, and they're still there, using their original buildings. It seems to me that there's much more going on here than we have been led to believe. If Inspira pulls its beds out of Woodbury, that site will be be no more than a glorified urgent care facility. And how long will that last? Inspira does not need to build a new hospital, it needs to build a new management team. John Heritage Woolwich Township Traffic a barrier to hospital site To the Editor: I'd like to express my opinion about the proposal to put a new Inspira Health Network in Harrison Township: I believe the proposed hospital site is in a very dangerous place, traffic-wise. It would be on U.S. Route 322 near a Route 55 freeway interchange. Not only is there steady traffic on Route 322, but traffic is increasing on Route 55, as well. In the summer months, the traffic is even worse with so many people using both routes to go to the Jersey shore and the Delaware beaches. It would be very dangerous to have ambulances trying to get through this traffic. Also, there would be a good number of cars going back and forth for employees of the hospital at different times of the day. It's also likely that school buses are using Route 322. This is a bad idea on so many levels, and I hope the people in the area are aware of it. Joan Pacitti Mullica Hill Editor's note: Rowan University trustees are slated to vote this week on whether or not to sell the university-owned parcel to Inspira. Do Dems have Sharpton's back on tax lien? To the Editor: Wasn't it refreshing watching Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton promote racial harmony through their lovefests with the Rev. Al Sharpton in their attempts to secure black presidential primary votes? I wonder if either candidate took the time to lay out a payment plan for Sharpton's back taxes of up to $4 million? After all, shouldn't all wealthy individuals pay their "fair share" in order to fund their socialist agendas? Or does that only apply to those who actually earn their wealth? Walt Rouh Mantua Township Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com chris-christie.jpg He's baaaaack. (Photo by Kayana Szymczak | Getty Images) Remember when Chris Christie claimed that Jersey Shore communities suffered "no residual flood damage" and "no residual flooding," the day after our monster blizzard? He was already back in New Hampshire, campaigning to be president. He was concerned with much bigger things -- not what he was doing to help with cleanup. "I don't know what you want me to do, he told a questioner who brought up the flooding complaints - "you want me to go down there with a mop?" RELATED: Christie requests disaster aid for 17 counties hit by winter storm He also called the mayor of North Wildwood "crazy," for saying the flooding in his town was worse than Sandy -- for which he later apologized, confessing he got carried away. The mayor accepted the apology, which came after he'd pointed out that his emergency responders had to rescue about 150 people from their flooded homes, and that the water was five feet deep in his downtown. Now that Christie's presidential hopes have imploded, he has finally returned to Jersey. Upon arriving here on Wednesday, one of the very first things he did was apply for federal disaster aid for the blizzard's residual damage. In his application to the federal government, Christie said that 17 counties suffered around $82.6 million in damages. And we thought they were all just a bunch of whiners. But perhaps the governor's perspective has changed, now that he can actually see the damage up close. We can only hope his renewed interest also applies to New Jersey's other lingering problems: Our crumbing transportation system, pension woes and serious fiscal crisis. Who knows? Maybe this is a sign that the governor is ready to face reality. Follow NJ.com Opinion on Twitter @NJ_Opinion. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. WASHINGTON -- Here's what makes U.S. Sen. Cory Booker tick. Lone Rangers don't accomplish much. Everyone deserves a second chance. The current generation of black leaders owe a debt to the civil rights icons who paved the way, and need to try to pay it back. Those are some of the lessons Booker learned in his career as a community activist, Newark mayor and now U.S. senator, the first black elected to that post in New Jersey. He wrote about them in his first book, "United," which is being released this week. Booker has a 12-city tour planned beginning Tuesday to promote the tome. Following a trend set by many presidential candidates, Booker's writings were released in the midst of a campaign. Booker, however, is not running for president, though he has been mentioned as a potential running mate for former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose candidacy he has endorsed. "I didn't write this to speak towards an election," Booker said in an interview to discuss the book. "I wrote this to talk about us as a country. The best of our culture has been seen when we as a nation recognize that we have more in common than divides us and do the very difficult work of reaching out, going beyond our comfort zone to work with other people." Booker wrote that he learned that lesson when he first was elected to the Newark City Council and immediately criticized the taxpayer-financed perks that accrued to the lawmakers. "Legislating demands that you have a working relationship with your colleagues," Booker wrote. "No matter how much you disagree with them, there must be common ground or you render yourself ineffective." In the interview, Booker said he still believed he was right but his tactics were wrong. "My city council days really prepped me for what I'm doing now because I got it so wrong on the city council," Booker said. "My posture in that legislative body did not serve my constituents as well as if I had approached it with an attitude of being a bridge-builder and not a barn-burner." In the Senate, Booker has reached out to Tea Party-backed Republicans such as Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah as he sought bipartisan backing for legislation to provide alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent criminals and to make it easier for ex-prisoners to find work. President Barack Obama, who Booker supported in 2008 when most prominent New Jersey Democrats were lining up behind Clinton, has embraced the cause of overhauling the criminal justice system, traveling to Newark in November to highlight the issue. Booker explained in the book why criminal justice was such a passion of his. His parents integrated the Bergen County community of Harrington Park with the help of a fair housing lawyer, and kids in that community were offered "a wide margin for error, with second, third and fourth chances" when they had minor brushes with the law. "At their worst, our run-ins with police would mark not an end to our opportunity but the beginning of an intervention," he wrote. He went to Stanford University and Yale Law School, where he said in the interview that "it was very jarring to me to see the widespread use of drugs in college" with "very little consequences." When he lived in inner-city communities like New Haven, Conn., and then Newark, where he moved after law school, the "criminal justice system was coming down on these folks for the same crimes with a fury, incarcerating at rates never before seen in humanity." After these nonviolent offenders were released, Booker said, "they were trying to compete for jobs with those same drug users who never went to jail and had no shot of competing in this economy because they were from communities where the criminal justice system operated in a much different way." En route to Washington, Booker found mentors and allies such as Virginia Jones and Frank Hutchins as he won election to the Newark City Council, the mayor's office and the U.S. Senate. He also never forgot those who made it possible for a black man to have those opportunities -- he was only the fourth black in U.S. history ever to be elected by the voters to the Senate, following Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and Obama -- and he said that his decision to go into public service was a way to pay them back. "It would be almost offensive for me not to recognize that I stand on the shoulders of giants," Booker said. "Everything that I enjoy, everything that my generation enjoys, came through struggle and sacrifice and labor and often blood and death. "The only way I know how to honor our history is not just by remembering it but by paying it forward is with our own sacrifice. Doing something to address poverty, doing something to address bigotry. That is an American obligation." Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook The federal government plans to pour $125 million into the fight against a mysterious disease that has ravaged corals in Florida and much of the Caribbean, and now poses a dire threat to the treasured reefs off the Louisiana and Texas coasts. WASHINGTON (AP) The House Jan. 6 committee plans to unveil "surprising" details at its next public hearing about the 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol. The session Thursday afternoon is likely to be the last public hearing before midterm elections next month. The panel is expected to include new evidence from the U.S. Secret Service about its actions with Donald Trump that day. Ahead of a report later this year, the panel is summing up its findings. The committee says Trump, after he lost the 2020 presidential election, launched an unprecedented attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory. They say the result was the deadly mob siege of the Capitol. There was a time, not too long ago, when the President of the United States could walk the streets of Washington, D.C. with no Secret Service in his shadow, and visitors could unknowingly wander onto the White House lawn and not be arrested. During the month of February, this column will harken back to those times with forgotten stories about Council Bluffs residents who had a connection to Abraham Lincoln. David Reynolds was born in Cayuga County, NY, on April 5, 1840. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union army at Quincy, Michigan, joining Company E 1st Michigan Infantry, according to his obituary the source of this story. He first met Abraham Lincoln while stationed in Washington, D.C. He and three companions mistakenly walked onto the front lawn of the White House, thinking it was a park. They noticed two men coming down the walk and, as the two drew closer, they recognized them as Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State, William H. Seward. The soldiers saluted. Reynolds, remembering from boyhood Mr. Seward, also a native of Cayuga County, said, Dont you know me, Seward? Seward said, Not unless it is one of the Reynolds boys. You must be Dave. Its me, Dave, he replied. Seward introduced him to Abraham Lincoln who extended his hand. Im pleased to meet you, Dave. he said, and after that, whenever the two met, Abraham Lincoln always greeted Reynolds with, Hello, Dave. Later, Dave Reynolds was wounded in the knee and was confined to a hospital in Baltimore where he had been sent paroled for exchange. He had been a prisoner for more than forty days. President Lincoln and Secretary Seward came to the hospital to visit the injured. They didnt recognize Dave at first, until told by the nurse in charge. Lincoln then placed his hand on Reynolds forehead and said, My poor boy. He turned to Mrs. McClelland, the nurse. I know this boy through Seward, he said. Do you have charge of him? I want you to do everything for his recovery and save his leg. After leaving the hospital, Dave was placed on duty in the capital. Often he would meet Lincoln on the streets, and would be recognized by a cheery, Hello, Dave. Dave Reynolds remembered attending the theater many times and seeing President and Mrs. Lincoln and the cabinet officers present. At one of those occasions he was introduced to Mrs. Lincoln. He noted that the first lady was somewhat unsociable, but prided herself on being well dressed. The fall before the assassination, Dave Reynolds, then 23, went to Nebraska and settled on a homestead in Butler County where he served as county clerk and justice of the peace. Seven years later, he married Harriet Hanchette in Michigan. The couple had seven children: Harry, Earl, Charles, Mark, David, Jr., Ruth and Jessamine. They came to Iowa in 1900 with younger members of their family. They first lived in Thurman, then Clarinda, and Council Bluffs. 1907 records indicate they lived at 352 Lincoln Ave. (still standing) and Davids occupation was listed as carpenter. David, Jr. was listed as a student. At some point, they moved to Clarinda where, in 1920, they lived at 222 S. 15th St. Around 1923, they moved back to Council Bluffs where they lived at 133 Benton St. (still standing) along with Jessamine and David, Jr. Jessamine is sometimes listed as a pastors assistant, other times as a social worker and a clerk. David worked at a sugar refinery and as a bookkeeper. Harriet died in 1927. Records then show David living with their daughter, Ruth, and her husband, Solomon Blair, in their home at 423 Morningside Avenue. Solomons occupation is listed as a tallyman at a grain exchange. Also sharing the home were Jessamine and David, Jr. David continued to live there until shortly before his death in 1933. Harriet and David Reynolds are buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery. Ruth Blair purchased the property in 1905. The single-family Foursquare house with an open porch, built for the Blairs and their two children in 1910, is perched on the corner of Morningside and Gleason avenues as though keeping an eye on the valley below. Preserve Council Bluffs acknowledges the following sources of information for this series: National Register of Historic Places nominations, the reference department of the Council Bluffs Public Library, the auditors office of the Pottawattamie County courthouse, Council Bluffs Community Development Department, homeowners, family members and individual research. Mary Lou McGinn can be reached by email at mlmcginn@cox.net. Community Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place. Union concerned about LU's decision to leave Barrie News that Laurentian University plans to close its Barrie campus in three years isn't sitting well with the school's faculty union. Laurentian University will be leaving the Georgian College campus in Barrie in May 2019, a decision that was reached by the university's board of governors on Feb. 12. File photo. News that Laurentian University plans to close its Barrie campus in three years isn't sitting well with the school's faculty union. The Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) has issued a statement saying professors are concerned about the impact the decision will have on faculty members and students in Simcoe County. Our members are dedicated and make important contributions to their community, LUFA President James Ketchen said in a news release. We greatly value the dedication and professionalism of all of our faculty colleagues at Barrie, and the importance of the programs they provide to students. LU's board of governors announced the decision Friday, saying it would end Arts and Management programs in Barrie as of May 2017, and Social Work programs in Barrie as of May 2019. No first-year students will be admitted by Laurentian in Barrie, the school said in a news release. Laurentian will completely exit Barrie by May 2019. All students currently enrolled in Laurentians programs in Barrie will be able to complete their studies and graduate, the school said, through a combination of on-campus, online and distance courses. Individual meetings are being scheduled with every student currently registered at Laurentian in Barrie. The province set constraints on the powers of the Board of Governors and on the Senate of Laurentian in Barrie since 2010, including a program moratorium, the release said, explaining the decision. In May 2015, the ministry did not approve the Universitys submission for major capacity expansion in Barrie, the release said. Laurentians vision is for students who pay university tuition to be able to complete four-year degrees fully taught by university faculty in Barrie. This vision is not shared by Georgian College or by the ministry. The faculty union says the decision will affect more than 70 of its members in the area. It is unfortunate that the plan the Ontario Government was seeking to impose for the future of higher education in Simcoe County has led to this announcement by the administration of Laurentian University, Ketchen said in the union's news release. That plan would have seen unprecedented government interference into the university sector. Universities must have the freedom to determine and decide about the best options for program choice and how these should be delivered. The approach of this government over the last 10 years has been a real fiasco but LUFA is fully committed to upholding the rights and protecting the interests of our members at the Barrie campus. HAMMOND Don't expect everyday to be like a typical episode of CSI on television but Hammond Police crime scene investigators and detectives say a day of investigation can be painstaking, tedious and overwhelmingly sad. "We're not all dressed in suits or having a cup of coffee like you see on TV," Det. Jason Gonzalez said. Hammond Master Sargeants Allan Retske and Robert Vaught, who share responsibilities in charge of the department's crime scene unit, Sgt. Butch Logan, Community Affairs, and Gonzalez spoke to more than 150 Bishop Noll Institute students Thursday to give them a better picture of how they gather evidence. This is an entry-level STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Math) offered to freshmen students as they explore STEM topics. The students also have done projects on drones, website design and energy-efficient housing. Three BNI teachers are involved including Rebecca Dostatni, Paul Douglass and Anthony Hoolihan. Dostatni said the STEM class has eight different projects. She wanted the Hammond police to talk to students about the importance of problem solving, and how police have to think critically on a daily basis to solve a crime. BNI Principal Craig Stafford said the high school offers a STEM elective to students in grades 10 through 12. "Over the next three years, we will be developing a 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade STEM class," he said. "The current freshmen will take a STEM course every year they are enrolled at BNI. The curriculum has been (and will be) developed by teachers representing all departments, including myself, and Dr. Carla Johnson from Purdue (West Lafayette). She is a professor and STEM expert." Dostatni said the students are collecting data on the City of Hammond and other communities in Northwest Indiana and the Chicago suburbs, looking at the crime rates and creating data. The Hammond officers brought numerous items to show students including casting for footprints and a fingerprint kit. The police authorities said a laser projection of bullet trajectories is one of the latest innovations in crime scene investigation. The kit contains all of the tools necessary to provide vital information about the flight of the bullet. Retske and Vaught said after the evidence has been collected, they go back and diagram the crime scene. Gonzalez said his work is to investigate the case, and he told students the first 48 hours are critical. "It's important to talk to witnesses, neighbors, the family and the suspects," he said. "A lot of them are willing to come and discuss with me what happened, how it went down. what the beef was and why everyone was angry," Gonzalez said. "When I was in patrol working at high schools as a resource officer, I often talked to kids. The next thing you know, they may be sitting in a box and we're talking about why he or she had a situation that turned violent and someone was killed." Noll freshmen Alejandra Wedryk and A.J. Vazquez said the students are collecting data, and putting together statistics about various types of crime in Hammond and neighboring cities. Wedryk said she is interested in forensic science and thinks that could be an interesting career. Vaqquez said he has been watching CSI, and is more interested in it after listening to the Hammond officers. Stafford said Bishop Noll has a total enrollment of 536 students, a 14-year high for the Catholic school. He said about 48 percent of the students use a voucher. A voucher or Indiana Choice Scholarship allows a family to use public school tax dollars to enroll in a private school. The Ports of Indiana, which includes Northwest Indiana's deepwater Lake Michigan harbor, handled a record 12.2 million tons of cargo in 2015. Last year was the first in the Indianapolis-based port authority's history that Indiana's three ports handled more than 12 million tons. The tonnage surpassed the previous annual shipping record set in 2014 by a whopping 18 percent about 1.8 million more tons of cargo. The self-funding port authority operates the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, which is split between Burns Harbor and Portage, as well as two ports on the Ohio River in southern Indiana. "Our port companies and stevedores who attract cargo to our ports did a tremendous job in 2015," Ports of Indiana CEO Rich Cooper said. "They've become masterful in leveraging Indiana's ports' year-round maritime access to world markets as well as connections to multiple Class I railroads and major highways and interstates. Their business performance in this uncertain economy is highly commendable, particularly in the coal and steel sectors." Coal shipments rose by 69 percent as compared to 2014, and dried distiller grains shot up by 64 percent over the same period. Cement increased by 17 percent, and limestone posted a 12 percent year-over-year gain. Steel imports, which have led to layoffs and idlings of domestic mills nationwide, increased by 18 percent in Indiana in 2015, as compared to 2014. Nationally, cheap and often illegally subsidized imports grabbed a record 29 percent of the U.S. market share. "While we savor the victories our port companies achieved in 2015, we are mindful of the challenges they continue to face with the pressure on fossil fuels and steel prices," Cooper said. "Despite the difficult economy, steel shipments at our ports still reached an all-time high in 2015 with many of our 28 steel companies processing steel for the record number of new cars and trucks sold by the U.S. auto industry last year." The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handled a total of 2.8 million tons of cargo, including dozens of fermentation tanks for the booming craft brewing industry. The Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville across from Louisville got 2.8 million tons of cargo last year, while of the Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon near Evansville handled 6.6 million tons. The ports are doing so well Gov. Mike Pence has proposed building a fourth port in the southern part of the state. Gary and East Chicago also have expressed interest in another deepwater Lake Michigan port. A veteran Grammys executive producer says his awards show does not have a diversity issue like the Oscars and that it is not fair to compare the two programs. Ahead of tonights show, news outlets reported that the Grammys could be under fire since it planned to pay tribute to white performers such as David Bowie and The Eagles Glenn Frey with live performances, though the legacy of black acts such as Natalie Cole and Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, who recently passed, were not receiving the same treatment. Ken Ehrlich said he first thought of booking a performer to honor Cole, but then he watched her 1992 Grammys performance of her singing in sync with her father, Nat King Cole, who appeared in video. It was the same year she won album of the year for Unforgettable... with Love, which paid tribute to her father with reworked versions of some of his best-known songs. Ehrlich called the video of the performance unbelievably touching and said it will be played at the end of the In Memorium section of the awards show. Natalie Cole died on Dec. 31. Earth, Wind & Fire who were set to receive a lifetime achievement award before White passed will accept the honor on live TV, speak about Whites legacy and present one of the top awards, record of the year, Ehrlich said. White died on Feb. 4 and Ehrlich added that there will also be a surprise with Earth, Wind & Fire. B.B. King, who died last year, also will be honored with a performance tribute by Bonnie Raitt, Gary Clark Jr. and Chris Stapleton, Ehrlich said. The producer said though the Oscars have received a backlash for a second straight year of all-white acting nominees, the Grammys are not even comparable. The fact of the matter is popular music is, it came from New Orleans, it came from Memphis, it came from Kansas City, it came from the Islands, it came from Africa, and the music we listen to today, not just hip-hop, not just R&B, but all music has been influenced and been shaped by African-American culture, so I dont think the same rules apply, he said. There wouldnt be a Grammys show today if it werent for the great African-American artists who built the culture and wrote the music and we try to reflect that every year. I dont think its fair to level criticism, the same kind of criticism against us that the Oscars are experiencing. Ehrlich added that the music and movie industries are like apples and oranges: They might be the same shape, they might get to you in the same form, but theyre entirely different art forms and they come from entirely different places. Other performers at the Grammys, airing tonight from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, will include Adele, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, Carrie Underwood and Kendrick Lamar, who is the top nominee with 11. Members of the Eagles and Jackson Browne will perform to honor Frey, who died on Jan. 18. And Lady Gaga, who Ehrlich booked to perform on the show before Bowie died, said the pop star asked to sing in tribute to the icon who died on Jan. 10. She (said) to me, I would really love to do a David Bowie segment and (I said) to her, Of course. It couldnt be more appropriate, he recalled. The Grammys will air live at 7 p.m. Region time on CBS. Kansas-based landscape architect George Kessler designed the World's Fair site in St. Louis. His vision of a "model city" immediately caught the attention of Indianapolis city planners. His goal was to make cities more beautiful, functional and healthier places to live. Kessler visited the city in 1905 and was appalled to see a bridge over Fall Creek being used as a dump. In 1908, the Park Board officially hired Kessler to design a plan for the city, augmenting a previous one prepared by the Olmsted brothers. VALPARAISO Police said Sunday three people arrested in connection with a robbery at a CVS Pharmacy last week were located after officers received a call about a reckless driver. John Meister, 34, of Galveston, Indiana, Stefannie Lockhard, 25, and Nicole Cooper, 22, both of Rensselaer, were all in the vehicle Valparaiso police stopped about 3:30 a.m. Saturday near Linwood and Morthland avenues, according to a news release. Lockhard, who was driving, had a suspended driver's license, police said. The vehicle was registered to Meister. As Officer Jason Hamilton spoke with the three, he noticed clothing in the vehicle that matched the description of clothing worn in the robbery Tuesday at the CVS Pharmacy at 1805 Calumet Ave., police said. The three also had similar physical characteristics to the people in a surveillance video of the robbery, police said. Detectives arrived, and the three eventually admitted their role in the robbery, police said. Officers found a large quantity of OxyContin after executing search warrants for their vehicle and a motel room in Merrillville, the news release said. Police have said the Valparaiso robbery and a robbery earlier Tuesday at the CVS Pharmacy at 5301 Broadway in Merrillville might be related. The three were charged in the Valparaiso case with felony robbery and theft, police said. Additional charges were likely as the investigation continued, police said. PORTAGE Several juveniles were arrested late Sunday night after a Snapchat photo led police to an underage drinking party. Police responded about 10:45 p.m. Sunday to a home in the 6800 block of Mercedes after they received a call that the photo had been sent showing some 60 juveniles at the party along with drugs and alcohol. When police arrived, they spotted several juveniles at the home. A man answered the door and said he had just gotten home and that his 16-year-old brother had invited friends over. His parents, he told police, were out of the country. They had been left in the care of the oldest sibling who was at work at the time of the incident. Police entered and several juveniles attempted to flee from the rear of the home. Police administered portable breath tests. Six juveniles did not register on the test and were given rides home. However, one of the juveniles was charged with false informing and transported to the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center after providing police with a false name and address. Police ended up arresting Alyssia Elbaor, 20, of Portage, for minor consumption. Eight other juveniles tested positive for alcohol consumption. Charges of minor consumption were forwarded to the Porter County prosecutor's office and the juveniles were released to their guardians. One of the juveniles faces an additional charge of battery by bodily waste after he allegedly spat upon an officer. That juvenile registered an 0.233 blood alcohol level and was transported to a local hospital for medical clearance before being released to a guardian. INDIANAPOLIS The Republican primary contest for U.S. Senate could be decided Friday in a meeting room near the Statehouse, instead of May 3 at polling places across Indiana. That's because U.S. Rep. Todd Young, R-Bloomington, appears to have fallen short of the state requirement that Senate candidates submit petitions signed by 500 voters in each of Indiana's nine congressional districts to qualify for the ballot. An aide to his opponent, U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Howe, and the Indiana Democratic Party both have filed challenges with the Indiana Election Commission contending Young did not submit enough signatures from Northwest Indiana and must be removed from the ballot. A line-by-line review of Young's petitions, independently conducted by multiple members of the Statehouse press corps, tallied 497 signatures verified by election officials in the First Congressional District of Lake, Porter and western LaPorte counties. The four-member Election Commission is scheduled to rule on the challenges Friday. The commissioners, all appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Pence, are Republicans Bryce Bennett Jr., of Indianapolis, and Zachary Klutz, of Fort Wayne; and Democrats Anthony Long, of Boonville, and Suzannah Wilson Overholt, of Indianapolis. At least three of the four commissioners must agree for Young to be removed from the ballot. A 2-2 tie results in no action, and there is no process to break a tie. The Young campaign lashed out last week at Stutzman and the Democrats for challenging Young's petitions. Such challenges are a normal and anticipated part of the electoral process in most states. In fact, Pence avoided a potentially expensive Republican gubernatorial primary in 2012 after Mitch Roob, a state agency leader under then-Gov. Mitch Daniels, successfully challenged the insufficient number of signatures submitted by Jim Wallace, a former DeMotte resident. Young spokesman Trevor Foughty went so far as to liken Stutzman to Democratic President Barack Obama a major insult among conservative Republicans because in 1996 Obama successfully challenged his opponents' petitions to win his first election representing the South Side of Chicago in the Illinois Senate. "In case conservatives were wondering whether Marlin Stutzman stood on principle or self-promotion, his endorsement of Obama Democrat election tactics should clear things up," Foughty said. "Washington is full of career politicians like Marlin who take their cues from Obama's playbook, and Hoosiers deserve better than that." Foughty also insisted that Young submitted more than 600 signatures from Northwest Indiana, and he believes the challenges are frivolous. Stutzman said if Young doesn't have enough signatures he simply should not be on the ballot. He noted that 15 other statewide candidates easily met that burden this year. "Todd Young must accept responsibility for his own campaign and drop the accusations of partisan politics," Stutzman said. "If reliable Indiana media sources are correct and he has failed to meet the minimum number of signatures required to be a candidate for the United States Senate, then the rule of law must be followed." Statehouse leaders pronounced themselves stunned at the possibility Young could be booted off the ballot, especially since some think Pence encouraged Eric Holcomb to quit his Senate campaign and become lieutenant governor to improve Young's chances of beating Stutzman. "If it's true, it's one of the most colossal mistakes I've ever seen," said Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne. House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Young's signature total, regardless of what it might turn out to be, is "cutting it way too close." "There are requirements in statute that need to be met. If they aren't met, and there's not some reason to waive them, they need to be complied with," Bosma said. "I don't think it's too high a hurdle, but you need to be sure that you beat the hurdle." House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, said Indiana's ballot access law is an appropriate requirement for candidates to demonstrate they have minimal support across the state and can organize and manage at least a basic campaign. "If the number truly doesn't meet the standard that's tough to overcome," Pelath said. "If they're going to keep him on the ballot, I'm eager to hear the explanation." INDIANAPOLIS House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, believes Republican Gov. Mike Pence may not be up to the task of leading Indiana's economy as manufacturing job losses mount across the state. In recent days, United Technologies announced it will move its Carrier air conditioner plants from Indiana to Mexico, costing 1,200 jobs in Indianapolis and 700 more in Huntington. An additional 600 Evansville aluminum workers are set to lose their jobs in March, and the Region is bracing for potential steel job cuts after ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel together lost nearly $10 billion last year. "This is a middle-class calamity in this state," Pelath said. "We have to get realistic about what it's going to take for our middle class to grow and to make this a place people are moving to instead of moving away from." He said the governor needs to rethink his entire economic development strategy, starting with ensuring civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, since Pence's big corporate tax cuts, support for Indiana's right-to-work law and repeal of the common construction wage clearly aren't helping Hoosier workers. Pelath noted that Pence always is the biggest cheerleader when the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the state's commerce agency, announces a few hundred low-wage call center positions may come to the state in the next five years. But now is missing-in-action when Hoosiers need him most. "When things don't go his way he seems to have a propensity to retreat, and that's actually the time we need him out front talking to everybody," Pelath said. "It's very important that a governor stand behind that bully pulpit and make sure that people understand that he is on their side." Pelath insisted that's not a partisan critique, since he admits Democratic President Barack Obama often seems similarly aloof. Though he said the Pence administration must do more to help Hoosiers. "He seems to always believe that the problem isn't what's been done, the problem is the way you talk about what's been done. That just only gets you so far," Pelath said. "They don't seem to be around when you have panicked households that don't know how they're going to be able to adapt to this changing time. "Governors are not omniscient, but they can give people a little bit of hope and the feeling that they are ready to lead them through whatever mess is surrounding us at the moment." In a statement, Pence blamed the Obama administration for the Carrier job losses and said the Department of Workforce Development is ready to help newly unemployed Hoosiers. "While our administration continues to foster an environment within the state that is attracting record investment, federal regulations continue to stymie our national economy," Pence said. "The fact that these companies are leaving the United States speaks broadly about the need for reform in our nation's capital." SCHERERVILLE Cupid came calling Sunday as 18 couples exchanged vows during Valentine's Day nuptials at Alberts Diamond Jewelers. "These couples get to share my parents anniversary date," said Josh Halpern, the president of Albert's. Now in its 18th year, the tradition of Valentines Day weddings began when Joshs parents, Fred and Donna, decided to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows at the store, then in East Chicago. Their invitation for other couples to join them and get married that same day sparked the annual nuptials and renewal of vows, Josh said. Couples from throughout the Region said their I dos in a specially decorated area of the store that was adorned with flower arrangements and large crystal luminarias. Judge Elizabeth F. Tavitas of Lake County Superior Court and Indiana Senior Judge Thomas W. Webber officiated at the ceremonies. The free weddings included all flowers donated by Monarch Florist of Schererville, wedding cakes from Ultra Foods in Highland, photographs by Bernie Zieman of Timeless Images in Highland and videos of the ceremonies by Dave Ervin of Ervin Video Service of Schererville. The couples love stories included friends who reconnected after decades and those who renewed their original wedding vows. Hobart residents Sandy Hoscheit and Mark Riggle, both 48, grew up in Griffith on the 700 block of Jay Street, first meeting when she was 5 and Mark was 6. Dump trucks and snowball fights were our first play dates, Sandy recalled in a story she submitted to Alberts when the couple decided to get married there on Valentines Day. As we were growing up Mark and I would hang out together. When we were 14 years old, we had our first kiss and decided to date, which meant holding hands. Although each went their separate ways, they stayed friends. Sandy attended Marks wedding which took place after high school graduation. She and Marks sister, Rochelle Poole, remained best friends, and Sandy saw Mark every Christmas and at all the family functions throughout the years at Rochelles home in Shorewood, Illinois. Then fate happened, Sandy said about a time several years ago when life brought changes. Mark and I started hanging out again and going to the movies every week. On Sandys birthday last July, Mark proposed. We chose Alberts for our wedding because we got our rings here, she said as she waited to walk down the aisle. Getting married on Valentines Day, the day to express love and give love, will be the perfect day. Rochelle, who served as Sandys matron of honor, said, Today she becomes a wife, a mother and a grandmother pointing to Marks four children and two grandchildren. Because of the Boy Next Door love story that Sandy submitted to Alberts, the couple won an all-expense paid honeymoon donated by Comcast. They will choose from four locations Las Vegas, Miami Beach, San Francisco or Napa Valley, California. Griffith residents Jennifer and Joshua Stockman, both 25, renewed their marriage vows Sunday with their 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, and close friends looking on. Unfortunately, Joshua said, members of their families became ill over the last week and werent able to attend. We went to the justice of the peace in 2012, and we didnt have a lot of friends who could come, he said. We wanted to have a ceremony where family and friends could come. Jennifer is expecting their second child, a boy, due July 31. Michelle Bodley, 42, of Griffith, and James Adams, 44, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, originally met each other 25 years ago at an arcade inside Woodmar Shopping Center in Hammond. Over the years, they lost track of each other, but postings each made recently on Facebook reunited them. He made a comment on a dating website I was checking out, Michelle said. We exchanged senior pictures. The couple decided on a Valentines Day wedding at Alberts after a friend suggested the idea. I wanted to have something stress-free, Michelle said. CROWN POINT St. Patrick's Day is still a month away, but the city is hoping to make one of the biggest events of the year even bigger. In an attempt to get more businesses in the downtown area to decorate their windows for the occasion, the city's Redevelopment Commission agreed to reimburse them up to $100 for the cost of new decorations. Diana Bosse, the director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events, said 63 businesses along the parade route would be eligible for funds. Bosse said only about 10 businesses normally decorate for the St. Patrick's festivities, and she hopes the money will double that or better. The decorating has to be completed by March 11. Judging will occur on March 14 to determine prize winners. Businesses are encouraged to use their own products as part of the decorations. Businesses that have decorated in the past could be reimbursed for any new decorations they add to their display. It is hoped the funds will provide incentive to help attract more traffic to the downtown. If it is successful in getting more businesses to decorate, a similar program might be adopted for Christmas. The eighth annual nighttime St. Patrick's Day parade will kick off at dusk (about 7 p.m.) with Mayor David Uran serving as grand marshal. He will be assisted by a junior grand marshal logo contest winner from one of the schools. The contest rules state the logo entries must include something green and something connected to the state's bicentennial celebration, such as the number 200. If you are more into eating than creating logos, the annual corned beef and cabbage dinner will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at the fire station. Dinners are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and, for the first time, $6 for children. A children's hot dog dinner also is available for $4. Tickets are available by calling (219) 662-3290 or at the door. Other events planned for the day include the one-mile Glow Irish Walk/Run sponsored by Hometown Happenings and the sixth annual St. Baldrick's head shaving event to raise funds to fight childhood cancer at the fire station. Participants in the Glow Irish event have to wear some item that glows in the dark. It will start about a half-hour before the parade. Entry fee and registration information is on the organization's website at http://www.yourhometownevents.com/runs-walks/glowirish/. On the square, vendors will be selling food and other items on the south side beginning about 3 p.m. Anyone interested in taking part in the parade or being a vendor can apply on the city's website, www.crownpoint.in.gov. For more information about the festivities, contact the Mayor's Office of Special Events at (219) 662-3290. HAVANA The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a two-man company from Alabama to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year for sale to private farmers in Cuba. The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017. "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do. We're looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve," Clemmons said. "It's our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries." The $5 million to $10 million plant would be the first significant U.S. business investment on Cuban soil since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalized billions of dollars of U.S. corporate and private property. That confiscation provoked a U.S. embargo on Cuba that prohibited virtually all forms of commerce and fined non-U.S. companies millions of dollars for doing business with the island. Letting an American tractor company operate inside a Cuban government facility would have been unimaginable before Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared on Dec. 17, 2014, they would restore diplomatic relations and move to normalize trade, travel and other aspects of the long-broken bilateral relationship. Since then, Obama has been carving exceptions into the embargo through a series of executive actions, and his administration now says they allow U.S. manufacturing at the Mariel port and special economic zone about 30 miles west of Havana. One exception allows U.S. companies to export products that benefit private and cooperative farmers in Cuba. Berenthal and Clemmons say they will sell only to the private sector. The Obama administration says it is eager to make the opening with Cuba irreversible by any future administration. Since the start of the year, U.S. and Cuba have made a series of announcements that appear designed partly to create a sense of unstoppable momentum in their new relationship. Cuba announced late last month that it would more than double the number of public Wi-Fi access spots to more than 100 across the country this year and bring broadband Internet to a small number of Cuban homes, where it is currently illegal. Obama said in 2014 that Castro had promised to increase Cubans' access to the Internet as part of detente. On Saturday, Cuba announced that it had returned a U.S. Hellfire missile that it said was mistakenly shipped to Havana from Paris in 2014. On Tuesday, Cuba's Transport Minister and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation will sign a deal authorizing the first regularly scheduled commercial flights between the U.S. and Cuba since shortly after the 1959 revolution. The Oggun tractor plant, named after a god in Cuba's syncretic Santeria religion, will assemble commercially available components into a durable and easy-to-maintain 25-horsepower tractor selling for less than $10,000, Clemmons and Berenthal said. The men believe they can sell hundreds of the tractors a year to Cuban farmers with financing from relatives outside the country and to non-government organizations seeking to help improve Cuban agriculture, which suffers from low productivity due mostly to excessive control of both basic supplies and prices by an inefficient, centrally planned state bureaucracy. "I have two countries that for 60 years have been in the worst of terms, anything I can do to bring to the two countries and the two people together is tremendously satisfying," said Berenthal, a Cuban-born semi-retired software engineer who left the country at age 16. He met Clemmons, who is from Paint Rock, Alabama, when they worked at IBM in the 1970s. They left to form a successful cash-register software company that grew to earn $30 million a year before they sold it in 1995 for a sum that Clemmons says was "enough that I don't have to work." Between their own capital and commitments from private investors they say they have enough cash in hand to build the Oggun factory as soon as Cuba lets them proceed. "Everything's locked in," Clemmons said. Berenthal said they are optimistic they will also be able to export Oggun tractors to other Latin American countries, which have low or no tariffs on Cuba products, making them competitive on price. The men expect a 10-20 percent profit on each tractor. For the project's first three years, Clemmons and Berenthal say they will export components from the United States for assembly in Cuba. They hope to eventually begin manufacturing many of the parts themselves on the island. They said they expect to start with 30 Cuban employees and, if things go as planned, grow within five years to as many as 300. Clemmons and Berenthal will publish all the schematics of their tractors online in order to allow Cubans and other clients to more easily repair their equipment and come up with designs for other heavy equipment based on the same frame and motor that Cleber can then produce at their Mariel factory. The men already have plans to produce excavators, backhoes, trench-diggers and forklifts, equipment that's badly needed across Cuba, where virtually all the infrastructure is crumbling after years of neglect and mismanagement and a lack of cash that the government blames on the embargo. "I think it'll have a tremendous impact on their ability not only to help their economy but to set an example across the Caribbean and Latin America," Berenthal said. ____ Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein Season 6, Episode 7 This recap contains spoilers for Sundays episode of Downton Abbey. Send in the puppies! Oh, I know, Abbots, there was only one flesh-and-blood pooch on view: an aww-inspiring yellow lab who will henceforth bear the name Tiaa in the hope that no terrorist group lays claim to it. (As any imbecile could tell you, Tiaa was the wife of Amenhotep II.) But I couldnt escape the feeling that tonights episode was devoted to bringing out the puppy in everyone. We know, of course, that these shows are written months in advance of our ever seeing them, so we must credit Baron Fellowes with grasping how thoroughly he had poisoned the Downton well either turning us against once-popular characters ( Carson) or inspiring homicidal thoughts about long-term irritants ( Daisy). With only three episodes left to get his characters galloping to a Jane Austen photo-finish, Mr. Fellowes knew he was going to have to start inciting a little fellowship. And pronto. And if that means humiliating a certain fussy and inflexible middle-aged butler, well, so be it. With his domestic tyranny, Carson has been getting on everyones last nerve, anyway, so we were all presumably on board when Mrs. Hughes feigned injury and forced her newlywed to fend for himself in the kitchen. You mean, Im going to cook? he gasps, in the manner of the Last Emperor handed his first trowel. The to-and-froing leaves him so spent that hes already nodding off in the middle of dinner, and if the whole sequence has the feeling of an I Love Lucy rerun, maybe it will prompt Carson to splain why hes been such a putz. Or get busy inventing the microwave. And what of Downton Abbeys squeakiest wheel, Daisy? The character who, judging from the Abbot commentariat, is most in danger of being boiled in the Cauldron of Viewer Rage? Now, thanks to Baron Fellowes, she gets to explain why shes been so possessive of her dad-in-law: Ive never had much that was my own, you know. Lets hope she will heed the wise counsel of Mrs. Patmore: Love isnt finite. If Mr. Mason makes new friends, it doesnt mean he has any less love for you. NOW QUIT YOUR WHINING BEFORE I STOP YOUR MOUTH WITH A DISH TOWEL. O.K., I added that last part, but surely that was the subtext? New York Fashion Week is comfortable caroming into its second half on Presidents Day Monday. (You didnt think anything so slight as a national holiday would interrupt fashion week, did you?) By Thursday, many of the gathered fashion tribe will be heading to London to continue the international jaunt. But before then, theres lots to see. UPTOWN GIRLS After a quick stop at The Row at 9 a.m., the party heads uptown, with an Upper East Side twofer: Carolina Herrera, who presents her new collection at the stately Frick Collection at 10 a.m., an appropriately tony venue for New Yorks grande dame of the white blouse and ball skirt. It will be tempting to linger after the show for a quick spin through the galleries, but time is short: Tommy Hilfigers Hilfiger Collection follows directly, at the Park Avenue Armory at 11 a.m. Mr. Hilfigers show will host fashions first-ever Instapit: a tranche reserved only for Instagram photographers to snap to their hearts content. Suggested hashtag: #thewaywelivenow. POODLE SKIRTS AHEAD? Designers with a wilder bent own the afternoon. Rosie Assoulin holds her fall presentation at 1 p.m., followed by Jeremy Scott, fashions perennial provocateur, at 2 p.m. Mr. Scott is calling his new collection Cowboys and Poodles. The eagle-eyed may already have spotted a Scott-branded car emblazoned with a rocket-riding cowgirl lolling Moynihan Station last week. Then its off to Phillip Lim at 3 p.m., followed by New Yorks master of mise-en-scene, Thom Browne, at 5. Mr. Browne has ginned up surgical theaters, funeral processions and mirrored cubes in which to stage his shows. Up next? Only Mr. Browne, inscrutable and tight-lipped until the curtain rises, knows. It was a presidential election year and Antonin Scalia figured in it in a very small way. The Democratic incumbent was President Harry S. Truman. The candidates for succeeding him were Dwight D. Eisenhower, for the Republicans, and Adlai E. Stevenson, for the Democrats. The occasion was a New York Times Youth Forum, pitting three high school girls against three high school boys to debate the question, Will a Democratic victory secure our future? Representing Xavier High School in Manhattan was 16-year-old Antonin Scalia. The girls tried to keep the talk on the domestic scene, The Times reported on Oct. 20, but the boys persisted in their attacks on Democratic foreign policy, which they said had lost much of the world to communism in spite of the expenditure of a great deal of money. They said the present prosperity was due to a war economy, but the girls did not accept that argument, declaring the average man had benefited greatly under the Democrats. Viewers in New York could watch the debate on station WABD of the DuMont Television Network. (The call letters stood for the founder, Allen B. DuMont.) You know it better today as Fox 5. They cold-called Mead, persuading him to join the choreographer Justin Peck and the filmmaker Spike Jonze in their eclectic lineup of runway collaborators. It was a new opportunity to have some of my work applied in a totally different way, Mead said by phone from his home studio in Pasadena, Calif., where hes been wearing a decidedly nonfashion uniform of jeans and T-shirts since he quit Ford in 1961. In 1970, he started Syd Mead Inc., and began contributing concepts to Hollywood films and video games. Two decades later, he launched his publishing house Oblagon to showcase his artwork in books. He sent Leon and Lim a selection of drawings from his archives; one that resonated was an image of downtown L.A. The area has changed so much; you can imagine as it gets further along, it may not be too far from his drawings, said Lim who, like Leon, grew up in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s and 80s. As the designers continued to research Meads future fantasies renderings of the 200th running of the Kentucky Derby, hydroponic space agriculture and hydrofoil races, for example they were struck by how timeless the clothing looks in most of his drawings, compared to the radical architecture and vehicles. Ive always been fascinated by fashion as a part of normalcy to convince the viewer that everything is okay in the future, said Mead. That idea got Leon and Lim thinking about what a woman would wear to and from the office now and forever, which translated into the collections tapered pants, pencil skirts, pea coats and parkas featuring kinetic devore velvet spirals, or digital prints of cityscapes reflected in pools of water. There are elements that are super fun and evoke the future, but its also a lot of reality, Lim said. Its worth pointing out that when it comes to flying cars, even Mead is a realist: Can you imagine rush hour in downtown L.A.? he said. That scares the hell out of me. But when it comes to fashion, he imagines a brighter future literally with the integration of electroluminescent fabric in clothing. Then, you really will be able to sell your back to Coca-Cola, he said, referring to the neon ads endlessly flickering off buildings in the dystopian downtown L.A. depicted in Blade Runner, the 1982 film that will soon get a long-awaited sequel starring Ryan Gosling. To be able to make an image move, or change shape or pattern, which I know will happen, is going to be fascinating. Early in her pregnancy, Whitney Peak traveled to Rio de Janeiro for her job with Leblon Cachaca, a liquor company based in Brazil. That was in October, before much was known about Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that has spread through South America and that scientists say may be linked to a birth defect and brain damage in babies. She was scheduled to return to Rio in late January for some Olympics-related marketing projects. But after consulting with colleagues, she canceled the second visit and now regrets the first. It is very scary to know I could have unknowingly put my child at risk, said Ms. Peak, who is still pregnant. When the time came for the planned trip, I dont think there was any question that the risk for me to go was too high. With reports of Zika infections on the rise, employees and management at a variety of corporations are grappling with how to handle jobs and projects in affected regions. Trend proposals come flying down the runway during New York Fashion Week at incredible speed, but even among that melee, hydroponic space agriculture is bound to stand out. Will space-farming dictate the look of fall 2016? At Opening Ceremony, at least, it will. For fall, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim teamed up with Syd Mead, the futurist artist whose conception of tomorrow helped illustrate Blade Runner, Tron and the first Star Trek movie. Mr. Meads designs provided the backdrop to the Opening Ceremony show, as well as prints for its T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters and dresses in its collection. (The show was held, Blade Runner enthusiasts noted gleefully, on Feb. 14, 2016, the date that Pris, the comely replicant from the film, was incepted.) The collection, with its patch-pocketed outerwear and Day-Glo knits, trooped through a congested runway of inflatable hovercraft. They were based on those in Mr. Meads illustrations and created by Desi Santiago, a set designer who has worked with Marc Jacobs on exhibitions for Louis Vuitton and with the hairstylist Guido Palau on headpieces for the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty exhibition. Opening Ceremony, which has made a habit of extravagant sets and setups, had ginned up nothing less than a wholesale vision of the future. (The gender-nonconforming heartthrob of the future, Jaden Smith, was there to take it all in.) In the long lead-up to the show, which began almost a full hour late, rumor traveled through the crowd that some technical difficulties with these crafts were responsible for the delay. Today, United Pickle makes nearly 50 million pounds of pickles and pickled condiments a year for restaurants, stores and companies as far away as Dubai, Japan and South Korea. About three-quarters of that is produced at its Bronx headquarters, a 25,000-square-foot brick building in the Tremont neighborhood. The company, which has 50 full-time employees, also owns a seasonal processing plant in New Jersey and uses packing plants in California and Ohio. Mr. Leibowitz declined to reveal the companys sales numbers, saying only that they had steadily increased. United Pickle makes more than 100 different products, including refrigerated bottles of pickles and customized ingredients for salad dressings and tartar sauces sold under other brand names. We are the behind-the-scenes packer for some well-known national brands, Mr. Weishaus said. If we tell you who they are, wed have to kill you because they would kill us. Image Stephen Leibowitz, left, and Marvin Weishaus, the owners of United Pickle, merged their families traditions and secret recipes in 1979. Credit... Caitlin Ochs for The New York Times The pickles have earned a loyal following in New York and elsewhere. Mr. Leibowitz recalled that the comedian Buddy Hackett used to call three times a year for a gallon of sour pickles to be shipped to his home in California. The movie mogul Harvey Weinstein also special ordered them for a while. Allen J. Grubman, an entertainment business lawyer, once bought an entire display of United pickles from a Midtown Manhattan deli near his office. Mr. Leibowitz, who is friends with Mr. Grubman, said that when he visited Mr. Grubmans Park Avenue home a few months later, the whole display was on display in his kitchen. But it is Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, a volunteer organization, who may be the companys ultimate fan. In the 1990s, Mr. Sliwa, in his red beret and jacket, would polish off several pounds of sour pickles in one sitting during pickle-eating contests sponsored by United Pickle. I call it the top-shelf, five-star pickle, said Mr. Sliwa, who still has the pickles several times a month. Theres nothing that comes close to it. Seven New York Times journalists who investigated the hidden history of the Navys SEAL teams, and a 97-year-old reporter for Jet magazine were among the winners of the George Polk Awards in Journalism for 2015, which were announced on Sunday. These awards speak well of journalists who ply their craft with open eyes and open minds, said John Darnton, the curator of the Polk Awards, established in memory of George Polk, a CBS News correspondent who was murdered in 1948 while covering the civil war in Greece. The awards are administered by Long Island University. The judges awarded the seven Times journalists Nicholas Kulish, Christopher Drew, Mark Mazzetti, Matthew Rosenberg, Serge F. Kovaleski, Sean D. Naylor and John Ismay the Polk Award for military reporting for two stories on the Navy SEALs, one an investigation of SEAL Team 6, the secretive Navy unit best known for killing Osama bin Laden, and the other investigating the beating death of an Afghan detainee in 2012. They wrote that SEAL teams had carried out thousands of dangerous raids but also spurred recurring concerns about excessive killing and civilian deaths. Simeon Booker of Jet Magazine won the Polk career award. Mr. Booker, 97, provided pioneering coverage of the civil rights movement, including the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old from Chicago on a summertime trip to Mississippi. With permission from Emmetts mother, Mr. Booker arranged for the photographer David Jackson to take pictures of the boys body in his coffin. The images prompted widespread outrage and compelled many to become involved in the struggle for civil rights. It was worth asking whether it was jubilation stirred up by the Lunar New Year Parade or an attempt to ward off hypothermia that had people dancing on the sidewalks of Chinatown in Manhattan on Sunday. Not cold. Happy! shouted Jenny Zend, a 30-year-old originally from Fujian Province in China who stood on East Broadway in a floor-length champagne-colored fur coat as temperatures struggled to climb out of the single digits. Happy New Year! she added. The cold over the weekend had promised to be punishing, and Mayor Bill de Blasio had warned New Yorkers to stay indoors. And indeed, temperatures did drop and kept dropping. By around daybreak on Sunday, the mercury had dipped below zero in Central Park, to minus 1, breaking a century-old record for the date, set on Feb. 14, 1916, when it was 2 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. At that early hour, the wind chill made it feel like it was minus 19. This doesnt sound Jewish, but it is. Its an attitude born in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and then brought to the slums of the Lower East Side, not long before Mr. Sanderss father, Eli, arrived in this country in 1921 and settled in Brooklyn. Jewish immigrants actively sloughed off the religion and traditional values of their parents and adopted socialism as a new kind of faith. By the 1930s, most of this community transferred its loyalty into devoted support for President Roosevelt and the New Deal, championing a liberal ethos that still characterizes American Jews today (about 70 percent of whom reliably vote Democratic in general elections). A purer socialism also lived on in this community longer than it did anywhere else, with the Yiddish newspaper The Forward, a mainstay of support for Americas Socialist Party through the 1920s and into the 30s. (The papers radio station, WEVD, was named after Eugene V. Debs, the perpetual Socialist candidate for president.) Left-wing intellectuals like Irving Howe carried on this thinking into midcentury, and Howe himself was flummoxed by the identity politics that emerged on the left in the late 60s a distraction, he believed, from the essential problems of capitalism. For many, Mr. Sanders appears a throwback to this radical past, one that seems to leapfrog the generations. My Twitter feed during his victory speech in New Hampshire lit up with people saying that they felt like they were listening to someone railing from a soapbox on Delancey Street in 1928. In other ways, though, even if he looks like a grandfather to his millennial supporters, he is actually representative of the direction the American Jewish community is headed. In those intervening generations, a majority of American Jews have tried hard to balance their liberalism with an identity that was also connected to tradition and religion, through Reform and Conservative Judaism, and an allegiance to Israel. But a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center suggests that the socialist worldview is winning out. When asked what it means to be Jewish, 69 percent of respondents answered leading an ethical life, and 56 percent chose working for justice and equality. Only 19 percent said it had to do with observing Jewish law. Reflexive support for Israel has also declined. These trends, which include increasing intermarriage, might eventually mean that the attempt to create a specifically American Jewish identity has largely been abandoned. This could be one more reason the Jewish establishment didnt greet Mr. Sanderss historic win in New Hampshire by hoisting him up in a chair like a joyous bar mitzvah boy. They see in him a reflection of these dismal statistics. But will Mr. Sanderss radical universalism help his candidacy? As the primaries head toward states with larger black and Hispanic populations, his strategy against Mrs. Clintons longer relationships with those communities is to counter an appeal to group allegiance with his focus on income inequality. There are some signs that this is working: National polls show a majority of young women are rejecting calls from Clinton supporters to vote according to gender solidarity. To the Editor: Political debate doesnt have to be a food fight, nor does civility need to become a victim of ideological difference. Opponents can disagree without being disagreeable in campaigns and in office. In January 1969, President Richard M. Nixon called Hubert H. Humphrey, the defeated Democratic candidate for president, who was leaving Washington. They were certainly not friends. Nixon offered a plane to take the Humphreys home, saying they should leave with some dignity, not standing in line to check luggage. When the Humphreys got aboard, there was a bouquet with a card that said With best wishes, Pat and Dick. In 1978, less than a week before he died, Humphrey called Nixon, self-isolated in California. He said there would be a memorial service after his death in the Capitol Rotunda with Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, and Lady Bird Johnson. He asked Nixon to be there. Nixon said he just couldnt face D.C. But Humphrey persuaded him to attend. Some Republicans in the House have come up with a solution in search of a problem: privatizing air traffic control. Democrats, the Obama administration and sensible Republicans ought to oppose this measure, which would do nothing to improve the present, federally operated system and indeed could make it worse. The proposal by Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania and Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey was voted out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee along partisan lines on Thursday. Their bill would move the Federal Aviation Administrations air traffic control division to a new private, nonprofit corporation financed by fees from airlines and private aircraft owners. They argue that this private organization could move more quickly and cheaply than the F.A.A. to reduce congestion and delays. But there is no credible evidence that a privately operated system would be better than the current one, which is the busiest and safest in the world. And there is plenty of reason to believe it would be worse. Only two other major countries have privatized air traffic control, Canada and Britain, but their air systems are much smaller. Other countries like Germany and France run air traffic through government-owned companies. Delta, which is the only large airline to oppose the Republican plan, notes that air traffic control costs have increased more in Canada and Britain than in the United States since they privatized. Britain had to bail out its private air traffic control operator after the 2001 terrorist attacks when air travel declined around the world. Even if a private system did reduce costs, there is no guarantee that airlines would pass those savings to passengers. The Republican presidential candidates who battled for votes in New Hampshire last week, rousing the rabble with their usual talk of scary aliens at the border, were strangely silent about the closest international boundary. They did not warn of the Canadians who flood south by the millions each year to play and work, taking our Christmas-tree-selling jobs. They did not mention the Canadian scofflaws nearly 100,000 in fiscal 2015 who overstay their visas, the most of any nationality. Unless I missed it, they said not a word about Betty and Barney Hill. The Hills were the couple from Portsmouth who, on Sept. 19, 1961, near Route 3 south of Lincoln, were stopped by a flying saucer a big, big pancake with windows and lights, Barney said taken aboard and probed. Theirs was Americas first alien abduction, and it sounds incredibly unpleasant: a grueling battery of tests, including an extraterrestrial version of amniocentesis. The kidnapping and examination prompted no national outcry, no political outrage, no policy proposals, although there was a 1975 TV movie, with James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons, and a bunch of books. A gas station near the site sells a thick paperback account (Captured!) and T-shirts, and has a mini-museum near the bathroom. But despite this evidence of an alien threat, the northern frontier remains lightly guarded, overlooked, vulnerable. By the Republicans logic, there should at least be a 5,500-mile fence, and technology to watch the skies. THE National Park Service is set to begin its annual roundup of wild bison in Yellowstone National Park today. A portion will be slaughtered to reduce the number of animals that migrate beyond the parks borders. This culling is done largely outside of public view. Journalists have been barred in the past from watching the roundup, though it takes place on public land. The reason, according to the park service, was for the safety of the public and staff and also for the bisons welfare. This year, in response to litigation, the park service will allow a glimpse of what goes on. But only a glimpse. Access for journalists will be severely limited. Lets be honest here. This isnt about safety and welfare. The real reason the park service doesnt want journalists to view the roundup in its entirety is that the brutality of the cull would be revealed. A tie vote upholds the court ruling below and sets no precedent; it is as though the justices never heard the case in the first place. But this would do more than prolong uncertainty; it could, in some cases, perpetuate harm for great numbers of people women who have been grievously hurt by proliferating abortion restrictions at the state level, which have been challenged in the court; law-abiding immigrants Mr. Obama has tried to protect from deportation by reforming enforcement policies. The justices may also choose to set cases that end in tie votes for reargument, as they have done in the past. But the bottom line is that either way, people who are due justice are not served by the uncertainty of prolonged judicial paralysis. Whom will Mr. Obama choose? He has his pick among many strong, qualified candidates, any one of whom would be well within the mainstream of American legal thought. Several including Sri Srinivasan and Paul Watford are federal appeals court judges whom the Senate already confirmed in bipartisan votes. Mr. Srinivasan, a 48-year-old son of Indian immigrants, was confirmed to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2013. The vote was 97 to 0. The question now is whether this Senate will weigh any of these candidates on the merits, or whether as its leaders suggest, it will use every trick in the book to deny Mr. Obama his choice. The latest Republican talking point is that for 80 years it has been standard practice not to confirm any Supreme Court nominee in an election year. Besides being untrue Justice Anthony Kennedy was confirmed by a Democratic Senate in 1988 the claim actually insults Justice Scalia, whose originalist, text-based approach to the Constitution would surely have found room for one of a presidents explicit constitutional obligations. Senators are free to vote yes or no on any nominee. But not to vote at all is an enormous insult and grave disservice to millions of Americans awaiting justice. Warren Manzi, a playwright whose Off Broadway thriller, Perfect Crime, remains the longest-running play in New York theater history nearly 29 years and counting despite the fact that critics often did not like it and theatergoers often did not understand it, died on Thursday in Lawrence, Mass. He was 60. The cause was pneumonia, his publicist, Daniel DeMello, said. Perfect Crime, which opened on April 18, 1987, played its 11,824th performance on Friday, making it the longest-running straight play in the citys history. (The Fantasticks, which in its original Off Broadway incarnation, from 1960 to 2002, ran for 17,162 performances, is a musical.) Among the most noteworthy aspects of Mr. Manzis play is the durability of its leading lady, Catherine Russell, who when the curtain rang down on Friday night had played the role of Margaret Thorne Brent a wealthy, sexy and quite possibly homicidal Connecticut psychiatrist at 11,820 performances. Ms. Russell, who has been called the Cal Ripken Jr. of New York theater, missed precisely four shows in 29 years to attend family weddings. Besides starring in the play she has also, over time (for such is the reality of Off Broadway economics), taken theatergoers tickets, swept up, painted sets, unstopped wayward toilets and emptied the trash. WASHINGTON Justice Antonin Scalias death will complicate the work of the Supreme Courts eight remaining justices for the rest of the courts term, probably change the outcomes of some major cases and, for the most part, amplify the power of its four-member liberal wing. It takes five votes to accomplish most things at the Supreme Court, and until Saturday, that meant Justice Anthony M. Kennedy was in control when the courts four-member liberal and conservative blocs lined up against each other. But with three remaining conservatives, only the liberal side can command a majority if it attracts Justice Kennedys vote. And if it does not, the result is a 4-to-4 deadlock. If that happens, the court can automatically affirm the decision under review without giving reasons and without setting a Supreme Court precedent. Or it can set the case down for re-argument in the term that starts in October in the hope that it will be decided by a full court. It has been an extraordinarily long time since the Supreme Court has been forced to deal with a departure that occurs in the middle of the term, as the court does here with Justice Scalias death, said Justin Driver, a law professor at the University of Chicago. This event almost certainly throws many cases that had been tentatively decided by 5-4 margins into grave doubt, and will likely require the justices to reassess many opinions. For months, Mrs. Clinton had warned that the stakes were high in this election because of the Supreme Court seats the next president would most likely have to fill. But Justice Scalias death at a West Texas ranch on Saturday, and the instant fight over whether Mr. Obama should name his successor, turned an abstract stump-speech line into an urgent and overriding argument, as candidates in both parties hurried to respond to the seismic shift the vacancy created. Officials said they hoped the vacancy would prompt a sobering moment, causing voters to reconsider their romances with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Mr. Trump. For Democrats, it will drive home how instrumental the court has been on health care, same-sex marriage, gun control, voting rights and abortion. For Republicans, who fills the vacancy will determine whether Mr. Obamas legacy can be rolled back or is cemented. What is beyond doubt is that the battle will push the parties farther apart, ensuring that an already rancorous election year becomes even more contentious as Republicans and Democrats alike try to rally their voters by portraying the oppositions approach to the nomination as illegitimate. The future of the court dominated the presidential contest on Sunday, with notable differences among the Republicans in how they sought to exploit the vacancy, as each candidate sought to gain the most benefit heading into Saturdays primary in heavily conservative South Carolina. Jeb Bushs campaign said the vacancy underscored his contention that he is the only candidate prepared for the serious issues the next president will face, and questioned whether Mr. Trump could be relied on to appoint a conservative jurist. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, portraying himself as a voice of reason who could bridge the partisan divide, said he hoped Mr. Obama would refrain from nominating someone but stopped short of urging the Senate to refuse to consider an Obama nominee. And Mr. Rubio, vying for conservative support in South Carolina, said Mr. Obama could nominate whoever he wants but added: Were not moving forward on it. Period. CHARLESTON, S.C. The brother who was never expected to become president but did will be trotted out Monday as a lifeline to the brother who was always expected to become president, but now may not. Former President George W. Bush will take the stage Monday evening alongside Jeb Bush for a highly anticipated rally in North Charleston, S.C., part of the Bush teams effort to use the primary next Saturday in South Carolina a state long favorable to the Bush family to help reinvigorate Mr. Bushs stalled presidential bid. The Bush campaign is also hoping the rally can seize on what was regarded as a strong debate performance on Saturday night. But the appearance by the brothers one the 43rd president, the other fighting to become the 45th also offers a glimpse into the complicated dynamics of a family dynasty, as well as striking parallels with George Bushs 2000 campaign here. It was when South Carolina was similarly emerging as a critical state for him, and where the race took a darkly negative turn. Im proud of the fact hes coming, and honored, Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida, told reporters on Thursday. This is the first that hes really kind of stepped out in the political realm since he was president. WASHINGTON Senator Mitch McConnells strategy to maintain the Republican majority has been clear: trying to prove that his party can govern. But by saying he will block a Supreme Court nominee who has not even been named, Mr. McConnell is headed toward partisan warfare instead. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has energized a right flank that has been long suspicious of Mr. McConnell and forced him into a fight that is likely to derail his smooth-functioning Senate. The tactic could alienate moderate voters and imperil incumbent Republicans in swing states, but in the supercharged partisanship of a Supreme Court fight, he probably had no choice. By framing his decision as deferring to voters in the next election, people close to him say he has minimized the political risk. It was necessary, said Josh Holmes, Mr. McConnells former chief of staff, who now works as a Republican consultant. The suggestion that the American people should have a say here isnt exactly risky ground to be treading. As for the politics, he continued, if anyone thinks the center of the electorate is clamoring for Obama to name another left-wing jurist theyre nuts. The liberal left will be as loud as they ever have been, but the reality is that the consternation will be confined to the activist left. WASHINGTON As the White House considers a historic visit by President Obama to Cuba this year, a concern beyond the political and diplomatic hurdles has arisen: the Zika virus. Mr. Obama has said he would very much like to visit Cuba before the end of his presidency, and aides have hinted that a visit could come as soon as next month. But disease experts say Zikas imminent arrival in Cuba is almost certain, although the island nation has yet to officially report cases of locally acquired Zika infection. Zika will be all over the Caribbean by the end of February, and almost certainly that includes Cuba, said Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine. In other words, it is possible that Mr. Obama could arrive in the middle of an epidemic. Dr. Hotez also said the disease would soon become endemic in Peru, where Mr. Obama will travel in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia in a presidential election year has set up a challenge for President Obama and his legal advisers. They must weigh the best person to put forward, knowing that Republican senators may block that nominee no matter who is chosen. At the same time, if a Democrat prevails in the presidential election, Mr. Obamas nominee might be confirmed in the Senates lame-duck session or would be an obvious front-runner to be renominated by his successor in 2017. Here are six contenders being discussed by close observers of judicial politics. Image Judge Merrick B. Garland in Washington in 2008. Credit... Charles Dharapak/Associated Press Merrick B. Garland AGE 63. CURRENT ROLE Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. BACKGROUND White man. Born in Illinois. Attended Harvard Law School and clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr., an Eisenhower appointee. A former federal prosecutor and Department of Justice official with a crucial role in overseeing the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing. Confirmed 76 to 23, in 1997, with 32 Republicans in favor. Called Zika Zero, the national campaign reflects the growing urgency among Brazilian officials who are battling both the spread of the virus and international alarm that some worry could dampen attendance at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The outbreak, declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization two weeks ago, began here last May and has since spread to 25 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. The public awareness campaign was kicked off by President Dilma Rousseff and more than two dozen cabinet members, many of them wearing T-shirts under dark blazers that were emblazoned with a cartoon image of a dead mosquito. The tagline: A mosquito is not stronger than an entire country. Among those enlisted were the president of the nations Central Bank. Their message that Brazilians are largely responsible for controlling mosquitoes in and around their homes has received mixed reactions from some residents, who said they had hoped that the government might play a more direct role in reducing mosquito populations through the widespread application of insecticides or by improving sanitation in impoverished communities. Sitting in her home in a densely packed slum not far from the Atlantic Ocean, Joanice Jesus Bispo, 41, complained about neighbors who were unmoved by messages about the dangers of standing water. But the government, she said, could also be doing more. Sometimes the garbage piles up here for days, and it would be nice if they sprayed for mosquitoes once in a while, she said. ECATEPEC, Mexico Pope Francis stepped into the heartland of Mexican inequality on Sunday, presiding over an enormous outdoor Mass in the impoverished outskirts of the capital and urging the joyous crowd not to fall prey to the wealth, vanity and pride that can create a society of the few, and for the few. By coming to Ecatepec, one of the countrys largest, poorest and most violent cities, the Latin American pope placed himself at the center of Mexicos identity crisis. Nagging economic disparity has left nearly half of the country living in poverty while a mere sliver of society controls the rest even as drug traffickers terrorize large parts of the nation. Standing on a gigantic stage before several hundred thousand people, Francis told his listeners that the Lenten season, which began last week, is one of conversion, and that Mexico needed conversion. He asked Mexicans to turn their nation into a land of opportunities, where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream, no need to be exploited in order to work, no need to make the despair and poverty of many the opportunism of a few, a land that will not have to mourn men and women, young people and children who are destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death. Francis arrived in Mexico on Friday night, and on Saturday met President Enrique Pena Nieto at the National Palace in Mexico City before addressing Mexicos bishops. His trip to Ecatepec was barely 20 miles away, yet it delivered Francis to a different world, one emblematic of what he often calls the peripheries, the neglected places at the edges of wealth or political power. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Lawmakers in Haiti chose the countrys Senate leader on Sunday to lead a caretaker government that will fill the void left by last weeks departure of President Michel Martelly and perhaps ease lingering tensions that recently pushed the deeply polarized nation into political crisis. Jocelerme Privert was elected as provisional president and sworn in by Haitis bicameral legislature. Mr. Privert, a cabinet minister under President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was one of three candidates vying to lead an interim government that is supposed to last only 120 days. His chief task will be to swiftly smooth political divisions that have left Haiti without an elected president chosen by voters or a completed Parliament because of suspended elections. MADRID Esperanza Aguirre, the longstanding leader of the Popular Party in the Madrid region, resigned on Sunday amid investigations into mounting allegations of corruption within Spains governing party. While Ms. Aguirre, a former government minister, is no longer on the front line of Spanish politics, her resignation highlights the seriousness of the corruption accusations engulfing the Popular Party and could raise the pressure on other politicians to follow her example. The latest corruption inquiries come at a time of political flux and uncertainty in Spain, as Mariano Rajoy, Spains prime minister and president of the Popular Party, battles to stay in office after inconclusive general elections on Dec. 20. While Mr. Rajoy has acknowledged the need to tackle Spains political corruption, he has distanced himself from the various scandals, even those directly involving members of his party. Ms. Aguirre resigned three days after police forces raided the Madrid regional headquarters of the Popular Party, as part of an investigation into whether politicians received kickbacks in return for public contracts. The police also searched the home of a former manager of the regional party, as well as that of a board member of Obrascon Huarte Lain, known by its acronym, OHL, one of Spains largest construction companies. Jakob Denzinger, a suspected former Nazi prison guard at Auschwitz and other camps, has died in his native Croatia. He was 91. His family announced his death, saying that he was buried on Saturday at a cemetery near Osijek, in eastern Croatia. Local news reports said he died in a hospital on Thursday. Mr. Denzinger was born in present-day Croatia, which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. He started serving with the Nazi SS in 1942, while Croatia was under a pro-Nazi puppet regime. He moved to the United States after the war and settled in Ohio, where he became a successful plastics executive. Human Rights Watch released a report Sunday providing new indications that Saudi Arabia has fired American-made cluster munitions, banned by international treaty, in civilian areas of Yemen, and said their use may also violate United States law. The report included photographs from Yemen purporting to show unexploded but potentially lethal remnants of American cluster weapons, suggesting that they had failed legally required reliability standards. If confirmed, the report could put new pressure on the United States over support for its ally Saudi Arabia in the Yemen conflict. The Americans have sold arms and furnished training and expertise to a Saudi-led coalition that has faced widespread criticism for what rights groups call an indiscriminate bombing campaign against Yemens Houthi rebels in nearly a year of fighting. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, as well as their U.S. supplier, are blatantly disregarding the global standard that says cluster munitions should never be used under any circumstances, Steve Goose, the arms director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report. Steven Stucky, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer whose work was widely commissioned by major orchestras around the world and who earned respect as a conductor, teacher and author, died on Sunday at his home in Ithaca, N.Y. He was 66. The cause was an aggressive form of brain cancer that was diagnosed in November, his wife, Kristen Frey Stucky, said. In 2012, Mr. Stucky provided some revealing insight into his own music with an offhand comment before the New York premiere of his Symphony. Graspable is the way he described the 20-minute, single-movement piece in conversation with Alan Gilbert, conductor of the New York Philharmonic before the performance. For all the modernist complexities of Mr. Stuckys scores, his music was sanguine, lucid and structurally clear graspable in the best sense. Symphony, jointly commissioned by the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, goes through dramatic contrasts, from stretches of gnashing intensity with hurtling rhythmic bursts to passages of harmonically tart yet hymnal calm, and even a jittery, slicing scherzo. Yet, despite the teeming shifts, the narrative design and overall thrust of the piece come through vividly. Its the most outrageous thing, he said. They were borrowing money to meet the payroll. They were borrowing money to run the company. Its a recipe for having a huge debt, having inefficient equipment, and then going bankrupt. Mr. Ortiz did not touch on the utilitys finances in his testimony, but offered a wealth of detail on how it received, stored and tested oil. Hour after hour, under oath, he told of documents doctored by the hundreds with Liquid Paper. He told of lab technicians who recalibrated their equipment to get desired test results. He described off-the-books rebates paid to suppliers that were not entitled to the money. He took the senators through an audit report page by page, pointing out each line where he said the findings had been watered down. He recalled the cat-and-mouse games he played with allies in the utility who put him onto audit teams before the Fuel Procurement Office could find out and block him. During one highly contentious field audit in 2012, he said, a man from the Fuel Procurement Office chased him down in a parking lot, screaming. He stuck his finger in my face, Mr. Ortiz said. He told me the trouble I was making was the source of all the authoritys problems with oil. In fact, the authoritys problems with oil had started decades earlier, when residents of Catano, an industrial community near San Juan, fed up with dirty air and frequent illnesses, waylaid the head of the E.P.A. at a Caribbean conference and persuaded him to do a study. The researchers found that Puerto Ricos power authority was by far the biggest polluter in its E.P.A. region (which includes New York and New Jersey), spewing an estimated 100 million pounds of sulfur dioxide mist over Catano and other communities in the shadow of its smokestacks. The federal regulators found that the authority was burning something known as sludge, the oil that is left after more desirable distillates are removed from crude oil. Sludge is filthy to burn in any case, but in Puerto Rico it was worse because the power authority in those days had no emissions controls on its smokestacks. The E.P.A. brought its findings to the Justice Department and several years of litigation followed. In 1999, the authority came under a federal consent decree, requiring it to limit emissions of sulfur and other hazardous substances. The decree was amended in 2004. Much of the skewed testing that Mr. Ortiz described in his testimony involved what he said were efforts to skirt those limits during and after the litigation, and to continue buying and burning sludge. I cant tell you the reason, Mr. Ortiz said in his testimony. I can only tell you that it happened, that it was bad, and that it has had horrible consequences for the authority. Yet another oil company has filed for bankruptcy, as the energy industry and its lenders brace for a prolonged slump. Paragon Offshore, which operates offshore drilling rigs from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Sea, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday evening, the latest filing in a painful shakeout buffeting the oil industry. Over the last 16 months, about 60 oil and gas companies have filed for bankruptcy as commodity prices slide, and that figure is expected to double in the coming months if prices remain low. All told, analysts say as much as a third of the sprawling oil and gas industry in the United States could be consolidated as a result of the downturn. Paragon, based in Houston, was one of the more fortunate companies that has contemplated bankruptcy. The company was able to negotiate a deal with its lenders a mix of bondholders and banks ahead of its bankruptcy filing. How much of Puerto Ricos overall debt is because of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority? Puerto Ricos total debt, most of it in the form of municipal bonds, has a face value of about $72 billion. Of that amount, about $9 billion was issued by the power authority. What are the next steps to help the authority get out from under the debt? After the authority came to the brink of default in 2014, creditors agreed to work with it on a restructuring plan. The parties have now agreed on such a plan, which would reduce the principal amount by 15 percent and slow the payment schedule. They must now wait for Puerto Rican legislators to approve it and for a new regulatory body to authorize crucial elements. Puerto Ricos government has begun calling for relief on most of its other debts, adding tremendous legal and political uncertainty. What happens if creditors and the islands government cant agree on what to do about the debt? On July 1, the authority has a scheduled debt payment of about $423 million, which it does not have the cash to pay. The consequences of missing the payment are unpredictable, but they could include widespread power disruptions on the island, which would set back economic activity and cause other hardships. If the global goals laid out at the recent Paris climate conference are to be met, curbing aviation emissions is critical. But dont expect last weeks agreement to set the first standards for airplanes to make a big dent. In fact, it will do little to reduce the rise in emissions from airlines, the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. The International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations aviation agency, approved the first-ever binding agreement to cover emissions for aircrafts. New efficiency standards will apply to all new commercial jets delivered after 2028, as well as existing jets produced from 2023. The rub is that the long-awaited standard is lower than what the industry is on track to achieve anyway in the next decade. As it stands, the most advanced jets being built by Boeing and Airbus (such as the twin-aisle B787s and A350s, or the newest versions of the narrow-body B737s and A320s) already meet or exceed this new efficiency goal. BRUSSELS Thousands of steel workers marched through Brussels on Monday to demand the European Union maintain its protections against cheap Chinese imports, which industry executives said were destroying jobs and the environment. Some 5,000 protesters packed the European district of the Belgian capital, where many European Union offices are, and their leaders handed an engraved metal plaque with their demands to Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission. The commission is scheduled to propose this year whether to grant China market-economy status, which Beijing says is its right 15 years after joining the World Trade Organization. Critics say it would give China license to dump products at unfairly low prices in Europe. They also say up to 3.5 million jobs would be at risk. Commission officials put the maximum job loss at 211,000. It takes a certain amount of elan to make a goatskin coat, a double duchesse satin blouse, capri-length cargo pants and stamped-croc slip-ons in a yellow so bright it could make the sun blush. It takes no less elan and an equal measure of brass to make them of quality that will be as high as it is costly, and to do it in ones first season in existence, when ones labels name is yet an uncertainly pronounced novelty. That is exactly what Sander Lak, 32, the creative director of the new label Sies Marjan (Seez Mar-JAHN) did. Mr. Lak said that yellow took much effort and dyeing in development. Visiting him in his showroom and atelier the former home of Ralph Rucci, the rare American-born couturier before his first show, a reporter observed that it was the precise color of the great American urbanite and style icon, Big Bird. Hot on the heels of the record-setting Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the next installment of the franchise began filming in London on Monday, with Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern joining the cast, the Walt Disney Company announced. Details of Mr. Del Toros and Ms. Derns characters in the new movie, Star Wars: Episode VIII, were not immediately available. He recently starred in Denis Villeneuves drug war opus Sicario, and Ms. Dern appeared in the acclaimed 2014 film Wild, for which she received a 2015 Oscar nod, and 99 Homes, also from 2014. The new movie in the blockbuster franchise will see many of the cast members in Force return including Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Lupita Nyongo, according to the movies website. Kelly Marie Tran, whom Disney described as a talented newcomer, is also joining the film. While Mr. Del Toro and Ms. Dern add recognizable Hollywood fire power to the Star Wars universe, Ms. Tran has no major films under her belt and little digital footprint. Shes a member of an Upright Citizens Brigade comedy group in Los Angeles, and appeared in two episodes of About a Boy, an NBC show that ended in 2015. She has starred in a few videos on the Funny or Die website. BOGOTA, Colombia In 1979 the German director Werner Herzog set out into the Peruvian Amazon to begin filming Fitzcarraldo, the quixotic tale of an Irish rubber barons quest to build an opera house in the jungle. What came next was one of the most painful ordeals in filmmaking. A crew member was bitten by a deadly snake and wound up amputating his own foot. Illnesses ensued. The Aguaruna Indians burned down Mr. Herzogs set in a dispute with him over their land. Nearly four decades later, the Colombian director Ciro Guerra, now 35, journeyed into the Amazon with a different approach. He arrived in the jungle with an anthropologist. The men explained the project to a shaman, who spent the night alone in the jungle, where, in Mr. Guerras words, the healer carefully explained the project to the forest. What some might have called superstition, Mr. Guerra simply sees as the cost of doing business in the Amazon. Huge surprises out of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards Sunday: Leonardo DiCaprio kissed Maggie Smith for the Valentines Day kiss cam, but Michael Fassbender would not kiss his girlfriend, Alicia Vikander, creating a moment so awkward that BBC cut it! Oh and The Revenant picked up five awards including best picture, director (Alejandro G. Inarritu) and actor (Mr. DiCaprio), which may or may not mean anything for the Oscars because everything is haywire this season. Except for best actor, which Mr. DiCaprio has in the bag, and best actress, which almost 100 percent is going to Brie Larson (who also won a Bafta, for her performance in Room). Kate Winslet won the Bafta for best supporting actress, but she wasnt up against the Oscar front-runner, Ms. Vikander (for The Danish Girl), as the Baftas had put her in the best actress category. (Ms. Vikander, was in the running for best supporting actress, for Ex Machina.) Mark Rylance nabbed best supporting actor ahead of Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), who found himself nominated on his home turf after a big snub abroad but Mr. Rylance wasnt up against the American darling Sylvester Stallone. (Have those words ever been written together before? Google says no.) The British academy has 6,500 members, 500 of whom are also members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and while the top British film has matched the Oscar winner in six of the last seven years, its matchup rate beyond that is more hit or miss. We drive by pretty regularly, so its fresh in our mind and we dont give up on it, Ms. Coaker, who lives with Ms. Woods in a condominium in Jersey City, said. Some homesteaders have been delayed by circumstances. Jacqueline Machado was six months pregnant when she joined her husband in line. The birth of their twins made the Brazilian couple, who live in the Ironbound neighborhood, wait until this year to begin planning. John Errico, a start-up founder, and his wife, Shannon Guy, a lawyer, had already renovated two homes in Union City, N.J. But when his father, who lives in Florida, found out he had cancer, it caused a re-evaluation. It was a little difficult to justify a $300,000-plus expenditure on a new home when pre-existing homes in the area on similar lots can be had for less than $100,000, Mr. Errico said. That is a reason Mr. Adofo-Wilson is now urging people to consider building more affordable single-family homes that can cost as little as $179,000 with the citys help (most participants prefer two-family homes for the rental income). The Newark Community Economic Development Corporation hopes the remaining 54 couples who have made little progress will work with its selected contractors to begin building. While the homes may not be there yet, the real goal getting more people to want to live in Newark may have succeeded. Since weve done this, weve had people in here every day asking for lots, Mr. Adofo-Wilson said. I think if we had another Valentines Day sale this Sunday, wed have had another 400 or 500 people out there. Whatever kinks we had in the system, well get rid of them, and then maybe we can do it again next year. ITHACA, N.Y. They call themselves hotelies: students and alumni of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, the worlds oldest undergraduate program devoted to the hospitality industry and, many say, the best. The school is considered the Harvard of hospitality programs, consistently topping best-of lists and rankings. Its graduates, school officials like to say, do not just run individual hotels, they own entire hotel chains or groups of restaurants. Among its alumni are Drew Nieporent, the celebrated New York City restaurateur whose crown jewels include Tribeca Grill and Nobu; Ted Teng, president of Leading Hotels of the World; and Andrew H. Tisch, co-chairman of the Loews Corporation. In keeping with their idiosyncratic nickname, hotelies have their own traditions: impressive tailgate spreads at Cornells homecoming game; an Introduction to Wines course that draws students from across the university; and front-desk duty at the Statler Hotel in Ithaca, the smart campus lodging, which serves as a trial by fire for students. So perhaps it was no surprise that alumni and students reacted with something akin to a tirade on the hotel rating site TripAdvisor, when Cornells board of trustees recently voted to establish a new College of Business. The idea, university officials say, is to fold the hotel school, along with two other business schools, into the new college, strengthening the individual programs in the process. WASHINGTON Last spring and summer, huge protests set off by corruption scandals engulfed two Central American nations. In Guatemala, an investigation led by a United Nations-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity exposed a far-reaching customs corruption ring and uncovered evidence that its leader was none other than the countrys president, Otto Perez Molina. Protests in Guatemala City grew, and in September, Mr. Perez Molina resigned and was sent to jail to await trial. In Honduras, protests erupted when a local journalist revealed that millions of dollars of public funds from the countrys health care system had been funneled to the ruling National Party and the election campaign of President Juan Orlando Hernandez. A handful of administrators and business executives have been indicted for other corruption in the health system, but no charges have been brought against Mr. Hernandez or other top party officials over the diversion of funds to the party. Thousands of torch-bearing protesters demanded Mr. Hernandezs resignation and a United Nations-backed commission like Guatemalas. In response, Mr. Hernandez convened a tightly controlled national dialogue, in which many opposition leaders refused to participate, and then proposed a government-sponsored investigative body with no autonomy. When this failed to placate protesters, the Organization of American States stepped in to help design an alternative plan. The result was the Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras. The mission was inaugurated at the O.A.S. headquarters in Washington last month amid much fanfare and a ringing endorsement from the State Department. A department spokesman, John Kirby, said the mission responds to the legitimate demands of the Honduran people for vigorous and meaningful action against corruption. Mr. Gambier, who today is hard of hearing and has bags under his eyes, imitated the night sounds in his cell and other prisoners groans; he described the oppression of bodies pressed against one another and their burning, transparent, greenish diarrhea. He was in detention for five years. Fellow detainees called him the man who runs faster than death. The D.D.S. also played an important role in the violent campaigns the army conducted against populations in southern Chad between 1982 and 1987 and then against the Hadjarai and Zaghawa ethnic groups, former allies of the regime who had become its enemies. The same operating method was used repeatedly: Community leaders were targeted first, then the entire community. Mbaissouroum Manda Rene, a farmer from Maibo, in southern Chad, was 19 years old when soldiers surrounded his village on the morning of March 7, 1985. They selected him and 16 other young men, and brought them to a big nere tree. The villagers were ordered to lie face-down. And after that, all we could feel were the bullets striking us. Pok, pok, pok, Mr. Mbaissouroum told the court. He was one of only four survivors. In the end, the trial will not have revealed any particular ideology driving this political violence. Instead it will have shed light on the story of a brilliant, meticulous and authoritarian political leader who, in the words of a former police officer, lived to take revenge. And it will have allowed Mr. Habres victims to upset the power dynamic that typically governs the relation between victims and accused in such trials, and to make themselves heard in court. Notably, several women testified they had been repeatedly subjected to sexual abuses, calling attention to a crime that, in this conflict as in others, is common but commonly overlooked. And all of this will have happened in the course of a trial far more efficient and cheaper than any other case brought before an international criminal court. This is a victory for the victims, then but also for the NGOs that supported them for many years and through the extended politico-judicial saga that followed the first complaint brought before a Senegalese court in 2000. Reports that Amnesty International put together in the 1980s corroborated the testimony of witnesses at the E.A.C. Human Rights Watch deployed its strategic might and media savvy and no less than $1.5 million in the past three years alone in the service of the victims interests. The impending battle over replacing Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court will undoubtedly loom over this years presidential contest. But it may have an even larger role in an often overlooked 2016 election contest: the fight for control of the Senate. The Senate is in play this November, and the same vulnerable Republicans whose defeats might cost the G.O.P. control of the chamber are at once among the likeliest to back President Obamas nominee. They are also the likeliest to suffer if the fight has political costs to the party. The Democrats arent favored to retake the Senate. They would need to gain five seats (or four if they retain the presidency). But they have a real opportunity to win because a large number of Republicans from competitive or Democratic-leaning states are up for re-election. These Republican senators could have strong electoral incentives to support Mr. Obamas Supreme Court nominee otherwise, their opposition will be used against them. The large number of relatively moderate Republicans from relatively moderate states is an artifact of the sweeping Republican victory in the midterm elections six years ago. In that election, Republicans won six Senate seats in states that Mr. Obama would carry in 2012: Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Illinois. COLORADO SPRINGS The Planned Parenthood clinic attacked in November by a gunman professing anti-abortion views reopened on Monday with a packed schedule of patients and no end to the pressures on it: Two protesters stood nearby, holding signs and accusing the organization of harming women and killing babies. Three people died on Nov. 27 when an assailant opened fire at the clinic here, a tan building at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, turning a sprawling, busy shopping center into a scene of carnage. The police identified the attacker as Robert L. Dear Jr., who lived in a remote mountain town called Hartsel, and arrested him at the scene; the clinic had been closed since then. At a news conference Monday morning, Vicki Cowart, the president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said her group was fulfilling its commitment to serve the people of Colorado and would resume offering a full spectrum of services, including abortion. We have to be really honest about the fact that there are a lot of people in this country that bully women and bully health care providers, Ms. Cowart said. Planned Parenthood is on the side of resiliency, on the side of believing that women and families should have access to reproductive health care. WASHINGTON The outbreak of political conflict over whether the Senate should even consider President Obamas choice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court jolted awake a capital that was settling in for a sleepy, humdrum year in the shadow of the raucous and unpredictable presidential campaign. Nobody wanted to say so publicly out of respect for the justice, but several Washington players noted privately that it felt good to suddenly be relevant again. Congress will now have something more stimulating to look forward to than a numbing floor fight over an appropriations bill. The unexpected vacancy had another small consequence it immediately made the Supreme Court a dominant issue in the presidential campaign. The court, usually cast in the role of deciding issues that elections cannot, now may be the issue that decides the election. I think it is widely understood that Supreme Court nominations are a pretty big deal, and they have become an increasingly big deal in presidential campaigns, said Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah. It will become an even bigger feature because of this. Some Democrats expressed confidence that they could build public pressure on the Republicans to give Mr. Obamas nominee a hearing. The idea of not even allowing a hearing strikes a chord that is pretty deep, said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York. It will mount; it will get much stronger when the president has a nominee. But Republicans appear far more interested in mobilizing their base of conservative supporters than worrying about voters in the general election. Even if Republicans might appeal to moderate voters by giving Mr. Obamas nominee a hearing, they reason, angering their own base would be more damaging. Some allies of the president said they expected Republicans to hold firm, given the courts crucial role and the intensity of feelings among conservatives. Mr. Axelrod predicted that Mr. McConnell and the other Senate Republicans would be implacable on the issue. How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Learn more about our process. I dont think they are going to move, he said. Any Republican who breaks rank on this will face the full fury of the base. White House aides said the president would pick a nominee in due time, but they gave few hints about whom he was considering. Former top aides to Mr. Obama said they expected the White House to select someone who could overcome the Republican opposition. This is a lifetime appointment and an incredible part of his legacy, said Stephanie Cutter, who helped guide the presidents previous nominees through the Senate confirmation process. Ms. Cutter said she expected Mr. Obama to avoid an obviously polarizing nomination in favor of a sitting judge who has had bipartisan support in the past. Ted Cruzs campaign has opened a new line of criticism against Donald J. Trump, running an ad called Currency for Mr. Trumps positions in favor of Planned Parenthood. On Screen Haunting piano music backs Mr. Cruzs approval of the message, as an imagined television screen quickly flips the channel to a CNN news report about a Planned Parenthood doctor getting money for aborted fetuses. A flip of the channel goes to Megyn Kelly of Fox News, reporting the same topic. Planned Parenthood treats the unborn like another form of currency, a female narrator says, as the three screens split apart, like a cable news talking head broadcast, with a big image of a Planned Parenthood building looming over two smaller videos playing films that supposedly expose the groups trafficking in fetuses. Stacked on top of each other are two similar headlines about politicians with the words defends Planned Parenthood. The only difference is the names: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. WASHINGTON What sort of person would Justice Antonin Scalia have wanted President Obama to name as his successor? We know more than you might think. In a largely overlooked passage in his dissent from the courts decision in June establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, he left detailed suggestions. Avoid tall-building lawyers, especially ones who work in skyscrapers in New York. Find someone who did not go to law school at Harvard or Yale. Look for a candidate from the Southwest. Consider an evangelical Christian. Justice Scalia was criticizing the lack of diversity of the court he sat on, and he did not exclude himself. He was right as a factual matter: Supreme Court justices these days are by many measures remarkably similar, giving the court the insular quality of a private club or a faculty lounge. Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton will appear Thursday in a televised forum on Telemundo and MSNBC. Each will probably face tough questions: Mr. Sanders about his vote against a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill in 2007, and Mrs. Clinton for saying in 2014, amid a crisis in which thousands of Central American children crossed the border and wound up in detention, that they should be sent back. But immigration is scarcely the only important issue. At a training session for Clinton precinct captains last week in a heavily Latino neighborhood of Las Vegas, Alex Noriega, 23, said she became a Clinton supporter in 2008 because of Mrs. Clintons support for reproductive rights. Then 16, she recalled, she went to Planned Parenthood to get the Plan B medication to avoid a pregnancy after having unprotected sex and became convinced that the policies Mrs. Clinton was advocating were essential for women to control their bodies. Ms. Noriega said she was unimpressed by what she called the radical politics of Mrs. Clintons current opponent. I think Senator Sanders has an unrealistic view of how he wants to get things accomplished, she said. The candidates, who swept into Nevada over the weekend, made abundantly clear that first-generation voters and other Latinos could play a decisive role here. In Reno on Saturday, Mr. Sanders told hundreds of canvassers that he would push for a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally. I have met people throughout this campaign, young people with tears running down their cheeks, who are literally worried that they or their parents will be deported tomorrow, that they will be separated from their loved ones, he said. SAN FRANCISCO If you are, for whatever reasons, seeking a large number of young white men in plaid shirts who are partial to standing desks and seminars on growth hacking and journey mapping, look no further than San Franciscos RocketSpace. When Chrisfino Kenyatta Leal first turned up for his job at the co-working space in 2013, he often seemed to be the only black person around. But one thing made him feel instantly at home: the energy a frenetic, wild, lets-do-this energy. He knew this energy, but from where? Oh, yes, the prison yard. Mr. Leal is the rarest of migrants, having leapt from one of Americas bleakest, least-admired ecosystems to one of its brightest and most-admired ones. Like many travelers, he has gone far enough to feel, at times, back home although the bravado and failure, rule-breaking and renegade attitudes surrounding him in his new life in Silicon Valley are evidently considered virtues here. Mr. Leal, who is 47, doesnt remember his fathers voice. He was 6 months old when his parents divorced and his father left. Before he knew it, Mr. Leal said, I went from this little kid that wanted his father to an out-of-control adult that ran around with a gun. KAMPALA, Uganda Ugandas leading opposition figure was arrested on Monday, three days before the East African countrys presidential elections. The opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, who was once a personal physician to President Yoweri Museveni but is now challenging him for the presidency, was arrested around noon as he was holding a rally in this capital city. Mr. Besigye was traveling along Jinja Road, Kampalas main street, when his convoy was blocked by police vehicles, witnesses said. By early evening, Mr. Besigye had been released, but he was blocked again trying to organize another rally. The police said that they returned Mr. Besigye to his home a second time, but that the situation remained tense. At least one person was killed in the disturbances, the police said, and there were reports of several people injured. It was supposed to be a routine refueling stop in Zimbabwe by an American-owned cargo plane, traveling to South Africa from Germany. Then airport officials noticed blood spattered on the fuselage and found a corpse and a small fortune in South African cash inside. The discovery on Sunday led the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe to impound the aircraft, an unmarked chartered MD11 freighter owned by Western Global Airlines, a well-established international cargo carrier based in Estero, Fla. As of Monday, the aircraft remained on the tarmac at the airport in Harare, Zimbabwes capital, and officials said they were still investigating. The identity of the corpse was not clear. Western Global Airlines, which confirmed on Monday that it owned the plane, said in a statement that the corpse was suspected to have been a stowaway who may have entered the airplane during a previous stop. The airline said the plane had been leased to Network Airline Management, a longtime customer based in Britain that uses Western Global Airlines aircraft and crews for several flights a week from Europe to Africa. Western Global said the cash was a shipment for the South African Reserve Bank. At the main hospital here, more than 80 pregnant women have come in with the virus since October, said its director, Dr. Juan Agustin Ramirez. About 35 percent of the women arrived in the first trimester, when microcephaly is most likely to develop, he said. Dr. Ramirez said the hospital had not performed any Zika-related abortions, but he was firm that any women whose fetuses showed signs of the condition would be offered the procedure. No woman, he said, should be forced to carry a child that, in a few words, is useless to society. Ms. Barrios ultimately did not find herself in that position. After recovering from the virus, she discussed her pregnancy and the doctors offer of an abortion with her husband. An ultrasound showed that their twin fetuses were developing normally, she said, and the couple turned down the procedure. But Ms. Barrios remains on edge. She continues to have regular ultrasounds to check for birth defects. As a Catholic, she said, she will accept whatever is discovered when the babies arrive. If its something that God wants, then so be it, she said. The system in Garmsir, however, appears to leave little to chance. The district, farther from the provincial capital than Marja or Nad Ali, enjoys more autonomy than most under government control. Interviews conducted in mid-March, before the blight appeared, showed a system of accommodation that was settling in comfortably. While farmers were not happy about paying the government, most saw it as inevitable and noted that the profit margin for opium was still considerably better than for wheat or cotton. We understand that the officials will charge us money, said Juma Khan, a 35-year-old farmer in Garmsir, shrugging. The system ran into turbulence in the spring, when two members of Parliament caught wind of the arrangement. After their demand for a cut of the profits was rebuffed, they went public, according to Afghan officials familiar with the case. Officials in Kabul quickly fired the district governor, police chief and intelligence director, who were accused of dividing the profits. In a small ceremony, the Helmand deputy governor returned wads of cash to cheering farmers outside the provincial governors offices and promised to crack down on such exploitation. Officials said that all of the money had been returned to farmers and that the responsible parties had been removed from power. But neither promise was entirely true. The governor of Garmsir who, in an interview, denied that he had created or collected any tax was quietly moved to Washir, a neighboring district. Months later, he was moved back to Garmsir, where he has returned to his old job. Government officials in Kabul said he had been cleared of wrongdoing after a thorough investigation. A later visit to Garmsir unearthed a second inconsistency: Farmers said they had received only half of their money back. Still, that was something of a rebate. After all, they had lost nearly half of their crop to blight. KASHGAR, China In many parts of the world, pigeons are an urban pest or, at best, a tasty meal. But here in this storied, ancient outpost near Chinas border with Kyrgyzstan, they are much more: a hobby, an investment and, for some, an addiction. On Sundays, an outdoor market in the center of the city fills with ethnic Uighur men and boys engaged in a frenzied, mercantile display of traditional male bonding. The objects of their attention many outrageously adorned in multihued and frilly plumage appeared largely unfazed by the prodding appraisals of crown, beak, wing and tail. You get kind of addicted, said Azizjam Mamat, 27, a cellphone company manager who started coming to the market when he was 8 and now owns 300 birds. One pigeon gives the love of 10 women. It has been one thing after another, Dede Oetomo, a veteran gay rights activist, said Monday. At first, I thought it was just a storm in a teacup. But the teacup is getting bigger. Image An official in Indonesia is pressuring instant messaging services to drop gay- and lesbian-themed emoticons. Credit... Mast Irham/European Pressphoto Agency The storm began brewing three weeks ago, when Muhammad Nasir, the minister of research, technology and higher education, was quoted in the domestic news media as saying that a counseling group for gays and lesbians on the campus of the University of Indonesia threatened the values and morals of college students. That same week, Ridwan Kamil, the mayor of the countrys third-largest city, Bandung, was quoted by the local news media as calling for a ban on gay and related content on social media. Shortly afterward, Islamic vigilantes attacked boardinghouses in Bandung in search of gays and lesbians. Last week, in response to pressure from the Communications Ministry, the smartphone messaging app Line agreed to remove a group of emoji for sale on its online store. The images included cartoons of cross-dressers applying makeup and of muscular men wearing skimpy towels. Another messaging app, WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, offers gay-themed emoji that are free, albeit less colorful. Finally, late last week, the National Commission for Child Protection said it fully supported a ban on gay-oriented content on the nations airwaves. According to the local news media, a spokeswoman for the agency said transgender comedians had brainwashed some boys to be effeminate. GENEVA A United Nations human rights investigator said in a report released Monday that the organization should officially notify North Koreas top leader, Kim Jong-un, that he and subordinates could face trial for heinous crimes. The investigator also recommended the creation of an expert panel to identify ways of prosecuting them. The investigator, Marzuki Darusman, the special rapporteur monitoring developments in North Korea, also said in the report that no tangible improvement had been seen in the state of human rights in the country since a commission of inquiry two years ago implicated its leaders in wide-ranging crimes against humanity, including extermination, murder, torture, enslavement and persecution on grounds of race, religion and gender. Mr. Darusmans 13-page report, which he will present next month to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, said, The urgent challenge now is to determine which methods can be most effectively utilized to hold perpetrators accountable. Mr. Darusman was a member of the commission of inquiry, which urged the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court. Mr. Darusman reiterated that recommendation but said the General Assembly could create a tribunal to prosecute crimes for which international law does not permit amnesty. WARSAW The future Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla, began a friendship with a Polish-American philosopher in 1973 that lasted the rest of his life. She hosted him when he visited New England and translated a book of his, and they stayed in touch, off and on, until his death in 2005. Now, for the first time, letters that he wrote to the philosopher, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, have been made public and they portray a startling degree of affection. God gave you to me and made you my vocation, read a letter dated March 31, 1976, one of several excerpts published on Monday by BBC News. He called her a gift from God. The letters offer no evidence that the future pope who was known for his strict adherence to church doctrine on sexuality and marriage, and who was canonized in 2014 ever violated his vow of celibacy. But they do suggest a tension in the relationship between the married philosopher and the prelate. Mr. Olmert was also sentenced in May to eight months in prison for fraud and breach of trust, in a separate case involving an American businessman, Morris Talansky. The start of that term was postponed pending an appeal, and Mr. Olmerts lawyers have been examining the possibility of any sentence being served concurrently with Mr. Olmerts current prison term. Mr. Olmert emphasized in his statement that none of the charges pertained to his time as prime minister, and he appealed to Israelis not to forget his efforts at peacemaking and his service to the country. As prime minister, Mr. Olmert held extensive peace negotiations with the Palestinians and indirect talks with Syria, through Turkish mediators. He hinted darkly in his videotaped statement on Monday that his conviction, which he described as a result of a legal snowball, grew out of something more than legal considerations. Perhaps with more distance, the public will be able to examine this dire moment with a critical and balanced outlook, he said. I hope that then they will recognize that during my tenure as prime minister, honest and promising steps were taken to open a door of hope for a better future of peace, happiness and security. The prison authorities will now be responsible for the security of a prisoner who was privy to state secrets. Mr. Olmert will be held in Wing 10 of Maasiyahu Prison, a section that many Israelis refer to as the V.I.P. wing. The Israeli Prison Service said that renovations of the wing had been completed in recent days and that four other prisoners had already been transferred there. For Mr. Olmerts protection, all residents of Wing 10 are to be vetted. Several people who have been convicted in the Holyland case are expected to join him there. The wing has six cells, each with three beds, a shower and toilet, a cupboard, a table and chairs, and a television set. It also has its own library, yard and dining room, as well as telephones in the corridor. BEIRUT, Lebanon The prospect of a wider war loomed over an increasingly chaotic battlefield in northern Syria on Monday, as fast-moving clashes pitted United States allies against one another and tensions grew between two major powers, Russia and Turkey. Taking advantage of fierce Russian airstrikes, Kurdish-led forces advanced into shrinking rebel territory in the northern part of Aleppo Province, infuriating the insurgents and their principal backer, Turkey, which threatened a severe response if the Kurds moved farther. The situation has pitted a dizzying array of warring parties against one another, illustrating how the enemy of my enemy is, as often as not, my enemy. Tensions have never been higher between Kurds and Syrian Arab rebels, who now accuse the Kurds of opportunistically attacking them in league with Russia and the Syrian government to advance their goal of seizing territory along the border with Turkey. Those clashes are fueling a risky escalation of tensions, especially between Turkey and Russia. And they are pitting two American-backed groups against each other, since both the Kurds and many rebel groups in Aleppo receive American support. COLUMBIA, S.C. Former President George W. Bush was making his first direct foray into the 2016 campaign Monday in South Carolina, hoping a state that put him on the path to the White House 16 years ago can do the same for his brother, Jeb. The younger Bushs decision to put the former president front-and-center underscores his tenuous position in a race he was once expected to dominate. Bush is seeking to trade on his familys popularity in South Carolina, even if that means reviving his brothers complicated legacy and reminding voters eager to break with the political establishment that hed be the third Bush to serve as president. The Bush family is beloved, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday. Graham joined the former president and wife, Laura, at an American Legion Post in Columbia, where they greeted the crowd before traveling to Charleston for an evening rally. Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush each won two Republican primaries in South Carolina, and their family retains deep social and political ties here. But in the turbulent 2016 race, the state appears to be Donald Trumps to lose. On Monday, the billionaire seemed intent on overshadowing Bushs return to presidential politics. Trump scheduled events in Charleston, where the Bush family would be campaigning, and leveled multiple attacks against the brothers on Twitter. Now that George Bush is campaigning for Jeb (!), is he fair game for questions about World Trade Center, Iraq War and (economic) collapse? Trump wrote. Careful! Supporters of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another Republican presidential candidate, suggested Jeb was now a fair target. South Carolina State Rep. Gary Clary took aim at Bushs economic record, noting that Kasich helped forge a balanced budget while serving in Congress and working with Democratic President Bill Clinton. He handed it off to President George W. Bush who proceeded to increase federal spending by an astonishing 83 percent over his two terms, Clary said. While Trump has dished out biting critiques against nearly all his rivals, he seems to delight particularly in targeting Bush. The former Florida governor was initially unnerved by the attacks, but hes grown more comfortable taking on the brash real estate mogul and has relished in being one of the few GOP candidates willing to do so. I could care less about the insults that Donald Trump gives to me. Its blood sport for him, Bush said during Saturdays GOP debate. I am sick and tired of him going after my family. Despite his deep loyalty to his family, Bush has struggled with what role they should play in his campaign, particularly his brother. The 43rd president left office deeply unpopular with a nation fatigued by the Iraq War and angry over his botched response to Hurricane Katrina. Since leaving the White House in early 2008, Bush has kept a low profile. He retreated to his home state of Texas, where he picked up painting and delved into work on his presidential library, public health projects in Africa, and events for wounded military service members. Friends say hes remained engaged in his brothers campaign behind the scenes and like their father, has struggled to comprehend how Trump has taken command of a party he once led. With Jeb Bushs opportunities to revive his campaign dwindling, the family is taking a more active role. Family matriarch Barbara Bush had hit the campaign trail in New Hampshire, delighting voters with her outspoken style and tenacity, as the 90-year-old traipsed through snow to get to events. Her elderly husband is too frail to campaign, but has sent fundraising emails on his sons behalf. Bushs campaign knows there are risks in wrapping the candidate in his familys deep political history. Trumps unexpected rise has underscored the publics frustration with Republican Party leaders and anyone considered part of the political establishment. But perhaps with little left to lose, Bush seems to be growing not just tolerant of his familys long shadow, but also comfortable with it. Asked during a town hall event in New Hampshire how he could try to distinguish himself from people reluctant to see a third Bush to serve as president, he said simply, People are just going to have to get over it. YORBA LINDA A man died Monday afternoon after he was shot outside of a hotel here by a sheriffs deputy responding to a call of a suspicious vehicle, officials said. A man and a female in a nearby parked vehicle fled on foot for unknown reasons. The female was detained, the man was not immediately located and investigators didnt know if they were associated with the man who was shot. When deputies arrived about 1 p.m., they found a man sitting in a vehicle outside of the Extended Stay America at 22711 Oakcrest Circle, northeast of the 91 freeway and Yorba Linda Boulevard, said sheriffs Lt. Mark Stichter said. It is unclear what happened, but at some point a deputy shot the driver. The man was pronounced dead at Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana. His name was not immediately released and the Sheriffs Department couldnt specify his age with certainty. It wasnt known if any of the people involved were staying at the hotel. The car involved, a silver four-door Toyota Corolla, came to a rest in bushes surrounded by debris behind the hotel. Stichter did not know if the car was there when the deputy approached or if the man drove there after being shot. The Orange County District Attorneys Office will investigate the shooting. Staff writers Scott Schwebke and Louis Casiano Jr. contributed to this report. Contact the writer: 714-796-7802 or aduranty@ocregister.com Bernie Sanders call for free college tuition is not born of socialist ideology, nor because he believes it will make the next generation more employable. Underneath all the rhetoric, Sanders is smiling because he knows exactly what kind of education our college students will get keep that going and he wont have to campaign for socialist reform; itll be a cakewalk. Scott Perley Irvine Re: Not feeling the Bern for good reason [Letters, Feb. 10]: Letter-writer John Becks alluding to a comparison of Soviet empire socialism to Bernie Sanders democratic socialism platform borders on the ridiculous. Beck refers to his daughters college peers support of Bernie (which Beck obviously disapproves of). With Americas long history of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and wellfare programs, the younger generation is obviously aware of the difference between Soviet empire socialism and democratic socialism. Its time for the John Becks of America to come to this same acknowledgement. Richard Havens Laguna Niguel Earth to Bernie Sanders: You stated in your New Hampshire victory speech that we will not accept a rigged economy. Every socialist government, from the communist Soviet Union to Germanys National Socialist Party to the current government in Venezuela, had a (planned) rigged economy. How did that work out for the people under those governments? Why do you expect a socialist government in the United States will work out any differently? George A. Kuck Westminster Your recent Free stuff cartoon was kinda cute, with Bernie Sanders supporters getting all kinds of goodies. Allow me to offer another view. Free stuff? Wouldnt we pay taxes for that free stuff? And what about corporate free stuff? Many corporations dodge taxes (some paying nothing at all), but just look at the goodies they receive: Free roads, free drug testing by the FDA, free clean water and air monitored by the EPA, a free educated workforce, free defense (cyber and otherwise) by the Defense Department, free farm and oil subsidies, etc. The coal industry, for example, has been given the freedom to harm our nation, at an estimated cost of $300 billion to $500 billion per year (Harvard School of Medicine study, True Cost of Coal). How about a pollution fee, with the revenue returned to the public? Jan Freed Los Angeles Bernie Sanders, in his New Hampshire victory speech, reiterated the many points he has made during his campaign, especially the fact that he has no super PAC, that his average contribution is $27, and that he would reform campaign finance laws. He also again cursed the wealthy and Wall Street. However, it seems that Sanders overlooked or forgot to mention a few things. One is the hundreds of millions of dollars contributed by unions to the Democratic Party and its candidates. Another is the fact that we have a president who has no qualms in coming to California and having fundraising dinners with his Hollywood pals, who pay thousands of dollars per person. It would be interesting to hear Sanders views on these two points. Frederick R. Bruno Irvine This country has one last chance to get it right before it goes over the cliff. It is obvious our children in the ages 18-30 crowd arent going to help us turn this around; they dont even completely understand what true socialism is. The rest of us do, and if we allow this collapse to happen, we will have ourselves to blame, because we saw what was going on the past 50 years and we buried our heads in the sand. You reap what you sow and You made your bed, now lie in it. All those things you heard from your mom are coming true. Now the question is: What are we going to do about it? Andy Allaire Laguna Woods Well, were finally past the New Hampshire primaries, and there were a few memorable results. On the Democratic side, the old man beat the old woman by more than 21 percentage points. The Uncivil War among the Republicans continued apace. Kamikaze pilot Christie bombed Warship Rubio, damaging the vessel, but not sinking it. However, the pilot surrendered, and is interned for the remainder of the campaign. Trump thumped his way to a sizeable plurality win. While John Kasich, who ended a solid second place, is a one-and-done with not much money and no organization in upcoming states. Now, onward to (yawn) South Carolina. Robert W. Grebner Brea A solemn group stood in the shadow of the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, forming a circle on the snow-caked sidewalk. MarShawn McCarrel, 23, a well-known Black Lives Matter activist, had taken his own life on the statehouse steps. Now his friends had come together in his memory. As evening turned to night last week, protest organizer Rashida Davison, 25, recounted the personal toll of two years of activism: Trouble sleeping. Bouts of anxiety. Feelings of despair. This is really getting to us, Davison said. And if MarShawns death does not show that. . . I dont know what else we need to tell or show to say that this is really going on. Since he died early last week, news of McCarrels suicide has rocked the national police protest movement, forcing a round of introspection about a reality that predates the seminal 2014 shooting of a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri: Some of the most prominent activists and organizers are battling not only the system, but depression. In Oakland, California, a prominent activist posted the phone number for a suicide prevention hotline on her Facebook page. In Cleveland, a lead organizer confessed on Facebook that he, too, had tried to take his own life. Dozens of others have shared stories of their battles with depression, anxiety and insecurity on Twitter. In the movement youre just constantly engaging in black death, seeing the communal impact, said Jonathan Butler, the University of Missouri graduate student whose hunger strike last fall led to the resignation of the schools president. Youre being faced with the reality that Im more likely to be killed by the police, that Im being discriminated against. You start to see all of the micro-aggressions. Like many prominent activists, Butler said he has long struggled with depression, beginning with the death of his grandfather in 2011. His involvement with the protest movement at times has worsened his mental health, he said, not only because of the emotional strain of a single-minded focus on racism, but also because of more mundane stresses, such as media scrutiny and infighting among allies. So many people glamorize the visibility that comes with being in these spotlights, Butler said. And theyre not seeing the pressures. Friends were not sure about the roots of McCarrels depression; family members declined to comment. The young activist first rose to prominence in Columbus through the citys poetry scene, particularly Mosaic, a poetry program for teenagers. He was always at all of the open mics, and it was clear immediately that he was a significantly better writer than most of his peers, said Hanif Abdurraqib, a writer who met McCarrel in 2010 and immediately noticed his confidence and sense of humor. So often we get these pictures of activists on the front lines of movements as deeply serious people, Abdurraqib said. McCarrel, by contrast, was wildly funny. About five years ago, friends said McCarrels artwork began to overlap with his activism, and he founded Pursuing Our Dreams, a group that organized monthly feed the streets events to provide homemade lunches to the homeless. He was also one of several organizers who worked to plan a large, multi-organization Freedom Summer rally in 2014 plans that were later scrapped after Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson. After Ferguson, McCarrel began working with the Ohio Student Association, one of the largest and most active protest groups in the Black Lives Matter movement. He helped lead rallies to support the families of John Crawford and Tamir Rice, a black man and a black boy shot and killed in separate incidents by Ohio police in 2014. McCarrel was also one of five organizers arrested during a protest in Tennessee. Zahra Farah, a 20-year-old activist who studies sociology at Columbus State Community College, recalls a conversation she had with McCarrel at a protest last spring. Shed been demonstrating since 2014, and felt frustrated, dejected and angry about what she perceived as a lack of progress. He was like, Youre here right now, and youre obviously using your efforts to do something better, Farah recalled McCarrel saying. Its pretty obvious that he impacted so many people, not just me. Just one week before his death, McCarrel attended the NAACP Image Awards in California, where he was recognized for his activism. His mother proudly posted an image of the two on the red carpet on her Facebook page. Hes been part of the movement for a very long time, said Dante Barry, executive director of Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, a New York-based activist group. Barry knew McCarrel well and said he hoped his friends death spurs an honest conversation among top activists about the culture of the protest movement. Organizing saves peoples lives, Barry said. But we also dont do a good job of saving the lives of the people who are organizing. Studies have found that black Americans are more susceptible to depression and anxiety a disparity that health experts believe stems from social stigma and a lack of access to mental health resources in black communities, as well as a reluctance to take advantage of those resources when they are available. Its really tough in the black community because were going uphill trying to fight all of these negative stereotypes about us, and the last thing a lot of black people want to do is give people one more reason to look down on us, said Monnica Williams, director of the Center for Mental Health Disparities at the University of Louisville. I think a lot of African-Americans are walking around depressed, coping from day to day, and not really living. A study by the federal Office of Minority Health found that African-Americans are 20 percent more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. And for an activist, Williams said, depression can be especially dangerous. Much of the conversation about race and justice occurs online, where harsh and threatening messages are abundant. One of McCarrels last Facebook posts was a screenshot of a threatening email he had received: Were (sic) gonna keep making your life hell until you keep your N- mouth closed, the email said. A few hours before he fatally shot himself, McCarrel posted a final message on Facebook: My demons won today. Im sorry. There are so many folks in this movement that have serious mental health issues, said Alexis Templeton, who is among the most prominent organizers in St. Louis. There are so many folks who are on the brink of killing themselves. When she first joined the protests in 2014, Templeton was one of those people. A year earlier, she had been a passenger in a deadly car crash that killed her father, uncle and partner. Her guilt about surviving was often hard to bear, she said, and there were many days when she sat in her room with a loaded gun to her head. Aug. 13, 2014, was one of those days. But as she pondered pulling the trigger, Templeton couldnt shake the images of protest pouring out of Ferguson. One of her childhood friends was among the first to tweet photos from the scene of Michael Browns death. She had watched intensely, glued to her phone, as demonstrators were tear gassed. Templeton decided she might as well go out and see things for herself before pulling the trigger. I went outside and I never came back in, Templeton said. Mike Brown saved my life. In Ferguson, Templeton found community and belonging, spending night after night with a bullhorn in her hand, leaping almost out of her shoes as she led the protest chants: Indict, convict, send that killer cop to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell! Ultimately, she fell in love and married a fellow activist. Now she encourages others to follow her lead, attending therapy if they have access to it and speaking publicly about their personal struggles. Its most important to remember that were human, even when the spotlight tries to make us superhuman, Templeton said. Its okay to confront those demons, and to confront them publicly. And dont feel like you have to hide from them. NEW YORK Sen. Charles Schumer is slamming a White House proposal that would reduce funding for counterterrorism programs across the country by nearly $300 million. The New York Democrat is pushing President Barack Obama to reconsider the cuts. Schumer notes that the cuts to the Urban Area Security Initiative were included in the proposed 2017 budget released last week by the White House. The initiative helps fund programs in cities across the U.S. to prevent extremist attacks, or respond to and recover from them. The proposed budget would cut the funding from $600 million to $330 million. These proposed cuts are ill-advised and ill-timed and they must be reversed. End of story, Schumer said in a statement to The Associated Press. In light of recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, and the vow by our extremist enemies to launch more attacks on our shores, it makes no sense to propose cuts to vital terror-prevention programs like UASI. Schumer, who decried the cuts at a news conference on Sunday, said the program is necessary to adequately fund counterterrorism programs in high-density urban areas like New York City. New York City remains terror target number one and the NYPD relies on these programs to keep us safe, he said. In New York, a portion of the funds are used for the fire departments response training and the NYPDs counterterrorism training programs and the active shooter training course. The money also helps pay for teams that patrol at local airports, transit hubs and waterways. Elsewhere in the New York area, the funds cover the cost of other training exercises, including multi-jurisdictional response drills. The White House released a statement saying the proposed budget provides robust funding to support a sustainable and effective approach for combating terrorism. In addition, the budget provides $100 million for a new Regional Preparedness Grants Competition and $39M for grants to help States prepare for and respond to complex coordinated terrorist attacks, both of which offer New York City additional opportunities to secure funding for counterterrorism efforts, the White House said. Former Orange County Public Defender Frank Ospino watched from the sidelines for the past two years as one of his top lawyers rocked Orange Countys justice system with allegations that police and prosecutors misused jailhouse informants and withheld evidence. Ospino never spoke out about the controversy as his office made headlines for the battle against the Orange County District Attorneys Office and the Sheriffs Department. But he provided behind-the-scenes support and resources for Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders to wage a high-stakes fight that has divided the countys legal community and sparked a national debate. Since Ospinos departure Dec. 31 to become a juvenile court judge, the Public Defenders Office remains in limbo. The Orange County Board of Supervisors has named an interim director, Sharon Petrosino, but has yet to fill the top post, which oversees the offices of the public defender, alternate defender and associate defender. The office represents those who cannot afford private attorneys in criminal, juvenile, mental health and dependency cases. Last year, the office had 185 lawyers who oversaw 77,661 cases. Petrosino, who has been with the office since 1985, hasnt said whether she wants the job full time. She declined to comment about the offices future direction. Ospino did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The Board of Supervisors has launched a national search and has not indicated a timetable for naming a public defender. The appointment of the public defender could certainly influence the culture of the office and whether public defenders will have the freedom and the resources to continue the type of zealous advocacy that led to exposure of unconstitutional conduct within the Orange County District Attorneys Office, said L. Song Richardson, a professor at UC Irvine law school Each of us should be very concerned if the Board of Supervisors appoints someone who does not have a demonstrated commitment to public defense and a strong history of zealous advocacy. Supervisor Todd Spitzer said he doesnt see the change in leadership as an opportunity to meddle with Sanders ongoing campaign to challenge police and prosecutors over the use of jailhouse informants. Were not interested in micromanaging cases, said Spitzer, a former prosecutor. The board is interested in finding the most qualified candidate who will protect the mission of the Public Defenders Office. For nearly 30 years, the Public Defenders Office was an ideal fit for Ospino, a first-generation U.S. citizen whose family immigrated from Central America in the mid-1950s, according to a 2012 interview with OC Lawyer. He was the first one in his family to attend college. I was drawn to the Offices of the Public Defender by my desire to help those in need, the desire to better their lives and bring justice to the world, Ospino, 55, told OC Lawyer, Ospino received a political science degree from UCI and a law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law. He joined the Public Defenders Office in 1985, left for private practice in 1990, and returned in 1992. He took over the top job in February 2012, replacing Deborah Kwast. Petrosino, chief deputy public defender since 2014, assumed Ospinos duties in late December. She has spent most of her law career with the Public Defenders Office and has done every lawyer job in the organization. During Ospinos tenure, Sanders was given considerable leeway in his investigation, which since 2014 has uncovered how police and prosecutors used a covert network of informants to get confessions from inmates. Sanders began his campaign while representing two high-profile murder defendants Scott Dekraai, who pleaded guilty to killing eight people at a Seal Beach salon during a 2011 rampage, and Daniel Wozniak, a former community theater actor from Costa Mesa convicted of killing two friends for money in 2010 to fund his wedding. Sanders efforts to keep his clients off death row have been mixed. In January, Wozniak was convicted of first-degree murder, and jurors recommended a death sentence. A judge is scheduled to sentence him in March. The penalty phase of Dekraais trial hasnt been set. In March 2015, after months of hearings initiated by Sanders, Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals removed local prosecutors from the Dekraai case, saying he didnt think the former tugboat crewman could receive a fair trial. The state attorney general has appealed the ruling. Sanders two cases have mushroomed, and he has spent years on their defense, writing briefs as long as 754 pages, with tens of thousands of exhibits. Under Ospino, other supervisors in the Public Defenders Office agreed to take on some of Sanders overflow cases to allow him to devote more time to investigating jailhouse informant cases. Sanders, who joined the Public Defenders Office 22 years ago, says he doesnt want Ospinos old job, and he hopes the post will go to an office insider, as it has in the past. The board realizes that we provide outstanding indigent services cost effectively and are considered among the nations best Public Defender Offices, Sanders said. So when you also consider the work weve done in the last couple years, it would only make sense that our next leader should come from the group of managers that promoted and supported these efforts. Spitzer said the next public defender must agree to work with the countys revamped Office of Independent Review, which now oversees the Public Defenders Office as well as the District Attorneys Office and Sheriffs Department. For some supervisors, cooperation in the OIR is critical, Spitzer said. Supervisors Andrew Do and Shawn Nelson also said Sanders fight would not be an issue in choosing Ospinos replacement. Before he became a judge, Ospino opposed being monitored by the oversight office. Last year, supervisors asked the County Executive Office to audit the public defenders operation. The public defenders 2015 budget was $70.3 million. We need to know what the (financial) status is for the management of the operation, Spitzer said. He said the search for Ospinos replacement should take a few months. Professor Lawrence Rosenthal of Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law said its important for the public to watch the selection process carefully. Of course people are going to be nervous about whether some members of the board are going to try to eliminate an embarrassing scandal for the county, he said. Contact the writer: tsaavedra@ocregister.com The veil of privacy was lifted Saturday off a remote West Texas ranch where Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia suddenly died. Cibolo Creek Ranch, a luxury compound built around three 19th-century forts, has played host to movie stars and European royalty lured by the spare beauty of the desert. Now, it will be known as the place where Scalia, a firebrand conservative whose vacancy on the Supreme Court launched an immediate political fight, spent his final hours. The 30,000-acre resort, located less than an hour from the Mexican border crossing at Ojinaga, is tucked into the Chinati Mountains, 33 miles south of Marfa, Texas. For the well-heeled, getting to the ranch is convenient by private jet: four miles from the main office, it offers a private airport. The combination of convenience and privacy has attracted celebrities, reportedly including Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, Bruce Willis and Tommy Lee Jones, to Cibolo over the years. Jones used the property, which is located inside the crater of an extinct volcano, to shoot scenes for his 2005 film, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, according to IMDB.com. A tabloid-worthy legal brawl adds to the resorts Hollywood allure. In 2010, the ranch sued Randy Quaid, an actor best known for supporting roles in National Lampoons Vacation films and Independence Day, for an unpaid bill totaling $24,859 after a 10-month stay. Hollywood figures are among a wider group of international jet-setters who frequent the ranch, once featured in Vogue magazine, where rooms can cost above $500 per night. In 2010, according to local news source CultureMap Houston, 53 members of an international hunting society gathered at Cibolo to take advantage of its shooting. (Minor royalty was on hand: Archduke Andreas Salvatore Hapsburg-Lothrengin, the Prince of Tuscany and Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, came in from Spain for the festivities, the site reported.) Guests can organize bird hunts pheasant and chukar are plentiful on the property as well as pursue bigger game, from deer and elk to buffalo, javelinas and mountain lions. The ranch is named after a Spanish term for bison used in the Old West, the era that most informs the rustic atmosphere of the resort. In addition to the old forts, which have been converted to luxury accommodations, the compound is comprised of low-lying buildings surrounded by stone-built walls that give way to desert scrub. It is unclear where on the compound Scalia was staying when he died. He was at the ranch for a private event. Owner John Poindexter obtained the property in 1988 and undertook an extensive renovation of the forts and outbuildings. A third-generation Texan, Poindexter runs a Houston-based manufacturing company, J.B. Poindexter & Co. and is a leader in the Order of St. Hubertus, the 17th-century hunting society whose members gathered at the resort in 2010. Poindexter has occasionally made political donations to Democrats, according to the Federal Election Commission. Beneficiaries of his wealth included former representatives Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas, and Pete Gallego, D-Texas, the latter of whom was defeated by Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, in 2014. In 2009, President Barack Obama presented a Presidential Unit Citation, the highest military honor for a U.S. military unit, to a force commanded by Poindexter in Vietnam. The award was made for the units extraordinary heroism in rescuing more than 70 soldiers from a North Vietnamese force in March 1970, the New York Times reported. LAS VEGAS Less than a week before the Nevada caucuses, Hillary Clintons political nightmare came to the Origin India restaurant near the Las Vegas Strip. More than 100 activists packed between a curry buffet and a canvas sign for Bernie Sanders. They talked. They made caucus commitments. They cheered as a multi-ethnic coalition of speakers asked them to dump the long-time Democratic presidential frontrunner. She had the same information as Bernie, and she voted for the war in Iraq, said Vicenta Montoya, an immigration attorney. She supported a wall along the border. And while she was secretary of state, she did absolutely nothing to alleviate the hardship of people separated from their families. The white Americans have already shown the momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire, said Zaffar Iqbal, a doctor and member of Muslims for Bernie. Now is the turn for Nevada to stand up. Until quite recently, Clintons campaign saw Nevada as a chance for a face-saving victory after an anticipated defeat in New Hampshire. But that defeat turned into a trouncing. Now, the Sanders campaign is trying to prove that she can be beaten anywhere. Nevada, where he is facing off against organized labor leaders and a Latino-heavy electorate, has become the first test. Clintons hopes rested on her overwhelming advantage among voters of color part of a firewall her aides have claimed in many states that follow overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire on the electoral calendar. Sanders, however, is betting that his appeal among young and working-class voters, revealed so dramatically in New Hampshire, is now strong enough to transcend race. Nevada is a chance to disprove this firewall fantasy that the Clinton campaign has put out there, said Jeff Weaver, Sanderss campaign manager. If we do well, it destroys that myth. Sanderss aides say there is strong evidence in their internal polling that both young and working-class Latinos are coming his way. Even the Clinton campaign is now downplaying expectations. In the wake of the New Hampshire defeat, Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon pointedly called Nevada a state that is 80 percent white voters, universally seen as a way to undercut the story that Sanders is making gains outsideof progressive white voters. (In 2008, fewer than 70 percent of caucus-goers were white.) And both campaigns competed intensely in the state over the weekend- with more appearances to come before the caucuses in five days. On Saturday, with canvassing underway, the Sanders campaign asked in an email for volunteers across the country to help us call Spanish-speaking voters in Nevada and find out who is for Bernie and who is still undecided. Clintons campaign deployed squads of Spanish-speaking union members. Twelve Sanders campaign offices have mushroomed across the state. He is outspending Clinton in TV ads by roughly two to one, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Those ads, which began in November, now feature the Latina politician Lucy Flores explaining why only Sanders can fix the country. More than a hundred paid staffers have hit the ground, aided by Latino pro-Sanders groups from as far away as Los Angeles. On Sunday, Sanders even wound up in the same black Las Vegas church as Clinton, sitting at the opposite end of the first pew. The people of Nevada were some of the hardest hit by the Wall Street meltdown, Weaver said. People lost their homes, they lost their jobs. Clintons performance in Nevadas 2008 caucuses taught her campaign two crucial lessons heading into this years race. Her win of the popular vote revealed an advantage against Barack Obama among Latinos and Las Vegas union workers an advantage that they anticipated would grow even stronger against Sanders. And her loss of the delegate count, despite the popular win, revealed an organizational weakness and strategic shortcoming that her aides vowed to correct this time around. Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook, had run that 2008 Nevada campaign. In a January conference call with reporters, the campaign claimed a 25-point lead in the state. The culinary workers, an important constituency, were on the fence and not working on the other side. The Culinary Union endorsed Obama at the last minute, recalled Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, a Clinton endorser, during a visit to one of Clintons seven campaign offices over the weekend. Then, the members voted for Hillary. It was really something to see. The reverse may be happening this year. Despite her overwhelming support among union leaders, the Sanders campaign is making a concerted bid among the rank and file. The contrast was stark at the two candidates first post-New Hampshire rallies in Las Vegas. For Clinton, it was at a union hall in the suburbs, plastered with the banners of her labor allies AFSCME, the Ironworkers, the Bricklayers, the AFT, SEIU local 1107. Less than a thousand turned out, many of them at the behest of their unions. And among the diehards were people considering voting for Sanders. Hillary messed up on a couple big things, said Miguel Landeros, a 19-year-old apprentice and bricklayer who had come to the rally because the union was turning out members. People can say anything, but youve got to find out whether theyve acted, added Jose Ceniceros, also 19 and a member of the union. Those young Latinos were outnumbered by activists who could count the ways Bill Clintons presidency had helped them and by union members who were cold to Sanders promise of revolution. The presidency is not some Jet Ski that you ride over the waves of partisanship, said Linda Overby, 58. Clintons pitch was tailored precisely for skeptics like Overby. She recalled the 2008 economic crisis and suggested that the Obama Administration deserved more credit than it had received for financial reform and the Affordable Care Act. This state was especially hard hit, Clinton said. Too many people lost their jobs. Too many people lost their homes. I remember going door to door in 2008, walking streets and neighborhoods, into peoples homes, people who had done everything right but couldnt keep going because one family member had lost a job. Clinton has also reached out relentlessly to Latino voters, starting last year with an emotional roundtable with DREAMers undocumented Latinos brought to this country as children to whom both Clinton and Sanders favor granting legal status. The Sanders campaign, with a later start on the ground in Nevada, simply contrasts that with the consistency of his pitch for income equality. Over the weekend, the campaign dispatched surrogates including Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Chicago mayoral candidate Chuy Garcia to rev up young voters and talk to union members. More than 30 shop stewards from the culinary union took a meeting with Grijalva, who then sped over to a town hall meeting where dozens of Sanders volunteers got an education on immigration policy. People committed a year ago, seven months ago, and committed to Hillary regardless of what was going to happen, he said. But members are not locked in. The town hall was light on criticism of Clinton and heavy on policy. But the volunteers also learned what to say if anyone repeated a critique Clinton had made that Sanderss vote against the 2007 immigration bill meant he was not a true ally. I would have voted against it, too, said Grijalva. She voted for the fence, and Bernie didnt. So what does that say? Sanders rally at a high school gym on Sunday was at least twice as large as Clintons, the senator picking up a bullhorn to thank an overflow crowd. It skewed young, and it appeared to make converts out of people who had only just heard of Sanders. Inside the gym, a boisterous crowd repeatedly interrupted Sanders with cheers and chants of Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! as he ripped through his 45-minute stump speech, decrying the influence of the billionaire class and recounting his progress in a race against the anointed candidate of the establishment. Ferdinand Deguia, 28, a cook who said he was astonished to get his last W-2 and learn he made only $23,000 last year, said Sanders appealed to him on several counts. Among them: his pledges to raise the minimum wage and offer free tuition at public universities and colleges. And he liked what Sanders had to say about criminal justice reforms. I have friends and family whove got into the system, some for drug offenses, some more serious, Deguia said. Im seen it myself, the revolving door, and someones got to do something about it. BAGHDAD Nearly 50 civilians were killed in missile strikes on hospitals and two schools in northern Syria on Monday, the United Nations said, deepening the countrys humanitarian crisis despite plans for a temporary cease-fire later this week. Doctors Without Borders said that at least seven people were killed early Monday when rockets hit a clinic that it supports in Idlib province. The group also said eight people were missing in what it called a deliberate attack on its facilities. Doctors Without Borders did not say which group or military had fired the rockets, although rights groups have documented numerous Russian and Syrian government strikes on hospitals and medical facilities across the country. In total, at least five medical facilities and two schools in Idlib and neighboring Aleppo province were attacked on Monday, a U.N. spokesman said. Such attacks are a blatant violation of international laws, the spokesman said on Monday, according to the Reuters news agency. The fighting comes after Syrian regime forces backed by Russian warplanes, Iranian troops and Iraqi militia fighters have made significant gains against rebel forces in northern Syria in recent weeks. The advances have raised the stakes of the nearly five-year conflict, which has already transformed into a proxy war. Last week, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which have supported the Syrian rebels, said that they planned to intensify strikes on the Islamic State in Syria and that they were also considering deploying ground troops to the country. Turkish and Saudi officials walked back those statements on Monday after U.S. diplomats called for calm. Its not true, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said Monday of reports that Turkey had already sent in a limited number of troops. Syrias state-run Syrian Arab News Agency published a letter from the countrys foreign ministry to the U.N. Security Council over the weekend. It said Turkish forces were among 100 gunmen that entered the country Saturday in an operation to support anti-government rebels. There is no thought of Turkish soldiers entering Syria, Yilmaz said, according to Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also said late Sunday that the decision to deploy ground troops is up to the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State. The timing is not up to us, Jubeir said from the Saudi capital, Riyadh. But Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria, has vowed to prevent Syrian-Kurdish militias from seizing more territory that they could use for a future state. And Saudi Arabia has already been worried about growing Iranian influence in the region, analysts say. A Saudi diplomat said Sunday that Saudi Arabia was very serious about sending ground troops into Syria but that it will wait to see whether plans for a pause in hostilities agreed on by the U.S. and Russia transpires later this week. The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the disarray on the Syrian battlefield spurred Saudi Arabia to action. It was shocking and sad to read of the passing of the wonderful Justice Antonin Scalia. We now confront grave danger if we allow the radical Left to take control of our Supreme Court. Fortunately, there is no case before the court that cannot wait a year. F. Stephen Masek Mission Viejo The GOP reaction to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia is exactly why this election is so upside down. People are angry because government is not working for them. Obstructing a Supreme Court nomination is simply stupid. It will be the destruction of the GOP in the coming election. Instead, GOP senators do as was done in 1988 and negotiate for a less-partisan justice, Anthony Kennedy. The party and the country would win. Larry Severson Fountain Valley Beyond crime statistics Re: Prison realignment fears not borne out [Local, Feb. 12]: Register staff writer Jordan Grahams article is a perfect example of the disconnect between We the people and government bureaucrats. The state government dumped 8,000 early release criminals into our county and tells us everything is fine. They say this saves us all money, but it doesnt account for the devastation career criminals bring to a community. Ronald Owen Davies Laguna Hills On Obamas watch? Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continued to severely criticize the state of our nation, claiming they will fix the terrible economy, improve damaged race relations and fight for the rights of women and gays [Clash over minorities, money and president, Nation, Feb. 12]. Have they forgotten that President Obama has been in charge the past seven years? Yi H. Doo Irvine Executive overreach Re: Obama establishing Mojave Desert monuments [Briefly, Feb. 12]: The president will take 2 million acres of California land with the stroke of a pen. The Antiquities Act supposedly allows him to bypass congressional approval. That means California residents will not be able to access 2 million acres of our land. No driving. No camping. No hunting. No fishing. No nothing. Is there no stopping this federal takeover? Ronald Reynolds San Juan Capistrano Czech artist Jan Poope has created an experimental art device that allows you to pretty much ingest music and experience it from within your body. All you need to do is swallow the Audiopill and wait for it to take effect. The Audiopill is ingested orally and creates a feeling like you are standing in the middle of a concert hall with a powerful audio-system inside your own body. According to Poopes Indiegogo page, the pill comes in three preset beats 95 BPM (No Pussy Blues), 130 BPM (Die Antwoord), and 143 BPM (M.I.A). Once ingested, it will take an hour to travel through the upper section of your gastrointestinal tract. Then the fireworks begin, with a very intensive pain in your pelvic area that could make you regret your experimental courage. When the pain dies down, a beating pulse will take effect in your abdomen, creating mixed feelings of restlessness, amazement, and elation. This phase is best described as a rave, a 10-hour techno party that you wont be able to stop, because the Audiopill has no shut off mechanism. Swallow the thing and then for ten hours BANG the feeling inside your stomach BANG insanity BANG joy BANG horror BANG elation BANG extasy BANG pain BANG BANG BANG BANG the Indiegogo page proclaims. It sounds rather painful and dangerous, and it might very well be. Doctors and polymer experts who were consulted during the making of the device actually warned Poope never to swallow anything like this. He tells users to try it at their own risk, waiving all responsibility for any potential health problems. It is also recommended that you inspect your faeces to be sure the device has made it through and out safely (in approx. 48 hours), the page suggests. The warning seems to have been pretty effective the campaign closed on February 11, having raised only 148 of its 150,000 goal in a month. So it isnt clear if the pill ever will be mass produced or if its all just a big hoax. Only one person bought the Audiopill Solo, a handmade prototype of the promised device and we dont know if they ever got to try it out for real. With all the craziness in the world today, Im convinced a lot of people would actually try the Audiopill for the experience alone, self-preservation be damned. Photos: Audiopill/Indigogo In a bid to better control unruly crowds that gather during protests, police in northern India have decided to replace their modern arsenal with rudimentary weapons like slingshots and chili powder balls. The decision was made after they realised that these non-lethal options might prove to be more effective than water cannons or tear gas. It is much better than firing plastic bullets that can cause bad injuries, said Anil Kumar Rao, the Inspector General of Police in the state of Haryanas Hisar district. It will be used only in emergency cases so that we can manage minimum collateral damage. Police officers are currently being trained in the use of these specially designed locally made slingshots, learning to fire plastic balls filled with chili powder as accurately as possible. And if chili doesnt prove effective enough, they plan to switch to marbles. Photo: BBC There has been some concern among locals that marbles fired from catapults could badly injure civilians, but Abhishek Jorwal, chief of police in the Jind district, denies this. Marbles and chili balls wont cause any permanent damage but will pack enough punch to push protesters back, he said. Officers have been instructed to use slingshots and tear gas shells, and keep (pellet) guns and bullets as the last options. Its not like we plan to use marbles on peaceful protesters, Rao added. Its only meant to control hostile people. We have to step in and take certain action when people are burning government property, cars. This is a very, very positive step a civilised cost-effective weapon. Plus it is much better than firing plastic bullets which can cause pretty bad injuries Photo: Jon Roberts I guess it just goes to show that childhood pastimes can come in handy as job experience. via BBC A school in Sarajevo is making headlines for not only accepting a deaf student, but also teaching his entire class sign language to allow them to better communicate with him. The heartwarming story began in September last year when Mirzana Coralic requested the primary school in her neighborhood to enroll her six-year-old son, Zejd, who has a hearing disability. The teacher, Sanela Ljumanovic, accepted almost immediately, but on the first day of school, she noticed Zejd sitting all by himself, unable to communicate with any of his school mates. Sanela, determined to find a solution, tried developing a few tricks and signs of her own. But a parent of another child came up with an even better idea getting the whole class to learn sign language along with Zejd. So they got sign language teacher Anisa Setkic-Sendic on board, and three months later, Zejd was happily able to communicate to all his classmates about regular things like homework and games. Photo: video screen grab The other kids in Zejds class are quite happy as well. I like this language and I also think it will be useful when I grow up, said Anesa Susic, one of his classmates. I like to learn Zejds language so I can talk to him and to other deaf people, added Tarik Sijaric, another classmate. Now, sign language is getting quite popular at Osman Nakas primary school, with kids from other classes trying to learn as well. We are all happy as we are learning a new language, Sanela said, adding that sign language is great because it enables communication and also helps children become more sensitive towards people with disabilities. She now hopes that it can be included as a part of the official curriculum. Photo: Avaz.ba Although Bosnia has laws in place that allow children with disabilities to attend all schools, full integration has been rather difficult in practice. There arent many teachers like Anisa, mainly because the Ministry of Education does not pay for sign language classes. Zejd is truly one of the luckier children because the parents of the children in his class offered to contribute money to pay for the lessons. Of course, not all parents can afford to, but Sanela maintains confidentially about which parents pay and how much. We are finding ways, Anisa said. The children are growing, we cant wait for better times to come. Meanwhile, Sanela thinks the next goal is to teach Zejd to read lips. He is a good kid, a smart kid, she said. Sources: Skolegijum, Avaz 15/02/16-Costa Rica has made impressive economic, social and environmental progress, but further institutional and policy reforms will be necessary to ensure stronger and more inclusive growth, according to the first-ever OECD Economic Assessment of Costa Rica. The Assessment, presented in San Jose today by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria and Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis, underlines the countrys success in attracting foreign direct investment, boosting living standards and improving well-being over the past 30 years, but also points out serious challenges that have emerged, particularly as concerns public finances. The Costa Rican economy is gradually recovering from the global economic crisis, and is now expected to grow faster than most of the other countries in Latin America, as well as most of those in the OECD, Mr Gurria said. While growth is projected to remain strong over the coming two years, at about 4% annually, budgetary pressures are becoming more persistent. Putting the house in order will require raising more tax revenues, restraining public spending while improving its efficiency and ensuring that public finances are managed in an effective manner. (Read the speech in Spanish) The OECD Economic Assessment of Costa Rica feeds into the countrys ongoing OECD accession process, which was launched in April 2015. It aims to contribute to the design and implementation of reforms that will help Costa Rica continue modernising while improving living standards for all. The Assessment suggests that Costa Rica take immediate steps toward the consolidation of public finances, through programmed cuts to the government deficit over the coming three years. Swift implementation of the proposed tax reform, combatting tax evasion, eliminating tax exemptions and curbing growth in public spending will be critical. Introduction of a medium-term fiscal framework, with a clear and verifiable expenditure rule, is also recommended. To ensure continuing advances in income and living standards, the Assessment calls for new reforms to boost productivity growth. The main priority is to improve competition policy and governance of state-owned enterprises. Productivity would also be enhanced by promoting innovation, better access to finance and transport infrastructure. Reforms for bringing about a stronger economy go hand-in-hand with efforts to make Costa Rica a more inclusive society, notably for informal workers and women, according to the Assessment. Improving the quality of education and enhancing the effectiveness of cash transfers in reducing poverty would expand opportunities and share prosperity more widely. The report was presented in San Jose in the context of the official visit that the OECD Secretary-General is making to advance Costa Ricas accession process to the Organisation, including meetings with President Solis and several ministers, as well as members of the parliament, the business community, trade unions and civil society. An Overview of the Economic Assessment, with the main conclusions, is freely accessible on the OECDs web site at: http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-costa-rica.htm. Journalists are invited to include this Internet link in reports on the Survey. For further information on the Economic Assessment of Costa Rica, please contact Carolina Ziehl (+52 559 138 6235) in the OECDs Mexico City Centre or the OECD Media Office (+33 1 4524 9700). ***NOTE TO EDITORS*** The first OECD Economic Assessment of Costa Rica feeds into the countrys ongoing OECD accession process, which was launched in April 2015, on the basis of a decision by the OECD Council to open accession discussions with both Costa Rica and Lithuania. Costa Rica is now working through an Accession Roadmap, which sets out the terms, conditions and process for its accession to the Organization. The Accession Roadmap calls for a series of in-depth reviews conducted by 23 OECD technical committees, which, in turn, will provide a formal opinion to the OECD Council on Costa Ricas willingness and ability to implement OECD standards, and of its policies and practices as compared to OECD best policies and practices in the relevant area. These reviews are seen as an opportunity to support the Costa Rican authorities in pushing forward reforms consistent with OECD standards and best practices. There is no set timeline or end date for the accession process, and progress made ultimately depends on Costa Ricas response to recommendations made by OECD committees, formed by its 34 Member countries. The OECD promotes policies that improve the economic and social well-being of people worldwide. The Organisation provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. The OECD's members are: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Colombia and Latvia are in accession processes launched since 2013. For further information, journalists should contact OECD Media Officer Lawrence Speer (+33 1 4524 7970) or the OECD Media Office (+33 1 4524 9700). The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress. Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions. Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs. Loading... OilVoice will be with you shortly... Nothing says I love you like a handmade valentine. But only a 6-year-old boy would think the ultimate way of expressing just how much you mean to them is a crayon rendering of the fart gun he saw in the movie "Despicable Me." My son has always had a penchant for bathroom humor, but being able to share this through his drawings is a newly explored medium. Much like how I imagine a Jedi slowly realizes they are coursing with The Force, my son has felt this dark awakening in being able to express his love of flatulence-based comedy via art. Whether its recreating a fart gun or defacing pages of his mothers magazines so that everyone in the photos has a stink cloud emanating from their backsides ... Declan has really been exploring and heightening his talents. It would seem making valentines for his school buddies was just the opportunity he needed to really let his burgeoning skills shine. This year for Valentines Day, I asked the kids if they wanted to buy or make cards for their friends. I was surprised by a unanimous vote in favor of crafting. I dont think either of my children realized that "Star Wars" and "Paw Patrol-"themed pre-made notes were available, and I didnt really push the store bought angle because I was also unbelievably relieved to be making them. What crazy person is relieved to be creating 40 handmade valentines? The person who is looking for any way possible to use up the industrial block of construction paper they purchased at Costco back in October, that's who. In my defense, the price was to die for. I just didnt really understand how long it would take to go through 648 sheets of paper, 54 of which are black. So when faced with an opportunity to put all those pink and purple sheets to some practical art project use, I was elated. We cut out hearts and the kids went about coloring them with what I was hoping would be cute Valentines Day themes. Both kids started out in the spirit, with Mara drawing lots of hearts and flowers and Declan doing the same. I felt confident to leave them to it, working unattended at the kitchen table. Parent tip: Never turn your back on children and a half-finished art project. When I went to check in on their progress, Maras hearts kept to the holiday motif with her own little spin: colorful and abstract. Declans cards, however, had taken a turn to the bizarre swarms of smiling hearts had morphed into happy TIE fighters attacking an exploding "Starkiller Base." Another card featured ghosts and a spooky Halloween jack-o-lantern, and then there was the aforementioned fart gun. My son couldnt have been more pleased with himself, and no amount of reasoning (more like begging) could get him to alter his artistic vision. And so I did what I think any parent facing a hard Valentines Day party deadline and no other card options would do. I put them all in bags filled with colorfully wrapped candy and let him take them to school and hand them out to his friends. All but one, of course. Who knew a way to a moms heart was through a fart gun heart? *** 'Kantara' impact: 'Daiva Narthakas' above 60 years of age to get Rs 2,000 monthly allowance Late actor Puneeth Rajkumar to be conferred with 'Karnataka Ratna' award on Nov 1 Bengaluru: Kormangala residents march to ban 'Plastic Bags' Bengaluru oi-Shalini Bengaluru, Feb 15: When most of the couple in Bengaluru were busy in celebrating Valentin's Day with flowers and gifts, Kormanagala residents took an innovative initiative to ban plastic bags. The residents took the initiative in ward number 51 of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar palike (BBMP). After HSR, Yehlanaka, BTM, residents who implemented ban on plastic bags, now around 300 Kormangala residents turned up to participate in eco-friendly drive at Ganesha Temple Park pressing to put 'ban plastic bags' in the area. During the march women were seen wearing plastic bags and children, men raising voice to ban plastic and urged shopkeepers, consumers, residents to discourage its use. Meanwhile, people who participated earlier in Yehlanka, BTM, HSR drive to ban plastic, came to Kormangala to extend their support to the residents. "As we had already made successful drive to ban plastic bags in HSR, Yehlanaka, BTM and now it high time that it must be ban in Kormangala too. Last week we had meeting with vendors and I was surprised that shopkeepers got easily agreed to ban plastic in Kormanagala," said Soumya Reddy, an environment activist. "According to vendor they spent a lot in plastic bags and this move is good initiative for them too, as consumers demand plastic bags to carry small things too," she concluded. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 11:57 [IST] Buying terracotta diyas on Diwali isn't being 'vocal for local', must think big: PM Modi Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Indias First Regional Rapid Transit System train set to be handed over to NCRTC today Independence Day 2022: In a first, home-grown howitzer gun to be part of 21-gun salute Make In India in the year 2016-17 Feature oi-Lisa "Today India is demographically the youngest country in the world, with young dreams full of energy." "India has the potential to become the manufacturing hub for the world." "The current generation of youngsters don't want to be job seekers. The youth wants to be job creators." Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often said this in numerous speeches he has made at various occasions. India blessed with three Ds: Democracy+Demography+Demand. The 4th D is Deregulation - Prime Minister @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/OZ1l3Eeiqg Make in India (@makeinindia) February 13, 2016 Nothing can undermine the importance of manufacturing industry for a young nation like India. The demographic dividend that PM Modi has been talking about since 2013 when he kick started the Lok Sabha election campaign only emphasises how serious he is to ensure that India can gainfully employ its ever increasing work force. Most experts say that India is adding over 12 million people to the workforce every year. However, India is not able to create so many jobs each year to gainfully employ them all. Which is why PM Modi has shifted the entire focus on Make In India initiative. Make India your centre if your want this century to be your century -Prime Minister @narendramodi @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/7F9LZGO3zE Make in India (@makeinindia) February 13, 2016 To support the Make In India initiative Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank was set up through a statutory enactment. MUDRA Bank is there to lend financial support to non-corporate small business sector as it is the economic foundation of India but it is largely disaggregated business ecosystem that sustains around 50 crore lives. Currently India is hosting Make In India week in Mumbai. Taste+Textile+Fashion. @TheFDCI presents 'Weaves of Banaras', a showcase by India's top designers #MakeInIndia Week pic.twitter.com/u0yXlE5L8a Make in India (@makeinindia) February 14, 2016 MoU signed b/w Kullar Group, Fortraco International & Agroklaster Combi Line at #MakeInIndia Centre. #foodprocessing pic.twitter.com/C70pDQjGWt Make in India (@makeinindia) February 14, 2016 More training centres to be set up by @YamahaIndia to skill underprivileged youth @MSDESkillindia #MakeInIndia Week pic.twitter.com/rKTYhhal7K Make in India (@makeinindia) February 14, 2016 PM Modi had ahead of week-long Make In India event had promised to redouble reform efforts to attract global manufacturers to India and to also improve tax structure for the foreign companies and make sure that doing business in India becomes as easy as possible. PM Modi had addressed corporate and administrative envoys from 68 countries which included prime ministers and representatives from 1,000 international companies. Many including PM Modi want that both Make In India and Start-Up India should be able to foster entrepreneurial spirit of the youth of India so that we have many more job providers than job seekers. For those who think that Make In India is only about huge business houses need to check few of the Make In India success stories coming from across India. Success stories: The example of Mamata Sharma of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh shows how by using MUDRA Bank loan under Make In India it is easy to run a small business in organised way and also expand it. Mamata Sharma is also training other women and girls about how to manufacture handmade traditional purses. Ranchi, Jharkhand is where women are making artistic bangles and exporting them too under Make In India. Within 60 days women after training are making export quality bangles and now are self-employed and are also e-marketing their bangles. Agra which houses thousands of small shoes manufacturing units is also planning big time to expand business under Make In India. Even today Agra does business worth 1200 crores each year by exporting shoes to foreign countries. The early success for Make In India came when Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi set up a manufacturing center in India. India is soon to become the world's second-largest market for smartphones toppling the US. Other early success story comes from Airbus Group that wishes to boost its sourcing of aerospace parts from Indian companies. They plan to use $2 billion in the coming five years in India. Reliance Infra too gave an early boost to Make In India by agreeing to set up a shipyard close to Visakhapatnam's Navy Shipyard. Reliance's shipyard will be used to manufacture nuclear submarines. This Make In India in defence sector will sure help reach the ambitious target of Indian Navy possessing 200 warships by 2027. This defence Make In India is in addition to Hyundai Heavy Industries plan to get into a joint venture with Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam to manufacture warships. Hyundai is also ready to develop a mini SUV and make India the global manufacturing hub for the vehicle which it says will be under 4 meters in length. Other Korean firm like Samsung on other hand is collaborating with Kochi Shipyard to manufacture liquefied natural gas tankers. Make In India success in numbers: For 2016-17 it is expected that manufacturing sector will grow at 9.5%. Also manufacturing sector's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of India has come to 21% as compared to 16% contribution of last year. India has shown excellent growth in manufacturing furniture, electrical, textile industry, automobile and chemical industries. At UNSC, US calls on world to tell Russia to stop its nuclear threats US Presidential election 2016: Understanding Women's Suffrage Feature oi-Pallavi By Pallavi The US Presidential elections has been building up a long-tumultous history dating back to 1920. A crucial turn in the history of democracy, US saw a turning point which not only allowed women to practice their rights, but also let them participate in the nation's administration. When we talk about a Hillary Clinton or Carly Fiorina, it is not to be forgotten what women in the history of US democratic elections have to go through to reach this level. Much needs to be done even now, albeit the 104 women serving the Congress. What is Women's Suffrage? Women's Suffrage or the legal right of women to vote in the US was regional and was observed in certain pockets of the United States until it got nationalised in 1920. The movement for the same began to gather strength in 1840. In fact, the Seneca Falls Convention, in 1848, was the first women's rights convention that passed the first resolution in favour of the Suffrege, despite opposition from quarters who believed that it was too extreme an idea. [Read: US presidential election 2016: Caucus/primary schedules & results] After the formation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), the women hoped that their fight to vote will finally get a force and the Supreme Court would rule in favour of them. In fact, several attempts of the Suffrege to vote were turned down when they were sent away from polling booths. The leader of NAWSA Susan B. Anthony was, in fact, arrested for voting in 1872 and was sent on trial which further ignited the movement. When the Supreme Court ruled against the movement, fresh campaigns for the cause began. In 1916, over 200 workers from NWP (National Woman's Party), which is a militant group, were arrested on charges of picketing at the White House. While some women went on hunger strike, there were others who had to undergo forced feeding captivity. [Read: Party raiding: An interesting tactic in US presidential election primaries] Following this, the two-million-member NAWSA, under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, made a national suffrage amendment its top priority. Given the tenacity of the movement and a series of votes in the U.S Congress and state legislatures, the 19th Amendment finally became a part of the U.S Constitution on August 26, 1920. It stated: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." A one-of-a-kind achievement in the history of United States, women's suffrage changed the face of the State. But with a price! For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 14:58 [IST] "Kick us out if we don't do anything": How Modi's emotional appeal resembles that of Mamata Bengal polls 2016: JNU issue & 3 other reasons that may finalise Congress-CPM alliance in state Feature oi-Shubham By Shubham On Sunday, AICC secretary Paresh Dhanani was on a trip to Kolkata to gauge the mood of the state leaders of the Congress on the strategy for the Assembly election in West Bengal due in a few months. [Mamata welcomes former CPI(M) who called her 'Hitler in Sari': A costly move?] [Did Mukul Roy ever part ways with the Trinamool Congress?] The state leaders put up a string demand for a tie-up with the Left during their meeting with Dhanani though he said the final decision would be taken by senior leader AK Antony. The Congress, which has entered into an alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, is yet to take a call on allying with the Left in Bengal as the high command is reportedly waiting for the outcome of the CPI(M)'s Central Committee meeting scheduled next month. Both parties seem to be cautious on making a move that is unprecedented in Bengal politics, but some of the latest developments speak in favour of an alliance. Congress's tie-up with DMK in Tamil Nadu First is the Congress's alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu. The party, just like in West Bengal, is an equally weak force in Tamil Nadu but managed to revive its alliance with old friend DMK. The alliance there to take on Jayalalithaa, an equally powerful regional leader like Mamata Banerjee, will encourage the state Congress leaders to back their demand for a similar alliance with the Left in Bengal. The Bengal unit of the CPI(M) will also feel boosted by the Congress-DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu. JNU fiasco may help Congress and Left arrive at a common conclusion Second, the ongoing fiasco in the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and the authorities' hard response against the students of the Left-leaning institute could have a strong repercussion in the state polls. The vandalising of the signboard outside the CPI(M)'s headquarters in New Delhi allegedly by right-wing elements on Sunday and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's expressing solidarity with the students in JNU are likely to bring the Congress and CPI(M) close at some level and that could reflect in the Assembly polls in Bengal. Leaders and members of both the Congress and Left are set to walk together to protest the JNU incident which shows that they are eager to capitalise on the issue. Kerala leader Achutanandan's backing Cong-CPM alliance in Bengal will encourage the pro-alliance voices Third, veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan's backing a Congress-CPI(M) alliance in Bengal would give a big psychological push to the Left leaders of Bengal ahead of the Central Committee meeting and weaken the resistance shown by people like Prakash Karat, S R Pillai and Pinarayi Vijayan. Mamata had made alliance with both Congress & BJP in past but calls the idea of Cong-CPM alliance "unprincipled" Trinamool Conrgess (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee's describing the Congress and Left's inclination for an alliance as "unprincipled" will also make the demands for the tie-up stronger. The West Bengal chief minister herself has in the past allied with the Congress and BJP as the need arose. She also welcomed former Left leader Abdur Rezzaq Mollah in her party despite dissatisfaction among the supporters since they had suffered when the same Mollah was a dominant political figure during the Left rule. So the double standards in emphasising on principles could harm Mamata's image more and help the Opposition's efforts in forming an anti-TMC alliance. Launch of Hindi version of MBBS course books will bring positive change in country: PM Amit Shah hits out at Rahul Gandhi over JNU row India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Feb 15: BJP president Amit Shah on Monday launched a scathing attack on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his stand on the Jawaharlal Nehru University row. Shah said no anti-national activities would be allowed in the country. "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country," Shah said in a blog. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," he said. JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days' police custody on Friday although he denied raising the anti-India slogans. IANS Congress hits back, says it doesn't need lessons in patriotism India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Feb 15: Responding to BJP president Amit Shah's criticism of Rahul Gandhi over the Jawaharlal Nehru University row, the Congress on Monday said it does not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of thought process of Nathu Ram Godse". "Those who killed thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of thought process of Nathu Ram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here. JNU stir: 8 questions Amit Shah wants Sonia, Rahul to answer He said the Congress has a history of fighting terrorism and its leaders have made the supreme sacrifice for the unity and integrity of the country. He accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to suppress the voices of youth and students. He said anyone who had committed a wrong at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "There is freedom of expression in the country. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has similar views," Surjewala said. The government, he said, "should abandon the path of suppressing voices opposed to it" and focus on governance. Amit Shah in a blog said no citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," he said. The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges. The controversy started when some JNU students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days' police custody on Friday although he denied raising the anti-India slogans. IANS David Headley's wife, associate "refuse" to answer NIA questions India oi-PTI New Delhi, Feb 15: The US-based wife of American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and his business partner have "refused" to answer questions posed by NIA, citing a privacy clause. The agency had approached Shazia, Headley's wife, and Raymond Sanders, his busines partner, through the US Department of Justice, for helping it get answers to some of the questions related to the 55-year-old terrorist, undergoing a prison term of 35 years in an American jail, for his role in plotting the terror strikes in Mumbai and Denmark. Official sources said both of them "refused" to answer any questions, citing a "privacy" clause. As per the US law, since neither of them is an accused in the case, they can accept or deny requests for examination by a foreign law enforcement agency. The investigators had approached them as they feel Headley had stonewalled information about his family and that they had knowledge of his activities in India and his links with the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to the 106-page dossier of the NIA, Headley had told the Indian investigators that they should not ask him any questions pertaining to his immediate family. The dossier was prepared after the detailed questioning of Headley in the US in 2010. "I got married to Shazia Gilani in Pakistan in the year 1999...I do not want to discuss the details of my in-law's family as they have nothing to do with my activities...," Headley is quoted as having said in the dossier. Further stonewalling information about his immediate family, especially his first wife, Headley told the NIA team that "my request would be not to ask questions relating to my immediate family members." According to the Chicago court records, Shazia watched on TV the terror strikes unfold in Mumbai and used code words like "I am watching cartoons" to describe the 26/11 strikes. "Ive been watching these cartoons (attacks) all day and I am proud of you," Shazia wrote in an email to Headley during the strikes. In her congratulatory message, she also said how proud she was at his graduation (success of attacks). This was stated by Headley on May 27, 2011, the fourth day of the trial of co-accused Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana. He told Defence Attorney Patrick W Belgan that after the Mumbai attacks began many people congratulated him, besides Shazia, who was even aware of his plans for Denmark attacks and had booked plane tickets for him from Denmark to Frankfurt to Dubai and Pakistan. Sanders, who owns First World Immigration Service in Chicago's Devon Avenue, is believed to have helped Headley in securing a multiple-entry visa to India and setting up an immigration centre in Mumbai. Headley along with Rana had submitted business sponsor letter from the Immigrant Law Center owned by Sanders, a US national. However, the plan failed as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rejected an application by Headley seeking clearance to open a business account in June 2007. Interestingly, Sanders who had earlier assisted Headley in getting an Indian visa, also helped him in completing the formalities with regard to RBI, but the central bank rejected the application on June 1, 2007. The NIA wanted to know about his knowledge of Headley's association with LeT and whether he was aware that the name of his group was being used as a front to route terror funds to India, the sources said. Headley, whose original name was Daood Gilani, has two half-brothers -- Hamza and Daanyal Gilani -- both of them officers in the Pakistan Government. Headley had told NIA in 2010 that "Daanyal was also posted as the information officer in the then Prime Minister (Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani's) office and my father worked in the Pakistan Broadcasting Department. He had gone to the US on deputation to Voice of America." Sources close to the investigation said Headley's father Sayed Salim Gilani, a Pakistani diplomat and former Director General of Radio Pakistan, traced his ancestry to the same Gilani family to which the then Prime minister belongs. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 11:42 [IST] Partial solar eclipse on Diwali: Can you perform Lakshmi Puja on Oct 25? Delhi shocker: Minor rape victim delivers dead foetus at metro station India oi-Jagriti New Delhi, Feb 15: A minor rape victim delivered dead foetus at a metro station in Delhi, media reported on Monday. The shocking incident took place at the Keshav Puram Metro station when the girl was on her way to clinic for abortion. According to report, the victim was raped by her friend on pretext of job and later forced into prostitution. She was accompanied by the accused and one of his friends when the victim collapsed near the toilet at the metro station on her way to a clinic for abortion. "The girl collapsed near the toilet of the Keshav Puram Metro station, she was bleeding profusely from her private parts," police said, reported Zee News citing other sources. Haryana shocker: Policeman's wife raped in ICU after delivering a baby "The medical staff at metro station discovered she had delivered an underdeveloped foetus, which was around 5-6 months old and born dead," police officials added. The accused (Gulshan) and his friend have been arrested and booked under trafficking and rape charges. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 12:25 [IST] 'Appears to have lost its mental balance': Min Karandlaje on Opposition's demand to ban RSS Dons spar for top spot as underworld gets further communalised India oi-Shreyas Bengaluru, Feb 15: Underworld don Vicky Shetty has been deliberating his aides to work towards to push him to a position of Hindu don thus pawning out another don Ravi Poojary. This has further communalised underworld space as two dons are at loggerheads over claiming the title of Hindu Don. The publicity of Poojary in the underworld market has miffed Shetty and Vicky is going all out to seize latter's operations. Recently, in connection to JNU row, Ravi Poojary has reportedly made a threat call to a separatist leader, Syed Ali Gilani. Poojary has allegedly warned Gilani not to instigate JNU students against mother land, India. A close aide of Vicky Shetty laughs out loud saying this is his yet another publicity stunt as he is sulking don in the market. Jail assassination and communalisation The killing of murder convict Maddor Isubu aka Yusuf in the Mangaluru prison on Nov 2, 2015 was not the result of a group clash between the jail inmates but it was a well organized crime, revealed Vicky's aide. Isubu, a hardcore criminal who had links with Chhota Shakeel was pursuing anti-Hindu agenda. He was a part of a conspiracy to kill former Deputy Prime Minister of India, L K Advani in 2010, he added. The accomplice of Vicky Shetty, further continued claiming, the killing was organized and was hatched by Vicky Shetty to clear the underworld space from Muslim criminals. A week before to the incident, a batch of Vicky Shetty's top aides were transferred to Shimoga jail. The transfer was done after top aide of Vicky Shetty, Akashbhavan Sharan readied executers of the plan. The incident has gained, much desired Hindu don title to 'Anna' (Don, Vicky Shetty) in underworld circle. Seemigly miffed Poojary, is now resorting to threat calls as usual to project himself as saviour of Hindus in the nation. However the underworld knows who is emerging as Hindu don, Vicky's aide argued. Failed assassination bid to kill Rashid Malbari The arrest of two accomplice of underworld goon Vicky Shetty by the Mangaluru City Crime Branch in 2014 facilitated another criminal Rashid Malbari to flee India securing life. This was revealed to OneIndia by one of the close aides of Vicky demanding secrecy of identity."The two detained, Akashbhavan Sharan and Radhakrishna Shetty had been conspiring to slay Malbari." The assassination was part of larger plan to shape Vicky Shetty as a don' belonging to Hindu community thereby increase the market value among builders in Mangaluru and Mumbai. "Like our boss (Vicky), Poojary too hatched conspiracy to assassinate Rashid Malabri through his men inside Bellary prison but failed. "Poojary's men are incompetent of executing plans," Vicky's aide claimed. This throws light on spar between Vicky and Poojary over claiming Hindu don title. The source sensationally claimed while the CCB was waiting to sweep two criminals, another police official from Karnataka has been extending cover for duo. "The officer was in constant touch with duo, leaking intelligence information." It could be noted that the officer played a vital role in the arrest of Rashid Malbari. "Earlier in one instance Malbari had threatened the same officer to kill. In an act of avenging, the officer allegedly choked a deal with Vicky Shetty and another underworld goon Bannanje Raja. The IB sources in Mangaluru has conformed that the name of this officer has propped up in police circles over his doubtful correspondence with the two underworld elements. The arrest of two aides of Vicky by the CCB thwarted unleash of major bloodshed. On the other hand it facilitated Rashid secure life later to flee the nation. Malbari according to an officer from the Special Bureau (SP) is at large and hiding in Saudi Arabia, though his exact location untraced. Rashid Malbari is facing many criminal charges including illegal possession of arms and murder. OneIndia News Ericsson to help in India's digital transformation: Swedish PM India oi-PTI Pune, Feb 14: Swedish telecom major Ericsson would play an important role in digital transformation of India, Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven said today. Rounding off his two-day visit to India, Lofven applauded the Indian Government's "bold initiatives" to improve business environment through 'Make-In-India" that aims to promote manufacturing in the country. "Ericsson will have an important role to play in India's digital transformation," he said. Noting that Ericsson had about 22,000 employees at its facilities in India, he said, "I am proud that Ericsson is part of 'Make-In-India'", adding it was a "company of future." Lofven today visited an upcoming expansion facility at Ericsson's Chakan plant near here which, he said, would also serve as an export hub for the company's exports in South East Asia, West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. The company plans to manufacture current and future products for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies at this plant. Stating that confidence of Swedish companies in India was growing, the Prime Minister said, "Our commitment and contribution in India will continue to grow. We are here for a long term." Earlier, Lofven visited another leading Swedish venture -- Tetra Pak -- in the vicinity and said the product would ensure safe transport of food commodities such as milk to remote parts of India. Lofven was accompanied by Swedish Ambassador Herald Sandberg and Fredrika Ornbrant, the country 's Consul General for Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. The Swedish PM had yesterday attended the inauguration of 'Make-In-India' Week in Mumbai. PTI Partial solar eclipse on Diwali: Can you perform Lakshmi Puja on Oct 25? Hafiz Saeed on JNU row: Indian government fools its own people India oi-Jagriti New Delhi, Feb 15: Reacting on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's statement on JNU protest, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed said that alleging him for JNU protests "based on a fake twitter account is a prime example of how Indian government fools its own people". Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the demonstration on the JNU campus to mark the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru received "support" from Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed. His remark sparked a political uproar with opposition leaders asking him to furnish evidence. A twitter account with his name Hafiz Saeed on Sunday posted: "Alleging me for #JNU protest based on a Fake account in my name is a prime example of how Indian government fools its own people." "Reality of all Indian allegations, including 26/11 is evident from this fake twitter account scandal. Indeed a new low for Indian govt," said another tweet posted. JNU protest: Delhi police issues alert over alleged Hafiz Saeed's tweet One of the posts also said, "Pakistan's ideology is resonating from Srinagar to Delhi, can't hide reality. Kashmiris are writing history with their determination." National Conference leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah said it is a "very serious charge" to level against the students and that the evidence must be shared with all. Rajnath Singh on Sunday told reporters that what happened at Jawaharlal Nehru University had the support of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and it was very unfortunate. On the night of February 9, some students organised a meet at JNU to mourn the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police registered a sedition case on Thursday and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days police custody on Friday although he denied raising the slogans. Alleging me for #JNU protest based on a Fake account in my name is a prime example of how Indian government fools its own people. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 Reality of all Indian allegations including 26/11 is evident from this fake twitter account scandal. Indeed a new low for Indian gov #JNU Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (@HafizSaeedLive) February 14, 2016 OneIndia News (With agency inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 9:37 [IST] 'This may give sleepless nights to some': Eknath Shinde on sharing dais with Sharad Pawar Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav Headley has deposed, but for prosecution the real work starts now India oi-Vicky Bengaluru, Feb 15: In the week long deposition of David Coleman Headley, there were interesting disclosures that he had made. Deposing from a jail in the US where he is serving a 35 year old term for his role in the Mumbai 26/11 attack, Headley named several ISI officers who were directly involved in the attack. While Headley continued to take one name after another, he never once spoke about Zabiuddin Ansari, the man alleged to be the Hindi tutor of the ten terrorists. To recap the ongoing trial is about Ansari and his alleged role in the attack. Interestingly his name never cropped up even once which prompted his advocate to tell the media on Saturday that his client had not been named even once. Prosecution has its job cut out: For the prosecution the job ahead is going to be a tough one. In this particular case, they need to obtain a conviction for Ansari and with Headley not naming him even once, the job gets harder. Headley on the other hand has already been pardoned by the court after he agreed to turn approver. The prosecution will now have to cross examine Headley and ask him specific questions about Ansari. According to the case of the prosecution, Ansari had not only tutored the terrorists in Hindi, but was also part of the control room in Karachi from where the attacks were guided. While Headley did say he knew about the control room in Karachi, he did not name Ansari when a tape was played out. A tape of a conversation with persons in the control room and the terrorists had been played out for Headley. He identified the voices of three persons including Sajid Mir. However he said he could hear some more voices, but did not take the name of Ansari. Who is Zabiuddin Ansari? Ansari alias Abu Jundal is a resident of Beed in Maharashtra. He was first booked in a case in 2006 when a major cache of arms had been seized in Aurangabad. He however managed to flee from the country and joined the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He was then roped in by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to be part of the 26/11 attack. It is alleged that he gave Hindi tuitions to the ten terrorists. This was done to avoid any eye of suspicion when the terrorists landed in India. Jundal wanted them to sound Indian. After the attack, Jundal alias Ansari left for Saudi Arabia and was alleged to be setting up an Indian module for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Indian Mujahideen. He was traced by the Indian intelligence agencies and deported. OneIndia News (Interview) JNU campus row: Sedition is the only deterrent for anti India protests India oi-Vicky Bengaluru, Feb 15: The past few days has been spent discussing the JNU campus row. It started off with a protest against the hanging of Afzal Guru on his death anniversary and led to anti India slogan shouting which prompted the Delhi police to file sedition charges. It has become a very complex problem and threatens to repeat every year. What one must remember that in JNU there is a very strong lobby which feels that Kashmir must be granted freedom or at least granted the maximum autonomy. Hafiz Saeed on JNU row: Indian government fools its own people The Left thinkers and so called secularists form this part of the lobby says former special secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing, Amar Bhushan. In this interview with OneIndia, Bhushan says that the JNU has plenty of sympathisers who will raise the Kashmir bogey at someone's behest. Do you similarities in the issues of Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru? When Maqbool Bhat, the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front was hanged after being held guilty of two murders, it had become a ritual in Kashmir to protest. It went on for a period of time and gradually the intensity died down. Today they have found a symbol in Afzal Guru. Every year now they will stage a protest on his death anniversary in February and demand for his body to be returned. Moreover they will connect his death with the Kashmir issue and seek separation. Why is JNU a hub for such protests? In JNU there are sympathisers who speak on the behalf of these separatists. It is not now, but since the days I have studied there, I have found that there are voices which speak in favour of freedom for Kashmir or maximum autonomy. Today the intensity of such protests have gone up. Earlier many protests were restricted to Kashmir. However with networking improving today, the intensity and reach of these protests has gone up. Separatists realise that the publicity for their so called cause will be higher if done in the national capital. In this context they find JNU to be the best place as there are many sympathisers who will speak on their behalf. There are plenty of Left leaners and so called secularists who are there to support such a cause. In JNU, over the years since it was instituted, there have been a lot of Left thinking people in there. Many teachers as I know would get patronage from Russia and China. What are your thoughts on the police reaction at the JNU? The question is should the police get involved in campus politics or not. You cannot fault the police. If the university is able to manage things on the campus then there is no need for the police. What does one do if anti India slogans are shouted. Clearly the university has not been able to manage it and this has mandated the police to intervene. The students are demanding that one of their leaders be released. What are your thoughts on this issue? The problem is that these people have become the investigators and judges. They are now asking for the release of their leader. The police have filed a case and are investigating. Let the police probe and the court decide. None of these students want to go by the system. How can you ask for an unconditional release. They should go to court and ask for his release. The culture in India today is that people come to the roads, protest, indulge in violence and then make demands to release people. This is gaining in strength and is not a good trend. If you keep conceding that on and on the same thing will happen. What do you make of the Home Minister's statement that Hafiz Saeed had a hand in this protest? I am quite sure that Hafiz Saeed may have spoken to some of the organisers of this protest. He has a reason to raise the Afzal Guru bogey. He may have suggested to these people to make the protest more aggressive this time. Lastly sir, what are your views on sedition charges being slapped? Sedition charges do act a huge deterrent. However the track record of sedition charges sustaining is very low. More often than not they are dropped. Sedition charges involves a very elongated process of investigation. A message has to be sent in such cases and a very strong one. OneIndia News JNU row: Special cell may be told to probe sedition charges India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Feb 15: The probe into the sedition charges in the JNU campus row may be handled by the special cell of the Delhi police. A request to this effect has been made as the probe would also involve looking into alleged links between the protest and terrorist groups. The special cell of the Delhi police is more equipped to handle cases where terrorism is concerned. A communication to the Delhi police commissioner, B S Bassi from the DCP in the Delhi police seeks permission to hand over this case to the special cell. There have been allegations that some of the students were linked to pro terror groups and it was at their behest that anti India slogans were shouted. If there is a terrorism link to the case, then it is the special cell which is better equipped to handle it, the Delhi police official says. The Delhi police chief during a meeting with the Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh had assured of a speedy probe. Singh had told the police chief that the matter should be probed thoroughly but also cautioned that there should be no false case or witch hunt. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 11:25 [IST] Deprivation point to be brought back for PhD students in JNU JNU student leader's police custody extended to Feb 17 India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Feb 15: A Delhi court has extended the police custody of Kanhaya Kumar, JNU student union leader to February 17. Kumar was arrested by the Delhi police following a protest against the hanging of Afzal Guru. He was slapped with charges of sedition as during the protest last week as it had been alleged that he along with others had indulged in anti India sloganeering. The bail hearing of Kumar came up before the court today. The police argued that they required the custody of Kumar as the probe was still at a very preliminary stage. The police while opposing his bail plea said that they are probing charges of sedition and are also trying to find out who sponsored this event. The Delhi police have been probing to find out if the event at the JNU had been sponsored or had the blessings of any terror outfit. The police were also contemplating handing over the probe the special cell of the Delhi police. Since charges of sedition is being probed there has also been a proposal to hand over the investigations to the National Investigating Agency. A petition on whether the NIA should probe this case or not will come up for hearing before the Delhi High Court tomorrow. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 18:19 [IST] Jammu admin withdraws order allowing residents of more than 1 year to become voters Kashmir edition of Kumaon Literary Festival to begin in Srinagar next week Mehbooba Mufti gets notice to vacate official bungalow 'meant for J&K CMs' Mehbooba Mufti offers prayers at Sayeed's grave India oi-IANS By Ians English Srinagar, Feb 15: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday offered 'Fateha' prayers at her father Mufti Muhammad Sayeed's grave in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. Monday is the 40th day of mourning for Mufti Sayeed who died on January 7 in a New Delhi hospital. Mehbooba Mufti accompanied by her mother Nusrat Ara, brother Tasaduq Mufti, sister Rubiaya Sayeed and other members of the family went to Bijbehara town to offer prayers at her father's grave. Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary troops was made all along the 40-km road from Srinagar to Bijbehara town to secure passage for the Mufti family. While restrictions have been imposed in six police station areas of Srinagar, heavy deployment of security forces has been made in all major towns in south and north Kashmir areas to maintain law and order on Monday. A shutdown called by separatists affected life in the Kashmir Valley as public transport, markets and other businesses remained closed. The shutdown has been called in protest the killings of two youths, 19-year-old Danish Rashid Mir and 22-year-old Shaista Hamid, in firing by security forces in Kakapora area of Pulwama district on Sunday. Police said Shaista died from a bullet injury suffered during cross-firing between militants and the security forces. Danish, according to police, died because a tear-smoke shell hit him on the head when protestors were trying to break the cordon laid during a gunfight in the area. Ten other civilians injured in the protests at Kakapora on Sunday are being treated in two hospitals in Srinagar city. IANS 'Kantara' impact: 'Daiva Narthakas' above 60 years of age to get Rs 2,000 monthly allowance Late actor Puneeth Rajkumar to be conferred with 'Karnataka Ratna' award on Nov 1 NIA unearths plot to make Bengaluru fake currency hub India oi-Vicky Bengaluru, Feb 15: The National Investigating Agency which busted a module that fake Indian currency has learnt that there were attempts being made to make Bengaluru a hub. A group of persons from Assam were picking up fake currency from the Bangladesh border and bringing it down to South India and circulating the same. The module boss, Saddam Hussain who was arrested on September 9 2015 at Vishakapatanam with fake currency of Rs 5 lakh had revealed details about the operations. The NIA's Hyderabad office had taken up this investigation and it had been found that these persons were planning on operating several hubs in South India. The NIA even arrested one Amirul Hoque a 22 year old resident of Assam from Bengaluru late on February 13. His name had cropped up during the investigation of Hussain. Hoque was part of the same module that was involved in circulating fake currency in Bengaluru and other parts of South India. The investigations had found that this module would pick up fake currency from Malda in West Bengal and then bring it to Bengaluru and other cities in South India. The intention was to circulate fake currency and earn money on a 2:1 ratio. This meant that for every two fake currency notes, they would exchange it for one genuine one. OneIndia News 'Politicians backing JNU stir be stripped off elected status' India oi-PTI Mumbai, Feb 15: Taking an aggressive stand on the turmoil at JNU, Shiv Sena today said all politicians who support the students' agitation should be stripped off their 'elected status' and those raising slogans against India put behind bars. Citing the example of cricketer Virat Kohli's Pakistani fan being declared an "anti-national" by the neighboring country for waving an Indian flag, the Sena said all those sloganeering against India should be declared "anti-nationals". "All those who are sloganeering against India should be immediately put behind bars. The JNU campus has now become a hub of not only anti-nationals, but of Pakistani and Chinese agents, who are indulging in anti-national activities on government's money," an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said. "If elected representatives come forward in support of anti-nationals, there should be a provision in the law that such representatives should be stripped off their elected status. More than Pakistani terrorists, democracy and freedom is strangulating the country," the ruling ally said. The Sena further said that there should be a "combing operation" on institutions where prayers are being held for terrorists like Yakub Memon and Afzal Guru. "If a Pakistani fan of Virat Kohli can be declared an anti-national by that country for waiving an Indian flag, why are people who shout anti-India slogans treated with kid gloves. The government has to take firm steps," it said. Hitting out at the Congress, the Sena said, "There is ruckus created in the Parliament if somebody celebrates the birth or the death anniversary of (Nathuram) Godse. Why Congress does not create a ruckus now when a day of remembrance is being observed for Afzal Guru." PTI We want foundation stone of Ram Temple to be laid on Dec 6: Sadhvi Prachi Rahul's mother needs to define nationalism: Sadhvi Prachi India oi-PTI New Delhi, Feb 15: Controversial Hindutva leader Sadhvi Prachi today visited JNU to express solidarity with ABVP members who are protesting against an event on campus in support of Afzal Guru, where she attacked Rahul Gandhi for his solidarity with the students on this issue. "Rahul's mother needs to answer the nation what the definition of nationalism is. They live on India's money and praise Pakistan. All those who are supporting these anti-nationals should also be punished," she told reporters outside JNU. While Sadhvi claimed that she was not allowed to go inside the campus, the varsity authorities maintained that neither the administration nor the security was approached for her entry into the campus. "Freedom of expression does not mean you can say anything against the country...Rahul's membership of the Lok Sabha be terminated for supporting anti-national elements. D Raja's daughter, who was also part of the protest, should be arrested," Sadhvi said. The ABVP members staged parallel protests on campus shouting slogans against the left-leaning students who are supporting JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is in police custody in a sedition case over an event held on campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Rahul Gandhi had joined the left-wing leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja on JNU campus on Saturday where he compared the Modi government's rule to that of Hitler's regime and asked the students to be not "bullied" by the government. PTI 'This may give sleepless nights to some': Eknath Shinde on sharing dais with Sharad Pawar Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav Railways to invest Rs.9,800 crore on Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train India oi-IANS By Ians English Mumbai, Feb 15: Indian Railways announced on Sunday it will invest Rs.9,800 crore in the bullet train project along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor. The train, that would run at speeds of 300-350 kmph, would be mostly funded by the Japan Investment Co-operation Agency (JICA) which would provide 81 percent of the investment as loan at an interest rate of 0.1 percent, Railway Board chairman A.K.Mittal told reporters here on the sidelines of the ongoing Make In India Week event. The loan will be spread over 50 years and will have a moratorium of 15 years, he added. Besides, 20 percent of the components will be sourced from Japan, but will be manufactured in India. India-Japan collaboration: Bullet trains a big boost to Indian railways Mittal also said that the railway board has identified the Bandra-Kurla complex as the location for railway station in Mumbai. "The station will be constructed three levels underground and hence will not hinder the financial centre that is being planned in the same area. In fact, a high-speed rail will improve the valuation of the land," he said. IANS SC upholds 'army promotion policy', asks Govt to create 141 posts India oi-PTI New Delhi, Feb 15: The Supreme Court today upheld the 2009 'command exit promotion' policy of the Indian Army and asked the Centre to create 141 additional vacancies to the rank of Colonel to promote officers of 'Combat Support' streams. A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice Kurian Joseph "partly allowed" the appeals of the Ministry of Defence against the March 2015 order of Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) which had quashed the Centre's 2009 'command exit promotion' policy on the ground that it violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution. The AFT had quashed the policy on grounds including that the officers of Infantry and Artilery were getting undue favour in promotions over officers of 'Combat Support' corps such as Engineering and Medical. "We partly allow these appeals and while setting aside the order passed by the Tribunal (AFT) direct that the appellants (Centre) shall create 141 additional posts of Colonel to be allocated to 'Combat Support' stream for being utilised by appointing officers who are eligible for promotions against the same as in the year 2009 over a period of 5 years till 2014," the bench said. The bench, in its verdict, however, agreed with the contention that the officers of arms support corps have been "unfairly" denied their dues in promotions. "Having given our anxious consideration to the submissions made at the bar, we are of the view that the additional 141 vacancies which ought to have been allocated to Arms Support in the year 2009 were unfairly denied to them. "It has taken the aggrieved officers and legal process considerable time to have the said unfairness and injustice reversed by creation of additional vacancies. These vacancies shall, therefore, be taken to have been created as in the year 2009 and promotions against same made from out of officers who were eligible for such promotion as in that year," it said. In other words, the additional 141 posts shall, for all intents and purposes, be deemed to have been available for being "filled-up as in the year 2009 but to be actually filled-up in 5 years between 2009-2014," it said. PTI Shahrukh Khan's car damaged by VHP workers in Gujarat India oi-PTI Ahmedabad, Feb 15: Shouting slogans against Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, VHP members threw stones at a parking lot of a luxury hotel on Sunday, Feb 14, damaging his car in continuing protests against the shooting of his upcoming film "Raees" in Gujarat over his earlier remarks on "intolerance". The film's crew members are staying in the hotel but the 50-year-old actor was not there at the time of the incident as he arrived here only this afternoon. After an FIR for rioting and damaging property was filed in this regard in the evening, at least seven persons, claimed to be associated with the right-wing organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), were detained, police said. According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) B U Jadeja, 8 to 10 persons threw stones in the open parking lot of Hyatt Regency Hotel on Ashram Road, where Shahrukh's vehicle was parked, this morning and fled from the spot. "As per the complaint lodged by the Security Officer of the hotel, 8 to 10 persons came on bikes and threw stones on cars parked in the open parking lot early this morning. Due to the stone pelting, windscreen of Shahrukh Khan's car got damaged," said Jadeja. "We have learnt that Shahrukh Khan was not there in the hotel when incident took place. Some of his crew members, who have come here for shooting, were staying in the hotel. Shahrukh landed in the city this afternoon for the shoot," he added. The shooting is taking place in Bhuj. Meanwhile, a video showing unidentified persons throwing stones inside the hotel also surfaced on social media platforms. In the video, they can be seen shouting slogans against Shahrukh and fleeing on bikes after throwing stones. Gujarat unit of VHP claimed responsibility for the incident. The outfit's State spokesperson Raju Patel said the detained persons are associated with VHP and threw stones on Shahrukh's car as part of their ongoing protests against the actor. Around 20-30 VHP activists had last week handed over a memorandum to Bhuj district officers and demanded withdrawal of the permission given for the shooting of the film. They protested outside the district Collectors office pressing for the same demand and shouted slogans against the actor and also burnt and tore his posters. In November last year, Shahrukh sparked a debate when he said during an interview that there was "extreme intolerance" in India. However, the actor retracted his statements just a few days later, claiming his comments were "misconstrued". PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 15, 2016, 10:38 [IST] Was aware of possible avalanche risk in Siachen: Parrikar India oi-PTI Mumbai, Feb 15: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said his ministry was aware of the possible risk of avalanche at Siachen glacier but not of the exact spot where the snow slide struck killing ten soldiers earlier this month. "We had the information about the risk of avalanche in Siachen glacier. However, this information was not meant for this particular place (where the disaster occurred)," Parrikar said while addressing media on the sidelines of 'Make In India' event here. Ten soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of Madras Regiment, were trapped under tonnes of snow after their post was hit by avalanche at the altitude of 19,000 feet close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan on February 3. While all of them were confirmed dead earlier, the rescuers found Lance Naik Hanmanthappa Koppad alive under snow after six days. However, he died on February 11. "Still, I am personally monitoring each and every case relating to the battle casualty on monthly basis so as to ensure that the families of the victims get all the relief in time," Parrikar said. Replying to a query on the report of supply of F-16 planes by the US to Pakistan, the minister said, "Only a notification for the proposed supply of F-16 planes to Pakistan is issued by the US Congress. However, we have already raised an objection to the US' move on the issue". India had already conveyed its "displeasure and disappointment" over the Obama administration's decision to sell eight F-16 jets to Pakistan worth nearly USD 700 million. PTI Watch: BJP MLA OP Sharma, supporters thrash 'CPI leader' shouting 'Pakistan Zindabad' India oi-Reetu New Delhi, Feb 15: In a shocking incident, BJP MLA from Delhi OP Sharma thrashed a man outside Patiala House court on Monday along with his supporters. According to reports, the man was shouting 'Pakistan Zindabad'. OP Sharma, who had come to the court complex in connection with the hearing in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, allegedly roughed up Ameeque Jamai, who is said to be a CPI activist. At least six persons, including students and mediapersons, were thrashed on Monday by a group of men in lawyer's robes inside and outside a Patiala House court where the sedition case against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was to be heard. Delhi BJP MLA OP Sharma and his supporters beat up an unidentified man outside Patiala House courthttps://t.co/PFv8ku45kV ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 A scuffle broke out before the court took up the hearing, as some men, said to be lawyers, entered the court room and allegedly started pushing out students and teachers, mostly from JNU, and media persons, asking them to leave the premises. JNU: Lawyers turn violent at Patiala court, attack varsity faculty, media "You (JNU) produce anti-nationals and terrorists. You should get out of the country. Long live India, shut down JNU," they shouted and then pushed the students and teachers out. "When the proceedings were going on, some people wearing lawyers' gowns first started hurling abuses at us. Ques: Jo Pakistan zindabad ke naare lagaayega usko... BJP MLA OP Sharma: Maarenge pic.twitter.com/HRKc8hYNUx ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 And then suddenly some of them, without any provocation, started beating us badly. They pushed us and beat us up including women students," AISF President Waliullah Qadri told reporters. Jo Pakistan Zindabad ke naare laga rha tha usko hum pakad rahe the, maar nhi rhe the: BJP MLA OP Sharma pic.twitter.com/81t30dALE4 ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 The students and teachers refused to go out of the court room and said they have a right to attend the proceedings as it was an open court hearing. At least three students were thrashed by the group of men. Ques: Kya aapne deshbhakti ka theka le rakha hai? BJP MLA OP Sharma: Han le rakha hai pic.twitter.com/E8MFQShpFe ANI (@ANI_news) February 15, 2016 The group also began to check the identity cards of media persons and asked them also to leave the court room. The media persons objected to their demand and refused to move out of the court room when they were attacked by the men, who accused the media persons of being JNU supporters and accused them of wrong reporting. Two print and electronic media reporters were injured. There was heavy police deployment in the court complex, but the students alleged that they did not take any action against this group. The policemen later drove all the students, teachers and mediapersons out of the court complex. OneIndia News (With inputs from agencies) Israel ex-PM Olmert begins jail term in corruption case International oi-PTI Jerusalem, Feb 15: Disgraced former prime minister Ehud Olmert today became Israel's first ex-premier to be jailed as he began serving a 19-month sentence in the biggest corruption scandal in the Jewish nation's history. 70-year-old Olmert entered Ma'asiyahu Prison in Ramle this morning, nearly two months after the apex court upheld his bribery conviction. Earlier in the morning, hours ahead of his incarceration, he insisted that while he accepted the sentence, he was innocent of taking bribes, the Times of Israel reported. "As prime minister I was entrusted with Israel's security, and now I am the one who is about to sit behind bars. You may well imagine how this transformation is painful and strange to me," Olmert said in a short video released shortly before he departed for the prison. "At this time I want to say that I deny outright the charges relating to bribery attributed to me," he said. "It is also important for me to note that all the charges do not touch on the time of my tenure as prime minister. It is with a very heavy heart that I accept the sentence no one is above the law," he concluded. A Jerusalem court last week added another month behind bars to his jail term after he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in various cases against him. The plea deal was the first admission of wrongdoing by the former premier and Jerusalem mayor, who has consistently maintained his innocence throughout eight years of legal proceedings in various graft cases. Olmert admitted to trying to persuade his former secretary not to testify against him in the Holyland scandal and of trying to buy her silence, and a second affair involving cash infusions from US businessman Morris Talansky. In December, the Supreme Court reduced Olmert's sentence from six years to 18 months in prison, and acquitted him on one of the charges, bringing an end to what was dubbed the largest bribery scandal in Israel's history. The Holyland scandal refers to a housing project of high rise buildings over a hilltop overlooking the city. In 2010, Olmert was named the key suspect in the case and was accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of shekels for helping developers get the project past various legal and planning obstacles. Olmert, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2009, was sentenced in May, 2014 to six years in prison on two separate charges of taking bribes. He was forced to resign as premier in 2009 when the corruption allegations surfaced. He was also fined 1 million shekels (about USD 250,000) in 2014 for receiving some 500,000 shekels (USD 125,000) in bribes through his brother in the Holyland case during his tenure as Jerusalem mayor before becoming prime minister. PTI Pope wants Mexico free of 'merchants of death' International oi-PTI Ecatepec, Feb 14: Pope Francis celebrated an open-air mass with 300,000 Catholic faithful in a crime-plagued Mexican city today, urging them to create a country free of emigration and "merchants of death." The pontiff used the service in Ecatepec, a rough Mexico City suburb, to touch on two major themes of his trip to Mexico -- drug violence and the plight of migrants. The pope urged his flock to turn the country into a "land of opportunity," where "there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream" and where they will "not have to mourn men and women, young people and children who are destroyed at the hands of the merchants of death." Ecatepec, a city of 1.6 million people, has become infamous for a spate of disappearances of women, whose bodies have turned up in abandoned lots or canals. The city lies in the populous state of Mexico, where some 600 women have been killed between January 2014 and September 2015, according to the non-governmental National Citizen Observatory of Femicides. Francis urged the faithful to resist the three temptations of Christ -- vanity, pride and wealth -- during the homily. "Brothers and sisters, let's get this into our heads: You can't talk with the devil. You can't talk with him because he will always defeat us," the 79-year-old emphasized, going off-script from his prepared remarks. "Only the Word of God can defeat him. We have opted for Jesus and not the devil," he said. The pontiff received a jubilant welcome after arriving from Mexico City in a helicopter, which had flown him over the majestic Moon and Sun pyramids of the pre-Columbian city of Teotihuacan. Throngs lined the concrete-laden streets of Ecatepec, whose walls were decorated with graffiti art featuring the pope's image, to cheer the popemobile on the second full day of a trip that will take him to other Mexican hotspots. Thousands had spent the night outdoors, wrapping themselves in blankets and using cardboard as makeshift tents against the freezing cold. Hundreds of police officers stood guard around the field. "We know that Ecatepec has a lot of problems like the lack of security and kidnappings," said Rodrigo Perez, a 25-year-old public security student. But the pope's visit, he said, is a chance to "talk about peace and unity." The Argentine-born pontiff made it clear before his arrival in Mexico that he would speak out about the corruption and crime afflicting parts of the country. AFP JNU: Lawyers turn violent at Patiala court, attack varsity faculty, media New Delhi oi-Shubham New Delhi, Feb 15: A brawl took place at the Patiala House court here on Monday afternoon after about 40 lawyers present inside the court shouted slogans against the Jawaharlal Nehru University asking the institute's faculty to leave the court. [Gomata vs Gopalan: The fierce right vs Left conflict in India with none to balance] The lawyers, heard shouting 'Bharat mata ki jai' and 'Vande Mataram', also attacked students and the media personalities present at the court premises. They then forcibly tried to evict the faculty members present inside, following which women police constables were summoned, and the faculty was requested to leave. The lawyers also reportedly demanded the media persons to leave the court. LivePhoto:Violence at Patiala House Court, where lawyers are seen thrashing journalists and students. #JNU via @dna pic.twitter.com/AnM6xTuoVh Ahmer Khan (@ahmermkhan) February 15, 2016 JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was due to be presented after he was arrested and charged with sedition by the Delhi Police on Friday (Feb 12). He was then sent to three-day police custody. His arrest drew widespread outrage from students, teachers and non-BJP parties. On Sunday, JNU teachers rallied behind the protesting students and criticising the decision of the authorities to unlease police action on the campus and requested people not to refer to the university as "anti-national". Oneindia News 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Daniel Lee (Image by Daniel Lee) Details DMCA Daniel Lee, a filmmaker, policy wonk, and grassroots activist has entered the electoral political fray. Culver City must be happy and proud that they have someone of Lee's caliber willing to serve. As a 13 year resident, he is very familiar with the needs of the community. Before even considering running for the Culver City council, Lee was busy doing his civic duty in Culver City and the surrounding communities. He has been a member of the Culver City Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee for the last 5 Years. He developed and implemented a Civil Rights Curriculum at the Culver Teen center to increase youth involvement and forge stronger connections between the committee and the community at large. Daniel Lee has been a progressive activist in the realm of environment, media, political reform and foreclosure defense throughout Los Angeles County. He helped lead the successful campaign of Move to Amend Los Angeles to get the City of Los Angeles to become the first major city in the country to call for an amendment to the constitution that explicitly states that "corporations are not people" and that "money is not free speech." Lee's accomplishments did not go unnoticed. He was asked to join Move to Amend's national board. In his leadership capacity he travelled the entire nation educating, enlightening, and empowering Americans, not only on their constitutional rights, but on rights they must assert in our body politic -- from local politics to national politics. A few years ago I saw Daniel Lee at the Democracy Convention in Madison Wisconsin. He always had a full house for his sessions. When the questions and answers were complete it was immediately evident that he both commanded not only the topics of constitutional rights but the need to get Americans engaged in our body politic. Lee has a B.A. in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California. He has complemented his social activism and political activism with a Masters degree in Social Welfare from UCLA. Lee is a veteran of the US Air Force and Air National Guard. There he learned and experienced the sacrifices of our enlisted and commissioned armed forces. Daniel Lee leads by example based on a solid upbringing that made serving a part of his DNA. He grew up first in Alabama and then Florida. He had the best mentor one could ask for, a grandmother that taught directly and by example. He drove with her as she fed the hungry. He spent time with her as she visited jails and prisons to provide support for many from their communities. Lee's mother and grandmother ensured that the extended family were well read. It was important that they knew 'the struggles of our past ancestors so that we would know where we truly stood and how we were valued by the world at large.' Daniel Lee's grandmother and mother, with their actions and teachings crystallized a sense of fairness in Lee's mind. It informed Lee's political identity as it developed through adolescence and into adulthood. He immediately understood that people were not entitled to resources and respect because they had earned nor deserved them, but instead simply because they were people. Throughout the country there is a great excitement for a national candidate. Bernie Sanders has garnered the admiration, respect, and financial support from millions who love what he is saying. He speaks both to their hearts and to their needs. It is however very important that Americans remember an important fact. The politicians that have the most effect on our lives are our local servants, city council members, house representatives, etc. Someone who moves from community activist/political activist/organizer with quantifiable successes deserves attention. Most importantly they deserve the community's support. It is imperative that more grassroots activists make the leap into electoral politics. Only when seeds are allowed to sprout can real change be realized. Learn more about Daniel Lee, his platform, and his endorsements here. Reprinted from Hightower Lowdown Reinventing business "ethics": How corporate honchos gave themselves cover to be as rapacious as they wanna be Attention class! Here's our word of the day: "Hegemony." Can you say heh-jeh-meh-nee, boys and girls? The word describes a situation in which some force (a group, a creed, a strongman, an ideology, etc.) becomes the domineering power over a society. Think of a gang of schoolyard bullies. Like them, various kinds of hegemonies have arisen throughout history to rule local, national, and even global "schoolyards," shoving other interests aside and subordinating the whole community to their will. Today, we Americans (and indeed, most people around the world) are facing an especially virulent, plutocratic version of this overbearing power. It's called Shareholder Hegemony. Never heard of it? No surprise. It is rarely mentioned by the mass media, not taught in our schools, and politicians almost never it bring to public attention. Also, it can't be seen, for it's not an incarnate hegemony, like an emperor, church, cartel, or occupying army. Rather, it's an ideological concept, really nothing more than a figment of the corporate imagination. And yet, during the past three decades, it has become the preeminent force shaping everything from economic and political inequality to global climate change and your civil rights. Shareholder hegemony is a doctrine asserting that the first, foremost, and only moral obligation of corporate executives is to maximize the profits of their shareholders. Absurd? Yes. What about customers, workers, communities, suppliers, the environment, the nation, the common good, and all the other legitimate interests directly impacted by corporate decisions? "Not our problem," the proponents say, "for our strict duty is to do whatever it takes to make as much money as we can for those who own our stock -- everyone else be damned." This grotesquely shriveled ethical standard has been fabricated and foisted on us by a tiny group of insiders who comprise what amounts to a cult of Machiavellian corporatists. They number only a few thousand people, including CEOs, board members, in-house lawyers, Wall Street money managers, lobbyists, right-wing think tank ideologues, and business school deans. Yet, collectively, these elites have become the formulators and promulgators of the corporate order that now dominates our nation of 323 million supposedly sovereign people. The recent ascendancy of corporate supremacy in America is not happenstance. It has come over us incrementally during the past 30 years or so by the deliberate design of moneyed interests. Key to their steady rise has been the corporate cult's use of rhetorical flimflammery to make our society accept their fantastical "shareholder uber alles" tale as something real, something we should believe and adopt as a core governing principle. Their big breakthrough came in 1970, when their ideological mumbo jumbo received a veneer of academic legitimacy from the University of Chicago's reigning guru of laissez-faire economics, Milton Friedman. He embraced shareholders-above-all as an absolute truth: "Do corporate executives, provided they stay within the law, have responsibilities in their business activities other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible?" he asked, before he answered unequivocally, "No, they do not." Surely Friedman snickered when he added that sly qualifier "provided they stay within the law." As we've all learned, corporations write the law, routinely dumping millions of dollars a year into lobbyists, lawyers, legislators, and judges to ensure that the definition of what's legal will stretch like a giant prophylactic over practically any corporate sin. Indeed, in an amazing demonstration of the cult's manipulative magic, by the mid-1990s it had elevated its shareholders-first postulation into such widespread public use that it was perceived as law: Enough professors, CEOs, lobbyists, reporters, et al, had repeated the phony notion of shareholder primacy so often and so emphatically that they managed to weasel it into America's vast and vacuous trove of conventional wisdom. Not only had they created a lie that wouldn't die, but they beefed up its hegemonic punch by proclaiming that corporate managers are legally bound to act to harm workers or any others if those actions financially benefit shareholders. Even many progressives were caught up in the powerful riptide of this "legal obligation" excuse. Watchdog Ken Jacobson notes in a 2012 Alternet article that our solidly progressive friend, Sen. Al Franken, hornswoggled by the corporate claim, once declared: "It is literally -- literally -- malfeasance for a corporation not to do everything it can to maximize its profits. That's a corporation's duty to its shareholders." In fact, there is no legal basis for ranking stock prices and corporate owners above any other interest. No national law requires it, nor does any state law. More tellingly, not even one corporate charter has been found that so much as mentions a duty of executives to increase stock prices to maximize stockholder profits. To the contrary, until the 1970s, when the cultists started pushing their radical (and ridiculous) model of "shareholder capitalism," a more humble corporate culture preached and practiced "managerial capitalism," to balance the drive for profits with the needs of various other constituencies. Jacobson cites a 1943 "credo" penned by Robert Wood Johnson, founder of Johnson & Johnson, designating five groups to be served: Customers were first, workers second, managers third, and communities fourth. Shareholders, he declared, were the "fifth and last responsibility" of the company. Johnson also wrote that, while "business must make a sound profit," much more is required from corporate executives: "We must be a good citizen -- support good works and charity, and bear our fair share of taxes. We must maintain in good order the property we are privileged to use. We must participate in the promotion of civic improvement, health, education, and good government..." In another excellent report on the fallacy of shareholder supremacy, written two years ago for The American Prospect, business journalist Steven Pearlstein noted the abrupt shift that the Business Roundtable had made in its definition of corporate responsibility. In the 1980s, the Roundtable (a lobbying collective for large US corporations and banks) formally recognized the important "symbiotic relationship" that the corporate community enjoys with the larger community from which it benefits. The group publicly acknowledged the "responsibility" of corporations to provide "first of all" quality goods and services at fair prices, as well as providing jobs and building the economy. By 1997, however, the Roundtable's statement of corporate purpose withered from serving the public good to serving shareholders alone. Singing from Friedman's one-note hymnal, the group decreed: "The principal objective of a business enterprise is to generate economic returns to its owners." As for everyone else: Adios, chumps. We recently featured hundreds of Van Goghs paintings, sketches, and letters downloadable from Amsterdams Van Gogh Museum. But despite its name, that respected institution hasnt devoted itself entirely to the work of the 19th-century post-impressionist painter; theyve also got a serious stock of art from roughly the same period but the other side of the world in the form of Japanese woodblock prints. And like their Van Gogh materials, theyve made them available to all of us in high resolution files, free for the downloading in their online collections. All of us will recognize this style of Japanese art, but not all of us will know its Japanese name: ukiyo-e, or pictures of the floating world that is, the world of scenic travels through striking landscapes as well as urban beauties, sportsmen, actors, and ladies of the night that bloomed from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Not only did that heady period of Japanese history provide these woodblock prints their subjects, it also provided the technology used to produce them with increasing color and complexity as well as a merchant-class audience to purchase them as home decor. The Van Gogh Museums selections come from a time of dominance by a few still-acknowledged ukiyo-e masters whose names youll know, like Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa (also known as Ando) Hiroshige, the latter of whose work the online collection has 83 pieces currently downloadable. One of them, Goyu from one series of illustrations of notable places and Yokkaichi: The Miegawa River and Nago Bay from another, appear at the top and second from the top. But the Van Gogh Museum has amassed even more work by Utagawa Kunisada, the most prolific and bestselling ukiyo-e artist of the day, whose On the Riverbank, one sheet of a triptych, we have just above. You can download any of the more than 500 pieces in the online collection by these and dozens of other ukiyo-e artists (such as Toyohara Kunichika, whose Illustration of Crossing the Sumida River in the Evening appears just above) by clicking on the down arrow that appears in the lower right when you view an individual image. Having just returned from a trip to Japan a couple weeks ago, I can report that the country has changed dramatically and in many ways from the one Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kunisada and their colleagues captured, but still, some durable part of their aesthetic essence remains. Besides, these prints must even at the time have had something of the elegiac about them, itself an enduring quality of Japanese art. Even in Kyoto, as the poet Matsuo Masho wrote two centuries before that, I long for Kyoto. Related Content: Hayao Miyazakis Beloved Characters Reimagined in the Style of 19th-Century Woodblock Prints A Wonderfully Illustrated 1925 Japanese Edition of Aesops Fables by Legendary Childrens Book Illustrator Takeo Takei Download Hundreds of Van Gogh Paintings, Sketches & Letters in High Resolution Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and style. Hes at work on a book about Los Angeles, A Los Angeles Primer, the video series The City in Cinema, the crowdfunded journalism project Where Is the City of the Future?, and the Los Angeles Review of Books Korea Blog. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook. Midland County Habitat for Humanity is looking for qualified families to apply for a home to be built in 2017. MCHFH builds houses using volunteer labor and donated materials. Then, employing biblical economics, homes are sold to families, at no profit, through an interest-free mortgage. The family selection committee chooses homeowners based on the families level of need, their willingness to partner with Habitat and their ability to repay a loan. MCHFHs main objective is to build safe, decent and affordable homes and improve neighborhoods throughout Midland County. In addition to an affordable down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest time into building their own Habitat house and the houses of others. MCHFH will be offering an information meeting for potential homeowners from 5:30-6:30 p.m. March 1 at Midland County Habitat for Humanity, located at 1703 S. Saginaw Road. There will also be four opportunities to be walked through the application process, all located at Midland County Habitat for Humanity. These dates include: 4-6 p.m. March 11, 4-6 p.m. March 18, 9-11 a.m. March 19 and 9-11 a.m. March 26. The deadline for partner family applications is April 1. If individuals are unable to attend any of the meetings, applications will be available to be picked up at Midland County Habitat for Humanitys office from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For questions, Marlane Davis, MCHFH family services manager, can be contacted at office@midlandhabitat.org or (989) 496-0900. Midland County Habitat for Humanity complies with the U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. It supports an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or sources of income. WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the death of U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia: 10:30 p.m. An El Paso International Airport official says a private plane carrying the body of late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has left the West Texas airport. Terry Sharpe, the airport's assistant director for operations, says the plane departed around 8 p.m. Eastern time Sunday. Sharpe says U.S. marshals accompanied Scalia's body to the airport. He said he didn't know where the plane was headed. A manager for the funeral home in El Paso where Scalia's body was taken said earlier Sunday that the justice's remains would be flown to Virginia, but he didn't know exactly where. The U.S. Marshals Service referred questions about the flight to Supreme Court officials, who did not immediately respond to inquiries. ___ 9:30 p.m. The owner of a West Texas ranch where Antonin Scalia died says the U.S. Supreme Court justice seemed his usual self at dinner the night before he was found "in complete repose" in his room. John Poindexter, the owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, told reporters Scalia was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests. He arrived Friday around noon. Poindexter says the group had dinner Friday night and Scalia was his "usual personable self." Poindexter says Scalia retired around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep. Poindexter said when Scalia's body was discovered Saturday morning, it was obvious he had "passed away without any difficulty" in the night and seemed "peaceful." ___ 7:50 p.m. The manager of a West Texas funeral home says the body of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been taken to an El Paso airport and will be flown to Virginia. Chris Lujan (loo-HAHN') a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes says Scalia's body was taken from the facility late Sunday afternoon. Lujan says it was to be taken to Virginia, but he didn't know exactly where. Lujan says an autopsy was not performed. He says Scalia's family didn't think a private autopsy was necessary and requested his remains be flown home as soon as possible. The county official who declared Scalia dead Saturday did not order an autopsy after finding he had died of natural causes. She said investigators told her there were no signs of foul play. ___ 7 p.m. The top elected official in the Texas county where Antonin Scalia was found dead says the U.S. Supreme Court justice died of natural causes. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Sunday she consulted with Scalia's personal physician and sheriff's investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding the 79-year-old had died of natural causes. He was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch Saturday morning. Guevara says the declaration was made around 1:52 p.m. Saturday. Scalia's body was taken to a Texas funeral home Sunday as officials awaited word on whether they would need to perform an autopsy. Tentative plans call for his body to be flown on Tuesday back home to his family in a northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. ___ 1:30 p.m. The White House says President Barack Obama will nominate a successor to the late Justice Antonin Scalia "in due time," once the Senate returns from a weeklong recess. At that point, spokesman Eric Schultz says the White House expects the Senate to consider the nominee in keeping with its constitutional responsibilities. Leading Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have insisted that Obama leave the job of naming Scalia's successor to the next president. Obama said he intends to fulfill his constitutional duty to nominate another justice to fill the open seat on the nation's highest court. The president took about a month to nominate Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to fill earlier vacancies on the court. The Senate is taking the week off for the Presidents Day holiday. ___ 11:20 a.m. Jeb Bush says it doesn't matter to him whether Senate Republicans vote on a Supreme Court nominee President Barack Obama may send to Capitol Hill to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Bush tells CNN's "State of the Union" that the decision is up to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who's said there will be no such vote until Obama leaves office in January. The Republican presidential candidate says it's "really not important to me" whether there's a vote before then. That sentiment isn't shared by Bush's Republican presidential rivals. Soon after Scalia's death, they were demanding that a prospective Obama nominee not get a vote. Bush says Obama has "every right" to submit a nominee to the Senate. But the former Florida governor says he doesn't think Obama would nominate someone who's "in the mainstream." He said that if Obama sends a nominee who's out of what Bush considers "the mainstream," Senate leaders should block or reject the nomination. ___ 10 a.m. The body of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been taken to a funeral home in El Paso, Texas, where officials are waiting to hear whether an autopsy will be performed. Chris Lujan (loo-HAHN') a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes says a procession that included about 20 law enforcement officers arrived early Sunday at the funeral home. The procession traveled more than three hours from the West Texas resort ranch where Scalia was found dead in his room on Saturday morning. Lujan says if an autopsy is ordered by Scalia's family or a justice of the peace, then it likely will be performed at the funeral home by an El Paso County medical examiner. Lujan says tentative plans call for Scalia's body to be flown back home Tuesday to his family in Virginia. ___ 9:45 a.m. A proclamation from President Barack Obama orders flags to be flown at half-staff "as a mark of respect" for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The order applies to the White House, Supreme Court and other public buildings and grounds in the nation's capital and elsewhere in the country. The order is in effect until sunset on the day of Scalia's interment. ___ This story corrects Jeb Bush's quote to "really not important to me," not "it's not important to me." GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) The Latest on the funeral of Colorado deputy shot by teen suspect at (all times local): 2:01 p.m. Mesa County Sheriff's Deputy Derek Geer, who was shot and killed in the line of duty, was remembered at a funeral service for the commitment he showed his community and his family. At the end of the hourlong service, hundreds of mourners stood as uniformed fellow officers bore his coffin from a Grand Junction church. The officers marched out in silence at a halting, mournful pace. In a letter from his wife read during the service, Kate Geer said she and their two children were her husband's priority. Senior Pastor Kirk Yamaguchi also spoke during the service, thanking God that Geer "was willing to lay down his life for the sake of protecting all of us." ___ 1:16 p.m. A funeral service is underway for Mesa County Sheriff's Deputy Derek Geer, who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Sheriff Matt Lewis addressed the mourners at Canyon View Vineyard Church on Monday. Senior Pastor Kirk Yamaguchi also spoke. Yamaguchi thanked God that Geer "was willing to lay down his life for the sake of protecting all of us." Geer was shot multiple times Feb. 8 after responding to a report that a person carrying a gun and wearing a bandanna over his face had been spotted near two Grand Junction schools. A bagpiper played as uniformed colleagues carried Geer's body into the church. Geer's flag-draped coffin was then placed before an array of flowers and a large photograph of the deputy. Eight pallbearers gave the coffin a slow, solemn salute. ___ 11:30 a.m. A bagpiper played as uniformed colleagues carried Mesa County Sheriff's Deputy Derek Geer's body into the church for a funeral service. Geer flag-draped coffin was then placed before an array of flowers and a large photograph of the deputy. Geer was shot multiple times Feb. 8 after responding to a report that a person carrying a gun and wearing a bandanna over his face had been spotted near two Grand Junction schools. After bringing in the coffin, the eight pallbearers gave it a slow, solemn salute as family members and other mourners filed in. Some mourners wore blue T-shirts emblazoned with sheriff's stars. ___ 4:30 a.m. Law enforcement colleagues are gathering in western Colorado to mourn a sheriff's deputy who was shot and killed by a suspect whom prosecutors have described as a teen drifter who used drugs and stole guns. Friends and relatives of Derek Geer also are expected at Monday's funeral, along with many who did not know him. The Mesa County Sheriff's Office heard from so many who wanted to pay respects that it arranged for a live stream of the services in a Grand Junction church to be shown in five other churches and a university theater. Geer was shot multiple times Feb. 8 after responding to a report that a person carrying a gun and wearing a bandanna over his face had been spotted near two Grand Junction schools. ___ This story has been corrected to identify the deputy as Derek Geer. When John Rapanos died last week at the age of 80, the Midland community lost one of its most ambitious, determined and successful entrepreneurs over the past several decades. Not only that, Rapanos was a strong family man, active in the community, and a colorful character who was not afraid to battle local, state or federal government officials if he felt that he was on the right side of the law. John Rapanos was a courageous man who was unafraid to stand up for property owner rights, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, told MLive, in reference to Rapanos well-documented battle with the government over 54 acres of land that he owned in Bay County, a battle that eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, with Rapanos winning the case and changing the governments reach of the U.S. Clean Water Act. As a Midland native, I was honored to know John, he said. He was a dedicated member of the community whose love and commitment to his family and quiet generosity toward others will long be remembered. For long-time Midlanders, Rapanos story is well known. At a young age, he began selling ice cream bars with push carts, and also mowing lawns. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Rapanos returned to Midland where he became a very successful entrepreneur and businessman. In 1966, Rapanos, along with his brother, Nicolaos, built and created Valley Plaza on Bay City Road. Rapanos was active in many local, state and national organizations. Among them he was a board member of the Midland County Task Force 2000 Committee, was instrumental in the establishment of ARC (Arnold Rehabilitation Center), and Midland Community Cancer Services, where he also served on their board of directors. For roughly six decades, Rapanos was a key figure in the business development in the Midland area. In his obituary, it stated the following: John was a man of principle and was willing to stand up for what he believed in, especially taxpayers rights and private property rights. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who will live in our hearts forever. Indeed, Rapanos was a tough and relentless competitor in business, who fought for what he believed it. Yet, he also was a strong family man who cared deeply about his family and his community. Rapanos was one of kind. A memorial services for Rapanos will take place at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 19, in the Little Theater at the Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews Road at Eastman Ave. PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Senior military leaders from 13 nations gathered at U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) headquarters in Hawaii for the 10th annual Naval War College Combined Force Maritime Component Commander (CFMCC) Flag Officer Course, Feb. 4-10. The 22 participants of this year's CFMCC represented Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United States. "I hope you took away from this course a better understanding of one another's perspectives, and with that, relationships that you can turn to when necessary and engage in productive dialogues that result in effective solutions to shared regional challenges," said PACFLT Commander Adm. Scott Swift. The Naval War College facilitated the weeklong course which gives flag-level officers the opportunity to network with one another and strengthen bonds resulting in international military leaders who can work together more efficiently. "The challenges in the maritime domain are getting more complex by the day and you can see the nature of the challenges are such that a single maritime nation cannot address them solely on their own," said Nirmal Verma, a facilitator from the Naval War College and former commander of the Indian Navy as its chief of the naval staff. "This is a great opportunity for participants to meet their partners from across the region; different countries, different navies and a great opportunity to network and understand the challenges that face this region." CFMCC participants heard lectures on maritime security and took part in open-forum discussions to create improved understandings between the numerous viewpoints involved in a combined force. "From a long-term perspective, CFMCC offers me the opportunity to meet a lot of my counterparts at the flag level and build on our relationships," said Capt. Mal Wise, a Royal Australian Navy commodore and the maritime component commander for the upcoming Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. "I will be the RIMPAC CFMCC for 2016 and so from that perspective alone, this CFMCC course is a great opportunity to expand my thoughts and get an idea of how it's all going to function for the RIMPAC CFMCC commander and staff." The course helps flag leaders from other countries gain a better understanding of how the U.S. Pacific Fleet operates and exposes them to the views of senior leaders such as Swift and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. The value of the relationships built during this course is manifested many times a year, whether through operations and exercises, flag-level engagements or in response to natural disasters. I'm Chris Otto, a journalist whose interests include books, ephemera, history, folklore, the life and works of Ruth Manning-Sanders, and photography. I have lived most of my life in various parts of Pennsylvania and now live in Arizona. This blog is a spiritual descendant of Microsoft Encarta, which first taught me how much joy hyperlinks could bring to learning and exploring. Every piece of paper tells a story. Reach me at chrisottopa (at) gmail.com. Eccentricity, which is also known as quirkiness, is a trait wherein the person posses' strong creativity, introversion, and odd behaviors. An eccentric person would usually showcase oddities and would often go against the flow as they would usually deal with everyday life in a different way. It is normal for quirky children to excel in what they do, mostly in academics and arts. As per the Washington Parents, it is important to show eccentric children your love and support for them to continually strive to do better in some aspects that they are having problems with. They would usually have a hard time being with other children and participate in playgroups. Eccentric children would usually go into extremes they would either be too loud, or too quiet. It's hard for them to vent out their feelings as they'd struggle with communication. Most of them are highly sensitive to the world around them. According the doctors Perri Klass and Eileen Costello, the authors of "Quirky Kids: Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn't Fit In" the duo described the trait as something ongoing, "one extreme performance may be what it takes to crystallize in a parent's mind all the floating anxieties and worries of many months. The "pivotal moment" is not just one moment of extreme behavior, but the last in a series of "impossible-to-explain-away behavior that resonates with the parent's long-considered and long-avoided fears." Though most parents would usually neglect their child's oddities, Dr. Stacie Bunning stated that it is important for parents to have their children checked. "Many times parents will avoid consulting a specialist out of fear - they are afraid of being blamed or judged, or they fear that their child will be forever 'labeled.' In fact, obtaining a professional opinion can be viewed as an aspect of information gathering, as parents work to make decisions about what is best for their child. There is so much more to an individual child than her particular diagnosis - strengths, skills, and unique traits should be celebrated, too." The state of Hawaii declared a state of emergency in order to fight mosquito borne illnesses including Zika virus and dengue fever. According to Kezi TV, on Hawaii's Big Island the state has been in the midst of a dengue fever outbreak, with more than 250 confirmed cases. Hawaii Gov. David Ige declared on Friday in a news conference that there have been no locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus in the state. However, there are concerns that the islands could be at risk of a Zika virus outbreak because the same mosquitoes that can carry dengue fever also can carry the Zika virus. Hawaii Gov. Ige said that the authorities are doing everything possible in order to stay proactive and prepared and prevent vector borne diseases in the state. The emergency proclamation comes to help the state acquire more financial funds in order to control outbreaks. According to Fox News, after a December report from the Centers for Disease Control highlighted deficiencies in the state's vector control department, Hawaii is rushing to build up its mosquito control staff. During the economic downturn, Hawaii reduced its mosquito control and entomology staff to 25 positions in 2016 from 56 employees in 2009. The Department of Health plans to hire 10 new staffers with money the governor released and health officials are searching for more funding to rebuild the staff, according to Virginia Pressler, director of department.. According to George Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii is still a safe place to visit. Tourism is off to a strong start in 2016 and no travel advisories have been issued about Hawaii. Szigeti said that tourists have no reason to alter their traveling plans in the region or to be alarmed. However, the reality is that on Pacific Islands, including American Samoa, there are active Zika outbreaks. Flights between Hawaii and American Samoa run several times per week. Jeremie Bordua, a 10-year-old boy from Michigan honored the law enforcement and gave a thank you party instead of celebrating his birthday. Parenting reports that the Michigan boy had raised funds for about $10,000 by baking and selling almost 300 dozen cookies. He also got donations from GoFundMe site. He termed the fundraising as "Cookies for a Cause." His goal is to honor the police on his 11th birthday with a big thank you party. "I had the idea to throw a thank you party for police because I've been bullied, so I know how they feel," Jeremie said. He further added, "I just wanted to show them I still appreciate them, and I still believe in them." According to the report of Truth Voice, Bordua said that the police have been perceived in a bad image because of the news of deaths at the hands of the police officers even though they have done good works. "It feels like they get bullied badly like I do," the 10-year-old boy who wears a T-shirt that reads "I Am The Future," said. " I just wanted to do this for them." Jeremie has been bullied by some students in his school since kindergarten. That is the reason why his parents are encouraging the boy to virtually "worship" police and what they accomplish. The "thank you" party is attended by about 250 people. This includes 60 uniformed officers from Michigan and other states. The officials, Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth and Lansing Police Chief Michael Yankowski praised the impressive young boy during the ceremony. "I think it's truly a testament to what one person can do and it doesn't really matter how old you are," Joe Thomas, the First Lieutenant of the Michigan State Police said. In gratitude to Bordua for his sympathy and generosity, the Lansing officers gave him an honorary police officer status, a uniform and a badge as birthday gifts. A team of astrophysicists announced on Thursday that they have finally detected, heard, and recorded gravitational waves, thus proving Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Until the latest discovery, there had been no evidence of gravitational waves. As it turns out, the team of scientists had heard two black holes - don't worry, they're a billion light years away from Earth - colliding in space, which generated evidence of the theory. "That faint rising tone, physicists say, is the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago," reports the New York Times. Take a listen here. The new findings have helped complete Einstein's vision of a universe wherein time and space are intertwined and dynamic - where it is "able to stretch, shrink and jiggle." Not only that, but the discovery also confirms the nature of black holes: "a bottomless gravitation pit, in which light cannot even pass through." "We are all over the moon and back," said Gabriela Gonzalez of Louisiana State University and spokeswoman for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration. "Einstein would be very happy, I think." According to AJC.com, a photo went viral on social media site Imgur shortly after the announcement was promulgated. The photo features a statue of Albert Einstein holding up a sign that said, "told you so." After only being up for three days, the photo has already garnered over 2.3 million views. The statue is found on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. The Robert Berks sculpture was installed in the campus just last fall, which stands 12 feet and weighs one and a half tons. Interestingly enough, two faculty members at Georgia Tech College of Sciences were part of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration team that discovered the existence of gravitational waves. Next month will begin the next phase of what has been a 20-year journey for one of the most renowned brewmasters in the craft beer world. In 1996, Tomme Arthur was hired as the assistant brewer at Cervecerias La Cruda in San Diego. Today, Arthur is the co-founder and director of Brewery Operations for The Lost Abbey and Port Brewing, and has become one of the most recognizable names in the craft beer industry. With beers such as Duck Duck Gooze, Cable Car, and the Veritas series, Arthur is constantly looking to push the boundaries. Despite all the success, Arthur is nowhere near slowing down. He is constantly releasing experimental beers to see what his next big one will be. Over C9an experimental barleywine aged in cognac with peaches, staying true to his experimental naturewe discussed whats next for The Lost Abbey. Paste: You usually dont see peaches added to a barelywine. Im impressed how much it actually rounds out this beer. What inspired you to add peaches? Tomme Arthur: A few years ago, a friend poured me a cocktail made with Peach Tea. In 2012, when we released our Lost Abbey Ultimate Box Set, we produced a beer (Track 11) that featured our Angels Share Barleywine aged in Bourbon Barrels with peaches and black tea. For the C-9 we revisited that riff and felt there was a chance to explore this combination (sans the black tea part). Paste: Many people dont know that Port Brewing and Lost Abbey are run by the same group of people. What made you decide to have two separate brewery names? TA: When we founded the brewery in 2005 we knew that we wanted to produce two distinct lines of beers. In order to best focus our efforts on the different stories, we separated the brands. Yes, many people are unaware that [The Lost Abbey and Port Brewing] are produced by the same people in the same space. Its either a blessing or a curse depending on the POV. Paste: If these two werent enough, you have recently started the Hop Concept series, focusing on four seasonal IPAs. What made you decide to start this series? TA: Fresh beer is better. We know this to be true especially in regards to IPA. Our brewers kept asking for opportunities to develop new seasonal beers with a hop forward focus. Needing to maintain the flavors and expectations for our Wipeout, Mongo and Hop 15 beers, we felt it was best to not change those beers, and work with a new brand that promised to bring experimental and new hop varietals (for our brewery) to the consumers who already loved our other hoppy offerings. Paste: When you last released a batch of Duck Duck Gooze in 2013, you mentioned that the next time this beer would be released would be 2016. Are you on track for a 2016 release, and what can you tell us about batch size expectations? TA: Definitely on track for another batch this year. We have not determined the final case (or number of barrels to be used) but we have at our disposal currently more blonde sour base beer than ever before in the 10-year history of this company so were hoping to increase the amount of beer and still produce an exceptional blended beer experience. Paste: Have you found any differences with the batch currently developing compared to previous vintages? TA: The 2009 batch has aged very well. Theres a slight acetic note that came from the three-year-old barrels. The 2013 version, I believe, is drinking incredibly right now and if all goes to plan, the 2016 batch will taste very similar and age incredibly well. Paste: This past year you released the 16th iteration of Veritas, your ongoing experimental series. Can you elaborate on the process that goes into deciding what the next Veritas beer will be? TA: We are on a twice a year release schedule for Veritas (March and November). The beers have historically been fruited and barrel aged sour blends. No rhyme or reason as to what or where. Often it has to do with the quality of fruit we can source and timing. The March 2016 Veritas 017 will incorporate a fruit we have not used in the past here at the brewery. Paste: So far this series has been mostly one-offs. Are there any thoughts to bring back previous vintages? TA: We have two large Foeders that have recently been filled. The expectation is that in the future will we make a couple of Veritas beers in higher case totals. These would be versions we have loved in the past. Paste: There is a lot of lore around your beer Isabelle Proximus, which was a collaboration with Dogfish Head, Avery Brewing, Allagash, and Russian River. There have been many rumors thrown around about a second batch. Are there any plans this beer will be re-brewed in the near future? TA: Definitely in talks about this. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the trip we all took to Belgium. Therefore we have reason to explore this again. There is nothing concrete as to how or when, but hoping for a 2018 release to celebrate that exceptional collaborative beer. Paste: Next year will mark the 10 year anniversary of the first batch of cable car. What can you tell us about this milestone? TA: We have produced a batch of Cable Car every year for the Toronado since 2007. It was such a great thing for them and exposure for us; we decided to keep the party going. Given that there are now 3 locations, we are making more each year. The barrels we use change each year, but we sample many different ones with the hope of creating the blend worthy of the Cable Car status. Paste: Are there any plans to bring back Cable Car Kriek to celebrate this? TA: Given the love and desirability that was shown for Cable Car Kriek, we would love to find the right spot to bring it back into the mix. It could come back as a Veritas branded beer, or it might fit someplace else in the portfolio. But make no mistake about it; we would LOVE to capture the essence of that beer in a bottle again. Paste: If you could do a collaboration beer with any brewery in the world (that you havent before), who would it be, and what would you brew? TA: We have worked with Sierra Nevada on some larger collaborative projects (multiple breweries on each project). But I think involving them in a sour project with something being made here at our brewery would stoke our entire brewing team. Were also currently in the home stretch of a collaboration with Wicked Weed and getting to know Walt and Luke has been everything we hoped it would be. Paste: What is your favorite beer youve brewed? TA: All of them! Seriously each has afforded us incredible opportunities to learn and improve our craft. Paste: What is your favorite beer to drink (outside of your own beer)? TA: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is always nearby when I am drinking. If out and traveling, anything local or regionally recognized as awesome is also a great starting point. Paste: If you could change one thing about craft beer today, what would it be and why? TA: The scramble. Were constantly trying to keep up with the innovation and rotation of beer in bars and on the shelves. It keeps us busy as hell. In 10 years of brewing here at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey we have released so many beers, I have lost track of all of them! Paste: You mentioned that 2016 will mark our 10th Anniversary of The Lost Abbey. What can you tell us about what 2016 hold for Lost Abbey? TA: We are very excited to share our first 10 years with the consumers who have been here with us. Not many have endured the whole ride. No matter when they joined us on this roller coaster, we know that they have enjoyed the living hell out of our beers. So we get to spend 2016 telling stories about the startup days, the middle years and the here and now. And when its done, hopefully well have shown them the road map for the next 10 years. Because thats our focus right now. Lets tell the story of how we got here and more importantly how the next 10 years will be equally, if not more rewarding. Jason Stein is a New York-based beer nerd. You can find more of his writing on NYC Beer Society. Before I begin this weeks review, lets take a moment to have virtual hug. Our beloved show is coming to an end and Monday was the first of the final nine episodes. Even though I believe deep down in the heart of my DVR that it is time for the show to end (here Alicia is right back where she started), Im still going to miss the drama so much. Even on its worst days (Im talking to you Kalindas ex-husband), The Good Wife was still far superior to almost everything else on television. How will the show end? Thats a mystery but I did talk to series creators Robert and Michelle King last week to get some insight about the shows farewell. My dream is that the series ends with Alicia divorcing Peter and deciding to run for Senate (or maybe Governor?). Eli gets the ultimate revenge on Peter totally abandoning him and helping Alicia eclipse his career. Im also kind of thinking the series ends with Peter back in jail. We know hes still up to no good. My hopes and dreams seem to be on track in Monday. The FBI is investigating Peter using Marissa as a way in. The not-so-charming FBI agent Roland Hlavin is back posing as college student who loves the juice bar where Marissa works. Of course Marissa is too smart for this and tapes their conversation. Now I get why people have children. They can admire themselves in somebody else, Eli says proudly. Ruth returns because shes been subpoenaed. When she realizes the Feds are after Peter, she pays Alicia a visit advising her to leave Peter and cash out while you still can. Hmmm maybe Ruth can help Alicia run her future campaign? Alicia and Lucca join Lockhart, Agos and Lee. Alicia is once again relegated to the 27th floor, but she gets the biggest office, even if shes stuck with a busted chair. Diane reminds Alicia who is in charge by taking Lucca off the case with Alicia and assigning her grunt work. During a tense tete-a-tete between Alicia and Diane, Diane gets a few digs in at Alicia about her time in bond court. Lucca, for her part, isnt used to having to listen to anybody. The Kings promised we would see a lot of familiar faces in these final episodes and the greatest hit parade has begun. The case involved Howell, the firms technology guru who we havent seen since he hacked into police records to help Kalinda (and Cary) last season. Howell has gone to a big technology conference and his girlfriend found the new ChumHum tablet, which wont be released for another two months. Howell is arrested by a special branch of the government tasked with investigating technology crimes. The case brings back ChumHum CEO Neil Gross (John Benjamin Hickey) who has been a huge part of the series. You could tell the show just wanted one last hurrah with Gross (and Hickey) because his larger-than-life character didnt have that much to do this time around. The episode also exposed the casual racism that is so prevalent in our society and corporate America. Both Diane and Cary make a point of telling Lucca that they have to introduce her to Monica, the other African-American associate at the firm. Never mind that Lucca and Monica already met when they both worked on the opposite sides of the same case or that, you know, just because theyre both African-American doesnt mean theyll instantly be best friends . Yes lets share about our common experiences, Lucca says to Monica when they meet again. My favorite line comes later when she asks Monica, Know any spirituals? I like this plot point because it is so blatantly racist, but neither Cary nor Diane are even aware that they are being racist. My only quibble remains the questions of whether or not Cary truly woulndnt understand how racist he is being. Has becoming a name partner gone to his head? Next week Carrie Preston returns as Elsbeth Tascioni (hooray!). These final episodes will be bittersweet, but I cant wait to see them. Stray Observations: You may have already figured this out but John Magaro, who plays the FBI agent, also plays Lornas husband Vince on Orange is the New Black. The Kings havent ruled out a spin-off series. My top picks for a spin-off are Elsbeth and/or Marissa. How about you? I havent always been a fan, but I kind of loved the Alicia/Jason flirting this week, especially her teasing him about his beard. Tell him to buy juice at the 7/11 like normal people. The judge being obsessed with the bugs in his courtroom was classic The Good Wife. I never thought Lucca was that strange a name, but still nice to know where it came from. Amy Amatangelo is a Boston-based freelance writer, a member of the Television Critics Association and a regular contributor to Paste. She wasnt allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on Twitter or her blog. Anything can be hacked. Even toys. Toy manufacturer VTech found this out the hard way late last year when its network for childrens tablets was hacked. Most unnervingly, this included photographs and voice recordings of children playing with the device. The perpetrator of the hack allegedly carried out the attack to teach the company a lesson about cybersecurity and hope that it straightens up. At least it should have learned something anyway. The attack showed that the company was securing its data with outdated protocols and FireEye was hired to clean the mess up. And in the last few weeks, VTechs ugly brush was bad publicity seemed to have died down until it emerged that the company had made some unflattering changes to its terms and conditions for European customers. Crucially, the company attempted to absolve itself of any blame or responsibility for its customers data. It stated: You acknowledge and agree that any information you send or receive during your use of the site may not be secure and may be intercepted or later acquired by unauthorized parties. Use of the site and any software or firmware downloaded therefrom is at your own risk. VTech appeared to be covering its tracks in case anything ever went wrong in the future. A spokesperson for Vtech said that the updates are limiting the companys liability for the acts of third parties such as hackers Such limitations are commonplace on the web. Unfortunately for the company, that doesnt look like its going to fly with lawyers wading into the debate over liability. One lawyer said that language like this in terms and conditions can be used to discourage customers from taking legal action but that is not the true. [U]nder European and UK law the obligation is on the company in control of the data to take appropriate steps to protect the information from unauthorized disclosure or access, he said. Even if VTech did try and argue that people were contractually prohibited from bringing a claim, it is a difficult position for the firm to take. The UKs information commissioner agrees. Its office came down hard on VTech this week for its shrewd update to the terms and conditions as well, stating that company would very much remain responsible for the data, at least in the UK. The move has many of VTechs distributors scratching their heads too wanting to know where it stands legally as far as data protection is concerned. British retailer Argos told the BBC that it is in ongoing talks about how to proceed in dealing with the company. Thats the business end of things but what about the customers then? Cybersecurity professionals are none too pleased with how VTech handled its customers data and how it responded. Some are now encouraging parents to boycott the company. Troy Hunt, an Australian security expert, wrote a severe blog post last week excoriating the company. He called the T&Cs update unacceptable. People dont even read these things! he said. If they honestly dont feel theyre not up to the task of protecting personal information, then perhaps put that on the box and allow consumers to consciously take their chances rather than implicitly opting into the zero accountability clause. If VTech think that those T&Cs are the answer to their problems I think they should be given a bigger problem to deal with. Boycott them and take your money somewhere else, added Ken Munro of security firm Pen Test Partners. In a follow up post this week Munro pointed out that VTech could find itself running afoul of the EUs new data protection rules, the General Data Protection Regulation, of GDPR. Granted, the rules dont come into effect until 2018 but they state that any company collecting data on Europeans will be required to put minimum protection mechanisms in place. The rules may be two years away but this is intended to give companies a chance to get in line or face hefty fines based on their turnover. So VTech, you have two years to get your house in order, otherwise youll get the sort of fine you deserve for your cock-up: 20,000,000 or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year in case of an enterprise, whichever is greater, said Munro. VTechs security woes may have garnered a lot of attention but theyre not even unique and are just the latest in a string of attacks and security vulnerabilities targeted different industries. Childrens toys are just the newest one. Late last year, a security researcher discovered that Wi-Fi enabled Barbie dolls could be breached and used to record conversations. Meanwhile, Hello Kitty was hacked a couple of months ago, exposing details of more than three million customers. Regardless of whether or not the VTech hackers were as noble as they claim, one thing is clear: the toy industry has a lot to learn about security and privacy. HODINKEE is a comprehensive, award-winning online magazine covering wristwatches of a particularly high quality. They have an app on iTunes. The author of a new HODINKEE article, Jack Forster, has been a mechanical watch enthusiast for over three decades; he's been covering them professionally for the last 20 years. Before joining HODINKEE, he was first the technical editor, and then the editor-in-chief, of Revolution Magazine. He is also the author of "Cartier: Time Art," a comprehensive look at the timepieces of the French design house. One month ago, he put an Apple Watch on his wrist, and hasn't taken it off since. Nobody is more surprised than he is. His elevator speech about smartwatches used to go like this: they're like flying cars. The flying car seems like a great idea. But in reality, it's an absolutely awful idea. It's inherently flawed, as a concept, and that's the reason they're probably never going to exist. Smartwatches always seemed to me to be the flying cars of the wearable tech world. He never thought that Apple would succeed in pulling off creating a user experience as different from the iPhone as the iPhone was different from preceding smartphones. There were smartwatches before the Apple Watch, just as there were smartphones before the iPhone, and He's still not sure they've succeeded in making something as revolutionary as the iPhone or iPod were. With smartwatches in general, success is still a rarity; there are many that are about as sexy as a traffic accident. But now we know it can happen. Forster thinks that the Apple Watch is winning the smartwatch wars right now for several reasons. Firstly it has a better UI experience and its ability to keep your phone in your pocket, and your head up, is another. Forster adds that he had struggled to find Android Wear compelling, in any form at this point in time. Forster further noted that one of Apple Watch's best secrets is this: it shows every indication of having been made by people who love and understand watches, and who know that for any kind of wearable to succeed it has to be 'love at first sight.' And that's why it's not only a threat to other smartwatches, but to mechanical watchmaking. It's a truism in watchmaking that the face sells the watch, but that truism is based on something bigger, which is that for something you're going to have on your skin all day, you decide in microseconds, and with your heart, not your head, whether it's for you. He's used the word "seduced" several times in writing about Apple Watch, because its ability to be instantly seductive is the reason you give everything else about it a chance. The Apple Watch is seductive; Google Glass was not, and the rest is history. It's hard to say where the Apple Watch goes from here, Forster notes, but then, when the iPhone first came out it seemed to a lot of folks like a cute toy that would never be a part of people's lives the way their Blackberries were. Forster recounts years ago that a Swiss watch executive told him with absolute, dismissive confidence, that the "The Blackberry is a real tool. The iPhone is a toy for my wife." He often wonders about that judgement call in hindsight. For people who love mechanical watches, the Apple Watch is both unimportant and important. It's unimportant because what it offers really is totally different from the pleasure you get from a great tool watch with an amazing history, like the Sub or the Speedmaster, or the connection you get to a fusion of aesthetics, mechanics, and craftsmanship from something like a Patek or Lange. But that's also why it's important. And it's also why, even for luxury watchmaking, it is a little dangerous. In the end, Forster notes that Apple has actually succeeded in doing with the Apple Watch what they did with the iPhone: inventing a new experience. Whether that experience is one ultimately more compelling than the one offered by mechanical watches, nobody knows for sure at the moment. Yet what he doesn't think the luxury watch world can afford is complacency. If it fails to realize that what the Apple Watch actually offers is not competition, but a convincing alternative experience and if it doesn't take the hint that luxury is ultimately about attention to detail, not marketing or price point it could be in serious trouble. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend. Pope Francis is putting his words into action: go out to the margins of society! Yesterday he celebrated Mass in the poorest and most populous suburb of Mexico City, Ecatepec, where nobody dares to enter due to its high crime and violence. Even the police is afraid. Most of its 1.7 million inhabitants live in deplorable conditions, and an estimated 100,000 live in extreme poverty. It is here that Pope Francis chose to celebrate Mass and speak against the father of lies who wishes to make a divided and fractious society. A society of the few, and for the few. He spoke of the pain and suffering which arises when the dignity of the human person is not recognized. He highlighted the three temptations that corrode us as human beings and tear us town: wealth, vanity, and pride. His words expressed profoundly the reality of Ecatepec and every other urban desert where people not only live in the margins, but are oftentimes excluded completely from every benefit of society. The day before, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Francis also lifted up the poor and suffering. Mary continues to reveal herself to all of us, especially to those who feel like Juan Diego, worthless. He stressed that the apparition of Our Lady not only gave hope to Juan Diego, but that through Our Lady, God has roused the hope of the little ones, of the suffering, of those displaced or rejected, of all who feel they have no worthy place in these lands. The Popes words spoke to a people accustomed to oppression and suffering, a people who identify with the cross of Jesus Christ and the littleness of Juan Diego. Those unfamiliar with the harsh realities of Latin America often find our bloody crucifixes and our dramatic plays during Holy Week a bit too gory, yet it is in the suffering of Jesus Christ that the Latin American peoples find hope for a better tomorrow. The suffering of Christ does not push us away, but rather, it helps us identify more deeply with Him who has suffered for us. The Pope continued, In Mary, God has made himself our brother and companion along the journey; he carries our crosses with us so as not to leave us overwhelmed by our sufferings. Today the Pope celebrated Mass in the southern state of Chiapas with those who have suffered the greatest in Latin America, the indigenous. At a beautiful Mass where various Mayan dialects were spoken and sung, the Pope brought a message of hope and mercy. A vastly agrarian and poor state where the dignity of the indigenous has not always been respected, the Pope recognized that too often they have been excluded from society. Your peoples have not been understood and have been excluded from society. Some have considered your values, your culture, and your traditions inferior. Others, dizzy by power, money and the laws of the market, have expelled you from your lands or have contaminated them. How sad. How good would it be for us to do an examination of conscience and learn how to say I am sorry. Continuing his desire to reach the margins, on Wednesday Pope Francis will visit Ciudad Juarez where thousands have lost their lives crossing to the United States. Here, he will highlight the plight and suffering of immigrants. This apostolic visit to Mexico once again shows that the Pope is a faithful witness of the Gospel. He is faithful to Jesus desire to reach out to the neediest to offer a message that will lift them up. The Pope shows by his actions that he means what he says. He has called us to reach out to the margins of society, to seek out the neediest, and he is leading the way by his example. All these pictures are mine, all rights reserved. New Delhi: Despite claims of good governance by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Patna, the capital of Bihar, was ranked in the top-10 dirtiest cities in the country in a report released by the Urban Development Ministry on Monday. The rankings were given to cities with a population of one lakh or above based on criteria set in the Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan. While Patna was among the worst ten cities in terms of cleanliness, sanitation, indoor toilets, public restrooms, garbage collection, and processing of solid waste, among others, Mysore (Karnataka) was adjudged the cleanest city in India followed by Chandigarh (Punjab), Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Surat (Gujarat), Rajkot (Gujarat), Gangtok (Sikkim), Pimpri Chinchwad (Pune, Maharashtra), and Greater Mumbai (Maharashtra). According to the latest survey, Dhanbad in Jharkhand state was rated the dirtiest city in the nation, followed by Asansol (West Bengal), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Patna (Bihar), Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Kalyan Dombvili (Maharashtra). The objective of the annual survey that was started in 2014 shortly before the Narendra Modi government came into power is to identify problem cities and formulate a workable strategy to overcome cleanliness issues in major cities, an Urban Development ministry official said. As reported previously, situation in Patna, not exactly known for its cleanliness barring the VIP areas, worsened in the last week after the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) employees went on an indefinite strike causing pile of garbage to accumulate in nearly all localities. Though the strike was reported to have been lifted on late Sunday night, it will still take days before trash is collected from Patna streets. Patna: Stung by the criticism from the NDA leaders for calling Ishrat Jehan, the LeT operative who was killed in a police encounter in Gujarat in 2004, 'Bihar ki Beti', Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday flat out denied ever making the statement saying he would take legal actions against politicians or the media for spreading this lie and dared them to show any evidence that he ever called Ishrat 'Bihar ki Beti'. Talking to the reporters following his Janata Durbar on Monday, Kumar said he had never addressed Ishrat Jehan 'Bihar ki Beti' and it was a lie being perpetuated by his political opponents, namely the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "I have been going through all the records and newspapers clippings and I have yet to see any evidence of me addressing Ishrat Jehan as 'Bihar ki Beti'. This is a lie and I would take legal actions against the politicians and the media, both print and electronic, for trying to malign my image," he said. Kumar had been trying to dissociate himself from Ishrat Jehan's case since Pakistan-based American terrorist David Coleman Headley, in a recent video deposition, once again reiterated that Ishrat was in fact a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative who was part of a major terror attack in India before she was killed in 2004. BJP leaders have accused Nitish Kumar of endangering the security of the nation by openly supporting a terrorist and have asked for his resignation as well as a public apology for being on the wrong side of the history. In an embarrassment to the Chief Minister, Tej Pratap Yadav, Bihar Health Minister and the eldest son of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, on Friday, said that Ishrat Jehan indeed was a 'daughter of Bihar' and people of Bihar should be proud of it. It is not clear how Tej Pratap Yadav's statement will play out with Kumar but going by the recent statements of the BJP leaders, it is clear that things are only about to get even more uglier. Meanwhile, Congress, in an attempt to distance itself from Ishrat Jehan after the revelation of her true identity by Headley, issued a statement saying the question was not about whether Ishrat was a terrorist but the way she and three other men were killed in a fake police encounter under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat. Talking to the media, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said that whether Ishrat Jehan was a terrorist or not was up for debate but in the manner she and others were gunned down in Gujarat was troubling and went against the basic tenets of a democracy. "In view of the recent statements by David Headley, if the government wishes to investigate the matter, no one is trying to stop it. However, if the person is a terrorist, he should be arrested, tried, and brought to justice like Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru. But getting someone killed in a fake encounter is not only unconstitutional, it is also against the basic principles of democracy," Tiwari said. Detentions, Confessions, and Hunger Strikes 02/15/16 Source: Radio Zamaneh Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani, members of the musical group Confess who were arrested by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, have now been released while they await a court date. Amir Golestani, sentenced to seven years in prison for his activities on Facebook, has announced that he is on a hunger strike to protest the prosecutor's denial of his conditional release. And the son of detained Iranian journalist Issa Saharkhiz reports that his father has begun a "dry" hunger strike to protest his treatment in prison. Artwork by 12Petals Media Group Music group members await trial after months in solitary Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani, two members of the musical group Confess who were arrested by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, have now been released. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that Khosravi and Ilkhani were arrested in November and were held in solitary confinement for the past three months. The two were released on bail of 100 million toumans. Iranian music band confess Khosravi and Ilkhani are charged with "propaganda against the regime and insulting sanctities" for "forming an underground music group and releasing illegal, devilish music in the rock/metal style, writing anti-religious, atheistic and anarchistic lyrics and giving interviews to foreign radio". The two must now await a court date. The group's last album, Chasing Dreams, was released shortly before their arrest. The Taghato website reports that for the past three months, the Revolutionary Guards have been in control of the music group's Facebook page. The families and friends of the musicians reportedly withheld the news of their arrest "for fear of adversely affecting their situation in prison". Jailed Facebook poster starts hunger strike to press for release Amir Golestani, an Iranian sentenced to seven years in prison for his activities on Facebook, has announced that he is on a hunger strike to protest the prosecutor's denial of his conditional release. Facebook crucified - cartoon by Bozorgmehr Hosseinpur The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on Sunday February 14 that Golestani started refusing food the previous day. He has reportedly announced that if he receives no response to his release application within 10 days, he will stop drinking water as well. The campaign reports that those charged with insulting sanctities have been allowed to apply for a conditional release for good behaviour after they have served one-third of their sentence, and this is the basis of Golestani's application. Golestani, a 35-year-old sporting goods salesman, was arrested by Revolutionary Guards intelligence officers at his store in Babolsar two and a half years ago. Golestani has a Facebook page titled "A Dog's Life" on which he posted social and political commentaries. After 110 days in solitary, he was sentenced to 20 years in jail for "insulting sanctities and the leader, assembly and collusion against national security and propaganda against the regime". Upon appeal, he was only found guilty of insulting sanctities and was given a seven-year sentence. Another seven Facebook users from across Iran were arrested and charged around the same time, each receiving a similar prison sentence. Journalist goes without food, water as jailers press for confession The son of detained Iranian journalist Issa Saharkhiz reports that his father has begun a "dry" hunger strike to protest his treatment in prison. Mehdi Saharkhiz, the son of the jailed journalist, reported on his Twitter account on Saturday February 13 that prison authorities have taken away his father's glasses and are putting him under pressure to "confess to actions he has not committed". Issa Saharkhiz is among the journalists arrested in recent months following Ayatollah Khamenei's warning against "enemy infiltration" of the country's culture. Saharkhiz was also arrested following the 2009 election protests and went on several hunger strikes to protest his mistreatment by prison authorities. Views Split on Nuclear Deal Implementation (Part Two) 02/15/16 By Farhang Jahanpour, Oxford (read Part I) The implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal with the P5+1 (the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany) on January 16, which resulted in the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Iran, has split the views of current and former US politicians. cartoon by Mohsen Zarifian, Iranian daily Ghanoon Two days later 53 U.S. national security leaders issued a statement welcoming the implementation of the nuclear agreement. The council included some leading foreign policy experts, including former National Security Advisors Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski; Treasury Secretary Paul ONeill, and Defense Secretary William Perry; Ambassadors Thomas Pickering, Ryan Crocker and Daniel Kurtzer; military leaders Admiral William Fallon, Admiral Eric Olson and Lieutenant General Frank Kearney; and members of Congress Richard Lugar, Tom Daschle and Lee Hamilton. In their statement, they pointed out that the success of the agreement had reaffirmed the value of diplomacy as an invaluable tool for conflict resolution. They added that new mechanisms for cooperation should be established between the executive and legislative branches to monitor compliance and evaluate suspected violations. The views of such eminent national security leaders cannot be easily ignored. Coinciding with the Implementation Day, there was a successful prisoner exchange, involving five Americans and seven Iranians. A few days earlier, Iran had released ten US sailors who had inadvertently drifted into Iranian waters, in less than 24 hours. A few years ago, these events could not be envisaged and the holding of American sailors could have resulted in intense hostility and even military clashes; with possible disastrous consequences of another war in the Middle East with a country much larger and stronger than Iraq to appreciate what has been achieved by diplomacy at a much smaller cost. Now having established a reliable channel of communication between the two countries, it will be much easier in the future to persuade Iran to help resolve some of the intractable crises in the Middle East, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Libya; as well as the Arab-Israeli conflict. This landmark agreement has shown how diplomacy can succeed when sanctions and military action fail. This provides an example for resolving other major crises in the Middle East and in the rest of the world. If two adversaries that had threatened each other for over 37 years are able to resolve their differences and extend the hand of friendship to each other, there is reason to hope that other complicated issues and crises in the world can also be resolved through persistent efforts, talks in an atmosphere of goodwill. Maybe one can begin to hope that the time of wars is coming to an end; making way for a new chapter in international relations. However, the implementation of the Iranian nuclear agreement has not satisfied the hawks on neither side. On the Iranian side, the hardliners that control the Guardian Council, which vets the credentials of the Majlis (the Iranian parliament) candidates, has disqualified a large number of reformist candidates. The Guardian Council has even rejected the qualifications of Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic revolution, as a candidate for the Assembly of Experts that is in charge of selecting the next Supreme Leader. Hassan Khomeini is regarded a reformist and in the controversial 2009 presidential election that resulted in a second term for President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, Khomeini had supported the Green Movement and the reformist candidates. Many reformists fear that the hardliners wish to prevent President Hassan Rouhani from winning a second term, and in any case they will try to make his job much more difficult by the creation of a confrontational Majlis. Many candidates have appealed those rulings and some of the disqualifications may be reversed. In the United States and Israel, the opposition to the nuclear deal has been strong and continuous. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reverted to his refrain about the deal, saying: This is a very dangerous deal and it threatens all of us. He appealed to American Jews to oppose the accord. One group of Jewish activists in Pittsburgh even warned that the deal would hasten a Second Holocaust in Israel, neglecting to mention that the deal had in fact blocked all the paths to Irans acquisition of even a single nuclear weapon, while Israel possesses hundreds of such weapons. Immediately after the Implementation Day, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that it was akin to declaring war on Sunni Arabs and Israel by the P5+1. A number of Republican presidential candidates have even stated that they would not honor the deal. Senator Marco Rubio has threatened to tear the Iran deal up on day one if he were elected president. Irans ultimate goal, Rubio said, was to be able to hold America hostage. Senator Ted Cruz also echoed Rubios comments. During the September 2015 GOP debate he said: If I am elected president, on the very first day in office, I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal. Chris Christie strangely linked Irans nuclear deal with ISIS: Well, I think we have to focus...on exactly what the priorities are. And to me, what Ive always said is that the president has set up an awful situation through his deal with Iran, because what his deal with Iran has done is empower them and enrich them. And thats the way ISIS has been created and formed here. Another presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, is so scared of the implementation of the deal that he has said that it jeopardizes the survival of Western civilization. He continued, this threatens Israel immediately, this threatens the entire Middle East, but it threatens the United States of America. And we cant treat a nuclear Iranian government as if it is just some government that would like to have power. Despite all this hyperbole, all the experts who have studied the issue, the NIE, and above all the IAEA that has been closely monitoring Irans nuclear program agree that there has been no diversion of Irans nuclear program towards military uses. In his final assessment of the Iranian nuclear program, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano wrote: The agency has found no credible indications of the diversion of nuclear material in connection with the possible military dimensions to Irans nuclear program. It seems that some people prefer to resort to force in resolving international problems, rather than resolving them through talks and negotiations. Note: This article was first published by IPS and it's reprinted here with the author's permission. About the author: Farhang Jahanpour, a TFF Associate and Board member and Fellow of The Royal Asiatic Society, is a former professor and dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Isfahan and a former Senior Research Fellow at Harvard University. He is a tutor in the Department of Continuing Education and a member of Kellogg College, University of Oxford. First 'Silk Road' train in Tehran after 14-day journey from China 02/15/16 Source: Press TV The first train connecting China to Iran through the ancient Silk Road has arrived in the Iranian capital after traveling over 10,000 kilometers in over 14 days, head of the Iranian railway company said. First 'Silk Road' train arrived in Iranian capital city, Tehran on Monday February 15, 2016 According to Iranian media, the train, which has been launched in an effort to revive the ancient road, is carrying 32 containers of commercial products originating from Chinas eastern province of Zhejiang. The trip from China to Iran has taken 14 days over 10,399 (about 6,500 miles), taking the cargo train through Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Fars news agency reported. "The arrival of this train in less than 14 days is unprecedented," said head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, Mohsen Pourseyyed Aqai. He added, "This is an important step for the revival of the Silk Road and the train has traveled 700 km per day, saving 30 days compared to normal time that takes to go this distance. The official added that at present, the trains travel schedule is monthly, but its frequency will increase if need be. The time spent by this train to reach the Iranian capital has been 30 days shorter compared with the maritime route, which starts from Chinas Shanghai port and ends in Iran's Bandar Abbas port city, Pourseyyed Aqai noted. The official stated that the train has traveled 700 km per day on average, which is even more rapid than transit trucks that travel the same route. The ceremony held to welcome the train at Tehran railroad station on Monday was attended, in addition to Pourseyyed Aqai, by ambassadors of China, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan in Iran. The Iranian official, who is also deputy minister of road and transportation, said the trains route will not end in Tehran and will continue to Europe. After inauguration of the freight railroad from China to Europe, more goods will be transited through Iran to European countries and this will increase the Islamic Republics transit revenue, he added. The freight train started off from Chinas trading hub of Yiwu on January 28. Silk Road extending from Europe through Egypt, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Central Asia, India/Pakistan, Java-Indonesia, and Vietnam until it reaches China. The land routes are red, and the water routes are blue. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced the new "Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Maritime Silk Road" initiative to connect stronger logistics networks with Asia, Africa and Europe by building more roads, railways and airports. Beijing has launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with USD 100 billion in capital and the New Silk Road Fund with a capital of USD 40 billion to finance major infrastructure projects in the region, including those pertaining to the development of the New Silk Road. Iran is strategically-located in the Middle East, sharing land borders with seven nations, and sea channels on its northern and southwestern parts. China sees Iran as a country that can play a crucial role in New Silk Road initiative given its access to extensive delivery routes connecting to the Middle East and Eurasia. Tehran has already pledged to support the New Silk Road initiative with an investment of USD 6 billion for the next six years, the Chinese media have reported. Shirazeh Houshiary: STPI to present new works for artist's first solo show in Southeast Asia 02/15/16 Press Release by Sutton, Hong Kong 15 February 2016 - STPI is proud to present The River is Within Us, the first solo exhibition of UK-based artist Shirazeh Houshiary in Southeast Asia. She is known for her multimedia installations like Breath, a collateral event at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), as well as the 2008 East Window for St Martins in the Fields in London. Additionally, she has completed several site-specific commissions within the fashion industry for notable figures like Jimmy Choo and Victoria Beckham. Though a sculptor, her unique preoccupation with painting, installation, film and architectural projects have set her apart from contemporaries Anish Kapoor and Richard Deacon, all of whom were part of the new British sculpture movement in the early 1980s. This time, her readiness to test the relevance of paper in todays digital age has propelled her to expand and push the boundaries of her earlier work. These fresh renditions at STPI continue to challenge our perception of similarities and differences between cultures, with the ultimate emphasis on the absolute interconnection of humanity. Her latest works will be presented alongside Breath, which will be installed in the centre of the gallery. Migrant No I, 2015, The River is Within Us, Shirazeh Houshiary, produced at STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery. STPI / Shirazeh Houshiary Etching, Screen print on STPI handmade white paper 80 X 80 X 0.5CM Migrant No I, 2015, The River is Within Us, Shirazeh Houshiary, produced at STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery. STPI / Shirazeh HoushiaryEtching, Screen print on STPI handmade white paper80 X 80 X 0.5CM In a poetic series of tablets bearing the same title "The River Is Within Us", Houshiary combined thin layers of handmade paper with perspex that illuminate a single word selected from the Hebrew, Sanskrit, Arabic, Mandarin and Latin languages; their colours reflect emotional states and respective nationalities. One of my interests is in words, their use in the visual arts, and the fact that all cultures have tried to preserve the word, says Houshiary. According to writer and critic Sue Hubbard, language is what connects us to civilization and to the wider universe. We speak, therefore we are. It defines us as sentient, imaginative beings. The River is Within Us, 2015, The River is Within Us 2/B, Shirazeh Houshiary, produced at STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery. STPI / Shirazeh Houshiary Pigmented linen paper laminated on acrylic box structure with LED light panel. 231 x 70 x 14 cm The River is Within Us, 2015, The River is Within Us 2/B, Shirazeh Houshiary, produced at STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery. STPI / Shirazeh HoushiaryPigmented linen paper laminated on acrylic box structure with LED light panel.231 x 70 x 14 cm Text has been employed by Houshiary here as a means to capture breath, symbolic of ones own existence, transcending name, nationality and cultures. Subtle yet radiant in appearance, the tablets evoke light emanating from the computer screen, which for Houshiary has become the paper for the next generation. This focus on layers of history, evolution and the root that binds humanity are concepts that are also explored in her indigo etching works titled Migrants, which features general viewpoints of foliage that was taken in Singapore during her residency. Just as the image suggests a view from both the top and bottom of the tree, not as a fixed defined point of view, Houshiary challenges our perception of migration, and on the wider whole, culture and civilization, highlighting its fluid, organic nature simply with no centre and boundaries. It is as Hubbard writes, a visual and physical world without borders. Given their abstract quality, this body of work will stir the senses, and encourage viewers to feel rather than analyze and comprehend. About the Artist Houshiary was born in Shiraz, Iran, where she attended university before moving to London where she currently lives and works. She studied at Chelsea School of Art, London and emerged with the new British Sculpture movement in the early 1980s, alongside artists including Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon and Anish Kapoor. Her broad practice encompasses painting, sculpture, installation, architectural projects and film. Whether finely wrought skeins of pencil and pigment, elliptical brick towers or fleeting digital apparitions, her works attempt to visualise modes of perception, articulating a metaphysical reality that lies beyond form and surface. Recent projects include the solo exhibition, Breath, a collateral event of the 55th Venice Biennale (2013); the Kiev Biennale (2012); and the 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010). Her works are collected by museums ranging from Tate, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim. She is represented by Lisson Gallery and Lehmann Maupin. About STPI STPI is an internationally renowned space in Singapore with a creative workshop focusing on innovative print and paper techniques. We offer a dynamic residency programme for leading artists from around the world, where they can experiment and push the boundaries of artistic creation with alternative methods and materials. The combination of a critically acclaimed residency programme, gallery and exceptional workshop expertise makes STPI one of the most cutting-edge destinations of contemporary art in Southeast Asia. The best 2-in-1 laptop 2022: our picks of the best convertible laptops These are the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy right now If you're headed to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress this year, you may want to bring or buy a Vodafone SIM card for the best LTE speeds. Our exclusive analysis of data from our partner Ookla Speedtest.net(Opens in a new window) shows that Vodafone had the fastest LTE speeds in Barcelona during the month of January 2016, as well as the fastest LTE connections immediately surrounding the Fira Gran Via, where the trade show will be held, in January and February. Speedtest.net's huge crowd of testers spans the globe, so we dipped into its Speedtest Intelligence portal to look at the thousands of tests run in Barcelona during January. As you can see, for LTE, Vodafone pulled ahead of second-place Movistar during that month, with Yoigo trailing way behind. We also took a closer look at tests immediately around the Fira, finding about 1,000 tests on Android devices in that immediate area in January and February. Vodafone excelled there as well, with an average download speed of 54Mbps on LTE, as compared to Movistar and Orange, both around 37.5Mbps, and Yoigo around 19.5Mbps. For uploads near the Fira, Vodafone scored 22.3Mbps, while Movistar and Orange were just above 18Mbps and Yoigo languished down at 7.8Mbps. Many people coming to MWC will be roaming on carriers that don't allow LTE access, so they'll be stuck on 3G. In that case, everyone gets download speeds averaging 7-8Mbps. OpenSignal's State of LTE report(Opens in a new window) mostly agrees with Speedtest's findings. According to OpenSignal, Movistar and Vodafone are two of the faster LTE providers in the world, easily outpacing all four of the major U.S. providers. That put Spain in the top quarter of countries for LTE speeds overall, according to OpenSignal. LTE coverage isn't spectacular, especially on Yoigo, but that should be less of a concern in urban Barcelona. If you're roaming to Spain on a U.S. SIM, AT&T and Verizon both offer 4G LTE roaming in Spain. The "high speed data passes" on Sprint and T-Mobile max out at 3G speeds. If you're looking for a SIM, our MWC travel guide recommends the "Vodafone in Spain for Tourists" SIM, which offers 60 minutes of calling plus 1.5GB of LTE data for 15 euros. To take advantage of LTE, make sure your unlocked phone supports LTE bands 3 and 7. Now, of course networks are going to be weird during MWC. They'll be under massive load, and the carriers will probably bring their own portable cell sites to boost coverage. The networks are different enough from last year that MWC 2015 data probably won't tell us about this year's show, but Speedtest.net says that Vodafone led in Barcelona during March 2015, as well. Keep an eye on PCMag.com for more MWC coverage when the world's biggest mobile phone trade show begins on Sunday, Feb. 21 with the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5 phones. More and more, Microsoft seems to transitioning Windows Phone into a business-oriented device. So its a little odd that its new phone, the Lumia 650, appears to have launched without support for Microsofts Continuum Display Dock. Microsofts Lumia 650 is decidedly a midrange to low-end phone: according to Microsofts specifications, its powered by a low-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 212, with just 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, as well as a 5-inch, 1280720 display. And, like the Lumia 950, Lumia 950XL, and Lumia 550, it does run Windows 10 Mobile. Microsoft said its new phone will cost less than $200, but didnt release a price in euros. Its not all that strange, however, that Microsoft launched the Lumia 650 overseas and not in the United States. U.S. customers seem to prefer (and have been clamoring for) new flagship devices that can compete with similar products on the Android and iOS platforms. But Windows Phones market share has sagged, while overseas it is at least viable. In the U.K., for example, it stood at 9.2 percent for the three months ending in December, according to Kantar WorldPanel. Its likely, based on Kantars data, that the phone will launch in the U.K., France, and Italy. Analysts began suspecting that Microsofts future was in the enterprise last fall, though a recent spate of announcements by PC companies seems to have crystallized Microsofts Windows phone strategy: partner with PC companies with little to no phone presence, while building a strong ecosystem of apps for competing platforms. One of the strongest business features of Microsofts recent Lumia line, though, has been the Display Dock, a feature that transforms the Windows 10 Mobile phone into a PC-like experience. With Continuum, a compatible phone can be connected to the Dock and an external monitor. A user can then run Windows 10 Universal apps on the phone, through the dock, and on an external monitorwith the apps scaling to fill the available space. Microsoft has included some features that Lumia fans prefer: a removable 2000mAh battery, for example, and SD card support for up to 200GB. Theres an 8MP camera on the rear, and a 5MP selfie camera on the front. Other than that, however, the Lumia 650 seems like just another average Lumia phone. Why this matters: The Lumia 650 doesnt seem to be compatible with the Dockor, at least, Microsoft never mentioned it on its blog post announcing the phone or on its product page, including its recommended accessories. We dont know that the Lumia 650 isnt compatible with the Dockbut its an odd and slightly disappointing omission, nevertheless. If Microsoft plans to make phones for business its new focus, you would think that Continumm, and the Display Dock, would be front and center. President Obamas meet-up this week with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations got off to a disconcerting start. Thats because outgoing Myanmar President Thein Sein late-cancelled plans to participate in the two-day summit at Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage. President Seins office did not offer an official explanation of his last-minute decision. But there is speculation in Myanmars capital of Naypyidaw that the transition in power between Mr. Seins Union Solidarity and Development Party and rival Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy has gotten intense. It remains to be seen if the situation in Naypyidaw has gotten so intense that it threatens to undo the much-lauded political and economic reforms President Sein introduced in 2011, when his government replaced the military regime that ruled the nation of nearly 52 million for the previous half-century. If Myanmar does take a step backward, it will be a setback for ASEAN. Thats because the deepening of democracy in countries like Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines is an example to other ASEAN nations, as attested by Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Meanwhile, theres the thorny matter of human rights abuses by several ASEAN member countries. Indeed, organizations representing Vietnamese Americans and Cambodian Americans are expected this week to be on hand in Rancho Mirage to rightly raise their voices in protest against the governments in Hanoi and Phnom Penh. The Obama administration doesnt want next weeks first-ever stand-alone U.S.-ASEAN summit in the United States to be overshadowed by the human rights issue. Nevertheless, human rights will be discussed in what White House officials artfully describe as the occasional pull-aside, according to the Financial Times. Conversations between the U.S. and ASEAN members on trade are expected to be far less uncomfortable. Two-way trade between the U.S. and ASEAN in goods and services amounted to $254 billion in 2014. Meanwhile, Americas $226 billion direct foreign investment in ASEAN was the largest of any nation. Under the U.S.-ASEAN Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and Expanded Economic Engagement Initiative, the Obama administration hopes to grow the economic relationship between the U.S. and ASEANs 10 members. That in turn should lead to stronger geopolitical relations between the U.S. and ASEAN, as the worlds foremost superpower competes with China for influence in Southeast Asia. This is all part of the Obama administrations pivot to Asia, a rebalancing of U.S. diplomatic, economic and even military resources to the region. And we think that good foreign policy. A man hiking to the Mount Baldy summit fell in icy conditions and was injured Sunday morning, Feb. 14, two days after trails were deemed safe enough to re-open after a week-long closure. The closure was ordered by the U.S. Forest Service after two hikers in a week died in falls from icy trails in the area. On Saturday, Feb. 6 alone, 12 hikers one dead, several injured and the rest frightened by the treacherous conditions were airlifted from those trails. About 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the Mt. Baldy Fire Department learned a hiker had fallen on the San Antonio Ski Hut/Baldy Bowl Trail, said fire department Engineer Richard Wingate. The hiker, who Wingate said was a U.S. Marine in his 20s or 30s, injured his right shoulder and arm and scraped his back in the fall. As luck would have it, a San Diego search and rescue team was training nearby when the man fell. Two team members walked the man down to the San Antonio Ski Hut, where they put his arm in a sling before walking him down to Falls Gate, Wingate said. From there he was brought by ambulance to San Antonio Regional Hospital. While the rescue was still underway, hikers on the Devils Backbone Trail reported another fallen hiker. Given the backcountry location, a helicopter was called in, Wingate said. The helicopter crew performed a grid search but found nothing, said Capt. John Lansing of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Wingate and Lansing both said the second call might have been in response to the first incident. Wingate said area trails might have been reopened too soon. The hiker who was injured had no idea there was still ice and snow and kind of expected when the (U.S.) Forest Service opened the trail that they were all safe and sound, Wingate said. A lot of times, it may look good for a little ways, but the shaded areas that are on the northern slopes especially can stay icy. JAKARTA, Indonesia Its a point of pride for many people in Southeast Asia that their respective nations will be represented at a summit with President Barack Obama in the U.S. this week. Beyond that, expectations range from the skeptical to the stratospheric: nothing will change or perhaps Obama can nudge my country in a better direction. The Southeast Asian officials who will gather at a resort oasis in the California desert on Monday and Tuesday lead nations that span the political spectrum from communist dictatorships in Vietnam and Laos to an oil rich sultanate in Brunei and boisterous democracies in Indonesia and the Philippines. Some of the countries such as Myanmar are among the poorest in Asia while at the other extreme sits Singapore, one of the worlds wealthiest when measured by per capita GDP. Most, however, are in the middle income ranks: not desperately poor but still far behind nations such as Australia, Japan and the United States and eager for less official corruption, better public services and a higher standard of living. Heres what people in Southeast Asia are saying about the summit. Hamdani Rasyid, a high school math teacher in Jakarta, Indonesia said the meeting is important for Southeast Asian countries at a time when they want a stronger economic and political relationship with the U.S. to prevent being dominated by China. But he said there are also possible downsides to drawing closer to the U.S. ASEAN should strengthen itself and find the right distance between China and the United States, Rasyid said, using the acronym for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Sok Sambo, an accountant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia said she hopes the countrys long-serving prime minister Hun Sen will face scrutiny over problems including poverty, restraints on freedom of expression and unfair elections. The leader never talks about the million people that live under the poverty line. Therefore, it is good if Hun Sen dares to talk about this issue before the U.S. leader and asks help from Obama, she said. I also want to hear the U.S. president talking straight away about freedom of expression, the rights of people be respected and democracy to be implemented. Romeo Parce, hardware salesman in Manila, Philippines said the summit is positive for Southeast Asia economically and for the Philippines particularly as it seeks support for its side in territorial spats with China. The U.S. is the strongest country in the world and if the U.S. can help us, then that is good, he said. The issue today is our territorial dispute with China in the Spratly islands. That should be an issue discussed. China is a strong country and it is bullying weaker countries. It is a good thing for us to have the U.S. on our side. Anna Koh, a housewife in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia said the summit will make no difference to the problems facing the country including a months-long financial scandal involving more than $700 million that was channeled into Prime Minister Najib Razaks personal accounts. The attorney-general has decided not to prosecute Najib, saying most of the money was a legal donation from the Saudi royal family. Not many Malaysians are convinced. We are embroiled in our own troubles. We are so worried about so many things. I really dont have any confidence that the U.S. can make any difference to our country, said Koh. Azrul Khalib, a Malaysian human rights activist, said the summit is a symbolic meeting thats unlikely to produce a tangible outcome, but the U.S. can send a message to the scandal plagued Malaysian government. There is a big trust deficit in Malaysia, thats scaring away investors. Trust is at an all-time low and it is affecting the economy, he said. I dont expect the U.S. to do the dirty work as we have to clean up our own house. But I do hope the U.S. will send a warning and give a wake-up call to our government that it mustnt be business as usual, that trust and accountability must be restored. Ahmad Faizin, a food stall owner in Jakarta, said that the most pressing issue the Indonesian government needs to address with Obama is radicalism and extremism. We have seen new waves of militant groups emerge and become more of a threat in Indonesia, Faizin said. The Indonesian police in particular is managing the threat very well, but my view is that terrorism is largely driven and strongly influenced by the situation in the Middle East. Seven people died, including four militants, in a suicide and gun attack in central Jakarta in January. Svay Sophorn, a taxi driver in Phnom Penh, said Hun Sen, the Cambodian prime minister, should lure more American investment and business because Cambodia has become too close with China. He said the summit should be a wakeup call for some countries. At the moment the influence of China in this region is too big. This summit is a good chance for the U.S. to build closer relations and limit Chinas power. Gas prices are straddling $2.50 in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Industry tracker GasBuddy.com calculated a Monday average for Riverside at $2.486 a gallon of regular gasoline and the average for San Bernardino at $2.508. Prices are as low as $2.19 for regular at some Costco and Sams Club stores and Arco stations. AAAs Daily Fuel Gage Report posted similar results. Mondays average for the area was $2.510, down from $2.627 a week ago and $2.948 a month ago. The state average is $2.408, down from $2.504 a week ago and $2.802 a month ago. The national average is $1.696, and GasBuddy predicts that 99-cent gas is a possiblity for Midwest states. California is one of a handful of states with gas prices higher than $2 this month. Thursday will mark the one-year anniversary of the explosion at the Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance. It supplies Southern California and has functioned at only a fraction of its capacity since the blast, widening the gap between what Californians and much of the rest of the nation pays at the pump. Exxon has since sold the facility to PBF Energy, which hopes to restart the damaged unit in mid-March, Reuters news agency reported last week. The cheap ride might last for awhile. This month the inventories of domestic crude oil reached what AAA called the highest level for this time of year in nearly eight decades, and it reports that the supply of gasoline is also high. AAA, however, notes that February is historically the beginning of a seven-month period of increased demand. It is also the month that refineries begin maintenance. California will switch from winter to summer blend on April 1. Contact the writer: fbuck@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9551. WASHINGTON (AP) The presidential election just got real. The unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the immediate declaration from Republicans that the next president should nominate his replacement adds even more weight to the decision voters will make in Novembers general election. For months, the candidates have espoused theoretical, sometimes vague, policy proposals. Now, the prospect of President Barack Obamas successor nominating a Supreme Court justice immediately after taking office offers a more tangible way for voters to evaluate the contenders. Candidates in both parties moved quickly to reframe the election as a referendum on the high courts future. Two branches of government hang in the balance, not just the presidency, but the Supreme Court, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said in the latest GOP debate, held in South Carolina just hours after word filtered out Saturday about Scalias death in Texas. If we get this wrong, if we nominate the wrong candidate, the Second Amendment, life, marriage, religious liberty, every one of those hangs in the balance. Democrat Hillary Clinton painted a similarly stark scenario. If any of us needed a reminder of just how important it is to take back the United States Senate and hold onto the White House, just look at the Supreme Court, Clinton said. Clinton has said she would have a bunch of litmus tests for potential nominees, including a belief that the Citizens United ruling clearing the way for super political action committees and unlimited campaign contributions should be overturned. She also said the courts makeup is crucial to preserving abortion rights and the legality of gay marriage nationwide. Bernie Sanders, who is challenging Clinton for the Democratic nomination, has raised opposition to Citizens United as a requirement for any Supreme Court nominees. Scalia, a hero of conservatives during his nearly 30 years on the Supreme Court, was found dead Saturday at a resort ranch in Texas. The court now is divided between four liberal and four typically conservative justices, putting the ideological tilt up for grabs. Obama pledged to nominate a replacement in due time, even after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that responsibility should fall to the winner of the 2016 election. Obama could try to ram a nominee through the Senate this year, taking a high court vacancy off the next presidents immediate to-do list. Even if that were to happen, a confirmation vote probably would be months away, leaving the Supreme Court in the center of the campaign during the nomination process. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush, said Monday that Obama has an obligation to select a replacement for Scalia, telling CNN that the president has to do his job. Gonzales said that the Senate, likewise, has a role and should weigh Obamas choice on its own calendar. With three other justices over the age of 75, the next president could have other vacancies during his or her tenure, even if Obama fills Scalias seat. Its unclear how the new focus on the Supreme Court might affect voters decisions in an election that has seen surprising and unconventional candidates such as Donald Trump and Sanders challenge their parties establishments. Previous political thunderbolts that were supposed to push voters toward more traditional candidates, such as last falls terrorist attacks in Paris and California, passed without any negative impact on Trump and Sanders. In fact, Sanders has gotten stronger since then, with the economic-focused Vermont senator handily defeating Clinton in the New Hampshire primary and finishing a close second in the Iowa caucuses. Trying to counter Sanders momentum, Clinton has urged voters to consider which candidate is most electable in November. With the balance of the Supreme Court now potentially on the line, Clinton and her allies are certain to increase their warnings about the risk of sending a self-declared democratic socialist to face a Republican in the fall. For any Democrat thinking about casting a protest vote for Sen. Sanders, this should serve as a wake-up call for whats exactly at stake, said Jim Manley, a former aide to top Democratic senators. Among Republicans, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and John Kasich are casting themselves as candidates who could appeal to swing voters in the general election and put the GOP in position to guide the next court nominations. But that could open them up to questions from Republican primary voters about the ideological purity of their judicial choices. Cruz is using the potential vacancy to build on his long-standing argument that Republicans should select a nominee with the most conservative credentials. An uncompromising conservative since arriving in the Senate, Cruz vowed to put principled constitutionalists on the Supreme Court. He contends Trump could not be trusted to do the same. Donald Trump is president, he will appoint liberals, said Cruz, noting the billionaires past support for Democratic politicians. Trump was alone among the candidates in naming specific justices he would consider nominating. He singled out Diane Sykes and William Pryor, federal judges appointed by former President George W. Bush. During Saturdays debate, Kasich bemoaned that Washington and presidential candidates had run so fast into politics following Scalias death. But if anything, the speed at which politics did take over portends a furious fight to come over which candidate gets to put his or her imprint on the court. Associated Press writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report. In 1930, Riverside Press reporter Bob Patton sat down and interviewed two men he believed had lived the longest in the Riverside area. David Garcia, born on Dec. 23, 1849, and Patracinio Trujillo, born Nov. 7, 1857, both had been born in the small community of Agua Mansa on the Santa Ana River north of Riverside. Pattons objective was to relate the mens stories of what the Riverside area was like before U.S. settlement. Patton described Garcia as a Spanish gentleman who has lived continuously within 3 miles of the city for 81 years possessed of the same kindly nature and quick active mind that made him a leader of the old Spanish settlement. Garcia indicated that the little settlement of Agua Mansa had about 75 people living in it when he was born and that the land they lived on had been given to them by Juan Bandini to protect the Rancho Jurupa from incursions by bands of livestock-stealing Ute Indians from the north. One battle, Garcia recounted, occurred when several members of the Agua Mansa community followed a band of Indians into Pigeon Pass trying to recover stolen livestock. The Agua Mansans were successful, but two of their men were injured. Unfortunately, Garcia mentioned little about the local Indians of the Riverside area, stating only that they did not move away (when the Spanish and Mexicans settled the area) the tribesmen grew old and died out here. Trujillo was the other older gentleman to whom Patton directed questions about early times. Trujillo mentioned that the school he attended was across the river, and because of the flood of 1862, the floodwaters took so long to recede that he missed an entire year of school. However, the schooling he did receive was highly beneficial. Patton related that Trujillo, upon seeing Pattons notes, noticed that one name he had written down was very mistakenly spelled, upon which the old man took the pencil, smiled and painstakingly corrected the error. Trujillo went on to describe how plentiful the plant and animal life were in the Riverside area in those days. He told of catching 75 quail in a day: They were so thick that when they got into the brush or weeds, you could catch them with your hands! he told Patton. A similar story was told about the plentiful ducks and geese that would call the area home. Trujillo indicated that on at least one occasion, a goose was caught by the foot by a rider on horseback, thus saving the need for a weapon. He finished reminiscing about the era by stating, Everybody was happy then It was all ours you could ride horseback all over. All of this began to change when Riverside was settled in 1870, but that aspect of life then seemed not to be of interest to Patton. He was content to leave the article with the fond remembrances of Garcia and Trujillo and making an accounting of all of the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who were part of their families. If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place, or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com. YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: MARCH 2013: Restoration underway for historic Agua Mansa Cemetery OCTOBER 2014: Settlers descendants seek to protect Trujillo Adobe NOVEMBER 2015: Council to consider landmark status for adobe HISTORY: Lorenzo Trujillo and the settlement of La Placita HISTORY: Old West con man built his ruse in Agua Mansa U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes, says the top elected official in the Texas county where Scalia was found dead. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Sunday, Feb. 14, that she consulted with Scalias personal physician and sheriffs investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding the 79-year-old had died of natural causes. He was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch Saturday morning. Guevara says the declaration was made around 1:52 p.m. Saturday. Scalias body was taken to a Texas funeral home Sunday as officials awaited word on whether they would need to perform an autopsy. Tentative plans call for his body to be flown on Tuesday back home to his family in a northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama issued a proclamation ordering flags to be flown at half-staff as a mark of respect for Scalia. The order applies to the White House, Supreme Court and other public buildings and grounds in the nations capital and elsewhere in the country. The order is in effect until sunset on the day of Scalias interment. Meanwhile, the White House said Sunday that Obama will nominate a successor to the Scalias seat on the high court in due time, once the Senate returns from a weeklong recess. At that point, spokesman Eric Schultz says the White House expects the Senate to consider the nominee in keeping with its constitutional responsibilities. The Senate is taking the week off for the Presidents Day holiday. Leading Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have insisted that Obama leave the job of naming Scalias successor to the next president. Obama said he intends to fulfill his constitutional duty to nominate another justice to fill the open seat on the nations highest court. The president took about a month to nominate Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to fill earlier vacancies on the court. Cal State San Bernardino President Tomas Morales spoke Sunday at the Cathedral of Praise church in San Bernardino as part of Super Sunday. The annual Super Sunday event, a partnership between the California State University system and African American community leaders, is an outreach effort by all 23 of the CSU campuses. It helps to set up future events such as the Super Saturday College Fair and the Summer Algebra Institute. During his address, Morales stressed the importance of making sure students graduating from high school are ready for college. That strategy, he said, will help Cal State San Bernardino meet its goal of increasing local attendance and graduation. The Islamic State and its global jihad will be discussed by three Los Angeles Times foreign affairs journalists Wednesday, Feb. 24, in a panel hosted by the World Affairs Council of Inland Southern California. Journalist Kim Murphy, who won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, is the Times assistant managing editor for foreign and national news. Mitchell Landsberg, who also won a Pulitzer, is deputy foreign and national editor for the Los Angeles Times. Alexandra Zavis has reported from 40 countries for the LA Times and Associated Press. UC Riverside professor of history emeritus Carlos Cortes will moderate. The event at the Victoria Club at 2521 Arroyo Drive in Riverside starts with a 5:30 p.m. reception. Business attire is required. The cost is $35 for council members and $45 for others. Register by Friday, Feb. 19, at wacinlandsocal.org or mail a check to the council, PO Box 1268, Riverside CA 92502. For information, email christine.worldaffairs@gmail.com. Contact the writer: 951-368-9444 or shurt@pressenterprise.com Ajoy Levora is one of Melbournes leading fasharn wholesalers, with a bunch of rad threads for women, for all occasions, and budgets! Ajoy Levora is looking for one sales savvy human being to come on board as a Womens Fashion Wholesale Sales Consultant (MELB), to represent and brag about this badass brand. To be perf for the role, youll need to be fond of face to face service, as youll be dealing with customers in a stellar showroom environment. Youll need to be confident taking calls, enthusiastic on all aspects of the job, have some experience in either customer service or a call center environment, and be ready to be a bit of a brand ambassador. If youre passionate about the industry, youre wanting to work for a company (with over 25 years experience), where youll have ample opportunity to learn along the way, attend training courses, and utilize a generous staff discount (yas!), then get them while they hot, and apply HERE. Billabong Group is one of the largest board sport & lifestyle brands in the world. Not only was Billabong Group named NRAs Employer of the Year 2015, but it is the overarching company for the likes of Billabong, RVCA, Surf Dive n Ski and Tigerlily. An awesome opportunity has come up for an experienced Digital Designer (GC) to join the new eCommerce team. As a Digital Designer, youll be responsible for the creation of all digital assets for Billabong Groups eCommerce platforms. Youll be responsible for the production of all the brand digital assets including home pages, banners and EDMs. Youll need to vibe on collab-ing, as youll be working alongside Brand departments to ensure brand guidelines and consistency. Working under the Billabong Group brand, youll get to experience some pretty ace perks, including discounts on clothes, and a fresh, shabby-chic office with (wait for it) an on-site cafe, skate ramp and free parking *applies ASAP!*. If this sounds like your dream stint, and lets be honest it does, then get applying HERE. The Lucas Group is one of Melbournes most dynamic and progressive Hospo groups, playing the umbrella company to a bunch of killer restaurants including Chin Chin Restaurant & GoGo Bar, Baby Pizzeria, Kong BBQ and the newly opened Hawker Hall *starts salivating at mouth*. A wicked opportunity has opened up for one lucky Social Media Community Manager (MELB) to join The (forever-killing-it) Lucas Group. As Social Media Community Manager, you will be responsible for making the people of Melbourne drool, as you will manage all the restaurant brands on all the social media platforms. Youll already have a genuine appreciation for food, and want to work for a company that is renown for conceptual thinking, cool cuisine and superb guest service. If you have a keen eye for design, have some stealthy photography skillz up your sleeve, with the ability to adapt style to each brand, then get in quick and apply HERE. Ikon Communications is a full-service communications agency working with clients and media owners to cut through the complexity and noise, to drive deeper brand connections and deliver greater brand value. Ikon is on the hunt for a new Communications Coordinator (BRIS) to join the Brissie team (in their swanky, new pad). As the Communications/Campaign Coordinator, youll be assisting in the execution of clients digital campaigns, and will be responsible for the setting up, trafficking and the monitoring of these wicked campaigns. Youll be the passionate and driven type who chases innovation. Youll also be a pro at maintaining relationships with key partners and important peeps. Think you got dat Ikonoclastic vibe, and wanna be apart of a strategic and forwarding thinking agency? Then shoot your CV through HERE! Launched in 2013, as part of Guardian News & Media, Guardian Australia is the third international digital edition of the second-largest English language newspaper website in the world. Guardian Labs (GLabs) is a creative & commercial team working with big mamma brands to create new & innovative partnerships, products and communities that build, grow, and extend audience reach and engagement. The guys @ GLabz are now on the hunt for a talented Digital Producer (SYD) to join the Studio team. As a Digital Producer, you will be managing production capabilities across an internal studio team of producers, designers, writers & developers. You will be the main point of contact for all Guardian Oz commercial production; overseeing GLabz commercial projects from brief through to delivery. To be the best fit for the role, you will need to be the highly motivated type who froths on working in a collaborative and fast changing environment! You will need to be a bit of an expert in the digital arena, and have a concrete understanding of online news! So if digital platforms, and driving a team into success, are your cup of tea, then dont miss out and apply HERE! All deets courtesy of Pedestrian Jobs. Dont let your dream job slip you by Love your work! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and get yourself signed up to our Daily Job Alerts. Wikipedias good for a lot: where else can you instate Dollarydoos as the official Australian currency, show off how ruthless our pollies are, or use Peking Duks deets to slide your way backstage? Nowhere. Nowhere is the answer, and bless Wiki for it. Still, being the place to get the run down on well, literally anything, might not be enough for the company any more. Recent murmurings suggest the site is about to go gung-ho into the search engine business, and theyre cooking up a $3.5 million Knowledge Engine. Thats a big deal, given the companys take on the ol knowledge is power chestnut. Allowing free, open access to info is very much Wikis M.O, and ABC reports that stance will be reflected in the new project. Specifically, a grant proposal obtained by Aunty details the engine would be bereft of advertising, prioritise user privacy, while also allowing users to see exactly how and why certain results come up without the possibility of certain pages being bumped up artificially. If successful, the impending result would certainly herald the arrival of our artificially intelligent overlords shake up the internet landscape bigtime. The vibe given by the project seems to focus on curated, user-submitted content instead of relying on a sites popularity or keywords to bring it to your attention. Although co-founder Jimmy Wales has recently downplayed any renewed move into the search sphere, possible front-pages are certainly Google-esque. via Wikimedia. Its early days yet and details are still percolating, but we could be in for new and exciting ways to play Six Degrees Of Separation From Hitler. Source: ABC. Photo: Youtube. harrisburg-international-airportjpg-95fe79427836e3bc.jpg While the Harrisburg International Airport has the reputation of being a small-town airport., changes are underway that could add flights, foster commercial development and bring major businesses to the region. (File) While the Harrisburg International Airport has the reputation of being a small-town airport, changes are underway that could add flights, foster commercial development and bring major businesses to the region. The proposed changes are all part of an effort to expand the reach the airport has on potential airline passengers and businesses. Scott Miller, the airport's deputy director of business development and strategic marketing, has been busy trying to heighten HIA's profile. Recently, new businesses -- including a UPS sorting facility -- have begun locating themselves at or around the airport. And airlines are adding new routes of travel. "We're in an exciting time," Miller said. "The opportunity is here to generate more economic activity." Allegiant Air Adding more airlines and more flights While flights leaving the Harrisburg International Airport arrived in destinations all over the world in 2015, Miller said they want to expand its service. The airport plans to target new service to markets that make financial sense for the region and the airlines. Allegiant Air will begin offering flights from HIA to to Punta Gorda Airport in Florida on Feb. 18. Another opportunity the airport is exploring is flights from HIA to the Bahamas. New hotel could be coming to the airport Shaner Hotel Group in State College plans to build a 120-room hotel adjacent to the parking garage at the airport. They expect to break ground sometime in 2016. Miller said the airport has been wanting to have a hotel there for the past 10 years. But as the airline industry changed, so did the financial situations for airports and businesses. Now, with the economy on the upswing, building a hotel next to the airport is more financially feasible. "One of the things that really contributed to the hotel industry [locally] is the growth of Penn State Harrisburg," Miller said. "A good 10 years ago, it was mostly a commuter school. It is not anymore. There's a lot of international students at Penn State Harrisburg." Sheetz located to a piece of property owned by HIA in 2015. Development along Route 230 Miller said that one of the most important kinds of development airports are trying to create are non-aviation related. That includes leasing lands to businesses around the airport but not next to the runway. The airport has been working to develop more businesses along the 29 acres it owns along Route 230. In 2015, Sheetz opened up and the airport is looking to lease more land to businesses, Miller said. When asked what kind of businesses he would like to see located on the "North 29," Miller said "It doesn't matter what the development is, just as long as it's compliant with zoning rules." Fostering aviation-related businesses "Everything we do, we want it to be somehow related to aviation if it's in conjunction to the runway," Miller said. The airport has three large swaths of land -- 120 acres -- adjacent to the runway that Miller plans to fill with aviation-related businesses. UPS' new "Hub in a box" is a good example of the kind of businesses they hope to attract, Miller said. In 2014, 1.1 million people that flew out of HIA traveled someone in the United States. Challenges facing the Harrisburg International Airport Miller said the biggest challenge facing the airport is overcoming the preconception that Harrisburg is a small region that cannot support large airlines or aviation-related businesses. "When we're selling this region, we don't look very big," Miller said. The population of the Harrisburg/Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area is about 526,000. But, Miller said, that population number doesn't take into account how many people from York and Lancaster also use the airport. When those numbers are factored in, the area grows to more than a million in population. Miller said he hopes to pull in more businesses and airline passengers by showing exactly how far the Harrisburg International Airport reaches. In 2014, 1.1 million people flew out of HIA to somewhere in the United States. Another 17,000 people flew to Europe, 12,300 flew to Asia, 16,700 flew to Mexico and 4,500 flew to Central America. Thousands more reached destinations all over the world from HIA. "When we talk to airlines, we're in the process of selling the region as a whole," Miller said. "We're showing them that the traffic is here, we just need to get the airplanes to land here as well." The crash of 64 vehicles injuring 73 people on I-78 Saturday was one of the largest mass casualty incidents midstate emergency officials say they've had to handle. Three people died on the scene, and as of Monday morning, midstate hospitals report fewer than a dozen people are still being treated. Emergency department officials say the hospitals weren't overstressed, with patients distributed among many facilities. At Penn State Hershey, the 2006 Nickel Mines school shooting was the only larger event in terms of casualties, the emergency department chief said Monday. "I think we have been lucky we haven't been tested" with more such incidents, said Dr. Susan Promes, chair of emergency medicine who came to Hershey in 2014. "In general it went as well if not better than an incident that was larger than anyone ever dealt with in this region before," said Tony Deaven, a deputy at First Aid & Safety Patrol, the Lebanon EMS service in command at the scene. "As far as traffic, I don't remember anything like this," said Jamie Wolgemuth, Lebanon County chief clerk and emergency spokesman. A 2007 fire at the Alcoa plant and the 2004 Campbelltown tornado were the only incidents he recalls that could top the response the Saturday crash required. "Some of these incidents have historically gone the wrong way and turned into long drawn-out events on the interstate, and this one was dealt with relatively quickly," Wolgemuth said. "The patients were taken to hospitals and cleanup was done in less than 24 hours. All in general went very well - everyone did what they practice," Wolgemuth said. Area hospitals say they were able to handle the mass casualties resulting from the I-78 accident without much disruption. "Standard training" prepared First Aid & Safety Patrol and other responders in handling the mass casualties, Deaven said. At the scene, patients are "triaged," or sorted according to their injury. Initial treatment begins at the scene and hospitals are contacted to arrange where patients can be taken. At Penn State Hershey, which is the level 1 trauma center for adults and children in central Pennsylvania, Dr. Promes said Hershey initially said they could take four critical victims, and then increased it to six. In all, Hershey received 13 victims - three with critical injuries, three with moderate injuries, and seven with minor, the rest stable. Four patients remain in intensive care and one in intermediate care, said Scott Gilbert, hospital spokesman. "I think all in all we did a fabulous job," Promes said, adding that they also had luck on their side. "We were really lucky on Saturday that the hospital was not full, the ED was not really busy. We could expand to take care of whoever came in," she said. "I was very impressed with our team. Everyone came together, the patients received excellent care. There was nothing but positive things from my perspective," she said. To help make room, some patients in the ED were admitted and moved to other rooms, some were discharged, and some were moved into the hall. Hershey has 52 rooms in the ED, 12 of which are pediatric, two are for critical resuscitation intake, and eight are for less acute injuries. Penn State Hershey is always staffed to handle trauma 24 hours a day. In addition to the three attending doctors in the ED, plus residents and nurses, additional residents were paged and surgical residents leaving shift were asked to stay on, Promes said. The chiefs of intensive care and trauma surgery were also on hand, she said. Helping to organize the response was the hospital's emergency operations center, Promes said. Like most hospitals, Hershey has a chaplain and social workers to meet with families. "When we knew this was occurring we opened up an area in the surgical waiting area and we had resources deployed to help family and friends understand what was going on," Promes said, and deal with issues like helping them find a place to stay. Emergency drills prepare staff to handle this type of incident, she said, and it's part of the emergency medicine curriculum. Injuries typical of car crashes were seen - a lot of blunt trauma; chest and abdominal injuries; and head, neck and back injuries. Lehigh Valley Health System treated 17 people in non-critical condition - the most of any hospital - and all have been released, said spokeswoman Tracey Sechler. It wasn't a big disruption in the ED, said Luis Puentes, administrator of Lehigh's Department of Public Safety & Emergency Operations. "It was a regular business day in the ED - it's busy every day," he said. Patients came in two groups - first six, then 11 - and since they came from a distance, the hospital had time to prepare, he said. There were rooms available in the ED, and more were opened by moving some patients onto floors and sending some home. Staffing in place was able to accommodate the influx, he said. At Reading Hospital, Dr. Charles Barbera, chairman of emergency medicine, said they got the call at 10 a.m. asking how many patients they could take. Barbera said Reading quickly cleared 34 critical care beds in its five-section, 80-bed emergency department, so they could accommodate 20 critically ill patients. "We could have taken more if necessary," Barbera said. Some existing patients were admitted and others moved into the pediatric and fast-track ERs. They ended up receiving nine patients, and one remains in good condition. The next shift of medical staff was asked to come in early, and Barbera said "everyone is willing to help out in a mass casualty. It's not difficult to do - this is what we do." Most patients came by ambulance, so the hospital was able to mobilize resources in plenty of time, Barbera said. "The staff here is to be applauded...It really is a testament opt their hard work and practice every month," he added. Barbera said the entire infrastructure of the hospital was activated to deal with the patients, ranging from radiology to lab, security, chaplain services," he said. They also arranged meeting areas for patients' families, many of whom were from outside the area. Reading is a level 2 trauma center, which is similar to level one except it doesn't do as much research and doesn't have a surgical residency program. It normally sees 400 people a day. "We practice this once a month - we drill so we're prepared - so we could take whatever we needed to take," he said. Three people died of injuries at the accident scene, according to state police Trooper David Beohm. They are: Kenneth J. Lesko, 50, of Bethpage, N.Y., who was in a Dodge Ram pickup truck Francisca V. Pear, 54, of Bridgewater, N.J., who was in a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. Alfred Dean Kinnick, 57, of Limestone, Tenn., who was in a commercial motor vehicle. The main crashes involved 64 vehicles including 12 commercial motor vehicles. There were 73 people taken to 11 area hospitals, using four medical helicopters and numerous ambulance companies. The five patients that each of two PinnacleHealth hospitals received Saturday "was not overwhelming at all. We were already set up to accommodate the patients we received," said Keria Meals, hospital spokeswoman. One patient remains in Community General Osteopathic Hospital and one in Harrisburg Hospital, and both are in stable condition, Meals said. Four people were treated and released Saturday at Penn State St. Joseph in Reading, and five were treated and released from Wellspan Good Samaritan in Lebanon, and one was transferred. Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill treated eight: Seven were discharged and one was admitted and is now discharged, said spokeswoman Lori Moran. Schuylkill Health in Pottsville also treated two patients, who were released. pa-nursing-home-aide-sexually-assaults-woman-86-with-dementia.PNG Ricardo Yusko of Swoyersville, Pa., allegedly sexually assaulted an 86-year-old female patient who suffers from dementia at the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, located Scranton, Pa. (screen shot/WNEP) A nurse at the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, located Scranton, Pa., simply told police that she walked into a patient room and saw "something almost indescribable," WNEP-TV is reporting. The sight that sent the nurse running to call police was that of nursing home employee Ricardo Yusko of Swoyersville, Pa., allegedly sexually assaulting an 86-year-old female patient who suffers from dementia, the station reports. The patient was half naked, WNEP writes, citing the police account, and Yusko had his pants unzipped. The incident happened Thursday night at the nursing home, and Yusko, a certified nursing assistant, has been jailed in Lackawanna County prison on $20,000 bail after admitting to police that he has "inappropriately touched" the patient. However, Yusko claims the woman made sexual advances towards him first, WNEP reports. Background: The Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania in Scranton provides skilled nursing, rehab, and dementia care to the elderly. AMNESTY CARTOON.jpg By Christine Flowers Since when did being a conservative mean also having to agree that some wall with mythical powers could "make America great again," a la Donald Trump? Both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were very pro-immigration. After all, "legal" immigration is whatever the law says it is. So if the law permits someone who entered the country without permission to eventually obtain her green card and live permanently in the United States, he or she is a legal immigrant. Christine M. Flowers (PennLive file) But now, to be a respected Republican, you need to somehow caucus with Trump and Ted Cruz (and a sometimes squeamish Marco Rubio) and come out loud and strong against "amnesty." Let's be clear on what "amnesty" really is. The simplest and most common definition of amnesty is "a decision that a group of people will not be punished" or "a group of prisoners that will be allowed to go free." Since we're not dealing with prisoners, let's focus on the "not be punished" part. Anyone who has examined any of the proposals set forth by George W. Bush during his tenure, John McCain and Arlen Specter a decade ago and the Gang of Eight in 2013 would, if they were honest, acknowledge that not one so-called illegal immigrant was going to be getting off scot-free. In the best-case scenario, they were going to have to wait many years before actually becoming lawful residents or citizens, pay fines, learn English and clear the kind of background checks that not even Hillary Clinton could pass. The proposal of the Gang of Eight was a bipartisan attempt to address head-on an issue that had languished in Congress and at grass-roots levels for years, with no sure resolution. In addition to providing a decade-long process for legalization, it also required certainty that the border with Mexico and the U.S. is secured within five years of its passage. The proposal passed the Senate, but died in the House. The people who scream about amnesty are being dishonest, because nowhere in any piece of legitimate legislation has there been a "decision that a group of people will not be punished." Telling someone to pay thousands of dollars in fines, wait many years before becoming legalized, possibly returning home and waiting outside of the country for long stretches or even relinquishing the right to ever become a citizen is not exactly a slap on the wrist. And people like Clinton, who stuff their rallies with burqas and Latinos and "Dreamers," are nothing more than panderers using immigrants as a bargaining chip. Then there are the people who actually tried to do something, such as Rubio (who has since backtracked) or Chuck Schumer, who was willing to sleep with the enemy to move the ball forward. And that, sadly, is all this amnesty talk is. While I will not vote for Hillary or Bernie Sanders, I'm also not going to look at Trump or Cruz or any of the other GOP candidates who exploit, in their own fashion, irrational American fears. The whole idea that refugees are really ISIS operatives waiting to pounce makes for great sound bites, but is statistically fraudulent. Just last week I had five Central American clients in my law office trying to legally seek refuge in this country. They were doing it legally, because there is a law that gives them that right. They deserve respect. And unless the GOP candidates realize that, and stop talking about "amnesty," they are guaranteeing that another Democrat named Clinton will be sitting in the Oval Office come January. So, run Marco, run. And stop apologizing for one of the things you actually got right. Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com. When state government offices reopen for business on Tuesday, the fifth-floor office of the Public Employee Retirement Commission in the Finance Building will remain dark under orders of Gov. Tom Wolf. But two Republican House members are hoping to get the lights back on and commission operating again with the help of the Commonwealth Court. Reps. Stephen Bloom of Cumberland County and Seth Grove of York County have filed a lawsuit (see below) against Wolf claiming the governor acted unconstitutionally and lacks the power to dissolve the commission, which was created by the General Assembly. Bloom and Grove are seeking a preliminary injunction to allow the commission, often referred to as PERC, to resume fulfilling its duties immediately until the court rules on their request for the court to permanently block the governor from shutting down this agency. The administration has until noon Wednesday to offer a response to the preliminary injunction request. Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan said on Monday the administration was not aware of the details of the lawsuit but restated the reason behind the decision to shut PERC down. "The governor has acted to eliminate redundant and unnecessary functions and cost," Sheridan said. "It is unfortunate that despite their rhetoric, some in the legislature have opposed nearly every step the Wolf Administration has taken to reduce the size of government and curb costs including the elimination of PERC, reducing fees paid to Wall Street pension management firms and the merging of the Department of Corrections and Probation and Parole." As part of his 2015-16 budget enactment and accompanying line-item vetoes, the governor on Dec. 29 cut the $962,000 that the Legislature had approved to fund the commission. However, because of a 2009 court order requiring the commonwealth to pay employees who showed up for work, PERC employees continued performing their duties and got paid. Then Wolf's chief of staff Mary Isenhour sent the commission a letter on Feb. 3 saying the employment of all PERC staff would discontinue as of last Friday. The lawsuit filed on Friday claims the administration illegally took it upon itself to transfer PERC's responsibilities to the governor's Office of Budget, which it indicates plans to hand them off to other state agencies to fulfill. It also has transferred its three full-time employees to other state agencies; PERC's executive director Jim McAneny has left state employment. The lawsuit claims the governor lacks the authority to take these actions without legislative approval and is violating the separation of powers principles in the state constitution. The commission, created by an act of the Legislature in 1981, was established to serve as an independent watchdog over state and local pension systems. Among its duties, PERC is tasked with reviewing and providing a statutorily required actuarial note on pension reform bills to determine their fiscal impact on the public pension systems. Both Bloom and Grove contend that Wolf's decision to close the commission was intended to hamstring the Legislature from moving pension reform legislation. "It's troubling because the governor was reluctant to get on board with the idea we need to do pension reform in Pennsylvania and if he's able to shut down PERC, it throws a huge monkey wrench" in the Legislature's ability to advance pension reform legislation, Bloom said. Grove said he believes the governor made this political decision without fully first evaluating all of the duties that PERC performs. While its review of pension legislation draws media coverage, the bulk of the commission's work gets little public attention. That is the part that involves reviewing the health of the state's 2,600 municipal pension systems and determining how much state aid a municipality is to receive to help defray its pension costs. The commission's closing just six weeks before municipalities' biannual reports are due could hold up the distribution of that $250 million in state aid, according to the lawsuit. "Municipalities that cannot make the pension payments will be forced to raise taxes to make up the difference or risk increasing their unfunded municipal pension liability," the lawsuit says. In this Jan. 17, 2016 photo, a man reads the information underneath a photo of the late bishop Samuel Ruiz, that hangs above Ruiz's tomb in the Cathedral of San Cristobal de Las Casas, in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas. Ruiz was beloved by indigenous people and widely reviled among the wealthy classes and much of the church hierarchy. Many officials accused Ruiz of acting on behalf of the Zapatista rebels in their 1994 uprising for greater indigenous rights. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) This image taken from video provided by the Syrian activist-based media group Maara Media Center, which has-been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows Syrian Civil Defense rescuers running from the site of a second explosion near a hospital run by an international medical charity, also known by its French acronym MSF in Maaret al-Numan, Idlib, Syria, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Doctors Without Borders says an attack on a clinic in northern Syria supported by the group has killed several people and that more are are presumed dead. (Maara Media Center,via AP Video) MANDATORY CREDIT A Bahraini anti-government protester standing amid clouds of tear gas fired by riot police during clashes in Sitra, Bahrain, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Hundreds of Bahraini youths shouting anti-government slogans have taken to the streets in Bahrain despite a heavy police presence to mark the fifth anniversary of an uprising calling for political change in the tiny island kingdom. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) Kochanny: We did one last hike before the longest day of the year The longest day of the year has come and passed already in June. If you ask me, though, this past Monday is when time began to stand still. Suffice it to say that Riviera Country Club has aced the test of time. Oh, sure, there have been moments in recent editions of the Northern Trust Open when modern talent has solved the 90-year-old track in Pacific Palisades, California, but through proper upgrades and an evergreen requirement to cherish every stroke (and stroke saved), the historic venue has held as one of the toughest on the PGA TOUR schedule. With a scoring average of 72.592 last year, Riviera was the most challenging par 71 in 2014-15. That clip also serves as a reminder as to why Lanny Wadkins 20-under 264 in 1985 remains the tournament record. The greens on the 7,322-yard track (down 27 yards from last year, all at the par-4 eighth hole) were the hardest to hit in regulation, too. Last years field of 144 averaged just 9.25 GIR per round (or 51.38 percent). But what makes Riviera so doggone formidable is just getting the ball into the hole. Its ranked as the most difficult from three feet and in for five consecutive seasons. Last year, there were 72 whiffs inside that range. Of the 38 courses measured, none of the others had more than 46 misses. Whats more, Rivieras splits from 4-8 feet and inside 10 feet were also TOUR lows. Sergio Garcias reputation is that of a premium ball-striker, but it was that asset that let him down at the end of regulation last year. Pulled tee balls at the par-5 17th and par-4 18th led to title-crushing bogeys after he led outright with those two holes to play. Ironically, the Spaniard was perfect on 43 tries from three feet and in for the week. James Hahn is defending his lone TOUR title this week. He survived a playoff with Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey that went three holes. Hahn ranked outside the top 25 in both fairways hit and GIR, but just above the field average in both. And while he lost 0.201 strokes to the field in putting for the tournament (ranking 50th), he placed second in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Plain and simple, he got the job done on the par 4s, which were the second-hardest of all non-majors last season at 4.20. Hahn led the field with scoring average of 3.93 on the set. He played the drivable 10th in bogey-free 1-under in regulation and added a masterful up-and-down 3 there on the second hole of the playoff. Come 2017, Riviera will be hosting the U.S. Amateur for the first time. Northern Trust will be shifting its sponsorship to The Northern Trust to lead off the FedExCup Playoffs (replacing Barclays as title sponsor). Hyundai will be assuming the vacated sponsorship at Riviera. The U.S. headquarters for the South Korean automaker are in Southern California. Scores at Riviera should drop a bit as compared to last year when it was cool throughout the tournament. Gradually warming high temperatures into the upper 70s will ride along with crowning this weeks champ on Sunday. Winds could be moderate. If rain falls on Wednesday, the course may be a bit slow on Thursday when the field of 144 can attack. MEDIA QUESTIONNAIRE Name of Publication Established (Give exact date) ADDRESS TELEPHONE FAX NO NAME OF EDITOR Name of Printer Language Frequency Please attach a copy of declaration certificate Off Days Please specify whether morning, evening or state the date of issue Date on which the first issue was brought out Any special edition Price per copy Annual subscription Editorial Objectives and policy Appeal to any special community, class or section News services subscribed to Special regular features (i.e Womens or Children page etc) & when appearing Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print When he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said that he never saw Bernie Sanders during the 1960s struggle for civil rights. I never saw him. I never met him, were his exact words. Given Lewis own prominent role, the 1961 Freedom Riders, the 1963 March on Washington, not to mention Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama in 1965, where he was beaten by the police, it is no surprise that many took his words to suggest that Sanders had not been an advocate of civil rights. On Saturday, Lewis explained that he was not claiming that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism. I was responding to a reporters question who asked me to assess Senator Sanders civil rights record. I said that when I was leading and was at the center of pivotal actions within the civil rights movement, I did not meet Senator Bernie Sanders at any time. The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism. Thousands sacrificed in the 1960s whose names we will never know, and I have always given honor to their contribution. Lewis did not see Sanders, but the Vermont senator was also at the 1963 March on Washington. He was even arrested at a civil rights demonstration. He was an activist then just as he is an activist now. Unlike Donald Trump, Sanders did not begin as one thing and become another. The Georgia representative also clarified his relationship with the Clintons: My point was that when I was doing the work of civil rights, led the Voter Education Project and organized voter registration in the south in the 1970s, I did cross paths with Hillary and Bill Clinton in the field. They were working in politics, and Bill Clinton became attorney general of Arkansas in the 1970s as well. That began a relationship with them that has lasted until today. Lewis can say now he didnt mean it, but it sounded very much as though he were saying that by virtue of his not seeing Sanders, that Sanders was not there. Of course, neither did he see the Clintons, as he admits now, until the 1970s. That was a very damaging implication at a time when Hillary Clinton is a clear leader among black voters. The Democratic primary takes place just a week from now in South Carolina, and Lewis explanation may be have come too late to undo the damage caused by his earlier remarks. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print It is customary on Presidents Day to acknowledge past presidents, their accomplishments, and perhaps note how they governed in a way that helped shape Americas future. What that usually entails is choosing one or two historically well-regarded presidents and recounting their achievements and impact on American society. But since it has all been said before and most Americans are historically illiterate anyway, the idea of reciting the tired celebrations of past presidents is a serious waste of time. Instead, one decided to use this opportunity to acknowledge the accomplishments of the current President, Barack Obama, on the federal holiday created to celebrate the office he won twice. It would be simple to highlight the list of President Barack Obamas accomplishments; there are many lists posted, and often cited, on various websites. They are accomplishments that, by the way, would be remarkable for any president; much less one with an opposition party that conspired in private to obstruct any and everything proposed by a newly elected President. What stands out among the Presidents accomplishments is that despite what an emotional faction on the left asserts to the contrary, Barack Obama fairly fulfilled his campaign promises as the President to all Americans; not this or that special interest group. Remember, on the night he won the Presidency in 2008, Barack Obama said although all Americans didnt vote for me, I will be president to all Americans. Obviously, attempting to serve all Americans and not just one or two special groups is not going to please everyone, and even staunch Obama supporters have been disappointed by decisions that he believed serve all the peoples interest. But that is what makes the President unique in modern American politics and why Republicans hate him with religious passion and so-called progressives continue attacking him. What has been, and still is, a curious assertion is that this President has not fulfilled imaginary promises he never made on the campaign trail, or that due to Republican obstruction the President is responsible for the peoples disgust with government and particularly the Republican-controlled Congress. It is even more absurd to criticize President Obama for not granting special interests wishes when the GOP opposed and obstructed anything the President proposed or supported. For dogs sake, conservatives even opposed and obstructed Republican policies that Republican special interests supported. These unwarranted attacks on President Obama from the left befuddles Americans wondering exactly where Barack Obamas non-conservative critics have been over the past seven years. As if to punctuate this point, the death of conservative Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia should inform and remind Obamas critics within his own party there is no end to Republicans crusade to obstruct this President even denying that he is the legitimate President to execute his constitutional authority and mandate. Over the past seven years, Republicans have done everything to not only obstruct the President, they have attempted to erase everything he has accomplished and presided over through repeal attempts, frivolous lawsuits, and outright proposals to abolish all legislation passed under Obamas presidency. If Republicans were not conspiring with one foreign nation to derail an international peace initiative, they were privately dealing with another hostile nation to prevent the release of American captives. Republicans in Congress also took the extraordinary, and unconstitutional, step of usurping Executive Branch authority by passing legislation favorable to a foreign corporation and the Koch brothers. The same Republicans notified foreign governments that despite the Constitution gives the President of the United States authority to make historic climate deals, America was not be trusted and that Republicans would dishonor any deal they claimed the legally elected President had no authority to make. Look, Republicans have used every dirty machination to prevent Barack Obama from being President whether it is taking him to court for issuing the exact same executive action as every Republican president over the past 60 years, to prohibiting him from holding BP responsible for an avoidable environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, Republicans are attempting to deny the legally-elected President his Constitutional authority and mandate to appoint a Supreme Court Justice. In fact, the same Republican who wasted four years of taxpayer time and money to make Obama a one-term president as the GOP Congress only legislative goal, said that it is up to the people to decide who gets to appoint a replacement for Antonin Scalia. This comment from Senate Majority Leader reveals a common Republican belief that Barack Obama is not the legitimate President of the United States. What Mitch McConnell knows to be true is that the American people did decide who gets to appoint a replacement Justice and they re-elected him as President in 2012; whether or not Republicans like or acknowledge it. If nothing else, this latest Republican outrage should help remind Americans, especially Democrats, that considering the non-stop overwhelming opposition to this President, it is disingenuous to criticize Barack Obama as an ineffective leader, abandoned and threw his supporters under the bus, or exists solely to serve special interests. Even an avowed Obama supporter would be a liar if they said he has been a perfect President; there is no such thing and it is particularly true when they govern for all the people. This President has governed for the good of the people and the nation against overwhelming obstruction by what can only be called a vast right-wing conspiracy that plagued the last Democratic president. Add in the professional lefts conspiracy-driven attacks on President Obama, and his record of accomplishments is all the more remarkable. People often claim how much the President could have achieved with an agreeable opposition party, and it is a valid claim, but they should also consider how much more he could have accomplished with a supportive Democratic party; particularly when Democrats had majorities in the House and Senate. If one reflects over the past seven years of the Presidents tenure and the efforts and accomplishments he oversaw that have benefitted, at one point or another, every single demographic in America, it is impossible to see his Administration as a failure; especially in an environment with an openly hostile majority opposition. Did President Obama grant each special interests every wish and whim? Of course not; that is a fantasy and most Americans understand that will never happen under any president. But President Obama has served all the American peoples interests admirably at home and around the world; Republicans and even some Democrats know this is true. So maybe instead of criticizing the man that history will regard as an outstanding, likely transformational President, at least all Democrats can acknowledge Barack Obama deserves special recognition on the day set aside to honor Presidents; even if Republicans deny he is The President. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Jeb Bush will be campaigning with his brother George W. Bush on Monday, joining him for a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, and hes excited. Not because hes campaigning with his brother, but because of who his brother is. Theres another way of saying this: George W. Bush joins Jeb tonight in South Carolina and Jeb hopes Trump attacks him. In fact, you might say he is counting on Trump attacking him. Ill explain in a minute. Lets look first at what Jeb told Dana Bash on Sundays State of the Union: The point is, Is he a popular republican? You bet he is. And he will make the point, I think I hope tomorrow, that he knows what it takes to be president of the United States to be commander in chief to keep the country safe and that he believes that I have those skills based on my record and based on how he knows me, and that will be validator in SC where values matter and where national defense matters a lot. So Im looking forward to the event we should have a great crowd and itll help my campaign a lot. It might shock liberals and progressives to think of the forty-third president having any cachet at all, but Dubyas popularity with South Carolinians stands at 84 percent. Thats appalling enough. Worse, we have apparently gotten to the point where just saying George W. Bush kept the country safe makes it true for Republicans, despite the fact that the opposite is true (9/11 anyone?), as Trump pointed out at the debate Saturday night. You know things are bad when youre depending upon the support of one of the worst presidents in American history to lend you the air of legitimacy you need to get you elected. Its even worse when its likely to help at least in South Carolina. That is the deplorable fact-free state of the Republican Party today. Trump got booed for exposing the difference between politically correct and factually correct; Jeb! is likely right that his campaign will get a boost from lying about his brothers record, and having his conservative icon of a brother there to nod his head and hopefully not say anything too stupid. What to expect? According to Karl Rove, Having been in the Oval Office, you can expect him to be a statesman and focus on extolling the virtues of his brother and sharing observations about what he thinks the requirements are for the next president. In other words, he will not be Jebs attack dog. This is a strange strategy. Jeb has so far been unable to find a single chink in Trumps armor. Jeb Bush needs more teeth, to steal a Jurassic World allusion, but hes not going to get more teeth from his brother, who at the best of times barely seems to understand what is going on around him. Is there any danger to Dubya? Rove doesnt think so: If any candidate decides theyre going to score points by going after 43, its going to be a problem for them a mistake in judgment. This could be more Republican math, i.e. wishful thinking. We could ask Rove, as Megyn Kelly did back in 2012, Is this just math you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better? Roves are a funny choice of words, given 43s entire presidency was a gigantic error in judgment. Irony abounds in 2016, and there is always a chance bringing his brother in might prove to be an error in judgment for Jeb. It might address his immediate needs in South Carolina while having negative effects elsewhere. While former secretary of commerce Donald L. Evans and current board chairman of the George W. Bush Foundation might say, Jeb doesnt need big brother coming in to take on some other candidate, thats exactly what Jeb seems to feel he does need. In fact, you get the idea that he thinks he is donning some form of holy armor against Donald Trump, telling Brian Kilmeade on his radio show Friday that, Donald Trump and anybody else who wants to be critical of George W. Bush, I hope they do it, because the people of South Carolina are sick and tired of people tearing down George W. Bush. So this is the plan: Jeb Bush looks to his brother to be a lightning rod, turning any Trump attack into a backlash of negativity against the virtual reality star. George W. Bush is Jebs honeypot, an irresistible, easy target for The Donald. Let Trump attack him, and Jeb will sit back and enjoy the results. He hopes. A fascinating strategy and a telling admission of weakness on Jebs part, to show himself so dependent on the magical aura of his brother. On the other hand, the lackadaisical Jeb doesnt seem to have anything to lose. Portfolio English Edition's premium content is available only for subscribers Learn about the hottest news of the day, along with immediate follow-up analyses and 1000's of exclusive articles with full access to the premium content. Register and apply for a 14 days free trial period. The Public Utilities Commission is considering adding a second phase to the Guam Power Authoritys demand-side management program which will include rebates for residents who install battery storage devices at homes powered by photovoltaic panels. According to PUC Chairman Jeff Johnson, the rebates should create a fair compromise for the power utility which has expressed its concern about frequency interruptions resulting from the intermittent nature of solar power generation. Say (customers) already have a solar system set up on their rooftop if they add a battery to that system it can even out the distribution of power throughout a 24-hour cycle, Johnson said. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. GPA General Manager John Benavente has stated that solar energy produces frequent spikes and drops in power depending on cloud cover, causing power fluctuations within the system. GPAs facilities cannot react quickly enough to the fluctuations, which can damage electrical appliances over time. With the opening of the Dandan solar farm in October 2015, up to 25 megawatts of solar energy flows through the islandwide power grid during the day. Around 8 MW more come from net-metered customers. Because of this issue, Benavente has recommended that future solar acquisition for the utility include battery storage. Net metering allows customers generating power with renewable energy technology to essentially sell excess power they generate to the utility. While initially slow to implement, Guam numbers surged last year when more than 500 customers joined the program. Ceiling GPA currently has more than 800 customers taking part in net metering and nearly 200 more waiting approval. The PUC declared a ceiling of 1,000 net-metering customers, after which it will review the program and determine if any changes need to be made to the policy. Although seen as fundamental for the future of solar adoption, net metering has been criticized by utilities in some states that say solar panel owners dont pay their fair share for the use of the power grid. In Guam, customers can get dollar-for-dollar credit for excess power supplied to the grid. If they produce more power than they can consume, customers can transfer excess credits over to the next months power bill. Benavente has maintained that this creates an unfair subsidy from non-net metered customers who have to pay for maintenance and operational cost of the GPA grid that some net-metered customers are able to negate completely. On Oct. 13, 2015, the PUC in Hawaii, the state with the highest solar rooftop penetration in the nation, barred new customers from entering the net-metering program with Hawaiian Electric Companies. Hawaii PUC officials stated in their decision that transitioning away from net metering was essential to ensure all customers, "not just those who have the ability to install solar (photovoltaic panels) or other forms of (distributed energy resources)" were able to benefit from the growth of the solar energy industry. Hawaii regulators proposed to replace net metering with two options: a grid supply option, which is similar to net metering but with reduced credit rates, and a self-supply option, which uses battery storage. Too low Johnson said the PUC may explore these options at a later time but in his opinion, Guams current adoption overall is too low to consider major changes to the net metering policy. Even at 1,000 customers, Johnson said this represents only about 2 percent of GPAs customer base. I would anticipate that well probably go beyond 1,000 rooftops before we make any dramatic changes, Johnson said. Meanwhile, the regulatory body enacted a small change to the policy late last year. Johnson said the PUC voted to allow customers to extend net-metering credits past one year. In November 2015, Johnson told the Post that customers were inquiring if the PUC could change a policy that zeroed out net-metering credits at the end of a 12-month period. Net-metering customers, if they overproduce solar power they can either extend the credit toward the next year or they can get a cash rebate on a one-to-one basis, Johnson said. GPA launched its demand-side management program in late November 2015. The rebate program is meant to encourage customers to buy energy-efficient appliances. Johnson said the PUC has discussed adding a second phase to the program with GPA for the last several months. He said he expects the addition of the second phase to take place this year. Yes, at the GEC voting center at the Westin. Yes, at one of the satellite voting centers open on Saturdays. No; I'm voting on Nov. 8. No; I'm not voting in the general election. Vote View Results Donald Trump continues to insist that prior to the invasion of Iraq, he said we should not go into Iraq. Last year, the tycoon said he could provide 25 articles demonstrating that he took that position. However, he has not provided one, and apparently nobody else has unearthed any either. This isnt to say that Trump failed to opine on the question of whether to invade Iraq. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed points to a discussion of the issue in Trumps 2000 book The America We Deserve. Here is what Trump said: Consider Iraq. After each pounding from U.S. warplanes, Iraq has dusted itself off and gone right back to work developing a nuclear arsenal. Six years of tough talk and U.S. fireworks in Baghdad have done little to slow Iraqs crash program to become a nuclear power. Theyve got missiles capable of flying nine hundred kilometersmore than enough to reach Tel Aviv. Theyve got enriched uranium. All they need is the material for nuclear fission to complete the job, and, according to the Rumsfeld report, we dont even know for sure if theyve laid their hands on that yet. Thats what our last aerial assault on Iraq in 1999 was about. Saddam Hussein wouldnt let UN weapons inspectors examine certain sites where that material might be stored. The result when our bombing was over? We still dont know what Iraq is up to or whether it has the material to build nuclear weapons. Im no warmonger. But the fact is, if we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion. When we dont, we have the worst of all worlds: Iraq remains a threat, and now has more incentive than ever to attack us. In this passage, Trump doesnt advocate invading Iraq. But he does say that an all-out war with Iraq is preferable to air strikes. And he is clear that if we did nothing the other alternative Iraq would have clear path to becoming a nuclear power (if they werent already on the brink of becoming one). Moreover, Trump apparently said nothing about the specific risks of an invasion he now claims drove his (alleged) opposition, e.g., a civil war in Iraq. If he knew enough to anticipate this prospect, which is doubtful, the risk wasnt sufficient to persuade him that we should limit any attempt to deal with the threat posed by Saddam Hussein to air strikes. It isnt news that Trump makes fraudulent claims to advance his interests. But his claim of prescience with regard to Iraq, is, to my knowledge, the only evidence he has proffered to establish foreign policy expertise. In addition, it is the launching point for his slander of President George W. Bush. Accordingly, the falsity of Trumps claim about Iraq takes on special significance. A local human rights group said an armed group has massacred at least 16 civilians in eastern Congo. The Study Centre for the Promotion of Peace and Human Rights, CEPADHO, disclosed this on Monday in Beni, Congo. It said rebels belonging to the Ugandan Islamist group, Allied Democratic Forces, ADF, entered the village of Kambi ya Chui, 70 kilometres north-east of the town of Beni on Sunday, and massacred people between the ages of 16 and 21. It said in a statement that because Congos telephone network does not extend to the village, it became very difficult for the villagers to call for help. A local army commander, Mbangu Marcel, said he was sending soldiers to the village. We are waiting for information and details from the army, a local official, Bernard Kalonda, said. The army launched an offensive in January 2014 against the ADF, which was founded in 1995 in Uganda and later moved to Congo. It has massacred hundreds of civilians in the Beni area in recent years. Dozens of armed groups seeking control over territory and mineral resources have remained active in eastern Congo since the 1996-2003 Congo wars. (dpa/NAN) The Nigerian government has fired the heads of the six information-related parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the disengagement during a meeting he held with the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Monday . The Minister directed the disengaged Chief Executives to hand over to the most senior officials in their various establishments. He thanked them for their service to the nation and wished them the best of luck in their future endeavours. The affected chief executives are the Directors-General of NTA, Sola Omole; FRCN (Ladan Salihu); VON (Sam Worlu); NOA (Mike Omeri); NBC ( Emeka Mba) and the Managing Director of NAN (Ima Niboro). When contacted, Mr. Niboro confirmed he and his colleagues had been removed. The minister met with us at 9 a.m today to inform us of governments decision to replace us, Mr. Niboro said.He said he wanted us to be the first to know so we dont get to read it on the pages of newspapers. We thank President Buhari and the minister for giving us the opportunity to serve the administration for the past eight months. Some of us knew the pressure under which the government had been to remove us. So our removal this morning is understandable. I especially thank the minister for the gentlemanly manner he handled the whole matter. We are grateful and will continue to hold him in high esteem. Mr. Niboro and his five colleagues were appointed at various times by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Minister Mohammed had given indication the officials would be fired on November 20, 2015 when he called them to a meeting where he accused them of partisanship and lack of professionalism. At that meeting, the minister noted that government-owned media organizations had a wide range of highly trained personnel, working tools, as well as a wide reach, but had unfortunately continued to engage in outright unprofessional conduct. Why have you all chosen to play second fiddle in the countrys media landscape? I ask because the NTA and FRCN of yesterday is not the same as what we have today, the minister had said. There is no denying the fact that the private radio and TV stations are doing much better, at least going by the fact that most Nigerians prefer them to the public broadcasters. Indeed, most Nigerians find the private broadcasters more credible, Mr. Mohammed noted. He condemned the officials disregard for editorial independence. They mortgaged their credibility on the altar of political correctness, he said. President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Tijjani Abdullahi as the new Director-General in charge of the Budget Office of the Federation. The President also approved the appointment of Ben Akabueze as the Special Adviser on Planning to the Minister of Budget and National Planning. Mr. Abdullahi, a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance, will replace the current Director-General (Budget), Yahaya Gusau. Mr. Gusau, who replaced Bright Okogu (who completed two terms of office), was appointed to the office on August 18, 2015, for a term of four years that could have been renewed for another four years. But he has now been sacked less than six months after, following the widespread irregularities detected in the 2016 budget presently under consideration by the National Assembly. Presidency sources told PREMIUM TIMES Mr. Buhari believed that the sacked DG failed to effectively deliver on his mandate. The new Director-General (Budget) is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the Federation, a statement by the presidency said. Mr Akabueze, who is the immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, has worked in senior management positions in Citi Bank, Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa, NAL Merchant Bank, Sterling Bank and BIA Consulting Limited, among others. He is Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; Fellow, Institute of Credit Administrators and Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers. The Nigerian Army on Monday set up a court martial to try three soldiers serving in the special task force on Jos crisis for contravening their rules of engagements. Inaugurating the court martial at 3 Armoured Division of the Nigeria Army, Rukuba, Plateau State, the commander of the task force, Tagbo Ude, said the accused contravened several laws of the armed forces. The offences the accused persons are being tried ranges from manslaughter, offences related to public and service property, as well as conduct to prejudice of military discipline all punishable under Armed Forces Act CAP A 20 Laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004, Mr. Ude said. It is a well known fact that discipline is the bedrock of the Nigerian military, hence the powers conferred on me by Section 131 Armed Forces Act to convene this General Court Martial to try the said accused persons. Mr. Ude, a major general, explained that the court martial is the apparatus put in place by the Armed Forces of Nigeria to discipline erring personnel. He assured the affected soldiers of fair hearing, saying, I must state categorically that the accused persons are presumed innocent until proved guilty by this court. Let me at this juncture assure all of us that justice will not only be done on this entire trial, but we will ensure that each accused person is given a fair trial, he added. Najatu Muhammed, an activist and supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, has rejected her appointment as chairperson of the Governing Council of the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State. She conveyed her decision in a letter to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu. She also took an advertorial in a newspaper to announce her decision. The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, had recently announced her appointment and that of 12 others while reconstituting the governing councils of 12 federal universities. In the letter entitled, Reconstitution of the Governing Councils of 12 Federal Universities, Mrs. Muhammed, who is also a politician from Kano State, said she was not consulted before the announcement was made in the media. The activist also said since her appointment was made in the media, she decided to use the same media to reject it. She however pledged her continuous support for the president and his administration. Below is Ms. Muhammeds letter: I, Najatu Muhammad, wish to thank you so much for considering me worthy of being appointed the chairperson of Dutse Federal University. Its however, unfortunate that I was not consulted before the announcement in the media. I also regret that I have to use the same medium to announce that I cant accept the appointment for some personal reasons. I will however remain an ardent supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari in his effort in charting a new course for this country. A course that we pray will put this country back on the path of progress. I will also continue to support the presidents fight against corruption and other ills of this country. My unflinching support for the President will remain for Allahs sake and country. I pray that Allah will continue to guide and protect our President. Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday said a former director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), Letam Wiwa, was not in its custody, contrary to media reports. I cant find any such detainee in our records, said EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, in response to an enquiry by PREMIUM TIMES. I cant find anything on him. Before Mr. Uwujaren spoke, another top official of the anti-graft agency had told this newspaper that reports of Mr. Wiwas arrest were untrue. We are not aware of any such arrest, the official said. Reports in some newspapers had claimed Monday morning that Mr. Wiwa, a major general, was arrested at the weekend and transferred to Abuja for further questioning by EFCC operatives over alleged involvement in a $2.1 billion arms deal Mr. Wiwa, who is currently the deputy commandant at the Armed Forces Resettlement Centre, also told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday morning that he was in his office in Oshodi, Lagos. He said he was neither invited for questioning nor arrested by the EFCC. I just woke up this morning, and people started calling me that they saw reports of my arrest in the papers, said Mr. Wiwa, in response to an enquiry by this newspaper. I was really surprised. And that must be a magic arrest. I am now sitting in my office in Oshodi, Lagos. The papers were just too audacious. They didnt even ask the army whether any such arrest happened. There was not even an invitation, let alone an arrest, he said. According to him, the operations of the DMI has nothing to do with procurement of equipment for the army or any security agency. The spokesperson for the army, Sani Usman, a colonel, was not immediately available to comment for this story. When contacted, he requested that a text message enquiry be sent to him. He is yet to respond to that message as at the time of this report. President Muhammadu Buhari said Monday in Abuja that the Federal Government had begun mobilizing the military and task forces to stop the sabotage of oil facilities and kidnapping of citizens for ransom in the coastal areas of the country. Speaking at a meeting with a delegation from the United States Institute of Peace, President Buhari also said that his administration was giving the highest priority to the resettlement of displaced persons and rehabilitation of infrastructure in the Northeast. The President assured the delegation that his administrations ongoing war against corruption would be fought within the ambit of the law and that mechanisms had been put in place to ensure respect for human rights in the fight against terrorism. We attach great importance to human rights. If there are breaches, they will be investigated and dealt with, presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, quoted the president as saying. President Buhari, according to Mr. Shehu, welcomed the growing international support, especially from the United States and Europe, for Nigerias efforts to end the Boko Haram insurgency. The President also expressed happiness with the support of Nigerians for the cardinal programmes of his government, the security of the country, the war against corruption and revival of the economy, which, he said, the administration would continue to vigorously pursue. Nancy Lindborg, who led the Institutes delegation, applauded the progress being made by the Buhari administration in ensuring greater security in Nigeria. She promised the continued assistance of the Institute for the reconstruction and development work going on in the country. President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of a former member of the House of Representatives, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, as Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Channels TV is reporting. Ms. Dabiri-Erewa was chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Publicity between 2003 and 2007 and later chaired the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs between 2007 and 2015. The new presidential aide was born in Jos, Plateau State and attended Maryland Private School, Maryland, Ikeja and St. Teresas College, Ibadan, for her primary and secondary education respectively. She obtained her first degree in English Language from the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, before proceeding to the University of Lagos where she obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma, PGD, in Mass Communication. She also obtained a masters degree in Mass Communication from the same university. Mrs.Abike-Erewa also studied at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Former senate president, David Mark, has alleged a plot by the deputy governor of Benue State, Benson Abounu, and some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress to assassinate him ahead of Saturdays rerun in the southern senatorial district. In a statement by his media aide, Paul Mumeh, on Monday, Mr. Mark said the APC candidate for the election, Daniel Onjeh, through his campaign Director, Okpokwu Ogenyi, in connivance with the deputy governor, had allegedly hired the services of cultists to unleash terror in the district and in the process target him (Mark) for elimination. The statement said the cultists allegedly hired for the assassination include the notorious supreme Vikings squad from Jos, Plateau State and the dreaded Black Axe in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. It also said Mr. Mark, who is running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, had already alerted the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, of the plot by the APC stalwarts in the state to assassinate him. In a petition to the IGP signed by his counsel, Ken Ikonne, the statement said, the former senate president alleged that Mr. Ogenyi was the arrowhead of the plot. It is obvious that Ogenyi knows more about the assassination plot than he has revealed, the petition said. Our client has therefore instructed us to petition you( IGP) to as a matter of urgency apprehend and interrogate Ogenyi to throw more light on the details of this grave assassination plot before he and his associates carry out the dastardly plot. Only yesterday, police said to be attached to the State Deputy Governor Benson Abounu fired several gun shots into the family house of Senator Mark in Otukpo. No reason was given for the unprovoked attack and no arrest has been made. The petition also said a couple of weeks ago, the chairman of the APC in the state, Abbah Yaro, was quoted as saying if Senator Mark wants, let him win the election in seven out of the nine local government areas but no returning officer born of a woman will dare declare him. Also, the Benue State chairman of the PDP, Emmanuel Agbo, had petitioned the police command in the state over the unhealthy political activities of APC ahead of the election. He also asked the authorities to prevail on them to allow peace reign. The Police Force Public Relations Officer, Bisi Kolawole, an assistant commissioner, could not be reached as she did not respond to repeated calls to her mobile telephone. The Supreme Court on Monday gave reasons for affirming Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party as the validly elected governor of Akwa Ibom State. Justice Chima Nweze, who gave the reasons, said the decision of the lower court was a mis-judgment based on only facts and not on the provisions of the laws. Mr. Nweze said the decisions of the lower court was based on the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on the use of card readers for the election. He further held that the lower court denied the governor fair hearing. From the study of the evidence brought before us, Udom Emmanuel won the highest lawfully cast votes. This has placed the court to set aside the judgments of the two lower courts as the other parties challenging his victory could prove otherwise. The lower courts were wrong to have cancelled elections in 18 and subsequently the entire 31 Local Government Areas of the state on the basis of non-compliance. While we commend the introduction of the card readers, the innovation, however, cannot supersede the voters register. The extant laws of the federation provides for the use of voters register but the card reader, irrespective of its importance, does not have a place in any extant law of the land, Mr. Nweze held. Mr. Nweze, therefore, held that the tribunal was wrong to base its judgment on non-compliance with the use of card readers. On allegation of violence and irregularities during the election, Justice Nweze said Umana Umana and the All Progressives Congress failed to prove the allegations. The two respondents were not able to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt because they failed to bring witnesses from all the polling units to substantiate their claims, Mr. Nweze said. Mr. Nweze held that to prove non-accreditation, the respondents ought to have tendered the voters register and then demonstrate how it was abused. I do align myself to earlier decision of the apex court that the provision of the law recognises the voters register as the only key element to conduct any elections, he said. While noting that INEC had power to make subsidiary regulations regarding conduct of election, Mr. Nweze held that the regulations must conform to constitutional provisions. Mr. Nweze held that the extant laws did not give room for arbitrary nullification of an election. Petitioners have got to prove that there was substantial non-compliance in all polling units before we could take such allegation serious, he said. The Court of Appeal in Abuja had nullified the Akwa Ibom governorship election of April 11. The governors election was challenged by the APC and its candidate, Mr. Umana. At the election tribunal, the governor secured partial victory, as it ordered a rerun in 18 out of the states 31 local government areas. The governor challenged the ruling, insisting he won in all 31 local government areas, but the Court of Appeal went on to nullify the entire election. Justices Mary Peter-Odili and Clara Ogunbiyi had given similar reasons to justify the return of Delta,Yobe and Oyo States governors. (NAN) The leader of the Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, Gani Adams, has denied collecting N9billion from the $2.1million arms deal being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Mr. Adams made the clarification on Monday in reaction to allegations by former Kwara, Oyo and Ondo States coordinators of the OPC. The OPC boss said he would have ignored the allegations as ranting of a disgruntled set of people. He said he reacted because a lie told over time without any effort to disprove it will begin to take the form of truth. The former coordinator for Kwara State, Moruf Salami, along with former coordinators for Ondo and Oyo states, alleged that I collected N9billion from former President Goodluck Jonathan, that I also collected 22 million dollars from the late Libyan President, Muammar Ghadafi. He said he had never been to Libya, neither did he meet the late Libyan leader or his agent at any time. I took it upon myself to write a petition to the State Security Service, informing them of the allegation and pleading with the service to help investigate its source in order to get to the root of the matter. As I speak with you, I am still awaiting the response to my petition. Having said that, I want to once again plead with the SSS to, as a matter of urgency, make sure that the people who made these allegations prove their case. If they are not able to do so, they should be made to face prosecution for their actions, he added. Polish and Ukrainian Presidents Andrzej Duda and Petro Poroshenko met on the sidelines of the 52nd Munich Security Conference on Saturday to discuss the situation in Ukraine. They also set the date for a meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian consultation committee. The talks centred on the developments in Ukraine related to the Minsk agreements, systemic changes in the country and the ongoing peace process, Polish Presidential Minister Krzysztof Szczerski said. A meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian consultation committee on mutual relations will be held in Warsaw on March 3-4, Krzysztof Szczerski also announced. "We will meet with our Ukrainian partners, we will launch a renewed presidential committee, as agreed by the presidents during the talk," Krzysztof Szczerski said. The decision on reviving the format was made during President Duda's December visit to Kiev, the presidential aide added. The Polish side will be headed by Krzysztof Szczerski while Ukraine's delegation will be chaired by Poroshenko's aide Kostiantyn Yelisieiev. The committee is to discuss cooperation on the political level "with broader issues of social contacts", including historical dialogue, according to Szczerski. (PAP, own information) Two Democratic legislative leaders have started a push to raise the minimum wage in New Jersey to $15 an hour. That would be a 79 percent increase and would put New Jersey well above the nation's highest state minimum wage of $10 (in California and Massachusetts). Such an outlandish mandate would be detrimental to the shore tourism economy, its businesses, many seasonal workers and even visitors. While some workers would get that 79 percent pay hike (but perhaps with a reduction in the hours they could work), many others would get no job at all as businesses cut their number of employees to keep their payroll affordable. A pier operator in Atlantic City said the increase would "send devastating shock waves through seasonal businesses and small businesses." Operating costs for South Jersey farmers would soar, leaving them less able to compete with rivals in other states. Some businesses still struggling to survive in the stalled regional and sluggish state economies would go under. Fewer workers at remaining businesses would also mean poorer service for summer visitors. Senate President Stephen Sweeney wants to alter the state constitution to require the phasing in of a $15 minimum wage. Rival Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto prefers legislation that would make that the minimum immediately. The Democrats led a push a couple of years ago that put perpetual minimum wage increases for inflation into the state constitution. The Press repeatedly advised against doing so because the minimum wage is a policy question that needs to be decided by elected officials in the light of current economic conditions. The fact that they want to rewrite the state constitution again so soon shows that the Democrats still don't understand this basic principle of good government. If the party hadn't botched the minimum wage in 2013, the state's political leaders could be working out an appropriate increase in the wage right now. The truth is, most employees in New Jersey deserve pay increases. The N.J. Business & Industry Association, which along with other business organizations opposes the radical wage mandate, said 83 percent of members surveyed were planning to increase employee wages this year. Many of those plans will be revisited in light of the potential for yet another costly state mandate. Given the Democrats' control of the Legislature and the tendency of voters to approve things that don't directly cost them money, New Jersey may well wind up with a $15-an-hour minimum wage. We wonder how workers who had managed on their own to move up to an hourly wage of $15 or more would feel about it. Where's their 79 percent raise? And maybe young people will someday find there are no summer jobs for them because of this extreme government distortion of economic markets. If so, they'll have the state's Democrats to thank. Our view: By PrintWeek Team All eyes are on the Awards Night of the 12th edition of the PrintWeek Awards to be held at the Grand Hyatt (Santacruz East, Mumbai) on 2 Nov... Basheer Mahmood, managing director of National Printing Press, Dubai, United Arab Emirates in conversation with Venkat Raghavan to give an indepth overview of the trends and improvements of the printing business in this region as well as shared his experience and principles he followed until today Hailing from Maharastra and settled in Dubai, Basheer Mahmood, accomplished all his schooling in his hometown. After doing his schooling he pursued Bachelors degree in Mumbai. After completing his graduation he pursued a basic printing course which made him join a printing press in Mumbai. He worked there taking care of all the marketing activities and then he came to Dubai to endeavor into the printing industry. After arriving in Dubai he directly joined National Printing Press as a basic employee like everyone and later he became the managing director of the company. HIGHLIGHTS The group has more than 400 employees This was one of the printing press which was started before the Independence They have zero percentage tolerance in their office The Press has never been interrupted for a single day Talking about the printing press and how the group was established, Basheer Mahmood, managing director of the National Pringing Press (NPP) and JMBR Group FZ-LLC, commented, National Printing Press was started in 1963 and this was one of the printing press which was established before the independence of United Arab Emirates. The Press was started with 20 employees which has now grown to more than 400 employees as a whole group. Since the inception, the company has been able to constantly innovate new products, services and solutions. Understanding the need of a back up facility to ensure uninterrupted services in case of a disaster or a natural calamity, MICR Printing Press was established in 1983. This fully equipped facility boasts the infrastructure, printing machinery and experienced personnel that match NPPs standards on a like-for-like basis. After realizing the potential of the commercial printing sector, few years down the line, this facility also started serving as the mainstream commercial division. Mahmood further added, In 2010, in line with the progressive expansion strategy, JMBR group opened another state of the art printing facility in International Media Productions Zone (IMPZ), Jebel Ali. This facility includes the corporate head office of the group and boasts four times the production capacity of NPP and MICR taken together. With fully integrated operations and advanced printing machinery, the facility provides another platform to satisfy the ever-growing demand of the security and commercial printing sectors. He further added about the companys specialization, Our specialty lies in the area of security printing. In order to maintain the confidentiality of our clients sensitive information we do not outsource any activity to third party. This particular reason has allowed us to maintain relationship with several clients for several decades. As a natural extension to our service portfolio and in order to offer a one-stop shop solution to our clients we have recently started a courier service. Earlier financial institutions used to collect the products from us which in turn they would deliver it to end customer. Now, with our courier service we deliver directly to the end customer which not only shortens the turn-around-time for delivery but also enhances the entire customer experience. Evoking about the changes he has seen in the industry, Mahmood elucidates, Earlier there were very few printing press and particularly only a handful had four and two colour machines where the rest had just a single colour machine. Also, people used to call a press when they had just a cylinder machine, a cutting machine and camera department however the scenario is entirely different now. Then the magazine and newspaper printing came into play which made everyone to think about expanding. Our focus in security printing started with a project that was assigned to us which was successfully executed, which in turn propelled our specialization in this field. If you recall those days, security printing has totally changed now and we need to keep ourselves updated with the latest technology. Looking ahead Mahmood adds, We are expanding our commercial printing operations into packaging, increasing our presence in African countries, and moving aggressively towards providing innovative and cost-efficient solutions to our clients. Signing off, he advices, Always follow the principles of your work and have the confidence in oneself which will enable you to face and overcome any challenge. SGI 2016 hosts 13,ooo visitors and 400 exhibitors at DWTC The 19th edition of Sign and Graphics Imaging show (SGI) 2016 was held between 10th-12th January at Dubai World Trade Center. The 3-day event saw participation of 400 exhibitors and had 13,000 visitors. We are very happy that the new introductions as well as the host of innovations have been received so well by the public. In bringing the newest and most sophisticated machines and software solutions to the MENA region and beyond, we make it possible for print service providers to always stay up to date thus enabling them to realise new applications and increase business, says Sharif Rahman, CEO, IEC. This years show has been of much importance as the upcoming Expo 2020 in Dubai is already shining its light on the country and beyond. Businesses will thrive with the multitude of different signage applications and creativity that surrounds not only todays business environment but also future events. Next to the pure technology, the warm, welcoming and friendly atmosphere at the show enables all market participants to network, discuss and learn from each other, thus establishing higher standards for the whole printing industry. Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, Chairman of IEC, said that, Weather and high temperatures was a big stumbling block for the industry as it had preferred static signages in busy Sheikh Zayed road and other parts of the country. However, the brands have a great platform to engage their target audience with the advent of latest technology and high quality of heat withstanding digital signage panels. Digital signage doesnt have its scope limited to retail, hospitality, tourism but also spreads out to revolutionise niche sectors. Digital Signage is gaining prominence in many countries across the globe including UAEs healthcare sector, with hospitals and clinics discovering the need for reducing waiting time, emergency alerts, educating the patients. The 20th edition of SGI Dubai 2017 will take place from January 15 17, 2017 at the World Trade Center. UPM to join a group of worlds top 50 sustainability leaders UPM has accepted a special invitation to join the United Nations Global Compact LEAD as of 1 January 2016. UPM is the first forest industry company and also the first Finnish company ever to receive such an invitation. Global Compact LEAD is a leadership platform within the United Nations Global Compact that strongly promotes the integration of sustainability into business strategies. At the moment the 50 most sustainably advanced companies across geographical regions and industry sectors have been invited to LEAD. The total number of member companies at UN Global Compact is approximately 8000. The invitation is a great recognition for UPMs long term commitment. For us, joining LEAD will be a great opportunity to stay abreast of developments within the industry and to generate and implement advanced corporate sustainability practices together with other sustainability leaders and committed stakeholders, says Pirkko Harrela, executive vice president, stakeholder relations, UPM. Our expectation is that LEAD is a well-managed operation with clear targets and good planning. With this in mind, we look forward to good co-operation both with the LEAD management and the peer companies, Harrela added. UPMs invitation is a recognition of the companys industry-leading sustainability practices and long-standing commitment to the UN Global Compact, said Lise Kingo, executive director of Global Compact. Participating in LEAD offers UPM an opportunity to receive global recognition alongside fellow its sustainability leaders, clearly demonstrating the contribution that great companies can make to advance the global Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). The criteria for LEAD are very strict and only the most advanced companies can be invited, Kingo continues. Mtex Blue This is an entry-level textile machine with in-built fixation. What does the system do? Portuguese printer manufacturer Mtex has taken its expertise in industrial strength digital textile printers with integral heat fixation to develop a lower-cost and lower-throughput 1.8m-wide machine, the Blue. When was it launched and what market is it aimed at? Launched at the end of last year, the Blue got its first UK showing this September at Mtexs UK demo centre. The biggest market is expected to be soft signage. Another application is home textiles using the new pigment inks, which can be set using the inline fixation unit. The major application will be true soft signage, says Mtex UK managing director Stewart Bell. Its an ideal machine for firms moving up having dabbled using a more generalist machine such as a latex one. Specifications Print width 1.8m Speed 55m2/hr Ink CMYK direct disperse or pigment Printheads Four Panasonic Resolution 360, 720 and 1,080dpi Price $65,498 How does it work? Like all Mtex textile printers it is based on Mimaki printing hardware. In the Blues case the TS 300 P. We use the Mimaki print engine, electronics and ink system and manufacture everything else ourselves, says Bell. The Mimaki gubbins is mounted onto a steel chassis along with the firms own media transport system. At the heart of the machine are four Panasonic printheads, which Bell says are key to the ability of the Blue to run a wide range of different inks depending on the application. Initially it was available with disperse (dye-sub) inks for printing onto polyester. At ITMA a pigment ink option was launched, which enables it to be used for interior decoration applications such as curtains and covers. How does it differ from previous products? The Blue is Mtex first entry-level machine, its other products, which are considerably more expensive, are much faster and/or wider. How fast/productive is it? Max throughput is 55m2/hr. Theoretically the print engine can go faster if the fixation unit isnt used. Bell argues, however, that the benefit is that the print is ready to use straight off the machine, without the need for a subsequent step to fix the colour. What is the USP of the product? Ease-of-use in a compact footprint, which are the results of using inline fixation. Whether inline fixation or having a separate calender is the right option depends on many factors. Internal business issues include available space in a factory and staffing and skill levels, while external ones include the range of applications and quality expectations of customers. How easy is it to use? The use of built-in fixation means operation is a one-person job with no need to transfer the rolls from the printer to the heat press. Control of the Blue is via Mtexs RIP, which is based on textile industry stalwart Ergosoft. Inline fixation offers a one-step process and the ability to instantly check the colour, says Bell. What training and service support is on offer? For Mtex the Blue is a departure from previous products due to its lower price and higher expected sales. Because of that it is using Mimakis UK distributor Hybrid Services to handle the product via its channel of resellers. Its an area where we havent had a product offering before, says Hybrid national sales manager, textile and apparel Stephen Woodall. Our dealers in the signage channel have been interested in something that combines Mimakis technology with inline fixation for some time. Hybrid will also provide the technical support and training using its engineers. Alternatives For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. LONDON and ISTANBUL, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, today announced the appointment of Murat Mergin as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Mergin will support the firm in the identification and evaluation of new investments in Turkey. Mr. Mergin has over 27 years of experience as a senior executive in Turkey. Most recently he served as Chief Financial Officer of Turkiye Garanti Bank, Turkey's second largest private bank and largest company by market capitalisaton, and was previously responsible for Financial and Strategic Planning as well as Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations. Mr. Mergin joined Garanti in 1994 as Assistant V.P. of its Financial Institutions department. During his time at Garanti, Mr. Mergin was responsible for a number of significant M&A and capital markets transactions for the bank. Prior to his time at Garanti, he was employed as a manager by various banks in the private sector. Warburg Pincus which manages over $40 billion in assets under management, seeks to partner with management teams to build companies of sustainable value. The firm invests globally in businesses at all stages of development with a focus on five key industry sectors: Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare and Consumer, Industrial and Business Services and Technology, Media and Telecommunications. The firm has considerable experience in Emerging Markets where it has invested more than $10 billion to date. In 2015, the firm announced it had successfully raised its latest global fund, Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII, L.P. ("Warburg Pincus XII"), which received third party commitments significantly in excess of its $12 billion hard cap. Daniel Zilberman, Head of Europe for Warburg Pincus, said, "Turkey has one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe with attractive demographics which should provide a number of interesting investment opportunities. We are delighted to work with someone of Murat's experience and track record as we look to partner with outstanding management teams and entrepreneurs in Turkey, a market of key focus for us." Mr. Mergin commented, "I am pleased to be part of the Warburg Pincus team with its global track record and experience in building successful companies around the world. The Turkish market should offer a variety of opportunities for Warburg Pincus to apply its long-term approach to building durable businesses of scale in the years ahead." About Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $40 billion in assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 120 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 15 private equity funds, including a $4 billion energy fund that closed in October 2014, which have invested more than $55 billion in over 750 companies in more than 35 countries. Media Contacts London Sarah Gestetner, Warburg Pincus, +44 20 7306 0377, sarah.gestetner@warburgpincus.com Related Links http://www.warburgpincus.com SOURCE Warburg Pincus Held on 15-16 March in Kigali, Rwanda, the 8th Africa CemenTrade Summit hones in on the opportunities in Africa's competitive cement sector, despite the global slowdown. KIGALI, Rwanda, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Endorsed and supported by Rwanda's Ministry of Infrastructure, the summit is officiated by its Minister -- Honorable James MUSONI. In a keynote address Njombo Lekula, Managing Director -- International Operations, PPC -- shares the company's approach to Africa -- key enablers, current plans and expansion strategy. Next is Busisiwe Legodi, CEO, Cimerwa Cement elaborating on the company's 'Development and Growth Plans in Rwanda and Neighboring Burundi and E.DRC'. The 'Cement Market Outlook in West & Central Africa' is presented by Luk Haelterman, Country Head - Senegal, Dangote Industries while Vally Khamisanis, Principal, International Finance Corporation (IFC) addresses 'Financing Cement Projects in Sub-Sahara Africa in Current Market Condition'. Leading suppliers of equipment and services to the cement industry will also share insights -- Gebr. Pfeiffer's Sales Director Carsten Schoow on the 'Efficiency Evolution in Grinding Technology' while Michael Olsen, Managing Director, FLSmidth Kenya/ General Manager, Cement, East & Southern Africa, FLSmidth elaborates on the 'Strategy to Increase Efficiency & Productivity in Cement Production'. Igor Zlobin, Senior Sales Manager -- Central Africa of Loesche will share "Benefits from Compact Cement Grinding Plant Operation". Other key panelists are: Imran Akram , CEO, IA Cement -- Global Cement Market Outlook , CEO, IA Cement -- Global Cement Market Outlook Piet Heersche, Managing Director, Cemcon -- Growth of the Cement Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, Market Consolidation and Niche Opportunities Tony Hadley , Managing Director, Baobab Advisory SARL -- North African Cement , What's Its Future and Implications for SSA , Managing Director, Baobab Advisory SARL -- North , What's Its Future and Implications for SSA Philip Wambugu , Director of Infrastructure and Peter Kinuthia , Senior Energy Officer at East African Community Secretariat -- Infrastructure Projects To Support Manufacturing And Inter-Regional Trade , Director of Infrastructure and , Senior Energy Officer at East African Community Secretariat -- Infrastructure Projects To Support Manufacturing And Inter-Regional Trade Daniel Shepherd , Regional Lead, Energy & Resource Efficiency Advisory Services, International Finance Corporation (IFC) -- Alternative Fuel Options For Africa's Cement Sector , Regional Lead, Energy & Resource Efficiency Advisory Services, International Finance Corporation (IFC) -- Alternative Fuel Options For Africa's Cement Sector Vassiem Sheikh, Director, SCB International Materials -- Introduction to the use of Cementitious Materials, Applications and Supply/ Demand Patterns in Africa The summit, organized by Centre for Management Technology (CMT), has Gebr. Pfeiffer as Corporate Sponsor cum exhibitor, Loesche, PPC and Cimerwa as Associate Sponsors. The exhibitors at the summit are BWF Envirotec, Fives FCB, TTL France, Intercem Engineering, BEUMER Group and LIBO International Mechanical & Electrical Engineering. Visit website for more details or contact Ms. Grace Oh at +65 6346 9147 or grace@cmtsp.com.sg. Related Links http://www.cmtevents.com/main.aspx?ev=160315&pu=266153 SOURCE Centre for Management Technology GRENOBLE, France and LONDON and LEEDS, United Kingdom, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmunID, the immune companion diagnostics for precision medicine company, today announced it has been awarded Small Business Research Initiative funding1 by Innovate UK, UK's innovation agency, to advance its ImmunTraCkeR assay for therapeutic response prediction. The project aims at validating ImmunID's clinical results with ImmunTraCkeR through a clinical study on 40 metastatic melanoma patients from the UK, treated with immunotherapy. It also includes a medico-economic study to measure the health economic benefits for the National Health Service (NHS), the UK healthcare system. The National Institute for Health Research Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Leeds (NIHR DEC Leeds) and the Precision Medicine Catapult are collaborating on the project. The Catapult's Centres of Excellence in Leeds and Glasgow will provide health-informatic and data-analytic support to mine local and national health records, providing real world NHS data for the economic modelling. Ultimately, ImmunTraCkeR may be used as an immune companion diagnostic to immune checkpoint agents and help doctors make informed decisions regarding the treatment of melanoma, therefore improving patient benefit whilst saving unnecessary healthcare costs. Supported by NHS Catapult Logo The project will be focused on the prediction by ImmunTraCkeR of patient response to novel immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs (anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD1) in metastatic melanoma. ImmunTraCkeR analyses the diversity of T cells, the targets of immune checkpoint inhibitors, present in a patient's blood and therefore can help determine whether the patient is immunologically fit for treatment with these agents. "The United Kingdom is a global role model when it comes to helping patients access the most appropriate treatments while making the best use of healthcare resources. This is the challenge of the future and our mission. Hence we are pleased to work with the NIHR DEC Leeds and the Precision Medicine Catapult in this immune checkpoint inhibitors program and thank Innovate UK for their support. Our key priority is to show that ImmunTraCkeR is the tool to identify patients who benefit and to guide doctors through a maze of immunotherapy choices in the future. We believe that this program has the potential to demonstrate medico-economic benefit not only for the UK but globally," said Dr. Bernhard Sixt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ImmunID. Professor Peter Selby, Professor of Cancer Medicine at the University of Leeds and Director of the NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Cooperative Leeds, said: "We are delighted to be part of this team receiving funding from Innovate UK for this project. It represents an exciting opportunity to confirm that a new molecular test of a patient's immune function can guide us in selecting patients for a new cancer therapy. This could give us a radically improved ability to benefit many patients while avoiding unnecessary side effects in others." John McKinley, CEO of the Precision Medicine Catapult, added: "With our focus on making precision medicine a reality in the UK, we are delighted to collaborate with ImmunID and the NIHR DEC Leeds in this area of unmet medical need. Generation of information on how precision medicine can improve healthcare outcomes in a cost-effective way is an important step towards its adoption into routine practice. This collaboration, involving the Precision Medicine Catapult's Centres of Excellence and a European company, shows how we can leverage UK infrastructure and collaborate internationally to drive patient benefit." 1 "TCR diversity evaluation as a predictive biomarker of response to immunotherapy" was selected by Innovate UK in the "Stratified Medicine: connecting the UK infrastructure" competition About ImmunID ImmunID adds precision to the immuno-oncology revolution by personalizing immunotherapy for cancer patients. With its decade-long experience in immune molecular diagnostics, ImmunID provide doctors with clinically meaningful data on the highly complex immune system to select the right therapy for individual patients and to monitor their response. ImmunID's flagship CE-marked product, ImmunTraCkeR, evaluates the patient's immune status based on the T lymphocyte diversity, from a simple liquid biopsy. The company is establishing ImmunTraCkeR as the general immune companion diagnostic assay for immune checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapies. In addition, ImmunID collaborates with pharma and biotech companies to optimize the development of their next-generation immunotherapies. ImmunID is ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certified and runs a CAP-accredited laboratory in the MINATEC high-tech campus in Grenoble, France. www.immunid.com - Follow ImmunID on Twitter: @ImmunID About NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Leeds The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. The NIHR is the research arm of the NHS. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government's strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. For further information, visit the NIHR website (www.nihr.ac.uk). The National Institute for Health Research has funded four Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives (DECs) to help generate information on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of in vitro diagnostic devices which are important in helping to improve the way diseases are diagnosed. This will help patients access the most appropriate treatments more quickly and help the NHS make the best use of its resources. About the Precision Medicine Catapult The Precision Medicine Catapult's mission is to create the world's leading precision medicine ecosystem. It is making the UK the most attractive place in the world for the development and delivery of precision medicine, bringing economic growth and improved patient outcomes. Capitalising on the UK's high quality precision medicine infrastructure and regional expertise, it will deliver products and services by breaking through the barriers to their translation, adoption and implementation. The Precision Medicine Catapult is headquartered in Cambridge with regional Centres of Excellence across the UK. Working with companies, academia, hospitals and healthcare authorities in these clusters and internationally will enable delivery of its strategy, growing the industry nationally while bringing local healthcare impact. The Precision Medicine Catapult was established in April 2015 and is funded by Innovate UK, the Government's innovation agency. It is one of 11 Catapults which form a network of world-leading centres transforming the UK's capability to translate innovation into products that drive economic growth. Please go to www.catapult.org.uk/catapult-centres for more information, and you can also follow us on twitter @PMCatapult. Contact ImmunID Bernhard Sixt, PhD, Chairman and CEO T: +33 (0) 438 785 770 Email NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Leeds Stephanie Roberts, ProgrammeManager T: +44 (0) 113 206 5267 Email Precision Medicine Catapult Emma Palmer Foster, Director of Communications T: +44 (0) 7880 787185 Email Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160212/332843LOGO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160212/332844LOGO SOURCE ImmunID; NIHR DEC Leeds; Precision Medicine Catapult Related Links http://www.catapult.org.uk/catapult-centres WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ideals and values of our nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, will be honored and shared for generations to come thanks to an $18.5 million gift from businessman and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. The Presidents' Day donation, presented during the National Park Service's centennial year, will expand educational resources, foster public access, and repair and restore the Lincoln Memorial. It is Rubenstein's fourth gift to benefit our country's national parks. Mr. Rubenstein's gift to the National Park Foundation's Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks will allow the National Park Service to repair damaged brick and marble masonry and clean the memorial; conserve the Jules Guerin murals located above the memorial's inscriptions; create approximately 15,000 square feet of functional space including exhibit, education and research areas; and add an elevator to improve accessibility. A special project will provide future visitors with a glimpse of the memorial's foundational pillars, which anchor the memorial to the bedrock, and of the graffiti of the workers who built the monument in the early twentieth century. "These improvements will hopefully enable more people to better understand and appreciate Abraham Lincoln's remarkable leadership during one of the most trying periods in American history," David Rubenstein said. "I am humbled to be a part of honoring this great man and preserving this iconic memorial for future generations." "This generous donation by David Rubenstein, his fourth to benefit national parks, comes at a perfect time as our national parks usher in a new century of service to this nation," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. "His act of 'patriotic philanthropy' will not only safeguard one of our most visited and recognizable memorials for future generations, but will also help preserve Lincoln's legacy to this country." "Beyond honoring Abraham Lincoln and his presidency, the Lincoln Memorial has stood witness to key events and significant figures in America's Civil Rights Movement, from Marian Anderson to Martin Luther King, Jr.," National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said. "We are honored that David Rubenstein's generous gift and patriotism will help the National Park Service tell the diverse stories of America's past and demonstrate their continued importance to our nation." As the official charity of America's national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation received the gift as part of its Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks, which was formally announced today. The largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in the Foundation's history, this $350 million effort will make transformative investments to protect America's special places, connect people from all backgrounds to parks, and inspire future generations of national park stewardship. With the addition of Rubenstein's gift, the Foundation's total fundraising is more than $200 million. "Mr. Rubenstein's gift will better allow the Lincoln Memorial to stand the test of time, providing current and future generations the opportunity to connect more deeply with the values our 16th president held dear, and inspire dialogue to help us learn from one another," said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. "Mr. Rubenstein's continued support of national parks truly embodies the legacy of private citizens who originally protected the places that they loved. Preserving treasured places and saving history, his actions serve as a guiding light inspiring others to do the same as we move into the next century." From its inception, the national park system has benefited from private support. Many of the earliest national parks were the direct beneficiaries of generous philanthropists who stepped forward to keep national parks protected and open to everyone. A leader following in this incredible tradition, Mr. Rubenstein's gifts of patriotic philanthropy benefitting the National Park Service are, in 2012, $7.5 million to restore the Washington Monument after the earthquake; $12.35 million to restore Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, in July 2014; and $5.37 million to refurbish the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in April 2015. Learn more about the National Park Foundation's Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks. ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 410 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov. ABOUT DAVID RUBENSTEIN David M. Rubenstein is Co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager based in Washington, DC. He is also Chairman of the Boards of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Duke University, a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, Co-Chairman of the Brookings Institution, Vice-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and President of the Economic Club of Washington. In 2012, Rubenstein donated $7.5 million to repair the earthquake-damaged Washington Monument and in 2014, $12.35 million to restore Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial. In 2013 he donated $10 million to George Washington's Mount Vernon home to support the construction and endowment of a library to house Washington's books and papers and to serve as a center for leadership training. ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America's national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help PROTECT more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts, CONNECT all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture and rich history, and INSPIRE the next generation of park stewards. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org. Contacts: Mike Litterst, 202-306-4166, [email protected] (NPS) Alanna Sobel, 202-796-2538, [email protected] (NPF) Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140324/DC89075LOGO SOURCE National Park Foundation Related Links http://www.nationalparks.org FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Potential Church has been known for its non-conventional and sometimes controversial methods of presenting God's message. One weekend the tattooed lead pastor,Troy Gramling, used a live lion on stage. Another project had the church collecting thousands of turkeys for a food drive and calling it "Flip Us a Bird!" More recently, Pastor Gramling, for the series "Daredevil," decided to blow up a car with him inside! This is definitely not your grandma's church. This time around, Potential Church is pulling out all the stops with an open discussion of today's hottest topics. The series, called "RELATIONS*% UNCENSORED," begins on Valentine's Day weekend and will dive into such topics such as sex, divorce, marriage, dating and more. Nothing is off limits and everything is on the table. The series' video trailer, released by the church online, has provoked controversy as it implies that Pastor Troy Gramling used and will be using profanity during the series. The video, featuring clips of Kevin Hart, Kim Kardashian, YouTube star Wengie, and many others has gone viral since its release on Facebook and YouTube last week. When asked about the video, Pastor Gramling responded, "We are just trying to be heard above the noise. Our message is ultimately about the purpose and potential we find in Jesus - and sometimes a little bleep gets the attention of those who wouldn't normally listen." When asked about his use of profanity, he smiled a little and said, "You'll have to come and hear for yourself." The series begins February 13 & 14 at all Potential Church locations and will feature live bands and free Starbucks coffee for all guests. For younger guests, age appropriate messages and activities will be offered during the series. This is definitely a PG-13 series you won't want to miss! For event times and location visit: potentialchurch.com View video trailer here: http://bit.ly/UncensoredTrailer This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE Potential Church Related Links http://potentialchurch.com Name : php Product : Fedora 22 Version : 5.6.18 Release : 1.fc22 URL : http://www.php.net/ Summary : PHP scripting language for creating dynamic web sites Description : PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language. PHP attempts to make it easy for developers to write dynamically generated web pages. PHP also offers built-in database integration for several commercial and non-commercial database management systems, so writing a database-enabled webpage with PHP is fairly simple. The most common use of PHP coding is probably as a replacement for CGI scripts. The php package contains the module (often referred to as mod_php) which adds support for the PHP language to Apache HTTP Server. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Update Information: 04 Feb 2016, **PHP 5.6.18** **Core:** * Fixed bug php#71039 (exec functions ignore length but look for NULL termination). (Anatol) * Fixed bug php#71089 (No check to duplicate zend_extension). (Remi) * Fixed bug php#71201 (round() segfault on 64-bit builds). (Anatol) * Added support for new HTTP 451 code. (Julien) * Fixed bug php#71273 (A wrong ext directory setup in php.ini leads to crash). (Anatol) * Fixed bug php#71323 (Output of stream_get_meta_data can be falsified by its input). (Leo Gaspard) * Fixed bug php#71459 (Integer overflow in iptcembed()). (Stas) **Apache2handler:** * Fix >2G Content-Length headers in apache2handler. (Adam Harvey) **FTP:** * Implemented FR php#55651 (Option to ignore the returned FTP PASV address). (abrender at elitehosts dot com) **Opcache:** * Fixed bug php#71127 (Define in auto_prepend_file is overwrite). (Laruence) * Fixed bug php#71024 (Unable to use PHP 7.0 x64 side-by-side with PHP 5.6 x32 on the same server). (Anatol) **Phar:** * Fixed bug php#71354 (Heap corruption in tar/zip/phar parser). (Stas) * Fixed bug php#71391 (NULL Pointer Dereference in phar_tar_setupmetadata()). (Stas) * Fixed bug php#71488 (Stack overflow when decompressing tar archives). (Stas) **Session:** * Fixed bug php#69111 (Crash in SessionHandler::read()). (Anatol) **SOAP:** * Fixed bug php#70979 (crash with bad soap request). (Anatol) **SPL:** * Fixed bug php#71204 (segfault if clean spl_autoload_funcs while autoloading). (Laruence) **WDDX:** * Fixed bug php#71335 (Type Confusion in WDDX Packet Deserialization). (Stas) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - This update can be installed with the "yum" update program. Use su -c 'yum update php' at the command line. For more information, refer to "Managing Software with yum", available at https://docs.fedoraproject.org/yum/. All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at https://fedoraproject.org/keys ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - _______________________________________________ package-announce mailing list package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/package-announce If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Mumbai, Feb 10 : Karan Johar fears that his right profile is captured instead of the left on camera; Parineeti Chopra is scared of plane landings; Neil Nitin Mukesh is afraid of being alone -- it is such fears and more that a string of Bollywood stars have shared ahead of the release of "Neerja" -- a biopic on a fearless woman. The celebrities shared their fears as part of a unique social media campaign made for the Sonam Kapoor starrer "Neerja", which encourages unleashing one's fears and exhibiting courage. Produced by Atul Kasbekar under the banner of Fox Star Studios, the film, which is slated to release on February 19, revolves around the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi in Pakistan and how a flight attendant named Neerja Bhanot saved the lives of 360 people on board the air craft. To support her bravery, many Bollywood celebrities took to various social media sites to share videos of their fears and how they overcame it under the hashtag "#fearvsneerja". Here's what the stars have said: Salman Khan shared a piece of advice given by his father Salim Khan: "Jo darr gaya samjho mar gaya". Anil Kapoor shared: "My biggest fear is sitting on the dining table and going hysterical and berserk where food is concerned. I overcome it by sitting with my wife who keeps on slapping on my hand so that I don't eat too much. Filmmaker Karan Johar spoke about his biggest fear which is of his right profile being captured instead of his left profile which he feels makes him look best. Actor Shahid Kapoor shared a rather light hearted video in which he said he doesn't have any fear, while Priyanka Chopra talked about a rather unique fear which she termed as 'No-Mo Phobia' -- fear of no mobile phones. Parineeti Chopra terms "plane landing' to be her biggest fear; and Alia Bhatt shared that she fears "missing out" and so she battles it by being everywhere and doing everything. Anupam Kher is fearful about losing his memory one day, and Huma Qureshi spoke out loud about her fear of dreams. Rajkumar Rao shared: "My biggest fear would be that one day my director would say action and I will just freeze. I wouldn't know how to act.. I wouldn't know how to crack it. It's like god will take away acting from me. I don't know what I would do then." Neil Nitin Mukesh termed "being alone" to be his biggest fear. Actress Esha Gupta shared to have overcome her fear of "free falling" by indulging in sky diving. Canberra, Feb 12 : Australia's consumer watchdog on Friday revealed that a total of 2,620 people fell victim to online romance scams in 2015. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released figures showing Australians were collectively swindled out of $16 million by scammers posing as potential lovers last year, Xinhua news agency reported. However, ACCC's deputy chair Delia Rickard believes that number may only represent one-tenth of Australia's true financial losses to the morally-corrupt trade, with most victims too embarrassed to report - or admit - they were set-up by a con artist. According to the data, women (43.5 percent) were more likely to be caught up in the romantic scams than men (39 percent), while 17 percent of those surveyed did not disclose their gender. The majority of victims were middle aged, between 45 to 55 years old. The ACCC has its own taskforce designed to protect those the organisation classes "potential victims" of romantic scams. The taskforce, known as the Scam Disruption Project, has sent 6,000 warning letters to these repeat victims, telling them to reconsider sending money to scamming hubs like Nigeria. Rickard said the scammers create an intricate and compelling backstory to tug at their victims before requesting money. One-third of Australia's reported romance scams in 2015 occurred over social media, in particular, Facebook. Panaji, Feb 12 : The peacock, India's national bird, may soon be termed a vermin and culled ruthlessly in Goa. Goa's Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said peacocks, like monkeys and wild boars, cause severe damage to crops and "should be declared a vermin" and culled periodically, even as the main opposition party, the Congress, has termed the suggestion "suicidal". Tawadkar told IANS on Friday that a committee of government officials was considering the matter. "We have said in the last assembly (sitting) about monkeys and wild boars creating a nuisance for farmers and that a committee would be formed to assess and declare them as vermin," he said. Peacock is India's national bird and is a protected species under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. "Some farmers said that peacocks also were damaging their crops in fields in hilly areas. The committee will also assess whether peacocks should be declared vermin or nuisance species," Tawadkar said. Tawadkar's comment comes one day after he suggested during a media interaction in Margao town, 35 km from Panaji, that the state animal, the Great Indian bison, an animal protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, could also be classified as vermin or a nuisance animal. The Goa agriculture minister, however, said that no species of animals or birds, including the peacock, have yet been declared a vermin. Goa state Congress president Luizinho Faleiro told IANS that the move to classify as vermin the Great Indian bison, also known as 'gaur', and the peacock was suicidal. "They are out to finish the state. I pray to God to give them sense to save Goa for our generations. When someone wants to kill the national bird and the state animal it is suicidal. They are out to kill environment, ecology, everything you have got," Faleiro said. During the winter session of the Goa legislative assembly last month, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had assured that wild boars, monkeys and other wild animals, which disrupt agricultural and horticultural activity and destroy crops would soon be classified as vermin. "Time has come to classify some of these animals as vermin. Monkeys and wild boar regularly destroy fields," Parsekar said. Rapid growth of urban areas and shrinking forest cover in Goa have increasingly left less space for wild life, which often encroaches upon human habitat. Kolkata, Feb 13 : Alleging that the Trinamool Congress's appeasement politics has turned West Bengal into a "terror hub", the BJP on Saturday said that under the Mamata Banerjee government, the state has left behind the country in terms of crime and corruption. Interacting with mediapersons here, BJP vice president Dinesh Sharma said the upcoming assembly polls was a direct fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party's nationalism and the combined "anti-national politics" of the Trinamool, Congress and the Left Front. "Generally Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are said to be synonymous to crime, corruption and rape of women, but under Mamata Banerjee, Bengal has left behind the entire country. "Despite having a woman chief minister, Bengal is now known for rapes, it is now leads the country in corruption and crime," said Sharma. Referring to the several incidents of violence including that in Malda in which a police station was attacked and many vehicles torched, Sharma said the Trinamool's politics of vote bank and appeasement has turned Bengal into a "terror hub". "Terrorists, anti-nationals and criminals have made Bengal their safe haven. Bengal has become a hub of terrorist activities. The state is now like a nursery to all those indulging in anti-national activities across the country," he said. In January, union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president Amit Shah too had lambasted the Banerjee government over law and order issues and described Bengal as a centre of anti-national activities. Sharma also ridiculed the Banerjee government on the industrial scenario in the state and asserted that only the BJP can bring real change in Bengal. "First the Congress and the Communists ruined Bengal, and whatever was left has now been destroyed by the Trinamool. This assembly polls will be battle between the BJP's nationalist agenda and the Trinamool, Left Front and Congress combined anti-national politics," he said. Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 13 : Noted Malayalam poet and lyricist O.N.V. Kurup passed away at a private hospital here on Saturday, his family said. He was 84. Kurup was suffering from age-related ailments and leaves behind his wife, a son and a daughter. A professor of repute who served in many colleges, O.N.V. -- as he was popularly known -- was the face of the Malayalam cultural world through his works which fetched him the country's highest literary honour, the Jnanpith Award, in 2007. A recipient of the Padma Shri and the Padma Vibhushan, besides numerous other literary awards, O.N.V. also has national film awards and 13 state film awards to his credit for his lyrics. His love for poetry began during his school days. The period saw his poem "Munnottu" (Forward) about his patriotic feelings, being first published in 1946. He did not look back and rose step by step to become one of the most respected cultural personalities in the state. Known for his Leftist leanings, O.N.V. was fielded as a candidate of the Left Democratic Front in 1989 in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha elections, but lost to Congress candidate A. Charles. O.N.V. was always the first person to be reached by the authorities when it came to naming places. Even the place where his last rites will be held -- 'Santhikavadam', the state-run crematorium in the capital -- was also named by him. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said O.N.V. was a poet who loved both human beings and the environment and through his works took the Malayalam language to greater heights. Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan said he has lost a "brother" and a person who always stood for humanity. The state government has decided to accord him a state funeral as and when the family decides the date. Chandigarh, Feb 14 : The Jat community in Haryana on Sunday ended its agitation to get Other Backward Classes (OBC) status following a conditional assurance by the Haryana government. "(Agriculture Minister) O.P. Dhankar has assured us that the Jat community will get the OBC benefit in Haryana if it is given to Jats in other states by the central government," Hawa Singh Sangwan, president of All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, told reporters. He said the Samiti members met the minister at Hansi town in Hisar district on Saturday and got the assurance following which they decided to call off their agitation. Jats have been squatting on the railway track at Mayar village in Hisar district, 250 km from here, since Friday. There are nine other states where Jats live in substantial numbers, Sangwan said. London, Feb 15 : Leonardo DiCaprio starrer "The Revenant" dominated this year's Baftas, with the wilderness drama named best film and DiCaprio winning best actor at the ceremony held here at Royal Opera House on Sunday, a media report said. Alejandro G Inarritu, who won best director for the film, described the win as "overwhelming", BBC reported. He said DiCaprio's "talent and commitment" to the "risky project" had "kept the film breathing". The 41-year-old Titanic actor, who was presented the award by Tom Cruise, plays fur-trapper Hugh Glass in the film. He said he was "humbled and honoured" and used the occasion to wish his mother a happy birthday. Brie Larson won the best leading actress award for her role in the Canadian-Irish drama "Room". "Mad Max: Fury Road" took four awards: for make-up and hair, editing, costumes and production design. Kate Winslet was presented with best supporting actress award by Eddie Redmayne. Winslet said that it had been "an extraordinary year for women". Mark Rylance won best supporting actor for his role as British-born Soviet agent in "Bridge of Spies", which had nine nominations. Historical period drama "Brooklyn", which is based on Colm TAibAn's novel of the same name, won the outstanding British film. Star Wars actor John Boyega won the Rising Star Award, which was voted for by the public. Best documentary went to Amy Winehouse documentary "Amy", about the singer who died in 2011. Director Asif Kapadia said he had wanted to show "how intelligent and how witty she was before it all went out of control". Beijing, Feb 15 : An official with China's top family planning authority refuted claims that newlyweds must pay a deposit before getting married to encourage couples to give birth to a second child, the media reported on Monday. "The collection of a 'second-child deposit' is totally a rumour, and we have never issued such a policy," the official with the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) told the Global Times on Sunday. "The NHFPC has not received any complaints about the collection of such deposits," added the official. Some netizens said that local marriage registry offices were collecting 'second-child deposits' ranging from 1,000 yuan ($155) to 8,000 yuan. They claimed that the money would be returned after the family's second child is born. Similar information about such "deposits" has been circulating on the internet since 2011. Marriage registry offices in Liaoning, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces - which allegedly charged the 'second-child deposit' to newlyweds in 2016 - also also said the online claims are unfounded rumours. China introduced its family planning policy in the 1970s. The policy was relaxed for the first time in 2013, allowing couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child. China further relaxed the family planning policy in January 2016, allowing all couples to have a second child. Population experts previously interpreted the move as a shift in the mindset from regarding population as a burden to encouraging childbearing as a way to tackle problems caused by a labour shortage and an aging society. Canberra, Feb 15 : Faced with the demand to allow a baby to remain in the country, the Treasurer of Australia, Scott Morrison, on Monday defended the government's strict policy of confining asylum seekers in third countries. Morrison's statement come after a Brisbane hospital staff refused to discharge a one-year-old girl due to the risk of her being returned to an immigration detention centre in Nauru, EFE news reported. The girl was brought to the hospital, along with her parents, in January from the detention centre in the Pacific to have her burns treated and from which she has already recovered. Dozens of people gathered in front of the hospital over the weekend to demand this family be allowed to remain in the country. However, Morrison said, the current policy of confining immigrants in detention centres in third countries has helped stem the flow of boats carrying people trying to reach Australian shores illegally, and that this policy must be retained. "The risk of abandoning the policy in any way, shape or form is basically sending an invitation to resume this traffic," Morrison said. The Australian government sends illegal immigrants, who are intercepted before they reach the country, to detention centres, including one on Manus island in Papua New Guinea and another in Nauru, and process their requests for asylum from there. The Australian Human Rights Commission has reported children detained in these facilities are victims of sexual and physical abuse, self-mutilation, suffer from mental problems and do not have access to adequate medical care. New Delhi : Thirty-two years after Indian troops secured key passes on the north-south running Saltoro Range to deny Pakistan access to the Siachen Glacier, it continues to dominate the headlines. Tragedy, no stranger to the glaciated region bordering Sinkiang and the Northern Areas under the control of Pakistan, resulted in a 10-man infantry section from 19 Madras, inclusive of a medic from the Army Medical Corps, being buried alive when an ice wall collapsed near Sonam Post at 20,600 ft. In what had to be a major feat of human endurance, braving the extreme cold and lack of oxygen, rescue teams dug through the 35 feet of ice debris and five days latermiraculously pulled out a survivor, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad. Despite the collective prayers of the entire nation and the efforts of army doctors, this brave soldier too joined his other nine comrades three days after being rescued and evacuated. Even as the rescue drama unfolded before the nation, a leading newspaper in the country published an article written by an associate professor from the Jawaharlal Nehru University suggesting that Indian troops deinduct from Siachen and the glacier be declared a peace park. The article, echoing sentiments expressed in the past, claimed that maintaining troops at Siachen cost the government Rs.5 crore (nearly $735,000) daily and that hundreds of lives had already been lost in holding territory that was of no major consequence. "I'm all for an open debate on matters that concern our national security. However, these debates need to be informed discussions that look at the entire picture and are not just agenda driven," said General V.L. Singh, the minister of state for external affairs who is also a former Indian Army chief. "The last time the 'withdrawal from Siachen' issue was raised, it was in 2012 at the behest of the PMO. Once these behind-the-scenes machinations were exposed on social media, the UPA had quietly dropped the idea." A 12-member Track-II committee had been cobbled together in 2011 with the blessings of then prime minister Manmohan Singh. A former air chief, along with handpicked armoured corps officers (all of them never having served in the region) represented India while on the Pakistan side was a group headed by a former army chief. The two delegations then met in various parts of the globe under the aegis of an Ottawa-based think tank. "The Americans have always had an interest in the region," says Lieutenant General Rakesh Loomba, a former head of Military Intelligence. "Even the maps that initially showed the Saltaro range and the Siachen Glacier as being Pakistani territory were issued by the US Air Force." The blatant cartographic aggression had resulted in Colonel Narendra 'Bull' Kumar leading an Indian Army expedition into the area in 1982 that confirmed the presence of mountaineering groups sent in by Pakistan. Subsequently, Indian troops had secured the key passes on the Saltoro, getting into position just a few hours before Pakistani troops also arrived. Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd), a Special Forces veteran who commanded the Siachen Brigade during the 1999 Kargil conflict, said: "All this talk of withdrawing from Siachen is pure bunkum! First, Pakistan has zero presence on Siachen, notwithstanding whatever their army keeps telling their own people. Their positions are to the west of the Saltoro Ridge. For years, they have tried to dislodge Indian troops from there, but they have never succeeded. We've paid in human lives to secure the border there - it is now the de facto Line of Control with Pakistan while towards the north, we have China that controls the Shaksgam Valley. Why should we pull out? That would amount to shooting ourselves in the foot and a betrayal of all those who have died securing the area." While most Indian Army officers dismiss all talk of de-induction from the glacier, Sanjaya Baru, in his book "The Accidental Prime Minister", touches on the subject, saying a former Indian Army chief, General J.J. Singh, had privately told Manmohan Singh that a withdrawal was doable. "All this is fanciful talk," says Gen. V. K. Singh. "The basic question that needs to be asked from those who wish to withdraw - be it (Ajai) Shuklaji and his friends in Trac II or Professor Happymon Jacob from JNU - after de-inducting where do you want your new line of defence to be set up? Do they have any idea what that will entail? Also, what about the rest of the LOC - have these people any idea of the conditions prevailing there? To just mouth off with no idea about the larger picture is extremely dangerous." "It would mean fortifying the entire Ladakh range that runs from west to east, preparing defences along the Shyok river. The quantum of troops required would be almost 15 times what we have in Siachen now, plus it would make Leh a frontline town," says General Katoch who continues to write extensively on the subject. "If we want to honour the fallen who have sacrificed their lives in Siachen, we need to nip this talk in the bud. We must remember that the gates to India have always been opened from within," Gen. Katoch adds. (15.02.2016 - Shiv Kunal Verma is the author of "The Long Road to Siachen: The Question Why" and "1962: The War That Wasn't". The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at shivkunalverma@gmail.com) New Delhi, Feb 15 : CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Monday took pot-shots at Home Minister Rajnath Singh for saying that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed backed the Afzal Guru event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus here. "The home minister relies on a fake Twitter handle for information," Karat, who visited the campus on Monday, told the media. The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said: "We don't accept their (central government's) definition and version of nationalism. If they call us anti-national, we wear it as a badge of honour." Karat also said that by filing "cases against elected student leaders under sedition charge", the government was "declaring war" against them. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after some students organised a meet to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days' police custody on Friday although he denied raising the anti-India slogans. New Delhi, Feb 15 : Responding to BJP president Amit Shah's criticism of Rahul Gandhi over the Jawaharlal Nehru University row, the Congress on Monday said it does not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of thought process of Nathu Ram Godse". "Those who killed thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of thought process of Nathu Ram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here. He said the Congress has a history of fighting terrorism and its leaders have made the supreme sacrifice for the unity and integrity of the country. He accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to suppress the voices of youth and students. He said anyone who had committed a wrong at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "There is freedom of expression in the country. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has similar views," Surjewala said. The government, he said, "should abandon the path of suppressing voices opposed to it" and focus on governance. Amit Shah in a blog said no citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," he said. The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges. The controversy started when some JNU students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days' police custody on Friday although he denied raising the anti-India slogans. Beijing, Feb 15 : Officials from China and South Korea on Tuesday will discuss the current situation on the Korean peninsula, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei on Monday. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will co-chair the seventh high-level strategic dialogue scheduled on February 16 in Seoul, Xinhua quoted Hong as saying. The two sides are expected to exchange views on bilateral relations, the current situation on the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern, said Hong. The sixth high-level strategic dialogue was held on June 3, 2013 in Beijing. Tehran, Feb 15 : Russia is shipping S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran, the country's foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said on Monday. "The agreement for the delivery of S-300 systems has been finalised over the past months and they are being shipped to Iran," Ansari said. Iran and Russia have diversified their cooperation, and both the countries have "remarkable" political and defence cooperation, Xinhua quoted Ansari as syaing. Moscow and Teheran signed a $800-million contract in 2007 to supply Iran with five S-300 systems. In September 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled the contract in line with a resolution of the UN Security Council, which banned the supply of conventional weapons to Iran. Iran, in response, submitted a $4 billion claim against Russia to an international arbitration court in Geneva. In early April last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to lift the ban on sales of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems after Iran and six world powers, including Russia, reached a framework accord on parameters of Iran's controversial nuclear programme. Iran withdrew the lawsuit against Russia after the latter agreed to supply the S-300 missile systems. Tehran, Feb 15 : Iran on Monday said it will issue visas for all foreign nationals upon their arrival at Iranian airports, except for those from Britain, the US and seven other countries. The move was aimed at promoting the tourism industry in the country, Xinhua news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari as saying. Ansari did not specify the other seven countries excluded from the airport visa policy, saying only that a list of eligible countries will be announced in the future. "The decision has been made to meet the national interests and we hope it is well-received by the international tourists," he said. Following the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iranian president in 2013, Iran has sought reciprocal visa waiver programmes with some countries as part of its bid to boost tourism. Ankara, Feb 15 : Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz has denied Syria's claim that about 100 Turkish troops had entered Syria, the media reported on Monday. "It is not true," Yilmaz told lawmakers in Ankara during a parliamentary budget meeting on Sunday shortly after the Syrian government made the claim. The Syrian Foreign Ministry has sent a letter of protest to the UN Security Council over the alleged move, Xinhua reported. In a related development, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on Sunday about the situation in Syria, the prime minister's office said. The phone conversation came in the wake of Turkey shelling positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. The Turkish artillery continued to shell Kurdish areas in northern Syria for the second straight day on Sunday, killing and injuring nine fighters of a Kurdish group, a monitor group reported. Two fighters with the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Force, a new rebel alliance comprising of Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters and supported by the West, were killed and seven wounded by the Turkish shelling that targeted YPG positions in Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Turkish officials have repeatedly said that they will not allow the Kurds in Syria to expand more near the Turkish border. The latest escalation also came as talk about a ground intervention by Saudi and Turkish troops in Syria made headlines in recent days. Observers say such an intervention will spark even more chaos in the war-torn country. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said any foreign troops entering the country without the consent of the government "will be sent home in wooden coffins." Jammu, Feb 15 : BJP president Amit Shah on Monday authorised Ram Madhav to fly to Jammu and Kashmir to finalise government formation arrangements with PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, top party sources said. "Amit Shah at a meeting in New Delhi on Monday authorised general secretary and party in charge of J&K affairs Ram Madhav to meet PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to finalise arrangements with her for government formation in the state", top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources told IANS here. There has been a political stalemate in Jammu and Kashmir after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti told reporters that she needed the announcement of "confidence building measures" from the central government to head a stable coalition with the BJP. The sources said Mehbooba Mufti had declined to discuss any government formation arrangements with the BJP before the 40-day mourning period for her father, late J&K Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, ended. Sayeed died in a New Delhi hospital on January 7 and the 40-day mourning period ended on Monday. The state was put under governor's rule on January 8. Governor N.N. Vohra has since been running the state administration with the assistance of two retired senior IAS officers of the state cadre whom he appointed as his advisors. Mehbooba Mufti has been seeking both political and financial initiatives from the central government to continue the alliance with the BJP which was formed last year when Sayeed took office here on March 1, 2015. The prospects of a future PDP-BJP ruling alliance headed by Mehbooba Mufti will now depend on the outcome of her parleys with Ram Madhav. BJP sources said the party high command was interested in continuing the alliance with the PDP and they expected flexibility from the PDP president during talks with Ram Madhav to ensure that the state is saved from being pushed into another election in less than two years. Ram Madhav is expected to fly to Srinagar on Tuesday. The last state assembly elections were held in the state in 2014. Panaji, Feb 15 : Goa Forest and Environment Minister Rajendra Arlekar on Monday said there was no possibility of the peacock, India's national bird, being relegated to the list of vermin. Arlekar was speaking to reporters a few days after Goa's Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said that the peacock, Great Indian bison, wild boar and certain species of monkeys could be soon declared vermin - or nuisance animals and birds. "There is no question of peacock being called vermin," Arlekar said. Tawadkar on Friday said that a process was on to declare peacocks, bisons, wild boars and monkeys as vermin or nuisance animals because they were damaging farm crops and horticulture. While the peacock is the national bird, the bison, also known as the 'Gaur', is the state animal of Goa. "Some farmers said peacocks were damaging their crops in fields in hilly areas. The committee will also assess whether peacocks should be declared vermin or nuisance species," Tawadkar had said. The comments triggered a national uproar and political parties in Goa, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, condemned the comments. State Congress president Luizinho Faleiro said the proposed move to brand the peacock and bison as vermin was "suicidal". The Goa BJP has also distanced itself from Tawadkar's statement, with its spokeperson Pramod Sawant saying there were no plans to declare the peacock vermin. Ranchi, Feb 15 : Jharkhand Governor Draupdi Murmu's traditional address to the state legislature on Monday, marking the beginning of its budget session, was marred by boycott and slogan shouting from opposition parties. The governor, however, completed her address amid the din and noise. When Murmu started her address, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) legislator Pradeep Yadav started shouting and raised a few issues. The governor was also interrupted by Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Hemant Soren. The JMM, the main opposition party of the state, boycotted the governor's address. The Congress, however, did not. Pradeep Yadav said, "The governor's speech does not talk about the welfare of about 15 percent minorities, and there is also no mention of the 27 percent reservation to Other Backward Castes - OBC - in the state." At present, the OBCs are getting 14 percent reservation in government jobs and in educational institutions in Jharkhand. Talking to reporters, Hemant Soren said, "The state government is trying to shield Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Dhullu Mahto. He is accused of seeking extortion from a Russian company. There is no mention also of help to the farmers in the speech." Jharkhand Urban Development Minister C.P. Singh said, "The opposition parties are indulging in such acts to remain in news and get headlines on front page of the newspapers." New Delhi, Feb 15 : The CPI-M on Monday condemned the "shocking incident of hooliganism" by some lawyers and goons who it said were linked to the BJP at the Patiala House court here. A CPI-M statement said teachers and students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and journalists were physically assaulted and driven out of the court. "Several people suffered injuries," the Communist Party of India-Marxist said. It said the JNU Students Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedition, was to have been produced in the court on Monday. The CPI-M "condemns the inaction of Delhi Police which was stationed there in sizeable strength". It asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi to answer for this dereliction of duty. The CPI-M demanded the immediate arrest of all those responsible for the violence and attacks in the court premises. In a separate statement, the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) also deplored the beating up of journalists and JNU students and teachers in the court premises. "Several of them, including a few journalists, were severely injured and had to be taken to the hospital. Even women journalists were not spared by the goons. "It is surprising that though there was a heavy presence of the police, it refused to intervene despite repeated requests by those who were being beaten up." The DUJ demanded the immediate arrest of all those who indulged in the violence. "It is the responsibility of the police to provide protection to journalists who were discharging their duty." New Delhi, Feb 15 : A 45-year-old woman, who was declared brain dead after suffering from brain haemorrhage, saved the lives of three people by donating her organs, hospital authorities said on Monday. According to the AIIMS authorities, Babita was declared brain dead hours after being admitted to the Gurgaon-based Paras Hospital following headache and fatigue which led to brain haemorrhage. Following her death on February 12, doctors spoke to her family members and took consent for retrieving her organs, which could be transplanted to someone needy. "Immediately, the authorities of Paras Hospital contacted the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation (ORBO) at AIIMS and the message was circulated to other hospitals to find out if there was anyone who immediately needed the organs," said All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director M.C Misra. Accordingly, a team of doctors from various departments was constituted and the liver and both the kidneys of the patient were retrieved from her body. The liver was transplanted into a 53-year-old male patient at the Army Hospital Research and Referral, while the kidneys were transplanted into a 54-year-old and a 51-year-old patient, undergoing treatment at AIIMS. "Over 300 medicos and para-medicos were involved in the whole process. There were several challenges involved in getting the task done such as continuous counselling and follow-up of the patient's family members," said Misra. New Delhi, Feb 15 : A BJP delegation on Monday met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and election commissioners here and demanded that fair and fear-free polls be ensured in Kerala and West Bengal by deploying adequate security forces. "Discrepancies on a large scale have been found in voters lists published for 2016 in Kerala. For example, the population of Kerala is 3,34,06,061 according to the 2011 census, but 2,56,27,620 voters have been shown in the voters' list, which is impossible because people under 18 years of age were also included in the census," said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, union minister of state for parliamentary affairs, who led the delegation. "Besides this, about 23.63 lakh non-resident Keralites have not been included in the voters' lists. The BJP demands that these mistakes be corrected immediately and online voters registration should continue," he added. BJP general secretary Arun Singh, secretary Shrikant Sharma, spokespersons Sudhanshu Trivedi and Nalin Kohli were part of the delegation. The BJP delegation said it suspected that some political parties might indulge in violence and chaos to disturb the election process in West Bengal. "Communal and violent incidents have been taking place in various parts of West Bengal continuously. Hundreds of BJP workers have been killed. Several administrative and police officials have been working like workers of the ruling party (Trinamool Congress)," the BJP leaders said. "Some districts of West Bengal have become strongholds of anti-national and anarchist elements. The ruling party seems either a mute spectator to these elements or is saving them," the BJP said in a memorandum submitted to the poll panel chief. The delegation urged the Election Commission that adequate deployment of central security forces and special observers was needed in West Bengal and Kerala during the election process so that people can participate fearlessly. Elections to the state assemblies of West Bengal and Kerala are due to be held soon. Kathmandu, Feb 15 : Unveiling an ambitious energy security plan, the Nepalese government has proposed to import 600 MW energy from India to lessen its increasing power woes. Though Nepal at present imports 230 MW from India, according to a Nepalese official, India will sell 80 mw electricity to the country from Tuesday via newly installed 400 KV Mujjafarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line. An announcement was made on Monday to import electricity from India after the Indian nodal agency NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam agreed to sell power at Rs.5.5 per unit (IRs.3.44) to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Earlier, the Nepal Electricity Authority, the state-owned sole utility for power generation and distribution, said different power tariff proposed by India-assigned NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam and Power Trading Corporation (PTC) to Nepal had hit roadblock to import electricity from India. Two Indian nodal agencies, NTPC and Power Trading Corporation (PTC), were competing each other to sell electricity to Nepal but there was price war between the two. A team of NTPC arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday to discuss and settle the tariff with the NEA officials. The formal announcement of importing electricity will be made during the visit of Napelese Prime Minister K.P. Oli to India that begins from Friday, Nepal's energy secretary told IANS. After NTPC charged the rate higher than what the PTC offered, the NEA made a request to the Indian side to reconsider its proposal. After Nepal's request, another round of negotiation took place between the NTPC and NEA and the deal was finally sealed. With the import, daily power outages in Nepal will come down to 11 hours from 13 hours, said officials. At present Nepal's total energy demand is 1,300 MW but the Himalayan country is able to provide just 829 MW. The government is going to declare energy emergency probably on Monday owing the growing energy crisis, giving power projects construction a priority and importing 600 MW electricity from India on a temporary basis to cope with the demand. By the end of 2016, the electricity demand in Nepal will reach 1,500 MW so there is no other alternative for Nepal except to import from India, said the document prepared by the ministry of energy while giving reason why energy emergency was needed to be declared. According to the document, Nepal will buy additional 600 MW from India in three stages, said the document. It added that 200 MW will be imported from Muzzafarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line while te rest will be imported from various other cross-border grids. Titabor (Assam), Feb 15 : Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the RSS and the BJP dub as a traitor whosoever speaks or goes against their ideology. "It seems only the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have the licence to say who is a traitor and who is a patriot," he said while addressing a public rally at Titabor in Assam's Jorhat district. Gandhi arrived in Assam on Monday morning and addressed party workers in two meetings at Gohpur and Bihpuria before addressing the public rally at Titabor, the home constituency of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. "I went to Hyderabad a few days back. A Dalit student, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide there. He did nothing wrong. He only said whatever he had in his heart and whatever he had to say. The ministers of the government of India ordered the university that he is a traitor and so he must be banned from the university, forcing him to commit suicide," Gandhi said. "In Indian Institutes of Technology, a youth stands up and tells about the Dalits; the government of India says he is a traitor. The president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union spoke about the poor people, weak people, progress, Adivasis and development etc. What does the government of India say? It terms him a traitor." The Congress leader said that whenever the youth speak out against the ideologies of the RSS and the BJP, they are termed traitors. "It seems only the RSS has opened a shop of patriotism; only they can say who is a patriot or a traitor. They (RSS and BJP) are the people who fired three bullets at Mahatma Gandhiji. These are the people who bowed their heads before the British. Now they ask us to take lessons of 'deshbhakti' (patriotism)?" Gandhi said. "But this is not fair. I want to tell them that more they pressurise the youth, more the youth will stand up against them and challenge them," he said. "What is the meaning of Independence if the RSS can take away the voice of the youth...they have only one agenda - they want power." Patna, Feb 15 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the central government framed JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges. "Sedition charges against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar is wrong. He was not involved in any anti-national act. The central government has framed him," Nitish Kumar said at a press conference. He said Jawaharlal Nehru University was a prestigious institution and there was a tradition of free debate and discussion in a democratic environment. An attempt was now being made to "murder" democracy in the institution. "The central government is taking action against JNU students on the direction of RSS-affiliated students organisation ABVP. It is dangerous and should be opposed," he said. Nitish Kumar also said the BJP-led government was trying to create an emergency-like situation in the country. "Those who stand and speak in favour of the BJP are nationalists and those who oppose the BJP are termed anti-national. The BJP should not try to impose its ideology on the country," he said. Ghaziabad, Feb 15 : A hardened criminal arrested for abducting a young woman executive here says he fell in love with her over a year ago and desperately wanted to marry her. Devendra, who says his heroes are Hitler and Shah Rukh Khan, lured some of his friends into the kidnap drama, saying the woman's father was a rich man and would cough up huge sums of ransom money. But the kidnapping went all wrong, and police ended up arresting Devendra and his accomplices Pradeep alias Fauzi, Mohit, Faheem and Majid. A resident of Haryana with 30 criminal cases against him, Devendra told police that he bought two auto-rickshaws, became an auto driver, began living in Ghaziabad for three months and conducted 150 recces to plan how to abduct executive Deepti Sarna of Kavi Nagar here. Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Yadav told the media on Monday that Devendra first had a glimpse of the "beautiful girl" with her boyfriend at the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station in Delhi in January 2015. He knew she returned home via the Vaishali station here, and so decided to strike there. On February 9, Devendra had his auto-rickshaw outside the metro station. His friend Pradeep was in another parked auto-rickshaw. Not aware anything was amiss, Sarna got into Pradeep's auto-rickshaw. At one point of time, Devendra punctured Pradeep's auto's tyres after it had covered about three to four kilometres. She then boarded Devendra's auto. At that time, Mohit, Faheem and Majid were with him. Another woman passenger in the auto-rickshaw was dropped and the vehicle took a turn to a different direction. A frightened Sarna telephoned her father. The line was cut, and the men made her a prisoner. They snatched her bag containing a laptop and dumped it. Her mobile was snatched and hidden at a construction site. But things began going wrong. A car which was to have been used to drive her farther away suffered a flat tyre. They proceeded in another auto-rickshaw but its CNG fuel got exhausted. A desperate Devendra telephoned his brother Jitendra to send his car, in which they went to Khera Hatana village in Baghpat. There, Sarna was kept hidden in a sugarcane field at night. The next day, they had to walk as their car got stuck in sand near the Yamuna river. Reaching his village Kaan, Devendra thrust her into a newly built house. But on February 12, the kidnappers had a change of heart -- and left her at a small railway station. "Before leaving her at the station, he asked her if she was leaving him as a friend or a foe," officer Yadav said. During his interrogation, Devendra said he was inspired by Shah Rukh Khan's role in the movie "Darr". Police have seized a car and two auto-rickshaws besides pistols, Sarna's laptop, her wrist watch, her identity card, ATM card, bag, lunch box and Rs.700 in cash. Devendra told police that he wanted to marry Sarna and start life anew in Nepal. But that was not to be. New Delhi, Feb 15 : In pursuance of the government's Act East policy, the external affairs ministry on Monday announced it will hold the eighth edition of the Delhi Dialogue here from February 17 to 19. The Delhi Dialogue is a premier annual track 1.5 diplomatic event to discuss the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Held annually since 2009, this year's edition is being held with the theme "Asean-India relations: A new paradigm". "This is specially pertinent as we prepare to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Asean-India relations in 2017," Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east) in the external affairs ministry, said while briefing the media here. Three major sessions will be held in this year's event - academic, business and ministerial. "This edition is going to build upon the advances that have been made, especially in the last year, towards deepening and strengthening our relationship with Asean," Wadhwa said. "2015 witnessed an intensive engagement with Asean countries at the level of ministers, senior officials, opinion-makers, business leaders etc. and this culminated in the summit level meeting between our prime minister (Narendrs Modi) and his 10 Asean counterparts in November 2015," he said. According to Wadhwa, the Asean region is the fourth largest economy in the world with a population of 622 million, comprising largely middle income people. "Moreover, the Asean-India Free Trade Area (FTA) has been completed with the entering into force of the Asean-India agreement on trade and services, and investments on July 1, 2015," he said. To take advantage of this and to encourage integration of Indian producers in regional value chains of the Asean, India's ministry of commerce and industry was in the process of establishing a project development fund with a corpus Rs.500 crore which would help create manufacturing hubs in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar and Vietnam, the secretary (east) said. "The regional comprehensive economic partnership between Asean and the six FTA partners of which India is a member is expected to be finalised in 2016. That will give a further boost to our trade and investment relations with Asean," he said. Wadhwa said that India has enhanced the Asean-India Science and Technology Development Fund from $1 million to $5 million. An Asean-India innovation platform is also on the cards. "Renewable energy is another area of mutual interest. At the last Asean-India summit in Kuala Lumpur, our prime minister also extended an invitation to Asean countries to be part of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) which he launched in November 2015 and to partner us in sutainable energy initiatives," he said. The ISA is an alliance of some 120 countries situated between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn that receive sunlight for 300 or more days in a year. Wadhwa said that India was offering Asean countries 100 training slots in renewable energy in the country's institutions. Among the dignitaries who will be participating in this year's Delhi Dialogue are Sofyam A. Djalil, minister for national development planning of Indonesia and head of the National Development planning Agency; U Tin Oo Lwin, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Myanmar; Vikasakdi Futrakul, vice minister of foreign affairs of Thailand; Le Hoai Trung, vice minister of foreign affairs of Vietnam; Somchith Inthamith, vice minister of industry and commerce of Lao PDR; Vikram Nair, member of parliament and chairperson of the Governmment Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore as well as chairman of the Singapore-India Parliamentary Friendship Group; Kan Pharidh, under-secretary of state in the foreign ministry of Cambodia; and A.K.P. Mochtan, deputy secretary general for community and corporate affairs at the Asean Secretariat. The Chief Ministers of two northeastern states, T.R. Zeliang of Nagaland and Lal Thanhawla of Mizoram, will also be participating. "Normally we talk about how to integrate the northeast with our Act East policy and in that respect what are the expectations of the northeastern states, what is required by them, what are their priorities and how they can be benefitted from this integration with Asean," Wadhwa said. "So it helps us to articulate those views and these views are taken back by the delegates who are there to put into practice in their own countries," he added. While the presidents of the industry bodies Ficci, CII and Assocham will address the business session on February 17, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will host the ministerial session on February 18. The academic session on February 19 will see discussions between scholars and opinion-makers on issues like Asean and the security of Asia-Pacific and Asean-India and ocean economy dynamics. Kolkata, Feb 15 : Three school children were killed and another injured when they were run over by a lorry in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Monday, police said. The incident sparked off violence as angry locals put up a road blockade and when police arrived, two of their jeeps were torched. One police firearm was set afire and a traffic police constable was kept confined and thrashed. Three-four policemen were injured in the violence. The speeding lorry crushed the children, aged 5-8 years, at Mathkol on Belgharia expressway where they were waiting for a bus. Three of the victims died on the spot, while the fourth was battling for his life in a hospital. Police removed the road block after additional reinforcement came from Belgharia and Dum Dum police stations. The Rapid Action Force was also deployed. "We have got information about four children. Three have died. One is injured. Police are tying to find out if there were more victims," said Barrackpore police commissioner Neeraj Kumar Singh. He said three-four police personnel sustained injuries in the following violence. "We will take action as per law. The accident will be investigated properly. The lorry driver is now under detention. He will be arrested. A mechanical test will be carried out on the seized lorry. The violence will also be probed," he said. The deputy commissioner (detective department) has been asked to conduct an inquiry. The protesters said tempers shot up after police cane-charged the locals. Police, however, denied having made any cane charge. The locals said the lorry -- filled with sand -- was travelling at breakneck speed to avoid a chasing police vehicle. "Police regularly stops lorries and trucks on the expressway to demand money. The lorry driver was trying to escape police, one of whose jeeps was on the lorry's trail," claimed a witness. Kolkata, Feb 15 : Amid talks of forging an alliance, leaders of the Left Front and the Congress on Monday walked shoulder to shoulder alongside other political workers in a rally here protesting against the 'atrocities' perpetrated on Jawaharlal Nehru University students by the Narendra Modi government. The rallyists set out from College Square -- the city's educational hub -- and covered a three km stretch to Dorina Crossing near the city centre under an apolitical banner Democratic Forum against Suppression. The rally, christened "Kolkata Marches for JNU", saw the participation of representatives of the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal, besides the civil society. West Bengal Congress general secretary Om Prakash Mishra said the rally was taken out to defeat "fascist" forces. "This rally has huge importance. India now needs ideological unity. CPI-M, Congress, Forward Bloc, JD-U, RJD -- they have all joined hands here. "And those of you who think 'JNU idea is India's idea', if this has to survive, we need the alliance. We are moving towards that," said Mishra. State leaders of both the Congress and the Left Front have been pitching for an alliance to put up a strong fight against the ruling Trinamool Congress. New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Congress on Monday said it does not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse", while responding to BJP president Amit Shah's criticism of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over the JNU row. "Those who killed the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters. Surjewala also attacked the previous BJP-led NDA government over the Kargil intrusion, terror attack on parliament in 2001 and release of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Masood Azhar and the present NDA government over the terror attacks at Udhampur, Dinanagar and Pathankot. He said the BJP's ideological fountainhead RSS hoisted the tricolour at its headquarters 52 years after independence. "The Indian National Congress has a stellar record in living and dying for the integrity of this country, both prior to independence and in the years after independence," Surjewala said. He said the Congress was the inheritor of an ideology in which Indira Gandhi and many other leaders had fought terrorism and made the supreme sacrifice. The Congress leader said anyone who had committed a wrong at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "There is freedom of expression in the country. Rahul Gandhi has similar views," he said. When a handful of people raised anti-India slogans on the JNU campus, the Congress strongly condemned it and demanded that action be taken against them, the spokesman said. The Congress leader said India was strong enough to give fair treatment and a fair trial to its worst enemies. "If that was not our belief and if that was not part of our founding ethos, then (parliament attack convict) Afzal Guru would not have been convicted up to the Supreme Court and punished through due process." Surjewala said the Narendra Modi government, which received an overwhelming mandate in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, has disappointed not only the Congress but the entire country. He alleged that the Modi government was suppressing the voice of democracy and said its attitude was visible during protests in various parts of the country. The government, he said, "should abandon the path of suppressing voices opposed to it" and focus on governance. Amit Shah in a blog said no citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university of the country. "But the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves that there is no place for national interest in their thinking," Shah said. JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges. The controversy started when some students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of the executions of Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police on Thursday registered a sedition case and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar. He was sent to three days police custody on Friday although he denied raising anti-India slogans. Ranchi, Feb 15 : The opposition in Jharkhand on Monday demanded the arrest of Dhulu Mahto, a legislator of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for allegedly seeking money from a Russian company in Dhanbad district. "The BJP legislator should be arrested. The state has provided special security to the legislator and he is using it for extortion," Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former chief minister, told reporters here. Dhulu Mahto has described the charge as "baseless" and politically motivated. Earlier, the police had said that a Russian company working with Bharat Coking Coal Ltd at Dhanbad reportedly informed the Russian consulate that BJP legislator Dhulu Mahto has been causing obstruction in their work for the last few months. On Sunday, Jharkhand police spokesperson S.N. Pradhan had told IANS: "Necessary direction has been given to Dhanbad police chief to look into the issue." Soren said that on the one hand Prime Minster Narendra Modi has been inviting investors and on the other his party legislators have been extorting money from foreign companies. Echoing his view, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) legislator Pradeep Yadav said: "The Russian company should seek the intervention of the prime minister. It seems the state government is shielding him." The CPI-ML has also demanded action against the BJP legislator. "Law and order situation is the worst in the state. Rape, murder and crime cases are rising. BJP legislator is harassing Russian company. The legislator should be arrested," Raj Kumar Yadav, CPI-ML legislator, told reporters. The Russian consulate reportedly sent a letter to Chief Minister Raghubar Das informing him about the issue. The company officials on Saturday reported the matter to Dhanbad police and sought security. The police have registered a complaint and started an investigation. The police said that there was deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the areas in which the Russian company operates. The law will prevail and no one will be allowed to interfere in the development work, it said. Dismissing the allegations against him, Dhulu Mahto told IANS: "The allegations are baseless. There is a section of people who want to damage me politically. Let there be a fair probe in this regard." Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15 : The third Kerala Blog Express with 30 bloggers from 25 countries, who will promote tourism as they travel across the state for the next two weeks, was flagged off by Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar on Monday. The concept of inviting bloggers to promote Kerala Tourism began in 2014 and has since reaped rich dividends for the tourism industry. "I hope that this year it will be even more successful and will further help in promoting our tourism," said the minister. This year, registrations hit a new high with more than 1,000 bloggers from 66 countries registering for the event from whom the 30 winners were selected. The participants this year include Carla Boechat and Patricia Schussel Gomes (Brazil), Rebecca Coutant and Brittany Kulick (US), Els Mahieu (Belgium), Javier De La Cruz Valdemoro (Spain), Verushka Ramasami (South Africa), Matthias Derhake (Germany), Celine Simon (France), Brittany Hemming (Canada) and Aleksandra Swistow (Poland). Kerala Tourism secretary Jyothilal said the state, which was "one of the top ten biodiversity hotspots in the world, is a land where ayurveda, yoga, martial arts are all present to be seen for the visiting tourists". The bloggers shared their joy and excitement on being the part of the Blog Express. Nidhi Thakur from Himachal Pradesh, the only Indian blogger among the 30, said she was very eager to explore Kerala that was familiar to her only through movies with songs with dance sequences. Mirela Surghie from Romania said Kerala was known for its ashrams in her country. "Seventy-five percent of my travel blog readers are women. Travelling helps women live their dreams and enjoy themselves, which I am doing now," she said. Kerala Tourism director T.V. Anupama said the bloggers through this trip "will get to know Kerala's products like Kathakali, sadya (the traditional lunch served on a plantain leaf) and also the village experience". Islamabad, Feb 15 : Foreign secretary level talks between Pakistan and India are not conditional to Punjab's Pathankot airbase attack probe, Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawaly said on Monday. The Indian envoy said India and Pakistan are in contact to hold foreign secretary level talks in the near future, Dawn online reported. "I can not give any particular date for the secretary level talks but foreign secretaries from both countries are in constant contact," said Bambawaly. After a series of high-level contacts starting with an ice-breaking meeting in Paris between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his counterpart Narendra Modi and climaxing with the latter's surprise trip to Lahore, Pakistan and India had agreed in December to resume the bilateral dialogue after a hiatus of two years. The resumed dialogue was named Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue and it was agreed that the foreign secretaries of the two countries would meet on January 15 to decide about the timetable and modalities of the process. In the attack on the airbase on January 2, India lost seven security personnel and blamed the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for it. It linked the resumption of the foreign secretaries' meeting to action by Pakistan against JeM. Later, in a high-level meeting presided over by Sharif and attended by army chief General Raheel Sharif, the prime minister reiterated Pakistan's commitment to cooperate with India on the Pathankot incident. Sharif had said the government wants to send a team of special investigators to the airbase for further investigation, and to probe any possible involvement of Pakistan based individuals. A special investigation team set up by Pakistan to probe the assault found no evidence implicating the JeM leader, Pakistani security officials said last week. The attack was claimed by separatist group United Jihad Council, an alliance of Kashmiri militants. The airbase is a mere 50 km from the Pakistani border, and is a major forward operational airbase of the Indian Air Force. Jakarta, Feb 15 : Indonesia's top human rights watchdog has opposed the government's plan to use chemical castration as a punishment for convicted child molesters over the violation of human rights principle. "It violates human rights. The offenders should go through correctional period instead of being castrated," Xinhua quoted Siti Noor Laila, deputy chairman of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM), as saying on Monday. She said that punishment should take into account human rights and should only be used to correct misbehaviour of convicts. She also said proper punishment would eventually help offenders follow the community's social system. "Castration can be classified as inhumane and despicable, and it doesn't comply with Indonesia's constitution and commitments for human rights," Laila said. The Indonesian constitution protects everyone, including violators, from torture and misconduct that lowers a person's dignity. Besides that, Laila said Indonesia has ratified an international convention against torture, misconduct or despicable and inhumane punishment. The ratification was legalised through Law No. 5/1998. Indonesia saw rampant child-sex assault cases in recent years that involve serial pedophiles. Indonesian President Joko Widodo planned to issue a regulation in lieu of law, locally known as Perpu, containing harsher punishment against those committed in sexual violence against children. The new punishment includes injection of a hormone to reduce libido and sexual activities against the offenders. The Perpu will also categorise sexual assault against children as an extraordinary crime, similar to terrorism, drug abuse and corruption. Indonesia came after Malaysia and India who considered taking similar measures to deal with such cases. South Korea was the first Asian country to legalise the punishment in 2011. The punishment has long been applied in several states in the US, Russia and Poland. Mogadishu, Feb 15 : A former Somali defence minister was killed on Monday in a car explosion in Mogadishu, police said. Muhidin Mohamad Haji Ibrahim, who served under the government in 2008, was killed as an explosive device fitted in his car exploded, Xinhua quoted a police official as saying. "I can confirm that the deceased died on the spot when the car exploded at a busy junction," he said. Several lawmakers and ministers have been killed in the past in similar incidents, for which Somali militant group Al-Shabaab usually claimed responsibility. Jakarta, Feb 15 : A suspected terrorist and a police official were killed on Monday in a shootout in Indonesia. The incident occurred in Bima district around 7. a.m. (local time), XInhua quoted police chief General Badrodin Haiti as saying. Haiti said the suspect was a member of a terrorist group led by high profile militant leader Santoso based in Poso in Central Sulawesi. The militant, who appeared to be alone, fired shots at the police, said Haiti. "He took part in assassination of the police chief of a sub-district in Bima. He was also the perpetrator who shot a police patrol in Poso," he said in Jakarta. Indonesian police have been on high alert for terror threats following an announcement by the Islamic State group. In January, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Jakarta, which killed eight people, including four attackers. Mumbai, Feb 15 : The defence ministry on Monday signed 40-50 MoUs with many global players, including manufacturers of jet aircraft and helicopters, as part of the ongoing 'Make In India Week' here, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said. The production of helicopters and jet aircraft in the country will create employment opportunities for around 100,000 skilled workers, he said at the ministry's pavilion. "The ministry has addressed procedural bottlenecks and 70 percent of licence requirements have been done away with, while the new defence procurement policy will be announced next month and become effective from April 2," Parrikar told mediapersons. The minister said public sector undertakings in the defence sector have seen their exports rise two times and this was set to rise further as they plan to double their production capacities and earmark 10 percent solely for exports. "We will have a new category -- 'indigenously designed, developed and manufactured' -- as the most preferred category for procurement. It will boost domestic private and small scale industry," he said. He said the Akash misile was now 90 percent indigenously designed and developed, while the next variant of the missile was in advanced stages of development. The Indian Air Force will buy 100 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, which was developed in the country, he said. All these initiatives under the 'Make In India' initiative will take the country's economic growth to unimaginable heights from the current levels of 7.0-7.5 percent and the government promises to make the defence market more lucrative for the Indian industry. Hyderabad, Feb 15 : The body of Sepoy Mushtaq Ahmed, who was among the 10 soldiers killed in an avalanche on Siachen glacier, was flown to Hyderabad on Monday and was later taken to his native village in Andhra Pradesh. The mortal remains of the soldier were kept at the old airport of Begumpet here for some time after it was brought by a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force from New Delhi. Top military and civil officials and leaders of various political parties laid wreaths and paid their last respects. The body was later taken to his native Parnapalle village in Atmakur mandal of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. The last rites with military honours will be performed on Tuesday. Mushtaq is survived by his wife and a son. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government on Monday enhanced ex-gratia for the soldier's family to Rs.25 lakh, from Rs.5 lakh announced earlier. The decision was taken at the state cabinet meeting in Vijayawada. The cabinet paid rich tributes to the soldier. It was also decided to provide a job to a member of Mushtaq's family. Earlier, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had announced Rs.5 lakh for the family. He had also announced that the family will be allotted a house. Nine soldiers were killed when an avalanche hit the army's Sonam post at Siachen on February 3. Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, who was rescued alive after being buried under snow for six days, died on February 11 in an army hospital in Delhi. New Delhi : Substandard medicines could be three times more prevalent than the government says, two new studies show. These data have serious implications on health in a country where 58.2 percent of the total health expenditure is an out-of-pocket cost burden on people, according to the World Health Organization, and where medicines alone account for between 70 percent and 77 percent of health spending. Substandard drugs work less effectively, causing disease to run a longer course, and can even require a new prescription during treatment. Substandard drugs also contribute to antibacterial resistance, a threat that has doubled in the last five years in India, IndiaSpend reported earlier. About 4.5 percent of the drugs in the Indian market are substandard, according to surveys by the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the official regulatory authority. Reputed brands too fail to meet quality standards Experts believe that more lucrative routinely prescribed drugs are at higher risk of failing quality standards, as this new study, published in the December 2015 Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science, concluded, after testing 32 samples of diclofenac sodium, a popular pain killer. A second study, published in 2016 in the International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, evaluated 46 samples of amoxicillin trihydrate, a fast-moving antibiotic. "We found a substandard medicine incidence of 15.62% for diclofenac sodium and 13.04% for amoxicillin trihydrate," said Ahmed Nawaz Khan, study co-author and assistant professor, Department of Pharmacy, Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan. Even some higher-priced medicines from reputed sellers failed to measure up. "This is sad because many consumers shell out more for reputed brands, believing those products are better," said Khan. To make the grade, a tablet must contain between 90 percent and 110 percent of the active ingredient named on the label, according to the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, an autonomous Indian health ministry institution. However, the CDSCO offers a five percent grace margin on that lower limit, a leeway Khan called 'needless'. If the more stringent Indian Pharmacopoeia specification was made the yardstick for quality, twice the number of samples of Khan's study would fall short. The implications of this finding: "Borderline quality suggests a lack of quality control," said Khan. If you can't measure drug quality, you can't manage it Government surveys reveal a falling incidence of substandard and spurious drugs in the Indian market-from about nine percent in the mid-1990s, as a 2015 International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences study cited, to 4.5 percent in recent years. Spurious medicines alone, distinguishable from substandard products for being imitations of (usually) popular branded drugs, with ingredients that may or may not match their label, make up a negligible part of the Indian drug market as per the CDSCO-0.046 percent according to its 2009 Report on Countrywide Survey for Spurious Drugs and 0.11 percent, according to last year's regular sampling. What happens to drugs that fail quality standards? Manufacturers of drug samples that fail CDSCO tests for ingredients, dissolution, sterility, toxicity, among others, are served notice. Of six such manufacturers this reporter spoke to, only one private manufacturing unit, Akpash Pharmaceuticals in Madhya Pradesh, hauled up in December 2015 for a batch of metronidazole tablets that failed a dissolution test, consented to speak on the record: "We withdrew the entire batch from the market, investigated the cause, found a quality issue with the intermediate used as the binding agent for the tablet, and have since taken corrective action," said director Girdharilal Jadwani. Seven testing laboratories cater to all of India's drug-testing needs No more than seven national-testing laboratories capable of processing about 15,000 samples per year cater to the entire country. "State drug regulatory authorities have given out licenses left, right and centre. But the rise in the number of manufacturing units and products hasn't been matched by expanded testing capacity," said Khan. With cases becoming long-drawn affairs, penalties rarely enter the picture. How to put testing in the hands of the consumer Consumers need technology that allows them to verify the quality of a strip of medicines. That is possible with solutions from a host of companies, such as Sproxil, PharmaSecure and mPedigree. For instance, PharmaSecure, a global provider of verification technology for pharmaceutical companies, generates a unique alphanumeric code for a strip of medicines, printed on the package directly or applied via scratch-off labels or holographic labels, pasted on the packaging line. Consumers buying the medicine can inquire-via SMS, mobile app or online-whether the code, and therefore the medicine, is genuine or not. "Typically, we process one inquiry for one code," said Samit Yadav, vice president - operations, PharmaSecure. "A second inquiry for the same code could indicate that the strip had been passed on to an alternative user, who also wants to check its veracity, but a third and more inquiries for one code would definitely raise questions." On the day this report was written, PharmaSecure was tracking a situation with the makings of a scam. "We have been receiving 15 inquiries a day, for the last couple of weeks, to verify one single code, and these inquiries have poured in from across India," said Yadav. After analysing those interactions, PharmaSecure was passing on the data to brand owners for further investigation. "At worst, the situation would mean that an unscrupulous manufacturer has produced an imitation product bearing the labelling-code included-of one genuine packet of the medicine in question," said Yadav. Few companies in India voluntarily use medicine-verification technology, although it is affordable and locally available. The government's stand is that verification technology is expensive for small firms. Another technology that would help root out substandard drugs is near-infrared spectroscopy, a technique can filter hundreds of samples in a few minutes, much faster than conventional, expensive high-performance chromatography technique, said Khan. The bottom line: India's substandard-drug problem can be solved. (In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and editor based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. The views expressed are personal. The author can be contacted at respond@indiaspend.org) Ankara, Feb 15 : A Turkish soldier has been killed in a knife attack during an operation by security forces against a group trying to enter Turkish territory illegally from Syria, the army said. The incident took place on Sunday evening in the Yayladagi area of southern Hatay province, according to the Turkish army. It named the dead soldier as Mustafa Uygun. Hatay's governor Ercan Topaca denied allegations that Turkish forces had intervened on Syrian territory. Turkey shelled targets of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria at the weekend, but faced international calls to stop the artillery bombardments. New Delhi, Feb 15 : The twiteratti was abuzz on Monday after certain lawyers and BJP leaders assaulted journalists and JNU students in the Patiala House court complex here. Some women journalists were also molested and roughed up in a big scuffle in the court complex, reports said. "India Today's Anusha Soni, Poonam Sharma, Sneha Agarwal (Mail Today) molested in Patiala House," human right activist Samar Anarya tweeted from his verified account @Samar_Anarya. "Two of our reporters Alok Singh and Kaunain Sheriff beaten up by lawyers inside Patiala House court," Indian Express senior journalist Muzamil Jaleel said in a tweet. Criticising the BJP for using violence as a "diversionary tactic" to take attention off the central government's alleged failures, the Aam Aadmi Party condemned the attack on students and journalists. "The BJP attacked students and journalists to divert attn from land scam in Gujarat, the falling SENSEX and the INR," Delhi Water Minister Kapil Sharma tweeted. "I condemn the attack on TV reporters/JNU faculty by few lawyers in Patiala house court. They sud be identified/their license sud be seized," journalist-turned-AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said on the microblogging site. However, there was no dearth of people who took to social media expressing anguish at the JNU fraternity over the recent incidents. "Dear JNU Students, We Fund Your Studies, Not Your Politics Folks pl read, pl RT," Infosys founder-turned-philanthrophist Mohandas Pai said on Twitter. "JNU is an eminent institution & time to #CleanUpJNU & also Crush the naxals & terrorists," Malayalam anchor Rahul Easwar wrote on twitter. Some entrepreneurs also asserted to leave it up to the university to find and punish the guilty in the February 9 event. "JNU issue has trapped Govt into taking extreme measures. This shd be left to JNU to find n punish the guilty," Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said. People from the media also took to the microblogging site to express solidarity with their colleagues who were assaulted. "The Editors' Guild of India, Press Club & News Broadcasters' Association should condemn the attack on journalists at Patiala House. Now!," Pankaj Pachauri, media advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, said. "Delhi Union of Journalists condemns attack on journalists at Patiala House. The Delhi police have remained silent spectators," journalist Manisha Pandey said. By 7 p.m., #SaffronEmergency and Patiala House were among the top 10 national trends on Twitter. New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) on Monday condemned the assault on journalists in the Patiala House Court here and demanded "strict action" against the culprits. "(IWPC) condemns the brutal assault on journalists, including women, by lawyers in the premises of Patiala House Court. The assault took place in full view of police," a statement from IWPC said. "The journalists were covering the hearing of the arrested JNUSU president as part of their official assignment. Women journalists were punched, pushed and intimidated by lawyers in the court room and in the premises. "Apart from the physical assault, damage was caused to their equipment like mobiles. Some mobiles were looted from the journalists as well. Some lawyers who stepped in to save the journalists were also roughed up." The statement urged the union home ministry to take action. "The IWPC urges strict action against the lawyers and the instigators of the assault on journalists. The inaction by the police also needs to be accounted for. "The IWPC urges the home ministry to look into the dereliction of duty by the police present in the premises." The statement expressed concern over growing attacks on journalists. "It is a matter of great concern that attacks on journalists are going up at an alarming rate. The freedom to report fearlessly can only take place in an atmosphere that is free of intimidation and violence." Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15 : Lashing out at both the BJP and the Congress, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Monday the only alternative for India was a Left and secular democratic front and it has to begin from Kerala. Yechury said this at a mammoth party gathering at the conclusion of the month-long state-wide yatra of politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan at the Shangumugham beach. Kerala goes to the polls soon to elect a new assembly. "The Congress can never be an alternative to the BJP. In fact, the Congress has facilitated the arrival of the BJP and they are helping each other. It's only we, the Left, who can be a credible alternative to revive the country and bring it back to the forefront of economic development," said Yechury. Hitting out at the BJP, he said the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed in all sectors of economic development, and the rich were getting richer and the poor getting poorer. "In order to wriggle out of this bad economic situation, today, they (BJP) are engaged in communal polarisation and this is leading to unrest in the country. Yesterday (Sunday), even I was threatened and so was our office in Delhi. "Today (Monday), we saw RSS activists arriving in a court in Delhi wearing lawyer's robes and attacking students. "They (BJP) see the Left as the biggest impediment and hence they are attacking us and also the JNU campus. But we are not going to be cowed down by these, as we know how to defend not only ourselves but also our country," he said. Hitting out at the Oommen Chandy government, Yechury said the Congress-led UDF government in the state was competing with the erstwhile UPA government of Manmohan Singh on how to be corrupt. "Every day, there are new scams breaking out under the Chandy government. So now the challenge before us and the people of Kerala is to see that like what they did in 1957, a new path has to be laid for the revival of the country," said Yechury. For that, he said Kerala should elect the Left Democratic Front to power in the upcoming assembly elections, which can show the path to the rest of the country. New Delhi, Feb 15 : India will explore the possibility of signing an agreement with the United Kingdom on exchanging information on criminals, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Monday. Interacting with visiting UK Minister of State for Immigration James Brokenshire here, Rijiji said New Delhi will "positively consider" a draft on the matter and advance the signing of the memorandum of understanding on information exchange. "Rijiju raised the issue of as many as 131 pending requests from New Delhi on extradition of wanted persons under the Extradition Treaty," an official statement said. Assuring of cooperation, Brokenshire, however, said these matters were for the British courts to decide. Besides the provision of death penalty in India and the European Commission's provisions on human rights proved to be hurdles in acceding to the requests, the UK minister said. Brokenshire said a team of experts may examine the pending issues on case-to-case basis. The British minister also voiced concern on Indian migrants overstaying their visas in the UK and pointed out that Indians constituted the largest such group. Rijiju assured of India's cooperation on this matter. Addressing India's concerns on the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) of the UK, Brokenshire said the British government had not reached a conclusion yet on its recommendations. He said: "The UK, in fact, encourages Indian students to visit Britain for higher education. Also, 20,000 jobs are being offered to students and this will largely benefit the Indian students." Rijiju also assured the visiting UK delegation that making payment for online e-tourist visa to visit India will also be made hassle-free. For an animal that lives in such rocky and steep country, bighorn sheep are pretty frail and defenseless when put in contact with smaller domestic sheep and goats. The sheep and goats carry a pneumonia virus that the bighorns have little resistance to, often proving fatal. This is an ongoing controversy, said Kevin Hurley, conservation director for the Wild Sheep Foundation. Thirteen of 15 western states that have bighorn sheep have had pneumonia die-offs. Its a pretty ubiquitous situation. A recent analysis by the National Wildlife Federation, titled Bighorns Risks: Identifying Risks Posed by Domestic Sheep, is an attempt by a group of wildlife organizations to shine a spotlight on Montanas iconic bighorn sheep herds and propose ways to protect and grow their populations. We have to address this issue, Hurley said. We believe theres room on the land for both, just not together. By the numbers The report released last week identifies the areas where bighorns and domestic goat and sheep herds overlap. From that information the author and contributors to the study hope that eventually greater separation can be built between the domestic and wild animals to ensure the health of bighorn sheep. How to do that is simple and yet extremely difficult keep the animals separated on the landscape at least 20 miles by the National Wildlife Federations calculation. But thats become increasingly more challenging as hobby herds of sheep and goats become more popular. The hobby herds are nearly impossible to track, may not stay around long and the owners often dont realize the risk the domestic animals pose to wild sheep. Thats why Hurley said the No. 1 goal of the report is to get information out to people. There are a lot of folks who dont even know this is an issue, he said. On FWPs radar Certainly Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel have long known about the problem. As far back as 1950 a report identified bighorn herds that failed to grow or suffered die-offs. This fluctuation has been reported as occurring for the last fifty years, probably since white men came in the report stated. Yet addressing the issue continually bumps into the states long agricultural heritage as well as private property rights. Hurley said when the Wild Sheep Foundation was based in Cody, Wyo., (it has since moved its headquarters to Bozeman) it took part in a working group that included livestock producers. Were trying to do this collaboratively; thats what we did in Wyoming for 16 years on public land, he said. Options On the state wildlife management side, FWP needs to be more proactive, said Tom Carlsen, a retired FWP biologist who helped write the states bighorn management plan. Part of the issue with sheep management in Montana is theres nobody to ramrod it, he said. Carlsen said FWP tends to be reactive to bighorn infections rather than proactive. He also suggested the agency direct more money into protecting existing bighorn populations. The report proposes a number of ways to invest in bighorn sheep, such as incentive payments to livestock owners to switch from sheep to cattle; a cost-share program to provide fencing, guard dogs or to pay a herder; retiring high-risk federal and state sheep grazing allotments; and eliminating the use of goats and sheep to remove weeds on land close to bighorn herds. Constant conflict FWP has seemed unable to move the needle on protecting bighorn herds. Last year two native herds that utilize the Gardiner Basin north of Yellowstone National Park lost at least 35 sheep, including some trophy rams. On one of the herds winter range only six lambs were counted this year; normally it's closer to 20 or 30, said Karen Loveless, an FWP biologist. Two domestic sheep herds are located nearby, and although Loveless has talked to the landowners about the disease risk to bighorn sheep they dont subscribe to the science. In situations like that, Carlsen said bighorn advocates need to find a way to enact legislation to protect existing bighorn herds from introductions of domestic sheep on adjacent land. The inability to boost the Tendoy Mountain herd despite repeated transplants prompted FWP to enact hunting regulations allowing the complete eradication of the 50-animal herd in hopes that would provide a better chance for transplanted sheep to survive. Many believe that once the disease establishes itself in a herd it becomes endemic and proves lethal to the young, which have little or no resistance. FWPs attempts to establish new herds have been halted because of the presence of nearby domestic sheep, despite a call in the agencys own 2010 bighorn sheep management plan to establish five more viable herds across the state by 2020. A frustrated Fish and Wildlife Commission, sending a message to the department, turned down a proposed transfer of Montana sheep to South Dakota in 2014 the message being if we cant find room for them here, no one else can have them either. Is that all there is? Despite the struggles, Montanas bighorn sheep numbers have steadily climbed between 1950 and 2010, from just more than 1,000 to about 6,500, thanks in part to aggressive transplanting and establishment of new herds by FWP. Those population figures include sheep from Glacier and Waterton Lakes national parks. The question now seems to be: Has all of the prime bighorn habitat in Montana been filled? Or is it possible to work with domestic producers and federal and state landowners to provide enough space for bighorn sheep to thrive in areas where they can avoid disease transmission? The next discussion is how we sit down with the local shareholders and find the right answers, said Dave Chadwick, executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation. We need to work collaboratively with domestic sheep producers and local communities and get out of this cycle. This is a real conservation opportunity. Mumbai, Feb 15 : State governments should try to replicate benefits offered by hubs like the Silicon Valley in the US to spur entrepreneurship, Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata said on Monday. "We need research centres to encourage youngsters to innovate, a venture-capital led financial environment to help entrepreneurs and industrial parks with benefits like those in Silicon Valley," Tata said at a panel discussion on investing in Maharashtra at the 'Make in India Week' event here. Lamenting that infrastructure in Maharashtra failed to keep pace with the growth, Tata said for him, infrastructure was both physical and growth enabling. "Over the years, where Maharashtra has failed is its infrastructure has not kept pace with growth. What we lacked is thinking big in skilling innovation and infrastructure for the growth that we could achieve," Tata said at the event, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the state government. "I will work with the industry to promote research and development in the state," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on the occasion. India Inc honchos such as Reliance Industries director Nikhil Meswani, Bharat Forge chairman Baba Kalyani, Sun Pharma managing director Dilip Shanghvi, Mahindra & Mahindra executive director Pawan Goenka and Raymond group chairman Gautam Singhania participated in the discussion. Paris, Feb 15 : At least seven people were killed after a MAdecins Sans FrontiAres (MSF)-supported hospital in Syria was destroyed in an attack on Monday, the medial humanitarian organisation said. The hospital in Ma'arat Al Numan in Idlib province was hit by four missiles in two attacks within a few minutes of each other, according to staff from the hospital. Around 15 other houses and structures located in populated zones were struck in the area, including reports of another non-MSF-supported hospital. "The destruction on the MSF supported facility appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure," said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF's Head of Mission. Five patients were killed as well as one caretaker. In addition, a hospital guard was killed and eight members of staff are missing, presumed dead, a MSF statement said. Other patients are still missing, but their numbers are currently unknown, the statement said. "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," Massimiliano said. There were also reports on Monday morning of another two hospitals in Azaz city being attacked. These facilities were not supported by MSF. New Delhi, Feb 15 : The BJP and the Congress on Monday attacked each other on the Jawaharlal Nehru University incidents even as a few journalists were beaten up by certain lawyers in Patiala House court complex here. In a blog, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah attacked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "supporting forces inimical to India's interests". The Congress hit back by invoking Mahatma Gandhi and his assassin Nathuram Godse. Shah wondered if the Congress leader had "lent his voice to the separatists". Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said his party did not need lessons in patriotism from those "who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse". The arrest of Jawaharlal University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges continued to evoke condemnation from the opposition parties. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna that the central government had "framed" him. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Prakash Karat visited the JNU campus on Monday and said the party did not accept the central government's definition of nationalism. The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday. The controversy began when some JNU students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering. Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said on Monday that Kanhaiya Kumar had joined the meeting on the campus where anti-national slogans were raised and he also raised slogans. Kanhiaya Kumar, who belongs to the CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF), has denied the charge. At least four of a group of journalists gathered at the Patiala House court on Monday afternoon to cover Kanhaiya Kumar's court production were assaulted by a section of lawyers, witnesses said. IANS reporter Amiya Kumar Kushwaha was slapped inside a courtroom while some other journalists were attacked on the court premises by lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans. Indian Express reporter Alok Singh told IANS that he and a group of journalists were standing outside the courtroom when some lawyers began thrashing JNU students and media persons present there, including Amit Pandey of IBN7 and Manu Shankar of Kairali TV. Journalists also saw O.P. Sharma, one of the three BJP legislators in the Delhi assembly, allegedly chasing and hitting a JNU student outside the court. Earlier, scuffles broke out as lawyers shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' ordered JNU students and journalists out of the courtroom as well as the court premises. No reasons were assigned. Some JNU students said that lawyers shouting 'Long Live India, Down with JNU' physically forced them out of the court premises. The violence took place despite a big police presence in the court complex in the heart of the capital. Shah said Rahul Gandhi should apologise "to the nation for his support to forces inimical to India's interests". "No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university," Shah said. "But the kind of statements Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves there is no place for national interest in their thinking." Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had succeeded in controlling "anti-national sentiments in Kashmir" but the Congress "is igniting unfortunate anti-national activities at the JNU". Shah said Rahul Gandhi was not able to "differentiate between anti-national and pro-national activity". Surjewala said anyone who had committed a wrong at JNU should be punished, but "it's not true at all that anyone who raises voice against the Modi government is anti-national". "Those who killed the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and those who are inheritors of the thought process of Nathuram Godse (who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) need not teach the nation and the Congress new definition of patriotism," Surjewala told reporters. He said the Congress has a stellar record in living and dying for the integrity of this country, both prior to Independence and in the years after Independence. The government, he said, "should abandon the path of suppressing voices opposed to it" and focus on governance. New Delhi, Feb 15 : India and Sweden on Monday signed an agreement for technical cooperation in railways and other areas. The agreement was signed between the Indian Railways and the Swedish ministries of railways and enterprise and innovation. "The main objectives of the MoU is to develop cooperation in railways and achieve concrete results with regard to bilateral trade, investment and research and technology transfer," a railways ministry statement said. The areas identified for cooperation include benchmark railway projects, exchange of knowledge, training and education and sustainable solutions among others. The agreement's time frame is five years, extendable by another five years with mutual consent, the statement added. New Delhi, Feb 15 : Jawaharlal Nehru University vice chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar on Monday said there were no differences within the university and the entire JNU community was supporting him. "There is no rift within the university. The entire JNU community is supporting me," Jagadesh Kumar told IANS as hundreds of students and teachers protested outside his office building over the arrest of students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar. Kanhaiya Kumar and seven other students have been debarred from attending classes by the university, though they are being allowed to stay at the hostels. The vice chancellor defended the decision, saying it was done on the recommendations of the inquiry committee. "The committee prima facie found some evidence against eight students and recommended that those students should be debarred from academic activities. We acted on that," Jagadesh Kumar told IANS, adding that further action would be taken after the committee submits its final report. He said police were not called in by the university. "We did not call police. Police sent us a letter saying that an FIR had been lodged against some unnamed people on sedition charges and that they wanted our cooperation in investigating the incident. We only allowed them to enter as per the law to perform their duties," Jagadesh Kumar said. Meanwhile, several members of the JNU teachers association expressed reservations about the inquiry committee's composition and asked the vice chancellor to form a new committee. The vice chancellor has refused to entertain the plea. "The committee can't be changed just because a few people are not happy with it. A lot of other faculty members are supporting it," he insisted. On any further action against the students identified in the preliminary inquiry report, including Kanhaiya Kumar, the vice chancellor said "university procedure would be followed" after the committee submits its final report. He did not rule out the possibility of rustication. The committee, comprising professors Rakesh Bhatnagar, Himadri Bohidar and Suman K. Dhar, is likely to submit its final report in two weeks. New Delhi, Feb 15 : Reaching out to the Opposition ahead of the budget session of parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of floor leaders of political parties on Tuesday, sources said. The prime minister is expected to seek the cooperation of the political parties for the smooth functioning of parliament during the budget session which begins on February 23. The meeting comes amid differences between the government and the Opposition over the police action in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. The BJP and the Congress have also sparred with each other over disruptions in the winter session of parliament. The government is keen on the passage of some pending legislation including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill during the budget session. The GST bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the government does not have a majority. New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Editors Guild of India on Monday condemned the attack by certain lawyers on journalists covering the JNU case in a court complex here. "The Editors Guild of India took serious note of the assault on journalists and strongly condemns this attempt to intimidate the media through the threat of physical violence, and prevent the journalists from doing their job," it said in a statement. First person reports from the reporters representing television news channels and the print media point to a physical assault by lawyers allegedly supporting the BJP who ordered them to leave the court premises where the case was being heard, the statement said. The incident took place just before Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on charge of sedition, was to be presented in a court in the Patiala House complex. Four journalists, including one from IANS, and some JNU students were assaulted by a section of lawyers. New Delhi, Feb 15 : The BJP's Delhi legislator Om Prakash Sharma allegedly attacked a JNU student at a city court on Monday. The BJP backed Sharma, saying he was opposing anti-India slogans and was hit on the head first, to which he reacted. The Aam Aadmi Party condemned the attack and demanded strict action against the Bharatiya Janata Party leader. However, the Delhi BJP state unit backed Sharma, saying "he did nothing wrong". Delhi BJP's media convenor Praveen Shankar Kapoor said Sharma was not a "badmash" (anti-social element) and he did nothing wrong. "According to Sharma's version to the party, people present in the court premises misbehaved with him first and raised anti-India slogans. When he opposed, a person attacked him on his head and then he (Sharma) reacted," Kapoor told IANS. "Going by his account, I don't think he did anything wrong. Delhi BJP stands with him," Kapoor added. Earlier, Sharma was embroiled in a controversy for allegedly passing derogatory remarks on AAP legislator from Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba. Lamba said Sharma's act of beating a JNU student exposed his mentality. "Earlier on August 9, he planned an attack on me when I was conducting an anti-drug campaign near Kashmere Gate Inter-State Bus Terminal. After that, he passed derogatory remarks on me in the Delhi assembly and broke the mike for which he was fined as well," Lamba told IANS. "Today's (Monday) act exposed his mentality. He should be arrested immediately and an FIR should be registered against him," she said. "He should not walk free just because BJP is in power." The AAP also condemned the attack, saying the BJP was deliberately creating an atmosphere of terror and chaos in Delhi. "The AAP appeals to all residents of the national capital to peacefully reject all attempts by the BJP and its affiliated organisations to destroy the democratic values of the country," the AAP said in a statement. Four journalists, including one from IANS, and some JNU students and teachers were assaulted by a section of lawyers on Monday at a city court. The incident took place just before the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been arrested on charges of sedition, was to be brought to the court. Lucknow, Feb 15 : Two people were killed and two seriously injured in an explosion at a scrap godown in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad on Monday, police said. The explosion took place at the scrap dump owned by Inder Yadav in Usru area, near the CRPF camp. Window panes of houses and other building in a radius of 200 metres were shattered due to the impact of the explosion. The bodies of both the deceased were blown to pieces in the explosion. District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra and Senior Superintendent of Police Mohit Gupta rushed to the spot. Police said a probe was underway to ascertain the type of explosion. Police recovered an iron case from the site of the explosion and forensic experts were examining it, an official said. The injured include Inayatnagar resident Shyamu and Cantt police station personnel Vinod. They were admitted to a medical facility. Kolkata, Feb 15 : Three school children were killed and another injured when they were run over by a lorry in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Monday, police said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed sadness over the incident. The incident sparked off violence as angry locals put up a road blockade and when police arrived, two of their jeeps were torched. One police firearm was set afire and a traffic police constable was kept confined and thrashed. Three-four policemen were injured in the violence. The speeding lorry crushed the children, aged 5-8 years, at Mathkol on Belgharia expressway where they were waiting for a bus. Three of the victims died on the spot, while the fourth was battling for his life in a hospital. Police removed the road block after additional reinforcement came from Belgharia and Dum Dum police stations. The Rapid Action Force was also deployed. "We have got information about four children. Three have died. One is injured. Police are tying to find out if there were more victims," said Barrackpore police commissioner Neeraj Kumar Singh. He said three-four police personnel sustained injuries in the ensuing violence. "We will take action as per law. The accident will be investigated properly. The lorry driver is now under detention. He will be arrested. A mechanical test will be carried out on the seized lorry. The violence will also be probed," he said. The deputy commissioner (detective department) has been asked to conduct an inquiry. The chief minister described the incident as tragic and said she had deputed Tourism Minister Bratya Basu and Food Minister Jyotipriypo Mallick to the spot. Mallick claimed police were escorting the car of a person arrested in connection with a chit fund case. "The lorry came in the middle. The police tried to stop the lorry. And this caused the accident," he said. The protesters said tempers shot up after police cane-charged the locals. Police, however, denied having made any cane charge. However, the locals said the lorry -- filled with sand -- was travelling at breakneck speed to avoid a chasing police vehicle. "Police regularly stops lorries and trucks on the expressway to demand money. The lorry driver was trying to escape police, one of whose jeeps was on the lorry's trail," claimed a witness. HELENA It would be good if the toilets didnt periodically overflow at Hawthorne Elementary School. And if the speech therapist could move her office out of the former shower room. And then, there are the cracks and peeling facade that can be so demoralizing. These are just a few of the problems cited by staff working at the 95-year-old Hawthorne Elementary School on Helenas West Side. Across town, it's rotten pipes that have John Carter worried. A civil engineer, Carter oversees Helena School Districts facilities. Sealed in a zip-close bag on the shelf in his office is a rusted-out piece of sewer line that burst at Bryant School last year. One of the most recent breaks was a pipe outside Project Alternative Learning on Christmas Eve, causing water shut-offs to part of Helena's downtown and Westside. It also caused sinking of the school parking lot and part of the street. Carter and Helena are not alone. Nearly 70 percent of Montanas schools were built before 1970, according to the states 2008 "Public Schools Facility Condition Assessment, which was based on a review of known building ages. A 2013 Helena Public Schools assessment reported the average age of Montana school buildings is around 53 years old. Helena's Carter keeps a series of ever-changing databases and spreadsheets tracking the lifespan of roofs and boilers across the elementary school and high school districts and prioritizing major projects at 18 school buildings (and 11 modulars) before disaster strikes. The projects are many, since the average age of Helenas school buildings is 64, he said. Carters trying to deal with an estimated $60 million in deferred maintenance costs over the next 15 to 20 years. Just in the next five years, the district is due to replace $5.5 million in elementary school roofs. There are some 1.1 million square feet of floors in the district to keep track of and replace as needed. Carter relies on a 10-year deferred maintenance bond that passed in 2013, that provides annual amounts of $1.25 million for elementary school buildings and $750,000 for two high schools and the PAL building. He supplements this with grants he writes, having received $2.8 million in the past eight years from a variety of sources. In June 2015, a $70 million elementary school bond was soundly defeated by voters by a 60-40 margin. It would have built two new elementary schools and a large addition on another elementary school, and paid for renovations at six others. Until the voters find a bond thats palatable, Carter has a lot of work ahead stretching funds. Its something hes made into an art form. Take a Helena Middle School boiler with a life expectancy of 30 years. Its now 81 years old and is finally getting replaced this year. The 2013 Helena Public Schools assessment cites guidelines by the National Center for Educational Statistics that school buildings are typically considered functionally obsolete at age 60, which raises eyebrows in a city like Helena that prides itself on its historic heritage and buildings. Older school buildings can lack things like flexible floor plans and ways to easily wire in new technology. They also lack energy efficient windows, classroom sinks needed for teaching science and art and ADA accessibility and can need seismic upgrades or have asbestos and lead paint issues. But newer buildings arent always the answer. Helenas Jim Darcy School, which was built in 1965, and is the districts fifth-newest building, was being considered for demolition because of its rapidly failing physical condition. Deferred maintenance can be deferred only so long, before it takes its toll. Pay now or pay later, said Anthony Perpignano, president of CWG Architects in Helena, which is designing a new school addition in White Sulphur Springs. Crumbling foundation White Sulphur Springs elementary students had been attending class in a building with walls that wept when it rained, according to a previous story in the Helena Independent Record. The high school roof has leaked since the early 1960s. A safety inspection revealed that the elementary schools foundation was crumbling and mold was causing bricks to fall away in some places. Lights in the elementary school had to be turned off during rain as to avoid a short caused by the leaky roof. Last fall, the community passed a $9.4 million bond to construct a 70,000-square-foot building adjoining their high school. White Sulphur Springs is just one example of a much larger problem, Perpignano said. Theres not enough money to keep up with maintenance, he said. Its an epidemic and it goes across the state. Inadequate funding at all levels, from the school district to the state to the federal government contribute to the problem, Perpignano said. But since no money is on its way any time soon, he said its a good idea for school districts to have a long-range facility plan. East Helena Public Schools has had such a planning committee for decades, he said. Trigger points are identified ahead of time. As these are approached, the district has time to make plans and take them to the voters. Combining old with new Some school districts such as Billings have been able to marry the old with the new, earning praise from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The National Trust works, where possible, to renovate old school buildings with historic value, rather than raze them. Downtown schools that are razed can have a destructive ripple effect on neighborhoods and downtowns. Billings voters approved School District 2's $122 million construction bond in November 2013. The money remodeled, refurbished and renovated elementary schools, including McKinley and Broadwater. Two new middle schools also are under construction. Former Broadwater Elementary School PTA president Ann L. Clancy worked with a fellow parent, architect Scott Atwood, in spearheading the effort to remodel and expand Broadwater and McKinley elementary schools. The success is just this year, she said. The district added architecturally matching new structures to the historic schools, she said. Now we can see these schools last another 100 years. She questions the bias against older buildings. What do you think people are doing in Europe, where people are using buildings hundreds and hundreds of years old? Americans have a "throw-away mentality, she said. We put up these crappy buildings and then just tear them down. Aging gracefully Not every aging school building is limping toward retirement or a wrecking ball. Sunset Elementary School in Greenough, 32 miles east of Missoula, was built around 1910. Its actually two one-room school houses that were moved and merged into one, according to supervising and sole teacher Toni Hatten. Despite its age and small enrollment five at the moment the school has up-to-date technology, said Hatten, including a whiteboard, a Smart Board and really good Internet service. Her students use iPads a lot and online curriculum. Technology is a huge part of our day. We use it daily multiple times, she said, between typing, practice work, research and presentations. The students each have their own Chromebook. My young kids are pretty advanced, she said. Hatten, who arrived at the school in fall 2011, said her board is very supportive of technology and professional development, and just sent her to a major technology conference in Orlando, Fla. One of the challenges of an older building is little critters, she said. You always have to be vigilant to make sure it is under control. Not only is there an occasional mouse, but also a squirrel or two have ventured indoors. Despite the limited and fluctuating enrollment, the ranching community has been strongly supportive of the school and continues to invest in it. The bathrooms were just remodeled and the lighting has been upgraded. We are supported by tax dollars from the local community, she said. Its the best, she said of teaching at Sunset. By far, its the best position Ive had. Its a fabulous environment. I think every teacher should experience it. Basin School, 37 miles south of Helena, celebrates its 120th anniversary this year and has an enrollment of 17. While the building is sound, technology can be a challenge at times, said supervising teacher Harmony Letang. Were pretty much the Internet hub of the town, she said. To retrofit the technology into the school setting is always a challenge, particularly the wiring. They also need to make sure they have adequate bandwidth for students to do standardized testing. Our facilities are dated, she said, particularly the bathrooms, which are small and have just two stalls per gender. The building also lacks a gymnasium. Letangs been teaching there since 2003 and since that time, theyve upgraded the siding and replaced an oil-fueled boiler with propane heat. The school also put in all new energy-saving windows and a Smart Board. But some of the advantages of an older building, she said, can outweigh the inconveniences. Its a unique setting. It doesnt look like every other school. It has unique character, said Letang. We still pull the bell rope in the bell tower to call kids in from recess. Theres an immediate sense of history, she added. Former students stop in and tell stories about what it was like when they attended. Thats a real benefit that connection to history. I think the building is very well suited to teaching, she said. We are able to get online. I never felt like the building was any kind of hindrance. I just think its a fantastic place to work. I think it has a lot of charm. I love the place. Neighborhoond schools This is a sentiment partially echoed in Helena at Hawthorne School by its teachers. Some things maybe not the plumbing work beautifully. Staffers realize their building could be closed because of declining enrollment and the buildings structural problems. We value the community, the small school size, said teacher Eric Lehman. He believes thats one of the reasons Helenas bond failed in 2015 people didnt want to lose neighborhood schools. The Hawthorne kids feel they belong they all know each other and all the staff, and the staff know them. Theres a lot of parent support and involvement. Some parents walk their kids to school in the morning, stay for the morning Pledge of Allegiance and then visit on the playground. The staff talk about long-term friendships that formed and flourished over the years between families, providing an extended family network for kids. I worked in a bigger school and you dont have this sense of community, said Anne Bartsch. Neighborhood schools are not a common thing, added Lehman, who taught in a large school in Washington, D.C. As franchisors and bankers rush to court the multi-unit operators of the big Grade A brands, those newcomers interested in joining the franchising world may find the process of securing a loan difficult and overwhelming. But thanks to bQual, a tool developed by BoeFly that has helped rewrite the future of franchise development, and 1851 Franchise, a leading source for business and franchising news, navigating the world of financing just got a little easier. In January 2016, 1851 Franchise partnered with BoeFly to introduce the new Franchise Finance Indexa monthly snapshot of the franchise lending landscape, built with the prospective franchisee in mind. Since 2009, BoeFly, the premier online marketplace connecting small business borrowers with lenders, has been educating future business owners on the process of financing a franchise. In 2014, the company introduced a new weapon to its franchising arsenalbQual, a tool to transform the development process for potential franchisees by making it easier to find a proper lender and to better understand their economic standing. bQual provides individuals with vital financial details, such as their business credit score (SBSS by FICO), required on most Small Business Administration loans, their FICO consumer credit score, a copy of their Equifax credit report, and an overall fundability assessment of their loan prospects. Ultimately, the impact is twofoldit helps the franchisees by giving them the insight they need to move forward with confidence, which in turn delivers the franchisor a meaningfully higher lead-to-franchise sale conversion rate. To compile January 2016s Franchise Finance Index, BoeFly and 1851 Franchise collected and analyzed bQual financing statistics sourced from franchisee activity from brands that account for approximately 9,000 franchise units around the country. These franchise brands utilized bQual to educate their prospective franchisees on their unique funding situation. According to Mike Rozman, chief executive officer of BoeFly, the Franchise Finance Index will provide useful insight not just for franchisees, but also for franchisors and lenders alike. BoeFly works with hundreds of franchise brands and their early stage candidates, and were helping them get educated about their financing needs and we receive insight into their capital position and what their credit looks like. The Franchise Finance Index was created to shine a light on those numbers, Rozman said. With this Index, were trying to provide an honest look into what were seeing here at BoeFly for the larger market. By providing this aggregated data that only we have access to, we expect to educate those interested in franchise sales and financing alike. With the goal to produce this data monthly, the first Franchise Finance Index represented bQual submissions from brands like Checkers, Firehouse Subs, Jamba Juice, Lennys Sub Shop, Smoothie King, Wayback Burgers, Papa Murphys and many more. The cultivated information revealed an average FICO score of 748.15, an average SBSS score of 191.38 and average liquid assets of $158,760. Throughout the U.S., the Index also revealed that Texas, California, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, South Carolina and Georgia are all the most active states for franchise leads, respectively. As the Chief Brand Strategist and publisher for 1851 Franchise, Nick Powills believes the Franchise Finance Index will help the industry as a whole better understand the type of candidates brands are looking for. 1851 Franchise works with more than 50 franchise brands, and Powills has seen firsthand what it takes for candidates and franchisors to truly thrive in the industry. The goal of the Franchise Finance Index is to leverage transparency to make successful franchising easier. This partnership between 1851 Franchise and BoeFly has resulted in this incredibly useful data, and for the first time, itll all be visible to the public, Powills said. By exposing these numbers, were helping franchisors better identify the right candidates, and conversely, were giving candidates the information they need to determine if theyre ready to take the next step into franchise ownership. In the end, it could lead to faster openings for new business owners while allowing the franchisor to eliminate financially unqualified candidates sooner, freeing up time to work with more qualified prospects. About BoeFly BoeFly helps prospective and existing small business owners secure fast, efficient and competitive financing through its on-line matching platform, which connects borrowers with lenders from among its more than 5,000 participating banks and specialty finance companies. Lenders benefit by being presented with only those loan requests that fit their lending profile, dramatically lowering their cost and time of origination. BoeFly is the leading franchise lending solution, having supported franchisees from more than 395 unique franchise brands since 2014, including Carls Jr., Meineke, Jamba Juice and Kiddie Academy. Founded in 2010 by small business owners and small business lending experts, BoeFlys marketplace has accommodated over $4.5 billion in transactions. For more information, visit http://www.boefly.com. About 1851 Franchise 1851 Franchise was created to fill a much needed hole of contentto bring the franchise world together through an online educational resource where readers will find daily news from thought leaders, journalists and entrepreneurs. With more than 200,000 readers monthly, no singular digital destination currently exists that speaks directly to the industrythe franchisees, the franchisors and the suppliers. As a leading small business and franchise magazine, 1851 pulls stories from real-life experiences and leans on their teams vast knowledge of the businesss inner-workings to bring the readers stories that are both relevant and meaningful. 1851s staff of writers and contributors is comprised of industry professionals with one goal in mindto increase their readers scope of consciousness with inspiring stories, breaking business news and ahead-of-the-curve trends. By challenging their readers to think smarter about themselves and the world of business, 1851 aims to fuel passionate discussion on every article they publish. ### The hottest year on record just came to an end, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with December taking the unique honor of being the hottest individual month in 136 years of record keeping. While the Northern Hemisphere is battling a snowy winter, the Southern Hemisphere is still in the middle of the dog days of summer. In Australia, the summer months are December, January, and February. And to help Australians battle the ongoing intense heat this summer season, Jims Heating and Cooling in Adelaide is offering a series of air conditioning "Summer Specials." To learn more about the Summer Specials, visit this page: http://jimsheatingcooling.com.au/air-conditioning-heating-specials/ Deals include Carrier wall split systems starting at just $645 and Toshiba wall splits beginning at $690, as well as a full range of air conditioner brands and styles at incredibly low prices. For those who would like to finance a new air conditioner, Jims is currently offering the choice of 24 months interest-free or $500 off. The company also provides a 7-year warranty on new systems. Some consumers, especially those who have never had air conditioning before, might wonder what kind of air conditioner they need. With so many available options, it is easy to become overwhelmed. Fortunately, Jims Heating and Cooling explains that all air conditioners fall into a few basic types: Room air conditioners, such as window units, are self-contained boxes. Cool air blows into the room, while warm air blows outside. These are considered the most affordable, but also the most stripped-down, air conditioners. Split systems and multi-splits are the next step up. In a split system, the cooling elements and thermostat are mounted on an indoor wall, while the heat exchange elements and compressor are outdoors in a weather resistant box. Multi-splits allow a single outdoor box to power multiple indoor units. These systems are quieter and allow for more precise temperature control than room air conditioners. Ducted reverse cycle air conditioners are considered a premium option. These systems use ductwork to move temperature-controlled air throughout your home before blowing it out into each room through vents mounted in the walls or ceilings. Ducted systems provide precise temperature control at the press of a button. Those who select a ducted model with zoning and a programmable thermostat can even set different areas of the home to automatically switch to different temperatures at different times of the day. A reverse cycle model handles both cooling and heating needs, switching from one mode to the other with ease. These systems are cost-effective over the long run, but have a significantly higher purchase price than room air conditioners or split systems. Customers who want to go green might choose an evaporative cooler instead. Known as a swamp cooler in the American Southwest, these inexpensive and eco-friendly air conditioning alternatives are particularly suited to the dry and arid climate of the Adelaide region. Operating on the same scientific principles that cause humans to sweat, evaporative coolers draw in hot air from the roof and pass it through a series of water-soaked pads before forcing it out into the room. As the water evaporates, it significantly cools the air. Evaporative coolers completely change the air in the house every one to two minutes, keeping it clean and healthy. However, they are not the best choice for those who enjoy an ice cold room, as it is difficult to cool the air by more than 13 to 14 degrees C on a dry day, or 6 to 7 degrees C on a more humid day. The mercury may be rising in Australia, but air conditioning can beat the heat. From portable units to ducted reverse cycle systems, a new air conditioner can prepare homeowners for the next record breaking heat wave. About Jims Heating and Cooling Choosing the right air conditioner can be confusing, but Jims Heating and Cooling is here to help. The company takes pride in helping every customer select just the right air conditioning system. Phone them locally on 131 546 for more information. To learn more about the Summer Specials, visit: http://jimsheatingcooling.com.au/air-conditioning-heating-specials/ Contact information: Jim's Heating and Cooling 3 Williams Circuit Pooraka SA 5095 Australia Phone: 131 546 http://jimsheatingcooling.com.au/ Nick Nicholas This award is truly an honor as it marks exemplary dedication and service by a very few select Realtor members to their organization Dallas-based commercial real estate broker and developer Nick Nicholas, CRE, CCIM, MAI was awarded the national Omega Tau Rho Medallion of Service during the February 2016 ceremonies at the Texas Association of Realtors Winter Meeting in Austin, Texas. The Omega Tau Rho Medallion of Service is given by state and local Realtor associations to members who have shown exemplary dedication and service to the Realtor organization and who have honorably served their profession. The Omega Tau Rho Medallion of Honor elegantly captures the esteem in which inductees in this honorary fraternity are held by fellow Realtors. Once a medallion is awarded, the recipient is a member of the prestigious fraternity for life. This award is truly an honor as it marks exemplary dedication and service by a very few select Realtor members to their organization, said Leslie Rouda Smith, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors, the states largest trade organization. In his forty years as a Realtor Nicholas has served the industry in many capacities at the state and local levels. He was recipient of the Stemmons Service Award from the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors in 1997, the associations highest honor. Nick Nicholas is president of Nicholas Co., a diversified commercial real estate firm providing commercial real estate brokerage, development, consulting and expert witness support, valuation and property tax consulting services to corporate and private clients. Randy Barth, CEO/Founder, THINK Together and Cliff C. Marcussen, Executive Director/CEO, Options for Learning Parents and educators are both struggling with how best to balance and incorporate technology into early learning. On the weekend of February 4-6, 2016, over 600 early childhood practitioners, researchers, business leaders, policymakers, and trusted educators converged at the Pasadena Hilton for the 5th annual Early Childhood Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (ECSTEM) Conference. The Children's Center at Caltech in collaboration with THINK Together hosted the event which focused on increasing awareness of introducing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in early childhood (birth through eight years). Excitement filled the room as early childhood education supporters mingled and gathered in the International Ballroom in Pasadena for the kick-off evening of one of the largest ECSTEM Conferences in the country. Susan Wood, Executive Director of the Childrens Center at Caltech and Tiffany Alva, Director of Early Literacy and Math Program for THINK Together, welcomed the crowd with enthusiasm and thankfulness. Russell Shilling, PhD, the Executive Director of STEM at the U.S. Department of Education, gave an impactful opening address, followed by a well-received two-hour panel discussion of the appropriate age to introduce technology to children, and the misconception of technology replacing the educator and parents. Friday and Saturdays highlights of the conference included workshops: Using Technology to Enhance Childrens Learning, Exploring Engineering Possibilities, Immersing K-2 Students in STEM with the Support of iPads, Cooking with Children, Supporting Dual Language Learners Using STEM Learning, and Coding Skills in Preschool. Parents and educators are both struggling with how best to balance and incorporate technology into early learning, said Randy Barth, CEO and Founder of THINK Together. Just as we have grappled with television through the years, we must learn from each other how to integrate technology as a useful tool. Major conference participants included Dr. Susan Hackwood, PhD, the Executive Director of the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), Sacramento, CA; Dr. Chip Donohue, PhD, Dean of Distance Learning and Continuing Education and Director of the Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center at Erikson Institute in Chicago; Peggy Ashbrook, early childhood science teacher, and author of Science is Simple (2003, Gryphon House); Kafi D. Blumenfield, first executive director of the Discovery Cube Los Angeles; Carrie Rothstein-Fisch, PhD, co-coordinator of the MA in Early Childhood Education and Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at California State University Northridge. For more information on the 5th Annual Early Childhood STEM Conference and the partnership with The Children's Center at Caltech and THINK Together, visit http://www.ecstem.org. About THINK Together THINK Together is a nonprofit organization collaborating with communities, parents, teachers, administrators and other stakeholders to help transform and galvanize the K-12 educational system, creating excellence and equity for all kids. THINK Together is Californias largest provider of Expanded Learning Time programs. Through its affiliate, Principals Exchange, THINK Together also provides research, professional development and consulting to underserved schools. Combined, THINK Together and Principals Exchange serve over 150,000 students at more than 400 locations across more than 45 school districts from Silicon Valley to San Diego. Partnering with school administrators and teachers, THINK Togethers dedicated team of more than 2,500 employees are helping students statewide reach their full potential. THINK is an acronym: Teaching, Helping, Inspiring & Nurturing Kids. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit http://www.THINKtogether.org. ### Learn more about Phoenix Capital Group's freight factoring programs. If a customer does not pay, or pays invoices slowly, then Phoenix Capital Group assumes the risk of nonpayment so you can keep your working capital. Non-recourse freight factoring is when a factoring company, Phoenix Capital Group, gives clients the ability to sell their invoices without recourse. The typical invoice factoring period usually takes 30, 60 or 90 days for the customer to pay the invoice back. Waiting 30 to 90 days for an invoice to be processed can lead to financial stress, thats why many truckers come to Phoenix Capital Group for factoring help. Non-recourse freight factoring with Phoenix Capital Group means that if an account debtor does not pay a truckers invoice, the factoring company, will take the loss on that invoice, not the factoring client. Non-recourse factoring gives truckers and trucking companies the ability to haul their loads with confidence. Factoring gives companies the ability to respond to all business expenses without having to wait for their invoices to process. Phoenix Capital Group is essentially insuring the receivables for the factoring client. If a customer does not pay, or pays invoices slowly, then Phoenix Capital Group assumes the risk of nonpayment so truckers can keep a working capital. Learn more about Phoenix Capital Groups non-recourse freight factoring program, along other services offered to freight bill factoring clients. Mid-America Trucking Show: Phoenix Capital Group is attending the largest heavy-duty trucking event in the world, the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) in Louisville, Kentucky. Join PCG at MATS 2016 located at the Kentucky Expo Center on March 31- April 2, 2016. PCG provides truckers and trucking companies recourse freight factoring services, non recourse factoring, equipment financing, and fuel card programs. PCG will be located in the Pavilion, in booth #70085. Clients and prospective clients will have the opportunity to take advantage of special rates, discounts and participate in multiple giveaways. Truckers will also be able to enter in PCG's big trade show giveaway. One lucky winner will be drawn for a huge gift on the last day of the trucking expo, Saturday, April 2nd. Stop by booth #70085 for more information. Phoenix Capital Group, LLC Phoenix Capital Group is nationally known and has been providing tailor-made financial solutions, primarily in the transportation industry for small-to-medium sized fleets, since 2001. Headquarters located in Scottsdale, Arizona, with offices in Missouri, Texas, and Tennessee. We partner with businesses of all sizes to help simplify and enhance transportation operations. For more information call (623)298-3450 or visit http://www.pcgfactoring.com. Tatum Williams Marketing Manager 623-298-3450 Montana State Prison inmate Dewey Eugene Coleman died on Sunday at the Lewistown Infirmary of natural causes, according to a news release from the Montana Department of Corrections. He was 67. Coleman was on death row for almost 15 years before his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Im not sending flowers, said Eleanor Harstad Neurohr on Monday. Neurohr is the mother of Peggy Lee Harstad, the woman Coleman was convicted of killing in 1974. On July 4, 1974, Harstad, 21, was returning home to Rosebud from a Fourth of July rodeo in Harlowton. She was spending the summer at her familys farm before beginning her teaching career in Plains. On the drive, her path crossed Dewey Eugene Coleman and Robert Dennis Nank. The two had been riding a motorcycle through Montana after leaving a veterans' hospital in Wyoming, where they had been treated for medical issues related to mental health. Their motorcycle had broken down and were stopping vehicles asking for assistance. When Harstad came upon the two men, they took control of her vehicle, a light-green car with a white-and-green checkerboard top. A friend had brought the car back from California for Harstad, Neurohr said. The men drove Harstad to a secluded area where they bound and sexually assaulted her; Nank later stated he was impotent at the time and did not succeed in assaulting Harstad. They drove with Harstad a little longer before they allowed her to get dressed again and then killed her by holding her down in the Yellowstone River until she drowned. The next day, Neurohr drove to the Harstad family ranch outside Forsyth into town to grab coffee with friends and run errands. As she headed into town, she saw the unmistakable checkered top of her daughters car. She thought it was unusual to see a car so similar to her daughters, but believed it was a road workers. She was at a cafe when a call came in to the business; John Harstad, Peggy Harstads father, was on the line. He asked me if I knew where Peggy was, and I said, 'Yes, I think shes at a girlfriends house or maybe with Lynda, her sister,'" Neurohr said in an interview with the Gazette on Monday. And John said, Well, a car with her license plate was found parked along Frontage Road.'" Neurohr and her husband saw their daughter everywhere after that. The whole town rallied to help them find her. They even called in a Native American clairvoyant from Hardin who stayed at the Harstad ranch. Neurohr still credits the woman with pointing the family to the area on the Yellowstone River where Harstads body was found. Peggy was right across from where she said she would be, Neurohr said. Two fisherman found her, and I remember, it had rained a lot that year, so the river was very high, and Coleman and Nank hadnt put Peggy in the main stream, so, when the water receded, the two fisherman saw her body. Her body was discovered in late August 1974 on the north bank of the Yellowstone River near Forsyth. They wouldnt let me see her, Neurohr said. I wanted so badly to see her. The night before Peggy Harstad's death, she kissed both her parents and thanked them for all theyd done for her. She was kind, a loving, good-natured person, Neurohr said. When Harstad would come home from college, her sister Lynda Ottun would walk over from where she and her husband lived, and the three women would visit in the kitchen together. The girls would sit together on the counters laughing and chatting while Neurohr prepared dinner or lunch, Neurohr said. I miss that, Neurohr said. After Peggy Harstads death, Neurohr said she could never again get close to her older daughter. Sometimes I wish Id asked her, talked to her about it, Neurohr said. But we were all hurting, hurting so deeply. Nank and Coleman were arrested in October 1974 in Boise. Nank entered a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty, in exchange for testifying against Coleman. Nank confessed that he and Coleman had raped, beaten and drowned Harstad, while Coleman denied that he was involved. Both were charged with deliberate homicide, aggravated kidnapping and rape, according to Gazette archives. Nank died in 1999 according to Montana State Death Records. Coleman was convicted and sentenced to 100 years for the homicide and 40 years for the rape charge. He received the death sentence for his conviction of aggravated kidnapping, a mandatory sentence at the time. That law was repealed in 1977. Coleman appealed his sentence, and the Montana Supreme Court determined the mandatory death sentence to be unconstitutional. Coleman was again sentenced to death in 1978 under a new statute. Just days before the hanging was to take place, Coleman was granted a stay of execution. Coleman later argued that his death sentence was handed down because he was black, and that Nank was given preferential treatment because he was white. The two men are interchangeable to Neurohr, who said the death penalty wasnt good enough for either. My daughter suffered at their hands, Neurohr said. They should suffer. That was my hate talking at the time, but I still feel what they got was far too plush. Both men pointed the finger at the other after the death of her daughter, but both could have stopped it, she said. Killing my daughter, through that, I lost my husband, Neurohr said. John Harstad died from a heart attack in 1989, a month after an interview with the Gazette about his daughter's death, in which he remarked on the overwhelming support from the community. "It was just all too late," he had said of their efforts. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Coleman in 1988, commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment. Neurohr is the last surviving member of Peggy Harstads direct family. Her sister, Lynda Ottun, died from cancer in 2005. Her adoptive brother, Rowland Limberhand Harstad, died in 2009 from a heart attack. The youngest brother, Monte Harstad, died in 2013, also following a battle with cancer. Monte always thought he should have been with her, Neurohr said. Even though he was just a little tyke, he thought, maybe if hed been with her, she would have come home. In May 1974, a few months before Harstad was killed, she told her mother where she wanted to be buried when she died. She pointed to a big hill where she used to ride her horse, Neurohr said. From the top, she could see the familys entire ranch. I remember I told her, Peggy, were not going to talk about it, were not going to think about it, Neurohr said. "'Parents dont bury their children.'" Coleman would have been eligible for parole this year. A previous hearing with the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole in 2011 did not go in his favor. Im happy about it, Neurohr said of Coleman's death. But theres closure, it gives you a feeling, I cant really explain the feeling, it has all come to the end. Our partnership with Neolith continues to go from strength to strength and were pleased to be able to bring this innovative surface solution to more of our clients. Representatives with Pacific Shore Stones today announced that it has reached an exclusive distribution agreement with Neolith in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. This new agreement is in addition to the existing agreement covering distribution in Austin, San Antonio, Corpus and the Valley area (South Texas). Neolith is a high-performance compact surface that is suitable for many applications including countertops, vanities, cladding, large format flooring, and facades. Pacific Shore Stones Operating Partner Vinny Tavares said: As a company were committed to bringing new surface products and technology to our clients. Over the years weve seen the market evolve, and were proud to offer the Neolith product line since it offers such amazing versatility. Operating Partner Marco A. Pereira commented: Our partnership with Neolith continues to go from strength to strength and were pleased to be able to bring this innovative surface solution to more of our clients. We hope to continue to grow this partnership with Neolith going forward. A launch event celebrating the new distribution agreement was held recently at the Tulsa, Oklahoma location. Launch events will also be held in coming weeks at Pacific Shore Stones locations in Oklahoma City, Memphis, Little Rock and Springdale. Certified official fabricator training courses will be run in these areas by Pacific Shore Stones Neolith Technical Representative Jesse Nelson. Neolith is a man-made product comprised of natural elements. The production of Neolith replicates in a matter of hours the same process natural stone goes through over thousands of years, using extremely high pressure and temperature. The result is a lightweight product which is resistant to fire, UV damage, and scratching. It is also waterproof, easy to clean and fully recyclable, and has been awarded Greenguard, Greenguard Gold, NSF, and Kosher certification. Pacific Shore Stones offers a selection of colors from Neoliths Colorfeel, Fusion, Iron, Textile, Timber and Classtone collections. This includes new colors recently debuted by Neolith at KBIS, such as Calacatta Gold and La Boheme. Further information about Neolith can be found at: http://www.pacificshorestones.com/products/neolith About Pacific Shore Stones Pacific Shore Stones is a leading importer and wholesaler of exotic natural stones and surfaces. Established in 2004, the company offers a wide selection of granite, marble, travertine, quartzite, onyx, limestone, soapstone, quartz and Neolith. Pacific Shore Stones has developed joint ventures with quarries across the world, built on strong relationships, providing access to the finest blocks. The company owners regularly visit quarries in places such as Brazil, Italy, Spain, India and Turkey, enabling them to keep up with new trends and to purchase unique stones. The company distributes high quality, hand selected stone through multiple company-owned distribution centers across the U.S. Each center has a large inventory of over 120 colors plus knowledgeable staff delivering expertise and first class customer service. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company has distribution centers in Arroyo Grande, Bakersfield, Birmingham, Charleston, Fresno, Greenville, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Oxnard, San Antonio, Springdale and Tulsa, plus a dedicated distribution facility in Houston not open to the public. American Crane employees work together to build 19 bicycles. "The donated bikes are much more than holiday gifts; they offer a way to work, doctors' appointments, and an opportunity to just have some fun riding a bike. said Ryan Herrera, Assistant Director of the YMCA Housing Programs. So often we begin preparing for the holidays many months in advance; yet the closer we get to the big day the quicker time passes and in a flash all the parties and festivities are over. But this year on Christmas Eve, employees at American Crane & Equipment Corporation created gifts (and memories) that will ride on well past Christmas, into the New Year and beyond. Thanks to the help of an organization called Bikes for Goodness Sake, contributions from vendors and two bicycle gurus, American Crane employees built and donated 19 bikes to the Reading YMCA. Child, intermediate and adult-size bikes were assembled by 16 teams of workers using special tools to assist and guide bike components into place. Fun accessories such as spoke beads and bike bells were also attached to the bikes to add a little holiday sparkle! This team-centered activity took place during American Cranes annual employee holiday luncheon and training day, December 24th. Each year we provide employees with a meal, training, and a lighthearted problem-based activity designed to promote 'team spirit'. Watching employees interact within a team setting is quite amazing since each employee approaches problem solving differently," said Karen Norheim, Executive Vice President of American Crane & Equipment Corporation. When employees embrace and effectively use these differences to create something that surprises and brightens the day of folks dealing with daily adversities, thats teamwork at its best! After assembly, the bikes were put through a quality assurance test by local bike mechanics to test for safety and were later delivered to the Transitional Housing Programs at the Reading YMCA. The Reading YMCA Transitional Housing Programs were created in 1998 to help homeless men and women achieve self-sufficiency. The 11 transitional housing programs accommodate approximately 12 children, 30 women and 128 men; many of whom are homeless, recovering from substance use disorder, or escaping domestic violence. These housing programs also aid homeless veterans and individuals transitioning between treatment centers/prisons and independent living. The overwhelming generosity shown to the Reading YMCAs Housing Programs by American Crane and its vendors has once again given the men, women, and children that live in the programs remarkable and much appreciated gifts. Some of the children in the program were excited to receive their very first bike! For adult residents who face so many obstacles on their road to recovery, owning a bike will mean reaching goals more quickly. The donated bikes are much more than holiday gifts; they offer a way to work, doctors' appointments, and an opportunity to just have some fun riding a bike, said Ryan Herrera, Assistant Director of the YMCA Housing Programs. To learn more about American Crane & Equipment products and services visit http://www.AmericanCrane.com or call 1-877-877-6778. UN NGO United States Sustainable Development Corp convened a briefing entitled Global Isolation of African and Indigenous Descendants of Colonialism and Enslavement, an NGO representative who organized the event says that the sense of political invisibility felt by the subject group in situations like the Flint Michigan, Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland may find its roots in mountains of early American legal action. Ava Gabrielle-Wise read an oral statement that was intended for the full 54th Commission on Social Development. It was by legislation that the early founders of the United States went to great lengths to define non-European citizenship". The effect of that legislative action, she said, was the systematic elimination of entire people groups from the political framework along with their representative voices beyond the legacy of enslavement. Much of the briefing covered colonial, early American, late 19th and 20th century human rights legislation such as the 1924 Virginia Racial Integrity Act, which revised vital records of people of color to continue the practice of erasing any remnants of their indigenous identity. The organizer circulated a handout entitled, "Selected Virginia Statutes relating to Slavery", which is found on the "Virtual Jamestown" website, a digital collaborative of Virginia Tech and several other universities. The document lists more than 50 legislative acts dating as far back as 1629 beginning with "an act distinguishing the work of English and African women" that drew the first distinction between those of African descent and those of European descent before they were identified as white or black. Antony Tompkins of the United Kingdom, said that the experiences of African descendants in the UK is not unlike the experiences of those in the US. Nonetheless, it's hard to tell whether it's more or less legislation that is needed today," Gabrielle-Wise acknowledged the heavy focus on legislation. "It was important to focus on the legislation, said Gabrielle-Wise, because so much was done by legislation in the founding years of the colonies. It's documented, it can be proven, it's not about conjecture, but law", said Gabrielle-Wise. "The effort invested to delineate each people group, by name and ethnic origin was no mistake. They were closer to the actual (pre-colonial) history, so they knew precisely about whom they were referring and understood fully it was important to identify them with such distinction, to be careful to not leave anyone out that they were trying to draw into this homogenous group to enslave. One such legislation that was cited is dated, November 1682 and was entitled, "an act repealing a former law making Indians and others ffree". According to a by-line in the document, the academics of Virtual Jamestown state its purpose as joining "Native Americans and Africans into one racial category-"negroes and other slaves." "And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that all servants except Turkes and Moores, whilest in amity with his majesty which from and after publication of this act shall be brought or imported into this country, either by sea or land, whether Negroes, Moors, Mollattoes or Indians, who and whose parentage and native country are not christian at the time of their first purchase of such servant by some christian, although afterwards, and before such their importation and bringing into this country, they shall be converted to the christian faith; and all Indians which shall hereafter be sold by our neighbouring Indians, or any other trafiqueing with us as for slaves are hereby adjudged, deemed and taken to be slaves to all intents and purposes, any law, usage or custome to the countrary notwithstanding." "The Statutes at Large", William Waller Hening Attendees from Cameroon, Nigeria, and other countries stated that they too could identify with the lingering effects of colonialism and imperialist oppression in their own nations. "This is important work, but it is not unique to the United States. Africans all around the diaspora experience similar trials", said Oluwarotimi Henry Adenigba from Nigeria. He wondered aloud what remedy might today be available to those descendants. Queen Mother Dr. Delois N. Blakely, founder of the New Future Foundation, an NGO, responded with, "the answer can be given in one word, reparations, reparations, reparations. She also mentioned a recent report of the "U.N. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent", which said that they were "extremely concerned about the human rights situation of African-Americans, according to Associated Press. The full report will be released in September, but is already making the argument for reparations and a US Human Rights Commission. The briefing was a prologue to another panel session that is scheduled for March 23rd, a parallel event of the 60th Commission on the Status of Women. The panel will delve into the history and current condition of Indigenous and African descendants of colonialism and enslavement. Scholars and activists alike have been invited to speak on the panel including Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, Jeffrey Ogbar, Historian and Author on the shared history of African and Indigenous descendants of North America, William Loren Katz, Activist and Author, Monifa Bandele and African and American historian, Arthur T. Carter, MD. Clinical Logistica has enhanced its investigator alert letter distribution systems to facilitate both email and mail distribution, reducing cost and improving compliance with global regulations. The PIALDi CASCADE system combines highly secure encrypted email delivery and verification with traditional print, fold, insert and mail technologies through a system of cascaded customer defined business rules. PIALDi CASCADE can be implemented very quickly for both large and small organizations. Distribution of Investigator Alert Letters can be a challenge to Sponsors and CROs alike combining secure, encrypted technologies with postal delivery provides real operational challenges Today Clinical Logistica launches a system that, for the first time, combines delivery via email and mail in a very cost efficient manner that ensures regulatory compliance, says President & CEO Nicky Steadman. Both Sponsors and CROs can avoid the costs and distractions of deploying highly skilled clinical and pharmacovigilance staff to mail room duties, and they do not need a team of IT experts to implement and manage secure delivery systems. PIALDi CASCADE is delivered from Clinical Logisticas facilities in the heart of the CRO industry, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. While the principal focus is on Investigator Alert Letters (also known as Dear Investigator or CIOMS-1 letters), the service also provides a solution for other regulated communications such as gap packets, due diligence letters and medical information distribution. About Clinical Logistica Clinical Logistica was founded in 2011 to provide logistic support services to the clinical trial industry. These services include PIALDi CASCADE, our innovative electronic delivery system for investigator alert letters, and the provision of equipment and kits in the support of clinical trials. Our dedicated professional staff members have many years of experience in the clinical trials industry, and in other allied industries, providing a broad breadth and depth of experience in all aspects of clinical trials logistics. http://www.clinicallogistica.com "DIRECT serves as a great resource for the wine industry, and Ive been proud to have been a part of it all these years," said Steve Gross, Vice President of State Relations at the Wine Institute. ShipCompliant, the industry leader in SaaS compliance and transaction platforms for the beverage alcohol industry, is now accepting proposals for its 11th annual DIRECT Conference. The event will be held in San Francisco, CA on June 23-24, 2016. The DIRECT Conference is one of the beverage alcohol industry's leading conferences, featuring the latest updates from industry experts, innovative technologies, and inspiring keynote speakers. Proposals for breakout sessions should follow one of the four main conference tracks: compliance and fulfillment, executive, sales and marketing, and technology. Ive had the pleasure of presenting at each of ShipCompliants DIRECT conferences over the past ten years, said Steve Gross, Vice President of State Relations at the Wine Institute. Its been great to see this become one of the preeminent gatherings of its kind. It serves as a great resource for the wine industry, and Ive been proud to have been a part of it all these years. The deadline for proposal submission is March 2, 2016. The 2016 DIRECT planning committee will review breakout session proposals and announce accepted proposals in April. Submission guidelines are available online. More information on the 11th Annual ShipCompliant DIRECT conference and registration is available online. About ShipCompliant A division of Sovos Compliance, ShipCompliant is the industry leader in creating SaaS compliance and transaction platforms for the beverage alcohol industry. ShipCompliant makes products people use and love, reducing time to market and enabling new sales channels for wineries, breweries, distilleries, and importers of beverage alcohol products. ShipCompliants comprehensive web-based tools offer robust and seamless integration with order management, e-commerce, point-of-sale, and fulfillment systems, ensuring compliance at each step in the process. For more information, please visit http://www.shipcompliant.com. XBOSoft, a leading software testing and quality assurance consulting company, will exhibit at the 2016 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition (HIMSS16). The health IT conference takes place February 29-March 4, 2016 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. CEO Phil Lew and VP of Business Development Stephen Gohres will be present throughout the entire week demonstrating the company's innovative software testing services. Visitors to the XBOSoft booth will have the chance to learn about the firms proven software QA and testing methodologies, as well as future insights. XBOSoft can be found on Level Two of the Sands Expo and Convention Center at Booth #8454, located in the Veronese Ballroom. HIMSS16 is one of the healthcare industrys top conferences. The conferences more than 300 education programs, including keynotes, workshops and roundtable discussions, attract over 40,000 health professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world. For more information about XBOSofts participation in this years HIMSS conference, visit http://xbosoft.com/event/xbosoft-himss16-conference-exhibition/. About XBOSoft XBOSoft is a software testing and quality assurance company that offers services in web, mobile and desktop applications, as well as broad domain experience with extended expertise in healthcare and finance. XBOSofts quality process assessments and test methodologies speed products to market and improve clients software quality and performance throughout the softwares lifecycle. Founded in 2006, XBOSoft today has over 100 employees serving the US and European markets, with offices based in San Francisco and Beijing. For more information visit xbosoft.com. We're looking forward to a strong turnout of qualified candidates to bring into the program. PowerObjects, an HCL Company, is hosting a Consultant-in-Training Happy Hour at their Minneapolis headquarters on February 18, 2016. The event will serve as a screening process for potential candidates interested in the Consultant-in-Training program. By hosting this kind of social recruiting event, we get the chance to really talk and interact with potential candidates for the program, says Terah Ramaekers, Director of Talent Acquisition. Its a great opportunity for candidates, too, as they get the chance to network with current employees and get a feel for PowerObjects culture. Individuals interested in the program will be trained to act as a liaison between customer and internal teams on Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations. Participants in the program will complete three months of on-the-job, immersive training. Weve had a lot of success with this event in previous years, says Ramaekers. Were looking forward to a strong turnout of qualified candidates to bring into the program. Those interested in attending can learn more and register here. About PowerObjects, an HCL Company PowerObjects, an HCL Company, is a leader in delivering Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions through unparalleled offerings of service, support, education, and add-ons. Winner of the 2015 Microsoft Dynamics CRM Cloud CRM Partner of the Year, PowerObjects has built an unmatched team of CRM experts that help organizations increase productivity, streamline business p TYRETRADERS.COM Michael Charles of Amco said.Three quarters of UK Motorists research the price of Tyres Online but only 8% have purchased from the channel. In Germany almost 15% buy online so significant growth is likely in the near future. Martin T Coyne & Matt D Hardy of Birmingham based Poppleton & Appleby have been appointed as joint administrators of Tyretraders.com Ltd. Tyretraders operated a well established E-commerce Tyre Sales site with audited sales of 3.7m in 2014. The unaudited management accounts for 2015 suggest a similar performance. Between 2008 & 2012 Tyretraders.com ltd invested 297k, when in conjunction with Wolverhampton University, it embarked on the development of a bespoke E-commerce platform to manage its sales and operations. The Tyretraders.com ltd website receives significant traffic averaging circa 10,000 visits per week over the last 12 months. Around 50% of that traffic results in return visits. Tyretraders operating base is a modern Distribution Unit in First Avenue Sutton Coldfield which doubles as a fitting centre with a total gross internal area of some 20,000 sq ft. There are considerable resources at the site including Offices, Fitting and Tracking Bays. There is also extensive racked storage space and Gated Hard Standing. The retail customer experience is well catered in the reception area with TV and CCTV Monitors allowing the clients to see the progress of work on their vehicles. There is a whole floor of office space available for further expansion. Michael Charles of London based Amco-Agency and Rajiv Kumar of Birmingham based Kumar & Company Limited have been instructed to deal with expressions of interest in the Business and/or the Assets. Michael Charles of Amco said.Three quarters of UK Motorists research the price of Tyres Online but only 8% have purchased from the channel. In Germany almost 15% buy online so significant growth is likely in the near future. Rajiv Kumar of Kumar & Company added. The facility Tyretraders have established in First Avenue is excellent. Well thought out, sensibly equipped and capable of much higher throughput Michael Charles Amco- Agency mc(at)amco-agency.co.uk 07973 600500 Rajiv Kumar Kumar Company rajiv.kumar(at)kumarandco.co.uk 0121 448 0462 Garry Baxendale - Poppleton & Appleby GarryB(at)poppletonandappleby.co.uk Mark Monaghan Poppleton & Appleby MarkM(at)poppletonandappleby.co.uk Poppleton & Appleby 0121 200 2962 Village Realtys Senior Associate Broker Matt Myatt was named the top-producing Outer Banks sales agent of 2015. I try to make the process fun, but Im not afraid to tell them my honest opinion were in this together! With a steadfast dedication to excellence and a lifetime goal to become the best in his profession, Village Realtys Senior Associate Broker Matt Myatt is well on his way to achieving his goal. According to year-end statistics from the Outer Banks Association of Realtors MLS database, Myatt is the top-producing Outer Banks sales agent of 2015. Looking at sales volume data obtained from OBAR MLS 1-1-2015 through 12-31-2015, Matt amassed more sales volume than any other agent (or team). He completed 46 closings with an impressive total of $26.8 million also helping Village Realty reach the #1 position in sales volume on the Outer Banks. A longtime sales agent with Village Realty, Myatt joined the exceptional sales team in 2004, quickly rising in ranks among his fellow real estate professionals. By 2009, he was named Village Realtys Agent of the Year, a title he has now held for seven consecutive years, including 2015. Having maintained his position with the top 1% of Outer Banks agents since 2009, Myatt has worked hard to strengthen his strategies, achieving most of his challenging professional goals along the way. He acknowledges the competitive nature of the real estate industry, and explains that the Sales team at Village Realty is truly cooperative. I trust the agents in my office. Were all competing in the same, aggressive market, but we work very well together. Along with the top sales agents in the business, Village Realty has a resourceful team of dedicated Rental Managers allowing interested buyers to seamlessly launch homes into one of the Outer Banks most trusted rental programs. Village agents are well-supported with customized marketing and local and national advertising, allowing for maximum exposure of their sales and listings. For more than a decade, Myatt has helped hundreds of happy homeowners with all their buying and selling needs. Myatts clients rave about his friendliness, accessibility, and personalized approach to his craft, committing himself earnestly every step of the way. I try to make the process fun, but Im not afraid to tell them my honest opinion were in this together! he said. When asked what sets him apart from his colleagues, he replied, I think Ive been successful because my clients get access to ME. I dont list the houses and then hand them off to an assistant. When a client calls, Im the one who answers the phone and that will never change. Myatts deep fondness for the Outer Banks took root during childhood family vacations on the beautiful barrier islands. Relocating to the area from his hometown in New Jersey, soon after graduating from Elon Universitys Love School of Business, it wasnt long before he met his love, Jenny. Married since 2004, the couple now shares a home in Southern Shores with their yellow Labrador puppy, Shea. To join the ranks of the many satisfied homeowners whove experienced how easy it is to Buy It With Myatt, contact Matt via his cell phone 252.207.6588 (text friendly), email Matt(at)MattMyatt(dot)com or online at MattMyatt.com. Updated hourly, his comprehensive website features unlimited access to current property listings, including best buys, short sales and foreclosures. Village Realty is proud to be the Outer Banks #1 real estate sales firm in 2015, expertly serving the region for more than 20 years. Specializing in premier property sales, vacation rentals and association management, Village Realty offers two locations, in Nags Head and Corolla, where qualified NC brokers are on duty seven days a week from 9am-5pm. For more information, call 800.441.8533 or visit http://www.VillageRealtyOBX.com. The Washington Business Alliance today announced the launch of a new coalition designed to strengthen career and technical education for youth in Washington State. The Career Tech coalition, also has participation from coalition members including, League of Education Voters, Washington Building & Construction Trades, Association of General Contractors Education Foundation, Manufacturing Industrial Council, Washington Maritime Federation, and Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance. Over the last decade, high school graduation rates have slid from 32nd to 42nd. Since 2003, the achievement gap separating low income students from others in Washington has widened more than in any other state. In fact, Washingtons K-12 system recently received a C grade from Education Week. Washington Business Alliance President Colleen McAleer noted that, An inadequate supply of skilled workers is threatening Washingtons business growth. The Business Alliance is a business community research and advocacy organization formed to combat the divisiveness and uneven progress in state politics. McAleer explained that Washington industries can't succeed if they cant access the talent that they need. Disconnected teens and young adults represent a critical lost asset in Washingtons economy and have a significant negative impact on Washington business. The Business Alliances Career Tech Coalition is working to change that. They have a bipartisan vehicle in the legislature this session to strengthen funding for Career & Technical Education: Senate Bill 6415. Senator Christine Rolfes (District 23), the bills primary Democratic sponsor, stresses the broad-based political support behind stronger Career Tech education funding. Employers throughout the state are clamoring for well-trained entry level applicants, Rolfes said. And teachers and parents recognize that some students learn better with hands-on classes with practical applications. Senator Ann Rivers (R-18) is a primary sponsor for the bill. She says that over the next five years, 35 percent of jobs will require a bachelor's degree or higher, but 42 percent of jobs will require mid-level training; the kind of training that our career and technical programs provide. Its time to let all kids know we value their future and fund both paths as basic education. Funding for Career & Technical courses has dropped in recent years, even with all the new education spending compelled by the state supreme court. With little revenue to go around in the new legislative session, disconnected youth and the hiring needs of employers are low on the list of priorities. Students who complete Career Tech programs graduate at higher rates than their general Ed peers, and launch off in trajectories that lead directly to workforce credentials, credits, and living wage careers. > For residents ages 20-24, the 2014 annualized unemployment rate was more than 14 percent. Its over 23 percent for those aged 16-19 years. Compare this with a rate of about 5 percent for those aged over 25 years. > Higher unemployment rates can harm lifetime earning potential. A young person who experiences a six-month period of unemployment can expect to miss out on at least $45,000 in wages over the next decadeabout $23,000 for the period of unemployment and an additional $22,000 in lagging wages. > Washington employers report having the most difficulty when hiring jobs which require vocational diplomas, degrees, and certificates. > About one in seven young Washington State residents ages 16-24 are disconnected from both school and work. This group isnt actively gaining credentials or skills, and they arent earning a paycheck. About the Washington Business Alliance: The Business Alliance was founded in 2010 by David Giuliani of Sonicare/Clarisonic and Howard Behar of Starbucks. Frustrated by the divisiveness and uneven progress in state politics, they imagined the results that could be possible if we brought the best business methods and entrepreneurial thinking to the work of government. The statewide business group is committed to bipartisan problem-solving and data-driven public policy. They work in collaboration with others to take on the states most consequential policy issues. Contact: Hans D. Stroo Mobile: 206.419.2064 Office: 206.441.5101 hans(at)wabusinessalliance(dot)org New Sams Club members will receive exclusive values worth $180 for just $45 when they take advantage of a special new member offer before Feb. 21, 2016. A Sams Club membership is now even more valuable thanks to an exclusive welcome package available only to new Sams Club members. Now through Feb. 21, 2016, when shoppers join Sams Club for the first time, they will receive a $20 gift card, over $100 dollars in new member savings on select items as well as savings on popular food items such as a Sams Club Take n Bake Pepperoni Pizza, Daily Chef Spinach Artichoke Dip and fresh avocados that will be loaded to new members cards within 24 hours of signing up for a membership. Shoppers wishing to take advantage of this offer must obtain a special voucher from the offer details page on samsclub.com by submitting their email address. The voucher will then be emailed to the shopper, who can redeem it at the Member Services Desk of his or her local club. The $45 price of membership new members can choose either a Sams Club Savings or Sams Club Business membership plus the new member welcome package and take-home food savings adds up to a $180 value that new members will receive at 75% total savings. New members will enjoy other perks exclusive to Sams Club shoppers once they become a member, including additional Instant Savings automatically loaded to their membership cards throughout the year, free Club Pickup, automotive benefits and discounts on select prescriptions and optical services. Business members will also be granted early shopping hours, giving them access to shop the club beginning at 7 a.m. About Sams Club Sams Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is a leading membership warehouse club offering superior products, savings and services to millions of members in 655 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. To learn more about Sams Club, visit the Sams Club Newsroom, shop at SamsClub.com, and interact with Sams Club on Twitter and Facebook. ### Cubic Corporation Cubic is committed to offering innovative training and technology solutions to our sea service members and Im honored to be able to participate again in this years WEST event. Cubic Global Defense (CGD), a business unit of Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB), today announced that retired Navy Vice Admiral David Buss, senior vice president and deputy president, will moderate a panel consisting of key U.S. Navy Marine Corps leaders at WEST 2016, taking place at the San Diego Convention Center from February 17 19. Co-sponsored by the AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute, WEST is a premier naval conference and exposition on the U.S. west coast bringing together military and industry leaders to discuss key topics and technologies that may impact the warfighter and future operations of sea services. Buss joined Cubic in June 2015 following a career in the U.S. Navy that spanned more than 36 years including two years as Commander, Naval Air Forces (the Navys Air Boss). Among other responsibilities, Buss leads the business strategy for Cubics live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training for combined air, land and naval forces. Buss will moderate a panel on effectively carrying out the nations maritime strategy with various Flag and General Officers who oversee the manning, training and outfitting of Navy and Marine Corps forces deploying primarily to the western Pacific Ocean and Middle East. Each year WEST proves to be an invaluable venue for senior military, government and defense industry officials, as well as the general public with a keen interest in our future defense strategy, as it provides an opportunity to gain first-hand insights from policy makers and other key leaders in our nations Defense establishment, said Buss. Cubic is committed to offering innovative training and technology solutions to our sea service members and Im honored to be able to participate again in this years WEST event. Buss will be moderating the following session during the event: How Do We Execute the Strategy? Wednesday, February 17, 10:15 a.m. 11:45 a.m. PST in Hall C at the San Diego Convention Center Panelists: Vice Admiral Joseph Tofalo, USN Commander, Naval Submarine Forces and Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Commander, Allied Submarine; Vice Admiral Nora W. Tyson, USN Commander, THIRD Fleet; Vice Admiral Thomas S. Rowden, USN Commander Naval Surface Forces & Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker, USN Commander Naval Air Forces and Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Rear Admiral Matthew Kohler, USN Commander, Navy Information Forces Command; Lt. Gen David Berger, USMC, Commanding General I Marine Expeditionary Force Follow Cubic Global Defense at @CubicDefense and join the conversation with #West2016. # # # About Cubic Corporation Cubic Corporation designs, integrates and operates systems, products and services focused in the transportation, defense training and secure communications markets. As the parent company of two major business units, Cubics mission is to increase situational awareness and understanding for customers worldwide. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading integrator of payment and information technology and services to create intelligent travel solutions for transportation authorities and operators. Cubic Global Defense is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems, secure communications and networking and highly specialized support services for military and security forces of the U.S. and allied nations. For more information about Cubic, please visit the company's website at http://www.cubic.com or on Twitter @CubicCorp. Media Contact Laura Chon Corporate Communications Cubic Corporation 858-505-2181 laura.chon(at)cubic.com Gilchrist Metal Fabricating Company is proud to have been recently honored by Lt. Col. Humberto I. Jones, Range Director of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) in Kwajalein Atoll, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. In 2015 GMFCO provided a number of precision machined and fabricated parts on a critical path emergency basis for the Reagan Test Site. The mission of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) is to support the testing of missile systems used for various military and civilian applications. Such applications at the Reagan Test Site can range from strategist ballistic missiles and theater ballistic missiles to missile interceptors, NASA experiments, near Earth surveillance, deep space surveillance, and countless other research programs. Every year, Gilchrist Metal Fabricating Company continues to make vital equipment upgrades and acquisitions in order to better serve customers for whom the highest level of precision components and on time delivery are critical. As a veteran owned and operated business, GMFCO views the trust and recognition of the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command as testament to our commitment to quality, precision, and exceptional service. To read more about this special honor from the United States Army, visit http://www.gmfco.com/fabricators/us-army-recognized-metal-fabricator.pdf About Gilchrist Metal Fabricating Company Gilchrist Metal Fabricating Company was established in Hudson, New Hampshire in 1975. Since then, GMFCO has been focused on providing industry leading metal fabrications and machining for customers across the country. Having served the aerospace and military sectors for decades, Gilchrist Metal Fabricating Company has established a reputation for quality service capable of meeting some of the most demanding specifications. For more information, visit http://www.gmfco.com or call 603.889.2600. DNA Response To succeed in todays omnichannel environment, it is extremely vital to pay ample attention to consumer reviews and discussions about your brand. Ranjit Mulgaonkar, Founder and CEO of DNA Response, Inc. was selected by the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) to host a panel of industry experts at the ERA Great Ideas Summit in Orlando on Tuesday, February 23, 2016. Mulgaonkar will moderate a Masters Series session titled Manage Product Reviews to Listen to the Voice of the Consumer. During the session, he will moderate a discussion between Shail Prasad, Vice President of Marketing for Telebrands; Lindsey Carnett, CEO of Marketing Maven; and Andrew Farrar, Principal at HandsOn Consulting to answer questions about the importance of effective review management strategies to better engage consumers and protect brand reputation. Example questions include: What is the voice of the customer? Where can you find the voice of customer? How do you consolidate customer input from multiple sources like product reviews, business reviews, blogs, social media and direct interactions? How can you analyze this data? What type of decisions you can make about your customer service policies, product improvements, new products, marketing messaging, customer experience, and reputation management that are based on consumer input? Mulgaonkar, an ex-Amazonian and veteran of the e-commerce industry brings 25 years of technology marketing experience to the panel. To succeed in todays omnichannel environment, it is extremely vital to pay ample attention to consumer reviews and discussions about your brand, said Mulgaonkar, CEO and founder of DNA Response. I am excited to be hosting this discussion with a team of panelists who have extensive experience managing large brands with millions of customers, are experts in social media and public relations, and are hands-on professionals who manage new product launches. The Master Series session takes place at 9:30am Eastern Time on Tuesday, February 23, 2016. To learn more about the session, visit http://www.retailing.org/greatideas/sessions/masters-series-session-1/. About DNA Response, Inc. DNA Response is a full service agency that manages sales and marketing for consumer brands in marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. We equip product companies and brand marketers to take control of their marketplaces channel and maximize the largest opportunity in retail. Marketplaces represent an unparalleled opportunity for retail brands to generate sales and capture data, but the open nature of marketplaces makes it difficult for brands to control their pricing, obtain data and maximize sales in the channel. Over 60 brand marketers rely on DNA Responses end-to-end management solution to maximize revenue, protect their minimum advertised price, safeguard brand presence, and provide valuable business intelligence for over 200 consumer brands. Our turnkey solution includes sales, marketing, order processing, fulfillment, inventory management, and customer support - all on a pay-for-performance business model. Sell smarter with DNA Response to take control of your marketplaces presence and maximize the largest opportunity in retail. To learn more about DNA Response, visit DNAResponse.com. # # # Austins inaugural bodyhacking and biohacking convention, BDYHAX, is excited to welcome Austin citizens to a slew of free events, activities, and parties throughout the 19th to 21st of February. The free-to-attend Expo held at the Austin Convention Center will feature talks and meetups with some of the leading companies and inventors in the biohacking space, including: ONNIT, OpenBCI, EnChroma, IEEE, and Bulletproof. The Expo is open Saturday 02/20/16 from 11am - 7pm, and Sunday 02/21/16 from 10am - 4pm to both the general public and those who have purchased BDYHAX Conference passes. While attending the Expo, the public is also welcome to participate in the Singularity Quest: a unique puzzle game experience in which participants need only their smartphone to piece together missing clues. Singularity Quest is free to play on Saturday and Sunday, but there are only spaces for 1,000 players, all of whom will compete to win over $3,000 in total prizes. (To see Singularity Quest in action, check out this YouTube video.) BDYHAX is also hosting the e-NABLE Hand-a-Thon: an ambitious 2-day project with a goal to build 100 3D-printed prosthetic hands to be donated to children in need of upper limb assistive devices. This success of this joint partnership with Enabling the Future depends on the number of volunteers who show up to participate, so the Austin public is encouraged to join together and help some children in need. And to celebrate the bodyhacking movement in a more musical fashion, BDYHAX is hosting an Interactive Wearables concert on Friday, 2/19/16. Attendees are encouraged to bring their EEG headsets, fitness trackers, and other biodata-gathering devices to see their stats displayed live via projection mapping, beautiful data visualizations and interactive experiences powered by Mentegram and Validic, all while partying & mingling amidst a live DJ set courtesy of London-based Elite Force (aka Simon Shackleton). The festivities continue on Saturday night, 2/20/16, with the Wormhole Party - a special night for Austinites to don their finest sci-fi and cyberpunk attire. With dazzling aerial performances by Sky Candy and unique vendors on-site, this party is where bodyhackers let loose and get a little less serious. Tickets for the Interactive Wearables and Wormhole parties are available via BDYHAX.com/Registration, or at the door. About BDYHAX Bodybuilders, tattoo enthusiasts, tech folk, and every other group out there have their own conventions focused on precisely what theyre already into. BDYHAX is a little different. By bringing everyone together we want to expand horizons, create new connections, and, hopefully, encourage new frontiers to be explored. Join us as bodyhackers from all walks of life share philosophies, technologies, and maybe the occasional cocktail, all in the name of altering the human body as its owner sees fit. To view the full BDYHAX lineup and register for the event, visit https://bodyhackingcon.com/. ...building the foundation for a business that will endure the challenges of growth requires that the company invest time and energy into its finance and accounting functions Past News Releases RSS Financial Poise Announces... Financial Poise Announces... Financial Poise Announces... The initial stages of the life of a business present novel and exciting challenges. While emotion, energy and great aspirations are the mark of a startup, financing, infrastructure and a grounded marketing plan are the fuel which propel a business forward. Whether dealing with starry-eyed first time entrepreneurs or established professionals starting their own businesses, many of the principal concerns remain the same: (i) raising capital; (ii) finance and accounting; (iii) human resources; and (iv) developing and executing a marketing plan. As the markets taste for startups continues to grow, opportunities to participate, advise and facilitate their growth are plentiful. Join some of the leading experts in this growing field as they discuss- in plain English for the non-expert- the fundamentals of advising a startup. As with all Financial Poise webinars, each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes, and listeners will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all of the programs. Episode #2 of the series is Finance & Accounting 101 (Register Here). Moderator Michael Brandess of Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Hammer will be joined by Lynda Davey of Avalon Net Worth, Jonathan Weinberg of KPMG and Bradford Hall of Hall & Company. The backbone of any business, startup or otherwise, is strong finance and accounting. However, unlike more established businesses, startup employees often wear multiple hats. Even in the early days, where creativity clashes may prove common, the need to designate a responsible person and to develop a working finance and accounting system is paramount. Investors require detailed reports; vendors and employees require payment; and accounts receivable must be managed with great particularity. Whether this function is satisfied by one or several individuals within a startup, building the foundation for a business that will endure the challenges of growth requires that the company invest time and energy into its finance and accounting functions. This webinar provides the entrepreneur and his or her advisors with an overview of finance and accounting for startups, and practical tips for getting started. ABOUT FINANCIAL POISE: Financial Poise provides unbiased news, continuing education, and intelligence to private business owners, executives, investors, and their trusted advisors. For more information contact Emily Goldin at egoldin(at)financialpoise(dot)com or 312-469-0135. We see ZORA as a proven first mover and the one to actually gain acceptance in senior health care use cases. ChartaCares, the technology enabled health care business unit of ChartaCloud Technologies (ChartaCloud), today announce that it will offer ZORA, the humanoid robot for assisted health care to U.S. skilled nursing facilities and retirement communities. Developed by ZORA ROBOTICS of Ostend, Belgium, the ZORA application for the Aldebaran NAO robot has been widely adopted in European communities with over 200 ZORA robots already assisting health care workers and enhancing the quality of life of seniors. We have all been waiting and watching as to when and how humanoid robots would enter the health care market as a real and practical product. We see ZORA as a proven first mover and the one to actually gain acceptance in senior health care use cases. Following our own extensive testing we are convinced that ZORA will be a revolutionary step forward in the practical deployment of humanoid robots in health care. The combination of ZORAs software for senior care use cases used with the NAO robot from Aldebaran, which is the worlds most popular humanoid robot, we believe creates a formidable new era in senior care. said Lauryn Schimmel, managing director, ChartaCloud. The ZORA application provides a robust suite of ready to go behaviors for use in senior care such as leading exercise classes, leading dance sessions, providing therapies for cognitive impairment, playing group and individual games, providing seniors with general information such as todays news and weather and the days events and food menus. The ZORA experience with seniors and care givers has been most rewarding and their testimonial support proves the enthusiasm for ZORA. ZORA quickly becomes a vital extension of the care staff and delivers a significant enhancement to the daily quality of life for seniors, said Tommy Deblieck, co-ceo, ZORA ROBOTICS. ChartaCares makes an excellent U.S. partner for us as they are deeply experienced in technology enabled health care and especially in robotics, Deblieck added. The company stated that the adoption of ZORA cannot only be justified by the quality of life enhancement it provides seniors but as a staff augmentation resource that helps relieve the burdens on care giving staff. For example, ZORA can lead an exercise class while staff can be more involved in working one on one with seniors versus having to stop the exercises to help or correct. ZORA can easily be used in one on one sessions that stimulate seniors via games, music and therapies that are vital to the lessening of the frustrations of Alzheimers /dementia. Controlled via a tablet computer, care staff can easily re-purpose ZORA for the selected situational use case. Custom use cases are easily created via ZORAs user friendly software. ABOUT CHARTACARES With a focus on advancing ongoing HIPAA compliance and quality of care, ChartaCares provides ACOs, hospitals, VNAs and home care service providers, skilled nursing facilities, emergency clinics, and specialty medical practices, physical therapists, behavioral health centers, and dentists foundational secure health IT systems, robotic assistive medical care, and advanced health care predictive analytics to reduce hospital re-admissions and manage preventable admissions. ABOUT ZORA ROBOTICS Zora Robotics is a joint venture between Belgian IT engineers committed to developing future technologies and like-minded Dutch entrepreneurs. Zora Robotics was established with a vision to look ahead and understand the trends and forces which will shape our world and to move swiftly to prepare for the future through innovative solutions and services that make peoples lives better, easier and happier through increased functionality and service. Zora Robotics designed the Zora robots unique software. ABOUT CHARTACLOUD Specializing in process automation designed to deliver organizational efficiency, operational effectiveness, competiveness, responsiveness and profitability, ChartaCloud offers full-service solutions to help businesses overcome the challenges of paper, people, and workflow in the age of digitally driven mobility. These solutions enable large or small businesses to seamlessly connect existing paper documents with digital technologies to drive workflows and task management and maximize profits and sustainability. Eleanor Anukam, knows how women with extended size feet feel and decided to launch her own brand of designer footwear for women with special shoe sizes. As a tall woman in size 11 footwear, she knows just how hard it is to find stylish footwear that fits properly and feels comfortable. Rather than settle on having just a few serviceable looking shoes in her closet, this fashion-forward lady decided to shake up the footwear industry by creating beautiful shoes in special sizes. The Eleanor Anukam brand goes beyond basic footwear, explains Sharon Hughes, the companys marketing director. While we do carry the basics of black pumps and leather flats, we also carry shoes in vivid colors like bright red and blue, along with reptile skin prints, cutouts, straps, crystals and other embellishments. Eleanor wanted to make sure women with special shoe sizes could shop from a large selection of prints, styles and colors, so we have something for every lady with larger-than-average feet. The shopping experience starts online and lasts long after your special package arrives. An online account makes it easy to conduct transactions, a newsletter keeps you in the know, style edits (on the website) provide inspiration for pairing footwear with different fashion choices and shipping is available in the United States, Canada and Europe. The prices surprise most ladies, Hughes admits. Since we retail online, we are able to pass significant savings to our clients. Most women are shocked that they can get beautiful, in-style, high quality shoes at such affordable prices; but this is exactly what Mrs. Anukam wants to give women with larger feet the shopping experience they deserve. If you or someone you know are looking for shoes in special sizes, visit http://www.eleanoranukam.com/collections and start experiencing the joy of finding shoes that fit today. About Eleanor Anukam Eleanor Anukam Footwear is a private label shoe brand born out of necessity and developed with passion by its CEO and designer, Eleanor Anukam. Launched in October 2015, the brand caters to women with shoe sizes 9-13. After years of searching for luxury footwear with no success, Eleanor Anukam, a size 11 herself, embarked on a journey to create a line of luxury womens shoes to service an underserved population of women. Contact Details: Sharon Hughes, Marketing Director Houston, TX 76063 marketing(at)eleanoranukam(dot)com http://www.eleanoranukam.com 866-580-8508 We strive to provide our customers with unparalleled service, and were delighted to see that effort pay off. -Marc Wigler Crown Automotive Group announced today that four of its Dublin-area dealerships earned DealerRater Consumer Satisfaction Awards for 2016. The DealerRater Consumer Satisfaction Awards began in 2015, and were created to recognize U.S. car dealers that showcase superior customer service and satisfaction as demonstrated by their rankings on popular online car dealer review site DealerRater.com. The four Crown Automotive Group dealerships located in Dublin to receive this honor for 2016 were Crown Eurocars of Dublin, Crown FIAT of Dublin, Crown Kia of Dublin, and Crown Chrysler Jeep Dodge. Were very honored to be recognized by this award program, said Marc Wigler, General Manager of the Crown Automotive Group dealerships in Dublin. We strive to provide our customers with unparalleled service, and were delighted to see that effort pay off. The DealerRater Consumer Satisfaction Awards are affiliated with the DealerRater Dealer of the Year Award Program. The Consumer Satisfaction Award winners are determined by the following criteria: dealerships must meet all requirements for the Dealer of the Year program, including at least 25 reviews in 2015, an average consumer rating of 4.0 calculated quarterly, and a minimum of one review per each quarter during 2015. The Dublin-area Crown Automotive Group dealerships that earned this award have the following ratings on DealerRater.com: Crown Eurocars of Dublin: 4.9/5.0 stars, 832 lifetime reviews Crown Chrysler Jeep Dodge: 4.9/5.0 stars, 989 lifetime reviews Crown FIAT of Dublin: 4.9/5 stars, 137 Lifetime reviews Crown Kia of Dublin: 5/5 stars, 377 Lifetime reviews To learn more about Crown Eurocars of Dublin, Crown FIAT of Dublin, Crown Kia of Dublin, Crown Chrysler Jeep Dodge, or any of the other dealerships that make up Crown Automotive Group, visit CrownCars.com. ABOUT CROWN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP Crown Automotive Group has been in business for more than 40 years, and currently operates domestic and international automotive franchises in Florida, Ohio and Tennessee. The group is dedicated to customer and employee satisfaction, and is your source for new and pre-owned vehicles, parts and service, financing and more. No matter what youre looking for, you can be confident that you are getting an incredible deal and outstanding service when you visit one of the many dealerships that make up Crown Automotive Group. To learn more, visit CrownCars.com. Leslie Thompson, PracticeMatch Director of Career Fairs Dallas is an ideal location to hold a career fair event. The PracticeMatch Career Fair will take place Tuesday, February 16, 2016 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at the Dallas Marriott Suites, 2493 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75207. Representatives from over 50 local and nationwide hospitals, clinics and groups will be exhibiting to showcase their career opportunities. Attendees will enjoy free hors doeuvres and raffle prize drawings. Leslie Thompson, Director of Career Fairs for PracticeMatch says Dallas is an ideal location to hold a career fair event. There are thousands of medical residents and fellows who are looking for a physician role, as well as many practicing physicians and advanced practitioners who may be interested in taking on new opportunities and challenges, Thompson continues: We know that we can be instrumental in every career stage of these highly valued medical professionals. PracticeMatch Career Fairs offer convenient locations and an engaging atmosphere, making it a winning technique for employers and job candidates alike. It provides a unique opportunity for medical professionals to meet with many top employers in one place, saving valuable time and effort. In-house recruiters can streamline their recruiting activities and reach highly desirable candidates from local areas, including residency and fellowship programs. PracticeMatch has enjoyed a six-year history of successful and ever growing career fair events, which now includes over 30 locations across the country. By expanding our events into new cities, we are helping the healthcare industry fill vital positions that are necessary for offering the highest quality patient care. This is particularly helpful in the context of the impending physician shortage already having an impact on the nation. comments Mike York, COO, PracticeMatch. Register here for the PracticeMatch Dallas Career Fair. To learn more visit https://www.practicematch.com/, call PracticeMatch at 800-489-1440 or email us at careerfairs(at)practicematch.com. About PracticeMatch PracticeMatch assists health care organizations around the country with finding physicians to fill needs within their communities. For over 20 years, PracticeMatch is the number one provider of physician data and services to in-house physician recruiters. PracticeMatch offers a complete line of sourcing tools, including world-class physician databases, an online physician job board and career center and consulting services, and a full-scale data management and tracking system. More information can be found at https://www.practicematch.com. JoTo PR CEO Karla Jo Helms announces the company's newest signing of Quadrant Information Services. Quadrant delivers data and analytics that bring sanity and efficiency to the insurance industry and ultimately helps create better processes, prices and products for the consumers and the economy. JoTo PR owner and CEO, Karla Jo Helms, has just announced the signing of Quadrant Information Services. Quadrant provides the pricing analytics solutions for actuaries and marketing staff in property and casualty insurance companies that they need to make accurate, data-driven decisions. Quadrant delivers data and analytics that bring sanity and efficiency to the insurance industry and ultimately helps create better processes, prices and products for the consumers and the economy, said Helms. All of our clients are helping in their fields to make the world a better place. We are excited to add Quadrant to this roster and we are passionate about putting them on the map in a big way. Under the terms of their contract, JoTo PR will develop the market research and strategic plan necessary to create competitive advantages and optimal expansion along a monthly timeline. JoTo PR will also create messaging and communications, including social media for both PR activities and marketing relations with clients and prospects. The JoTo PR purpose is to make a significant impact on the economy and the news by helping businesses get their messages in the media in volume about solutions, services and products that will help people and companies grow, expand and thrive. They have a long history of successfully of putting key businesses on the map in ways that create greater overall ROI, lower overhead and expanded relationships in business. Founded in 1991, Quadrant Information Services employs 100+ software engineers, sales and marketing representatives, insurance analysts, and customer service representatives, with international offices and headquartered in Pleasanton, CA. The complexity of what they do provides companies with easy access to valuable information about leading national and regional carriers, with the objective of dissecting the P&C competitive landscape and improving a companys pricing strategy. About JoTo PR: Based in Clearwater, Florida, JoTo PR is an established Tampa Bay public relations agency headed by public relations veteran and innovator Karla Jo Helms. The PR firm was launched in 2009 to meet a growing demand for new media expertise. JoTo is a hybrid PR agency, blending proven traditional approaches with the latest technology to deliver the best advantages of both worlds. JoTos holistic approach to business PR and marketing begins with strategic planning and leads to a fully integrated program that is designed to optimize communication, improve return on investment (ROI) and expand business opportunities. JoTo PR primarily serves the healthcare, finance and IT industries. For more information, visit JoTo PR online at http://www.jotopr.com/ Aquasana Powered Water Filtration System Aquasana is a small Texas-based company. We did not have feet on the street in Michigan, but knew our filters could make a real difference. Good360 was the perfect partner to help us get quality water filters to the families of Flint. Aquasana is proud to announce a partnership with Good360 to bring water filters to people impacted by the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan. Good360 connects on-the-ground nonprofit organizations with corporate partners to ensure that the right items get to the right people at the right time during all stages of a disaster. This follows an announcement that the CVS Health Foundation and UPS will also leverage Good360s platform to drive support for relief and recovery efforts in Flint. As a father, this is very unsettling to me and I knew we had to do something said Todd Bartee, Chief Executive Officer for Aquasana. Bartee, an environmental engineer, continued, Our drinking water filters are all NSF certified to take the lead and other harmful contaminants out of the drinking water. I want to give families in Flint peace of mind that the water they are drinking is safe. Aquasana is a small Texas-based company. We did not have feet on the street in Michigan, but knew our filters could make a real difference. Good360 was the perfect partner to help us get quality water filters to the families of Flint. Once we learned they could help, we mobilized quickly. Aquasana has launched its Buy One Give One program where for every drinking water filter purchased at Aquasana.com, the company will donate a water filter to a family in need in Flint, Michigan. To support this program, use code FLINTGIVE at checkout at Aquasana.com. Good360 will ensure the filters are delivered to the people who need them most in Flint. Good360 receives real-time product needs from local nonprofits serving the Flint community, so we can ensure that donations are applied in the most efficient and impactful manner possible, said Shabab Gruberg, Chief Executive Officer of Good360. With over 30 years of experience connecting nonprofits who do good with corporate partners who want to support those efforts, we ensure that the most appropriate in-kind gifts are made, distributed, absorbed or stored as required to help facilitate both the immediate needs and the long-term care and recovery of a disaster-impacted region. The contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan has generated attention and support on a national scale, not only from corporate donors, but also from nonprofit organizations and individuals who want to be part of the solution. See how you can help at http://www.good360.org/flint. About Aquasana Based in Austin, Texas, Aquasana is leading the charge to make high performance water filtration available in every home. Your body is made up of 70% water. Aquasana wants that 70% to be the best water possible. From whole-home filtration to drinking water systems, shower filter and water bottle filters, Aquasana has your back and every other part of you covered. Aquasanas leading products remove over 66 harmful contaminants from water including chlorine, chloramines, herbicides, pesticides, industrial solvents, pharmaceuticals, lead, and mercury. Aquasana water filters are engineered to preserve the healthy minerals in water, which include calcium, magnesium and potassium resulting in healthy, great-tasting water. For more information visit http://www.aquasana.com. About Good360 Good360 (http://www.good360.org) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit that connects companies that have products with nonprofits that need them. Since 1983, Good360 has distributed more than $9 billion in donated goods around the world, helping its network of more than 48,000 prequalified nonprofits strengthen communities and improve the lives of millions of people in need. In 2015 alone, Good360 distributed more than 11,000 mattresses, 11,000 cartons of electronics and office items, 8,000 cartons of toys & crafts and 14,000 cartons of clothing, shoes and accessories to hundreds of thousands of peopleand thats just a fraction of what the organization does each year. Today, Good360 is expanding its impact around the world through new technology that makes giving more efficient and effective. Good360 is proud to partner with corporate donors such as Walmart, UPS, CVS Health Foundation, Nike, IKEA, Sears, Home Depot, Grainger, 3M, Mattel, Crayola, Gap, Inc., ANN INC., Williams-Sonoma and Hilton. Dubai Monsters Dubai Monsters A Fabulous Design Studio offering exquisite website development, bespoke logo designing, quality mobile app development services and creative corporate branding solutions Dubai Monsters, a branding agency providing complete web-based solutions, has dedicatedly made it this far in creating a pool of satisfied clients. The company recently announced mobile application development services for Android and iOS, in their growing portfolio of corporate branding services. Now, businesses of all sizes, all around the globe can take the all-new mobile application development services from Dubai Monsters. As the name is synonymous to quality and excellence, the company is an expert in what they do. The services are comprehensible with a dynamic approach about them. To cater to the ever-rising digital marketing needs, the very services offered by Dubai Monsters are really one-of-a-kind, custom made for every client. From responsive websites to mobile applications, the lucrative designs are quite appealing for the customers and thus preferred by clients. To offer comprehensive solutions to entrepreneurs who want to dominate the online business world, Dubai Monsters also provides web development, logo design, SEO, social media marketing services and more. As online presence takes a toll on every business, latest technologies and smart strategies are required to create a wow-effect. Maintaining a good online impression is everything. We feel that its our core responsibility to help the businesses get back on track. Dubai Monsters - a leading web design Dubai company, proudly announces exclusive mobile apps development services to educate, inform and entertain consumers about services and products while offering strong marketing plan. said the Co-Founder of Dubai Monsters. Our team of mobile app developers ensures the best set of packages and services for the clients so that they can strive to be the best in the competitive mobile app market. With their affordable solutions in mobile game development (Android and iOS both), Dubai Monsters is not only helping top notch business to reach their destiny. Small size, medium-scale and even startups can also rest assured that they are getting cutting edge mobile app development services, including custom mobile interface for easy navigation, compatibility with various devices, and comprehensive branding solutions. Bringing the matter to light, the Managing Director of Dubai Monsters said, There are many new businesses today that are in dire need of mobile game development agencies to support them in their upcoming success endeavors. It will not be possible for these start-ups to survive without the right guidance and aid from agencies like us. Our main aim is to help these businesses grow with utmost quality app development services. A well-designed mobile app can really keep your brand ahead of the competition by driving a persistent flow of customers. The new era of mobile game development has struck many businesses. The need of mobile apps for brands and to improve the customer retention rates has become a complex situation to deal with. In accordance with the size, budget and various other requisites, each client comes up with a different need. The intense focus on each of those clients needs has helped the company earn a valuable name in the world of mobile application development. The team at Dubai Monsters creates user-friendly apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and Windows platforms. Every custom mobile app is tailored according to the needs of the client and offers seamless access and high interactivity for the target audience. The mobile app development team at Dubai Monsters offers fast turnarounds and cost-efficient solutions. About Dubai Monsters: Dubai Monsters is a Dubai based creative design agency, serving its clients all around the world. With a diverse portfolio intact, the company has a dedicated team of professionals who aid in creating unique and versatile designs. Providing tailor-made solutions to the clientele at affordable prices are parts of the main aim of the company. This is what leads to customer satisfaction for this result-driven company. Contact Details: Website: http://dubaimonsters.com/ Address: 4503-19, 45th Floor, BB2, Mazaya Business Avenue, First Al Khail Street, Jumeirah Lakes Towers. P.O.Box: 111587, Dubai, UAE Phone: +971 4 567 0738 Mobile: +971 55 643 5235 Fax: +971 4 432 8232 Email: info(at)dubaimonsters(dot)com Christopher Hanson Tenants who list a rent-controlled property on a site like Airbnb are violating the very law giving rise to rent-controlled apartments in the first place. Past News Releases RSS Bay Area Attorney Christopher... Tenants who list a rent-controlled property on a site like Airbnb are violating the very law giving rise to rent-controlled apartments in the first place, said Christopher Hanson, who focus on real estate-related matters. Rent-controlled landlords should be able to get rid of tenants for cause in rent-controlled apartments who do this. According to the Fortune article, San Francisco officials sent a letter to home-rental companies including Airbnb, Homeaway/VRBO (owned by Expedia), Craigslist and Flipkey to ask for help in policing illegal rentals. Rent control, adds Hanson, was put in place to protect tenants from escalating rents, and it takes away the landlords ability to profit on rental properties, beyond the rent-controlled rental amount allowed. The integrity of rent-stabilization, said Hanson, is undermined if tenants, who themselves are the beneficiaries of regulated rentals, are free to sublease their apartments at market levels and thereby collect the profits that are denied the main landlord. About Christopher Hanson, the Hanson Law Firm Christopher Hanson has been a trial lawyer since 1997. He started his career as a California real estate broker, and still has his license 35 years later. The Hanson Law Firm is a real estate-centric firm comprised of trial lawyers with decades of experience in Californias residential and commercial brokerage business. For more information, please call (877) 421-9181, or follow them on Facebook. The law office is located at 300 Montgomery Street, Suite 1121, San Francisco, CA 94104. About the NALA The NALA offers local business owners new online advertising & small business marketing tools, great business benefits, education and money-saving programs, as well as a charity program. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. Winners of the 2015 North Street Book Prize (top: Gloria Taylor Weinberg; bottom: Jenna Leigh Evans, Elizabeth Kirschner) We received 400 entries from around the world. Winning Writers is pleased to announce the results from its first annual North Street Book Prize competition for self-published books. Jenna Leigh Evans of Brooklyn, NY won first prize in Genre Fiction for her novel Prosperity. Gloria Taylor Weinberg of Fort Pierce, FL won first prize in Mainstream/Literary Fiction for her novel A Homicide in Hooker's Point. Elizabeth Kirschner of Kittery Point, ME won first prize in Creative Nonfiction/Memoir for her memoir Waking the Bones. We received 400 entries from around the world. The top winners each received $1,500, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson (author of The Frugal Book Promoter), a $300 credit at BookBaby, and three free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $450 value). Two honorable mention winners in each genre received $250. View excerpts from all nine winning entries with critiques by the judges. The 2015 contest was judged by Jendi Reiter, author of the novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press, forthcoming 2016) and the poetry collection Bullies in Love (Little Red Tree, 2015), and Ellen LaFleche, an accomplished writer and editor whose publications include the prizewinning poetry chapbooks Beatrice (Tiger's Eye Press, 2012), Ovarian (Dallas Poets Community, 2011), and Workers' Rites (Philbrick Poetry Award Series, Providence Athenaeum, 2011). Evans' Prosperity is a dystopian vision of contemporary Americans herded into a corporate-run debtors' prison. Prosperity occupies the same literary territory as the surreal short stories of George Saunders, where banality shades into horror, yet small acts of human connection create moments of grace inside a soulless bureaucracy. Honorable Mentions in Genre Fiction went to Glimmer by Tricia Cerrone, a military thriller about genetically enhanced teenagers, reminiscent of Robert Ludlum's spy classic The Bourne Identity; and Jem, A Girl of London by Delaney Green, a vivid and well-researched paranormal historical about an orphaned girl in 18th-century London who cross-dresses in order to practice medicine. Weinberg's A Homicide in Hooker's Point is a gritty historical novel about the aftermath of domestic violence in a 1950s Florida sugar mill town. Through the eyes of Vicki, a sensitive, precocious child, one sees youthful idealism struggle to comprehend the gulf between law and justice. Honorable Mentions in Mainstream/Literary Fiction were awarded to Vacationland by Nat Goodale, a bittersweet story of a Maine lobsterman fighting gentrification, and Otter St. Onge and the Bootleggers by Alec Hastings, a rollicking adventure about a French-Canadian youth and his colorful family in the 1920s. Kirschner's Waking the Bones is a gorgeous, searing memoir of recovery from child abuse. Her innovative style, cross-cutting between the past and the present, the literal and the mystical, captures the experience of a fractured mind reconstituting itself as a beautiful mosaic. Honorable Mentions in Creative Nonfiction went to Managing Bubbie by Russel Lazega, a gripping re-creation of his grandmother's escape from Nazi-occupied Europe, leavened with humorous present-day anecdotes of her life in America; and Deb McCarroll's The Long Hot Walk, a thoughtful account of her itinerant childhood in New Mexico with a schizophrenic mother. About the North Street Book Prize: The second annual North Street Book Prize accepts self-published books of literary fiction, genre fiction, and creative nonfiction (including memoir). Young Adult literature is eligible, but not books for children. Any year of publication is acceptable. The contest is open now through June 30, with three top prizes of $1,500 plus marketing support. The fee is $50. For guidelines, please visit https://winningwriters.com/north About the Contest Sponsor: Winning Writers was founded in 2001 to provide expert literary contest information and resources to the public. In addition to the North Street Book Prize, it sponsors the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest, the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, and the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee). Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2015) and one of the "100 Best Websites for Writers" (The Write Life, 2016). Learn more at WinningWriters.com and join our 60,000+ Twitter followers at @winningwriters. If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. Nineties throwbacks seem to be everywhere these days: low unemployment, a Bush and a Clinton running for office, friends from "Full House" and "X-Files" entering our living rooms again. And now identity politics are back, too. In this election, as in those during the last era when identity politics thrived, politicians are desperately trying to prove they're a Star-Belly Sneetch, or else a Plain-Belly Sneetch, on the presumption that Sneetches always vote for their own. But rather than appealing to voter identities based on race, gender or class (or even tattooed tummies), today's pols are citing ideological labels to incite herd-mentality voting: "conservative" and "progressive." Debating semantics In recent weeks, presidential candidates have thrown themselves into semantic parsings arcane enough to make a linguist swoon. In a Democratic debate in New Hampshire, for example, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tussled repeatedly over what it means to be "progressive," whether one could be simultaneously "progressive" and "moderate," and whether Clinton's views on banking, capital punishment and foreign policy could be shoehorned into the true definition of "progressivism," whatever that is. Clinton fought back with etymology, declaring that "the root of that word, 'progressive,' is progress," which she implied she has a near-monopoly on. She suggested Sanders's strict-constructionist definition of progressivism would require purging nearly everyone from the Democratic Party. Then she went on to list all of Sanders's votes over the years that had tainted his own progressive purity. Viewers were apparently so confused by this exchange that online dictionary look-ups of the word "progressive" spiked. Days later, in a separate televised debate, Republican presidential contenders had an eerily similar verbal shootout over who and what counts as "conservative." Weaponizing words Among the key points of contention: Is supporting eminent domain "conservative"? What about providing services to the mentally ill? What about spending more money on national defense? What about being "smart"? (Smartness was, unsurprisingly, a key part of Donald Trump's definition of the word.) Echoing the Democratic debate, there was even a halfhearted attempt at etymology: "I view the word conservative as a derivative of the word 'conserve,'" Trump explained. Lest you blame these semantic antics on the debate moderators, note that elsewhere on the campaign trail and in social media the candidates have also tried to weaponize these terms. Jeb Bush in particular likes to get riled up about his competitors' "true conservative" bona fides, or lack thereof. "If people think Donald Trump is a conservative, prove it to me. I mean, really," he fumed last month. I honestly don't get this fixation, among Republicans and Democrats, with their ideological marques. Both terms seem so elastic as to be pretty much meaningless. More important, it just doesn't seem like the voters actually care whether candidates exhibit ideological purity. Both parties also now have big and oddly shaped tents. The Republican coalition alone comprises gun enthusiasts, anti-tax zealots, evangelical Christians, small-business owners, nativists and other strange bedfellows. Imagining they all believe the same things about every issue, and in a way that is intellectually consistent and summarizable by any single word or principle, is foolhardy. One of Trump's most useful insights this election cycle is to recognize that voters don't actually pay much attention to whether a politician espouses traditionally "conservative" views, however defined, or even ideologically coherent ones. He picks and chooses positions that people like and want to vote for, or at least that sound good in the moment. (A lot of his views on trade, big pharma and "special interests" sound similar to Sanders's, after all.) To some extent this is what politicians have always done, though usually they've pretended to philosophical constancy more fervently than Trump has. Trump has embraced the appeal and practicality of cafeteria-style politics. He's just waiting for the rest of the field to catch up. If you needed any further evidence to believe that Montana State University Billings is an afterthought, a flagship university stepchild or in dire need of attention, last week's news from the University of Montana should convince you. University of Montana President Royce Engstrom announced this month that despite deep faculty and program cuts, the Missoula flagship university would be embarking on an initiative in medicine. Even though more cuts are likely coming at UM in the next year or so, the university planned more investment in the medical arts. UM's savvy move On one hand, it's probably a savvy move. A recent debate about medical schools and medical training in Montana has once again brought the need for more doctors and nurses to the forefront of public conversation. That's a good thing. In fact, about the only thing that folks could agree upon was that Montana still faces shortages of health care professionals. So, you cannot blame the University of Montana for wanting to invest in a program that will undoubtedly draw students and possibly help turn the tide of sagging enrollment numbers. This UM announcement perfectly illustrates the problem with the university in Billings. Nowhere is it mentioned in the conversation for medical training while having the most potential for medical sciences. Instead, Missoula is allowed to announce and tout its exploration into the field. It's so bad that Billings couldn't even openly have that conversation without Bozeman's permission because the administration and operation of it is a function of Montana State University President Waded Cruzado. We can't blame her for not wanting to make Billings stronger. Doing that would likely come at Bozeman's expense. That's why the Montana University System is flawed, fatally from MSUB's perspective. Legislative fix The only possible fix is a legislative one. Regents and lawmakers must rethink keeping Billings captive and subservient to Bozeman if they want a healthy, thriving public university offering in Montana's largest city. We hope lawmakers look at the what's happening in Missoula and wonder: Why isn't that happening here? We also hope they consider the budget cutting going on at MSUB, along with the plummeting enrollment. We hope it spurs them to action. Taxpayers and Billings itself have made huge investments on the campus. Right now, MSUB is being allowed to languish. We don't believe that anyone involved with the leadership at MSU Billings can really be happy with the direction, nor do we think they believe the programs are a good match for Billings and Eastern Montana. But what are they to do when none of the decisions get made in Billings? We have seen how the regents and Commissioner Clayton Christian are great cheerleaders for the successes of the Montana University System. When are they going to become great leaders and fix what's broken? When are they going to hold leaders in Bozeman accountable for the diminishing campus here? We believe the successes on Bozeman's campus have been impressive. So much of that should be attributed to Cruzado's leadership. However, she has failed miserably here. She talks about the importance of MSU Billings to Montana State, but all that talk rings hollow amid budget cuts and programs that seem programmed for mediocrity. The more the two flagship universities are allowed to innovate and build programs, the more irrelevant MSU Billings will become, having to survive on the what Bozeman, Helena and Missoula are willing to part with. Please lawmakers, fix it: Let us truly compete here in Billings. Cookies What are cookies ? How do we use cookies? How to control cookies? 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News From Bulgaria Bulgarian Energy Watchdog Completes First Energy Market Workshop The event was organised together with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) with the Ministry of Oil and Energy of the Kingdom of Norway AUTHOR: publics.bg Bulgarian Energy and Water Regulatory Commission The role and the responsibilities of the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for supervising the electricity market in the context of the Regulation ()1227/2011 on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) and the Regulation establishing a Guideline on Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM) (Regulation on market coupling), were the main themes of the closing workshop training with the participation of EWRC commissioners and experts within the framework of the Project Implementation of the European Electricity Market in Bulgaria Phase. The Project is carried out by the Energy and Waters Regulatory Commission, together with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) with the Ministry of Oil and Energy of the Kingdom of Norway. The Project, which started end of 2014, has the goal to support the establishment of a competitive power market in Bulgaria and its integration with the European Union Internal Energy Market (IEM), in conformity with the EU legislation and the ACER Engagements. The activities financing is provided under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area for 2009-2014 and amounts to EUR1 520 000. The main speaker of the workshop on 11.02.2016, Ms. Kristin Kolseth from the Norwegian Regulator NVE outlined as main task of the national regulator the provision for a functioning electricity and natural gas market in conformity with the REMIT requirements. She stressed on the REMIT role as a set of rules for the activity of the wholesale energy markets in Europe, providing ACER and NRA with practical tools for efficient prevention form possible manipulations at the markets and ensuring equality for the participants. The role of the rules under REMIT was highlighted, as they guarantee transparency for the market functioning and contribute to increase the consumers confidence and to carry out a smooth transition towards an integrated European energy market. Discussions at the workshop were on practical issues, related to the interaction of the national regulators with ACER, the establishment and the activity of the market monitoring unit, the identification of eventual breaches on behalf of any market participants, the procedures for reporting and sanctioning of offenders. he market participants obligation to report to the NRA all their transactions was mentioned as a particularly important factor for the effective operation of the regulator, who, in turn should have the necessary powers to request information at any moment from any market participant, and to perform site inspections, Kristin Kolseth said. It was communicated that presently ACER develops a special Manual for Market Monitoring/Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM) aiming to unify the definitions and the procedures. The Manual shall mention the scope of the contracts, subject to registration - between companies within a given group, for electricity supply from small generating units, and for balancing services as well. The ACER Manual shall define also specific indicators for breaches on behalf of the market participants, the procedures for their registration and reporting. The workshop participants were acquainted also with the obligations of the national regulator under the Regulation establishing a Guideline on Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM). WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Soybean producers interested in hearing expert advice on soybean irrigation are invited to attend a Feb. 29 program co-sponsored by Purdue Extension. Irrigation in soybean systems has not consistently increased yields. Yields from nonirrigated soybeans have equaled or exceeded irrigated yields in some situations. Because of this, the Indiana Soybean Alliance, the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee, Michigan State University Extension and Purdue Extension are presenting an educational program to address issues related to irrigated soybean production. "This workshop will provide soybean growers with information from Extension specialists and other growers to help in planning for 2016," said Steve Engleking, a Purdue Extension educator in LaGrange County and a co-organizer of the program. The event will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Blue Gate Restaurant, 195 N. Van Buren St., Shipshewana. Presenters from Purdue and Michigan State University will cover soybean planting rates, 2015 irrigation scheduling research, cutting costs while optimizing soybean yield and quality, soybean cyst nematode management, soybean disease research and disease management recommendations for 2016. Indiana producers can earn Pesticide Applicator Records Program credits for attending by paying an additional $10, and Michigan producers can earn pesticide recertification credits. Registration is $10 per person and can be completed online at http://events.anr.msu.edu/event.cfm?folder=2016soybeanshipshewana and may also be completed by telephone at 517-353-3175. Registration is requested before Feb. 24 to ensure an accurate count for lunch and materials. Writer: Emma Hopkins, 765-494-2384, hopkine@purdue.edu Source: Steve Engleking, 260-499-6334, sengleking@purdue.edu Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-2722; Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu Agriculture News Page State police said Monday that they'll start using aircraft, video cameras, undercover officers and covert vehicles as part of the Chicago Expressway Anti-Violence Surge. The goal is to stop expressway shootings. Police say there also will be more uniformed troopers on the expressways. State police officials say that over the last few years gang-related gun violence has escalated and shifted to Chicago expressways. They say the shootings put the public in danger and force roadways to be closed for hours at a time so crime scenes can be processed. State police say they'll work closely with Chicago police and the Cook County sheriff's office to fight gang violence. Overall, the researchers found, strict ID laws cause a reduction in Democratic turnout by 8.8 percentage points, compared with a reduction of 3.6 percentage points for Republicans. The study focused on the 11 states with the strictest voter ID laws, generally requiring photo identification to cast a ballot. Researchers used a large voter survey database to compare turnout in those states to those in states with lesser or no ID requirements. Several states have passed less strict ID laws. But in 17 states including California, New York and Illinois, a more traditional honor system still applies at the ballot box. The ID requirements have been pushed by groups who say they want to protect the integrity of the ballot box, but critics say fraud is minimal and the real motivation is to suppress minority and liberal voters. The report by professor Zoltan Hajnal, a UCSD political scientist, sheds no light on the motivations of lawmakers passing such requirements, but does indicate the laws have an effect on turnout. The analysis shows that strict identification laws have a differentially negative impact on the turnout of Hispanics, Blacks, Asian-Americans, and multi-racial Americans in primaries and general elections, the report says. We also find that voter ID laws skew democracy toward those on the political right. Along racial lines, the researchers found, minority voter participation dropped an average of 4.7 percentage points among self-identified Hispanics, blacks, Asian-Americans and mixed race individuals in general elections and 5.7 percentage points in primaries. According to the research, the effect on turnout based on ideology is also pronounced. Self-identified strong liberals tend to turn out by 7.9 percentage points less when confronted with strict identification requirements. Strong conservatives vote at a higher rate, by 4.8 percentage points, in the strict ID environment, the research indicates. Hajnal wrote the paper with UCSD researcher Nazita Lajevardi and Lindsay Nielson of Bucknell University. They used voter data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Studies database, maintained by Harvard University. The database contained survey results for 50,000 respondents regarding elections from 2006 to 2014. The authors say their paper contains more recent election data from states with stricter laws than previous research that found negligible impact on voter turnout. Their paper has been posted online and distributed among other political scientists. It has yet to withstand peer review or be chosen for publication in an academic journal, but Hajnal has been published repeatedly on matters of race and politics, in the American Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review and elsewhere. He is the author of last years White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics, from Princeton University Press. Richard Hasen, professor of law and political science at UC Irvine School of Law, cautioned against drawing conclusions from the paper, which is an outlier. Social science is not this kind of thing where you have one study and its a smoking gun and thats it, Hasen said. Its a situation where you have a ton of studies and they all point in a particular direction. Hasen said many confounding factors and changing rules affect voter turnout. Surveys show wide support for voter ID laws. A 2012 Pew Research Center poll found that 77 percent of registered voters support a photo ID requirement to vote. (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM) California doesnt have a voter ID law, although conservative talk show host Elise Richmond of Palm Springs tried unsuccessfully to gather signatures to get one on the ballot in 2014. She said the idea that certain groups dont have or are unable to obtain IDs is paternalistic and offensive. If the laws discourage voters initially, she said, they would eventually get used to the requirement and get an ID. In order to do anything in the U.S., you need an ID or some sort of number to identify you, she said. How do you get your welfare checks if you dont have some sort of number? Richmond, and other voter ID supporters, mentioned Mexico as a model that the U.S. should follow; that nation requires a photo ID to vote. Tony Krvaric, San Diego County Republican Party chairman, said that voter ID is a common-sense way to prevent any possible voter fraud. Krvaric voted for the first time when he was in his native Sweden, which required him to have an ID and proof of address. When he immigrated to California, he said, he was surprised when he was only asked for his name. I still have that in the back of my mind, he said about voting, that I want to prove who I am. As far as the studys findings, Krvaric said, informing voters of the requirements is the best way to keep turnout constant. After time, he said, any reduction in turnout would even out. You need an ID to fly, you need an ID to drive a car, you need an ID to borrow a library book, so I think its a common sense position, Krvaric said. For organizations looking to boost voter participation and engagement, voter ID laws present a hurdle. Jeanne Brown, President of the San Diego League of Women Voters, said that voter ID laws create an inconvenience, resulting in lower turnout overall. I like to see any statistics the other side has on voter ID laws doing anything but restricting votes, she said. There are very few cases of people trying to vote when they arent qualified to vote. In the UCSD study, Hispanics show the largest drop in turnout under strict voter ID laws, followed by Asian-American and mixed race individuals. White individuals showed only a small decrease. The researchers presented the evidence with a caveat: The reduction in votes could be caused by other factors, such as strict ID states also having more rigid registration deadlines and fewer vote-by-mail options. Also, the paper says, strict voter ID laws may simply tend to pass in states that have other environmental factors intimidating minority voters. The effects of voter ID laws that we see here are eerily similar to the impact of measures like poll taxes, literacy tests, residency requirements, and at-large elections which were used by the white majority decades and centuries ago to help deny blacks many basic rights, the paper says. The nature of older barriers and current voter ID laws today remain eerily similar: they were both instituted by advocates who claimed they would help to ensure the integrity and legitimacy of democracy. Both Lajevardi and Hajnal said that Hispanics may be turning up less frequently because of a broader set of issues including controversy over immigration policies and enforcement. Rose Conde, secretary for the League of United Latin American Citizens of the Desert, said a combination of barriers including the very process of getting an ID may explain why Hispanics are disproportionately affected by the laws. Sometimes it is expensive, and some people dont want to pay the fees, Conde said. To boost participation, LULAC has been focusing on youth engagement in politics, because Conde said, they are the demographic most likely to have the proper IDs. Press release submitted by Ed Hermann The Friends of the Canal are holding their monthly Hike the Canal outing on Sunday, February 21. This months hike will be from Lock 30 to Lock 32. This portion of the "Hike the Hennepin" is 4.6 miles in length and it has been named the Bald Eagle. We hope to get a glimpse of our nations symbol the bald eagles as we start our hike at the Mississippi River. We will meet at the Steel Dam in Milan by 1:30 pm and will be shuttled to the Mississippi to begin our walk back. Directions are: take I80 to I280 to exit 15 in Milan onto E. 1st Ave (Airport Road) going towards Milan. Take the first road on the right (Frontage Road) and follow it to the right to 14th St NE past the warehouses back to the steel dam. The monthly hikes were developed by the Friends of the Hennepin Canal as an opportunity for everyone to get to know the Canal personally by hiking it from the Illinois River to the Mississippi (including the Feeder Canal) in small legs. You need not be a member of the Friends to join us in any of the hikes. There is no fee for the hikes. Come and join in the fun and bring a friend. We ask that you dress weather appropriately. For more information, contact Ed Herrmann at: hikes@friends-hennepin-canal.org (email) or 815-664-2403 (home) or log on to our website at: www.friends-hennepin-canal.org . One cannot overstate the importance of Montanas agriculture industry to the states economy. Cattle outnumber people here more than 2-1, and nearly one out of every five jobs in the Treasure State is linked to agriculture. Montanas farmers and ranchers work daily to grow, raise, harvest, and process crops and livestock to feed the world. In turn, we expect our state and national leaders to go to bat for Montanas producers. One of the leading voices in recent years for Montana agriculture has been Sen. Max Baucus. As chairman of the Finance Committee, Baucus played a key role in tax and trade issues while also helping to pass multiple Farm Bills. In the most recent bill were multiple provisions that represented the best interests of Montana grain and sugar farmers and livestock producers, and helped to keep them competitive at home and abroad. $1.7B in exports Access to foreign markets is critical for Montana agriculture producers. In 2013, our state exported more than $1.7 billion in agricultural products around the world. A huge portion of this was to Asia, a region of 4.2 billion people that grows more important for our agriculture industry every day. In 2011-2012, Baucus stood toe-to-toe with the administration on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Baucus famously withheld his support of the deal until Korea addressed several barriers to American beef that were in place. As stated by the former senator at the time, U.S. ranchers and farmers count on us to fight the restrictions limiting their market access and preventing their businesses from growing and hiring new workers, and thats exactly what this report makes clear we need to do in Korea and across the globe. American farmers and ranchers now call on Baucus as U.S. ambassador to China. Unfortunately, it has become common practice within the Chinese marketplace for American companies and producers to be shut off from fair market access. For instance, with little or no scientific justification, China has imposed bans on U.S. poultry imports, an industry that usually thrives in the region with China and South Korea combined purchasing $428.5 billion in products last year alone. Grain restrictions Additionally, China has imposed severe restrictions on sales of biotech grains grown in the United States. Chinese officials claim to be acting in the name of consumer protection, when in reality, U.S. producers are simply being barred from fair competition in the international marketplace even as Chinas producers and processors expand their own operations. Food and agriculture companies with facilities in China may be even worse off than our domestic producers. Smear campaigns against KFC and US-based meat processors OSI Group have resulted in lost business and damaged reputations. These events are just a sampling of what is to come if such behavior is left unchecked. Action must be taken to ensure American companies and products are not run out of the Chinese market for good. Baucus was a longtime champion of Montana farmers and ranchers in the U.S. Senate. He must continue to be a strong voice for our industry in Beijing, and push to end the anti-competitive actions in China that are preventing American agriculture from getting a fair shake in the marketplace. The raids came days after Russia and other world powers agreed to bring about a pause in fighting that would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the revival of peace talks. The projected truce agreed on Friday in Munich was to begin in a week, but there was no sign that would happen. On Monday, Syrian state TV reported that pro-government forces have entered the northern town of Tel Rifaat, where they were fighting "fierce battles" against insurgents. Tel Rifaat is a major stronghold of militants fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad. Capturing Tel Rifaat would bring government forces closer to their target of Azaz, near the Turkish border. In Idlib province, an airstrike destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said the hospital in the town of Maaret al-Numan was hit four times in attacks that were minutes apart. It said seven people were killed and eight others were "missing, presumed dead." "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict," said MSF mission chief Massimiliano Rebaudengo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, destroying it and killing nine people. The opposition group, which tracks both sides of the conflict through sources on the ground, said dozens were wounded in the attack. "The entire building has collapsed on the ground," said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by phone from Maaret al-Numan. He said five people were killed near the MSF clinic and "all members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead." The Observatory and other opposition activists said another hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also hit Monday, most likely by a Syrian government airstrike. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children's hospital in the town of Azaz, killing five people, including three children and a pregnant woman, according to the Observatory. A third air raid hit a school in a nearby village, killing seven and wounding others. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said close to 50 civilians were killed and many more wounded in missile attacks on at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria. Ban called the attacks "blatant violations of international laws" that "are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria," according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. Activists posted amateur video that showed civil defense workers pulling bodies from the rubble of the MSF-supported structure in Idlib, which collapsed into a heap of rubble and was tilting to one side. Others showed a huge crater next to a building that purportedly housed the child and maternal hospital in Azaz. Incubators could be seen in a ward littered with broken glass and toppled medical equipment. Russia says its airstrikes are targeting militants and denies hitting hospitals or civilians. But rights groups and activists have repeatedly accused Moscow of killing civilians. Those accusations have increased recently as Russia intensified its airstrikes to provide cover to Syrian troops advancing in the north. Troops are trying to cut rebel supply lines to Turkey and surround rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, once Syria's largest. Daragh McDowell, the head Russia analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a British risk analysis firm, said Russian and Syrian tactics "strongly suggest a deliberate effort to further exacerbate the refugee crisis, as a means of destabilizing Europe and pressuring the West to agree to a settlement in Syria on Moscow and Damascus' terms." Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defense, a group of first responders known as the "White Helmets," said the women's hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles. He said some 10 people were killed and many were wounded. "We think it is Russia because the photos of the missiles have Russian language (and) because we haven't seen this kind (of missile) before the Russian intervention," he said. Russia has been a key ally of Assad throughout the five-year uprising and civil war, and began launching airstrikes on Sept. 30. In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey. It showed footage of ambulances arriving and medics unloading children on stretchers. "They hit the school, they hit the school," wailed a Syrian woman who was unloaded from an ambulance onto a wheelchair. The U.S. State Department condemned the airstrikes, saying they cast doubt on "Russia's willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people." In Brussels, European Union officials had earlier called on Turkey to halt its military action in Syria after Turkish forces shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia over the weekend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that "only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table, decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities." Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said "we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that." The U.N.'s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with Syrian officials. LONDON (AP) If the European Union were a patient, its survival would be seen as threatened by multiple organ failure. That's the view of many experts as EU leaders prepare for a Brussels summit that starts Thursday. Analysts believe the combined strain of challenges including a refugee crisis, threats facing the euro currency and Britain's plan to hold a referendum on whether to leave the EU may be unbearable for the 28-nation bloc. Just 20 years ago, the EU seemed to be growing in stature as it proudly offered freedom and democracy along with lucrative subsidies, military alliances and billions in foreign investment to newly freed former Soviet satellites. Now, NATO warships are steaming toward the Aegean Sea in an escalated bid to impose order on the chaotic arrival of more than 1 million migrants, which has not abated despite the wintry weather in southern Europe. Informal mini-blocs have formed within the European Union, with some countries banding together to challenge, or just ignore, the EU's announced refugee resettlement program. Temporary border controls have been introduced in key countries including Germany and France, threatening the cherished notion of freedom of movement across European borders. Britain, a nuclear power with a seat at the U.N. Security Council, is demanding concessions before a referendum on whether the U.K. should simply abandon the EU, a prospect known as "Brexit." And a slow-burning, extremely divisive budget crunch threatens the future of the euro single currency that has been a hallmark of European integration. Ian Kearns, director of the European Leadership Network research group in London, said the EU is "undergoing an existential crisis" as a once shared sense of mission fades. Countries are pursuing their perceived national interests instead of seeking collective solutions, he said, and the notion of European solidarity is fading. "It's anybody's guess now whether it will survive long term," he said of the European Union. "I think it's that serious. It's not just the migration crisis, or Brexit. The challenge is the lack of faith in the mainstream political class in Europe that is evident across the continent, manifested in the rise of populist movements. The migration crisis has simply highlighted it." The summit is one of a series of meetings that have tried, but mostly failed, to find an effective collective response to the chaotic arrival of so many people. Leaders will consider fairly minor changes to Britain's status aimed at placating restive British voters ahead of a referendum, and assess how well or poorly earlier edicts on migration have been implemented. The union has a knack for solving difficult situations by building consensus, and papering over cracks with layers of bureaucracy, but some warn the migrant situation is a more serious threat to continental unity. Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe group at King's College London, says the European Union simply doesn't have a practical method of tackling its myriad mounting problems. The structures set up when the union was formed by six countries as the European Economic Community in 1958, and diluted with the addition of so many countries with differing perspectives, are simply too weak, he said, so nations either make unilateral decisions or forge small alliances with other countries in the bloc that share their concerns. "The European project is probably in trouble," he said. "The EU is where it's been for the last few years: Very big crises without the tools to address them. It's a halfway house of integration. You have a little bit of authority in these areas the migrants, Greece but the big decisions are made by the member states. It's fragmented because the member states have completely different views." Europe needs to have one cogent immigration policy to cope with the influx of people from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere but won't be able to forge one because countries don't view the problem the same way. "The countries in the south like Greece and Italy are facing the brunt of it," Menon said. "A few countries in the north Germany and the Scandinavians were generous at first and are now regretting it. The Brits are pretending it's not happening. And the Visegrad countries (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) say they are not interested in helping for reasons of culture and history. They say they have no history of taking in migrants." Officials had expected the flow of desperate people fleeing war and poverty would slow during the winter months, but The International Organization for Migration said this week that 76,000 people nearly 2,000 per day have reached Europe by sea since Jan. 1, a nearly tenfold increase over the same period the year before. More than 400 have died, most of them drowning in frigid waters. In this diffuse environment, it is difficult to see the EU managing to respond effectively to such an unpredictable situation. It was much easier 20 years ago, before Islamic extremism had showed its face inside Europe. The opening of the continent's internal and external borders was seen then as a welcome part of a peace dividend, not an Achilles' heel that left residents more vulnerable to suicide bombings and marauding gunmen. The relative stability in the Middle East meant the flow of migrants was manageable, not seen as a threat. At the time, French President Francois Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl articulated forceful arguments in favor of more integration, and they were used to imposing their vision on the rest of the bloc, which was smaller and easier to manage. When the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 it heralded a new era of passport-free travel in much of Europe, speeding trade, facilitating the easy movement of workers and students, and giving concrete, facts-on-the-ground reality to the idea of a continent turning its back on the wars of the past in favor of a more hopeful vision. This inclusive approach guided the expansion of the European Union as the bloc was renamed in 1993 when Eastern European countries lined up to join. Stefan Lehne, visiting scholar with Carnegie Europe in Brussels, said the unsolved refugee calamity may put the EU integration process into reverse by rendering the Schengen agreement unworkable pointing out that border controls have already been temporarily reintroduced in some countries, as allowed by Schengen rules and threatening other integration goals. He said the rule of law, and the EU's authority, has already been undermined by the bloc's failure to implement an agreed upon quota system calling for the resettlement of refugees in a number of countries. Stark divisions have been exposed, he said, by the way the Visegrad countries in Eastern Europe reap the economic benefits of EU membership but while refusing to help the refugees. All these factors, he said, have put the brakes on integration and may shortly lead to its opposite. "This is really the first time we might lose a very real achievement of the integration project, Schengen, with important economic costs," he said. "It's also very symbolically important. My sense is that unless we get a grip on refugees, the integration process will be reversed." SKALA SIKAMINEAS, Greece -- Standing in the harbor of this Greek village on the island of Lesbos, I am holding yet another soaking wet little girl with blue lips. Minutes before she had been sinking in the deadly Aegean sea crossing from Turkey to Greece. Her parents had fled Syria with only a cellphone and cash after their house had been bombed and the Islamic State had shot three generations of their relatives in cold blood. My heart swells as I spot tiny specks of orange lifejackets bobbing like oranges in a low-riding boat. The rescue whistles blow, and volunteers from all nations jump into action. The refugees are closer now, and 50 feet from shore the screams of terror begin as two panicked refugees jump out, setting off a crushing stampede as children and babies are catapulted from the boat into the dark sea. Most Syrians dont swim. I catch sight of a small body in a puffy pink jacket floating away and I plunge into the water to reach her in borrowed time. I struggle to plant my feet on the slippery rocks below as the weight of her lifejacket and wet clothes strain my lazy muscles to work even harder. By the shore, volunteers call for stretchers in five different languages, but I am focused on one childs heartbeat. Finding no pulse, I fumble at her clothes, free the airway and pump her tiny chest looking for life. After two cycles of CPR, water sputters from her mouth and I turn her over to allow the sea to escape. She is not in good condition, but she is alive. Children and babies are quickly being passed, volunteer to volunteer, to the safety of shore, and we smile and hug the families who were almost swallowed by the sea. Back on the shore, I reach for a bottle of bubbles to help calm another restless baby and eye the two teenage girls who have been raped by the Islamic State. They remain silent, and their dark lashes spy my every move. With new eyes, I scope the refugee journey of heading toward the promised land, but finding only paper towns. In Lesbos, I have seen the face of all our gods, where humans embrace and pain is absorbed into a love without borders. Volunteers work day and night in rain and snow, huddled together around fires and in rental cars, tracking the boats and sending rescue teams out into the angry sea. We rush another hypothermic pregnant woman along the darkened shoreline now lit with magic bright solar lights and wait and pray, always ready with emergency blankets and food and dry clothes. The volunteers share jubilation in the safe rescues -- and bottomless despair when we learn they have capsized and everyone has drowned. After five months of volunteering in Lesbos, my brain cant solve the larger problems of a world where leaders are also struggling to find answers. I do know that I can help these suffering humans, but I am not naive enough to think that a terrorist couldnt get through any border or inspire people across many nations. Syrias civil war is the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Half the countrys pre-war population -- more than 11 million people -- have been killed or forced to flee their homes. Last year, more than 800,000 Syrians arrived by sea and in them I have met beautiful, educated families who are just like us. When did we become so fearful? The Sept. 11 attacks taught me not to live in fear or give in to terrorism. If the world turns its back on the refugees, they will be forced to return to Syria and then the Islamic State wins. Where has all the love gone in the world? We are not being asked to go shave our heads and become monks, but to imagine a world where everyone does their part, so that the karma banks will overflow with blue-chip stocks of compassion and we all become billionaires on the inside. Imagine a world where souls are more valuable than money. Isnt that the way it was meant to be? Its easy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but now humanity asks us to transform fear into love. To be in the wrong place at the right time. OPINION Private Initiative and Innovation to Produce Food with Minimal Water by Harry Valentine The impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon has altered weather patterns in many locations around the world. While some regions endure excessive rains and related floods, other regions face drought and even the prospect of famine. The idea of being able to grow food with minimal if any rainfall may seem ridiculous, but the natural world offers an example from the oases in tropical deserts. While such deserts are hot during the day, nighttime temperatures plunge causing humid air to condense on rocks at high elevation, producing little streams of water. While most of that water will evaporate shortly after sunrise, a small percentage will flow into underground channels and caverns that supply water to oases. Private individuals who became aware of this developed an agricultural practice known as permaculture, which involves the collection of minimal rainfall that is then channeled into small underground caverns. Water loss through evaporation is greatly minimized, while over time, an underground water table develops with its upper level being sufficiently close to the surface to sustain the cultivation of food crops on private land in arid regions such as Arizona. A complimentary technology that harvests water directly from a humid wind stream has appeared in locations across Pacific South America, and even in certain locations in drought-stricken Ethiopia. During the cooler evening and overnight hours, fences of mesh material installed along the slopes of mountains and valleys where humid winds blow collect droplets of water that flow into pipes connected to a village well and also to underground permaculture storage. Recently in Colombia, a commercial billboard made of mesh material to harvest water from a humid airstream appeared on a hillside, providing water to a nearby village. At the present time, the combination of water harvesting fences and permaculture is practised on a very small scale. However, it offers hope to many locations around the world where residents of remote villages seek to survive and live using the minimal available resources. While many years ago, thousands of people of India endured famine as a result of misguided government policies, the village of Hivare Bazar located in one of Indias most arid regions of Maharashtra, which receives only 400 mm of rainwater annually, turned to permaculture to produce food and made efficient use of its minimal available water. While the level of the available water table has dropped drastically at many locations across India, the village of Hivare Bazar has been able to replenish their water table while village farmers grow food crops that require minimal water resources. This is a village-level initiative, but the methods and techniques originated with private land owners located at the edge of a desert. The combination of local control, underground water storage, underground water distribution, and a small storage dam has greatly reduced water loss through evaporation, while seepage water is used productively to sustain food crops. The advent of permaculture and the direct harvesting of water from humid air can decentralize control over potable water in many locations internationally. This initiative in a small village in India contrasts sharply with the insanity that has occurred in Southern Australia within the last decade, in which a state government outlawed small dams on private property and required citizens to source their water from a mega-sized state storage dam. A prolonged drought emptied the mega-dam through the combination of water lost to massive evaporation and to unproductive seepage. A few farmers who still had small dams and covered dams on private property still had water, the dam covers minimizing water lost to evaporation while adapted agricultural practices made productive use of seepage water. A regional council in Oregon has actually asserted ownership over rain that falls on private property and has imposed a fine on a landowner who collected rainwater that fell on his private property, in barrels located on that property. Property owners living in an arid and remote location on the edge of a desert in Arizona were able to make productive use of minimal rainfall in drought-like conditions. During a drought, a government agency that prohibits property owners from productively using minimal rainfall that falls on their property could reduce food production and cause famine. In his treatise entitled Africa Batrayed, Dr. George Ayittey illustrated how African dictators who pillaged their national economies also caused Africas worst famines. Sudans worst famine occurred several months after dictator Siad Barre ordered farmers to grow cotton that could be exported to earn revenue for his regime, at a time when the Nile River flowed through Sudan at its cyclical peak volume. As a result of the El Nino weather phenomena, several nations face the prospect of minimal rainfall, reduced rainfall, delayed rainfall, or even drought. The precedent of permaculture in the arid region of Maharashtra, India offers some hope of food production to other arid locations around the world. In South Africa, an as-yet small-scale initiative uses solar-electric propulsion to move sections of mesh attached to a vertical axle through humid air, to harvest potable water for human consumption and to support permaculture food production. A mass proliferation of small-scale initiatives internationally could provide potable water for human consumption worldwide. The advent of permaculture and the direct harvesting of water from humid air can decentralize control over potable water in many locations internationally. In a drought-stricken region such as Ethiopia that faces the prospect of famine, private initiative offers the prospect of providing water and producing food in challenging situations. Robin Bailey is the star of Brisbanes top rating breakfast show on 97.3, and this week we caught up with her for a chat. From where she started, to how she ended up on Breakfast with 97.3. We also talk about the loss of her husband, and how she and her boys are coping. Im so eternally grateful for my job and the fact that Im good at it because theres been many, many a day where the rest of my life has been falling apart. This is Robin Bailey Part 1. Blair: How long have you now been at ARNs 97.3? Robin: We will be celebrating our 10th Anniversary on the 17th of October. Blair: This year? Unreal. Robin: Yep. Blair: Geez, its been a good run. Robin: Its been a really good run, particularly in the last couple of years. You know it takes time to build a good show and I think during the first couple of years we were sort of working each other out, and it was an interesting mix coming together because Bob had been the Program Director at 4KQ, and had been on the air, Terry was the incumbent, and then I was brought in. So it was an interesting dynamic to work out, but its funny we were just looking at the first video we made before we went on-air on that first day, and there was already a chemistry there. I think you know when youve got something, and we all felt it. Blair: So where did it all start for you? Robin: It started in high school in Year 9 at Concord High in Sydney. I did a radio elective for a term at a local community radio station in Burwood. We did a radio play and I really enjoyed it. My family had been in the media. Mum had, amongst other things, worked at the Australian Film, TV and Radio School as the head of research, she then went on to become a member of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal when that existed and my dad headed up the Film and TV unit at Sydney Uni, so my parents were very much involved in the media, and mum was also a Professor at Griffith University. So I loved it, and I obviously knew a bit about it from my family history. So I got into Journalism at ANU after doing my HSC and decided to defer for a year and went overseas, and then came back and got a Cadetship with 2WEB in Burke in far western NSW. Blair: That is way-out west! Robin: Yeah I know but a great training ground, you did everything from preparing the rural news, to reading the news, to the funeral announcements. You knew everyone in the town, so if you were ever thinking of saying something nasty you would need to be prepared to have someone knocking at your door late at night! So I learnt the trade, and came up through the ranks as a journo. I went to 2WS in the days when it had a massive newsroom, and was a kind of a lowly journo under people like Steve Blanda and John Christian, and then went to 2SM for a short period of time when Ken Sparkes was the PD. In-between I was doing a bit of TV, and did a national audition for Hey Hey Its Saturday as their Plucka Duck Girl, and got down to the final three, then to the final two and they alternated us week-about for two years. And that was kind of my foray into television, after that I was doing the weather on Tas TV, I read the news for WIN Television Toowoomba, I did a national kids science show for Channel 9 called Hot Science, a movie show for Channel 7 called Popcorn, and was busy trying to work my way up the ranks. So I had kind of moved out of journalism and into programming and was at FOX FM back in the heyday of Paul Holmes actually. First of all I was with Grubby and Dee Dee as their Assistant Producer, and Paul Thompson was at the helm. He was really invested in young radio talent and if he felt you had potential, you were sent to either Canberra, Darwin or Hobart to learn your trade, and I got sent to Hobart as a Brekky Announcer. Greg Smith would fly down, and Paul Thompson would fly down, and they really trained us up. We had access to these great radio minds to learn from. From there I went to Adelaide, and moved across when KAFM changed to Triple M. After I left, I kind of got out of radio for a little while and started feeling very keen to get back into it, so I flew up to Brisbane, got a job as a producer for B105 with Jamie Dunn, Donna Lynch and Ian Skippen, was moved on-air, and I did almost nine years with those guys. Blair: I remember, I remember listening to you. Robin: Yeah, oh my god, I was there for nearly nine years! After my time at B105 finished, I took some time off, which was really the making of me because I realised it was the only thing that I ever really had wanted to do, and the thing that I felt I was really good at. I enjoyed connecting to people, and radio is the best way you can do that. So I got a job at Gold-FM on the Gold Coast, and did a national night-time regional show which got my confidence back, I was able to experiment with a lot of things, I was by myself, I learned to panel, it really was a great learning experience. And then I came back up to Brissy, I was commuting and Barry Drinkwater asked if I would like to fill in for a couple of weeks on 4KQ with Gary Clare, I said yes, they seemed to enjoy it, and then I was offered the job doing Breakfast on 97.3. Blair: Youve obviously had great success in Brisbane, have you ever been tempted to head to a bigger Metro Market like Sydney or Melbourne? Robin: I love what I do, that kind of really emotive, relatable content and I think it would work anywhere. People are desperate for that connection, and Id be lying if I said I havent thought about doing it in Sydney or Melbourne. Im from Sydney, my family are in Sydney, my mums getting older and I would love to be closer to her and my sisters moved back to Sydney from London after 15 years, so theres a part of me that thinks it would be awesome. But the flip side of that is that my kids are here, Brisbanes been so good to me, the people I work with are wonderful, and I am grateful that I can do what I do, and I continue to love it every day. Blair: As well as 97.3 you also appear nationally on Nines Today show, whats that like? Robin: Its awesome! I mean its funny because Nine use lots of commentators for various of things and I do some stuff for them on Tuesdays on a show called The Chat Room. I think they really like radio people, people like me because it doesnt matter how much time we have or what were talking about, they just know well have an opinion. And we dont need an autocue because thats what we do. You know we facilitate conversation so people feel connected, and I think TV is swaying more and more towards that, and I think they should because its stripping back the veneer of trying to be so polished, that radio does really well, and TV could do more of. Blair: Who are some of the other Female Breakfast Talents youre a fan of? Robin: Well a lot of them are my friends. I should say that upfront. Meshel Laurie is just an awesome chick, I really like her. And theres a bit of a sisterhood I guess, when I started it was a tough game, and you really had to have your armour on. I fought really hard to stay in this business and to be taken seriously back in the early days. So I think as more and more women have come through theres a real kind of coming together. So Id say Meshel Laurie, Id say Chrissie Swan, Jackie O I dont know her well, but we talk occasionally. All the Brisbane women I know, and say hi to. Blair: 2014 was a very tough year for you, 2015 as well. How is this year feeling for you? Robin: This year is gonna be awesome! Blair: Any specific reasons? Robin: Absolutely. Theres clearly been huge, huge emotional upheaval. To lose my childrens father, to lose my husband in such a violent and sudden way was so awful, and it takes a huge amount of re-adjustment to kind of come to terms with that, and when its to do with suicide there are no answers. So you spend a lot of time, I think perhaps the first six months, just wanting to know why. And then over a period of time we all let that go. Im fiercely protective of my children, and I guess my life has been running very much in tandem. Im so eternally grateful for my job and the fact that Im somewhat good at it because theres been many, many a day where the rest of my life has been falling apart, that I can go to work and feel like Im still human, and feel like I can still connect with the outside world. A lot of people say that our show helps them, but I am not kidding when I say that there are many, many, many days over the last sixteen months where being at work and being surrounded by the wonderful people that I work with, and the listeners, has got me through. Theres no question at all. Blair: I havent been in the space that youre in, and not a lot of people have. But the outpouring of support at the time was just amazing and youre incredibly strong to get through what you did. Particularly with the boys. Robin: But you know whats interesting? Someone not very long ago said to me that it was so well orchestrated. And I looked at him and I said What do you mean orchestrated? And he said Well you know, you must have sat down and really planned the comeback. And I just looked at him and I said This is my life. There was no planning. There was no well today well do this and tomorrow well take it like this. I was so lucky that ARN just let me do whatever I needed to do. They said I could take as much time off as I needed, I could come back when I needed, and there have been many days where Ive had to say at the end of the show Ive got a crisis at home. or theres a problem at school, and Ive had to fly. There was no planning, but I think what has resonated most with most people is that all I did was say this is my journey, Im not going to sugar coat it and youll see the good the bad and the ugly. And I guess thats all you can do if youre human. In Part 2 with Robin Bailey, we talk about what makes the 97.3 Breakfast team work, we ask Robin to describe her on-air partners in just one word. And we talk female talent in Breakfast radio, and the new breed from the reality television ranks. Novas Kate, Tim & Marty, are hitting the road and heading to the bright lights of Las Vegas. It will be KTMs first international trip with the team live for a week from the glitter strip from Feb 22. Kate, Tim & Martysaid, Were flying 17 hours across the globe to road-test everything Las Vegas has to offer and were doing it all for our listeners, because thats the kind of show we are. Youre welcome Australia! Five people will also get a chance to fly over and join them in Vegas and the list of stuff they have locked in looks fairly impressive. Each adverture will see either them hitting the Canyon Ranch, dining at Lago at The Bellagio Hotel, being shot out of a giant poker machine or soaring over Fremont street on a zip line before watching the sun set over Las Vegas at the Chandelier Bar in The Cosmopolitan. While in town KTM will interview David Copperfield and chat to Human Nature (who also happen to be Kate Ritchies high-school mates) after their Jukebox show at The Venetian. Kate, Tim & Martywill broadcast live from Las Vegas from Monday 22 February to Friday 26 February from 4pm 6pm on the Nova Network. HELENA The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has partnered with Trout Unlimited to propose the first of what may be many legacy mine reclamations in the Little Blackfoot River drainage south of Elliston. The Lily/Orphan Boy Mine is an abandoned hard rock mine contaminated with arsenic and lead located on private property about 10.5 miles south of Elliston. The site, which because of human and environmental health risks ranks 10th on the DEQs statewide priority list of abandoned mine lands, includes a portion of Telegraph Creek, a tributary of the river. The DEQ released environmental documents this week announcing a public meeting and requesting public comment on a proposal to remove the contaminated material and transport it to a repository. The documents, called an expanded engineering evaluation and cost analysis, include a no action alternative, an alternative to excavate and dispose of material in an unnamed off-site repository and a preferred alternative to excavate and dispose of material in the Luttrell Repository located 6.6 miles away. Trout Unlimited and the conservation district are partners in this, so its really exciting for us because its a much different way than weve operated before, said DEQ Abandoned Mine Program Supervisor Autumn Coleman. Were used to just going in and cleaning up mines ourselves, so its an interesting project to partner with a nonprofit. The DEQ investigated mining contamination in the drainage from roughly 2007 to 2010. The work was then dropped as the program refocused attention on coal mine reclamation, leaving the data unused, Coleman said. Trout Unlimited essentially picked up where DEQ left off, she said. I think thats one of the best parts is that all this money spent on the investigation isnt just sitting on a shelf somewhere. From my perspective, its a really good project. Trout Unlimited began an abandoned mine reclamation campaign in the West around 2005, said TU project manager Rob Roberts. The initiative came through a realization of falling federal budgets and capacity to address legacy mine waste, he said. The nonprofit established a relationship with the Lolo National Forest, partnering on several projects before Roberts switched his attention to the Upper Clark Fork River a federally designated Superfund site. As we started delving into the upper Clark Fork, we looked at the Little Blackfoot as a potential priority because it contains multiple mine sites on the states priority list, he said. Roberts and Trout Unlimited partnered with the Helena National Forest and the DEQ as mine sites fall both on national forest and private lands. The Lily/Orphan Boy became the initial focus due to mine waste literally in the stream channel and the threat of a flood dispersing the waste to where it could not be recaptured, he said. The sites landowner is also highly interested in getting the waste removed, he added. Both Coleman and Roberts said they hoped the project could act as a showcase for the partnership and an example to area landowners. Lily/Orphan Boy is not an overly technical reclamation with low risks, Roberts said. As the partners look to the future, Roberts can see at least a decade of work in the Little Blackfoot drainage reclaiming multiple mines. Reclamation projects are often a boon to local economies for local contractors, lodging and supplies, he added. Alstom's share of the contract is worth 85m and the vehicles will be assembled at Cital's facility in Annaba in eastern Algeria. Cital was established in 2010 to assemble and maintain Citadis LRVs for new light rail lines in Algerian cities. The joint venture's 46,400m2 facility at Annaba is equipped with a 1km electrified test track and has capacity to assemble five vehicles per month. The LRVs will be used on the initial phase of the light rail network in Setif, which is due to open in the first quarter of 2018. Each 44m-long 2.6m-wide bidirectional vehicle will accommodate up to 302 passengers with 12 passenger doors on each side. A joint venture of Alstom and Turkish construction company Yapi Merkezi was awarded a contract in 2014 to build and equip the 15.2km line from El Bez University to Eastern Maintenance Centre, which will have 27 stations and a commercial speed of 20.3km/h, with peak capacity of 5000 passengers per direction per hour. More than 230km of light rail lines are currently planned or under construction in 18 Algerian cities. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK After years of leadership by octogenarians, the Gulf Arab states are getting younger rulers. On February 10, the ruler of Dubai announced a new Emirati cabinet that includes eight new ministers with an average age of 38. The youngest appointee, appropriately heading the Ministry of Youth Affairs, is just 22. A few weeks earlier, the 35-year-old emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, named a fellow member of Generation Y to lead the nation's foreign ministryMohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who is also just 35. The face of Gulf leadership is changing, and it is getting decidedly younger. Although most regional heads of state are long in the tooth, gone are the days where Gulf leadership is entirely the domain of the aged. Now, it is not uncommon for the Gulf states to name crown princes and key ministers who are in their 40s and 50s And since the age gap between rulers and crown princes is growingin Bahrain and Saudi Arabia the crown princes are a full twenty years younger than the heads of statethe generational logjam is beginning to clear. This means when the Gulf's remaining senior incumbents pass from the scene, the region could emerge on the other end of the age continuum altogetherexceptional for the youth of its leadership rather than for its advanced age. Youth (Not) in Revolt These new ministers include many technocrats that embrace an analytical approach to public policy. The crown princes, all but one of whom is 55 or younger, bring different outlooks to regional and international politics than their predecessors. All lived through the invasion of Kuwait and the 1990-91 Gulf War that followed. Some, including Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, spent more time living within the region than their older counterparts, who spent formative years studying abroad. And of the new leaders who sought outside educations, many attended university in the United States, rather than the former rite of passage of studying in Cairo, London, or Paris. But as Western observers try to read the tea leaves of what this trend could mean for Gulf politics, they should be careful not to conflate youth and experience with political reform. Western observers should be careful not to conflate youth and experience with political reform. For one, there are the pressures of a hereditary regime. In family power dynamics, young leaders worry just as much about rival successors as they do a restive public. Dynasties create hostile environments for political reform; leaders cannot make structural changes to the political system that would disempower the ruling family without the threat of being expelled from leadership. Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain, discovered this when his attempts to implement reforms after the political unrest in 2011 were met with backlash from hard-line factions within the ruling family. In this region more than others, blood is thicker than water. It is reasonable to expect young leaders to appoint their contemporaries to key positions, but only after consolidating their power. It took two and a half years at the helm for Tamim to undertake a major overhaul of his cabinet. But when he did, three of his appointees were under the age of 45. Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf monarchies have similar political talent waiting in the wings, and many of the region's brightest stars have already gained experience through diplomatic posts in Washington and elsewhere. For example, the new 53-year-old Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, spent a decade as Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States before taking on the role of Riyadh's chief diplomat, a role he has used to strengthen the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. The current United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, 42-year-old Yousef al-Otaiba, works on behalf of the nation's 43-year-old foreign minister, and both seem poised to remain leading figures in the UAE's foreign policy apparatus for years to come given their success in positioning the Emirates as a rising regional power. There are other reasons not to assume that young leaders will gravitate to democratization. Today's 30-somethings in the Gulf are likely to associate democracy with the bloody 2003 Iraq War or the messy aftermath of the Arab Spring. They have seen fewer examples of democratization going right, unlike preceding generations that watched the fall of the Berlin Wall. A poll conducted in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring found that the oldest respondents were most likely to support democracy; the 26-35 group was the least likely. Young royals have come of age at the nadir of regional democratization. Given the dynastic pressures and recent bad experiences with democratization, few leaders would opt to disturb the balance. Keeping Up With the Times The next generation of Gulf leaders will likely embrace an alternative model: good governance. Specifically, they will concentrate on delivering public services effectively, improving their management of public administration, and pursuing economic reforms that ensure the long-term prosperity of the GCC. Both Tamim and the 54-year-old Emirati crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, have sought to streamline government bureaucracy by promoting information technology, adopting e-government initiatives, emphasizing innovation, and strengthening their countries' indigenous workforce. The Emirates recently enacted a series of subsidy reforms aimed at strengthening economic stability, a project championed by the crown prince, to relative success. Mohammed bin Salman, the 30-year-old deputy crown prince and defense minister of Saudi Arabia, has promoted similar concepts, as well as adding ambitious plans for greater self-reliance in national security. The Gulf's youthful leaders are making their mark in the realm of defense, ushering in what appears to be an era of military activism in the region. For example, bin Salman is widely acknowledged as the architect of the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen. But it is Little Sparta, the nickname that the U.S. military gave the UAE, that best exemplifies this trend. The sons of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum both serve in the UAE military and have participated in the country's military campaign in Yemen. Young Gulf leaders are looking to build their militaries by investing in the development of special operations forces and diversifying security cooperation so as to avoid overreliance on the U.S. as a single guarantor. The Emirates' commitment to its military development is more than a passing fad, as seen in its recent adoption of a conscription system, a step also taken by Sheikh Tamim in Qatar. Leaders of the New School Western policymakers must move past the stereotype of Gulf leadership as an assortment of enfeebled gerontocracies. This depiction has always been hyperbolic, and it is even less accurate today. It risks misunderstanding the changing expectations of Gulf partners and underestimating the energy of its new leadership. But in recognizing the generational change under way, the United States should be careful not to default to a new ageist caricature of youthful impetuousness. Analysts of the Gulf have already tagged bin Salman as straight out of central casting for the role, but their judgment is premature, particularly given his few public appearances. The rise of a new generation of leaders provides an opportunity for a much-needed update to U.S. strategy in the Gulf. Still, the rise of a new generation of leaders provides an opportunity for a much-needed update to U.S. strategy in the Gulf. For too long, Washington has defaulted to a predictable formula of exchanging arms and military equipment for counterterrorism support. Arms sales provide the backbone of the United States' interaction with the region, but also can give the cynical impression that U.S.-Saudi relations can be measured in guided munitions, or that U.S.-UAE relations can be boiled down to F-16 deliveries. As the Gulf's young new leaders invest in e-governance, private sector development, and innovation initiatives, Washington will have greater options to collaborate with regional powers. That, in turn, will help Gulf nations build capacity, develop trust, and broaden their relationship with the United States. The West should talk straight with the region's emerging power brokers. Bin Salman has asked for directness: What I request is that the thing you actually believe, to say it. We should grant that request. The solution to Gulf problems is not always more armaments, and it is certainly not a war driven by Saudi-Iranian rivalry. A generational shift in power does not happen often. But when it does, it provides a chance to build more meaningful and beneficial relationships. Becca Wasser is a project associate at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. Jeff Martini is a Middle East analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. This commentary originally appeared on Foreign Affairs on February 14, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. After forcing La Reina del Sur to cancel its premiere three months ago, Venezuela's telecom commission has now told pay-TV operators to stop airing another narcotics-themed soap opera, El Capo. Back in 2010, Conatel removed El Capo and Rosario Tijeras from the schedules of Venevision and Televen, as both promoted negative values, according to the commission. Now, El Capo is back on Mundo Fox, a pay-TV network airing through DirecTV, Inter, Movistar, Supercable and Net Uno, across the entire country.Thanks to viewers' complaints, Conatel has verified El Capo is being broadcast in different time slots via several pay-TV operators, stated the commission. Thus, Conatel reiterates the same petition issued back in November, when operators were told to stop airing La Reina del Sur .Conatel is firmly against broadcasting content that shows violence, murder, drugs and black money as life model. Kids and youngsters are protected by law, and social responsibility principle has to be respected, added the commission.Pay-TV operators have 24 hours to cease airing El Capo, which they are likely comply with, as they've done on previous occasions. Conatel has also reminded DirecTV, Inter, Movistar, Supercable and Net Uno to choose their content according to the country's regulation. After success with its global anchor brand in Western Europe and Latin America, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has announced the launch of the Paramount Channel in Asia. The channel comes to the region thanks to a strategic collaboration and distribution deal with with CTH, a major pay-TV operator in Thailand. The high definition (HD) 24-hour film channel is set to launch first on CTHs traditional satellite and over-the-top (OTT) streaming service in May, giving it linear OTT and linear TV everywhere streaming rights in Thailand. The agreement also includes a new licensing deal for the local version of other core Viacom channel MTV to be officially moved over to CTH in Thailand.The Paramount Channel will offer Thai audiences what is claimed to be a unique mix of blockbusters, movie hits, cult favourites and some of the most award-winning films in the history of cinema from the companys film library.Commenting on the deal, CTH CEO Amarit Sukhavanij said: Were proud to be the first to offer Paramount Channel in Asia and to make it the first 24-hour movie channel available to our subscribers across multiple screens. We continue to be single-minded in giving our subscribers the best viewing experience and high quality content.The introduction of Paramount Channel in Asia is a key, strategic step in deepening our presence both in Thailand and in Asia, while expanding our portfolio of adult-targeted brands, added VIMN Asia executive vice president and managing director Mark Whitehead. Were thrilled CTH has come on board for this highly anticipated launch in Asia and look forward to seeing Paramount Channel expand further in the coming months.Paras Sharma will lead the new channel in Asia, while continuing in his current role as senior VP of MTV & Comedy Central brands and digital media in the region. Putin signs bill on renunciation of inheritance into law MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill that specifies a procedure for voluntary renunciation of inheritance into law, according to the official legal information website. The bill was submitted to the State Duma by Russian government in compliance with the Constitutional Courts order. The law specifies a scope of persons among heirs. According to the new order, an individual may renounce succession as heir in favor of other heirs by will and all legal successors who were not disinherited and also in favor of those who have been called to inheriting per stripes or by transmission. CASPER, Wyo. A diabetic man who became ill while incarcerated at the Natrona County Detention Center is suing Natrona County and its sheriff, according to court documents. Attorneys for the county asked a judge Tuesday to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Randolph Del Sparks, said county attorney Heather Duncan-Malone. Natrona County District Attorney Daniel Forgey is considering the request, but has not made a ruling. Sparks complaint states he was being held at the jail in 2012, when he developed a sore on his foot. Jail workers were monitoring Sparks diabetes, and Sparks informed them of his painful foot. However, his lawsuit asserts, jail workers refused to assess his foot for two days. The sore worsened, and Sparks eventually underwent two surgeries to repair the damage, according to the complaint. Sparks is requesting compensation for medical expenses, as well as non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. Cheyenne attorney D. Stephen Melchior filed the lawsuit on Sparks behalf. Phone calls to Melchior went unreturned last week. The Wyoming Association of Risk Management is representing the defendants in the case, Duncan-Malone said. In addition to the county and its sheriff's office, the defendants include Sheriff Gus Holbrook and jail medical staff. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, center, participates in a round table discussion on school choice with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, at Carpe Diem-Aiken, a tuition-free public charter school, Friday, May 16, 2014, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) RCEd Commentary For several months now, many have looked askance at Ohios $71 million award last fall from the U.S. Department of Educations Charter School Grant Program. After nearly two years of stories, reports and tales of Ohios struggling Charter School sector, it seemed counterintuitive for the federal government to give the state the largest chunk of a fund meant to grow high-quality charter schools. There just arent that many here. Then we read the grant application the state sent into USDOE. And boy were there problems. The state claimed none of its charter schools were failing in the 2012-2013 school year, yet that year 41 percent of all charter school grades on the state report card were Fs. More than 60 percent were Ds and Fs. If Ohio should receive a grant, why not Massachusetts, which has what is widely regarded as the best charter school sector in the country, not to mention that its facing a lawsuit seeking to lift the charter school cap in that state so more schools can open. That conundrum could be solved at least partly with some or all of the $71 million. It would seem that the charter school movement would be better served by investing in places where charters were effective, rather than Ohio where they are, on the whole, not. So that didnt make sense. The state claimed it had a tough automatic closure law, then made no mention that the laws been suspended until at least the 2017-2018 school year and it hasnt closed but two dozen schools in 10 years. There were other problems with it, too, many of which have been outlined here and here. The issues were troubling enough to the USDOE that they suspended payment of the $71 million and forced the state to respond to detailed questions about why certain things were said on the application that didnt comport with fact. Well, the Columbus Dispatch just acquired a new response sent from the Department to USDOE. In it, the Department admits it misled the feds on how many Ohio Charter Schools were failing. In the application, it claimed only six (out of more than 400 total) were failing in the 2013-2014 school year. Now, they admit that 57 were. Meanwhile, instead of 93 high-performing charters, there are 59. However, even these data corrections come with caveats. First, it doesnt include online schools, which are among the worst-performing schools in the state and educate about 40,000 of the 120,000 students in Ohio charter schools. There are three online schools that would count as poor performing under the states definition, accounting for 17 percent of all Ohio charter school students. Not including online schools makes it seem that far fewer students are in poor performing Ohio charters than there actually are. Second, it doesnt include the 100 or so Dropout Recovery charter schools, which also are among the worst performing. Many dont graduate even 10 percent of their students in 8 years. It is clear that David Hansen, who had to resign his post as Ohios head of the Office of Quality School Choice because he illegally scrubbed data to make charter school authorizers look better than they were, worked his magic again on this federal application. Hansen whose wife is the campaign manager for the presidential campaign of Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who recently placed second in the New Hampshire Primary was in charge of putting it together. Former State Supt. Richard Ross attested with his signature to the truth of all the information contained in the application, under penalty of law. Will these acts of malfeasance cost the kids of Ohio $71 million and a chance to put some juice into the move toward quality school options here? I hope not. This money could really help bolster the few charters we have here that are fulfilling the ideas promise and give momentum for the states newfound push for quality. And as Ive said before in this space, if Ohio can get its act together on charter school quality, it would have tremendous national implications because it would prove that charters could work anywhere. But if the federal money was granted based on lies, should it still be granted now that the truth is slowly seeping from the beleaguered departmentthat Ohio doesnt have lots of high-performing charters in which to invest the federal money meant to expand their footprint? Perhaps it should be sent to other states that didnt mislead on their grant applications, as Ohio did. If the money is taken off the table by the feds, there is no one to blame but the adults at the Ohio Department of Education who were so blinded by ideology they ignored the facts everyone else saw clear as day. This is a lesson for our countrys ideologues on all sides of the charter debate. We shouldnt let our biases color the truth. If they do, kids in states that dont cheat will suffer. And kids in states that do cheat will also suffer because their states inferior charter sector will expand at the expense of another states higher performing sector. Either way this turns out, those adults who misled under oath to win federal money should be held to account for what they did to Ohios kids. For if they are able to escape consequence, whats to stop future applicants from giving similarly evasive answers to USDOE, ultimately driving down the programs effectiveness expanding high-quality charter schools? We must not forget that this money is our tax money. We should insist on absolute transparency not only in how its spent, but how its awarded. We teach kids to not cheat. Our adults, it seems, need a refresher course. This article originally appeared in Kommersant. MINSK - Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko has been dubbed "Europe's Last Dictator," and ties between Brussels and Minsk have been virtually frozen since a new series of sanctions were imposed in 2010. But now, it appears, Lukashenko and his country will be welcomed back into the continent's fold as the European Union is set to lift sanctions, sources tell Kommersant. The measures had been imposed against Belarus in several stages from 2006 to 2010, with the toughest measures following a crackdown on mass protests after presidential elections in 2010. But at Monday's regular meeting of EU foreign ministry chiefs in Brussels, the sanctions are set to be eased, including travel bans on Lukashenko and other top officials, sources say. The human rights situation in the country, however, will continue to be monitored. Diplomatic sources say that the decision will require the agreement of all EU members. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Kommersant: "From what I hear, and judging by what all the countries taking part think, the sanctions will not be extended." The move will include the lifting of visa bans and an unfreezing of assets of 170 Belarusian citizens, including President Lukashenko. Last October, there was an easing of restrictions against three Belarusian companies, BelTechExport, Beltech Holding and Spetspriborservice, following the release of political prisoners and Minsk's mediating role in the Ukrainian settlement. Kirill Koktysh, a political scientist with the Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) told Kommersant: "They will ease sanctions now quietly rather than later so they don't turn it into a high profile event." Koktysh noted that Lukashenko has long been accused of being authoritarian. "But compared with what is happening in Ukraine, he is a mild option," he said. "It is impossible for European leaders to save face before their voters, condemning Belarus as an authoritarian country, while at the same time seeing what kind of democracy there is in Ukraine. The level of everyday violence in Belarus is much lower." Koktysh also pointed out that the Belarus capital was where negotiations over the Ukraine crisis took place, and Minsk is a city where all the European leaders, including Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, came to shake Lukashenko's hand. However, even if approved by the EU, the lifting of the sanctions will have its limits, as there will still be four people left on the list, suspected of involvement in the disappearance of opposition politicians in 1999 and 2000. Meanwhile, the United States is expected to continue to impose sanctions against Minsk. WASHINGTON - Just over a week ago, the dramatic resignation of Ukraine's respected economy minister, Aivaras Abramovicius - and his accusation that the country's leaders continue to tolerate corruption - led many Western analysts and officials to call for non-political technocrats to play an expanded role in Ukraine's government. True, technocrats such as Abramovicius, Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, Infrastructure Minister Andrii Pivovarsky, and others are among the most capable officials in Ukraine. They entered politics after the Maidan Revolution, so are untainted by the corruption that has long polluted Ukrainian politics. Each came from the private sector, bringing managerial capability and new ideas into Ukraine's sclerotic bureaucracy. So it is easy to see why many people in the West think that empowering people like them is the best way to improve Ukraine's government. Yet calls to give technocrats more power misdiagnose the true problem, and may even make it worse. The root reason that Ukraine remains corrupt is that the country's democracy does not work. Election results do not reflect the will of the people. Nearly all of Ukraine's political parties are funded by shady oligarchs, the chief sponsors and beneficiaries of corruption schemes. Half the seats in the Verkhovna Rada are elected from single mandate districts in which elections are regularly bought and sold. The oligarchs have bought members of parliament in every party, so it is impossible to vote the oligarchs out of power. Calls for more powerful technocrats - and for further separating policymaking from politics - miss this point. Technocrats might guarantee the implementation of specific measures in the short-run. But because they lack legitimacy and political power, non-partisan leaders will fail to transform Ukraine's governance and political culture. For that, you need the support of voters. The West's embrace of technocratic governance in Ukraine is particularly ironic given its track record in other European countries. At the height of Europe's debt crisis in 2011 and 2012, for example, EU leaders encouraged the formation of non-partisan technocratic governments in Italy and Greece. Both countries faced challenges not unlike Ukraine's: severe economic difficulties, political turmoil, and a long history of failing to grapple with their problems. In Italy, Mario Monti, a former academic and EU official, was named prime minister in 2011, with European elites hoping that he could reboot Italy's economy and shield it from the storms in sovereign debt markets. In Greece, meanwhile, Lucas Papademos, a central bank official, formed a government backed by the center-right and center-left, and promised to pass the painful reforms that the EU wanted. Both of these experiments failed. Papademos was tossed out after just half a year, and Monti held on for only slightly longer. Both were capable placeholders, but neither achieved anything significant. They lacked the legitimacy and the political acumen to assemble coalitions in support of the reforms their countries needed. Indeed, when Monti took the reins of a political party after serving as the "non-political" prime minister, his party was clobbered at the next election. The failure of other European technocratic governments holds lessons for Ukraine. Rather than putting its weight behind unelected technocrats, the West would be wiser to focus on making Ukraine's electoral system more accountable to the country's long-ignored voters. Today it is impossible for them to vote against corruption, since the oligarchs have bought seats in every party. Democracy will only work if this stranglehold is broken. Ukraine needs capable technocrats staffing its ministries and managing its central bank. But if reforms are to deepen and persist, the country also needs a popular political movement in favor of reform, a movement with the legitimacy to take on powerful opponents. That is not something a technocrat can deliver. (AP photo) It will be like Godzilla vs. King Kong. What a few months ago seemed impossible, today has some chances of occurring: a final confrontation between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the battle for the White House. It could happen. With every passing day, the United States' political composition more closely resembles Europe's. Donald Trump reminds us of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the quasi-fascist founder of the National Front, a party from which he would later be expelled. Trump does not have -- like Le Pen -- a thick political and military biography, but a long and basically successful experience as a businessman. What the two share is a nationalist vision, a rejection of immigrants, and a penchant for intimidating their adversaries. They are, in the words of the Spanish ballad, two twin souls. In addition, both share the same sources of admiration. Trump's and Le Pen's supporters belong to a working class of injudicious, poorly educated people who enjoy direct, unfiltered language and who are capable of calling a spade a spade, and use any vulgarity that comes to their mind. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, is not a communist despot who would rise to power to create a dictatorship. He's something else, neither Stalin nor Fidel Castro. "Let's not panic here," as comedian Chapulin Colorado used to say. Sanders is a kind of Olaf Palme born in Brooklyn. He says he's a socialist. What does that word mean in his case? He's a redistributer, a populist who will hike federal taxes and assign the revenue to a "social task," convinced that the needs of some people must be converted into an obligation to all people, unaware of the fact that that translation of individual responsibility usually antagonizes and confuses the whole of society. It is a pity that Sanders, when he studied at the University of Chicago, didn't attend the classes given by Gary Becker, at the time a professor in that institution. Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics, among other reasons for describing the unforeseen damages that might derive from the good intentions in welfare. How much would Sanders increase taxes if he manages to overcome the resistance of Congress (something I doubt)? As explained by Josh Barro in The New York Times and analyzed by Tim Worstall in Forbes magazine, between federal, state and other levies, taxes would consume 73 percent of everyone's revenues. That percentage goes over the peak of the Laffer Curve and therefore will collect a lot less money than expected. It will be a failure and will end up pauperizing us all, as happened in Sweden until the Swedes began to set aright the welfare state (1992-1994). That was brilliantly described by Chilean economist Mauricio Rojas in "The Rise and Fall of the Swedish Model." Rojas, a former communist who lived in Sweden for several decades, understood that he had erred, had the decency and the courage to recant, and was elected a member of the Swedish Parliament for the Liberal Party. In any case, the presence of people like Trump and Sanders in the political landscape of the United States totally wipes out the notion of U.S. exceptionalism supported by so many thinkers and ideologues who are convinced that this country has a moral responsibility to mankind. It marks the end of the much-debated and slightly Messianic proposition that the United States is a unique nation, the leading modern republic, different from all others, chosen by God to serve as a model and defend republicanism, freedom, individualism, equality, and democracy, to roundly defeat the fascists, Nazis, and communists, and to confront the murderous Islamists of the new Caliphate. It's a pity. At the end of his brief Gettysburg Address, Lincoln affirmed that the task of Americans is to ensure "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." That's another version of exceptionalism. Ronald Reagan liked to play with those ideas and with the following metaphor: The United States is "the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid," as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mountain. Not at all. The United States is a nation like all others. With its Trumps and its Sanderses. Like all others. (AP photo) Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate Property details: Welcome to Southern Real Estate Academy Florida Real Estate Licensing EducationI would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Southern Real Estate Academy. Our primary mission is to provide students with concise knowledge combined with essential skills that are required to successfully obtain Florida Real Estate Licensing. Many schools offer similar courses and programs, however at Southern Real Estate Academy we take enormous pride in the manner of delivery and our quality instruction.... Price: $ 199 Seller State of Residence: Florida State/Province: Florida Location: 341**, Naples, Florida You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Florida After releasing his latest album "The Life of Pablo," Kanye West has begun asking Mark Zuckerberg on social media to invest $1 billion into "Kanye West ideas." ADVERTISEMENT The outspoken rapper started his appeal to Zuckerberg late Sunday after he revealed to fans on Twitter that he was $53 million in debt before he took the stage on Saturday Night Live. "I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt... Please pray we overcome... This is my true heart...," he wrote. Citing that he needed the extra money to help fund his grand ideas to make the world "a better place," West then called upon the Facebook founder and CEO to help with his debt problem. "Mark Zuckerberg I know it's your bday but can you please call me by 2mrw...," West started his plea in a series of tweets. "You love hip hop, you love my art... I am your favorite artist but you watch me barely breathe and still play my album in your house..." "Mark, I am publicly asking you for help...one of the coolest things you could ever do is to help me in my time of need," he continued. "I will always respect you for that and the world will love you. I know I can make the world a better place... I have done the impossible... I retook the throne of rap... I beat the fashion game..." West also also asked Google's Larry Page explaining "You'd rather open up one school in Africa like you really helped the country...if you want to help...help me.." The recent twitter barrage from West comes after a busy month for the musician who has come under fire recently for tweeting that Bill Cosby is innocent and for a lyric on his new song "Famous" in which he references sex with Taylor Swift. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Rosa Mendes and fiance Bobby Schubenski welcomed their first child on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT The 36-year-old WWE Divas wrestler and "total Divas" star announced she gave birth to daughter Jordan Elizabeth Schubenski in a statement to E! News the same day. "The love we have for her is indescribable," the new mom gushed. "We want to thank our family and friends, and I especially want to thank my WWE family for supporting me from day one. I can't wait for all of you to meet her in person. She's so special." "[Jordan] was the first name [Bobby] said and I've always loved that name for a girl!" she added. "So, we didn't even look up names or have any issues with finding a name. We just fell in love. He said the name, I loved it and that's how we picked her name." Mendes shared the news and several photos of her baby girl on social media Sunday, writing, "The best day of my life!!! Welcome our daughter Jordan Schubenski #motherlylove" and "My everything!!! We love you so much!!!" Mendes and Schubenski announced they were expecting in August and got engaged in October. The WWE Diva told Yahoo! Parenting in January she always wanted to be a mother but was previously focused on her wrestling career. "I love children and I've always wanted kids, but I didn't know when I was going to be able to," she said. "I've been with [WWE] a long time, and have so many goals I want to achieve in the company, so I wasn't really preparing to have a child at the moment. But when it happened, I was very happy. I cried happy tears, and it was a beautiful feeling." Mendes joined "Total Divas" in Season 2. The reality show co-stars the Bella Twins, Brie and Nikki Bella, and airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET. Foreclosure in the U.S. has now dropped to their lowest levels as of last year, recent report says. Said decrease has surely pacified those who have shuttered homes and those in their darkest mortgage crisis, even those with idling car loans, Realtor.com reports. It has comforted almost all after it suddenly dropped about 27 percent from 603,028 in 2014 to 476,000 last year, as per CoreLogic. Also, according to My Informs, the year 2015 has the lowest number of foreclosures. This decline of foreclosures is being attributed to an increasing number of homeowners with permanent jobs. In fact, one of the top reasons that banks re-owns homes is because the owners would suddenly have their income cut, probably because of losing their jobs, a spokesman for Washington's NeighborWorks America, Douglas Robinson, has concluded. Moreover, University of Toledo Professor Dan Hammel, professor of urban geography, considers such decline a recovery leading to a stronger economy. "We're finally through the worst of it," said Hammel. Hammel also considers the increase of home prices and the strict lending criteria of the bank as contributing factors of such drop in foreclosures, although these factors may make it difficult for other home buyers to get a mortgage. However, behind the real estate recovery lies five states in the U.S. with number of foreclosures that still remain high. According to CoreLogic, Florida has completed 79,109 foreclosures in 2015, the most in the U.S. Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research & Consulting, said that Florida is still spiraling around the housing crisis due to the purchase of multiple homes by investors back in the mid-2000s. Reportedly, there was a demand in the housing that time which caused the artificial increase of prices. Florida is followed by 48,865 foreclosures in Michigan and the 29,815 in Texas. Ohio has 24,456 while Georgia has 24,239 foreclosures as of last year, according Realtor.com. These states cover about half of the United States' total foreclosures. On the brighter side, the country still has a high hope for a stronger economy as the rest of its states only have a few number of foreclosures. As per reports in Realtor.com, Washington, D.C. has the least number of foreclosures at 81, followed by the 220 in North Dakota, 541 in Wyoming, 560 in Virginia, and 700 foreclosures in Alaska in 2015. The pub industry is gaining interest among investors even in the outer suburbs. According to Commercial Real Estate, just recently the hospitality operators Colonial Leisure Group has acquired Newtown Hotel from the Keystone Group. It was the first step for the group to establish a presence in New South Wales. Besides the award-winning Newtown Hotel business, Colonial was also interested in the Townsville Casino, Perth hotel landmarks Print Hall and The Raffles, Botanical in Melbourne and the Colonial Brewery in Margaret River. The deal between Colonial and Keystone on the Newton Hotel was managed by JLL national director John Musca. Prior to this, the Melbourne-based Dixon Group acquired a series of Sydney food and beverage-centric leasehold hotels. With this the real estate website reports that suburban pubs are seeing increased demand. Musca said, "The bar has noticeably raised in Sydney over the past three years for on-premise hotel offers, mirroring the small bar proposition-led approach but introducing scalability, so interest in acquiring leasehold opportunities is a natural evolution of that." "We've now sold three hotels in Newtown, more recently the Queen Victoria to the Merivale group, so the gravitation of Sydney's best operators to the precinct highlights the strength of the area as a sustainable trading hub." For those who want to hop into the pub business bandwagon, The Ulster Hotel in Ipswich is also one to check. It was a family-run business and now the hotel and the bar is looking to change hands but it is open for lease as the family does not intend to sell it. According to Domain, Ulster Hotel is famous for being featured in the Queensland government-sponsored TV ad saluting dry drivers. Family member Peter Johnston said, "It's a terrific opportunity for someone. Except stock, it has everything ready to go." More single women are applying for mortgage in Australia. It is normally expected for couples starting a family to apply for mortgage but the latest statistics show that women don't have to wait to get married to decide to get a home. According to Domain, the new data shows that there has been a sharp increase in mortgage applications by single women. Surprisingly there are instances where there are more single women applying for mortgage than men. According to the real estate website, Miss Anderson put herself back on the market after a break up not for a new relationship but to get a home and she said that it was the best decision. She said, "You're parting with money, but not to pay off someone else's house. It gives you that sense of independence to be able to know you can do things by yourself and you don't have to rely on someone else." To be more specific, in 2015, statistics show that female mortgage applicants account for the 11.22 percent (or 11,776 women) of the total applications through the 20 lenders of Aussie Home Loans that includes four big banks. On the other hand, the single male applicants were only 1,178 more, comprising the 12.34 percent of total applicants. The gap between male and female applicants was significantly narrower last year compared to two years ago when male applicants were 2,000 more than the female applicants. In 2012, the gap was 4,000. According to the Aussie Home Loans chief executive James Symonds, the lending was based on numbers, saying, "Maybe 30 years ago it was different but it's 2016 - it's based on your financial merits, not upon your gender." According to a member of the research group at Swinburne University's Institute for Social Research Andrea Sharam, single women are not concerned about investing in a house whether they get a partner or not. Investing in real estate is something that either men or women can participate in. Even small and simple houses can look great! Japan's low-budget homes called MYZ Nest inspired by animal nests are gaining prominence in architecture design. The houses made by Japanese architectural firm no.555 features a design that resembles the home of a bird or an animal's home. Japan's low-budget homes are located beside Matsumoto's rice field. As Yahoo Real Estate reports, the rectangular homes are low to the ground and are partly constructed into the soil to mimic the feeling of burrow just like the rabbits. The style boasts a tunnel effect, with the soil surrounding one side providing added insulation. It also resembles a rabbit's warren. Architect Takuya Tsuchida wanted to "capture the feeling of the surrounding natural environment by designing a house that copies some of the characteristics of a bird or animal's home." Tsuchida added, "By taking inspiration from nature and following a strict building logic, I was able to recreate elements of nature in an abstract manner." Inside Japan's low-cost homes, the walls are covered with cement-bonded wood chip boards and other materials. The texture of the wood chips look like the dense twigs of a bird's nest. There is no division inside so that residents can design it according to their needs. Dezeen reports that a large floor-to-ceiling glass wall was installed so residents can have a connection to the natural environment. "My initial instinct was to build a structure that captured the feeling of the surrounding natural environment," the architect said, according to Dornob. "Architecture being an artificial construct made this a challenge. Rather than simply imitating forms found in nature I tried to create an abstract representation that still imparts a feeling of nature." MYZ Nest is a single family house that was built only for a period of three months. One unique characteristic of the nest-like home is that it has no discrete rooms. Architect Tsuchida claimed that his challenge is to invite residents to place furniture to define the interior and secure its privacy. During this election year, we are destined to hear many words that are toxic in the way they misrepresent reality and substitute fantasies that can win votes. One of these words is "entitlement." To hear some politicians tell it, we are all entitled to all sorts of things, ranging from "affordable housing" to "a living wage." But the reality is that the human race is not entitled to anything, not even the food we need to stay alive. If we don't produce food, we are just going to starve. If we don't build housing, then we are not going to have housing, "affordable" or otherwise. Particular individuals or groups can be given many things, to which politicians say they are "entitled," only if other people are forced by the government to provide those things to people who don't need to lift a finger to earn them. All the fancy talk about "entitlement" means simply forcing some people to work to produce things for other people, who have no obligation to work. It gets worse. If we are all "entitled" to things, irrespective of whether we produce anything ourselves, then the question becomes: Why are some people getting so much more than others? People who are producing nothing can feel a sense of grievance against those who are producing much, and being rewarded for it, if our basis for receiving economic benefits is supposed to be what we are all "entitled" to, rather than what we have worked to earn. One of the most misleading uses of the notion of entitlement is to say that people who paid into Social Security for years are now entitled to the pensions they receive. Really? It so happens that I have put money into the same bank account for more than 20 years. But if I were to write a check for a million dollars today, it would bounce. The question is not how long you have been putting money in, but how much money you put in. If what you have been putting into Social Security over the years is enough to pay you a $1,500-a-month pension, but you were promised a $3,000-a-month pension, how much are you entitled to? On what basis? Social Security was created back in the 1930s, during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, one of the shrewdest politicians who ever sat in the White House. Roosevelt understood that, if you could convince people that they were entitled to a pension under Social Security, it could become politically impossible to ever put an end to that system. The pensions promised exceeded what could actually be paid from the money that was put in by the recipients. But the first generation to enter Social Security would have their pensions paid by money received from the second generation, as well as its own money. The second generation would be paid with money that included what was paid in by the third generation, and so on. This is the principle behind a "pyramid" scheme, in which the first investors can get a big return on their money by simply paying them money received from subsequent investors. But it is only a matter of time before reality catches up with us, since the pyramid scheme is not actually investing any money or saving any money. That is why a private insurance company that sold annuities based on a pyramid scheme would be prosecuted for fraud, and its officials put in prison. But you can't put Congress in prison, even when that is what it deserves. With the money running out in the so-called trust fund for Social Security, reality is beginning to break through the fantasies, and is closing in on us. No one wants to pull the rug out from under people already retired and dependent on Social Security, or on people nearing retirement age, and expecting a pension that is just not going to be there. We can be both realistic enough, and decent enough, to rescue older people who have been victimized by political fantasies. We can pay higher taxes temporarily to rescue them. But, there is no reason to bankrupt the country by keeping the fraud going forever. Younger people can be allowed to opt out and arrange their own pension plans in the private sector, where the kind of irresponsible pyramid schemes that politicians set up are illegal. But we don't need to ruin the whole economy, in order to preserve the illusions created by toxic words like "entitlement." (Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. His syndicated column appears Mondays.) Writer Alan Bennett has long been known in the British filmmaking industry for his sincere and straightforward style of screenplays. In The Lady in the Van, with the help of Director Nicholas Hynter, he turns the script on himself and brings audiences a bizarre and (mostly) true story from his own life. The result is an utterly endearing and quirky character study that resonates with audiences on multiple levels. As the job market changes and STEM science, technology, engineering, and math knowledge increases in demand, University of Georgia students also seem to be changing their major. The percentage of STEM field bachelors degrees increased steadily from 2000 to 2012 according to data from the Office of Institutional Research at the University FILE - In this June 2, 2013 file photo, the Jefferson Memorial is seen from the Washington Monument in Washington. As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary, it faces billions of dollars in delayed maintenance for projects ranging from replacing water works at the Grand Canyon to making sure the Jefferson Memorial doesnt sink into the Tidal Basin. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) SHARE By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, but the system faces a multibillion dollar maintenance backlog that officials say is no cause for rejoicing. Long-delayed projects range from replacing water works at the Grand Canyon to making sure the Jefferson Memorial doesn't sink into the Tidal Basin to improving roads at Yosemite National Park. The bill for deferred work is nearly $12 billion nationwide a $440 million increase over last year. About half the total is for road work. The remainder is for buildings, campgrounds, trails and infrastructure such as water systems and wastewater treatment. Hoping to take advantage of the Park Service's August centennial, President Barack Obama has proposed spending $900 million over three years to reduce the backlog, with another $300 million targeted for restoration projects. Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said the annual bill for maintaining America's national parks is nearly twice as much as appropriated by Congress, with expenses growing every year. Still, Jarvis said he is encouraged that Congress seems to be getting the message after years of complaints. Lawmakers approved $547 million for maintenance in the current budget year, a $118 million increase over last year. The figure includes spending in the agency' budget and in the five-year transportation law Congress approved in December. "We have a lot yet to do, but I think everything is moving in the right direction," Jarvis said Friday, adding: "Congress has pitched in." The Park Service also hopes to expand a Centennial Challenge project that enables the agency to leverage private contributions to complete important projects that improve visitor services in the parks, Jarvis said. Congress provided $15 million for projects this year that will be matched by almost $33 million from more than 90 park partners, Jarvis said. The centennial project includes $4 million to support the "Every Kid in a Park" program that provides opportunities for children, especially 4th graders, to experience national parks. Most of the nation's 409 park sites have a piece of the maintenance backlog. Alcatraz, the former federal prison in California, has crumbling walls and deteriorating windows. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky needs to have dirt trails replaced for safety. And a historic hotel at Montana's Glacier National Park needs a new fire sprinkler system and other work. "Failure to rehabilitate this building will pose serious health and life safety threats to park visitors and park and concession employees," the Park Service said in a report to Congress detailing its budget requests. Emily Douce, a lobbyist for the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit advocacy group, said spending increases approved by Congress "will add up to vital improvements for park visitors across the country." Still, lawmakers can do more, Douce said. "Congress can ensure our parks are better prepared for another century by dedicating significant funding for the Centennial Challenge program so it can continue to successfully attract outside funds that will help operate and maintain our parks," she said. An artist's rendering depicts the Tembo elephant preserve in northern Tehama County. SHARE By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight An elephant preserve planned for rural Tehama County is moving forward, though it remains years away from opening. The Tembo Preserve, a 4,900-acre sanctuary for African elephants just north of the intersection of Highway 36 and Bowman Road, is in its ninth month of a review of its environmental impact, said Joel Parrott, president and CEO of the Oakland Zoo, which along with the Ndovo Foundation is coordinating the project. "Fortunately there aren't even any hiccups in the environmental review (so far)," he said. "There's no dealbreakers." The Tembo Preserve would be built in five phases, a process expected to take about two years, Parrott said. Each phase would add between 500 and 1,000 additional acres and a few more elephants to the preserve, which would not be visible from the highway. "It won't be just one big open area it will be divided into three or four areas, because if some of the elephants don't get along, or one just had a calf and you need to isolate it, you need separate areas," he said. "In the wild, they would just separate themselves." The project would be built over about 100 years. It will be surrounded by two fences one made of steel posts and rails to corral the elephants and an 8-foot-high chainlink fence to keep people out. Those regulations are set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It would generally not be open to the public. The preserve would, however, also host educational trips from area schools or special events with the community, he said. It would also have 24-hour security, he said. Ndovo and the zoo settled on the area because it closely resembles the natural habitat of the African elephant. Parrott expects a draft of the environmental review to wrap up around August. However, it would still be another year to nail down the exact design and another two years to be built. He said he estimates three to four years before the first elephant's feet touch the ground, he said. SHARE WASHINGTON South Carolina, the nation turns its troubled heart to you. And we expect you will rip it apart. In Texas, they say, politics is a contact sport. In South Carolina, it is a savage, gladiatorial spectacle. Case in point: The George W. Bush forces who ran the John McCain Straight Talk Express off the road in South Carolina and then pulverized it. McCain didn't know what hit him. And when a not-insignificant number of New Hampshire voters say they are torn between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, that is a confused electorate. Historians undoubtedly will say that one reason for the wild 2016 electoral ride was that Americans had lost faith in their institutions and didn't believe government worked for them. A pox on all their houses. Another factor has been the strange pull of celebrity on our psyche. Wealthy celebrities such as the Kardashians and Justin Bieber do outrageous things, but we're still fascinated by them. Trump says ridiculous, profane, stupid, insulting things, and he keeps winning. Possibly the strongest reason for our chaotic political system, in the short term, is that we are more polarized than we have been since the Civil War. Democrats are moving way to the left; Republicans are moving way to the right. The center does not hold. Iowa spoke. New Hampshire nodded. And now, after a brief interlude in Nevada, the South will yell. Are Sanders and Trump the inevitable nominees? Nope. The reason is that we don't elect our government by popular vote; we have an Electoral College. Percentages of the popular vote elect delegates who elect nominees both for the primaries and the general election. Super delegates (establishment types) will help Hillary Clinton. Independents will hurt Trump. (And we can never forget that in 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote but not the presidency.) Does that mean Sanders and Trump are finished? Nope. Trump has one-third of Republicans in his pocket, and his supporters are having a great time listening to him spout nonsense. He says so many outrageous things that we forget from week to week his latest assault on civility. Remember when he was saying he could stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose a vote? Remember when he bragged he's got a great gene pool because his uncle taught at MIT? Remember when well, it's too disheartening. Sanders also is having a great time, reminding us inadvertently of how irritatingly insufferable Clinton can be. And what's up with her friends telling us we're going to hell if we don't vote for her and, really, young women voting for Sanders are just interested in stud muffins flocking to the campaign. Really? Sanders? At this stage, it is still a horse race. Oh, no. Chris Christie is faltering. Oops, he's out. Here comes Marco Rubio, riding hard on the inside stretch. Oh no. He stumbled. And there is John Kasich, the long shot, getting everyone's blood pumping. Oh my goodness. Jeb Bush is still flogging his horse, Also Ran, refusing to give up. And what about what's her name, Carly Fiorina, who can't even persuade the boys to let her on the debate stage. Oops, she's gone too. Does anybody know what happened to Ben Carson? After the Nevada Democratic caucuses and the South Carolina GOP primary Feb. 20, the Nevada GOP caucuses Feb. 23, and the South Carolina Democratic primary Feb. 27, we've got Alabama, the Alaskan GOP caucuses, the American Samoa Democratic caucuses, Arkansas, Colorado caucuses, Democrats abroad, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota caucuses, North Dakota GOP caucuses, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming GOP caucuses. ALL ON ONE DAY! Mark March 1 on your calendars for another long night of TV. MSNBC's Brian Williams is salivating. He's baacckk. But the pundits (those self-important, despised, always-wrong political prognosticators) say we might not know who the nominees will be until well into May. We can only hope, what with "The Good Wife" going off the air. Oh yes, friends, we have miles to go before the nominating conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia in July. Miles and miles and miles and miles. Isn't this fun! Be gentle, South Carolina. Ann McFeatters is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may send her email at amcfeatters@nationalpress.com. SHARE I want to thank the editors of the Opinion Page for including Thomas Sowell's editorial column in the newspaper. Over the course of many Wednesdays and Fridays I'm always delighted to turn to the Opinion page and read either Professor Sowell or Mr. Krauthammer to become fully cognizant of what is wrong with our country in all of its magisterial and majestic faults. Last week, Professor Sowell informed me the Social Security Act was a con game originated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt who, like the Ponzi brothers, sold us a bill of goods that is in truth, corrupt. As I have been collecting a monthly Social Security check every month since the year 1987, pray tell, what should I do? Return the money whence it came? Plead guilty as an accessory to the crime? Or simply throw myself on the ground hoping the mercy of the court will look upon me as a senior citizen suffering the sins of the New Deal instituted by President Roosevelt who conned the country by being elected to four terms as president of our country. So I will feel some slight comfort by the premise I will be forgiven for my past crimes of participation in what Professor Sowell called the S.S. Act, a fraud and a pyramid scheme. I believe Thomas Sowell is reaching down in his political grab bag as far as he can reach as he must be running out of material to vilify the political present, and the past Democratic administrations. Both Mr. Krauthammer and Thomas Sowell have educated me to the fact that no matter what our president does, he is totally wrong; that the Affordable Care Act should be placed in the trash can; that entitlements are innately corrupting, racism has been cleansed from our society, that banks should be left to their own devices, and we should accept the Supreme Court's decision to allow corporations to donate any amount of money needed to further the interests of the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson, the supreme string puller in Las Vegas. The combined hundreds of million dollars they are contributing toward assisting politically pliable candidates for election, and then when in office having them pass legislation better suited for corporate interests. It is refreshing to learn we are being led by incompetent leaders in the White House, and that President Obama needs to stiffen his spine by listening to Sen. McCain as we urgently need get off the pot and take some bold actions in the Middle East, irrespective of the fact that the majority of American citizens are sick and tired of meddling in the affairs of other countries. What this country needs is more $13 billion aircraft carriers and super-slick, state-of-the-art $3 billion U.S. Navy destroyers where engines fail during sea trials and have to be towed back to the Navy Yard in Norfolk. Oh well, back to the old drawing board for the Defense Department. Carl Larkin lives in Shasta. The pending Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is finally public and was signed by President Barack Obama and 11 other Pacific Rim countries on Feb. 4. Congress is likely to vote on whether or not to ratify the agreement this year. This deal gives an incredible amount of power to the World Trade Organization, a world-governing body. The WTO is, by definition, anti-democratic. No individual American has the resources or ability to ensure his or her economic and political interests are safeguarded within this vast global regulatory structure. The clearly desired result of the TPP is to put greater distance between the governed and those who govern. It empowers unelected regulators who cannot be recalled or voted out of office. In turn, it diminishes the power of our democracy. As a farmer, farm commodity prices are very significant and this particular trade agreement does not prevent other countries from manipulating their currency. Lowering the value of their currency makes our commodities more expensive and less competitive in the world. This must be addressed. If our North Dakota delegation wants to really represent North Dakotans, they will vote against this anti-American power giveaway to the WTO. Rep. Kevin Cramer, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Sen. John Hoeven have already voted to remove Congress ability to amend the deal, how much more are they willing to concede? The overriding objective of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) must be adequate economic return, not financial return, says Vinayak Chatterjee. The distinction is important. The Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project is expected to provide the country an excellent economic return over a period of 50 years or so. However, the financial return in the first 10 years of operations is unlikely to elicit a positive response from any private investor. But a project like this is what the country needs in its quest for nationally relevant initiatives in line with those in irrigation, river-linking, inland waterways, rural electrification, civic infrastructure, railways et al. Such investments provide great economic return to the country over a period of time, but poor financial returns to market investors. Thus the nature of funding the NIIF chooses to access, and partner with, will depend on whether the government subscribes to this point of view. The proposition, if accepted, means the NIIF should not be moulded along private equity (PE) lines, which typically target 20 per cent-plus internal rates of return over a seven-year period. The investment-partnership targets for the NIIF should be long-term players like multilateral and bilateral institutions, sovereign wealth funds, pension and provident funds and Japanese-style development funds. The temptation to rope in or sponsor PE funds must be avoided. PE funds should be left alone to play in the commercial marketplace. Without doubt, the announcement of the NIIF in Union Budget 2015-16 was a masterstroke by the finance minister. It underscored the point that the government had got financially savvy, and was now able to reduce dependence on traditional budgetary sources and raise external resources through smart leveraging. The concept is also eminently amenable to monetising Prime Minister Narendra Modis highly successful global outreach. By July 2015, the Union Cabinet had approved the creation of NIIF. It became operational by December 2015, with a Governing Council in place and with the state-owned India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited being appointed interim investment advisor. Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India approved it as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) on December 28, 2015. By the first week of February 2016, the NIIF had already received 70 applications for its CEO position from its globally advertised search communique. Further, about six investment-ready projects have been identified in the highways and railways sector. And some leading banks are already salivating at the prospect of their stressed infrastructure assets being taken off the books by the NIIF! Clearly, this has been a much swifter implementation than the Rs 500 crore earmarked for 3P India (to address public-private partnership revival) in the finance ministers maiden July 2015 Budget. The NIIF, which mimics a domestic sovereign fund, envisages a starting corpus of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion), with the government investing the first Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) from the Budget. The next Rs 20,000 crore is expected to come from partner-investors. Already funds from Russia, Singapore, Canada, Qatar and the UAE have expressed interest. The NIIF was formally introduced to potential foreign investors by the finance minister at the India Investment Summit in New Delhi on February 4, 2016. The concept has been carefully designed to keep the operations and functioning at arms length from the government. Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has gone on record stating, We are fire-walling the NIIF from the government not just this government, but all other subsequent governments as well. This desire is laudable and manifests itself in the government holding a minority stake of 49 per cent, as well as having a professional CEO from the market. However, with such a large seed contribution from public finances, concerns are being raised as to whether the day-to-day functioning will indeed be impervious to investigations by the troika of Central Vigilance Commission, Central Bureau of Investigation and Comptroller and Auditor General. It would be advisable to have a clear ex-ante opinion on this matter before full commercial operations commence. The NIIF will be structured as a fund of funds. There will be multiple investment funds underneath the main fund. It is suggested that five step-down bucket-funds be considered: asset reconstruction fund (for existing stressed assets); Brownfield fund (for divesting state-owned assets); Greenfield fund (for new projects public and private); renewables fund (for green energy projects); social infra fund (for mass housing, rural renewal off-grids, city upgrade, rural broadband). The NIIFs charter should be restricted to core and social infrastructure and not stretched or diluted to include manufacturing. The government should plan to invest Rs 20,000 crore every year from the Consolidated Fund of India as core contribution to the NIIF. Leveraged 10 times, the total NIIF corpus could therefore grow by Rs 2 lakh crore every year. Further, while sovereign guarantees are not envisaged, clearly the state can provide credit enhancement measures that go towards increasing the ratings grade for external investors. Quick estimates from the finance ministry suggest a 30 per cent deficit in infrastructure investments vis-a-vis targets for the 12th Plan period (2012-2017). This five-year period is expected to achieve Rs 39 lakh crore in infra investments against the target of Rs 56 lakh crore set by the erstwhile Planning Commission. The bulk of the shortfall is in public-private partnerships - the surrogate for private capital. The strategy, therefore, for public expenditure to get infra investments going is unassailable. With a fiscal deficit challenge, creative off-budget solutions are the answer. The NIIF is a perfect solution for the times. The author is chairman, Feedback Infra. IMAGE: JNU students and faculty form a human chain demanding the release of students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. Photograph: PTI If some JNU students are 'anti-national', why do we want to send in the police? Why not send in intellectuals like M V Kamath to have a debate and discussion, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf. As a teenager I used to ask a Left-leaning uncle, 'Why do people go without food? Why is there poverty?' 'Distribution,' my uncle used to say. 'Distribution is the answer.' The earth produces enough food for every human being, he said, but the capitalists do not allow everyone to have food. Hence, the poor die of hunger. 'So what should the poor do?' I asked. He felt the poor must take up arms and overthrow the democratic system so that everybody secured roti, kapda, makan (food, clothing and shelter). 'And what about democracy?' I asked, 'Is it not a solution?' 'Democracy,' he responded, 'is a bourgeois concept and so is nationalism. It won't work for long because the proletariat will unite like Marx predicted and establish a true utopian State.' By August 1991, as the Soviet Union disintegrated, my uncle's views were laughing stock. A true comrade, he never renounced his beliefs, asserted that this was just a transition, and that Communism would return. I was confused. Democracy and nationalism flourished even as poverty and inequality remained a grim aspect of everyday Indian life. This was when my journalism guru M V Kamath entered my life. He was 73, I was 21. Mr Kamath was a supporter of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). He also wrote a biography of Narendra Modi after the Gujarat riots, Narendra Modi, The Architect of a Modern State (2009). Mr Kamath often made fun of my views in journalism class, but he never forced his ideology on me. We always discussed and debated issues. Sometimes at his home in Khar, suburban Mumbai, we discussed political issues for hours and hours. There was always something to learn from Mr Kamath and he was always eager to learn things from me though I was half a century younger. One day I asked if he felt sad to see poverty in India. When he acknowledged that he did feel sad, I asked if he did not feel that one day the poor in India would rise against the capitalists. 'This is your view,' he said, 'but not mine.' Then he said -- lines I have never forgotten -- 'Firdaus, let me give you a piece of advice. If you are not a Communist or socialist by the age of 25, you don't have a heart. And if you are still a Communist or socialist after the age of 25, then you don't have a head.' As a departing note to our journalism class he asked me to read about Mao's atrocities during the Cultural Revolution and how in the name of Communism, Communist leaders the world over had killed millions of people. After I finished my journalism course I did what Mr Kamath prescribed. I read about Marxist societies and discovered the horrific atrocities Communist States inflicted on its citizens. Be it Stalin or Mao, these dictators massacred thousands in the name of Communism. Mr Kamath won my mind and heart. I understood there was no way a violent overthrow of the system could be justified when we were armed with a more potent weapon -- the ballot. Why don't the BJP and Narendra Modi's government have more people like Mr Kamath in its ranks? If some students at Jawaharlal Nehru University are 'anti-national' -- raising slogans against India -- why does the government send in the police? Why not send in intellectuals like Mr Kamath instead to have a debate and discussion with the students? After all, is this not what democracy is all about? That we agree to disagree. Worse, the president of the JNU students union has been charged with sedition. (Ironically. the British charged the Hindutva icon Vinayak 'Veer' Savarkar with sedition!) The Supreme Court has stated that sedition can only be applied if after a speech there is violence, but that distinction apparently does not matter to the Delhi police or its masters in the Union home ministry. On Sunday, I was reading Sir William Wilson Hunter's The Indian Musalmans, a book written in 1872. Sir William provides insights why Indian Muslims were not loyal to Queen Victoria, why Wahhabi Muslims in India were a danger to British rule, and how when the cause of Islam seemed in disarray, the Musalmans again and again raised the standard of holy war from the dust. He cites the 1864 Ambala trial when Wahhabi Muslims were tried for revolting violently against the British, working with Muslims in the frontier areas (now Pakistan's North West Frontier Province) to destabilise the British empire. At the end of his book, Sir William makes an important point: 'As I write this page, the infamous meat-supplier of the British troops who was condemned to death in 1864 is giving evidence at Patna against the brethren of his former faith. Had his original sentence been carried out, thousands of devotees would every year be making a pilgrimage to his tomb.' 'A death in the cause of religion has in all ages sufficed to illuminate a life of infamy. The fortunes of an even viler meat supplier to the army than our Delhi butcher stand out in history to warn the government against capital sentences, which its Musalman subjects would regard as religious executions.' 'It should never be forgotten how George of Cappadocia, after a life of obloquy as a parasite, as a defaulting bacon-contractor to the Roman troops, and as a dissoluted prelate, obtained an apotheosis by an unwilling death, and became Saint George of Merry England.' The British knew that hanging the Wahhabi Muslims would make them martyrs. Instead of sentencing them to death, the British sent the rebellious Muslims to the infamous Andaman prison. The butcher's name was Mohammad Shafi and his name can be found in the list of Indian prisoners along with other Wahhabi fighters who fought the British in 1864. Unfortunately, what the British knew in 1871, our government has failed to comprehend. By hanging Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon, we appear to have made them martyrs to a section of our people. Thousands attended Yakub Memon's funeral in Mumbai last July, a fact that startled and upset many Indians. No government would risk sending Afzal Guru's remains to Kashmir ((After he was hung, he was buried in Tihar jail; his body was not handed over to his family), fearing violent protests. For many Kashmiris, Afzal Guru is a martyr. I wonder what my guru M V Kamath would have said about all this. Alas, he passed into the ages on October 9, 2014. Why are Dalits protesting against hangings in Hyderabad? Why is the focus on Muslims in JNU? Why are the students insisting on representation from marginalised communities when they are being judged by a committee? The fact is that India reserves the death penalty mostly for Dalits and Muslims, says Aakar Patel. In October 1931, Gandhi said of Ambedkar that 'he has every right to be bitter. That he does not break our heads is an act of self-restraint on his part.' Meaning given the background of the atrocities against him and his communities, Ambedkar was entitled to be harsh with his words. I thought of that as another college protest has attracted the ruling party's anger. In Delhi, the police have registered charges of sedition against students in Jawaharlal Nehru University over an event protesting against the hanging of Afzal Guru. Sedition is the 'the crime of saying, writing, or doing something that encourages people to disobey their government.' The FIR was filed by the BJP MP of East Delhi, Maheish Girri, who in a written complaint called the students 'anti-Constitutional and anti-national elements.' Girri also wrote to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani, telling them 'strict action should be taken against the offenders so that such shameful and anti-India activities are not repeated.' This is a repeat of the sequence in Hyderabad where the BJP acted strongly against students protesting the hanging of another man, Yakub Memon. That episode ended with the tragedy of one of the students hanging himself. JNU, which says it had not approved the event, has set up a committee to inquire, but again, the same problem of representation has arisen. The students' union says there is no member on it from marginalised communities. There was a choice here for the BJP. Instead of throwing the book at the students, it could have shown some understanding of the issue, which is linked to caste directly. Why are Dalits protesting against hangings in Hyderabad? Why is the focus on Muslims in JNU? Why are the students insisting on representation from marginalised communities when they are being judged by a committee? The fact is that India reserves the death penalty mostly for Dalits and Muslims. A study that will be published later this year by the National Law University shows that 75 per cent of all death sentences and 93.5 per cent of all death sentences for terrorism were given to Dalits and Muslims. The obvious issue here is that of prejudice. The government shows no signs of acting strongly when upper caste Hindus do terrorism, as the case of bombings in Malegon shows. And there is no hurry to hang the killer of Beant Singh, while Rajiv Gandhi's killers have had their death sentences commuted. They had also been convicted of terrorism, but not all of us are judged by the same rules. Let us leave aside others like Mayaben Kodnani, convicted of murdering 95 Gujaratis and not even in jail. The second issue is that of economics. Dalit and Muslim are also synonyms for 'poor'. Afzal Guru got almost no legal representation in the trial court stage. Given the reality, it should not surprise us that Dalits and Muslims and their supporters are protesting against the government. They have every right to and are justifiably upset. They are seen as out of control and unbalanced, but they are arguing on fact. It is the BJP MPs who keep shooting off letters to Smriti Irani demanding firm action against them who are acting on emotion. We in the upper castes insist that all Indians must buy into our fantasies that we are a perfect society that everyone must bow to. Hindutva's constituency is middle class and upper caste. It detests the idea of reservations because it senses its privileges are being encroached upon. This is why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh also does not like reservations and their statements on this have got the BJP into trouble during elections. The prime minister's response to this has been to accuse the Opposition of invention and lies. But the facts are absolutely clear on the ground. Dalits are getting a voice and are standing up for their rights. There is nothing wrong with that and if they use intemperate language they should not be treated as criminals. It is important the government engage them, and listen to their argument, not only their slogans. Compare the wisdom of Gandhi we saw at the beginning to the knee-jerk actions of the leaders of Hindutva, first against the students in Hyderabad and now in Delhi. We must show some mature understanding of the issues. As long as the government does not even attempt to do that, we should not be surprised that those whom we are oppressing so cruelly and relentlessly will say, write and do things that encourage people to disobey the government. IMAGE: Teachers and students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University form a human chain inside the JNU campus on Sunday, February 14, to protest the arrest of JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar. Photograph: PTI Photo 'The present government's greatest weakness is its intolerance. Tolerance is the key tenet of democracy. How can any government stop someone from speaking one's mind?' He is perhaps India's only chief minister who doesn't own a home, a car or a hefty bank balance. He lives on the Rs 10,000 that his party -- the Communist Party of India-Marxist -- gives him and donates his salary as chief minister to the party fund. Meet Manik Sarkar, Tripura's longest-serving chief minister (he has been in the post since 1998), who feels simple living should be every Communist leader's 'religion.' The chief minister's wife Panchali Bhattacharya, a former central government employee, is often seen going to the market in Agartala by cycle-rickshaw to buy fish and vegetables. Manik Sarkar spoke to Indrani Roy/Rediff.com at the Tripura secretariat in Agartala on how he keeps the Left flag aloft in Tripura, the tribal-non tribal equations in his state, the Modi government and the future of Communists in India. You are one of India's most successful chief ministers. In Bengal, people often talk about the 'magic of Manik Sarkar.' What has helped you and your party to be in power for so long? We have a vibrant relationship with the people. We keep our words, stand by our promises. Our party doesn't hoodwink the people. We go with the people, listen to them. Democracy is of utmost importance to us. We see to it that it is never compromised. We make an all out effort to maintain peace and look after the prosperity of the people. We are aware of the fact that people need to be empowered to be happy and secure. There is no magic as such. We trust the people and they trust us in return. What went wrong with your comrades in Bengal? Why did they lose the people's trust? Nothing went wrong. I am often asked why the Left Front failed in Bengal. It would be improper to say that they failed. Let us not forget that they were in power for more than three decades. But then there was this poriborton (change) which saw the Trinamool Congress coming to power in 2011 with a huge mandate... Now people are again talking about poribortoner poriborton (another change). West Bengal assembly elections are round the corner. Let us see what happens. Do you think the Left Front will fare well in the West Bengal assembly election? Communists are eternal optimists. Pessimism doesn't fit into our scheme of things. Is the Trinamool running the government well in West Bengal? I think the Left Front leaders of West Bengal are in a better position to comment on this. As the chief minister of a neighbouring state, it would be improper for me to comment as that might lead to unnecessary controversy. Hence, when journalists ask me these questions, I religiously avoid them (smiles). Do you think the so-called pre-poll alliance between the Left Front and the Congress will materialise in West Bengal? I don't want to talk about an alliance which is yet to take place. Let us wait for our central committee's decision. Your government is said to have won people's hearts by establishing a strong bond of camaraderie between the tribals and non-tribals. How did you achieve this? For years, the Left Front in Tripura has been working towards prosperity of the state by striking chords of unity and friendship, sympathy and respect between the tribals and non-tribals. We have been working among the tribals for years as we knew Tripura can never prosper if the interests of the tribals aren't protected. In Tripura, we have been able to convince the people that tribals cannot survive without the help and cooperation of the Bengalis and vice versa. In fact, soon after the Left came to power in Tripura, several intransigent forces in the state realised that the Left's strength lay in the unity of the tribal and the non-tribals and the latter needed to be curbed to make a dent. It is out of this feeling that enemies of our state conspired time and again to fan the ugly fire of extremism. You drew the nation's attention when you rolled back the controversial AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) in May 2015 after 18 years. Why did you do that? AFSPA was introduced in Tripura in February 1997 after a spate of killings and kidnappings by the National Liberation Front of Tripura. The then chief minister Dasarath Deb had felt it was necessary to take the help of AFSPA to counter extremism as the police stations of the state did not have adequate power. After becoming chief minister in 1998, I focused on strengthening the existing police forces and concentrated on developing the tribal areas. Our government worked extensively among the tribals to prevent the divisive forces from taking them under their fold on the excuse that the Tripura government was indifferent to their cause. You tried to win the trust of the tribals so that no one could play the card of government negligence to misguide them. Yes. Tripura has the unique institution of the Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council vested with powers intended to ensure a large degree of self-government to tribals. We have an existing Land Act in the state according to which no land in tribal areas can be sold to non-tribals. During the Congress regime, however, tribal land was often illegally sold to non-tribals. But after coming to power, we stopped that practice and also helped the tribals recover their lost land in many cases. We also ensured reservation for the Scheduled Tribes in education and jobs. When we introduced equal promotion norms for the Scheduled Tribes, a group challenged our stand in court. We fought an arduous legal battle in the Supreme Court and won. The Opposition had voiced its concern over your decision to roll back AFSPA. They felt it would make Tripura vulnerable. I got rid of AFSPA only after I was certain that we have been able to tame extremism to a large extent. Moreover, after a new government came to power in Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina in January 2009, our bilateral talks improved and cross-border tension eased a lot. We reached out to the people of the state and were successful to convince them that peace was of utmost importance and that there can be no development without peace. We got people's support in countering extremism. Hence, I felt AFSPA had lost its relevance. We have heard many tales of oppression of Tripura tribals at the hands of the forest department staff. Has your government dealt with that problem? In the past, the forest department staff were really unkind to the natives of the state. They would often set the police after the tribals and the latter would pick them up and keep them in lock up on flimsy grounds. At times, the tribals were even forced to abandon their native villages. We fought against these atrocities and when we came to power, we introduced prohibitory orders against such julm (persecution) of the tribals. I was talking to an old resident of Agartala. He was all praise for your government for easing the tension between the tribals and the Bengalis. The former felt they had become minorities after the influx of the Bengalis, mainly from East Bengal after Partition. Many Bengalis were massacred in the past. How did you deal with this problem? Right from the beginning, we were strict in dealing with any disruptive or unConstitutional move. We could often hear slogans that no non-tribals would be allowed to reside in areas where tribals were a majority and vice versa. We made our position very clear -- we made both the groups understand that such an anti-national stand would neither be encouraged nor tolerated. And people listened to us as by now they had seen us toiling hard for their betterment. As for the security forces, our directives were loud and clear -- be strict to the wrongdoers, take strictest steps against them, but never torture the common people. We told them to be unbiased and not trigger-happy. The security forces listened to us. The common people too got our message -- they understood that we were there for peace and harmony. Residents of Tripura realised that the progress of the state lay in peaceful co-existence of tribals and non-tribals. How healthy are your ties with the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre? We always had to fight for our rights with the governments at the Centre. The erstwhile UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government was not too eager to help us neither is the present government. Rather, the present government has curtailed many of the benefits that we used to enjoy earlier and this has inconvenienced us. This is true not only for Tripura, but for other north-eastern states as well. As for granting financial freedom to the north-eastern states, I find this present government extremely negative. You mean the present government overlooks Tripura's needs. Central governments at all times have chosen to overlook the interest of not only my state, but that of other north-eastern states. It is improper and impractical. Governments at the Centre should never ignore the geographical importance of the north-eastern states. All these states share so many important and strategic borders with neighbouring countries. Did you have better ties with the previous BJP government? It is said that L K Advani and you were 'good friends'. You once said he was one of the most successful home ministers. I would refrain from comparing and would stick to what I said earlier -- we had to fight for Tripura's rights earlier and continue to do so now. As for my ties with Advani, I can only say it was very easy to work with him. Whenever I took any problem to him, he would analyse its merit at face value and take an impartial decision. Our political and ideological differences never stood in the way. Is the current Home Minister Rajnath Singh less helpful? Again, I don't want to compare. (Pauses) But Advani and I shared a comfort zone and it helped both of us. A lot is said about the Modi government's intolerance. The present government's greatest weakness is its intolerance. Tolerance is the key tenet of democracy. How can any government stop someone from speaking one's mind? It is a free country and we are living in a democracy. Everyone should have the freedom to speak or act according to one's wish. Intolerance of any kind is unacceptable. One should never forget that prejudice is the breeding ground for fascism. And I can see the rise of fascism in my country. However, it is a positive sign that voices of protest are pouring in from every corner against the present government's wrongdoings. Intolerance has never survived in India in the past. It won't survive now. We had seen the Emergency and we all know what its outcome was. I have faith in people's power. I am certain it will drive the last bit of intolerance away. The Left Front and other parties should help the people come together to fight this menace. You once told the media that the Left Front's debacle is a passing phase. Do you really think the Left can regain its lost glory? People of India have lived under the Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) rule. After Independence, the Congress got 55 long years to prove itself. What did it do? It favoured the capitalists and showered privileges on the multinationals. The Congress is no more in power, because of its own misrule. The BJP came to power raising slogans against the Congress. But was it any better than the Congress? No! It followed the same path laid by its predecessor, rather more aggressively. Now, common people -- the workers, peasants, teachers, small and medium traders -- are asking a question -- which party should they vote for? Who would look after their interests? Common people can neither trust the Congress nor the BJP. If the Congress was like the frying pan for them, the BJP was fire. The Congress and BJP are but two sides of the same coin and no one knows it better than them. The Congress and BJP look after the interests of the rich industrialists which comprise only 10 per cent of India's total population. Now, why are these political parties so interested in this meagre 10 per cent? It means a huge and covetable market. Students, agricultural workers, industrial labourers, teachers are fed up of this shameless stand taken by the Congress and BJP. They are getting united in protest. A huge protest culminated in the nationwide strike called by 11 central trade unions on September 2. About 12 to 13 crore (120 million to 130 million) people took part. It was one of its kind in the world. This alarmed the central government and the latter wasted no time to play the communal card as an antidote. Now, this is where the Communists should step in. Here is their chance to reach out to the people. Indians, a large section of them, have now realised that the only alternative to the Congress and BJP lies in a unified platform of the people, who are marginalised, deprived and exploited. The onus now rests on the Communists to take the initiative and help these people unite. Hence, instead of cribbing about what happened in the past, they should act fast. You are known as India's poorest chief minister. You get an allowance of Rs 10,000 from your party and your assets are very small. How do you manage? When I joined the party, I had to take a vow of simple living. I had to sign a pledge to work for the people and not for my own interest. My party taught me to be honest and transparent and to make do with the basic minimum needs. I am happy with what I have. Manik Sarkar's photograph: Noor Islam Violence broke out in Patiala house court complex when groups of lawyers on Monday attacked journalists, students and teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and unidentified people in and outside the court dubbing them as anti-nationals in the wake of a raging row over the arrest of a student leader of the university. BJP MLA OP Sharma thrashing one of the JNU students who were protesting against the arrest of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar during a clash between the advocates and the students outside the Patiala House Courts in New Delhi on Monday. Photograph: Atul Yadav/ PTI A Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party MLA O P Sharma, who happened to be in the complex, also joined a group of lawyers in beating up a person, identified as Communist Party of India activist Ameeque Jamai, who was taken to Tuglaq Road police station. The violence broke out when Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar against whom a sedition case has been filed was to be brought before metropolitan magistrate Lovleen for remand proceedings but was later taken elsewhere. The lawyers, claiming to be patriots, first targeted the JNU students and teachers inside the court. They beat them up telling them that the JNU is a "den" of anti-India elements and terrorists. The attack was condemned by several quarters of the political fraternity. Photograph: Atul Yadav/ PTI A television reporter was attacked while a woman journalist was spared even as the crowd threatened them that their phones and bones will be broken. Outside the court, another group of lawyers thrashed journalists, JNU students and even court officials. BJP MLA O P Sharma who was in the complex in connection with the hearing in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was seen beating up Jamai. Jaitley himself was in the complex for sometime. Another view of the BJP MLA thrashing the JNU students. Photograph: Atul Yadav/ PTI Later, when asked by the media, Sharma claimed he was roughed up when there a melee when slogans like 'Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad' were shouted. When told there was footage about his beating up somebody, Sharma said "I do not known which video you are taking about." And in the same breath, he said "it is not wrong if some body shouting such slogans is beaten up or even done to death." In all, at least nine journalists were attacked, according to complaint by them with the Tuglaq Road police station. Two of the journalists were taken to RML hospital for medical check up. JNU teachers said 10 of their colleagues were beaten up. They said they had gone to attend the proceedings but a group of lawyers started yelling at them saying teachers were also anti-nationals, Rohit Azad, one of the teachers said. Critics of the government said this was an indication as to how the government was running the country. Photograph: Atul Yadav/ PTI Nivedita Menon, faculty, JNU School of International Studies, said the attack on teachers was a clear indication how the government was running the country. "You (JNU) produce anti-nationals and terrorists. You should get out of the country. Long live India, shut down JNU," the attackers shouted pushing the students and teachers out of the court room. "Before the proceedings were to start, some people wearing lawyers' gowns first started hurling abuses at us. And then suddenly some of them, without any provocation, started beating us badly. They pushed us and beat us up including women students," AISF President Waliullah Qadri told reporters. The students and teachers refused to go out of the court room and said they have a right to attend the proceedings as it was an open court hearing. The group also began to check the identity cards of media persons and asked them also to leave the court room. The media persons objected to their demand and refused to move out of the court room when they were attacked by the men, who accused the media persons of being JNU supporters and accused them of wrong reporting. There was heavy police deployment in the court complex, but the students alleged that they did not take any action against this group. The policemen later drove all the students, teachers and mediapersons out of the court complex. Police Commissoner B S Bassi described the incident in the court as a 'scuffle'. Photograph: Atul Yadav/ PTI Later, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi promised action against those involved in the attack on mediapersons in Patiala House court. "Law will take its course. Action will be taken in accordance with law against anybody who takes the law in their hands. I will speak to Delhi Police Commissioner," he told reporters. On his part, Commissioner B S Bassi described the incidents in the court complex as a scuffle and no major injuries have been reported. He said mediapersons were roughed up and added that police will look into complaints relating to the incident and take action. "Certain excesses have been committed by both sides," Bassi said. Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury has allegedly received threat calls over extending support to students who are protesting the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said they have received a complaint in this regard and a probe has been initiated. However, no case has been registered so far. Party sources claimed three threat calls were made at the party head office between 10:30 pm and 1 am on Sunday night. The callers were abusing the party general secretary over his support to the JNU issue. They said whatever he (an alleged reference to Yechury) is doing is not right and we will see him if he continued to support the protesting students. They (the callers) said they belonged to some organisation Aam Aadmi Balvir Sena. We suspect it is the same organisation which had attacked our head office yesterday, the source said. Police suspect that the calls were made by the same person. The source added that the party traced the numbers from which the calls were made and lodged a complaint to this regard with Mandir Marg Police Station. Meanwhile, police registered an FIR in connection with Sundays attack on the CPI-M head office, following which three youth were arrested. On Sunday, a group of youths had allegedly tried to vandalise the party office. The party men had handed over one of them, identified as Sushant Khosla, to the local police, while two others, Ved Prakash and Rocky, had surrendered later. The youth had told the police they belonged to Aam Aadmi Sena, while the party alleged that the men belonged to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Earlier on February 13, the CPI had claimed that party national secretary D Raja received threat calls over support to JNU students demanding release of Kumar. Image: CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury and CPI's D Raja after meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday over the JNU row. Photograph: PTI Five persons were on Monday arrested in connection with the mysterious abduction of Snapdeal executive Deepti Sarna, with the police saying that the prime accused was a Bollywood-inspired "psychopath" who was tracking her for around a year and wanted to win her heart. Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Singh, who had earlier indicated possible contradictions in the woman's version on the day she was traced, on Monday gave a clean chit to her, saying her version was right. The prime accused has as many as 30 cases registered against him and he escaped from police custody in Sonepat during a court hearing in June 2014, and around seven months later he saw Sarna with a male friend at Rajiv Chowk metro station and fell in love with her, the official said. "The accused was highly inspired by Bollywood movie Darr, in which Shah Rukh Khan's character gets obsessed with a woman, he read Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' during the time he spent in jail and was inspired by the relationship between Hitler and Eva Braun, and he also took inspiration from the life and struggle of Genghis Khan," the official said. The accused started tracking Sarna's movements and soon bought two auto-rickshaws to execute his plans of abducting her. He tried to do so several times but failed as Sarna, who used to get off the metro at Ghaziabad's Vaishali station, always preferred taking shared autos in which a few women were already seated, Singh said. On February 10, he along with his associates, managed to puncture the auto-rickshaw in which Sarna and several others were travelling and intercepted the vehicle with his own auto, in which three of the co-accused were present, and convinced the driver of the punctured vehicle to shift the passengers, of which three were women (including Sarna), to his vehicle, the official said. There were two vacant seats in the autorickshaw, and it was Sarna and another woman who decided to board it as they were in a rush to reach their destinations. During the journey, the accused men present in the auto, pulled out a knife and threatened the other woman asking her to step out of the vehicle. Once she obliged, they blindfolded Sarna, pointed a gun at her and headed towards an undisclosed location, the official said. On their way, the autorickshaw in which Sarna was being taken to, broke down. Meanwhile, the prime accused was following her in a car. At the point where the auto-rickshaw broke down, the accused men dumped her mobile phone (which the police have failed to recover) and backpack behind an under-construction bungalow. "The accused is a psychopath, for which the motive behind the crime could not be cracked. He had not disclosed about his motive even to any of the co-accused. To some of them he said that the woman they were to abduct was a hawala operator and she could fetch them crores and to others who were roped in into the plan later he said that he needed men to thrash a person," the senior official said. From the spot of the auto-breakdown, the prime accused made Sarna sit in his car and headed towards his native village. On the way, his vehicle ran out of gas for which he borrowed his cousin's car and continued the journey towards a village in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. There they held Sarna captive for a night, during which the prime accused did his best to convince her that he did not want to hurt her and it were his co-accused who had actually abducted her. He played the 'hero' and, meanwhile, kept telling Sarna that it was her male friend (with whom he often used to see Sarna) who had ulterior motives and wanted to kill Sarna's relatives, the senior official said. The next morning, the prime accused took Sarna to a railway station and made her sit on a train heading towards Delhi. By then Sarna was convinced that he was her saviour and even during her interaction with the SSP (Ghaziabad) she requested him not to take any action against the man, who later turned out to be the main accused. Sarna then borrowed a co-passenger's phone and called up her father and later reached home. "The accused have to be interrogated for further details," the official added. Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has rejected claims by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that he had supported the event in the Jawaharlal Nehru University in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. "The India home minister has alleged that I am behind the protest of Kashmiri students in Jawaharlal Nehru University where they chanted slogans in favour of Pakistan. He also talked my tweet in this regard. I felt strange after learning the Indian home minister had given a reference of a tweet with my name," Saeed said in a video message posted on YouTube. "Neither I am behind the students protest nor did I send any tweet to incite them (students). It is a fake tweet. India has made an issue out of this as if I am behind this protest campaign," said Saeed. The founder of Lashkar-e-Tayiba said he wondered as how India is looking at the Kashmir freedom movement. "The Indian minister is misleading his own people and the world by levelling allegation on me that I am behind this protest campaign," he said. He asked Rajnath and other officials concerned to listen to the Kashmiri people. "Do not make Kashmiri freedom struggle a joke," he said. I again say I did not incite the Kashmiri students. Don't you know how Afzal Guru was hanged? How Kashmiris are being brutally murdered in their homeland," he asked The JuD chief said India continues to neglect the Kashmir issue. "Kashmir Movement has been launched by the local people. Can't people of Kashmir raise their own voice?" he asked. He alleged that Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir to "oppress" the Kashmiris. Saeed, who is carrying a US bounty of $10 million, said India had also baselessly involved him in the 2008 Mumbai attack case. From his run-ins with the Centre to his political knack to sail through choppy waters, the Delhi CM has shown uncommon talent in running a common mans government. Archis Mohan reports. All recent opinion polls show that Kejriwal and his AAP government are still popular with the masses. Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, let slip in a recent interview to a Hindi newspaper how he hadnt worn a pair of shoes in the past 16 years. The symbolism was obvious. Kejriwal, 47, arguably the sharpest communicator among the current crop of the countrys top politicians, was telling his working class support base that he might have completed a year as the CM of Delhi but remains as common a man as them. The first year of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has been rocky. A surfeit of controversies dogged the city government, one too many for what essentially is a glorified civic body. Key subjects like law and order and land are controlled by the Union government. Yet, Kejriwal, who only wears leather slippers during even Delhis extreme cold, has shown how to remain relevant in the national political scene as a possible challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. A year of the AAP government has been somewhat divisive for Delhi. The pro-working class policies of Kejriwals inexperienced government has upset the citys more prosperous classes. His run-ins with the bureaucracy have meant a near-breakdown of trust between Delhis ruling party and the bureaucracy. The AAP promise of delivering alternative politics, radical change to governance through swaraj, or decentralised governance, is far from having been achieved. Most of the promises made during the February 2015 elections are still at the drawing board stage. But, his government seems to have made a difference to the lives of enough common men and women for them to tell all recent opinion polls that Kejriwal and his government were still popular. Unexpected maturity The negatives of the past 365 days are numerous. These include the AAP governments standoff with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung over transfers and postings of bureaucrats, officers striking work against the government a day before the launch of the odd-even vehicle scheme, non-payment of money to civic agencies leading to protests, garbage not being cleaned for days, Central Bureau of Investigation raids on the Delhi CMs principal secretary and the Centre snatching away the Anti-Corruption Branch from the AAP governments purview. Ajay Maken, chief of the Delhi unit of the Congress, says the AAP government failed to spend its budgetary allocations for key sectors. Their ministers and legislators are involved in corruption. They have failed to deliver on their promises. The governments been a disaster, he says, adding how the dispensation has spent Rs 500 crore on advertisements. Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sanjay Kaul blames the failure of the government on the insecurity of Kejriwal. He also questions some of the steps, like creation of mohalla committees to devolve power, as dangerous. They are immature and have a hyper sense of their own importance. What they are doing in the name of decentralisation is to create private armies. In the coming years, the big challenge for citizens of Delhi would be a class war, Kaul says. Kejriwals detractors, particularly some of his former comrade in arms, point to the Delhi CMs individualistic leadership. In hounding out fellow travellers like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from AAP, Kejriwal showed himself to be extremely ruthless and ambitious. According to those who know him, Kejriwal is also crony-minded, surrounded by three-four close associates. But few, if any, among the large masses of Kejriwals support base among Delhis middle and the working classes seem to have turned against him. The success of the odd-even scheme to tackle Delhis increasing pollution was not only evidence of Kejriwals ability as a communicator but also the trust that people continue to have in him. It also exposed both the Congress, but particularly the BJP which had won a creditable 33 per cent vote share in last years Delhi polls, for having failed to find a single leader who can in the years to come become a potential rival to Kejriwal. Initiatives in urban governance Kejriwal and his lieutenants like Manish Sisodia have gone about their work with a maturity that few thought they were capable of. In the run up to the February 2015 assembly polls, AAP made 70 promises to Delhis voters. Among these was a commitment to rein in the citys private power distribution companies. The promise had a tinge of adventurism to it, but after the first few steps, Kejriwal and his associates realised that discretion was the better part of valour. A truce was reached, but only after the government delivered on its commitment of significantly ensuring reduction of power bills. Consumers in Delhi -- the city has no power plant of its own -- get the cheapest power in the entire country. Another promise fulfilled was supply of 20,000 litres of free water per family and no hike in water rates. According to government claims, the Delhi Jal Board, despite the so-called populist measure, has seen its revenue increase by Rs 176 crore. The odd-even scheme from January 1 to 15, where cars with odd and even number plates were allowed on city roads on alternate days, was watched with interest across the world. Few in the BJP and Congress had anticipated that Kejriwals government would pull it off. A subsequent survey has given the Delhi government the confidence to re-introduce it from April 15 to 30. According to it, pollution reduced by 20 to 30 per cent during the January fortnight. There was much criticism of Kejriwal for not including two-wheelers in the scheme. People said he had spared his support base. However, Delhi government data suggest this exemption helped in keeping the ridership in the Delhi Metro Rail and bus services at an even keel. Metro ridership during the fortnight increased by 0.4 per cent while bus ridership increased seven per cent, indicating car-pooling was a success. Aware that the car-owning middle-class might have supported the exercise but could lose patience with it in the long run, the government plans to introduce 1,000 luxury buses by May and a total of 3,000 new buses by year-end. There is also a plan to build 10 elevated corridors, exclusively for buses and some for cars as well, by erecting pillars above some of the drains. The AAP government says the cost of building a kilometre of this corridor will be Rs 160 crore against Rs 500 crore needed to build a kilometre of metro rail. The biggest departure in urban governance has been in the social sector. The first budget of the AAP government significantly increased the allocation for both the health sector and schools. It introduced the concept of air-conditioned mohalla health clinics and has also started offering free diagnostics and medicines in government hospitals. The funds for free medicines, AAP claims, has come from nearly Rs 375 crore it saved in construction of three flyovers. Cost of road constructions has reduced significantly with increased use of flyash. The stress on revamping education has resulted in 54 model schools and drastic improvement in school infrastructure and teaching. Anecdotal evidence suggests the corruption that people face in ensuring delivery of public services has come down, although encroachment of roads in several areas. Raids on traders have also come down. There are several new initiatives, including introducing free Wi-Fi, and devolving powers to the citizens committees that will be keenly watched across India. Future While the AAP in Delhi has its eyes set on winning the civic body elections in 2017, Kejriwal hopes to lead his party to victory in the Punjab assembly elections that year. According to an internal Shiromani Akali Dal survey, AAP is on the cusp of a sweep in Punjab. Kejriwal has been tight-lipped on whether he will continue to be Delhi CM if his party were to win Punjab. The former bureaucrat has age on his side and can dream of not only winning Punjab but also the ultimate crown in years to come. When asked at a gathering of journalists recently if he saw himself as a challenger to PM Modi in 2019, Kejriwal kept quiet and looked in the middle distance. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav's son and Bihar's Health Minister Tej Pratap told members of the media that they need to take deworming tablets. M I Khan/ Rediff.com reports from Patna. Unhappy over repeated questioning by newspersons about the abysmal state of government hospitals and primary health centres in Bihar, state Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav on Monday said there is a need of deworming tablet for media persons. Media people should be given deworming tablet as there are dangerous bacteria in their stomach, Yadav said in his reply to questions about deteriorating health facilities in the state. Yadav launched a deworming campaign in the state last week in which four crore school children have been targeted for deworming by being administered Albendazole. According to health officials, Albendazole is drug recommended by the World Health Organization to combat parasitic worms, and has been safely used to treat hundreds of millions of children worldwide. Yadav made his chide while attending the weekly 'janata ke darbar mein mukhyamantri' programme in Patna. It is first time that Tej Pratap attended Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's janata darbar. Yadavs younger brother and the present Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi was in attendance at the event as well. During the janata darbar, Kumar heard the grievances of hundreds of people from across the state and tried to provide them justice and solve their problems. FARGO -- Days after a Fargo police officer was shot and later died, the police chief took to Facebook to call on the community to support the suspected shooter's wife and son. Chief David Todd, in a message on the Fargo Police Department Facebook page, said that aiding Officer Jason Moszer's wife and two children was forefront, but said he and the department are trying to find ways of making "something good come out of this senseless act of violence." Marcus Schumacher, 48, died while he was holed up in a north Fargo home in an eight-hour standoff with police last week. It's not yet known if Schumacher was killed by police gunfire or by suicide. Police were initially called to the area for a domestic disturbance after Schumacher is believed to have threatened his wife, Michelle Schumacher, and possibly shot at her. Schumacher and her son were seeking protection from a "deranged and dangerous person who was causing them to be in fear of losing their lives," Todd wrote. Schumacher and her son were able to escape the home unharmed, police said. "Perhaps this is a time the community can reach out to Mrs. Schumacher and her son and look for ways to help them," Chief Todd wrote Sunday on Facebook. "My faith and the mission I've sworn to uphold - tells me it's the right thing to do." Todd did not write of any specific funds that have been set up for the Schumachers, but planning by others in the community is apparently underway. The Aam Aadmi party has said that the purported letter by Jawaharlal Nehru allegedly calling Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose a 'war criminal' is "fake." Addressing a press Conference on Sunday, AAP leaders Ashutosh and Sanjay Singh seconded the Congress' claims about the letter calling it rubbish and forged. The AAP leaders said the letter that has surreptitiously been circulating on the internet was a part of "conspiracy in which few people were trying to portray one leader as greater than the other. They alleged earlier it was tried to glorify Sardar Patel as bigger than any other leader in the country. The AAP leaders said that people "who have no association with country's freedom struggle are trying to belittle Nehru and Gandhi." They also criticised the National Democratic Alliance government for declassifying secret files relating to Bose in parts. The duo said that the government should declassify all the files together instead of making it part-wise such as 25 files every month. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made public digital copies of 100 secret files relating to Bose on his 119th birth anniversary, which could throw some light on the controversy over his death. The files were declassified and put on digital display at the National Archives of India. The NAI also plans to release digital copies of 25 declassified files on Bose in the public domain every month. Want to take your wanderlust to the next level -- bring along your newborn for the trip. That's exactly what Karen Edwards, 31, and her partner Shaun Bayes, both experienced backpackers, did when their baby girl Esme was born. Karen is a nurse, but took maternity leave from her job in order to take her baby around the world. Shawn and daughter Esme shared just one backpack between them when they stayed in New Zealand for several months before exploring Australia and Asia. The trio set off when Esme was just 10 weeks old, with Shaun leaving his job as a landscaper to go on the 10-month-long family adventure. They sold their car, rented out their house and packed just one backpack between them before boarding their first plane to New Zealand. They have since visited an array of exotic places in the country, as well as Asia and Australia. Karen set up an Instagram page documenting her travels, on which she regularly uploads pictures of little Esme twinkling amidst a range of scenic backdrops. She has also launched a blog , named Travel Mad Mum, to provide insights on the places that she and her family are visiting. Rediff.com takes a look at this awesome jaunting family that's tripping on across the globe. Karens family told her she was completely nuts when they heard she was planning to spend her maternity leave travelling. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram The tot, who has already travelled to Ireland, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong, pictured with her first ever passport when she was just a few weeks old. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram Mother and daughter celebrated Christmas even as they traveled across several continents. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram The family take a selfie during one of their moments on the trip. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram Little Esme looks at a camera as she nibbles on a cookie dough biscuit. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram Karen said they were able to fund the trip -- which she estimates costed about 10,000 (around Rs 9.8 lakh) -- with her maternity pay with the NHS, and Shaun doing landscaping work in New Zealand to 'earn a bit of extra cash'. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram Karen does also admit that travelling with a baby is sometimes hard. The main issues include the family all being in one room together when Esme needs to sleep -- as well as having lots of people around them while travelling, and while their daughter is having a tantrum. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram "One thing I do hope has come out of having a social media presence is inspiring other parents to go travelling and to let them know that having a baby doesnt have to be the end of their travelling days," Karen said about the trip. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram The new parents also ensured the little girl had all of her travel vaccinations before they departed. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram Karens family told her she was completely nuts when they heard she was planning to spend her maternity leave travelling. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram The mother and daughter duo ride on a bicycle as they explored Hoi-an. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram Esme smiles as she sits in Hoi An -- a city on Vietnams central coast known for its well-preserved town. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram She said she stored the family's liquids and lotions in empty baby food pouches to make extra room in the backpack. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram "We have no regrets, she got to experience new sights, scenes and smells as she grew and that is incredible," says Karen about Esme experiences during the trip. Photograph: travelmadmum/Instagram The Supreme Court on Monday asked the chief justice of Madras high court not to assign any judicial work to its controversial judge, Justice C S Karnan, who has been transferred to the Calcutta high court. The apex court passed the order on an application moved by the Registrar of Madras high court, who is also private secretary to the chief justice, seeking an order to restrain Justice Karnan from doing any judicial work. The apex court noted the application moved by senior advocate K K Venugopal which said Justice Karnan, on receipt of the transfer order, had suo motu decided to pass an order against his own transfer and had listed the matter for Monday. Taking note of this submission, a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi said, We consider it just and appropriate to allow the chief justice of the high court not to assign any judicial work to him (Justice Karnan). The bench which perused the affidavit filed by the registrar, said consequent upon the copy of this order is furnished to Justice Karnan by the Registrar of the HC, it will be open to Justice Karnan to enter his appearance before this court, if desired by him, in the pending matter (before the apex court). If he does so, it will be at his own cost. Amidst tight security, Pakistans prestigious Bacha Khan University reopened on Monday, nearly a month after Taliban militants stormed the varsity in the countrys restive northwest and killed 21 people, mostly students. Vice-chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat welcomed students in the university campus in Charsadda town which is located about 50 kilometres from Peshawar. Enough measures were in place to foil any further attack. We are satisfied with the security arrangements at the campus, Marwat said. Bacha KhanUniversity has planned special lecturers to relieve the students of the psychological trauma and start their normal studies, he said. Security clearance has been given to the BKU and eight policemen will be stationed on the university premises and a mobile van will be deployed outside. Four female university employees would be tasked with keeping an eye on female students, Charsadda district police officer Sohail Khan said. The threat to the educational institution is not over yet. Not only the BKU but institutions are at threat but it does not mean to close everything forever, he said. He said police and army were tackling militancy directly and smashing their networks and arresting facilitators. Earlier, on January 25, BKU briefly reopened before closing down indefinitely. On January 20, four heavily-armed terrorists attacked BKU named after the iconic Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Authorities have arrested four facilitators who helped the attackers enter Pakistan and took them to Mardan city. They had entered Pakistan from Afghanistan via the Torkhum border. However, the main facilitator, terrorist A, who received and made arrangements for the attackers at Torkhum border checkpost is still at large. Officials claimed that the attack on BKU was planned and controlled from Afghanistan as the phone call of commander Omer Mansoor, who later claimed responsibility, was made from Afghanistan. The BKU assault came about a year after terrorists attacked an army-run school in Peshawar that killed nearly 150 people, most of them students. The Pakistani military intensified an ongoing offensive, named operation Zarb-e-Azb, against extremists in the tribal areas after the 2014 attack. 'Child soldiers are boys and girls we collectively failed to protect' UN envoy Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as UN News Service, 'Child soldiers are boys and girls we collectively failed to protect' UN envoy, 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c1868240c.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 12 February 2016 - An upsurge in global conflicts and brutal war tactics continues to make children extremely vulnerable to recruitment and use by armed groups, the United Nations warned today, appealing to the international community to take greater responsibility for the boys and girls used as child soldiers or risk failing to protect them. It is now our common responsibility to ask for urgent action to end grave violations against children and to dedicate the necessary attention and resources to reach our objective, said Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, in a press release marking the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, observed every 12 February since 2002. I invite everyone to start thinking about child soldiers as boys and girls we collectively failed to protect, she added. According to the UN, tens of thousands of boys and girls are associated with armed forces and groups in conflicts in more than 20 countries around the world. In the most recent annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, 56 of the 57 parties to conflict identified for grave violations against children are named because they are recruiting and using child soldiers. Ms. Zerrougui underscored that children are sent to the frontlines as combatants, but many are also used in functions that put their lives in danger, such as cooks, porters, spies and informants. During their association with armed groups or forces, children are exposed to high levels of violence. Moreover, when they are captured or arrested for alleged association with armed groups, too often children are not treated primarily as victims and denied the protection guaranteed by international norms and standards of juvenile justice. We still face huge challenges to protect children in times of war, but our work and advocacy has led to an emerging consensus among the world's nations that boys and girls do not belong in national security forces in conflict or in any armed group, said Ms. Zerrougui. In 1996, the Special Representative's mandate was created following the realization that children were the primary victims of armed conflict. Twenty years later, Ms. Zerrougui said the international community's engagement has resulted in a strong framework and concrete tools to engage with parties to conflict and address the violations committed against children during conflict. In 2014, the campaign Children, Not Soldiers was launched by the Special Representative and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support the remaining eight states Afghanistan, Chad, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen identified by the Secretary-General for the recruitment of children in their security forces. So far, Chad has put in place all the measures required to prevent the recruitment of children and was removed from the Secretary-General's list. This year, work continues to support the seven remaining countries to put in place the required measures to protect boys and girls from recruitment and use, the Special Representative said. According to the press release, children in Iraq and Syria remain vulnerable to recruitment because of the proliferation of armed groups and advances by ISIL, whereas in South Sudan, children continue to suffer the consequences of a brutal conflict and high levels of recruitment and use are being seen. In Yemen, the recruitment and use of children by all parties to the conflict has become widespread since the escalation of conflict in March 2015, the Special Representative said. Ahead of polls, Ban calls on all Central Africans, including candidates, to ensure credible elections Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 13 February 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Ahead of polls, Ban calls on all Central Africans, including candidates, to ensure credible elections, 13 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c1873640c.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 13 February 2016 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on all Central Africans, including the candidates, to ensure that the presidential run-off and the new round of legislative elections, set to take place Sunday are conducted in a peaceful and credible manner. In a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York, Mr. Ban commended Transitional Authorities of the Central African Republic (CAR) for their efforts to complete the transition process by 31 March 2016. Sunday's polls will bring the country closer to the end of the transition and a return to constitutional order. These are important steps towards political stability and long-term economic recovery, said the statement. Recalling the significant support provided by the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the country (MINUSCA) to the electoral process the UN chief reiterated the Mission's determination to take all necessary measures to prevent any disruption of Sunday's polls. The Secretary-General calls on all stakeholders to maintain an environment conducive to peaceful and credible elections, in keeping with the spirit of the Code of Conduct signed by the candidates and political parties, said Mr. Ban in the statement, urging all parties to resolve any dispute that may arise from the elections through established legal channels. Those who instigate or perpetrate acts of violence will be held accountable, the statement emphasized. Mr. Ban went on to reaffirm the unwavering commitment of the United Nations, working closely with the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the African Union (AU) and other members of the international community, to help the people of the CAR advance towards a future of peace, stability and reconciliation. Ahead of elections in Central African Republic, UN urges focus on children's needs Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Ahead of elections in Central African Republic, UN urges focus on children's needs, 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c1876140d.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 12 February 2016 - As voters in the Central African Republic (CAR) prepare for the second round of presidential and legislative elections on Sunday, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is urging the candidates to make strong commitments to invest in the survival, education and protection of children to ensure lasting peace in the country. The only way for the next President of the Central African Republic to break the cycle of violence for good will be to invest in children, said Mohamed Malick Fall, UNICEF Representative in CAR, in a press release today. Children will not vote this Sunday, their voices will not be reflected in the ballots, but the most serious political mistake would be to ignore those who will determine if the future holds a lasting peace in Central African Republic, he added. Mr. Fall recalled that in March 2015, a Children's Forum took place in Bangui with UNICEF support. Children from around the country came together to discuss their hopes for the future, with peace and security ranking foremost among their main concerns. We are hopeful that the final stage of the electoral process will confirm the country's return to peace, Mr. Fall said. Children have paid the highest price in this conflict, and we will need to mobilize all of our energy and resources to ensure that the return of peace enables young people to flourish in the best interests of the country and its development. Almost three years into a civil war and sectarian violence, the main childhood indicators in the CAR include an under-five mortality rate that is eighth-highest in the world, according to the UNICEF Representative. In addition, 41 per cent of children under five are chronically malnourished, one third of school-age children do not go to school, and between 6,000 and 10,000 children have been recruited by armed groups during the crisis. Mr. Fall added that UNICEF has launched an appeal for $55.6 million dollars in 2016 to meet the humanitarian needs for children in the CAR. Syria: UN-backed task force seeks aid access to besieged areas 'without delay' Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Syria: UN-backed task force seeks aid access to besieged areas 'without delay', 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c1879040b.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 12 February 2016 - Following agreement late yesterday by diplomats meeting in Munich as part of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to work with Syrian parties to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities, a United Nations-backed task force met today on quickly delivering aid to besieged towns and war-weary civilians in hard to reach areas across the country. The task force held its initial meeting at the UN headquarters in Geneva less than 24 hours after it was by the ISSG, the group that has been working since November to secure a broader ceasefire and Syrian political negotiations and is comprised of the Arab League, the European Union, the United Nations, and 17 countries, including the United States and Russia. Late yesterday, it agreed on two key steps forward: a cessation of hostilities in Syria and establishing a humanitarian task force. According to the ISSG agreement, to accelerate the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid, sustained delivery of assistance shall begin this week in seven besieged areas inside Syria, including the town of Madaya, which drew worldwide attention recently after UN and Red Cross relief workers reported people starving to death or being killed trying to flee. Today, chairing the regular bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, Ahmed Fawzi, interim Director of the UN Information Service in the Swiss city, said the first meeting of the task force on humanitarian access in Syria would take place today and would include the ISSG co-Chairs, relevant UN entities, and members of the ISSG with influence on the parties to the conflict. The UN system, particularly the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), would be organizing and the meeting, and representatives of the UN system in Damascus would participate through video-conference, he explained. The UN system has been geared to deliver this aid all along, especially to besieged areas, and that's precisely what's going to be discussed today: how to start, and when to start, said Mr. Fawzi, responding to questions, adding: We hope to start as early as tomorrow, immediately after the meeting, decisions will be taken to roll the aid in, especially to besieged areas that need it. Later in the day, a statement issued by a spokesperson for Steffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, said the meeting had been chaired by his Senior Advisor Jan Egeland. The purpose of this initial meeting was to agree on how the task force and its members could ensure that immediate access is granted to the civilian populations in besieged and hard to reach areas in line with the agreement reached by the ISSG at Munich. The statement said that in order to accelerate the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid, sustained delivery of assistance is expected to begin this week to besieged areas where civilians are in desperate need of assistance. Humanitarian access to these most urgent areas will be a first step toward full, sustained, and unimpeded access throughout the country. Once we get clearance by concerned parties, the UN and its humanitarian partners will be able to reach the civilians in need within the coming days, Mr. de Mistura said. Next week, we plan to have a second meeting of this task force, in order to assess the progress made, and maintain the pressure for incremental and unimpeded aid deliveries, he explained. According to the statement, Mr. Egeland, who is the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council and formerly head of UN OCHA, said that humanitarian actors had already submitted requests for access to the parties surrounding besieged areas. We expect to get such access without delay. Finally, the civilians who have been deprived of their basic right of humanitarian access for so long, will have hope, he added. Let us not fail them. Separately, Stephen O'Brien, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, statement welcomed news that the members of the ISSG agreed to a cessation of hostilities in Syria and he urged the parties to the conflict to ensure full, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access, including to besieged and hard-to-reach areas, in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law. The people of Syria in Aleppo, Madaya, Foah and Kefraya, Deir ez-Zor and elsewhere need an end to the brutal violence and bombing, the sieges, denial of free movement, food and medical care, he said, emphasizing that the United Nations and its partners need safe, sustained access for humanitarian workers throughout the country. He went on to stress that the UN remains committed and ready to deliver aid and protection for civilians in desperate need, whoever and wherever they are. Above all we need to see meaningful action on the ground, so that Syrians and their neighbours can start to rebuild their lives and their country, he concluded. Mali: UN condems attack against Mission base that kills five peacekeepers Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Mali: UN condems attack against Mission base that kills five peacekeepers, 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18882411.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 12 February 2016 - Top United Nations officials have condemned the attack this morning against a UN camp in Kidal, in the north-eastern region of the country, which killed at least five peacekeepers and wounded 30 others. In a statement attributable to the spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Mali, the Secretary-General underscored that attacks targeting UN peacekeepers constitute war crimes under international law, and called for the perpetrators of the attack to be brought to justice. According to reports, at 7 a.m. this morning, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) camp in the northern region of the country was the target of a "complex attack." "The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks against MINUSMA will not weaken the determination of the United Nations to support the Malian Government, the parties to the peace agreement, and the people of Mali, in their efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability," the spokesperson said. The Secretary-General also conveyed his sincere condolences to the bereaved families and to the Governments of those concerned, and expressed profound sympathy and support to those wounded, with wishes for a speedy recovery. Earlier today, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Mali said he was "outraged" by the attack. "My duty, on behalf of the Secretary-General, is to express our outrage over this hateful and irresponsible act occurring a week after the local arrangements between the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA) and Platform, and 48 hours after my visit to Kidal," said Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Mali in a press release. Also expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims, Mr. Annadif emphasized that the "serious act" reflects "the disarray of the enemies of peace," since it comes at a time when the implementation of the peace agreement increasingly becomes a reality in Mali. This past June, a peace agreement was signed by the CMA, following its signature in May 2015 by the Government and a third party, the Platform coalition of armed groups. The Government of Mali, with the support of MINUSMA as well as UN agencies and programmes, has been seeking to restore stability and rebuild following a series of setbacks since early 2012, including a military coup d'etat, and renewed fighting between Government forces and Tuareg rebels. FARGO -- The shooting death of Fargo Police Officer Jason Moszer last week during a police standoff with an armed man was the 54th time a police officer died in the line of duty in North Dakota. That's according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks police deaths across the U.S. In Minnesota, there have been 239 police officer deaths recorded, Officer Down reports. Of the North Dakota deaths, 29 officers died by gunfire. In Minnesota, 130 officers have been killed by gunfire. As of Friday morning, the 33-year-old Moszer was the 10th law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty this year in the United States - eight of them slain by gunfire, according for Officer Down. Moszer is the second Fargo officer to die in the line of duty, though the first death was 134 years ago, in the earliest years of the city's history. On July 5, 1882, Officer Fred Alderman, a 25-year-old who had been on the force for two months, was shot and killed as he tried to track a suspect who had used stolen property to pay a fine, according to a newspaper report at the time. The suspect, Selig Knuteson, according to the report, had been arrested for public drunkenness the previous night and was required to pay $8.50 to get out of jail. Knuteson had asked Alderman if he could use his watch and other personal goods to settle the debt. Alderman agreed and paid the remainder of Knuteson's fine out of his own pocket. It was later discovered that Knuteson had used stolen property to pay the fine. Alderman canvassed the city with his partner and learned Knuteson lived on the outskirts of town, and they went there at nightfall. In the darkness, Alderman mistook a neighboring home for the suspect's residence. Alderman knocked on the door of the home and asked to be admitted. When he received no response, he tried to force the door open. As he did so, the occupant of the home, Mrs. Bunkle, opened fire on him, striking him in the chest and killing him on the spot. The woman told police that she had mistaken Alderman for a tramp who was attempting to break into her house. She was initially jailed and charged with Alderman's murder, but a jury ruled the incident justifiable homicide because Alderman did not identify himself to the woman, according to Officer Down's synopsis of the killing. Recent officer deaths Moszer's death follows several line-of-duty deaths in the region in recent years: Mahnomen County (Minn.) Sheriff's Deputy Chris Dewey was shot during a confrontation on Feb. 18, 2009. He underwent a series of operations and eventually succumbed to his injuries 18 months later. Dewey, 26, was responding to reports of a drunken driver and shots fired in the city of Mahnomen. He was shot in the head and abdomen by one of the two men he confronted. When backup units arrived, they found Dewey and took him to the hospital. The shooting suspect, Thomas Fairbanks, surrendered after a standoff with police and was eventually sentenced to life in prison without parole. His accomplice, Daniel Vernier was given a two-year prison sentence for failing to render aid. Aitkin County (Minn.) Sheriff's Office Investigator Steve Sandberg was shot and killed Oct. 18, 2015, while guarding a prisoner at St. Cloud Hospital. He was 60. The prisoner was in custody in connection with a domestic assault in Aitkin County. The man attacked and disarmed Investigator Sandberg in the hospital room, then fatally shot Sandberg with his own service weapon. Another deputy was able to subdue the prisoner with a Taser. The man died a short time later from an unknown cause. In the Twin Cities, Mendota Heights Police Department Officer Scott Patrick died May 30, 2014, when he was shot several times by a man during a traffic stop in West St. Paul. Patrick, 47, was standing next to his patrol car's door when the man fired multiple shots, striking him in the head. Patrick died at a St. Paul hospital. The subject, identified as Brian George Fitch Sr, opened fire on officers who located him in St. Paul seven hours later. He was shot and wounded by the officers before being taken into custody. In February 2015, he was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Bismarck Police Sgt. Rickie Kenner was shot and killed July 8, 2011, after responding to a domestic disturbance report of a man threatening a woman with a knife. Kenner, 56, was shot as he and another officer approached a man sitting in a van and asked him to show his hands. The man instead opened fire with a gun, wounding Kenner. The other officer shot and killed the suspect. Kenner later died at a local hospital. The shooter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. History among local agencies According to Officer Down, the West Fargo Police Department and the Cass County Sheriff's Office haven't suffered a line-of-duty death. However, most Fargo-Moorhead area law enforcement agencies have: Three Moorhead police officers, Roy Larson, Alexander McLean and Peter Poull, have died in the line of duty. Larson, 27, was shot and killed while chasing a robbery suspect on Dec. 6, 1930. The suspect had been involved in shootouts with two other officers during the chase, Officer Down reports. Larson encountered the man in some coal sheds on First Avenue North and was shot twice in the head before he could draw his gun. The murder suspect then tried to kill himself, but the wound was not fatal and he was later convicted in the killing and sentenced to life in prison. McLean, 41, died Feb. 17, 1899, when a chimney collapsed on top of him. He had been on patrol and came across a burning building and died trying to keep other people away. Poull, Jr., 28, was shot and killed Oct. 17, 1888, while trying to arrest a murder suspect wanted in North Dakota. The man who shot Poull was then wounded in an exchange of gunfire with other officers and taken into custody. He was convicted in Poull's death and executed Sept. 20, 1889. Dilworth Police Officer George Washington Bridwell, 54, died Jan. 9, 1942, of head injuries suffered after he fell from the running board of a car the day before. Bridwell was trying to stop a drunken driver and was riding on the running board of a witness's car. When the drunken driver stopped, the car Bridwell was riding on slowed and he tried to step off. However, he fell and struck his head on the pavement. Clay County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Rogers, 46, suffered a fatal heart attack July 8, 2006, while taking part in the department's physical fitness program. How Burundi's political crisis has crippled its economy Publisher IRIN Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as IRIN, How Burundi's political crisis has crippled its economy, 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c189764.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The crisis that erupted in Burundi in April 2015 following Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a controversial third term as president has claimed more than 400 lives and caused more than 230,000 people to flee the country, according to the UN. But it isn't just citizens who have suffered - the economy is in a bad way too. Alexandre Nyabenda works as a trader in a shop in Cibitoke, one of the so-called "contested areas" of the capital Bujumbura, which are really just the hotbeds of opposition to Nkurunziza that have seen most political unrest. Nyabenda, who has been working there for the past six years, told IRIN that trade had really suffered as a result of the instability. "Before the crisis I was taking in around 120,000 francs ($76 dollars) of revenue each day," he said. "Since April 2015, just to get 40,000 francs ($25) a day has been a real struggle." The fall is explained by the fact that so many customers fled the country as Burundi descended into violence. Those who have stayed don't have the same purchasing power so the quantity of goods sold has markedly declined. "A father who was buying two kilos of rice and two kilos of beans every day to feed his five children and his wife is now buying only half a kilo because his domestic helper, his wife and his children have fled into exile," explained Nyabenda. "A grenade was thrown near my restaurant" Things are even worse for Sinkazi Kevin, 32, a coal seller in Cibitoke who has gone practically bankrupt due to the tough economic times. "Before this crisis I was selling at least six to 10 sacks of coal a day, but now I'm only selling one," Kevin told IRIN, clearly angry. "There are no buyers! People have fled, and restaurant owners who were good potential clients before are now doing hardly any business, or have even closed their restaurants." Micheella Kanyana was forced to close her small restaurant in Cibitoke because the unrest and insecurity was too great to carry on. "A grenade was thrown near my restaurant. I was already scared. Next, our customers, who were the motorcyclists, the taxi bike drivers, they stopped coming. And then our coal suppliers, our food suppliers were too scared to come to our area. This is why I closed my restaurant," Kanyana told IRIN. "I asked three restaurant workers that I had taken on to return home for fear of seeing them arrested or killed because they were all young," she added. Even the prestigious University of Burundi, the only academic institution in the country with resident accomodation is not immune from the economic crisis. It recently suspended providing breakfast for its boarding students. "The price of beans has gone from 1,200 francs (76 cents) before the crisis to 1,800 francs ($1.15) today. Rice has gone from 1,100 francs to 1,700 francs a kilo," said Anatole Nzinahora, head of the university management, explaining that they simply didn't have the means now to feed students three times a day. According to him, the suspension of a morning meal will allow the management to at least feed the students sometimes, in a period when some of the school's food suppliers are hesitant to deliver. Rents in relatively calm districts of Bujumbura have risen as a consequence of their perceived stability. "I lost my job because of the crisis. My wife no longer works," Jean Marie Ndaruhayinda, the owner of a house in Gasenyi in northern Bujumbura, told IRIN. "The only income I have is rental income. Because my house is in Gasenyi (a calm area), I have had to double it from 150,000 francs a month rent to 300,000 francs a month." As for Audace Ndayisaba, the owner of a house in the "contested area" of Mutakura, his tenants left his houses seven months ago. "I built small houses for tenants," he told IRIN. "In total I was easily earning one million Burundian francs ($637) a month in rental income. Now, all the tenants have gone elsewhere because of the security situation. So I am earning nothing and I don't even have a nightwatchman to look after the premises because of insecurity." Bleak picture Prospects for the Burundi economy are not good. Annual GDP growth for 2015 was -7.2 percent, and it is set to fall further with insecurity, a deteriorating business climate and tense relations with donors weighing on the treasury. The 2016 budget shows a fall in government spending of more than 46 percent, economist Leonce Sinzinkayo told the Iwacu newspaper. He calculated that revenue has plunged by $14.3 million, with the budget deficit now at $891 million. The downturn in food production and the difficulty in getting produce to market, is likely to see food prices continue their rise. Turkey's refugee smugglers adapt and prosper Publisher IRIN Author Shira Rubin Publication Date 15 February 2016 Cite as IRIN, Turkey's refugee smugglers adapt and prosper, 15 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18a034.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. In the main square of Aksaray, a neighbourhood in Istanbul densely populated by refugees, Haroun Yamani tries to placate potential clients who are seeking a future in Europe but are anxious about the treacherous boat journey that will take them there. The slight, chain-smoking refugee recruiter claims that unlike other smugglers who have been known to run away with payments, he is "a good man" who charges the steep price of $1,300 per person because "there are dangerous ways, and there are safer ones, which must be more expensive." The reality for would-be passengers from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict ridden and economically deprived countries is that they could well be paying for their own death. On Monday, as visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for "swift results" in Turkey's crackdown on the smugglers and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in turn, appealed for greater NATO involvement, winter winds whipped up the Aegean, turning over two boats and claiming at least 33 more lives. Following its recent and controversial deal with the European Union, Turkey has certainly beefed up its anti-smuggling campaign. Yamani's operation has encountered additional police presence along the road from Istanbul and along the coast, but he assures clients that he has contacts on the inside, "who will inform us" of any need to circumvent checkpoints or pay bribes to security officials. Yamani says the price is about half that demanded during summer months, when the waters are calmer and the likelihood of boat accidents and hypothermia are reduced. But he adds that the winter trips are "comfortable, not dangerous, God willing." If he knows it, he doesn't mention that since the beginning of 2016, more than 360 people have died or gone missing trying to cross the Aegean, according to the International Organization for Migration. This was up from 82 recorded deaths during the same month last year. EU deal brings new measures Some 2.5 million Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkey since the war in Syria began, making it the largest host of Syrians in the world. The country is under increasing pressure from the EU to stem the flow of refugees and migrants who have departed from its shores in their hundreds of thousands to reach nearby Greek islands like Lesvos. In a bid to fulfill its part of the $3.2-billion aid deal signed with the EU in November, Turkey has made efforts to tighten its borders, crack down on smuggling networks, and improve living conditions for Syrian refugees, in part by issuing work permits to those residents in the country for six months or more. On 1 February, government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus told a cabinet meeting that Turkey has "decided to categorise smuggling as a terror crime, an organized crime, and enact legal amendments to that extent, including confiscation of assets used in smuggling." He added that a special police task force to prevent smuggling is in the works, and that a decree has been signed in order to strengthen coordination between the police, the coastguard, local governments, and other relevant institutions. Such measures have made the headlines in Turkey, most recently on 6 February, when Turkish police raided three factories producing unlicensed and substandard inflatable boats used to smuggle migrants to Greece. In recent weeks, Turkey has also deployed additional gendarmerie troops along its Aegean coast. Smugglers adapt fast But frequent beach sweeps in and around coastal cities are insufficient to catch all the groups. Smugglers have adapted by operating more furtively. They constantly change the hotels or locations in the woods where refugees linger before their departure, and simply wait for the coast to be clear - often in early morning - before giving the green light for the boarding of the boats. Since the early 2000s, the Turkish government has appeared almost powerless to prevent people smuggling from ballooning into the multi-billion-dollar industry it is today. Fulya Memisoglu, an assistant professor at Cukurova University who studies smuggling and trafficking networks in Turkey, said the transnational nature of the business presents a significant challenge. People smuggling involves "different countries and perpetrators who very easily adjust to the changing dynamics of migration flows," she told IRIN. Secretive kingpins According to the refugees, the facilitators are often of Syrian origin and present a "neat and clean" image upon which they build trust, Memisoglu said. But these characters are the just the presentable face of a broader network whose hidden leaders are hard to identify and who are cunning enough to constantly replace their underlings. The facilitators are sometimes "saving money themselves to be smuggled through migrant smuggling, so they may no longer be in Turkey after a few weeks, or a few months," explained Memisoglu. Despite the icy waters and government pressures, demand for passage to Europe has only increased since last year, and the numbers of those arriving on European shores, as well as the death tolls, are only expected to continue rising. The rise of social media Unlike last year, when smugglers recruited out in the open in neighbourhoods popular with refugees, Yamani says most are now shifting recruitment off the streets and further into the depths of social media, amping up their advertising campaigns on an unknown number of groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Viber. As well as boats, they advertise forged documents that can make registration easier once people get to Greece. Prices range from $50 for marriage certificates to $1,250 for passports. A Facebook spokesperson said smuggling groups violate its community standards and are removed once the company is notified of their existence. However, it is impossible to keep up with the rapid pace of new and constantly changing groups conducted in languages that are often not understood by overseers in European or American offices. "Facebook is very quick to take down pages that are working to smuggle people, but the trouble is that we're seeing an extension of sketchy, well-disguised travel agents, exploiting the needs and the huge imperative for desperate people, who are of course using social media - Facebook, Google hangouts, you name it, whatever works," IOM spokesman Leonard Doyle told IRIN. In groups such as the "Smugglers Market," "Smugglers to Europe," or "Trips from Turkey to Greece" catering to Syrians in Turkey and elsewhere, competitive winter rates have reached new lows, with smugglers charging as little as $500 per trip. The prices have experts concerned that smugglers are taking even more shortcuts than before, sending refugees in lower quality boats and with more counterfeit, non-buoyant life vests that serve little purpose for the many refugees unable to swim. Worth the risk Ismael, a refugee from Homs, who requested his last name not be used due to security concerns, is in the middle of a 12-hour shift selling one-Turkish-lira (30 cents) tea to provide for his wife and three children. Informal salaries like his are not enough, and he dips into his savings to cover soaring rent and food prices. He sees private minibuses full of refugees departing daily, even during snowstorms, from his neighbourhood of Aksaray, and says his countrymen have "seen so much war and destruction, it's worth it to take one more risk in order to get to a better place." While refugees risk the boat journey to Greece to escape the "exploitation" that is rampant in Turkish cities like Istanbul, "the smugglers live very happily," Ismael says. "They can make $20,000 per month during a busy month. They have everything: a home, cars, all the possibilities - whereas the rest of us have little." Young men like 29-year-old Mohamad Moussa say they can't wait any longer to start their lives. "When I came to Turkey, I received nothing in terms of human rights," said Moussa, who paid smugglers $600 to ferry him across the sea to Greece last month, and is now continuing onwards with the goal of reaching Germany. The journey from Turkey's coastal city of Izmir to the Greek island of Lesvos was cold and Moussa "felt the waves," but he couldn't wait for the arrival of spring, when prices would be out of reach. "In Turkey, any place I worked, anything I did, I felt lost," he said. "At least in Europe, I will have rights and I will have the chance to make some money to send back to my family still living in Syria." 7 stories of shocking injustice: Bahrain after the 'Arab Spring' Publisher Amnesty International Author Ariel Plotkin Publication Date 11 February 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, 7 stories of shocking injustice: Bahrain after the 'Arab Spring', 11 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18b574.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Five years ago, people in Bahrain rose up in protest to demand reform, but were met with violence from security forces. Since then, the authorities have continued to arrest, torture and intimidate people who speak out. 1. Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima: Killed during protests but still no justice Ali Mushaima was the first protester to be killed during the uprising in Bahrain after being shot on 14 February 2011. Another protester, Fadhel al-Matrouk, was shot dead at Ali Mushaima's funeral the next day. A security officer was sentenced to seven years in prison for Ali Mushaima's death, but this was reduced on appeal to three years. In May 2015, the officer was pardoned under a royal decree and released early. Two officers were also tried for causing Fadhel al-Matrouk's death, but were acquitted after the court found they had "acted in self-defence". 2. Hani 'Abdelaziz' Abdullah Jumaa: Shot dead but police officer's sentence reduced Hani 'Abdelaziz' Abdullah Jumaa,32, was shot three times in the village of Bilad al-Qadeem on 19 March 2011. A police officer was sentenced to seven years in prison for his death, but this was reduced on appeal to six months in part because the court said the officer had "acted in self-defence". 3. Zakariya al-'Asheri: Tortured and died in custody but police walked free Zakariya al-'Asheri, 40, died in prison in April 2011 after being arrested for taking a leading role in the protests. One witness detained with him said that they had been blindfolded, handcuffed and ordered to lie on their stomachs. In the morning, Zakariya al-'Asheri began hallucinating and banging on his cell door, and was then assaulted by the guards. The witness said he heard Zakariya al-'Asheri screaming as officers beat him and that his screams became muffled. Two low-ranking police officers were charged with "assault resulting in unintentional death" and three were charged with "failure to report the crime" but all five were acquitted. At the trial, other witnesses said officers had stuffed a newspaper into al-'Asheri's mouth. Those responsible for his death have still not been identified or brought to justice. 4. Abdelkarim Al-Fakhrawi: Newspaper founder beaten to death in custody Abdelkarim Al-Fakhrawi, 49, died on 11 April 2011 after being beaten to death while in the custody of Bahrain's National Security Agency (NSA). He was a founder of Al Wasat newspaper, one of the few independent newspapers in Bahrain, and a member of a prominent political party. Two NSA officers were sentenced to seven years for his death, but this was reduced to three years on appeal. 5. Nazeeha Saeed: Journalist tortured by police officers Journalist Nazeeha Saeed was arrested in May 2011 and accused of being part of a group that wanted to overthrow the monarchy, which she denied. A group of security officers then beat her with a hose-pipe, and punched and kicked her while she was blindfolded. A policewoman also gave her electric shocks and pushed her head down a toilet. One police officer was prosecuted but was acquitted - despite forensic and medical reports which all noted bruises on Nazeeha's body, and two reports attributing the bruises to beatings with a long object. The investigation into her torture has now closed because of a "lack of evidence". 6. Hussain Jawad: Human rights activist beaten and threatened with sexual abuse Hussain Jawad, chairman of the European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights, was arrested in February 2015 and questioned about his work with organizations including Amnesty International. He told us that, while in detention, he was beaten, blindfolded, handcuffed, prevented from going to the toilet, and threatened with sexual abuse. He also said he was forced to "confess" to the charges of "receiving money from home and abroad in order to support and finance subversive groups". In December, he was sentenced to two years in prison on the basis of this "confession" and police statements. The authorities dropped the investigation into his alleged torture because of "lack of evidence". 7. Ali Isa al Tajer: Lawyer's brother stripped, beaten and deprived of sleep Ali Isa al Tajer, the brother of a prominent human rights lawyer, was arrested in November 2015. He was locked up with no access to a lawyer for 25 days and eventually charged with "joining an illegal terrorist organization to overthrow the government" and "training individuals on the use of weapons for terrorist purposes". He denied all charges and said he had been tortured to sign a "confession" he could not read as he was blindfolded. He said he had been kept naked for most of the 25 days, threatened with electric shocks, deprived of sleep and beaten all over his body, including his genitals. Ali is still in prison, suffering from the pain caused by his torture. Although his lawyer filed a complaint, none of the people responsible for Ali's torture has been brought to justice. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Iran: Arrest Shows Peril for Dual Nationals Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 15 February 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iran: Arrest Shows Peril for Dual Nationals, 15 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18c884.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Iranian authorities' arrest of a former BBC reporter on February 3, 2016, shows the risk dual nationals face if they choose to live in Iran. The family of Bahman Daroshafahi, who has been working as a translator, has not been able to find out about why he has been arrested, or by whom, or what charges he might be facing. Daroshafahi, a dual British-Iranian national who has worked as a journalist for the BBC Persian television channel and website, returned to Iran in September 2014, after living in the United Kingdom for several years. When he arrived at the airport, the authorities seized his passport. Over the next two months, Intelligence Ministry officials periodically interrogated Daroshafahi about his activities as a journalist, but at the time did not file any charges against him. "Iran's unaccountable security agencies run roughshod over President Hassan Rouhani's promises of a more inclusive Iran," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director. "This pattern of arresting Iranians who were simply excercising their freedoms of expression and association while living abroad seriously undermines the notion that Iran actually welcomes having its own citizens return home." Plainclothes officers from an unidentified security agency arrested Daroshafahi at a friend's house on the morning of February 3, 2015. The officers took Daroshafahi to his parents' house, showed him an arrest warrant, and proceeded to confiscate his digital devices. When his parents asked the officers for an explanation and to identify themselves, they refused to respond. Daroshafahi's friends reported that his Telegram messaging application account was active for several hours after his arrest and, in at least one instance, authorities used the account to engage in conversations with a contact. Daroshafahi's family went to Evin Prison in Tehran on February 6, where they managed to speak with an official on the telephone who confirmed that their son was being held there. The official told them that he would not be able to contact his family for another week. Two days later, Daroshafahi called his parents and told them he was detained in a "cell" and was being interrogated, but provided no further details about his charges or the identities and affiliations of his interrogator(s). Iranians who have acquired dual citizenship or have lived outside the country appear to be particular targets for security forces, Human Rights Watch said. Despite repeated calls by President Rouhani encouraging Iranians in the diaspora to return, authorities have arrested and prosecuted several Iranian citizens who have done so. On October 15, 2015, Iranian authorities arrested Siamak Namazi, a dual Iranian-American citizen and the head of strategic planning at the Dubai-based Crescent Petroleum who was visiting his family in Tehran. He remains in detention, but the charges against him are unclear. Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post journalist who was recently released in a swap of prisoners between Iran and the United States, spent 18 months in a section of Evin Prison controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and was convicted and sentenced to a term unknown even to him. Mostafa Azizi, a documentary filmmaker and Canadian permanent resident, was arrested on February 25, 2015, while visiting his family in Iran. Branch 15 of Tehran's revolutionary court sentenced Azizi, who remains in prison, to eight years for "acting against national security," "insulting the Supreme Leader," and "propaganda against the state." On May 10, 2014, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization arrested Seraj Mirdamadi, who had worked as a journalist for the Radio Zamaneh website when he lived in France. He had returned to Iran in 2013, and had been subjected to several rounds of interrogation before his arrest. On July 27, 2014, Branch 15 of Tehran's revolutionary court sentenced Mirdamadi to six years in prison for "assembly and collusion against national security" and "propaganda against the state" for his journalistic activities. He is in of Evin Prison. Mirdamadi's father told Roozonline website that Judge Abolghasem Salavati at Branch 15 of Tehran's revolutionary court said during the trial that he was going to make an example of Mirdamadi so that others would not think about returning. In April 2014, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization's officers arrested Hossein Nouraninejad, a journalist and member of the Participation Front political party, two months after he returned from Australia, where he had been in graduate school. In June 2014, a revolutionary court sentenced Nournajinejad, who had been released on bail after two months of solitary confinement, to six years in prison on charges of "propaganda against the state" and "assembly and collusion against national security." A court of appeal reduced Nournainejad's sentence to one year. Nouraninejad is in Evin Prison. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch North Korea: End Kim Family's Legacy of Abuse Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 13 February 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, North Korea: End Kim Family's Legacy of Abuse, 13 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18ce94.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. North Korea's decision to celebrate late leader Kim Jong-Il's birthday on February 16, 2016, with a satellite launch should not distract the international community from the regime's extensive abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Instead, the international community and the United Nations should focus on steps to bring the Kim family to account for the grave violations and crimes against humanity they have inflicted on the North Korean people. "No one should forget that dictator Kim Jong-Il presided over one of the world's most repressive and abusive governments in the world, ruling by fear and prioritizing power at all costs, even when his people were starving," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The only worthy commemoration of Kim Jong-Il's legacy would be for his son, current leader Kim Jong-Un, to immediately halt ongoing abuses and provide reparations to all victims." Kim Jong-Il ruled North Korea for 17 years following the 1994 death of his father, Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim Jong-Un succeeded Kim Jong-Il as leader of North Korea after his father's death in 2011. Kim Jong-Il developed and entrenched many of the state policies that have provided the environment for rights abuses, including the "Supreme Leader," or suryoung, system that gives absolute power over the state, party, and military, and the "Military First," or songun, policy, which assured the military the lion's share of the scarce resources and food in the country. Military and government elites were least affected when North Korea's government-run food distribution system collapsed between 1993 and 1995, during what became known as the Arduous March. A still unknown number of North Koreans - estimates range from several hundred thousand to 3.5 million - died of starvation between 1994 and 1998, the most acute phase of the crisis that later became known as the Arduous March. The Military First policy continues under Kim Jong-Un. Kim Jong-Il's rights-abusing legacy also included strictly limiting people's access to information, and restricting freedom of movement despite the deadly onset of starvation during the Arduous March period. Kim Jong-Il also maintained a massive system of political prison camps, or kwanliso, characterized by systemic abuse and deadly conditions, including torture and sexual abuse by guards, near-starvation rations, back-breaking forced labor in dangerous conditions, and executions. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans fled the country during his rule, but many of those who were caught faced abuse, torture, and forced labor in prison camps - leaving the country without official permission is considered a serious crime. Kim Jong-Un has continued his father's policy and further tightened surveillance and control on the border with China. Persons caught trying to flee, particularly those seeking to go to South Korea, and persons aiding them in that flight are subjected to harsh punishments if caught. "In the case of Kim Jong-Un, the fruit has not fallen very far from the tree in terms of repressive rule," said Robertson. "Instead of celebrating his father's birthday, the country should be mourning the human catastrophes the Kim family has spawned." A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council found that the gravity, scale, and nature of violations in North Korea reveal state abuses without parallel in the contemporary world - including extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. The commission concluded that, "the state seeks to ensure that its citizens internalize this guiding ideology by indoctrinating citizens from childhood, suppressing all political and religious expression that questions the official ideology, and tightly controlling citizens' physical movement and their means of communication with each other and with those in other countries." For the second year in a row, the UN Security Council has recognized that in addition to the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, the devastating human rights situation in North Korea constitutes a threat to international peace and security. On December 10, 2015, the UN Security Council formally debated the human rights situation in North Korea as a threat to international peace and security with many states expressing support to refer the leaders responsible for crimes against humanity in North Korea to the International Criminal Court. North Korea's rights record was also strongly condemned by both the UN Human Rights Council in March and the UN General Assembly in December, through resolutions that were adopted by overwhelming majorities. "Now that North Korea's rights-abusing record is in the spotlight of the international community, the world should demand an end to impunity in Pyongyang," Robertson said. "This is the year to bring justice to victims of decades of rights abuses under the rule of Kim Jong-Un and his family." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Thailand: Investigate Attack on 'Sea Gypsies' Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 13 February 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Thailand: Investigate Attack on 'Sea Gypsies', 13 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18d344.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Thai authorities should urgently investigate the violent attacks and forced evictions against indigenous Chao Lay, known as sea gypsies, in Phuket province and bring those responsible to justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The Thai government is obligated under international law to protect the rights of all people within the country. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that on the morning of January 27, 2016, at least 100 men attacked a group of Chao Lay in a dispute over a 33-rai (5 hectares) stretch of land on Rawai Beach on Phuket. The land is owned by Baron World Trade Ltd. and allegedly overlaps with the Chao Lay community's ancestral land. Video footage shows the assailants beating with wooden sticks, punching, and kicking the Chao Lay. The assailants then dumped large rocks from trucks next to Chao Lay sitting together as a human barrier to protect their land. At least 30 Chao Lay were injured in the altercations. The attackers also destroyed Chao Lay fishing equipment. "Chao Lay have been facing eviction from their ancestral land on Rawai Beach with no protection from the government," said Brad Adams, Asia director. "Thai authorities should immediately step in to stop the abuses, prosecute lawbreakers, and resolve this land dispute in a rights-respecting manner." According to a company letter dated December 30, 2015, Chatri Madsatun, a representative of Baron World Trade Ltd., reported to military and civilian authorities that the company has legally obtained title to the land to develop a luxury villa project on Rawai Beach but construction work has been obstructed by Chao Lay who refused to leave the disputed land. Under international standards, notably the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility to ensure that their operations do not contribute to human rights abuses and to remedy harms that may have occurred. Representatives of Baron World Trade Ltd. in Phuket province did not respond to multiple telephone inquiries by Human Rights Watch for their comments on the incident and to describe what steps they may have taken to prevent or address the violence. According to media reports, on January 28, Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan ordered state agencies to resolve this dispute and announced that there must not be any more violence. "The wrongdoers must be arrested," he said. On the same day, the Phuket provincial governor, Chamroen Tipayapongtada, ordered Baron World Trade Ltd. to halt its construction project and remove the rocks blocking the passage in and out of the Chao Lay community. But to date, the local police have made no apparent progress in their investigation of the violence. The Chao Lay filed a complaint with the Justice Ministry on February 11 asking their cases to be handed over to the Department of Special Investigation to ensure impartiality and efficiency. In the report "Stateless At Sea," Human Rights Watch identified forced evictions as a serious threat facing Chao Lay ("people of the sea") - specifically, the Moken and Urak Lawoi clans - in the Rawai Beach community. Chao Lay - who have suffered from decades of poverty, marginalization, and discrimination - generally do not try to assert land ownership rights because most believe that land and water should not be owned or controlled by one person, but rather shared by many. And under Thai law, without citizenship and residency registration, Chao Lay cannot own land, even if their families have lived in Thailand for many generations. Article 10 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People states that "[i]ndigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories." Article 26 provides that governments shall give legal recognition and protection to the lands and resources that they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used. An inquiry by the Justice Ministry's Department of Special Investigation in 2014 found that DNA from bones in the area demonstrated that Chao Lay have been on the disputed land for over 60 years. Successive governments have promised to review the land ownership issue. But there has been no progress to date. For years, Chao Lay have sought in vain for Thai authorities to protect them from eviction. According to media reports, in June 2015, a group of men threatened to shoot Chao Lay if they moved concrete blocks that had been placed on the public road to their village, which overlaps with Baron World Trade Ltd.'s land. Bulai, a Chao Lay woman from the Rawai Beach community, told Human Rights Watch about the eviction threats: There are 14 of us in this house, from age 60 to a 1-year-old. We were all born here in this village. But the document [official land deed] said the land where we have lived for generations belongs to someone else. It said a Thai businessman owns the land. Now he wants to kick us out and sell it. Where are we going to live now? I do not know. One by one, families have been taken to court and told to leave this village because they do not have ownership of the land. We are trying to prove that we came here first and should have the right to stay. We have showed government officials that our ancestors are buried here in this house. Their bones are old and that should be good evidence to back us up. Nim, a Chao Lay man from the same village, said: The landowner wants this land. But we get in his way. So, he filed lawsuits to evict us. The court only looks at documents. The court said, "No document, you will have to leave no matter how long you have lived here." "The Thai government needs to recognize and respect the rights of Chao Lay to live as they always have," Adams said. "Protecting them from abuses, ensuring a path to citizenship and land ownership, and providing access to basic services is the best way forward for these vulnerable indigenous people." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Russia: End Artist's Forced Psychiatric Confinement Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Russia: End Artist's Forced Psychiatric Confinement, 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18dcf4.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Russian authorities should immediately release the performance artist Petr Pavlensky from involuntary confinement in a psychiatric hospital, Human Rights Watch said today. The Russian authorities should protect his right to due process and unhindered access to legal counsel. Pavlensky was arrested on November 9, 2015, after he poured gasoline on and set ablaze the front doors of Russia's Federal Security Service's (FSB) headquarters, which had previously housed the Soviet KGB. Photographs and videos of Pavlensky's actions, which he said were an act of performance art called "A Threat," quickly circulated in Russian and international media and social networks. On January 26, 2016, he was transferred from a pretrial detention facility to the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry to undergo a prolonged, involuntary psychiatric evaluation, his lawyer, Olga Dinze, told Human Rights Watch. "Pavlensky's forced psychiatric confinement is a sinister reminder of the Soviet legacy of punitive psychiatry, and the abuse of psychiatry to silence critics," said Tanya Cooper, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "It violates both his right not to be arbitrarily detained and his right to health." On February 3, 2016, the Tagansky District Court in Moscow extended Pavlensky's pretrial detention on vandalism charges until March 6. Dinze said that Pavlensky was not able to be at his custody hearing because he was in the psychiatric hospital. Russian authorities should immediately release Pavlensky from the hospital and grant him access to his lawyer and family. Pavlensky said that his action on November 9, 2015, was intended to draw public attention to the FSB's misuse of terrorism charges to persecute government critics. He challenged the authorities to charge him with terrorism, but was charged with vandalism motivated by ideological hatred, which carries a punishment of up to three years in prison. Pavlensky had been held since his arrest in Butyrka, a pretrial detention facility in central Moscow. Dinze told Human Rights Watch that she had not seen her client since mid-December because the facility is overcrowded and lawyers must wait for hours, and sometimes days, to see their clients. The day after Pavlensky was transferred to the Serbsky Center, the hospital announced a quarantine due to a flu epidemic in Moscow and other parts of Russia. Dinze told Human Rights Watch that when she asked the hospital administration to allow her to see Pavlensky, the hospital refused, citing the quarantine. Dinze complained to the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Health Ministry, but has not yet received a response. She said that Pavlensky's psychiatric evaluation could take up a month, or even longer. Pavlensky's partner, Oksana Shalygina, told Human Rights Watch that she had not been able to see Pavlensky since a court hearing on December 24. She said that she was not able to visit him regularly before that because an investigator demanded that she testify as a condition for being allowed to visit. Pavlensky voluntarily underwent a psychiatric evaluation at the Serbsky Center about a year ago for another criminal case related to his performance activism, Dinze said. The previous psychiatric evaluation found he had no mental health condition. During the Soviet era, the authorities frequently misused psychiatry to silence critics. The Serbsky Center was the chief institution in the Soviet Union responsible for psychiatric evaluation of people deemed "socially dangerous," and thus doomed thousands of people, including hundreds of dissidents, to indefinite involuntary confinement. Over the last several years, Pavlensky has staged several other anti-government performance acts, through which he protested increasing government restrictions of freedom of expression and freedom of speech. In one of the performances, he nailed his scrotum to the ground of Red Square. For another, he cut of a part of his earlobe while sitting on the Serbsky Center's fence. "Pavlensky is facing the very violations he had denounced in his performance art," Cooper said. "Instead of hiding him in a psychiatric hospital, Russian authorities should ensure that his right to due process is protected and all the safeguards to which he is entitled as a detainee are respected." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Identifying the Islamic State Threat to Georgia Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Author Onnik Krikorian Publication Date 8 February 2016 Citation / Document Symbol CRS Issue 804 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Identifying the Islamic State Threat to Georgia, 8 February 2016, CRS Issue 804, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18e834.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Analysts are warning that a focus on Islamic radicalisation in Georgia's remote Pankisi Gorge may serve to divert attention from extremist threats elsewhere in the country. Several dozen Pankisi residents are known to have travelled to fight with Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. The region, 160 kilometres northeast of the Georgian capital, hit the headlines again last month after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that jihadist training camps were operating there. Lavrov told a televised press conference on January 26 that IS militants were "using this barely-accessible territory to train, rest and replenish their supplies". The previous month, Davit Sanakoev, head of the de-facto government delegation of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, also claimed that IS was operating in Pankisi. The gorge has a largely Muslim population, which includes many ethnic Chechens. Russia was accused of bombing Pankisi, then considered a rebel stronghold, during its Chechnya campaign in 2002. This meant that Lavrov's comments set alarm bells ringing in Tbilisi, which strenuously rebuffed his claims. "I am absolutely sure that our law enforcement agencies fully control the situation in Pankisi," Georgias president Giorgi Margvelashvili told a meeting of the countrys national security council on January 29, according to the Gruziya Online website. The next day, the president travelled to Pankisi together with the American and EU ambassadors and visited its largest settlement, the village of Duisi. US ambassador Ian Kelly stressed that Tbilisi and Washington cooperated very closely in the fight against terrorism. "The prime minister has stated unequivocally that there are no training centres for terrorists here in Pankisi Gorge and you have heard the president repeat that," he told journalists, according to the US embassy website. "I take their words at face value. There are no training camps for terrorists in the Pankisi Gorge." The gorge is inhabited by around 8,000 Kists, a Muslim ethnic minority related to the Chechens of the North Caucasus. There are also Chechen refugees who escaped over the mountains from two wars in their own lands over the last two decades. Some of those fleeing Chechnya brought Islamic fundamentalist ideas with them. This conservative strand is known here as "Wahhabism", a loose term used to describe various forms of Sunni fundamentalist ideology. FIGHTING RADICALISATION Up to 200 Georgian nationals are believed to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with IS. (See also Keeping Islamic State Out of Georgia). While the government says only 30 came from Pankisi, other estimates are higher. Local new source the Information Centre of Khakheti (ICK), for example, put the number from Pankisi alone at 50. Bennett Clifford, a researcher from Wake Forest University in the US who carried out a study in Georgia last year, said the number from Pankisi may be double that figure. At the beginning of January, the Georgian media reported that two Pankisi fighters in their early twenties, Ramzan Pareulidze and Mikhad Turkoshvili, had died in Syria. Both may have served under Tarkhan Batirashvili, also known as Abu Omar al-Shishani, a senior IS commander and Pankisi native. However, Clifford said the focus on Pankisi threatened to divert attention from radicalisation elsewhere in the country. Although the numbers remained small, other Georgian Muslims were also vulnerable, he said, highlighting the southern region of Adjara where he said discriminatory practices against Muslims by Christians could be a push factor towards extremism. The mix of people travelling to Syria and Iraq included "ethnic Georgian Muslims from Adjara, some ethnic Azeri villages, and possibly a few Christians who ended up converting to Islam," he said. "Policymakers must recognise that the issue of violent extremism and radicalisation has metastasised. It is no longer merely a 'Pankisi problem,'" Clifford continued. "The government and local communities need to adopt strategies that deal with the specific problems that individual Muslim communities in Georgia face today." Last November, Georgian IS fighters in an IS online video were identified as coming from Adjara and Guria in western Georgia rather than Pankisi. One of them, Khvicha Gobadze, died fighting in Syria earlier this year. Also in November 2015, Merman Paichadze, a former imam of Tsalka, a town which includes several thousand people resettled from landslides in Adjara, was reported to have left for Syria with his family. Clifford noted that Paichadze was related to Tamaz Chaghalidze, an Adjara native who also left for Syria. In early 2015 Chaghalidze issued online threats against Georgia, writing, "We will raise so much hell over your patriarchy's oppression of Adjara that you robe-wearing rats will regret not being born as reptiles. "I swear on Allah's name that all you kaffirs [unbelievers] will pay with your dirty blood for everything." OTHER ETHNICITIES AT RISK Experts also warn that the country's ethnic Azeri minority is another group at risk from radicalisation. Last month, 23-year-old Fikret Ahmadov was stabbed to death by a Wahhabi convert after giving an interview to Georgian Public TV criticising the spread of radical Islam in his home village of Ponichala. Residents of the majority ethnic Azeri village near Tbilisi demonstrated against the Wahhabism following the murder. Giorgi Bobghiashvili, project associate at the Tbilisi office of the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), has been following the situation there. "In general, the outflow [to extremism] is not as much as in Pankisi or Adjara and Guria, but the Salafi faith is still actively practiced and the younger generation is mainly affected, with the internet as the main source and instrument for recruitment," he told IWPR. The first two women reported to have left for Syria came from the ethnic Azeri village of Karajala in eastern Georgia. "Karajala is the only Sunni Azeri village in Kakheti, while four other villages that rejected extremist ideology were Shia," Bobghiashvili noted. "These incidents are growing in frequency, which points to a growing challenge for extant Muslim institutions in the regions," added Clifford. "In Karajala, there were several incidents of petty thieves having their fingers cut off by Salafists, as this is the punishment suggested by their interpretation of Shariah." According to Clifford, a main driving force behind pan-Islamic movements such as Salafism is an attempt to decouple religious identity from a national one. "For the Georgian Azeri minority, this is expressed through competition between members of the community who favour traditional iterations of Islam such as Shia and Sunni Islam, which are often times highly tied to the Georgian state and its political institutions, versus those who disavow traditionalism on the basis that Georgian national identity is incompatible with Muslim identity," he said. Bobghiashvili said that the spread of such ideology was most likely to happen in communities where religious observance and traditional forms of Islam were weak. Clifford said that this also offered a potential solution to the problem. "It points to the number and relative strength of independent Muslim institutions to limit the effects of sectarian conflict," he explained. "Without a doubt, the Georgian Azeri community is still heavily affected by radicalisation, but the situation could be improved by measures to improve religious education, involving local community leaders in institutional decision-making, and implementing bottom-up approaches to prevent violent extremism and sectarian conflict." Onnik James Krikorian is a journalist and media consultant from the UK. Copyright notice: Institute for War & Peace Reporting Afghan Women Still Bound by Burka Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Author Naqiba Barikzai Publication Date 12 February 2016 Citation / Document Symbol ARR 536 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Afghan Women Still Bound by Burka, 12 February 2016, ARR 536, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18ead4.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Jada-e Leelami, the Street of Sales, lies in one of the busiest parts of Herat city. It's usually packed with shoppers attracted by the promise of cheap clothing, many of them women covered them entirely from head to toe in sky-blue burkas. Shopping wearing such an all-encompassing garment is not easy. Women have to raise their voices, trying to bargain with stallholders they can barely see from behind their veils. Sometimes they ask shopkeepers if they can draw their goods under the burka, so as to inspect them properly. The sellers most often refuse. "Women wearing burkas have stolen goods from my shop or from my neighbours' shops many times," said Jamaluddin, who sells embroidered shirts and other handcrafts. "We called the police, [but] the police then released them again because they are women, and so you find them in the market again the next day, stealing." But many women say that they have no choice but to wear the clumsy, all-enveloping garment. "The burka is like a cage," said Mahjuba, a 42-year-old housewife who never learned to read or write. "I wish that the men [who want to impose it on women] could be trapped in this cage so that they can understand how much we suffer." The image of a woman wearing the voluminous covering came to symbolise Afghanistan under the Taleban. Although women have taken a far greater role in public life since their regime fell in 2001, the burka is still a common sight in many parts of the country. Many argue that the burka is not an Islamic requirement of hijab, or modest dress. They also insist that it has no real root in Afghan culture, where women traditionally covered their hair and shoulders with a large shawl. "I never wear the burka," said Swita Duranai, a 28-year-old businesswomen who owns a jewellery factory in Herat city. "As a Muslim woman, I follow the hijab that the creator talks about in the Quran. I am not obliged to imprison myself in metres of fabric in the name of modesty, because the burka is an imported phenomenon, not part of Afghan culture." Such clothing also served as a form of gender discrimination, she added. "The burka distances women from society and leads to feelings of isolation," she said. "One of the reasons the women of my country lag behind in academic, political, economic and social activities is the wearing of this burka." Malika Rasuli is deputy head of the women's section of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHCR) in the west of the country. She agreed that imposing the burka was an expression of gender violence. "When men force women and girls in their family to wear the burka, this interferes in women's ability to make their own decisions," she said. "In fact, it means that it is men who deny women the right to choose the kind of hijab they want to wear." The robes cover a woman completely and are usually sky-blue, although white, brown and other shades are occasionally seen. Most are made of cheap synthetic material, with a mesh face-covering that allows only a limited view of the outside world. Although the burka is most closely associated with Afghanistan, historians say it is a relatively recent arrival to the country. Nasir Naiz, a cultural expert, said that until the Taleban era, the burka was only one design among many ways women dressed outside the privacy of their own homes. "There have been various trends in how women cover themselves over the last 100 years, and the burka is one of them." Naiz said that there was no definitive information on when and how the burka arrived in the region, but that it had first appeared in Afghanistan around 100 years ago as an import from India where it had been in turn introduced by Arab invaders. King Amanullah, who ruled from 1919 to 1929, shocked the nation by allowing his wife Queen Soraya to remove her veil at a public function. During the 1978 to 1979 Russian occupation, many women and girls in the larger cities discarded the headscarf altogether. TRADITIONS STILL LINGER Some women say that wearing the burka gives them a sense of security. Zia Gul, 41, a resident of the vilage of Imam Shash Nur in Engeel district, said that the burka was not only an Islamic requirement but served as a form of protection. "I believe that if women want to be safe from male harassment and avoid being seen by strangers, they should wear the burka. This act has benefits of both in this world and the hereafter." However Mohammad Ihsan, who has run a shop selling burkas for the last 30 years, said that in his experience women did not wear the restrictive garment of their own volition. "Many times I've witnessed a woman in tears because she did not want to wear the burka, being forced to do so by her husband and her father-in-law," he continued The 62-year-old recalled one particular incident in which a young woman was threatened with violence in his shop. "The father-in-law of a newlywed bride who did not want to wear the burka warned her that he would beat her and told her, 'You will enter our house wearing the burka and your dead body will only leave our house wearing the burka. Forget about wearing a headscarf.'" Religious scholars say that the proper definition of modest dress has been the subject of debate by scholars for centuries. This meant that there was no textual basis for the burka to be the ultimate expression of hijab, explained religious scholar Maulawi Sayed Husain Husaini. "Hijab in Islam means covering the parts of women's bodies which are private; the hands, face, and feet of women are excluded," he continued. Husaini explained that no specific model of hijab was mentioned in the hadith, the sayings of the prophet, or other Islamic texts. Therefore it was wrong to insist that the burka was the version of hijab mandated by Islam. Officials say they are trying to spread awareness of what Islamic teaching really says about modest dress for women, and how alien the burka is to Afghan tradition. Conservative attitudes mean this is difficult, especially in more remote areas. Mahjuba Jamshidi, head of the provincial department of women's affairs, said, "The more people really understand the role of the hijab in Islam, the less men will insist on imposing the burka on women. "This is why we do not stay idle but have tried, with the help of religious scholars, to explain to the public what the Islamic hijab involves." Not all men support the imposition of such a restrictive garment. "Wearing the burka really creates many problems for women," said Sayed Jamal Faqiri, a resident of Herat. "I have seen for myself many times that burka-wearing women aren't able to see ahead of themselves and so fall over while walking." But others, especially in rural areas, remain adamant that the burka was the only acceptable covering for female members of their family. Mula Mohammad, a resident of the village of Bala Bolook in the Guzara district of Herat, was against the idea of women even leaving their homes. "I do not want my women to go outside the house. Their place is the kitchen, not outside," he said, refusing to allow any female members of his household to be interviewed. "I would cut off my women's feet if they ever left the house without wearing the burka." Copyright notice: Institute for War & Peace Reporting Some 80,000 refugees arrive in Europe in first six weeks of 2016 Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Some 80,000 refugees arrive in Europe in first six weeks of 2016, 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c18f574.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Despite rough seas and harsh winter weather, more than 80,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Europe by boat during the first six weeks of 2016, more than in the first four months of 2015, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, announced today. In addition it said more than 400 people had lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean. However, despite the dangers over 2,000 people a day continue to risk their lives and the lives of their children attempting to reach Europe. Comparable figures for 2015 show such numbers only began arriving in July. "The majority of those arriving in January 2016, nearly 58 per cent, were women and children; one in three people arriving to Greece were children as compared to just 1 in 10 in September 2015," UNHCR's Chief spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a press briefing in Geneva. Fleming added that over 91 per cent of those arriving in Greece come from the world's top ten refugee producing countries, including Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. "Winter weather and rough seas have not deterred those desperate enough to make the journey, resulting in near daily shipwrecks," she added. When surveyed upon arrival, most of them cite they had to leave their homeland due to conflict. More than 56 per cent of January arrivals to Greece were from Syria. However, UNHCR stressed that solutions to Europe's situation were not only eminently possible, but had already been agreed by States and now urgently needed to be implemented. Stabilization is essential and something for which there is also strong public demand. "Within the context of the necessary reduction of dangerous sea arrivals, safe access to seek asylum, including through resettlement and humanitarian admission, is a fundamental human right that must be protected and respected," Fleming added. She said that regular pathways to Europe and elsewhere were important for allowing refugees to reach safety without putting their lives in the hands of smugglers and making dangerous sea crossings. "Avenues, such as enhanced resettlement and humanitarian admission, family reunification, private sponsorship, and humanitarian and refugee student/work visas, should be established to ensure that movements are manageable, controlled and coordinated for countries receiving these refugees," Fleming added. Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR's Director Bureau for Europe, added that faced with this situation, UNHCR hoped that EU Member States would implement at a faster pace all EU-wide measures agreed upon in 2015, including the implementation of hotspots and the relocation process for 160,000 people already in Greece and Italy and the EU-Turkey Joint-Action Plan. "If Europe wants to avoid the mess of 2015, it must take action. There is no plan B," he also told the briefing. UNHCR also called for more to be done to reinforce reception capacities at the points of entry to Europe, to allow for the humane and effective accommodation, assistance, registration and security screening of people arriving every day. This is needed to identify those requiring protection, those who should be relocated to other countries within the EU, and those who do not qualify for refugee protection and for whom effective and dignified return mechanisms have to be put in place. Regrettably, the first six weeks of 2016 have also seen multiple developments in Europe suggesting that some countries are prioritizing keeping refugees and migrants out over finding realistic solutions. Since the start of 2016 border control measures have been tightened in many European States. Despite repeated calls by UNHCR to expand legal pathways to allow refugees and asylum seekers to access asylum, many European Member States are in fact reducing the legal avenues available. On the legal front, restrictive measures on family reunification were imposed in January in Denmark, with refugees now only able to apply for their family to join them after three years, instead of one. "Other countries are contemplating similar or even more restrictive legislation at a time when European countries need to improve the legal and secure ways to access family reunion and thus combat smuggling," Fleming added. Recent successive announcements of national measures aimed at trying to appear more unattractive than the neighbouring country only underlines the dire need for an effective comprehensive European response, the problems cannot simply be shifted from one country to another. A race to the bottom helps no-one. UNHCR recognizes the challenges some European countries are facing due to significant arrivals of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. Clearly States have a sovereign right to manage their borders; however, this must be done in accordance with national, EU and international law. The possible damaging impact of individual measures and practices on the rights and lives of refugees has to be considered. Increasing acts of violence and prejudice have jeopardized the safety and well-being of refugees and asylum seekers across Europe. Fuelled by xenophobia and propaganda campaigns based on fear, refugee families, homes and places of worship are being targeted with hate crimes varying from physical attacks, vandalism, arson, and even more sinister incidents such as one where a mosque had blood thrown on its walls and a pig's head left at its door. Some countries may instate policies to seize money and valuables from some asylum seekers with the purported aim of reducing costs of social assistance. Such measures carry enormous costs of their own, and have the effect of pandering to fear and discrimination. Quick and thorough support mechanisms will be crucial for integrating people in countries receiving the highest number of refugees, including Germany and Sweden, to help dispel the fear and xenophobia and reinstate the common European principles of dignity, solidarity and human rights that the European Union was founded upon. Jonathan Clayton, Geneva RED WING, Minn. -- Xcel Energy is awaiting word from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to proceed with an 18-month study on the future of Prairie Island nuclear plant and the economics of potentially shutting down the two-reactor facility before its operating license expires in 2034. Though Xcel Energy believes the plant is a cost-effective part of its goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the utility company is open to analyzing options for early decommissioning in response to higher-than-expected capital expenditures forecasted in the next two decades, according to a Jan. 29 filing with the PUC. The Prairie Island plant provides good economic value to our customers, which we just detailed in our latest filing to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, according to an email statement Friday by Prairie Island Site Vice President Kevin Davison. We look forward to working with the commission, local communities and other stakeholders to illustrate the value the plant brings to Red Wing, the state of Minnesota and electric customers across the upper Midwest. The filing, a supplement to Xcel Energys 2016-2030 Upper Midwest Resource Plan, states the company anticipates a $175 million increase in expenditures in the next five years over what was predicted in 2012, as well as increases of $600 million to $900 million from 2021 through 2034. The driving costs are attributed to new requirements following the 2011 Diiachi nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, and a general increase in regulations by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. However, the increases are largely offset by lower-than-predicted operating and maintenance costs for the plant, Xcel Energy noted. The company expects to spend $1 billion less in fixed costs at Prairie Island through 2034. A decision on the plants future could be reached as early as 2018 should the company move forward with its analysis. Retiring the plant early would require an additional seven years of shutdown and decommissioning planning, including steps to make up for the loss of energy generation, Xcel Energy says. Prairie Island nuclear plant has been in operation for more than 40 years. The NRC renewed Xcel Energys license in 2011 to operate its two reactors until 2033/2034. Recent upgrades at the plant have included new generators and a step up transformer. Xcel Energy proposes a 60 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 in part through modernization, additional renewable energy generation and closing two coal units at its Sherco Generating Station located northwest of the Twin Cities. The plan also calls for continued operation of its Minnesota nuclear units including the Monticello nuclear plant through the 2020s. The facilities are viewed as a bridge to provide reliable energy generation until battery technology improves and renewable energy costs decline. The Prairie Island and Monticello plants provide nearly 30 percent of electricity used by Xcel Energys upper Midwest customers. Together they employ close to 1,400 full-time workers and led to $35 million in state and local taxes being paid last year, according to Xcel Energy. Iran: Arbitrary detention of opposition leaders must end Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 12 February 2016 Cite as Article 19, Iran: Arbitrary detention of opposition leaders must end, 12 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56c190054.html [accessed 21 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. ARTICLE 19 demands that the Iranian authorities end the arbitrary detention of leading opposition figures. Zahra Rahnavard, and former presidential candidates, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and Mehdi Karoubi have been under house arrest since 14 February 2011. All three were involved in peaceful protests that emerged after the disputed presidential election results of June 2009 and also had called for rallies in Iran in solidarity with pro-democracy protests across the Arab world. "Arbitrary detention is never justified. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karoubi have now spent five years under house arrest. Over three years ago, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention formally recognised their detention as arbitrary. There is no doubt that their continued detention flagrantly contravenes Iranian and international law", said Thomas Hughes, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19. Mousavi, Rahnavard, and Karoubi have never received any formal explanation by the authorities regarding the basis of their detention, and have been consistently denied any prospect of a fair trial. Over the past five years, they have been allowed only limited contact with their close family members. In 2013, Hassan Rouhani won the presidential election following a campaign which promised to end the practice of the house arrest of opposition leaders. Rouhani also made commitments to work toward the removal of economic sanctions. While the Iranian people are celebrating the relieving of sanctions as a result of successful nuclear negotiations, Rouhani's promises regarding ceasing the practice of detaining opposition activists under house remain unfulfilled. "Many around the world have celebrated the historic nuclear deal with Iran and the prisoner exchange just last month. Now it is time for Iran to start the process of domestic reconciliation by fixing the broken contract between State and society, after the brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests of 2009", Thomas Hughes added. ARTICLE 19 urges President Hasan Rouhani to ensure the immediate release Karoubi, Mousavi, and Rahnavard. ARTICLE 19 also calls for the release of those journalists, artists, and activists who remain detained for legitimately exercising their right to free expression, including Hadi Heydari, Saeed Razavi Faghih, Mahvash Sabet, Ehsan Mazandarani, Hossein Ronaghi, Saeed Malekpour, Atena Faraghdani, Nargess Mohammadi, Bahareh Hedayat, Atena Daemi, Mohammad-Reza Alipayam, Mostafa Azizi, and Bahman Daroshafaei. Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19 by BIS Correspondent PUNE, FEB 15, 2016: On the successful completion of the three- month Vocational Education and Training (VET) programme, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Pune - in collaboration with Don Bosco Private Industrial Technical Training Institute, Chinchwad - organised a short Felicitation programme on February 12. Several dignitaries from the central government and representatives from companies of the candidates were present at the ceremony. The aim of the Indo-German Vocational Education and Training (VETnet) initiative is to provide both countries with a win-win situation in workforce employment. German companies in India can meet their need for qualified workers and establish themselves effectively in a highly competitive market like India; while Indian workforce profits from the expert know- how of German vocational education and training. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and supported by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). The event began with a welcome note by Marcus Parkhe, from the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, who summarised the work done by the staff and students in the past three months. Judith Ever and Hartmut Stichel, from the same organisation, were also present. Stichel spoke of his experience working at Don Bosco. The staff and students in turn bid him a farewell as he goes back to Germany. The institution also gifted him a golden long-handled shoe horn. Rajesh Agrawal, Joint Secretary & CVO Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, highlighted the role played by IGCC, Don Bosco and German Government in promotion of vocational education and training among Indian students. The representatives of the companies were happy with the performance of their employees. "Our goal is to educate qualified talent for our production plant in Ranjangaon. That is why we have gotten involved with the project VETnet by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, IGCC and are happy with what we see," Heinrich Brullau, Chief Operating Officer of Schmersal India Pvt Ltd, said. To highlight the achievements of the training programme, a discussion was held between Heinrich Brullau, Chief Operating Officer of Schmersal India Pvt Ltd, Ever, Stichel, Parkhe, VK Shukla - the Joint Director of Training from Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship and Agrawal. Several issues were raised during the discussion. Among those were, the fact that apprentices would emerge as role models for the future generations and the possibility of the Government of India providing accreditation to the VETnet project. It was also highlighted that authorities would ensure acceptability and continuity of the programme and that the ITI negative marking system would be cancelled. Finally, the requirement of an increased investment by the German government, to make it a successful venture, was discussed. It was also stressed that support was required from the Government of India for such future endeavours. MONDAY Square dance workshop TYE The Key City Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel. Claudie C. Royal banquet The annual Claudie C. Royal will begin at 7 p.m. at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Admission is free. Other ... AARP, 10 a.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center Room B. Cancer Services Network's Auxiliary meeting, 10:30 a.m., 100 Chestnut St., Suite 100. 325-672-0040. Overeaters Anonymous, noon, Hinds Square Building, 100 Chestnut St., Room 112. Schizophrenia Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300. Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., Brookshires, Comanche. Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St. Anorexics Bulimics Anonymous, 6 p.m., Shades of Hope, 402A Mulberry St., Buffalo Gap. 800-588-4673. De Leon 4-H Club, 6:30 p.m., De Leon City Hall. Central Texas Gem & Mineral Society of Abilene, 7 p.m., 7607 Highway 277 South. 325-692-0063. Abilene Toastmaster's Club 1071, 7 p.m., Conference Center, Texas State Technical College, 650 E. Highway 80. 325-692-7325 or abilene.toastmastersclubs.org. Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007. Mid-City Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First Christian Church. 325-670-4304. Memory Men (4-part a cappella singing), 7 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church, 1165 Minter Lane. Park on east side, enter through kitchen. 325-676-SING. Those Left To Cope, 7-8:30 p.m., First Baptist Church Ministry of Counseling and Enrichment, 1502 N. First St. Abilene Community Band rehearsal, 7:30 p.m., Bynum Band Hall, McMurry University. 325-232-7383. South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave. Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Avoca United Methodist Church. 325-773-2611. Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Group. 325-676-1400. TUESDAY Women's luncheon A Christian Women's Connection luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd. Carole Chapel will be the guest speaker. Tickets are $16. For more information, contact 325-370-6567 or AbileneCWC@aol.com. Business workshop Texas Tech Small Business Development Center Abilene will present a franchising panel workshop from 6-8 p.m. in the Texas Tech Training Center, 749 Gateway St., Suite 301. Space is limited. To make a reservation, call 325-670-0300. Square dance workshop TYE The Wagon Wheel Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel. Religion discussion The Abilene Interfaith Council will present "How Do You View Islam?" at 7 p.m. at First Central Presbyterian Church, 400 Orange St. Abdulhakim Mohamed will be the presenter. For more information, call 325-692-3353. Chamber music A production of the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Van Ellis Theatre at Hardin-Simmons University. Admission is $10 for adults; $7 for military, seniors and students; and $5 for HSU faculty, staff and students. Other ... Mission on the Move Soup Kitchen, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Southwest Drive Community United Methodist Church, 3025 Southwest Dr. Abilene Southwest Rotary Club, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. High Noon Al-Anon, noon, Southern Hills Church of Christ, 3666 Buffalo Gap Road (south end; follow the yellow signs). Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., Cash Saver, Hamlin. Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535. Dystonia Support Group, 5:15-6:15 p.m., Not Without Us, 3301 N. First St. Suite 117. Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), 5:30 p.m., Brook Hollow Christian Church, 2310 S. Willis St. 325-232-7444. Legacies Al-Anon Family Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-280-7584. Family (of Mental Health Consumers) Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Mental Health Association in Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300. MHAA Bipolar/Depression Peer Support Group, 6-8 p.m., Ministry of Counseling & Enrichment, 1502 N. First St. 325-673-2300. Free certified nurturing parent class (pregnancy to toddler), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398. Abilene Star Chorus, 6:15 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1333 N. Third St. 325-829-1470. Overeaters Anonymous, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Exodus Metropolitan Community Church, 1933 S. 27th St. Family Support Group for parents with special needs children, 6:30-7:30 p.m., West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3500. Alzheimer's Association North Central Texas Chapter, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Chisholm Place, 1450 E. N. 10th St. 325-672-2907. Abilene Area Aggie Moms' Club, 6:45 p.m., Coldwell Banker Panian & Mash, 2500 S. Willis St. Al-Anon Parents Group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. Use Church Street entrance. Al-Anon, 7 p.m., Doug Meinzer Activity Center, Knox City. 940-658-3926. Brigadier General John Sayles Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 366, 7 p.m., American Legion Building, 302 E.S. 11th St. Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 7-8:30 p.m., 2043 N. Second St. Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St. WEDNESDAY Free tax assistance The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Children's program COMANCHE A program about birds for children age 3-5 will be presented from 10-11 a.m. at Comanche Public Library. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Admission is free. Art film A showing of the art documentary "Robert Motherwell and the New York School, Storming the Citadel" will begin at noon at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress St. A discussion will follow. Participants are invited to bring a lunch. Candidate forum COMANCHE The Comanche County Law Enforcement Association will conduct a candidate forum at 7 p.m. at the Comanche Community Center. A dinner will be served. Participants are encouraged to bring a side dish or dessert. Ubuntu lecture As a part of the Ubuntu lecture series, Shannon Sedgwick Davis will give a presentation, "Justice for Kony's LRA: Seeking Peace in Central Africa," at 7 p.m. in Matthews Auditorium at McMurry University. Admission is free. 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' A production of the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Van Ellis Theatre at Hardin-Simmons University. Admission is $10 for adults; $7 for military, seniors and students; and $5 for HSU faculty, staff and students. Other ... Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St. Blood drive, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m, First Financial Bank, 400 Pine St. Abilene Cactus Lions Club, 11:45 a.m., Cotton Patch Cafe, 3302 S. Clack St. Abilene Wednesday Rotary Club, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway. $12 for lunch. Jo Ann Wilson, 325-677-6815. Kiwanis Club of Abilene, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd. Clearly Speaking Toastmaster Club, noon, Westgate Church of Christ, 402 S. Pioneer Drive. 325-795-5570. Alzheimer's Association Caregiver Support Group, 2-3 p.m., Western Hills Healthcare Residence, Comanche. Alzheimer's disease support group, 5:15 p.m., Cedar Crest Care Center, 1901 W. Elliott, Breckenridge. Assists those who have a family member with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. 1-800-272-3900 or 254-559-3302. Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St. Veterans Peer Support Group, 6 p.m., 765 Orange St. 325-670-4818. Mid-week Al-Anon Family Group, 6-7 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-698-4995. Advanced Square Dancing, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wagon Wheel. Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007. DivorceCare support group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. 325-691-4200. THURSDAY Free tax assistance The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Mac class The MacUser Group will conduct a free Mac computer class at 1 p.m. at the Mockingbird Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1326 N. Mockingbird Lane. For more information, call 325-692-1087. Ubuntu lecture As a part of the Ubuntu lecture series, Shannon Sedgwick Davis will give a presentation, "Global Leaders and the Servant Leadership Model," at 7 p.m. in Matthews Auditorium at McMurry University. Admission is free. 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' A production of the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Van Ellis Theatre at Hardin-Simmons University. Admission is $10 for adults; $7 for military, seniors and students; and $5 for HSU faculty, staff and students. 'Horrid Massacre in Boston' A production of "Horrid Massacre in Boston" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in the Amy Graves Ryan Fine Arts Center at McMurry University. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for McMurry faculty, staff and students. For more information, call 325-793-3889. Other ... Blood drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Baird High School. Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300. Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road. Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092. Retired Military Wives Club social meeting, 1 p.m., Rose Park Senior Activity Center, 2625 South Seventh St. 325-677-9656 or 325-793-1490. Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300. Sagerton Hobby Club, 2 p.m. Sagerton Community Center. Abilene 42 Club, 6 p.m., Rose Park Senior Center. Teen Recovery Group, 6-7 p.m., Mission Abilene, 3001 N. Third St. Free certified nurturing parent class (all ages), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398. Take Off Pounds Sensibly, 6:30 p.m. Brook Hollow Christian Church. Weigh-in begins at 5:30 p.m. 325-665-5052. Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 6:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St. Gambler's Anonymous, 6:30 p.m., Unity Spiritual Living Center, 2842 Barrow St. 325-338-2575. Round Dancing, 7 p.m., Wagon Wheel. 325-829-1517. South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave. Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St. Claudie C. Royal banquet The annual banquet in honor of Claudie C. Royal will begin at 7 p.m. Monday at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Free admission. Religion discussion The Abilene Interfaith Council will present "How Do You View Islam?" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at First Central Presbyterian Church, 400 Orange St. Abdulhakim Mohamed will be the presenter. For more information, call 325-692-3353. 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' A production of the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, in the Van Ellis Theatre at Hardin-Simmons University. Admission is $10 for adults; $7 for military, seniors and students; and $5 for HSU faculty, staff and students. Art film A showing of the art documentary "Robert Motherwell and the New York School: Storming the Citadel" will begin at noon Wednesday at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress St. A discussion will follow. Participants are invited to bring a lunch. Go Red for Women The Abilene Go Red for Women Luncheon will be presented from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Trudi Spring and Abby Vasek will be the keynote speakers. Tickets are $40. Proceeds go to research and education on cardiovascular disease and stroke. For tickets, go to AbileneGoRed.heart.org. 'Laughter on the 23rd Floor' A production of "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Fulks Theatre at Abilene Christian University. Tickets are $15. For more information, go to www.acu.edu/theatre. Auto racing The Ice Breaker races will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 7 p.m. Saturday at Abilene Speedway, 6825 W. Highway 80. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for military, $5 for children ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and younger. For more information, go to www.abilenespeedway.com. Sing Song The 60th annual Abilene Christian University Sing Song will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday and at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday in Moody Coliseum on campus. For tickets, go to www.acu.edu/singsong. Roadshow The 2 Hip Chicks Roadshow will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. More than 100 vendors will be present. Admission is $4. Dog parade The Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras Dog Parade will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Camp Barkeley at Nelson Park, 2070 Zoo Lane. Free admission. Fur Ball The annual Fur Ball dinner and dance fundraiser will take place from 7-10 p.m. Saturday at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Tom and Lisa Perini will cater the dinner, with a buffet for dogs presented by Pam's Pets. The Abilene Community Band will perform. Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children 12 and younger. Dogs receive free admission. Proceeds will go to Rescue the Animals, SPCA. For tickets, call 325-698-7722. Philharmonic concert The Abilene Philharmonic will present "Pops II Easy to Love" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. For tickets, or for more information, go to www.abilenephilharmonic.org. Tax assistance at the library Through April 15, the AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St., and Fridays and Saturdays at the Mockingbird Branch, 1326 N. Mockingbird Lane. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited; help will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn about college preparation McMurry University will host The College PASS from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The PASS (Prepare, Apply, Select, and Succeed) will provide information about college preparation and financial aid for students and families. The free event is open to all. Guests are not required to apply to McMurry to participate. Registration deadline is Monday. Guest speakers will cover topics ranging from preparing students for college in their junior year of high school; how to fund higher education; preparing your taxes for college reporting; insurance and medical concerns; and more. From 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., businesses, organizations and other universities will be available to visit with College PASS participants and their families. For more information, contact Lori Herrick, financial aid director at McMurry, at 325-793-4978 or herrick.lori@mcm.edu. Abilene Interfaith Council Abilene Interfaith Council will present 'How Do You View Islam?' at 7 p.m. Tuesday at First Central Presbyterian Church, 400 Orange St., in the fellowship hall on the second floor (no elevator). Abdulhakim Mohamed, respected imam and international scholar, will discuss proper views of Islam. All Big Country residents are welcome. For more information, call 325-692-3353. Adopt a new sweetheart The Abilene Animal Shelter, 925 South 25th St. is offering sweetheart adoption specials in February. All currently spayed and neutered animals may be adopted for $20. Animals that have not been spayed or neutered may be adopted with a $20 discount, along with a $20 rebate from Rescue the Animals, SPCA. For more information, call 325-698-0085. This also is 'Feed the Frisky' month at the shelter. All of the food at the shelter is donated, and it has more animals than ever. Donations are urgently needed. Mexican dinner fundraiser The Day Nursery of Abilene's 23rd annual Mexican Dinner fundraiser will take place from 5-8 p.m. March 5 at Abilene High School's west cafeteria. Enchiladas, rice, beans, salad, chips (from Taco Bueno) and iced tea will be served. Ballet Folklorico will perform at 6 p.m. Tickets for adults cost $7 and can be purchased in advance or at the door. Children's tickets are $4 and will be sold only at the door. Desserts and takeout meals also will be available. For tickets, or for more information, visit www.daynurseryabilene.org; call 325-673-1110; or contact one of the organization's child care centers: 650 Cedar St. at 325-670-0002; 3434 Sherry Lane at 325-673-1781; or 1442 Vine St. at 325-672-7351. Mail information to Jan Woodward in care of 'Around Town,' Abilene Reporter-News, P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX 79604. Email jan.woodward@reporternews.com or fax information to 325-670-5242. Deadline for submission is noon seven working days before publication. BROWNWOOD Ever turn a corner and walk into a food fight? You've got no idea how it started, all you know is what you see happening before you and if you're smart, you'll stay out of it. That's sort of how I found myself during a portion of a candidate forum Feb. 4 at Victory Life Church. It was sponsored by the Brown County Republican and the Pecan Valley and Brown County Republican Women's clubs and featured the local ballot candidates for the March 1 primary election. It was the forum for State Senate District 24 that held my interest, if for no other reason than whomever wins that primary would be representing nearly half of the Big Country. It was also, aside from the heated District Attorney segment, the one where things started to get hot. Who are the candidates? Well, if you'd read your Sunday Reporter-News you'd know, but I'll recap. They are Jon Cobb, a businessman from Bee Cave; physician Dawn Buckingham of Lakeway; Abilene's own and District 71 State Representative Susan King; Reed Williams a Burnet County businessman; Brent Mayes of Fredericksburg, also a physician; and Ryan Downton, an attorney and businessman who was unable to attend the forum. The first question posed by moderator Rick Phelps set the tone for the next near-hour: Have you ever donated to a Democrat? Cobb had first bat at that one and he opened with a story about his grandmother's advice to him on her deathbed. "She grabbed me by the hand before I walked out of the room and she said, 'Son I want you to do me a favor,'" he recalled. "What's that, Maw-Maw?" "I want you to give me your word that you'll never vote for a Democrat." Then he followed that with "something very personal." "In 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president, it was the first day of my life that I was glad that my grandfather was dead," he said. "I was glad that the man didn't have to see someone get elected who hates this country." I sensed a strategy here. Cobb launched into a recap of a mailer he sent out that accuses Buckingham of donating to Democratic candidates. "Let me tell you a story; in 2010, Donna Howard, who is the most-liberal, drive-thru abortionist, gun-grabbing person in the state of Texas, won an election by four votes over a man named Dan Neil," he said. "Dr. Buckingham donated money to Donna Howard in that election cycle." Technically, it was 16 votes that won Howard two more years in House District 48 in western Travis County during 2010. "Folks, what you just saw are distraction tactics from a desperate campaign, who wants to throw lies and slander me because they can't compete with my conservative credentials," responded Buckingham. "I look forward to getting back to the issues that really matter in this race." Not quite yet, however. "But while we're on it, I don't have people who have thrown tens of thousands of dollars at the Democratic National Committee," she said. "But Jon gets up, speaks out of both sides of his mouth." The bell for time's-up dinged and I wondered if everyone felt as dizzy as me. I didn't get the mailer, or if I did my two-year old found it first. I felt like a newbie at a Grateful Dead concert wondering if I was supposed to like this or not. I looked around, a few other faces held the same expression as mine. Williams, apparently the other candidate who committed the same sin, took his turn. For him, it all had to do with San Antonio City Council, where he served two terms. But maybe it's a little unfair to criticize donating to a city council race, which is supposed to be nonpartisan. Even after the forum, Cobb understood Williams' reasoning. Williams had purchased a second home in San Antonio, an area that had been annexed by the city recently but had inadequate fire protection. During a garage fire, Williams said the fire engine responsible for their neighborhood was stuck on a freeway blocking traffic for a wreck. "They wouldn't let them dispatch over to put out a garage fire, so the whole house burned down," he said later. "I said I'll run and that we'll get this straight." "And you bet; I gave money to Democrats, I gave money to Republicans, and if I could have found Libertarians, I would have given money to them too," Williams admitted, sparking laughter in the audience. "I didn't care; all my people wanted was fire protection service, and I got them a fire station. "I didn't do anything illegal, I just got them what the needed." King and Mayes both said they'd never donated to a Democrat, with King adding she rarely donates to political candidates. "I've actually given back money people have tried to give me in an election cycle," she said. "This is the most conservative senate district in the state of Texas," Mayes said. "The problem is that some folks didn't think ahead that it was going to come back and bite them in the butt when they said they wanted to be the next senator." After it was over, I followed up with Cobb, Williams and Buckingham but didn't really learn any more than what they'd already said on stage. The tenor of the discussion lingered with three retired teachers I was able to corner at the end of the night. I asked them what they thought about the whole exchange. "All the candidates were very qualified," answered a cautious Betty Beyer. "I don't think I want to answer that," laughed Molly Embrey. "Well, you hear about dirty politics. I think we saw some," added Jeannette Chesser. "That was an eye-opener, it really was." Snyder Police Chief Terry Luecke said Monday his department forwarded its investigation into two individuals connected with the alleged home invasion deaths of two men last month to the Scurry County District Attorney's Office late last week. Juan Barron, 24, of Arizona, and Snyder resident Nicole Dabney, 28, have been charged with tampering with evidence in connection with the deaths. Police said the bodies and other things had been 'moved and altered.' Luecke said it will be up to the DA's office to review and apply any additional charges. Joshua David Hoover, 25, of Snyder, died of 'gunshot wounds of the head and chest,' and Benjamyn Leslee Bruns, 29, of Victoria, died from a gunshot wound to the head during the incident reported Jan. 24 in the 2100 block of Avenue Z in Snyder, according to the preliminary autopsy reports released by Scurry County Justice of the Peace Norma Martinez. The reports also described the deaths as homicides. Hoover suffered 'sharp-force injuries' to his head and torso, and Bruns suffered multiple sharp-force injuries to the head, neck and extremities. Investigators, which included the Texas Rangers, recovered marijuana, one handgun and three knives. Twitter: ARN_Titus A look at elections in Taylor County and beyond Authorities have arrested two men in connection with the 2013 death of 25-year-old Justin Vaughn in the 200 block of 36th Street in Snyder, according to a Snyder Police Department media release on Monday. According to Reporter-News archives, Vaughn was apparently shot on March 13. Christopher Devon Boyd, 21, and Anthony Gutierrez, 26, are in custody and charged with capital murder. Authorities apprehended Boyd of Roscoe at about 5:17 p.m. Thursday in Nolan County. He is currently in Scurry County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond. Law enforcement officers arrested Gutierrez of Sweetwater on Friday. He is currently in Nolan County Jail without a set bond. The police department and Texas Rangers have been investigating the death as a homicide. According to the release by Snyder PD, other individuals are connected with the case but no information is being released 'as to not jeopardize the investigation or hinder locating the other parties identified in this case.' Twitter: ARN_Titus SHARE Beverly Tarpley By Staff Report Beverly Tarpley, widow of former Abilene Reporter-News Editor Dick Tarpley, died Sunday morning at an Abilene hospital. She was 85 years old. Tarpley was a distinguised attorney, having served as chair of the Texas Board of Law Examiners for many years, the first woman president of the Abilene Bar Association and council chair of the American Bar Association's section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. She was the first female Texas lawyer to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Funeral arrangements are pending with Hamil Family Funeral Home. Joel Lee Wilks Date of Birth: June 7, 1970 Family: Wife, Ramie Wrenn Wilks; seven-year-old son. Education: Cooper High School, 1988, Bachelor of Science from East Texas State University, 1993; Texas Tech University School of Law, 1998 Occupation: Assistant Criminal District Attorney for Taylor County Texas Community Service: Board of directors for Meals on Wheels What are your qualifications to be district attorney? Just as James Eidson did, I started at the DA's office right out of law school. I have held every position in the office, from CPS attorney to Felony Chief. I have practiced law in every court in Taylor County. I have tried hundreds of cases, including high profile cases garnering national attention. I am already serving as a mentor to the younger prosecutors, who are seeking leadership from someone who has experience in their courtrooms. Law Enforcement, CPS, and other community members seek me out for leadership in Mr. Eidson's absence. My leadership skills are proven through my trial work, managing my court, dockets, witness scheduling, and processing intake. I am experienced in dealing with high stress situations, where calm and direct leadership is essential. James Eidson has been DA for many years. What would you change, if anything, in the way the office runs? Over the past 28 years technology has evolved in ways that increase efficiency and we need to embrace those advances. As the DA's office continues to grow, I believe that we have a need to create specialized divisions. Most importantly, a family violence section where we will have prosecutors with specific training in those issues. Currently cases are assigned to individual prosecutors; however, each felony court has two prosecutors assigned to that court. By assigning cases to the court team, rather than to an individual prosecutor, we increase the availability of people to handle the case. As Taylor County has grown, we have increased the number of law enforcement, which has also increased the number of cases being filed. The DA's office also needs to grow to keep up with these demands, especially in our misdemeanor department. What things would you take into consideration when deciding whether to take a case to trial or strike a plea bargain? First we must look at the evidence and determine the probability of a jury returning a guilty verdict. This should be balanced with what punishment the defendant would receive from either the judge or the jury, as we have to remember it is the defendant's choice who sets punishment. Other factors to consider include criminal history, future danger to the community, justice to the victims, victims' wishes and the probability of the defendant being a successful citizen in the future. The most important consideration is to seek justice first. Are cases moving through the court system in a timely manner? Most cases move through the court system in an appropriately timely manner. Justice should be swift but justice also takes time. In many cases, there are scientific tests and investigations that needs to be done prior to trial. In cases where there are victims of physical harm, there needs to be time for the prosecutor and victim to meet so the victim's wishes can be taken into consideration. One hindrance to speedy trial is when a defendant bonds out on a pending case and then commits a new crime. This delays our system because the new case often has to wait indictment, before we can proceed with the previous case. Our office needs to be more efficient is using tools available, such as motions to increase bond or motions to deny bond, whenever a criminal commits a new crime while out on bond. What are other issues facing the DA's office and how would you address them? Taylor County is a wonderful community, where my wife and I grew up and where we choose to rear our child. Many people come from other areas, to adopt our community as their home. However, as the population of Taylor County continues to grow, so does its criminal element. The size of our office eventually needs to match the growth of the county and of law enforcement. In the near future, the age a person is legally considered an adult is expected to be raised to at least 18, as it is currently the age of 17 in Texas. This increase will impact our juvenile justice system and we will need to realign our resources to handle these additional juvenile cases. We need to remove violent offenders from the community, while encouraging nonviolent offenders to participate in drug treatment and other community based programs. Programs such as drug, veterans, and mental health courts, that are being utilized to great success in other counties need to be explored. We must send a message to the criminal element that violent offenses and repeated offenses will not be tolerated, while also offering compassion to those who make one time, nonviolent bad choices. The Abilene Professional Fire Fighters Association endorsed three Republican candidates at a Monday morning news conference at Everman Park. The APFFA announced its support of Michael Bob Starr (Texas 19th District U.S. Representative candidate), retired Abilene firefighter Brian Scalf (Texas 71st District House candidate) and Erica Hall (Taylor County Court-at-Law No. 2 judge candidate). "As far as state rep goes, we got a lot of propositions on the table, as far as pensions go," Ben Cotton, vice president of the APFFA, said. "There's proposition 3, being able to do funds through direct deposit and those sorts of things through our paycheck. We want to hold on to our pensions as best we can." Hall is in the judicial race with Kevin Willhelm and Harriett Haag. "She knew that we had backed Sam Carroll in the past and she came in, asking if we'd endorse her on this one," he said. "We hadn't had anyone else request our endorsement within the parameters of time we'd given for that, so we sat down and talked to her. And she had a lot of good things to say." Carroll's bench became open when he passed away following a biking accident in the summer. The APFFA has a political action committee consists of seven members, which meets with candidates and asks them questions pertinent to their career, according Jess Madison, a PAC member. After the meetings, Madison said the committee votes to endorse candidates. "Depending on what they're for, we look at how their position is going to affect our position and how they feel about our job related issues," the 27-year APFFA member told the Reporter-News. "Bob Starr is the only candidate in that (congressional) election who's based from Abilene and definitely seemed to have Abilene views in mind, so he's probably going to be the best at protecting our positions." The Republican primary is March 1. Twitter: ARN_Titus Today in history: On Feb. 15, 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak is shot by Giuseppe Zangara in Miami, Florida. Zangara was not trying to shoot Cermak, but his shots fired as President-elect Franklin Roosevelt missed. Cermak died from his wounds March 6. Zangara pleaded guilty and died in the electric chair March 20, a swift result that would not be possible today. Appeals to keep those in prison alive started to become common in the 1950s. Now, it takes years for an execution to be carried out. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... China's official media has hit out at moves by U.S. politicians to rename the street in Washington where its embassy is located after jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, accusing the Senate of "provoking" Beijing. Last Friday, the Senate unanimously passed legislation to rename the plaza in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington "Liu Xiaobo Plaza." "Detained in 2008, Dr. Liu continues to be unjustly imprisoned under the authority of [Chinese] President Xi Jinping," the Senate said in a news release after the vote. The bill is now headed to the House of Representatives for consideration, it said. The nationalist tabloid Global Times, which has close ties to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, said the move was "rash" and "provocative." "The apparently provocative move intends to outrage and unsettle China, the Global Times said in an editorial on Sunday. "But this is no big deal. In addition to anger, it will enable us to learn more about the U.S. from another perspective: The U.S. has big problems in abiding by the rules and keeping self-respect and its Congress acts so rashly," it said. Senate Bill 2451 was authored by Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and is intended to honor Liu, who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for "incitement to subvert state power." Liu, 60, is unlikely to qualify for parole, because he has never admitted to committing any crime. Since his Nobel prize was announced in 2010 to the fury of Beijing, Liu's wife Liu Xia has remained under house arrest and close police surveillance at the couple's home. Reminder to 're-think this issue' Independent writer Liu Di, who is a close friend of the Lius, welcomed the move. "I very much welcome this decision by the U.S. Senate, because it [could mean] that they see Liu Xiaobo's name every time they get a letter, which will act as a reminder to the Chinese government to re-think this issue," Liu Di said. "I hope this would be helpful, although I couldn't rule out the possibility that the opposite would be true," she said. "But I think it could have the effect of improving their circumstances." She said it was unclear how the move would affect Liu Xia, however. "What happens to Liu Xia largely depends on what happens to Liu Xiaobo," Liu Di said. "And even if they released Liu Xiaobo, they could still keep them under house arrest." Infuriate Beijing further Hong Kong activist Richard Choi, of the the Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, said any change of the embassy's address would likely infuriate Beijing further. "It's hard to say how a name change [if it happened] would affect Liu Xia, but some international attention and concern is always better than no international attention or concern, where Chinese right activists are concerned," Choi said. "Liu Xia has been cruelly treated over the past few years, and ... more focus on her case will, I think, definitely have a positive effect," he said. A literary critic and former professor, Liu was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" in a decision that infuriated Beijing, which says he has broken Chinese law. He has been held since 2008 after helping to draft Charter 08, a manifesto calling for sweeping changes in China's government that was signed by thousands of supporters. Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Today is the U.S. federal holiday known as Washingtons Birthday (not Presidents Daysee item #1). In honor of George Washingtons birthday, here are 5 things you should know about the day set aside for our Americas premier founding father. 1. Although some state and local governments and private businesses refer to today as Presidents Day, the legal public holiday is designated as Washingtons Birthday in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code. The observance of Washingtons birthday was made official in 1885 when President Chester A. Arthur signed a bill establishing it as a federal holiday. 2. Washington was actually born on February 11, 1732, under the Julian calendar in effect at the time he was born. But his birthday is considered to be February 22 under the Gregorian calendar which was adopted throughout the British Empire in 1752. 3. Because the public holiday is on the third Monday in February, the observance can never again occur on Washingtons actual birthday since the third Monday in February cannot occur any later than February 21. 4. Some sourcesincluding Wikipedia and the U.S. Mintincorrectly claim that President Nixon changed the name of the holiday to Presidents Day to honor all past presidents. While Nixon did issue an executive order making the third Monday in February a public holiday, the claim that he changed the name is a modern myth. Presidents Day was created by marketers who jumped at the opportunity to play up the three-day weekend with sales, and Presidents Day bargains were advertised at stores around the country. 5. Almost every February 22 since 1888 President Washingtons 1796 Farewell Address has been read in the United States Senate. Here is the text of that address: Friends and Citizens: The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes. But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rival ships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens? To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices? In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim. So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient government. the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated. How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the twenty-second of April, I793, is the index of my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. Hong Kong officials on Monday rejected growing calls for an independent inquiry into last week's violence in the working-class district of Mong Kok which has been compared to the "Star Ferry" riots of 50 years ago, but which Beijing has branded the work of "radical separatists inclined to terrorism." "Following the disturbances in Hong Kong in the 1960s, a commission of inquiry was set up by the government at the time," the government said in a statement on its official website. "But the Government considers it inappropriate to make direct comparisons between the incident and the Mong Kok riot," it said. Hong Kong officials are viewing the unrest, which was sparked by confrontations between unlicensed food vendors and police last Monday, as a "serious violent incident," and has vowed to round up all of the "culprits." "Hong Kong now enjoys free access to information and is a highly democratic and transparent society," the statement said. "People are entitled to freedom of speech and can express their opinions and aspirations on social problems and government administration through different channels." The statement followed an open letter from some 40 academics citing the inquiry into the Star Ferry riots of 1966, and the 1967 violence in which supporters of late supreme leader Mao Zedong played a key role, as a precedent under the British colonial regime. Hundreds of others also added their names to the letter in an online petition. "There are a lot of things that remain murky about [the Mong Kok] incident, for example, who was working in the background, but the government is refusing to diagnose the problem so as to take measures to fix it," letter signatory To Yiu-ming, associate professor of journalism at the Hong Kong Baptist University. "All we are allowed to see is the surface phenomena; the fact that some people got violent, but there's no attempt to address the causes of that violence," To said. "That means it will be hard to avoid a recurrence in the future." To said more than 1,000 people had signed the petition to date. Meanwhile, Mak Hoi-wah of the Hong Kong City University said unemployment and a lack of prospects for young people could be factors behind the unrest. "The big picture could be that their income isn't stable, and some people are beginning to feel that they have lost out, that the benefits that should be available to them aren't," Mak said. "Maybe they couldn't get the jobs or the college places they wanted, and so they have a certain amount of anger towards society," he said. "But we won't know exactly why until we research it in depth." 'Radical separatists' Beijing's top official in Hong Kong on Monday condemned the Mong Kok protesters as "radical separatists," however. "We strongly condemn those radical separatists whose behaviors got more and more violent and even showed terror tendencies," Beijing's central government liaison office chief Zhang Xiaoming was quoted as saying by the state news agency Xinhua. "We strongly condemn those remarks and sophistries that agitate for violence and confuse right and wrong, and even attempt to shift the blame onto other people," he said. And in Hong Kong, the pro-Beijing establishment camp appeared to be taking a similar line, with a former security chief branding the Mong Kok protesters as "not human beings," and "monstrous." Lee, who also represents Hong Kong in Beijing's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), said the violence suggests Hong Kong's police force needs more crowd-control weapons in its arsenal. "They were throwing things at police, hitting them with sticks, and yet the police were unable to fire in the face of these attacks," Lee said. "I don't think it would have been considered outrageous if the police had hurled a few of those bricks back at them." "After a few of these incidents, we need to think about buying some water cannons, which mean the police can keep demonstrators at a greater distance," he said. Edited and removed The current government under chief executive Leung Chun-ying is unlikely to welcome comparisons between last week's violence, when crowds set fire to trash in the street and hurled bricks at armored riot police, and the unrest of the late 1960s. An official history of Hong Kong's police force was recently edited to remove any reference to leftist agitators and Mao-inspired unrest, according to the Economic Journal. The Hong Kong Police official website was edited last September to remove all reference to the Cultural Revolution across the border in Maoist China, and to bomb attacks, marches with Mao's "Little Red Book" and the killing of several police officers and journalists, the paper reported. Paragraphs referring to to communist militia, communist sympathizers, bomb-making and Maoist slogans were all removed, it said, as well as the name of the group blamed for the violence, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Committee for Anti-Hong Kong British Persecution Struggle, the paper reported. Hong Kong current affairs commentator Wu Yisan accused the ruling Chinese Communist Party of agitating the unrest in the first place. "They are orchestrating social tension, because they want to destabilize Hong Kong," Wu said. "That way, they'll be able to increase the level of interference in Hong Kong's affairs." "They don't want Hong Kong to become an advertisement for democracy and universal values like the rule of law, because that really isn't in their interest," he said. Beijing's hard line in Hong Kong Former City University politics professor Joseph Cheng said Beijing is continuing to tighten its grip on the city, which was promised a "high degree of autonomy" after the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. "This has been going on for the past two or three years now, and Zhang Xiaoming's comments are supportive of Beijing's hard line in Hong Kong," Cheng said. "They are supportive of the Communist Party's unwillingness to allow Hong Kong to become the vanguard of democracy." Reported by Lin Jing for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Yang Fan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. EU foreign ministers have voted to abandon a handful of sanctions against Belarus over its rights and democracy record and adopted an EU Council text praising mutual cooperation, furthering a thaw that critics fear will let the authoritarian regime in Minsk off the hook too quickly. The 28 ministers agreed that 170 Belarusians, including President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and senior officials, along with three blacklisted Belarusian companies should be permanently removed from the EU list of those facing asset freezes and visa bans. Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dzmitry Mironchik described the EU decision as "an important stage toward full normalization of our relations," saying it "opens up new opportunities for a broader, diverse cooperation" between Belarus and the EU. The lifting of the measures goes into effect on March 1. EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said the EU had seen a "positive trend" from Belarus. "We have agreed by the fact that we have seen over the last couple of years some steps that are encouraging and that is what we want to try and support and encourage further, which means that the way is still long ahead of us, especially ahead of the authorities [in Belarus]," she said in Brussels. But she maintained that the situation in Belarus was not a "rosy or a perfect picture," insisting the bloc would maintain a policy of "critical engagement" with Minsk. As expected, the EU left an arms embargo in place and extended for another year sanctions targeting four Belarusian officials suspected of involvement in opposition disappearances more than a decade ago. The sanctions were set to expire at the end of this month, following a four-month suspension in October. Most were imposed in response to an official crackdown against the opposition following a flawed presidential election in 2010, but some date back as far as 2004. Speaking outside the EU ministers meeting in Brussels, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius insisted that the move did not mean that EU "expectations and requirements" toward the Belarusian authorities will be "lowered." Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom acknowledged to journalists in the EU capital that "the situation of human rights and democracy has not improved." "But we also think that sanctions need to be one element of what our relation to Belarus should be and how we are going to work with Belarus as a partner," Wallstrom said. "So now we have a compromise on the table according to which we" -- the European Union -- "should keep some sanctions and discuss a broader strategic position on Belarus." Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski called the partial lifting of the sanctions an "experiment." "As a neighbor [of Belarus], we are satisfied because we hope that it will improve our neighborly relations," Waszczykowski said, adding that he plans to travel to Belarus and see whether the country "is determined to cooperate with the European Union and -- above all -- with Poland." Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey said on February 9 that "sanctions are not a good method to develop cooperation and interstate relations." "We are ready to move along our part of the way in the framework of EU's expectations," state-controlled news agency Belta quoted Makey as saying. "We are interested in looking for common ground through dialogue and moving on to normal cooperation." Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka was once dubbed by the United States Europe's last "dictator," and his administration routinely jails dissenters and stifles public criticism. Belarus has won recent praise from the West with its release in August of political prisoners and its role in international talks to halt fighting in eastern Ukraine. Former Belarusian political prisoner Ales Byalyatski is among those who have urged European leaders to maintain pressure on Minsk, saying that the situation inside the former Soviet republic has not improved. Lukashenka has ruled post-Soviet Belarus with an iron fist for two decades and won a fifth term in October in an election that Western monitors determined was neither free nor fair. He has lately shown a willingness to resist falling automatically in line with Moscow, declining to recognize the independence of breakaway Georgian territories allied with the Kremlin or acknowledge Russia's annexation of Crimea, seized from Ukraine in early 2014. Also on February 15, the EU foreign ministers adopted EU Council conclusions on Belarus that noted "proactive" cooperation and engagement on visa and human-rights issues. The text hints at an acceleration of efforts to boost economic and other cooperation but calls for the "reinstatement of the civil and political rights of former political prisoners and highlights the need to ensure freedom of association and assembly, including by allowing the registration of political and civil society organizations." It also urges the Belarusian government to "set up a moratorium [on the death penalty] as a first step towards its abolition." With reporting by RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak MINSK -- Hundreds of Belarusian vendors have rallied in Minsk, protesting a presidential decree introducing new regulations for retailers. The protesters gathered on the central Kastrychnik Square in the Belarusian capital on February 15. They held placards reading" "For Freedom Of Entrepreneurship!" and "Decree 222 Leads To Unemployment!" Presidential decree No. 222 came into effect on January 1 and obliged private vendors in Belarus to obtain documents proving the "legality" of any goods for sale from member states of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. Vendors said it was not always possible to obtain such papers. In order to avoid fines, thousands of vendors across Belarus have stopped their operations and some markets are standing idle. Opposition leaders Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu, Mikalay Statkevich, and Anatol Lyabedzka joined the protesters. Bosnia-Herzegovina has formally applied to join the European Union. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on February 15 that Sarajevo has filed an application, but Brussels has determined that the Balkans country has not met all necessary conditions to apply. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said the European Union was encouraged to see "Bosnia back on the reform path." Bosnian Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic announced on February 10 that his country was about to file the application and that he believed Bosnia had met the preconditions for application. Zvizdic added that he hoped the 28-member bloc would grant Bosnia candidate status during 2017. The government of Bosnia's Republica Srpska -- one of the two constituents of Bosnia's federal system -- immediately responded that it had not been consulted before the national government installed a coordination mechanism for ensuring Bosnian laws and policies conform to those of the EU. Based on reporting by Reuters and AP A former Bosnian Serb policeman convicted of war crimes committed during the 1992-95 war has been arrested on new charges. Police in Bosnia-Herzegovina on February 15 detained Darko Mrdja along with two other former members of his police unit, Radenko Marinovic and Milan Gavrilovic. Prosecutors accuse the three of murdering at least 10 people, all non-Serbs, who were being transferred to detention camps in the northwestern town of Prijedor in 1992. In 2004, Mrdja was sentenced to 17 years in prison by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague after pleading guilty to taking part in the mass execution of some 200 Muslim and Croatian civilians whose bodies were thrown off a cliff. Mrdja, now 48, was released in 2013 after serving more than two-thirds of his sentence. He then returned to Bosnia. With reporting by AFP Anybody who was expecting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to make conciliatory noises at the Munich Security Conference must have been severely disappointed. And anybody who was expecting the cease-fire agreement reached in Munich last week to result in an actual cease-fire must be severely disappointed as well. Not only is Russia's bombing campaign in Aleppo continuing, but now Turkey and Saudi Arabia are threatening to send in ground troops -- something Moscow says could lead to a global conflict. On this week's Power Vertical Briefing, I discuss Syria after Munich with Pavel Butorin, managing editor of RFE/RL's Russian-language television program Current Time. Enjoy... NOTE: The Power Vertical Briefing is a short look ahead to the stories expected to make news in Russia in the coming week. It is hosted by Brian Whitmore, author of the Power Vertical blog, and appears every Monday. At least two police officers have died and 12 people, six of them police officers, been injured after a vehicle packed with explosives blew up while approaching a police patrol post near Dzhemikent, some 20 kilometers north of the coastal town of Derbent in southern Daghestan. The remains of a person whom police tentatively identified as the driver of the vehicle were also found at the site of the explosion. The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the February 15 attack. It was the third violent incident in the area since the start of the year, following an attack on police in January and a shoot-out late on February 14 in the village of Khuchni, during which police freed a local teacher who had been abducted hours earlier by an unidentified armed group. According to the news portal Caucasian Knot, Daghestan's security forces initially suspected the February 15 blast was the work of the "southern" group of militants, presumably meaning the group in question is one of those fighting under the banner of the so-called Caucasus Emirate (IK) proclaimed in 2007 by Chechen insurgency leader Doku Umarov The IK has, however, been seriously weakened since Umarov's death in 2013 by the defection of many of its fighters, including two senior Daghestani commanders, to IS. It is not even known for certain whether the IK has elected a new leader to succeed Magomed Suleymanov (aka Abu Usman Gimrinsky), the Avar from Daghestan who was killed in August 2015 after serving in that position for only a few months. Umarov's brother Akhmad (aka Abu Khamza) distanced himself in October 2015 from video footage in which four masked men claiming to be Chechen fighters pledged allegiance to him as their leader. By contrast, Daghestan's Interior Minister Colonel General Abdurashid Magomedov estimated in November that some 900 young men had left Daghestan to join the ranks of IS. Some journalists, however, claim the figure is closer to 5,000. IS claimed responsibility for two attacks carried out in Daghestan last year, both in the south of the republic. First, it claimed to have opened fire on a group of police and security personnel in Mageramkent in late August. Then four months later, it said its fighters were responsible for opening fire on a group of security personnel sightseeing at Derbent's Naryn-Kala fortress late on December 30, killing one of them and injuring 11 more. Police sources recently claimed that groups of militants in Daghestan's western Tsumada district that borders on Chechnya and Georgia are aligned with IS. The overall commander of those fighters, Magomed Abdulkhalikov, was reported killed in a shoot-out with federal security personnel last month. While the number of people killed in the North Caucasus in clashes between police and armed militants fell in 2015 for the fifth consecutive year, Daghestan as the largest of the North Caucasus republics again registered both the largest number of casualties (123 dead and 27 injured) and the largest number of armed clashes (57), including two designated as acts of terrorism. How many of those attacks were the work of fighters who have sworn allegiance to IS is impossible to determine, given that IK and IS fighters in the Caucasus use the same tactics, and Daghestan's police and security organs appear reluctant to confirm IS involvement in attacks on their personnel, even if the group explicitly claims responsibility. The prosecutor in Russian-occupied Crimea has filed a request with that territory's Supreme Court to ban the Crimean Tatars' self-governing body, the Mejlis. The Mejlis has refused to recognize Russia's forced annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine nearly two years ago and played a key role in the consolidation of efforts on behalf of Crimean Tatars. Natalya Poklonskaya signed the request on February 15 to brand the Mejlis "an extremist organization," Russian news agencies reported. The reports say Poklonskaya handed a copy of the legal challenge to a leader of the Mejlis, Nariman Celal, the same day. Many Crimean Tatars fled Crimea during or after its military seizure by Russia in early 2014, and others who remained have complained of harassment or even disappearances under the Moscow-backed authorities on the peninsula. The European Parliament this month overwhelmingly approved a resolution to condemn Russia for its treatment of the minority group, which one member said, "have been persecuted from the very beginning of the Russian invasion." Poklonskaya's move comes four days after the Russian authorities who control Crimea arrested several Crimean Tatars on suspicion of belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist political organization that is banned across Central Asia and Russia. Crimean Tatars activists rejected the charges, saying that they were politically motivated. Established in 1991 and legalized by the Ukrainian government in 1999, the Mejlis has been known as an organ that addressed issues related to Crimean Tatars to Kyiv and international bodies. The Mejlis was led for many years by the veteran leader of the Crimean Tatars, Soviet-era dissident Mustafa Dzhemilev. Since November 2013, the Mejlis has been led by Refat Chubarov. Dzhemilev and Chubarov, both Ukrainian lawmakers, have been barred from entering Crimea for five years by Crimea's pro-Moscow leadership. The Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities issued a report in September saying that since Russia's land grab, fundamental freedoms had "deteriorated radically" for many in Crimea, especially for pro-Ukrainian activists, journalists, and the Crimean Tatar community. Crimean Tatars have been reported abducted, and in some cases later found dead, while others have been arrested and charged with extremism since the annexation. Crimean Tatars are native to the Black Sea peninsula but were deported to Central Asia by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1944. They began returning in large numbers to Crimea in the late 1980s and now compose more than 12.5 percent of Crimea's population of 2.5 million. With reporting by TASS and Interfax Two police officers were killed when a car exploded at a traffic-police post in the North Caucasus republic of Daghestan, Russian media report. Another two police officers were reported injured in the February 15 incident in the Derbent district. Seventeen people were injured in the blast, 14 of whom have been hospitalized. At least five of the injured are reportedly in serious condition. An investigation is under way, but preliminary findings indicate a gas canister may have been used in the blast. A local police official said it was "a rather large explosion" and "could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber." Daghestan is beset by deadly violence linked to an Islamist insurgency that is rooted in two post-Soviet separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. Organized crime, business turf wars, political disputes, and clan rivalry also contribute to the bloodshed. Moderate Muslims, journalists, police, and government officials are regularly targeted in attacks. Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax If there was ever any doubt that Russia is engaging in little more than a game of geopolitical extortion in Syria, there shouldn't be any more. By targeting opponents of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow has effectively assured that Syria's civil war will continue indefinitely. By indiscriminately bombing civilian targets, the Kremlin has effectively assured that the refugee crisis in Europe will intensify. And by financing xenophobic political parties and movements in Europe, Russia is making sure the issue remains politically lethal. One European official told the Financial Times that Vladimir Putin's regime has essentially "weaponized" the migrant crisis by hitting everything from bakeries to hospitals in an effort to increase the flow of refugees toward Turkey and Europe. Russia's bombing of Aleppo continued over the weekend and humanitarian groups say the plight of civilians in the city is rapidly deteriorating. And Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's bellicose rhetoric at the Munich Security Conference suggested that this will continue -- despite a shaky ceasefire deal between Russia and other world powers. In an interview with Time magazine, Medvedev effectively revealed Moscow's endgame. "We will never ask for sanctions to be lifted," Medvedev said. Instead, the West will "come themselves and say: "'Lets finally put an end to this, because nobody is better off for it; everyone is only the worse off.'" It's time to call things what they are. The West and the international community is essentially dealing with an extortionist. Keep telling me what you think in the comments section, on the Power Vertical's Twitter feed, and on our Facebook page. Last Friday, for the first time in history, a Roman Catholic pontiff and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church met face to face. According to Vatican Insider, Metropolitan Hilarion said in a press conference prior to the event that the historic meeting between the Patriarch of Moscow and the Pope had been in the making for about 20 years but was speeded up by the Christian genocide being caused by terrorists. (You can read an explainer about it here.) The two leaders concluded the meeting in Cuba by signing a joint declaration that covers persecution, religious freedom, poverty, the family, and much more. The full text of the declaration is below: Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you (2 Cor 13:13). 1. By God the Fathers will, from which all gifts come, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit Consolator, we, Pope Francis and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, have met today in Havana. We give thanks to God, glorified in the Trinity, for this meeting, the first in history. It is with joy that we have met like brothers in the Christian faith who encounter one another to speak face to face (2 Jn 12), from heart to heart, to discuss the mutual relations between the Churches, the crucial problems of our faithful, and the outlook for the progress of human civilization. 2. Our fraternal meeting has taken place in Cuba, at the crossroads of North and South, East and West. It is from this island, the symbol of the hopes of the New World and the dramatic events of the history of the twentieth century, that we address our words to all the peoples of Latin America and of the other continents. It is a source of joy that the Christian faith is growing here in a dynamic way. The powerful religious potential of Latin America, its centuriesold Christian tradition, grounded in the personal experience of millions of people, are the pledge of a great future for this region. 3. By meeting far from the longstanding disputes of the Old World, we experience with a particular sense of urgency the need for the shared labour of Catholics and Orthodox, who are called, with gentleness and respect, to give an explanation to the world of the hope in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15). 4. We thank God for the gifts received from the coming into the world of His only Son. We share the same spiritual Tradition of the first millennium of Christianity. The witnesses of this Tradition are the Most Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, and the saints we venerate. Among them are innumerable martyrs who have given witness to their faithfulness to Christ and have become the seed of Christians. 5. Notwithstanding this shared Tradition of the first ten centuries, for nearly one thousand years Catholics and Orthodox have been deprived of communion in the Eucharist. We have been divided by wounds caused by old and recent conflicts, by differences inherited from our ancestors, in the understanding and expression of our faith in God, one in three Persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are pained by the loss of unity, the outcome of human weakness and of sin, which has occurred despite the priestly prayer of Christ the Saviour: So that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you so that they may be one, as we are one (Jn 17:21). 6. Mindful of the permanence of many obstacles, it is our hope that our meeting may contribute to the reestablishment of this unity willed by God, for which Christ prayed. May our meeting inspire Christians throughout the world to pray to the Lord with renewed fervour for the full unity of all His disciples. In a world which yearns not only for our words but also for tangible gestures, may this meeting be a sign of hope for all people of goodwill! 7. In our determination to undertake all that is necessary to overcome the historical divergences we have inherited, we wish to combine our efforts to give witness to the Gospel of Christ and to the shared heritage of the Church of the first millennium, responding together to the challenges of the contemporary world. Orthodox and Catholics must learn to give unanimously witness in those spheres in which this is possible and necessary. Human civilization has entered into a period of epochal change. Our Christian conscience and our pastoral responsibility compel us not to remain passive in the face of challenges requiring a shared response. 8. Our gaze must firstly turn to those regions of the world where Christians are victims of persecution. In many countries of the Middle East and North Africa whole families, villages and cities of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being completely exterminated. Their churches are being barbarously ravaged and looted, their sacred objects profaned, their monuments destroyed. It is with pain that we call to mind the situation in Syria, Iraq and other countries of the Middle East, and the massive exodus of Christians from the land in which our faith was first disseminated and in which they have lived since the time of the Apostles, together with other religious communities. 9. We call upon the international community to act urgently in order to prevent the further expulsion of Christians from the Middle East. In raising our voice in defence of persecuted Christians, we wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence. 10. Thousands of victims have already been claimed in the violence in Syria and Iraq, which has left many other millions without a home or means of sustenance. We urge the international community to seek an end to the violence and terrorism and, at the same time, to contribute through dialogue to a swift return to civil peace. Largescale humanitarian aid must be assured to the afflicted populations and to the many refugees seeking safety in neighbouring lands. We call upon all those whose influence can be brought to bear upon the destiny of those kidnapped, including the Metropolitans of Aleppo, Paul and John Ibrahim, who were taken in April 2013, to make every effort to ensure their prompt liberation. 11. We lift our prayers to Christ, the Saviour of the world, asking for the return of peace in the Middle East, the fruit of justice (Is 32:17), so that fraternal coexistence among the various populations, Churches and religions may be strengthened, enabling refugees to return to their homes, wounds to be healed, and the souls of the slain innocent to rest in peace. We address, in a fervent appeal, all the parts that may be involved in the conflicts to demonstrate good will and to take part in the negotiating table. At the same time, the international community must undertake every possible effort to end terrorism through common, joint and coordinated action. We call on all the countries involved in the struggle against terrorism to responsible and prudent action. We exhort all Christians and all believers of God to pray fervently to the providential Creator of the world to protect His creation from destruction and not permit a new world war. In order to ensure a solid and enduring peace, specific efforts must be undertaken to rediscover the common values uniting us, based on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 12. We bow before the martyrdom of those who, at the cost of their own lives, have given witness to the truth of the Gospel, preferring death to the denial of Christ. We believe that these martyrs of our times, who belong to various Churches but who are united by their shared suffering, are a pledge of the unity of Christians. It is to you who suffer for Christs sake that the word of the Apostle is directed: Beloved rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly (1 Pet 4:1213). 13. Interreligious dialogue is indispensable in our disturbing times. Differences in the understanding of religious truths must not impede people of different faiths to live in peace and harmony. In our current context, religious leaders have the particular responsibility to educate their faithful in a spirit which is respectful of the convictions of those belonging to other religious traditions. Attempts to justify criminal acts with religious slogans are altogether unacceptable. No crime may be committed in Gods name, since God is not the God of disorder but of peace (1 Cor 14:33). 14. In affirming the foremost value of religious freedom, we give thanks to God for the current unprecedented renewal of the Christian faith in Russia, as well as in many other countries of Eastern Europe, formerly dominated for decades by atheist regimes. Today, the chains of militant atheism have been broken and in many places Christians can now freely confess their faith. Thousands of new churches have been built over the last quarter of a century, as well as hundreds of monasteries and theological institutions. Christian communities undertake notable works in the fields of charitable aid and social development, providing diversified forms of assistance to the needy. Orthodox and Catholics often work side by side. Giving witness to the values of the Gospel they attest to the existence of the shared spiritual foundations of human coexistence. 15. At the same time, we are concerned about the situation in many countries in which Christians are increasingly confronted by restrictions to religious freedom, to the right to witness to ones convictions and to live in conformity with them. In particular, we observe that the transformation of some countries into secularized societies, estranged from all reference to God and to His truth, constitutes a grave threat to religious freedom. It is a source of concern for us that there is a current curtailment of the rights of Christians, if not their outright discrimination, when certain political forces, guided by an often very aggressive secularist ideology, seek to relegate them to the margins of public life. 16. The process of European integration, which began after centuries of bloodsoaked conflicts, was welcomed by many with hope, as a guarantee of peace and security. Nonetheless, we invite vigilance against an integration that is devoid of respect for religious identities. While remaining open to the contribution of other religions to our civilization, it is our conviction that Europe must remain faithful to its Christian roots. We call upon Christians of Eastern and Western Europe to unite in their shared witness to Christ and the Gospel, so that Europe may preserve its soul, shaped by two thousand years of Christian tradition. 17. Our gaze is also directed to those facing serious difficulties, who live in extreme need and poverty while the material wealth of humanity increases. We cannot remain indifferent to the destinies of millions of migrants and refugees knocking on the doors of wealthy nations. The unrelenting consumerism of some more developed countries is gradually depleting the resources of our planet. The growing inequality in the distribution of material goods increases the feeling of the injustice of the international order that has emerged. 18. The Christian churches are called to defend the demands of justice, the respect for peoples traditions, and an authentic solidarity towards all those who suffer. We Christians cannot forget that God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, that no human being might boast before God (1 Cor 1:2729). 19. The family is the natural centre of human life and society. We are concerned about the crisis in the family in many countries. Orthodox and Catholics share the same conception of the family, and are called to witness that it is a path of holiness, testifying to the faithfulness of the spouses in their mutual interaction, to their openness to the procreation and rearing of their children, to solidarity between the generations and to respect for the weakest. 20. The family is based on marriage, an act of freely given and faithful love between a man and a woman. It is love that seals their union and teaches them to accept one another as a gift. Marriage is a school of love and faithfulness. We regret that other forms of cohabitation have been placed on the same level as this union, while the concept, consecrated in the biblical tradition, of paternity and maternity as the distinct vocation of man and woman in marriage is being banished from the public conscience. 21. We call on all to respect the inalienable right to life. Millions are denied the very right to be born into the world. The blood of the unborn cries out to God (cf. Gen 4:10). The emergence of so-called euthanasia leads elderly people and the disabled begin to feel that they are a burden on their families and on society in general. We are also concerned about the development of biomedical reproduction technology, as the manipulation of human life represents an attack on the foundations of human existence, created in the image of God. We believe that it is our duty to recall the immutability of Christian moral principles, based on respect for the dignity of the individual called into being according to the Creators plan. 22. Today, in a particular way, we address young Christians. You, young people, have the task of not hiding your talent in the ground (cf. Mt 25:25), but of using all the abilities God has given you to confirm Christs truth in the world, incarnating in your own lives the evangelical commandments of the love of God and of ones neighbour. Do not be afraid of going against the current, defending Gods truth, to which contemporary secular norms are often far from conforming. 23. God loves each of you and expects you to be His disciples and apostles. Be the light of the world so that those around you may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:14, 16). Raise your children in the Christian faith, transmitting to them the pearl of great price that is the faith (cf. Mt 13:46) you have received from your parents and forbears. Remember that you have been purchased at a great price (1 Cor 6:20), at the cost of the death on the cross of the ManGod Jesus Christ. 24. Orthodox and Catholics are united not only by the shared Tradition of the Church of the first millennium, but also by the mission to preach the Gospel of Christ in the world today. This mission entails mutual respect for members of the Christian communities and excludes any form of proselytism. We are not competitors but brothers, and this concept must guide all our mutual actions as well as those directed to the outside world. We urge Catholics and Orthodox in all countries to learn to live together in peace and love, and to be in harmony with one another (Rm 15:5). Consequently, it cannot be accepted that disloyal means be used to incite believers to pass from one Church to another, denying them their religious freedom and their traditions. We are called upon to put into practice the precept of the apostle Paul: Thus I aspire to proclaim the gospel not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on anothers foundation (Rm 15:20). 25. It is our hope that our meeting may also contribute to reconciliation wherever tensions exist between Greek Catholics and Orthodox. It is today clear that the past method of uniatism, understood as the union of one community to the other, separating it from its Church, is not the way to reestablish unity. Nonetheless, the ecclesial communities which emerged in these historical circumstances have the right to exist and to undertake all that is necessary to meet the spiritual needs of their faithful, while seeking to live in peace with their neighbours. Orthodox and Greek Catholics are in need of reconciliation and of mutually acceptable forms of coexistence. 26. We deplore the hostility in Ukraine that has already caused many victims, inflicted innumerable wounds on peaceful inhabitants and thrown society into a deep economic and humanitarian crisis. We invite all the parts involved in the conflict to prudence, to social solidarity and to action aimed at constructing peace. We invite our Churches in Ukraine to work towards social harmony, to refrain from taking part in the confrontation, and to not support any further development of the conflict. 27. It is our hope that the schism between the Orthodox faithful in Ukraine may be overcome through existing canonical norms, that all the Orthodox Christians of Ukraine may live in peace and harmony, and that the Catholic communities in the country may contribute to this, in such a way that our Christian brotherhood may become increasingly evident. 28. In the contemporary world, which is both multiform yet united by a shared destiny, Catholics and Orthodox are called to work together fraternally in proclaiming the Good News of salvation, to testify together to the moral dignity and authentic freedom of the person, so that the world may believe (Jn 17:21). This world, in which the spiritual pillars of human existence are progressively disappearing, awaits from us a compelling Christian witness in all spheres of personal and social life. Much of the future of humanity will depend on our capacity to give shared witness to the Spirit of truth in these difficult times. 29. May our bold witness to Gods truth and to the Good News of salvation be sustained by the ManGod Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who strengthens us with the unfailing promise: Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom (Lk 12:32)! Christ is the wellspring of joy and hope. Faith in Him transfigures human life, fills it with meaning. This is the conviction borne of the experience of all those to whom Peter refers in his words: Once you were no people but now you are Gods people; you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy (1 Pet 2:10). 30. With gracefilled gratitude for the gift of mutual understanding manifested during our meeting, let us with hope turn to the Most Holy Mother of God, invoking her with the words of this ancient prayer: We seek refuge under the protection of your mercy, Holy Mother of God. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, through her intercession, inspire fraternity in all those who venerate her, so that they may be reunited, in Gods own time, in the peace and harmony of the one people of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and indivisible Trinity! Bishop of Rome, Pope of the Catholic Church Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia 12 February 2016, Havana (Cuba) U.S. Republican Senator John McCain has said he will subpoena 10 U.S. sailors to testify about their brief detention by Iran if the Obama administration does not provide the findings of an investigation into the incident by March 1. "It's an option that I do not want to exercise," McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said late on February 14 on his way back to the United States from an international security conference in Germany. The sailors were detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after their two patrol boats strayed into Iranian waters on January 12. U.S. officials later blamed a navigational problem. The Americans were freed the next day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry intervened with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, averting a diplomatic crisis just days before implementation of the Iran nuclear deal and the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran. Based on reporting by Reuters Officials with NATO have begun talks with the Balkans nation of Montenegro about its application to become the 29th member of the transatlantic alliance. NATO officials said on February 15 that the two days of talks will cover a range of "political, military, and legal questions" about Montenegro's application and will "provide an opportunity for both sides to clarify outstanding issues." NATO formally invited Montenegro to join the alliance in December, and Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic is strongly committed to NATO membership. Russia has said it sees NATO expansion as a threat, and the pro-Russia opposition in Montenegro has called for Djukanovic to step down. Based on reporting by AFP Bacha Khan University in northwestern Pakistan has reopened following a bloody terrorist attack on January 20 that left 21 students and teachers dead. Classes at the university in the city of Charsadda resumed on February 15, almost one month after the attack by Taliban militants. The four attackers were all killed in a shoot-out with police. University deputy chancellor Fazl-ur-Rahim Marwat addressed students and told them that all necessary security measures have been taken. The Taliban faction that claimed responsibility for the attack also claimed a 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, most of them children. The group has said it is targeting schools as "nurseries" for people who challenge "Allah's law." Based on reporting by AFP and AP Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Moscow will not end its military action in Syria until the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is able to achieve a favorable peace. Medvedev made the comments in an exclusive interview with Time magazine published on February 15. He added that antigovernment rebels "who run around with automatic weapons" were fair game for Russian air strikes. "They are all bandits and terrorists," Medvedev said. The Russian premier said that peace will only come to Syria when Assad sits down to negotiate with rebel forces "who are capable of reaching an agreement," but added that "that circle of people still has to be determined." Medvedev also said the peace process would have to include a determination about Assad's future role in Syria "because otherwise it would be strange." He added that Russia will never ask Western countries to lift sanctions imposed over Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its military and political support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. A Kyrgyz man who has lived in Moscow for the last eight years is being honored by the president of his home country after he helped a police officer save a woman from being crushed on the tracks of Moscow's subway. For the woman, the police officer, and Marat Isaev, a 28-year-old courier from the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, the difference between life and death was a fraction of a second. Moscow resident Yulia Val, a computer programmer and a single mother, fell onto the subway rails from a platform at the Krasnoselskaya station on February 11. As a crowd of passengers screamed for help, Isaev and a police officer, Artyom Korolyuk, rushed to the edge of the platform and quickly assessed the danger. Isaev lowered Korolyuk onto the tracks and then jumped down himself. But the two of them were unable to lift the motionless Val back up to the platform. With a train speeding into the station, Isaev and Korolyuk positioned Val in a safe position between the tracks and then both lay down between the rails themselves, putting their heads to the ground just as the incoming train screeched to a halt above them. Korolyuk said, "We survived only because we made the decision very quickly, in seconds." Isaev added: "I don't consider myself to be a hero. It was a miracle. Maybe my deed was heroic. But to me, it was just shock. When I think about it, I still don't believe I made it." After the video of the incident went viral on social media, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev said on February 15 that he would award Isaev with a personally engraved watch for his bravery and an undisclosed financial reward. Atambaev said Isaev was faced with an extreme situation and showed "the best features that characterize a responsible citizen and a real man." Isaev said he initially tried to hide his act of bravery from his relatives back in Kyrgyzstan because he feared the video footage of his close call with death would be too much of a shock for his ailing mother -- a retired school teacher. But with the fuss being made on social media, his family found out. Isaev said he was told that his award would be presented to him at Kyrgyzstan's embassy in Moscow by the Kyrgyz ambassador. With reporting by Vecherny Bishkek, Yandex.ru, and 1TV.ru Russia has been sending in thousands of recently mobilized troops to reinforce the defense of the southern region of Kherson, where Kyiv's forces have been making major advances in their offensive to retake territory occupied by Moscow, the Ukrainian military said, as fresh Russian strikes on civilian targets were reported on October 21. "Up to 2,000 mobilized Russians arrived in the temporarily captured Kherson region to replenish losses and strengthen units on the contact line," the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on October 21. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. "At the same time, the occupation authorities issued an order to prepare for the evacuation of the so-called banking institutions and Russian medical workers and teachers," the statement said. Ukraine is trying to drive Russian forces in Kherson back east across the Dnieper River that bisects the country. Russian soldiers on the western bank, where the city of Kherson is located, are reportedly close to being cut off from supply lines and reinforcements. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said on October 20 that Ukrainian forces mounted 15 attacks on Russian military strongholds in the Kherson region in what appears to be the start of a major push to liberate the region and the strategic city of Kherson. Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said the Kremlin's forces repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance with tanks on the Kherson villages of Sukhanove, Nova Kamyanka, and Chervoniy Yar. Neither claim could be independently confirmed. The city of Kherson, with a prewar population of about 284,000, was one of the first urban areas captured by Russia when it invaded Ukraine, and it remains the largest city it holds. The city is an important objective for both sides because of its key industries and a major port on the Dnieper River. Moscow-installed officials have urged residents to evacuate and allow the military to build fortifications. Officials said 15,000 residents of an expected 60,000 had been relocated from the city and surrounding areas as of October 20. Kherson is one of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally seized following Kremlin-orchestrated referendums denounced as sham by Ukraine and the West. Putin declared martial law in the Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions on October 19 in an attempt to assert Russian authority in the annexed areas as Moscow faced battlefield setbacks, a troubled troop mobilization, increasing criticism at home and abroad, and international sanctions. In a video address to EU leaders gathered for a summit in Brussels on October 20, Zelenskiy warned that Ukraine suspects Russia has mined the dam and units of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine, and if it were blown up, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, would be in danger of flooding. Zelenskiy said Ukrainian workers have been thrown out of the facility, leaving Russians in control. He asserted that Russia "has already prepared everything to carry out this terrorist attack." He called for an international observation mission and the return of Ukrainian personnel to ensure the mines are removed from the dam and its units. Zelenskiy's comment came two days after Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of the Kherson region of Ukraine, announced an "organized, gradual displacement" of civilians from four towns on the right bank of the Dnieper River to the left side. Saldo accused Ukrainian forces of planning to destroy the dam and also warned of "an immediate danger of flooding." The Moscow-appointed deputy head of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, encouraged people to cross over to the left bank of the Dnieper River and posted a video of a column of buses on Telegram. Kyiv has denounced Moscow's move, calling it a "deportation" of Ukrainian civilians to Russia. Over the past 10 days, Russia has also unleashed a wave of deadly attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure using artillery, air strikes, and Iranian-made suicide drones that destroyed 40 percent of the country's energy grid and prompted Kyiv to introduce rolling electricity restrictions for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion eight months ago. WATCH: Ukrainian forces first got their hands on FH70 155-millimeter howitzers courtesy of Italy in May and received training in Estonia. RFE/RL journalists met with a frontline FH70 crew and watched them in action against Russian forces. Early on October 21, a series of blasts rocked the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya, authorities said. Missiles hit an industrial facility in Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Separately, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Sinegubov said five people had been wounded. No further details were immediately available about the Zaporizhzhua blasts. Zelenskiy told EU leaders that the Russian attacks against civilians and infrastructure are aimed in part at provoking a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries. "Russian terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems as possible with electricity and heat for Ukraine this fall and winter and for as many Ukrainians as possible to go to your countries," he said. This should be "answered immediately," primarily by more air-defense systems sent to Ukraine, the president said, speaking by video conference from Kyiv. "We must do everything possible to make it completely impossible for Russia to destroy our energy system with missiles and drones," Zelenskiy said in the virtual speech, calling on Ukraine's partners to provide systems "to create a truly reliable air shield." With reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, and BBC U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Russia to stop bombing moderate rebels in Syria during a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders spoke by phone on February 14, two days after major powers agreed a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria, although none of the warring parties signed the deal that does not take effect until the end of this week. The White House said Obama's discussion with Putin stressed the need to rush humanitarian aid to Syria and contain air strikes. "In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," the White House said in a statement. Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial center before the conflict. According to the Kremlin, Putin and Obama agreed to intensify cooperation to implement the Munich agreement. But a Kremlin statement made clear Russia was committed to its campaign against Islamic State and "other terrorist organizations", an indication that it would also target groups in western Syria deemed moderate by the West. Russia says the "cessation" does not apply to its air strikes, which have shifted the balance of power towards Assad. It says Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are the main targets of its air campaign. But Western countries say Russia has in fact been mostly targeting other insurgent groups, including some they support. Reaction from politicians in the West to the deal reached in Munich on February 12 was skeptical. U.S. Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal as a breakthrough. "Let's be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia's assault on Aleppo to continue for another week," he said at security conference in Munich. "Mr Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime," McCain said. A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria through armed force. Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, said Russia was determined to create "facts on the ground", to bolster its negotiating position. With reporting by RFE/RL's Steve Gutterman in Munich, AFP, and Reuters Ukraine has banned Russian cargo trucks from entering the country one day after Moscow imposed a similar ban on Ukrainian trucks. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced in Kyiv on February 15 that "Ukraine has temporarily suspendedtransit permits for cargo vehicles with Russian registration." Moscow imposed the ban on February 14 in response to an incident on February 11 when Ukrainian nationalists blocked Russian trucks from entering the country via Belarus. Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Russia's Federation Council, wrote on Facebook that Ukraine was "provoking" Russia in order to "paint Russia's response as aggression and a violation of rights." Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS The death toll of the influenza epidemic in Ukraine has reached 286, the Health Ministry has said. According to the ministry on February 15, two pregnant women and four young people under 17 years of age were among those killed by the flu since late September. The largest number of deaths from the flu has been registered in the regions of Kyiv and Odesa. The ministry did not specify if the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, was the cause of any of the deaths, as some earlier Ukrainian media reports had said. On January 26, Health Minister Aleksandr Kvitashvili officially announced a flu epidemic in the country. Based on reporting by UNIAN and DailyLviv.com It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search? Search for: Search A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. COVID-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims. A government report released Wednesday lays out grim trends across the country for expectant mothers and their newborn babies. It finds that pregnancy-related deaths have spiked nearly 80 percent since 2018, with COVID-19 being a factor in a quarter of the 1,178 deaths reported last year. The percentage of preterm and low birthweight babies also went up last year, after holding steady for years. And more pregnant or postpartum women are reporting symptoms of depression. The Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation is proud to announce the establishment of an endowed scholarship to honor the late Cabell Brand, a Salem businessman and philanthropist. Brand, who died in 2015 at age 91, was a longtime supporter of higher education through the Cabell Brand Center, which initiated the scholarship at Virginia Western with a $60,000 gift. Students who receive the Cabell Brand Gap Scholarship will receive financial assistance as they complete academic internships at nonprofit or public entities that support the centers mission of addressing poverty, peace and the environment. Cabell called on us all to serve our communities as engaged and socially responsible citizens, said Steve Sunderman, president of the Cabell Brand Center. By funding this scholarship, we are honoring his relentless passion for learning and public service. A native of Salem, Brand was a leading businessman and philanthropist in the Roanoke region. After graduating from Virginia Military Institute and serving in World War II, he took over his familys shoe company and built it into a massive business known as Stuart McGuire before selling it to the Home Shopping Network. Brand founded Total Action Against Poverty, now known as Total Action for Progress, and helped create one of the first Head Start preschool programs in the country, among many other achievements. Brand was the author of the 2008 book, If Not Me, Then Who?, in which he provides guidance on how individuals may help tackle poverty, peace and environmental issues in America. The Cabell Brand Gap Scholarship represents the Educational Foundations first effort to specifically support students as they complete academic and often unpaid internships. Nearly 80 percent of our students work to help support themselves, said Angela Garcia Falconetti, executive director of the Educational Foundation and the colleges vice president of institutional advancement. While they would like to take advantage of important career internships, they simply cant afford to go without an income. This scholarship is intended to bridge that financial gap and spur their interest in a career of public service. College President Robert Sandel said the scholarship would address a need in the business community. Employers are looking for graduates who have real-world experience, he said. I believe Cabell would be happy to know that his legacy will be honored in this important and enduring manner. For more information on the Cabell Brand Gap Scholarship, contact Rhonda Perdue, coordinator of career services, at rperdue@virginiawestern.edu or 857-6325. The deadline to apply for a Summer 2016 Brand scholarship is March 16. Submitted by Josh Meyer Roanoke City Council Regular meeting When: 2 p.m. Tuesday; No 7 p.m. meeting is scheduled. Where: City Council Chamber, Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building, 215 Church Ave. S.W. On the agenda: The council will pay tribute to retiring Roanoke Police Chief Chris Perkins and consider funding to furnish the new offices of the voter registrar, which plans to move to a building on Kimball Avenue. More details available online at www.roanokeva.gov. Franklin County Board of Supervisors When: 1:30 p.m. Tuesday Where: Franklin County Government Center, 1255 Franklin St., Rocky Mount. On the agenda: The Roanoke Regional Partnership will give a presentation to the board and they will also get an update on the Philpott Lake-Jamison Mill Park bridge project. The meeting will be followed by a budget work session. Vinton Town Council Regular meeting When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Where: 311 South Pollard St. On the agenda: The council will hear briefings on Glade Creek Greenway construction and the Virginia Stormwater Management Program between the town and Roanoke County. For more information: www.vintonva.gov. RICHMOND The House of Delegates on Monday backed two bills to revamp or dismantle the certificate of public need program, the states lengthy application and approval process for big-ticket health care services. The legislation has pitted the powerful hospital lobby, which opposed the measures, against supporters representing doctors and health insurance plans. House Bill 193, sponsored by Del. John OBannon, R-Henrico, passed on a vote of 52-46. It creates a three-phase process to sunset certificate of public need requirements for many categories of medical care facilities and projects. House Bill 350, sponsored by Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell, passed 94-4. It would leave general hospitals under COPN oversight, establish an expedited timeline for reviewing applications and remove some services from state review. OBannon, a physician, has said that hospitals are absolutely wonderful facilities but that the certificate of need system does not help patients because it really is a monopoly. The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association said in a statement Monday that for years, COPN has helped promote health care access, control costs and offset the substantial amounts of charity care provided by hospitals and others. Last week the House defeated a more limited measure sponsored by Del. Christopher Peace, R-Hanover. House Bill 689 would have removed imaging centers from certificate of public need rules. House bill grants reprieve for dogs caught attacking chickens Dogs caught attacking or killing chickens could soon no longer face execution or expulsion from Virginia after the House of Delegates voted Monday to allow dogs deemed dangerous to poultry to be microchipped and locked up or given to a new owner. The House voted 82-17 to pass House Bill 1231, a bill aimed at reconciling the prevalence of urban chickens with laws meant to protect farmers livestock. Current law allows dogs who attack livestock or poultry to be euthanized on the spot or banished to a state that doesnt border Virginia. Del. Chris Collins, R-Winchester, proposed giving dog owners and courts more options because of the increased probability of backyard encounters between chickens and dogs. They want to eat chicken, Collins said on the House floor last week. Because, of course, it tastes like chicken. The legislation originally applied to dogs caught killing chickens or cows. It was changed after objections from rural legislators who said dogs capable of killing larger animals with more monetary value shouldnt get the same light treatment as a city dog that catches a chicken. RICHMOND Virginia lawmakers have a term to describe when everyone is agreement. They call it peace in the valley. But so far, the 2016 edition of the General Assembly has been anything but peaceful. Perhaps its the aftermath of a costly, often contentious legislative election that injected new blood into the ranks and fostered new ambitions for higher office. Or perhaps the prospect of Virginia as a partisan presidential battleground has intensified the stakes for both parties one of which controls the legislature, the other the executive branch. Whatever the case, the 60-day session, at its midpoint, has struck a decidedly discordant note in a variety of areas. Lawmakers have clashed publicly not just with their party opposites but with members of their own caucuses over judges, committee assignments, press access and even over a rare bipartisan agreement between Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican legislators on gun permit reciprocity and background checks. And while the top priority this session is agreement on a new, two-year, $109 billion budget, many issues remain in conflict as the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate sprint to complete work on their respective bills by Tuesday at midnight. Heres where some key issues stand: Abortion A bill to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy failed to advance from a House of Delegates committee Friday. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would have imposed new restrictions on abortion based on theories about when fetuses become capable of feeling pain. Virginia law bans most abortions after the second trimester, or 27th week, except when the mothers health is at stake. Airbnb With short-term lodging services such as Airbnb taking off in Virginia, lawmakers are looking to legitimize the industry by creating statewide regulations. The House has passed legislation to allow Airbnb to pay collective taxes on behalf of its operators while allowing local governments to enact some rules to prevent Airbnb rentals from becoming neighborhood nuisances. Supporters say the legislation would help the state harness the economic activity of an innovative industry. Some cities, including Roanoke and Williamsburg, have complained that the legislation supersedes local authority to establish neighborhood rules. The lodging industry has pushed for stronger regulation to level the playing field with hotels. The Senate is expected to take up the measure early this week. Budget One near certainty in the pending two-year state budget is that it will not expand Virginias Medicaid program, despite McAuliffes third attempt to do so in as many years. The governor included expansion in the $109 billion budget he proposed in December, as well as ways to spend the estimated $157 million in state savings by taking advantage of billions of dollars in federal money available to Virginia to provide health coverage to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians. But Republicans in the House of Delegates have made clear they will not include Medicaid expansion in the budget proposal that will emerge from the Appropriations Committee on Sunday. Instead, the budget in both chambers is likely to focus on new spending for economic development; K-12 and higher education; and Medicaid waivers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The legislature will tackle budget policy on mental health, including a McAuliffe proposal to begin planning the closure of Catawba Hospital in Roanoke County, and the governors plan to reform the juvenile justice system by replacing two correctional centers with smaller, modern facilities. The legislature is not likely to endorse either plan as proposed, but the budget could lay the foundation for future reforms of the mental health and juvenile justice systems. Charter schools Republican majorities in the House and Senate have pushed for constitutional amendments to encourage more charter schools. The House passed its version of the amendment and enabling legislation to place the issue on the November ballot; the Senate has delayed a final vote on its amendment and enabling legislation. Currently only local school boards can establish a public charter school, and only nine have been approved in the state. The amendments would let the state board of education authorize a charter school. COPN The House voted Friday to advance two bills to revamp or dismantle the certificate of public need program and defeated one COPN bill. The state system requires big-ticket health care services and projects to go through a lengthy state application and approval process. Ethics Senators last week advanced legislation from the Rules Committee that would make several significant changes to the conflict-of-interest ethics law passed last year. The new bill would exempt food and beverages from the gifts that must be disclosed and counted toward the $100 annual aggregate gift amount that lawmakers can accept from lobbyists and their principals. The new bill also would bar lobbyists from disclosing the name of any legislative or executive official, or a member of his family, if the official pays their own way at an event that is subject to being reported. The legislation, which the Senate takes up this week, also amends the number of filings lawmakers and lobbyists must make and raises the threshold on gifts that must be reported or counted toward the cap. Expungement The Senate passed legislation that would allow offenders under age 21 with simple marijuana or alcohol possession charges the chance to expunge the crime from their record five years after fulfilling requirements of their sentence. The bill, which is heading to the House, is aimed at removing roadblocks to employment and educational advancement for people who commit minor crimes when they are young. FOIA Bills limiting access through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act largely have succeeded, while those seeking greater access have failed. A bill the Senate passed Friday would remove the names of public employees from salary database requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. Supporters say it is necessary to protect government workers from identity theft. Critics say it would make government less open and transparent. GO Virginia McAuliffe has proposed $39 million in the budget, including about $13 million in savings from Medicaid expansion, to endow a new state and regional blueprint for economic development called the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Act, or GO Virginia. Both chambers have approved legislation to create a state fund and governing board, as well as regional councils that would be able to make grants for collaborative projects proposed by two or more localities. The initiative is backed by corporate muscle from the Virginia Business Higher Education Council and McGuireWoods Consulting. The question is whether spending on GO Virginia will replace other economic development programs in the budget that the money committees have begun to question because of the growth in state spending to attract new and expanded businesses under McAuliffe and his Republican predecessor, Gov. Bob McDonnell. Gun deal In perhaps the most surprising action of the session, McAuliffe and Republican leaders announced a bipartisan gun deal. It is expected to lead to the passage of safety measures long blocked by the legislature while reversing a crackdown on concealed-carry permits that sparked outrage among gun-rights activists. The compromise requires the state to recognize concealed carry permits from almost every state. Thats a sharp reversal from Attorney General Mark Herrings announcement in December that the state would end recognition for 25 states with looser permitting rules than Virginia. The deal also requires state police to be at every gun show to perform voluntary background checks for unlicensed sellers and requires domestic abusers to give up their guns after conviction or face a felony charge. Both sides have hailed the deal as a historic breakthrough. Gun-control advocates have been less enthusiastic, and some of McAuliffes former allies have launched advertising campaigns accusing him of wavering in his dedication to gun safety. McAuliffe said the deal makes progress toward making Virginians safer. The legislative package enacting the deal has sailed through both chambers, which will now look to reconcile House and Senate bills. LGBT, religious freedom Democratic lawmakers introduced a slew of bills to codify anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community. Republicans advanced bills that seek to give people who have a sincerely held religious belief the choice not to provide marriage services to same-sex couples. A religious freedom bill narrowly advanced from the Senate, as did bills banning discrimination against the LGBT community in housing and government employment, by wider margins. A House committee defeated a bill that would have required people to use restrooms in schools and public buildings that correspond to their biological gender. The House also tabled another measure that would have prevented local governments from enacting anti-LGBT discrimination policies. Proffers Both chambers have passed bills that would bring major changes to the way local governments negotiate with residential developers to offset the costs of population growth. The legislation would limit sharply localities ability to seek cash payments and other concessions from developers during the rezoning process. The Home Builders Association of Virginia has characterized it as a way to restore fairness to a system localities have abused to pad their coffers and micromanage architectural designs. Several fast-growing suburban localities, including the Richmond regions largest counties, have said the legislation would minimize community input and could lead to tax increases . Henrico County, which uses proffers to seek architectural changes but does not request cash payments, has been particularly aggressive in fighting the legislation. The county appears to have won a significant amendment to the bill to have the new restrictions imposed on cash proffers but not architectural proffers. Tolling The governor defused a political confrontation over plans to put tolls on Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia by reaching an agreement with a bipartisan coalition of legislators in both chambers to allow the plans to proceed, while accelerating a plan to widen the interstate inside the Capital Beltway sooner rather than later. The fight over I-66 had statewide implications for transportation funding, because state officials said the plan to relieve congestion inside the Beltway, primarily with increased mass transit options, is critical to a $2.1 billion plan to widen the interstate for almost 23 miles outside of the Beltway the top-ranked transportation priority in the state. The General Assembly also is wrestling with legislation proposed by Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, to establish a statewide policy on tolling that generally would require General Assembly approval before tolls could be imposed on existing highways. Exceptions include tolls on lanes now open only to high-occupancy vehicles during rush hour, such as I-66; and roads that were opened as toll roads, such as Pocahontas Parkway in the Richmond area. RICHMOND Experts say the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could have an impact on former Gov. Bob McDonnells appeal, as well as a GOP challenge to a newly imposed congressional redistricting map for Virginia. Scalia had expressed strong concerns about the law U.S. officials used to prosecute McDonnell and his wife, Maureen in 2014, for accepting $177,000 in gifts and loans from Jonnie Williams , then-CEO of Star Scientific, in exchange for promoting a company product. Its very speculative, of course, but I think its reasonable to assume that Scalia was probably one of the justices most likely to have been sympathetic to McDonnells position, said Randall Eliason, former chief of the Public Corruption/Government Fraud Section at the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington. Scalia, said Eliason, was very critical of the honest services law in the past and had generally argued for narrow interpretations of federal corruption statutes. Scalia wrote the opinion in that Sun Diamond case containing the discussion of what an official act is that McDonnell and his supporters always cite to support their claim that McDonnell did not perform official acts, he said. Henry Chambers, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, explained last month that the justices appeared poised to decide in the McDonnell case what a government official must do to be guilty under the Hobbs Act or of honest services fraud. Those crimes require a government official engage in official acts to be guilty. However, an official act appears to cover almost any action that a government official takes to push forward any issue that has been brought in front of the official, he said. Chambers said the court will determine if the actions McDonnell took are official acts under the statutes. Or the court could decide that a public official must use government power more directly than did McDonnell in order to have engaged in official acts, he said. The justices narrowed the law in the 2010 case of Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, ruling that bribery and kickbacks qualify as honest services fraud when engaged in by a public official. Scalia issued a dissenting opinion in the Skilling case, arguing the law was too vague. Last year a three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Bob McDonnells convictions and the full appeals court declined to rehear the case. The Supreme Court agreed last month to hear his appeal and could hold arguments in April. The court is allowing the McDonnells to remain free pending their appeals. The trial judge, U.S. District Judge James Spencer, sentenced Bob McDonnell to two years in prison and the former first lady to one year and one day. Andrew McBride, a former federal prosecutor, pointed out that a 4-4 tie on the court would affirm the unanimous, three-judge ruling in the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the convictions. There would be real irony here if the Supreme Court granted this review on the proposition that the honest services doctrine demanded a review and a death on the Supreme Court eliminated that viewpoint, said McBride. Justices who like clear, bright legal lines dont like honest services fraud, said McBride. He still sees the possibility of a 5-3 vote in McDonnells favor, however. McBride said, It shows that the Supreme Court is not an abstraction. The court is made up of real human beings who make decisions that have great impacts on other human beings McDonnell could wind up behind bars, lose his law license and be a felon because of one justices death. Thats pretty striking, he said. Bob Holsworth, a veteran political analyst, formerly at Virginia Commonwealth University, said, Im not certain that the McDonnell case will split ideologically, especially given the briefs written in his support by Democratically oriented attorneys general and law professors. Still, I would think that the former governor may have been counting on Scalias vote, thinking that he would be concerned about the alleged criminalization of political activity, said Holsworth. Scalias death also could make it more likely that Virginias newly imposed congressional map remains in place, giving Democrats a good chance of picking up a seat in the redrawn 4th District, which would now include Richmond and Petersburg. On March 21, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal by Republicans in Virginias congressional delegation. They are challenging a ruling by a three-judge panel that in 2012, Virginia legislators packed too many additional African-Americans into the 3rd District, represented by Democrat Robert Bobby Scott, diluting their influence in surrounding districts. In an effort to fix the constitutional flaw, the three-judge panel on Jan. 7 imposed a Virginia congressional map with the districts candidates will run in this fall. In the process of redrawing Scotts 3rd District, confining it to Hampton Roads, the judges also transformed the district of Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake. The judges moved the cities of Richmond and Petersburg to the 4th District, making it much likelier that a Democrat could win the seat in November. Said Holsworth: I think [Scalias death] makes it less likely that the lower courts decision will be reversed a 4-4 decision will leave the court-ordered redistricting in place. It has become far more difficult for the GOP to win its appeal. Donn Michael Falls, 77, Frederick County, died Friday, February 12, 2016, at his residence.Mr. Falls was born in 1938, in Roanoke, the son of the late Johnnie J. and Mary D. Falls. He was a graduate of Jefferson High School in Roanoke and a veteran of the United States Navy. Mr. Falls had been a Civil and Safety Inspector for Bechtel Corporation, Safety Inspector with the Virginia Department of Labor, Safety Director with James A. Federline/Masters, Inc., and former owner of Firstline Safety Management, Inc. in Winchester, from which he retired. He was a member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mr. Falls was a member of the North-South Skirmish Association and a Member of the 49th VA Infantry CSA for 45 years.He was an avid reader, a history buff, had an interest in guns (shooting in general) and enjoyed teaching his grandchildren firearm safety when handling and shooting a firearm. Traveling with his wife, whom he loved dearly, was a passion of his, especially their trip to Ireland, enjoying their trips to New Orleans and visiting the beach. Mr. Falls loved to smoke his pipe and took great pride in his pipe collection. Although he had a dry sense of humor, his greatest joys were his loving wife, his children and grandchildren, especially sharing a fondness for the Redskins with his granddaughter, Savanah.Mr. Falls married Patricia Hensley on February 27, 1987, in Warren County. Surviving with his wife are daughter, Donna M. Fazio (Keith), Winchester; sons, Johnnie Falls (Rebecca), Mt. City, Tenn., Michael Falls (Janet), Winchester, Travis Falls (Tiffany), Front Royal; grandchildren, Savanah J. Falls and Austin J. Falls, Front Royal, and Brandon M. Falls, Haymarket.The family will receive friends on Wednesday, February 17, 2016, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Omps Funeral Home, Amherst Chapel. A funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Thursday, February 18, 2016, at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church. Interment with military honors will follow at Shenandoah Memorial Park.Please view obituaries and tribute wall at www.ompsfuneralhome.com LONDON -- Virgin Atlantic Airways is working with investigators to try to identify the source of a laser beam which forced a New York-bound flight to return to London, the airline said Monday. The airline said in a statement Monday that the crew flight VS025 decided to return to Heathrow rather than making the trans-Atlantic crossing. Passengers were offered overnight accommodation. "We are working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser that caused the return of the aircraft to Heathrow," the company said in a statement. Police said they were contacted Sunday evening and that no arrests have been made. Lasers can cause a temporary loss of sight that persists even after the light is moved, the British Airline Pilots Association said. They also have the power to blind. "This is not an isolated incident," said Jim McAuslan, the organization's general secretary. "Aircraft are attacked with lasers at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength." According to civil aviation authorities in Britain, there were 414 such incidents in the first half of 2015 and some 1,440 in 2014. The organization wants British authorities to classify lasers as offensive weapons. John Tyrer, a professor of optical instrumentation at Loughborough University, said it's not just airline pilots who are targets of such attacks. He has been working with police officers facing riots in Northern Ireland to develop a strip on visors to counter such attacks. "Laser attacks present a horrendous problem which is worsening with the easy availability of low-cost, high power lasers," he said. He said that it was possible to buy powerful lasers with a range of kilometers -- rather than a few meters -- particularly if the atmospheric conditions are right. Tyrer stressed that these more powerful lasers have no practical use. "There are people that buy these things off the Internet which are shipped in typically from the Far East, which are very, very powerful lasers and have no use as a pointer," he said. He said anyone hit with a laser could have watering eyes or a headache, though he cautioned that he had no direct knowledge of what the Virgin pilot might have suffered. "This is not a prank," Tyrer said. "There are laws that say you can't do this." On other cases, such as a challenge to President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration, conservatives may still have the votes to prevail. There are major unanswered questions about how the justices will go about their work. They could delay decisions, for example. And Obama could try to go around the Senate confirmation process and fill the vacancy with a recess appointment or try to put a retired justice on the bench temporarily. But as long as there is a vacancy, some power swings to the four liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Those justices voted together in the 10 most important cases last term, and the left prevailed in eight of them, according to an analysis from Tom Goldstein, an appellate lawyer who has argued before the court 38 times. Walmart collage.jpg The latest information from Walmart engineers to Ocean Springs officials is that the company intends to erect a Walmart Neighborhood Market (below) where the former Delchamps building (top) is currently located on U.S. 90 west. OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- In their last discussions with city officials, engineers for Walmart said they intend to open a Walmart Neighborhood Market sometime during 2016. The project was first announced in late 2013. It entails the new store being constructed on the site of what is commonly referred to as the "old Delchamps building" on U.S. 90 west. Initially, plans were for Walmart to renovate the existing building, but along the way the plans changed to demolishing the current building and constructing a new one. "My last contact with the Walmart engineering firm indicated this was a 2016 project," said Ocean Springs building official Hilliard Fountain. "After the project was first announced about a year and a half ago, it kind of went quiet, but then picked up again." Fountain said his understand was that at one point Walmart began considering putting a Neighborhood Market on North Washington in the St. Martin community, but ultimately ruled out the parcel of land under consideration due to a lack of space to build parking. He also said the project calls for Walmart to take in some of the existing buildings where businesses are currently located, which prompted Walmart to wait until the leases on those buildings expired. It's unknown at this point exactly which of those adjacent businesses would relocate. Mayor Connie Moran said Walmart had taken out an option on the building, but the Ocean Springs project was delayed while Walmart finished construction of Neighborhood Markets in Biloxi and D'Iberville. The initial plans presented to the City call for a 42,000 square foot facility -- slightly larger than the average Neighborhood Market of 38,000 square feet. Neighborhood Markets are only about 20 percent of the size of a typical Supercenter, which average about 182,000 square feet. Walmart's Neighborhood Market concept, along with Walmart Express, launched in 1998 with the idea of bringing Walmart into urban and other areas which couldn't support a Supercenter. By 2008, however, the Neighborhood Markets had expanded into cities -- primarily in the South -- with already-existing Supercenters, including Horn Lake, Miss., Center Point and Homewood, Ala., and Mandeville and Kenner, La. The initial step towards bringing the project to fruition was taken in November 2013 when aldermen approved a lot split, which allows the former Delchamps building to be sold to developers as a separate parcel. City Planning/Grants Administrator Carolyn Martin said the Thompson Land Company is working with the building/property owner on behalf of the Wal-Mart Corporation. City Engineer James Foster and Public Works Assistant Director Johnny Groue both indicated at the time they were familiar with the plans and had no immediate concerns. Martin told alderman John Gill that the 50-foot buffer between the existing buildings and the Ft. Bayou Estates Subdivision would not be affected. Ironically, the original Walmart in Ocean Springs was constructed immediately adjacent to where the new Walmart Neighborhood Market is planned. That original Walmart was succeeded by the current Supercenter in east Ocean Springs and the original building is now an AT&T Call Center. BEATEN pensioner Mushin Ahmed died after suffering at least three really heavy impacts to his face, a court has heard. The 81-year-old suffered a dozen injuries, most to his head, including two stamps on his face by an attacker wearing shoes. Mr Ahmed, a father of four from East Dene, died at Rotherham Hospital 11 days later after developing pneumonia. Home Office pathologist Dr Charles Wilson gave evidence at the trial of Dale Jones (30) and Damien Hunt (30), accused of murdering Mr Ahmed, in Sheffield Crown Court this morning. He described 12 grazes, cuts and bruises to the pensioner's body, including one laceration all the way through his lip. Fractures were also found in the pensioners jaw, nose and eye sockets. The assault on Mr Ahmed's head was so severe that his lower jaw was broken into pieces, Dr Wilson explained. Mr Andrew Robertson, prosecuting, asked Dr Wilson how severe the beating must have been to cause the injuries described. Dr Wilson replied: Both eye sockets and a very thick jaw bone are fractured and it takes a lot of force to fracture them. The pathologist also described evidence of severe trauma being directed into the brain, including bleeding within and around the organ. He added: Its the mark, as if we needed it considering the trauma to his face, of a severe impact to his head. Jones, of East Bawtry Road and Hunt, of Doncaster Road both deny murder. The trial continues. The month saw some fairly active trading in the Diamond district here in Mumbai, with optimism returning to the diamond industry but caution still rules. With overall rough price reduction, polished prices have firmed resulting in a market correction long overdue. After facing a sharp decline in 2015, the polished diamond prices in India had been slowly recovering before the beginning of the New Year, bringing back good cheer to the Indian market. The certified polished diamond prices in various category rose by 0.50% to 4.7%. The price increase was recorded for the first time now, after the polished diamond prices witnessed a continuous decline in 2015, when polished diamond prices in various categories decreased between 5.8% and 14.5% last year. Market analysts attribute this to market sentiment that improved in December; and the current shortage of goods in the market due to closure of factories in Nov/Dec 2015. Inventories of polished diamonds presently is lower than normal in Indian market. Also, initial reports about US holiday season jewellery sales are positive with general retail sales up about 8% and online mobile sales witnessing an increase up to 50-60%. Meanwhile, the export and import figures according to provisional data announced by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India for the previous month is anything but encouraging. Indias cut and polished exports for December 15 declined by 17 percent recording $1.2 billion as against $1.45 billion in Dec. 14. This is a straight downslide in the Indian industrys export performance for the last 9 months, due to the global slowdown in consuming markets worldwide. In volume terms, exports recorded as 1.88 m cts were exported in Dec 15 in comparison to 1.98 m cts in Dec. 14. Rough imports recorded a slight increase of 2.5 percent to $1.46 billion for Dec. 15 as against $1.4 billion in Dec.14. In volume terms too, 15 m cts of rough was imported in Dec 15 compared to 14 m cts for the same month in the previous year. Rough exports showed a decline of 7.3 percent, registering $99.64 million for Dec. 15 as against $ 107.45 million for Dec.14. In volume terms too, rough worth 2.27 m cts were exported in Dec. 15 compared to 2.22 m cts for the same month in the previous year. About $239 million worth of polished diamond was imported in Dec. 15 as against $441.56 million in Dec 14, showing a decrease of 46 percent. The decrease is attributed to the governments curbs on polished imports in order to support the local diamond cutting& polishing centres in the country. Market watchers, however, predict a better 2016, which they feel has the potential to be a great year for the diamond industry as profitability and responsibility returns to the diamond supply chain. But, not one to be complacent, a GJEPCs delegation comprising of Praveenshankar Pandya, Chairman, and other industry representatives met with Arun Jaitley, Honble Minister of Finance, Government of India recently, to discuss some of the critical issues facing the gems and jewellery industry in India. The delegation requested for the introduction of Special Turnover Tax regime for the diamond industry with 0.75% tax on sales turnover. This would be along the lines of the tax regimes prevalent in other diamond trading nations like Belgium and Israel. The GJEPC chairman also urged the government to permit the sale of rough diamonds at the SNZ in Mumbai by implementing a 0.25% tax on sales turnover achieved at SNZ by foreign mining companies. Earlier in the month, Indias Minister of Commerce & Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman warned that the devaluation of the Chinese currency is a worrying development, which will make Indian exports expensive and widen the trade deficit with China at USD 49 billion. She said her ministry is in favour of relaxing restrictions on gold import duty in order to boost the industry. It has at least in the last one year maintained that in order that gems and jewellery sector does not get adversely affected, there should be some easing of gold import (norms). In GIA -TCS fiasco which shook the diamond industry recently is taking it seriously; and with six more people being arrested totaling to eight till date Market analyst are hopeful that GIA will solve this case effectively. To move to more pleasant scenario, the Indian gem & jewellery industry has been working overtime during the month, preparing for the IIJS Signature a show where the best of Indias designs is showcased for the world. The 9th edition of Signature and the 3rd edition of India Gem & Jewellery Machinery Expo (IGJME 2016), an initiative of The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) were simultaneously held this year in Mumbai. If the study made by the industry body the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) is true, the Indian market for luxury goods is expected to grow from its current level of $14.7 billion to $18.3 billion by end 2016. This translates into a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 25%. The study said that the categories with high growth rates in 2015 such as luxury jewellery and personal care, electronics, SUV cars and fine dining are expected to grow by 30-35 per cent over the next three years. This augurs well for the gem & jewellery industry, which can utilize the opportunities that arise in this sector. The Indian domestic jewellery sector is growing fast and the Government of India is using all initiatives to focus on its betterment. For mobilising gold under the gold monetisation scheme, the government announced a 2.5 per cent commission for banks, and depositors will be permitted premature withdrawal of the deposited metal. The government expects that the above modifications will make the scheme more attractive for potential depositors. To make the scheme more attractive, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has modified the licensing condition for refiners from the existing three years of refining experience to one year. "BIS has published an Expression of Interest (EOI) on its website inviting applications from the more than 13,000 licensed jewellers to act as a CPTC in the scheme, provided they have tie-up with BIS licensed refiners," the statement added. Also, to wean investors away from holding physical gold. The governments gold bond scheme is aimed at reducing the demand for gold in physical form by encouraging people to buy gold in demat or paper form. The Gold Bond scheme will have an annual cap of 500 grams per person. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to sell gold coins manufactured by MMTC Ltd through bank branches, as the gold procured for making the coins are from the domestic market, according to media reports. Till now India gold coins were allowed to be sold only through MMTC centers which are hardly 25 in number in the country. Therefore, this relaxation allowing banks to sell gold coin is a significant step taken by the government. During the month of January, the domestic jewellery sector was up in arms, even resorting to an organizing a protest across the country, seeking special turnover tax regime for diamond industry, interest subvention to boost exports and PAN card (Permanent Account Number) requirement for transactions of above $7415 instead of currently $2966 in its submitted to the Finance Ministry. As evidence that the domestic market is picking up, Indias TATA group company, Titan Company limited announced its working results revealing that its Q3 revenue went up 17% mainly due to the jewellery sales going up by 20%. The company reported a revenue increase of 17 per cent year on year to US $504.6 million in the third quarter that ended December 31. The strong result was mainly because of 20-percent growth in jewelry sales to US $415.3 million from a year ago. Watch sales increased 8.2 per cent to US $70.5 million. Profit after tax during the quarter jumped 18 per cent to US $33.2 million. During the nine months to December 31, total revenue declined 6.4 per cent to $1.3 billion as jewelry sales fell 9.6 per cent to US $1.01 billion. Profit after tax dropped 14 per cent to US $76.8 million. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished Botswana said it is hopeful to record more diamond discoveries in the Tsabong area where Pangolin Diamonds was currently prospecting for diamonds. Minerals minister Onkokame Kitso Mokaila told the African Mining Indaba that the southern African country was highly prospective despite decades of producing quality diamonds. There is a lot of diamond prospecting going on in Botswana in the Tsabong area and we are hopeful that we will have more discoveries in that part of the country, he said during a presentation. We have some companies that are bubbling under who are [on] the verge of opening new mines. Pangolin Diamonds said in October 2013 that it had discovered one of the largest kimberlites in the world, modeled at 270 hectares or 2.7 sq km at its Tsabong North Project. The company also indicated then that there was potential for discovering additional very large kimberlites in the Tsabong North Project area. Mokaila said as diamond exploration grows in the country, small mines like Lucaras Karowe had been producing stones that were different from Debswanas Orapa and Jwaneng. Lucara recovered a 1,111 carat Type IIa diamond last November from Karowe mine. Botswana, which relies on diamond revenue to finance government activities, had been feeling the heat of weak diamond prices. The countrys finance minister Kenneth Matambo recently indicated that Botswanas budget deficit had widened to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year beginning April 1 due to poor diamond exports. The shortfall of 6 billion pula ($530 million) compares with a deficit of 4.2 billion pula, or 2.8 percent of GDP in the year ending March 31. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, from Cape Town, South Africa, Rough&Polished The diamond industry in Surat has picked up steam after it witnessed a slump in business last year, according to ANI (Asian News International). The report says that more than 5,000 Surat polishers had lost their jobs since June 2015, as Chinese consumers pulled back luxury purchases, leaving jewelers in India with stocks of unsold jewellery and gems. However, Dinesh Navadiya, GJEPC (Gujarat Region) Chairman, in an interview with ANI said business was slowly picking up in pace in the Surat. He also added that the return of workers has given a boost to the industry. Navadiya also noted that difference between the production cost and sales price of polished have stabilized; and manufacturers are beginning to see profits again. Navadiya attributed this to steps taken by the diamond industry in India by controlling rough imports, controlling production etc. Also, demand from all over the world is improving and the domestic market is doing well too. But, Navadiya fears that the passage of Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the Parliament would have a negative impact on the industry. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished Bonjour a tous, Afin de diminuer les couts de notre safari, nous proposons de le partager avec dautres voyageurs. Nous sommes deux routardes voyageant sac a dos en Tanzanie. Il reste encore 4 places a prendre. Je mets ci-dessous le programme de notre safari, le prix descendrait a 735 UDS si nous sommes 4 personnes (sans frais dentree dans les parcs, voir detail ci-dessous). Notre guide est Moses Cliff Mwanga, un guide repute en Tanzanie. N3 : ESSENTIAL NORTHERN PARKS SAFARI, 6 DAYS (Tarangire-Manyara- Serengeti-Ngorongoro) : Visit the elephant kingdom ! This is the most popular safari that anyone can enjoy at its best to discover all the main northern parks of Tanzania. Flexibility : You can add one day ecoturism experience and walkings with local guide (see previously our rates given) or take one our packages or add one night in Serengeti to have a 7 days safari. Day 1 (12/03) : Lake Manyara and its flamingos Leave Arusha in the morning, proceed to Lake Manyara National Park for afternoon game drive. Dinner and overnight at campsite. Overnight at campsite at Manyara. Lunchbox and dinner included. Day 2 (13/03) : Serengeti infinity plains After breakfast depart for Serengeti and starts game drive. Meals and overnight at campsite. Overnight at campsite in the Serengeti. All meals included. Day 3 (14/03) : Serengeti- Ngorongoro conservation area A full day with morning and afternoon game drives to explore the plains then depart for Ngorongoro, one of the natural wonders of the world. Meals and overnight at campsite. Overnight at campsite on the crater rim. All meals included. Day 4 (15/03) : Ngorongoro crater, the 8th wonders of the world After early morning breakfast, leave with picnic lunch for a full day crater tour, you will be taken 2000ft down the crater by a 4wheel drive vehicle. Explore the crater before ascending back to the camp for dinner and overnight. Overnight at campsite. All meals included. Day 5 (16/03) : Tarangire game drive, see herds of elephants ! After breakfast, drive to Tarangire, Tanzanias third largest national park and sanctuary for an unusually large elephant population. Majestic baobab trees are an interesting feature of the park, dwarfing the animals that feed beneath them. Animals concentrate along the Tarangire River, which provides the only permanent water supply in the area. There is a great diversity of wildlife including lion, leopard, cheetah and up to six thousand elephant !.Afternoon game drive. Overnight at campsite at Tarangire. All meals included. Day 6 (17/03) : Tarangire/Arusha After breakfast last Safari in the morning, then depart for Arusha. Breakfast and lunchbox included. END OF SERVICE Park fees total Valid until december 2014 You are 2 persons : 1065 usd/person Estimation park fees to pay separately : Adults : 330 usd/person crater descent 200 usd/vehicle to share between number of participants. IN case we add a minimum of 2 persons to that departure, price will becomes 735 USD/Personne (hors park fees) The U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Saturday with President Vladimir Putin of Russia to discuss the decisions and agreements made at the February 11 meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and to stress the importance of rapidly implementing humanitarian access to besieged areas of Syria and initiating a nationwide cessation of hostilities. In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria. The leaders agreed that the United States and Russia will remain in communication on the important work of the ISSG. The U.S. President also urged combined Russian-separatist forces to fulfill their Minsk obligations, especially adhering to the cease-fire and ensuring that the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has full access to all areas of eastern Ukraine, including the international border. The U.S. President reiterated the importance of quickly reaching agreement on the modalities for elections in eastern Ukraine that comply with OSCE standards. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The United Nations reported Sunday that Afghan hostilities in 2015 left more than 3,500 civilians dead, including an unprecedented number of children - one in four casualties over the past year was a child - and nearly 7,500 others wounded, making this the highest number of civilian casualties recorded. "This report records yet another rise in the number of civilians hurt or killed. The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable," said Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMA). The annual report, produced by the UNAMA in coordination with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office (OHCHR), shows that increased ground fighting in and around populated areas, along with suicide and other attacks in major cities, were the main causes of conflict-related civilian deaths and injuries in 2015. UNAMA documented 11,002 civilian casualties (3,545 deaths and 7,457 injured) in 2015, exceeding the previous record levels of civilian casualties that occurred in 2014. The latest figures show an overall increase of four per cent during 2015 in total civilian casualties from the previous year. UNAMA began its systematic documentation of civilian casualties in 2009. Some of the report's other key findings highlight that anti-Government elements continued to cause the most harm - 62 per cent of all civilian casualties - despite a 10 per cent reduction from 2014 in the total civilian casualties resulting from their attacks. Notwithstanding the overall decrease, the report documents anti-Government elements increasing use of some tactics that deliberately or indiscriminately cause civilian harm, including targeted killings of civilians, complex and suicide attacks, as well as indiscriminate and illegal pressure-plate IEDs. Civilian deaths and injuries caused by pro-Government forces caused 17 per cent of civilian casualties - 14 per cent from Afghan security forces, two per cent from international military forces, and one per cent from pro-Government armed groups. The report documents increased civilian casualties caused by pro-Government forces, including during ground engagements, aerial operations, and the activities of pro-Government armed groups. In 2015, UNAMA documented a 37 per cent increase in women casualties and a 14 per cent increase in child casualties. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure. WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more. Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (HY), a manufacturer of lift trucks and aftermarket parts, Monday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Penta Holding S.p.A. for an aggregate price of 53.50 million euros. Penta is the holder of approximately 50.4% stake in Bolzoni S.p.A., an Italian company. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties have determined the purchase price for the Penta shares by agreeing to a valuation of the Bolzoni Stake of 4.30 euros per share. This is equal to an aggregate of 56.37 million euros, which is inclusive of Bolzoni S.p.A.'s 2015 consolidated net income, and deducting the amount of Penta's net financial indebtedness. Such valuation of the Bolzoni Stake represents a premium of 16% and 21% on Bolzoni S.p.A. volume-weighted average trading price over the last 6 and 12 months, respectively, as of market close on February 12. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Hyster-Yale. The closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place during the second quarter of 2016, is subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance by the German antitrust authority. Following the deal closure, Hyster-Yale will launch a mandatory tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Bolzoni S.p.A. at the price in cash of 4.30 euros per share. Hyster-Yale intends to pursue the delisting of Bolzoni following completion of the mandatory tender offer. The acquisition is expected to be funded using Hyster-Yale's cash on hand and borrowings under Hyster-Yale's existing credit facility. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News By SA Commercial Prop News - Ortneil Kutama Addressing the State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Zuma said he was encouraging land reform programmes and raised the unpopular restrictions he wants to impose on foreign ownership of land. Offshore investors are not impressed with any calls to limit foreign ownership of land in South Africa, reports Ortneil Kutama, SA Commercial Prop News Media Director. They therefore would not be impressed with President Jacob Zumas brief comments on his plans to do that, which he mentioned in the State of the Nation Address last week. For the thriving property sector, the latest comments are something of a disappointment, says Kutama. President Zuma said he was encouraging land reform programmes and raised the unpopular restrictions he wants to impose on foreign ownership of land. The Regulation of Land Holdings Bill was noted as being an imminent feature for the legislature and the draft bill is anticipated to be presented to Cabinet by April this year. The draft bill seeks to limit land ownership to 12 000 hectares and prohibit foreign land ownership. The ultimate contents of this bill will have great impact on foreign investments as currently a sizeable portion of privately owned land lies in the hands of foreigners. The President did say that foreigners could take up long term leases on land. President Zuma said: Land reform remains an important factor as we pursue transformation. I spoke about the fifty/fifty policy framework last year, which proposes relative rights for people who live and work on farms. Twenty-seven proposals have been received from commercial farmers and four are being implemented in the Eastern Cape and the Free State, said Zuma. I also announced the Regulation of Land Holdings Bill which would place a ceiling on land ownership at a maximum of 12 000 hectares and would prohibit foreign nationals from owning land. They would be eligible for long term leases. The draft Bill will be presented to Cabinet in the first semester of the year. We also announced the re-opening of land claims for people who had missed the 1998 deadline. The number of new land claims that have been lodged stood at close to one hundred and twenty thousand as of December last year, he said. South Africas Economy Overall, economist believe Zumas speech did little to suggest ways of creating proper economic growth. Peter Attard Montalto, economist at Nomura, believes the speech was effectively a let-down. However, the key for us was the total lack of any new way of thinking in wider government policy to boost growth. There was only limited recognition of the current economic malaise whilst with an overplaying of success of past policy targets. We did not see any meaningful microeconomic structural reforms to give more hope on growth to investors or, more important, to ratings agencies. As such, our low expectations were broadly met, but local expectations, which were looking to give the benefit of the doubt, are likely disappointed. There was no rabbit out of a hat moment, he says. South Africas economy has been forecast by various banks to grow at less than 1% this year. Manufacturing and mining are both in the doldrums. Property is the most active sector on SAs JSE. However, property is a secondary industry. Ultimately, listed property companies will need companies to take up new offices and the like in order to perform well. The lack of new investment by industries in SA and also the lack of new companies opening have prompted many listed property funds to seek opportunities offshore. Attard Montalto feels that Zuma should have mentioned some actual new way of thinking about how to develop the economy, instead of leaving the country with little hope. SA is set to become a sub-investment grade market. In the substance of the speech itself, we struggled to find some meaningful new policies to boost current and potential growth and ultimately provide the necessary microeconomic structural reforms needed to avert sub-investment grade. There was no sense of urgency or crisis on the lack of jobs creation forecast for this year. Indeed this is a factor we have commented on throughout the last year from our interactions with the African National Congress and something which seems not to have changed. True, the speech was sombre, but we think this reflects more the personal political pressure Zuma is under as opposed to recognition of the errors of Nene-gate or the state of the economy, he says. Zuma did little to speak about why the respected former Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene was fired. That event had caused devastation in the markets last year and seen the rand plummet. Overall we think the speech is negative for South African Rand and South African assets in the medium run but a difficult theme to trade in this current weak USD environment. We maintain our views of a path in the coming 18 months towards two agencies in sub-investment grade and of a credit story developing in the second half of the year, Attard Montalto says. Some property companies who are running offshore to escape rand weakness and poor economic growth, may actually burn their fingers. They must recognize that markets like the UK and Germany are highly competitive. They need to take some months studying markets before just throwing money at them. By SA Commercial Prop News Braamfontein stands a good chance of increased commercial development when the Gautrain station has been completed Johannesburgs CBD, Braamfontein and Newtown nodes are showing significant evidence of inner-city renewal, with business sentiment and perceptions of the areas improving over the last couple of years. This is to according to the research conducted by Broll Property Group Keke Khojane area specialist from Broll, says that huge transformation is underway in the Johannesburg CBD, Braamfontein and Newtown, fuelled by a number of new and re-developments, as well as the generally good accessibility to highways, rail and bus transport. The city can now be compared to many international cities, due mainly to the work of the City of Johannesburg. For instance, the Urban Development Zone (UDZ) for the City of Johannesburg, which covers an 18km area east-west from Fordsburg to Jeppestown and north-south from Bellevue to the M2, has contributed R8 billion to Johannesburgs CBD. The UDZ tax incentive is part of a national scheme to encourage inner-city renewal across South Africa. It offers tax allowances covering 100% of the total cost of property refurbishments over a period of five years, while new property developments can claim the allowance over 17 years. A number of projects are currently either nearing completion or underway, and will continue to contribute to the transformation of the area. This includes a joint Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and Central Johannesburg Partnership (a private, non-profit company) project to establish City Improvement Districts, which have taken off particularly in Western Johannesburg, in the Fox and Rissik Street areas. CIDs are designed to improve services in specific areas. They are geographically-defined areas where property owners agree to pay additional levies for enhanced services, which usually include additional safety, cleaning and general maintenance of the area, Khojane explains. In Western Johannesburg, which houses more corporate offices, landlords pay their CID levies more readily, and therefore the improvement in this area has been most pronounced. Various projects, including the development of Ellis Park, Joubert Park, Gandhi Square and the Braamfontein Corporate Precinct, the upgrading of Main Street, the Johannesburg Art City Project and research into the possible establishment of a fashion and garment manufacturing node have contributed to this transformation. The JDA has played a crucial role in these projects, aided by the Johannesburg Land Company, Khojane says. Not that the other areas are standing still. On the eastern side of the CBD, the expansion of Absas head office by 50 000m has had the side-effect of upgrading the area. Similarly, the gradual re-development of Newton on the western side of the CBD has attracted an influx of aspiring artists, musicians and actors. This has created what has become known as the cultural hub of Gauteng, and is supported by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Council. Gauteng province is also involved in this area, in the hope of attracting more creative industries and has upgraded the Nelson Mandela off-ramp and the Mary Fitzgerald Square to support this initiative. The latter project is funded by the JDA to the tune of R10 million and will be completed by end July 2011. A further 35 000m of retail space, called the Potato Sheds, as well as the 7 800m Majestic office complex, of which The Majestic Hotel will be the last phase, are being developed in Newtown. Braamfonteins redevelopment has centered around Wits Universitys students, with 20 buildings being converted into student accommodation over the recent years. However, Joy Coplan area specialist and commercial broker at Broll says, Braamfontein stands a good chance of increased commercial development when the Gautrain station has been completed. Demand for space remains average, as do sales, but supply is on the increase and is not likely to change. Rentals vary from R65/m in Newtown to R82/m in Braamfontein. Most new leases are with government, which remains the main driver of additional take-up of space. By SA Commercial Prop News Gauteng toll gantry The Gauteng provincial government (GPG) on Saturday welcomed Cabinet's approval of toll tariffs for the Gauteng freeway improvement project. "The GPG believes that both the further development of the public transport system and the upgrading and expansion of our roads networks are essential for economic growth and the improvement of the quality of life of our residents," spokesman Xoli Mngambi said. Cabinet approved reduced toll tariffs for the Gauteng freeway improvement project (GFIP) phase A1, on Wednesday. Motorcycles would pay 24 cents a kilometre, light motor vehicles 40 cents, medium vehicles R1, and "longer" vehicles R2. Qualifying commuter taxis and buses would be exempted entirely. Mngambi said in a statement the GPG was happy with the exemption. "This is a significant measure aimed at minimising the impact of tolling on the vast majority of working people in Gauteng. "In addition, this is a welcome relief, especially for commuters who use public transport on a daily basis." He said the GPG were reviewing proposals for the next phase of the project and would consult with the public in September. On Friday the ANC welcomed Cabinet's "bold" move on the tariffs. However the Young Communist League said it was disgusted by it and asked government to scrap the project entirely, while civil rights group AfriForum said the tolls were reducing motorists to cash cows. The SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) called on the working class and poor to unite against it. "Through our marches, demonstrations, and pickets we will bring this behemoth to its knees," Satawu spokeswoman Mamokgethi Molopyane said. A first-of-its-kind journey along India and Pakistan border What binds the two most talked about nations - India and Pakistan together? What makes the Totems anchor dropped late in the day in Luderitz, the southern of Namibias two ports, three days after leaving Simons Town. Weather and boat readiness finally cooperated to help us extract from the magnetic pull of beautiful Cape Town. Even confident I will find the next port fascinating, its hard to leave a place where weve felt so welcomed, and has so much fun, as we have during our month at False Bay Yacht Club. We left in a lull that had us motoring to the infamous Cape of Good Hope. Although its not the true southern tip of Africa- thats Cape Agulhas, about 90 miles east- its infamous for sailors. Blame good marketing by 15th century Portuguese explorers for the lingering reputation of whats still called a Great Cape. Its actually the adjacent Cape Point, pictured above, that feels the most epic of all. Why didnt Bartolomeu Dias call this one the Cape of Storms? Good Hope is diminutive and non-threatening by comparisonbut it is the point where westabout boats finally point more north, on a gradual back up to warmer latitudes. Were all missing the warmer latitudes at the moment. Once the fog settled in over Cape Town when we passed by, full foulies were worn in the cockpit. I tried to remember the last time I actually needed full foulies on a sunny day, and I cant, which means it was probably back in 2008 on the way down the US west coast. LONG TIME. I had to wear socks. Jamie even had SEA BOOTS on! We've been barefoot sailing for years! Sailing up to Luderitz, Namibia, took three days. Its the perfectly wrong length of time for a passage, as far as Im concerned. Day 1, getting adjusted. Day 2, bone tired by the switch from diurnal to watch schedules. Day 3, enough rest to find a passage rhythm. Except then we make landfall, and good rest is mostly assured anyway! The passage was marked by wildlife. The first 24 hours out, we encountered more whales than weve ever seen. I lost count, but it must have pushed into the high teens. Humpbacks, for sure, but were there other species also? This dorsal is distinctiveso is the shape of the spout, in the picture at the top of this post. Spyhopping fur seals were the most common; they seemed especially curious about our presence, but were too fast for me to catch with the camera. We were accompanied several times by Heavisides dolphins, learning that this is a pretty rare species that not a lot is known about. We use Audobons Guide to Marine Mammals of the World (great resource for cruisers!), which indicates theyre only found along the southwest coast of Africa. Heavisides dolphins dont put on Sea World shows like spinners, but still leapt jauntily through the big swells, seemed very social and interested in our company. This coast is famous for fog. We were mostly spared, although it closed in periodically. I spent a lot of time on watch double checking visuals against AIS and radar, especially at night. Ship traffic turned out to be very minimal, once we left Cape Town behind. There were a couple of clusters of boats, like off Port Owen, or near the Orange river that divides South Africa from Namibia. There, a half dozen dredges operating in over 100m (400+) of water just offshore. What would you dredge at that depth? Diamonds. We gave them wide berth! We arrived in Luderitz late in the day, guided in by a dolphin that played with me at the bow for about half an hour, rolling to see if I was still there, darting back and forth beneath but mostly just a few feet below my seat on deck. Magic! We arrived in a town that was at once quainter and much smaller than expected. Surrounded by desert, Jamies immediate reaction was: This looks like Tattooine! NOT Mos Eisley, mind you. Its a mix of colonial (100+ year old) German architecture with more present day industrial port facilities. Just, very small town / small country style. Namibia itself isnt small, its almost as big as Egypt (and twice the size of Sweden) but as the coastline view prepped us, there just arent many people here. Turns out its one of the least densely populated countries in the world, second only to Mongoliawhich we can now compare from direct experience with the most dense, Singapore. Clearing in was easy for our 25th (!) country. Its never quite the same twice, although the patterns for checking into countries are the same. I think its the first time the Port Captain greeted us with a handshake, though! Happily, the paperwork was much easier, and much more sensible, than the paces that South African officialdom puts boat through. Within a week, well be sailing north again to meet Ty in Walvis Bay, then watching weather for departure to cross the Atlantic. And already, I know the time here is much too short. This post is syndicated on Sailfeed. SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com Feb-15-2016 13:37 TweetFollow @OregonNews Former Azerbaijani Security Minister's Role in Arming Wahhabis in His Country Moderate Shiites should be increasingly wary of direct confrontation with armed extremist Wahhabi movements. Official govt. photo of Eldar Mahmudov Courtesy: azadliq.org (SALEM, Ore.) - A security official who wished to remain anonymous, claimed in an interview with the European Radio Liberty, that Eldar Mahmudov, the ousted security minister of Azerbaijan, has undertaken the illegal importation of weapons from Turkey as supported by Israel and funded by Saudi Arabia in order to arm Northern Caucasus Wahhabi forces. According to Sizinyol news agency reports, these weapons have been transferred by Azal flights from Turkey to Azerbaijan, distributed among Wahhabi extremist groups and smuggled to Dagestan. On the other hand, more than four hundred Azerbaijani Wahhabi forces are fighting in Syria and Iraq under Eldar Mahmoudov's silence that shows coordination with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The main reason for Eldar Mahmoudov's dismissal from the Azerbaijani security ministry and the dissolution of this department is that Putin has provided Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, with documentary information about this problem. Eldar Mahmoudov's dismissal and that of two hundred of his colleagues was the biggest threat to the rule of Ilham Aliyev, whose monarchical authority was so shaken that his security councilors considered creating a false propagandistic crisis like the Nardaran events, to magnify the risk of moderate Shiites in avoiding direct confrontation with armed extremist Wahhabi movements. _________________________________________ Most Commented on Articles for February 15, 2016 | Articles for February 16, 2016 The military vehicles and troops of 546th Engineering Construction Battalion ans 81st DRC during an ambush by more or less five NPA rebels at vicinity Brgy Madalunot, Pinabacdao, Samar at around 7:20AM, December 18, 2015. NPA rebels waylaid Army troops conducting HADR in Samar By DPAO, 8ID PA December 19, 2015 CAMP VICENTE LUKBAN, Catbalogan City The Army troops of 546th Engineering Construction Battalion and 81st Division Reconnaissance Company involved in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response Operations (HADRO) for typhoon Nona victims were waylaid by more or less five NPA rebels at the vicinity of Brgy. Madalunot, Pinabacdao, Samar at around 7:20 a.m., today. The convoy of three trucks (one M35 Truck vehicle, one Mignon Civilian Vehicle, and one mini-dump truck) was led by 1st Lt. Fritz F. Perez. The troops were on their way back to Tacloban City to gather more relief goods to give to victims of typhoon Nona. They were with two female personnel from DSWD who were going back to their base at OCD Region 8 when they were waylaid by an undetermined number of NPA. The firefight ensued 15 minutes resulted to two soldiers wounded and undetermined casualties to the rebels as they withdraw in different directions. The 8ID strongly condemns the ambush done by the NPA against Army troops involved in HADR operations. Maj. Gen. Jet B. Velarmino, Commander, 8ID said This clearly shows the NPAs disregard to the plight of our brothers and sisters in Samar who were devastated by the onslaught of storm Nona. This is also a clear indication that the NPAs continuously and deliberately conduct atrocities against our troops and public servants who are only doing their job to alleviate the suffering experienced by storm victims in Visayas. Soldier, civilian wounded in an NPA harassment in San Jorge, Samar By RPCRD, Police Regional Office 8 December 23, 2015 CAMP KANGLEON, Palo, Leyte Police Regional Office 8 again condemns the harassment made by suspected members of New Peoples Army against government troops in Brgy. Erenas, San Jorge, Samar at 9:00 PM of December 22, 2015 which wounded one soldier and a civilian. Based on the spot report, Bravo Company of the 43rd IB, Philippine Army Detachment under 1Lt Hannibal Pagtan based at Brgy. Erenas, San Jorge, Samar was harassed by more or less 15 NPAs and firefight lasted for 15 minutes. The wounded was identified as PFC Capito and a civilian named Jude Gobe. The report likewise disclosed that enemy withdrew towards North East direction. The elements of San Jorge MPS, Samar PPO are coordinating with B Coy 43rd IB, PA for follow-up investigation relative to the incident while nearby Municipal Police Stations were directed to be extra vigilant, set-up Checkpoints and check nearby hospitals for possible admission of wounded persons. Prior to this, on the same day, troops of 20th Infantry Battalion composed of five personnel led by Cpl Roman Clago on board KM450/military truck was ambushed by undetermined number of NPA between Brgy. Bukid and Brgy. Bugay, Las Navas Northern Samar. The government troops believed to be bringing with them relief goods to be distributed to victims of typhoon Nona in the said municipality. Police authorities identified the KIA as Private First Class Darylll Baldo and the two WIA as Corporals Michael Porten and Roman Clago while it was undetermined on enemy side. The suspected Communist Terrorists withdrew towards Brgy. Roxas, Las Navas, N. Samar. Last December 17, 2015 around 7:00 o' clock in the morning, albeit NPAs declaration of ceasefire for this holiday season, atrocities against government soldiers was conducted by the local communist rebels along national highway in Barangays Pahug and Madalunot, Pinabacdao Samar wounding two soldiers of the 846th Engineering Battalion. The government troops were also transporting relief goods from Oras, Eastern Samar to be distributed to all victims of Typhoon Nona in Northern Samar. An estimated 15 armed members of Communist Terrorist fired, hitting the driver's feet and one of his escort. The military trucks were on their way back to Tacloban to get another set of relief goods for the typhoon Nona victims. One Army Officer said that the ambush might be a retaliation of the government troops clearing operations from the past week which enables the Army to overrun an NPA camp near the ambush area. Accordingly the truck were loaded of 16 soldiers from 546 Engineering Battalion and 81st Division Reconnaissance Company based in this city. Santa Paula News One of Santa Paulas own has earned an internship in the Office of U.S. Congresswoman Janice Hahn. Luis Salazar, son of Jose and Patricia Salazar and big brother to Alejandra, has distinguished himself in many areas since graduating from Santa Paula High School in 2012. During his junior year at SPHS, Luis took a trip with his AVID class to tour the University of California at Irvine and liked it so much he ended up attending right out of high school. Luis states, Id like to thank Mrs. Pam Thompson for taking me to UC Irvine. Without the introduction to the university I am in now, I would be on a different track. Not only did she help me during high school, but she still mentored me through my time here at UC Irvine. She was my first mentor and probably one of the best ones I ever had or will have. It goes without saying that all the teachers in Santa Paula from kindergarten through high school have helped to mold this student into the young man he is today. Luis is currently a fourth year student majoring in Criminology, Law and Society; has been active in many volunteer organizations, including mentoring students from Sweden, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong; is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, ASUCI (Associated Students of UC Irvine); and maintains a 3.5 GPA. In September 2014, he studied abroad at the University of Glasgow in Scotland through the University of California Education Abroad Program. He recollects that many of the Scots were not surprised to see a 64 Mexican-American (fun-fact, Luis is the tallest Mexican-American at UCI), stating that they knew Americans came in all shapes, sizes, and races. After graduation, Luis plans to enroll in the police academy and hopes to become a police officer or work for the federal government. Were so proud to have one of our students placed in a U.S. Congresswomans office. Luis continues to be a standout individual and we are confident he will continue to expand his horizons and become an accomplished young man, representing the city of Santa Paula, states Elizabeth Garcia, Principal of Santa Paula High School. Noida, Uttar Pradesh -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/14/2016 -- AAHAR 2016, The International Food And Hospitality Fair is the largest show in South Asia of its kind. It will be held from 15th March, 2016 to 19th March, 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India. AAHAR Exhibition in Pragati Maidan 2016 is a great opportunity to showcase products, services and technologies, launch new products, services and technologies, generate order booking and sales leads, establish business contacts and network within the industry, promote company's products, research the market and appoint new distributors and agents. AAHAR Fair 2016 is aimed at promoting food and hospitality products and services, with participation of many companies from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Afghanistan, Japan, Germany, Turkey, USA, UAE, Poland, Korea, Singapore, etc. AAHAR Pragati Maidan 2016 will showcase products like Organic and Health Products, Fresh Products and Diary Products, Chocolates, Desserts, Confectionery, Bakery Products, Canned, Frozen and Processed Products, Poultry, Meat and Sea Foods, Snacks and Convenience Foods, Coffee and Tea, Juices, Syrups, Energy Drinks, Additives and Preservatives, Bar Supplies and Equipments, Food Preparation and Processing Equipments, Different Hospitality Solutions, etc used in Restaurants, Hotels and Catering Industry. One of the most important features of this fair is that it'll provide increased business transactions and interactions among a big number of food and hospitality companies in India and abroad. From entrepreneurs, executive chefs, executive housekeepers and hospitality service providers to importers, overseas buyers, policy makers from Government, purchase consultants and professionals and trade delegations, all kinds of visitors come to attend this fair. The AAHAR seeks to provide a big platform to facilitate modernization and growth in the food and hospitality industry. It has evolved in an ideal platform for initiation of many joint venture agreements as well as technology transfer procedures that guarantee considerable results. AAHAR Delhi 2016 will offer you with an unmatched opportunity to produce new business lead and get closer to your clients with an efficient and effective way of effectively marketing to this active growing market. The new initiative for AAHAR 2016 include a focused initiative to bring more and more overseas delegations, exhibitors and buyers to the event, increase in the exhibition area for meeting the demands of applicants, 50% rebate offered to young and new entrepreneurs from India and match making service to facilitate efficient transactions between exhibitors and buyers. AAHAR is being promoted by ShowinCity, so you can easily get all related information about AAHAR on its website. ShowinCity is the best place to get all information about the latest or upcoming events, conferences, plays, trade fairs, music concerts, comedy shows, etc, being organized in NCR. For more information, visit http://www.showincity.com/ today. About ShowinCity ShowinCity renovates the old processes related with event management. With our integrated platform, planners will now able to find venues more easily and organize events more effectively, engage attendees, measure the influence of their events, and much more. ShowinCity delivers events industry with excellent technology that can handle the entire event from beginning to end smartly. Contact: ShowinCity Sector-59, Noida - 201301 Phone: +91-9599225526 Email: services@showincity.com Email: promotion@showincity.com Special Office in: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi Paris, France -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2016 -- ServiceClientContacter.Info has issued an alternative number for all the French customers of the online shopping giant Amazon, in response to the numerous "contacter Amazon" queries. The website aims to make a quick connection to the "service client Amazon" or the customer service of the well known e-commerce company. Thus, any client residing in France and wishing to address the website team a question or solve an issue may contact Amazon in a new and efficient way. The standard Amazon Hotline and Assistance departments are there to answer all queries and guide clients through the various processes. However, considering the size of the business, these often cannot face the influx of calls. A specialized service for specific countries thus steps in and provides an exclusive Amazon contact number. Online shoppers may call this when they have payment and security issues, questions about items on sale, item returns and many other situations that call for clarification. The Amazon service client for French customers exists to make shopping easy and to provide all queries with adequate answers, in the shortest time. The hotline guarantees a response to every registered Amazon client. The American website, which started as a library in 1994, grew to become an all-encompassing shopping website where people can both buy and sell items. Transactions can be made from anywhere in the world, are quick and secure. With the variety of vendors and items, certain issues may arise and thus the clients are in need to contact the company's staff for solutions. While Amazon has its standard hotline numbers, it has also set up special ones for the countries with important numbers of users. This is the case with France, where clients have access to the service in one easy step, by phone. About ServiceClientContacter.Info ServiceClientContacter.Info is a French website serving customers of notable banks, big online commerce ventures and utility companies and providing alternative contact numbers which guarantee a prompt answer. To get in touch with the Amazon customer service, go to http://serviceclientcontacter.info/numero-service-client-amazon-0826-626960/ Contact: Martin Paris, France admin@serviceclientcontacter.info http://serviceclientcontacter.info/numero-service-client-amazon-0826-626960/ Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2016 -- Petroleum industries are gaining high momentum in their sales revenue with the increasing demand for sulphur across various industry segments. Today, 97% of the sulphur is recovered as a by-product of oil and gas industry followed by coal gasification (2%) and 1% from mined sulphur. Sulphur recovery is the process of harnessing sulphur from hydrogen sulphide (H2S). Sulphur constitutes 3% of earth's total mass and is the 16th most abundant element in the world. Its end use application is seen in fertilisers, rubber, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. Sulphur has both, merits as well as demerits. It needs to be removed during the coal gasification and extraction process so as to avoid catalyst poisoning and prevent fouling of the downstream component. Chemical industries constantly engage in technical innovation in order to offer an efficient approach for removing sulphur from this process and using it for various other industry verticals ranging from agricultural sectors to cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Companies these days are focusing on extracting sulphur in most feasible way so as to minimise the operational cost and enhance the revenue generation. Claus process, tail gas, direct oxidation, acid gas enrichment, oxygen enrichment, cold bed adsorption and Frasch methods are the techniques most employed by industries. Of all these methods, Claus and CBA (Cold Bed Adsorption) are the most commonly used in extraction of sulphur. The reason behind its popularity is the increasing market share of oil and gas production. Request Free Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-171 Canada is the largest exporter of sulphur in the world, while China is the largest market for sulphur. Other potential market sites for sulphur are India, U.S., Morocco and Brazil. The current scenario reveals that sulphur production is dependent on China's economy. Since 1990, it has been importing sulphur to meet its various industry verticals need. However, the market seems to be in the doldrums because of the large gap between demand and supply. With major oil and gas fields operating in Canada, Russia, and MEA, the market is set to witness large production of sulphur which will surpass the demand for it. The Turkmenistan gas project alone is set to produce 2.4 million tonnes of sulphur. The decline in the demand for sulphur foretells a gloomy prospect for the industries producing sulphur. However, this downward trend will be a short term one and is expected to show improvement with sulphur's increasing use in rubber and agriculture sectors. It is predicted that the world population will increase to 8.3 billion by 2030 from 6.9 billion in 2010. This will lead to increase in food demand by 50%. With limited agricultural land, soil will need high amount of micro and macro nutrients to meet the good demand in coming years. Sulphur is one of the most important nutrient for plants. Deficiency in sulphur can result in reduced yields. The global agriculture market, including countries such as China, India, and U.S., will need sulphur to meet their crop production. High demand of sulphur in crop production offers good market scope for chemical industries operating in sulphur recovery technologies. Download TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-171 The rubber industry is also a potential end use market for sulphur-producing regions. Sulphur offers durability to natural rubbers. On account of the surge in demand for rubbers in the automotive industry, Asia followed by Europe and North America have become lucrative markets for business enterprises operating in sulphur recovery technologies. Asia alone consumes 17,191 metric tonnes of rubber. China, Japan, and India are the major automotive hubs, and hold the potential to generate high returns on investment for chemical industries. Germany is the largest market for sulphur in Europe with a majority of the automotive parts being manufactured there. With tremendous growth potential in the fertiliser, automation and mining sectors, the sulphur recovery technology market looks optimistic. APAC will see the highest CAGR growth in 20142020 followed by MENA and the North American region. Browse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/global-sulphur-recovery-technologies-market Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2016 -- Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a natural gas converted into liquid form for ease of transportation and storage. LNG takes about 1/600th of volume of natural gas. It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic and non-corrosive in nature. Liquefaction is carried out by cooling natural gas to -1620 C (- 2620 F), followed by the removal of certain components such as acid gases, impurities and dust. Thereafter, LNG is stored in cylindrical shaped and domed roof cryogenic tanks. This prevents LNG from vaporization. Generally, cryogenic tanks are made up of materials such as concrete, steel and nickel. These tanks are well insulated and kept at a very low pressure. Large underground tanks are also utilized for storage; smaller quantities of LNG are stored above the ground in vertical or horizontal tanks. Complete Report with TOC @ http://www.mrrse.com/liquefied-natural-gas-market End-user segment in the LNG market comprises industrial, electric power and other sector applications such as transportation and commercial. Industrial sector is expected to be the most dominating sector in terms of demand for LNG. Various industries such as chemicals, fertilizers and steel utilize high quantities of LNG as operational fuel. Industrial processes consume huge quantities of distillate fuels. Transition to LNG from conventional fuels can help industries save significant capital. Various equipment such as drilling equipment, industrial boilers and mining equipment utilize high quantities of LNG due to large number of benefits it offers such as low cost and no emissions. Demand for LNG is high in the electric power sector due to less cost and favorable heat rate. This makes LNG a preferred fuel. Various government policies make it mandatory to use LNG in the industrial sector in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. LNG-based electric power plants effectively and efficiently support high load during peak hours. LNG is the preferred fuel for small-scale captive power plants that are specially designed for in-house power generation and these small scale power plants can easily support load up to 100 MW. Industries located in remote areas can operate easily by installing captive power plants using LNG as fuel. Inquiry on this report @ http://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/535 Other sectors such as transportation and commercial utilize LNG due to high variation in prices of fuel such as diesel and petrol. Vehicle emission norm is the major factor that propels the use of LNG in the transportation sector. Countries such as France and Spain use LNG in order to reduce dependence on oil import and prevent atmosphere from being polluted through combustion of traditional fuels. Conventional fuels such as diesel and petrol emit high amount of COx on combustion. This raises the overall carbon footprint. However, LNG is comparatively cleaner and emits less COx and SOx. LNG has 85% lesser volatile organic content than diesel. On combustion, it produces 70% lesser COx and NOx as compared to conventional fuels. Asia Pacific dominated the global LNG market in terms of volume due to high demand from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Emerging economies such as India and China import large quantities of LNG as domestic gas production is not enough to cater to the domestic needs of these countries. Europe is also expected to be a booming market for LNG as countries such as Spain, the U.K and France are importing high quantities of LNG. Rest of the World (RoW) is anticipated to witness a moderate growth rate as large number of gas reserves exist in the Middle East. Request a Free Sample Copy of the Report @ http://www.mrrse.com/sample/535 Apache Corporation, BG Group Plc, Cheniere Energy Inc, ConocoPhillips, Dominion Resources Inc, Kinder Morgan Inc, Qatar Petroleum, Sempra Energy, Veresen Inc and Woodside Petroleum Ltd are likely to dominate the liquefied natural gas market in the coming future. About MRRSE MRRSE stands for Market Research Reports Search Engine, the largest online catalog of latest market research reports based on industries, companies, and countries. MRRSE sources thousands of industry reports, market statistics, and company profiles from trusted entities and makes them available at a click. Besides well-known private publishers, the reports featured on MRRSE typically come from national statistics agencies, investment agencies, leading media houses, trade unions, governments, and embassies. Follow us on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Zurich, Switzerland -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2016 -- The Baechi Family believes in conservation of natural resources and avoiding products that contain chemical additives. Following this policy, the family had plans to produce and sell products that are chemical-free and environmentally sustainable. During their recent visit to Italy, the family came across one such product and another family that shares the same vision. This is how ALLENBY was born. The first batch of ALLENBY natural leather bags was completed by the Tuscany-based family by the end of 2015. Since then, a photo shoot has been done in Zurich, and an online store has been set up for ALLENBY. Within a very short time, a small but exclusive collection for women and men has been created by this emerging business. The brand has received an excellent response from people that look for handmade products and prefer naturally treated leather to products that are tanned by environmentally hazardous procedures. The brand ALLENBY is presently in need of implementing a marketing strategy to make more people aware of their high-quality products. They have just launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise Fr 10,000 for this project. Proceeds from this campaign will be invested in ad-campaigns (online), travelling to the major cities in Europe to offer free demo products in selected showrooms, and setting-up physical shops. To find out more about this campaign, please visit http://kck.st/1SIgZnZ The official website of ALLENBY is http://allenby.ch/ About ALLENBY ALLENBY is a recently created brand manufacturing handmade leather products that are vegetable tanned. The company's initial products are natural leather bags for men and women. Computers have always interested me because of their determinism. They would perform perfectly if they were coded and built perfectly; it is the imperfect coding and building of computers that leave them open to attack and further, why we must take on defensive roles to protect them. I saw information security as a developing field where I could fill a void, become an expert and help shape the industry. It also seemed cool to know how things could be broken and to prevent that from happening. Thats why I decided to study computer science at the National University of Singapore. Since I was interested in the field, some years ago, I searched for the most valuable information security certification. The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) was the obvious choice. When I searched on the (ISC) website, I found that I did not yet have the work experience required to become a CISSP, but I could become an Associate of (ISC). I then picked up a few CISSP books from the library and did lots of practice tests, reviewing the questions after each test until I was consistently scoring above 80 percent. Then I took the test. From Associate to CISSP I passed my CISSP exam in 2012 and became an Associate of (ISC). I got certified as a CISSP in 2015. The Associate of (ISC) easily opened doors to security-specific jobs and helped me complete the experience requirements. Given the shortage of skilled security professionals, employers will gladly take a chance with someone who has passed the CISSP, even if that person is not yet certified and working towards gaining the experience required to earn the CISSP. Since I have a four-year bachelors degree, it shaved off one year from the five-year experience requirement. My work experience before and after my CISSP exam included security monitoring, operations and some access management and disaster recovery. I also took on risk management tasks when the opportunities presented themselves. As an Associate of (ISC), I was invited to an (ISC) member reception in Singapore. This was where I learned of the nascent (ISC) Singapore Chapter in 2012 and started volunteering for it. My work with the (ISC) Singapore Chapter has been good for my career. It has been time-consuming, but very rewarding. It is a satisfying feeling that we are currently conducting events monthly as well as establishing the processes that will enable this chapter to thrive and benefit the members even after the current committee has left the stage. My involvement with the chapter has given me the opportunity to network with a variety of people from the security field in Singapore and internationally; the knowledge sharing has been quite good. Getting to meet directly with a person who discovered a security vulnerability and its exploit or called off a meeting because his bug-detector went off or social engineered people professionally gives me the confirmation that the threats are real and proximate. Most important of all, I realize it is within our power to fight back. Advice to any novice security practitioners: If you are looking for a career in information security, (ISC)s Associate Program is a great option. If you are starting out in security but do not yet have the work experience, this will add some weight to your resume. Also, join the local chapters and network with others in the field. The knowledge and contacts that you gain will prove useful and give you added perspective in your role as a security professional. Upgrade yourself. -- Vijay Luiz, Information Security Consultant & Secretary, (ISC) Singapore Chapter About the Author Domicile: Singapore (originally India, but I have been in Singapore for a long time) (ISC) certifications held: CISSP Year of experience in the industry: 5 years Topic(s) of interest in information security: Simplifying security for the average person. I advocate password management software. Career Goal: Influence the improvement of information security. View Vijay's security blog here: www.essaysonsecurity.com Find Vijay on Twitter: @vijayluiz Philadelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2016 -- When individuals are trying to find a baby shower banquet hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one place that they can turn to is Village Catering. In fact, this renowned catering company is pleased to announce that they are now booking baby showers for spring 2016. Individuals who would like to book their catering hall for a baby shower in late March, April, May, or early June, can give the company a call at 215-437-3337, or visit their website and fill out a contact form. Village Catering's banquet hall, the Cottage Green, can host both big and small baby showers. However, potential clients should also keep in mind that 300 guests are the most their banquet hall can hold. Furthermore, individuals who desire to decorate their banquet hall, or make it so it is a certain theme, can certainly feel free to do so. In all, those who choose the Cottage Green to play host to a baby shower will find that this banquet hall will provide them with endless opportunities to make this special occasion memorable. Those who choose to have their baby shower at the Cottage Green can choose to take advantage of Village's catering menus. The company offers appetizers, salads, hors d'oeuvres, hot entrees, desserts, trays and packages. The company also provides customers with high-quality paper products, tea and coffee service, inflatables, games, and much more. In all, if there is anything special that a client wants for the baby shower, Village Catering will do all that they can to accommodate. When looking for baby shower halls that are close to Bucks County, PA, look no further than the Cottage Green. Village Catering and the Cottage Green is just a short distance away, and those who choose them to host their baby shower will have nothing but an awesome experience. To learn more about Village Catering and their large and luxurious banquet hall, please visit their website today. About Village Catering As a full-service catering business, Village Catering provides their guests and parties with affordable, customized options. Their thorough attention to detail includes upscale dining menus and every decoration that a party is interested in. This includes quality paper products, china, linens, tables, chairs, tents and complete event planning from a catering specialist. Village Catering sets the standards high and believes in custom-tailoring the menu to satisfy clients and their guests to make their occasion the best it can be. To learn more, visit http://www.villagecatering.com. [MANILA] Proponents of the controversial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant in the Philippines are asking the government to issue new regulations governing food crops produced through genetic engineering. The Philippine Supreme Court issued last December a ban on field trials for Bt eggplant, the genetically modified (GM) version of one of the countrys most common vegetables. The basis of the Philippine Supreme Courts ban on field trials on transgenic eggplants is the result of a very effective misinformation campaign by various NGOs. By Saturnina Halos, Philippines Department of Agriculture At the SciDev.Net-sponsored media forum last 10 February in Manila about the Supreme Court decision, Filemon Nolasco, a lawyer from the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) Foundation Inc. noted that the decision is a temporary, not a final, ban and pressed the issuance of a new regulation. Nolasco said the decision to stop field trials for Bt eggplant, which was developed mainly by UPLB researchers, was made previously by the Court of Appeals in May 2013 and affirmed by the Supreme Court in its December 2015 decision, which stated that any application for the contained use, testing, propagation, commercialisation and importation of genetically modified organisms is temporarily enjoined until a new administrative order is promulgated in accordance with law. He said the Supreme Court declared invalid the Department of Agricultures Administrative Order 8 relating to the rules and regulations for the importation and release into the environment of plants and plant products derived from the use of modern biotechnology. [Much] of the basis of the Philippine Supreme Courts ban on field trials on transgenic eggplants is the result of a very effective misinformation campaign by various NGOs, said Saturnina Halos, chair of the biotech advisory team of the Department of Agriculture. Halos argued that the fears of biotechnology opponents are unsubstantiated and that the basis of the Supreme Court ban is not science. She added it is a misconception that the larger population is scared of transgenic foods. Halos vouched for the safety of transgenic crops and said extensive testing has proven the advantages of Bt eggplant. GM eggplant was already approved in Bangladesh without any negative human health or environmental consequences, so why not in the Philippines? According to Halos, there are about half a million GM crop farmers in the Philippines and that planting transgenic eggplant will decrease production costs and improve crop quality, resulting in bigger harvests and higher incomes for farmers. Additionally, due to the high herbicide tolerance of GM eggplants, less labour is needed to apply pesticides during planting. She contends that planting GM crops also provides a better health environment for both farmers and consumers, who will then eat a crop exposed to less toxic chemicals. But green groups and NGOs such as Greenpeace believe that genetically modified crops are not safe for human or animal consumption. Should the ban not be lifted, Halos believes farmers and scientists will be discouraged, negatively affecting the future of biotechnology in the country due to lost research grant opportunities and less opportunities for progress and growth in the agriculture sector and the economy. Ultimately the Philippines will lose out as seed companies who were initially planning to put up seed plants in the country for exports are now eyeing Vietnam instead, Halos said. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk. US researchers have developed an app that uses networks of smartphones to detect earthquakes and could send out life-saving alerts. The free app, called MyShake and released on 12 February for Android users, could be useful in countries without conventional warning systems, say the developers at the University of California, Berkeley. We need at least 300 smartphones within a 110-kilometre-by-110-kilometre area in order to have a reasonable estimate of the location, magnitude and origin time of an earthquake. Richard Allen, Berkeleys seismological laboratory MyShake uses movement sensors in smartphones, known as accelerometers, to detect tremors. It then sends the information in real-time, together with satellite-based position data, to a central system that compiles data from other mobiles in the area and could alert the regions likely to be hit next. We need at least 300 smartphones within a 110-kilometre-by-110-kilometre area in order to have a reasonable estimate of the location, magnitude and origin time of an earthquake, says Richard Allen, the leader of the app project and director of Berkeleys seismological laboratory. Existing earthquake early-warning systems (EEW) receive data from seismic stations when tremors begin and then alert the regions that are likely to be hit. The alert gives people seconds or minutes to prepare, depending on how far they are from the epicentre. Even a few seconds warning can help reduce casualties as people can run for cover, get out of lifts, protect children or safely stop vehicles. EEW systems are expensive, however. There are many countries around the world that are very earthquake prone, but have very few seismic stations, says Allen. However, these countries, such as Nepal or Peru, have millions of smartphone users, he adds. In 2015, two major earthquakes in Nepal left more than 8,000 dead and 21,000 injured. In the case of the biggest earthquake, in Kathmandu, the app could potentially [have provided] a 20 second warning, Allen says. Hernando Tavera, a seismologist at the Geophysical Institute of Peru a country without an EEW system welcomes the app. Information collected by a dense network of mobiles and accelerometers would be very useful for research, he says. Benjamin Brooks, an earthquake researcher at the US Geological Survey, adds that the app continues the ongoing push towards crowdsourcing that will be very important in seismology and science in general in the years to come.The first version of MyShake will collect and record seismic information, but will not provide alerts. The more people who download the app, in the more regions around the world, the faster we will be able to develop the next version of it, says Allen. [KAMPALA] A programme aimed at supporting the next generation of researchers to play a leading role in shaping world-class, locally-driven and relevant research that improves human health has received additional funding. The US$7.2 million grant for Makerere University and the Ugandan Virus Research Institute (UVRI) partnerships infection and immunity research training programme dubbed MUII plus, was made known last month (27 January) during the programmes launch in Uganda. The Ministry of Health strongly supports this endeavour and looks forward to the new knowledge that will be generated in Uganda for Africa. Asuman Lukwago, Ugandas Ministry of Health The programme, in association with UK-based Cambridge University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the UK Department for International Development under the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Initiative (DELTAS). This new funding builds on the first phase of the programme, MUII, which was implemented from 2008 to 2015 to help East African researchers pursue careers in infection and immunity focusing on endemic diseases, says Pontiano Kaleebu, the director of the Medical Research Council/Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, noting that it will help boost the training of young aspiring scientists. Asuman Lukwago, the permanent secretary, Ugandas Ministry of Health, told SciDev.Net at the launch: The Ministry of Health strongly supports this endeavour and looks forward to the new knowledge that will be generated in Uganda for Africa. In total, the DELTAS Africa scheme awarded over 46million (almost US$70 million) last year over an initial period of five years to programmes led by universities and research institutes in Ghana, Kenya, Mali, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, according to the Wellcome Trust. The first phase established a fellowship programme which has supported six masters, five doctoral and five postdoctoral fellows. Since January 2014, Margaret Nampijja has been working on a MUII postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Alison Elliot, a coordinator of the MUII programme at UVRI and a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Katie Alcock, a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. Nampijja is investigating the cognitive effects of heavy schistosomiasis infection and its treatment in school-going children in rural fishing communities of Lake Victoria islands in Uganda. Preliminary findings indicate that intensive treatment with dewormers may have greater cognitive benefits than annual treatment, results that may inform policy on deworming in children. Nampijja is now one of the few development psychologists in the East Africa region. Through the postdoctoral studies, I have obtained a deeper understanding of child development in the context of frequent childhood infections, Nampijja says. Fellows will also engage in outreach through local and regional partners, including the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Centre de Recherches Medicale de Lambarene in Gabon. I have been able to do high-tech, internationally-recognised research, says Damalie Nakanjako, an associate professor at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences and one of the beneficiaries of the DELTAS programme. I have also been able to access international journals, attend international meetings and work with different international universities through training, research and healthcare. But Nakanjako adds that African countries should put more money into the programme so that students can do more research ideal for Africans.Doreen Tuhebwe, a former MUII masters fellow, tells SciDev.Net: I hope in 2016 I will enroll in a PhD programme. I am interested in interventions that can help students in higher education to achieve the best learning outcomes, specifically linking the community needs to students learning and improvement in health .This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk. FLORENCE, S.C. Are millennials losing their religion? Francis Marion University sophomore Lauren Owens says that as a whole, it appears that way because the current generation is so much more consumed with media and communication. People who fall into the millennial generation were born between the 1980s and early 2000s. Because were so in the eye of other people, it seems that way because the world has its influence, Owens said. If I look at it from a personal aspect, the way I got saved, or the way I met Jesus, was a lot different from the way my parents wouldve or my grandparents wouldve because it wasnt until I was 13 when I got saved. When Owens was saved, she had been attending church regularly for less than a year. Before that, she would attend church maybe twice a year, or whenever she stayed with her grandmother. Owens feels that many people are unchurched because of values passed down from parents. Rachel Droze, a friend of Owens, said she has a church background and enjoyed going when she was younger. In high school, she began to pull away from the church. There was just so much that was new with social media and technology. Things were just rapidly changing that I pulled away from the church, Droze said. And I think that happens a lot with our generation. We get distracted. With everything that is going on in the world, there are more temptations that pull millennials away from church faster and hold on to them stronger than there were for previous generations, Droze said. But just as in older generations, you still have drinking, drugs, sex, those kind of things that pull people away from the church, Droze said. So I dont know that millennials are necessarily less Christian or that theres a lesser percentage than are Christian, but I think you see it more because we have a way of expressing that through social media. Rebekah Davis, 21, grew up in a Calvinistic church in Hampton, Virginia. Her father was the pastor. The strict denomination believes in predestination, Davis said. Several factors caused her to lose her belief in Jesus and shy away from religion. Thinking that theres possibly hundreds of people singing something that you cant see; its kind of cultish, Davis said. And thats not one church in particular. Davis said shes experienced church people who did not practice what they preached. Because she was a pastors kid, people would often tell her that she had an image to uphold. Other things Davis would hear from her church community included, You make God angry, and youre lucky God loves you, she said. All of this, including the idea of predestination, influenced Davis non-belief in Jesus. God already knows everything thats going to happen, so whats even the point of you living? She said. The way I grew up in church, I found it very empty. Davis does not believe in Jesus, but she said she does believe in something more than herself. I believe in good and bad, she said. Pretty much the way I live my life, do good and avoid evil, and you are in the clear. So what is it that millennials want from a church? Owens and Droze now attend Cornerstone Baptist Church in Darlington and are part of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at FMU. They both say churches like Cornerstone make an effort for church to be more relatable to their generation. Instead of the thee's and the thous, King James Version stuff, were using more modern translation, more commonly used vernacular, things that we understand and making it applicable to our lives, Droze said. The music at churches like Cornerstone and NewSpring Church, which both women have attended, is upbeat and what they listen to on a regular basis, Droze said. Churches such as the ones Droze and Owens attend make an effort to reach out, and get down on their level, Owens said. She said it is more of a free atmosphere. Its not all This is the way its been done for a hundred years, so were going to keep doing it, she said. But medias changing. Our church is changing, so our church has to evolve. I think churches like NewSpring are doing that in order to reach people who are evolving with culture. Will Johnson is a campus staff member for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The campus ministry involves teaching students about discipleship and evangelism. He said he thinks millennials have not lost their curiosity about spirituality, but theyre somewhat jaded by the way the church has been. If they (millennials) walk into a church or a ministry meeting, the question that theyre really asking is, Is this good for the world? Johnson said. Thats a little bit different from what boomers and gen xers were asking. Johnson said baby boomers would ask what was true. People of the gen x generation would ask what is real. Were now in the time where a lot of people dont believe in absolute truths anymore, Johnson said. Truth is more based on what is my close-knit community, or what is my quote-on-quote tribe, what are the people close to me experiencing? And whatever that is, that is true. Millennials want to experience what is true and what is good for the world. Talking isnt enough, Johnson said. Talking about faith in a logical and reason-based way does not ring true for millennials. But if you talk about faith that involves relationship and community and being accepted by God, I think that changes everything because that isnt just intellectual faith. That is a faith that changes peoples lives and thats good for the world, Johnson said. Churches that care about community and relationship and the actual experience of what it means to follow Jesus, those are the ones I think are going to succeed. Next Saturday: How local churches are engaging millennials. FLORENCE, S.C. At a presidential primary campaign rally in Florence, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley widely considered a rising star in the GOP is more than qualified for a spot as his potential running mate. Rubio said he met Haley as she was making her first bid for governor and he was making his first run at a U.S. senators seat. We were both big underdogs, so Ive always been a huge fan of her career trajectory, he said during an interview before an appearance Monday at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center. If she wants to continue in public service, theres no doubt that no matter who our nominee is, she will be at the top of the list for various jobs from vice president to cabinet to whatever it is shes thought about doing. I think shes someone that could very well run for president one day herself. During a question-and-answer session, an audience member raised concern over Rubios short time as a senator, drawing comparison to Barack Obama, the other one-term senator we had as president. Rubio told the crowd of approximately 600 people at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center that his short time in Congress doesnt equate to a lack of necessary experience. Barack Obamas issue is not that he was a one-term senator, because he now has seven years of presidential experience, Rubio said. If experience was the problem, he would have gotten better. Hes gotten worse. Rubio said remaining GOP candidates with more time in office such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich dont have the foreign affairs experience to keep America safe. National security and foreign policy, that is the No. 1 obligation of a president, Rubio said. I have more foreign policy experience than virtually everyone on the Republican stage of that debate combined. Rubio said his experience on the intelligence committee will lead him to better judgment calls on foreign affairs. He referenced his work on Hezbollah sanctions, human rights violations in Venezuela, legislation to stop global human trafficking and counter-terrorism. Foreign policy is warning about ISIS before ISIS happened and warning about what ISIS would become when they first happened, he said. I have been dealing with these modern-day national security issues for the last five years in a way that no one else in this race has done or is willing to do. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, both South Carolina Republicans in support of Rubio, were also at the event to stump for the Florida senator. Many of the people in attendance have decided on Rubio as their candidate going into the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday. Beverly Spears, a Florence resident and former FMU professor, said she wasn't completely sold on the idea of a Rubio nomination, but his performance on Monday solidified her decision. "I didn't know I was going to be so impressed with his answers today," she said. "I prefer him to the others, because I really feel that he can bring the country together. He's had all the right experiences, and we can't deal without that kind of experience." John Taylor, a Conway native, said he likes Rubio because of his willingness to address issues that other candidates will not. "He's got a plan to handle ISIS that others just don't seem to have," Taylor said. "Hes charismatic, talented and smart. We need somebody who knows how to talk with leaders from around the world in an even-mannered way, and I think Rubio can do that."